Demand

On the way home from her office, Tran Thi My Hanh, a resident in ward 22 in Binh Thanh District , came over the headquarter of the administration police at 8 PM to make a new electronic chip-based ID card. After she was undergoing a Covid-19 temperature check and filling a form attached with necessary papers including her Ho khau (certification of her legal permanent residence) and her old ID. Soon she was guided to finish other steps before receiving an appointment letter. She said since police officers in the district have extended working hour, those who work in office hours have been facilitated in exchange for new IDs. Similarly, resident Le Thi Mai Huong living in District 1 went to the police station in the district with her younger sister to exchange old ID cards for the new chip-based ones. She was excited because it took only 10 minutes to finish all procedures. Simplified procedures plus police officers’ good behavior have satisfied people. Additionally, people can register to receive new IDs through post office. Due to increased demand of exchanging new electronic chip-based IDs, police officers in all districts citywide have extended working hours until evenings to help people; police officers in Go Vap District even work at nights and weekends to promote the issuance of new chip-based ID cards. Police officers in Binh Thanh District followed suit when they work from 7.30 AM till 10 PM including Saturdays and Sundays. So far, Binh Thanh police have received more than 4,000 documents for the new chip-based ID cards issuing more than 600 e-chip-based ID cards to residents. Police in District 1 said the implementation of the new chip-based ID cards began in the end of January, 2021 until now. The police stations have admitted 4,872 registration papers for the new chip-based ID cards meanwhile they have issued 1,313 cards to city dwellers. They receive registration papers to 8PM and work to 10 PM every weekday. Apart from that, police …

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Apparel exports have been showing signs of a rebound since the end of the third quarter last year Recent figures by the Vietnam General Department of Customs show that as of February 15, Vietnam raked in $3.77 billion from textile and apparel exports, up $270 million compared to the same period in 2020. Le Tien Truong, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) and chairman of state-run group Vinatex noted that with the COVID-19 situation still intense and consumption declining in Vietnam’s major export markets like the US, EU, and Japan, many local firms have adopted smartly by shifting to producing items for common use with reasonable price tags. “In fact, the textile and clothing sector has been trending in this direction from the second half of last year, helping to ensure continuous work for labourers with stable order placement. This helped the sector to reach an export turnover of $35.2 billion last year, which, albeit lower than in 2019, was much better than other major exporters like India and Bangladesh,” Truong said. According to Vitas, in the brightest forecast the sector would recover consumption level as in 2019 in the third quarter of 2022, whereas based on the slow recovery scenario such consumption would reach by end of 2023. Due to the pandemic, total aggregate demand for textile and apparel products shed more than 22 per cent globally, going from $740 billion to $600 billion. Competing countries all saw 15-20 per cent decreases. The reduction of Vietnam’s textile and apparel sector was far less than the world average. A Vinatexsource certified that many firms in the sector, including Vinatex members, have signed orders until the end of April. Significantly, orders have been placed for several product lines such as knitwear and items for common use until July and August. Hung Yen Garment Corporation (Hugaco) – a major member belonging to Vinatex group – posted a revenue of $15.7 million and …

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Market leader Hoa Phat Group last month exported over 12,000 tonnes of products, mostly cold-galvanized steel, to North and South America. This followed an export of 10,000 tonnes in January to Belgium and Spain. The company targets producing 300,000-400,000 tonnes of steel products this year, 30-40 percent of which are likely to be exported. Its competitor Hoa Sen Group last month set a new export record of 121,000 tonnes of galvanized steel worth more than $100 million. The group has a network of over 85 countries and territories, with main markets being the U.S, Mexico, Europe and Southeast Asia. Vietnam’s steel industry is expected to see growth of 5-6 percent this year, with global demand set to rise by 4.1 percent thanks to recovery in developed markets, according to the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA). Other drivers for growth include expectations of rising public investment in infrastructure, the recovery of the real estate market and more foreign direct investment, said VSA deputy chairman Trinh Khoi Nguyen. The industry started 2021 strongly, with a 61 percent year-on-year rise in production volume to 2.65 million tonnes. Domestic sales in the period rose 55 percent to 2.12 million tonnes, while exports rose 53 percent in value to $553 million. These figures indicate robust recovery prospects this year after VSA saw half of its members reporting plunging revenues last year, especially in the first and second quarter, due to Covid-19 impacts. However, trade officials have warned that rising safeguard measures could hurt the industry. Last month, Indonesia imposed an anti-dumping duty of 3.01-49.2 percent on Vietnam cold steel sheets. In January, Malaysia revised duties on cold-rolled coils of alloy and non-alloy steel from Vietnam to 7.42-33.7 percent for the period between January 24 and May 23. The U.S. and Canada have also slapped anti-dumping duties on Vietnam’s steel products in recent years. The Trade Remedies Authorities …

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