Disbursement

VPBank’s Mochizuki Masashi (centre) received a trophy at last week’s investment conference hosted by VIR Foreign customers of VPBank can now enjoy more corporate financial services, at the same time being indirectly supported to retain talent through specialised financial products and solutions which are designed to bring their staff the best financial service experience and satisfaction. At VIR’s investment conference last week, Mochizuki Masashi, head of the FDI Centre at VPBank, said that in an effort to expand the foreign customer segment, banks not only provide capital or cash flow management services, as well as revenue and expenditure management for foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) operating in Vietnam, but also have to meet the financial needs of their employees at different levels. Masashi delivers his remarks at the investment conference in Hanoi As per Masashi’s account, these needs are diverse, from setting up accounts and opening credit cards to … [Read more...] about VPBank meeting the needs of foreign customers

A raft of top brands were represented at last week’s investment conference At last week’s conference “Strong Investment Partnerships for a Thriving Vietnam” hosted by VIR, representatives of many foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) discussed their concerns and gave recommendations for Vietnam to foster new investment inflows amid global complicated developments. Choi Joo Ho, CEO of Samsung Vietnam, said that Vietnam’s competitiveness to allure foreign investment is threatened because of different factors. “The global minimum tax regime is a prime example of the most significant external environmental changes,” he said. “If Vietnam also applies these policies, it could eliminate the instability in the business activities of affected FIEs. Samsung expects the Vietnamese government to continue creating a predictable business environment that is in line with global standards and the recent change in investment climate.” Similarly, Trang Le, head of Research and Consulting at … [Read more...] about Vietnam takes on pressures of foreign capital attraction

Vietnam's economic growth began to weaken in late 2022 and continued into early 2023, resulting in GDP growth of only 3.32% in the first quarter. It would be challenging for Vietnam's economy to achieve 6.5% GDP growth target this year, said Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh at today's opening session [May 22]. Overview of the session. Photos: quochoi.vn Thanh highlighted that Vietnam's economy had experienced a slowdown from late 2022 to early 2023, resulting in GDP growth of only 3.32% in the first quarter. "To achieve the targeted 6.5% growth for the year, the average growth rate for the remaining quarters needs to be around 7.5%," he added. Meanwhile, challenges in the financial and corporate bonds markets have made it difficult for businesses to access capital, leading to stagnation in the real estate sector. Key drivers of growth, such as exports and foreign direct investment, have also declined, and industrial … [Read more...] about Vietnamese Gov’t under pressure to realize 6.5% GDP growth target

Statistics by ministries, agencies and localities showed that some 53.88 trillion VND (2.29 billion USD) of state capital and funding was saved last year, according to the report. As of the end of 2022, Vietnam’s public debt was estimated at 3.6 quadrillion VND, equivalent to 38% of the national gross domestic product (GDP), down from the 43.1% recorded in the previous year. Last year, 8.62 trillion VND was earmarked from the state budget to carry out the national target program on sustainable poverty reduction for the 2021-2025 period, the report said. The committee pointed out that wastefulness is still seen at different levels, particularly in budget management, public investment, public procurement, as well as land and public asset management. N.A. Vice Chairman Trang Quang Phuong suggested evaluating wastefulness in the implementation of the socio-economic recovery and development program, and the three national target programs, covering new-style rural area building, … [Read more...] about N.A. Standing Committee looks into Government’s thrift practice report

As up to 22.5 percent of foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises in Vietnam have a modest charter capital average of VND1-3 billion (US$42,602-127,806) each, the selection of FDI once again makes headlines and local economic experts agree that the country should attract such investment in sectors that it wants to develop. It is not easy to choose FDI projects based on the criteria of capital or technology, economists said. Vietnam should work out strategies to woo FDI in desired sectors and should not pay much attention to how much the investment is, said Dr. Pham Hung Tien, deputy director of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Vietnam. Amid the digital transformation, e-commerce enterprises with small capital can still get involved in certain segments. Therefore, the country needs to take the initiative in attracting FDI, Tien stressed. “We should say no to some FDI projects based on Vietnam’s commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 at COP26 [in the UK in 2021] … [Read more...] about Vietnam should attract FDI for sectors in need: experts

Senior economist Le Xuan Nghia What global factors currently suggest a move towards lower interest rates in the coming months? In my view, the key factor is the US dollar continues to weaken. Even though the US Federal Reserve (Fed) raised the base interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point in early May, meeting the target range of 5.0-5.25, it is likely there will be an interest rate cut later in the year. A number of factors support this stance, such as inflation in the US slowing, and the possibility of the labour market worsening in the next few months with increased lay-offs in several finance and technology fields. Next is the possibility of widespread bankruptcies in the banking system, as seen in the recent cases of PacWest and Western Alliance. Meanwhile, the US and EU economies face going into recession as the Russia-Ukraine conflict sees no signs of ending in the foreseeable future. This is also the very factor leading to a deep depreciation of the US … [Read more...] about An expert’s view on interest rate movements

Do Van Su, deputy director general of the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment Last week, Do Van Su, deputy director general of the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said the quality and quantity of foreign-headed projects have improved in recent years. “Although the number of large-scale projects has decreased due to the impact of many factors, the quantity of projects overall sees an average increase of 16-19 per cent per year. The average capital of projects is $16 million,” he said. Statistics published by Su’s agency showed that in the first four months of 2023, Vietnam attracted 750 newly registered projects, 386 added-capital projects, and 1,044 paid-in capital, signifying increases of 65.2, 19.5, and 1.8 per cent on-year, respectively. The results are deemed positive in the context that global foreign investment capital inflow is forecasted to dip this year. In addition, these positive … [Read more...] about Quality and quantity advances sought

Industrial production improved slightly but remained weak. Source: WB Specifically, the WB reported industrial production improved slightly but remained weak. The industrial production index increased marginally by 0.5 per cent on-year in April, an improvement from the 2 per cent on-year contraction in March. Production of textile, footwear, and leather products, electronics, computers, cell phones (including parts), motor vehicles and transportation equipment continued contracting in April as well as in the first four months of the year compared to the same period of 2022, reflecting weaker than expected exports. Continued expansion of industrial production for domestic consumption, including food and beverage as well as petrol, partly mirrors growth in domestic demand in April. Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 46.7 in April 2023 from 47.7 in March, indicating continued pessimistic business conditions. Retail sales growth moderated as 2022 as … [Read more...] about External headwinds continue to hurt Vietnam’s economy: World Bank

An overview of the NA's fifth plenary session (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – National Assembly (NA) deputies on May 22 discussed a report on supplementary assessments on outcomes of the socioeconomic development plan and State budget in 2022 and the implementation of such plan for the first months of this year, following the opening of the 15th NA’s fifth plenary session . Delivering the report, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai said that last year, 13 out of the 15 targets set for the year were completed and exceeded. After being supplemented, the socioeconomic development results of 2022 changed positively, with GDP growth of 8.02% compared to about 8% in the original report, and CPI increase of 3.15% from about 4% in the previous report. Meanwhile, the State budget collection in the year topped 1.81 quadrillion VND (77.18 billion USD), more than 201.4 trillion VND higher than the previously reported figure, Deputy PM Khai said. However, the number of unfinished … [Read more...] about Deputies discuss socioeconomic performance at NA’s fifth session

Delivering the report, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai said that last year, 13 out of the 15 targets set for the year were completed and exceeded. After being supplemented, the socio-economic development results of 2022 changed positively, with GDP growth of 8.02% compared to about 8% in the original report, and CPI increase of 3.15% from about 4% in the previous report. Meanwhile, the State budget collection in the year topped VND 1.81 quadrillion (USD 77.18 billion), more than VND 201.4 trillion higher than the previously reported figure, Deputy PM Khai said. However, the number of unfinished targets was raised to two from only one as reported to the N.A. earlier, as the contribution of the processing-manufacturing industry in GDP reached only 24.76% compared to 25.7% - 25.8% in the original report, lower than the set target of 25.7% - 25.8%, said Khai. Clarifying major socio-economic tasks and solutions in the time to come, he said that amid the complicated and … [Read more...] about Deputies discuss socio-economic performance at N.A.’s fifth session