Middle east and africa

The Hanoitimes - The ongoing epidemic is predicted to impact the trade flow of agricultural products between Vietnam and China in six to eight months. The outbreak of the new coronavirus (nCoV) is having an impact on all economic aspects in Vietnam, but the agricultural sector would suffer the most as exports to China are poised to plunge, according to Nguyen Xuan Cuong, minister of Agricultural and Rural Development. Overview of the meeting. Source: MARD. This is due to the fact that China is a major export market for Vietnam’s agricultural products, accounting for 22 – 24% of the country’s farm exports, said Cuong at a conference on February 3. China is currently one of the major export markets for Vietnamese fisheries and agricultural products. The main farm export staples to China include vegetables, cashew, coffee, rice, cassava products, rubber and aquatic products. In 2019, Vietnam’s agro-forestry-fishery exports to China reached US$8.5 billion, of which, wood and wooden products  amounted to US$1.2 billion, up 8.4% year-on-year, exports of  fisheries, rubber and vegetables reached US$1.23 billion, US$1.55 billion  and over US$2.4 billion respectively. Cuong added negotiation process for opening Chinese markets for products such as durian, bird’s nest, sweet potato, which are in the final stages, would be temporarily suspended. Dragon fruits could not be exported to China suffering a sharp decline in prices from VND40,000 - 50,000 (US$1.72 - 2.15) per kilogram to VND4,000 (US$0.17). Nevertheless, Cuong urged instead of staying idle, this would be an opportunity for Vietnam to restructure the agricultural sector to avoid dependence on a single market, but it would require long-term solutions. Vice Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh said the impact to trade flows of agricultural products between Vietnam and China is predicted to last from six to eight months due to the ongoing nCoV epidemic. …

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The Hanoitimes - The growth rate is significantly lower than the 6.8% growth rate recorded in the first quarter of 2019. There is a high possibility that Vietnam’ s GDP growth to slow to 6 – 6.3% year-on-year in the first quarter, significantly lower than the 6.8% growth rate from the same period of last year, according to Viet Dragon Securities Company (VDSC). VDSC also expected the number of international visitors will  drop significantly from February 2020, while agricultural goods exports to China will keep decreasing because of tighter supervision at the land border control. Meanwhile, Vietnam’s industrial production index plummeted 5.5% year-on-year in January, compared with the inter-annual pace of 7.9% last January. During the last three months, many significant events took place in various areas such as trade agreements (US-China Phase One and USMCA), geopolitical risks (Brexit and Trump’s Middle East peace plan) and unexpected natural disasters (Coronavirus and Australia fires). Among those, the US-China Phase One deal and Coronavirus outbreak, originating in Wuhan, China, have impinged upon economic growth forecasts. The former delivered a silver lining for ASEAN+3 growth before the latter put some gloom on the global economic outlook and forced economists to reconsider revising down their forecasts. The signing of the Phase One deal was going to push up expectations of economic growth for the 10 ASEAN member nations, as well as for China, Japan, and South Korea to 4.9% in 2020, according to the ASEAN +3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO). In addition to resilient domestic demand, the easing trade tensions was a seen as a boon for regional exports, especially for semi-conductor products. Hong Kong (China) and Singapore economies are now forecast to grow at a higher pace in 2020: 1.2% year-on-year from a negative rate of -0.2% year-on-year. Additionally, Japan, South Korea and even China’s economic growth forecasts have …

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The spokesperson made the remark when replying to several questions from reporters on developments in the East Sea at a regular press conference of the Foreign Ministry held virtually. Commenting on the announcement of French Defence Minister Florence Parly that the country has deployed the SNA Emeraude submarine on a patrol in the East Sea, Hang said maintaining peace, stability, order, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation, the rule of law, and respect for countries’ sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the East Sea in accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982) is the goal, the interest, the responsibility and the wish shared by all countries and the international community. Countries’ activities in the East Sea should contribute to this common goal, she stressed. “As a responsible member of the international community and a member of the 1982 UNCLOS, Vietnam complies to the convention’s stipulations, including regulations regarding maritime and aviation activities in the waters designated in accordance with the convention,” the spokesperson said. …

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