Drawing spreads love amid pandemic A drawing with the words “Our family has enough food, please give it to anyone in need” has gone viral on social networks recently. This small but meaningful act spreads a message of love, solidarity, and sharing with Vietnamese people facing difficulties, helping to magnify the determination to win out against the pandemic. The smile on the little girl’s face is also from belief and hope that one day Ho Chi Minh City and the whole country will return to some semblance of normality. The simple but meaningful action has helped ease people’s anxiety about the disease./. Japanese city popularises Vietnam ahead of Paralympic Games Authorities of Kokubunji city, west of Japan’s Tokyo capital city, on July 31 held an event to help local people understand more about Vietnam prior to the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent, Mayor Izawa Kunio said as Japan and Vietnam have been nurturing a …
Nationalist leader who wanted a reunited vietnam free of foreign occupation
VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS JULY 21
Vietnam, EU review bilateral trade deal implementation Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and European Commission Vice-President and EU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis have co-chaired the first meeting of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)'s Trade Committee. The meeting, held in online format, aimed to review the implementation of the deal and discuss issues related to trade and investment in both bilateral and multilateral frameworks. Participants adopted Decision No. 01 of the committee on its operation mechanism, which comprises regulations on its function, membership, secretariat, decision-making procedure, and information transparency. Both sides agreed to coordinate closely to speed up the implementation of the deal and cope with matters that may pose negative impacts on the operation of businesses of both sides, thus maintaining and developing the supply chain amid COVID-19 pandemic. At the meeting, the two sides also mentioned a number of …
VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS JULY 29
Hai Duong to postpone receiving foreign employees and experts from August 1 Hai Duong will stop allowing foreign employees and experts to enter the province and register for isolation at hotels in the province, effective from August 1 until further notice. Foreign employees who enter the province before August 1 will still be able to go into isolation as per the regulations. They will also be allowed to register to isolate at hotels and resorts outside the province. This decision was issued on July 26 after the province has reported a new COVID-19 case after going 47 days without an infection. Hai Duong has 14 established industrial zones. 11 of these, covering 1,732 hectares of area, have had their infrastructure completed with an average occupancy rate of 82 per cent. The province is a manufacturing hub for numerous groups, including An Phat Holdings, Ford Hai Duong, printing machine manufacturer Brother Industries (Vietnam), Sumidenso Vietnam, and Hyundai Kefico Vietnam. …
VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS JULY 23
Over 1 million tonnes of goods channelled through Quang Ninh’s Mong Cai border gate A site for goods examination of the Mong Cai International Border Gate in Mong Cai city, Quang Ninh province. Despite serious impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, border trade activities in Mong Cai city of northern Quang Ninh province, which borders China, have been well maintained with a surge in the volume of import and export goods compared to the figure in 2020. According to the Mong Cai International Border Gate Management Board, as of July 18, the total volume of commodities imported and exported through the border gate had reached more than 1 million tonnes, up 89.2 percent over the same period last year. The collected fees were totalled at more than 34 billion VND (1.47 million USD), up 58 percent year-on-year and equal to 62.7 percent of the yearly target. Specifically, the number of vehicles crossing Bac Luan bridge border gate reached 28,358, including 12,806 …
VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS JULY 24
Vietnamese economy records growth of 6.61% in second quarter The nation’s economy enjoyed annual growth of 6.61% in the second quarter of the year, with the country’s economic growth for the remainder of the year projected to reach between 4.5% and 5.1%, according to industry insiders. The event was co-hosted by the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR) under VNU University of Economics and Business (UEB) and Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) via online platform. According to details provided by the quarterly report, growth in the agro-forestry-fishery, service, and industrial sectors recorded an increase in the first half of the year with the FDI sector playing a crucial role in economic growth through exports. Furthermore, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, local businesses have been forced to bear additional production costs due to a rise in raw material prices coupled with land rental. Inflation during the course of the second quarter and the …
VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS JULY 19
Shares to move sideways with low liquidity The market will continue to move sideways this week with low liquidity to gradually form a strong enough accumulation base before returning to the uptrend, analysts said. The VN-Index was maintaining the recovery span from the support area of 1,286-1,261 points with low liquidity, which was a typical sign for an accumulation period, said analysts from SSI Securities Joint Stock Company (SSI). “The current bottom-fishing demand is still weak, so it was likely that the VN-Index will continue to move sideways with low liquidity,” they said. “The VN-Index may return to the uptrend if the index surpasses the resistance area of 1,340 points with the volume rising to the 50-day average,” they said. The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) inched 0.42 per cent higher to close last Friday at 1,299.31 points. The southern market index had lost 3.6 per cent last week. An average of 599.9 million shares were …
VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS JULY 31
July retail sales plunges nearly 20% due to COVID-19 Total retail sales of goods and services shrank 8.3 percent month-on-month in July to 14.84 billion USD as a result of restrictions induced to stem the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. Total retail sales of goods and services in the first seven months of this year exceeded 121 billion USD, up 0.7 percent year on year. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is formulating specific plans to stimulate consumption and sustainably develop the domestic market./. Vinamilk posts record high net revenue in Q2 2021 The Vietnam Dairy Products JSC – Vinamilk, the largest dairy company in Vietnam, posted a record high in net revenue of 15.71 trillion VND (682.57 million USD) in the second quarter of 2021, a year-on-year rise of 1.4 percent, according to its financial report. The figure also rose by 19.2 percent compared to the previous quarter. The company’s after-tax profit exceeded 2.86 trillion VND in the period, a year-on-year …
VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS JULY 30
The US will not take any trade action against Vietnam The European-American Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) announced that the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a formal conclusion of the investigation under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act into the acts, policies and practices of Vietnam related to the valuation of Vietnam’s currency. Based on the agreement between the US Department of the Treasury and the State Bank of Vietnam which provides a satisfactory resolution of the matter subject to investigation, the USTR will not take any trade action against Vietnam. The MoIT welcomes and highly appreciates this decision of the USTR. It has particularly positive implications for bilateral economic-trade relations, business and investment environment in Vietnam, and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries, according to the ministry. This is also a positive step following the agreement …
VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS JULY 26
Securities firms cautious on directionless stock market Viet Nam’s stock market struggled to find direction last week as liquidity fell continuously and foreign investors net sold a value of more than VND2.22 trillion (US$96.6 million), causing analysts from securities firms to have cautious views of the market this week. On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the market benchmark VN-Index inched down in the last trading session to 1,268.83 points, while the HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) plunged to 301.77 points. For the week, the VN-Index lost 2.34 per cent and the HNX-Index plummeted 1.95 per cent. Both benchmarks had declined more than 4 per cent since the close of trade Monday. The liquidity on both exchanges declined compared to the previous week. It was lower than the recent 20-week average, with a value of VND20.5 trillion per session. The trading value on the HOSE decreased by 5.2 per cent to VND91.54 trillion, equivalent to a drop of 4 per cent in …
VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS AUGUST 1
EVFTA - A catalyst for Vietnamese businesses: diplomat The European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has created a favourable corridor for trade between the two sides and brought new impetus to economic cooperation between Vietnam and the EU, Nguyen Van Thao, head of the Mission of Vietnam to the EU, has said. Thao, who is also Vietnamese Ambassador to Beligum and Luxembourg, told Vietnam New Agency in an interview on prospects for further promoting the EVFTA in the future. He said the agreement took effect on August 1 last yer at a hard time when EU countries were very heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the pandemic has continued to break out in Southeast Asian countries. Vietnam is not an exception. The country has also suffered big impacted by the pandemic. However, trade turnover between Vietnam and the EU still reached 50 billion USD last year, and grew by 4.5 percent in the last five months of 2020. This was an encouraging …