Post brexit growth

Foreign tourists visit Vietnam (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) - Despite near-term trade headwinds, tourism has emerged as a source of growth for Vietnam to mitigate the challenges ahead in 2023, according to the “Vietnam at a glance” report released by HSBC on February 6. The report stressed that January’s data showed Vietnam continues to face difficulties in trade and the inflationary pressure of increasing prices. However, in spite of slowing trade, there are still pockets of resilience in Vietnam’s economy, and tourism will be a key one in 2023. Following its re-opening last March, Vietnam’s domestic tourism has been soaring, easily surpassing its 2022 target of 60 million to over 100 million tourists. Meanwhile, international tourism, which previously accounted for 60% of tourism receipts, saw a tepid recovery post COVID-19, with tourist arrivals reaching 3.6 million, only 20% of 2019’s level. But there are good reasons to expect a more meaningful recovery, in … [Read more...] about Tourism – a source of growth in Vietnam for 2023: HSBC

Despite the festive occasion, the consumption of non-essential goods in the first month of 2023 remained stagnant, with analysts believing the situation will linger throughout at least the first half this year. Despite the unfavourable environment, Mobile World Group (MWG) – the largest consumer electronics retailer in Vietnam – still aims to post positive revenue and net-profit growth in 2023, as well as two-digit growth compared to average level during the 2020-2022 period. To achieve this goal, the company envisages opening new stores on a selective basis and striving for new shops to generate profit for the patent company within three months after launching. Simultaneously, all shops in the system will focus on augmenting the sales revenue at existing outlets and controlling their operating costs to boost profits. Besides this, MWG will optimise its cash flow and slash financial expenses through improved inventory management. Specifically, the group aims to … [Read more...] about Retailers flexibly steering through turbulent times

Workers making goods for export at a Gia Toc Garment Export factory in Ha Nam Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet The profits of Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises were diverse in the fourth quarter, with many big names posting great losses. After being heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, textile and garment enterprises have gradually recovered and were one of the key export industries that recorded extraordinary growth rates in the first months of 2022. Data from the General Department of Customs showed that the export value of the textiles and garments sector in 2022 reached US$37.57 billion, a gain of 14.7 per cent year-on-year. The US is the biggest import market of Vietnamese textile and garments, worth $17.36 billion last year, up 7.9 per cent. It was followed by the Europe Union and Japanese markets, reaching $4.46 billion and $4.07 billion, up 34.7 and 25.8 per cent, respectively. Although the industry saw positive export prospects in the first and … [Read more...] about Textile industry faces headwinds in 2023 after poor results in Q4

Google owner Alphabet Inc on Monday (Feb 6) said it will launch a chatbot service and more artificial intelligence for its search engine as well as developers, an answer to Microsoft Corp in their rivalry to lead a new wave of computing. Microsoft, meanwhile, said it planned its own AI reveal for Tuesday. The cascade of news reflects how Silicon Valley is anticipating massive change from so-called generative AI, technology that can create prose or other content on command and free up white-collar workers' time. The ascent of ChatGPT, a chatbot from Microsoft-backed OpenAI that could disrupt how consumers search for information, has been one of the biggest challenges to Google in recent memory. In a blog post, Alphabet Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said his company is opening a conversational AI service called Bard to test users for feedback, followed by a public release in the coming weeks. He also said Google plans to add AI features to its search engine that synthesise … [Read more...] about Google unveils ChatGPT rival Bard, AI search plans in battle with Microsoft