Trump policy

Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vũ Tiến Lộc. — Photo qdnd.vn Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vũ Tiến Lộc talks to Quân đội Nhân dân (People’s Army) newspaper about solutions to help businesses overcome difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the World Bank have recently announced a report on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Vietnamese businesses. What are key points of this report? This report was built based on a survey of more than 10,000 businesses in 63 cities and provinces in 2020, providing specific perspectives on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey showed that the year 2020 was a year full of difficulties when nearly 90 per cent of surveyed firms were adversely affected by the pandemic with many consequences such as influencing firms' access to customers, imbalance of cash flow and interruption of supply chains. Many businesses had to reduce their workforce, stop operations or go bankrupt. Small- and super small-size businesses and young businesses of less than three years old suffered the most. The pandemic seriously affected turnover of businesses in 2020. 65 per cent of private enterprises and 62 per cent of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) businesses said their revenue dropped in comparison with 2019. Due to COVID-19, the year 2020 witnessed a record number of businesses withdrawing from the market, exceeding 100,000 firms. However, the year 2020 also recorded the efforts of the business community in overcoming difficulties. Many businesses have changed their strategies, carried out restructuring, retrained human resources, paid more attention to the domestic market and diversifying the consumption market and supply sources. The digital transformation process has gradually been implemented. These are valuable lessons and experience that the COVID-19 pandemic has offered Vietnamese businesses. How do you …

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A view of some buildings under construction in HCM City (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City will hold a ceremony on April 20 to honour 33 outstanding collectives and 17 individuals of the Vietnamese community abroad, according to the city’s Committee for Overseas Vietnamese . The activity aims to recognise and encourage the expatriates with prominent achievements in assisting Vietnamese citizens in production and business activities, scientific researches, medicine, educational and training cooperation, and social and charitable activities between 2018 and 2020. They include Assoc. Prof and Dr Vu Minh Khuong, a senior lecturer at the Singapore-based Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy; Dr Nguyen Duc Thai, a Vietnamese in the US now lecturing at the HCM City University of Medicine and Pharmacy; Dr Nguyen Huu Le, a Vietnamese in Australia and Chairman of the TMA Solutions company; and Bui Van Tuan, Chairman of the Delta E&C Japan. More than 5.3 million Vietnamese people are living in 130 countries and territories worldwide. Overseas remittances into the country reached 15.7 billion USD in 2020. In particular, the remittances into HCM City reached a record high of 6.1 billion USD last year, up over 15 percent from 2019. The figure stood at 1.45 billion USD in the first quarter of 2021, up 10 percent year on year./. VNA …

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Many luxury hotels remain deserted with no foreign guests during Covid-19 and, as a result, hoteliers have slashed room rates to survive the difficult period. Located at the noisy Thai Ha – Tay Son Crossroads, a luxury hotel is deserted with only several security guards at the entrance door. The project has been facing bad luck since its opening. It initially was an office building but offices were in oversupply and the investor had to shift to another business model. The building was then redesigned to turn it into a hotel. However, it once again met ill fortune when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. Lockdowns and restricted travel policy have kept it deserted. Even a gold-plated hotel is facing difficulties. With 360 rooms and many gold-plated items, the construction required investment capital of $100 million. The work was executed within 18 months and completed in March 2020, ready to serve the F1 tournament that was later postponed because of Covid-19. The hotel opening day was also delayed. Other luxury hotels bearing international brands in Hanoi are in the same situation. Matthew Powell from Savills Hanoi said hotels in Hanoi had a difficult quarter because of the impact of another Covid-19 wave which decreased market capacity. One 5-star hotel in Dong Da district was officially rated earlier this year, while two 4-star hotels in Ba Dinh and Tay Ho districts saw their star rating expire. Meanwhile, Capella Hotel in Hoan Kiem was put into operation in Q1, but it has not been rated yet. Two 3-star hotels with 130 rooms had closed by the end of the last quarter. Regarding supply, the entire market has 10,120 rooms in 17 5-star hotels, 17 4-star and 32 3-star hotels, up by one percent QoQ and 2 percent YoY. The market capacity was 24 percent, down by 9 percent quarter on quarter and 20 percent year on year Meanwhile, the hotel room rate was $76 per night per room, down by 23 percent year on year. The Covid-19 resurgence in January in …

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