Vietnam international bank

/ June 15, 2021

Vietnam’s stock market accessibility set to improve with new changes: MSCI

The local stock market is expected to be upgraded to the emerging status by 2022. A number of laws that came into effect at the start of 2021 in Vietnam are expected to set the legal basis for further market developments. World’s major largest index provider Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) gave the view in its 2021 Global Market Accessibility Review, which covers market accessibility assessments for 83 markets. Investor at a securities company. Photo: Cong Hung According to the MSCI, the restructuring of the two Vietnamese exchanges [Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange and Hanoi Stock Exchange] into a single Vietnam Stock Exchange (VSE), the establishment of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearance Corporation (VSDC), or Non-voting Depository Receipts may potentially improve market accessibility once these policies are implemented. The MSCI also pointed out the fact that the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE) in Vietnam has been impacted by capacity limitations in its trading system since 2021. This has resulted in trade execution difficulties on days with relatively high trading volumes, in turn prompting exchange and the regulators to work on short-term and long-term solutions to address this issue. “MSCI will continue to monitor these developments closely,” it noted. Expectation to be upgraded to emerging market by 2022 MSCI's assessment on frontier markets. Source: MSCI While pointing out to positive improvements of the market, the MSCI noted there have been no significant development that could result in any rating changes. The MSCI referred to a number of fields that should be addressed, ranging from foreign ownership limit subject to certain conditional and sensitive sectors, no offshore currency market and constraints on onshore currency market, lack of stock market information in English, or off-exchange transactions and in-kind transfers requiring prior approval from the …

/ June 14, 2021

VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS JUNE 14

Portal expected to reach large lychee consumers An online portal has been launched to help farmers in pandemic-hit Bac Giang province sell their lychees. “Thank God, it’s so effective,” vice director of Bac Giang Enterprise Consulting and Assistance Centre (BECA) Duong Thanh Son said about the portal launched by the centre. Bac Giang has been hit hardest by COVID-19 during its fourth wave in Vietnam, causing difficulties for local farmers. The portal www.hotrotieuthuvaithieubacgiang.com was launched about three weeks ago and a Facebook page hotrotieuthuvaithieubacgiang was created just a few days later when Bac Giang started entering the lychee harvest season. Consumers can register to buy a large volume of lychees – a minimum of a tonne – after inputting basic information like name, e-mail, phone number, address and amount of lychee. Son, who specialises in information technology and communication, said that the portal looked simple but behind it were automatic customer management and customer care programmes that help with online sales. The portal and the Facebook page have reached hundreds of thousands of users, Son said, adding that he has received positive feedback on social media. “We connect Bac Giang lychee farmers and co-operatives with buyers. We pledge that our consumers can buy high-quality lychee at very good prices,” Son said. “If we had thought of the portal earlier and prepared for it about three months ago when lychee was still green, we could have reached more consumers,” Son said. He said the idea for the portal came up when Bac Giang farmers entered lychee harvest time but the province was struggling to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the province has about 28,100 ha of lychee with an estimated production of 180,000 tonnes. The COVID-19 outbreaks caused difficulties for harvesting, transporting, selling and exporting the fruit. Together with the Government, provincial authorities, organisations and …

/ June 12, 2021

VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS JUNE 12

Economic growth to slow down in Q2, but production keeps rising The country’s economic growth in the second quarter of the year is expected to be lower than expected. However, the economy will also continue recovering strongly, with processing and manufacturing, and the service sector serving as key drivers of growth. At a recent government cabinet meeting, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that based on positive performance of the economy in the first five months of 2021, it is projected the nation's economic growth rate will be about 5.8%. This will be lower than the target of 7.11% set in Government Resolution No.01/NQ-CP, released on January 1, on the key tasks for the implementation of the socioeconomic development plan and state budget estimates for 2021 (see box). The driving force of Vietnam's economic growth this year will be the industrial-construction sector and the service sector, especially processing and manufacturing, the MPI said. According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), in May, the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions in supply chains and trade, as well as transport activities in a number of localities who are home to big industrial production like Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, and Ho Chi Minh City. However, in the first five months, trade and transport activities still increased as compared to the same period last year. Specifically, the total retail and service consumption revenue of the entire economy expanded 7.6% to more than VND2 quadrillion US$86.96 billion, and total import turnover of goods went up by 33.5%, while passenger transportation rose 4.2%, and goods transportation climbed 10.5%. Global analysts FocusEconomics (based in Spain) said that Vietnam's economy recorded solid growth in the first quarter of 2021. GDP growth clocked in at 4.5% year-on-year in the first three months of this year, matching the growth rate from the last quarter of 2020. As such, while the first …