Vietnam Newswire

The Ministry of Finance has issued a new circular which aims to improve stock market transparency in Vietnam. Circular 69/2023/TT-BTC, amending and supplementing several articles of Circular 57/2021/TT-BTC issued on July 12, 2021, will come into effect on December 30, 2023. It provides guidelines for the reorganisation of the stock trading market, bond trading market, derivatives trading market, and trading market for other types of securities in Vietnam. Under Circular 69, the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) is mandated to reorganise the trading market for stocks, fund certificates, and covered warrants in accordance with the Securities Law and its associated regulations. The reorganisation process is expected to be completed no later than December 31, 2026, ensuring compliance with the stipulated legal framework. As part of the reorganisation efforts, the HoSE is set to receive and review listing registration applications for new stock trading from eligible organisations. To be eligible, organisation s must meet the listing conditions outlined in Decree No 155/2020/NÐ-CP, dated December 31, 2020, and possess contributed charter capital of at least 120 billion VND (4.9 million USD) at the time of listing registration. The deadline for receiving and reviewing these applications is set before July 1, 2025. Circular 69 also includes provisions concerning the transfer of shares of listed organisations from the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) to the HoSE. By December 31, 2025, the HoSE is required to complete the process of receiving shares from HNX-listed organisations. This transfer aims to streamline and consolidate securities trading activities within a unified market. Furthermore, the circular introduces amendments to certain clauses of Circular 57. It specifies that HNX will receive and review listing registration applications from eligible organisations before July 1, 2025. Eligible organisations must meet the listing conditions defined in Decree No 155 and possess a contributed charter capital of at least 30 billion VND at the time of listing registration. Starting from July 1, 2025, HNX will no longer accept new stock listing registration applications from organisations. The transfer of shares from HNX to HoSE for listed organisations is expected to be completed by December 31, 2025. In cases where an organisation has submitted a stock listing registration application to HNX before July 1, 2025, but the listing has not been approved, HNX is responsible for transferring the organisation's listing registration dossier to HoSE before July 8, 2025. This allows HoSE to continue processing the organisation's listing registration in accordance with the legal regulations. If the HoSE receives a listing registration dossier from an organisation with contributed charter capital of less than 120 billion VND at the time of listing registration and the listing has not been approved by the effective date of Circular 69, the HoSE must transfer the organisation's listing registration dossier to the HNX for further process ing according to legal regulations. The deadline for transferring listing registration documents is within five working days from the effective date of Circular 69. Circular 69/2023/TT-BTC will play a crucial role in restructuring the securities trading markets in Vietnam, promoting transparency, and aligning with international standards. The measures outlined within the circular aim to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of securities trading, bolster investor confidence, and contribute to the overall development of Vietnam's capital market./. Source:Vietnam News Agency

The People's Committee of the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh and the Canadian Embassy in Vietnam on November 23 summarised a Canada-funded project to support local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and celebrated 22 years of bilateral cooperation. Chairman of the Tra Vinh provincial People's Committee Le Van Han thanked the Canadian Government for its programmes and projects to support the province's development. In 2014, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) - a department of the Canadian Government that manages Canada's diplomatic and consular relations, promotes Canadian international trade, and leads Canada's international development and humanitarian assistance - sponsored the SME Project in the context of that local SMEs were facing difficulties and challenges in accessing markets, land, finance and business development services while local infrastructure did not receive has sufficient investment. The project has a total investment of 12.1 million CAD (8.83 million USD), including 11 million CAD fr om the Canadian Government's grant and the remainder from the province's counterpart capital. Han said that over the past nine years, activities under the project have helped local SMEs to develop and enhance their competitiveness, expand trade opportunities, and contribute to the province's sustainable socio-economic development. Tra Vinh province now has over 2,840 operating SMEs, doubling the number in 2015. Over 28% of the enterprises are owned by women and 6.8% are owned by Khmer ethnic minority people. In addition, the project also carried out activities to promote innovation in SMEs, improve small-scale infrastructure works in 18 communes/towns across the province, and contribute to the improvement of the province's investment environment and provincial green index (PGI). As of October 2023, nearly 30,000 local people benefited from the project, 33% of whom are women and 20.2% are people from ethnic minority groups. In the 2015 - 2023 period, the private enterprise sector in Tra Vinh province has c reated jobs for over 112,400 workers, 59% of whom are female, and 31% are Khmer ethnic workers. Congratulating Tra Vinh for completing its commitments to sponsors, Canadian Ambassador to Vietnam Shawn Steil said that in the last 22 years, Tra Vinh has always been an important partner of Canada, and the relationship between the two sides has consistently maintained and more and more comprehensive. The SME Project's results will lay a solid foundation for Canada and Tra Vinh to continue cooperating and opening up new opportunities for trade exchange. On this occasion, the Tra Vinh provincial People's Committee and the Canadian Embassy in Vietnam awarded certificates of merit to collectives and individuals for their contributions to the project implementation./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has improved the efficiency and quality of connecting supply and demand, as well as cooperation between businesses and localities, making an important and positive contribution to the country's economic development. This information was heard at a forum on promoting effective connection between supply and demand organised by the MoIT's Vietnam Institute of Strategy and Policy for Industry and Trade (VIOIT) in Hanoi on November 23. In a situation where the world was facing many changes, promoting the connection between supply and demand was not only a way to promote economic development but also a necessary direction to build a strong economy, meeting market needs and ensuring sustainable prosperity for the future, said VIOIT Deputy Director Vu Quang Hung. The connection between supply and demand helped optimise resources and encourage innovation and product development, as well as create cooperation opportunities and enhance competition, he added. In recent years , in order to connect products with provinces and cities nationwide, the MoIT has organised conferences to connect supply and demand with provinces and cities and support businesses. Through conferences, businesses interact, exchange and learn from experience; from small and fragmented production activities, through trading activities, connecting supply and demand has contributed to businesses gradually shifting to new approaches to the market. 'These activities help businesses on awareness of how to create brands and packaging, how to grasp consumer tastes and trends, build brands for business and products, especially improving product quality to gain a foothold and compete in the market,' said Doan Manh Truong, a representative from the MoIT's Agency for Regional Industry and Trade (ARIT). The ministry has coordinated with provincial departments of industry and trade to successfully organise 28 typical rural industrial goods exhibitions at regional and national levels in the 2013-2022 period. Each exhib ition has about 350 - 450 standard booths and on average the participation of about 155 - 200 rural industrial enterprises. The ministry has effectively implemented the project to promote Vietnamese enterprises to participate directly in foreign goods networks. It has organised Vietnam Weeks in countries around the world, such as France, Thailand, Japan since last year. It organised the 2023 International Goods Supply Chain Connection event with 1,000 trade connections between 200 reputable Vietnamese export enterprises, mainly agricultural, forestry, and fishery export enterprises, and connected with 150 foreign purchasing and distribution delegations. Besides the results achieved, the connection between manufacturers and distributors also has difficulties, said Truong. Bringing products to large distributors such as supermarkets still faces certain obstacles, especially for small manufacturing establishments. Labour shortage still caused difficulties for businesses, especially trained workers. Vocationa l training for workers had not met the development needs of businesses, he said. Some businesses have had to narrow their production and business scale and have difficulty in implementing investment schedules in production expansion projects. Counterfeit goods and poor quality goods are still mixed in the market. The management of price listing and selling at listed prices is mainly carried out in supermarkets, while in markets, the situation of listing prices but not selling at listed prices is still common. The organisation of Vietnamese goods markets in residential areas is only aimed at sales purposes, but has not yet created a strong impact on the "Vietnamese people prioritise using Vietnamese goods" campaign. Consumers are greatly affected by advertising through electronic and cross-border electronic platforms, causing confusion for businesses and consumers about product quality and brand, causing loss of trust and endangering the health of consumers. To promote activities connecting the supply and demand of goods and develop markets to promote the strengths of the provinces, creating opportunities for socio-economic development, the ARIT proposed State management agencies innovate and promote trade promotion; consult and support businesses and production facilities in branding, packaging, brand development, product promotion, combined with the development trend of e-commerce. The agency also recommended the promotion for the role of bridge, introduction, and co-operation in production and consumption of products between commercial enterprises and producers; introduction of products and goods to participate in the supply chain of distributors, shopping centres, supermarkets, and convenience stores nationwide. It also proposed management agencies study to change the form of organisation to connect supply and demand, in which the conference to connect supply and demand should have consulting content to support businesses in market development and brand building. State management agencies must also stre ngthen market management, have plans to manage prices of essential goods, regularly inspect and control the market to avoid shortages and price fever, promptly detect and handle acts of smuggling, production and trading of counterfeit goods, commercial fraud, speculation, price increases, and illegal profiteering that destabilise the market./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

The verification council for a plan on the system of fishing ports and storm shelters for fishing vessels for the 2021 - 2030 period, with a vision to 2050, convened a meeting in Hanoi on November 23 under the chair of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang. According to the draft plan, there will be 173 fishing ports nationwide by 2030. The territorial waters off the central coast, from Quang Tri to Binh Thuan provinces, will accommodate the biggest number of fishing ports with 82 facilities, followed by the Gulf of Tonkin 45, the sea area off the southeastern region 33, and that off the southwest 13. By 2030, Vietnam will have 160 storm shelters, comprising 30 at the regional level and 130 at the provincial level, to serve more than 90,000 fishing vessels. The territorial waters off the central region will also be home to the most shelters, 73. The facilities for the Gulf of Tonkin, the southeastern, and the southwestern sea regions will number 47, 24, and 16, respectively. The number of fishing ports nat ionwide will be raised to 180 by 2050. During 2021 - 2025, priority will be given to developing infrastructure and services at fishing ports in major fishery hubs, and building regional-level storm shelters, according to the draft plan. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) estimated that nearly 58 trillion VND (nearly 2.4 billion USD) will be needed for developing essential infrastructure of fishing ports and storm shelters by 2030, including more than 18 trillion VND for the 2021 - 2025 period. Discussing the draft, members of the verification council said fishing ports and storm shelters are important parts of fishery and socio-economic infrastructure, and investment in these facilities is necessary for effective and sustainable exploitation of aquatic resources. The plan aims to complete and modernise infrastructure to meet the fishery sector's logistics demand, guarantee food safety, reduce post-fishing losses, and ensure safety for vessels and fishermen. It will also help with fis hery management, international integration, climate change adaptation, environmental and marine ecosystem protection, and defence - security safeguarding, they said. In particular, as importing markets have been tightening rules on food safety and seafood traceability, exporting countries like Vietnam have to ensure the reliability of its entire fishery exploitation, importing, processing, and exporting process, council members noted. Deputy PM Tran Luu Quang asked the MARD to consider opinions raised at the meeting to continue perfecting the draft before submitting to the PM for approval. He noted the plan must concurrently resolve existing issues and take into account current and future trends such as digital transformation, climate change response, and the 'yellow card' warning over illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. It needs to provide orientations while being flexible enough for localities to carry out and ensuring the fishing port system's connectivity with other infrastructure syste ms like land, irrigation, transport, and power. The plan must also ensure the projects listed are financially feasible, make use of non-State budget capital sources, and develop multifunctional facilities to prevent wastefulness and maximise their effectiveness, the Deputy PM requested./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

An online workshop discussing measures to further promote the export of potential products to Africa and the Middle East was held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)'s Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency on November 23. Addressing the event, Nguyen Minh Phuong, head of the West Asia - Africa Office under the MoIT 's Department of Asia - Africa Markets noted that Middle East countries must import up to 80% of food and foodstuffs, equivalent to 40 billion USD each year, while African countries also import goods with similar value every year. Notably, the requirements for quality and product design of these markets are not too strict. Truong Xuan Trung, who is in charge of the Vietnam Trade Office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said all Vietnamese goods can be exported to this market if they meet standards, noting that the UAE is also a regional and global transit centre, so there is potential to re-export goods from this market. According to Trung, Vietnam is the largest exporter of agricultural pro ducts to the UAE among ASEAN countries. In the first 10 months of 2023, Vietnam's export of cashew nuts, rice, fruits and vegetables, and tea increased by 60%, 30.9%, 18% and 15.4%, respectively. Notably, agricultural products exported to the UAE are not yet subject to taxes, therefore, Vietnamese goods, even without the geographical advantage, can still compete in this market, Trung noted. Furthermore, the UAE is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), so Vietnamese goods exported to the UAE and re-exported to other GCC countries are not subject to double tax. Nguyen Duy Hung from the Vietnam Trade Office in Egypt said agricultural products including tea, pepper, cashew nuts, coconut rice, coffee, and seafood are the main exports of Vietnam to Egypt. However, these products are facing fierce competition from similar goods from other countries. A representative of the Vietnam Trade Office in Nigeria emphasised that as the most populous country in Africa and the fastest-growing consumer market in t he world, Nigeria is a potential market for Vietnamese goods. The country's consumption growth is predicted to surge by 150% to 603 billion USD in 2030 from 240 billion USD in 2023. Nigeria is also forecast to be the world's largest rice importer in 2024 with a total volume of about 2.1 million tonnes. Speakers advised domestic exporters to be cautious in trade transactions with partners in Africa and the Middle East, saying that the risk in payment is the most important issue to pay heed to. Businesses should choose a safe payment method such as a letter of credit (L/C) to avoid fraud, they said./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam spent a total of 4.27 billion USD importing animal feed and raw materials in the first 10 months of this year, down 5.2% year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Customs. In October alone, the import value reached 451.5 million USD, up 7.5% month-on-month and 12.6% year-on-year. With 1.21 billion USD in the January-October period, Argentina was Vietnam's biggest exporter of animal feed and raw materials, accounting for 28.2% of the Southeast Asian country's total import value of these products. It was followed by Brazil (19.1%), and the US (14.1%). In the period, Vietnam spent 261 million USD buying animal feed and raw materials from the Southeast Asian market, down 15% year-on-year./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

The 2023 Vietnam Logistics Forum (VLF) will take place in Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on December 1 and 2, expected to gather about 500 public leaders and officials as well as some 2,000 businessmen and scholars. The information was unveiled at a press conference held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)'s Agency of Foreign Trade in Hanoi on November 23. In its 11th annual edition, the forum, themed "Logistics and Digital Transformation for the Mekong Delta", is set to feature a field trip to Can Tho's ports, and logistics centres and firms, a plenary session, and a thematic discussion. It will also see the release of the Viet Nam Logistics Report 2023. According to Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of the agency, the forum is a tightly connected platform facilitating straightforward dialogues among state management agencies at the central and local levels, associations and businesses operating in the sector. This year's edition is organised against the backdrop of several new developments. Notabl y, the implementation of new free trade agreements (FTAs) such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the EU-Vietnam FTA, the UK-Vietnam FTA, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) requires businesses to make efforts to improve their competitiveness. The forum provides enterprises with an opportunity to access accurate information and actively participate in the development of the state's legal mechanisms and policies related to the logistics industry. Additionally, it assists state management agencies in assessing and authenticating information, enabling them to promptly issue policies that meet the practical requirements of the sector./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Production, export, real estate, and private investment are among the factors which are expected to drive the national economic growth next year. Production and export are strongly recovering thanks to increasing orders, Dinh Quang Hinh, head of the Macro and Market Strategy Department of VNDirect Securities Corporation (VNDS), told Lao dong (Labour) newspaper. He said Vietnam's export revenue is projected to rise 7.5-8.0% in 2024, adding production recovery will also stimulate the demand for the import materials, machines and equipment. Besides, improvements in foreign direct investment in Vietnam in the second half of this year and next will also play a crucial role in the recovery, Hinh continued. The expert pointed out that rosy signs in the industry, employment and wage will boost domestic consumption, referring to the new salary policy to be applied from next July, along with 28 trillion VND (1.15 billion USD) to be spent on new pensions and social insurance benefits. Moreover, the real estate is bouncing back as its legal and financial obstacles are being removed, lending interest rates have been lowered and the corporate bond market heats up, helping clear up capital problems facing real estate developers, he said. Hinh noted his hope that private investment will recover next year thanks to new projects and production scale-up to meet the growing domestic demand and new orders. FiinGroup President Nguyen Quang Thuan, however, noted major risks to the economy in the year due to both intrinsic and extrinsic factors, explaining that the recovery prospects of the economies that are Vietnam's big partners remain uncertain amid high international interest rates. Meanwhile, the domestic real estate would remain 'frozen' longer than expected, he elaborated, citing a forecast by organisations that it will only reboot in mid-2024, without giving specific time. Earlier, the United Overseas Bank (UOB) has maintained its economic growth forecast for Vietnam at 5.2% for 2023 and 6% for 2024 while saying that Vietnam will continue to cut regulatory interest rates in the remaining months of this year to balance economic growth and inflation pressure. The ADB also said Vietnam's economic growth is expected to stay at 5.8% in 2023 and 6.0% in 2024. Standard Chartered Bank maintained robust 2024 GDP growth forecast of 6.7% for Vietnam in its latest macro-economic updates./. Source: Vietnam News Agency