Day: September 29, 2021

Vietnam’s GDP is expected to expand by about 4.8 percent in 2021, and the economy could converge toward the pre-pandemic GDP growth rate of 6.5 to 7 percent from 2022 onward, the World Bank has forecast.

In its East Asia and Pacific Fall 2021 Economic Update released on September 28, the bank said a sustained global recovery would ensure strong demand for Vietnamese products in its main export markets like the US, EU, and China.

According to the bank, aside from the second social protection support package, the government is considering tax relief to support businesses.

Fiscal policy would become more supportive with faster execution of public investment, especially once mobility restrictions are rolled back, it said. Given available fiscal space, the government should deploy further resources to mitigate adverse social impacts, the bank said, suggesting Vietnam pursue the goals of green growth and digitalisation to raise the resilience and sustainability of its economy.

In its September 2021 Vietnam Macro Monitoring, the bank also said the foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow suggests continued confidence in Vietnam’s economy.

WB experts explained that Vietnam’s economy still grew 2.9 percent last year against serious decreases seen in other countries.

Earlier, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) revised down Vietnam’s 2021 GDP growth forecast from 6.7 percent to 3.8 percent due to a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic that has tightened the labour market, lowered industrial output, and disrupted agricultural value chains.

ADB remains bullish on the country’s prospects in the medium and long term. Growth could be aided by a revival of domestic demand, an acceleration in the disbursement of public investment, and an expansion to new export markets thanks to multiple free trade agreements and the expected global economic recovery. For the East Asia and Pacific region, the WB said its recovery has been undermined by the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant, prolonging the distress for firms and households, likely slowing economic growth and increasing inequality.

Economic activity began to slow down in the second quarter of 2021, and growth forecasts have been downgraded for most countries in the region.

While China’s economy is projected to expand by 8.5 percent, the rest of the region is forecast to grow at 2.5 percent, nearly 2 percentage points less than forecast in April 2021. Employment rates and labor force participation have dropped, and as many as 24 million people will not be able to escape poverty in 2021.

“The economic recovery of developing East Asia and Pacific faces a reversal of fortune,” said World Bank Vice President for East Asia and Pacific Manuela Ferro. “Whereas in 2020 the region contained COVID-19 while other regions of the world struggled, the rise in COVID-19 cases in 2021 has decreased growth prospects for 2021. However, the region has emerged stronger from crises before and with the right policies could do so again.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc hailed efforts made by the Ministry of Public Security’s undercover police force to fight crimes while attending a ceremony to mark the force’s 60th founding anniversary on September 29.

Over the past six decades, the force has participated in many major projects contributing to fighting kinds of crimes, absolutetly protecting security and safety for activities of Party and State leaders, as well as key works and important national and international events held in Vietnam.

The force’s outstanding feats and contributions of generations of officers and soldiers over the past 60 years have further enhanced the glorious heroic tradition of the People’s Public Security force, the State leader affirmed.

He expressed his belief that undercover policemen will exert efforts to fulfil all assigned tasks.

On this occasion, President Phuc granted the Fatherland Defence Order, second class, to the undercover police department, and the Feat Order, second class, to Major General Doan Hung Son, director of the department.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue will chair an online working session with a high-ranking delegation from the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC) on September 30, at the suggestion of the council’s President and CEO Ted Osius.

The event will be attended by the council’s President and CEO Ted Osius, Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director Michael Michalak, representatives from the US Embassy in Vietnam, and executives of more than 30 leading multinational corporations in the US.

On the Vietnamese side, besides the NA Chairman, there will be the presence of Chairman of the NA’s Commission for External Relations, General Secretary of the NA and Chief of the NA Office Bui Van Cuong, representatives from NA committees, officials from ministries, central agencies and sectors, and representatives from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Held at the request of the USABC, the session aims to demonstrate the commitment of the US private sector as a reliable partner and resource to Vietnam’s efforts to promote priority goals, particularly in digital transformation and sustainable development.

The working session will also continue to boost economic, trade and investment ties between the two countries through discussions and recommendations from US businesses regarding production and business activities and the building of priority policies, as well as Vietnam’s recommendations on US businesses’ trade, investment activities in the country.

The enforcement of free trade agreements in which Vietnam and the US have related interests such as EVFTA and RCEP will also be tabled.

The USABC is a Washington-based non-profit organisation that aims to foster economic growth and trade ties between the US and ten member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The council’s President and CEO Ted Osius and Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director Michael Michalak were both former US Ambassadors to Vietnam.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 1.42 percent in the first nine months of 2021 from the same period last year, marking a great success of the country in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and maintaining production and business amid the prolonged period of social distancing in many provinces and cities.

Data from the General Statistics Office (GSO) showed that the nation’s GDP declined by 6.17 percent annually in the third quarter, the sharpest drop since Vietnam began announcing its quarterly GDP figures in 2000. Of which, industry and construction contracted by 5.02 percent, services down 9.28 percent, and agro-forestry-fishery down 1.04 percent.

About the use of GDP in the third quarter, consumption was down 2.83 percent year-on-year, asset accumulation up 1.61 percent, exports of goods and services up 2.51 percent, and imports of goods and services moved up 10.75 percent.

The nine-month GDP growth was thanks to the agro-forestry-fishery sector with an expansion rate of 2.74 percent, contributing 23.52 percent to the overall growth; industry and construction with a growth rate of 3.57 percent, contributing 98.53 percent. Meanwhile, services were down 0.69 percent, pulling national growth down by 22.05 percent.

Agro-forestry-fisheries continued to play its role as a mainstay of the economy amid the pandemic. Specifically, agriculture grew by 3.32 percent, contributing 0.31 percentage point to the added value of the economy. Forestry and fisheries each added 0.02 percentage point thanks to their respective expansion rates of 3.3 percent and 0.66 percent.

Meanwhile, industry and construction, manufacturing and processing are growth driving forces of the economy with an expansion of 6.05 percent, contributing 1.53 percentage points to the added value of the entire economy.

The prolonged pandemic badly affected trade and service activities. The wholesale and retail sector fell by 3.1 percent, the transportation and warehousing industry decreased by 7.79 percent and the accommodation and food service industry dropped by 23.18 percent.

The health sector, in contrast, achieved the highest growth rate with a sharp increase of 21.15 percent, followed by the financial, banking and insurance industry with an increase of 8.37 percent and information and communication, up by 5.24 percent.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnam-Australia trade posted growth in 2021 despite the impact of COVID-19, Director of the Asia-Africa Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) Le Hoang Oanh has said.

She made the remark during the third session of a trade working group within the framework of the Ministerial-level Vietnam-Australia Economic Partnership Meeting, which was recently held via videoconference by the MoIT.

The growth was attributed to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), to which the two countries are signatories, she added.

Ridwaan Jadwat, First Assistant Secretary at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade affirmed that Vietnam is an important trade and investment partner of Australia, hoping to tighten the bilateral relations.

Amid the complex developments of COVID-19, the two nations need to bolster cooperation so as to devise suitable strategies to surmount difficulties, he underlined.

Two-way trade surpassed 8 billion USD in the first eight months of 2021, posting a year-on-year increase of 50.7 percent, thereby making Australia among ten leading trade partners of Vietnam.

However, as Vietnam recorded a trade deficit of nearly 2.5 billion USD in the period, the two countries need to foster bilateral trade development in a more balanced and sustainable manner.

At present, Vietnam’s shipments of fresh shrimp and fruits to Australia remain stagnant, although the exports of such products have been tabled during the working group’s 2020 session as well as meetings of the countries’ ministers.

Oanh urged the Australian side to speed up procedures to grant permission to Vietnam’s fresh shrimp to enter Australia and provide Vietnam with technical support in terms of disease prevention in shrimp farming.

In addition, Vietnam hopes that Australia will soon complete necessary steps to open its door for passion fruit from the Southeast Asian nation, paving the way for its other fruits like rambutan and star apple.

The Vietnamese side also called on its Australian counterpart to closely work with the former’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to allow the use of alternatives to glyphosate in lilium cultivation before exporting to Australia.

At the event, the countries agreed to promote investment in mining, as it is viewed as a strategic field of potential and supplementary, especially of charcoal, iron and liquefied natural gas.

Given numerous firms of Vietnam are keen on investing in Australia in such fields, the Vietnamese side asked to receive information and regulations in mining for foreign investors, which the Australian side agreed.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam’s trade turnover in the first nine months of this year reached 483.17 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 24.4 percent, according to the General Statistics Office.

In September alone, the import-export turnover attained 53.5 billion USD, down 2 percent compared to the previous month but up 4.2 percent against the same period last year.

Vietnam shipped 240.52 billion USD worth of goods abroad in the first nine months of 2021, up 18.8 percent year-on-year. The domestic sector contributed 62.72 billion USD and the FDI sector (including crude oil) 177.8 billion USD, increasing 8.5 and 22.8 percent annually, respectively.

During the period, 31 products recorded an export value of over 1 billion USD each and together they accounted for 92.5 percent of the nation’s total export.

The export of the group of processed industrial products reeled in 214 billion USD, an increase of 19.5 percent from the same period last year. It was followed by agricultural and forestry products with 17.7 billion USD (up 17.6 percent) and aquatic products 6.17 billion USD (up 2.4 percent).

The US remained the biggest export market of Vietnam, spending 69.8 billion USD on imports of Vietnamese products, a year-on-year rise of 27.6 percent. China came second with 38.5 billion USD, up 18.3 percent. The EU and ASEAN followed with 28.8 billion USD and 20.6 billion USD, increasing by 11.6 percent and 21.2 percent, respectively.

The import turnover in the nine-month period reached 242.65 billion USD, a hike of 30.5 percent compared to the same period last year. Of which, domestic businesses imported 83.72 billion USD worth of goods, up 25 percent, while FDI enterprises made up the majority with 158.93 billion USD, an increase of 33.6 percent.

Source: Vietnam News Agency