Day: October 2, 2021

Vietnam’s stock market mobilised total capital of 292.1 trillion VND (12.8 billion USD) in the first nine months of this year, up 12 percent compared to the previous year.

On the stock market, as of September 24, the VN-Index had reached 1,351.17 points, an increase of 1.5 percent compared to the end of the previous month and up by 22.4 percent compared to the end of 2020. Market capitalisation reached 6.9 quadrillion VND, up 30.6 percent compared to the end of 2020.

In September 2021, the average trading value reached 27.6 trillion VND per session, down 4 percent compared to the previous month. In the first nine months of 2021, the average trading value on the market reached 24 trillion VND per session, up 224 percent compared to the average in 2020.

By the end of August 2021, the market had 737 stock codes and fund certificates listed on two Stock Exchanges and 901 stock codes trading on the UPCoM with a total value of 1.6 quadrillion VND, an increase of 7.6 percent compared to the end of 2020.

On the bond market, by the end of August, there were 435 bond codes with a listed value of more than 1.4 quadrillion VND, an increase of 2.9 percent compared to the end of 2020. The average trading value on the bond market in September reached 9.7 trillion VND per session, up 15 percent compared to the previous month.

In the first nine months, the average trading value reached 10.94 trillion VND per session, up 5.3 percent compared to the average in 2020.

On the derivatives market, which runs on the large-cap VN30-Index and government bonds, the average trading volume reached 156,531 contracts per session in September, down 38 percent from the previous month.

In the first 9 months, the average trading volume reached 207,171 contracts per session, up 32 percent compared to the average of the previous year.

As of September 17, 2021, open interest volume (OI) reached 30,657 contracts, an increase of 1 percent compared to the end of the previous month and a decrease of 24 percent compared to the end of 2020.

For covered warrant products, the average trading volume in September 2021 reached 19.85 million warrants per session, an increase of 95 percent compared to the previous month. Average trading value reached 42.7 billion VND per session, up 51 percent.

In the first 9 months, the average trading volume of covered warrant reached 18.78 million warrants per session, an increase of 59 percent compared to the previous year’s average; average trading value reached 81.3 billion VND per session, up 276 percent.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam and the US have reached an agreement on illegal logging and timber trade that will avoid hefty tariffs on Vietnamese timber exports, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The deal was inked by MARD Minister Le Minh Hoan and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai on October 1.

In October 2020, the US Trade Representative (USTR) launched an investigation into Vietnam’s timber exports under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act.

The agreement addresses US concerns in the Vietnam Timber Section 301 investigation.

Ambassador Tai determined that the Agreement provides a satisfactory resolution of the matter subject to investigation and that no trade action is warranted at this time, the USTR said. The agreement will contribute to improving the prestige of Vietnam’s timber sector and creating a foundation for the country’s sustainable forestry development. It also demonstrates Vietnam’s responsibility in building, issuing and implementing legal regulations, ensuring the legal timber origin in line with relevant regulations of international treaties to which Vietnam is a member.

The US side spoke highly of the agreement, saying “Vietnam will provide a model – both for the Indo-Pacific region and globally – for comprehensive enforcement against illegal timber.”

Currently, the US is the biggest market for Vietnamese wood products, representing an estimated 7.4 billion USD last year, about half of the country’s total. In the first eight months of this year the number stood at 6.4 billion USD, up 58.8 percent year-on-year.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Domestic flights began to officially resume on October 1 under a four-phase plan outlined by the Ministry of Transport, which is applied in localities with relaxed COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

In the first phase, to be carried within 10 days, airlines would resume air routes with a flight frequency not exceeding half that in the first 10 days of April, the time before the fourth coronavirus wave broke out in Vietnam. Seats on the planes must be distanced as well.

In the second phase, to last for no more than 10 days, the frequency would be increased to not exceed 70 percent. No seat distancing is required.

The third phase would see the flight frequency return to the level as seen in the first 10 days of April (but not exceeding it), with no seat distancing required.

The final phase would see airlines resume activities as normal.

Air routes that had only one flight a day even pre-pandemic can resume operations as normal in the first and second phases, with seat distancing required.

Passengers must follow the “5K message”, make health declaration, and present a negative COVID-19 test result issued within 72 hours before departure.

However, the passengers who got the first shot three weeks ago, or those who were fully vaccinated or recovered from the disease within six months are exempt from COVID-19 testing.

The Ministry of Transport requested airlines to offer hand sanitisers to passengers, ask them to wear masks during the flight, and disinfect high-contact surfaces of planes such as door handles and seats after each flight.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnamese Embassy in Chile, in collaboration with Recoleta District authority in Santiago capital, the Chile-Vietnam Cultural Friendship Institute, and the Chilean artists’ association, has organised a painting exhibition to mark the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam-Chile diplomatic ties (1971-2021).

On display are winning works of the painting contest on Vietnam – Chile: 50 years of friendship launched by the embassy. The works feature images on President Ho Chi Minh and the relations between the two countries.

Addressing the event held on September 30, Vietnamese Ambassador to Chile Pham Truong Giang emphasised that the traditional friendship over the past 50 years is the fruitful result of generations of leaders and people of the two countries, and expressed his delight at new steps of developments between the two countries in various fields.

He said the expansion of cultural exchanges will contribute to enhancing mutual understanding and tightening the friendship between Vietnam and Chile.

The Ambassador highly appreciated the response and participation of Chilean artists, and thanked local agencies and organisations for their coordination in organising the painting contest about the friendship between the two countries.

Representatives of Recoleta District authority, the Institute of Culture and the Chilean artists’ association spoke highly of the Embassy’s initiative to launch the contest with the warm response of nearly 100 Chilean artists.

Painter Francisco Sandoval Cornejo, on behalf of the contest’s winners, said the image of President Ho Chi Minh and the unyielding spirit of Vietnamese people left a deep impression on the mind of many Chileans, especially the generation born and grown up in the 1950s-1960s

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has sketched out two scenarios for economic growth, Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Phuong told the press conference following the Government’s regular meeting in Hanoi on October 2.

Accordingly, to meet a growth rate of 3 percent for the entire year, the national economy must expand at least 7.06 percent in the fourth quarter of this year. Meanwhile, to fulfil the yearly target of 3.5 percent, the quarterly growth is set at 8.84 percent.

The economic performance in the last quarter depends greatly on the implementation of the strategy on safe adaptation to the COVID-19 pandemic, Phuong stressed.

Businesses should restore their operations, even reaching only 80 percent of their capacity, to spur the economic growth, Phuong said, expressing his hope that the quarterly target of 7 percent would be completed.

Regarding transport activities, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong said the ministry has consulted relevant ministries, agencies and localities to put forth guidance on passenger transportation, which was issued on September 30 and took effect as from October 1.

The provisional guidance on passenger transport by road, rail, inland waterway, sea and air is based on risk classifications in different areas.

Public transport activities in very high risk localities (red zones) are not allowed to operate, except for taxi and app-based vehicles that offer less than nine seats and use vehicle partition and electronic payment.

For localities in high risk or orange zones, public vehicles can only carry half their designed capacity.

Public transport can resume operation as normal in low- and medium-risk localities and regions (green and yellow zones).

All passengers must comply with the 5K message, medical declaration, negative SARS-CoV-2 test (using RT-PCR or rapid antigen test) within 72 hours.

No testing is required for people who have received one jab or fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 within six months.

Drivers and staff must comply with the 5K message, medical declaration, test for SARS-CoV-2 by PCR or rapid antigen test after developing suspected symptoms.

In medium and high-risk localities, they must be tested for SARS-CoV-2 frequently (once every week).

Drivers in very high-risk areas must have received two COVID-19 jabs or recovered from COVID-19 within six months and have a negative SARS-CoV-2 test result within 72 hours by RT-PCR or rapid antigen test.

Provincial People’s Committees will grant permits for road passenger transport activities depending on the pandemic situation in each locality.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam will also adjust the frequency of operations in phases depending on the actual situation.

Source: Vietnam News Agency