Day: October 15, 2021

Two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Canada increased by 12.8 percent last year and 28.5 percent in the first seven months of this year, reflecting a reliable and complementary trading partnership, Vietnamese Ambassador to Canada Pham Cao Phong has said.

He made the statement at a seminar entitled “Vietnam-Canada Supply Chains Cooperation: Present and Future” held in both virtual and in-person forms on October 15. It aimed to explore opportunities to foster collaboration between Vietnamese and Canadian companies in supply chains in the current and post-COVID era.

The Vietnamese diplomat said the friendship and the growing cooperative relationship between Vietnam and Canada provide a firm foundation for a reliable and sustainable supply chain.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), of which Vietnam and Canada are founding members, offers tax incentives for trading in both consumer goods and raw materials. This factor creates favourable conditions for trade, providing goods, services and materials for production lines in the context of the turbulent global economic environment, ensuring human and economic security of the two countries, Phong said.

Echoed the opinion of Phong, Senator Victor Oh emphasised that although the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected global trade, statistics show trade ties between Vietnam and Canada remain firm, proving that there are still growth opportunities to explore. Since 2015, Vietnam has been Canada’s largest trading partner in ASEAN. Canada has removed 94 percent of the total tariff lines on goods importing from Vietnam within the framework of CPTPP, and Vietnam has abolished 66 percent of tariff lines on Canadian goods.

Jay Allen, Executive Director for the Trade Policy and Negotiations – Asia Division at Global Affairs Canada (GAC) said the CPTPP is a great success for businesses as well as consumers in Vietnam and Canada. Given the two countries’ deep ties, trade cooperation has just begun, he said.

Ambassador Phong recommended that in order to adapt to the new normal situation in the post-COVID-19 period, businesses of the two countries need to further discuss the establishment of a common governance support centre, the B2B model ( transaction conducting between two companies), research and development (R&D), after-sales service, digitisation and digital security.

With a GDP growth rate of 1.42 percent in the first nine months of this year, Vietnam is an attractive destination for investment and business activities thanks to its political and macroeconomic stability as well as dynamic and abundant human resources.

As a founding member of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Vietnam can act as a bridge for Canadian businesses to reach a market of 2.2 billion people, or almost 30 percent of the world’s population, with a combined GDP of 26.2 trillion USD or about 30 percent of global GDP. In the opposite direction, Canada can be a door for Vietnamese goods to penetrate the US and Mexican markets – members of the new North American Free Trade Agreement.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A seminar on promoting the involvement of pioneering enterprises in natural disaster prevention and control, and response to climate change and epidemics was held in Hanoi on October 15.

Co-organised by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Vietnam Disaster Management Authority (VNDMA), the event aimed to respond to International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (October 13) in order to review the impacts of natural disasters, climate change and epidemics on Vietnamese businesses, as well as policy impacts on the role of enterprises in the field.

In his opening speech, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in Vietnam Partrick Haveman said UNDP together with relevant agencies have encouraged technical working and research groups, organisations and business associations to acquire new initiatives to help businesses improve their resilience to shocks like COVID-19 and mitigate the impacts of disasters and epidemics.

Citing the World Bank’s report on the role of the Vietnamese firms in disaster prevention and climate change response, Head of the VCCI’s Legal Affairs Department Dau Anh Tuan said Vietnam is one of the countries hardest hit by extreme weather. Economic losses caused by natural disasters could amount to nearly 1.5 percent of its annual gross domestic product and could keep rising in the future, he said.

Agriculture suffers the most consequences of natural disasters while newly-established firms are also the most vulnerable to climate change. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, up to 71 percent of companies reported year-on-year decline in revenues this year, Tuan said.

According to the official, 63 percent of joint ventures and 49 percent of foreign-invested enterprises have actively joined in efforts to overcome consequences caused by natural disasters. Therefore, the building of a national strategy on disaster prevention and control as well as the role of business community is needed at present.

VNDMA Deputy General Director Nguyen Van Tien said Vietnam has been one of the five countries hardest hit by climate change over the past three decades. Each year, natural disasters leave about 400 dead and missing and cause economic losses of 1-1.5 percent of the GDP.

Since the beginning of this year, calamities have left more than 100 dead and injured, collapsed hundreds of houses and damaged 8,000 houses across the country, he added.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam’s electric vehicle index (EVI) has been announced for the first time, aiming to help enterprises in the value chain make decisions on production and business.

The Vietnam Petroleum Institute (VPI) built and unveiled the index on October 14 after consulting domestic and foreign experts.

According to the institute, policies, strategies and technological development are unstable and unpredictable elements that have great impacts on the development of the electric vehicle (EV) market.

The VPI has used various signposts to assess the domestic EV market.

Vietnam’s EVI in the third quarter of this year reached 1.6 out of 5 points based on the signposts of policies, the network of charging stations, ownership costs, clients’ liking, GDP per capita, technology and the regional EV market.

The VPI said Vietnam has potential to develop the EV market as the country’s car ownership rate is 23/1,000, only one tenth of the rate in Thailand and one twentieth of Malaysia.

Although Vietnam is yet to build a roadmap or targets on EV development, it has issued several incentives to reduce EV ownership costs.

VinFast, a Vietnamese automotive manufacturer established in 2017, has announced that it will unveil two of its latest EV models at the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show, marking an important milestone in VinFast’s global expansion plan.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Despite the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected the production and trade of businesses, the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang remains an attractive investment hub for domestic and foreign investors.

The province has so far attracted 817 projects with total capital of 539.5 trillion VND (23.7 billion USD), including 55 FDI projects with over 2.7 billion USD.

Kien Giang ranked 20th among 63 provinces and cities and the second among 13 cities and provinces in the Mekong Delta in terms of registered FDI capital.

As many as 374 projects have been put into operation, accounting for 45.78 percent of the total projects with a total investment of 63 trillion VND.

To gain the above-mentioned achievements, the province has directed agencies and localities to carry numerous solutions such as strengthening administrative reform, streamlining procedures, especially those relating to enterprise registration, investment, natural resources, construction, tax and customs.

The investment environment has been improved and favourable conditions have been created for enterprises to manufacture and trading effectively.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The US Consulate General in HCM City on October 15 awarded a 2.96 million USD grant to AMI AC Renewables to construct a battery energy storage system pilot project in Vietnam.

The project will use cutting-edge American technology and equipment to demonstrate how advanced energy storage can reduce power losses and help Vietnam integrate greater renewable energy into its power system. It will be built and integrated into a 50MW solar farm operated by AMI AC Renewables in Khanh Hoa province.

“We are pleased to support Vietnam’s efforts to expand renewable energy generation, and reduce reliance on coal,” said Marie C. Damour, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. for the US Mission to Vietnam at the signing ceremony during the US-Vietnam Energy Security Dialogue.

“This project will show how cutting-edge US energy storage technology can advance these goals and accelerate Vi?t Nam’s transition to a clean energy economy for a climate-resilient future,” Damour said.

“We’re delighted to be entrusted by the US Consulate General to pilot and spearhead battery energy storage systems in Vi?t Nam,” said Nguyen Nam Thang, CEO of AMI AC Renewables. “Our solar plant in Khanh Hoa province is an ideal place to demonstrate how energy storage can help Vietnam reach its full renewable energy potential.”

Energy storage is the key to unlock the potential of renewables and is a vital component of the energy transition. The project comes after a study funded by the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to examine the feasibility of deploying advanced energy storage technologies in Vietnam.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

More than 100 leading brands of Vietnam in 2021 were honoured during a ceremony held in Hanoi by the VnEconomy – Vietnam Economic Times on October 13.

The event aimed to hail the efforts, strong will and resilience of businesses and entrepreneurs who have faced the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic using initiatives and digital transformation solutions. These help firms actively adapt to the pandemic and maintain their production and business activities while ensuring the welfare of their employees and promoting social, corporate responsibility.

The honoured 109 firms operate in various economic sectors such as banking and financial services, real estate, digital services and consumer retail.

Launched in 2003, the leading brand vote receives an enthusiastic response from the business community across the country. Thousands of firms have been honoured so far.

The programme focuses on honouring the Vietnamese business community, different fields and economic sectors, with typical strong brands selected on clear, focused and appropriate criteria.

Speaking at the event, President of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations Phan Xuan Dung highly appreciated the Vietnam Economic Times for hosting the event.

On the occasion of Vietnam Entrepreneurs’ Day (October 13), he extended his congratulations to the successful enterprises, who have overcome challenges to achieve breakthroughs in their operation over the past two years.

He said enterprises are the main force of the economy and the programme has special value and meaning as Vietnam’s economy and the economies of many countries in the world are weakening

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The YUME Art Project has launched a campaign calling upon youth to tell their stories about Cai luong (reformed opera) on social network platforms.

Sponsored by the British Council, the campaign targets people aged between 15 and 35 with interest in traditional art, with entries in forms of podcasts, videos, photos, and graphic designs submitted from October 1 to November 15.

Voting for these submissions opens from October 15 to December 7.

The results awarding entries in terms of materials, creativity, communications, and public voting will be announced on December 23, with the highest prize valued at 2.5 million VND (109.76 USD) Cai luong is the convergence of southern Vietnamese folk songs, classical music, tuong (traditional opera) and modern spoken drama.

About 100 years ago, authors like Ho Bieu Chanh and Dang Thuc Lieng introduced Cai luong to the public. Chanh and his friend set up cai luong troupes that staged performances across Sai Gon (now Ho Chi Minh City) and Mekong Delta provinces. The birth of the art had enriched people’s spiritual life, becoming the most popular art genre at that time, especially during the 1960s.

Between 1975 and 1990, Ho Chi Minh City was home to more than 20 Cai luong troupes that performed at 15 theatres, with each attracting thousands of audiences each night.

Cai luong was the first traditional Vietnamese art genre that had been introduced in Paris in the first half of the 20th century. During the wars against French and American forces, it served as a spiritual weapon, helping to encourage people to join revolutionary movements, particularly in southern provinces.

Source: Vietnam News Agency