Day: February 17, 2022

The Trade Negotiations Department of Thailand targets concluding the negotiation framework on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU this year and wrapping up FTA negotiations with Turkey and Pakistan.

The department also aims to finish an information paper on the scope of the proposed FTA with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) next month. EFTA comprises Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

According to the department’s Director-General, Auramon Supthaweethum, it is scheduled to submit the information paper on an FTA with EFTA to the cabinet meeting for consideration within the first quarter or early second quarter this year.

EFTA-Thailand trade volume in 2021 stood at 7.51 billion USD, representing 1.39 percent of Thailand’s total trade. Of the total, exports from Thailand accounted for 1.7 billion USD; and imports, 5.81 billion USD.

Auramon said that FTA negotiations between Thailand and the EU are progressing as scheduled, while the department is speeding up FTA talks with Turkey and Pakistan.

Thailand has 14 FTAs with 18 countries, with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which came into force early this year, being the latest trade pact.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam has climbed 14 places to the 62nd in the 2021 Government Artificial Intelligence (AI) Readiness Index, according to an annual index report released by the UK’s Oxford Insights in collaboration with Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

With an overall score of 51.82 out of 100, Vietnam ranked 6th in the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN). This is the first year its score has surpassed the global average of 47.42.

Ly Hoang Tung, deputy head of the High Technology Department under the Ministry of Science and Technology, said the evaluation and construction of the index are based on many factors such as human resources training, technology, application, and especially the emergence of a national strategy on AI.

The report highlighted the importance of national AI strategies, stating that Indonesia and Vietnam have both released their own strategy and scored the maximum point in the 2021 vision.

Indonesia’s AI strategy focuses on health services, bureaucracy reform, education and research, food security, mobility and smart city while Vietnam sets out ambitions to become one of the leading countries in the region in AI research, development and application.

Thirty percent of the countries in the rankings have a national AI strategy, and 9 percent confirm that they are working towards one. According to Chu Van Thang, Australia-Vietnam Innovation Partnership (Aus4Innovation) programme consultant, the increase of investment in new technologies such as AI of some countries including Vietnam is the right decision.

The ranking helps governments improve the delivery of public services, he said.

The indicator is being used as a tool to compare the current state of government AI readiness in countries and regions across the globe.

The US topped the rankings with 88.16 points owing to the size and maturity of its technology sector. Singapore ranked second with 82.46 as a result of its institutional strength and government digital capacity. The other countries in the top five are the United Kingdom, Finland and the Netherlands.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Ho Chi Minh City exported 4.1 billion USD worth of goods in the first month of 2022, surpassing the northern province of Bac Ninh to become the largest export locality in the country, according to the General Department of Customs.

This is the second consecutive month the country’s biggest hub has lead the nation in export turnover.

The department reported that Vietnam’s export turnover in January hit 30.84 billion USD, 2.3 billion USD higher than that of January last year.

The country enjoyed a trade surplus of 1.4 billon USD in the period, it added.

Notably, the export value of a series of farm produce witnessed two-digit growths compared to the same period last year, including seafood (up 34.3 percent), coffee (32 percent), and rice (29 percent).

The US remained one of the biggest importers of Vietnamese goods in the first month of 2021. It bought 1.07 billion USD and 1.85 billion USD worth of phones and components and garment products from Vietnam in the reviewed period, accounting for 25 percent and over 50 percent of Vietnam’s total export value of these commodities, respectively.

Meanwhile, Vietnam mainly imported computers, electronic products and components, and other equipment and accessories from China and the Republic of Korea.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Though growth of agriculture cannot compete with that of industry and its contribution to the economy remains relatively small, it plays a huge role in maintaining social stability, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan told a press conference on February 17.

The event was held to announce the official launch of the strategy for sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas from 2021 – 2030, with a vision to 2050.

With a long-term vision, the strategy does not only address the sector’s current issues but also keep up with global trends, for example, green consumption, Hoan remarked.

The strategy aims to provide foundation for the sector’s restructuring, he said, stressing agriculture must adopt new ways of thinking to transform the sector from production to economy and to improve products’ value and diversification.

The sector is going towards a green agriculture and eco-agriculture through the adoption of advanced technologies and efficient use of inputs and natural resources, without harming the environment and human health, the minister noted.

The strategy for sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas for 2021 – 2030, with a vision to 2050 was approved by Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh earlier this month.

The overall goal is to develop cash crop cultivation based on local advantages; oriented towards high productivity, quality, effectiveness, sustainability, and competitiveness; firmly guaranteeing national food security; and substantially helping with socio-economic stability, natural disaster and epidemic prevention and control, climate change response, and effective implementation of international commitments on greenhouse gas emission reduction.

Among the detailed targets for 2030, agriculture – forestry – fisheries are expected to achieve GDP growth of 2.5 – 3 percent, an increase of 5.5 – 6 percent in labour productivity, and exports rise of 5 – 6 percent each year on average.

Besides, the strategy looks to raise rural residents’ income by 2.5 – 3 folds from 2020, bring down the multidimensional household poverty rate by 1 – 1.5 percent annually, reduce the percentage of agricultural workers to less than 20 percent of the total workers in society, and increase the rate of trained agricultural workers to over 70 percent.

It also targets at least 90 percent of the communes nationwide recognised as new-style rural areas, environmentally friendly agriculture adapted to climate change, and greenhouse gas emissions down 10 percent from 2020.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

All major mobility indicators in Vietnam rose sharply ahead of the Tet celebration as vaccination coverage surpassed 73 percent of the population, according to the World Bank (WB).

The bank said in its Vietnam Macro Monitoring in February that industrial production continued to grow, though at a slower pace and with mixed performance across sub-sectors while retail sales posted the first positive year-over-year growth rate since the COVID-19 outbreak starting in late April 2021.

Retail sales in January grew by 6.7 percent month-on-month and 1.3 percent year-on-year.

This recovery was fueled by strengthening consumer demand, particularly for goods as households prepared for Tet celebration. Indeed, sales of retail sales grew by 7.0 percent month-on-month and 4.3 percent year-on-year. Sales of services also increased by 5.2 percent month-on-month but was still 2.2 percent lower than a year ago.

Merchandise trade posted a surplus of 1.4 billion USD despite a slowdown in exports growth. Merchandise exports growth moderated to 8.1 percent year-on-year in January 2022 from 25.1 percent year-on-year in December 2021 while imports growth remained strong at 11.3 percent year-on-year.

This export deceleration reflected a sharp drop in exports of phones (down 26.1 percent year-on-year) and significant slowdown in other major exports, particularly computers, electronics, and machinery.

On the other hand, growth of textiles and garment exports remained strong, accelerating from 27.7 percent year-on-year in December 2021 to 34.4 percent year-on-year largely thanks to strong demand from the US.

By trading partners, exports to the US remained robust, expanding by 19.4 percent year-on-year while exports to China dropped by 15.2 percent year-on-year, reflecting the decline in exports of phones and computers to this market.

Vietnam attracted 2.1 billion USD of FDI commitment in January, up 4.2 percent year-on-year. Growth was driven by large investment in expansion of existing businesses, particularly in electronics and by active MandA activities. The latter doubled in value in January 2022 compared to a year ago, reaching over 400 million USD (or 20 percent of total FDI commitment).

Manufacturing continued to make up nearly 60 percent of total commitment, followed by real estates (22.5 percent). The disbursement of approved FDI projects continued to recover from their slump in the third quarter of 2021, increasing by 6.8 percent year-on-year in January 2022.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 1.9 percent year-on-year, comparable to the rates recorded at the end of 2021.

Credit growth accelerated to meet credit demand ahead of the Tet holiday, the bank said.

According to the bank, under the new Economic Recovery Support Programme for 2022-23 was launched in January 2022, overall planned on-budget fiscal measures are an estimated 4.5 percent of revised GDP. The VAT rate has been cut from 10 percent to 8 percent for most sub-sectors.

WB experts recommended that the programme should be enhanced through adding further social protection measures to support workers and households affected by the pandemic. Additionally, close monitoring of the programme implementation would help ensure its intended impact is achieved.

Vigilance on the financial sector is also warranted, given the potential impact of the crisis on the quality of bank portfolio and the spillover effects of the expected increases in interest rates by the US.

Source: Vietnam News Agency