Day: February 19, 2022

Vietnam has carried out many international cooperation activities related to seas and islands over the past time, reflecting its viewpoint that they must be in line with its external policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, diversification and multilateralisation as well as guaranteeing the legitimate rights and interests of the nation and Vietnamese people.

Deputy General Director of the Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands (VASI) Nguyen Que Lam said that the administration is submitting to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) for approval a project on developing a vessel fleet specialising in marine survey and research; a project on surveying and assessing the resilience capacity and ecological system of coastal areas for sustainable economic development and active response to environmental incidents and natural disasters; and a project on surveying natural conditions of key islands for exploitation, socio-economic development and defence security protection.

The VASI also directed its subordinate units to well implement a project on cooperation in research on environmental management of sea and islands in the Gulf of Tonkin between Vietnam and China.

Vietnam’s plan to proactively prepare for and take part in the building of a global agreement on ocean plastic pollution approved by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on August 16 last year showed that Vietnam seriously complies with the obligations related to the reduction and management of ocean plastic waste which is part of the international frameworks to which the country is a member.

The nation will strengthen control of marine pollution, effectively carry out a plastic value chain management strategy along with enhancing the recycling of plastic waste.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha also affirmed that green growth and the development of the circular and digital economy will become popular in the post-COVID-19 world. Accordingly, one of the dominant activities of the ministry this year will be intensifying international cooperation, especially those relating to climate and environment, exploiting transboundary water and marine resources.

Internal resources will be promoted along with taking advantage of international support to fulfill Vietnam’s commitments. The business community, organisations and individuals will be encouraged to pour capital into developing the circular economy.

According to Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Le Minh Ngan, in addition to finalising the national marine spatial planning scheme and the national master planning for sustainable and use of coastal natural resources for 2021-2030 with a vision to 2045, it is necessary for the VASI to speed up the implementation of approved projects which are developed with some international organisations and promote collaborative projects with countries that have long-term marine cooperation ties with Vietnam, including France, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Sweden.

The administration will expand relations with multilateral and bilateral partners, actively participate and contribute to the joint efforts of the international community in the conservation and sustainable use of seas and oceans, he said.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned goals, the VASI Deputy General Director said the administration will continue to fulfill the assigned tasks, promote creativity, create a healthy working environment and speed up the application of information technology in its management. The VASI will proactively recommend the MONRE to strengthen the coordination between the ministry and relevant agencies in the management of seas and islands.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam’s stock market is expected to grow further this year as the Government has increased public investment, creating a premise for long-term growth.

Given this, investment based on the economy’s recovery has been opted by many experts this year.

HSBC Global Research has forecast that the VN-Index will reach 1,850 points in 2022 as the prospects of Vietnam’s stock market remain positive this year as well as in the long term.

James Estaugh, head of Securities Services at HSBC Vietnam, highlighted a new trading system provided by the Korean Exchange, expected to be put in place this year.

“The new technology will be capable of facilitating significant increases in trading volume and resolve system congestion… [at the same time] it will also provide the infrastructure to launch new products such as intraday trading, sale of receivable shares, and non-voting depository receipts (NVDRs), etc. which will attract new and increased foreign investment,” he said.

Michael Kokalari, Chief Economist of VinaCapital, said in the “Looking Ahead at 2022” report that Vietnam’s economy will benefit from positive factors and recovery in different sectors.

“We expect Vietnam’s GDP growth to surge from 2.6 percent in 2021 to 7-7.5 percent in 2022 and believe that the country’s economic growth could even exceed 7.5 percent this year,” he said.

“We expect another very good year for Vietnam’s stock market following the 37 percent increase in USD terms (or 35.7 percent in VND terms) of the VN-Index (VNI) last year.”

According to the chief economist, VinaCapital’s current investment strategy remains focused on identifying stocks and sectors that benefit from the economic recovery that is already underway in Vietnam, including consumer discretionary, financials, real estate and materials stocks.

In addition, Vietnam’s long-term growth drivers have remained intact despite the COVID-19, so VinaCapital also continues to focus on stocks and sectors that are beneficiaries of FDI inflows, infrastructure development, clean energy, and digitisation.

“We are particularly focused on the banking sector (which has a circa 30 percent weighting in the VN-Index), property (which has a 25 percent weighting), and consumer discretionary stocks (which have a circa 3 percent weighting) – but should benefit from both cyclical and secular tailwinds this year.”

Banks’ earnings are likely to grow by about 30 percent this year, driven by 14 percent credit growth, and Vietnam’s banks to be less impacted by COVID-19 in 2022.

“Next, we expect the earnings of real estate companies to grow by nearly 25 percent in 2022, driven by a near-doubling of sales/pre-sales of new housing units by property developers following a drop of more than 50 percent in 2021.”

He said VinaCapital expects the growth of real retail sales in Vietnam (i.e., excluding inflation) to surge from a 6.2 percent drop in 2021 to 5 percent growth in 2022, versus consistent 8-9 percent annual growth pre-COVID.

Truong Hien Phuong, senior director of KIS Securities Vietnam, said such sectors as banking, securities and oil and gas will continue to attract capital this year.

Meanwhile, others like construction will benefit from the Government’s policy aiming to boost public investment.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Australia has delivered 3.6 million Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses to Vietnam over recent weeks through a procurement agreement with UNICEF and in partnership with Vietnam’s Ministry of Health, according to a press release from the Australian Embassy on February 19.

The last batch of 2.2 million doses arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on February 19.

This delivery completes Australia’s commitment to share 7.8 million COVID-19 vaccine doses with Vietnam. In addition to the Pfizer doses procured through UNICEF, Australia has shared 4.2 million AstraZeneca doses from its own supply since August last year.

Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Robyn Mudie welcomed the delivery, saying that Australia was a close friend and partner of Vietnam and that the two would continue to “unite in our shared fight against COVID-19.”

“Vietnam has made tremendous progress with its COVID-19 vaccine rollout and I am proud that Australia could contribute towards this important work. It is critical to saving lives and boosting economic recovery.”

UNICEF Representative Rana Flowers in Vietnam said: “We are grateful to the Government of Australia for sharing these life-saving vaccine doses with the Vietnamese people. Vietnam has proven itself highly efficient in the safe delivery of vaccines, ensuring that these are utilised effectively.”

“These vaccines will help Vietnam in its effort to reach all, extending to children and ensuring the rollout of booster doses. All of which contributes to a reduction in the severity of disease experienced, and importantly protects hospitals and the health workers from being overwhelmed”.

The Pfizer doses were purchased with UNICEF’s support through Australia’s 60 million AUD package of support for Vietnam’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

Australia is also partnering with UNICEF to ensure vaccine distribution is safe, effective and equitable. The Australia-UNICEF partnership has bolstered the national COVID-19 vaccination campaign, supporting the delivery of 1,910 refrigerators to hard-to-reach communes, healthcare worker training, and communications campaigns.

Australia’s vaccine dose deliveries and the package of support make it one of Vietnam’s top partners supporting the national COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The information that a flight from Japan to Vietnam had to return on February 17 night as it was denied entry was not correct, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

A representative of the CAAV told the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) on February 18 that many flights to northern airports on February 17 night could not land due to thick fog.

A passenger flight operated by Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) departing from Narita airport was planned to land at Da Nang airport in central Da Nang city or Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City if it could not land at Noi Bai airport in Hanoi as scheduled.

The selection of the alternate airport would be decided by the flight crew after consulting the air traffic controller.

Many flights had to be diverted and landed at the Da Nang airport on February 17 night, preventing it from receiving no more flights. The fight from Japan, therefore, should be diverted to the Tan Son Nhat airport.

However, public security officers at the Tan Son Nhat airport told the CAAV that they had not received any suggestion for entry from airlines for their diverted flights although the airport still could handle them.

“We think that the captain and the carrier decided themselves to return to Japan,” the representative said.

The CAAV has been contacting the ANA representative at the Tan Son Nhat airport to verify the information, but yet to receive its response.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Samsung Electronics has confirmed that it has relocated two smartphone production lines of its business partners from Vietnam’s northern Thai Nguyen province to its Gumi plant in North Gyeongsang province of the Republic of Korea (RoK).

The move aimed to avoid uncertainty in overseas manufacturing bases amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which would affect the operations of its smartphone factory in Vietnam, the group explained.

In late August and September 2021, Samsung Electronics moved two smartphone production lines in Vietnam to the Gumi plant to ensure stable production of foldable smartphones.

However, the measure was not to increase smartphone production capacity or move Samsung Electronics’ production base to the RoK, it said.

Its Gumi manufacturing base in the RoK is the only smartphone line on home turf. It produces high-end handsets, such as foldable models and Galaxy S series, for the Korean market.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The industrial real estate sector is considered a bright spot this year, and property businesses with industrial parks are expected to benefit from increased demand and rental prices.

According to SSI Securities Inc., public investment in improving the infrastructure connecting industrial parks is promoting recovery of demand of rented land in the industrial parks.

Infrastructure projects that will create convenient traffic connecting industrial parks include the expressway projects of Bien Hoa – Vung Tau, Dau Giay – Phan Thiet, North – South, Thi Vai – Cai Mep port and Gemalink port.

Cushman and Wakefield, a leading global real estate services firm, reported Vietnam continues to be an attractive destination for industrial real estate investors due to a stable growth rate, an export-oriented economy, an increase in free trade agreements, a young workforce, preferential investment policies and strategic location.

With favourable government incentives, competitive labour costs, a stable political environment, a positive economic outlook and free trade agreements, Vietnam has also become favoured by foreign investors moving out of other countries.

To seize this opportunity, in early 2022, information about the expansion of the land fund has been announced by listed companies.

IDICO Corporation – JSC (IDC) has targeted to complete the entire site clearance at the Huu Thanh Industrial Park in Long An province this year. The industrial park has completed site clearance of over 91 percent of the total area with 150 hectares ready for lease.

In addition, high land rent in industrial parks will also aid the growth of industrial park real estate enterprises in the future.

The Sonadezi Chau Duc Shareholding Company witnessed a sharp increase in net profit in the fourth quarter of 2021 thanks to the impressive increase in rental land area and rents.

Its revenue increased by 108.9 percent year-on-year to 147.7 billion VND, mostly from industrial park land rental. Its gross profit margin increased by 24.1 percentage points to 64 percent thanks to a 10-15 percent surge in land rent in the Chau Duc Industrial Park. As a result, the fourth quarter’s net profit jumped 186.7 percent year-on-year to 68.1 billion VND.

With an increase of 5 percent per year in the basic land prices applied in Binh Duong this year, more enterprises expect positive business performance.

According to SSI, the Investment and Industrial Development Corporation can achieve a profit growth rate at higher than 43 percent from 2022 because it owns a commercial land area of 648 hectares in Binh Duong new city and residential areas in Bau Bang and My Phuoc.

In addition, the company also owns 590 hectares of available space for lease in industrial parks.

Meanwhile, Investment and Industrial Development Corporation large joint ventures such as VSIP (it holds 49 percent) and Warburg Pincus (it holds 30 percent) are forecast to have growth in profits due to recovery in demand for leasing land and facilities from this year.

The SSI reported that in 2021, the stock value of the listed industrial park real estate companies increased by 62 percent, especially the companies with small and medium capitalisation.

Industrial market 2021

In 2021, the Vietnam industrial market was challenged by two waves of COVID-19 in key industrial regions in both the Northern and Southern regions. The supply chain was temporarily disrupted in the third quarter due to various COVID-19 prevention measures.

The Government has provided strong support helping the industrial market to maintain overall positive performance and recover quickly when the COVID-19 prevention measures loosened in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to CBRE Vietnam.

In the fourth quarter, average occupancy rates of existing industrial parks in five key Northern industrial cities and provinces (Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Hung Yen, Hai Duong and Hai Phong) reached 79.3 percent, up by 3.6 percentage points year on year. Similarly, the occupancy rate of four key Southern industrial cities and provinces reached 87.3 percent, up by 0.11 percentage points year on year.

Regarding the transactions recorded by CBRE in 2021, the sizes of land lease transactions ranged between 3ha to 40ha, with land sizes commonly ranging between 3ha and 5ha. Big transactions with land sizes of 20-40ha were recorded from tenants in the logistics, electronics, and toy manufacturing industries.

In terms of industry, logistics and electronics were active with various transactions in both the Northern and Southern regions of Vietnam.

In addition, packaging and solar energy industries in the North, as well as furniture and medical equipment in the South were emerging with an increasing number of deals done.

Due to improving occupancy rates, average asking rents were stable in major industrial cities and provinces despite COVID-19. Industrial parks within a 1-hour travelling radius from HCM City and Hanoi increased asking rents by 15-32 percent.

With solid leasing demand resulting from the shifting supply chain and the infrastructure improvement (Trung Luong – My Thuan, Dau Giay – Phan Thiet in the South; Van Don – Mong Cai expressway, Ninh Binh – Hai Phong in the North), the industrial market recorded expansion and entrance of new developers.

Foreign developers expanded their portfolios by acquiring land and assets, a joint venture with local developers. On the other hand, strong local developers can negotiate and acquire land directly from the Government.

Performance of warehouses and ready-built factories remained stable. In the new warehouse/ready-built factory hubs, asking rents increased 5-17 percent, primarily due to better specifications.

In 2022 and 2023, industrial land supply is expected to increase by over 7,000 ha for both Northern and Southern regions.

Average asking rents are anticipated to achieve an annual growth rate of 4 percent in both regions due to stronger supply.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Executive Vice President of the European Commission (EC) Frans Timmermans and a delegation of the EC inspected the construction site of the Nhon-Hanoi Station section of the Hanoi urban metro project on February 19.

The trip was part of his visit to Vietnam from February 17 to 19 at the invitation of Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh.

The delegation listened to a report on the urban railway system planning of Hanoi and the implementation of Nhon – Hanoi Station metro project. They also inspected trains, traveled from S8 Station to depot area and worked with relevant agencies.

According to the Hanoi Urban Railway Management Board, the Nhon – Hanoi Station metro project has a total length of 12.5km. The route passes through eight elevated and four underground stations.

About 74 percent of the workload of the project has been completed, it said, adding nearly 95 percent of the elevated section has been accomplished and is expected to be put into operation later this year.

Investment for the project comes from official development assistance of the French Government, the French Development Agency (AFD), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the country’s corresponding capital.

Timmermans highly appreciated the role of the Hanoi urban metro project and the Nhon – Hanoi Station section.

He hoped that the project will overcome difficulties to soon be put into operation, solve traffic congestion, reduce CO2 emissions, protect the environment, develop the green-clean-beautiful capital and brings benefits to its people.

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Chu Ngoc Anh said despite facing many challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city’s administration has made efforts to speed up the progress of the project, considering it a key target the city needs to achieve this year.

He wished to continue receiving the support from the European Commission for other lines in the urban railway network of the city.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A number of travel firms in Ho Chi Minh City have resumed outbound tours after the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) announced the removal of restrictions on air passenger transport.

Saigontourist has restored its tours to the US, the Maldives, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Thailand, and planned to launch more tours to Europe, the Middle East, Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia in March.

It has also increased outbound travel insurance coverage to 2.4 billion VND (105,124 USD) and COVID-19 insurance to 240 million VND, and cover the cost of COVID-19 PCR tests (if any) for tourists.

Vietravel is also working to complete its outbound tours, with a charter flight to India in late February, and another to Dubai next month.

Meanwhile, Golden Smile Travel has offered tours to Dubai and Thailand weekly, and will resume tours to other markets like Southeast Asia, Australia and the US in the time ahead.

According to Nguyen Viet Anh, head of the management division under the municipal Department of Tourism, the department has provided consultancy for the municipal People’s Committee to issue guidelines on welcoming back international tourists.

The department has announced the list of hotels eligible to serve foreign tourists. They include InterCotinental Saigon in District 1, Windsor Plaza Hotel in District 5, Liberty Central Saigon Center in District 1, Ramana Saigon in District 3, and Silverland Sakyo in District 1.

Vietnam will fully reopen tourism and lift travel restrictions from March 15. International visitors do not need to register for a tour, but still have to present a certificate of full vaccination or recovery from COVID-19, and negative test results before boarding (24 hours for rapid test and 72 hours for PCR test). Within 24 hours of arrival in Vietnam, they must have a negative test result before participating in tourism activities.

Source: Vietnam News Agency