Day: May 4, 2022

Digital transformation is both a need and an inevitable trend that will help businesses survive and develop in the Industry 4.0 era, experts said.

This also holds true for the post COVID-19 new normal period, according to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

Tran Ngoc Liem, Deputy Director of VCCI’s HCM City Branch, said: “In a competition to retain and expand the market, those businesses that go for digital transformation quickly will be able to capitalise on development opportunities and reap more success than those following traditional production and trading methods.”

Liem said that in Vietnam, digital transformation was taking place in almost every type of business at different levels.

A recent VCCI survey on developments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic found that a majority of more than 400 businesses polled had great expectations from digital transformation.

Up to 98 percent of the respondents expect digital transformation to create great changes in their production and trading activities; 71 percent and 61.4 percent, respectively, expect it to help reduce production costs as well as paper work; and 45.3 percent expect it to help add value to products and improve product and service quality.

But the reality is that there is a big gap in digital transformation at large enterprises and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Liem said at a seminar held by the VCCI and Mediastep Software Vietnam Co., Ltd in Ho Chi Minh City last week.

Large-scale enterprises have quickly embraced digital transformation and believe in its positive results, while SMEs, which account for nearly 98 percent of total Vietnamese businesses, have faced difficulties in making the far-reaching change.

According to experts, in the context of the current pandemic, digital applications and tools play an important role in supporting and promoting the transformation process, promoting sales and helping them develop more sustainably.

Tom Peng, CEO of Mediastep Software Vietnam, said more and more global buyers were using online platforms to source products instead of making on-site visits, so local businesses must transform and join e-commerce platforms to approach customers around the world and expand opportunities to access the global market.

Nguyen Thanh Lam, GOEXPORT business director, said according to data from Alibaba.com, during the pandemic period, the number of customers buying products on the platform increased by 100 percent, the number of orders jumped by over 170 percent, and the total transaction value rose by 125 percent.

But the supply of products on the platform increased by only 5 percent, offering opportunities for suppliers, he said.

The B2B e-commerce platform Alibaba.com is supporting Vietnamese firms in acquiring knowledge and skills to conduct international trade activities, he added.

Vietnam has gained a strong reputation among global buyers for its manufacturing capabilities, high quality products and competitive prices.

In addition to promoting export via e-commerce platforms, local businesses should not forget the lucrative home market of 97 million consumers with high internet usage and rising income, speakers said at the seminar.

Nguyen Thi My Xuan, business director of Gosell, suggested that local businesses adopt omni-channel retailing strategies to adjust to consumer behaviour changes in the new normal period.

Xuan also said promotional policies must be implemented synchronously across sales channels in order to attract and increase the rate of brand recognition and loyalty among customers.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The fifth plenum of the 13th Party Central Committee opened in Hanoi on May 4 under the chair of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

The participants will opine on the 10-year implementation of the Resolution on continuing to reform land-related policies and laws, adopted at the sixth session of the 11th Party Central Committee; the 15 years of that of the one on agriculture, farmers and rural areas, adopted at the seventh plenum of the 10th Party Central Committee; and the 20 years of the work on the one on continuing to reform, develop and improve the efficiency of the collective economy.

They are also to look into the project on building Party organisations and on members, and another on the establishment of provincial steering committees for the prevention and control of corruption and other negative phenomena, along with a report reviewing the leadership and instruction of the Politburo and the Secretariat in 2021, and other important matters.

The issues to be debated are significant to the realisation of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress in major areas like enhancing socio-economic development by 2030 with a vision towards 2045, and intensifying the building and rectification of the Party and the political system to meet increasing requirements of the revolution in the new period.

The meeting is scheduled to last until May 10.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Indonesian U23 men’s football team promises to pose a serious challenge to Vietnam when they meet on May 6.

Coach Shin Tae-yong has a squad of 20 players, many of whom won silver medals at the ASEAN Football Championship (AFF Cup) in 2021.

Among them is rising star Ronaldo Joybera Junior Kwateh. The teenage striker plays for Madura United FC in Indonesia’sLiga 1 and is valued at 150,000 euros by Transfermarkt.

Two other talented players are centre back Elkan Baggott and right-back Asnawi Mangkualam. The former plays for Ipswich Town in the UK, while the latter is at the Republic of Korea’s Ansan Greeners FC.

The three over-23 players are midfielder Ricky Kambuaya, defensive midfielder Marc Klok and centreback Fachruddin Aryanto.

Indonesia have put their trust in goalkeeper Ernando Ari, who performed well when Indonesia faced Australia in the 2022 AFC U23 Championship qualifier.

The Indonesian team has met the Vietnamese side twice in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers and the 2020 AFF Cup.

After a 4-0 defeat to Vietnam in the World Cup qualifying round, Indonesia improved to draw when they met again in the group stages of the AFF Cup in December 2021.

During the match, the Indonesian team showed their physical strength and fighting spirit, and lined up to nullify the Vietnamese players.

This draw gave Indonesia confidence and they will likely enter the match with a disciplined defensive ploy.

The two teams will hold two training sessions before they meet in the opening match of Group A at the 20,000-seat Viet Tri Stadium on May 6.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Retail prices of oil and petrol were raised from 3pm on May 4 following the latest adjustment by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), and the Ministry of Finance.

Accordingly, the ceiling retail price of RON95 bio-fuel was raised by 440 VND to 28,430 VND (1.24 USD) per litre, while that of E5 RON92 increased by 330 VND to no more than 27,460 VND per litre.

At the same time, the price of diesel was capped at 25,530 VND per litre, an increase of 180 VND. Kerosene prices remained unchanged at 23,820 VND per litre.

According to the MoIT, gasoline demand in the second quarter will reach about 5.2 million sq.m, with supply expected to hit some 6.7 million sq.m.

The total demand for petroleum in the domestic market this year is forecast at 20.6 million sq.m.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam’s rice exports to the European Union continued to grow in the first quarter of 2022, thanks to the EU – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

In the first quarter, Vietnam’s rice exports reached 1.48 million tonnes, earning 715 million USD, up 24 percent in volume and 10.5 percent in value on year.

The rice exports to the EU in the first two months of this year recorded an impressive volume of 15,500 tonnes, earning nearly 12 million USD. The exports rose almost four times in volume and 4.3 times in value compared to 2021.

In the bloc, Italy suddenly took the lead in the import volume of Vietnamese rice with an increase of 26 times over the same period. In addition, there were several other key markets such as Germany, France and the Netherlands.

The export price of Vietnam’s rice to the EU recorded an increase of 9 percent to 755 USD per tonne, while Vietnam’s average rice export price fell 12.1 percent in the first two months of the year to 469 USD per tonne.

Vietnam’s rice export price to the EU was higher than the average price because the rice exported to this market was mainly aromatic rice with high value. However, Vietnamese export rice has still been unable to compete in price in the EU market against other competitors such as Cambodia, Thailand and India.

According to MoIT, in 2021, despite being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam’s rice exports to the EU reached 60,000 tonnes, worth 41 million USD. The exports surged by about 1 percent in volume and more than 20 percent in value year on year. For the first time, some speciality rice varieties of Vietnam, such as ST24 and ST25 fragrant rice, were exported to the market.

According to the commitments from the EVFTA, the EU gives Vietnam an export quota of 80,000 tonnes of rice per year to the EU, including 30,000 tonnes of milled rice, 20,000 tonnes of unmilled rice and 30,000 tonnes of aromatic rice. Especially, the EU will not apply a quota for broken rice exported from Vietnam.

The ministry said Vietnam could export 100,000 tonnes of all kinds of rice to the EU every year.

Besides, the EU will cut the tariff for rice to zero within 3-5 years from the date of entry into force of the EVFTA. This opens up opportunities for Vietnamese rice to compete with other countries’ rice products exported to the EU.

The MoIT representative said that now, businesses have efficiently taken advantage of several incentives from the EVFTA to increase the rice exports to the EU.

According to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), in 2022, Vietnam’s rice exports to the EU are expected to increase further, especially as the quality of Vietnamese rice has been improved. However, enterprises exporting Vietnamese rice need to better take advantage of EVFTA.

At present, Vietnam’s rice accounts for only 3.1 percent of the total amount of rice imported to the EU. This market imports 3-4 million per annum, according to data from the European Statistics Agency (Eurostat).

In 2021, the EU imported 3.6 million tonnes of rice, 1.6 million tonnes were traded within the bloc, and two million tonnes were imported from other countries.

Meanwhile, Vietnam has not yet met the full rice export quota provided by the EU for 2021, thus still has plenty of room to increase rice exports to this market.

One of the reasons why Vietnam did not use all rice quotas is that less than 20 percent of domestic businesses know clearly about the EVFTA, according to Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, Director of the WTO and Integration Centre under the VCCI.

According to Trang, besides the advantages of the EVFTA, enterprises must also improve the quality of Vietnamese rice and change their measures in approaching the market to expand market share.

With high and stable demand for speciality rice from Asia, the EU will be a potential export market for Vietnamese rice in the future.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A total 3,088 new COVID-19 infections were recorded in the past 24 hours to 4pm May 4, up 379 cases from the previous day, according to the Ministry of Health.

Hanoi continued to report the highest number of infections on the day with 705 cases, followed by Phu Tho with 268 and Vinh Phuc 198.

The national tally reached 10,662,446.

A total 42,055 COVID-19 patients were given the all clear on May 4, bringing the number of recoveries so far to 9,309,336.

There are 480 patients needing breathing support, while three deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours, taking the total fatalities to 43,047, equal to 0.4 percent of the total caseload.

By May 3, the country had injected 215,022,051 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, including 1,555,804 first shots for children from 5 to 11 years old.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) has chosen Thailand to hold training courses for its fighters ahead of the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31), which, its President Ed Picson said, is a carefully considered decision to help athletes make necessary preparations.

Picson said recently that he had discussed the matter with ABAP coaches, led by Australian mentor Don Abnett, and they saw little reason to worry about sharing a training camp with the Thai fighters who remain the biggest threat to the Philippine boxers at SEA Games 31.

“If they can see us, we can see them,” he said, noting that the cost and benefit of it was considered, and Vietnamese boxers are also training in Thailand.

The main factor behind the decision is the quality of training, he added.

The Philippine boxers will fly straight to Hanoi from Bangkok on May 13.

At the coming Games, they will try to defend their overall title after winning seven gold, three silver and two bronze medals at the previous SEA Games in Manila in 2019.

SEA Games 31, themed “For a Stronger South East Asia”, will be held in the capital city of Hanoi and 11 neighbouring provinces and cities from May 12 to 23. The Games will feature over 40 sports, and 526 events with the attendance of some 10,000 athletes and officials from 11 Southeast Asian countries.

This will be the second time that Vietnam has hosted the Games, after the first in 2003.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Chess Grandmasters Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son are gold medal hopefuls of Vietnam at the upcoming 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31).

Vietnam’s chess team has set targets in accordance with its preparations for the regional event, said Nguyen Minh Thang, who is in charge of chess at the Vietnam Sports Administration.

Although Liem is abroad, he has been participating in online training with his teammates and will compete in blitz and rapid at the coming Games. He just finished second at the Oslo Esports Cup which wrapped up in Norway on April 28.

The Vietnamese Grandmaster failed to win gold at the previous SEA Games in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Son is training with the national team in Ho Chi Minh City, setting his eyes on the gold medal.

The Vietnamese chess team has finalised the list of nine players to compete at SEA Games 31, comprising four men and five women.

Chess competitions are to be hosted by the north-eastern province of Quang Ninh and preparations have been completed.

SEA Games 31, themed “For a Stronger South East Asia”, will be held in the capital city of Hanoi and 11 neighbouring provinces and cities from May 12 to 23.

Featuring 40 sports with 526 events, it is expected to attract around 10,000 participants. The biennial event was initially slated for late 2021 but delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: Vietnam News Agency