Day: July 19, 2022

The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate for the US dollar at 23,221 VND/USD on July 19, down 21 VND from the previous day.

With the current trading band of +/-3 percent, the ceiling rate applicable to commercial banks during the day is 23,920 VND/USD and the floor rate 22,527 VND/USD.

The opening-hour rates at many commercial banks tended to decrease.

At 8:40am, Vietcombank listed the buying rate at 23,280 VND/USD and the selling rate at 23,590 VND/USD, unchanged from July 18.

Meanwhile, BIDV cut 10 VND to both rates, listing the buying rate at 23,300 VND/USD and the selling rate at 23,580 VND/USD./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on July 19 visited Sao Mai Trading Company Ltd.’s garment plant in Hai Phong’s Vinh Bao district as part of his working trip to the northern port city.

The State leader visited its facilities, talked to its workers, and and then visited a kindergarten currently caring for 200 children of the workers.

President Phuc commended the company’s effective production and business activities, job creation, safe working environment, and system of kindergartens for its workers’ children.

He wanted it to further apply advanced textile-garment technologies for sustainable green growth as well as better productivity and product quality.

The President suggested Sao Mai continue its production linkages with domestic enterprises that produce raw materials; expand its markets and scale of production and business; and improve operational efficiency, in order to contribute more to the development of the Vietnamese textile-garment sector and Hai Phong.

More attention should be paid to work safety, and to workers’ income and living standards, President Phuc added.

Established in 2005, the company now owns five factories in Hai Phong city, and Hai Duong, and Nam Dinh provinces, while having shares in more than 20 other plants across the nation.

It annually makes some 12 million products, which are consumed in Vietnam and exported to the US, Japan, and Canada. Last year, its revenue exceeded 500 billion VND (21.35 million USD). The company is creating jobs for more than 1,000 employees in Hai Phong./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has just issued two circulars specifying instructions for handling bidding packages under the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA).

Circular No. 12/2022/TT-BKHDT elaborates the preparation of bidding documents for procurement of goods under the UKVFTA, while Circular No. 15/2022/TT-BKHDT details instructions for construction and installation bidding.

These new regulations, which will come into force on August 25, 2022, also apply to bidding packages under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

The two circulars implement Decree No. 90/2022/NÐ-CP, which integrates guidelines on procurement procedures under the three big free trade pacts that Vietnam has participated including CPTPP, EVFTA and UKVFTA. It aims to ensure the effective implementation of international commitments by Vietnam.

The “3-in-1” integration also facilitates domestic contractors and contractors from the EU and the UK to learn regulations easily, ensuring competitive and transparent bidding.

The new rules apply to bids of single-stage single-envelop and single-stage two-envelops methods.

According to the regulations, based on the scale and nature of each specific bidding package, the bid solicitor shall make appropriate requirements based on ensuring the principles of competition, fairness, transparency and economic efficiency.

The bid solicitor must not provide conditions to limit the participation of contractors or to create advantages for one or several contractors, causing unfair competition, such as stating the specific brand and origin of goods, including the naming of countries, groups of countries and territories, except for the case of intra-regional bidding; or setting up the requirement that a contractor has entered into one or more contracts with a procuring agency of a particular country or that a contractor has experience in providing goods and services in that territory as the criterion for disqualifying contractors.

The circulars stipulate that in case of amending the provisions stated in the form of the bidding documents, organisations and individuals that make, appraise and approve the bidding documents must ensure such correction is stricter than those noted in the bidding document form and not contrary to the provisions of the CPTPP, the EVFTA and the UKVFTA.

Regarding the bids that have been opened before the effective date of the circulars (August 25, 2022), the bid evaluation and consideration for contract award shall be done in accordance with the bidding documents and not in contravention of the agreements.

If the bidding documents have been approved before August 25, 2022, but have not been issued, these bidding documents must be adjusted to conform to forms issued together with the new circulars.

Any information inappropriate or in infringement of the bidding document form issued together with the two circulars must be modified. In that case, the investor and procuring entity must give the bidders reasonable time to prepare their bids./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The national flag carriers of Vietnam and Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding on strengthening bilateral cooperation at the Farnborough International Airshow in the UK this week.

In the context of the aviation sector exerting efforts to recover after the COVID-19 pandemic, the strengthening of cooperation not only opens up new opportunities for Vietnam Airlines and Turkish Airlines to improve their competitiveness but also promotes socio-economic and cultural exchanges between Vietnam and Turkey and Europe and the Middle East.

Accordingly, the airlines will expand cooperation in passenger and freight transport, and consider the possibility of collaboration in codesharing on flights between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with Istanbul.

Vietnam Airlines General Director Le Hong Ha said their cooperation will bring great benefits to passengers, and promote aviation connectivity, economic and cultural exchanges between Vietnam and Turkey and other countries in Europe and the Middle East.

The decision is part of the carrier’s efforts to strengthen cooperation and expand its flight network after the pandemic, and seize new development opportunities, he added.

Chief Investment & Technology Officer at Turkish Airlines Levent Konukcu emphasised the importance of cooperation with Vietnam Airlines, saying their collaboration can contribute to enhancing the two countries’ relations.

Established in 1933, Turkish Airlines now has a fleet of up to 382 aircraft flying to 340 destinations around the globe, including 287 international flights.

Meanwhile, Vietnam Airlines was set up in 1995 and has over 100 aircraft. It provides services on more than 100 routes to over 20 domestic and 30 international destinations./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Steel producer Hoa Phat Group has signed a contract to export 8,000 tonnes of rebar to Mexico, its first order from the North American country.

According to a group representative, the rebar steel is manufactured according to ASTM – USA standards. Delivery time is expected in August this year, with the batch dispatched from the Hoa Phat Hai Duong iron and steel production complex.

In the first six months of 2022, Hoa Phat exported 750,000 tonnes of construction steel of all kinds, doubling the figure of the same period last year.

To date, its products have been shipped to 25 countries and regions such as the US, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong (China) and Malaysia.

With a crude steel capacity of 8.5 million tonnes per year, the group has the largest share of the Vietnamese construction steel market. In the first half, production output reached 2.3 million tonnes, up 29% year-on-year./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The UK market still has considerable room for Vietnamese rice suppliers to boost exports thanks to the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) tariff quota and the Vietnamese community of more than 100,000 people in the UK, a senior trade official has said.

Vietnam ranks 15th among countries exporting rice to the UK, making up a modest 0.42% of the total import turnover to this country. That means the door is wide open for Vietnamese rice in the market, Nguyen Canh Cuong, Trade Counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK, told Vietnam News.

The UKVFTA took effect on May 1, 2021, with a preferential tariff quota granted to Vietnam at a tax rate of 0%, enabling UK buyers to have more choices of rice varieties from Vietnam, Nguyen Van Hieu, Export Director at Loc Troi Group told Vietnam News.

However, before having experienced a surge in rice purchasing power from the UK market since January 2022, Loc Troi witnessed an eight-month off-peak trading period in 2021 due to the complicated developments of COVID-19. “Since the pandemic is under control, travel between countries becomes easier, and interest in Vietnamese rice grows up, requests for rice supplies from UK’s partners continually knocks on our door,” Hieu added.

To further tap into the UK market, Loc Troi would continue to ensure its sustainable rice value chain, with clear planting and residues control procedures to provide high-quality rice products for the UK market, Hieu said, adding that the priority would also be given to expanding the rice planting areas and applying the planting area code and traceability.

Meanwhile, it would still focus on creating favourable conditions for traditional buyers of Loc Troi in the UK to increase their import volumes and teaming up with the Vietnam Trade Office in the UK to find reputable and capable intermediary partners to bring Loc Troi’s rice products into the UK hypermarket system.

“The company will also make the most opportunities to meet new customers at trade fairs and seminars,” Hieu told Vietnam News.

Turning potential into reality

Though untapped potentials exist in this market, to turn them into reality Vietnamese rice growers and exporters need to thoroughly apply Global GAP on a large scale while promoting the production of high-quality fragrant rice, according to Cuong.

He suggested the Crop Production Department, the Plant Protection Department and authorities of provinces with large rice-growing areas implement programmes on supporting farmers in rice varieties, safe agricultural materials, milling and rice storage before exporting.

According to other trade experts, to create a larger market breakthrough and strengthen a sustainable position for Vietnamese rice in the UK and other major markets, the Vietnamese rice industry should implement a branding strategy suitable for each market.

The national brand programme needed to select high-quality and high-yield rice varieties to name them in a simple, easy-to-remember, easy-to-pronounce way along with the place where the rice was grown (Soc Trang Vietnam rice, for instance) or the name of the creator of that rice variety (like Mr Cua’s Rice) to register for brand protection abroad easily.

In 2020, the volume of rice imported into the UK rose 13.5% year-on-year to approximately 763,000 tonnes from 672,000 tonnes in 2019, in which rice shipped from Vietnam rose to nearly 3,400 tonnes, worth 2.67 million USD, from 1,300 tonnes, valued at over 1.29 million USD.

Cuong said Vietnamese rice exports to the market in 2020 saw impressive increases of 116% in volume and 106% in value compared to the previous year.

However, the UK rice imports saw a year-on-year decline of 15% to 652,000 tonnes in 2021. The corresponding import value decreased 8% year-on-year to 574.7 million USD from about 520.6 million USD in 2020.

Last year, the rice supply from Southeast Asia also decreased significantly, with rice from Thailand dropping 43%, Myanmar (63%), and Cambodia (51%).

Despite a decline of 20% in rice export volume to the UK, totalling over 2,730 tonnes in 2021, Vietnam’s export value is still up 4% year-on-year to around 2.76 million USD, thanks to a hike in exported prices.

Among Southeast Asian countries that exported rice to the UK in 2021, Vietnam enjoyed the highest average unit price at 1,012 USD per tonne, while that of rice from Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar stood at 999 USD, 991 USD and 502 USD per tonne, respectively.

Vietnamese rice in the UK is mainly sold to the Vietnamese community and part of the Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, and Filipino communities. Popular Vietnamese rice brands in the UK include Golden Lotus Premium Jasmine Rice, Longdan Rice, Buffalo Saigon Fragrant Rice and Buffalo Brand Northern Vietnam Glutinous Rice.

According to Cuong, his office has implemented a wide range of activities to promote the Vietnamese rice trade in the UK, including connecting rice importers in the UK with Vietnamese rice exporters, participating in solving administrative procedures for Vietnamese rice exporters and British rice importers, organising six events on promoting some Vietnamese rice products in addition to providing information to domestic enterprises about the demand and tastes of rice consumption in the UK and UK regulations on trademark registration.

Vietnam is currently one of the five largest rice exporters in the world. The Southeast Asian country shipped 3.52 million tonnes of rice in the first half of 2022, earning revenue of 1.72 billion USD, up 16.2% in volume and 4.6% in value over the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Vietnam Food Association has forecast that despite the fluctuating import market and strong competition, the country’s rice exports are estimated at 6-6.2 million tonnes, equivalent to that in 2020 and 2021, and to earn 3.2 billion USD in revenue./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency