Day: July 30, 2022

Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC (NSRP) has delivered two petrol shipments to the Nghi Son Refinery Distribution Branch (PVNDB), an affiliated company of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam).

The delivery marked a milestone for the petrol producer as it has produced 20 million metric tonnes of petrol since its very first shipment in October 2018.

“We are proud of this achievement and, on behalf of NSRP, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all our stakeholders, the authorities, our employees and our partners,” said So Hasegawa, NSPR General Director.

NSRP is a joint venture company established in April 2008. Its refinery has an initial outlay of over 9 billion USD and a capacity of 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

The refinery is a national key project and one of the most sophisticated refineries in Asia, accounting for about 70% of petrol supply in Vietnam./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam hopes 100% of new buses will use electricity or green energy from 2025, which is part of the transport sector’s action plan on green energy transition to reduce carbon and methane emissions.

The action plan, approved by Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh, also targets that from 2030, at least half of all vehicles and all new taxis will be powered by electricity or green energy. By 2050, 100% of buses and taxis will use these types of energy.

The plan also looks to raise the rate of commuters carried by public transport to 45% – 50% in Hanoi, 25% in Ho Chi Minh City, 25% – 35% in Da Nang city, 20% in Can Tho city, 10% – 15% in Hai Phong city from 2025. The figure in these provincial-level cities is targeted at at least 40% by 2050.

The action plan’s overall goal is to develop a green transport system towards net zero emissions by 2050 as Vietnam committed to at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).

The objective for 2030 is to improve energy use efficiency and boost the use of electricity and green energy in the fields that are ready in terms of technology, regulations and resources to help carry out the commitments in the Nationally Determined Contribution and reduce methane emissions.

From now to 2050, the transport sector will reasonably develop means of transport and strongly convert all vehicles, transport equipment and infrastructure into electric and green energy-powered vehicles towards net zero emissions.

For road transport, during 2022 – 2030, the plan looks to promote the production, assembly, import and use of electric vehicles, expand the use of biofuel E5 to all road vehicles, develop charging systems, and encourage both existing and new coach stations and rest areas to adopt green practices.

For rail transport, Vietnam will pilot the use of vehicles fueled by electricity or green energy, build electrified railways, gradually replace old vehicles with the those that use electricity or green energy, and facilitate the application of loading equipment that uses these types of energy at train stations.

For inland waterway transport, the country is set to encourage the building, import and use of electric or green energy-powered vehicles, design criteria for green ports and shipping routes to create investment incentives in this field, and consider turning some routes of waterway transport into green alternatives./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Embassy of Vietnam in Germany on July 29 announced that it is ready to issue a confirmation in German about the place of birth for Vietnamese citizens using new-style passports, in case they need it to present to German authorities.

Vietnam’s new passports, which have been issued since July 1, have been temporarily not recognised by Germany as they lack the information of one’s place of birth. Vietnamese and German authorities are actively working to tackle the problem.

The confirmation issued by the embassy aims to facilitate Vietnamese citizens in Germany to obtain residence permits and conduct other administrative procedures.

According to Minister Counselor Chu Tuan Duc from the embassy, the issuance of new passports will continue to be carried out with the attachment of an associated certificate of birthplace.

Earlier, the German Embassy in Vietnam on July 27 informed that Vietnam’s new passports, whose issuance began on July 1, are temporarily not recognised in Germany due to technical factors. Therefore, their holders will not be issued visas to enter Germany. The German Embassy also recommends that those who have already been granted visas should not enter Germany at this time, because they may be refused entry at the border./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The export value of forestry products in July dropped by 5.5% from the previous month to 1.41 billion USD, also down 1.6% from the same period last year, according to the Forestry Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The figure for the seven-month period from January to July was estimated at 10.42 billion USD, up 1.3% year on year.

Timber and wood products earned 9.72 billion USD, up 1.2%, while other forestry products brought home 0.7 billion USD, a 2.6% increase.

Main markets for Vietnamese forestry products are the US, Japan, China, the EU and the Republic of Korea, which together bought 9.38 billion USD worth of products, or 90% of the total export value.

A 4.9% year-on-year reduction in the US market was to be blamed for the decrease in the total forestry export value this year, even though shipments to the other four major markets continued to post growth.

Do Xuan Lap, Chairman of the Vietnam Timber & Forest Products Association (VIFORES), said demand for non-essential goods in big markets like the US, EU and UK has been dropping strongly, adversely affecting the business of enterprises in the wood and forestry sector./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade has launched a voting programme to select consumers’ most-favoured Vietnamese products in 2022.

This is an annual activity responding to the campaign “Vietnamese prioritise using Vietnamese goods” launched by the Party Central Committee’s Politburo, aiming to encourage domestic enterprises to produce quality products and build brands for locally-made goods.

The voting programme is also aimed at promoting the connections between demand and supply, as well as between consumers and enterprises, thus further enhancing the position of local products on the domestic market.

At the launch on July 28, Tran Thi Phuong Lan, Acting Director of the department, said after many editions, the municipal steering committee for the programme has continuously expanded the scope of participants and adjusted the methods of voting with a view to ensuring easy access and impartial assessment of the voting.

Goods subject to consumers’ voting cover products and services produced and provided by legally-registered enterprises and cooperatives based not only in Hanoi but also other provinces and cities across the country.

Products should be from the sectors of industry; fashion-accessories; construction–interior furnishings; pharmaceutical products; household chemicals-cosmetics; stationaries-learning equipment; handicrafts and fine art articles; agro-forestry-fishery products; OCOP (One Commune One Product) goods; and food. banking services; tourism; media; and transport; among others.

The target services are those in finance, banking, insurance, payment, e-commerce; tourism, dining; education, training; telecoms, informatics; transport, logistics; communications and event organization.

The voting will be held from now through October.

Winning goods will receive a certificate and be featured on Hanoi’s trade promotion publications, while their producers can use the “consumers’ most-favoured Vietnamese product” title for them in their advertisements.

Last year, 213 products and services of 150 businesses in Hanoi were chosen as the favourite Vietnamese products by customers.

The campaign “Vietnamese prioritise using Vietnamese goods” was launched by the Politburo in 2009 to promote patriotism and foster the production of made-in-Vietnam commodities which have high quality and competitiveness, helping to meet demand for domestic consumption and export.

Many activities have been held across the country over the past years in response to the campaign. The campaign has produced positive results, contributing to curbing inflation, stabilizing the macro-economy and ensuring supply-demand balance. It also has helped changed domestic consumers and businesses’ awareness of domestic-made products.

Vietnamese commodities have made up 90% of goods sold in retail outlets owned by domestic enterprises and 60-96% of foreign supermarkets in Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), showing that more Vietnamese consumers are choosing Vietnamese goods.

In traditional retail channels, the ratio of Vietnamese goods in markets and groceries is at least 60%. Particularly, since COVID-19 broke out, 76% of Vietnamese consumers tend to prioritise domestic products, especially those with guaranteed quality and health benefits.

In association with the “Vietnamese people prioritise Vietnamese goods” campaign for the 2021 – 2025 period, the Prime Minister issued Decision 386/QD-TTg on March 17, 2021, to approve a project on developing the domestic market.

This project looks to maintain the percentage of strong Vietnamese goods at over 85% in modern distribution channels and over 80 percent in traditional ones such as markets and grocery stores.

To develop the domestic market and sustain the stake of Vietnamese goods in distribution channels, it devised four groups of main solutions and policies: assisting the development of stable and sustainable distribution systems for Vietnamese goods; building national programmes linking manufacturers and traders with local distributors and outlets; helping businesses access capital sources to upgrade technology, improve product quality, and reduce production costs; and boosting market surveillance and consumer protection./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Four coastal provinces have completed the installation of vessel monitoring systems (VMS) equipment on all fishing boats with a length of 15m and more, according to the Directorate of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The four localities are Quang Ninh, Thua Thien-Hue, Ninh Binh and Ca Mau.

The percentage of fishing vessels with a length of 15m or more that have installed VMS equipment and have signals on related tracking system reached 93.4% as of June 30.

The installation of VMS equipment on fishing boats is one of the decisive solutions to end illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing practice, particularly the illegal fishing in foreign waters.

Towards the goal of having the European Commission’s “yellow card” on IUU removed, Deputy Director General of the Directorate of Fisheries Nguyen Quang Hung has urged the administrations of coastal localities to speed up the installation of VMS equipment and effectively use the equipment to closely monitor the operation of their fishing fleets at sea.

He also asked localities to coordinate with each other to monitor and timely handle any law violations of fishing boats./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has called on the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s enterprises to increase investment in Vietnam and boost connectivity with local firms so that Vietnam can soon become a hub in regional and global value chains.

He made the appeal while addressing a dialogue with the RoK’s Ambassador Park Noh-wan and representatives of Korean associations and businesses in Hanoi on July 30.

The RoK, the largest FDI partner in Vietnam at present, is investing in 9,383 projects worth over 79.8 billion USD in 19 of the 21 economic sectors and 59 of the 63 localities nationwide. Vietnam is also the RoK’s biggest economic partner in ASEAN, with 30% of the RoK investment in the bloc channelled into Vietnam.

Besides, the Northeast Asian country is the third largest trade partner of Vietnam, following China and the US. Bilateral trade is equivalent to 50% of the RoK’s total trade with ASEAN, the PM noted.

The RoK is a leading partner of Vietnam in most areas while Vietnam plays an important role in ASEAN and East Asia, he stressed, adding that investing in Vietnam also means accessing the ASEAN market with a combined population of over 600 million. The two sides are working to ratify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and striving for 100 billion USD in bilateral trade by 2023 and 150 billion USD by 2030.

The Party and State of Vietnam always create the best possible conditions for Korean enterprises, as well as those from around the world, to make long-term investment in the spirit of equality, common development, mutual benefit and social responsibility, he affirmed.

PM Chinh said Vietnam hopes to welcome more cooperation and investment projects from the RoK in the areas related to high technology, innovation, research and development such as digital technology, electronics, renewable energy and infrastructure development.

He voiced his hope that Korean businesses will strengthen connectivity with and help Vietnamese firms take part in supply chains to help Vietnam soon become a hub in regional and global value chains.

Regarding trade, he asked for increasing policy dialogue under the Vietnam – Korea Free Trade Agreement (VKFTA), resolving trade imbalance, and creating conditions for Vietnam’s strong exports like agricultural and fishery products to enter the Korean market.

In terms of industrial development, the PM said a priority of Vietnam is to develop industries with high technological content, especially key technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, while attracting investment into the manufacturing sector so as to make a breakthrough in forming new production capacity linked with science – technology, innovation, and digital transformation, which are also the fields the RoK is strong at.

He also recommended stronger cooperation in energy development, noting that Vietnam is encouraging the development of clean and renewable energy to realise the commitments made at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).

At the dialogue, the RoK Ambassador and the Korean business community in Vietnam presented 33 proposals to Vietnam’s ministries, sectors, agencies and localities.

The proposals are related to tax incentives, power planning and electricity market, incentives for investment in renewable energy, pandemic response, procedures in various business and labour matters, along with difficulties in the implementation of certain projects./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The poverty rate in Cambodia fell to 17.8% in 2020 from nearly 40% in 2009, an official has said.

Theng Pagnathun, director general of planning at the Ministry of Planning, told a press briefing on July 29 that the poverty rate declined by 1.6 percentage points annually during the last decade, driven substantially by rising wage and earnings.

He said the decrease is in line with the Government’s commitment to reducing at least 1% of the poverty rate each year.

Cambodia’s COVID-19 cash transfer programme, launched in June 2020, has significantly benefited some 2.8 million people from 707,000 poor and vulnerable households so far, he noted.

Citing a United Nations Development Programme report on Cambodia released on July 27, the official said the programme has helped bring down Cambodia’s poverty rate over the last two years.

According to the World Bank, the national poverty line in this Southeast Asian nation is 10,951 riel, or 2.7 USD a day. Under the new poverty line, about 18% of the population is identified as poor.

Poverty rates vary considerably by area. The poverty rate is the lowest in the capital Phnom Penh at 4.2%, in other urban areas at 12.6%, and the highest in rural areas at 22.8%, the bank said./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency