Day: August 26, 2022

After being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and fluctuations in inflation, the demand and trends of seafood consumption in many markets have changed, requiring Vietnamese seafood enterprises to adapt to those market trends, experts said.

The view was shared at a seminar on demand and trends of the seafood market after COVID-19 organised by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) on August 24 in Ho Chi Minh City.

The COVID-19 pandemic, logistics disruptions due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and compliance with regulations on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) are challenges facing the seafood industry.

Le Hang, VASEP director of communications, said the world seafood market in the past five years has grown by 16% with an annual import turnover of about 148.5 billion USD, of which, shrimp accounted for the highest proportion and increased the most (29%), while salmon increased 16%, and demand for tuna was less volatile.

Meanwhile, demand from the Chinese market has jumped 71% over the last five years, followed by the US with an increase of 32%. Most markets saw increased demand, except for Japan, which decreased by 6%, and Germany, which decreased slightly by 0.6%.

Exporting seafood to the EU market is facing many challenges because each market in the EU bloc has its own requirements.

In addition, inflation is making EU consumers tighten their spending and focus on moderately priced items. The lowest EUR/USD exchange rate in 20 years also makes consumers limit spending, forcing importers to re-negotiate with exporters, which delays imports.

Other challenges include stricter demands for EU market certification, and environmental and labour requirements, which can be serious problems for Vietnamese seafood producers.

To take full advantage of the EVFTA, VASEP is asking for more support from the Import-Export Department and the Ministry of Industry and Trade for businesses to make the most of preferential tariffs and apply the rules of origin to reduce obstacles when exporting seafood to the EU market.

The EU used to be Vietnam’s largest pangasius import market, with peak sales of 511 million USD in 2010, accounting for 36% of Vietnam’s pangasius exports. Vietnamese pangasius also accounted for 22% of the EU’s import of white fish.

However, in 2021, pangasius exports to the EU reached just over 106 million USD, accounting for 7% of Vietnam’s total pangasius exports. In the EU white-meat fish import market, Vietnamese pangasius only accounts for 1.6% of market share.

The EVFTA, effective from August 1, 2020, brought excellent prospects for Vietnam’s seafood exports, including pangasius, to this market. Accordingly, the export of pangasius products will receive tax reductions under a three-year roadmap.

Smoked pangasius exports will have tax reductions within seven years from the effective day of the agreement.

However, the advantages of tariffs did not promote an increase in pangasius exports to the EU in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic.

In addition, there is an issue regarding compliance with regulations against unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU). Four years since receiving a “yellow card”, Vietnamese seafood export volume to the EU market declined by 3% during 2017-2021.

The Government has pledged to come up with appropriate and effective solutions to quickly solve the “yellow card” penalty.

Vietnam can then avoid the risk of receiving a “red card” and enjoy preferential tariffs and institutional changes from the EVFTA.

However, seafood exports to the EU still maintained a growth rate of 28% in July and 39% in the first seven months of this year, to 829 million USD, compared to the same period in 2021.

Seafood exports to the US in the first seven months reached nearly 1.5 billion USD, up 31% year on year, Hang said.

Meanwhile, seafood export value to China in the first seven months grew by 71% to 1 billion USD./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Tourism of the northern port city of Hai Phong held a workshop on August 26 to seek breakthroughs in local tourism amid the fourth industrial revolution.

In her speech, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Science and Technology Pham Thi Sen Quynh said the event aimed to outline strategic orientations and sci-tech solutions to modernise the city’s tourism sector on the back of comprehensive digital transformation.

Businesses, units and individuals will learn about solutions from experts and IT companies to improve competitiveness of tourism products and optimise tourists’ experiences when they visit the city.

Quynh affirmed that the application of digital technology in tourism and facilitation of digital transformation are inevitable amid the fourth industrial revolution, helping the sector tap added value from the digital environment more effectively for sustainable development.

The event also looked to effectively realise the Resolution on digital transformation till 2025 with a vision to 2030 issued by the Standing Board of the municipal Party Committee.

The Resolution also targets the launch of digital tourism utilities such as smart travel cards, digitalisation of destinations and tourist products in the city, a digital tourism map, a tour guide app, and virtual reality tours of relic sites and well-known destinations.

Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tourism Duong Duc Hung presented an overview of Hai Phong’s tourism sector with its strengths and weaknesses. He also shared how the sector is using modern technology to turn tourism into one of the three pillar economic sectors of the city.

Representatives from businesses and units discussed sci-tech solutions and introduced the application of Smart Tourism 3D/360 in tourism development./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has asked domestic airlines to increase flights during the four-day National Day holiday (September 1-4) to better meet passengers’ travelling demand.

In its dispatch to aviation agencies, the ministry requested the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) to direct domestic airlines to organise more flights at night and minimise the delay and cancellation of flights during the period.

The authority was asked to guide airports to coordinate with local Departments of Transport and authorities to regulate the traffic around airports to avoid congestion, especially around Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.

Meanwhile, local Departments of Transports were requested to strengthen public transport to serve passengers travelling from/to airports, especially at night. At the same time, it is necessary to increase the connections between aviation transport and other forms of transformation to better meet people’s travel demand.

The ministry also asked localities to ensure traffic order and safety, while requesting authorities to strengthen the inspection of transport prices./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Popular artists from around the world and Vietnam will perform at the 6th annual music and community festival – BridgeFest 2022 – at Bien Dong (East Sea) Park, in the central city on August 27.

The artists include the American acapella group BackTrack Vocals, Da LAB, aka Nikola H. Mounoud from Switzerland, My Anh, Buc Tuong band, Kimmese, Brainwave, Minh Toc; Lam, and Mesid3.

The theme of BridgeFest 2022 is ‘Be the Change Toward a Human Economy’, encouraging all to realise the importance of humanity and our shared environment above all else.

BridgeFest – a free music and community festival open to the public – encourages youth to be agents to reduce social inequality. This concept has resonated with the Vietnamese people and has become the essence of BridgeFest since its inception.

This year, 32 social organisations, enterprises, and youth clubs came together from across the country to make BridgeFest happen.

These partnerships represent concerted efforts to resolve social problems relating to the environment, education, healthcare, cultural, sexual and gender identity, persons with disabilities, women and children toward a better future.

After five successful years based in Hanoi, BridgeFest has become an exciting event that young people look forward to every year.

The most recent BridgeFest in 2020 was held at Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square in Hanoi and attracted more than 15,000 people.

BridgeFest 2022 marks the first time the festival will be held in Da Nang, and organisers hope it will spread a meaningful message to a new audience.

BridgeFest 2022 Music and Community Festival is open to the public from 3pm to 10pm on the beach of Da Nang. Everyone is welcome to enjoy a magnificent music experience for free.

Bridgefest is jointly organised and sponsored by Da Nang People’s Committee, Ministry of Cultural, Sports and Tourism, United States Mission to Vietnam, the Swiss Embassy, and talented, driven, and ambitious Vietnamese youth.

Vu Thi Quynh Hoa of Oxfam underscored the significance of young people: “I feel proud seeing young people who are passionate about music and are enthusiastic and engaged in social activities at BridgeFest. We hope more people, businesses, and organisations participate in social activities to help spread this positive message of moving our society towards a human economy.”

BridgeFest 2022 marks the first year of the Swiss Embassy participating as one of the event organisers.

Nicole Wyrsch, Chargé de Affaires of the Swiss Embassy, said: “Looking at the six-year journey of the programme, we think BridgeFest is a significant programme that spreads many good messages. The Swiss Embassy and its partners hope that BridgeFest 2022 will be an interesting highlight of summer 2022, not only in terms of music but also in humanistic activities.”

Formerly known as South East Asian Pride 2016 – a music event honouring diversity and equality in society, BridgeFest has been held for five consecutive years and has become a signature community event that attracts a large audience and spreads inspirational messages about equality and social integration.

Since 2017, BridgeFest has been co-organised by Oxfam and the US Embassy.

BridgeFest is part of Oxfam’s worldwide campaign ‘Even It Up – Bridging the Gap,’ which aims to help eliminate inequality./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Overseas shipments within the first seven months of 2022 earned more than 14 billion USD for the leather and footwear sector, an annual increase of 13%.

During the period, the export revenue of the products from North America and the EU grew by 24% and 17.5%, respectively.

The export value also saw good recovery in markets signing a free trade agreement with Vietnam, for example an 18.2% increase in exports to Vietnam-EU FTA members, and a 10.5% rise in CPTPP member markets.

Phan Thi Thanh Xuan, Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnam Leather Footwear and Handbag Industry, said that the sector will face both opportunities and challenges in the remaining months of the year.

Key export markets of Vietnam like the EU and US are experiencing a reduction in consumption, hence an impact on purchasing power, she added.

Vietnam earned 20.78 billion USD from the export of leather and footwear in 2021, up 4.6% from 2020, including 17.77 billion USD from footwear alone, up 6.1%.

Various world-famous brands, including Nike, Adidas, Reebok, and Puma, have selected Vietnam as a destination for outsourcing and setting production bases./

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in cooperation with WWF-Vietnam, HEINEKEN Vietnam and local partners, has launched a partnership programme for water conservation in the basins of the Hong (Red), Dong Nai and Tien River.

WWF-Vietnam said the programme would strengthen water resources management in these critical areas.

The partnership programme for ‘Water conservation in Xuan Son National Park of the northern Phu Tho province; Dong Nai Culture and Nature Reserve in the southern Dong Nai province and Dong Thap Muoi (Plain of Reeds) Ecological Reserve in Tien Giang province’ will be conducted over four years, with funding of 30 billion VND (1.3 million USD) from HEINEKEN Vietnam.

According to the plan, the ecosystems in these river basins will be restored, and forests replanted to maintain and improve their ability to regulate and supply water to local communities and support agricultural activities downstream.

The programme is part of HEINEKEN Vietnam’s efforts to protect watersheds and an essential step toward the company’s goal of 100% water balance by 2025 – whereby the company seeks to return the amount to the environment of water that goes into its beers.

It also aims to restore the integrity of the ecosystem and the biodiversity in the basin of these rivers, which is high on WWF-Vietnam’s agenda.

The Red, Dong Nai, and Tien River basins have high biodiversity and economic value to the local communities.

However, the overexploitation of water, forest and land, the ineffective management of waste sources, and the impact of climate change have reduced the amount and the quality of water in these regions.

“Protecting water is one of the top priorities in HEINEKEN Vietnam’s sustainability strategy, especially when beers are 95% water,” said Holly Bostock, Corporate Affairs Director, HEINEKEN Vietnam.

“In our production, we are constantly increasing our water efficiency and improving water circularity. However, beyond this, we also have the ambition to balance the water in our products fully.

“The partnership program with WWF-Vietnam will improve water quality and restore water management mechanisms in three critical river basins, which feed into where three of our breweries are, in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Tien Giang. With its positive and comprehensive impacts on the environment and community, this programme will be a crucial part of our ‘Brewing A Better Vietnam’ sustainability strategy.”

Hoang Viet, Freshwater Lead at WWF-Vietnam, said: “The programme is designed with a comprehensive approach to address water security issues with nature-based & community-based solutions.”

“With a strong commitment and close cooperation of the Department of International Cooperation, the Department of Water Resources, the General Department of Irrigation and the Department of Special-Use Forests Management, the Department of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and local partners, as well as the funding from HEINEKEN Vietnam, WWF-Vietnam believes that the ecosystem in these critical water basins of the country will be protected and developed sustainably, improve water supply in the area, and address a shortage in the lower rivers, especially in the dry season.”

By 2025, the program aims to have the freshwater ecosystem in Xuan Son National Park, Dong Nai Nature Reserve – Cultural Heritage, and Dong Thap Muoi Ecosystem Reserve restored and protected.

Local communities will form new habits and contribute to the goal of replenishing a total of 3 billion litres of water every year, of which approximately 2 billion litres are expected to be increased through the nurturing and enriching of 1,100 hectares of natural forest in all three river basins.

Two hundred million litres of water will potentially be added by planting 32.3 hectares of extensive timber forests and native trees.

Nearly 800 million litres of water are planned to be explicitly replenished in Dong Thap Muoi Ecosystem Reserve through water management programmes in wetlands.

Additionally, communities living in the core and buffer zones of Xuan Son National Park and Dong Nai Nature & Cultural Reserve will receive training to adjust their living and farming habits to help reduce the negative impact on water resources.

The partnership program between WWF-Vietnam, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and HEINEKEN Vietnam, if implemented successfully, can become a public-private cooperation model for forested watersheds protection and water resources conservation; and a showcase of collaboration to reverse biodiversity loss in Vietnam./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Various investment promotion activities have been organised recently by authorities of Hai Phong to popularise the northern city as a dynamic and potential destination for investors.

In August, a delegation of Hai Phong officials led by Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Van Tung came to the Republic of Korea (RoK) to do the work on the city’s potential, advantages, along with investment opportunities and policies. They also fielded Korean businesses’ questions about the local investment climate.

The Hai Phong administration also took this occasion to grant investment registration certificates to some Korean projects, including a logistics centre worth 98 million USD, an 18.5 million-USD project of the Posco Vietnam Processing Centre Co. Ltd, and the addition of over 35 million USD to the KREMS project.

Earlier, the committee had held a conference to boost investment attraction and connect Vietnamese and Korean enterprises.

Le Trung Kien, head of the Hai Phong Economic Zone Authority (HEZA), said it has organised numerous investment promotion events both at home and abroad since the beginning of 2022 to attract more foreign investment.

The city has always been among the top destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam. It is currently home to 827 valid FDI projects worth nearly 24 billion USD from 42 countries and territories. Up to 444 of those projects, with registered capital totalling about 22 billion USD, are invested in economic and industrial zones.

The RoK is the leading investor here in terms of both the project number and value – over 170 projects worth about 10 billion USD, equivalent to 41% of the total FDI.

Keisuke Koshijima, Executive Vice President and General Manager for Overseas Operations Division at Japan’s Kajima Corp., said Hai Phong has comprehensively developed infrastructure and become an important link in the global logistics chain.

It has attracted many large-scale manufacturers, including LG and Pegatron, he noted, adding that his firm believes the city is an attractive investment destination and an ideal place for starting its first project.

Le Anh Quan, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee, said Hai Phong has become a trustworthy and attractive destination for domestic and foreign investors in recent years. It always treasures the cooperation and pledges unceasing efforts to create an optimal and fair business environment for foreign investors./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Police in the northern border province of Lao Cai recently busted a ring that smuggled people into Vietnam.

In early July, the Security Unit under Lao Cai city’s Police Department detected a ring using social network applications to induce Vietnamese people living in border areas to organise illegal entry for Chinese people to Vietnam via Lao Cai province to go to a third country.

On August 20, the police arrested Tran Van Hop and Le Quy Ngoc, residing in Bao Thang district; and Wangjiang, Xiaojun, and Tang Caiyong, residing in China’s Sichuan province.

They then arrested Vu Trong Hung, Giang Su Din and Hoang Van Manh, said to be “important links” in this ring./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency