Day: September 26, 2022

A delegation from the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), headed by deputy head of its Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations Truong Quang Hoai Nam, is attending the 12th National Congress of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) Party.

 

The congress is taking place in Matola city from September 23-28 with the participation of 1,500 delegates and 23 international delegations.

 

The Vietnamese delegation delivered a congratulatory speech at the event; paid a courtesy call to President of the Mozambican Assembly Esperanca Bias; and held working sessions with secretary in charge of foreign affairs at FRELIMO’s Central Committee Shakin Abubakar, Minister Augusto Moreno and Deputy Minister Ludovina Bernardo of Industry and Trade of Mozambique.

 

At these meetings, the two sides informed each other of the current affairs of their parties and nations and discussed measures to beef up bilateral ties.

 

On the sidelines of the congress, the Vietnamese delegation, accompanied by Ambassador Pham Hoang Kim. also met with many international delegations./

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

The 2022 Zhejiang International Trade Exhibition and the 10th Zhejiang Export Fair, the largest and oldest expo independently held by China’s Zhejiang authority in ASEAN, will open at Hanoi’s International Convention Centre on September 28.

 

The 4,000sqm expo will comprise 130 booths run by more than 100 exhibitors, displaying products in hardware and machinery, textiles and inputs, interior and exterior furniture, electronics and household appliances.

 

Celebrating its 10th anniversary in Hanoi, the three-day event will feature various side events, such as a seminar on e-commerce from China’s perspective: lessons and practices; a symposium on international trade promotion in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and a Vietnam-China business matching model in the new context; and a bicycle test tour.

 

Launched in 2011, the expo has been a platform not only for product exhibition and promotion but also for Vietnam and China to strengthen economic and cultural exchange and multifaceted cooperation between their localities./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Singapore’s core inflation rose 5.1% in August to a nearly 14-year high, driven mainly by stronger increases in the prices of food and services.

 

This is higher than the 4.8% in July, and marks its highest level since it touched 5.5% in November 2008.

 

Last month, the nation’s headline consumer price index (CPI) or overall inflation came in at 7.5%, matching the 14-year high in June 2008. In July, it touched 7%.

 

The jump mainly reflected higher transport inflation, bigger holiday expenses, steeper hikes in housing rentals, and more costly food and services.

 

For the full year, the headline inflation forecast remains unchanged at between 5-6%, while core inflation is projected to average between 3-4%, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) last week

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

 

The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency on September 26:

 

-Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stressed the need for drastic measures to speed up the disbursement of public investment capital and the implementation of the socio-economic recovery and development programme as well as three national target programmes, while chairing a meeting with ministries, sectors and localities on September 26.

 

The Government leader ordered ministries, sectors and localities to define particular difficulties and obstacles hindering the work and to deal with them by all means, for the benefit of the state, nation and people. Read full story

 

-Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on September 26 ordered ministries, sectors and localities to brace against Storm Noru, a strong storm that has entered the East Sea and is likely to hit central localities of Vietnam.

 

They must keep a close watch on the developments of the storm and promptly implement directions from central agencies, while guiding vessels to seek safe shelter and supporting farmers to protect their aquatic farms.Read full story

 

-Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz’s upcoming official visit to Vietnam aims to further strengthen the fraternal solidarity, comprehensive cooperation and mutual trust between the Party, State and people of Cuba and Vietnam, said Vietnamese Ambassador to Cuba Le Thanh Tung.

 

In an interview granted to Vietnam News Agency’s correspondents in Cuba, the ambassador Tung highlighted the significance of the visit, adding that this is also an opportunity for senior leaders of the two countries to discuss and come up with specific orientations and measures to further promote the bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation.Read full story

 

– A delegation from the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), headed by deputy head of its Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations Truong Quang Hoai Nam, is attending the 12th National Congress of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) Party.

 

The congress is taking place in Matola city from September 23-28 with the participation of 1,500 delegates and 23 international delegations.Read full story

 

-As of September 16, credit grew 10.47% against the end of 2021 and 17.19% against the same period last year, according to Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Dao Minh Tu.

 

He revealed the figures at a routine press conference for the third quarter of 2022 recently held in Hanoi.Read full story

 

-The 2022 Horasis India Meeting, the foremost annual meeting of Indian business leaders and their global counterparts, opened in the southern province of Binh Duong – Vietnam’s FDI magnet – on September 26.

 

The opening ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, Minister of State at the Indian Foreign Ministry Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, leaders of Horasis, and delegates from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and Vietnamese ministries and localities.Read full story

 

– The number of air passengers in September reached 4.2 million, down 14% month-on-month, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV).

 

The volume increased by 19.6% and 3% compared to that the same month in 2021 and 2019, respectively, it said.Read full story

 

-ADB Country Director Andrew Jeffries has talked to the Vietnam News Agency on the recent interest rate hike by the State Bank of Vietnam in the context of the Fed, ECB and a number of countries raising their rates to curb inflation.

 

According to him, through the pandemic and also through the economic shocks of this year, including global inflation, fallout from the conflict in Ukraine and recession risks, Vietnam was successful in controlling inflation this year, despite enormous pressure from energy, commodity price surges from world economy.Read full story

 

-A delegation from the southern province of Binh Duong led by Nguyen Hoang Thao, permanent deputy secretary of the provincial Party Committee, paid a working visit to India from September 24 to 25.

 

The delegation had meetings with Tata Coffee Group about opportunities to expand production and business, the Indian Importers Chamber of Commerce and Industries (IICCI) and Chief Executive Officer Clubs (CEO Clubs) on mechanisms and policies related to trade and investment in Binh Duong province.Read full story/.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has registered 248 aircraft under Vietnamese nationality so far this year, up six from the same period last year.

 

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has the largest fleet with 102 jets, followed by Vietjet (77), Bamboo Airways (29) and Pacific Airlines (14).

 

The CAAV also reported that the number of air passengers reached 9.1 million in September, a 9.3% decline from the previous month following the summer holiday has ended. The figure included 1.6 million foreign passengers, up 10.2% month-on-month; and 7.5 million domestic passengers, down 12.6%.

 

Some 106,000 tonnes of cargo went through airports this month, up 2.9%. The volume included 84,500 tonnes of international cargo and 22,000 tonnes of domestic goods, up 2.9% and 19.3%, respectively./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc met Japan’s Speaker of the House of Representatives Hosoda Hiroyuki on September 26 as part of his trip to the country to attend the state funeral for late Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.

 

During the meeting, the Vietnamese leader expressed his deep sympathy over the passing of the late PM. He spoke highly of Abe’s special contributions to Vietnam-Japan relationship, and to promoting parliamentary cooperation between the two countries in recent years.

 

He affirmed that Vietnam attaches great importance to and wishes to work with Japan to strengthen their extensive strategic partnership.

 

President Phuc suggested the two sides continue to deepen multifaceted cooperation in accordance with the will of late PM Abe, including strengthening exchanges of delegations at all levels, and cooperation between the legislative bodies.

 

He called on the House of Representatives of Japan to support the Japanese government’s assistance for Vietnam in building an independent, self-reliant economy that is extensively and intensively integrated into the world through the provision of official development assistance (ODA); and promote trade and investment cooperation, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

 

For his part, Hosoda thanked President Phuc and extended his thanks to the Vietnamese leaders for sending a high-ranking delegation to attend the state funeral.

 

This is a special gesture that shows the respect of the Vietnamese leaders for the late Japanese PM, and recognition for his dedication to Vietnam–Japan relations, he said.

 

The speaker recalled Abe’s desire to step up the Vietnam-Japan relationship during his lifetime, emphasising that the late PM attached great importance to Vietnam’s role in the region and devoted much to promoting the comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

 

He said for Japan, Vietnam is an economic-trade and labour partner, affirming his country’s support for promoting relations, especially in infrastructure development, ODA, technology transfer, bringing Vietnamese farm produce to the Japanese market, and labour cooperation.

 

The two sides agreed to continue close cooperation in international issues and support the role and stance of ASEAN, thus contributing to promoting peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

Ho Chi Minh City wishes to foster cooperation with Cuba, contributing to enhancing the traditional ties between Vietnam and the Caribbean nation, a municipal official said on September 26.

 

At a reception for Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz, Vice Chairwoman of the HCM City People’s Committee Phan Thi Thang suggested the city and Cuba step up cooperation in tourism, exchanges between young people, and scholarship programmes.

 

HCM City stands ready to coordinate with Cuba to boost trade connections between the two sides and share its experience in construction, management and high-tech development, she continued.

 

Thang thanked the Cuban Party, State and people for their support to HCM City in COVID-19 prevention and control, and asked Cuba to share its experience in health care and drug production.

 

HCM City is also willing to intensify people-to-people exchanges with Cuba, contributing to enhancing mutual understanding, solidarity and friendship between the people of the two countries, she noted.

 

For his part, Díaz thanked the HCM City authorities and people for their timely support in response to the fire at the Matanzas supertanker in early August and agreed with the host official’s views on orientations to forge cooperation between the two sides.

 

Regarding the upcoming visit to Vietnam, including HCM City, by the Cuban Prime Minister, he said it is intended to consolidate and elevate the relationship to a new height./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

As many major central banks tightened monetary policies to contain soaring inflation, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on September 22 also decided to hike its benchmark interest rate by 100 basis points, effective September 23.

 

This is the first rate hike by the SBV since 2020, after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

According to experts, the move is in line with current monetary market developments in order to avoid creating a significant management gap between Vietnam and other economies.

 

Last week, the US Federal Reserve announced an increase in the central bank’s overnight interest rates by 0.75 percentage point to 3–3.25% a year, its fifth rate hike in 2022. The Fed also affirmed that it would continue to raise rates and maintain them above 4% a year after 2023 to curb inflation.

 

This has caused the US dollar to continue to appreciate strongly and break the 20-year peak in the international market, putting pressure on the USD/VND exchange rate and monetary policy management.

 

Nguyen Duc Lenh, deputy director of SBV’s HCM City branch, said that the SBV’s rate decision followed the global general trend. Many countries had raised and continued to raise interest rates to combat high inflation. Therefore, as an integrated economy with a relatively large degree of openness, the move to increase interest rates was objective and appropriate, he added.

 

However, the increase in interest rates will weigh on the cost of capital mobilisation at commercial banks.

 

After the SBV’s monetary policy decision, many commercial banks also announced increases in deposit interest rates.

 

According to the forecast of VNDirect Securities Corporation, the deposit interest rate may increase by 30–50 basis points from the current level in the last months of 2022. Thereby, the 12-month deposit interest rate of commercial banks will, on average, increase to 6.1–6.3% a year by the end of 2022, but still lower than the pre-pandemic level of 7% a year.

 

In a new report, Petrovietnam Securities Incorporated (PSI) said: “The SBV’s move indicates that the era of cheap money has ended and the interest rate levels in the future will definitely be higher.”

 

Commercial banks’ costs of capital have increased sharply since the beginning of the year, especially in the group of small banks.

 

In addition, SBV reopened the Treasury Bill channel after freezing it for two years, withdrawing a large amount of money from the banking system to curb inflation.

 

The lack of liquidity in the system made the interbank interest rate sometimes exceed 6% a year in the overnight market, higher than the 12-month personal deposit rate at state-owned banks.

 

Economist Nguyen Huu Huan said that while the Government and SBV have requirements to ensure the stability of lending interest rates, commercial banks would find ways to cushion losses such as collecting additional fees or requiring businesses to use other financial services of banks to get loans.

 

In fact, since the beginning of the year, lending rates have also shown signs of increasing at some commercial banks.

 

However, as there is often a lag between the hikes of deposit interest rates and lending rates, in the short term, the net profit margin of commercial banks is considered to be narrower compared to the previous period of cheap money.

 

While the credit room in 2022 has been largely used, PSI believes that the outlook of the banking industry in the last months of the year will not be as bright as the first half of the year.

 

With the central bank’s cautious approach to granting credit, it is likely that 2023 will also continue to be a less favourable year for the banking industry.

 

Amid the continuous rate hikes by the central banks, the uncertain trend of the stock market and the downtrend in liquidity, PSI recommended investors prioritise risk management, limit margin usage and reduce stock proportions in portfolios in technical recovery sessions.

 

For businesses with large investment plans in the future, PSI also suggested that investors should cautiously re-evaluate the potential of projects because interest expenses will increase sharply from initial estimates and prolong the payback period of projects./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency