Day: November 9, 2022

The 15th International Processing and  Packaging Exhibition and Conference for Vietnam (ProPak Vietnam 2022) and the 13th International Water Supply, Sanitation, Water Resources and Purification Exhibition & Conference (Vietwater 2022) kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City on November 9.

 

ProPak Vietnam 2022 attracted over 400 exhibitors from many countries and territories, including Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Singapore and Thailand.  The event features 10 groups of products and services in packaging technology, raw materials, beverages, pharmaceuticals, printing, cold supply chain, logistics, and warehousing.

 

Meanwhile, Vietwater 2022 gathered 250 businesses and organisations, including leading companies from hi-tech parks of 25 countries and territories such as the UK, Germany, the RoK, Singapore and Japan.

 

The event introduces famous local and foreign brands such as Nagaoka, Organo, HCP Pump, Norma, Seika, Atlas Filtri, Cheonsei, Fujikin Vietnam.

 

ProPak Vietnam 2022 and Vietwater 2022 are expected to promote connection and partnership between businesses, contributing to the goal of balancing three factors: people, planet and profit (3P) of the sustainable circular economy model.

 

According to BT Tee, General Director of Informa Markets Vietnam – the host of the events, said the exhibitions aim to connect two important links – water and processing and packaging industry, in the transition to a circular economy.

 

The two events with last until November 11./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

Thailand’s Immigration Bureau unveiled its online visa extension (e-extension) service on November 8.

 

Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas, the national police chief, said the e-extension would improve visa services by allowing visitors to lodge their requests online.

 

This service includes the payment of fees and charges through an exclusive website, Thaiextension.vfsevisa.com. It will also reduce the time to process the application from one hour to three minutes.

 

According to the bureau, over 200,000 expats try to extend their visas each year for reasons including holidays, teaching jobs, study or family matters. The growing number of applicants has drawn concern about the time-consuming and inefficient nature of the process.

 

The service will be piloted first for expats living or working in Bangkok, who can file their applications online at the official website. However, they still have to show up in person at the IB office on Chaeng Wattana Road, just like the old system.

 

The department plans to provide this service at all of its offices nationwide in the future./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

 

Eighteen Vietnamese and international fashion designers and brands will take part in the Aquafina Vietnam International Fashion Week (AVIFW) Fall/Winter 2022 held in Hanoi this month after a three-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The fashion week with the theme of “Taste of Heritage” will showcase hundreds of new designs, mostly honouring Vietnam’s traditional culture and heritage.

 

Vietnamese designer Hoang Minh Ha will open the AVIFW Autumn/Winter 2022 with his collection “Suong” (Fog).

 

The collection will feature ready-to-wear designs for women inspired by the natural landscapes of the north of Vietnam. All designs will be made from sustainable materials.

 

Ha, a graduate of the HCM City University of Architecture, became famous after becoming the winner of Project Runway Vietnam 2013, the Vietnamese version of the American TV reality series Project Runway.

 

His collections have been presented at Tiffany’s Fashion Week Paris and Vietnam International Fashion Week.

 

The fashion week will feature new collections from designers Fredrick Lee from Singapore, Priyo Oktaviano from Indonesia, and Jovana Benoit from Haiti with brand Jovana Louis, and Italian brand Paul & Shark.

 

International designers will join with Vietnamese colleagues such as Duc Hung, Hoang Hai, Ha Linh Thu and Adrian Anh Tuan.

 

Young designers from the Hanoi-based London College for Design & Fashion will have opportunities to showcase their designs at the fashion week.

 

Le Thi Quynh Trang, President of the Vietnam International Fashion Week and Council of ASEAN Fashion Designers, spoke at the AVIFW Fall/Winter 2022 in Hanoi on November 4.

 

“The Vietnamese fashion industry has earned remarkable achievements in recent years, so we need to continue to promote designs carrying Vietnamese cultural identity to the international market,” she said.

 

She emphasised that Hanoi was not only the capital of the country but also a cultural and fashion hub. “Therefore, we decided to bring fashion week back to Hanoi with the theme of “Taste of Heritage” to inspire designers to create items promoting Vietnamese culture and heritage.”

 

Trang added that the organiser cooperated with Meta Platforms Inc to promote the AVIFW Fall/Winter 2022 on social media platforms Instagram, Facebook, and Reels. The campaign aimed to help the Vietnamese fashion industry and designers be able to approach millions of social network users around the world.

 

The Vietnam International Fashion Week was first held in 2014, and quickly became the leading fashion event in ASEAN. It ranks fourth in Asia after Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai fashion weeks.

 

A contest to discover the best street style looks will be held at Trang Tien Plaza in Hoon Kiem district during fashion week.

 

The AVIFW Fall/Winter 2022 will take place from November 23-27 at the Quan Ngua Sports Centre in Ba Dinh district./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The international aviation sector is predicted to grow strongly in 2023, motivated by the recovery in the number of international tourists, according to analysts.

 

In its recent research, securities firm VNDIRECT held that most of countries have removed the restriction for tourists, and this will boost both outbound and inbound travel demand.

 

It noted that international arrival throughput jumped 35 times year on year in the third quarter of 2022, recovering to 49.8% of pre-pandemic level.

 

In the base case scenario, the firm expected China to gradually relax the travel restriction from the second quarter of 2023. Thus, the international inflow recovery rate might reach 84% in the second quarter of 2023 and 100% in the fourth quarter to help the total international volume to grow 195% year on year in 2023.

 

Having high revenue exposure to international air travel, airport retailers will be the most beneficiaries of the recovery of international arrivals, according to the report.

 

For airport, VNDIRECT held that the growth is crystal clear but might be dented since 2024 onwards due to the capacity constraints. The recovery prospect of airlines is overshadowed by high fuel price, exchange rate volatility, and rising interest rates.

 

VNDIRECT experts also give forecast on the recovery of major air traffic markets of Vietnam.

 

It noted that Vietnam’s major air traffic markets in Southeast Asia including Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia have all fully reopened and developed bilateral tourism with the country. It expects international visits from SEA to recover to the pre-pandemic level by the first quarter of 2023.

 

VNDIRECT also predicted that international arrivals from Europe will recover to the pre-pandemic level by the second quarter of 2023, and those from Russia by the third quarter of 2023.

 

India is considered a potential new market for Vietnam’s tourism. Vietjet Air, Vietnam Airlines, and India’s IndiGo and Spice Jet have launched new routes between the two countries. In particular, Vietjet Air has been granted the right to operate more than 20 new routes from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Phu Quoc to new destinations in India such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Gaya as well as increase the flight frequency to Delhi and Mumbai from July 2022.

 

VNDIRECT predicted that international visitors on this route will reach 5% of the total recorded in the whole market before the pandemic broke by the second quarter of 2023./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnamese basketball team will begin their FIBA Asia Cup 2025 pre-qualifiers journey in Mongolia on November 10.

 

Vietnam are in Group D with Tahiti, Thailand, Malaysia and Mongolia. Their first match will be against Tahiti.

 

The Vietnam Basketball Federation (VBF) selected their 12 best players, including Justin Young and Dinh Thanh Sang.

 

Young, an overseas Vietnamese player, made his national team debut in 2019 at the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup. The captain of Thang Long Warriors has grown into an important national team player in recent years.

 

Young’s time in the Vietnamese jersey has been marked by success. He helped the national side to two bronze medals at the SEA Games 30 before he and his teammates won a historic silver medal in the 3×3 event at the SEA Games 31 last May.

 

In the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 preliminary round, Young will play for Vietnam as a Vietnamese domestic player, as from October 31, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) officially recognised Young as a fully-qualified domestic Vietnamese domestic player.

 

The fact that Young became a domestic player allowed the Vietnamese team to select another foreign player, and Dinh Thanh Sang, a Vietnamese-American, was selected. Cantho Catfish’s star also played in the past two SEA Games.

 

Sang is a player familiar with the basketball-loving audience in Vietnam. He is one of the rare players to participate in the VBA seasons from 2016 to now fully. He is a key member of the Cantho Catfish team that dominated the VBA during 2017-19.

 

As well as the above, the Vietnamese side can call on other outstanding names, like Tran Dang Khoa, Vo Kim Ban and Nguyen Huynh Phu Vinh.

 

Saigon Heat head coach Matt Van Pelt will lead the Vietnamese team in this tournament. It is the first time a young American coach has trained the national team, replacing Kevin Yurks.

 

The FIBA Asia Cup 2025 pre-qualifiers have two rounds. The teams will be divided into four groups based on their regions. West Asian teams are in Groups A and B, while East Asian teams are in Groups C and D.

 

The teams will play in a round-robin format in the first round, with the top three teams advancing to the second round.

 

The three advancing teams from Groups A and B will be put into Group E, while those from Groups C and D will be merged into group F.

 

Teams in Groups E and F will continue to play in a round-robin format. The top four teams in each group will advance to the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup 2025 qualifiers, along with 16 other teams that have entered directly.

 

In the first pre-qualifying round, Vietnam are in Group D. To advance to the second round, Vietnam must finish at least third./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

Tan Cang Hai Phong International Container Terminal (TC-HICT) in the northern city of Hai Phong welcomed the 1 millionth TEU this year on November 9.

 

The event affirms the reputation of TC-HICT and demonstrates the development of deep-water ports in Hai Phong, Lieutenant Colonel Doan Hai Tuan, Chairman of TC-HICT’s Member Council, said at the ceremony.

 

It also contributes to raising confidence among foreign investors who want to set up factories in Hai Phong and other northern localities as cargo can be shipped directly from Vietnam to the US and Europe, thus helping to reduce logistics costs, he added.

 

TC-HICT is the largest deep-water container terminal in northern Vietnam, stretching 750m with two berths, a 14m depth of access channel, a 660m turning basin, and 16m berth depth.

 

The port can accommodate vessels of up to 14,000 TEUs, operating long haul routes and ensuring cargo throughput of 1.1 million TEUs per year.

 

It provides direct services to America and Europe for Vietnamese exports and imports, shortening the lead time of three to five days compared to current services, and minimising logistics costs and risks./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

 

A forum discussing ways to help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to accelerate digital transformation took place in Hanoi on November 9.

 

Jointly held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Meta Group, the event brought together representatives from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Information and Communication, business associations and communities.

 

The event created a venue for policy makers, business support organisations, economic experts, and credit institutions to discuss the challenges facing SMEs, as well as policies, trends, opportunities, tools and solutions related to digital transformation.

 

Addressing the event, VCCI Vice President Bui Trung Nghia said digital transformation opens up opportunities for all countries, especially developing countries, to grow faster and upgrade their development ranking.

 

According to Vice Director of the Enterprise Development Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment Bui Thu Thuy, in recent years, the VCCI has cooperated with multiple organisations to support tens of thousands of businesses in accelerating application of digital tools in developing their businesses, contributing to changing the awareness and ability of the business community in this field.

 

With a population of nearly 100 million, including 70% with internet access, and about 72% using smartphones, Vietnam is considered one of the countries with the highest growth in the digital economy in Southeast Asia.

 

Vietnam’s digital economy was valued at 21 billion USD in 2021, up 31% year-on-year, and making up 5% of national GDP.

 

The country’s economy has recorded rapid changes through the application of digital technology. Its digital economy is expected to reach 57 billion USD in 2025, ranking second in Southeast Asia, with annual growth of 29%.

 

Digital transformation in the business community has recorded strong development in recent years to respond to changes in consumption behaviour well as management needs.

 

Many businesses have applied software solutions and used digital platforms in accounting-financial management, sales, online marketing, distribution channel management, business administration, and creating new products and services./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency