Category: Business

The Philippines spent more than 450 million USD importing some 900,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice in the first quarter of this year, and more orders are expected to be placed in the time ahead.

The country was the biggest importer of Vietnamese rice in the reviewed period, making up 48.2% in volume and 45.9% in value, followed by China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Ghana, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

The Philippine National Food Authority (NFA) has recently proposed importing 330,000 tonnes of rice to cover an expected deficit in its buffer stock. The move was made as the Philippine government wants to curb the cost of the staple grain and limit upwards inflation pressure.

The customs agency also reported that Vietnam exported 1.85 million tonnes of rice worth over 980 million USD in the first three months, up 23.4% in quantity and 34.3% in value year-on-year.

Le Thanh Tung, deputy head of the plant cultivation department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), said rice output in the Mekong Delta alone is projected to reach 24 million tonnes this year.

Vietnamese rice will likely continue to be sought after in the second quarter as demand has been on the rise in major markets like the Philippines, China and Africa, said the Vietnam Food Association.

Last year, Vietnam shipped abroad 7.1 million tonnes of rice valued at 3.45 billion USD, of which 3.2 million tonnes were exported to the Philippines./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate at 23,606 VND/USD on April 13, down 2 VND from the previous day.

With the current trading band of +/- 5%, the ceiling rate applied to commercial banks during the day is 24,786 VND/USD and the floor rate 22,426 VND/USD.

The opening hour rates at commercial banks stayed stable.

At 8:30 am, Vietcombank listed the buying rate at 23,260 VND/USD, and the selling rate at 23,630 VND/USD, unchanged from April 12.

BIDV also kept both rates unchanged from the previous day, listing at 23,300 VND/USD (buying) and 23,600 VND/USD (selling)./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

About 1.2 million mobile phone subscribers will have their SIM cards two-way locked from Saturday if they do not provide accurate personal information.

If the SIM card is two-way locked, users cannot make or receive phone calls and messages.

Nguyen Phong Nha, deputy head of the Vietnam Telecommunications Authority, said that 1.67 million subscribers with unverified information have been one-side locked since the end of last month.

They are not allowed to make phone calls or send text messages.

From April 1 to 10, 394,000 mobile phone subscribers had their information verified following the Ministry of Information and Communications plan.

There remain about 1.2 million unverified subscribers.

Those with unverified information will have their mobile phone numbers withdrawn on May 15.

Mobile users are advised to follow the verification request to avoid being locked. Subscribers can text 'TTTB' to number 1414 without fees to know if the subscription is verified or not.

Vietnam has about 126 million mobile subscribers./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate at 23,608 VND/USD on April 12, up 2 VND from the previous day.

With the current trading band of +/- 5%, the ceiling rate applied to commercial banks during the day is 24,788 VND/USD and the floor rate 22,428 VND/USD.

The opening hour rates at commercial banks rose.

At 8:45 am, Vietcombank listed the buying rate at 23,260 VND/USD, and the selling rate at 23,630 VND/USD, both up 10 VND from the end of April 11.

BIDV added 5 VND to both rates, listing at 23,300 VND/USD (buying) and 23,600 VND/USD (selling)./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Malaysian police have busted the Planetrade investment fraud scheme with the arrest of three men and six women, including a director of the company who operated the scheme.

Royal Malaysia Police secretary Datuk Noorsiah Mohd Saaduddin was quoted by local media as saying that the mastermind of the scheme was charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code and Section 137(1) of the Financial Services Act 2013, while the director of the company was charged under Section 109, read together with Section 420 of the Penal Code.

Some of the suspects, who were investors, were victims of the scheme, who had acted as authorised introducers, meaning they received a commission for bringing in an investor, she said.

She said that since January 2021 to date, the Commercial Crime Investigation Department of Malaysia had received 92 police reports related to the investment fraud scheme involving losses of 17.5 million RM (nearly 4 million USD).

Noorsiah said the police had also frozen assets including 27 bank accounts with a total value of 700 million RM (more than 159 million USD), seized six vehicles estimated to be worth over 1.1 million RM, and 11 million shares in four related companies./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Export-import activities via Lao Cai border gate in the northern border province of Lao Cai thrived in the first quarter this year, reaching nearly 186 million USD, reported the local customs agency.

Specifically, the value of exports reached 92.4 million USD, up 90.1% annually while that of imports rose by 15.2% year-on-year to 93.2 million USD.

Among exports going through Lao Cai border gate, farm produce still accounted for the majority, with a value of over 71 million USD, up 63.2% annually and accounting for 76.8% of the total export turnover. The main export items include dragon fruit, banana, rambutan, watermelon, cassava, and mangosteen.

Vuong Chinh Quoc, head of the management board of Lao Cai Border Economic Zone, said there are 335 businesses operating in exports-imports through Lao Cai border gate at present, up 14 ones compared to 2022.

The board has also come up with plans to prepare all necessary warehouse, logistics and support facilities to create the most favorable conditions for businesses in the second quarter when several seasonal Vietnamese fruits like lychee and dragon fruit will be shipped to China, he added./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a Ministerial Declaration on starting negotiations on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) between the two nations right after Vietnam completed its procedures.

The signing took place after a meeting between Dien and Al Zeyoudi during the Vietnamese minister's working visit to the UAE from April 5-6.

During the meeting, the Vietnamese official said the two countries can start their negotiations on CEPA after the draft terms of reference (TOR) of the agreement is agreed and approved by authorised agencies.

Dien spoke highly of opportunities that the CEPA can bring for both countries, in the context of Vietnam having become a manufacturing hub for many important commodities in the region and the world, while the UAE has many strengths as a transshipment port and financial and logistics centre. The combination of strengths of the two sides will create a momentum for growth in their trade and investment ties in the coming time, he said.

The minister affirmed that the UAE is Vietnam's largest trading partner in the Middle East - North Africa regions, noting that ample room remains for the two countries to tap the potential of their economies that have complementary strengths.

He suggested the two sides strengthen the exchange of all-level delegations and business delegations to explore cooperation opportunities, especially in the field of trade and investment.

Dien also proposed management agencies of Vietnam and the UAE study and promote the establishment of a cooperation mechanism for Halal certification to facilitate the trade in agricultural products between the two countries.

Agreeing with the proposals of the Vietnamese official, Al Zeyoudi said his country wishes to expand economic cooperation with Vietnam and always considers Vietnam its important economic partner.

The UAE's leaders have also given instructions on starting negotiations on the CEPA as soon as Vietnam completes procedures, he noted, adding not only the Ministry of Foreign Trade, but many ministries and sectors in charge of fields such as energy, industry, and logistics services of the UAE have all backed the negotiation, signing and implementation of the CEPA.

Also during the visit, Minister Dien held a meeting with the UAE's Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei.

Dien informed his host on Vietnam's wish to cooperate more closely with the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure in not only traditional energy, but also new and renewable energy development.

He proposed that the two sides sign a new MoU on energy cooperation, adding that Vietnam will create favourable conditions for UAE partners to cooperate with Vietnam in oil and gas exploitation. He suggested considering the possibility of investing in building a centre for transshipment and storage of crude oil and petrochemical products in Vietnam to provide for the Asian region.

Dien also asked the UAE side to study investment opportunities in power transmission infrastructure in Vietnam and support Vietnam in training human resources in this field.

Agreeing with Dien’s proposals, Al Mazrouei stressed that there is great potential for the two countries to step up their cooperation.

The UAE has been researching, negotiating and signing many FTAs with important partners like Vietnam, he said, adding that the UAE government hopes the two countries can sign an FTA this year.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The northern province of Ninh Binh has been selected by US magazine Forbes as one of the 23 best places to travel around the world in 2023.

“Ninh Binh has been named one of the most underrated destinations in Asia, and it’s often referred to as one of the most beautiful hidden gems on the Asian continent,” says Catarina Mello, an award-winning luxury travel content creator, photographer, entrepreneur and online educator, as cited by Forbes.

“It’s rising in popularity on social media, so it won’t stay a hidden gem for too long.”

Forbes also suggested some travel experiences in Ninh Binh, including enjoying scenic landscapes and tasting special cuisine. In February this year, the province was chosen one of the world’s most welcoming regions, a category of the annual Traveller Review Awards 2023 announced by Booking.com, a hotel booking app covering 228 countries and territories.

Nguyen Van Minh, Director of the Ninh Binh tourism promotion centre, said the local tourism sector has continually carried out many measures to turn the province into a hospitable and ideal destination for domestic and foreign travellers.

In the first quarter of 2023, Ninh Binh welcomed 3.2 million tourist arrivals, surging 4.8-fold year on year. That included 3.1 million domestic visitors and nearly 126,000 international ones. Tourism revenue was estimated at nearly 2.5 trillion VND (106 million USD), up 5.5-fold from a year earlier./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency