Trade – Investment

A delegation of 45 large businesses from the US-ASEAN Business Council is paying a working visit to Vietnam to seek opportunities expanding cooperation and investment in the country.

In February, Vietnam exported 400,000 tons of rice, earning USD176 million, an increase of 45.6% in quantity and 50.8% in value, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has reported.

Vietnamese airline Bamboo Airways has initiated plans to open a direct air route between the nation and Germany, with flights set to get underway in July.

HCM city plans to launch a trial run of the first metro line section between Binh Thai intersection and Long Binh depot in District 9 in the third quarter of this year.

At a recent press conference in Hanoi, Indian Ambassador to Vietnam, Mr. Pranay Verma, said that Covid-19 had a significant impact on global supply chains, but India and Vietnam can complement each other.

Samsung Vietnam has announced the commencement of construction on a new USD220 million research and development (R&D) centre in Vietnam, with completion scheduled for late 2022.

​The northern mountainous province of Yen Bai granted in-principle approval for 15 investment projects worth a total VND3 trillion (nearly USD130 million) during a meeting with investors on March 1st.

The Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) Support Centre under the Hanoi Department of Planning and Investment has officially put into operation a portal to support businesses at hotrodoanhnghiep.hanoi.gov.vn.

China’s Guangxi Department of Commerce on February 28th announced that all of the China-Vietnam border crossings in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, reopened thanks to the effective inspection of COVID-19.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of the Czech Republic Alena Schillerova spoke highly of Vietnamese businesses’ adherence to her country’s laws while attending a workshop in Prague on February 29th.

Aquaculture output in the first two months of this year hit 513,600 tonnes, up 3.7% over the same time last year, according to the Directorate of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The February consumer price index (CPI) slipped 0.17 percent from the previous month due to falling demand for goods after Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, falling petrol prices, and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Vietnam reported an estimated trade deficit of 176 million USD in the first two months of the year, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO).

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development hosted a conference in the central province of Binh Dinh on February 28th to discuss measures to strengthen the leadership and instruction over combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU).

The Viet Lao Petrol Oil Investment Joint Stock Company began construction of its dock warehouse in the central province of Quang Tri on February 28th.

Sixty-six German medical and healthcare businesses, including leading ones, appreciated the potential of the Vietnamese market, especially as the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement is going into effect this summer, the results of a survey conducted by the German Chamber of Commerce Vietnam (AHK) revealed on February 27th.

At the end of the Gulfood Dubai Fair 2020, the Vietnam national pavilion negotiated and signed a series of contracts with an estimated value of more than USD32 million after participating in the 5 day-event.

Da Nang city is striving to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) with a registered capital of USD 7 billion by 2030, including at least 1 corporation in the top 200 leading businesses in the world.

Vietnam’s total import-export value in the first half of February reached USD19.23 billion, up 32%, equivalent to an increase of USD4.66 billion compared to the second half of January, which included New Year holiday, the General Department of Vietnam Customs has reported.

BPP Vinh Chau Wind Power Co., Ltd (BPPVC) – a subsidiary of Banpu Public Company Limited (Banpu Power) of Thailand, started the construction of a wind power plant with a total capacity of 65MW in Vinh Chau town, the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang.

The People’s Committee of Bac Lieu province hopes the licence it granted to a Singapore company for a liquefied natural gas-fired (LNG) power plant in the province is going to be a significant factor in attracting further foreign direct investment (FDI).

Government officials from Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) have discussed measures to raise two-way trade to 100 billion USD this year despite regional and global economic difficulties caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

A seminar on risk management in agriculture – experience from Canada was held in Hanoi on February 21st.

Japan has recently officially opened its doors to Vietnamese “Thieu” lychee to be exported directly to this country in the 2020 season, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has reported.

Onose Takahisa, President of the Japanese Business Association in Da Nang city term 2020-2021, appreciated the Vietnamese city’s investment environment, including low prices in land hire, and confirmed that more and more Japanese investors will come to Da Nang in the future.

Latest statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that in 2019, the export-import turnover between Vietnam and EU reached USD56.4 billion, accounting for nearly 11% of the country’s export-import turnover.

In January, Ho Chi Minh city attracted USD310.82 million, accounting for 41.68% compared to the same period last year, the city Department of Planning and Investment has reported.

With the comprehensive strategic partnership and large purchasing power, Vietnam and India have large potential to increase two-way trade via boosting the export of their strong commodities to each other’s markets, trade officials of the two countries said.

More than 800 businesses and 8,700 employees have been affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Ho Chi Minh city wishes to bolster cooperation with Japanese localities, including Wakayama prefecture, in the coming time, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Tran Vinh Tuyen said on February 14th.