Trade – Investment

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) on January 14th ordered an issue for the first batch of seafood products exported in 2018 at Cat Lai port in Ho Chi Minh city.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will strive to achieve agricultural growth of at least 3 percent and earn roughly USD40 billion from exports this year.

Japanese companies in Vietnam are seeking more personnel, especially at the managerial level, as investment from Japan has risen greatly in recent years.

Vietnam sets a target of earning between USD19.5 - USD20 billion from leather and footwear exports in 2018, up 10 percent from 2017, heard a conference in January 12th.

Non-performing loans (NPLs) of credit institutions were controlled effectively in 2017, helping the NPL ratio of the entire banking system reduce to 2.3 percent from 2.46 percent in late 2016.

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung attended a meeting on January 12th of the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), asking it to thoroughly address problems of five ailing projects in 2018.

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has stressed a strong change in international economic integration in 2018, focusing negotiations on and signing of new free trade agreements (FTAs), and improving legal frameworks towards realizing signed trade pacts with foreign partners.

Imported chemicals were declared via the national one-stop-shop portal from January 11th.

(CPV) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide EUR143 million for construction of Line 3 of the Hanoi Metro and purchase of new trains on the route.

Thousands of goods items will enjoy a zero percent import tariff in 2018 in line with Vietnam’s commitments on special preferential import duty rates within the framework of 10 free trade agreements (FTA).

Two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Australia reached an estimated USD5.9 billion in the January-November period of 2017, according to statistics recently released by the General Department of Customs.

The Ho Chi Minh city Commercial Arbitration Association (HCCAA) has been officially launched according to Decision 5994 by the municipal People’s Committee on November 13th, 2017.

Four automatic water environment monitoring stations, produced by the Da Nang Centre Of Integrated Circuits (CENTIC) were put into operation in the central city of Da Nang on January 6th.

The expansion of Tan Son Nhat International Airport must be completed within one to two years, according to an instruction by Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung.

Ho Chi Minh City has agreed to set up a working group to help investors navigate regulations and tweak policies where needed as part of efforts to ensure it can achieve the industrial growth target of 7.8 – 8.2 percent this year.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) will enhance trade promotion programmes and give more support to businesses to increase their competitiveness in the local market in 2018.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Directorate of Fisheries has said it will strive to earn an export value of aquatic products of USD8.5 billion this year, up 1.2 percent annually.

The price of tra fish in the Mekong Delta has risen to its highest price over the last 20 years, leading to high profits for local farmers.

International media have run articles highlighting that the year 2017 marked Vietnam’s rapid economic growth.

The first trading session of Vietnam’s stock market in 2018 was marked with a ceremony held by the State Securities Commission and the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) on January 2nd.

The Da Nang port handled its first tonne of cargo on the first day of 2018, part of the load on Liberia’s Lucky Merry cargo ship.

Vietnam earned a record of some USD3.45 billion from fruit and vegetable exports in 2017, rising by 40.5 percent from last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

As many as 3,256 enterprises were established with a combined registered capital of VND20.37 trillion (USD897.35 million) in the Central Highlands provinces in 2017, representing year-on-year rises of 21.62 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

The Vietnam Airlines Corporation has announced that it will issue over 191 million shares for existing shareholders at VND10,000 each to increase its chartered capital.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has accomplished targets set by the government this year, said Deputy Minister Ha Cong Tuan during a press conference in Hanoi on December 29th.

The insurance market has maintained a high growth rate of 21.2 percent in 2017, gaining revenue of VND105.61 trillion (USD4.65 billion), a senior finance ministry official has said.

Vietnam’s export of aquatic products is forecast to top USD8.5 billion next year, up nearly 3 percent from 2017, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP).

Vietnam saw 126,859 new enterprises established with a total registered capital of VND1,295.9 trillion (USD57 billion) in 2017, up 15.2 percent in number and 45.5 percent in capital year-on-year.

As many as 2,884 communes or 32.3 percent of communes nationwide were recognized as new-style rural areas by the end of November 2017, surpassing the target of at least 31 percent.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in December 2017 increased 0.21% from the previous month, according to General Statistics Office (GSO).