Trade – Investment

Boasting huge production advantages and capitalising on good market opportunities, Vietnam’s furniture sector has stood firm amid COVID-19 and improved its position in the global market and especially in the US.

During the opening five months of the year, Vietnam’s textile-garment, leather and footwear industries enjoyed positive signs in several key export markets.

Implemented capital from the state budget in the first 5 months of 2021 reached 133.4 trillion VND, equivalent to 28.7% of the year’s plan and an increase of 14.2% compared to the same period last year.

Although the COVID-19 epidemic has been complicated since the end of April and directly affected a number of industrial zones in Bac Giang and Bac Ninh provinces, thanks to rapid localization and control, the industrial production index (IPI) in May 2021 increased by 1.6% from the previous month and by 11.6% over the same period last year.

Vietnam’s seafood exports to the US market reached 149 million USD in April 2021, a year-on-year rise of 64%, bringing the figure of the first four months of the year to 483 million USD, up 28%, reported the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.

Exports of agro-forestry-aquatic products reached an estimated 22.83 billion USD in the first five months of the year, a year-on-year rise of 30.3%, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Five groups seeing price decreases in May included clothing, hats, and footwear, down 0.04%; equipment and household appliances, 0.01%; post and telecommunications group, 0.68%; education, 0.001%; and culture, entertainment and tourism, 0.08%.

Hanoi took the lead in budget savings among 63 localities nationwide with more than 10.28 trillion billion in 2020, according to a report of the Government on thrift practice and anti-waste in 2020 at the 56th meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee.

As of May 20, 2021, the total value of newly registered capital, adjusted capital and capital contribution or share purchase of foreign investors reached nearly 14 billion USD, a year-on-year rise of 0.8%, reported the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

The Philippine government has decided to reduce rice import tax to 35% (previously 40% for rice imported under the quota and 50% for rice imported outside the quota) for 1 year, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Vietnam shipped overseas 130.94 billion USD worth of goods in the first five months of 2021, up 30.7 percent annually, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) for the first five months of the year has increased 1.29% compared to the same period last year, a record low figure since 2016, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Disbursed foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam this year hit 7.15 billion USD as of May 20, an increase of 6.7 percent compared to the same period last year.

(CPV) - Following the approval from the Prime Minister and the consensus of the PPCs of the 5 provinces of 5 provinces Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed the project document for the new initiative, entitled “Strengthening the Resilience of Smallholder Agriculture to C

Canada’s westernmost province of British Columbia and the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada (APFC) held a webinar on May 27 to discuss opportunities for local firms in investing in Vietnam under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Following successful sales of lychees, efforts have been made to sell other Vietnamese farm produce on e-commerce platforms, the Nong nghiep Viet Nam (Vietnam Agriculture) newspaper has reported.

Vietnam’s shrimp exports in the first quarter of 2021 increased by more than 10% year on year. Since April, positive signs have been seen in several major markets. In the second quarter of 2021, shrimp export turnover is forecast to rise by over 20% year on year because export value in most markets will recover and grow positively.

Exports of wood and wooden products were valued at 1.2 billion in April 2021, bringing the sector’s value in the first four months of the year to 4.99 billion USD, a rise of 50.5% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development.

On May 26, the People’s Committee of Bac Giang province held a ceremony to export a batch of 20 tons of early ripe lychee from Tan Yen district to the Japanese market.

More than 3,400 tonnes of fresh lychee were exported to China via Lao Cai province’s Kim Thanh II international border gate from May 8 to 24, valued at nearly 50 billion VND.

Cinnamon products of Tam Hoi Cooperative in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai are now exported to 9 countries, including: Singapore, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Qatar, Lebanon, Israel, and Turkey, reported VOV News.

(CPV) - Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien suggested the Chinese Ambassador and Embassy continue working closely with the ministry to promptly remove difficulties and obstacles in bilateral economic and trade cooperation, creating favorable conditions for import and export activities of enterprises of the two countries.

In the first four months of 2021, Vietnam’s tuna export value reached nearly 226 million USD, a year-on-year rise of 15%.

The Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development has reported that as of the end of April 2021, Vietnam had 5,248 out of 8,267 communes (equivalent to 63.48%) meeting the new-style rural area standards.

On May 23, the first batch of lychee grown in Thanh Ha district, in the northern province of Hai Duong, arrived in Japan by air.

Construction of Dien Chau-Bai Vot section of the North-South Expressway running the central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh started on May 22.

Doosan Heavy Industries Vietnam shipped 331 tonnes of steel structures to Japan’s IHI Transport Machinery in Fukushima prefecture on May 20.

Republic of Korea (RoK) conglomerate the SK Group said on May 18 that it wishes to set up long-term cooperation with Vietnam, including the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, which has substantial potential in hydrogen development and high-tech production.

In the first two months this year, Vietnam’s cashew nut accounted for 92.58% of the total import volume of Turkey, much higher than that of the first two months of 2020. Vietnam’s cashew industry is dominating the Turkish market.

Vietnamese abroad sent home 17.2 billion USD worth of remittances in 2020, making the country the third-largest remittance recipient in the East Asia and Pacific region, according to the Migration and Development Brief released earlier this week by the World Bank and the Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD).