27 most popular Vietnamese trademarks in 2019 announced

Representatives from most popular Vietnamese trademarks in 2019 receive their awards at the event 

The Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper hosted a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City on January 26 to honour 27 most popular Vietnamese brand names in 2019 selected by its readers.

The awarded firms operate in various fields – services, tourism, trading, and real estate, including food producers Vissan, Nutifood, and Vinh Thanh Dat, supermarkets Co.opmart and Big C, tour operators Saigontourist and Ben Thanh tourist, and Vietnam Airlines.

Meanwhile, 18 brand names that have won the award for many consecutive years received the “Golden Brand Name” prize.

Nguyen Tan Phong, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, said the voting has been conducted under transparent and strict standards 

Le Thanh Liem, deputy chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, said the local authorities always value the enterprises’ role in contribution to the city’s growth.

Organised since 2006 in response to the “Vietnamese people prioritise Vietnamese goods” campaign, the annual event aims to encourage businesses to build prestigious, high-quality Vietnamese brand names and to build a consumption culture among Vietnamese people.

Master plan needed to develop shrimp farming

Shrimp farming on sandy land has brought profits to the coastal central provinces over the years. But the unplanned and spontaneous expansion of this model is accompanied by the potential of severe negative impacts on economy and environment.

Shrimp aquaculture on sandy land started in 2000 in some localities at a small scale.

Thanks to favourable conditions of land and sea water, aquaculture in coastal provinces has increased sharply in recent years both in terms of area and output.

According to the statistics by the Directorate of Fisheries, the area of shrimp farming on sandy land has reached more than 3,000ha across 14 central provinces, generating some 41,700 tonnes per crop.

The productivity also increased up to six times with an average of 13-15 tonnes per ha compared to 2-3 tonnes per ha in 2000-02.

The yield even is higher in high-tech intensive farming areas with 70-100 tonnes per ha.

The successful application of advanced science and technology for production has driven shrimp farming in the central region to further develop and attract farmers eager to earn money.

Many localities such as Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Thua Thien-Hue have taken the initiative in the technology of breeding and raising shrimps to meet the production demand, Cong Luan (Public Opinion) newspaper reported.

Waste and unproductive land is utilised in an efficient way. This model also creates jobs and contributes to improving local livelihoods and reducing poverty.

The average profit is about 500 million VND (21,700 USD) per ha per crop, even 700-900 million VND per ha.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Ha Tinh province, the shrimp farming on sandy land has been a definite edge in the restructuring of agriculture and rural areas.

In 2011, the province had 40ha of shrimp farming on sand and it reached to 69ha in 2014. Productivity continued to increase and reached 12 to 20 tonnes per ha per crop with the average revenue of 1.9 billion VND per ha.

However, after years of development, the “booming” of the shrimp culture exposed the inadequacies that need to be resolved, the newspaper reported.

Until now, wastewater from the farming ponds has been discharged directly into the surrounding environment without being treated or filtered.

High pollution risks therefore threaten adjacent land areas and water sources, leading to an increased risk of shrimp diseases.

Cultivating in untreated water has exposed diseases from one crop to another, causing higher risks for farmers. Even shrimp died in mass and put the farmers in debt.

Another warning sign given to this farming model is the negative impacts to the environment.

The cultivation of shrimp on sandy land involves the use of fresh and groundwater, which in the coastal areas are limited in supply.

A report shows a concentrated shrimp farm with 100ha needs about five million cu.m of water per year.

Over exploitation of underground water to serve shrimp farming would cause depletion of water resources, directly affecting people’s lives and agricultural production, experts warns.

In addition to discharge of wastewater into the sea, many households now directly discharge wastewater, sludge farming on the sandy land near the ponds, causing pollution and salinisation of ground water.

Le Dinh Son, Secretary of Ha Tinh province’s Party Committee, said that to achieve sustainable development, the Government has specific plans for each region and inter-region and will create conditions for localities to build up infrastructure for cultivation.

The agricultural sector has recommended households and businesses well-manage farming areas and apply advanced farming process.

According to Truong Huu Thong, director of Thong Thuan Ltd Co from Binh Thuan province, shrimp farming on sand is growing fast, it would lead to “bubble” development without direction from relevant agencies, causing over supply.

The Directorate of Fisheries plans to only raise shrimp in areas with sufficient surface water to reduce the use of ground water, which is limited in central Vietnam.

It will also take into account effects of climate change and apply advanced technology to save fresh water. The agency will encourage private sector investment to develop self-contained shrimp ecosystems.

The directorate will formulate a master plan to facilitate shrimp growing as part of the national action plan to develop the industry by 2025 and develop infrastructure for areas of large-scale shrimp production.

Vietnam aims to expand the industry to 7,000ha by 2025, produce some 110,000 tonnes per crop, and ensure 70 percent of these areas have infrastructure developed, according to the directorate.

Dong Nai lures 52.4 million USD in FDI in January

The southern province of Dong Nai granted investment licenses to seven new direct investment (FDI) projects and approved capital addition to four existing others, with total capital of 52.4 million USD in January 2019. 

According to the provincial Department of Planning and Investment, all of these are hi-tech and support industry projects. 

The notable ones include projects invested by SYM JSC Vietnam in the Giang Dien Industrial Park in Trang Bom district worth 10 million USD; and a 9.2 million USD project of SEMBA TOHKA Vietnam Co., Ltd of Japan in the Long Duc IP, Long Thanh district. 

The department said local authorities have given priority to attract hi-tech and friendly environmentally projects. 

Dong Nai has to date attracted 33.8 billion USD of FDI in 1,890 projects, of which 1,394 are valid with a total investment of 28.6 billion USD. 

FDI projects come from 45 countries and territories, led by the Republic of Korea, Taiwan (China) and Japan.

US$1.72 billion spent on aquatic imports in 2018

Aquatic imports coming into Vietnam recorded US$1.72 billion in 2018, rising by 19.6% against the previous year, according to Vietnam Customs.

Vietnam Economic Times quoted statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs as showing India was the largest source of aquatic shipments to Vietnam in 2018 with US$344.5 million in value, accounting for 20% of the latter’s total import turnover of aquatic products.

It was followed by Norway as the Northwestern Europe country earned US$178.64 million from aquatic exports to Vietnam, jumping by 46.2% on year.
 
Vietnam spent US$151.4 million importing aquatic products from Southeast Asian countries, a year on year hike of 59.3%, equivalent to 8.8% of the country’s total aquatic imports.

Aquatic imports from China and Japan totaled at US$124 million and US$108 million, respectively. These figures went up 10.5% and 29.3% against 2017.

Malaysia’s aquatic exports to Vietnam, worth US$7.6 million, saw the largest value growth of 94.6% on year. It was followed by Indonesia with an annual increase of 82% and US$96 million in export value.

Meanwhile, the value of aquatic imports from Denmark, Poland, Myanmar, and India witnessed year on year plunges of 20.6%, 17.5%, 17.4%, and 3.6% respectively.
Apps race to attract customers with sweet deals

E-wallets, food-delivery and online shopping apps are offering a range of Tet (Lunar New Year) Festival promotions to widen their customer base.

On January 21, e-wallet cashless payment platform MoMo experienced a temporary freeze of its network shortly after launching a promotion that gives customers a chance to receive gifts when using the app to send money. 

Shortly after the promotion was launched, MoMo recorded an additional 500,000 downloads and registrations of its app, forcing the platform to upgrade its capacity immediately. 
 
At the time of the freeze, MoMo reported a record of over 1 million customers who had logged on at the same time for a chance to receive something from MoMo’s pool of gifts worth over VND100 billion ($4.32 million).

About 2 days later, ZaloPay, another e-payment platform also entered the race by encouraging users to make deposits, payments and money transfers to receive bonus points and redeem vouchers from a pool of VND10 billion ($431,995).

The promotion heat has also spread to the food delivery industry, where Grab, the Singaporean-based ride hailing and food delivery app, has announced its expansion to an additional 12 provinces and cities, to make "food ordering easier during Tet".  

Tet, or Lunar New Year Festival, will be celebrated from February 2-10 this year.

Demi Yu, GrabFood regional director for Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Philippines, revealed that the number of GrabFood orders increased has increased 25 times since it was launched in Vietnam last October. 
 
"With our extensive driver partner network, we’ve been able to lower average delivery time to 20 minutes in central Hanoi and HCMC, making us the fastest food delivery service in Vietnam," she said. 

A survey published by Vietnamese market research firm GCOMM earlier this month showed that 99 percent of those surveyed said they used online food ordering services at least 2-3 times per month. 39 percent said they ordered through these apps 2-3 times a week.

According to this survey, the 6 most popular apps are GrabFood, Foody, GoFood, Lala, Vietnammm and Lixi. However, because of the fierceness of competition, just a few days before the study was announced, Lala withdrew from the food delivery market to focus on providing software solutions to restaurants. 

"Demand for delivery is growing in Hanoi and HCMC. I think in the next 5 years, it will thrive in the 10 largest cities. There are about 100,000 delivery orders each day in HCMC and Hanoi combined, whereas there was virtually no demand for this service 3 years ago.
 
The delivery market is now worth $500 million, but is expected to grow to $2 billion in 5 years," said Luong Duy Hoai, founder of GHN, a courier service with over 7,000 staff. 

According to a recent report by South Korean commercial giant Lotte, the number of orders and visits by online shoppers rose by 80 percent and 200 percent respectively in 2018. 

Kim Kyou Sik, general director of Lotte.vn, the group’s online outlet, said: "Late 2019 will be a major battle for all e-commercial sites to establish market share. We aspire to become one of Vietnam’s top 4 e-commerce sites by the end of the year." 

According to research by Nielsen Vietnam, with 53 percent of the population using the Internet, nearly 50 million numbers registered on smartphones, most online shoppers being from 25-29 years old, the e-commerce market in Vietnam is full of potential despite growing at 22 percent per year.
 
The e-Conomy SEA 2018 report by Google and Singaporean investment firm Temasek also revealed that e-commerce, along with three other areas, namely online advertising, online travel and ride hailing dominate Vietnam’s Internet economy. 

In 2018, the Internet economy had an estimated total worth of US$9 billion. Earlier this year, the two companies collaborated in a report which revealed that gross merchandise volume of Vietnam’s Internet economy amounted to 4 percent of its GDP. VN firms to attend energy exhibition in Thailand

     

 

A meeting introducing the IEEE-PES GTD Asia 2019 was held in Ha Noi on Thursday. 

 A meeting introducing the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) - Power and Energy Society (PES) Generation Transmission and Distribution (GTD) Asia 2019 was held in Ha Noi on Thursday.

The IEEE-PES GTD Asia 2019 will be held at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre in Bangkok, Thailand from March 19-23.

The IEEE-PES GTD Asia 2019 is a descendant of the IEEE PES T&D Conference and Exhibition, the largest conference and exposition on power and energy arranged biannually in North America for almost 40 years, said Warisara Pongpattapan from the event’s organising board.

This will be the first time the conference is being held outside the US.

With the theme ‘Big shift in Power and Energy’, the exhibition is expected to attract a variety of new technological advances and products in the field of power and energy.

The exhibition is expected to welcome more than 400 businesses from many countries around the world and more than 10,000 visitors.

Pongpattapan believed Vietnamese companies would have opportunities to present and promote their innovations and services to other participants and influential power industries at the exhibition.

Speaking at the event, Le Van Luc, deputy director of the Electricity and Renewable Energy Authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, laud the exhibition.

Promoting the development of renewable energy power will not reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also ensure energy security serving the country’s development, said Luc. 

VN, Japanese firms partner on smart city

     

 

The VNTT Company and NTT Việt Nam Corporation signed a second Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on January 24 to build a smart city in the southern province of Binh Duong. 

 The Viet Nam Technology & Telecommunication Joint Stock Company (VNTT) and NTT Viet Nam Corporation, a subsidiary of Japanese NTT, signed a second Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday to build a smart city in the southern province of Binh Duong.

Under the MoU, NTT Viet Nam will collaborate with VNTT, founded in 2008 as a subsidiary of Becamex IDC, to provide information technology and telecommunications services to customers in industrial parks and urban areas.

The tie-up will also include human resource training, technology transfer and implementation of measures to enhance the quality of services.

The two sides will conduct research for feasibility studies to install public wi-fi in Binh Duong New City and other areas, and to develop a second data centre in the province.

Tran Thanh Liem, chairman of the province’s People’s Committee, said that Becamex IDC and NTT would be reliable partners in developing the smart city. The province has so far attracted more than US$34 billion in foreign direct investment projects, ranking second only to HCM City. 

SonKim Land, Samsung to build smart homes

     

 

SonKim Land Corporation and Samsung Electronics Vietnam sign a strategic partnership deal yesterday (January 25) to develop smart solutions for the former’s homes. — Photo Courtesy of organiser

 SonKim Land Corporation and Samsung Electronics Vietnam on Thursday announced a strategic tie-up to develop smart solutions for SonKim Land’s homes by using the latter’s cutting-edge technologies.

Both companies have agreed to apply Samsung’s system for the Metropole Thu Thiem project. Samsung will offer SonKim Land its latest smart home solutions and products on a priority basis.

Smart home systems are a global trend but very new in Viet Nam, and only a few luxury projects offer them. However, the systems installed here are still quite simple and technologically backward compared to other countries.

The partnership between these two companies is expected to raise the bar.

“We are very gratified to have Samsung Electronics Vietnam as a long-term partner,” Andy Han Suk Jung, CEO of SonKim Land, said.

‘We have great pride in our real estate products and Samsung home appliances and solutions are the perfect match for our SonKim Land apartments.”

SonKim Land is one of the leading developers in the luxury segment. Samsung Electronics Vietnam is the subsidiary of South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, the world’s top brand in home appliances and digital devices. 

Vinapaco urged to equitise soon

     

 

A production line of Bai Bang Paper Company in the northern province of Phu Tho. — Photo phutho.gov.vn

 Deputy Prime Ministry of Industry and Trade Cao Quoc Hung has urged Vietnam Paper Corporation (Vinapaco) to move towards equitisation soon as there are many opportunities and challenges facing the industry this year.

Speaking at a conference to review business results in 2018 and plans for 2019 held this week in Ha Noi, Hung said conditions were good for the paper industry to develop as the country’s economy was forecast to continue a high growth rate of 6.6 - 6.8 per cent. Macro-economic indicators and inflation would be maintained while international trade agreements would be implemented in many areas.

Meanwhile, he said the industry would deal with fierce competition in the domestic market as a consequence of the fourth industrial revolution. Geopolitics and global economics were presenting risks, with increased trade protection from many countries and the impact of free trade agreements.

“The core of the business sector lies in productivity, quality and efficiency to develop the market. Vinapaco needs to set up a clear direction of development to get a firm foothold in the market. From a small step, it is necessary to take a bigger step, building up a sustainable and effective corporation," Hung said.

General Director of Vinapaco, Nguyen Viet Duc, said the corporation’s development strategy focused on three areas, including production and business, development investment and restructuring.

“Vinapaco targets forestry as the key area in the future. It will continue performing its production and business for printing and writing paper and develop production of packaging paper and invest in wood processing,” Duc said.

Duc said the corporation planned to produce over 112,000 tonnes of various kinds of paper, reaching revenue of more than VND2.6 trillion (US$111.8 million) and profit of VND75 billion this year. It is expected to send about VND121 billion to the State budget.

Hung asked the corporation to improve its business management and human resources as well as technological equipment. It needs to make breakthroughs in seedling and intensive farming techniques to improve forest quality, focusing on environmental management and forest land use and implementing restructuring.

“In the fourth industrial revolution, we need to prove that the paper industry is equal in technological development. Innovation is a key task for the industry not to be left behind,” Hung added.

In 2018, Vinapaco exceeded the set revenue target after reaching nearly VND2.6 trillion, equal to 119 per cent of the yearly plan, making profit of VND70 billion. It produced more than 120,000 tonnes of paper of various kinds, 113,000 tonnes of which has been consumed.

In terms of forestry, the corporation exploited 160,000 cu.m of wood for paper materials, planted over 2,300 ha of forest and took care of 8,000 ha. Its subsidiaries and affiliates made great contributions to the corporation’s production and business results such as Viet Tri Paper JSC and Tan Mai Group JSC.

Napas appoints new general director

     

 

Nguyen Quang Hung (holding flower bouquet)was recently appointed general director of the National Payment Corporation of Viet Nam. — Photo baochinhphu.vn

 Nguyen Quang Hung, former deputy director of the State Bank of Viet Nam’s Information Technology Department, has been appointed general director of the National Payment Corporation of Viet Nam (Napas).

The position had been left vacant since June 2017 after the former general director, Nguyen Tu Anh, was elected chairwoman of Napas’ management board for 2015-20 period.

Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam Nguyen Kim Anh at a recent conference to implement Napas’ tasks for 2019 urged the company to focus on promoting the development of electronic payment as well as contributing to the provision of online public services in the country.

Kim Anh said Napas should provide support for banks to convert magnetic cards into chip cards.

Kim Anh also urged the company to develop an automated clearing house and apply new technologies such as Blockchain, Big Data and QR to provide new payment solutions.

A Napas report showed that the number of transactions conducted via its system increased by more than 45 per cent in 2018 over the previous year with the total value reaching more than VND1.7 quadrillion (US$74 billion), a rise of 169 per cent.

Napas, licensed to provide financial switching services and electronic clearing services in Viet Nam, is currently administering and operating a switching system interconnected with more than 17,000 ATMs, 270,000 POS machines, and 300 electronic payment companies in the fields of aviation, telecommunications, hotels and tourism, serving over 100 million cardholders of 46 domestic and international commercial banks. 

Petroleum firms set out cautious plans for 2019

     

 

Workers of PVOil operate equipment at its petroleum storage facility. 

Plummeting oil prices in the fourth quarter of 2018 have negatively affected the production and business efficiency of enterprises.

This has increased caution and forced them to set prudent plans for this year.

PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PV Oil), the second-largest petrol dealer in the country, plans to earn revenue of VND49 trillion (US$2.1 billion), equivalent to 86 per cent of last year’s target. Profit is expected to be VND440 billion, equal to 78 per cent compared to 2018.

Cao Hoai Duong, General Director of PV Oil, told news website ndh.vn on Wednesday that in 2019, PV Oil had set sustainable production and business targets because it could not predict the price of oil.

Duong said on December 31 last year, oil prices fell to US$50.21 per barrel, down by $36 or 42 per cent compared to the year-peak of $86.2 per barrel, recorded on October 6, 2018. Therefore, in December alone, PV Oil lost VND140 billion.

“The steep drop in oil prices from the fourth quarter of last year has pushed the domestic business market into chaos," said Do Manh Binh, Head of the Planning Department of PV Oil.

In the first quarter of this year, the firm still faces difficulties due to the increase of environmental protection taxes on diesel and petrol by VND1,000 to VND4,000 per litre, meaning that if PV Oil sold imported petrol at the end of 2018, they will lose VND1,000 per litre. In January this year, PV Oil lost about VND100 billion.

According to Nguyen Xuan Huyen, Chairman of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical JSC (BSR), a subsidiary of Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam, PVN) and operator of the $3 billion Dung Quat Oil Refinery in the central province of Quang Ngai, the fluctuation of oil price harmed all oil refineries in the world, including traders and distributors.

The company’s business was also strongly affected by oil prices since October last year. Its gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2018 witnessed a loss of VND812 billion, which made the company’s after-tax profit fall VND1 trillion.

BSR has not released its business plans for 2019.

Meanwhile, the Viet Nam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) has not yet officially announced its business results in 2018. However, according to Pham Van Thanh, Chairman of Petrolimex’s Board of Directors, the total revenue of the firm in 2018 was estimated at VND190 trillion.

Consolidated profit was estimated at VND5 trillion, 5 per cent higher than 2017. Thanh said the group expected to maintain a high dividend payout of 25 per cent to 30 per cent. 

Techcombank posts huge jump in profit

The Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) posted pre-tax profit of more than 10.66 trillion VND (458.38 million USD) in 2018, up 31 percent year-on-year and surpassing its target by 6.61 percent.

The bank ranked second in the domestic banking system in profit, only after the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) which generated a profit of more than 18 trillion VND (774 million USD), Techcombank General Director Nguyen Le Quoc Anh said on January 24.

Its total operating income represented a 10 percent year-on-year increase to more than 16.97 trillion VND (729.71 million USD), credit growth rose 20 percent, and bad debts fell to 1.8 percent.

The bank advised the issuance of some 60 trillion VND (2.58 billion USD) worth of corporate bonds to meet capital demand of enterprises in the year, up 82 percent against 2017. 

Notably, Techcombank took the plead in online payments and bancassurance, the arrangement between a banks and an insurance company allowing the insurance firm to sell its products to the bank’s clientele.

Bac Ninh grants investment licenses to FDI firms

The People’s Committee of Bac Ninh province granted investment licences to six foreign direct investment (FDI) projects on January 24.

They include a factory manufacturing electronic, network equipment and multimedia products of Hong Kong’s Goertek Co., Ltd in the Que Vo Industrial Park with total investment of 260 million USD.

Others are a stationery factory of China’s Deli Group with total capital of 25 million USD in the Expanded Yen Phong Industrial Park, and a electronic circuit boards manufacturing factory of the Republic of Korea’s TSE Company with total investment of 19 million USD in the VSIP Bac Ninh Industrial Park.

The UK’s Cybertan Investment Corporation poured 9 million USD into the production of wireless network modules, cable modems and television signal decoding equipment in the Dai Dong – Hoan Son Industrial Park.

Meanwhile, Novatech Co., Ltd injected 5 million USD into manufacturing products from magnets in the Que Vo III Industrial Park, and Anyone Co., Ltd increased its capital to 50 million USD from 30 million USD to expand its project in the Que Vo Industrial Park.

At the licence granting ceremony, the provincial People’s Committee signed land use contracts with 10 businesses to build social houses on 65.5 hectares with total investment of about 11.9 trillion VND (511.8 million USD). The construction of houses is expected to be completed in 2020-2030, accommodating some 33,600 workers.

Deputy head of the management board of Bac Ninh industrial parks Nguyen Duc Cao said after 20 years of developing industrial parks, Bac Ninh now has 16 industrial parks with investment from 32 countries and territories.

As of 2018, these industrial parks drew 1,329 investment projects worth 17.83 billion USD. More than 900 projects have been put into operation, generating jobs for nearly 285,000 workers, bringing home 32 billion USD in export turnover, contributing 11 trillion VND (473.2 million USD) to the local budget and creating industrial production value of 1.1 quadrillion VND (47.3 billion USD).

Vietjet’s pre-tax profit hits 250 million USD in 2018

The Vietjet Aviation Joint Stock Company (VJC) posted pre-tax profit of an estimated 5.83 trillion VND (around 250 million USD) in 2018.  

The firm said its total revenue of 52.4 trillion VND (over 2.25 billion USD) in the year, up 24 percent year on year.

Its air transport revenue reached 33.815 trillion VND, up 49 percent year-on-year, while the auxiliary revenue of the firm grew 57 percent compared to 2017. 

The firm’s strategy to develop an international flight network has been promoted, aiming to collect foreign currency from ticket sales and take advantage of cheaper fuel in international markets.

In 2018, Vietjet’s seat occupation rate was 88.06 percent, while the technical reliability hit 94.64 percent. Its on-time performance index (OTP) reached 84.2 percent.

The firm has received and operated new-generation aircraft A321neo, which is able to save fuel by 16 percent, helping it reduce operational costs.

As of the end of the year, Vietjet’s fleet had 64 aircraft with an average age of use of 2.82 years, implementing more than 385 flights daily.

It carried more than 65 million passengers in the year on 105 air routes, including 39 domestic routes and 66 international ones to Japan, Hong Kong (China), Singapore, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Taiwan (China), Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia and China. 

Vietjet Air is a fully-fledged member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) with an IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certificate. It was named “Best Ultra Low-Cost Airline 2018-2019” and awarded the highest ranking for safety with seven-stars in 2018 by the world’s only safety and product rating website, AirlineRatings.com.

 

The airline has been also listed on the world’s 50 best airlines for healthy financing and operations by Airfinance Journal in 2018.

Local staples offered at Hanoi’s spring fair 2019

Dien grape fruits sold at the spring fair (Photo: thoibaotaichinhvietnam.vn)

An array of specialties, safe agro-forestry-fishery products and handicrafts are being showcased at the Spring Fair 2019 which opened at the Trade Promotion Centre of Agriculture, Hanoi on January 25.

At the 150-booth fair are Minh Phu shrimp, Ca Mau crab, Da River fish, Phu Quoc fish sauce, Ha Long fried ground squid cakes, clean vegetables, Moc Chau tea and milk, huyet rong (red) rice, Seng Cu rice, Ly Son garlic, and regional fruits among others.

Products with clear origin will be introduced at the event.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien, the fair is an important agricultural trade promotion event to boost consumption ahead of the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet).

The fair creates a venue for agricultural cooperatives as well as businesses to popularise their brands and introduce quality and safe products to the consumers.

Various art performances are scheduled at the event, which runs until February 2.

Hau Giang introduces strengths, potential to Japanese investors

The Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang held a meeting with Japanese firms on January 25 to introduce its potential, strengths, and preferential policies.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Truong Canh Tuyen said that the province holds strengths in transport system, agriculture, and industry.

Hau Giang has applied numerous incentives for investment and is able to provide an abundant workforce, simple investment procedures, friendly administrative system, and helpful support.

Tuyen affirmed that with its tradition of hospitality and respect for partners, Hau Giang welcomes domestic and foreign enterprises to invest in the province as it hopes to form partnerships with investors and international organisations.

He vowed to offer optimal conditions for investors to implement their projects and secure sustainable future development.

Japanese Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Junichi Kawaue said that connectivity between Japan and Vietnam has become more significant amidst the rapidly changing socio-economic situation in the world.

He expressed his hope that Japanese and Vietnamese firms will maximise on opportunities brought by the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Through the meeting, Japanese enterprises gained a deeper insight into the attraction and potential of Hau Giang, which will help foster partnershipd among businesses of both nations, he said.

Hau Giang recorded an economic growth of 6.93 percent in 2018. So far, the province has developed a rice growing region covering 32,000ha, a sugar cane farm area of 10,500ha, along with 1,500ha of pineapple and over 15,000ha of citrus plant farms, as well as 10ha of aquatic farms.

The province has two industrial parks and eight concentrated industrial clusters with a combined area of 1,530ha. It is also home to a Vinalines seaport with the capacity of handling vessels with a loading capacity of up to 20 tonnes.

Various specialties offered at Spring Fair 2018

     

A booth at Spring Fair 2017 in Ha Noi. — Photo enternews.vn

A variety of food and fruit specialties from localities nationwide will be available at 500 pavilions of the Spring Fair 2019, which begins on Friday at the Ha Noi International Exhibition Centre at 91 Tran Hung Dao St, Hoan Kiem District..

More than 350 businesses showcase their products at the event, ranging from Ly Son garlic and onion, Tan Cuong tea, Cao Phong and Ham Yen orange, Tuyen Quang hill rice, as well as beverages, seafood products, garments and footwear.

Other fruits, confectionary and healthcare goods imported from Russia, South Korea, the UK, France and Belgium will be on display.

The fair, which will run until February 1, will also feature handicrafts, timber and craft village products and pottery, the Viet Nam Exhibition Fair Centre (VEFEC) – the event’s organiser – said in a statement.

The annual fair is an opportunity for domestic businesses to introduce their products to consumers prior to the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday and encourage local people to use Vietnamese products, it said. 

Manufacturing, processing sector drives development

     

Workers manufacture auto parts at the Keihin Vietnam Company. 

The Ministry of Industry and Trade sees supporting the manufacturing and processing industry as the key to boosting socio-economic development this year.

According to Deputy Minister Hoang Quoc Vuong, the ministry will continue to accelerate the restructuring of the economy to promote the industry and reduce the assembly of industrial products manufactured in Viet Nam.

“We will complete mechanisms and policies to support domestic production, develop supporting industries and increase localisation rates,” Vuong said.

This goal for the manufacturing and processing industry is part of the ministry’s development plan, through which it will create national brand products to compete in regional and the world markets.

The ministry will review the policies affecting every industry and product in order to gradually remove difficulties for enterprises, increase competitiveness and build technical barriers for imported products in order to support domestic products.

"In the coming time, we will co-ordinate with relevant units to study preferential credit packages for priority industries to enhance competitiveness and raise added value for industrial products,” said Vuong. “At the same time, we will also promote international co-operation to improve capacity of Vietnamese enterprises and connect to global production chains.”

The ministry expects the development of industrial production will have advantages this year. The business environment will be improved to better support domestic enterprises to invest in production and develop the private sector.

In addition, the many free trade agreements that come into effect this year are attracting new foreign direct investment, helping Viet Nam raise its production capacity.

However, industrial production will continue facing challenges in 2019 because there are still few new large-scale projects that contribute to the growth of the industry.

In addition, processing and assembling for Vietnamese industrial products is still prominent and the development of supporting industries is slow. Enterprises have not taken advantage of Industry 4.0 to improve productivity.

The ministry expects the Industrial Production Index (IIP) to increase by 9-10 per cent compared to 2018. Specifically, the manufacturing and processing industry will be up 13 per cent and electricity distribution and production up 9.5-10 per cent.

According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), the nation’s IIP in 2018 experienced an encouraging increase of 10.2 per cent. The growth was fuelled by the processing and manufacturing industry, which rose by 12.3 per cent year-on-year. 

First Ben Tre goods fair opens in HCMC

     

A booth showcases Ben Tre’s green skin pomelo at the Ben Tre One Commune, One Product Fair being held at Big C An Lac in HCM City from January 24 to 27. — Photo Courtesy of organisers 

The Ben Tre One Commune, One Product Fair opened in HCM City on Thursday at Big C An Lac, seeking to promote the province’s products and tourism.

It has 100 pavilions showcasing typical Ben Tre products like candied coconut, coconut oil, dried fish, salted fish, dried shrimp, pomelo, longan, flowers, ornamental trees, handicrafts made from coconut shell, honey, mango, traditional cakes, Thanh Phu rice, Giong Luong coconut sticky rice cake, vegetables, peanut candy, and tours.

The OCOP programme is considered an efficacious measure to promote rural economic development, serve the National Target Programmme on Rural Area Development, raise the profile of local products at the national and global levels, and highlight the major roles played by farming households, co-operatives and small and medium-sized enterprises.

Nguyen Huu Lap, deputy chairman of the Ben Tre Province People’s Committee, said the province has mapped out the (One Commune, One Product (OCOP) programme for the 2018-20 period.

“Organising the fair to introduce the province’s OCOP products in HCM City is meant to promote production, contributing to increasing farmers’ incomes, stimulate development of the services and tourism sectors and raise awareness among producers and consumers about Ben Tre’s OCOP programme.”

Organised by the province together with the Central Coordination Office on New Rural Development and the Central Group, the inaugural fair will run until January 27 and also include a workshop on regulations and standards of goods, with the participation of Big C purchasing staff and Ben Tre enterprises, co-operatives and household businesses.

Central Group Vietnam will sign MOU with the provincial enterprises and co-operatives at the fair.

Le Thi Mai Linh, executive vice president of public relations and corporate social responsibility at Central Group Vietnam, said the Quang Ninh OCOP Fair held at the Big C store in Ha Noi two weeks ago was very successful, attracting 100,000 customers.

Big C found some new products for its stores such as Mong Cai sweet potato, Quang Dan pork paste, Hoa Phong vegetables, Long Hai mushrooms, and others, she said.

She hoped consumers in HCM City would support Ben Tre’s OCOP products.

Big C An Lac is expected to receive nearly 70,000 customers during the four-day fair.