Business Briefing

Gold rate

After decreasing VND 5 million per tael, the price of SJC gold reversed to over VND 66 million. After two days of strong adjustment, the price of SJC gold bars is somewhat more stable. By early afternoon, SJC adjusted the price of gold bars to VND 64.4 - 66.2 million per tael (buying - selling), an increase of more than VND 1 million compared to the end of yesterday.

Reference exchange rate

The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate for the US dollar at VND 23,214 /USD on July 20, down VND 7 from the previous day. With the current trading band of +/-3 percent, the ceiling rate applied to commercial banks during the day is VND 23,913/USD and the floor rate is VND 22,520/USD.

The opening-hour rates at many commercial banks decreased. Vietcombank listed the buying rate at VND 23,250/USD and the selling rate at VND 23,560/USD, both down VND 30 from July 18. BIDV also cut VND 25 to both rates, listing the buying rate at VND 23,275/USD and the selling rate at VND 23,555/USD.

Photo: Zing

Export news: Vietnam eyes expanding coffee exports to Africa

The Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and Vietnamese trade offices in Africa will jointly organize a session to give consultations to domestic businesses on exporting coffee to the African market. The event will directly take place on July 21 in the Central Highlands of Dak Lak - which is considered the "capital" of coffee in Vietnam, and via the Zoom platform and the Trade Promotion Agency’s Facebook fanpage.

According to the agency, experts from the Vietnamese trade offices in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria will clarify issues of concern to businesses related to the import and export of coffee products to the African market such as quality, payment and shipping methods, and goods insurance.

With a population of over 1.4 billion people, and the high demand in importing many types of goods, Africa is really a promising market for Vietnamese products, especially coffee. The market spends about 750 million USD on importing coffee, in which, Vietnam is one of the five main coffee suppliers.

In addition to raw products, a number of Vietnamese coffee processors such as Trung Nguyen and King Coffee, are also interested in this market. The program will offer a good chance for Vietnamese businesses to learn about the market, thereby avoiding risks when exporting coffee to African countries.

Photo: Zing

Aviation news: Domestic aviation travel surpasses 2019 peak

The seat occupation ratio on domestic routes in June 2022 of all local airlines reached between 85% and 87%, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV). CAAV said in the first half, the industry recorded 3.3 million passengers, up 74.2% over the same period in 2021 and equal to 60% over the same period in 2019, of which the domestic market reached 20.8 million passengers, up 58.4% over the same period last year and 12% over the same period in 2019.

The administration said the total commodity market reached 651,000 tonnes, an increase of 6.8% over the same period in 2021 and an increase of 7% over the same period in 2019, of which the domestic market reached 146,900 tonnes, 3.6% over the same period in 2021 and down 29% over the same period in 2019.

In the domestic market, Vietnamese airlines transported 20.78 million passengers, up 60% over the same period last year, an increase of 12% over the same period in 2019. At the same time, international flights reached approximately 1 million passengers, an increase of 1351.5% over the same period in 2021 and a decrease of 88.3% over the same period in 2019.

As of June 30, 2022, local airlines, including Vietnam Airlines, Vasco, Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways, Pacific Airlines, and Vietravel Airlines, operated nearly 60 domestic routes connecting Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City with 19 local airports.

Local airlines were promoting the exploitation of routes to tourist destinations such as Da Nang, Quy Nhon, Phu Quoc, and Nha Trang. For example, the current operating frequency to/from Phu Quoc reached 100 domestic flights per day, while the rate for international and domestic flights reached only 72 per day.

Accordingly, the domestic market in June 2022 reached 5 million visitors, an increase of 20.9% compared to May 2022 and an increase of 38.8% compared to June 2019, the peak summer month before the Covid-19 pandemic. Calculating the seat occupancy rate on domestic routes in June 2022, CAAV said: "The domestic aviation market has completely recovered and has strong growth in the second quarter of 2022."

For the international aviation market, there are more than 30 foreign airlines and four airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways, and Pacific Airlines, operating 96 international routes connecting Vietnam with 21 countries/territories. Vietnamese airlines have operated 68 international routes to 16 countries/territories. The current markets have been and are being gradually implemented by Vietnamese and foreign airlines to increase the frequency and reopen/open new routes.

According to the administration, the Indian market is potentially new for Vietnam's tourism. Vietjet Air, Vietnam Airlines and India's IndiGo and Spice Jet have resumed flights to India.

Vietjet Air has been granted air transport rights to exploit more than 20 new routes from points in the country such as Hanoi, HCM City, Da Nang, and Phu Quoc to new destinations in India such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Gaya and, at the same time, will increase the frequency of flights to Delhi and Mumbai from July 2022.

Photo: Zing

Weather Forecast

Northern Vietnam will continue to experience hot, sunny days until next Tuesday when rains will return to the region, weather experts say. An incoming air mass from the sea will cause a low-pressure area and trigger a shift in weather patterns in northern Vietnam starting next Wednesday, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

Hanoi temperatures would be in the range of 29-37 degrees Celsius starting Monday, U.S. weather forecast service AccuWeather has predicted. Central Vietnam, from Thanh Hoa to Phu Yen provinces, would experience harsh sunny days with the maximum temperatures during the day reaching 35-37 degrees until next Wednesday. Peak temperatures should be expected between 11 am and 5 pm.

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