Japanese enterprises are redirecting investment into Vietnam. Photo: congthuong.vn

Vietnam remains attractive medium and long-term investment destination

Japanese businesses view the Vietnamese market an attractive investment destination in the medium and long run, according to Toru Aguin, chief representative of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) in Vietnam.

JBIC has recently conducted a survey on the investment environment in 2021 involving the participation of 515 Japanese enterprises currently investing in the country. Survey results indicate that the nation has ranked fourth among ASEAN member states for three consecutive years.

Aguin said his organization will organize a seminar to highlight research on Japanese business’ expectations of the country’s high-quality foreign investment attraction policy aimed at supporting Japanese investment in the nation moving forward.

According to the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), despite the country being heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, Japanese businesses remain highly optimistic about the local investment and business environment in the Southeast Asian nation in 2021 and in the year ahead.

The proportion of Japanese enterprises set to expand their business over the next one to two years in Vietnam has reached 55.3%, thereby ranking first within the ASEAN region.

Furthermore, Japanese businesses also highly appreciate the Vietnamese investment environment thanks to its advantages in market capabilities, its huge potential for economic development through international economic integration, and general political and social stability.

Data released by the Ministry of Planning and Investment recently indicates that up to now, 140 countries and territories have invested in the Vietnamese market, of which Japan is the third largest investor. Indeed, the Far East country is behind the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Singapore with a total registered capital of US$63.96 billion, while the RoK and Singapore poured US$77.3 billion and US$65.2 billion into Vietnam, respectively.

The opening months of the year have seen Japanese enterprises invest in nine new projects locally.

According to details given by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Japan's FDI into Vietnam is highly appreciated for its overall quality and implementation efficiency. Most notably, the appearance of many leading Japanese brands in the country such as Honda, Toyota, and Canon also contributes to promoting the development of Vietnamese enterprises. Currently, Japanese FDI mainly focus on processing and manufacturing industries, thereby accounting for 65.3% of total registered capital.

As a way of incentivizing Japanese small and medium enterprises to invest in the nation, Aguin also said that over the years, JBIC has provided many loans to promote Japanese direct investment capital flows into the country.However, according to Takeo Nakajama, chief representative of JETRO Office in Hanoi, FDI inflows from the Far East country into the Vietnamese market over recent times have begun to be adjusted. This has involved the participation of many projects in the field of retail and services targeting the nation’s domestic and export market in order to take advantage of opportunities from free trade agreements (FTAs) that Vietnam has joined.

JBIC also said that it continues to encourage Japanese small and medium enterprises to invest, expand production and business in the country, outlining its hopes that Vietnamese investment incentive policies will become increasingly favorable. This will serve to create the best possible conditions for Japanese businesses to operate in the nation.

Meanwhile, JETRO also informed that it has and will implement a wide range of practical activities aimed at facilitating Japanese investment in the Vietnamese market, cited VOV.

With regard to the Vietnamese side, in order to create favorable conditions for foreign investors, as well as for Japanese investors in the context of the complicated development of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Vietnamese Government has issued many solutions to help businesses overcome difficulties. These contribute to dealing with issues caused by the impact of the pandemic and improving the overall investment environment towards transparency and convenience.

Most notably, according to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, the Ministry of Planning and Investment is ready to co-operate with Japanese agencies to the create optimal conditions aimed at removing difficulties and obstacles in terms of the investment environment in order to attract greater Japanese investment into the country.

Foreign tourists may take Covid-19 rapid test, travel freely in Vietnam: proposal

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST) has proposed to let foreign visitors test for Covid-19 using rapid antigen test kits and those who have negative testing results travel freely when they are in Vietnam, as the country plans to welcome foreign tourists back from March 15.

Under the ministry's latest proposal now being circulated for opinions of relevant agencies, the country will receive foreign visitors traveling to Vietnam by land and sea instead of just by air during the period of pilot re-opening of tourism.

Tourists from the RoK holding the 'vaccine passport' travel to Phu Quoc. Photo: VNA

Regarding conditions for entry, the proposal suggests that travelers of age 12 and above must have certificates of full vaccination against Covid-19 or recovery from the disease. A negative Covid-19 test result is compulsory with both results of quick tests taken within 24 hours prior to departure or RT-PCR tests within 72 hours before departure acceptable.

After entry, those arriving by air will take rapid tests at their accommodations with results to be returned within 24 hours. Meanwhile, those arriving by land or sea are required to take rapid tests at the border gates, according to VNA.

Children under 12 and senior citizens over 65 who have yet to receive Covid-19 jabs can enter Vietnam but must be accompanied by their guardians and purchase health insurance. If testing negative, they can travel freely inside the country.

The MoCST also proposed visa exemption like before Covid-19 broke out in 2020, with an aim to attract foreign tourists.

Vietnam aims to serve 65 million visitors, including 5 million foreigners this year.

The country welcomed 40 million domestic tourists in 2021, together with 3,800 foreigners within the framework of the pilot vaccine passport program.

Bamboo Airways operates first flight on Vietnam-Australia direct route

Vietnamese carrier Bamboo Airways operated first flight connecting Ho Chi Minh City and Melbourne in Australia on February 19-20.

According to the airline's Deputy General Director Truong Phuong Thanh, this is a new milestone in its roadmap to exploit Vietnam-Australia direct air routes.

Along with the Ho Chi Minh City-Melbourne route, the airline has planned to open additional routes linking major cities of Vietnam and Australia, he said.

Photo: VOV

The route helps shorten the travel time between the two cities to about eight hours, saving eight hours compared to transit flights.

Bamboo Airlines uses 787-9 Dreamliner for flights on this route, reported VOV.

Earlier in December, Bamboo Airways announced the launch of the Vietnam-Australia direct air route and signed agreements with Melbourne airport and Victoria State for the operation of the route.

Australia is a big tourism market of Vietnam with more than 383,000 Australian visiting Vietnam in 2019. Meanwhile, more than 300,000 Vietnamese students are studying in the country.

According to a representative of Bamboo Airways, the airline plans to expand its international network to nearly 40 routes in 2022, including the Hanoi-Narita (Japan), Hanoi-Taipei (Taiwan, China) and Hanoi-Incheon (the Republic of Korea); while the Hanoi-Frankfurt (Germany) and Hanoi-London (the UK) routes are scheduled to be launched in March.

Bamboo Airways is operating a fleet of 30 airplanes, including Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and A321/A320 Neo.

Vietnam's e-commerce startup gets $2.6 million investment

Startup Selly, Vietnam's social commerce model, has raised US$2.6 million in a Pre-Series A funding round from investment funds CyberAgent Capital, Do Ventures, Genesia Ventures, JAFCO Asia and KVision.

CyberAgent Capital (CyberAgent Inc - Japan) is currently investing in more than 350 companies globally. Fifty companied invested in by CyberAgent have been listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Some prominent firms invested in by CyberAgent include Kakao Talk (Korea), Tokopedia (Indonesia), Tiki (Vietnam), Foody (Vietnam), Batdongsan.com.vn (Vietnam) and many more.

Do Ventures is also a notable venture capital fund with funding of about $50 million. This investment fund specializes in hunting potential startups in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

According to a report by Accenture, shopping transactions through social networking platforms globally will reach $1.2 trillion by 2025, nearly three times higher than the current US$492 billion.

Photo: VNN

Selly is one of the pioneers for the social commerce model in Vietnam when the trend of shopping on social platforms is growing.

After only 10 months of operation, since April 2021, Selly has proven its potential with growth of 300 times. The startup is currently accompanying more than 300,000 sales partners, of which 80% are from small cities, most of whom are housewives and people who have lost their jobs due to Covid-19.

Launched during the pandemic, Selly meets the needs of searching jobs for unemployed workers. Selly's social commerce model helps the jobless to start a business, generate sustainable income without capital, and no storage, with no need to worry about operation, cited VNN.

Each seller only has to take a few minutes to choose the products they want to trade from the high-quality goods displayed on the Selly app, and then share product information with the community of friends and acquaintances. With each order, the goods will be shipped to the customer with a full range of professional after-sales services.

The platform has become a distribution channel, helping suppliers reach customers in all provinces and cities across the country, covering all sales operations and only charging costs when goods are sold.

There are other similar models in Vietnam, such as On e-commerce and Cuccu.vn.

Futsal team prepare for Southeast Asian and Asian tournaments

The Vietnamese futsal team gathered in Ho Chi Minh City on February 21 for training to prepare for the 2022 AFF Futsal Championship and AFC Futsal Asian Cup Qualifier, according to the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF).

A total of 22 players have been called up, including those who have recovered from injury and young players.

Vietnam Futsal team at the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup. Photo: Getty Images

Head coach Pham Minh Giang and his players will station at Thai Son Nam Gymnasium until March 21, and then will travel to Thailand for further training and competing at the AFF Futsal Championship, which is also the 2022 AFC Futsal Asian Cup Qualifier.

During the training period, the team are scheduled to play three friendly matches to review the force before finalize the list of 16 players, according to VNA.

The AFF Futsal Championship will take place from April 2-11 in Bangkok.

The top four teams at the AFF Futsal Championship will win tickets to the AFC Futsal Asian Cup, scheduled to be organized in Kuwait from September 25 to October 20.

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