Vietnam News Today (Jul. 9): Vietnam, France Eye Green, Sustainable Development

Production activities at Apparel Far Eastern (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. located in Vietnam - Singapore Industrial Park, Thuan An city in Binh Duong province. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam, Singapore foster cooperation in facilitating innovation

The National Innovation Centre (NIC) under the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in conducting activities to enhance the innovation capacity in both countries.

The MoU was signed at a business forum held by the Singapore Business Association on July 7 under the witness of Vietnamese and Singaporean officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai, MPI Minister Nguyen Chi Dung and Singaporean Second Minister of Trade and Industry Tan See Leng.

Addressing the signing ceremony, MPI Minister Nguyen Chi Dung said that cooperation between the NIC and NUS is a practical and specific effort of the two sides to share knowledge and support each other in innovative startups, helping Vietnam realise its vision to become an innovation-oriented economy.

It is also among major cooperation activities of the Vietnam-Singapore Working Group on Innovation, he said, expressing hope that it will make positive contributions to the innovative startup ecosystem in Vietnam.

Under the MoU, NUS and NIC will set up working groups to strengthen collaboration in innovation and connectivity of the startup ecosystems in the two countries in the next three years, cited VNA.

The NUS will sponsor individuals winning the Vietnam Innovation Challenge contest to join its annual Startup Summer Programme, while granting scholarships to Vietnamese talents to take post-graduate courses on innovative startups.

NUS will share professional knowledge on NIC platforms, while NUS students and startups can access relevant initiatives and platforms, including incubation programmes organised by the NIC.

The two sides will also hold joint activities in Vietnam to promote the application of advanced technology solutions provided by Southeast Asian startups.

NIC will call for support from different sides for the expansion of the startup ecosystem for startups in the Southeast Asian region.

The two sides will seek cooperation chances and share knowledge to promote the development and application of technology, focusing on smart city and medical technology.

At the same time, the two sides will exploit new partnerships to develop innovative and startup centres in Vietnam, including the NUS's BLOCK71 global startup network that entered Vietnam in 2021 with the support of Becamex IDC Corporation.

Vu Quoc Huy, NIC Director said that the partnership between the NIC and NUS will facilitate knowledge exchange and access to resources, thus opening up cooperation opportunities, contributing to the growth of the startup ecosystem in Vietnam and strengthening the country's position as a regional innovation hub.

Vietnam have great advantage in 2026 World Cup qualifiers

At 95th place in the FIFA rankings and 15th in Asia, the Vietnamese national team has entered the second qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup, this is also the Asian Cup 2027 qualifier.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has classified the seed groups to prepare for the draw of the first and second qualifying round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Asia.

Accordingly, at 95th place in the FIFA rankings and 15th in Asia, the Vietnamese national team has entered the second qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup, this is also the Asian Cup 2027 qualifier.

Two victories with the same score of 1-0 over China’s Hong Kong and Syria in the last FIFA Days helped Việt Nam maintain the 95th position in the world.

According to the AFC, Vietnam is in the second seed group along with the teams of Uzbekistan, China, Jordan, Bahrain, Syria, Palestine, Kyrgyzstan, and India.

Being placed in the second seed group helps Vietnam avoid many strong opponents, thereby upping its chance to reach the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup.

The Vietnamese national team ranks 95 in the world. Photo laodong.vn

The first seed group includes Japan, Iran, Australia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, UAE, and Oman.

The third seed group includes three other teams in Southeast Asia, namely Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia. Others in the group are Lebanon, Tajikistan, North Korea, Kuwait, Turkmenistan. and Hong Kong.

There are seven teams in Southeast Asia that must participate in the first qualifying round - Indonesia, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Timor Leste, and Brunei, according to VNS.

As planned, the draw for the first and second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup will take place on July 27. The series of matches in the first qualifying round will take place on October 12 - 17.

In the 2026 World Cup, Asia will have 8 spots. The top two teams in each group in the second qualifying round will win tickets to the next round (with a total of 18 teams).

In the third qualifying round, these teams were divided into three groups. The top two teams in each group will win tickets directly to the 2026 World Cup.

The third- and fourth-place teams in the groups will participate in the fourth qualifying round. The top team in this round will win direct tickets.

The two teams ranked second will do play-offs to select the team that will enter.

Vietnam, France eye green, sustainable development

The Vietnam-France 2023 Economic Forum, themed "Towards green and sustainable development", was held in Hanoi on July 7, aiming to honour the close relationship between the two countries as well as offer a chance for policy makers, businesses and scholars to exchange cooperation plans.

The event is part of a series of activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Vietnam-France diplomatic relations and the 10th founding anniversary of their bilateral strategic partnership.

At the forum, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Bao Son, Vice President of Vietnam National University (VNU), Hanoi said through many years of close partnership, Vietnam and France have demonstrated their commitment and consensus in protecting the environment, using resources in a sustainable way, developing green economic and circular economic models based on modern technology and innovation.

Tireless efforts have been made by the two countries to develop appropriate infrastructure and policies, thereby creating opportunities for cooperation and common development, he went on.

Vietnam, with its significant potential in clean energy, and France, boasting experience and advanced technology, will create a unique, close and friendly cooperation to achieve the goal of sustainable and greener development for both countries, Son noted.

According to French Ambassador to Vietnam Nicolas Warnery, the two countries' trade turnover has increased fivefold to 16 billion EUR (17.4 billion USD) in the 2010-2022 period. Major French companies along with many small- and medium-sized enterprises have been present in Vietnam, while a growing number of big Vietnamese corporations, including tech giant FPT and electric vehicle maker VinFast, have invested in France.

The diplomat said that with the net-zero commitment, the Government of Vietnam has shown a strong determination in responding to climate change and is in the process of realising this commitment, with phasing out fossil energy as the first move.

At the Vietnam-France 2023 Economic Forum. (Photo: VGP)

Another move is signing agreements with the Group of Seven (G7) development partners on the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), he added, saying that this relationship has set ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the share of electricity from renewable energy in the national power source structure.

Three main topics discussed at the forum are economic relationship between France and Vietnam: challenges and prospects; France's green growth policy and recommendations for Vietnam; and sustainable development and social responsibility in the higher education environment, reported VNA.

Through discussion, experts from Vietnam and France made useful recommendations to strength the two nations' economic, commercial, institutional, environmental and social resilience.

In the energy sector, France has been investing in renewable energy sources to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, with the goal of achieving 40% of its electricity production from renewables by 2030.

For the sustainable transport sector, the French Government supports electric vehicles and develops infrastructure to achieve 35% of sales of new electric or hydrogen passenger cars by 2030 and 100% in 2040.

It also strongly supports green finance through comprehensive subsidy programmes such as tax support and the development of financial instruments, experts said.

Vietnam remains leading destination of FDI businesses

Foreign businesses continue to place their trust in Vietnam by injecting more than US$13 billion into registered projects throughout the country during the first six months of the year, despite a general downward trend occurring globally.

Many tech giants and multinational companies such as Samsung, LG, Google, and Microsoft have developed plans to shift their investment in new production lines in Vietnam.

At a recent Vietnam - Korea business forum, Cho Hyun Joon, chairman of Hyosung Group, stated that the group would still consider Vietnam to be a strategic and key market moving forward. He went on to reveal that Hyosung is expected to continue to expand its operation and is looking towards sustainable development in the country, especially in high-tech fields.

Priyamvada Srivastava, general director of Procter & Gamble Vietnam, during a recent meeting held with leaders of Binh Duong province, also revealed that the firm will invest an additional US$100 million to expand the production line at its Ben Cat factory. Currently, P&G has two factories in Binh Duong with a total investment capital of US$300 million.

These represent positive signs, meaning that FDI businesses consider the Vietnamese market to be a leading destination for their investment. cited VOV.

Currently, about 50% of Samsung Group's phones and tablets globally are manufactured in Vietnam. (Photo: nld.com.vn)

The World Bank (WB) noted that over the past four decades, from 1986 to 2022, Vietnam has been a success story in terms of attracting foreign direct investment thanks to an attractive local investment environment, a stable political background, coupled with high potential for economic growth. It has even maintained this positive trend amid global FDI inflows slowing down in the first months of 2023.

WB statistics highlight that Vietnam jumped from 123rd to 28th place in global foreign investment attraction ranking for the period 1989 to 2022, with foreign investment capital into the country increasing by 4,634 times.

At present, more than 143 countries and territories have poured investment capital into Vietnam. Notably, the investment capital of a number of major partners such as Singapore, Japan, and the Republic of Korea has increased year on year, with the FDI wave tending to focus on industries with a high content of gray matter and high technology such as manufacturing industry, software industry, electronics and information technology, pharmaceuticals, and precision mechanics.

The General Statistics Office (GSO) recently unveiled statistics showing that FDI businesses poured US$13.43 billion into the country in the first six months of this year, equaling 95.7% of the corresponding period from last year.

In order for Vietnam to continue to be an attractive destination for foreign investors, the GSO has suggested that the Government implement effective solutions in order to attract quality FDI inflows over the coming months amid a global slowdown.

Phi Huong Nga, an official of the GSO, stated that besides the growth momentum, Vietnamese FDI attraction is still affected by a number of external factors such as complicated and unpredictable international developments and tougher political conflicts in some regions around the world.

These factors have contributed to put significant downward pressure on global FDI inflows in 2022 and continuing into this year, thereby negatively affecting overseas investment flows of major economies that are Vietnamese investment partners, analysed Nga.

In his opinion, Michael Kokalari, chief economist of VinaCapital, predicted that FDI inflows into the Vietnamese market would remain stable despite the enforcement of the global minimum tax policy, starting from January 1, 2024.

He said FDI inflows will continue to be one of the country’s key growth drivers over the coming years. As a result, Vietnam will continue to be a leading destination for FDI, especially from multinational companies looking to produce goods for export and seeking an alternative or additional production base in the near future.

Korean retailers eye opportunities in Vietnam

"Vietnamese retail market grew about 100 times in the past 20 years. It is an attractive business destination with a high portion of the young population, who love Korean food, K-pop and K-drama," a Lotte Shopping official said, as cited by The Korea Times.

Retail firms of the Republic of Korea (RoK) are stepping up efforts to tap into the Vietnamese market, which has huge growth potential thanks to its rapid economic growth and a high proportion of working age population.

Lotte Group, one of the top two retail giants in the RoK along with Shinsegae, is the most active in the scene. The company currently has 20 affiliates operating in Vietnam, including Lotte GRS, Lotte Shopping and Lotte Culture Works.

Lotte Shopping is set to open Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi in the capital city in August. It will be Việt Nam's largest shopping mall complex also consisting of a hotel and offices.

The Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi project. Photo courtesy of Lotte Group

The retail giant is also investing about US$900 million to establish Thu Thiem Eco Smart City, which is a complex that will consist of a shopping mall, a hotel, offices, housing and a cinema. In August, Lotte World Aquarium is set to open in Hà Nội as well.

"Vietnamese retail market grew about 100 times in the past 20 years. It is an attractive business destination with a high portion of the young population, who love Korean food, K-pop and K-drama," a Lotte Shopping official said, as cited by The Korea Times.

Shinsegae plans to open a third Emart store in Vietnam under a master franchise contract with local THACO Group in the second half of this year.

GS Retail has already opened over 200 GS25 convenience stores in the Southeast Asian country.

Apart from retail corporations, leading unicorn businesses in technology, tourism services, and hotels in the RoK, such as Yanolja Cloud, are also targeting the Vietnamese market.

Following the Vietnam visit by President Yoon Suk Yeol and a business delegation of the RoK in June, Yanolja Cloud has successfully established strategic partnership agreements with three Vietnamese companies, namely VNTravel, DiHotel, and Fusion Hotel Group.

Vietnam has a domestic market with a population of nearly 100 million. Looking at the composition ratio of the population, those under the age of 30 account for 50 per cent of the population while the working-age population takes up 70 per cent.

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