Vietnam News Today (Mar. 22): Vietnamese Exports to CPTPP Markets Enjoy Positive Growth

A garment production line. Photo: VNA

Vietnam, US work to elevate ties to strategic partnership

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Evans Knapper have affirmed that they will work towards the elevation of the Vietnam-US ties to a strategic partnership during their meeting in Hanoi on March 21.Minister Dien said the two countries have complementary economies so there is a lot of potential for cooperation not only in terms of energy and climate change but also in other fields.

Vietnam always considers and wishes the United States to be one of its most important partners, both in words and actions, he said.

He informed the ambassador that Vietnam is making efforts to fulfill its commitments at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), but the country needs cooperation and support of partners, including the US.

Congratulating Knapper on his appointment as the US Ambassador to Vietnam, he hoped the diplomat will be able to make breakthrough steps to raise the comprehensive partnership between the two countries to a new height.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) will cooperate effectively and sincerely with the US to achieve these goals, especially in the fields of each other's potentials and common interests such as stabilization of global supply chains, energy and digital economy on the principle of harmonization of benefits, and suitability for the circumstances, conditions and capacity of each country.

For his part, the US Ambassador to Vietnam said the US embassy is committed to cooperating with the MoIT and the Government of Vietnam to raise the comprehensive partnership between Vietnam and the US to the strategic partnership level.

The US wants to become Vietnam's most important partner in energy security, food, and climate fields, the US diplomat said, adding that those are areas where Vietnam can collaborate with the US Government and its private sector.

Knapper highly appreciated the approval of the Vietnam Low Emission Energy Project (V-LEEP) which is sponsored by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). He hoped that the MoIT will facilitate the endorsement of a pilot program on the direct power purchase agreement and the signing of the Letter of Intent on the Clean Energy Initiative, cited VNA.

These methods can help to promote Vietnam's energy transformation as well as create opportunities to welcome investment flows in clean energy into the country, Knapper said.

Relating to the case of Vietnamese honey being investigated by the US Department of Commerce (DOC), Minister Dien urged for the use of appropriate and objective data sources to ensure the principle of "fair competition of the World Trade Organization (WTO) when calculating the dumping margins of Vietnamese enterprises.

Dien emphasized that Vietnam looks forward to receiving a positive, fair and objective review of the DOC in the final conclusion of the case, ensuring that it is in compliance with WTO regulations, towards harmonizing the interests in bilateral trade and common goals of the two countries.

Foreign businesses keen to survey tourism in Da Nang

Several foreign business delegations are set to visit the central city of Da Nang to conduct a survey on tourism in the city, as well as Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue, according to the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Centre.

The move comes following international air routes from Singapore and Bangkok to Da Nang resuming from March 27.

Accordingly, a delegation of Informa Routes Company of the United Kingdom led by senior business development manager Thomas Atkinson will survey the infrastructure for the Asian route development forum 2022 (Routes Asia 2022) on March 27.

During this period, the delegation is expected to attend a press conference to introduce the forum and work alongside relevant agencies in Da Nang to discuss preparations for the forum.

Some foreign business delegations are set to conduct a survey on tourism potential in Da Nang, Quang Nam, and Thua Thien Hue. Photo: doanhnghiepvn.vn

As scheduled, the Routes Asia 2022 development forum is scheduled to take place in Da Nang from June 6 to June 8, attracting more than 500 delegates from 110 airlines and 30 travel firms.

Meanwhile, additional delegations from Thailand will conduct a survey on tourism in Da Nang, Quang Nam, and Thua Thien Hue, according to VOV.

These groups will primarily survey tourism products and attractions, and travel service facilities in and around Da Nang such as Ba Na Hills, Linh Ung Pagoda, Dragon Bridge, the Tinh Yeu (Love) Bridge, and Han Market.

Moreover, they will also carry out surveys on other destinations, such as Hoi An ancient town in the central province of Quang Nam, Lang Co, Citadel, Thien Mu Pagoda, and typical cultural characteristics such as Hue folk singings on the Perfume River in the central province of Thua Thien Hue.

This research is to be conducted in order to introduce the central provinces' tourism potential to the Thai media.

SEA Games 31 to uphold spirit of “For a stronger South East Asia”

Communications for the upcoming 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31) have been bolstered as the region's biggest sports event is approaching.

The official song for the Games ‘Hay toa sang’ (Let’s shine), composed by renown composer Huy Tuan, has been unveiled, showing the pride on the culture and people of Vietnam, and highlighting sportsmanship as well as efforts to achieve the best results, with lyrics in Vietnamese language and chorus in English.

The song also sends a message of development, solidarity and friendship between Vietnam and international friends.

Deputy Director of the Vietnam Sports Administration Le Thi Hoang Yen said the song's lyric is simple and easy to learn. It is hoped to encourage athletes and be favored by sports fans at home and abroad.

The event’s slogan “For a stronger Southeast Asia” is to convey a message of solidarity to build a thriving ASEAN Community and further promote its role in the international arena, reported VNA.

The opening ceremony of SEA Games 31 is slated for May 12. Photo: VNA

Earlier, the regional sport events’ official logo and mascot have been introduced, with the logo symbolizing a flying bird and a V-shaped hand and the mascot based on the saola – a rare animal listed in Vietnam’s Red Book of Endangered Species.

The saola, scientifically known as Pseudoryx nghetinhensis, is dubbed the Asian Unicorn because it is so rarely seen, looks like an antelope in appearance, and is recognized by its two parallel horns with sharp ends which can reach up to 50 cm in length.

The species was first discovered in May 1992 by a joint team from the MARD and the World Wide Fund for Nature during a trip surveying Vu Quang National Park in the central province of Ha Tinh, near Vietnam’s border with Laos.

The SEA Games 31 will run in Hanoi and 11 neighboring localities from May 12 to 23. It will feature 40 sports with 526 events and expects to attract around 10,000 participants. The biennial event was initially slated for late 2021 but delayed due to the pandemic’s impact.

Vietnamese exports to CPTPP markets enjoy positive growth

The initial three years of enforcing the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Agreement has been a challenging period for the global economy and trade, although Vietnamese exports to this market continued to see positive growth.

According to figures compiled by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the nation’s import-export turnover with the CPTPP market reached US$1.4 billion last year. The country primarily shipped agricultural products, machinery equipment, phones and components, garments and textiles, footwear, and seafood to 10 CPTPP members with a value of US$46 billion, whilst its imports from this market hit US$45.4 billion.

The export markets with the highest value include Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and Chile. In terms of the remaining three markets, Peru, Brunei, and New Zealand, despite enjoying strong growth, the absolute value of commercial transactions remained low.

Officially effective from January, 2019, the CPTPP has now passed three years of enforcement, a period in which the global economy and trade, as well as trade between Vietnam and CPTPP partners, facing many difficulties. This includes the US-China trade war and the globally-spreading Covid-19 outbreak, both of which led to unprecedented disruption in trade activities.

Complex pandemic developments, social distancing measures, temporarily closed economies, along with disruption to production and transport chains are some of the unusual factors which have directly impacted commercial activities.

Amid this context, trade between the nation and its CPTPP partners has been still maintained seamlessly and smoothly. In the opening year, the country's export turnover to the bloc reached US$39.5 billion. In the second year in 2020, due to the impact of Covid-19 export turnover fell slightly to hit US$38.75 billion. Following this, the third year saw the nation regain its growth momentum, with export value reaching US$336.3 billion, thereby contributing significantly to the entire country’s good export growth. This demonstrates the great efforts of local enterprises to overcome difficulties.

Ample room remains for export growth

Tran Thanh Hai, deputy head of the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, assessed that over the past three years, domestic enterprises have effectively capitalized on the advantages of the CPTPP to increase the export of goods to the groups member markets.

“Different from the EU region, Vietnam's traditional export market, the CPTPP region, especially American countries such as Canada, Mexico, and Peru are relatively new markets. Before the CPTPP took effect, Vietnam's exports to these markets were still modest, but since the trade deal came into force, the nation's export value increased significantly. This reflects that local businesses have taken full advantage of this free trade agreement (FTA) to boost exports," said Hai.

According to a World Bank (WB) study, it is predicted that by 2030 Vietnamese exports to CPTPP member countries will climb to reach US$80 billion, thereby accounting for roughly 20% of the nation's total export turnover.

Photo: VOV

Judging from another angle, joining the CPTPP will also provide the country with the opportunity to restructure the import-export market in a more balanced direction, VOV reported.

Moreover, new markets in the CPTPP, such as Canada, Mexico, and Peru have recorded impressive export growth rates.

Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry's WTO and Integration Centre, emphasized, "The CPTPP is giving very positive initial results from paving the way for Vietnam's exports. The country entered the Americas, a region that is still new and has a lot of potential for its export growth."

For example, with Canada, data provided by the Vietnam Trade Office in Canada indicates that Vietnamese exports to the Northern American nation reached nearly US$5.3 billion in 2021. This marked the third consecutive year of positive growth since 2019 after both sides officially became members of the CPTPP.

All Vietnamese export products to the Canadian market in 2021 saw growth compared to 2020, with machinery, electricity, and electronics being the key products that made a major contribution to the nation's total export value.

The trend of shifting supply chains and impressive production capacity of local enterprises has served to capture the attention of Canadian businesses, especially in the field of the support industry.

The country currently makes up Canada's largest trading partner in Southeast Asia, with its goods only making up for 1.7% of Canada's total import value. This indicates that there remains plenty of room ahead for the nation to boost market expansion to this market.

The fact that the Canadian Government is continuing to pursue a strategy of market diversification and views Vietnam as an important partner in Asia is a prime opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to access and expand to exploit the potential market moving forward.

Experts say that this year, FTAs, including the CPTPP, will continue to open up advantages in terms of tariff incentives as a way of attracting investment to increase production capacity, thereby contributing to export businesses becoming more professional in the international arena.

As a result, exports remain a bright spot of the national economy, particularly as they ensure jobs for workers and will help the country become involved more deeply in the global supply chain.

ICT industry: Aspirations for a powerful Vietnam

2021 was a memorable year for the ICT industry of Vietnam as digital transformation took place in all fields, and technology became one of the pillars of the fight against Covid-19, for Vietnam’s economic recovery and development.

Nguyen Minh Phuong, an office employee in Hanoi, stopped recently in front of the lobby of a building where her office is located to scan a QR code on a PC-Covid application as required for the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic. Phuong's smartphone app displayed information about her vaccination and medical information, so it was convenient whenever she is out of Hanoi.

Scanning QR codes with PC-Covid - a nationwide shared technology platform - has gradually become a habit of Vietnamese people whenever they go to the office, to public places, supermarkets, shops, restaurants or coffee shops. Online learning, remote working, online shopping have also become familiar to many people in the past two years, since Covid-19 broke out in the country.

A meeting at the National Technology Center for Covid-19 Prevention and Control. Photo: VNN

When the fourth wave of the epidemic (from April 27, 2021) broke out in many localities, technology became an important tool, helping to switch from prevention to attack. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that technology was one of the spearheads in the fight against the epidemic, with the motto 5K + vaccines + drugs + technology + people's awareness and other measures. He increased the application of high technology to trace and control Covid-19.

The Ministry of Information and Communications established the National Technology Center for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, which grouped leading experts in the fields of information & communication, and health. As many as 18 leading digital technology companies in Vietnam mobilized more than 1,000 employees and thousands of tons of hardware devices to build applications and digital platforms to serve all stages of epidemic prevention and control.

Dozens of platforms, applications and even technological devices operated by Vietnamese engineers were urgently developed by the center, including three nationwide shared platforms: Electronic medical declaration platform and in/out management using QR Code; Platform to support sample collection and return of test results; and Covid-19 vaccination management platform, cited VNN.

The pressure to develop Covid-19 anti-epidemic applications in a short time left some applications imperfect and many people were skeptical about them in the early days of use. However, with the ultimate goal of serving the people, the "Make in Vietnam" shared technology platforms were unified by management agencies and linked data.

Applications for the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic such as PC-Covid have become indispensable in helping people return to the new normal.

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