Photo: VOV

Vietnam - China border trade activities see rapid recovery

As a major international border gate connecting China with Vietnam, trade activities at Dong Hung (Dongxing) border gate have rapidly recovered over recent times.As a major international border gate connecting China with Vietnam, trade activities at Dong Hung (Dongxing) border gate have rapidly recovered over recent times.

According to the forecast given by local officials, this year’s trade turnover at the border gate may exceed pre-pandemic levels.

Border trade activities going through the Mong Cai international border gate in Vietnam and Dongxing in China has become increasingly brisk once up again.

Cross-border trade and the number of people entering and exiting through Dong Hung border gate is constantly increasing, showing hugely positive signs of recovery after the negative impacts of COVID-19, said Chen Xiao, director of the Dong Hung City Border Gate Service Center in Guangxi, in a recent interview with a VOV reporter based in China.

Chen Xiao said, “During the first quarter of 2023, the transaction volume at Dongxing border market reached 5.6 billion yuan, up 219% over the same period from last year with a very strong growth momentum. As of May 17, the transaction volume has hit 8.8 billion yuan. It is expected that this year's border trade turnover will exceed the pre-pandemic level of 17.6 billion yuan.”

Goods imported through Dong Hung border market are primarily agricultural and aquatic products, with an average transaction turnover of 80 million yuan, equal to VND 266 billion per day. In particular, January 15 alone saw cross-border trade surpass 110 million yuan, equivalent to nearly 367 billion yuan, for the first time.

Explaining this level of growth, Chen Xiao said that, after China moved to adjust its own anti-pandemic measures, the cost of transporting and exporting goods through Dongxing border gate decreased significantly. In addition, Chinese consumer demand decreased significantly, while the consumer demand of the Vietnamese side also increased sharply.

Furthermore, the Chinese Government is carrying out many policies aimed at reviving rural areas and boosting the development of border areas. These are favourable conditions for both nations as they seek to promote border trade activities with rapid development in the post-pandemic era, cited VOV.

Moreover, according to the Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade, in early March Chinese Customs published an updated list of locations eligible to import food according to their regulations.

In particular, Dongxing border gate of China and Vietnam’s Mong Cai border gate in Quang Ninh province officially became eligible for food imports.

Thus, along with the Thuy Khau-Ta Lung border gate pair, the Dongxing-Mong Cai border gate pair has become one of two road border gates with Vietnam that are allowed to import food from Guangxi, with the capacity of monitoring and managing food imported through this area reaching a maximum of 200,000 tonnes per year.

After being put into operation, this will become one of the food import border gates from the country and other ASEAN member states into China to serve the food processing and aquaculture fields of Guangxi and other neighbouring localities.

Favourable visa policy urged to draw tourists

Experts are calling for a favourable visa policy to attract foreign tourists, saying that it should be a priority.

Last year, Vietnam welcomed over 3.66 million foreign visitors, or over 73% of the target. This year’s figure is set at 8 million, which is an uneasy task.

The number of foreign arrivals reached 3.7 million in the first four months of this year, hence, the tourism sector must race to meet the goal.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, together with several foreign diplomatic missions in Vietnam, the European Chamber of Commerce, the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, the Vietnam Business Forum, the Tourism Advisory Board and the Private Economic Development Research Board (Board IV) also made proposals for a more favourable visa policy to improve the competitiveness of Vietnam’s tourism industry.

Suggested changes in the visa policy are related to the amendment and supplementation of several articles of the Law on Entry and Exit of Vietnamese Citizens and the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam, according to VNA.

Tourists visit The Huc bridge, Ngoc Son temple in Hanoi (Photo: VNA)

If approved, the new entry and visa policies will extend the temporary stay of foreigners from 15 days to 45 days and the validity of e-visas from 30 days to a maximum of 90 days, for single or multiple entries.

The sector will have about three months to popularise changes in visa policy to the European and American markets, thus attracting visitors in the upcoming tourism season starting from October.

Pham Ha, Chairman of LUX Group, suggested that in addition to the proposed changes in visa policy, Vietnam should consider offering a golden visa or special visa with a validity of 1 year or 5 years to attract long-stay visitors, especially retirees.

Vietnam welcomes 4.6 million foreign tourists over five-month period

The country welcomed a total of 4.6 million foreign visitors during the initial five months of the year, a figure 12.6 times higher than that of the same period from last year, or around 63% of pre-pandemic levels recorded back in 2019.

According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), May alone witnessed the country welcome 916,300 foreign visitors, marking a decline of 6.9% over the previous month, but up 5.3 times on-year.

During the January to May period, in terms of international arrivals, the number of air passengers topped four million, accounting for 88%.

Elsewhere, 503,200 international arrivals entered the country by road and 50,900 foreigners came via sea, making up 10.9% and 1.1% of total arrivals, respectively.

Throughout the reviewed period, Asia represented the nation’s largest tourist source market with total 3.4 million arrivals. The Republic of Korea (RoK) topped the list with more than 1.31 million arrivals.

The RoK was followed by China with 398,900 arrivals. Five Asian countries, including Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Singapore, sent a total of 922,000 visitors to the country, reported VOV.

Photo: VOV

Moreover, the nation attracted 621,100 European visitors during the reviewed period, with 113,800 visitors coming from the UK alone.

Five-month revenue from accommodation and catering services also hit VND268.3 trillion, marking an annual rise of 22.1%. Meanwhile, travel businesses earned about VND11.6 trillion, up 89.4% compared to the same period from last year, thanks to an array of exciting cultural and tourism activities held nationwide.

Moving forward, the country’s tourism sector is anticipated to fully recover to the pre-pandemic period during the remaining months of the year.

Vietnamese tourism may attract 10 million foreign tourist arrivals this year, surpassing the target of eight million previously set by the sector, according to Ha Van Sieu, deputy head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

Vietnam posts trade surplus of 9.8 billion USD in five months

Vietnam’s import-export value in the first five months of this year was estimated at 262.54 billion USD, down 14.7% year-on-year, with a trade surplus of 9.8 billion USD, the General Statistics Office (GSO) announced on May 29.

In the period, Vietnam exported about 136.17 billion USD worth of goods, a year-on-year drop of 11.6%, while imports totalled 126.37 billion USD, down 17.9% year on year.

As many as 23 export items joined the more than one-billion-USD club, making up 87.4% of the total export turnover.

Regarding the structure of exports, processed commodities earned 120.24 billion USD (88.3%); agro-forestry products, 10.79 billion USD; aquatic products, 3.37 billion USD; and fuel and minerals, about 1.77 billion USD.

As for imports, the domestic economic sector imported 43.95 billion USD worth of goods, down 18.5% year-on-year while the foreign-invested sector imported 82.42 billion USD worth of goods, down 17.5%.

Of the import revenue, 118.31 billion USD was spent on production materials and 8.06 billion USD on consumer goods, cited VNA.

Illustrative photo (Photo: VNA)

The US was the biggest importer of Vietnamese products with 37.2 billion USD, while China was the largest import market with 43.4 billion USD.

Given unpredictable developments in import and export activities, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is continuing to closely monitor developments in the world market and propose cooperation frameworks and solutions to develop traditional markets and diversify export markets. It will also continue supporting businesses to take advantage of signed free trade agreements (FTAs) to effectively exploit markets and boost exports.

The ministry will continue diversifying export markets and products, focusing on developing exports through cross-border e-commerce, and foreign distribution systems, promoting brand development for Vietnamese goods, and increasing the export of highly-processed goods and those made with high technology, having a high localisation rate.

The ministry considers e-commerce an important distribution channel, especially for agricultural products and consumer industrial goods.

Vietnam’s industrial production rebounds but challenges remain

The index of industrial production (IIP) returned to growth in May after consecutive declines over the previous two months, but enterprises remained in difficulty due to rising input costs.

According to the General Statistics Office, the index in May rose 2.2% from a month earlier and 0.1% compared to the same month last year.

Commerce and services posted strong growth, with the total value of retail sales and consumer services in May soaring by 12.6%.

Vietnam also recorded a trade surplus of 9.8 billion USD in the first five months of the year, compared with 0.24 billion USD seen during the same period last year.

Key exports included phone and phone parts, timber and timber products, seafood, fruit and vegetables, and machinery.

International arrivals to Vietnam reached 4.6 million, a year-on-year rise of 12.6 times, thanks to efforts to promote Vietnamese tourism around the world.

Pledges of foreign direct investment rose 27.8%, demonstrating that Vietnam remained an attractive destination to foreign investors, NDO reported.

A shrimp processing factory in Ho Chi Minh City.

Inflation was kept under control, with the consumer price index (CPI) in May rising by 2.43% from a year ago, while the average figure for the January-May period was 3.55%.

However, Vietnamese enterprises continued to face difficulties as the domestic economy was hurt by global economic downturn.

Since the start of the year, the country saw 88,000 enterprises withdraw from the market, up 22.6% from the previous year. The average registered capital of a new enterprise also fell by 24.1%.

The IIP in the five months leading up to May dropped by 2%, due to reduced orders as a result of global economic recession.

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