The strong cold spell is moving southward, causing temperatures to fall sharply and bringing heavy rain to the northern and central regions. (Photo: NCHMF)

Strong cold grips northern Vietnam, heavy rain spreads across localities

A cold air wave, the strongest since winter 2023, hit northern border provinces of Vietnam on November 12 evening and is impacting other localities in the northern and central regions on November 13.

The cold snap immediately sent temperatures falling sharply to 15-18 degrees Celsius in the plains, and to 12-15 degrees Celsius in the highlands. Several localities in the mountainous area even recorded a low of 11 degrees Celsius.

Notably, the cold snap is bringing showers to northern and central regions. The National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting reported that several northern border mountainous localities such as Lao Cai and Ha Giang received heavy rain of more than 100mm in just seven hours over night on November 12, cited VOV.

The band of rain is also moving southward, with scattered showers spreading across the north-central and central areas. Statistics showed that the cold air wave unleashed up to 105mm in Quang Binh, 96mm in Quang Ngai, 93mm in Nghe An, 75mm in Quang Tri, and 64mm in Ha Tinh.

Heavy rain is likely to cause water levels in major rivers in the central region to swell up to second or even third – the highest - alert levels, warned national meteorologists.

According to weather experts, another strong cold air wave is expected to hit northern Vietnam on November 16, that may last for several days.

Extreme cold is anticipated to grip northern Vietnam in late December 2023 and early 2024. However, cold snaps will not be as long and cold as in previous years, said weather experts.

Vietnam ready to develop ties with US: Deputy FM

Vietnam stays ready to develop its extensive, stable and practical ties with the US, within the framework of bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership established in September with 10 pillars, said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang on November 13.

Receiving Commissioner of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Caroline Pham in Hanoi, Hang said amid global economic uncertainties, Vietnam always strives to promote economic linkages and create a favorable environment for the development of financial market, contributing to enhancing the exchange of information regarding perfecting mechanisms and policies and strengthening bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the financial sector.

She suggested that the two countries enhance dialogue and cooperation in areas of common interest, such as infrastructure and financial services, especially digital finance, quality workforce training, sharing experience in debt and aid management, customs duty fulfillment, and capital and stock market development.

Pham, for her part, expressed her delight at visiting Vietnam, one of the US’s key partners in its regional policy.

Agreeing with Hang's assessment regarding the special significance of President Joe Biden's visit to Vietnam in September and the upgrade of the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, Pham said the events reflected a remarkable step forward in the two bilateral relations, enhancing mutual understanding and trust and demonstrating the US's commitment to opening up new opportunities for bilateral economic and financial cooperation.

An increasing number of US businesses, particularly in the financial sector, are interested in Vietnam, she noted. The official affirmed that Vietnam's financial market has significant potential and attractiveness, thanks to the country’s stable political environment, the people’s increasing participation in the financial market, and the government's flexible policies, according to VNA.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang (R) and Commissioner of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission Caroline Pham in Hanoi on November 13. (Photo: VNA)

Pham thanks the Vietnamese government's agencies such as the State Bank of Vietnam and the Ministry of Finance for their active collaboration with the CFTC on trade policy, currency, and forex-related matters, and expressed her hope for the two sides’ further cooperation expansion in the financial and banking sectors.

She said that the CFTC plans to carry out activities to support Vietnam in workforce training and share its experience in building policy frameworks, risk management and overseeing the development of a healthy and stable financial market.

The host and guest discussed specific measures to further tighten the two nations’ economy-trade and finance-investment relations, which include promoting the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework negotiations and the US's recognition of Vietnam as a market economy, and fostering the bilateral collaboration in foreign exchange policies, development of digital economy and green economy, and supply chain diversification.

VKBIA promotes Vietnam – Korea business connectivity

A delegation of the Vietnam - Korea Entrepreneurs & Investment Association (VKBIA) recently made a fact-finding trip to the Central Highland province of Lam Dong to explore cooperation opportunities between Vietnamese and Korean localities in the fields of trade, investment, tourism, infrastructure construction, and human resources development.

Representatives of Anyang city of Gyeonggido province and Hampyeong city of Jeollanamdo province of the Republic of Korea also joined the delegation during the November 8-10 trip.

Cooperation between Lam Dong and Korean localities has been enhanced in recent times through visit exchanges partly coordinated by VKBIA. The RoK side has launched direct flights to Lam Dong, helping to boost tourism development between the two sides. Statistics show approximately 360,000 Korean nationals traveled to the Vietnamese locality between Jan. – Oct. 2023, a year on year rise of 54%.

Meanwhile, some of Lam Dong’s specialties such as coffee, artichokes and macadamia have made inroads into the Korean market, winning local consumers’ hearts.

At a reception for the VKBIA delegation on November 8, vice chairman of the Lam Dong provincial administration Pham S briefed his guests on the locality’s development potential and suggested closer cooperation, especially in the fields of their strength, between the two sides.

The VKBIA delegation also held a working session with the Lam Dong Business Association on the same day. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation to provide support for their businesses in future, VOV reported.

VKBIA signs a comprehensive strategic cooperation document with the Lam Dong Business Association.

VKBIA launched the Vietnam - Korea Cooperation Support Center office in Da Lat city of Lam Dong province, to support and connect businesses of the two countries.

The VKBIA delegation also called at several economic establishments in Lam Dong that specialize in tourism services and specialties, to gain an insight into local development potential.

The delegation later traveled to Ho Chi Minh City where they had a working session with the management of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises in the Southern Region (ASMES), and signed a strategic cooperation agreement with ASMES.

The two sides agreed to create links between Vietnamese and Korean businesses to help them engage in the supply chain and strengthen their capacity to prioritize the use of services and consumption of goods between the parties. They also consented to conduct training programs and expertise exchanges, and to promote cultural exchange activities between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea.

The VBKIA delegation also visited several farm product processors and tour operators in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnamese, Chinese localities discuss economic corridor cooperation

Discussions on investment and trade, culture, tourism, health care, education, transportation and logistics, as part of the 10th conference on economic corridor cooperation involving Lao Cai, Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh of Vietnam and China’s Yunnan province, took place in Hanoi on November 13.

The organizing board received 40 presentations from management agencies, businesses, business associations, universities, research institutes, and experts on the above issues.

In investment and trade, delegates reviewed the progress of investment in infrastructure to strengthen inter-provincial and inter-regional transportation connectivity, and shared experience in promoting trade connectivity, trade infrastructure development and e-commerce, cited VNA.

Delegates to the opening of the conference on economic corridor cooperation involving Lao Cai, Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh of Vietnam and China’s Yunnan province, held in Hanoi on November 13. (Photo: VNA)

In culture, they agreed to enhance the sharing of experience in culture management, preservation and promotion of values of cultural heritage, museums, libraries and cinematography while exploring opportunities in the cultural industry.

As for tourism, they encouraged the establishment of demand-stimulating alliances between travel businesses from both sides to create tourism packages along the economic corridor, with emphasis on providing stronger support for travel agencies in terms of immigration mechanisms, policies and procedures while building destination surveying and marketing events.

Participants also underscored the need to adopt information technology and digital transformation in the transportation industry in combination with the development of logistics services.

Vietnam remains fastest growing digital economy in Southeast Asia: report

Vietnam remains the fastest growing digital economy in Southeast Asia for a second year in a row and is expected to hold this position until 2025, according to the 8th Southeast Asia Digital Economy report released by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company last week.

The report covering Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam says despite global economic headwinds, the region’s gross merchandise value (GMV) remains on an upward trajectory, growing at 11 per cent a year, and is set to reach US$218 billion.

It says the region’s revenues from the digital economy are poised to hit US$100 billion this year.

Vietnam’s GMV is expected to grow from US$30 billion this year to around US$45 billion in 2025 driven by e-commerce and online travel.

The former will grow by 11 per cent this year, and at a CAGR of 22 per cent between 2023 and 2025, reaching around $24 billion.

Full recovery in the travel sector is expected this year, driven primarily by sharp growth in domestic travel. Online travel will grow at 21 per cent to US$7 billion, cited VNS.

At the release of the 8th Southeast Asia Digital Economy report in HCM City last week. Photo courtesy of Google

According to the report, the irreversible offline-to-online behavior shift continues to drive growth in digital financial services adoption, including digital payments.

While in Southeast Asia digital payments adoption has reached 50 per cent, Vietnam is also embracing digital payments and is the fastest growing country, growing by 19 per cent in 2022 and 2023 and at 13 per cent CAGR in 2023-25.

Strong support from the government, investments by banks and the widespread usage and popularity of QR codes will continue to drive digital payments adoption in Vietnam, and digital payments will accelerate as the central bank promotes cashless payment in rural and remote areas.

Andrea Campagnoli, office head and founding partner of Bain & Company Vietnam, said: “It is remarkable that Southeast Asia’s digital economy GMV and revenues continued their double-digit growth momentum, with revenues expected to break the US$100 billion mark in 2023.”

The report also points out that high-value users (HVUs) continue to drive sustainable unit economics but significant growth prospects lie in increasing digital participation.

Marc Woo, managing director, Vietnam, Google Asia Pacific, said while over 70 per cent of digital economy transaction values were made by the top 30 percent of SEA spenders, non-HVUs also represented a significant opportunity.

In Vietnam, HVUs spent 5.4 times versus non-HVUs.

While HVUs were more likely to increase spending over time, non-HVUs also presented a growth opportunity.

As consumer demand kept growing, a majority of non-HVUs had an appetite to increase their online spending if more trust could be built and barriers such as the need to touch and feel products could be addressed, he said.

Campagnoli said while digital inclusion had made inroads in SEA in recent years, consumers outside of metro areas were at risk of facing a widening digital economic divide.

Hanoi, HCM City and Da Nang were the top three metros leading digital participation in Vietnam but the gap was wide beyond them, he added.

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