Vietnam eyes FDI attraction opportunities

Many large firms have shown their interest in Vietnam, and the country is looking at its chances to welcome large-scale foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows.

A delegation of 25 member companies of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) has paid a business trip to Vietnam to explore the country’s investment and business opportunities. ACMA groups 800 makers of auto parts and components that contribute more than 85% to the revenue of the Indian auto industry.

Yuvraj Kapuria, President of YBLF - a member of ACMA, said that ACMA wants to cooperate with businesses in the Vietnamese automobile industry to jointly explore new markets through all forms of cooperation.

Recently, Yerkin Tatishhev, founder and chairman of Kusto Group, also visited Vietnam after a three-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Following a 10-day trip with many meetings with Vietnamese officials and businesspeople, Tatishhev plans to expand investment in Vietnam, after having invested more than US$1 billion in 10 projects in Vietnam over the past 15 years. Kusto Group’s two fields of interest are social housing and infrastructure projects.

Kusto Group is likely to invest up to hundreds of millions of USD in Vietnam in the near future if projects meet the group's criteria and business philosophy.

Many large firms have shown their interest in Vietnam. Photo: VNA

The southern province of Binh Duong was among the places Tatishhev visited to look for investment opportunities. A few days ago, Robert Wu, Chairman and CEO of Sharp Corporation (Japan), also paid a visit to this locality, according to VNA.

Wu said that his firm will continue to expand production and business facilities in the southern industrial hub. He noted that Vietnam's economy is expected to accelerate after the pandemic, while the Vietnamese government is also giving more incentives to foreign businesses.

SK Group, a company from the Republic of Korea (RoK) - has even bigger ambitions in the Vietnamese market.

During an online exchange with Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung and Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien in mid-August, Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, said the group is considering conditions to invest in hydrogen projects in the Mekong Delta and high-tech projects using clean energy in Vietnam.

As the second largest corporation in the RoK, SK Group has inked many large investment deals in Vietnam, including pouring US$470 million to buy a 9.4% stake in Masan Group, US$1 billion to get a 6% stake in Vingroup, and 340 million USD into TheCrownX. According to some sources, it is most likely that SK will inject capital into the Pharmacity drugstore network in Vietnam.

Deputy Director of the Department of Foreign Investment under the Ministry of Planning and Investment Nguyen Anh Tuan attributed the results to Vietnam's good control of the Covid-19 pandemic, its advantages in terms of human resources and domestic market, and the determination to improve the investment and business environment.

However, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said Vietnam needs to do more to tap FDI opportunities, including designing a proper response policy and preparing land, resources, personnel and infrastructure.

Football tournament seeks to tighten Vietnam – Laos friendship

Gifts presented to children of disadvantaged trade union members and workers in Da Nang City as part of a program held on September 9, on the occasion of Mid-Autumn Festival.

The event was co-organized by the Provincial Youth Union, the local Department of Education and Training and the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

The celebration allowed participating children to immerse in the bustling atmosphere of the full moon festival with many fun and exciting activities such as lion dances, a lantern procession, and martial arts performances.

The organizing board presented a total of 80 to disadvantaged children with outstanding academic achievements.

The Women's Union of the Thua Thien Hue Provincial Border Guards in coordination with the Hong Van Border Gate’s Youth Union recently held an art program to entertain children in Hong Thuy Commune, A Luoi District, to celebrate the Full Moon Festival, reported NDO.

Gifts presented to children of disadvantaged trade union members and workers in Da Nang City as part of a program held on September 9. Photo: NDO

Hong Thuy is the most remote and disadvantaged border commune in the mountainous district of A Luoi. Most of population are Pa Co ethnic people living in difficulties, with up to 70% of them being poor households.

At the program, the children were entertained with lion dances and assorted art performances. They were also presented with moon cakes, lanterns and toys.

As many as 2,000 gifts worth VND300,000 each were delivered to children of disadvantaged trade union members and workers in Da Nang City during the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations hosted on the evening of September 9 by the City Labour Confederation.

The annual program aimed to bring a joyful and meaningful Mid-Autumn Festival to the children of disadvantaged trade union members and workers, encouraging them to overcome difficulties and make efforts in the study.

The same day, a delegation from the Da Nang City People's Council and the city Youth Union, in collaboration with the city’s Association for Children's Rights Protection and Charity Activities, visited and delivered gifts to children with serious illnesses who are receiving treatment at the Da Nang Hospital for Women and Children.

The delegates gifted 200 gifts in cash with total value of VND100 million plus 200 lanterns and Mid-Autumn Festival confectionery worth VND20 million to the child patients to help them celebrate a cheerful Full Moon Festival.

Vietnam moves to strongly integrate into int’l labor market

Vietnam is striving to develop a modern and internationally integrated labor market, considering it a key to a strong connection with the global labor market and ensure the harmonization of the domestic labor market.

After 35 years of the Doi moi (Renewal) process, Vietnam's labor market has witnessed a remarkable development in both scale and quality, deeply integrating into the international market.

Strong solutions to restructure the national economy, improve the business environment, attract investment and promote production and business in recent years have contributed to restructuring the labor force and increasing the number of labourers working in enterprises and production and business establishments.

Illustrative image. Photo: VNA

Policies, programs and measures to generate jobs have been implemented synchronously and effectively, ensuring the labour supply for the market, cited VNA.

From approximately 28 million people in 1986, Vietnam’s labor force has increased to more than 51 million by mid-2022. The percentage of trained laborers in 2015 was 49%, and rose to 67% in the first six months of this year.

The work of sending labourers to work abroad under contract has also produced a good performance. There are more than 600,000 Vietnamese employees working in 40 countries and territories worldwide with stable income, sending home US$3.5 billion worth of remittances per year.

The number of guest workers has increased gradually through years, with an average growth of 10% per year.

According to Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung, the ministry has set out many tasks and solutions, focusing on strengthening communication work to affirm the transparency of the Vietnamese labor market, as well as its ability to supply human resources meeting requirements of enterprises.

Attention has also paid to evaluating the demand for human resources of foreign businesses investing in Vietnam, thus managing and developing the labor market towards flexibility, modernity and sustainability.

Minster Dung also underlined the need to perfect the system of policies and laws to synchronously develop elements of the labor market, improve the operational efficiency of the market's intermediary institutions.

Vietnam’s Ong Cua ST25 rice being sold across UK

The Ong Cua ST25 rice variety is now being sold in the wider UK market after becoming popular among British-Asian consumers.

It became famous globally after winning the Best Rice Competition in 2019 and 2020.

Nguyen Hai Nam, business development manager of EUTEK Group, its exclusive distributor in the UK, said after receiving positive reviews from many Asian market in the UK, his company planned to focus on promoting Viet Nam rice and other specialties in Britain.

Ho Quang Cua, the creator of Ong Cua ST25 and a member of the board of director of Ho Quang Tri Enterprise, the Vietnamese exporter of the rice, said two tonnes had been shipped to the Australian market and received good reviews.

The company is now receiving a lot of orders, VNS reported.

There are two main reasons for the success of the grain rice, the Viet Nam - UK Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), which came into effect last year with preferential tariffs, and the fact that Ho Quang Tri Enterprise has trademarked the brand in international markets, including the UK.

Until it got the trademark, a lot of other companies had registered the ST25 name in many overseas markets, making it difficult for the company to export to those markets.

Vietnam works hard on early disaster warning

Heavy rain forecasting and early warning systems are being focused on to mitigate the effects of floods, flash floods, landslides and inundation, according to Director of the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Mai Van Khiem.

Natural disasters are becoming more unpredictable and extreme due to climate change, causing more extensive damage to people and property.

Heavy rain forecasting and early warning systems are being focused on to mitigate the effects of floods, flash floods, landslides and inundation. Photo: VNA

Vietnam has seen increasingly unpredictable natural disasters this year, with non-seasonal rains and flooding accompanied by thunderstorms, strong winds and storms.

To improve forecasting, weather forecasters have extended natural disaster warnings to 10 days, cited VNA.

Seasonal forecasting has also been extended. The sector has a newsletter identifying natural disasters issued twice a year.

Forecasts of storms and tropical depressions are issued three or five days in advance, forecasts of heavy rain two or three days, and warnings for thunderstorms released from 30 minutes to two hours. Severe cold spells are forecast five to seven days in advance.

A detailed warning map of flash floods and landslides has been developed at district level in order to inform regions when there is heavy rain.

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