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| Photo for illustration. (Source: nld.com.vn) |
The ministry said that the EU is now the leading trading partner and the third largest export market of Vietnam, with an average export growth rate of 7.5% per year, accounting for 13.6% of the country's total export turnover in 2015-2021.
The country’s goods exports to most markets in the EU recorded good growth and witnessed a positive shift.
Notably, the structure of export products to the EU tends to expand and diversify. Currently, the market share of Vietnam’s goods in the total EU imports from foreign markets accounts for 1.8%, higher than other Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia (accounting for 1.2%), Thailand (0.9%), Indonesia (0.7%), and Singapore (0.7%).
Vietnam attends Francophonie Economic Forum in Tunisia
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| An overview of the Francophonie Economic Forum (Photo: VNA) |
A delegation of Vietnam attended the Francophonie Economic Forum (FEF) in Djerba, Tunisia, on November 20-21, reported Vietnam News Agency.
Themed “For a shared growth in the Francophone space”, the forum was organised by the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA-Tunisia), in partnership with the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tunisia (CCIT), with a view to boosting economic cooperation among the French-speaking countries in many fields, including investment and digitalisation.
It attracted the participation of representatives from 80 member states and observers of the International Organisation of the Francophonie (OIF).
Talking to the Vietnam News Agency on the sidelines of the forum, General Secretary of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Tran Thi Lan Anh said that Vietnam has to date traded with 44 out of the 54 official members of the OIF.
The total trade turnover between Vietnam and French-speaking countries reached 33 billion USD last year, up 36.5% year-on-year, and 24 billion USD in the first eight months of this year.
The VCCI will continue stepping up trade and investment promotion activities with organisations of French-speaking countries, and increase the provision of information for Vietnamese businesses so that they can have more chances to connect with partners in these nations, she added.
Quang Ninh looks to welcome large foreign tourist groups
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| A welcome programme held by Quang Ninh tourism authority to greet a group of 650 tourists from Malaysia. (Photo: quangninh.gov.vn) |
Large foreign tourist groups to Quang Ninh province in recent days are good signs for a boom of tourism development in this northern coastal province after a two-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, reported Vietnam News Agency.
A delegation of 650 travellers from Sarawak State, Malaysia arrived in Quang Ninh this week to have a four-day stay, marking the largest foreign group to visit the locality.
This is one of the encouraging results from the provincial authorities' efforts to promote itself in the international tourism market, especially after the 17th East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum (EATOF) successfully held in October in the province's Ha Long city, according to Quang Ninh Portal (QNP).
Sarawak State is one of the 17 EATOF members. The Malaysian visitors arrived in Quang Ninh on November 22, planned to stay at four- and five-star hotels and experience various tourist services in the province.
During their four-day stay in the country, the tourists had a two-day tour to Ha Long Bay, the UNESCO-recognised world heritage site, explored traditional cuisine and experienced tourist activities.
Although it is a relatively new tourism market for foreign visitors from Malaysia, Quang Ninh has impressed them with its safety, good pandemic control, impressive natural landscape, friendly people, and good quality services.
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| Ha Long Bay |
The safety factor is one of the major competitive advantages of Quang Ninh tourism in the international market, according the QNP.
At a bilateral meeting between Quang Ninh and Sarawak State within the framework of the last EATOF, leaders of the two localities pledged to enhance cultural exchange activities, boost linkages between their heritage sites, promote building tours to destinations and strengthen exploitation of the two-way tourist markets.
In the coming time, Quang Ninh expects to welcome more than 1,000 visitors from Malaysia, said a report on the website of the provincial tourism authority, dulich.quangninh.gov.vn.
Yap Oi Leng, director of Malaysia’s Energy Travel agency, said to vov.vn that the company chose Quang Ninh for the tour because the locality boasts many beautiful and renowned sightseeing spots with modern infrastructure.
Earlier, Quang Ninh received 150 South Korean tourists from Jeju for a three-day tour following the EATOF gathering.
Nguyen Van Son, general director of Thang Loi International Travel Company, said the company has received plenty of bookings from the Malaysian, Indonesian, and Singaporean markets for 2023.
The most popular time looks set to be in January next year when around 1,000 foreign visitors on five charter flights are due to arrive in Vietnam, with Quang Ninh selected as one of their destinations.
Pham Ngoc Thuy, Director of the provincial Department of Tourism, said to vov.vn that the province will have many opportunities when the international tourism market opens wider next year.
"We’re planning to work with Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, Luang Prabang province in Laos, and Japan this December. The Cambodian market is a good place to connect with international visitors in Southeast Asia, so we will work with them as soon as possible and generate momentum to attract tourists next year," Thuy said.
The tourism sector of Quang Ninh is diversifying its products based on local advantages with a focus on enhancing tourists’ experience towards the goal of becoming a four-season destination.
Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Tuong Van said the province aims to attract 10 million tourists this year, including 1.5 million foreign visitors.
To achieve this goal, it is implementing a host of solutions, one of which is to continue investing in infrastructure, especially accommodation and tourist sites, in order to create the best services for visitors.
The province will continue to diversify tourism products in the direction of developing sea-island tourism, trade tourism, health care tourism and MICE (Meeting, Incentives, Conference and Exhibitions) tourism.
In October this year, Quang Ninh hosted the 17th General Assembly of the EATOF, which became an opportunity for the province to enhance its linkage with EATOF member countries, contributing to the tourism recovery in the new normal conditions.
Fruit and vegetable exports to China rise sharply in October
Export value of vegetables and fruit to China reached 151.7 million USD in October 2022, up 44.2% from the same period last year, according to statistics from the General Department of Customs.
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| China increased imports of banana from Vietnam in the first 9 months of 2022. (Photo: congthuong.vn) |
In the first 10 months of the year, exports of the commodity to the Chinese market were valued at 1.2 billion USD, down 25.8% from the same period in 2021.
The prospect of exporting fruit and vegetable to the market saw positive signs. Specifically, durian fruit has been exported through official channels to China since September 2022. After durian, the opportunity to export bananas to China is opening up when the Protocol on exporting fresh bananas was signed within the framework of the official visit to China by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
The strong shift from unofficial to official export for the Chinese market will contribute to promoting the positive growth of the fruit and vegetable industry.
In addition, in the first 10 months of 2022, exports of fruit and vegetable to other markets also enjoyed growth, such as: the US, 219 million USD, up 18.8% year on year; Thailand, 153.4 million USD, up 26.4%; and Japan, 141.3 million USD, up 6%.
The Import-Export Department also cited statistics from China’s Customs Administration as saying that in the first 9 months of 2022, China’s banana import value reached 948.56 million USD, up 18.4% year on year.
During the period, China imported the most bananas from the Philippines, valued at 375.5 million USD, up 5.9% year on year.
Notably, China increased the import of bananas from Vietnam in the 9 months, worth 213.3 million USD, up 49.2% year on year. Policies on agricultural leases and increasing labour costs caused decrease in China’s planting area. The Panama disease also caused a sharp drop in the quality of Chinese bananas, thereby boosting the demand for imports of the fruit from Vietnam./.