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| The first shipment of the Chinese Omoda C5 vehicles has departed from Indonesia and is en route to Vietnam, announced Omoda & Jaecoo Vietnam on November 6. (Photo: VNA) |
According to the joint venture between Vietnam’s GELEXIMCO Group and China’s Chery Group, the prices of the vehicles are expected to be revealed later this month, before its domestic assembly.
In addition to importing vehicles from Indonesia and Malaysia, Omoda & Jaecoo Vietnam is developing a production plant in the northern province of Thai Binh, which is designed to have an annual capacity of 200,000 units.
With a total investment of 800 million USD, the facility is anticipated to begin operations by 2026, fostering growth in Vietnam’s automotive industry and generating significant economic benefits and job opportunities for locals.
Insiders noted that the local assembly of the Omoda C5 and other models will help reduce costs, making them more competitively priced and tailored to the needs of Vietnamese consumers.
This marks a significant milestone in the long-term strategy of the Chery-GELEXIMCO joint venture, underscoring its commitment to the Vietnamese market and the broader shift towards sustainability in the automotive industry.
Consumer price index up 0.33% in October
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| Food prices continue to increase due to the impact of storms and floods. (Photo: VietnamPlus) |
Vietnam's Consumer Price Index (CPI) in October increased by 0.33% compared to the previous month and by 2.89% year-on-year, Vietnam News Agency quoted statistics of the General Statistics Office (GSO).
Ten of the 11 groups of goods and services saw price increases and one group decreased in price, it said.
The CPI growth was driven primarily by higher prices for food, rental housing, and domestic fuel which fluctuated in line with global market trends.
The GSO noted that transportation showed the largest increase among sectors, rising by 0.66%, largely due to a 2.27% increase in diesel prices and a 0.98% rise in domestic petrol prices following multiple price adjustments in October. Additionally, air passenger transport costs surged by 32.75% due to increased consumer demand.
Meanwhile, some items saw price reductions, with new car prices and road passenger transport both decreasing by 0.1%, and used car prices dropping by 0.23%.
In the education sector, prices rose by 0.48%, including a 0.53% increase in educational services due to higher tuition fees at some private kindergartens, colleges, vocational and intermediate schools, universities, and postgraduate institutions.
Other groups also saw price increases, including goods and services (up 0.26%), beverages and tobacco (up 0.11%), and household appliances (up 0.2%).
The CPI rose by 3.78% year-on-year in the first ten months of the year while core inflation was up 2.69% year-on-year. This was primarily because key contributors to CPI growth - such as food, electricity, education and healthcare services, and gasoline - are excluded from core inflation calculations.
Core inflation in October rose by 0.23% month-on-month and by 2.68% compared to the same period last year.
Vietnam posts trade surplus of 23.31 bln USD in 10 months
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| Rice is Vietnam's key currency earner (Photo: VNA) |
Vietnam posted a trade surplus of 23.31 billion USD during January-October, Vietnam News Agency quoted statistics of the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s General Statistics Office (GSO).
October alone witnessed a significant surge in trade activity, with the total value of foreign trade reaching 69.19 billion USD. This marks a substantial 5.1% increase from the previous month and a 11.8% year-on-year growth.
The cumulative trade value for the first 10 months of the year soared by 15.8% annually to 647.87 billion USD.
Vietnam's export revenue during this period stood at 335.59 billion USD, reflecting a 14.9% increase year on year. The domestic economic sector contributed 93.97 billion USD, accounting for 28.0% of the total. Meanwhile, the foreign-invested sector, including crude oil, generated 241.62 billion USD, up 12.8% and constituting 72% of the total.
Notably, 31 export products each surpassed 1 billion USD in value, collectively accounting for 92.6% of the total. Among them, seven standout items exceeded 10 billion USD, contributing a substantial 66.5% to the overall value.
Imports also saw an uptick, rising by 16.8% annually to 312.28 billion USD. The domestic economic sector’s spending went up 18.8% to 113.58 billion USD while the foreign-invested sector recorded 198.7 billion USD, a 15.8% increase.
A total of 42 import products surpassed the 1 billion USD threshold, making up 92.1% of the total, with four exceeding 10 billion USD, representing 48.3%.
The US remained Vietnam's largest export market with an export turnover of 98.4 billion USD. On the import front, China continued to be Vietnam’s top supplier with an import turnover totaling 117.7 billion USD.
Vietnamese and American businesses boost trade links
A trade connectivity conference between Vietnamese and American enterprises is set to be held on November 13 in Ho Chi Minh City, reported VOV News.
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| Vietnamese and American businesses boost trade links. (Photo: VOV) |
According to details given by the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency, the conference is viewed as one of the important events within the framework of the 10th International Food Industry Exhibition (Vietnam Foodexpo 2024), with the participation of many domestic and foreign enterprises, representatives of state agencies, and international trade organizations.
The event aims to promote economic, trade, and investment ties between Vietnam and American countries, thereby creating opportunities for businesses from both sides to exchange and seek co-operation opportunities.
This also represents an opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises to introduce their potential, product, and services to the American market, thereby increasing export turnover whilst boosting sustainable development.
This conference is not only a trade event, but also serves as a platform for businesses from both sides to build long-term co-operative relationships, a factor contributing to improving competitiveness and sustainable economic development.
Over recent years, the co-operative ties between the nation and the countries of the Americas has recorded very positive developments, thereby creating momentum for strengthening economic and trade ties between the two sides. The clearest evidence is the exchange of delegations at all levels and business delegations between Vietnam and countries in the Americas that have taken place recently.
Major Vietnamese export items include garments and textiles, electronics, footwear, and agricultural products such as coffee, seafood, pepper, and cashews. In contrast, Vietnam imports products from the Americas such as technology, machinery, pharmaceuticals, agricultural products, and raw materials.
Vietnam embraces new wave of investments: HSBC
With Vietnam recently enjoying a new wave of investment, foreign direct investment (FDI) is the tag word defining Vietnamese success today whilst being an essential source of fresh capital upholding the country’s aspirations to expand and grow, according to Joon Suk Park, head of International Subsidiary Banking and Wholesale Banking at HSBC Vietnam.
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| Photo for illustration |
The latest trend observed reveals the prowess of the investment flows of the Chinese market across diverse sectors and industries. Mixue, a leading bubble tea and ice cream parlor brand, has topped the Vietnamese market with over 1,000 stores; whilst global electronics players such as Luxshare, Geortek, Foxconn, Pegatron, and Compal continue to invest heavily into the ecosystem.
Hualian Ceramic, a leading household ceramics company, is looking to create a ceramic valley, while Sailun Group has made commitments for more investments into their tire manufacturing factory.
Over recent decades, Vietnam has grown to become tightly intertwined with the global supply chain, advancing into higher value electronics sector and witnessing seven times growth in exports since 2007, with 70% of them being driven by FDI companies. The leading FDI provider over the years has no doubt been the Republic of Korea, with giant names like Samsung, LG, Hyundai, and Lotte. In addition, Singapore and Japan have also joined the competition with great success.
However, the dynamics of FDI inflow and the investor landscape is shifting since the second half of 2023 and becoming more evident this year. Trade between the two markets has grown 10-fold since 2007, with the nation now playing a pivotal role in the downstream segment of the Chinese manufacturing supply chain. In addition, from a newly registered FDI angle, the China corridors, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are collectively contributing to 60% of the aggregate flow compared to 38% in 2022.
Taiwan (China) continues to expand and deepen its presence in the Vietnamese market as a means to relocate and diversify their supply chains. The Taiwanese 2016 New Southbound Policy has helped to boost investment flow, whilst the Vietnamese side’s multiple bilateral and regional FTA pacts have catalyzed those global Taiwanese manufacturers to leverage on Vietnam as a cost-effective platform exporting to US, Europe, as well as intra-Asia.
The HSBC economist points out several factors for the expansion of FDI from China. Firstly, ASEAN markets are actually benefiting from import of cheap inputs from the northern neighbour to become competitive and in turn to achieve trade surplus position with the rest of the world. Vietnam therefore serves as a classic case and one of key beneficiaries.
Secondly, investment flows are also a response to growing domestic market backed by the growing middle-income class within the 100 million population where the median age is 30 and 70% are among the working population.
Lastly, manufacturing wages is less than half of that in China and the second lowest in ASEAN behind Philippines, with electricity pricing being the second lowest in ASEAN just behind Indonesia and diesel prices being the second lowest only behind Malaysia.
The think tank emphasizes that there has been significant progress made in executing both bilateral and regional FTAs, with the FDI Regulatory Restrictiveness Index indicating that Vietnam is the most open economy just behind Singapore in the region, whilst the 20% statutory corporate income tax rate reveal comparative advantage against markets such as China, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia./.