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| Ho Chi Minh City absorbs about 3.94 billion USD in foreign direct investment in 2022, up 5.4% year-on-year. (Photo: VNA) |
The city's authorities granted new investment certificates to 893 projects in 2022 with total registered capital of 601.1 million USD, marking a decline of 12.5% compared to last year. Of the projects, 338 were invested in wholesale, retail, and repair of automobiles and motorbikes with registered capital of 176.9 million USD, accounting for 29.4% of the newly registered capital, reported VNA.
They were followed by the field of information and communication with 186 projects that posted registered capital of 139.3 million USD, accounting for 23.2%. There were 231 projects in specialised areas, science, and technology with registered capital of 107.5 million USD, accounting for 17.9%.
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| Illustrative photo ( Photo: VNA) |
Among nations and territories pouring capital into the city this year, Singapore ranked first with 167 projects with total registered capital of 235.4 million USD, accounting for 39.2% of the newly registered capital.
It was followed by Japan with 86 projects and registered capital of 97.2 million USD, accounting for 16.2%, the Republic of Korea (RoK) with 122 projects and registered capital of 60.3 million USD, accounting for 10%.
Regarding the adjustment of registered capital, there were 192 projects with increased capital of 1.6 billion USD, up 42.4% over the previous year.
Singapore was the country with the highest adjusted capital in 2022 – over 1.18 billion USD, accounting for 73.7% of the adjusted registered capital.
A total of 2,411 investors made capital contributions, share purchase, and redemption of contributed capital. Their capital contributions reached nearly 1.74 billion USD, down 9.8% from last year. Singapore and the RoK saw high proportions of capital contribution, accounting for 47.5% and 16.9% respectively.
With the new projects in 2022, the total number of valid projects in the city until December 20, 2022, amounted to 11,273 projects with registered capital of 55.84 billion USD. Thereby, Ho Chi Minh City continues to lead the country in the number of valid projects.
To achieve those results, the city's authorities organised investment promotion activities in and outside the country to attract foreign investors to its key industries and key projects. The city also met with, asked for advice, and talk with investors.
The city organised 127 domestic and foreign trade and investment promotion activities, supported businesses to recover, develop markets, and connect businesses to businesses through fairs and exhibitions or programmes that connect businesses with retail groups and distribution systems.
Agriculture eyes US$54 billion export target next year
The agricultural sector is anticipated to rake in US$54 billion from export next year built on its impressive US$53 billion export turnover recorded in 2022, VOV cited the data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
In 2022 the agricultural sector has 11 groups of products recording export turnover exceeding US$1 billion each, of which seven export items earned revenue of over US$3 billion each.
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| Agriculture eyes US$54 billion export target next year (Photo for illustration/ Source: vov.vn) |
Most notably, the sector posted a trade surplus of US$8.5 billion, up 30% compared to 2021’s figure.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien attributed these achievements to the flexible adaption to new requirements of the market, as well as the global energy crisis and inflation.
These growth figures indicate that the Vietnamese agriculture sector has shifted to fully tap into added-value products, he said, noting that the high export value has made a positive contribution to accelerating the nation’s economic growth, thereby ensuring food security and creating jobs for people.
Tien emphasised that the fisheries sector has become a bright spot, helping the agricultural sector to enjoy a successful year.
For the first time after more than 20 years of being involved in the export market, Vietnamese seafood products have officially joined the club of commodities with export turnover of more than US$10 billion. Among aquatic items, pangasius, tuna, and shrimp exports brought in record turnover of US$2.4 billion, over US$1 billion and US$4.3 billion respectively.
Exports to major markets such as the United States, Europe, Japan, and China have recorded double digit growth or more, Tien added.
He also pointed out that with the impact of global inflation, especially in some major markets, the number of seafood export orders is anticipated to experience a downward trend.
However, China, which is the world's second largest economy, has just announced that it will open its doors from January, 2023 – a move which is expected to help the seafood industry maintain high growth moving into next year, stressed Tien.
Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said that China remains a large and important market for Vietnamese seafood products.
This year, despite enduring strict pandemic control measures, seafood exports to China and Hong Kong (China) have reached an estimated US$1.8 billion, representing a rise of nearly 90% compared to last year, Hoe said.
After reopening, the demand for seafood from this market is anticipated to enjoy a boom, duly offsetting the decrease in orders from the European and American markets.
Currently, there are a large number of local enterprises exporting pangasius to China, creating opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises to promote export activities to the market of more than a billion consumers.
Furthermore, fruit and vegetables are expected to witness substantial growth next year as a series of key fruits, such as dragon fruit, passion fruit, banana, durian, pomelo, and longan have been officially exported to China, the US, New Zealand, and Japan.
Despite the global economy facing challenges next year, the agriculture sector has set a GDP growth target of 3% with agro-forestry-fishery raking in US$54 billion, said Deputy Minister Tien.
Disadvantaged workers offered free air tickets to go home for Tet celebration
According to VOV, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines on December 31 announced that it will offer a free flight to bring workers with difficult circumstances in southern provinces to their homes in the North for Lunar New Year (Tet) celebration.
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| A flight carrying disadvantaged workers home will depart from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi on January 9, 2023. (Photo: VNA) |
Labour confederations in southern provinces proposed a list of the beneficiaries with priority given to workers who have difficult circumstances and spent Tet festival away from their hometowns many times.
The airline also offers free tickets for those who registered on its fanpage and website.
A flight carrying the workers home will depart from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi on January 9, 2023. Flights bringing them back to Ho Chi Minh City will depart from Hanoi, Van Don, Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa, and Vinh from February 10-15, 2023.
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| Photo for illustration (Source: nld.com.vn) |
The workers are also supported to travel from Noi Bai International Airport to stations where they catch coaches to go home.
A representative from Vietnam Airlines said that the flights are part of its campaign named “Flights of Love” which promotes the human value for the community and social responsibility that the carrier has been implementing for years.
The flights are organised thanks to the cooperation and support of members of its Frequent Flyer Programme Lotusmiles at a charity auction./