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| Headquarters of BOE Technology Group Co Ltd (Photo: China Daily) |
The investment may total up to 400 million USD, UK-based Reuters reported.
BOE is in talks to rent dozens of hectares of land in the northern region to add to its relatively small plant in the south that supplies mostly TV screens to the Republic of Korea's Samsung and LG Electronics Inc.
BOE plans to rent up to 100 hectares and use 20% for a plant making remote control systems at a cost of 150 million USD. The rest will be for displays, with BOE spending 250 million USD to build a plant on 50 hectares while suppliers will use the remaining 30 hectares, all by 2025.
Northern Vietnam has in recent years attracted significant investment from electronics giants, becoming a major hub for the production of smartphones, computers and cameras, including flagship goods from Apple and Samsung.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (Foxconn) and China's Luxshare Precision Industry also make or plan to assemble a number of Apple products in the area such as laptop and tablet computers.
Vietjet to open HCM City-Melbourne direct route
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| At the signing ceremony serving the opening of the route. (Photo: VNA) |
Vietjet Air, Vietnam’s largest private carrier, has announced its opening of a route linking Ho Chi Minh City to Melbourne of Australia starting March 31, reported Vietnam News Agency.
At first, there will be three flights per week using Airbus wide-body aircraft A330, and this will be raised to seven per week from December 2024.
These flights are set to take off from the Vietnamese southern metropolis at 9:50am (local time) and land at the Melbourne airport at 10:35pm (local time) every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
From Melbourne – the capital and most populous city of the state of Victoria, Vietjet aircraft will depart at 0:30 am (local time) to reach HCM City at 5:15am every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
Tim Pallas, Minister for Trade and Investment of Victoria, said the arrival of another airline from Southeast Asia is a win for the Victorian economy and local jobs, as well as a reflection of the state’s strength in tourism and export.
In 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 123,000 Vietnamese visited Australia. The nations’ bilateral trade hit 12.4 billion USD last year, the highest ever to date.
Majority of supermarkets to remain open during Tet
The majority of supermarket chains nationwide are set to remain open during the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) festival, the biggest of its kind in Vietnam, reported VOV News.
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| Photo for illustration. (Source: VOV) |
The schedule will see almost all supermarkets shut only on the first day of the Lunar New Year (January 30) before reopening on the second day (January 31). In particular, AEON Vietnam supermarkets will be open throughout Tet.
Along with staying open, AEON Vietnam will offer discounts of between 30% and 40% on many essential items from now until January 20.
The MM Mega Market supermarket system has also announced plans to increase its operating hours from 6 a.m. to 11p.m., except for January 30, to meet customers’ increasing demand for shopping at the end of the year.
The WinMart supermarket will be closed from 12:00 on January 21, and will open again on January 25. During the Tet break, WinMart and WinMart+ will offer discounts of up to 20% on MEATDeli and WinEco products, as well as other essential items at low prices.
Supermarkets GO!, Big C, and Tops Market of Central Retail, will close their doors on January 22, before receiving customers on January 23.
Supermarkets, including Saigon Co.op, also plan to change their opening hours to between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. during Tet and will reopen on January 23.
Vietnamese people will have seven days off work to celebrate the Tet holiday, starting from January 20.
Automobile sales increase 33% in 2022
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| Illustrative photo (Source: VNA) |
Members of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) sold 404,635 vehicles of all kinds last year, an annual rise of 33%, reported Vietnam News Agency.
Of the total, there were 316,941 passenger cars, up 48% year-on-year; 82,714 commercial vehicles, down 1.5%; and 4,980 special-purpose ones, down 14%.
Also of the total, 226,487 were domestically assembled and 178,148 imported, increasing by 30% and 37% from 2021, respectively.
In December alone, VAMA’s sales stood at 35,301 units, a month-on-month reduction of 3%. The figures of domestically assembled and imported vehicles were 17,666 and 17,635, down 6% and up 0.4%, respectively.
The December drop followed a decrease of 0.5% posted in November. Explaining such downward trend in the year-end peak period of consumption, experts mentioned difficult access to banks’ loans and increasing interest rates that have forced many to delay their purchases.
Apart from VAMA’s members, Vietnam’s automotive market also witnessed operations of other car manufacturers including Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Subaru, Volkswagen and Volvo. However, they did not make public their sales figures. Other manufacturers, such as Hyundai, recorded combined sales of 81,582 units last year.
Vietnam – South Africa trade hoped to take strides: Ambassador
Trade between Vietnam and South Africa is expected to further expand on the basis of the current solid foundation, Vietnamese Ambassador to the country Hoang Van Loi has said.
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| Photo for illustration. (Source: VNA) |
In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, the diplomat said Vietnam is likely to boost its export of farm produce, ceramics, furniture, and consumer goods, and it will import fresh fruits, coal, minerals, and chemicals from the African nation.
He noted that Vietnamese enterprises are exploring opportunities to not only import goods from South Africa but also take into account the possibility of investment in production and taking advantage of raw materials and preferential tax policies for producing export goods.
Two-way trade between Vietnam and South Africa in 2022 hit US$1.3 billion.
Loi said that there is an ample room for Vietnam and South Africa to further strengthen economic, trade and investment cooperation.
In November last year, the embassy coordinated with the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) to organise a delegation of nearly 20 businesses operating in many industries to South Africa to explore the market, and promote connection with partners in the two economic hubs of Cape Town of Western Cape province and port Durban city of KwaZulu-Natal province.
The embassy also co-organised two ASEAN - South Africa investment and tourism promotion programmes in the year, focusing on mining, renewable energy, maritime logistics infrastructure, investment, automobile industry, wood processing, plastics, textiles and footwear.
The agency has also worked hard on supporting information verification and solving difficulties facing businesses of both countries, the diplomat said.
He advised Vietnamese businesses to carefully consider and directly meet partners before deciding to cooperate with them, especially issues related to delivery schedule and payment.
South Africa is the largest trading partner of Vietnam in Africa, and also the only "Partner for Cooperation and Development" of Vietnam in this continent. Meanwhile, Vietnam is the ninth biggest trading partner of South Africa in Asia.
According to the ambassador, a Vietnam Day will be organised in South Africa in 2023 as part of the activities to celebrate the 30th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties. The event is hoped to offer a good chance for the two countries to enhance cooperation, thus creating an impetus to soon lift the bilateral trade to US$2 billion./.