Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Nguyen Tat Thanh holds a box of passion fruit at the launch of Vietnamese pangasius and fruit promotion weeks. (Photo: VNA)
According to the trade office, Australia produces more than 4,700 tonnes of passion fruit per year. Notably, 91 percent of passion fruit grown in Australia is marketed as fruit. Meanwhile, Vietnam’s passion fruit exported to the country is mostly in form of frozen pulp, making the products being little known among local consumers. Persuaded by the office, Vietnam's Uu Dam company decided to ship 2 tonnes of the whole frozen fruit to Australia.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Nguyen Tat Thanh stated the export of the whole fruit is meaningful as Vietnam is negotiating for its fresh passion fruit to enter Australia.
According to the programme, when the batch arrives in Australia for distribution in December, local consumers buying them will have chance to win prizes of 2000 AUD sponsored by Viet Uc Group and three return air tickets from Vietjet Air.
Australia has to date allowed the import of four fresh fruits from Vietnam. Despite COVID-19, in the first ten months of 2021, Vietnam’s export of fruit and vegetables to the market increased by 27.65 percent.
Foreign capital flow in Vietnam hit 26.46 billion USD in 11 months
Workers at Bright Vietnam International Co., Ltd., Thuan Thanh district, Bac Ninh province
(Photo: VNA)
Foreign direct investment (FDI) registered in Vietnam reached 26.46 billion USD as of November 20, up 0.1 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, reported Vietnam News Agency.
Notably, the total additional registered capital stood at over 8 billion USD, an annual rise of 26.7 percent.
During the period, 14.1 billion USD was poured into 1,577 newly-licensed projects, up 3.76 percent in value but down 31.8 percent in volume over the same period last year.
The remaining investment capital was used for capital contribution and share purchases in a total 3,466 transactions.
Foreign investors landed investments in 18 sectors, with processing and manufacturing absorbing the largest amount of capital (over 14 billion USD or 53 percent), followed by power generation and distribution (over 5.7 billion USD), real estate (2.41 billion USD), and wholesale and retail sale (1.27 billion USD).
Among 100 countries and territories having investment in Vietnam in the period, Singapore took lead with 7.6 billion USD, making up 28.7 percent of the total. The Republic of Korea (RoK) came second with more than 4.36 billion USD, and Japan was the third largest investor with 3.7 billion USD.
Localities that attracted the most FDI were Long An (3.76 billion USD), Ho Chi Minh City (nearly 3.43 billion USD), and Hai Phong city (over 2.8 billion USD).
Export turnover of the FDI sector (including crude oil) was estimated at nearly 220.2 billion USD, up 19.7 percent over the same period and accounting for 73.6 percent of Vietnam’s total. The sector’s import value (excluding crude oil), meanwhile, exceeded 195.5 billion USD, an annual increase of 29.5 percent and accounting for 65.5 percent of the country’s total.
South Australia-Vietnam Business Council serves to connect businesses
Vietnam-Australia economic relations are seeing rapid development, as demonstrated by the establishment of the South Australia - Vietnam Business Council which will help further promote the connection between Australia as well as South Australia state with Vietnam, reported VOV News.
Consul General Nguyen Dang Thang (L) and Francis Wong, chairman of the South Australia-Vietnam Business Counci speak at the event. (Photo: VOV)
The South Australia-Vietnam Business Council has just made its debut with around 70 members who are entrepreneurs working in various fields in South Australia state, and they are keen to enhance connectivity with the Southeast Asian nation.
Those attending the launch ceremony included Nguyen Dang Thang, Vietnamese Consul General in New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland alongside Francis Wong, chairman of the South Australia-Vietnam Business Council and representative of Becamex IDC.
Francis Wong, chairman of the South Australia - Vietnam Business Council stated that after several years working as a representative of Becamex IDC in Australia, he had plenty of opportunities to return to Vietnam and help Australian entrepreneurs meet Vietnamese partners.
According to him Australia in general and South Australia in particular boast huge potential for cooperation with Vietnam across a variety of fields such as agriculture, technology, education, healthcare, and service.
However, many South Australians, including businessmen, do not understand much about the Southeast Asian nation, he said while underlining the necessity of establishing the South Australia - Vietnam Business Council as a way of helping more and more Australian businesses get a better understanding about Vietnam's potential.
Several types of Vietnamese fresh fruit are introduced at the event. (Photo: VOV)
Upon addressing the event, Nguyen Dang Thang, Vietnamese Consul General in New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland highlighted great potential for broader cooperation between the two nations,
Notably, the strategy to strengthen economic cooperation adopted by both nations' Prime Ministers have identifies nine key areas of cooperation that the two countries have strengths and will promote in the time ahead.
The nine areas are quite similar to the ones that the South Australian administration has identified for development in order to meet growing needs among states and globally.
According to Francis Wong, many businessmen in South Australia are highly interested in Vietnam. Currently, the South Australian Business Council has about 70 members, and the figure is expected to increase to 200 over the next one and a half year.
In the coming years the South Australia - Vietnam Business Council will step up research in order to introduce Vietnam to its members, with information regarding Vietnam's potential and needs be provided to members through seminars.
The Council will also help connect with the Vietnamese Consulate General in New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland to provide information to businesses in need, thus making it easier for them to seek business opportunities in various Vietnamese localities.
On this occasion, the Consulate General of Vietnam in New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland and the Vietnam Trade Office in Australia also introduced fresh fruit products imported from Vietnam by 4 Ways Fresh company to consumers in South Australia.
Vietnam, Japan sign MoC on protecting rights of Vietnamese workers in Japan
At the signing ceremony for the MoC. (Photo: Dolab)
The Vietnam Association of Manpower Supply (VAMAS) and Japan’s Association for foreign human resource development has signed a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) on improving the quality of human resources and protecting the rights of Vietnamese workers in Japan, reported Nhan Dan News.
The MoC was signed within the framework of the recent visit to Japan by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on November 22-25. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Ba Hoan.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Ba Hoan also worked with the Organisation for Technical Intern Training (OTIT), International Manpower Development Organisation (IM Japan), and the Japanese Ministry of Justice on specific skilled worker programmes, while visiting the Vietnamese Labour Management Section in Japan.
The signing and implementation of the MoC will contribute to improving the quality of Vietnamese trainees and employees and streamlining both the sending and receiving of Vietnamese trainees and workers to Japan. The MoC also helps protect and increase the interests of Vietnamese interns and workers studying and working in the country.
The total number of Vietnamese workers sent abroad was 43,584 in the first 10 months of this year, reaching about 48% of the year’s plan. In which, the Japanese market received nearly 19,200 workers from Vietnam.
Vietnam expects to send 90,000 workers abroad under labour contracts in 2021./.