Illustrative image. (Photo: VNA)
Accordingly, from 3pm, the price of RON95 bio-fuel was raised by 797 VND per litre to 32,375 VND (1.4 USD) per litre, while that of E5 RON92 rose by 882 VND per litre to 31,117 VND per litre.
Meanwhile, the price of diesel oil was up by 2,626 VND per litre to 29,020 VND per litre. A rise of 2,493 VND per litre was also seen in the price of kerosene to 27,839 VND.
Photo for illustration (Source: laodong.vn)
This is the sixth consecutive price hike in petrol prices since April 21 with total increases amounting to 5,060 VND and 4,640 VND per litre for RON95 and E5 RON 92, respectively.
Provinces turn to e-commerce to sell agricultural produce
To help sell agricultural products, many localities are working to establish linkages between businesses in the supply chain and turning their focus to e-commerce platforms, reported VNA.
Agricultural products being sold on an e-commerce platform. (Photo: VNA)
According to the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency, this year provinces such as Bac Giang, Son La, Hung Yen, and Bac Kan and Can Tho city have unveiled plans to promote their farm produce on e-commerce sites and established ties with them.
Farmers and businesses are also vigorously promoting their products online.
Do Minh Thinh, owner of the Da Lat-based Vitamin Farm, said besides researching and developing organic produce, he was also proactive in ensuring sales of his products by promoting and selling through social media and working with delivery companies to deliver the products to buyers.
Experts said the COVID-19 pandemic caused agricultural products to be promoted and sold online, with farmers selling products directly to consumers.
Producers, cooperatives and exporters were familiar with online trading, but have limitations in terms of technology elsewhere like operations and logistics, they said.
A comprehensive solution, that includes the involvement of delivery businesses, was needed to ensure the efficiency of online sales, they added.
Phan Binh, J&T Express’ brand director, said in online sales, express delivery firms, e-commerce platforms, farmers, and KOCs (key opinion consumer) held an equal position.
Businesses must work together to guide farmers and create a comprehensive solution that offers more convenience to sellers.
Agricultural products are perishable and so need priority in transportation and proper packaging to safeguard quality, according to Binh.
He said his company had launched J&T Fresh, a specialised service for transporting fresh and agricultural produce.
“We also have a packaging team that is ready to assist farmers.”
Lam The Khai, product director at UPOS, said “UPOS software has a strong connection with e-commerce platforms.
“Sellers can easily manage goods and monitor shipping and customer information in a few simple steps. This increases their chances of a successful sale.”
Vietnamese food products promoted in African market
According to VOV, a Vietnam-Africa business matching webinar on food products 2022 is set to be held by the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency from June 14-15 to introduce the potential, demand, and opportunities for food products and seafood of both markets.
The event will be one of numerous trade promotion activities aimed at supporting Vietnamese localities, businesses, and food supply cooperatives in seeking partners, whilst also connecting business opportunities for exports to the African market.
According to details given by the Organizing Committee, the function will include a plenary session and business exchange sessions.
This is widely viewed as a prime opportunity for local food enterprises to introduce and promote their products and connect with more potential customers.
Furthermore, it will also help food exporters to gain more knowledge about market requirements and technical barriers that exist in African countries.
Through these trade promotion activities, most African nations highly appreciate and trust the quality of food products coming from the Vietnamese market.
The African market also has a need to import a variety of food items in order to serve a rapidly growing population and improve people's incomes, while simultaneously offsetting the serious production impacts caused as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moving forward, there remains plenty of room to boost the export of Vietnamese food products to the African market, especially items which enjoy high consumer demand. In addition, Africa's intra-regional production of some products is not sufficient enough to fully meet demand, such as processed products from coffee, pepper, and rice.
However, in order to export these goods, especially food products to the African market, enterprises must face plenty of difficulties, such as transportation and proper preservation of goods so they can be moved long distances whilst still maintaining their taste. This is in addition to facing underdeveloped trade procedures and regulations that exist in most African countries.
As a result of these challenges, local firms must invest in carefully-conducted research of market needs to find products that not only meet market needs, but also solve problems related to logistics services for food products.
Among the nation’s major export items to this market, rice has the largest turnover, accounting for 20% of the country’s total export turnover to Africa and also boasting great potential to increase exports, while coffee and pepper are also viewed as potential commodities.
Despite great demand, experts believe that when conducting business in the African market, Vietnamese firms must fully grasp business practices of the market, as well as legal regulations to avoid risks.
Moreover, Vietnamese goods must also compete with similar products of many other Asian countries such as China, Thailand, and Indonesia.
Hanoi’s IPs attracts FDI inflows
Industrial and export processing zones based in Hanoi have unveiled that it attracted four new investment projects and 12 expanded projects featuring a total investment capital of US$ 81 million during the opening five months of the year, reported VOV.
At present, the number of secondary investment projects has reached 707, of which 305 are foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with total registered capital of over US$6.1 billion, along with 402 domestic projects with registered capital exceeding VND18.000 trillion.
During the first half of the year total revenues of enterprises in Hanoi’s industrial parks hit US$4,869 million, whilst exports reached a figure of US$3.12 million.
Moving into the second half of the year, Hanoi’s IPs aims to attract roughly US$400 million, up 28.8% compared to 2021, whilst businesses in IPs strive to rake in US$8.2 billion and contribute US$229.4 million to the state budget.
Furthermore, the capital also plans to establish a new industrial park and complete investment procedures for between two and three industrial parks and hi-tech parks moving forward.
Boasting several competitive advantages in terms of an open investment climate, political stability, sustainable socio-economic development, as well as abundant and high-quality human resources, FDI inflows into Hanoi in recent years have tended to increase, especially after the country joined a number of free trade agreements (FTAs).
The capital therefore hopes to achieve an industrial production index of 10.2% annually throughout the 2021 to 2030 period./.