Vietnam is among top 10 IT product exporters globally (Photo: Tuoi Tre)
The news was unveiled by Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Phan Tam at an information and communication technology (ICT) investment promotion forum recently held in Da Nang.
VOV quoted the saying of the Deputy Minister that the country currently boasts 58,000 ICT enterprises and is hopeful of bringing the figure up to 100,000 by 2025.
The ICT sector’s goal is to transform the Vietnamese market from a destination for outsourcing and assembling to a product manufacturer and service provider, stressed the official.
The domestic ICT sector earned US$124.6 billion in revenue last year, with its growth rate in the 2015 - 2020 period averaging out at 15.2% annually, making it one of the economic sectors with the fastest growth rate.
Most notably, information technology products, especially smartphones and computers, were among the top 10 largest Vietnamese export groups in 2020, contributing to the country’s hardware and electronics trade surplus of more than US$15 billion.
Viettel launches mobile money services
Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group (Viettel) on December 1 launched its digital financial ecosystem called Viettel Money.
Illustrative image (Source: VNA)
According to VNA, Viettel Money is a comprehensive digital financial ecosystem that is available anytime and anywhere with the widest range of services, said Pham Trung Kien, General Director of Viettel Digital.
With up to 300 personalised functions, the most to date, Viettel Money serves diverse needs of customers in trading, money transfer, investment, insurance and bill payment.
Wherever there is mobile signal of Viettel, even without internet connection, customers can use Viettel Money, Kien added.
Viettel's telecom network has now covered 99 percent of Vietnam's area, offering services in 11,000 wards and communes nationwide, including those located in remote, border and island areas.
As from December 1, customers can use their official phone accounts that have been used for at least three consecutive months to register for Viettel Money without bank accounts.
Viettel Money is expected to help to accelerate cashless payment, particularly in rural, mountainous and border areas that have still met with difficulties in accessing traditional financial services.
On this occasion, Viettel also announced various promotion programmes with a total value of up to 30 billion VND (1.32 million USD) for all customers registering for Viettel Money.
Vietnam Airlines operates first regular direct flight to US
A Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner coded VN98 has landed at San Francisco Airport, marking its first regular direct flight to the United States.
Vietnam Airlines inaugurates the first regular non-stop service between Vietnam and the US.
The national flag carrier announced that it had received its permit from the US competent authority for conducting regular non-stop flights to the US, reported VOV.
“More than a year ago, Vietnam Airlines became the first Vietnamese airline operating a non-stop flight to the US to bring home Vietnamese nationals. Today, it did the same, but the flight was of great significance as it marked the start of regular direct flights between Vietnam and the US,” said Le Hong Ha, managing director of Vietnam Airlines.
In the first phase, Ha said Vietnam Airlines will operate a route connecting Ho Chi Minh City and San Francisco with a frequency of two flights per week.
It will increase the number of its weekly direct flights to the US to seven as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic is under control and international routes are completely reopened,
First passengers board the first regular direct flight to US. (Photo: VTC)
The CEO revealed the airline is examining flight routes from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to other destinations in the US such as Los Angeles or Houston in the near future.
The US is home to the largest Vietnamese community in the world. Approximately 1.4 million passengers traveled back and forth between the two countries in 2019, with the aviation market enjoying annual growth of 8% between 2017 and 2019.
Two-way trade between the two countries reached a record high of US$90.8 billion in 2020 despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vietnam is currently the US’s 10th largest trade partner, while the latter is the former’s largest trade partner.
Stock market attracts more foreign investors
The number of accounts owned by foreign individuals and organisations in Vietnam’s stock market had hit more than 38,000 as of September 2021, a year-on-year surge of 34.7 percent, reported VNA.
(Photo: baoquocte.vn)
The increase could be attributed to activities to draw foreign investment into Vietnam, including promotions in major foreign markets such as the US, the UK, Japan and the Republic of Korea.
Such programmes have created an official channel promoting Vietnam’s capital market to foreign firms and investment community, turning the country’s stock market into an attractive destination for foreign investors, according to the State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC).
The Ministry of Finance and the SSC have devised strategic adjustments in the implementation of investment promotions.
A long-term strategy and a general plan on investment promotion have been built, with topics suitable for each period and market demand. In-person meetings with foreign investors from key markets are on the increase, forging a relationship between policies and reality via interactions between management agencies, Vietnamese firms and foreign investors.
Even when COVID-19 has delivered a major blow to economies worldwide, the rise of indexes on Vietnam’s stock market has proved its attraction to foreign investors.
Market capitalisation in late September exceeded 6,861 trillion VND (302.07 billion USD), equivalent to 109 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). The figure stood at only 5,294 trillion VND at the end of 2020.
The SSC believed that the stock market will keep hitting new record highs because of rising capital flows, notably net buying by foreign investors.
The Commission has rolled out various measures to support the market and attract foreign indirect investment influx, including adjusting ownership rate for foreign investors, simplifying administrative procedures for them and extending billing period, among others.
Vietnam's stock market is moving towards meeting world standards, with the goal of getting upgraded to emerging status./.