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| Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) |
According to Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR) Nguyen Quoc Viet, inflation in many countries over the world posted a record high in the first months of 2022. Global inflation is projected from 7.25-9.4% this year and 4-6.5% next year.
The inflation pressure has forced central banks to tighten their monetary policies, which poses a risk of increasing economic recession.
In Vietnam, to control inflation under 4%, the Government and relevant agencies have taken flexible measures, from controlling market liquidity to flexibly combining fiscal policies and exempting or reducing taxes and fees of essential and strategic commodities.
Thanks to these measures, the country’s inflation in the first eight months of 2022 was 2.58% year-on-year, higher than the 1.67% of the same period last year but lower than the average of the similar period of the 2018-2020 period.
Economist Le Xuan Nghia pointed to five solutions that need to be carried out in the remaining months of this year, namely persisting measures to stabilise macro-economy, prices and curb inflation; maintaining those to boost sustainable growth; providing support in terms of capital and market access for people and businesses; solving shortcomings of the business environment and labour shortage problems; and better forecast and policy assessment works.
Seven enterprises assigned to import over 100,000 tonnes of sugar
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| The Ministry of Industry and Trade held a session to allocate sugar import tariff quotas for businesses by auction. (Photo: vneconomy.vn) |
Seven enterprises were assigned tariff quotas with a total volume of 109,000 tonnes at a recent sugar import auction organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), reported Vietnam News Agency.
Of which, five enterprises were assigned to import raw sugar and the others refined sugar.
The auction took place on September 23, with the participation of eight enterprises, including six registering to import raw sugar and two refined sugar.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh said that to ensure a fair competitive environment between domestically produced sugar and imported sugar, the MoIT issued Decision No 1569/QĐ-BCT dated August 5 this year on the establishment of the Council for the allocation of tariff quotas for sugar imports through the auction method.
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| Photo for illustration. (Source: baodautu.vn) |
According to the plan announced in Decision 1649/QĐ-BCT dated August 22 by the ministry, the amount of imported sugar allocated by auction method is 113,000 tonnes this year, including 79,000 tonnes of raw sugar and 34,000 tonnes of refined sugar.
The Deputy Minister also said sugar importers will be subject to trade remedy tax of the Ministry of Industry and Trade if they import sugar from countries on the list of taxable countries.
Previously, the MoIT signed and promulgated Decision No 1578/QĐ-BCT applying anti-dumping tax and official anti-subsidy tax on a number of cane sugar products from Thailand on June 15 last year.
The ministry continued to issue Decision No 1514/QĐ-BCT applying measures to prevent evasion of trade remedies for a number of cane sugar products imported from Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar on August 1.
Vietnam attracts over 18.7 billion USD in FDI over nine months
Vietnam has attracted more than 18.7 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) during the initial nine months of the year, an annual decline of 15.3%, VOV News quoted figures of the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA).
Despite this drop, FDI disbursement continued to increase sharply, reaching 15.4 billion USD in the reviewed period, a rise of 16.2% compared to the same period from last year.
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| Vietnam attracts over 18.7 billion USD in FDI over nine months. (Photo: VOV) |
This high disbursement rate can be viewed as a positive sign as FDI firms have resumed and expanded post-pandemic production, noted the FIA.
Although newly-registered capital has yet to fully recover due to global supply disruptions and geo-political fluctuations, the adjusted capital and capital contribution and share purchase by foreign financiers inched up by 29.9% and 1.9%, respectively.
These impressive figures affirm the confidence of foreign investors in the Vietnamese economy and the local investment climate, a factor which has made them not hesitate to expand investment in the country.
Throughout the reviewed period, 1,355 new projects capitalised at 7.12 billion USD were granted investment registration certificates, an increase of 11.8% in project numbers compared to the same period from last year, despite being a drop of 43% in capital.
This sharp fall in newly-registered capital can largely be attributed to policies implemented in order to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, a factor which have made it difficult for foreign investors to move to Vietnam and explore investment opportunities, as well as challenges in carrying out procedures related to investment registration.
Meanwhile, the global market has recently experienced sharp fluctuations as a result of the geo-political conflict in Europe, high inflation pressure, and supply chain disruptions, all of which have combined to negatively affect the investment capital outflow of major economies, especially Vietnamese investment partners.
FIA statistics also show foreign financiers have invested in a total of 18 out of 21 national economic sectors in the country. The processing and manufacturing industry continued to take the lead by attracting over 12.1 billion USD, or 64.6% of the total registered investment capital.
The real estate sector ranked second with total investment capital of over 3.5 billion USD, followed by science and technology with 676.9 million USD, and wholesale and retail industries with 617.9 million USD, respectively.
Singapore remained Vietnam’s leading foreign investors with over 4.75 billion USD, representing a year-on-year fall of 24.3%, trailed by the Republic of Korea with over 3.8 billion USD and Japan with over 1.9 billion USD.
Flights suspended in Vietnam as typhoon Noru approaches
A number of flight services have been suspended in the central region of Vietnam as localities get ready for this year’s powerful typhoon Noru, reported VOV News.
Noru with winds gusting 166kph near its centre is forecast to strike central Vietnam at midnight on September 27 or early on September 28.
Da Nang, Phu Bai, Pleiku, Phu Cat and Chu Lai airports were ordered to stop flight services on September 27 – 28, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.
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| Photo for illustration. (Source: baogiaothong.vn) |
In addition, the schedule of flights to and from Vinh, Dong Hoi, Tuy Hoa, Lien Khuong and Buon Ma Thuot airports is expected to be adjusted due to the impact of the typhoon.
At 4am on September 27, Noru was swirling around the eastern part of the Hoang Sa archipelago in Vietnam’s East Sea, packing winds of more than 166kph near its centre.
In the next 12 hours, Noru is forecast to move west at a speed of 20-25kph and is likely to gain further strength. In the next 12 to 24 hours, it is anticipated to head towards the central coast of Vietnam and batter the region at midnight on September 27 or early on September 28.
Noru is one of the most powerful storms to hit the central region over the past 20 years, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.
The meteorological agency has issued a red alert – the level four out of the five levels of disaster risk – as super typhoon Noru is heading toward the central coast of Vietnam.
The warning has been activated in the coastal localities of Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh which are forecast to be hit hard by the super typhoon.
The meteorological agency also issued a disaster risk warning at level 3 in Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Phu Yen, and Kon Tum provinces.
Noru that developed from a low tropical depression off the Philippines on September 22 reached super typhoon status early on September 25 after suddenly gaining strength.
Noru swept across northern Philippines on September 25, killing at least six and flooding parts of the region./.