Foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) continue to play an important role in terms of the country’s trade value, with the import and export turnover of both FIEs and domestic businesses increasing by 14.9% and 13.4%, respectively.
The country’s total export value edged up 16.7% on-year, with a number of commodity groups enjoying strong growth, including machinery, equipment, tools, and other spare parts up 29%, textiles and garments, up 22.8%, computers, electronic products and components, up 14.1%, and footwear of all kinds, up 39.3%.
Meanwhile, FIEs’ total export value increased by 17.5%, thereby accounting for 73.8% of the entire nation’s total export revenue.
By the end of October 15, the country’s total import value had inched up by 12.7% on-year, with some commodity groups experiencing a sharp rise, including computers, electronic products and components up 7.8%, petrol and oil of all kinds up 130.3%, and coal of all kinds up 82.2%.
FIE’s import value of goods throughout the reviewed period expanded by 12% compared to last year’s corresponding period, accounting for 65.2% of the nation’s total import turnover.
Labour confederation to spend 500 billion VND to help labourers celebrate Tet
Labour federations across the country will spend about 500 billion VND (over 20.1 million USD) on organising activities and presenting gifts to labourers on the occasion of the upcoming lunar New Year (Tet), reported Vietnam News Agency according to the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL).
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| Illustrative image (Photo: laodong.vn) |
Under a plan set by the VGCL, 1 million labourers in difficult circumstances, including those who lost their jobs or were affected by natural disasters, will receive financial support worth at least 500,000 VND (20.1 USD).
Trade unions at all levels will implement programmes to help poor workers to return to their home villages for Tet, and hold Tet celebrations for those who cannot return.
Tet markets offering essential Tet goods at discount prices will be organised by the VGCL from the 15th – 25th day of Lunar December nationwide, especially in mountainous and remote areas.
Besides mobilising resources to support labourers, the VGCL has asked trade unions at all levels to increase dialogues with labourers and take care of material and spiritual life of trade union members and labourers during Tet, which is the most important traditional festival in a year.
Air routes considered to connect Quang Ninh with East Asian destinations
Officials participating in the 17th General Assembly of the East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum (EATOF 17) have agreed to step up the opening of direct air routes linking Vietnam’s northern province of Quang Ninh with some foreign member localities of this forum, reported Vietnam News Agency.
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| Planes park at Van Don International Airport in Quang Ninh province (Photo: laodong.vn) |
The agreements were reached during bilateral meetings between Quang Ninh and foreign officials within the EATOF 17 framework, which is taking place in Ha Long city of the Vietnamese province from October 25 to 27.
Talking to local officials, Governor of the Republic of Korea’s Gangwon province Kim Jin-tae expressed his hope for stronger cooperation on the basis of the two sides’ potential and similarities.
He suggested opening an air route connecting Van Don International Airport of Quang Ninh with Yangyang International Airport of Gangwon, and enhancing ties in developing tourism products, promoting tourism, and training human resources for the sector.
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| The meeting between Chairman of the Quang Ninh People’s Committee Nguyen Tuong Van and Governor of the Republic of Korea’s Gangwon province Kim Jin-tae (Photo: laodong.vn) |
Welcoming the recommendations, Chairman of the Quang Ninh People’s Committee Nguyen Tuong Van said his province will provide the best possible conditions for the two sides to study and open the Van Don - Yangyang air route, create tourism products based on the provinces’ advantages, and further attract Quang Ninh and Gangwon visitors to each other’s destinations.
At another meeting, Van and Governor of Mongolia’s Tuv province Munkhbaatar Demberel agreed to bolster partnerships in tourism promotion, product development, and opening of an air route between Quang Ninh and Tuv.
The Mongolian province also hoped to exchange experience in agricultural development with the Vietnamese side.
At other bilateral sessions, Quang Ninh and other foreign member localities of the EATOF also concurred in boosting relations in several areas, including opening direct air routes linking the province with Luang Prabang (Laos), Siem Reap (Cambodia), Sarawak (Malaysia), and Cebu (the Philippines); increasing cultural exchanges and the connection of heritage sites in the region; designing tours of their places of interest; and attracting visitors to each other’s destinations.
Chinese media gives 10 reasons to invest in Vietnam
Several Chinese websites such as Sina and Sohu recently published an article detailing 10 reasons why firms should invest in Vietnam, reported the Voice of Vietnam.
The 10 reasons given by Chinese online media sites include favourable geographical location, stable politics, open-door policy for foreign businesses, and a constantly improving business environment coupled with gradually-improving infrastructure. This is in addition to a highly-skilled young workforce, relatively low costs, a developed economy, unexploited rich natural resources, improved legal environment, and increasingly deeper international integration.
Titled "10 reasons to invest in Vietnam", the article says that Vietnam is a developing countries which boasts an annual growth rate of over 7%.
With rich resources, potential talent, and preferential mechanisms, the nation has brought many opportunities to foreign investors, with the article encouraging immediate investment into Vietnam if businesses do not want to miss the extremely valuable profitable opportunities.
The article highlights Vietnam as a country with a preeminent location, a mild climate, easy investment, and development, with this being a wise choice for foreign businessmen.
With its unique location, the nation can serve as a launching pad and base for one of the most densely populated regions in the world, the total population of ASEAN plus China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, an area which exceeds two billion people.
According to the article, political stability represents one of the main factors attracting investors to the country. Indeed, the more stable the political situation is, the faster the economic growth trend.
This represents an advantage that not all countries in the world have, it stresses
While other countries around the world are still struggling with COVID-19, Vietnam has now fully resumed normal business activities and has become one of the first places to diversify its supply chain. Therefore, foreign investors are in the process of considering the nation as a potential post-pandemic investment destination.
The piece emphasises that Vietnam always moves to change its investment regulations and continues to carry out preferential policies, such as corporate income tax exemption and reduction, import tax exemption for some industries, and land rental exemption in order to attract more foreign financiers.
Furthermore, recent years has seen the local business investment environment continuously improve in the direction of openness, transparency, and compliance with international standards.
Indeed, the country has actively participated in a series of multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements, thereby providing added impetus for foreign investors from developed countries.
According to the article, along with the improvement of economic development policies, the nation has increasingly improved its technical infrastructure facilities to ensure guaranteed quality, not only in major cities, but also in different regions throughout the country.
Regarding human resources, the piece states that the local labour force is currently assessed as a young labour force, with the labour price being very competitive compared to the wider region.
Most Vietnamese workers have good job skills and are highly adaptability to the working environment.
Vietnamese workers are typically young, highly skilled, and have a good working ethic. They are well educated and are willing to work in high-skill industries, such as information technology, pharmaceuticals, and financial services at low costs that are more competitive than other regional nations.
The article praises the country’s remarkable development over the past three decades, stating that from 2002 to 2018, the nation’s GDP per capita grew by 2.7 times.
Moreover, the Vietnamese economy recovered in 2021 thanks to its strong foundation and relative capacity to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
Along with rich natural resources, especially the large number of untapped rare earth mines in the northern provinces such as Cao Bang, Lao Cai, Dien Bien, and Yen Bai, the article also notes the marked improvement of the Vietnamese legal and institutional framework.
Accordingly, the country’s management institutions are highly appreciated for their open business environment, as well as their transparent investment policies and incentives to help businesses make profits.
Finally, according to the article, the policy of "multilateralisation and diversification" of international relations has helped the nation to integrate more deeply into the global and regional economy, a move which has helped to ramp up trade and investment co-operation with countries around the world.
More importantly, the nation has improved the local business environment, turning integration into development opportunities./.