Category: Business

Seoul: Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi, invested by the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s Lotte Group, welcomed 6 million visitors from its inauguration in September, 2023 to late March, the RoK’s Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported.

This mega commercial complex took only 122 days to surpass the 100 billion KRW (72.5 million USD) mark in revenue.

Currently, an average of 30,000 people come to this shopping center every day on weekdays and more than 50,000 at weekends.

The inauguration of the Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi, which brings together 233 famous foreign and Korean brands, has taken advantage of the influence of the “Korean wave” (Hanllyu) to quickly attract Vietnamese youth, thereby contributing to economic development and cultural exchanges between the two countries, the newspaper wrote.

Vietnam, as a potential consumer market, is increasingly attractive to international brands. Mordor Intelligence, a global market research company, predicts that Vietnam’s retail market will grow at an average annual rate of 12.1% s
tarting this year to reach about 435.6 billion USD by 2028.

The Lotte Group started constructing the 787-billion-KRW centre in 2018, with a purpose of establishing a Lotte Town in Vietnam, and providing Vietnamese citizens with a premier shopping destination and an unparalleled Asian shopping experience.

The Korean group began its supermarket business in Vietnam and Indonesia in 2008. To date, it has had 64 stores throughout Vietnam and Indonesia, and is planning to expand its system to Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Amsterdam: The northern province of Thai Binh always accompanies and creates the best conditions for enterprises, including those from the Netherlands to invest in and run long-term and effective business in the locality, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Ngo Dong Hai has affirmed.

At an investment and trade promotion conference held by the province’s delegation in Leeuwawarden city, Friesland province on April 25, Hai highlighted that Thai Binh, boasting sound investment climate with various incentives, and favourable geographical localtion, has become a leading attractive destination for foreign investors in the north of Vietnam.

He expressed his hope that the conference would open up numerous cooperative opportunities between Thai Binh and the Netherlands in all areas, particularly clean water management, education, healthcare, clean energy, hi-tech agriculture, pharmaceuticals and biology, which align with the province’s demand and the European country’s strengths.

Briefing participants on th
e province’s strengths, potential and investment priorities, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Lai Van Hoan stressed that Thai Binh hopes to welcome Dutch enterprises to study investment opportunities, and engage in development of the Thai Binh Economic Zone in the green, clean and sustainable direction.

At the event, Thai Binh leaders and Vietnamese Ambassador to the Netherlands Ngo Huong Nam witnessed the signing of a cooperative agreement between the province and the World Trade Centre Leeuwarden.

The conference was held as part of the working trip of the Thai Binh province delegation to the country from April 23 to 26.

The same day, the delegation made a courtesy call to the King’s Commissioner of Friesland Arno Brok, during which the two sides concurred to bolster cooperation and called for businesses to work together in various sectors in the coming time.

It had working sessions with Boskalis and Royal Van Oord, the two leading Dutch corporations dredging, sand exploitation and mari
time construction, and visited a wind farm of Pondera, a group specialising in offshore wind energy. The enterprises expressed their interest in the province’s investment projects, particularly its socio-economic master plan with the direction of expanding toward the sea.

The delegation also visited the Vietnamese Embassy in the Hague./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Ninh Thuan: Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on April 28 attended a hybrid ceremony in the south central province of Ninh Thuan to inaugurate the Cam Lam-Vinh Hao expressway and open the Dien Chau-Bai Vot expressway in the north central province of Nghe An to traffic.

They are the two components of the North-South Expressway project.

The 78.5km Cam Lam – Vinh Hao Expressway, running through the three coastal provinces of Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, and Binh Thuan, was invested with over 8.92 trillion VND (nearly 352 million USD) in the form of public-private partnership (PPP) and has a designed maximum speed of 90km per hour. It shortens the travel time from Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s largest economic hub, to Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa) to about 5 hours by car, instead of 8 hours as before.

Meanwhile, the 50.5km Dien Chau-Bai Vot section runs through the two central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh. The 11-trillion-VND expressway can shorten the travel time from Hanoi to Vinh city of Nghe An to just over 3 hours b
y car.

The two new roads help increase the total length of the currently operational expressway to 1,226 km out of the planned 2,064 km length of the North-South Expressway from Huu Nghi border gate in the northern province of Lang Son to Nam Can town in the southernmost province of Ca Mau.

Addressing the event, the Prime Minister emphasised that developing a synchronous and modern infrastructure system is one of three strategic breakthroughs, receiving special attention and direction from the Party and State.

In particular, the expressway system plays a very important role, especially in connecting and improving transportation capacity to serve production, business and daily life, thus helping attract investment, and boost socio-economic development, and ensure national defence and security for localities, regions and the whole country.

He requested the Ministry of Transport to preside over and coordinate with ministries, sectors and localities to guide the operation and exploitation of expressways to en
sure safety and efficiency.

On the same day, the Government leader visited Labour Hero Ho Thi Luom, born in 1932 in Phuoc My ward, Phan Rang – Thap Cham city – a resilient and creative person who helped the salt production team at the Vinh Ngoc Salt Factory (Nghe An) always exceed output and have the highest productivity in the salt industry./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Ninh Thuan: The south central province of Ninh Thuan must capitalise on its standout strengths, opportunities and competitive edge so as to develop comprehensively, rapidly and sustainably, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said on April 28.

Attending a conference to announce the province’s master plan during the 2021-2030 period with a vision to 2050, and promote trade and investment, PM Chinh highlighted Ninh Thuan’s numerous strengths for development, including a uniform transport system, huge tourism potential with stunning beaches and intact Champa architectural relics, large fishing grounds and great potential for renewables.

He hailed the local party organisation, administration, people and enterprises’ efforts to carve out robust socio-economic achievements over the past time, with the GDP growth during 2010-2023 reaching 8.6% per year, higher than the country’s average, and local livelihoods improved, while pointing out several challenges facing the province such as extreme natural conditions, drought
, limited investment, infrastructure lacking connectivity, and human resources failing to meet requirements of the socio-economic developments.

The Government leader underscored the five breakthroughs for development as named in its master plan, which are renewable energy, tourism, processing, manufacturing, hi-tech agriculture and realty, requesting the province to mobilise and effectively use all legal resources to bolster traditional growth locomotives, create new ones, and enhance investment in human resources.

PM Chinh asked the province to carry out its master plan in line with the national, regional and sectorial planning, push ahead investment strategic in infrastructure to respond to climate change, and prioritise resources to harmoniously develop sea-based economy, urban economy, tourism economy and heritage economy in the green, digital and circular direction.

Along with bolstering economic cooperation with localities in the vicinity, Ninh Thuan must pay due attention to developing high-quality
human resources and giving priority to potential areas such as tourism and renewables, he said, asking the province to enhance capacity for climate change adaptation and environmental protection, improve investment climate, and make meticulous preparation for attracting large and potential investors.

‘Ninh Thuan should popularise its master plan to garner support from local people, enterprises and investors’, he stressed, instructing provinces, cities, ministries and sectors to assist Ninh Thuan to effectively implement its master plan.

Under the province’s master plan, Ninh Thuan will become an upper-middle income province in the country by 2030, and a locality with comprehensive, fast and sustainable development and diverse economy by 2050.

At the conference, Ninh Thuan province introduced its potential, strengths, incentives, and priorities for development to domestic and foreign investors, aiming to call for investment in 55 projects in the five priority domains of renewables, high-quality tourism, pro
cessing and manufacturing, smart agriculture and real estate.

On the occasion, the province also presented investment policy certificates and investment licences, and signed MoUs on developing 14 large projects worth more than 120 trillion VND (4.73 billion USD) with investors./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Bangkok: The south central coastal province of Khanh Hoa introduced its tourism potential to potential partners in Thailand at a conference held in the Thai capital Bangkok on April 26.

At the conference, Vietnamese Ambassador-designate to Thailand Pham Viet Hung said there is great potential of tourism cooperation between Vietnam and Thailand, citing statistics that nearly half a million Thai tourists visited Vietnam and 900,000 Vietnamese travelled to Thailand last year.

He held that the signing of MoUs on tourism linkages at the conference will help promote cooperation between the two countries in the field.

Vice Chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce Pairat Burapachaisri took note of Khanh Hoa’s advantages, particularly its Nha Trang city, a popular beach destination for foreign holidaymakers.

Saranya Sakontanarak from the Thailand-Vietnam Business Council also said Khanh Hoa is home to many quality tourism destinations, meeting the needs of various segments of tourists. She urged Thai businesses to
explore investment opportunities in the Vietnamese province.

On the occasion, the Nha Trang-Khanh Hoa tourism association signed an MoU on cooperation with the Thai Tourism Association./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The cinnamon sector needs to issue a reform strategy to keep Vietnam’s position as the world’s biggest cinnamon exporter, which it has held since 2021.

Last year, Vietnam exported nearly 90,000 tonnes of cinnamon to earn over 260 million USD, up 14.6% in volume, but down 10.7% in value compared to 2022. The average price reached 2,918 USD a tonne, down 22.1% year-on-year.

India was the main importer of Vietnamese cinnamon with more than 38,000 tonnes, accounting for 42.6%. It was followed by the US with more than 10,100 tonnes, and Bangladesh nearly 6,000 tonnes.

In the first two months of this year, Vietnam pocketed 30 million USD from shipping 10,500 tonnes of cinnamon abroad.

Hoang Thi Lien, president of the Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association (VPSA), said that over the past time, farmers have continuously developed new farming techniques to improve the quality and productivity of cinnamon trees. In addition, production linkage models between businesses and farmers have been increasingly implem
ented to gradually expand sustainable raw material areas.

Vietnam has dozens of companies investing in modern cinnamon processing lines for more quality products to meet market requirements.

Among the 16 signed free trade agreements, there are many new generation ones such as the EU-Vietnam FTA, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) that have helped Vietnam have an advantage over some other countries in terms of tax. This is a very favourable condition and opportunity for Vietnamese cinnamon products to advance further in the international market.

Currently, Vietnamese cinnamon has been exported to nearly 100 countries around the world, accounting for 95% of the market share of the Indian market, 36.5% of the US and 35% of the European market. However, the export rate of processed cinnamon accounts for only 18.6%, or 18,659 tonnes, of which 70% is exported to the US, and 12% to Europe.

Therefore, the se
ctor will continue to improve post-harvest and processing quality to increase exports to demanding markets in Europe and the US.

It will step up trade promotion activities, build brand identity on a national scale, encourage public private partnership models and seek support resources and policy consultations in a long-term strategy of turning Vietnam into the leading sustainable cinnamon supplier in the world./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: At the General Meeting of Shareholders held in Hanoi on April 25, Vingroup received approval for its ambitious 2024 business plan.

The company aims to achieve a remarkable revenue milestone of 200 trillion VND, marking a significant 23.7% increase compared to 2023.

Additionally, Vingroup targets a profit after tax of 4.5 trillion VND, representing an impressive 119% growth.

In 2023, Vingroup demonstrated strong performance, with net revenue reaching 161.4 trillion VND, a substantial 59% rise from the previous year. The profit after tax amounted to 2.05 trillion VND, maintaining the same level as in 2022. These figures surpassed the targets set at the 2023 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, reaching 85% and 103%, respectively.

Nguyen Viet Quang, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Firector of Vingroup, highlighted the success of VinFast in the technology and industry sector. VinFast’s listing on the US Nasdaq Stock LLC stock exchange served as an inspiration for Vietnamese busin
esses.

In the trade and service sector, Vinhomes made significant progress in 2023. The company successfully handed over nearly 29,000 apartments, villas, and commercial townhouses at Vinhomes Ocean Park 2 and Vinhomes Ocean Park 3. The occupancy rate in the real estate rental segment reached 84.8%, showing improvement compared to the previous year.

Looking ahead to 2024, VinFast plans to expand its distribution channels globally, leveraging local networks and agent expertise. The goal is to establish approximately 400 sales points by the end of the year. Moreover, VinFast aims to enter the US market with new models and export commence cars to Europe, while also initiating distribution in Indonesia.

In the residential real estate sector, Vinhomes will focus on enhancing its online business system to improve the purchasing experience, transparency of policies and product pricing, in preparation for the upcoming growth cycle in the market.

Regarding the listing of its subsidiaries, Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong
revealed that Vingroup is currently undertaking procedures to list Vinpearl Company on the Vietnam stock exchange, with hopes of achieving a successful listing by the end of the year./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency