Malaysia News Gazette

Hanoi: Vietnam has for the first time surpassed India and Thailand to become the largest rice exporter to Singapore by shipping 36.15 million SGD (26.55 million USD) worth of rice in the first three months of this year, an increase of 80.46% over the same period in 2023, winning 32.03% of the market share, according to the Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore.

Vietnam was followed by Thailand with an export value of 33.63 million SGD, while India came third with 33.16 million SGD.

The decline in export value of regular brown rice and white rice was offset by the strong increase of sticky rice, milled or peeled fragrant rice and broken rice with turnovers of 3.79 million SGD, 18.06 million SGD and 575,000 SGD, respectively.

Particularly, besides Vietnam’s traditional strong product of white rice, the turnovers of two other product groups – sticky rice and milled or peeled fragrant rice – also rose to dominate the majority of the market share in Singapore, reaching 80.08% and 73.33% respectively. This was the m
ain factor that helps Vietnam surpass Thailand and India to become the country with the largest rice market share in Singapore, the office asserted.

According to the office, Thailand, India, and Japan have been major competitors of Vietnam in Singapore. India’s ban of rice export from July 20, 2023, has created good conditions for Vietnam to increase market share in Singapore.

However, the office advised Vietnamese rice exporters to continue improving their competitiveness and enhancing the quality of rice.

The office will organise more exhibitions to increase the presence of Vietnamese rice in this potential market.

The office cited data from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) of Singapore as showing that Singapore imported nearly 112.9 million SGD worth of rice in the first three months of this year, up 23.86% year on year.

In order to increase market share and sustainably maintain its top position, according to the office, all ministries, sectors, localities, associations, and bu
sinesses should join hands together in strengthening promotion of Vietnamese rice products and trademarks.

Alongside, the signing of a memorandum of understanding in rice trading between Vietnam and Singapore will also be an effective tool for Vietnam to maintain its position of No.1 rice supplier in Singapore, it added./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Rome: Ambassador to Italy Duong Hai Hung has congratulated Vietnamese enterprises – the Ho Chi Minh City Investment and Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC) and the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City (HAWA) – for their initial success in showcasing Vietnamese products in Milan Design Week in Italy – a design and brand arena of furniture businesses around the world.

While visiting the Vietnam pavilion at the event on April 18, the diplomat encouraged enterprises to focus on enhancing their competitiveness through good cooperation with design buyers in Italy and Europe, thus penetrating deeper into the European market, as well as other markets.

The Vietnamese wood industry needs substantial and systematic investment to enter and dominate higher market segments, he stressed.

The pavilion opens to visitors from April 16 – 21. Covering a total area of 360 sq.m, it is showcasing outstanding furniture and handicraft products from 35 Vietnamese enterprises.

Vietnam is renowned for its export of furni
ture, ranking sixth in the world. The debut at the Milan Design Week is a significant affirmation of the creative values of Vietnamese furniture and handicraft industry on the international stage, demonstrating its strength and potential for strong development./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Moscow: The Vietnamese Embassy in Russia organised a seminar on April 19 on prospects for Vietnam-Russia digital economic cooperation, attracting over 100 delegates representing ministries, sectors, research institutes, and business associations of the two countries.

The function focused on opportunities and solutions to further promote cooperation between the two nations in this promising field.

In recent years, Vietnam’s digital economy has experienced remarkable development. According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, the proportion of the digital economy in Vietnam’s GDP reached 16.5% in 2023, with an average annual growth rate of 20%, which is three times the GDP growth rate.

According to assessments from international organisations, the scale of Vietnam’s Internet economy in 2023 reached approximately 30 billion USD, up 19% compared to the figure in 2022. Vietnamese digital technology companies have also been gradually strengthening their international cooperation efforts. Last year,
Vietnam had over 1,500 digital technology enterprises with revenue from foreign markets totaling an estimated 7.5 billion USD, up 4% year-on-year.

Meanwhile, the strongest growth in Russia’s Internet economy is observed in the e-commerce sector, with total revenue reaching 15.4 trillion rubles (over 164 billion USD) in 2023. Russia also leads in the field of smart cities and e-government, with cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg being at the forefront of IT application worldwide.

Delegates said that the current context presents tremendous opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in general and between their respective businesses in particular. Several digital economic cooperation projects are already underway between Vietnam and Russia, particularly in such areas as cybersecurity, smart cities, digital banking, and digital business solutions.

In addition to the aforementioned projects, participants also highlighted numerous other promising areas for digital economic cooperation, such as fi
nance, health care, agriculture, transportation, energy, environment, and manufacturing.

They put forward recommendations and solutions to further expand cooperation in the digital economy sector from the perspectives of policymakers, researchers, and businesses, including intensifying the trade promotion in information technology products of the two countries, and boosting collaboration in researching and developing digital platforms and products.

Ambassador Dang Minh Khoi emphasised the significance of the event, saying Russia’s experiences in developing its digital ruble is highly beneficial, expressing Vietnam’s interest in participating in the testing process of Russia’s digital ruble by the Central Bank of Russia.

Delegates agreed that if utilised effectively, this could be a significant driver for economic cooperation between the two countries in the coming time./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Many banks have reported positive business indicators, especially credit growth, in the first quarter of this year.

SeABank’s pre-tax profit in the first quarter of 2024 reached more than 1.5 trillion VND, an increase of nearly 41% over the same period in 2023. The bank’s total operating income also surged by 19.54% to 2.7 trillion VND and its total revenue increased by 4.6% to nearly 6.44 trillion VND. At the same time, SeABank’s net non-interest income (NOII) also recorded an impressive growth of nearly 51% over the same period last year to 705 billion VND.

As of March 31 this year, SeABank’s total assets were more than 271.6 trillion VND, an increase of 2.06% compared to December 31, 2023.

Chairman of ACB Tran Hung Huy said at the end of the first quarter, credit growth at ACB reached 3.7%, double the growth rate of the whole banking industry and also better than the same period last year. The bank’s raised capital also grew by 2.1%, of which non-term deposits increased by 6.4%.

ACB’s profit was estim
ated at 4.9 trillion VND, close to the bank’s plans.

Dang Khac Vy, Chairman of VIB, said the bank’s credit growth was about 1% in the first quarter of this year. VIB’s profit reached more than 2.6 trillion VND, equivalent to the same period last year.

Nguyen Dinh Tung, General Director of OCB, said by the end of the first quarter of 2024, OCB’s credit growth reached about 4.6% and capital mobilisation increased by about 5%. The bank’s pre-tax profit in the first quarter of 2024 was about 1.2 trillion VND.

In a recent report, MB Securities Company (MBS) forecasts profit of the banking industry will increase by 20% in the first quarter of 2024.

According to experts, the prosperity of the banking industry in the period came from many supporting factors, including favourable policies to credit growth.

Credit of the banking industry as of March 25, 2024 increased by 0.26% compared to the end of 2023 to about 13.6 quadrillion VND, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) reported. In March alone, credit rose by 0.98%.

T
o boost credit growth, the SBV has requested credit institutions to firmly implement effective credit growth solutions since early February. Accordingly, credit institutions must review to simplify lending procedures with an aim to increase people’s ability to access capital.

Besides, they must focus on strengthening digital transformation in the credit process to increase access to capital and more widely popularise banking credit activities.

In addition, the SBV said it was necessary to improve the operational efficiency of funds such as the credit insurance fund for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and the development fund for SMEs, to enhance SMEs’ ability to access credit./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Department of Science and Technology of the northern port city of Hai Phong is organising the International Techfest Connect 5+, a science and technology festival to promote connectivity in the northern coastal region, from April 15-16.

The event attracts representatives of the Departments of Science and Technology of provinces and cities in the Red River Delta, leaders of Cheongju city in the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s North Chungcheong province, the North Chungcheong Technology Park, and organisations and businesses of the RoK’s innovation ecosystem.

Director of the Hai Phong Department of Science and Technology Tran Quang Tuan said that this Techfest will contribute to improving the quantity and quality of connection and promotion events between the city’s businesses and those in the region, and the country and around the world.

Pham Hong Quat, Director of the Market Development Department under the Ministry of Science and Technology, stated that the event will help localities and businesses find op
timal solutions to local development problems, especially those related to green transformation, digital transformation, and circular economy. This is also an opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises to cooperate with international ones and gradually master some value chains in semiconductor technology and green technology.

Speaking at the event, Cheongju Mayor Lee Beom-seog expressed his belief that cooperation between businesses and localities will open up opportunities for the parties to expand collaboration, and jointly enhance global competitiveness based on technology.

During this Techfest, various activities are being held, including the display of 40 booths introducing innovation products and technologies, the signing of cooperation deals between Vietnamese and Korean firms, and the sharing of experiences in seeking ways to boost the sale of products of startups./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will resume gold bar bidding after 11 years, aiming to increase the supply of gold to the market, promptly and immediately settle the high difference in domestic and international gold prices, thus ensuring the gold market operates in a safe and stable, healthy, open, transparent and effective manner in accordance with the Prime Minister’s direction.

The SBV said that it will release a notice one day prior to the bidding. After the floor price is announced, credit institutions and gold businesses will have 30 minutes to decide the purchase volume and price. One hour after closing the bid, the bank will announce the results. Businesses will have to make a deposit to participate in the bidding no later than 5pm on the day of receiving the bidding notice.

So far, 26 units, including commercial banks and gold businesses have set up a gold bar trading relationship with the SBV. Of which, 15 have been eligible for bidding. The type of gold offered for bidding is SJC gold bars.

Th
e first gold bidding session was held on March 28, 2013. In that year, the SBV organised 76 bidding sessions, during which 1,819,900 out of the 1,932,000 taels of gold bullion were sold.

SBV Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha said that the move is part of the bank’s efforts to deal with the high difference in domestic and international gold bar prices. The official added that the bank will continue to roll out various measures to stabilise gold prices.

Since the beginning of this year, domestic gold prices have increased strongly, recently setting new records and widening the gap with the global prices.

At 1:30pm on April 15, the Saigon Gems and Gold One Member Limited Liability Company listed SJC gold prices at 83.3 million VND per tael for buying and 85.52 million VND per tael for selling, an increase of 3 million VND per tael for buying and 2.6 million VND per tael for selling compared to the previous trading session./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnamese garment and textile sector is carrying out various measures to bolster production and business activities amidst formidable challenges posed by falling demand, high inventory, and geopolitical instability in several countries, according to insiders.

Enterprises have received more export orders but seen no improvement in prices while several contracts even plunge 30-50% in value, they said.

Furthermore, cotton prices are expected to soar in the coming time due to speculation and logistics difficulties. In the meantime, it could be hard for Vietnamese firms to compete in the Chinese market where tax incentive and support policies on transport costs and electricity have been rolled out to back up domestic production.

Against this backdrop, General Director of the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) Cao Huu Hieu said that firms need to capitalise on all opportunities, make rational forecast, and get updated with the situation so as to take timely measures.

Besides, they should
drastically restructure their organisations, apply advanced management solutions, and push ahead projects that help improve productivity, he added.

Vinatex Chairman Le Tien Truong stressed that besides challenges, there is ample room for development for those with sound business strategies, diverse products, deep engagement in supply chain, and rational steps towards digital economy and green economy.

The group will keep a close watch on the market and operation of its members so as to pen flexible and breakthrough measures to develop products and seek new markets to ensure business efficiency, he said.

Meanwhile, Chairman of Hung Yen Garment Corporation Joint Stock Company Nguyen Xuan Duong held that high input cost and workforce transition to such markets as the Republic of Korea and Japan have placed a burden on the company.

Along with global demand falling by 5-10%, large fashion brands teetering on the brink of bankruptcy is another challenge that makes it hard for Vietnamese firms to recover tens of
millions of USD, he said.

Duong suggested competent ministries and sectors to issue suitable policies to help enterprises get access to capital to strengthen investment and bolster production, adding workers also need assistance to improve their livelihoods.

During January – March, the garment and textile sector’s export turnover grew nearly 10% year-on-year to some 10 billion USD, a locomotive for enterprises to fulfill the set target of 44 billion USD for the whole year./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency