KTFA:

Henig:  Vietnam poised for record trade

By Anh Tu   December 14, 2022 | 07:11 pm PT

Vietnam’s foreign trade is set to exceed US$700 billion this year, the highest ever, the customs department said.

It has risen steadily from $500 billion in 2020 and $600 billion last year.

In the first 11 months exports rose by 13.4% from a year earlier to $342.2 billion, and imports were up 10% to $331.6 billion, resulting in a surplus of $10.6 billion.

 Exports to the U.S. alone, the largest export market, were worth $101.5 billion. Imports from China, the country’s biggest source, topped $109.9 billion.

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, the country’s global import-export ranking will go up this year.

In 2021 the World Trade Organization had ranked Vietnam 23rd in terms of exports and 20th in imports.

In the 10-member ASEAN, Vietnam ranked second behind only Singapore.   LINK

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Henig:  ADB ups Vietnam growth forecast to 7.5%

By Duc Minh   December 14, 2022 | 07:56 am PT

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has lifted its growth forecast for Vietnam for this year from 6.5% to 7.5%.

Inflation is projected to be at 3.5%, down 0.3 percentage points from its earlier estimate in September.

Vietnam’s economy is operating well amid instabilities but is facing rising risks.

Global demand for Vietnamese exports is weakening, and for this reason the bank lowered its growth forecast for the country for next year to 6.3%.

The World Bank also warned Vietnam of slowing exports in a report released Wednesday.

Last month, exports fell for the first time since October last year. Exports declined by 8.4% year-on-year and imports fell by 7.2%, it added.

The World Bank said that the fall in exports was broad based. The decline was partly due to weakening external demand but also reflected high-base effects as both registered exceptional growth rates in November 2021 due to the reopening of the economy after months of lockdown.

All major import products experienced sharp declines compared to a year earlier, except for imports of fuel, which increased by 61.7% year-on-year in November 2022.   LINK

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Henig:  The Korea-Vietnam Economic Cooperation Forum 2022

NEWS PROVIDED BY    Korea Herald 

Dec 14, 2022, 21:15 ET

SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Korea-Vietnam Economic Cooperation Forum 2022 is hosting a series of special speeches and panel discussions on Dec. 16 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Grand Ballroom, InterContinental Hanoi Landmark72 in Hanoi, Vietnam. The event is co-hosted by Herald Corp., publisher of The Korea Herald and Herald Business, the Korea International Trade Association, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Vietnam-Korea Friendship Association.

The event will be held under the tagline of "Great Together, Next Prosperity 100!" aimed at discussing shared prosperity of Korea and Vietnam of the coming century that could be building on top of the 30 years of economic ties.

The Korea-Vietnam Economic Cooperation Forum 2022 expects to host more than 500 participants from political and business circles in Korea and Vietnam, including Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon of the Democratic Party, who heads Korea-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group; North Chungcheong Province Gov. Kim Young-hwan; North Gyeongsang Province Gov. Lee Cheol-woo; Korean Ambassador to Vietnam Oh Young-ju; Hanoi Mayor Tran Sy Thanh; Tran Duy Dong, deputy minister of Planning and Investment of Vietnam; and Ngo Dong Hai, secretary of the Thai Binh Provincial Party Committee.

The forum comes against the backdrop of a strong partnership that Korea and Vietnam has built over the course of three decades since they established the economic ties in December 1992. Korea's trade volume with Vietnam rose 162-fold from $493 million in 1992 to $80.7 billion until 2021. Economic and cultural exchanges in both public and private sectors are thriving, as Vietnam designated the Korean language as one of the major foreign-language electives in 2021.

The event will also invoke discussions over ways to nurture new business opportunities at multiple angles, as Korea and Vietnam are stepping up its bilateral efforts by elevating their ties to comprehensive strategic partnership.

A keynote speech under the theme, "Taking Korea-Vietnam economic ties to the next level" will be delivered by Jeong Man-ki, vice chairman of the Korea International Trade Association. This will be succeeded by a special speech of Thai Binh Provincial Party Committee Secretary Ngo Dong Hai, which will revolve around ways for direct economic cooperation between provincial governments of Korea and Vietnam. Also delivering special speeches are governors of Korean provinces over blueprints for enhanced cooperation with Vietnamese counterparts, involving a nature-based tourism development project by North Chungcheong Province and a metaverse push to attract hallyu fans by North Gyeongsang Province.

Other notable speakers at the panel discussions are thought-leaders such as Choi Joo-ho, president of Samsung Vietnam; Bui Quang Tuan, director general of the Vietnam Institute of Economics; Han Seung, head of overseas development group at Daewoo E&C; Kim Chun-jin, president of the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp.; and Cho Bong-hyun, vice president of Industrial Bank of Korea.

"Korea and Vietnam is ready to open the new era together based on the strong friendship and trust built over the past 30 years. The forum will lay the basis for the joint prosperity and invite intriguing ideas to outrun competitors in the global power rivalry," The Korea Herald Chief Executive Officer Choi Jin-young said.

The forum will be followed by a networking event. Hosted by Vu Tien Loc, president of Vietnam-Korea Friendship Association, the night event will also feature a Vietnamese traditional folk performance and performance by Korean-Vietnamese singer Hari Won and Korean singer Lee Sun-hee.     LINK

Clare:  Valid appearance: the rise in the price of the dollar is my time and will soon fall

December 14, 2022    Information / special.

The economic advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, considered the rise in dollar exchange rates a "temporary phenomenon" and not a problem with the adequacy of foreign reserves, while stressing that the new measures had imposed a restriction or discipline on the supply of foreign currency.

Saleh said in an interview with Al-Maalouma Agency, "The rise in the exchange rate in favor of the dollar is not caused by a problem with the adequacy of foreign reserves, as it is a force to intervene in the exchange market and provide sufficient supply to meet the demand for foreign exchange."

He added, "The rises that occurred are a temporary phenomenon dictated by regulatory conditions in the procedures for conducting external transfer requests (submitted by local banks) on foreign currency," noting that "work was done a while ago with an advanced (electronic) platform linking the transfer request by banks." with correspondents from international banks and relevant global compliance bodies simultaneously.

Al-Sudani's economic advisor explained: "During the start of the experiment a few weeks ago, it became clear that there were shortcomings and informational shortcomings that were not consistent with the governance of the flow of transfers through the global banking system, which led to some of them being returned again or rejected in order to complete the standard submission requirements and follow the standard principles in disclosing the final beneficiary and other things." Banking Disclosure and Compliance Requirements.

And Mazhar indicated, "It takes some time to reorganize the requests and their consistency with the global requirements for transfer through the digital platform, which has come to represent the new tool in dealing with the window of the Central Bank of Iraq for buying and selling foreign currency."

Earlier in the day, the exchange rates of the dollar recorded an unprecedented rise when the 100 US dollars reached more than 152,000 Iraqi dinars, which angered the Iraqi people who were hoping for the return of dollar prices to their previous state.    LINK

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Clare:  Press Statement

December 15, 2022

An authorized source in the Central Bank of Iraq explained that the slight rise witnessed by the exchange rate of the dollar in the local markets during the previous days is due to some factors, including the building of an electronic platform through which banks raise the requests of their customers.

The Central Bank began building that platform months ago in coordination with international bodies for the purpose Provisions and regulation of the operations of the foreign currency buying and selling window and ensuring effective control over it, as a specialized international company was assigned to build it and link banks with the central bank through it. The platform requires information about customers requesting transfers, beneficiaries, correspondent banks, etc.

Due to the recent use of this platform, many errors are being discovered, which requires the bank to re-download it. These procedures take additional time to accept the request and pass it through the global financial system. In this regard, the reserves of the Central Bank and the financial solvency of the state in general are in excellent condition and at their best levels in decades, and that the current supply of foreign currency is not linked to resources but to administrative and audit procedures, which will be bypassed during the coming days.

 In addition, the Central Bank has taken a number of measures to expand Offer foreign exchange to meet the public’s demand for cash dollars, and the management of the window was directed to meet the requests of banks for the coming days faster by executing double requests, and a preferential price was given for the implementation of documentary credits, and for the purpose of covering the local demand.

Central Bank of Iraq  Media Office

https://cbi.iq/news/view/2175