"Some "Vietnam News" Posted by ToyVP at KTFA 11-29-2022
KTFA:
Toyvp: Việt Nam lures over $25 billion in foreign investment in 11 months
November, 29/2022 - 08:42
Despite a decline of 18 per cent in newly registered capital to $11.5 billion, foreign capital disbursement saw a positive increase of 15 per cent to reach $19.68 billion in the January - November period.
HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam received US$25.1 billion in foreign investment in the first 11 months, up 0.5 per cent month-on-month but down 5 per cent year-on-year, the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) has said.
During the period, new capital registered in the country by foreign investors saw a yearly decline of 18 per cent to $11.5 billion while their capital contributions and share purchases also declined 7 per cent year-on-year to nearly $4.08 billion.
The agency underlined two factors behind the falling registered capital, which were stringent COVID-19 preventive measures early 2022 and global uncertainties.
It said strict COVID-19 preventive measures imposed in the beginning months of the year had made it more difficult for foreign investors to travel to Việt Nam to seek new investment opportunities. Such hindrance held back the number of newly-registered projects in early 2022.
Global uncertainties, including geopolitical conflicts, inflationary pressures and supply chain disruptions, compounded the situation by scaling down the capital flows from big economies, especially Việt Nam's partners.
One bright spot in the period was adjusted capital which surged 23.3 per cent year-on-year to $9.54 billion, the FIA noted.
According to the agency, the adjusted capital continued to maintain its growth momentum, which was a signal to confirm the confidence of foreign investors in the economy and investment environment of Việt Nam. Therefore, they decided to add more capital to their existing projects in the country.
Statistics from the FIA also showed that the average scale of adjusted capital per project in 11 months of 2022 increased 4.9 per cent over the same period of last year. Notably, many projects in manufacturing of electronic and high-tech products witnessed capital added on a large scale during the reviewed period.
On the bright side, many large-scale projects had their capital adjusted up significantly in ten months. For instance, Samsung Electro-Mechanics was given two capital boosts, of $920 million and $267 million.
Samsung HCMC CE followed suit with $841 million. Other projects to manufacture electronics and multimedia devices in Bắc Ninh, Nghệ An and Hải Phòng provinces were financed with additional capital of $306 million, $260 million and $127 million, respectively.
At the same time, disbursed capital also witnessed a positive increase of 15 per cent to reach $19.68 billion in the period, the FIA added.
From January to November, manufacturing and processing lured the lion's share of foreign investment with over $14.96 billion, making up 59.5 per cent of total capital. It was followed by real estate with $4.19 billion, or 16.7 per cent. Electricity production and distribution and science and technology were the runners-up with $2.26 billion and $1.03 billion, respectively.
Singapore was the top source of capital pledges in the period with $5.78 billion, accounting for 23 per cent of the total. Japan came next with over $4.6 billion or 13 per cent while South Korea ranked third with above $4.1 billion or 16.4 per cent.
Others sources of foreign capital were mainland China, Hong Kong (China) and Denmark.
Among cities and provinces receiving foreign capital in the period, HCM City led with nearly $3.54 billion, up 3.3 per cent year-on-year or equivalent to 14 per cent of the total. The southern province of Bình Dương ranked second with over $3.03 billion, up 45 per cent year-on-year or accounting for 12.1 per cent of the total.
In a recent report to the National Assembly, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that foreign direct investment (FDI) disbursement this year could reach $21-22 billion, an increase of about 6.4-11.5 per cent compared to 2021. These figures, then, meant that Việt Nam's FDI attraction was rapidly moving towards recovery.
Foreign enterprises continued to recover, maintain and expand their production and business activities in Việt Nam, Đỗ Nhất Hoàng, director of the FIA said.
Trương An Dương from Frasers Property Vietnam Co told the Đầu tư (Investment) newspaper that his company was keen on looking for investment opportunities in Việt Nam. — VNS
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Toyvp: Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu’s investment attraction capability to increase
November, 28/2022 - 17:37
A great deal of investment opportunities will open for Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu Province, with many policies that will improve the province’s infrastructure and economy.
BÀ RỊA – VŨNG TÀU — A great deal of investment opportunities will open for Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu Province, with many policies that will improve the province’s infrastructure and economy.
A conference was held last weekend on the Government’s action plan for implementing the Politburo’s Resolution No, 24-NQ/TW on boosting socio-economic development and security in the southeastern region by 2030, with a vision to 2045 (following the Government's Resolution No. 154/NQ-CP on the action plan of Resolution No. 24-NQ/TW issued on October 7 this year), as well as to facilitate investment into the region.
At the conference, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính commended the achievements of the southeastern localities, saying the region is the largest contributor to the country’s GDP, has the largest number of businesses, and the highest amount of foreign direct investment.
The resolution entails solutions for improving infrastructure, many of which directly affect the province’s infrastructure and economy for the next five years. These improvements will in turn enhance the province’s ability to draw in investment from domestic and foreign businesses.
These include investment into the Biên Hòa – Vũng Tàu railway for transporting goods, which will connect to the Cái Mép – Thị Vải seaport; the expansion of Côn Đảo Airport; and the development of big industrial complexes focusing on industry, services and urban areas in the province’s Phú Mỹ New City.
Nguyễn Văn Thọ, chairman of the Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu People’s Committee, said during the conference that the province has an initiative to form a free trade zone associated with a deep-water seaport in the Cái Mép Hạ area and develop the province into a world-class tourism hub following the Politburo’s Resolution No. 24-NQ/TW.
“The formation of the Cái Mép Hạ free trade zone will create an effective economic tool for Việt Nam to compete with regional countries in attracting investment and implementing the new phase of the industrialisation strategy, and will be the driving force for the southeastern region to make greater contributions to the country’s development.”
The province will create strategies to attract capable investors into the free trade zone, focusing on key industries such as the hi-tech industry, seaport and logistics, tourism and commerce, digital economy and finance. It will also ensure sufficient infrastructure works and land plots within the zone.
Regarding Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu’s plan to develop Vũng Tàu City into a world-class tourism hub, the province will carry out numerous solutions, including focusing on urban development, especially seaside urban areas towards green and sustainable urban models; preserving and ultilising its cultural heritage value; and raising awareness of the importance of tourism in economic development.
It will also improve its infrastructure system to boost connectivity within the province and in the region, which in turn will enhance linkages for tourism and socio-economic activities.
The Government’s action plan targets strengthening linkages between industrial parks and export processing zones in the southeastern region, developing the region into a financial, commercial, services, and international exchange hub in the Southeast Asia. It also aims to develop Bà Rịa –Vũng Tàu into a national marine economic centre.
As part of the conference, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and provinces and cities in the region granted investment registration certificates and signed MoUs for investment cooperation with local and foreign investors for 20 projects with a total investment of US$10 billion and more than VNĐ5 trillion ($202.4 million).
Among them, Chairman Thọ granted investment certifications and signed MoU with 10 projects in the province, worth a total of over $8 billion.
These projects include a $5.5 billion expansion of Long Sơn Petrochemicals, a $1.3 billion project for manufacturing industrial wood using Cross Laminated Timber technology for the construction and ship manufacturing industries, and a $380 million expansion of the Marubeni paperboard factory. — VNS
Toyvp: VN-Index breaches over 1,000 points
November, 28/2022 - 17:08
HÀ NỘI — Benchmark indices rose more than 3.5 per cent on Monday, as domestic investors' risk appetite improved strongly while foreign investors continued to pour capital into the country's stock market.
The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) extended last week's big rallies and broke over the key level of 1,000 points for the first time in nearly a month.
Accordingly, the index surged 34.23 points, or 3.52 per cent, to 1,005.69 points, the highest since November 4. Meanwhile, the HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) jumped 7.29 points, or 3.7 per cent, to 204.06 points.
The market's breadth was in a positive zone, with 491 stocks edging higher on the two main exchanges, while only 74 ticker symbols slid.
Liquidity also increased sharply over the previous session, with total trading value on both main exchanges of nearly VNĐ17.3 trillion (US$697.4 million). Matching value on the southern bourse increased by 66.67 per cent compared to Friday's session to nearly VNĐ14 trillion, equal to a matching volume of 872 million shares.
Similarly, on HNX, the matching value reached VNĐ927 billion, equivalent to the trading volume of 77.5 million shares.
The rallies were driven by large-cap stocks in appealing industries, including banking, realty, manufacturing and utilities. The 30 biggest stocks tracker VN30-Index ended the day at 1,004.34 points, up 36.85 points, or 3.81 per cent.
In the VN30 basket, 23 stocks went up with seven stocks registering the maximum daily rise of 7 per cent, while only five stocks inched down. And two stocks stayed flat.
Statistics from finance website vietstock.vn showed that in top three stocks influencing the uptrend, Vietcombank was the market's leader with an increase of 4.92 per cent, followed by PV Gas (GAS) and Vinhomes (HMX), which both advanced by 7 per cent.
Supporting the market, other pillar stocks like Vietinbank (CTG), Hòa Phát Group (HPG), Techcombank (TCB), MBBank (MBB), Masan Group (MSN), Vincom Retail (VRE), Petrolimex (PLX) and VPBank (VPB), also reported positive performance, up at least 3.4 per cent.
The uptrend also received support from foreign investors, as they net bought for 16 consecutive sessions. Specifically, they net bought nearly VNĐ1.7 trillion on the southern market, and VNĐ16.27 billion on HNX. — VNS
https://vietnamnews.vn/economy/1399839/vn-index-breaches-over-1-000-points.html
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Toyvp: VN ready to become a semiconductor manufacturer
November, 28/2022 - 08:26
The global semiconductor and chip race is heating up and Việt Nam should take this opportunity to raise its’s position on the global semiconductor manufacturing map as some leading corporations have invested in semiconductor manufacturing in the country, according to local economists.
HÀ NỘI — The global chip race is heating up, and Việt Nam should be able to raise its position on the global semiconductor manufacturing map as some leading corporations are investing in chip production in the country, local economists said.
Prof. Nguyễn Mại, President of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIE), said the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged trade conflicts have caused a disruption of semiconductor supplies. Global companies involved in using semiconductors to make smartphones, self-driving vehicles, artificial intelligence (AI) technology or data centers have been forced to cut their productivity.
Mại emphasied that countries are in a race to produce semiconductors and chips. In particular, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) in September released its strategy for implementing its US$50 billion CHIPS for America programme. And China has doubled its spending and enacted policies to support semiconductor manufacturing companies.
Việt Nam has also become a centre of the semiconductor industry as Samsung announced its plan to produce semiconductors from July next year with an additional investment of US$920 million. The country is also home to Intel’s largest assembly and testing factory with an investment of $1.5 billion.
Đỗ Nhất Hoàng, head of the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency, said the Synopsys company from the US also announced that it would train electrical engineers in Việt Nam and support HCM City Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) to establish a chip design center through a software sponsorship programme.
Hoàng added that in the first 10 months this year, FDI disbursement reached $17.45 billion, an increase of 15.2 per cent over the same period in 2021. This was the highest number in the past five years. Of this figure, the manufacturing sector accounted for 65 per cent and involved the major industries of hi-tech electronics and chip production. This has shown that Việt Nam has gradually begun to form an ecosystem of semiconductor and chip production.
Over the years, Việt Nam’s investment climate has been highly appreciated by foreign investors due to its stable political system and rapid growing economy. Incentives through corporate income taxes have also made an important contribution to creating an attractive investment climate.
Hong Sun, Vice President of the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Việt Nam (KoCham), said that apart from having a stable business environment and many incentives, chip manufactures want to have abundant and stable power sources.
Hong emphasied that chip or semiconductor manufacturing were both high-value products. If a sudden power failure occurred, production would have to restart from the beginning, which would take from a week to a few months and cost billions of dollars.
Mại said that “Việt Nam should not rest on its gains and we need to make an assessment of the bottlenecks in luring FDI, such as transport infrastructure, and information networks.”
He noted that if Việt Nam can participate in the semiconductor industry, it will generate a big boost of added value for the country. — VNS
https://vietnamnews.vn/economy/1399493/vn-ready-to-become-a-semiconductor-manufacturer.html