"Vietnam News and Opinions" Sunday PM 9-27-2020
KTFA:
Samson: World Bank acknowledges the resilience of Vietnamese economy
27th September, 2020
The international reserves held by the State Bank of Việt Nam (SBV) were equal to US$92 billion at the end of August, up from $80 billion at the end of December.
While this increase was not as rapid as reported in the same period last year, it demonstrated the resilience of the Vietnamese economy, according to the World Bank (WB).
WB recently released the Việt Nam Macro Monitoring report for the month of September.
The domestic economy continued to expand in August but at a slower rate than in recent months and far below the pre-COVID-19 trajectory.
The industrial production index grew by 2.1 per cent year-on-year in the month, slightly slower than in July, while growth in retail sales moderated to 2.3 per cent in the month compared to 5.2 per cent in July.
The country’s export performance remained resilient, growing 1.42 per cent month-on-month in August, but foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows fell significantly as they reached about $720 million in the month compared to $3.1 billion in July.
Overall, Việt Nam received US$19.5 billion in FDI during the first eight months of the year, a 14 per cent decline compared to the same period last year.
Inflation remained subdued at 3.2 per cent in August year-on-year, slightly lower than in recent months due to the stability of food prices.
Credit to the economy continued to moderate at 9.4 per cent year-on-year in July, reflecting the decline in economic activity despite the SBV’s policy to cut interest rates and encourage commercial credit.
Fiscal space is narrowing, with revenues 12.4 per cent lower in January – August than during the same period last year.
Public expenditure rose by 8.2 per cent, including through the accelerated implementation of the investment programme to support economic recovery.
Looking ahead, the pace of economic recovery will depend on how well domestic demand recovers in the wake of the Đà Nẵng outbreak, according to the report.
Greater attention should be paid to the impacts of the crisis and on fiscal and financial stability in the medium to longer terms, and policies to address them, the WB recommended. LINK
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Samson: Americas among Vietnam's largest trade partners despite of COVID-19
25th September, 2020
The Americas remained some of Việt Nam’s largest trade partners despite the adverse effect on commerce caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, heard participants at a conference organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), aimed at connecting Vietnamese firms with trade partners in American countries in Hà Nội yesterday.
According to the ministry, two-way trade between Việt Nam and American countries during the first eight months of the year increased 11.8 per cent from the same period last year to US$69.3 billion, with the Southeast Asian country’s exports increasing 15.9 per cent.
Trade between Việt Nam and the Americas has grown 350 per cent in the last decade, from a modest $28 billion in 2011 to $96.8 billion in 2019. Last year, Việt Nam also spent $23.2 billion on the import of goods and services from the continent.
A number of free trade agreements that came into effect in recent times have helped to fuel rapid trade growth such as the bilateral trade agreements between Việt Nam and the US, Chile and Cuba, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) which includes Canada, Peru and Mexico.
Việt Nam had seen some of the fastest-growing trade ties with the continent in recent years, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Đỗ Thắng Hải.
By the end of August 2020, 28 American countries held stakes in 1.530 projects across Việt Nam with a total investment value of $22.8 billion. Việt Nam’s successful campaign to contain the COVID-19 pandemic has made it an attractive destination for American investors, especially against the backdrop of increased trade tensions between the US and China.
The conference’s objective was to provide domestic firms with the most up-to-date information regarding changes in economic policies and commerce in American markets. The MoIT urged Vietnamese firms to conduct additional studies on said markets and their demand for Vietnamese products to identify trade opportunities as well as potential issues and challenges. LINK
Samson: Việt Nam strives towards building digital government
19th September, 2020
On the basis of results achieved in the process of building an e-Government, Việt Nam is preparing to move to a digital Government according to the policy set out in Resolution 52- NQ/TW of the Politburo.
The information was given at the 15th national conference on e-Government (eGov) held in HCM City on Thursday. The conference was co-organised by IDG Việt Nam, Việt Nam Digital Communications Association, and the Department of Information and Communications of HCM City.
Speaking at the seminar, Ngô Hải Phan, director of the Administrative Procedures Control Agency (APCA) under the Government Office, said the Government Office had co-ordinated with ministries, branches, localities, IT corporations, domestic and foreign experts to focus on building and implementing many important information systems as the foundation for the e-Government development of the country in the 2018-20 period. These information systems had been put into operation, creating a big shift in settling relations between the Government and agencies in administration.
This also provided impetus for the implementation of an e-Government and contributing to the realisation of the dual goals of economic development while minimising the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people and businesses, he said.
It was reported at the conference that the National Public Service Portal had provided 1,039 public services and 6,842 administrative procedures online at four levels by the end of last month. The portal had also reached over 60 million visits, over 235,000 registered accounts, more than 15 million synchronised records, and over 295,000 online records. The online payment system on the portal was also deployed from March, performing over 9,000 transactions.
Currently, according to the e-Government development ranking of the United Nations, Việt Nam has increased two places, ranked 86th out of 193 countries, 24th out of 47 in Asia and 6th in Southeast Asia.
However, in order to reach the target to be in the top four countries in ASEAN by 2025 and among the top 70 countries in e-Government, there were still many things to be done, said the director, including listening to domestic and international experts and organisations in order to perfect the roadmap and choose suitable solutions for the country.
Phạm Anh Tuấn, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, said that the policy on building a digital Government was outlined in Resolution 52-NQ/TW of the Politburo. Accordingly, it targeted to basically complete the digital transformation for the Party and State agencies by 2025 and complete the building of digital government by 2030. To implement this policy, the Ministry of Information and Communications is currently preparing to submit to the Prime Minister to issue a national strategy on digital government for the 2021-2025 period.
Businesses slow in digital transformation
Many Vietnamese enterprises, especially small and medium enterprises, are still not fully aware of the role of digital transformation in the fourth industrial revolution. Many reports from the Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) have shown that Vietnamese small and medium enterprises currently account for about 97 per cent of the total number of enterprises, but the level of science, technology and innovation is low.
Up to 80-90 per cent of machinery used in Vietnamese enterprises is imported; of which, nearly 80 per cent is old technology from the 1980s to 1990s.
Cisco Systems, a provider of information technology products and services for businesses, conducted research on the digital growth index of small and medium-sized enterprises in Asia-Pacific. The study was conducted on more than 1,340 businesses in the region, including 50 businesses in Việt Nam.
Vietnamese SMEs are facing barriers in digital transformation, such as a lack of digital skills and human resources (17 per cent) or a strong information technology foundation to enable digital transformation (16.7 per cent). However, 18 per cent of Vietnamese SMEs have invested in cloud technology, 12.7 per cent invested in cybersecurity and 10.7 per cent invested in software and hardware upgrades.
The Tin Tức (News) newspaper quoted Vũ Tiến Lộc, VCCI chairman, as saying that State agencies needed to continue to institutionalise and actively implement local technology innovation guidelines and policies. He recommended co-ordination among departments, agencies, branches and localities in promoting and implementing guidelines and policies on technology innovation.
The State's policies in this area were not attractive enough, while procedures were still cumbersome and time-consuming, he said. It was also difficult for businesses to access preferential capital and other support sources, said the chairman.
On the business side, Lộc said that it was necessary to have the right view and a clear sense of responsibility to innovate the business model, technology in production and management models based on digital technology. That was the key factor for businesses to move towards creative, sustainable and inclusive development goals, said the chairman. LINK
MilitiaMan: Sounds like the timing of things seems to coordinate with other countries. What is not to like bout this..? imo Nothing.. lol
The similarities are not random chance. The new QFS is to be a global thing and a transparent one.
Let’s not forget the USA put into effect the FIMA and the CML back in April. VN was on the CML list of countries for currency manipulation. Something that the USA has been quiet about since..
This may be the time we see the results of the CML at work. A reasonable amount of time to get in line has passed it seems.. imo ~ MM.