"Vietnam News" Posted by Toyvp at KTFA Tuesday 3-22-2022
KTFA:
Toyvp: Stocks post strongest gain in nearly eight weeks
By Dat Nguyen March 21, 2022 | 01:47 am PT
Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index surged 1.76 percent to 1,494.95 points Monday, its biggest gain in nearly eight weeks, as global indexes rose amid continuing peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
The index started off in the green and went up gradually to close nearly 26 points higher in its fifth straight session in the green.
VN-Index has risen nearly 49 points in the last five sessions.
Most U.S., European and Asian stocks moved up Monday as traders cheered a Russian bond payment that averted a historic sovereign default.
Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, dropped marginally to VND24.22 trillion ($1.06 billion) Monday.
pointsVN-IndexPointsNov '21Dec '21Jan '22Feb '22Mar '221400142514501475150015251550
The VN30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 27 tickers gaining, led by NVL of real estate developer Novaland Group and PDR of Phat Dat Real Estate Development with a ceiling rise of 6.9 percent.
NVL is now at the highest since January 13 and PDR since February 21.
MSN of conglomerate Masan Group rose 6.1 percent after plummeting in the last two weeks.
GAS of state-owned Petrovietnam Gas gained 4.7 percent, and KDH of real estate firm Khang Dien House gained 4.5 percent.
Two blue chip tickers bucked the trend, with VJC of budget airline Vietjet losing 3.3 percenet and BID of state-owned lender BIDV 0.2 percent.
Foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of $1.2 billion, a turnaround from two weeks of mostly net sale.
They focused on STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank and GEX of electrical equipment maker Gelex Group.
The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, rose 1.57 percent while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market gained 0.12 percent.
https://e.vnexpress.net/news/economy/stocks-post-strongest-gain-in-nearly-eight-weeks-4436658.html
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Toyvp: Vietnam to build 3rd oil refinery
By Dat Nguyen March 17, 2022 | 01:30 am PT
Vietnam is working on administrative procedures to build a third oil refinery amid apparent shortages and surging prices due to dependency on global supply.
The factory is set to have a capacity of 10 million tonnes per year and be located in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh told lawmakers Wednesday.
Vietnam now has two refineries, Nghi Son and Binh Son (also known as Dung Quat), which together have a combined capacity of 13 million tonnes per year.
The two plants meet around 70 percent of domestic demand. The country imports the rest.
With the new plant, Vietnam’s total capacity would reach 23 million tonnes, expected to be enough for domestic use.
The country will also increase crude oil drilling, as current supply only meets 50 percent of production demand.
Gasoline prices in Vietnam are heavily affected by the fluctuation of global rates. They climbed to a record high of VND29,820 ($1.30) per liter last week.
VND/literVietnam's gasoline pricesRON 95E5 RON 92Oct 11Oct 26Nov 10Nov 25Dec 10Dec 25Jan 11Jan 21Feb 11Feb 21Mar 1Mar 11Mar 2120k22.5k25k27.5k30k32.5k
Prices have been surging partly because Nghi Son refinery had to cut production since February due to financial difficulties.
Gasoline stations across the country have reported shortages and some have shut down shop temporarily in recent weeks, but authorities have affirmed that supply is adequate.
Gasoline imports will continue until Nghi Son resumes normal operation, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said Wednesday.
https://e.vnexpress.net/news/economy/vietnam-to-build-3rd-oil-refinery-4440028.html
Toyvp: Reviving Vietnam’s Economy with Fiscal and Monetary Policies: Resolution 43
February 17, 2022Posted by Vietnam Briefing Written by Dezan Shira & Associates
Vietnam’s National Assembly (NA) adopted Resolution 43/2022/QH15 (Resolution 43) on fiscal and monetary policies to support Vietnam’s economic recovery due to the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns in 2021.
Under Resolution 43, the government has asked the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) to draft policies that would help Vietnam in its post-covid recovery. Resolution 43 sets a number of policies to support key growth and help Vietnam achieve a GDP growth of 6.5 to 7 percent between 2021 to 2025.
Resolution 43 aims to address issues in order to main macroeconomic stability and resilience so that the Vietnamese economy can grow. The NA has approved a package of approximately US$15 billion under the Resolution.
Vietnam Briefing looks at the main highlights of the Resolution.
VAT reduction and CIT deduction
Resolution 43 sets a 2 percent reduction in VAT as well as CIT deduction for businesses. We have discussed these developments earlier here.
Incentive measures
Healthcare: The government has committed VND 14 trillion (US$620 million) for the construction and modernization of health and medical facilities, disease control, hospitals, and human resources, as well as treatment related to COVID-19.
Social security: Funds of VND 5 trillion (US$220 million) allotted for Vietnam Bank for Social Policies for preferential loans. This includes investment in job training, vocational education, and social security.
Support for businesses, business households, and cooperatives: VND 40 trillion (US$1.76 billion) of funds for loans with a rate of 2 percent a year through commercial banks for a variety of industries.
Infrastructure development: Funds of 113.55 trillion (US$5 billion) allocated for infrastructure projects in transportation, IT, digitalization, water security, climate change, and natural disasters.
House rent: The government commits VND 6.6 trillion (US$2.9 million) for employee housing for those working in industrial zones, export processing zones, and key economic areas
To further help with the implementation, the government issued Resolution 11/NQ-CP (Resolution 11) guiding socio-economic recovery and implementing policies of Resolution 43.
We discuss the resolution below:
Who does Resolution 11 apply to?
Resolution 11 applies to employees affected by the pandemic, businesses, cooperatives, and businesses households as well as industries to stimulate economic recovery.
What are the incentives?
In line with Resolution 43, VAT has been reduced to 8 percent. See update here.
Airline industry: 50 percent reduction in environmental protection tax on aviation fuel.
Land rent: A 30 percent reduction for businesses, households, and individuals that lease directly from the State and that have endured businesses suspensions due to the pandemic. The government has similarly reduced land rent for those affected by the pandemic in 2021 as well.
Automobile industry: 50 percent reduction on registering vehicles that are manufactured or assembled locally.
The government is also expected to come up with detailed regulations on the extension of CIT, PIT, VAT, excise tax, and land rent.
While most policies have been issued for 2022 and 2023, the government may extend some incentives depending on the economy and post-pandemic recovery.
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Toyvp: Vietnam unable to match minimum wages with living standards
By Le Tuyet March 21, 2022 | 05:56 am PT
The minimum wage - minimum living standard gap has been widening for years, but there is no solution in sight as workers struggle to make ends meet.
Vietnam first introduced the "minimum living standard" term in its 2012 Labor Law, which requires that the minimum wage must meet the minimum living standard.
A decade later, the gap between the two has kept widening and the current minimum wage far is from matching the level needed for an average laborer to make ends meet.
The minimum wage in Region 1, referring to the most developed areas of a province or city, has sted unchanged at VND4.42 million ($194) since 2020, which is 5 percent shy of the official minimum living standard, according to a study by the Research Center for Employment Relations.
When compared with the acceptable living standard, the figure is 41 percent lower, it said.
One of the reasons for such a wide gap is that the starting point of the minimum wage was too low, said Mai Duc Chinh, former deputy chairman of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor.
In 2013, representatives of businesses and workers negotiated and agreed that the first minimum wage level would be VND2.35 million, 30 percent lower than the minimum living standard at the time.
In 2014, the labor confederation proposed that the gap be eliminated, but the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs opposed it, saying a sudden surge would hurt businesses.
They finally agreed to increase the wage by 15 percent to VND2.7 million.
In the following years, the minimum wage level was increased mostly to make up for inflation, which means technically the "15 percent gap" is still there, Chinh said.
Another reason that the gap still exists is the lack of an independent organization to determine the minimum living standard, said Vu Quang Tho, former head of the Institute of Workers and Trade Union.
Labor representatives think that raising a child costs 70 percent of an adults’ living costs, but businesses think the ratio should be around 50 percent. The labor reps also say that the average daily amount of food a worker needs is 2,300 calories, but businesses think the figure should be 2,000 calories.
Chinh said that current labor laws allow business owners to increase workers’ salaries "according to the ability of the business," which is something that authorities cannot evaluate and manage.
Therefore, if a company claims to continuous losses or plunging revenues, it can keep workers’ salaries unchanged for years, which is what happened over the last two years of Covid-19.
Do Quynh Chi, director of the Research center For Employment Relations, said many countries have shown that a well-designed minimum wage set of policy will protect workers at the "bottom" of the labor market.
He said: "Other countries have strong union organizations, and the wage there meets minimum living standards."