Vietnam, Venezuela and iraq News Posted by Samson at KTFA 10-1-2021

KTFA:

Samson:  Việt Nam GDP to grow at 5.4 per cent: English chartered accountants institute

1st October, 2021

Việt Nam’s GDP is likely to grow by 5.4 per cent this year, according to the Global Economic Forecast Report from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and Oxford Economics. 

The ICAEW said the forecast has been revised downwards from the 7.6 per cent in its previous report. The growth would accelerate to 7.5 per cent in 2022, with the pick-up driven by easing restrictions and industrial recovery gaining traction around mid-2022, it said.

Prospects remain dim in the short term for countries like Việt Nam, the Philippines and Thailand which continue to battle the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Heavily export-oriented economies like Việt Nam remain dependent on the recovery of the manufacturing sector.

The spread of the highly contagious Delta variant has cast a shadow on Southeast Asia and limited economic recovery this year, especially for countries with low levels of COVID-19 immunity.  Several economies are expected to contract in the third quarter, but the outlook in 2022 is more positive.  Asian economies have experienced varying degrees of success in containing the Delta variant because of differing rates of vaccination and social distancing restrictions.

At one end of the spectrum, significant waves of infections in Việt Nam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand in the last quarter mean they face delayed recovery in 2021, but they should see a significant rebound in 2022 once vaccination rates are higher and lockdowns are lifted. 

Mark Billington, ICAEW’s managing director international, said: “The COVID-19 Delta variant has derailed the recovery process for most South-East Asian economies and the reality of living with COVID-19 as endemic is proving to be complex. “Not only do governments have to implement appropriate restrictions and measures to curb the spread of the variant, but they also need to speed up their vaccination rollouts to achieve immunity, in order to improve their prospects for growth.”

Global GDP grew by 1.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2021, exceeding the rate of growth seen in the 15 years prior to the pandemic, including the pace of recovery seen after the global financial crisis of 2008.  However, there are signs that momentum may be faltering, driven by tighter restrictions and concerns about the Delta variant, and supply chain disruptions that are affecting key sectors such as manufacturing. 

The report expects the global economy to expand by around 5.8 per cent in 2021 and 4.7 per cent in 2022.   LINK

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Samson:  Việt Nam-US trade ties enjoy 'spectacular' growth

28th September, 2021

Việt Nam-US trade ties have enjoyed impressive growth over the 26 years since the normalisation of diplomatic ties.

Looking back at the past 20 years in international trade, there is no relationship which has such a fast growth rate like that of the Việt Nam-US trade relationship, said Nguyễn Xuân Thành, senior lecturer at Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management in Việt Nam.

Prof. David Dapice, leading expert on development economics in Southeast Asia, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, used the word “spectacular” to describe the development of economic cooperation between Việt Nam and the US.

Two-way trade rose from over US$400 million in 1995 to more than $90 billion in 2020.

Việt Nam’s total export turnover to the US from $1 billion in 2000 increased to $10 billion in 2007, mainly thanks to the bilateral trade agreement taking effect in 2001. After 2007, Việt Nam's exports continued to increase, partly due to the shift in the global supply chain, as foreign investors entered Việt Nam to take advantage of cheap labour, David Dapice said.

Over the last five years, Việt Nam’s export value to the US has increased by 230 per cent, while exports from the US to Việt Nam also jumped 175 per cent. The US has become Việt Nam's largest importer, while the latter has become the former’s 10th largest trading partner.

Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyễn Quốc Dũng emphasised that the Việt Nam – US relations had made significant strides since 1995, with the most salient aspect being the economic cooperation.

With a comprehensive partnership, trade and investment flows from the US have paved the way for Việt Nam to further its international economic integration and gradually boost growth, thereby moving away from the status of a less developed to a middle-income country.

For US businesses, Việt Nam’s fast-growing market of 100 million people with a young, industrious workforce seems to be highly promising. The country’s increasing demands for development and its location in one of the most dynamically growing areas of the world also offer great opportunities.

Meanwhile, the US, as the biggest importer in the world with abundant capital and technology, is a potential destination for Vietnamese exporters.

What is more important is that the governments and business communities of both countries want to promote economic and trade co-operation.  LINK

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Samson:  For the third time in 13 years...Venezuela makes a new adjustment to its currency

1st October, 2021

Venezuela today, Friday, removed six zeros from its currency, adjusting the value of the bolivar
for the third time in 13 years, in the context of the hyperinflation faced by the country, which is the highest in the world.

 As part of this procedure, the country, which is facing the worst crisis in its modern history, will
print banknotes in new denominations, in which one million bolivars will be exchanged for one,
while these notes are no longer in circulation in the country. 

 The aim of the amendment, according to what the Central Bank announced last month, is to “facilitate” the daily transactions of about 30 million Venezuelans. Before adjusting the value of the currency, the price of a loaf of bread was equivalent to 7 million bolivars, in a country that was considered one of the richest countries in South America thanks to its oil. But also because of mismanagement and political crisis. 94.5 percent of households live below the poverty line ($1.9 a day), according to a recent university study. 

 According to the study, the population of Venezuela is now about 28.8 million, which means that about 5 million people have left the country due to the economic and political crisis. 

 Since 2008, fourteen zeros have been omitted. The new bolivar will be equivalent to 100 billion
bolivars in 2007, reflecting the staggering decline of the Venezuelan currency. This, of course,
led to a lack of purchasing power for wages.  "We receive our salary every two weeks, which is less than
three dollars," said Marles Guerrero, 43, a teacher who earns millions of bolivars. 

In order to face the highest inflation rate in the world, estimated by the Eco-Analytica think tank at 1,600% in 2021, more than two-thirds of transactions in the country are conducted in dollars, the currency of the United States, the regime's archenemy. 

 The rent for an apartment in a modest neighborhood of the capital starts at $150, and the cost of a food basket for a family of five is about $220.

 Credit cards and bank transfers are used instead of cash exchanges, and daily payments in bolivars have become very confusing.

 Kids game 

To tip a worker who parks a car in a restaurant garage, payment is required by card where the service provider receives a receipt in lieu of cash. Bus stops were turned into exchange offices in the open, in order to face the lack of liquidity, in order to ride this means of transport, in which payment is only accepted in bolivars. "We exchange a dollar for four million bolivars. A bus ticket costs two million," said William Hernandez, a 56-year-old driver. On the street, children play with bundles of real banknotes that have long been of little value.

 The government invokes international sanctions imposed since 2019, especially by Washington, which has been seeking to oust President Nicolas Maduro since he was re-elected for a second term in 2018 in elections whose results were rejected by the opposition. Negotiations are underway between the Chavez government led by Socialist President Maduro and the opposition led by Juan Guaido, who is considered by about fifty countries, including the United States, as interim president of the country. 

 And Venezuela, the former oil giant, produced 520,000 barrels of oil per day last February, according to
figures from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), much less than the three million
barrels it produced per day in 2013.

 While some Caracas feared that the new currency adjustment would reduce purchasing power, others
welcomed the simplification of transactions, including accountant Rodrigo Bermúdez. “It was a relief...
the number of digits made any transaction very tiring,” he commented, referring to an invoice with too many zeros to fathom.  LINK

Samson:  With the participation of Iraq.. the launch of the activities of Expo 2020 Dubai

1st October, 2021

Revealed, on Friday, the Prime Minister's approval of the formation of a government committee tasked with supervising and managing the file of the Republic of Iraq at the Expo 2020 Dubai, which started today Friday in the UAE and will last for six months.

The Director General of the General Company for Iraqi Exhibitions Sarmad Taha Saeed said, in a statement received by Mawazine News, that "the committee is headed by Dr. Salem Jawad Chalabi, and the membership of the Association of Iraqi Banks, the Trade Bank of Iraq TBI, the Central Bank of Iraq, the General Company for Iraqi Exhibitions and the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Investment Commission, a representative of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Economic Reform Unit, and the Office of the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government.”

He added, "Expo Dubai 2020, which kicked off in a grand official celebration with the participation of 192 countries under the slogan (Connecting Minds and Creating the Future), and the opening ceremony was attended by the Iraqi Ambassador to the UAE Muzaffar Al-Jubouri and Director of the General Company for Iraqi Trade Fairs Sarmad Taha Saeed."

He pointed out that "Iraq's participation in the exhibition will be within the topic of opportunities that constitute a distinct platform to devote new models to the flow of financial and intellectual capabilities that can enhance the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation, and focus on exploring ways of interconnection and identifying various partnerships, which leads to the production of a legacy of new innovations."

Saeed said that "the opening ceremony witnessed the presentation of various activities and messages indicating the strength of international cooperation and the importance of the future."   LINK

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Samson:  The Ministry of Finance issues “Binaa” bonds that are tradable on the stock exchange

1st October, 2021

The Ministry of Finance / Public Debt Department, in cooperation with the Central Bank of Iraq, announced today, Friday, the issuance of construction bonds tradable in the stock market, with the guarantee of the Ministry of Finance.

And the ministry indicated, in a statement received by Mawazine News, a copy of it, that the categories of bonds offered for trading are:

1- A bond of 500,000 five hundred thousand dinars with an annual interest of 6% for two years.

2- A bond of category (1000000) one million dinars with an interest of 7% for a period of 4 years.

The ministry clarified that "the public wishing to purchase can submit their requests through authorized banks."

The ministry called on all investors and citizens to "take advantage of this investment opportunity, because of its returns for the benefit of the borrower (the investor) and for the entire national economy," noting that "the process of trading these bonds comes in accordance with the plans and mechanisms of the financial sustainability process and its improvement, in addition to the positive economic effects represented in By raising the levels of economic activities for various sectors and enhancing the availability of broad development opportunities.   LINK