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Tag: Vietnam

  • Massive fake luxury goods ring shut down in Vietnam

    Massive fake luxury goods ring shut down in Vietnam

    Government authorities have raided a warehouse storing thousands of fake luxury goods in Lao Cai City, northern Vietnam, which were being sold online.

    The 10,000sqm warehouse was divided into several areas including rooms for selling fake luxury goods via live-streaming on Facebook. Most of the items are copies of major brands including Gucci, Chanel, Nike and Adidas.

    One of the employees from the warehouse admitted that there were more than 40 people processing orders during the live-streaming and some 1000 packages being shipped each day.

    Although the exact number of fake goods smuggled from China has yet to be confirmed, authorities discovered the ring sold more than 90,000 products each month at a profit of around US$432,000.

    An official said the ring was professionally organised and took advantage of online platforms for both wholesale and retail as online shopping has become increasingly popular in Vietnam.

  • Moc Chau Milk wants to allow 100 percent foreign ownership

    Moc Chau Milk wants to allow 100 percent foreign ownership

    Moc Chau Milk, a subsidiary of Vietnam’s biggest dairy company Vinamilk, wants to increase its foreign ownership cap to 100 percent in order to raise funds.

    It seeks to do this by removing some business registries in which the government restricts 100 percent foreign ownership, such as wholesale trade of fertilizer and pesticides.

    A company statement said it is seeking shareholders’ approval for plans to raise funds for expansion. It plans to issue more shares to existing shareholders this year to raise 1.2 trillion ($52 million), which will be used to invest in a farm with a capacity of 4,000 cows, upgrade the existing farm and build a new factory.

    It is also eying a listing on Vietnam’s main bourse, the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, within nine months after it receives shareholders’ approval.

    Moc Chau Milk became a subsidiary of dairy giant Vinamilk in December last year. At that time, Vinamilk had more than half the nation’s dairy market share, and Moc Chau Milk had 9 percent.

    Mai Kieu Lieu, CEO of Vinamilk and chairwoman of Moc Chau Milk, had said earlier that Vinamilk has a strong distribution network in the south that will help Moc Chau Milk, which is based in the northern province of Son La, to expand nationwide.

    Vietnam’s dairy market value rose 8.9 percent to VND121 trillion ($5.2 billion) last year, according to market research firm Euromonitor.

  • Vingroup produces first 5G smartphones

    Vingroup produces first 5G smartphones

    VinSmart, a subsidiary of Vietnam’s largest listed company Vingroup, has produced its first 5G smartphones in cooperation with the U.S.’s Qualcomm.

    The Vsmart Aris 5G model is equipped with a Snapdragon 765G 5G module platform and a quantum security chip, the company stated, adding it also features a Super Amoled 6.39″ display, 8GB RAM and a 4,000 mAh battery.

    Nguyen Phi Tuyen, director of the measurement center of the Department of Telecommunications under the Ministry of Information and Communications, said the unit has repeatedly tested Vsmart’s Aris 5G, showing the network speed was eight times higher than 4G.

    VinSmart has not yet announced the official price of the Aris 5G, nor when it would hit the market, or how many units it intended to produce.

    No 5G smartphone has been manufactured or officially distributed in Vietnam so far, instead, they are hand-carried on overseas flights.

    VinSmart’s move came as local telecom firms compete in the 5G race. Telecom giant Viettel for the first time broadcast from its network of 5G base transceiver stations in Ho Chi Minh City last September while competitor VNPT has announced similar plans.

    VinSmart, which launched its first products at the end of 2018, is currently focusing on the low-end segment of the market, with 12 Vsmart phones all priced at below VND5 million ($212).

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  • Bamboo Airways banks on Con Dao Island flights

    Bamboo Airways banks on Con Dao Island flights

    Bamboo Airways plans to launch regular flights to Con Dao Island, a tourism hotspot in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, starting August 1.

    The airline is waiting for Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) approval to fly to the 16-island archipelago, according to a company spokesperson.

    It plans to operate flights from the northern and central region using four twin-engine Embraer jets holding up to 120 seats.

    Currently, Vietnam Air Services Company (VASCO), a subsidiary of Vietnam Airlines, is the only airline operating regular flights to the islands from Ho Chi Minh City and the southern city of Can Tho using the ATR 72 short-haul aircraft that could carry up to 78 passengers.

    Con Dao Airport has a 3C classification, meaning it can only receive ATR 72 aircraft or equivalent. It functions for 12 hours a day and closes at night since it has no runway lighting system.

    Property developer FLC, the parent company of Bamboo Airways, earlier proposed to invest in a lighting system so the airport could operate at night.

    A 4C upgrade is planned for the airport by 2030 so that it could receive Airbus A319 jets carrying up to 156 passengers.

    Budget airline Vietjet had made a similar request in 2018 to operate flights to Con Dao with the same aircraft model but is still awaiting approval.

    Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province received 15.5 million tourists in 2019, up 15.2 percent year-on-year. A total of 500,000 were foreigners.

  • Vietnam gold prices climb to new peak

    Vietnam gold prices climb to new peak

    Gold prices have risen to new highs in Vietnam as they track recent rises in global prices triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. SJC gold on Tuesday rose to VND50.3 million ($2,170) per tael to surge past the previous record of VND49.5 million ($2,137) in 2011, when global prices soared to historic highs.

    Gold prices held steady near an eight-year high on Tuesday as investors weighed a spike in Covid-19 cases around the world against a survey showing a rebound in U.S. services industry activity and expectations of a revival in China’s economy.

    Spot gold was almost unchanged at $1,784.06 per ounce by 0453 GMT, just $4.90 shy of a near eight-year high hit last week.

    Phan Dung Khanh, head of the investment advisory at Maybank Kim Eng Vietnam, said falling deposit interest rates are increasing demand for gold.

    The four state-owned lenders, Vietcombank, BIDV, Vietinbank, and Agribank, recently lowered their rates on 12-month deposits from 6.5 to 6 percent. Private banks have cut them by 0.4-0.8 percentage points.

    Experts also pointed to the falling stock market, which has lost nearly 11 percent this year, for turning gold into a safe haven.

    Tran Thanh Hai, chairman of the Vietnam Gold Investment and Trading Corporation, forecast gold prices to remain volatile for the next three months and start falling at the end of October before the U.S. presidential elections.

    Other analysts expected prices to rise further due to the uncertainties caused by the pandemic and geopolitical tensions.

    Goldman Sachs last month forecast that gold price could reach $1,800 in three months and $2,000 in a year.

    “Gold investment demand tends to grow into the early stage of the economic recovery, driven by continued debasement concerns and lower real rates,” it said in a note.

    Vietnam’s gold bar and coin demand in the first quarter fell 8 percent year-on-year to 12.3 tonnes, according to the World Gold Council.

  • Vietnam’s rapid retail recovery melts Covid virus gloom

    Vietnam’s rapid retail recovery melts Covid virus gloom

    Vietnam retail and service revenues surged by 5.3 percent in June over the same month last year – and by 6.2 percent over May.

    The figures are extraordinary given the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic on retailers and services during the first half of this year, with the country’s stores effectively shut down from late March to late April, and tourists banned from mid-March.

    Year to date, Vietnam retail and service revenues have dropped by just 0.8 percent compared to last year, generating US$103 billion despite the month-long shutdown.

    The figures were released by the General Statistics Office, and show retail revenue reached $18.67 billion last month. Vietnam traditionally releases figures for retail and service revenue within a couple of days of the end of the month covered, faster than most other countries, which tend to take a month or more to calculate the data.

    Sales of consumer goods accounted for 79.6 percent of retail revenue, increasing 3.4 percent year on year. Growth sectors include fresh-food products and home appliances. Sales of apparel and educational products fell by 1.2 percent and 6 percent respectively.

    Vietnam’s retail industry has seen a significant recovery since Covid-19 restrictions were eased in May. Most businesses in the country, except tourism, have resumed and some of them even expanded. Since April’s reopening, Uniqlo has opened three new stores in the country, and fellow Japanese retailer Muji is set to open its first store within weeks.

    One source said that a factor in June’s growth in the absence of tourists is that unlike countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, tourists to Vietnam don’t purchase a lot of higher-end luxury goods.

    “So the hit to retail from the decline in tourism would be a lot softer.”

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  • Sharp to launch new solar power plant in central Vietnam

    Sharp to launch new solar power plant in central Vietnam

    Japanese electronics giant Sharp Corporation will begin operating a 45 MW solar power plant in the central province of Ninh Thuan in July. The plant is a joint venture between Sharp Energy Solutions Corp., a subsidiary of Sharp Corporation, Vietnam’s T&T Group JSC, and its affiliate Ninh Thuan Energy Industry JSC.

    The new solar plant is expected to generate 76,373 MWh of electricity per year, enough to meet the average annual demand of 40,500 Vietnamese households. It can offset the equivalent of 25,458 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions a year, Sharp said in a recent statement.

    Japanese news agency Kyodo News quoted a spokesman of the giant as saying that Sharp has been pushing its solar power business in Asia, having built plants in Thailand, Indonesia, and Mongolia, on the back of expected growth in consumption of electricity.

    Solar power currently accounts for 0.01 percent of Vietnam’s total power output, but the government plans to increase the ratio to 3.3 percent by 2030 and 20 percent by 2050.

    Vietnam currently relies largely on hydropower and thermal power for its electricity needs, but its hydropower potential is almost fully exploited and oil and gas reserves are running low.

    Under its energy development plan, Vietnam aims to have renewables, mainly solar and wind, account for 10.7 percent of total energy production by 2030.

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  • Government to sell its shares in Vietnam’s largest brewer

    Government to sell its shares in Vietnam’s largest brewer

    The government plans to sell its 36 percent stake in the country’s largest brewer, Sabeco, this year. The Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp (Sabeco) is one of 139 enterprises in a new list in which the government’s stakes will be sold by sovereign fund State Capital Investment Corporation.

    The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has been instructed to transfer the government’s stakes in these enterprises to the SCIC by August 31. The government had sold a 53.59 percent stake in Sabeco to ThaiBev for over $5 billion in 2017.

    The news puts paid to speculative claims made by some media outlets in early June that MoIT was seeking to reacquire Sabeco shares from ThaiBev due to “unexpected pandemic effects.”

    At the end of 2019 the maker of Saigon Beer had assets estimated at VND 26.96 trillion ($1.2 billion) and owner’s equity of VND20.07 trillion ($870 million).Sabeco recently scaled down its revenue target for this year by 37 percent to VND23.8 trillion ($1 billion) and post-tax profit target by 39 percent to VND3.2 trillion ($138 million), the lowest in six years.

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  • Vietjet honoured for “the Operating Lease Deal of the Year”

    Vietjet honoured for “the Operating Lease Deal of the Year”

    New-age carrier Vietjet has been honoured as the winner of “the Operating Lease Deal of the Year” for its 10 Airbus aircraft operating lease in 2019. The title is listed in the Annual Global Awards of the world’s prestigious aviation and aerospace finance industry magazine,Airfinance Journal.

    The deal, which was signed between Vietjet and Novus Aviation Capital in July 2019, covers five aircraft (three A321s and two A321neos) delivered in 2019 while the five remaining aircraft are scheduled for delivery this year.

    The award recognised Vietjet’s benefits from the transaction including the flexibility in financing structure, attractive pricing of the lease, repeat documentation, and aircraft delivery schedule.

    “The award is an acknowledgement of Vietjet’s relentless efforts in aircraft financing activities, which sets a strong base for the airline’s sustainable investment and development of new and modern fleet in the coming years,” said Ho Ngoc Yen Phuong, Vietjet Vice President and CFO.

    Vietjet was also previously listed in the Top 50 airlines for healthy financing and operations for two consecutive years of 2018 and 2019 by Airfinance Journal. It is the only Vietnamese carrier in the list, which showed the airline’s positive finance and growth indicators amongst top airlines worldwide.

    Published for more than 40 years, Airfinance Journal is a leading financial publication in the global aircraft and aviation business, headquartered in London. The Journal includes the latest news, analysis and data relating to the financing of aviation industry globally, covering airlines, airports, banks and financial institutions, leasing companies and others.

    Vietjet has been awarded the highest ranking for safety with 7 stars by the world’s only safety and product rating website, AirlineRatings.com. The airline has also been named as Best Low-Cost Carrier by renowned organisations such as Skytrax and CAPA in recent years.

  • Online marketplace Tiki gets US$130 million funding

    Online marketplace Tiki gets US$130 million funding

    Vietnamese online marketplace Tiki has successfully raised US$130 million in its latest funding round led by Northstar Group.

    According to Deal Street Asia, the total value of the investment may increase by a further $20 million.

    Founded in 2003, Northstar Group is a Singapore-based private equity firm, currently investing US$3 billion in more than 30 companies across Southeast Asia.

    Recently, online marketplace Tiki and rival platform Sendo informed authorities of a proposed merger scheme amid intense competition in Vietnam’s e-commerce market, with two strong rivals Lazada and Shopee. However, neither company has commented further on the plan.

    Although Tiki has received large investment amounts, the company is locally referred to as a “money-burning machine”. It accumulated a loss of $60.9 million last year.

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  • Uniqlo opens new Vietnam store, goes online in the Philippines

    Uniqlo opens new Vietnam store, goes online in the Philippines

    Japanese fast-fashion retailer Uniqlo is to open its third store in Ho Chi Minh City this week and will debut online in the Philippines.

    Less than a month after the opening of the Ho Chi Minh’s second store at SC Vivo City, Uniqlo Vietnam is to launch another store in the country’s tallest building Landmark 81 this Friday (June 5).

    Occupying a 2000sqm area, the Uniqlo Landmark 81 store features the brand’s LifeWear products for males, females and kids. The store also features Uniqlo’s latest collections including the Billie Eilish x Takashi Murakami UT. To celebrate the opening, Uniqlo Landmark 81 is running several promotions such as giving away Uniqlo’s mugs and Landmark 81 SkyView tickets.

    Meanwhile, in the Philippines, the fast-fashion brand says it will launch online in the second half of this year.

    “An online store will provide local Uniqlo customers a faster and easier way of purchasing their favorite LifeWear items,” said Masayoshi Nakamura, COO at Uniqlo Philippines.

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  • Vietnam retail sales bounce back after virus outbreak shutdown ends

    Vietnam retail sales bounce back after virus outbreak shutdown ends

    Vietnam retail sales have dropped just 4 percent over the first five months of this year, despite a four-week shut down due to the Covid-19 crisis.

    According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), the retail revenue reached more than US$82.36 billion from January to May.

    ‘Non-essential’ stores across the country were closed from the end of March through most of April, with only supermarkets and pharmacies allowed to continue to trade. However, throughout the closure, all retailers were allowed to sell goods online.

    In May, after restrictions were lifted, Vietnam retail sales surged 27 percent from April’s figures.

    Sales of consumer goods accounted for 80.6 percent of retail revenue, increasing by 1.2 percent year on year.

    Growth sectors included fresh-food products and home appliances while educational products and apparel sales fell by 8.2 percent and 3 percent respectively

    Although restaurants and other catering businesses have resumed their operations, the F&B sales fell 26 percent year on year across the first five months of this year.

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  • Vietnam retail sales down since January

    Vietnam retail sales down since January

    Vietnam retail sales fell 9.6 percent year on year over the first four months of this year, according to the General Statistics Office.

    However, sales of consumer goods across the country increased by 0.4 percent, reflecting increasing demand for groceries and online shopping during the Covid-19 outbreak.

    Sales in the restaurant and accommodation sector plunged 23.6 percent year on year as consumers were banned from eating on-premises and due to travel restrictions.

    Meanwhile, retail sales in Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s commercial capital with a population of 9 million, surged in both supermarkets and traditional markets ahead of the country’s four-day holiday which began on April 30, as myriad promotions were offered.

    According to the Vietnam News Agency, discount promotions at Co.opmart and Co.opXtra supermarkets during the holiday saw sales rise by more than 30 percent compared to normal days.

    The most popular items include local seafood, poultry, fruit and vegetables, soft drinks, masks and kitchenware.

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  • Vietnam Airlines to operate two direct flights to US amid pandemic chaos

    Vietnam Airlines to operate two direct flights to US amid pandemic chaos

    Vietnam Airlines will operate two commercial flights from Hanoi to the U.S. in May, exclusively for U.S. nationals.

    One would leave at 9:45 a.m. on May 2 and arrive in San Francisco at 10:00 a.m. local time, and the other will depart from Hanoi at 6:20 a.m. on May 10 and land in Washington, D.C., at 1:00 p.m. local time, the U.S. embassy announced.

    The fare would depend on the number of passengers and could be higher than a normal one-way ticket, it said, calling for citizens who need departure assistance to register with the embassy by Tuesday afternoon.

    Vietnam has suspended all international flights as a containment measure against Covid-19 and thousands of foreigners are stuck in the country.

    Some special flights have been operated in recent weeks to repatriate Europeans and citizens of several Southeast Asian countries.

    The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued a Category 1 rating to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam under its International Aviation Safety Assessment program in 2019, meaning it met safety standards to operate flights to the U.S.

    Vietnam has emerged as a favorite travel destination for Americans.

    The United States Tour Operators Association had said Vietnam was one of the hottest destinations for U.S. travelers in 2019, with 746,171 of them visiting, an increase of 10.8 percent from 2018.

  • Samsung Display workers asked to be quarantined in Vietnam

    Samsung Display workers asked to be quarantined in Vietnam

    Based on a statement released by the anti-COVID-19 task force of Vietnam’s Bac Giang province, a worker at the Samsung Display factory’s EQC-SI unit, age 25, had tested COVID-19 positive on Sunday.

    This led to the quarantine of all 44 people in that unit, while the factory, located in the province of Bac Ninh, and buses used for transporting workers have been additionally sprayed with disinfectants. Samsung has confirmed the case, while noting that Samsung Display’s production lines in the country have not been affected.

    Samsung is Vietnam’s largest foreign investor, and the world’s largest OLED screen manufacturer, holding over 90% of the entire market.

    Worldwide, most smartphone companies have been experiencing various setbacks due to the coronavirus pandemic. Phone sales hit a 10-year low in sales, as people are increasingly reluctant to update their older smartphones or purchase expensive new flagships due to the financial uncertainty the virus brings.

    We recently reported that an Apple supply partner in Taiwan prepared for decreased production in the upcoming months, while COVID-19 is also expected to delay the manufacturing processes of many other companies’ upcoming flagship and 5G smartphones.

    Several tech companies took measures towards supporting their customers and various affected groups around the world during the coronavirus pandemic. Apple is letting Apple Card users skip monthly payments without occurring interest, and is donating millions of dollars towards the fight against COVID-19. Samsung began offering door-to-door servicing of their Galaxy products in some regions, encouraging customers to remain safely at home. In addition, Google recently made its Premium Google Meet service free until the end of this year, in an effort to help businesses and schools remain connected.

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