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Tag: Vietnam

  • Lamborghini returns to Vietnam

    Lamborghini returns to Vietnam

    Luxury car brand Lamborghini is set to return to Vietnam in the second quarter after disappearing for over a year.

    The Italian company has selected S&S Automotive as its new distributor in Vietnam to replace CT Wearnes. It did not state why the partnership with CT Wearnes ended.

    S&S Automotive, which also distributes luxury brands Rolls-Royce and McLaren, said the new Lamborghini showroom is being constructed and will begin operation in the second quarter.

    The showroom will be in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, where the other two brands Rolls-Royce and McLaren are available.

    S&S Automotive has also put into operation a new maintenance facility in Tan Binh District for both Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce cars.

    Lamborghini was considered the first luxury car brand to enter Vietnam when it launched a showroom in Hanoi, which was open until 2018.

    The brand then opened a new showroom in District 7, HCMC, by the end of 2020 via CT Wearnes.

    As most car import activities shut down early last year, CT Wearnes showrooms in District 7 stopped displaying cars of French brand Renault and Lamborghini.

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  • HSBC lowers Vietnam growth forecast

    HSBC lowers Vietnam growth forecast

    HSBC has lowered its GDP growth forecast for Vietnam from 6.5 percent to 6.2 percent due to inflationary pressures amid rising global energy prices.

    “Vietnam is facing multiple challenges given elevated global energy prices. It will increase its energy bills, deteriorating its terms of trade position,” the bank said.

    The country’s imports of crude oil and petroleum in March were double and four times the 2021 monthly averages, and the rising trend seems set to continue.

    This is likely to shrink Vietnam’s external metrics, making it run a second consecutive current account deficit, and higher oil prices would increase the cost of living, dampening recovery in private consumption, the lender said.

    It raised its inflation forecast for the year to 3.7 percent due to the high energy prices, saying this would increasingly call for the need for monetary normalization. The government targets inflation of not more than 4 percent.

    The bank pointed out that the GDP growth of 5 percent in the first quarter was higher than its forecast of 4.7 percent, indicating the country is firmly back on the recovery track.

    The manufacturing sector remained the key driver of growth in the first quarter, driven by a double-digit increase in electronics production.

    Exports grew by 13 percent year-on-year thanks to increased demand for electronics products though strong figures were reported across sectors like textile, footwear, machinery, and wooden products.

    With Vietnam reopening its borders on March 15, HSBC expects a “small rebound” in tourism this year.

    Authorities are hoping to get 8-9 million foreign tourists this year, 40-50 percent of the 2019 numbers.

    Economic growth of 6.2 percent will however make Vietnam one of the region’s top performers.

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  • Vietnamese honey gets a sweet deal in Taiwan

    Vietnamese honey gets a sweet deal in Taiwan

    Vietnam’s honey exports to Taiwan rose by 57 percent last year to US$1.64 million, thanks to competitive prices and growing quality.

    Oanh, a woman from the northern province of Hai Duong who is working in Taiwan, said Taiwanese increasingly prefer Vietnamese honey due to its better prices than Thai products.

    Last year Vietnam was the second largest natural honey exporter to Taiwan, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the latter’s total imports. Its export volumes rose by 44 percent to 382 tons, according to statistics from Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade.

    In the first two months of 2022 exports quadrupled year-on-year to 46 tons. Vietnam exports 54,000 tons of honey annually, 95 percent of it to the U.S.Exporters said Taiwan is a promising market for honey due to growing demand.

    But the U.S. has imposed a preliminary anti-dumping tax of over 410 percent on Vietnamese honey.

    Its import tax on honey from other countries is around 30 percent.

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  • Vietnam Airlines accumulated loss nears charter capital

    Vietnam Airlines accumulated loss nears charter capital

    The accumulated loss of national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines climbed to VND21.98 trillion ($928.39 million) last year, roughly the same as its charter capital.

    The airline was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic that saw borders closed and commercial flights suspended for two years.

    It posted a loss of VND13.02 trillion last year alone, with revenue dropping 31 percent year on year to VND28.09 trillion.

    The airline increased its charter capital by 56 percent to VND22.14 trillion last year by issuing 800 million shares, with the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) contributing an additional VND6.89 trillion.

    The Commission for Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC) now holds a 55.2 percent stake in the flag carrier, the SCIC 31.14 percent, and Japan’s ANA airline 5.62 percent.

    The airline has been increasing the number of flights it operates since the beginning of this year as the government began lifting restrictions based on rising vaccination rates.

    It operated 7,314 flights last month, up nearly 21 percent year-on-year.

    The airline has proposed that the government raises the price cap for domestic travel from April 1 and add a fuel surcharge for local routes as fuel prices have soared in recent months.

  • Bamboo Airways not affected by ex-chairman’s arrest

    Bamboo Airways not affected by ex-chairman’s arrest

    The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam says carrier Bamboo Airways is operating normally, unaffected by the recent arrest of its ex-chairman Trinh Van Quyet.

    The carrier’s key personnel, including pilots, cabin crew, and technical staff are complying with all regulations, it reported to the Ministry of Transport Thursday, after an emergency meeting with the airline’s management.

    The meeting happened a day after the arrest of real estate giant FLC and Bamboo Airways chairman Trinh Van Quyet for alleged manipulation of his company’s share prices by using 20 different trading accounts to create fake demand.

    Quyet is the largest shareholder of the airline, holding 55.5 percent of its charter capital, or VND3.89 trillion ($170.3 million). Bamboo Airways has a charter capital of VND7 trillion.

    The aviation authority also assured that in the case Quyet’s assets were frozen, the carrier would still operate normally operational, as it meets the government’s minimum capital requirement of VND700 billion.

    But it will keep a close watch on the carrier for the next three to six months to ensure safety and assess the impacts of Quyet’s arrest.

    “The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam will support Bamboo Airways when necessary to help the airline overcome current difficulties, and maintain development,” it said.

    On Thursday, FLC deputy chairman and Bamboo Airways’ general director Dang Tat Thang replaced Quyet as the airline’s new chairman until shareholders and the board of directors make a final decision.

    Thang continues to retain his position as general director.

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  • Bamboo Airways to be monitored for safety following chairman’s arrest

    Bamboo Airways to be monitored for safety following chairman’s arrest

    The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said it would closely monitor Bamboo Airways for the next three to six months to ensure safety following the arrest of its chairman.

    Its aircraft maintenance and operations and training would be closely supervised, deputy head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), Ho Minh Tan, said at an emergency meeting with the airline’s management Wednesday.

    The meeting came a day after real estate giant FLC and Bamboo Airways chairman Trinh Van Quyet for alleged manipulation of his company’s share prices by using 20 different trading accounts to create fake demand.

    He had earned VND530 billion (US$23.19 million) in this manner between Dec. 1 and Jan. 10, investigators said.

    Deputy general director Nguyen Ngoc Trong said banks and financial institutions are committed to fulfilling all contracts they have signed with the carrier, which would in turn fulfill all its responsibilities and obligations. Bamboo Airways began flying in 2019.

    On Thursday, Dang Tat Thang was named the new chairman to replace Quyet until shareholders and the board of directors make a final decision. He also remains the general director.

  • Vietnam food company acquires French poultry firm

    Vietnam food company acquires French poultry firm

    GreenFeed Vietnam, a Vietnamese food chain company, has acquired the Mekong Delta-based French chicken supplier LeBoucher. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.

    GreenFeed owns G Kitchen, a meat and processed products retailer. Quang Thanh Cuong, head of its food segment, said the acquisition would complement the company’s ecosystem with a new source of protein.

    LeBoucher, a poultry supplier with a factory in the southern province of Long An, is the fifth food brand added to GreenFeed’s portfolio, the other three being MaMaChoice (fresh meat), Wyn (processed food) and G.Lala (broken rice).

    LeBoucher was owned by Alain Glon Holding Asia, a French food company with $110 million in annual revenue that has been operating in Vietnam for over 25 years. It supplies chicken to McDonald’s Vietnam operations.

    According to German data portal Statista, Vietnam poultry consumption was nearly 17 kilograms per capita in 2021; and is expected to rise to more than 20 kilograms by 2029.

  • Vietnam faces electricity shortages from April

    Vietnam faces electricity shortages from April

    Vietnam may face a power shortage from April due to tight coal supplies, Vietnam Electricity (EVN) reported.

    Some thermal power plants are operating at 60-70 percent capacity, which has led to a decline in electricity supply as the high-demand season nears.

    The decline in power production is seen at Nghi Son 1, Vung Ang 1, and Vinh Tan 2 thermal power plants in the central region and Duyen Hai 1 in the Mekong delta, EVN said in a report Wednesday. Hai Phong thermal plant in the north has shut down three out of four turbines, it added.

    This has led to a shortage of 3,000 megawatts of electricity. The decline came as coal delivery to EVN plants was 23 percent short of its need for the first quarter.

    As the country’s two biggest coal miners Vinacomin and Dong Bac struggled to have enough supply, there could be an electricity shortage starting April, EVN stated. Vietnam, especially the northern region, usually has high power demand between May and July due to high heat.

    The state-run Vinacomin reported earlier this month that the shortage of miners in the first two months due to Covid-19 and surging import prices have caused its supply to fall. As of March 14, the company had provided only 74 percent of what it promised to thermal power plants for the first quarter.

    The company has also sought official approval to raise selling prices as import rates increase. It has not hiked prices for the last two years. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has ordered Vinacomin to ensure that there would be no coal shortage under any circumstances. Coal-fired plants accounted for 43.6 percent of total power generation in February, according to EVN.

    Vietnam promised to target net-zero emissions by 2050 at the 2021 U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Scotland last November.

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  • VinFast to build $2-bln electric auto plant in US

    VinFast to build $2-bln electric auto plant in US

    Automaker VinFast has signed a deal with North Carolina state in the U.S. to build a $2-billion plant to make electric buses, cars, and auto batteries. It is set to finish by July 2024, when it will have a capacity of 150,000 units a year, VinFast said in a statement Wednesday. Investment in the plant will eventually double to $4 billion.

    U.S. President Joe Biden claimed in a statement Tuesday that the plant, which will create more than 7,000 jobs and hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles and batteries, is the latest example of his economic strategy at work.

    “Our efforts to build a clean energy economy are driving companies to make more in America, rebuild our supply chains here at home, and ultimately bring down costs”.

    The announcement is the latest move by VinFast, a subsidiary of Vietnam’s biggest private company, Vingroup, in its efforts to become a global electric vehicle manufacturer.

    It is targeting sales of 42,000 this year after starting to deliver cars in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, and the Netherlands in late 2022.

    Outside of North America, it is looking to set up a plant in Germany, the company had said in January.

    VinFast’s VF8 and VF9 electric SUVs cost from $41,000 to $61,000 in the U.S. By comparison, a Tesla SUV sells for around $63,000.

    The company became Vietnam’s first indigenous car manufacturer in 2019 and plans to transition completely to electric vehicles this year.

  • Vietnamese co-living startup raises $1.7 mln from Singapore fund

    Vietnamese co-living startup raises $1.7 mln from Singapore fund

    M Village, an accommodation startup in co-living spaces, has received funding of US$1.7 million led by Singaporean venture fund Simple Tech Investment.

    The money will be used for expanding the number of rooms the startup has in Ho Chi Minh City from the current 300 to 1,000 this year.

    Its founder, Nguyen Hai Ninh, is also the founder and ex-CEO of The Coffee House, a HCMC-based coffee chain that has over 140 stores across Vietnam.

    He said: “The fund-raising process started late last year and it has worked out pretty well. Simple Tech Investment agreed on investing after a month of getting to know each other”.

    Simple Tech has previously invested in digital transformation by some Vietnamese businesses, including online advertiser 24h, human resources service SieuViet Group, and leading barbershop chain 30Shine.

    M Village has also received funding from Singapore’s Vulpes Venture, Japan’s Genesia Ventures, and some angel investors.

    Founded in October 2020, M Village operates five locations in Ho Chi Minh City with their occupancy rates exceeding 90 percent.

  • Fruits, meats buck trend of surging prices

    Fruits, meats buck trend of surging prices

    While the prices of many consumer goods are rising sharply, some have bucked the trend as their supply remains strong while demand, especially for exports, is weak. Looking for a place to eat dinner at a traditional market, Huong, a garment worker in Tan Binh District, said it is fortunate that the price of pork, popular among most Vietnamese families, has fallen slightly.

    This has relieved some of the financial pressure on low-income workers like her as the prices of many goods have been rising.

    Imported beef prices are down 10-20 percent, and farmed fish prices have fallen even more sharply.

    A recent survey found that the prices of many agricultural, fishery and livestock products have dropped, with most of them seeing double-digit declines.

    “I suffered heavy losses as production costs doubled from last year but prices are lower”.An, who has a jackfruit orchard in the southern province of Long An, said merchants have halved their buying price and even stopped buying due to high transport costs and export challenges.

    Hung, a farmer in the central coastal province of Binh Thuan, said several tonnes of dragon fruits have ripened on his farm but there are no buyers.

    Citing export issues, merchants buy the fruit in small quantities at around VND2,000 per kilogram (8.7 US cents).

    Pham Thanh Mai, an agricultural products trader in the Central Highlands, said difficulties with exports are the main reason for the price drops.

    “Usually off-season fruits always fetch higher prices because of limited supply. Prices have now fallen sharply since demand is lower as fruits cannot be exported”.

    As of March 21, around 1,000 trucks remained stranded at at border gates with China in the northern province of Lang Son, 660 of them laden with fresh fruits. According to Vietnam Customs, 80 percent of the country’s dragon fruit is exported to China. But after that country imposed stringent Covid-19 safety measures, Vietnam’s exports have stalled, causing demand for many fruits to dry up.

    Le Xuan Huy, deputy director of leading pork producer CP Vietnam, said meat prices have dropped generally due to higher supply and fall in demand to 80 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

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  • FujiMart to expand its footprint in Vietnam

    FujiMart to expand its footprint in Vietnam

    Sumitomo Corporation is accelerating its expansion plan for its FujiMart grocery supermarket chain in Vietnam, eyeing about 50 new stores by 2028 through its extended partnership with BRG Group.

    The retail chain aims to open five to 10 stores per year from FY2022, including new stores in Ho Chi Minh City. FujiMart offers a product range, sales floor design, and freshness management tailored to local needs that are based on Japanese-style supermarket operations.

    “In recent years, the overall grocery retail market in Vietnam has been expanding rapidly due to rising personal incomes and improved living standards bolstered by economic growth,” Sumitomo said in a statement.

    “Growing consumer awareness in areas of food security and safety, including hygiene measures taken to fight Covid-19 infections, has led to a shift from traditional retail outlets run by individual proprietors to modern stores, such as supermarkets and convenience stores which offer superior levels of safety and convenience.”

    Launched in 2018 in Hanoi, FujiMart Vietnam currently operates three stores in the city. Under the partnership, BRG group owns 51 per cent of FujiMart while Sumitomo holds the remaining stake.

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  • VN-Index slips after gaining streak

    VN-Index slips after gaining streak

    Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index dipped 0.1 percent to 1,502.34 points Wednesday after six gaining sessions.

    The index climbed by 10 points in the morning but strong selling pressure in the afternoon pulled it down by 1.4 points after rising nearly 58 points in the last six sessions.

    Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, declined marginally to VND28.04 trillion ($1.23 billion).

    The VN30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 22 tickers in the red, with GAS of state-owned Petrovietnam Gas falling 2.3 percent after three sessions in the red.

    PNJ of Phu Nhuan Jewelry dropped 1.8 percent, and PLX of fuel distributor Petrolimex, down 1.4 percent.

    Other losers included HDB of HDBank and PDR of Phat Dat Real Estate Development, both down 1.1 percent.

    Seven blue-chip tickers gained, with POW of electricity producer Petrovietnam Power Corporation rising 2.4 percent and SAB of brewer Sabeco gaining 2.3 percent.

    Foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of VND1.02 billion, with focus on DGC of Duc Giang Chemicals Group and MSN of conglomerate Masan Group.

    The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, rose 0.16 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market fell 0.19 percent.

  • Leading miner fears coal shortage may affect power plants

    Leading miner fears coal shortage may affect power plants

    Vietnam’s biggest coal miner Vinacomin is struggling to provide enough coal to thermal power plants due to shortage of workers and surging costs.

    The state-owned company provided 6.3 million tons of coal to power plants from the beginning of the year to March 14, 31 percent short of what it promised.

    One of the reasons is that half of its miners contracted Covid-19 in the first two months, and some mines saw only 20 percent of workers showing up at the end of last month.

    Another reason is import value so far has met only 7 percent of that planned for the first three months, which has led to the company’s delivery of coal mixed between foreign and domestic sources falling 69 percent short of target.

    The delay of the national utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN) in approving price tags for mixed coal also made Vinacomin miss opportunities to import more coal.

    Now that EVN has approved the price tags, the miner has struggled to import due to surging prices globally amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

    Vinacomin also said that many thermal plants tend to buy coal from other sources when their prices are low, and only buy from it in surging amounts when its competitors raise prices, which make the miner struggle to fulfill its commitments.

    It requested the Ministry of Industry and Trade to order thermal plants to purchase according to contracts.

    The company also proposed that the government increase coal prices, as dwindling resources has made mining more costly, while coal prices for power plants have remained unchanged for the past two years, dragging the company’s profit down.

    Vinacomin estimates that it would lose VND1.39 trillion ($60.76 million) in coal mining this year.

    Coal-fired plants accounted for 43.6 percent of total power generation in February, according to EVN.

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  • Vietnam launches website to tax foreign tech giants

    Vietnam launches website to tax foreign tech giants

    The tax department has set up a website for collecting tax from foreign companies to make it easier for tech giants like Facebook and Google to fulfill their duties.

    The Portal of the General Department of Taxation for Foreign Providers (etaxvn.gdt.gov.vn) came online Monday for companies to declare their tax and track their payments.

    Until now foreign companies were paying their taxes through a third party, but now they could pay directly, Nguyen Van Phung, head of the Large Enterprise Taxation Agency, said.

    By filling in their details on the website, businesses could see how much they need to pay and bank account details, he said.

    “Foreign companies can now pay tax at any time, even from an airplane”.

    Generally, foreign firms are required to pay value-added tax and corporate income tax every quarter. Phung said many foreign firms have been leaving their Vietnamese partners with the burden of their tax, he added. There are at least 64 foreign service providers active in Vietnam, according to tax authorities.

    Vietnam taxed cross-border platforms like Google and Facebook a total of VND5 trillion ($218.53 million) in 2018-21. Authorities have been calling for properly taxing tech giants like Facebook and Google, pointing out they account for around 70 percent of the online advertisement market but evade taxes.

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