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EVN workers examine electricity facilities (Photo: VNA) The Vietnamese government’s permission for private companies to invest in and build power plants and transmission systems became a big step forward, bringing competition in the energy sector to a manageable level. The first 500kV super-high voltage power transmission line invested by Trungnam Construction and Investment JSC has been operating stably for more than a year. Trungnam’s project includes a 500kV substation and transmission lines combined with a 450MW solar power plant, promoting its advantages when participating in the power grid of Ninh Thuan province and the south-central coastal region. Pham Nhu Anh, member of the Executive Board of Military Bank, which arranged capital for Trungnam to invest in transmission infrastructure, pointed out that capital is still a bottleneck in Vietnam’s electrical infrastructure development. According to Anh, the fact that Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) still holds a monopoly on … [Read more...] about Transmission boost to remove major power bottlenecks

Patrick Lenain-Former assistant director Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Pressures on global supply chains are also a key headwind in the recovery. Supply chain disruptions are not new: health precautions imposed over the last two years have already caused major bottlenecks. Major shipping hubs such as Los Angeles and Shanghai have operated with reduced capacity, with long waiting times to get shipments processed across the borders. With the pandemic fading away, congestion in international supply chains has eased a bit since December 2021. In the United States, government agencies have worked with shippers, retailers, and port authorities to speed up the movement of goods. For instance, ships waiting to unload containers in US ports have declined by 35 per cent, thanks to 24/7 operations and large recruitment of workers. However, the lack of US truck drivers has emerged as a new problem. Action was taken to hire 30,000 additional truck drivers, … [Read more...] about Will international stress disrupt Vietnam’s economic recovery?

Containers at Cát Lái Port, Việt Nam’s busiest container port. — VNA/VNS Photo HCM CITY — The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC) released on Thursday an action plan for reducing congestion at Cát Lái Terminal in HCM City, Việt Nam’s busiest container port. The action plan, unveiled at a workshop co-organised by USAID and GDVC, contains 21 recommendations to help position the port to meet increasing demand. Before COVID-19, the port was operating at full capacity, with demand as measured by container volume expected to double by 2030. The workshop brought together more than 70 representatives from Vietnam Customs, ministries, and the business community to discuss the action plan — the result of a Pre-Feasibility Study on Anti-Congestion and Facilitating Trade Logistics at Cát Lái Port conducted by the USAID Trade Facilitation Programme between May 2020 and March 2021. The study takes a comprehensive … [Read more...] about USAID supports efforts to reduce congestion at Cát Lái Port

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC) on Thursday released an action plan for reducing congestion at Cat Lai Terminal, Vietnam’s busiest container operation in Ho Chi Minh City. Containers at Cat Lai Port The action plan, unveiled at a workshop co-organized by USAID and GDVC, contains 21 recommendations to help position the port to meet increasing demand. Before COVID-19, the port was operating at full capacity, with demand as measured by container volume expected to double by 2030. The workshop brought together more than 70 representatives from Vietnam Customs, ministries, and the business community to discuss the action plan—the result of a Pre-Feasibility Study on Anti-Congestion and Facilitating Trade Logistics at Cat Lai Port conducted by the USAID Trade Facilitation Program between May 2020 and March 2021. The study takes a comprehensive look at the 160-hectare port’s … [Read more...] about USAID supports efforts to reduce congestion at Cat Lai Port

Container scarcity, input material price rises, and travel restrictions are just some of the factors damaging supply chains, Photo: Le Toan Demonstrating the wide reach that geopolitical tensions and the drag from global supply chain disruptions are causing worldwide, lowered prospects for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in Asia-Pacific are being projected for the rest of the year, after the number of such deals fell in the first several months of 2022. A total of 123 finance sector M&A deals were reported in the January-to-March quarter, compared with 165 in the same period of last year, S&P Global Market Intelligence data shows. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine, supply chain bottlenecks, and inflation concerns slowed down deal-making in the first quarter. “We expect to see deals start and stop as companies try to time when best to take the plunge,” said Sophie Mathur, partner and Asia head of corporate at law firm Linklaters. Despite the emerging opportunities, … [Read more...] about Reset required for supply chain woes

The ASEAN - US Special Summit takes place in Washington D.C. on May 12 - 13. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – A US official has described the recent ASEAN - US Special Summit as a “tremendous success” while addressing a press briefing held by the Asia Pacific Media Hub of the US Department of State’s Bureau of Public Affairs on May 17. Daniel J. Kritenbrink , Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, was cited by state.gov of the US Department of State, as saying that this was the largest in-person summit of the Biden - Harris administration to date, and it displayed the full breadth and depth of the US’s foundational relationship with ASEAN. He said the core driver of the ASEAN - US partnership is their combined 1 billion people, including over 7 million Americans with ties of family and heritage to the countries of Southeast Asia. The Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau and US universities are doing throughout Southeast Asia to strengthen … [Read more...] about US officials speak on ASEAN – US Special Summit

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh delivers a speech at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s trip to the US to attend the ASEAN-US Special Summit , and pay working visits to the US and the United Nations (UN) from May 11-17 has produced a lot of important results, both multilaterally and bilaterally, contributing to promoting the relations between ASEAN and the US, Vietnam and the UN, and Vietnam and the US, and affirming the country's position and prestige in the international arena. During his stay in the US, PM Chinh engaged in more than 60 activities in Washington D.C, Boston, New York and San Francisco. He attended and delivered a speech at the sessions of the ASEAN - US Special Summit, and met with leaders of several ASEAN countries such as the Prime Ministers of Laos, Cambodia and Singapore, and the President of Indonesia. Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said that the Government … [Read more...] about PM’s working trip to US enhances Vietnam’s position, prestige

The rise in consumer prices is making it harder for the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to convince markets it will keep monetary policy ultra-loose and as the gains fuel public concerns about pushing up living costs. The nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes volatile fresh food costs but includes those of energy, surged 2.1% in April from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday. That marked the fastest rise in a single month since March 2015 and matched the median forecast in a Reuters poll. The gain was much stronger than a 0.8% year-on-year rise in March, as the impact of mobile phone fee cuts from April last year that have pulled down overall CPI since then starts to fade from yearly comparisons. The overall rate of price increases in Japan has remained modest compared with much sharper rises in the United States and other advanced economies, as sluggish wage growth in the world's third-largest economy makes it harder for firms to raise prices. The BOJ … [Read more...] about Japan April consumer prices post biggest jump in over 7 years

Asian economies must be mindful of spillover risks as a decade of unconventional easing policies by major central banks is withdrawn faster than expected, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Deputy Managing Director Kenji Okamura said. This risk applied particularly to the most vulnerable economies, said Okamura, without naming them. Asian economies faced a choice between supporting growth with more stimulus and withdrawing it to stabilise debt and inflation, he said. While Bank of Japan policy runs counter to a global shift towards monetary tightening, central banks in the United States, Britain and Australia raised interest rates recently. Okamura, a former Japanese vice finance minister for international affairs, also said the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and tighter global financial conditions would make this year "challenging" for Asia. The war was affecting Asia through higher commodity prices and slower growth in Europe, he said. Speaking at his first media … [Read more...] about IMF urges Asia to be mindful of spillover risks from tightening

Thao Nguyen - Senior investment manager Ascend Vietnam Ventures Social commerce, a subset of e-commerce that refers to the process of buying and selling goods or services directly within social media platforms, is not new. In Vietnam, long before traditional e-commerce established a foothold with tech-savvy consumers, such activities largely took place on major social media platforms. Serving both big-city shoppers and the majority of the population who live outside of core urban centres, social commerce made up about 65 per cent of Vietnam’s $22 billion e-commerce in 2020, presenting the highest rate in Southeast Asia, according to Bain & Co. Within the last two years, we have been seeing a new wave of startups emerging in this sector and beginning to harness the untapped potential of Vietnam’s social commerce playing field. Some of those have attracted almost $14 million in funding in Q1 this year. Compared to the regional rate of 44 per cent, Vietnam’s social commerce … [Read more...] about Vietnam poised for the next level of social commerce via innovative startups