Online Friday 2021 to open on December 3 The Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) on November 26 announced an e-commerce week and the Vietnam Online Shopping Day – Online Friday 2021. The Online Shopping Week will be held from November 27 to December 5 while the Vietnam Online Shopping Day – Online Friday 2021 is scheduled for December 3 nationwide. Vietnam will work toward incorporating its Online Shopping Day with the online shopping event in the region to catch up with trans-border e-commerce trend as well as step up cashless payment, thus laying a foundation for authorities to suggest policies in support of enterprises in promotional activities. Consumers across the country could visit the website https://onlinefriday.vn and Online Friday app to acquire information about discounts and promotion programmes by participating firms and shop at websites and apps of others. The online shopping day was started in 2014./. …
VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS DECEMBER 2
Vietnam among markets driving future trade growth: Standard Chartered A recent research by Standard Chartered has listed Vietnam among the 13 markets driving future trade growth, and with its enhanced integration into the global economy, the country is holding numerous advantages for bolstering export. In its research, titled “Future of Trade 2030: Trend and markets to watch”, the bank forecast Vietnam will record an average annual exports growth rate of 7 percent to earn 535 billion USD in revenue in 2030. Notably, up to 41 percent of the global firms surveyed by Standard Chartered are operating in Vietnam or planning to invest in the country in the next five to 10 years. The US and China will remain the largest export markets of Vietnam, respectively accounting for 26 percent and 19 percent of the Southeast Asian country’s total exports by 2030. Meanwhile, shipments to India are also projected to grow fast, by 11 percent annually between 2020 and 2030. With …
VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS NOVEMBER 28
November CPI up 0.32 percent The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in November was up by 0.32 percent compared to October, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). It was driven by the hikes of prices of petrol and gas across the globe, as well as consumer goods and services in localities in the new normal. Among 11 groups of main commodities and services, nine experienced rising prices. In the first 11 months, the CPI went up 1.84 percent compared to the same period last year, the lowest level since 2016, attributed to the fuel price hikes by 30.32 percent year-on-year, after 20 adjustments. Housing and construction materials posted a year-on-year expansion of 6.8 percent and education grew 2.44 percent. Meanwhile, foodstuff inched down 0.52 percent and electricity prices dropped 1.06 percent against the same period last year. As COVID-19 prompted travel restrictions, air ticket prices fell 21.39 percent while travel package slipped 2.42 percent. Core inflation in …
KPMG exclusive #2: Hitting the spot with government support
Le Thi Kieu Nga , partner, head of Corporate Tax at KPMG The defining event of the past years was the COVID-19 pandemic. Our lives have changed, and business along with it. What would you say were the most effective changes businesses in Vietnam implemented throughout their operations to deal with the crisis? The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a “new normal” for the world of business. The government’s measures to deal with COVID-19 through closing borders, instigating lockdowns, and movement restrictions have decreased social connections and eventually caused labour shortages and supply chain disruptions for businesses. The most effective changes from enterprises to deal with the crisis, from our observation, would be the digitalisation of their operations and adopting agile mindsets by the management in arranging production. While digitalisation enables employees to work from anywhere, it provides new production models for manufacturers to maintain production schedule and …
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Grab’s $40 bln Nasdaq debut to set tone for Southeast Asian tech listings
Grab, Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing and delivery firm, makes its market debut on Thursday after a record $40 billion merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in a listing that will set the tone for other regional offerings. The backdoor listing on Nasdaq marks the high point for the nine-year-old Singapore company that began as a ride-hailing app and now operates across 465 cities in eight countries, offering food deliveries, payments, insurance and investment products. The biggest U.S. listing by a Southeast Asian company follows Grab's April agreement to merge with U.S. tech investor Altimeter Capital Management's SPAC, Altimeter Growth Corp and raise $4.5 billion, including $750 million from Altimeter. There is scope for many players in the fragmented food delivery and financial services markets in Southeast Asia, a region of 650 million people, but the road to profitability could be a long one, analysts say. Grab's flotation "will provide a bigger …
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Vietnam’s honey subject to US anti-dumping tax of 400%
Vietnam's honey production industry is facing a new challenge as honey exported to the US may be subject to a tax rate of up to 412.49%. The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has announced the preliminary anti-dumping tax rate for Vietnamese honey. The general tax rate imposed on all honey exporters from Vietnam is 412.49%, which doubles the rate of 207% initially proposed by the American Honey Manufacturers Association. Four other countries including Brazil, India, Ukraine and Argentina are also on the list of countries subject to honey export tax, but Vietnamese honey has the highest rate. Although this is just a preliminary ruling, the decision of the US Department of Commerce has seriously affected honey exporting firms and workers in the field of beekeeping in Vietnam. Vietnam and the US are discussing a fairer tax rate for Vietnamese businesses. Each year, the US beekeeping industry produces less than 100,000 tons of honey so it has to import more than …
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Asia’s informal workers risk losing out in green economy push, officials warn
Despite decades of economic growth, Asia-Pacific accounts for about two-thirds of the world's 2 billion informal workers, in sectors from industry to agriculture, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO). The rate of informal employment across the region, including those in part-time and temporary jobs without social protection, is on average 68 percent of the workforce. That poses a challenge to Asian governments seeking to shift to a low-carbon economy and employ a larger share of labor in areas such as renewable energy, officials told an ILO forum on the theme of "just transition" this week. Amina Maharjan, an expert on livelihood and migration in Nepal with the non-profit International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, said it was important to ensure informal workers do not simply lose their traditional livelihoods. Laborers work at the construction site of a residential complex on the outskirts of Kolkata, India January 23, 2016. Photo by …