Business

The poster of the event (Source: vnpost.vn)

Binh Dinh (VNA) – The Vietnam Post Corporation will host the ASEAN Postal Business Meeting (ASEANPOST) for the third time from December 7-9, with the central province of Binh Dinh selected as the venue.

The meeting is set to feature a symposium on postal business; a roundtable conference of ASEANPOST senior leaders; and a fact-finding trip to some post offices and operation centres of Vietnam Post .

At the conference, the leaders will discuss the multilateral cooperation and action plan approved at the congresses of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and the Asia-Pacific Postal Union (APPU), which aim to develop a common strategy to address challenges in the region.

In addition, there will be a roundtable meeting of Southeast Asian postal CEOs to mull over opportunities and challenges facing the industry amid the digital transformation era.

ASEANPOST 2022 will focus on exchanging solutions to improve the quality of traditional delivery services and e-commerce delivery. (Source: vnpost.vn)

Vietnam Post will present papers on innovative and improved solutions that share its experience in postal operation management.

Earlier, the corporation hosted the 7th edition of the meeting in Hanoi in 2000 and the 17th edition in Da Nang in 2010./.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc December 5 meets top-rank executives of Korean conglomerates during his official 3-day visit to the country.

Vietnam’s President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, on December 5, hailed South Korean enterprises for setting up business operations in Vietnam, promising the Vietnamese Government would create a favorable environment for Korean and other foreign investors.

As part of his official 3-day visit to the Republic of Korea, President Phuc had discussions with local conglomerates in the fields of trade and services, smart infrastructure, electronics technology, automobile industry, and biology.

The meetings with Korean business executives aimed to strengthen the economic relationship between Vietnam and South Korea on the 30 ^th anniversary of establishing the two nations’ diplomatic relations, which falls on December 22.

Highlights of the meeting included an intention of LG Group to make Vietnam its biggest overseas manufacturing hub for car parts and second biggest R&D center.

Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (right) meets LG Group vice chairman Kwon Bong Seok on December 5. Photo: Vietnam News Agency

The South Korean conglomerate plans to pour an additional US$4 billion into Vietnam for screen production, he told a meeting with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc during the latter’s visit to the Republic of Korea on December 4-6.

The company’s current investment in local screen-making is $5.3 billion, Kwon Bong Seok said.

LG Group may also construct a new factory in Vietnam worth $1 billion and focus on research and development activities. In addition, he said that LG Group would strengthen its partnership with northern universities to nurture domestic talents as Vietnamese young people are highly potential and competent.

He emphasized that the visit of President Phuc to South Korea will bolster the chance for LG Group to expand its investment in Vietnam and improve its cooperation with Vietnamese partners.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc welcomed LG Group’s long-term business operation in Vietnam, especially the screen-making project in the northern port city of Haiphong.

He said that LG Group is now the second largest South Korean high-tech enterprise in Vietnam, adding that the South Korean enterprise and relevant companies have created jobs for some 97,000 Vietnamese workers.

The President hoped that LG Group would expand its Vietnam-based operations and develop Vietnam into the group’s major production and R&D center in the world.

“Vietnam promises to facilitate foreign investors, including South Korean ones,” he said.

Meeting with Daewoo E&C chairman

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on December 5 also met other Korean business executives, including the Chairman of Daewoo E&C, Jung Won-ju.

Daewoo E&C chairman said that the group is seeking further investment opportunities in fuel and gasoline, green growth, environment, and community services, while still constructing the Starlake Smart City project in Hanoi’s Tay Ho District, he said.

In mid-December, the group will work and assist the organization of the Vietnam-South Korea Investment and Partnership Forum to connect the business communities in both countries, he said.

“The event will strengthen the bilateral relationship between Vietnam and South Korea on the 30 ^th anniversary of establishing the two nations’ diplomatic relations,” Jung Won-ju said.

President Phuc appreciated that Daewoo E&C was among the first Korean investors in Vietnam and welcomed the Korean enterprise to make a strong return to Vietnam to foster the two-way relationship between Vietnam and South Korea.

With a population of 100 million and a high demand for healthcare services, the Vietnamese leader suggested Daewoo E&C get involved in developing local hospitals.

In addition, Phuc recommended the South Korean firm invest in infrastructure development, fuel and gasoline, and smart city projects to serve the needs of Korean investors in Vietnam.

Automobile development

President Phuc hailed Hyundai Motor for its success in Vietnam with its plants in the provinces of Quang Nam and Ninh Binh, thus enabling both Korean and Vietnamese firms to work in a win-win manner.

Phuc requested the Korean automobile manufacturer to keep cooperating with Vietnamese companies and invest further in local auxiliary industries, especially car part production.

Highlighting Hyundai Motor’s intention in local electric car production, Phuc said that the Vietnamese Government and ministries would study potential incentives for the company in terms of taxation and infrastructure and help promote the brand in Vietnam.

He hoped that Hyundai Motor would develop Vietnam into an automobile manufacturing center in the region and the world.

For his part, Hyundai Motor CEO Chang Jae-hoon said that the company expects to expand its electric car production in Vietnam and Asia.

Other Korean business executives who met President Nguyen Xuan Phuc included Kyung Shik Sohn, CEO of CJ Group, and Shin Dong-bin, CEO of Lotte Group.

Vietnamese businesses learnt about Rules of Origin in EVFTA

On December 2, the ARISE+ Vietnam Project in coordination with the Agency of Foreign Trade (AFT), under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), organised a workshop on “Capacity building on effective implementation of EVFTA’s Rules of Origin.”

Funded by the EU, the workshop falls under the project “Technical support for the ARISE+ programme in Vietnam” in efforts to effectively implement the EVFTA .

The workshop aimed to enhance export companies’ understanding of criteria for determining the origin of goods in the EVFTA, compared with the Generalised System of Preference (GSP), and to discuss procedures for issuing C/O form EUR.1.

During the panel discussion, experts and ministerial officials addressed questions and provided some recommendations for businesses during the implementation of the EVFTA after the expiration of the GSP.

Deputy director of AFT Do Thi Thu Huong emphasised the importance of the EVFTA , particularly in the context of COVID-19 bringing negative impacts to the world economy.

“For the EU, Vietnam is the first developing partner in the Asia-Pacific to have an FTA with the EU, as well as an important bridge for trade and investment between the EU and Southeast Asia. For Vietnam, the EU is a crucial trade and investment partner and one of its leading export markets,” Huong said.

Vietnam’s export turnover to the EU in the two-year implementation of the EVFTA (August 2020 – July 2022) reached $83.6 billion, 24 per cent higher than the average export turnover between 2016 and 2019.

In terms of the size and structure of goods, the EU is Vietnam’s third largest export market, following the United States and China, with a highly complementary structure of goods.

Many key export products of Vietnam to the EU also recorded impressive growth compared to before EVFTA was implemented, such as footwear, seafood, cameras, and equipment components.

However, the growth rate has not met the prospect of cooperative development between the two sides. In addition to the objective effects of the pandemic, many Vietnamese businesses have encountered difficulties accessing the EU market and implementing the EVFTA provisions.

To benefit from tariff preferences in the EVFTA , Vietnamese exporters must comply with ROO-related requirements, intellectual property, labour and environment-related standards, and other technical problems. However, many businesses remain confused when processing applications for certificates of origin and even lack resources for production conversion to meet such requirements.

Peter Bernhardt, team leader of the ARISE+ Vietnam Project, suggested that Vietnamese ministries, sectors, associations, and enterprises continue assessing the situation of EVFTA implementation and identifying hindrances, thereby offering practical solutions to improve the legal framework, enhance labour and environmental standards, combat illegal fishing, and strengthen the close coordination between ministries, branches, representative agencies.

Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue convened meetings with leaders of several New Zealand companies in Auckland on Sunday as part of his ongoing official visit to the country, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

Hosting Mike Cronin, managing director of Cooperative Affairs at Fonterra, Hue lauded the group’s joint work with Vietnamese firms, such as Vinamilk and Nutifood, in the supply and distribution of milk in the Vietnamese market.

The NA leader suggested the group study to expand cooperation and investment in Vietnam, adding that the Southeast Asian country is continuing to improve its legal system to create the best conditions possible for investors and ensure fair competition.

The top Vietnamese legislator also had meetings with Fiso Investment Group CEO John Fiso and Director of Viet River Holdings Limited Nguyen Truong Khoa, during which he welcomed businesses that have joined many networking activities between Vietnamese and New Zealand firms and directly invested in Vietnam.

On the same day, Hue hosted Don Ha, CEO of RE/MAX, and expressed his support for the company’s plan to import Vietnamese products into New Zealand.

Chairman Hue’s official visit to New Zealand runs from December 3 to 7.

New Zealand is a strategic partner of Vietnam in the South Pacific region, and cooperation between the two countries is developing strongly and effectively in all fields.

New Zealand is currently Vietnam’s 36th-largest trading partner.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, two-way trade reached US$1.3 billion in 2021 and $1.1 billion in the first nine months of 2022, up 13.6 percent year on year.

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