Vietnam japan cooperation center

Denmark, through strategic sector cooperation (SSC) with Vietnam, helps implement national action plan in agriculture while promoting the engagement of stakeholders in the value chain.

Among issues shared at an event held in Hanoi on August 17, Vietnamese officials, experts, and businesses were impressed with the philosophy of “producing more from less” in Denmark’s agri-food sector.

Denmark targets the climate-neutral food industry by 2050. Photo: Danish Agriculture and Food Council

Troels Jakobsen, Trade Counsellor of the Embassy of Denmark, said Denmark produces three times more food than the Danish population can consume, with some of the lowest greenhouse gas emissions in Europe.

The idea was shared at Seminar – Business Matchmaking held in Hanoi on August 17 to discuss Danish experiences and solutions in sustainable agri-food production.

Meanwhile, Jeppe Søndergaard Pedersen, International Chief Advisor, the Danish Agriculture and Food Council, said Denmark has applied technology in the value chain in the agriculture and food cluster in the fields of primary, processing, and agro with a close eye on the production to ensure food safety from farm to table.

He said the production base accounts for 2.62 million hectares or 61% of the total land area of Denmark. However, the yield is far more than expected. In 2020, the Nordic country earned 9,6 million tons of grain, 5.7 million tons of milk, nearly 2 million tons of pork, some 170,000 tons of poultry, and more than 130,000 tons of beef.

The Danish agri-food sector is impressed by the reduction in the use of pesticides which was 53% lower in 2019 than in 2010. At the same time, organic production has increased significantly. In 2020, more than 4,000 organic farms farmed on  310,000 hectares of land.

The thing that left an impression on participants at the event in Hanoi is “More with less” or “sustainable intensification.” It means that Sustainability is a prerequisite; a more circular and resource-efficient approach; ensures a smaller impact on the environment, climate and surroundings; yet remains competitive through higher yields and increased efficiency, more value-added, targeted efforts towards promising new markets, and new partnerships and alliances.

Sharing the same philosophy on sustainability, Director of the Center for International Cooperation, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (DVFA) Troels Vensild said the Government supports exporting from the green and sustainable food clusters in Denmark. DVFA is responsible for food, feed and veterinary legislation; food, feed, and veterinary control; animal diseases; animal welfare; nutritional information; and international cooperation.

Accordingly, the Danish food sector is well positioned abroad in terms of brand and sustainability for the following reasons: Danish companies are among the world’s most sustainable food producers; Denmark is seen as a sustainable “frontrunner” in many countries in organic production and milk production; the green transition is key for Danish and the country’s companies to export sustainable products, resource-efficient solutions, and technologies.

In pursuing its philosophy of “Larger production with less input and impact”, Denmark is heading toward a climate-neutral food industry by 2050 in partnership with other countries to spread the idea.

Carsten Baltzer Rode, Chargé d’affaires, the Embassy of Denmark in Hanoi, said at the Seminar – Business Matchmaking held in Hanoi on August 17. Photo: Embassy of Denmark in Hanoi

Fruitful partnership

In recent years, the cooperation between the two countries is based on the spirit of fairness for mutual benefits. As a result, many Danish businesses are working in Vietnam thanks to many comprehensive agreements, Carsten Baltzer Rode, Chargé d’affaires, the Embassy of Denmark in Hanoi, said at the event.

Addressing the event in Hanoi, Sanne Høj Andrén, Sector Counsellor for Agri-Food, the Embassy of Denmark in Vietnam, said the two countries have intensified agri-food partnership through the Strategic Sector Cooperation (SSC), which involves Danish knowledge, Danish public-private solutions and technological leadership in different areas, including agriculture and food.

The overall aim of SSC for Vietnam is promoting sustainable development goals (SDGs), contributing to stronger bilateral relations, and opening doors for Danish companies, Sanne Høj Andrén told The Hanoi Times . She pointed out that the ongoing business matchmaking in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City demonstrates the partnership with the Government of Vietnam over the years and promotes the sharing of advanced technologies and know-how in the agri-food sector.

She said Vietnam is one of the first countries to engage in SSC with cooperation since 2015. Among four areas, there’s one project on food safety in the pork value chain joined by the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries of Denmark (MFVM).

The partnership is aimed to improve feed and food safety in the Vietnamese pork value chain to improve food safety in Vietnam and contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Global Climate Action Strategy.

Danish and Vietnamese experts in SSC on food safety in the pork value chain. Photo: Embassy of Denmark in Vietnam

Their cooperation focuses on assisting the Vietnamese competent authorities in traceability in the pork value chain; control and use of veterinary medicines (AMR prevention); food safety in meat processing; feed management and safety; capacity building in risk-based food safety management.

The SSC on food safety in the pork value chain includes three phases: the first taking place from February 2017 to December 2019, the second phase from April 2020 to December 2023, and the third phase between 2024 and 2026.

According to Sanne Høj Andrén, results from the first and second phases have been shown through the engagement of stakeholders and changes in the legal framework. In reality, they have helped issues regulations on feed management in the Animal Husbandry Law, issue a new Circular on the prescription of veterinary drugs with inputs from SSC experts, and issue a Circular on traceability and recall in 2021.

Affirming the role of SSC, Dinh Pham Hien, International Cooperation Department, MARD, said the assistance from Denmark matters a lot to the Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture in Vietnam (PSAV), which is an “initiative of a new vision for agriculture”. PSAV focuses on connecting players in the agricultural sector in order to share experience, and cooperate to develop the value chain of the Vietnamese key products under the public-private partnership (PPP), with the aim of increasing labor productivity, and creating more income for farmers, improving environmental sustainability in agricultural production.

Hien said PSAV has developed various environmentally friendly site models of sustainable farming and raised income for farmers. Certain PPP models have increased productivity by 17% and income by 17%, whereas they reduced CO2 by 43%, in comparison with several traditional models.

Data on organic farms and area in Denmark between 1990 and 2020. Photo: Danish Agriculture and Food Council

Since the launch of the EAEU in 2016, bilateral trade turnover has been on a steady rise and reached $630 million in 2021, nearly tripled that of in 2016.

Vietnam seeks cooperation with Kazakhstan in revising the Vietnam-Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Free Trade Agreement, which comprises Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan) to facilitate bilateral trade and investment cooperation.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi. Source: VGP

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stressed the view during a meeting with Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi today, as the latter is currently on a visit to Vietnam from August 17-18.

According to Chinh, Vietnam prioritizes its long-standing relations with Kazakhstan, welcoming the significance of Mukhtar’s visit at a time when both are celebrating the 30 ^th anniversary of diplomatic relations (1992-2022).

Chinh hailed the strong progress in Vietnam-Kazakhstan’s relations over the last three decades and expected both to continue the exchange of high-ranking delegations and support each other on multilateral platforms, especially in the UN, or the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

Since the launch of the EAEU in 2016, bilateral trade turnover has been on a steady rise and reached $630 million in 2021, nearly triple the figure in 2016.

Chinh requested Kazakhstan to create favorable conditions for Vietnam’s key export products, such as farm produce, seafood, garment, and wooden products.

To deepen the bilateral partnership, Chinh called for the two sides to promote the role of the Inter-governmental Committee on economy-trade and science-technology; negotiate to sign a treaty to waive visas for citizens, and launch direct flight and railway routes between the two countries.

For his part, Mukhtar said Kazakhstan expects to bolster its traditional friendship and multi-faceted relations with Vietnam, especially in economy, trade, and investment.

He pointed to the huge potential in the partnership, especially in agriculture, tourism, transport, finance, and green energy.

Mukhtar sent the invitation of Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister to Chinh to visit Kazakhstan at an appropriate time.

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – Many British investors are seeking investment opportunities in Vietnam in the hope of cashing in on free trade agreements ( FTA s) that Vietnam has signed with the UK and other economies worldwide.

The UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), which officially took effect in May 2021, was one of the first trade deals inked by the UK after it left the European Union by the end of 2020, which reflected the importance of Vietnam in the UK’s trade policy.

Bilateral trade and investment between the two economies have grown significantly with a growth rate of 17% last year.

Data of the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment showed as of October 20, 2021, the UK had 439 valid projects amounting to nearly 4 billion USD in registered capital in Vietnam.

Many big companies in many industries such as Dragon Capital, Standard Chartered, Diageo, Prudential, AstraZeneca, HSBC, Unilever and Jardines have established their operations in Vietnam and played important roles in developing certain sectors of the economy including finance, medicine, education, fashion and cosmetics.

Now, besides large companies, many UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) stand to gain significantly from the UKVFTA and other 14 FTAs that Vietnam has signed with more than 50 countries around the world.

“We see there was a spike of interest (from UK businesses) from March onwards, in conjunction with ( Vietnam ’s) opening up of borders, which made it much easier for investors to come to the country,” said Maria Kotova, a Gobal Business Development Manager and senior advisor from Dezan Shira & Associates, a professional services firm that provides FDI services for investors worldwide.

Kotova said there are several reasons why Vietnam attracts British investors.

They include it being a fast growing middle income country with a population of almost 100 million and GDP recorded last year at about 362.6 billion USD; a cheap and skilled workforce which has increased productivity and competitiveness over time; and attractive tax incentives, for example, corporate income tax of 10% if a company invests in technology for 15 years, compared to the traditional 20% on the market.

According to data from the National Wages and Productivity Commission, while not the lowest in Southeast Asia, Vietnam’s average monthly wage is around one-third lower than wages in the ASEAN-4 nations (including Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia) and around half of those in China.

However, most notably is broad and easy trade access to the entire region thanks to wide-ranging FTAs that Vietnam has signed with different blocs/countries which enable low tariff rates, Maria said.

She noted a lot of companies are either staging or establishing production facilities in Vietnam. They are producing and exporting products to many countries at zero tax rates or very low tax rates, or they export products to Vietnam and further process here to achieve a certain percentage of labour to be qualified as made-in-Vietnam products and then export those products to almost every country with which Vietnam has signed FTAs.

Vietnam is playing an important role in many UK companies’ diversification strategies as it is considered a major trade and investment hub in the Asia-Pacific region by being a party of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) which the UK is seeking to join.

Kotova named three sectors that British companies may consider investing in, including renewable energy, automotive and mobility industry and medical devices.

“I think a lot of our clients are looking into automotive and mobility industry in general, especially electric mobility which will be growing in double digits in the next few years,” Maria said, adding a lot of opportunities are presented to those who are working in the supporting industries.

Regarding the renewable energy industry, this is at the centre of the Vietnamese Government’s development strategy in the coming years, focusing on wind and solar energy and biomass. So UK businesses may participate in some big infrastructure development projects.

Last, about medical devices, currently, 90% of medical devices in Vietnam are imported. As demand for medical supplies and equipment is high given low domestic production capacity, the Vietnamese Government encourages the imports of foreign medical devices and offers low input and restrictions.

However, as only businesses registered in Vietnam with import licenses can distribute medical devices, Kotova said it’s very important for UK companies to establish a local office or appoint a local distributor to work with.

Vietnam welcomes UK investors

Vietnamese Government leaders have reaffirmed Vietnam is willing to create favourable conditions for investors of the UK to invest in Vietnam as well as operate in Southeast Asian countries.

In early June, Vietnam issued Decision No.667/QD-TTg approving a national strategy for foreign investment cooperation for the 2021-30 period. The strategy targets to increase the share of registered foreign investment capital from Asia, Europe and the US so that the capital placed by them represents more than 70% of the total disbursed in Vietnam by 2025 and 75% by 2030.

Besides top investors such as Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Japan, mainland China and Taiwan, the strategy also aims to boost investment from EU partners, the UK and Russia.

Vietnam is now actively positioning itself to attract “green FDI” and pursuing growth being aligned with global sustainability and climate change goals. The country is driving the economy towards green growth, sustainability and lower greenhouse gas emissions through the National Green Growth Strategy 2021-30.

According to chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce Vietnam Kenneth Atkinson, Vietnam’s commitment to higher international standards, such as international labour standards and sustainability, will also help to attract high-quality British investors, especially those committed to the UN’s Social Development Goals in their supply chain.

“However, opportunities are not without their challenges and the regulatory environment and business administration in particular still leave room for improvement. Whilst central Government seems well aware of this, there are still disconnects at a local and provincial level, which cause considerable delays in areas such as licensing and often a lack of transparency in other administrative areas,” Atkinson said./.

VNA

Hanoi (VNA) – The 4th China-ASEAN Forum on Health Cooperation will be held from September 14 to 16 in Nanning, the capital of south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

As one of the high-level forums of the 19th China-ASEAN Expo , slated from September 16 to 19, the hybrid forum aims to deepen exchanges and cooperation in various fields of health between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries in the post-COVID-19 era and strengthen health system resilience.

According to the China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat, the forum will feature a plenary session. A joint statement will be released, and several cooperation agreements will be signed.

There will be seven sub-forums on collaboration in disease prevention and control, health emergency cooperation, and maternal and child health exchange and cooperation.

Since the first forum in 2016, ASEAN countries and China have cooperated effectively in fields like infectious disaster control, traditional medicine, the health industry, human resources, and hospital management./.

VNA