Tag: 2022

Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company report paints a rosy picture for Vietnam’s digital economy.

Total capital from foreign investors reached $22.46 billion in the first ten months of the year.

At a discussion session on October 27 regarding the results of the socio-economic development plan in 2022 and the proposed plan for 2023, National Assembly (NA) deputies lauded the 2022 results but also expressed concern about high but unsustainable economic growth. They also proposed a host of solutions, such as exploiting the strengths of free trade agreements (FTAs) to expand and diversify export markets.

The fall of 276 points during September has resulted in a decline in the VN-Index of 500 points since the beginning of the year; one of the largest in the world. Not only domestic individual investors lost and withdrew funds, with many foreign funds also reporting record losses.

The Ministry of Finance has said it is developing a Decree on preferential tax rates to implement a series of FTAs in the 2022-2027 period, with some tax lines to come down to 0 per cent under a roadmap. An analyst from the Australian Economic Reform Program (Aus4ReForm) said that its participation in many bilateral and multilateral agreements with major economies in the world means Vietnam has become one of the most open countries in the region and the world.

The number of international visitors arriving in Vietnam by air reached 4.9 million in the third quarter of the year, a 35-fold increase over the same period last year when most of Vietnam was in lockdown, and equal to 49.8 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. VnDirect has forecast that visitor numbers will reach 12.5 million in 2022, equal to 88.5 per cent of the pre-pandemic number. The recent market decline has resulted in the price of many stocks falling, with attractive valuations and strong growth expectations meaning now is a good time to accumulate aviation stocks.

Vietnam’s aviation transport market has entered the low season and passenger numbers have fallen for two months in succession.

Ho Chi Minh City’s budget revenue in 2023 has been forecast at about VND496 trillion ($20.6 billion). This figure is overwhelming for a city that has only recently overcome the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Ministry of Finance, the city’s budget revenue in 2022 is estimated at VND427 trillion ($17.7 billion); the highest on record since the pandemic began.

As of the end of September, customer deposit balances at 32 leading securities companies had reached nearly VND67 trillion ($2.69 billion), down by more than VND3 trillion ($120 million) compared to the end of the second quarter. This shows that the amount of money withdrawn from the stock market is not significant and individual investors still consider securities an attractive investment channel compared to other channels such as gold, virtual currencies, bank savings, and real estate.

Addressing the OECD Asia Roundtable on Corporate Governance in 2022, organized by the State Securities Commission in cooperation with the OECD on October 20 and 21 in Hanoi, Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi said, “Vietnam has made many advances in corporate governance, helping to increase capital raising via the stock market by nearly 30 per cent each year. However, stronger measures are still needed to improve corporate governance at Vietnamese enterprises.”

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) believes that inflationary pressure is tending to increase. The 2022 figure is expected to exceed 4 per cent, posing challenges in control efforts next year. Cutting lending interest rates will also face difficulties, due to deposit rates and the USD/VND exchange rate both tending to increase.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has reported that the number of international visitors to Vietnam in the first nine months of 2022 reached only 33 per cent of the annual target of 5 million. At a seminar on developing the international tourist market held recently by the Khanh Hoa Provincial Department of Tourism in Vietnam’s south-central region, analysts said it is necessary to combine many solutions.

Data from FiinRatings shows that outstanding corporate bonds as of the end of September totaled more than VND1.3 quadrillion ($53 billion), or more than 13 per cent of 2021 GDP. Non-banking enterprises have VND908.8 trillion ($37 billion) and real estate enterprises VND455 trillion ($18 billion). This accounts for only 4 per cent of total credit in the banking system.

Businesses still have faith in Vietnam’s ability to recover from the current woes.

VASEP predicts that seafood exports will hit the annual export target by the end of November as the industry rapidly recovers.

A recent digital transformation conference heard that the share of the digital economy in GDP reached 10.41 per cent in June, up from 9.6 per cent at the end of 2021.

Ho Chi Minh City’s trade is still recording impressive growth despite Vietnam being affected by the troublesome global situation. A report from the city’s Department of Statistics shows that export turnover was $4.156 billion in September, an increase of 0.3 per cent compared to August, while import turnover in the first nine months was $48.764 billion, up 10.3 per cent year-on-year.

Figures from the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs show that the total number of Vietnamese workers going to work overseas was more than 103,000 in the first nine months of 2022, or 114.47 per cent of the annual plan, of which the number in September increased more than ten-fold over September last year. Japan continues to be the leading destination for Vietnamese workers, with 52,000, or nearly half.

At a CEO Forum on welcoming the wave of supply chain shifts in the electronics industry, held on October 4, analysts said Vietnam is a destination for many companies producing electrical and electronic products. Its electronics industry is one of the most promising in terms of receiving a new wave of relocated investment.

A survey conducted recently by Vietnam Holdings found that retail investors have a gloomy attitude towards securities, with just 7 per cent of respondents intending to invest in the stock market. The figure in August 2021 was 47 per cent. The average amount being invested is also down, by $2,000 to under the $9,900 average posted over the past ten months and 30 per cent below the figure at the beginning of the year.