ASEC Consultants-Vietnam

23/08/2020

Standardization for agro-value chain
027/07/2020 12:00 GMT+7
When it officially takes effect, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) will have a positive impact on promoting Vietnam’s exports, especially agro-products, to the EU.

Standardization for agro-value chain
Compared with rivals, Vietnam enjoys a big advantage in shrimp exports to the EU.
However, what the Vietnamese side needs to do is to standardize the value chain in the country.

Along with textiles and garments, footwear, machinery and phone components, agro-products in the Mekong Delta are affording a big opportunity when tariffs are eliminated immediately or reduced gradually after the EVFTA takes effect. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Import-Export Department, the EU market has a huge demand for imports, with about US$2.338 trillion in 2018. Vietnam’s exports made up only some 2% share of this market.

The department said the EU is the third largest market for Vietnam’s fisheries after the United States and Japan, with US$1.25 billion, accounting for 15% of Vietnam’s fisheries exports in 2019. For shrimps, the flagship export of the Mekong Delta, the tariff for frozen tiger prawns under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) will be cut from 4.2% to zero when the EVFTA takes effect. The tax for frozen white shrimps will be reduced gradually to zero after five years.

Compared with rivals, Vietnam enjoys a big advantage in shrimp exports to the EU. Thailand, which does not enjoy the GSP and has no FTA with the EU, is subject to a basic tariff of 12%. India and Indonesia, which have no FTA with the EU, have to pay a tax of 4.2% under the GSP. Ecuador, like Thailand, is subject to the same tax of 12%.

Ho Quoc Luc, chairman of Sao Ta Foods Joint-stock Company (FMC), said the key market for Vietnam’s shrimps after the EVFTA takes effect (August 1, 2020) is the EU. “The shrimp industry will definitely get better growth when the tariff for shrimps is reduced drastically, down to zero for some shrimp products, when the EVFTA takes effect.”

For tuna, the EU will eliminate tariffs for fresh and frozen tuna, except frozen minced and fillet tuna (HS code 030487), over three years. The tariff for steamed minced and fillet tuna (materials to produce canned tuna), currently at 24%, will be scrapped over seven years. Canned tuna products of various kinds will enjoy tariff exemption for an annual quota of 11,500 tons, according to the Import-Export Department.

Under the EVFTA, the tariff for pangasius fish will be cut from the current 5.5% to zero in the third year after the agreement takes effect.

Some processed seafood products subject to a basic tariff of 20%, such as oysters, clams, squids, octopuses and abalone, will enjoy a zero tax when the agreement takes effect. The tariff for frozen squids and octopuses will be cut immediately from 6-8% to zero, for surimi from 14.2% to zero, and other frozen marine fish from 7.5% to zero.

For vegetables and fruit and processed products from vegetables and fruit, the tariff for 94% of the total of 547 tariff lines will be scrapped immediately. Among those vegetables and fruit are a number of products which Vietnam as well as the Mekong Delta have strong advantages, such as longans, rambutans, dragon fruit, pineapples, melons and lychees.

Most of the tariff lines which the EU has pledged to eliminate are those with an average tax of 10%, and some with a tax of over 20%. The tax cut will give Vietnamese vegetables and fruit a strong advantage in prices over those of rivals.

For rice, the EU grants Vietnam a tax exemption quota of 80,000 tons per year, including 30,000 tons of husked rice, 20,000 tons of unhusked rice and 30,000 tons of frangrant rice. In particular, broken rice will enjoy a zero tax after five years the agreement takes effect. For products from rice, the tax will drop to zero after three to five years.

Standardization crucial

To seize the opportunity from the EVFTA, the Import-Export Department said it’s necessary to restructure agriculture. The quality of export agro products must be standardized to meet criteria for food hygiene and safety. In addition, the post-harvest preservation technology for fresh vegetables and fruit shoud be applied.

Economic expert Tran Huu Hiep told the Saigon Times that agriculture in the Mekong Delta has made progress, especially in the development of value chains. “Agriculture has obviously received interest in investment and development of material growing areas from some big enterprises,” Hiep said.

However, Hiep noted that it was the progress over the past. For the present, especially with the challenges when Vietnam enters a big market with increasingly stricter requirements under the EVFTA, there is still room for improvement.

First, export products must have perfect quality as per standards and meet the requirement for origin traceability, that is the product value chain must be really connected and accountable for responsibility. Second, participants in the value chain must have close connection, not separation like the situation in the past. “Take for an example,” Hiep said, “agro-product sales contracts in the past might be affected in prices when buyers and sellers broke their promises and turned agaisnt each other.” He noted that it was an extremely loose connection, a weakness that must be rectified to standardize the value chain and make quality products to meet requirements under the EVFTA.

Nguyen Minh Toai, director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Can Tho City, said with the EVFTA, enterprises will have to trace the origin by themselves. If the traceability is executed well, their exports to the EU will be very favorable. “However, if only one enterprise performs wrongly, the entire export industry may be banned. So, there must be a roadmap and control of the authorities to prevent the case that one poor performer may tarnish the national reputation,” Toai noted.

For aquaculture products, besides origin traceability to meet the requirements under the EVFTA, enterprises must improve product quality and leave no antibiotics. “The EVFTA is an advantage for Vietnam, opening a large market for the country. But to make full use of the advantage, enterprises must meet the requirements,” he said.

Pham Dinh Vu, chief office manager of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), thought that the EVFTA is a “highway” to connect Vietnam and the EU market. However, to join the highway, apart from the removal of institutional barriers, enterprises must upgrade themselves to meet the international commitments and regulations. “Drivers on the highway must meet standards, especially legal regulations, for smooth traffic,” Vu said, suggesting that enterprises should upgrade their management capacity. SGT

Trung Chanh

03/04/2017

MEET TO MEET THE SDGS: “WHY BUSINESS SHOULD LOVE THE FOREST”

An increasing number of businesses worldwide – also in Southeast-Asia – are committing to zero-deforestation policies, promising that their activities shall not lead to the destruction of natural forests. Among the Vietnamese population, there is also a growing interest in companies and products that contribute towards protecting forests and other natural habits.

The forum Meet to Meet the SDG “Whhy business should love the forest” has been organized by UNIDO, VCCI and Global Compact Network and the UN-REDD programme, with support from Norway, at Wednesday, 29th March 2017 in Hanoi and at Thursday, 30th March in Ho Chi Minh City.



The Norway Embassy attended a forum in Hanoi, “when it comes to forests, CSR is more than traditional tree planting campaigns. It means looking carefully at your different business activities and trying to change practices that possibly can harm the natural environment, said Norway Ambassador Siren Gjerme Eriksen.

In his opening remarks, VNFOREST Deputy Director General Nguyen Van Ha said, sustainable forest management is also an overall objective of the forest sector, in order to achieve this objective, the engagement and participation of the private sector is crucial to share responsibilities and collaborate for forest protection and livelihood development.

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The UN-REDD Programme is the United Nations Collabora-tive Programme on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in de-veloping countries with tech-nical support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Develop-ment Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environ-ment Programme (UNEP). The UN-REDD Viet Nam Phase II Programme started officially in July 2013. The National Executing Agency is the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). The National Implementing Partner is Vietnam Administra-tion of Forestry (VNFOREST). The Programme is implement-ed in 6 pilot provinces namely Lam D**g, Ca Mau, Binh Thu-an, Ha Tinh, Bac Kan and Lao Cai. The Programme’s Objec-tive is “To enhance Viet Nam’s ability to benefit from future results-based payments for REDD+ and undertake trans-formational changes in the forestry sector”
Source: Vietnam REDD

03/03/2017

http://asec.com.vn/senior-officials-discuss-priorities-for-apec-2017/

03/03/2017

http://asec.com.vn/binh-dinh-to-host-international-conference-on-environmental-management/

Hundreds of notable scientists from around the world will gather in Bình Định for a conference next month to discuss environmental pollution recovery and management. The gathering was announced at a Wednesday working session in Hà Nội between leaders of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environm...

03/03/2017

http://asec.com.vn/long-an-industry-goes-green/

24/02/2017

http://asec.com.vn/australia-aids-community-infrastructure-projects/

HCM CITY — The Australian Consulate General in HCM City on Wednesday awarded Direct Aid Programme (DAP) grants worth more than VNĐ3.3 billion (around US$144,500) to 11 projects for the 2016-17 period. The projects, based in the central and southern regions, span a range of sectors from community hea...

24/02/2017

http://asec.com.vn/fdi-hits-3-4b-in-first-two-months/

HÀ NỘI — Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Việt Nam reached US$3.4 billion in the first two months of the year, up 21.5 per cent, compared to the same period last year, the Foreign Investment Agency’s latest statistics has revealed. Up to 313 new foreign-invested projects, with a capital of more th...

16/02/2017

Majority of Japanese firms plan to expand Vietnam business: survey

The majority of Japanese enterprises operating in Vietnam polled in a recent survey said they had plans to expand their investment in the country, despite acknowledging challenges in the local business environment.
As many as 66 percent of Japanese companies operating in Vietnam will look to expand in the future, the Ho Chi Minh City office of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) said on Tuesday, citing results from its Survey on Business Conditions of Japanese Companies in Asia and Oceania.
According to 88 percent of those, the main factors encouraging them to expand was the fact that they had been operating at a profit, while 46 percent saw “high potential for growth” in the Southeast Asian country, according to the survey’s results.
The poll was conducted between October 11 and November 11, 2016, surveying 1,285 Japanese businesses in Vietnam, with 639 respondents.
In the previous survey, 63.9 percent of respondents said they would expand their investment in Vietnam. The new figure, 66.6 percent, suggests that the country’s business environment has improved, according to JETRO.
Indeed, 62.8 percent of respondents to the 2016 survey said they were operating at a profit in Vietnam, up 4 percentage points from 2015.
However, just like the 2015 survey, Japanese enterprises acknowledged five major risks affecting their businesses in Vietnam, including underdeveloped legal systems and unclear legal system operations, time-consuming administrative procedures, increasing labor costs, time-consuming tax procedures and insufficient infrastructure (power, logistics and communications).
Of these five risks, all but the “increase in labor cost” has improved since the last survey period in 2016.
Only 41.8 percent of respondents said time-consuming administrative procedures were considered a risk when investing in Vietnam, a 19.3 percentage point drop from 2015 -- an encouraging result for the country’s business administrators.
Meanwhile, 48.4 percent said the most significant risks were the underdeveloped legal system and unclear legal operations, and 38.5 percent complained about time-consuming tax procedures, a decrease of 14.9 percentage points and 15.4 percentage points respectively, from 2015.
However, as many as 58.5 percent of respondents in the latest survey pointed to increased labor cost as their biggest risk, up 3.9 percentage points from 2015.
Vietnam also ranked fourth out of 15 surveyed countries in terms of having what was described as “immature industrial clusters,” with 34.9 percent of respondents believing that Vietnam’s supporting industries are underdeveloped.
This result in particular may lead to the possibility that businesses inside industries like car manufacturing may leave Vietnam for other markets, as noted by Takimoto Koji, chief representative of the Ho Chi Minh City office of JETRO.
tuoitrenews

14/01/2017

APEC 2017 looks to entrepreneurs
Việt Nam will officially host all activities within the framework of the 29th Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) in November this year, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has announced.

At the APEC 2017 forum, entrepreneurship co-operation will be a major focus, and the Vietnamese Government would like to see the participation of businesses in dialogues with governmental agencies and increased trade co-operation with APEC partners, said Vũ Tiến Lộc, VCCI chairman, at a conference in Hà Nội on Thursday.

Hosting the forum will be an important foreign affairs milestone for Việt Nam. It will be an opportunity to learn about the latest investment trends, business and international integrations, to contribute to the progress of regional cooperation and to gain access to potential trade partners from APEC economies.

Lộc said the government had entrusted the VCCI to organise events and activities relating to businesses within the APEC agenda. One such important event will be the APEC Startup Forum, which will be hosted concurrently with the APEC small and medium enterprises ministerial meeting in September in HCM City. At least 300 Vietnamese and APEC representatives are expected to take part in this forum.

With 20 major activities and 159 meetings across eight provinces and cities, APEC 2017 will give Vietnamese businesses the opportunity to further integrate into the global production network, said Nguyễn Minh Vũ, deputy head of the APEC 2017 National Secretariat, while speaking at the conference.

It will be a great opportunity for the country to change thinking patterns and build an integrated culture over the next decade, Vũ said. It will be Việt Nam’s key foreign affairs focus until 2025, with priority given to a constructive government and to strengthening relationships with both regional and global trade partners.

With its year-long activities, the APEC event, themed “Creating new driving force for a common future”, will help create new opportunities for regional economic integration and growth in Asia Pacific. It will provide the country a platform to develop and promote the national image to global partners as well as encourage Việt Nam to fulfil its international commitments and take on more roles.

The VCCI will host the APEC Startup Forum, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC 4) and APEC CEO Summit 2017. APEC 2017 will culminate with the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meet in Đà Nẵng. — VNS

Read more at http://vietnamnews.vn/economy/349673/apec-2017-looks-to-entrepreneurs.html .99
vietnamnews.vn

14/01/2017

Vietnamese pharmaceutical firm acquires local partner of Canadian drug venture
A Vietnamese pharmaceutical firm has inked a deal to acquire a drugmaker which is the local partner in a Canadian joint venture.
Cuu Long Pharmaceutical (Pharimexco), located in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long, is expected to complete the deal to buy Euvipharm at VND170 billion (US$7.6 million) in the first quarter, with Pharimexco and its subsidiaries owning 90 percent of Euvipharm’s shares upon the conclusion of the transaction.
Euvipharm was established in 2005, possessing one of Vietnam’s biggest and most complete drug manufacturing facilities. Its factory in Long An Province, located in the Mekong Delta, received an investment of $17 million.
In 2013, Euvipharm became a member of a joint venture with Canada-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International.
In June, the company was suspended from all manufacturing activities for three months by the Drug Administration of Vietnam over violations in drugmaking, including the use of ingredients with unclear origin and substandard drug testing.
Nguyen Van Sang, chairman of Pharimexco, said the acquisition of Euvipharm would boost the firm’s manufacturing power while enabling it to develop new lines of drug by making use of the modern equipment available at Euvipharm’s Long An factory.
Pharimexco reported a pre-tax profit of nearly VND68.5 billion ($3.06 million) in the first three quarters of 2016, a 23 percent growth rate from 2015.
tuoitrenews.com

14/10/2016

The consultancy assignment “Assessment of forest & carbon stock changes, identification of major driving forces, and potential opportunities and options for two prioritized SFEs to become REDD+ and PES service providers” for Support for the REDD+ Readiness Preparation in Vietnam Project, WB TF01344, conducted by ASEC and a Finland partner has officially commenced on 15th August 2016 and expected to finish by the end of November 2016.

The consultancy assignment “Assessment of forest & carbon stock changes, identification of major driving forces, and potential opportunities and options for two prioritized SFEs to become REDD+ and PES service providers” for Support for the REDD+ Readiness Preparation in Vietnam Project, WB TF01344,...