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Exports likely to reach set target

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has predicted that Vietnam’s export turnover in 2012 will reach US$109.5 billion, up 13 percent against 2011.

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According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus of US$100 million in July of this year.

The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) sector alone is estimated to earn US$39 billion from exports in the first seven months this year, up 36.6 percent against the same period last year and accounting for 62 percent of export turnover, while the sector imported US$32.9 billion worth of goods, up 25.3 percent from last year’s period and accounting for 52.2 percent of the country’s total imports.

Textiles and garments remained key exports in July, earning US$1.4. billion, followed by mobile phones and spare parts (US$1.2 billion), crude oil (US$975 million), and seafood (US$520 million).

These figures indicate a downward trend for exports in July compared to previous months, with most farm produce, including rice, coffee, cashew nuts, and cassava seeing reductions in volume and value.

In the meantime, import values saw a slight increase with electronics, computers and spare parts recording the highest import values of US$1.05 billion (down US$20 million), followed by automobiles at US$630 million, fabrics at US$600 million, and steel, US$507 million.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has estimated that imports will hit US$115 billion in 2012, up 7.7 percent from 2011.

According to an action program on implementing the Government’s 2011-2012 Export-Import Strategy, with a vision to 2030, export turnover in 2020 will be three times higher than that in 2010 and national per capita income will reach US$2,000.

Export growth is expected to be maintained at an annual 12 percent in the 2011-2015 period, 11 percent in 2016-2020 and 10 percent in 2021-2030.

Vietnam also aims to keep its trade deficit below 10 percent of its total export revenues by 2015, ensure a trade balance in 2020, and enjoy a trade surplus between 2021-2030.

The country will also develop favorable policies to promote high potential, highly competitive and high-value added exports. Exports will be developed in a sustainable manner by increasing their value.

Accordingly, Vietnam will promote new technology to increase exports of processed minerals, improve the productivity and quality of the agricultural, forestry and aquatic sectors, and develop high-tech products and support industries.

In order to achieve these goals, the strategy also proposes measures for speeding up economic restructuring and market development, as well as financial and credit policies, and infrastructure and human resources development.


Exports likely to reach set target | Vietnam Business News
 
Vietnam maintains world's top pepper exporter
English.news.cn 2012-08-14 14:10:00

HANOI, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam continues to be among the world's top pepper exporters, when the country exported 77,000 tons of pepper in the first seven months of this year, earning 532 million U.S. dollars, a decrease of 69 percent in volume, but an increase of 17.1 percent in value year-on-year, reported the Vietnam General Statistics Office on Tuesday.

According to the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA), the country is forecast to export between 110,000-115,000 tons of pepper in 2012, earning about 780 million U.S. dollars, if the pepper price remains as high as those in July at more than 7,000 U.S. dollars per ton.

Currently, wholesale pepper price at key pepper growing areas in Vietnam's Central Highlands and southeast region is between 123, 000-125,000 VND (5.9-7.2 U.S. dollars) per kilo, an increase of 18, 000-20,000 VND (80-90 cents) per kilo against the same period last year.

Over the past decade, Vietnam's pepper production has made strong growth. In 2001, VPA had only 34 member companies, which rose to 105 members as of May 2011.

During the 10-year period, the average pepper output increased from 3-5 tons per hectare to 9-10 tons/ha, compared with those in India and Indonesia with 0.2-0.3 ton/ha, or Malaysia and Brazil with 1-2 tons/ha.

Vietnam becomes the world's top pepper exporter, having products available in 80 countries and regions, including large markets like the EU, the United States, the Middle East and Asia, and accounting for 40-50 percent of the global export volume, said VPA.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the country has about 50,000 hectares of land under pepper growing, accounting for 2.5 percent of the country's total 2 million hectares for the cultivation of five kinds of industrial plants. However, pepper export value makes up more than 8 percent of the total export value of those industrial plants, which is six times higher than tea, four times than rubber, 3.8 times than cashew and 2.6 times than coffee, reported VPA.

In 2011, Vietnam exported 123,808 tons of pepper, worth 732.21 million U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 5.9 percent in volume and 73.8 percent in value, accounting for 0.76 percent of the country's total commodity export value.

The country's big pepper importers include the United States, the U.A.E, Germany, Netherlands, India, Egypt, Pakistan, Spain, Britain and Russia.

Vietnam maintains world's top pepper exporter - Xinhua | English.news.cn
 
The new Asian tiger?
February 23, 2012 | by Marco Breu and Richard Dobbs
Article|Foreign Policy Magazine - McKinsey Global Institute

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Ten things you didn't know about Vietnam's rise.

It's clear that much has changed in Southeast Asia since the Vietnam War. Over the past 25 years, Vietnam has transformed itself. In 2007, Vietnam became a full-fledged member of the global economic community through its membership in the World Trade Organization. It has become a magnet for foreign investment and is evolving rapidly from an agricultural economy to one focused on higher-value manufacturing and services. But if Vietnam wants to sustain its remarkable growth, it will need to boost labor productivity in the industrial and service sectors in the years ahead.

Here are 10 takeaways from the McKinsey Global Institute report "Sustaining Vietnam's Growth: The Productivity Challenge" that might surprise you.

1. Vietnam has grown more rapidly than any other Asian economy except China.

Vietnam, a country once ravaged by war, has been one of Asia's economic success stories over the past quarter-century. Ever since the Communist Party introduced reforms known as "Doi Moi" ("Renovation") in 1986, the country has reduced barriers to trade and capital flows and opened the economy more widely to private business. During this period, the economy has expanded faster than any other Asian economy except China's, posting annual per capita GDP growth of 5.3 percent. This growth has continued in the face of the 1990s Asian financial crisis and the recent global economic downturn (the economy grew 7 percent per year from 2005 to 2010)—a more robust record than many other Asian economies can boast.

2. Vietnam is moving out of the paddy fields.


Vietnam's economy no longer revolves around agriculture. In fact, agriculture's contribution to the country's GDP has been cut in half from 40 to 20 percent in just 15 years, in a much more rapid shift than we have observed in other Asian economies. A comparable transformation took 29 years in China and 41 years in India.

Over the past 10 years, agriculture's share of national employment has dropped by 13 percentage points, while the share of workers employed in industry has risen by 9.6 points and in services by 3.4 points. This shift of workers from agriculture to industry and services has made a powerful contribution to Vietnam's economic expansion because of the large differences in productivity between these sectors. As a result, agriculture's share of GDP has fallen by 6.7 percentage points while industry's share has risen by 7.2 percentage points over the past 10 years.

3. But Vietnam is a leading global exporter of pepper, cashews, rice, and coffee.


Vietnam is the world's leading exporter of pepper, shipping 116,000 tons of the spice in 2010, and has led the world in exports of cashews for four years in a row. The country is also the world's second-biggest exporter of rice after Thailand and second only to Brazil in exports of coffee, which have nearly tripled in just four years. Vietnam ranks fifth in the world in the production of tea and sixth in exports of seafood such as catfish, cuttlefish, shrimp, and tuna.

4. Vietnam is not "China+1."

Rising labor costs in China have already spurred some factory owners to shift production to Vietnam, which has an abundance of low-wage labor. The trend has fueled talk among many CEOs about Vietnam becoming Asia's next big platform for manufacturing exports—a smaller version of China, or China+1.

But Vietnam is very different from China in two respects. First, Vietnam's economy is driven more by personal consumption than China's is. Consumption by households accounts for 65 percent of Vietnam's GDP—an unusually high share in Asia. In China, by contrast, consumption accounts for just 36 percent of GDP.

Second, while China's rapid economic growth has been fueled by manufacturing exports and extraordinarily high levels of capital investment, Vietnam's economy is much more balanced between manufacturing and services, which each accounting for approximately 40 percent of GDP. Vietnam's growth has been broad-based, with competitive niches across the economy. Over the past five years, output in the industry (including construction, manufacturing, mining, and utilities) and service sectors has grown at comparable annual rates of about 8 percent.

5. Vietnam is a magnet for foreign investment.

Vietnam is on most lists of attractive emerging markets for foreign investors. Surveys by Britain's trade and investment department and the Economist Intelligence Unit have consistently ranked Vietnam the most attractive emerging-market destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) after the BRIC quartet of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Registered FDI flows into Vietnam increased from $3.2 billion in 2003 to $71.7 billion in 2008 before falling during the global recession to $21.5 billion in 2009.

Here, again, Vietnam diverges from China. Nearly 60 percent of FDI in China has been poured into labor-intensive manufacturing, compared with only 20 percent in Vietnam. In the latter case, much of the remaining investment has found its way to mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (40 percent) and real estate (15 to 20 percent), reflecting rapid growth in Vietnam's tourism industry. The number of foreign tourists coming to Vietnam has risen by one-third since 2005.

6. Vietnam has more advanced road infrastructure than the Philippines or Thailand.

Vietnam has begun to make significant investments in infrastructure. Many visitors to Vietnam still view the country's roads as pretty basic. But, for its stage of economic development, Vietnam has been adding road infrastructure at quite a rate. Its road density reached 0.78 kilometers per square kilometer in 2009, which is higher than the road density in the Philippines or Thailand, both economies that are further on in their development than Vietnam is. That same year, electricity networks covered more than 96 percent of the country. New container ports such as those in Dung Quat and Cai Mep and airports such as those in Da Nang in central Vietnam and Can Tho in the Mekong Delta region have improved connections with the rest of the world.

7. Vietnam's young generation is going online.

Vietnam's population is young, well-educated, and increasingly online. Mobile subscriptions in Vietnam grew nearly 70 percent per year between 2000 and 2010 compared with less than 10 percent per year in the United States in the same decade. By the end of 2010, Vietnam had 170 million telephone subscribers, of which 154 million had mobile subscriptions.

At 31 percent, Internet penetration in Vietnam is much lower than in other Asian states such as Malaysia (55 percent) and Taiwan (72 percent). But this is changing rapidly. Broadband subscriptions in Vietnam increased from 0.5 million in 2006 to around 3.8 million in 2010, the same year that 3G subscriptions hit 7.7 million. Once the telecom infrastructure catches up, mobile and Internet use is likely to explode. Already, 94 percent of Vietnam's Internet users access news online. More than 40 percent of users access the web every day.

8. Vietnam is becoming a top location for outsourced and offshore services.


Vietnam already employs more than 100,000 people in the outsourcing and offshore services sector, which today generates annual revenues of more than $1.5 billion. Several prominent multinational corporations have established operations in Vietnam, including Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Panasonic. In fact, the country has the potential to become one of the top 10 locations in the world in this sector, due to its relatively large pool of young college graduates (universities send 257,000 young men and women into the workforce each year) and relatively low wages. A software programmer in Vietnam can be employed for less than 60 percent of what it costs to hire one in China, while data-processing and voice-processing agents in Vietnam cost 50 percent less to employ than their counterparts in China.

Outsourcing and offshore services in Vietnam could produce annual revenues of between $6 billion and $8 billion a year, much of it export-oriented—as long as there is sufficient demand and Vietnam ensures that it can satisfy that demand. This sector could become an engine of job creation in urban areas, employing an additional 600,000 to 700,000 people by 2020 and contributing 3 to 5 percent to Vietnam's GDP growth.

9. Vietnamese banks are ending at a faster rate than their Chinese, Indian, or ASEAN counterparts.


Total outstanding bank loans in Vietnam have increased by 33 percent per year over the past decade—a stronger growth rate than those recorded in China, India, or any Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) country. By the end of 2010, the value of outstanding loans had reached an estimated 120 percent of GDP, compared with only 22 percent in 2000. Although this may be evidence of new dynamism in the Vietnamese economy, oiled by an expanding banking system, the worry is that an associated rise in non-performing loans could trigger significant economic distress in Vietnam (as it has elsewhere) and force the government to intervene in the financial sector to protect depositors, the banking system, and, ultimately, taxpayers.

10. Vietnam's demographic dividend is waning.

Between 2005 and 2010, an expanding pool of young workers and a rapid shift away from agriculture generated two-thirds of Vietnam's growth. The other one-third came from enhanced productivity. But now the first two drivers of growth are weakening. Official statistics predict that growth in the labor force will decline to around 0.6 percent a year over the next decade, compared with annual growth of 2.8 percent from 2000 to 2010. And it seems very unlikely that the transition from farm to factory can continue at anything like the speed we have seen in the recent past.

Productivity improvements will therefore need to pick up the slack if Vietnam is to maintain its historical growth rate. More precisely, labor productivity growth in the service and manufacturing sectors will need to accelerate by more than 50 percent from 4.1 percent annually to 6.4 percent if the economy is to meet the government's target of 7 to 8 percent annual growth by 2020. Should that productivity boost not materialize, Vietnam's growth would likely decline to between 4.5 and 5 percent annually. At that pace, Vietnam's GDP in 2020 would be 30 percent lower than it would have been had the economy continued to grow by 7 percent each year.

* * *

Vietnam has many intrinsic strengths—a young labor force, abundant natural resources, and political stability. If it acts decisively to head off short-term risks and pursues a productivity-led growth agenda, it can enter a second wave of growth and prosperity.


This article originally ran in Foreign Policy Magazine.
The New Asian Tiger? | McKinsey Global Institute | McKinsey & Company
 
At the pace of economic development we will never catch up with other nations in the regions such as China.
Unless we are able to find more oil and gas reserves in the East Sea.
 
Can someone post on Vietnamese manufacturing and robotics

Heard alot about it.

Our advantages is agriculture, not robots.

However, with your request, I would introduce some address of the industrial production and robot 100% Vietnam:

This is a service robot of TOSY Company: Its name: TOPIO Dio

TOPIO Dio welcomes all orders, even the most complicated. Dio will not drop a single hair into your food while serving you. Feel like a Martini? He's also a skillful bartender!

TOPIO Dio has a 3 wheel moving platform, 28 degrees of freedom and can be operated from anywhere with a built-in camera and an obstacle detector. His free movement and flexible hands help him become a special assistant to people in need.

The lightweight TOPIO Dio (125cm, 45kg) is a service robot that offers special added-value to customers in the Hospitality & Restaurant industry.


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source: Tosy.com

TOSY - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Vietnam’s Industrial Growth Gets a New Twist
Jai CS
Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Vietnam, the thickly-populated developing country which had been struggling for the past 30 years due to war, loss of financial support, and the centrally-planned economy, is now slowly stabilizing and is proving to be one of the few fast-growing countries in the world. A number of industrial zones and major economic zones have been established in the country.

Located along the Asia-Pacific Rim in Southeast Asia, Vietnam’s industrial production value is said to have gained satisfactory growth with 73.7 trillion dong, rising 16.1 percent against the same period last year, of which, state economic zone saw a growth of 6.7 percent, private economic regions went up by 18.9 percent and foreign invested economic areas soared 18.5 percent, according to the general Statistic Office.

Key industries focused on in Vietnam currently include food processing, garments, shoes, machine-building, mining, coal, steel, cement, chemical fertilizers, glass, tires, oil, and paper.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) country intelligence data and report, Vietnam’s economic outlook forecasts to be strong for the future. In spite of the fact that the entire world is seeing an economic recession, Vietnam is gaining the strength to continue as a highlight in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) growth compared to other economies around the world.

Reports also indicate that with Asia currently being the strongest region in terms of economic growth, foreign investors will remain positive about Vietnam’s long-term prospects.

Vietnam’s economy is mainly dominated by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) which are reported to produce about 40 percent of the GDP. The country is also planning to implement the structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more competitive export-driven industries.

Way back in 2007, Vietnam joined the WTO and eventually became an official negotiating partner in the developing TransPacific Partnership trade agreement in 2010. Industrial share increased from 36 percent to 41 percent this year. Over the time, foreign trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) also have improved significantly in this place. From 1990 to 2005, agricultural production nearly doubled, transforming Vietnam from a net food importer to the world’s second-largest exporter of rice. The 2001 entry-into-force of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) between the U.S. and Vietnam was a significant milestone for Vietnam’s economy and for normalization of U.S.-Vietnam relations. Bilateral trade between the United States and Vietnam has expanded dramatically, rising from US$2.91 billion in 2002 to $17.9 billion in 2010. After China, the U.S. is Vietnam’s second-largest trade partner.

Vietnam’s industrial production value in January 2011 is reported to have reached VND73.7 trillion (US$3.52 billion), rising 16.1 percent against the same period last year. Some of the products that reported high growth this year includes; rolled steel 15.9 percent, powder milk 15.4 percent, electricity production 14.3 percent, motors 13.5 percent and adult clothing 12.4 percent. Industries like liquefied petroleum gas reported a growth of 36.2 percent, footwear 35.1 percent, ceramic tiles 32.5 percent, tires for automobile and tractor 26.8 percent, glass 20.7 percent, cement 18.9 percent and textile fiber 17.2 percent.

More foreign investment is expected to flow into supporting industries in Vietnam this year, according to the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).

Vietnam this year is also said to be oriented towards infrastructure development and supporting industries.

Meanwhile, the country is planning to invest nearly US$50 billion in the power sector in the next 10 years to propel its economy and plans to issue domestic and international bonds to raise funds for new projects, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said.

The country’s fruits and vegetable exports in 2011 are expected to touch some US$500 million, according to Ministry of Industry and Trade. The country’s key export products included tropical fruits like dragon fruit, pineapple, mango, avocado, papaya, jackfruit and other canned and processed fruits and vegetables. Vietnam has set up special commodity regions like rice in the Mekong Delta and Red River Delta; coffee in the Central Highland and Southeast region; tea in the mountainous and northern midland; rubber in the Southeast region, Mekong Delta and some northern provinces; vegetable in Lam Dong and provinces in the Red River Delta; sugarcane in the Central coast and so on which has helped in getting a clarity.

Vietnam is currently a net exporter of agricultural products. Other than rice, key exports are coffee, pepper, cashews, tea, rubber, wood products, and fisheries products. In 2010, Vietnam stood among the top 17 suppliers of food and agricultural products to the United States, which strongly indicates Vietnam’s growing importance as a global supplier of key agricultural commodities.

Also, from January 01, 2010, Vietnam took over as the president of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which also includes countries like Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. The country aims to utilize its term as the president to accelerate development of the ASEAN Community, strengthen regional solidarity and cooperation, and enhance Vietnam’s image at the international front.

Vietnam and India have established very solid legal frameworks. The two countries formed the strategic partnership in 2007. India recognized Vietnam as a country with a full market economy. A series of agreements, particularly the Agreement on ASEAN-India Trade in Goods (AITIG), facilitate Vietnamese competitive goods to deepen the roots in India. The results prove that India is a very potential market for Vietnam in all fields of cooperation, especially trade and investment.

Vietnam’s Fishing Industry
Viet Nam has a coastline of 3,260 km and has over 4,000 islands. There are four main fishing areas: Gulf of Tonkin, shared with China; Central Vietnam, the Southern Mainland Shelf; Southeastern Vietnam, the Northern Sunda Shelf and part of the Central Sunda Shelf; and Southwestern Vietnam, part of Gulf of Thailand, shared with Cambodia and Thailand.

The Vietnamese aquaculture followed some of the successful quality management program under developing countries’ standard. Export aqua-products of Vietnam were trusted in foreign markets as Japan, EU and the United States. The country’s aquaculture industry aims to achieve annual growth of 8-10 percent until 2015, with export revenue estimated to reach US$6.7billion by 2015 and $8billion by 2020. In a conference held recently, the former deputy Minister of Fishery, Nguyen Thi Hong Minh, said that the Viet Nam Fishery Export Development Plan is all set to develop the fishery sector into a large-scale production sector with high global competitiveness. Minh also said that by 2015, fishery materials for processing exports is expected to reach 3.2-3.5 million tones, 2.5-2.6 million tones of which will come from local production and the remaining from imports. In addition, he also said that the industry will also focus on developing the processing industry to raise product value and improve the competitiveness of Vietnamese fishery products. In the coming years, besides seeking new export markets, the industry would maintain the key export markets of the EU, Japan and the US, Minh said.

Vietnam’s Forestry
Vietnam is currently facing a rapid growth capacity for wood products manufacturing. The Country is likely to continue its rising status as a wood products exporter. Vietnam’s hardwood imports have increased. Forestry in Vietnam is seeing major important changes with the transformation in managing mechanism from state to society; allocating forest and land forest to household management, connecting responsibility of forest resources guards, managers to benefit from forest; encouraging development of bio-diversification and so on. The country is gearing its strength to become a leading furniture manufacturing country in Asia. Vietnam wood serves as a vital platform to address the needs and anticipate the demand of the local furniture industries. Vietnamese wooden products exporters have already signed contracts worth US$3.4 billion recently. China is becoming a big importer of Vietnam’s furniture, after the U.S., the EU and Japan which respectively imported US$889 million, $387 million and $271 million in Jan.-Aug, 2010. Preliminary statistics from the Vietnam Industry and Information Center shows a 38.4 percent year-on-year increase in Vietnam’s wooden product exports.

Agricultural Industry
Vietnam’s agricultural sector is better positioned than any other industry after 1988 when collective farming was effectively abolished and prices began to stabilize. Year 2000 marked a remarkable growth in creating favorable environment and conditions for companies. After enforcing the Enterprise Law, Vietnam issued many important legal documents such as Decree on business registration, guide to some articles of the Enterprise Law or Decision to remove 145 kinds of licenses, limiting business performance. The Land Code was adjusted in 2001. Trading rice and fertilizer was liberalized with participant of all economic sectors. Enterprise reform was promoted. Agriculture has demonstrated a remarkable response to the economic reforms introduced from the 1980s onwards. Not only has agriculture grown rapidly, it has also underpinned the success of the rest of the economy.

Mining and Minerals
Vietnam’s mining industry is also presenting evidence of considerable growth potential. The mining industry plays a very important role in Vietnam’s economy, as mineral trade accounts for a large share of the country’s overall trade. Vietnam now is taking advantage of some 38 kinds of minerals which are used for production of more than 54 commodities. Value gathered from minerals and products manufacturing from minerals, as indicated, reached about US$25 billion in 2010. Iron, titanium and copper were the leading metals exported. Other minerals include tin, wolfram, gold, lead, zinc, uranium, antimony, rare earths, gem, limestone and clay. Some minerals with large potential and high economic value are being exploited for socio - economic development of the country. Some large-scale mining projects are being implemented such as Lam Dong bauxite mining, Co Dinh chromites mining and Thach Khe iron mining.

Problems Faced
However, many problems still exist related to the effectiveness of economic development, the competitiveness of companies, environmental protection, employment and post-industrialization problems. The Vietnamese agriculture, forestry and seafood sectors are expected to face a number of difficulties in the next two years as the country goes through a process of serious economic restructuring, including rising inflation and costs, tightened monetary and credit policies, instability in the international agricultural market, climate change, and disease epidemics.

Vietnam
 
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