Weekly digest – December 14-20

FTA negotiations between VN, Customs Union concluded

A signing ceremony of a Joint Statement on the conclusion of the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreements (FTA) between Viet Nam and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan was held in Phu Quoc Island.

The agreement includes contents on goods trade, service trade, investment, customs cooperation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS), technical barriers to trade (TBT) and legal and institutional issues.

PM suggests balanced approach to GMS cooperation

PM Nguyen Tan Dung attended at the 5^th GMS Summit which drew the participation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Cambodian PM Hun Sen, Lao PM Thoongsing Thammavong, Myanmar President Thein Sein and President Takehiko Nakao of the Asian Development Bank.

PM Dung suggested that the GMS need to ensure the balance of economic, human and environmental aspects in its future cooperation by accelerating programs and projects on environment and human development, supporting green growth, and sharing experiences in urban and rural water management.

VN-Qatar trade value heads to US$1bln

At the meeting with Qatar’s PM Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Deputy PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc highly valued the active assistance from Qatar’s Government in organizing “Viet Nam Days in Qatar”, expecting the event will consolidate the two nations’ relationship.

Earlier, Deputy PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc held talks with his Qatari counterpart Ahmed Bin Abdullah Bin Zaid Al-Mahmoud.

They asserted to determination to raise the two-way trade value to US$1 billion in the future, launch effectively finance-banking agreements, facilitate investments in projects in fields of infrastructure, energy and agriculture as well as supporting their businesses to seek cooperation and investment.

VN, UAE to boost trade, investment, labour cooperation

Deputy PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc held talks with his United Arab Emirates (UAE) counterpart Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi on December 16 during which both sides agreed to further beef up bilateral partnership in all fields, especially trade, investment, financial-banking and labour cooperation.

The two sides concurred to increase the exchange of delegations at all levels while affirming their determination to raise two-way trade to a more impressive figure. They also vowed to continue close coordination and mutual support at international multilateral forums.

Earlier, Deputy PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc attended the Viet Nam-United Arad Emirates (UAE) Business Forum in Dubai on December 15 during his official tour of the Persian Arab state.

Four ministries implement macro-economic management regulation

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI), the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) on December 17 held their first meeting to enforce the recently signed macro-economic management regulation.

Under the chair of MoPI Minister Bui Quang Vinh, the meeting focused on three topics including the management and regulation of macro-economic norms in Q1 and the whole year of 2015 and the formulation and cooperative mechanisms of relevant ministries, agencies and organizations.

Earlier, the regulation was inked on December 1, 2014 under the witness of PM Nguyen Tan Dung and other Government members.

Trade surplus fetches nearly US$ 3 bln in Jan-Nov period

Viet Nam gained a trade surplus of nearly US$ 438 million in November, bringing the total amount to US$ 2.88 billion in the first 11 months, according to the General Department of Viet Nam Customs.  

In the eleventh month, export turnover valued almost US$ 13.23 billion, representing a month-on-month decline of 6%. However, it reached US$ 136.942 billion in the January-November period, up 13.7% against the same period last year.

Meanwhile, import revenue was US$ 12.792 billion in November (down 6%) and US$ 134.058 billion in the past eleven months (up 11.8%).

VN to absorb US$ 12 bln remittances in 2014

Overseas remittances to Viet Nam are estimated to touch US$ 12 billion in 2014, according to a report of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM).

The CIEM on December 17 released a report on an overview of overseas remittances in Viet Nam over the last 20 years and their impacts on socio-economic development.

Overseas remittances accounted for about 8% of the country’s GDP and placed Viet Nam on the list of the world's top-10 overseas remittance recipients in 2014.  

Int’l tourists to VN increase sharply at year-end

Viet Nam welcomed more than 7.2 million foreign visitors in 11 months of 2014, up 5.4% compared to the same period last year.

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), tourists from the Republic of Korea made up the majority with 764,835, a year-on-year increase of 12%.

Population exceeds 90 million

The General Statistics Office has announced that Viet Nam’s population reached 90,493,352, ranking 13th in the world and third in Southeast Asia.

After five years, the population rose by 4,646,355, an annual average increase of 929,271.

The average population growth was 1.06% per year in the 2009-2014 period over 1.2% per year of the 1999-2009 period.

The total fertility rate was 2.09 births per woman. This is the lowest population growth period over the past 35 years.

Seafood exports to achieve US$7.7 bln in 2014

Viet Nam’s seafood export value is estimated to achieve more than US$7.7 billion in 2014, accounting for 6-7% of the country’s total export value and up 18% compared to the previous year.

The nation is currently among the world's leaders in aquaculture and ranks fourth in aquatic exports.

By Thuy Dung