VIỆT NAM EYES US$18 BILLION A YEAR FOR POWER PLAN THROUGH 2035
Việt Nam will require an annual investment of around US$16–18 billion from now until 2035 to implement its revised National Power Development Plan (PDP VIII), according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. This amount will rise to approximately $20 billion per year thereafter. The updated plan, approved under Decision No. 768/QĐ-TTg dated April 15, outlines ambitious targets to ensure national energy security and meet economic growth demands.
HOLIDAY TOURISM SURGES IN HCMC
Nearly two million visitors flocked to HCMC during the five-day holiday for Reunification Day (April 30) and International Labor Day (May 1), with tourism revenue more than doubling year-on-year to over VND7.1 trillion, according to the city’s tourism authority. The HCMC Department of Tourism reported that from April 27 to May 1, the city received around 1.95 million visitors, rocketing 101% over the same period last year.
SHRIMP EXPORTS SURGE IN Q1
Shrimp exports from January to March totaled US$939 million, up 37% year-on-year, according to data from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP). China was the largest buyer of Vietnamese shrimp during the first three months of this year, with its total import value of US$288 million, up by 125% against the same period last year.
INTER-PROVINCIAL HIGHWAYS CREATE LEVERS FOR LOCALITIES
Interprovincial highway projects will help engage more foreign capital following the merger of localities in Vietnam. In late March, Lam Dong People’s Committee approved construction of the Bao Loc-Lien Khuong Expressway project under a public-private partnership model. The scheme has a total funding of $780 million, with state budget funding accounting for 44 per cent of the total in Phase 1. The remaining $400 million will be mobilised by the investor.
VIETNAM CONTINUES GLOBAL VALUE CLIMB
Nearly 40 years since opening the doors to the wider world, Vietnam’s development has witnessed great strides, with foreign investment serving as one of the key drivers. However, further climbing global value chains becomes more complicated. The World Bank assessed that Vietnam is a remarkable development success story.
STRICTER DISBURSEMENT GOAL TARGETS CAPITAL ACCELERATION
The government has altered its target of public investment disbursement for this year, with a continued focus on infrastructure development to spur high economic growth. The government last week ordered that all public investment capital for this year must be disbursed, instead of 95 per cent previously targeted, and that one of the key tasks in the coming months is to speed up this kind of capital at all costs, with a focus continued being laid on infrastructure development.
VEHICLES NOW ALLOWED ON 30KM OF BEN LUC–LONG THANH EXPY
The Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) has announced the official opening of two sections of the Ben Luc–Long Thanh expressway to traffic from 6 p.m. today (April 28), reported the local media. The two sections now fully open are a 21-kilometer section from the HCMC–Trung Luong interchange to the Nguyen Van Tao interchange, and a seven-kilometer section from the Phuoc An interchange to National Highway 51 in Dong Nai Province.
THREE IMPORTANT FINANCIAL POLICIES TO TAKE EFFECT IN MAY
From May 18, foreign investors can only buy treasury shares if the shares were purchased by Vietnamese credit institutions before January 1, 2021. New policies concerning foreign investors, apartment management fees in Hà Nội, and money printing orders from the State Bank, will come into effect next month. Regarding ownership ratios, the total foreign ownership in a Vietnamese commercial bank cannot exceed 30 per cent of the bank's charter capital and cannot exceed 50 per cent in non-bank CIs.
