Impressive records and unprecedented things

TPO - In 2023, GDP growth reached over 5%, many large corporations in the world came to Vietnam and there were Vietnamese enterprises successfully listed on the US stock exchange. However, the year recorded serious power shortages, unprecedented interest rate reductions, gold prices broke all records, many business leaders were arrested...

It is forecasted that this year, the gross domestic product (GDP) will reach over 5%, although lower than the set target (about 6.5%) but still quite high compared to many countries in the world and the region. The growth rate of each quarter is higher than the previous quarter. The average consumer price index for the whole year is estimated at about 3.5%, much lower than the target of about 4.5%.

State budget revenue is expected to exceed the assigned estimate by 3-4%. Although exports missed the 6% growth target, the trade balance continued to have a surplus for the 8th consecutive year with an estimated surplus of 26 billion USD, nearly 3 times higher than in 2022. Public investment accelerated, becoming the main driving force for economic recovery and growth this year. In 11 months, disbursed foreign direct investment (FDI) exceeded 20 billion USD, the highest in the 2018-2023 period.

Agriculture continues to be the pillar of the economy, with the whole industry's export target expected to reach 54 billion USD this year. Fruit and vegetable exports have made an impressive comeback, setting a record of 5.6 billion USD, the surprise that came from the opening of the Chinese market, especially durian exports through official channels, which set a record of more than 2.2 billion USD, becoming the item with the largest proportion in the Vietnamese fruit and vegetable industry.

At 8:00 p.m. on August 15 (Vietnam time), on the Nasdaq - US, VinFast officially listed with the trading code VFS. This is the first time a Vietnamese enterprise has successfully listed on the second largest stock market in the US and the world. The company has a capitalization value of more than 23 billion USD.

The Nasdaq bell event is a historic milestone in VinFast's development roadmap, inspiring Vietnamese brands to go global. With a price of 22 USD/share, equivalent to a valuation of approximately 50 billion USD, this became a hot event in domestic and international media. After listing, VinFast's capitalization reached 200 billion USD.

2023 marks the 35th anniversary of Vietnam opening up to FDI. FDI capital in Vietnam has increased from a small amount of 2 million USD in 1988 to nearly 29 billion USD by the end of this year. Many FDI projects have expanded investment, new large-scale projects mainly in the manufacturing sector, such as: Jinko Solar Hai Ha photovoltaic cell technology complex project with a scale of 1.5 billion USD; LG Innotek factory expansion in Hai Phong with a value of 1 billion USD; Lite-On Quang Ninh factory worth nearly 700 million USD...

Last year, leaders of corporations and the largest business delegations ever came to Vietnam to explore investment and business opportunities. The “Eagles” highly appreciated Vietnam’s potential and competitiveness on the world investment map. Nvidia’s Chairman committed to establishing a legal entity in Vietnam. The Chairman of the US Semiconductor Industry Association said that Vietnam is the most attractive destination for US investors in the semiconductor sector and can play a strategic role in providing human resources.

The price of SJC gold bars has broken all historical records. In recent days, the highest price of gold has increased to more than 80 million VND/tael, nearly 20 million VND/tael higher than the world gold price. The price of 9999 round gold rings of gold brands has also increased to an unprecedented high of more than 64 million VND/tael.

Faced with new developments in gold prices, the Prime Minister requested that relevant agencies coordinate with the State Bank to urgently and comprehensively assess the gold market and strictly handle manipulation.

According to analysts, the erratic gold price stems from the fact that for many years the State Bank has had a monopoly and has not imported SJC gold bars. The scarcity of supply has caused the domestic gold price to be "alone in the market". In late 2022 and early 2023, authorities broke up many gold smuggling rings into Vietnam and gold business leaders were prosecuted. Many international organizations and experts have also proposed amending regulations on gold import and trading.

The real estate market has been facing difficulties since mid-2022 and will last until the end of this year. The Government has taken drastic measures to rescue and restore the real estate market. In particular, the Government has established a working group under the Prime Minister to remove difficulties for the real estate market, and each locality has also established a working group headed by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee. Typically, up to now, Ho Chi Minh City has resolved 67 projects (equivalent to 37.2%) compared to the initial number of 180 projects. Hanoi has directed and resolved 419 projects.

2023 marks the passing of the Law on Real Estate Business (amended) and the Law on Housing (amended) by the National Assembly, becoming an important legal framework, with many notable new regulations, ensuring the rights and obligations of participating parties, helping the market become more transparent and sustainable. The two new laws will take effect from January 1, 2025.

If 2022 is the race to break the peak of interest rates, 2023 is the race to the bottom of interest rates, bringing the interest rate level even lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic. The State Bank has adjusted the operating interest rate down 4 times with a total reduction of 0.5-2%/year.

Reducing the operating interest rate will create conditions for commercial banks to reduce deposit interest rates, thereby reducing lending interest rates. Compared to March, when 12-month deposit interest rates ranged from 7%/year to over 10%/year, by December, there was no longer a 6%/year interest rate for 12-month terms. By the end of December, 1-3 month savings interest rates were brought down by banks to 2.2-4.45%/year, 6-9 month terms were around 3.9-5.3%/year, and 12-month terms were around 3.8-5.6%/year.

There are 9 road projects of the North - South expressway completed and put into operation, including: Mai Son - National Highway 45; National Highway 45 - Nghi Son; Nghi Son - Dien Chau; Nha Trang - Cam Lam; Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet; Phan Thiet - Dau Giay; My Thuan - Can Tho; inter-regional expressway Tuyen Quang - Phu Tho connecting with Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway; My Thuan 2 bridge. Completed the project to expand Dien Bien airport and build a new terminal T2 of Phu Bai airport, Thua Thien - Hue province.

Many major transport projects have started construction, such as: North-South Expressway Phase 2 (12 component projects); essential works of Long Thanh Airport Project (Dong Nai); groundbreaking of Terminal T3 of Tan Son Nhat Airport (HCMC); Hanoi Ring Road 4; Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3; Khanh Hoa - Buon Ma Thuot Expressway; Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway; Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang Expressway...

Thus, this year, more than 420 km of expressways will be put into operation, bringing the total length of expressways completed nationwide to nearly 1,900 km. In the 2021-2025 period, the Party and State have identified transport infrastructure investment as one of the three strategic breakthroughs, so they should be prioritized for investment resources, with the goal of reaching 3,000 km of expressways by 2025 and 5,000 km by 2030.

Mr. Tran Qui Thanh - Chairman of the Board of Directors, General Director of Tan Hiep Phat Trading and Service Company Limited - and his daughters Tran Uyen Phuong and Tran Ngoc Bich were proposed to be prosecuted and temporarily detained for embezzling 767 billion VND.

Ms. Truong My Lan - Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Van Thinh Phat - embezzled more than 1 million billion VND from Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB) and 1,300 loans with outstanding debt of 677,000 billion VND at SCB, creating an alarming alarm about cross-ownership, backyard lending, and the need to decisively stop the octopus's tap to embezzle the bank. The case revealed the ecosystem of 1,000 subsidiaries of Van Thinh Phat; the number of victims in the case was identified as 42,000 investors who bought bonds; 45 leaders and officers of SCB and 8 leaders and officers of the State Bank were prosecuted.

Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri - Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Capella Group - was accused of appropriating 1,000 billion VND from Ms. Lan after he was arrested, eliminating Ms. Truong My Lan's ownership rights at Van Lang Company.

The case of Xuyen Viet Oil Company brought down many officials in December. Notably, many officials such as: Mr. Do Thang Hai - Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade; Mr. Le Duc Tho - former Secretary of Ben Tre Province; Mr. Le Duy Minh - Former Director of Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department - were temporarily detained. Previously, Director Mai Thi Hong Hanh and Deputy Director Nguyen Thi Nhu Phuong were arrested. Authorities said that Xuyen Viet Oil currently has large loans at banks and a tax debt of more than 1,500 billion VND that has not been recovered.

Mr. Nguyen Khanh Hung - Chairman of LDG Investment Joint Stock Company - was prosecuted for the act of "Deceiving customers" related to the case of "Abusing position and power while performing official duties" that occurred at the project of illegally building more than 500 houses in the Tan Thinh residential area project in Doi 61 commune, Trang Bom district, Dong Nai.

Prolonged widespread heat and drought caused by El Nino have left many large hydroelectric reservoirs across the country dry after many years. From mid-May to late June, many provinces and cities in the northern region and Hanoi were severely affected by rotating power cuts. As of June 11, the amount of electricity that had to be cut in the North had reached 2,744 MW, equivalent to nearly 50% of the total electricity consumption of Hanoi.

Faced with the situation of rotating power outages, the Government has taken a series of drastic measures, requiring Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) to thoroughly resolve the power shortage situation, not allowing power shortages in any case, and at the same time requesting EVN and other units to review.

In late October, the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises said it had proposed disciplinary action against many EVN leaders and the Director and Deputy Director of the National Power System Dispatch Center for causing power shortages.

For the first time in the more than 20-year history of the formation and development of the Vietnamese life insurance industry, insurance premium revenue grew negatively in 10 months after a series of scandals of "transforming" people's savings into insurance premiums as well as insurance buyers being "tricked" into paying insurance for 50 - 70 years.

According to the Ministry of Finance, as of November 30, total insurance premium revenue was estimated at VND227,596 billion. Of which, the life insurance market decreased by about 12.5% ​​compared to the same period in 2022. Premium revenue decreased but the amount of insurance benefits paid increased sharply, more than VND86,000 billion, up 31.1% over the same period last year.

After the Law on Insurance Business was passed, the Ministry of Finance submitted to the Government 3 decrees detailing regulations and guiding circulars. This contributed to creating a complete legal corridor to promote the safe, stable and sustainable development of the insurance market in the coming time.

Content: Economic Department | Graphics: Kieu Tu

Source: https://tienphong.vn/kinh-te-viet-nam-2023-ky-luc-an-tuong-va-dieu-chua-tung-co-post1599298.tpo