Source: Institute of Policy and Strategy for Rural Development (IPSARD)
The eurozone’s inflation rate fell for the second consecutive month, to 9.2% in December, the European Union’s statistics agency Eurostat said. The above inflation rate is lower than the figure of 10.1% in November. Previously, the inflation recorded in October was 10.6%, 5 times higher than the inflation target set by the European Central Bank (European Central Bank). ECB) proposed. In December, energy costs rose 25.7%, compared with a 34.9% increase in November. Food and beverage prices also increased.
The ECB pledged to keep inflation in check, warning that the eurozone would face a possible rate hike in 2023 despite hopes that consumer prices have peaked. The ECB said interest rates will continue to rise, at a steady pace, until they reach a level that would ensure inflation returns to its medium-term target of 2%. Of the 20 countries that are using the euro, including Croatia, which joined last month, Spain recorded the lowest inflation rate of 5.6% in December. Germany and France both recorded lower inflation. in December, raising hopes that the European Union may have passed its peak of inflation.
According to survey data by S&P Global, manufacturing activity in the Eurozone in December 2022 fell slightly more than previously forecast, amid softening price pressures. down. With this result, the recession risk of the region’s economy is said to be softer than forecast. Specifically, the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) of the Eurozone in December last year increased to 49.3 points from 47.8 points in November. PMI is below 50 points, the threshold separating growth and declined, since July 2022, but this index in December was at the highest level in 5 months. The Eurozone’s key services PMI rose from 48.5 in November to 49.8 in December. Although still high, December price pressures eased in the sector. The output price index fell from 62.3, the lowest level since August 2022, to 61. This could be good news for European Central Bank (ECB) policymakers who are looking for ways to control inflation. S&P Global said that the Eurozone economy continued to shrink in December 2022, but with a moderate level of decline for the second consecutive month, temporarily indicating that the economic contraction was softer than previously forecast. However, the survey results also show that the economy of this region cannot soon return to a good and stable growth momentum.
New-generation free trade agreements (FTAs), including the EVFTA, have been implemented, creating momentum for Vietnam’s import and export activities to grow higher. Many Vietnamese businesses have taken advantage of the EU’s tariff reductions under the EVFTA. In fact, typical businesses of the EU have oriented towards the Vietnamese market more. However, Vietnam faces obstacles when it has to meet the EU’s increasingly strict trend of green and clean consumption. According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Belgium, the EU has reached a political agreement on the law against global deforestation and forest degradation driven by EU production and consumption. This important agreement comes just before the start of the Important Conference on Biodiversity (COP15) that aims to define goals to protect nature for decades to come. Accordingly, once adopted and applied, the new law ensures that a range of key goods entering the EU market will not contribute to deforestation and forest degradation in the EU and elsewhere in the world. When the new regulations come into force, all relevant companies will have to undergo rigorous due diligence if they order on the EU market or export from this market: palm oil, cattle, soybeans, coffee coffee, cocoa, wood and rubber as well as derived products (such as beef, furniture or chocolate). These commodities have been selected on the basis of a thorough impact assessment, identifying them as a major driver of deforestation due to agricultural expansion. The new regulation places strong mandatory due diligence rules on companies wishing to place the relevant products on the EU market or export them. Operators and merchants will have to demonstrate that the products are both deforestation-free (produced on non-deforested land after December 31, 2020) and legal (complying with all laws) relevant current in force in the country of manufacture). Companies will also be required to collect precise geographic information on farmland where the commodities they supply have been grown, so that these goods can be checked for compliance. Member States need to ensure that failure to comply with the rules results in effective and deterrent penalties. The European Parliament and the Council will have to formally approve the new Regulation before it comes into force. Once the Regulations come into effect, operators and merchants will have 18 months to implement the new rules. Micro and small businesses will enjoy longer adaptation times, as well as other specific provisions. In general, in order for Vietnamese agricultural products to increase exports to the EU market in the near future, experts say that Vietnamese exporters need to build their own brands and limit exports. raw materials, improve processing capacity. In addition, it is necessary to promote public-private cooperation in order to make the most of opportunities, solve challenges and enhance the brand name of Vietnamese agricultural products in the EU market in particular and in the world market in general.
Regarding EU AFF trade with Vietnam in the first 11 months of 2022, Vietnam exported 4.2 billion USD to the EU, while importing 1.0 billion USD, an increase of 15.4% in exports and 17.0 % of imports over the same period in 2021. The growth rates of main agricultural products exported to the EU compared to 2021 are as follows: coffee (up 40.5%), rubber (down 33%). .9%), tea (down 42.6%), rice (up 55.2%), wood & wood products (up 6.8%), fruit and vegetable products (up 19.7%), seafood products (up 26.5%), cashew nuts (down 18.0%), pepper (down 6.0%), rattan, bamboo, sedge and carpet (down 5.9%), and rubber products (down 5.9%). down 24.9%).
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