Craft villages
More than 5,000 villages—in which artisans craft fine art products—dot the country, as stated by the Vietnam Craft Village Association. The sector comprises around 1.5 million workers and exports more than $1.7 billion in goods yearly. Although the handicrafts industry is smaller than other export sectors, it remains a vital contributor to the country’s tourism sector, contributing over 9% to Vietnam’s GDP last 2019.
To further bolster the industry’s role in the national economy, the Vietnamese government implemented the “One Commune, One Product” program, which helps villages focus on a singular product or specific line of items. Some of these specialized villages include:
- Vạn Phúc, a center of the silk trade located in the Hà Đông district in Hanoi, where visitors can find a range of silk-related items, from raw materials to finished garments, as well as accessories.
- Bát Tràng, a source of traditional pottery products. The village is in Gia Lâm, Hanoi.
- Yên Thái, a traditional paper-producing village. Located in Quảng Bình province, the area has employed workers to craft paper for government and artistic purposesfor more than six centuries.
- Phước Kiều, a center that produces bronze products. Chief among these are gongs, used in cultural festivals for communities in the Central Highlands. Tourists can find the village in Quảng Nam.
Decree highlights
Households and manufacturing establishments within craft villages must implement various regulations, which consist of the following:
- Installing a system that collects and treats rainwater as well as wastewater.
- Incorporating practices that reduce the presence of unwanted noise, dust, or heat in surrounding areas.
Establishments violating the government’s regulations by dumping untreated wastewater, producing noise pollution, or discharging untreated solid waste into surrounding communities will face a suspension.
Minerals and mines
Mining activities contributed around 2.4% to Vietnam’s GDP last 2021.
Coal is the primary purpose of mining-related activities across the country, which produced more than 48 million metric tons in 2021. The country’s current production is smaller than its projected consumption; it is expected to import more than 50 or 80 million metric tons by 2035, mainly for power generation. Enterprises that produce products like fertilizer and cement depend on a steady coal supply.
Growing a country’s mining capability is complex and requires strong partnerships with high-producing countries. Vietnam’s government expresses this concern through a working session last April 2022 with the Minerals Council of Australia and the country’s leading coal exporters.
Another essential mineral is bauxite. The country produced over 3.5 million metric tons last 2020, a small number compared to the estimated 3.7 billion tons of resources it contains, according to the United States Geological Survey. Bauxite is the primary component in aluminum production, as well as used in the petroleum, steel, and cement industries.
Vietnam’s largest mines include:
- Binh Minh Mine.Located in Hưng Yên
- Nui Phao Mine.The world’s biggest tungsten mine. Located in the Thái Nguyên
Decree highlights
Enterprises looking to engage in mining activities shall formulate environmental remediation and improvement plans to be approved by government agencies. Appraising authorities will conduct site inspections and consult with multiple industry-related experts in the process of approving an environmental remediation scheme.
Mining businesses need to also allocate deposits for environmental remediation purposes. Factors used to calculate this amount consist of:
- Unit price set by either local government agencies or equivalent ministries. If neither sets any price, the market price shall apply.
- Project cost of the environmental remediation.
- The inflation factor, based on the annual consumer price index from the General Statistics office.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
These chemicals take a long time to break down into less harmful forms. Even the use of microbial biodegradation techniques does not necessarily transform these compounds into less toxic forms. Multiple studies have shown that POPs harm humans by disrupting a person’s central nervous, immune, or reproductive systems.
Past information about the importation and use of these materials in Vietnam remains obscure as there were limited monitoring surveys conducted by relevant authorities. One of these materials—dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, better known as DDT—was imported from the Soviet Union in quantities ranging from 6,500 tons per year to 9,000 tons per year during the 1980s. DDT was generally used as a malaria control tool in Vietnam up until 1995.
Other POPs imported or manufactured in the country include:
- Polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs. Manufacturers typically use PBDEs to fireproof a variety of items, ranging from rugs and draperies to plastic cabinets and upholstery. Animal studies have shown that these chemicals might affect brain development.
- Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid or PFOS. Companies generally utilize these chemicals to manufacture products resistant to water, soil, and grease. These products include non-stick cookware, carpets, and rugs, as well as firefighting foams used in military as well as civilian airports. The presence of PFOS is widespread, with multiple reports showing contamination in surface and tap water across countries in Asia, Europe, and North America.
- Hexabromocyclododecane or HBCDD.These chemicals are primarily used for their flame-retardant properties and are a crucial component in textile manufacturing. HBCDD is also used to mold insulation panels for residential and industrial building construction. Other products that contain HBCDD include car cushions, upholstered furniture, and cable wires.
Decree highlights
Companies looking to import, produce, or use POPs shall create a plan that includes measures to collect and store these chemicals safely. In case of excessive contamination, enterprises must also execute actions that terminate production. Before selling finished goods containing POPs, businesses must attach labels and publish data about the presence of these chemicals on their websites.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has the authority to terminate the importation and production of POPs, as well as assess the conformity of companies with local laws.
Used ships and scrap
The average age of a ship plying the world’s trade routes today is around 20 years old. Increasing global demand means that aging fleets will stay in the seas longer; data from Clarksons Research shows:
- Average age of bulk carriers increased from 8.7 years to 11.4 years in a span of five years.
- For container ships, it’s now 14.1 years, compared to 11.6 years.
- For tankers, it’s now 12 years, up from 10.3 in 2017.
This trend means that the number of ships used to transport goods being scrapped has decreased; a study reports that around 1.3% of the global fleet is being scrapped annually from 2017 to 2021, compared to 2.7% from 2012 to 2016. On the other hand, scrapping cruise ships is on the rise. A record 35 ships have been scrapped since 2020 as the pandemic has brought to a standstill cruises throughout the world.
Ships are generally scrapped once it no longer makes business sense to keep them. Ships are sent to major scrapyards, where workers cut out steel and transfer these to smelting facilities for recycling. Besides metal, useful items like electronic equipment, furniture, and bedding will also be recovered and sold.
The world’s largest shipbreaking yard is located in Alang, at India’s Gujarat state. Its shipbreaking units recycle over 190 ships each year. Most ship recycling activity is carried out in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, where over 90% of global recycled gross tonnage is accounted. Other players include Turkey and China.
Vietnam aims to participate in the global ship recycling sector, with plans to establish facilities in cities—namely Hải Phòng and Quảng Ninh—located in northern provinces. A study shows that given the average age of Vietnamese-registered ships—14.7 years compared to the global average of 20.8—the country’s ship recycling industry would have to rely on the global supply. Developing a local sector dedicated to scrapping would improve Vietnam’s steel supply.
Decree highlights
A ship imported for recycling must satisfy various requirements:
- Radioactive waste shall not exceed limits, as seen in the country’s atomic energy regulations.
- CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) gas in equipment must be recovered from ships before it enters Vietnam.
- Ballast water shouldn’t have any invasive or potentially invasive alien species.
- Ships must not contain any ammunition and weapons as well as explosives.
Businesses looking to store imported scrap must operate warehouses that contain a separate rainwater collection system and a wastewater treatment system. Enterprises importing scrap shall also pay a deposit to the Vietnam Environment Protection Fund or provincial protection funds. The deposit amount is calculated as follows:
- Less than 100 tonnes = 15% of total shipment value.
- From 100 tonnes to less than 500 tonnes = 18% of total shipment value.
- 500 tonnes and more = 20% of total shipment value.
Funerals and burials
According to Research and Markets, the global death care industry is valued at over $100 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 4.9% for the last five years. The sector consists of individuals and businesses that support events like burials, cremations, and funerals.
One of the interesting trends in the industry is the increasing use of the alkaline hydrolysis method in body disposal. By combining heat and sodium hydroxide, companies reduce a body to its bone and liquid components. Over 20 states in the United States have legalized the practice, with other states looking to permit the method seeing opposition from casket companies and the Catholic Church. Cremation, however, remains the popular choice, with 4 out of 5 Americans projected to choose the method over a casket burial by 2040.
In Asia, the number of seniors is increasing rapidly. The Asian Development Bank states that by 2050, 1 out of 4 people in the Asia-Pacific region will be over 60.
Vietnam is no stranger to this trend. The country already counts 11.9% of its population as part of the senior group last 2019; by 2050, a quarter of Vietnam’s citizens will be part of the 60-and-up camp. This trend has multiple implications on how the government runs its social and economic programs, as well as how funeral industry-related businesses plan their long-term goals.
The practice of burial remains popular in the country; Vietnam has over 100,000 hectares of cemetery land, which accounts for around 0.3% of the country’s national area. With a death rate of approximately 6.3 per 1,000 inhabitants and a total population of over 98 million, the country records over 600,000 deaths yearly.
As Vietnam’s urban population increases, the pressure for burial services—like cremation—grows. In a study carried out by Japanese and Vietnamese researchers, cremation facilities in Vietnam remain lacking compared to their Japan-based standards; the untreated release of dust and soot, as well as the lack of automatic body transports, contributes to an unsafe working environment.
Decree highlights
Businesses looking to invest in the country’s funeral sector must ensure that their burial site does not affect the nearby water supply. Crematoriums should be located in areas downwind, based on the area’s prevailing wind directions. Cemeteries or crematoriums must also contain a separate rainwater collection and drainage system.
