Business Virtual workshop seeks ways to facilitate Vietnam's aquatic exports to RCEP markets A virtual conference looking to bolster shipments of Vietnam’s aquatic products to member nations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is being held on May 30 and 31.Business Hanoi's five month export-import turnover skyrockets Hanoi enjoyed a surge in exports-imports in the first five months of this year, signalling the capital city’s strong economic recovery, according to the municipal Statistics Office. Business Hai Duong creating optimal conditions for Japanese investors: official The northern province of Hai Duong is striving to create optimal conditions for Japanese investors, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Pham Xuan Thang affirmed on May 30.Business Vietnam more attractive investment destination: German business magazine Due to China's strict zero-COVID policy and disrupted supply chains, more and more German companies in Asia are looking for alternatives and neighbouring Vietnam has become a new target, the German weekly business news magazine WirtschaftsWoch wrote in an article published on May 29.

Pomelo is expected to be the seventh fruit of Vietnam exported to the US market in the future. This will be a favourable condition for enterprises to export Vietnamese fresh fruit to the US market. Besides that, the company also had created cold storage with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes in the factory to meet customer demands.Currently, Vietnam's fresh fruit exports to the US are limited due to high logistics costs, including marine and air transport costs, leading to high costs in exporting fresh Vietnamese fruit to the US. The export value of fruit and vegetables continued to increase significantly over the same period last year.So far, Vietnam has six types of fresh fruit licensed to export to the US: dragon fruit, rambutan, longan, lychee, star apple, and mango. Pomelo is expected to be the seventh fruit added to the list./.

In the most recent international tournament, Huynh Nhu scored the only goal to help Vietnam trounce Myanmar in the semi-final match at the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31). Thailand won a silver medal at the recent 31st SEA Games while the Philippines secured a ticket to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Especially after the gold medal of the U23 Vietnam Football Team at the 31st SEA Games, the heat is even greater. 100 Cambodian officials were sent to Hà Nội to learn and experience Việt Nam's SEA Games preparation and organising activities. Meanwhile, all 14 key players who won the goal medal at the recent SEA Games 31 hosted by Vietnam are kept on the list.

It is one of events of the Prime Minister's 2022 Dialogue with Vietnamese farmers held in Son La. 555 million USD) in 2021 with the after-tax profit of 80 billion VND (approx. As of December 31, 2021, Vietjet’s assets totaled nearly 51,654 billion VND (approx. 2.22 billion USD). Its debt-to-equity ratio stayed at 0.9 while the liquidity ratio was at 1.6 - all were considered good indicators in the aviation industry.

Business HCM City’s export turnover expands 7.9 percent in Jan-May Enterprises in HCM City exported 20.7 billion USD worth of goods in the first five months of 2022, posting a year-on-year increase of 7.9 percent, according to the municipal Statistics Office. Business Da Nang ready for Routes Asia 2022 The central city of Da Nang has become ready for the 16th Asian route development forum 2020 (Routes Asia 2022), the largest and biggest event to promote and connect flight networks in the Asia-Pacific region. Business Banks told to rollout low-interest businesses loans Commercial banks were told to launch a 40 trillion VND support package with a 2 percent yearly rate cut for businesses in a meeting with the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) last week. Business Reference exchange rate down 20 VND at week’s beginning The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate for the US dollar at 23,089 VND/USD on May 30, down 20 VND from the last working day of previous week (May 27).

Vietnamese handicrafts are on display at the International Food and Culture Bazaar held at the Brasilia Art Museum (MAB) in Brazil last weekend. (Photo: baoquocte.vn)Vietnam was among exhibitors at the International Food and Culture Bazaar held at the Brasilia Art Museum (MAB) in Brazil last weekend, showcasing Vietnamese handicrafts and traditional cuisine.Featuring 45 booths run by exhibitors from 35 countries across the globe, the bazaar aimed to raise fund for three charitable organisations that support the homeless and impoverished women in Brasilia. It attracted more than 3,000 visitors, including many from other South American countries.On display at the Vietnamese booths were creative handicraft products from Vietnam, including lacquered and mother of pearl inlay coconut bowls, embroidered “non la” (conical hat), and silk scarves.There were also Vietnamese traditional food and drinks, such as fried spring rolls, banana cakes and iced tea, alongside various books, magazines and photos introducing life, nature and people of Vietnam./.

Workers are classifying shrimp for export at a seafood processing factory in Bac Lieu province. (Photo: VNA)- Commercial banks have stepped up lending to export firms, especially those in industrial parks and export processing zones, as exports of many goods have grown strongly this year.Nguyen Duc Lenh, deputy director of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s HCM City branch, said total outstanding loans in HCM City by the end of April 2022 reached more than 3 quadrillion VND (130 billion USD), of which about 196 trillion VND was poured into the Government’s priority areas, including exports.According to Lenh, the loans have helped many firms in industrial parks and export processing zones maintain production and business. Vietcombank’s Bình Dương Province branch has lowered interest rates for 87 percent of loans of corporate and individual customers.Vo Van Buu, director of Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Industry and Trade of Vietnam (VietinBank)’s Binh Duong Industrial Park branch, said the bank has launched many preferential loan programmes, which are exclusive to manufacturing and export areas. Thus, firms in the areas have many opportunities to access loans with low interest rates to serve their production and business needs.Private and foreign banks are also accelerating capital financing for manufacturing and export firms to capitalise on the strong recovery of export activities, especially in textile and garment, agriculture, fishery and processing industries.A representative of ShinhanBank in HCM City said the bank is currently lending well in industrial parks and export processing zones, with outstanding loans of some 30 million USD at a preferential interest rate of about 7.5 percent per year in the first one to three years. The loans to firms in industrial parks and export processing zones are continually growing well as the bank is expanding to other provinces and cities with many industrial zones.Meanwhile, domestic bank s such as HCM City Development Commercial Joint Stock Bank (HDBank), Vietnam Prosperity Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VPBank), Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank) and Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OCB) have also boosted financing for export firms.TPBank, for example, has launched a loan package worth 1 trillion VND for firms to develop livestock farms with an interest rate of 8 percent per year, while HDBank applied a preferential loan package of 1 trillion VND until mid-2022 to finance salary payments for corporate clients with interest rates from 6.8 percent per year.Along with the strong recovery of domestic firms after successfully controlling the pandemic, it is expected that banks’ credit will continue to be poured into production and business areas to recover the economy in many cities and provinces in the near future./.

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on May 29 asked the northern mountainous province of Son La to focus on developing service industries to form a harmonious economic structure, and work to turn tourism into a spearhead industry.Working with provincial leaders as part of his working trip to the locality, PM Chinh said that the province should promote high-tech agriculture, strive to become a centre of agricultural product processing and a hub of milk, fruit, and herbal plants in the northwestern region, step up industrial development, and well exploit the strengths of renewable energies such as hydroelectricity, wind, solar energy.It is necessary to review, restructure and increase the efficiency of public investment, develop transport infrastructure, improve the business and investment environment, and speed up digital transformation, he stated.The Government leader requested Son La to study and focus on developing green economy, circular economy, digital economy; accelerate economic restructuring; make the most of the human factor, associated with promoting cultural identity, developing tourism , and promote innovation and startup.He also required the province to ensure social security and welfare, reduce the poverty rate, especially in ethnic minority-inhabited and far-flung areas, invest more in education and health, and put the people at the centre and consider them the subject, the goal and the driving force of development.Son La must well fulfil military and defence tasks, ensure political security and social order and safety, and strengthen the fight against drug crime, PM Chinh said, stressing the need to step up international cooperation, including relations with Lao localities, so as to build a border of friendship, peace and development.The Government leader also asked the province to pay more attention to the building of the Party and political system.In the first five months of 2022, the socio-economic situation in Son La province continues to achieve positive results, locals’ lives are improved, national defense and security are maintained. GRDP in the first quarter increased by 5.02 percent, the index of industrial production by 8.83 percent, total retail sales of goods 8.9 percent, and exports 3.2 percent. Meanwhile, disbursement was equal to 25 percent of the yearly plan.Earlier on the same day, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh offered incense at President Ho Chi Minh's temple and planted a tree at the Northwest Square in Son La city./.

Painter Nguyen Thu Thuy with the ceramic mural ''Tinh huu nghi Viet My (US-Vietnam Friendship'. (Photo courtesy of Nguyen Thu Thuy)- A ceramic mural , Tinh huu nghi Viet My (The Vietnam-US Friendship), has been inaugurated at the new US-Vietnam Cooperation Centre in Hanoi.The mural (25m by 1.8m) is by painter Nguyen Thu Thuy and her staff at the Tan Hanoi Company. Thuy is an author of the mural Ceramic Road by Red River.The mural starts with the spectacular landscape of the Grand Canyon, a massive gorge located in the state of Arizona.“The rocky mountain complex can change colours magically according to sunlight and weather. Painter Thuy also presented US Ambassador Marc E. Knapper with a water-coloure painting of the Grand Canyon, a draft she made before making the mural. Together we preserve and promote values favoured by nature.”The US-Vietnam Co-operation Centre is located at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV), 69 Chua Lang street, Hanoi./.

Bach Long bridge in the northern province of Son La. (Photo: baovanhoa.vn)Hanoi (VNA) – The People’s Committee of Son La province held the inauguration ceremony of a 632-metre-long glass bridge in Muong Sang commune, Moc Chau district on May 28. Bach Long bridge is part of the Moc Chau Island Tourist Complex invested by Tour 26 Moc Chau Joint Stock Company. This is a complex of entertainment services and high-class resorts including five-star hotel, monorail amusement park, cable car service and ethnic cuisine area, with Bach Long bridge being its highlight. The same day, Bach Long bridge was recognised as the world’s longest cliff-side path by Guinness World Records (GWR) and the world's glass-bottomed bridge by the World Record Association (WRA) and the Official World Record (OWR)./.

The programme “Ánh dương mùa xuân” or “Spring sunshine” in English performed by artists of Vietnam National Music Song and Dance Theatre bagged 11 gold and four silver medals. The city plans to welcome 3.5 million international tourists and 25 million domestic tourists this year. Fifty free cartoons for children to be screened in the summerFrom May 28, the Vietnam National Cinema Centre and the Vietnam Animation Studio will organise a screening of Vietnamese cartoons to serve audiences of all ages, especially teenagers and children. GREAT is Australia’s most significant gender investment in Vietnam, totalling 33.7 million AUD (24.1 million USD). Vietnam fosters scientific cooperation with Russian localityA virtual roundtable was held among representatives of scientific organisations in Russia’s Kuzbass region and Vietnam on May 26.

Although this “green house” has only been brought to the local cultural house by the women’s union in the Xuan Thuan residential area of Cam Pho ward for just a short period, it has received a lot of plastic waste. The women’s union in Hoi An ancient town has been stepping up efforts to raise public awareness about waste classification and the reduction of single-use plastics, with a view to giving new life to recycled plastic. Meanwhile, the model has also been introduced in Tan Hiep island commune with support from the Centre for Supporting Green Development (Greebhub) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Earlier, the commune, which houses Cu Lao Cham World Biosphere Reserve, was successful in “saying no to plastic bags”. The “green house” model and recycling bins have received an enthusiastic response from the community, providing a helping hand to waste collection and recycling and contributing to developing Hoi An into a green-tourism city./.

- Cooperation in education is one of the symbols of the special relations between Vietnam and Laos, said Lao Minister of Education and Sports Phout Simmalavong.The parties and governments of Laos and Vietnam always consider education a sector of strategic cooperation, the minister said at a talk at Laos National University in Vientiane capital on May 27 on the occasion of Vietnam-Laos Solidarity and Friendship Year 2022.During the struggle for national liberation, Vietnam not only helped Laos to develop education in the liberated areas of Laos, but also established schools in Vietnam to receive Lao students, he added.Over the past six decades, Vietnam has helped Laos train tens of thousands of officials in all fields from politics, administration, security and defense to research, the minister said, adding that many of them became key officials in different periods of national safeguarding and construction.In return, the Lao government is assisting Vietnam in training a total of 4,850 officials and students in the 1982-2022 period.At the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung and former Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism of Laos Boxengkham Vongdara reviewed the history and important milestones in the two countries’ relations, affirming the special role of education in preserving, fostering and developing bilateral ties.They stressed the need to further improve training quality and effectiveness of cooperation in education and human resources between the two countries.The Lao education sector will organise a series of activities such as gatherings, exhibitions, book publishing and documentary film making on the special relations between the two countries and in education in particular to mark the Vietnam – Laos and Laos – Vietnam Solidary and Friendship Year 2022, according to Minister Phout Simmalavong./.

Workers at a shrimp processing factory in Vietnam (Photo: VNA)Pretoria (VNA) - South Africa remains a promising market for Vietnam’s fishery products and serves as an important gateway for them to enter the regional market, an official has said. Of note, South Africa is currently Vietnam’s largest trade partner in Africa as the average annual growth rate of two-way trade surpassed 1.2 billion USD in the 2019-2021. Statistics from the MoIT indicated that the African nation mainly imported shrimp worth 3.17 million USD and frozen fish of 1.03 million USD from Vietnam last year. Bilateral trade remained stable despite negative impacts of COVID-19, showing that Vietnamese items and fishery products in particular have gained a foothold at the market. In addition, South Africa is viewed as a locomotive in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), therefore its retail network serves both the domestic market and neighbouring countries.

Group of foreign tourists in Phu Quoc island of Kien Giang (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam dropped COVID-19 test requirements for visitors entering the country from May 15, a move expected to boost the recovery of the country’s tourism industry. Dr Luong Hoai Nam, a member of the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board, spoke highly of the decision as he explained that testing for COVID-19 abroad is time consuming, while some countries have already scrapped the requirement. The move will also make it easier for overseas Vietnamese and foreign tourists to travel to Vietnam. Vietnam is advised to promote marketing and communication work on tourism as about 80 percent of foreign visitors travelling to the country with the help of foreign travel agencies. However, technical restrictions in visa issuance remain for foreign tourists who wish to travel to Vietnam.