It won’t be easy to lure foreign capital in H2: expertsVietNamNet Bridge - Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) will no longer be the main driver to attract foreign capital to Vietnam in the second half of 2018 as it was in the first six months of the year. The huge foreign capital flow has led to the VN Index rising by 20 percent within the first quarter of 2018. Analysts believe that FPI was the major driving force of the foreign capital flow. They also affirmed that FPI will no longer be the main driver to attract foreign capital in the second half. In Vietnam, foreign investors continued to be net sellers in May, June and the first half of July.

US initiates anti-dumping investigation into VN’s cold rolled steelThe US Department of Commerce (DOC) has announced the launch of an investigation into the avoidance of paying anti-dumping and anti-subsidy taxes on cold rolled steel (CRS) imported from Vietnam. Illustrative image (Source: vietnambiz.vn)The decision was made based on petitions filed by US businesses on June 12, alleging that the Vietnamese CRS is the same with the product which is under tax levy and produced by hot rolled steel imported from the Republic of Korea (RoK). The DOC will issue the final decision within 300 days since the initiation of the investigation, said the Trade Defence Department under the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade. The agency recommended Vietnamese exporters fully cooperate with the US investigation agencies while closely coordinating with the department during the process.

Ha Long Bay, Quang Ninh province, Vietnam. Visitors come in abundance to Ha Long Bay with many opting for cruise tours where you can sleep on board. On the list, Ha Long Bay (Vietnam) is followed by Mt Batur, Bali (Indonesia), Bagan (Myanmar), Pidurangala Rock (Sri Lanka), andChandrashila Parvat (India). Ha Long Bay, in the Gulf of Tonkin, includes some 1,600 islands and islets, forming a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars. In 2017, Quang Ninh welcomed a total of 9.87 million tourists, including 4.28 million foreigners, according to Quang Ninh provincial Department of Tourism.

Manh, however, also mentioned obstacles hindering the Vietnam-Russia economic and trade cooperation, saying that there are no effective mechanisms to promote the potential and strength of each country. The Vietnamese deputy defence minister affirmed the Defence Ministry will create all favourable conditions for Marc Razafindranaly to fulfil his tasks. According to the diplomat, over the four decades, bilateral trade and investment ties have grown considerably, driven by the favourable economic environment. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh also offered his sympathies to Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. The city has also hosted many major events of ASEAN like 4th ASEAN Chief Justices’ Meeting, and ASEAN Law Association’s 38th Governing Council Meeting.

But there was one new yogurt that has been a top choice for customers – yogurt with jelly and pandan leaves, which look like gladiola leaves. With over 12,000 online orders on Foody.vn – a popular community where people can search, rate and comment on places to eat in Vietnam – for ‘Yogurt with pandan jelly and black pearl’, over 1,000 orders for ‘Yogurt with pandan jelly, black pearl and mixed fruits’ and over 2,000 orders for ‘Yogurt with pandan jelly, black pearl, mixed fruits and cheese’, as well as hundreds of visit per day, there was definitely something about this tasty kind of yogurt. Nikkie Garcia, a nutritionist, confirms that pandan leaves can be a good treatment for hypertension, weak nerves, joint pain and rheumatism. Boiling two pandan leaves and drinking them before eating can help you increase your appetite,” said Garcia. And with pandan, people have plenty of cooking methods, from sweet soup to cake, from sticky rice to sticky rice ice cream, and from soya bean curd to the amazing cubes of pandan jelly.

Vietnam encounters barriers exporting rice to ChinaVietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam’s rice export price has unexpectedly surpassed Thailand’s prices, but the good news has been overshadowed by China’s higher import tariff on sticky rice and tighter control over imports. After a tough year in 2017, Vietnam’s rice exports have bounced back since the beginning of 2018, increasing sharply in both quantity and value. However, rice exporters have been warned of difficulties ahead as China unexpectedly raised the import tariff on non-quota sticky rice from 5 percent to 50 percent. Vietnam’s rice exports also bear stricter control by Chinese agencies which have also raised the plant quarantine standards for Vietnam rice exporters. RELATED NEWSBusinesses indifferent to Vietnam’s national rice brandMinistry promises to reduce business barriers for rice exportersNgoc Nga

What’s status of Vietnam’s software industry after two decades of development? VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam’s software firms are developing steadily with stable revenue growth rate of 50 percent per annum. Vietnam's software industry is developing rapidlyVietnam’s software firms only began learning ‘how to walk’ two decades ago, when China and India had already become the world’s software export centers. However, they just needed a short time to be added to the list of leading software exporters. However, they just needed a short time to be added to the list of leading software exporters.In 2000, FPT took the first steps to export software.

Finance Ministry proposes halting exchanging land for infrastructureThe use of land, a type of public property, for payment to investors in the Build – Transfer (BT) format should be stopped until the Vietnamese government issues a new regulation. The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance (MoF) has just sent a dispatch to the other ministries and localities, proposing limiting the use of public property in return for infrastructure investments. Specifically, the ministry emphasized that from January 1, 2018, the use of public property (land) for payment to Build – Transfer (BT) investors should be stopped until the Vietnamese government’s new decree on this aspect takes effect. Up to now, this document has not been issued and the exchange of land for infrastructure will be stopped in the meantime. This request was made after the Hanoi People's Committee gave in-principle approval to five transport infrastructure projects in the form of BT, and would give land in exchange for them.

Vietnam’s publishing industry faces new challenges with Amazon entryVietNamNet Bridge - In the digital and artificial intelligence era, orthodox publishing groups no longer play the key role in the world’s publishing industry. VPA’s deputy chair Le Hoang also said the 4.0 industry revolution will be associated with cutthroat competition. The day when Amazon arrives in Vietnam and competes with Vietnamese publishers is near, which will be a big threat to Vietnamese publishers. In addition, the 4.0 industry revolution will also empower the role of e-books in comparison with printed books. In addition, the 4.0 industry revolution will also empower the role of e-books in comparison with printed books.

Pepper prices tumble to 10-year lowPepper prices in the Central Highlands have plunged to VND48,000-49,000 per kilogram, the lowest price point over the last decade, reported news website Vietnamplus. Pepper prices in the Central Highlands tumble to 10-year lowThe prices are VND4,000-5,000 lower than that late last month and represent a decline of VND151,000-152,000 per kilogram against 2015 when prices were sky high at around VND200,000 a kilo. Pepper prices were forecast to continue fluctuating for the rest of the year, causing multiple difficulties for growers. Over the last five years, farmers in the Central Highlands have rushed to grow pepper, doubling the pepper plantation area compared with the planned area. Dak Lak has the largest pepper plantation area, at 42,600 hectares, whereas it had earlier planned to have only 15,000 hectares of pepper by 2020.

Lombok quake: Rescuers search collapsed mosque for survivorsRescue workers are searching the ruins of a mosque in Lombok, Indonesia, where it is feared people were trapped by Sunday's deadly earthquake. The mosque is one of thousands of buildings in North Lombok that were damaged. The impact of Sunday's quake has been far greater than a quake that hit Lombok last week, killing 16 people. Meanwhile search and rescue teams have rescued at least 2,000 people from the Gili Islands, three islands just off the north-west coast of Lombok which are popular with backpackers and divers. Lombok is a roughly 4,500 sq km (1,700 sq miles) island east of the slightly larger island of Bali.

According to Bloomberg, in the first half of 2018, more than $19 billion in foreign capital was withdrawn from emerging markets in Asia. Meanwhile, according to data from Vietcombank Securities Company (VCBS), foreign investors still net bought nearly $1.5 billion on the Vietnamese stock market. According to VCBS, regardless of the general withdrawal trend of foreign capital in emerging markets, cash flow from countries such as Japan and South Korea into Việt Nam was still trending upwards. However, Việt Nam’s stock market still faces many external risks. In particular, foreign investors will also focus more on IPO deals and capital divestments at large State-owned enterprises.

Climate change: 'Hothouse Earth' risks even if CO2 emissions slashedIt may sound like the title of a low budget sci-fi movie, but for planetary scientists, "Hothouse Earth" is a deadly serious concept. But as the world experiences warming, these carbon sinks could become sources of carbon and make the problems of climate change significantly worse. What exactly is a Hothouse Earth scenario? According to the research paper, crossing into a Hothouse Earth period would see a higher global temperature than at any time in the past 1.2 million years. Are the current heatwaves in the UK and Europe evidence of a Hothouse Earth?

The ninth edition of Android also offers more powerful notifications and promises to extend battery life. Google always picks a dessert or confectionery-based nickname for its mobile OS, shifting one letter along the alphabet each time. Google says other manufacturers should release updates to Android Pie in the autumn -- Photo: GOOGLEPast examples have included Jelly Bean, Kit Kat, Lollipop and Marshmallow. One of the new software's headline features is its new Digital Wellbeing controls. The other biggest innovation is Slices, which brings parts of an app's user interface to the fore without requiring the owner to open the program.

Vietnamese brands attracting more Japanese investorsVietNamNet Bridge - Japanese enterprises are entering the Vietnamese market gradually by buying into Vietnamese enterprises and cementing their positions in business fields with stable growth. Vietnamese brands are attractive to Japanese investorsSojitz Group in mid-June acquired 95.24 percent of shares of Saigon Paper Corporation in a deal worth $91.2 million, or VND2 trillion. Vietnamese enterprises with strong brands lead the markets, and are being eyed by Japanese investors. Japanese enterprises are entering the Vietnamese market gradually by buying into Vietnamese enterprises and cementing their positions in business fields with stable growth. After selling shares to Japanese investors, many Vietnamese companies benefit immediately from the new Japanese owners.