Sugar producers worried as inventory remains highVietNamNet Bridge - Sugar companies have once again shouted for help as the volume of inventory is increasing rapidly, while the domestic market is flooded with smuggled sugar. Some sugar refineries have had to sell products at prices nearly equal to the prices of smuggled sugar. Some others have accepted to sell sugar below product costs to reduce the inventory volume (VND11,400-12,000 per kilogram). Some others have accepted to sell sugar below product costs to reduce the inventory volume (VND11,400-12,000 per kilogram). VSSA’s Ha Huu Phai said the price decrease fell to a 4-year low in the world market because of the record high output of 178 million tons, or 10 million tons higher than last year.

Fintechs, with technology and big data, jump into consumer lending marketVietNamNet Bridge - Commercial banks are becoming digitalized, while fintechs, with great advantages in technology, have joined the consumer lending market. Lam and others like him could become a client of fintechs, which, by effectively exploiting big data, have step by step broken the barrier in consumer credit. The consumer credit growth in 2017 continued from two groups of suppliers – commercial banks and finance companies. Finance companies provide 12 percent of total consumer loans, while official consumer credit only serves 30 percent of customers who have demand. Fintechs are expected to be the biggest rival of commercial banks and finance companies in the near future.

Vietnam hopes for enhanced cooperation with BrazilVietnam treasures the increasing role of Brazil in the international arena and wishes to further promote comprehensive cooperation with the country, said Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Brazilian Foreign Minister Nunes Ferreira witness the signing of the MoU between the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations and the Alexandre de Gusmao Foundation of BrazilMinh made the statement during talks with Brazilian Foreign Minister Nunes Ferreira on May 12, who is on an official visit to Vietnam from May 12-13. For his part, Nunes affirmed Brazil considers Vietnam as an important partner in Southeast Asia. He spoke highly Vietnam’s increasing role and position in the region and the world, as well as his country’s determination to strengthen and expand the friendship and all-around cooperation with Vietnam. The Vietnamese official took the occasion to urge Brazil to soon recognise Vietnam’s market economy.

Party Central Committee asks to implement resolution productivelyThe closing session of the 7th plenary meeting of the 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) was held on May 12 under the chair by Politburo member and President Tran Dai Quang. The CPVCC elected Tran Cam Tu, CPVCC member and Standing Vice Chairman of the CPVCC Inspection Commission, the 12th tenure, as Chairman of the CPVCC Inspection Commission, the 12th tenure. Meanwhile, Hoang Van Tra, Vice Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the People’s Committee and head of the National Assembly deputies, the 14th tenure, of Phu Yen province was elected to the CPVCC Inspection Commission, the 12th tenure. The CPVCC elected two additional members of the 12th tenure Secretariat, including Tran Thanh Man, CPVCC member and President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee; and Tran Cam Tu, CPVCC member and Chairman of the CPVCC Inspection Commission, the 12th tenure. The CPVCC considered and agreed to expel Dinh La Thang, CPVCC member and deputy head of the CPVCC Economics Commission, from the Party.

Lao Cai razes drug trafficking ring with 329 bricks of heroinThe police of the northern border province of Lao Cai have brought to light the biggest drug trafficking ring, arresting two suspects and seizing 329 bricks (about 120kg) of heroin worth about 69 billion VND (3.03 million USD). In the afternoon of May 15, local police arrested Nguyen Van Dai, born in 1975 and residing in Thach Son commune, Anh Son district of the central province of Nghe An, and Nguyen Van Ly, born in 1991 and residing in Anh Son town, Anh Son district of Nghe An for illegally transporting the heroin. The duo drove a Ford Ranger car with 329 heroin bricks hidden in many places of the car such as floor and oil tank. At the police station, they admitted that they were transporting the drug from Nghe An to Lao Cai for cross-border sale. They launched activities to uncover the ring on May 6, 2018 under the instruction of Colonel Dinh Tien Quan, Director of the Lao Cai Department of Public Security and Colonel Hoang Manh Hung, Vice Director of the department.

Party Central Committee’s 7th session concludesThe seventh plenary session of the 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) concluded in Hanoi on May 12, completing all the agenda contents after six working days. For the enterprise sector, the Party Central Committee pointed to the need to continue completing the policy on regional minimal monthly wages to protect underprivileged workers. The Party Central Committee urged the building and perfection of the system of job positions so it will serve as a foundation for developing the payroll for job positions, job titles and leading positions. At the session, the Party Central Committee elected two supplementary members of the Secretariat and considered punishments for some Party members. "The seventh session of the 12th Party Central Committee was a success," the Party chief said.

RoK to recruit 7,900 Vietnamese workers this yearThe Republic of Korea will receive 7,900 Vietnamese workers in 2018, said Nguyen Gia Liem, said Deputy General Director of the Overseas Labour Department under the Ministry of Labour - Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA). The information was revealed during a press conference held by the ministry on implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on supplying and receiving Vietnamese workers to the RoK under the Employment Permit System (EPS) programme this year. Registration for the Korean language tests will open from May 10 to 13. The test for manufacturing workers will be held on June 23 and 24. Nearly 50,000 Vietnamese workers are working in the RoK, with about 16,000 of them having stayed after their contracts expired.-VNA

Vietnam, US sign agreement on dioxin treatment in Bien HoaThe US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Air Defence – Air Force Service under the Vietnamese Defence Ministry signed an agreement on non-refundable aid for a project on dioxin remediation in the Bien Hoa airport in Hanoi on May 11. Le Huy Vinh, Commander of the Air Defence – Air Force Service (R) and Michael Greene, Mission Director for USAID/Vietnam inked the document to start a project on dioxin remediation in the Bien Hoa airportMichael Greene, Mission Director for USAID/Vietnam, and Lt. Gen. Le Huy Vinh, Commander of the Air Defence – Air Force Service, inked the document to start the plan making process for the work. Bien Hoa is the largest remaining dioxin hotspot in Vietnam. The US side vowed to collaborate with Vietnam and its Defence Ministry in addressing war consequences while continuing to foster bilateral economic, cultural and security relations.

Santa Claus-themed letter wins national UPU contestA letter about Santa Claus written by an eighth grader in Hai Duong province has won the first prize of the 47th International Letter-Writing Competition for Young People in Vietnam. The contest in Vietnam from October 2017 to March 2018 attracted more than 1 million entries from nationwide. The judges awarded one first prize, three second prizes, five third prizes and 30 consolation prizes to the best entries. Vietnam became a member of the UPU in 1976 and has taken part in the UPU letter writing contest since 1987. Vietnamese students won prizes at the international competition for 13 times, including two first prizes, one second prize, three third prizes, and seven consolation prizes.-VNA

How is Vietnam applying artificial intelligence? VietNamNet Bridge - Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used in Vietnam in apps used such as face-identification technology cameras, smartphone chatbots, self-propelling vehicles, and nano robots developed by FPT Group, Zalo Brain and Zalo Assistant by VNG. Connected with more than 3,000 celebrities and influential persons in Vietnam, CastingAsia is conquering the Vietnam online marketing market with AI. Analysts say that developing AI is one of the rare opportunities for Vietnam to put its mark on the world’s technology map. Sources said that AI is used at some hospitals in Vietnam to treat patients suffering from serious diseases.

Nearly 3,800 resettlement apartments in Thu Thiem find no buyersNo investors have registered to bid for 3,790 resettlement apartments in the Thu Thiem new urban area project in District 2, HCMC, which have been put up for auction by the city government, according to Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper. According to the Department of Construction, the redundancy of such a huge number of resettlement homes has resulted from relaxed compensation policy. But now land clearance compensation rates match market prices, and prices of resettlement apartments are higher than before. The regulation that developers must build resettlement apartments before they can relocate households in their project sites has also led to a redundancy as many affected residents have refused ready-built apartments. Nam Rach Chiec residential and resettlement area covers 60 hectares, including 30 hectares of resettlement land for the Thu Thiem new urban area project.

Social support establishments should be empowered: Adoption officialVietNamNet Bridge – More social support establishments in Vietnam should be allowed to perform intercountry adoption procedures, the Department of Adoption proposed on Wednesday. Adjusting regulations through which the social support establishment is allowed to proceed with inter-country adoption procedures was one of the issues discussed at the conference. “Thus orphans living in some social support establishments cannot be given to foreign adoptive families, because these establishments have not been empowered to do so,” she said. Instead, stricter requirements and criteria should be developed, which the social support establishments are required to meet if they wish to perform inter-country adoption procedures, according to the department. Regarding inter-country adoption, Ngoc said it should only be the last resort when all possibilities of domestic adoption have been exhausted.

President meets Vietnamese, foreign scientistsPresident Tran Dai Quang met in Hanoi on May 11 with Vietnamese and foreign scientists attending the seminar themed “Science for development” that took place in Quy Nhon city, the central province of Binh Dinh on May 9-10. President Tran Dai Quang meets Vietnamese and foreign scientistsThe event was part of the “Meet Vietnam” programme on the occasion of its 25th founding anniversary. The President lauded achievements that the “Meet Vietnam” Association has scored over the past 25 years. He thanked scientists, politicians, policymakers and corporate executives for actively joining activities of the programme which is a bridge connecting Vietnamese and foreign scientists, making important contributions to Vietnam’s science and education. The “Meet Vietnam” Association also worked closely with the Sponsoring Association for Vietnamese Children in France led by Prof.

Authorities work to end illegal wildlife tradingRelevant agencies and localities have taken drastic measures to promote law enforcement on and increase public awareness of wildlife protection, said the Education for Nature Vietnam on May 11. Meanwhile, healthcare units at town and district levels have been tasked to increase awareness of the country’s policies and law on wildlife protection among these businesses. The people’s committees requested officials and public employees to not engage in trading or consuming wildlife products, or using them as gifts. Vietnam has been getting tough on wildlife protection by introducing amendments to the Penal Code that extend wildlife protection from rare, precious and endangered animals to all types of wildlife. Violations in protecting rare, precious and endangered wildlife are also viewed as “extremely serious offence” instead of “serious offence” as stated in the previous code.-VNA

Localities asked to report public investment disbursement progressThe Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) has asked centrally-run cities and provinces to promptly submit their reports on the implementation and disbursement of public investment in 2018. The localities are urged to report the progress of disbursement of capital for projects included in public investment plan of the year as of the end of April 2018, the estimate for the present to the end of June and the whole year. The MPI asked the localities to specify their difficulties and obstacles in implementing and allocating public investment as well as reasons behind them, as well as propose solutions to speed up the disbursement of the capital in the rest of the year. Of the total, the centrally-managed capital was 13.1 trillion VND (576.4 million USD), accounting for 19.9 percent of the yearly target, a fall of 2.3 percent over the same period last year. Meanwhile, the capital managed by localities was 57.8 trillion VND (2.54 billion USD), equivalent to 21.2 percent of the target for the whole year and up 12.3 percent year on year.-VNA