Foreign real estate developers return as crisis is over
Foreign real estate developers return as crisis is overVietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam attracted $3 billion worth of foreign direct and portfolio investments to the real estate sector in 2017, a sharp increase of 80 percent over the year before. Singaporeans are the traditional investors in Vietnam’s real estate market, developing villas, apartments and high-end office and shopping malls. Difficulties in seeking landWith the 2013 Land Law, real estate developers, however, are having problems finding land. Forecasts about the real estate market in 2018 are all inclined towards optimism. RELATED NEWSReal estate M&As 2018: golden time for foreign capitalInvestors from Europe, US absent from Vietnam real estate marketKim Chi
Source:VietNamNet News
April 07, 2018 03:11 UTC
Social News 7/4
Over the past four decades, the WHO has helped improve the quality of health care services and public health in Vietnam. The organisation helped Vietnam eradicate polio and neonatal tetanus, and build standards for public health care. Alongside, the two sides will raise the quality of the local health care system and the efficiency of finance resources for the sector, while tightening regulations related to pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health care products. As an active member of the WHO, Vietnam has joined all meetings and forums on international cooperation in health care. The country has also hosted conferences and events in the health care sector.
Source:VietNamNet News
April 07, 2018 01:18 UTC
VN doctors use indocyanine fluorescence imaging to treat gastric cancer
VN doctors use indocyanine fluorescence imaging to treat gastric cancerDoctors at Binh Dan Hospital in HCM City has performed surgery for the first time using indocyanine fluorescence imaging to treat gastric cancer. Doctors at Bình Dân Hospital in HCM City perform surgery on a patient with gastric cancer. Dr Tran Vinh Hung, director of Binh Dan Hospital, said that gastric cancer surgery using indocyanine fluorescence imaging requires surgeons with experience and training in knowing how to precisely inject the substance into the stomach. According to figures released at a conference last year, Viet Nam has more than 15,000 annual new incidences of gastric cancer, including more than 11,000 fatalities a year. Gastric cancer is the second most common cancer among men and fifth most common among women in Viet Nam.
Source:VietNamNet News
April 06, 2018 23:03 UTC
Information ministry approves Vietnamese domain names licensed through auction
Information ministry approves Vietnamese domain names licensed through auctionThe Ministry of Information and Communications has signed a decision approving the list of Vietnamese domain names “.vn” licensed through auction. The Ministry of Information and Communications signed a decision approving the list of Vietnamese domain names “.vn” licensed through auction. — Photo vneconomy.vnThe list of sites using the national domain name “.vn” that were licensed through auction includes national single-character second-level domain names and two-character second-level domain names. National single-character second-level domain names are created using any one of the 26 letters in the English alphabet and 10 digits from zero to nine. The two-character second-level domain names are created using two letters or digits from the English alphabet and 10 digits from zero to nine.
Source:VietNamNet News
April 06, 2018 09:11 UTC
Vietnam middle class booms
Vietnam middle class boomsMore than 70 per cent of the Vietnamese population has fully escaped poverty, with at least 14 million having joint the global middle class, a World Bank report found on Thursday. Between 2014 and 2016, a staggering three million Vietnamese people joined the global middle class. This rate was positively higher than the Government’s annual goal of 1.5 per cent reduction as outlined in its National Target Programme on Poverty Reduction for 2016-20. Households of ethnic minorities – the most vulnerable to poverty – living in poor conditions witnessed a record decline over the last decade. Close to two million ethnic minority people climbed the economic ladder, equivalent to the number of poor people declining from 8.4 million in 2010 down to 6.6 million in 2016.
Source:VietNamNet News
April 06, 2018 08:26 UTC
Vietnam suffers abject failure in promoting culinary tourism
Vietnam suffers abject failure in promoting culinary tourismVietnam has rich cuisine culture but has proved inexplicably incapable of promoting tourism based on its cuisine according to local tourism experts. According to the World Food Travel Association, 25% of tourists questioned said they were interested in food when visiting a country. In 2017, the Vietnam Chef Association was established to develop a brand for Vietnamese cuisine. Vice head of Vietnam Tourism Association Vu The Binh said the food make the tours more interesting and tourism help promote the food. Tinh suggested adding cuisine tourism development plan into the national tourism master plan to 2020 with a view to 2030.
Source:VietNamNet News
April 06, 2018 08:26 UTC
Hanoi Social Insurance set deadline for insurance debt payment
Hanoi Social Insurance set deadline for insurance debt paymentHanoi Social Insurance has set a deadline of May 5 for 10 businesses in the city that owe social insurance premiums for a long time to pay up. Social insurance workers carry out administrative procedures in Hanoi’s Cau Giay District. At a dialogue between the agency and the businesses held on April 4, Vu Duc Thuat, deputy director of Hanoi Social Insurance said the enterprises must pay on time or the agency would report the case to the police.The total debt of these businesses amounts to VNĐ22.4 billion (nearly US$982,000), affecting the benefits of about 390 workers.These enterprises have owed debts ranging from VNĐ300 million to VNĐ6 billion between seven months and 55 months.At the meeting, representatives of the enterprises gave reasons for the delay in paying the debts.Most of them operate in construction and transportation so they have difficulties in getting back invested capital, according to the representatives.Despite the fact that many hydropower projects had been completed and handed over to investors, a representative from Balkal Commercial and Technology Company said the enterprise hadn’t received payment from investors.Representatives of the 10 enterprises have committed to repay the debt as soon as possible.Earlier in January, authorities in Hanoi ordered the city’s inspectors to inspect 80 enterprises with long overdue social insurance premiums.Inspections were conducted in January at 40 enterprises, retrieving more than VNĐ3.7 billion ($162,500) or 21 per cent of the total debt owed by these companies (more than VNĐ17 billion or $746,620).Of the 80 enterprises on the inspection list, 32 have paid off their debt amounting to some VNĐ11.1 billion ($487,500).
Source:VietNamNet News
April 06, 2018 07:41 UTC
Central region promotes tourism
Central region promotes tourismDespite its great potential, tourism in the south central and Central Highlands regions has only awakened in the last three years. To boost sea tourism, relevant authorities and travel agencies have worked together. Binh Dinh province welcomed more than 8 million visitors in 2017, an impressive surge compared to around 4 million tourists a year previously. To overcome shortcomings, big travel agencies have worked with local agencies due to their advantages in geographical and cultural understanding. With immense tourism potential and, more measures to strengthen the region’s tourism sector, the number of tourists coming to the province and the South central and Central Highlands regions this year are expected to increase by 1.5 times compared to previous years.-VNA
Source:VietNamNet News
April 06, 2018 07:30 UTC
Vu 'Nhom' and Tran Phuong Binh losing $8.8 million of Dong A Bank
Vu 'Nhom' and Tran Phuong Binh losing $8.8 million of Dong A BankThe investigation agency has determined that VND200 billion ($8.8 million) out of the VND600 billion ($26.4 million) Vu “Nhom” used to purchase Dong A Bank shares existed only on falsified documents by Tran Phuong Binh. At the end of 2013, Binh and Vu “Nhom” agreed that Vu would buy 60 million DAB shares with the total value of VND600 billion ($26.4 million). Then Vu “Nhom” bought 50 million DAB shares from four shareholders at the price of VND500 billion ($220 million). Thereby, Vu “Nhom” has to return VND200 billion ($8.8 million) to DAB, and relevant agencies will investigate and prosecute him later. Vu “Nhom” got $13.4 million from BinhAccording to newswire Tuoitre, Vu has changed his declaration.
Source:VietNamNet News
April 06, 2018 07:07 UTC
Government News 6/4
She also highlighted the close cooperation between the Vietnamese NA and the IPU for nearly four decades, affirming that the partnership brought remarkable achievements. The event was organised by the Vietnam Association of Historical Sciences, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities under the Vietnam National University - HCM City, and the HCM City Association of Historical Sciences. Aichi and Ho Chi Minh City should design cooperation programmes in manufacturing and production areas, including automobile, machinery and high-technology agriculture, Phong proposed. He affirmed that Ho Chi Minh City will create optimal conditions for enterprises in Japan and Aichi in particular to invest in the city. The same day, Phong and the Ho Chi Minh City delegation visited Aichi’s agriculture experiment station to seek cooperation opportunities in high-tech agriculture.
Source:VietNamNet News
April 06, 2018 06:33 UTC
Tran Minh Thang wins gold medal at Asian youth chess champs
Tran Minh Thang wins gold medal at Asian youth chess champsTran Minh Thang won a gold medal in the rapid chess category at the ongoing Asian Youth Chess Championship in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Chess player Tran Minh Thang (Photo: trungtamthethaotuoitre.com)Hanoian Thang competed in the boys’ U18 and was No 2 seed with Elo rating of 2,353. Thang had five wins and two draws to gain six points. This result helped him overcome No 1 seed Xu Zhihang of China (Elo 2,393) with 0.5 points to take gold. They are taking part in six divisions for boys and six for girls, ranging from U8 to U18 age groups.
Source:VietNamNet News
April 06, 2018 06:22 UTC
PM’s summit attendance affirms VN’s commitment to MRC cooperation
PM’s summit attendance affirms VN’s commitment to MRC cooperationThe participation in the third Mekong River Commission (MRC) Summit by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is the affirmation of Vietnam’s care for and strong commitment to the cooperation within the MRC to the spirit of the 1995 Mekong Agreement towards enhancing the agency’s role and the solidarity and cooperation among member countries for mutual interests. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (1st, left) and other delegates at the third MRC Summit. The summit adopted the Siem Rep Declaration which affirms the importance of Mekong cooperation as well as the acceleration of the implementation of the 1995 Mekong Agreement. In 1995, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam signed an Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River and set up the Mekong River Commission (MRC), replacing the Mekong Committee. The first MRC summit was held in Hua Hin, Thailand in 2010 and the second one took place in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in 2014.
Source:VietNamNet News
April 06, 2018 06:11 UTC
HCM City to raise bus fares
HCM City to raise bus faresVietNamNet Bridge – HCM City Public Transport Management Centre has proposed raising the bus fares by VND1,000 (4 US cents) to recover the costs of purchasing new buses. Passengers get on a bus on Ham Nghi Street, HCM City. Students, however, will enjoy the universal discount fares of VND2,000 on all public buses. Public Transport Management Centre Director Tran Chi Trung said the fare increase was “a necessary move”. He also guaranteed that the fare rise would accompany an improvement in the service, saying the centre was planning to use an e-ticket system on HCM City’s buses.
Source:VietNamNet News
April 06, 2018 06:00 UTC
HSBC: Firms favour ‘home’ as protectionism bites
HSBC: Firms favour ‘home’ as protectionism bitesAlthough rising protectionism is a concern to businesses worldwide, they are optimistic about international business prospects, a new report from HSBC called ‘Navigator: Now, next and how for business’ shows. HSBC's report found that 77 per cent of 6,000 firms surveyed globally are rather optimistic about their international business prospects and expect trade to increase over the next 12 months. An increase in protectionist sentiment has not hampered the optimism of firms globally, but is causing concerns about the cost of doing cross-border trade and international business. In Vietnam, three quarters (67 per cent) of businesses agree that governments are becoming more protective of their domestic businesses. Economic analysis supports the strength of business confidence, pointing to a 7 per cent growth in trade value in 2018 (goods and services combined).
Source:VietNamNet News
April 06, 2018 05:48 UTC
Investors in public-private partnerships fear changing state policies
Investors in public-private partnerships fear changing state policiesVietNamNet Bridge - Investors are reluctant to pour money into infrastructure projects under the PPP (private public partnership) mode because of fear of new policies which could lead to losses or bankruptcy. Investors are reluctant to pour money into infrastructure projects under the PPP (private public partnership) mode because of fear of new policies which could lead to losses or bankruptcy. Vu Quynh Le, deputy director of the Bidding Management Agency, said that investments in PPP projects remain below expectations because of difficulties during implementation. But the laws don’t attach much importance to the special characteristics of the PPP mode. This is the major reason that investors, especially foreigners, hesitate to undertake PPP projects, he said.
Source:VietNamNet News
April 06, 2018 05:03 UTC