The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has been asked to map out a strategy for developing Vietnamese cultural industries through 2020. Under Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam’s conclusion on a draft of the strategy for developing Vietnamese cultural industries through 2020, the ministry is asked to review, formulate and issue mechanisms and policies to promote the development of cultural industries in Vietnam. He noted that it is necessary to define the scope of the strategy to make it suitable with factual contexts in Vietnam and maximise Vietnam’s advantages. The completed strategy is expected to be submitted to the Prime Minister at the end of the third quarter this…
HCM City: ODA disbursement on the rise
The 2011-2015 disbursement of official development assistance (ODA) in Ho Chi Minh City achieved 99.5 percent of the original goal of 26.57 trillion VND (about 1.23 billion USD). The figure showed a 213 percent increase compared to the 2006-2010 period, according to the municipal Department of Planning and Investment. Since 2011, the city has raised about 49.6 trillion VND (2.3 billion USD) worth of ODA capital for 13 new projects and three ongoing projects. Of which, non-refundable aid hit 122 billion VND (5.7 million USD) and the remaining were loans and soft loans. ODA capital contributes an average of 20-30 percent of the city’s budget to infrastructure development each year.…
WB report: Vietnam’s GDP to grow 6.5 percent
Vietnam’s gross domestic product growth is forecast to reach 6 percent this year, gradually increasing to 6.5 percent in 2017, according to the World Bank. The growth is attributable to the continued strong performance of manufacturing, export and foreign investment. The World Bank made the statement in its “Global Economic Prospects” report, released on June 10. Growth in East Asia and the Pacific is expected to ease to 6.7 percent this year and remain stable thereafter, with the continued slowdown in China gradually offset by a pickup in the rest of the region, which is benefiting from the strengthening recovery in advanced countries. Regional countries will mostly benefit from low…
Domestic gold drops to new lows
Domestic gold prices have fallen to a four-year-and-a-half low while the exchange rate between the dong and the greenback has remained stable. HCMC-based Saigon Jewelry Company (SJC) yesterday quoted gold at VND34.7 million for buying and VND34.76 million for selling per tael, down by VND10,000 a tael versus Monday and VND50,000 a tael against late last week. The yellow metal dipped to its lowest price since October 25, 2010, losing 1% against early this year and 2.95% compared to this year’s high (VND35.82 million on January 21). According to kitco.com, the global gold price hit an 11-week low of US$1,175.5 an ounce on June 9. Given Vietcombank’s exchange rate at…
Hanoi spend 952,000 USD a year on aquaculture
Hanoi has spent up to 20 billion VND (952,000 USD) a year on developing centralized aquaculture breeding areas in a bid to protect the environment, prevent epidemic diseases and protect food safety. The city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has also organised periodic inspections of aquaculture businesses to ensure food safety while increasing community awareness of protecting aquatic resources. The department has supplied medicinal, chemical and biological products for centralized breeding areas and intensified quality management. In response to the Aquatic Resource Protection Day (June 5) this year, 356 households in the city has committed to not use electrical pulses or toxic substances or explosives to exploit aquatic resources.…
Hanoi, Fukuoka step up bilateral cooperation
Hanoi will organise a cultural exchange programme in Fukuoka with a view to introducing the culture and people of the capital city to residents of the Japanese prefecture. The capital will develop opportunities for investment promotion, promoting Hanoi as a promising investment market to businesses from Fukuoka as well as Japan in general, Chairman of the Hanoi People Committee Nguyen The Thao told visiting Fukuoka Governor Ogawa Hiroshi on June 8. He expressed his thanks for Fukuoka’s support for Hanoi across the fields of economics, environment and society. Meanwhile, Ogawa Hiroshi highlighted the sound relations between Fukuoka and Hanoi, saying that people-to-people exchanges will help further develop the ties. Fukuoka…
Green light given to dairy farming project
Binh Ha Livestock Investment Co. has got the go-ahead from the government of Binh Dinh Province to implement a cow farming project worth VND3.6 trillion (US$165.4 million) in the province. A major shareholder of Binh Ha is Hoang Anh Gia Lai Joint Stock Company, which has already partnered with a number of companies to develop a chain specializing in producing beef and milk in and outside Vietnam, according to the provincial Investment Promotion Center. Binh Ha plans to raise up to 100,000 cows on 5,080 hectares in Van Canh, Hoai Nhon, An Lao and Hoai An districts of the province. This will be the biggest livestock project in the central…
WB funds public transport development
HCMC – The World Bank (WB) has approved a loan of US$124 million for HCMC to carry out a project to improve public transportation in HCMC. The WB said in a statement on June 1 that it would finance developing a bus rapid transit lane of 23 kilometers on Vo Van Kiet and Mai Chi Tho roads to connect An Lac, southwest of HCMC, and Rach Chiec in the northeast. There will be some 28 stops on the bus route as part of the project. Once completed, the service will be able to serve up to 28,300 passengers a day with a focus on facilitating the transport of women, children and people…
Many small enterprises hit the wall
For the first four months of this year, 3,249 small enterprises have closed their business, and 19,000 others temporarily stopped operations, a survey conducted by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has found. Most of the companies had under 10 billion VND (480,000 USD) of registered capital. The number of enterprises temporarily stopping operation increased by 4.5 percent, though the number of enterprises closing fell 0.8 percent compared with last year. “The development of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is very important for any economy and if SMEs can’t develop, the Vietnamese economy will find it hard to grow in a sustainable way,” Nguyen Hoang, president and CEO…