Hanoi (VNA) – The Northwestern mountainous region has the highest number of poor and near-poor households, which account for more than half of its total households, according to preliminary outcomes of a recent survey. The survey, which was released at a meeting of the Central Steering Committee for Sustainable Poverty Reduction in Hanoi on March 10, reveals that the Northeastern region records the second largest rate of poor and near-poor households with 29 percent, followed by the Red River Delta and the Southeastern regions, both with less than 10 percent. Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Trong Dam said figures have been collected in almost all localities…
Ho Chi Minh City sees youth potential for business growth
Ho Chi Minh City (VNA) – Dynamic youth are likely to help Ho Chi Minh City realise its goal of doubling the number of enterprises in 2020, visiting senior advisor to the US Secretary of State David Thorne said to local authorities on March 8. Thorn said his visit is part of a US programme to assist ASEAN countries, including Vietnam, in promoting business and innovation. He expressed his appreciation for the southern city’s support for the construction of a Fulbright University here. He said he would try to make sure that President Barack Obama will visit the south and Ho Chi Minh City as part of his trip to…
Tourism hopeful about TPP benefits
Hanoi (VNA) – Many new opportunities will be opened up for the tourism sector by Vietnam’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), according to an industry expert. Director of Vietnam National Tourism Administration’s Market Department Dinh Ngoc Duc said loosened regulations on investment and labour for TPP and AEC member countries will stimulate demand for travelling to seek investment, business and employment opportunities. This will give a boost to the flow of international travellers within the TPP and AEC. Duc added that most TPP members have also committed to opening the market of business travel among them. With the TPP, international travellers will enjoy…
Automobile sales plummet in February
Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s automobile sales reached 11,718 units in February, down 49 percent against the previous month, according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA). The number of passenger cars sold tumbled 54 percent to 6,446 units, while commercial cars dropped 44 percent to 4,599 units and special-purpose cars decreased 21 percent to 673 units. In the first two months of this year, the sale of domestically assembled cars increased 24 percent compared to the same period last year. In contrast, imported cars sales fell 24 percent year-on-year, VAMA said. Overall, auto sales rose 8 percent year-on-year during the Jan-February period, with respective increases of 50 percent and 27…
Exchange rate to be stable in 2016
Hanoi (VNA) – The exchange rate in 2016 will not have big changes in order to ensure macro-economic stability and support economic growth in accordance with the Government’s orientations, according to Bui Quoc Dung, head of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s Monetary Policy Department. Dung said that before the SBV implemented its new exchange rate management by announcing the central rate daily, many economists and organisations had forecast an increase of 5-7 percent in the exchange rate. However, the forecasts changed as the central bank’s move helped stabilise the forex market and made the exchange rate decrease sharply. The Standard Chartered Bank predicted a rise of 1-2 percent in…
Value of goods and services rises
HA NOI (VNS) — The national retail value of goods and services in the first two months of this year experienced the same growth rate as last year. However, the strong surge experienced in several previous years was absent, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said. The office said the total retail value of goods and services in the first two months gained a year-on-year surge of 9.7 per cent to reach VND587 trillion (US$26.6 billion). That is not a high growth rate as usual because of the high demand during the Tet festival in February. Vu Manh Ha, a GSO expert, said the retail value of goods and services in…