HOI AN (VNS) — The ancient city will host the annual Hoi An-Japan Cultural Festival with a series of activities from August 28 to 30, Hoi An’s culture centre said yesterday. This is the 13th time the city has held the event, with the participation of local residents, the Japanese community in Hoi An and Da Nang, and tourists visiting the city. Japanese residents living in Hoi An and artists from Japan will introduce traditional dances like yasakoi, yakakoi; paper cutting (Kirigami); bonsai and photo exhibitions for the 12th anniversary of co-operation and culture exchange between Hoi An and Japan; a Haiku calligraphy exhibition; and folk performances. The event will…
Vietnam to create a strategy for developing cultural industry
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…
Microsoft opens first authorised reseller in Vietnam
Microsoft Mobile Vietnam on June 18 officially inaugurated its first authorised reseller store in Vietnam, which is run by its local partner FPT Corporation. The store is located at No. 63 Ly Thuong Kiet street, Hanoi. It will sell the corporation’s products, including Lumia phones, feature phones, as well as Microsoft software products such as Office 365. At the store, customers can also experience and understand integrated data access on mobile devices and the latest news updates on Microsoft’s applications and services at Live Experience Table area. “Vietnam is a key focus market for phone businesses. Microsoft has made significant investments in changing the brand from Nokia to Microsoft and…
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.…
Trade deficit recorded during first five months of 2015
Vietnam recorded a trade deficit of more than 3 billion USD, despite an increase in exports, in the first five months of 2015, according to the most recent statistics released by the Vietnam Customs agency. In the period, total exports were valued at 63.45 billion USD, a 7.7 percent increase, equivalent to 4.55 billion USD, on a yearly basis. In terms of imports, the total value reached 66.5 billion USD, up by 16.4 percent or 9.36 billion USD. As a result, there was a 3.05 billion USD deficit in trade in the first five months of 2015. Total import –export turnover for the period reached 129.94 billion USD, up 12…
Vietnamese lychee meets Canadian standards
High-quality Vietnamese lychee meets the standards of the Canadian market, according to a Canadian importer. Rex Yu from Manley Sales Company, who imported the first batch of Vietnamese lychee on June 10, told Vietnamese News Agency correspondents that Vietnamese lychees meet quality requirements of the Canadian Food Investigation Agency (CFIA). He expressed his hope that Vietnamese lychee would secure a share in the Canadian market as Vietnamese fresh dragon fruits and longan have, both of which are currently imported by his company. The company plans to distribute Vietnamese lychee across the country, from British Columbia on the west coast to Quebec on the east coast, within a week. The Vietnamese…
ベトナムホイアン市で観光者向けの音楽祭が開催される
The authorities of Hoi An City are organizing more music performances to promote tourism and help preserve cultural values of the central city. The band “Tieng duong cam-Cung dan tuoi tho” (Piano sound-Childhood melody) will perform at 78 Le Loi Street on the first and third Fridays of every month. Held by the Center for Culture and Sports Center and Department of Education and Training in Hoi An, the program features performances of second to seventh graders in Hoi An. The music program aims to woo visitors to the ancient town and create a playground for local children to show off their talents and promote the genre of classic music.…
Vietnam attends Asia’s leading ICT and broadcasting industry events
Sixteen Vietnamese businesses participated in the Communic Asia 2015, Enterprise IT 2015 and Broadcast Asia 2015 trade shows held from June 2-5 in Singapore. The events attracted about 2,000 leading information and communications technology (ICT) and broadcasting enterprises from all over the world. The tradeshows focused on presenting and showcasing smart technologies designed to better connect cities, governments, enterprises and consumers. Highlights included innovations in 5G, Big Data, Cloud, Connected Devices, Internet of Things and over-the-top (OTT). (en.vietnamplus.vn 2015年6月16日)
Highway to connect HCM City to border
A HCM City company has asked the Transport Ministry to approve a VND30 trillion (US$1.37 billion) project to build a expressway that will connect HCM City with a southern border province. The proposal was made by the Cuu Long Transport Infratructure Management Investment and Development in HCM City. The proposed expressway would link the city’s Thu Duc District with Moc Bai Border Gate in the southern Tay Ninh province that borders Cambodia. It will have 84.5 km in length and 15 metres wide for four lanes. The project is expected to be developed under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) form in the two phases. About 55.5 km would be built in the…
VTC, Japan firm launch new TV channel
Vietnam Television Corporation (VTC) in HCMC and View Media Joint Stock Company have launched a new TV channel called View TV, an information and entertainment channel for young Vietnamese families with members aged between 18 and 45, in cooperation with Japanese firm Enter Asia. The TV channel, which will be broadcast on the same frequency with VTC8 channel, will feature programs such as news, reportage and TV shows, along with six programs produced in coordination with Enter Asia to cover stories about social and economic activities, activities for families, entertainment and fashion. Masahiko Aoki, chair of Enter Asia, said: “Vietnam and Japan have certain cultural similarities. Vietnam is on the…
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…
Viettel’s Nexttel plans to increase Cameroon subscribers to 3m
Viettel Group’s Nexttel mobile network in Cameroon has signed up 2 million subscribers just nine months after being operations in that country. It has achieved a turnover of nearly US$29 million. With over 1,100 base transceiver stations (BTS), the company is able to provide 2G services to 70 per cent of the population. It also has the largest coverage area for 3G services in the country. With 97 authorised agents, 1,500 mobile vendors, and 40,000 points of sale, Nexttel has been able to take its services to every part of the country. By the end of this year, the company plans to increase the number of base transceiver stations to…
Korean venture to develop logistics net
Multi-industry conglomerate C.T Group will work with South Korea’s CJ Group to develop a large logistics network in Viet Nam. C.T Land, a subsidiary of the C.T Group, on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with CJ GLS Co Ltd on co-operating with each other in exploiting existing logistics facilities and developing new ones. Existing facilities include workshops and warehouses in the southern province of Binh Duong, the northern province of Bac Ninh and the central city of Da Nang. The two companies said they would also consider the establishment of a joint-venture company to develop a large-scale logistics system in Viet Nam. The C.T Group has already completed building…
Nojima now largest TAG shareholder
Japan’s Nojima Electronics has bought another 3.7 million shares of Tran Anh Digital World JSC (TAG), the Vietnam Securities Depository said. The buying of the shares, which belonged to Aureos Southeast Asia Fund and are equal to a 21 percent stake in TAG, has increased the total holding of the Japanese corporation to 30.92 percent, making it the largest foreign shareholder of TAG. TAG is one of the leading electronics firms in northern Vietnam, with a chain of 15 stores. It plans to open seven to nine more stores to serve the northern region. In the first quarter of this year, TAG earned 872.67 billion VND (40 million USD) in…
Japan expresses interest in underground commercial complex
A Japanese delegation held a working session with Ho Chi Minh City authorities on June 10 to seek cooperation opportunities with the city on the construction of the main metro station and an underground commercial centre in front of the Ben Thanh market. Kisaburo Ishii, Deputy Minister of Land, Transport Infrastructure and Tourism and leader of the delegation, told city authorities that the underground complex will be the cynosure marking the development of the city. Despite the high cost, the project will bring a number of benefits and has high profit prospects, Ishii said, predicting it will take 10 to 11 years for investors to recover their investments. A model…
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…
Sanofi to open third pharmaceutical plant next quarter
Sanofi pharmaceutical group plans to commission its third factory in Vietnam at the Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) in HCMC’s District 9 in the third quarter of this year. Eric NG, new chief executive officer (CEO) of Sanofi Indochina, told reporters in HCMC yesterday that the third plant currently under construction has an investment of US$75 million and is the biggest project of the company in the country. The facility has an initial capacity of 90 million units annually and will be expanded to produce 150 million units a year with a wide array of pharmaceuticals and healthcare products. These products will be sold in Vietnam and exported to Asian markets…
LienVietPostBank arranges VND10 trillion for MobiFone
LienVietPostBank has signed a deal to arrange VND10 trillion loans for local mobile carrier MobiFone to carry out its medium and long-term projects. According to Vietnamplus, both sides will work with local electricity companies to launch a power bill payment service using MobiFone accounts. They will also launch a mobile phone fee collection service. They also agreed on the issuance of Macca simcard to provide information on macadamia tree development in the country. Subscribers using the simcard will receive updates about government incentives, business environment, market prices and other planting services. The sale of Macca simcard is part of the cooperation program of LienVietPostBank and Him Lam Joint Stock Co. to…
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…
Bonsai festival delights tree lovers
The fifth Asia-Pacific Bonsai Festival kicked off yesterday at Rin Rin Park, a Japanese cultural site, in HCM City featuring 500 bonsai from 17 countries and territories. The four-day festival includes ancient, classical and contemporary styles, bonsai with flowers and fruits, among others. Besides bonsai, the festival also includes Penjing and Suiseki (miniature scenes made of carved stone and wood), bonsai demonstrations, ornamental creature auctions and music performances. Local and international artisans will also perform bonsai-making techniques and engage with bonsai experts from around the world. The biennial festival is held rotationally among the Asia-Pacific Bonsai Friendship Federation’s eight members — Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Chinese Taiwan, Viet Nam,…
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…
Honda Vietnam to sponsor national football teams
Honda Vietnam and the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) on May 20 signed a deal to acknowledge Honda as the official sponsor of national male, female and U-23 football teams. This was the third consecutive year Honda Vietnam has sponsored local football. The value of this sponsorship is unknown. At the event, Honda Vietnam said they would grant a Honda motorbike to each footballer if the U-23 team wins at SEA Games 28 in Singapore in June. The motorcycle producer will give sport devices and facilities to 11 schools nationwide to help improve strength for local kids to become future footballers of the nation. (http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/41016/Honda-Vietnam-to-sponsor-national-football-teams-.html)
Property developments given go-ahead to continue
HA NOI (VNS) — Following a nationwide inspection of housing development projects, the Ministry of Construction has decided to allow more than 3,100 of them to continue construction. Inspections revealed that some 460 projects must adjust their structures in line with their plans and market demand, while another 306 projects must halt their construction. The ministry said that failure in raising more capitals saw most of the projects being temporarily halted (vietnamnews.vn 2015年6月6日)
First precast viaducts of metro line in place
The Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR) and contractors on June 4 started to install precast viaducts of the elevated track of Metro Line No. 1, and plan to complete its construction by 2018. Metro Line No. 1 connects the downtown area of HCMC and Suoi Tien Park in District 9. Its 17.1-kilometer elevated section is designed to start from Shipyard in District 1 and end at Long Binh Depot in District 9. According to MAUR, constructors have used a mobile scaffolding system to install the precast segments based on the balanced cantilever method of bridge construction applied for the first time in Vietnam. As many as 4,536 U-shaped viaducts…
ACV plans to expand Tan Son Nhat airport this month
HCMC – Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) plans to begin expanding the international terminal of Tan Son Nhat airport in HCMC later this month to raise its annual capacity from ten million to 13 million passengers. Le Manh Hung, general director of ACV, told the Daily on June 3 that contractors are making final preparations and that work on Terminal T2 could start in mid-June. The expansion project will be implemented in two phases. The terminal will be expanded towards the east in the first phase at a total cost of VND1.52 trillion (US$69.8 million). The second phase costing VND787 billion will commence at the western side of the terminal…
UK funds technology innovation
British Ambassador to Vietnam Giles Lever and Vietnamese Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan on June 3 signed a government-level memorandum of understanding (MOU) on assisting Vietnam in technological and scientific research and innovation under the Newton Program Vietnam. As part of the program, the UK will provide up to 10 million pounds to support Vietnam-UK research collaboration and innovation partnership until 2019. Researchers, fellows, management officials in science and businesses with creativity will be the beneficiaries of the program. The Newton Program Vietnam will focus on scholarships for researchers, research projects on challenges related to development and cooperation plans to commercialize research. Priorities will be given to innovation…
Vietnamese consumers remain optimistic: MasterCard
MasterCard’s latest survey on consumer confidence shows that Vietnamese consumers remain optimistic about the second half of 2009, despite a drop in the outlook for consumer confidence. The MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence (MWICC) rated consumer confidence in Vietnam in the first half of the year at 60.9 points compared to 88.1 points of the last second half. Notwithstanding the sharp decline, Vietnamese consumers generally manage to stay slightly optimistic, said MasterCard. Consumers in the Vietnamese market are still fairly optimistic about regular income (72.9 points), quality of life (70.2 points) and economy (67.2 points). However, Vietnamese consumers, for the first time since the country was included in the…
HCMC to remove low-tech firms from industrial zones
Most of industrial parks (IPs) and export processing zones (EPZs) in the city have built traffic, electricity and water infrastructures before calling on investors. They have tried to invite investors as much as possible to fully occupy the built zones and paid little heed to technology, resulting in products’ low-added value. A survey by the city Department of Science and Technology shows that only one percent of businesses at IPs and EPZs are at advanced technology level, four percent at rather good level and 51 percent at low level. According to Hepza, most foreign invested projects in the zones have done outwork using a lot of workers and creating low…
City drums up Japanese investment in key sectors
HCMC – HCMC is calling for Japanese firms to invest in major sectors like mechanical engineering, chemical, food processing, fashion and production of textile-garment materials and pharmaceuticals, HCMC vice chairman Tat Thanh Cang said. Cang mentioned the key sectors in need of Japanese investment at a meeting with a business delegation from Japan’s Saitama Prefecture on June 2. The delegation, headed by Saitama deputy governor Iwasaki Yasua, is in the city to foster economic cooperation between the two localities. Cang that some 700 Japanese enterprises have invested in HCMC and that more companies from the northeast Asian country are coming to explore business and investment opportunities in this city. The…