Day: July 21, 2021

Techcombank has recorded positive results in the first half of this year maintaining the leading CASA ratio of 46.1 percent.

In a report released on July 21, Techcombank said its before-tax profit in the first six months of the year reached 11.5 trillion VND (498.8 million USD). This was an increase of 71.2 percent over the same period last year. Its total operating income (TOI) in the period grew 52.1 percent year-on-year to 18.1 trillion VND as net interest income (NII) and non-fee income (NF) both saw double-digit growth.

The bank’s securities-related fees, the largest component of NFI, grew 18.4 percent in H1 from the same period last year, comprising 420 billion VND in bond underwriting fees and 865 billion VND in other services – including trustee, consulting, agency, brokerage and fund management fees.

Its bancassurance grew 60.1 percent in annualised premium equivalent (APE) and net bancassurance fees grew 48.1 percent year-on-year despite the impact of social distancing on in-person consultations.

Operating expenses were up 29.6 percent year-on-year to 5.2 trillion VND and cost income ratio (CIR) was 28.4 percent as a result of COVID-19 related delays in IT and marketing investments.

Its provision expenses were 1.4 trillion VND, 19.6 percent more than in the same period last year.

Techcombank’s total assets ended in the first half of the year up 27.4 percent to 504.3 trillion VND while credit provided to customers as at 30 June was up 11.2 percent to 353.7 trillion VND. Retail loan pick-up in the second quarter of the year kept credit demand healthy.

Its outstanding credit to large corporates and small-medium enterprises (SMEs) grew 11 percent from the end of 2020. Total deposits in H1 were also up 15.8 percent year-on-year to 289.3 trillion VND.

Techcombank maintained ample liquidity with a loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) of 76.6 percent. It remains one of Vietnam’s best capitalised banks with a Basel II CAR of 15.2 percent, higher than the Basel II Pillar I minimum requirement of 8 percent.

Non-performing loan (NPL) ratio was 0.4 percent as at 30 June 2021, against 0.9 percent last year. Restructured loans under Techcombank’s support programme for COVID-19 impacted customers fell to 2.7 trillion VND, or 0.8 percent of outstanding loans, with 67 percent of these customers having recovered by the end of first quarter of the year.

“An expanding customer base and higher level of banking engagement in both retail and corporate sectors helped grow fee income. While we remain confident about medium and long-term economic prospects, COVID-19 continues to challenge some of our customers. This was exacerbated towards the end of the second quarter when the government mandated stricter social distancing to control recent outbreaks while ramping up its vaccination programme. As we have since the pandemic started, Techcombank remains focused on protecting our employees and providing customers with increasingly digital, branchless solutions,” said Jens Lottner, CEO of Techcombank

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam Orlando Nicolás Hernández Guillén has praised the solidarity and valuable support of the Vietnamese Party, State, Government and people to Cuba during hard times.

Cuba always attaches importance to the special, traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Vietnam, the ambassador told a meeting with reporters held by the Cuban Embassy in Hanoi on July 21.

Hernández Guillén said Cuba is in the most difficult period in 60 years due to the impact of economic embargo and COVID-19. However, the situation has been put under control.

He accused foreign hostile forces of taking advantages of the present difficulties in Cuba to incite violence and illegal acts, and condemned social media campaigns that aim to defame and distort the situation in the Caribbean nation.

Such social media campaigns against Cuba took place in the context of the economic blockade adversely impacting the Cuban economy, cutting its revenue from goods and service exports and hindering the country’s access to medical materials and supplies given the complex developments of the pandemic, thus severely affecting people’s daily activities, according to the ambassador.

Against the backdrop, the Cuban Government has made efforts to protect people’s lives through effective health measures, helping to keep the rate of fatalities caused by the coronavirus at 0.66 percent against the world’s average of 2.15 percent and Latin America’s 2.61 percent, Hernández Guillén stressed.

He said Cuba has approved the emergency use of its home-grown Abdala vaccine which has proven 92.28 percent effective against COVID-19.

Besides, the country is developing four other vaccines, using domestic sources, of which Soberana has completed its phase III clinical trials with 91,2 percent efficacy. Other vaccines have also entered clinical trials.

On this occasion, the ambassador proposed priorities to strengthen the special friendship, solidarity and mutual trust between the two Parties, States and peoples of Cuba and Vietnam, and talked about bilateral collaboration in vaccine supply and the transfer of vaccine production technology.

He pledged efforts to boost the friendship and cooperation in the areas of both sides’ strength

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The northern mountainous province of Son La held a ceremony on July 21 to grant a Trademark Registration Certificate to Son La longan, and export a batch of Song Ma – Son La longan to the EU and UK markets.

Statistics showed that the province’s total longan growing area is estimated to surpass 19,200 hectares in 2021, with an expected output of 98,500 tonnes, of which 2,200 hectares of longan with an output of nearly 22,000 tonnes are eligible for export, mainly to China, Australia, the US and Europe.

Song Ma district is currently the largest longan granary of Son La province with over 7,200 hectares, of which nearly 5,900 hectares have been harvested with an output of over 55,800 tonnes, accounting for more than 55 percent of the province’s total longan yield.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Son La has actively connected with major exporters to select high-quality products for export, thus helping increase the value of Son La longan.

At the ceremony, the National Office of Intellectual Property under the Ministry of Science and Technology handed over a decision to grant the Trademark Registration Certificate to Son La longan, while the provincial Department of Science and Technology awarded certificates of right to use the trademark to 25 cooperatives of Song Ma district.

Representatives of enterprises and cooperatives signed memoranda of understanding on longan production and sale.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Hoang Quoc Khanh said that the granting of the Trademark Registration Certificate by the National Office of Intellectual Property is an affirmation of the reputation and quality of the province’s agricultural products, contributing to the completion of the legal framework, and creating a solid foundation for the supply of longan to both domestic and foreign markets.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Lawmakers scrutinised many crucial matters at a plenary session in Hanoi on July 21, as part of the first sitting of the 15th National Assembly.

In the morning, they adopted resolutions on the election of NA Secretary General, Chairperson of the Council for Ethnic Affairs, heads of NA Committees, and State Auditor General.

Bui Van Cuong, member of the Party Central Committee and Secretary General of the 14th NA, continues to hold the post of the NA Secretary General in the 15th tenure.

Y Thanh Ha Nie Kdam, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Central Enterprises Bloc, was elected as Chairman of the Council for Ethnic Affairs.

Tran Sy Thanh, member of the Party Central Committee, was re-elected as the State Auditor General.

During the debate on the NA’s supervision programme for 2022, many legislators suggested the NA Standing Committee put forth a project on renewing supervision activities.

Competent agencies should raise more initiatives to contribute to improving the quality and efficiency of such activities, they said.

For the law-building programme, some pointed out the need to build up legal mechanisms to promote the responsibility of individuals in preparing and submitting draft laws to the legislature, in order to revamp the work.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Business, trade and investment opportunities in Vietnam were introduced to businesses of Geneva and French-speaking states of Switzerland during a seminar in Geneva on July 20.

Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, the World Trade Organisation, and other international organisations in Geneva, briefed participants on the business environment in Vietnam as well as the highlights in the economic partnership between Vietnam and Switzerland.

She underlined key contents of Vietnam’s socio-economic development strategy, especially the Government’s efforts in promoting digital transformation, innovation, and supporting start-ups, along with measures to improve the local business and investment environment to draw more investors.

Along with a sound political relationship, Vietnam and Switzerland have enjoyed remarkable progress in their bilateral economic partnership over the years with Switzerland becoming the sixth largest European investor of Vietnam and the 19th biggest foreign investor in the country, she noted, adding that more than 100 Swiss businesses are operating in Vietnam.

The ambassador also said that the bilateral ties in trade, investment, development cooperation, humanitarian aid and people-to-people contacts have been expanded.

She held that the two sides boast high potential to further promote bilateral partnership, especially when Vietnam is switching to a green and sustainable growth model based on high technologies.

Speaking to Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Geneva, Founder and President of Swiss-Vietnamese Business Gateway (SVBG) Nguyen Thi Thuc said that the nearly-100-million-strong market of Vietnam with increasing consumption power is a promising land for Swiss firms. She said activities like business seminars and dialogue, and trips for Swiss investors to Vietnam are very necessary to increase Swiss investment in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Felix Urech – CEO of Enriching company held that along with efforts of foreign investors and businesses, the support of local administrations in Vietnam is crucial in ensuring their smooth operations.

At the same time, Pierre Schifferli, a Swiss lawyer said that Vietnam has made efforts to complete its legal system in all socio-economic areas. He noted that the country has gained great achievements in international integration with the signing of many free trade agreements (FTA), including the EU-Vietnam FTA and Vietnam-UK FTA. Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which comprises Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, are also negotiating for a FTA, he added.

Participants agreed on the great potential for the collaboration between Vietnam and Switzerland, especially in banking sector.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and the Embassy of Switzerland has recently signed a bilateral agreement for a new Swiss Bank Executive Training programme (Swiss BET) to help build the capacity of Vietnamese bank executives.

The programme, which will run from 2022 to 2027, will provide a grant of five million Swiss francs (about 5.4 million USD) for the training, which will be implemented by the Swiss Finance Institute (SFI). The SFI will train more than 240 Vietnamese bank executives and hundreds of central bankers on the latest state-of-the-art banking management practices.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat on July 21 sent an official dispatch on strengthening COVID-19 prevention and control measures to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control; municipal/provincial Party Committees; the Party Central Committee’s Commissions; centrally-run Party Civil Affairs Committees, Party Committees, Party Delegations; and Party Committees of centrally-run non-productive agencies.

The official dispatch says that the Party Committees, administrations at all levels, mass organisations and people from walks of life have strived to overcome difficulties and promptly adopted measures to fight the pandemic. However, the fourth wave of infections with the largest scale and fastest-ever spreading speed, the people’s lives and health as well as production and business activities have been badly affected.

In order to improve the efficiency of the fight against the pandemic in the current urgent situation, the permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat called on the entire political system to give the top focus on the work. The Party Committees and organisations must continue seriously, drastically and effectively following directions of the Politburo, Secretariat, Government, Prime Minister, National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control and the Health Ministry’s guidelines in the new situation, especially the Politburo’s conclusion No.07-KL/TW dated June 11 on several key tasks on COVID-19 prevention and control and socio-economic development.

He asked for offering timely commendation and reward to individuals, organisations and localities in the work while seriously punishing those who violate prevention and control measures.

Secretaries of the municipal/provincial Party Committees and heads of the Party Committees must pool the involvement of the entire political system; create public consensus; direct seriously follow tracing, quarantine, testing, vaccination measures, particularly in localities that are implementing the Prime Minister’s Directive No.16 and high-risk areas; supply necessities to people and procure equipment for the effort, take responsibility for the work before the Politburo and Secretariat.

The National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control and the health sector were assigned to direct localities to outline scenarios and adopt testing and treatment measures that suit the situation, step up the research, production and injection of vaccines.

The Party Central Committee’s Mass Mobilisation Commission, the Fatherland Front and socio-political organisations were asked to raise awareness, responsibility and pandemic prevention and control skills among their members and the people, and provide care for residents, especially those in difficulties and vulnerable groups.

Apart from joining in the COVID-19 fight, armed forces were urged to ensure security and order, stay vigilant, punish those who take advantage of the pandemic to distort, incite and sabotage national security, social safety and order.

The Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education, and the Ministry of Information and Communications must direct press and news agencies to orient public opinions, contributing to creating high consensus on pandemic prevention and control.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A woman in Hanoi has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for the charge of “taking advantage of the rights to freedom and democracy to infringe upon State interests, legitimate rights and interests of organisations and individuals” in accordance with Article 331 of the 2015 Penal Code.

The defendant was Nguyen Thi Thuy, 44, residing in O Cho Dua ward, Dong Da district, Hanoi.

An indictment presented by the Hanoi People’s Procuracy at a trial on July 21 stated that Thuy was head of a law office that was licensed in April 2012 and based in O Cho Dua ward. On October 1, 2012, the office announced the suspension of its operation for two years, starting from December 1, 2012.

On February 12, 2019, the municipal Justice Department decided to revoke its license for reason that the office did not resume operation from December 1, 2014.

In 2017, Thuy, in her capacity as lawyer and head of the Nguyen Dang law office, joined in protecting legitimate rights and interests of Tran Quang Ngu, 69, residing in the outlying district of Ba Vi, who was arrested and prosecuted in 1990 for “fraud to appropriate socialist assets”.

In the process of protecting rights of Ngu, Thuy said he was wrongly accused and illegally arrested. She later wrote two documents that hurted the prestige and honour of several Party and State leaders and sent them to ministries and agencies, thus exerting pressure on them to follow her proposal.

The council of judges concluded that Thuy took advantage of the rights to freedom and democracy to compile and disseminate documents distorting and insulting the prestige, honour and dignity of State leaders, affecting the prestige of individuals and organisations and disturbing social security and order as well as activities of the State agencies.

During the investigation, the National Institute of Forensic Psychiatry on July 16, 2020 concluded that Thuy suffered from medium-level maniac depression, leading to her limited cognitive ability and behaviour control. The judges thus decided to partly reduce her sentence

Source: Vietnam News Agency

There will be only two round trip passenger flights daily between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the nation’s largest pandemic hotspot, starting 0:00 on July 22.

The decision was part of a document sent by Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) on July 21.

Also per the document, all passenger flights between the capital and the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho as well as between Hanoi and the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang’s Phu Quoc island will be suspended at the same time.

These decisions will last until further notice.

Cargo flights are carried out unrestricted. Regarding flights for the purpose of disease prevention and control and those serving official duties, airlines ought to report to the CAAV for consideration and settlement on a case-by-case basis. Other non-routine flights must be authorised by competent authorities.

All passengers must show documents certifying they test negative for SARS-CoV-2 as requested by the Health Ministry.

Source: Vietnam News Agency