Day: September 23, 2022

Vietnam’s real estate market is seeing more investments from the UK thanks to the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA).

 

The UK is known for consulting services, especially in the real estate industry. Real estate is not only the choice of many investors but also a safe and very effective investment channel, according to Savills Vietnam, a UK real estate consulting provider in Vietnam.

 

“This agreement is likely to promote the expansion of UK businesses in Vietnam, and we expect interest from companies in data centres, high-tech manufacturing, financial services, high-tech services and possibly pharmaceuticals too,” Matthew Powell, director of Savills Hanoi, told Vietnam News.

 

“These businesses will demand real estate across the country, which could range from manufacturing plants or office space. There has been an increased interest and demand from UK companies. Vietnam has been very much on the agenda and the two countries continue to have investment conferences.”

 

“We could see institutional investors on the commercial market with interesting Grade A office properties like Techcombank Tower 6 Quang Trung.”

 

With a dynamic industrial scene, Vietnam might also see players in industrial data centres or logistics. However, we expect the focus to largely be on services and financial services, he said.

 

In addition, “we expect that investment from the UK will be related to services, pharmaceuticals, engineering specialists, high-tech manufacturing, aviation, financial services, and other export industries from the UK.”

 

Although Asian countries like Singapore and South Korea lead investment, there are several active multinationals from the UK in Vietnam, especially in the financial services sector. For example, Standard Chartered launched its new head office in Hanoi at Capital Place in June.

 

“Currently, interest is largely Asian based, but we could see a rise in UK curiosity,” Powell said.

 

On December 29, 2020, the UK and Vietnam signed the free trade agreement (UKVFTA) with an aim to pave the way for continued and increasing trade between the two countries. The agreement came into effect on May 1, 2021.

 

As can be seen from previously signed agreements, participation in trade agreements can bring great benefits to the investment market in Vietnam, according to Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam. A good example is the 1 billion USD capital flow from Denmark for the Lego factory project in Vietnam, after the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) came into effect.

 

“Thus, we have high confidence that the UKVFTA will also help attract more investors from the UK to Vietnam,” Trang Bui, Country Head of Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam, told Vietnam News.

 

“The UK’s property market is mature and established, their investors are thus more willing to deploy capital on assets that are already in operation, and have generated profit, with high stability and low risks,” Trang said.

 

“This strategy can seem different from investors from other regions in the world. In general, cross-border investors always need some time to adjust capital flows and seek out the right opportunities in developing countries like Vietnam.”

 

“To maximise the potential benefits of the UKVFTA, Vietnam needs to constantly change and improve policies and business environment according to strict requirements posed by foreign investors. Through this process of continuous improvement and adaptation, the country’s competitiveness will rise to new heights on the global investment map,” she said.

 

As of May 2022, the UK has a total of 462 investment projects in Vietnam, with a total registered investment capital of 4.15 billion USD.

 

UK investors invested the most in Vietnam’s manufacturing and processing industry with 120 projects registered investment capital of nearly 1.6 billion USD, accounting for nearly 40% of total investment capital.

 

The second was the real estate industry with 23 projects having an investment capital of 1.04 billion USD, accounting for 26% of the total investment capital

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Don Nhat – Hai Van Gate victory 70 years ago serves as an important landmark of the people-based defence in Vietnam, heard a scientific conference held in the central city of Da Nang on September 23 with the participation of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

 

Secretary of the Party Committee of Da Nang Nguyen Van Quang noted that within only two hours on the night of September 24 and early morning of September 25, 1952, Battalion 59 under Regiment 803 of the High Command of Inter-Zone 5 completely wiped out the Don Nhat military base, one of the extremely important bases of the French colonialists on the top of Hai Van Pass.

 

This was an important victory in the Quang Nam-Da Nang battlefield, showing the proper leadership of the Party led by President Ho Chi Minh, he stated.

 

Quang underlined that the conference is an opportunity to review the heroic fighting tradition of the Inter-zone 5 armed forces, as well as to commemorate soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the Summer-Autumn Campaign 1952. It is also a chance for the participants to review valuable lessons in the country’s two long-term resistance wars, and clarify the country’s art of the people-based defence, he said. Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lieut. Gen Le Huy Vinh emphasised that opinions at the event will contribute to supplementing information and documents to affirm the value of the victory, honouring those who made the victory, and helping strengthen the people’s confidence in the national renewal process initiated and led by the Party.

 

He stressed the need for stronger education of revolutionary ideology, patriotism and national pride among younger generations, while encouraging people from all walks of life to follow good examples of their forefathers to join hands in building a prosperous nation./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Bangkok and neighboring provinces are initiating a programme to develop Thai language and computer literacy skills among migrant workers.

 

Sompong Srakaew, Director of the Labor Rights Promotion Network Foundation (LPN), said the campaign aims to improve the quality of life of workers and ensure they have proper access to welfare and assistance while working in Thailand.

 

According to Sompong, the LPN has established 15 training centers in Samut Sakhon, Samut Prakan, Bangkok, Pathum Thani and Phetchaburi, where migrant workers can learn about language, rights and culture through weekly sessions. With the aid of volunteer teams, they will be taught to speak, read and write in Thai, enabling them to converse effectively with native speakers.

 

The LPN and the Learning Institute For Everyone (LIFE) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on migrant worker access to education and training. The Faculty of Arts at Silpakorn University has also joined a proposal to provide Thai language competence examinations and diplomas that can assist migrants in obtaining more advanced employment.

 

Suthasinee Keawleklai, coordinator of the Migrant Workers’ Rights Network of Thailand, stated that before the pandemic, the network began using its office as a centre for teaching Thai and English. It also taught IT skills, helping Thai-speaking migrant employees to expand their career options by becoming language coordinators and interpreters at hospitals, clinics and private organisations./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

 

The Lao News Agency’s Pathet Lao newspaper on September 22 published an article affirming the special solidarity and comprehensive partnership between Laos and Vietnam as an invaluable asset which has been inherited and nurtured by generations of the two countries’ people.

 

The article emphasised that the special relationship has been upheld effectively and deepened over times.

 

In the fight against invaders, the mutual support of the two armies became an international example of the special and rare bilateral ties.

 

Following national liberation, Vietnam and Laos entered a new development period with the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation on July 18,1977 in Vientiane. Bilateral ties have been growing in both width and depth, with solid trust in politics, economy, education, socio-culture, national defence-security and external relations, on both micro and macro scales.

 

Both sides also worked closely to search for and repatriate thousands of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who laid down their lives in Laos during the war.

 

Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, they also offered mutual material and spiritual support at both central and local levels. Recently, visits by the two countries’ leaders have manifested their appreciation for each other, it said.

 

The article ended with the statement that future generations are ready to inherit and nurture this invaluable asset, thus bringing common benefits to the two countries’ people, and raising their roles and positions in the regional and global arena for the sake of peace, stability and prosperity./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

Vietnamese rapper Den Vau’s latest hit Dien Vien Toi (A Lousy Actor) has clinched a new record – the Vietnamese artist with the highest number of music videos to reach the most trending section of Youtube Vietnam.

 

The rapper’s latest song immediately went viral after its launch, garnering over two million views and 141 thousand likes within a few hours. It climbed to the top of the Trending Music of Youtube 45 hours after it was released.

 

The song is currently ranked second with over five million views, behind Shut Down by Black Pink.

 

The music video is shot as if it was a live session, with the rapper singing live with a band and another singer, Thanh Bui.

 

It presents viewers with the nostalgic appearance of the singer in old fashion clothes and long hair that used to be popular in the 1980s and the meaningful message of love that it conveys.

 

The song depicts a person who always tries to hide his emotions and expressions. However, when he meets a girl he falls for, he becomes “a lousy actor” who fails to hide his true feelings.

 

Viewers are surprised when the singers and musicians are covered in watercolour, which a girl paints in the distance. The paintings keep appearing and overlapping until the girl’s silhouette becomes a painting that the rapper is contemplating.

 

The idea for the music video for the song represents the creative side of Den Vau and the production team.

 

“At first, we intended to make a video of a normal concert, but then we opted for the second concept – turning all the characters into a painting that is being painted by a girl standing afar,” the artist said.

 

“In love, a person’s appearance will bring many colours to the other’s life, making it more beautiful and interesting. In the MV, emotional paintings are precious things to be cherished. When you meet someone, there will be moments like a beautiful painting to be preserved in the memory.”

 

The video for Dien Vien Toi has received many positive comments from Vietnamese rap enthusiasts.

 

“Den Vau does not abuse English like many other Vietnamese rappers. Every word in the mother tongue used in his lyrics has a diverse and interesting meaning that enables the listeners to understand the content immediately. The more they listen to the songs, the more deeply they understand their meanings. Unfashionable, unobtrusive – Den Vau’s simple music still exists like a smouldering fire that cannot be extinguished. Listening to his music, we can see the good things in the ordinary things of life, find the simple but extremely precious values and realise the rhythmic sounds constantly resounding in our souls,” commented Minh La Tree.

 

According to another Youtube user, Ghien Mix, the rapper’s music product has reached the artistic level both in terms of audio and visual thanks to the artist’s thoroughly investment. The lyric is like a poem with layers of meaning.

 

“He is truly a genuine artist of Vietnamese showbiz,” he added.

 

Rapper Den Vau, whose real name is Nguyen Duc Cuong, was born in 1989 in Ha Long city in the northern province of Quang Ninh. He used to work as a garbage collector for seven years before embarking on his music career. Some of his first rap songs that went viral on Youtube are Dua Nhau Di Tron (Go Hiding Together), Di Theo Bong Mat Troi (Follow the Shadow of the Sun) and Troi Oi Con Chua Muon Chet (Oh God I Don’t Want To Die).

 

At the Bai Hat Viet (Vietnamese Songs) TV show in 2011, Den Vau won The Most Favourite Song Voted By The Audience award with the song Cay Bang (The Indian Almond Tree). His live show celebrating his 10th years of singing career in 2019 attracted over 5,000 spectators./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Vietnam rose to 11,470,164 after 2,545 new infections were reported on September 23.

 

Meanwhile, 1,319 patients were declared to be free from coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 on the same day, raising the total number of recoveries to 10,585,266.

 

The death toll from the disease was kept at 43,146, making up 0.4% of the total infections, as no fatality was recorded on the day.

 

Nearly 259.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered so far./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

 

The Vietnamese Consulate General in Frankfurt is always ready to support and connect Vietnamese businesses with their German counterparts to penetrate and learn about each other’s markets, according to Consul General Le Quang Long.

 

He made the statement at the 2022 Vietnam-Germany Economic Cooperation Conference held in Frankfurt on September 22 by the Trade Promotion Agency (TRA) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Trade Office at the Vietnamese Embassy in Germany, Consulate General of Vietnam in Frankfurt and the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade (BWA).

 

The event drew the participation of representatives from 25 Vietnamese enterprises operating in fields such as garment and textile, agricultural products, handicrafts, and pharmaceuticals, as well as more than 50 delegates representing German and Vietnamese businesses in Germany.

 

Long emphasised that there is still room for expanding cooperation between the two economies.

 

Le Hoang Tai, Deputy Director of TRA, said that it is necessary for businesses to increase promotion activities and step up the application of information technology and digital transformation to improve their effectiveness.

 

At the event, Manfred Florian Welker, a BWA representative in the state of Hessen, affirmed that Germany is a potential mafrket for Vietnamese enterprises to learn about and cooperate with in such fields as trade, investment and finance, adding the BWA always works closely with the Vietnamese Trade Office in Germany to act as an effective bridge for businesses of the two countries.

 

Vietnamese Trade Counselor Bui Vuong Anh provided participants with information that helps businesses take advantage of opportunities to further promote trade and investment exchanges, specifically those from the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

 

German corporations such as OCO Global, TMF Deutschland AG, Dornbach GmbH, and Desk Vietnam said they are always ready to support, provide consultations for and introduce business partners to Vietnamese enterprises in various fields, he said.

 

Within the framework of the event, Vietnamese businesses paid a visit to the Frischezentrum Food and Agricultural Product Distribution Centre in Frankfurt./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency