Day: September 29, 2022

 

Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz leading a high-level Government delegation of Cuba arrived in Hanoi late September 28, beginning an official friendship visit to Vietnam at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh.

 

This is PM Cruz’s first visit to a country outside Latin America since he took office in December 2019, and also the first to Vietnam by a high-ranking leader of Cuba since 2018.

 

The visit aims to promote the implementation of agreements reached by the two countries’ leaders and develop Vietnam-Cuba special ties, manifesting both countries’ determination to further tighten the loyal friendship and solidarity, mutual trust and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States, Governments and peoples.

 

The Cuban Government leader is scheduled to pay tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum, hold talks with PM Pham Minh Chinh, pay courtesy visits to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and meet with National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

 

Also on the occasion of the visit, the Cuban PM will witness the signing of cooperation agreements, attend a Cuba-Vietnam business forum, and meet with leaders of Ho Chi Minh City, among other activities./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

Vietnamese enterprises have invested over 347.3 million USD in 80 new projects in the first nine months of 2022, rising 2.31-fold year on year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

 

Meanwhile, 50.9 million USD has been poured into 15 existing ones, equivalent to 12% of that in the same period last year.

 

The total investment, nearly 398.3 million USD, is equivalent to 69.6% of the nine-month figure in 2021.

 

The surge in new overseas investments is partly attributable to five major projects worth over 34.68 million USD each by the Vines Energy Solutions JSC in the US, Canada, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.

 

Projects receiving additional capital include the one by Vingroup in the US (up 300 million USD), that of the Indochina Rubber Investment and Development Co. Ltd in Cambodia (up 76 million USD), and another by Vinfast in Germany (up 32 million USD).

 

The MPI said Vietnamese firms have invested in 13 sectors abroad in the nine months. The processing – manufacturing industry took the lead with over 291.6 million USD, equivalent to 55.2% of the total. It was followed by finance – banking – insurance (35.3 million USD, equivalent to 8.9%), wholesale and retail, mining, and agriculture – forestry – fisheries.

 

Among the 24 countries and territories recording Vietnamese investment, Laos is the biggest with 66.42 million USD in capital, and Singapore ranks second with nearly 41.5 million USD, respectively accounting for 16.7% and 10.4% of the total. They are followed by the US, Germany, and the Netherlands.

 

As of September 20, Vietnam had invested over 21.6 billion USD in 1,584 overseas projects. The capital concentrated in mining (32.2%) and agriculture – forestry – fisheries (15.9%). Laos, Cambodia, and Venezuela received the most investment when respectively making up 24.7%, 13.6%, and 8.4% of Vietnam’s overseas investment, statistics show./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

Border guards at the Lao Cai International Border Gate, the northern province of Lao Cai, received 110 Vietnamese nationals handed over by the Hekou border checkpoint of China on September 28.

 

The citizens, comprising 69 males and 41 females aged 19 – 42, come from 17 localities.

 

Many of them had illegally entered China and worked for some production workshops in China’s Guangdong and Guangxi provinces.

 

Chinese authorities detained and returned them to Vietnam after examining and finding them lack valid papers.

 

At the Lao Cai International Border Gate, border guards carried out verification and transferred the citizens to relevant agencies in line with legal regulations./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam is among the world’s best performers in digital banking, with around 15 trillion VND (631.18 million USD) in total poured into digital transformation, Le Anh Dung, Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s Payment Department, told a talk show on September 28.

 

Held by the Vietnam Government Portal (VGP), the televised event saw speakers discussing digital transformation in banking and ways to have all people use and benefit from digital banking services.

 

Banks have undergone digital transformation in a much shorter time frame in the wake of COVID-19, with both the sector and customers profiting greatly from the process, Dung said.

 

Secretary-General of the Vietnam Banks’ Association (VBA) Nguyen Quoc Hung said the banking industry is a pioneer in digital transformation. Many major banks, such as VP Bank, Techcombank, MB and HD Bank, have begun the process relatively early, reaping very encouraging results, he noted, adding that the Current Account Savings Account (CASA) has expanded 40 – 50%, resulting in a considerable surge in profit for the banks. A survey by the SBV shows that 95% of the Vietnamese banks have developed a strategy for digital transformation and stayed active in adopting new technologies, including cloud computing and big data, in order to digitalise and upgrade its IT system and deliver better digital services, according to Dung.

 

Economist Dr. Pham Xuan Hoe highly spoke of the central bank’s efforts to push for the digital transformation progress, saying it has acted promptly to enhance regulatory framework, with the adoption of policies in payment intermediaries and credit cards, among others.

 

Citing the fact that 95% of payment and deposit transactions are made digitally, Hoe said that is why Vietnam, a developing country, has been regarded by a number of international organisations as one of the best performers in digital banking.

 

Speakers also exchanged views on challenges facing commercial banks both internally and externally./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The southern industrial hub of Binh Duong recorded close to 8 billion USD worth of trade surplus in the first nine months of this year, as heard at a September 28 meeting that reviewed the province’s socio-economic growth.

 

In the period, the province raked in more than 27 billion USD from exports, up 11.9% year-on-year, and spent 19.2 billion USD on imports, down 1.6% annually.

 

It also posted an estimated 8.7% annual growth in the local index of industrial production (IIP) and reeled in over 200.92 trillion VND (8.45 billion USD) from retail and service activities, increasing by 19.9% against last year.

 

Addressing the meeting, Vo Van Minh, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, lauded concerted efforts of the local authorities and business community in implementing socio-economic growth tasks and COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

 

He requested competent agencies to follow plans, closely monitor the market and prices, and ensure the supply – demand balance of essential commodities in the remaining months of the year.

 

Binh Duong is a popular destination for foreign investors. As of September 15, the province was home to 4,069 foreign-invested projects with total registered capital of nearly 39.6 billion USD. It is currently ranked 2nd in the country in attracting foreign direct investment, after Ho Chi Minh City./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

Participants at a workshop in Hanoi on September 28 proposed solutions to take better care of the children who are Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin victims.

 

Relevant policies on the group and support to them in localities were also tabled for discussion at the event, jointly held by the Vietnam Association for Protection of Child Rights (VACR) and NSG Social Company Limited.

 

Vietnam counts more than 150,000 second-generation AO victims, 35,000 of the third generation and 6,000 others of the fourth.

 

Over 10 trillion VND (420.6 million USD) has been earmarked annually to support the victims as well as the areas severely affected by the toxic chemical.

 

Many participants stressed the need to set criteria for the classification of AO victims and build funds for the research work, saying the child victims should receive more care.

 

Others proposed increasing allowances for the group, establishing special centres for them and devising exclusive policies.

 

According to the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin (VAVA), the US army sprayed 80 million litres of toxic chemicals on the south of Vietnam between 1961 and 1971, with 61% being AO containing 366kg of dioxin, on over nearly 3.06 million hectares (equivalent to nearly one quarter of the south’s total area).

 

Preliminary statistics showed that 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to AO/dioxin, and about 3 million people became victims. Tens of thousands of people have died and millions of others suffered from cancer and other incurable diseases as a result. Many of their offsprings also suffer from birth deformities./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency