Day: October 7, 2022

 

The Indonesian Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (GPFI) signed a letter of intent (LoI) with the Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Japan (FPMAJ) in Osaka on October 6 for cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector.

 

GPFI F Chairman Tirto Kusnadi signed the LoI with FPMAJ Director General Toshihiko Miyajima during the Indonesia-Japan pharmaceutical and medical device business forum in the presence of Indonesian Ambassador to Japan and Micronesia Federation Heri Akhmadi and Osaka-based Indonesian Consul General Dina Sutikno.

 

One of the objectives of signing the LoI at the business forum is to support one of the grand themes of Indonesia’s G20 Presidency–strengthening global health architecture.

 

Indonesian pharmaceutical and medical device industry is one of the potential sectors, with a positive growth of 2.1% in the second quarter of this year.

 

To that end, the Indonesian government declared pharmaceutical and medical device industry as one of the country’s seven priority sectors in the strategy of Making Indonesia 4.0.

 

As such, various incentives and easy regulations will be offered in the Indonesian pharmaceutical and medical device sector./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi will continue to coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency (iDEA), Amazon Global Selling Vietnam, and relevant units to support and train businesses in skills on cross-border e-commerce, according to Vice Director of Hanoi Center for Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion (HPA) Nguyen Thi Mai Anh.

 

Speaking at a conference held by HPA in Hanoi on October 6, Anh said the move aims to better the promotion of products on cross-border e-commerce platforms for Vietnamese exporters, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises.

 

According to the iDEA, the world’s global e-commerce market is forecast to record strong growths, with an expected revenue of over 7.38 trillion USD by 2025.

 

Last year, Vietnam’s e-retail e-commerce revenue rose by 16%, reaching 13.7 billion USD. The country’s B2C retail e-commerce revenue was estimated to account for 6.5% of the total retail sales of consumer goods and services nationwide.

 

Vietnam’s e-commerce is predicted to averagely surge 25% per year in the 2022-2025 period, hitting 35 billion USD in 2025 and marking up 10% of the total revenue from retail sales of goods and services nationwide.

 

According to Amazon Global Selling, B2C e-commerce exports in Vietnam are expected to reach an estimated 75.4 trillion VND (3.15 billion USD) in 2022, and 256.1 trillion VND in the next five years.

 

Mac Quoc Anh, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (Hanoisme), said cross-border e-commerce not only creates opportunities for businesses to increase sales, but also helps them develop flexible business models, reduce costs, and optimise resources to access global supply chains.

 

Participants said businesses need to be fully equipped with skills in international trade and e-commerce skill in order to meet the needs of the market, and avoid risks in transaction and payment.

 

They also pointed out difficulties facing Vietnamese businesses in registering to become a partner of international e-commerce platforms, saying that products offered on e-commerce platforms must meet strict requirements on origin and quality, and food safety and hygiene./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

 

Vietnamese athletes will compete in the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2022 which began yesterday in Manama, Bahrain.

 

The Vietnamese team has seven competitors, including the 31st SEA Games champions. They will begin the competition on October 8 in the Bahrain Conference Centre at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

 

Nguyen Huy Hung, head of the Weightlifting Department of the Vietnam Sports Administration, said the team includes both veterans and newcomers but are the best lifters in their weight classes.

 

He said all athletes are set to grab their best results in Bahrain because it is an important warm-up event for Vietnamese athletes ahead of the world championships in two months.

 

The world championship will count towards qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

 

Two athletes with high medal hopes are Hoang Thi Duyen in the women’s 59kg category and Lai Gia Thanh in the men’s 61kg class.

 

Duyen, taking part in the Asian tournament for the sixth time, was the only athlete to win medals, two bronzes, for Vietnam in last year’s tournament in Uzbekistan.

 

The Tokyo Olympian successfully defended her title at the 31st Games in May in Hanoi.

 

Thanh was one of the most successful Vietnamese lifters at the Game, winning gold and setting two new records.

 

Other athletes include Pham Thi Hong Thanh, SEA Games champion in women’s 64kg class, Khong My Phuong, SEA Games silver holder in the women’s 45kg; and three young athletes Nguyen Tran Anh Tuan (men’s 55kg), Quang Thi Tam (women’s 59kg) and Tran Thi My Dung (women’s 49kg).

 

Also, in this competition, national champion Trinh Van Vinh will participate in the men’s 61kg category. Vinh is still under a four-year world ban because of doping violations.

 

As he will be free to compete from next March, the coaching board wanted the athlete to join in competitions and improve his ability gradually./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

Two resorts in Khanh Hoa province and Da Nang city have been voted among the world’s 50 best resorts by readers of American magazine Condé Nast Traveler (CNTraveler).

 

Six Senses Ninh Van Bay in the south central province of Khanh Hoa, and InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort in the central city of Da Nang ranked seventh and 24th, respectively, on the list of 2022 Readers’ Choice Awards.

 

“With dramatic views over Vietnam’s Ninh Van Bay and open-air, thatched-roof villas where you can soak in the scenery from a bathtub, this Six Senses outpost also boasts its own endangered monkey reserve,” CNTravellers wrote about Six Senses Ninh Van Bay.

 

Visitors can take part in many activities such as hiking, fishing and watching the sunset. In particular, they can relax with swimming pools, restaurants and spas in the resort, it said.

 

In its review of InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort, CNTravellers wrote: “Though just 30 minutes from the Da Nang airport, InterContinental’s flagship Vietnam property feels much farther away from the “real world.”

 

“Scattered amongst the lush hills of the Son Tra Peninsula nature reserve and down to the sandy shores of the East Sea, the resort – which opened in 2012 – has become one of the top picks in the country for relaxing getaways.”

 

Topping the list of the world’s 50 best resorts this year is Adare Manor in Ireland, followed by Four Seasons Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Uxua Casa in Brazil, COMO Uma Ubud in Indonesia. Eight Asian countries include on the list are UAE, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Vietnam.

 

More than 240,000 readers submitted responses rating their travel experiences for this year’s Readers’ Choice Awards, which are in recognition of excellence in the travel industry./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

A project to strengthen sustainable transport for Hanoi’s metro line No.3 was launched in the capital city on October 7, which has an investment of 54.75 million USD, including 48.95 USD from the Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s Clean Technology Fund (CTF).

 

The project has three components spanning the six districts of Nam Tu Liem, Bac Tu Liem, Cau Giay, Ba Dinh, Dong Da and Hoan Kiem.

 

It aims to ensure smooth transport to approach the metro line, making sure that people use the metro line in a safe and convenient manner.

 

Addressing the launching ceremony, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Duong Duc Tuan stressed the significance of the project in enhancing the efficiency for the urban metro line No.3 when it is put into operation.

 

He urged the Management Board of transport projects of Hanoi to coordinate closely with departments, sectors, contractors and consulting units to ensure the progress and quality of the project as well as safety for workers, while minimising impacts on local residents.

 

He asked the municipal departments of Planning and Investment and Finance to work with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and Ministry of Finance to allocate capital to the project, and removing difficulties facing its implementation.

 

Tuan also requested the Department of Transports and the People’s Committees of relevant districts to join hands in ground clearance activities and ensuring traffic safety along the route during the implementation of the project./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

Bach Ma and Con Dao National Parks have been nominated to become the 54th and 55th ASEAN Heritage Parks at the 33rd ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting on the Environment, held in Cambodia from October 3-7.

 

Accordingly, the nomination of the two Vietnamese parks, together with the Philippines’ Pasonanca Park and Mount Inayawan Range Natural Park, will be submitted to ASEAN Environment Ministers for approval, and the certificate is expected to be handed over at the 17th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment. The ASEAN Heritage Parks Programme, carried out since 2003, aims to conserve biodiversity in the areas of regional and international importance, help improve public awareness of the environment, and demonstrate the ASEAN people’s aspiration for nature conservation and sustainable development.

 

At present, Vietnam has 10 protected areas recognised as ASEAN Heritage Parks. If Bach Ma of Thua Thien Hue province and Con Dao of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province win the approval, the number will be raised to 12./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

 

The Indonesian government has considered realising its plan to impose an excise tax on all packaged sweetened beverages.

 

At a recent hearing, the Finance Ministry and the House of Representatives’ Budget Committee of Indonesia agreed to include sugary packaged drinks on the list of goods subject to special income tax in the draft state budget for 2023.

 

Indonesian Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani stressed that sweetened beverages and plastic products bring a lot of negative impacts to public health and the environment.

 

Implementing the excise would largely depend on the pace of recovery next year, he said.

 

The Finance Ministry estimates that the sweetened beverage excise will rake in roughly 6.25 trillion rupiah in annual revenue.

 

The Indonesian government’s decision to speed up the tax plan is attributable to the country’s growing diabetes prevalence, which has heavily burdened the state budget.

 

In 2019, BPJS Kesehatan spent 108 trillion rupiah on diabetes treatments, a 29% increase compared to 84 trillion rupiah spent in 2017./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency