Vietnam Economy Forum

[Viet]

UNESCO adds Hung King Veneration Ritual to world heritage list

| dtinews | December 06, 2012 09:22 PM

Vietnam’s Hung King Veneration Ritual has been officially recoganised as UNESCO intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
The recognition was announced at the 7th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Paris on December 6.

The 18 Hung Kings are worshiped in more than 1,400 relics across the country, which reflects the Vietnamese people’s respect to the ancestors. On the death anniversary of the Hung Kings, which falls on the 10th of the third lunar month, the Hung Kings Temple Festival is held in the ancestral land of Phu Tho Province.

A ceremony to receive UNESCO’s certificate recognizing Hung Kings Veneration Ritual as an intangible heritage of humans is scheduled to take place in April 13, 2013.

 

[Viet]

Japan firm to build $100-million waste incinerator


| SGT | Mar 04, 2013 09:05 am

Japan’s Hitachi Zosen is carrying out a feasibility study for a waste-to-power project in HCMC with a processing capacity of 1,000 tons per day and a total investment of around $100 million.

Speaking to the Daily on the sidelines of a meeting between leaders of HCMC and Osaka on Thursday, Masanori Tsukahara from Hitachi Zosen said that the firm was looking into HCMC’s waste and would apply for an investment certificate in the following year, he added.

Hitachi Zosen has constructed nearly 200 plants of this kind in Japan and is operating nearly 50 plants.

 

[Viet]

First Vietnamese billionaire on Forbes list


Updated : 3/5/2013 11:38:25 AM
VOV

(VOV) - Pham Nhat Vuong has become the first Vietnamese billionaire to enter the list of world’s richest individuals, with total assets of US$1.5 billion as estimated in March 2013.

Pham ranks 974th in the list voted by Forbes, with his $1.5 billion billionaire worth based largely on the 53% stake he owns (both indirectly and directly) in Vingroup,real estate development firm.Born in Hanoi in 1968, Pham started his career in Ukraine by producing instant noodles, eventually styling himself as Ukraine’s processed-food king. By 2010, when Pham sold the company for an estimated US$150 million to Nestle, his noodle company, Technocom, had revenues of US$100 million.

This highly unconventional post-Soviet success story had a twist. For years Pham had been gradually funneling the funds from his Ukrainian noodle empire into real estate projects back in his homeland.

In Vietnam, Pham’s decision to invest in real estate projects resulted in the 225-room, deluxe Vinpearl Resort Nha Trang.Here, again, Pham found quick success.The next year he introduced Vincom Center Ba Trieu, the first commercial tower complex in Hanoi. Three years later he added 260 more rooms to Vinpearl, along with a 2-mile cable car connecting the island to the mainland.

Pham followed this with several high-end townships in Hanoi, including Vincom Village, a luxury development with hundreds of villas. Vincom, comprising Pham’s commercial and residential real estate interests, went public in 2007, while he maintained Vinpearl as a separate company for his luxury resort business.

Last year Pham merged the two companies to create Vingroup, which is now the fifth most valuable company on the Vietnamese stock exchange.

 

[Viet]

First green hydropower plant operational


Updated : 3/5/2013 9:44:14 AM
VOV

The Chiem Hoa green hydropower plant in Tuyen Quang province, the first of its kind in Vietnam, went operational on March 4.

Funded by International Investment, Construction and Trade Company, construction of the 48MW facility began on October 12, 2009, under the engineering-procurement-construction method.

With three turbines, the US$85 million plant is expected to produce 198.6 million kWh for the national grid.

 

[nufix]

First Vietnamese billionaire on Forbes list

Congratulation to Herr Pham Nhat Vuong

 

[visom]

I've looked up Pham Nhat Vuong and some people claim he's only made that fortune because he was associated with the corrupted communists... can anyone explain this?

 

[Viet]

Beihai-Ha Long Bay tourist route to launch in April


Updated : 3/6/2013 12:12:29 PM
VOV

A maritime tourist route between Beihai in the Chinese province of Guangxi and Ha Long Bay in Vietnam’s northern province of Quang Ninh is to start operating early this April.

On March 5, high-speed cruise liner Beiyou 16 with 22-member crew on board safely docked at Tuan Chau port, the departing site for Ha Long Bay trip, to test-run the service.

Following the trial run, the first three-hour voyage will operate on the route this April with two trips carrying 800 passengers on average each a week.

The new service is expected to promote tourism and marine transport in Ha Long Bay, the world heritage site and wonder. It will offer the two countries a chance to boost bilateral trade and introduce their cultures in a more rapid, convenient and safe way.

 

[EastSea]

I've looked up Pham Nhat Vuong and some people claim he's only made that fortune because he was associated with the corrupted communists... can anyone explain this?

Up to now, there was no evidence for such complains, I think it should be some people are jealous with him, last time I have been to Hanoi on my own business. I saw, he has some real state projects in center of Hanoi, frankly speaking there are "golden Land" in convenient position. With bureaucratic system in Vietnam he should paid enough money to get permission under construction procedure for such civil project,

 

[EastSea]

PUBLIC SAFETY
VIETNAMESE CITY TO LAUNCH SMART TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
By Clarice Africa | 5 March 2013 | Views: 376

The Transport Department of Hanoi city will be rolling out the pilot trial of its smart transport management system in Thang Long Highway in a bid to improve road safety and traffic management.

Thang Long Highway is currently the longest highway in Vietnam, with a distance of 28 kilometres.

Part of the project is the implementation of CCTV cameras and computer networks that aims to help the transport department manage traffic activities along the highway. In addition, it also aims to help local authorities respond better to vehicular and roadside accidents by sharing real-time information of the incident to concerned offices.
Once the pilot trial is deemed successful, the transport department will then fully implement the system in other expressways in Hanoi. It is expected that the system will help local authorities improve the efficiency of managing traffic congestion along major expressways

To better transport conditions, the city is building 34 bridges over rivers and 15 overpasses while trying to complete the construction of some key belt roads and highways.

 

[Viet]

HSBC: Vietnam to achieve 5.5 pct GDP growth in 2013


VNA A+ A-
Updated : Tue, March 5, 2013,10:27 AM (GMT+0700)

Cashew nut processing for export . Photo: VNA


The Hongkong and Sanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) on March 4 released its report on the Vietnam’s macro economy, which asserts that after a tough 2012, the economy has started off on a better foundation and Vietnam is expected to achieve a 5.5 percent expansion of GDP in 2013.

The report spoke of the Prime Minister’s approval of the Master Plan on Economic Restructuring in 2013-2020 which shows a reform mind-set. It said a commitment to price stability over growth is considered positive and should be maintained, but concrete steps to increase efficiency of the economy are still needed.

 

[Viet]

Germany recruits Vietnamese nurses


Updated : 3/4/2013 5:29:23 PM
VOV

(VOV) - Dr. Andreas Schneider—Deputy Country Director of GIZ in Vietnam—has said Vietnam is the first non-European country offered the opportunity to cooperate with Germany on health care.

A training course for 120 Vietnamese nurses began in Hanoi on March 4, part of a pilot project jointly implemented by GIZ, the Goethe Institute, and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MoLISA) Department of Overseas Labour Management.

German Ambassador to Vietnam Jutta Frasch explained that following a German course, Vietnamese medical workers will attend two years of intensive training in Germany. Germany has pressing demands for high-quality workers in many sectors, including healthcare, mathematics, information technology, natural science, and engineering.

Vietnamese guest workers in Germany play an important role in strengthening bilateral ties, she said.

 

[Viet]

Dong Nai, Japan cooperate in support industries


Updated : 3/7/2013 11:06:55 AM
VOV

Japan’s Kansai region


Representatives from the Dong Nai provincial People’s Committee and Japan’s Kansai Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry (KBETI) met on March 6 to discuss cooperation plans.

They agreed to create favourable conditions for support businesses from the Kansai region to invest in the southern province of Dong Nai.

They were committed to setting up a consultation board to help promote environmental protection and human resource training, especially in the industrial sector to foster links between Japanese businesses and training centres in Dong Nai.

KBETI Head Toshihiro Kobayashi said more than half of Kansai investors set sight on Asian countries.

 

[Viet]

Conference on investment in Vietnam held in US


Updated : 3/6/2013 12:04:03 PM
VOV

(VOV) -More than 70 representatives from companies, funds and trade organizations in the US have attended a conference in New York on February 5th to promote foreign investment in Vietnam.

The event was organized with the support of Becamex IDC Binh Duong, the Citibank and the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce.

Vietnamese Ambassador Le Hoai Trung, Head of Vietnam’s permanent mission to the UN cited Binh Duong province as a case in point that has succeeded a huge amount of capital from US companies and groups into the Vietnam-Singapore industrial zone.

Ambassador Le Hoai Trung, Head of Vietnam's permanent mission to the United Nations


Many US representatives showed keen interest in administrative procedures for investment the province and the country as a whole.

Walter Blocker, Chairman of the Vietnam Trade Alliance (VTA), which is operating in Ho Chi Minh City, has been one of the first US businesspeople coming to Vietnam after the two countries normalized their diplomatic ties.

He said Vietnam has made considerable progress in reforming their investment environment and his company is reaping the benefits.

Marc Mealy, Deputy Chairman of the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC), underscored Vietnam’s important role in connecting economy and trade within the bloc.

He said the US government’s policy towards Asia and the best possibility of its signing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement will provide chance for US businesses to invest in Vietnam.

 

[Viet]

Russian scientists join study of VN’s marine biodiversity


TUOITRENEWS A+ A-
Updated : Thu, March 7, 2013,12:21 PM (GMT+0700)

Akademik Oparin, a research/survey vessel owned by the Russian Science Academy
Photo: shipspotting.com


Preparations are under way for a scientific study of Vietnam’s seas to be conducted by Russian scientists and their Vietnamese counterparts in late April, said the Nha Trang Institute of Technology Research and Application.

The institute, located in the southern coastal city of Nha Trang, said it and several leading Russian scientists from the Far Eastern Division of the Russian Academy of Science are working on a plan to conduct a joint study on Vietnam’s marine biodiversity.

Accordingly, the Russian ship Akademik Oparin, a research/survey vessel owned by the Russian Science Academy, will come to Vietnam in late April to take part in the study.

It is expected that 29 Russian scientists and 11 Vietnamese counterparts will work together on the study, which will last for a month and a half, the institute said.

The Akademik Oparin, which was built in Finland by Hollming in 1985, has a displacement of 2,600 tons and sails at 15.2 nautical miles per hour.

It was specially designed to conduct biochemical and bioorganic research at sea and is one of the few ships in the world dedicated to this type of research.


Read more: Russian scientists join study of VN

 

[Viet]

VN, Cambodia seek ways to enhance economic ties


05/03/2013 | 17:32:03
VN Plus

Representatives of the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Cambodian Ministry of Planning met in Hanoi on March 5 to devise orientations for their future cooperation.

Minister Bui Quang Vinh stressed the need for the two ministries to focus on more practical and effective contents of cooperation in order to work as advisors for their Governments in making development policies.

He suggested the holding of regular high-level meetings as well as those for experts to exchange experience in socio-economic development.

The minister also touched upon the expansion of cooperation areas relating to the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia development triangle.

He praised the Cambodian side for its achievements over the past time, especially those in economics, inflation curbing and agriculture.

Cambodian Minister Chhay Than spoke highly of Vietnam’s support and cooperation in economic development, education and infrastructure, and expressed his hope for more support from the Vietnamese side in the coming time.