Economy

Delegates cut the ribbons to open the event. Suparporn Sookmark, director of the Thai Trade Center in HCMC, said Mini Thailand Week 2019 has been organized in Ben Tre province for the first time, bringing with it 79 participating companies that are showcasing their products across 116 pavilions. The firms are in sectors such as gảments and textiles, food and beverages, footwear, jewelry, and healthcare. Upon addressing the opening ceremony, Consul General of Thailand in HCM City Apirat Sugondhabhirom expressed his delight at the rapid pace of development seen in the relationship and level of economic co-operation between Vietnam and Thailand. The closer bond can be seen through a host of trade and investment activities occurring in provinces and cities nationwide, with Ben Tre province and the Mekong Delta region in particular seeing a surge of activity. As of early 2019, Thailand had invested approximately US$1.7 billion in 77 projects in the Mekong Delta region with Ben … [Read more...] about Mini Thailand Week 2019 kicks off in Ben Tre

According to the article, Singapore and Indonesia have traditionally dominated Southeast Asia’s startup scene. But now, a new contender is emerging. It is Vietnam. The fact that Vietnam has one of the fastest-growing startup ecosystems in the world might come as a surprise to some because only a decade ago, Vietnam was practically a nonentity on this front. The article quoted Eddie Thai, general partner at 500 Startups Vietnam, as saying from a poor country with GDP per capita of barely over 2,000 USD and struggling to create an ecosystem for the few disconnected founders and even fewer active angles and venture capitalists, Vietnam has now almost caught up with Singapore and Indonesia’s startup growth rate According to TechinAsia’s data, the total funding amount for all startups in Vietnam was just 6 million USD in 2013. However, five years later, Vietnam’s startups scored 193 million USD thanks to a number of deals in mature companies. That year, the … [Read more...] about Vietnam – Southeast Asia’s new hottest startup ecosystem

The Hanoitimes - For large scale projects, Vietnam could offer superior and highly competitive incentives, while encouraging a greater linkage between domestic and foreign companies. Vietnam's Pulitburo requires luring high-quality FDI Actual FDI in Vietnam up 8% to over US$9 billion in Jan-Jun Vietnam authority puts goods prone to trade fraud into watch list Vietnam steel using local substrate not subject to US's latest duties: Trade authority Vietnam becomes more selective in FDI attraction: PM Vietnam would shift its foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction strategy towards a greater focus on quality and rejecting those that pose high risks of trade fraud, according to Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung.    Illustrative photo. Local provinces have to be more selective and refrain from issuing investment licenses for FDI projects using outdated technologies, high energy consumption and posing risks of trade fraud, Dung said at a … [Read more...] about Vietnam minister warns of FDI projects posing trade fraud risks

The Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade), in collaboration with the Vietnam Food Association, plan to send trade promotion delegations to the US and Mexico in late July 2019 to gain insights into their markets with a total of 21 Vietnamese businesses set to participate. According to representatives from Vietrade, the scheme is part of a host of activities which is designed to implement the government’s guidelines on expanding into the North American region and providing support to rice export businesses in gaining entry into major markets in order to avoid dependence on one location. To ensure the efficiency of trade exchange, Vietrade has set out strict criteria for firms wishing to participate in trade promotion activities. This includes their export capacity, prestige, competent business performance over the previous two years, and achievements in exporting rice to the US and Mexico. In September, more  Vietnamese enterprises are due to attend Asia … [Read more...] about Farm produce businesses broaden horizons in export markets

A luxury resort on Phu Quoc Island off the southern province of Kien Giang. The number of luxury hotel rooms booked through online travel agencies is expected to continue to rise – Photo: Dao Loan Its latest survey on the local upscale lodging industry, called "the Vietnam Hotel Survey 2019," found that the remaining rooms were sold through other channels, such as direct booking with hotels (18.2%), wholesalers/global distribution systems (7.1%), tour operators and travel agencies (27.6%) and corporations (16.4%). Reservations through travel agencies and tour operators, though they continued to be the largest channel, fell a sharp 5.1% in 2018, when four-star hotels suffered a heavy fall of 7.1%, while their five-star counterparts fell by 2.8%; they were replaced by the increase in the use of OTAs and other channels. By star rankings, the highest change in reservation channels was 2.3% for wholesalers/global distribution systems among five-star hotels and 2.8% for OTAs … [Read more...] about Hotel room bookings through online travel agencies on the rise