Border trade

The bank is collecting feedback on its draft circular to replace the current version with stricter conditions for receiving short-term foreign loans to ensure a national debt limit. The draft will allow Vietnamese businesses to access short-term foreign loans for paying debt, but not for potentially risky purposes like trading stock and real estate. This is because once the stock and real estate market grows way above its intrinsic value, there would be a high chance of creating an asset bubble, causing economic instability. The central bank plans to ban the use of short-term foreign loans to buy projects or stakes in them, since mergers and acquisitions involve long-term investment and commitment. It also plans to ban companies using short-term foreign loans to acquire projects or stakes in projects, as mergers and acquisitions are long-term activities. Short-term loans could result in liquidity risks if used for medium- and long-term purposes, it explained. Companies may … [Read more...] about Central bank limits foreign loans for trading stock, real estate

Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesia's trade surplus hit a record high in April, surpassing its peak in last October amid soaring global commodity prices that boosted exports. The National Statistics Agency (BPS) announced on May 17 that Indonesia had registered a surplus for the 24th consecutive month in April, which had more than tripled to 7.56 billion USD year on year and increased 66 percent month on month. Economists forecast that Indonesia will benefit from rising in global commodity prices due to the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict as revenues from the exports of crude palm oil (CPO), coal, and metal ores are higher than the increase in imports. According to BPS, Indonesia ’s exports reached 27.32 billion USD in April, up 47.76 percent year on year. The mining industry had the strongest export growth, almost doubling year on year to 6.41 billion USD.  Meanwhile imports rose 21 percent to 19 billion USD. China remained Indonesia's top export destination, … [Read more...] about Indonesia enjoys largest trade surplus in history in April

"Even in the very tough environment we are seeing, our employees have maintained a high quality and reliable service for our customers and this is helping us deliver stellar performance year after year," said Jens Lottner, CEO of Techcombank. Last year, the bank continued to reduce costs while focusing on building deposits in its current accounts and savings accounts (CASA), which Lottner described as a "stable and cheap" source of funding. Techcombank’s CASA ratio, which reflects the percentage of the bank’s total deposits that are CASA, jumped from 46.1 percent in 2020 to 50.5 percent last year, on its way to the bank’s target of 55 percent by 2025. Techcombank’s net interest margin (NIM), a measure of the difference between the interest received by the bank and the amount paid out to lenders, also increased 69 basis points to 5.6 percent during the year. "Together, these improving metrics, along with our effective cost management, translated into an excellent profit before tax … [Read more...] about Techcombank eyes seat at top Southeast Asian banking table

The top Greek leader is on her first official visit to Vietnam. The legislator congratulated Sakellaropoulou as the first female President of Greece, a country with an important position in Europe. Chairman Hue said he believed that the president's visit to Vietnam is an important step, helping to further promote the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries. He expressed delight that the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries has been continuously strengthened and developed, which is demonstrated by exchanges of delegations at all levels. National Assembly Chairman Vuong Đinh Hue meets Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou in Hà Nội on Wednesday (Photo: VNA/VNS) The cooperation in trade and economy has developed positively, particularly since the Europe-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) was implemented. Chairman Hue proposed the two countries continue promoting cooperation in areas that are … [Read more...] about NA Chairman Hue welcomes Greek President

Freeze-drying food preservation technology of Vietnam Green Industrial Joint Stock Company. (Photo: SGGP) The event aims to support putting products from research institutes, universities, technology enterprises, and start-up groups in HCMC to the market to serve the needs of technology applications in production and business activities. The exhibition attracted nearly 200 technology applications from 87 enterprises and institutions participating in advertising and promoting trade. The exhibition introduces new technology trends suitable to the production situation in Vietnam, especially in the field of preservation and processing of agricultural products and food, hybridization technologies of plants and livestock, including automation technology in the agricultural production process, food sterilization by high-pressure processing technology, controlled atmosphere technology, freeze-drying to prolong the preservation time of agricultural products or the reuse of wastewater from … [Read more...] about Technology applications in agricultural production introduced

Many delegates discuss solutions to reduce congestion at Cat Lai Port in HCMC. (Photo: SGGP) The workshop attracted more than 70 delegates from customs authorities, ministries, and the business community to discuss this action plan. At the workshop, the relevant units announced 21 recommendations to improve the operational efficiency of Cat Lai Port to meet the increasing demand. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the port was operating at full capacity. Meanwhile, the demand calculated by the number of containers is forecast to double by 2030. The above 21 recommendations are the results of a pre-feasibility study on congestion prevention and logistics facilitation at Cat Lai Port conducted by the Trade Facilitation Project funded by the USAID from May 2020 to March 2021. The study comprehensively reviewed port operations on an area of 160 hectares to assess operational efficiency, bottlenecks, and shortcomings in the process of enhancing the handling capacity of the port. On … [Read more...] about HCMC cooperates with USAID to ease container congestion at Cat Lai Port

At the conference (Photo: SGGP) The Center for linking production, processing, and consumption of agricultural products in Can Tho City was established with the expectation that by 2050, it will become the central transport node in large metropolitan areas with smart technology. The center will be the focal point of the chain of smart production, processing, and consumption centers in the region. In this link chain, about 50 percent - 70 percent of the production processes are done automatically and intelligently. Speaking at the conference, Chairman of the Can City People's Committee Tran Viet Truong said this is an important conference to get opinions from ministries, sectors, and localities in the region, step by step perfecting the project in the most feasible direction before submitting it to the Government. The Center aims to contribute to the construction of Can Tho City into the central city of the Mekong Delta region, contributing to the development of the region’s … [Read more...] about Center hoped to help link, consume agricultural products in Mekong Delta

The speech, themed “Sincerity, trust and responsibility for a better world,” focused on how Vietnam sees the world today, the role of sincerity, trust and responsibility in a turbulent world, and what the country needs to do in order to demonstrate sincerity, and bolster trust and responsibility, for a better world. It underlined Vietnam’s willingness to cooperate with the international community to deal with issues that all countries, small or large, rich or poor, have to settle together, while affirming in a world full of turbulence, strategic competition and a great many choices, Vietnam picks no side. “Instead it chooses justice, fairness and goodness, based on the principles of international law and the U.N. Charter. It chooses equality, shared benefits for all, and win-win for all.” Gregory B. Poling, Director of the CSIS’s Southeast Asia Program and Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, said that the Vietnamese PM’s speech conveyed important and comprehensive messages, and … [Read more...] about U.S. experts laud PM Chinh’s speech at CSIS

Over the past time, despite the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the MR4 Command has directed its affiliated units to closely work with Lao military units and localities to ensure security in border areas and manage COVID-19 pandemic, while helping the Lao side to build the political system, contributing to ensuring political security and social order. For their part, Lao units and localities also coordinated with MR4’s units to grasp situations and maintain stability in border areas, while supporting the Vietnamese military units to search, collect and repatriate Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who laid down their lives in Laos during wartime. During the discussion, both sides mapped out solutions to raise cooperation quality, promote delegation exchanges while well managing handed-over constructions which symbolize the bilateral special solidarity and friendship. On this occasion, the two sides inked the cooperation agreement for 2022 and presented … [Read more...] about MR4 and Lao People’s Army promote cooperation

During her stay in Vietnam, President Sakellaropoulou paid tribute to late President Ho Chi Minh at his Mausoleum, laid a wreath at the Heroic Martyrs’ Monument, held talks with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, paid a courtesy visit on Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, met with National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, witnessed the signing of important documents, and joined a tea party chaired by Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan. Welcoming the Greek President, Party General Secretary Trong affirmed that Vietnam attaches much importance to its traditional friendship with Greece and is delighted at the important progress in their bilateral ties. He gave a number of proposals to promote the partnership in all fields, and suggested Greece continue to support the Vietnamese community in the country. During talks between the two presidents, they shared delight that despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, trade between the two countries still increased to 447 million USD in 2021, … [Read more...] about Greek President wraps up official visit to Vietnam