Events – Talk Vietnam

June 1, 2021 by ven.vn Leave a Comment

GROHE and American Standard announce winners of the Asia Pacific Property Awards

The Asia Pacific Property Awards celebrate the highest levels of achievement in the architecture, interior design, real estate and property development sectors in the region. These prestigious awards attract entries from the best professionals and top industry brands annually.

In this year’s edition, there are 681 winners from across the Asia Pacific in the Architecture, Interior Design, Real Estate, and Property Development categories. Mainland China swept the maximum number of awards (216) followed by Thailand (86). This was closely followed by Hong Kong (63) and Vietnam (45). Other important markets including Singapore (44), Malaysia (43), India (31) and Australia (29), also made a mark at this year’s awards.

The judging panel for this year’s awards consisted of over 100 top industry experts. Luminaries such as Lord Best (Chair of the House of Lords Communications Committee, and Chair of The Property Ombudsman’s Council in the UK), Bill McClintock (Chairman, Guild of Property Professionals UK), and Annie Hampson (Former Chief Planning Officer at the City of London) were part of the illustrious judging panel for the Asia Pacific Property Awards. Each judge was allocated to entries that were of their areas of expertise and knowledge. All entries were meticulously adjudicated on their design, quality, service, innovation, originality, and commitment to sustainability.

The Asia Pacific Property Awards are one of the biggest and most recognized awards in the industry with over 900 entries received each year from countries across the region. Companies who had the honor of receiving the award are accredited for leading the architecture, interior design, real estate and property developer sectors. Sponsored by LIXIL Asia through its power brands GROHE and American Standard for the third year, the Asia Pacific Property Awards are the largest branch of the International Property Awards (IPA). This year’s 2021-22 top winners were announced through the IPA’s bespoke online ‘Red Carpet’ presentation videos. This is part of the IPA’s approach in providing an innovative and popular alternative in place of the annual live awards event, due to Covid restrictions.

As a global market leader in water technology, LIXIL recognizes the importance of using technological innovations to address its consumers’ ongoing needs and challenges, thereby improving their quality of life with outstanding products and services. Through its portfolio of power brands, LIXIL offers pioneering technologies that promote health, hygiene, comfort and sustainability to meet the ever-growing demands for touchless, IoT-enabled, hygiene solutions.

As an industry leader, GROHE manufactures all of its products to the utmost German quality standards, incorporating exclusive and class-leading technologies across complete bathroom solutions. With sustainability as a core brand value, GROHE is proud to be the first global sanitaryware brand to achieve carbon-neutral production (in April 2020). American Standard’s HygieneClean System is the industry’s benchmark for toilet hygiene safety, with its quadruple combination of powerful flushing, advanced rimless design, cutting-edge Aqua Ceramic, and highly effective ComfortClean anti-bacterial technology.

Satoshi Konagai, Leader, LIXIL Water Technology, Asia Pacific, expressed, “LIXIL is honored to be a part of this partnership that continues to provide us with an excellent opportunity to connect with the best developers, architects and designers in the Asia Pacific. Our earnest congratulations to all winners on your well-deserved success. The achievement and attainment of these highly coveted awards further underscore the outstanding capabilities and accomplishments of the winners. The ongoing pandemic has led to a growing demand for better hygiene products and solutions, and with consumers spending more time at home, the demand for ‘home spa’ experiences have also gradually increased. As a purpose-driven company, we will lead the way in introducing innovative and novel products to meet consumer demand. We look forward to working together with the community to bring LIXIL’s water and housing solutions to more people through our well-loved brands.”

Adele Tao, Leader, LIXIL Water Technology, Greater China, added, “Despite the challenges and disruptions brought about by the global pandemic, LIXIL remains steadfast in our mission to design products that make better homes a reality for everyone, everywhere. Our continued commitment to improve the quality of our consumers’ lives over the years has been pivotal in addressing some of the key challenges consumers face globally. The Asia Pacific Property Awards present us with the opportunity to recognize some of Asia’s most innovative and creative professionals and celebrate their achievements. We will continue to stay engaged with the industry, and will continue fostering stronger collaboration and partnerships with the developer, designer and architect community to achieve even greater things on a global level.”

LIXIL (TSE Code 5938) makes pioneering water and housing products that solve everyday, real-life challenges, making better homes a reality for everyone, everywhere. Drawing on our Japanese heritage, we create world-leading technology and innovate to make high quality products that transform homes. But the LIXIL difference is how we do this; through meaningful design, an entrepreneurial spirit, a dedication to improving accessibility for all, and responsible business growth. Our approach comes to life through industry leading brands, including INAX, GROHE, American Standard, and TOSTEM. Approximately 60,000 colleagues operating in more than 150 countries are proud to make products that touch the lives of more than a billion people every day.

June 14, 2021 by ven.vn Leave a Comment

AEON Group appoints new General Director of AEON Vietnam

Mr. Furusawa Yasuyuki, new General Director of AEON Vietnam

The change of senior personnel of AEON Vietnam this time is part of AEON Group’s Organization Reform Strategy in the fiscal year 2021. Specifically, the group will significantly improve its competitiveness and profitability through three strategies. The first is digital shift, regional shift, and Asia shift. The second is the reformation of its supply chain. The third is the reformation of group management, pursue group synergy, and maximize its corporate value.

Up to now, AEON Group has always appreciated and identified Vietnam as a key market in Asia. Accordingly, AEON will continue to accelerate the opening of RSC (regional shopping center), NSC (neighborhood SC), specialty stores and supermarket to achieve rapid growth. In addition, the group will accelerate the e-commerce segment to meet the increasing need of online consumption trend of customers, especially in the context of Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition, Product research and development (R&D) will also be focused, in order to increase the number of Made-in-Vietnam products, together with imported products only available at AEON to provide our customers with a unique and wide range of products. It is necessary to reform and enhance the supply chain infrastructure as the driven factor of the target achievement.

In parallel, AEON Group will focus on the continuous reformation of group management that facilitates the pursuance of group synergy and maximizes its corporate value.

With above ambitions, AEON Group appointed Furusawa Yasuyuki as the new General Director of AEON Vietnam Co., Ltd. Meanwhile, the predecessor General Director Nishitohge Yasuo returned to Japan for a new assignment in AEON Group.

Furusawa Yasuyuki joined Jusco (now as known as AEON Group) in 1995, having over 26 years of experience in the retail industry in Asia. From 2014-2017, he held the position of the president of Beijing AEON Co., Ltd in China. Before being appointed as General Director of AEON Vietnam Co., Ltd, Furusawa Yasuyuki was the president of My Basket Co., Ltd., a business entity of AEON Group Japan.

My Basket is an urban small supermarket chain brand under AEON Japan, developed in major cities of Japan such as Tokyo and Kanagawa, etc. It mainly sell fresh produce and catering goods for daily use. Under his presidential reign for AEON My Basket, Furusawa Yasuyuki has created the marvelous growth for My Basket through adding 200 more stores only in two years, contributing to its outstanding development to achieve the milestone of 1,000 My Basket stores.

Furusawa Yasuyuki emphasized: “In the coming time, I, together with the entire AEON Vietnam, will continue to make every effort to develop new models of retail business in pursuit of AEON Vietnam’s missions: to enrich Vietnamese people’s lifestyle, to contribute to local community and economic growth of Vietnam.”

Under direct authority of AEON group, AEON Vietnam Co., Ltd. Was officially established in 2011. Currently, AEON Vietnam is operating in five retail business segments in Vietnam, including shopping malls, general merchandise stores and supermarket, specialty store, supermarkets and e-commerce.

Since the opening of the first shopping mall AEON – Tan Phu Celadon in 2014 till June 2021, AEON Vietnam has expanded its business footprints in six provinces and cities nationwide, developed and operated three shopping malls, three general merchandise stores & supermarkets, 29 specialty stores, two supermarkets, AEONEshop e-commerce site; and AEON Regional Distribution Center in Ho Chi Minh City.

June 14, 2021 by sggpnews.org.vn Leave a Comment

Painter Mai Trung Thu’s artworks to be displayed in France

Oil painting entitled Portrait de Mademoiselle Phuong (Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong) by painter Mai Trung Thu

The event which is recognized as a national influential events by the French Ministry of Culture will display more than 140 paintings. Most of them are presented to the public for the first time.

Previously, an oil painting entitled Portrait de Mademoiselle Phuong (Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong) by painter Mai Trung Thu achieved a record price of US$3.1 million for a Vietnamese artwork at the Modern Art Evening and Day Sales of Sotheby’s Hong Kong on April 18.

Mai Trung Thu (1906-1980) was born in Hai Phong. In 1925, he studied in the Indochina Fine Arts College, together with popular painters namely Nguyen Phan Chanh, Le Van De, Le Pho, Nguyen Cao Luyen.

In 1930, after graduating from the Indochina Fine Arts College, he was appointed as painting teacher at Hue High School for the Gifted. In the 1930s, Mai Trung Thu attended exhibitions in many countries around the world such as Italy, Belgium, USA and France where he settled later in Paris since 1937.

The artist was interested in oil paintings which depicted scenes of Vietnamese rural life and chose silk as the material to execute valuable paintings. His favorite theme was women, children and daily life combining with Vietnam’s cultural identity. His artworks featured light colors displayed in many exhibitions all over the world significantly contributed to build the reputation for Vietnamese Contemporary Fine Arts.

By Kim Loan – Translated by Kim Khanh

June 14, 2021 by dtinews.vn Leave a Comment

HCM City to extend social distancing

HCM City People’s Committee Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong has extended social distancing for 14 more days due to the complicated Covid-19 situation in the area.

The Hospital for Tropical Diseases

On June 14, Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong and the Deputy Prime Miniter Truong Hoa Binh held an online meeting about Covid-19 prevention in the area.

Social distancing rules currently differ from district to district. Depending on the situation, some locations will see social distancing rules tightened. For example, Directive 15 only bans meetings and events with more than 20 people and a gathering of 10 people in public places. Meanwhile, Directive 16 asks residents to only go out when necessary and a group of more than two people are banned in public places.

The social distancing rules in Go Vap District and Thanh Loc Ward in District 12, which are the hotspots of the ongoing outbreak, will be loosened from Directive 16 to Directive 15. Nguyen Tan Binh, director of HCM City Department of Health, said after two weeks, the outbreak connected to a Christian sect has been curbed in Go Vap and Thanh Loc. Most of the new cases are reported in quarantine centres.

However, while the number of new patients related to known patient 0s have decreased, HCM City is discovering new cases from unknown patient 0s. It is more worrisome when new cases are found in a hospital or industrial zone. As of now, new Covid-19 cases have been found in five hospitals including Tan Phu Hospital, Nam Sai Gon Hospital, Children’s Hospital 1, Gia Dinh People’s Hospital and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

“This virus variant spread very quickly among family members, co-workers and neighbours,” Binh said. “The virus already spread and two weeks is the incubation period. Applying Directive 15 during this time will help prevent the spread of the virus.”

Phong said they would see how everything goes next week.

In the second week of social distancing, HCM City recorded 310 Covid-19 cases. The city authorities have arranged more quarantine centres and improved testing capability. They are considering using the Oncology Hospital with 1,000 beds to serve Covid-19 patients. Fields hospitals may be set up at stadiums with 5,000 beds.

The city planned to give the first Covid-19 vaccine shots to 71,900 people in priority groups from June 3 to July 10.

May 10, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn Leave a Comment

Hanoi boosts sale of rural products

Last year, Hanoi organised four trade promotional events for local OCOP products as well as those from other regions across the country. (Photo courtesy of Hanoi Rural Development Division)

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – With many craft villages and a huge amount of products qualified for the One Commune One Product (OCOP) programme, Hanoi has many strengths in rural economic development.

To increase the products’ value and boost exports, the city will adopt a number of solutions to facilitate sales of OCOP and craft products.

According to Nguyen Van Chi, head of Hanoi’s Rural Development Division under the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the city has more than 1,300 craft villages, 5,000 agricultural products tagged with QR codes and 1,054 OCOP products.

The products are diverse in design and type and are of good quality. Many of them have been exported to large markets such as the US, Japan, the EU and Russia, namely garment and ceramic products, textile and embroidery and wooden furniture.

“Hanoi has focused on connecting with provinces and cities across the country and building product value chains to promote trade to enhance the products’ value and promote exports,” Chi said.

Nguyen Thi Kim Loan, Vice Chairman of the Thach That District People’s Committee, said the district plans to set up cooperatives to act as focal points for cooperation with firms in the sale of products because domestic and foreign enterprises can’t sign contracts with each household.

In addition, coordination from businesses and distributors was essential to provide information on consumption trends to help locals produce handicraft and OCOP products that meet market demands, she said.

Nguyen Trung Thanh, an artisan from Bat Trang ceramics village in Gia Lam district, said besides quality and design, it was necessary to show the cultural value contained in each product to satisfy the demand of foreign customers.

Tran Thi Phuong Lan, Acting Director of Hanoi’s Department of Industry and Trade, said together with craft and OCOP product development, the city focused on trade promotion activities.

Last year, Hanoi held four events to promote the trade of OCOP products associated with the culture of regions across the country. The events attracted large numbers of foreigners who live and work in Hanoi.

In the future, the department would continue to support businesses, co-operatives and households to promote products consumption through fairs, conferences and trade connection activities, Lan said.

She also said on April 28, the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade in collaboration with the Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Amazon Global Selling held a seminar on exporting Vietnamese goods to the world with Amazon.

Facilitating Vietnam’s development of cross-border e-commerce were among issues discussed at the seminar.

“Given the complex development of the COVID-19 pandemic, cross-border commerce is becoming an indispensable tool for enterprises to expand their business and export handicraft and OCOP products,” Lan said.

Deputy Director of the Hanoi Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Centre Nguyen Thi Mai Anh, said this year the centre would work with five districts in the city to train producers about trade promotion for OCOP products, equipping them with more skills in marketing and selling products at home and abroad.

Nguyen Ngoc Son, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the city recently issued a plan on rural development in 2021.

Under the plan, the city would assist 10 craft villages in building and registering collective trademarks and provide financial support for 5-10 rural development projects.

Special attention would be paid to strengthening links for product consumption, he said.

Hanoi aims to evaluate and classify at least 2,000 OCOP products by 2025. To obtain the goal, the city needs to boost information dissemination and urge broader participation.

In accordance with Plan No 42 on the development of OCOP showrooms associated with craft village tourism in Hanoi this year, the city will set up 30-40 new showrooms displaying and selling OCOP products. Each district and town will have at least two OCOP showrooms.

The municipal People’s Committee will ask agencies and localities to inspect and supervise the operation of OCOP showrooms and organise promotional programs to enhance the consumption of quality products, including those from cities and provinces nationwide.

The city so far has 630 OCOP products with a three-star rating and above, exceeding the target of having at least 500 OCOP products./.

VNA

May 12, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn Leave a Comment

German firms optimistic about Vietnam’s economy

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – German firms have expressed their optimism about Vietnam’s economy in both mid-and long terms in a recent survey released by the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) on May 12.

According to the survey, 66 percent of respondents said Vietnam’s economy will see significant improvements this year, as compared with only 46 percent recorded last year.

One third of them held that the economy will recover in the first half of this year, and 30 percent believed that the recovery will begin in 2022.

More than half of the firms said their business in Vietnam is running smoothly, while only 11 percent have experienced lower revenue.

Besides, 47 percent of the enterprises intend to expand their business in the country and half of them will recruit more employees in 2021 and 2022. Notably, 67 percent expect to diversify their supply chains by seeking new suppliers, change logistics goods transportation routes or increase their stockpile.

However, the survey unveiled that a shortage of skilled labourers and declining consumption have remained the biggest challenges for German firms in Vietnam, with up to 42 percent of them said they are meeting difficulties in employing high quality personnel, up from 18 percent last year.

Other issues regarding economic policy , financial approach, legal safety and infrastructure, plus border closure, consumption decline and the cancellation of exhibitions and trade events due to COVID-19 have also significantly affected their business.

The survey outcomes have demonstrated the efficiency of the Vietnamese Government’s drastic policies and guidelines to fight the pandemic and reboot the national economy.

The Government has created optimal conditions for foreign investors and enterprises to operate in the country.

The implementation of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is expected to raise the country’s GDP by 3.2 percent for 2021-2030./.

VNA