Substandard products removed from Ministry’s list The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has removed unsafe and substandard pesticide, veterinary medicine, fertilizer from its list. 1,774 pesticide products; 1,052 veterinary medicine and 3,621 fertilizers were banned in Vietnam as per the Ministry’s decision. Additionally, the Ministry said that there has been progress in linkage between farmers and enterprises in consumption and supply chains of safe agricultural produce. There has been 1,249 supply chains with 1,450 safe products and 3,181 places to sell safe products in 63 cities and provinces. Enterprises such as Vingroup, Dabaco, Hung Nhon, Sanha, Ba Huan poured its investment in cooperatives and household farms to provide high qualified agricultural products on a large scale. Vietnam Cooperative Alliance also set up supermarket chains connecting with over 100 agricultural cooperatives to form supply chains of safe farm produce. There have been … [Read more...] about BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF 13/3
Power development board bangladesh
Infrastructure development key to Asia’s long-term growth: ADB
More investments in infrastructure are needed to support continued growth in Asia and the Pacific and combat climate change, Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao said Saturday in his opening address at the 50th Annual Meeting of ADB’s Board of Governors in Japan. More investments in infrastructure are needed to support continued growth in Asia and the Pacific and combat climate change, Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao said Saturday in his opening address at the 50th Annual Meeting of ADB’s Board of Governors in Japan. Investment in infrastructure, he said, will remain a priority for ADB as the bank prepares a new long-term strategy to respond to rapid regional changes. ADB’s Annual Meeting, which runs from May 6 to 7, hosts about 6,000 government officials, academics, business officers, civil society representatives, and members of the media. A delegation of Vietnamese leaders and officials led by Vice-Governor of the State … [Read more...] about Infrastructure development key to Asia’s long-term growth: ADB
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 4/8
US dollar lending back in fashion Dollar lending has sharply risen in recent months in the face of high dong lending rates and a stable exchange rate. For example, Ut Xi Seafood Processing Joint Stock Company’s deputy general director Nguyen Tuan Anh said the firm sourced dollar loans from state-owned Agribank with a 4 per cent, per year interest rate. “If we had dong lending, the negotiable interest rates might be 20-22 per cent per year,” Anh said. High dong lending rates made scores of firms to turn to using dollars. Banks have also been eager to meet demand as dong loan demand drops. Ho Chi Minh City State Bank branch statistics show that city-based banks took VND819 trillion ($3.95 billion) in deposits by late June 2011, up 1.58 per cent against late 2010. Lending amount also hiked considerably 6.67 per cent in the first six months against late 2010. Particularly, dong lending surged 2.14 per cent and dollar lending soared 18.7 per … [Read more...] about BUSINESS IN BRIEF 4/8
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 3/8
Parking lot investors face endless rhetoric Though there is much rhetoric flowing from authorities in Ho Chi Minh City encouraging and pledging support to investors for constructing traffic parking lots, there is not much by way of action. Over the last ten years, city authorities have twice issued regulations relating to construction of parking lots. Initially it issued a decision in 2006, calling on investors to build parking lots and later revised it in 2010 with added incentive of interest free assistance. The Government also promulgated a decision in 2009 to exempt rent for public transport companies who would build parking areas and automobile repair stations. Duong Hong Thanh, deputy director of the Department of Transport said that the city has only one parking lot as a consequence of these policies, but now the investor has little interest in running the parking space and wants to sell it to repay outstanding bank loans. Nguyen Thi Dung, director of … [Read more...] about BUSINESS IN BRIEF 3/8
Traffickers use abductions, prison ships to feed Asian slave trade
When Afsar Miae left his home near Teknaf in southern Bangladesh to look for work last month, he told his mother, "I'll see you soon." He said he expected to return that evening. He never did. When he reported for work at a house on the outskirts of Teknaf, a man there gave him a drink of water. Soon, his eyelids sagged and his head started spinning. When he awoke, it was dark. He had lost all sense of time. Two Bangladeshi men then forced him and seven others onto a small boat and bound them. "My hands were tied. My eyes were blindfolded," said Miae, 20. The boat sailed through the night until it reached a larger ship moored far offshore. Miae was thrown into its dark, crowded hold by armed guards. He and his fellow captives survived on scraps of food and dirty water, some of them for weeks. The ship eventually sailed toward Thailand where, as Reuters reported last year, human-trafficking gangs hold thousands of boat people in brutal jungle camps until relatives pay ransoms to secure … [Read more...] about Traffickers use abductions, prison ships to feed Asian slave trade