PM calls for sustainable development of wood processing industry Last year, Vietnam earned 9.38 billion USD from exporting wood and non-wood forest products Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on March 28 issued a Directive on measures to achieve rapid and sustainable development of the wood and non-wood forest product processing industry to serve exports. Wood and non-wood forest products are ranked the sixth most important export product of Vietnam and had average annual growth rate of 13 percent during 2010-2018. Last year, Vietnam earned 9.38 billion USD from exporting wood and non-wood forest products, up 15.9 percent against the previous year and making up almost a quarter of the agriculture sector’s export turnover. Vietnamese wood products have been sold to more than 120 nations and territories. The country is the fifth largest exporter of wood in the world and second in Asia, accounting for 6 percent of the world’s market share. The country now has about 4,500 wood … [Read more...] about BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF 30/3
South korean and north korean
BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF 22/12
Experts want to reduce number of export inspections Experts have suggested changing the number of and the time spent for inspections of export activities, including customs clearance, to help reduce costs for enterprises. Speaking at a seminar held in Ho Chi Minh on December 20, Tran Ngoc Liem, deputy director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) HCM City, said that overlapping inspection procedures were causing problems for enterprises. The General Department of Vietnam Customs said that procedures accounted for up to 50 percent of customs clearance time. Many shipments have been inspected, but still have not been cleared, it said. Even after three months, State agencies are still conducting inspection checks. Phan Duc Hieu, deputy head of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), said the proportion of imports and exports subject to specialised inspections at customs clearance was up to 30-35 percent and would be reduced to 15 percent under a … [Read more...] about BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF 22/12
S. Koreans go to North for railway reconnection survey
A South Korean train left Dorasan station Friday and crossed into North Korea. — AFP/VNA PhotoViet Nam News SEOUL — A train carrying South Korean engineers and officials crossed into the North on Friday to begin a landmark joint survey to reconnect railway tracks between the two Koreas. Linking up the railway systems was one of the agreements made earlier this year in a key meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the South’s President Moon Jae-in. It is the first time since 2007 a train from the South has entered North Korea. TV footage on Friday showed a red, white and blue train -- displaying a banner reading "Iron Horse is now running toward the era of peace and prosperity" -- pull away from the South’s Dorasan station, the nearest terminal from the western part of the inter-Korean border. "This signals the start of co-prosperity of the North and the South by reconnecting railways," Transport Minister Kim Hyun-mee said. She added the railway … [Read more...] about S. Koreans go to North for railway reconnection survey
Trump says expects announcement of new summit with North Korea’s Kim ‘pretty soon’
Trump says expects announcement of new summit with North Korea's Kim 'pretty soon' The Saigon Times Daily U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a signing ceremony for the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly in New York, U.S., September 24, 2018 – PHOTO: REUTERS UNITED NATIONS (REUTERS) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he expected a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to be announced “pretty soon” but that the location had yet to be determined. Trump, during a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the United Nations, said: “Chairman Kim has been really very open and terrific, frankly. I think he wants to see something happen.” Moon met with Kim for a third time last week. He said he brought Trump a personal message from the North Korean leader saying he was hoping to meet with the U.S. president again soon. … [Read more...] about Trump says expects announcement of new summit with North Korea’s Kim ‘pretty soon’
Emotional farewells as North and South Koreans part for last time
South Koreans (on the bus) wave farewell through the window to their North Korean relatives at the end of the reunion. — AFP/VNA PhotoViet Nam News SEOUL — Clinging to each other for every last second, elderly North and South Korean family members allowed to meet for the first time in nearly seven decades bid tearful farewells Wednesday, probably forever. Millions of people were swept apart by the 1950-53 Korean War, which left the peninsula split by the impenetrable Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) and separated brothers and sisters, parents and children and husbands and wives. Over the years most have died, and fewer than 60,000 South Koreans remain alive who have registered to meet their Northern kin at the occasional cross-border reunions -- this week’s are the first in three years. Those survivors lucky enough to be chosen to take part -- 89 families this time, with a similar number to follow later this week -- must cram a lifetime’s relationship into just … [Read more...] about Emotional farewells as North and South Koreans part for last time