Lozi.vn, a startup of the Vietnam government faces strong competition from Foody.vn, which already dominates the food recommendations market, did not disclose the details of the agreement, only to say the funds would be used to improve the quality of the mobile application. Venture capital is a relatively new concept for most Vietnamese public and private companies but is considered an important source of funds for; in particular, risky ventures in most western countries that need working capital to get the business off the ground. Since 2011, Golden Gate Ventures – has heavily invested in 35 start-up companies specializing in internet and mobile applications in Southeast Asia, while Design One Japan is an internet media company, said Lozi.vn. … [Read more...]
Disbursement for public investment too slow: Vietnam government
Disbursement for public investment too slow: Vietnam government By Vuong Duc Anh  June 22, 2016 | 07:50 pm GMT+7 According to Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the total budget approved by the National Assembly for 2016 is VND254.9 trillion ($11.5 billion). Government agencies have so far disbursed over VND83 trillion (3.73 billion USD), equivalent to 33.14 percent of the 2016 budget. Disbursement of capital raised via government bond sales in this period also remained low compared to the plan, with around VND6.081 trillion ($273.6 million) spent, equivalent to only 15.42 percent of the year's plan. The Ministry of Transport, the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang and Hanoi were reported to be lagging behind, with disbursement rates of 6.2 percent, four percent and three percent respectively. Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said the low disbursement rate in the first five months of the year were due to projects under national target … [Read more...]
Vietnam Government Needs Stronger Support for Local Manufacturers
Vietnam Government Needs Stronger Support for Local Manufacturers The Japan Business Association in Vietnam (JBAV) said it has over 1,600 member companies, ranked third among countries with investment in Vietnam. Particularly, mechanical engineering and high technology account for the biggest share and keeps growing up. Although the Government and other authorities have made great efforts to improve the investment environment in order to attract more foreign investors in recent years, they still however face difficulty in setting foot in this market. According to JBAV, not only new companies which are seeking investment in the Vietnamese market but those with long presences and important positions in Vietnam’s economy such as automobile manufacturers are facing numerous difficulties and obstacles. JBAV said although the automobile industry in Vietnam has improved in recent years, it remains too small in relation to other countries in the region such as Thailand and Indonesia. … [Read more...]
Vietnam Government Requests Equitisation of MobiFone
Vietnam Government Requests Equitisation of MobiFone The Prime Minister has directed that in the restructuring of the Vietnam Posts and Communications Group (VNPT), it is essential to keep the two brands VinaPhone and MobiFone and at the same time to equitise MobiFone, said Deputy Minister of Information and Communications (MIC) Le Nam Thang. The decision to equitise MobiFone and let this corporation operate independently is placed on the planning of the telecommunications market approved earlier by the government. Under this plan, the market for such key service as mobile phone must have at least three players, established from three to four large telecommunication groups, with equal market shares to create competitiveness. Deputy Minister Le Nam Thang shared that in the restructuring scheme, VNPT will have to build a plan for MobiFone's equitisation and divest from this company. VNPT will have to make its own proposals on the equitisation of MobiFone under a suitable route. … [Read more...]
Vietnam Government Seeks Growth of 6.7 Pct in 2016
Vietnam Government Seeks Growth of 6.7 Pct in 2016 Other targets for next year include inflation of 5 percent, a 1.3-1.5 percent reduction in the percentage of poor households nationwide and 4 percent in disadvantaged districts, and health insurance coverage of 76 percent. According to the prime minister’s report, Vietnam has met 13 out of 14 socio-economic targets set last year, with the only missed goal concerning the forest coverage rate. The report underlines the strong recovery of the domestic economy in the first nine months of the year with gross domestic output increasing by 6.5 percent and the consumer price index rising by 0.74 percent. Loans in the nine months to September rose by 10.78 percent compared with 6.62 percent during the same period last year, indicating a marked improvement in credit to the economy. The report also acknowledges the shortcomings of the economy, including low productivity, a high spending deficit, rising public debt, high bad debt, and … [Read more...]
Vietnam Government’s G-Bond Raising – Lower than Expected
Vietnam Government's G-Bond Raising - Lower than Expected The Government of Vietnam expects to raise some VND55,000 billion (US$3.1 billion) from selling government bonds in 2009. However, a series of unsuccessful government bond auctions in 2008 and in the first quarter of 2009 challenged the effort of Vietnam in the remaining months of 2009 and following years. Unsuccessful auctions In 2008, the Government mobilised more than VND39,000 billion (US$2.2 billion0 from bond issue, fulfilling 62 per cent of the plan. The Hanoi Securities Trading Centre (HASTC) conducted 44 tranches guaranteed by the Government to raise over VND7,000 billion, equal to 22.1 per cent of the initial target and nearly 37 per cent of total proceeds in 2007. Although the coupon rates of bonds were quite attractive in relation to bank rates (the coupon rate was around 7.6-10 per cent per annum in the first half of 2008 but at some 15 per cent from June and October, averaging 9 per cent per annum for 2-5-year … [Read more...]
Vietnam Government Pays more Attention to IBM’s Operation
Vietnam Government Pays more Attention to IBM's Operation At the end of April 2007, Nguyen Tan Dung, the Prime Minister, visited the global delivery Center GDC) of IBM, based in technical software area of Ho Chi Minh National University in Thu Duc district. IBM now has established three more global centers in Vietnam including the Global Delivery Center (GDC) focusing on software development projects for overseas customers, the Global Procurement Services Group (GPSG) focusing on partnering with Vietnamese software companies to develop software projects for IBM's overseas subsidiaries, and the Vietnam Procurement Center focusing on seeking and selecting the best equipment and service distributors and buying them for IBM subsidiaries overseas. LEE Puay Eng, General Manager of Vietnam IBM, reported to the Prime Minister the IBM expectation on the Vietnamese market, for long term development here. IBM hopes to join hands with the Vietnam government to develop technical human … [Read more...]
Trade Deficit Doubles Difficulties for Vietnam Government
Trade Deficit Doubles Difficulties for Vietnam Government Big trade deficit, leading to current account deficit, is becoming a great threat for the Vietnamese government, Benedict Bingham, a representative from the International Monetary Fund, said at a conference on export situations in the first half and solutions for the second half held in Hanoi Jul 22.   The threat will place Vietnam into a doubled difficult situation, making the country, on the one hand, to increase foreign currency reserves or credit to offset balance sheet, on the other hand, to implement tight monetary policy to recover confidence of domestic and foreign investors.   The central bank tightening monetary policy to reduce trade deficit is right, but it needs to take care of technical methods to lower price hike, he said.   Noritaka Akamatsu, director of the World Banks Financial and Private Sector Development Program, shared the view, saying that the tight monetary policy helped slow … [Read more...]
Vietnam Government Portal awarded Labour Order
NDO - The Vietnam Government Portal (VGP) held a ceremony in Hanoi on January 8 to celebrate its 10th anniversary and receive the Labour order, second class. The ceremony saw the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam. Speaking at the ceremony, on behalf of the Government, Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam praised achievements made by the VGP staff over the past 10 years. Deputy PM Dam emphasised the increasing demand of the community and society on information related to the activities of the Government, the Prime Minister and the ministries, branches and localities. He also expressed his belief that the VGP staff would continue to exert more efforts to innovate the portal’s service, accelerate administrative procedure reform, and serve as an active bridge to realise the PM’s directions in meeting the information demands of people and the business community to promote the country’s socio-economic development. Over the past years, the VGP has focused news on activities of … [Read more...]
Vietnam government announces budget shortfall
Nhan Dan – Deputy Minister of Finance Vu Thi Mai announced that in the first nine months of the year the Vietnam government has collected only 66.6% of the annual budgeted amount. Deputy Minister Mai made the announcement at the Ministry's quarterly meeting held in Hanoi on October 10 and stated that it is going to be difficult to meet this year’s budget collection target. For the period, 23 provinces and cities are estimated to have collections right on target. However, 40 other provinces, which account for the largest proportion of revenue, are experiencing shortfalls and they include Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa, Binh Duong, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau and othes. To address the difficult situation, the Ministry of Finance has established a Steering Committee which is charged with spearheading efforts to prevent revenue losses and tighten budget collection. The Ministry stated that in the remaining months of the year, it will continue to … [Read more...]