Vietnam Morning News For May 23

Path to EU widened for Vietnamese garments-textiles
Vietnam’s garment-textile sector is expected to expand its markets once the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) comes into force in early 2018, reducing tax on Vietnamese garments and textiles exported the EU to zero percent over the next seven years.
– VietnamPlus/ VNA

Bad debts at 7 billion USD until March 31
Total non-performing loans (NPLs) of the entire credit institutions (CI) system until March 31, 2017 were 160 trillion VND (7 billion USD).
– VietnamPlus/ VNA

Vietnamese, Indonesian patrol boats square off in Natuna waters
Indonesian authorities released five Vietnamese vessels after a patrol boat belonging to the neighboring country intercepted in the arrest of the vessels for fishing illegally in Natuna waters in Riau Islands on Sunday, an official has confirmed.
– The Jakarta Post

U.S. delivers patrol boats to Vietnam to deepen security ties
The United States has transferred six patrol boats to the Vietnam coast guard, to help build security cooperation between the two countries, U.S. embassy in Hanoi said in a statement on Tuesday.
– Reuters

Vietnam’s retail market is promising, but there are pitfalls
Family Mart has had losses in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. Reuters quoted Koji Takayanag, president of FamilyMart UNY, which now owns the second largest convenience store chain in Japan, as saying that the chain has decided to stop injecting more money into Family Marts in Vietnam.
– VIETNAMNET Bridge

Vietnamese lawmaker worries growth obsession will foster mining-dependent economy
The government plans to maintain GDP growth this year by excavating more crude oil.
– VnExpress

Ministry admits to failure in localisation rate for car industry
In a recent report on the development of the local car industry and key engineering products, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said that over the past years, the local car industry had seen a quite fast development. In 2015 for the first time, the number of vehicles produced and locally assembled reached 200,000 units per year, up 51% against 2014. The figure increased to 283,300 in 2016 with some models exported to Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Central America.
– VIETNAMNET Bridge

Work begins on Ca Mau garment factory
Construction of a garment factory worth VND153 billion (US$6.8 million) commenced late last week in the southernmost province of Ca Mau.
– Viet Nam News bizhub

Disasters a threat to VN development
The increasing intensity and devastation caused by natural disasters continues to pose an “enormous challenge” to the nation, causing severe losses of assets and human life, and threatens to derail Việt Nam’s development, President Trần Đại Quang said in a letter penned for the 71st celebration of the Traditional Day on Natural Disaster Prevention (May 22, 1946 – May 22, 2017).
– Viet Nam News

Vietnam eyes 7,000 ha of shrimp farming on sandy land by 2025
Vietnam aims to expand shrimp aquaculture on sandy land to 7,000 hectares by 2025, produce some 110,000 tonnes per crop, and ensure 70 percent of these areas have developed infrastructure, according to the Directorate of Fisheries at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
– VietnamPlus/ VNA

Hanoi encourages socio-economic development plan
According to Document 2403/UBND-KT, Hanoi People’s Committee requested city’s agencies, departments and sectors to report implementation of socio-economic development plan in the first six months of 2017.
– Hanoi Times

Price of Vietnam sand rises due to limited supply
Prices of sand for construction continue increasing in HCM City, following authorities’ orders to strictly monitor sand mining sites for illegal activity.
– VIETNAMNET Bridge

Farmers need $4.4b support package: experts
Farmers and enterprises need practical support from the credit package of VNĐ100 trillion (US$4.44 billion) for clean and high-tech agriculture development, according to experts.
– Viet Nam News

VN agriculture firms receive Gov’t funds
State credit institutions will offer enterprises developing national agricultural products 70 per cent of investment capital support, said the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).
– VIETNAMNET Bridge

HCM City seeks to check land speculation by quelling rumours
The HCM City People’s Committee has instructed relevant authorities to develop software that will allow the public to obtain land-use plans on their mobile phones as a means to avoid the land “fever” that occurs periodically.
– Viet Nam News

Tai Nguyen launches massive housing, mixed-use projects in HCM City
Housing developer Tai Nguyen Company on Sunday launched two projects in HCM City’s Nha Be District worth over US$1 billion, New Downtown Kenton Node Hotel Complex and Evergreen.
– Viet Nam News bizhub

VN vows to boost Pacific trade
A seminar “The Pacific Alliance (PA) and Viet Nam in the global context” was held in Ha Noi on Monday, aiming to support Viet Nam’s role as the ASEAN co-ordinator with the alliance.
– Viet Nam News bizhub

Hanoi enhances to manage protected areas to 2025, vision to 2030
According to Official Letter 4370/VP-KT, Office of Hanoi People’s Committee asks relevant agencies and sectors to implement decision on approving Project on enhancing capacity to manage protected area system to 2025, vision to 2030.
– Hanoi Times

Hoang Anh Gia Lai sells sugar business for $59m
Bien Hoa Sugar JSC and Thanh Thanh Cong Tay Ninh Sugar JSC, two subsidiaries of the Thanh Thanh Cong Group (TTC Group), will take over the sugar business from Hoang Anh Gia Lai Agriculture International (HAGL Agrico) for VND1.33 trillion (US$59.1 million).
– VIETNAMNET Bridge

Saigon holds its breath as delays loom for $440 million anti-flood project
A major project designed to control flooding in Ho Chi Minh City may miss its deadline of April next year as site clearance is not moving as fast as expected.
– VnExpress

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Vietnam Morning News For May 23 added by John Le Fevre on May 23, 2017
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John Le Fevre

Thailand editor at AEC News Today

John is an Australian national with more than 40 years experience as a journalist, photographer, videographer, and copy editor.

He has spent extensive periods of time working in Africa and throughout Southeast Asia, with stints in the Middle East, the USA, and England.

He has covered major world events including Operation Desert Shield/ Storm, the 1991 pillage in Zaire, the 1994 Rwanda genocide, the 1999 East Timor independence unrest, the 2004 Asian tsunami, and the 2009, 2010, and 2014 Bangkok political protests.

In 1995 he was a Walkley Award finalist, the highest awards in Australian journalism, for his coverage of the 1995 Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) Ebola outbreak.

Prior to AEC News Today he was the deputy editor and Thailand and Greater Mekong Sub-region editor for The Establishment Post, predecessor of Asean Today.

In the mid-80s and early 90s he owned JLF Promotions, the largest above and below the line marketing and PR firm servicing the high-technology industry in Australia. It was sold in 1995.