Vietnam Morning News For February 25

Vietjet to ink $13 billion Boeing deal during Trump-Kim summit
Vietnamese budget airline Vietjet will sign next week a deal to buy 100 narrow-body Boeing aircraft.
— VnExpress

Auto imports in January 46 times higher than last year
Vietnam imported nearly 11,700 cars worth more than 273 million USD in the first month of 2019, marking the fifth consecutive month with a volume of at least 10,000 units, according to statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs.
— VietnamPlus

Vietnamese enterprises to boost digital transformation
Increasing profit a few hundred per cent, saving billions of dollars in technology costs, operating complex data systems in real time, transforming appropriate business models, improving operational efficiency and personalising customer experience on large-scale digital platforms at fast speed were the benefits of digital transformation, said Dr. Phương Trầm, FPT head consultant on digital transformation and former DuPont CIO at a seminar in Hà Nội this week.
— Viet Nam News

Vietnam emerged as hot new market for luxury property: Bloomberg
Vietnam’s status as one of the fastest-growing economies has spurred overseas investors to target the nation’s real estate, alongside a rapidly growing cohort of well-heeled domestic buyers, eager to put hard currency into property, Bloomberg reported.
— VietNamNet Bridge

Timber industry asked to beat $11 billion in export
The agriculture sector needed strategies to push wood export value beyond US$11 billion this year and to develop a production chain and value-added export products.
— Bizhub

Go-Viet launched ride-haling without permission in Ho Chi Minh City
Go-Viet has yet to be approved to launch ride-hailing services by the Ministry of Transport (MoT), however, the company is already operating in Ho Chi Minh City.
— Vietnam Insider

Vietnam to facilitate sharing economy
Vietnam will create conditions for the development of a sharing economy, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue said at a recent conference about the compilation of a sharing economy model.
— VietnamPlus

Vietnamese firms sign large contracts at Gulfood Exhibition 2019
The Gulfood Exhibition 2019, the world’s largest annual food and beverages trade show, was held at the World Trade Centre in Dubai from February 17-21, during which Vietnamese enterprises signed large contracts worth approximately US$20 million.
— Nhan Dan Online

Vietnam arrested two former information ministers on Saturday on suspicion of mismanaging public investment
Major corruption crackdown has netted numerous senior officials. Reuters reported on Saturday.
— Vietnam Insider

Vietnam’s unspoken link to Kim Jong Un: The woman accused of assassinating his half brother
Next week, Vietnam will welcome North Korea’s Kim Jong Un ahead of his second summit with US President Donald Trump.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Power generation prices set to be higher
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has issued Decision No 281 which increases the prices for power generation in 2019.
— Bizhub

Vietnam issues traffic ban for Kim’s possible arrival route
Vietnam has announced an unprecedented traffic ban along a possible arrival route of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ahead of his second summit with President Donald Trump in Hanoi next week, state media reported.
— Panow

Chinese goods ‘borrow’ Vietnamese origin to go abroad
In 2018, the number of electric bikes that Vietnam exported to the EU increased significantly. At the same time, the EC conducted an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation against Chinese electric bike imports.
— Vietnam Insider

AirAsia unveils plans to begin international flights to Vietnam city
AirAsia will start flying from Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok to Can Tho in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta in the next few months.
— VnExpress

Vietnam relishes role as peace maker in Trump-Kim summit as it seeks to balance ties
While the leaders of North Korea and the United States debate banishing nuclear bombs from the Korean peninsula, the host of their summit this week, Vietnam, long almost synonymous with war, is relishing its role as a promoter of peace.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Top Vietnamese leader’s visit expected to boost Vietnam-Laos trade
The upcoming visit to Laos made by Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong from February 24-25 is expected to serve as a launching pad for both nations to tap their economic cooperation potential to the fullest extent.
— VietnamPlus

Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways to buy 10 Boeing planes during Trump-Kim summit
Vietnamese carrier Bamboo Airways will sign a deal with Boeing to buy 10 planes on the sidelines of this week’s Trump-Kim summit, an airline executive said on Sunday.
— Business Live

PM urges Nghệ An to improve business, investment environment
Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has urged the central province of Nghệ An to work harder to improve the business and investment environment, reform administrative procedures and create the best possible conditions for investors.
— Viet Nam News

Rent, don’t buy homes: former official advises Vietnamese youth
Former Deputy Minister of Construction says renting is a better solution for young Vietnamese, given skyhigh housing prices.
— VnExpress

PM encourages investors in central province
The Vietnamese laws always protect the legitimate rights of investors and attach importance to all economic sectors, while considering the private one as an important driving force of the development, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said on February 23.
— Nhan Dan Online

Indonesia’s policy misstep is Vietnam’s opportunity to seize the sweet spot as Southeast Asia’s pharmaceutical hub
Vietnam will be the biggest pharmaceutical market in Southeast Asia in less than a decade. Domestic and biotech joint ventures in Vietnam are on track to rescue the Indian market as well as become a major supplier and R&D hub for Japanese biomedical firms.
— South China Morning Post

Amazon to train Vietnamese small firms in e-commerce
Amazon will train 100 Vietnamese businesses to develop their business on its platform.
— VnExpress

Vietnamese banks see improved profitability
The profitability of Vietnamese banks has improved significantly, driven by growth in core income and robust macroeconomic conditions.
— Bizhub

Informal economic sector put under microscope
The PM has approved a plan to measure the informal economic sector with an aim of having a more reliable outlook about Vietnam’s economy.
— VietNamNet Bridge

Vietnam threatens to deport political impersonators before ‘sensitive’ summit
Vietnamese authorities were not amused when an impersonator of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, wandered the streets of Hanoi on Friday, just days before the second summit between Kim Jong-un and the US president, Donald Trump.
— Vietnam Insider

Vietnam attends Leipzig Trade Fair in Germany
Vietnam has attended the 2019 Leipzig Trade Fair, which opened in Leipzig city of Germany’s Sachsen-Anhalt state on February 23, as the event’s main partner country for the first time.
— Nhan Dan Online

Tough year predicted by investment funds as VN Index falls
Big challenges for the stock market may occur in 2019, according to investment fund management companies.
— VietNamNet Bridge

Transparency needed for securities market in 2019
Transparency and quality of information disclosure are the main concerns for market members, public companies and auditors to lure a larger amount of capital in 2019, business executives have said.
— Bizhub

Kim Jong-un boards train for two-day journey to meet Trump in Vietnam
Kim Jong-un has boarded a train to Vietnam for his second summit with US president Donald Trump, North Korea state media have confirmed.
— The Guardian

Vietnam arrests ex communications ministers for corruption
Two former communications ministers were arrested in Vietnam Saturday for mismanaging public funds over their alleged roles overseeing the purchase of a loss-making TV firm that would have cost the state millions of dollars.
— MB

Feature photo World Vision

This week’s Vietnam morning news feature photo acknowledges Zero Discrimination Day, March 1.

Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Vietnam morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Vietnam news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies, not politics.