Vietnam Morning News For May 9

HCMC wants $54 billion foreign investment
Ho Chi Minh City is seeking $53.8 billion worth of foreign investment in 210 projects with a focus on infrastructure.
— Vietnam Insider

VN strives for green textile industry
The garment and textile industry was one of the country’s key export industries, but also produces high levels of greenhouse gas emissions.
— Viet Nam News

Vietnam Airlines lists shares as state aims to revive divestment push
Vietnam Airlines listed more than 1.4 billion shares on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange on Tuesday in a move expected to breathe new life into the government’s efforts to divest from a wide range of state companies.
— Nikkei Asian review (paywall)

State budget revenue in January to April period up 13.9 per cent
State budget revenue in in the January-April period was estimated at VNĐ517.8 trillion (US$22 billion), equivalent to 36.7 per cent of the Government’s planned figure for the full year and up 13.9 per cent over the same period last year, according to the latest report from the Ministry.
— Viet Nam News

M’sia issues protest note to Vietnam over repeated encroachments
The Malaysian government today handed over a protest note to Vietnam’s envoy expressing its objection to repeated encroachments by Vietnamese fishing vessels into Malaysian territorial waters.
— Malaysiakini

Tech key to position VN as a manufacturing leader
Vietnamese firms should hasten technological development to position the country as a global manufacturing centre, Swedish experts said at a seminar on Tuesday.
— Viet Nam News

Vietnam’s seafood promoted in Brussels expo
Vietnamese enterprises are showcasing their products at the Brussels Seafood Expo 2019 in Belgium from May 7-9, aiming to give Vietnamese seafood a firmer foothold in the European market.
— Nhan Dan Online

VN banks look overseas
Vietnamese banks are stepping up plans to expand their markets globally rather than focusing only on the Indochina region.
— The Phnom Penh Post

Hai Phong international terminal welcomes first container ship
The Hai Phong International Container Terminal (HICT) of the Tan Cang Sai Gon Corporation welcomed its first container ship on May 7.
— Nhan Dan Online

Deputy PM receives Cambodian religion minister
Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh expressed his wish that Senior Minister and Minister of Cults and Religion of Cambodia Him Chhem would help strengthen solidarity and mutual understanding between the two countries’ peoples during a reception in Hanoi on May 8.
— VietnamPlus

Tien Giang’s fruits benefit from promotion efforts
The Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, dubbed the “kingdom of fruits”, is taking steps to bolster the trade of local fruit specialties in Vietnamese and foreign markets.
— VietnamPlus

Central province withdraws licences for delayed projects
Authorities in the central province of Quảng Bình have withdrawn the licences of 16 delayed projects that have high percentages of land occupation.
— Viet Nam News

How China sees Vietnam’s tilt toward America
When Vietnam’s Viettel announced on April 25 that it had successfully trialled the nation’s first 5G broadcast with bandwidth speeds similar to those piloted in the West, it marked a certain technological milestone for Southeast Asia.
— Asia Times

Agriculture sector needs to build value chains
Building agro-forestry-fishery high value chains is crucial for the sustainable development of the agriculture sector in the context of international integration, experts have said.
— Viet Nam News

Week of Vietnamese goods in Thailand slated for September
A “Week of Vietnamese Goods in Thailand” will be held in from September 18-22 at Central World, Bangkok’s biggest shopping mall.
— Nhan Dan Online

What’s new with Vietnam’s regulation on use of foreign currencies, which takes effect from this May ?
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued Circular No. 03/2019/TT-NHNN on amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 32/2013/TT-NHNN guiding the implementation of regulations on restricting the use of foreign currencies in Vietnam.
— Vietnam Insider

Foreign funds to offload GTN shares, paving way for Vinamilk’s acquisition
Tael Two Partners Ltd, one of the two major foreign stakeholders of GTNFood Joint Stock Company, has registered to offload its entire holding in the Vietnamese food company, paving the way for Vinamilk to acquire a bigger stake in the owner of Mộc Châu Milk.
— Viet Nam News

VPA/FLEGT to take effect in early June 2019
The Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT) between the European Union (EU) and Vietnam will come into force on June 1, 2019.
— Nhan Dan Online

VN businesses need better brand building to enter Thailand
Despite having high-quality products, Vietnamese exporters need to pay more attention to brand building and market research to enter Thailand’s lucrative markets, experts said at a conference held on Wednesday in HCM City.
— Viet Nam News

Warburg Pincus expects greater leeway tapping in Vietnam’s finance-banking sector
US-based global private equity firm Warburg Pincus expects to have greater leeway tapping in Vietnam’s finance – baking sector and e-payment, among others, according to Timothy Geithner, Warburg Pincus’s president and former US Treasury Secretary.
— The Hanoitimes

Central bank injects $236 million to improve banks’ liquidity
The State Bank of Việt Nam (SBV) net injected more than VNĐ5.51 trillion (US$236.69 million) into the market last week to support the liquidity of the banking system.
— Viet Nam News

Vietnam Braces for Hard Landing Amid World Trade Tensions
If a rising tide lifts all boats, then Vietnam may find that there is a related saying in economics: when the tide goes out, you will see who was swimming naked.
— VOA

Vietnam’s travel industry gets a boost
Boosted by the fastest growing middle class in Southeast Asia, Vietnam’s travel industry has seen phenomenal growth which has led to Vietnamese airlines launching direct flights to the United States (US) for the first
— The Asean Post

VN stocks quiet, investors wait for US-China talks
Vietnamese shares fell for a fourth trading day as investors waited for the outcome of US-China trade talks this week.
— Viet Nam News

Electricity and petrol price hikes pushing inflation up
The latest petrol and power price hike have directly impacted April’s consumer price index, the General Statistics Office (GSO) says.
— VnExpress

Why Does Trump Like Communist Vietnam? Because It’s Capitalist.
Before Donald Trump’s February summit with Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, The Washington Post ran an article headlined, “The US wants North Korea to follow the ‘miracle’ of Vietnam’s path.”
— Truthout

VN consumers demand security, convenience in digital experience: report
As organisations and consumers increasingly interact over digital channels, both parties must find ways to establish mutual trust, British consumer credit reporting company Experian has said in a new report.
— Viet Nam News

Work begins on TH dairy farm project in Thanh Hoa province
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc attended a ground-breaking ceremony for a dairy farm project developed by large dairy producer TH Group in Nong Cong district, the central province of Thanh Hoa, on May 8.
— Nhan Dan Online

Swine fever hits Vietnam’s biggest pork producers
African swine fever has been discovered in a province in Vietnam that is the major producer of pork in the country and authorities have moved quickly in an attempt to stop it spreading.
— Asia Times

EXIM Thailand seeks representative office in Việt Nam
The Export – Import Bank of Thailand (EXIM Thailand) is seeking the State Bank of Việt Nam (SBV)’s support to establish its first representative office in Việt Nam.
— Viet Nam News

More rivals, more pressure in delivery market
In early February 2019, many online sellers stopped taking orders via social networks because of a goods deadlock at border gates. At the same time, the goods-carrying trucks of J&T were seen rolling on the streets in HCM City.
— Vietnam Insider

Vietnam Market Key Trends and Opportunities for Reinsurance, What it looks like in 2021?
GlobalData’s ‘Strategic Market Intelligence: Reinsurance in Vietnam-Key Trends and Opportunities to 2021’ report provides a detailed outlook by product category for the Vietnamese reinsurance segment, and a comparison of the Vietnamese reinsurance with its regional counterparts.
— Vietnam Insider

Vietnam, Italy seek to foster collaboration
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh held talks with Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Enzo Moavero Milanesi in Hanoi on May 7.
— Nhan Dan Online

Sweden pledges to help Vietnam in energy saving
Sweden will help Vietnam in areas of its strength like energy saving, focusing on renewable energy development, Swedish Minister for Foreign Trade Ann Linde has said.
— Nhan Dan Online

Vietnam’s garment, textile export rises 9.8 pct in 4 months
Vietnam gained over 9.4 billion U.S. dollars from exporting garments and textiles in the first four months of this year, up 9.8 percent year-on-year, according to the country’s Ministry of Industry and Trade on Wednesday.
— Xinhua

Vietnamese woman in Kim Jong-nam assassination faces Malaysia ban
The Vietnamese woman who accepted a plea bargain to escape a murder charge may be banned from reentering Malaysia.
— VnExpress

Mekong Capital backs Vietnam’s drug store chain Pharmacity
Vietnam-focused private equity firm Mekong Capital on Tuesday said it has provided financing to pharmacy chain Pharmacity out of its Mekong Enterprise Fund III.
— DealStreetAsia

Feature photo BirdLife International Asia

This week’s Vietnam morning news photo features World Migratory Bird Day, May 11.

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).

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