Authorities in the southern province of Bình Dương and the representatives of South Korean companies operating in the province met on Wednesday to resolve difficulties faced by businesses in the area. illustration photo source: binhduong.gov.vn At the meeting, companies raised questions about human resources, product displays, business expansion, fire prevention, work safety, social insurance, wages and the environment. The authorities answered questions and offered solutions, promising the companies that they would continue to improve the investment environment. A representative of the province’s Department of Construction said that construction of 1,230 sq metres of social housing, including accommodations for workers would end in 2020. At the meeting, the province’s … [Read more...]

Hà Nội has been taking efforts to stamp out the dengue fever outbreak which has plagued the city in recent months, with nearly 15,400 cases reported in 12 districts so far this year. Overloads at Bạch Mai Hospital due to the dengue fever outbreak.VNA/VNS Photo Dương Ngọc By Tuesday, 18 large-scale mosquito spraying machines had been handed over to the city’s Preventive Medicine Centre. Three other machines are being repaired and will be brought to the city. From now until the end of this month, Hà Nội plans to conduct a large-scale mosquito spraying campaign, focusing on crowded areas such as markets, schools, construction sites, abandoned land and houses. Residents will be informed before the spraying occurs. In areas where cars and trucks can approach, large … [Read more...]

Shares recovered from morning losses on Wednesday, with large-cap stocks, especially steel and fertiliser shares, leading the way. Stock trading at MB Securities Company. - VNS Photo Truong Vi On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index edged up 0.33 per cent to close at 773.57 points. The key southern market index went down 0.66 per cent on Tuesday. On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index picked up 0.44 per cent to end at 101.74 points. It inched down 0.2 per cent in the previous session. Capital flows yesterday focused on the steel, fertiliser and construction sectors. The two biggest listed steelmakers – Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Hoa Sen Group (HSG) – increased 2.2 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively. Other small steel firms such as Nam Kim Steel (NKG), Vietnam-Italy Steel (VIS) and … [Read more...]

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) introduced a draft of amendments to laws on Value Added Tax, Special Consumption Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Personal Income Tax and Natural Resources Protection Tax at a press conference on Tuesday. Tax payers at the Ha Noi Tax Department on Giang Vo street, Ha Noi - VNA/VNS Photo Hoang Hung Pham Dinh Thi, Director of the ministry’s Tax Policy Department, said at the conference that the amendments were needed to address difficulties that remained for tax paying businesses and individuals, ensure a coherent legal framework, and better deal with rising public debts. He said that under adjustments made to the Law on Value Added Tax, there will be less goods and services entitled to the preferential level of five per cent VAT. The proposed amendments contain two options: increase the base VAT … [Read more...]

Illustrative photo (Photo: VNA)   Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam posted a trade surplus of nearly 430 million USD in the second half of July, after many consecutive months of deficit. According to the General Department of Customs, from July 16-31, the country’s total export turnover reached 9.41 billion USD, up 14.1 percent compared to the first half of this month. Meanwhile, total imports were valued at 8.98 billion USD, a rise of 6.5 percent compared with the figure in the month’s first half. Taking into account the trade surplus in the second half of July, Vietnam ran a trade deficit of 2.53 billion USD in the first seven months of 2017, equal to 2.2 percent of the total export turnover. Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said trade deficit was high in the first months of the year as major businesses such as Samsung, Electricity … [Read more...]

  PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the meeting with the Administrative Procedure Control Department and the Advisory Council for Administrative Procedure Reform (Photo: VNA) Hanoi, (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has stressed that the reform of administrative procedures must be accelerated to bolster growth, noting that the public and business community still complain about prolonged and cumbersome administrative processes in many State agencies. At a working session with the Administrative Procedure Control Department and the Advisory Council for Administrative Procedure Reform on August 16, the PM said the top requirement at present is to cut procedures in order to complete the disbursement of 1,500 trillion VND (6.6 billion USD) of investment capital from all sources within this year. He also requested improving taxation and customs procedures to boost export, which is a … [Read more...]

Illustrative photo (Photo: VNA)   Hanoi (VNS/VNA) –The PetroVietnam Power Corporation (PV Power), the country’s second-biggest power provider, will offer 20 percent of its total shares for sale at an initial public offering (IPO) in December. The member company of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) will also sell 29 percent of its capital to strategic investors. Under a previous IPO plan published in April, the company said it would sell 4 percent of shares at the IPO and 45 percent to strategic investors to receive 600-700 million USD. The previous plan also stated that the IPO would be conducted in August 2017 and the private offering for strategic investors would be completed this year. [PV Power prepares for August IPO] The company also expected to raise its ratio of shares for sale up to 60 percent if approved by the … [Read more...]

A Cham tower at the UNESCO-recognised world heritage My Son Sanctuary in Quang Nam Province (Photo: VNA)     Quang Nam (VNA) - The central province plans to build a sculpture park in the My Son Sanctuary to honour people for their contributions to preserving and restoring its cultural heritages, earning them the UNESCO recognition. Chairman of Duy Xuyen district’s People’s Committee Nguyen Cong Dung said the park will be designed as a destination for tourists when visiting Cham towers complex in My Son. ‘We have been collecting opinions and ideas in making an official design for the park. It will serve as a part of introduction of the My Son Sanctuary and history of preservation of the heritage,” Dung said. “The best design will be selected for commencing the park later this year,” he said. Dung said the first … [Read more...]

Head of the Party Central Committee’s Mass Mobilisation Commission Truong Thi Mai (R) and ILO Director Chang-hee Lee (Photo: VNA)   Hanoi (VNA) - Head of the Party Central Committee’s Mass Mobilisation Commission Truong Thi Mai has praised the International Labour Organisation’s support for Vietnam in building legal frameworks relating to labour standards and social security. Mai affirmed they are valuable, necessary contributions to Vietnam during its renewal process, thus contributing to harmonising international commitments that the country has engaged during law implementation at a reception for ILO Director Chang-hee Lee in Hanoi on August 16. The ILO Director, for his part, said ILO in Vietnam is trying to connect and associate with Vietnam in addressing problems in issues related to workers and labour relations. The ILO is piloting some initiatives in … [Read more...]

According to the HCMC Department of Transport, traffic jams regularly occur in three areas including Lang Cha Ca roundabout, streets close to the airport and Nguyen Thai Son-Nguyen Kiem intersection. Of these, Lang Cha Ca roundabout often congests because of a bottleneck in Tran Quoc Hoan street. Traffic jams in areas close to the airport start from Hoang Minh Giam-Dao Duy Anh intersection to Pho Quang and Truong Son street. At the meeting, many experts proposed to connect Tran Quoc Hoan street to an internal road in the nearby military area for vehicles to travel straightly to Hoang Hoa Tham street and reduce traffic gridlock in Lang Cha Ca. However, some experts said that if traffic is organized according the above measure, vehicles will still travel to Cong Hoa street and traffic jams might occur there. The Department of Transport suggested linking traffic from Tran Quoc Hoan up to Truong Chinh street and broaden Tran Quoc Hoan street from 5 meters to … [Read more...]

Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Binh Duong (VNA) – Chairman of the People’s Committee of southern Binh Duong province Tran Thanh Liem has pledged all possible support to investors, including those from the Republic of Korea (RoK).  During a meeting on August 16 between representatives of the Binh Duong People’s Committees and RoK enterprises, Liem said the province will rally resources for socio-economic infrastructure regarding transport, water supply, electricity and environment protection while expanding industrial zones, providing qualified workforce for firms and building social houses for workers. Binh Duong is committed to accelerating administrative reform and developing high-quality services to meet demand for industrial and urban development, he said, adding that attention will also be paid to ensuring political security and social safety and order. … [Read more...]

Vegetables grown with hydroponic technology at the Bac Giang Science and Technology Application Centre. — Photo baobacgiang.com.vn The northern province of Bac Giang plans to spend VND1.5 trillion (US$66 million) to develop high-tech agriculture areas growing or rearing the locality’s key products such as vegetables, flower, mushrooms, tea, lychees, citrus, chickens and pigs. Twenty per cent of the investment will be sourced from the State budget, with the rest mobilised from banks, enterprises, organisations and individuals. As many as 35 hi-tech areas will be formed, aiming to raise high-tech agricultural product value to 30-32 per cent of the total value of the agriculture sector by 2030. Bac Giang also targets two or three enterprises in the province being recognised as high-tech agricultural firms. Specifically, the province will establish 17 hi-tech areas for vegetable farming with a … [Read more...]

  Minister of Construction Tran Hong Ha (Photo: VNA)   Hanoi (VNA) – Minister of Construction Tran Hong Ha admitted that there remain many shortcomings in urban planning while fielding questions raised by National Assembly (NA) deputies at the ongoing 13th session of the NA Standing Committee on August 16. Opening the question and answer (Q&A) meeting, NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan underlined outstanding problems in construction planning, urban architecture and urban land use issues, stressing that they need to be addressed in a synchronous and effective manner. Deputies said most urban areas face environmental pollution, poor water drainage and waste treatment, not to mention serious traffic jams, lack of relaxing space and violations of construction planning. They urged the minister to present solutions to the problems and questioned about the … [Read more...]

An employee of the Ha Noi Tax Department accepts an application from a resident. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoang Hung A strong focus on the application of information technology has helped the Ha Noi Tax Department increase its risk analysis capacity and improve the tax examination and inspection procedure. This was stated by Nguyen The Manh, head of the Ha Noi Tax Department. According to Manh, since the beginning of this year, the Ha Noi Tax Department has sent over 1,300,000 notices to firms informing them of late tax filing. The department has collected a total of VND7.1 billion in tax arrears, down 9 per cent compared with late December 2016. During the first seven months of this year, the Ha Noi Taxation Department carried out inspections of over 11,400 firms, completing 62.8 per cent of the yearly plan, up 98.6 per cent over the same period last year. The department also announced there were some … [Read more...]

VietNamNet Bridge – Bui Minh Trang, chief inspector of HCM City’s Health Department, said various violations had been detected at cosmetic surgery clinics, such as false advertising and employing surgeon not certified to perform plastic surgery, resulting in several fatalities in recent months. The Viet Thanh Beauty Clinic. — Photo: VNN In addition, many clinics hired non-professional staff, he said. An American man died while having cosmetic surgery at a clinic on Su Van Hanh Street in District 10 on July. The man, identified as Edward Hartley, 53, went to the clinic for surgery to remove loose skin around his hip. He was given an anesthetic at 4pm, but started showing signs of circuit obstruction. Doctors conducted emergency procedures but failed to revive Hartley. The municipal Health Department has concluded … [Read more...]

VietNamNet Bridge – A seminar to introduce a life skills programme used in preschools and primary schools, called POKI, was held on Tuesday in HCM City at the city’s Department of Education and Training’s office.   Illustrative image -- File photo The programme helps prepare young people to become global citizens of the 21st century, according to the organisers, the Viet Nam Schools Connect Company (VSC) and the Scientific Institute of Human Resources Management (HMIS). About 354 preschools and elementary schools from 24 cities and provinces, mostly in northern Viet Nam, use the programme in their curriculum. The programme fee is VND50 – 60,000 (US$2.2 – 2.6) per student per month.    “We hope to receive support from the department to expand the programme to other schools,” … [Read more...]

VietNamNet Bridge – A smashing 27 gold and 20 silver medals were awarded to the best performers under 35 from 19 art troupes across the country who took part in the National Young Talents Contest for Artistes of Traditional Operas in the central province of Thanh Hoa. Psychological depth: Many of the artists have incorporated their own creativeness in the roles and inspired the audiences. – Photo sankhau.vn Duong Thi Mai Linh from Nam Dinh Cheo Theatre and actor Nguyen Doan Thien Sinh from Ninh Binh Cheo Theatre were awarded the titles of Young Potential Artiste. Deputy culture minister Vuong Duy Bien said at the ceremony on Monday, “I hope arts troupes, especially the ones in remote areas, will employ more young artistes, who will decide the future of Vietnamese traditional operas,” he said. “The … [Read more...]

VietNamNet Bridge – Travel firms have reported an increasing number of tour bookings for the upcoming three-day holiday for National Day, starting September 2, with beach trips receiving the highest number of bookings. Growing popularity: Tourists at My Khe Beach in Da Nang City. – Photo: VNA/VNS Beach resorts at Da Nang, Nha Trang, Phan Thiet and Quy Nhon cities as well as Phu Quoc and Con Dao islands are popular among local and foreign tourists. Three-day sea tour packages for two people have sold well, including bookings to Da Nang-Hoi An, priced from VND3.29 million (US$145) per person; Quy Nhon-Hon Kho Island for VND2.69 million (US$118) per person; Ha Long Bay for VND3.4 million (US$150) per person; and Free & Easy tours to Phu Quoc Island for VND 5.65 million (US$250) per person, according to Le Cong Nang of … [Read more...]

The Dinh Vu Polyester Fibre Plant is scheduled to restart production soon after a prolonged suspension of operations. Workers pack polyester fibre for export at Ha Nam Textile Company in Chau Son Industrial Park. The demand for polyester fibre of Vietnamese enterprises has been growing 10 percent to 15 percent annually. The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), holding 75 percent of the capital at the 325-million USD plant, held a meeting recently with the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) to discuss a fibre consumption solution for the plant. Vinatex Chairman Tran Quang Nghi said that the fibre consumption of the plant was not only a matter of cooperation, but also of responsibility. Vinatex has always affirmed its support for the plant by consuming its fibre products. Vinatex general director Le Tien Truong said that the demand for the polyester … [Read more...]

Australia's main scientific agency said on Wednesday it believed with "unprecedented precision and certainty" that a missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft crashed into the sea northeast of an area scoured in a fruitless two-year underwater search. FILE PHOTO - A woman leaves a message of support and hope for the passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 in central Kuala Lumpur March 16, 2014. The agency's assertion is based on satellite pictures taken two weeks after Flight MH370 went missing on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board, on a flight to Beijing from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. But the Australian government rejected the conclusion of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), issued in a report on Wednesday, saying it was not specific enough. The disappearance of the Boeing 777 has become one … [Read more...]