15 billion pound railway

The railway sector is striving to escape losses and divest capital in many companies in 2023, the Committee for Management of State Capital at Enterprises said about the Project on Restructuring Vietnam Railways (VNR) from 2021 to 2025. A train of Vietnam Railways. Photo courtesy of VNR The project has identified and evaluated the achievements and limitations on the basis of a comprehensive assessment. The restructuring of VNR in 2016-2020 includes the production and business performance, the level of safety, security and defence, development and investment, science and technology and digital transformation. It also sets out goals and plans for the restructuring of the corporation in 2021-2025, aiming at innovation, improved corporate governance, effective exploitation of resources, and enhanced labour productivity. Additionally, VNR tries to achieve and exceed the targets assigned by competent authorities, fulfil the obligation to pay the State budget, … [Read more...] about Railway sector sets plans to avoid losses this year

Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) on Monday announced that it has entered into an agreement with Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) - a subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG) – to issue 15 percent of equity stake through a private placement, officially welcoming SMBC as a foreign strategic investor of the bank. The investment from SMBC will help the bank raise VND35.9 trillion, or approximately US$1.5 billion, of Tier 1 capital, increasing its owner equity to around VND140 trillion from VND103.5 trillion. This comes as part of the capital raising plan that VPBank has been implementing during 2022-23 in order to enhance its long-term financial strength and support the bank to reach ambitious growth strategy over the next five years. Following the latest SMBC’s strategic investment, VPBank will become Vietnam’s second largest bank in terms of owner equity, which allows it to serve a wide range of customer needs in various … [Read more...] about Vietnam’s VPBank announces agreement to issue 15% of its charter capital to Japan’s SMBC

The agreement surpasses the VND20 trillion ($850 million) acquisition of a 15% stake in BIDV from KEB Hana Bank (South Korea) in 2019, setting a new record in the banking industry. VPBank announced that it has completed the sale of a 15% equity interest to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. of Japan, a member of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, in a transaction valued at $1.5 billion. CEO of SMBC Masahiro Yoshimura and Chairman of the Board of Directors at VPBank Nguyen Chi Dung at the signing ceremony today. Photo: VPBank SMBC Group's latest deal with VPBank makes the former a new strategic investor in the latter. The agreement sets a new banking industry record, with a deal value of VND35.9 trillion ($1.5 billion), surpassing the VND20 trillion ($850 million) acquisition of a 15% stake in BIDV from South Korea's KEB Hana Bank in 2019. The investment is expected to increase VPBank's total capital from VND103.5 trillion ($4.4 billion) to around VND140 trillion … [Read more...] about Japan’s SMBC acquires 15% stake in VPBank for US$1.5 billion

The signing ceremony between VPBank and SMBC. Following the latest SMBC’s strategic investment, VPBank will become Viet Nam’s second largest bank in terms of owner equity. — Photo courtesy of the bank VPBank on Monday announced that it has entered into an agreement with Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) - a subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc (SMFG) to issue 15 per cent equity stake through a private placement, officially welcoming SMBC as a foreign strategic investor of the bank. The investment from SMBC will help the bank raise VND35.9 trillion (approximately US$1.5 billion), of Tier 1 capital (equal to VND30,160 per share), increasing its owner equity to approximately VND140 trillion from VND103.5 trillion. This comes as part of the capital raising plan that VPBank has been implementing during 2022-23 in order to enhance its long-term financial strength and support the bank to reach an ambitious growth strategy over the next five years. … [Read more...] about VPBank sells 15 per cent of its charter capital to Japan’s SMBC

At the signing ceremony between VPBank and SMBC (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese lender VPBank on March 27 signed an agreement to sell its 15% stake to Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) through a private placement. With this deal, SMBC, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc (SMFG), has officially become a foreign strategic investor of the Vietnamese bank. The investment from SMBC will help VPBank raise 35.9 trillion VND (approximately 1.5 billion USD) of Tier 1 capital (equal to 30,160 VND per share), increasing its equity to approximately 140 trillion VND from 103.5 trillion VND. Following the investment, VPBank will become Vietnam’s second largest bank in terms of equity, which allows it to serve a wide range of customer needs in various segments, including retail banking, corporate banking and SMEs. The robust capital stance will also back VPBank in serving large-scale enterprises, particularly the FDI and multi-national … [Read more...] about VPBank sells 15% stake to Japan’s SMBC for 1.5 bln USD

Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Railway freight transport service has experienced a slowdown in the first months of this year, according to the Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR). Although passenger transport service made better performance, it recovered only 80% of the 2019 pre- COVID-19 level, the corporation reported. VNR leaders explained that difficulties in freight transport were due to the incomplete recovery in railway business and production after the pandemic, plus competition pressure from aviation and road services. Rail freight transport is expected to face more obstacles as sea freight costs have been reduced to their previous rates after a period of increases, they noted. Over the past time, the corporation has applied many solutions to restore business and production after the pandemic, such as maximising freight transport service. VNR General Director Dang Sy Manh said the sector raked in more than 7.7 trillion VND (326.6 … [Read more...] about Rail freight transport slows down in first months

Ho Chi Minh City's Metro Line No.1, nearly 20km long, has a total investment of over 43.7 trillion VND (1.9 billion USD). (Photo: tuoitre.vn) Ho Chi Minh City (VNA) – Nearly 30 technicians and managers attended a training class on March 18 as a preparation for the operation of urban railway Metro Line No1 (Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien) in Ho Chi Minh City. According to Akira Hosomi, operation and maintenance specialist of NJPT Contractors Consortium, Ho Chi Minh City’s Metro line No. 1 using Japanese technologies is the first project in Vietnam that Japanese experts have transferred the know-how to Vietnamese operators. The first generation of trainees will act as the core human resources to support the development of the future urban railway system in Vietnam in general and in Ho Chi Minh City in particular, he said. He said that the trainees will be equipped with sufficient knowledge, skills to safely and effectively operate and exploit the metro line as well as prepare for the … [Read more...] about Technicians, managers trained for operating Ho Chi Minh City’s Metro Line No1

The truck broke down as it reached the middle of the grade crossing and was stuck there for 15 minutes on Sunday evening, but there were no guards on duty to warn the train to slow down. Members of the public tried to push the truck away from the track but to no avail. The driver was unharmed, but the vehicle owner, Ngo Quy Suu, said: "It's completely damaged." The crossing was opened by locals, who hire a guard to work there during the day. Duong Van Dat, the guard, said his job was to drop the barrier when a train was about to arrive, but the accident happened at 6:30 p.m., after he finished work. The locomotive was slightly damaged and the train was delayed by 20 minutes. There are thousands of grade crossings across Vietnam, and most of them are opened illegally by local people, according to Vietnam Railways. … [Read more...] about Train smashes truck stuck in Hanoi rail crossing

Clients waiting outside a branch of the Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California on March 13. (Photo: XINHUA/VNA) HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse by itself will end up being neutral for Vietnam’s stock market and economy, Michael Kokalari, chief economist at investment fund VinaCapital , has said in a report. “Furthermore, we see no substantial risk that the dynamics which negatively impacted SVB and certain other regional US banks could significantly impact the profitability and/or solvency of banks in Vietnam.” It was widely reported that latent losses on SVB’s securities portfolio coupled with a drop in deposits at the bank were the main factors that led to its rapid insolvency, it said. Vietnamese banks also held Government bonds on their balance sheets, and the prices of 10-year Vietnam Government bonds (VGBs) had dropped by around 15% since mid-2021 and yields surged. However, VGB holdings only accounted for around 6% of listed … [Read more...] about Silicon Valley Bank collapse not to impact VN: VinaCapital

The Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse by itself will end up being neutral for Vietnam’s stock market and economy, Michael Kokalari, chief economist at investment fund VinaCapital, has said in a report. Clients waiting outside a branch of the Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California. — AFP/VNA Photo “Furthermore, we see no substantial risk that the dynamics which negatively impacted SVB and certain other regional US banks could significantly impact the profitability and/or solvency of banks in Vietnam.” It was widely reported that latent losses on SVB’s securities portfolio coupled with a drop in deposits at the bank were the main factors that led to its rapid insolvency, it said. Vietnamese banks also held Government bonds on their balance sheets, and the prices of 10-year Vietnam Government bonds (VGBs) had dropped by around 15 per cent since mid-2021 and yields surged. However, VGB holdings only accounted for around 6 per cent of listed banks’ … [Read more...] about Silicon Valley Bank collapse not to impact Vietnam: VinaCapital