Banking

A customer uses a chip card for payment at a point-of-sale (POS). — VNA/VNS Photo The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) this week issued a dispatch, noting that domestic automated teller machine (ATM) cards with magnetic strips will remain valid for normal use after December 31, 2021. The dispatch was issued after some banks have recently started sending notices to their customers about stopping supporting cards from ATMs to meet the deadline of the SBV’s Circular 19/2016 on the roadmap to convert from issuing magnetic strip cards to chip cards from next year. Under the new dispatch, the SBV clarified that Circular 19/2016 makes no mention of a suspension of transactions using magnetic strip cards that remain valid. December 31 this year is the deadline for changing to chip cards, not the date that magnetic strip cards will become invalid, the SBV noted, adding customers can continue to use magnetic strip ATM cards for transactions at ATMs, point-of-sale (POS) and bank counters, and …

[Read more...] about Magnetic strip ATM cards to remain valid next year

The market benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) lost 2.61 percent to end at 1,443.32 points. It had lost 0.21 percent to end Thursday at 1,482.05 points. The market's breadth was negative with 61 stocks rising, while 415 slid. Market liquidity declined compared to the previous session as investors poured over VND33 trillion (US$1.4 billion) into the southern exchange, equivalent to a trading volume of 1.1 billion shares. The 30 biggest stocks tracker VN30-Index lost 2.39 percent, to end at 1,503.98 points. Twenty-eight in the VN30 basket decreased, while one increased. Strong selling pressure appeared, causing a series of large stocks to plunge, some stocks were even dragged down to the floor prices. Becamex (BCM) fell to the floor price at VND49,300 per share, The Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR) fell 5.6 percent to VND36,500 per share, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) dropped 5 percent to VND42,000 per share, Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) slid …

[Read more...] about Share plunge as Omicron worries rattle investors

Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training issued a circular indicating Russian, Japanese, French and Chinese the foreign languages to be taught in Vietnamese schools. Russia is keen on expanding cultural and people to people interaction with Vietnam and welcomes the decision on making Russian the compulsory subject in Vietnamese schools again. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin made his statement during a meeting with Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc this week. Vietnamese State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) shakes hands with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Moscow on December 1, 2021. Photo: VNA "We hope to hold the rest of the events under the program celebrating the Russia year in Vietnam and the Vietnam year in Russia after the pandemic restrictions are lifted, and we very much welcome the decision of the Vietnamese administration to make Russian a the subject in Vietnamese schools again," said Mikhail Mishustin. He added …

[Read more...] about Russian PM hails Vietnam’s decision on making Russian compulsory subject in schools

Speaking at the event, Director of the municipal Department of Education and Training Le Hong Son said the city has yet to issue policies and regulations for training establishments with international standards, especially public schools. Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan said the city’s labor productivity now triples the country’s average while the population accounts for 10 percent of the total but contributes to nearly 25 percent of the country’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP). In order to maintain its central role, the city needs to take the lead in improving workforce quality, he said, adding that it is the top out of the seven breakthrough programs to achieve rapid and sustainable development. He revealed that HCM City will work out specific action programs on international-standard workforce training in several areas, possibly in technology and artificial intelligence, automation and robotics, health, corporate governance, finance – …

[Read more...] about HCM City seeks ways to train workforce meeting int’l standards

In the past 19 years, policy credit has helped more than 6.1 million households escape poverty According to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), as of October 31, 2021, the bank (VBSP) system had lent out VND243.2 trillion($10.57 billion) in total outstanding balance, committed to nearly 6.4 million customers. Policy credit sources have helped needy households and other policy beneficiaries to create livelihoods, meeting their essential needs daily. Of the total outstanding balance, VND176.94 trillion ($7.7 billion), equal to 72.8 per cent of the total, was disbursed to credit programmes supporting production and business activities with view to creating more jobs such as lending programmes to needy households, the labourers going to work abroad under labour contracts, production and trading households in difficult areas, those coming from ethnic minorities’ groups, and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), among others. This capital volume was committed to more than 4.4 …

[Read more...] about Policy credit drives growth across Vietnam

AAA Insurance currently has 112.26 million shares, of which BCG now owns 79.7 million shares and BCG Financial owns 10.8 million shares, equivalent to 71 and 9.64 per cent ownership. With a total ownership of 80.64 per cent, Bamboo Capital Group has replaced IAGas the largest shareholder of AAA Insurance. According to Pham Minh Tuan, vice chairman of Bamboo Capital Group, this deal marks the official entry of BCG into the Vietnam insurance market. “It is our long-term vision to build up a solid base for the financial sector to develop four strategic spearheads, which are insurance, banking, fintech, and securities services. We also intend to continue improving the service quality of AAA Insurance and expand to the life insurance segment in the near future,” said Tuan. From September 2021, BCG has expanded the group's activities into the financial services sector by establishing BCG Financial JSC. BCG Financial is the fifth strategic business segment of Bamboo Capital Group …

[Read more...] about Bamboo Capital Group completed acquisition of 80.64 per cent share of AAA Insurance

Agriculture has always been a pioneer in the Doi Moi (renovation) process, contributing significantly to achievements in poverty reduction and food security in Vietnam. In the time of globalization and integration, Vietnam aims to develop agriculture on a green, low-emissions foundation to contribute to realizing its commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050. This vision will help the agriculture sector reduce costs, use less inputs and resources, and create multi-value integration, thereby affirming Vietnam’s position as a powerhouse of ecological and carbon neutral agriculture and a food supplier of “Transparency - Accountability – Sustainability”. Agricultural support Vietnam exports more than 6 million tons of rice every year. The early years of the 21st century marked a turning point for the food system in Vietnam. As one of the poorest countries in the world in the late 1980s to early 1990s with 60% of the population living below the poverty line, …

[Read more...] about Vietnam’s agriculture: from local to global mindset

The deal also covers the expansion of Sputnik V vaccine supply sources in Vietnam as well as nearby countries and territories, and the collaboration in technology transfer and quality check. The T&T Group of Vietnam signed a memorandum of understanding with the RDIF and Binnopharm Group on the transfer of production technology and the formation of a research centre and a facility with full process of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine production in Vietnam. Accordingly, the RDIF will transfer necessary vaccine production technologies and give comprehensive support to selected Vietnamese partners to ensure that the Vietnamese-produced vaccine meets the standards of Russian-made vaccines. In Vietnam, Sputnik V vaccine was licensed by the Ministry of Health on March 23, 2021 for urgent use. On July 21, VABIOTECH announced that it successfully manufactured the vaccine in Vietnam. The same day, with the witness of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Vietnamese and Russian businesses also signed …

[Read more...] about Vietnam, Russia sign cooperation agreement on vaccine production

As a near-poor household, when COVID-19 broke out, the life of Nguyen Van Tue from Cam Son commune in Anh Son district, Nghe An province, became even more difficult. He and his wife, who were self-employed, now don’t have a job. Fortunately, he received support from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, Nghe An Branch, with a loan of 90 million VND. He used the funds to buy four buffaloes and developed a farming model to create a long-term livelihood. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in thousands of jobless workers returning to their hometowns. Nghe An saw the return of nearly 100,000 workers, most of whom are members of poor or near-poor households. From May to September 2021, the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, Nghe An Branch, disbursed nearly 800 billion VND to more than 19,000 poor households and other beneficiaries. According to the plan, from now to the end of the year, the Vietnan Bank for Social Policies, Nghe An Branch, will disburse a further 150 billion VND to …

[Read more...] about Son La striving to help returnees from pandemic-hit areas

Representatives of VPbank and Hưng Vượng Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement. — Photo courtesy of VPBank HÀ NỘI — VPBank and Hưng Vượng Group on Friday signed a strategic cooperation agreement to meet the capital demand of individual customers buying or investing in real estate in projects distributed by the property developer. VPBank will provide financial support packages for customers of Hưng Vượng Group who need to borrow, buy and invest in real estate with very competitive interest rates and credit conditions. This means that in the first two years, customers will not have to pay the principal to the bank, but only the interest. Customers will be able to borrow up to 80 per cent of the total value of the collateral with the disbursement limit up to VNĐ20 billion in 25 years. In particular, to help customers access favourable loans, VPBank accepts many different sources of income for customers to prove their solvency such as salary, income from individual …

[Read more...] about VPBank and Hưng Vượng Group enter cooperation agreement