Ford cancels focus

Being one of the best-loved railways in Southeast Asia, Vietnam's North-South Railway, with two ends at Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, attracts many travelers. Lonely Planet, the world-renowned travel guide, named Vietnam National Railway the most incredible rail trip in the world. The 1,730-kilometer journey from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City offers breathtaking views of the country's diverse landscapes, making it a must-see for foreigners coming to Vietnam, the magazine said. "Some railways rattle through historic cities; others swoosh beside spectacular coastlines. A few have an epic history, and one or two are remarkable for the colorful characters onboard. The Reunification Express line, known as the North–South Railway, fulfills all these criteria," it stated. The railway is one of Southeast Asia's best-loved railways and the world's most epic overnight train journeys. It's also one of Vietnam's tourism highlights that attracts many international visitors. … [Read more...] about Vietnam’s Reunification Express named world’s most incredible rail journey: Lonely Planet

The Vietnam Fatherland Front ’s 9th National Congress. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Permanent member of the Party Central Committee's Secretariat Truong Thi Mai has signed a document on directing the organisation of Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF)’s 10th National Congress in the 2024 – 2019 tenure, and the congresses of the VFF’s chambers at all levels. The document said in recent times, the VFF has continued to assert its position and role in protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the people. It focuses on promoting people's rights and mobilising their participation in patriotic movement s, engaging in social supervision and criticism, combating corruption and negative phenomena, and participating in building a clean and strong Party and political system. These efforts have contributed to strengthening the people's trust in the Party and harnessing the power of the great national solidarity bloc in the cause of national construction and defence. The upcoming … [Read more...] about Party Secretariat issues directive on organising Front ’s congresses

Printer production at Canon Vietnam (Photo: hanoimoi.com.vn) Hanoi (VNA) – Amid the slowing down of the global investment flows, experts held that improving both quality and number of foreign investment projects is a heavy task for Vietnam, requiring great efforts from the Vietnamese Government to fulfil the “dual targets”. According to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), as of May 20, Vietnam had drawn 10.86 billion USD of foreign direct investment (FDI), down 7.3% year on year, including 5.26 billion USD of newly-registered capital, up 27.8%. Do Nhat Hoang, Director of the agency said that the increase in the amount of newly-registered capital in five months was higher than the 11% recorded in the first four months of this year. Meanwhile, the number of new projects in the five-month period also surged 66.4% year on year to 962 projects, showing foreign investors’ strong confidence in the investment environment of Vietnam … [Read more...] about Improving FDI quality, quantity crucial for Vietnam: Insiders

An overview of the NA's fifth session. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – National Assembly (NA) deputies will continue their ongoing fifth session on May 30 discussing important matters, including a draft Law on Electronic Transactions (revised) and a draft resolution on pilot special policies for the development of Ho Chi Minh City. The draft Law on Electronic Transactions (revised) has seven chapters and 54 articles. Compared to the current version, the bill has 31 new and nine amended articles, while erasing a number of regulations in five and eliminating three articles. During the morning discussion, NA deputies will decide the investment policy for the project to construct road from National Highway 27C to Road 656 in Khanh Hoa province which links to Lam Dong and Ninh Thuan provinces, as well as the adjustment of the investment policy for Ka Pet reservoir in Ham Thuan Nam district of Binh Thuan province. In the afternoon, they are scheduled to listen to a proposal and a … [Read more...] about NA deputies continue to discuss draft laws, resolutions on May 30

Ericsson has also gained important recognition for developing energy-efficient 5G RAN solutions that cater to customers’ needs. — Photo courtesy of the firm Ericsson has retained its top ranking in the Frost Radar™ 5G Network Infrastructure Market 2023 report for the third consecutive year. Maintaining the top ranking in the Frost Radar™ report over the past years has shown Ericsson’s consistent ability to scale its innovations and growth in the field, according to the yearly report from business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. It also reaffirms Ericsson’s leadership in the 5G network infrastructure market, which spans radio access networks (RAN), transport networks, and core networks. Ericsson has also gained important recognition for developing energy-efficient 5G RAN solutions that cater to customers’ needs. Fredrik Jejdling, Executive Vice President and Head of Networks at Ericsson, said: “It is rewarding to see our sustained efforts to increase the energy efficiency … [Read more...] about Ericsson retains top ranking in Global 5G network infrastructure market 2023 report

Nguyen Minh Tam (R), deputy CEO of Sacombank, receives the "Outstanding Retail Banking" and "Outstanding Bank for Community" awards at a ceremony in HCM City last week. — Photo courtesy of the bank Sacombank won the awards for Retail Banking and Bank for Community at the 2022 Vietnam Outstanding Banking Awards that were given away in HCM City last week. It was for a sixth consecutive year that Sacombank won the awards given by the International Data Group, the Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Agency, the Vietnam Banks Association, and other organisations. Sacombank won the "Outstanding Retail Banking" award for achieving consistent customer growth -- with its customer base topping 15 million by the end of 2022 -- and having large transaction, ATM and merchant networks and diverse products and services. It offers more than 250 products and services for individuals and corporate customers and has linked up with 110 banks and 30 e-wallets for money transfer. It won the … [Read more...] about Sacombank, Vietbank honoured at Vietnam Outstanding Banking Awards

The event attracted the participation of more than 100 people from large Korean investment funds, conglomerates, and small- and medium-sized enterprises operating in banking, green energy, green industry, smart city – urban area building and development, 4.0 industry, science and technology, high-tech agriculture, and manufacturing fields. Deputy head of the ministry’s Consular Department Trinh Thi Mai Phuong said that the forum is a highlight of the program to promote Vietnamese localities in the RoK lasting from May 29 to June 1 to foster cooperation and connectivity between Vietnamese localities and RoK localities and businesses. At the forum, VKBIA President Tran Hai Linh stated that the collaboration between Vietnamese and RoK localities plays an important role in fostering economy, trade, and investment between the two countries. Leaders of Can Tho, Bac Lieu, Kon Tum, and Thua Thien Hue informed the forum on their localities’ potential, strength, and socio-economic … [Read more...] about Vietnam, RoK localities step up cooperation

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh presents gifts to teachers and students of SOS Hermann Gmeiner School. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on May 30 visited educational institutions for disadvantaged children in Hanoi on the occasion of International Children’s Day (June 1) and Action Month for Children. At the SOS Hermann Gmeiner School, established in 1994 with its construction funded by the SOS Children’s Village, Chinh presented gifts to the school and its outstanding students. The school was named after Austrian philanthropist Hermann Gmeiner – the founder of the SOS Children’s Village, which is home to underprivileged children. It provides primary and secondary education for children in the SOS Children’s Village Vietnam, those belonging to poor households and other vulnerable children. The government leader also made a field trip to a centre for integration education development under the National College for Education, which admits more … [Read more...] about Prime Minister visits educational institutions for disadvantaged children

In the first five months of the year, Viet Nam exported about $136.17 billion worth of goods, a year-on-year drop of 11.6 per cent, while imports totalled $126.37 billion, down 17.9 per cent year on year. — VNA/VNS Photo Viet Nam’s import-export value in the first five months of this year was estimated at US$262.54 billion, down 14.7 per cent year-on-year, with a trade surplus of $9.8 billion, the General Statistics Office (GSO) announced on Monday. In the period, Viet Nam exported about $136.17 billion worth of goods, a year-on-year drop of 11.6 per cent, while imports totalled $126.37 billion, down 17.9 per cent year on year. As many as 23 export items joined the more than one-billion-US dollar club, making up 87.4 per cent of the total export turnover. Regarding the structure of exports, processed commodities earned $120.24 billion (88.3 per cent); agro-forestry products, $10.79 billion; aquatic products, $3.37 billion; and fuel and minerals, about $1.77 billion. As for … [Read more...] about Viet Nam posts trade surplus of US$9.8 billion in five months

There is very high demand for social housing and in the low-end and lower-middle segments where prices are VND1 billion (US$42,370), VND2 billion and VND3 billion per unit and steady regardless of the state of the market. Tran Xuan Ngoc, CEO of property developer Nam Long Investment Corporation, said 2023 is expected to be an extremely difficult year for the market with challenges greater than during the real estate crisis of 2013, and one of the solutions is to build more housing for occupation rather than investment. Social housing, and affordable and mid-priced houses used to account for some 80% of his company’s product basket, and high-end housing for the remaining 20%, he said. It had maintained this formula for decades, but this year the ratio of high-end housing dropped to just 8%, he said. According to a report by real estate consultancy DKRA Vietnam, in Ho Chi Minh City and its vicinity, transactions in the first four months of this year were concentrated in the … [Read more...] about Affordable housing the panacea to housing market woes: experts