Foreign entrants

The bank is collecting feedback on its draft circular to replace the current version with stricter conditions for receiving short-term foreign loans to ensure a national debt limit. The draft will allow Vietnamese businesses to access short-term foreign loans for paying debt, but not for potentially risky purposes like trading stock and real estate. This is because once the stock and real estate market grows way above its intrinsic value, there would be a high chance of creating an asset bubble, causing economic instability. The central bank plans to ban the use of short-term foreign loans to buy projects or stakes in them, since mergers and acquisitions involve long-term investment and commitment. It also plans to ban companies using short-term foreign loans to acquire projects or stakes in projects, as mergers and acquisitions are long-term activities. Short-term loans could result in liquidity risks if used for medium- and long-term purposes, it explained. Companies may … [Read more...] about Central bank limits foreign loans for trading stock, real estate

PM Pham Minh Chinh addresses the ASEAN - US Special Summit in Washington D.C. on May 13. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s recent working visit to the US is a step to strongly implement Vietnam’s foreign policy , help elevate multilateral diplomacy , and intensify relations with the US - one of the leading partners of Vietnam, an official has said. The high-ranking delegation of Vietnam led by the PM attended the ASEAN - US Special Summit and paid working visits to the US and the UN from May 11 to 17. Talking to the media, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ha Kim Ngoc said the trip with more than 60 bilateral and multilateral activities at different levels helped carry out the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance for peace, friendship, cooperation and development, multilateralisation and diversification of external relations, and comprehensive and extensive international integration. At the special summit marking the 45th … [Read more...] about PM’s working trip to US a demonstration of Vietnam’s foreign policy

Translator Sandra Scagliotti (right). — VNA/VNS Photo HÀ NỘI — Translator Sandra Scagliotti and journalist and writer Hellmut Kapfenberger are among the many foreigners extremely interested in exploring President Hồ Chí Minh’s life and legacy. Scagliotti, from Italy, has been passionate about Vietnamese and President Hồ Chí Minh studies all her life, putting her all into making the late leader’s ideology better known in her country. She has translated two Vietnamese books into Italian. One of them, in collaboration with Vietnamese translator Trần Đoan Trang, was published by Anteo Edizioni Publishing House last year under the name “Hồ Chí Minh – Lettre Per Pace in Việt Nam” (Hồ Chí Minh – Letters for Peace in Việt Nam) as part of its Banyan/Southeast Asia series. It features a collection of his letters written between 1945 and 1969, in which the President expressed his wish to cooperate with the Americans and other nationalities throughout the world in fighting for peace in … [Read more...] about Foreign writers passionate about President Hồ Chí Minh’s legacy

Principal Song Hyun-seop said Vietnamese has been included in the school’s curriculum as a second foreign language since April 2019. Explaining this decision, he said Vietnam and the RoK enjoy many historical and cultural similarities, noting that the Ly clan from the Southeast Asian nation came to his country very early, forming the first foundation for bilateral connectivity. Over the last 30 years, Korean enterprises have poured huge investment into Vietnam, which has created a large Korean community in Vietnam. In return, there are also many Vietnamese people in the RoK. Therefore, the Vietnamese language skills have become highly useful, and including it in career counselling for high school students is of great necessity for them to gain momentum for learning and future development, Song noted. With the employment of two Vietnamese-language teachers who have high capacity and deep understanding of the Korean culture, Myeonmok has held weekly meetings with all of its … [Read more...] about Vietnamese language included in Korean school’s career counseling for students

The speech, themed “Sincerity, trust and responsibility for a better world,” focused on how Vietnam sees the world today, the role of sincerity, trust and responsibility in a turbulent world, and what the country needs to do in order to demonstrate sincerity, and bolster trust and responsibility, for a better world. It underlined Vietnam’s willingness to cooperate with the international community to deal with issues that all countries, small or large, rich or poor, have to settle together, while affirming in a world full of turbulence, strategic competition and a great many choices, Vietnam picks no side. “Instead it chooses justice, fairness and goodness, based on the principles of international law and the U.N. Charter. It chooses equality, shared benefits for all, and win-win for all.” Gregory B. Poling, Director of the CSIS’s Southeast Asia Program and Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, said that the Vietnamese PM’s speech conveyed important and comprehensive messages, and … [Read more...] about U.S. experts laud PM Chinh’s speech at CSIS

Pham Viet Tuan-Associate, Indochine Counsel Many of the negative risks arise because of the complicated Vietnamese land laws, which prevent not only foreign investors but also local developers from developing projects. This article will give some hints on how they could properly tackle issues related to land in property project development through the contribution of land. In the Vietnamese real estate market, it is common for a property developer to have land but not the budget or experience/resources needed to develop the project. In this case, such developers might seek other ways to conduct their business plan. Some solutions may be to secure a loan facility from a bank; to cooperate with other developers who have experience/resources in the project development; or to call for financial aid from funds, and foreign/local investors or to issue bonds in the capital market. Each solution has its pros and cons. From a foreign perspective, project land is essential to project … [Read more...] about Making better decisions in real estate

Kenneth Atkinson-Vice chairman, Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board However, there is no separate body of law governing condotels and in most locations where they have been constructed it is clear that such developments cannot be issued with pink books for individual units, so ownership ultimately rests with the developers, with a lease term not extending beyond 50 years (70 years can be permitted). In addition, many buyers have been lured by guaranteed returns of 8-12 per cent for the 10 years. Warnings of potential future problems sounded from 2017, but due to the cyclical nature of tourism and potential disruptions to inbound tourists, these were largely ignored and we have already seen failures of such projects like Cocobay and other developers now unable to meet their guaranteed return commitments and for certain several more to come. Now, we have around 240 tourism real estate projects and over 114,000 condotel units, and Vietnam has the largest pipeline of tourism-related … [Read more...] about Taking the right approach to the condotel legislation conundrum

Vietnamese Deputy Defense Minister Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien affirmed that while delivering a speech at the ASEAN Defense Senior Officials’ Meeting Plus (ADSOM+) in Phnom Penh on May 18. The Vietnamese deputy defense minister also emphasized that the security and safety of navigation and aviation in the East Sea (or South China Sea) is extremely important for countries in the region and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Therefore, it is essential to observe the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and accelerate the early signing of a practical and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC). The head of the Vietnamese delegation expressed his wish that all countries would settle conflicts and disagreements by peaceful means, on the basis of respecting international law and the United Nations Charter as well as ASEAN's basic principles. He added that besides emerging non-traditional security challenges, there have been … [Read more...] about Vietnam affirms consistent stance of settling disputes by peaceful means at ADSOM+

The trip has contributed to promoting the relations between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the U.S., and between Vietnam and the U.N. and the U.S., while affirming Vietnam’s role and prestige in the international arena. During his week-long stay in the U.S., the PM visited the four cities of Washington D.C, Boston, New York, and San Francisco, with more than 50 activities. He attended and delivered speeches at the summit, and met with ASEAN leaders, including his counterparts from Laos, Cambodia and Singapore, and the Indonesian President. Chinh also had meetings with U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russel, President of the U.N. General Assembly Abdulla Shahid and Administrator of the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) Achim Steiner. He met President Joe Biden, and received senior officials of the U.S. government such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Secretary of … [Read more...] about Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh concludes U.S. trip

A delegation of the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand led by Ambassador Phan Chi Thanh visits Ho Chi Minh Museum in Phichit province. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia on May 19 held an incense-offering ceremony to pay tribute to President Ho Chi Minh on his 132nd birthday. In his remarks, Ambassador Nguyen Huy Tang called on the embassy’s staff and Vietnamese people in Cambodia to follow the late President’s ideology, morality and lifestyle. They should seriously observe local law and support each other, he said, lauding Vietnamese firms and agencies in Cambodia for their support to Cambodia ns of Vietnamese origin and local people during the COVID-19 fight. The Vietnamese community in Hungary and Hungarian friends on May 18 also gathered at a ceremony in Zalaegerszeg city where President Ho Chi Minh’s statue is located to pay homage to the late leader. Góra Balázs, Chairman of the Hungarian Socialist Party’s Zalaegerszeg branch, recalled … [Read more...] about President Ho Chi Minh remembered abroad