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The following is the full text of the interview. Reporter: This year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and 10th anniversary of strategic partnership between Singapore and Vietnam. How do you evaluate the Singapore-Vietnam relations in the past half century, especially in the last decade? What should the two countries do to further our bilateral cooperation and to advance the development of each country? Vivian Balakrishnan: The ties between Singapore and Vietnam have grown from strength to strength since we established diplomatic relations 50 years ago. We are longstanding friends and close partners that enjoy wide-ranging cooperation in many areas, both bilaterally and at multilateral fora. I am heartened that the bilateral relationship has continued to expand and evolve to tackle new challenges over the past decade. Our linkages are particularly strong in trade and investment. The 12 Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs) across Northern, Central, … [Read more...] about Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s visit to enhance Singapore-Vietnam relations: Singaporean Foreign Minister

Roundtable: Large foreign investment funds want to pour money into the Vietnamese stock market Quan Duc Hoang, chairman of A+ Fund, made the comments about foreign capital at the roundtable 'New Investments amid New Volatility' hosted by VIR at its headquarters in Hanoi on February 7. “Recently, I have business trips to work with big investment funds in the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Korea. Not one of these investment funds have a sensitive overview of the Vietnamese investment environment. They estimate that it is an ideal time for investors to collect a portfolio of shares,” Hoang said. “In spite of the difficult situation, during the past nearly 30 years, I have yet to see a large investment opportunity similar to the current situation because many Vietnamese enterprises are operating smoothly and generating good profits. Besides, we have yet to take thorough advantage of the opportunity from free trade agreements, especially EVFTA. The important note is … [Read more...] about Foreign investment funds plan to pour money into Vietnamese stocks

In an interview with the press ahead of the PM’s trip from February 8-11, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet stressed that the relations between Vietnam and the two countries are based on a lot of similarities in politics, economy, culture, and people-to-people exchange. The trip is of great significance, he said, noting that this is the first by Pham Minh Chinh in his new position that aims to manifest the consistent policy of prioritizing relations with neighboring countries and ASEAN, as set at the 13th National Party Congress. He added that this is also the first official visit by a leader of the Vietnamese government to Singapore over the past five years, and to Brunei over the past nearly 16 years. Therefore, the visits are expected to deepen the strategic partnership with Singapore, an important economic partner of Vietnam, and the comprehensive partnership with Brunei, also a promising economic partner, according to the official. For Singapore, the visit … [Read more...] about Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s Singapore, Brunei visits look toward cohesive ASEAN

In a ceremony held on Tuesday by the Ministry of National Defence, seven additional military officers were officially dispatched on United Nations peacekeeping missions. Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoàng Xuân Chiến hands over the State President's decision on Vietnamese military peacekeepers. Among those officers, two will be sent to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), four to the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), and one will serve at the UN mission in Central Africa, replacing their predecessors who have completed their term. At the ceremony, four officials who successfully completed their tasks on UN peacekeeping missions were welcomed home. “Today, seven officers received the State President’s Decision and the Decision of the Ministry of Defence to go on duty at the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in the Central African Republic, South Sudan and the Abyei Area,” said Major General Hoàng Kim … [Read more...] about Seven military officers join UN Peacekeeping Mission

Vietnamese start-up project Monkey Junior has received two international certificates, including kidSAFE Certified (KSP) and Mom’s Choice Awards® (MCA). The KSP is an independent safety certification service and seal-of-approval programme that is designed exclusively for children-friendly websites and technologies, including online game sites, educational services, virtual worlds, social networks, and mobile apps. Furthermore, the MCA evaluates products and services which have been created for children, families, and educators. The programme is globally recognised and is considered as the benchmark of excellence in family-friendly media, products, and services. The organisation is based in the United States and has reviewed thousands of entries from more than 60 countries worldwide. Monkey Junior was first developed by Dao Xuan Hoang who integrated multimedia content, including funny and exciting photos, videos, and audio, in order to help toddlers and kids learn … [Read more...] about English learning app receives two international certificates

The competition was an activity within the framework of the locality’s Spring culture and cuisine festival 2023. The jury included historian Duong Trung Quoc; Master Chef Vo Quoc, President of the France - Vietnam Cuisine Academy; Master Chef Le Quoc Dinh, an instructor at the France - Vietnam Cuisine Academy. At the event, each team was required to prepare a tray of traditional dish of Vietnam to offer to the progenitor of Ngu Xa bronze casting. This was the first competition that had been held in the second food quarter in the capital city. According to Truc Bach ward’s representative, the competition aimed to popularize Vietnamese culinary culture to both domestic and foreign tourists. It also helped restaurants diversify their menus and dishes and improve their food processing quality, ensuring the nutrition and service quality of the Dao Ngoc - Ngu Xa Food Quarter in general as well as the restaurants in particular. The festival also featured other unique cultural and … [Read more...] about Special dishes introduced at Dao Ngoc – Ngu Xa cuisine competition

The remaining top 10 markets in the category are: Columbus, Santiago, Johannesburg, Atlanta, Nashville, Phoenix, Austin, Denver, and Chicago, according to a report released by Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam on February 2. The annual report, now in its fourth year, ranks major data centre markets around the world according to 13 weighted categories including market size, connectivity, power cost and environmental risk to determine the top overall markets in each category. According to the latest Q4 2022 Ho Chi Minh City marketbeat report, the average rental price reached $159 per sq.m per lease cycle, up 3 per cent on the quarter and 10 per cent on-year. Vietnam is a frontier data centre market Vietnam may be a frontier data centre market, but it has numerous fundamentals that would suggest great potential for development. The country currently has 70 per cent internet penetration, with an estimated 29 million people yet to get online. Over 48 per cent of Vietnam’s … [Read more...] about Ho Chi Minh City among top markets for data centre development

Representatives of Vietnam’s Internet service providers on Tuesday said the NOC (Network Operation Center) system of international undersea cables announced that three undersea cables: the APG (Asia Pacific Gateway), the AAG (Asia, America Gateway) and the IA (Intra Asia) are expected to undergo reparation in either mid-March or early April, the Vietnam News Agency reported. The APG would see two segments being prepared, one from March 22 to March 27, and the other from April 5 to April 9. The AAG would be repaired from March 30 to April 4. The IA meanwhile is expected to be repaired in mid-March. Reparation schedule for the AAE-1 cable (Asia-Africa-Euro 1) has yet to be announced. Vietnam is currently connected with seven undersea cables: SMW3, AAG, IA, APG, AAE-1, SJC2 and ADC. The SJC2 and the ADC are yet to be officially operational, while the SMW3 cable is outdated and about to be decommissioned. It means Vietnam has five active undersea cables that connect it to the … [Read more...] about Three undersea Internet cables to be repaired from March

Entering 2023, Microsoft and Google announced global lay-offs of 10,000 and 12,000 employees, respectively. IBM laid off nearly 4,000 members, while Spotify cut about 6 per cent of staff. Since November last year, Meta, Amazon, and HP have also adjusted thousands of positions. Tech lay-off wave continues to bite at Vietnam’s heels, Illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com In Southeast Asia, Shopee parent company Sea Group, Crypto.com, e-commerce platform JD.ID, and GoTo – a merger between ride-hailer Gojek and e-commerce platform Tokopedia – are among the companies that experienced a drastic staff cut in the past year. GoTo in November 2022 cut 1,300 jobs, equivalent to 12 per cent of the number of employees, while Sea Group let go of 7,000 employees in the past six months. Both companies cited a common cause being challenging macroeconomic conditions. Industry insiders in Vietnam are generally wary of the effect this laid-off wave might have on the domestic market. … [Read more...] about Tech lay-off wave continues to bite at Vietnam’s heels

Captain and vessel owner Le Quang Anh of Tam Hai commune, the province’s Nui Thanh district, said that before any fishing trip, he brings documents to Ky Ha port border guard station for registration. The documents include the list of crewmembers, their working positions, hull insurance contract, crew insurance, and the vehicle's license plate. He said that in addition to bringing along fishing equipment and tools, fishermen must fully comply with regulations on the at-sea fishing process following the Law on Fisheries. For offshore fishing vessels, these requirements are much stricter to restrict their operation in other countries' fishing grounds. Local authorities, border guards, coast guards, and fisheries surveillance forces regularly tell fishermen about the legal process of sea fishing, and this make them better aware of obeying relevant regulations. Anh said that offshore fishing vessels in the district are required to install kinds of necessary equipment including … [Read more...] about Quang Nam fishermen pledge to implement regulations against IUU fishing