Gross domestic product

The Vietnamese booths, featuring interior and exterior wooden and home décor products, handicrafts, hotel furniture, and lighting equipment, attracted many U.K. wholesalers and retailers, as well as visitors. Vietnamese Trade Counselor in the U.K. Nguyen Canh Cuong said the exhibition has offered a good opportunity for Vietnamese firms to introduce high quality products and meet potential importers and distributors. As the third largest furniture producer and exporter in the world, and the largest in Southeast Asia, Vietnam boasts products meeting requirements of the U.K. market, he said, stressing that Vietnam needs to actively attend fairs like JFS in order to seek and set up partnerships with British businesses. Zoe Bonser, Retail Manager of NEC, said that with more than 15,000 visitors, JFS gives a great chance to businesses, and those from Vietnam in particular, to gain easier access to the U.K. market. In 2022, Vietnam earned 239.66 million USD from exporting wood and … [Read more...] about Vietnamese furniture products introduced at U.K. exhibition

Illustrative image (Photo: vietnamnet) Hanoi (VNA) – The bustling game market in Vietnam is offering numerous opportunities for developers, according to experts. Le Quang Tu Do, Director of the Authority of Broadcasting , Television and Electronic Information under the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), cited data from App Annie 2020 showing that Vietnam ranked seventh in the world and second in Southeast Asia in the number of game downloads. Meanwhile, the country also ranked third in the top 10 game application manufacturers in the region. For every 25 games downloaded, there is one produced in Vietnamese studios. According to the statistics of Sensor Tower and the Vietnam Game Studio Club, there are currently about 5,000 games produced by Vietnamese people, mostly for children, entertainment, and education. Do said that the wage of each game developer in Vietnam is about 187 million VND (7,975 USD) per year, while that of each artist is abour 389 million … [Read more...] about Local game developers eye great opportunities at home

The sector should continue to follow policies and guidelines adopted by the Party and the State, while closely coordinating with ministries, agencies and localities to fulfill socio-economic tasks, he said. Priorities should be given to maintaining the macro-economic stability, controlling inflation, spurring growth and ensuring major economic balances, the leader continued. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to improve its analyzing and forecasting capacity, provide timely consultancy and flexibly respond to developments of the domestic and international situation. The central bank was also urged to intensify inspection and supervision, ensure transparency, promote digital transformation, raise service quality, and support innovations and small- and medium-sized enterprises. It needs to further consolidate monetary institutions, mechanisms and policies to create a concerted legal corridor, thus giving a push to the monetary and credit markets, … [Read more...] about Prime Minister urges banking sector to make more innovations

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the scale of the Vietnamese retail market is USD 142 billion, which is expected to reach USD 350 billion in 2025, with contribution of 59% to total GDP. Last year, the total revenue from retail sales of goods and services rose 21%, exceeding the target of 8%. A survey by Vietnam Report showed that over 53.8% of total retail firms enjoyed similar and higher business results compared to the pre-pandemic level. Experts held that growth of retail sales is being supported by rise in income and the strong recovery of the tourism sector as well as relevant sectors such as transport and accommodations, as well as the effectiveness of inflation control measures. Particularly, from now to the lunar New Year (Tet) Festival, which falls in late January, consumers are predicted to loosen their wallet dramatically. At the same time, there are signs of vibrant retail activities as many foreign investors have announced their plans to … [Read more...] about Retail market forecast to bustle this year

Between VND150-200 trillion ($6.4-8.5 billion) in bonds are set to mature this year, and if the bond market is left to self-regulate, systemic risks could spread to the banking sector and the entire financial market, Cuong told VnExpress in an interview. Although Vietnam concluded 2022 with a strong post-pandemic recovery, several financial problems plagued the economy last year, among them bond market issues . As there were many high-profile arrests due to alleged misconduct in bond issuance, companies prematurely redeemed VND210.57 trillion worth of their own bonds last year, up 46% from 2021. Although the market could be left to fix its own problems, Cuong said that it is recommended that the government intervenes with policies to ensure post-pandemic recovery, as one problem in the market could shake the market in a major way this year. He added that in the 2008 financial crisis, the U.S. government initially let the market corrects itself, but after Lehman Brothers … [Read more...] about Vietnam government should intervene in bond market: ADB economist

Illustrative image (Photo: Newstraitstimes) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - The Communications and Digital Ministry of Malaysia plans to announce the introduction and implementation of 5G by Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) with added features at the end of March. Minister Fahmi Fadzil said DNB is currently studying and evaluating the available options to ensure the coverage will not just reach 80% but will be expanded nationwide. Fahmi said the implementation of the 5G will enable companies and factories to achieve efficient and fast communication services in order to increase productivity and provide the public with efficient services. Meanwhile, referring to issues of personal security and online scams, the ministry aspires to turn the Personal Data Protection Department into a statutory department to carry out its functions more efficiently, said the minister. The agency under the ministry will become one of the most important departments to be strengthened to deal with … [Read more...] about Malaysia to implement 5G technology by end of March

NIllustrative image (Photo: internationalfinance.com) Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesia has set a target of issuing emission quotas for some coal-fired power plants within this month as a first step towards creating a mechanism for domestic carbon trading. Last year, Indonesia , among the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters, set a more ambitious goal of reducing carbon emissions by 31.89% on its own or 43.2% with international support, by 2030. That compared to its 2015 Paris Agreement pledge to cut emissions by 29% or 41% with international help. Mohamad Priharto Dwinugroho, an official of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said that the quotas will be set the latest by January 31. After obtaining the quotas, businesses are required to carry out carbon trading . The first phase of carbon trade will cover coal power plants with minimum 100 megawatt capacity that are directly connected to power grids owned by state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), … [Read more...] about Indonesia to set emission quotas for several coal-fired power plants

Hanoi earned more than VND1 trillion (US$42.6 million) from 330,000 visitors in five days of the seven-day 2023 Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, according to the city’s tourism department. The number of visitors, calculated from January 21 to Thursday, is three-fold that of the same period last year. That included 32,000 international visitors, most of whom came from South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, and Canada, and 300,000 domestic tourists. The Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature - Imperial Academy) in Dong Da District welcomed 80,000 people, while the same number of visitors came to the Huong Pagoda in My Duc District. The UNESCO-recognized Thang Long Imperial Citadel in Ba Dinh District received 19,680 visitors. About 18,000 people visited the Co Loa relic site in Dong Anh District. Duong Lam Village and the Son Tay ancient fortress citadel in Son Tay Town drew some 15,000 visitors, Hanoi Zoo in Ba Dinh District received 17,235 people. The Hoa Lo Prison … [Read more...] about 330,000 visitors bring Hanoi $42.6mn on Tet

Total revenue from tourism activities topped 1 trillion VND (42.6 million USD), the department said. The number of tourists increased dramatically at key monuments, museums, parks, ecological zones, and resorts in the city. Notably, Van Mieu (Temple of Literature) - Quoc Tu Giam (First University in Vietnam) and the Huong pagoda received about 80,000 visitors each. Meanwhile, the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, the Special National Relic of Co Loa, Duong Lam ancient village – the Son Tay ancient citadel received 19,700; 18,000 and 15,000 visitors, respectively. During the holiday, a series of art performances and cultural programs were held at relic sites and tourist attractions, while many new tourism products introduced to attract visitors. According to Director of the municipal Department of Tourism Dang Huong Giang, the agency has paid special attention to inspect the observance of regulations on tourism in tourist areas, aiming to better the quality of services. Source: … [Read more...] about Hanoi welcomes 332,000 visitors during lunar New Year holidays

On the occasion, Dien Bien Dong district (Dien Bien province) held a series of programs from January 23 to January 26. With many cultural activities such as sports exchange and folk games, the programs attracted the participation of many visitors and local people. In the framework of the programs, together with cultural space, tourists also joined trading activities of the locals, such as selling traditional costumes, food, jewelry. This was one of the series of this year’s spring festival activities in Dien Bien Dong district with beautiful traditional cultural identities. It was also an occasion for local people to introduce their products, while encouraging trade activities, contributing to promoting local socio-economic development, in line with preserving and promoting local traditional customs. Translated by Minh Anh … [Read more...] about Spring Festival in Dien Bien province