Intrapreneurship in public sector

That was my American friend's conclusion after several years working in Vietnam, as he calls it "a strange country." Although what he said might be exaggerated, I cannot help but sympathize with his opinion, especially the latter half. I have worked frequently with governmental administration at the provincial level. Public workers in Vietnam find the need to "seek approval" for anything outside of textbook norms, which is more than half the cases they work on. After so many years spent waiting for such approvals, I usually take matters into my own hands, doing extra research on my own to suggest similar precedents in other provinces to whichever I am working on, just so that these public workers can simply get their approvals without having to do the mental labor. But in the last few years, even this strategy no longer seems to work. "Now, we cannot do that anymore. Even when there are precedents, the other provinces might be doing things incorrectly. We never know," a public … [Read more...] about Corporates will drown if public sector fails to think outside the box

A bank teller counts cash. Liquidity and interest rates in the banking system have eased in recent weeks. — VNA/VNS Photo Property-sector risks have made operating conditions more difficult for banks in Viet Nam in the short term, but the liquidity crunch is easing and the banking system is likely to avert a sharp slowdown due to the concerted response of policymakers and banks, says Fitch Ratings. In a report released last week, the rating agency said headwinds may persist into the second half of 2023 and banks' financial performance is likely to diverge according to the strengths of their funding franchises and appetite for risk, but long-term fundamentals and business prospects for the sector remain positive. Liquidity and interest rates in the banking system have eased in recent weeks, although loan growth remains relatively subdued and was at a decade-low in April 2023. Narrow spreads between Vietnamese dong and US dollar market interest rates limit the extent by which … [Read more...] about Viet Nam’s banking sector liquidity crunch eases

A bank teller counts cash. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Property-sector risks have made operating conditions more difficult for banks in Vietnam in the short term, but the liquidity crunch is easing and the banking system is likely to avert a sharp slowdown due to the concerted response of policymakers and banks, says Fitch Ratings . In a report released last week, the rating agency said headwinds may persist into the second half of 2023 and banks' financial performance is likely to diverge according to the strengths of their funding franchises and appetite for risk, but long-term fundamentals and business prospects for the sector remain positive. Liquidity and interest rates in the banking system have eased in recent weeks, although loan growth remains relatively subdued and was at a decade-low in April 2023. Narrow spreads between Vietnamese dong and US dollar market interest rates limit the extent by which policymakers can reduce banks' funding costs … [Read more...] about Vietnam’s banking sector liquidity crunch eases

Statistics from the five major listed seafood firms, Vinh Hoan Corporation (VHC), Nam Viet JSC (ANV), International Development and Investment JSC (IDI), Minh Phu Seafood Corporation (MPC), and Sao Ta Foods JSC (FMC), show that in the first quarter of this year these firms saw 23.4 per cent drop in revenue, and an 80.4 per cent plunge in profit, on average compared to Q1/2022. MPC, Vietnam’s largest shrimp producer, saw its revenue drop by almost half last quarter to $92.28 million, and after-tax losses of $4.27 million, compared to a $3.96 million profit for the same period last year. This is the first quarter that MPC has reported a loss since the company went public in 2017. Vietnam’s largest exporter of basa fish, VHC, posted $96.5 million in revenue, down 32 per cent on-year, and a $9.5 million profit, a dip of 60 per cent, with the gross profit margin ratio falling sharply from 23.8 per cent to 17.3 per cent. Seafood exporters are under mounting pressure in the … [Read more...] about Seafood sector feeling the bite amid high inflation

A corner of Hanoi (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Hanoi stands ready to coordinate with the Ministry of Science and Technology to pilot policies on innovation and science and technology development, thus turning the capital city into a hub of science, technology and innovation in the country, Vice Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Van Phong has stated. According to Phong, the 17th-tenure municipal Party Committee's Programme 07-CTr/TU on promoting the development of science, technology, and innovation in the city during the 2021-2025 period has contributed to creating a positive transformation from awareness to action among agencies and sectors for science and technology issues. Scientific and technological research activities under the programme are increasingly aligned with the real demand and requirements of various industries and businesses, contributing to serving production and business development and promoting socio-economic growth in the capital city, he … [Read more...] about Hanoi aims to be national hub of technology transfer, development

Illustrative image (Source: AFP/VNA) Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia is formulating a new legal basis for domestic product spending in the form of Public Goods and Services Draft Bill (RUU), the country’s Maritime Affairs and Investments Coordinating Minister Luhut Pandjaitan has said. public spending on domestic products exceeded the expected target. As of October 5, domestic sales have reached 487 trillion rupiah (31.9 billion USD) out of a total of 950,000 billion rupiah committed, exceeding the government's target of 400 trillion rupiah. President Joko Widodo urged central ministries and local governments to increase public spending on domestic products Indonesia n government has launched a movement “Proud of Indonesian-made Products” movement (Gernas BBI) with the aim of promoting the national economy, including guiding ministries, sectors, localities and state-owned enterprises to prioritise using domestic products. VNA … [Read more...] about Indonesia strives to push up domestic product spending

An overview of the NA's fifth plenary session (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – National Assembly (NA) deputies on May 22 discussed a report on supplementary assessments on outcomes of the socioeconomic development plan and State budget in 2022 and the implementation of such plan for the first months of this year, following the opening of the 15th NA’s fifth plenary session . Delivering the report, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai said that last year, 13 out of the 15 targets set for the year were completed and exceeded. After being supplemented, the socioeconomic development results of 2022 changed positively, with GDP growth of 8.02% compared to about 8% in the original report, and CPI increase of 3.15% from about 4% in the previous report. Meanwhile, the State budget collection in the year topped 1.81 quadrillion VND (77.18 billion USD), more than 201.4 trillion VND higher than the previously reported figure, Deputy PM Khai said. However, the number of unfinished … [Read more...] about Deputies discuss socioeconomic performance at NA’s fifth session

Senior economist Le Xuan Nghia What global factors currently suggest a move towards lower interest rates in the coming months? In my view, the key factor is the US dollar continues to weaken. Even though the US Federal Reserve (Fed) raised the base interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point in early May, meeting the target range of 5.0-5.25, it is likely there will be an interest rate cut later in the year. A number of factors support this stance, such as inflation in the US slowing, and the possibility of the labour market worsening in the next few months with increased lay-offs in several finance and technology fields. Next is the possibility of widespread bankruptcies in the banking system, as seen in the recent cases of PacWest and Western Alliance. Meanwhile, the US and EU economies face going into recession as the Russia-Ukraine conflict sees no signs of ending in the foreseeable future. This is also the very factor leading to a deep depreciation of the US … [Read more...] about An expert’s view on interest rate movements

These are the first electric trucks for garbage collection in Vietnam. Chairman of the People's Committee of Hue Vo Le Nhat said the pilot replacement of some waste collection vehicles and garbage trucks by electric garbage trucks aligns with the goals and the desire of the city towards green public transport development and promotion of the waste classification at source program in the city. "The image of Hue city as the ‘ASEAN Environmentally Sustainable City', the ‘National Green City,’ is expected to be further advertised to international friends," Nhat said. "The living and working conditions of the people are expected to be improved. The socio-economic development is to be supported, contributing to implementing the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals and other international commitments of Vietnam." Vietnam has approved the action program on green transformation and carbon and methane reduction of the transport sector. The program aims to bolster energy efficiency and … [Read more...] about Hue pilots electric trucks for waste collection

Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Vuong Dinh Hue last week urged the government to make new timely measures to assist people and enterprises struggling against prolonged woes. An overview of the NA's fifth session. (Photo: VNA) “In Q1 of 2023, the country’s economic growth reached a lower-than-expected level of only 3.32 per cent on-year. A number of localities suffered from on-year low or below-zero growth. Meanwhile, the total export-import turnover in many key industrial sectors either dropped or increased at a low level,” Chairman Hue stressed. He also suggested that solutions must be taken to punishing those who are irresponsible for implementing their assigned tasks, which have undermined the country’s efforts to support people and enterprises and to achieve the desired economic growth of 6.5 per cent this year. Feeling anxious about the economy’s performance, the NA’s Economic Committee (NAEC) also underscored that the economy is now facing huge … [Read more...] about Struggling global outlook dampens growth prospects