IN PREPARATION: Dr Nguyễn Lý Thịnh Trường goes through Quốc Thiên’s medical records. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Sơn By Minh Sơn The hardest time in the lives of the young couple may never have ended if their infant child didn’t survive that afternoon. At about 3pm one day last February, Đỗ Văn Lượng, 35, from the northern province of Bắc Giang, clung tightly to his four-day-old son for the final time before leaving him with the medical staff. In just a few minutes, his son, Quốc Thiên, would enter into a life and death struggle at the National Children’s Hospital (NCH). He was ready for Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA) surgery, one of the most complicated heart operations, especially for new-borns. The infant had a heart deformity related to the arterial stem, a particularly dangerous condition for infants when not treated in time. HOLDING TIGHT: Đỗ Văn Lượng and his four-day-old son Quốc Thiên just before the surgery. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Sơn Dr Nguyễn Lý Thịnh Trường, director of the Heart Centre (CHC) at the NCH, and his colleagues carefully prepared for the surgery and were ready to do everything to save the little boy. The father said that although he was upset and anxious, he felt relieved after being told that the operation would be conducted by a team headed by one of the leading doctors in children’s heart surgery. He learned that Dr Trường is an expert in handling rare cases like his son. Little Thiên was diagnosed with TGA disease when he was still in his mother’s womb, and Lượng had come down to Hà Nội from Bắc Giang with his wife to the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. His wife was yet to see their child, as he had been immediately taken to the NCH. WATCHFUL EYE: A nurse cares for Thiên just before he enters the operating room. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Sơn Although he had handled many such cases, this was only perhaps the second time he had seen such a condition. “This case was …
Little owls day
VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS APRIL 17
Japanese pin hopes on Vietnam’s market New Japanese joint ventures in Vietnam are providing the evidence that Vietnam is becoming a haven for trusting investments as the globe attempts to fight out of the pandemic recessions. Meiji’s infant formula business in Vietnam mainly imports products from Japan and sales are growing steadily. The number of births per year in Vietnam is 1.5 million or approximately 1.7 times higher than that of Japan, and the market is expected to continue to expand in the future. By establishing a new company in Vietnam, Meiji aims to conduct more timely and effective sales activities and conduct business operations rooted in the region. Meanwhile, Sojitz Corporation and Vietnam Livestock Corporation JSC (VILICO), a company of the country’s leading dairy group Vinamilk, have reached an agreement to establish a new joint venture for the purpose of importing, processing, and selling beef products in Vietnam. Vietnam’s annual beef consumption is currently close to 500,000 tonnes, and is expected to increase as income levels rise and population growth continues. The joint venture, named Japan Vietnam Livestock Co., Ltd., will be capitalised at $2 million. Equity ownership will be split 49 per cent to Sojitz and 51 per cent to VILICO, while the joint venture is considering importing beef from such markets as Japan, North America, and Australia. Meanwhile Toppan Cosmo, Inc., a subsidiary of Toppan Printing, has partnered with Osaka-based Studio Tec and Ho Chi Minh City-based Nu Design and Supply Co., Ltd. (NDS) to establish Toppan Equator LLC in Vietnam. The new company is focused on creation of high-quality 3D computer graphics for sales promotion and presentations by Japanese companies in the construction, interior design, and housing equipment and appliance sectors. “Toppan Cosmo is very pleased to be able to fuse Studio Tec’s technical capabilities with NDS’ operational know-how to launch an organisation in …
Leaders grapple with core function of SOEs
Leaders grapple with core function of SOEs Despite major phases of attempted reform, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) continue to exist in large numbers and have grown in global economic significance in recent years. In many countries, reform efforts are often never completed or are wound back. In addition, countries with a large state enterprise presence – such as Brazil, China, India, South Korea, and some countries in Southeast Asia – have grown dramatically in the past few decades. Consequently, the proportion of SOEs among the Fortune Global 500 list grew from 9 per cent to 23 per cent between 2005 and 2014 alone, and the most profitable company worldwide in 2019 – Saudi Arabia’s Aramco – is an SOE and not a private company like Apple or Amazon. And in some sectors, such as energy, SOEs account for a bigger portion of the sector than private corporations. In Vietnam, the economy has witnessed major structural changes in recent decades, using private investment and trade as drivers of growth. After Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization in 2007, registered foreign direct investment increased substantially with net inflows hitting $28.53 billion in 2019. Compared to portfolio investments like bonds, such funding is a more stable and long-term form of inward capital. But according to Southeast Asian trade and economic development expert James Guild, Vietnam’s success with foreign investment and trade is only one part of a bigger story. For many years the state has been trying to reverse direct ownership in various sectors, with efforts that have been critical to Vietnam’s market-friendly development model. Yet, Guild said, the state’s track record of divesting from key industries has been a case of two steps forward and one step back. “Compared to Indonesia, where many state-owned assets were sold off in a fire sale to raise capital during the Asian financial crisis, Vietnam has proceeded more methodically and gradually,” he explained. “It …
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