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The track of Metro Line No. 1, from Ben Thanh Market to Suoi Tien Theme Park, in HCM City (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – The Export-Import Bank of the Republic of Korea (KEXIM) has asked Ho Chi Minh City ’s authorities for permission to conduct an investment study for Phase 2 of Metro Line No. 5 , set to be carried out in the public-private partnership (PPP) format. In its letter sent to the Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee and the city’s Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR), KEXIM said it will soon provide funding for the update of the project’s pre-feasibility study, which covers technical, financial, and legal aspects, according to the MAUR. The bank noted that members of the research group and participating investors have experience in building and operating urban railway routes, including Metro Line No. 9 of the RoK’s Seoul capital, in the PPP format. The MAUR said it had a working session on January 19 with some investors and consultancies from the RoK to discuss the study and related orientations for the project. The Korean side, including KEXIM and some businesses and consultancies, presented the plan to update the pre-feasibility study, whose final version is expected to be submitted by the end of 2021. The pre-feasibility study for Phase 2 of Metro Line No. 5 was previously financed by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). However, due to certain objective reasons, the project was unable to be funded through official development assistance (ODA) loans, but the PPP format. The 23.39km-long Metro Line No. 5 is developed in two phases. The first one, from the Bay Hien intersection to Sai Gon Bridge, is about 8.8km long and invested with around 1.66 billion USD. It is funded with ODA capital from the Spanish Government, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the German development bank KfW. Meanwhile, Phase 2 is about 14.5km long./. VNA …

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In its letter sent to the Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee and the city’s Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR), KEXIM said it will soon provide funding for the update of the project’s pre-feasibility study, which covers technical, financial, and legal aspects, according to the MAUR. The bank noted that members of the research group and participating investors have experience in building and operating urban railway routes, including Metro Line No. 9 of the RoK’s Seoul capital, in the PPP format. The MAUR said it had a working session on January 19 with some investors and consultancies from the RoK to discuss the study and related orientations for the project. The Korean side, including KEXIM and some businesses and consultancies, presented the plan to update the pre-feasibility study, whose final version is expected to be submitted by the end of 2021. The pre-feasibility study for Phase 2 of Metro Line No. 5 was previously financed by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). However, due to certain objective reasons, the project was unable to be funded through official development assistance (ODA) loans, but the PPP format. The 23.39km-long Metro Line No. 5 is developed in two phases. The first one, from the Bay Hien intersection to Sai Gon Bridge, is about 8.8km long and invested with around 1.66 billion USD. It is funded with ODA capital from the Spanish Government, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the German development bank KfW. Meanwhile, Phase 2 is about 14.5km long. …

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Since Vietnam joined the International Coffee Organization (ICO), the coffee industry has experienced three crises, with the first occurring in 1991 when the ICO removed the quota system, causing the price of Arabica coffee to drop from US$4,000 per tonne to US$3,000 per tonne. The second happened in 2000 when the price of Robusta coffee dropped to US$400 per tonne, and the third took place last year when the price fell by between US$1,300 and US$1,400. Addressing this thorny issue, almost all coffee businesses have participated in e-commerce trading platforms, marketing the products in London and New York. Private firms have also moved to swiftly set up websites in order to sell their coffee products online, with on-demand home delivery services witnessing rapid growth. Aside from serving customers at coffee shops, take-away services have also been added to allow customers to increase the efficiency of doing business whilst simultaneously ensuring COVID-19 preventive measures are in place. Several businesses have also invested in processing roasted, ground, and instant coffee as a means of catering to consumers’ diverse tastes. They have taken advantage of opportunities in exporting coffee beans to markets that the country has signed free trade agreements with. Besides foreign firms such as Nestle, Olam, Ca phe Ngon, and Tata, several Vietnamese enterprises including Tin Nghia Corporation, Intimex Group, An Thai Company, and Viet My Company have poured capital into intensive processing by building instant coffee factories with popular names. Most notably, small roasting facilities that specialise in processing specialty coffee for a chain of between 10 and 20 coffee shops by using coffee machines have also witnessed rapid growth. Furthermore, Trung Nguyen Legend has recently launched its official brand store on Amazon, marking an important step toward bringing local coffee to the world via e-commerce platforms. With regards to this strategic move, a …

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