Viet Nam News By Brian Spence Việt Nam’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded by 6.81 per cent in 2017, marking its highest growth rate in a decade. The country continues to storm ahead this year, with the economy growing by 7.38 per cent in the first quarter – one of the fastest rates in Asia – and total growth is expected to be in the region of 6.7-6.8 per cent (the former as targeted by the National Assembly) for the year. It could even hit 7.1 per cent, according to the Asian Development Bank. Looking ahead, the Vietnamese Government is seeking to maintain the country’s growth spurt until 2020, with Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc having spoken of moves encouraging private companies – which currently account for 43 per cent of GDP – to grow and boosting investment into rural areas. Industry and construction are the engine rooms of this growth. Việt Nam’s competitiveness on wages, high labour … [Read more...] about Why the Smart Money is Staying on Vietnamese Growth
Money
Is it easy to make money from Vietnam’s coffee market?
VietNamNet Bridge - Both Vietnamese and foreign investors are rushing to pour money into coffee farms and coffee house chains as the market is very promising. But not all of them will succeed. More new coffee brands have turned up More new coffee brands have turned up in the Vietnamese coffee market, where ‘veterans’ like Trung Nguyen, Vinacafe Bien Hoa and Nestle are holding their firm positions. Three ‘big guys’ Though the trio has similar products, each has special characteristics which make them original. Trung Nguyen ranks Number 1 in terms of diversity with many coffee products, from instant to roasted coffee to civet coffee. Nescafe provides a wide range of mineral water products, food for children, and coffee and dairy products. Meanwhile, Vinacafe only focuses on products made of coffee, offering diverse coffee flavors for choice. More new coffee brands have turned up in the Vietnamese coffee market, where ‘veterans’ … [Read more...] about Is it easy to make money from Vietnam’s coffee market?
‘No job, no money’: Life in Vietnam for immigrants deported by US
It wasn’t until Pham Chi Cuong saw the plane waiting to deport him from the United States that it sunk in that he was about to be sent back to Vietnam, the country he fled in 1990. Cuong and at least three other deportees who had lived in America for decades were returned to Vietnam in December 2017 as part of a renewed Trump administration push to deport immigrants convicted of crimes in the United States. The expulsions were carried out despite a 2008 bilateral agreement that Vietnamese immigrants who arrived in the United States prior to 1995, many of whom had supported the now defunct U.S.-backed state of South Vietnam, would not be sent back. Cuong and the other men, who spoke to Reuters this week in Ho Chi Minh City, said they spent the 17-hour flight in enforced silence, their hands and legs in restraints. Adjusting to life in Vietnam, the men all said, has been difficult. They said they were viewed with suspicion by Vietnamese officials and have had trouble finding work. … [Read more...] about ‘No job, no money’: Life in Vietnam for immigrants deported by US
Vietnam to spend more money on tourism promotion
VietNamNet Bridge - The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), together with travel firms and hotels, will run two large-scale marketing campaigns in four Chinese and five European cities in April and June. Vietnam is spending more money on tourism promotion The tourism sector will have a large budget of VND400-500 billion to carry out marketing activities. The fund’s capital will be sourced from the state budget (in the first three years of operation, VND100 billion a year), 10 percent of revenue from visa granting fees, and 5 percent of revenue of the state’s collections from sightseeing sites and other sources. In late 2017, a group of large travel firms came to an agreement on contributing tens of billions of dong to promote Vietnam’s tourism at the two largest tourism fairs – ITB Berlin and World Travel Market in the UK. The money will also be spent to set up a website in English at http://vietnamtourism.vn/. RELATED … [Read more...] about Vietnam to spend more money on tourism promotion
Total money supply hits four-year record high
Credit growth of commercial banks as of March 20 was 2.23 per cent against December last year. — Photo enternews.vn The money supply in the economy, as of March 20, increased 3.23 per cent against the end of 2017, the highest in four years, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). The rate of increase in the same period of 2017, 2016 and 2015 was 2.88 per cent, 3.08 per cent and 2.09 per cent, respectively. GSO also reported that the credit growth of commercial banks in this period was 2.23 per cent against December last year. In the same period, the rising rate of mobilised capital was almost equal to that of the credit growth, posting an expansion of 2.43 per cent, the GSO reported. In the first quarter of the year, interest rates averaged 0.6 per cent to 1 per cent per year for non-term and one-month deposits, and 4.3 per cent to 5.5 per cent for one- to six-month deposits. The rate for six- to 12-month deposits was set at 5.3 per cent to 6.5 per cent, and 6.5 per … [Read more...] about Total money supply hits four-year record high