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PM Pham Minh Chinh said it is necessary to have a new approach and new solutions in the fight against COVID-19 as the pandemic situation remains complicated in the country, especially in HCM City, central and southern provinces. At the meeting (Photo: VNA) He made the statement at an online Government meeting on July 30 with local authorities on COVID-19 prevention and control. Representatives of ministries, branches, and localities discussed the pandemic situation, analysed causes of outstanding problems, assessed the leadership and measures applied in the past time. They also made forecast on the situation and tasks to be implemented in the coming time. The Prime Minister acknowledged that the pandemic prevention and control have achieved positive results and praised ministries, agencies and localities for their great efforts. He said the Government will issue a resolution on urgent measures to prevent and control COVID-19 following the newly-adopted NA …

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Biden targets half of US car sales to be zero-emission by 2030, (Win McNamee/Getty Images/AFP) Biden cast the move as a way to compete with China and other countries that have invested in electric vehicles (EV), while also transforming the US transportation sector, which is the biggest source of the country's carbon emissions. Speaking at the White House before an array of electric cars, Biden called them "a vision of the future that is now beginning to happen, a future of the automobile industry that is electric, battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, fuel cell electric." "It's electric and there's no turning back. The question is whether we'll lead or fall behind," he said. News of the announcement drew modest praise from environmentalists, who stressed the need for additional measures given the worsening climate situation. The Sierra Club's Katherine Garcia called the target a "meaningful signal to manufacturers," but said it should be raised to 60 percent and be …

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Bad debts are at high risk Auctioning off collateral assets A number of commercial banks have announced plans to auction off their collateral assets in an attempt to speed up bad debt recovery. The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) announced the sixth auction of the debt of the Archplus Architecture and Construction Joint Stock Company. The debt arises from bond investment by the company at BIDV, including total principal balance, interest and fees at the time of signing the debt auction service contract. Total debt principal and interest as of April 15, 2021 reached nearly VND500 billion. The reserve price of the debt was nearly VND300 billion. BIDV also announced the 41st auction of assets of the Thuy Dat Joint Stock Company, including machinery and equipment, with the starting price of more than VND6.3 billion. The Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) announced the auction of all debts of the Song Hau …

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Azerai La Residence is a boutique hotel in the former imperial capital of Hue. “Hue is a city steeped in history, and Azerai La Residence has one of the best views in town: it sits across from the famed 19th century citadel where Vietnam’s last imperial family once ruled,” Time writes. “Within the citadel, guests can visit emperors’ tombs, ornate pagodas and other remnants of the Imperial City.” “Afterward, they can head to the hotel’s saltwater swimming pool and lush lawn - both of which overlook the Perfume River, which gets its name from the scented flowers that fall into the water courtesy of nearby orchards,” it adds. “From the moment guests arrive at our hotel they are fully immersed in the culture and history that surrounds them, along with a distinctive and special beauty, and attentive personal service,” said Phan Trong Minh, the General Manager of Azerai La Residence. “To be included on Time’s exclusive list further cements our reputation as one of Asia’s most …

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Spending in Vietnam on healthcare is currently forecast to reach $23 billion next year. Photo: Le Toan Domesco Medical Import-Export JSC, the third-largest Vietnamese domestic drugmaker, in July announced the dissolution of the Vinh branch, which may be part of the company’s efforts to reorganise operations to increase efficiency amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The first half of 2021 was not rosy for Domesco after the company made revenues of VND697.54 billion ($30.32 million), only slightly up 0.17 per cent on-year. Meanwhile, its after-tax profit was down nearly 39 per cent on-year. In its financial statement, Luong Thi Huong Giang, general director of Domesco, blamed the poor result mainly on the fall in sales due to COVID-19 which prevented people from going to hospitals and drugstores; as well as rises in medical ingredient costs. Although the year has brought challenges for Domesco and other Vietnamese pharmaceutical companies, some still made gains thanks to their …

[Read more...] about Swings and roundabouts for pharma groups so far in 2021

An industrial zone in Ba Ria-Vung Tau with a number of foreign-owned factories. Photo: baochinhphu.vn More than two months have passed since the latest wave of the broke out, severely impacting industrial manufacturers and zones in the southern provinces. Many localities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Long An, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau are forced to apply regulations that allow enterprises to only operate when they ensure the implementation of strict stay-at-work guidelines, which enables their workers to sleep, have meals, and work at the site. Many companies and factories, however, had to suspend operations. Pham Quang Anh, general director of Dony Garment Co., Ltd. said that his factory had closed because he could not meet all requirements. “Enabling hundreds of workers to stay and have meals in the factory exceeded our ability, so we had to halt operations,” Anh said. According to a Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA) …

[Read more...] about Industrial zone leasing takes a hit as 2021’s pandemic complexities hinder activities

Social distancing measures have been imposed for the whole southern central province of Khanh Hoa as the province is witnessing more Covid-19 patients. Under the decision issued by Nguyen Tan Tuan, chairman of the provincial people’s committee, the social distancing measures will last for 14 days, starting from Thursday midnight. Khanh Hoa is facing a rise in Covid-19 patients Earlier, the province applied social distancing regulations in some Covid-19-ravaged areas. However, the pandemic has been spreading in the province. On Thursday alone, Khanh Hoa recorded 51 new Covid-19 cases, raising the province’s total Covid-19 patient number to 3,000 so far. According to Government Directive 16, people must stay at home and only go out in case of necessity such as buying food and medicine, and in other emergencies. Stores providing essential services and goods are still allowed to open. Any gathering of more than two people in public places and outside offices, …

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Loship, a one-hour ecommerce delivery startup in Vietnam, has announced that it successfully raised US$12 million in a pre-Series C round of equity financing. This round of financing was jointly led by venture capital firm BAce Capital backed by Ant Group and the direct investment department of Sun Hung Kai Co. Ltd. The co-investors are MetaPlanet Holdings - Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn’s investment vehicle, Wealth Well from Saudi Arabia, Prism Ventures from Singapore, and SQ Capital Group from Hong Kong. The round comes just after Loship’s undisclosed bridge funding round led by MetaPlanet in February. Loship said it will use the proceeds from the latest round to deepen its presence in key markets, expand the business into new regions, and fuel growth in the B2B delivery services. “We have a very clear path to profitability as well as strategic plans on how to get there,” said co-founder and CEO Nguyen Hoang Trung. “Next on our agenda is to bring Loship services to …

[Read more...] about Vietnam’s ecommerce-focused logistics startup Loship rakes in $12mn funding

Transactions at SeABank. — Photo courtesy of the bank SeABank will reduce its interest rates by a maximum of one per cent, on its loans, for existing customers till the end of this year to help them through the COVID-19 pandemic. The support programme will focus on sectors such as transport, warehousing, accommodation and catering services, education and training, and healthcare. In addition, the bank will also launch preferential credit programmes and encourage customers to use non-cash transactions. SeABank has been implementing a super fast disbursement programme for businesses affected by COVID-19 valued at VND2 trillion (US$87.3 million) with an interest rate of 6.5 to 8 per cent a year. It offers preferential interest rates for firms that have import-export activities with an interest rate of 5.6 to 6.4 per cent a year. Businesses enjoy no fees for using a SeABank Visa Corporate for the first year. Businesses can take advantage of the working capital available from …

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A number of banks have reported huge profits in the first half of the year, and lower lending rates to support enterprises struggling in the pandemic. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn A number of banks at the end of July reported significant increases in H1 profits on strong credit growth despite pressures from the coronavirus pandemic. Vietcombank earned more than VND14.5 trillion profit in the first six months, a year-on-year rise of 38 per cent, making up for 58 per cent of the bank’s target. However, it said that the profits in the remaining months would largely depend on rate cuts in an effort to support virus-hit customers. Thirteen other banks, which already announced financial reports for the second quarter, earned a total profit of more than VND30 trillion in the first half. These included Techcombank, MB, TPBank, OCB, SeABank, ABBank, Kienlongbank, Viet Capital Bank, Vietbank, PGBank, Saigonbank and NCB, but not the 'big four' banks (Vietcombank, BIDV, Agribank and …

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