Italy, home to the world-famous fashion industry, has announced a plan to help bring advanced production technologies to Vietnam's textile and footwear sectors. A key pillar of the plan is a EUR15-million (US$16.1 million) a package for small and medium businesses which operate in the targeted sectors, says Italian Ambassador Cecilia Piccioni at a press conference to promote trade between the two countries. Businesses in Ho Chi Minh City and nearby Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces will be given concessional loans with no interest for 24 years, she said. In another effort, Italian government will help Vietnam establish and run two hi-tech centers for textile and footwear next year, news website Saigon Times Online quoted Bruna Santarelli, chief of the Italian Trade Commission in Vietnam, as saying at a meeting on November 8. The centers will be established at two universities, including Ho Chi Minh City's University of Technology, and equipped with Italian-imported machines and … [Read more...] about VOV Online Newspaper
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Vietnam’s finance ministry wants $219 mln in cash dividends from top lenders
In a new attempt to boost state revenue, the Ministry of Finance has sought the central bank's intervention to collect cash dividends from BIDV and Vietinbank, two of the largest lenders in which the government is a major stakeholder. In April, the shareholders of BIDV, Vietnam's largest partly-private bank by assets, agreed on distributing stock dividends at a yield of 8.5 percent, compared to the original plan of nearly 10 percent. The second biggest lender Vietinbank's shareholders voted on no dividend payment in either cash or stock. The government now owns over 95 and 64.46 percent of the banks, respectively. Both the banks said profits from the financial year 2015 should be reinvested into expansion plans, local media reported. However, in its letter to the central bank, the finance ministry cited existing rules as saying that as a major stakeholder, the government has to be consulted on dividend payout plans. The central bank should order its representatives at BIDV and … [Read more...] about Vietnam’s finance ministry wants $219 mln in cash dividends from top lenders
Vietnam official ‘surprised’ by prices of chicken from US, but cagey about dumping
Chicken sold at a US supermarket. Photo credit: Saigon Times Online The Department of Livestock Production Wednesday said chicken legs imported to Vietnam from the US are being sold at a "surprisingly" low price here, but reserved comment on local poultry producers' accusation of dumping against US chicken exporters. Nguyen Van Trong, deputy head of the department, said it was "quite surprising" that US chicken thighs are sold at VND20,000 (90 cents) a kilogram here considering the price must include import duty and transport cost. Vietnam imported 66,000 tons of chicken from the US in the first six months, two-thirds of it thighs. In the US, chicken thigh is priced at $3-3.5 per kilogram, yet it sells for 50-60 percent lower than local products in Vietnam, the department said. The department's statement came just a day after another of its deputy chiefs, Tong Xuan Chinh, had told news website VnExpress they were yet to discover any place in Vietnam where US chicken thigh sold at … [Read more...] about Vietnam official ‘surprised’ by prices of chicken from US, but cagey about dumping
Social News 25/7
Praying ceremony for peace held in Lao Cai Bao An Pagoda is one of the two pagodas built on Fansipan, the highest mountain in Vietnam at 3,143m and dubbed the roof of Indochina. On the same day, a ceremony to launch the casting of a statue of the Bodhisattva of Compassion (Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara) also took place at the pagoda. The 12m high and 18-tonne statue will be made of pure copper. When completed, it will be placed on at the height of 3,108m, close to the top of the Fansipan Mountain. National Assembly to push forward with reform National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan has said the NA will continue with strong reforms in both organisation and operation to make its activities more effective and fruitful. At the meeting with the local and international press on July 23 in Hanoi on the operation of the 14th NA tenure, Ngan said the NA will focus on revising the law building process in order to improve the quality and feasibility of laws. The NA will also enhance the … [Read more...] about Social News 25/7
Sai Gon Tiep Thi business as usual after Saigon Times gets publishing license
Sai Gon Tiep Thi business as usual after Saigon Times gets publishing license Nguyen Vu By Nguyen Vu - The Saigon Times Daily The front page of the first issue of Sai Gon Tiep Thi’s new edition HCMC – A new edition of Sai Gon Tiep Thi, a newspaper which has a prime focus on Vietnamese consumers and consumer markets, hit the newsstands this Monday after the old edition was shut down last Friday, meaning there is no interruption of its publication. The Ministry of Information and Communications on February 26, 2014 withdrew the license for the old edition of Sai Gon Tiep Thi at the request of the Investment and Trade Promotion Center of HCMC, the city government’s administering agency of the newspaper. The license withdrawal decision makes clear: “The administering agency requested stopping the operation of the newspaper over financial distress.” That explains why Saigon Times Group is tasked with continuing publication of Sai Gon Tiep Thi, … [Read more...] about Sai Gon Tiep Thi business as usual after Saigon Times gets publishing license