Security questions list

Thoughts return to stronger rail options. Source: freepik.com Although the Ever Given container ship was rescued one week after being stranded in the Suez Canal in Egypt, the trading world remains rocked as hundreds of billions of US dollars has evaporated in the wake of the global trade system significantly relying on this narrow canal. The incident has also posed questions on developing other transportation channels, in which trans-continental rail routes may be top of the list. “One of the most effective channels is to develop a rail route running through Asia and Europe. This would be very good for exporters in Vietnam,” said Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Agency of Foreign Trade. It is now recommended that exporters should consider and take advantage of the current rail route connecting Vietnam through China to Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, and Germany. From Germany, the goods can be transported to other European markets. Currently if goods are transported via this rail route, it would take a month from Vietnam to Germany, with a cost of $8,000-9,000 per container, which is higher than the $6,000-8,000 for sea transportation which can take up to 50 days. However, the existing difficulty is the difference in railway widths and also standards of the trains themselves. The width of Vietnam’s railways is one metre, while that of other nations is around 1.4m. Moreover, trains in Vietnam cannot accommodate a huge volume of goods at the same time – each train can carry a maximum of 90 tonnes of goods for 15 compartments. If exporters want their goods transported by trains from Vietnam to overseas markets, they will have to change trains many times, meaning higher costs. These factors currently make it difficult for Vietnam to boost the transportation of goods by train to other international markets. Kazakhstani Ambassador to Vietnam Yerlan Baizhanov previously told VIR that Kazakhstan, China, and …

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Traders work at the trading floor of Sai Gon Securities Inc. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The development of the equity market will help promote the transparency and corporate governance of listed companies, especially public companies with State capital , an official has said. The statement was made by Dang Quyet Tien , director of the finance ministry's Corporate Finance Department, during a recent seminar in Hanoi. “This will help boost the volume of transactions in the stock market, increasing the liquidity for State shareholders,” Tien said. “There is a problem that has persisted for many years in most State-owned enterprises, which is the ineffectiveness in the management and use of State capital,” he said. “The development of the equity market would help State-owned enterprises be less dependent on bank credit loans, diversifying forms of capital mobilisation.” The Vietnamese stock market has seen remarkable development since its inception, but the rate of capital mobilisation via this market was still very low, said Nguyen Tu Anh, director of the General Economic Department under the Central Economic Committee. “The diversification of products on the market is still poor, resulting in high volatility. At present, idle capital in the economy is quite large, the deposit interest rates of banks have decreased and the interest rates of Government bonds have dropped deeply, which are very favourable conditions to develop the stock market,” he said. “Over the past 20 years, Vietnam’s stock market has made great progress, promoting its role as a capital mobilisation channel for the medium and long term. However, more efforts are still needed to achieve the upcoming development goals,” said Ta Thanh Binh, Director of Securities Market Development Department under the State Securities Commission. “The status upgrade of the stock market needs efforts not only from the securities industry and the stock market regulators but also from …

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Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, head of the Vietnamese Mission to the United Nations, has called on the international community to make constructive contributions to help Myanmar prevent violence, promote an environment conducive to dialogue and reconciliation while respecting the country's principles of independence, national sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity. Myanmar police tighten security in Yangon city (Photo: VNA) During an Arria-formula online meeting of the UN Security Council member states which was co-chaired by the UK, the US, Estonia, France, Ireland and Norway on April 9, Ambassador Quy urged supporting the role of the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General on Myanmar and creating favourable conditions for the envoy's working trip to Myanmar. He stressed the top priority to ensuring life, security and safety of all, and unobstructed humanitarian aid to those in need of help, especially vulnerable groups in society. He called on parties concerned in Myamar to refrain from violent acts, conduct dialogues and reconciliation according to will and aspirations of the people, for the sake of peace and stability in the region. Quy affirmed that Myanmar is a member state of the ASEAN family and the bloc is ready to help the country in a constructive and peaceful manner via related mechanisms. ASEAN member states, including Vietnam, has been working with parties concerned in Myanmar to promote dialogue and seek solutions to the issue, he said. He also called on the international community to support ASEAN’s efforts and stance, and wished that discussions at the UN and relevant important issues need consultations with ASEAN member countries and others in the region. Rapporteurs at the event expressed concern over current situation in Myanmar and warned about the risks of economic, food and health crises as well as a civil war. Many opinions called for refraining from violence and preventing tension escalation, while asking …

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