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The greenback notched a fresh six-month high of 140.91 yen in early Asia trade and was headed for a monthly gain of more than 3% against the Japanese currency. The yen's renewed decline has come on the back of rising U.S. Treasury yields, as bets grow that interest rates in the United States would stay higher for longer. Data released on Friday showed that U.S. consumer spending increased more than expected in April and inflation picked up, adding to signs of a still-resilient economy. Yields on U.S. Treasuries jumped on the back of the data, with the two-year yield , which typically reflects near-term interest rate expectations, rising more than 10 basis points to an over two-month high of 4.639% on Friday. Cash U.S. Treasuries were untraded in Asia on Monday, owing to the Memorial Day holiday in the United States, while futures were broadly steady. Ten-year futures' implied yield was 3.84%. The UK market is similarly closed on Monday for a holiday. Against the dollar, … [Read more...] about Dollar elevated as sticky inflation cements Fed hike bets, debt ceiling deal lifts optimism

Vietnam and Japan on Sunday jointly inked three agreements, valued at 61 billion yen (US$442.5 million), to fund new-generation official development assistance (ODA) projects in Vietnam. Of the total, 50 billion yen ($362 million) will be poured into a new-generation ODA program on post-pandemic socio-economic recovery and development. The rest will finance a project improving the public transportation system in southern Binh Duong Province and another one enhancing the infrastructure system for agricultural development in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. The signing of these ODA deals was witnessed by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Japanese counterpart Kishida Fumio during the former’s trip to Japan for attending an expanded summit of Group of Seven (G7) nations, which took place from May 19 to 21. After the signing ceremony for the agreements, PM Chinh held talks with his Japanese counterpart. This is the first Vietnam-Japan high-level … [Read more...] about Vietnam, Japan sign new-generation ODA deals worth over $440mn

Usain Bolt said he is desperate to play a role in reviving the sport that made him a global superstar but has experienced something of a decline since his retirement six years ago. The Jamaican, who dominated men's sprinting for nearly a decade after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, said he had found plenty to do to keep himself busy but was really keen to remain involved in sport. "I spend my time doing a lot of family things, when it comes to track and field, not as much as I would want to but I still try and stay in touch with what is going on," the 36-year-old told Reuters. "I'm still waiting on a position from (World Athletics), I've reached out to them and let them know I would love to make a bigger impact in sports, as long as they want me to. "We've been in talks but we'll have to wait and see what comes around." Bolt added that he was aware his personality was a vital ingredient in the success of track and field during his era but thought he could see signs that athletes … [Read more...] about Bolt desperate for impactful role in track and field

At the signing ceremony (Photo: Su That (Truth) National Political Publishing House) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s Su That (Truth) National Political Publishing House and the People's Publishing House of China signed a cooperation agreement for the 2023-2028 period, and a copyright contract for the second volume of the book “Xi Jinping Tells Stories” on May 23 in Hanoi. The two publishing houses have set up and maintained cooperative ties since the 1960s. As important publishing units of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Communist Party of China, the two sides have implemented effective cooperation in the field of publishing, and made positive contributions to cultural exchange between the people of Vietnam and China. Under the newly-signed agreement, the two agencies will cooperate in building a mechanism for exchange and publication consultation with the periodic provision and introduction of necessary information related to publications. They will also introduce key … [Read more...] about Vietnamese, Chinese publishing houses sign deals

Nguyen Thi Tra My, CEO of The PAN Group. — Photo courtesy of the group Nguyen Thi Tra My, CEO of the PAN Group, said that the group targeted reducing emissions, especially greenhouse gas emissions as one of the key tasks in its sustainable development goals. Greenhouse gas emissions in Viet Nam have increased significantly in recent years due to economic development and population growth. Following the global trend, the Vietnamese Government has been taking measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. The Government's effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions requires the participation of businesses and also puts them in a challenge called “sustainability”. Nguyen Thi Tra My shared about this challenge. In 2022, after COP 26, the Vietnamese Government issued Decree 06/2022/ND-CP and Decision 01/2022/TTg, requiring enterprises to carry out greenhouse gas Inventory and Inventory Verification; together with the greenhouse gas emission reduction plan … [Read more...] about Sustainability – a vital trend in modern agriculture: PAN’s CEO

Senior economist Le Xuan Nghia What global factors currently suggest a move towards lower interest rates in the coming months? In my view, the key factor is the US dollar continues to weaken. Even though the US Federal Reserve (Fed) raised the base interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point in early May, meeting the target range of 5.0-5.25, it is likely there will be an interest rate cut later in the year. A number of factors support this stance, such as inflation in the US slowing, and the possibility of the labour market worsening in the next few months with increased lay-offs in several finance and technology fields. Next is the possibility of widespread bankruptcies in the banking system, as seen in the recent cases of PacWest and Western Alliance. Meanwhile, the US and EU economies face going into recession as the Russia-Ukraine conflict sees no signs of ending in the foreseeable future. This is also the very factor leading to a deep depreciation of the US … [Read more...] about An expert’s view on interest rate movements

Global leaders should be working to reduce "the risk of extinction" from artificial intelligence technology, a group of industry chiefs and experts warned on Tuesday. A one-line statement signed by dozens of specialists, including Sam Altman whose firm OpenAI created the ChatGPT bot, said tackling the risks from AI should be "a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war". ChatGPT burst into the spotlight late last year, demonstrating an ability to generate essays, poems and conversations from the briefest of prompts. The program's wild success sparked a gold rush with billions of dollars of investment into the field, but critics and insiders have raised the alarm. Common worries include the possibility that chatbots could flood the web with disinformation, that biased algorithms will churn out racist material, or that AI-powered automation could lay waste to entire industries. Superintelligent machines The latest statement, … [Read more...] about AI poses ‘extinction’ risk, say experts

Do Van Su, deputy director general of the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment Last week, Do Van Su, deputy director general of the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said the quality and quantity of foreign-headed projects have improved in recent years. “Although the number of large-scale projects has decreased due to the impact of many factors, the quantity of projects overall sees an average increase of 16-19 per cent per year. The average capital of projects is $16 million,” he said. Statistics published by Su’s agency showed that in the first four months of 2023, Vietnam attracted 750 newly registered projects, 386 added-capital projects, and 1,044 paid-in capital, signifying increases of 65.2, 19.5, and 1.8 per cent on-year, respectively. The results are deemed positive in the context that global foreign investment capital inflow is forecasted to dip this year. In addition, these positive … [Read more...] about Quality and quantity advances sought

The seminar was co-organised by Danang and the Swiss-Vietnamese Business Gateway with the support of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Services. According to Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai, permanent representative of Vietnam to the United Nations, World Trade Organization and other International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, Vietnam is a member of ASEAN, a promising market and venue for investment with a wide-ranging network of free trade agreements (FTAs) such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Vietnam is also under free-trade negotiations with EFTA countries. Foreign investment, including those of Swiss investors, into Vietnam and Danang, especially in the fields of green finance, banking, innovation, e-commerce are welcome and encouraged. She added that Danang held an important strategic position in Vietnam’s socioeconomic development. The national … [Read more...] about Swiss investors eyes Danang as potential investment destination

Hau Giang’s location gives it unique advantages in terms of connections, transport, and logistics Earlier this year, the Ministry of Transport joined efforts with Hau Giang People’s Committee and Can Tho city to convene the groundbreaking ceremony of the Can Tho-Hau Giang road component project, part of an initiative to build the North-South Expressway network’s eastern portion, with total length approximating 37km. Meanwhile, the An Giang-Can Tho-Soc Trang expressway is slated to kick-off construction in June, and investment in the Ha Tien-Rach Gia-Bac Lieu expressway will follow suit. Once those key motorways are open to traffic, Hau Giang will be the convergent point between the highways, acting as the gateway to other localities in the region. In light of Hau Giang’s development direction this decade, the province is working on the planning scheme of eight industrial parks (IPs) and 15 clusters spanning 2,800 hectares in total, alongside the development of several urban … [Read more...] about Hau Giang can become major Mekong region growth engine