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It will be Pham Minh Chinh's first visits to the two countries in his new position, and the first to Singapore after five years and to Brunei after 15 years by a  head of the Vietnamese Government, with a view to strengthening bilateral ties with the two nations. This year, Vietnam and Singapore will celebrate the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties and the 10th anniversary of bilateral comprehensive partnership. Meanwhile, Vietnam and Brunei marked the 30th anniversary of their diplomatic ties last year. Singapore is now Vietnam’s top important economic partner in the region, with two-way trade nearing 9 billion USD last year, up 10.1% annually. The island state leads ASEAN and ranks second among the 141 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 3,032 valid projects worth 70.39 billion USD. At present, 12 Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks in nine Vietnamese cities and provinces have an occupancy rate of around 83.2%, attracting 17.6 billion USD for some 900 … [Read more...] about Prime Minister’s upcoming visits to Singapore, Brunei to consolidate ties

The following is the full text of the interview. Reporter: This year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and 10th anniversary of strategic partnership between Singapore and Vietnam. How do you evaluate the Singapore-Vietnam relations in the past half century, especially in the last decade? What should the two countries do to further our bilateral cooperation and to advance the development of each country? Vivian Balakrishnan: The ties between Singapore and Vietnam have grown from strength to strength since we established diplomatic relations 50 years ago. We are longstanding friends and close partners that enjoy wide-ranging cooperation in many areas, both bilaterally and at multilateral fora. I am heartened that the bilateral relationship has continued to expand and evolve to tackle new challenges over the past decade. Our linkages are particularly strong in trade and investment. The 12 Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs) across Northern, Central, … [Read more...] about Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s visit to enhance Singapore-Vietnam relations: Singaporean Foreign Minister

HDBank has achieved 105 per cent of the 2022 targets approved by shareholders. The bank hopes to maintain its high growth momentum with an average rate of more than 25 per cent in the next five years. — Photo courtesy of the bank The Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank has announced its results for 2022, which show it exceeded all its targets and achieved high growth. Its profit before tax was VND10.27 trillion (US$435.8 million), up 27.2 per cent from 2021 and 105 per cent of the target approved by sharehoders. Its net fee income grew dramatically, while its prudential and profitability ratios were among the best in the industry. The total operating income topped VND5.87 trillion ($249.1 million) for the fourth quarter and VND21.97 trillion ($933 million) for the entire year, a year-on-year increase of 26.8 per cent and 31.1 per cent. The net interest income grew by 29.7 per cent and the net fee income by 53.4 per cent. Operating expenses and credit … [Read more...] about HDBank profits top $436m in 2022, 105 per cent of target

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to Singapore aims to affirm both nations’ desire to take their economic connectivity to new heights in the context of a series of new-generation free trade agreements (FTAs) coming into effect and being implemented. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong PM Chinh, his spouse, and a high-ranking delegation of Vietnam will pay an official visit to Singapore from February 8 to 10 at the invitation Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong. The visit takes place amid the dynamic and strong development of the Vietnam - Singapore strategic partnership across multiple fields. This year will see the two countries celebrate the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of their strategic partnership. In 2022, the exchange of delegations and high-level meetings between the two countries was maintained both regularly and effectively. This saw a trip to Singapore by … [Read more...] about PM’s Singapore visit to take economic co-operation to new heights

PM Pham Minh Chinh (R) receives President of Singapore Halimah Yacob in October 2022 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse will pay official visits to Singapore and Brunei from February 8-11 at the invitation of Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong and Sultan of Brunei Hasanal Bolkiah. It will be Chinh's first visits to the two countries in his new position, and the first to Singapore after five years and to Brunei after 15 years by a head of the Vietnamese Government, with a view to strengthening bilateral ties with the two nations. This year, Vietnam and Singapore will celebrate the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties and the 10th anniversary of bilateral comprehensive partnership. Meanwhile, Vietnam and Brunei marked the 30th anniversary of their diplomatic ties last year. Singapore is now Vietnam’s top important economic partner in the region, with two-way trade nearing 9 billion USD last year, up 10.1% annually. The island … [Read more...] about PM’s upcoming visits to Singapore, Brunei to consolidate ties

Rescuers in Turkey and Syria braved frigid weather, aftershocks and collapsing buildings Tuesday, as they dug for survivors buried by an earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people. Disaster agencies said several thousand buildings were flattened in cities across a vast border region -- pouring misery on an area already plagued by war, insurgency, refugee crises and a recent cholera outbreak. Through the night, survivors used their bare hands to pick over the twisted ruins of multi-storey apartment blocks -- trying to save family, friends and anyone else sleeping inside when the first massive 7.8-magnitude quake struck early Monday. "Where is my mum?" asked a distraught seven-year-old girl who was pulled -- her face, hair and pyjamas covered in dust -- from a collapsed building in Hatay, on the Turkish side of the border. Police officer Zekeriya Yildiz hugs his daughter after they saved her from the rubble in Hatay, southwest Turkey on February 6, 2023. Photo: … [Read more...] about Earthquake kills more than 5,000 in Turkey, Syria

Established last December between Vietnam and the International Partners Group (IPG), the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) could facilitate Vietnam in achieving its goal of net-zero by 2050 and a future for green power. Chan Hong and Vi Nguyen, lawyers, Dentons LuatViet, Dentons Global Highlights of Vietnam JETP $15.5 billion to be mobilised An initial amount of at least $15.5 billion will be deployed over the next 3 to 5 years through a combination of financial instruments with the following breakdown: • IPG members will mobilise half of that total ($7.75 billion) through public sector financing, likely on more attractive terms than Vietnam could secure in the capital markets. • Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero Working Group (GFANZ) members will work to mobilise and facilitate the other $7.75 billion through private financing, once the public sector financing has been secured by the IPG. JETP Resource Mobilisations Plan The initiative … [Read more...] about $15.5 billion in financing for green energy from Just Energy Transition Partnership

Entering 2023, Microsoft and Google announced global lay-offs of 10,000 and 12,000 employees, respectively. IBM laid off nearly 4,000 members, while Spotify cut about 6 per cent of staff. Since November last year, Meta, Amazon, and HP have also adjusted thousands of positions. Tech lay-off wave continues to bite at Vietnam’s heels, Illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com In Southeast Asia, Shopee parent company Sea Group, Crypto.com, e-commerce platform JD.ID, and GoTo – a merger between ride-hailer Gojek and e-commerce platform Tokopedia – are among the companies that experienced a drastic staff cut in the past year. GoTo in November 2022 cut 1,300 jobs, equivalent to 12 per cent of the number of employees, while Sea Group let go of 7,000 employees in the past six months. Both companies cited a common cause being challenging macroeconomic conditions. Industry insiders in Vietnam are generally wary of the effect this laid-off wave might have on the domestic market. … [Read more...] about Tech lay-off wave continues to bite at Vietnam’s heels

Through IFC's new investment, SeABank expects to at least double the number of lower and mid-end housing loans by 2026. — Photo courtesy of the bank IFC on Tuesday announced it has invested US$100 million in Southeast Asia Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (SeABank) which aims to boost access to housing loans. With a rapid annual urbanisation rate of 3 per cent, half of the Vietnamese population – about 50 million people – is expected to live in urban areas by 2040. This creates the need for an estimated 374,000 additional housing units every year. However, the limited availability of long-term funding has restricted access to housing finance, especially challenging for lower and middle-income homebuyers, who need longer-term funding due to low levels of income. Through the investment, SeABank expects to at least double the number of lower and mid-end housing loans by 2026. In addition, the project is expected to create thousands of new jobs in construction and other related sectors. … [Read more...] about IFC invests another $100m in SeABank to boost access to housing loans

After Meta, Amazon, Twitter, and Tesla, Xiaomi has become the next name to join the list of leading tech companies forced to cut staff. In a December 20 announcement, a Xiaomi representative confirmed that about 10 per cent of the total workforce will be affected by the reduction policy implemented by the company to “optimise full-time and organisational rationalisation”. Tech group lay-off wave reaches Vietnam, illustration photo/ source freepik.com Xiaomi had over 35,300 employees as of the end of September, according to its third-quarter earnings report. It is expected that about 5,000 Xiaomi employees will ultimately be affected in the near future, mainly those working in the smartphone and internet service business units. The decision by the fifth-largest smartphone vendor in the Chinese market comes after seeing a 9.7 per cent drop in Q3 results on-year. Xiaomi is not the only tech company in Asia to start laying off staff. A week earlier, online commerce … [Read more...] about Tech group lay-off wave reaches Vietnam