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Asian markets bounced Tuesday from the previous day's rout, with lenders boosted by easing concerns of another financial crisis, while focus turned to the Federal Reserve's policy decision later in the week. The panic that characterised trade over the past 11 days appeared to have faded after authorities in leading economies pledged support for depositors and troubled banks following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the United States. Still, the takeover of troubled Credit Suisse by UBS for $3.25 billion fanned concerns about what could be next on the chopping block, and analysts warned it was too early to say that the crisis was over. The move to save Credit Suisse aimed to prevent a wider crisis as it is among the 30 global banks considered "too big to fail". All three main indexes on Wall Street ended on the front foot -- with the Dow more than one percent up -- while European markets were also comfortably higher, helped by promises of … [Read more...] about Asian markets rebound as bank fears ease, Fed decision in view

A train of Viet Nam Railways. — Photo courtesy of VNR The railway sector is striving to escape losses and divest capital in many companies in 2023, the Committee for Management of State Capital at Enterprises said about the Project on Restructuring Viet Nam Railways (VNR) from 2021 to 2025. The project has identified and evaluated the achievements and limitations on the basis of a comprehensive assessment. The restructuring of VNR in 2016-2020 includes the production and business performance, the level of safety, security and defence, development and investment, science and technology and digital transformation. It also sets out goals and plans for the restructuring of the corporation in 2021-2025, aiming at innovation, improved corporate governance, effective exploitation of resources, and enhanced labour productivity. Additionally, VNR tries to achieve and exceed the targets assigned by competent authorities, fulfil the obligation to pay the State budget, ensure enough … [Read more...] about Railway sector sets plans to avoid losses this year

Attending the event were Major General Le Quang Dao, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Commander of the Vietnam Coast Guard; Comrade Ho Thi Hoang Yen, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Ben Tre Provincial Party Committee; Tran Ngoc Tam, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ben Tre Province. At the event, Deputy Political Commissar of the Vietnam Coast Guard Command Major General Tran Van Xuan reviewed the coordination in conducting the “Coast guard stand by fishermen” program over the past time. Organized for the first time in March 2017, the program has obtained practical achievements in disseminating the Party’s guidelines and State’s policies to people; supporting fishermen in fishing at sea, contributing to firmly safeguarding national sovereignty over sea and islands; assisting localities in socio-economic and cultural development, poverty reduction, new-style rural area building, and living standard improvement. Over … [Read more...] about Coast guard force and Ben Tre province sign coordination agreement

Representatives of three clam breeding co-operatives in Tra Vinh province receive Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification for their bivalve molluscs. (Photo: VNA) Tra Vinh (VNS/VNA) - Three clam farming cooperative s in the Mekong Delta of Tra Vinh with a total area of 433ha have been awarded the Aquaculture Stewardship Council quality certification. They are the Thanh Cong Cooperative in Cau Ngang district’s My Long Nam commune, Tien Thanh Clam Cooperative in Chau Thanh district’s Long Hoa commune and Long Thanh Agriculture Cooperative also in Long Hoa. The province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the International Collaborating Centre for Aquaculture and Fisheries Sustainability (ICAFIS) held a ceremony to hand over the certificates to the cooperatives last week. Also at the ceremony, the Ben Tre Seafood Joint Stock Company and the Hung Truong Phat Aquamarine Product Joint Stock Company in Ben Tre province and the Lenger Seafoods Vietnam … [Read more...] about Tra Vinh clam breeding cooperatives receive ASC certificate

At the event "Vietnam Sports Glory" hosted by the Sports Administration under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST), SABECO awarded VND230 million ($9,750) to 23 athletes in fields such as athletics, swimming, football, cycling, weightlifting, and wushu. The hope is for these young athletes to go on and achieve outstanding things in professional sport and bring glory to the country. The award is part of the "Vietnam Wins Gold" initiative that was implemented by the MoCST and SABECO last year to support the training and development of young athletes as they prepare for the SEA Games, and raise the profile of Vietnamese sport in general. The scheme is to spend VND5 billion ($212,000) to support key athletes in training and participating in international competitions. A total of VND750 million ($32,000) was awarded to 50 athletes selected by the General Department of Sports. The remaining support is expected to be disbursed by April this year to support athletes … [Read more...] about SABECO and Bia Saigon back Vietnamese athletes

ADC Pharma in Can Tho Province. As the domestic pharmaceutical market holds a lot of potential, local producers are urged to improve their competitiveness for expansion. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Liem It is critical for pharmaceutical companies to improve competitiveness with a focus on research and development (R&D), production technology and digitalisation. According to experts, this will help them expand their shares in the domestic market which remains being dominated by imported drugs and extend their international reach. Viet Nam’s pharmaceutical market has significant potential. The Ministry of Health estimated the market at US$6.9 billion in 2021 while BMI Research forecast the market to reach $16.1 billion in 2026 with a compound growth rate of up to 11 per cent. According to Nguyen Dieu Ha, general secretary and office chief of the Vietnam Pharmaceutical Companies Association (VNPCA), there are 55 foreign-invested pharmaceutical companies in Viet Nam as of the end of … [Read more...] about Pharmaceutical companies urged to invest in R&D, improve competitiveness

Climate change is an urgent problem for humanity in the 21 st century, and its importance was reinforced by the presence of 197 heads of state at the Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in 2021 (COP26). Vietnam has made strong commitments and issued its National Strategy on Climate Change for the period to 2050. Time for business action According to the World Bank, Vietnam is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. In 2020 alone, Vietnam has suffered a loss of $10 billion, equivalent to 3.2 per cent of GDP. Without a green transformation strategy, it is estimated that the nation could be losing 12-14 per cent of GDP every year by 2050. Green transformation describes the process of applying advanced processes and technologies to reshape business operations, ensuring economic growth, environmental sustainability, and social development. From an enterprise perspective, a common management solution is through a set of environmental, social and governance … [Read more...] about Net-Zero: Challenges and opportunities for Vietnamese businesses

Workers weigh and package dried shrimp, a Ca Mau Province's OCOP. —VNA/VNS Photo Huynh Anh The Government has introduced a new set of criteria for rating products enrolling in the One Commune One Product (OCOP) Programme. Dao Duc Huan, head of the OCOP Management Department, Central Coordination Office for New-style Rural Development (CCO), said the new set was laid down to replace the old set issued in 2019, which has begun to show cracks after four years being in place. As the old set had overlooked a wide range of products specified in Decision No.490, the new one has fixed the cracks by expanding its scope to cover the missing pieces. It has also altered old scoring rules by assigning a maximum score of 40 points to the "community strength" category, 25 points to "marketing capabilities", and 35 points to "product quality". Huan said the new set had encouraged the involvement of women and ethnic minorities in the production of OCOPs by giving extra points to affirmative … [Read more...] about New criteria for OCOPs