Sustainability transformation plan

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

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

ASEAN countries like Vietnam are not spared from the impact of climate change. Rapid economic development also means increasing demand for energy and power to meet the pace of growth, which leads to an increase in CO2 emissions. The journey to a cleaner future Takeshi Masuyama, Managing director, regional head of Vietnam, MUFG Bank, Ltd. The Vietnamese government has announced in various international forums its commitment to address environmental issues, and has firmed up its national net-zero target. In addition, the announcement of the Vietnam Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) in last December is another milestone and will further rally the private and public sectors towards accelerating the country’s green transition. MUFG is part of the working group convened by the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) supporting the JETP initiative for Vietnam. The sustainability mission Since announcing our Carbon Neutrality Declaration in 2021, MUFG … [Read more...] about Committed to empowering a brighter future

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

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

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

Hanoi (VNA) - The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency. - National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue asked agencies of the NA and its Standing Committee to keep a close watch on the macro-economic situation, as well as financial, monetary, stock and real property markets, while meeting their standing members on February 7. For urgent issues, NA agencies should actively and promptly work with relevant ministers and heads of ministry-level agencies to seek solutions, instead of waiting for question and answer (Q&A) sessions held by the legislative body and its Standing Committee. Read full story - The coming visit to Singapore by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will be a key platform for both countries to reaffirm their excellent ties, said Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan in his written interview with the Vietnam News Agency. Read full story - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s upcoming … [Read more...] about ☕ Afternoon briefing on February 7

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

In an interview with the press ahead of the PM’s trip from February 8-11, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet stressed that the relations between Vietnam and the two countries are based on a lot of similarities in politics, economy, culture, and people-to-people exchange. The trip is of great significance, he said, noting that this is the first by Pham Minh Chinh in his new position that aims to manifest the consistent policy of prioritizing relations with neighboring countries and ASEAN, as set at the 13th National Party Congress. He added that this is also the first official visit by a leader of the Vietnamese government to Singapore over the past five years, and to Brunei over the past nearly 16 years. Therefore, the visits are expected to deepen the strategic partnership with Singapore, an important economic partner of Vietnam, and the comprehensive partnership with Brunei, also a promising economic partner, according to the official. For Singapore, the visit … [Read more...] about Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s Singapore, Brunei visits look toward cohesive ASEAN