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The revenue is almost twice the sum it has been assigned for per day this year, municipal vice chairman Vo Van Hoan said at an online meeting Tuesday. He said the government has tasked HCMC with earning VN365 trillion in budget revenues this year, which means it has to earn VND1.5 trillion each day. As of now, the city has collected VND74.5 trillion, up 10.5 percent against the same period last year. "Given what has been happening, the city will be able to complete the mission assigned by the central government," Hoan said. HCMC earned budget revenues of VND410 trillion in 2019, roughly 27 percent of the national figure and 3.3 percent higher than the target. Last year, due to the pandemic impact, it achieved just 91.5 percent of the target, earning VND371 trillion. HCMC’s population makes up 9.5 percent of the nation’s 96 million, its labor force accounts for 8.2 percent of the nation’s, but for several years now, it has repeatedly been the biggest money maker, contributing 25-27 percent of the state’s annual budget collection on average. According to the city administration, in the first two months alone, all socio-economic development indicators in the city had posted better growth over the same period the previous year. The total sales value of goods and services increased 4.7 percent while export turnover reached $8 billion, three times higher than the same period last year. The city’s industrial production index rose by 6 percent and more than 3,800 companies resumed operations in the first two months. However, the city’s service industry is still suffering heavily from the pandemic and in the two months, the tourism sector saw revenues drop 70 percent year-on-year, while the hotel sector recorded a decrease of 14 percent. Vietnam closed its borders and suspended all international flights in March 2020 to curb infection spread and has remained in that state ever since. HCMC was granted autonomous decision-making powers in September 2017 …

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What are the principles to build forest environment and CO2 indexes? Prof. Pham Van Dien, deputy director general of the Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST) The forest environment index would be a measure of the capacity to decrease CO2 emissions while simultaneously increasing absorption. A key part of this is forest carbon stock, the amount of carbon that has been sequestered from the atmosphere and is stored within the forest ecosystem. Comparing the forest environment index with actual emissions will help set payments for reducing emissions and establish a market for international emissions trading for sellers, buyers, and intermediaries alike. Regarding the CO2 index, I believe there are two theoretical avenues that can be taken. The index can either concern the carbon emissions of each facility separately, with the upper limit being the emissions quota allotted for them, or look at the net emissions of the entire market and carbon credit created by the decreases in emissions and increased absorption capacity achieved by managing the ecosystem. At the same time, the two indicators need to be built with a mind to ensure economic growth while promoting forest protection, benefiting buyers, sellers, and farmers alike. How will these indices promote carbon trading? They will be the basic building bricks to developing the domestic carbon market, making it possible to exchange carbon credit within the bounds of domestic regulations and international commitments. Reduction targets are forecast to drive carbon credit supply below demand, making the market more animated. The forest environment and CO2 indexes will motivate provinces to better manage their forests, while manufactures with net emissions will be encouraged to upgrade technology and switch to renewable energy to stay within their allotted quotas and avoid charges. What can Vietnam learn from the experience of other countries in managing carbon emission? …

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Dropping seven places since 2019, Viet Nam comes in at #25 while Thailand, Philippines and Indone sia are amongst the top 20 economies globally offering the most supportive entrepreneurial conditions for women.— Infographic by Mastercard Women across the world have been disproportionally impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic – a staggering 87 per cent of women business owners say they have been adversely affected, according to Mastercard’s report of the Women Entrepreneurs Index 2020. Overrepresentation in sectors hardest hit by the economic downturn (such as tourism, retail and F&B), the pronounced digital gender gap in an increasingly virtual world, and the mounting pressures of childcare responsibilities are only a few factors that have left women particularly vulnerable, particularly in economies such as Viet Nam, South Korea and Thailand. MIWE 2020’s top performing economy is a prime example of gender-specific support mechanisms having swift and significant results. For the first time, Israel tops the MIWE as best economy for women entrepreneurs worldwide, advancing from 4th place in 2019. With an ambition to double the number of female entrepreneurs within two years, Israel’s success has been driven by a focused institutional backing for SMEs – its ‘Support for SMEs’ ranking catapulted from 42nd place in 2019, to 1st in 2020. Last year’s strong performers, the United States and New Zealand – although dropping from 1st to 2nd, and 2nd to 4th places respectively – demonstrate that economies with mature gender focused initiatives still out-perform on the global stage through continued focus on advancing conditions for women in business. In both these economies, favourable cultural perceptions of entrepreneurism, the high visibility of female leaders that serve as role models for aspiring entrepreneurs and supportive entrepreneurial conditions play a crucial role in their success. It is noteworthy that the majority of economies (34 out of a total of 58 …

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