Jul. 15 – Can Tho City located in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta registered the fastest growth in gross domestic product (GDP) at 7.8 percent followed by Haiphong with 5.8 percent; Danang with 5.1 percent; and Ho Chi Minh City with 4.6 percent for the first half of the year.
Hanoi was at fifth place with a GDP growth of 4.1 percent, according to the Vietnam News Agency. Hanoi’s GDP is estimated to grow at 5.5-6 percent this year, lower than the annual target of 9.5-10 percent, deputy chairman Phi Thai Binh of the Hanoi People’s Committee told Thanh Nien News.
The country’s top cities have been affected by the global financial crisis with the exports industry being the hardest hit of them all. Read the rest of this entry »
HO CHI MINH, Jul. 14 – Despite being offered on a trial basis in Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong since 2005, the e-customs clearance service is still bogged by inefficiencies and delays.
City customs departments are ill-equipped to handle the surge of applications because of insufficient bandwidth capacity sometimes aggravated by the country’s slow internet connection.
Local businesses using the service told Thanh Nien News that service has not cut processing time but even added to their workload, moreover, the clearance process still requires paperwork to be filled out. Read the rest of this entry »
Jun. 11 – Direct overland shipments between Vietnam and Thailand are now possible through a regional customs transit system that eliminates the need for re-loading in Lao PDR.
The direct route along the East-West Economic Corridor begins from Danang, Vietnam, passing through Savannakhet, Lao PDR then on to Thailand. This is the first time that commercial trucks from Thailand and Vietnam can enter each others’ territory directly to deliver and pick up trade goods.
The regional customs transit system allows for single-window and single-stop border inspections that will cut overland transport time and increase trade and tourism.
“Ten years after Laos, Thailand and Vietnam first agreed to ease cross-border traffic rules, the promise of that agreement is truly being realized,” said Arjun Thapan, Director General of Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Southeast Asia Department in a statement.
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Jun. 9 – American hotel and leisure company, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, has partnered with Saigon Invest Group to built two resorts in Danang City and Dalat town.
These projects will include a 330-room Le Meridien Danang Resort and Spa on more than 8.4 hectares of land. The project will have an investment capital of US$100 million. The Sheraton Dalat Resort and Spa, on the other hand, will be spread over 18 hectares with more than 150 rooms at a cost of US$40 million.
Starwood has partnered with the Kinh Bac Corporation, an affiliate of Saigon Invest Group and an investor in industrial parks, tourism and household properties.
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May 27 – According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency, foreign investment during the first 5 months of the year dropped by 76 percent to US$6.68 billion compared to the same period last year.
Only 256 new foreign-invested projects worth US$2.7 billion were licensed, a 89 percent plunge from previous figures while disbursements of committed capital also slowed down by 29 percent to US$2.8 billion. However, more capital was registered to 40 existing projects amounting to US$3.96 billion, a 28 percent increase. Read the rest of this entry »
May 6 – Vietnam plans to establish ten international airports across the country through the expansion of existing facilities and the construction of new ones, according to a recent zoning plan released by government authorities in Ho Chi Minh City.
The plan, drawn up by Vietnam’s Ministry of Transportation, will include renovations and massive upgrades to Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport and Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport which will greatly increase their capacity for passengers and cargo.
By 2020, Noi Bai International Airport looks to be able to serve as many as 25 million passengers a year, up from its current annual level of seven million. The airport will also handle 260,000 tons of cargo and, with the addition of two new runways, will be able to facilitate the landing of large aircraft like the Boeing 747 and Airbus’ A380.
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Apr. 27 – In a joint venture with Phu Tai Group, the Tokyo-based convenience store FamilyMart will set up its first store in Vietnam later this year.
FamilyMart’s primary shareholder, the trading house Itochu Corporation, will assist with product development and distribution in the Southeast Asian country with the goal of establishing 300 stores by 2014, according to executive officer Takehiko Kigure.
The company is Japan’s third-largest convenience-store operator and will the be the first major Japanese convenience store chain to enter Vietnam.
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Mar. 27 – The Southeast Asian country's economy grew by 3.1 percent during the first quarter of the year compared the same period last year as companies delay or cut investment plans and manufacturing.
The figure is the weakest on record since 1999 for which quarterly figures are available, reports Bui Ba Cuong, director of the office’s department of national accounts.
During the first quarted last year, the economy grew by 7.5 percent.“In this situation, 3 percent growth is a positive figure,” Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh, general director of Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Joint-Stock Co. told Bloomberg. “My business is not as bad as we had expected. We can live with this level of growth.”
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July 16- The Vietnamese Commerce and Information Technology are making the final preparations for the launch of a portal for foreign markets on September 1st.
The new portal also aims to attract local business.
In addition, there will be versions of the Vietnam export portal in English and other foreign languages that will showcase Vietnamese enterprises and products.
