Jul. 30 – Business reading for the beach….here at Asia Briefing (proud owner of the various Briefing brands), we’ve given in to the heat of summer, put on our swim shorts and are providing our readers with a complimentary summer annual to download especially for August. Our first Asia Briefing summer special has arrived.
What’s in it? Business reading for the beach, a mixture of Asia business, culture and some fun stuff, all together in one handy, 20-page download.
Included: the top ten most popular articles from China Briefing, India Briefing, Vietnam Briefing and 2point6billion.com this year to date (over a million views combined on those), plus commentary and updates on them; the top ten Asia tourist destinations, photos and reviews; the best of Asia blogs – from China, India, Vietnam and the rest of Emerging Asia, find out which blogs we liked and why; and Publisher Chris Devonshire-Ellis’s fiendish summer quiz – “So You Think You Know Asia?”– with prizes to be won. Read the rest of this entry »
Jul. 30 – Foreign investment in Vietnam’s financial capital was up by 14.8 percent to US$1.19 billion during the first seven months of the year.
Ho Chi Minh City’s economy seems to have recovered with retail sales of goods and service posting high returns at VND205 trillion, an increase of 32.1 percent from the previous year.
Tourism also seems to be doing well. The city has so far received more than 1.6 million tourists, a growth of 24.3 percent. Industrial production increased by 13.6 percent and budget revenue by 23.3 percent. Read the rest of this entry »
Jul. 29 – Vietnam was ranked as the second most optimistic country in the world according to a global consumer confidence index conducted by Nielsen.
India was the most optimistic followed by Indonesia and Vietnam in a tie for second place. The Global Consumer Confidence Index measures consumer confidence, concerns and spending intentions of 27,000 internet users in 48 countries. Read the rest of this entry »
Jul. 28 – Vietnam is due to submit a draft of the revised labor code for approval by the National Assembly next year that is expected to bring major changes.
Vietnam’s labor code is due for an overhaul despite amendments made in 2002, 2006 and 2007. The current version has not made changes to reflect Vietnam’s membership to the World Trade Organization and the influx of foreign firms setting up in the country. Read the rest of this entry »
Jul. 27 - The government campaign to simplify 258 priority administrative procedures is now in its implementation phase after being adopted last month.
The Advisory Council for Administrative Procedure Reform Secretariat is currently collecting feedback on the simplification plans. The campaign is under resolution number 25 that follows the principle “one document amends all” with the goal to cut down on the bureaucratic process. Read the rest of this entry »
Jul. 26 – The major port city of Danang in central Vietnam has so far lured in US$2.8 billion worth of foreign direct investment.
A majority of the investments were poured into 29 realty projects comprising of up to 73 percent of the city’s total FDI. Danang’s largest foreign investor was the British Virgin Islands followed by South Korea, the United States, Hong Kong and Japan. Read the rest of this entry »
Dezan Shira & Associates offices in Hanoi: L-R: Tran Minh Thu, Hoang Thu Huyen and Hoang Bich Lien
HANOI, Jul. 26 – Dezan Shira & Associates is hiring more legal and tax staff in Vietnam, according to the firm’s principal, Chris Devonshire-Ellis.
“Vietnam is recovering quickly from the fall off in FDI it experienced due to the global downturn, and this, coupled with a change in the economic dynamics in China is spearheading a new wave of investment in the country,” says Devonshire-Ellis. “We are adding to our personnel in both Hanoi and Saigon to cater for this demand.”
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Jul. 23 – Economic and industrial zones investments in Ho Chi Minh City rose by 176 percent during the first half of the year reaching US$320 million.
More than 70 percent of investments made in the zones, approximately US$225 million, came from local investments. Companies located in the zones reported a total export turnover worth US$1.6 billion, an estimated 34 percent increase compared to the previous year. Read the rest of this entry »
Jul. 22 – A new decree will now require science, technology, research and training cooperation deals involving foreign investors to have a written agreement or memorandum of understanding.
Decree No 80/2010/ND-CP, issued on July 14, says that authorities must be informed when an agreement takes effect within 15 days from the date of execution. Read the rest of this entry »
Jul. 21 – Vietnam’s new Commercial Arbitration Law, set to take effect from January 1, 2011, is expected to help local and foreign businesses resolve disputes quicker outside of the court of law.
The new law was approved on June 17, 2010 by the National Assembly and will provide an important legal foundation for businesses to minimize the risks of disputes, said the head of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s legal department, Tran Huu Huynh, during a press conference in Hanoi yesterday. Read the rest of this entry »
