Vietnam Morning News For March 7

Welcome to the Vietnam morning news roundup by AEC News Today, your one stop for Vietnam news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities.

Vietnam sees full state exit from sugar mills by end 2017
The Vietnamese government has set a target to fully divest from sugar mills by the end of this year, which is aimed at raising the competitiveness of the sugar industry, a local newspaper reported Monday.
— VN Express International

Vietnamese prefer low-cost products and services with decent quality
Le Thanh Nguyen in HCMC last week bought 100 medical masks at once, because she only had to pay VND15,000 only for every box of 50 masks. But she later regretted her decision as she discovered that the mask was made of dirty cotton.
— VietNamNet Bridge

Value of Vietnam’s ‘bikini airline’ overtakes national carrier
Vietnamese private budget airline VietJet’s VJC.HM market capitalization surpassed that of state-owned Vietnam Airlines HVN.HNO on Monday, only a week after it was listed.
— Reuters

Modified sleeper buses present increased fire hazard in Vietnam
Multiple cases of sleeper buses catching fire have been recorded across Vietnam in recent months, with authorities scratching their heads to determine the cause and to prevent similar incidents.
— Tuoi Tre News

Việt Nam, Myanmar boost military ties
The Vietnamese State and Government will create the best conditions for the country’s army to enhance co-ordination with their Myanmar counterparts to deepen bilateral friendship.
— Viet Nam News

Many businesses stop advertising on YouTube
Some major brands in Việt Nam had to stop advertising on the world’s largest online video site, YouTube, when these brands’ advertisements were linked to clips containing poor content.
— Viet Nam News

Casino industry: what will happen after the trial period?
The government now allows Vietnamese to go to only two casinos, in Van Don and Phu Quoc. Ha Ton Vinh, who has been pursuing multi-billion dollar casino projects in the last 10 years, commented that the two casino projects, capitalized at $2 billion in Lang Co, Hue City and Bac Van Phong of Cam Ranh have just received the government’s approval in principle.
— VietNamNet Bridge

More domestic, international flights proposed for Quang Binh
The central province of Quang Binh suggested the the Ministry of Transport and Vietnam Airlines increase the number of domestic and international flights to and from Dong Hoi airport, in a bid to meet tourists’ demands.
— VBN

Vietnamese pharmacy firms cash in on nutritional supplements, brokers say
Liver supplements marketed for detoxication and supporting liver functions have become big business.
— VBN

Global Fund continues supporting Việt Nam’s HIV, TB, malaria fight
Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Mark Dybul has pledged to help Việt Nam maintain its achievements in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
— Viet Nam News

Exclusive: Vietnamese PE firm VIGroup leads $2m round in Congnhadat.net
Ho Chi Minh City-based investment firm Vietnam Investment Group (VIGroup) is leading a $2 million Series A funding round in O2O real estate platform Congnhadat.net, the realty portal founder told.
— Deal Street Asia

Vietnam: Used car platform Caramo raises funding; Founder Team acquires Tonkin Coffee
Caramo, Vietnam’s first used car trading service, has attracted an angel investment from serial entrepreneur Jonah Levey. In another development, a newly established venture building team called Founder Team said it will be buying Hanoi’s one-time famous F&B chain Tonkin Coffee.
— Deal Street Asia

Smart control center to be launched on expressway connecting Saigon, Dong Nai
Data collected from 68 surveillance cameras along the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway in southern Vietnam will be analyzed by a control center for real-time analysis of traffic situations.
— Tuoi Tre News

Feature photo: Robert Pastryk

The Vietnam morning news roundup is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.