Vietnam Morning News For May 16

Online sales finally begin to bear fruit
The Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM) estimates that with a growth rate of 30-50 percent per annum, Vietnam’s e-commerce market value may reach $10 billion after five years.
– VIETNAMNET Bridge

China-Vietnam communique highlights project financing, rail construction
China will help Vietnam secure Chinese preferential loans and borrow from a multilateral development bank to finance infrastructure and other joint projects.
– Ecns

Hanoi’s water supply forecast to run dry during hot summer
Officials say the current system is likely to spring a leak as temperatures and demand rise over the summer.
– VnExpress

VN-Italy steel firm to invest VND1.6 trillion in production
Viet Nam-Italy Steel Joint Stock Company (VIS) plans to invest VND1.658 trillion (US$72.7 million) in three projects to expand its production capacity, Vietnam News Agency reported.
– Viet Nam News bizhub

Pork prices plummet again, testing farmers
In recent days pork prices have dipped to a record low and also the lowest in the world. Pig on the hoof is sold at VND25,000-VND28,000 (US$1.11-1.24) per kilogramme.
– VIETNAMNET Bridge

Vietnam eyes tough road to fulfil 2017’s GDP growth target
Vietnam is facing tough challenges to fulfil its economic growth target for this year amidst the country is experiencing trade deficit and depending on foreign direct investment sector, held Dr. Vu Thanh Tu Anh, Fulbright University’s Director of Research.
– VietnamPlus

First IFRS certificates awarded in VN
Nearly 80 Vietnamese financial and accounting experts received International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) certificates from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) in Ha Noi on Monday.
– Viet Nam News bizhub

Vietnam dismisses senior lawmaker linked to toxic Formosa scandal
The former leader of Ha Tinh Province allowed the Taiwanese steel plant to build an illegal waste pipeline that devastated the central coast.
– VnExpress

Vietnam moves towards high-tech agriculture
Cau Dat Farm Da Lat, famed in the central highlands town of Da Lat since 1927, has applied IoT to its crops since mid-2016.
– VIETNAMNET Bridge

Rising trade deficit puts pressure on exchange rate
The VND/USD exchange rate in 2017 is predicted to suffer the greatest pressure from the demand of foreign currency due to the increasing trade deficit, according to the National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC).
– VietnamPlus

Fourth Industrial Revolution poses labor problem
Although the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) brings about economic efficiency, higher labor productivity, product improvements and better competitiveness, it will undeniably pose a big labor problem as millions of jobs in many countries including Vietnam will be affected.
– VIETNAMNET Bridge

Elephant tusks, leopard skins smuggled from Africa seized at airport
Tân Sơn Nhất airport customs officers on Sunday found elephant tusks and tails, leopard skins, and wild animal claws worth VNĐ2 billion (US$90,000) in the luggage of a Vietnamese woman who had been on a flight from Africa to HCM City.
– Viet Nam News

First data centre of Viet Nam’s banking sector operational
The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV), MNR Joint Venture and IBM Viet Nam held a ceremony to launch a new data centre in Ha Noi on Monday.
– Viet Nam News bizhub

City to spend $1.9b on power development
The HCM City People’s Committee has proposed that the Ministry of Ministry and Trade approve the city’s power transmission development plan with a total investment of about VND42.9 trillion (nearly US$1.9 billion).
– Viet Nam News bizhub

Database of 24 mln health insurance buying families shared
The Vietnam Social Security (VSS) has shared the database of 24 million households buying health insurance with the Ministry of Health, a move aimed to better health insurance management and health care activities.
– VietnamPlus

APEC highlights co-operation
The Asia-Pacific region has always been a focus of Việt Nam’s foreign policy, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Phạm Bình Minh said yesterday at the opening session of the 24th Pacific Economic Co-operation Council (PECC) in Hà Nội.
– Viet Nam News

Seafood exporters slam red tape
The Government will likely ease the requirement for seafood enterprises to submit declarations of conformity with food safety regulations, officials said at a conference on Saturday.
– Viet Nam News bizhub

ATM services must run 24/7: Bank
Following recent complaints that several banks in Việt Nam have stopped providing ATM services at night, the State Bank of Việt Nam (SBV) has ordered all banks nationwide to provide ATM services 24/7.
– Viet Nam News

OVs in Germany gain access to Vietnamese TV channels
A TV internet-based product called Viet Media Box has been introduced in Berlin, Germany, giving overseas Vietnamese in Germany access to around 50 domestic TV channels, including Vietnam News Agency’s Vnews.
– Vietnam Times

Banking Vietnam 2017 set for HCMC
The 2017 Banking Vietnam Conference and Expo will take place from May 18 to 19 this year in HCM City focusing on digital technology, according to the State Bank of Viet Nam.
– Viet Nam News bizhub

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Vietnam Morning News For May 16 added by John Le Fevre on May 16, 2017
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John Le Fevre

Thailand editor at AEC News Today

John is an Australian national with more than 40 years experience as a journalist, photographer, videographer, and copy editor.

He has spent extensive periods of time working in Africa and throughout Southeast Asia, with stints in the Middle East, the USA, and England.

He has covered major world events including Operation Desert Shield/ Storm, the 1991 pillage in Zaire, the 1994 Rwanda genocide, the 1999 East Timor independence unrest, the 2004 Asian tsunami, and the 2009, 2010, and 2014 Bangkok political protests.

In 1995 he was a Walkley Award finalist, the highest awards in Australian journalism, for his coverage of the 1995 Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) Ebola outbreak.

Prior to AEC News Today he was the deputy editor and Thailand and Greater Mekong Sub-region editor for The Establishment Post, predecessor of Asean Today.

In the mid-80s and early 90s he owned JLF Promotions, the largest above and below the line marketing and PR firm servicing the high-technology industry in Australia. It was sold in 1995.