500 Startups To Fund More Vietnamese Tech Startups
Silicon Valley venture capital firm 500 Startups has raised $14.1 million for the new seed-stage fund of its Vietnamese unit, 40 per cent over its $10 million target, it announced in a blog post November 20.
— Investvine
Vietnam may start building its biggest airport in 2020
Work on Vietnam’s biggest airport would start in 2020 and it will become operational in 2025, the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) says.
— VnExpress
Vietnam is among world’s top 50 economies after 32 years of reform
After 32 years undergoing economic reform, Vietnam’s economy has maintained an average GDP growth rate of 6.6%, featuring among the world’s top 50 economies, according to Nguyen Thien Nhan, head of the Party Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.
— VietnamNet Bridge
Vietnam extends e-visa granting to foreigners
Thanks to this policy, the number of foreign visitors to Vietnam has been growing fast over the past three years.
— The Hanoi Times
Landslides kill 13, leave 4 missing in south central Vietnam
Landslides due to rains from a tropical storm have killed 13 people and left four others missing in south-central Vietnam.
— Pattaya Mail
CPTPP takes effect, but challenges remain
Vietnam’s approval of the long-awaited Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership will make it more convenient for businesses in Vietnam to boost exports and imports and furthering the economy’s growth.
— Nhan Dan Online
False alarm on Vietjet flight leaves passengers praying for their lives
Panic erupted on a passenger flight of Vietnamese airline Vietjet on Monday when an alarm sounded minutes after take-off from an airport in Ho Chi Minh City, forcing it to return to the airport for a check.
— Vietnam Insider
HCM City approves new housing plan to 2020
A new housing plan to 2020 that will improve city landscapes and quality of life for its residents has been approved by HCM City authorities.
— Vietnam Insider
Firms still report difficulties in obtaining business licences: VCCI survey
Forty two percent of surveyed companies reported that they countered difficulties in applying for business licences in Vietnam, said General Secretary of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Nguyen Quang Vinh.
— VietnamNet Bridge
Chinese rice importers visit Việt Nam to find new partners
Chinese importers of rice have arrived in HCM City and Long An Province to find trading opportunities with Vietnamese counterparts, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Import-Export Department.
— Viet Nam News
VinaLand divests stake in 2 real estate projects in HCM City
VinaLand, a real estate investment arm of Vietnam’s leading asset management firm VinaCapital, has announced its intention to divest stake in the last two remaining projects, according to the company’s statement.
— The Hanoi Times
VinFast unveils prices for first car models
VinFast, a subsidiary of Vietnam’s biggest private firm Vingroup, presented three models and their prices at its maiden show in Hanoi Tuesday afternoon.
— VnExpress
Vietnam Offers India Chance to Get Tougher Against Maritime Rival China
Advances in relations between Vietnam and India will help both countries resist Chinese expansion in Asia including the contested South China Sea, Asia scholars say.
— VOA
Unilever Vietnam owes over $25mln in back taxes: state audit
The state auditing agency says Unilever Vietnam should pay over $25 million in back taxes for the 2009- 2013 period.
— VnExpress
Vietnamese activist to stand trial for insulting national flag
A Vietnamese activist will be tried on Thursday for insulting the national flag, which is punishable in the country with up to three years in prison, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday.
— Business Standard
Will Samsung set up a third smartphone facility in Vietnam?
If a third Samsung facility is built, Vietnam will be involved more deeply in Samsung’s huge supply chain, according to Nguyen Van Toan, deputy chair of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIEs).
— Vietnam Insider
Fine-tuned PPP rules needed to lure foreign investment in transport
The Transport Ministry has proposed the government streamline legal framework for the public-private partnerships (PPP) model to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country’s transport infrastructure, according to deputy transport minister Nguyen Ngoc Dong.
— VietnamNet Bridge
Vietnam, India aim for US$15 billion bilateral trade volume by 2020
The two-way trade revenue between Vietnam and India is on course to increase and is expected to hit US$15 billion by 2020, heard the Vietnam India Business Forum, held in Hanoi, on November 19.
— Nhan Dan Online
Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City lag behind in SOE privatization
It would be challenging to fulfill the government’s plan of selling SOEs in 2018, in which at least 85 state firms must complete the transference to private hands by the end of this year.
— The Hanoi Times
Loopholes make Vietnam farm produce vulnerable to counterfeiting
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has written to the Government Office, highlighting major loopholes that could make it easy for Chinese products to bear Made-in-Vietnam labels.
— VietnamNet Bridge
South Korea’s Lotte to revive largest trade complex in Hanoi
Lotte Mall Hanoi is designed to offer 1,200 shops, 48 restaurants and cafés, a supermarket of 8,500 square meters (sq.m), a cinema, and 71,000-sq.m of underground parking lots.
— The Hanoi Times
Foreign luxury furniture brands sell well in Vietnam
The Vietnamese luxury furniture market is worth $2.5 billion, with 80 percent of products from Europe and 20 percent domestically made.
— VietnamNet Bridge
Vietnam should consider high growth firm-focused policy to boost economic performance: WB
High-growth firms in emerging economies, including Vietnam, account for more than 50% of all new jobs and sales despite making up less than 20% of all firms in manufacturing and services.
— The Hanoi Times
SOE equitisation, divestment fall short of target: Ministry
Only 11 State-owned enterprises (SOEs) were equitised in the first nine months of this year, making the country’s target to complete the equitisation of at least 85 SOEs this year unlikely to reach, according to an official from the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
— VietnamPlus
46 pct APEC firms plan higher investments in Vietnam nex year
With 46 percent of APEC firms planning to increase their investments in the country, Vietnam tops the region in business attraction.
— VnExpress
Expectations from centralised state capital management
As planned, the transfer of state ownership of Vietnam’s 19 leading corporations and groups from five ministries to the Committee for Management of State Capital in Enterprises has been completed after the committee officially came into operation.
— Nhan Dan Online
Dong Thap rice farmers switch to other crops, incomes rise
Farmers in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap have begun to use more than 3,000ha of low-yield rice fields for growing fruits and other crops this year.
— VietnamPlus
Four key industries in HCM City see positive growth
HCM City’s Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in the first 10 months of the year increased by nearly 8 per cent compared to the same period last year, propped up by high growth of electronic equipment and machinery.
— Bizhub
Vietnam’s bond market records growth of 15.7% to US$53 billion in Q3
The figure was boosted mainly by the 5.2% on-quarter and 14.7% yearly expansion in the government bond market to US$49.0 billion.
— The Hanoi Times
Banks up deposit rates, businesses worry
Businesses are worried about rising lending rates as Vietnamese banks offer higher deposit rates. No pressure, says central bank.
— VnExpress
Non-profit schools on the rise
Despite early concerns about its feasibility, non-profit education is gaining ground in Vietnam with both foreign and domestic investors flocking to the burgeoning sector.
— Vietnam Insider
Feature photo Lon&Queta
This week’s Vietnam morning news feature photo acknowledges World Toilet Day, November 19.
Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).
Vietnam morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Vietnam news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies, not politics.

She commenced as an intern at AEC News Today and was appointed as a junior writer/ trainee journalist on April 2, 2018

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