Vietnam Morning News For October 12

Vietjet signs $1.24 bln financing deal for 10 Airbus planes
Vietnam’s Vietjet Aviation signed a combined $1.24 billion worth of financing agreements to purchase up to 10 Airbus planes, the company said Wednesday.
— VnExpress

Fuel tax to up Vietnam inflation by 1.6 percent
Vietnam’s inflation will rise when the new environmental tax on fuel comes into effect next year, a report says.
— VnExpress

Vietnam’s largest water treatment plant for shrimp farming inaugurated
Viet Uc Group put into operation a shrimp-industry high-tech water treatment plant, the most modern of its kind in Vietnam, at the juvenile shrimp production area of the Viet Uc-Bac Lieu Company in Bac Lieu city, Bac Lieu province on October 10.
— Nhan Dan Online

Vietnam seeks to reduce reliance on Asian rice markets
Vietnam is seeking to reduce its reliance on Asian rice markets while boosting the output of high-quality grain to better position itself in the global market, the government said on Thursday.
— Bangkok Post

Vietnam plans 2 more container terminals on manufacturing boom
Vietnam National Shipping Lines, the state-owned marine transporter known as Vinalines, won approval recently to build two large container terminals at a northern port in a 7 trillion dong ($302 million) project.
— Nikkei Asian Review (paywall)

‘Vietnam optimizes dragon fruit exports’
Vietnam’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nguyen Xuan Cuong, yesterday said that his nation is not too concerned about China’s plans to expand their own dragon fruit growing acreage to 30,000 hectares by 2020. The areas used for dragon fruit in the provinces of Hainan and Guangxi have reached 20,000 hectares already and China plans to expand it to 30,000 hectares by 2020.
— Fresh Plaza

Credit institutions expect improved business performance in 2018
A majority of credit institutions expect business performance this year will be better than 2017, according to the latest survey conducted by the State Bank of Vietnam on business trend among credit institutions in September.
— VietnamPlus

New internal water cargo route to be built in central city
The central city of Da Nang plans to build an internal water route and pier system to transport cargo between Tien Sa and Lien Chieu ports and ease congestion on National Highway 14B caused by commercial cargo.
— VietnamPlus

Japan’s retailer AEON to help Vietnam export US$500 million in goods by 2020
The move is part of a series of commitments signed in the Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) between Vietnam`s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and AEON.
— The Hanoi Times

UK, Vietnam seek more trade in business forum | Video
A Vietnamese trade delegation is in London for a UK-Vietnam business forum. The visit comes at a time when the UK is looking for closer ties with global partners as it prepares to leave the European Union. Natalie Powell reports.
— Channel NewsAsia (video)

China, Vietnam pledge to advance law enforcement, security cooperation
China’s top legislator Li Zhanshu met with Vietnamese Minister of Public Security To Lam on Thursday, saying the two countries should advance law enforcement and security cooperation.
— Xinhua

VIETNAM COULD HALT IMPORTS OF WHEAT CONTAINING THISTLE SEED -REPORT
Vietnam might halt imports of wheat cargoes containing cirsium arvense, or thistle seed, while suggesting local importers should seek supplies from Kazakhstan, Australia and Argentina, local media reported on Thursday.
— Successful Farming

Vietnam to enforce tough new cybersecurity law that would require Google, Facebook to store personal data locally, stifling online dissent
Vietnam has been increasingly aggressive in prosecuting dissidents for anti-government Facebook posts, and activists have called on the company to do more to resist the government’s censorship.
— South China Morning Post

Rising oil prices to benefit growth
A surge in the price of crude oil on the global market is fueling the state coffers, but may affect the government’s efforts to curb inflation.
— Nhan Dan Online

Brokerage revises down Vietnamese top steelmaker Hoa Phat’s 2018 profit
Bao Viet Securities Company (BVSC) has cut forecast for Hoa Phat Group`s after-tax profit by 10% to VND11.7 trillion (US$502.79 million) in 2019. However, the Vietnamese steelmaker`s profit growth can still reach 28% in 2019.
— The Hanoi Times

BGRIM clinches VN solar power supply with EVN
B.Grimm Power Plc (BGRIM) has clinched an accord to supply electricity from its solar photovoltaic (PV) farm in Phu Yen Province, Vietnam to the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).
— NNT

New vision for foreign direct investment in Vietnam
With the Foreign Investment Law coming in force in 1988, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows became an important resource in the early days of the Doi Moi reform that helped lift Vietnam from a poor country to a middle-income country and one of the bright spots of growth in the world.
— Nhan Dan Online

Sharp completes 48MW PV project in Vietnam for TTC Group
A 48MW PV project in Vietnam, serving as a joint construction project between Sharp Energy Solutions Corporation, the Thanh Thanh Cong Group (TTC) and the Gia Lai Electricity Joint Stock Company, began commercial operation in the final week of September.
— PV Tech

Why Vietnam ranks best in world for living greener and better
Vietnam performed the best of 151 countries in a study that assessed quality of life versus environmental sustainability. But researchers tell Southeast Asia Globe that, despite its achievements, the best-performing nation on the list still fails to meet the sustainability demands of an increasingly dire ecological outlook.
— Southeast Asia Globe

Defense ministry cuts back on business activities
The Vietnamese military has successfully privatized 32 enterprises and divested all state capital from 10 joint stock companies.
— VnExpress

PM arrives in Bali for ASEAN Leaders’ Gathering
PM Phuc is making the trip to Indonesia to attend the ASEAN Leaders’ Gathering on the fringes of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), and for a working visit to Indonesia.
— Nhan Dan Online

International Puppet Festival underway in Hanoi
The 5th International Puppet Festival officially opened in Hanoi on October 8th with the participation of puppeteers from eight countries, including the host Vietnam.
— NNT

Series of exhibitions on technology and manufacturing solutions open in HCM City
A series of exhibitions on technology and manufacturing solutions, including Metalex Vietnam 2018, Nepcon Vietnam 2018 and the Supporting Industry Show, opened at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre (SECC) in Ho Chi Minh City, on October 11.
— Nhan Dan Online

Airbnb looms as major threat to HCMC hotels: study
CBRE Vietnam’s HCMC property market report for the third quarter reveals that Airbnb is becoming a formidable competitor to traditional players.
— VnExpress

Bottleneck stymies Vietnam from getting foreign tech transfer
A lack of skilled professionals is considered a main cause hindering Vietnam to get technology transfer from foreign direct investment (FDI) firms, experts said.
— The Hanoi Times

Education in Vietnam: very good on paper
The second-year students at Nguyen Hue specialised high school in Hanoi are an unusually motivated bunch.
— Financial Times

Feature photo USAID Vietnam

This week’s Vietnam morning news feature photo acknowledges International Day for Disaster Reduction, October 13.

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.