Vietnam Morning News For April 9

Vietnam spends 570 million USD importing pharmaceuticals in Q1
Vietnam spent more than 570 million USD on importing pharmaceuticals in the first quarter of this year, marking a year-on-year increase of 16.7 percent, according to the latest statistics from the General Department of Customs.
— VNA NET

Hanoi to spend $625,000 a year on metro line subsidies
Hanoi plans to spend VND14.5 billion ($625,000) each year on subsidizing tickets for its first metro line.
— Vietnam Insider

Vietnam state steel company faces bankruptcy
Saddled with debts it cannot repay, state-owned Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Jsc is on the verge of bankruptcy.
— VnExpress

SMEs’ online trading activities to see strong development
Online import and export activities of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are expected to develop further due to the low number of them currently embracing e-commerce, according to experts.
— Viet Nam News

Minister asks for efforts to achieve shrimp export targets
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Nguyen Xuan Cuong has asked localities and enterprises to deploy measures to optimise opportunities for the shrimp sector to achieve the goal of 4.1-4.2 billion USD in export in 2019.
— VietnamPlus

HCM City continues to speed up anti-flood works
Ho Chi Minh City plans to carry out 218 anti-flooding works this year at a cost of nearly 8 trillion VND (345 million USD).
— VNA NET

Vietnam competition authority warns against prize winning scams on fake Facebook pages
The Vietnam Competition Authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade has advised local consumers against ‘prize-winning’ scams where people are notified by fake Facebook pages that they have won valuable prizes from famous brands.
— Vietnam Insider

Thai tycoon gets billion-dollar fillip after announcing Vietnam investment
The fortune of Thai energy tycoon Sarath Ratnavadi jumped by a billion dollars after announcing his Vietnam investment plan.
— VnExpress

MoiT steps up fight against fake goods online
The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) is seeking solutions to stop fake goods appearing on e-commerce websites, said a ministry official at a conference held in Ha Noi recently.
— Bizhub

Investment to focus on localities outside the big cities
Investment inflows into the real estate sector are expected to shift from big cities like Ha Noi and HCM City to other localities in the second quarter of the year, attendees heard at a conference held in Thanh Hoa Province on Saturday.
— Bizhub

Hà Nội: Property transactions in some districts on the up in Q1
Transactions on the property market in the districts of Đông Anh, Gia Lâm, Hoài Đức and Thanh Trì posted an uptrend in the first quarter of this year though Hà Nội saw an overall reduction on the market, according to Savills Việt Nam in the capital.
— Viet Nam News

Aquaculture sector faces challenges
The aquaculture sector makes up nearly 10 bln USD in exports each year but the sector is facing several challenges, including the threat of completely losing markets for Vietnamese tra fish products.
— VietnamPlus

AirAsia operates first flight on Can Tho-Kuala Lumpur air route
Flight AK 575 of Malaysia’s AirAsia from Kuala Lumpur to Can Tho international airport landed its first journey on April 8 morning.
— VNA NET

Central Vietnam steel plant to be auctioned for miniscule fraction of investment
The Van Loi Steel Mill, deserted for eight years, will be auctioned at 6.4 percent of its registered investment.
— VnExpress

Urbanisation in Binh Dinh central province to reach 48.6 percent by 2035
Binh Dinh province in the south central coastal region will achieve an urbanization rate of 48.6 percent by 2035 as projected by the province’s construction master plan to 2035, which was made public on April 8.
— VNA NET

Bamboo Airways to open air route to Japan
Việt Nam’s newest carrier Bamboo Airways said last week that it will start operating charter flights to the Japanese prefecture of Ibaraki during the Golden Week in Japan.
— Viet Nam News

SMEs’ online trading activities to see strong development
Online import and export activities of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are expected to develop further due to the low number of them currently embracing e-commerce, according to experts.
— Bizhub

Vietnam, China to promote parliamentary ties
National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and Vice Chairwoman of the China National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee Shen Yueyue pledged to promote bilateral parliamentary ties at their meeting in Doha, Qatar, on April 7 (local time).
— VNA NET

VN-Index nears 1,000-point mark on April 8
Upturn was seen in the majority of shares on April 8, as motivated by the growth of oil and gas firms as well as banking shares.
— VietnamPlus

Evidence of Vietnam’s maritime sovereignty showed in Hai Phong
An exhibition was opened in the northern city of Hai Phong on April 8, giving visitors an insight into historical and legal evidence proving Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos.
— VNA NET

Tourism property sector has great potential for growth: forum
The tourism property sector has great potential for growth thanks to the rapid growth in the tourism industry, a forum heard in HCM City last Saturday.
— Bizhub

Vietnam’s tug-of-war games, ritual receive UNESCO’s certificate
A ceremony was held in Thach Ban ward, Hanoi’s Long Bien district on April 7 to receive a certificate of UNESCO recognition of the sitting tug-of-war games and rituals at local Tran Vu temple as part of the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
— VNA NET

Water shortage threatens Lý Sơn Islanders
Underground water in the Lý Sơn Islands, 30km off the coast of Quảng Ngãi Province, has become seriously salinised in the early dry season this year – the worst in the last three – as demand for water has exceeded current underwater reserves.
— Viet Nam News

Vietnam wants to send more Vietnamese workers to Qatar: NA leader
National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said she had asked leaders of Qatar to receive more Vietnamese workers as the Western Asian country is preparing for the 2022 World Cup finals.
— VNA NET

Ly Tong, who hijacked planes to fight communism in Vietnam, dies at 73
Officially, the Vietnam War ended in April 1975, when North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces swept through Saigon and gained control of the U.S.-backed South. But for Ly Tong, a former South Vietnamese fighter pilot, the struggle against communism would last for decades more.
— Washington post

Bangladeshi naval ship visits Vietnam
Guided missile corvette BNS Prottoy of the Bangladesh Navy arrived in here on Monday, beginning its four-day friendship visit to the city.
— Xinhua

Vietnam, important Southeast Asian partner of Kazakhstan
Vietnam is Kazakhstan’s important partner in Southeast Asia, affirmed Chairman of the Mazhilis (lower house) of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Nurlan Nigmatulin.
— Nhan Dan Online

Solid waste treatment facilities to be examined
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has revealed a plan to check 51 solid waste treatment facilities in 25 provinces and cities throughout the country.
— Vietnam Insider

Association to further promote Vietnamese students’ movements in RoK
The Vietnamese Students’ Association in the Republic of Korea (VSAK) held its seventh congress in Seoul on April 7 to review its work from 2017-2019 and set forth a plan for the next three years.
— VNA NET

German state offers free vocational training for Vietnamese workers
Vietnamese labourers will have opportunities to receive free vocational training in Germany under a programme to look for skilled workers in the Southeast Asian country launched by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce for South Thüringen (IHK Südthüringen).
— VNA NET

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