Vietnam Morning News For May 7

Ministry reiterates request to export 2.5 million tons of unsold coal
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has repeated its request to export 2.5 million tons of unsold coal mined by two companies.
— VnExpress

Vietnamese firms seek to adapt to official exports to China
Vietnamese businesses and farmers face various challenges in exporting farm produce to China, which is shifting from unofficial channels to official ones.
— VietnamPlus

Vietnam’s fruit, veggie export increases in 4 months
Vietnam earned nearly 1.4 billion U.S. dollars from exporting fruits and vegetables in the first four months of this year, up 5.5 percent on-year, with China being the largest importer, the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said on Monday.
— Xinhua

Vietnam’s fertilizer, pesticide import drop in 4 months
Vietnam imported nearly 1.4 million tons of fertilizers worth 396 million U.S. dollars in the first four months of this year, down 2.2 percent and 0.9 percent on-year respectively, while spending 265 million U.S. dollars importing pesticides, down 7.1 percent.
— Infosurhoy

Vietnam to start direct flights to US as early as this year
Vietnamese airlines are preparing to launch direct flights to the U.S., paving the way for a new era of economic ties between the Southeast Asian country and its biggest export market.
— Nikkei Asian Review (paywall)

Transparent and flexible visa policy needed to boost Vietnam tourism: experts
Luring more tourists to and stay in Vietnam would be facilitated if there were a transparent and flexible visa policy for foreign travellers, experts have suggested.
— Nhan Dan Online

Forum encourages development of VN tech firms
The National Forum on Developing Vietnam Technology Companies will be held for the first time in Hanoi on May 9, said Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Phan Tam.
— Nhan Dan Online

Vietnam has become an accelerator for startups
Truong Trong Toai, a graduate of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, started Robot3T at the end of 2014 to turn the dream of a “Made in Vietnam robot” into reality.
— Vietnam Insider

Government ignores affordable housing: experts
The real estate market has experienced several so-called fever periods in recent years, pushing up property prices to a level that is unaffordable for people with low or modest incomes.
— Viet Nam News

How Vietnam, Philippines Will Get around China’s Fishing Ban in Disputed Sea
Beijing has declared a moratorium on fishing in about half the heavily disputed South China Sea every year since 1995. And every year other countries with competing sovereignty claims keep letting their own fishing fleets do as they wish.
— VOA

Capital city strives for 900 firms in supporting industries by 2020
The capital city has set a goal of having about 900 firms in supporting industries by late 2020, according to the municipal Department of Industry and Trade.
— Viet Nam News

Vietnam cannot continue down low-cost labor path: PM
Vietnam cannot continue to rely on low-cost labor since it faces increasing competition due to global integration, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc says.
— VnExpress

Manufacturing, employment growth sends Vietnam’s PMI to four-month high
New orders have seen Vietnam’s manufacturing sector generate jobs and maintain growth, an international study finds.
— VnExpress

Shopee, Tiki solidify positions as top e-commerce sites in traffic in Q1 2019
Shopee and Tiki maintained their positions as the two leading sites in terms of traffic in Việt Nam’s e-commerce sector in the first quarter of this year.
— Viet Nam News

Positive signs in Việt Nam’s socio-economic situation: PM
Việt Nam’s socio-economic situation in April 2019 witnessed many positive signs with macroeconomic stability and surging aggregate demand, Prime Minister Nguy Xuân Phúc told a regular cabinet meeting in Hà Nội on Saturday.
— Viet Nam News

Foreign investment in Vietnam’s banks depends on ownership limit
As the domestic capital market is underdeveloped, Vietnamese banks are in dire need of foreign capital to meet Basel II standards by 2020 as required by the central bank.
— The Hanoitimes

Government to inspect power price hike
Government inspectors will investigate the latest power price increase by 8.36 per cent to VNĐ1,864 (8.03 US cents) per kWh from March 20 following concerns among the public.
— Viet Nam News

Customs sector collects 120 trillion VND for state budget
The customs sector’s state budget collection exceeded 120 trillion VND (5.18 billion USD) by the end of April, up 25.44 percent from the same period last year.
— VietnamPlus

Banks’ interest receivables get little attention
Experts have called on the Ministry of Finance and State Bank of Việt Nam to carefully assess how lenders are accounting for interest receivables in order to take proper measures to make them reflect their actual revenue situation.
— Viet Nam News

Banks race to offload expensive property as bad debt buyback looms
Many banks are looking to sell mortgaged assets as they prepare to buy back bad debt from the state.
— VnExpress

Why does Vietnam label plans on energy price hike “secret”?
Senior government officials said that electricity and gasoline are items leaving impacts on the economy and catching public attention.
— The Hanoitimes

Vietnam objects to China’s fishing ban in South China Sea
Vietnam opposed and resolutely rejected China’s unilateral decision to ban fishing in the East Sea, also known as South China Sea, covering Vietnam’s waters, from May 1 to August 16, 2019, said Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lê Thị Thu Hằng.
— Eleven Myanmar

VN stocks plummet, insurance stocks hit hard
Vietnamese shares tumbled on Monday morning, dragged by financial stocks.
— Viet Nam News

PM chairs southern key economic zone development conference
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired a conference on the development of the southern key economic zone on May 6 in Bien Hoa city, the southern province of Dong Nai.
— VietnamPlus

Cần Thơ targets treatment of all solid waste
The Mekong Delta city of Cần Thơ plans to collect 100 per cent of its solid household waste in urban areas in the 2020-30 period.
— Viet Nam Net

Progress of SOEs privatization remains far behind schedule
In the first four months of 2019, government agencies have approved the privatization scheme of just two SOEs with total value of VND295 billion (US$12.73 billion).
— The Hanoitimes

Market to witness turbulent trading
The market is forecast to fluctuate sideways this week as brokerages forecast shares will experience some alternate volatility and corrections.
— Viet Nam News

Vietnam, Cuba to strengthen ICT collaboration
The governments of Vietnam and Cuba have agreed to strengthen cooperation on communications, IT and cybersecurity.
— TelecomAsia

Buffett-owned Brooks Running moves China footwear production to Việt Nam in 2019
The chief executive of Brooks Running, part of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc, said his company will shed much of its presence in China by moving running shoe production to Việt Nam, a result of the trade dispute between China and the US.
— Viet Nam News

Vietnamese Dissident Blogger Released After Serving Five-Year Term
Authorities in Vietnam released dissident blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh this week at the end of a five-year term served for posting politically sensitive writings online, sources said on Monday.
— Radio Free Asia

New Peugeot manufacturing plant debuts in Quảng Nam
The luxury European car brand’s plant, which cost VNĐ4.5 trillion (nearly US$200 million), was designed with a total capacity of 20,000 cars per year for domestic use and export.
— Viet Nam News

Vietnam’s first press center opens in Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City has got the country’s first press center, a more than VND34 billion ($1.5 million) facility in the downtown area.
— VnExpress

Capital city to host 26th Vietnam Medi-Pharm expo
The Việt Nam International Medical and Pharmaceutical Exhibition (Vietnam Medi-Pharm 2019) will return to the capital city on Wednesday.
— Viet Nam News

More tourists head for Vietnam
Vietnam clocked up close to 6 million visits in the first four months of the year encouraging officials to believe the country could welcome around 18 million visits by the end of 2019.
— TTR Weekly

Vietnamese good to be displayed at Japanese supermarket chain
A week for Vietnamese goods this year will be held at the Aeon supermarket chain in Saitama prefecture and Kanto region in Japan from June 5-12, according to organisers.
— Viet Nam News

AC Energy to build wind farm in Vietnam
Ayala Corp said Monday its energy unit would build a wind farm in Vietnam’s southeast coast, the first phase of which will cost $92 million.
— ABS-CBN

Young people in Quảng Ninh, Sóc Trăng join environmental campaigns
Nearly 300 young people took part in a campaign to clean rubbish along more than 2.5km of seashore in Hạ Long City on Sunday.
— Viet Nam Net

ACB becomes seventh bank to meet Basel II standards
The Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) late last week was officially given approval from the State Bank of Việt Nam (SBV) to apply Basel II standards, raising the number of Vietnamese banks meeting the global norms ahead of the SBV’s schedule to seven.
— Viet Nam News

Highest-ever Foreign Investment for a Quarter in Vietnam
Hanoi, May 6 (Prensa Latina) Foreign direct investment in Vietnam reached 14.59 billion dollars in the first four months of 2019, a historic figure for a four-month period.
— Plenglish

Google Assistant now available in Vietnamese
Google on Monday announced that Google Assistant, its artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant, is now available in Vietnamese, allowing people to interact with their Android devices using their native language.
— Vietnam Insider

Four Vietnamese women detained for illegal sex work in Malaysia
Malaysian authorities have arrested 184 foreign women, including four Vietnamese, for allegedly working illegally and offering sexual services in Kuala Lumpur.
— Vietnam Insider

Feature photo BirdLife International Asia

This week’s Vietnam morning news photo features World Migratory Bird Day, May 11.

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).

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