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Vietnam stalls policy that requires workers, employers to pay more for social security
Vietnam has delayed a new social insurance policy that aims to increase contributions to the country’s pension fund, following complaints from both businesses and workers. The policy, originally slated to take effect this January, is now waiting for further instructions from the labor ministry and relevant ...
Vietnam, partners look to sign Pacific-rim trade pact in February
The Vietnamese government expects to sign an agreement with 11 other nations in early February to finalize their negotiated terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, taking another step to turn one of the most ambitious trade pacts into reality. According to local media, Minister of Industry and Trade ...
Vietnam adds flesh to regulatory bones to court more investment
Vietnam has issued detailed regulations for foreign investors in 17 business sectors in a drive to improve the investment climate of a fast-growing country blighted by bureaucracy, but now seeing record inflows of foreign capital. The new list of sectors specifies foreign investment ratios, the scope ...
Convoy of Lao trucks transports logs to Vietnam, despite ban on timber exports
Laos has continued to transport logs from its forests to Vietnam, despite a government ban on timber exports that took effect in August and a leaked report by an international environmental group two months ago, revealing huge increases in illegal logging with the implication of ...
Vietnam lists 17 sectors open for foreign investment
The Vietnamese government has published a list of 17 business sectors that are open to foreign investors, with some conditions, in a bid to improve the investment environment following this year’s record inflow of foreign capital. Until now, Vietnam – often criticized for a lack of ...
Vietnam’s high-ranking military delegation visits Laos
A Vietnamese high-ranking delegation led by Minister of Defence General Phung Quang Thanh is on a friendship visit to Laos from 25-26 December at the invitation of Lao Defence Minister Senior Lieutenant General Sengnouane Xayalath. During its stay, the Vietnamese delegation is set to have talks ...
Vietnam suspends vaccination plan after desperate parents go into frenzy
Vietnam has suspended the administration of an infant vaccine nationwide after hundreds of parents, trying to secure shots for their children, caused a chaotic scene in front of a medical center in Hanoi. Tran Dac Phu, head of the Preventive Health Department at the health ministry, has ...
Police raid brothel, free seven girls
A group of seven Vietnamese and Cambodian girls were freed during a raid on a brothel in Battambang province on 23 December in which three suspected brokers were arrested, according to anti-human trafficking police. Officers entered the nameless “massage parlor” in Kamrieng district’s Boeng Raing commune at ...
Vietnam's credit growth quickens to 18 pct in 2015: central bank
Vietnam’s annual credit growth this year is expected to quicken to 18 percent, beating a previous government target of 17 percent, the State Bank of Vietnam said on 24 December. Keep reading ...
Hanoi-Vientiane highway may cost at least $4.5 billion
The manager of a highway project linking Hanoi with Vientiane, the capital city of Laos, has estimated the cost for the 707-kilometer route at US$4.52 billion. In its latest plan submitted to the transport ministry, the project’s manager Unit 85 said the six-lane highway will go through ...
