News
Ho Chi Minh City eyes $380mln of loans for waterway expansion
Ho Chi Minh City has asked for the central government’s help in taking out loans worth around US$380 million for a major dredging program to deepen one of its key waterways, local media reported on 9 November. The Soai Rap, a tributary of the Saigon River, ...
Work starts on Vietnam's 'Silicon Valley'
The construction of a hi-tech park following the model of the US’s Silicon Valley began in Ho Chi Minh City on 10 November. Keep reading ...
Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia to ease visa rules for Chinese
Three of China’s neighbors in Southeast Asia are further easing their visa regimes to attract more Chinese tourists. Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance announced move to lower Chinese visitors’ visa-application fees in a new step to boost its tourism. Starting from 23 November, Chinese tourists’ visa fees ...
Luxury timber goes to Vietnam en masse
While crowds gathered in Phnom Penh to watch Cambodia’s Independence Day parade, a different sort of procession drew the attention of villagers in Ratanakkiri province on 9 November, with hundreds of motorbikes flooding across border checkpoints loaded with luxury timber. The spectacle, which on a smaller ...
Vietnam, Philippines to sign strategic-alliance pact
An official says the Philippines and Vietnam plan to sign an accord next week to elevate their relationship to a strategic level, allowing them to deepen economic ties and maritime cooperation. Keep reading ...
Vietnam hopes to attract more Chinese tourists, with deeper pockets
Vietnam has launched its biggest ever promotional campaign in China, its largest visitor market, in an attempt to reverse a downward trend in the tourism industry. The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) last month started a series of events that gathered many travel agencies across ...
Local banks draw foreign interest
Vietnamese commercial banks expect to attract foreign investment in their newly-established financial companies thanks to the profitable domestic consumer financial market, according to Dau tu (Investment) newspaper. Despite concerns by shareholders, banks have still tried mergers and acquisitions (M&As) with ailing financial companies, whose non-performing loans ...
Vietnam, Japan produce carbon-free rubber
Vietnamese and Japanese researchers have developed technologies to reduce proteins in natural rubber, thereby permitting the production of high-performance rubber materials and alleviate the environmental burden caused by natural rubber processing. The scientists presented their research results at a session during the International Rubber Conference held ...
Vietnam growth surge masks weak local firms in 2-speed economy
Vietnam’s export-driven economy is set to grow at its fastest pace in eight years in 2015 and it’s foreign firms in the country that are riding the wave, leaving local companies lagging far behind. Foreign-owned businesses shipped 70 percent of Vietnam’s total exports so far this ...
Vietnam's longest river is 'seriously' polluted: authority
Vietnam’s environment police on 6 November warned of worsening pollution in the Dong Nai River, the southern region’s main water supply that has been being exposed to multiple sources of contamination. Speaking at a meeting, Duong Van Linh, deputy chief of the Department of Environment Police under ...
