Tay Nguyen cuisine contest to be held

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Central Highlands province of Dak Lak will host a cuisine contest for chefs from the region at Ko Tam Community Cultural Ecological Tourism from March 13-16 in Buon Ma Thuot City.

H’Hen Nie wins Timeless Beauty award

H’Hen Nie has become the first Vietnamese representative ever to win the Timeless Beauty award, as announced by Missosology on January 28.

Fears scrap imports are on the rise

 VietNamNet Bridge – The amount of scrap imported into Vietnam is likely to rise considerably, the Ministry of Finance has warned.

JLL: Real estate market in 2019 marked by 5 trends

Vietnam’s real estate market will be shaped by five main trends in 2019 according to a JLL report.

Vietnam lures US$1.9 billion in FDI in January

 Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledged in Vietnam witnessed a significant yearly increase of 52 per cent to US$1.9 billion in the first month of this year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

HCM City plans fireworks for Tet

 HCM City will organise fireworks displays at eight locations to celebrate the Lunar New Year Festival.

Japan to remove 86 percent of tax lines for Vietnam after CPTPP

 Japan is set to lift 86 percent of the tariff lines for Vietnamese products in line with its commitments in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Vietnam targets 18 million foreign holiday-makers in 2019

 Vietnam aims to receive about 18 million foreign visitors and 85 million domestic ones in 2019, and earn more than 700 trillion VND ($30.2 billion) from tourism, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. 

Hotlines on traffic safety announced

 The National Committee for Traffic Safety (NCTS) has announced 20 hotlines to receive people’s reports and queries on traffic issues during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday and the season of spring festivals.

Chinese steelmaker HBIS expands capacity in Vietnam

 China’s second largest steelmaker, Hebei Iron and Steel Group, is reportedly to buy controlling stakes in NatSteel Holdings and Tata Steel from Indian Tata Steel for US$327 million, as it plans to expand capacity in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam.

BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF 29/1

South Africa remains Vietnam’s biggest trade partner in Africa, Hanoi’s CPI increases 0.22 percent before Tet, AMRO: 2019 GDP growth at 6.6%, High-tech application in planting black pepper

Work on HCM City’s 1st metro route to be hastened

 VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City Urban Railway Management Board (MAUR) will work with contractors, consulting firms and others to speed up the city’s first metro route between Ben Thanh and Suoi Tien, 

Job openings as firms relocate from China to VN

 VietNamNet Bridge – Recruitment demand, especially senior positions in consumer electronics and real estate, is expected to increase as more companies relocate from China to Vietnam,

Will IKEA be successful in Vietnam?

VietNamNet Bridge - IKEA, the furnishings group from Sweden, plans to invest 450 million euros to develop its retail and storehouse network in Hanoi.

U23 goalkeeper Dung signs for Ha Noi FC

 VietNamNet Bridge – Goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung signed a one-year contract with V.League 1 defending champions Ha Noi FC on Monday.

About 80% of Vietnamese in Cambodia have gained legal recognition

 VietNamNet Bridge – About 70-80 per cent of Vietnamese living in Cambodia have gained the country’s legal recognition that paves the way for them to obtain Cambodian citizenship, 

Vietnam seeks models of solid waste treatment technology

 Vietnam’s current daily-life solid waste management has not met the requirements of environmental protection as it has not been managed and disposed in a safe way.

CPTPP gives Vietnam upper hand in negotiating trade deal: Economist

 Being the deal’s co-founder, Vietnam has the rights to accept or refuse a third country joining the CPTPP, while future participants could not propose too many new clauses to the deal as they must accept existing conditions.

Sweden pushes for innovation, safe Internet surfing in Vietnam

 Following the success of the first edition of the Vietnam Internet Forum (VIF) in November 2017, the embassy will hold the second edition on March 20 and 21, 2019.

Home is where the heart is for these Vietnamese expats

 VietNamNet Bridge – For Dinh Khac Cu, this year’s Tet (Lunar New Year) is set to be the most special yet.

VN car importers getting hang of new rules

 Despite initial hiccups, most of Viet Nam’s car firms are now complying with import rules that were tightened early last year, according to Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung.

Vietcombank’s charter capital reaches US$1.6 billion

 The charter capital of (Vietcombank has increased by 3 per cent to VND37.1 trillion (US$1.6 billion) after it sold selling shares to strategic investors Singaporean investment fund GIC Private Limited (GIC) and Japan’s Mizuho Bank.

Philippines imposes provisional safeguard measures on cement imported from Vietnam

 The Philippines Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has decided to impose provisional safeguard measures on cement imported from various countries, including Viet Nam.

New circular on certificates of origin issued

 The Ministry of Industry and Trade has issued Circular No 03/2019/TT-BCT stipulating the certificates of origin (C/O) rules in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Vietnam to build product origin portal

 The Prime Minister approved the ‘Scheme of deploying, applying and managing the traceability system’ with the goal to build and operate a portal on national product and goods traceability by 2020.