1. VIETNAM
6-12 August, 2016
NEWS
Politics
Sport
10/8/2016
Japan to beef up defense cooperation
with Vietnam
Japan’s Ministry of Defense will boost cooperation
with and assist Vietnam in reinforcing its defense
capability whenever the Southeast Asian country
asks for it
7/8/2016
Modest shooter Hoang Xuan
Vinh makes history for Vietnam
at Rio Olympics
Vietnam to introduce e-visas
next year
Vietnam plans to introduce e­visa next year as
part of the government's effort to attract more
tourists and boost the tourism industry.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said Tuesday
that the government will allocate up to VND200
billion (US$9 million) for developing the e­visa
system.
He asked the public security ministry to make sure
the system will start operating on Jan. 1, 2017.
Hoang Xuan Vinh may have just ended Vietnam's
six­decade wait for a first Olympic gold medal on
Saturday but he wasn't about to make a song and
dance about his historic feat. The Vietnamese
history­maker claimed the title with a total points
haul of 202.5. Crowd favourite Wu, almost 20
years his junior, took silver only .3 adrift.
Society
Business
4/8/2016
Vietnam confirms third Zika
case
The Ministry of Health on Wednesday confirmed
the third case testing positive for Zika inVietnam.
In late July, the Pasteur Institute in the south­
central city of Nha Trang, said that the 27­year­
old had contracted Zika, making him the third
confirmed case of the infection in Vietnam after
the two others in the beach city and Ho Chi Minh
City in late March.
8/8/2016
­­ Residents from 40 households in Bat Xat
District, located in the northern Vietnamese
province of Lao Cai, who lost their homes to
floods on Friday, will be able to resettle in a new
area, a local official said on Sunday. Total
expenses for constructing the new houses are
estimated at VND10 billion (US$448,400).
­­ Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam and
officials from the Ministry of Health convened a
meeting with leaders of Central Highlands
provinces on Sunday to discuss prompt
measures to cope with the dengue fever
epidemic that had broke out in the region.
1/8/2016
Vietnam real estate giant opens
five-star hotel in Myanmar
Vietnamese realty group Hoang Anh Gia Lai on
Sunday put into operation a five­star hotel in
Yangon, Myanmar. The hotel is housed in the
group’s Myanmar Center, located some eight
kilometers from downtown Yangon, on Kaba Aye
Pagoda Road in Bahan Township. The project is
divided into two phases, the first of which
consists of two grade­A office towers, one retail
podium and a five­star hotel, while the second
comprises two additional grade­A office towers
and five residential blocks. The five­star Meliá
Yangon inaugurated on Sunday has 430 suites
and a 2,000 square meter conference area.
5/8/2016
HCMC looks to credit growth of
18-20%
HCMC is striving to achieve credit growth of 18­
20% this year, an eight­year high, heard a
session of the HCMC People’s Council on
August 4.
By end­July, total outstanding loans had risen by
almost 11%, helping inject more money into
business operations. At present, total
outstanding loans reach roughly VND1,350
trillion (US$60.5 billion), Minh said. Meanwhile,
the bad debt ratio had been 3.98% by the end of
last month, down slightly from 4.02% early this
year.
Many companies have expressed concern over a
possible interest rate hike this year as banks
have revised up deposit rates. However, Nguyen
Hoang Minh, deputy director of the central bank’s
HCMC branch, said the central bank has told
lenders to reduce operating costs and refrain
from hiking interest rates for the five priority
sectors of agriculture and rural development,
production of export goods, small­ and medium­
sized enterprises (SMEs), supporting industries
and high­tech enterprises
9/8/2016
Honda Vietnam’s profit tops
$403mn in 2015
Honda Vietnam, the local subsidiary of the
multinational conglomerate Honda, managed to
rack up even more profit in 2015, despite a
saturating motorcycle market.
The motorcycle giant posted US$3 billion in
revenue, a strong increase from $2.76 billion in
2014, and $403 million in profit, according to
information released this week by the Vietnam
Engine & Agricultural Machinery (VEAM).