The logistics market in Viet Nam is booming with million-dollar merger deals being signed and many foreign companies striving to increase market share. But many local logistic companies are still thinking too small and are finding themselves suffering at the hands of bigger competitors. Pieter Pennings, consulting director of CEL Consulting, said local businesses are feeling the pressure from larger, foreign companies. He also believes Vietnamese companies need to expand their tech network in order to keep up with the competition. Earlier this month, Singapore-based Symphony International Holdings spent US$42.6 million to buy 28.57 per cent of Indo Trans Logistics Joint Stock Company (ITL Corp) from Singapore Post. Previously, the subsidiary of Japanese Sumitomo Group, SSJ Consulting, spent nearly $40 million to buy 10 per cent of voting shares in Vietnamese logistics firm Gemadept Corporation (Gemadept). The transaction is expected to take place in the next two weeks. SSJ Consulting … [Read more...] about Logistic booms with million-dollar M&A deals done
Sister acts spice up inaugural LPGA team event
Sisters Moriya (right) and Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand will play together in the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, the LPGA's first official team event that tees off on Wednesday. — AFP Photo LOS ANGELES — The LPGA's first official team event tees off with a pair of sister acts and a veteran Solheim Cup duo spicing up the field for the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. The 72 two-woman teams will compete for a $2 million purse at Midland Country Club in Midland, Michigan, where Wednesday's first round and Friday's third round will feature an alternate-shot format and the second and fourth rounds will be best-ball. The teams won't go head-to-head in match-play style, instead they will play out each hole for a stroke-play score. "I think just the anticipation of this event has been all year," said Canadian Brooke Henderson, who will team with compatriot Alena Sharp. "I think stepping on the first tee tomorrow there's going to be a lot of adrenaline." Thai sisters … [Read more...] about Sister acts spice up inaugural LPGA team event
Gov’t gets tough on waste of public resources
Violations on causing wastefulness in the use of State funds will be fined up to VNĐ 200 million (US$8,600) under the new decree. — VNA/VNS Illustration photo HÀ NỘI — Those found wasting State funds now face fines of up to VNĐ200 million (US$8,600). The new decree on fines for failing to practice thrift in the use of State resources and funds was approved by the Government last week as part of efforts to prevent waste thrift in the use of State assets and resources and national reserves. Under the decree, individuals found to cause waste in the management and use of public assets and national reserve would be fined between VNĐ50-100 million ($2,150-4,300), with the fines doubled for violating organisations. Violators found using telephones, electricity, water, gasoline, books, newspapers and stationery products that exceed costs allowed by competent agencies would face fines of between … [Read more...] about Gov’t gets tough on waste of public resources
Johnny Clegg, South Africa’s ‘White Zulu’ rocker, dies aged 66
SOUTH AFRICA — South African rocker Johnny Clegg, whose best-known songs included one dedicated to the imprisoned Nelson Mandela, was beloved at home and abroad for using music as a unifying force in a nation scarred by apartheid. Johnny Clegg (right) performed in the band Savuka for years under apartheid until group member Dudu Zulu (left) was shot dead in 1992. — AFP Photo Nicknamed the “White Zulu”, he mastered the language, culture and high kicks of Zulu dance, creating two multi-racial bands in defiance of the segregationist laws of the apartheid-era government, which censored his work. “We had to find our way around a myriad of laws that prevented us from mixing across racial lines,” he told AFP in 2017. With curly hair and an amiable demeanour, Clegg maintained his energy and passion even as pancreatic cancer took hold, embarking on a Final Journey Tour of several countries in 2017 after being diagnosed two years … [Read more...] about Johnny Clegg, South Africa’s ‘White Zulu’ rocker, dies aged 66
Binh Duong province strives for more social housing
Social housing for workers at Dong An Industrial Park in Binh Duong province (Photo: VNA) Binh Duong (VNA) – The southern province of Binh Duong has proposed the Government allow it to keep some of the money gained from the equitisation of local State-owned enterprises to fund the development of housing for low-income earners, including workers at industrial parks. The provincial Department of Construction said between 2016 and 2020, Binh Duong, a big industrial hub of Vietnam, needs to build more than 2 million sq.m. of social housing, excluding housing for cadres, civil servants, revolutionary contributors and resettled people. By July 2019, it had attracted 86 social housing projects covering 199.77ha of land, equivalent to some 3.9 million sq.m. of housing. Notably, 43 of them are invested by the Investment and Industrial Development Corporation (Becamex IDC) to supply accommodation to workers in Bau Bang district, Ben Cat and Tan Uyen townships and Thu Dau Mot city. More … [Read more...] about Binh Duong province strives for more social housing