At the meeting, the city leader expressed his pleasure at good friendly and cooperative relations between Vietnam and the Netherlands, especially since the establishment of the diplomatic ties in 1973 and strategic partnership relations in water management and climate change adaptation in 2010. The Netherlands is currently the major trading partner and the eighth largest foreign investor of Ho Chi Minh City with 153 projects having the total investment capital of nearly US$2 billion. On the base of the desire to strengthen the mutual cooperation in the fields of climate change adaptation and sustainable agricultural development, HCMC has made efforts to materialize the potential cooperation, notably the public-private partnerships (PPP) initiative for the Sustainable Greater Ho Chi Minh City Flood Protection Scheme. As for Mr. Elsbeth Akkerman, she highly appreciated achievements of Ho Chi Minh City in the fields of urban infrastructure and public transport development. … [Read more...] about Netherlands ready to support HCMC in projects against flooding
Climate change responses impact factor
Drastic measures urged to curb rise in plastic usage
Wiesen added, “We see a great opportunity for Vietnam and regional partners to change from one of the countries with the most severe plastic pollution globally, to becoming one of the leading areas in waste disposal initiatives. We need to act now before it’s too late, to save the planet for us and to also work towards sustainable development.” … [Read more...] about Drastic measures urged to curb rise in plastic usage
Difficulties still ahead for coffee sector: insiders
HCM City (VNA) – The export of coffee declined in both volume and value last year due to certain difficulties that are forecast to linger on for the time to come, insiders have said. Nguyen Viet Hai, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Coffee - Cocoa Association (Vicofa), told a meeting in Ho Chi Minh City on January 15 that in the 2019 - 2020 crop, 1.61 million tonnes of the bean was shipped abroad at the average price of 1,740 USD per tonne, bringing home 2.8 billion USD. The figures respectively fell 5 percent, 0.4 percent, and 5.3 percent from the previous crop. The export volume of processed coffee (roasted and ground coffee, instant coffee) dropped by over 17 percent to 110,000 tonnes, resulting a fall of 8.7 percent in value to more than 443 million USD, he pointed out. Hai noted coffee prices remain unstable, leading to a plunge in the purchase of the produce from farmers in the 2020 - 2021 crop. Fresh coffee is currently priced at 6.7 million - 6.9 million VND (about 289 - … [Read more...] about Difficulties still ahead for coffee sector: insiders
Supporting start-ups to adapt to new normal
During the pandemic, start-up offline activities were limited, however, it also created opportunities for localities to connect through online platforms. The National Start-up Support Centre and Sai Gon Innovation Hub (SIHUB) are working with Binh Duong Province’s community start-up idea centre to build an inno-tech platform which connects mentors, start-ups and investors. We want a series of start-up events will be organised on this platform to develop new ideas, offer training, connect with international markets and call for investment. … [Read more...] about Supporting start-ups to adapt to new normal
Private sector development to enhance FDI efficiency
Vietnam must have really strong local enterprises to have a self-reliant economy. This poses an urgent need, that is the attraction and use of FDI in the next phase must bring about qualitative efficiency, meaning that the value of the production chain in Vietnam must belong to Vietnamese enterprises. Meanwhile, the private sector currently has a dominant presence in the economy, with some 800,000 enterprises operational as of October 2020, but over 95% of them are micro, small and medium busiensses. Therefore, the concentration of all resources available (capital, including land, high-quality manpower, incentives and so on) to develop the private sector economy is an urgent need for FDI attraction in the next phase. If private enterprises remain micro, small and medium, lack capital and technology, and still face administrative troubles, Vietnam will not have sufficient enterprises big and strong enough to be able to ally and partner with foreign enterprises so as to master each area … [Read more...] about Private sector development to enhance FDI efficiency