The digital economy era has arrivedBy Nguyen Khac Giang An e-payment being made in a coffee outlet in HCMC. There is no evidence for the rise of the digital economy more convincing than a look into how we loosen our purse strings: The number of online transactions via domestic cards in 2017 grew 50% from 2016, whereas their value surged 75% - PHOTO: THANH HOA This year is a very important time for the digital economy of Vietnam, when the gig economy will take a bigger slice of the cake. More than a decade ago, it was easy to catch sight of people waiting in queue to withdraw cash from an ATM. Back then, salary payment through banks was still a quite new practice. Most workers found it troublesome to get their pay with a card, since there was more to do before cash went into their wallets. Today, office workers transfer their salaries to an e-wallet, or directly use Internet banking for shopping. Payment of power and water bills, purchase of prepaid scratchcards, or debt … [Read more...] about The digital economy era has arrived
Developing economy characteristics
PM asks Cao Bang to develop national mountainous tourism brand
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the investment, trade and tourism promotion conference of Cao Bang province on November 25 (Photo: VNA) Cao Bang (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has assigned the mountainous northern province of Cao Bang to develop a mountainous tourism trademark for the country, which is also one of the directions serving the locality’s future socio-economic development. He was addressing the investment, trade and tourism promotion conference of Cao Bang province on November 25, one day after he had a working session with the provincial officials. The event brought together businesses from other localities and economic and trade organizations from China’s Guangxi province, which borders Cao Bang. Local authority called for investments into 32 projects in tourism, hi-tech agriculture, farm-forestry-aquaculture processing, infrastructure, and transport, committing to always maintaining political-security stability and consistency in … [Read more...] about PM asks Cao Bang to develop national mountainous tourism brand
Chinese vice president advocates common development at New Economy Forum
Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan advocated reform, innovation and common development at the New Economy Forum, which gathered about 400 prominent political and business leaders here on Tuesday. Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan addresses the opening ceremony of the forum - Photo: Xinhua In his speech at the opening ceremony of the forum, Wang said that global politics and economy are now undergoing the most profound changes after the end of the Cold War. The world now faces such challenges as maintaining a stable development of the world economy, demographic changes, climate change, development imbalance, lag in global governance mechanisms, and rise of the thought of populism and unilateralism. "Opportunities arise in the challenges," said Wang, stressing that the key to cope with the challenges should be following the trend, grasping the general direction, and maintaining concentration. He said that China will make its own efforts to let development progress truly … [Read more...] about Chinese vice president advocates common development at New Economy Forum
Energy efficiency standards great for economy, environment: workshop
Viet Nam News HCM City – The adoption of minimum energy performance standards will achieve a minimum saving of around VNĐ10 trillion (US$480 million) and a reduction of 34 million tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2030, a workshop heard in HCM City yesterday. Nguyễn Văn Thao, general director of the Việt Nam Academy of Science and Technology’s High Technology Development Center told the “Energy Labelling and Certification for LED lighting products” workshop: “The electricity saving will be about 6,000 GWh per year, equivalent to the electricity generated by two coal-fired power plants with a capacity of 500 MW.” This was the right time to implement the energy-labelling programme for LED lighting products, he said. United Nations Development Program (UNDP) expert My Ton emphasised the need to obtain sufficient market data to identify appropriate parameters and characteristics such as efficacy, lifetime and rendering index for LED … [Read more...] about Energy efficiency standards great for economy, environment: workshop
Maximising advantages of the circular economy
Le Thanh Thao Li Yong, director general of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), recently said at the 2018 World Manufacturing Forum in Italy, “Industry has proven itself as an unrivalled eradicator of poverty throughout the ages, by raising incomes, creating added value, and enabling greater social mobility. No country has ever risen to developed country status without a strong industrial policy focus.” However, too often in the past industrial development has also been accompanied by environmental degradation and increased social inequalities. By and large, today’s manufacturing takes raw materials from the environment and transforms them into new products, which are then disposed into the environment after use. Eventually, limited raw materials run out and waste accumulates, either incurring expenses related to disposal or else polluting. For more than 50 years, UNIDO has worked towards a truly sustainable industry. In doing so, UNIDO … [Read more...] about Maximising advantages of the circular economy