Distinguish between economic growth and economic development

Wooden furniture processing at a factory in Vietnam. Economists say the global economic situation has had an impact on the Vietnamese economy  The National Assembly (NA) Office and the NA Economic Commission co-held the “Vietnam SocioEconomic Forum 2018: Current Situation and Prospects” in Ho Chi Minh City on September 18 and 19. The forum was aimed at providing vital inputs for NA deputies to prepare for the sixth sitting of the law-making body next month to examine the execution of the NA resolution on socioeconomic development for 2018, according to Le Bo Linh, vice general secretary and deputy head of the NA Office. He noted that short- and long-term factors at home and abroad have impacted the adoption of the resolution’s measures. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the challenges and prospects of executing the socioeconomic objectives to present key solutions for the remainder of the year. Global economic uncertainty has had an impact on the … [Read more...] about Vietnam could lose growth momentum: economists

Vietnam is following a skeptical interest rate policy, with few and minor adjustments. More central banks have cut prime interest rates in a trend of loosening monetary policies worldwide. The Australian central bank has for the second time in the last month slashed the interest rate. And the Indian central bank has eased the interest rates for the third time this year. The central banks of Japan, the UK and the EU have not made adjustments, but are showing signs of considering and getting ready to ease interest rates to maintain the economic growth, especially after the US FED decided to maintain interest rate in the June meeting. The monetary loosening was a big surprise to many analysts. Prior to that, in 2018, many monetary policy operators raised the interest rates. How about Vietnam? Kim Chi  Banks cut priority loan interest rates Soon after the US announced a 0.25 % cut in the benchmark interest rate on July 31 seven Vietnamese banks, including … [Read more...] about Vietnam cautious about interest rate policy

The growth of the agricultural sector hit a 10 year high during the first half of this year. However, export markets have seen unstable developments from the impact of the US-China trade war, the European Commission (EC)’s extension of a yellow card warning on Vietnamese seafood, unpredictable weather and natural disasters are existing difficulties facing the sector in late months of the year. Domestic market faces intense competition as tariffs hit China and the US are the two major export markets for Vietnam’s agricultural products. The tit-for-tat US-China trade war has created dramatic shifts in the import and export policies of the two powerful economies and this will have a knock-on effect on Vietnamese farm produce. Agricultural products from China will have to find alternative markets to make up for the loss of trade resulting from the US’ increase of import duties on Chinese goods. With their plentiful supply, cheap prices and attractive varieties, Chinese … [Read more...] about US-China trade war puts pressure on Vietnamese agricultural products

Individuals, organizations and businesses are spending money, effort and time to clean up the Mekong River. Photographer Nguyen Viet Hung has just returned from a trip along 7,000 kilometers of coastline to take pictures of garbage. After nearly 2 months of traveling alone through 28 provinces from North to South, what he saw was garbage everywhere. He saw the beaches, nearly one kilometer long, with full of garbage and no sand. In many areas, people throw garbage into the river and the sea. According to UNEP (United Nations Environment Program), Vietnam ranks fourth in the world in volume of garbage discharged, with the volume of plastic waste into the sea hitting 0.28-0.73 million tons per annum, or 6 percent of the world’s total plastic waste. Christian Schmidt from Helmholtz Environment Research Center found that Mekong is one of the 10 most polluting rivers in the world which make up 88-95 percent of total waste into the sea. Mekong is no longer mysterious and attractive … [Read more...] about Vietnamese people join hands to save Mekong River

Viettel with its top mission “Innovation for humans” At the 30th founding ceremony of Viettel, Acting Chairman and Director General of Viettel Major General Le Dang Dung underscored the company’s MISION “Innovation for humans,” saying that Viettel continues to play a leading role in telecommunication, ICT and other technologies as well as digital transformation and building of a digital society in Vietnam. In doing so, it will focus on developing electronics and telecommunication engineering, defense industry, and cyber security defense in order to keep up with the rest of the world in industry 4.0 and contribute positively to protecting national security, territorial sovereignty in both physical and virtual spaces. Customers experiencing Viettel's services In the short run, Viettel will immediately invest in “Internet of Things” (IoT) infrastructure and soon provide 5G services with the aim of facilitating national development … [Read more...] about Part 2: Viettel takes the lead in national digital transformation