Developers are moving towards sustainable development by promoting green apartment buildings but there are issues to surmount. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) awarded EDGE certification to the HausNeo Apartments project developed by the EZ Land Vietnam Development JSC in August, as it met the required excellence in design for green buildings. According to Mr. Do Ngoc Dung Oliver, CEO of EZ Land, there are signs that awareness of the value of going green is increasing in Vietnam. “People are attracted by the savings they can achieve through lower utility bills and by the unique green features of EDGE-certified buildings,” he said. “This EDGE certification will further help raise people’s awareness and show the sustainability values of EZ Land through our first apartment project, HausNeo.” Many other developers have also joined the sustainable development movement by promoting green apartment buildings. Mr. Dang Thanh Long, Managing … [Read more...] about Initial costs in green apartments offset later
Green financial funds
G-bond market aims to become a safe and effective investment tool
Participants listen to Phan Thi Thu Hien, director of the Department of Banking and Financial Institutions under the Ministry of Finance, review the ten-year operation of Viet Nam's G-bond market. — VNA/VNS Photo Thuy Duong Viet Nam’s Government bond (G-bond) market would become a safe, effective and highly lucrative investment mechanism for commercial banks, insurance networks, investment funds and foreign investors. The statement was made by Phan Thi Thu Hien, director of the Department of Banking and Financial Institutions under the Ministry of Finance, during a conference to review the ten-year operation and development of the G-bond market in Ha Noi on Tuesday. “The goal for the next five years is to meet the demand to raise capital for socio-economic development as official development assistance (ODA) and preferential loans decrease,” Hien said. To achieve this goal, Hien said the Government needed to connect capital mobilisation through G-bonds with the … [Read more...] about G-bond market aims to become a safe and effective investment tool
SOE equitisation progress is “very slow”
A Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) cargo ship. Many SOEs face difficulties and need more time to deal with financial, land and labor problems before equitisation.— Photo thuonggiaonline.vn Only nine state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were given the green light from government for their equitisation plans this year, reported the Ministry of Finance (MoF). The progress was still “very slow”, said Dang Quyet Tien, director of Corporate Finance Department, MoF at the ministry’s press conference on the local financial and production situation and the restructuring and equitisation of SOEs yesterday in Ha Noi. Tien said though equitisation and divestment had a positive impact on the development of the stock market, improving the performance of firms, the slow progress was “concerning”. Among nine SOEs reported, three were on the list of 128 SOEs required to be equitised by the Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in the period from 2016 to 2020. He … [Read more...] about SOE equitisation progress is “very slow”
VRDF 2019: six development orientations for Vietnam’s prosperity
Bui Tat Thang, former president, Vietnam Institute for Development Strategies, Ministry of Planning and Investment, outlined the six major orientations To realise Vietnam's aspirations of becoming a prosperous nation outlined in 2016, at Vietam Reform and Development Forum (VRDF) 2019, Bui Tat Thang, former president of Vietnam Institute for Development Strategies (Ministry of Planning and Investment) clarified six major development orientations for the next 10-15 years. The orientations basically revolve around identifying and implementing strategic breakthroughs, formulating major policies aimed at exploring growth drivers, improving labour productivity and competitiveness, and effectively implementing international commitments related to integration as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. At present, Vietnam is striving to realise the objectives to become an industrial and upper-middle-income country; to develop mature economic institutions in line … [Read more...] about VRDF 2019: six development orientations for Vietnam’s prosperity
New approaches needed to address malnutrition in ethnic minority children: WB report
Children at a kindergarten (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam needs new approaches that are designed based on geographic conditions and cultural characteristics of ethnic minority communities in order to address the persistent malnutrition among ethnic minority children, said a report of the World Bank. The WB released the report titled “Persistent Malnutrition in Ethnic Minority Communities of Viet Nam: Issues and Options or Policy and Interventions” in Hanoi on December 10. Addressing the event, WB Country Director Ousmane Dione said Vietnam has made impressive progress in reducing malnutrition in children in the past two decades, but the disparity between ethnic minority children and their peers in plain areas is widening. He said priority should be given to provinces with highest malnutrition rates in the next period in order to create substantial changes. The report found that only 39 percent of ethnic minority children from 6 to 23 … [Read more...] about New approaches needed to address malnutrition in ethnic minority children: WB report