Highly demanding and highly detailed

As the high school entrance and graduation exams are starting in a few weeks, final-year students at middle and high schools are as busy as a bee at back-to-back extra classes. Some students leave their extra classes and return home at 9:30 pm every day. Like her fellow students, N., a ninth grader of Tang Nhon Phu B Middle School in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, is in crunch time. She has a very busy studying schedule. After school, she has to attend after-hours classes at a cultural fostering center and an English center. Additionally, she takes private lessons in literature and math. Her daily extra classes often end at 9:00 pm. She confessed that she felt under pressure but she had to try to get into a good high school. She encourages herself by thinking about relaxing after the exam. T., a student of Vinh Kim High School in Tien Giang Province, is also nervous about the upcoming national high school graduation examination. T. told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that … [Read more...] about In Vietnam, students rush to private classes as high school entrance, graduation exams near

Vietnam continues to benefit from its broad re-opening strategy, which saw a huge crowd flocking to tourist hotspots in the country and household spending rebound. Vietnam’s economic recovery is gaining momentum despite heightened global uncertainty related to the protracted war in Ukraine, higher commodity prices, and tightening global financial conditions, according to the World Bank. Cargo handling at Dinh Vu port, Haiphong. Photo: Cong Hung In its latest report, the World Bank pointed out the robust growth of industrial production by 9.4% in April, comparable to pre-pandemic rates. Manufactures of apparel, footwear, electronics, electrical equipment, and metal products were the most dynamic sub-sectors, registering double-digit growth rates, it added. However, machinery manufacturing slowed from 26.6% year-on-year in March to only 5.1% in April. This deceleration was related to supply chain disruptions caused by lockdowns in China, which led to a … [Read more...] about Vietnam’s economic recovery gaining momentum

China's withdrawal from hosting the 2023 Asian Cup could see the showpiece shift west to the Gulf, where new infrastructure and voracious demand for major events has made the region a magnet for international tournaments. Having planned to hold the Asian Cup across 10 cities in June-July next year, China dropped the 24-team tournament due to "exceptional circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic", the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said over the weekend. The AFC said it would name a new host in due course but provided no detail and declined to provide immediate comment to Reuters . AFC member nations were in the dark on Monday about the next steps. "This is quite an unusual situation and so there’s no specific process that we are aware of on how things could go," a spokesperson for the Korean Football Association (KFA) told Reuters . "We just know that China has given up." The AFC has little time to appraise candidates and may not have a diverse set to choose … [Read more...] about China withdrawal could see 2023 Asian Cup heading west

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) and his Greek counterpart Katerina Sakellaropoulou (Photo: VNA) President Sakellaropoulou lauded the important achievements that Vietnam has made during its struggle for independence and present process of socio-economic development. She affirmed that Greece highly valued the increasingly important role of Vietnam in the region and the world, and hoped to foster cooperation with Vietnam in all fields. The two leaders agreed that the two sides should increase meetings and exchange of delegations at all levels among ministries, sectors and localities as well as the two business communities. They assigned the two ministries of foreign affairs to review and speed up solutions to promote the bilateral partnership. President Phuc took this occasion to thank Greece for providing Covid-19 vaccines to Vietnam. Both sides showed delight that despite impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic, trade between the two countries still increased to Ú$447 million in … [Read more...] about Vietnam, Greece seek to further promote multifaceted cooperation

Techcombank is on track to be among the top ASEAN banks Techcombank’s rise within the Vietnamese banking industry was highlighted last year when it became the first non-state-owned bank to join Vietnam’s billion-dollar profit club. “Even in the very tough environment we are seeing, our employees have maintained a high quality and reliable service for our customers and this is helping us to deliver stellar performance year after year,” said Jens Lottner, CEO of Techcombank. Last year, the bank continued to reduce costs while focusing on building deposits in its current accounts and savings accounts (CASA), which Lottner described as a “stable and cheap” source of funding. Techcombank’s CASA ratio, which reflects the percentage of the bank’s total deposits that are CASA, jumped from 46.1 per cent in 2020 to 50.5 per cent last year, well on its way to the bank’s target of 55 per cent by 2025. Techcombank’s net interest margin, a measure of the difference between the interest … [Read more...] about Techcombank on track for a seat among the top ASEAN banks

The following is the full text of the speech. “SINCERITY, TRUST AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR A BETTER WORLD” Dear Dr. John Hamre, President and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Ladies and gentlemen, I am very happy to visit the Center for Strategic and International Studies for the first time today, though this is far from the first time I hear of the CSIS, a top American think tank in the field of foreign strategies and policies and international issues. Seventy-seven years ago, President Ho Chi Minh, the national hero of Vietnam and great man of culture, prefaced the Declaration of Independence establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam with this untarnishable fact, “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.” This was the spirit enshrined within the 1776 Declaration of Independence of the United States of America; it … [Read more...] about Remarks by PM Pham Minh Chinh at CSIS in Washington D.C.