Italy, home to the world-famous fashion industry, has announced a plan to help bring advanced production technologies to Vietnam's textile and footwear sectors. A key pillar of the plan is a EUR15-million (US$16.1 million) a package for small and medium businesses which operate in the targeted sectors, says Italian Ambassador Cecilia Piccioni at a press conference to promote trade between the two countries. Businesses in Ho Chi Minh City and nearby Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces will be given concessional loans with no interest for 24 years, she said. In another effort, Italian government will help Vietnam establish and run two hi-tech centers for textile and footwear next year, news website Saigon Times Online quoted Bruna Santarelli, chief of the Italian Trade Commission in Vietnam, as saying at a meeting on November 8. The centers will be established at two universities, including Ho Chi Minh City's University of Technology, and equipped with Italian-imported machines and … [Read more...] about VOV Online Newspaper
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Vietnam’s finance ministry wants $219 mln in cash dividends from top lenders
In a new attempt to boost state revenue, the Ministry of Finance has sought the central bank's intervention to collect cash dividends from BIDV and Vietinbank, two of the largest lenders in which the government is a major stakeholder. In April, the shareholders of BIDV, Vietnam's largest partly-private bank by assets, agreed on distributing stock dividends at a yield of 8.5 percent, compared to the original plan of nearly 10 percent. The second biggest lender Vietinbank's shareholders voted on no dividend payment in either cash or stock. The government now owns over 95 and 64.46 percent of the banks, respectively. Both the banks said profits from the financial year 2015 should be reinvested into expansion plans, local media reported. However, in its letter to the central bank, the finance ministry cited existing rules as saying that as a major stakeholder, the government has to be consulted on dividend payout plans. The central bank should order its representatives at BIDV and … [Read more...] about Vietnam’s finance ministry wants $219 mln in cash dividends from top lenders
Uber requests more time for paperwork to legalize operations in Vietnam
Uber has asked Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport to give it more time to complete necessary procedures to legalize its operations, as Ho Chi Minh City traffic inspectors announced they have levied a considerable amount of fines on many Uber cars. On January 29, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport released a list of nine transport companies which are Uber partners, saying they will be inspected in the coming weeks. The ridesharing app announced on Wednesday it is "completing procedures to operate in compliance with the Vietnamese law," and needs more time to do so. The transport department has requested that Uber cars bear badges as per transportation law, and the San Francisco-based firm said it takes one to three days, and even longer in some cases, to apply for a badge from the department. The company thus demanded that the department prioritize some Uber partners who had submitted their badge applications. In order to legally operate as for-hire cars, Uber … [Read more...] about Uber requests more time for paperwork to legalize operations in Vietnam
Vietnam trains to offer free Wi-Fi access from late January
Passengers will be able to save their 3G data usage when traveling by train in Vietnam as free Wi-Fi access is slated to become available on the country’s north to south express train by the end of this month, local media reported. The Saigon Times Online quoted Nguyen Van Binh, deputy general director of the Hanoi railway operator, as saying on January 3. Wi-Fi access will be available free of charge on the SE1, SE2, SE3, and SE4 trains on the railway that connects Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam Railways, the state-owned operator of the railway system, has been working with military-run telecom operator Viettel on the wireless Internet network installation, according to The Saigon Times Online. If the installation goes smoothly on the first four selected trains, it will be applied to all Vietnam Railways trains, according to company representatives. Binh asserted with The Saigon Times Online that testing of the Wi-Fi system on the Vietnam Railways trains has shown … [Read more...] about Vietnam trains to offer free Wi-Fi access from late January
Vinafood 2 to divest from non-core sectors by 2015
Vietnam's top rice exporter Vietnam Southern Food Corporation (Vinafood 2) said it will withdraw from its non-core investments and unprofitable businesses by 2015, a news web site reported Sunday. The state-owned company will withdraw all of its investments in banking, securities, tourism and transportation in order to focus on processing and trading rice and seafood, according to the web site, thesaigontimes.vn. The food company plans to divest from eight companies, including six joint-venture businesses. The move comes as Vinafood 2 plans to partially privatize itself and three state-owned subsidiaries by selling 25-35 percent stakes of each firm to the public in 2015. In early July, the Vietnamese government ordered all state-owned companies to equitize and divest from non-core investments by 2015 to concentrate on their core businesses. The order came after many state-run groups faced losses last year. Local media cited Finance Ministry's data that they had invested … [Read more...] about Vinafood 2 to divest from non-core sectors by 2015