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The Hanoitimes – The head of Vietnam’s stock market watchdog urged players to trust the internal strengths of the economy and the resilience of Vietnam’s stock market.

The State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC), the country’s stock market watchdog, is considering a number of solutions to help investors and securities firms overcome negative impacts of the Covid-19 epidemic and global turmoil, according to the SSC’s Chairman Tran Van Dung.

Chairman of the SSC Tran Van Dung.

Among them are lowering fees for some brokerage services and easing regulations on margin trading, Dung told Vietnam Financial Times.

At the close on March 9, the benchmark Vn-Index plunged 6.28% to 835.49, the biggest tumble since May 2014 when the standoff between Vietnam and China occurred after China moved an oil rig into Vietnam’s waters.

Dung, however, noted the liquidity of the Hochiminh and Hanoi stock exchanges remained abudant with nearly VND6.5 trillion (US$278.69 million) traded, indicating investors were buying in battered stocks.

Besides, foreign investors remained net sellers but at a moderate amount of VND230 billion (US$9.85 million) on March 9, Dung added.

Dung said the freefall of the stock market was a common situation globally, especially as “all bad news came at one time” that directly impact investor sentiment, including the sharpest decline of oil price since 1991, prompting Goldman Sachs to predict Brent oil could drop to US$20 per barrel this year.

On early March 9, the Japanese government issued lower-than-expected economic data for 2019, heightening fears the global economy may come to a recession under the growing impacts of the Covid-19 epidemic.

The Federal Reserves (FED) on March 3 cut interest rates by 0.5% in an emergency move, prompting 65% of traders to expect the FED to continue lowering interest rates by 0.75% in the upcoming meeting on March 17. If it happens, the cut in the federal funds rate would take the borrowing cost in the short-term markets down to a range of 0.25% – 0.5% and raise concern over the US and global economies going to slow down.

For the Vietnamese stock market, new cases of Covid-19 infections were the main reason for shares going downhill, Dung said. However, Vietnam’s successful containment of the epidemic is just a matter of time, given strong determination of the government and the public.

Moreover, in the mid- and long-term, credit and fiscal support packages from the government will no doubt help enterprises recover, Dung added.

Dung urged enterprises, intermediary financial institutions and investors to trust the internal strengths of the economy and the resilience of Vietnam’s stock market.

Such confidence would help the market to rebound sooner and avoid unnecessary sell-offs, Dung stated.

In the coming time, the SSC would continue to closely monitor the market and only intervene out of necessity, Dung added, stating the authority would strictly punish cases of market manipulation or providing false information for unfair gains.

The Hanoitimes – The program is designed exclusively for Vietnam amid a rise in Facebook users in the country.

The “Facebook for Vietnam” program that puts existing and newly created programs in Vietnam under one hashtag is a way that the world’s largest social media platform has launched to assist the digital transformation in the Southeast Asian country.

Daniel Kritenbrink, US Ambassador to Vietnam. Photo: Facebook Vietnam

In partnership with the US Mission to Vietnam partners, this program is part of activities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam-US relations.

To be launched from May to December 2020, the campaign with the hashtag #fb4vn is a first-of-its-kind comprehensive program designed exclusively for Vietnam.

The program includes five pillars namely Innovation, Safety and Digital Literacy, Community, Cities, and Digital Economy.

#fb4Innovation covers start-up supporting initiatives, programmers, and innovation-driven campaigns.

#fb4Safety and Digital Literacy focuses on safety on social networks, including protective measures for women and children, prevention of child abuse, and digital skills equipped for youth.

#fb4Community includes initiatives to bring people together and use technology for good.

#fb4Cities supports localities in their efforts to build e-government and smart cities through coordinated programs in various fields.

#fb4Economy contributes to the business community, mostly small- and medium-sized enterprises, and promote tourism and education in Vietnam after Covid-19.

Number of Facebook users in Vietnam from 2017 to 2023. Source: Statista

“As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year, the “Facebook for Vietnam” campaign, which further expands Facebook’s socio-economic development projects throughout the country, demonstrates both Facebook’s and the United States’ long-term commitment to the prosperity of Vietnam,” said Daniel Kritenbrink, US ambassador to Vietnam.

Nguyen Anh Nguyet, Facebook’s Vietnam Public Policy Director, said Vietnam, with a digital economy that is growing at a remarkable pace, is an important market for Facebook.

With this campaign, Facebook wants to work more closely with the government, partners, non-profit organizations, and others to help Vietnam quickly recover from the global health crisis while creating opportunities for people to build digital literacy skills, helping businesses grow and creating jobs in the digital economy, she said.

In recent years, Facebook has collaborated with different partners in Vietnam to implement projects that help boost the nation’s socio-economic growth. Such projects include #SheMeansBusiness & “Facebook Community Boost” that provided training and consultation for more than 10,000 small and medium-sized enterprises, including 6,500 businesswomen. In 2019, the “We Think Digital” program offered digital skills training to 244,813 secondary schoolchildren and 1,277 teachers in 13 provinces and cities across Vietnam.

Vietnam is among top 10 countries having the largest Facebook using community, with 47.1 million users.

Hanoi (VNA) – The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has played an important role in promoting political and security progress in South Sudan in the past time, Vietnamese Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy , Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, has said.

At the UN Security Council’s virtual conference with countries joining the UNMISS’ activities on March 2, Quy laid stress on Vietnam’s positive contribution to the UN’s peace keeping activities in the African nation with the implementation of the level-2 field hospital, affirming Vietnam will continue support for the UNMISS’s activities in the coming time.

He expressed his hope that the UNMISS’s activities will suit the changes in South Sudan, including enhancing assistance to the transitional process in the nation as well as improving efficiency of civilians’ protection work.

At the same time, Quy emphasized the significance of ensuring safety for UNMISS forces in the context of COVID-19 as well as favourable conditions for women to join the UNMISS.

The virtual conference was attended by Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for South Sudan and Head of the UNMISS David Shearer. Participants listened to a report from David Shearer, and discussed UNMISS’s operation in the past 12 months.

The UNMISS was established in 2011, and its mandate is extended every year. Its objective is to consolidate peace and security, and help establish conditions for development in South Sudan , with a view to strengthening the capacity of the Government of South Sudan to govern effectively and democratically and establish good relations with its neighbours.

Vietnam officially engaged in the UN’s peace keeping activities and sent representative to the UNMISS in 2014. Currently, the country is running the second level-2 field hospital in Bentiu with 63 staff members, including 10 women. It is preparing to dispatch the third level-2 field hospital to the nation at the end of this month./.

VNA

Can Tho (VNA) – Another One-Stop Service Office (OSSO) was launched in Can Tho on March 3 to facilitate sustainable reintegration of returning migrant women in the Mekong Delta city.

OSSO Can Tho is part of the project “Strengthening Vietnamese capacity for sustainable reintegration of returning women migrants and their households in Vietnam” implemented by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in cooperation with the Women’s Union of Vietnam.

Funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the project has been carried out in Hanoi, Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Can Tho and Hau Giang since March 2020.

OSSO Can Tho aims to provide returning migrant women and their families in Can Tho and other Mekong Delta provinces with free counselling, consultation and support services on legal advice, psychological assistance, education – training – apprenticeship, employment, loan support, health and medical care, gender-based violence prevention, family and children.

It also unites local and foreign organisations in a network that offers help to returning migrant women and their family members from the Republic of Korea and other countries so they can get access to support services for sustainable reintegration.

The establishment of OSSO in Can Tho is strategically meaningful as the city is home to a large number of returning migrant women, said Ha Thi Nga, Chairwoman of the Women’s Union of Vietnam, adding that the union’s Can Tho chapter is offering practical support for Vietnamese women whose spouses are foreigners./.

VNA

Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi (Source: Metropole)

Hanoi – Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi has been awarded a five-star rating – the top level of recognition from Forbes Travel Guide in its independent assessment of luxury hotels, restaurants and spas.

This is the second consecutive year Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi has had its name in the rankings.

In Forbes Travel Guide’s review for 2021, Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi was praised as “a supremely beautiful hotel, inside and out”.

Every corner is a compelling photo opportunity, especially in the gleaming historic wing and all-white inner courtyard, the review said.

According to the review, Metropole Hanoi has a strong sense of pride in its Vietnamese heritage. Its staff dons an eye-catching array of ao dai costumes, walls glow with local art and ceramics, and detailed explanations of Vietnamese culture are sprinkled throughout the luxury hotel.

Situated at 15 Ngo Quyen street in Hanoi since its opening in 1901, Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi draws deeply from a century of stories to weave a rich, nostalgic guest experience in the heart of the Vietnamese capital.

Over the years, Metropole Hanoi has checked in many an illustrious character, including novelist Graham Greene, writer Somerset Maugham and movie star Charlie Chaplin.

Forbes Travel Guide, established in 1958, is the oldest travel guide in the US, and is the creator of the original Five-Star rating system for hotels. The guide’s ratings are among the most highly respected in the hotel industry.

Its five-star rating is meant to designate “outstanding, often iconic properties with virtually flawless service and amazing facilities”.