Vice presidents who were elected president

The same day, Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan extended her congratulations to newly-elected Speaker of the NA of South Africa Thandi Modise. President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh also sent his congratulations to Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor on her appointment as the country’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation. The two nations set up diplomatic relations in 1993. South Africa retained its top position among African trade partners of Vietnam in 2018, with bilateral trade topping 1.1 billion USD, up 11.7 percent from 2017 and accounting for 16 percent of total trade between Vietnam and African countries. Source: VNA … [Read more...] about Vietnam congratulates newly-elected leaders of South Africa

Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (Photo: AFP/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana hinted on November 11 that he wants to lift martial law that President Rodrigo Duterte imposed in the southern part of the country in 2017 to crush the militants that continue to sow terror in that region. Lorenzana, the administrator of martial law, said he is not likely to recommend to Duterte to further extend martial law in the entire Mindanao region after the law expires on December 31. The official said martial law has been implemented too long already in that region, a known haven of both the Islamist and leftist militants. By lifting martial law, he said the security forces can do their jobs. Last month, Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, commanding general of the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Western Mindanao Command, said he favours imposing martial law in selective provinces like the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The … [Read more...] about Philippine defense chief hints at lifting of martial law in southern region

A view of Jakarta's skyline. (Photo: AFP/BAY ISMOYO) Hanoi (VNA) - Moody’s Investors Service upgraded its credit rating for Indonesia on April 13, praising the country’s central bank and government policies for boosting confidence in the largest economy of Southeast Asia. Indonesia's efforts in keeping budget deficit and inflation under control led to Moody's boosting its rating to Baa2 from Baa3 with a stable outlook. A better credit rating tends to lower a country's borrowing costs and can make it more attractive to investors. In December last year, Fitch Ratings increased Indonesia's sovereign rating, with Standard & Poor's previously raising Indonesia's credit rating from junk status to investment grade. Indonesia’s economy grew by 5.1 percent in 2017, up from the 2016’s figure of 5 percent, still well below President Joko Widodo's target of 7 percent.-VNA VNA … [Read more...] about Moody elevates Indonesia credit rating

Transactions at Sacombank’s branch in the northern province of Lang Son (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) needed to speed up the settlement of non-performing loans (NPLs) to bring down the bad debt ratio of the entire banking system, including both NPLs owned by credit institutions and the Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC), to below 3 percent by 2020.   Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue made the request at a conference held by the SBV in Hanoi on August 28 to review the implementation of the National Assembly’s Resolution 42/2017/QH and the Prime Minister’s Decision No 1058/QD-TTg on the structure of credit institutions (CIs) system associated with dealing with bad debts in the 2016-20 period. The NPL ratio at credit institutions must be reduced to a safe level according to international rules, Hue stressed. Nguyen Van Du, the SBV’s deputy chief inspector, said that after a year of implementing the regulations, the … [Read more...] about Deputy PM urges SBV to speed up settlement of bad debts

Illustrative image (Photo: cafef.vn)   Hanoi (VNA) – Only about 300 of the over 1,800 businesses working in supporting industries in Vietnam have joined production chains of multinational enterprises, a figure described by analysts as too modest. Vice Chairwoman and Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Supporting Industries (VASI) Truong Thi Chi Binh released the information at a recent workshop, noting that the problem lies in the capacity of those companies themselves. A survey of the VASI shows that the organisation, trading and capital absorption capacity, along with the human capital, of many businesses are weak. Many of them lack appropriate management standards, but when invited to build those standards, they reject the offer, claiming that this work is costly. And when multinational companies come to place orders, they fail to meet their partners’ demand because of the lack of management standards, Binh noted. Most of the companies in supporting … [Read more...] about Vietnamese firms’ presence in global chains remains modest