Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam’s footwear sector is now beginning to see positive signs after export revenue for footwear and handbags fell 11 percent year-on-year to 19.5 billion USD in 2020, making it one of the sectors hardest hit by COVID-19. Vietnamese companies have proved their capacity in research and development (R&D) and design, according to Chairman of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (LEFASO) Nguyen Duc Thuan. Signs show that Vietnam is further penetrating into the leather-footwear supply chain, he said, as the design and R&D processes rake in high added value for products. The domestic supply of materials for the sector now represents 60 percent. Local businesses can take the initiative in producing soles and moulds, as well as packaging and labelling. This is attributable to their activeness in manufacturing materials locally, Thuan added. In particular, the Gia Dinh Footwear JSC has set up industrial clusters to attract investment in … [Read more...] about Footwear sector further penetrates global supply chain
Wb food supply department
Tra Vinh to dredge irrigation canals to better cope with dry season
Tra Vinh (VNA) - The Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh will dredge its 18 main irrigation canals that run a total of 162 km in the next four years at a cost of 387 billion VND (16.7 million USD) to improve the supply of water for irrigation during the dry season. The money will come from the Government and the province. The canals provide freshwater to the major agricultural districts of Cang Long, Cau Ke, Tieu Can, Chau Thanh, Cau Ngang, and Tra Cu and Duyen Hai town. The dredging will increase their capacity and help prevent the severe shortage of freshwater caused by saltwater intrusion during the dry season in recent years. Pham Minh Truyen, Director of the province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said over the past four years the province had been severely affected by climate change, especially in the dry season, including impacts on agriculture and people’s lives. Saltwater intrusion caused damages worth more than 1.1 trillion VND (47.5 million … [Read more...] about Tra Vinh to dredge irrigation canals to better cope with dry season
Covid hits coworking office space rents in HCMC
"2020 was a challenging year for both traditional and shared office segments. The market has been seeing a number of tenants turn to lower-priced office buildings and shophouses to cut down on rental costs in order to maintain their business," said Vo Thi Khanh Trang, head of Savills Vietnam's market research department. … [Read more...] about Covid hits coworking office space rents in HCMC
Solar energy storage system offers low-cost solution for Vietnam
Hanoi (VNA) - The Solar Storage System (ESS) offers a low-cost and low-emissions solution for peak-hour power supply, helping Vietnam pursue low emissions development and ensuring economic growth, according to an expert at a workshop held in Hanoi on January 27. Mark Leslie, Managing Director of the Green Investment Group at Macquarie Capital, said the solution helps integrate solar power into the grid. Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time, to reduce imbalances between demand and generation. According to a representative from the Blueleaf Energy company - an organiser of the workshop - the solar energy storage system allows the use of low-cost solar power at noon to charge and then discharge during peak hours to meet peak loads. Solar power sources are intermittent and fluctuate during the day, thus causing several issues for grid operation. The combination between the source and the energy storage system can lead to more stable … [Read more...] about Solar energy storage system offers low-cost solution for Vietnam
Malaysian health ministry inks term sheet agreements with two vaccine suppliers
Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - The Malaysian Ministry of Health on January 26 signed term sheet agreements with two vaccine suppliers, Pharmaniaga Lifescience Sdn Bhd (PLS) and Duopharma (M) Sdn Bhd, for the procurement of 18.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. The ministry said in a statement that PLS will supply 12 million doses of COVID-19 CORONAVAC, SARS-COV-2 Vaccine (Vero Cell) Inactivated produced by Sinovac Life Science Co. Ltd, which will be distributed in stages beginning April. Duopharma will supply 6.4 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine, produced by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Russia. The vaccine is expected to be distributed in stages by end-March 2021, it said. The ministry said for the COVID-19 CORONAVAC vaccine, SARS-COV-2 Vaccine (Vero Cell) Inactivated, each recipient will be given two shots 14 days apart. With the 12 million doses, it expects the immunisation programme to cover 3.2 million people or 18.75 per cent of the Malaysian … [Read more...] about Malaysian health ministry inks term sheet agreements with two vaccine suppliers