Vietnam Insider - Page 1273 of 1523

Airport security officers fined over assault on airline staff in north-central Vietnam

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Four security officers at an airport in the north-central Vietnamese province of Thanh Hoa have been fined following an incident where a group of men attacked a female airline employee at the facility in late November.

Trinh Hong Quan, Vu Quoc Hoi, Trinh Ngoc Hoan, and Dao Van Dung, who are members of the security unit of Tho Xuan Airport, were fined VND4 million (US$171) each for failing to follow protocols, affecting civil aviation operations at the airdrome.

The fining is in accordance with Government Decree No. 147, which dictates that such an error should subject one to a VND3 million ($128) to VND5 million ($213) penalty.

The incident took place at around 2:20 pm on November 23, when a group of three men, namely Le Van Nhi, 41, Le Trung Dung, 34, and Pham Huu An, 28, took their friend to the airdrome.

The friend was scheduled to board a flight to Ho Chi Minh City at 3:05 pm.

Nhi, Dung, and An then asked Le Thi Giang, a ground service staff of budget carrier Vietjet, to take a photo of them, before continuing to ask her to join them for a group selfie.

Giang refused the second request, just to be verbally abused by the three men.

An and Nhi later slapped the woman and hit her head with a phone.

Le Thi Hien, a representative of the airline, attempted to interfere and received a slap on her face and a kick to her abdomen from Nhi.

Dung also hit two airport security officers.

The attackers were eventually arrested when airport security was reinforced by police from Tho Xuan District.

The incident was caught on CCTV and the footage later went viral on social media.

Many viewers believed that the security officers at the scene were rather slow and passive as they were unable to prevent the violence from escalating.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam previously announced they had imposed a 12-month flight ban upon the three men.

The police unit in Tho Xuan confirmed on November 25 they had initiated legal proceedings against the men for “disturbing public order.”

Source: Tuoitrenews

Company proposes to renovate To Lich River

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Phuong Bac Infrastructure Company proposed November 8 to transform the heavily-polluted To Lich River in Hanoi.

The company chairman Dam Van Long confirmed in the written proposal that they wouldn’t collect fees and introduced Vingroup as the project’s investor. They suggested using both build-transfer and build-operate-transfer (BOT) models for this project.

For packages that use BOT model, investors can open tourism services on To Lich River for a period of time. The company also suggested setting up a comprehensive system for tourism include inland waterway transportation and floating cafes.

Another proposal is to make it a public-private-partnership project in which investors can open services on To Lich River for a period of time with preferential treatments. They want to turn To Lich into a pleasant urban feature.

The drainage system must be changed so that only rainwater will be discharged into the river and the wastewater will be directed into another route. Investors must plant trees, dredge and clean the river. To Lich River could be connected with the Red River and other existing rivers.

In the future, other polluted rivers such as Kim Nguu and Nhue can be renovated to improve the drainage system in the capital.

However, Pham Thanh Tung, chief office of the Vietnam Association of Architects, opposed the project. According to Tung, the rivers have been turned into open sewers as wastewater and rubbish are dumped into the water.

“Projects to revive the polluted rivers are necessary but they should not be taken advantages of to do businesses,” he said. “It will be a mistake in urban planning.”

Source: Dtinews

AFF Cup: Take nothing for granted, coach tells Vietnamese team

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‘We played well in the first leg, but nothing is assured,’ coach Park Hang-seo says ahead of second leg semifinal.
Although Vietnam had an impressive away victory against the Philippines, and play them at home tomorrow, coach Park Hang-seo advised his wards to remain level-headed.

“We played good in the first leg, but nothing is assured. I think the players as well as the fans haven’t forgotten the lesson with the Malaysia match in 2014. The most important thing for us now is to stay focused. Each and every player should not lose control and must remain cool under pressure,” Park said.

At the last AFF Cup four years ago, under coach Toshiya Miura, Vietnam won the first leg away, 2-1, but suffered an unexpected 2-4 second leg loss at the My Dinh National Stadium, knocking them out of the final.

“We want perfect preparation, tactical, physical and mental for tomorrow,” Park said.

Centre forward Ha Duc Chinh said the team was ready for tomorrow’s match.

“The coach has boosted our spirits so we can play well in tomorrow’s game and go into the final. We are ready,” Chinh said.

On the other side, Philippines head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson stayed positive despite the first leg loss.

“We will get to see a big game tomorrow. Philippines lost in the first leg, so the situation is obviously difficult for us. However, we come to Hanoi to win, not to travel. Tomorrow, Philippines will have to attack, but at the same time cannot concede more goals,” Eriksson said.

Team captain Phil Younghusband said the Philippines still had a chance.

“We will do everything we can to win. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s game. We used to win in Hanoi and hope that will be repeated. Philippines still have a chance,” he said.

The second leg of AFF Cup semi-finals between Vietnam and Philippines will kick off tomorrow, December 6 at 7:30 p.m., at the My Dinh National Stadium. With two away goals in the first leg, Vietnam has the edge, for now.

The winner will play either Thailand or Malaysia in the final on December 11.

Lam Thoa, Duy Doan report on Vnexpress

PM suggests Lotte Group establish startup foundation

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Suggestion made during reception for Lotte Chairman on December 4 in Hanoi.

Lotte Foundation presents student scholarships
Lotte keen on local startups
Lotte Accelerator to pour $1mn into Vietnamese startups
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc suggested the Lotte Group establish a startup foundation for young Vietnamese during his reception for Chairman of the Lotte Group, Mr. Shin Dong Bin, on December 4 in Hanoi.

Appreciating Lotte’s recent investment projects in Vietnam, the Prime Minister asked it to invest in production projects in Vietnam, encourage South Korean leaders to enhance cooperation, and increase the consumption of goods in Vietnam, especially agricultural products.

“Vietnam is launching a movement of startups and there have been 3,000 projects, of which about 100 ideas have been invested in by foreign investors with large capital,” Prime Minister Phuc said. “We therefore look forward to cooperating and promoting this movement in Vietnam.”

Mr. Bin noted that he will soon launch the establishment of a startup foundation for youth in Vietnam. He also said that his visit to Vietnam aims at accelerating the implementation of huge projects in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

The Lotte Group, he said, has been present in Vietnam for more than 20 years and has employed 2,000 Vietnamese workers with total investment of VND40 trillion ($1.7 billion). The group is committed to investment projects in Vietnam that apply advanced technology and are friendly on the environment.

Lotte has organized a Vietnam-based trade fair in South Korea since 2011 and will continue to do so.

It is also interested in talent development and is investing in several startup projects in Vietnam. At the end of October, it announced it will invest $1 million in Vietnamese startups over the next five years and the figure could be adjusted upwards.

Lotte is the fifth-largest economic group in South Korea, controlling over 60 business units in diverse industries such as foodstuffs, retail, tourism, heavy chemicals, IT, construction, entertainment, and financial services.

It is strengthening its domestic core business while expanding its overseas operations, with a focus on developing countries including Russia, India, China, Indonesia and Vietnam.

The group has set a goal of becoming one of Asia’s top 10 global groups by 2018.

Ngoc Lan report on Vneconomictimes

Vietnamese currency falls to new low, could go lower

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The official exchange rate between Vietnamese dong and U.S. dollar reached its highest this year Wednesday, and experts said the dong could further.
The State Bank of Vietnam set a central exchange rate of VND22,757 on Wednesday, the sixth time the rate has gone up in the last two weeks.

The dong has fallen by VND352, or 1.57 percent, against the greenback since the beginning of the year.

The dollar’s value increased at commercial banks. At 3p.m. Wednesday, Vietcombank sold the dollar for VND23,350, VND15 higher than Tuesday.

Vietinbank also sold its dollar for VND23,350, VND17 higher than Tuesday, while BIDV sold it at VND23,355, VND25 higher.

The dollar also inched up on the free market. At 11.30 a.m. Wednesday, it was selling for VND23,360-23,410, VND10-20 higher than on Tuesday.

Economist Nguyen Tri Hieu said that the reason for the hike was high demand for dollars toward the end of the year as businesses often import large amounts of material needed for manufacturing.

The ongoing U.S.-China trade war continues to exert exchange rate pressures, despite the U.S. announcing a 90-day halt on additional tariffs on Chinese goods starting next year, as there is no certainty that tensions will decline, he said.

“There is a high possibility that the dong’s value will continue to fall this year,” Hieu told VnExpress International.

Hieu said that the government should also devaluate the dong against the Chinese yuan so that the trade deficit between Vietnam and China can be reduced.

Vietnam relies heavily on China for materials and equipment for its labor-intensive manufacturing sector.

As the yuan’s value has fallen by 9 percent to the dollar since the beginning of this year, some experts have said that the dong should be devaluated even more to avoid impacts a cheaper yuan. Cheap made-in-China goods could be imported in large quantities to Vietnam and compete with domestic products, they said.

But economist Tran Dinh Thien said that the dong should be kept at a balanced rate between the U.S. dollar and the Chinese yuan. A 2-3 percent band a year is acceptable, he added.

A stronger dollar will benefit exporters, but will also create stronger pressure on inflation and interest rates which will increase business costs in a country with high imports and public debt, Thien said at a recent conference.

He added that the fluctuation of the dong should be controlled to help local companies conduct their business with greater certainty.

The government doesn’t want businesses to suffer shocks, he said.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had said in August that the devaluation of the dong needs to be kept within a 2-percent band this year compared with the end of last year.

Dat Nguyen report on Vnexpress

December 5: VN-Index down slightly

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Market does well amid global concerns.

The afternoon session on the stock market opened amid some excitement, with cash flows continuing to pour in and helping indexes rise.

At 1.40pm the VN-Index had increased 1.8 points (0.19 per cent) to 960.64 points and the HNX-Index 0.41 points (0.38 per cent) to 107.8 points, while the UPCoM-Index fell slightly, by 0.04 points. Liquidity continued to be quite good, with a matching order value of over VND3 trillion ($128.9 million).

At the end of the session, however, selling pressure increased, causing the market to lose ground. The VN-Index finished the day down 1.7 points (0.18 per cent) to 957.14 points. Despite falling under 960 points in the closing minutes, trade was quite positive on the day, given investor psychology was significantly affected by fluctuations in world stock markets.

The HNX-Index increased 0.35 points (0.33 per cent) to 107.74 points. Overall, the number of decliners was 271, outpacing 251 decliners.

Liquidity was quite high, with the value of matching orders reaching VND4.4 trillion ($189.1 million). Foreigners were net sellers by VND22 billion ($945,945), in which HPG was net sold by VND36 billion ($1.5 million) and PVS by VND29 billion ($1.24 million).

Cash flow was spread out in the afternoon. Banks and insurance companies such as BVH, BIC, BMI, CTG, MBB, VPB, TPB, and TCB and real estate and construction stocks CEO, DXG, HDG, KBC, VGC, and VCG increased strongly.

Bluechips such as HPG, MWG, PNJ, VRE, and VIC also increased and supported the market.

Total trading volume on HNX was over 41.88 million shares valued at VND639 billion ($24.7 million). In the put through market, there were 6.75 million shares traded for VND58.5 billion ($2.5 million).

The UPCoM-Index showed signs of recovery and closed slightly higher.

POW, OIL, QNS, VIB, MSR, VGI, NTC, and MCH all rose while VEA, HVN, DVN, KOS, and ACV all fell.

My Van report on Vneconomictimes

11% of 56 million people in Vietnam’s workforce have high skills

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From Vietnam’s workforce of approximately 56 million people, about 11% of them have high skills.

Ministry of Labor-Invalids and Social Affairs and ManpowerGroup Vietnam just hosted a conference in Hanoi, which aimed to list the problems and the trends in the labour market and suggest skills for the young generation.

In the conference Deputy Minister Diep affirmed the government’s priority of developing the new skills for Vietnamese workers, in order to ease the integration to the world and adapt to Industry 4.0.

Last week, a report from the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) stated that Industry 4.0 has the potential to boost Vietnam’s economic output by a further USD 28.5-62.1 billion, equivalent to the GDP growth of 7-16% by 2030.

ManpowerGroup Country Manager, Vietnam, Thailand and Middle East, Simon Matthews, and representatives of businesses, vocational schools, and labour associations attended the conference.

A photo collection of chaotic traffic in Hanoi, Vietnam

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“Fantastic four” is a collection by photographer Pham Thanh Long. The photo album focuses on the motorbike, the most popular means of transport in Hanoi and across Vietnam.

Four people were carrying large blue barrels of leftover food. @ Pham Thanh Long

Using the phone while driving | @ Pham Thanh Long

On Hanoi’s streets, these rickety old motorbikes are a familiar scene. | @ Pham Thanh Long

The sleeping children are carried in different styles on motorbikes | @ Pham Thanh Long

Four drivers stuck in traffic jams, all surrounded by cars | @ Pham Thanh Long

Four Vietnamese riding across the street by just waving their hands to signal to oncoming vehicles. | @ Pham Thanh Long

Riding habits from more angles. | @ Pham Thanh Long

Riders do not wear helmets | @ Pham Thanh Long

Using motorbike to carry all sorts of things irrespective of size | @ Pham Thanh Long

The motorbike riders are carrying extra long tubes or iron bars | @ Pham Thanh Long

The Vietnam Association of Motorbike Manufacturers estimates 8,768 new motorbikes hot the streets on average every day. | @ Pham Thanh Long

“Vietnamese street ninjas” | @ Pham Thanh Long

Four bald men on the street without helmets | @ Pham Thanh Long

These riders putting their feet up high, removing their bike mirrors. | @ Pham Thanh Long

These men carry their wives and bulky goods from outside the city to sell | @ Pham Thanh Long

Korean media commend coach Park’s “magic” at AFF Cup

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The Korean media extolled coach Park Hang-Seo after he led Vietnam’s national football team to a 2-1 win against the Philippines in the first leg of the ASEAN Federation Football (AFF) Suzuki Cup 2018 semifinals.

The Hankyoreh newspaper published an article in which it said Park’s magic helped Vietnam defeat the Philippines. The article said Vietnam’s triumph over the host Philippines in the semifinal first leg brought them a significant advantage in the return leg at home on December 6. The winners will take on either Thailand or Malaysia in the final.

The paper stressed Vietnam is targeting its second championship at the AFF Suzuki Cup after 10 years since it won the title for the first time. Earlier, coach Park helped the country become the first runner-up of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship and rank 4th at the Asian Games (ASIAD) 2018, it added.

An article of the Nocutnews said the Philippine players, coached by famous Swedish football manager and former player Sven-Goran Eriksson, had lost to their Vietnamese peers. It wrote Park once stated that winning the AFF Suzuki Cup is his top priority. His team passed the qualification round with three wins and one draw.

The Sport MK said in an article that the AFF Suzuki Cup can be considered a World Cup of the Southeast Asian region. According to the article, under the guidance of coach Park, Vietnam, which let no team score their goal during the qualifiers, is targeting at the championship title. The team beat the Philippines, a tough rival consisting of many qualified players, in the semifinal first leg and is moving closer to the final.

The AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 takes place from November 8 to December 15. This year, it features a new playing format, with both home and away ties.

According to a report on VNA

More foreign capital flowing into Vietnam through M&As

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Foreign direct investment (FDI) keeps flowing to Vietnam, but investors are increasingly pouring more capital through M&As.

According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), FDI capital as of October 20 had reached $15.1 billion, an increase of 6.3 percent over the same period last year.

Also in the last 10 months, 5,342 deals with foreign investors making capital contributions and buying into Vietnamese enterprises, worth $6.3 billion, have been reported, an increase of 35.8 percent against the same period last year.

The processing and manufacturing industry attracted the most FDI with registered capital of $6.85 billion, accounting for 45.6 percent of total FDI capital. Meanwhile, the real estate sector attracted $5.1 billion, and other industries, $3 billion, or 20.4 percent.

The National Finance Supervisory Council reported that investment through M&A is a growing tendency among foreign investors because it has allowed them to shorten the time for procedures and grab opportunities brought by M&A.

Four countries are leading in Vietnam’s M&A market: Singapore, Thailand, South Korea and Japan.

In the real estate sector, there were a few huge deals, including the Japanese Sumitomo Corporation to develop a 272 hectare smart city capitalized at $4.1 billion. In addition, the deal of GIC pouring $1.3 billion into Vinhomes also caught attention from the public.

The US-based investment fund Warburg Pincus has teamed up with Becamex IDC to set up a joint venture with capital of $200 million. And Keppel Land from Singapore acquired the remaining 16 percent of Sowatco shares in the Saigon Centre project.

Meanwhile, Hong KongLand has become the strategic partner of CII, a well known HCMC-based infrastructure developer, and Alpha King has taken over Golden Hill Complex.

Analysts noted that foreign investors are seeking more land and Vietnamese partners to develop projects in different market segments, from industrial real estate to apartments and resorts.

Most recently, 14 multinational groups from Hong Kong, the US, Ireland, Germany and Thailand came to Vietnam to learn about the investment environment in Dong Nai province.

Vietnam, with a young population and growing middle class, is increasingly attractive to foreign investors.

MAF 2018 Report showed that more than 4,000 M&A deals were made in the last 10 years. The M&A market has been expanding with market scale in 2017 larger by 10 times than 2009.

The M&A value in 2018 is predicted to reach $6.9 billion with capital pouring into consumer manufacturing and real estate sectors.

A PwC survey on the threshold of the 26th APEC summit showed that 51 percent of business leaders in APEC plan to increase investments. The countries that are attracting the most investment are Vietnam, China, the US, Australia and Thailand.

According to a report on Vietnamnet

Co-working spaces becoming increasingly popular

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With high office rent in Vietnam, especially compared with other ASEAN countries, co-working spaces have become increasingly popular.

Aleph Labs has become one of the first clients of WeWork, the US-based startup, with a total value of $20 billion in 2017. It officially entered the Vietnamese market last week.

Uyen Nguyen, CEO of Alepth Labs, a software firm with 400 workers present in seven Asian cities, said she decided to move from A-class office to WeWork because of the visual uniformity. Most workers at Alepth Labs are young who need a creative and highly interactive environment.

WeWork’s first co-working space, set at E-Town Central Building in district 4, will be open in December, while two more spaces expected to come out in HCMC and Hanoi in 2019.

While the customers of WeWork’s rivals are mostly startups and freelancers, the customers of WeWork are large-scale firms with 45 percent of firms having more than 1,000 workers.

According to Turochas Fuad, CEO of WeWork ASEAN, the rental in Vietnam is second highest in ASEAN, just below Singapore, which shows that it is a market with great potential and demand.

After three years of operation, Toong established a network with 10 co-working spaces in Hanoi and HCMC (Vietnam), Vientiane (Laos) and Phnom Penh (Cambodia).

Pham Thuy Linh, marketing & branding director of Toong said the total floor area Toong would provide by the end of this year could reach 20,000 square meters.

Linh said though this is a new type of office, co-working spaces have been lauded by youth and technology firms, helping Toong connect a 3,500-member community of individuals and businesses, from startups, small & medium sized enterprises to large corporations.

Toong’s clients have 1-1,000 workers, operating in 36 business fields, from finance, healthcare, education, tourism and NGOs.

Turochas Fuad said that young people are changing their working modes. They tend to work in large cities, and seek communities for connection and creativity . There are up to 60 million people in Vietnam below aged 35.

“Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and in ASEAN. It is now the right time for us to exploit the market,” he said.

Tu Thi Hong An from Alpha King, which owns the Atlas brand, said the co-working market now has the biggest ever potential for development.

“Everything, from design, resources to functions of offices, will change completely in the coming years. If we pay attention to the factors promoting the needs and requirements of modern tenants, the opportunities will prove to be endless,” she said.

According to a report on Vietnamnet

Foxconn mulls Vietnam move for iPhone production to avoid effects of U.S. tariffs

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Apple assembly partner Foxconn is reportedly considering the possibility of setting up a new facility in Vietnam, a move that could potentially prevent the iPhone from being hit by tariffs created by the Trump administration in its ongoing trade war with China.

Head of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vu Tien Loc is said to have raised the possibility with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc of opening a Foxconn factory in Vietnam specifically for iPhone production, according to Reuters citing a Vietnam Investment Review report from Monday.

Loc confirmed talks were underway, advising “We are discussing the possibility of this with Foxconn.” The company itself advised it does not comment on matters “related to current or potential customers, or any of their products.”

In a note to investors seen by AppleInsider, Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty suggested that a finishing plant, one with a single-step in the assembly or one intended for final packaging, would not skirt tariffs.

“It is our interpretation that Apple would have to do more than just one stage of final assembly outside China for the origin of the good to shift away from China,” wrote Huberty. “[This] would then likely require billions of dollars of investment from Apple and partners over a multi-year period, making this a more disruptive scenario.”

A number of Foxconn executives spoke to Reuters in the last week about where production could be moved through, if the company needed to mitigate the effects of the U.S.-China trade war. Vietnam and Thailand were seen as the preferred locations to set up operations, though a lack of skilled labor and inadequate infrastructure would be an issue in either case if such a move was made.

The fresh examination of new bases of operation for Foxconn follow after an interview with President Donald Trump in late November, where he signaled an intention to move ahead with tariffs on $200 billion of goods imported from China, if discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping failed to bear fruit.

The administration has frozen another round of tariffs, pending further discussion and negotiation, that would apply to all remaining goods not already on the import list, bringing iPhones under the same levy. A levy of 10 percent could be applied to iPhones if it does proceed, which analysts suggest could raise the cost of an iPhone by between $60 and $160, if it is passed on to consumers instead of being taken out of Apple’s profits on the sale.

Shifting production to another country has the potential to avoid the tariff, but rules require the product to be substantially transformed for it to be counted as produced elsewhere, so shipping almost-completed goods from China to Vietnam for final finishing touches isn’t enough of a change. Add that China is one of the few countries capable of offering a large and low-cost labor force in a single location, and moving production to a new country becomes a potentially expensive and futile endeavor.

According to a report on Appleinsider

Chinese investors made 922 deals in capital contribution or share acquisition of Vietnamese firms

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Indirect investment from China to Vietnam is surging sharply, causing concerns as Chinese companies could use the local peers as intermediaries to avoid tariffs imposed by the US.

Reports from the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency showed that Chinese investors made 922 deals worth US$500 million in capital contribution or share acquisition of Vietnamese firms in the first eleven months of 2018. HanoiTimes reports.

Besides China, indirect investment inflow of Hong Kong and Taiwanese investors to Vietnam also poured sharply in the period, with 105 deals worth US$220 million of Hong Kong investors and 460 deals worth more than US$365 million of Taiwanese investors.

Related topic: Company formation in Vietnam

As the US-China trade war is accelerating with the US imposing high tariffs on many Chinese products, experts said that the government and domestic firms must take actions against Chinese firms, which ship their unfinished products to Vietnam and then export them to the US through a Vietnam-based firm as an intermediary to avoid tariffs.

“Vietnam needs to be cautious with such investment projects, which are registered in Vietnam only to obtain legal Vietnamese status in a move to allow Chinese firms to avoid high taxes when exporting products to the US” said Nguyen Xuan Thanh from Fulbright Vietnam University.

If Vietnam cannot prevent the wave of Chinese goods that transit in Vietnam before going to the US, it may bear punishments imposed by the US as the case of steel originated in China but exported from Vietnam. The US Department of Commerce had decided to slap tariffs on steel produced in Vietnam using Chinese-origin materials.

Bui Quang Tin, CEO of BizLight Business School, said Vietnam was the only market among the US’s five trade partners with which it had a high trade deficit but had not imposed tariffs yet. But that could still happen, he warned, adding if the US imposed punitive tariffs, the impact on the Vietnamese economy would be huge.

According to a HSBC’s recent survey, Vietnamese firms also foresee the situation, HSBC Vietnam’s CEO Pham Hong Hai said, adding while the firms have kept calm about challenges to be brought by FTAs, they now have a big worry about transshipment goods from China, which may result in high taxation on Vietnamese goods as well.

If some Vietnamese firms lend a hand to Chinese to avoid tax, entire industries and the national economy will suffer, Hai said.

Goods origin under strict control

To avoid the risks, experts said that authorities should closely monitor the import and export of goods for origin to prevent customs declaration fraud.

Besides, Pham Sy Thanh, director of the Chinese Studies Program, said third countries like Vietnam need to prepare well to prove the Vietnamese origin of the products.

Sharing the same view, Hai from HSBC said that with high risky industries, both firms (through associations) and the government should actively prepare transparent information on origin to readily show out before being taxed.

In particular, according to Hai, enterprises must actively access information, even update it daily to come up with solutions. Of course, there is no perfect solution because everything changes constantly, but the more the firms know how to have access to information and focus on competitive advantages, the more they can take opportunities.

The information needs to be shared widely among the business community, especially with small companies, Hai said.

Meanwhile, Tran Du Lich, deputy chair of the Vietnam International Arbitration Center (VIAC), said that state management agencies should create criteria and standards on goods origin.

In the long term, Lich believes that the best solution is to develop local supporting industries that will help increase the locally-made content in products.

CIMB Bank unveiled its first Digital Lounge in Vietnam

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CIMB Bank also launched its Octo by CIMB mobile banking app for consumers in Vietnam.

Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) to host CIMB Bank Vietnam’s first branch presence following the establishment of its headquarters in Hanoi in 2016. The launch also marks the beginning of CIMB Vietnam’s digital banking proposition, inaugurated by Octo which offers fast, secure and convenient 24/7 mobile banking services.

Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz. The CIMB Group CEO said the launch of its inaugural lounge and Octo in Vietnam not only demonstrates its long term commitment to the Vietnamese market but also its ambition to continue contributing to the growth and development of Asean.

“As one of the region’s fastest growing markets, with macroeconomic stability, a strong entrepreneurial culture, and a high proportion of young mobile-centric population, Vietnam is well-poised to contribute significantly to Asean’s economic development. With CIMB’s strong Asean network, in-house financial expertise and accomplished partners, we are confident that we have entered Vietnam at the right time to start developing ecosystems that deliver, not just great banking products and services, but also other offerings that add real value to the CIMB customer experience.”

Avoiding effects of U.S. tariffs, Foxconn considering iPhone factory in Vietnam

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Apple assembly partner Foxconn is reportedly considering the possibility of setting up a new facility in Vietnam, a move that could potentially prevent the iPhone from being hit by tariffs created by the Trump administration in its ongoing trade war with China.