Unilever has a taste of success in Vietnam


By Amy Kazmin
FT.com site; Dec 02, 2003



As a young girl, Dang Thi Hoa, a 60-year-old native of the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc, heard stories of how her grandmother used to sail to nearby Cambodia to sell a popular sauce that islanders, including her family, made from fermented anchovies.

Garment exports earn 3.37 billion USD

(12/01/2003 -- 22:44GMT+7)

Ha Noi, Nov. 1 (VNA) - So far this year, Viet Nam has exported 3.37 billion USD worth of textiles and garments, a 38.3 percent increase over the same period last year.


According to the Ministry of Trade, the export value would have been higher if there had been no problems with exports to the US. The mismatch between the number of US-bound exports that were granted export licenses by the Vietnamese side and those registered by the US customs led to a temporarly halt in the granting of visas to some Vietnamese products.

Vietnamese musicians get serious about their royalties



HCM CITY — In what must be sweet music to their ears, the body acting for musicians in Viet Nam is now permitted to chase up royalties owed to composers.

An agreement this week between the Viet Nam Recording Association and the Viet Nam Copyright Centre (VCC) allows the centre, which represents many composers, to enforce their royalty payments.

Under the agreement, composers will receive royalty fees from concert organisers and CD producers who use their material.

VN agriculture prepares for free trade


November 10, 2003

HCM CITY — The planned entry of Viet Nam into the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) in early 2004 would provide both opportunities and tough challenges for the agricultural sector, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said.

By entering ACFTA, Viet Nam would be well placed to develop new markets for its products, especially crops such as coffee, pepper, cashew nuts, vegetables and tropical fruits, which it could produce more cheaply than its ASEAN neighbours.

State to shed most insurance stakes




Vietnam News
- (10/10/2003)

The Government has drawn up a schedule to partially divest its stakes in insurance companies, except the Viet Nam Insurance Corporation, by 2010.

Under a Strategy for Development of the Insurance Market it announced last month, the Government will develop the giant corporation (Bao Viet) into a financial group straddling the insurance, securities and investment sectors.

A land of timeless images


By Bettina Wassener
Financial Times.com
Oct 03, 2003


The horrors and complexities of Vietnam never die. At least not in the movies. The Quiet American, released earlier this year, once again catapulted this elegant long, thin, watery strip of a country back onto the international movie screens, and thence into the consciousness of viewers on both sides of the Atlantic.

VN sustains highest regional growth



Ha Noi — Viet Nam’s GDP almost hit the Government’s growth target of 7.5 per cent this year, despite war in Iraq and the SARS outbreak.

The Asian Development Bank’s Outlook 2003 Update, released on Tuesday, stated the country’s gross domestic product grew by 6.9 per cent in the first half of this year, the highest in Southeast Asia.

Strong domestic demand, moderately expansionist monetary and fiscal policies and prudent economic management prompted the growth.

The report projected Viet Nam’s 2003-04 GDP to be about 7 per cent.

Việt Nam dẫn đầu Đông - Nam Á về tăng trưởng kinh tế

Nhandan.org.vn, cập nhật 18 giờ - 03-10-2003


Bản đánh giá về “triển vọng phát triển Đông - Nam Á” vừa được Ngân hàng Phát triển châu Á (ADB) công bố ngày 30-9 đã xếp Việt Nam là nước dẫn đầu về tăng trưởng kinh tế trong khu vực. Nhân sự kiện này, ông Ramesh Adhikari - Chuyên viên cao cấp của ADB đã có những đánh giá đối với thành tựu mà Việt Nam đã đạt được.

Hỏi: Xin ông cho biết những cơ sở để ADB đánh giá về tình hình phát triển Đông - Nam Á, trong đó có Việt Nam?

Non-U.S. banks allowed to double dong deposits



The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) issued a decision last week allowing non-U.S. foreign bank branches to double their deposits in Vietnamese dong.

Under Decision 1084, these branches can from October 1 increase dong deposits from both individuals and organizations to half of their chartered capital instead of 25% as at present.

This move has been anticipated earlier in a central bank's tentative scheme on removing restrictions on non U.S. foreign bank branches in Vietnam.

Vietnam Trade Minister's speech at Chicago conference

THE CHICAGO CONFERENCE ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMY:

INTERVENTION BY H.E MR. TRUONG DINH TUYEN MINISTER OF TRADE OF VIET NAM CHICAGO, 15-16/9/2003


Yours Excellency Mr. Chairman!
Ladies and Gentlemen!


At the outset, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations and His Excellency Mr. Marshall M. Bouton for giving me this opportunity to participate and speak in this prestigious forum.

Pages