Foreign Investors Target Vietnam Commercial Banks

Foreign investors are increasingly buying into Vietnam’s fast-expanding banking industry, creating favorable opportunities for local banks to boost their operations.

Overseas companies now see joint-stock commercial banks in Vietnam as an attractive investment option following the country’s rapid-growing financial market and the fact that banks are making huge profits.

Vietnamese Life Expectancy Increases

Vietnamese life expectancy is reportedly now at 71.3, three years longer than it was five years ago, according to the Ministry of Health.

The improved healthcare system is a major reason behind the increase in life expectancy, the ministry said.

At present, all communes and wards have healthcare workers, with 65 percent of the clinics being run by doctors. The number of clinics reached 1,024 last year, while 70 per cent of cities and provinces have set up hospitals for traditional medicines, the ministry added.

At Least 200 Companies to List on Vietnam Bourse by 2010

The total number of companies listed on the HCMC Securities Trading Center, Vietnam’s first stock exchange will be minimum 200 by 2010, according to a Finance Ministry projection.

With the growing value of the stock exchange every year, forecasts predict the total number of listed companies will reach 200 by 2010 with an average capital sale of VND205 billion each, heard a seminar on the topic in Hanoi July 18.

Anthology Demystifies Vietnamese Food

Viet Nam News, July 17, 2005
by Clint Lambert

The Cuisine of Vietnam – Nourishing a Culture is not a cookbook, but more an exploration of the culture behind Vietnamese cooking. It is an anthology of different articles that have been selected from hundreds of food-centered pieces published in Vietnam Cultural Window. Mostly firsthand accounts written by Vietnamese, but interspersed with a Westerner’s take on the delicious, yet sometimes, complicated dishes that make up Vietnamese cuisine.

Agent Orange Victims Fight Back

Viet Nam News, (July 17, 2005)

Though the lawsuit by Vietnamese Agent Orange victims against American chemical companies hit a wall in March, many foreigners and locals are working to make sure the issue gets the attention it deserves. Le Huong reports.

Vietnamese Maintain Identity Abroad

By Huu Ngoc

Dr Nguyen Khac Vien (1913-1997), holder of a Francophone Grand Prix bestowed by the French Academy, was the elder son of Nguyen Khac Niem, a Confucian scholar of great moral rectitude. When, in 1937, he left Sai Gon to study in France, his father went with him as far as the pier. There, his father handed him a letter, which was not to be opened until the ship had reached the high seas. It turned out to be instructions for Vien not to marry a ba Dam (French Westerner) in order to preserve his national identity.

Government Officials Pay Visit to Holy See

ROME — Viet Nam and the Vatican have agreed to increase contacts to promote mutual understanding, solve issues of mutual concern, and improve bilateral relations.

The agreement was reached during a visit to the Vatican from June 27 to July 3 by a delegation of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, led by Chairman Ngo Yen Thi. The visit was made at the invitation of the Holy See’s Relations with States.

Disabled Viet Kieu Aids Hydrocephalic Kids

HA NOI — Disabled Vietnamese-American engineer Do Van Du has financed the treatment of 320 poor children affected by hydrocephalus or fluid on the brain.

Born in Hue, Du lost an arm and a leg in an accident when he was 14. But he won a scholarship to study information technology at Washington University in 1971. For the past four years he has collected medical equipment for hospitals in Viet Nam.He has also organized the swapping of experience and technology between US and Vietnamese physicians.

Its Secrets Revealed, Water Puppetry Retains Its Charm

By Huu Ngoc

Viet Nam’s water puppetry has captivated audiences around the world, but it may lose some of its charm and relevance when performed in Paris, New York, Stockholm, Tokyo and other major metropolises that lack the natural surroundings.

In Age of Globalization, Culture More Important Than Ever

By Dieu Ngoc

Pages