Province-based enterprises have shared difficulties with workers by many practical policies. This has contributed to helping workers improve their lives in the “price storm” period.

What do you think about the future of mining in Viet Nam given the new regulations on mineral exploitation fees?

Export turnover increased in the first quarter of this year. This is a joyful signal but there remain difficulties that enterprises should improve to grasp opportunities.

Tai Yuen Co., Ltd, a subsidiary company of the Taiwan-based Yunlon Group, will invest in a project building a textile mill worth 150 million USD in the northern province of Ha Nam.

The General Statistics Office (GSO) reported that from January to April 2014, footwear exports jumped 21.9% from a year earlier to US$2.9 billion.

Vietnam Airlines Corporation has announced that this June the Prime Minister will ratify the firm’s volume of shares to be sold in its initial public offering (IPO) this September. Responding to a query by Bloomberg Business News, Mr. Pham Ngoc Minh, General Director of Vietnam Airlines, said that the firm is valued at $2.74 billion and it will sell a quantity of shares in accordance with market demand. The Vietnamese government is trying to accelerate the process of equitization of state-owned enterprises (SOE), with the aim of selling shares of more than 400 SOEs from now until the end of 2015. Commenting on the Vietnam Air IPO, Mr. Alan Pham, an economist of VinaCapital, said that foreign investors are interested in shares of Vietnam Airlines because this is one of the largest state-owned enterprises operating at profit. Vietnam Airlines is considered the brightest gem among Vietnam SOEs. According to Minh, Vietnam Airlines is expected to serve 15.8 million passengers this year, compared with 14.7 million passengers in 2013. The corporation's revenue is estimated to have risen by 4.5% to VND14.6 trillion, equivalent to $692 million, in the first quarter. Vietnam Airlines’ long-awaited IPO plan has been delayed several times since 2010. If it is implemented as planned this year, the carrier will benefit from the upward trend of the Vietnamese stock market since the beginning of the year. The VN-Index has risen 14% so far this year, to become the stock index with the strongest growth in Southeast Asia. Last September Vietnam Airlines worked with advisors, including Morgan Stanley and Citigroup, to evaluate its assets for equitization. The asset evaluation was completed in February and the company is now awaiting the government’s approval.                                                                                                                                               VietnamnetBridge

A resolution on a cabinet regular meeting has been issued emphasizing the need to centralize investment capital on priority areas to help enterprises alleviate difficulties in production and business operations. Accordingly, the Government requested the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to manage credit growth in line with the plan set early this year while ensuring credit quality and assisting businesses to restructure old debts to increase credit access. The SBV was asked to intensify operational management of the banking system and closely monitor the implementation of safety ratio for banking activities. It is essential to implement a plan to restructure credit institutions for the period 2011 – 2015, enhance the role of the National Asset Management Company and speed up the settlement of bad debts in the banking system, the resolution said. The Ministry of Finance will direct budget collection activities to ensure the progress of revenue collection as planned, strictly control expenses and reinforce administrative reform and prevent acts of tax evasion, price rigging to protect consumer rights and ensure capital investment sourced from state budget and government bonds are used effectively. The Ministry of Planning and Investment will coordinate with ministries, sectors and localities to implementing solutions to accelerate disbursement of investment capital primarily from State budget, government bonds, ODA and FDI for key construction. The Ministry needs to provide enough capital for ODA projects and for those due for completion in 2014. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is tasked to coordinate with ministries, agencies and localities in managing agricultural structure in conformity with the market situation and production capacity to benefit farms. The Ministry should strengthen the examination and prevention of epidemics by closely monitoring the illegal cross-border transport of livestock and poultry to limit the spread of epidemics. It should prepare to implement contingency plans for flood and storm control, accelerate the construction of irrigation works, prevent droughts and saltwater intrusion in the central, the Central Highlands and the south west regions. The Ministry of Industry and Trade will work with ministries, sectors and localities on solutions to support and encourage exports, control market prices, help local businesses with market expansion and product consumption, combat smuggling and counterfeit and substandard goods, and duly punish acts of violations.                                                                                                                                                                      VOV

Coffee, the key export of the central highland province of Dak Lak, is capturing an ever increasing share of the world market and is now exported to more than 60 countries and territories around the globe. Among them, 31 markets have an export value of more than US$1 million each while 13 others have obtained values in excess of US$10 million each including Germany, Japan, Italy, the US, Belgium, Spain, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, France and Russia. Since 2008, cumulative coffee exports of the province have reached more than US$3.5 billion. In the first quarter of 2014 alone, total coffee exports were US$260 million, far outpacing the US$600 million for all of 2013. According to the People’s Committee, the export volume of coffee has remained relatively stable and the increases in value are directly attributable to increases in the selling price. At present, Dak Lak leads provinces and cities nationwide in coffee cultivation area, with more than 202,022ha, accounting for over 40% of the total area in the central highlands dedicated to growing coffee and 30% of the total area nationwide. It yields around 400,000 tonnes of coffee bean per annum. Given the current state of the market, leading economists are relatively confident that coffee will continue to play a vitally important role in boosting the locality’s socio-economic development for many years to come.                                                                                                                                                                                                            VOV

Food producers need to heavily invest to truly differentiate their products as competition is fierce from rivals, according to industry leaders and analysts.

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

Upholding its glorious tradition, after 39 years of liberation Binh Duong has presently become a dynamic and industrial province with the fastest growth pace in the country.

Four Deputy Prime Ministers and nine ministers will also attend the dialogue.

Market demand in the first quarter increased lightly, making many business units to stimulate purchase power through many promotional forms in an attempt to create a lively ambience of shopping.

The synchronous implementation of the province’s development plan on trade-services network till 2015 and orientations towards 2020 is creating a motivation for the evolution of the two sectors.