Vietnamplus

The Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) has lost 1.32 trillion VND (some 56.8 million USD) in revenues due to the COVID-19 pandemic and flooding in the central region.

Ho Chi Minh City’s credit growth amounted to some 2.4 quadrillion VND (104 billion USD) as of the end of 2020, making up nearly 27 percent of the country’s total.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has decided to minimize the number of flights carrying Vietnamese citizens back home from now until the lunar New Year holiday, which falls in mid-February, as more contagious variants of coronavirus have been detected in many countries.

Vietnam’s port sector will flourish this year as trade in goods is expected to thrive on the back of recovery in production, domestic consumption, and export markets, according to industry analysts.

After performing well last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have prepared new plans for 2021. While some firms, such as GELEX, have doubled their targeted profits, others which reported good results in 2020 have lowered their expectations.

Vietnam’s e-commerce market is forecast to continue growing strongly in the time to come thanks to a big population with high rates of young people and internet users.

The COVID-19 pandemic remains complicated in Southeast Asia as several regional countries have reported more cases of infections and deaths over the last 24 hours.

The cement industry is forecast to see a significant increase in domestic sales in 2021, driven by investment in infrastructure, foreign direct investment inflow and the recovery of the real estate market. However, exports are set to slow down.

Cambodia has temporarily banned all imports of farmed fish from neighbouring countries in efforts to promote locally farmed fish, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF).

Domestic air travel in Thailand has dropped by 60 percent since the start of 2020 due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak, said the Department of Airports of Thailand (DoA).

The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) sets to increase pre-tax profit by 12 percent year-on-year to 25.2 trillion VND this year, said Director-General Pham Quang Dung at a Hanoi conference on January 11.

Huynh Quang Hung, Chairman of the Phu Quoc City People’s Committee, talks to the Vietnam News Agency on the establishment of Phu Quoc city – the country’s first island city.

A kindhearted couple in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long has run a free shelter for kidney dialysis patients and their relatives for more than two years, sharing their financial burden and giving them a second home.

Nearly 149 billion VND (6.42 million USD) was raised for poor and disadvantaged children during the 14th edition of the “Mua xuan cho em” (Spring for children) exchange programme held in Hanoi on January 10.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc recently signed off a national action programme for children for 2021 - 2030, aiming to ensure the realisation of children’s rights and their all-round development and create a safe, healthy, and friendly living environment for them.

The Vietnam Youth Federation provided support for nearly 2,000 start-up projects of youths in 2020 amidst complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters.

Vietnam has highlighted India’s economic achievements despite global instabilities, trade tension and the COVID-19 pandemic at the WTO’s 7th review of India’s trade policies and practices.

Vietnam among very few countries to post GDP growth rate of 2.5-3 percent, and the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement in 2020 when Vietnam assumes ASEAN Chairmanship are among the top 10 domestic economic events in the year. The following are the ten outstanding events as selected by the Vietnam News Agency.

Ninh Binh province, a tourist destination in the north, is launching several measures to achieve its goal of welcoming 7 million arrivals this year, during which it hosts the National Tourism Year.

The southern largest economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City has set a target of welcoming 33 million tourists with total revenue of more than 4.3 billion USD in 2021.