BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF 3/9 Quang Ninh aims to become leading service centre The northern coastal province of Quang Ninh has outlined comprehensive measures to attract key projects in trade, aiming to become a leading service centre in the country. Two years ago, local authorities granted approval for a master plan to develop the trade sector by 2025 with a vision towards 2030. The province aimed to increase added value by an average of 12.5 - 13.5 percent during 2016 – 2020, 14.5 - 15.5 percent during 2021 – 2025, and 10 - 11 percent during 2026 – 2030. As part of efforts to lure trade projects, the province has worked to improve transport infrastructure, including projects upgrading the Uong Bi - Ha Long segment in National Road 18, Quang Ninh airport, and Ha Long - Hai Phong expressway.  Due attention has been paid to transportation in border areas, facilitating and promoting trade with China via Bac Luan border gate. Besides encouraging local investors to remove bottlenecks and accelerate the land clearance process, the province is exerting efforts to hasten administrative reform in 2018 towards improving the province’s competitive capacity. Last year, Quang Ninh for the first time rose to the first place in the Public Administrative Reform (PAR) Index with 89.54 points, which was 6.72 points higher than its score in 2016. Meanwhile, it was ranked 5th in the Satisfaction Index of Public Administration Services (SIPAS) index among 63 cities and province nationwide and in top two of Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI), moving up 30 steps compared to the previous year.  Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Van Doc has instructed relevant sectors and branches to press ahead with administrative procedure reforms; enhance the efficiency of public administrative centres; cut unnecessary administrative procedures; complete e-government apparatus; and pay due attention to providing training for public servants. Thanks to their efforts, the province has mobilised huge resources to develop markets, supermarket chains, and shopping malls. It is now home to 27 supermarkets and five shopping centres, with the presence of both domestic and international renowned giants such as Vincom, MM Mega Market, Big C, Lotte, and Lan Chi mart, among others. Following the success of the Vincom Centre Ha Long, real estate and retail conglomerate Vingroup decided to inaugurate another shopping centre, Vincom , in the Yen Thanh urban area, Uong Bi city in 2017. A shopping mall, food court, and entertainment zone are arranged within the complex, meeting the demands of both local people and tourists. In May, Vingroup’s Vincom Retail JSC launched its Vincom Shophouse Complex in Mong Cai city, with Vincom Plaza looking likely to become a promising shopper’s paradise in the border city. The firm is working on a master plan to branch out to a townhouse and service zone in Cam Binh ward, Cam Pha city.  In addition, the province has seen an increasing number of Vinmart convenient stores providing high-quality products and services. Most of the current 23 Vinmart stores are in Ha Long and Uong Bi cities, with more stores looking to be opened in other surrounding localities – demonstrating Quang Ninh’s success in attracting investment for trade development. Many local companies have shifted their attention to investment in the trade sector towards sustainable development. Duc Phu Co., Ltd is carrying out a culture, sports, and services project with a total capital of 300 billion VND (12.9 million USD) in Uong Bi city. Upon operation in the end of this year, the project will create a facelift for the surrounding urban area, contributing towards both the city and province’s local trade and service system. Social resources have been mobilised to repair and upgrade traditional markets like Cam Thuy market in Cam Thuy city, and Thanh Son market in Uong Bi city. The results will create momentum for trade to thrive in the province for time to come.  Hai Phong: Eight-month FDI surges 99.34 percent More than 1.38 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) was poured into the northern port city of Hai Phong during January-August, a year-on-year increase of 99.34 percent. The money was injected into 94 projects, 64 of which were newly granted projects and the remainders were capital adjustment ones. Japan and the Republic of Korea continued the largest investors in the city. From the outset of the year, Vietnam granted investment licenses to 1,918 new projects with a total registered capital of 13.48 billion USD, up 0.2 percent year-on-year, and allowed 736 existing projects to increase their capital to a total of 5.58 billion USD, equal to 87.2 percent year-on-year. Foreign investors contributed capital and purchased shares of 5.28 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 50.9 percent. The FDI sector exported 110.3 billion USD worth of goods, including crude oil, showing a year-on-year rise of 13.4 percent and making up nearly 70.9 percent of the country’s total export turnover. Foreign investment was poured into 17 sectors, mainly in the processing and manufacturing industry with 10.72 billion USD, or 44 percent of the total registered investment. Other attractive fields were real estate, and wholesale and retail with 5.9 billion USD and 1.87 billion USD respectively, accounting for 24.2 percent and 7.6 percent of the total investment. RoK hungry for Vietnamese garment Vietnam expects to continue growth of textile and garment exports to the Republic of Korea by the end of the year after strong results in the first seven months of 2018, according to the General Department of Customs. Up until July, Vietnam gained a year-on-year increase of 24.88 percent in textile and garment export value to 1.5 billion USD to the RoK, creating a strong breakthrough of those products to this market. In July alone, the export value of those products to this Northern Asian market reached 270.7 million USD, a rise of 24.18 percent against June and 24.06 percent compared with July 2017. China and Vietnam were the two largest garment suppliers to the RoK market, accounting for 34.46 percent and 32.67 percent, respectively. Vietnam’s garment exports to this market accelerated rapidly reducing the gap between market share of China and Vietnam on the RoK garment market at 40.18 percent and 29.52 percent, respectively, three years ago. According to Vietnam’s General Department of Customs, the Republic of Korea became the fourth largest export market of Vietnam, reaching 2.7 billion USD in 2017. The Ministry of Industry and Trade said the strong growth in exports to the Republic of Korea was mainly due to the high competitive ability of Vietnam’s garments and higher spending of consumers on this market. In addition, tariff preferences from the Vietnam – RoK free trade agreement encouraged Vietnam’s textile and garment products entering the South Korean market, the ministry said. According to the FTA, 24 products of Vietnam enjoy lower tax against other countries in the ASEAN region. By the end of this year, Vietnam’s textile and garment exports to the RoK are expected to increase by 20 percent year on year. The textile and garment export value is estimated to rise 22 percent year on year to 3.2 billion USD for this whole year, reported vneconomy.vn. Vietnam is considered to have many advantages in supplying textile and garment products to the Republic of Korea. It is likely to become the largest garment supplier to this market. The General Department of Customs said in the first seven months of this year, Vietnam gained 10.2 billion USD from the total export value to the RoK, a year-on-year increase of 32.13 percent. Of which, three groups of phones and components, textile and garment, and computers and electronic products achieved export value of over 1 billion USD for each, accounting for over 40 percent of Vietnam’s total export value of goods to this market.-VNS/VNA Glass product exports rake in 592.8 million USD in 7 months Vietnam’s export turnover from glass and glass products reached 592.8 million USD in the first seven months of 2018, representing a year-on-year increase of 6.1 percent, according to the General Department of Customs.  The department said glass and glass products of Vietnam were mainly exported to Southeast Asian nations in the period, accounting for 58.3 percent of the total turnover to reach 297.1 million USD, 13.59 percent higher than that of the same period last year.  Singapore, Malaysia, and the Republic of Korea remained Vietnam’s key importers of these commodities. Vietnam saw a strong surge in glass and glass product exports to the Philippines, hitting 9.8 million USD in the reviewed period, up 88 percent year-on-year. Da Nang seeks to boost trade, investment ties with Canada Participants at the forum  A delegation of central Da Nang city led by Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Truong Quang Nghia visited big cities of Canada from August 30 - September 2 to promote cooperation between localities and the two countries in general, especially in trade and investment.  The visit was part of activities to celebrate the 45th founding anniversary of Vietnam-Canada diplomatic relations (1973-2018). In the framework of the visit, the delegation attended a forum to promote trade and investment in Da Nang city held by the Canada-Vietnam Trade Council (CVTC), which aimed to foster trade and investment linkages between the two countries. Addressing the event, Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Tran Van Mien introduced delegates to Da Nang’s environment, investment and business opportunities, as well as its investment incentives. As a driving force of growth in the central key economic region, Da Nang city always leads the way in developing infrastructure, thus creating a smooth connection between Vietnam’s central and Central Highlands regions with other countries in the region and the world, he said.  Da Nang has a strategic location with modern infrastructure, abundant and high-quality human resources, friendly investment environment, transparent management system, and peaceful living environment, he noted, adding that it is also one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Vietnam. In its development strategy to 2030 with a vision to 2045, Da Nang aims to become a smart city with sustainable development, a centre of high quality tourism and service and high technology of Vietnam, Mien said, stressing that Da Nang’s development orientations are in line with strengths of Canadian businesses and investors. Canadian investors expressed their special interest in policies to encourage and support foreign investment, tax incentives, and development support in high-tech zones, in information technology, startups, infrastructure development and in real estate leasing. Many investors appreciated the open policy of Da Nang as well as the city’s immediate and long-term development orientations.  Lisa Bate from B H Architects - a company with many years of investment and business experience in Vietnam, highlighted the potential for expanding cooperation between businesses and localities of the two countries. Vietnam’s major cities, including Da Nang, boast great potential and opportunities to further develop, as they possess skilled human resources and have mapped out a development strategies matching with the development trend of the world, she said.  With these advantages, Vietnam in general and Da Nang in particular will have positive prospects for cooperation in a number of fields, such as education, health, infrastructure and hi-tech development, she noted.  For his part, Nghia pledged to continue measures and practical actions to improve the city's investment and business environment, thus making it easier for businesses and investors from Canada and other countries to set up and operate projects in Da Nang. He expressed his hope that the CVTC and Canadian enterprises will continuously support investment promotion and attraction into Da Nang in high technology, IT,  trade and education, towards creating a new wave of Canadian investment in Vietnam and Da Nang in particular, especially in the context that the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) was signed, and strong impacts brought by the 4th Industrial Revolution on Vietnam’s development and its  increasingly integration in the global economy.  Previously, the Vietnamese delegation had a working session with Toronto city’s Economic and Cultural Development Department to seek opportunities for bilateral cooperation. Suspended, dissolved enterprises on the rise Up to 41,660 businesses in Vietnam ceased trading in the first eight months of this year, up 45.9% on-year, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) reported. According to MPI, the increase was attributed to localities more closely inspecting enterprises to remove those which no longer operate.  During the period, 9,135 businesses were shut, up 17.8% on-year. The ministry also said that between January and August, 87,448 new firms were set up with a total registered capital of VND878.627 trillion (USD39.93 billion), up 2.4% in business number and up 6.9% in capital value against the same period of last year. Newly-established businesses focus on real estate, health, finance and banking, insurance. In the Jan-August phase, 20,942 enterprises resumed their operations, representing a slight increase on-year. Ford rolls out new Everest      US automaker Ford unveiled the new Ford Everest in HCM City on Wednesday, and said it would be marketed from September. With prices starting at VND1.12 billion (US$48,000), the car will be sold in five versions, including two titanium ones: 2.0L turbo and 2.0L bi-turbo, one version of 2.0L turbo trend and two ambiente versions. It is the first SUV to be equipped with 10-speed automatic gears and diesel bi-turbo 2.0L engines, which deliver 213PS and 500Nm of torque. The car has some new features such as tyre pressure monitoring system, a hands-free power tailgate, keyless entry, and push-button start. It is equipped with SYNC 3 technology and seven airbags. Pham Van Dung, general director of Ford Vietnam, said demand in the SUV segment has kept rising. He quoted a report from LMC Automotive as saying in the last two years demand for SUV in Southeast Asia has increased by 24 per cent a year, and Viet Nam is no exception to the trend. He said Everest targets many kinds of customer subjects like families, companies and car leasing services. Ford’s market share has been steadily increasing in Viet Nam, and it is now among the top five auto companies in terms of growth. Mobiistar unveils first smartphone equipped with AI technology      Vietnamese mobile phone manufacturer Mobiistar’s annual Techforum opened Thursday in HCM City with the theme “The way to artificial intelligence in smart phones”. Mediatek, a Taiwanese chipset producer and long-term partner of Mobiistar, updated the delegates on the development trends in the technology world with a focus on AI and introduced its first Helio P60 and P22 chipsets meant for AI. Mobiistar introduced its latest offering, the Mobiistar X with an octa-core Helio P60 chipset and camera equipped with AI technology for quick recognition, rapid processing and fine pictures. It has dual 16 and 5MP back cameras and a 16MP selfie camera. It comes with 4GB RAM, 32GB memory and a 3,000mAh battery and costs a very competitive VND4.6 million (US$200). In May this year Mobiistar entered the Indian market, and its five best selfie camera smart phones are sold in 10 states there. “India is one of biggest smart phone markets in the world with a population of over one billion and growth in smartphone sales of 18 per cent last year making it a very promising market for Mobiistar,” Ngo Nguyen Kha, CEO of the company, said. The budget smartphones with good cameras have achieved early success in the market, he added. HCM City to determine key exports      Identifying HCM City’s typical export products should not be based simply on their export volume or value or subjective decisions, but on careful analysis, experts have said. The city Department of Industry and Trade held a seminar on August 29 to identify the city’s top export products and collect opinions from experts, business groups and enterprises for its Export Development Project in 2017-20 before submitting to the People’s Committee for approval. The project’s objectives are to forecast opportunities for and challenges to exports, identify the most competitive export sectors and products, and propose solutions and strategies for developing exports. Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, the department’s deputy director, said the department is working with the Institute of Public Policy - University of Economics HCM City and experts from Fulbright University to develop the project. The consulting team has used a variety of research methods to identify the city’s top export products as well as used data from nearly 14,000 export enterprises combined with surveys and interviews of some 200 enterprises in 14 sectors to determine the competitive advantages of and value addition in export products, he said. Hoa said the city has paid close attention to shifting its export structure, reducing export of low added-value products and increasing export of highly processed products and services with high added value, with programmes designed to encourage the shift in recent years. But the results have been below expectations, he admitted. Analysing the city’s export structure in the 2008-15 period, Dinh Cong Khai, director of the Institute of Public Policy, pointed out exports had mainly grown in volume terms and followed the market, and lacked a strategic direction for development. The city’s production and exports are not very competitive, with the former being mainly contract-based and not deeply participating in the global value chain, he said. As a result, the city’s export growth is fully dependent on global market fluctuations, making it hard to implement strategies or programmes to shift export structures, he said. Besides, the city has not identified industries with high export growth potential and competitive advantages based on scientific analysis or new methods, and relies on the traditional approach based mainly on export value, he said. Programmes to support the shift in the export structure and develop exports are not cohesive, making it difficult for stakeholders to implement them, he said. To achieve the objectives of export restructuring, it is necessary to evaluate the competitiveness of existing exports, delegates said. Designating the major exports now as the key exports is easy, but their value addition and comparative advantages would be low, they said. On the contrary, sectors that currently do not export much but have high potential would need investment and strategies to develop, they said. Tran Viet Anh, deputy chairman of the HCM City Union of Business Associations and chairman and general director of Nam Thai Son Company, said the city needs to assess the competitive advantage of products through international export fairs and exhibitions to identify key products. Dr Tran Du Lich, a member of the Government’s economic advisory group, said the city needs to change its mind about what are typical export products since even its four key industry groups and nine service sectors need to be changed because they may not be suitable in the current time.  HCM City fights fake goods, trade fraud      HCM City authorities are seeking more effective measures in the fight against counterfeit products, smuggled goods and trade fraud as e-commerce grows at a fast pace, an official has said. Speaking at a conference on Wednesday, Pham Thanh Kien, standing deputy chairman of the national steering committee against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit, said: “The use of digital signatures must be better managed” as e-commerce booms. “The fight against the activities in the city remains challenging,” he said. “It’s key to tighten inspection of counterfeit goods at major markets like Ben Thanh, Binh Tay and An Dong.” HCM City Market Management Department should coordinate with the city police to tighten inspection of smuggled cigarettes in hotspots such as Hoc Mon, Cu Chi and Binh Chanh districts, he said. In particular, the licences for fertiliser businesses are now issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, making it more difficult for HCM City Market Management Department to control fake fertiliser on the market. Kien also said it is important for the Customs Department to strengthen inspection at air, sea and river routes to prevent trade of drugs and smuggled goods as well as waste in large containers. He also urged the Taxation Department to intensify supervision of enterprises that transfer prices or have suspicious transactions, adding that it should enhance management of tax collection in the field of e-commerce. There are now 129,000 e-commerce websites nationwide, of which 80,000 websites are operating well, mostly in HCM City and Ha Noi. Nguyen Van Bach, deputy director of HCM City Market Management Department, said the trade of smuggled goods through air and seaports has been difficult to manage. Due to certain loopholes in the customs sector, many enterprises are declaring that their goods are of low value to evade tax, or they give incorrect declaration of quantity and prices of goods, according to Bach. In addition, smuggling of cigarettes and refined sugar has become more difficult to deal with as smugglers are using many tricks. For example, smugglers transport cigarettes by motorbike during out-of-office hours at high speeds and deliberately hit motorbikes driven by law enforcement forces. They also rent large vehicles to transport smuggled cigarettes, change vehicles constantly, and use fake number plates. The city also needs to continue tightening management and inspection of prohibited goods and of products that require a special consumption tax, he said. Customs forces and border guards should also improve inspection of smuggled goods at the border, he noted. Smuggling and trade fraud across the border are becoming increasingly sophisticated, he said. Smuggled products vary from meat, animals, wood, tobacco, sugar, petrol, electronic products and drugs, while in the local market, trade of fake and poor quality products and those of unclear origins occur in many localities, he said. The department plans to reinforce the fight against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods in the last months of the year, he added. In the first six months, nearly 12,500 cases of administrative violations were reported, a drop of 8.66 per cent compared to the same period last year, collecting revenue of VND2.078 trillion (US$89.42 million), down 9.2 per cent over the same period. In addition, five criminal smuggling and trade fraud cases involving six people were reported and prosecuted.  Promotion Fair opens in HCMC      The 2018 Promotion Fair opened at the Phu Tho Indoor Stadium in HCM City’s District 11 on August 29, with 240 exhibitors showing off their products. Garment and textile enterprises account for almost a third, and they include brands such as Viet Tien Garment JSC, Viet Thang Garment Company, Tay Do Garment Company. Food businesses account for 26.3 per cent (Tai Ky Food Flour Corporation, Satra Vissan), with the rest being electronic, household appliances and consumer goods companies. They are displaying and selling many of their products and services at 450 booths. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Nguyen Phuong Dong, deputy director of the city Department of Industry and Trade, said the fair offers good shopping options for locals as well as tourists. It is also a good opportunity for businesses to introduce their new products and promote their brands to enhance their competitiveness and help effectively implement the "Vietnamese people give priority to using Vietnamese goods" campaign, he said. There are many attractive promotions on offer by enterprises like a golden hour, discounts of 10 to 49 per cent and gifts given to people buying products. It also features performances of popular singers, artists and comedians, and a competition titled Your Style X Thien Viet. Organised by the department’s Centre of Support for Industries Development and Thien Viet Advertising and Commercial Promotion JSC, the expo will go on until September 3. The Promotion Fair is the first event in September’s annual “Sales Promotion Month” in HCM City. The month includes tens of thousands of promotional programmes and activities such as a special promotion week for online sales and trade promotion fairs across the city.  WEF brings investment opportunities for Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc addressed the WEF on the Mekong region in Hanoi in 2016 Nearly 30 years after Vietnam joined the World Economic Forum (WEF), the WEF has become an important venue for the Vietnamese Government to hold dialogues with world leading economic groups, thus bringing investment opportunities for the country. Bilateral meetings between Vietnamese leaders and foreign counterparts as well as with executives of world economic groups provide the chances for discussion on development directions for Vietnam’s economy, thus assisting with the country’s building of development guidelines and policies.   WEF Managing Director Philipp Roesler visited Vietnam in three consecutive years of 2014, 2015 and 2016. Vietnam’s senior officials regularly attend the WEF’s annual meetings in Davos and East Asia. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s participation at the WEF Davos Conference in 2007 and 2010 resulted in important outcomes, opening a new period of the ties between Vietnam and the Swiss-based non-profit organisation. Last year, the Vietnamese delegation to Davos led by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc continued to deliver the country’s message on its economic prospects and resolve for comprehensive reforms and active international integration. Vietnam’s commitment to building an action-oriented and development-facilitating Government suited the conference’s theme of Responsive and Responsible Leadership. At the event, the two sides signed a partnership agreement on the development of Vietnam’s economy in the future. The WEF also approved Vietnam’s hosting of the WEF on ASEAN in 2018. Vietnam has been active in the WEF’s activities in recent years. The two sides have expanded cooperation to other fields, such as national competitiveness, industry and agriculture. Vietnam played an active role in the WEF’s initiatives. It was one of the key partners in the WEF’s New Vision for Agriculture initiative. Since 2016, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh has served in the coordination board of the WEF’s Future of Production System project. He also joined the ASEAN Regional Strategy Group in 2017. Vietnam also hosted several regional WEF meetings. It put forth the idea for a WEF on the Mekong region and successfully organised the event in October 2016 in Hanoi, promoting the sub-region to world leading groups. Besides, Vietnamese enterprises have gradually got involved in the WEF’s activities. Such groups as Viettel, FPT, VinGroup, VinaCapital, VNPT, SIG or Hoa Sen, to name just a few, have used the WEF to build their partner networks and share experience in operation. The WEF on ASEAN will take place in Hanoi from September 11-13 under the theme “ASEAN 4.0: Entrepreneurship and the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.  The presidents and prime ministers of eight countries have confirmed their attendance at the event. The forum will see the participation of 50 ministerial-level representatives, 800 heads of regional- and world-leading corporations, as well as some 120 reporters from world and regional media outlets to cover the event. The WEF was established in 1971 as a non-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The forum engages the foremost political, business, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas. Vegetable, fruit exports hit 2.7 billion USD in eight months Vietnam’s vegetable and fruit exports in August this year is estimated at 346 million USD, pushing the total revenue in the first eight months of this year to 2.7 billion USD, up 14.1 percent over the same period last year. In the first seven months of 2018, China was still the largest market of Vietnamese vegetable and fruits with consumption worth 1.7 billion USD, accounting for 74 percent of Vietnam’s sales, up 12.1 percent year on year. Strong growth was seen in many other markets, including Thailand with 38.6 percent, the US 19.3 percent, and the Republic of Korea 18.7 percent. In the January-August period, Vietnam imported 224 million USD worth of vegetable and fruits, raising the total imports of the goods in eight months to 1.15 billion USD, a rise of 13.4 percent over the same time in 2017. According to the Agro-product Processing and Market Development Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the export of Vietnam’s vegetable and fruits is showing signs of a slowdown, but the sector is still forecast to earn 4 billion USD in the whole year. Besides, domestic businesses have faced fierce competition as well as protectionism measures through technical barriers in import markets. Therefore, the department advised exporters to focus on dealing with problems in food safety, packaging and labeling. It predicted that in the rest of the year, vegetable and fruit export will encounter more difficulties in supply due to the coming stormy season. At the same time, the department also underlined the need for more promotion activities to boost the sale of fruits currently in harvest such as longan and custard apple. VinaCapital launches venture investment fund VinaCapital - the leading investment management group in Vietnam - on August 30 announced the establishment of VinaCapital venture capital fund at a scale of 10 million USD, aiming to continue its investment strategies in technology startups. The firm also publicised the fund’s first investment activities in Logivan and FastGo - the two prominent startups in technology solutions in the field of transport in Vietnam. Tran Nhat Khanh, Technology Investment Director of VinaCapital, said that the launch of the fund aims to enhance cooperation with engineers, scientists and innovators who use technologies to create solutions to difficulties in different areas, thus encouraging customers to apply new technologies to improving the economic efficiency for each individual and the whole society. The value of each investment can be up to 10 million USD with unlimited time for share holding. VinaCapital Ventures also gives enterprises that the fund invests in the opportunity to access business networks of VinaCapital in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. In particular, VinaCapital Ventures will pay attention to innovative technological ideas which can create new markets able to enhance its influence on regional and international markets. According to Don Lam, General Director of VinaCapital, manufacturing and real estate are the two areas attracting greater interest from investors in Vietnam.  However, VinaCapital believes that technology is one of the areas that has the potential to grow rapidly, and will play a crucial role in boosting economic efficiency of all other sectors, he said.   Therefore, VinaCapital Ventures chose Logivan and FastGo for its investment, creating its hallmarks in the startup wave in the technological field in Vietnam.   Logivan Technologies Pte is specialised in providing technological solutions that help optimize the cost of road freight transportation through data systemization. The firm’s solutions help reduce costs of logistics services and energy consumption. Meanwhile, FastGo Corporation is a provider of mobile applications for ordering high-quality car service in Vietnam. This is the only application of this kind in the market with Fast Protection insurance.  According to investors, the Vietnamese Government is implementing many policies to encourage entrepreneurs to start a business. VinaCapital Ventures will be one of the channels to support companies and start-up firms, thus contributing to Vietnam’s economic growth. Nguyen Huu Tuat, co-founder of FastGo Corporation, said that this is the first time the firm has received investment from a venture capital fund in Vietnam. This will create conditions for domestic start-ups enterprises to promote their development in many fields.- Import-export turnover hits over 308 billion USD in eight months Vietnam’s total import-export value in the first eight months of this year reached more than 308 billion USD, a year-on-year rise of 13 percent, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs. Total export value increased 14.5 per cent year-on-year to 155.4 billion USD during the period. Of which, the domestic economic sector achieved a year-on-year surge of 17.4 percent to 45.11 billion USD, while the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector gained 110.3 billion USD, an increase of 13.4 percent. The FDI sector had lower growth in export value against the domestic sector but it holds 71 percent of total national export value. Many key exports gained high growth, such as telephones and parts, up 15.7 percent to 30.9 billion USD; and electronic products, computer and their parts, up 14.2 percent to 18.4 billion USD.  The export value of garments was estimated at 19.42 billion USD, increasing 14.9 percent compared to the same period last year. Vietnam also saw strong growth for some farming products, including fruits and vegetables (up 14.8 percent to 2.7 billion USD) and rice (up 23.6 percent to 2.2 billion USD). However, other commodities faced difficulty increasing export value due to falling global prices. Coffee export fell 3.1 percent in value to 2.5 billion USD, though they increased 14.8 percent in volume while rubber fell 12.1 percent in value to 1.2 billion USD despite a 7.9 percent rise in volume. Pepper exports also dropped 35.7 percent in value to 584 million USD while surging 4.7 percent in volume. Crude oil export fell in both volume and value by 46.6 percent and 24.6 percent, respectively, compared with the same period last year. Meanwhile, the country’s imports rose 11.6 percent year-on-year to 152.6 million USD. Of which, the domestic sector’s value reached 61.85 billion USD, up 11.8 percent while the FDI sector stood at 90.81 billion USD, up 11.4 percent. Imports mainly served production of export products in the FDI sector. The country bought 26.9 billion USD of electronic products, computer and parts, up 13.7 percent; 9.3 billion USD for telephone and parts, up 4.3 percent; and 8.5 billion USD for cloth, up 16.1 percent. Some others for the domestic production had high growth, including steel (up 10.2 percent to 6.7 billion USD), plastic (up 17.1 percent to 5.8 billion USD), petrol and oil (up 26.4 percent to 5.7 billion USD), metal products (up 35.9 percent to 5.3 billion USD), and chemical products (up 26.3 percent to 3.3 billion USD). Vietnam’s trade surplus in the first eight months was estimated at more than 2.75 billion USD. Vietjet to attend Modetour Travel Mart 2018 in RoK Low-cost carrier Vietjet will participate in the Modetour Travel Mart 2018, slated for August 31-September 2 in Seoul, the Republic of Korea (RoK), the airline announced on August 28. During the forthcoming event, visitors will have a chance to get free round-trip tickets, gifts, and enjoy vibrant performances and take pictures with Vietjet’s friendly flight attendants, the airline said. First held in 2014, Modetour Travel Mart is one of the RoK’s most prestigious and attractive travel fairs, with the participation of more than 50 countries and regions, attracting hundreds of thousands of international visitors.  This is the third consecutive year Vietjet has attended this event. With seven routes including ones connecting HCM City, Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang and Nha Trang with Seoul in addition to Hanoi – Busan and Da Nang – Daegu routes, Vietjet continues offering travelling opportunities to local people and tourists, connecting the two countries with impressive destinations. In recent years, Vietnam has become a popular destination for Korean holidaymakers. The country welcomed 2.4 million tourists from the RoK last year, a 56.4 percent increase on 2016, according to the General Statistics Office.  As many as two million Korean visitors arrived in the Southeast Asian nation over the past seven months of this year, up 56 percent year-on-year.  Koreans are second behind China in terms of tourist numbers and the central region is their favourite destination. HCM City vows to help real-estate firms      HCM City authorities on August 30 pledged to continue providing assistance and creating favourable conditions for real estate companies at a meeting held in the city. Speaking at a dialogue between the city government and businesses, Tran Trong Tuan, director of the city’s Department of Construction, said any shortcoming in management and operation of State agencies related to construction licensing and real estate activities would be adjusted to facilitate businesses. More than 200 representatives from 150 enterprises and associations attended the meeting to learn more about guidelines and regulations from State agencies in construction and real estate. The directors of the departments of Construction as well as Natural Resources and Environment, and representatives of related departments, addressed all questions posed by businesses. The meeting, organised by ITPC and the departments of Construction and Natural Resources and Environment, was held to resolve difficulties for real estate businesses and help them follow State policies. The organiser received 13 questions in advance from businesses, most of which were related to issues such as regulations on real estate purchase contracts and foreigners’ rights to buy houses in Viet Nam. Questions about procedures for granting certificates of construction of buildings for organisations and individuals, business registration of apartments for lease, contracts for construction consultancy, procedures for licensing construction, transfer of projects, and supervision of construction of public works, were among others. The meeting also discussed legitimate rights and obligations of residents at apartment projects, as well as disputes between residents and investors, including maintenance and management fees that residents have to pay as part of the contracts they sign with the investors, in addition to ownership of office-tel apartments under current laws. Tuan, director of the city’s Department of Construction, said State agencies would continue to give support to businesses, but expect businesses to conform to regulations, including financial obligations to State agencies. Since 2012, ITPC has regularly worked with other agencies, including the Department of Construction, to organise dialogues to help enterprises. VNN