Military aircraft goes down in Nghe An provinceA military aircraft went down in Dua village of Nghia Yen commune, Nghia Dan district, the central province of Nghe An, around noon on July 26. Smoke rises from the scene of the aircraft crash in Dua village of Nghia Yen commune, Nghia Dan district, Nghe An provinceThe aircraft is believed to have taken off from the Sao Vang airfield in Tho Xuan district of neighbouring Thanh Hoa province. There hasn’t been any information about casualties, but debris at the scene show that the plane had exploded. Ongoing rain in Nghia Yen commune is hampering efforts to access the crash site and address consequences. Local authorised units are coordinating with forces of the Ministry of National Defence and the Air Defence-Air Force Service to protect the scene of the accident, which is about 100km from Vinh city of Nghe An.-VNA

Vietnam sends $200,000 in aid to Laos after dam collapsePrime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has decided to provide 200,000 USD as relief aid for the Lao government to help the country in the aftermath of the collapse of the Sepien-Senamnoi hydropower dam. Many Vietnamese agencies and companies have sent in their donations to help the victims in the dam collapse in Laos. Many Vietnamese agencies and companies have also sent in their donations to help the victims in the incident. The Sepien-Senamnoi hydropower dam collapsed at 20:00 on July 23, releasing 5 billion cu.m of water which completely isolated Sanamxay district. The project, which is estimated to cost 1.02 billion USD, is the first build-operate-transfer (BOT) project to be undertaken by Korean companies in Laos.

VN legislator’s visit enhances Vietnam-US Comprehensive PartnershipNational Assembly (NA) Vice Chairman Gen. Do Ba Ty is leading a high-level delegation of the NA on a working visit to the United States from July 21-27 in order to bolster the Vietnam-US Comprehensive Partnership. In those meetings, Gen. Ty reaffirmed Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralisation of international relations, with importance attached to consolidating and developing the bilateral comprehensive partnership with the US. The two sides will step up delegation exchanges and intensify supervision to speed up the implementation of signed cooperation agreements. In those meetings, Gen. Ty reaffirmed Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralisation of international relations, with importance attached to consolidating and developing the bilateral comprehensive partnership with the US. The Vietnamese delegation took the occasion to recommend potential aspects for the two sides to intensify cooperation in supervision and legislative affairs, and in economics, trade, security and defence.

Vietnamese enterprises struggle to enter global supply chainsVietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam has become an important production base where valuable industrial products such as mobile phones and tablets are made. However, Vietnamese enterprises still cannot find positions in global supply chains. Experts say that Vietnamese enterprises are not inferior to regional enterprises in terms of thinking capacity. This hinders Vietnamese enterprises from joining global supply chains. Vu Dinh Anh, a respected economist, said before joining global value chains, Vietnamese enterprises need to identify what they can do and where they should be in the value chains.

Japan top foreign investor in VietnamJapan poured 6.88 billion USD, 30 percent of the total foreign direct investment (FDI), into Vietnam in the first seven months of 2018, the biggest figure among 96 countries and territories investing here. Foreign investors registered a total 22.94 billion USD for new and existing projects and buying shares in Vietnam during the period, up 4.6 percent from a year earlier. Real estate ranked second with 5.6 billion USD or 24.4 percent while the wholesale and retail sector was in third place with 1.69 billion USD or 7.4 percent. It was followed by Ho Chi Minh City with 4.12 billion USD or 17.9 percent and Ba Ria-Vung Tau province with 2.15 billion USD or 9.4 percent. As of July 20, FDI projects disbursed about 9.85 billion USD, rising by 8.8 percent from the same period last year.-VNA

Japan targets 10,000 Vietnamese caregivers by 2020Japan has set a target of accepting 10,000 Vietnamese caregivers by the summer of 2020 to address a chronic labour shortage in the nursing sector, according to Kyodo News. Vietnamese students receive Japanese language course before going to Japan to work as care workers. In June, they agreed to put in place a system to enable more Vietnamese caregivers to work in Japan. Besides, Japan is considering the recruit of caregivers from other countries, including Indonesia and Cambodia. The training programme for foreigners was introduced in 1993, aimed at transferring skills to developing countries by training workers who would then return home.

Oktoberfest in VietnamVietNamNet Bridge – The German Business Association’s annual Oktoberfest event will be held from Sept 19-22 at Hotel Nikko Saigon on 235 Nguyen Van Cu Street in HCM City District 1. The 26th German Business Association Oktoberfest event will be held from Sept 19-22 on 235 Nguyen Van Cu Street in HCM City District 1. Experience the atmosphere found in the massive outdoor beer tents of the original Oktoberfest in Munich, complemented by traditional German cuisine, premium imported German beer, and authentic music from our Munich-based Oktoberfest Band. The GBA Oktoberfest Vietnam is jointly hosted by GBA and the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam under the patronage of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Hanoi and the German Consulate General in HCM City. The first Oktoberfest was held in 1992 and immediately set a new milestone in Vietnam’s social calendar.

Experts explore Chinese Yuan devaluation effect on VietnamA recent report from the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research under the Hanoi National University noted that the US and China are two trade partners of special importance of Vietnam. The US is Vietnam’s largest export market, accounting for one fifth of total export revenue. Meanwhile, a quarter of imported goods to Vietnam are from China. Currently, the Vietnam Dong price depends on the fluctuation of the US dollar. When the Chinese Yuan’s price drops, the trade balance of Vietnam will be seriously affected as cheaper Chinese goods will flood the domestic market.

Real estate market warms up, contractors thriveVietNamNet Bridge - The construction industry is experiencing good days thanks to the warming up of the real estate market. Analysts predicted that the construction market would grow more slowly in 2018 because of new regulations which tighten credit flow into the real estate sector. Analysts predicted that the construction market would grow more slowly in 2018 because of new regulations which tighten credit flow into the real estate sector. As for small and medium contractors, they have more competitive edge than large contractors in low- and mid-end housing projects. RELATED NEWSReal estate market to prosper thanks to stock upswingReal estate M&A deals hindered by bad debtsNam Mai

Vietnam expects robust job market growthHiring expansion remains robust this year in Vietnam, though not as high as 2017, speakers said at a press conference held in HCM City on July 20. Speaking at the press conference, Angie Phang, country manager in Vietnam of JobStreet.com, said hiring expansion growth had ignited greater competition among companies for good staff. According to Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, country head of operations for JobStreet.com, candidates can select a vast range of job opportunities online. The job market also offers new types of skills and jobs. The press conference “Key Winning Strategies to Gear Up for a Robust Job Market Outlook 2018” was organised by JobStreet.com, a job portal in Southeast Asia.

Students offer farmers a helping handVietNamNet Bridge – Thousands of students across the country have been taking part in volunteer campaigns aimed at promoting the important role of youth in contributing to the country’s cultural, social and economic development. Vo Thai Tuyen, left and other members from Da Nang University of Science and Technology working at a horse stable. But that’s exactly what these students did, for weeks at a time to help local farmers. The project has helped the students achieve the first prize in a competition on start-up initiatives in central region. “Automatic worm raising system can continuously update the temperature, humidity and automatic spray water when it is necessary,” Tuyen said.

Veteran brings hope and artificial limbs to people living with disabilitiesVietNamNet Bridge – There is a house and workshop in Hanoi’s Hai Ba Trung District where disabled people from across the country can come for a better life. With a heart of generosity, Do set up a workshop at his home to produce artificial limbs for people with disabilities. He also found help from humanitarian groups, non-governmental organisations, embassies and donors to support the cost of making artificial limbs for disabled people. He returned Hanoi after 10 years of working at the invalid care centre and established a workshop at his house to produce artificial limbs for disabilities. The children with paralysis and cerebral palsy at the rehabilitation centre have also often received health check-ups and artificial limbs for free from him.

Vietnamese startups need state’s capitalVietNamNet Bridge - Forty venture funds operate in Vietnam, but most of them are foreign invested. The number of startups and the scale of investment in startups are on the rise. In the world, venture capital poured into startups in 2017 reached $140 billion, while total economic value the startups all over the globe brought in 2015-2017 period was $2.3 trillion. Some large foreign investment funds have no offices in Vietnam, but show interest in Vietnamese startups. Since the majority of venture investment funds have foreign sourced capital, a lot of startups register their business overseas, including Thailand and Singapore.

Big-scale agricultural production falls into deadlock because of land fragmentationVietNamNet Bridge - Local authorities throughout the country have been moving ahead with land accumulation models. Vo Tri Hao from the HCMC Economics University noted that many problems have arisen in the land accumulation process. To organize large-scale production, investors need to have large land areas. To organize large-scale production, investors need to have large land areas. In Ha Nam province, for example, four agricultural production zones, totaling 500 hectares, have set up in accordance with the land accumulation model.

Vietnam, Tatarstan boost cooperationVietnamese Ambassador to Russia Ngo Duc Manh paid a working visit to the Republic of Tatarstan, one of the republics in the Russia Federation, from July 16-19 to boost cooperation in several potential fields. He hoped Vietnam would send more students to study in Tatarstan and set up cooperative relations between Vietnamese and Tatarstanian universities. The Vietnamese ambassador asked Tatarstan to facilitate the entry of made-in-Vietnam products – such as mobile phones, footwear, garments, and farm produce – into its trade system. The diplomat hoped Tatarstan would choose to actively participate in activities to promote the Vietnam Year 2019 in Russia, and vice versa. During the working visit, the ambassador worked with senior officials from Tatarstan’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and Investment Development Agency.