Chilean President lauds Vietnam’s economic achievementsChilean President Sebastian Pinera extolled Vietnam’s impressive economic accomplishments in recent years while receiving Vietnamese Ambassador to Chile Nguyen Ngoc Son in Santiago on June 4. Vietnamese Ambassador to Chile Nguyen Ngoc Son (L) presents his credentials to Chilean President Sebastian Pinera (Source: vov.vn)The President welcomed the Ambassador to take up his mission in Chile and conveyed his regards to Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang and other leaders. The President said he looks forward to welcoming the Vietnamese delegation to Chile on the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit 2019. Ambassador Son conveyed the invitation of President Tran Dai Quang to President Sebastian Pinera to visit Vietnam. The newly-signed Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), of which Vietnam and Chile are members, is expected to drive bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation.-VNA

Moreover, apparel retail prices in Australia aremuch higher the import ones, giving Vietnamese products an advantage. According to the PetroVietnam, in the past five months, petrol market saw unexpected developments, negatively affecting the firms’ business. Apart from promoting exports to Vietnam, Argentinean businesses also want to find partners for their imports of Vietnamese products. “BIOMIN is honored and excited to bring Natuphos E to the Vietnamese market with BASF. FPT will conduct digital conversion for Toppan Printing’s business operations, cooperating in IT human resources training and business process outsourcing (BPO) over three years.

Court hears appeal on Tan Son Nhat airport terror plotThe High-level People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City on June 4 began hearing an appeal on a terrorism plot targeting Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Nguyen Duc Sinh (in caro shirt) was given a 10-year sentenceAfter the first-instance trial of the city’s People’s Court on December 27, 2017, fourteen out of the 16 defendants appealed. At the appeal trial, both Thien and Sinh admitted their behaviours. Thien appealed the court to reduce the penalty. The appeal court will run until June 5.-VNA

VN-Index rises for three consecutive days, exceeding 1,013 pointsThe benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) rose for the third day, gaining a total of 65.28 points after three transactions to settle at 1,013.78 points on June 4. The group of equipment, machine production and construction material production shares saw a price hike of 4 percent. However, shares of Sabeco (SAB), PetroVietnam (GAS) and Techcombank (TCB) were sold below the reference price, of which TCB closed at 102,000 VND per share. At the end of the June 4 transaction, VN-Index added 22.91 points to 1,013.78 points. Meanwhile, the HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange was up 2.57 points to 118.32 points and UpCoM-Index on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UpCoM) slightly increased 0.8 points to 53.63 points.-VNA

Vietnam hopes case of Vietnamese girl’s murder to be handled strictlyThe Vietnamese Embassy in Japan showed its hope that the case related to the murder of a 9-year-old Vietnamese girl last year will be handled strictly and a proper sentence will be given to the murderer. Yasumasa Shibuya, a 46-year-old Japanese national, is accused of murdering Le Thi Nhat Linh, a third grader living in Matsudo town. (Source: Asahi Shimbun/VNA)Nguyen An Tien, First Secretary in charge of community issues at the embassy made the statement on June 4. Tien was also present at the trial for Yasumasa Shibuya, a 46-year-old Japanese national, which began on the same day. The trial is forecast to be prolonged with debates focusing on clarifying whether evidence is persuasive enough to charge him with the murder.

Local authorities reject a series of FDI projectsVietNamNet Bridge - The authorities of many cities and provinces throughout the country have simultaneously launched ‘purification operations’ and sent notices with the aim of discovering “disappeared” enterprises. The projects were registered by investors from many different countries and territories, including the US, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines. HCM City regularly examines the implementation of projects registered in the city to revoke licenses of projects which were not implemented as committed. HCM City regularly examines the implementation of projects registered in the city to revoke licenses of projects which were not implemented as committed. To date, the HCM City People’s Committee has annulled 577 projects and reduced the land area allocated to 10 projects.

Four more years for Vietnamese officialA Vietnamese representative at the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and Pacific (MOWCAP), has been re-elected as Vice Chairperson of the committee. Dr Vu Thi Minh Huong (second in red) at a MOWCAP meeting in China. The MOWCAP official, a former director of the State Records Management and Archive Department of Viet Nam, has a master’s degree and PhD in history. Huong made a large contribution to strengthening the co-operation in the archives sector between Viet Nam and France as well as teaming up with other international archives organisations. MOWCAP, an agency controlled by the International Advisory Committee (IAC) under UNESCO, was set up in 1998 in Beijing, China.

Grab now has more rivals than ever beforeVietNamNet Bridge - Grab has announced a strategy on developing an ecosystem of services, from ride-hailing services and food ordering to lending. Grab has announced a strategy on developing an ecosystem of servicesMulti-billion dollar marketFrom an e-hailing app, Grab has made great steps forward, providing many different services. The non-cash payment market, according to Grab, is worth $500 billion in South East Asia. The total number of Grab downloads has reached 95 million all over South East Asia. However, the analyst said, by expanding its business, Grab would have to compete with more rivals who are ‘powers’ in their fields.

Defence Minister welcomes RoK counterpart in HanoiMinister of National Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich has lauded the official Vietnam visit made by Defence Minister of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Song Young-moo, saying that it will create stronger changes in bilateral national defence. Minister of National Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich (R) receives his RoK counterpart Song Young-moo. During talks with Minister Song Young-moo following a welcome ceremony in Hanoi on June 4, Lich said the visit will facilitate the effective implementation of the Joint Vision Statement on Defence Cooperation through 2030 signed in April 2018 between the two defence ministries. Concluding the talks, the two defence minister witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on logistics support in the United Nations peacekeeping mission, natural disaster humanitarian and support between the two defence ministries. Minister Song Young-moo is in Vietnam from June 3-5.

VN Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index sees sharp riseThe Viet Nam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose by 1.2 points to 53.9 in May, signalling continued improvement in the country’s business conditions. Nikkei’s IHS Markit reported on June 1 that new orders rose at a faster pace than in April and the fastest pace in 14 months, mainly boosted by strong exports. Suppliers’ delivery times continued to lengthen marginally and purchasing managers in the survey blamed it on raw material shortages. “A record rise in new export orders is the key highlight in the latest Nikkei Viet Nam Manufacturing PMI, and is helping drive growth across the sector. Manufacturers are more willing to accept a lower profit margin to stimulate demand for goods and services, he added.—VNS

Tomorrow's Cities: How Barcelona shushed noise-makers with sensorsIn the heart of the bustling city of Barcelona is a square that at first sight seems like an oasis of calm. It is part of a wider attempt to rethink smart cities and put control back firmly in the hands of citizens. "We wanted to end this top-down approach where cities go to companies and ask them to build infrastructure and then pretend that is a smart city," said Mr Diez. Giving people the tools to collect their own data can sometimes be a "perfunctory gesture to make smart city projects more palatable", she said. "Cities increasingly have so many sensors generating so much data, some of which people have access to and some of which they don't.

Russian artists to delight Vietnamese audiences with classical concertsPianist Anna Grot and violinist Polina Borisova from Russia will present a classical music performance as part of the framework of the annual programme Arts Ambassador in big cities on June 6-8. In 2012, she graduated from the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory and in 2014 graduated from post-graduate studies. Since 2015 she has worked as an assistant lecturer at the Moscow Conservatory. She graduated from the Central Music School at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Through the unique performances, the Arts Ambassador concert offers an opportunity for Vietnamese music lovers to learn more about Russian classical music, said N V Shafinskaya, director of the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Hanoi.

According to the newspaper’s report, in many residential areas in Hanoi, playgrounds and parks were being encroached by car parking lots and mobile shops. But the collective open-air public space in the area is just a few thousands square metres. But the area was turned into an illegal car parking space years ago, and nothing has been done about it. "These public spaces and playgrounds have now been slashed, destroyed or replaced by houses, stores and food stalls, besides parking areas," Nguyen Lan Phuong, a resident said. Illegally encroaching on to public spaces and playgrounds is the fault of inadequate management of buildings’ management boards and the local authorities, Nghiem said.

Vietnamese brothers shine at Britain’s Got TalentTwo daredevil brothers from Vietnam, known as the Giang brothers, shone in this year’s Britain’s Got Talent finals. The impressive performance from Giang Quoc Co and Giang Quoc Nghiep in 2018 Britain’s Got Talent finals. The impressive performance from Giang Quoc Co and Giang Quoc Nghiep on June 3 made viewers breathless and then put them on their feet applauding. Britain's Got Talent is a UK talent show. The winner of Britain's Got Talent 2018 was Lee Ridley - a disabled person who cannot speak.

Vietnamese overseas investment exceeds $187 millionVietnamese enterprises invested nearly 184.7 million USD in overseas projects in the first five months of 2018, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Some 144.7 million USD was pumped into 48 new projects, while the rest was earmarked for 14 existing ones. During the period, finance and banking drew the greatest interest from the Vietnamese investors, accounting for 57.3 percent of total investment capital, or 105.8 million USD. Major banks such as the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank), the Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank), the Military Bank (MB) and the Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) are seeking to make inroads in new foreign markets. According to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnamese firms registered to invest 19.9 million USD in Cuba in the first four months of 2018 despite geographical distance.-VNA