Hue University fosters brand building in ASEANA delegation of educators from ASEAN of the European Union’s Support to Higher Education in the ASEAN Region (SHARE) programme visited Hue University in the central province of Thua Thien – Hue to conduct institutional assessments on March 1. Director of Hue University Nguyen Quang Linh speaks at the ceremonyThe university is Vietnam’s sole representative in the pilot institutional assessments, along with 10 other higher education institutions in eight ASEAN countries. The exchange between ASEAN nations and between ASEAN – EU helps to bolster internationalisation of higher education, he added. SHARE is a flagship project of the ASEAN Education Sector that aims to promote regional harmonisation of higher education. As many as 30 ASEAN and 10 EU higher institutions participate in SHARE, with four Vietnamese universities of Vietnam National University - Hanoi, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Ho Chi Minh City Technology and Education and Hue University.

Hanoi: 16th Vietnam Poetry Day opensThe 16th Vietnam Poetry Day officially opened at Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature) in Hanoi on March 2. The 16th Vietnam Poetry Day officially open​s at Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature) in Hanoi on March 2. Chairman of the Vietnam Writers’ Association Huu Thinh said this year’s poetry day coincides with the 70th anniversary of the birth of famous poem “Nguyen Tieu” (the 15th day of the first lunar month) written by late President Ho Chi Minh. The organising board of the event is working to turn the Poetry Day into a festival for literature in general, he said. Since its debut on Nguyen Tieu (the 15th day of the first lunar month) in 2003, the Vietnam Poetry Day, the biggest poetry festival in the country, has become a national tradition, often taking place in the spring.

PM asks for clear prohibitions, tougher sanctions on food safety violationsPrime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked ministries to review legal documents on food safety and clarify prohibitions and impose tougher sanctions for violations. The PM assigned tasks to several ministries for the implementation of the National Assembly’s resolution on intensifying the enforcement of food safety regulations. The Ministry of Finance will allocate funding for food safety management and provide instructions for ministries, agencies and localities in use of fine revenues from breaches of food safety regulations to reward individuals and organisations who play a significant role in ensuring food safety. The Ministry of Public Security was asked to strictly handle serious food safety violations. Of the violators, more than 35,700 had to pay fines exceeding a total of 61 billion VND (2.7 million USD), according to the National Steering Committee on Food Safety.

VN gets 10th most in remittancesWith a record high of nearly US$13.8 billion in remittances last year, Viet Nam now ranks 10th among the top recipients of remittances globally. With this rebound, Viet Nam replaced Bangladesh in the list of top 10 countries and territories having the most substantial remittances in the world. According to analysts, Viet Nam’s rapid economic growth and improved business environment have enhanced investor confidence and attracted remittances into the country. Overseas remittances to Viet Nam have increased since 2010, reaching $13.2 billion in 2015. Remittances, foreign direct and indirect investment, and official development assistance are major sources of Viet Nam’s foreign currency supply.

Cashew firms temporarily halt African importsVietnamese importers have temporarily stopped buying raw cashew from Africa due to a surge in prices, according to the Viet Nam Cashew Association (Vinacas). In the first two months of this year raw cashew prices have increased to $2,000 per tonne, even to $2,100 in Ivory Coast, he said. He said last year due to a reduction in domestic cashew output, the industry imported over 1.3 million tonnes for processing for export, the highest ever. Domestic cashew output this year is forecast to be higher than last year at 400,000 tonnes compared to 250,000 tonnes last year. Firms would face losses if they buy raw cashew at such high prices to fulfil the target export of $4 billion this year, he added.

Exchange rate to stabilise in 2018Despite the high devaluation of the Vietnamese dong against the US dollar after Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays, experts believe the exchange rate will remain stable this year. After increasing the daily reference exchange rate by VND10 on Wednesday, State Bank of Viet Nam on Wednesday set the rate unchanged at VND22,473 per US dollar. With the current trading band of +/- three per cent, the ceiling rate applied to commercial banks during the day was VND23,127 per US dollar and the floor rate was VND22,700 per US dollar. Commercial banks are also optimistic about the foreign exchange market in 2018, noting the market would be stable with the dong devaluing slightly by some 0.5-1 percentage points to VND22,710-VND22,950. Experts, however, have said policymakers still need to take flexible measures to control inflation in the coming time as a rise in the exchange rate can have some specific effects on the indicator.

VN enjoys $1.08b trade surplusViet Nam recorded a trade surplus of approximately US$1.08 billion in the first two months of this year, mainly fuelled by foreign-invested businesses, which saw a surplus of $4.76 billion. Viet Nam’s export turnover jumped 23 per cent year-on-year to US$33.62 billion in the first two months of this year. — Photo thuongmai.vnMeanwhile, the domestic-invested sector experienced a trade deficit of $3.68 billion in the January-February period, reported the General Statistics Office (GSO) on Wednesday. During the reviewed period, the country’s export turnover jumped 23 per cent year-on-year to $33.62 billion while its imports stood at $32.54 billion, up 15.3 per cent year-on-year. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), global trade is predicted to grow by 3.9 per cent in 2018, and this is expected to help Viet Nam’s trade growth.

2018 to be good year for wood products exportNguyen Chien Thang, director of HCM City-based wood products maker Scansia Pacific, said his company has export orders for the whole year, which are 25 per cent up from 2017. VIFA-EXPO this year will be held in HCM City’s Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre from March 7-10. But among the main furniture production areas, only the Asia-Pacific saw positive production growth. Besides, they need to improve their design capacity to add more value to their products and improve their management skills, he said. He also suggested that firms should pay more attention to the middle high-end segment and be developing multi-functional products for the US and EU markets.

PM warns about inflation pressurePrime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Thursday warned about fluctuations in global prices and asked ministries and departments to maximise efforts to curb inflation and ensure macro-economic stability. Tens of billions of dollars in foreign investment will be poured into the country as foreign direct investment this year, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said. Phuc said inflation pressure this year could be high due to the increase of crude oil and goods prices. Meanwhile, tens of billions of dollars in foreign investment will be poured into the country as foreign direct investment. Thus, he urged economic restructuring, increasing labour productivity, attracting more foreign investment, improving domestic production efficiency and better Government policies in socio-economic management in the context of the fourth industrial revolution.

Import tax-free Honda cars flood into VietnamMore than two thousands of cars made in Thailand which are exempted from import tax have been imported into Vietnam, offering local customers opportunities to buy cars at lower prices. More than two thousands of cars made in Thailand which are exempted from import tax have been imported into VietnamJazz, Accord, CR-V and Civic car models were imported. Car showroom owners in Vietnam have claimed lots of customers had made deposits to buy ASEAN-imported cars while awaiting zero import duties. They also said that the zero import duties could attract more customers to buy cars and the car sales are expected to boom early this year. This rate was lower than Malaysia's 341 cars, Thailand's 196 cars and Indonesia's 55 cars.

VN ripe for e-commerce boomViet Nam is the most exciting country to watch in the digital revolution era, Winfield Wong, country head, wholesale banking, HSBC Viet Nam, told the media from his bank’s Singapore office this week. The online tax payment system launched last year is part of Viet Nam’s efforts to push for e-commerce. On the Government side, “Viet Nam is taking digitisation very seriously. The Government has developed plans for digitisation, built networks for e-commerce and e-payment,” he said. E-commerce will top $88 billion that year.

Fitch upgrades Military Bank, affirms four banks' IDRsFitch Ratings in a February 27 report upgraded the long-term issuer default rating (IDR) of Military Bank to “B+” from “B” with a stable outlook and its viability rating to “b+” from “b”. The bank’s Fitch Core Capital ratio of 11.4 per cent at end-June 2017 was the highest among that of Fitch-rated Vietnamese banks. The long-term IDRs of Military Bank and ACB are driven by their viability ratings and reflect their smaller franchises but better loan quality compared with State-owned banks. Fitch believes the capital encumbrance of ACB and Military Bank from the under-reporting of non-performing loans is lower compared with State-owned banks. The bank’s problem loan ratio improved significantly after writing off its entire bad debts sold to the Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC) in 2017.

Leopards suspected of attacking goats in Quang TriAuthorities in the central province of Quang Tri have just warned local people of the appearance of leopards in the area, which was believed to have attacked goats at a local farm. "We have sent a team of forest rangers to check at the farm," Hoang said. "There were animals' footprints around the site. According to Nguyen At, he first discovered the goats missing several days ago and on the morning of March 1, he discovered some more dead and half-eaten beside unidentified animals' footprints at his farm. "A neighbour also found a goat's skeleton near my farm," At said.

Quang Nam inspects construction projects on Cu Lao Cham IslandsVietNamNet Bridge – The People’s Committee of the central Quang Nam Province has urged Hoi An City authorities and relevant agencies to re-examine legal papers of construction projects on Cu Lao Cham Islands. A view of Cu Lao Cham Islands. No construction project on Cu Lao Cham Islands, whose environmental impact assessments had been approved before 2009, was on the list for another environmental impact assessment. Cu Lao Cham Islands, which covers 15sq.km, is a cluster of eight islands -- Hon Lao, Hon Dai, Hon Mo, Hon Kho Me, Hon Kho Con, Hon La, Hon Tai and Hon Ong. With its diverse eco-system and multi 100-year-old historical sites, Cu Lao Cham was officially recognised as a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in May 2009.

Artist portrays her own life with others’ fingerprintsVietNamNet Bridge – Sitting between numerous fingerprints printed on Korean hanji paper, clothes and mica, artist Vu Bach Lien danced and moved to symbolise the motion of the universe. The performing art piece entitled In the Human Realm opened her solo exhibition Life yesterday at the Viet Nam Fine Arts Museum in Hanoi. Another highlight of the exhibition is They - A Part Of My Life (2m by 2m) which collects ten thousand fingerprints from people that she had met in her life, and arranges them to create her own portrait. That’s the reason why I find inspiration from people’s fingerprints and the exhibition Life is a part of my Life project.”Artist Lien was born in 1976 in Hanoi. Altogether now: They - A Part Of My Life (2m by 2m) combines ten thousand fingerprints of people artist Vu Bach Lien met in her life to create her own portrait.