South Korea’s Mirae Asset, SCIC undertake joint ventureMirae Asset Management on Monday signed a joint venture agreement with an investment arm of Viet Nam’s State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) to form a management fund. — Photo theinvestor.co.krThe asset management unit of Mirae Asset Financial Group is the first South Korean asset management company to form a legal entity in Viet Nam instead of opening a branch to acquire stakes in local companies. We will actively cooperate with SCIC by sharing our know-how in the global market,” Mirae Asset Financial Group’s chairman Park Hyeon-joo said in a statement. It opened its first office in Viet Nam in 2006, delivering market research and asset management services to South Korean clients. In April last year, its venture capital arm, Mirae Asset Venture, led an undisclosed Series C fundraising round for Vietnamese games start-up Appota, along with Korea Investment Partners.

An index analysing intellectual protection in 50 economies, including Viet Nam, being released Tuesday by the US Chamber of Commerce Global Innovation Policy Center. Viet Nam ranks 40th out of 50 countries. The Index shows that a majority of economies benchmarked are building more effective foundations for IP policy. Indonesia, Thailand, and Viet Nam, for example, each have long-standing programmes to enhance co-ordination between government agencies responsible for IP enforcement. Viet Nam implemented some fundamental IP initiatives to help increase awareness about the importance of protecting IP rights and streamline IP rights enforcement across the Government.

Over 300mn internet domain registrations in 2017The fourth quarter of 2017 closed with 332.4 million domain name registrations across top-level domains (TLDs), said a recent report of Verisign, a US-based domain name and internet security provider. The .com and .net TLDs had a combined total of approximately 146.4 million registrations in the domain name base in the fourth quarter of 2017. The .com and .net TLDs had a combined total of approximately 146.4 million registrations in the domain name base in the fourth quarter of 2017. As of December 31, 2017, the .com domain name base amounted to 131.9 million registrations, while the .net domain name amounted to 14.5 million registrations. New .com and .net registrations totalled nine million during the fourth quarter of 2017 compared to 8.8 million in the same period in 2016.

Vietnamese zither player nominated for IMA awardsA music collection by France-based Vietnamese zitherist Tri Nguyen has been nominated for the Independent Music Awards (IMA) 2018. Tri Nguyen plays đàn tranh, Vietnamese traditional 16-string zither. — Photos 24ourmusic.netNguyen plays đàn tranh, Vietnamese traditional 16-string zither. He has combined popular folk songs of Viet Nam with various musical instruments from Africa, America, Asia and Europe. Nguyen began learning piano from a French teacher in Viet Nam at the age of five.

Major SOEs’ ownership to be transferred to “super committee”The ownership of 21 large State-owned groups and corporations is likely to be transferred from ministries and sectors to the Committee on State capital management at enterprises. According to the document, the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) will no longer be managed by the Ministry of Finance, but the Committee on State capital management at enterprises. It will, however, continue to be the owner representative of State capital at enterprises set to be transferred from ministries and provincial People’s Committees. They include seven groups – PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PV Oil), Vietnam Chemicals Group, Vietnam Electricity, Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), Vietnam Rubber Group, Vietnam Coal-Mining Group, and the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), along with 13 corporations, including Vietnam Multimedia Corporation (VTC), MobiFone, Vietnam Cigarette Corporation, Vietnam Aviation Corporation, and Vietnam Forestry Corporation. Combined State capital at the 21 firms is equivalent to 50 percent of total capital owned by the State at State-owned enterprises.

Vietnam urged to appoint permanent representative to WMOSecretary General of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Petteri Taalas has proposed Vietnam soon appoint a permanent representative to the organisation. Sharing devastating losses caused by natural disasters in Vietnam over the past years, the WMO Secretary General stressed that to effectively cope with natural disasters, Vietnam needs have trust-worthy early warning capacity and modern technologies. He suggested Vietnam continue to prioritise human resources for the hydro meteorological sector, and pour more investments in mobile and modern observatories. At the meeting, Dung called for more assistance from the WMO to Vietnam in developing human resources and improving the country’s hydro meteorological forecasting and monitoring capacity. Vietnam has prepared to become a flashflood warning guidance centre of Southeast Asia and actively participated in international cooperation and activities of the organisation, he said.-VNA

Garment firms need more workers for expanding operationsMany garment-textile companies in Ho Chi Minh City are recruiting more employees to expand operations after the Lunar New Year (Tet) holidays. Many local garment companies are in need of a huge volume of workers. Some dozens of workers usually change their jobs after the traditional Tet holidays, Tuat said, explaining that, the huge recruitment mostly aims to serve its production expansion for export. Uyen Linh Production Commerce Co. Ltd. in district 9 is also in need of between 100-300 garment workers. Hong underlined potential for firms in the sector, saying that big ones have entered big markets, while small ones eye niche markets with small volume, yet high prices.

Japanese youth delegation to make friendly visit to VietnamA Japanese delegation including 15 students will visit Vietnam under the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS) Programme from March 6 to 14, 2018, said the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam. Vietnamese students attend the Jenesys Programme (Illustrative photo: jenesysvn.weebly.com)The programme aims to introduce the politics, culture, history and diplomatic policies of Japan to Vietnamese youths, deepening trust and mutual understanding of the two countries. The Japanese students are scheduled to visit the Youth International Cooperation Development Centre (CYDECO) and the Vietnam Judo Federation. They will also play friendly judo matches with Vietnam’s national judo team and judo athletes in Hanoi and Nha Trang city of the south central coastal province of Khanh Hoa. The JENESYS Programme is a project advanced by the Japanese government from the standpoint of providing a sound foundation for strong solidarity within Asia through large-scale youth exchange.

Giang is the first Vietnamese representative to compete in an international transgender beauty pageant. It took 10 artisans a week to craft the outfit before Huong Giang flies to Thailand. huong giang’s elaborate gold costume for transgender beauty pageant hinh 2huong giang’s elaborate gold costume for transgender beauty pageant hinh 3The gilded costume weighs in at 55kg has a unique floral design. huong giang’s elaborate gold costume for transgender beauty pageant hinh 4Singer Huong Giang is the first Vietnamese representative to compete in an international transgender beauty pageant. huong giang’s elaborate gold costume for transgender beauty pageant hinh 9

The issuance of the document was a decisive turning point of the world communist and workers’ movement, marking the formation of Marxism. He highlighted the vitality of the manifesto as a scientific basis with important role in society’s ideology system. On the occasion, Novikov presented a medal on the 100th anniversary of Russia’s October Revolution to Vo Van Thuong and Nguyen Xuan Thang. Vietnam pledges to strongly support Australia in its relations with ASEAN as well as its active role in Asia-Pacific, he said. He said he hopes doctors and health workers will promote their responsibility and ethics in caring for people’s health.

Vietnam attractive to world’s robot manufacturersVietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam is believed to be a very attractive market for the world’s robot manufacturers as more and more local enterprises are using robots and speeding up automation in their production. Vietnam is considered a promising market for robot manufacturers and suppliers. Three out of four leading brands in the world robot market, namely ABB (Switzerland), Yaskawa (Japan) and Kuka (China), are present in Vietnam. Vietnam is considered a promising market for robot manufacturers and suppliers. More recently, in mid-December 2017, a group of 12 South Korean robot manufacturers visited Vietnam to learn about the market.

Seven-year-old donates cornea, thousands touchedVietNamNet Bridge – Nguyen Hai An, 7, of Hanoi’s Nam Tu Liem District, took her last breath on February 22. Pham Thi Viet Huong, deputy head of the hospital’s Pediatrics Department, who directly treated An, said that when An was hospitalised last year, she was already in bad condition. An’s cornea later was preserved in the Bank of Eyes under the Ha Noi-based National Hospital of Ophthalmology before being transplanted for people in need. They felt deeply touched because An’s parents overcame the normal prejudice that people’s bodies should be complete when they die in order to donate An’s cornea, Hoang said. An’s cornea was very precious: a survey by the hospital showed up to 300,000 people need a cornea transplant, but only 100-150 people receive a cornea each year due to a national shortage.

VN struggles to predict intensity of typhoonsVietNamNet Bridge – Despite advancements in technology, weather forecasters around the world struggle to predict the intensity of emerging storms. Houses in Giang Hao Township in southern Bac Lieu Province damaged by the tropical storm Linda in 1997. — VNA/VNS Photo Xuan TruongOnly factors like timing, the relative path and the landing site of a typhoon have been predicted relatively accurately. The consensus on the need to enhance weather forecast capacity by embracing new technologies was reached yesterday in a technical forum held by the Typhoon Committee in Hanoi. The latest technologies from countries with advanced capacity were introduced and shared in the conference, such as remote sensing or network monitoring.

Soybean delight: Tofu tales of Mo VillageVietNamNet Bridge – Many of Hanoi’s signature dishes, such as bun dau mam tom (fermented shrimp paste with fried tofu and rice vermicelli) or oc nau chuoi dau (snail soup with green banana, fried tofu and perilla leaves), have tofu as the main ingredient. Most Hanoian housewives still prefer using Mo tofu to make dishes as this variety of tofu has a special creamy taste and sweet flavour and is very soft. — VNS Photo Doan TungTofu makers in Mo Village normally wake up at 3am to make fresh tofu for early morning markets. According to Bui Tuyet Van, a 52-year-old Hanoian housewife, the gourmets can easily recognise Mo tofu. “I can never have enough of the plain Mo tofu with fish sauce, even though I have been having it since childhood,” Van said.

Leather industry anticipates favourable year in 2018The leather-footwear industry expects a good year in 2018 thanks to several favourable factors, according to Secretary General of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (LEFASO) Phan Thi Thanh Xuan. Workers at My Phong Shoe Company in the southern province of Tra Vinh produce shoes for exports. She particularly underlined the expected signing of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) in mid-2018, under which Vietnam’s shoes products exported to the EU will enjoy a gap of 3.5-4.2 percent in tariff compared to other rivals. In 2017, the sector earned 18 billion USD from exports, up 10.7 percent from 2016. Backpacks and handbags earned Vietnam an estimated at 3.3 billion USD last year, accounting for 5.5 percent of global productionVietnam sets a target of earning between 19.5 - 20 billion USD from leather and footwear exports in 2018, up 10 percent from 2017.-VNA