DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Vietnam central bank buys dollars to shore up foreign reserves
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Khanh Vu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) also said it will manage monetary policy in a flexible way to keep inflation at 4.5% next year, aiming to "stabilise the monetary and foreign exchange markets to ensure the safety of the banking system". Lending by Vietnamese banks rose 12.87% as of Dec. 21 from the end of last year, the SBV said in a statement. Tu said the SBV was buying dollars to boost its foreign exchange reserves, but provided no details. Vietnam does not provide regular disclosure on the size of its foreign exchange reserves. The central bank early this month raised its 14% cap on credit growth for the banking system this year by 1.5 to 2.0 percentage points, following a credit crunch in the property sector and its financial markets.

☆ The legendary SR-71 spy plane first flew 58 years ago, and enemy jets and missiles could never catch up
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Brent M. Eastwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The spy plane set a number of flight speed records. Spy planes such as the SR-71 Blackbird could really boogey. This allowed it to outrun and evade over 4,000 enemy missiles that were fired at it over the years. Sometimes enemy radar worked; sometimes it didn'tThe SR-71 Blackbird Judson Brohmer/USAFAnother thing that helped the SR-71 was its reduced radar cross section. The Swedes came closeAn underside view of an SR-71 Blackbird strategic reconnaissance aircraft in flight at an undisclosed location.

☆ Thailand hosts Myanmar junta figures in talks, key ASEAN nations skip
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Foreign ministers of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia and Vietnam's deputy foreign minister joined the talks hosted by Thailand's foreign minister, according to Thai foreign ministry spokeswoman Kanchana Patarachoke. "The consultation was a non-ASEAN meeting but intended to complement ASEAN’s ongoing collective efforts to find a peaceful political resolution," Kanchana said in a statement. Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin attended along with Kan Zaw, minister for investment and foreign economic relations, and Ko Ko Hlaing, minister for international cooperation, Myanmar's foreign ministry said in a statement. The Philippines said its foreign minister would also not join, without elaborating. "Any meeting convened under ASEAN, formal or informal, should not divert from this decision," it said, according to the source.

HONG KONG, Dec 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Vietnam is an unlikely home of the next Elon Musk. The 48-year-old is at the wheel of VinFast, a money-losing electric-vehicle maker racing the U.S. entrepreneur’s Tesla (TSLA.O) on Western roads. VinFast has made its name selling gas guzzlers in the Southeast Asian nation, where its parent Vingroup (VIC.HM) is the top conglomerate. CONTEXT NEWSVietnamese electric-car maker VinFast is planning a U.S. initial public offering, an initial prospectus published on Dec. 6 shows. Revenue fell to 10.5 trillion dong, down from 11.2 trillion dong.

☆ Exclusive: U.S. defence companies in talks to sell Vietnam helicopters, drones -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Francesco Guarascio | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A source who was present at the weapons discussions said they involved the Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of National Defence. A second person familiar with the matter said talks on drones and helicopters began before the arms fair and have involved more weapons. The U.S. embassy in Hanoi declined to comment, but Ambassador Marc Knapper has said the U.S. stood ready to discuss any military item Vietnam might want to acquire. Sources and analysts said Vietnam is also considering deals with suppliers from Israel, India, and European and Northeast Asian countries. In the last decade, Israel has been the second-biggest seller of weapons to Vietnam after Russia.

☆ Exclusive: U.S. defence companies in talks to sell Vietnam helicopters, drones
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Francesco Guarascio | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

☆ Vietnam holds first international arms expo in Hanoi
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Military arms are displayed at the Vietnam International Defence Expo 2022, in Hanoi, Vietnam, December 8, 2022. REUTERS/Khanh VuHANOI, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Vietnam on Thursday opened its first large-scale international defence exhibition, as the Southeast Asian country seeks to diversify its arms sources and also to export equipment. The three-day event held at an airport in the capital Hanoi attracted 174 exhibitors from 30 countries, including the United States, Russia and European nations. Officials and analysts said Vietnam is also eyeing a major defence shift as it seeks to reduce its reliance on Russian, which was for decades Vietnam's main supplier of weapons and defence systems. Reporting by Khanh Vu and Francesco Guarancio Editing by Ed DaviesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ G7 makes new $15 billion offer to Vietnam to cut coal use -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Francesco Guarascio | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HANOI, Dec 7 (Reuters) - The Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations has made a new $15 billion offer to Vietnam to agree during a summit next week on funding to speed up its transition away from coal, three people familiar with the talks told Reuters. The offer has gradually expanded from an initial pledge of just $2 billion in public funds with undefined additional private support. It remains unclear whether Vietnam would be prepared to accept the increased offer, because its main concerns do not appear to have been addressed. One of the sources said there was a "50/50" chance of a deal next week. Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; additional reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Ed DaviesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

That made Vietnam one of the top buyers of Russian arms, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which tracks global military expenditures. Starting Thursday, the country will host its first large-scale international arms trade fair, for which more than 170 companies from 30 countries have registered, the defence ministry said. The Defence Ministry referred questions about the country's defence industry to the Foreign Ministry, which did not respond to requests for comment. A half-dozen Russian defence firms are registered for the Hanoi fair, including Rosoboronexport, the state agency that imports and exports weapons. That year, the COVID-19 pandemic reduced Vietnam's military imports to only $32 million, of which $9 million worth were Russian arms.

☆ Samsung, LG plan multi-billion-dollar additional investment in Vietnam
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NO ARCHIVES/File PhotoHANOI, Dec 6 (Reuters) - South Korean electronics giants Samsung (005930.KS) and LG (066570.KS) plan to pour billions of dollars of additional investment into Vietnam, state media reports and the Vietnamese government said on Tuesday. The announcement comes after Samsung cut smartphone production in Vietnam twice this year in response to weaker global demand. Samsung Electronics, the largest single foreign investor in Vietnam, will invest $2 billion more in the Southeast Asian country, raising its total to $20 billion, Vietnamese state media said. The additional investment will further firm up Vietnam as Samsung's key production site, reported Vietnam News Agency, following a meeting on Tuesday in Seoul between Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the company's chief executive Han Jong-hee. The state media report and the government statement did not provide further details on the investment by the two companies.

☆ EV maker Vinfast files for U.S. IPO
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 6 (Reuters) - Vietnam-based electric-vehicle maker VinFast said on Tuesday it has filed for an initial public offering in the United States and plans to list its ordinary shares on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol "VFS". While no time frame was specified on Tuesday for the offering, the IPO was initially slated for the fourth quarter of this year, the company had previously said. The company's parent, Vingroup conglomerate, said in May that the IPO maybe delayed to 2023 due to market uncertainty. In April, VinFast's Singapore-based holding company filed for a confidential IPO with U.S. securities regulators, as it readied a $4-billion investment to build a factory in the United States. Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru and Phuong Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

HANOI, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Every Tuesday, 79-year-old Nguyen Thi Loc joins a group of grey-haired students to study English at a house in Hanoi, with the aim of socialising and keeping her brain sharp. The informal classes are free and are taught by Phung Thi Yen, who trained as an English teacher but currently works as an office worker. Loc has never studied a foreign language before, but with her newly acquired skills she chants in chorus with her classmates: "Never too old to learn English". English is Vietnam's most commonly taught foreign language after having become a mandatory subject at school in the 1990s. "Even though we are old, we still should try to study, because studying helps the brain," she said.

It is unclear if the cuts in Vietnam reflect Samsung's general drop in production or a shift to other manufacturing countries. Smartphone output in the first 11 months of the year fell 6.1%. The GSO also said the value of Vietnam's smartphone exports in November fell 1% on the month and 0.7% from a year earlier. However, if demand remains sustained, the production cuts could exacerbate inflation in Europe and other importing regions. Imports also fell by 7.3%, signalling possible further production cuts because components and materials used for exported products are often imported for assembly in Vietnam.

☆ Analysis: Vietnam's anti-graft crackdown chills supply chains, investment
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Francesco Guarascio | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"If you don't do anything, you cannot do a mistake," Walde said of the current licensing paralysis caused by the bureaucratic anxiety. Germany is the second-largest exporter of drugs to Vietnam after France, according to 2020 data. SUPPLY SHOCKSThe negative economic consequences of the crackdown come on top of other challenges that Vietnam and other countries in Asia face, namely a weakening local currency, global supply constraints and declining world demand. "The crackdown won't be able to root out the widespread corruption if implemented without complete transparency and rule of law," said Hop. Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; Additional reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Sam HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Vingroup, Gotion start building $275 mln battery plant in Vietnam
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HANOI, Nov 18 (Reuters) - VinES Energy Solutions, a unit of Vietnam's largest conglomerate Vingroup JSC (VIC.HM) and China's Gotion High-Tech (002074.SZ), have commenced construction of a $275 million battery factory in the Southeast Asian country, Vingroup said on Friday. The factory in the central province of Ha Tinh will annually produce 30 million lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells, the company said in a statement. The cells will be used for electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems, it said, adding that the factory is scheduled to start production in the third quarter of next year. The factory will help meet the battery needs of VinFast, an electric vehicle production arm of Vingroup, it said. Reporting Phuong Nguyen; Writing by Khanh Vu; Editing by Sam HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Vietnamese EV maker VinFast to supply 2,500 units to U.S. car subscription service Autonomy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

"VinFast will begin delivering vehicles to Autonomy over the next 12 months," the companies said in a joint statement, noting Autonomy had initially ordered just 400 units in August. Autonomy allows users to subscribe to the use of one of their EVs, rather than having to buy or lease a car. VinFast has registered almost 65,000 reservations globally, and it expects to sell 750,000 EVs per year by 2026. In March, VinFast said it would build a production plant in North Carolina with an initial projected capacity of 150,000 EVs a year. According to the statement, VinFast is planning to showcase two new EV models, VF 6 and VF 7 at the upcoming Los Angeles auto show this week.

☆ Germany's Scholz visits Vietnam as manufacturers eye shift from China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Francesco Guarascio | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Hanoi visit follows Scholz's trip to China last week, the first by a Western leader in three years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vietnam and Singapore are the only countries in Southeast Asia that have a free trade agreement with the European Union. About 500 German firms operate in Vietnam, of which around 80 have manufacturing plants in the country, according to the German chamber of commerce in Vietnam, AHK. Many more are looking to diversify some of their activities away from China where about 5,000 German companies operate, AHK head in Vietnam, Marko Walde, told Reuters. Over 90% of German firms planning such a move look at Southeast Asia as their preferred choice, Walde said, noting that Vietnam and Thailand were favourites in the region.

☆ ASEAN summit begins with Myanmar likely to dominate agenda; 'little progress expected'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Cambodian Prime Minister and ASEAN host Hun Sen addressed Friday's opening ceremony with a call for vigilance and wisdom during times of economic and geopolitical turmoil. The junta has blamed a lack of progress on the pandemic and obstruction from armed resistance movements that it calls terrorists. James Crabtree, Executive Director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies-Asia, said ASEAN was struggling to cope with internal divisions over Myanmar and other issues. One Western diplomat who will attend the meeting said that while the bloc may try to make the Myanmar peace plan more action-oriented, "little progress is expected". G20 leaders are meeting in Bali next week and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum will take place in Bangkok after that.

☆ Weakening global demand hurts Vietnam's garment makers - industry official
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Khanh Vu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HANOI, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Vietnam's garment industry is expected to face a decline in orders from its key markets over the next two quarters, the country's textile and apparel association said on Monday, amid high inflation that is dampening global demand. The country is among the world's largest manufacturers for brands like Nike, Calvin Klein, Mango, Zara and H&M. He added however that exports this year were still expected to reach the target of $43.0 billion-$43.5 billion. The weakening of the dong currency has also added to the difficulties faced by some garment makers, as imports of their raw materials are more expensive, he said. But he added that exchange rate impacts are limited as the garment industry is now registering a trade surplus.

☆ Vietnam will stick to target to keep inflation under control, PM says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Khanh Vu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam will stick to its target to keep inflation under control and ensure macroeconomic stability, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said on Saturday, as the economy faces fresh challenges. The central bank has this year raised its policy rates by a combined 200 basis points and allowed the dong currency to weaken against dollar. Vietnam’s stock market has fallen by more than 20% while the dong currency has lost 6% against dollar over the past three months. “It’s getting more difficult to manage the macro economy,” Chinh said. He said Vietnam will consider raising the national fuel storage capacity and domestic fuel production to avoid future fuel shortages.

☆ Vietnam PM says will keep aiming to control inflation, ensure macro-stability
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Khanh Vu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HANOI, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Vietnam will stick to its target to keep inflation under control and ensure macroeconomic stability, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said on Saturday, as the economy faces fresh challenges. "It's getting more difficult to manage the macro economy," Chinh said. Vietnam's gross domestic product is expected to grow 8% this year, faster than an expansion of 2.58% last year. Chinh said the government will take measures to ensure that the financial and real estate markets operate in a more transparent and effective manner. He said Vietnam will consider raising the national fuel storage capacity and domestic fuel production to avoid future fuel shortages.

☆ Vietnam to continue facing difficulties securing fuel supplies - minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HANOI, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Vietnam will continue to face difficulties securing refined petroleum products, its industry and trade minister said on Saturday, as authorities scramble to avert a fuel supply crunch. Hundreds of petrol stations in Vietnam's largest cities have shut or limited sales in recent weeks, citing financial difficulties and tight domestic supplies. He said some fuel importers are also facing difficulties accessing bank loans to pay for their imports as they fail to meet banks' requirements. "Partial fuel disruption in the local market is threatening to continue at least until Nov. 11 when the finance ministry adjusts the costs for fuel importers," Dien said. Vietnam on Wednesday urged on its largest fuel trading firms to release stocks to ease concerns about a fuel supply crunch.

☆ Vietnam to require 24-hour take-down for "false" social media content
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HANOI, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Vietnam's information minister said on Friday authorities had tightened regulations to deal with "false" content on social media platforms so that it must be taken down within 24 hours instead of 48 hours previously. The new rules will enshrine Vietnam's position as one of the world's most stringently controlled regimes for social media firms and will strengthen the ruling Communist Party's hand as it cracks down on "anti-state" activity. Most governments do not have laws imposing the taking down of content on social media firms, but Vietnam's move comes amid intensifying crackdowns in some parts of the world on online content. Speaking to the legislature, Hung proposed by 2023 to completely deal with "News-lisation", a term used by authorities to describe when people are misled into thinking that social media accounts are authorised news outlets. Reuters in September reported that the government was preparing rules to limit which social media accounts can post news-related content.

☆ Vietnam’s Goldilocks Growth Phase Is Over
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Megha Mandavia | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Inflation in Vietnam is low by regional standards, but core inflation rose to nearly 4.5% in October. Vietnam is out of step with the rest of Asia—in terms of growth, dollar reserves and monetary policy. Vietnam’s central bank last week said it would raise its policy rates by a full percentage point—the second increase in a little more than a month—to fight inflation and a sharp slide in its currency. The Vietnamese dong lost 4% this month after the central bank widened the currency’s daily trading band to conserve depleted dollar reserves. Vietnam’s foreign-exchange reserves were equal to just over three months of imports as of June, quarterly data from CEIC shows.

☆ EXCLUSIVE Vietnam may widen dong trading band again to conserve FX reserves - source
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HANOI, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Vietnam is preparing to loosen its tight leash on the dong currency, including possibly widening its trading band with the U.S. dollar again, in order to conserve its shrinking currency reserves, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday. The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has intervened to defend the currency, although it rarely discloses FX reserves data or the amount of dollars spent. Widening the band, which would allow the market to drive the currency lower without triggering so much FX reserves selling, was one possibility, the source said. Other measures to cushion the dong, without exhausting FX reserves, were also being discussed, he said, without providing further details. The source said the SBV was trying to conserve its dollars as the country's FX reserves had sunk to the International Monetary Fund's recommended level, which is at least three months of imports.

Search resuls for: "Hanoi"

25 mentions found