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Tag: asia

  • Orchestra Private Equity to acquire KFC Korea for 60 billion won

    Orchestra Private Equity to acquire KFC Korea for 60 billion won

    Orchestra Private Equity, a private equity firm based in Singapore, has signed a stock purchase agreement to acquire chicken franchise KFC Korea, according to industry sources on Friday.

    Under the deal signed on Thursday, Orchestra PE will purchase a 100 percent stake in KFC Korea from KG Group, a chemical-to-steel company based in Seoul.

    The transaction has an estimated worth of 60 billion won ($48.3 million) to 70 billion won.

    KFC Korea has been on sale for a year by KG Group which took over the fast food chain in 2017 from another private equity firm CVC Capital Partners.

    To get better control over the fried chicken chain after the acquisition, Orchestra PE signed a separate contract with Yum! Brands, the American operator of KFC to alter its operating system from direct management to a franchise system.

    According to market observers, KFC has struggled to expand its presence in the country due to failure in localization as all decisions had to be made only after consulting with the American headquarters.

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  • Switzerland’s Largest Financial Center is Wooing IT Talent

    Switzerland’s Largest Financial Center is Wooing IT Talent

    Zurich continues to be of paramount importance as a regional financial center and the country as a whole. In terms of value added per capita, the financial sector is top. Nevertheless, a decline in banking jobs is expected.

    Zurich is and remains the country’s most important financial center. It is not only the pillar of the region’s economic strength but one of the largest employers, but differences between banks, insurance companies, and other financial service providers are likely to increase.

    A study published Friday by the Swiss economic research institute BAK Economics for the Office of Economic and Labor Affairs of the Canton of Zurich looks at developments over previous years and makes predictions for future developments.

    The Zurich financial center comprises cantons of Zurich, Zug, and Schwyz and contributed an added value of 29.9 billion Swiss francs ($32.1 billion) in 2021, about 16 percent of the region’s economic output. Compared to the last study of this kind, also in 2021, it marks a decrease of 1.3 billion francs. With over 97,000 full-time jobs, it is by far the largest financial center in Switzerland.

    Zurich’s financial center accounts for 45 percent of Switzerland’s financial sector in value-added terms and 42 percent of jobs. Compared with this, the corresponding figures for the next largest financial centers, Geneva including Vaud, Basel, and Ticino, are significantly lower.

    The sector is also a heavyweight in the city of Zurich itself, accounting for around 27 percent of economic output in 2021. Banks are even more concentrated in the city than insurance companies.

    The real gross value added of the financial industry developed more dynamically overall than the economy between 2011 and 2021, the report continues. In the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, it grew partly due to the increase in volume in the banks’ lending business and the stock market boom in 2021, helping to support Zurich’s economy.

    In the case of banks, the interest rate and commission business performed differently in 2022. While interest rate increases had a positive impact on the interest business, assets under management declined due to the stock market slump. Big signs of recovery are evident and overall, the added value of the industry is expected to increase slightly in 2022 (+0.3 percent) and 2023 (+0.7 percent).

    With inflation boosting the cost of insurance claims, insurance value added is expected to increase, albeit moderately, by +1.5 percent in both 2022 and this year.

    Differences are evident in employment trends. While jobs are disappearing at banks due to cost-cutting programs and the further thinning out of the branch network, IT jobs are in a growth phase. Insurers are likely to create more jobs in the areas of digitization, regulation, and sustainability, whereas other financial services are expected to see a slowdown in momentum.

    The Zurich region’s financial sector has above-average productivity at 307,000 Swiss francs in 2021, which is the highest of the industry aggregates analyzed. Insurers have the highest at 515,000 francs, followed by banks with 323,000 francs and 168,000 for other financial service providers. That compares to the economy as a whole at 183,000 francs.

  • Global tech investors continue to bet on Vietnam

    Global tech investors continue to bet on Vietnam

    Vietnam’s growing capacity to make complex tech products is attracting more foreign investors who are setting up factories.

    Apple supplier BOE Technology Group plans to invest US$400 million to build two factories in Vietnam, Reuters reported recently.

    The report said it is in talks to lease land in the north to put up factories to add to its relatively small plant in the south that supplies mostly television screens to South Korea’s Samsung and LG Electronics.

    BOE is the latest tech company to eye Vietnam as its next manufacturing hub, where already smartphones, laptops and cameras are made by or for multinationals such as Samsung and Apple.

    In the north, where Apple suppliers such as Luxshare and Foxconn already have a presence, BOE will lease 100 hectares to build a $150-million plant for making remote control systems on 20 ha and others for manufacturing displays.

    BOE will invest $250 million in a plant on 50 ha while suppliers will use the remaining 30 ha.

    Everything will be in place by 2025.

    The company plans to make the more sophisticated organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, screens there rather than liquid-crystal displays.

    A recent survey by German logistics firm Container xChange found that 67.3% of respondents believe Vietnam and India will rise as container shipping hubs in 2023.

    They expect the two countries to change the global shipping industry as companies look to expand their network of manufacturing locations, the survey, which polled 2,600 industry professionals in 20 countries, said.

    Their expectations seem to be influenced by the fact that many tech giants established or expanded their presence in Vietnam last year.

    In December Apple was reported to soon begin MacBook production in Vietnam for the first time, while Samsung, which has been making half of its smartphones in Vietnam, opened its biggest research and development center in Southeast Asia in Hanoi.

    American aviation firm Boeing held its first Aerospace Industry Forum in Vietnam in August, seeking local suppliers for its global supply chain.

    U.S. company Synopsys, one of the world’s biggest chip design software makers, is set to invest in and shift its engineer training to Vietnam, while last year South Korea’s Amkor Technology signed a deal to set up a $1.6-billion semiconductor materials manufacturing factory in the northern province of Bac Ninh.

    “Vietnamese workers have been improving in their tech manufacturing capability, and foreign companies such as Samsung have been increasingly recruiting locals from the top local universities,” Do Thi Thuy Huong, a member of the Vietnam Electronics Industries Association’s executive board, said.

    In the last five years Vietnam has expanded its presence in supply chains and is now capable of making complex products, which is why more foreign firms are choosing it as their next manufacturing hub, she told VnExpress International.

    The Politburo, the Communist Party’s highest body, issued a decree in 2019 that sought to improve the quality of foreign projects in the country.

    FDI plays a major role in the Vietnamese economy, accounting for a large share of all investment. FDI disbursement last year rose 13.5% to $22.4 billion.

    In September last year Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told a group foreign business executives that Vietnam would create a safe and transparent investment environment and urged them to keep faith and do long-term business in the country.

    The government has always had consistent policies to ensure economic stability, control inflation and maintain reasonable foreign exchange and interest rates, he added.

  • Gold prices rise

    Gold prices rise

    SJC gold price gained 0.30% to VND67.2 million ($2,866.89) per tael Monday morning.

    Gold ring price went up 0.54% to VND55.35 million per tael. A tael equals 37.5 grams or 1.2 ounces.

    Global spot gold held at $1,918.60 per ounce, near nine-month highs, aided by expectations of slower interest rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

    Market participants expect a 25 basis points rate hike increase at the Fed’s next policy meeting.

    Lower rates tend to benefit gold as they decrease the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding bullion.

    Premiums for physical gold rose sharply in China last week, buoyed by optimism around the country’s reopening before Lunar New Year festivities, while Indian traders offered steeper discounts as record-high local prices dented consumer sentiment.

  • KienlongBank postpones stock exchange listing

    KienlongBank postpones stock exchange listing

    Kien Long Commercial Joint Stock Bank has postponed its listing on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE), citing unfavorable market conditions.

    The bank approved a resolution to withdraw its application to list on Friday, also citing “shareholder interests” as a deciding factor.

    The move comes five months after KienlongBank (KLB) submitted its initial application request to HoSE.

    The bank reported that it would inform shareholders when it decides to attempt listing again under more favorable conditions in the future.

    According to the lender, KLB General Director Tran Ngoc Minh will negotiate and terminate the bank’s stock listing consulting contract with Nhat Viet Securities Company.

    Currently, KLB trades at UPCoM at VND12,200 (US$0.52) per share, less than a third of its peak set in March 2022.

    KienlongBank had begun planning to list shares on the stock exchange towards the end of 2021.

    KLB also once applied to change its name to KSBank, but the motion was not approved by the State Bank of Vietnam.

    In the first nine months of 2022, KienlongBank’s consolidated profit dropped to VND513 billion, a decline of 40% year-on-year due to a sharp increase in bad debts and a rapid increase in operating expenses.

    The bank has also had difficulty mobilizing deposits from customers after its deposit balance decreased by 18% to just VND42,200 billion over the first nine months of last year. Outstanding loans at the end of the third quarter of 2022 increased by 7% to VND41 trillion.

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  • Uniqlo parent says profit slipped as Japan, China drag growth

    Uniqlo parent says profit slipped as Japan, China drag growth

    Japan’s Fast Retailing Co, owner of clothing brand Uniqlo, said on Thursday that first quarter earnings slid 2%, reflecting weakness at home and continuing COVID-19 restrictions in China.

    A day after announcing plans for big wage rises, the company said operating profit had been 117.1 billion yen ($889.82 million) in the three months to the end of November, compared with 119.4 billion yen a year earlier.

    The consensus forecast was for 135.3 billion yen, according to the average of five analyst estimates collected by Refinitiv.

    Domestic results were hit by warmer weather in November that stifled sales of fall and winter wear, while COVID curbs continued to weigh on China, including the temporary closure of 247 stores in Beijing and Guangzhou.

    “Once ‘with corona’ lifestyles take root, we think a normal operations will come back on the Chinese mainland,” CFO Takeshi Okazaki told reporters.

    Sales and earnings in all other regions increased. The company held its full-year operating profit forecast at 350 billion yen.

    The company, Japan’s biggest retailer, sent shockwaves through the country on Wednesday by saying it would lift its employees’ wages by as much as 40%. That greatly satisfied policymakers, who had been urging employers to raise wages to help offset the highest inflation in a generation.

    “From a macro perspective, this move highlights that it is becoming increasingly difficult for Japanese companies to attract and retain workers,” said Mark Chadwick, an independent equities analyst who publishes on the Smartkarma platform.

    Fast Retailing, which operates more than 3,500 clothing stores worldwide, reported record profit last fiscal year, as growth in North America and Europe compensated for a slump in China.

    The company is seen as a bellwether for the Chinese market, where it produces many of its goods and operates almost 900 Uniqlo stores, more than in Japan.

    Fast Retailing’s share price slid 2% in Tokyo trade, compared to a flat benchmark Nikkei index.

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  • Shopee to shut its Poland operations today

    Shopee to shut its Poland operations today

    Southeast Asia’s largest e-commerce firm Shopee will close its Polish operations from the end of Friday, Shopee Polska announced on its website on Thursday.

    “The fact itself is perhaps not a big surprise, since Shopee has already withdrawn from some of its markets, and a few months ago it cut some of its jobs in Poland, so the expectations were rather that they will leave the Polish market as well”, said Wood&Co analyst Lukasz Wachelko.

    Shopee has been operating in Poland since the autumn of 2021.

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  • Subway mulls sale valuing global business at more than US$10 billion

    Subway mulls sale valuing global business at more than US$10 billion

    American multinational fast-food restaurant franchise, Subway, is exploring a potential sale that could value the sandwich chain at more than US$10 billion, a source said.

    The company, based in Milford, Connecticut, is one of the world’s largest quick-service restaurant chains, with about 37,000 locations in more than 100 countries.

    Founded in 1965 by Fred DeLuca and Dr. Peter Buck, Subway has had rapid growth since opening its first shop but has tapered off in recent years amid intense competition.

    The chain has also pioneered the concept of preparing food in front of consumers in an assembly line fashion, an idea that chains would later adopt such as Chipotle Mexican Grill.

    The source said the process, which is at an early stage, is expected to attract potential corporate buyers and private-equity firms, adding that Subway could still decide against pursuing a sale.

    In 2021, media reports said Subway deliberations for a sale, but the restaurant chain denied it. If the privately held company does sell, the transaction follows several recent attempts to drive growth, including a shift toward multi-unit operators, expansion via automated vending fridges, and a significant menu revamp.

    The chain has made strides with its digital business thanks in part to the launch of Subway Delivery, which lets delivery customers order directly from the chain’s app or website, and other online ordering improvements. In 2021, Subway’s digital sales topped US$1.3 billion, tripling its 2019 digital sales.

    It also began buying out development agents, developers who contracted with the company to sell and oversee franchisees in specific regions of the country—and whose actions were often considered synonymous with the chain’s more aggressive expansion strategies coming out of the great recession in 2009 and 2010.

    The chain has struggled to grow sales since 2014, shuttering at least 6,000 restaurants to rightsize its bloated footprint to less than 21,000 by 2021.

    Despite the aggressive contraction of its store network, roughly 75% of Subway’s US footprint (or 16,000 restaurants) reported a same-store sales increase of at least 7.5% in the finance books of 2021 compared to 2019.

    Subway attributes most of the momentum to July’s launch of “Eat Fresh Refresh,” the largest menu update in the chain’s 56-year history.

    The rollout included more than 20 upgrades—11 new and improved ingredients, six new or returning sandwiches, and four revamped signature sandwiches. Turkey, ham, and steak were elevated and roast beef and rotisserie chicken returned to the menu.

    In November 2022, the chain publicly unveiled its first Grab and Go “smart fridge” filled with pre-made sandwiches, snacks, and drinks.

    The machine debuted in September at the University of California San Diego and the company plans to add more across North America in high-trafficked areas like other college campuses, airports, and hospitals.

  • HBO Max is getting pricier with no ads effective immediately

    HBO Max is getting pricier with no ads effective immediately

    Are you excited for the impending arrival of HBO’s hugely anticipated “The Last of Us” series based on the massively popular video game of the same name? Did you miss the glorious second season of Mike White’s “The White Lotus” and want to see what all that hype (and those awards) are about… eventually?

    Your excitement and/or eagerness to check out new HBO Max content is likely to take a (small) hit, as the streaming service just got its first-ever price hike. This is reportedly coming into effect immediately as far as new subscriptions go, with existing users also looking at paying an extra buck a month starting from their next billing cycle (but no earlier than February 11).
    Since its debut under this name was released in May 2020 for $14.99 a month with no ads, HBO Max is jumping to $15.99, which doesn’t sound like a big deal… by itself. But if you’re subscribed to more than one streaming platform (and you probably are), the price increases of the last couple of years are likely to add up after a while to a pretty hefty sum.
    Netflix, for instance, revised its monthly charges for both Basic and Standard plans in early 2022… after previously pulling a similar stunt in 2019. The only HBO Max option without commercials is now 50 cents costlier than Netflix’s standard streaming tier, but at $19.99, the industry leader’s Premium plan remains unrivaled… in a bad way.
    With (almost) all the negative attention in the world pointed in Netflix’s direction after a string of inexplicable show cancellations and a very unpopular crackdown on password sharing, this was probably the best moment to bring about an HBO Max price hike that had frankly been a long time coming.
    Of course, the Warner Discovery-owned platform is not in an ideal spot from a public perception standpoint either on the heels of some unpopular content… managing decisions of its own, but at least the aforementioned “Last of Us” series is getting glowing reviews and the first season of “House of the Dragon” broke all the possible viewership records.
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  • The Heads Start Rolling at Goldman Sachs

    The Heads Start Rolling at Goldman Sachs

    In the biggest wave of layoffs since the financial crisis, Goldman Sachs is cutting 6.5 percent of its jobs worldwide. Its Swiss subsidiary may be less affected.

    Packing their bags and rushing out of the office is the current feeling for Goldman Sachs employees who have to leave the bank due to job cuts. Last week, the Wall Street firm announced it would cut up to 3,200 jobs. Now the first people affected received the bad news Wednesday from New York to London to Hong Kong and escorted shipped out.

    The dismissals will result in the jobs of about 6.5 percent of the 49,000 employees being eliminated. After the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, Goldman cut about 10 percent of its workforce

    Some fired employees were given a mere half hour to gather their belongings before their building access cards were deactivated.

    Many employees were terminated without getting a bonus for work done in the past year. In cases where severance packages were given, they differed significantly, according to the «FT».

    Many managing directors, the second-highest rank after partner, will be paid through the end of January and then given three months of paid leave, the report said, citing people familiar with the process. Younger employees at or below the vice-president level, are only being offered two months’ severance pay.

    A year ago, the world looked very different. Employees of the Wall Street heavyweight were showered with lavish bonus increases. CEO David Solomon was the highest-paid CEO of a major US bank, with $35 million in compensation for 2021, alongside Morgan Stanley’s James Gorman.

    The restructuring has been announced across the firm and affects all business units, including investment banking, asset management, global markets, and wealth management. But its Swiss operation is one of the most important locations for wealth management within Goldman Sachs and may be somewhat less affected because of that particular focus.

    Various reports estimate about one-third of the job cuts will come in core areas of trading and banking. The Swiss unit is located in the world’s largest offshore banking center and is planning a move to Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse, and likely to be less exposed.

    Any layoffs still to be announced will be less dramatic and more orderly at Goldman’s Swiss subsidiary than elsewhere because of the protection against dismissal in Swiss labor law.

    The global layoffs come after Goldman’s headcount grew nearly 30 percent since the end of 2019, driven largely by the burgeoning investment banking business. But the unusually large round of layoffs is said to be because, during the Corona pandemic, underperforming bankers were screened out less than in previous years.

    Solomon is also working to reduce Goldman’s loss-making ambitions in the consumer business after investors criticized spending in the sector.

    More bankers are expected to leave the group in the coming weeks after managers announced the size of year-end bonuses for 2022. According to the report, investment bankers could see their bonuses cut by 40 percent. Traders can expect their bonuses to remain the same or lower due to the financial market slump.

    The layoffs at Goldman Sachs are the most striking example of the deep cost-cutting measures being taken by Wall Street banks. Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Barclays, Credit Suisse, and Black Rock, among others, have either already laid off employees or announced job cuts. Some smaller companies have had several rounds of layoffs.

    That jobs would need to be cut became apparent when revenues at the five largest US banks from closing deals and selling new securities plunged by nearly half in the first nine months of last year. The upcoming quarterly reporting season of Wall Street banks does not bode well for improvement.

    Goldman reports its fourth-quarter results on Jan. 17.

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  • AirAsia India Is Now AIX Connect

    AirAsia India Is Now AIX Connect

    If you plan to travel to any destination in India within September 2023, we have an exciting surprise for you. If you feel like flight tickets are more expensive than your budget, you might be surprised to see the new AIX Connect prices. What is this new price and how can you get access to it? To know all about the recent updates of AIX connect, read till the end!

    AIX Connect, previously known as AirAsia India, made a grand announcement of its newest discount. The airline launched the #TimeToTravel offer with a huge discount of flat 23% for all the flights on the domestic network. So, if you are in the mood to travel anywhere in India till September of this year, you definitely need to check out this deal.

    AIX connect launched #TimeToTravel sale to influence and motivate more people to travel to beautiful destinations. From Kashmir in the North to Kerala in the South and from beaches to mountains to valleys, you can explore it all using this exciting discount by AIX connect.

    AirAsia India network has more than 50 direct and 100 connecting flights to 18 places. Whether you are traveling for business purposes or for holidays and vacations, this airline provides great travel experiences to all passengers.

    The weather is great right now to enjoy the holidays. India, being the home to such stunning locations, you can travel all around at any moment throughout the year. So, where are you flying to and fulfilling your travel expectations this year? 

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  • LVMH names new CEOs for Louis Vuitton and Dior

    LVMH names new CEOs for Louis Vuitton and Dior

    LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, Europe’s most valuable company, is embarking on one of its biggest management shake-ups in years, elevating Pietro Beccari to lead Louis Vuitton and tapping Delphine Arnault, daughter of Chief Executive Bernard Arnault, to run Christian Dior.

    The changes announced Wednesday, effective Feb. 1, involve two of the luxury giant’s largest brands and some of its best-known managers. Both Louis Vuitton and Dior have been on a tear, most recently riding a postpandemic boom in luxury spending that so far has shown little sign of easing.

    LVMH emerged from the pandemic as Europe’s largest company by market value, far ahead of the continent’s industrial stalwarts such as Shell PLC, Airbus SE and Volkswagen AG. Mr. Arnault, meanwhile, has recently usurped Elon Musk as the world’s richest person.

    This year, loosened Covid-19 restrictions in China—one of the luxury industry’s biggest markets—have further boosted LVMH’s shares, which rose as much as 2% on Wednesday to hit a record intraday high, bringing year-to-date gains to 13%.

    In taking the helm of Louis Vuitton, Mr. Beccari succeeds Michael Burke, who has led the fashion brand for a decade. Mr. Burke is one of the most trusted lieutenants of Mr. Arnault—LVMH’s CEO and controlling shareholder—having worked with him since the 1980s. LVMH said Mr. Burke, 66 years old, would now assume new duties, reporting directly to Mr. Arnault.

    Mr. Beccari currently leads Dior, where he will be succeeded by Delphine Arnault, the eldest of Mr. Arnault’s five children.

    The management changes mark a homecoming of sorts for Ms. Arnault, who worked for 12 years at Dior before joining Louis Vuitton as No. 2 in 2013. It is also the first time she takes on a CEO job at one of LVMH’s brands. At Louis Vuitton, Ms. Arnault was in charge of all product-related activities. She was recently responsible for a collaboration between the brand and Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama for a major new collection.

    Ms. Arnault’s elevation will be closely watched in Paris business circles, where monitoring the progress of Mr. Arnault’s children with a view to potential succession is a favorite pastime. All of Mr. Arnault’s children have responsibilities at the luxury conglomerate that he has built over decades. Last month, Mr. Arnault named his eldest son, Antoine Arnault, CEO of the family holding company that owns the bulk of the family’s stake in LVMH.

    The challenge for both Ms. Arnault and Mr. Beccari will be to keep the growth humming at Louis Vuitton and Dior as the global economy confronts challenges ranging from high inflation to Covid-related disruption in China and the war in Ukraine. In November, consulting firm Bain & Co. forecast that sales of personal luxury goods would rise between 3% and 8% in 2023, a sharp slowdown on last year’s growth that it estimated would be 22%.

    The strength of Louis Vuitton and Dior, which in recent years have both proved popular with shoppers regardless of the fashion trends of the day, have been instrumental in helping LVMH become the world’s biggest purveyor of luxury goods, extending its lead over rivals such as Gucci-owner Kering SA and Cie. Financière Richemont SA, which owns Cartier.

    In returning to Louis Vuitton, Mr. Beccari rejoins a leather-goods juggernaut that he first joined in 2006. In recent years, the Italian executive has overseen remarkable growth at Dior, where analysts estimate revenue has more than tripled over the past five years. At Dior, Mr. Beccari’s achievements include the opening of a huge new flagship store in Paris’s luxury shopping district that extends over five levels.

    Mr. Beccari has also become known for pushing an array of high-visibility projects around the globe. Recent examples include a fashion show last month in front of Egypt’s ancient Giza pyramids as well as a major partnership with Harrod’s, the luxury British department store, for the Christmas season.

    Mr. Beccari now takes responsibility for LVMH’s biggest brand. LVMH doesn’t disclose revenue for individual brands, though analysts at Citi estimate that revenue at Louis Vuitton rose to 21.8 billion euros, equivalent to $23.40 billion, last year. “Vuitton has become one of the strongest and most resilient luxury brands,” they said Wednesday.

    That rise has come under the leadership of Mr. Burke, whose tenure at Louis Vuitton included the brand’s much-hyped collaboration with cult streetwear brand Supreme in 2017 as well as tapping the late Virgil Abloh as menswear artistic director the following year.

    On Wednesday, Mr. Arnault credited Mr. Burke with extending Louis Vuitton’s lead over its competitors and promoting the brand’s heritage while anchoring it in modernity.

    A dual French-U.S. citizen, Mr. Burke has worked for Mr. Arnault since graduating from business school, initially on real-estate investments in the U.S. before taking the helm of Christian Dior USA in 1986.

    He also oversaw the integration of U.S. jeweler Tiffany’s into LVMH. As part of the organizational changes announced on Wednesday, Tiffany’s—which LVMH bought for more than $15 billion in 2021—will now be housed in the group’s watches & jewelry division.

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  • Diesel price falls

    Diesel price falls

    Diesel dropped 2.3% to VND21,630 ($0.92) per liter while gasoline prices remained unchanged Wednesday afternoon.

    Kerosene fell 4.2% to VND21,800 per liter. Mazut decreased by 2.8% to VND13,360 per kilogram.

    Global gasoline and oil prices gained 0.5-6.6% between the last and this adjustment.

    RON95 gasoline dropped 0.53% to over $92 per barrel, while diesel fell nearly 4.3% to $109.71.

    Mazut lost 6.6% to an average of $371.15 per ton.

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  • Jobs pay 16% higher average income in 2022

    Jobs pay 16% higher average income in 2022

    The monthly income of people in jobs averaged VND6.7 million (US$283.8) last year, up 16%, from 2021, the General Statistics Office said Tuesday.

    Incomes rose in all sectors as growth was broad-based.

    The biggest rise, of 17.6% and equivalent to more than VND1.1 million, was in industry and construction.
    It was followed by services (15.4%, VND1 million) and then agriculture-forestry-fisheries (9.8%, VND448,000).

    Salaried employees received an average of VND7.5 million, up 15.1% and equivalent to VND992,000. Male employees averaged VND8 million, 14% higher than that of their women colleagues.

    Employees in urban areas earned VND8.4 million, 23% higher than that of their rural peers whose income averaged VND6.9 million.

    Last year the number of unemployed people of working age was nearly 1.07 million, a decrease of more than 359,000 from 2021, for a jobless rate of 2.32%.

    There was a sharp increase in the number of underemployed and laid-off workers in the final months of 2022 as many factories, especially in the garment and textile, footwear and wood processing industries, had no orders due to the global economic meltdown and high inflation.

    The office said this situation could persist through the first quarter and even the beginning of the second quarter of this year.

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  • Coca-Cola Vietnam sets record of Vietnamese Tet table with the most participants

    Coca-Cola Vietnam sets record of Vietnamese Tet table with the most participants

    Coca-Cola Vietnam set a world record for the largest Vietnamese Tet meal table with the participation of 1,000 multi-generation families in Ho Chi Minh City on January 8.

    The meal was recognized as a record-setting event by the World Records Union (Worldkings). This record honors the tradition of family reunions over Tet meals and conveys the message that Tet may change, but the magic remains.

    A total of 436 tables were arranged into the shape of two Coca-Cola bottles at Hoa Lu Stadium. More than 3,000 people from 1,000 Vietnamese families were seated around the tables to enjoy a Tet party with various traditional dishes and share memories of family reunions.

    After two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Coca-Cola’s Tet event has returned, highlighting the meaning of family reunion that Coca-Cola wishes to bring to Vietnamese consumers.

    Leonardo Garcia, General Director of Coca-Cola Vietnam and Cambodia, said: “Coca-Cola has been part of millions of Vietnamese family dinners for almost 30 years. We know how important the Tet reunion meal is for Vietnamese. This year, with the Timeless Magic Table event, we bring back the memories of old Tet family meals with an ice-cold Coke, because we know those meals can connect family members of all generations, something that never changes.”

    Also in this event, Coca-Cola together with partner Al’s Fresco set the record for “The organization that gives away 1,000 pizzas to serve the most families in the same event in Vietnam.”

    The World Records Union officially recognized the record (Worldkings).

    Proud to be part of the Tet meals of millions of Vietnamese families, Coca-Cola strives to preserve and promote the values of friendship and community every Tet season.

    This year, Coca-Cola Vietnam has supported more than 5,400 underprivileged people across Vietnam with a total value of VND5.3 billion to help them celebrate Tet. This was achieved thanks also to the contribution of the community, the companion of associations, unions, strategic partners of the company as well as local authorities.

    Early on, Coca-Cola launched a campaign to contribute VND15,000 to the Vietnam Red Cross Tet Fund each time consumers interacted with the brand on its website. Coca-Cola and Vietnam Red Cross have supported 3,000 underprivileged people across the country through “0 VND Tet Market.”

    Under the campaign, more than 4,000 chung and tet cakes will also be sent to students, homeless, and self-employed people in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, who cannot return to their hometown to celebrate Tet.

    In addition to the partnership with Vietnam Red Cross, this year, Coca-Cola has continued its tradition of handing out Tet gifts to families and disadvantaged people in the neighborhood of its factories. The program is supported and accompanied by the local People’s Committee, Women’s Unions and Departments of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to present 2,400 Tet gifts to underprivileged people and families in 13 provinces and cities.

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