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Tag: Vietnam

  • Vietnamese universities among top 100 in subject ranking

    Vietnamese universities among top 100 in subject ranking

    Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) has ranked two Vietnamese universities as among the world’s top 100 in their subject areas.

    In Hospitality and Leisure Management, Duy Tan University in Da Nang was ranked 51 out of 100 in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023.

    In the Engineering Petroleum program, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh CITY (VNU-HCMC) in the eponymous city also placed 51 out of 100, according to the rankings announced on Wednesday.

    VNU-HCMC’s Engineering-Petroleum program held the same rank last year, while this is Duy Tan University’s Hospitality and Leisure Management program’s first time on the list.

    Vietnam is also home to two other universities that ranked within the top 300 in certain subject areas.

    Duy Tan University also made it to 201 out of 230 in the Engineering-Civil and Structural Engineering subject, while Ton Duc Thang University in HCMC made it to 251 out of 300 in Mathematics.

    Vietnamese universities made the rankings in three other subjects. In Engineering and Technology, Duy Tan University was ranked 326, Hanoi University of Science and Technology and VNU-HCM both at rank 401 out of 450, and the Vietnam National University in Hanoi at rank 451 out of 500. In Natural Sciences, Duy Tan University and Vietnam National University in Hanoi were both at rank 451 out of 500. In Social Sciences and Management, Duy Tan University was at rank 451 out of 500 and VNU-HCM at rank 501 out of 530.

    Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) is a British firm specializing in overseas education. This year’s ranking includes around 1,600 global universities in 54 subjects, based on criteria like academic reputation, citations per paper and international research networks.

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  • Vietnam to block payment for unlicensed games

    Vietnam to block payment for unlicensed games

    The Ministry of Information and Communications said it will deploy solutions to block the payment for unauthorized games in the country.

    There are hundreds of thousands of unauthorized games, card games, and gambling games which cause insecurity and disorder as well as bad consequences for the society, the ministry’s Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information said at a meeting on Thursday.

    The unauthorized games, mainly released on the App Store, Google Play, and online gaming platform Valse Stream, are estimated to generate an annual revenue of nearly VND5 trillion ($211.86 million), accounting for 30% of the total revenue of the game industry in Vietnam.

    The ministry is requiring organizations and businesses that provide intermediary payment services not to allow payment for unauthorized games through their systems.

    In the case of payments via IAP (in-app purchases), they should ask Apple and Google to provide sufficient information about the transaction to block the payment.

    Every month, the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information will update the list of licensed and unlicensed games for payment intermediaries.

    The ministry also said it will require Google and Apple not to cooperate with intermediaries to pay for unauthorized games on their app stores.

    According to Le Quang Tu Do, the authority’s director, many games are being released across borders through the App Store and Play Store, while a number of Vietnamese e-wallets have been deployed on the two stores, making it easy for users to pay through intermediaries.

    The Ministry of Information and Communications has so far licensed some 200 game companies, but the number of licensed businesses that are actually providing games to the market is less than 30.

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  • Vietnam to raise air ticket price cap

    Vietnam to raise air ticket price cap

    The Ministry of Transport will increase the domestic air ticket price ceiling in Vietnam by an average of 3.75% later this year, a decision to delight local carriers.

    The maximum airfare on four out of five flight distances will rise in the second or third quarter, according to a recent Ministry of Finance price report.

    The biggest increase will be 6.67% (to VND4 million or $170) for one-way tickets on flights of 1,280 kilometers (Hanoi to Phu Quoc Island) and longer.

    Flights between 1,000 and 1,280 kilometers will see their ticket cap price rise 6.25% to VND3.4 million.

    Flights of smaller distances will see their maximum price rise by between 2.27% and 3.58%.

    Flights under 500 kilometers will see no ceiling change. Their prices will remain at a maximum of VND1.7 million per one-way ticket.

    The cap price increase will likely increase Vietnam’s 2023 Consumer Price Index by 0.07% points.

    Earlier this year, Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways proposed increasing the cap ticket price to take into account rising in costs.

    The airfare price cap was last increased in 2015.

    By November last year, fuel costs had surged more than 80% from September 2015, which raised airlines’ total expenses by 33.5%, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

    Bamboo Airways CEO Nguyen Manh Quan has argued that the price cap be applied only to air routes operated by a single carrier.

    For routes with two carriers or more, the cap should be removed so the “market can adjust by itself,” he said.

    Some analysts have said that the price cap is unreasonable and could slow the growth of domestic aviation.

    In 2021, the CAAV proposed that air routes with three carriers or more have no price cap to allow for more healthy competition in services.

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  • Moody’s lowers Techcombank ratings

    Moody’s lowers Techcombank ratings

    Ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the long-term deposit and issuer ratings of private lender Techcombank because of its high exposure to the struggling property sector.

    Its currency deposit and issuer ratings were lowered from Ba2 to Ba3, the same level as several other banks in Vietnam.

    Its outlook is down from stable to negative.

    “The downgrade of Techcombank’s ratings and assessments reflects Moody’s expectations that the stress faced by Vietnam’s real estate sector will negatively impact the bank’s standalone credit strength, given its high exposure to the sector,” the ratings agency said in a release.

    It claimed that the downgrade is unrelated to recent U.S. bank failures and events at Credit Suisse Group AG.

    As of the end of December loans to the property and construction sectors represented 29% of Techcombank’s gross loans.

    The bank also had exposure to the sectors in the form of corporate bonds, which made up 6% of its total assets.

    Some of its exposure to the property sector were of significant size relative to its tangible common equity and could bring volatility to its profitability and capital should they become problem assets.

    Defaults by real estate companies in Vietnam have increased since 2022 because of tighter regulations for bond issuances alongside arrests of high-profile real estate business owners and executives amid the government’s anti-graft crackdown.

    Property sales have also weakened because rising interest rates have hit affordability.

    These factors have weakened the debt repayment capacity of property developers, particularly highly leveraged ones with a sizable amount of bonds maturing in 2023 and 2024.

    Techcombank’s asset quality could therefore deteriorate given its exposure to the sector.

    Its funding and liquidity are adequate given the current environment but are vulnerable to confidence shocks like at other Vietnamese banks.

    The negative outlook reflects uncertainties around how the real estate sector in Vietnam will perform and, in turn, the risk of a further strain in the bank’s standalone credit strength if stress in the real estate sector persists.

    Moody’s could change the outlook to stable if the stress abates or the bank maintains its problem asset ratio, including its restructured assets, at less than 2% over the next 12–18 months while gradually reducing concentration to the real estate sector.

    A bank spokesperson said Moody’s decision reflects the challenges the banking industry faces.

    But Techcombank’s core strengths would allow it to remain outstanding, especially in terms of the strength of its capital base, liquidity position and earnings-to-operating income ratio, the spokesperson added.

    An earlier Moody’s report said many lenders in Vietnam had high exposure to the property and construction sector as of 2021, the top five being Viet Capital, Nam A Bank, SHB, Techcombank, and BIDV.

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  • Steel prices surge in face of declining demand

    Steel prices surge in face of declining demand

    Vietnam’s major manufacturers have raised steel prices to a 7-month high despite plunging demand.

    On Tuesday, Hoa Phat Group hiked its prices for rebar steel by 0.95% to VND15.99 million ($678.55) per ton.

    Local steelmakers Viet Y, Viet Duc, Kyoei and Viet My all made similar adjustments, while Pomina’s price tag towered above at VND17.6 million, 10% higher than market average.

    Manufacturers said that steel prices, which are now at their highest point since August, have been rising since October last year due to an input materials shortage prompted by declining billet production.

    Steel billets are raw steel bars not yet processed for the market, and billet makers reduced production due to low prices in earlier months.

    Steel demand will likely remain meager in upcoming months.

    Steel products sales in the first two months of 2023 plunged 23% year-on-year to 3.8 million tons, while exports dropped 10% to 1 million tons.

    Analysts at brokerage Mirae Asset Vietnam said that the steel market is largely dependent on the property sector, and the real estate market cool down this year has thus adversely affected the steel industry.

    Steel production is therefore expected to drop 10.5% from last year to under $17.9 million tons this year.

    However, manufacturers hope that public spending, which is set to hit an historic high of VND704 trillion this year, will help boost demand as the government aims to disburse at least 95% of that figure.

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  • Citi wins award for bank of the year in Asia Pacific

    Citi wins award for bank of the year in Asia Pacific

    Citibank has been honored as “Bank of the Year” in the Asia Pacific at the 2022 International Financing Review Asia Awards.

    The award was based on a unanimous decision by the editors of IFR Asia, a leading regional capital markets magazine.

    The recognition from IFR Asia reaffirms the expertise and solution-driven approach of Citi’s capital markets and advisory teams in developing and executing complex transactions for clients in an ever-changing and challenging macro-environment.

    “Citi’s pan- Asian footprint and diverse sector coverage made it a bastion of stability, while its commercial bank enabled it to give issuers more options in rapidly changing market conditions,” IFR Asia concluded in an editorial write up accompanying the award win.

    “This win is a recognition of the strength of Citi’s franchise, the competitive advantage of our global network and the passion and energy of our teams,” Jan Metzger, head of Asia Pacific banking, capital markets and advisory at Citi, said.

    In Vietnam, the bank recently won the 2023 Golden Dragon Award for its role as an outstanding foreign enterprise promoting green investment, digital transformation and sustainable development.

    Ramachandran A.S., Vietnam Citi Country Officer, said: “We have been financing and facilitating a wide array of climate solutions, from renewable energy and clean technology to carbon credits, to help accelerate the country’s transition to a low-carbon economy.

    “Our strategy in Vietnam is to continue doing what we do best: corporate and institutional banking for large companies and financial institutions with cross – border needs, and simultaneously supporting Vietnam’s ambitions to build a more sustainable future.”

  • Gold inches lower

    Gold inches lower

    SJC gold price dropped 0.22% to VND67.15 million ($2,855.14) per tael Wednesday morning.

    Gold ring price fell 0.53% to VND55.5 million per tael. A tael equals 37.5 grams or 1.2 ounces.

    Globally gold prices edged higher on Wednesday as the dollar eased, while investors kept a close watch on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision and policy outlook, Reuters reported.

    Spot gold was up 0.2% at $1,942.96 per ounce.

    Gold is traditionally considered a hedge against inflation, but higher rates increase the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset.

    The dollar index was down slightly, making bullion less expensive for buyers holding other currencies.

    Markets will also take stock of the February UK inflation data, also due on Wednesday ahead of the Bank of England’s monetary policy decision on Thursday.

    U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told bankers on Tuesday that she is prepared to protect depositors in smaller U.S. banks suffering deposit runs that threaten more contagion amid the worst financial system turmoil in over a decade.

     

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  • Factories find ways to deal with decreasing exports

    Factories find ways to deal with decreasing exports

    Finding new and niche markets is how factories cope with the fall in export orders.

    After seeing orders from Europe plunge by 70% in recent weeks, shoemaker Chang Shuen in the southern province of Binh Duong quickly turned to the U.S., a market it has yet to pay attention to for nearly a decade.

    According to Doan Sy Loi, its CEO, the prices of products made for the U.S. market are always at least 15% lower than for the European market.

    When exporting to Europe, Chang Shuen only needs to make 5,000 pairs of shoes a day to turn a profit, but needs 6,000-6,500 pairs in the case of the U.S., he said.

    “During difficult times I have to do more to make a profit.” However, one advantage is that orders from the U.S. are five to 10 times larger than from Europe, he said.

    He added that the larger volumes attune workers, making production smooth and speedy. Garment company Dony in Ho Chi Minh City recently sent executives to the Middle East to meet and negotiate with wholesalers for big brands, its director, Pham Quang Anh, said.

    If the price is good, importers are willing to order in bulk and take delivery over one or two years, he said. “I offered a lower price than before. They immediately agreed to increase the order quantity by 300%.”

    With the extended delivery time, the factory could better manage its production schedules, he said.

    Often it had to buy raw materials at short notice and thus high prices, he said. Workers had to work overtime, increasing labor costs, or the factory had to hire causal labor with poor skills, often resulting in faulty goods.

    Pham Xuan Hong, president of the HCMC Association of Garment-Textile-Embroidery-Knitting, said many businesses are also looking for niche markets and new partners.

    They are developing green products from recycled materials, and targeting high-end segments and customers.

    He expects orders to recover by 90% by the end of the third quarter.

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  • Bamboo Airways unveils mystery buyer

    Bamboo Airways unveils mystery buyer

    Bamboo Airways has found a buyer who is also willing to help disgraced former chairman Trinh Van Quyet deal with the financial consequences of his alledged crime.

    A spokesperson said Thursday that the identity of the investor would be revealed later.

    The buyer has agreed to take over the airline’s entire debts and provide Quyet with the money he might have to pay as fines and indemnification for the stock manipulation which led to his arrest last year.

    Property developer FLC held a 51.24% stake in Bamboo Airways, and Quyet personally owned 40.03%. His 30.3% stake in FLC took his total ownership of the airline to 55.5%.

    Bamboo Airways said the sale of shares has been approved and supervised by authorities.

    The carrier now flies to 21 out of 22 airports in Vietnam and in April will add Ca Mau to its destinations.

    Internationally, it has been resuming services to Europe and Australia post-Covid.

  • Expat community flocks to Tay Ho for real estate opportunities

    Expat community flocks to Tay Ho for real estate opportunities

    Tay Ho has become an increasingly popular residential area among foreigners in Hanoi as the infrastructure and social amenities continue to flourish alongside a diverse range of convenient services.

    In Ho Chi Minh City, the areas of Phu My Hung and Thao Dien long ago emerged as cultural melting pots that attract both locals and expats from all over the world. However, in Hanoi, neighborhoods with a foreign presence are generally scattered and divided into separate communities.

    For instance, Keangnam-Me Tri is the hub of the Korean community, while Dao Tan-Kim Ma attracts many Japanese expats. Meanwhile, the Quang Ba area in Tay Ho is a gathering place for Western tourists, workers, experts and diplomats.

    In recent years, foreign residents have gradually gravitated towards the Tay Ho area. This area has received comprehensive investments in infrastructure and transportation. The neighborhood is rapidly developing with the emergence of international schools, hospitals, commercial centers, restaurants, and cafes, transforming it into a bustling hub of convenient amenities.

    In the near future, after the launch of major projects, such as the Samsung R&D office building, the Lotte Mall complex, and the 5-star Shilla Hotel, this neighborhood will become even more vibrant and dynamic.

    The growing appeal of this area among successful foreign residents and young Vietnamese will form an elite community, which will drive the potential for real estate rentals in the future. This will pave the way for developing upscale real estate products tailored to the needs of well-to-do people, such as SOHO Heritage West Lake.

    SOHO Heritage West Lake sits on Lac Long Quan Street, just a few minutes’ walk from the West Lake and the Lotte Mall, offering easy connectivity to the city center and the airport. It only takes 10 minutes to reach the Hanoi Old Quarter in Hoan Kiem District or 20 minutes to get to Noi Bai International Airport.

    The project features 202 SOHO (Small Office, Home Office) units designed for flexible use, with effortless switching between living and working spaces. This work-life blended lifestyle has gained popularity in foreign countries and has only recently made its way to Vietnam, and it is especially suitable for new-generation entrepreneurs who want to integrate their personal and professional lives.

    With modern designs and the availability of top international-branded products, each SOHO Heritage West Lake unit is a luxurious living and working space that meets the needs of both well-heeled Vietnamese and foreign experts.

    SOHO Heritage West Lake also owns 30 top-notch facilities, including a sky gym, a rooftop four-season swimming pool, and a well-designed commercial service area. The developer of SOHO Heritage West Lake has also collaborated with Toong, the leading coworking space chain in Indochina, to create an advanced coworking space spanning over 900m2 on the 5th and 6th floors of the building.

    These facilities not only provide a comfortable and convenient life for all, but also serve as a link connecting an exclusive community of entrepreneurs to expand their relationships.

    This project is backed by CapitaLand Development – a leading real estate developer in Asia. In 2021, CapitaLand Development (Vietnam) received the Outstanding Sustainable Developer Award at the PropertyGuru Vietnam 2021 awards for its innovative residential projects and constructing environmentally sustainable green buildings.

    Find more information about the SOHO Heritage West Lake Tower of the Heritage West Lake project at:

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  • Chinese growers put Vietnamese durian, dragon fruit in risky oversupply

    Chinese growers put Vietnamese durian, dragon fruit in risky oversupply

    Vietnamese dragon fruit is at risk of oversupply, while durian prices will likely plummet as China, the local fruits’ largest importer, continues growing an increasing amount of the two trees.

    Late last month, China announced its dragon fruit output reached 1.6 million tons a year, 200,000 tons higher than Vietnam’s output.

    According to Chinese customs’ statistics, Chinese demand for dragon fruit is two million tons a year.

    Regarding durian, China imported over 800,000 tons of fruit worth some US$4 billion last year.

    But the giant economy it is likely to import less this year because after years of failed experiments, the country’s farmers are finally growing the fruit successfully in China’s southern regions, according to experts.

    The Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences in Hainan Province reported that China’s southern provinces are growing over 2,000 hectares of durian, amounting to 45,000-75,000 tons of the fruit expected to be sold in 2024.

    Durian cultivation will also be expanded to the North, according to the academy.

    About 90% of Vietnam’s major agricultural products are exported to China.

    So the northern neighbor’s plan to ensure its own local supply of agricultural products puts key Vietnamese farm items exported to the Chinese market at risk of oversupply.

    According to statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs, 90% of Vietnamese dragon fruit is exported to China.

    Tran Ngoc Hiep, director of Hoang Hau Dragon Fruit Company in Binh Thuan Province said that Vietnam’s dragon fruit exports to China in the first months of this year have are already slowing under the weight of increasing supply to the north.

    In previous years, China imported more than 300 containers of Vietnamese dragon fruit every day through Vietnam’s northern border gates, Hiep said.

    But he added that the figure is now already less than 100 containers.

    Currently, Vietnamese dragon fruit prices remain high because local farmers can grow off-season fruit.

    But when Chinese dragon fruit in season, from March to September, Vietnamese dragon fruit will face the risk of oversupply and dropping prices.

    Ngo Tuong Vy, vice director of Chanh Thu Export and Import Fruit Company in Ben Tre Province, said if the quality of Vietnamese fruits could improve, they will retain the Chinese market to Chinese rivals.

    Vietnamese durian must also compete with Thai and Malaysian fruit in the Chinese market.

    Phan Thi Tra My, president of the Provisional Vietnamese Business Association in China, said Chinese demand for durian is still high, but if Vietnamese exporters continuing paying more attention to quantity than quality, they will soon find it hard to compete with Thai, Malaysian and Chinese durian.

    Vietnam currently has 246 durian growing regions that export China totaling 12,000 hectares. And 97 Vietnamese durian packing establishments are certified for official export to China.

    According to the Department of Crop Production at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, by the end of last year, Vietnam’s total durian-growing area had reached 110,000 hectares, some 35,000 hectares higher than the initial plan.

    In the first two months of this year, ass durian prices surged dramatically, many farmers in the Mekong Delta and the Central Highlands region replaced their coffee, pepper, and rice fields with durian trees.

    The department warned that the uncontrolled increase in durian acreage would lead to oversupply.

    To overcome the challenges, Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, asked the State to help with better planning of growing areas. He also asked the State for help in building a brand for Vietnamese durian.

    According to Nguyen, farmers should strengthen their off-season fruit production because Thailand and China cannot.

    In China, prolonged cold winters make it difficult for durian trees to bear fruit.

    “The Chinese acreage of banana, mango and dragon fruit is increasing sharply, but China still has to import large quantities of fruits when they are not in season,” he said.

    Fruit farms and traders should also further tap the domestic market, he added.

    Vietnam’s total fruit and vegetable exports in the first two months of this year increased by 17.8% year-on-year to $592 million.

    China accounted for 57.5% of all Vietnamese fruit exports, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s department of agricultural products processing and market development.

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  • High-end Android smartphones sell at steep discount

    High-end Android smartphones sell at steep discount

    After visiting electronics stores, Minh Quan was surprised to see Xiaomi 13 Pro smartphones costing nearly VND7 million (US$297) less than their listed price of VND30 million.

    Besides offering discounts of VND4-5 million, most stores – in his native Da Nang — also had promotions like trade-in programs and to further reduce the price by VND1-2 million.

    “The discounts and promotions make me wonder if other stores offer even lower prices,” he said.

    Other Android phone makers too are selling at much below list prices.

    The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has a list price of VND32 million, but is sold at is around VND24 million.

    Last year Oppo, another Chinese consumer electronics company, listed its Find X5 Pro smartphone in Vietnam at VND33 million, but sold it at less than VND25 million.

    “It is normal to buy a phone cheaper than the list price, but a difference of more than 20% only applies to some high-end Android smartphone models,” Truong Xuan, the manager of a phone shop on Pham Tuan Tai Street in Hanoi, said.

    However, the plethora of offers for a product confuses buyers, and it takes buyers a lot of time to compare prices and find the best one, he said.

    Nguyen Lac Huy, manager of electronics retail chain CellphoneS, said some phone makers have high list prices as a means of enhancing their brand value and placing their products in the high-end segment.

    Information about gifts and big promotions in soon after a product’s release also helps attract buyers, he said.

    But technology analyst Minh Tien said selling phones at much below list prices shows manufacturers are under pressure.

    “Listing a product at VND30 million is understandable because it is gradually becoming a benchmark for high-end smartphones. However, big promotions indicate that firms are desperate for sales in a slowing market.”

    Vietnamese are reducing their spending on smartphones sharply. Sales in the first two months of the year were 2.5 million units, down 30% year-on-year.

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  • Honda Vietnam’s motorcycle, automobile sales continue to drop in February

    Honda Vietnam’s motorcycle, automobile sales continue to drop in February

    Honda Vietnam has reported its fall in motorcycle and automobile sales at 36.8% and 7.3% respectively in February.

    That is the second month in a row the company recorded sale falls after seeing a growth of nearly 19% for motorcycles and 62% for the automobile last December.

    In February, it sold 140,669 motorcycles, down 36.8% compared to the previous month. Specifically, the sale of Wave Alpha – its best-seller semi-automatic model, decreased by 42.6% compared to that in January.

    Similarly, Vision – its best-seller scooter model – also saw a sales decrease of 34.9%, and Winner X clutch 27% compared to the previous month.

    Previously, the Vietnam Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (VAMM) forecasted that the Vietnamese motorcycle market had entered a period of saturation and was shifting from manual transmission motorbikes to automatic ones. Currently, the automatic transmission motorbike lines account for more than 45% of the market share and will be a strongly growing segment soon when Vietnam’s per capita income increases.

    In February, Honda Vietnam also exported 23,917 motorcycles.

    Meanwhile, the Japanese manufacturer last month sold 1,385 automobiles, down 7.3% from the previous month. Honda City and Honda CR-V continued to be the two best-selling models of Honda Vietnam with 1,235 vehicles, accounting for 89.2% of its total car sales in February.

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  • Vietnam to lower car registration fee to boost sales

    Vietnam to lower car registration fee to boost sales

    The Government has asked the finance and industry ministries to consider reducing car registration fee and extend the payment schedule for special consumption taxes on domestically assembled vehicles.

    The ministries will submit a report on the two newly proposed policies to the Prime Minister before March 20.

    The request was made as automakers are warning of a slump in the automobile market this year due to low demand and high-interest rates.

    Insiders have said the local automobile prospects this year might be as gloomy as the Covid period.

    Experts have predicted that total vehicle sales this year will unlikely reach last year’s figure of half a million units.

    Industry associations and localities have recently been asking the Government to extend the payment schedule for special consumption taxes, and to halve registration fees on domestically assembled vehicles to stimulate demand.

    The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) said credit tightening and rising interest rates have diminished market liquidity, and automobile companies are struggling to cope with high inventories.

    VAMA said its members reported a decline in sales four months in a row starting last October. Only 17,314 vehicles were sold in January, down 51% from December.

    The Vietnam Association of Mechanical Industries has reported that the drop in vehicle consumption has led to a decrease in production orders for supporting industries like mechanics, tools and parts.

    During the Covid pandemic, Vietnam halved registration fees on domestically assembled vehicles twice, first in mid-2020 and then again in late-2021. Each reduction period lasted six months.

    In the first half of 2020, over 102,900 domestically assembled vehicle.

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  • Gold prices gain

    Gold prices gain

    SJC gold price gained 0.07% to VND66.6 million ($2,808.64) per tael Thursday morning. Gold ring price went up 0.09% to VND54 million per tael. A tael equals 37.5 grams or 1.2 ounces.

    Globally gold prices traded in a tight range on Thursday as some investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of U.S. jobs data that could influence the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path.

    Spot gold was little changed at $1,813.39 per ounce, trading in a $5 range, after hitting its lowest since Feb. 28 on Wednesday.

    Gold is considered a hedge against inflation, and interest rate hikes to control rising prices make it less attractive. Rate hikes also dim the non-yielding bullion’s appeal.

    “The gold market has been muted… the market is still trying to digest where the Fed will go after Powell mentioned the final interest rates might be higher than initially expected,” said Brian Lan, managing director at Singapore-based dealer GoldSilver Central.

    Fed Chair Powell on Wednesday reaffirmed his message of higher and potentially faster interest rate hikes, but emphasized that debate was still underway with a decision hinging on data to be issued before the U.S. central bank’s policy meeting in two weeks.