The number of foreigners visiting Vietnam in the first 11 months of this year is estimated at 16.3 million, a record high, up 15.3 percent from a year ago, according to the General Statistics Office. Most visitors arrived by air, accounting for over 80 percent of the total, up 14 percent year-on-year. The tourism growth is mainly driven by Asian tourists who account for nearly 80 percent of total foreign arrivals. About 13 million Asians visited Vietnam in the January-November period, up 18 percent from a year ago. China remained the biggest source of visitors with more than five million traveling to Vietnam so far this year, up 15 percent year-on-year, accounting for more than 30 percent of all foreign arrivals. South Koreans came in second with nearly four million arrivals, surging 22.3 percent and accounting for nearly one fourth of the total. China and South Korea were Vietnam's top feeder markets last year with 4.9 million and 3.4 million visitors respectively. In terms of … [Read more...] about Vietnam set to welcome 18 million foreign visitors this year
Debts to the australian government visa
Merkel allies wary as coalition partner seeks concessions
The newly elected co-leaders of Germany's SPD party have been given a mandated to seek more concessions from their CDU coalition partners AFP/John MACDOUGALL "It's bad for Germany when every important decision depends on how the SPD is feeling at that moment," Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, leader of Merkel's CDU conservatives, told the Bild am Sonntag daily. At a crunch party congress this weekend, the ailing SPD voted against an immediate exit from the government. But new leadership duo Norbert Walter-Borjans and Saskia Esken won the party's backing to steer a more leftwing course. The party backed them to open "discussions" with Merkel's CDU/CSU bloc on demands including a higher minimum wage, more public investment and more climate action. No timeframe has been given but talks could start as early as this week, according to German media. If no progress is made, the SPD could call it quits - potentially upending Merkel's plan to complete her fourth term before retiring from politics … [Read more...] about Merkel allies wary as coalition partner seeks concessions
Upcoming summit seeks to lend wings to Vietnam tourism
The summit, themed "Having Vietnam tourism take flight," aims to promote sustainable development of the country's tourism sector and make it more competitive; bolster tourism investment and attract tourists from strategic markets; and push for implementing the joint aviation market initiative or "ASEAN Open Skies" by 2020, when Vietnam assumes chairmanship of the regional bloc. The event will also touch on key topics, including how to make tourism promotion more effective in attracting visitors; enhance visitors’ experience in preparing and planning their trip; improve destination travel experiences for tourists; and use "ASEAN Open Skies" to boost trips to the Mekong Delta sub-region in Southeast Asia. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung and Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien, leaders of the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Planning and Investment, Natural Resources and Environment, and Transport are … [Read more...] about Upcoming summit seeks to lend wings to Vietnam tourism
Ambitious growth rate
Employees at Electronics Việt Nam Co Ltd at Hà Nam Province’s Đồng Văn 2 Industrial Zone produce electronics for export. Electronics exports account for 50 per cent of the country’s total exports. – VNA/VNS Photo Vũ SinhViet Nam News HÀ NỘI – Việt Nam’s targeted growth rate of 6.7 per cent for this year may be too ambitious given both macro and micro economic conditions, said Nguyễn Đức Thành, President of the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR) yesterday at a conference. Thành made the statement when he and his research team launched the Việt Nam Annual Economic Report 2016, entitled, “Forging new foundations for economic growth.” It is difficult for the country to reach its targeted growth rate of 6.7 per cent this year and an average growth rate of between 6.5 per cent and 7 per cent during the period 2016-20 due to a decline in … [Read more...] about Ambitious growth rate
Southeast Asia GDP growth hit by trade war: report
Chart showing growth in Southeast Asia. ICEAW predicts that economic growth across the region will slow from 5.1 per cent in 2018 to 4.5 per cent in 2019 and remain unchanged in 2020. — Photo Courtesy ICEAW Viet Nam is an exception which has benefited from some trade diversion effects caused by the trade war, according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales’ latest Economic Update: South-East Asia report. Nonetheless, ICAEW added, momentum in Viet Nam was expected to ease to 6.6 per cent in 2020 from 7 per cent in 2019, given weaker Chinese import demand and increased trade protectionism. Export-oriented economies had been the most impacted by the ongoing trade tensions, with Singapore only narrowly avoiding a technical recession in the third quarter. Economic growth across the region was expected to slow from 5.1 per cent in 2018 to 4.5 per cent in 2019 and remain unchanged in 2020 amid high risks of a re-escalation in trade tensions. Regional … [Read more...] about Southeast Asia GDP growth hit by trade war: report