Viet Nam News VPBank recently launched a digital bank called YOLO in which users can access not only daily services such as taxis, movies, hotel bookings and food and beverage orders, but also banking services including savings and loans associated with Master Card. Director of YOLO Shameek Bhargava talks with local media about the unique digital banking platform that VPBank is proud to add to the market Can you tell us about the background of the digital bank? The idea of forming YOLO originated from the desire to create a digital platform capable of reaching and serving millions of new customers quickly – a digital banking platform that has the potential to thrive and break through what we see as the traditional banking model. With such big ambitions, we have used a completely new, independent technology platform that is different from current banking platforms which use the traditional core banking system. This platform allows us to grow faster than existing technologies … [Read more...] about YOLO digital bank expected to make a breakthrough in mobile financial service
Forming a limited company
A letter to girls, at a critical time
This is a critical time for the girls of our world. It is a time for the protection and assertion of rights, a time to listen hard and speak louder, no matter how difficult; to call out the continuing imbalances of power; to band together and take a stand on the changes that must happen so that girls and women are heard and their experiences are taken seriously. It is a time to act, together with men and boys, on the issues that will determine a lived equality for all, central to which is the ending of violence against women and girls. We see over and over again how hard it is as an individual to raise your voice in defense of rights and how easily authority figures can discount, trivialize or silence it. It should not be difficult to complain about the violation of rights, but it is, especially in situations where shame has become normalized, as is often the case for example with the experience of sexual violence. Globally, less than 40 percent of women who experience sexual … [Read more...] about A letter to girls, at a critical time
Seeking a growth motivator for 2019 2020
The mid-term review of the implementation of the master plan on economic restructuring in 2016-2020 Economic growth on a decreasing trend Resolution No.27/NQ-CP dated February 21, 2017 on the government’s action programme for implementing Resolution No.05-NQ/TW on major policies to renew growth models and improve the quality of growth, economic productivity, and competitiveness and Resolution No.24/2016/QH14 on the economic restructuring plan during 2016-2020 identified 16 directives and 120 concrete tasks. The mid-term review of the implementation of the master plan on economic restructuring in 2016-2020 took place yesterday (September 5). Nguyen Dinh Cung, president of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), confirmed that most tasks previously set forth have been performed on schedule and produced positive results. 25.8 per cent of Resolution No.27/NQ-CP’s tasks have been carried out and brought the expected outcomes, while 57.5 per cent have been … [Read more...] about Seeking a growth motivator for 2019 2020
Company to invest VNĐ700 billion in Ngã Bảy floating market
Viet Nam News HẬU GIANG — A company has proposed a plan to develop tourism at the famous Ngã Bảy floating market in Nga Bảy Town in Hậu Giang Province, at a cost of more than VNĐ700 billion (nearly US$30 million). At a working session with provincial officials on Tuesday, representatives of Phước Lộc Trade-Construction Limited Company said the plan would be conducted in four phases. The first two phase would be carried out in 2018 and 2019, with the company investing VNĐ100 billion in building a fleet of tourist boats, necessary service facilities and an effective management apparatus for the market. The company would also cooperate with local farmers, garden owners and artisans to create orchards, gardens and craft sites supplying products for the floating market and serving visitors as well. In the next two phases from 2019 to 2023, the company would build a trade and service complex at the site, … [Read more...] about Company to invest VNĐ700 billion in Ngã Bảy floating market
New VN cartoon breaks ground for art form
Viet Nam News By Trần HoàngNam A turning point in Vietnamese cartoon history has been marked with the recent launch of the first three episodes of the cartoon seriesMonta Trong Dải Ngân Hà Kỳ Cục(Monta in a Weird Galaxy). The brainchild of 70 painters working at VinTaTa Film Company over six months, the cartoon features the adventures of a monkey named Monta and his friends. The story starts with a naughty action in the kitchen of the Great Chef, which results in the chaotic creation of weird planets. The Great Chef forces Monta to restore the order of the galaxy as it used to be. The script was based on one titled “The Whale Hunters” by a group of Vietnamese authors with the support of popular playwright Jeffrey Scott. Save the universe: Monkey Monta in the cartoon. “The first advantages of the cartoon are the images with eye-catching colours and characters with friendly formations to children,” parent … [Read more...] about New VN cartoon breaks ground for art form
Masan Consumer and Jinju Ham form strategic partnership
Saigon Nutri-food JSC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Masan Consumer Corporation - one of Vietnam’s largest branded food and beverage companies, has just formed a strategic partnership with Jinju Ham Limited, a leading Korean branded processed meat company. Masan Consumer ’s portfolio features some of Vietnam’s most loved brands such as Chin-su and Omachi This was announced today by Masan Consumer, a subsidiary of Masan Group - one of Vietnam’s largest private sector companies. Accordingly, Jinju Ham has acquired a 25 per cent stake in Saigon Nutri-food JSC (SNF) via a primary issuance. The entity will be renamed Masan Jinju. The strategic partnership will create significant synergies that will ultimately benefit Vietnamese consumers: combining Jinju Ham’s cutting-edge know-how with Masan’s deep understanding of Vietnamese consumers and brand building capabilities. The strategic partnership will create significant synergies that … [Read more...] about Masan Consumer and Jinju Ham form strategic partnership
Trung Luong My Thuan Expressway a step closer to resume construction
Successfully accessing banks loans takes Trung Luong-My Thuan Expressway-phase 1 closer to its launch in 2020. The loans from banks may break the stagnation at the project On June 17, Trung Luong-My Thuan BOT Company—the investor of the project—signed credit agreements for loans worth VND6.85 trillion ($300.2 million) with Vietinbank, BIDV, VPBank, and Agribank. Accordingly, the investor collected 70 per cent of the investment capital for the project, while the remaining 30 per cent will come from the equity of investors in Trung Luong-My Thuan BOT joint venture company. “Success in arranging the capital, which has been the largest problem causing the long delay in construction, will allow investors to accelerate works so that the project can come into operation in 2020,” Duong Quang Chau, chairman of Board of Directors of Trung Luong-My Thuan BOT company said. Trung Luong-My Thuan BOT Company is the joint venture of Tuan Loc Investment Construction … [Read more...] about Trung Luong My Thuan Expressway a step closer to resume construction
Companies ‘strategic’ share sales raise eyebrows
Last month Halcom Viet Nam announced a list of investors who it said are set to buy its shares this year. — Photo halcom.vn Last month Halcom Viet Nam announced a list of investors who it said are set to buy its shares this year. The 16 investors will buy a total of 24.5 million shares at a price of VND10,000 each, acquiring between 50,000 and 10 million shares each. The plan had been approved at an extraordinary shareholders meeting last December. Of the VND245 billion to be raised, about VND100 billion will be used by the Phong Dien Mien Trung Joint Stock Company to build the Phuong Mai Wind Power Plant in Binh Dinh Province, and VND125 billion will be used to upgrade Provincial Road 123. The remainder will supplement the company’s working capital. Many other companies too have opted to go down the equity path to raise funds rather than borrow from banks. Intriguingly, many of them including HID, have sold their stakes to strategic partners at several times higher than … [Read more...] about Companies ‘strategic’ share sales raise eyebrows
US company forms $200mln logistics joint-venture with state-owned Vietnamese firm
Private U.S. firm Warburg Pincus is forming a joint venture with a state-run Vietnamese company to provide logistics services in the country's key economic and industrial zones. Warburg Pincus and Vietnam’s Investment & Industrial Development Corp., also known as Becamex IDC, will pour more than $200 million into the joint venture, Warburg Pincus said in a statement sent to Bloomberg on Monday. The venture, BW Industrial Development JSC, will develop and operate modern warehouses and factories in Vietnam, Jeffrey Perlman, head of Southeast Asia at Warburg Pincus, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying. “With the transformative shift of the manufacturing base from markets like China to Vietnam as well as with the rapid rise of domestic consumption, the logistics and industrial real estate market in Vietnam is in the ‘early innings’ and at an inflection point for outsized growth,” Perlman said in the statement. The Asian Development Bank forecasts … [Read more...] about US company forms $200mln logistics joint-venture with state-owned Vietnamese firm
IPhone addiction may be a virtue, not a vice for investors: analysis
Apple Inc investors are shrugging off concerns raised by two shareholders about kids getting hooked on iPhones, saying that for now a little addiction might not be a bad thing for profits. Hedge fund JANA Partners LLC and the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) pension fund said on Saturday that iPhone overuse could be hurting children's developing brains, an issue that may harm the company's long-term market value. But some investors said the habit-forming nature of gadgets and social media are one reason why companies like Apple, Google parent Alphabet Inc and Facebook Inc added $630 billion to their market value in 2017. "We invest in things that are addictive," said Apple shareholder Ross Gerber, chief executive of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management. He also owns stock in coffee retailer Starbucks Corp, casino-runner MGM Resorts International and alcohol-maker Constellation Brands Inc. "Addictive things are very profitable," Gerber added. Still, the … [Read more...] about IPhone addiction may be a virtue, not a vice for investors: analysis