Press digest – November 10

State President suggests businesses enhance regional connection at APEC

State President Truong Tan Sang attended and made a speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit which is themed “Enhancing regional connection: the priorities for investment, infrastructure and policies”.

State President Sang hoped that APEC businesses will assist Viet Nam in upgrading infrastructure, especially in the fields of capital, technology and competence enhancement.

The businesses at the meeting expected that Viet Nam maintains its status as an attractive destination for investors, affirming to strengthen investment activities in Viet Nam.

State President meets with Chinese counterpart

State President Truong Tan Sang and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping discussed deepening the Viet Nam – China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in a meeting in Beijing.

State President Sang suggested continuing to facilitate visits by senior leaders and exchanges between ministries and localities, with a focus on interactions between the two people to mark the 65th anniversary of Viet Nam – China diplomatic ties next year.

Both sides need to maintain peace, stability, security, maritime safety and freedom while controlling disagreements and preventing the emergence of issues that could damage bilateral ties.

PM considers support for Lao Bao economic zone

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and authorities from the central province of Quang Tri considered extending their support to the Lao Bao special economic-trade zone (LBZ).

During his working session with the province, the PM also asked for devising a full plan for La Lay international economic border zone and agreed in principle to offer assistance for infrastructure development.

He asked Quang Tri to capitalise on its strength, including the Road 9 linking with Laos, the National Highway 1 and the North-South railway in a bid to develop its economy.

NA approves socio-economic development plan for 2015

A number of socio-economic criteria referred in the Resolution approved at the ongoing eighth meeting of the 13th NA include a Gross Domestic Product growth rate of 6.2%, a total export turnover growth rate of 10%, a trade surplus of around 5%, a Consumer Price Index (CPI) rise of 5%, and social development investment capital accounting for 30-32% of GDP.

Besides, the proportion of poor households will be reduced by 1.7-2%, 1.6 million jobs will be created, unemployment in urban areas will be decreased to under 4%, trained laborers will make up 50% and less than 15% of children under 5 suffer from malnutrition.

Lao Cai, Yunnan enhance economic cooperation

As many as 19 economic contracts were signed with a total value of US$440 million during the 14th Viet Nam – China International Border Trade Fair in 2014.

The figure showed a twofold rise in value compared to last year's event.

Mekong Delta’s export turnover up 6.3%

The Mekong Delta earned US$1 billion from exports in October, raising the total to US$9.2 billion over the past 10 months, fulfilling 85% of the year’s plan and a year-on-year increase of 6.3%.

The exports of rice and aquatic products reached more than US$5 billion.

Margin lending reaches US$806 million in 10 months

Margin lending reached more than US$805.7 million in the first 10 months of 2014, an increase of about 13% over the nine-month figure.

The lending margin of a securities company cannot exceed 200% of its equity capital. Current margin loans accounted for only 47.2% of their total equity.

VN to foster nuclear infrastructure development

A workshop on nuclear power infrastructure development in Viet Nam is taking place in Ha Noi from November 10–14.

During four days of discussions, participants will focus on a number of technical issues such as the legal framework, safety measures, human resources development, incident response plans and radioactive waste treatment.

By Thuy Dung