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Vietnam may grow more than 7 percent in 2018, the highest in 10 years, and is likely to maintain the rate next year, experts say.

Nguyen Xuan Thanh, director of development, and public policy lecturer at the Fulbright University of Vietnam, said the country's economy is expected to grow at over 7 percent this year, the highest level since 2007.

"The major contributor of growth comes from industries that benefit from policies to replace import goods, such as automobile and pharmaceutical production," he said at a conference organized Thursday by the National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC).

In 2017, Vietnam rode on 20-30 percent growth of phones and electronics, but this year, that sector’s growth slowed down to only 11 percent in the first 11 months of 2018, Thanh explained.

He also noted that a positive aspect of the growth this year has been that it is no longer dependent on credit. The NFSC estimates credit growth to have slowed significantly to 15 percent thi…

People travel on the waterways in the Mekong Delta. Photo by Shutterstock/Firebird007
British magazine Conde Nast Traveller has listed Vietnam’s Mekong Delta among the best destinations to visit in 2019.
The place is also called the Cuu Long (Nine Dragons) River delta for the Mekong’s nine tributaries.

The publication said visitors can leave Ho Chi Minh City through "a tangled maze of rivers and vast paddies that form the ... Nine Dragons."

With the area’s numerous waterways, large and small, the ideal means of transportation there is speedboat which, according to the magazine, can give visitors authentic experience of "delta life".

Cao Dai temples are mentioned as remarkable landmarks in the Mekong Delta. These are the places of worship for the followers of Cao Dai, an eclectic religion founded in Vietnam.

Some famous Cao Dai temples are in My Tho in Tien Giang Province and Da Phuoc in Tay Ninh Province.

Visitors can also visit some spectacular Buddhist pagodas li…

The secret to this cake’s beautiful top is the “flip” that happens when you remove it from the oven and turn it over on a heatproof serving plate. It’s an easy technique that just requires a bit of confidence. The result is a picture-perfect upside-down pineapple cake from scratch.



Ingredients1/4 cup butter or margarine 2/3 cup packed brown sugar 9 slices pineapple in juice (from 20-oz can), drained 9 maraschino cherries without stems, if desired

The Canadian Embassy in Vietnam organized a cherry tasting event in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday to celebrate the start of a new season and promote the fruits to local consumers.

“In Vietnam, Canadian cherries enjoy an increasing popularity among consumers,” said Barbara Nadeau, commercial counsellor of Canada in Vietnam.

In 2015, Canadian exports of fresh cherries to Vietnam increased by nearly 50 percent to over 1.7 million Canadian dollars (US$1.3 million).

Overall, exports of Canadian fresh fruits, including cherries and Ambrosia apples, have increased by 80 percent, reaching nearly 4 million Canadian dollars in 2015.

According to Canadian Embassy in Hanoi, agricultural and agri-food is an important and growing part of the Canada-Vietnam bilateral trade, representing more than half of Canada’s total exports to Vietnam.

Canadian exports of agri-food and seafood to Vietnam in 2015 totaled 353.6 million Canadian dollars, up by more than 48 percent over 2014.

As the United States considers imposing further tariffs on China amid ongoing trade tensions, foreign companies operating in China are shifting production to its southern neighbor, Vietnam. The disputes between the world’s two largest economies could prove a significant boon for the Vietnamese economy, which this year reached its highest rate of growth in the eight years.



Official data published by the Vietnamese authorities shows that the country’s GDP has grown by 7.1 percent in the first half of 2018, and its export average surged from 17 percent in 2017 to 20 percent through this June.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Vietnam increased by 9.2 percent from January to August in 2017 to $11.25 billion in the same period this year, Vietnam’s investment ministry said last month.

Because of geostrategic and commercial factors, Vietnam is unlikely to be a target of Trump’s trade war, despite its having a $40 billion trade surplus with the United States, said Bill Stoops, chief invest…

Vietnam takes pride as one of the world’s biggest natural rubber exporter, but it still has to spend nearly $1 billion a year to import mostly synthetic rubber products to satisfy domestic production.



Vietnam is a big natural rubber exporter


A report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) showed that in November alone, Vietnam imported 46,000 tons of rubber materials, raising the total import volume in the first 11 months to 543,000 tons, worth $1 billion, an increase of 8.8 percent in volume and 1 percent in value compared with the same period last year.

The Vietnam Rubber Association admitted that though Vietnam ranks third in the world in natural rubber production and export with the output of over 1 million tons, it still has to import rubber.

It is estimated that only 20 percent of domestic rubber output is provided to domestic manufacturers.

Domestic sources cannot provide SVR20 and RSS3, the rubber products tyre manufacturers need. They have SVL3L in abundan…

Vietnam’s tra fish (pangasius) export value has exceeded US$2 billion for the first time, with the figure hitting US$2.05 billion in the first 11 months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 27.4%, according to the General Department of Customs.


Vietnam’s tra fish export value has exceeded US$2 billion for the first time, with the figure hitting US$2.05 billion in the first 11 months. (Photo: VNA)

Duong Nghia Quoc, chairman of the Vietnam Pangasius Association, said the total export value of tra fish this year is expected to reach a record high at about US$2.2 billion.

In October and November, the consumption of tra fish in the US increased about 40% due to a reduction in anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese tra fish, while tra fish demand recovered in the EU and China maintained good consumption.

To meet demand, Mekong Delta provinces should maintain tra fish output of 1.3-1.5 million tonnes per year, Quoc said. They should focus on improving the quality of fish farming and processing…

Vietnam’s rice brand logo has been launched at the on-going third Vietnam Rice Festival organised in the Mekong Delta province of Long An.

The logo was selected from around 500 entries from across the country and abroad sent to a logo contest on the Vietnamese rice trademark held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) last year. It features an ear of rice with rice leaves shaped like the image of chim lạc (a legendary bird). The phrase Vietnam Rice is written on the green oval-shaped logo.



The logo of Vietnam's rice


Vietnam has submitted an international trademark registration application for the logo to the Madrid system of World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

After receiving WIPO feedback, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will issue regulations for using the logo when exporting rice.

According to Nguyen Quoc Toan, the MARD’s Agro-Product Processing and Market Development, only rice products which meet quality standards can use the…