Vietnam news in brief - March 20

Vingroup offers its stake in Vincom Retail for $1.57 billion: Vietcap Securities

A Vincom Center on Pham Ngoc Thach Street, Hanoi. Photo: Duy Khanh/The Hanoi Times

Vingroup may sell its entire stake in SDI Commercial Investment and Development Company for around VND39 trillion (US$1.57 billion), according to Vietcap Securities, a move that will see the largest listed company give up its stake in Vincom Retail JSC.

Vingroup announced its divestment plan on  March 17. SDI Company controls 99% of the shares in Sado Trading Commercial JSC, the owner of 943.2 million shares in Vincom Retail, representing 40.5% of its charter capital. Vingroup itself directly owns 18% of the largest shopping center operator.

Vietnamese LinkedIn users up 86% in two years to five million

The number of Vietnamese accounts on the job board LinkedIn has jumped 86% in the past two years to five million, according to LinkedIn's local partner Anphabe. This makes Vietnam the fastest-growing market for LinkedIn by early 2024, and LinkedIn is also the most popular job search network in the country compared to others, with around four million log-ins per week.

LinkedIn reports that engineering is the most sought-after job among Vietnamese users, with 14% searching for jobs in this segment. This is followed by salespersons (9.7%), business developers (9.3%) and operations managers (9.2%).

More than 9,300 e-tickets issued in three months: local public transport center

Since the introduction of the electronic ticketing system in early December 2023, the Hanoi Public Transport Management Center has issued more than 9,300 monthly passes for regular bus passengers and served more than 2.64 million riders during this period.

Electronic tickets have been applied for 13 regular bus lines and the Cat Linh-Yen Nghia BRT line. In Q2/2024, the center will issue e-tickets for 10 more bus lines.

Yen Tu – Vinh Nghiem – Con Son relic complex meets world heritage requirements: UNESCO

The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has announced that the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son Relic Complex meets all technical requirements for inscription on the World Heritage List. UNESCO will send a team of experts to evaluate the sites. Vietnam will be asked to send a profile to the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) for consideration.

The relic complex was proposed for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List on January 26. The complex covers the areas of three provinces - Quang Ninh, Bac Giang and Hai Duong - with six special national relics and 32 strictly protected sections.

Chinese group to invest $800 million in Bac Ninh factory

China’s Victory Giant Technology Group, specializing in electronic components and semiconductors, will invest more than US$800 million in a 10-hectare factory at VSIP Bac Ninh 2 Industrial Park in the northern province of Bac Ninh for research, development, production and trading of high-precision printed circuit boards. The group will start construction of the project after receiving the land and start operations by mid-2025.

Vietjet Air launches Hanoi-Sydney route

A Vietjet aircraft. Photo: The Hanoi Times

Private airline Vietjet Air will launch a route between Hanoi and the Australian metropolis of Sydney on June 8, bringing the number of direct routes between Vietnam and Australia to seven. The new route will operate two round trips per week.

Flights from Hanoi will depart at 17:10 on Wednesdays and Saturdays, while return flights from Sydney will depart at 08:30 am (local time) on Thursdays and Sundays.

Vietnamese labor plays a crucial role in Japan's economy

Vietnamese labor plays an important role in Japan's economy, according to Ishii Chikahisa, the First Secretary of the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam, at a seminar on promoting labor cooperation between Vietnam and Japan on March 19. Over the past 10 years, the number of Vietnamese workers in Japan has increased eightfold to about 520,000. In 2023, the total number of Vietnamese workers exceeded 110,000, accounting for more than 50% of the total foreign workers in Japan.

Japan has a high demand for labor in 12 sectors, including food and beverage production, construction, machinery manufacturing, materials, electronics, automobile maintenance, agriculture, fisheries, healthcare and nursing, and others.

Ninh Binh Tourism Week 2024 to take place in late May

Ninh Binh Tourism Week 2024, themed "The Golden Season of Tam Coc - Trang An", will be held in the northern province in late May or early June to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Trang An Landscape Complex being inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The event will feature various attractive activities, including the opening ceremony of Ninh Binh Tourism Week 2024, an exhibition of One Commune One Product (OCOP) products and traditional handicrafts, tours to Tam Coc, an overview and introduction of Ninh Binh tourism products, and an art photo exhibition with the theme "Golden Season of Tam Coc - Trang An".

VNPT wins 5G broadband network auction

After Viettel, VNPT becomes the second operator in Vietnam to win the C2 band (3700-3800MHz) frequency spectrum rights auction for its nationwide 5G network development strategy. Winning the auction will allow the Group to have more network equipment options and reasonable deployment costs for 5G, which aligns with the strategic development of 5G networks in Vietnam.

This is an advantage in promoting the development of 5G in the future and laying the foundation for 6G networks.