Vietnam news in brief - September 29

Vietnam-South Korea partnership for tourism cooperation

Delegates at the signing ceremony. Photo: VNA

The Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA) and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) signed a cooperation agreement on September 28 to promote travel between the two countries and increase the volume of visitors. Under the agreement, the two sides will share information on tourism policies, travel market trends, and tourism statistics, and promote exchanges between tourism businesses from both sides.

After the signing ceremony, VITA and KTO will jointly establish a survey team to explore new tourism products in Jeonnam and Jeonbuk, South Korea. KTO will also promote Korean tourism at the upcoming VITM Can Tho 2023 Fair.

Ho Chi Minh City makes modest gains in global financial center index

Ho Chi Minh City ranked 120th in the Global Financial Centers Index (GFCI 34) jointly released on September 28 by London-based economic think tank Z/Yen and the China Development Institute, dropping eight places from the previous ranking in March 2023.

The city gained 10 points in the ranking, but the growth was modest compared to other cities. The best-performing cities included Barbados, the Isle of Man and Liechtenstein, whose ratings increased by 62-78 points.

More opportunities for English teachers to improve their skills abroad

The Hanoi People's Committee recently approved a 14-day overseas training program to "improve teachers' methodology and information technology skills". Last year, 199 teachers (including 15 primary school teachers, 132 middle school teachers, and 52 high school teachers) attended a short-term training program in Australia.

Vietnam will lose revenue without the global minimum tax: Ministry of Finance

Vietnam will lose revenue and face transfer pricing problems if it does not implement a global minimum tax from the beginning of 2024, as companies may relocate to other countries, Finance Minister Ho Duc Phoc said during his explanation at the National Assembly Standing Committee meeting on the draft resolution on additional corporate income tax to prevent global tax erosion on September 28. If Vietnam does not implement a global minimum tax on companies with revenues of 750 million euros or more from the beginning of 2024, it will give up its right to collect taxes and companies will pay the difference to their home countries - where the parent company is headquartered.

Two Hanoi restaurants among Asia's top 25

The Rhythms Restaurant in Hanoi.

The Rhythms and Cloud Nine are the two restaurants in Hanoi that have been listed among the top 25 restaurants in Asia by travel experience sharing website Tripadvisor. The Rhythms is ranked 15th and Cloud Nine 24th. Last year, Kabin restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City was the only Vietnamese brand to make the ranking.

Ise Sueyoshi in Japan is the best restaurant this year, and the runners-up are Avartana in India and Akira Back in Thailand.

Ministry of Transport proposes cost reduction for Long Thanh airport project

The Ministry of Transport on September 28 proposed to cut the total cost of building Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai Province from nearly VND23 trillion (US$945 million) to VND19.2 trillion (US$789 million). The ministry also proposed reducing the land clearing area by about 82 hectares to more than 5,300 hectares and extending the land clearing period to the end of 2024.

By 2040, the airport is expected to handle 100 million passengers and five million tons of cargo per year.

Online job fair held in Hanoi

Some 120 companies from eight northern provinces, including Ninh Binh, Bac Giang, Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh, where many industrial parks are located, participated in an online job fair in Hanoi on September 28.  About 16,600 vacancies were announced.  Ninh Binh had the highest demand for labor with more than 3,800 vacancies. Companies at the fair offered a wide range of salaries from VND5 million to VND15 million (US$205-US$616) for office workers, technical staff, and others.