Karate artists win first gold for Vietnam at SEA Games after 18 years

Vietnamese karate artists won two gold medals in the women’s and men’s team kata categories at the ongoing 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia, also the first by the Vietnamese karate team over the past 18 years.

Female fighters Nguyen Thi Phuong, Luu Thi Thu Uyen, and Nguyen Ngoc Tram defeated their Indonesian rivals with 41.1 points to secure the victory. Meanwhile, Le Hong Phuc, Pham Minh Duc, and Giang Viet Anh gained 41 points to snatch the gold in the men’s category.

On May 6, martial artist Le Thi Hien beat Alisa Panyasily of Laos 7-0 in Vovinam (Vietnamese traditional martial arts) to bring home a gold medal in the women’s 55kg event, also the first gold of Vietnam’s Vovinam team at the region’s biggest sporting event. Earlier, chess players Pham Thanh Phuong Thao and Ton Nu Hong An won a gold medal after topping the Ouk Chaktrang women’s doubles event.

The Games officially began on May 5 and will finish on May 17 in Cambodia’s capital city and four other localities, with more than 12,400 athletes, coaches, officials, staff and volunteers set to participate.

The Vietnamese team has 1,003 members, including 702 athletes competing in 31 sports. They target to win between 90-120 gold medals for a place in the top three finish./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Swimmer, marathoner bag gold medals at SEA Games 32

Swimmer Tran Hung Nguyen finished first in the men’s 200m individual medley final swimming with 2 minutes and 01.28 seconds on May 6 afternoon at the ongoing 32nd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 32) in Cambodia, begging the first gold medal for the Vietnamese swimming team at the tournament.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuc brought home the first gold medal for Vietnamese athletics, clocking 1 hour and 55 minutes in the women’s 20km walk.

The Games officially began on May 5 and will finish on May 17 in Cambodia’s capital city and four other localities, with more than 12,400 athletes, coaches, officials, staff and volunteers set to participate.

The Vietnamese team has 1,003 members, including 702 athletes competing in 31 sports. They target to win between 90-120 gold medals for a place in the top three finish./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnamese women basketballers win over Philippine rivals at SEA Games 32

Vietnamese women basketballers defeated their Philippine rivals with a score of 21-19 in the 3×3 category at the ongoing 32nd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 32) on May 6.

Thao My, Thao Vy, and Tieu Duy had an impressive performance in the hard-fought match.

The tense chase took place until the last minute, making the fans of both teams very nervous.

The 3×3 basketball competition will take place until May 7 at the Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Eight countries, namely Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Cambodia, are participating in the 3×3 basketball category at SEA Games 32.

The Games officially began on May 5 and will finish on May 17 in Cambodia’s capital city and four other localities, with more than 12,400 athletes, coaches, officials, staff and volunteers set to participate.

The Vietnamese team has 1,003 members, including 702 athletes competing in 31 sports. They target to win between 90-120 gold medals for a place in the top three finish./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Real estate market to rebound thanks to new policies

Rising demand for housing in urban areas in the 2021-2030, along with the Vietnamese government’s new policies on land, market transparency and bond issuances, is expected to spur the development of real estate market and opening up capital flows for businesses in the coming time, according to industry experts.

Statistics from the Ministry of Construction showed that the country’s urbanisation rate, which now stands at 40%, will expand to 45% by 2030.

With the current population growth rate and housing demand, around 70 million sq.m of urban housing is needed each year.

As the global real estate market is forecast to slow down in 2023, it’s hard for the Vietnamese market to avoid the impact. However, according to the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS), the segment of social and affordable housing will grow because urban development is still attracting the attention of investors.

Some investors like Vinhomes plan to build 500,000 social houses in the next five years. Him Lam and Hung Thinh also have plans to participate in the construction of social housing in the near future.

Given the fact that the supply of affordable apartments accounts for less than 2% of the total supply of new apartments in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the social housing segment can recover thanks to this supply and the support from the Government’s new policies, said expert Nguyen Thi Cam Tu from Vndirect Securities Company.

She cited Government’s Resolution No 33/NQ-CP on solutions removing and promoting the development of a healthy and sustainable real estate market and Decree No.8/2023/ND-CP on amendment of a number of articles in decrees stipulating the private offering and trading of corporate in the domestic market as examples. They can help ease liquidity pressure in the short term, she noted.

In fact, real estate businesses are facing liquidity pressure when entering the peak period of bond maturity.

According to Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA), the volume of such bonds maturing in 2023-2024 will reach about 230 trillion VND (9.8 billion USD), including 119 trillion VND in 2023 and 111 trillion VND in 2024.

Le Hoang Chau, President of HoREA, said Decree No. 08 will have a very positive impact on the handling of 119,000 billion VND worth of bonds due in 2023.

Experts said that the issuance of recent legal documents has creates a legal corridor for businesses to access capital, thereby resuming their operation. Enterprises have a chance to restructure debt, extend loan principal and interest, gradually removing bottlenecks of the real estate market.

The Government has committed to build more than 1 million social housing and houses for workers by 2030 to meet the needs of middle and low income households. This move creates a driving force for businesses, especially those with land available suitable for building social housing projects./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

State budget revenue reaches 645.4 trillion VND in four months

The total State budget revenue in the first four months of this year reached 645.4 trillion VND (over 27.52 billion USD), accounting for 39.8% of the estimate and 95% of the same period last year, the Ministry of Finance announced on May 5.

According to the ministry, although the revenue in the first four months of the year was quite good compared to the estimate, the monthly tended to decrease as the January collection reached 14.7% of the estimate, February 7.7%, March 8.9%, and April 8.6%.

Out of the 12 sources for domestic revenues, eight ensure collection progress with their State revenue topping 34% of the estimate, while the rest saw their revenue lower than the estimate

Out of the 63 provinces and centrally-run cities nationwide, 25 localities recorded state budget revenue topping 38% of this year’s targets.

Sixteen localities saw the collection higher than that in the same period of 2022, and 47 others were lower.

The Ministry of Finance also said that the state budget balance expenditure in the four months reached 500.3 trillion VND, equaling 24.1% of the estimate, up 6.1% over the same period in 2022.

It said expenditures in the four months were carried out as planned, meeting demand for socio-economic development, defense, security safeguarding, state management, debt repayment, and implementation of social security tasks./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Warning issued on false information on exporting agricultural products to China

As of May 5, 2023, the Vietnam Sanitary and Phytosanitary Notification Authority and Enquiry Point (SPS Vietnam) had not received any notice from the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) regarding the “Certificate of GACC registration” form with a QR code and a link to www.aqsiq.net.

This information was disclosed by the SPS Vietnam Office in a document sent on May 5 to relevant agencies including the Plant Protection Department and Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Vietnam Food Administration under the Ministry of Health regarding the information on social networks on this form. Its content relates to the certification of registration numbers of companies exporting agricultural products and food to China.

The office said the results of registering enterprises producing, processing, preserving and exporting agricultural products and food to China will be made public by GACC.

Enterprises should contact the SPS Vietnam Office for more information relating to the registration process, it added./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

NA Chairman meets Hai Phong voters

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue on May 6 met with voters in Ngo Quyen district, the northern port city of Hai Phong, ahead of the fifth meeting of the 15th legislature.

Local voters raised opinions on the draft Land Law (revised), environmental protection, the fight against corruption and wastefulness, cultural and tourism development, firefighting, incentives to businesses, and policies on education-training.

They were delighted at socio-economic achievements Vietnam and Hai Phong in particular recorded in 2022 and the first months of 2023 in the context of global uncertainties and COVID-19 pandemic impacts.

The top legislator said international friends have commended Vietnam’s anti-corruption efforts, noting its corruption perception index has been improved significantly.

Regarding the draft Land Law (revised), Hue said the bill has been identified as a focus of the law and ordinance making programme of the 15th legislature, and that more than 12 million voters and people have given their feedback on the draft law.

According to the leader, the draft law will be further scrutinised at the upcoming session of the NA Standing Committee, and then the fifth and sixth sittings of the legislature, and it will be approved only when it satisfies set conditions.

On environmental protection, he asked competent agencies in Hai Phong to provide consultations for the municipal People’s Committee in issuing legal documents on household solid waste management.

The chief legislator also touched upon the public-private partnership in tourism and sports, preferential policies in tourism development, and incentives to lure talents to the education-training sector.

He lauded Hai Phong’s efforts in reforming administrative procedures and improving its business environment, and urged the city to make better performance in the work.

Later the same day, Hue and other officials pressed the button to inaugurate the convention and performance centre project and the technical infrastructure system in the North Cam River New Urban Area./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency