The Smart City Asia International Expo and Forum 2023 in Vietnam opened in Ho Chi Minh City on April 13, showcasing leading technologies and solutions for public lighting, smart cities and smart homes, urban planning and public administration, and others.

Vietnam must invest to raise its fuel reserve capacity, said economists and policymakers during a conference on April 12 discussing how to encourage investment from the private sector in fuel infrastructure and to stabilise fuel supply and demand.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai on April 13 ordered tightening discipline in the disbursement of public investment capital, stating that it is the responsibility of ministries and agencies’ leaders.

President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Masatsugu Asakawa has called on development banks to make greater changes to the response to the climate crisis that the world has been facing.

A delegation from the southern province of Binh Phuoc led by Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Manh Cuong paid a working trip to Hong Kong from April 11-12 to seek stronger partnership with China’s special administrative region.

Vietnam’s food industry is growing strongly thanks to people’s improved income, increased purchasing power, and the supply of diverse and highly competitive products, an official told a policy dialogue in Hanoi on April 13.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on April 13 stressed the need to ease difficulties and remove obstacles, especially in terms of market, institutions, and credit capital, for the production, processing and export of forest and aquatic products.

The Vietnam International Travel Mart (VITM), themed “Cultural tourism”, opened on April 13 in Hanoi, featuring 450 pavilions from 51 provinces and cities nationwide and 15 foreign countries and territories.

The number of newly-opened securities accounts in March plunged to the lowest in the past two years, marking the sixth consecutive month the market did not record more than 100,000 new accounts, according to the Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD).

After more than three years, a project on placing artificial reefs to protect and enrich fishery resources in combination with tourism development off the southernmost province of Ca Mau has recorded initial encouraging results.

Having hold of a large amount of bad debts mortgaged by real estate, Vietnam’s four biggest State-owned banks are urgently recovering the debts, but the work remains tough for them due to the slowdown of the realty market.

No longer hot on the stock market, yet banking sector remains one of the priorities of foreign investors, with foreign ownership rate in many banks reaching the cap of 30% as regulated.

Dozens of Indonesian and Vietnamese travel agencies met in an exchange on April 12 to create more tourism products for Vietnamese and Indonesian people.

The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate at 23,606 VND/USD on April 13, down 2 VND from the previous day.

A French expert has suggested some measures for strengthening economic links between Vietnam and France during a recent interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations (April 12) and 10 years of strategic partnership.

There is ample room for Vietnam and China’s localities, particularly Guangxi province, to boost trade collaboration, said Deputy Director of the city’s Investment & Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC) Nguyen Tuan.

Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Phan Van Mai on April 12 received Pascal Soriot, CEO of the UK-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology company AstraZeneca, who is on a visit to the southern metropolis of Vietnam to discuss ways for fostering bilateral cooperation.

The stock market is in a favourable situation with many supporting factors such as the State Bank lowering interest rates, positive short-term sentiment and the return of cashflow.

VinES Energy Solutions (VinES), a member of Vietnamese private conglomerate Vingroup and Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (Li-Cycle), an industry leader in lithium-ion battery resource recovery and a leading lithium-ion battery recycler in North America, have signed an agreement for a long-term recycling relationship.

The northern province of Quang Ninh topped the 2022 Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced on April 12.