This file photo shows Indonesian authorities sinking a Vietnamese fishing boat at Datuk island, in West Kalimantan on 4 May, 2019. (AFP Photo)
Vietnam joins ASEAN effort to combat IUU fishing
Vietnam: Shipping firms in troubled waters as coronavirus hits trade
Vietnamese shipping firms are reporting falling revenues after the coronavirus outbreak brought trade-related activities to a standstill in China.
Pham Hong Manh, manager of Hai Phong shipping firm T.S. Container Lines, said his company has reduced shipping from China since January 19.
It used to ply up to 13 times a month to Chinese ports, but the figure was down to eight last month and to seven this month, he said.
Ships are docking at other ports outside China, which accounts for 40 percent of international shipping in Vietnam, but this pushes up costs, he said.
“Our shipments have fallen by 30 percent year-on-year due to the outbreak. We estimate our losses at millions of dollars.”
Vietnam’s biggest shipping firm, Vinalines, is also struggling as shipping activities in China and some other countries have dwindled. Many of its ship are lying idle in ports.
The company, formally known as the Vietnam National Shipping Lines, estimated shipments in the first six months could fall by 15 percent year-on-year.
Its revenues could fall by VND992 billion ($42.7 million) and profits by VND224 billion ($9.6 million) in the period, it estimated further.
The epidemic outbreak has meant there are fewer personnel to operate ports in China, resulting in less traffic to all countries, including Vietnam.
Quy Nhon Port in central Vietnam now operates only 20 days a month instead of 30, with shipments falling by 15 percent. Last month it handled 100,000 tonnes less than targeted.
Vietnamese ports handled 655 million tonnes of cargo last year, up 14 percent from 2018, according to the Vietnam Maritime Administration.
Source: VN Express
Hanoi ranked world’s seventh most polluted capital city in 2019
Haze shrouds Hanoi sky over Pham Van Dong Street, Cau Giay District, in the morning of December 13, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Gia Nghia.
Hanoi has become the world’s seventh most polluted capital city, even worse than Beijing, a new IQ AirVisual report says.
The city’s worsening air quality saw its average PM2.5 level last year rise to 46.9 micrograms per cubic meter of air from 40.8 in 2018, according to a report released this week by Switzerland-based air quality monitor, IQAir AirVisual.
Tiếp tục đọc “Hanoi ranked world’s seventh most polluted capital city in 2019”
Vietnam Airlines, whose revenues have been hit badly by the Covid-19 epidemic, has cut the salaries of senior managers by 40 percent this year.
Mid-level managers’ salaries have been reduced by 20- 30 percent, Duong Tri Thanh, the CEO of the carrier, said.
Vietnam To Counter China With Asean Backing On Mekong River Region
Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, left, hands over the gavel for ASEAN chairmanship to … [+]
LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Vietnam took over the rotational chair of Asean, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in January 2020, so it’ worth noting that Hanoi’s second foremost foreign policy priority after the South China Sea is reportedly the Mekong River region. While the South China Sea, where more than one-third of global shipping passes, is considered an overall Asean concern, the Mekong region is left to the five riparian countries in mainland Southeast Asia to deal with in view of China’s upstream hydropower dams that have led to frequent droughts and depleted fish stocks in downstream communities, especially in Cambodia and Vietnam.
Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam To Counter China With Asean Backing On Mekong River Region”
How our planet became more urbanised than ever
Over three-quarters of the world’s population now live in urban areas, according to the JRC’s new Atlas of the Human Planet.
The Atlas will be officially launched on Monday at the 10th session of the World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi.
With data spanning four decades and nearly 240 countries and territories, the Atlas shows how humans have settled on Earth and urbanised the planet.
From 1975-2015, the share of people living in urban areas has increased from 69% to 76%.
Across the globe, the number of countries and territories with less than 50% of total population living in urban areas has fallen from 48 in 1975 to 36 in 2015. Tiếp tục đọc “How our planet became more urbanised than ever”
Giá cho thuê mặt biển của Việt Nam còn thấp
(TBTCVN) – Trao đổi với phóng viên TBTCVN, TS. Dư Văn Toán – Viện Nghiên cứu Biển và Hải đảo Việt Nam cho rằng, đơn giá cho thuê biển theo quy định tại Thông tư liên tịch số 198/2015/TTLT-BTC-BTNMT là quá thấp. Giá thấp sẽ khiến ngân sách nhà nước bị thất thu khoản này.
Mỗi năm 1 triệu km2 biển Việt Nam có giá trị kinh tế tự nhiên khoảng 1.571 tỷ USD.
* PV: Thông tư liên tịch 198/2015/TTLT-BTC-TNMT có quy định về giá thuê mặt biển, trong đó giá cao nhất là 7,5 triệu đồng/ha. Ông có nhận định gì về đơn giá này?
Tiếp tục đọc “Giá cho thuê mặt biển của Việt Nam còn thấp”
Fear? Cost? Fame? What’s turning on Asian businesses to renewable energy?
What is the main the reason corporations are buying renewable energy? Cost saving? Compliance? The goodness of their hearts?
The first is obvious—savings. I have never seen any company adopt renewables purely out of altruism. There’s always a commercial angle. Owners of large real estate portfolios try to monetise their “rooftop assets”, other companies want to diversify their energy source, or simply adopt solar to hedge against rising energy costs.
Businesses hardly ever adopt renewable energy for altruistic reasons, but does that matter? In this interview with Eco-Business, Lionel Steinitz, CEO of LYS Energy, talks about why firms go green, and how Southeast Asia can unlock its solar potential.
Tiếp tục đọc “Fear? Cost? Fame? What’s turning on Asian businesses to renewable energy?”
United States and Vietnam Institutionalize Energy Partnership
United States Assistant Secretary for Energy Resources, Francis R. Fannon and Vietnamese Vice Minister Dang Hoang An of the Ministry of Industry and Trade signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) memorializing a United States-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership on Energy, September 30, in Washington, DC. Through this partnership, the United States and Vietnam have increased cooperation on energy through more frequent and direct correspondence between U.S. and Vietnamese energy officials at the policy and technical levels.
Tiếp tục đọc “United States and Vietnam Institutionalize Energy Partnership”
Vietnam is not like most investment destinations these days?
On the upside, Vietnam has escaped both the growth slowdown and the political upheaval that have bedeviled many other emerging markets.
Gross-domestic-product expansion held steady at 7% last year, driven by dynamics internal—a million Vietnamese a year are moving from villages to cities—and external: multinational manufacturers relocating from a besieged China. The nation of 97 million is young (median age 31), well educated (15-year-olds finished fourth in a recent global science exam), and works for about a third of China’s wages. Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam is not like most investment destinations these days?”
Vietnam Explores Increasing Foreign Military Cooperation to Resist China
VOA – By Ralph Jennings
TAIPEI, TAIWAN – Vietnam indicates in a recent defense white paper it will pursue stronger military ties abroad as China challenges its maritime sovereignty claims, and analysts expect that to mean more exercises with Western-leaning foreign powers and brisker purchases of foreign weapons.
The Southeast Asian country will “promote defense cooperation” abroad to handle mutual security challenges, the Ministry of National Defense paper released in November says. Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam Explores Increasing Foreign Military Cooperation to Resist China”
Vietnam’s Competitive Minimum Wages: How Does it Fare with its Regional Peers?
One of Vietnam’s advantages making it a preferred destination for investors is its competitive minimum wages as compared to other countries in the region.
This is despite Vietnam increasing its minimum wage rates every year. This year Vietnam increased its minimum wage by an average of 5.7 percent. The new rates came into effect in January and range from US$132 to US$190 depending on the region.
Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam’s Competitive Minimum Wages: How Does it Fare with its Regional Peers?”
Bộ Công Thương Việt Nam và Bộ Ngoại giao Hoa Kỳ ký kết Bản ghi nhớ hợp tác (MOU) đối tác hợp tác năng lượng toàn diện
Chiều ngày 30/9/2019, tại trụ sở Bộ Ngoại giao, thủ đô Washington D.C., Hoa Kỳ, Bộ Công Thương Việt Nam và Bộ Ngoại giao Hoa Kỳ đã trao đổi Biên bản ghi nhớ Hợp tác (MOU) đối tác hợp tác năng lượng toàn diện. Buổi lễ diễn ra trước sự chứng kiến của Lãnh đạo các Bộ Ngoại giao, Bộ Năng lượng, Bộ Thương mại Hoa Kỳ và Bộ Công Thương Việt Nam, cũng như đại diện của nhiều Tập đoàn lớn của hai nước.
Với việc ký kết Biên bản ghi nhớ này, Việt Nam và Hoa Kỳ đã chính thức trở thành đối tác hợp tác năng lượng toàn diện. Đây cũng được kỳ vọng sẽ là dấu mốc quan trọng trong hợp tác năng lượng giữa Việt Nam và Hoa Kỳ, giúp mở ra một trang hợp tác mới, sâu sắc hơn và toàn diện hơn. Tiếp tục đọc “Bộ Công Thương Việt Nam và Bộ Ngoại giao Hoa Kỳ ký kết Bản ghi nhớ hợp tác (MOU) đối tác hợp tác năng lượng toàn diện”
Global energy storage market to surge to 15 GW by 2024
Adopt Science-Based Climate Targets Or We’ll Divest, Says $6 Billion Fund
January 31 2020, 5:24 PM February 01 2020, 12:30 PM (Bloomberg) —
Liontrust Asset Management Plc is using its leverage as a shareholder to demand that companies set more ambitious targets for reducing their impact on the climate. The London-based firm, which has more than 5 billion pounds ($6.6 billion) in its sustainable investment funds, is telling the companies in those portfolios to adopt emissions targets in line with the Paris Agreement’s goals on limiting rising temperatures.
And it’s telling firms in fields from education to health care to work with organizations like the Science Based Targets initiative to lend rigor to their plans. Liontrust will use its weight in shareholder votes and the threat of divestment to persuade companies to reduce their carbon emissions to zero, according to a spokeswoman. “We are encouraging them to be bold and raise ambition, because we think that will ultimately make them more successful businesses in a low-carbon economy,” said Mike Appleby, an investment manager at Liontrust. Tiếp tục đọc “Adopt Science-Based Climate Targets Or We’ll Divest, Says $6 Billion Fund”
