Economy and industry

Real estate conglomerate Vingroup has acquired Vietnam’s oldest supermarket chain Maximark in an effort to strengthen its foothold in the retail market.   The value of the deal has not been revealed. Maximark, whose first supermarket was open in January 1996, has nine supermarkets, mostly in Ho ...

Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance is considering changing a tax regulation following concerns that the rule has been abused by Chinese exporters to ship a large amount of steel to Vietnam without paying duties.   Currently imported steel with at least 0.3 percent of chrome content will be exempt ...

A new study from Ho Chi Minh City’s environment department has found an increase in dust and toxic gas in many urban areas, warning that motorbike riders can be exposed to major health risks.    According to local media, the environment observation and analysis center measured the ...

The government has announced a new decree which for the first time will allow private and foreign investors to provide certain services at Vietnamese airports.    According to the decree, which will take effect on 12 December, private investors will be allowed to purchase rights to manage ...

In efforts to improve conditions for its disabled citizens, the government on 26 October announced that it plans to order the installation of ramps and access signs at all public places. Speaking at the launch of the government’s disability policy in Phnom Penh, Em Chan Makara, secretariat ...

Thailand and Laos have decided to set up a social development centre to help tackle human trafficking, Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said on 26 September. After the 20th Thai-Lao Joint Commission meeting at a Chiang Rai hotel, Don told reporters that he had signed a memorandum ...

Deadly carnage on the country’s roads is costing billions, police say. More than 3000 people have died in accidents so far this year, with nearly 20,000 injured in more than 11,000 accidents. The toll of deaths and injuries consumes one-quarter of the national health budget. Keep reading ...

An investor from the British Virgin Islands has filed a complaint against ho Chi Minh City officials for mishandling its investment license and soliciting bribes, local media reported.    K.S.T International Holdings Ltd., which is seeking a license to open a business to import electric equipment, said ...

Mass food poisoning suffered by 441 workers at a factory on 21 October was a reminder of the unhealthy factory lunches provided in Vietnam, which has been a major cause of wildcat strikes and the fact that its productivity is among the lowest in the world.   Truong ...

Since the early 1990s, five rounds of the Lao Expenditure and Consumption Surveys have shown that measured inequality has increased at the national level — within both rural and urban areas, within almost all provinces of Laos and within each of the four major ethnic ...