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| The signing ceremony of cooperation agreement to develop the One World urban area project in Binh Duong province. (Photo: VNA) |
The over-1-billion-USD project is one of the real estate sector having a clean land fund of nearly 50 ha in Thuan An city, adjacent to Ho Chi Minh City.
Three Japanese companies namely Sumitomo Forestry Group, Kumagai Gumi Co., Ltd, and NTT Urban Development Corporation make up a total of 49% of the shares in the project, while the rest come from their Vietnamese partner - the Kim Oanh Real Estate Group.
The project is divided into six sub-projects. Key facilities including a conference and exhibition centre, an AEON shopping centre, five-star hotels, and an international school will be constructed in advance.
Japanese Consul General in HCM City Ono Masuo said the development of large-scale urban areas contributes to building a sustainable city and supporting carbon neutrality efforts.
The common goal and also the top priority of these investors is to contribute to realising a prosperous society by providing safe and high-quality housing and jointly developing a large-scale mixed-use shopping centre in Binh Duong, he said.
The project will bring about a sustainable and environmentally friendly business model, creating a prosperous and sustainable future through applying information technology, communication, or advanced environmental technologies, contributing to the locality’s economic development.
Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Vo Van Minh expressed his belief that the project will help change the urban landscape of Thuan An city and the southern urban area of the province in general.
Quang Nam seeks to attract 7.6 million tourists in 2024
The Quang Nam provincial People’s Committee on April 16 announced a demand stimulus program to attract tourists in 2024 with the participation of more than 100 businesses.
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| Quang Nam stimulates demand to attract tourism in 2024 |
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hong, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Nam, said that the program will take place from May to November with two phases: the first, themed “Quang Nam - Summer Emotions”, from May to August 2024 and the second phase, themed “Golden Season of Quang Nam”, from September to the end of November 2024.
The stimulus program is implemented by the Quang Nam tourism business community and sold directly to tourists, Hong said. Its products are combo packages with incentives from room rates, food service, attractions, and transportation units with discounts of 20-50% or deep discounts up to 80% during happy hours.
Mr. Ho Quang Buu, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said that in 2024, Quang Nam aims to welcome 7.6 million tourist arrivals. Leaders of the province called on the business community to join in responding to the stimulus program to attract tourists.
Mr. Ha Van Sieu, Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Tourism Authority, said that the tourism stimulus targets new products; creating connections between tourism businesses as well as current types of tourism.
In 2023, the number of tourists to Quang Nam reached more than 7.4 million, an increase of 1.6 times against 2022 or equivalent to 97% of 2019. The number included more than 3.8 million international tourists and over 3.6 million domestic tourists. Tourism revenue in 2023 reached nearly 8 trillion VND, a two-fold increase against 2022.
Pangasius exports to Canada skyrocket
As of March 15, 2024, Canada imported more than 8 million USD worth of pangasius from Vietnam, an increase of 43% over the same period in 2023.
According to the Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), in the first half of March 2024, Vietnamese pangasius exports to Canada were valued at 2.3 million USD, an increase of 7% over the same period last year.
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| Pangasius exports to Canada skyrocket |
From the beginning of the year to March 15, the country’s pangasius export value in Canada posted over 8 million USD, an increase of 43% over the same period in 2023. Canada currently remains the second largest market in the CPTPP in terms of consumption of Vietnamese pangasius, accounting for 20% of the country’s total value.
Assessing the prospects of pangasius in the Canadian market, VASEP said that, compared to other markets in CPTPP, consumers in Canada are very fond of dishes from pangasius filets, frozen catfish filets, and frozen sliced pangasius.
Citing data from the International Trade Center (ITC), VASEP said that in January 2024, Canada imported more than 900 tons of pangasius from Vietnam, worth 2 million USD, down 10% in value and up 28% in volume from the same period last year. In 2023, Vietnam provided over 9,000 tons of white meat fish (mainly pangasius) for Canada, worth nearly 31 million USD.
Canada is a large consumer market and has high demand for seafood products, especially pangasius. However, this is also a selective market with strict inspection for imported goods. Besides, Vietnamese pangasius products in this market also face fierce competition with many other types of fish on the market, especially frozen cod and fresh or chilled tilapia.
Aiming to maintain and develop this market in the future, VASEP noted, businesses need to clearly understand the regulations and comply with all requirements of Canadian importers; while continuing to invest in improving the quality of products.
Hanoi Tourism Festival expected to welcome 50,000 visitors
The Hanoi Tourism Festival 2024, themed “Thang Long - Hanoi, Charming Capital”, will take place from April 25 to 28, at Thong Nhat Park, Hai Ba Trung district, heard a press conference on April 16.
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| The festival introduces many craft tourism products of Hanoi. (Photo: hanoimoi.vn) |
The event is among activities to respond to the Visit Vietnam Year - Dien Bien 2024, towards the 70th anniversary of Capital Liberation Day.
According to the organizers, the festival will have an elaborate art program, demonstrating the strong vitality of the thousand-year-old capital, typically water puppetry, artistic dragon dancing, folk instrument performances, modern dance, and Ao dai performance. In addition, the festival also introduces the culinary space and craft villages of Hanoi with many specialties of the capital.
Head of the Tourism Promotion Office under the Hanoi Center for Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Nguyen Huu Viet said Hanoi has just been honored by the international tourism site Tripadvisor as “World’s Leading Destination 2024” and “The world’s most attractive culinary destination 2024”. Therefore, the festival will promote many unique dishes such as: West Lake shrimp cakes, snail vermicelli, Thanh Tri rice rolls, Phung spring rolls, bun thang, bun cha and Phu Thuong sticky rice.
The highlight of this year’s event is the organizers’ designing many creative spaces for visitors to check-in, such as: Craft village space in Duong Lam Ancient Village, Thang Long Imperial Citadel Heritage space, and Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam. This year, the booths will be designed to resemble Hanoi’s Old Quarters.
According to the organizers, the festival has 150 booths with the participation of districts in Hanoi, provinces and cities across the country and businesses. At the festival, thousands of attractive stimulus products will be introduced by tourism and airline businesses.
The Hanoi Tourism Festival is expected to welcome 50,000 visitors.
Central Highlands provinces seek closer trade, investment ties with India
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| Dak Lak province's coffee products displayed on the sidelines of the conference. (Photo: VNA) |
A business and investment conference was held in Dak Lak province’s Buon Ma Thuot city on April 17 with the aim of enhancing connectivity between Indian firms and Central Highlands provinces, reported Vietnam News Agency.
The event, co-organised by the provincial People’s Committee and the Indian Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, offered a platform for the localities and enterprises to boost trade and investment links, as well as collaboration in health care, education, information-technology, and tourism.
In his remarks, Vice Chairman of the Dak Lak People’s Committee Nguyen Thien Van briefed the participants on local advantages and potential, and expressed his hope that the Consulate General will help lure more Indian firms as their investments there remain limited.
The committee wants to establish close ties with Indian partners across spheres, from trade and investment, to tourism, education, health care and IT, he stressed, saying he hopes that Dak Lak will be a supplier of agricultural products like durian, cashew and coffee for the South Asian nation.
According to Indian Consul General Madan Mohan Sethi, the 56 participating businesspeople specialise in such fields as agriculture, IT, education and pharmacy.
Pointing to the moderate trade revenue between the two countries, which stood at only 14 billion USD last year, the diplomat believed that through the conference, Indian and local businesses can seek orientations for their cooperation.
On this occasion, some memoranda of understanding in agriculture and IT were signed by Vietnamese and Indian enterprises./.