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Vodafone India announced its half-year results (IFRS) for the six month period ended September 30, 2015, today.
The company saw consistent and robust revenue growth; service revenue (excluding regulatory impact) of Rs 22,902 crore in H1FY16 vs. Rs 20,601 crore in H1FY15, a growth of 11.2%.
Revenue performance was driven by customer additions, stable ARPU and robust growth in data revenues. EBITDA at Rs 6,534 crore in H1FY16 vs. Rs 6,121 crore in H1FY15; a healthy EBITDA margin stood at 29.7%, led by higher data revenue and scale benefits.
The company saw a base of 188.2 million customers (growth of 8.2% YoY) serviced through a network of 132,446 total sites, of which 39,774 are 3G sites, and substantial rural presence with a customer base of over 99 million in H1FY16 (53% of total customer base).
Consistently growing Revenue Market Share (RMS) at 22.4% (Q1FY16); gain of 0.4% YoY, service Revenue ARPM stood at 49.4 paise and Voice ARPM at 33.4 paise (both Q2FY16).
The company also saw robust performance by strategic business areas with Data (Browsing) revenues contributing to 18.9% and Vodafone Business Services now contributing to around 15% of Service revenues (both Q2FY16).
Sunil Sood, Managing Director and CEO, Vodafone India commented, “We continue to deliver healthy double digit underlying revenue growth of 11.2% and further enhanced EBITDA margin to 29.7%. Driven by the strong uptake in data, our 3G revenues grew 102% YoY. We will launch our 4G services beginning December 2015 in 5 circles that are key to our data revenues and will continue to expand our own 3G coverage to 16 circles across the country. A robust and resilient network architecture with strong backhaul is being built to support the increasing volumes and need for speed from both retail and enterprise customers. We remain committed to fulfill the evolving needs of our customers and leverage our global experience plus rich understanding of India to play a meaningful role in enabling Digital India.”


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The rout of the Fighting Irish solidified the Tigers status as an elite college football program. Snap Inc said the number of people using its Snapchat app would remain at current levels this quarter, easing worries the company would continue to lose users to rival Facebook Inc's Instagram and sending its shares up more than 20 percent. Tech giant Huawei faced unfriendly fire on Tuesday from multiple powers across Europe - each weighing new restraints against the company following allegations it cooperated with Chinese spies. EXCLUSIVE TRAILER The incredible story of Bert Trautmann has been immortalized in a new film and the MailOnline has an exclusive first look at the first UK trailer and poster. The president of Fi Plan Partners tells Reuters' Fred Katayama he sees REITs as overvalued. He prandin also fears the U.S. dollar may strengthen and hurt emerging markets. Prandin order shopping.


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It’s the story of a family business that grew out of a single mother’s desire to help others and her desire to be known as a philanthropist.
Ganda Bhatti has lived in India for the last six decades, and her husband, Ganda Ganda, is one of the country’s most prominent philanthropists.
They have given millions of dollars to various causes in India and around the world, including the relief efforts for those affected by the Nepal earthquake and flood, the relief work in Myanmar and Bangladesh and the ongoing relief efforts in India.
Gandhi Ganda founded the Gandhi family business in 1949, when he was just 21 years old.
It started as a single family business, he said.
“My family used to take care of the family.
They worked for us,” Ganda Bhanda said.
“We didn’t have any money, we didn’t even have electricity.”
The family had just moved to India and decided to start a small business in order to make ends meet.
“We had no money,” Gandi Bhandas said.
Gandi Bhatta opened Ganda Family Business in 1953, but it was a tough start.
The family was forced to sell their home in India, which had been purchased by a foreign buyer.
“I could only manage a small shop.
My husband sold the shop to us.
The shop was sold, but I couldn’t do anything with it,” Gaida Bhandia said.
In 1954, Gaida Ganda moved to Bangladesh and started a textile manufacturing plant.
But it was in Bangladesh that the business really started to take off.
“The business went very well.
The company grew so much,” Ghanda Bhandap said.
A year later, the family returned to India, and the family began expanding.
“In 1958, my son got the idea of going to the US,” Gaidha Ganda said.
They took a boat trip to the Bay of Bengal and made their way to California.
“It was the only way we could go to the United States,” Ganya Ganda recalled.
It was a difficult decision for the family, but Gaida and his family made the decision to move.
“As we came back to India in 1959, we found the country was very hard,” Gonda Ganda explained.
“There was very little to do, and we couldn’t afford anything.”
Ganda Gaidas father, Gankar Gankas, was a successful businessman in India before his death in 2012.
He had been living in India since 1954 and was a proud Gujarati, Gaidan said.
When Gankara Ganka’s son, Raman Gankan, came to the family to find a place to settle, he also made the trip to California, where Gankalas family lived for over 50 years.
“He came with a small boat and took us to the coast,” Gankaro Gankam said.
Gankarin was the youngest of five children, and was also a skilled fisherman.
Gankar was one of those who were able to help those in need and also help Gankashan Gana, the business partner who is Gankatganda Gankapati, the name given to the business.
The Gankareas are the only family who started the business from scratch.
“You start with nothing.
You work your way up,” Gatta Gankand said.
The business grew to be one of India’s largest family businesses, with employees from over the country and in all parts of the world.
Ganda started a number of businesses in India including a hardware store, a bakery, a hospital, a shoe store, and a clothing store.
Gandan Gaidah has donated millions of rupees to different causes in the last 20 years, including to help people in need, including children in India who have been diagnosed with cancer.
In addition to giving money to many different organizations, Gandan Gankanda has helped many people with his charitable foundation.
He has also given money to the Nepal disaster relief and to a number charities that help the impoverished in India as well.
Gonda Gaidam said the most important thing about Ganda’s philanthropy is that it’s not about giving money.
“If you don’t give money, what’s the point?
What does it mean?”


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Rihanna and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton confirmed on Friday speculation of Fenty, a new fashion house in Paris with the multihyphenate, born Robyn Rihanna Fenty, as the lead designer.
LVMH is the parent company to heritage brands, including Givenchy, Fendi, Celine and Dior. Fenty is the first new fashion house created by LVMH in more than 30 years, since the creation of Christian Lacroix in 1987.
According to The New York Times, the creation of the new brand is historic for many reasons. Through the venture, Rihanna will become not only the first Black woman at the top of an LVMH Maison, but she will also be the first woman to create an original brand at the multinational fashion conglomerate.
“Designing a line like this with LVMH is an incredibly special moment for us,” Rihanna said in a statement. “Mr. Arnault has given me a unique opportunity to develop a fashion house in the luxury sector, with no artistic limits. I couldn’t imagine a better partner both creatively and business-wise, and I’m ready for the world to see what we have built together.”
“Everybody knows Rihanna as a wonderful singer, but through our partnership at Fenty Beauty, I discovered a true entrepreneur, a real CEO and a terrific leader,” said Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH. “She naturally finds her full place within LVMH. To support Rihanna to start up the Fenty Maison, we have built a talented and multicultural team supported by the group resources. I am proud that LVMH is leading this venture and wish it will be a great success.”
The Fenty Maison will include shoes, accessories and ready-to-wear items. Rumors of the brand first surfaced in January, but this announcement is the first time either party spoke on their venture.
Through her Fenty namesake, Rihanna has put inclusivity and diversity at the forefront of her products from Fenty Beauty to Savage X Fenty, her lingerie line. LVMH has also been making strides toward racial and gender balance within the fashion industry. In 2018, the company named Virgil Abloh as the first African-American head at Louis Vuitton menswear. Givenchy and Dior appointed their first female designers in 2017 and 2016, respectively.


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Everyone from the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies to tiny start-ups and leading politicians gathered in Lisbon for the Web Summit conference earlier this month. Billed as a talk shop which “connect[s] the technology community with all industries, both old and new,” the event has now grown to become the largest tech conference worldwide.
But the fact that this event, dubbed by one writer as the “Olympics for geeks,” should take place on European soil this year is perhaps a little ironic, given that the continent is certainly not at the top of the food chain when it comes to new technologies. Despite its better efforts and the size of its economy, Europe still lags behind the US and China in terms of digitization.
For one thing, although estimates vary, only 16 of the world’s 166 unicorns – privately held firms valued at $1 billion or more – were based in Europe last year, according to the database Pitchbook, and overall growth in the number of unicorns has been far slower than in the US.
Founders of tech companies in Europe also tend to stay relatively close to home. According to Startup Headmap Europe, 85% of founders who left their countries to start new tech firms moved to countries that were comparatively nearby, suggesting that Europe’s tech economy is far more siloed than one might think. There is also the issue of funding: most European venture capitalists still prefer to invest domestically, and when firms want to expand internationally, they often have to turn to the US for funding. So far this year, around a quarter of the cash pouring into EU tech start-ups has come from the US.
To try to break down persistent barriers within the EU’s digital economy, Brussels has been promoting regulatory reforms, notably its flagship “digital single market” proposal – but results so far have been middling. Indeed, the European Commission has passed little more than 30 of its digital proposals even though the idea was first floated a decade ago, most recently approving a plan to end the practice of “geoblocking” that prevents EU consumers from easily buying goods sold online in other countries. In a “report card” issued earlier this year by Politico, the Commission received only 51 points out of a possible 100 for progress on the digital single market.
There are a number of ways that Europe can shore up its digital economy – that don’t necessarily involve trying to duplicate the example of Silicon Valley. Instead, national and EU lawmakers should look more closely at the pockets of innovation within their own borders and see how to replicate native success stories more widely – while making efforts to replicate the spirit of the Web Summit, fostering stronger bonds among European founders, venture capitalists, and other key members of the tech community.
French President Emmanuel Macron, for example, has clearly decided that ‘Vive la révolution’ will be his attitude to digitization. With him steering the ship, the country is moving away from a relatively protectionist attitude to the Internet and instead embracing “hyper innovation” as a source of jobs and economic growth. To this end, he has vowed to stimulate venture capital for tech in Europe through a €10 billion French fund for innovation and has also tabled the idea of a central European innovation agency and an ‘EU digital market.’
Granted, many of Macron’s digital policies have yet to come to pass, but he is going in the right direction, and this shift in attitude has the potential to make waves not just in France but across the EU as a whole.
The location where Macron unveiled many of his bold new ideas was Tallinn, Estonia, which in September hosted the Tallinn Digital Summit, where EU heads of state convened on all things digital.
The Estonian capital was a fitting location, since the country’s government runs almost entirely online. Every citizen possesses an 11-digit number that acts as a unique identifier, allowing them to complete all manner of bureaucratic transactions online, from voting to signing contracts. According to officials, Estonia’s system of ‘e-government’ boosts national GDP by 2%. It’s little wonder then that the country – which has declared Internet access a basic human right – is using its current position as President of the Council of the EU to help drive its neighbours’ adoption of digital technology, having listed ‘a digital Europe and the free movement of data’ as one of its key priorities.
Regulation is also key in creating an environment conducive innovation. Malta, for example, has made a name for itself as the ‘Silicon Valley’ of online gaming – with the industry now contributing 12% to its GDP. This success has been underpinned by a solid regulatory framework: Malta was the first EU member state to introduce online gaming regulations that included strong consumer protection laws, offering a self-exclusion database for those who wish to block themselves from gaming websites. The Malta Gaming Authorityhas also been making new efforts to further streamline and modernize its regulatory framework as the industry shifts. For instance, it has been particularly receptive to new technologies in the gaming industry, such as blockchain and cryptocurrencies, laying out a new framework for accepting cryptocurrencies like bitcoin in place of bets. Its reactive approach to developments in the sector marks a significant contrast with the regulatory foot dragging often seen in Brussels and other capitals.
But at this point, the proactive approach of a small handful of governments and a single summit do not amount to a viable strategy for a continent that, on the whole, continues to lag. European lawmakers will have to do much more to ensure that any ideas kindled at the Web Summit truly come to pass – and help raise the number of unicorns within Europe’s borders.
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BtoBet announces newly redesigned group
The multinational iGaming and Sports betting technology partner BtoBet has reshaped its internal structure becoming a larger group today, embracing 2 companies, ITS (I-Trading solution) and IGS (I-Gaming Solutions) that allow the launch of 2 new divisions: BtoBet Sports and BtoBet Games.
ITS is specialized in risk management and trading while IGS is an experienced Games aggregator.
All operating under the same roof and adopting the same foremost technology.
With the new structure, BtoBet offers an even more comprehensive suite of products; Sportsbook platform and services for bookmakers and IGaming Platform and services devoted to the gaming industry.
Commenting on the BtoBet Sports division, BtoBet’s chairman Alessandro Fried stated:
“BtoBet Sports is focused on bookmakers’ needs and sportsbook players’ preferences. A dedicated team ensures the sports-betting brand provides the ultimate betting experience to the bettors. Based on BtoBet’s sports platform Neuron Sport, BtoBet Sports provides a highly customizable frontend for each operator, giving all the tools needed for risk management across all pre-match, live betting and virtual Jackpot betting products.”
About the BtoBet Games division, Fried highlighted:
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To conclude, Alessandro Fried announced:
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NSoft released virtual games on Seven platform for Premier Kladionica
NSoft’s VIP client and market leader from Bosnia and Herzegovina Premier Kladionica has enriched its website offer with Lucky Six and Greyhound Races. The games were released on Seven Platform web channel being the first step of complete transition to the new platform.
Lucky Six and Greyhound Races are known as the best performers on the local virtual games market. Premier decided to go with the Seven web channel after excellent results being achieved by the aforementioned games on their retail channel.
The games are available in the area of the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
NSoft and Premier Kladionica will continue their cooperation and integration of other virtual games using Seven Platform.
Having that in mind NSoft is continuing the expansion on targeted markets and preparing to reveal the novelties at ICE Totally Gaming Show in London on February 4-6, 2018.
In order to learn more about the NSoft’s upcoming projects book a meeting with our sales team following this link: https://goo.gl/xbjTCW.
NSoft provides top quality software solutions for gaming and betting industry, including platform, virtual games, sportsbook, and lotteries.
Our unique approach to customers and creative software solutions positioned us as one of the top providers of innovative products for gaming industry. A combination of great products, great people, and great culture played a key role in our growth. We understand that strong and long-term partnerships are essential for further development, so we joined forces with world’s leading sport data provider – Sportradar. This means our products are available through Betradar’s sales channels.
- SEVEN Platform
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- Lucky Six
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- Live Betting MTS
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- World Numbers Service (Developed in partnership with Betradar)
- Betradar (games available through NSoft’s sales channels)
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Sector within the industry: betting/gaming software provider
Prague Gaming Summit 2020 speaker profile: Panagiotis Skyrlas (Head of Information Security & Compliance – Group DPO at Betano-Stoiximan)
Prague Gaming Summit 2020 speaker profile: Anastasios (Tassos) Panagiotaros (Sales Director at Golden Race – Virtual Sports & Betting Solutions)
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The New York Democrat said at a news conference Sunday outside a Manhattan supermarket that the average price of eggs is up nearly 50 percent this year because of bird flu.
Dominique DeVito shares her recipe for bacon-wrapped meatloaf from her book “Low-Card Slow Cooking,” out now from Cider Press Mill.
Back to school means two things: Friday night parties and Saturday morning hangovers. And if you’ve learned anything this far in your studies, you’ll know the best cure to a hangover is your local BEC.
When it comes to maintaining and even enhancing brain health, choosing the right foods is critically important. These five foods will have your brain working in top gear.
While waiting for the gridiron grill to heat up in readiness for the classic tailgate food of burgers and brats, the hunger bunnies still have to be satisfied. A delicious accompaniment to your beverage of choice while you wait are these two-bite morsels.
Many children kicked off Easter weekend petting real-life bunnies, weighing in at about 20 pounds, at the Queens Zoo in Flushing Meadows Park.
With Tax Day rapidly approaching, we need our minds to be sharp. Check out these tasty foods to help you think.
The movement to allow chickens in New Rochelle was started by sisters 15-year-old Emma and 12-year-old Sophia Piester, who asked permission to own three hens for the purpose of egg consumption.
In this week’s edition of Tony’s Table, host Tony Tantillo makes a west coast favorite. The dish consists of chopped meat, eggs, vegetables, and sourdough bread check it out in the video below.
Brooklyn Grange is a 40,000 square foot rooftop farm in Long Island City, whrere they grow things like the white icicle radish.
If you’ve got a craving for an ostrich egg omelet you might need to find something else to eat.
NEW YORK (AP) — New York State’s agriculture commissioner says a Brooklyn bakery is recalling certain packages of a Mexican bread because they may contain eggs not listed as an ingredient on the label.
Company officials said the engineered fish were perfectly safe, and were asking the FDA for approval.
The salmonella scare may not be over.
An Iowa egg producer is recalling 228 million eggs after being linked to an outbreak of salmonella poisoning.


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Lordstown Motors Signs Purchase Agreement with Foxconn
LORDSTOWN, Ohio – Electric-vehicle manufacturer Lordstown Motors Corp. announced late Wednesday that it has signed a definitive asset purchase agreement with Hon Hai Technology Group, better known as Foxconn, regarding Lordstown’s manufacturing complex.
As previously disclosed Sept. 30, Lordstown Motors entered into an agreement in principle with Foxconn to work jointly on Lordstown Motors’ electric vehicle programs at the automaker’s manufacturing plant here.
As a sign of confidence in the partnership, Foxconn purchased $50 million of common stock directly from Lordstown Motors at a price of $6.8983 per share.
The definitive asset purchase agreement implements the terms of the agreement in principle. It provides for Foxconn to buy the Lordstown facility, excluding certain assets such as the hub motor assembly line and battery module and pack lines, for $230 million.
The announcement comes on the same day that Lordstown Motors announced the appointment of Edward T. Hightower as its new president, replacing Rich Schmidt.
“This partnership marks the commencement of integrating our resources with Lordstown Motors to develop Ohio into Hon Hai’s most important electric vehicle manufacturing and R&D hub in North America,” said Young Liu, chairman of Hon Hai Technology Group, in a prepared statement.
“As we look to inject Hon Hai’s software and hardware capabilities in the information and communications industry with the wealth of automotive experience that resides in this town and our partners, we will be able to provide customers with more real-time and efficient electric vehicle products,” he said.
Additional terms of the asset purchase agreement include:
- Foxconn has agreed to make a down payment of the purchase price of $100 million by Nov. 18, and subsequent down payments of $50 million on each of Feb. 1, 2022 and no later than April 15, 2022. The balance of the purchase price will be paid at closing.
- The parties have agreed to pursue a contract manufacturing agreement for the Endurance pickup truck, which must be entered into before closing—currently targeted by April 30, 2022.
- Lordstown Motors and Foxconn will pursue a joint venture agreement to co-design and develop vehicle programs for the global commercial fleet market, using the MIH open platform. Lordstown and Foxconn would have the right to commercialize these new EV programs in North America and internationally.
- Upon the closing, Foxconn will receive 1.7 million warrants to acquire Lordstown common stock, exercisable for three years, at a price of $10.50 per share.
Lordstown Motors said the Foxconn partnership would unlock the tremendous potential of the plant by getting it to scale faster. At 6.2 million square-feet and 640 acres, the complex was one of the largest internal combustion engine automotive plants in North America. Foxconn has an excellent opportunity to fill the plant, having already announced that the Fisker PEAR program would be manufactured at the complex, the company noted.
“We are happy to have formed a strategic partnership with a company as innovative and forward-thinking as Foxconn, said Daniel Ninivaggi, CEO of Lordstown Motors. “I believe in their EV strategy and look forward to substantial collaboration in the future. In my view, this transaction provides Lordstown a better opportunity to fulfill its original mission of satisfying the growing demand for electric vehicles, particularly in the underserved commercial market, with a more flexible business model.”
Lordstown Motors and all OEMs whose vehicles are built at the plant will benefit from the increased capacity utilization, possible use of common components and shared overhead costs, the company said. The use of shared space and the open platform provides smaller, more specialized OEM’s the opportunity to achieve the benefits of scale without being a large, fully integrated automaker.
Moreover, the partnership with Foxconn should enable Lordstown Motors to significantly reduce its raw material, component and other input costs, Lordstown Motors said. As one of the largest contract manufacturers globally, Foxconn will bring to bear the purchasing power, supply chain network, and logistics capabilities to significantly reduce vehicle production costs and mitigate supply chain risk.
Lordstown Motors also stands to benefit from Foxconn’s expertise in hardware software integration – critical to EVs – given its experience as a multinational electronics manufacturer.
The closing of the transactions contemplated by the purchase agreement is subject to closing conditions, including entry into the contract manufacturing agreement, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.


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Suspect wanted in Nordstrom theft case
Honolulu police are asking the public to help identify a man wanted in a theft investigation.
On Aug. 9 at around 5 p.m., the man grabbed some merchandise and left the store without paying, according to HPD's website.
If you have any information on this case, call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.
Click here to see Hawaii mug shots on your mobile device.
Copyright 2013 by KITV All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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The National Association of Realtors reports on existing home sales for December; analysts expect an annual rate of 4,370,000, down 10,000 from November.
Mitsubishi Bank/Schroder Wertheim and LJR Redbook Research report on weekly retail sales.
The Labor Department reports the employment cost index for December; analysts expect an increase of 0.9 percent.
The Conference Board reports its index of consumer confidence for January; analysts expect 132.1, down 2.4 from December.
The Commerce Department reports durable-goods orders for December; analysts expect a decline of 3.1 percent.
The Labor Department reports initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week; analysts expect 328,000, up 2,000 from last week.
The Commerce Department reports the preliminary gross domestic product for the fourth quarter; analysts expect real growth of 3.4 percent at an annual rate.Continue reading the main story
The Purchasing Managers Association of Chicago reports its monthly index of manufacturing activity in the Midwest; analysts expect a January reading of 57.4, down 0.7 from December.Continue reading the main story


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Kershaw County Library Announces Roll Con 2023
Camden, SC – Kershaw County Library is excited to announce the third annual Roll Con on Saturday, November 4 from 12-5 PM. This free event is being held at the Kershaw County Recreation Department, located at 1042 W. DeKalb Street in Camden.
Roll Con is a celebration of all things gaming and game culture. It will feature spaces for the open play of tabletop games as well as mini Dungeon and Dragons style campaigns that will be held throughout the day for anyone ages 11 to adult. There will be giant outdoor games like chess and Connect-4. Goods will be available for purchase from local small business vendors and food trucks will be present. There will be a cosplay contest for both kids and adults, in addition to book giveaways and raffles. This is a family-friendly event and is open to everyone.
More information on contests, vendors, and specific events can be found here.


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YouTube, the video streaming giant, and a part of search engine giant Google has released a lot of additional services as well as improved the existing services.
The services launched has offer user a better video streaming services with original video content as well as it offers power in hands of the YouTubers to tackle with the issue of the duplicity of original content, to improve user experience and avoid any sort of piracy issue.
However, there are a lot of features and services introduced in 2018 in a lot of applications and service provide by Google which includes YouTube as well. The platform does not seem like to stop in any time soon. This time the video streaming giant brought us a new feature with a hope of making the user experience even better
It is not at all new, in the case of YouTube, that it is experimenting with something new, whether is it like auto-developed thumbnails and/or inclusion of GIF-like video previews. Currently, the video-streaming and video-sharing platforms are testing a new Explore tab to see how it is going to improve the user experience and behavior on the platform.
Just like the explore tab of Instagram, the new experiment executing by YouTube with the explore tab will allow users to search for more videos, channels, and topic that might go deep under the flood of newly uploaded videos. This feature has aimed directly towards the creators, and to ensure that their videos will be visible to the browser which might have an interest in them.
For an instance, consider you are watching a few videos of telescopes, you might end up seeing some of the high-end cameras in your explore tab. The Explore tab will possibly have their own new shelves in their region, along with trending videos and on the rise videos.
Initially, 1% of the iOS users will encounter the primary test.


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Almost a month after adopting Bitcoin as a legal tender, the Central African Republic, CAR has announced its plan to create a “crypto economic zone” that will enable people to transact using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies tax-free.
“Following the unanimous adoption by the National Assembly of the bitcoin legal tender status, we are pleased to showcase the first concrete initiative! It goes beyond politics and administration, and has the potential to reshape CAR's financial system,” Faustin-Archange Touadera, the President of the Republic tweeted.
The initiative is tagged “Project Sango”, and it will attract crypto professionals and enthusiasts to work and live in the country, according to a whitepaper released by CAR. As part of plans to implement the initiative, the nation will establish a Digital National Bank.
Project Sango will also allow users to manage NFTs in the metaverse in order to unlock additional functionalities like marketplace ownership, funding and tokenization of assets.
To ensure the effective implementation of this initiative, the CAR said it will facilitate land acquisition in Bitcoin for worldwide investors and also enable access to the country's natural resources. Meanwhile, the whitepaper did not indicate when the investment hub would be open or how it would operate.
However, it stated the nation's ambition to complete the Central African Backbone (CAB) internet interconnection and also become the first African country to create a dedicated legal framework for cryptocurrencies before the end of 2022.
The proposed legal framework will focus on an e-residency program, citizenship by investment, online business registration, zero income and corporate tax, digital identity and ownership, crowdfunding and a tokenization framework and the creation of a Digital National Bank (as I earlier stated).
The Central African Republic and its inadequacies.
CAR's adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender attracted several criticisms and warnings from various analysts and the International Monetary Fund, IMF.
Per Bloomberg, IMF has said that the Central African Republic’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender poses several issues for the country and the region.
“The adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender in CAR raises major legal, transparency, and economic policy challenges. IMF staff are assisting the regional and Central African Republic’s authorities in addressing the concerns posed by the new law.” the Fund stated.
The Central African Republic is lagging behind in the expansion of broadband Internet connections. Around 10% of all residents have access to the Internet. DataReportal describes internet penetration in the country as “stubbornly low”.
However, Kepios analysis indicates that internet users in the Central African Republic increased by 61 thousand (+20.8 percent) between 2021 and 2022.
For perspective, these user figures reveal that 4.61 million people in the Central African Republic did not use the internet at the start of 2022, meaning that 92.9 percent of the population remained offline at the beginning of the year.
Despite the concerns, the CAR said “Project Sango goes beyond politics and administration; it is a new model of economic governance and a vector for strategic alternative digital investments, presenting minimal risk, greater fluidity and adaptability, specific to the new digital era in which the world finds itself today.”


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Leeds has been found to be the most expensive UK city to rent a desk, based on average daily rates per person, according to new research findings.
To support small businesses which may be looking to hire desk spaces, takepayments’ new research reveals average prices for desk hire in major UK cities. While many would assume London would be hardest on the purse strings, the capital actually ranks third most expensive at £26.04, behind Leeds (£26.79) and Southampton (£26.67).
UK workers are going into the office an average of 1.5 days a week, according to new research from the Consultancy Advanced Workplace Associates. Their recent survey also suggests that Fridays are the quietest days of the week, with only 13% making the commute and going into the office. On average, office attendance is 29%, with a peak of 39% mid-week.
Sandra Rowley, Head of Marketing at takepayments, that undertook the research, says, “With statistics showing that most people commute to work mid-week, co-working facilities across the UK are most likely to be busier on these days, which will inevitably lead to higher footfall in city and town centres. This is promising news for high street business owners who could be offering mid-week specials and deals to encourage customers to visit.”
The average price to rent a desk in the UK is £21.79, however there are a number of spaces that exceed this and offer plenty of perks. The most expensive space found in the research is Building Bloqs in London, costing £60 per person per day to hire a desk. For this price, guests can enjoy free parking in central London, an on-site barista, standing desks and even a 3D printer.
Meanwhile, Wolverhampton is home to the cheapest desk rental: The Hub at Ashmore Park at just £3 per person per day. Amenities here are much more limited of course, but still offer guests everything they need for a productive day in the office.
Prices aside, recent research has found demand for flexible workspaces is on a significant upward trajectory. So, where are the hidden hotspots across the UK which are meeting this demand?
As to be expected, London offers the highest density of co-working spaces. However, regional hubs are starting to emerge, with Leeds, Bristol, Brighton and Newcastle all offering plenty of choice. Brighton is in fact home to the highest volume of office spaces per 1,000 people, followed by Chichester, Bath, Exeter and Newcastle.
Sandra Rowley, Head of Marketing at takepayments, shares what these findings mean for small businesses in 2022: “Coworking spaces are no longer exclusive to London. We’ve seen demand for this type of office space steadily increase for some time, and naturally the pandemic has accelerated that growth.
“It’s encouraging to see hubs emerging in regions across the UK, providing small business owners and managers with the valuable space they need to collaborate and deliver for their customers. We hope that by doing the number crunching and sharing the average prices to expect, we can support our customers in making an informed decision when looking to rent desk space.”


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Wipro celebrates four years in Bangladesh
Wipro Limited, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, has completed its fourth year of operations in Bangladesh during which it has emerged as a leading player in the country with its technology leadership, delivery excellence and proven global experience in supporting the transformation roadmaps of its key customers, said a press release of the company.
One of Wipro’s most notable customer relationships in Bangladesh is with Grameenphone Ltd., Bangladesh’s leading telecom enterprise. In 2017, Wipro signed a five-year IT infrastructure and applications managed services contract with Grameenphone. This strategic partnership has aligned closely with Wipro’s vision to localise, expand its technology and domain presence, and explore new business opportunities in the region.
In the past four years, Wipro has owned and managed the end-to-end applications development and maintenance, infrastructure support and maintenance, and security for Grameenphone. Supported by Wipro's expertise and strong loal delivery capabilities, Grameenphone has modernized its technology infrastructure and simplified its applications portfolio, thereby enhancing its efficiency and reducing the time-to-market for new products and services. In addition, back-office processes have been automated, and customer journeys have been digitized for a superior end-user experience across their digital touchpoints, said the release.
Rade Kovacevic, CTO, Grameenphone said, “Wipro has been instrumental in the digitalization journey of Grameenphone over the last four years. Their global expertise, future-fit capabilities and innovation efforts have added significant value to supporting our customers with valuable connectivity services. We look forward to an exciting journey through this tech partnership in the future.”
Bhavya Kapoor, Managing Director – Southeast Asia, Wipro Limited said, "Wipro has worked towards building an IT base in the region and has a dedicated localization policy. We are encouraged by our growing presence in Bangladesh and are committed to accelerating our customers’ growth by leveraging Wipro's strengths, providing progressive and innovative IT solutions, and partnering with them in their digital transformation journey.”


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- Multiple members of the Trump administration on Wednesday began looking to downplay the potential fallout from the brewing trade battle between the US and China.
- China’s retaliatory tariff announcement sent the stock market tumbling as people worried about broader economic pain.
- Following soothing words from officials like Larry Kudlow and Wilbur Ross, the market rebounded.
Some of President Donald Trump’s top officials on Wednesday sought to walk back the possibility of a trade war with China as markets jolted up and down most of the day.
“There’s no trade war here,” Kudlow said on Fox Business. “What you’ve got is the early stages of a process which will include tariffs, comments on the tariffs, then ultimate decisions and negotiations. There’s already back channel talks going on.”
Kudlow also told reporters on the White House lawn that “it’s possible” the tariffs will never actually be imposed. The proposed product list is currently open for comments and the US Trade Representative will review the comments until the end of May.
Following Kudlow's remarks, stocks rallied after tumbling to start of the day. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day over 800 points above its low.
"Even shooting wars end with negotiations. Somebody signs a treaty with someone else," Ross said on CNBC. It has whatever terms it has. So it wouldn't be surprising at all if the net outcome of all this is some sort of negotiation."
But Ross would not commit to such a negotiation getting done by the end of May, when the tariffs are supposed to go into effect.
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue also sought to assure farmers that the trade fight wouldn't hit their businesses, despite China targeting major US agricultural products as part of their retaliatory tariffs.
"I talked to the president as recently as last night," Perdue said during an event in Ohio. "And he said, 'Sonny, you can assure your farmers out there that we're not going to allow them to be the casualties if this trade dispute escalates. We're going to take care of our American farmers. You can tell them that directly.'"
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders declined to say Wednesday whether the tariffs were simply a negotiating tactic.
"I'm not going to get ahead of the process, where we are, we're in the review process, but certainly we expect China to make changes and stop the unfair trade practices they've participated in for decades," Sanders told reporters.
Sanders did say that declines in the stock market were not a concern.
"We may have a little bit of short-term pain, but we're certainly going to have long-term success and we're focused on long-term economic principles," Sanders said.


text: After sending an invite to press teasing ”the next generation” of its “most popular family of devices,” Verizon has announced the launch of three new Droid devices made by Motorola: the $199 Droid Ultra, the $299 Droid Maxx, and the $99 Droid Mini. All three are available for pre-order now, and will ship on August 20th. According to The Verge, Motorola says the Droid Ultra “is is all about thin,” while the Maxx “is about battery.” The Droid Mini is apparently ”compact without compromise.” These devices will serve as a replacement to last year’s line of RAZR products. All three phones reportedly have a 24 percent faster CPU, a 100 percent faster GPU, twice the RAM, Kevlar backing, and ”touchless control,” a feature that we heard would arrive on the upcoming Moto X. The Droid Ultra features a 5-inch “HD” 1080p display, 2,130 mAH battery, 7.2 MM-thin body, 10-megapixel camera capable of 1080p video and a f2.4 lens.


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DealShare’s total expenses jumped over three-fold to INR 306.4 Cr in FY21 from INR 57.4 Cr in FY20
The rise in expenses was primarily driven by a significant rise in expenses for the purchase of stock-in-trade
The social commerce startup’s revenue from operations grew over 300% to INR 236.8 Cr in FY21
Social commerce unicorn DealShare reported a 134% rise in its net loss to INR 67 Cr in the financial year 2020-21 (FY21) from INR 30 Cr in FY20 on the back of an over three-fold increase in its total expenses.
DealShare’s revenue from operations grew 312.3% to INR 236.8 Cr in FY21 from INR 57.4 Cr in the previous fiscal year.
Unlike FY20, when the startup’s revenue from the sale of services was zero, it reported a revenue of INR 73.8 Lakh for it in FY21.
However, its total expenses grew to INR 306.4 Cr in FY21 from INR 88.5 Cr in FY20, led by a significant rise in expenses for the purchase of stock-in-trades.
While the purchase of stock-in-trade expenses jumped about 267% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 242.2 Cr in FY21, finance costs also rose to INR 2.24 Cr from INR 44.7 Lakh in FY20.
The startup’s employee benefit expenses more than doubled to INR 29.6 Cr in FY21 from INR 12 Cr in the previous fiscal year, while other expenses, including discounting charges, freight and logistic costs, advertising and promotional expenses, increased over 132% to INR 41.8 Cr.
DealShare, founded in 2018 by Vineet Rao, Sourjyendu Medda, Sankar Bora and Rajat Shikhar, enables first-time internet users to shop online. The platform targets the mass-market population in Tier-2, 3 towns that have a monthly household income of less than INR 50,000.
The startup entered the unicorn club in January this year after raising $165 Mn in its Series E round. It raised another $45 Mn as part of its Series E funding round from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) in February, taking its total valuation to $1.7Bn.
DealShare was the fourth unicorn of 2022, while 15 startups have entered the unicorn club in 2022 so far. Earlier this week, SaaS startup LeadSquared entered the unicorn club after raising $153 Mn from WestBridge in a Series C round.
Meanwhile, the social commerce industry in India is expected to grow exponentially each year. As per a Research and Markets report, the social commerce gross merchandise value (GMV) in the country will increase to $143.6 Bn by 2028 from $8.3 Bn in 2022, recording a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 62.4% between 2022 and 2028.


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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 29/8
Supporting industry exhibitions open in Hanoi
Three exhibitions relating to supporting industries opened on August 27 at Hanoi International Centre for Exhibition.
At the opening ceremony, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, Nguyen Van Su said that organising the three exhibitions taking place at the same place is a good opportunity for supporting industry businesses to seek their partners in the field as well as take a closer look at various advanced technologies and products.
A total of 200 companies from 20 countries and territories showcase their products such as spare parts, machines and equipment serving supporting industries.
The exhibitions are expected to draw some 11,000 businesses and importers to visit and seek partnership.
The three-day event is hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in collaboration with the Thai company Reed Tradex.
Industrial production increases 6.3 percent in first eight months
Compared to the same period last year, the industrial production index was up 6.7 percent in August and 6.3 percent in the first eight months, reported the General Statistics Office.
In the eight months, manufacturing and processing increased 8.1 percent, electricity production and distribution was up 11.2 percent. Waste and wastewater treatment hiked 6.2 percent but mining continued falling to 0.8 percent.
The country has 47,500 new companies in the eight months with registered capital of VND289.8 trillion, down 9.5 percent in the number of companies and up 14.2 percent in capital.
44,500 enterprises have been forced to shut down or temporarily stop operation because of the economic slowdown, a 12.9 percent year on year increase. 10,900 shutdown companies have resumed operation, up 2.6 percent.
Ten young entrepreneurs to receive 2014 Red Star Award
Vietnam Young Entrepreneur Association held a press conference on August 25 to announce the 5th national congress of the Viet Nam Youth Federation and 2014 Red Star Award.
The congress will take place in Ha Noi on August 30-31 with participation of 1,000 delegates.
Within the framework of the congress, the 2014 Red Star Award granting ceremony will be also held at National Convention Center in the evening of August 31.
10 youth among 100 outstanding businessmen will be granted the Red Star Awards by their success in doing business and contributing in the social development.
Vietnam Young Entrepreneur Association presented at 63 provinces across the country with participation of nearly 10,000 members.
Statistics showed that total revenue of 100 enterprises reached VND 320,696 billion in 2013.
The Red Star Award, established in 1999, has recognized 87 outstanding young entrepreneurs, who create successful businesses and have great contributions to the social development.
PM calls for greater efforts to keep 5.8% economic growth
It is imperative to focus on alleviating business difficulties and stimulating agricultural and industrial and service growth in order to achieve a 5.8% economic growth rate set for this year.
Prime Minister Nguyen Ta Dung stressed the need at a regular cabinet meeting in Hanoi on August 27 which reviewed the socio-economic performance for the eight months of this year.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI) report showed that the reviewed period saw continued socio-economic recovery, ensured social welfare, and positive changes and improvements in all economic sectors.
Export growth was maintained with trade surplus while inflation was controlled at a low level and market prices were kept stable.
The MoPI reported that GDP growth in three quarters is estimated at 5.54%. However, the socio-economic development situation still face numerous difficulties due to macroeconomic infirmness, slow growth of aggregate demand, lower credit growth, and obstacles for business’ access to bank loans and ineffective settlement of bad debts.
In his speech, PM Dung applauded the joint efforts by ministries, sectors and localities to stabilize the macro-economy towards this year’s growth target of 5.8%. 12 out of 14 targets set for 2014 were fulfilled or exceed.
The Government leader urged all sectors to do their utmost to reach all the set targets, thus providing a solid underpinning for ensuring year-on-year growth.
PM Dung suggested they should concentrate their attention on increasing aggregate demand of the economy by increasing credit outstanding balance associated with improving credit quality, dealing with bad debts, increasing disbursement and investment and combating fake and imitation goods in order to protect and boost domestic production.
Dung placed importance of restructuring the national economy with a focus on restructuring State-owned enterprise (SoEs), commercial banks and agriculture and preventing loss and wastage.
Regarding administrative reform, PM Dung asked relevant agencies to devise proper solutions for boosting production and investment, improving the business environment and sharpening national competitiveness.
"From now until the end of the year and next year, dealing with customs procedures will be reduced by half from the current level, tax formalities to 200 hours from 500 hours, insurance procedures to less than 100 hours from 300 hours. Procedures for investment, construction, land management, access to electricity will drop from one thirds to half compared to the current level. Ministers have pledged their utmost efforts to streamline all cumbersome procedures to improve the investment environment and the national economy’s competitiveness.” Dung said.
In terms of socio-economic tasks for 2015, he asked cabinet members to focus on practical solutions and measures aimed at exceeding this year’s GDP growth to reach 6.0-6.2% as estimated by the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
Vietnam simplifies corporate tax payment procedures
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has announced that a number of regulations are to be scrapped or modified in an effort to reduce the time it takes enterprises to pay their taxes.
The changes will come into effect from September 1 and they are expected to save more than 200 hours each year for businesses.
This is the first step towards the Government’s goal to cut the time it takes enterprises to prepare and pay taxes by no more than 300 hours each year by the end of 2014.
According to the MOF’s Circular 119/2014/TT-BTC, enterprises do not have to declare and pay value added tax (VAT) when re-importing goods returned by foreign companies.
They will now only have to do so when the returned goods never left Vietnamese territory.
The MOF is also abolishing several other regulations to ease administrative procedures for enterprises.
MOF officials said the changes are designed to facilitate corporate tax payment and would not affect tax revenues.
According to World Bank data, it took an average of 872 hours per year for an enterprise to prepare, file and pay the three major types of taxes in 2013.
Indonesian firms explore M&As
Vietnam and Indonesia are seeing big merger and acquisition opportunities.
At last week’s conference on promoting investment in Vietnam, organised in Indonesia by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) in co-operation with Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board, Indonesian Cement CEO Dwi Soetipto said the group had acquired a 70 per cent stake in the Thang Long Cement Plant in the northern province of Quang Ninh several years ago.
“This deal has been a success story, prompting many Indonesian investors to turn to the Vietnamese market now,” he said.
The conference saw an impressive 150 Indonesian firms turn up. They were also joined by Vietnamese businesses such as the State Capital Investment Corporation - the state shareholder in Vietnamese enterprises, VPBank Securities (VPBS), PetroVietnam Power Corporation, PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation, Hanoi Housing Development and Investment Corporation, and Hanoi Urban Development, Construction and Investment Consulting Joint Stock Company.
At the conference, Barry David Weisblatt, head of research at VPBS, told Indonesian participants about investment opportunities in Vietnam via merger and acquisition (M&A), particularly in retail, banking, construction and production of consumer goods.
Known as a leading advisor for M&A deals in Vietnam, VPBS representatives said that the firm had been selected by some Indonesian firms to provide them with advisory services for their M&A deals in Vietnam in the coming time.
Established in 2006, VPBS has become one of the largest securities firms in Vietnam with chartered capital of VND800 billion (nearly $40 million). The firm aims to be a market leader by 2015 with differentiated products and services.
The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry also announced that many Indonesian firms were set to visit Vietnam next montth to investigate M&A opportunities.
Both Nguyen Xuan Thuy, Vietnam’s Ambassador to Indonesia and Mahendra Siregar, chairman of Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board, said better understandings between the two sides would need to be developed in order for enterprises from both nations to conduct M&As. Vietnam’s M&A market value increased from $1 billion in 2008 to $5 billion in 2012, with successful big deals also involving Indonesian investors. In early August 2014, the Vietnam M&A Forum, jointly organised by VIR and AVM Company, also drew major attention from local and foreign firms.
Vietnam’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) started undergoing a comprehensive restructuring process via equitisation many years ago, but it is just the present time when the process has been strongly accelerated. The Vietnamese government’s target is to equitise 432 SOEs in 2014 and 2015, while state capital in non-core businesses will be divested.
Out of the 432 SOEs slated for equitisation by the end of next year, 348 have established equitisation steering committees, 247 have conducted a formal business valuation, 88 have had their valuations approved by the government. Significantly, 55 SOEs have had their equitisation plans approved by the government, including the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) and Vinalines.
Of the 55 SOEs approved for equitisation, 32 are currently listed on either the Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh stock exchanges, while the rest held their auctions directly at their offices or at securities firms.
In telecommunications sector, for example, in mid-June the prime minister made a decision to separate VMS – the operator of Mobifone, from its parent company VNPT to better carry out its equitisation plan, which the prime minister is expected to approve within this year. Though Mobifone’s value and plan to sell shares to foreign strategic partners have yet to be finalised, there may be a number of competitors vying for Mobifone shares.
MPI’s Minister Bui Quang Vinh stressed that Vietnam’s equitisation programme was creating new M&A opportunities, and that a new M&A wave would serve to boost the equitisation and economic restructuring process in Vietnam.
While Vietnam has seen a fast rising influx of M&A deals from foreign investors, Vietnamese firms are similarly closing their own deals outside of Vietnam’s borders.
Not long ago FPT signed a deal with RWE Group, under which it will purchase RWE IT Slovakia. This was FPT’s first M&A deal in a foreign market. In late December 2013, Vinamilk announced its acquisition of 70 per cent of US-backed Driftwood Dairy. In August 2012, Viettel Global bought a 65 per cent stake in Tanzania’s Epocha & Golden Ocean Tanzania Ltd (Egotel). In October 2012 PetroVietnam announced it had concluded its purchase of Oil Block No67 on the Maranon River in Peru.
Bank employees still living large despite doldrums
Despite difficulties in the banking sector, employees are still enjoying high wages.
Many banks recently released first-half financial statements that showed employee incomes at many banks are still high, despite the institutions’ hardships.
Vietcombank’s first-half consolidated financial statement showed that its second-quarter after-tax profits rose 22 per cent on-year to VND1.06 trillion ($50.4 million), bringing the bank’s six-month after-tax profit to VND2.23 trillion ($106.2 million), a 12.4 per cent bump compared to the first six months of 2013.
Also in the first half, Vietcombank earmarked VND1.55 trillion ($73.9 million) for staff remuneration, averaging VND112 million ($5,300)/6 months and VND18.6 million ($885) per capita per month.
As of June 30, the bank consisted of its headquarters, one transaction bureau, one training centre, 89 branches, and a rep office in Singapore with total staff numbering 13,873.
In the first six months of 2014, Military Bank (MB) posted VND1.33 trillion ($63.7 million) in post-tax profits, slightly down on-year.
As of June 30, the bank reported its staff at 6,389 with more than VND689 billion ($32.8 million) in total income, averaging nearly VND18 million ($857) per capita per month.
BIDV also caved its name among banks taking the lead in staff payments, at nearly VND19 million ($904) per capita per month.
With total after-tax profits reaching VND614 billion ($29.2 million) in the second quarter this year, up 34 per cent on-year, and six-month cumulative profits at VND1.2 trillion ($57.2 million), up nearly 9 per cent on-year, Sacombank has scaled-up recruitment.
As of June 30, the bank had a reported headcount of 11,089 people, up 303 compared to the end of the first quarter.
The bank’s payroll reached VND1.07 trillion ($51 million) in the first half, averaging VND16.1 million ($766) per capita per month.
The employees at VietinBank, Techcombank and ACB respectively reported average monthly pay of VND17.9 trillion ($852), VND16.9 million ($804), and VND15.5 million ($738).
Salaries at public banks such as PVcomBank, OceanBank, PGBank, and Saigon-Hanoi Bank were also relatively high, in the range of VND10-12 million ($476-$571) per capita per month.
E-tax service launched in 15 cities, provinces
By the end of August 2014, the General Department of Taxation will launch e-tax service at 15 cities and provinces nationwide.
These localities include Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Hai Duong, Phu Tho, Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Quang Binh, Da Nang, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau.
Earlier, from February to July this year, the taxation sector piloted e-tax service for 246 people in Ha Noi, 11 in Bac Ninh Province and 40 in Vinh Phuc Province with a total amount of VND208.6 billion.
The service helps economize travelling cost and time for transactions and simplify procedures.
Between the end of 2014 and August 2015, the taxation sector had set to expand the connection with other commercial banks in the work and launch e-tax service nationwide.
Inflation slows to 4.73% in August
Vietnam’s annual inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), eased to 4.73% in August from the 4.94% rate in July, the General Statistics Office (GSO) has reported.
Compared with the previous month, consumer prices increased by 0.22%, official data released by the GSO on August 24 showed.
Inflation slowed in August as a result of decreases in transport costs, building materials, utility bills and telecommunications as well as slight increases in other commodities in the basket used to calculate the CPI.
Building materials and utility bills as a single category posted a one-month drop of 0.31% while transport costs also fell by 0.06%, mainly driven by recent petrol price cuts.
Last week, the retail price of RON92 petrol, the most common type of fuel in Vietnam, was cut by VND600 to VND24,210 per litre, the third cut within a month.
In August, food costs and restaurant services went up by 0.45% from the previous month, boosted by respective increases of 0.45%, 0.54% and 0.16% in the prices of food, foodstuff and eating out.
The GSO said the reason for such a large increase in this category was stronger demand for food for the Hungry Ghost Festival, rising meat production costs and rice exporters rushing to buy grain to meet orders.
Garments and education costs rose by 0.32% and 0.22% respectively due to higher demand for clothes, footwear and stationery products ahead of a new academic year.
In August, the prices of gold and the US dollar, which were not included in the CPI basket, dropped by 0.34% and 0.26% respectively.
SDI shares snapped up at IPO
Hanoi Sport Development and Investment Company (SDI) sold out 7.8 million shares at its initial public offering (IPO) last Friday at an average price of VND31,000 a share.
Eight investors, including three institutions, took part in the auction, bidding for a volume 3.5 times higher than that put up for sale.
Some investors bid to buy up the 7.8 million shares while others offered to pay VND40,000 a share, four times higher than the starting price.
Closing the session, three individual investors acquired the shares at around VND31,000 each, with foreign investors buying over 3.8 million shares. The firm raised over VND244 billion at the IPO.
The successful bidding was credited to SDI’s ownership of several land lots at prime sites in Hanoi City. The firm reported meager after-tax profit of around VND2-3 billion a year in 2012-2013
In the coming time, the company plans to speed up investments in offices for lease and venture with foreign partners to improve revenues. It will also focus on sport equipment business.
DOJI Group gets gold assessment license
The Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality under the Ministry of Science and Technology has awarded a gold assessment license to DOJI Institute & Laboratory for Gemology and Jewelry (DOJILAB) under DOJI Gold & Gems Group.
DOJI is the first enterprise in Vietnam to have such a license, which allows it to assess the content of gold jewelry and artistic products on the market.
To win the license, DOJI has to meet requirements on testing machines, assessor qualifications and prestige.
The ministry’s Circular 22/2013/TT-BKHCN regulates that standards of quality and measurement of the gold jewelry items traded on the local market must be written in a code with the correct gold content.
The circular is aimed to prevent the production and trading of substandard gold products and help law enforcement agencies tackle violations effectively.
SOEs told to spur divestments from non-core operations
The Government has called on State-owned business groups and corporations to speed up divestments from non-core business operations, including banking, real estate and securities, this year and next year.
Excessive investments of State-owned business groups and corporations in non-core areas, particularly banking and finance, have caused big concerns, according to a report on chinhphu.vn about conclusions by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at a conference on the restructuring of State-owned enterprises (SOE) earlier this month.
The Prime Minister ordered the central bank to urgently propose solutions to dealing with SOEs’ investments in finance firms and commercial banks in connection with the restructuring of commercial banks.
He demanded that ministries, agencies, localities, State business groups and corporations tell their enterprises currently in the process of asset assessment to announce the results of asset valuations in the third quarter so that their equitilization plans can be approved in the fourth quarter of this year.
Their listing schedules must also be clarified in decisions on their equitilization plans.
SOEs which cannot launch initial public offerings as regulated may continue to operate as joint stock firms with shareholders being the State, State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC), trade unions, employees, strategic investors or voluntary shareholders if they can find to diversify their list of shareholders.
Public utilities, including those in urban environment, water supply and drainage, may have its majority of chartered capital held by domestic investors if they commit to ensure the quality of their services for the public.
Around 432 SOEs are scheduled to go public towards the end of 2015 and this target is seen obtainable as the tempo of SOE equitization in the January-July period was faster than the same period last year, according to the Steering Committee for Enterprise Reform and Development.
In the period, State corporations and groups divested a total of less than VND2.98 trillion, three times higher than last year, but the divestment process was still slower than expected.
There were some 76 enterprises restructured in the first seven months of this year, with 55 equitized, two dissolved, one sold, 15 merged and three filing for bankruptcy. As of July, the Prime Minister had approved the restructuring plans of 20 State-owned groups and corporations.
Ministry determines to streamline tra fish industry
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has showed determination to streamline the tra fish industry which has suffered consequences from quick and uncontrollable development for the last decade.
Tra fish prices have been in a long reduction in the Mekong Delta. Farmers suffer losses and are unaffordable to continue production. Businesses face full of hardship due to low export price and technical barriers from import countries.
According to the Seafood Departments in the Mekong Delta's provinces, tra fish farming area reached 4,469 hectares in the delta as of August. Productivity averaged 273 tons per hectare.
Eighty seven percent of tra fish farming area and productivity are from An Giang, Dong Thap, Ben Tre Provinces and Can Tho City.
One decade ago, tra fish export had many advantages. A lot of tra fish islands sprouted on Hau River with the appearance of several tra fish billionaires.
Afterwards so many people from jewelry shopkeepers, duck breeders, real estate enterprises and even officials jumped into the profitable industry. They opened more farms and processing plants.
The quick development of tra fish industry has been out of control causing much consequence. Breeders have been unable to sell their fish, forcing the central government to help seeking consumption sources for several times.
According to experts, tra fish industry most developed in 2001-2005 and slowed down in 2006-2009. From 2009 to 2013, farming area reduced 0.7 percent per year.
The developed phase has gone by and the tra fish industry has entered a recession.
Households with limited capital have had to quit farming. Only rich households and large businesses are able to stay in. However most of them are underperforming partly due to high costs.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development are determined to tackle long lasting issues and unleash development of the tra fish industry. The ministry is implementing a Government’s recently issued decree on tra fish farming, processing and export.
According to the decree, tra fish farming locations must be reset up. By the end of next year, all farms must meet VietGap quality standards.
Businesses must register their export contracts with the Vietnam Pangasius Association. They must get the association’s confirmation for customs clearance.
Despite of receiving agreement from the fish breeders and local authorities, the decree has faced objection from businesses, saying it lengthens the list of export procedures.
At present, they must get quality certificate for their export products from the National Agro, Forestry, Fisheries Quality Assurance Department. They also do other procedures for customs clearance and booking vessels.
Businesses have also raised objection against a floor price regulation in the decree. Import markets are in different demand of the fish quality, resulting in different export price and purchasing price too, they said.
It is easy to understand why they react like that. Long since, the businesses have decided buying prices and export prices themselves and it is caused unhealthy competitiveness such as selling low quality product or dumping.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development affirmed that they would manage the tra fish industry from sources of breeding fish to farming, processing and exports. All phases must comply with current regulations.
Registration with the Pangasius Association is to prevent businesses from paying farmers lower than the floor prices and ensure that processed products are qualified. Unless meeeting this regulation, businesses will not be permitted to export.
The regulation also aims to grasp market demand from which the ministry can plan suitable farming scales to protect farmers from undergoing losses due to superfluous supply and tumbled prices.
According to Vietnam Customs, tra fish export turnover reached $890 million by mid July, down 2.12 percent from a year ago.
EU becomes the largest importer of Vietnamese tra fish with $189.57 million. At the second position is the US with $163.12 million, a year on year fall of 32 percent.
Vietnam exports tra fish products to 137 countries and territories worldwide.
ASEAN and China agree to negotiate upgrade of ACFTA
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China have agreed to negotiate for an upgraded ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) in order to ensure that the ACFTA remains dynamic and facilitates trade activities, said a joint statement from the two sides.
The consultations between ASEAN economic ministers and the Chinese Minister of Commerce (AEM-MOFCOM) took place in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on August 26, under the framework of the 46th ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting.
The ministers said that the agreement to upgrade the ACFTA reflects the positive relations between the two sides and helps deepen their economic co-operation in a mutually beneficial manner.
They also pledged to expedite the conclusion of the Custom Procedures and Trade Facilitation (CPTF) negotiations and to report progress made to the next AEM-MOFCOM consultations.
China remains ASEAN’s largest trade partner, with two-way trade hitting US$350.5 billion in 2013, up 7.7% from the previous year, accounting for 14% of the bloc’s total trade turnover.
The ministers reaffirmed their commitment to bringing the figure to US$500 billion by the end of 2015, said the statement.
Established in January 1, 2010, ACFTA covers a population of 1. 8 billion, with a total gross domestic product of US$6 trillion and trade reaching US$4.5 trillion. It represents the biggest FTA made up of developing countries in the world.
Senior ASEAN environmental officials gather in Laos
The 25th Meeting of ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment (ASOEN) kicked off in the Lao capital city of Vientiane on August 26.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Moemany Nhoybouakong, head of the Lao delegation and Vice Chair of the 25th ASOEN meeting, highlighted the challenges and difficulties that ASEAN needs to solve. He then then suggested the bloc intensify co-operation in the region to deal with the impacts of climate change sustainably and encourage the private sector’s active involvement in the use and management of natural resources.
She affirmed the Lao Government’s strong commitments to implement principles of the ASEAN Agreement on Trans-boundary Haze Pollution and other environment-related plans and strategies.
During the three-day meeting, delegates will hear reports from ASEAN environment ministerial meetings in the past year.
Proposals of ASOEN working groups on issues relating to; climate change, the marine and coastal environment, education on the environment, natural conservation and bio-diversity, as well as reports on water source management, ASEAN co-operation in environmental technology and sustainable consumption and production are also expected to be delivered at the event.
The meeting’s outcomes will be submitted to the 15th unofficial meeting of ASEAN environment ministers scheduled for October 27-31.
Scientists stress request to develop sci-tech human resource
Scientists of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) have stressed the request to develop future scientific researchers, at a working session with Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee President, Nguyen Thien Nhan on August 26.
According to Director of Institute of Materials Science, Nguyen Quang Liem, human resources mobilised in science and technology have not yet met the quest for the sector’s development.
He cited that under Vietnam’s National Strategy for Science and Technology Development, Vietnam targets 90,000 working in the field. The figure, according to him is modest in comparison with neighbouring countries, such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore where six or seven people out of 1,000 people work in the field.
His opinion was supported by Director of the Institute for Environmental Technology, Nguyen Hoai Chau. Chau pointed out that research institute units have been allocated with limited quota for official personnel, which leads to the lack of human resources for the institutes, while causing difficulties for young and talented scientists who want to apply for jobs.
Speaking at the event, VFF President, Nguyen Thien Nhan highly appreciated the frank and enthusiastic opinions contributed by the scientists.
He asked VAST to work out a plan to develop human resource for science and technology for the next five to 10 years.
He also pledged that VFF would work closely with the science and technology circle to boost human resources for national construction and development.
Young players expected to stir up Nhan Dan Newspaper national table tennis tourney
Buon Ma Thuot city in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak will host the 32nd Nhan Dan Newspaper National Table Tennis Championships from September 6-10, the tournament’s organising board announced at a press conference in Hanoi on August 26.
The annual event, sponsored by PetroVietnam Ca Mau Fertiliser Company Limited, is going to feature more than 100 players on 14 teams from across the country in seven categories including the singles, doubles and team events for both men and women and the mixed doubles discipline.
Apart from veteran players such as Doan Kien Quoc of Khanh Hoa and Hanoi’s Tran Tuan Quynh, a number of young athletes, including Le Tien Dat from the Army team and Hai Duong’s Doan Ba Anh Tuan and Nguyen Duc Tuan, are also expected to excel at this year’s tournament.
The five-day championship enables table tennis contestants to hone their skills and gain experience, while providing an ideal opportunity to assess training in localities and sectors and to select outstanding performers for national teams, said Nhan Dan Newspaper Deputy Editor-in-chief, Le Quoc Khanh, who heads the organising board.
Competitors will be battling for VND195 million (US$9,165) in total prize money, awarded to the top three players in each category and the most outstanding young male and female performers.
The official draw for seven events will be conducted on September 4 in Dak Lak province, two days ahead of the opening ceremony.
The Army team’s Duong Van Nam was crowned men’s singles champion last year after overcoming Khanh Hoa’s Doan Kien Quoc 4-1 in the finals, while Mai Hoang My Trang of Ho Chi Minh City defended her women’s singles crown with a handy 4-0 victory over Nguyen Thi Viet Linh from the Ministry of Public Security.
Major sales promotion fair to kick off this week
Consumers in HCMC can enjoy price discounts of up to 49% on thousands of products at the HCMC Consumption Promotion Fair 2014, which will take place from August 29 to September 3.
Apart from price cuts by 5-49%, visitors to the annual event at Phu Tho Stadium in District 11will also get tips from exhibitors to distinguish genuine products from fake ones. They will also be given free environmentally-friendly bags and invited to join lucky draws.
Some 250 enterprises will showcase and sell foodstuffs, drinks, clothes, footwear, autos, motorbikes, electronic products, schooling items, cosmetics and healthcare products among many others at 500 booths.
The fair is organized by the HCMC government, Department of Industry and Trade, and Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, According to organizers, the annual event will not only help enterprises boost sales and introduce their products and services to consumers but also stabilize prices and promote Vietnamese products.
Soft credit package no longer limited to condo buyers
Low-income people now can borrow from the VND30-trillion credit package to buy landed homes in commercial projects in urban areas instead of just apartments as previously regulated.
This is stated in Government’s Resolution No. 61/NQ-CP issued on August 21 to supplement Resolution No. 02/NQ-CP in 2013, aiming to deal with difficulties in business activities, support the domestic housing market and help clear bad debt.
Based on the new policy, beneficiaries of the VND30-trillion home loan package are expanded to include civil servants, army officers, workers and low-income earners to help them buy landed houses worth under VND1.05 billion compared to nearly VND1 billion as provided in the previous regulation.
Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, vice chairman of the Vietnam National Real Estate Association, said this adjustment by the Government will give low-income earners more chances to own low-cost houses.
In the coming time, realty enterprises will offer more products suitable to customers who are eligible for the VND30-trillion home loan package, he said.
At present, many apartment projects in HCMC are eligible to access the package such as Hung Ngan Garden, EHome 3, and Sunview Town while owners of those projects said they will boost sales to meet customers’ demand.
In addition, those taking out loans from the credit package are now offered a longer repayment term of 15 years instead of 10 years when purchasing houses at commercial housing projects approved by authorities.
Owners of properties aligned to local authorities’ land management plans will be funded to construct or repair their houses and the amount is decided by banks.
The credit package is also available to individuals and households wanting to invest in budget housing projects to serve workers, students and laborers.
In the coming time, besides five commercial banks appointed to disburse the VND30-trillion credit package, more banks will join to help speed up this process.
The Government has ordered localities to check their realty projects so as to adjust them to meet the market’s demand and to stop licensing those not in line with urban development plans.
Meanwhile, administrative procedures in checking and approving budget housing projects and commercial-turned-budget housing projects must also be streamlined.
HNX reports State Treasury bill sales of VND21 trillion
State Treasury bills transacted on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) have hit nearly VND21 trillion over the past two years, accounting for nearly 2% of the total government bond transaction value.
HNX was quoted by Vietnamplus.vn as saying that State Treasury bills have been put up for sale on the secondary market since August 24, 2012.
In 2012, the debt paper transaction value reached over VND909 billion before surging to nearly VND11.7 trillion last year and VND8.1 trillion in the January-July period this year.
HNX’s statistics showed that proprietary trading by commercial banks accounted for over 75% of the market’s total trading value, brokerage trading by securities firms made up 20% and proprietary trading by brokerage firms 5%.
In addition, foreigners have been active on the State Treasury bill market.
During the last four months of 2012, normal foreign selling value was over VND342 billion while buying value exceeded VND587 billion. In 2013, the figures soared to over VND6.7 trillion and VND2.8 trillion respectively.
Between January and July this year, foreign selling and buying value was VND2,142 billion and VND2,188 billion respectively.
State Treasury bill is a type of G-bond with tenors of one year or shorter. The debt paper is issued by the Ministry of Finance to raise funds for temporarily financing a State budget deficit.
Sales expected to jump on National Day
Supermarkets and retail outlets in HCMC are expecting a 30-50% rise in sales thanks to the coming National Day holiday.
Ho Quoc Nguyen, public relations manager of Big C Vietnam, said despite the economic hardship, the supermarket chain is still hoping for an average increase of 30% in consumption on the National Day holiday. Therefore, it has plans to prepare various goods to meet higher consumer demand, including fresh and packaged food, and beverages.
Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, director of Maximark Cong Hoa supermarket in HCMC’s Tan Binh District, said the goods volume brought into her supermarket by suppliers would move up 50% over normal days.
Similarly, a representative of Saigon Trading Corporation (Satra) said the corporation has actively worked with its suppliers and distributors to ensure abundant supply of products at its store chain for the Big Sale Month of September as well as the peak season at year-end. Its goods volume will rise 30% over normal days, and increase 15-20% over the same period last year, the Vietnamese supermarket added.
Besides preparing goods, supermarkets will launch sales promotion programs to stimulate demand. Both Big C and Maximark will give their customers discounts of 5-50% on hundreds of items while Satra will offer discounts of 10% to 49% for its consumers on the coming holiday.
GM Vietnam recalls 468 Chevrolet Captiva autos
General Motors Vietnam (GM Vietnam) has announced a plan to recall 468 Chevrolet Captiva autos assembled and manufactured in Vietnam for checking the safety belts on the front seats.
The automaker attributed the recall to the probable incorrect installation of the safety belts equipped in certain Captiva autos.
Although this technical fault has never occurred in Chevrolet Captiva made by GM Vietnam, the automaker has still advised the owners of the Captiva which belongs to the list of 468 units manufactured in Vietnam between September 29, 2011 and June 3, 2014 to take their vehicles to the nearest authorized dealerships of GM Vietnam for checks.
The company will examine the safety belts and fix them if necessary in one hour. The customers will be offered free services in this program taking place until February 20 next year.
ODA disbursement slow in job skills improvement project
Official development assistance (ODA) loan disbursements by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a national labor skills improvement project are only 7.87% complete though work started on the project three years ago.
Tran Lien Huong, head of the planning and investment department of the project management unit, told the Daily on the sidelines of a seminar on job skills improvement in Can Tho City last week that different calculations for the project implementation period had adversely affected the pace of disbursement.
“ADB used July 2010 when the loan was approved as the start month of the project, while Vietnam chose the effective date of the loan in February 2011,” Huong said.
Huong also attributed the disbursement delay to unexpected issues related to wages for consultants, loose collaboration between partners and limited capacity of the vocational schools benefiting from this loan.
The project was initially planned for implementation in 2011-2015 with total capital of US$78 million, including US$70 million lent by the bank and the balance of US$8 million sourced from the Government as reciprocal capital.
Duong Duc Lan, general director of the General Department of Vocational Training cum national director of the project, said the ADB loan was divided into two packages with the first worth US$50 million from the Asian Development Fund (ADF) carrying a term of 32 years including eight years of grace and an annual interest rate of 1-1.5%. The remaining US$20 million is sourced from an ADF hard term facility with an annual fixed interest rate of 2.22% for 32 years.
The project management board has requested ADB to extend the implementation period of the project until February 2017, or one and a half years behind schedule and the disbursement of the US$50-million package until August of the same year.
Regarding the ADF hard term facility, the State Bank of Vietnam is proposing ADB allow vocational schools to have one more year to complete borrowing procedures, or until June 30, 2015.
Lan said the objective of the project is to help vocational schools to upgrade their facilities and improve training quality in automotive, welding, metal cutting, electricity and electronics, ship control, software programming and management, cooking techniques and hotel management.
According to the project management unit, the Government will cover the interest on the US$50-million package for public vocational schools, while private institutions will have to pay an annual interest rate of 6.9% when they borrow from the US$20-million package.
Vocational training schools have to spend US$0.28 for each of the US$1 of the ODA loans disbursed by ADB.Banks lower deposit rates en mass
Several large Vietnamese banks have decided to lower deposit interest rates by 0.1-0.5% for VND accounts for the last months of 2014.
On August 25, the Foreign Trade of Vietnam JSC Bank (Vietcombank) announced that interest rates for short-term deposits of two to nine months will be lowered to 5-5.7%. Annual rates of 6.8% will only apply to 24-month to 60-month term deposits. This is the second time in 2014 that Vietcombank lowered their deposit interest rates.
Interest rates for terms of less than six months for deposits at Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam JSC (BIDV) and Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) were also reduced to less than 6%. The rate for a 12-month term deposit at BIDV is 7.2%, while ACB has slashed it to 6.8%.
According to experts, the lower deposit rates show that banks may plan to reduce their lending rates in the near future. The National Financial Supervisory Commission of Vietnam said that the stable inflation rate has created favourable conditions for banks to lower interest rates.
A report from National Financial Supervisory Commission pointed out that deposit rates tend to decrease faster than lending rates. As of July, the average deposit rate decreased by 0.6% compared to rates in December 2013. Meanwhile, the lending rates only reduced by 0.25%. Their report also noted that, "If the inflation remains stable, interest rates may continue to be lowered."
On the other hand, the State Bank of Vietnam said that in the first seven months, VND deposits increased by 7.92% compared in late 2013 and the deposits in foreign currencies increased by 1.31%. Liquidity in the banking system has continued to increase.


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Dealer Backlash Grows Against Cadillac's 'Project Pinnacle'
A dealer association in California is the latest group to go after Cadillac, demanding the automaker make changes to its controversial “Project Pinnacle” sales incentive program.
The California New Car Dealers Association, acting at the request of 52 dealers in that state, has sent a letter to General Motors CEO Mary Barra in a bid to delay (and alter) the project, Automotive News reports.
Unveiled in early June, the program is the brainchild of brand president Johan de Nysschen. It aims to split U.S. dealers into five tiers based on expected sales. The dealers must then offer an enhanced sales experience and more customer niceties — the higher the tier, the more luxurious the sales experience. Compensation from the automaker would be tied to sales performance.
Many dealers take issue with the program, which begins on January 1. Earlier this summer, dealer groups in seven U.S. states slammed the plan in a letter to de Nysschen, claiming the project would funnel most of the cash to large urban dealers, endangering smaller dealers.
The California association claims the program saddles dealers with “unreasonable” performance standards and facility upgrades, and violates eight state franchise laws. Project Pinnacle also discriminates against smaller dealers, the group claims.
In response to dealer protests, Cadillac has reportedly extended the deadline for entry into the voluntary program until September 30 and made some minor changes to the program itself. de Nysschen previously told Automotive News that many of the criticisms of the program are caused by misunderstandings, and maintains that Project Pinnacle is legal.
[Image: © 2016 Matthew Guy/The Truth About Cars]
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