The upgrade of Vietnam’s stock market from frontier to emerging status is a driving force for the future. A top priority set for Vietnam’s stock market is to get upgraded to emerging status before 2025, according to market credit rating agencies Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) and the FTSE (Financial Times Stock Exchange). There are still many criteria that the Vietnamese market must reach to meet the upgrade requirements, including strengthening the safeguarding of the interests of retail investors. The recent actions of the market regulator to handle violations on the stock market, which are highly appreciated by international investors,…
Author: Asia News Network
South Korea’s homegrown app marketplace One Store aims to challenge Google and Apple, two US tech giants that enjoy a near-monopoly in the whopping 300 trillion won ($235 billion) app store market globally, with its forthcoming stock market debut in Seoul. One Store, South Korea’s sole operator of an app store of the same name, is a merged entity of the country’s four app stores that was previously operated separately by SK Telecom, KT, LG Uplus and Naver. Now it is an affiliate of SK Square, SK Group’s investment unit. In its push for global expansion, it plans to secure…
China will ensure smooth logistics and production activities, and reinforce regional economic cooperation to support its foreign trade and ease pressure on its exporters, as the impact of the recent domestic Covid-19 resurgence may last for a while, government officials and analysts said according to state media. Despite the country’s foreign trade achieving stable performance in the first four months of the year, they said more efforts are needed, as the export sector faces multiple challenges and risks, such as a high base from last year, and some internal and external factors, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The total value of…
Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance has proposed the government give an extension on the deadline for payment of a special consumption tax worth a total 20 trillion dong ($871 million) on domestically produced and assembled cars. Accordingly, payable amounts for June, July, August and September would be extended to November 20. The ministry said that the extension was aimed at urgent support for the domestic car industry to overcome difficulties after the pandemic. The special consumption tax that domestic automobile manufacturers paid to the state budget averages around 2.45-2.8 trillion dong per month. The ministry estimated that the budget collection would…
Earnings from merchandised exports from Bangladesh soared 51.18 per cent year-on-year in April to $4.73 billion helped by higher shipment of garments, home textiles and footwear, official figures showed on May 9. The higher flow of export receipts continues despite persisting global uncertainties emanating from the Russian-Ukraine conflict, dragging supply chain disruptions, and higher inflationary pressures. In fact, exports from Bangladesh have been posting stellar growth since September, sending monthly receipts above $4 billion for the first time in the country’s history, as demand rebounded in the western economies in keeping with the receding coronavirus pandemic. Earnings hit an all-time…
In a change of stance, Japan’s small and midsize firms have indicated a willingness to accept the government’s decision on minimum wage increases due to a serious labour shortage and rising prices. Many firms had been reluctant to accept the wage-hike policy due to the financial burden involved. Related parties are paying close attention whether the trend for receptivity to minimum wage hikes will lead to an increase in wage levels across the board in Japan. Three organisations representing small and midsize firms – the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), the Central Federation of Societies of Commerce and…
A man, who claimed to be “the father of all religions” and allegedly told his followers to eat his waste, has been arrested on several charges after 11 corpses, mostly belonging to his followers, were found at his campsite in Thailand’s Chaiyaphum province. The cult leader was identified only as Thawee, 74, a resident of Nong Rua district of Khon Kaen province, Chaiyaphum Governor Kraisorn Kongchalard said on Monday. He was arrested on Sunday when a celebrity shaman, Jiraphan Phetkhao, better known as Mor Pla, led police and authorities from other government agencies to raid the campsite located in a…
The lack of healthcare facilities in some parts of Laos is one of the reasons for the high maternal mortality rate, health chiefs say. Although Laos has made significant progress in terms of the maternal mortality ratio since 1990, lowering the rate of maternal deaths to 185 per 100,000 live births in 2017, this figure is well below those of most other ASEAN countries. For example, in 2017, the maternal mortality rate in Thailand was 37 deaths per 100,000 live births, in Vietnam it was 59 deaths per 100,000 live births, and in Cambodia it was 160 deaths per 100,000…
The Philippine economy likely withstood the Omicron surge at the start of this year and sustained growth during the first quarter – estimated by economists to range from 5.5 per cent to as high as 8.3 per cent year-on-year. Beyond the possibly strong end-March gross domestic product (GDP) performance, which the government will report on May 12, economists watching the Philippines flagged high debts and a yawning budget deficit, elevated inflation that could temper consumer spending, as well as some excess baggage carried by leading presidential candidates who may win the elections, which could slow down the Philippines’ flight to…
The Ukraine military offensive and the economic sanctions against Russia are putting Indonesian manufacturers in a tight spot, as increasing import costs eat into profit margins. Economists are saying it will only be a matter of time before firms pass on costs to customers. Prices of conflict-impacted commodities like cereals, oil, gas, steel and coal have soared over the last two months since Putin ordered a “special military operation” against Ukraine in late February, worsening already high prices induced by increasing global demand amid the Covid-19 recovery. Singapore-based think-tank Oxford Economics said industries in Indonesia, like in many other countries,…