The Vietnam Cuisine Culture Association made its official debut and held its first congress for the 2017-2022 term in Ho Chi Minh City on October 11.

The association aims to discover, preserve and develop Vietnamese gastronomy to be a national brand and asset by 2020, and to build cuisine museums and hubs in Vietnam

Besides, the association has planned to organize a number of activities and events to enhance the values of the Vietnamese cuisine culture such as: opening cooking schools, holding promotion programs both  at home and abroad.

Promoting the Vietnamese cuisine culture to be a national brand will make a great contribution to the country's economy, especially the tourism industry, as the catering sector and supporting services account for 70% of the tourism industry's revenue. [...]

                                                                                                En.cand, Oct, 2017

Many hi-tech agricultural projects have been launched across the nation, most involving technology transfer from more advanced economies looking to tap demand generated by higher living standards.

A notable one among these is implemented by VinEco Agricultural Investment, Development and Productions LLC. (VinEco), a member of Vingroup Joint Stock Company (Vingroup). It is the current supplier for Vingroup’s retail chain Vinmart and its outlets, stocking their shelves every day with a variety of fresh produce.

Since early 2015, the company has been at the frontline of Vietnam’s hi-tech, large-scale, certified agricultural production, with focus on clean, standardised crops using technology from Israel, Japan and other developed countries. They now operate a total of 14 farms in different regions in the country, five of them in the northern provinces.

Lai Duc Luu, Production Manager at VinEco Tam Dao Farm in Vinh Phuc province, talked about the positive effects that hi-tech farming had on agricultural production and marketing in the country, and how consumers responded.

                                                                                                Vietnamplus, Oct, 2017

A South Korean convenience store chain will become the latest entry to Vietnam's competitive market later this year. VnExpress reports that GS Group, a Korean conglomerate, will launch its GS25 convenience store line in the country, though no timeline is provided. This will be the company's first foray outside of Korea.

A spokesperson from the group told the news source: "We received requests from many countries, including China and other Southeast Asian countries, to export our brand. After months of research, we concluded that Vietnam had the largest potential for growth."

Foreign convenience store chains such as Family Mart, Circle K and Mini Stop, along with Japanese giant 7-Eleven, dominate 70% of the Vietnamese market, according to the news source. Domestic players like Vinmart have also expanded recently, especially in major cities.

GS Group claims that GS25 is the leading convenience store brand in South Korea, and the brand hopes to use Vietnam as a launch point for further expansion into Southeast Asia and China.

                                                                                                Saigoneer Sept, 2017

Despite having fallen to the fourth position in terms of foreign direct investment in the first eight months of 2017, the real estate sector remains the second-biggest recipient of this type of investment to date.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency, between January and August 20, the real estate sector stood in fourth with regards to foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows – with 46 newly-registered projects and 15 others increasing their capital, totalling more than $1.16 billion.

Real estate FDI is behind the sectors of manufacturing and processing ($11.69 billion), power processing and distribution ($5.36 billion), and mining ($1.28 billion).

Cumulatively, as of August 20, investment capital in the real estate sector remained firm in the second-highest position, with 618 projects in total and $51.2 billion worth of investment capital. According to Su Ngoc Khuong, investment director of Savills Vietnam, the strong inflows of FDI in the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors have been driving more FDI into the real estate sector. [...]

   VIetnamnet Sept, 2017