The Philippines, Vietnam Discuss on SpratlysFebruary 22, 2012 (Vietnamica) — The Philippines and Vietnam on Feb. 20 discussed “cooperative actions” in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) during the inaugural meeting of the two countries’ Joint Commission on Maritime and Ocean Cooperation (JCMOC) (Inquirer, Feb. 22).
Vietnam to Define National Key Industries for 2012-2020 PeriodFebruary 12, 2012 (Vietnamica) – Five to seven industries will be selected as national key industries under a draft industrialization strategy for the period until 2020, which is expected to be submitted to the government by June 2012. The industries will be selected from around 12 fields including electronics, motor vehicles, shipbuilding, food processing, steel, petrochemicals, textiles and software (Steel Guru, Feb. 22).
February 22, 2012 (Vietnamica) – The Vietnam Electricity (EVN) is waiting for an approval of central bank’s HCMC Branch on its sale of 5.3 percent equity stake of ABBank to HDBank. EVN is planning to exit ABBank (DTCK, Feb 21).
Vietnam: Approved Ceiling Loan Growths of BanksFebruary 22, 2012 (Vietnamica) – The State Bank of Vietnam has divided banks into four groups with this year’s ceiling loan growth at 17 percent, 15 percent, 8 percent, zero respectively. The central bank also told the media that around ten banks are not allow expanding their lending business in 2012 without naming them. In light of this, every commercial bank tries to announce its loan growth target as soon as they got the approval from SBV. Vietnamica keeps updating the list of banks and their approved loan growth as follows.
February 21, 2012 (Vietnamica) — The military-backed civilian government lifted restrictions on political campaigning (AP) for the country’s upcoming by-elections after complaints by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.
February 21, 2012 (Vietnamica) — The evolution of geopolitics is cyclical. Powers rise, fall and shift. Changes occur in every generation in an unending ballet. However, the period between 1989 and 1991 was unique in that a long cycle of human history spanning hundreds of years ended, and with it a shorter cycle also came to a close. The world is still reverberating from the events of that period.
