For development banks, water investments are exciting because water is so central to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Clean water and sanitation, ending poverty, good health and wellbeing, and gender equality are all closely linked to the prudent management of water.

As the Ministry of Planning and Investment is busy compiling the 2021 version of Resolution No.02/2020/NQ-CP – the annual document outlining orientations for improving the local investment environment – on the threshold of the Vietnam Business Forum set to take place this week in Hanoi, Phan Duc Hieu, deputy director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, shines a light on the major points to be addressed in the year ahead.

The new government for 2011-2016 will continue to make administrative reforms a key task. The newly-elected Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc tells VIR why.

Proposed reforms to the Basel Accord are expected to have a significant impact on banks in Asia-Pacific, according to a recent joint KPMG and Oracle survey of executives from financial institutions across the region.

Legal and administrative reforms and improved business policies contributed to high economic growth, higher export revenues and a flourishing in foreign investment during 2006, the government concluded in its year-end cabinet meeting last week.

In the ‘70s and ‘80s, many Vietnamese people were on the brink of starvation as the country, desperate for food, was forced to import up to 800,000 tonnes of rice. The future looked bleak for many. However, after some bold moves by local leaders, including the introduction of reform policies like contract farming, Vietnam went from a major importer of foodstuffs to a country that last year exported four million tonnes of rice. Quy Lam takes a look at the legacy of these reforms.