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Vietnam’s President Tran Dai Quang has died aged 61 after prolonged serious illness, according to state media.

Quang died in a military hospital in Hanoi on Friday from a “serious illness despite efforts by domestic and international doctors and professors”, Vietnam Television reported.

Quang, one of the country’s top three leaders but with mostly ceremonial duties, hosted President Donald Trump during his first state visit to the communist country last year.

He had appeared thin and pale in public, and was unstable on his feet last week when he hosted a welcoming ceremony for Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Hanoi.

Quang’s last public appearance was at a Politburo meeting of the ruling Communist Party and a reception for a Chinese delegation on Wednesday.

Originally from a small farming community 115 km south of Hanoi, Quang rose through party ranks to become a police general and member of Vietnam’s powerful decision-making Politburo.

Quang was elected president in April 2016 with a reputation of being a tough leader with little tolerance for dissent.

He often appeared uncomfortable in the public eye and lacked the charisma of some of his peers in the upper echelons of the party.

In an interview with AFP news agency in 2016 ahead of a visit by the former French leader Francois Hollande, Quang read from a prepared statement and was quickly escorted from the room by staff when a question went off-script.

“We are saddened to hear the news that the president has died,” said Bui Duc Phi, chairman of the village in which Quang was born.

Vietnam has no paramount ruler and is officially led by the president, prime minister and Communist Party chief.

Source: Aljazeera

Vietnam maintains its top position in terms of entrepreneurship in the recently-released Amway Global Entrepreneurship Report 2018 (AGER 2018), followed by India, China, Malaysia and South Africa.

The highlight of the AGER 2018 results revealed that the risk of failing and the prospect of raising money are key obstacles for potential entrepreneurs. 

Of the nearly 49,000 people in 44 nations surveyed, only 47 percent were willing to take the risk of failing when it comes to starting a business, and just 38 percent reported that they knew how to raise money for a business idea. However, the figures are 88 percent and 78 percent in Vietnam. In addition, up to 89 percent of Vietnamese respondents believe that they can develop business ideas, while the world’s average is 52 percent.

For eight years, Amway has conducted global research on entrepreneurship, examining perceptions and attitudes toward self-employment.

As world leaders increasingly emphasize the importance of entrepreneurship to economic growth, this year’s report fittingly examined what people believe will help them be successful as entrepreneurs and the type of business they could envision starting. The findings of the AGER are intended to foster conversations about making entrepreneurship more accessible to anyone, perhaps through better informed policy decisions and business incubator programs.

“Gaining a greater understanding of why people decide for or against owning a business and what kind of businesses are most appealing is helpful for effectively fostering a world of entrepreneurs,” said Amway President Doug DeVos. “This knowledge can help business and government leaders to make decisions and take actions that help more people start their own businesses and reach their full potential in this area. More entrepreneurs mean more opportunity, more economic growth and more prosperity for everyone.”

The first iteration of AGER was launched in 2010 as the Amway European Entrepreneurship Report, then expanded worldwide with the 2013 AGER encompassing 24 countries.

The 2018 AGER was conducted by Amway, in partnership with Germany’s Technical University of Munich. Fieldwork was completed by the Gesellschaft fuer Konsumforschung, Nuremberg, from April through June 2017. Results are shared with the scientific community, including the 44 AGER academic advisers and all interested think tanks and academic and public institutions.

Source: Vietnam+

Photo Above: (From the left) Golden Emperor Properties Director and Partner Mr. Fred Poon, REA Asia General Manager, Market & Brand Ms. Amanda Chase, Golden Emperor Properties Managing Director Mr. Terence Chan and Golden Emperor Director and Partner Ms. Alice Lee.

REA Group Asia, the market-leading digital business specializing in property proudly debuted the first “REA Greater China Awards 2018”. The awards honored the success and outstanding achievements of elites in property-related industries throughout the Greater China Region.

Golden Emperor receives the Best Overseas (Thailand) Property Agency and Best Overseas (Vietnam) Property Agency awards. Mr. Terence Chan, Managing Director of Golden Emperor Properties states, “We are delighted to win these two awards which signifies our leading status on the market and the professionalism we provide. Golden Emperor specializes in providing one-stop full services from buying, resale and property management. We have a strong foundation in Hong Kong providing offices across China in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Bangkok in Thailand and Hanoi and HCMC in Vietnam. We have over 100 staff in Hong Kong offering tailor made services for our clients and will continue to strive to provide the best quality projects and services for the public.”

Photo Above：Mr. Terence Chan, Managing Director of Golden Emperor Properties gives a speech on stage.

The “REA Greater China Awards 2018” presentation ceremony was held at sky100 with Ms. Kerry WONG, Chief Executive Officer, Greater China Region, REA Group and Ms. Amanda Chase, General Manager, Marketing & Brand (REA Asia) in attendance. Kay KAM, Community Director of WeWork HK was invited to be the officiating guest to present the awards to the winners and share insight on the transformation of the property industry under the digital era.

Recipients of the “REA Greater China Awards 2018” were nominated by the public and selected through an online vote in a fair and transparent manner and were based on the criteria of creativity, skills and services towards excellence and innovation, which enhance the overall quality of the property market and related fields. After evaluation and internalreview by REA’s committee, a total of 20 trophies were presented to property-related professionals worldwide in three categories namely ‘Best Property Projects’, ‘Best Property Services’ and ‘Best Lifestyle Brands’.

Ms. Kerry WONG, Chief Executive Officer, Greater China Region, REA Group is proud to honour and recognise the remarkable achievement of the winners. At the awards presentation ceremony, Ms. WONG said, “REA Group’s main purpose is to change the way the world experiences property and we do that by working closely with only the best of the best. The awards honour those who have played a pivotal role in helping thousands of people in their property journey. I would like to extend my congratulations to all winners onbehalf of REA Group.”

Photo Above: Ms. Kerry Wong, Chief Executive Officer of REA Greater China, gives her best regards to the winners of the night.

Photo Above: The “REA Greater China Awards 2018” was hosted at SKY100 which showed the success of the market.

Photo Above: (From the left) Ms. Alice Lee, Director and Partner of Golden Emperor Properties and Mr. Fred Poon, Director and Partner of Golden Emperor Properties pose for the photo at the award.

Vietnam is the third fastest growing country in terms of ultra high net worth, a new report says.

The World Ultra Wealth Report 2018, released Wednesday, has ranked Vietnam third with a compound annual growth rate of 12.7 percent among the ultra high net worth (UHNW) population, behind Bangladesh with 17.3 percent and China with 13.4 percent.

Compiled by Wealth-X, a leading global wealth information and insight business, the report defines UHNW population as people with $30 million or more in net worth.

Vietnam, Bangladesh and India, are expanding at a faster pace and experiencing rapid urbanization, infrastructure investment and manufacturing growth, it added.

“There were substantial increases in net worth in South Korea, Vietnam, and Indonesia, highlighting the broad improvement across Asia,” it said.

Wealth creation last year was most prevalent in Asia, with a UHNW population of almost 69,000, up 18.5 percent year-on-year, accounting for 27 percent of the world’s ultra wealthy population, the report said.

The total net worth of these people reached nearly $8.37 trillion last year, a growth rate of 26.7 percent from 2016, it added.

To be sure, the U.S. remains the world’s leading location for theusg, staking claim to 35 percent of the world’s ultra wealthy population, whose combined wealth totals $10.998 trillion. However, Asia is quickly closing in. In the past decade, Asia’s proportion of global wealthy rose from 18 percent to 27 percent, positioning it just behind the world’s second wealthiest region, Europe (28 percent).

In the coming years, that gap is set to shrink further, according to the report. It predicts that Asia-Pacific’s ultra wealthy population will increase at a compound rate of 8.3 percent over the next five years, while overall wealth is on track to grow by a slightly faster 8.6 percent. The U.S., meanwhile, is expected to post below-average gains.

That will bring Asia closer to parity with the world’s leading wealth regions, Vincent White, managing director of the Wealth-X Institute told CNBC Make It.

“Asia recorded the highest growth in UHNW (ultra high net worth) population accompanied by a disproportionate rise in combined wealth of over one quarter,” said White. “In the forecast through to 2022 we expect to see a continuation of this growth, closing the gap with the Americas and EMEA.”

Wealth accumulation is not limited to the “crazy rich,” however. Over the coming years, as many Asian countries continue to grow at a faster pace than more developed economies, wealth growth is expected to speed up across all regional demographics, particularly the middle class.

Currently, Asia’s middle class totals around 525 million people, or 28 percent of the world’s middle class population, according to DBS bank’s “Imagining Asia 2020″ report. Over the next decade that group is forecast to expand by more than three times to 1.74 billion. “That would make up about half of the world’s middle class population by 2020,” the report notes.

Source: VN Express , CNBC

Hanoi’s Development and Investment Authority revealed in late August that the city has attracted USD 95 million worth of FDI during the month. In the first 8 months of 2018, Hanoi’s FDI has totaled to USD 6.26 billion, increasing by a 2.6 fold from the same time last year.

Until the end of August, Hanoi’s has given out business licenses to over 16.4 thousand companies, valued at 180 billion Vietnamese Dong (USD 7.82 billion). At the same time, the city has invested over 15.9 billion Vietnamese Dong in over 64 projects and has agreed to sponsor 58 projects, valuing at 8.6 billion Vietnamese Dong (USD 37 million).

Hanoi’s Development and Investment Authority revealed until August 20, 2018, over 1,918 new projects existed in Vietnam, with all valuing to up to USD 13.48 billion. The value has increased 0.2% since the same time previous year, with 736 more projects, at USD 5.58 billion, a 87.2% from 2017.

In the first 8 months of 2018, foreign direct investment in new projects, stock investments totaled to USD 24.35 billion, a 4.2% increase from last year.

As of August 20th, FDI amount totaled to USD 11.25 billion, an increase of 9.2% from the previous year.

At the same time, overseas and international corporations have invested in bulk in Vietnam. Within its 59 provinces, Hanoi has attracted the most amount of foreign direct investment and signed agreements totaling to over USD 5.93 billion, 24.4% of the total national amount. Ho Chi Minh City stands second, accounting for over USD 4.42 billion, at 19.2% of all FDI projects in the country. At third place is Vung Tau, with agreements totaling to over USD 2.17 billion and 8.9% of the nation’s total FDI projects.

Source: Vietnam +