The military-run Telecommunications Group (Viettel) recently released its financial report, showing total revenue of nearly VND223 trillion (US$9.99 billion) in 2015, of which about $1.5 billion came from its business in foreign markets.

In the same year, Viettel expanded its business in Tanzania and Burundi, bringing its total operational market to 10 countries, including the United States and countries in Asia and Africa, supplying services to some 75 million customers.

Telecom firm FPT Corporation (FPT), one of the first Vietnamese enterprises to develop its business abroad in the technology sector, told VnExpress.net it had made several special achievements in new markets such as Myanmar and Bangladesh in 2015.

In Myanmar, FPT was the first 100 per cent foreign-owned firm to secure a licence to provide fixed telecom and Internet services in the country. Myanmar’s communications and technology ministry granted FPT a 15-year licence, which would also allow the firm to provide online games, e-news, websites and e-commerce services, FPT said in a statement.

In 2015, FPT earned nearly VND4.9 trillion ($219.4 million) in revenue and VND674 billion ($30.2 million) in pre-tax profit from its business in foreign markets, marking a year-on-year increase of 41 per cent and 17 per cent compared with 2014, respectively.

With a target of $1 billion in revenue from foreign markets by 2020, FPT aims to increase both the capacity and quality of its services. The company will apply all-in or fixed-price contracts instead of the current periodic contracts.

In addition, FPT considers mergers and acquisitions to be an important new motivating factor to power its future growth. It will develop business operations following the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model in several markets, such as Myanmar and Bangladesh. For example, an e-ticket system, which was successfully rolled out for Vietnam Railway, is expected to be applied in Myanmar.

In an interview with itcnews.vn on February 14, Chairman of the Vietnam Software and IT Services Association Truong Gia Binh said the domestic IT businesses had been aggressively expanding into foreign markets in terms of both scale and growth rate. Viettel, VNPT and FPT, as well as other businesses with advanced technology, such as DolSoft and MK Group, were leading the charge.

Binh said Japan was one market that had been attracting IT businesses from Vietnam in recent years. Many major companies and small and medium enterprises had opened branches in Japan, including FPT Software, TMA, Luvina, Vietsoftware International and Tinh Van Outsourcing.

Binh said when Vietnam signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, many IT opportunities would open in the fields of export and import, logistics, transport, customs and tax procedures and e-payment.

“An important thing to note is the co-operation among Vietnamese IT businesses. To develop the business, these enterprises must associate and co-operate with each other – a situation we have never had,” Binh said.

As Vietnam has been deeply and widely integrating into the world economy, many Vietnamese have joined the trend of spending billions of dollars abroad. Vietnamese dairy firm TH True Milk last year opened a $1 billion dairy farm in a Moscow suburb. The plant specialises in producing animal feed, breeding dairy cattle and producing milk.

Another major milk maker, Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk), has earned billions of dong from its investments abroad and from exports. In 2015, the company earned more than VND40 trillion ($1.79 billion) and after-tax profit of nearly VND7.8 trillion ($349.3 million). Of the former, revenue from foreign markets was VND8 trillion ($358.2 million), 39 per cent higher than the previous year.

Vinamilk launched its strategy to invest abroad by co-operating with Miraka to build a milk processing plant in New Zealand. The plant became operational in August 2011 and reached full capacity for production in August 2012. Vinamilk’s total investment in Miraka has risen to more than $13 million, and its stake there has increased from 19.3 per cent to 22.8 per cent. In 2014, it also poured money into a business in Cambodia to supply milk for that market.

In 2013, Vinamilk invested $23 million in a joint venture in Cambodia with Angkor Dairy Products and spent $7 million on a 70 per cent stake in Driftwood Dairy Holding in California.

Taking the lead in overseas investment in mineral exploitation is Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, or PetroVietnam (PVN).

At a press conference, held in the middle of last year, Director of PVN’s Overseas Project Management Department Vu Van Nghiem said the company had invested in 17 overseas projects, mainly dealing with exploration and exploitation of oil and gas, at a total value of $2.6 billion. PVN had, at that point, exploited 5.4 million tonnes of oil and gas, earning a profit of $470 million.

Masan Group last year made a $1.1 billion landmark partnership deal with Thailand’s Singha Group to better serve the 250 million consumers in the ASEAN with a broader portfolio of branded food and beverage products. As part of the agreement, Singha agreed to invest $1.05 billion in Masan Consumer Holdings for a 25 per cent stake in the company and another $50 million in Masan Brewery for a 33.3 per cent stake.

A number of banks, such as Vietinbank, the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam and the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, have combined their efforts to expand their overseas branches, especially in the ASEAN.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency, Vietnamese businesses have invested nearly $20.5 billion in the fields of natural mineral exploitation, agriculture and telecommunications in foreign markets, including Laos, Cambodia, Africa and the United States.

Citing the results of the company’s National Salary Report, Jobstreet.com Philippines country manager Philip Gioca said the IT industry offered the best compensation across all position levels over the last three years, indicating the rising demand for IT-related services in the country.

For junior executives, the average monthly salary of an IT specialist stood at P38,149; P63,485 for supervisors; and P86,550 for managers and assistant managers.

Gioca disclosed in a briefing Wednesday that for junior executives (one to four years of experience), the second highest paying job was those related to law and legal services, followed by actuarial and statistics, customer services and training and development. Rounding off the top 10 highest paying jobs under this category include public relations and communications, banking/financial services, arts/creatives, finance-related, marketing and business development.

For supervisors, law and legal services jobs offered the second highest compensation, followed by quality control and assurance, finance-related, and customer service-related jobs.

For managers, corporate strategy offered the second highest compensation followed by actuarial science and statistics, quality control, and customer service-related.

On the average, salaries across the top jobs in demand in the country rose by 7 per cent in 2015 compared to the previous year, on the back of a robust local economy. Such growth, according to Gioca, was the highest salary increase recorded over the past three years.

“This (salary increase) is reflective of what the economy is presenting us. The number of jobs grew because the economy (performed) much better that we can now afford to give more jobs,” Gioca further said.

This is double the airline traffic that Changi Airport is handling now.

The number does not include flights that overfly Singapore which also come under the responsibility of air traffic controllers here.

Today, Singapore manages about 300,000 of such flights a year, Teo said.

With traffic expected to increase significantly, Singapore needs to invest in new air traffic management systems and processes to ensure safe flights, she said.

It is also important for countries in the region to work closely together to ensure that flights can be managed efficiently.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow, Teo said: “It’s not going to be enough just to build airport capacity and have lots of room for airlines to move in and out because if you don’t have the air traffic management capabilities you won’t be able to deal with the capacity.”

By the time T4 opens in the second half of next year and the first phase of T5 is ready by the end of the next decade, Changi will more than double its current annual passenger handling capacity of 66 million.

Singapore has launched several initiatives to boost air traffic management capabilities and capacity.

For example, the separation between airlines, especially during peak periods, has been reduced to allow more flights to land and take off.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) also works closely with Changi Airport Group to minimise runway closure times for maintenance and other works.

In 2012, the CAAS set up a $200 million fund to conduct research into air traffic management.

So far, about $120 million has been earmarked for various projects, Teo said.

If the project is approved by the Lao government, the total value of scheme could amount to almost US$2 billion, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in Vientiane on Tuesday between the ROK company, known as Oriental Pearl Company Limited and the General Logistics Department of the Ministry of Public Security.

Chief of the General Logistics Department Colonel Kikeo Naovalath and Director General of the Production-Business Management Department Mr Bounpha Nanthavong represented the Lao side to sign the MOU.

The company side was signed by President of the Oriental Pearl Company Limited Mr Kim Won Pyo and the company representative Jeong Tae Jin.

The event was witnessed by officials from both sides.

The MOU will allow the two sides to carry out a project survey and design and prepare for a joint venture agreement for the project.

The project is located at the KM 62 area in Phonhong district, covering an area of 1,200 hectares which are under the management of the Ministry of Public Security.

The Ministry of Public Security and the Oriental Pearl Co Ltd have initiated the survey and feasibility study for the project since June 2015.

Once the project is approved by the Lao government, the said KM 62 area will be urbanised as a new town in Vientiane province which could contribute to boost economic growth and generate job opportunities for local people.

The Department of Tourism has teamed up with CrescentRating, the world’s leading authority on “halal” travel, to help build capabilities and resources as well as launch a destination marketing campaign. In the pipeline is a series of activities to increase awareness of the availability of halal food, mosques, and other Muslim-friendly holiday experiences and facilities in the Philippines.

The Philippines’ close proximity to the large Muslim populations of Malaysia and Indonesia, coupled with its rich diverse culture, makes the country an attractive destination for family tourists keen to explore one of the most unique places in Asia. Yet it has a lot of catching up to do compared to its neighbors when it comes to attracting Muslim travellers, now widely recognized as a key growth tourism sector projected to be worth $200 billion by 2020.

“The Philippines receives close to 566,000 visitors from the Middle East, parts of Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), as well as India and Israel. This forms our base market to extend halal services and to move forward. Halal is not only a religious matter, but a nation’s concern,” Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. said in a joint press statement with Crescent.

“Hence the impetus in the development of the halal industry must be economic rather than just cultural. Improving the halal industry in our country will not only serve to advance the lives of Muslim Filipinos and attract more tourists, but it could also help spur growth in the Philippine economy,” he added.

This new drive to attract inbound Muslim tourists is part and parcel of the Philippines’ long-term strategy to maximize its economic growth in the halal tourism industry. The initial focus will be on developing services in Manila, Davao, Cebu, and Boracay.

Fazal Bahardeen, chief executive officer of CrescentRating, said: “We are delighted to have entered into a partnership with the Philippine Department of Tourism on their maiden journey into the Muslim-friendly travel market and excited about working together.”

“Looking at the Philippines’ unique culture and heritage, we believe there is a huge potential for the destination to position itself and inspire Muslim visitors to choose Philippines for their next holiday.

Muslim tourists are now more bold and daring in their travel choices and the Philippines presents a great offering for those looking for natural beauty and culture.”

The tourism department will work with CrescentRating and its sister brand HalalTrip to launch a dedicated Muslim Visitor Guide and promote its offering via online campaigns including the use of social media influencers in the region. It will also use CrescentRating services to accredit hotels and restaurants in the major cities of Philippines with its rating system.

Based on the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2015, the halal tourism market was worth $145 billion in 2014 with 108 million Muslim travellers representing 10 per cent of the entire travel economy. The Philippines was ranked 47th on the list with a GMTI score of 41.8.

Officials from the companies signed a deal for the development in the presence of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, on the sidelines of the US-Asean summit in Sunnylands, California on Monday.

The 300-room luxury hotel was expected to be completed in 2018. Tran Anh Tuan, the director of ThaiGroup’s representative office in Hanoi, told the press that he was yet unable to confirm a specific plot for construction.

However, industry insiders expected the hotel to be built on a 3.5-hectare “golden land” in Dao Duy Anh Street in Dong Da District, where Kim Lien Hotel is currently situated.

Late last year, ThaiGroup Chairman Nguyen Duc Thuy paid 1 trillion dong ($44.44 million) to acquire a 52.4 per cent stake into the Kim Lien Tourism Joint Stock Company, which runs the existing hotel.

When Thuy became chairman of Kim Lien Tourism earlier this year, he told Biz Hub that the acquisition was part of ThaiGroup’s long-term strategy.

“We plan to develop Kim Lien Hotel as a highlight of Hanoi with a complex of four- and five-star hotels,” he said.

ThaiGroup was established in 2007 as Xuan Thanh Group with a charter capital of 2.5 trillion dong ($111.11 million). It is based in northern Ninh Binh City and deals in real estate, construction, transportation, hydropower and finance.

Kim Lien Tourism was formerly a state utility company, which has nearly 70 billion dong ($3.11 million) in equity and primarily provides restaurant and catering services.

Aquino, who just came from the recently concluded ASEAN-US summit in the Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage, arrived aboard Philippine Airlines chartered flight PR001 along with members of his cabinet and staff.

At 5:25 p.m. (9:25 a.m. Manila time), Aquino will meet with Walt Disney International chair Andy Bird and Vice President for Global Public Policy Jim Filippatos.

They will discuss investment policies and the climate in the creative sector, particularly game development and animation, according to Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia, Jr.

Cuisia said Aquino would welcome an exchange of ideas on how the Philippine government could continue to support and develop the industry.

“So we’re looking also how can we work together with Walt Disney in that particular regard,” he said in an interview with RTVM.

After meeting with Disney, the President will meet with Western Digital Corporation to discuss the expansion of the firm’s operations in the Philippines. The company provides data storage solutions and has over 10,000 employees in the country.

Aquino will also meet with Aecom Enterprise Growth Solutions, which wants to learn how the Philippine government can help it expand the hiring and training of Filipino engineers because they are interested in expanding their operations, according to Cuisia.

This evening, Aquino will speak before the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.

He will discuss the brewing tension between the Philippines and China because of the dispute over the South China Sea.

He will also talk about security in East Asia and discuss the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the Philippines and the US, which would give US military forces access to and use of agreed locations in the Philippines, where they could build infrastructure and preposition assets.