Once the country’s monopoly airline, Air India has slowly lost market share to new low-cost private players in one of the world’s fastest-growing airline markets.The government said last June it was open to selling a stake in the state-owned airline, which has developed a reputation for delays, cancellations and poor service.On Wednesday the cabinet rubber-stamped plans to allow foreign airlines to invest up to 49 percent in Air India, subject to government approval.That was part of a series of moves to relax restrictions on foreign investment.Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-wing government has sought to encourage foreign companies to invest in India since coming to power in 2014.The cabinet also cleared plans to automatically allow 100 percent foreign investment in single-brand retailers. Previously, this required special government approval.Air India ran losses for nearly a decade after a botched merger in 2007 and has debts of around $7.67 billion according to government figures.It has received a $5.8 billion in bailout funds from the government but still needs more working capital to turn it around.India has the world’s fastest growing passenger airline industry, expanding at an annual rate of around 20 percent.Experts say India’s aviation sector holds vast untapped potential, with just 100 million of its 1.2 billion people taking to the skies in 2016.
Vietnam removes 49% foreign ownership capHai Ly By Hai Ly - The Saigon Times Daily HCMC – The Prime Minister has signed a long-awaited decree lifting the foreign ownership limit in domestic listed companies. The new decree allows foreign ownership to rise to up to 100% in most sectors, and firms can propose their own limits, said Vu Bang, chairman of the State Securities Commission (SSC). However, the Government will maintain the cap on foreign ownership in some companies, such as those in areas sensitive to security. The limit on foreign stakes at banks will be kept unchanged at 30%.…... [read more]
Obstacles to attracting foreign direct investment in northern cities and provinces came under the spotlight at a conference in Hanoi on Dec. 21. Addressing the gathering, the director of the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency, Do Nhat Hoang, also called for closer co-operation among ministries, agencies and local governments in administering foreign-invested projects. "A specific and feasible list of projects calling for investment will enable us to attract more foreign investors," he added, noting that the ministry was currently drawing up a list of projects calling for foreign investment until 2015. Representatives from Hai Phong Department of…... [read more]
According to statistics published by the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment today, between January and December 20, foreign investment capital arriving to Vietnam reached $35.6 billion, up 44.4 per cent compared to last year’s figures. Notably, foreign investors poured $21.27 billion into 2,591 newly-registered projects and $8.4 billion of added capital into 1,188 existing projects, and foreign investment capital through M&A activities was $5.91 billion, signifying respective increases of 42.3, 49.2, and 38.5 per cent on-year. In general, in 2017, 115 countries and territories were involved in 19 sectors of the Vietnamese economy. The…... [read more]
"Made in India" was introduced by the Consulate General of India at the Novotel Saigon Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday. A showcase for a similar program will soon be held in Hanoi.The program, which calls for foreign direct investment (FDI) into 25 priority areas of India, which Prime Minister Modi hopes will both promote domestic enterprises with the potential to grow into large companies, and attract high-quality foreign capital, technology and human resources from abroad.The priority areas include cars, chemicals, information technology, pharmaceuticals, textiles, ports and aviation, travel, and rail, among many others fields.To simplify administrative procedures,…... [read more]
VietNamNet Bridge - One of the major purposes of Vietnam attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in the last 30 years is to receive technology to be transferred by foreign investors. However, according to the 2016 World Economic Forum, the efficiency of technology transfer from foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) in Vietnam is surprisingly low. Vietnam ranked 57th in the world in 2009, while it ranked 103rd in 2014, falling by 46 grades after five years, much lower than other regional countries, including Malaysia (13th) Thailand (36th), Indonesia (39th) and Cambodia (44th).The analysis of other criteria also gives unsatisfactory results.In 2015, of five…... [read more]
