"Tidbits From TNT" Wednesday Morning 12-8-2021
TNT:
Harambe: Zimbabwe Central Bank Mulls Digital Currency, Spurns Crypto | Bloomberg
(12/7/21)
Zimbabwe’s central bank is exploring the use of a digital currency rather than allowing cryptocurrencies as legal tender, according to the nation’s central bank Governor John Mangudya.
“As a central bank we don’t believe in cryptocurrencies,” said Mangudya in an interview with publisher Trevor Ncube broadcast Monday. “We believe in central bank digital currency which is basically trying to say ‘how do we have an e-Zimbabwe dollar as opposed to cryptocurrency’.”
The southern African nation plans to send a team to Nigeria to learn from their experiences in launching the first digital currency in Africa in October.
“We have got our fintech group and they are working very hard,” he said. “Most central banks in the world are working on this CBDC and we are definitely almost there.”
Mangudya also said the government had decided to pay annual bonuses to civil servants in U.S. dollars instead of the local currency as using the Zimbabwean dollar could have added to its recent depreciation.
The official rate for the Zimbabwean currency was last at Z$105, having weakened by 29% this year. It trades at Z$185 per U.S. dollar on the parallel market.
The government made $120 million in bonus payments to state workers, state-owned Herald newspaper reported on Monday, citing Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube.
http://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/zimbabwe-central-bank-mulls-digital-currency-spurns-crypto-1.1691739
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Harambe: US-Vietnam investment robust despite pandemic | VnExpress International
(12/8/21)
American and Vietnamese investments in each other have remained strong despite the impacts of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Marie Damour, Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. embassy in Hanoi, said at a Vietnam-U.S. trade forum on Tuesday that the two countries have cooperated in various areas like healthcare, education, energy, and technology.
The U.S. is now the 11th biggest foreign investor in Vietnam with nearly US$10 billion.
Vietnamese automaker VinFast recently announced plans to invest over $200 million in the U.S.’s California state to manufacture electric vehicles, potentially creating over 1,000 jobs there.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said the impact of Covid has opened up new business opportunities for both Vietnamese and American firms to develop new supply chains, establish standby supply systems in various locations to ensure sustainability and continuity.
Bui Huy Son, minister counselor and head of the Vietnam Trade Office in the U.S., said goods supply from Vietnam plummeted during the fourth wave of Covid [which began in April], and the economic revival is offering opportunities to suppliers in Vietnam to intensify production and supply to U.S. partners.
Virginia Foote, chairwoman of the American Chamber of Commerce’s Hanoi chapter, said Vietnam should intensify vaccination so that companies could resume production quicker and participate more deeply in global value chains.
Vietnam should also facilitate trade, improve tax policies and simplify administrative procedures to increase trade and investment between its and U.S. enterprises, she added.
Bilateral trade surged from $450 million in 1995, when the two nations established diplomatic relations, to $91 billion last year.
It was $89.6 billion in the first 10 months of this year, with Vietnam exporting $76.7 billion worth of goods to the U.S.
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Harambe: Vietnam Regular int’l flights suggested to resume from December 15 | Vietnam+
(12/8/21)
The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has proposed the pilot resumption of regular international flights carrying international passengers to Vietnam from December 15.
In a recent report submitted to the Prime Minister, the MoT proposed the resumption be carried out in two phases.
The first phase will last for two weeks, starting on December 15, during which regular flights between Vietnam and the destinations with high safety will be conducted, namely Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (the Republic of Korea), Taipei (Taiwan, China), Bangkok (Thailand), Singapore, Vientiane (Laos), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), and San Francisco or Los Angeles (the US).
The flights in this phase will connect with the international airports of Noi Bai in Hanoi and Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City. There will be four flights per week on every way for each side. About 14,000 passengers are expected to come to Vietnam every week.
Meanwhile, the second phase will last for one month after the first one concludes, starting in January 2022.
Apart from the nine abovementioned destinations, the MoT proposed flights linking with Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Hong Kong (China), Paris (France), Frankfurt (Germany), Sydney (Australia), and Moscow (Russia).
The international airports of Da Nang, Cam Ranh, Phu Quoc, and Van Don are also proposed to host those flights in the second phase, aside from Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat. The frequency will be raised to seven flights per week on every way for each side. The weekly number of passengers entering Vietnam is estimated at some 40,000.
The MoT said to ensure the plan’s feasibility, it is necessary to gradually lift quarantine rules on passengers who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, recovered from the disease, and have a negative result of rapid antigen or RT-PCR tests within 72 hours prior to their flights.
In addition, the resumption of international flights can only be carried out basing the reciprocity principle and mutual recognition of the “vaccine passport”.
The ministry said Vietnam has not issued any regulations on halting or restricting regular international flights to and from the country. However, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, people boarding flights to Vietnam have had to meet pandemic control rules.
It cited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying that Vietnamese citizens’ demand for returning to the homeland is now on the rise, especially when the New Year and Lunar New Year holidays are coming. Besides, there is also a large number of foreigners planning to go to the country for work, investment, business, and tourism purposes.
Given this, it is necessary to resume regular international flights carrying passengers to Vietnam, according to the MoT.
https://en.vietnamplus.vn/regular-intl-flights-suggested-to-resume-from-december-15/216781.vnp
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Tishwash: Germany signs a contract worth 18.29 billion euros with Iraq.. Learn about its goals - Urgent
Today, Wednesday, the German government signed a contract worth 18.29 billion .euros with Iraq
The United Nations said in a statement received (Baghdad today), that "the German government and the United Nations Development Program signed today an agreement amounting to 18.29 million euros (21.78 million US dollars) to enhance ".job opportunities and increase economic growth for vulnerable communities in Iraq Link
Mot: Last January on a bitterly cold winter's day, a North Dakota State Trooper on patrol came upon a motorcyclist who was stalled by the roadside.
The biker was swathed in heavy protective clothing and wearing a full-face helmet to protect the face from the cold weather.
What's the matter? asked the Trooper
"Carburetor's frozen," was the terse reply.
"Pee on it. That'll thaw it out."
"I can't," said the biker.
"OK, watch me closely and I'll show you." The Trooper unzipped and promptly warmed the carburetor as promised .
Moments later the bike started and the rider drove off, waving.
A few days later, the local State Troopers office received a note of thanks from the father of the motorcyclist.
It began: "On behalf of my daughter Jill..."
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Mot: The Dinarian Tree!!!!................... Hanging in there .......................
