Harambe: Iran to remove dollar from tourism ties with regional states – Mehr News Agency (9/9/23)
TEHRAN, Sep. 09 (MNA) – The Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) announced that the dollar will be removed from tourism exchanges with the countries of the region.
Currently, Iran’s trade transactions with other countries are generally carried out in euro, dirham, yuan, ruble, rupee, and dinar currencies, the CBI governor Mohammadreza Farzin said on Saturday.
Tourism and non-commercial transactions are made with the dominant currencies of the euro and the dollar, Farzin noted.
He further added that removing the dollar from non-commercial and tourist transactions happened for the first time in the country during the Arbaeen pilgrimage this year.
Extending the satisfactory experience of Arbaeen (removing dollar) to other countries in the region is under expert review and operational planning, he added.
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/205795/Iran-to-remove-dollar-from-tourism-ties-with-regional-states
Harambe: Top US chipmakers, tech firms to attend Vietnam meeting as Biden visits | CNA (9/9/23)
HANOI : Top U.S. semiconductors and digital companies including Intel, GlobalFoundries and Google are expected to attend a business meeting on Monday in Hanoi as President Joe Biden visits Vietnam to boost ties, two people familiar with the plan said.
The meeting, which is still being arranged, would confirm U.S. plans to boost Vietnam’s global role in different segments of chipmaking, as part of Washington’s broader strategy to reduce the sector’s exposure to China-linked risks, including trade restrictions and tensions over Taiwan.
Senior executives from Google, Intel, Amkor, Marvell, GlobalFoundries and Boeing are among expected attendees, according to a partial list that a person familiar with the plans discussed with Reuters.
The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside business hours.
The second person familiar with the plans confirmed the presence of several large U.S. chips companies, including Amkor, their Vietnamese partners, such as tech company FPT, and Vietnamese and U.S. top officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Semiconductors are expected to be a focal point during Biden’s visit to Hanoi on Sunday and Monday, U.S. administration officials said, as the White House seeks to formally elevate relations with the former foe.
The roundtable has not been announced, and it is unclear whether announcements will be made by any of the companies attending the meeting, which one of the sources said would involve about 30 top executives and officials.
Some of those on the list have already invested or announced investments in Vietnam.
Intel has a $1.5 billion factory in southern Vietnam for assembling, packaging and testing chips, the biggest in its global network, and has had plans to expand it.
Amkor is building near Hanoi “a state-of-the-art mega factory for semiconductor assembly and testing,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on a visit to Hanoi in July. The company has dozens of open positions on its Vietnam web page.
Chip designing firm Marvell has said it plans to build a “world-class” centre in Vietnam.
U.S. officials have repeatedly said that assembling and designing were the segments of the chipmaking industry where Vietnam was likely to grow faster, although a shortage of engineers could slow the industry take-off.
Vietnam has also ambitions to build its own chipmaking factories, or fabs. GlobalFoundries is specialised in making integrated circuits on wafers for smartphones, cars and other applications.
Vietnam is a major exporter of smartphones and electronics.
An executive at a major U.S. chips firm said the Vietnamese government had been holding meetings with most major chips companies in the country, including Intel, Samsung and Qualcomm, to ask for advice on setting up the country’s first fab.
U.S. officials have also said an upgrade of formal ties with Vietnam could help collaboration on artificial intelligence (AI), a sector in which Google is a major global player.
Vingroup, Vietnam’s largest conglomerate and the parent of Nasdaq-listed electric car maker VinFast, has a unit focussed on AI.
Boeing may announce a deal involving the sale of 50 of its 737 MAX jets, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Boeing declined to comment.
Harambe: US President’s visit to Vietnam an important milestone for both countries | Vietnam+ (9/9/23)
Hanoi (VNA) – US President Joe Biden’s State visit to Vietnam will be an important milestone for both countries and help elevate bilateral relations to a new height, said Le Thu Ha, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly (NA)’s Committee for External Relations and deputy head of the Vietnam – US Friendship Parliamentarians Group.
Talking to the Vietnam News Agency, Ha said the September 10-11 visit, to be made at the invitation of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, is of great significance to bilateral relations, especially amid the 10th anniversary of their comprehensive partnership.
The US is one of the leading partners of Vietnam. Over the recent past, their comprehensive partnership has developed intensively and substantively in priority cooperation areas, including politics – diplomacy, security – defence, economy – trade – investment, education, science – technology, health, environment, settlement of war consequences, and promotion of human rights, with the connections in economy, finance, trade, and investment being a pillar.
The two countries have continued coordinating closely with each other in international and regional issues of shared concern, especially within the framework of the United Nations Security Council and the mechanisms of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), she noted.
The official went on to say that the US Congress has a particularly important role to play in developing and intensifying the comprehensive partnership with Vietnam, and that parliamentary cooperation is an important part of bilateral ties.
Thanks to both sides’ efforts, the cooperation between the Vietnamese NA and the US Congress has enjoyed great strides as seen in increased mutual visits at all levels, along with meetings and opinion sharing between their specialised agencies, parliamentarians, and assistants to parliamentarians.
US legislators have affirmed that the relationship with Vietnam is among the few issues securing consensus between both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, as well as between the Senate and the House of Representatives, according to Ha.
She perceived that the outcomes of President Biden’s visit will help elevate the countries’ relations to a new height and in an increasingly substantive manner for the sake of peace, cooperation, and sustainable development.
She also expressed her hope that the two sides will coordinate closely to set up and implement new and more effective bilateral and multilateral mechanisms for economic, trade, and investment cooperation to promote fast and sustainable development of trade and investment links.