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Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) has opened its first Holiday Inn-branded property in Vietnam

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Intercontinental Hotels Group(IHG) has announced the opening of its first Holiday Inn-branded property in Vietnam. Businesstraveller reports.

A 10-minute drive from Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Holiday Inn and Suites Saigon Airport is close to Ho Chi Minh City’s major dining and shopping hubs.

Expressing his views on this new opening, Clarence Tan, managing director, IHG South East Asia and Korea said, “We are absolutely thrilled to bring the Holiday Inn brand to Vietnam. With Ho Chi Minh City now a major hub in South East Asia, to have an international standard hotel so close to the airport will offer joyful experiences for both leisure guests and business travellers alike. With our expertise in over 80 countries, we are excited to provide a fresh, convenient and welcoming connection for all visitors to the city.”

Holiday Inn and Suites Saigon Airport features 350 rooms including 100 suites, offering city or pool views. At this property, you get to choose from a wide variety of local and international food options. There is Manja Manja restaurant serving Italian and southern Vietnamese cuisine. For post-work drinks, head to Déli Café or Lobby Lounge to unwind and socialise.

This Holiday Inn property boasts having one of the largest meeting spaces in the city, accommodating up to 1,200 guests. Song Saigon Ballroom has a seating capacity of 600 guests for banquets, and four additional function rooms can be combined to seat a further 270 guests.

The fourth floor houses plush lounges, a swimming pool and a 24-hour fitness centre.

By Aneri Shroff.

Philippine Navy ship BRP Ramon Alcaraz successfully wrapped up its four-day port visit in Ho Chi Minh City

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Philippine Navy ship BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PS-16) successfully wrapped up its four-day port visit in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Tuesday. PNA reports.

The ship arrived in Vietnam on the afternoon of September 7, Naval Task Group (NTG) 80.5 public affairs office chief Lt. Ryan Luna said in a statement.

BRP Ramon Alcaraz and its 200-man contingent composing NTG 80.5 also attended the just-concluded and first-ever Asean-US Maritime Exercise which took place off Gulf of Thailand last September 2 to 6.

NTG 80.5 personnel, headed by Captain Hilarion Cesista, were accorded a welcome ceremony by their counterparts from the 2nd Naval Region of the Vietnam People’s Navy (VPN) upon their arrival.

They later paid a courtesy call on 2nd Naval Region deputy commander Captain Dinh Van Thang.

Luna added that Cesista and his party also visited Ha Phuoc Thang, head of office of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, and counterparts at the Vietnam Navy Technical College.

A series of confidence-building engagements between the Philippine Navy and VPN personnel were also conducted and these included shipboard tour, reception, and friendly games.

BRP Ramon Alcaraz’s visit marks the third time a PN ship has visited Vietnam.

“(The visit) becomes an avenue for sustaining and enhancing the relationship between the two navies and will further intensify such understanding in the areas of security and defense, economic matters, regional and international cooperation,” Luna said.

Vietnam has initiated anti-dumping investigations on steel imports from China

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Vietnam has initiated anti-dumping investigations on certain carbon steel imports from China following a request by local producers. VnExpress reports.

Local manufacturers Posco Vietnam, China Steel Sumikin and Phu My Flat Steel, all based in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, have alleged that certain cold-rolled carbon steel coils and sheets imported from China were being dumped in the Vietnamese market.

These imports have been “causing considerable damage to the domestic cold rolled steel production industry,” the firms stated in a petition sent to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Specifically, imported steel products from China are being sold at prices 4-14 percent lower than that of cold-rolled steel in the country, and 9-19 percent lower than price imports from Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, they said.

“This will make it impossible for the domestic industry to survive. The industry will face catastrophic financial difficulties in the near future.”

The MoIT has said that it will hold public consultations with relevant parties before reaching a conclusion. If necessary, the ministry will apply temporary anti-dumping measures to prevent significant damage to the industry, applicable retrospectively for up to 90 days prior to the date of the investigation.

Last month, the ministry had made public a proposal that import taxes are raised on certain hot rolled steel coil (HRC) products from China to 5 percent from the current zero percent, citing fears that cheap Chinese steel could flood Vietnam’s market amid the escalating U.S.-China trade war.

“The trade war is causing a sharp drop in steel prices in the market. If there is no import tax on this product group, cheap rolled steel will from China continue to flood Vietnam, destabilizing the local steel market,” it said in a ciruclar.

Vietnam imported 13.5 million tons of steel of various types worth $9.9 million last year, down 9.8 percent in volume but up 9 percent in value against 2017, Vietnam Customs reported. China continued to be the biggest exporter to the Vietnamese market, making up 45 percent of the total volume.

The World Records Union recognized three Vietnameses as having record collections

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The World Records Union (WorldKings) has recognized three Vietnamese individuals as having record collections of some rare items. Vnexpress reports.

The recognition was accorded at meeting of record holders held Monday in Ho Chi Minh City.

Hanoi-born Dao Xuan Tinh has set a WorldKings record for the largest collection of Peugeot bicycles made in France between 1918 and 1992. He has 128 of them so far.

Part of what makes his collection very special is that all of his bicycles come in pairs – with one male and one female bike for each model. The bikes are also arranged by year and color.

Dao Van Tinh has spent more than 20 years collecting Peugeot bicycles made in France. Photo courtesy of the Vietnam Book of Records.

Collecting antique Peugeot bicycles has been a decades long passion for this man who travels across Europe looking to purchase and bid on the bikes he dreamed of as a kid.

The Chu Dau ceramic plate with a calligraphy design having the word Long (Dragon) written in Chinese characters a thousand times is also the world’s largest such item. It is owned by the Chu Dau Ceramic Company.

The plate, which has a diameter of 1.5 meters, was offered as a gift to Hanoi on the 1,000th anniversary of its foundation.

This plate was offered as a gift to Hanoi on its 1,000th anniversary. Photo courtesy of the Vietnam Book of Records.

Chu Dau ceramics were recognized as “Royal symbol products” at the end of 17th century.

Nguyen Van Phung from the central beach resort town of Nha Trang joined the list of world record holders with the biggest collection of products made from scrap tires.

Nguyen Van Phung with his collection of products made from scrap tires. Photo courtesy of the Vietnam Book of Records.

He began researching and designing handmade products with scrap tires in early 2016. He has made more than 500 products including watches, belts and lamps.

By Nguyen Quy.

A mass performance of a Xoe folk dance is expected to set a Guinness world record

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Under the framework of Muong Lo Cultural and Tourism Festival 2019, 5,000 people will join in a mass performance of a Xoe folk dance, in Yen Bai Province on September 20. NhandanOnline reports.

The performance is expected to set a Guinness world record for the biggest Xoe dance ever staged. The one-week festival will open with a show entitled “Quintessence from Legend” which brings together many popular artists.

The programme will be broadcast live on VTV1 and VTV5 channels of Vietnam Television at 8 pm on September 20.

In addition, a series of activities, including street art performances, a tourism and food fair, art exhibitions and a paragliding festival, will be held during the festival.

Xoe Thai is a unique type of traditional dance that is associated with and plays a significant role in the daily life of Thai ethnic communities in the northwest of Vietnam, especially in the provinces of Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La and Yen Bai.

It is performed in various community activities from festivals to funeral rituals.

There are about 30 Xoe dances, which have been developed, protected and handed down intact through generations over hundreds of years, including xoe quat (xoe dance with a fan), xoe khan (xoe dance with a scarf), xoe non (xoe dance with a conical hat) and many others with contents reflecting community activities and expressing the Thai people’s emotion.

With gentle and alluring rhythms, dancers usually form a circle around a festive flame and move to the sound of melodic traditional music.

The Xoe Thai dance has been recognised as a national intangible cultural heritage since 2015, and a profile will soon be submitted to UNESCO for recognition as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

The Vietnam Motor Show 2019 will be held in Ho Chi Minh City from October 23 to 27

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The Vietnam Motor Show 2019 (VMS 2019), to be held in Ho Chi Minh City from October 23 to 27, will be a get-together of 15 renowned automobile brands and hundreds of others in the automobile support industry, according to organisers. Nhandan Online reports.

Top brands to the event include Audi, Ford, VinFast, Honda, and Lexus.

Notably, a smart mobile app will be deployed to help visitors keep a close watch of all activities during the event and choose the shows they want to attend. It also enables automobile brands to provide information for their potential customers.

The VMS, held by the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) in collaboration with the Vehicle Importers Vietnam Association (VIVA), is expected to attract some 200,000 visitors, and millions of live streaming video viewers.

Laurent Genet, a representative of the association, said it is not only an event for auto brands but also a magnet for car lovers who want to experience reputable models.

VAMA Chairman Toru Kinoshita said the Vietnam auto industry, despite challenges, has recorded an annual average growth of 33 percent, with positive market signs boding well for producers by year’s end.

Da Nang makes great efforts to attract investment in local hi-tech businesses

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The central coastal city of Da Nang has made great efforts to diversify its solutions to attract investment in local hi-tech businesses. NhanDan Online reports.

The Da Nang Hi-Tech Park was established in 2010, covering an area of 1,128 ha in Hoa Lien and Hoa Ninh communes, Hoa Vang district. In recent years, Da Nang has focused on investing in technical infrastructure for the hi-tech park, while developing preferential policies to attract businesses specialised in producing and providing hi-tech services, research, incubation and hi-tech applications. However, businesses have suggested that it is necessary to have “satellite” industrial parks to create a local hi-tech development ecosystem.

Vice Chairman of Da Nang Municipal People’s Committee cum Chairman of the Management Board of Da Nang Hi-Tech Park and Industrial Zones, Ho Ky Minh, said that currently, Da Nang Hi-Tech Park has nearly 400 ha of clean land, with sufficient technical infrastructure ready to serve investors. The Management Board has issued investment registration certificates for eight foreign-invested projects with a total investment of US$258 million and other nine domestic investment projects with a total capital of over VND5.2 trillion. There are currently four factories starting operation, while other projects are in the investment deploying process.

The positive results mentioned above, according to Head of the Da Nang Municipal Department of Planning and Investment, Tran Phuoc Son, were sourced from the city’s preparation in advance for investment in Da Nang Hi-Tech Park’s infrastructure development. In addition, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has prioritised its allocation from the State budget to implementing the project, thus facilitating the promotion and attraction of investment projects in the zone.

Recently, at the “Da Nang Business Roundtable” held in Silicon Valley in USA, leaders of Da Nang People’s Committee and the relevant delegates witnessed the signing of three memorandums of understanding on investment in Da Nang in hi-tech and information technology fields. In particular, the Management Board of Da Nang Hi-Tech Park and Industrial Zones and Ai20X Silicon Valley (USA) signed a memorandum of understanding on the construction and development of the Da Nang Hi-Tech Park.

However, some investors said that the city should re-arrange industrial parks and clusters be closer to the Da Nang Hi-Tech Park in order to facilitate auxiliary production enterprises. In fact, hi-tech manufacturing enterprises, especially those which are large-scale, and need many different parts to form their products, while also need a lot of accompanying suppliers. These suppliers need to locate their production facilities nearby or within 30 minutes travelling by trucks to ensure continuous and quick supply.

Meanwhile, several suppliers have not yet met the criteria to be recognised as hi-tech auxiliary manufacturing enterprises as prescribed. These raise concerns, since the arrangement of industrial parks near the Da Nang Hi-Tech Park is necessary to provide adequate production space for suppliers. In addition, it is crucial to consider the increase in land rent rates, and appropriate adjustment coefficients, and issue them swiftly to aid investors in their project implementation.

Le Tri Hai, Vice Chairman of the Da Nang Young Entrepreneurs’ Association, suggested that State management agencies should pay attention to the quality of FDI investors instead of quantity, while further promoting investment in priority areas, such as hi-tech, environmentally friendly technology, clean and renewable energy, medical equipment manufacturing, high quality healthcare, tourism, financial services, logistics and other modern services especially new industries based on Industry 4.0. In order to improve the investment environment and enhance investment attraction, Da Nang needs to accelerate investment procedures, develop environmental impact assessment, and issue investment guidelines, investment certificates and procedures on granting building permits.

Vice Chairman of Da Nang Municipal People’s Committee, Ho Ky Minh, said that to continue attracting investment, the city will deploy a number of key projects, including an overall development plan for Da Nang Hi-Tech Park by 2030, facilitating one-stop shop model for the preparation, licencing and management of investment projects outside industrial parks and hi-tech zones in Da Nang, facilitating a plan to boost the development of Da Nang’s enterprises by 2020, and promoting the improvement of hi-tech innovative features and hi-tech startups. At the same time, the city also focuses on promoting activities and events which effectively approach strategic investors in key markets, such as Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, USA and the Europe.

Da Nang will also continue to enhance administrative reforms and improve the administration capacity of its government to improve the city’s Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI), in order to create an open, transparent and attractive business environment which appeals to investors. It will research and deploy software for managing investment projects that connects all the local departments, agencies and sectors, while also promoting the application of information technology in providing online public services related to investment procedure.

Vietnam’s biggest private company gives hard sell to own workers: FT

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Vingroup, Vietnam’s biggest private company, is leaning heavily on its own staff to buy or lease its newly launched cars, electric scooters and mobile phones as the real estate group pursues a bold push into heavy industry. Financial Times reports.

Senior managers’ bonuses are under threat if too few of their team members buy VinFast vehicles, while all staff must switch to the company’s Vsmart phones, according to leaked internal emails confirmed to the Financial Times by two employees.

Vietnam’s VinSmart enters global smartphone fray with Europe debut | @ FT

Meanwhile, workers said VinFast would soon be the only brand of car permitted to park at company premises.

Vingroup has expanded over the past decade from its core business of real estate and resorts into retail, healthcare, education and other sectors, defying sceptics by building viable businesses.

However, analysts have raised questions over the car project because of its cost, the past struggles of other “national” carmakers such as Malaysia’s Proton, and doubts about how many consumers will be ready to choose Vietnamese cars over similarly priced imported ones.

In a memo to staff in June, Vingroup chairman Pham Nhat Vuong, the country’s richest man, set a December 1 deadline for all staff to be using the Vsmart phones that the company launched late last year. New joiners must switch to them within two months of signing their contract.

In a subsequent memo, another Vingroup executive complained that only 8 per cent of staff had bought VinFast vehicles and warned senior managers that they would have their bonuses withheld if they failed to boost this to at least 30 per cent. Some staff had part of their bonuses withheld from last month’s pay, according to one of the employees.

Staff also told the FT that Vingroup would from later this year ban all cars and motorbikes other than VinFasts from its corporate car parks.

“There are employees who are afraid of being forced to quit, so they are forced to buy,” said one worker.

Even as Vingroup presses employees to buy more of its products, the company has cracked down on abuse of its staff discounts, and informed staff it had sacked six people for trying to sell VinFasts online that had been bought through the scheme.

Vingroup did not reply to requests for comment.

Vingroup launched VinFast in June with the Fadil, a small hatchback based on the Opel Karl that was initially priced at about $17,000. The country’s first “national car” brand, it recently began sales of the Lux A2.0 and SA2.0, two pricier models based on BMW technology.

Vingroup builds its cars and scooters at a factory near Haiphong, a project for which it has earmarked up to $3.5bn. The group began selling its Vsmart brand phones in December.

Titikorn Lertsirirungsun, Asean regional manager at LMC Automotive in Bangkok, said that while VinFast would benefit from Vietnam’s “robust market and lower car density”, the fledgling brand’s challenges included “how to create consumer confidence in product quality and aftersales service”.

Vingroup has not released sales figures for the new cars but said ahead of the launch that 10,000 people had pre-ordered them. VinFast is not a member of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, which reports monthly vehicle sales by manufacturer.

Just over 320,000 light vehicles were sold in Vietnam last year, according to LMC. The Haiphong factory’s initial production capacity of 250,000 cars is set to double in a second phase.

Vietnam’s Communist leadership wants to build “national champion” companies in a country that borders on China, Asia’s economic powerhouse, and where many of the largest manufacturers are foreign investors.

By John Reed.

Things you need to know about buying property in Vietnam as a foreigner

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There is a common misconception that foreigners or foreign invested companies not allowed to buy, own property in Vietnam. In reality, it is possible.

However, there are certain conditions that you need to bear in mind when buying property in Vietnam.

Can foreigners buy property in Vietnam?

The answers is “Yes, they can buy as many units as they want, as foreigners currently don’t have any restrictions on the amount of properties they can buy.”

Since 2015, the local government introduced the Vietnamese Law on Residential Housing, which made it remarkably easier for foreigners to buy property in Vietnam.

How difficult is the property purchase process?

Foreigners are not allowed to own land. In fact, even citizens are not allowed to own land. In Vietnam, land is theoretically collectively owned by the people, but regulated by the State.

Foreigners who are residents in Vietnam are permitted to purchase dwelling houses. They can own a house but not the land on which it is built. They have the option to lease the land from the State.

However the foreign estate agent in Vietnam, Global Business Services Company (GBS), is marketing a 50-year lease scheme, which is almost a sale. Under this scheme, the buyer acquires a right to the apartment for 50 years, and the right to renew the lease at the term’s expiry without payment of additional rent. If property ownership by foreigners becomes legal within that time, the complex owner will transfer the apartment title to the buyer. If the building for some reason has to be sold, the buyer will get a pro-rata share of the proceeds.

And because the contract is only a lease, the buyer can sub-let his apartment. In other words, the contract gives the buyer many of the rights of ownership. GBS for example supports the developer selling 38-year leases in Ho Chi Minh City, which has been in existence 12 years (the maximum lease length under Vietnamese law is 50 years).

A foreign investor may also invest in Vietnamese real property by forming a joint venture company with a local partner, or a wholly foreign-owned company, or by forming a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) company or one of its variants.

Foreigners who are residents in Vietnam can own dwelling houses but cannot sub-lease these dwellings. Foreign residents can also sell, donate, inherit, or give dwelling houses as gifts. But where they terminate their residence in Vietnam without disposal of their dwelling, 90 days after their departure from Vietnam their dwelling house certificates will automatically cease to be valid, and the Vietnamese State will manage and use their houses.

One thing that separates real estate transactions in Vietnam from the rest of the world is it’s done in pure gold. It is very important to keep this in mind when looking for a property. The buyer must be aware of the prices and conversions at all times.

Registering property in Vietnam is not particularly onerous, taking about 43 to 71 days to finish the four procedures needed, which can be support by the lawyers at GBS, and costing considerably less than elsewhere in the region.

What is the summary the most important information to take note of Vietnam’s new law to foreign ownership of property?

Foreigners can buy properties by simply possessing a tourist visa
There’s no cap to the amount of properties you can buy
Foreigners are restricted to buying a maximum of 30% of the units in condominiums and cannot own more than 10% of the properties in a landed project
Foreigners can now buy houses, but only 250 of the houses in a given ward (division).

If finding it challenging to buy a property and obtain title documents in Vietnam as a foreigner, you should contact a lawyer or talk to an agent. GBS can be a good choice.

Vietnam Insider Named Official Media Partner for International Aviation Expo 2019

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International Aviation Expo 2019 in Vietnam announced an official media partnership with Vietnam Insider, a Vietnam-based English-language news website.

Vietnam Insider is the English-language publication covering deep finance, enterprise, tech, travel, life and other industry verticals. In 2018, The Business Insider described Vietnam Insider as “as one of the fast-growing media site” covering Vietnam.

International Aviation Expo 2019 (VIAexpo) will take place in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam at the Tan Son Nhat Pavillon Convention Center from 20th to 22nd November 2019.

The Organizer of International Aviation Expo 2019 said: “Thanks to this cooperation with Vietnam Insider, more information about the event will be shared with the Vietnam Insider audience throughout the world.

“We welcome them to come along to our event to discuss the latest innovations and future of Aviation.”

VIAexpo is the one-stop market for Vietnam’s Aviation & Aerospace community, showcasing the latest technology in the Aviation & Aerospace Industry. VIAexpo offers a holistic business experience by combining exhibition, conferences and seminars, and a host of networking sessions that connects quality buyers to Aviation & Aerospace supplies.

With this, the Vietnam Ministries are providing their support and cooperation with the organizing team to hold this exhibition in introducing to other countries about the Aviation market in Vietnam.

Registration is now open for exhibitors and visitors on the website www.vietnamaviationexpo.com

Keep an eye on the social media channels and official website, https://vietnaminsiders.com to get all the details and reports first.

Vietnam leads global interest in new iPhone

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Statistics released by Google on Monday showed that iPhone 11 was most sought in the world by Vietnamese internet users.
Ghana, Nepal, Nigeria and Singapore occupied the next four places, while American internet users were 13rd, data showed.

According to data from Google Trends, the number of Google searches for iPhone 11 by Vietnamese netizens exceeded 100,000 on Monday. At midnight of Tuesday, the search volume for iPhone 11 in Vietnam soared, with an increase of 500 percent compared to the last 24 hours.

It has also become the second most-searched keyword in Vietnam. Previously, this keyword only reached a few thousand searches per day.

The most popular searched keywords were “the price of iPhone 11”, “iPhone 11 Pro”, “iPhone 11 launch event,” in Vietnamese.

An unnamed SEO (Search Engine Optimization) expert said it could be likely that many Vietnamese people were confused about the launch time of the iPhone 11 due to the time zone difference.

The launch of Apple iPhone 11 series will be held at the Steve Jobs Theatre, a dedicated venue, at its Silicon Valley headquarters in Cupertino at 12 p.m. Tuesday (local time), which will be at midnight of Wednesday (Hanoi time). The iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max are expected to make their debut then.

The phone is likely to be available as a high-end “Pro” large version, a standard sized version and a cheaper LCD version of the iPhone 11, the U.K.-based Telegraph reported.

Apple has made some big changes as to how consumers can watch its live event, including broadcasting it on YouTube for the first time.

A report issued in January 2018 by We Are Social, a social media marketing and advertising agency, said around 75 million, or almost 80 percent of the population in Vietnam use smartphones.

Source: Vnexpress

Top provincial cop loses all party positions

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Colonel Huynh Tien Manh, chief police officer of Dong Nai Province, has lost all party titles for wrongdoings in handling criminal cases and other police affairs.
The positions include secretary of Dong Nai Police’s party unit and member of the southern province’s Party Standing Committee.

The Secretariat of the Central Party Committee, which is in charge of the Communist Party’s administration affairs, said Tuesday that Manh was mainly responsible for violations committed by Dong Nai Police’s party unit during the 2015-2020 tenure.

He had violated the democratic centralism principle, the party and the Ministry of Public Security’s regulations on criminal investigation, allowing many police officers to violate the laws and disciplines.

As a member of Dong Nai’s Party Standing Committee and deputy director of Dong Nai Police during 2010-2015, Manh also left many wrongdoings at the traffic police division not dealt with for years, some of them “especially serious.”

The committee said Manh’s violation adversely affected the prestige of the Communist Party and the police, causing public outrage. It demanded that the Ministry of Public Security impose further punishment against him.

The Party Central Inspection Committee had said in July that poor management of Dong Nai Police’s party unit had resulted in numerous wrongdoings in the investigation and handling of criminal cases, the management and use of weapons, land, finance, assets and personnel.

Over the past three years a sweeping corruption crackdown spearheaded by Party chief and President Nguyen Phu Trong has ensnared scores of high-profile officials, especially in the energy and banking sectors.

Source: Vnexpress

A Laotian man was sentenced to death for transporting 35 kilos of heroin into Vietnam

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A Laotian man was sentenced to death Monday for transporting 35 kilos of heroin into Vietnam last year, and his Vietnamese accomplice got life. VnExpress reports.

A court in Quang Ninh Province said traffic police in Ha Long Town near the China border stopped Lao man Chittakone Luangaphay, 34, and Phung Trung Dung, 43, on March 29 last year and found the heroin hidden inside the vehicle and two bags of methamphetamine on Dung.

The duo said they had been hired by two Lao men to carry the heroin from the Laotian capital Vientiane to Quang Ninh in northern Vietnam.

Dung said one of the meth bags was from the Lao men as a “gift to help me stay awake” during the long trip.

The plan was to reach Ha Long and for Luangaphay to contact customers and Dung to deliver the drugs.

Luangaphay said he had carried out a similar mission earlier, carrying two suitcases of meth from Laos to Da Nang in central Vietnam. He got paid $2,000 for that.

Cases of Laotians getting caught and sentenced for carrying drugs into Vietnam are not rare.

A Lao man was caught on Sunday with 60,000 ecstasy pills in the border province of Quang Tri. Another was sentenced to death last month for carrying 300 kilograms of meth into Vietnam.

Vietnam is a key trafficking hub for drugs from the Golden Triangle, an intersection of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, which is the world’s second largest drug producing area after the Golden Crescent in South Asia.

Drug trafficking and consumption have persisted and worsened in Vietnam in the last few years despite it having some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws, including death for smuggling and trading.

By Binh Minh.

Strategy for sustainable aquaculture potential development in Vietnam

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Việt Nam has a huge potential for ocean aquaculture but the lack of a proper development plan, preferential policies and application of high technology has hindered its development. Vietnamnews reports.

The country has great potential for mariculture thanks to its long coastline, relatively large Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and diverse water bodies embracing lagoons and bays, according to experts.

Ocean aquaculture has become a global trend due to its huge potential and increasing demand for seafood.

The world population keeps growing, leading to increasing consumer demand for seafood, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

An estimated additional 19 million tonnes of seafood are needed by 2030 worldwide in comparison with 2015. By 2050, the world would need an amount of animal proteins that is 1.7 times higher than today, according to the FAO.

Chairman of the Vietnam Seaculture Association Nguyễn Hữu Dũng said mariculture is assessed to be more efficient in terms of economy and environment than raising animals on land. Ocean aquaculture has a lower Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) and inflicts less harm on the environment, he said.

Cultivation of seaweed at sea can help feed the growing world population as proteins from seaweed can be utilised as raw materials for various products, according to researchers of the Plant Research International. Proteins from seaweed can be used as food for both humans and animals.

The growth of seaweed at sea can reach 400kg of protein per hectare per year while plants can only get 16kg of proteins per hectares per year, Dũng said.

Also, seaweed growth does not need fertilisers and plant protection chemicals while helping to absorb environmental pollutants in the atmosphere and at sea, he said.

With a coastline of over 3,260km and numerous islands and bays, the country ranks as the world’s fourth-largest producer of seafood from aquaculture. In 2018, seafood export turnover surpassed US$9 billion.

The national strategy for sustainable mariculture development by 2030 states that Việt Nam has great potential for seaculture, particularly in raising maritime varieties with high economic values such as plaice, grouper, tuna, oysters for pearls and seaweed.

There are currently around 50,000 households living along coastal areas engaged in mariculture but most of them are of a small-scale with out-dated technology, low economic efficiency, unsustainability and cause environmental pollution in some areas. They also chiefly operate near-shore to avoid storms, rough seas and other extreme weather while much potential remains for offshore mariculture.

Experts also warned that Việt Nam has huge potential for mariculture but challenges remain due to the lack of national seaculture development plans and preferential policies to draw investment from the business community.

Weak State management, out-dated technology and environmental pollution risks are also challenges facing the industry.

There is also a shortage of maritime production chains from mariculture farms to businesses providing food, breeding varieties and processing and distribution services.

To help develop mariculture sustainably, experts from the Vietnam Mariculture Association said it is necessary to build related mechanisms, policies and infrastructure to encourage businesses to join the industry.

Applying modern technology in mariculture as well as in preserving, transporting and processing seafood would also help to increase the products’ economic value.

Human resources training and international cooperation promotion are also needed.

The association has proposed the Government to build a national industrial mariculture development target programme by 2030 with a policy framework to encourage the participation of more businesses in mariculture.

Under the strategy for sustainable mariculture development, Việt Nam targets to reach 600,000 tonnes of marine farmed fish, 100,000 tonnes of seaweed and 100,000 tonnes of molluscs. Seafood export turnover is expected to reach $20-25 billion by 2030.

Vietnamese handicrafts introduced at London’s international fair

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Vietnamese handicrafts are being introduced at London’s international fair – Top Drawer 2019 -held in London from September 8 to 10. Nhandan Online reports.

A group of 20 enterprises from Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City displayed and introduced many handicraft products such as decorative products made from bamboo, wooden boat models, leather products, embroidery bags, silk towels, handmade cards, lacquered furniture, stuffed animals and art models at the fair.

On the opening day, September 8, a number of the UK’s businesses expressed their desire to cooperate as product distribution channels for a number of Vietnamese businesses attending the fair.

Top Drawer’s sales manager, Taha Meziane, highly appreciated the display quality of Vietnamese businesses and expressed his belief that the quality of Vietnamese goods will win over British customers.

Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK, Tran Ngoc Anh, also visited the booths of the Vietnamese delegation, affirming that the participation in the trade fair is a good opportunity for Vietnamese products to ‘set foot’ in the UK market.

Top Drawer is the UK’s leading fair on introducing products that have creative, unique, beautiful and sophisticated design, as well as home goods, gifts, and handmade cards. This year’s fair features 800 booths, mainly from European countries.