Should the system strengthen to become a tropical storm in the western Pacific Ocean, it would obtain the name Lingling. In the Philippines, this tropical system would be referred to as Kabayan. If this were to strengthen into a tropical storm, some wind gusts could approach 90-105 kph (55-65 mph).
The tropical depression will bring heavy rain and the potential for flooding across Vietnam, Laos and along the southern coast of China into Thursday. Rainfall amounts of 150-300 mm (6-12 inches) will be likely in parts of Vietnam, Laos and China. This could lead to major travel delays, road closures and even mudslides.
Tropical depression to impact Vietnam
“Areas across Vietnam and Laos will be threatened by heavy tropical rainfall for the second time within about a week,” added Douty.
One scenario that would spare Vietnam and Laos from a direct hit would involve this tropical threat stalling east of Vietnam, then turning northward and tracking into southeastern China later this week. While northern Vietnam would still be at risk for local flooding in this scenario, the greatest risk of damaging winds and widespread flooding would shift to Hainan and coastal locations of southeastern China, as well as Hong Kong.
Moisture from this tropical system may then be pulled northeastward, bringing the risk of flooding to South Korea and Japan later in the week. More tropical development is possible across the West Pacific basin during the first half of September bringing more risks to various areas in eastern Asia.
Last weekend, flash floods, thunderstorm and lightning triggered by Storm Podul, the fourth hitting the East Sea, left 6 people killed, 4 injured and 2 others missing in Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is an overwhelming place – and not just because of the traffic. There’s so much do here, whether you’re a lover of history, art, cuisine, culture or nightlife.
With so many great options, many travelers worry they’ll leave something out. But don’t fret, here’s what you should do. MATTHEW PIKE reports on The Culture Trip.
Motorbike tour
Despite the massive influx of new vehicles, Vietnam is still a motorbike nation – so get out of the taxi and onto two wheels. There’s no other way to really feel the manic vitality of this mega city – and no other feeling can quite match the raw adrenaline of flowing along in crazy traffic. But driving in Saigon is also lethally dangerous, so let the professionals do it for you. There’s many tour companies with experienced drivers who are also fluent in English. You could head out on your own, but we highly recommend you let someone else drive until you understand how the traffic flows here.
Nothing can compare with the charm of a river tour – to hear the waves lapping with a drink in hand and a cool breeze on your skin. Even if you’re on a budget, there are options, and if you have money to spend, this is one activity we highly recommend you splurge on. The more reputable companies offer amazing dinner and drinks packages, and on boats you have to see to believe. We love the range of views you get from the river as well, from the skyscrapers of downtown to the lush jungle foliage mere minutes up the river. This is a very cool way to see this city.
Independence Palace
For history buffs, the Independence Palace, also known as the Reunification Palace, is an absolute must. This is the site of those famous images of tanks crashing through gates during the Fall of Saigon in 1975. Aside from the stunning grounds and impressive architecture, the inside of this building almost feels like you’ve gone back in time. You can see where the southern government operated the executive branch during the Vietnam War – even the bomb bunker in the basement, where the maps still hang on the walls.
You probably won’t leave this museum feeling too good about humanity, but that’s the point. This museum is there to remind us of the horrors of war. For most people around the world, the Vietnam War is something that happened in a faraway time and place – not for Vietnamese people, though. This museum takes an abstract conflict and shows us the real people it affected. It shows the struggles endured by the Vietnamese people. This museum plays an important role in the healing process for Vietnam, by showing visitors from around the world how the war changed this nation.
Drinks with a view
If you find that the streets are too hectic for your liking, escape the madness by elevating your evening. There are so many excellent rooftop bars, so you’ll probably have a hard time deciding. If you’re in the backpackers area and don’t want to stray too far, The View is exactly as advertised. But if you have some extra money to spend and want one of the best experiences in the city, check out EON51 in the landmark Bitexco Tower. To see most of the better options, go to this article and check out the section on rooftop bars.
When the night is winding down and the respectable places are shoving you out the door, you’re just in time for the peak weirdness of Bui Vien. This notorious stretch of lewd behavior never shuts down, and even if you want nothing to do with the seedier aspects of Bui Vien, this street is a sensory overload that’s worth taking in at least once. There are fire breathers, strange foods, sidewalk bars, dubious massage parlors, beady-eyed “friends”, gangsters and enough bars to keep you hopping all night long. Keep your phones and cameras in safe places, though, as this is also the petty crime capital of Vietnam.
Bui Vien Street
Look over the city from the Bitexco Tower Skydeck
The Bitexco Tower is an unmistakable landmark, rising like a lotus flower out of the cement jungle near the Saigon River. The Skydeck is on the 49th floor — showcasing a 360 degree view of red tile roofs, smog and construction everywhere you look. After you’ve visited the Skydeck, head up another floor to EON51 for cocktails and more panorama views.
Flash floods, thunderstorm and lightning triggered by Storm Podul, the fourth hitting the East Sea, left 6 people killed, 4 injured and 2 others missing as of 3 pm on September 1.
According to the standing office of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, the natural disaster also destroyed and damaged 1,232 houses, submerged 405 others, and harmed 6,769 ha of rice and 403 ha of vegetables. A total of 6,370 domesticated animals were dead or swept away, while damage was inflicted on 2,941 ha of aquatic farming.
To tackle such consequences, the office has asked localities to keep track of the developments of rain, flood, and tropical depressions near the East Sea in order to timely adopt protection measures.
The mobilization of resources to help resident repair their houses and fix damaged damps as well as the examination of dyke systems and natural-disaster-prevention facilities are also necessary, it added.
Heavy rains and resulting flash floods isolate many roads in Thanh Hoa Province on August 31, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Lam Son.
The committees for natural disaster prevention and control and for search & rescue activities of provinces and cities have also been tasked with inspecting areas with high risk of flash flood and landslide to promptly evacuate residents. Relevant forces should also stand ready to tackle any problem arisen in areas prone to flooding.
According to the National Centre for Hydrometeorology Forecasting, Storm Podul landed in central provinces of Ha Tinh and Quang Binh in the small hours of August 30.
Due to the impact of the storm, provinces from Nghe An to Quang Tri suffered strong wind, while localities from Nghe An to Thua Thien-Hue saw heavy rains from 100-250mm.
Vietnam International Bank (VIB) just upgraded its international debit card (IDC) to include the first comprehensive protection applied to this card in Vietnam, consisting of ATM protection and e-commerce purchase protection, along with attractive and unlimited cash back, up to 2% for all transactions.
Talking about IDC’s upgrading, Ms Nguyen Mong Tuong, Head of Card Products at VIB said, “The issue of security and safety with card transactions is one of the highest priorities for cardholders in Vietnam. With this upgrade, VIB is the first bank on the market to apply comprehensive protection for cardholders, especially identity protection, with the hope that we can bring not only the highest value to our customers but also the security necessary to enjoy life comfortably. This is also a move towards our goal of leading the card trend in Vietnam and to contribute positively to our government’s vision of a cashless society.”
Unlimited cash back, up to 2% for all transactions
IDC brings outstanding benefits with high and unlimited cash back rewards, including 1% for all transactions and another 1% for all online transactions. This is the most attractive cash back rate for debit cards on the market at the moment.
Comprehensive protection
With this upgrade, IDC cardholders enjoy free risk insurance for e-commerce purchase and ATM cash withdrawal. This is the result of the partnership between VIB and international card organization Mastercard, in order to ensure safety for all card transactions and push for more cashless payments in Vietnam. With this protection, if customers withdraw cash at an ATM with an IDC and lose this money within 30 minutes of withdrawal, they will receive compensation for the entire withdrawal amount as well as for any medical aid required within 12 hours of the incident. If customers make an online purchase with an IDC and then fail to receive the purchase, or receive insufficient or damaged products without proper compensation for the seller, they will be compensated the value of the purchase, up to VND 9 million for each incident.
Specially, for the first time in Vietnam, IDC cardholders also receive free identity protection from Mastercard. This program brings outstanding security benefits by allowing cardholders to keep track of and get risk notifications for identity theft in all registered categories, including credit cards, medical card, bank account, driver’s license, car insurance card, etc.
Card management anywhere, anytime with MyVIB
VIB’s IDC applies the most modern technology available, including 3D-secure and other features allowing cardholders to manage their cards easily anywhere, anytime via internet banking or the mobile app MyVIB. These portals also allow cardholders to lock their cards in case of emergency, activate their cards, lock or open online transaction capabilities, reset their passcode, and use reward points in 30 seconds using their smart phones, without having to call the center or visit a VIB branch.
With an IDC card, customers can also experience modern card technologies such as Contactless transaction. Customers only need to touch their card gently on the payment device to complete the transaction quickly and safely, without the card ever leaving their hands. Another is digital PIN – Green PIN, supplying customers with their PIN number on MyVIB and allowing customers to change their PIN code also through this app.
Attractive discounts 365 days/year, free transactions for life and 1,000 gold rewards
IDC cardholders at VIB also enjoy many exclusive promotions such as 10% for new customers and 6% for existing customers at Klook, 25% off at Toocha, 20% at Banh Da Cua Di Ly, 15% at MARC fashion stores, and other promotions at notable brands such as Edena, Yves Rocher, NAMO, Ocean Palace, Share Tea, and Meetfresh.
At the same time, these customers are also waived transaction fees, cash withdrawal fees, account management fees, and IDC maintenance fees under the promotion “Go with VIB” applied to customers using the Gold and Sapphire packages (VIB transaction account along with IDC and/or e-banking). Also under this promotion, IDC cardholders have a chance to enter a lottery for 166 gold rewards per month, with a total of 1,000 gold rewards throughout the entire program. Customers get 01 chance with every VND 5 million in transaction account balance or VND 5 million spending per month, with no limits on the number of chances allowed. The lottery portal is opened at http://www.vib.com.vn for one month from the 5th of the month for customers to enter the lottery themselves. At the moment, the portal is open for the first round of the lottery and over 100 gold rewards are still available.
For more information on these promotions, please visit www.vib.com.vn.
Researchers at Google’s cybersecurity division Project Zero discovered a handful of websites that were being used to hack iPhones.
Once visited, the websites would plant a “monitoring implant” on the device, which could then steal messages, photos, and real-time GPS location data.
The hacks spanned iOS 10 through 12, which Project Zero said indicated they took place over the course of two years.
Google researchers have found a handful of hacked websites that were being quietly used to infiltrate iPhones for at least the past two years. Business Insider reports.
Analysts at Google’s cybersecurity division Project Zero published a deep-dive technical blog post Thursday night detailing their findings.
“There was no target discrimination; simply visiting the hacked site was enough for the exploit server to attack your device, and if it was successful, install a monitoring implant,” the security researcher Ian Beer wrote in the blog. Once inside the iPhone, this implant was able to steal messages, photos, and GPS location data in real time.
Though the blog post didn’t say exactly how many of these websites they were, the researchers estimated each one received thousands of visitors a week. The hacks spanned iOS 10 through 12, which Beer said indicated a “sustained effort” to hack iPhones over a period of two years.
The websites gained access to the iPhones through five methods, or “exploit chains.” The researchers found 14 separate vulnerabilities that made these exploit chains possible. Seven of these vulnerabilities were found in Safari, the iPhone’s default web browser.
The researchers told Apple about their findings in February and gave the company a seven-day deadline to fix the vulnerabilities. Six days later, Apple updated the security on iOS 12. Google gave Apple a much tighter deadline than is usual in security disclosure, the norm being 90 days to patch issues.
Apple generally has a strong reputation when it comes to security, and earlier this month the company upped the amount of money it’s willing to shell out for bug bounties — vulnerabilities found by security researchers — to $1 million.
Apple declined to comment when contacted by Business Insider.
National Day is a national holiday in Vietnam observed every 2nd September, commemorating President Ho Chi Minh reading the Declarations of independence of Vietnam at Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi on September 2, 1945.
Every company will close for Vietnamese National Day on Monday 2nd September 2019, and open as usual Tuesday the 3rd.
The Vietnamese celebrate National Day by displaying their national flag, putting up elaborate decorations and erecting huge posters depicting Ho Chi Minh making his famous speech.
While Hanoi and other major cities host speeches, parades and fireworks displays, they may actually be relatively quiet during National Day and the public holiday on Monday, because much of the city’s population will head to the coast to relax.
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) will organize fireworks shows at three locations to mark National Day on September 2, 2019. They will be at the Thu Thiem Tunnel between Districts 1 and 2; the 81-storeyed Landmark 81, Vietnam’s highest building; and Dam Sen Park in District 11.
The fireworks will begin at 9:00 p.m. and will last 15 minutes. Several major streets will be closed to vehicles at that time.
Find a best place to watch the fireworks near you below:
Saigon River Tunnel, District 1
Vinhome Central Park, Binh Thanh District
Dam Sen Park in District 11
According to a report on VNExpress, fireworks will lighted up in Vietnam on major national celebrations such as Lunar New Year, Reunification Day on April 30 and National Day on September 2.
Tourism authorities take advantage of this occasion to also organize street lighting shows and art performances.
Vietnam recorded US$22.63 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) registered in the first eight months of 2019, equivalent to 92.9 percent of the figure in the same period last year.
According to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, $9.13 billion was poured into 2,406 new projects, down 32.3 percent and up 25.4 percent year on year, respectively. Vietnam News Agency reports.
Nearly $4 billion was added to 908 existing projects, down 28.6 percent and up 23.4 percent, respectively, the FIA said, noting that during the eight months of 2019, there weren’t any projects with big additional capital like in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, foreign investors registered $9.51 billion to contribute capital to or buy shares of domestic companies, surging 80 percent from a year earlier and accounting for 42 percent of the total FDI capital in the eight months.
According to Vietnam News and FIA, among the 19 sectors receiving FDI, processing-manufacturing attracted up to $15.74 billion, accounting for 69.6 percent of the total. It was followed by real estate ($2.31 billion – 10.2 percent) and wholesale-retail (nearly $1.19 billion – 5.2 percent).
There were 103 countries and territories investing in Vietnam between January and August.
Hong Kong (China) took the lead with $5.63 billion, equivalent to 24.9 percent of the total capital. It was followed by the Republic of Korea ($3.48 billion – 15.4 percent) and Singapore ($3.27 billion – 14.5 percent).
Data show that FDI was channeled into 56 provinces and centrally-run cities. Hanoi topped the list with $5.66 billion, or 25 percent of the total capital. The second and third largest FDI destinations were Ho Chi Minh City ($3.86 billion – 17 percent) and Binh Duong
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s Twitter account (@Jack) was hacked on Friday afternoon.
The compromised account identified the source of the hack as a group known as the Chuckling Squad, and posted multiple offensive messages starting at 3:44 p.m ET, including racial slurs directed at African Americans.
It took Twitter about 15 minutes to respond to the hack, during which more than a dozen tweets and re-tweets were sent.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s account was apparently hacked by a group called the Chuckling Squad on Friday afternoon. Business Insider reports.
The hacker posted a series of offensive messages from Dorsey’s including racial slurs and anti-Semitism.
It took Twitter approximately 15 minutes to delete the inappropriate tweets from Dorsey’s account, and it’s still not clear how the hackers gained access. The group shared also a link to a Discord messaging server, but Discord deleted the server within minutes.
According to Business Insider, the hacked tweets were apparently sent using an SMS messaging service called Cloudhopper. Twitter acquired Cloudhopper in 2010 but the service is no longer available to the public. However Dorsey apparently used a version of the service earlier this year, though most of his tweets are sent from an iPhone.
Twitter said employees are aware of the hack and investigating the source. At 5:22 p.m ET the company said Dorsey’s account had been secured and there was no indications that Twitter’s systems had been compromised.
Amazon third-party merchants were found to have over 4,000 items deemed unsafe by federal agencies, labeled misleadingly, or banned by federal regulators.
These listings, many of which were changed or taken down after The Wall Street Journal alerted Amazon of them, included toys and medications where unsafe products can be especially dangerous.
Third-party sellers are the driving force behind Amazon’s retail business, but if it’s unable to effectively moderate their listings, it could damage Amazon’s reputation.
A recent ruling in the US could mean that Amazon is liable for defective purchases made on its marketplace, which might lead to a number of suits against Amazon and it having to regulate its platform more heavily.
Amazon issued a statement in response to the report, laying out the proactive measures it takes to moderate its marketplace including vetting new sellers, continuously scanning its marketplace, and other tactics. It also noted that it invested over $400 million in 2018 to protect its store and customers and to build programs that make sure products on its marketplace are “safe, compliant, and authentic.”
Here’s what it means: Third-party sellers are the driving force behind Amazon’s retail business, but if it’s unable to effectively moderate their listings, it could damage Amazon’s reputation.
Third-party merchants accounted for 58% of physical gross merchandise sales on Amazon in 2018. This marked the fourth year in a row where third-party sellers had more sales than Amazon’s first-party retail business, and it’s on an upward trajectory, tracing back to when the segment made up just 3% of physical gross merchandise sales in 1999. Housing listings from thousands of merchants enables Amazon to offer an unmatched product selection to increase the likelihood consumers shop with it, making these sales valuable to it even if it doesn’t capture all of their revenue.
But if the safety and legitimacy of products on Amazon comes into question, the value of its network of third-party sellers could be greatly diminished. If consumers aren’t confident in the quality and safety of products they find on Amazon, they may choose to start shopping elsewhere. And given the wide array of sellers on Amazon, consumers may even become concerned about products sold directly from Amazon or other established brands, which would significantly hurt Amazon’s sales volume.
The bigger picture: If Amazon and other marketplaces begin to be held liable for products sold on their marketplaces by third parties, it would damage the business model’s viability.
A recent ruling in the US could mean that Amazon is liable for defective purchases made on its marketplace, which might lead to a number of suits against Amazon and it having to regulate its platform more heavily. The ruling from the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said that a consumer in Pennsylvania could sue Amazon over an allegedly unsafe product purchased from the e-tailer’s marketplace, differing from previous rulings on the topic. Amazon has asked the court to review the decision, per The WSJ, but this could open the door to a number of suits against Amazon. To avoid the potential deluge, Amazon might need to closely review all of the products sold on its platform, which would likely lead to its product selection shrinking significantly, hurting its performance. If all marketplaces face the same issues, the business model itself may become less viable overall, pushing the retail industry away from third-party marketplaces and toward first-party sales.
Business Insider Intelligence’s Daniel Keyes has the full story.
Can Tho is a city in southern Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region. Set on the southern bank of the Hau River, it’s known for its canal network and nearby floating markets.
The modern 2.75-km cable-stayed Can Tho Bridge spans the river. The busy Ninh Kieu waterfront is a hub for boat trips on surrounding waterways. Illuminated at night, Can Tho’s waterfront is home to floating restaurants, bars and hotels.
The city has been listed in the top 15 most beautiful canal cities across the globe by Getty Images, the world’s largest photo agency.
As a dynamic city in Vietnam’s Mekong River Delta, Can Tho is the fourth largest city in Vietnam in regards to its population.
Vietnam’s Can Tho listed in world’s 15 most beautiful canal cities
Possessing rich culture and vast tourism potential, the city provides travellers with an amazing travel experience through its immense system of canals and rivers.
The city is famous for its local floating markets, with Cai Rang being the largest and most popular one. Tourists are recommended to visit the city in summer when they can explore abundant orchards and explore the local life there.
Can Tho Market
The Getty Images’ list also include many popular places around the world, including Venice (Italy), St. Petersburg (Russia), Annecy (France), Amsterdam (Netherlands), and Birmingham (UK).
Total outbound Vietnamese investment topped nearly US$440 million from the beginning of this year to August, Vietnam News Agency reports.
Approximately $340 million was poured into 102 newly licensed projects while the remaining $99.6 million was injected into 23 already operating projects.
According to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in the first eight months of the year, the wholesale and retail sector lured the largest share of Vietnamese investment with $97 million, accounting for 22 per cent of the total. The agro-forestry-fishery sector ranked second with $89 million, making up 20 per cent of the total, and the science and technology sector came third with $84 million or equivalent to 19 per cent, followed by real estate trading with $72 million or 16 per cent.
Among the 30 countries and territories where Vietnamese investors were active from January to August, Australia was the largest recipient with $179 million or 41 per cent of the total, mainly thanks to two large-scale projects of TH Group worth a total of $88.5 million, the agency said, adding that the projects are in agriculture and dairy farming.
Australia was followed by Spain which attracted $60 million or 14 per cent. Other destinations for Vietnamese investments were the US ($46.3 million or 11.2 per cent), Cambodia ($39 million or 9 per cent) and Singapore ($36 million or 8 per cent).
Experts forecast that Vietnamese overseas investment would continue to increase if the world economy stays stable. Meanwhile, free trade agreements which Việt Nam has joined could help drive local enterprises to seek investment opportunities in foreign markets thanks to tax cuts.
Hertz Asia has announced the appointment of New City Rent A Car as its new franchisee partner in Vietnam.
As a local car rental expert, New City Rent A Car will offer customers a range of transportation solutions through Hertz and its other brands Dollar and Thrifty.
All brands will now be available in Ho Chi Minh City, with Hanoi launching later this year. Customers seeking short and long-term car rentals in Vietnam will now benefit from a wide range of luxury SUVs, sedans and car rental services, such as the Hertz Chauffer Drive service, a door to door professional driver service, convenient for airport and city transfers, half-a-day or full day service.
Both the business and leisure markets continue to grow in Vietnam. More than 130,000 new businesses started up in 2018, bringing the nationwide total to 700,000*. Furthermore, the country is expecting to welcome up to 20 million tourists by 2020, an increase of 33% from 2018*.
Eoin MacNeill, Vice President for the Asia Pacific region, said: “We are thrilled to welcome New City Rent A Car to the Hertz family. Hertz is committed to offer in Vietnam the high-quality car rental service it is globally well-known for, meeting the expectations of business travellers and tourists alike. New City Rent A Car, with its invaluable knowledge of the Vietnamese culture and the industry will help us fulfil this commitment through a wide range of Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty rental options.”
Nim Vuon Phu, New City Rent A Car’s Chairman, added: “We are immensely happy to start operating Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty in this flourishing market, serving both local and international customers with different transportation needs and preferences. In addition to our varied car rental options, services such as Hertz Chauffer Drive will help us serve our growing business community as well as international travellers who prefer not to drive.”
After defeating Hochiminh City Wings 74-71 in game two of the playoffs, Saigon Heat makes it to the VBA final for the first time.
The match was held in HCM City on Thursday. With the advantage of winning the first match, Saigon Heat started the game with an aggressive stance, knowing the Wings had to win to keep their hopes alive.
After the opening whistle, both HCMC City teams tried to use an attacking strategy. With the strong play of Wayne Martin (7 points), the home team bombarded the Heat’s basket. However, with its more diverse array of attacking threats, Saigon Heat held the lead after the first period by a score of 16-12.
Wings tried hard to turn in the tide in the second period but still lost ground because of the non-stop scoring of Tavarion Nix (13 points). The second period ended 36-30 in favour of the visitors. Holding the advantage, Saigon Heat was content to sit back and defend and find chances to break quickly the other way. Try as they might, the Wings could not gain a foothold and trailed at the end of the third period, 48-55.
Wings narrowed the gap in the final period but it was not enough to keep their hopes alive, falling 71-74. After missing out on place in the VBA final the past two years the wait will continue for at least another season.
Reaching the final is the biggest achievement for Saigon Heat to date. Their opponent will be the winner of the meeting between Cantho Catfish and Thang Long Warriors. The series is tied 1-1 and the third match will be played on August 31 on Cantho Catfish’s home court.
Here’s a thought as the unofficial end of summer draws near and a new decade looms: Pay more attention to Vietnam.
No doubt you already are, but maybe pay even more attention, especially to get a better sense of how digital and mobile payment and commerce trends are playing out in one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
In a new PYMNTS interview with Karen Webster, Ryan Frere, the vice president of global payments at Flywire, made one of the latest cases we’ve heard about why Vietnam not only matters when it comes to payments and commerce, but why that country and that market is significant to all the things that are important to the digital economy.
Similar Paths
Granted cash — and cash-on-delivery — still have principal roles in Vietnam. A robust middle class is still emerging, and wealth is pretty small compared to the region’s leading player, China. However, things are changing, things that signal an ongoing and lasting move toward more digitalization.
“It’s taking a similar path as China,” Frere told Webster. That is, consumers in Vietnam are moving toward the general idea of using their mobile devices — “The device in hand,” as he described it — to handle the multitude of transactions that pop up in a typical day. Those transactions might include food delivery, ride-hailing and retail purchases, among others. Already, China-based operations such as Alipay are building their presence in this Southeast Asian country, and more mobile offerings are sure to follow or find deeper footings there.
Indeed, Flywire is getting involved in the payments game for Vietnam and its consumers. As PYMNTS has covered, the company is joining forces with Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VPBank) to make it easier for Vietnamese students to make international tuition payments. According to a release, Flywire will allow the students — many of whom study in Japan and Australia — to make payments in VND in the method they choose. That includes bank transfers, which are very popular in Vietnam.
So what does it take to achieve payments success in Vietnam — to have a chance to grab meaningful market share and have an opportunity to build a product or even ecosystem that will attract and retain consumers?
Champion Bank
According to Frere, having the right bank partner is critical. Vietnam’s government and central bank have rather strict FX and currency controls, and working with the right local bank will help an outside company navigate those thickets of regulations. “The amount of documentation to make FX transactions can be almost prohibitive,” he told Webster. “The government doesn’t want currency moving out of the country. You need a strong champion bank.”
Outside firms that want to play a significant and profitable role in Vietnam in the 2020s also need to pay attention to how manufacturers are moving there, and all the general supply chain issues related to that. After all, such economic activity is sure to bring more income benefits to Vietnamese consumers, and to help build that middle class. Moreover, those trends, in turn, will almost certainly encourage more efforts to bring even more digital and mobile transactions to the country.
What is happening, or has happened, in neighboring countries — and to developing countries in general — also is worth studying. After all, Vietnam has the benefit of taking lessons from those experiences. Also, in many respects, what is happening with payments and payment process in Vietnam is not too dissimilar from what was happening in other parts of that region, Frere said.
Fresh Investment
No matter what, relevant and interesting things are happening in Vietnam. One recent example? Grab recently announced that it will invest $500 million into Vietnam, and the Singapore-based provider of transportation and other services is now revealing details about what it has planned for Vietnam. Already, Grab has teamed up with Vietnam FinTech company Moka to introduce a digital wallet. The company also partnered with Japanese credit card outfit Credit Saison to offer loans and credit insight to small entrepreneurs in SE Asia.
It’s hardly news that Vietnam is on the rise. However, a closer — and sustained — look at the payment and commerce trends playing out there could pay big dividends down the road.
In response to the widespread floods that wreaked havoc in many parts of Vietnam in early August, the European Union is providing €100 000 EUR (VND2.6 bil) in humanitarian aid funding to assist the most affected communities.
The aid will directly benefit over 18 000 people in some of the hardest hit areas in the southern provinces of Dak Lak, Kien Giang, and Lam Dong.
This EU funding supports the Vietnam Red Cross Society (VNRC) in delivering much-needed assistance through the distribution of household kits, which include blankets, mosquito nets, kitchen sets, and water buckets. Cash grants are being provided to enable the most vulnerable families to meet their basic needs and sustain their day-to-day livelihoods. To ensure access to clean water, families whose water resources have been contaminated in the aftermath of the floods will also receive water purification power. As outbreaks of vector diseases such as malaria, dengue, and typhoid are common following flooding, disease prevention and hygiene promotion activities are also being conducted.
The funding is part of the EU’s overall contribution to the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
In early August, Vietnam experienced days of torrential downpours that triggered destructive floods in many parts of the country’s central and southern provinces, affecting close to 130 000 people. As a result of the flooding, over 12 000 houses were inundated while thousands of hectares of rice and other crops sustained damage, leaving the livelihoods of many in the predominantly agricultural nation in tatters. The southern province of Kien Giang was the worst hit area where more than 8 000 homes were submerged in water. The collapse of the Cam Ly landfill, which sat on top of a hill in the tourist city of Da Lat in Lam Dong, increases public health risks for those living in the affected areas.
