Vietnam Insider - Page 1154 of 1529

Vietnamese OTT service providers to develop online TV channels and exclusive dramas

Advertisements

Confident about the great potential of the domestic OTT market, Keeng is developing Keeng TV, while Fim+ is pouring money into projects on exclusive dramas.

Vietnamese OTT service providers have stated that they are willing to use the most advanced technologies to provide clients with the most satisfactory experience.

Both Keeng and Fim+, OTT-based online movie service providers, confirmed with the press that they had obtained two-digit growth rates, and that they see great potential for OTT services to make a breakthrough.

Vo Thanh Hai, director of Viettel Media, said Keengmovies film service is built on the basis of the existing community of Keengmusic, so the development of Keengmovies is more favorable than other OTT services.

Keengmovies offers a wide range of service packages by week and month, or rents movies on demand.

Meanwhile, according to Truong Nguyen Thu Ha, CEO of Fim+, which officially made its debut in January 2016, Fim+ has been growing by 250 percent per annum.

Ha thinks that the OTT market remains unexploited with large room for players and high demand from users. It is very promising for both veteran and new players.

Both Viettel Media and Fim+ shared the same viewpoint about the potential of the OTT market. OTT service users are mostly youth who have high requirements on service quality.

Hai of Viettel Media said Keeng users are mostly young people and office workers, customers who are proficient in internet environment, accessible to information sources, and always set high requirements.

To attract young and choosy clients, service providers need to provide special, original and new content. The rush hours for using the service are lunchtime and evening, i.e. the breaktime after studying and working.

A report from We Are Social showed that in the first months of 2019, internet users spent 2 hours and 31 minutes a day to watch videos, the same time used for social networks. They spent less time reading news and listening to music.

As for Fim+, the users are mostly below 45, familiar with internet, with high demand for entertainment services indoors and outdoors, on TV and mobile devices.

Fim+ has discovered new habits in watching films and entertainment activities, such as binge watching, or watching movies from the beginning to the end at once, and selective watching, or skipping the clips they don’t like.

She said Vietnamese users were giving up the habit of passive watching, i.e. watching what is shown to them. They now watch what they want as allowed by advanced technology. The content that most attracts watchers are blockbuster action films, Vietnamese movies and Vietnamese and foreign dramas.

According to a report on Vietnamnet

Cambodia’s Angkor Air to launch Phnom Penh – Da Nang flight service

Advertisements

Cambodia’s Angkor Air will launch the first direct flight from Phnom Penh to Da Nang city, central Vietnam, in October, according to the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism on August 23.

Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon confirmed the information after his working session with CEO of Angkor Air Hoang Manh Tuan, reported Fresh News.

The minister asked the carrier to improve service quality and consider launching direct flights from Cambodia to China’s major tourist destinations.

The airline now operate Siem Reap – Da Nang, Phnom Penh – Siem Reap, Phnom Penh – Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh – Sihanoukville, Sihanoukville – Beijing, and Sihanoukville – Siem Reap routes.

As a joint-venture between the Cambodian government and Vietnam Airlines, Angkor Air was put into operation in July 2009 with a total capital of 100 million USD.

According to a report on VNA

U.S. ‘deeply concerned’ by China’s interference in Vietnam oil and gas activity

Advertisements

The United States said on Thursday it is deeply concerned about China’s interference in oil and gas activities in Vietnamese waters, saying this called into serious question Beijing’s commitment to peaceful resolution of maritime disputes.

A State Department statement said China’s redeployment of a government-owned survey vessel, together with armed escorts, into waters off Vietnam on Aug. 13 was “an escalation by Beijing in its efforts to intimidate other [countries] out of developing resources in the [East Vietnam Sea].”

Vietnam, which has developed increasingly close ties with Washington given shared concerns about China, has demanded that Beijing remove the vessel amid a month-long standoff in waters seen as a potential global flashpoint.

The Haiyang Dizhi 8 first entered Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone in July and appeared to conduct a seismic survey. It left the area on Aug. 7 and returned a week later escorted by Chinese coast guard vessels.

The State Department said that in recent weeks China had taken “a series of aggressive steps to interfere” with long-standing economic activities in the East Vietnam Sea by rival claimants to the disputed waters from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

It said Beijing’s aim was “to coerce them to reject partnerships with foreign oil and gas firms, and to work only with China’s state-owned enterprises.” It said China was pressuring Vietnam over its work with a Russian energy firm and other international partners.

“China’s actions undermine regional peace and security, impose economic costs on Southeast Asian states by blocking their access to an estimated $2.5 trillion in unexploited hydrocarbon resources,” it said.

The State Department said U.S. energy firms had interests in the East Vietnam Sea and Washington was “committed to bolstering the energy security of our partners and allies in the Indo-Pacific region and in ensuring uninterrupted regional oil and gas production for the global market.”

U.S. warships have conducted periodic “freedom of navigation” operations in the East Vietnam Sea to challenge China’s claim to nearly all of the strategic waterway.

Source: Tuoitrenews

Vietnam ranked third most active startup ecosystem in ASEAN

Advertisements

Việt Nam jumped from fifth to third in the list of most active start-up ecosystems in the six largest ASEAN economies in only two years.

The change was from the first half of 2017 to the corresponding period of 2019, with the country trailing only Indonesia and Singapore.

According to the Vietnam Tech Investment Report released recently by Singapore-based venture capital firm Cento Ventures and Việt Nam’s early stage venture fund ESP Capital, the amount of invested capital and the number of technology deals done in the country have grown six-fold in the period.

The report showed local start-ups raised a total of US$246 million during the first half of 2019. Of which, the three largest investments, including Tiki, VNPay, and VNG, captured 63 per cent of the funding. In terms of sectors, key blocks of the digital economy such as retail and payment accounted for almost 60 per cent of investment.

Multi-vertical companies are growing well and have captured a 12 per cent share of capital, while emerging sectors such as fintech, real estate and logistics are only just beginning to pick up in Việt Nam, collectively taking a 10 per cent share of total capital.
According to the report, 2018 and 2019 have seen a new wave of Vietnamese start-ups that raised $50 million to $100 million rounds for the first time. If this trend progresses, more Vietnamese companies could approach the $500 million and eventually $1 billion valuation mark in the years to come.

Between 2017 and 2018, most deals came from Singapore and Japan-based investors. This year, Korean venture capital firms led as one of the most active investors during the year’s first half, having participated in almost 30 per cent of deals. Notably, many of the Korean financiers invested in Vietnamese start-ups for the first time. Local investors were also active, with participation in some 36 per cent of deals. The number of deals grew from 13 during the first half of 2018 to 21 deals in the same period of 2019.

Enterprises also play an active role in Việt Nam’s start-up ecosystem. For example, FPT has long provided investment support to local start-ups. Last year saw Vingroup set up its corporate ventures capital (CVC), while other prominent corporations such as Masan and VietjetAir are considering similar initiatives, the report noted.

Banks like VPBank and TPBank provide preferential lending programmes for start-ups, while VPBank and UP Coworking offer free facilities for qualified companies. Viettel, the largest Vietnamese State-owned corporation, has run and sponsored numerous start-up events such as Viet Challenge, IOT Hackathon, and Viettel Advanced Solution Track.
Việt Nam has experienced a surge in both the amount of capital invested and the number of deals done since the beginning of 2018, with the 2018 fiscal year totalling $444 million, whilst the 2019 fiscal year is expected to reach $800 million.

Cento Ventures believes the amount raised during the second half of the year will be significantly higher than that of the first as several later stage companies that raised funds in 2018 and early 2019 are in the process of closing another sizable investment round or expanding their current round.

The country shares similar trends with other Southeast Asian markets. Online retail attracts a large portion of funding, while sectors such as financial services, real estate, and logistics are also gradually growing. Multi-vertical companies are being formed as mature digital companies seek to expand outside their core business and are likely to attract an increasing share of funding in the coming years.

Simultaneously, differences exist. Education is among the country’s better-funded sectors. Payment firms continue to attract the majority of fintech investment as Viet Nam continues to develop the necessary digital payment infrastructure.

Source: Dtinews

Vietnam Startup Day 2019 gathering startup communities from around the world

Advertisements

The Vietnam Startup Day 2019 kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City on August 23-24, gathered startup communities from around the world.

The event attracted nearly 200 projects and hundreds of domestic and foreign investors from the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Nepal.

The event features interactive technological demonstrations, displays of outstanding start-up models, a start-ups transaction platform, semi-final and final rounds of the Vietnam Startup Wheel 2019 competition. Vietnam News Agency reports.

The eSpeaking at the opening ceremony, Vice Secretary of the municipal Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Ngo Minh Hai said the event enables start-ups to share knowledge and experience, as well as attract investors.

At the event, 200 start-up projects will call for capital from 150 leading Vietnamese and foreign enterprises.

In addition to listening to entrepreneurs, investors’ shared experience or seeking potential investors, 10 Vietnamese startups and 5 international startup had opportunities to grasp great prizes worth up US$430,000

Ken Kyunam–choi, Executive Vice President of the RoK’s SK Supex Council Group, said the group plans to invest in Vietnam via start-up projects, especially those at the event.

The Vietnam Startup Day is an annual event, organised by the Vietnam Youth Federation, the Business Startup Support Centre of the HCM City Department of Science and Technology, and the HCM City Young Business Association.

- VNA

Vietcombank in Forbes’ top 50 listed Vietnamese companies

Advertisements

The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) has entered Vietnam’s 50 best listed companies in 2019 by Forbes Magazine for the seven consecutive years.

Honoured companies this year were rated on the basis of compound annual growth, profit, return on equity, earnings per share growth between 2013 and 2018, branding, quality of corporate management, source of profit, and the prospect of sustainable development.

This year’s list includes leading companies on the HCM Stock Exchange (HOSE) and Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) such as dairy firm Vietnamilk, beer maker Sabeco, IT giant FPT Corp, DHG Pharmaceutical, insurance-finance group Bao Viet, digital retailer Mobile World and realty developer Vingroup.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) dominated the list as it is home to 45 of the 50 listings, leaving the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) with five. There were 13 changes to the list from last year with 11 firms making their first appearance and two companies coming back on to the list.

According to Forbes, the companies have recorded a combined total post-tax profit of nearly 127.53 trillion VND (5.6 billion USD), a year-on-year increase of 19.2 percent. The total capitalisation of the enterprises reached 94 billion USD, accounting for 63 percent of the total market capitalisation on the two bourses as of mid-May.

For three consecutive years, Vinamilk led the market in terms of profitability, but this time Vietcombank surpassed the dairy giant, becoming the champion in after-tax profit with the growth rate of 60 percent.

Source: Dtinews

Many large construction projects in HCM City inspected

Advertisements

HCM City People’s Committee have reported to the Government Office and Government Inspectorate that they had discovered 172 violators in construction projects in the first six months of the year.

The city inspectorate collected over VND1.2trn in fines, seized five houses and over 426 square metres of land. The HCM City People’s Committee transferred eight cases to the police of which three cases have caused great losses and triggered public outrage.

The goal is to clarify individual responsibility in land transfer and administrative procedures.

One of three cases is Bay Hien Tower Project in Tan Binh District. The project was supposed to have 20 floors with 170 apartments. However, the investor, Thang Long Company added more floors to the constructions and transferred the project to Long Hung Phat Company.

Thang Long Company was fined VND45m and asked to fix all of the problems. However, the company ignored the fines and continued advertising their project.

The second project is Dragon Court in District 7 and invested by Van Gia Long Company. The investor took the deposits without completing the required procedures.

Bac Rach Chiec residential area project is also facing investigation. Bac Rach Chiec Project had been hoped to be a modern urban area with villas, office buildings, shopping centre, park and schools. But after 20 years, the infrastructure is still incomplete.

HCM City People’s Committee has transferred various cases to the police such as the violations at nine projects to develop water supply network of Trung An Water Supply JSC- Saigon Water Supply Corporation.

According to a report on Vietnamnet

Foreign passenger arrested in Vietnam for in-flight theft

Advertisements

A Chinese man was arrested on arrival at Tan Son Nhat International airport for stealing cash from a Japanese passenger during the flight to Ho Chi Minh City.

Lyu Yuyong, 48, took 229,000 yen ($2,172) from the bag of the Japanese passenger, only identified as Takahashi, on a flight from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City on last week, Nguyen Quy reports on VNExpress.

Southern Airports Authority confirmed that, the theft was spotted by the flight crew who handed the Chinese man to security authorities at Tan Son Nhat Airport after the aircraft landed. Airport security officials turned him over to HCMC police for further investigation.

According to VNExpress, several Chinese nationals been caught stealing from other passengers aboard flights in Vietnam in recent years.

Vietnam Airlines said the number of in-flight thefts has showed no signs of slowing down for several years now. It has uncovered 20 cases in the first seven months of this year and budget carrier Vietjet Air, 11.

Passengers board an aircraft at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by Shutterstock/Huy Thoai.

Last year, Vietnam Airlines reported 12 cases of in-flight crime that involved foreign suspects.

Vietnam’s aviation industry served more than 56.8 million air passengers in the first half of this year, up 8.4 percent from a year ago.

Management of foreign workers in Vietnam to be improved

Advertisements

Foreign workers in Vietnam have helped bring the competitiveness and capacity of the Vietnamese workforce in line with international standards, but the compliance of employers with laws regarding their hiring remains a problem.

According to a report from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, on paper, the number of foreign workers active in Vietnam in 2018 was 88,845 – a significant jump from the 2017 figure of around 72,000 – with the rate of expatriates working in managerial and director posts on the rise while the rate of technical labourers is declining. VNS reports.

Related: Work Permit in Vietnam

Employers of foreign workers have mostly followed laws, but many contractors and businesses are not really committed to observing policies on recruitment, work permits or visas, the ministry said.

According to VNS, at a meeting held on Thursday to review the implementation of laws regarding the management of foreigners in Vietnam, Viet Anh, Director of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the ministry and local authorities have recently dealt with a number of issues concerning foreign workers in Vietnam, including skirmishes between foreign workers and their Vietnamese colleagues and traffic incidents involving foreign workers who were driving without proper licences.

According to the ministry’s representatives, many contractors have taken advantage of a loophole in the Vietnamese law which waives necessary work permits for foreigners if their work will last less than three months to illegally employ Chinese workers. When the three-month period nears the end, the employers would bring the workers to the nearest border gate to do re-entry procedures so they could continue to work in Vietnam without ever having to register for work permits.

Viet Anh also cited cases in which foreign investors pledged only a tiny amount of investment. Since the investment law and enterprise law do not require a minimum investment level, these investors could still enjoy work permit waivers and long-term temporary residence cards for foreign employees. He said relevant agencies should review all legal documents on the management of foreigners to eliminate loopholes that could be easily exploited.

At the meeting, Chairman of the Party Commission for External Relations Hoàng Bình Quân said Vietnam was among the countries with the largest room for investment and commerce in all of ASEAN. Therefore, all mechanisms and policy systems related to external affairs and trade must be “open and easy.”

Quân proposed a revision to the current law which requires tourists from other countries to apply for a visa if they intend to stay in Vietnam for more than 15 days.

“Recently, as tourism activities are growing, foreign tourists might spend up to a month or even longer in the country and not just a short vacation lasting a few days. So I think our current exit and entry laws have not caught up with the world’s general trends.” Quan said.

“Modifying the existing law to allow longer stays for foreign visitors would boost tourism and the country’s economic development” He added.

At the meeting, the public security ministry said that over three years – from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2018 – 21.6 million foreigners were screened and allowed entry into Vietnam.

From February 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018 the immigration department issued nearly 423,000 e-visas to foreigners, with the number of e-visas granted in 2018 equal to 186 per cent of the number in the previous year.

— VNS

Vietnam’s best property developers honored

Advertisements

The 5th Property Guru Vietnam Property Awards honored 52 of Vietnam’s most prestigious and respected property developers at the InterContinental Saigon Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City on August 23.

Presented by Kohler, the awards included categories for HCM City and Hanoi, recognizing affordable, mid-end, high-end and luxury condo, office, hotel and retail properties, as well as outstanding residential developments in Nha Trang, Da Nang and Ha Long Bay. Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reports.

Kien A Corporation won the top award for Best Developer as well as the new Best Mixed Use Developer award at the country’s biggest and most respected property awards program.

“Showcasing outstanding design vision, intricate development concepts and an applaud-worthy commitment to creating communities that inspire and thrive, Kien A Corporation is taking big, bold and brilliant steps forward with world-class developments in Vietnam such as Lavila Nam Sai Gon Township and is a noteworthy winner,” said the independent panel of judges.

The Best Boutique Developer award went to SonKim Land Corporation.

The event presented five other new awards in recognition of the industry’s niche segments: Best Sustainable Developer was won by Gamuda Land (HCM City) JCS, Best Hospitality Developer was given to CapitaLand Vietnam, Best Breakthrough Developer went to Alpha King, Best Industrial Developer was won by VSIP JSC and the Best Lifestyle Developer was given to MIKGroup.

This year’s event was supported by gold sponsors Hitachi Elevators & Escalators, An Cuong Wood Working, LMG and Malloca; silver sponsors Dulux Professional, Electrolux and VietCeramics; official portal partner Batdongsan.com.vn; official magazine PropertyGuru Property Report; official supervisor BDO and local representative Oriental Media Vietnam.

Last year, 43 awards were given to more than 25 companies and public-private entities.

The event is part of the regional PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards programme established in Thailand in 2005.

- VNA

AboitizPower acquires Vietnam’s wind farm firm

Advertisements

AboitizPower Corp. is expanding into the overseas renewable energy business as it signed an agreement to acquire wholly for $46 million a company that owns and operates a 39.4-megawatt wind farm in Vietnam.

Through AboitizPower International, the company is acquiring Mekong Wind from Armstrong Southeast Asia Clean Energy Fund Pte. Ltd., in a transaction expected to be completed in the fourth quarter this year. Inquirer reports.

Incorporated in Singapore, Mekong Wind owns Dam Nai Wind Power JSC, which, in turn, owns and operates the Dam Nai Wind facility in Ninh Thuan province—described as one of the most attractive sites for wind energy in Vietnam.

Having started operations in 2017, Dam Nai Wind is one of the first wind power projects in Vietnam to have been successfully brought online.

According to AboitizPower, the acquisition builds on its investments in the rapid growth of renewable energy and marks its entry into one of Asia’s most attractive markets.

“We have announced our intentions to go international some time back and we have been prudent in looking for the right opportunity that will bring the best value for the company and our shareholders. This is such a transaction,” said Erramon Aboitiz, AboitizPower president and chief executive officer.

AboitizPower chief operating officer Emmanuel Rubio said the company would bring to the Vietnam market the same level of expertise as what the company had achieved with its Cleanergy brand in the Philippines.

Cleanergy represents a portfolio with a total of 1,200 MW of electricity-generating capacity based on hydro, geothermal and solar power plants that AboitizPower and its partners had built.

Vietnam Airlines cancels flights to Taiwan due to typhoon Bailu looms

Advertisements

Vietnam Airlines has canceled its weekend flights to Kaohsiung City as Typhoon Bailu is forecast to make landfall in Taiwan Saturday.

The national flag carrier said in a statement Friday that two flights scheduled to leave Ho Chi Minh City for Kaohsiung on Saturday, August 24 have been canceled for safety reasons after warnings have been issued about floods and high seas on the island. Nguyen Quy reports on VNExpress, a local online news channel.

It also rescheduled two other flights that were to depart from Hanoi to Kaohsiung on Sunday morning, August 25.

For those affected by flight cancelations on Saturday, the airline will arrange extra seats on Sunday flights.

Passengers have been advised to stay updated on the status of their flights. They have also been asked to keep track of weather conditions and announcements from the carrier in making their travel plans.

According to VNExpress, by 7 p.m. Friday, the center of the storm was situated 520 kilometers southeast of Taitung and moving at a speed of 25 km per hour towards the northwest, carrying wind speeds of up to 126 km per hour.

The storm is expected to make landfall in Hualien or Taitung County on the east coast Saturday, Taiwan News reported.

Thousands of people have been moved to safety, most of them tourists on islands off the east coast, while dozens of domestic flights and ferry services were cancelled. Some 34,000 soldiers were deployed in the south amid fears of floods, AFP reported.

With increasing numbers of people opting to fly, Vietnam’s aviation industry has served more than 56.8 million air passengers in the first half of this year, 8.4 percent up from a year ago, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.

– VNExpress

Long-haul truck drivers illegally park on highway to sleep

Advertisements

Many long-haul truck drivers have been found parking their vehicles and sleeping along the HCM City-Trung Lương Expressway, causing traffic disorder and posing a risk of traffic accidents.

Although agencies have patrolled and fined violators, the situation has not improved.

Nguyễn Văn Tùng, a driver from southern Tiền Giang Province, told Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper that he was driving on the expressway at 3am on August 8 at 100kph when he suddenly slowed down and changed lane to avoid a row of trucks parked on the right side of the road.

Tùng said he was a transport service driver, so he often drove on this route at dawn.

“Each time I drive on the route, I have found many truck drivers parked on the emergency stopping lane to sleep in their cabins. Many have even encroached the primary lane and ignored the safety of themselves and other people,” he said.

Popular violation

Along both sides of the expressway, dozens of trucks have been found parking along the hard shoulder. In the passing lane alone, two rows of trucks have reportedly been parking.

In the opposite direction of the expressway, the same situation has occurred.

Most have chosen to park their vehicles at the route passing Bến Lức and Tân An districts and near the rest area of the expressway.

Some drivers claimed they needed to take a rest so they could deliver the goods early the next morning.

A truck driver from southern Cà Mau Province, who wished to be anonymous, said he had been fined by traffic police for parking on the passing lane of the expressway for a nighttime nap, but he had no other option.

He said the delivery time in HCM City was in the middle of the night, so he was really tired when driving back to Cà Mau Province.

“It’s really dangerous to drive when sleepy as it will easily cause accidents. Moreover, there is no safe place to park the truck except for the expressway,” he said.

“There is a guardrail along the route as a way of protecting my vehicle from being robbed,” he added.

Lê VĨnh Phúc, head of the Ministry of Transport’s Road Management Department, said illegal parking on the highway for a nighttime nap has been a problem since early this year.

The department has installed traffic signs to ban drivers from parking along the route.

Phúc said traffic police gave warnings to violated drivers and started issuing fines in April.

Some 1,000 violations have been detected over the past four months.

Serious shortage of rest areas

According to truck drivers and transport companies, the cause of the situation was a shortage of rest areas along the expressway.

Lê Khả Hùng, head of HCM City-based Cát Lái Container Association, said transport service activities have been growing fast but catering and leisure services for long-haul vehicles have remained limited.

There was a serious shortage of rest areas along the major national highways. The quality of rest areas was low with high prices and poor food service.

Hùng said he transported cargo from HCM City to Kiên Giang Province. There was only one stop near the HCM City-Trung Lương Expressway during the more than four-hour trip.

There were many restaurants along the route, but there were not many parking places at them, especially for large trucks.

More rest areas should be built along the route, he added.

Trần Phúc Lộc, director of a transport company in HCM City, said most drivers illegally parked on restricted lanes or on the edge of the roads for a rest.

However, this posed high risk of traffic accidents and many collisions between vehicles in use and parked vehicles have occurred.

Lộc said his friend stopped his truck on the edge of the National Highway No1 to take a quick rest on his route from HCM City to southern Cà Mau Province, before a drunken motorist crashed into the truck. The motorist died on the scene.

His friend had to compensate the victims’ families for illegally parking on the highway.

Lộc said authorities needed to build more rest areas along the highway, especially at the two ends of highway. This would help reduce the risk of traffic accidents.

Phạm Cẩm Thuý, a representative of a private-invested rest area at the HCM City-Trung Lương Expressway, said the rest area was under construction and would be open in the next two months.

Nguyễn Văn Thành, director of the Directorate for Road of Việt Nam’s Road Management Unit No4 agreed that most of the rest areas were too small.

He cited the two rest areas along the HCM City-Trung Lương Expressway as an example. The two, which were allowed to operate by the Ministry of Transport, are too small for trucks to park.

He said investment in rest areas was badly needed.

The HCM City-Trung Lương Expressway is the only route connecting the city and the southern provinces Tiền Giang and Long An.The 62-km route was open for traffic from February, 2010. The speed limit is 120kph.

Currently, there are two rest areas on the route.

Source: VNS

Hà Nội police suspends officer for disturbance at airport

Advertisements

Lieutenant General Đoàn Duy Khương, head of Hà Nội Police Department, has announced a 30-day suspension for Lê Thị Hiền, 36, a traffic police officer from Đống Đa District.

The move came after a video clip was posted on social media on Thursday night, showing Hiền shouting at members of staff at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport and disturbing the airport’s check-in desk, sparking public concern.

Khương told Tuổi trẻ (Youth) online newspaper that her actions and words were unacceptable. Hiền would be disciplined following the sector’s regulations and could additionally receive an administrative fine after the police investigated the case.

Hiền, born in Cẩm Thủy Commune, the northern province of Thanh Hóa, worked as a member of the district’s Traffic Police Team.

Previously, the airport’s police office fined Hiền VNĐ200,000 (US$8.6) following Term 1, Article 5 of Decree No 167 for causing disorder in the airport on August 17.

The case happened at 1:35pm on August 11, when Lê Thị Hiền and her daughter were checking in for flight VN248, from HCM City to Hà Nội, at the desk of Vietnam Airlines.

She had already checked-in four items of luggage. She continued asking the airline staff to allow her to check-in another item for free but the request was denied. Hiền had to carry it as hand baggage so she expressed her annoyance and slung insults at the staff. Despite Hiền’s behaviour, the airline still let her board.

However, when she moved to the security check, she found she had lost her boarding pass and returned to the check-in desk and continued scolding the staff. Finally, the airline’s representative determined not to allow Hiền to board the flight.

Source: Vietnamnews

Illegal foreign currency transactions rampant in Danang

Advertisements

Many shops in Han Market, Danang City, have been found to be illegally offering foreign currency trading for tourists.

A seller in Han Market received Thai baht from tourists without question. After being asked whether her shop trades in foreign currency, the seller denied the accusation and said that the tourists couldn’t exchange the money. However, when a group of Chinese tourists arrived, the seller continued receiving the Chinese yuan. The shop even had a drawer full of foreign currency to give change to tourists.

Vo Minh, director of of the State Bank of Vietnam in Danang said in accordance with the regulations, only the Vietnam dong could be used for transactions inside Vietnam. Tourists must exchange their money into Vietnam dong at approved agencies and commercial banks.

“Most banks in Vietnam can exchange money for tourists. There are also 48 agencies that have been allowed to carry out foreign currencies exchanges at hotels, airports and entertainment areas,” Minh said.

Shops that carried out transactions in foreign currencies were operating illegally and would face a hefty fine if they are caught. The Department of Tourist has issued guidance for tourists on how to exchange money when arriving in Vietnam. Minh said they had also raised this problem via the media.

Source: Dtinews