Doctors cut off 2kg tumor from kidneys of child in Vietnam

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Doctors in Vietnam have removed a massive tumor from the kidneys of a child in what they said was a complicated operation.

Vu Thi Mai H., a six-year-old from Nghe An Province, was admitted to the Vietnam National Cancer Hospital in Hanoi suffering from a swollen abdomen, the hospital said Thursday on its website.

Doctors first said she had a retroperitoneal tumor.

But they later revised their diagnosis to a Wilms tumor after examining her symptoms and conducting further tests.

They all agreed to use chemotherapy for her before carrying out a surgery, which they said would be a complex case.

Wilms tumors normally respond well to chemotherapy but H.’s tumor just minimally shrank following the chemo treatment, with part of its center even becoming necrotic.

Doctors immediately operated on her.

A 2kg tumor, measuring 20cm in diameter, was then removed from H.’s kidneys after three hours.

She is in remission now, doctors said.

Many of such patients have been admitted to the hospital at late stages, with the tumor having metastasized to other organs, Hoang Manh Thang, one of the surgeons, said.

Early symptoms of this cancer include refusal to eat, chest pain, nausea, and difficulty breathing, the doctor pointed out.

These may indicate either common or serious health conditions in children, he added.

Wilms tumor is a type of childhood cancer that starts in the kidneys, according to the American Cancer Society’s website.

The society says it is the most common type of kidney cancer in kids, with about nine of ten kidney cancers in children being Wilms tumors.

Source: Tuoitrenews

Hanoi culls 10,000 pigs with African swine fever every day

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Hanoi is killing around 10,000 pigs infected with African swine fever every day this week, up from 6,000 in previous weeks.
The disease has spread to farms run by over 23,300 households, or 30 percent of all farming households in the capital city, according to the Hanoi People’s Committee.

The disease is tending to spread to large-scale farms, it said.

Around 1.9 million pigs are being raised in Hanoi, the country’s second biggest herd after the southern province of Dong Nai’s 2.5 million.

60 of Vietnam’s 63 cities and provinces have seen African swine fever outbreaks so far, with only Ninh Thuan in the south-central region, Tay Ninh near Ho Chi Minh City and Ben Tre in the Mekong Delta being spared to date. About 2.83 million pigs have been culled, causing losses worth estimated at over VND3.6 trillion ($154.77 million).

African swine fever first appeared in northern Vietnam in early February and quickly spread across the northern and central regions before reaching the south in May. Hanoi was hit in early March.

The virus is shed in blood, saliva, tears, nasal secretions, urine, feces, and secretions from the animal’s genital tract. Pigs can thus get the infection by contact with many different infected sources, mainly other infected pigs, pork and other pig-derived products but also any other contaminated object, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. While the disease is incurable, it does not affect humans.

Data from the World Organization for Animal Health shows that as of June 20, 14 countries and territories were suffering from new or ongoing outbreaks of the disease: Belgium, Hungary, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, mainland China, Hong Kong, North Korea, Laos, Vietnam and South Africa.

Source: Vnexpress

Vietnamese overseas investment hits nearly $200m

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Vietnamese firms poured nearly US$200 million into 90 projects abroad in the first half of this year, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Of the total, more than $100 million came from 71 newly-licensed projects while the remainder came from 19 others which raised their capital by $96 million.

Most of the overseas investment focused on science and technology at $82 million, 41 per cent of the total. It was followed by information and telecommunication with $32 million, equivalent to 16 per cent of the investment.

Vietnamese firms invested in 29 countries and territories in the period. Spain lured the lion’s share of investments with $59.8 million, just under a third of the total. The US came next with $45 million or 19 per cent. Other destinations for Vietnamese investments were Australia, Malaysia, South Africa and Canada.

Last year, Việt Nam’s investment overseas reached $432.1 million. Among 38 countries and territories receiving Vietnamese investments, Laos led with $81.5 million, followed by Australia and the US.

Source: VNS

Foreign-invested firms eyeing up stock listings

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Vietnam plans to launch new rules that make it easier for foreign-invested enterprises to list on domestic stock markets, amid necessity to draw in international capital. Nam Phuong reports.  

Last week, the State Securities Commission (SSC) ­revealed that it is collaborating with relevant ministries and ­government agencies to ­accommodate foreign-­invested enterprises (FIEs) that want to list on the ­Vietnamese stock market.

Up to now, lagging ­regulations have held many FIEs back from their listing plans in Vietnam. Last year alone, there were at least four such companies applying to list on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HSX) and two more aiming at the Hanoi bourse.

The regulatory delay hurts their chances of raising capital in the country, while also negatively affecting the budding image of Vietnam’s market as an open and welcoming space for foreign investors.

One example is Taiwan’s Fortress Tools JSC, the world’s leading manufacturer in gardening tools. Fortress Tools, which plans to list 26.8 million shares, was established in 2006 and has two ­factories in the northern province of Thai Binh. The company originally wanted to go public last year but market conditions, as well as ­regulations, were not yet ­supportive.

“Together with our ­advisor, we’re finalising the documents for this listing. There are indeed a lot of legal obstacles for FIEs to join Vietnam’s stock market, but we’re grateful to have ­received a lot of support from local governments,” said Hsu Ting Hsin, chairman of Fortress Tools.

The company, which counts major retailers Lidl and Walmart among its ­customers, has benefited greatly from the manufacturing shift from China to ­Vietnam.

Another hopeful newcomer to the market is South Korea’s Seoul Metal Vietnam, a Samsung contractor. Following its listing on the over-the-counter platform in 2017, the company has been open about wanting to progress to list on the HSX as soon as possible. However, similar to Fortress Tools, lack of regulations has postponed Seoul Metal’s plans until now.

Chen Chia Keng, CEO of Phu Hung Securities, ­believed that as soon as ­Vietnam improves the legal framework, many more ­Taiwanese investors will join the local stock market both by investing in Vietnamese companies or listing their own businesses. The brokerage has been active in promoting the country as both the listing and investing destination for companies in Taiwan.

There are two main concerns about listing FIEs in Vietnam that the SSC will need to tackle, according market participants. First, some are worried that FIEs only list their stocks to divest from Vietnam more easily if they need to. This belief is refuted by Tran Thanh Tung, lawyer at Phuoc & Partners. According to Tung, if an FIE wants to exit Vietnam, closing up its business as a limited company is more practical and straightforward than as a listed entity.

Second, many are also concerned that Vietnam’s laws on foreign ownership may have deterred overseas investors from joining the market. Even after Decree No.60/2015/ND-CP on implementing the Law on Securities scrapped this limit in 2015, few FIEs made their debut on the public market. Some speculated that although the general cap has been lifted, the 49-per-cent limit on conditional sectors may have deterred foreign corporations.

However, Vietnam’s stock market has already hosted a number of FIEs. Twelve years ago, the first non-Vietnamese business to list on the HSX was Taiwan’s Taya (Vietnam) Electric Wire and Cable JSC, followed immediately by Tung Kuang Industrial JSC, another Taiwanese manufacturing business.

In subsequent years, textile manufacturers Mirae JSC and Everpia Vietnam JSC from South Korea, refrigeration equipment manufacturer Nagakawa Group JSC from Japan, and Thailand’s Siam Brothers Vietnam JSC also made their way onto Vietnam’s listed market.

The reality is that investors are not familiar with these names, although all of the FIEs hail from countries that have significant business ties with Vietnam. These stocks, which received little attention from both analysts and investors, suffered from falling prices and low liquidity.

Dismal business results have indeed thrown some FIEs out of the market, including Taiwan’s Full Power JSC in 2011, Japan’s Interfood Sharing Company in 2013, and Taiwan’s Chang Yih Ceramic JSC in 2017.

Full Power accumulated a loss of VND740 billion ($32.17 million) before it left the stock market and deleted all of its contact details. Interfood Sharing Company was forced to de-list as it lost VND495 billion ($21.5 million) in three consecutive years on the market. The same fate hit Chang Yih Ceramic, which recorded ongoing losses of VND59.83 billion ($2.6 million) up until its last trading day.

Two FIEs, though, have managed to escape this bleak situation. Everpia Vietnam, for example, has consistently been profitable over the past 10 years, although earnings tend to fluctuate due to high expenses. In 2018, the company posted VND76.2 billion ($3.31 million) in after-tax profits. Another profit-making FIE is Mirae, which posted VND3.76 billion ($163,500) in profits last year. This is half of its 2017 results.

Tran Dinh Dung, head of the Underwriting and Financial Advisory Department at Saigon-Hanoi Securities, told VIR that the SSC needs some more detailed rules on whether the founders of FIEs can divest from their companies, as this is related to the matter of capital outflow from Vietnam.

Regarding the foreign cap restriction, Dung said that the current limit affects both Vietnamese and FIEs equally, so it is not a matter of discrimination against foreign investors.

“In other words, if the ­foreign business is in ­manufacturing and other non-conditional sectors, there will be no foreign ownership ­restriction at all,” said Dung. “On the other hand, if it ­operates in conditional ­sectors such as real estate or banking, the foreign entity will indeed be subject to the same cap like listed ­Vietnamese banks and real estate developers.”

Source: VIR

VFF starts negotiations to renew Park Hang-seo contract

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The Vietnam Football Federation has proposed renewing the contract with South Korean coach Park Hang-seo.

It is rumoured that the new proposal is for a three-year instead of the current two-year deal.

VFF General Secretary Le Hoai Anh confirmed on June 26 that they have started the negotiation process. “We’ve only worked with the representative of Park Hang-seo. We hope that with the love for football and Vietnamese team, he will continue the contract,” he said.

VFF Chairman Le Khanh Hai already said that the VFF wanted to sign a two-year or more long-term deal with Park Hang-seo. He said money was important but not the deciding factor.

Lee Dong-jun, the representative of Park Hang-seo hasn’t commented. He is the representative for both Park Hang-seo and Vietnamese player Luong Xuan Truong, who is playing for the South Korean Incheon FC.

Source: Dtinews

President Trump targets Vietnam in latest trade war attack

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The President appeared to be hinting at tariffs on Vietnam’s exports.

In an interview with Fox Business on Wednesday, President Trump went after Vietnam, alleging that the country has taken advantage of the US-China trade war to benefit itself.

“Vietnam takes advantage of us even worse than China,” Mr Trump said. He added that Vietnam was “almost the single worst abuser of everybody.”

Mr Trump appeared to be referring to the fact that some companies had decided to move their operations from China to Vietnam as a result of the trade war, rather than back to the US as he had hoped. Mr Trump declined to say definitively whether the US was considering imposing tariffs on Vietnam’s exports to the US, saying only that the two countries are “in discussions.”

Experts have been calling Vietnam a winner in the trade war between the US and China: companies have avoided tariffs on Chinese goods by re-routing a large percentage of their orders to Vietnam. Some have raised the specter of currency manipulation. A recent report from the Wall Street Journal accuses Vietnam of transshipment: citing a sharp increase in Chinese exports to Vietnam and a concurrent increase in Vietnam’s exports to the US of the same goods (mostly electronics, computers, machinery, and other equipment), the WSJ said Vietnam might have been repackaging imported goods from China and exporting them to the US as products originating from Vietnam.

According to the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. imported $47.8 billion of Vietnamese goods and services last year, while it exported $10.5 billion’s worth. President Trump has often criticized countries that maintain a trade surplus with the US, saying that they have taken advantage of the US at the expense of American workers.

EU and Vietnam set to sign historic trade and investment agreements

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The agreements are set to be signed in Hanoi on June 30, 2019.

The European Council on Wednesday approved two agreements that are expected to expand trade and investment with Vietnam to unprecedented levels. The free trade agreement (FTA) will eliminate 99% of existing customs duties on goods between the EU and Vietnam, and the investment protection agreement (IPA) aims to increase European investment in Vietnam by ensuring efficiency and transparency.

Both agreements are expected to be ratified by the European Parliament and the Vietnamese government by June 30, 2019. The FTA will be effective immediately afterwards, while the IPA needs to be ratified by the EU’s member states.

President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said the agreements signify “a political statement by two partners and friends standing together for open, fair and rules-based trade.”

The FTA will eliminate 99% of tariffs on goods between the EU and Vietnam over ten years. Upon the signing of the agreement on June 30, tariffs on 65% of EU exports and 71% of Vietnam’s exports will be removed immediately; the rest will be phased out over ten years. This is very good news for Vietnamese consumers, who are currently paying up to 78% in import tariffs for European cars, 50% for wine and 20% for dairy products. Import tariffs on all of these items are expected to be eliminated within the next seven years.

“The FTA between the EU and Vietnam is the most ambitious free trade deal ever concluded with a developing country,” the Council’s official press release said.

The FTA also provides for increased coordination between the two partners on standards and regulations, guarantees more access for EU companies in VN’s services and public procurement markets, and reaffirms both partners’ commitment to International Labor Organization (ILO) standards and environmental protection.

The second agreement, the IPA, introduces new rules to protect European companies’ investments in Vietnam. Most notably, disputes will be settled in the newly created Investment Court System to ensure efficiency, transparency and independence.

The agreements represent a significant effort by the EU to expand its trade connections and engagement in the rapidly developing region of Southeast Asia. With almost €50 billion trade in goods and almost €4 billion in services a year, Vietnam is the EU’s second largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after Singapore. While EU investment stocks in Vietnam remain modest, standing at €8.3 billion in 2016, an increasing number of European companies are establishing there to set up a hub to serve the Mekong region.

Three drug traffickers sentenced to death

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The Hà Nội People’s Court sentenced three members of a drug gang to death for the illegal trade and trafficking of drugs on Tuesday.

Võ Văn Nam, 46, Ngô Thị Châm, 47, and Chu Toàn Thắng, 31, from Hà Nội were the accused.

Mai Ngọc Diệp, 43, also a resident of Hà Nội, received a jail sentence of 12 years for illegally storing drugs.

According to the indictment, Nam and Châm lived together as husband and wife in Hà Nội’s Long Biên District.

Because their business was operating at loss and they were unable to repay the debts, the couple decided to buy drugs to sell.

Nam and Châm knew Ngô Thị Bích Ngọc, a drug dealer who lived in Laos. On April 5 last year, they ordered 2kg of methamphetamine for a price of VNĐ600 million (US$25,750) per kg from Ngọc.

On April 7, last year, under the direction of Ngọc, Chu Toàn Thắng received 2kg of drugs from an unknown person. Phạm Hải Đăng, Ngoc’s cousin, accompanied Thắng to transport the drugs to Châm.

Châm gave Đăng VNĐ460 million. However, it was not enough to pay for the whole shipment so Châm gave Thắng a plastic bag containing 432g of methamphetamine to return to Ngọc.

Later that night, Thắng was caught red-handed with the methamphetamine by Hoàn Kiếm District Police.

The police also conducted a search of Thắng and Châm’s apartment and found plastic bags containing drugs hidden under the floor and in a dustbin. Mai Ngọc Diệp was caught with 32g of methamphetamine hidden in her jacket. Police also seized drugs while checking Diệp’s house.

Source: VNS

Vietnam consumer confidence grows fastest in Asia Pacific region

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Vietnam’s consumers confidence index saw the biggest gains in the Asia Pacific region in the first quarter this year, market research firm Nielsen says.

Increased confidence in their job prospects and financial security saw Vietnam’s index (CCI) go up from 122 in the last quarter of 2018 to 129, third highest globally, behind the Philippines at 133 points and India 132 points, Nielsen said in a new report.

The significant increase in consumer confidence indicates consumers are continuing to positively change their lives and that of their families, said Nguyen Huong Quynh, managing director of Nielsen Vietnam.

The strong growth also comes thanks to high confidence in job prospects and personal finances, as well as the level of willingness to spend, the Nielsen survey found.

80 percent of respondents said they see good or excellent job prospects for the next 12 months, an increase of 5 percentage points compared to the last quarter of 2018. 82 percent were also confident about their financial status in the next 12 months, up 6 percentage points from the last quarter of 2018.

Vietnamese consumers continue to be the most avid savers in the region. Respondents said that they would save 75 percent of their spare cash, followed by Hong Kong and the Philippines, both at 68 percent.

Over half of the respondents also said they would spend spare cash on new clothes and holidays.

Respondents choosing to spend on home improvements or decorations also increased sharply, by 8 percent against Q4 2018 to 47 percent in the first quarter as consumers tend to decorate and renovate their house for Tet, the Lunar New Year festival, which was celebrated in February this year.

The survey polled more than 32,000 online consumers in 64 countries.

Source: Vnexpress

Photo of mother teaching son along Saigon sidewalk warms hearts

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A photo of a woman helping her son learn to write along a sidewalk in Ho Chi Minh City has recently captured the attention of many social media users in Vietnam who were touched by the beautiful motherhood.

The heart-warming moment was captured by Bui Xuan Vu, a Ho Chi Minh City-based photographer, as he was searching for an inspiration in the downtown area on Sunday evening.

Vu said he first saw the young boy practicing writing along the promenade in front of the iconic Ben Thanh Market in District 1.

Sitting on the ground, the boy was using the edge of the sidewalk as a ‘table.’

As Vu stood watching the boy, he then saw a woman, supposedly his mother, leaving Ben Thanh Market and heading toward him.

She sat right behind him, wrapped her arms around his back, and started helping her son with his practice.

Both the mother and her son were simply dressed, while they carried along multiple bags containing their belongings.

The two looked totally focused on their work, as if all the hustle and bustle of the city had not existed.

It is believed that they were a homeless family, who earn a living by selling common items in the area.

The photo was posted to a Facebook group named Vietnam Street Photography the following day and has received a lot of attention and positive comments.

“A mother always loves and protects her child. She is also a great teacher,” Vu wrote in the caption as he posted the photo to the group.

Beautiful, touching, and meaningful are what most viewers said about the image.

“I really admire street photographers [like Vu] as they know how to capture the most unforgettable moments,” a Facebook user stated.

Source: Tuoitrenews

 

Yet another ‘shark’ loses Shark Tank Vietnam seat over company’s scandal

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The ghost of having one of its investors embroiled in a scandal just before showtime has returned to haunt Shark Tank Vietnam, the Vietnamese adaptation of the American business-related reality television series, in its upcoming third season.

Shark Tank Vietnam debuted in 2017 and its third season is scheduled to be on air next month.

Every episode shows aspiring entrepreneurs making business presentations to a panel of investors, or “sharks,” who decide whether to invest in their company as business partners.

The investors include main and guest sharks, with the latter not featured in all episodes of a season.

In an announcement late Monday, the producers of Shark Tank Vietnam said they had made changes to the investor panel, with one guest shark, Pham Van Tam, chairman of Asanzo Vietnam, no longer participating in the show.

“The other sharks remain in the investor panel as earlier announced,” the producers said on the show’s Facebook page.

The Asanzo chairman lost his Shark Tank seat a few days after an exposé by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper unearthed the firm’s shady practice in stating the country of origin of its electronic products, including TVs, air conditioners and home appliances.

The Tuoi Tre articles provided evidence of Asanzo Vietnam’s selling finished products imported from China and devices assembled from Chinese parts under the guise of ‘Made in Vietnam’ goods.

Shark Tank Vietnam will be aired on national television VTV. The broadcaster said on Monday that it would temporarily suspend airing episodes with the presence of the Asanzo chairman.

As the program has already finished filming, it remains unclear how it will be edited so that shark Tam will not be seen in any of the third season’s episodes.

The case of Tam is eerily similar to what happened to another guest shark of Shark Tank Vietnam in the first season in 2017.

In October that year, Hoang Khai, the owner of the Vietnamese popular silk brand Khaisilk, asked to withdraw from the show, shortly after a headline-grabbing scandal over the company’s product labeling unfolded.

It was discovered that the ‘premium’ Khaisilk scarves, marketed as being made from Vietnamese silk by local craft villages, were all sourced from China.

The Chinese products would have their ‘Made in China’ label replaced with a ‘Made in Vietnam’ one before being put on sale.

Hoang Khai withdrew from the show just less than a month before the first episode was aired.

Source: Tuoitrenews

Quang Binh signs promotion deal with Google

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Authorities in Quang Binh Province have signed the deal to promote the central region tourism on YouTube and Google Arts & Culture.

With the agreement from the departments of tourism in Thua Thien-Hue Province, Danang City and Quang Nam Province, Quang Binh People’s Committee have signed the deal with Google to promote the top destinations in the central region. Promotional materials will be uploaded on YouTube and Google Arts and Culture app.

The co-operative campaign includes two main contents. The first is to upload 1,000 photos about famous destinations and cultural works on Google Arts and Culture for visitors to explore the beauty of Vietnam.

Meanwhile, the Google Adventure Vietnam programme has been launched to promote tourism, cuisine and the images of Vietnam via videos made by six YouTubers from Vietnam, Germany, Taiwan, South Korea, Philippines.

Quang Binh authorities will continue working with Google to expand the promotion campaign to other countries via Google’s search engine and free services. Google will help develop Quang Binh’s digital marketing system.

Source: Dtinews

Asanzo chairman admits company’s products not ‘Vietnam-originated goods’ as claimed

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The chairman of a Vietnamese electronics maker that has been selling finished products imported from China and devices assembled from Chinese parts under the guise of ‘Made in Vietnam’ goods, has admitted that the company’s goods are “not Vietnamese” as it has claimed them to be.

Following a series of Tuoi Tre articles that provided evidence of Asanzo Vietnam’s shady practice stating the country of origin of its electronic products, including TVs, air conditioners and home appliances, the firm’s chairman Le Van Tam visited the daily’s headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday to discuss the issue in detail.

Nearly 100 percent Chinese parts

Tuoi Tre has discovered that Asanzo Vietnam imported TV components, including LCD panels, from China into its factory in Vinh Loc Industrial Park in Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City, where workers assembled them into finished products during a six-step process.

The final products would be labeled as “Made in Vietnam” TVs with “Japanese technology.”

At the meeting with Tuoi Tre, Tam admitted that nearly 100 percent of the electronic parts of an Asanzo TV set are Chinese imports.

He underlined that the company does not directly import goods from China, but it sources them from many Vietnamese suppliers.

“We only take care of the assembling and testing processes before selling the finished products in the local market,” he said.

Asanzo is also in charge of such steps as circuit board design and software modification for the Android TV operating system.

Tam said the company markets its merchandise as Vietnam-originated products because the TVs are assembled by Asanzo, a Vietnamese firm, while many of the components are bought from Vietnamese suppliers.

He added that there has yet to be any official document regarding how businesses should state the origin of their products.

‘Assembled in Vietnam’

Tuoi Tre journalists had gone undercover as assembling workers at the Vinh Loc factory of Asanzo Vietnam to witness first-hand the process of making a ‘Vietnamese TV’ from Chinese parts in just six steps.

One of the most important parts of the process is to remove the “Made in China” text on a stamp placed on every LCD panel imported from China.

The Asanzo chairman refuted the allegation that he had directed his employees to alter those labels.

Even so, he added that it does not matter if they tried to hide the “Made in China” text or not, as the components are after all inside the televisions, meaning few customers may ever see the labels.

Regarding the six-step procedure to produce ‘made-in-Vietnam’ TVs from Chinese components, Tam said he is not aware of it and will check up on it later.

In addition, Tam asserted that Asanzo did not establish dummy companies to import the Chinese products.

“The imported Chinese components are purchased from our Vietnamese suppliers,” he said.

“We try to contract as many suppliers as we can.”

Tam added that his only mistake is to have been careless and unaware of the background of his parts suppliers.

“If [a supplier] commits an offense, they must be responsible for it,” he said.

At the end of the meeting with Tuoi Tre, Tam confirmed that Asanzo products should be labeled as “Assembled in Vietnam.”

“Our products are not Vietnamese goods, even though they are owned by a Vietnamese company,” Tam remarked.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered relevant agencies to promptly verify information regarding the origin of Asanzo products.

According to a report on Tuoi Tre

Combating floods in HCMC: high budget, low efficiency

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Trillions of dong have been spent to implement anti-flood projects, but rainwater and high tides still leave many areas of HCMC inundated.

The municipal authorities allocated a budget of VND163 billion for the project on stopping floods on Nguyen Van Qua Road in district 12 and VND136 billion for the project on improving the water drainage system on Do Xuan Hop Road in district 9.

Ironically, since the works were put into operation, the inundation in the areas has become even more serious.

Vu Hai, an engineer with more than 50 years of experience in water drainage, commented that the flood protection in HCMC has not been thoroughly studied, so big money has been spent but the situation has not improved much.

Since 2015, Tan Son Nhat International Airport has often flooded when it rains heavily. The airport spent a lot of money to upgrade the water drainage system, but the situation did not improve.

Only recently, when the members of the HCMC People’s Council came to the site were the reasons behind this exposed.

According to deputy chair of Tan Binh district Hua Quoc Hung, there are 10 units managing and exploiting the airport. However, as each of the unit builds its own drainage system and the systems don’t link with each other, they could not help the drainage of the entire airport.

There are 10 units managing and exploiting the airport. However, as each of the unit builds its own drainage system and the systems don’t link with each other, they could not help the drainage of the entire airport.

Hung said when building the separate drainage systems, the units ‘forgot’ to cooperate with other units and the local authorities. When the units were building the drainage systems, even the officials of the district’s people committee could not enter the site to inspect the works.

As a result, though Tan Son Nhat Airport is located on a higher terrain than outside the fence, but the sewer inside the airport is lower than the sewer outside. The difference in the altitude of the systems reduces the drainage efficiency.

The airport can only be flooded if the Ministry of Transport (MOT) implements an anti-flood project inside and outside the airport.

In 2001, the government released Decision 752 approving the master plan to develop the water drainage network for HCMC by 2020 (Program 752). Many projects on dredging canals, clearing the flow, and developing urban drainage systems have been done according to this plan.

Some years later, in 2008, the government released Decision 1547 approving the irrigation anti-flood project for HCMC, covering the central area, 209,500 hectares, and some neighboring areas (Program 1547).

The VND10 trillion anti-flood project is part of the works to be done under program 1547.

According to a report on Vietnamnet

Lotte Card is expanding its business in Vietnam

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Lotte Card is focusing on Vietnam by increasing the number of local employees to 1,000 by the end of this year.

Lotte Card, the fifth-largest credit card company in Korea announced on June 25 that its Vietnamese subsidiary, Lotte Finance, has held a grand opening ceremony at Lotte Hotel Hanoi in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Related: Lotte Card has started its credit card services in Vietnam

Lotte Finance acquired Vietnamese consumer loan service provider Techcom Finance in 2017. The company has started loan and installment financing services in the local market since the end of last year. Korea’s Premium Business News Portal reports.

Lotte Card CEO Kim Chang-kwon, fourth from left, poses for a photo with officials from Vietnam’s central bank at the Lotte Finance opening ceremony held in Lotte Hotel Hanoi, Vietnam, on June 25. @ Business Korea

Lotte Card has also entered the credit card market by launching two types of credit cards – “Lotte Finance Visa Card” and “Lotte Finance Visa Platinum Card” – in April this year.

Currently, it established the headquarters and 14 branches in major cities of the country, including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh and Danang, and has 500 employees. Lotte Card plans to increase the number of branches and employees to 33 and 1,000, respectively, by the end of this year.

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