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For Amazon, it’s business as usual despite CEO drama

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First it was a heart-wrenching tweet that he and his wife were getting a divorce after 25 years. Then a tabloid revealed that he’d been having an affair, releasing texts and photos of him and his mistress.

As if either of those weren’t distracting enough, now Jeff Bezos — the world’s richest man and CEO of Amazon — is accusing The National Enquirer in a blog post of trying to blackmail him by threatening to release more intimate photos of him unless he calls off an investigation into how that information was obtained in the first place.

But despite the all-consuming personal drama, analysts and experts don’t expect it to make much difference to Amazon itself, the company Bezos has steered from an online bookstore two decades ago to a worldwide juggernaut.

Amazon officially set foot in Vietnam market (VN), opening up great business opportunities for Vietnamese businesses to sell around the world.

On January 14, 2019, the Trade Promotion Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) signed a cooperation agreement with Amazon Global Selling. Director of the Trade Promotion Department, Mr. Vu Ba Phu said that the two sides agreed to coordinate the implementation of the main contents such as supporting Vietnamese enterprises; which prioritizes small and medium enterprises, access to the world market with Amazon.com; brand development of Vietnamese businesses and goods in the e-commerce environment of Amazon.com; training program for Vietnamese small and medium enterprises on e-commerce to promote trade, export goods and learn global sales skills on Amazon.com.

Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, estimates the impact on the company to be “0.000 percent.”

“I’m certain investors won’t care,” he said.

Others point out that Bezos has been able to balance his responsibilities at the helm of the world’s largest online retailer while also juggling his other pursuits: running a space exploration company and owning the Washington Post, one of the nation’s most influential newspapers.

“He’s extraordinarily driven,” says Chris McCabe, who used to work at Amazon and now runs ecommerceChris, a consultancy for Amazon sellers. “He knows how to delegate.”

Amazon has a steady line of longtime executives who are running each of its businesses, likely keeping investors calm.

Jeffrey Wilke, oversees the retail business, and Andrew Jassy runs the company’s fast-growing cloud computing business Amazon Web Services. Both of them have been at the company since the 1990s. And unlike other CEOs, Bezos doesn’t speak at conference calls with analysts and investors after the company releases its financial reports, leaving that to Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky, who has been at the company since 2002.

Still, that hasn’t stopped the Enquirer from casting doubts over whether Bezos can effectively oversee his company.

“All of these (text) messages raise serious questions about Bezos’ judgment as the CEO of the most valuable company in the world,” the tabloid said in a Jan. 24 article.

Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. declined to comment on Bezos. The company’s stock did not take a big hit, slipping 1.6 percent at Friday’s close.

Meanwhile, the Enquirer’s publisher, American Media Inc., is disputing Bezos’ claims that it used extortion and blackmail in reporting its story, saying that it “acted lawfully.”

In his blog post Thursday, Bezos defended his ability to lead Amazon: “I founded Amazon in my garage 24 years ago, and drove all the packages to the post office myself. Today, Amazon employs more than 600,000 people, just finished its most profitable year ever, even while investing heavily in new initiatives, and it’s usually somewhere between the #1 and #5 most valuable company in the world. I will let those results speak for themselves.”

He also said he wants to focus on work, noting that the person he hired to handle the investigation into how his texts were leaked to the Enquirer will also be tasked with “protecting” his time.

“I have other things I prefer to work on,” Bezos wrote.

Bezos’ indiscretions are seen more as a personal matter rather than one to do with the company, unlike Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk, for example, whose behavior has caused the electric automaker’s stock to rise and fall. Musk was recently stripped of his chairman title and forced to pay a $20 million penalty to the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly duping investors with tweets about a plan to take the company private.

“This is very much a matter of Jeff Bezos,” says Neil Saunders, the managing director at GlobalData Retail, of Bezos’ affair. “It’s not really anything to do with running with the company.”

David Larcker, a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, says it’s up to shareholders and the board of directors to decide just how engaged a CEO is in their work, and whether they should go. Bezos is both chairman of the board and the largest shareholder, owning a 16 percent stake in the company.

Amazon’s shoppers, meanwhile, are not likely to take notice.

“I think as long as people can get their Nespresso pods within 48 hours, they don’t care,” says Scott Galloway, a marketing professor at NYU Stern School of Business.

Vietnam creates favourable conditions for private firms

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Vietnam will continue to hasten efforts to improve the business climate in terms of quality to create favourable conditions for the private sector to play its role as a driver in promoting rapid and sustainable economic growth.

According to a report on Vietnam News, the country has targeted to have one million firms by next year, of which, there would be a lot of large private corporations who were arising strongly in both domestic and international markets in key sectors like manufacturing, aviation, finance and banking, agriculture and telecommunications.

According to Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics’ Nguyen Xuan Thang, the private sector is still facing difficulties in accessing resources, market opportunities and advanced technologies.

Vietjet president and CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao said at the Vietnam Economic Forum 2019 that Vietnam in recent years had sent a strong message about building a constructive government with open mechanisms for the private sector.

However, Thao said it was necessary to speed up the privatisation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the restructuring of the banking sector to minimise the negative impacts on macro-finance and growth prospects.

Thao also urged the government to develop mechanisms and policies to exploit resources of the private sector for infrastructure development and enable them to grasp opportunities from Industry 4.0 to enhance productivity.

The private sector should be encouraged to participate in what they could do well, Thao said, stressing that private firms expected to have a fair playground with other economic sectors.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said in a dialogue at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the private economic sector was an important driver for growth in Vietnam amid an anticipated slow-down of the global economy.

Phuc added that attracting foreign direct investment together with enhancing linkage with the domestic sector also played a significant role in promoting economic development.

According to World Bank Vietnam Country Director Ousmane Dione, Vietnam faces a significant opportunity in upgrading its domestic value contribution to capture the benefits of FDI inflows and global value chains.

This requires enhancing links with the domestic economy, he stressed.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Vu Dai Thang said the goal of having one million firms by next year was within reach, given the efforts of improving the business climate.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment recently made public a draft law to amend the Law on Investment and the Law on Enterprise, which aimed to create favourable conditions for the businesses and private sector to develop.

Vietnam set goal of increasing the contribution of the private sector to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to 50 per cent by next year, 55 per cent by 2025 and 60-65 per cent by 2030.

Every year, the private sector generated 1.2 million jobs and contributed 43 per cent to GDP.

Why Vietnam was selected to host Trump’s second North Korea summit?

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When the US. President Donal Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meet in Vietnam on Feb. 27-28 for a second round of nuclear talks, the world spotlight will shine on a country that has come a long way from the Vietnam War.

The communist-led Southeast Asian nation is now a booming economy and increasingly assertive regional diplomatic player. It is also one of the few nations to enjoy friendly relations with both Washington and Pyongyang. The Latimes.com reports.

The first round of talks, held last June in Singapore, produced vague promises by North Korea to dismantle its nuclear arsenal — but no concrete steps to achieve that. Now Trump is trying to demonstrate that his outreach to the young dictator isn’t just a diplomatic show.

Experts said that made the selection of Vietnam both practical and symbolic. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Location, location

The host city hasn’t yet been disclosed, but one option is Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, which lies 1,700 miles from Pyongyang, North Korea. That’s closer than Chicago is to Los Angeles, and it means an even shorter flight for Kim than the one he took to Singapore.

Unlike his late father, Kim Jong Il, who was afraid of flying and used an armored train on his rare foreign trips, the young North Korean leader appears comfortable in the air.

Some experts have doubts about the safety and reliability of the aging Soviet-made planes that make up his reclusive nation’s passenger fleet. Rather than risk an embarrassing midair malfunction, Kim flew to Singapore aboard an Air China jet loaned by Beijing.

The flight from North Korea to Vietnam would cross only friendly Chinese airspace, making Kim feel even safer. On the ground, the North Korean leader would step into the tight-if-not-quite-suffocating embrace of another one-party state.

Vietnamese authorities exercise significant control over dissent, public demonstrations and the media. A recent anti-corruption crackdown ensnared high-level officials in the Communist Party and at state-owned companies, but drew comparisons to a Chinese-style political purge.

Another possible venue is the coastal city of Da Nang, which has hosted major summits and where warships could be positioned to offer added security, experts said.

The Vietnamese public is broadly enthusiastic about playing host to Trump and Kim, and no one expects any protests or other disturbances to mar the summit.

“In terms of security, in terms of friendliness, it’s excellent,” said Vu Minh Khuong, an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. “Kim Jong Un for sure will be excited about that.”

The U.S. and Vietnam share a bloody history, but the relationship has moved far beyond the 20-year war that ended in 1975 and claimed the lives of 58,000 U.S. soldiers and an estimated 3 million Vietnamese troops and civilians.

Since President Clinton normalized relations with Vietnam in 1995, the countries have developed close economic and military ties, centered in part on shared concerns over China’s trade practices and its advances in the South China Sea.

Bilateral trade jumped from $451 million in 1995 to nearly $52 billion in 2016. The Pentagon conducts an annual high-level dialogue with Vietnamese counterparts, and last year Vietnam participated for the first time in the U.S.-led “Rim of the Pacific,” the world’s largest international maritime exercise.

President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are due to meet again in Vietnam on Feb. 27-28 to continue talks on denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. (Associated Press, Korean Summit Press Pool)

Ties between Vietnam and North Korea go back further. The countries established diplomatic relations in 1950, and eight years later Kim Il Sung, North Korea’s founder and Kim Jong Un’s grandfather, visited Hanoi.

In December, Vietnam held a grand celebration commemorating the 60-year anniversary of the visit, including a banquet attended by a North Korean delegation led by Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho.

Kim Jong Un exchanged New Year’s cards with the Vietnamese president, according to North Korean state media.

“There are not many other places that North Korea trusts and the U.S. also trusts,” said Joshua Kurlantzick, a senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations.

4. A source of economic inspiration

A decade after the “American War” ended, as the Vietnam War is known there, the Southeast Asian nation was internationally isolated and starving, a Stalinist experiment in collectivization having left farmers starving and store shelves barren.

In 1986, Hanoi’s leadership began the Doi Moi program of liberalization that reopened the country to the world and produced one of the most stunning economic turnarounds in recent times.

Vietnam’s economy is expanding by 6% to 7% a year, with bustling small businesses, thriving manufacturing zones and a glittering skyline in Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon.

The country’s communist leaders have embraced the summit as a chance to advertise itself on the world stage.

“Vietnam is keen to sell its story worldwide to promote its image, and also to improve the international legitimacy of the ruling Communist Party,” said Le Hong Hiep, an expert on Vietnam at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

The U.S. hasn’t exactly been subtle about the lessons it sees for Kim, who has talked of developing his country’s centralized economy. Last year, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo used a speech to business leaders in Hanoi to address Kim directly, saying: “This miracle can be yours.”

State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said Vietnam shows “the possibilities for peace and prosperity,” and that the Trump administration is hoping Kim will see it as a model of the kind of growth that can come with more economic flexibility, if not necessarily more political freedom.

5. A model for reshaping U.S. ties

From bitter enemies to trusted partners, the trajectory of the U.S.-Vietnam relationship could excite a young North Korean leader who is said to be enamored of Western culture (particularly NBA basketball).

The rapprochement with Vietnam began slowly, with bilateral efforts to account for prisoners of war. It has expanded to cooperation in repatriating the remains of U.S. service members and cleaning up remnants of Agent Orange, the toxic defoliant sprayed by U.S. warplanes over large swaths of northern Vietnam during the war.

Cultural ties have also grown rapidly. Vietnam is one of the largest sources of foreign students to the United States, sending more than 20,000 annually.

Palladino said Vietnam had become a “close friend and partner” of the United States and shows “the possibilities for peace and prosperity.”

Khuong, the professor, is a former North Vietnamese soldier who was trained “to fight Americans to the death.” In 1993, he earned a Fulbright scholarship to Harvard.

“You can see the paradigm shift in the minds of the Vietnamese leadership in a short time, and that is very helpful for Kim,” he said. “Before, no one hated the U.S. like Vietnam. We totally changed our thinking.”

Times staff writers Victoria Kim in Seoul and Tracy Wilkinson in Washington contributed to this report.

Here is why staring at a screen all day can be bad for you

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Most us spend more than seven hours a day staring at digital screens. But screens are changing our bodies and possibly our brains.
This screen time often leads to blurred vision, eye strain, and long-term vision problems like nearsightedness.
Screens emit blue light, which disrupts our circadian rhythms at night when we’re trying to fall asleep.
A new and ongoing study supported by the NIH found that some pre-teens who clocked over seven hours a day on screens had differences in parts of their brains compared to kids who spent less time on screens.

According to a report on Business Insider, most of us stare at screens all day, but this comes with consequences. Screens are changing our bodies and possibly even our brains.

It’s 11:00 pm. You should be asleep. But you’re watching a video on your phone. Tomorrow, you’ll wake up and go to work, where you’ll stare at your computer for 8 hours. When you get home, you’ll watch a movie on TV. And if you’re anything like the average adult, you spend more than 7 hours a day staring at digital screens.

So, what’s all this screen time actually doing to your body and brain? Humans didn’t evolve to stare at bright screens all day. And our eyes are suffering the consequences. An estimated 58% of people who work on computers experience what’s called Computer Vision Syndrome.

It’s a series of symptoms that include:

eyestrain
blurred vision
headaches
and neck and back pain

And long-term, this amount of screen time could be damaging our vision permanently. Since 1971, cases of nearsightedness in the US have nearly doubled, which some scientists partly link to increased screen time. And in Asia today, nearly 90 percent of teens and adults are nearsighted. But it’s not just the brightness of our screens that affects us.

It’s also the color. Screens emit a mix of red, green, and blue light – similar colors in sunlight. And over millennia, it was blue wavelengths in sunlight that helped us keep our circadian rhythms in sync with our environment. But since our circadian rhythms are more sensitive to blue light than any others,

A problem occurs when we use our screens at night. Typically, when the sun sets, we produce the hormone melatonin. This hormone regulates our circadian rhythms, helping us feel tired and fall asleep. But many studies have found that blue light from screens can disrupt this process.

For example, in one small study, participants who spent 4 hours reading e-books before bed for 5 nights produced 55% less melatonin than participants who read print books.

What’s more, the e-book readers reported that they:

Were more alert before bed
Took longer to fall asleep and reach a restorative REM state
And were more tired the next morning

But perhaps the most concerning changes we’re starting to see from all this screen time is in kids’ brains. An ongoing study supported by the NIH has found that some pre-teens who clocked over 7 hours a day on screens had differences in a part of their brains called the cortex. That’s the region responsible for processing information from our five senses.

Usually, our cortex gets thinner as we mature. But these kids had thinner cortices earlier than other kids who spent less time on screens. Scientists aren’t sure what this could mean for how the kids learn and behave later in life. But the same data also showed that kids who spent more than 2 hours a day on screens scored lower on thinking and language skill tests.

To be clear, the NIH data can’t confirm if more time spent staring at screens causes these effects. But they’ll have a better idea of any links as they continue to follow and study these kids over the next decade. It’s no doubt that screens have changed the way we communicate. But only time will tell what other changes are on the horizon for humankind.

SCG Muang Thong have unveiled their new goalkeeper Dang Van Lam

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The Vietnam goalkeeper has completed a switch from Hai Phong FC and will wear the No.1 jersey for the upcoming season.

The 25-year-old Dang starred for Vietnam at the recent Asian Cup where the Golden Dragons made it to the quarter-finals. He was also part of the team that won the AFF Suzuki Cup last year. bangkokpost.com reports.

“I am very happy to have signed for Muang Thong United. They are one of the top teams in Thailand and have been very successful and played in many Asian club tournaments,” said the Vietnamese-Russian Dang.

“I believe that this is an important step for me as a football player and also it is a chance to improve my skills.

“I would like to be a part of a team that wins titles and I am looking forward to having a great success with the team,” he added.

Dang became the Kirins’ fifth new signing in the close season after Mario Gjurovski, Aung Thu, Supanan Burirat and Oh Ban-Suk.

Muang Thong coach Phairoj Bovornwattanadilok said Dang’s signing could be the answer to the club’s goalkeeping problems.

“It is good to have Dang Van Lam as our goalkeeper. Although Kamphol [Pathom-attakul] is a great shot-stopper, he is quite small for a goalkeeper,” said Phairoj. “Dang will improve our defence.”

Muang Thong will face Cambodian All Stars in Phnom Penh tomorrow as part of the club’s Asean Tour 2019.

The new Thai League 1 season will begin on Feb 22. The number of clubs in the top flight has been to reduced to 15 starting this year.

Vietnamese-Russian joint venture has begun crude oil production at a new site in the South China Sea

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Vietnam cracks open new oil field in South China Sea with Russia. Project looks to bring Hanoi $1bn in revenue by 2032

Vietsovpetro, controlled by state-owned PetroVietnam Exploration Production and its Russian counterpart, is working at an oil field 160 km off the southern coast of Vietnam. The site is near Vietnam’s largest oil field, Bach Ho, also operated by Vietsovpetro. But the field is outside the so-called “Nine-Dash Line,” an area of the South China Sea where China presses its territorial claim. Nikkei reports.

Daily yields are expected to top 230 barrels.

Vietsovpetro owns a 55% stake in the field, along with PVEP at 30% and Vietnamese real estate enterprise Bitexco Group at 15%. This field represents Vietnam’s first new site in several years, according to local media, as local oil development stalled.

Output at Bach Ho began in 1986, making Vietnam one of Asia’s leading oil producers. But the country’s output has continued to fall after peaking in 2004, as production at Bach Ho decreases. As a result, Vietnam is thought to have become a net importer of oil around 2010.

Hanoi plans to explore for more oil within the country’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea. But China has asserted its jurisdiction over many areas in the region, which has caused several projects to be halted.

Economists worry about economic growth as national debt grows

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Heavy reliance on FDI (foreign direct investment) and high national debts are the two biggest concerns for Vietnam’s economy, experts say.

Truong Dinh Tuyen, former Minister of Trade, said at a recent workshop on the economic prospects in 2019 that Vietnam’s economy has had high GDP growth rate of nearly 7 percent in recent years, but it has relied heavily on FDI.

The foreign-invested sector makes up 25 percent of GDP, with 75 percent of export value coming from FIEs (foreign invested enterprises). Meanwhile, FDI brings low value as FIEs mostly do outsourcing of Vietnam products.

Le Xuan Nghia, a member of the National Monetary Policy Council, said that no considerable progress had been made in the processing & manufacturing industry over the last 20 years.

“There has been no authentic product of the manufacturing industry over the last 20 years, except VinFast cars,” he said.

Regarding the labor structure and the added value per laborer, only 5.5 million out of 20 million workers are in industrial production.

Meanwhile, Luu Bich Ho, former head of the Institute for Development Strategies, warned about public debts, including debts incurred by enterprises and people, amounting to 235 percent of GDP.

“How should we proceed with such big debts? How will we cope with the influences from the trade war?” he said. “I am afraid that the national economy will face big challenges from 2020. If we cannot reshuffle the finance & banking sector and state owned enterprises, a 7 percent GDP growth rate will be out of reach”.

What about 2019?

According to Vu Dinh Anh, a respected economist, the most important factor for 2019 is that the government has prioritized macroeconomic stability and the business environment, rather than aiming for the highest possible economic growth rate.

In the years to come, if the government is consistent in the policy, the GDP growth rates would be relatively high, around 7 percent. The growth rates would be below 8-9 percent as seen in previous years, but the cost for growth would be minimal.

Do Thien Anh Tuan from Fulbright University Vietnam said the three driving forces for Vietnam’s economic development in the time to come will be improvement in investment capital, productivity, and the investment & business environment.

Meanwhile, Nghia noted that Vietnam’s economy is approaching service sector development rather than industrialization, as initially oriented. He said this was positive, as Vietnam has two important advantages – agriculture and tourism.

Source: VNN

Vietnam’ FPT and Germany’s Allianz to launch digital insurance venture

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Leading Vietnamese tech group FPT will launch a digital insurance venture in March with Germany’s Allianz, pushing further into a growing market, a person familiar with the matter told the Nikkei Asian Review.

The new venture is based on a memorandum of understanding signed by FPT Chairman Truong Gia Binh and Allianz board member Sergio Balbinot on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, last month.

The tie-up comes as more insurers in Vietnam develop digital channels to better reach young and tech-savvy customers in the country, which boasts one of Asia’s fastest rates of economic growth.

Binh said the partners are the “perfect match” to address the needs of the Vietnam market, as the German financial services group has the expertise to provide accessible and innovative insurance, while FPT has the local knowledge and digital network to reach the country’s growing, educated and youthful population.

“The partnership is exciting given the growth potential of Vietnam, and we look forward to its successes,” he said.

This will mark FPT’s first digital insurance venture. FPT provides IT services to many multinational companies, including Allianz, Airbus, Siemens, General Electric Hitachi, and South Korea’s Shinhan Bank.

The joint venture will have access to FPT’s distribution channels, subsidiaries and partners to help market insurance policies nationwide.

Allianz sees Vietnam as a first step toward further expansion in Asia. Given Vietnam’s high rates of internet and mobile penetration, the country is well placed for increased access to digital insurance solutions, according to George Sartorel, Asia-Pacific regional chief executive for Allianz.

Vietnam’s insurance industry saw annual premium growth of more than 20% from 2010 to 2018, reaching 151 trillion dong ($6.5 billion) in 2018. The country opened up the sector to foreign investors in 2008 as part of its commitments under the World Trade Organization.

Many foreign investors have taken full control of local joint insurance ventures or set up wholly owned units in the country during the last two decades.

State-owned listed company Bao Viet Holdings, which is nearly 69% owned by Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance and about 18% owned by Japan’s Sumitomo Life, leads both the life and nonlife insurance markets. But foreign names such as Japan’s Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Canada-based Manulife, Italy’s Generali, U.S.-based Chubb, Belgian-Thai joint venture MB Ageas and South Korea’s Hanwha are gaining ground.

In the life insurance segment, Bao Viet Life led the market with 18.9% premium growth, followed by Dai-ichi Life at 17.5%, and Prudential with 16.5%, according to the Department of Insurance Supervision. Manulife came next with 14.7% growth, and AIA following at 10.5%.

Bao Viet also led in nonlife insurance premium growth at 20.8%, followed by PetroVietnam Insurance at 16.5%, Post and Telecommunication Insurance at 8.6%, Bao Minh at 7.6%, and Petrolimex Insurance at 6.1%.

There were 63 insurers providing services in Vietnam as of 2018, including 30 nonlife providers, 18 life insurance companies, 13 insurance brokers and two reinsurance companies.

(Nikkei)

Domestic retailers urged to team up to compete with foreign rivals

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Competition between domestic and foreign retailers was likely to remain fierce this year, requiring Vietnamese businesses to co-operate in order to maintain their market shares, said an official from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

The warning was given by deputy head of the MoIT’s Multilateral Trade Policy Department Ngô Chung Khanh in the wake of news that while many Vietnamese products are exported overseas, those same products are also imported from other countries for domestic consumption.

Khanh pointed out that price of Japanese mango and Taiwanese dragon fruit could reach up to a million đồng per kilo and still sold out in the Vietnamese market.

“There are also many examples such as imported beef, chicken and pork which not only meet international standards but are also much cheaper than domestic products,” Khanh said.

In terms of garment and textiles, a major sector for Việt Nam, Khanh said there was big pressure on the sector due to the presence of world’s famous brands such as Zara and H&M in the domestic market.

Japan’s Uniqlo recently bought a 35 per cent stake in a Vietnamese fashion firm. It planned to open its first branch in Việt Nam this year, said Khanh.

In seven years when all tariff barriers for garments among the CPTPP countries are completely removed, foreign fashion firms will have the chance to dominate the market, which is valued at US$4.5 billion per year with annual growth of 20 per cent, according to domestic garment enterprises.

According to the ministry, the number of foreign retailers currently accounted for only 17 per cent of the modern retail market share, but insiders said the real figure was much higher. Names like Central Group, Lotte and Aeon are re-dividing Việt Nam’s retail market.

In comparison with foreign businesses, the insiders said Vietnamese retailers lacked capital, business strategies and even professional services. To compete with foreign firms would require strong links between domestic companies.

A report on 2019 released by Vietcombank Securities showed that mini supermarkets and convenience stores would be the fastest development model this year. Although it currently occupies a small proportion of total retail revenue, it had been growing rapidly, luring foreign investors with international brands such as Family Mart, Circle K, Shop&Go và Bs Mart and GS25.

Vũ Vinh Phú, a retail expert, said only one in ten businesses was capable of getting goods on the shelves of foreign supermarkets due to high costs, price squeezes and discounts.

Phú said the quality and design as well as the stability of Vietnamese products were also very limited. The volume of clean agricultural products on display in supermarkets and trade centres was quite small compared with the country’s production capacity.

“This leaves Vietnamese goods in a weak position compared with foreign ones and leads to them being pushed out of the system.”

Trần Thị Phương Lan, deputy director of Hà Nội’s Industry and Trade Department, said one of the reasons was farmers and producers did not have complete control of product quality.

“Many agricultural products are unhygienic with no packaging or certifications on food safety,” Lan said.

Deputy Director of the Hà Nội Investment Promotion, Trade and Tourism Centre Nguyễn Thị Mai Anh said it was difficult for Vietnamese enterprises to access information on criteria for production and technology in order to make qualified products that suited market demand, competitiveness and reasonable prices.

Due to technical barriers, Anh said there were many regulations requiring businesses to invest on a large scale. “If enterprises do not receive investment or long-term commitments, they won’t be able to meet these regulations from distributors.”

“The influx of foreign retailers into Việt Nam has inherently increased in the past few years, and coupled with the new push from the CPTPP, it will further increase in the coming years,” she added.

Source: Vietnamnews

High-end apartment prices still lower than regional peers

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Prices still affordable by regional comparison despite higher growth.

High-end apartment prices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are generally still lower than regional peers such as Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, despite much stronger growth rates in Ho Chi Minh City when compared with these markets, according to Mr. Neil MacGregor, Managing Director of Savills Vietnam.

New high-end apartment prices in Ho Chi Minh City’s CBD now average around $5,500 to $6,500 per sq m, a fraction of the eye-watering levels seen in Hong Kong, where prices are at all-time highs.

“Many countries are also introducing cooling measures, resulting in higher taxation, so the relatively low taxation in Vietnam appears increasingly attractive to buyers both at home and abroad,” Mr. MacGregor said. “It’s not surprising therefore that demand for investment properties in Vietnam has increased significantly since 2015, when the new housing law opened up the market to international investors.”

He added that with a distinct shortage of prime property in Vietnam’s key cities, many buyers see the potential for significant capital gains over the longer term, while in the meantime, rental yields in excess of 5 per cent represent an attractive investment versus falling returns elsewhere in the region.

Mr. MacGregor forecast that the average price in the high-end apartment segment is expected to continue to increase, albeit at a somewhat slower pace, with price increases linked to higher development standards and continued strong residential demand driven by urbanization, the rapid growth of the middle class, and new infrastructure.

Figures from Savills show that purchases by foreigners have reached unprecedented levels, with the vast majority of high-end projects hitting their 30 per cent foreign quota at launch.

Ho Chi Minh City has seen a number of prime District 1 projects launched, with talk of restrictions on any further residential projects in the city center going forward. At the same time, the much-touted oversupply foreseen by many in late 2017 failed to materialize, as many projects were delayed, leading to feverish sales activity at the launch of those developments that did make it to market.

“There is tremendous upside and opportunity for long-term investment in the luxury market, with buyers set to benefit from potential capital appreciation as Vietnam continues its remarkable growth story,” Mr. MacGregor believes. “Though there is still a long way to go for Vietnam’s property market to reach the dizzying heights of Hong Kong and Singapore, it is well on the way to becoming Asia’s next tiger, with strong economic growth, a rapidly growing middle-class, and affordable prices.”

Source: Vneconomictimes

77 people killed in traffic accidents in four days of Tet holiday

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As many as 77 people have been killed and 87 others injured in 117 traffic accidents in the first four days of Tet holiday.

The figure which was announced by the Ministry of Public Security showed a fall of 44 deaths, 33 injuries and 38 accidents compared to the first four days of 2018 Tet holiday.

On February 5 alone, there were 21 accidents which killed 15 people and injured 13 others.

Traffic police dealt with over 2,073 violations and seized 667 cars and motorbikes in the four days.

While the streets in some big cities have become quiet over the past three days, some religious sites including pagodas and temples have seen congestion due to a large number of visitors.

The Tet holiday runs from February 2-10.

Source: Dtinews

Things you need to know about Vietnam’s new budget airline

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Bamboo Airways, another budget carrier based in Vietnam just launched its first flight in January 2019. Bamboo Airways, the country’s fifth airline, joins national carrier Vietnam Airlines and its wholly-owned domestic airline, VASCO, as well as two other budget carriers, Jetstar Pacific Airlines and Vietjet Aviation.

To start, Bamboo Airways is serving a modest list of destinations, mainly between Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi to the popular beach destinations of Nha Trang, Danang and Phu Quoc, as well as Dong Hoi (the gateway to Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park where the world’s largest cave, Son Doong, is located), up-and-coming Qui Nhon on Vietnam’s Central coast, and Buon Ma Thuot in the Central Highlands, home to several ethnic minority groups and a robust coffee-growing industry.

While Bamboo Airways does offer business and economy classes, its cheapest fares include 7kgs of carry-on baggage only with checked luggage and seat assignments costing extra. At the time of writing, many flights were only available early mornings or in the evenings, however, the trade-off were low base fares, starting at just 149,000d (US$6.40) before taxes and fees.

Bamboo Airways plans to expand its route network to 37 Vietnamese destinations in 2019 with an eye on servicing Japan, Korea, Singapore and Europe by year’s end.

Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park. Image by ©www.jethuynh.com/Getty Images

Vietnamese carriers flew over 50 million passengers in 2018, making the country’s aviation market one of the world’s fastest-growing, having increased at a rate of 17.4% over the past decade. That trend is likely to continue, with the addition of 112 million new passengers by 2035, according to the latest 20-Year Air Passenger Forecast by the International Air Transport Association. AirAsia Vietnam also recently announced that it intends to enter the market, with flights starting sometime this August.

Trump to Meet North Korean Leader Feb. 27-28 in Danang, Vietnam

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The US President Donald Trump says he will hold a two-day summit with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un Feb. 27-28 in Vietnam to continue his efforts to persuade Kim to give up his nuclear weapons.

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press

According to a report by Deb Riechmann, Associated Press from Washington, Donald Trump will hold a two-day summit with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un Feb. 27-28 in Vietnam to continue his efforts to persuade Kim to give up his nuclear weapons.

Trump has said his outreach to Kim and their first meeting last June in Singapore opened a path to peace. But there is not yet a concrete plan for how denuclearization could be implemented.

Denuclearizing North Korea is something that has eluded the U.S. for more than two decades, since it was first learned that North Korea was close to acquiring the means for nuclear weapons.

“As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Trump said Tuesday in his State of the Union address.

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told Congress last week that U.S. intelligence officials do not believe Kim will eliminate his nuclear weapons or the capacity to build more because he believes they are key to the survival of the regime. Satellite video taken since the June summit has indicated North Korea is continuing to produce nuclear materials at its weapons factories.

Last year, North Korea released American detainees, suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests and dismantled a nuclear test site and parts of a rocket launch facility without the presence of outside experts.

It has repeatedly demanded that the United States reciprocate with measures such as sanctions relief, but Washington has called for North Korea to take steps such as providing a detailed account of its nuclear and missile facilities that would be inspected and dismantled under a potential deal.

At the second Trump-Kim summit, some experts say North Korea is likely to seek to trade the destruction of its main Yongbyon nuclear complex for a U.S. promise to formally declare the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, open a liaison office in Pyongyang and allow the North to resume some lucrative economic projects with South Korea.

“Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing has stopped, and there has not been a missile launch in more than 15 months,” Trump said. “If I had not been elected president of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea.

“Much work remains to be done, but my relationship with Kim Jong Un is a good one,” he said in announcing their second meeting.

Trump also asserted that, “If I had not been elected president of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea.”

“That was real eye-roller,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told CNN Wednesday. He criticized Trump’s foreign policy as engaged in “patting dictators on the back.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told FOX Business Network the U.S. is “very hopeful” Kim “will fulfill his commitment, the one that he made back in June in Singapore, to denuclearize his country.”

Stephen Biegun, Pompeo’s special representative for North Korea, acknowledged that many issues make it especially complicated for the two countries to “embark on a diplomatic initiative of this magnitude.” Biegun was in Pyongyang on Tuesday.

The Vietnamese city where the two leaders will meet was not announced. The country, however, is keen to project itself on the world stage. It is a single-party communist state that boasts of tight political control and a tough security apparatus similar to Singapore’s.

Where Singapore leans West, generally appreciative of U.S. influence in Asia, Vietnam leans East. Even with its edgy relationship with China, it has a long fraternal history with Asia’s communist states. This is friendly ground for Kim and closer than Singapore.

On a related issue, the State Department said this week that the U.S. and South Korea have reached a tentative agreement on sharing the costs of keeping 28,500 American troops in South Korea, but no final deal has been signed to replace the existing agreement, which expired at the end of 2018. South Korea pays more than $800 million a year, but Trump has demanded that Seoul pay 50 percent more.

News that a tentative agreement has been reached offers relief to those who worried Trump would use the lack of a deal as a reason to pull U.S. troops out of South Korea as part of negotiations with Kim. North Korea has claimed that the presence of American troops in the South is proof that the U.S. has hostile intentions in the region.

Trump said after his first meeting with Kim in June that while he’d like to bring troops home, “that’s not part of the equation right now.”

Apple Likely To Remain Bit Player In Smart Speakers

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Apple (AAPL) is struggling to gain market share in smart speakers as rivals Amazon.com (AMZN) and Alphabet‘s (GOOGL) Google solidify their leading positions, a research firm said Tuesday.

According to a report on Investors.com, Apple’s HomePod voice-controlled smart speaker has taken just 6% of the U.S. smart speaker market as of Dec. 31, Consumer Intelligence Research Partnerssaid. Amazon’s Echo smart speakers lead the market with 70% of the installed base, followed by Google Home with 24%.

“Relative market shares have remained fairly stable, with Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Apple HomePod accounting for consistent shares over the past few quarters,” CIRP analyst Josh Lowitz said in a news release. “Amazon and Google both have broad model lineups, ranging from basic to high-end.”

He added, “Apple, of course, has only its premium-priced HomePod, and likely won’t gain significant share until it offers an entry-level product closer to Echo Dot and Home Mini.”

Apple’s HomePod costs $349. Google offers smart speakers starting at $29.99, while Amazon’s start at $19.99.

Investment bank JPMorgan suggested Monday that Apple could buy premium speaker maker Sonos (SONO) to boost its presence in the category.

Households With Multiple Smart Speakers Rising

The U.S. installed base of smart speakers reached 66 million units as of the end of 2018, CIRP said. That compares with 53 million units in the September quarter and 36 million units in the December 2017 quarter, it said.

Meanwhile, the percentage of smart speaker owners who have more than one such device has increased significantly. At the end of 2018, 35% of smart speaker owners had more than one. A year earlier, 18% of owners had two or more smart speakers, CIRP said.

“Amazon and Google have succeeded in selling multiple units to a single household,” CIRP analyst Mike Levin said. “Their strategies appear to include persuading owners to use smart speakers in multiple rooms, which helps create more active usage of the voice platform. And, Google has mostly caught up to Amazon in this strategy.”

Consumers use smart speakers to play music, get information and control home appliances using voice commands. Apple’s HomePod uses Siri voice-response technology, while Amazon has Alexa and Google has Google Assistant.

Apple stock rose 1.7% to close at 174.18 on the stock market today. Amazon climbed 1.6% to 1,658.81. Alphabet rose 0.9% to 1,151.87.

Second Trump-Kim summit to take place in Vietnam, reveals source

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The second meeting between United States President Donald Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un might take place in Vietnam, revealed a source with knowledge about the matter.

CNN quoted a senior administration official and a second source who stated that according to the current plan for the second summit between the two leaders, scheduled for the last week of February, will be held in the Vietnamese coastal city of Da Nang. The plan is being finalised, the source divulged.

The source further stated that Trump’s agenda during the meeting is still not concrete. The second meeting was announced by the White House on January 18 following discussions with Kim Yong Chol, North Korea’s lead negotiator on nuclear talks.

In the run-up to the second USA-North Korea summit, the United States’ Special Representative for North Korea will be travelling to Seoul on February 3 to hold meetings with his counterparts from both North and South Korea.

The Special Representative, Stephen Biegun, is slated to meet with South Korea’s Special Representative, Lee Do-hoon, in Seoul.

“Biegun will also have to follow up meetings with his North Korean counterpart to discuss next steps to advance our objective of the final fully verified denuclearization of North Korea and steps to make further progress on all the commitments the two leaders made in Singapore,” a statement issued by the US Department of State on Friday noted.

This comes right after Biegun assured Pyongyang that the United States was not interested in a regime change during an address at Stanford University on Thursday (local time).

“We’re not going to invade North Korea,” he had said, urging the elusive state to comprehensively declare all of its nuclear and missile programmes.

However, the American Special Representative also put forth that Washington had “contingencies” prepared in case negotiations fell through with Pyongyang.

The landmark summit between the USA and North Korea was held for the first time at Singapore’s Sentosa island in June last year. Leaders from both the nations, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed on a spectrum of things, the most prominent being the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.