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ASEAN may be forced to choose between US, China: Cambodia PM’s son

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Southeast Asian nations may soon have to “choose sides” between the U.S. and China in their ongoing trade war.
Impoverished Cambodia has become an unlikely staging ground for geopolitical influence in Asia.

In recent years it has turned into a key China ally, receiving billions of dollars in investment and loans.

While China has cosied up to Cambodia, the United States and the European Union have admonished Hun Sen, the nation’s ruler for 33 years, for his increasingly authoritarian rule.

In a rare speech outside of his country, his son and political heir, Hun Many warned the U.S.-China trade spat may create lasting divisions in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Wednesday.

“Perhaps one day ASEAN would have to choose between U.S. or China,” Hun Many said in Bangkok.

“How would we see the trade war spill or expanded in other areas? Surely it will pressure individual members of ASEAN or ASEAN as a whole to choose sides.”

The economic ripples of the trade spat between China and the U.S. could destabilize global supply chain links in Southeast Asia, while a slump in Chinese spending would impact its trading partners.

Cambodia’s strongman Hun Sen has welcomed Chinese investment to pump-prime his country’s economy.

At the same time, he has accused the U.S. of trying to foment revolution in Cambodia by supporting his critics.

Both the U.S. and EU decried the July elections, which were held without a credible opposition and gave Hun Sen another term in power.

When asked which of the superpowers Cambodia would side with, the Australian-educated Hun Many demurred.

“At the end of the day, it depends on those who are involved to take a more responsible approach for their decisions that affects the entire world,” he said.

Earlier this week, Hun Sen swatted away concerns that Beijing will construct a naval base off the southwest coast of Cambodia, which would provide ready access to the disputed South China Sea.

Beijing claims most of the potentially resource-rich waters, including waters close to the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Hun Many, who described himself as a “proud son,” is widely believed to be in the running to one day replace his father.

His elder brother, Manit, is the head of a military intelligence unit while Manet, the oldest, was promoted in September to the chief of joint staff of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces as well as the commander of the infantry army headquarters.

But Many brushed aside the notion.

“It is way too soon to say that I am in the next generation of leaders,” he said.

Source: AFP

November 22: VN-Index up 0.20%

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All indexes gain ground.

The stock market had a positive November 22.

On HSX, the VN-Index finished at 924.42 points, up 1.86 points (0.20 per cent), and the VN30-Index 898.90 points, up 1.80 points (0.20 per cent).

On HNX, the HNX-Index closed at 104.55 points, up 0.65 points (0.63 per cent), the HNX30-Index 187.73 points, up 0.69 points (0.37 per cent), and the UPCoM-Index 52.16 points, up 0.10 points (0.19 per cent).

Liquidity on HSX was VND1,000 trillion ($42.8 billion) and on HNX was VND536.8 billion ($23 million).

Food and beverage stocks to gain ground included VNM, KDC and BBC, by 0.8, 0.4 and 0.3 per cent, as TLG lost 2.6 per cent, TAC 1 per cent, and VCF 0.7 per cent. SAB closed at its opening price.

In banking, TPB gained 4.5 per cent, VCI and VPB 3 per cent, BVH 2.3 per cent, STB 1.2 per cent, and MSN 1 per cent, as CTG lost 1.5 per cent, VCB 1.1 per cent, SSI 0.9 per cent, MBB 0.7 per cent, BID 0.5 per cent, and EIB 0.4 per cent. TCB closed at its opening price.

In energy, PPC gained 1.3 per cent as PVD lost 3.4 per cent, NT2 1.2 per cent, and GAS 0.7 per cent. PLX and PGD closed at their opening price.

The Top 5 shares bought by foreign investors were VNM, SBT, GMD, HDB and BID.

VIC was the largest net sold share on HSX, followed by HPG, VCB, HSG and VJC.

AAV was the largest net sold share on HNX, followed by AMV, API, ART and BCC.

On UPCoM, foreign investors bought 152,533 shares worth VND263.9 million ($11,300).

They net sold on HSX by VND75.27 billion ($3.2 million) and on HNX by VND10.4 billion ($445,600).

Huyen Thanh report on Vneconomictimes

Vietnam’s internet economy to reach $9 billion in 2018

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The Vietnamese internet economy has almost tripled in three years to reach 9 billion USD in 2018, driven by e-commerce and online media, a new report released by Google and Temasek showed.

According to the report, titled “e-Conomy SEA 2018”, the internet economy is growing in all six Southeast Asian countries surveyed but the stage of development relative to the size of each country’s economy differs. It is most developed in Vietnam, where the gross merchandise value (GMV) of the internet economy is 4 percent of the country’s GDP.

With e-commerce almost doubling in 2018 from a year earlier, and with online advertising and gaming growing at more than 50 percent year on year, the Vietnamese internet economy is booming. Amidst one of the lowest penetrations of online travel bookings in the region, the online travel market has huge room for growth.

While e-commerce is experiencing healthy growth in all Southeast Asian countries, Indonesia is leading the way, reaching 12 billion USD in 2018 and accounting for more than 1 USD in every 2 USD spent in the region. E-commerce adoption has also accelerated in Vietnam, where it reached nearly 3 billion USD in 2018.

Online media is also growing rapidly in Vietnam, reaching 2.2 billion USD. This is not surprising considering the country ranks among the top 10 globally in terms of user engagement on gaming, social media and video platforms.

According to the report, powered by a large, growing, and incredibly engaged internet user base, it is estimated that the Southeast Asian internet economy has reached 72 billion USD in GMV in 2018 across online travel, e-commerce, online media and ride hailing. Growing at 37 percent from a year earlier, it has accelerated beyond the 32 percent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) that was recorded between 2015 and 2018.

With the addition of the new sectors of online vacation rentals, online food ordering and subscription music and video on demand, and amidst the accelerated growth observed across all sectors, the internet economy in the region is on track to exceed 240 billion USD by 2025 – 40 billion USD higher than previously estimated.

The GMV of the internet economy stands at 2.8 percent of Southeast Asia’s GDP in 2018 – up from 1.3 percent in 2015 – and is projected to exceed 8 percent by 2025. To put that into perspective, Southeast Asia is still trailing almost 10 years behind the US, where the GMV of the internet economy already accounted for 6.5 percent of GDP back in 2016. The gap, however, has started to narrow.

The report also estimated there are more than 350 million internet users across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam in June 2018 – 90 million more than in 2015

According to a report on VNS

Phu Quoc casino project gains prime ministerial approval

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Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved a casino project on Phu Quoc Island, Kien Giang Province, which will let locals with a monthly income of over VND10m (USD428) to gamble.

Kien Giang authorities confirmed the news on November 21. According to the Government Office, the project is given to Phu Quoc Tourism Development and Investment JSC. whose 50% of the capital owned by Vingroup.

The casino would be part of a USD2.7bn entertainment area, hotels, shopping and conference centres tourism project in Ganh Dau, Cua Can and Ham Ninh communes. It is estimated that the project would be completed by 2021.

During the three-year pilot programme, Vietnamese nationals who have a monthly income of at least VND10m would be allowed to enter the casino. They must be over 21 years old and financially independent. Only Vietnam dong will be used.

Gamblers must pay VND1m (USD42) for a one-day entrance fee or VND25m per person per month. The money will be used in social welfare projects and invested in the security team.

Kien Giang People’s Committee was asked to work with the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Public Security to monitor and ensure public order at the casino.

According to a report on Dan Tri

Tourism consultancy services in high demand

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One of the best jobs now is tourism consultancy, especially giving advice to local authorities on local tourism development.

A director of a provincial sports and tourism department told reporters on the sidelines of an event held recently in HCMC that he is looking for experts who can give advice in drafting the local tourism development strategy.

He said it was easy to find foreign consultants, but their service fee is high, up to millions of dollars. Some Vietnamese experts have refused the job as they are too busy.

In the past, consultants mostly gave advice to travel firms to develop new tourism products. Now, they are hired to draft local tourism development strategies.

Not only provinces and cities, but towns and communes also have demand. An analyst commented that local authorities now tend to be choosier: they want to hire professional consultants to draft strategies rather than do it themselves.

They need advice when planning a specific product – community tourism, agriculture tourism, or a new pedestrian street.

Phan Dinh Hue, director of Vong Tron Viet, a travel firm, said many provinces and cities want to develop tourism, but they do not know where to start, so they need advice.

The demand has increased sharply since early last year, when the Communist Party Politburo released Resolution 08 on turning tourism into a key business field.

“Some localities have proposed cooperation, but I have refused them because I will be busy until the year end,” he said, adding that the demand for the service is high, while there are not many experienced strategists.

For the last two years, Hue, while running his travel firm, has shifted to provide consultancy services. Like other consultants, he cooperates with experienced specialists in different fields to draw up projects.

Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon quoted its sources as reporting that the consultancy service fee set by Vietnamese experts is more reasonable than that set by foreign consultancy groups. In general, local authorities have to pay from VND500 million to VND1 billion for each project, or pay in accordance with the jobs done.

The experts who have the largest business are those in big tourism centers including Hanoi and HCMC. In addition, retired officials who once worked for tourism agencies or state management agencies also receive many invitations. Some tourism schools have also begun providing the service.

Commenting about the quality of the strategies, Pham Ha, CEO of Luxury Travel, said local authorities pay too much importance to the number of travellers. Some strategies only plan short-term development, and do not consider long-term sustainable development.

According to a report on Vietnamnet

Who is the most profitable retailer?

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Analysts several years ago predicted that foreign retailers, with their powerful financial capability and experience, would dislodge Vietnamese retailers out of the home market. But their business results have become worse.

Joining the market later than other rivals, Vingroup has quickly surpassed its rivals in expanding its network and business performance.

Its supermarkets and convenience stores brought VND14 trillion in revenue to the group in 2017. In the future, retailing is expected to bring 50 percent of total revenue of the group.

Analysts say that Vingroup is pursuing a wise strategy when cooperating and supporting domestic producers. It signed contracts with 250 Vietnamese businesses under which the businesses can bring their products to Vinmart+ network with the discount rate of zero percent.

Bach Hoa Xanh is also a new comer in the retail market, though its ‘father’ The Gioi Di Dong, is a big player in the mobile phone distribution market. The chain’s gross profit margin grew from 12 percent in 2017 to 14 percent in the first quarter and 16 percent in the second quarter of 2018.

In the first nine months of the year, it had turnover of VND2.8 trillion from 409 shops, up by 235 percent over the same period last year.

Aeon, a foreign retailer, which has been in Vietnam for 10 years, has also gained satisfactory business results.

In 2016, Aeon Vietnam reported revenue of VND3.883 trillion, three times higher than 2014, and pre-tax profit of VND54 billion. The profit was VND234 billion in 2017.

While other retailers are thriving, Big C, a big brand is seeing its revenue decreasing. Six years ago, Big C was among top three retail brands with the annual turnover of VND10 trillion.

But in the last two years, the revenue has been decreasing. Big C Thang Long, the biggest supermarket of the chain, has seen revenue drop from VND3.5 trillion in 2012 to VND2.7 trillion.

Having higher revenue growth rate, Lottemart reported negative profits. The retailer from South Korea reported an accumulative loss of VND800 billion by the end of 2017.

According to a report on Vietnamnet

Big Changes Coming to Facebook’s Messaging Platform

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There’s a deadline on the horizon that affects, and requires action by, Facebook Page admins.

As of January 1st, 2019, Facebook Pages will need to have successfully been approved for subscription messaging permissions – if not, they won’t be able to send the free messaging type called ‘non-promotional subscription messaging’.

If you’re a Page admin and this news sounds like it affects you, read on for everything you need to know about the change, how to apply, and tips for getting approved.

What’s subscription messaging for Facebook?
Subscription messaging gives a Facebook Page the option of sending regular content to a person via Messenger.

Subscription messaging is one of the 17 types of messaging defined by Facebook — specifically news updates or integrations with a productivity or fitness app.

Here’s what Facebook’s documentation says on subscription messaging:

Eligible Use Cases

News: Integrations whose primary purpose is to inform people about recent or important events, or provide information in categories such as sports, finance, business, real estate, weather, traffic, politics, government, non-profit organizations, religion, celebrities, and entertainment.
Productivity: Integrations whose primary purpose is to enable people to manage their personal productivity with tasks, such as managing calendar events, receiving reminders, and paying bills.
Personal trackers: Integrations that enable people to receive and monitor information about themselves in categories such as fitness, health, wellness, and finance.

Usage Guidelines
The following guidelines apply to usage of the Send/Receive API for subscription messaging:

Subscription messages may not contain promotional content.
Subscription content may be sent outside of the 24-hour messaging window that applies to standard messaging.
The recipient must opt-in to subscription messaging.
Subscription messages will have limited functionality compared to standard messages.
Subscription messages cannot contain promotional content.
Subscription messaging is only intended for specific use cases. Businesses and developers will need to indicate which use case their experience falls under when they submit their Messenger Platform integration.
If a user responds to a subscription message via an eligible action, the conversation will be considered standard messaging and must comply with standard messaging policies.

Examples of promotional messages that Facebook provides are daily deals, coupons and discounts, or sale announcements.

What’s the benefit to sending subscription messages?

So why would you want to send a message under the non-promotional subscription tag?

Facebook Messenger marketing is the channel with the highest engagement today – a 70% open rate and 20% click-through rate in Messenger far exceeds the 15% open rate and 2% click-through rate in email.

Sending regular updates to your audience using the internet’s most engaging channel is the stuff of unicorns, and industry news updates are hugely valuable to people who are interested in your specialty.

When people opt-in to subscription updates from your Page, they’re a highly engaged member of your audience, who’s raising their hand and saying, “let’s stay in touch, please keep me in the know.”

You can provide a ton of value in this type of relationship by publishing and linking to news that impacts them on a personal, professional, intellectual and emotional level. Through regular content updates, your Page can become a trusted source of information that helps your subscribers learn new things, stay informed, and get more from life.

This level of engaged customer relationship pays business dividends. Your audience will be reminded of your expertise – and indirectly, your products or services.

Staying in contact with your Messenger audience is a great way to maintain awareness and nurture relationships.

How do I apply for Facebook subscription messaging?

Sound good? Now you’re going to have to apply.

Here’s a quick run-down.

Applying is easy and quick – you just need to know what you’re going to say going into the review. More on that in the tips section below.

Get to the application from Page settings > Messenger Platform and click the link “Request” under Advanced Messaging Features.

The application has three questions:

Select the type of messages your Page will send from the three options: news, productivity or personal tracker.
Provide additional details, describing the information and update services your chatbot provides.
Give 2 examples of subscription messages your Page will send.

It’s the third question – examples of subscription messages your Page will send – that stumps some people.

Things to know:

Your subscription messaging application is being reviewed by a real human.
Your examples should fit the type of message. Most of Pages will be applying to send news updates.
If you’re applying to send news updates, make sure that the examples you give are news updates!

You can download our subscription messaging approval cheat sheet for examples of bad, good and better message examples.

According to a report on SocialMediaToday

Six killed in petrol tanker explosion in Binh Phuoc

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Rent-A-Car, the US’s biggest car rental company to enter Vietnam

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Enterprise Rent-A-Car will officially offer its services in Vietnam starting on November 29.

On the website of Rent-A-Car, the US’s biggest car rental company at https://enterprise.vn/en/ is now opening for rental services, with vehicles of five to 29 seats. The prices range from US$34.19 (VND800,000) a day for a Suzuki Vitara to US$111.33 (VND2.6 million) per day for a Samco bus.

Enterprise’s car rental services in Vietnam and Asia are licensed to MP Executives – a subsidiary of MP Group – which has more than 23 years of experience in the logistics industry in Vietnam. Vietnam is the first country in Asia to use Enterprise’s car rental service.

The Enterprise Rent-A-Car is also available in 84 different countries.

Now Is the Time to Buy Vietnam: Ashmore Group Plc Fund Manger

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Ashmore Group Plc, the London-based firm has doubled its exposure to Vietnamese stocks since the end of the first quarter, according to fund manager Andrew Brudenell. The firm, which managed $76.4 billion as of end-September, now sees the country’s banking sector and some consumer stocks as notably cheaper.

According to a report on Bloomberg, the global equity selloff has helped make Vietnam a lot more attractive to Ashmore Group Plc.

“We remained very lightly exposed to Vietnam through most of the last 12 months, up until maybe the last few months that we’ve seen the market derate,” Brudenell said in a phone interview. “We are now more positive than we were last year but more within specific sectors,” added the manager, who said at the end of last year that valuations in the southeast Asian nation were “too high.”

The VN Index has fallen 23 percent from its April 9 record high, battered by concern over the trade war between the U.S. and China. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has declined 13 percent over that same period, while the S&P 500 Index has gained more than 1 percent. Vietnam’s benchmark gauge is trading at 13.5 times 12-month expected earnings, down from over 20 in April.

Vietnam’s real estate stocks still look “very expensive,” and their possible collapse poses a risk for the market, Brudenell said. Another reason for caution is possibly faster inflation, including that tied to movements in the dong against the Chinese yuan.

Still, Ashmore is “positive” on Vietnamese stocks overall. The country’s gross-domestic product growth is strong, the currency is not under too much stress and corporate earnings growth “should be pretty decent,” Brudenell said.

Reporting by Nguyen Kieu Giang
Read full article on Bloomberg

Go-Jek pilots food-delivery service in Vietnam

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Go-Viet, the Vietnamese affiliate of Indonesian ride-hailing company Go-Jek, has started piloting its Go-Food food delivery services in the country.

The pilot, launched on November 20, started in Ho Chi Minh City and is expected to be officially rolled out across major cities in the country soon, according to Nguyen Bao Linh, deputy head of business development at Go-Viet.

According to a report on Deal Street Asia, Southeast Asia’s second ride-hailing unicorn expanded to Vietnam only a couple of months ago as part of a $500-million expansion plan to conquer international markets, including Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines.

Vietnam as its first market outside Indonesia has so far witnessed the foray of Go-Bike and Go-Send.

In the food delivery segment, the current major players are Delivery Now, which is backed by Singapore-based Sea Limited, and GrabFood, which launched its service in June 2018. Small operating startups include Lala.vn and VietnammGom.

“Vietnamese customers are excited to try new things, and will choose a food delivery platform that offers the most dependable service providing the widest range of food offerings with best value-for-money and fastest speed of delivery,” Jerry Lim, country head of Grab in Vietnam, said at the GrabFood launch in Hanoi last month.

Meanwhile, Go-Jek founder Nadiem Makarim has previously said that Vietnam was its door to Southeast Asia expansion, thanks to the country’s large mobile phone users, massive population and high motorbike ownership.

After gaining a foothold in Vietnam, Go-Jek is working on the Thailand and Philippines markets and will kick off a beta launch in Singapore in December.

According to the latest report on Southeast Asia’s internet economy by Google and Temasek, the online food delivery market is projected to reach over $8 billion by 2025.

Reporting by Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc

Vietnam looks to promote franchise market

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The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has licensed 17 foreign enterprises specialising in franchises to operate in Vietnam so far this year, according to statistics from the ministry.

The franchise market features both domestic and foreign enterprises. The ministry said there were 213 businesses with hundreds of trademarks licensed for franchising in Vietnam over the last decade.

A series of world-famous brands in the fields of fast food, hotel, restaurant, cosmetics and clothes have been rapidly entering the Vietnamese market, with expanding scale.

These brands include McDonald’s, Baskin Robbins, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King, Swensen’s, Lotteria, Tous Les Jours, BBQ Chicken, Warehouse, Topshop and Coast London.

According to economic expert Le Dang Doanh, franchising helps businesses fully tap capital and human resources from their partners to expand, thus increasing sales and profits from franchise fees to improve the value of their brands and their position in the market.

This is a very smart way of mobilising capital and human resources from foreign investors, Doanh added.

Not only bringing great benefits to franchisors, this model also minimises the risk to franchisees, he noted.

Thanks to the prestige of big franchisors, products of small- and medium-sized enterprises are consumed a lot and known by consumers. Through the model, these businesses can save huge amounts of money that they would spend on advertising and promotions.

Experts said franchising in Vietnam will ramp up in the next three years, especially brands from the Southeast Asian countries as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines will have the advantage of logistics and transportation.

Representatives from Malaysia’s Franchise Association said foreign investors need to be aware of everything involved in the Vietnamese market.

Malaysia has a franchise law, and its businesses that bring their national brands abroad receive much support from the Malaysian government, they said.

Foreign businesses are investing to bring their brands abroad, however, this has not yet developed in Vietnam.

At present, Vietnamese brands that have or intend to apply the franchise include Hoa Huong Duong tea, Trung Nguyen coffee, Pho 24, Highlands Coffee, Tuan Map Bread, and Viva star coffee.

Statistics from the MoIT show the number of Vietnamese businesses involved in franchising, and those licensed to operate in the field abroad is modest at only three enterprises.

Nguyen Phi Van, founder and chairwoman of Retail & Franchise Asia, said with the increasing integration and the rapid progress of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, Vietnamese enterprises have no choice but to improve their operation and their products’ quality to compete with same brands in the region.

She said Vietnamese dishes using local materials have potential in the franchise industry for food.

Health services, salon and repair services will be the trend of franchise in the coming time, she noted, adding that the model requires enterprises to invest in plans and resources before the franchise progress.

Franchising began in Vietnam in the 1990s with the introduction of well-known fast food chains like KFC, Lotteria and Jollibee. It began in regional countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand in the 1980s.

The Vietnamese franchise market is still new, and local businesses do not have much understanding of or experience with it.

More Vietnamese businesses are exploring new business opportunities available via franchising. Nevertheless, there are risks a franchisor should investigate before engaging in business in Vietnam.

On the other hand, Vietnamese franchisees need to be knowledgeable about the business as well as seek consultancy from industry experts to avoid risks.

Doanh said Vietnamese businesses need to lift themselves through investing and use of technology to improve the quality so they can compete.

According to a report on VNA

V.League is Asia’s best developing league in 2018

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Vietnam’s V.League won the “Best Developing League of the Year” award from Asia’s Sports Industry Awards and Conference (SPIA Asia) at a meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday.

The Southeast Asian league overcame nine entries to take the title, which is managed exclusively by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and evaluated against AFC catalogue of standards for professional leagues under the confederation’s criteria.

The Indian I-League came second and the Indonesian Go-Jek Liga 1 was third.

“Best Developing League of the Year” was open to professional leagues which had one automatic slot for participating in the AFC Cup or which did or did not participate in the AFC Cup qualifiers during the 2017-18 season under the AFC Club Competition Ranking for AFC Member Associations.

Nominees in this category have been initially screened and assessed through 11 categories such as management and administration, financial performance, competition, marketing and promotion, and media and communications.

This is the first continental award won by V.League in its 18 seasons. Ha Noi FC won the league trophy in 2018.

Other awards presented in Bangkok were Best Sports Digital Platform, Best Integrated Marketing Campaign for Sports Event and Best Sports Tourism Destination.

According to a report on VNS

Unlicensed fire therapy threatens safety

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While few healthcare centres in Vietnam have been licensed to use fire therapy in medical treatment, a number of spas and beauty salons in HCM City still advertise the dangerous service to cure thousands of illness.

Doctors and experts warn that undergoing the treatment at unlicensed or substandard facilities could threaten customers’ health and cause burns or asphyxiation.

In the clip, a person is seen to be covered with wet towels and a so-called therapist pours alcohol over the patient and sets them alight. The flames quickly spread all over the customer’s body. A few minutes later, the therapist places another towel over the customer and a man rubs his arm over the body.

Some salons in HCM City were offering similar treatments for about VND200,000-250,000.

Vice head of HCM City’s Traditional Medicine Institute Truong Thi Ngoc Lan told the newspaper that until now, the Health Ministry has allowed only the Ha Noi-based National Hospital of Acupuncture to implement a pilot programme on fire therapy.

In HCM City, 53 doctors and nurses of Lan’s institute have been trained to perform the therapy, Lan said, adding that the institute was treating 200 patients with the fire treatment.

She said the fire therapy helps prevent and cure headaches, sleeplessness, as well as muscular pain. It was also used in treating obesity or digestive diseases like dyspepsia, ulcerative colitis or gastritis.

After the pilot programme, Lan’s institute would report back to the city’s Health Department about its effectiveness.

“Until the department approves wider use, only the HCM City Traditional Medicine Institute can officially offer the fire therapy treatment,” Lan said.

Vice director of HCM City’s Health Department said that the department had not granted any licences for the fire therapy treatment.

This means it’s illegal for any spa or beauty salon to offer such treatment.

“However, it’s a fact that unlicensed spas and beauty salons have advertised they could treat a lot of illnesses with fire therapy,” Lan said.

“It’s risky,” Lan said.

Besides trained qualified staff, proper facilities played a decisive role in ensuring the fire therapy is conducted safely, Lan said.

For example, the space where the treatment takes place must be large and airy enough to prevent asphyxiation for both patients and therapists, especially when alcohol is used during the treatment.

She also noted that fire therapy should not be performed on pregnant women or patients who have metal medical equipment inside their body due to earlier surgeries or those who suffer heart-related diseases, diabetes or even those who are hungry or tired.

According to a report on VNS

Vietnam’s blockchain development plan still up in the air

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With five to seven events organized each month, blockchain experts are trying to change the mindset of Vietnamese businesses about blockchain technology.

The Blockchain Innovation Tour (BIT) was organized in HCMC on November 6. Vietnam was the second destination in Southeast Asia, after Malaysia, that BIT visited in the first half of the month.

Many blockchain firms, mostly from Singapore, introduced their new apps in the fields of healthcare, microfinance and non-aggregate distribution. Ken Nizam, the founder and CEO of Block Asia, said the demand for connecting the projects utilizing the technology and investors in Southeast Asia is relatively high.

“We see the region as an emerging market among blockchain markets. More blockchain communities in developing countries have been set up and want to approach potential projects from all over the world,” he said.

At the same time when BIT was taking place, another blockchain tour sourced from Europe announced it would arrive in Vietnam. Named Blockchain for SDGs Tour/Summit, the event is expected to take place later this month.

The annual event of the web developer community, Vietnam Web Summit 2018, early next month is another example. The organizing board said AI and Blockchain will be important topics for discussion.

Terry O’Hearn, an expert from Canada, predicted that there would be 30 million blockchain users in Vietnam in the next 10 years.

According to Doan Kieu My, the representative of EUBC HUB in Vietnam, about five to seven events related to Blockchain have been organized each month in the last three months.

Blockchain technology has become a hot topic in Vietnam over the last two years. However, most of the organized events have focused on general perceptions, while evidence about the efficiency of its use in real life in other countries was not mentioned.

My said the upcoming event will spend time presenting solutions which have been applied in business fields, but it will not discuss topics unrecognized by Vietnamese laws such as cryptocurrency.

Analysts say that Vietnamese tend to equate blockchain with cryptocurrency, and that most businesses still have vague knowledge about the new technology.

A study by Infinity Blockchain Labs pointed out that there are challenges for blockchain industry in Vietnam, including weak awareness, insufficient education, legal barriers, and the lack of an ecosystem.

According to Kimble Ngo, CEO of NEM Vietnam, there are two blockchain fields in Vietnam, including outsourcing of solutions for foreign partners, and R&D to use the technology in agriculture, food and e-government.

According to a report on Vietnamnet