Elon Musk agreed Saturday to step down as chairman of Tesla and pay a $20 million fine in a deal to settle charges brought this week by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Under the settlement, which requires court approval, Musk will be allowed to stay as CEO but must leave his role as chairman of the board within 45 days. He cannot seek reelection for three years, according to court filings.
He accepted the deal with the SEC “without admitting or denying the allegations of the complaint,” according to a court document.
Separately, Tesla agreed Saturday to pay $20 million to settle claims it failed to adequately police Musk’s tweet.
“The $40 million in penalties will be distributed to harmed investors under a court-approved process,” the SEC said in a press release.
The company also agreed to appoint two new independent directors to its board and establish a board committee to oversee Musk’s communications.
Tesla declined to comment. A spokesperson confirmed Musk will be permitted to remain a member of the board.
The announcement from the SEC comes two days after the agency filed a lawsuit against Musk, claiming he misled investors. The suit centers on tweets Musk sent on August 7 in which he said he had secured funding to take Tesla private at $420 a share, causing the company’s stock to soar. He had not secured the funding, the SEC said.
The lawsuit sought to ban Musk from serving as an officer or director of any publicly traded company.
Musk called the SEC’s suit “unjustified.”
“I have always taken action in the best interests of truth, transparency and investors,” he said. “Integrity is the most important value in my life and the facts will show I never compromised this in any way.”
CNBC, citing unnamed sources, reported that the agency filed the suit on Thursday after Musk refused an earlier settlement offer. Under that deal, Musk would have had to pay a “nominal fine” and leave his role as chairman for two years. He chose not to accept the terms because “because he felt that by settling he would not be truthful to himself,” according to the outlet.
A representative for Musk did not immediately reply to CNN’s request for comment Saturday.
Jay Dubow, a partner at Pepper Hamilton and a veteran of the SEC’s enforcement division, said it was “unusual” that the SEC agreed to let Musk stay on as chief executive but exit the chairman role.
It’s surprising considering “the conduct at issue, if [the SEC] really thought it was egregious,” Dubow said. “The CEO is certainly more involved than the chairman in day-to-day operations.”
He suggested the SEC may have determined that removing Musk as CEO would cause more harm to Tesla’s share price, and thus harm investors.
Barclays analyst Brian Johnson estimated in a recent note that Tesla’s stock has a $130 “Musk premium,” which could disappear if he leaves.
Still unclear is whether or not the Department of Justice will file criminal charges against Musk.
Tesla confirmed earlier this month that the DOJ was investigating whether Musk’s comments about taking his company private constituted criminal activity.
Dubow, the former SEC official, said he suspects nothing will come of it.
“My guess is that it’s still possible the DOJ will pursue something, but…it’s more likely than not that the DOJ chooses not to pursue this,” he said.
The settlement has likely assuaged the SEC, mitigating the DOJ’s incentive to act.
The US Federal Reserve (Fed)’s third interest rate hike this week would not affect Việt Nam’s economy significantly as the move was foreseeable, according to experts.
Fed policymakers on Wednesday lifted the benchmark overnight lending rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 2 per cent to 2.25 per cent.
The Fed’s move comes amid a complicated international market with the accelerating US-China trade war and central banks in some countries tightening monetary policy.
However, according to Cấn Văn Lực, chief economist at the Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam, the Fed’s interest rate hike had been forecast so international and domestic markets were prepared for it.
Lực said the Fed’s move should not concern Việt Nam’s financial and monetary markets as the domestic macroeconomy was stable while outstanding loans in US dollars were less than 8 per cent of total outstanding loans.
Lực estimated that the country’s foreign debt would increase insignificantly as US dollar debts account for just a third of the country’s total while the hike could be offset by the depreciation of other currencies.
Lực also believed the exchange rate would remain stable thanks to the State Bank of Việt Nam’s daily reference exchange rate policy and the nation’s high foreign reserve.
The Fed’s impact on the capital inflow into Việt Nam’s stock market was also insignificant, especially after the Vietnamese market on Thursday was classified as a frontier market and added to FTSE Russell’s watchlist for a possible future upwards reclassification as Secondary Emerging, he said.
Reports also showed that in the past nine months, foreign investors remained net buyers of US$1.5 billion in Việt Nam’s stock market, he said.
However, Việt Nam still needed to monitor another Fed rate hike in December, three more next year, and one increase in 2020, while the global current economic situation remained complicated.
Sharing the same view, Ngô Đăng Khoa, head of markets at HSBC Vietnam, said that the pressure of the Fed’s interest rate hike on Việt Nam’s exchange rate and interest rate still existed as the Fed was not finished there.
“This pressure will depend on fluctuations of the Chinese renminbi as China is one of Việt Nam’s largest trade partners,” Khoa told cafef.vn. Export value to China accounts for more than 20 per cent of Việt Nam’s total trade turnover, and Việt Nam has the largest trade deficit with China.
The Fed’s policy to continue increasing interest rates would also put more risks on Việt Nam’s capital inflows and inflation, Khoa said, adding that regulations to stabilise the domestic macroeconomy would become more challenging.
In a report released on Wednesday, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) also noted that despite the downward revision for growth this year, Việt Nam’s inflationary pressures were likely to persist in the short term.
According to the ADB, the đồng has exhibited more weakness since July and could come under continued pressure as US interest rates rise and the dollar strengthens. Depreciation of the renminbi against the dollar, if it continues, could further put pressure on the đồng, adding to inflation, the ADB said.
Vietjet Air has opened sales for tickets on the new Phu Quoc – Seoul route, to welcome in the year-end festive season.
The new route connects the two famous destinations and satisfies demand among local people and tourists while contributing to the development of trade and integration in the region.
The Phu Quoc – Seoul route will be a daily service starting from December 22, with a flight time of some five hours 30 minutes per leg. Flights depart Phu Quoc at 3.30pm and arrive at Seoul at 10.45pm, returning from Seoul at 1.45am and landing in Phu Quoc at 5.35am (all local times).
Tickets for the new route are available via all sales channels, with a special promotion running from 12pm to 2pm (GMT+7) every day on http://www.vietjetair.com (compatible with smartphones at https://m.vietjetair.com) and http://www.facebook.com/vietjetvietnam (click the “Booking” tab). Payment can be made with international debit and credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, AMEX, JCB, KCP, and Union, or with any ATM card issued by 34 Vietnamese banks and registered with internet banking.
Part of Kien Giang province, Phu Quoc is known as “Pearl Island” and is the largest in Vietnam. Now a famous travel destination, the island continues to attract significant investment in tourism and resort real estate.
In launching the new route, Vietjet not only brings safe, civilized and modern air travel to local people and tourists but also promotes trade and contributes to improving local investment.
Aiming to be a “Consumer Airline”, the carrier has continually opened new routes, added more aircraft, and invested in modern technology, while offering more add-on products and services to serve all customer demands.
It currently operates 60 A320 and A321 aircraft on more than 385 flights daily, carrying more than 60 million passengers to date on 95 routes to destinations in Vietnam as well as overseas, such as Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia and elsewhere.
Vietjet plans to expand its network across the Asia-Pacific region and is continuing to grow its regional network. It recently signed contracts to purchase new, modern aircraft from the world’s leading aircraft manufacturers.
It is an official member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) with IOSA Safety Certification. In addition to being in the “Top 500 Leading Brands in Asia 2016” and “Best Recruiting Brand in Asia” for many consecutive years. Vietjet was also honored as “Best Asian Low Cost Carrier” in the TTG Travel Awards in 2015 and was named among the Top 3 Fastest Growing Facebook Fanpages by Socialbakers.
Visitors to Hoang Su Phi able to admire beautiful terraced rice fields and take in September 28-30 festival.
A cultural and tourism festival promoting the beauty of Hoang Su Phi and ethnic minority culture in northern mountainous Ha Giang province is taking place from September 28 to 30.
The highlight is the showcasing of typical products from the district, such as traditional craft, embroidery, weaving, souvenirs, local specialties, and tea, while photos introducing local destinations are also on display.
Ritual ceremonies, festivals, traditional dance and traditional games of ethnic minority groups will take place, with the major participation of the Mong people.
There will be a paragliding competition at Nam Ty commune for those who wish to contemplate charming terraced rice fields from above, while others can also enjoy the yellow terraced rice fields while on terra firma.
The harvest season in Hoang Su Phi falls in September and October, creating an immense sea of yellow fields that attract thousands of tourists to Ha Giang province every autumn. On November 1, 2011, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recognized 760 ha of Hoang Su Phi’s terraced rice fields, across six communes, as a national heritage.
Ha Giang welcomed more than 1 million visitors in 2017, up 20 per cent against 2016, and earned VND1 trillion ($43 million) in tourism revenue.
Plastic waste is a resource that needs to be collected, sorted and recycled. Non-reusable solid waste (including plastic waste) should be moved to a waste treatment plant, said a representative from the Ministry of Construction.
Mai Thị Liên Hương, director of the Technical Infrastructure Department under the Ministry of Construction said, “We can’t separate plastic waste management from solid waste management.”
She stressed that plastic waste was a big problem and the country was working on a plan to handle it.
“Việt Nam should plan to guide local authorities to organise, review and adjust solid waste management effectively,” she said.
Specifically, the relevant ministries’ planning, construction blueprints and strategic objectives must be completed by mid-2019.
In Việt Nam, the rate of solid waste collection in the cities currently is 85 per cent, while in rural areas it ranges from 50 to 60 per cent. Waste that is not collected is littered into rivers, canals and the sea without appropriate treatment.
The main form of solid waste collection in the country today is a system in which trash trucks collect garbage from homes and public bins, then bring it to a dump.
About 95 per cent of the solid waste collected has been buried at more than 500 landfills built by local authorities and thousands of small-scale, unauthorised landfills built by residents.
Among these unplanned landfills, many small-scale ones don’t meet hygiene standards while others are located near water resources. Because of this, garbage destined for the landfills ends up in the surrounding areas, including rivers and canals.
Additionally, plastic waste management is weak in localities that don’t classify waste as part of the initial garbage collection process.
According to Hương, by 2020 about 80 per cent of solid waste (including plastic waste) will be treated according to the classification and recycling technology.
At a seminar last week co-organised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD) and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Technology (VCCI), expert Hoàng Dương Tùng said plastic waste that hasn’t been recycled is mainly plastic bags, boxes, straws and single-use bottles, mainly from the activities of households, offices, schools, markets and restaurants.
But plastic scraps from the manufacturing workshops have been collected and recycled.
The two cities of Hà Nội and HCM City discharge the largest amount of waste into the environment. Every day, there are about 80 tonnes of rubbish.
HCM City alone generates 250,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually, of which 48,000 tonnes are buried and 200,000 tonnes are recycled or disposed directly into the environment.
According to a report in 2015 from the University of Georgia in the US, Việt Nam is one of the five countries in the world that disposes the largest amount of plastic waste into the ocean.
“Việt Nam is among the top 20 countries with the largest amount of waste, equal to the United States or Malaysia, and higher than the average level in the world.”
Each year, about 8 million tonnes of plastic waste disposed in the ocean, of which 1.8 million tonnes come from Việt Nam. On average, each Vietnamese person releases 1.2 kg of solid waste into the environment per day, of which 16 per cent is plastic waste, according to the University of Georgia report.
Bùi Thị Thu Hiền, representative of IUCN, said the Marine Plastic and Coastal Communities initiative launched late 2017 was an effort to control the release of plastic waste pollution in Việt Nam.
“Marine plastic waste pollution is one of the most widespread threats to our environment, economy and the whole society.”
“Every year, eight million tonnes of plastic waste—the equivalent of one truck full of plastic waste every minute—are released into our ocean, which ultimately infiltrates the ocean food chains, severely affecting the health and livelihood of both marine ecosystems and coastal communities.”
The Marine Plastic and Coastal Communities initiative is a three-year global initiative in Asia and Africa, funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). Five countries—Mozambique, Kenya, South Africa, Thailand, and Việt Nam—are targeted to be the main focus.
The initiative is expected to help governments, enterprises, and social organisations develop knowledge, capacity, policy planning and plans of action to reduce plastic waste pollution.
Dr Nguyễn Lê Tuấn, Director of the Sea and Islands Research Institute at the Việt Nam Administration of Sea and Islands said plastic waste in the sea caused serious impacts on marine ecosystems.
“Large plastic fragments such as fishing traps and nets can trap species of birds, mammals, sea turtles and invertebrates. Types of plastic, especially micro plastics (less than 5mm in size) can be mixed with food of marine species,” he said.
“The study estimates that 90 per cent of world’s seabirds will eat plastics, and this number is estimated to reach 99 per cent by 2050.”
The expert on marine ecosystems warned that this could lead to the accumulation of some harmful substances or disturb digestion, affecting the growth of marine life. In addition, the micro plastic also has the ability to absorb pollutants.
At a Sea and Islands Week and World Ocean Day event organised recently in Quảng Ninh Province, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Trần Hồng Hà called on all communities to take responsibility for protecting the sea environment.
He called for solutions for the plastic waste pollution problem for a healthier ocean. He said all localities, especially coastal provinces, should be at the forefront of the garbage and plastic waste cleaning movement.
A late-night raid on a bar in central Vietnam’s Da Nang Thursday found dozens of drug users, including foreign tourists.
Police caught Nguyen Quang Anh Quan, 19, selling marijuana to customers in front of the Pub Crazy Cort bar on An Thuong 6 Street in Ngu Hanh Son District, a 15-minute drive from downtown Da Nang, at 10 p.m. Thursday.
Hundreds of police officers then raided the bar and found many party goers, both Vietnamese and foreigners, smoking cannabis.
On the second floor of the bar, police seized multiple tools used for smoking marijuana offered by 18-year-old Tong Duy Phong. He was also arrested pending further investigation.
Around 60 suspected drug users were taken to the police station for testing. And 21 of them, three Vietnamese and 18 foreigners, tested positive.
The foreign tourists were from Australia, Colombia, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, the U.K. and the U.S., police said Friday.
Marijuana is illegal in Vietnam, and those convicted of smuggling or trading marijuana can face long jail terms or even death penalty. Users are subject to cash fines.
Walking through Hoi An’s Old Town, in central Vietnam, the omnipresent buzz of motorbikes fills the air.
Vendors push carts overloaded with ceramic vases and bowls. A pedicab slows down to offer a ride.
A woman touts custom-made tailoring and leather bags from a store, where a lush curtain of foliage falls from the rooftop.
But I am single-minded in my mission: To find the best banh mi in Hoi An — and maybe even the world.
Banh mi basics
The king of sandwiches brings together several cultural traditions all in one crispy bun, namely a golden French baguette (introduced to Vietnam by French colonists in the late 19th century), pork pâté, Chinese char siu (barbecued pork), American hamburger meat, mayonnaise and a mix of Vietnamese herbs and chili sauces.
To assist in my quest, Huynh Huu Phuoc — a Hoi An local and founder of Eat Hoi An street food tours and cooking classes — has shortlisted a few of his top banh mi stalls and restaurants.
“If there’s one thing to eat in Hoi An, I must say it’s banh mi,” Huynh tells CNN Travel. “We have the best banh mi in the world.
“Eating is really part of our culture — it’s a fashion and a passion. You can eat banh mi all day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, fast snack … there’s no right time to eat it.”
Phi Banh Mi
The owner of Phi Banh Mi uses a special roasted pork belly in his banh mi. Kate Springer/CNN
Huynh says the “real Hoi An” isn’t in Old Town, so we hop on his motorcycle to ride northwest to Zone B.
“Locals don’t really have any interest in Old Town, aside from work,” he says.
“If you want to see and eat things that are authentic, you really have to go to Zone B. That’s where most locals live — and that’s where you will mostly see the real life.”
We stop on a relatively quiet street, where he points to Phi Banh Mi: An open-air restaurant with red stools and stainless-steel tables.
“The banh mi here is created by Do Van Phi, a former chef at the Nam Hai (now the Four Seasons Nam Hai),” says Huynh. “He has so much knowledge of professional kitchens.”
Prepared in a matter of seconds, the banh mi comes topped with an abundance of herbs — Vietnamese mint (which tastes like coriander), mint, spring onions, basil — and a spicy helping of homemade chili sauce.
What makes this banh mi special is the roasted pork belly. “The best part of the pig is the belly, but every pig has a different flavor and taste,” says Huynh. “A free-range pig will taste better — and that’s what he uses.”
Phi heads to the Central market every morning to collect fresh ingredients from the best vendors. “He has really good pork belly — they always save the best for him,” says Huynh.
Cam Pho, Hoi An Vietnam, 88 Thai Phien, Phuong Minh An, Hoi An, Quang Nam, Vietnam
Madam Khanh – The Banh Mi Queen
After 45 years making banh mi, Madam Khanh passed the business to her children. Kate Springer/CNN
A well-known brick-and-mortar restaurant, Madam Khanh is nicknamed the Banh Mi Queen for good reason.
Now in her 90s, Nguyen Thi Loc set up her banh mi business in 1975 and ran it for 45 years — nearly half her life. Though her daughter runs the show now, she often stops by in the mornings to help out.
“Her bread is really nice and she packs each sandwich with fresh herbs and homemade mayonnaise,” says Huynh.
“She also makes homemade pâté from pig liver, seasoned with crushed shallot, lemongrass, pepper, salt, tiny bit of MSG inside.”
Since the second generation took over, Huynh says the banh mi have become more modern and, in some ways, more tailored for foreigners.
“The most important thing about banh mi is the bread. It has to be fresh — crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.”
Huynh Huu Phuoc, Eat Hoi An
The family introduced a bigger menu — including vegetarian, beef and fish banh mi — plus a slightly sweet sauce and added an omelet inside.
“The omelet is definitely not too traditional,” says Huynh. “We’ve never done that in the past, but this is kind of a new idea and people really liked it. It’s like a fancy-style baguette. But I’d say it’s sweet and less spicy than the traditional.”
115 Tran Cao Van, Phuong Minh An, Hoi An, Quang Nam, Vietnam
La Banh Mi Sai Gon Tai Hoi An
La Banh Mi Sai Gon is Huynh’s childhood favorite. Kate Springer/CNN
Located in western Hoi An, La Banh Mi Sai Gon Tai Hoi An is a nostalgic stop for Huynh.
“When I was a kid, I came here every day in the early morning to eat her banh mi,” he recalls.
Born in Ho Chi Minh City, the owner of La Banh Mi Sai Gon Tai Hoi An, named Ta Thi Nghia, moved to Hoi An 20 years ago looking for new opportunities.
She quickly found a niche, setting up a roadside banh mi stall that Hoi An residents loved. Later, she expanded to a second location that her daughter runs.
It doesn’t look like much other than a stall and a few plastic stools, but the family-run operation works to extract as much flavor as possible from each ingredient.
“Her banh mi is a little bit different, because it has southern tradition,” says Huynh. “She uses extra fatty rolled pork belly instead of char siu and plenty of green chili for heat. She also makes her mayonnaise — using egg, oil and yogurt for a slightly sour taste.”
“There’s no rush here. They let (the pâté) cook nice and slowly.”
Huynh Huu Phuoc, Eat Hoi An
But the most memorable ingredient is the pâté. Off to the right, a wood-fired oven opens to reveal flames, licking a batch of fresh pork liver pâté.
“This is the correct way to cook pâté — really, really slow with the open fire like this,” says Huynh. “After it’s done, they let it burn a little bit. Then they bake it up, burning it again, to make the flavor much stronger. There’s no rush here. They let it cook nice and slowly.”
Even though she’s not cooking for foreigners, her banh mi does run a little on the sweet side. That’s due to her Hoi Chi Minh City heritage.
“Her recipes are from the South, which is more influenced by the Khmer (Cambodian) culture,” says Huynh. “They eat more palm sugar and add it in the cooking, so food tends to be slightly sweeter.”
151 Tran Hung Dao, Hoi An, Quang Nam, Vietnam
Banh Mi Phuong
Banh Mi Phuong has a strategic location next the city’s top bakery. Kate Springer/CNN
The most famous banh mi in the world, Banh Mi Phuong sells roughly 3,000-4,000 sandwiches per day.
“Seven years ago, a guy with a camera came by, ordered a bahn mi and said: ‘This is the best banh mi in the world,'” says Huynh. “That was Anthony Bourdain. Afterwards, they got lots of international attention and became famous.”
Huynh says the hype — and resulting lines out the door — are well deserved.
Started by Truong Thi Phuong (aka Madam Phuong)’s parents, the business “opened doors” roughly 55 years ago. They ran it for about 25 years, before passing it on to their eldest daughter.
Madam Phuong, then a teacher, was totally overwhelmed. But her boyfriend Dang Ngọc Chau — who had a highly coveted government police job at the time — quit to help her.
He became the creative force behind the operation, taking over the kitchen (then in the Central Market) and refining the recipes.
“At that time, for a young man to leave such a good job and start working in a kitchen, it was looked down upon,” says Huynh. “He is really a hero of love.”
After winning over local eaters, the pair moved into a brick-and-mortar restaurant. They were very strategic about the location: right next to Hoi An’s best bakery.
“Seven years ago, a guy with a camera came by … and said: ‘This is the best banh mi in the world.’ That was Anthony Bourdain.”
Huynh Huu Phuoc, Eat Hoi An
“The most important thing about banh mi is the bread. It has to be fresh — crispy on the outside, soft on the inside,” says Huynh. “Their location is really smart. Now they have a steady stream of fresh baguettes.”
As for the taste? The restaurant has one of the largest menus with everything from vegetarian banh mi to bacon and beef.
In the traditional version, the baguette explodes with fresh ingredients, such as barbecued pork, spicy chili, a bundle of fresh herbs and yolky mayonnaise.
“Her husband is the brains in the kitchen,” says Huynh. “He has all the recipes, shows up at 4:30 a.m. to start preparation every day. He is the heart of this place.”
You can find Banh Mi Lanh near the Chua Nam Quang Tu pagoda. Kate Springer/CNN
A tiny stall near the Chua Nam Quang Tu pagoda in northeast Hoi An, Banh Mi Lanh draws a following among local residents.
In business for about 30 years, the stall is run by Khuu Thi Lanh, who pumps out baguettes at lightning speed under the shade of a tin roof.
“This flavor is really the most authentic in Hoi An,” says Huynh. “They use the same bread as Madam Phuong’s and homemade pâté, baked the traditional way in a lemongrass and shallot marinade.”
The baguette isn’t too sweet, nor too saucy, and the bread tastes light and airy.
“The local people, when we eat a banh mi, we sit down at the stall on the stools,” says Huynh.
“The first bite of a banh mi isn’t ever really that good. But that second bite… mmm. That’s when you start to get all the fillings, and the bread, in one bite. That’s when it tastes really good.”
As you know losing a wallet is a great trouble. Our wallet holds the entire life earnings. Isn’t it? Actually yes. It holds credit, debit and ATM cards, Identity cards, Insurance cards, Money and of course photograph of loved ones. We can’t afford to let it go all these important things. Right? But if it happens then what to do?
So here, I came up with important steps which should be taken immediately to get out of trouble.
Wait for 2-3 hours and search at every possible place of Lost:
Sometimes what happens, we immediately conclude that we lost wallet but before that be optimistic and search at every place you visit in the last few hours. Think where you have seen your wallet last time. Find at those places. Ask people whom you met in past few hours.
After 24 hours if you couldn’t find your wallet then follow the steps.
First of all Ask to Cancel your credit, debit and ATM cards:
Call immediately to the issuer of the card. The major card companies are MASTER CARD and VISA. You can get their phone numbers from the INTERNET. Tell them you have lost your card and ask him to cancel the card and issue a new one.
If you have generated card from a bank then call in the same branch and ask to stop the card immediately.
Also, inform them if any check is there in the wallet without adding a payee. So, they would stop payment from that account immediately.
File a Report to the Cop of your region:
The reason to call the cop is to be safe from your side if your identity card is misused in crime or illegal activity. This is the worst case but possible. Give the list of all the things which are lost along with a wallet. Give your details as well. If any genuine person finds it and submit it to police, then they can reach you.
If you are in Vietnam, call 113, your call will be routed to nearest local police station.
Report for Missing Driving License to your local Department of Motor Vehicles:
It is better that you directly go and give written application that you have lost your wallet and want to reissue the driving license. So, it will work faster. You may liable for fees. They will ask you to file a police report so follow the process as written.
If keys are lost, then change the lock:
If you have lost your keys which are in the wallet, then change the locks immediately. So, you will be on a safe side that no one can try to open the lock.
Call your insurance agents to generate new cashless card:
Cashless cards are one which we won’t like to use but we have to keep it handy. Call your insurance agent and ask to make a new card. Inform them that you have lost your card so, Your agent would immediately inform to the company. So any fraudulent can’t try to claim from the same card by changing identity.
List down everything you keep in the wallet:
After taking, steps for major things remember about all the minor things which you have a habit of keeping in your wallet. This may include library card, Work ID cards, unpaid bills or credited amount for the prepaid bills etc. Try to remember and ask to generate new library cards and Work ID cards if it lost. You can check your Emails and bank passbook if you pay your bills through online. Or you can call the service center for payment inquiry.
Change all important passwords:
By any chance, If you have noted your important passwords of Gmail Accounts, Net Banking, etc. then change it. Your Gmail account may have important emails. If someone gets it, then he/she can misuse it. Rather change all passwords. If you sure about that you have not noted anywhere, even though change it. Any fraudulent may find a clue or try to hack the account then he/she can’t access directly.
Now relax, you are on a safe side you have done all these steps precisely. Do not blame yourself for losing a wallet. It happens. But you have followed the post steps, that is important.
Stocks continued to rise on the last trading day of September, cementing a positive third quarter.
Investors faced a number of global hurdles in the third quarter which impacted on Vietnamese equities. These included rising rates in the US and the trade tensions between China and the US. Nevertheless, the VNIndex managed to increase 7.4% in the third quarter which was despite falling liquidity (down 30% QoQ).
Though they’ve injected funds this past week, foreigners are still net seller for the quarter. They remain, however, net buyers YTD.
FTSE Russell announced this week the result of its annual market classification. They have added Vietnam to their watch list to commence the engagement process prior to a possible future reclassification to Secondary Emerging market status. Follow this link to see their classification conditions and the criteria that are still outstanding for Vietnam to graduate to EM: https://www.ftse.com/products/downloads/Watch-List_latest.pdf
I’m hoping this news will motivate regulators to continue to reform and upgrade the market. In the short-term, this news should also have a positive impact on investors’ sentiment.
For the first 9 months of 2018, GDP is estimated to increase by 6.98% over the same period last year which is also the highest growth of 9 months since 2011. The government is intensifying measures to boost economic growth while keeping inflation under control to retain its status as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. The trade surplus for the January to September is estimated at USD5.39 billion according to a recent government report. The country is on track to post another trade surplus (which would be for the third consecutive year). The government’s trade surplus this year is around USD2.4 billion, up about 10% from 2017.
The government is moving to quickly reduce obstacles to private investment, while infrastructure projects will be fast-tracked. As one of the most trade dependent nations in Asia, Vietnam is caught in the crossfire of the worsening US-China trade conflict.
Textile and garment sector ranked second in terms of export value, reaching USD19.4 billion (up 14.9% YoY. The textile industry seems to have benefited from the shift of large branded customers since 2017 as Chinese policies discouraged labour-intensive industries. The Vietnamese textile and garment industries should continue to benefit from any new shifts caused by the US-China trade spat. Stocks such as STK, TCM, GMC, GIL, VGT and TNG should be direct beneficiaries.
Rong Viet Securities Equity Research Summary
Analyst Pinboard
Rice Exports – More Opportunities for Small and Medium Enterprises
Decree No. 107/2018/ND-CP, regulating the rice export business will take effect from October 2018. The most noticeable change is that export requirements will be loosened.
Decree 107/2018/ND-CP also reduces the minimum reserve ratio from 10% to 5% of the rice volume that traders exported in the previous six months.
We think there are still some issues to keep in mind.
o Firstly, the centralized export contracts implementation is not flexible.
o Secondly, regulations are not straightforward regarding traders who only export organic rice, parboil rice and multi-micronutrient fortified rice.
Conclusion: this policy change is expected to make rice export more active from the fourth quarter of 2018.
Loc Troi (UPCoM: LTG) is likely to benefit from this new regulation.
Views on Raising the Environmental Protection Tax (EPT) on Gasoline Retail Prices
On September 20th, the National Assembly Standing Committee passed a resolution which raises the environmental protection tax on fuels and takes effect from January 01 2019.
First of all, that the resolution takes effect from January 2019 reminds us of last December’s increase in electricity prices.
With regard to the public budget, there is no doubt that there is limited room to maneuver as the public debt is close to the maximum level and the budgetary deficit is on the way.
It is obvious that the public budget rebalancing, through higher revenues and lower expenditures, has to happen.
Dai Bi pagoda was inaugurated in Simontornya city, Hungary, on September 19, becoming the first Vietnamese pagoda recognised by the Hungarian government.
The pagoda, built from the Vietnam-Hungary fund over the last three years, is expected to become a popular spiritual destination for Vietnamese nationals in Europe.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Vice President and Secretary General of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee, Hau A Lenh, thanked the Hungarian Government and the Simontornya authorities for smoothing the legal procedures for the construction of Dai Bi pagoda.
Expressing his delight over the development of the Vietnamese community in the central European country, Lenh believes that the pagoda will help to connect Vietnamese nationals in Hungary and Europe, contributing to the preservation of traditional cultural values.
On the occasion, he conveyed President of the VFF Central Committee Tran Thanh Man’s greetings to more than 5,000 Vietnamese people in Hungary, urging them to abide by the regulations in the host nation and remember their homeland.
Meanwhile, Mayor of the Hungarian city, Csoszne Kazc Edit, for her part, hailed the contributions made by Phan Bich Thien, President of the Vietnam-Hungary Fund, to the building of Dai Bi Pagoda as well as to the development of Simontornya city.
She affirmed the city’s authorities will facilitate the spiritual and cultural activities of Vietnamese people, helping them to protect their culture.
Vietnam has been ranked 14th among the best countries for expats after InterNations drew on its 3.2 million members and surveyed over 18,000 expats from 178 nationalities living in 187 countries or territories.
The best countries for expats were ranked by InterNations as part of its annual Expat Insider Survey.
The best and worst expat destination of 2018
According to the latest report on atlasandboots.com, there are an estimated 57 million expatriates across the globe, with the term “expat” no longer limited to corporate employees relocating from a company’s headquarters. Instead, more and more expats are moving overseas in search of a dream. Some have remote jobs and are now working from a location they love. InterNations’ latest survey looks at how expats’ motivations for moving are changing where they go.
InterNations used its members’ answers to rank 68 destinations on how expat residents feel towards their home away from home. The survey uses 48 individual factors that influence an expat’s experience of living in a foreign country, including safety and security, family life, finances, travel and transport options, ease of settling in, and average working hours.
Bahrain, Taiwan and Ecuador were ranked as the three best countries for expats in 2018. Bahrain received high scores for making expats feel at home and is popular with expat families. Taiwan, up from fourth in 2017, was ranked second, with expats citing a high quality of life thanks to affordable healthcare and good transportation infrastructure.
After ranking 25th out of 65 countries in 2017, Ecuador moved up to third in 2018. The impressive improvement is down to excellent results regarding finances, ease of settling in, and expats’ work-life balance, though it should be noted that a large proportion of respondents are retirees (46 per cent). Additionally, more than four in five expats in Ecuador (83 per cent) rate their financial situation favorably.
While there has been change at the top of the rankings, at the bottom it’s the usual suspects. Seven out of the ten worst-rated countries were already in the bottom ten in 2017.
Nearly 1,000 Vietnamese labours returned home after finishing their export labour contracts in South Korea in the first half of 2018, according to a report from the Vietnam Labour Management Board.
The Vietnamese Embassy in South Korea also added that 518 others had been arrested and expelled from the country after overstaying their visas to work illegally.
This year South Korea is expecting to employ 3,500 Vietnamese in manufacturing, excluding the numbers of workers needed for the fishery and agriculture sectors.
Vietnam and South Korea have pledged to work closely on measures to reduce the high rate of illegal workers, with South Korea planning to impose more fines on the companies which employ illegal workers from Vietnam, according to the Department of Overseas Labour Management.
The Vietnamese Department of Overseas Labour have also taken on some measures to encourage people to return home after finishing contracts and temporarily block people from locations with a high number of workers illegally in South Korea.
Last year South Korea recruited 3,600 Vietnamese while also blocked people from dozens of locations in Vietnam to apply to work in the country due to the high rate of illegal workers.
In 2012, South Korea stopped renewing a labour agreement signed with Vietnam in 2004 because the number of Vietnamese workers overstaying their visas to work illegally in South Korea rose to more than 50 percent. Seoul resumed the agreement only in December 2013 after the rate of illegal workers was cut to 38 percent.
Vietnam had sent 40,000 people to work in South Korea by the end of 2016, but South Korea said 39 percent of them had overstayed and been working illegally, the department said.
Vietnamese workers in South Korea receive a minimum wage of more than USD1,000 a month and work 40 hours a week, according to official reports.
A graphene product created by Nano Life has been tested at laboratories in Vietnam and Japan.
Nano Life, which has applied for a patent in the US, impressed the jury board at Vietnam Startup Wheel 2018, an important event for startups, when presenting the project on using recycled animal fat to make graphene.
Considered a ‘super material of the future’, graphene can be used to create ultra light material panels, thinner than plastic wrap by 60,000 times.
Graphene could be 200 times more durable than steel and has good thermal conductivity. With such characteristics, it is expected to be the ideal material for electronic components in the future.
Besides being ultra-light, ultra-thin, super durable and heat-conducting, graphene can also be used in many other fields.
In 2014, scientists from Rice University discovered that graphene, when mixed with vanadium oxide, will create cathodes that can charge 90 percent of battery capacity just after 20 seconds. Even after about 1000 cycles of usage, the battery charging capability will remain unchanged.
Michigan Technological University found that graphene can replace platinum, an important but expensive component in solar cells.
As for mobile devices, graphene not only can be used in battery and chip manufacturing, but is also to make ultra soft and ultra durable wearable devices and phones.
Leading electronics manufacturers such as Apple, IBM and Samsung are racing to conduct research the new material. More than 5,000 patents related to the material have been announced since 2003, when graphene was successfully extracted.
Despite the preeminent characteristics, graphene still cannot be used on a large scale, mostly because of its high production costs.
According to Nano Life, graphene is now mostly synthetized from coal, a process which is unfriendly to the environment. Graphene is priced at $50-100 per square centimeter.
Meanwhile, Nano Life can make graphene from recycled animal fat at a cost just equal to 20 percent. The technology not only allows to cut down the production cost, but also helps treat organic waste and protect the environment.
If considering the smartphone market alone (1.55 billion smartphones were sold in 2017), the low-cost graphene production would have a market worth billions of dollars.
Nano Life has filed for patent in the US and will focus on developing the market. Once the production process is set up, the team hopes 1 ton of graphene can be made every month in the first year of production.
iPhone XS Max unexpectedly lost half of its value just after one day in Vietnam, with the price falling from VND79 million to VND40.5 million.
The first iPhone XS Max in Vietnam appeared on September 21. It was displayed at a private smartphone shop on Hoang Van Thu street in HCMC with quoted price of VND79 million.
VND79 million is a record high price for an iPhone. The iPhone X that first appeared in Vietnam was sold at VND68 million, while iPhone 8 Plus was VND28 million.
Vietnamese iPhone fans always compete with each other to become the first users of next-generation iPhones, and are willing to pay exorbitant prices.
On the first days in Vietnam, iPhone XS Max saw prices changing hourly. It is now being sold at VND40.5 million for 512 GB, or VND38.5 million lower than the initial price.
Minh Tuan, the owner of a private shop in HCMC, said the demand is not high now. While a few people want to get iPhone XS Max at any cost, the majority tend to delay their purchase until the price becomes more reasonable.
At a shop in Hanoi, the quoted price of iPhone XS Max is VND35 million for the 64 GB-memory version. The price level is VND1-2 million more expensive than shops in HCMC.
“The supply is profuse, so the product is not as hot as in previous years, and the prices will be stabile soon,” said The Long, manager of a shop on 3/3 street in HCMC.
The iPhone XS Max model with two physical sims from Hong Kong and China have arrived in Vietnam. They sell VND2-3 million more than products with one physical and one e-sim.
Some private shops have advertised the sale of locked iPhone XS Max at VND25.9 million, or VND10 million cheaper than the international version. However, they do not have products for prompt deliveries, saying that the products would be available in three to four days.
iPhone XS is available in Vietnam with the quoted price from VND31 million, but is not in high demand.
The old-generation iPhone X is still selling well with the price slightly decreasing by VND500,000. Thanh Thuy, a smartphone dealer, affirmed that the demand for iPhone X remains stable.
“Customers still favor iPhone X. iPhone XS and XS Max don’t have many improvements compared with the previous-generation models, and they are too expensive at this moment,” she explained.
Meanwhile, retailers said genuine iPhone XS and XS Max to be distributed via authorized resellers (with VN/A code) will hit the shelves in late October or early November.
Vietnamese athletes will take part in the Asian Para Games which will start in mid-October in Indonesia.
A statement from the Việt Nam Sports Administration released on Thursday said that the delegation including 56 athletes would compete in seven sports of swimming, athletics, power lifting, chess, judo, badminton and table tennis.
The administration also said these participants were the country’s strongest athletes who had spent time training hard and competing over the past months in preparation for the coming continental Games.
However, the team will miss the man with the greatest potential for winning a gold medal as world champion and record holder Lê Văn Công cannot make it. The 34-year-old weightlifter who is also a Paralympic winner has suffered injuries and will be sidelined this time. He is the defending champion of the men’s 48kg category. Công also stayed out of the Asian championship in Japan earlier this month. Doctors said he needed up to four months to recover.
Athletes will take part in a sending-off ceremony on September 28 in HCM City. They will leave for Jakarta on October 1. The flag raising ceremony will be organised four days later, one day before the third tournament officially begins.
The Games’ opening ceremony is on October 6 and it will wrap up on October 13. Teams from 45 countries will arrive to compete in 18 sports.
Four years ago, around 4,500 athletes from 41 countries competed in 443 events in 23 sports in the second Games in South Korea.
China topped the final medal tally with 174 golds. They were followed by the hosts and Japan. Vietnamese athletes won nine golds and placed 10th in the ranking.
