Vietnam Insider - Page 1314 of 1522

Traffic ban for state president funeral

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Hanoi will ban traffic from many streets during the two-day funeral of State President Tran Dai Quang.

According to Dtinews, the ban will be applied from 6 am to 10 pm on September 26 and from 6 am to 12 pm on September 27.

Trucks and lorries over half a tonne and passenger buses with over 25 seats will be banned from many main streets including Ly Thuong Kiet, Hai Ba Trung and Tran Hung Dao. Vehicles will be completely banned on some streets around the National Funeral Home such as Tang Bat Ho, Hang Chuoi, Han Thuyen and Tran Thanh Tong.

Traffic flow will be limited on many main streets in Hanoi on September 27 such as Kim Ma, Nguy Nhu Kon Tum, Khuat Duy Tien and Nguyen Tuan. The police in Hanoi asked drivers to follow traffic rules and traffic police’s directives.

People from other provinces who come to Hanoi to pay tribute to State President Tran Dai Quang are advised to find a parking lot and walk to the funeral home.

From 7 am to 12 pm on September 27, those who want to travel from Hanoi to Ninh Binh were advised to go to the old National Highway 1A. Vehicles from southern to northern areas should use Thanh Tri Bridge-Highway 5-Ly Son-Truong Sa-Hoang Sa-Vo Van Kiet route.

I quit London for Vietnam – here’s how I live on £15,000 as a freelancer

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Monthly income:

Income from freelancing: £1,132 net, est.

Total: £1,132 net (£15,000 gross a year).

Regular monthly outgoings:

Rent: £200 (room in a homestay in Ho Chi Minh City, inc. cleaner)
Food shopping: £45
Eating out, and socialising: £240
Motorcycle hire: £38
Fuel: £10
Storage fee in London: £29.15
Yoga membership: £26
Contact lens subscription: £13
Skype subscription: £13
Phone credit: £8
Cosmetics and supplements: £10
Visa: £9 (avg.)
Laundry: £7 (wash and press once a week)
Netflix subscription: £6
NUJ freelance membership: £5
WWF donation: £5
Haircut: £2
Travel/holidays: £100 (avg.)
SIPP (pension) savings: £65
Other savings: £300

Total: £1,131.15 (excluding savings: £766.15)

Amount left: +£0.85.

——————————

I moved to Ho Chi Minh City in March, having lived here briefly in 2017. The first stay was somewhat of a trial run, and once I got back to the UK the benefits of life here became clear. So I tied up some lose ends – including giving most of my stuff away – and headed back.

As you can see, the main attraction is the extremely low cost of living. Excluding what I save into my pension and savings account each month, my entire monthly expenditure is less than the rent for my old flatshare in Tooting, which was £750 per month.

This means I can work less than I had to London, where I needed to hustle for at least £1,500 a month (net) just to pay the bills, get to work and eat. As such I’ve been able to spend time on a creative project here, which is coming along nicely – if not slower than I’d hoped.

Wifi in Vietnam is usually excellent – even in the mountains – and so I can work remotely easily, conducting interviews over Skype. I pay £13 a month for 400 minutes of calls to the UK and for my own UK phone number.

Sunshine on tap

Of course the other major benefit to living here is the weather: daily sunshine doesn’t get old. This means I spend almost nothing on clothes, make-up, hair etc – less being more in all three categories in 32-degree heat. The local barber cuts my hair for me, which costs around £2.

I rent a room in a family home, which has a huge balcony and ample room to roll out my yoga mat. The bathroom is shared with two other guests and the £198-a-month rent includes use of the kitchen and cleaning. I take my laundry to a place nearby, where they wash and press it for me for around £1.60 per load.

There are lots of cultural and art events going on in the city, which I go to regularly – from exhibitions and workshops to markets and live music festivals. I also do yoga at a Sivananda studio three times a week, which costs £26 per month.

Food is a highlight of life in Vietnam and I spend the majority of my money on eating out and socialising. Street food is everywhere and incredibly cheap: from 50p for a fully loaded sandwich, or ‘Banh Mi,’ to £6 for all you can eat BBQ washed down with 75p bottles of ice-cold Bia Saigon.

I still tend to eat a Western breakfast of oats, fruit and soy milk at home, though, and I also make my own salads for dinner during the week. My average weekly spend in the supermarket is around £10, although occasionally I’ll spend a little more at a fancy foreign grocer for some wholegrain bread or imported cheese.

Some basic things are tricky to get here; shoes, for example. I’m a UK size 6, which relegates me to men’s trainers. Most face and body creams also have skin-whitening agents in too, so I stick to Johnsons baby lotion. All of this equals a great way to save money, however.

Sticking to a weekly budget

I tend to escape the city – whose frenetic energy is comparable to a teenager on amphetamines raving to trance – every few weeks. I’ll either take a bus for two hours to the beach at Vung Tau, or for six hours to the pine forests in Dalat. Tickets cost between £3 and £8 each way. I am also going on a long holiday to Bali in Indonesia soon.

I keep track of all my spending in notes on my phone, and stick to a weekly budget. I got into this habit last year and it’s helped me to finally take control of my spending. In London I did a lot of ‘magical thinking’ to justify living beyond my means: now if I spend it, it gets written down and counted.

I use a Creation credit card to withdraw cash and make card payments fee free, which I clear at the end of every month. I get paid in pounds into a UK bank account, which makes this easier. For foreigners earning in Vietnamese Dong, moving money abroad can be expensive and difficult.

Of course it’s not all sunshine and lollipops living in a developing country. Driving and crossing the road is a daily trial where the only rule is: there are no rules, while God forbid you need a doctor as that costs around £50 a visit for foreigners.

However, for the first time in my adult life I’m living debt free; I don’t lose sleep over how I’m going to make the rent or buy food; I’ve got time to pursue other interests and I have actual cash money in a savings account.

And that is pretty nice.

According to a report on inews

Google quietly started logging people into Chrome without their consent

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For years, Google has given users of its Chrome browser the option of surfing the web without logging in.

But a security expert says Google quietly changed its requirements so that when a user logs in to a Google service such as Gmail, Chrome will automatically sign into their account.

Google tucked the new login requirements into the latest Chrome update without notifying users, Matthew Green, a cryptography expert who teaches at Johns Hopkins University, said in a blog post on Sunday.

The blog post, titled “Why I’m done with Chrome,” began generating debate on Sunday evening and appeared to send Chrome’s managers into damage control.

By being logged in, Chrome users could unwittingly send their browser data to Google, according to Green. He added that Chrome managers told him that just being logged into Chrome didn’t mean a user’s browsing information would be sent to Google — they would still need to activate the “sync” feature before a data transfer could occur.

This is where Green, who said he quit using Chrome because of the change, reserved some of his harshest criticism of Google. He called the Chrome sync-consent page a “dark pattern,” a term describing a user interface designed to deceive or mislead people.

“Now that I’m forced to log into Chrome,” Green wrote, “I’m faced with a brand new menu I’ve never seen before.” He suggested it could lead users to mistakenly consent to the sync, adding that before the login change, Chrome users had to key in their credentials to log in and then could consent. Now, users are a single — possibly accidental — click away from turning over their browsing history to Google, Green said.

Google referred Business Insider to a series of tweets posted early on Monday from Adrienne Porter Felt, a Chrome engineer and manager. In one tweet, she confirmed that Google had changed the login procedures. She also stressed that though users are logged in to Chrome, they must still consent to a sync before their data could be transferred to Google.

Green said it was “nuts” for Google to suggest users are safe because of the sync-consent page.

Green wrote: “If you didn’t respect my lack of consent on the biggest user-facing privacy option in Chrome (and didn’t even notify me that you had stopped respecting it!) why should I trust any other consent option you give me?”

According to a report on Business Insider

Phu Quoc eyes 2.5 million visitors this year

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The resort island of Phu Quoc in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang expects to welcome about 2.5 million tourist arrivals in 2018, up 25 percent from last year.

Since 2015, the island has received more than 4.7 million tourist arrivals, 20.5 percent of which were foreigners. Earnings from tourism grew 42.5 percent annually in average.

According to Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Phu Quoc island district Pham Van Nghiep, Phu Quoc International Airport now has eight airlines operating 12 direct international flights to China, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Thailand and four domestic routes to Can Tho, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Hai Phong.

The lodging services in the island have rapidly expanded to serve the increasing demand of visitors. The island now has more than 600 hotels and other accommodations, offering about 12,000 rooms, of which 10 are rated 3 – 4 star hotels and five rated 5-star

Phu Quoc is very famous for pearl farming, fish sauce, pepper and “ruou sim”, a wine made from sim fruit or Rose Myrtle. A variety of tours are provided for travellers, such as scuba diving, coral reef snorkeling, fishing and tours to visit traditional fish sauce making establishments, pearl farms, Ham Ninh fishing village, Phu Quoc National Park, pristine beaches and many more.

In addition, Nghiep attributed the success of the local tourism industry to new luxurious tourism services, including 500-hectare Vinpearl Safari Phu Quoc – the first-ever and largest safari park in Vietnam, Vinpearl Resort & Villas, Vinpearl Land and Vincharm Spa. Earlier this year, the world’s longest sea cable car route was launched in the island, connecting An Thoi town and Hon Thom island, he said.

Phu Quoc was once a sleepy area of around 100,000 people. In recent years, however, the 567sq.m island has become a tourist mecca for thousands of visitors from around the world.

Located 46km from the mainland, the island can be reached by air from HCM City within one hour and from Hanoi within two hours.

In September, it was named by CNN among the top five up-and-coming Asia Pacific destinations to visit this fall.

According to CNN, for those planning their first trip to the Asia-Pacific region, major destinations usually top the list, such as Shanghai and Hong Kong (China), Tokyo (Japan) and Singapore.

“If you’re dreaming of a beach getaway in Asia this fall, Phu Quoc in Vietnam should be a top contender. For starters, the dry season begins in November and runs till April,” CNN wrote on its website.

Formerly a prison island during French colonial times, Phu Quoc’s photogenic setting and clear waters caught the attention of international brands like JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay, which debuted its Bill Bensley-designed resort late last year.

There’s plenty to do aside from lounging and snorkeling around Ong Lang Beach.

The Phu Quoc Prison Museum offers a peek into the island’s dark history while the Phu Quoc National Park and Suoi Tranh Waterfall will spoil nature lovers, it added.

According to a report on VNA

Viettel Global listing 2.24 billion plus shares

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More than 2.24 billion Viettel Global shares will make their debut on Hanoi’s unlisted public company market, UPCoM, on Tuesday.

The shares of Viettel Global Investment Joint Stock Company, with the sticker VGI, will be traded on the UPCoM at a floor price of VND15,000 ($0.65) per unit.

Viettel Global will become the largest firm on the UPCoM with market capitalization of VND33.6 trillion ($1.44 billion).

Established in late 2007 with chartered capital of VND960 billion ($41.18 million) as a unit of Viettel Group, Viettel Global covers the military group’s overseas investments.

Viettel Group holds 98.68 percent of the stake in Viettel Global.

At a general meeting in June, shareholders of Viettel Global approved a plan to increase its chartered capital to VND30.4 trillion ($1.3 billion).

In 2017, Viettel Global served nearly 40 million international customers, a growth of 13 percent from the previous year.

To date, Viettel Global makes profits in eight of the ten markets that it operates in. The eight markets are Cambodia, Laos, Timor Leste, Mozambique, Burundi, Haiti, Peru, and Cameroon. It entered Tanzania two years ago and Myanmar just this month.

Viettel Global plans to enter several new markets, mainly in ASEAN.

For this year, the company targets increasing its subscriber numbers by 10-15 per cent, bringing the cumulative population of its markets to 400 – 500 million and rank among the top 10 global telecom companies.

Viettel Global announced consolidated revenues of over VND19 trillion ($810 million) for 2017, an increase of 24 per cent year-on-year, and a net profit of VND27 billion ($1.16 million).

According to a report on VnExpress

French photographer issues book about pagodas in VN

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French photographer, journalist and publisher Nicolas Cornet on Friday (June 1) released a photo book on pagodas in Vietnam in HCM City.

The 250-page book Vietnam Pagodas in English and French includes hundreds of photos of 31 pagodas and temples taken over the last three years.

Cornet began his journey from northern to southern Vietnam in 2014 to discover Vietnam’s major pagodas, temples and places of worship.

He took more than 20,000 pictures, and visited nearly 100 pagodas and temples.

“I decided to make the book to show the beautiful heritage of Vietnam’s pagodas, and to allow the next generation to remember this heritage. I wanted my children, whose mother was Vietnamese, as well as my Vietnamese friends’children, to be able to have memories about that,” said Cornet.

Published by the Viet Nam News Agency Publishing House, the book consists of five chapters, featuring traditional pagoda architecture, artistic details, daily life of monks and people gathering for worship, and ceremonies.

The first and second chapters are about the beginning of Buddhism in Vietnam and its old pagodas and temples in the North.

The third chapter centres on Hue and the central region. Hue is considered a Buddhism centre in Vietnam, with many famous monks coming from the region.

The fourth chapter introduces pagodas and Chinese temples in HCM City, and the last chapter highlights Khmer pagodas in Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.

A collection of 49 photos in the book are on display at the Vietnam: Pagoda Legacy of Faith exhibition from June 1 to June 10, which opened at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum on Friday.

Cornet has been dividing his time between Europe and Asia for over 30 years.

He has collaborated with major European newspaper and magazines such as L’Espresso, Mare and Le Monde, and film crews and TV documentaries.

Cornet has published six photo books on Vietnam and South East Asia and plans to release a new book on Vietnamese cuisine next year.

As an art director and curator, Cornet has organised several photo exhibitions and events in France, Germany, Switzerland, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, and conducted photo workshops and photojournalism courses.

Vietnam Pagodas is available at Nam Phong Book Shop, Tri Books, and Art Book in District 1. It will be released in Hanoi later this month.

Cornet will hold a book signing at the museum at 97A Pho Duc Chinh Street in District 1 on June 2,3, 9 and 10.

According to a report on VNS

Japanese investors keen on local market

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Mr. Hironobu Kitagawa, Chief Representative of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Hanoi Representative Office, tells VET about Japanese investment in Vietnam.

■ How has Japanese investment to Vietnam been in recent times?

Japanese investment in Vietnam continues to increase. The total number of newly-registered and expanded projects is 601 with total investment capital of $8.7 billion. Japan became the largest investor in Vietnam in 2017, in terms of both project numbers and capital.

The total number of newly-registered and expanded projects in the beginning of 2018 was 293, a 4.6 per cent increase year-on-year. Total registered capital was $6.1 billion, up 25.9 per cent year-on-year, due to a large amount of capital for a smart city development project in Hanoi.

■ What sectors do Japanese investors invest in the most in Vietnam?

Vietnam has been attracting Japanese enterprises in recent years because it is not only a strong manufacturing location, with stable infrastructure and competitive labor costs compared to neighboring countries, but also because it is a market that has significant potential. It is expected that domestic demand will grow due to increases in market size, stable economic growth, and higher incomes.

Japanese enterprises are attracted by human resources and domestic demand in Vietnam, both of which are issues they must address in Japan. In the manufacturing and processing sector, investment opportunities in fields with low-cost labor and land areas will continue to increase.

■ What are the advantages and obstacles for Japanese enterprises when investing in Vietnam?

According to JETRO’s “Survey of Japanese Businesses in Asia and Oceania” released last year, the favorable conditions in Vietnam’s investment environment include market size and a stable political and social situation. Labor costs are also cheap. The risks, however, include rising labor costs, the incomplete legal framework, a lack of transparency in legal application, complex tax mechanisms and procedures, and burdensome administrative procedures.

■ How do you view the potential for economic cooperation between Vietnam and Japan in the future?

The importance of Vietnam is undoubtedly increasing for Japanese enterprises. Japan and Vietnam have had discussions on improving the investment environment, as part of an initiative to bolster investment. I think the abovementioned administrative issues can be improved to some extent. Creating transparent and fair rules based on international norms is a way to further bolster FDI in Vietnam.

In the JETRO survey of Japanese companies mentioned above, about 70 per cent of respondents said that they would like to expand their projects in Vietnam, which is a higher percentage than in other ASEAN countries. The percentage of companies considering Vietnam as a country where they would open branches or expand scale has increased for three years in succession.

In May, JETRO worked with the Ministry of Planning and Investment to hold the “Vietnam Investment Promotion Conference” during the State visit to Japan by State President Tran Dai Quang. While Japan and Vietnam celebrate the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations, through the promotion of bilateral investment and deepening strategic partnerships, the goal is to further expand the business relationship between the two countries and enhance Vietnam’s new and emerging position. Investment licenses for three new projects in Vietnam were issued at the conference, and memoranda of cooperation on 13 investment projects were exchanged, as was one for an air navigation project. Vietnam and Japan expect to be able to promote further economic cooperation in the future.

@ VN Economic Times

Singapore competition watchdog fines Grab, Uber S$13 million in total over merger deal

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Singapore’s competition watchdog has fined Grab and Uber a total of S$13 million over their merger, saying that the deal has led to the substantial eroding of competition in the ride-hailing market.

Uber was fined S$6.58 million while Grab was fined S$6.42 million. The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) said the penalties were imposed to “deter completed, irreversible mergers that harm competition”.

In levying the fines, CCCS said it considered the companies’ turnovers, the nature, duration and seriousness of the infringement, and aggravating as well as mitigating factors.

US-based Uber sold its Southeast Asian business to bigger regional rival Grab in March in exchange for a 27.5 per cent stake in the Singapore-based firm. The following day, CCCS said it would launch an investigation into whether the transaction infringed anti-monopoly laws.

As part of its investigation findings, the watchdog highlighted that Grab increased its prices after the removal of its closest competitor, Uber.

It found that Grab trip fares, net of rider promotions, have increased by between 10 and 15 per cent after the acquisition deal.

Additionally, CCCS said it has received “numerous complaints” from both riders and drivers on Grab’s fares and commissions.

It highlighted changes Grab made to its loyalty programme GrabRewards, such as reducing the number of points earned by riders per dollar spent, as well as a decrease in the number and frequency of driver promotions and incentives.

CCCS also found that Grab currently holds about 80 per cent of the market share, and that the “strong network effect” makes it difficult for potential competitors to scale and expand in the market, particularly given that Grab imposed exclusivity obligations on taxi companies, car rental partners, and some of its drivers.

MEASURES TO ADDRESS COMPETITION CONCERNS

The competition watchdog also announced on Monday measures to lessen the impact of the deal on drivers and riders and open up the market for new players.

It ordered Grab to remove exclusivity arrangements with drivers and taxi fleets, and to maintain its pre-merger pricing algorithm and driver commission rates.

“This protects riders’ interests against excessive price surges, and drivers’ interests against increases in commissions that they pay to Grab,” CCCS said.

It also ordered Uber to sell cars under its vehicle leasing business Lion City Rentals to any potential competitor who “makes a reasonable offer based on fair market value”, and prohibited Uber from selling those vehicles to Grab without regulatory approval.

Lion City’s fleet totalled 14,000 vehicles as of December.

“Mergers that substantially lessen competition are prohibited and CCCS has taken action against the Grab-Uber merger because it removed Grab’s closest rival, to the detriment of Singapore drivers and riders,” CCCS chief executive Toh Han Li said.

“Companies can continue to innovate in this market, through means other than anti-competitive mergers.”

The Land Transport Authority said in a statement that it supports the competition watchdog’s decision, which it said is in line with an ongoing review of the regulatory framework for the sector.

CCCS DECISION AN “INAPPROPRIATELY NARROW DEFINITION OF MARKET”: UBER

Uber said it believed CCCS’ decision was based on an “inappropriately narrow definition of the market”, and that it incorrectly describes the dynamic nature of the industry, among other concerns. It said it would consider appealing.

Grab said it completed the transaction within its legal rights, and maintained it did not intentionally or negligently breach competition laws.

It added that it had not raised fares since the deal, and said for drivers to have full maximum choice, all transport players, including taxi operators, should also be subjected to non-exclusivity conditions.

It said it would abide by remedies set out by the CCCS.

Source: CNA

More graduates needed for social sciences, humanities fields

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Economic development in recent years has shown the importance of the social sciences and humanities, but the number of graduates trained in these fields has failed to meet demand, according to experts.

Speaking at a conference at HCM City’s Văn Hiến University on Saturday (September 22), Dr Hoàng Trọng Quyền, vice rector of Thủ Dầu Một University in Bình Dương Province, said the need had become urgent as an imbalance exists between graduates in technical fields and the social sciences and humanities, Vietnamnews reported.

Lê Thu Hằng of Văn Lang University in HCM City said: “The number of lecturers at universities has increased in both quality and quantity, but this has not met real demand.”

Because the number of students choosing to study in these fields is decreasing, there is now a shortage of graduates, particularly ones who have a high level of proficiency.

“Many students who choose this field do not know how they will apply it in the future,” Hằng said, adding that many universities were not devoting enough attention to these majors.

Hằng said that sustainable development should focus not only on the economy and technology, but the humanities and social sciences as well.

Dr Tôn Nữ Quỳnh Trân of the Centre for Urban & Development Studies said that Việt Nam’s post-đổi mới (renovation) urban development needs contributions from staff in social science fields, especially in light of urban changes that have affected cultural and social values.

“In the field of culture, cultural heritage, especially tangible cultural heritage, is strongly influenced by urban changes as there is a conflict between preservation and urban development,” Trân said.

Human resources who have competency in social sciences will provide a strong foundation for the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage, she added.

Urbanisation has had a profound effect on communities under the influence of land-use changes, as well as local residents, including many farmers who need to shift to another job.

All of these issues require the support of staff in social science fields to ensure sustainable urban development and prevent social disturbances, Trân said.

The conference, organised by Văn Hiến University and Thủ Dầu Một University, discussed solutions to develop human resources for social sciences and humanities in the era of international integration.

Thousands of affordable apartments built for workers, all for under $6,500

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Some 50,000 apartments will soon be available for Vietnamese workers at industrial clusters at a starting price of VNĐ150 million (US$6,400) apiece, the Việt Nam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) announced last week.

This was part of efforts to cater to workers with housing and other much-needed social infrastructures in industrial clusters across Việt Nam, provided for in a Government-approved project ‘Investment into construction of workers’ in industrial and manufacturing zones.

There are currently 334 industrial parks and manufacturing zones nationwide, employing about 2.7 million workers. However, according to a survey by VGCL in 2016, at least 1.2 million workers need a stable home and 1.4 million want supermarkets, kindergartens or recreation centres close to work.

A year after the project was approved, the VGCL has identified 20 viable areas in 20 provinces and cities, with each land plot averaging at 35ha and all land clearance costs to be borne by local governments.

The VCGL said it is working with the remaining 30 provinces and cities to secure land soon.

For 2018-23, with VNĐ11 trillion ($471.8 million), VGCL intends to finish the construction of least 50 workers’ complexes – each comprising of 1,000 apartment units (30-45sq.m each) and facilities, including green spaces, 500-seat cultural centres, central squares, kindergartens, malls, pharmacies and other services.

Proper living spaces help ensure public order and stimulate production and consumption in the locality, as well as reduce entice workers to stay in their jobs.

Tran Van Khai, head of the project’s management board, said the labour federation is also making arrangements with four State banks, where workers can get loans to buy apartments with interest rates as low as 7-7.5 per cent for a 20-year period.

It is estimated a worker could pay full price of a VND 150 million apartment in 7-8 years if they pay VND1.5-1.8 million a month.

The labour confederation representative also promised that purchase procedures would not be much of a hassle, with information easily accessible for workers.

The confederation said it would also work with local governments to stop profiteering, given how the project apartment’s prices are “just one third” of the market average.

Binh Duong Province, the northern neighbour of HCM City and home to a robust manufacturing industry, was one of the pioneering localities in building low-cost living spaces for workers arriving in the province from across the country.

Ample urban land and tax cuts and other incentives for affordable housing investors are prime reasons that help drive down the costs of mass-produced apartments with total floor area of 30s.q in Binh Duong

Many have expressed concerns that despite the policies and political commitment, affordable apartments would fail to attract workers without carefully studied planning, evidenced by some of housing projects for students and workers in Ha Noi.

According to a report on VNS

Danang to be a destination for 300 wedding parties for Japanese couples

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Watabe Wedding Corporation, a wedding services company in Japan, plans to use the central coastal city of Danang as a destination for the wedding parties of 300 Japanese couples over the next three years, starting next January.

With over 40 years of experience, Watabe Wedding is expected to bring an estimated 3,000 Japanese people to attend these wedding parties during the given period, including the families and friends of the brides and grooms, according to the Tourism Promotion Center under the municipal Department of Tourism. The wedding organizer has officially launched wedding packages at the Naman Retreat Danang resort.

Vietnam usually attracts Japanese tourists to experience its specialized services such as meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions; leisure travel; educational tours; and exchange programs. The upcoming services of Watabe Wedding in the coastal city are reportedly among the first steps toward diversifying local tourism segments and attracting higher numbers of tourists more efficiently.

Danang is completely qualified to serve as a popular destination for Japanese couples to conduct one of the most memorable events of their lives thanks to its breathtaking landscape and high-quality hotel infrastructure. By comparison, Watabe Wedding said that Hawaii annually welcomes over 6,000 Japanese couples organizing their weddings there.

Apart from being one of the three hubs of Vietnam, the city also boasts beautiful beaches and is surrounded by world heritage icons. In addition, Japanese visitors to Danang numbered nearly 150,000 last year thanks to direct air routes connecting the city with Narita in Tokyo and Kansai in Osaka, which was fourfold higher than the figure in 2013 when direct air services had yet to be launched.

The national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines, in late October will launch new air routes linking Danang with Osaka, operating seven weekly flights on Airbus A321 aircraft. With these latest developments, Danang is expected to woo more visitors from Japan, helping balance the large numbers of South Korean and Chinese tourists in the near future.

According to a report on The Saigon Times

Vietnamese synthetic drug users on the rise

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The number of people who use synthetic drugs in Vietnam has been on the rise, accounting for up to 46% of the country’s total drug users.

Lieutenant General Dong Dai Loc, former deputy head of Investigation Police Department on Drug-related Crimes, said that at present Vietnam has around 222,000 registered drug addicts and 46% of this were synthetic drug users who are from 21 cities and provinces.

Tra Vinh and Quang Tri provinces along with Danang City are among localities with the highest number of synthetic drug users in the country.

According to a report released by the Centre for Supporting Community Development Initiatives in March 2017, the number of young people aged 17-18 using synthetic drugs have been on the rise in Hanoi, HCM City and Haiphong has increased.

Seven deaths at a Hanoi music festival have been tied to synthetic drug use.

Among synthetic drug users with mental disorders, roughly 72.2% suffer from hallucinations, 68.2% have delirium and 15% faced depression. Many people who live with depression often want to commit suicide, posing difficulties for rehabilitation centres.

Colonel Pham Van Chinh, former deputy head of Drug Criminal Investigation Department, said that many crimes, including serious murder cases, related to synthetic drug use have occurred in Vietnam over recent years. There has not been a really effective treatment regime for synthetic drug addicts, so the rehabilitation has not much improved. This is among reasons why the number of synthetic drug users in Vietnam has continued rising.

Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen from Bach Mai Hospital said that in many cases using methamphetamine cases users to suffer from heart shock and kidney failure as other health problems in a quick way. Without being taken to hospital timely, they would die in a short time.

According to a report on Laodong

First solo exhibition inspires Hanoi’s streets

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Hanoi’s streets new and old have inspired artist Nguyen Anh Minh to find his own painting style, after years of searching.

Entitled Nguyễn Minh & Street, his exhibition displays 29 paintings and six sculptures at Viet Nam Fine Arts Museum, providing a look at the streets of Hanoi.

The paintings are made with acrylic and oil on canvas, while the sculptures are made with iron and composite.

The idea about the streets came to Minh in 2013 when he was about to earn his master’s in fine arts at the Viet Nam University of Fine Arts. “One morning on the way to sketch for my thesis, I sat drinking water on Khuat Duy Tien crossroads and looked over the underpass of the highway I noticed the houses which were being destroyed and replaced by the new bridge and the new road,” said Minh.

Feelings of loneliness and regret came to him when he thought the same may happen to his village one day. But he suddenly realised the beauty of blocks between pillars and the edges of the bridge. He noticed the undulated roof and the bright sky above that roof.

Minh tells stories of streets, villages and trees through his art. By mixing painting and graphics he uses colours which are sometimes warm and other times cool, expressing mixed feelings about the disappearance of streets, villages and trees in Hanoi.

“Sometimes I think that an artist needs to have his own points of view that help him to be recognised. It is very hard because there are thousands of different turns in the art,” Minh said.

The artworks about streets were made from 2016 to 2018 and have helped Minh be confident in a theme common among many great Vietnamese artists.

“The artworks at this exhibition show the calm and optimism of the young genernation which Minh represents,” said veteran artist Luong Xuan Doan. “They have to face the indispensable breakdown of old conceptions between tradition and modernity,” Doan said.

Paintings entitled Rain on the Street, Cold Street and A Street Melody sculpture feature streets without any trees. When trees were cut down in Hanoi, Minh heard the cry for help of trees, saw the change of ecosystem and homeless birds and the regret of the citizens.

“I always look forward the alteration for my streets which will become more personal, more romantic and carry my childhood in the artworks,” said Minh.

Minh is member of the Viet Nam Fine Arts Association. He has participated in many group exhibitions and this is his first solo exhibition. He has awarded by the Ha Noi Culture and Arts Association; Prize A by Ha Nội Fine Arts Exhibition and award of Red River Fine Arts Exhibition Viet Nam – South Korea.

The exhibition runs at 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street till tomorrow, from 8.30am to 5pm.

According to a report on Vietnamnet

Who dominates online shopping market?

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The presence of Chinese e-commerce brands in Vietnam has raised concern that Chinese mobile payment apps and Chinese products will flood the Vietnamese market

Vietnam ecommerce, predicted to have value of $10 billion by 2022, is a gold mine for foreign investors.

SBI Holdings from Japan and some Asia-based companies have poured $51 million more into Sendo.

Two big retail groups from South Korea and Japan are investing in their own websites Lotte.vn and Aeoneshop.com. And Central Group from Thailand has taken over Zalor Vietnam and changed its name into Robins.vn in 2017.

However, Chinese firms dominate the market.

Alibaba was the first Chinese player present in Vietnam after taking over Lazada Southeast Asia in April 2016. It has appointed Zhang YiXing of China to the post of Lazada Vietnam’s CEO to replace the French CEO.

JD.com, the biggest rival of Alibaba in China, is also confronting Alibaba in Vietnam when investing $44 million in Tiki in late 2017.

Shopee, backed by Garena, where Tencent, the Chinese technology giant, holds 40 percent of shares, cemented its position in Vietnam after it joined the market in August 2016.

An analyst commented not only Vietnam, but entire Southeast Asia has become the playing field for three Chinese giants – Alibaba, Tencent and JD. Lazada and Shopee are among top players in Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. JD has also invested in Indonesia and Thailand to access the 600 million people market.

The presence of powerful Chinese e-commerce conglomerates in Vietnam has sparked concern that Chinese products will hold the advantage over Vietnamese ones in the online shopping market. It is highly possible that Chinese e-commerce websites will prioritize selling Chinese products through online distribution networks they own.

Chinese products are a threat to Vietnamese goods due to their low prices and diversification. With support from online shopping networks, Chinese products will also have more opportunities in the Vietnamese market.

Ownership of leading e-commerce websites in Vietnam will also bring advantages to Chinese firms in the mobile payment competition.

In order to attract more clients, besides promotion campaigns, mobile payment apps need to have networks of partners. And e-commerce floors can be answer to the problem.

In November 2017, Alipay, the mobile payment platform of Alibaba, signed a cooperation agreement with NAPAS, the national payment corporation, which was the first step to pave the way for Alipay’s official presence in Vietnam.

With 30 million hits per month, Lazada will bring a great advantage to Alipay once the app is integrated into Lazada’s payment system.

According to a report on Vietnamnet

Nguyen Tien Hung wins Vietnam Mountain Marathon

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Nguyen Tien Hung won the men’s 100km event at the Viet Nam Mountain Marathon (VMM), the country’s biggest ever mountain race, which ended in Sa Pa, Lao Cai Province over the weekend.

Hùng beat more than 200 rivals from across the world to triumph in a time of 14:45.44.

Hùng is the second Vietnamese runner to win the event’s ultra distance.

Last year, Tran Duy Quang won the event.

Second place went to Hisashi Kitamura from Japan and third belonged to David Fontaine from France.

Nguyen Tien Hung celebrates winning the men’s 100km event at the Viet Nam Mountain Marathon (VMM), the country’s biggest ever mountain race, concluded in Sa Pa, Lao Cai Province over the weekend.

Participants ran through the long, dark night in the highest peaks of Viet Nam and stunning rice terraces and ethnic minority villages to the finish line, Topas Ecolodge, which was recently voted number one on the National Geographic list of places to stay if you care about the environment.

“This is the second time I ran in the VMM. Last year, my result was 17 hours, so this year my aim was just to finish the race. Furthermore, I registered for the race quite late in August, so I did not have much time for training. I only trained for road running, not trail at all like other runners. Luckily I got the podium finally,” said Hung.

Participants compete at the Viet Nam Mountain Marathon in Sa Pa, Lao Cai Province over the weekend.

Meanwhile, the female 100km champion was Evelyn Lek from Singapore after clocking a time of 17:57.29, followed by Nathalie Cochet of France, and Hoa Banh of Australia. Banh is of Vietnamese descent.

“When the 100km, category prepared to start, runners boarded the buses in Sa Pa to the start line, crowds cheered them like warriors going into battle. After up to 24 hours of running they were then welcomed to the finish line as heroes and the sense of occasion and camaraderie at Topas Ecolodge was once again incomparable,” said David Lloyd, Race Director.

In the men’s 70km race, Vietnamese Nguyen Si Hieu of Chicks Hunters Club finished first with a time of 9:47.09. Robert West of the United Kingdom and Julien Petit of France were the runners-up.

On the women’s side, mainland Chinese Qian Zhao triumphed with a time of 7:49.47. Chinese Hong Kong’s Ngon Sin Fan and Jefferlyn Castillano of the Philippines took second and third place, respectively.

Another runner of the United Kingdom Sarah Easton shone in the women’s 42km with a time of 6:42.37. The following positions went to Vietnamese runners Dang Luu Phuong Anh and Le Thi Ly.

This year’s event attracted 3,400 runners from 54 nations, 40 per cent more runners than the previous edition.

The VMM has a charitable focus, donating thousands of dollars since 2013. This year’s race saw more than US$38,000 divided between Operation Smile and Newborns Viet Nam.

Founded in 2013 by Topas Travel, the VMM is one of the biggest ultra-running events in Asia and the landmark event on the South East Asia calendar.

According to a report on VNS