The cost of a Bugatti, a French luxury car with only three models — Veyron, Chiron and Divo — typically ranges from $1.7 million to $3 million, and its newest Divo hypercar model, which sold out in one day, has a ticket price of $5.8 million.
But getting a Bugatti serviced costs a pretty penny too: For a Veyron, the least expensive model at $1.7 million, an oil change costs $20,000 to $25,000, according to Royalty Exotic Cars. That’s about the the price of a new Toyota Camry.
Royalty Exotic Cars, a luxury car specialist and rental company based in Las Vegas, uploaded a YouTube video in July showing an oil change for a Bugatti Veyron. The price? $21,000, according to CEO Houston Crosta.
“Bugatti services are so expensive because of the exclusivity of the product,” Crosta tells CNBC Make It. “Only select individuals own a Bugatti and the owners tend to have one or more Bugattis.”
The Veyron uses a dry-sump oiling system with 16 different drain plugs, accessible after intricately removing parts of the underbody, which takes hours. Refilling requires removing the car’s grill, rear fender liners and rear deck including rear brakes, which are bigger than front brakes.
A Bugatti oil change is recommended once a year, whether the car has been driven or not, according to Crosta. These oil changes assure that the vehicle is running at it’s highest output and efficiency. These services include all fluids in the vehicle and other routine maintenance.
Owning a Bugatti comes at a high price beyond an oil change. “Tires alone are currently around $38,000,” Costa says. “Such an amazing piece of machinery can be expected to be expensive.”
Royalty Exotic Cars rents exotic, expensive cars in the U.S, including Lamborghini, Ferrari and Bugatti. The Bugatti Veyron is available to rent for $20,000 (including taxes) for 24 hours but don’t expect to throw that money for personal pleasures.
“We do not rent the Bugatti for recreational driving, but mostly for movie productions, photo shoots, trade shows and conventions,” says Crosta.
Union of Vietnamese Students in Berlin and Potsdam (Vietsoc) together with Startup Vietnam Foundation (SVF), a non-profit organization jointly organized a panel discussion named “Innovation Changes the Game” on September 15th. This event is the second one in a series of events within a program supporting entrepreneurship within Vietnamese community in Germany.
After the success of the first event last month with the CEO of SVF – Mr. Pham Duy Hieu, this time the guest speaker was Mr. Nguyen Duy – COO of SVF and simultaneously CEO of Kova Trading, a part of KOVA Group in Vietnam. Additionally, Mr. Nguyen Bach Viet and Mr. Le Vu Hoang – CEOs and Co- founders of Sejong Vietnam Joint Stock Company (Sejong) – joined this event. They also made their name as two of the members of the 3-person team VioT, known as the winner of Vietchallenge 2018 held in the USA last April for Vietnamese startups around the world.
As a speaker, Mr. Nguyen Duy started the program by introducing SVF to the audiences before moving on to elaborate on “Four types of capital for startups”. SVF is the first socialized, non-profit organization in Vietnam whose mission is to open the gate for Vietnamese startups to step out to the world. Also known as a place where successful businessmen, politicians, experts and scientists come together to fulfill their mission of “giving” to create “value”, SVF does not only bring about several development programs for young entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs-to-be, but also connects startups with important stakeholders, among other things scientists, businessmen, domestic and international distribution partners. With “Four types of capital for startups”, Mr. Nguyen Duy did help the attendees broaden their horizon by extending the use of the word “capital” beyond its common financial definition. Other types of capital also include knowledge, network and trustworthiness, which require time and effort to be built up during work and study. Also, with his first-hand experience as a third-generation leader in his family business – KOVA Group, Mr. Nguyen Duy wholeheartedly answered the questions about managing and leading family businesses, especially ways to preserve traditional values while continuously innovating to adapt to changing socioeconomic landscape in Vietnam.
After a short break, the program continued with a panel discussion joined by Mr. Nguyen Duy and two founders of Sejong – Mr. Nguyen Bach Viet and Mr. Le Vu Hoang. Sejong, also known as VioT, specializes in R&D and manufacturing IoT equipment. Their products employed in industry and agriculture are featured by sensory softwares which collect data for analyzing and optimization, thus offering solutions to improve productivity, enhance quality and value of industrial, agricultural products. With 10-year experience in network administration, Mr. Nguyen Bach Viet and his partner – Mr. Le Vu Hoang, who was once the winner of “Đường lên đỉnh Olympia” in 2005 and won several international prizes in the field of Robotics and IoT, brought about useful information on Vietnamese progress in being part of the Industry 4.0 worldwide.
This program was a chance for Vietnamese students to be inspired by innovative mindset and get to know the challenges when it comes to approaching and implementing new ideas while allowing them to exploit existing advantages of students studying abroad in order to apply innovative approaches to production, business as well as personal development. Having studied oversea and developing their business in a changing environment as in Vietnam, the guests together with their inspirational stories and their experience proved to be highly practicable for Vietnamese students in Germany.
Foreign bands in recent years have stepped up their efforts to “stay in the game” as Vietnamese bands appear to be regaining popularity in the local music scene.
Though Vietnamese music is still vastly more popular, the number of foreign artists coming to Vietnam to pursue their musical careers has increased. Depending on the nature and scale of particular events, either foreign or local bands will be selected to perform, most foreign bands often become more popular after performing at the event and convention centre or the acoustic bar in Saigon or Hanoi.
Duong Ngoc Dung, the Head of Marketing & Communication at Vietnam International Bank (VIB) said that most events, big or small, include music performances, he preferrers foreign bands.
The most important criteria to consider when booking a band includes “charming appearance and ability to inspire and connect with the audience”, which most foreign artists seem to be quite good at, according to the event manager of an agency told VNS.
The friendly manner, for example, David Kenjah, a french singer in his band, which often performs at the Bars in Hanoi, has attracted many fans. Recently, many local firms with international investors invited David and his band to perform at their corporate events as David can sing in fluent English, French and in all genres. Not mentioned about the cost, it seems most of them play for their passion for their art.
David Kenjah (mid) and his band.
As most of the audience are foreigners, it is even more difficult to win them over, according to the quality manager at famous bar in Hanoi, Saigon of Vietnam. As a result, foreign bands are more likely to play as they meet most of the requirements.
According to a report on Saigon Tiep Thi, a local newspaper, due to increased demand, more international music bands are expected to come to Hanoi and Saigon in the near future, but it is important that they improve their performance quality to be able to compete with others. They should cover popular songs or produce and sing their own songs, experts have said. Determining their music path is necessary so they can stand out from the crowd.
Some international bands are expected to make a serious career out of their passion for music, while many have begun to sing in Vietnamese to reach a wider range of audiences.
Apple has gained the brand status of being one of the most luxurious and respected brands in Vietnam.
The iPhone XS – Apple’s latest iPhone product – will officially be sold in October but a local fan already owned this.
According to a report on VNExpress, the new iPhones have more powerful processors and cameras, and a dual-SIM card feature for top-of-the-line devices.
Super Retina. In big and bigger. The custom OLED displays on iPhone XS deliver the most accurate color in the industry, HDR, and true blacks. And iPhone XS Max has a largest display ever on an iPhone.
Super Retina in two sizes — including the largest display ever on an iPhone. Even faster Face ID. The smartest, most powerful chip in a smartphone. And a breakthrough dual-camera system. iPhone XS is everything you love about iPhone.
Exceptional materials. The most durable glass ever in a smartphone. A beautiful new gold finish, achieved with an atomic-level process. Precision-machined, surgical-grade stainless steel bands. And a new level of water and dust resistance.
Surgical-grade stainless steel. We use a special Apple-designed alloy that’s precisely machined to create structural bands in three finishes.
No other phone is like iPhone. Every decision that goes into iPhone makes it stand apart. From the way it’s made, to the way we build in privacy and security from the start, to the way we responsibly recycle it.
HCM City Department of Transport announced on September 18 that it was working to integrate the urban traffic information portal into the Zalo mobile app in an attempt to reduce congestion.
The department’s director Bui Xuan Cuong said in order to provide an effective an interactive traffic portal to the citizens, they decided to co-operate with the popular mobile messaging app Zalo.
The Saigon River Tunnel Management Centre, the operator of the city traffic portal, has worked with VNG Corporation to integrate a chatbot into Zalo app to help users view the current traffic in nearby locations via the security cameras, find the most suitable routes and read traffic news.
The authorities hope that the city traffic portal will become more effective and familiar to the citizens via this collaboration. In the future, the Saigon River Tunnel Management Centre will continue the research to help users find bus routes via voice search.
If Zalo users want to know about HCM City traffic information, they only have to click on the search bar and type the keywords “traffic information in HCM City”.
The website and mobile versions of the traffic portal were launched by the Department of Transport in last January for both IOS and Android users have contributed a great deal in providing timely traffic information to the citizens.
This is part of the project transforming HCM City into a smart city for 2017-2020 period, with a view to 2025.
Vietnam’s most modern bus station has been opened in Sapa Town in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai.
The opening ceremony was opened on September 19 by the investor Ha Son Tourism Transport JS Company.
The station has a smart management system with databases connected to the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam. Magcards are used to manage vehicles and cameras are also installed.The waiting room
It has supporting facilities such as restaurants and entertainment areas for children.The cameras installed at the station
The station, which cost VND200 billion (USD9 million) covers 4,012 square metres.
The northern mountainous province of Lao Cai has proposed the Ministry of Transport build a VND5.7 trillion (USD251 million) civilian and military airport in Sapa.
Index up 0.92% as all main indexes close in positive territory.
The VN-Index broke through the 1,000-point mark for the first time in more than three months on September 20.
On HSX, the VN-Index ended the day at 1,004.74 points, up 9.20 points (0.92 per cent), while the VN30-Index closed at 971.18 points, up 8.48 points (0.88 per cent).
On HNX, the HNX-Index finished at 115.06 points, up 0.86 points (0.75 per cent), the HNX30-Index 212.25 points, up 2.29 points (1.09 per cent), and the UPCoM-Index 52.99 points, up 0.53 points (1.01 per cent).
Liquidity on HSX was VND3.9 trillion ($167.6 million) and on HNX was VND769.7 billion ($33 million).
Food and beverage stocks to gain ground included BHN, by 0.1 per cent, as VNM lost 1.3 per cent and KDC, SAB and VCF closed at their opening price.
Gainers in banking included TCB, VPB, EIB, CTG and VCB, by 5.3, 3.4, 2.5, 2.4 and 1.7 per cent.
In energy, PVD gained 4 per cent, GAS 3.5 per cent, PPC 1.4 per cent, PLX 0.8 per cent, and NT2 0.8 per cent, as PVT closed at its opening price.
The Top 5 shares bought by foreign investors were GAS, BMP, SSI, VJC and HDB.
VIC was the largest net sold share on HSX, followed by VCI, DHG, NCT and VHM.
VGC was the largest net sold share on HNX, followed by PVS, TIG, SHS and CSC.
Phu Nhuan Jewelry JSC (code: PNJ) has been fined to dozens of millions of dong in tax.
According to PNJ’s announcement, the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department issued Decision No.5787 on September 13, 2018 to penalise PNJ for tax violations committed between January and December 2017.
PNJ has been issued a fine of 20 per cent of its corporate income (CIT) tax arrears, which is VND5.95 million ($263.3). The company will also pay VND29.75 million ($1,320) of CIT, along with VND1.5 million ($67) for late payment.
Since early 2018, PNJ’s stock had been rising, to peak on April 2 at VND206,000 ($9.1), following a generally rising market. However, it hit a two-year low bottom at around VND76,000 ($3.4) only three months later on July 3, 2018.
Also in July, PNJ was caught up in a scandal because Nguyen Thi Cuc, former member of the PNJ board of management and former head of Dong A Bank (DAB)’s Supervisory Board, was prosecuted for the involvement in DAB, PNJ’s share dropped like a stone from the peak of VND206,000 ($9.1) on March 30 to VND76,000 ($3.4) on July 3, then climbed to VND99,400 ($4.4) on September 19.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Security’s investigation agency has just concluded the second additional investigation for the case of “deliberately acting against state regulation, causing serious consequences” and “abusing trust to appropriate property” at DongA Bank, which includes the involvement of Cao Thi Ngoc Dung (former PNJ general director), the wife of defendant Tran Phuong Binh and shareholder of DAB, who held the DAB shares of Tran Phuong Binh.
According to the investigation agency’s conclusions, Dung did not know the origin of the money Binh used to buy the shares and she was not involved in the falsification of documents. As a result, the investigation agency found Dung innocent of the criminal charges.
The move to slash prices of Sony’s models has raised doubts that Sony is trying to dump stock before leaving Vietnam. But Sony has denied this.
“The mobile phone models are selling with big discount rates. These could be the last products of the Japanese manufacturer in Vietnam,” one news report said.
The rumor about Sony stemmed from the fact that large mobile phone distribution chains, including The Gioi Di Dong, FPT Shop and Hoang Ha Mobile, are selling Sony’s models at sharp discount rates.
The Gioi Di Dong has slashed prices of more than 10 Sony models, from low-cost products such as Xperia L1, L2 and XA1 to high-end products.
In particular, Xperia XZ2 and XZ Premium were cut to VND12 million from VND20 million and VND23 million as initially quoted.
The mid-tier models such as Xperia XA1 Plus and Xperia XA1 are now selling at VND4 million and VND3 million, respectively, or just equal to half of the initial selling prices.
Hoang Ha Mobile is also running a large-scale price cut campaign. The two high-end models XA2 and XZ Premium are priced at VND11.7 million, while low-cost and mid-tier models such as Xperia L1, L2 and Xperia XA1 Plus have the same selling prices or a little lower than prices quoted by The Gioi Di Dong.
The prices of a series of models have been cut, while there is no information about the new models the days to come.
The representatives of some retail chains have confirmed that the price cut is a part of the plan on dumping stock, and it is highly possible that no more new Sony smartphone models will be sold in Vietnam from now until the end of year.
The Gioi Di Dong said the price discounts will be applied to tens of thousands of Sony products available at the chain. Meanwhile, the distributor still doesn’t have plan to import next-generation models.
VnReview quoted the manager of a retail chain as predicting that Xperia XZ3, the latest model of Sony will no longer be available at large distribution chains in Vietnam, because of unreasonable prices set by the manufacturer.
“The model is too expensive, and it only has one rear camera,” he said. However, he thinks that XZ3 would still be sold at Sony Center shops in Vietnam.
In the latest news, Sony’s representative has denied that it plans to leave Vietnam.
The representative said that Sony is planning to bring Sony Xperia XZ3 to Vietnam. At this moment, Sony is preparing for a Sony Show in HCMC where many attractive products will be on display.
Auditor General of the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) Ho Duc Phoc received the chairmanship of the Asian Organisation for Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI) from Malaysia at the first plenary session of the 14th ASOSAI Assembly in Hanoi on September 19.
The plenary session followed a ceremony to open the 14th ASOSAI Assembly and celebrate 40 years of the ASOSAI Charter.
In his speech, Phoc said it is an honour for him to assume the chairmanship of ASOSAI in the 2018-2021 term, noting that it is also the pride of the SAV as well as the Vietnamese people.
The SAV will continue making utmost efforts to help build a strong ASOSAI community to contribute to economic development in Asia and around the world, he added.
At the plenum, Auditor General of the National Audit Office of China Hu Zejun, who is also head of the ASOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA), delivered a report of the WGEA.
She said thanks to the joint efforts of all member supreme audit institutions (SAIs), the WGEA successfully implemented the action plan for 2014-2016 and is actively performing the tasks under the action plan for 2017-2019.
Over the past years, the WGEA has implemented many important activities, including the 6th and 7th seminars on environmental auditing, the 5th and 6th working meetings of the WGEA, promoting cooperation in environmental auditing across Asia, maintaining regular contact within ASOSAI, launching exchanges with working groups in other regions, and sharing experience in environmental auditing in Asia.
It has actively taken part in activities of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) Working Group on Environmental Auditing. The member SAIs have also participated in projects relating to climate change and air pollution fight, agricultural and food production.
Hu said pushing ahead with the action plan for 2017-2019, the WGEA will take active measures to reform environmental auditing techniques and step up cooperation. The ASOSAI Secretariat will also make stronger efforts in the WGEA’s activities and continually contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development in Asia.
At the session, ASOSAI Secretary General Choe Jaehyeong, who is Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection of the Republic of Korea, reported on activities of the ASOSAI Secretariat since the previous assembly.
Accordingly, the ASOSAI approved the Strategic Plan for 2016-2021. The ASOSAI Strategic Plan Management Task Force, led by the Secretary General, has developed annual operation plans since 2016 to ensure the successful implementation of the Strategic Plan. So far, this plan has been carried out very well, he noted.
In this period, the ASOSAI Secretariat has bolstered cooperation with other regional bodies such as the European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI), the African Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (AFRSAI), as well as INTOSAI.
He announced that the 52nd meeting of the ASOSAI Governing Board in Hanoi on September 18 accepted the SAI of Palestine to become the 47th member of the organisation.
At the plenary session, participants chose the SAI of Thailand as host of the 15th ASOSAI Assembly in 2021 and the SAI of China as ASOSAI Secretary General for 2018-2021.
The 14th ASOSAI Assembly is taking place in Hanoi from September 19 to 22 under the theme “Environmental Audit for Sustainable Development”.
In the first half of 2018, the Vietnamese banking sector enjoyed VNĐ35.5 trillion (US$1.53billion) in net profit, equivalent to 64 per cent of the previous year.
Thanks to improved financial efficiency, progress was made in tackling bad debt, effective digitisation and thriving bancassurance partnerships, while bank stocks have become more attractive again. By September 2018, the sector saw its stock price performance rise by 22 per cent since the start of the year.
In August 2018, Vietnam earned an upgrade in sovereign rating from B1 to Ba3 from Moody’s, and from ‘BB-‘ to ‘BB’ from Fitch, thanks to strong fundamentals, healthy export income, growth potential and lowering government debt. In tandem, 14 banks also had their credit ratings upgrading at Moody’s. Overall, banks came back stronger in 2017 and are looking forward to an equally rewarding 2018.
But words of caution have been voiced. Problems of capital adequacy remains and along with ongoing strong credit growth, is getting worse. In 2017, only six out of 14 banks managed to raise their charter capital by $613 million (41 per cent of planned). According to Moody’s, given the current credit growth, Vietnamese banks will need an approximate additional $7-9 billion to ensure Tier 1 capital ratios at 11 per cent in 2018 and 2019. Without external capital injections, the Tier 1 capital adequacy will fall to 8 per cent for JSCBs and 6.1 per cent for SOCBs by end of 2019, from 9.4 per cent and 6.9 per cent at the end of 2017.
Most banks had their CAR reduced by 1-2% in 2017 …
… after a period of strong credit growth in 2017
To comply with the Government’s plan to be Basel II compliant by 2020, in 2018 banks will continue to devise plans to raise Tier 1 and Tier 2 capital. At the beginning of 2018, 10 banks announced plans to raise their charter capital by at least $1.4 billion.
In order to retain earnings, banks have managed to increase their charter capital by giving out stock dividends. This is to continue as banks try to keep as much cash in-house as possible. Given the performance of banking stocks over the past year, shareowners are happy to receive additional shares as well as cash dividends.
However, while stock dividends and bonus can only move funds from treasury shares to charter capital keeping Tier 1 capital intact, ESOP and new common shares issued could increase Tier 1 capital. In the first months of 2018, several banks all had their IPOs, taking advantage of the bullish stock market to add more funds to their Tier 1 capital, such as HDB, TPB and TCB.
Banking sector’s 2018 plans to increase capital
Meanwhile, issuing stock dividends and launching IPOs were not applied by State-owned banks VCB, CTG and BIDV. Although these banks have been petitioning to pay dividends in stocks rather than cash since 2015, with the national budget in deficit, the Ministry of Finance has been asking the banks to pay dividends in cash to contribute to the national budget. The story has continued in 2018 when VCB announced its dividends payment in cash in early September, with CTG and BIDV expected to follow soon.
Given the tight situation, SOCBs have been issuing long-term bonds with terms from 5-10 years to maintain its capital adequacy levels. BIDV has recently completed its second bond issuance in 2018, adding a total of VNĐ430 billion, or $18.5 million, to its Tier 2 Capital. Vietinbank issued VNĐ2.43 trillion worth of bonds, or $105 million, as an addition to Tier 2 Capital.
This method also has its restrictions, as Tier 2 Capital cannot be higher than Tier 1 Capital. While Tier 2 Capital has been inching up since the last quarter of 2016, it is bound to hit the Tier 1 ceiling soon.
The situation for banks’ capital adequacy in Vietnam, especially those of SOCBs, continues to be a difficult story without the support of the Government. To meet the Basel II compliant deadline of 2020, the banks need to seek capital from external sources, be it from the Government’s budget itself, being allowed to retain their cash earnings, or from overseas injections. To get more up to date information on the banking sector as well as its key issues and trends, please go to our report at http://bit.ly/VNbankingreport2018.
Korea’s SK Group is acquiring the largest foreign stake in Masan Group Corporation for about $470 million, in a deal that will value the Vietnamese diversified business group at about $5 billion.
The South Korean group, which has businesses ranging from telecommunications to service sectors, will buy Masan Group’s entire 109.9 million treasury shares for 100,000 dong ($4.29) each, the companies said in a statement. SK Group will appoint a member to Masan’s board of directors. Mai Ngoc Chau reports on Bloomberg,
The acquisition, equal to a 9.5 percent stake in Masan Group, will make SK Group the largest foreign shareholder in the Vietnam conglomerate, whose principal businesses include food and beverages, financial services and natural resources. The next biggest foreign holder is GIC Pte, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund which holds a 4.99 percent stake, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The two companies “will actively pursue strategic M&A opportunities to deliver exponential growth over the long-term,” Danny Le, head of strategy and development for Masan Group, said in a statement. “We admire how SK Group has evolved into a global diversified powerhouse.”
Vietnam is “an important foundation” for SK Group’s regional strategy, Woncheol Park, representative director of Southeast Asia Investment for SK Group, said in a statement. “We will actively work together to identify strategic opportunities to expand into attractive categories in Vietnam where SK can add significant value through our know-how and technology. We believe this is the first of many investments with Masan.”
Credit Suisse Group AG acted as adviser for Masan Group. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter, Masan said.
The proceeds will be used to finance Masan Group’s future growth initiatives and strengthen its balance sheet, improving earnings by $50 million a year, the company said. The group’s outstanding debts were 34.7 trillion dong ($1.5 billion) through the end of June, according to its first-half fiscal report.
In November, Masan repurchased 100.7 million shares at 58,352 dong apiece, increasing its treasury shares to 109.9 million. Masan does not plan to issue additional shares to investors during the next three years, the company said.
Masan Group shares rose 1.2 percent to 91,200 dong in Ho Chi Minh City trading on Wednesday. The shares have climbed 18.9 percent since the start of the year, compared with the 1.2 percent gain in Vietnam’s benchmark stock index.
KKR & Co. last year invested $250 million in Masan Group and its Masan Nutri-Science in a deal that valued the company’s meat-producing subsidiary at $2 billion.
Vietnam-focused private equity firm Mekong Capital has completed the divestment of Minh Hoang Garment, the last portfolio company in its Mekong Enterprise Fund.
The deal follows the divestment of Mekong’s stake in Asia Chemicals last month and the liquidation of the Vietnam Azalea Fund last year. With this, Mekong Capital has fully exited all investments made from its first three funds. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Mr. Chris Freund, Partner at Mekong Capital, shared: “With the exit of Minh Hoang, we are so delighted to have completed the divestments of all of our first 3 funds. This enables us to focus on our newer investments in Mekong Enterprise Fund III, partnering closely with each of those companies to ensure they each achieve their vision.”
Minh Hoang is a local producer of sports apparel, active-wear and outerwear.
In total, Mekong Capital has completed 26 exits of private equity investments across these three vehicles. A number of exits under the Vietnam Azalea Fund were investments in privatized state-owned companies.
Earlier this year, Mekong Capital announced its exit from Mobile World, Vietnam’s multi-concept retailer, at an impressive 57x multiple. Restaurant operator Golden Gate was another successful investment with a 9.1x return upon exit.
The fund manager has a value creation platform called Vision Driven Investing with the aim to generate at least a 5x return for each investment, and is intensively applying it to all portfolio companies in its active Mekong Enterprise Fund III (MEF II), which has announced seven investments so far.
With the winding-up of the first three funds, Mekong Capital plans to raise its Mekong Enterprise Fund IV in the first half of 2019.
About Mekong Capital: It is a Vietnam-focused private equity firm, specializing in consumer driven businesses and looking to invest in fast-growing companies, with ambitious expansion plans, and a commitment to building management teams that will successfully execute on those expansion plans. Mekong Capital’s funds have completed 33 private equity investments in Vietnam, of which 26 have been fully exited. Its latest investment vehicle, the Mekong Enterprise Fund III (MEF III), has to date announced investments in 7 companies, including lending firm F88, logistics companies Nhat Tin and ABA, restaurant operator Red Wok, Ben Thanh Jewelry, Yola Education, and mattress retailer Vua Nem. All investee firms in MEF III are implementing the Vision Driven Investing framework.
ALLENTOWN, Pa. – For Katrina Glover, the sous chef at the new Pho Le on 7th Street, the restaurant is doing a lot more than making the best Vietnamese food. They’re helping her community.
“I’ve been in the culinary industry for over 22 years and this is just one of the phases I never dreamed of imagining. I love Lina. I’ve never met no one like her before,” said Glover.
She’s referring to Lina Dang, the owner, who decided to come here from New York to open this restaurant. Justin Backover reports on wfmz.com
“She’s giving us a chance. As long as you want to work she’s here for us and I’m just grateful for her and her family. And they’re giving us all an opportunity to do something different other than flip burgers,” said Glover.
“They worked on these recipes for years and they didn’t want to bring it until they thought everything was ready for them to bring out. We have what they call pork and rice dishes. One of the favorites is our deluxe knock out,” said Donald Green, operations manager.
The restaurant opened last week with an emphasis on fresh, quality food.
“We come in at 7, we leave at 9, 10 at night. We just want to push out the best food for the neighborhood,” said Glover.
To Glover, the food she’s making for her neighborhood is a needed alternative, “other than what we always put in our body, which is garbage,” said Glover.
The restaurant has already been getting some buzz in the neighborhood.
“What I hope to see, lines wrapped around the block. Phones ringing off the hook,” said Glover.
Vietjet Air (VJC) has opened sales on millions of promotional tickets for flights during the Lunar New Year 2019 (Tet).
Tickets are available on all domestic routes in Vietnam and Thailand and international routes connecting Vietnam and Tokyo and Osaka (Japan), Seoul, Busan, and Daegu (South Korea), Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Taipei, Taichung, and Tainan (Taiwan), Singapore, Bangkok, Phuket, and Chiang Mai (Thailand), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Yangon (Myanmar), and Siem Reap (Cambodia) from January 22 to February 18, 2019.
Vietjet will also open new routes and increase flight frequency to serve higher travel demand during the lunar new year holiday.
It is also holding super promotional “golden days” from September 19 to September 21 during the “golden hours” of 12pm to 2pm (GMT+7), with 2.6 million tickets priced from VND0 at www.vietjetair.com.
The flight period for Vietnamese and Thai domestic routes is from October 15 to March 30, 2019, and October 15 to June 30, 2019 for international routes.
Specifically, the flight period for Hanoi – Osaka flights is November 8 to March 30, Ho Chi Minh City – Osaka December 14 to March 30, Hanoi – Tokyo (Narita) January 11 to March 30, and Hanoi – Taichung October 15 to March 30.
Millions of tickets available for flights during lunar new year 2019
Payments 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 registered with internet banking.
Early birds will save money and avoid any disappointment. In addition to the ticket price, passengers can access promotional programs and regulations on baggage, travel documents, ticket conditions, the transport of traditional cuisine and trees for Tet, including cakes, apricot and peach trees, and other matters, which are posted on http://www.vietjetair.com, to avoid any unexpected problems.
Aiming to be a Consumer Airline, Vietjet has continually opened many new routes, added more aircraft, and invested in modern technology while offering more add-on products and services to serve all demands of customers.
