As many as 83 traffic accidents took place during the National Day holiday, resulting in 46 deaths and 53 injuries, according to the National Committee for Traffic Safety, reported by Nhu Quynh, Dtinews
This year, Vietnam’s National Day holiday lasted for three days from September 1 to 3. Monday was also a holiday due to the date falling at the weekend.
The National Committee for Traffic Safety reported that on the last day of the holiday, September 3, 33 traffic accidents left 14 people dead and 32 injured.
Compared to 2017 National Holiday, the number of accidents increased by 9 but deaths and injuries dropped by 12 and 3 respectively, the committee said, adding that most of the accidents were caused by over speeding, overloading and reckless driving by motorbike drivers.
Traffic jams occurred on many roads in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on September 1 and 3.
Some photos of the congestion in Hanoi on the afternoon of September 3:
Finally, after a lifelong fascination, a fruitful trip to enjoy all things Vietnamese, from shopping to eating reviewed by Rene Alcala (Inquirer‘s contributor)
Vietnam, a country scarred by blood and fighting in the 1960s, was always an off-the-beaten-track route for tourists. I remember buying old postcards of French colonial buildings in Saigon (the old name of Ho Chi Minh) in a flea market in Vienna in the late ’80s.
As I had the chance to visit other Asian countries, my fascination with Vietnam became more intense, until last December, a friend and I planned a Holy Week getaway.
On our way out of the airport, we exchanged our US dollars for Vietnamese Dong (VND) and became instant millionaires
—the exchange rate was VND 22,370 to a US Dollar, so we got VND 2,237,000 for $100.
It took us 25 minutes to reach Hotel Continental Saigon, a Ho Chi Minh landmark built in the 1880s as a French-style luxury accommodation. It’s centrally located near nice shops, restaurants and hotels, and the beautiful opera house.
The weather was hot but not uncomfortable, and there were trees everywhere. First stop was the post office, done in French colonial architecture style, for sending a postcard to myself, as I do in every city I visit. Inside the building was a cavernous hall with a picture of Ho Chi Minh, father of the socialist republic of Vietnam. Stalls sold souvenir items and postcards. My friend Leo saw a poster for a contemporary ballet performance at the opera house, and we made plans to watch it.
Walking further, we arrived at the glorious monument to Christianity, the Notre Dame Cathedral, built in a neo-Romanesque style with red bricks imported from Marseilles and colored glass windows from Chartres, France. In front of the cathedral was a statue of the Virgin Mary. The cathedral’s two 58-meter-high towers topped with iron spires dominate the city’s skyline.
Baguette
Next on the agenda was filling our grumbling stomachs. We saw a lot of stalls selling banh mi, the local sandwich made with a baguette, the bread of the French colonizers, with grilled pork, vegetables and a special sauce. We ended up in Quan Vietnamese Bistro, a modern restaurant with a good selection. We ordered pork ribs, crispy catfish and the fresh spring rolls found in every Vietnamese menu. The food was very good, and the bill just right.
The next day, we went to the opera house to catch the ballet “The Mist” by Lune Productions. It was about the rice farmers of Vietnam, featuring dance movements accompanied by music played with traditional instruments.
From there we went to look for Layla, a bar-cum-restaurant, with much effort. The entrance was unassuming, and we climbed the fourth floor, bypassing a lady who seemed to have built a cardboard house on one of the landings. Behind a small door, Layla was teeming with young Vietnamese, drinking and chatting.
The next morning was Palm Sunday, and Notre Dame was full. We proceeded to the Fine Arts Museum, housed in a complex of French colonial buildings that used to be owned by a rich Chinese immigrant. The buildings were as beautiful as the artworks from the early 1920s to as late as 2000, contemporary pieces by famous Vietnamese painters. The museum also houses sculptures and ceramics.
Antique Street
We walked to Antique Street (Le Cong Kieu Street), lined with stalls and antique shops from end to end. I drooled over the merchandise from furniture and ceramics to snuff bottles and beads. I settled for a horn snuff bottle that I had always wanted to have while Leo bought some beads.
Halong Bay —LARRY MALLARI
Next was Cho Ben Tanh, their version of a grand bazaar or our very own Divisoria in Manila, where we also had lunch in the market to savor local dishes. In the evening, we went to a rooftop bar overlooking the south of the city, where we drank as the sun set and all the lights came on—including the red brake lights and headlights of the cars.
It was an early morning flight for us the next day to Hanoi, capital city of Vietnam. The weather was very different, windy and cool, and we stayed at La Siesta, a trendy hotel in the old quarter.
The staff was very helpful and attentive, with a great command of English. We went to St. Joseph’s Cathedral, passing all sorts of stores selling all things Vietnamese—fresh meat, vegetables, flowers, coffee, antiques, propaganda posters and T-shirts.
The cathedral was built in 1886, in a style described as resembling Notre Dame in Paris. It was one of the first structures built by the French colonial government in Indochina and is the oldest church in Hanoi. After lighting a candle to give thanks for our visit and pray for our families and friends, we went to a restaurant for a late lunch.
We walked from the old quarter to Hoan Kiem Lake, where people converged to run, talk or just sit on benches. In the center of the lake is the Turtle Tower, standing on a small island. Legend has it that in early 1428, Emperor Le Loi was boating on the lake when a golden turtle god surfaced and asked for his magic sword, which the ruler had used to fight off the Chinese.
Military leader
From the vantage point of the turtle tower, we went to the northern part of the lake, to Jade Island, where the Temple of the Jade Mountain stands. The temple was erected in the 18th century, and honors the 13th-century military leader Tran Hung Dao who distinguished himself in the fight against the Chinese. Jade Island is connected to the lakeshore by Huc Bridge.
Since the temple was teeming with tourists, we opted instead to sit on a bench and wait for a sighting of one of the turtles, which, legend says, brings you luck. Little did we know that the last turtle died in 2016!
We proceeded to a bar in the old quarter, chatting with tourists. Vietnam is a tourist favorite these days because the people are nice, it is safe to walk the streets at night and the food is flavorful.
Façade of The Green Tangerine Restaurant in Hanoi
The next day, we were picked up for our overnight trip to Halong Bay, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site famous for its emerald waters and towering limestone islands. Junk boat tours and sea kayak expeditions take visitors past islands named for their shapes, including Stone Dog and Teapot Islets.
From Hanoi, it’s a four-hour drive to the wharf where you get on your boat, which sails around the 1,500-square kilometer area. We stopped on a beach, climbed an overlook tower, and tried kayaking. From the veranda of our room on the boat, we could see the people enjoying the beach and the climb up the tower.
Dinner was served in the dining room of the boat, and the food was as great as in the finest Vietnamese restaurants in the city. After a good night’s sleep on very calm water, we toured a cave before heading back to the city.
At night, we went to the opera house to see its grandeur, just like the well-lit buildings of Paris by night, with their beautiful and intricate architecture. Walking past Metropole, the grand dame of hotels in Hanoi, we headed to the French quarter for a dinner of regional specialties.
Preserved culture
Walking around the wide open space of the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and its surrounding colonial-style government buildings, my eyes watered at how they preserved their cultural heritage—what a marvelous sight!
At 54 Traditions Antique Store, we were entertained by Mark Rapoport, a New York native who has lived in Hanoi for 17 years. He loved it so much, in fact, he wrote a pamphlet entitled “101 Reasons to Love Living in Hanoi.” He toured us around his five-story antique gallery with everything from clothing to jewelry, ceramics to wooden puppets.
I got myself a prinsa, an old bronze clothes iron much like our old irons in the Philippines, but more intricate. The handle featured a face, complete with a moustache, and etched with lines and curves that resemble clouds. What a find! Wooden masks also caught my eye, some laughing, others frightful. I got one with a smile.
We carried our loot to a late lunch at Green Tangerine restaurant, housed in a 1928 French colonial building, for some Vietnamese-French fusion cooking—asparagus, pumpkin and beetroot seafood soup, five spices and coconut milk served with mushrooms, turnips and potatoes, duck fillet in forest mushroom sauce, sea bass fillet topped with Vietnamese tomatoes and basil sauce, served with a red fruit risotto cooked in balsamic vinegar.
The next day, we headed back to Ho Chi Minh for a night to catch our flight back to Manila. We checked in at Liberty Central Riverside to be beside the Saigon River and dined at Hum Vegetarian Restaurant, where the food was very tasty. We enjoyed a heart of banana blossom salad, a traditional dish in Vietnamese villages.
After eating, we went to Ben Tanh Market to buy pasalubong, including kilos of Vietnamese candies and cashew as big as thumbs—and tasty, too.
Taking a cab to and from your hotel is always a challenge. The reliable ones are Vinasun or Mailihn
In the evening, we went to a rooftop sky bar for our final cocktails in Ho Chi Minh.
We wandered down Buy Vien, a walking street with rows of bars, street food and restaurants with loud music, considered a backpackers’ haven.
For our last dinner, we had soft shell crab with tamarind sauce and spring onions, stir fried noodles and fish with shallot, galangal, fermented rice, turmeric, shrimp paste and fish sauce served in a hot sizzling plate.
Will we visit Vietnam again? Yes, with a capital Y! The people are nice, willing to help, the cuisine is incredible and it’s a good place to explore with friends and family.—CONTRIBUTED
At one of An Nguyen’s old jobs in Hanoi, she had a daily ritual: When she wanted to log in to the computer, she had to answer a cybersecurity question such as “What is spear phishing?” or “How does malware work?”
Nguyen did not work in the technology industry, but this was her employer’s way of making sure that all staff had at least a basic understanding of good cyber awareness.
Vietnam could use more people like Nguyen, according to security professionals. They say the country’s small businesses, in particular, do not realize how big a threat they face from hackers or other sources of data breaches.
“Cybersecurity for us, sometimes we are too confident — or maybe we are ignorant,” Nguyen, who has since started her own business, said regarding Vietnamese apathy toward computer security. “So we don’t care much about that.”
But small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should care, cyber professionals say, especially considering the factors that make security risks even more acute in Vietnam. These include the Southeast Asian country’s widespread use of pirated software, the high internet penetration among a tech-loving society without the IT support to match, and the love-hate relationship with China.
There are two kinds of people, said Vu Minh Tri, vice president of cloud services at the gaming company VNG, deploying a favorite global cliche — those who have been hacked, and those who do not know that they have been hacked.
“There is a very true saying that there is no company, or no organization, or no computer not impacted by malware,” Tri said. “There’s only organizations, computers, or people not aware the computer is impacted. So all are impacted. It’s just a matter of whether you’re aware or not.”
A new wrinkle in the story comes from neighboring China, with some cyber-attacks believed to be related to its Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to connect many countries from Asia to Europe through infrastructure projects. Research from the security firm Fireeye suggests Chinese hackers may be used either to defend Beijing’s partners in the Belt and Road, such as Cambodia, or to target those that do not play ball, like Malaysia.
Vietnam has taken a cautious approach to the initiative, with some scholars expressing concern about risks like burdensome loans and over-reliance on China. The Southeast Asian country also has reason to worry about potential cyber fallout. In one famous case, Chinese internet protocol addresses were suspected in the 2016 hack of Vietnamese airports, where screens displayed messages challenging Hanoi’s claims in the South China Sea.
“In this digital era, Asia Pacific region has become the largest digital market in the world, creating tremendous business opportunities for SMEs,” Jason Kao, director of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s SME crisis management center, told small businesses at a Ho Chi Minh City workshop his office sponsored last week.
Cyber security awareness has not kept up with the popularity of internet cafes in Vietnam. (Photo: H. Nguyen / VOA)
But not enough of these small and medium-sized enterprises are paying attention to online security, Kao warned.
“Since more businesses use computers to connect their customers and store data, cyber-attacks and data leaks can cause serious harm,” he said.
The cost burden is understandable, though, he added.
On the one hand, a small business might be too little to attract the unwanted attention of hackers. On the other hand, they might be too small to bear the expense of insuring or guarding against attacks.
“As we talk about cost and benefit, we know that we have to buy insurance contracts, we know that we have to protect ourselves,” Nguyen said. “But we don’t have enough resources.”
That is the reason ripped software remains popular in Vietnam, earning it a spot among countries to watch in the U.S. Trade Representative’s report on intellectual property. Thanks to this pirated software, overseas hackers can access Vietnamese computers, which they use in denial of service attacks – sending so many requests to target websites that the sites become overloaded and shut down.
At the same time Vietnam lacks the information technology specialists who can alleviate some of these dangers. By one estimate, the country could face a shortage of one million IT staffers by 2020.
In the meantime, security advisers offer some basic reminders to increase safety online. Do not click on links, in emails or otherwise, if they are even slightly questionable. Use strong passwords and do not reuse them across different accounts. And of course, avoid pirated software.
Four Vietnamese members of a gang that robbed stores were shot dead by Kedah police in Malaysia early on Aug. 29 after a car chase ended in a shot-out.
At about 4:40am, local police gave chase to a car in Kedah which was speeding towards a highway, The Star reported.
Police instructed the car to pull over but one of the passengers suddenly opened fire and another tried to kill an officer with a parang knife. All four were shot dead and the police suffered no casualties, said Mior Faridalathrash Wahid, the Senior Assistant Commissioner of Kedah police.
The four were identified as Le Quoc Lang, Vu Dac Sinh, Truong Quoc Dat and Truong Van Long. They were believed to be members of a bigger gang – the Tembuk gang – that had been robbing stores throughout Malaysia.
Evidence recovered at the scene included a semi-automatic firearm, ammunition, two parang blades, gloves and other tools.
Police said gang members usually moved between cities and robbed shops that open late at night. Five other members of the gang were tried in a Jitra court last week.
The Red River that dissects Hanoi takes its name from the color of the silt that tints the water.
But maybe there’s another reason for its moniker as this 1,149 km stretch has been the life blood of Vietnam for hundreds of years.
According to an article, written by Paul Kennedy on VNS, in the 19th century it was a lucrative trade route to China and remained the main commercial route between French Indochina and Yunnan Province.
Today cargo ships can be seen carrying goods to and from the many ports dotted along its banks.
But unbeknown to many living in the capital city, the Red River is a place many people call home.
Living in make-shift shelters constructed from just about any items they can scavenge, find or even recover from the river itself, around 25 families live in this floating community.
A man walks across a home-made bridge to get to his floating house.— VNS Photo Nguyen Hieu
Men, women and children crowd into these ‘floating homes’ turning the muddy banks into a growing community.
But ask those who live here if they feel like they are getting a rough deal, then the answer is a resounding yes.
None want to be here but none can afford to be anywhere else.
Their unique way of living has even become somewhat of a tourist attraction, with many visitors cycling down the path in the hope of grabbing a selfie or two with ‘the people who live on the river’.
The residents themselves don’t seem to mind.
Some have even set up shop creating a café under Long Biên Bridge selling refreshments to curious sightseers.
But the money they make from their small enterprises is not enough to provide an escape route from their floating residences.
Đinh Thị Mai has called this area home for two decades. She has raised children on the water and now has grandchildren to look after.
“I raised three children here on my own,” she said, cradling her grandchild.
“It was really tough. I got by with seasonal jobs. I got a cleaning job at the 108 Hospital, and took up any job that was available at that time.”
Two young children play on their ‘house boat’ moored on the banks of Red River. Their family hopes the youngsters can escape and live a better life when they grow up. — VNS Photos Doan Tung
But sadly her grown up children have found themselves falling into the same trap as their mother.
“Life has gotten easier now that my children have grown up,” Mai added.
“But since they did not get a proper education, they cannot get good jobs – only manual work like mowing grass. The boys have taken jobs as porters, and the girls as domestic helpers.”
It is especially tough when one child gets sick. Running water is nonexistent and buying water to bathe can be expensive.
“We don’t know what a hospital is, even when we’re sick,” she added.
“We just go to a drug store and buy medicines when we have headaches or stomachaches. We don’t have money to go to hospitals. It’s unthinkable, and it’s the same for all of us.”
If life is hard most of the year around, it gets tougher when the weather gets bad.
A storm, strong winds or impromptu downpours may be inconvenient to most of us, but for the residents of the Red River they potentially spell disaster.
“We lost a bunch of barrels and got our roofs blown away,” said resident Phạm Thị Thu, as one of her children was busy in the background patching up their home after the latest storm.
“They were all blown away, including ours, and half of our boat was destroyed. We lost a lot of stuff. We’ve tried to recover them.
“We’re poor, but we all spent three to four days fixing stuff so that we can carry on with our lives.”
And really that’s the only option left for those that live here. To just carry on with their lives as best they can.
Nguyen Van Moc’s dreams are simple. He doesn’t want a bottomless pit of cash or a flash car.
“My only wish is to have a house, or a hut,” he said.
“I don’t think much of anything else. Maybe when I get older I might return to my home town. My brother has land there.”
Le Dang Le, vice chairman of Ngoc Thuy Ward People’s Committee in Long Bien District, said they want the people who live there to find a much more stable place to live.
But he knows that’s no easy task.
“The 27 households who live here face many difficulties,” he said.
“From the ward management viewpoint, we see that it also influences the security and environment of the area.
“We want the residents here to be able to find stable places to live instead of living by the river.
“In the future we will focus on re-evaluating the number of people who live here and categorize them in order to find suitable solutions: for people who have homeland then persuading them to return to theirs; with old people who don’t have relatives or home to return to, we will cooperate with the social support centers to shelter them; for those who have jobs, we will find suitable locations for them on land so they have better living conditions.”
There has been help.
A charity has fitted solar panels on many of the roofs to power generators. This may offer light in their rooms but the future still remains bleak, especially for the children.
Today they play on the river banks. Riding their bicycles, holding dolls. One even sings a song to her younger sibling.
To them they know no other way of life. They believe this is just the way life is.
As they grow older with the right direction and support they may find themselves in a better position not to follow in the footsteps of their parents and grandparents before them.
With a little bit of luck they could start and raise families of their own away from the water’s edge. But for now, they remain the next generation of the residents of Red River.
River facts
The source of the Red River is the Hengduan Mountains in Yunnan, China. There it is elevated 1,775 meters above sea level.
It runs through seven Vietnamese provinces before reaching the Gulf of Tonkin.
A number of hydroelectric dams have been constructed along the river.
The Thao River and Lo River are its two chief tributaries.
*Additional reporting by Hồng Vân & Bảo Hoa. | Featured Image by Hachi8
A large number of Koreans have demanded referee Kim Dae-yong to be banned following his poor performance in the Vietnam – United Arab Emirates (UAE) match at the Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
According to report by VNA, more than 25,000 people have to date supported a petition posted on the official website of President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in, which asks for revoking the Korean referee’s entitlement to lead international matches.
The petition pointed to serious mistakes of Kim in the match, which it said could be noticed with basic knowledge on football. It is collecting public support on the site until October 1.
Many Korean football fans said in the Vietnam-UAE match at the Asian Games 2018 on September 1, the referee was unfair to the Vietnamese Olympic team by neglecting two times UAE players broke the rules, which could grant Vietnam a penalty kick.
Losing to the UAE in the match, Vietnam missed the bronze medal. The game went straight to a penalty shootout after the normal time ended with a 1-1 draw, with Vietnam suffering a 3-4 defeat on the penalty shootout.
The Nikkei Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, or PMI, eased to 53.7 in August from 54.9 in July, marking the slowest pace of improvement in operating conditions in four months.
According to a report on Nikkei, a reading above 50 signals an improvement, while one below 50 points to a contraction in manufacturing activity.
There are signs that rates of expansion are now easing, though the conditions of the manufacturing sector remains solid.
“Although seeing a slowdown in growth of output in August, the Vietnamese manufacturing sector appears to be on a sound footing at present thanks to an ability to continue to secure strong inflows of new work,” said Andrew Harker, Associate Director at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey.
But less upbeat confidence levels suggest that “concerns around global trade flows may start to impact Vietnamese firms over the coming months.”
National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC) of Vietnam has ordered the traffic safety boards of Hanoi and HCMC and GrabTaxi Vietnam Co Ltd to regulate and strictly handle Grab riders using mobile phones when riding.
Specifically, the NTSC has requested the traffic safety boards of Hà Nội and HCMC to direct competent forces to intensify patrols to enforce the law against riders using phones indiscriminately on the road, especially those using phones to contact passengers. VNS reported.
The Grab Company is required to strengthen the propaganda of traffic order and safety for its rider and driver partners.
Besides, Grab-registered riders are asked to absolutely not use phones while riding. The Grab will have to consider terminating the contract with those deliberately violating.
In order to meet the needs of people in terms of saving time and transaction costs, as well as the trend of using smartphones nowadays, Grab ride-hailing apps is attracting a lot of people to use as well as register to work as partners, especially Grab Bike service.
However, after a time of operation, Grab partners reportedly often use phones to contact passengers and locate addresses while riding.
“This is an act of violating the land-road traffic order and safety, endangering the safety of road users,” the NTSC asserted.
Under the current law, riders using a hand-held phone while riding motorbikes have to pay a fine of VNĐ100,000-200,000. They also have their riding licences revoked for one to three months.
Grab is one of the most frequently used online-to-offline commerce mobile platforms in Southeast Asia, operating in 195 cities in the region. It is estimated that more than 5 million people use the combined platform daily.
Shinhan Financial Group is strengthening its non-banking sector in Vietnam, laying the groundwork to become a comprehensive financial group in the Southeast Asian country.
According to Shinhan Financial Group, Shinhan Card decided to give 216.4 billion won ($195.1 million) in credit to Prudential Vietnam Financial Company (PVFC), its capital subsidiary in the country. Jhoo Dong-Chan reports on Korean Tines.
In a bid to improve the group’s non-banking business there, Shinhan Financial spent 161.4 billion won to acquire PVFC specializing in retail loans from Prudential Group in January.
PVFC was launched in 2006 by the U.K.-based group as the first foreign non-bank financial institution licensed for consumer financing in Vietnam. It was also the country’s fourth-largest consumer finance company by outstanding loan balance.
Shinhan Financial plans to improve PVFC’s financial soundness through the capital offering.
Using the money, Shinhan Card plans to shift high interest loans carrying double-digit rates PVFC borrowed from Prudential Vietnam Assurance Private Limited, another Prudential Group’s subsidiary, into low interest loans with single-digit rates.
“Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byung aims to strengthen not only the banking sector but also the non-banking sectors in Vietnam to amplify synergy between its subsidiaries there,” said a Shinhan Financial official said.
“PVFC will be a valuable asset in Shinhan’s business network _ it will greatly contribute to the group’s earnings in the country.”
PVFC has seen stable earnings growth for three years, posting 63.7 billion won in 2015, 77.2 billion won in 2016 and 82 billion won last year. Its market share has reached nearly 10 percent.
The move is also believed to be seeking to widen the gap in its fierce competition against other Korean card firms.
Lotte Card was approved by the Vietnamese government to acquire Techcom Finance, another local Vietnamese financial firm specializing in retail loans, in March.
Hana Card also concluded an MOU with the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) and payment solution provider Alliex to expand its payment settlement services business in the month.
Although facing tough challenges from peer Korean financial firms, Shinhan is still said to be the most influential foreign financial firm in Vietnam.
The group’s banking subsidiary Shinhan Bank established its local corporate body Shinhan Vietnam Bank in 2009, and in the retail finance sector acquired Australian-based banking firm ANZ Vietnam under Cho’s leadership last April.
Shinhan Vietnam Bank is now the largest foreign bank there with assets worth a combined total of $3.3 billion. It also has about 900,000 customers.
Flash floods and landslides triggered by incessant rainfall in Vietnam’s northern and central regions over the past few days have killed 13 people and left three missing, the country’s Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control said on Monday.
As of Monday morning, floods claimed nine lives and left three people missing in central Thanh Hoa province. Meanwhile, floods and landslides killed one person each of the four northern provinces of Hoa Binh, Yen Bai, Son La and Lang Son, Xinhua reported.
The floods and landslides also destroyed 364 houses, damaged over 6,523 hectares of rice and other crops, killed 512 cattle and 56,367 fowls, and damaged 963 hectares of aquaculture ponds, 620 meters of dykes and 6,174 meters of canals, said the committee.
Natural disasters, mostly typhoons, floods and landslides, killed or left missing 153 people and injured 119 others, and caused property losses of over 7,000 billion Vietnamese dong (304.3 million U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of this year, according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Sri Lanka is strengthening relations with Vietnam and the Association of South East Asian Nations with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe due to address a World Economic Forum regional meeting in Ha Noi shortly, officials said.
According to a report on EconomyNext, the successful completion of bilateral political consultations in February 2018 acted as a catalyst for future enhancement of relations Plantations Industries Minister Navin Dissanayake said addressing diplomats in Colombo at an event to mark the National Day of Vietnam, which falls on September 02.
“The bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and Vietnam are multifaceted and encompass the economy, agriculture, fisheries and education,” Minister Dissanayake said.
Vietnam’s Ambassador to Colombo Pham Thi Bich Ngoc said there was an opportunity to elevate bilateral relations to a higher level and co-operate in regional and international platforms for peace and stability.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had accepted an invitation from Vietnam to address the World Economic Forum – ASEAN which will be held in Ha Noi from 11 to 13 September 2018, the second time in as many months that he is participating in a forum in the country.
“It will be an opportunity to discuss innovative and creative ideas and strengthen regional economic relations with ASEAN,” Minister Dissanayake said .
Sri Lanka had established diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1970.
Last week Prime Minister Wickremesinghe was in Ha Noi to address a maritime forum, the Indian Ocean Conference 2018.
Vietnam has been integrating with world for several decades since the Đổi Mới (renewal) reforms started in 1984.
“Vietnam today is a highly open and diverse economy,” Ambassador Ngoc said. “Our Gross Domestic Product growth has been sustained at a high rate. The living standards of the people have been significantly improved.”
Vietnam’s economy grew 7.08 percent in the first six months of the year, data from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam reported. In 2017 the economy grew 6.8 percent.
Vietnam is a chosen destination for foreign investment (FDI) and tourism with Sri Lankan visitors also increasing to the country Ambassador Ngoc said.
Up to August 2018, 13.4 billion US dollars of new FDI projects had been signed with Japan accounting for 5.8 billion dollars and Korea 5.8 billion dollars. Existing companies had applied to invest a further 5.5 billion dollars totaling 19.0 billion dollars.
Realized investments up to August 20, was 11.25 billion US dollars, up 9.2 percent from a year earlier.
In 2017, foreign companies applied to invest 29.5 billion US dollars in Vietnam and realized inflows were 17.5 billion US dollars.
Several Sri Lankan firms had already invested in Vietnam, including in apparel.
Minister Dissanayake said Sri Lanka had a stable investment environment and Vietnamese firms could look at sectors like tourism.
In the first 7 months of 2018, Vietnam welcomed 9.08 million tourists, up 25 percent from a year earlier with 1.9 million coming in July alone. Sri Lanka received 2.1 million foreign visitors in the 12-months to December 2017. In 2017 Vietnam received 12.9 million visitors, up 29 percent from a year earlier.
Up to August exports from Vietnam grew 14.5 percent to 155.4 billion US dollars and imports grew 11.5 percent to 152.6 billion US dollars. In 2017 exports grew 21 percent to 213 billion US dollars. Vietnam has a population of 93.7 million people.
Five Asian black bears have been rescued from a bile farm in southern Vietnam after 21 years in captivity and given a new home in a sanctuary more than a thousand miles away.
Named LeBon, Kim, Mai, Star and Mekong, they were among up to 800 bears that are kept on Vietnamese farms for their bile. According to Animals Asia, the charity that oversaw the rescue, the process used to extract the bile is both gruesome and painful, involving either a “free drip” method in which the bear, kept in a tiny cage, has a hole cut in its gall bladder, or the insertion of a permanent catheter. The Times reports.
The practice has been banned in Vietnam since 2005 but farmers are allowed to keep the animals
Launching in Vietnam next year will mark further growth for the brand of UNIQLO in Southeast Asia.
Japanese apparel retailer UNIQLO has just announces its launch in Vietnam on August 30, with plans to open its first store in Ho Chi Minh City during the fall of 2019. UNIQLO will begin recruiting local talent as it prepares to open its store in one of the region’s most exciting, high-growth economies.
“Our entry into Vietnam is an exciting milestone for everyone at UNIQLO. Southeast Asia has been an important driver of growth for us, and we are pleased and optimistic about this opportunity to be a part of such an exciting economy and retail market,” said Tadashi Yanai, chairman, president, and CEO of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., the parent company of UNIQLO. “We look forward to introducing UNIQLO and our high-quality, affordable LifeWear apparel line in Vietnam, and to making a positive contribution to the economy and communities where we operate.”
LifeWear is UNIQLO’s commitment to creating perfect clothing that meets the needs of everyone’s daily lifestyles. High-quality, functional, affordable, and constantly evolving, LifeWear is available in a variety of colors and styles for people of all ages.
The first UNIQLO store will be located in Ho Chi Minh City, and the company will focus on establishing its presence and brand in this region before considering other areas. UNIQLO will introduce its UNIQLO Manager Candidate (UMC) programme in Vietnam soon, as part of its market preparations.
More details regarding UNIQLO’s first store in Vietnam will be announced at a later date.
UNIQLO is a brand of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., a leading global Japanese retail holding company that designs, manufactures, and sells clothing under seven main brands: Comptoir des Cotonniers, GU, Helmut Lang, J Brand, Princesse tam.tam, Theory, and UNIQLO.
With global sales of approximately JPY1.8619 trillion ($16.87 billion) for the 2017 fiscal year ending on August 31, 2017, Fast Retailing is one of the world’s largest apparel retail companies, and UNIQLO is Japan’s leading specialty retailer with around 2,000 stores in 20 markets worldwide.
The national team’s success in football-crazy Vietnam is proving beneficial for South Korean firms in thecountry.
“Even in the first meeting, clients first say, ‘Thank you,’ which makes business a lot easier,” says Chung Jae-woo, who’s with the Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO) Vietnam.
Chung said getting new clients is a lot easier now thanks to the rising popularity of the Vietnamese men’s football team’s South Korean coach, Park Hang-seo.
Park’s popularity has soared after the nation’s football team defied expectations and predictions by sport analysts to reach the Asian Games semifinal on Wednesday.
This has prompted many South Korean businesses in Vietnam to deploy new marketing tactics, the Korea Times reported Thursday.
After Vietnam beat Syria 1-0 in quarterfinal on Monday, thousands of people took to the streets of Hanoi to celebrate the win. Park Hang-seo, unsurprisingly, took the spotlight and was feted as a national hero for having guided the team to victory.
“I’m so pumped up, I kept crying all night long,” football fan Nguyen Hoang Ha posted on Facebook. “Thank you Mr. Park Hang-seo.”
“Park Hang-seo is Vietnam’s football wizard. He changed players and predicted the game so sharply,” said another Facebook post by Nguyen Son.
The public’s love for Park has served to deepen the Vietnam-South Korea bond and opened up new marketing venues for businesses.
“Football is the culture and life of Vietnamese,” said Lee Joo-hyun from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency’s (KOTRA) Vietnam office. He also noted that companies are looking to use the team’s success as well as that of their coach’s rising popularity as a marketing tool.
Car maker Hyundai Motors is not overlooking this golden marketing opportunity. It plans to boost the brand’s image even further by “sponsoring Park,” an unnamed Hyundai Motors official said.
“This is an opportunity that can’t be missed,” the official added.
In March, conglomerate Samsung Electronics also appointed Park Hang-seo as the brand ambassador for the firm’s Vietnamese branch.
On Wednesday, despite great efforts, Vietnam lost against South Korea 3-1 in the semifinal for the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.
But Vietnam still has a chance to bring home the bronze medal as it faces off the United Arab Emirates on Saturday afternoon.
The Asian Games is the world’s second biggest multiple sports event, after the Olympics. This year’s edition, held in Jakarta and Palembang in Indonesia, has drawn 16,000 competitors and officials from 45 nations.
Watch how Vietnamese football fans react to the semifinal’s result.
The renowned Ha Long Bay is just an hour and a half away from the capital city starting Saturday.
The Ha Long-Hai Phong Expressway, which opened Saturday after three years of construction, will also reduce travel time between Ha Long and the northern port city of Hai Phong from two hours to 30 minutes.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who attended the expressway’s opening ceremony, said the new expressway will promote connectivity in the Hanoi-Hai Phong-Ha Long triangle and open up opportunities for socio-economic development in the area.
Built at a cost of VND13 trillion ($556 million), the 24.6-kilometer (15.3-mile) Ha Long-Hai Phong Expressway connects National Highway 18 in Ha Long’s Dai Yen Ward with the Hanoi-Hai Phong Expressway in Hai Phong’s Hai An District.
While most of the road was constructed using the state budget, the Hai Phong end of the expressway, including a VND7.27-trillion bridge across the Bach Dang River, was built using the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model. The four lane, 5.4-km long bridge, with a 3.5-km span above the river, is 25 meters wide. It is designed with three H-shaped towers representing Hanoi, Hai Phong and Ha Long.
Phuc said the Bach Dang Bridge was a proud breakthrough for Vietnam, being the first cable-stayed bridge made in the country.
Work on the Ha Long-Hai Phong Expressway began in September 2015 and was scheduled for completion last March, but was delayed twice. With its completion, the Ha Long-Hanoi commute has been reduced by 50 km to 130 km, and the Ha Long-Hai Phong route has been cut down from 75 km to just 25 km.
The expressway is among a series of infrastructure projects aimed at boosting the tourism industry.
Others include an international airport in Quang Ninh’s Van Don District and a new expressway between Ha Long and the proposed special economic zone in Van Don, both of which are scheduled for completion later this year.
Quang Ninh welcomed 7.5 million travelers in the first half of 2018, including 2.46 million foreigners, up 14 percent from a year ago. Tourism revenues for the period rose 31 percent year-on-year to VND12.8 trillion ($546.7 million).
The Ha Long-Hai Phong Expressway, which opened Saturday after three years of construction, will also reduce travel time between Ha Long and the northern port city of Hai Phong from two hours to 30 minutes.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who attended the expressway’s opening ceremony, said the new expressway will promote connectivity in the Hanoi-Hai Phong-Ha Long triangle and open up opportunities for socio-economic development in the area.
Built at a cost of VND13 trillion ($556 million), the 24.6-kilometer (15.3-mile) Ha Long-Hai Phong Expressway connects National Highway 18 in Ha Long’s Dai Yen Ward with the Hanoi-Hai Phong Expressway in Hai Phong’s Hai An District.
While most of the road was constructed using the state budget, the Hai Phong end of the expressway, including a VND7.27-trillion bridge across the Bach Dang River, was built using the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model. The four lane, 5.4-km long bridge, with a 3.5-km span above the river, is 25 meters wide. It is designed with three H-shaped towers representing Hanoi, Hai Phong and Ha Long.
Phuc said the Bach Dang Bridge was a proud breakthrough for Vietnam, being the first cable-stayed bridge made in the country.
Work on the Ha Long-Hai Phong Expressway began in September 2015 and was scheduled for completion last March, but was delayed twice. With its completion, the Ha Long-Hanoi commute has been reduced by 50 km to 130 km, and the Ha Long-Hai Phong route has been cut down from 75 km to just 25 km.
The expressway is among a series of infrastructure projects aimed at boosting the tourism industry.
Others include an international airport in Quang Ninh’s Van Don District and a new expressway between Ha Long and the proposed special economic zone in Van Don, both of which are scheduled for completion later this year.
Quang Ninh welcomed 7.5 million travelers in the first half of 2018, including 2.46 million foreigners, up 14 percent from a year ago. Tourism revenues for the period rose 31 percent year-on-year to VND12.8 trillion ($546.7 million).
