Facebook and Twitter say they have suspended or removed accounts linked to Iran and Russia over “inauthentic” or “manipulating” behaviour.
More than 650 Facebook pages and groups were said to have been identified as “misleading”, according to founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.
Meanwhile Twitter said it suspended 284 accounts with apparent links to Iran.
It comes a day after Microsoft said it had thwarted Russian cyber-attacks against US conservative groups.
On Tuesday, Facebook said it had discovered multiple accounts that displayed “inauthentic behaviour” linked to campaigns that originated in Iran and Russia following investigations that spanned “many months”.
“We ban this kind of behaviour because we want people to be able to trust the connections they make,” the company said in a statement.
Although the investigation was still in progress, the social media network added, the campaign appeared to be targeting people across multiple internet services in the Middle East, Latin America, the UK and the US.
How were accounts traced?
The social media companies acted on a tip from cyber security firm FireEye, which revealed what it said were a number of accounts promoting Iranian propaganda.
Facebook then reportedly linked the accounts – including 76 Instagram pages – to Iranian state media, according to the company statement.
It added that further “misleading behaviour” was also traced to Russia, but that the activity did not appear to be linked to the Iranian campaign it had uncovered.
Some of the campaigns, which date back to 2011, featured content about Middle East politics in Arabic and Farsi. The accounts also shared content about politics in the UK and the US in English, Facebook said.
Other accounts that linked to sources previously identified by the US government as Russian military intelligence services were also removed from the site.
The company added that it had shared the findings of its investigations with the US and UK governments.
Twitter, meanwhile, said its analysis of numerous accounts pointed towards “co-ordinated manipulation”.
On Monday, Microsoft said Russian hackers had tried to steal data from political organisations, including the International Republican Institute and the Hudson Institute think tanks.
However the software company said these attempts had been thwarted after its security staff won control of six net domains mimicking their websites.
Microsoft said the Fancy Bear hacking group had been behind the attacks.
Microsoft’s action comes a month after the US charged 12 Russian intelligence officers with hacking computer networks used by Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.
A court has found two Vietnamese Americans and ten Vietnamese citizens guilty of trying to overthrow “the people’s administration.”
According to Vnexpress’s report, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court on Wednesday sentenced Nguyen James Han, a 49-year-old man with dual American-Vietnamese citizenship, and Phan Angel, a 62-year-old American national of Vietnamese origin, to 14 years in prison followed by immediate deportation.
Phan Angel, a 62-year-old American national of Vietnamese origin. Photo by Huu Khoa
The indictment said the defendants were members of the “Provisional National Government of Vietnam,” an organization founded by Dao Minh Quan in the U.S., which aims to overthrow the Vietnamese government through violence and acts of terrorism.The court also sentenced the duo’s 10 Vietnamese accomplices to 5-11 years in prison and 2-3 years of probation on the same charges.
Due to limited education, lack of legal knowledge and being exposed to bad information, the defendants had formed one-sided views and had blind faith in the organization’s promises of titles and other recognitions, the court heard.
They distorted the Party and the State’s policies, brought the organization’s members to Vietnam and recruited locals to carry out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration, the indictment said.
It said that in February 2017, Phan and Nguyen returned to Vietnam with plans to sabotage the country’s celebration of its Reunification Day on April 30 and the International Workers’ Day on May 1.
Nguyen James Han, a 49-year-old man with dual American-Vietnamese citizenship. Photo by Huu Khoa
Phan was found to have contacted a number of the organization’s members in Vietnam to carry out disruptive protests, preparing spray paints and 4,000 pamphlets for these events.
The group also allegedly planned to break into broadcasting stations to broadcast propaganda for Quan.
However, Vietnamese authorities successfully neutralized all of the organization’s plans and arrested the 12 defendants between April 19 and May 17 2017.
In total, the group only managed to gather about 100 signatures in support of Quan, investigators said.
At the trial on Wednesday, 11 of the 12 defendants admitted to their crimes and asked for leniency, while Phan denied the charges.
The court concluded that the defendants’ crimes were “especially serious” as they violated Vietnam’s national security, political security, social order and safety and went against the country’s national interests, meriting strict punishment.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security in January classified the “Provisional National Government of Vietnam” as a terrorist organization. It has been accused of being behind a petrol bomb attack that burnt 320 motorbikes at a police warehouse in Dong Nai Province in April 2017, as well as a failed terror attack on Tan Son Nhat Airport later that month.
The HCMC court had last December sentenced 15 Vietnamese to 5-16 years in prison for the two terror attacks.
Vietnamese authorities have also issued international arrest warrants against Quan and six others, all of whom are living in the U.S. or Canada.
Homestay services have been booming in some tourist destinations in Vietnam, pushing up local land prices.
Nguyễn Văn Bình in HCM City and some of his friends have recently come to Đà Lạt City in the Central Highlands province of Lâm Đồng tổ buy land for homestay business. However, they were really shocked at land prices which are three times higher than a year ago, Dtinews reported.
Pham Minh Trang who has a 3,000 square-metre site near Prenn Pass some 10 kilometres from Da Lat City, said that she bought the land plot for just VND1.3 billion (USD59,000) a year ago, but now the prices have increased to VND3 billion (USD136,363).
The homestay business has also mushroomed in many localities in the Mekong Delta region. Over the past recent months, Tran Hoang Thang from HCM City has often come to Long An, Tien Giang and Vinh Long provinces at weekend to find land for building homestays.
Thang said that one month ago, a 7,000 square-metre land plot at Tan Phong Commune, Cai Lay District was priced at VND2.8 billion (USD127,272), but now, the prices has increased to VND4.2 billion.
According to a land broker in Cai Lay District, more people have come to the locality to buy land for homestays since the end of 2017. Local land prices have increased from VND1.2 billion to VND2 billion per 1,000 square metres.
Hai Nhi, a tour guide from a tourist firm in Tien Giang Province, said that many people are flocking to Cai Be Town and Cai Lay District to buy land near floating markets for homestay businesses. Local residents have started this business trend.
Mekong Rustic Homestay in Cai Lay District or Nam Thi Homestay in Cai Be Town have attracted lots of visitors. Room prices there are often higher than two or three star hotels.
Phan Thi Man Chi, owner of the Nam Thi Homestay, said that she could earn VND20 million a month from the service. The average price of each room is VND900,000-1 million per night.
Phan Cong Chanh, General Director of Phu Vinh Group which is investing in homestay facilities in Long An Province, said that investors need to carefully consider homestay projects.
It is very important to select suitable places so that visitors can easily experience life of local people. For instance, in the south western region, homestay facilities must be near rivers and fruit gardens. In Da Lat, they must be near tea hills or flower gardens, Chanh added.
He also noted the significance of choosing homestay managers who need to clearly understand about tourism and local people’s lifestyles as well as have good foreign language skills.
Investors also have to pay attention to legal issues related to land plots used for homestay construction, he highlighted.
Police in Da Lat City in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong have found Chinese potatoes repackaged as Da Lat farm produce.
The case was detected following a police check at a stall owned by Doan Thi Che, 56, at Da Lat farm produce market on August 21.
At the police station, Che said that a group of workers at her stall used a machine to wash Chinese potatoes. Each time, the machine can serve around 100 kilos of potatoes for some 3-4 minutes, depending on potato size.
After being washed, potatoes will be covered with earth from the Central Highlands region and then packaged into bags and labelled with stamps issued by the market management board.
Some traders even take an additional step: putting some red dirt inside the bags before sealing them. The “dirt coating” phase receives close attention is to ensure the dirt stays on the potatoes during transportation.
The potatoes must remain wet, while the dirt must be completely dry during the mixing process.
Wholesalers aren’t concerned about the fraud at all.
Bags of red dirt are openly placed at several potato booths and some even dry the dirt on the street, with no pretence of hiding anything.
According to Che, the work was required by the traders who claimed that potatoes with red dust could be easily sold.
Chinese potatoes are often bought at VND7,000 per kilo, but when being disguised as the Da Lat produce, they are priced at up to VND20,000 per kilo in the market.
The police seized the potato washing machine and around a tonne of potatoes from Che’s stall.
Che has run the stall for years but doesn’t have a business licence.
Hundreds of toddlers have been unable to enroll at public kindergartens in Hà Tĩnh Province this school year due to a serious shortage of teachers.
Nguyễn Văn Tư from Thạch Linh Ward in Hà Tĩnh City woke her three-year-old grandson up earlier than usual to get ready for the first day at kindergarten on Monday. After they arrived at Thạch Linh kindergarten, they were dumbfounded to learn that there were no seats for the boy in any of the classes.
“While kids the same age as my grandson were taken to their classes, my grandson had to leave with many other kids,” Tư told online newspaper Dân Trí.
“The kindergarten explained that the number of enrolled students had been cut because of a teacher shortage.”
The family later found out that Thạch Linh kindergarten opened just 10 classes this year, of which two classes were available for 50 three-year-olds. The number of three-year-old children in the ward, meanwhile, stood at 127, meaning that 77 children were unable to attend.
The same issue was reported at Tân Giang kindergarten in the city’s Tân Giang Ward when the enrollment quota for three-year-olds was just 16 despite 59 kids living in the area.
Kindergartens in the Kỳ Anh Township which is located about 60km to the south of Hà Tĩnh City were also struggling with complaints from parents whose kids were refused a spot in class.
“It has been tense for us for the last few days. The parents took the kids to enroll but we couldn’t receive them because we didn’t have enough teachers,” Hoa Mai kindergarten principal Phùng Thị Anh told online newspaper Infonet.
Before this school year, kindergartens in Hà Tĩnh had yearly contracts with teachers to guarantee there were sufficient teachers for all children, Anh said. Salaries for the teachers were paid by the parents, but a decision issued by the Hà Tĩnh Department of Education and Training in October last year changed everything. The decision No 1449 completely banned the collection of money from parents to pay for contracted teachers.
“We are not allowed to do that anymore so there is nothing we can do but to end contracts with the teachers. That also means we lack teachers to teach the kids,” she said.
Anh said that there were 100 three-year-old toddlers in Kỳ Anh who could not attend her kindergarten this year.
“And it also happens in other kindergartens across Kỳ Anh Township. Each is short of around 10 to 12 teachers,” she added.
Hà Tĩnh City Education and Training Division deputy head Trần Thị Thúy Nga said that such enrollment chaos was expected when the decision in question came into effect.
Explaining why most of the rejected kids were three years old, Nga said that the kindergartens gave the utmost priority to five-year-old children to better prepare them for primary school next year, followed by four-year-olds. Enrollment of kids of three and younger would depend on the kindergartens’ infrastructure and number of teachers.
And because of a severe shortage of teachers this school year, there are currently 300 more than the enrollment quota, Nga said.
“Taking the kids to private kindergartens will be more than many families can afford. So far the division has asked the municipal education department and the People’s Committee for solutions,” she said.
More farm-produce rescue campaigns will be needed because agricultural production is still fragmented and unplanned, according to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Vu Dai Thang.
Thang said that investors in the agriculture sector are mostly small enterprises. Since the production is not optimally organized, farmers cannot earn much money from their hard work.
When they have a bountiful crop, farm produce prices fall dramatically because of oversupply. The prices go up when they have a poor crop, and have nothing to sell.
Farm-produce rescue campaigns are launched to call on people to consume more products to help ease farmers’ losses. To ease farmers’ difficulties, distributors sold products at no profit and subsidized transport, display and advertisement costs.
The problem is blamed on poor marketing.
Up to 70 percent of Vietnam’s farm produce is exported to China. Chinese merchants understand Vietnam’s agricultural products. They know when to collect products and what to buy. Thus, Vietnamese farmers tend to look forward to selling farm produce to merchants. As a result, the quality and export markets have not grown as expected.
Duong Van Chin, director of the Dinh Thanh Agriculture Research Center, disagreed with the view. He affirmed that Vietnamese farmers are not as passive as described, and can grow any crop.
However, their problem is that they don’t know where to sell products and how domestic and foreign markets perform.
“This is not the fault of farmers. Selling farm produce is the job of merchants and enterprises,” Chin said.
The expert went on to say that the linkage between farmers and enterprises in Vietnam is still weak. Very few Vietnamese enterprises make professional investments in farm produce.
They don’t think of sending staff to the fields or helping farmers select seeds, cultivate and harvest. They only focus on collecting products and selling for profit.
In the past, Vietnamese farmers did not want to join cooperatives. They want separate land plots to cultivate crops and sell produce themselves.
As a result, the products created by many farmers were very different. It is difficult to find homogeneous products to satisfy orders from import countries.
He stressed that rescue campaigns are just a temporary solution. To solve the existing problems, Vietnam needs to organize large-scale production.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports are expected to reach $4.5 billion by 2020, with fruits accounting for $3.6 billion.
Facebook said on Tuesday (Aug 21) it is cutting more than 5,000 ad-targeting options to prevent advertisers from discriminating based on traits such as religion or race.
The shift eliminates the ability to direct Facebook ads at people based on ethnicity, beliefs, political affinity or other data that could be considered sensitive or personal.
“While these options have been used in legitimate ways to reach people interested in a certain product or service, we think minimizing the risk of abuse is more important,” the leading online social network said in an online post.
The announcement came less than a week after the US Department of Housing and Urban Development accused Facebook of breaking the law by letting landlords and home sellers use its ad-targeting system to discriminate against potential buyers or tenants.
A formal complaint filed by HUD contended that Facebook advertisers were able to target offers of homes available for rent or sale based on factors such as race, religion, gender, nationality, or disabilities.
“We’re committed to protecting people from discriminatory advertising on our platforms,” Facebook said.
Some media reports this year noted that advertisers could choose to target ads at African Americans, Hispanics or other demographic groups – or exclude them, to effectively market products or services to whites.
Most of the terms removed were in a category that let advertisers designate who they wanted excluded from seeing marketing messages.
For example, Facebook advertisers can no longer opt to prevent ads from being shown to user who have expressed interest in topics such as Passover, Islam, Buddhism or Native American culture.
Facebook added that all US advertisers will need to certify that they accept the social network’s non-discrimination policy. Previously, the compliance certification was required only of those posting housing, employment or credit ads.
The certification is intended to educate advertisers regarding “the difference between acceptable ad targeting and ad discrimination,” according to the social network.
Facebook planned to eventually expand the measure to more countries, but provided no timeline and insisted the move was not a reaction to the HUD complaint.
“No, we’ve been building these tools for a long time and collecting input from different outside groups,” a Facebook spokesman said of the notion.
The HUD complaint filed on Friday came after an investigation confirmed that advertisers on Facebook could exclude categories such as people who expressed interest in assistance dogs, parenting, China, or the Bible, according to the agency.
Facebook prohibits discrimination and has strengthened its systems during the past year to protect against advertisers misusing targeting capabilities, a spokesman told AFP.
The current challenges set by changes in the business environment and increasing requirements of risk management regulations have promoted banks to synchronize particular products. That is why the core-banking system is considered the center and nuclear of a bank’s information system as well as other financial systems. The more effective the core-banking system is, the more costs that banks can save.
Banks and financial institutions in Vietnam are in the process of upgrading or replacing their “core” system. Among which, g Vietnam Export-Import Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (Eximbank) has chosen Infosys Finacle core-banking solution as the substitution for its existing one.
Mitsuaki Shiogo – Core-banking System Implementation Project Director
According to Mitsuaki Shiogo – Core-banking System Implementation Project Director of Eximbank, “Within the context of robust development of information technology and growing demands for high-tech banking products and services from customers, Eximbank is required to select an appropriate technological solution for its own. That is why Infosys’s Finacle core-banking software solution has been chosen thanks to its multi-functionalities and capabilities of providing various banking operations of wholesaling, retailing, capital and trade management, and online transaction support. We do believe that the deployment of the new core-banking system will enable Eximbank to create a breakthrough in exploiting existing products and services, developing more products and services, as well as managing risks and internal processes in a stricter and more effective way”.
Each software solution will have their own strengths. Infosys Finacle is known for its advantages of enabling banks to easily master the system operation process, develop products and services bank-wide to save time and labor, process online transactions, and accommodate multi-language and multi-currency trading requests, from which banks can improve centralized operations, etc.
Sajit Vijayakumar, Chief Operating Officer, Infosys Finacle, said: “The economy in Vietnam is on a robust growth trajectory supported by favorable demographics, proximity to major global supply chains and a stable political climate. For banks to take advantage of this favorable tailwind, a modern technology platform is crucial to drive expansion and growth. With the new-generation Finacle platform, Exim Bank will be able to effortlessly develop and launch new offerings, create new lines of revenue, and enable greater operational efficiencies. With this implementation, Exim Bank will join a growing list of banks in Vietnam and financial institutions across the world, enabled with the industry’s leading digital banking solution suite.”
Mitsuaki Shiogo also shared that Finacle is developed by Infosys, a large and prestigious company in India, and has been used by many major banks in the South East Asia namely as DBS in Singapore, RCBC and China Bank in the Philippines, TMB and GHB in Thailand, and some others in the world. Eximbank is now at the last stage of Simulation before Go-live.
Notice to customers from Eximbank
From 01/09/2018 to 03/09/2018: All branches and transaction offices will close for the National Day on 02/09 and resume normal operations on 04/09/2018.
From 01/09/2018 to 02/09/2018: Due to core-banking system upgrade, the Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, ATM/POS systems and some online transactions may be restrictedly accessed from 05:00 a.m. to 07:00 a.m. on 01/09/2018 and from 15:00 p.m. to 20:00 p.m. on 02/09/2018 (such tentative time may be shorter or longer depending on practical situation). After these periods, all transactions will become normal.
For further information, customers may contact 24/7 Customer Service Center at (84) 1800 1199 or the nearest branch or transaction office of Eximbank.
All three airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air and Jetstar Pacific, have asked for permission to raise airfares, citing fuel price increases.
Tran Thanh Hien, chief accountant of Vietnam Airlines, said at the 2018 shareholders’ meeting of the corporation that fuel alone amounts to 30-38 percent of total expenses.
With Vietnam Airlines’ operation scale, when the oil price goes up by one dollar, its total expenses will increase by VND230 billion a year.
The attempt by airlines to raise airfares has faced criticism from the public.
Nguyen Phuong Thao, an office worker in Hanoi, said the airlines should improve the quality of services if they raise airfares. She cited a report of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) as showing that of 177,510 flights scheduled by the three air carriers in the first seven months of the year, 26,578 were delayed or canceled.
Dang Dinh Dao from the Hanoi Economics University noted that the proposals raising airfares have been made in the context of three airlines reporting high profits.
The private Vietjet Air had VND8.637 trillion in revenue in the second quarter, an increase of VND3.1 trillion, or 52 percent, compared with the same period last year. In the first half of the year, Vietjet had revenue of VND21 trillion and made a profit of VND2 trillion.
Meanwhile, Zing quoted a source from Jetstar Pacific as reporting that in the first seven months of the year, the air carrier made an impressive profit, which was six times higher than planned after many years of taking losses.
Despite the fuel price increase and the greenback appreciation, the total expenses of Jetstar Pacific were one percent lower than planned.
Vietnam Airlines, the national flag air carrier, also experienced a prosperous H1. Its post tax profit in the second quarter was VND309 billion, or four times higher than that of the same period last year.
The fact that airlines make fat profit but still attempt to raise the airfares, as Dao commented, shows bad management of state agencies.
Nguyen Thien Tong from the HCMC University of Science & Technology commented that air carriers always complain and insist on raising airfares when the oil price increases, but they keep airfares unchanged when the price decreases.
Tong said he does not see firm arguments and convincing evidence for the airfare adjustment.
“Once three airlines want to raise airfares, this will generate a monopoly and violate the competition principle,” he said.
CAAV thinks it would be better not to raise airfares this year as the government is making every effort to curb inflation.
Remittances to Vietnam have increased despite the rise in USD price against other currencies and the zero interest rate for foreign currency savings, factors experts said would impact remittance flow.
Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the State Bank of Vietnam’s HCM City branch, said in the past few years remittances to the city have been increasing steadily by 10 percent each year.
Since the beginning of this year, the amount has risen month-on-month, he added.
The country’s macro economic and exchange rate stability means remitttances are converted into VND instead of retained in dollars. Banks pay zero interest on the greenback.
Minh said in the last three years, 21 percent of remittances, which have been around 5 billion USD a year, have been invested in real estate, which is fostering property businesses and economic development.
Dr Bui Quang Tin from the HCM City University of Banking said remittances could continue to increase this year though the US Federal Reserve has been increasing interest rates – which affects remittances by attracting flows back to the US – since the increases are only by 0.25 – 0.5 percent.
Meanwhile, a savings interest rate of 7-8 percent in Vietnam means converting remittances into VND and depositing them is still highly profitable, he added.
Vietnam has said the Japanese insistence that its official development assistance (ODA) consultants should be paid $30,000 a month is unreasonably high.
“This is 20-25 percent higher than the average foreign consultant’s salary for projects funded by ODA loans and government preferential loans,” the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said in a recent report to the government.
“This is twice as much as the average income declared by taxpayers with Japanese nationality working in Vietnam in 2016.”
According to a report on Vnexpress, consultancy accounts for 5-8 percent of the total cost of projects funded by Japanese loans compared to 4.5-6.5 percent in other cases, it said.
There are no regulations related to international salary scales for projects funded by foreign loans, it added.
Japan is the largest provider of ODA loans to Vietnam. According to MOF figures, the country had provided $23.76 billion as of June 30, or 26.5 percent of the total funds borrowed by the Vietnamese government.
In the last few years Vietnam has been borrowing $1.5-1.7 billion a year from Japan, accounting for 37 percent of the total foreign borrowing.
The ministry acknowledged that Japanese ODA has provided Vietnam with large, long-term funds for infrastructure development.
But Japan also imposes conditions that heavily benefits Japan companies, it said. They include tax policies to benefit Japanese contractors and consultants.
MOF said these practices are not in “accordance with the provisions of Vietnamese law.”
In the report, the ministry also raised the issue of lack of equitability in the appraisal and negotiations for loans, saying Japan frequently changes the borrowing conditions — once a year — and only announces the change at the time of signing a loans agreement. Meanwhile, Vietnam has to assess and agree to all the conditions right from the loan proposal stage, it said.
MOF also sought assistance from other ministries of construction, and labor, invalids and social affairs to resolve the problems.
In a report to the government last Thursday the Ministry of Planning and Investment said Vietnam’s public debt is likely to reach 63.92 percent of GDP, or VND3,530 trillion ($151 billion) by the end of this year.
It increased by 6.8 percentage points between 2013 and 2017.
Experts say the legal framework for consumer financing is still not open enough, creating difficulties in attracting foreign capital.
Deputy CEO of Ernst & Young Nguyen Thuy Duong said the high consumer credit growth rate in recent years has attracted many regional investors.
More M&A deals have occurred in the last two years. Shinhan Bank, for example, took over the retail banking division of ANZ, while Lotte and Shinhan bought TechcomFinance and Prudential Finance.
The market also welcomed Japanese firms, including Credit Saison, which acquired 49 percent of HD Finance’s shares, and Shinsei Bank, which teamed up with the Military Bank to set up a joint venture.
FE Credit is known as a pioneer in calling for capital from large financial institutions. Since 2016, it has borrowed $350 million from institutions, including Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Lion Asia, and 15 banks in Asia Pacific.
The loan to FE Credit is the most valuable loan that Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse have provided to a Vietnamese consumer finance company.
It is estimated that by 2019, Vietnam’s consumer lending market would be valued at $44 billion, or VND1,000 trillion. The CAGR (Compound annual growth rate) of the market was 44 percent in 2013-2016, and the ratio of finance companies was 91 percent.
Analysts say if finance companies can mobilize huge capital from foreign prestigious investors, they will have stronger resources to build attractive business strategies and offer better lending interest rates. If so, attracting foreign capital will also bring benefits to consumers.
However, the legal framework is believed to be the major obstacle that makes finance companies find it difficult to lure foreign investors.
Can Van Luc, a finance expert, has urged the government to instruct ministries to set up a national strategy on finance development in order to increase official finance sources.
Statistics show that the consumer lending scale in Vietnam remains modest compared with Southeast Asian countries and the US, valued at $43 billion as of late 2017.
After the restructuring of the credit institution system in 2011-2015, many finance companies were reshuffled through M&As, which drove the consumer finance sector to healthy development.
According to the Credit Information Center (CIC), consumer credit has grown by 36 percent compared with early 2017.
Deputy head of the Banking Strategy Institute Pham Xuan Hoe said lending has increased, but the proportion remains low in comparison with other countries.
Vietnam is a foodie paradise, with restaurants and street vendors serving up fresh and locally sourced cuisine. With each area of Vietnam so distinct in its culture and climate, this list reviewed by Rosie Perper on The Culture Trip will guide you to the best local specialities in each part of country.
Southern Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City: Phở
Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, has many local specialties which feature unique twists on Vietnamese cuisine. What sets Southern pho, a beef or chicken broth served with rice noodles, apart from pho throughout the rest of the country is its special and intricate blend of fresh herbs and spices, including star anise, cinnamon, ginger and coriander to name a few. Southern pho is typically spicier than its northern counterpart, and is usually served with chili peppers and lime which is to be added directly to the broth. For breakfast lunch or dinner, pho is a savory, spicy, and hearty treat. Try Pho 24, which has chains internationally, or take a seat at any street vendor for a more authentic experience.
Located in the Mekong Delta region, My Tho has adopted hu tieu, a Cambodian-Chinese staple which was adapted and made its own by those in this region. It is a dish consisting of a slightly sweet broth, usually pork, mixed with a variety of spices and seafood. It’s basically Vietnam’s answer to ‘surf-and-turf’. While recipes and flavors for this dish vary by location, My Tho is famous for its own version, which uses tapioca or wonton noodles and is often overflowing with meat and seafood. Hủ Tiếu Mì Hoành Thánh 44 is tasty and offers the best bang for your buck.
Hoi An is known as the culinary capital of Vietnam, with dozens of cooking classes around the city offering visitors the opportunity to cook and taste their own custom creations. Hoi An cuisine is unique in its range of flavors, offering everything from sautéed squid to broiled snails. While it is difficult to choose just one dish from Hoi An, banh bao vac, or white rose, is a dish unique to Hoi An and its original recipe remains a tightly guarded secret. These small and delicate dumplings are shaped like a rose, filled with shrimp and topped with crispy onions. Although you can get them almost anywhere in Hoi An, try The Market for a hands-on marketplace experience.
Huế, the former capital of Vietnam during the Nguyen dynasty, is a historic and scenic city in the heart of Vietnam. Because of its royal history, Huế’s culture is sophisticated and flavorful, borrowing ingredients and flavors from around Vietnam, as well as culinary influences from its past imperial rulers, including the Chinese and the French. Bánh bèo are small, thin rice paper crêpes, often eaten as an appetizer. They are served individually, and are usually topped with dried shrimp and served with tangy fish sauce and scallions. The presentation and simplicity of this dish is what sets it apart from other specialties in hue, although bánh it ram is another local treat which shouldn’t be missed.
Mì quảng, or quang noodles, is a noodle and broth dish unique to the Quang Nam province of Central Vietnam. What sets quang noodles apart from other noodle dishes throughout the rest of the country are their yellow-tinted noodles, modest broth and seasonings. Quang noodles feature only a small amount of a rich pork broth which is quickly soaked into the noodles, and features a garnish of peanuts or crispy rice crackers on top. If you’re someone with a more adventurous palate, Da Nang also offers oc hut, or sucking snail, which is sold at most food stalls throughout the country. It’s sautéed in oil and served with papaya and mango.
The modern capital city of Hanoi is as rich in flavors as it is in culture. Hanoi is a foodie haven, with shops throughout the city offering cuisine from around the world. Today, Hanoi food is an eclectic mix of Vietnamese street food, French colonial influence, and Western comfort food. Bun cha is Vietnamese comfort food, consisting of juicy grilled pork served with a side of rice noodles and herbs. It’s filling and flavorful and makes you feel like you’re eating a home-cooked meal with family, even if you’re sitting on a small blue bench next to a food cart. Check out Hanoi’s Top 10 Restaurants and take your mouth on a culinary journey.
Every country needs to have a signature sandwich, and bánh mi is Vietnam’s. Bánh mi is a general term for Vietnamese bread, however it more commonly refers to a crunchy French baguette filled with meat pâté, sliced pork, cilantro, and pickled vegetables. Variations on this delicious street food exist everywhere, but they are ubiquitous in Hanoi and available in many variations. Banh Mi 25 is a modest street cart, boasting cheap and delicious sandwiches loaded with meat. It’s a true carnivore’s paradise.
Bánh bao
Bánh bao is a perfect snack to satisfy late-night cravings. Although their origins are likely Chinese, these soft, pillowy steamed buns have been adopted to fit the more eccentric and adventurous Vietnamese audience. You can find bánh bao filled with various types of meats and quail eggs, although if you can get your hands on the BBQ pulled-pork variety you have officially won the street food lottery.
The Việt Nam Television Corporation (VTC), a member of Voice of Việt Nam (VOV), has announced it has bought the rights to show the ongoing Asian Games (ASIAD) 2018, Vietnamnews reported.
“The VOV bought the rights to ASIAD because of the entertainment demands of the Vietnamese people. As a leading press agency in the country, VOV wants to best serve viewers within the conditions and capacities of VOV,” said general director of VOV, Nguyễn Thế Kỷ.
Kỷ didn’t reveal the price paid for the copyright offered by its partner, KJSMWORLD Corp, which is based in South Korea. But according to a source, it was valued at US$1.3 million.
From August 22, sports fans will have a chance to see Việt Nam compete in Indonesia via radio channels including VOV1, VOV2 and VOV3 as well as TV channels including VTC1, VTC3, VTC9.
Earlier, Việt Nam Television (VTV) announced its failure to purchase the copyright to broadcast ASIAD due to the high price.
Le Hong Thao Quyen, CEO of ViralWorks. Quyen, 26, is one of the rare start-up entrepreneurs in the “Shark Tank” show (in its second season now) to receive investment offers from all five investors-judges, the eponymous “sharks”. She managed to raise six times the amount she had hoped for.
Quyen impressed with her smarts and confidence. Thu Ngan asked her about the show and more.
How do you feel after managing to raise US$300,000, six times the amount you had wanted?
Completely surprised! I thought only one or two sharks would make an offer, but the outcome was so much better than expected. More importantly, when looking into the eyes of the sharks and seeing their excitement, I felt really happy.
For me, Shark Dung’s generous offer, which is the biggest motivator for ViralWorks, indicates his confidence in the project. In addition to capital, [he] will also invest a lot of effort and time and deploy his business network to monitor and develop the project.
Why do you think your project was so attractive to the judges? What makes your company very attractive?
It was a great honour for my company to get the attention of the investors right from the concept stage. But just good luck is not enough. ViralWorks is an attractive project for three main factors.
The first one is market potential. Vietnam is among the countries with the largest number of social network users. With more than 55 million users and the rapid growth in numbers, Vietnam enjoys a pool of young, dynamic, open, and educated internet users. Internet users in the country spend about seven hours a day using the internet, including three hours for social media like Facebook, YouTube, Zalo … With such figures, Vietnam is a highly promising market for digital advertising, especially for brands targeting young generation.
Secondly, the use of economy-sharing technology to quickly resolve daily matters that are traditionally difficult, such as Grab, Uber, Airbnb, is a successful model world-wide. Our company will also work towards rapid development, applying technologies that make the working process between influencers and brands more transparent, convenient and effective.
The third factor is certainly the ViralWorks team, whose members bring potential to this project. I can see, following their experience of working for four years with influencers, the development of their creativity in content as well as their professionalism. This challenges the prejudice against influencers, which is that their way of working depends on their emotions and not reason. With the influencer network built over four years and insights into social media, I believe that influencer marketing is not just promising but will become a new area of digital marketing.
Le Hong Thao Quyen, CEO of ViralWorks
Why and when did you start your own business and how did the idea of ViralWorks come to you?
The biggest motivation for me to start the company was seeing the trend of influencer marketing, especially when the market was witnessing the rapid growth of social media, the internet explosion, and investment in digital marketing in Vietnam. Not two years ago and not two years from now, but right now, 2018, is the right time to start a company in the field of influencer marketing.
In addition, after having developed YouTube’s largest MCN in Vietnam, METUB Network, over four years, my personal and professional development, industry relationships and maturity in the industry have been recognised. It is time to challenge myself with a fresh area, but the opportunity to develop myself is certainly there.
You plan to achieve a market share of 60 per cent in the next two years and then enter foreign markets. How confident are you of achieving this goal and what do you plan to do for it?
Currently the company is developing and finalising the product, but has acquired contracts from and the interest of some large brands. In our point of view, the project’s attraction lies in its ability to rapidly grow and scale up. Once the platform operates and proves to be efficient, I am confident this number is possible.
How will the sharks’ investments be used?
After the show, the company received two investments, one of which is US$300,000 for product development and long-term co-operation with top influencers in various fields; the second investment, from Dung Nguyen, is in business relationships. We will work together to catch the opportunity to attract more investors and expand business relationships.
Watching you on TV, it was easy to see you were a very confident person, and this confidence possibly helped you raise funds from the sharks. How did you develop this confidence and how do you suggest other Vietnamese youngsters can?
Preparation is my greatest secret in remaining confident under all circumstances. For Shark Tank, it is not just about making presentations or dressing up and making up. The most important preparation is the long-term process of accumulating experience and knowledge and, especially, finding out who I will meet and in what situation. It took more than a week to watch and record every single question sharks asked start-ups last season, categorise them and answer them until I felt completely confident.
As for advice, understanding my self-worth and the respect of others are what drive my actions. Regardless of who you are facing and what your strengths are, just show it. On the other hand, if there is something you do not know, frankly admit it and learn from others.
What do you think Vietnamese start-ups should do to achieve success?
That is what our team is considering every day. What should be done for ViralWorks to be successful soon and benefit everyone.
I feel Vietnamese start-ups have great chance to succeed, and it is easy to see that the start-up community has the opportunity to meet up and support each other. The interest shown by many professional investors in and outside Vietnam brings not only investment, but also, more importantly, knowledge, experience and opportunities to take the start-up beyond Vietnam’s borders.
