How one photographer reveals the hidden art of Vietnam’s vibrant markets
It was the sights and sounds of Hanoi’s street vendors that inspired Dutch photographer Loes Heerink to relocate to the Vietnamese capital some years ago. The fascination developed into a little side project that eventually became the makings of Heerink’s first photo book, Merchants in Motion: The Art of Vietnam’s Street Vendors.
Released last month, Merchants in Motion casts an expressive aerial eye across Hanoi’s street market culture, documenting peddlers as they carry their colorful cargo of fruits, vegetables and flowers fastened to their preferred modes of transportation. The 140-plus collection of photographs—which features everything from longan, durian and rambutan to lychees and flowers—makes everyday market goods appear like ephemeral, edible art installations.
If you take a moment to consider her perspective, these photographs really are a kind of art. And art, oftentimes, takes patience. Heerink would spend hours on perches across the city, waiting for vendors to pass through underneath.
“After six months of taking pictures, I still hadn’t seen a silk flower vendor pass by any of my spots,” Heerink says, describing her search to capture Vietnam’s tradition of handmade artificial flowers. With the help of a Vietnamese friend, Heerink eventually connected with a silk flower vendor named Buoi. “At the time I met her, “Heerink recalls, “she was trying to earn enough money to go home for Christmas.”
Most vendors in Hanoi are female migrants, heading to the city to earn extra money. Some stay year-round, some only when their crops back home don’t need attention. And though Heerink’s project could be taken as exploitative of Hanoi’s locals, to think that is to miss her celebration of life in the bustling Southeast Asian city, which calls to mind the same joy of New York’s The Street Vendor Project, once championed by the late, great Anthony Bourdain on his Queens episode of CNN’s Parts Unknown.
Street vendors all over the world work long hours, often in harsh conditions to provide quick, affordable service to all classes of people. And as Heerink demonstrates, there may be no better way to get to know a city’s beauty than through the stories of its streets.
Emma Orlow is a food writer and cultural event producer interested in the ways art can be used for food justice. She was named a 30 Under 30 by Brooklyn Magazine for 2018. Follow her on Instagram at @emorlow.
According to Google and Temasek eConomy SEA spotlight report, Vietnam’s e-commerce growth is at the second highest in the region.
Specifically, in 2017, Vietnam’s e-commerce growth rate (CAGR) is increasing rapidly at 30 percent, higher than their neighboring country Thailand and Malaysia. techwireasia.com reported
Earlier in 2017, Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM) predicted that the country’s e-commerce market can reach US$10 billion within the next five years.
Despite the potential growth, the market is still at the undeveloped stage. Here are 3 key takeaways from our Map of e-commerce, which rank and classify 50 top Vietnam e-commerce sites.
No clear border between C2C and B2C e-commerce
Shopee is one the most renowned C2C e-commerce sites in Vietnam.
After 1.5 years of operation in the country, Shopee has already made it to the top 10 list of e-commerce sites, thanks to its high web traffic.
Other giant C2Cs like Vatgia and Enbac are showing a slow down in terms of traffic growth. The top 3 B2C e-commerce websites like Lazada, Mobile World, and Sendo make up half of the total online shopping visits in Vietnam.
However, their business is not entirely based on the B2C model. For example, Lazada is one of the sites that builds a marketplace within their B2C platform. On one hand, they take care of e-commerce payment, logistics, and delivery as commonly seen in B2C e-commerce model. On the other hand, they have to acquire small businesses to expand their marketplace.
Local e-commerce still dominates the market
It is worth mentioning that foreign e-commerce websites account only 14 percent in Vietnam, while domestic e-commerce sites are growing strong in the country at 86 percent. Vietnamese online shoppers have a high degree of trust on foreign products compared to local goods, according to a survey by Association of High-Quality Vietnamese Goods Producers.
However, the language barrier is a huge obstacle for Vietnamese consumers if they want to purchase from foreign websites. Furthermore, the payment methods also play an indirect influence on the number of online purchases from foreign websites. Vietnamese online shoppers prefer COD as their main payment method. 85 percent of online orders are delivered in the form of COD which is 3.6 times higher than the world average.
Highly fragmented market
Across Southeast Asia, Lazada seems to lead the way in terms of traffic. With further investment from Alibaba Group for Southeast Asia expansion, Lazada is certainly on a promising growing stage.
However, it would take Lazada a longer time to become a dominant player in Vietnam compared to other Southeast Asian countries. More specifically, in Malaysia or Thailand, Lazada occupies up to 50 percent of total online traffic. Whereas, in Vietnam, Lazada only accounts for 19 percent of traffic, followed by Mobile World and Sendo with 15 percent and 12 percent respectively.
Other big e-commerce players like Shopee, Tiki, and Adayroi are also closing the gap with their new funding. While Shopee is back up by SEA, Tiki just recently received a US$44 million funding from JD.com. In such fierce competition, the market needs a longer time to define a clear winner.
*** This is an expert article from the iPrice Group ***
The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance have cut petrol prices by VND234 to VND368 per litre from June 22.
The prices of E5 RON92 was cut by VND329 to VND19,611 (USD0.87) per litre and RON95 price was decreased by VND334 to VND21,177. The prices of diesel and kerosene fell to VND17,460 and VND16,054 respectively. Mazut prices remain at VND14,437.
The world average prices of RON92 by June 22 dropped to USD81.25 per barrel, USD4 lower than the previous 15-day period. Since the world prices are lowering, the ministries also drop the fuel prices. Moreover, the fuel stabilisation fund has subsidised prices.
The new prices have taken effect from 3 pm on June 22.
On May 23, the price of RON 95-III rose by VND600 to VND21,511 per litre.
Authorities in Hanoi have decided to cut water and power services to an apartment building as it violates fire safety regulations.
Hanoi Department of Fire and Rescue said on April 20 that they had completed the inspection at the Discovery Complex in Cau Giay District owned by Cau Giay Investment and Trade JSC. The results showed that even though there are many fire safety violations, the investor already let customers move in.
The inspectors have issued administrative fines and asked the investor to stop moving customers in until the violations are dealt with.
On May 28, Cau Giay District People’s Committee ordered to halt the operation of the residential tower B and the commercial tower of the complex.
In an official notification issued last year, Vice Chairman of Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Van Suu ordered to cut water and power services to buildings complexes that do not have fire safety certificate. Hanoi Department of Fire and Rescue has issued an official document on April 26 to Hanoi Power Corporation to cut the services.
On June 5, Hanoi Clean Water Company said they would stop providing water to the Discovery Complex. Hanoi Power Corporation has asked Cau Giay Power Company to monitor the fire safety violations and how they are being dealt with at the complex. They will also review and ask subsidiaries to follow the regulations.
Hanoi Department of Fire and Rescue advised home buyers not to move into buildings that lack fire safety certificates.
The Law on Cybersecurity coming into effect in early 2019 will slap taxes on Facebook and Google as well as bring them under the supervision of Vietnamese authorities. However, the two companies have yet to express intention to establish representative offices in Vietnam.
Facebook and Google keep cards close to their chest
After the Law on Cybersecurity was officially approved on June 12 by 86.96 per cent of the delegates attending the latest National Assembly meeting, Facebook and Google have not issued comments about establishing representative offices or opening branches in Vietnam.
This was shared by Nguyen Thanh Hong, member of the Standing Committee of National Defense and Security, at the press conference to announce the results of the fifth National Assembly meeting on June 15.
Vneconomy.vn cited a foreign news source that Facebook and Google were disappointed by the new Law on Cybersecurity. Hong also said that despite having no official information, Facebook’s representative said that they will research and abide by the law.
Regarding Google, dantri.com.vn also quoted the company’s Vietnamese media representative as saying that it will soon make an official statement.
Facebook and Google are storing Vietnamese user data at their data centres in Hong Kong and Singapore. If the two technology giants do not leave the Vietnamese market, they will have to install servers in the country to store domestic users’ data.
Having to pay enough tax for Vietnamese government
Establishing representative offices in Vietnam would mean that Facebook and Google have to be under the Vietnamese authority’s supervision as they store data of Vietnamese individuals, organisations, and firms doing business in the country. In addition, the two global giants have to carry out their obligations stipulated by Vietnamese regulations, including paying taxes for the Vietnamese government via domestic bank accounts.
Currently, data about Facebook and Google’s 2016 and 2017 revenue in Vietnam has yet to be officially announced, but data from 2015 released by Vinalink show that Facebook led the online advertising market in Vietnam with the revenue of VND3 trillion ($132.1 million), followed by Google with VND2.2 trillion ($96.9 million).
According to the Department of Broadcasting and Electronic Information, in 2017 Facebook and Google accounted for 80 per cent of the online advertising market in Vietnam.
According to Article 13 of the Law on Corporate Income Tax, newly set up enterprises under investment projects in geographical areas with extreme socioeconomic difficulties, economic zones or hi-tech parks; newly set up enterprises under investment projects in the domains of high-technology, scientific research, and technological development, development of the state’s infrastructure works of special importance, or manufacture of software products are entitled to a tax rate of 10 per cent for 15 years.
Facebook and Google may be classified as high-technology companies and will be eligible for the preferential tax rate of 10 per cent for the first 15 years.
Thus, applying the 10 per cent tax rate to their 2015 revenue in Vietnam, the total the two giants would need to pay VND520 billion ($22.9 million) in income tax, more than four times higher than what they paid to the Vietnamese government in 2016-2017 ($5.28 million).
In addition, to establish representative offices or open branches in Vietnam, Facebook and Google have to hire local employees and carry out all regulations of the Labour Code of Vietnam, including paying social insurance and health insurance for their Vietnamese employees.
In Singapore, Facebook and Google employ 174 and 1,000 people, respectively.
With the two firms’ average salaries of $13,000 and $25,000 (emolument.com) and the huge number of users in Vietnam, it is expected that Facebook and Google will steadily raise the number of employees as well as scale up business in Vietnam, like it did in Singapore.
The Ministry of Transport has denied to let the ride-hailing firm Grab expand operations into other provinces including Ninh Thuan, Dong Nai and Gia Lai.
The two-year pilot project of applying science and technology to support management and connect passenger services of contracted cars was approved and carried out in five provinces and cities, including Hanoi, HCM City, Danang, Khanh Hoa and Quang Ninh, from 2016 to 2018.
The Ministry of Transport said they always supported technology application to improve services but it would only be applied to licensed firms and vehicles. The firms must obey the regulations, tax duties to ensure a healthy competition.
It then denied Grab’s proposal to expand businesses to other cities and provinces that are not included in the pilot project. The ministry also asked departments of transport to work with transportation firms and associations to ensure that the regulations about applying science and technology in transportation are followed.
Grab Vietnam was asked to not sign contracts and use the technology with drivers without permission from the local departments of transport.
Early this year, Grab Vietnam was already asked to stop operating in several provinces including Thua Thien-Hue, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Lam Dong. However, Grab said it was a kind of e-commerce transaction platform and was registered with the Ministry of Industry and Trade so it can operate nationwide in accordance with a resolution on e-commerce.
The total expense that one student may have to pay for study overseas is no less than VND2 billion. If the student later finds a job with the monthly salary of VND20 million, a relatively high pay in Vietnam, he or she would only be able to cover expenses after 10 years.
After finishing high school, Le Quoc Anh left Vietnam for Japan, where he studied technology at a university in Tokyo.
Despite the bachelor’s degree granted by a Japanese school, it was still difficult for Anh to find a job in Vietnam. He applied for jobs at many companies. Some employers refused him because of the lack of experience, while others offered low pay.
In early 2017, he accepted a job at a private company for which he got VND6 million a month. However, as he could not see a future there, he gave up the job. Since then, he has been running a filling station.
“I feel sad that my current job has no relation with the major. But I have no other choice. If I continued to work for the private company, I will never be able to cover the expenses for the overseas study,” he said.
Regarding expenses, Anh said he stayed four years in Japan and had to pay over VND200 million a year in tuition and spend VND25 million a month on basic needs. So, the total expense was VND2 billion.
The total expense that one student may have to pay for study overseas is no less than VND2 billion. If the student later finds a job with the monthly salary of VND20 million, a relatively high pay in Vietnam, he or she would only be able to cover expenses after 10 years.
“You have money and you want to have good experience when studying abroad. You want to access modern education. Okay, you can go. But if you borrow money for your overseas study, you will regret your decision,” he said.
Nguyen Phuc Hung from Thai Binh province obtained a scholarship to study journalism at Ulyanovsk University some years ago, but still had to pay VND1 billion for a six-year stay in Russia. The amount of money is high for families of farmers.
Hung said many friends of his, after returning to Vietnam, are doing jobs which in no way have relations to their majors. Some of them once worked for state agencies, but they later quit.
“The title of ‘state official’ just represents vainglory. You cannot live on it,” he said.
Trinh Van Anh in Hoang Mai district in Hanoi spent seven years to obtain bachelor’s and master’s degrees in France. The study cost her VND5 billion.
Though Anh has found a good job in Vietnam which brings her VND20 million a month,
Anh said she doesn’t know when she can pay back VND5 billion to her parents.
Lawyer Tran Thi Ngoc Nu is indefatigable in her mission to protect children from sexual abuse and assault.
According to a report by VNS, for the last five years, as head of the city’s the Association for Protection of Children’s Rights’ lawyers’ division, Nu has provided free legal help for victims of child abuse.
Known for her proactive approach, she knocks on doors of government agencies and searches for evidence to present to the court.
She has even petitioned Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam for his help in several cases when the police did not recommend criminal proceedings against alleged abusers.
“Every day, the lawyers’ division receives four to five calls and letters asking for help,” the 62-year-old said. “The number is higher than in the past because more people are aware of criminal proceedings against abusers. Also, the new Law on Children came into effect in June last year.”
Parents of the abused children who speak out are “brave”, Nu said, adding that emotional scars from sexual and physical abuse can last a lifetime, and some children commit suicide.
Whenever Nu speaks about abused children whose cases are not referred by police to the courts, she is often moved to tears.
Every abuse case is important, but she is especially concerned with sexual abuse of girls with disabilities.
Her concern led her and several friends in 2013 to establish the Association for Protection of Children’s Rights and its lawyers’ division, which seeks justice for the victims by filing lawsuits.
“Before this was established, victims and their parents did not know where to go for help,” she said.
She began with 10 lawyers at a time when the public was wary of seeking help.
But now, after winning cases that have sent sexual offenders to prison, parents and children trust Nu and the lawyers’ division, which has grown to 30 lawyers.
They provide free legal assistance for victims and their parents in the city and provinces in the country.
A father in Binh Thuan Province, 200 kilometres from Saigon, for example, came to the lawyers’ division to ask for help after his daughter was sexually assaulted by a 28-year-old man.
The investigation police did not commence criminal proceedings against the man because of insufficient evidence.
Nu returned to his hometown to seek evident and force the investigation police to start criminal proceedings.
Finally, the man was sentenced to two years in prison after Nu filed a lawsuit.
Lawyer Tran Thi Ngoc Nu is indefatigable in her mission to protect children from sexual abuse and assault.
Even though Nu has at times been physically attacked by relatives of alleged abusers in the courtroom and received threatening phone messages, she has not allowed this to deter her from seeking justice for the children.
“My colleagues and I sometimes want to give up, but when we think about the children who need protection, we want to pursue our path for justice,” Nu said.
Do Ngoc Thanh, a lawyer with the lawyers’ division, said that Nu was a role model and inspired him in his work.
“She is both a colleague and a mentor who provides guidance on collecting documents and finding evidence to win in court,” Thanh said.
Nu and the other lawyers often carry out mock trials in residential areas in the city and provinces to educate parents and children about sexual abuse and assault.
They also provide information to them on what they can do after the abuse occurs.
At the mock trials, the Law on Children is also discussed.
Nữ, who also works on domestic abuse cases, received merit certificates from the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee in 2016 and from the Vietnam Association for the Protection of Children’s Rights last year.
Besides work on her current cases, Nu is trying to improve the laws that protect children. She has asked the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ Department of Child Care and Protection to streamline the process needed to prosecute child sexual and physical abuse cases so that abusers would be punished as soon as possible.
The term “influencer marketing” is a common marketing buzzword used globally by brands and advertising agencies to target specific groups of consumers by involving an individual or personality with a strong social media presence to create branded and unbranded content.
Influencers—also generally referred to as Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs)—are seen as both ambassadors for a particular brand and a representation of the typical consumer with an opinion that goes far and wide, thereby being able to influence consumer choices.
By helping to build awareness and sales among a target demographic—usually the tech-savvy and those who spend more time online than in front of the television—influencer marketing is on its way to becoming more popular than traditional marketing tactics relying on print and television ads.
So who are the notable influencers in Vietnam today?
According to Influence Asia Council, Vietnamese influencers are listed in various categories. Well-known “Beauty” KOLs include: Changmakeup, Chloe Nguyen, Trinh Pham and Quynh Anh Shyn.Decao, Chau Bui and Kelbin Lei are sought after for their opinions on fashion. And for food, Helen Le, Kiyoshi Jiro, Ninh Tito and Esheep Kitchen top the charts in terms of followers and social media reach.
Other content categories where these figures are active include health, lifestyle and parenting. YouTube personalities such as An Nguy, Pho Dac Biet, JVEvermind and HuyMe Productions are also constantly engaged by brands to incorporate branded and unbranded content into their channels.
Becoming an Influencer
Celebrity endorsements on television commercials are still a common marketing tool for brands. However, these commercials are mostly staged and the personality in question may or may not actually be using these products.
This is part of what gives the opinions of KOLs a stronger edge. They typically have active Instagram and Facebook accounts specialising in a particular topic, and they start to gain recognition as an opinion leader.
Beauty bloggers for example, often start off by highlighting products which they feel are best for their skin and by applying the products in front of a camera. They then post reviews about the product. This format gives consumers a chance to see the products in action, with a credible review by someone who actually used it.
Sometimes the road to becoming an influencer can appear by chance. For example, when popular YouTube content—like video game commentary by bloggers like PewdiePie, or even videos of new products getting unboxed by tech geeks—receive high viewer numbers the content creator can be transformed into an influencer.
GIF source: Chloe Nguyen
Almost Everyone Online Follows One
In Vietnam, influencer marketing has reached new heights with global brands such as Samsung getting into the fray. Samsung recently launched their Galaxy S9 phone with a campaign featuring YouTube personalities creating content using the phone’s camera and highlighting its enhanced slow motion feature.
More than 60 percent of internet users of all age groups in Vietnam have interacted with an influencer by either liking or sharing their content, according to consumer research firm DI Marketing.
Nearly half of internet users have gone one step further and commented directly on the content.
Most internet users in the country rely on Facebook or YouTube to follow influencers. According to a 2016 survey by DI Marketing, 84 percent of respondents follow an influencer on Facebook, 61 percent on YouTube and 59 percent rely on online news sites. The wide reach of these influencers is the main reason why marketers in the country are resorting to social networks as a key marketing channel.
Three Modes of Engagement
There are three styles that define the way influencers and brands interact.
The first is that of mutual benefit.
Influencers and brands can share a symbiotic relationship by giving influencers the freedom to post content the way they always do, while incorporating the brand’s message. This was achieved by Samsung Vietnam, with the Samsung Insider Circle, a community made up of invited influencers with tailor-made content for the brand. This allows influencers to post Samsung-related content on their own channels without veering away from their usual content and still get paid for it.
One example would be the social media campaign for the new Galaxy S9 phone where KOLs such as beauty blogger Chloe Nguyen released videos of her usual makeup routines that were shot on the phone, using its “super slo-mo” function and uploaded on her Facebook and Instagram accounts. Although the actual video was unbranded, the captions that accompanied the videos, including the hashtags #samsung_vietnam and #WithGalaxyS9 were more than enough for audiences to know what camera the videos were shot on.
The second style is drawing the KOLs by designing events tailored to the influencer’s needs.
Influencer marketing is still a very new trend and many brands view influencers as a media channel, instead of a creative in their own right. Le Meridien Saigon solved this by offering a 6-month long campaign that invited influencers to give workshops and be a part of the hotel’s coterie of luminaries.
The third style is to provide a real experience.
The current practice among beauty brands is to provide a sample of their product to an influencer to showcase and review, which usually yields a positive response by the influencer.
For the launch of beauty brand Kiehl’s’ Calendula line for example, they created a creative concept titled Peace, Love and Calendula and sent out physical invites to influencers for an event at Takashimaya Saigon. At the event, beauty bloggers were invited to the Kiehl’s counter to get exclusive access to the products, and the chance to meet their fans while at it.
This turned what could have just been a digital campaign, into an interactive, offline experience where products could be seen and touched and the audience could see the product applied in real time on their favourite personality, instead of just through a cold photograph or video on their newsfeed.
If You’re Big, It Pays
As the relationship between brand and influencer continues to evolve, with more integrated brand messaging platforms thanks to digital marketing agencies and influencer platforms innovating ways to reach bigger audiences, being an influencer might just be a legitimate career path for those seeking to establish themselves as a credible source of information, while enjoying the spotlight and the many benefits that come with it.
YouTube pays the most, according to Forbes. Those with 7 million followers earned US$300,000 for sponsored content. On Facebook and Instagram, the influencers reported earnings roughly half that.
Influencer platforms such as Hiip, the largest in Vietnam, has a database of over 2000 influencers with a clientele that includes international brands such as Heineken and Unilever. There are also dedicated media production companies such as Yeah1 Network that specialise in working together with influencers to create video content for them in partnership with brands.
Image source: image.vtc.vn
Ultimately, it is up to the influencer to determine if they want to be a credible source of information for their followers, or turn into a media channel themselves by becoming the bridge between brand and consumer, or in an ideal situation, striking the right balance between both. This can only be done by being particular with the campaigns they choose to get themselves into and not be bogged down by posting content they don’t believe in.
When US-headquartered music streaming giant Spotify entered Vietnam in March and brought its 35 million songs to the Vietnamese market, the move took place after a series of serious deliberations.
In response to written questions, the company reflects that there were not only practical considerations in launching its service here, like making sure the interface had a Vietnamese language option, but the company also had to make sure it was in line with prevailing intellectual property and e-commerce law.
Not to mention getting the rights to songs from top Vietnamese musicians. The company highlighted V-Pop Khong The Thieu, Tuyet Pham Bolero, Ca Phe Quan Quen and #phuot.
Spotify’s remarks were given without personal attribution.
Image source: advertisingvietnam.com
In its remarks, the company described Vietnam as a “mobile-first nation” that has a large appetite for content consumed by the small screen. The company also stated an interest in helping smaller, lesser known artists break into a larger audience for the streaming service’s users.
Mixed Results
In its remarks, the company would not disclose specifically how many users it specifically had in Vietnam. During an earnings call earlier this month, the company told investors it had 75 million paying subscribers and 99 million users using the free version of the program.
That’s well ahead of Apple Music, which in March told investors that it had 38 million users on its service, which was launched in 2015.
Since the start of 2018, Spotify has added four million paying subscribers and nine million users on its free streaming service.
Image source: edge.alluremedia.com
Growth though it may be, the streaming service seems to be struggling to find an effective revenue strategy, a problem that carries more weight since the service began offering company shares to investors on the New York Stock Exchange in April.
At the time it decided to debut on the US stock exchange, the buying public gave the company a total valuation of $26.6 billion. But in the first quarter of 2018, the company lost US$49 million, Spotify told investors in its May earnings call.
It also cited that revenue losses were nearly four times those in the same quarter last year.
Spotify told investors it expects to lose $395 million during 2018.
New Features, New Market
To woo new users to its service, Spotify recently introduced new services, like the ability for its free users to pick from a broader catalogue of music and a “data saver” option that aims to keep the program’s data usage light.
Spotify also recently introduced integration with Instagram, which will allow users to post song selections to the photo sharing app.
Image source: pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com
With Vietnam, the service is now available in over 60 countries.
In prepared remarks, Spotify told #iAMHCMC that its interest in Vietnam hewed to its interest in building economies around the world and providing direct benefit to local recording artists.
YouTube, often criticized for not compensating creators well enough, will allow them to set up paid channel memberships, the company said
Currently the vast majority of revenue at the Google-owned service comes from advertising and that will remain a focus, said Neal Mohan, YouTube’s chief products officer.
“But we also want to think beyond ads. Creators should have as many ways and opportunities to make money as possible,” he said.
Viewers will pay US$4.99 a month for channel memberships giving them access to exclusive content including livestreams, extra videos or shout-outs on channels with more than 100,000 subscribers.
Creators will also be able to sell merchandise like shirts or phone cases directly on their channels, the company said.
YouTube returns a small part of its advertising revenue to content creators who regularly accuse the platform of giving them only crumbs.
The site is facing increasing competition from other platforms using more and more video.
YouTube says it has more than 1.9 billion users but the figure only counts those who log in via their accounts.
Police in Vietnam arrested four executives of state oil firm PetroVietnam’s subsidiaries on suspicion of embezzlement on Thursday as the communist-led government widens a crackdown on corruption.
According to a report by Reuters, Dinh Van Ngoc, deputy chief executive officer of Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC, and three others were accused of “abusing power to appropriate property”, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement.
Ngoc was arrested for alleged wrongdoing committed when he previously served as general director of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical, according to the statement.
Police also arrested Tu Thanh Nghia, former chief executive officer of Vietsovpetro, an oil joint venture between PetroVietnam and Russia’s Zarubezhneft.
The others arrested were Vo Quang Huy, former chief accountant of Vietsovpetro, and Nguyen Tuan Hung, head of the finance department of PetroVietnam’s leading production and exploration arm PVEP, the statement said.
The Ministry of Public Security said it is carrying out further investigation into the case.
Calls to PetroVietnam seeking comment went unanswered.
Thursday’s arrests come amid a corruption crackdown in Vietnam that has seen several senior government officials and executives of state-owned enterprises arrested and jailed.
According to Vietnam’s penal code, anyone found guilty of abusing power to appropriate property may face life in prison.
Earlier this year, Vietnam jailed former Politburo member Dinh La Thang for 31 years for financial irregularities at PetroVietnam, formally known as Vietnam Oil and Gas Group.
Thang, 57, who denied any wrongdoing at his trial, was the highest-level politician to have been jailed in Vietnam for decades.
Last month, police arrested the chairman and chief accountant of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical, also accused of embezzlement.
Binh Son, owned by PetroVietnam, operates the country’s first oil refinery, the 130,000-barrel-a-day Dung Quat plant.
Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC, which owns the $9 billion Nghi Son refinery, is 35.1 percent owned by Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co, 35.1 percent by Kuwait Petroleum (IPO-KUWP.KW), 25.1 percent by state-run PetroVietnam and 4.7 percent by Mitsui Chemicals Inc.
Croatia beat Argentina here at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium 3-0 on Thursday evening, a victory that lifted them to the knockout stage, whereas the Albiceleste are on the brink of being eliminated.
Ante Rebic first scored thanks to terrible mistake of Argentine Wilfredo Caballero. The Chelsea goalkeeper, attempting to pass the ball to a defender, teed it up to Rebic, before the latter sending it into the top right.
Luka Modric further extended the lead on the 80th minute when the Real Madrid forward evaded Argentina’s Nicolas Otamendi before firing into the bottom corner from 25 metres out.
Ivan Rakitic added one more goal at injury time. After his shot was saved by Caballero, his teammate Mateo Kovacic rolled him back the rebound, with the Barcelona footballer whipping the ball into the bottom left of an empty net.
With the victory, Croatia are able to continue their legend of not losing their World Cup second group games.
Argentina had been close to equalizing 10 minutes later, when Maximiliano Meza received a cutback, but his shot was saved by Danijel Subasic.
It is a very important match for both teams, with Argentina under pressure after an unexpected 1-1 draw with Iceland in the opening game, and Croatia, who hoped to win back-to-back World Cup games for the first time since their debut in 1998, looked to seal qualification for the round of 16.
The fruitless first half started with Argentina having the majority of possession, at 67 percent in the first 17 minutes. But the Croats proved really threatening.
On the fifth minute, Ivan Parisic raced down into the box and fired, but the ball was deflected at the fingertips of Caballero.
Then in the 32nd minute, Sime Vrsaljko sent a cross from the right to Mario Mandzukic, whose diving header went wide left.
On the other side, Argentina has wasted a few chances, especially when Enzo Perez struck at an empty net, only to see his shot wide left of the net.
Lionel Messi, who scored his first goal for Argentina against Croatia in a friendly back in 2006, failed to score again for his team.
The Argentina captain had few chances touching the ball, only 20 times in the first half, while his teammate, Sergio Aguero from Manchester City, touched the ball only seven times.
Argentina have been crowned twice in World Cups, with the latest in 1986. It finished second in 2014.
The last time Argentina failed to win either of their first two World Cup games was in 1974.
“I think the win was fully deserved, but it wasn’t easy,” said Luka Modric.
“That first goal, in the second half, followed a mistake. It was a shot in the arm for us.” “We’ve emerged from the group after two games. We’ve beaten Argentina with the best player in the world – Messi – and we played a fantastic match, everything was top notch,” said Zlatko Dalic, coach of Croatia.
“However, we have to be calm, humble, dignified”.
Argentina reverted to a three-man defence in the crucial game.
“I had to devise a plan for this match. If I had set things up differently, things might have turned out much better,” said the disappointed Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli.
Talking about Messi, who missed a penalty in their opening match against Iceland, he said: “I think because of the reality of the Argentinian squad, it clouds Leo’s brilliance. Leo is limited because the team doesn’t gel ideally with him as it should.” Albiceleste will play Nigeria next Tuesday, while Croatia meet Iceland on the same day. During their last six matches in the past eight years, the Croats had four wins but in their most recent encounter in 2017 the Icelanders won 1-0.
Police in Vietnam arrested four executives of state oil firm PetroVietnam’s subsidiaries on suspicion of embezzlement on Thursday as the communist-led government widens a crackdown on corruption.
Dinh Van Ngoc, deputy chief executive officer of Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC, and three others were accused of “abusing power to appropriate property”, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement.
Ngoc was arrested for alleged wrongdoing committed when he previously served as general director of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical, according to the statement.
Police also arrested Tu Thanh Nghia, former chief executive officer of Vietsovpetro, an oil joint venture between PetroVietnam and Russia’s Zarubezhneft.
The others arrested were Vo Quang Huy, former chief accountant of Vietsovpetro, and Nguyen Tuan Hung, head of the finance department of PetroVietnam’s leading production and exploration arm PVEP, the statement said.
The Ministry of Public Security said it is carrying out further investigation into the case.
Calls to PetroVietnam seeking comment went unanswered.
Thursday’s arrests come amid a corruption crackdown in Vietnam that has seen several senior government officials and executives of state-owned enterprises arrested and jailed.
According to Vietnam’s penal code, anyone found guilty of abusing power to appropriate property may face life in prison.
Earlier this year, Vietnam jailed former Politburo member Dinh La Thang for 31 years for financial irregularities at PetroVietnam, formally known as Vietnam Oil and Gas Group.
Thang, 57, who denied any wrongdoing at his trial, was the highest-level politician to have been jailed in Vietnam for decades.
Last month, police arrested the chairman and chief accountant of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical, also accused of embezzlement.
Binh Son, owned by PetroVietnam, operates the country’s first oil refinery, the 130,000-barrel-a-day Dung Quat plant.
Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC, which owns the $9 billion Nghi Son refinery, is 35.1 percent owned by Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co, 35.1 percent by Kuwait Petroleum (IPO-KUWP.KW), 25.1 percent by state-run PetroVietnam and 4.7 percent by Mitsui Chemicals Inc.
Vietnamese shares failed to maintain their upward trend on Thursday due to overwhelming selling pressure that persisted from the start of the trading hour to the closing minutes.
The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange dropped 1.18 per cent to close at 969.40 points. It jumped 1.95 per cent on Wednesday.
The HNX Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange lost 1.73 per cent to end at 110.16 points. The northern index had gained 1.38 per cent in the previous session.
More than 149 million shares were traded on the two local exchanges, worth VNĐ3.6 trillion (US$157 million).
The market breadth was negative as declining stocks outnumbered gaining ones by 276 to 153 while 310 other stocks were unchanged.
Massive sell-offs hit 18 of the 20 sectors on the stock market. Key industries that saw share prices down included banking-financial, energy, rubber and plastic production and retail, data on vietstock.vn showed.
Large-cap stocks were hit by profit-taking pressure. The large-cap VN30 Index fell 1.15 per cent to 955.75 points with 25 of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation suffering.
Among the worst-performing stocks in the VN30 basket were steel producer Hoa Sen Group (HSG), PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID), consumer firm Masan (MSN), Vincom Retail Joint Stock Company (VRE) and FLC Faros Construction Joint Stock Company (ROS).
According to Bảo Việt Securities Company (BVSC), Việt Nam will not be included in the review list for potential reclassification of Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) for the next review period, which will negatively affect investors’ confidence in the market.
“In general, from our view, the results of the MSCI review indicated a slow pace of improvement in the Vietnamese stock market. In comparison with the other two Frontier markets in the region, which are Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Việt Nam still needs to improve the most,” BVSC said in its daily report.
As a consequence, Việt Nam’s stock market can hardly be included in the review list for 2018 without breakthrough changes, it said.
Foreign investors became net buyers on the HOSE but remained net sellers on the HNX.
They were net buyers of steel producer Hòa Phát Group (VNĐ41.88 billion), budget carrier Vietjet (VNĐ36.65 billion) and Saigon Securities Incorporation (VNĐ34.26 billion). They net sold VNĐ34.18 billion on the HNX.
According to BIDV Securities Company, market sentiment remained in a state of anxiety. The company suggested investors maintain their current portfolio proportion and limit the margin usage until market liquidity recovers.
