Penalties imposed on defendants involved in Trust Bank case

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The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court on May 4 gave punishments from three-year suspended prison sentences to seven-year imprisonment to the defendants charged with “violating regulations on lending in activities of credit institutions” at Dai Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Trust Bank), the predecessor of the Vietnam Construction Bank (VNCB).

According to the verdict, the Trust Bank’s credit council, comprising Hoang Van Toan (former Chairman of the Board of Directors), Tran Son Nam (former Director General), Lam Hong Trinh (former Deputy General Director), Ho Trong Thang (former head of the credit management division), Ngo Duc Tri (former Deputy General Director), Tran Thi Hong Phuong (former director of the accounting division), and Pham Thi Quynh Ngan (former head of the legal division), verified and approved the lending of VND370 billion (equivalent to US$16.2 million at present) to Thinh Quoc company and VND280 billion (US$12.3 million) to Dai Hoang Phuong company with an interest rate of 15 percent in 12 months to purchase over 5,000 sq.m of land at Chi Lang Stadium in Da Nang city.

When they considered the credit provision, the members of the credit council were found to have not complied with regulations by accepting loan applications without financial reports and imprecisely assessing the clients’ financial strength.

In fact, these businesses were established by Pham Cong Danh, former Chairman of the VNCB and Chairman of the members’ council and Director General of the Thien Thanh Group, but did not operate and their loan applications were fake.

The defendants based on the verification certificate of the future asset whose value was augmented by many times to approve the credit provision. In fact, the clearance in the land lot at the Chi Lang Stadium hadn’t been finished while there hadn’t been any certificates or investment activities in this land.

Their acts caused a loss of more than VND470 billion (US$20.6 million) to the bank.

The court decided to give the prison terms of seven years to Hoang Van Toan and six years to Tran Son Nam. Three of the five other defendants were sentenced to three years in prison while the remaining two received three-year suspended prison sentences.

Pham Cong Danh has to bear responsibility for compensating for the loss in the case. This compensation responsibility was ruled in the verdicts of the first-instance trial of the HCM City People’s Court on September 9, 2016 and the appeal trial of the HCM City High-level People’s Court on January 24, 2017. Therefore, the defendants in this case were not forced to compensate for the loss.

Source: VNA

Vietnam welcomes Chinese investment capital, but remains wary about risks

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Chinese FDI (foreign direct investment) flow to Vietnam has been increasing rapidly recently as Vietnam is one of the destinations included in China’s ‘One belt, one road’ strategy’.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA), China registered 76 investment projects in Vietnam worth $205.7 million, ranked third among foreign investors in number of projects and fourth in investment value. Reporting by Vietnamnet.

Analysts note that FDI from China has been increasing over the last 10 years from $572.5 million in 2007 to $2.17 billion in 2017. But the average investment capital per project has increased from $1.5 million to $5 million.

More large-scale projects have been registered, including the Vinh Tan 1 thermal ower plant, capitalized at $2 billion, the Lam Son industrial zone (IZ) and a plastics plant worth $150 million.

Chinese have also diversified their investments. In the past, they made investment through joint ventures, while now they tend to set up 100 percent foreign-owned businesses. In 2017 alone, 284 new projects were registered totalling $1.41 billion.

Chinese FDI is now going to manufacturing and processing industries as well as service businesses. Textile & garment and metal processing industries alone amount to 50 percent of total investment capital.

Chinese FDI is now going to manufacturing and processing industries as well as service businesses. Textile & garment and metal processing industries alone amount to 50 percent of total investment capital.

Analysts describe Chinese capital as a river which brings fertile alluvium, but puts Vietnam at a risk of heavy floods.

Chinese investors have a poor reputation when it comes to environmental pollution. A survey by the Institute of Natural Resources and the Environment found that the lives of residents in the area of the Chinese-invested Vinh Tan coal-fired power plant in Binh Thuan province were seriously affected by pollution.

The water used by 3/4 of households around the plant has chloride content exceeding the permitted level by 1.2-1.8 times, while irrigation water of 4/5 of households has fly ash content 1.05-1.8 times higher than permitted.

Chinese-invested projects are also known for using outdated technologies, which has raised concern that Vietnam would become the ‘dumping ground’ for such technologies.

The migration of Chinese workers to Vietnam could be a big threat to Vietnamese workers.

While some analysts called on the Vietnamese government to reject Chinese capital as other countries do, others believe that Vietnam still needs the capital.

However, they suggested that Vietnam needs to apply reasonable policies to take full advantage of the capital and minimize risks by encouraging Chinese investment in projects in high technologies, startup development, and key industries.

Any support you may need to get the investment certificate and enterprise registration certificate in Vietnam, please contact Global Business Service (GBS) company in Vietnam at:

Vietnam to mull ethanol mandate for higher octane 95 RON gasoline

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Vietnam plans to implement a 5% ethanol blending mandate for higher octane 95 RON gasoline to promote cleaner transportation fuels and boost demand for biofuels.

The move will help revive Vietnam’s shuttered ethanol plants and help curb dependence on refined product imports, even though it raises concerns about implementation as previous deadlines have been missed. S&P Global Platts reports.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade plans to submit a proposal on the ethanol mandate to the central government for consideration, vice industry and trade minister Do Thang Hai said in a news briefing Thursday, but did not provide a time frame for implementation.

The Southeast Asian country is a net importer of refined petroleum products with rapid growth in oil consumption that nearly doubled to 445,000 b/d between 2006 and 2016, according to the US energy department.

Vietnam’s two main gasoline grades are 92 RON and 95 RON.

On January 1, Vietnam phased out 92 RON, and replaced it with E5 92 RON gasoline, which is a blend of 5% ethanol and 95% 92 RON gasoline. Currently, retailers are allowed to sell both E5 92 RON and 95 RON gasoline at the pump.

In the first two months of this year, Vietnam consumed nearly 1.43 million cu m of E5 92 RON and 95 RON gasoline, out of which 95 RON was 836,293 cu m, or 58.5%, of the total, and E5 92 RON accounted for 593,609 cu m, the ministry said.

The new proposal will mandate that 95 RON gasoline be replaced with E5 95 RON, a mixture of 5% ethanol and 95% 95 RON gasoline.

CHALLENGES TO GASOHOL DEMAND

The proposal is backed by Saigon Petro, an oil importer and retailer in southern Vietnam, which received widespread support at a meeting between industry participants and the trade ministry on April 24.

The companies also raised concerns about poor sales of ethanol blended E5 92 RON.

One obstacle was the lack of an attractive price differential between E5 92 RON and 95 RON gasoline.

At current rates, E5 92 RON is Dong 1,570/liter (6.9 cents/liter), or 8.3%, lower than 95 RON grade III and Dong 1,770/liter or 9.4% lower than 95 RON grade IV. The companies wanted the government to widen the price difference to more than Dong 1,800/liter to boost sales.

Other challenges included consumer concerns that ethanol blends would damage their vehicles, the lack of sufficient E5 stations and, most importantly, ethanol supply constraints.

Currently, refiners and retailers like Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical, Petrolimex and PV Oil buy ethanol from the only local supplier, Tung Lam Ltd Co.

Vietnam had six ethanol plants with a combined design capacity of 535 million liters/year, but most have suspended operations due to low demand, feedstock supply problems and poor margins.

State-run Petrolimex, which accounts for about half the local market for fuels, said production of E5 92 RON had become costlier recently due to price rises of ethanol by Tung Lam.

The ethanol supplier, in turn, blamed price increases on rising input costs for raw materials like cassava, a biofuel crop.

Plans for opening suspended ethanol plants are under way. PV Oil said on April 12 it hoped to open its Binh Phuoc plant, or Orient Bio-Fuels, in the southern province of Binh Phuoc later this year.

In December, BSR said it would open its Quang Ngai plant, Central Bio-Fuels, near the Dung Quat refinery in 2018.

Binh Phuoc and Dung Quat have the capacity to produce 100,000 cu m/year of ethanol each. Tung lam can produce 200,000 cu m/year of ethanol, the industry and trade ministry said last July.

Traders estimated Vietnam’s total ethanol demand of around 300,000 cu m will be fully met when the new plants start operations.

Additionally, Vietnam has also allowed imports of ethanol for domestic use, according to vice minister Hai.

By Christina Siantar, Eric Yep, Edited by Daniel Lalor

Micro foreign-invested businesses flock to Vietnam

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Many foreign registered investment projects capitalized at several millions of dollars each have been set up in Vietnam. Economists have warned that the existence of the micro enterprises will cause difficulties for domestic ones. A report by VietnamNet mentioned.

FDI down by 30 percent

The Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) has reported that in the first three months of 2018, Vietnam licensed 618 foreign invested projects with total registered capital of $2.12 billion.

This means that the average investment capital for every project was $3.4 million only, just equal to one-third of that in 2014 ($10.43 million for every project).

Nguyen Mai, former Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, warned that the average investment capital per project is getting smaller, including micro projects capitalized at $1-2 million.

“The investment with such small capital is within the reach of private Vietnamese businesses,” Mai commented.

Big foreign investors tend to bring satellite enterprises with them when coming to Vietnam, so Vietnamese enterprises don’t have the chance to join large corporation’s production chains. This is one of the reasons why Vietnam’s support industries remain underdeveloped.

Vietnam, in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), seeks huge foreign capital.

The FDI picture in the first quarter of the year was unsatisfactory, not only because of micro projects, but also because of the lack of multi-billion dollar projects.

The large-scale projects registered in Q1 were mostly expanded projects. LG Initek Hai Phong, for example, registered to raise its capital by $501 million, while Regina Miracle International Vietnam increased capital by $260 million.

Nguyen Van Toan, deputy chair of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIEs), thinks that small projects should be undertaken by Vietnamese investors.

“Why do we have to attract foreign investment and give them so many incentives while these small projects can be implemented by Vietnamese investors?” he said.

Another question raised was whether the smaller scale of FDI projects means that Vietnam’s investment environment is not attractive enough.

Pham Si An from the Vietnam Economics Institute said that small and micro FIEs are mostly satellite enterprises of large corporations.

Big foreign investors tend to bring satellite enterprises with them when coming to Vietnam, so Vietnamese enterprises don’t have the chance to join large corporation’s production chains. This is one of the reasons why Vietnam’s support industries remain underdeveloped.

Mai said it is necessary to change the view about attracting FDI. “Instead of sitting here and waiting for foreign investors, we should meet foreign investors and ask them if they have interest in the projects we want to develop,” he said.

He said that Vietnam’s investment promotion agencies should carry out promotion campaigns with clear purposes and targets. Agencies should also think of other incentives to attract foreign investors, rather than rely on preferential tax rates and land-use rights access.

Any support you may need, please contact Global Business Service (GBS) company in Vietnam at:

By Kim Chi, edited by Dean Dougn

Vietjet’s profit rises by 254% in first quarter

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Vietjet Aviation Joint Stock Company (HOSE code: VJC) recorded a yearly increase of 254 per cent in pre-tax profit at VNĐ1.48 trillion (US$65 million) in the first quarter of 2018.

During the period, the company’s revenue stood at VNĐ12.56 trillion, up 146 per cent year-on-year, fuelled by the growth in passenger air transport, ancillary and sale as well as leaseback revenue, according to its consolidated financial results released on Thursday.

Compared to the target of VNĐ50.97 trillion in revenue and VNĐ5.8 trillion in pre-tax profit for 2018, the first quarter results achieved 25.5 per cent of the annual target, Vietjet said in a statement.

Thanks to fleet expansion along with the opening of new international routes, Vietjet’s air transport revenue reached over VNĐ6 trillion, an increase of 52 per cent year-on-year and 10 per cent higher than the company’s target. This increased its core business profit by 74 per cent year-on-year to nearly VNĐ737 billion.

The results showed that Vietjet’s earnings per share (EPS) in the first quarter was VNĐ3,026, one of the highest EPS in the stock market.

The company said it would pay a cash dividend of 10 per cent on May 25 to its shareholders and was on its way to finalise the necessary procedures at the State Securities Commission of Việt Nam to settle the remaining 20 per cent dividend of 2017 by means of shares.

From January to March this year, Vietjet operated 28,830 safe flights with a technical reliability of 99.7 per cent. The airline’s on-time performance in the first quarter stood at 83.4 per cent.

Recently, Vietjet announced its plans to open international routes to India and Australia in line with the international flight network expansion strategy after achieving full coverage in the domestic airspace.

Vietjet also won the title of the fastest-growing regional airline, awarded by Changi Airport.

Source: VNS

PM seeks new cost assessment of Ho Chi Minh City metro lines

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Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked the Ministry of Transport to reassess costs and capital sources for two metro lines in Ho Chi Minh City and to submit the report to the city.

At a recent meeting on the first metro line Ben Thanh – Suoi Tien and second line Ben Thanh-Tham Luong, the Government Office said the new assessment must be based on the city’s commitments and advice from concerned ministries.

The Ministry of Transport has also been asked to establish a specialists’ group of concerned ministries and agencies to ensure strict compliance with current laws and policies.

After agreement about capital sources from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Transport will report to the National Assembly on behalf of the government.

Previously, the PM assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment to work with the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Transport to create a funding plan for the metro lines.

The two projects have run behind schedule because of a capital shortage, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The metro line No 1 from Ben Thanh in District 1 to Suoi Tien Theme Park in District 9 was approved by the city in April 2007, with an initial investment of VND17.4 trillion ($766.4 million).

That figure has increased to VND47 trillion ($2.07 billion) because of changes in design and the exchange rate.

The developer has also been late in paying contractors, and may have to pay interest on late payments.

To ensure the completion schedule, Ho Chi Minh City has offered the Ministry of Planning and Investment advance disbursement for metro line 1 while waiting for the NA’s approval.

More than half of the work on the project has been completed, and disbursement has topped 30 per cent.

Meanwhile, investment capital for the second metro line Ben Thanh-Tham Luong also increased, from VND26 trillion ($1.14 billion) to VND48 trillion ($2.11 billion), after the completion deadline was extended from 2020 to 2026.

Source: VNA

 

VN’s first field hospital ready to join UN’s peacekeeping force

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Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh (front, second, left) inspects the field hospital’s equipment that will be brought to South Sudan

Vietnam’s first field hospital has been all set for the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission in South Sudan in a couple of months, said Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh on May 4.

He made the affirmation while leading a working group to inspect the preparation of the first level-2 field hospital at Military Hospital 175, including the operation of medical device, electric generators as well as medicine and material preservation and package.

Meeting with the hospital’s staff, Vinh expressed his hope that they will overcome challenges to fulfill their assigned tasks, adding that joining in the UN peacekeeping force is part of the Party and State’s policy to boost intensive and extensive international integration, especially in defence.

He said that the move will open up a new opportunity for cooperation with new foreign partners.

The successful implementation of the level-2 field hospital is a vivid illustration for the blue-beret soldiers’ growth as well as affirms the country’s image in the international arena, he stressed.

According to Colonel Hoang Kim Phung, Director of the Vietnam Peacekeeping Department, in the examination for the hospital in February, an inspection group from the UN spoke highly of the medical staff’s capacity and believed that they will complete their mission in the African nation.

“The hospital is well equipped with sufficient medical device while all of the materials are packed in line with international standards and preserved in good conditions”, Phung noticed.

After four years of preparation, the UN approved the hospital’s personnel list with 69 people in April.

The Vietnam Peacekeeping Department is working with Tan Cang Company, Military Hospital 175, the logistics agency of the UN and the Government of South Sudan to classify the commodities and complete the package in accordance with international transportation principals.

Vietnam’s first level-2 field hospital is expected to officially join the UN peacekeeping force in South Sudan in late June.

Source: VNA

 

Senior Vietnamese police official found dead amid illegal gambling probe

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HANOI – A senior official at a Vietnamese police department in charge of high-tech crimes was found dead in his office on Friday, state media reported.

Colonel Vo Tuan Dung, deputy director of the department, apparently hanged himself, several state newspapers, including Dan Tri and Tuoi Tre, reported. They cited police.

Phone calls to officials at the High Tech Crime Police Department went unanswered.

Police are investigating Dung’s death, state media reported.

Dung was the deputy head of the department, whose former head, Nguyen Thanh Hoa, was arrested in March on suspicion of involvement in an illegal online gambling ring.

Authorities in April also arrested Lieutenant General Phan Van Vinh, the former chief of the General Department of Police, whom police said was suspected of involvement in the ring.

The two former officers have yet to face trial. They have made no public statements.

Officials and state media in the Southeast Asian country often denounce gambling as a “social evil” but it is widespread. Police shut down dozens of gambling rings annually.

Last year, Vietnam said it would allow some citizens to gamble at selected casinos, in a move aimed at boosting domestic tourism and raising state revenue.

Vietnamese citizens aged 21 years and over with a regular monthly income of at least 10 million dong ($440) will be allowed to enter casinos for a trial period of three years, according to a government decree.

The arrests of the police officials come amid a corruption crackdown in Vietnam that has seen several senior government officials and executives of state-owned enterprises arrested and jailed.

By Reuters

Former Ocean Bank CEO borrows money to escape death penalty

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Former CEO of the Ocean Bank, Nguyen Xuan Son, has been given a death sentence for embezzlement, abuse of power and violating state economic management regulations in one of the country’s largest corruption cases

The family of Nguyen Xuan Son, the former CEO of the Ocean Bank, is borrowing money to repay the appropriated money in the Ocean Bank and PetroVietnam corruption case in order to avoid a death sentence.

Former CEO of the Ocean Bank, Nguyen Xuan Son, was been given a death sentence by the Hanoi People’s Court last September for embezzlement, abuse of power and violating state economic management regulations in one of the largest corruption cases.

Son was also requested to return VND67 billion (USD2.96 million) which he took to spend on presents, repay OceanBank VND199 billion for paying interest higher than the ceiling rate and compensate PetroVietnam VND49 billion which he appropriated from the group.

Son will have the legal opportunity to get the death sentence commuted to a life sentence if he volunteers to repay three-quarters of the appropriated money or at least VND37 billion (USD1.62 million). One of his lawyers, Tran Vu Hai, said Son’s family will pay VND5 billion while the rest will be borrowed from Son’s close friend, the founder of the FPT Group, Nguyen Trung Ha.


Nguyen Trung Ha, a founder of the FPT Group

However, the People’s Procuracy said they appreciated the effort but remained unmoved as they hadn’t seen a positive co-operative attitude from Nguyen Xuan Son. The People’s Procuracy still proposed the death penalty to Son.

Currently, only VND5 billion (USD219,000) has been transferred from Son’s family to the authorities.

Vo Thi Thanh Xuan, Son’s wife, said other friends were also willing to help them. She received VND3.5 billion from Son’s group of friends in two days.

When news broke that Son’s family would borrow money from the FPT founder, it immediately put Ha into the spotlight.

Ha was born in 1962 and won two scientific research awards of Lomonosov University in Russia. He loves maths, however, he didn’t become a mathematician as he pursued a career in business. He is the chairman of Thien Viet Securities JSC, owning VND230 billion (USD10 million) in shares, and invested in many technologies and media companies in Vietnam such as Galaxy Studio, Ha Lien Real Estate Company.

He is also one of the founders of ACB Bank and was the director of ACB Bank in Hanoi from 1994 to 1997.

Source: Dtinews

Explore the World’s Biggest Cave From Your Couch

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Two people walk through a sinkhole inside Son Doong, the largest cave in the world. Thanks to this sinkhole, a large forest has grown inside the cave.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARTIN EDSTRÖM, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE

At F8, Facebook’s annual developer conference in San Jose, California, the social media company shared updates on React 360, an interactive WebVR and 360 content publisher. Experiences made using the technology can show up across the web and in people’s Facebook News Feeds, effectively bringing virtual reality to its more than two billion members—no headset required.

To showcase this feature, Facebook is working with National Geographic and showcasing an updated version of a 2015 National Geographic interactive VR story. In it, readers were invited to take a virtual tour of Son Doong, a recently discovered cave in Vietnam, believed to be the world’s largest.

“In the social media world, this is a big deal,” says Martin Edström, the photographer who originally captured the 360 photo spheres of Son Doong for National Geographic. “Now people can literally walk through the largest cave in the world without leaving Facebook.”

The new version of this virtual tour is updated from the original in several ways, including improved navigation, an informative audio guide, and better photographic tonality. The advancements help viewers feel as though they are really standing amid an eerie, alien landscape of enormous stalagmites in a cavern so large a Boeing 747 could fly through it—literally.

The technology to create and capture 360-degree interactive photographs and VR content has generally outpaced its distribution mechanisms. VR photographers and filmmakers have struggled to share their work with the general population. Facebook’s efforts may indicate that VR storytelling will become a more ubiquitous part of our digital media experiences.

“It’s a big step toward immersive and interactive content becoming a part of the way we tell stories,” says Edström.

A cave explorer stands atop a large spiral stalagmite in the Watch Out for Dinosaurs area, a sinkhole inside Son Doong. Part of the cave ceiling collapsed, letting sunlight into the cave and allowing for grass and plants to grow.
PHOTOGRAPH BY MARTIN EDSTRÖM, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE

REVISITING SON DOONG

In 2014, Edström, a photojournalist from Stockholm, Sweden, heard of a recently discovered cave in central Vietnam’s Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. It was being called the world’s largest. He jumped at the opportunity to capture it in virtual reality.

The entrance to Son Doong, meaning “cave of the mountain river,” was first discovered in 1991 by Hồ Khanh, a local logger. In 2009, a team of scientists and explorers, having heard tale of Hồ Khanh’s fabled discovery, contacted him and requested his help to find the cave. It took several months, but he eventually retraced his way back through the remote jungle to once again find the dark, foreboding maw in the earth.

He and the team of scientists, using proper caving systems and techniques, pushed exploration into the cave.

All were utterly astonished by what they saw.

The cave, estimated to be between two and five million years old, is believed to be the largest cave passage in the world. It’s more than three miles long, with numerous chambers large enough to hold an entire city block of New York skyscrapers. Being the world’s largest cave, Son Doong contains many appropriately gargantuan formations, including the 200-foot “Hand of the Dog,” which might be the world’s largest stalagmite, as well as baseball-sized “cave pearls,” a type of speleothem that’s typically much smaller.

Son Doong is also distinguished by two large dolines, areas where the cave roof collapsed, that let in light and created conditions for dense prehistoric flora to grow in the middle of the cave.

FIGHTING TO PROTECT SON DOONG

Soon after Son Doong was discovered, tourism operators moved in to convert the natural wonder into a money-making operation. Oxalis Adventure Tours currently holds the cave’s sole tourism permit and brings upwards of 800 people per year through the remote passage at a cost of up to $3,000 per person.

In 2014, another tourism company unveiled a controversial proposal to construct a 6.5-mile-long cable car through Son Doong.

“Since then, a large activist network, called Save Son Doong has been touring Vietnam, showing our VR story to local people and getting people to sign a petition to save the cave from large-scale tourism,” says Edström. “They go to universities, political rallies, and schools to let people experience this cave through our VR experience.”

In his last address to the people of Vietnam, President Obama stated Son Doong ought to be preserved, which has also bolstered the cause.

The cable-car remains just a proposal for now. This fact very well may be credited to the power of Edström’s imagery, which showed the world the spectacular natural beauty of this cave. Edström sees Facebook’s new feature as a powerful new conservation tool.

“This isn’t just a story about a cave,” says Edström. “It’s a story about sustainably managing our natural heritage and making sure our grandkids still can marvel at its beauty.”

By Andrew Bisharat

Photographs by Martin Edström

Source : National Geopraphic

Young startupper earns success with free shopping app

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Tran Hai Quang, a 28-year-old former student of the Foreign Trade University, has earned initial success after two years since the launch of his startup project, Clingme, a free app to facilitate shopping for consumers.

Two years ago, after graduating with an MBA in the US, Quang chose to return to Vietnam in order to build his career with the free mobile app.

To date, Clingme is one of the few startups in Vietnam that has raised capital worth over US$3 million and has become renowned for its outstanding and convenient functions.

Dissimilar from other shopping support applications, Clingme has personalised the phone screen for each users’ group. At the same location, user groups will get different shopping recommendations, giving customers the most convenient and smart shopping experience.

It also helps retailers to approach customers. Clingme is attractive due to its features that facilitate discounts, help users to find restaurants, gas stations and ATMs, and make orders, bookings and payments with QRcodes.

In the context that 95% of all retail transactions in Vietnam are carried out directly, Online to Offline (O2O) business models are becoming an increasingly complementary method to make business more effective. Offline channels help to optimise online channels in experiencing the products, while the online channel is a sufficient condition to lure more customers to the stores.

Clingme is following the O2O model and expects to become a leader in the trend in Vietnam, said CEO Tran Hai Quang. “For us, Clingme is no longer a startup. Clingme has set a target to make itself the leading retail technological company in the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” Hai added.

Source: Nhan Dan

Vietnam continues visa exemptions for five European countries

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Vietnam will renew visa exemptions for a three-year period for the citizens of five Western European countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

The decision was approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the regular Government meeting on May 3.

Accordingly, citizens from the five aforementioned countries will continue to enjoy visa exemptions to enter Vietnam up to 2020 after the expiration of the visa-free policy in June this year.

The PM said that Vietnam should continue to expand its visa-exemption policy as the country has unilaterally offered visa exemptions for citizens from only 24 countries, including nine ASEAN countries.

According to Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung, the open-door visa policy aligned with enhanced tourism promotion has contributed to maintaining Vietnam’s growth rate of foreign visitors at nearly 30% annually.

Minister Dung noted that the Government will consider proposals from the Vietnam Tourism Association concerning the extension of the period of stay in Vietnam from 15 to 30 days and the expansion of visa exemption for more countries, among others.

Vietnam welcomed approximately 720,000 Western European visitors in 2015 and the number of visitors increased to 855,000 in 2016 and 1.5 million in 2017.

Source: Nhan Dan

​Hot or cold? Vietnamese give icy reception to frozen meat

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The Vietnamese habit of opting for meat advertised as freshly butchered over frozen alternatives is one many experts say should be reconsidered.

Thanh, a resident of District 10, Ho Chi Minh City, says she carefully evaluates freshness by inspecting the stickiness and color of pork and beef before making a purchase.

“I rarely buy pork and beef in the supermarket because the meat sold there is not as fresh as what I see at the morning market near my house,” Thanh said.

Many Vietnamese consumers share Thanh’s mindset, considering what they believe is freshly slaughtered meat – meat still warm and deep red in color – as fresher, more nutritious, and safer than frozen meat.

Nguyen Ngoc An, general director of Vietnam’s top food processor Vissan, said one of the biggest difficulties facing frozen meat is educating consumers on its benefits.

Even in urbanized areas like Ho Chi Minh City, a mere 20 percent of fresh meat, fish, and vegetables are bought at modern commercial outlets, compared to the 80 percent of ‘fresh’ foods being purchased at traditional markets.

A woman buys pork at a wet market in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Frozen meat is safer

The United States Department of Agriculture suggests that unprocessed frozen meat and poultry have the potential to maintain their quality due to their ability to keep moisture during cooking.

Meat sold at traditional markets is usually slaughtered the night before going on sale, transported to wholesale markets, and finally distributed to wet markets where it is cut, sliced, formed, and packaged.

Exposure to dirt and high temperatures during these steps creates an environment in which dangerous microorganisms can thrive and spread rapidly throughout each cut of meat.

Comparatively, the process of slaughtering, packaging, and distributing frozen meat takes place entirely in conditions between 5 and -40 degrees Celsius, a temperature at which no bacteria is able to contaminate the meat.

“Even if consumers buy red meat at the market and store it in their refrigerator, it is not as safe as frozen meat from industrial slaughter facilities,” explained Pham Duc Binh, director of Thanh Binh Feedmill Co., a company specializing in the production and supply of chickens and swine.

In a bid to curb the amount of unsanitary meat being advertized as ‘fresh’ in the country’s traditional markets, Vietnam’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development stipulated in 2012 that pork could only be sold within eight hours of being slaughtered. However, the stipulation was quickly lifted due to the unreadiness of retailers and strong opposition from suppliers.

A supermarket worker sells frozen meat to customers. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Catching up to the new consumption trend

Some companies are preparing to embrace the growing desire among Vietnamese consumers to purchase safer meat.

Thanh Binh Feedmill Co. is currently researching new freezing systems to ensure food safety for their pork and enable consumers to easily trace the origin of each piece of meat they purchase.

Luong Quang Thi, director of ABA Cooltrans Co. Ltd., told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that about 3,500 retailers and supermarkets across Vietnam are doing their part to create consumer awareness of the necessity of freezing storage.

“The more these channels advertise a freezing storage process, the more widely frozen pork, fish and beef will be made available,” he said.

Thi believes that frozen supply chains will help keep the product at top quality, from slaughter to consumption, creating added value rather than expenses.

Other companies, such as Greenfeed Vietnam subsidiary Feddy JSC, are gearing up for changes amongst Vietnamese consumption trends by opening shops dedicated entirely to the sale of frozen meat in Ho Chi Minh City, with future plans to expand to Hanoi and Da Nang.

By: Bao Anh

Source: Tuoi Tre News

Vingroup gains an after-tax profit of $44.4 million in Q1/ 2018

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Vietnam’s Vingroup’s after-tax profit increased by 70 per cent over the same period last year, according to its financial statement for Q1/2018.

Accordingly, its consolidated net revenue in the first quarter of 2018 reached VND29,123 billion ($1,28 billion), up 84.4 per cent year on year. The Leader – a local media channel reported.

In Q1/2018, pre-tax profit of the group was estimated at over VND2.53 trillion ($111 million) and after-tax profit at nearly VND1.01 trillion ($44.4 million), up 103.7 percent and 70.1 percent respectively compared to the same period of 2017.

Revenue from real estate transfer in the first quarter of 2018 reached VND20,354 billion ($895 million), nearly doubling that of the first quarter of 2017, mainly from large projects as Vinhomes Golden River, Vinhomes Central Park, and Vinhomes Green Bay.

Retail revenue was VND4,132 billion ($181 million), up VND1,765 billion ($77,6 million) or 74.6 per cent year on year. Revenue from resort, recreation and entertainment services reached VND1,886 billion ($82,9 million), an increase of 53.7 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year.

Revenue from other sectors (real estate for lease, education and healthcare) increased from 22.1 per cent to 68.2 per cent.

According to the financial statement, total assets of Vingroup reached VND223,850 billion ($9,85 billion), equity reached VND59,256 billion ($2,6 billion), up 4.7 per cent and 12.7 per cent respectively compared with the end of 2017.

In the first quarter, VinFast, a member of Vingroup, entered many cooperation agreements with big corporations in the automobile industry such as Pininfarina, BMW, Magna Steyr, AVL, Durr AG, Schuler AG, and Eisenmann and expected to launch its first products by the end of 2019.

At the same time, Vingroup established a Training Centre for Mechatronics and Mechanical Engineering, which is expected to officially come into operation in this August. Graduates will receive a vocational certificate of German standards and get the opportunity to work at VinFast’s automobile and electric motorcycle plant as well as nearly 50,000 German companies around the world.

In March 2018, Vingroup officially announced its plan to join in the field of higher education by establishing VinUni University (VinUni) and signed a strategic cooperation agreement with leading universities in the world such as Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania.

With a total investment of VND2.2 trillion ($97.7 million), the project’s first phase will be built in an area of nearly 10ha following international standards, including research, production, logistics and support works.

Vingroup said that the entire production process at Vinfa will be equipped with the latest and advanced technologies to optimise the efficiency and quality of pharmaceutical products.

The objective of the Vinfa Drug Research and Production Centre is to produce and sell good-quality Oriental and Western medicines to serve the domestic and export markets.

By Minh An

VTC declines invitation to be honored by YouTube

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The Vietnam Multimedia Corporation (VTC) earlier this year unexpectedly refused to attend an event honoring content creators held in HCM City.

Sources say that VTC is developing a content distribution channel of its own – VTC Now – which will compete with YouTube.

OTT TV fever

As estimated by Value Penguin based on the number of downloads in 2017, YouTube dominates OTT market of streaming video.

In 13 surveyed markets, YouTube does not operate in China because of the Chinese government’s policies. It ranks second in Japan and No 1 in Vietnam and a number of other countries.

However, analysts can see the strong rise of local apps which also have long reach in the market. They include Zing, FPT Play, VTVCab On, VTVGo and V Live, four-fifths of which are apps that provide OTT TV services.

V Live, an app from the South Korean Naver, debuted in Vietnam in 2016. With content focused on K-biz, popular with local youth, the app has joined the group of five OTT TV apps with the biggest numbers of downloads.

Most recently, in April 2018, Kwai, a Chinese social network, app began in Vietnam. Kwai has advantages in content – Chinese dramas and game shows which young people like.

Big players

An analyst said that in developing OTT TV, the content will determine the number of viewers.

VTV Go has been attracting viewers with exclusive programs including sports, entertainment and movies. It is estimated that VTV Go has 6 million installs and nearly 9 million views on web.

Pham Anh Chien, director of VTV Digital, which developed VTV Go, once said that developing OTT TV to retain audiences is the company’s long-term strategy.

Besides VTV, VTC is also a big player. After merging with the Voice of Vietnam (VOV), VTC has focused on digital content development, especially on social network platforms.

VTC has been effectively developing content on YouTube with many channels. VTC1 channel now has nearly 1.3 million subscribers and 2 billion followers. It is listed among top 10 channels on YouTube with best quality as assessed by Social Blade.

However, sources said that VTC is no longer interested in YouTube and that the corporation is planning to set up a content distribution network of its own, VTC Now.

It’s still too early to say about VTC Now’s performance, but its development partners, Accedo, Akamai and Brighcove, the world’s leading OTT developers, show its potential.

By: Chi Nam

Source: VietNamNet

 

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