Washington’s former ambassador to Hanoi said the U.S. is looking to deport thousands of immigrants from Vietnam, many of whom are protected by a bilateral agreement.
The former ambassador, Ted Osius, told us that a “small number” of immigrants from Vietnam that are reportedly protected under the treaty have been deported already.
“These people don’t really have a country to come back to,” he said.
He said the effort to deport these immigrants was a factor in his decision last October to resign.
Brendan Raedy, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesman, told us that 8,600 Vietnamese nationals in the U.S. last year were subject to deportation. The spokesman said “7,821 have criminal convictions”.
Osius said many of the immigrants from Vietnam who are now being subject to deportation came to the U.S. before 1995. Diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Vietnam resumed that year.
Under a 2008 bilateral agreement between Vietnam and the U.S., Vietnamese citizens are “not subject to return to Vietnam” if they “arrived in the Untied States before July 12, 1995.”
Katina Adams, a spokeswoman for the State Department’s East Asia bureau, told us that the two countries “continue to discuss their respective positions relative to Vietnamese citizens who departed Vietnam for the United States.”
A senior Vietnamese official told us that “many of the people went to the U.S. as a consequence of the war.”
“For those who came to the U.S. later, not as a consequence of the war, that’s a different thing,” the official told us.
HANOI: Vietnam imported 1.41 million mt of coal in March, down 29.5% from the same month in 2017, according to preliminary data released Tuesday by Vietnam Customs.
Indonesia was the biggest supplier of coal in the month with 903,656 mt, spiking 78.1% year on year. But imports from other major suppliers including Australia and Russia fell sharply in March.
In the first three months of 2018, Vietnam imported 3.68 million mt of coal, up 1.9% year on year, mostly from Indonesia, Australia and Russia.
The country also exported 226,482 mt of coal in March, rising 16.9% year on year, mainly to Japan and India.
Opposite voices have been given at the international conference on 4G/5G technologies in Hanoi about whether Vietnam should prepare itself for the upcoming 5G technology while the 4G one has just been adopted. It was then concluded that the development of 5G technology was the inevitable, and that Vietnam should be properly-prepared if it did not want to be left behind.
At the conference, many delegates said that the current state of technology growth in Vietnam, the demands of new technologies in both the present and the future, and the common development tendency of the world all decide if Vietnam needed preparation or not.
Telecommunication experts stated that at the end of 2019, the 5G network would be officially commercialized. Therefore, the present should be a proper time for Vietnam to start making plans and strategies for the domestic development of this new technology.
Mr. Mohamed Madkour, Vice-President of Wireless Network Marketingand Head of Global Wireless Branding, Huawei Technologies, shared that the new technology is tens of times as quick as 4G, has lower latency and higher reliability. As a result, in such a rapid development trend in the world at the moment, Vietnam should prepare suitable infrastructure to be ready for it, and this is not at all too soon.
According to Ms. Julie Welch, Vice President of Government Affairs, Southeast Asia, Taiwan & Pacific, Qualcomm Incorporated, in 2017, 40 percent smartphones sold in Vietnam had the ability to use 4G connection. In 2018, this figure is expected to increase to 55 percent, which will be a wonderful chance, along with strong Internet development, for Vietnam to move to 5G.
As a result, the nation needs to consider this matter carefully to keep up with the pace of the world. Network operators have to design their facilities so as to go ahead with the cutting edge technology and timely deliver services to customers when necessary.
Opinions of professionals are that Vietnam should accept this 5G technology as an inevitable growth to bring more opportunities for development. However, there must be plans so that this development is harmonious between rural and urban areas, between different social groups.
It is notable that this new technology is not the destruction of the current infrastructure used for its older versions.
Most telecommunication experts agree that 5G networks will soon be commercialized globally in 2020 since the technology and its standards have been already created. The story will also happen in Vietnam in 2022 at the latest.
Therefore, though necessary facilities for this new technology need time to be fully grown, at the moment, telecom companies in Vietnam can begin developing their abilities to support the to-be 5G services.It is also the time for the government to consider proper plans and strategies for 5G growth.
Experts said that the potential of 4G services in Vietnam was significant. For instance, around 76.4 million 2G subscribers and 41.5 3G ones might have a need to change to 4G subscribers. The expansion of mobile bandwidth and the development of 3G as well as 4G have brought positive economic and social results lately.
Therefore, there must be a strong connection between the government and businesses in the growth of 5G by delivering chances for this new technology to be used in aspects of constructing smart buildings, smart cities, and online video services.
The change from 4G to 5G in Vietnam will need to be different from the one between 3G and 4G. If the intention for the change from 3G to 4G was to satisfy the needs of accessing the Internet via smartphones, the motive for the change to 5G would be to access advanced models in health care, self-propelled vehicles.
Hence, in the time of Industry 4.0, it will never be too soon to begin preparing the national telecommunication infrastructure for 5G as this will create a strong foundation for long-term effective steps in the future.
Some Vietnamese banks have revealed they are negotiating with foreign partners on capital contributions.
Dang Khac Vy, chair of LienViet Post Bank, said at a shareholders’ general council meeting last week that the bank is talking with five foreign investors based in the US, EU and Japan about the sale of treasury stocks.
“It is now the time to sell treasury stocks. Many foreign banks and investment funds are eyeing Vietnam. They are really interested in making investments here,“ Vy said.
Former chair of the bank Nguyen Duc Huong revealed on the sidelines of the meeting that a Norwegian investment fund is willing to buy LienViet Post Bank shares at over VND30,000 per share. However, no official decision has been made.
In mid-March, VP Bank’s leadership announced a plan to issue shares to specific foreign and domestic shareholders. The amount of shares to be issued would be 15 percent of the bank’s common stocks. VP Bank reported that 1.57 billion had been in circulation by December 31, 2017.
Strategic partners
Nguyen Tri Hieu, a renowned banking expert, said that many foreign strategic investors have divested from Vietnamese banks recently.
In early 2018, BNP Paribas withdrew all of its capital contribution from OCB. However, it is still unclear about the buyer of the 74 million shares.
BNP Paribas was a strategic investor, which initially held 10 percent of OCB shares in 2007, and raised the ownership ratio to 20 percent in 2011.
Also in early 2018, Standard Chartered terminated its role as the strategic investor which it had been holding for the 12 years in ACB.
The Vietnam Securities Depository confirmed that the two biggest shareholders —Standard Chartered APR Ltd and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited — have transferred all 154 million shares.
In 2017, HSBC withdrew capital from Techcombank after 12 years of investment. In 2012, ANZ left Sacombank.
“Investment funds have capital from separate investors. When buying into banks, they don’t intend to join the management board of the banks, but just want to make investments to seek profit,” Hieu said.
“Vietnam’s macroeconomic indicators are very good, thus attracting foreign investment funds,” he said. Official reports show that foreign investors have been the major buyers of Vietnam’s stocks recently.
Techcombank’s management board plans to sell treasury stocks to foreign/domestic investors in the second phase. Prior to that, the bank announced investment of $370 million from two legal entities managed by Warburg Pincus.
Ho Thi Kim Ngan is heading for the Youth Olympics in Argentina.
Taekwondo artist Ho Thi Kim Ngan won gold for Vietnam in the women’s flyweight division at the World Taekwondo Junior Championships in Hammamet, Tunisia, on Wednesday.
Ngan defeated Canadian Josipa Kafadar in the final with a narrow 8-7 win to claim Vietnam’s first medal at this year’s tournament.
Ho Thi Kim Ngan and Coach Tran Anh Tuan
Ngan was competing in the 49kg division this year after also winning the 44kg division two years ago, when she was the sole Vietnamese medalist.
This year’s tournament has drawn 483 artists from 11 countries.
Thanks to her success, Ngan has qualified for the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
If the claims are true, these will be the largest ICO scams to date.
Scams are nothing new in the world of initial coin offerings (ICO) but recently in Vietnam, the largest alleged scam connected to an ICO has been pulled off by two blockchain firms – Ifan and Pincoin.
The two firms together have allegedly duped 32,000 investors for around VND 15 trillion ($660 million), according to reports by local media outlet Tuoi Tre News.
Ifan is registered in Singapore while Pincoin is registered in Dubai, however, both firms had approached the same company in Vietnam – Modern Tech – to advertise their projects to potential local investors.
The issue with these firms hit the limelight, as on Sunday a huge mass of investors gathered in front of Modern Tech’s Ho Chi Minh City headquarter. Modern Tech presented it as the firms’ representative in Vietnam, however, media reports later surfaced that its seven executives were on the front line of spreading the word about both ICOs in Vietnam and had conducted many conferences even in remote areas to lure in investors.
According to reports, the company has vacated its office premise in Ho Chi Minh City a month ago.
Shady business model
Ifan was advertised as “the most advanced social network” targeted towards celebrities and artists, to help them connect in a better way with their fans. Its native tokens were supposed to be used for downloading music and buying exclusive merchandise.
Pincoin, on the other hand, is clearly a shady scheme. It promised its investors a 40 percent monthly returns on their investment. The company claimed to be overseen by PIN Foundation, and to lure in more investors, Modern Tech promised an 8 percent reward to every investor for bringing in another investor, making it a classic multi-level-marketing scheme.
Suspicions first arose among investors when the company stopped rewarding in fiat, instead handing out its native tokens. With this, though investors were seeing the growth of their digital assets every day, they could not withdraw a dime in fiat.
Due to its multi-level structure, the crypto community has been suspecting Pincoin to be a scam for months. In February, financial scam directory Behindmlm claimed in a report that due to its buy-in method and opaque nature, the project is an “ROI Ponzi”.
Vietnam to tighten “management of activities related to bitcoin and other cryptocurrency”, the government said.
Vietnam on Wednesday urged greater vigilance against cryptocurrency transactions and investments, as officials in its economic hub asked the police to investigate what could prove to be the country’s largest cryptocurrency fraud.
In a directive, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told the State Bank of Vietnam, the Ministry of Public Securities and other bodies to tighten the “management of activities related to bitcoin and other cryptocurrency”, the government said.
“Cryptocurrency investment and trading and raising money through initial coin offerings are evolving in a more complicated manner,” it said in a statement on its website.
Call to investigate
The statement followed a report by the official Vietnam News Agency that authorities in Ho Chi Minh City had asked police to investigate accusations that a company, Modern Tech JSC, raised money from token sales of Ifan and Pincoin cryptocurrency.
The request followed a weekend protest by dozens of people who accused the company of “the largest ever cryptocurrency fraud involving 15 trillion dong”. This sum is equivalent to $658 million.
The mobile telephone of the firm’s general director, Ho Xuan Van, was turned off on Wednesday, other company officials could not be reached for comment said Reuters news agency.
“All cryptocurrencies and transactions in cryptocurrencies are illegal in Vietnam,” said Le Dong Phong, the police chief of Ho Chin Minh City.
“We are gathering information about the case, but officially we haven’t launched an investigation until we receive accusations from any of the alleged victims,” Phong told Reuters. He declined to provide further information.
According to a copy of the directive seen by Reuters, the prime minister told the State Bank of Vietnam to instruct banks not to provide any payment services related to illegal cryptocurrency transactions.
He also told the Ministry of Justice to complete the legal framework for managing and dealing with virtual assets.
A huge fire broke out and destroyed the whole 2,000sq.m factory of ABC Bakery in Binh Tan district, Ho Chi Minh City.
The fire broke out at 7 PM last night in the new factory of Asia Bakery & Confectionery Pte., Ent. (also known as ABC Bakery) at Lam Hoanh Street, An Lac ward, Binh Tan district, Ho Chi Minh City. The workers and security staff of the company could not put the fire out before it spread.
The Ho Chi Minh City Fire Prevention Department has sent 28 fire engines and 200 fighters to the scene who fought the fire until midnight. The fire did not have casualties, but injured two firefighters.
The fire raging inside the building
ABC Bakery is a home-grown bakery chain based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, well known for its high-quality range of bakery products, such as bread, pastries, and cakes. ABC Bakery first started as a small store in an alley in District 11 and has developed into a chain of bakeries all over Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, and Can Tho, with a presence in Cambodia.
The fire raging inside the building
This morning, another fire also destroyed Sam Ngoc Linh JSX’s 2,000sq.m ginseng plantation in Da Lat city, Lam Dong province.
Ngoc Linh ginseng is considered one of the five most valuable medicinal herbs in the world and produces high profit for the company. Fortunately, there were no casualties in the fire, but the damage to assets was substantial, estimated at nearly half a million dollar.
Vietnam Airlines has been named among the best carriers in Asia for 2018 by TripAdvisor, the US-based travel planning and booking site.
In its Travelers’ Choice Major Airlines – Asia 2018 announced on April 9, Vietnam’s national flag carrier stands shoulder to shoulder with other five-star airlines, including Singapore Airlines, All Nippon Airway (ANAs), Korean Air, Garuda Indonesia, and Cathay Pacific.
The award winners were determined using an algorithm that took into account the quantity and quality of airline reviews and ratings submitted by travelers worldwide, over a 12-month period.
Airlines are rated on categories such as customer service, seating, sanitation, meals and drinks, check-in procedures, and entertainment facilities.
TripAdvisor launched its airline review category two years ago. The website has so far gathered more than 900,000 reviews for over 550 carriers worldwide. Of these, Vietnam Airlines have received nearly 4,000 reviews in 26 different languages, attracting huge attention from the TripAdvisor travel community.
“We are thrilled to recognise the global TripAdvisor community’s favourite airlines and shine a spotlight on the carriers around the world that provide the very best flying experiences,” said Bryan Saltzburg, senior vice president and general manager for TripAdvisor Flights.
“The Travelers’ Choice awards for airlines recognise the carriers that exceed passenger expectations and receive top marks from travelers,” he added.
The ancient village of Duong Lam, hotspots in the northern Ninh Binh province, Tam Dao tourist site and Co To island, to name a few, are attractive destinations for travellers during the long Liberation Day (April 30), and May Day (May 1) holidays.
The ancient village of Duong Lam is in Son Tay town, about 40km from Hanoi. Travelers are attracted to its ancient houses, old temples, pagodas, cathedrals and imperial tombs. Rental bike service is available for visitors to tour the village while homestay service is provided at the price of below VND500,000 per room.
The northern province of Ninh Binh, about 100km from Hanoi is considered “Ha Long Bay in land’ with a complex of famous tourist sites like Tam Coc Bich Dong with beautiful caves, Phat Diem cathedral, Bai Dinh pagoda and stunning natural scenery of river and mountains. Visitors will have the opportunity to gain interesting experience by rowing boats along Van Long lagoon and Trang An Eco-Tourism complex which is recognized as the world’s natural heritage site by UNESCO.
Tam Dao tourist site in Tam Dao district, Vinh Phuc province is about 80km from Hanoi with cool climate around the year and average temperature ranging between 18-25 Celsius degrees. Visitors can taste local cuisine and discover local life at night market or visit some popular destinations such as Silver Waterfalls, French ancient cathedral and Ba Chua Thuong Ngan temple or television tower. Winding roads are attractive options for adventurous travelers.
Co To island is one of the most beautiful island in the north, located in the east in Van Don island in Quang Ninh province. The island attracts tourists to the crystal blue sea, white sand and interesting activities by participating in BBQ party by the beach, savouring stunning scenery of sunrise and sunset, walking along ‘love path’ and enjoying homestay service close to the beach.
Summer is here and holidaymakers are rolling up their sleeves with travel ideas. Here are five reasons why Vietnam is worth having on your itinerary.
Da Nang Fireworks Show
Da Nang was lit up up with sparkling firework performances in 2017. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Dong
Aside from being hailed as Vietnam’s best city to live in, Da Nang has a lot to offer visitors this summer, especially the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival 2018 which is scheduled to blast off from April 29 to June 30 with bigger and better spectacles than last time out.
This year, the two-month-long festival will welcome teams from France, Hong Kong, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, the United States, and the host country.
With the theme, “Legends of Bridges,” participating teams will be telling different stories about well-known bridges through spectacular performances.
Huynh Van Hung, director of Da Nang’s department of culture, was quoted by local media as saying that the central city is building its tourism brand around the festival, earning it the moniker “the city of fireworks.”
Hue Festival
A view of the Imperial City of Hue from above. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Thanh
Vietnam’s former capital Hue is racing against time to prepare for its biennial namesake festival which will be returning for its 10th edition from April 27 to May 2 with plenty of colorful activities.
The week-long cultural event will be accompanied by a street carnival, an international food festival and a hot air balloon show.
The former royal city was the seat of the Nguyen Dynasty which ruled the country from 1802 until the end of feudal Vietnam in 1945, so traditional court music and dragon boat racing should also not be missed.
Authorities are pinning their hopes on the festival to drive the province’s tourism industry and help Thua Thien-Hue reach its target of drawing 4-4.2 million tourists this year, with foreign arrivals accounting for 40-45 percent, and fetching VND4.2 trillion ($185.2 million) in tourism revenues.
Ha Long Carnival 2018
Ha Long Bay draws tourists with its magnificent scene of more than 1,500 limestone karst islands popping up from turquoise waters. Photo by VnExpress/Meo Gia
Ha Long Bay is undoubtedly the most-visited travel destination in Vietnam thanks to its picturesque natural landscape and temperate climate. But there’s an extra special reason for you to make the journey to the bay this summer.
The Ha Long Carnival 2018, under the theme “Ha Long – Heritage, Wonder – Friendly Destination,” will kick off on April 28 with music and art performances and firework shows to herald the National Tourism Year hosted by the northern province of Quang Ninh.
Visitors to Ha Long rose 12.9 percent last year to more than 6.9 million, including 2.94 million foreign travelers, according to Ha Long’s news portal.
The bay was used to film the recent Hollywood blockbuster “Kong: Skull Island,” and has been raved about by many travel bloggers.
Sa Pa Summer Festival
Rice terraces in Sa Pa. Photo from VnExpress Photo Contest/Ta Viet Hai
Sa Pa, a small town in Vietnam’s northern province of Lao Cai perched at 1,600 meters, or nearly one mile above sea level, has stepped up its efforts to attract more tourists this year.
The authorities have announced that a summer festival will be gracing the town late this month, featuring a wide range of activities such as a street carnival, a “love market” – which is a colorful exhibition of the local ethnic culture, a rhododendron flower festival, art shows and photo exhibitions.
Home to the roof of Indochina, Mount Fansipan, Sa Pa was named among the best destinations for 2017 by TripAdvisor travelers, who described it as a perfect oasis for travelers looking for a strenuous mountain trek or a rice paddy tour.
Data from Lao Cai Radio and Television showed that Sa Pa received more than 450,000 tourist arrivals during the first three months of 2018, a 10 percent year-on-year pickup.
An Bang Beach
An Bang Beach in Hoi An. Photo by VnExpress/Minh Duc
An Bang Beach in Hoi An has made the list of the 25 most picturesque beaches in Asia voted for by TripAdvisor’s readers for the third year in a row, and is waiting for those craving a taste of crystal blue water and stretches of white sands.
Just around three kilometers away from the ancient town center and 22 kilometers south of Da Nang, An Bang was hailed as the 22nd best beach in Asia at this year’s Travelers’ Choice Awards.
The beach, which is home to fishing villages and provides a romantic setting for couples, is best enjoyed between May and September.
In 2013, An Bang Beach was voted one of the top 100 beaches in the world by CNN Summer Travel.
The unprecedented requirement has raised network security concerns about data safety.
Vietnamese mobile owners are being asked via text messages to submit profile photos to their network providers, something they never needed to do before.
The request follows a decree issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications which requires subscribers to provide photographic proof of their identities.
The government claims this will result in better control of network subscribers and prevent the abundance of fake SIM cards in Vietnam.
However, the new regulation has caused public uproar over data security concerns and for being too time consuming.
“Even registering ownership of a car or property doesn’t require photos,” said Do Thi Hoa, one user who received the message. However, she said she intended to submit her photo before the April 24 deadline because she didn’t want to get cut off.
Subscribers are required to submit their photos either to a local network agent or upload them directly via a network app within the next two weeks. One network is even offering to make home visits for senior citizens who are not familiar with technology.
The network providers have guaranteed their customers’ personal information will be in good hands.
“Photos and other private information will be archived in our database and will only be used to manage subscribers as stated by law,” said a representative from MobiFone, one of the largest network providers in Vietnam.
However, experts believe the regulation has loopholes that could be taken advantage of. A photo taken by a customer and sent to a network provider cannot be authenticated, said Vu Tien Vinh, a lawyer.
The images could also slip through the network security holes, a scenario in which the responsibility of the network provider has not yet been clearly defined, Vinh added.
The lawyer said he didn’t think that photos would help the government to control subscribers as all administrative procedures already require photo ID. He said the regulation should be scrapped to reduce the administrative burden it places on the public.
By the end of March 2018, Vietnam has 118.7 million mobile subscriptions, according to official data.
At least 38 million mobile phone users have not provided adequate personal information to network providers, Nguyen Duc Trung, a senior telecommunications official at the Ministry of Information and Communications, said in a Tuoi Trereport.
No more sleepy cashiers, but there have been complaints of the country’s first store in HCMC running out of goods.
Automated convenience stores have been given the green light to start operating in Hanoi this year by the city’s People’s Committee as part of is e-commerce plans for 2018.
The stores will feature vending machines that will require customers to scan QR codes from their smartphones in order to make a purchase.
The cashless transactions will make use of digital platforms for purchasing physical goods and services.
The move is part of the city’s plan to push online retail to account for 8 percent of total retail turnover in 2018.
In November last year, the country’s first automated convenience store was launched in Ho Chi Minh City.
The Toromart chain has announced its intention to expand the service beyond the southern metropolis in 2018.
There have, however, been complaints about the store in HCMC running out of goods and shopping bags, and the lack of a Vietnamese language option on mobile payment apps.
While popular in countries like Japan and South Korea, automated stores are still new to Vietnamese consumers.
Unlike traditional grocery stores, they often focus on fast food and beverages.
