Vietnam Insider - Page 1457 of 1519

Foreign investors eager to acquire Habeco

Advertisements

Along with Carlsberg, the Danish Brewer holding 17.3 per cent stake in Hanoi Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Corporation (Habeco), numerous foreign investors are looking to acquire a stake in Vietnam’s third-largest brewer in order to increase their market shares.

Carlsberg eager to buy Habeco stake

According to the latest movement, Cees’t Hart, chairman cum general director of Carlsberg, has arrived to Hanoi to look for specific plans to increase Carlsberg’s holding in Habeco.

In the framework of the visit, representatives of Carlsberg discussed with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Habeco, and relevant authorities about the state divestment progress.

According to the representative of Carlsberg, despite the parties making progress after numerous discussions, they have yet to reach the final compromise due to legal problems relating to Carlsberg’s priority purchasing rights at Habeco.

Earlier in the third quarter of last year, the representatives of Habeco and Carlsberg signed a strategic co-operation agreement and a purchase contract. According to the contract, when Habeco lists its shares on the stock exchange, Carlsberg can use its priority purchasing rights to buy Habeco’s stake.

However, an expert told VIR that while the contract is legal, its contents do not suit existing regulations. Thus, if the two parties implement some of the clauses in the contract, they will violate regulations.

Due to legal changes since Carlsberg completed the purchase of a 17.3 per cent stake to become the strategic investor and hold the priority purchasing rights, the government asked MoIT, which owns 81.8 per cent in Habeco, to scrutinise Carlsberg’s priority purchasing rights.

Previously, in 2016, Carlsberg proposed the authorities to permit it to buy more of the state’s stakes in Habeco, according to the plan it built. Notably, Carlsberg proposed MoIT to sell 20 per cent of the state’s stake via a competitive bidding.

Carlsberg would make a bid, and if it won, it would use the same price to purchase 61.70 per cent more of the state holding at a later date. However, Carlsberg’s plans have been blocked by regulations.

At present, Cees’t Hart stated that Habeco is a good asset and Carlsberg will offer a competitive price for a stake in the brewer.

Opportunity to change the face of the Vietnamese beer market

Along with Carlsberg, Heineken, and AB Inbev also expressed ambitions to acquire Habeco’s stake to increase their market share in Vietnam.

According to Phan Chi Dung, former head of the Light Industry Department under MoIT, acquiring Habeco’s stake will help these investors to increase their beer market share in Vietnam, which they could not do by buying into Sabeco (for example, the Competition Law does not permit Heineken that has 25 per cent of the market share to buy a stake in Sabeco because the purchase would make competition unfair for the remaining players).

At present, Sabeco is the largest brewer in Vietnam with a market share of 41-43 per cent, while the runners-up are Heineken with 25-27 per cent, Habeco with 16 per cent, and Carlsberg with 10 per cent, respectively.

AB InBev is the largest brewer on the world holding 500 beer brands and one-third of the global beer market. The firm earns $45 billion in annual revenue, 30 per cent of which is profit. M&A deals play an important role in AB InBev’s success as well as its global coverage.

Heineken expressed the ambition to increase its market share via the purchase of Habeco’s stake numerous times. In case it succeeds in acquiring a controlling stake in Habeco, its market share will soar legally.

By: Thanh Huong

Source: VIR

Fintech Challenge Vietnam – Finalists revealed mainly from Vietnam

Advertisements

A half of 16 finalists list in the first-ever Fintech Challenge Vietnam (FCV) which was officially revealed at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) – Viet Nam Resident Mission has come from Vietnam.

The Fintech Challenge Vietnam (FCV) is organized by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and the Mekong Business Initiative, the program is funded by the Government of Australia and the ADB.

In addition, the Viet Nam Bankers Association (VNBA) and the Viet Nam Fintech Club (VFC) are co-organizers of the program. Program Partners include seven commercial banks (BIDV, Vietcombank, VietinBank, Shinhan Bank, TP Bank, VIB, VP Bank) as well as FPT, Vietnam Silicon Valley, and VIISA.

The program aims to spur innovation in financial services that promote greater financial inclusion in Viet Nam, focusing on five fintech “verticals” that are critical for financial inclusion, including e-Payments, e-KYC, Peer-to-peer Lending, Open APIs, and Blockchain.

By the application closing date of January 31, 2018, FCV received 141 fintech applications, including 45 from Viet Nam and 97 from 27 countries in five different continents. The program successfully attracted applications in all five “verticals.”

Applications have been systematically evaluated and scored by program organizers, co-organizers and partners. Corporate and investor partners assessed each applicant based on commercial criteria (Innovation and Relevance; Management Capacity; and Scalability & Investment Readiness) while the State Bank of Vietnam, ADB, VNBA evaluated the potential impact on financial inclusion of each fintech solution.

The following 16 FCV Finalists represent the fintech applicants with highest overall scores as agreed by all the evaluators (in alphabetical order):

Additional information about the FCV program and the Finalists can be found at fintech.mekongbiz.org.

Successful FCV applicants will present their business models in the “Showcase Pitch Day” scheduled for 28 March 2018 at the CMC Innovation Center. After this initial Pitch Day, Finalists will be matched with FCV Partners who will serve as their mentors. Finalists will participate in a six-week incubation and mentoring program that will help them to refine and sharpen their business models to fit with local market context.

In a final competitive “Finalists Pitch Session,” all of the FCV Finalists will present their financial technology solutions to a panel of banking industry players, financial experts, and potential fintech investors. Cash prizes will be awarded to the best overall fintech, and to other vertical category winners.

The best solutions will have the opportunity to demo their products and services the day before the 2018 Vietnam National Fintech Day, tentatively scheduled for 28 May 2018.

By Nga Vu, The Leader

Experts are optimistic about the prospect of upgrading Vietnam stock market

Advertisements

Vietnam will attract more foreign capital, improve its transparency and the investment environment when its market is upgraded from frontier to emerging.

Dr. Can Van Luc, Chief Economist of BIDV, said that if Vietnam strives its best with good growth this year, Vietnam’s stock market will be considered to be included in the watchlist of MSCI, one of the world’s largest financial market rating agencies.

According to the regulations, Vietnam will need at least another two years to be considered upgraded.

This means that in the best perspective, Vietnam will be upgraded from the frontier market to the emerging market by MSCI by 2021.

According to Luc, the upgrade of Vietnam stock market brings four major benefits.

The first is to increase the ability to attract capital into the Vietnamese market in the context of many investment funds ready to pour money into emerging markets. This expert estimates that there will be another US$5 billion to US$10 billion invested in Vietnam each year which is a significant amount.

The second is to help increase transparency. As an emerging market, information will be more standardized with the application of international accounting mechanisms.

The third is to promote stronger institutional reforms related to the investment environment as well as the information disclosure.

The fourth is that the upgrading of stock market rank will show the level of development of Vietnam financial market.

However, Vo Tri Thanh, former vice president of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), Vietnam only has possibility of becoming “emerging markets” successfully of 25 per cent.

Thanh showed that there are three reasons why it is difficult for Vietnam to meet MSCI’s upgrading criteria.

The first is that the disclosure of information must be in English. Thanh said that this factor is very difficult for Vietnamese enterprises, especially for small and medium ones. This difficulty is not only the capacity of Vietnam companies but also its resources and costs.

The second factor is the participation of foreign investors or the degree of openness to foreign investors.

The third is the level of ease of capital transfer. The former vice president of CIEM said that this is the most difficult factor in Vietnam. In 2000, Vietnam set a target in the next ten years, VND became to have convertible currency but until now, the target can be said is not done yet.

Contrary to carefulness of Thanh, “If we try our best as well as when we participate in the international playgrounds like CPTPP, these issues will be solved,” said Can Van Luc.

Can Van Luc highly appreciated the State’s efforts in achieving the market upgrading in the past years such as improving the business environment and the size of the stock market. The signing of the CPTPP is a very positive move for the financial market.

Le Thi Le Hang, CEO of SSI Asset Management Company, said that in the past two years, Vietnam government has changed a lot in the way of equitisation when it is ready to reduce the ownership ratio, improve liquidity as well as fairness.

In 2018, the equitization trend is expected to be further strengthened, Hang said.

Souce: TheLeader

Finance, banking sector under pressure to undergo digital conversion

Advertisements

The technical breakdown at the HCM City Stock Exchange (HOSE) in late January shows that the finance and banking sector in Vietnam urgently needs to undergo digital conversion, analysts have said.

Trading orders could not be entered into the system on January 22 due to a software flaw. Vietnam’s largest stock exchange had to close for two days to fix the technical problems.

In a press release, Le Hai Tra from HOSE’s management board said the transaction system used at HOSE is good with high stability. It was once used at the Chicago Stock Exchange and Thailand Stock Exchange.

He said the system has been undergoing periodic maintenance and has been upgraded several times. At the time when the breakdown occurred, the number of orders the system was dealing with were just 25 percent of the system’s capability.

However, analysts said that incidents caused by software flaws are unacceptable.

Banks in digitalization race

Banks is witnessing the fastest digitalization process in Vietnam

Banking is witnessing the fastest digitalization process in Vietnam. Most Vietnamese banks are using the most advanced technologies, from Mobilization to Big Data.

TP Bank has launched Livebank, an autobank service which allows clients to use banking services 24 hours a day. The bank has installed next-generation ATMs in large cities.

The technology allows the bank to cut costs opening branches and transaction offices and allows clients to make transactions at a time convenient to them.

Meanwhile, other banks are using new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data analysis to answer customers’ inquiries automatically and to research customer behavior so as to provide suitable services to different groups of clients.

Experts predict that business activities based on digital platforms will make up 44 percent of banks’ total revenue this year, compared with the 32 percent proportion in 2014. Digital technology is expected to change the face of Vietnam’s banking sector.

Blockchain

Blockchain technology has been introduced by cloud computing service providers in Vietnam by IBM, Microsoft and Oracle.

Vu Manh Hoang from IBM Vietnam said it is a simple and easy way to access technology, and the cost is reasonable. At first, businesses can use the technology on a small scale, for 5-7 officers, and can expand the scale later, depending on demand.

IBM believes that from now to 2020, blockchain will be one of 10 leading technologies in the world, including Vietnam. Many more Vietnamese enterprises will use the technology this year.

Source: VietNamNet

HCM City to increase parking fees

Advertisements

HCM City will increase automobile parking fees on some sidewalks and roadsides in the city centre to VNĐ20,000-40,000 (US$0.9-1.8) per hour from June 1.

The adjustment of automobile parking fees was approved by the People’s Council last Friday in an aim to reduce the number of cars parked on pavements and roads.

Automobiles will be categorised into two groups and charged accordingly.

The fee for vehicles that have less than nine seats and trucks weighing up to 1.5 tonnes will be VNĐ20,000-25,000 ($0.9-1.1) per hour for the first and second hours, VNĐ25,000-30,000 ($1.1-1.3) for the third and fourth hours, and VNĐ30,000-35,000 ($1.3-1.5) from the fifth hour or more.

Vehicles with 10-16 seats and trucks weighing 1.5 to 2.5 tonnes will be charged VNĐ25,000-30,000 per hour for the first and second hours, VNĐ30,000-35,000 for the third and fourth, and VNĐ35,000-40,000 for the fifth or more.

The new rates will apply on streets where parking is allowed on roadsides and sidewalks in districts 1, 3, 5, 10 and 11 from 6am-midnight daily.

Automobile owners can pay parking fees via their mobile phone accounts or bank accounts.
The new rates are expected to be 20-25 per cent higher than fees at parking lots at shopping malls, office buildings and apartment buildings in the city.

Parking fees are currently around VNĐ5,000 ($0.22), irrespective of the length of time.

Source: VNS

3 insights about Vietnam’s ecommerce landscape last year

Advertisements

2017 was a great year for the ecommerce industry in Vietnam. Among the biggest events were Alibaba’s US$1 billion investment in Lazada and JD.com’s US$44 million investment in Tiki.vn.

And early this year, Creador injected US$43.8 million into Vietnam’s largest electronics retailer Mobile World (The Gioi Di Dong). The omni-channel giant also succeeded in acquiring Tran Anh Digital earlier on.

The ecommerce market also showed positive growth over the past few months, with the revenue amounting to US$2.6 million so far this year. With an expected annual growth rate (CAGR between 2018 and 2022) of 13.7 percent, the market volume of Vietnamese ecommerce is predicted to hit US$4.3 million in 2022.

To find out the drivers behind this growth, we explored iPrice’s proprietary data of over 1,000 ecommerce players in the region. Our research uncovered the following highlights:

Vietnam has the highest growth in mobile traffic in Southeast Asia
Vietnam’s ecommerce merchants are leaders in conversion rate
Bank transfer and COD are more popular payment methods

Highest mobile growth

Mobile traffic in Southeast Asia

At 26 percent over the past 12 months, Vietnam enjoyed the steepest growth in mobile traffic across Southeast Asia. Mobile traffic has grown by 19 percent on average, now accounting for 72 percent of the overall ecommerce traffic.

Millennials are the key driver for mobile growth in Vietnam. According to Nielsen, this generation makes up 30 percent of the country’s population, which translates to around 27 million people. A ComScore 2017 report recorded that Vietnam demonstrates a stronger mobile-first population than other global and regional markets due to millennials’ increasing use of mobile.

To illustrate, we saw the dramatic rise of Shopee in 2017. Within less than two years of operation, the mobile-first platform surpassed Lazada to become the number one shopping app in the country. This signifies that millennial shopping behavior is gradually shaping the future of ecommerce in Vietnam.

High conversion rate

Conversion rate per country

The average conversion rate in Vietnam is 30 percent higher than the Southeast Asian average. And at US$23, Vietnam’s basket size is lowest in the region, as people order low-value products without an intent to return the items.

According to a 2016 survey, there is a lack of unification in terms of cancellation policies in Vietnam, making it difficult for consumers to return products. Many cancellation policies come with extra conditions. Some merchants require membership in order to make a cancellation, and others only allow consumers to return products on their next purchase. These issues can only be addressed with better logistics and delivery service from merchants.

The popularity of online-to-offline model is another contributing factor in the rise of conversion rate in ecommerce in Vietnam. Consumers can examine the products in physical stores then make a purchase via a website or vice versa.

Bank transfer and COD’s popularity

Payment solutions offered by merchants

At 82 percent, Vietnam has the highest number of merchants offering COD. Up to 60 percent of merchants use self-delivery or hire shippers to handle COD payments instead of using third-party logistics. Merchants have to face several obstacles when using a third-party service, such as high operation costs, late deliveries, and slow transactions.

Vietnamese merchants are therefore offering more secure payment methods to consumers. Bank transfer, offered by 88 percent of merchants, is getting popular in the country. Offline point of sales and installment were also introduced to encourage shoppers make higher-value transactions.

Vietnam has the least number of merchants in Southeast Asia that offer credit card payment due to low banking penetration. In 2016, only 15 percent of bank card users made an online purchase. Still, up to 67 percent of merchants are willing to offer credit card payment.

Vietnam is also heading toward a cashless economy. In early 2017, the government introduced a cashless plan to reduce cash transactions to 10 percent of the total market transaction by 2020. Following the plan, cash payments will be subject to fees and credit card payments will come with discounts. This aims to encourage consumers to shop more online via non-cash transactions. An automatic payment center will also be established within the next three years to help connect consumers with online payment facilities.

Source: Ly Pham

Another cosmetics brand bought by foreign company

Advertisements

A 2017 survey by Kantar WorldPanel in four large cities and several rural areas found that multinational brands such as Unilever and P&G have been dominant in the personal and home sectors over the last three years.

About 35 million Vietnamese use their products, from shampoo and toothpaste to tea and ice cream. The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector is growing well thanks to the rapid development of the middle class, modern retail channels and e-commerce.

In the personal care product segment, five leading manufacturers are all multinationals, Unilever, P&G, Unicharm, Kimberly Clark, Colgate Palmolive and Unza. The fact shows that Vietnamese have higher confidence in foreign brands than in domestic brands.

As for home care products, Lix is the only Vietnamese company dominant in the urban market. In rural areas, there are more Vietnamese, including Dai Viet Huong and My Hao.

Dai Viet Huong, which owns Abba detergent brand, E100 skin care and Ramus shampoo, even surpassed the big brand P&G in the last three years in the rural market.

Vietnamese brands

Though some Vietnamese brands such as Dai Viet Huong, Lix and My Hao still have their customers, domestic brands are fading in the home market.

Most of them target the low-cost market segment and earn money from doing outsourcing for big brands and from exports.

A Euromonitor report released in 2016 showed that Unilever’s Sunlight brand held 56 percent of the dishwashing liquid market, while its P/S and Close-Up brands held 46 percent of toothpaste market share, Pond’s and Vaseline 12 percent of the skin care market, and Wall’s 10 percent of the ice cream market.

P/S was once a Vietnamese brand but was sold to Unilever many years ago.

P/S is not the only Vietnamese cosmetics brand falling into foreign hands. The other names include Da Lan and X-Men which were sold to Colgate Palmolive and Marico.

More recently, one more cosmetics brand was transferred to a Japanese investor.

“The business potential is great, but we don’t have resources. We have to mortgage assets for bank loans and cannot access preferential loans,” said Nguyen Van Ngu, the founder of Ngu A Chau Company, when explaining the reason to sell the 10-year old company.

Ngu A Chau is well known to hair salons in southern provinces for the KANAC brand. Sources said the products of A Chau hold 10 percent of market share. The products are distributed through 200 general sale agents.

Source: VietNamNet

Crossing Vietnam on foot with $5, a guitar and a smile

Advertisements

2,300km is no walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination.

At first sight, Ho Nhat Ha doesn’t look like a professional athlete. Ha doesn’t have an impressive, muscular build, and most people don’t have to look up when they talk to him. Ha is one of the least likely people you would think could walk 2,300 kilometers (1,429 miles) across Vietnam in 113 days.

But he did.

Photo: Nhat Ha’s Facebook

The 31-year-old, based in Ho Chi Minh City, had been thinking about his unique trip for quite some time before actually doing it. There are plenty of options for someone who fancies a Vietnam experience: flights are not expensive, cars are popular and motorbikes are fun, but walking is the last thing that would spring into most people’s minds. It’s kind of crazy, they’d say.

That’s what Ha faced a year ago when he decided to walk across Vietnam. Despite opposition from his family, Ha started to plan and prepare for his ‘crazy’ journey. Ha quit his stable job to do freelance work, and started to train for the task. He walked 70 kilometers to a neighboring province, and on another trip, climbed and spent the night on Black Virgin, a 996-meter mountain northwest of Ho Chi Minh City.

The time was right on October 18, 2017, when Ha set off with three sets of clothes, 20 hardtack bars, a hammock, some medicine and a guitar. He began at the Independence Palace in Ho Chi Minh City, and headed for the north of Vietnam in Ha Giang Province.

As if walking the length of the country wasn’t enough, Ha decided not to take any cash with him on his journey. He kept VND1 million ($44) in his bank account just in case, and made money along the way by busking and writing songs for the people he met.

Every day, Ha walked around 30 kilometers, starting at 7 a.m. and finishing at 6 p.m. He only upped his pace in order to reach his hometown in time for Tet, Vietnam’s traditional Lunar New Year. To save money, Ha ate bread and instant noodles, and slept wherever he could find shelter, be it a market, a construction site, an abandoned house, or in the jungle.

Ha recalls one night in a market when he feared getting robbed.

Ha and his trusty guitar at the Ma Pi Leng Pass in Ha Giang Province. Photo: Nhat Ha’s Facebook

“I was just falling asleep when the sounds of motorbikes and people shouting woke me up. The junkies had arrived to use drugs. The most valuable item I had at that time was my phone, and I was ready to lose it,” he said. Fortunately, the addicts left and Ha went back to sleep, but not for long because the market he was resting in opened at 4 a.m.

The only time Ha had to withdraw money was the VND100,000 VND ($5) he took out as a last resort in Quang Ngai Province in south central Vietnam. “I planned to busk that night because I had run out of money, but a friend really wanted to show me around, and I couldn’t say no. Eventually I had to withdraw VND100,000 to stay at a homestay,” Ha said. That was the only money Ha spent from his emergency fund on the entire journey.

Ha did not expect to do everything on his own during the trip. In fact, one of the reasons he walked was to find out if Vietnamese people still had compassion and kindness for one another. He didn’t have to wait long for the answer. Many strangers talked to him, offered him meals and introduced him to friends and relatives for the next stage of his journey. It turned out he was not alone.

“There were times when things didn’t feel right, but I taught myself to smile and to say hello to people in new places,” Ha said. “A smile helps you to overcome the most challenging situations. It gives you the boost your heart needs to conquer any difficulties.”

Source: VnExpress

Most SE Asian stocks slip ahead of Fed decision; Vietnam up

Advertisements

Most Southeast Asian stock markets edged lower on Monday, in line with broader Asia, as caution gripped investors ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting that starts on Tuesday.

With a 25 basis point rate hike seen as a done deal, a key focus is on whether Fed policymakers forecast four rate hikes this year in their “dot plot” projections, instead of three they projected at a December meeting.

“As far as equities go, I think people will be a bit more risk-off if there are more rate hikes than expected,” said Fio Dejesus, an equity research analyst with RCBC Securities.

Thai shares were the biggest losers in Southeast Asia, hurt by weakness in energy stocks. Oil and gas firm PTT Pcl dropped 2.2%.

Singapore shares fell for a fourth straight session, with financials among the top losers. Lender Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd declined 0.9%, while DBS Group Holdings Ltd slipped 0.6%.

Indonesian shares slipped, weighed down by consumer discretionary and materials stocks.

Astra International Tbk PT fell 2.4% to its lowest close July 2016.

An index of the country’s 45 most liquid stocks slipped 0.1%.

Philippine shares recovered from early falls to close marginally lower with financial and consumer discretionary stocks leading the recovery. Ayala Corp ended 2% higher.

“You have to take into account that the Philippines has already been correcting for the past two weeks, so perhaps the valuations are now better than they have been recently,” said Dejesus.

The benchmark stock index has declined 3.8% year-to-date after gaining about 25% in 2017.

Malaysian shares closed slightly higher, helped by gains in financials and telecom services stocks. Public Bank Bhd gained 0.4%.

Vietnam shares rose for a sixth straight session, helped by real estate stocks and industrials, and posted their highest close since March 2007.

Source: Reuters

Fake wedding boom in Vietnam

Advertisements

Vietnamese women looking to avoid the social stigma of having a child out of wedlock are increasingly turning to grooms-for-hire businesses that specialize in throwing fake weddings complete with fake grooms and guests for a hefty fee.

The AFP in February featured a company called Vinamost, which has around 400 wedding impostors available, and offers various packages ranging between $1,500 and $4,500.

With over 300,000 abortions recorded every year, Vietnam’s abortion rate ranks fifth globally and first in Asia.

Source: Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT

Alibaba to invest S$2.6b more in Lazada, replaces CEO

Advertisements

Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group announced on Monday (Mar 19) it will invest an additional US$2 billion (S$2.6 billion) in Lazada, two years after it acquired a controlling stake in the Singapore-headquartered e-commerce site.

CEO Maximilian Bittner will also step down and be replaced by current chairwoman Lucy Peng, Alibaba said in a press release.

The latest move will bring Alibaba’s total investment in the online shopping platform to US$4 billion. This is part of the company’s efforts to “accelerate the region’s e-commerce development”, Alibaba said.

In 2016, the Chinese company acquired a controlling stake in Lazada for US$1 billion. The following year, it upped its stake to 83 per cent with another US$1 billion injection.

Ms Peng will remain as chairwoman and will assume the additional role of CEO. She is one of the 18 founders and a senior partner in Alibaba Group. She replaces Mr Bittner, who has been CEO since 2012 and will transit to the role of senior adviser to “assist in the transition and future international growth strategy”.

“With a young population, high mobile penetration and just 3 per cent of the region’s retail sales currently conducted online, we feel very confident to double down on Southeast Asia,” said Ms Peng. “Lazada is well-positioned for the next phase of development and of Internet-enabled commerce in this region.”

Lazada was launched in 2012 and has a presence in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Last September, it announced it will sell select items from Alibaba’s Taobao marketplace in three more Southeast Asia markets – Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines – in addition to Singapore and Malaysia.

Source: CNA/kk

Saigon to install cameras to enhance security in central parks

Advertisements

People have been shooting drugs, cooking, showering and sleeping in parks outside Ben Thanh Market and the Independence Palace.

Ho Chi Minh City is planning to install new security cameras in two major parks in District 1 to combat drug use and public indecency.

Officials from the central district said they will set up the surveillance cameras in the September 23 Park outside Ben Thanh Market and the April 30 Park in front of the Independence Palace.

Local media have been reporting ongoing drug use in the Ben Thanh park for a number of years. Cooking, showering and airing clothes are also prohibited in the parks, some of which have become shelters for homeless people.

Officials said they are also going to upgrade the toilets and lighting systems in the parks, and set up more exercise facilities.

The two central parks are among a limited number of green public spaces in the city of 13 million people.

Figures from the Administration of Technical Infrastructure under the Ministry of Construction a year ago showed that Vietnam’s biggest cities had only two to three square meters of green area per person.

That is a third or less than what the World Health Organization has recommended for a healthy urban life.

Source: VnExpress

Ho Chi Minh City to Brisbane non-stop on Vietjet

Advertisements

Vietjet and Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC), Queensland, Australia recently signed an agreement to open a non-stop service between Ho Chi Minh City and Brisbane, looking to boost the region’s integration and trade exchange. Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and senior leaders of Vietnam and Australia witnessed the signing ceremony in Sydney. The direct flight between the two cities is expected to commence in 2019.

Julieanne Alroe, CEO and Managing Director of BAC, said travel between Queensland and Vietnam has been growing at an average 8 per cent per annum over the last five years and this new service would further stimulate the market. “It makes perfect sense for Vietjet to choose Brisbane, Queensland as its very first Australian port for direct flights given Ho Chi Minh City is one of Brisbane’s top five markets without non-stop services. We look forward to welcoming Vietjet to the Brisbane Airport family and further strengthening the ties between Queensland and Vietnam,” she said.

As the capital of Queensland, located in Southeast Australia, 900 kilometers from Sydney in the north, Brisbane is the third most populous city of Australia and known as “the new world city” by the locals. The city is renowned for its young, dynamic and friendly people with fast economic growth in recent years. With mild weather ranging from 15ºC to 25ºC in the winter and from 25ºC to 30ºC in the summer, Brisbane is becoming the ideal destination for international students and tourists, especially those from the Asia Pacific, including Vietnam.

Vietjet Vice President Nguyen Thi Thuy Binh said: “Following the airline’s “Sky Connection” program, Vietjet has been well prepared for international aviation integration with high-quality and friendly services in order to connect Vietnam’s economic and tourism hubs with international destinations, including Australia – this amazing country that we expect to be soon connected with so we can offer more air travel opportunities to Vietnamese people and regional travelers. The Ho Chi Minh City-Brisbane route is also the first non-stop service between the two cities under the cooperation and support of Brisbane Airport Corporation and Tourism & Events Queensland. I believe that this service will soon be put into operation, meeting increasing travel demand of many people and tourists.”

Also, as part of the Vietnam Prime Minister’s official visit to Australia, Vietjet and Investec Bank PLC signed a MOU worth US$609 million to finance the purchase of five Airbus A321 aircraft at manufacturer’s list price.

By: Juergen T Steinmetz, Source: eturbonews.com

Travel back in time with these shots of Vietnam’s capital 60 years ago

Advertisements

Hungarian photographer Rév Miklós tells a vivid story of Hanoi through the photos he took during a trip in 1959.

Dong Xuan Market, still one of the busiest markets in Hanoi today, in 1959. Rév Miklós was born in 1906 in Sátoraljaújhely and died in 1998 in Budapest. When he visited Hanoi in 1959, Miklós was president of the Association of Hungarian Photographers.

The corner of Trang Tien and Hang Bai near Hanoi’s iconic Hoan Kiem (Sword) Lake.

A panel encouraging agricultural development stands by Hoan Kiem Lake.

Hang Buom Street in Hoan Kiem District. It used to be home to the Chinese community in Hanoi.

Hang Bac Street is still famous for its silver jewelry today.

Grandpa and grandson have a drink in the Old Quarter, a part of Hanoi that has been in existence since imperial times as early as the 16th century.

Two boys watch a movie at a mobile cinema on the street.

Two women ride bicycles wearing ao dai, the traditional Vietnamese long dress. These photos appear in a photo book by Rév Miklós that was published in 1960 in Budapest.

Many parts of the Old Quarter still look the same today.

Source: VNExpress

Online retail market may fall into Chinese hands: experts

Advertisements

Three giant e-commerce corporations, Alibaba, Tencent and JD.com of China, have arrived in Vietnam.

There are no official figures about e-commerce market share for the last two years. However, Lazada was considered the leader with 30% of market share.

Alibaba in mid-2016 spent US$1 billion to acquire 51% of Lazada, which was called South East Asia’s Amazon.

In mid-2017, Alibaba poured another US$1 billion into Lazada to raise its ownership ratio to 83%.

Meanwhile, JD.com in late 2017 injected money into Tiki, and Tencent, a Chinese technology group in the world’s top 10, a big shareholder of Shopee.

According to Google, Lazada, Shopee and Tiki are three of the four most searched e-commerce websites in Vietnam.

Vu Vinh Phu, a retail expert, voiced concern about the presence of foreign e-commerce giants, which could ‘crush’ Vietnamese companies.

He stressed that Vietnam needs to learn lessons from the retail market. Many foreign retail chains have entered Vietnam and expanded their networks in the domestic market, such as Lotte, Aeon and MM Mega Market.

The same thing may happen in the online retail market.

“We must not let the grass grow under our feet,” Phu said, adding that the government needs to create a fair business environment and control trading activities to ensure the healthy operation of the market.

Meanwhile, deputy chair of the Vietnam E-commerce Association Le Hai Binh said he does not think the presence of foreign giants in Vietnam is a problem.

“The presence of foreign companies in Vietnam will benefit consumers as goods supply will be more plentiful, product quality will be better, and consumers will be able to receive better post-sale services,” Binh said.

“Most Vietnamese companies focus on niche markets and target specific groups of customers,” he said.

E-commerce is a ‘boundless business’. In the past, Alibaba with online trading floors in China such as AliExpress and Taobao, have sold goods to Vietnamese, but they are not managed by Vietnamese agencies, and do not pay tax. Vietnamese buyers do not want to receive high-quality post-sale services.

“As Alibaba has officially entered Vietnam through Lazada, Vietnamese customers can enjoy better services, while the ‘game’ will become fair as it also has to pay taxes like Vietnamese companies,” Binh said.

According to MOIT, Vietnam’s e-commerce revenue was US$5 billion in 2016, twice as much as the US$2.2 billion in 2013, accounting for 3% of total turnover from goods and services.

With the predicted growth rate of 35% per annum, or 2.5 times higher than Japan, the market value is expected to reach US$10 billion by 2020.

Source: VNN