The cost of living in Vietnam’s commercial center Ho Chi Minh City is a bit more expensive than in the capital city of Hanoi.
Good news for those who are planning a trip to Vietnam as the country’s two biggest cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, just cracked into the top 10 cheapest cities in Southeast Asia for this year.
HCMC, the southern metropolis, took the 9th position when Hanoi secured the 7th spot, as shown in the Cost of Living Index 2018 conducted by Numbeo, the world’s largest database of user contributed data about cities and countries worldwide.
Valenzuela in the Philippines is the city with lowest cost of living in the region.
Aside from the two Vietnamese cities, the rest in the top ten are in the Philippines (PHL) and Indonesia (IDN).
Numbeo measures the cost of restaurants, house renting, groceries and the purchasing power to come up with the average index for the cost of living in each country.
The top five most expensive cities in Southeast Asia are Singapore, Bangkok of Thailand, Makati of the Philippines, Phuket of Thailand and Johor Bahru of Malaysia.
In February last year, Vietnam was ranked as one of the cheapest destinations by Forbes after the magazine interviewed 14 travel experts who made it their business to keep track of the best bargains around the world to make a list of the most affordable destinations to visit in 2017.
The country stood out as a low-cost travel destination in South Asia for affordable luxury resorts, healthy food at cheap prices and beautiful sights.
Three months later in May 2017, HCMC was named one of the most affordable cities for a couple’s night out by Expatistan.com, a database that compiles the global cost of living.
For a night out with a potential life-long love in HCMC, love birds have to shell out around $35, while in Singapore a date may cost them at least $80.
Facebook looks like the most effective form of all online sales channels.
Local stores in Vietnam are increasingly turning to online sales to reach the two-thirds of the population that is online, a new survey has found.
Data collected by Vietnam’s sales management software firm Sapo shows that as many as 90 percent of stores across the country are going online to connect with customers.
Of the 1,000 stores surveyed, 35 percent said online sales accounted for more than half of their total revenue in 2017.
Cosmetics and jewelry vendors earned the most from online sales, which made up 48 percent of their total revenue last year, while pharmacies earned the least with just 12 percent.
Direct sales are still the most most effective means of trade, followed by Facebook, company websites, Instagram, homegrown messaging app Zalo, and authorized dealers, the survey found, after talking to firms with at least three outlets with a minimum of seven employees working at each.
E-commerce in Vietnam is expected to expand from a 0.5 percent share in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market to 2.2 percent in 2025, coupled with the rise of digitization, according to a report released in November last year by market research firm Kantar Worldpanel.
The gap between online and offline sales is gradually falling because they are supporting each other to make businesses more effective, a representative from Sapo was quoted as saying in a Sunday report by the Vietnam News Agency.
This idea was shared by Kantar Worldpanel last year. “We know that e-commerce is still cannibalizing offline purchases. However, there is growing evidence that online formats, in isolation, are no longer the best option for winning market share.”
“It´s about how online and offline work together to create a better shopper experience,” it said.
Vietnam’s e-commerce market climbed to about $4 billion in 2016 as one of the fastest-growing markets in the world.
Revenue from online retail in Vietnam is forecast to hit $10 billion by 2020, accounting for 5 percent of the country’s retail market, according to Kantar Worldpanel.
Around 60 percent of the country’s population of nearly 92 million is online.
Vietnam is dramatically accelerating sales of stakes in state-owned companies to boost revenue and ease a strained budget, while seeking to exceed its economic growth target this year.
The government plans to sell 6.5 times more shares than it offered last year, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. The state raised 135.6 trillion dong ($6 billion) from these sales in 2017.
“We need more foreign investment but also want to lure good investors who can help our companies improve corporate governance,” Hue said in his office in Hanoi on Jan. 19. The assets the government plans to sell “will include leading companies in energy, power and petroleum,” he said.
Vietnam, which had one of the world’s fastest-growing economies last year at 6.8 percent, is saddled with high public debt levels that constrain the government’s ability to boost spending. The state could come close to breaching its 65 percent constitutional debt limit next year, HSBC Holdings Plc said in a report this month, singling out Vietnam as the nation facing the greatest need for fiscal consolidation in Southeast Asia.
Strengthening Growth
Vietnam’s economy grew at the fastest pace since at least 2010.
State-owned enterprises in the Communist Party-controlled nation were once the biggest employers, the largest revenue earners and the main growth drivers. But the government is now pressing for greater support for private-sector businesses, decades after the “Doi Moi” reforms of 1986 brought market-oriented change to Vietnam.
245 Companies
The government is banking on an expanding middle class and its youthful population to attract investors. Stakes in 245 state companies are up for grabs in 2018, including four scheduled in the first quarter — Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co., which operates the only oil refinery in the country, as well as PetroVietnam Oil Corp., PetroVietnam Power Corp. and Hanoi Beer Alcohol & Beverage JSC.
Among the assets disposed last year was a majority stake in the nation’s top brewer Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp., or Sabeco, to Thai Beverage Pcl and its partner in December, which sold for $4.8 billion.
Vietnam has struggled to privatize state companies with many of them finding it difficult to value their shares. The government is working on plans to allow more foreign ownership in sectors include banks, the deputy premier said.
Public debt and publicly-guaranteed debt will increase to 64.2 percent of gross domestic product by 2019 from an estimated 62.6 percent last year, the World Bank estimated. The government plans to cap the budget deficit at 3.7 percent of GDP in 2018 from 3.5 percent in 2017.
Stellar Growth
Economic growth this year may match 2017’s pace of 6.8 percent — slightly higher than the 6.7 percent target set by the government — despite risks of rising trade protectionism around the world, Hue said.
“There are some risks and challenges remaining in the Vietnamese economy but the biggest challenge will be that we want to grow faster but also in a sustainable manner at a time when there are unpredictable movements in the world economies,” Hue said.
The economy, which posted a total trade value last year that was 1.93 times bigger than its GDP, is susceptible to global turbulence that can “quickly have a direct impact on Vietnam in terms of trade, investment, currency,” he added.
Xiaomi’s leader announced the corporation’s ambition to become the number one smart phone brand in Vietnam. The target is considered out of Xiaomi’s reach in light of the dominance of big guns and the heated competition in the low-cost segment.
Massive difficulties waiting for Xiaomi
The smart phone market in Vietnam has been saturated by leading smart phone brands, including Samsung and Apple, putting smaller fish on the withdrawal with little to no profit.
Notably, almost all of the high-end market is dominated by Samsung, Apple, and Oppo, that make up 80 per cent of smart phone sales and 90 per cent of the revenue. In the low-cost segment, the market is held by Mobiitstart, Huawei, Vivo, Asus, Lenovo, and HTC, among others.
Both the high-end and low-cost segments are ripe with underground wars between competitors.
Meanwhile, Xiaomi has numerous disadvantages in the war for market share, putting the top spot far out of reach. Notably, although Xiaomi appeared in Vietnam in 2014, it has yet to fight its way among the top 10 smart phone brands in Vietnam. At present, Xiaomi only contributed 0.78 per cent to smart phone sales and 0.54 per cent to the market’s total revenue.
Furthermore, Xiaomi is a newcomer from China, struggling with Vietnamese customers’ deep-rooted preconceptions against low-cost “Made in China” products.
All in all, Xiaomi’s low-cost strategy to gain the top spot is considered too little.
Distribution system is the key
Doan Hong Viet, general director of Digiworld, the distributor of Xiaomi in Vietnam, issued the plan to popularise Xiaomi’s products in 15 cities and provinces this year and to build 1,000 Xiaomi stores across the nation by 2020.
In reality, building a secure retail distribution system across the country is considered a core factor in the success of a smart phone brand.
Oppo, which is the direct competitor of Xiaomi, ranks in the top three smart phone brands in Vietnam after only six years of entering Vietnam. In order to reach this success, along with meeting customers’ taste, Oppo focused on developing its retail distribution network. As a result, within a short three years, Oppo’s products were present on the shelves of almost all retail electronic stores.
Meanwhile, other smart phone brands like LG, Microsoft, Nokia, Sony, HTC, and Asus either had to withdraw from the market or maintain operations with low profit due to a failure in building out a nationwide retail distribution system.
The auction of more than 5.5 million TPBank shares, owned by Mobifone, due on February 7 will be postponed, the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) announced.
According to HNX, Mobifone asked the exchange to postpone the auction to clarify the foreign ownership ratio at TPBank to protect legal interests of investors taking part in the auction.
The move was made after TPBank sent a document to HNX, announcing that the foreign ownership ratio at the bank reached 30 per cent of its charter capital so that foreign investors will not be allowed to buy TPBank shares at the auction according to the current law.
HNX has asked auction agents to refund the investors, who registered and deposited to take part in the auction.
Last week, Mobifone announced that it will auction more than 5.55 million TPBank shares, or 1 per cent of the bank’s charter capital, on February 7. At a starting price of VNĐ12,800 (56 US cents) per share, Mobifone is expected to gain at least VNĐ70 billion (US$3.1 million) and cut its stake in the bank to 4.76 per cent.
On the same day, Mobifone will also auction more than 33.4 million SeABank shares, equal to 6.11 per cent of the bank’s charter capital. With a starting price of VNĐ9,600 (42 US cents) per share, if successfully auctioned, Mobifone will gain more than VNĐ320 billion and no longer be a shareholder of SeABank.
The divestment from the two banks is in line with Mobifone’s policy of divesting from its non-core business lines.
Life insurer Dai-ichi Life Vietnam collected $350 million in premiums in 2017, securing its foothold in one of Asia’s fastest-growing insurance markets.
Dai-chi Life Vietnam has just released its 2017 business results, which states that the insurer now takes up 12 per cent of the market share in the Vietnamese life insurance segment. The total premium gained in 2017 amounted to VND8 trillion ($350 million).
With these positive results, Dai-ichi Life is now Vietnam’s third biggest life insurer in terms of total premiums. The firm now serves two million Vietnamese customers via a network of 1,200 employees and 70,500 professional advisors.
Throughout 11 years of operations in Vietnam, Dai-ichi Life has built the third largest distribution network among all life insurers, running 260 offices in all provinces across the country.
The firm also received the Third Class Labour Medal today in Ho Chi Minh City. At the ceremony, managing director Takashi Fujii noted that Dai-ichi Life Vietnam would continue its strategy as a socially responsible insurer.
“We would like to blend our growth with social responsibilities. This is the core mission of Dai-ichi Life Vietnam,” said Fujii.
According to the General Statistics Office, the Vietnamese life insurance market grew by 29 per cent in terms of new premiums in 2017, reaching VND65 trillion ($2.8 billion). The country is now one of Asia’s fastest-growing markets thanks to a young population, a burgeoning middle class, and the low penetration rate of insurance products.
Viet Nam has planned to have 500 hi-tech agricultural cooperatives and to increase the high-tech farming production value by five times by 2020.
This was revealed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, which said that 60 per cent of the cooperatives would be located in the country’s major agricultural production hubs such as Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta, Hong (Red) River Delta, the northern mountainous region and Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) region.
The ministry planned that each province and city would have at least three hi-tech agricultural cooperatives.
Of note, the production value of hi-tech agricultural products was expected to be five times higher. The average income from hi-tech farming products was expected to be three times higher than products which did not apply technologies during cultivation, from the current 1.5 times.
In addition, the percentage of cooperatives using automation technology models and biotechnology would be increased from the current 17 per cent to 30-40 per cent.
The ministry said it was important to develop a production value chain of high-added value farming products and to promote the linkage of cooperatives with enterprises, as well as to encourage technology transfer and provide preferential loans to agricultural cooperatives.
At the same time, training would be provided to cooperatives’ members. The agriculture ministry targeted that this year, 100 people would be sent to Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Israel to learn hi-tech farming experiences, and by 2020, the number would reach 500.
According to the ministry’s statistics, there are now 193 hi-tech agricultural cooperatives in Viet Nam, more than 85 per cent of which are operating in plantation and forestry, 9 per cent in animal husbandry and the rest in aquaculture.
They are mainly in Lam Dong Province, which has 36 cooperatives, while Long An has 14, Ha Noi 13 and HCM City 11 cooperatives.
The construction on a resort and eco-tourism complex was launched in the central coastal province of Phu Yen on Thursday.
The HCM City-based Tan Viet An House Trading and Investment Joint Stock Company has total investment of VND560 billion (US$24 million) in the complex.
Covering an area of 9.2 hectares in Tuy Hoa City, the Viet Beach project includes an eight-floor hotel, 27 villas, 106 bungalows and some entertainment facilities such as a gymnasium and club, swimming pool, children’s playground and restaurants.
Tran Duy Dung, general director of the company, said that the project is scheduled to be completed in two years.
It is expected to create jobs for about 450 local workers.
With a population of more than 95 million and the world’s fastest growing mobile games market, Vietnam is worth a serious look from any mobile developer.
To that end, we took a look at the recent rankings to provide a snapshot of the important trends in Vietnam’s mobile games market.*
Chinese RPG, strategy and card battle games dominate
Vietnam’s mobile games market is currently dominated by titles in the RPG, strategy and card battle genres.
Chinese developers have been able to do well in these genres due to Vietnamese gamers having a preference for Chinese style influence over graphics and UI. This goes back to Chinese PC games performing well in Vietnam and this has given Chinese developers an advantage in this market.
The highest grossing game in Vietnam is Lords Mobile from IGG, a real-time strategy title that allows players to build up an empire and take on opponents.
Chinese developer IGG has focused on localisation and strong promotion in Vietnam to become more popular than similar games like Supercell’s Clash of Clans. Clash of Kings from Elex Wireless, a Chinese developer, is another game in this genre that has done well in Vietnam.
It can be challenging for overseas companies to find success in Vietnam. Niko Partners’ recent 2017 Southeast Asia Mobile Games Market Report and Forecast states that taking the time to learn what works in Vietnam is essential.
Localisation into Vietnamese, implementing Chinese influences such as graphic style and user interface, as well as adding social and multiplayer elements to games, can go a long way.
The MOBA genre continues to grow
While traditional genres such as MMO, RPG and strategy still dominate the charts, it’s important to note that the market continues to evolve and grow as smartphone adoption increases and new younger gamers enter the ecosystem looking for more social and competitive games.
The MOBA genre, which was popularised on PC by games like League of Legends, has now found its way onto mobile and is becoming a strong growth driver.
Arena of Valor, known as Honor of Kings in China, is co-developed by Tencent Games and Garena, and published by Garena in Southeast Asia.
Honor of Kings is a smash hit in China, where more than 50 million users play every day, and Garena has been able to localise and successfully publish the game in Vietnam.
The game encourages users to spend more than titles in other genres, which has allowed it to be the second highest grossing game in the country.
Arena of Valor’s main competition in Vietnam is Mobile Legends from Chinese developer Moonton. Mobile Legends is extremely similar to Arena of Valor and draws a lot of experience from both it and League of Legends.
One other successful game in this genre is War Robots which is a MOBA shooter. All three games are driving the genre in this market and we expect to see the MOBA genre continue to grow over the next few years.
The battle royale craze takes hold
NetEase has developed a mobile battle royale game called Rules of Survival. The game is very similar to Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) on PC, but is optimised for mobile devices.
With less than a month on the market, the game was the number three most downloaded mobile title in November, which shows just how much demand there Is for a mobile battle royale experience.
Elex has also created a standalone battle royale game called Last Battleground: Survival. Both NetEase and Elex have focused on building a large user base before monetising, though Elex recently added a store to its game that allows users to buy cosmetic items.
Casual games top the download chart
Vietnam has one of the lowest ARPU in the region due to low spending habits and a preference for genres that don’t encourage high spend.
A large majority of gamers simply do not spend on mobile games and this is why the download chart is dominated by casual games like My Talking Tom and My Talking Angela, alongside games like Subway Surfers and Zombie Tsunami.
One casual title that has found success in Vietnam on the grossing charts is Roblox, a sandbox that allows players to create their own worlds and games using bricks.
The title is primarily aimed at a younger audience and with more and more younger gamers coming online, it’s no surprise that Roblox has seen strong growth this year, especially with its global success too.
Local publishers find a larger presence
Vietnam’s mobile market was first thrust into the spotlight back in 2013 when Dong Nguyen developed and released Flappy Bird for mobile devices.
Roblox is a hugely popular mobile title in Vietnam
Since then, a number of Vietnamese game studios such as VNG, VTC, Funtap, Gamota and more have made a name for themselves. VNG is currently the most successful Vietnamese publisher with three games across the top 10 download and revenue charts.
360mobi Ngôi Sao Bộ Lạc is a casual mobile game with a competitive element. Three sides compete to defeat each other and collect as many items to eat in a six minute match.
Gunny Mobi meanwhile is an artiliary game similar to the Worms series of games, which also has a social and competitive element. ICá – Ban Ca Online is a casual title that simulates a fishing coin game.
These type of games, which have gambling elements, are popular in Asia.
Source: This report is by Daniel Ahmad, Analyst, Niko Partners in conjunction with Sensor Tower.
An ambitious plan to clear the streets of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and return the sidewalks to pedestrians virtually whimpered to death this month with the resignation of its fiercest and most controversial proponent. Comments made around the matter have suggested the failure of the program is linked to the business elite and the political class which supports them.
The plan, announced in 2016 and launched in February last year, was aimed at turning District 1 in central Ho Chi Minh City into “Little Singapore,” long seen as an aspiration for city planners in parts of the region. Authorities got to work clearing sidewalks of debris, unapproved structures, and street vendors, with the intention of returning the paths to pedestrians. But the snap resignation of District 1 Vice Chairman Doan Ngoc Hai earlier this month underscores the scale of the project and the difficulties in balancing demands of residents and businesses as HCMC looks towards Singapore.
After taking the role, Hai said he would quit if he failed and said as much after announcing his resignation earlier this month. As the main face of the campaign, he was largely supported by the community keen to get back their streets. But mounting coverage of emotional street vendors protesting as authorities confiscated equipment and issued fines projected an image of a government at war with the city’s working class. Hai had reportedly received death threats from vendors last year, and city leadership intervened with the program asking Hai to step down as the public leader and promising the taskforce would only be deployed in instances where a complaint had been made.
The project itself is largely seen as failed and has been all but abandoned. Areas in which the sidewalks were effectively cleared have now become space for the city’s cars and motorbikes, while HCMC’s thriving street food scene had been relocated to designated spots in District 1. The resignation speaks to an issue much larger in Vietnam than the mere misuse of sidewalks. Hai’s letter complained of the project being hamstrung by powerful business interests who have money tied up in operating on the street, and, more pressingly, a political class siding with them over fully supporting the initiative.
In the short-term, city officials will likely go back to the drawing board. City Deputy Chairman Tran Vinh Tuyen stressed the complexities of the issue during a meeting following Hai’s resignation. “Sidewalks are like golden land. Everyone is eyeing them and if we loosen control just a bit they will be snapped up by one person or another,” Tuyen said, as reported by VN Express. But for now, pedestrians will have to again share the paths with vendors and, until March, with car parks, up to the point that a resolution can be found – though there are now strings attached. Tuyen said vendors and car park attendants will be responsible for maintaining the area in which they operate.
But in the long-term, Vietnam’s largest city will have to undergo a more fundamental and awkward soul-searching as it looks towards efforts to modernize in a way which benefits residents, particularly those reliant on informal economy work and family-run businesses, but still realizes the ambitious so-called ‘Little Singapore’ plan. Much of this comes down to Hai’s accusation that city officials have been involved in undermining his taskforce. Hai complained that without the full and unqualified support of the political elite, the taskforce would fail. Sure enough, it did.
With Vietnam’s much publicized crackdown on corruption throughout the political and business class still ongoing, the long running Ho Chi Minh City sidewalk saga shows just how much work is to be done in reforming leadership at every level, and how urgently that sort of effort is needed. While Hai’s allegations are just that at this stage, it does suggest it could be more than just the streets which need cleaning up in Ho Chi Minh City.
For Vietnamese consumer tycoon Nguyen Dang Quang, placing his fish sauce and other “must-have” condiments in the kitchen shelves of just about every home in the country has helped make him a billionaire.
Shares of Masan Group, which produces the sauce made from fermented fish that’s widely used in Vietnamese cuisine, have more than doubled in the past six months, compared with the 37 percent gain in Vietnam’s benchmark VN Index. That lifted the net worth of Quang, the company’s chairman and founder, to $1.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
“Masan serves consumers with ‘must-have’ ones like fish sauce, instant noodles, to ‘nice-to-have’ items like chili sauce, rice soup or sausage,” said David Anjoubault, general manager at Kantar Worldpanel Vietnam, a research firm that estimates about 95 percent of households in the country uses at least one Masan consumer product. “Local food manufacturers like Masan have a good and deep understanding of shoppers’ needs and behaviors in the country where localization is a vital success factor.”
Stake Ownership
Quang controls the Ho Chi Minh City-based company through Masan Corp., a closely-held entity, as well as its wholly-owned subsidiary Sunflower Construction Co., according to company filings with the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Quang and his wife have a 49 percent stake in the holding company, the filings show.
Quang’s co-founder, Ho Hung Anh, who’s Masan Group’s vice chairman, owned 47.6 percent of the holding company as of September 2015, according to the latest available filings. Anh “contributed to the early stages of Masan Group’s development,” the company website said. His net worth isn’t calculated because his current stake can’t be verified.
Masan Group, which makes other food products including instant noodles and animal feed, declined to comment on the two founders’ net worth.
Masan Group’s shares surged as it recovered from a setback last year following a plunge in pork prices, which it referred to as “the most severe pig price crisis” in history. Pork prices fell after China stopped imports from Vietnam in 2016. The drop in demand for pork drove the group’s consolidated revenue 9 percent lower to 27.5 trillion dong in the first nine months of 2017, according to the company’s presentation.
“Pork prices have rebounded as China resumed the imports of Vietnamese pigs, raising expectations for better performance from Masan Group this year,” said Vu Xuan Tho, a senior analyst at Korea Investment & Securities in Seoul.
Russian Roots
Quang started his business in the 1990s after years of studying in Russia, where he has an MBA from the Plekhanov Russian Economic University. He also received a doctorate in technical sciences from the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, according to Masan Group’s website.
The billionaire saw an opportunity as Russia was going through a period of economic transition at the time, and started selling instant noodles to Vietnamese living in the country. He eventually built a factory to produce 30 million packages a month, and expanded to soy, fish and chili sauces, according to Masan’s website. Following the success in Russia, he returned to Vietnam in 2001 and shifted the business focus back on his home market.
Kantar Worldpanel, which tracks shoppers’ behavior, ranked Masan Consumer among Vietnam’s top three food brand owners last year, along with Unilever NV and Vietnam Dairy Products or Vinamilk.
Techcombank
Masan Group is best-known for its fish sauce under brands including Chin-Su and Nam Ngu. Other than meat and packaged food, Masan Group also owns more than a third of Vietnam Technological & Commercial Joint-Stock Bank, commonly known as Techcombank, through an equity stake and convertible bonds, according to its presentation.
The possible listing of the bank has also contributed to the jump in Masan Group’s shares, Tho from Korea Investment & Securities said.
Masan Group drew a $250 million investment from KKR & Co. last year, with $150 million going into its meat-producing business, Masan Nutri-Science. That’s the third round of investments in Masan Group from the New York buyout firm, which began in 2011 with a $159 million investment in what was then Vietnam’s biggest private-equity deal.
Quang adds to the two Vietnamese billionaires on international wealth rankings — real estate developer Vingroup’s Pham Nhat Vuong and Vietjet Aviation Joint Stock Co.’s Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, who’s Southeast Asia’s first self-made woman billionaire.
The classic broken rice dish has taken pride in the daily menu of Saigonese for decades. With its peculiar taste and scent, broken rice has long been considered a favorite by people of all ages and economic backgrounds in Saigon, and only in this city can its true flavor be found.
Com tam, as the food is called in Vietnamese, basically refers to a rice dish whose main ingredient is broken rice, a kind of rice that seems to have been smashed by a crushing machine.
A single spoonful of the delicacy is well enough to strike one’s sense of taste dumb with satisfaction.
The spicy sauce adds not only to the aroma of the well-grilled pork and the smell of oily onions that are served along with the rice, but it also adds to the stiffness of the broken rice, creating a mixture of harmony, yet distinct with varied flavors.
Com tam suon trung: broken rice with grilled pork and omelet sold for VND22,000 (~US$1.00) at a university in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tien Bui
An upgrade of ingredients
Com tam was originally consumed by the poor who could not afford to enjoy the more refined version of rice.
Decades ago the Saigonese had to rely on crude rice processing machines which damaged the final product.
The damaged rice that fell out, the broken rice, was collected by poor workers and turned into a basic rice dish for their daily existence.
Back then, com tam was just a dish consisting of rice, spicy sauce and oily onions.
But somehow, the dish made it to roadside dining places, food stalls at local markets, fancy restaurants, beyond the southern city, and even overseas.
Nowadays, com tam comes with a handful of options.
One can order com tam together with one, some or all of these: suon (grilled pork), bi (long slices of seasoned pork skin), trung (one or two omelets), and cha (meatloaf with egg yolk, mushroom, bean, meat and seasoning, sliced into small bars).
A typical dish of com tam contains a small portion of broken rice with some oily onions scattered on top, surrounded by suon, bi, trung, or cha, as mentioned above.
To vary the taste, the plate is accompanied by tomato and cucumber slices, some sour vegetable stripes, or by a small bowl of vegetable soup.
The spicy sauce, generally deemed key to com tam. Photo: Tien Bui
Tasty, healthy, and cheap
When asked about her preference for this specialty, Ho Nhu Yen, an early-twenty Saigon-based freelance teacher of English said, “I get to eat com tam once a week, sometimes by the roadside and sometimes in a food store.”
Commenting on her choice of com tam over other kinds of rice dish, she stresses that the taste is unparallel.
“But the important thing is com tam normally comes in small portions, so I’m not afraid of getting fat even when I have a plate late evening!” she added.
Many believe the key to the success of any com tam sellers is the recipe of their sauce.
Big restaurants might have a reliable source of pork and high quality ingredients, but some do not provide customers with the scent of sauce found elsewhere by the roadside.
Com tam, originally a food for the average-income laborers, still reigns in the street.
In fact, com tam made list on CNN’s top 40 Vietnamese delicacies as an appetizing roadside dish.
For VND18,000-30,000 (US$0.89-1.33), one can easily grab a plateful of com tam, both flavorsome and fulfilling.
People might also choose to pay more for a nicer and quieter place rather than the cheap roadside low tables and stools.
Some restaurants charge VND80,000 ($3.54) or more for a special serve.
A roadside com tam seller in District 4, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre
Where to find the best ‘com tam’?
The capital of Hanoi, the central Vietnam city of Da Nang, and other provinces do offer com tam, but picky eaters will not find themselves satisfied, as the original taste from the southern metropolis cannot be duplicated.
Com tam is at its best only in Saigon for some reason.
On August 1, 2012, The Asia Record Organization recognized com tam Saigon (Saigon broken rice) amongst ten other Vietnamese dishes for their gastronomic value in Faridabad, India.
Some poets in Saigon have said that com tam has never made it into Vietnamese literature and poems, unlike other specialties like pho (Vietnamese beef noodle soup).
But what hype is needed if it is all in people’s minds and diets?
If the proof of the pudding is in the eating, then the proof of com tam is in its prevalence.
People go for com tam in the morning. To the Vietnamese people, especially those who work as manual laborers, a hearty breakfast empowers their fruitful morning.
What can better fill the stomach and energize the muscles than a plate of com tam?
Com tam offered by the roadside at Thi Nghe Market, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre
Students, white-collar workers, children, the elderly, all enjoy the flavor of the renowned dish.
Com tam is also available for lunches.
But it is most popular in the evening hours. Com tam dem (night-time broken rice) is the sign hungry locals will look for every here and there on the streets.
It is child’s play looking for com tam, as it is omnipresent under the cover of darkness!
Visitors to Saigon cannot only try the taste of com tam at numerous street food stalls that are scattered all over the city, there are also restaurants such as Com Tam Cali or Com Tam Thuan Kieu who have specialized in serving the broken rice dish.
There might be thousands of great foods out there for the Saigonese living in a city blossoming with domestic and international cuisine, but at the back of their minds, they know well com tam is on the top list.
After enjoying a ‘honeymoon’ of numerous attractive incentives for a short time, drivers of both Grab and Uber are taking to the streets to protest against both Uber and Grab increasing commissions and cutting allowances, while the driver volume increases rapidly.
Crushed dreams of a simple job with high income
According to Nguyen Nam from Hanoi’s Hoang Mai District, he started working for Uber one year ago, when the ride-hailing models of Uber and Grab were enjoying fast development.
Uber and Grab issued numerous attractive incentives to lure in drivers. Thus, he decided to buy a car for VND600 million ($26,420), VND500 million ($22,017) of which came from a four-year bank loan.
At first, by enjoying numerous incentives, Nam earned an income of VND27-30 million ($1,188-1,321) per month, excluding the expenditure of petroleum and commission. According to his calculations, after four years of working for Uber, he would be able to pay off the bank debt and start earning massive profit.
However, his dream broke when Uber cut a number of allowances and increased commission. In addition, the fast increasing number of drivers gave rise to discontent. As a result, Nam decided to sell his car and change his job.
Along with taxi drivers, GrabBike drivers and Uber moto drivers also face similar challenges. Do Hoang from Phu Tho province stated that at the beginning, he earned VND500-600,000 ($22.02-26.42) per day, including expenses for commission and petroleum, however, recently, his income has plunged due to decreasing allowances and increasing commission as well as the increase of moto drivers.
Drivers switching off the app in protest
Since January 1, both Grab and Uber increased their revenue shares from motorcycle and taxi drivers, creating a wave of protests from drivers.
Drivers of both Grab and Uber gathered in front of the companies and offices to ask the board of directors to issue a satisfactory explanation. Numerous drivers either switched off or deleted the ride-hailing app.
Nguyen Trung Thanh, managing director of GrabBike Vietnam, affirmed that the further deduction of 3.6 per cent in drivers’ commission is to pay for drivers’ personal income tax, pursuant to local authorities’ new directions on personal income tax effective since January 1, 2018.
However, GrabBike drivers are not satisfied by the company’s answer and continue to protest. As a result, Grab silently set revenue share back to 20 per cent without notifying drivers. The added revenue which Grab collected from drivers would be paid back before January 17.
Uber, on the other hand, kept silent and closed the doors of its office. However, Uber invited three drivers and police staff to the office for discussions. However, to date, no information about the discussion has been published.
Numerous Uber drivers warned that if Uber cannot issue a satisfactory explanation or decrease the commission, drivers will work for Vietnamese technology transportation firms.
Tilted playing field
Grab and Uber consider drivers as partners, not staff. However, in reality, the relationship is not much different than the one between employers and employees. Notably, almost none of the drivers were consulted about the increase. Uber and Grab always hold the advantage.
According to Bui Danh Lien, deputy chairman of the Hanoi Transport Association, Uber and Grab’s operations showed numerous issues during the pilot scheme for ride-hailing services, leading to conflicts with drivers.
The “transportation model using ride-hailing applications” is considered a model of “sharing economy.” Sharing economy is a term that describes a mode of exchange, sharing of property and services between individuals, through a third party which is a technology application company. This model makes the most of the abundant resources in the society, based on the lease or exchange of assets between owners and those who wish to use them.
However, with the current operations of the car call model in Vietnam, according to some opinions, this form has lost the nature of pure sharing.
Since January 1, GrabBike issued a new hike in commissions to 23.6 per cent from the previous 20.
Meanwhile, Uber’s revenue share in Uber taxi drivers’ income increased to 29.5 per cent, including the commission of 25 per cent and the addition of 4.5 per cent for personal income tax.
All drivers of the two brands complained that the commissions are too high, impacting their income. Additionally, numerous drivers intend to give up their jobs.
Vietnam is famous for a long coast from the North to the South with worldwide well-known beaches. This ‘S-shape’ country possesses more than 4,000 thousands of big and small islands, an endless treasure to the sea tourism development. The most beautiful, peaceful and deserted islands are located in the South of Vietnam.
1. Phu Quoc island
Phu Quoc is one of the most famous islands in Asia. It has been voted as one of 3 top tourist sites in the winter by National Geographic or as one of 10 top ideal destinations in Asia by Asiaone. The trademark of Phu Quoc island is created by beautiful beaches (Star beach, Long beach, etc.), delicious seafood (sea urchins, scallops, sea snails, cobia, herring, etc.) and outdoor activities (skin diving, squid fishing, sunset viewing, etc.). Staying in bungalows along white-sand beaches and going around the island by a rental motorbike definitely interesting experiences for tourists. The best time to visit the island is from December to June (high season) and tourists can reach there by express boats from Rach Gia port or by airplanes from Tan Son Nhat airport.
2. Con Dao island
Although it is a little bit far from the mainland, no Vietnamese people do not know about its existence. The most beautiful beach on the island is Dam Trau, about 15 km from Con Son town. Hat snails and fried country almonds are specialties on Con Dao island. Popular outdoor activities on the island are to go fishing, go skin diving, discover Ong Dung forest, watch Chelonia mydas lay eggs, etc. Tourists can get to the island by boats (12 hours from Cat Lo port in Vung Tau city) or by airplanes (45 minutes from Tan Son Nhat airport).
3. Ba Lua islands
It is located in Kien Giang province (one of nice countries in Mekong delta), a part of Thailand Gulf. Ba Lua islands consist of three big islands (Heo island, Ngang island and Nhum Ba island) and a lot of other small islands. The most interesting activities on Ba Lua islands are to stay with local families (homestay), catch and enjoy seashells on sites. When the tide is down, tourists can walk back and forth between islands. Tourists can only go there by local fishermen’s boats or tourism company’s boats (from Kien Luong port).
4. Nam Du island
It is an island belonging to Kien Giang province. Nam Du possesses many beautiful beaches (Cay Men beach, Ngu beach, etc.) and not exploited as a tourism destination as Phu Quoc island, so this island still keeps its mysterious and peaceful beauty. One plus point for trips to there is the reasonable expenditure for all of the services (hotel, transportation, eating). It is said that local people are very friendly and hospitable. Tourists can reach the island by renting local fishermen’s boats or by tourist company’s boats (from Kien Giang port).
5. Phu Quy island
Phu Quy island is also called Thu island, about 120 km from Phan Thiet City (Phan Thiet province). It is wide only 16 square km but a very attractive destination. The sunset view from the lighthouse on Cam mountain on the island is said to be the most beautiful in Vietnam. Tourists can ride motorbikes around the island to discover beauty spots such as Trieu Duong beach, coastal paths, Linh Son pagoda in the Cao Cat mountain, etc. Red frog crabs and Vermilion groupers are specialties on Phu Quy island. There are always available tours to Phu Quy island for tourists to book. The boats depart from Phan Thiet port.
Mobile carriers in Vietnam will have less freedom in their promotions to prepaid subscribers following a circular by the Ministry of Information and Communications enforcing a ceiling on how much ‘free value’ can be offered.
Specifically, telecom providers in the country are now only allowed to offer no more than 20 percent of a service’s value to prepaid subscribers as a bonus during promotional campaigns.
The limit will apply to different forms of promotion, including bonus credits, in-kind benefits, and other perks.
Previously, the maximum promotional value was set at 50 percent for both prepaid and post-paid subscribers. This limit remains unchanged for the latter.
According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, the new promotion ceiling aims to promote post-paid subscriptions and represents a crackdown on the abuse of prepaid SIM cards to send out spam messages, a technique typically employed by advertisers and online scammers.
The regulation will also ensure fairer competition in the telecom market and better protect the rights of mobile subscribers, the ministry said.
Prepaid users who switch to post-paid subscription plans will enjoy the 50-percent promotion limit after the switch.
“Mobile carriers found to be in violation of this new regulation will be subject to administrative penalties and tax arrears for illegal promotional campaigns,” a ministry official said.
Recently, three major providers in Vietnam – Viettel, Mobifone and Vinaphone – were forced to stop offering data plans that granted subscribers unlimited data to access Facebook and YouTube.
These plans were found to be in violation of pricing regulations for telecom services.
