The Saigon Jewelry Association (SJA) will continue to call on the State Bank of Viet Nam to make it easier for jewelry businesses, who seek to invest in upgrading their production and trading technology, in accessing bank loans, its chairman said.
Nguyen Van Dung, SJA chairman, said this at a meeting held in HCM City on Friday night to review SJA’s performance last year and set tasks for this year.
Last year, the association successfully suggested banks allow credit institutions provide loans to jewelry trading enterprises, which has greatly helped them in expanding their development, he said.
Dung said the association also organized overseas trips to help its members find new exports markets as well as update production technologies.
It organized competitions to honor talented jewelry designers and carried out social activities such as giving gifts for elderly people, building bridges in rural areas, providing scholarships to poor students and others.
For this year, SJA will focus on three main missions – actively giving opinions on the Government’s policies, especially policies related to the jewellery industry; suggesting SBV ease conditions for businesses in the field in order to access bank loans; and guiding its members to strictly implement the Government’s policies and help their members manage their gold trading effectively, he said.
Blockchain, a new technology to help explore the various forms of crypto-currencies, could open up the new attractive environment for all businesses and investors, said Nguyen Duc Cuong, head of consultancy division at Vietstock – a local financial-business media.
Cuong made the statement at the first summit in Viet Nam on blockchain technology and digital money, called Vietstock Blockchain Summit. The event was held in HCM City on Sunday by Vietstock and FundYourselfNow – a Singaporean organization that helps startup businesses to raise funds for their initial coin offering (ICO).
Vietnamese investors have caught up with the world trend and turned blockchain and cryptocurrencies into a “hot” investment trend. For example, bitcoin and other cryptocurrency-related keywords were among the top search targets on Google in Viet Nam last year.
This means that local businesses and investors have a great demand to learn and access the new technology and cryptocurrencies.
The digital ledger, in which transactions made in various types of cryptocurrency are recorded chronologically and publicly, can open up new trends in the different fields of finance, banking, retail and telecommunications, Cuong said.
He added that being considered as the foundation of the industrial revolution 4.0, which was spreading around the world, this was the time for blockchain technology and digital money to provide additional cryptocurrency products.
The prospects of blockchain technology and technology-based digital money had become brighter as the technology could help firms replace traditional legal documents, which were handwritten and compiled on computers, with encryption.
Therefore, blockchain technology could minimize the chance of identity theft and strengthen personal data security. Recently, government agencies in Singapore, Canada, Switzerland and Estonia had started developing national identification systems using blockchain technology.
According to Kennett Tan, chief technology officer of FundYourselfNow, blockchain can remove the need for a centralized server to verify ownership and deals. He said the technology could help financial and banking businesses process their transactions faster without asking for assistance from any intermediary units. This would save time and costs.
In addition, blockchain technology could help businesses retain intellectual property rights and registrations, Tan said.
Liu Yusho, CEO of Vinaex.com, a bitcoin wallet service that assists customers to buy, sell and secure bitcoin, said that the total capitalization of the cryptocurrency market was only US$2 billion a few years ago with bitcoin accounting for 90 per cent of the market value.
The numbers had increased to $550-600 billion with nearly 1,500 types of cryptocurrency. Bitcoin now only dominated 35 per cent of the market value, he said.
Liu said that there were risks for investors when they purchased digital money or assets and they should take a careful look at potential risks.
Investors needed to know that as the cryptocurrency market was booming, there would be projects, websites and companies trying to defraud them, he said.
The event was carried out to help investors, businesses and the public understand the nature of blockchain technology, its applications, how cryptocurrencies are managed and the nature of the world’s quickly rising cryptocurrency market.
The harmful side effects of consuming the already unhealthy drink are exacerbated by the use of ingredients of unknown origin. A massive amount of milk tea in Vietnam’s major cities is produced using fake ingredients, with health specialists agreeing that these unidentified additives only contribute to other side-effects of long-term milk tea consumption, such as obesity, kidney failure, and even infertility.
The milk tea craze is sweeping the country, leaving locals of all age groups and professional backgrounds flocking in droves to the growing number of vendors popping up throughout Vietnam to satisfy its cravings for the sugary drink.
Milk tea has distinct varieties spread throughout various Asian cultures, but in Vietnam, the sweet drink typically refers to the famed Hong Kong bubble, or boba, tea – a mixture of a juice and chewy pearls.
Unfortunately, businesses trying to make a fast buck on the fad are resorting to ingredients of unknown quality or origin to boost their profits.
Hang Buom Street in Hanoi’s Old Quarter has long been a wholesale hub for milk tea ingredients.
The vast majority of products sold on the street are of unknown origin, but that has not stopped customers from purchasing the dubious ingredients in vast quantities.
A Hanoi market watchdog recently reported two cases of massive quantities of ingredients of unknown origin being sold on the street, with thousands of fake and unlabelled plastic bags of ingredients already prepped for distribution.
In Ho Chi Minh City, some shop owners in Binh Tay Market, District 6, shared tips online for milk tea sellers seeking out shortcuts to elevating their profits.
A large milk tea is sold for only VND12,000 (50 U.S. cents) at Turtle Lake, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.
They say that it is not advisable to use fresh milk, instead recommending cream powder and other low-cost ingredients – all of which, of course, are of unknown origin.
Can Tho, a large city in the Mekong Delta, is facing similar problems with the quality of its milk tea.
Tran Truong Chinh, vice-chief inspector of Can Tho’s Health Department, said that the majority of health violations in the city’s milk industry relate to the use of unhygienic equipment and facilities, ingredients without proper safety certification, expired ingredients, and ingredients of unknown origin.
Chinh also says that many employees working at many of the local vendors have not had a proper health check and either have not been properly trained or choose to ignore food hygiene regulations, which could lead to food poisoning.
Genuine milk tea itself is already too bad
Experts have voiced concerns over the potential dangers associated with daily milk tea consumption.
Nutritionist Tran Lan Huong shared her worries about the health hazards the beverage poses to its primary consumers – high school and college students.
Huong noted the potential risk of obesity resulting from the massive amounts of sugar used in the drink as a particular cause for concern.
Dr Tran Thi Minh Hanh – vice-director of the Ho Chi Minh City Nutrition Center – said the term ‘milk tea’ is misleading, as milk is rarely an ingredient in the drink.
The major ingredients of milk tea, she explained, are processed tea, cream powder, sugar, serum and toppings like jello, pearls, flan, and cheese.
“It should not be a daily drink,” she emphasized.
A cup of milk tea filled with toppings from a popular milk tea shop.
Commenting on the amount of energy milk tea provides, Dr. Tran Ngoc Luu Phuong, head of the gastrointestinal intervention department at Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, says that each cup jolts the body with 500-600 kcals.
The resulting effect is that the body is tricked into thinking it has had a meal equivalent to a bowl of rice with meat and vegetables, but it is not receiving the proper intake of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
“The pearls contain starch which builds up in the body and leads to slow digestion and a feeling of fullness,” she added.
In other words, milk tea drinkers are duped into feeling full while their body goes without nutrients.
“Skipping meals while the body is running low on nourishment upsets the body’s nutritional balance,” Dr. Phuong said.
She cautions heavy milk tea drinkers on the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and aging cells, considering their monstrous amount of starch and sugar.
The chemical sugar, spice and additives found in milk tea also have destructive long-term consequences.
The health specialist also says that milk tea in some countries has been found to contain maleic acid, which can cause kidney failure and infertility.
The pearls, a key topping in bubble tea, are made from polymer, a substance which the human body can neither absorb nor discharge, she warned.
The Vietnamese government has also awarded the entire U23 football team the first class Labor Order.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam came on stage at the end of the U23 Asian Cup final on Saturday and shouted “Victory for Vietnam” even though the national football team had lost 1-2 to Uzbekistan.
The deputy PM had joined 40,000 Vietnamese fans to watch the live broadcast at My Dinh National Stadium, despite the rain in Hanoi.
He went on to read the names of every football player in the team, which has become the source of national pride after it broke one record after another, marking the first time a Southeast Asian team qualified for the semifinal, let alone finishing second in the championship.
Deputy PM Dam previously took to the streets on January 23 when Vietnam won the semifinal against Qatar, surprising many fans around Hoan Kiem Lake. He wore red and waved the national flag alongside the mostly young crowd.
He once emphasized that Vietnamese football should be “beautiful, honest and precise”, meaning players need to be trained not only on strategy, but also morality, culture, health and fitness.
Deputy PM Pham Binh Minh also cried out “Vietnam still wins”, as he expressed his respect for the team.
“Competing for two hours with such strength is already amazing. Congratulations to the Vietnam U23 team! Taking second place is already a success. Vietnam still wins!,” said Deputy PM Minh after the match.
Vietnam’s Deputy PM Pham Binh Minh shares joy as Vietnam scores in the first half of the match
Deputy PM Minh and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs watched the live broadcast of the game from the ministry’s new office on Le Quang Dao Street. Most officials wore red and brought national flags to cheer on the team.
“I was really touched and felt a sense of pride and respect for the national team, who were very calm and resilient in that weather,” said Deputy PM Minh after the first half.
It was snowing throughout the match, and Vietnam had never played in the snow before.
Many fans could not hide their disappointment when Uzbekistan scored the winning goal in the last minute of extra time.
Vietnam’s President Tran Dai Quang signed yesterday a decision to grant the first class Labor Order to the entire U23 team, and third class Labor Orders to goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung and midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai for their excellent contributions to the 2018 U23 Asian Cup Championship in China.
South Korean coach Park Hang-Seo was also awarded a third class Labor Order.
Vietnam’s PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc also applauded the entire U23 team, including not only the players, but the coach, the technical director, the translator and the team doctor.
PM Phuc previously congratulated them on the win against Qatar in the semifinal, and after their victories over Iraq and Australia.
Earlier this January, the global cryptocurrency market exceeded $700 bln, reaching an all-time high in the valuation of all cryptocurrencies combined. Market capitalization amplifies an asset’s value by that asset’s overall amount in circulation. The spike occurred as a result of the increase in the value of more than 1,400 cryptocurrencies in use.
Considering the growth opportunity, traders and investors are starting to get more involved in the crypto world. Now, more than ever, people are looking at cryptocurrencies from an investment perspective. However, crypto investing doesn’t compare to picking stocks on e-Trade because e-Trade is a third party between the Stock Exchange and an investor. Intermediaries or third parties don’t exist when trading on decentralized exchanges.
A “safe haven” against the South Korean crypto exchange ban
A young, driven company CoinSpark with a business model focused on its investors and traders aims to become a new type of decentralized digital asset exchange. It enters the scene in the attempt to reward the crypto community in the form dividends issued proportionally to all SPARK coin holders. The goal is to develop a decentralized digital asset exchange where customers receive 25 percent of the company’s net profits.
Another core benefit of the CoinSpark business model is linked to its physical location. Considering speculations are surrounding the fate of crypto exchanges in South Korea, CoinSpark may become a safe haven for foreign investors. Located in the Cayman Islands, the company is fully licensed and could potentially become a “refuge” for investors and traders affected by a potential South Korean crypto exchange ban.
Partnership with AlphaPoint
To ensure a smooth development of the trading platform, CoinSpark partnered with AlphaPoint, a fintech company that turns illiquid assets into liquid assets, enabling its customers to launch products and services by offering other companies and institutions Blockchain-based solutions to launch markets, digitize assets and reduces operational costs at an enterprise level. With customers across five continents and office in San Francisco, New York and Philadelphia, AlphaPoint has a proven record of contributing to the development of some of largest cryptocurrency exchanges currently in use.
Throughout the ICO a total of 25 mln Spark tokens will be made available, with the coins being valued at 0.0025 ETH. The coin offering begins on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14 and will end on March 14. Because the company believes in providing equal pricing to all of its users, there will be no pre-sale. Considering the increased interest in cryptocurrencies, many of today’s exchanges can’t keep the pace up and often struggle to handle customer service and acquisition. Following the launch in mid-April, CoinSpark is fully prepared to providing top-notch customer service 24/7 in order to make sure all concerns and questions are solved quickly and efficiently.
CoinSpark launches its ICO with 10 core cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Bitcoin Gold, Dash, Litecoin, Iota, Neo and Spark. Upon the successful completion and evolution of the ICO, the company’s end goal is to allow numerous other crypto coins to be featured on the exchange, as well as interact with 200+ fiat currencies. SPARK coins will be distributed immediately during the ICO, and coin holders may start trading them on the CoinSpark exchange in April.
Prudential Plc on Tuesday announced that it had reached an agreement to sell 100 per cent of its Prudential Vietnam Finance Company (PVFC) to Shinhan Card Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the Shinhan Financial Group (Shinhan), at a cost of US$151 million.
The United Kingdom-based financial services group’s PVFC was launched in 2006 as the first foreign non-bank financial institution licensed for consumer finance lending in Viet Nam. Today, it is the fourth-largest consumer finance company by outstanding loan balance.
“Prudential and Shinhan will work closely to ensure a smooth transition of the business. PVFC remains committed to all of its customer obligations and operations will continue as normal until the transaction has been completed,” Prudential said in a statement.
It remains fully committed to the Vietnamese market through its life insurance business, Prudential Vietnam Assurance Private Limited, and asset management business, Eastspring Investments Fund Management Company (Viet Nam).
“PVFC is a high-quality business, but it is not core to our strategy in Viet Nam. We are delighted that Shinhan will be able to lead this consumer finance business through to the next stage of its development. Viet Nam remains an attractive and important market to Prudential where we have high-quality and fast-growing life insurance and asset management operations,” Nic Nicandrou, Chief Executive of Prudential Corporation Asia, said.
“As part of this transaction, we are further expanding our regional platform through the new long-term bancassurance partnership with Shinhan in both Viet Nam and Indonesia to continue serving the growing savings and protection needs of the Asian population,” he said.
Shinhan is a financial institution in South Korea with a diversified business portfolio across banking, credit cards, securities brokerage, life insurance, asset management and leasing. It is one of the largest financial institutions by market capitalisation in Korea, and Shinhan Card is the largest credit card company in the country. Shinhan has had a presence in Viet Nam since 1993.
Last year, Shinhan Bank Vietnam, a wholly owned unit of Shinhan Bank, also acquired the retail division of ANZ, a major Australian bank, in Viet Nam.
Currently, Prudential Finance Vietnam, FE Credit, HomeCredit and HDSaigon are four companies ruling the Vietnamese consumer finance market. According to StoxPlus, the total outstanding loan of consumer finance companies was more than VND56 trillion ($2.47 billion) at the end of 2016.
2018 is slated to be a positive year for the Vietnamese dong, thanks to Vietnam’s stable macroeconomics and strong capital inflows. However, analysts differ on how strong Vietnam’s currency will be at the end of the year.
Experts have started to offer their predictions for the Vietnamese dong (VND) in 2018, and most agree that Vietnam’s currency has a good year ahead. This is a stark contrast to previous years, when the VND was usually expected to weaken against the US dollar. That said, analysts seem to have differing opinions on the strength of Vietnam’s currency.
The most positive prediction comes from Standard Chartered, which forecasts that the VND will appreciate by 1 per cent against the USD, ending 2018 at VND22,600 per dollar. FX strategist Eddie Cheung told VIR that this rally is partly attributable to a weakening USD – a statement many might find surprising, given the US economy is doing better this year. The world’s largest economy is forecast to grow by 2.5 per cent in 2018 thanks to robust domestic consumption and tax reforms that can boost firms’ earnings.
“We believe the US Federal Reserve will hike interest rates twice this year, and usually the yield gap between short-term and long-term rates will narrow. From our observation, this compression usually leads to a weaker USD,” said Cheung. Another factor is that the US fiscal deficit may get worse due to lowered corporate taxes, causing pressure on the dollar.
When asked whether a strong VND would hurt Vietnam’s export competitiveness, the Standard Chartered analyst pointed out that the euro, which represents one of Vietnam’s biggest trade partners, is expected to strengthen by 5 per cent against the USD this year. This is higher than the bank’s forecast for the VND rally, which means Vietnam’s products will remain affordable for European importers in 2018.
“The Chinese yuan is forecast to strengthen by 1 per cent as well. If the dong can match this level, Vietnam’s exports won’t lose much of their competitiveness,” Cheung said.
The VND is also backed by strong foreign interest in Vietnam’s state divestment programmes. According to Nguyen Thanh Lam, deputy head of retail research at Maybank Kim Eng Securities, Vietnam’s forex rates in 2017 have been supported by record-high capital inflows, especially during the share sales of dairy giant Vinamilk and top brewery Sabeco.
Vietnam’s foreign reserves now stand at $54.5 billion, the highest level ever recorded. Disbursed foreign direct investment stood at $17.5 billion in 2017 and trade surplus reached $2.7 billion.
“Vietnam’s economy will continue its strong growth in 2018, inflation will remain low, and ongoing foreign capital inflows will help with the trade surplus and foreign exchange rates,” said Lam.
In 2018, Vietnam is putting many of its prized state firms on sale, including PV Oil, the second-largest oil retailer and sole exporter of crude oil; Binh Son Refinery, the operator of the Dung Quat oil refinery; PV Power, the second-largest electricity retailer; and Vinachem, the national chemical group. These sales are expected to lure in foreign capital, help grow Vietnam’s increasing foreign reserves, and boost the VND, Maybank Kim Eng predicts.
Other analysts share the optimism for the VND, but seem to take a more cautious approach. ANZ economist Eugenia Victorino believes that the VND will weaken at a slow pace to settle at VND22,900 per USD by the end of 2018.
“Vietnam’s foreign reserves are at a record high. However, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) still needs to collect more foreign notes as the reserves only equal three months of Vietnam’s imports, which means they are very low according to World Bank standards,” said Victorino.
Brokerage house Vietcombank Securities also predicted a 2 per cent depreciation of the VND in 2018. In their latest report, the securities firm pointed out that the SBV has gained great experience from the daily fixings scheme, which drives down speculation and prevents major swings in foreign exchange rates.
“Any external influences will be reflected gradually, not all at once like they have been before, as the daily fixings mechanism allows the SBV to be more flexible in its management,” said the report.
Traffic around the Independence Palace will be diverted during the morning.
Ho Chi Minh City has announced it will be closing two downtown streets for several hours this Friday for one of the biggest ceremonies of the year.
The section of Le Duan Street between Nam Ky Khoi Nghia and Pasteur in front of the Independence Palace will be closed to traffic from 4 a.m. to 10 a.m., the city’s transport department said.
Traffic will also be blocked from Nguyen Du Street between Nguyen Trung Truc and Thu Khoa Huan beside the palace from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. for commemorations of the Tet Offensive, the department said.
Activities will include the opening of a Lunar New Year exhibition, a ceremony to mark the 88th anniversary of Vietnam’s Communist Party, and another ceremony to remember the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive.
The Tet Offensive was one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War, launched during the Lunar New Year in 1968 by North Vietnamese forces against the U.S.-backed Saigon regime. Tens of thousands of casualties were reported on both sides.
This year, the country’s largest holiday will start on February 16, and the government has approved a one-week break between February 14-20.
Road construction will be suspended during the festival and the week before, the transport department said.
My Tam has been making a name for herself on the international stage.
The new album released by Vietnamese singer My Tam has climbed to No. 10 on the Billboard World Albums Chart this week, making her the first Vietnamese singer to break into the top 10.
The Da Nang-born artist shares the spotlight with South Korean boyband BTS, who are at No. 1 with “Love Yourself: Her”.
Based on sales data compiled by Nielsen Music, the chart ranks albums from all over the world, excluding the U.S. It is usually dominated by K-pop singers and bands who amass enormous fandoms across continents.
With 13 pop-soul tracks, My Tam’s ninth album broke records with about 5,000 copies sold in the first hour after its release on December 3 last year. Signing events featuring peformances also caused chaos on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi while she was promoting the album last year.
My Tam first came onto the scene in 1999 and has become one of the most successful singers in Vietnam. Hailed as the ‘Queen of V-Pop’, she has received many awards in and outside of the country, including Best Selling Artist of Asia by Big Apple Music Awards, MTV Europe Music Award for Best Southeast Asian Act, and World Music Award for World’s Best Selling Vietnam Artist.
Vietnam’s main stock exchange will reopen on Thursday after a two-day closure due to technical issues, the first such incident in almost a decade, the bourse said on Wednesday.
The trading system of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, Vietnam’s benchmark stock market that surged nearly 50 percent last year, developed a technical issue on Monday which prevented it from retrieving a closing price for the index.
The bourse said that the exchange will return to normal trading from Jan. 25 in a statement on its website.
Thursday’s reference prices for each stock will be either the last transaction recorded on Monday or the closing price of that stock from the Jan. 19 session if the stock was not traded on Monday, the exchange said.
Vietnam closed its stock market for three days in May 2008 due to a technical problem.
As the bourse entered its second day of suspension, its operator has rejected allegations that it was sabotaged or hacked.
The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) suspended all trading activities for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, citing a software glitch that prevented the exchange from completing its closing procedure on Monday afternoon.
All trading activities were suspended at the HoSE through Tuesday with the exchange operator announcing that the suspension would remain effective on Wednesday, without explaining when it would reopen.
At around 2:30 pm on Monday, the exchange’s electronic order matching system, which matches buy and sell trades, began to lose signal.
HoSE announced later the same day that a software glitch had occurred and that the stock exchange was unable to match closing prices for Monday’s session.
The exchange operator immediately notified all of its member companies, assuring them that the technical problem would have no impact on already matched transactions.
Investors later confirmed that the incident had caused no financial damage, but expressed their regret that it had happened while a number of stocks were soaring.
Le Hai Tra, a senior executive in charge of the HoSE, said experts had identified several possible causes of the glitch and were continuing to work on a solution.
Tra repeated that it was a technical problem only and ruled out any possibility of the system being overloaded or attacked from outside.
He did however, admit that it was unclear when the exchange, otherwise known as the bourse, could resume trading, expressing his hope that the error would be fixed in time for Thursday’s session.
Ho Chi Minh City authorities will begin shutting down CBD sidewalk parking lots before extending the effort into other neighborhoods.
The municipal People’s Committee has issued a document calling on administrations of the city’s 24 districts to prohibit informal parking lots from operating on local sidewalks within the first quarter of this year.
However, sidewalk parking lots will still be allowed in areas where they are deemed necessary.
In such cases, the city’s youth volunteer force will be tasked with operating the parking venues and charging vehicles in accordance with current regulations – VND500 (US$0.02) to VND4,000 ($0.18) for bicycles, and VND2,000 (0.09) to VND6,000 ($0.26) for motorcycles.
If any business is willing to operate a free sidewalk parking lot, local administrations will review its need and functionality before issuing a permit.
During an interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Le Minh Khoa, head of the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Volunteer Force, said that his agency had coordinated with authorities in District 1 to review the operations of local sidewalk parking lots.
A parking lot operated by the youth volunteer force in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre
Chairman of the District 1 administration Tran The Thuan will give a decision on locations where these parking venues should be kept before handing over their management to the youth volunteer force.
The change is required to meet the demand for parking space by local residents, and preserve enough space for pedestrians, Khoa said.
“We will establish a mechanism to cooperate with the district authorities by the end of this month,” he continued.
The mechanism will focus on reducing the number of parking lots on promenades, managing lots that will be allowed to remain operational, as well as ensuring social order and security, Khoa elaborated.
The campaign will be expanded to other districts if it proves effective in District 1.
A parking venue on Thi Sach Street in District 1. Photo: Tuoi Tre
Proper parking facilities
From late 2016 to early 2017, the city’s youth volunteer force established several parking lots and multi-story parkades near the Children’s Hospital 1 and Youth Culture House.
Similar lots will be established at Tu Du Hospital in District 1 and the Quang Trung Software City in District 12, Khoa stated.
“We are trying to minimize the number of sidewalk parking lots and invest in indoor parking facilities,” he continued.
Parking space along promenades will mainly serve local residents for brief periods during special occasions and public holidays only, he added.
A parking basement inside the Vincom Center shopping mall in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre
Indoor parking lots operated by the youth volunteer force will be properly supported, with vehicles charged in accordance with regulations and employees offered salaries and incentives, according to Khoa.
However, competition for these locations is strong, with wealthy private firms able to make ‘bids’ to the local authorities to operate the indoor parking lots.
“Some parking lots that had been operated by the youth volunteer force for decades have recently been transferred to local businesses who made higher bids,” Khoa explained.
The company has signed up more than half of all U.S. broadband households and is building its customer base in 190 countries.
Netflix Inc snagged two million more subscribers than Wall Street expected in the final three months of 2017, tripling profits at the online video service that is burning money on new programming to dominate internet television around the world.
The results drove Netflix to a market capitalization of more than $100 billion for the first time. Shares jumped 9 percent to over $248 in after-hours trading on Monday after rallying throughout the month and rising 53 percent last year.
The company has signed up more than half of all U.S. broadband households and is building its customer base in 190 countries by spending billions on programming.
Netflix picked up 6.36 million subscribers in international markets from October through December, when it released new seasons of critically acclaimed shows “Stranger Things” and “The Crown” as well as Will Smith action movie “Bright.” That topped Wall Street expectations of 5.1 million, according to FactSet.
Along with 1.98 million customer additions in the United States, the company ended the year with 117.58 million streaming subscribers around the globe, despite a price hike in October.
“Netflix is pouring more and more money into making content, and it is directly translating into more subscribers,” BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield said. “They see a huge opportunity and they are moving as fast as they can to attack it.”
The company also said it took a $39 million non-cash charge for “unreleased content we’ve decided not to move forward with.” A source familiar with the matter said the charge was related to content starring Kevin Spacey, with whom Netflix cut ties after he was accused of sexual misconduct.
Netflix temporarily halted production of “House of Cards” to write out Spacey’s character and decided not to release the film “Gore,” which starred Spacey as Gore Vidal.
Spacey has apologized to one of his accusers, and according to his representatives is seeking unspecified treatment. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the accusations.
The charge is one of the first signs of costs faced by companies in the wake of a widespread campaign against sexual harassment.
Netflix turned a DVD-by-mail business into an online competitor of movie channel HBO. As it grew it began licensing its own original shows to ensure a stream of new offerings if studio suppliers ended deals.
In fact, Walt Disney Co is making a major push into online streaming and will pull its first-run shows and movies from Netflix in 2019 as Hollywood fights for audiences.
Netflix plans to spend up to $8 billion this year on TV shows and movies to fend off Disney, Amazon.com Inc, studios-owned Hulu and local competitors that are jumping into online video, and it is turning more and more to high-budget projects, such as the roughly $90 million “Bright.”
In 2017, Netflix recorded its first full-year profit in international markets. The company has said it is aiming for steady improvements in profitability overseas this year.
“We believe our big investments in content are paying off,” Netflix said in a quarterly letter to shareholders.
Netflix is raising its marketing budget faster than revenue is growing and will spend about $2 billion this year. The company expects negative cash flow in 2018 of $3 billion to $4 billion, up from $2 billion in 2017.
Last October, Netflix raised prices for two of its three main subscription plans to help fund the substantial content investment. The earnings report showed customers took it in stride.
“Consumers are tolerant as long as something’s improving,” Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, on a post-earnings webcast, said of the price increase.
For the December quarter, Netflix reported diluted earnings-per-share of 41 cents, even with the expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue for the three months totaled $3.286 billion, in line with forecasts.
Looking ahead, Netflix forecast streaming customer additions of 6.35 million for the first quarter, above analysts’ expectation of 5.01 million, according to FactSet.
Investors appear confident in Netflix’s ability to grow. Netflix recently traded at 91 times expected earnings for the next 12 months, versus Amazon at 152 times earnings and Disney at 17 times earnings, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Netflix also said Monday that Rodolphe Belmer, CEO of global satellite company Eutelsat, had joined the company’s board.
WisePass has built a platform allowing brands to understand consumer behavior, monitor their market share and make smart investments.
A mobile app developed by startup firm Wisepass and launched early last year has been making it more convenient and economical for casual drinkers and frequent diners to enjoy food and wine around Ho Chi Minh City.
The app developed by Wisepass, a company that was founded in 2014 in HCMC, allows users to get stuck into either 30 bottles of liquor or 30 meals per month at more than 100 different locations such as restaurants, bars and 5-star hotels in the city for VND6 million ($260) per month. And WisePass recently secured a partnership with Starbucks which allows members to redeem any cup, any size per day.
The statistics show that initially WisePass membership covered only drinking, but later it added new options for members such as food and events. Since the recent partnership with Starbucks, consumers have been very interested in dining there and luxury chains besides enjoying wine.The app currently has 400 members and has been used nearly 11,680 times.
But the benefit that the app offers is not limited to its members. Beyond that, it offers a platform for brands to get closer to their consumers’ needs and analyze the ways in which their produce is consumed.
This feedback allows brands using Wisepass to communicate better with its customers without being aggressive.
Lam Tran, co-founder and CEO of Wisepass, told Dau Tu newspaper in April last year that the startup has secured a growth rate of 50 percent per month.
“People usually think that starting a company in Vietnam is difficult, especially on the administrative side of things. It looks difficult if you don’t know the procedures. But it’s like this anywhere in the world, the administrative procedures are always long and complicated!,” said Lam, adding that the real challenge lies in building a new type of business and executing it.
“One needs to take time – weeks and months, to build the idea, talk about it, to then be able to sell the project. Of course, having the finances for it helps a lot too. But there’s no shortcut. You have to work hard and be persistent to succeed,” he said.
Lam shared that the internet is a challenging aspect he has faced, especially while working in the digital field where everything is handled online.
In terms of what was easy for startups in the country, “I’d say that the whole ‘tech’ part is easier in Vietnam. The cost for developers is significantly lower here than in Singapore or San Francisco as the salary range is from $400$ to $4,000,” he said.
Facebook’s plan to rank news organizations based on user ‘trust’ surveys has drawn a mixed response.
Facebook acknowledged Monday that the explosion of social media poses a potential threat to democracy, pledging to tackle the problem head-on and turn its powerful platform into a force for “good.”
The comments from the world’s biggest social network were its latest response to intense criticism for failing to stop the spread of misinformation among its two billion users – most strikingly leading up to the 2016 U.S. election.
In a blog post, Facebook civic engagement chief Samidh Chakrabarti said he was “not blind to the damage that the internet can do to even a well-functioning democracy.”
“In 2016, we at Facebook were far too slow to recognize how bad actors were abusing our platform,” he said. “We’re working diligently to neutralize these risks now.”
The post – one in a series dubbed “hard questions” – was part of a high-profile push by Facebook to reboot its image, including with the announcement last week that it would let users “rank” the trustworthiness of news sources to help stem the flow of false news.
“We’re as determined as ever to fight the negative influences and ensure that our platform is unquestionably a source for democratic good,” said Katie Harbath, Facebook’s head of global politics and government outreach, in an accompanying statement.
Facebook, along with Google and Twitter, faces global scrutiny for facilitating the spread of bogus news — some of it directed by Russia – ahead of the U.S. election, the Brexit vote and other electoral battles.
The social network has concluded that Russian actors created 80,000 posts that reached around 126 million people in the United States over a two-year period.
“It’s abhorrent to us that a nation-state used our platform to wage a cyberwar intended to divide society,” Chakrabarti said.
“This was a new kind of threat that we couldn’t easily predict, but we should have done better. Now we’re making up for lost time,” he said.
Chakrabarti pointed at Facebook’s pledge last year to identify the backers of political advertisements – while also stressing the need to tread carefully, citing the example of rights activists who could be endangered if they are publicly identified on social media.
He also elaborated on the decision to let Facebook’s users rank the “trustworthiness” of news sources, saying: “We don’t want to be the arbiters of truth, nor do we imagine this is a role the world would want for us.”
While acknowledging concerns over the rise of “echo chambers,” he argued that “the best deterrent will ultimately be a discerning public.”
‘What could possibly go wrong?’
Facebook’s plan to rank news organizations based on user “trust” surveys has drawn a mixed response.
Renee DiResta of the nonprofit group Data for Democracy was optimistic.
“This is great news and a long time coming. Google has been ranking for quality for a long time, it’s a bit baffling how long it took for social networks to get there,” she wrote on Twitter.
But technology columnist Shelly Palmer warned that Facebook appeared to be equating trust and truth with what the public believes – what some call “wikiality.”
“Wikiality is Facebook’s answer to fake news, alternative facts, and truthiness,” Palmer wrote. “Facebook, the social media giant, is going to let you rank the news you think is most valuable. What could possibly go wrong?”
For media writer Matthew Ingram, the changes “not only won’t fix the problem of ‘fake news,’ but could actually make it worse instead of better.”
“Why? Because misinformation is almost always more interesting than the truth,” he wrote in the Columbia Journalism Review.
News Corp. founder and executive chairman Rupert Murdoch also expressed skepticism, suggesting Facebook should instead pay “carriage feeds” to trusted news organizations, following the example of cable TV operators.
“I have no doubt that Mark Zuckerberg is a sincere person, but there is still a serious lack of transparency that should concern publishers and those wary of political bias at these powerful platforms,” Murdoch said in a statement issued by his group, which publishes the Wall Street Journal and newspapers in Britain and Australia.
