Historic flood hits Hue, killing 9

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Continuous heavy rains have worsened the inundation due to heavy floods that occurred on Sunday morning in central Thua Thien-Hue Province.

Water covered almost all roads connecting the districts with National Highway No. 1A, which opened to traffic late Monday afternoon when water receded following the nearly two-day inundation.

According to the local Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Rescue, the death toll due to the flood in the province was nine, including two children swept away by the sudden, strong current while their parents were rushing to save household items and were not keeping an eye on their kids.

Residents in the province blamed power plants located at the upper parts of two local main rivers of Huong and Bo for the unannounced release of water into the rivers. However, the responsibility for this fell on district and commune authorities, as last Friday, local newspaper had carried related announcements.

Residents in Quang Dien Commute on a self-made banana boat to shop for necessities during the flood. — Photo Phuoc Buu

At around 7am in Sunday morning, swift flooding occurred in entire residential areas in the basins of the rivers within 30 minutes, including municipal Hue City. Residents were unable to save their goods due to the high water level, which some said was as high as the historic flood in 1999 in the locality.

Hoang Ngoc De, a resident of Huong Tra District’s Tu Ha Township, said the flood was so swift that the water later reached the mark of the 1999 flood peak on his home wall. “It took about 10 minutes to rise to half of the motorbike height and prevented tens of customers at my eatery from leaving after their breakfast,” he said.

Nguyen Thi Phuong, a resident of Phong Dien’s Phong An Commune, said she was surprised at the rising speed at which the water level rose, inundating and damaging her refrigerator and washing machine.

The Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Rescue reported that 17,588 houses were inundated around the province, with water level inside the houses at 0.2-0.8m. Strong currents also resulted in intrusion of seawater at the mouth of the Thuan An sea, resulting in erosion along the 10km coastline.

A commuter on a flooded road in Quang Dien District. — Photo Phuoc Buu

Meanwhile, blackouts occurred in the province from Sunday morning to Monday afternoon, which continue today in lowland areas in Quang Dien, Huong Tra, Phu Vang and Phu Loc districts. All schools and public offices remained closed on Monday.

No estimated loss report has been made yet, but those who suffered most are fish breeders on Bo River. Hundreds of tonnes of fish died as they could not survive in the yellowish dark floodwater.
River water remains at alarming levels of two and three and is expected to rise further due to heavy rainfall, forecast to continue by Wednesday.

Authorities of local power reservoirs warned of more release of water following visits by local Party Secretary Le Truong Luu to local irrigation and power reservoirs, where he asked for more release of water to save reservoirs from breaking.

Source: VNS

HCM City, housing developers at loggerheads

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While housing developers in HCM City are looking for occupants for over 15,000 apartments they have built, city authorities are saying more such apartments are needed to resettle people moved out of their houses for various reasons.

Do Phi Hung, director of the Department of Construction, said 15,000 more apartments are needed for people moved out of areas along the city’s canals.

Around 57,000 households have been evicted.

According to district authorities, some 42,000 of them have been paid compensation while the remaining 15,000 need assistance from the relocation land fund.

The city also requires apartments for relocating residents living in 474 degraded tenements that need to be renovated, but Hung said the city faces a shortage of funds and land for the purpose.

Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the HCM City Real Estate Association, said a lot of land is needed for these projects and for the city’s urban renovation and development programme.

Developers fear over supply

Many real estate developers say there are too many unoccupied relocation apartments already.

The new residential area in Binh Chanh District was built to relocate over 2,000 families affected by the renovation and upgrade to the Tan Hoa – Lo Gom Canal in Binh Tan and Tan Phu districts. The new area has attracted few tenants.

A manager of the New Thu Thiem Urban Area project in District 2 said the city plans to build 10,529 apartments and 2,290 house foundations, both for relocation, but people have registered for only 3,200 apartments and some 1,000 houses.

But the relocation projects have already begun to deteriorate. At the New Thu Thiem Urban Area for instance, infrastructure is worsening while its parks have been overrun by weeds.

Hung revealed that city authorities plan to sell most of the relocation apartments and foundations in District 2 to real estate firms.

The spokesman for a HCM City-based real estate company that had built relocation apartments in District 2 under the build-transfer (BT) form, said HCM City does not lack lands or relocation apartments, only policies to make life “peaceful” for relocating residents.

According to HoREA’s Chau, relocation apartments must be built in areas with good infrastructure, while authorities must also consider the livelihoods available for people moving in there.

The relocations areas must be near schools, health centres and people’s workplaces, he said.

“Authorities should not force residents to relocate to places Government agencies want, only to areas they want to.”

Source: VNS

VN consumer wariness could impede e-commerce

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Alibaba group Chairman Jack Ma said on Monday that deep-seated hesitation among Vietnamese consumers could hamper mobile payment development in the country.

Addressing the Vietnam Electronic Payment Forum 2017 (VEPF) in the capital city, the Chinese tycoon said the rate of cash transactions in Viet Nam was too high, despite the huge potential to develop e-commerce in the country, given its young and active population.

He said people keeping cash in their wallets increases chances of cheating, corruption and pick-pocketing. If people don’t use wallets, the cutpurse will be jobless.

Instead of using cash, consumers can use mobile phones equipped with anthropometric technology, Ma said, adding that such transactions would be safe and any fraud easy to detect.

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue said at the forum that in the context of globalisation and integration, mobile payment was “an obvious trend”, and that “no one wants to be left behind”.

It is a trend that can bring many benefits to the people, enterprises and the State, he said.

Hue said that implementing digital technology solutions has helped many countries in the world achieve breakthroughs in promoting financial inclusion, enabling people from all walks of life to access financial and banking services.

“Digital technology helps remove spatial, time and geographic barriers, allowing credit institutions to offer products and services at a lower cost, and facilitating consumers’ access,” he said.

Hue said he agreed with the Alibaba Chairman that mobile payment would also improve transparency in economic activities.

Viet Nam will soon see an explosion in mobile payment, he predicted, saying the Government supported and was strongly committed to creating favourable conditions for mobile payment development in Viet Nam. This would help, in part, to reach the target of reducing cash transactions to below 10 per cent by 2020, he said.

Solid foundation

According to the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV)’s Payment Department, Viet Nam has good foundations to popularise the mobile payment method, thanks to easy availability of telecommunications services and the high rate of mobile phone use.

So far, there are 130 million mobile phone subscriptions in Viet Nam, and 41.8 million of them use 3G to access the Internet. More than half the Vietnamese population uses smart phones, and their number is expected to increase to 80 million by 2020.

The department also notes that there are 41 commercial banks nationwide offering mobile payment services and their transaction value has been increasing strongly. In the first nine months of this year, there were 90 million mobile payment transactions worth VND423 trillion (US$18.8 billion), an increase of 93 per cent and 139 per cent, respectively, over 2016 figures.

Hue said that to address challenges in developing mobile payment, the Government will regularly hold dialogues with the business community as well as domestic and foreign financial institutions to figure out barriers and seek timely solutions.

The Government will also complete a legal framework and build action programmes to promote e-commerce application in general and mobile payment services in particular, he said.

The Deputy PM asked ministries and other agencies to study the possibility of e-payment application in informal economic sectors. These sectors need to be better managed to avoid tax losses, he said.

SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh said that the central bank has been encouraging commercial banks to apply advanced technologies in banking operations in general and payment activities in particular.

This will expand consumers’ ability to access modern banking products and services, which will help improve the business efficiency and governance capacity of credit institutions, he said.

Fintech development

Anh also said that the SBV has established a steering board of financial technology (Fintech) development to give the Government advice on legal frameworks and facilitate the operation of Fintech businesses.

Can Van Luc, director of training with the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam, said that the Government needs to build a customer authentication infrastructure based on anthropometric data to support payment service providers in verifying customers’ information.

The VEPF, titled “Mobile Payment – a factor to promote non-cash economy” was organised by e-newspaper VnExpress and the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) under the leadership of the State Bank of Viet Nam.

Source: VNS

Vietnam to become trustworthy trade partner: PM

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Themed “Viet Nam: We Mean Business,” the first-ever Viet Nam Business Summit, a highlight of the 29th APEC Leaders’ Week, opened at the Ariyana Conference Centre on Tuesday with the participation of more than 2,000 delegates, representing local and foreign business leaders.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc delivered the opening speech in which he highlighted the determination of the Vietnamese Government to develop the country into a trustworthy and potential trade partner of the world business community.

“I would like to extend the warmest welcome to the Viet Nam Business Summit, one of the many activities and events associated with this year’s APEC Summit, being held in central Đà Nẵng City and ancient Hội An Town, built in the 17th century by merchant fleets from Japan, China, India and other European countries, thus laying the foundation for open trade for hundreds of years,” PM Phuc said in his opening remarks.

The Prime Minister provided delegates with the latest information and outlook of the Vietnamese economy according to analyses and surveys of various world economic organisations.

“Reports from the World Bank Group pointed out that Viet Nam’s economic transition over the past 30 years has been of significant importance in the process of implementing worldwide transformative economic policies, as evident through high GDP growth rates and increased personal income,” the PM said.

Besides this, the World Economic Forum ranked Việt Nam 55 out of 137 countries in 2017, having climbed 20 positions in the past 30 years, with market scale reaching 31 out of 137.

“In 10 years since Việt Nam joined the WTO, the country’s export and import turnover has increased four times, reaching over US$400 billion, almost 175 per cent of GDP,” the PM said.

He also highlighted Viet Nam as a destination for international investors, with great efforts to improve the investment environment, attracting more than 4,200 foreign direct investment projects from 120 countries and territories, with capital equal to $310 billion and 155 per cent of national GDP, currently being undertaken in the country.

Agreeing with the Prime Minister, Dr Philipp Rosler, head of Regional and Government Engagement and member of the managing board of the World Economic Forum, highly appreciated the recent improvement of Viet Nam’s business competitiveness.

“Viet Nam made a huge stride last year of five ranks and in the last five years of 20 ranks. So we will see a great business environment and a great economic future for Viet Nam,” Dr Philipp Rosle said.

The delegates also had an opportunity to discuss issues of concern with four speakers — PM Phúc, Chairman of the Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Vu Tien Loc, Vice President for the East Asia and Pacific Region of the World Bank Victoria Kwakwa and Dr Philipp Rosler.

The conference will feature six discussion sessions with the following topics — smart agriculture; financial services for development; healthcare and education; and infrastructure connectivity; as well as SMEs, start-up and innovation; and special economic zones and tourism potential.

The one-day event, organised by VCCI, aims to provide information to the business community about investment potential in various fields in Viet Nam.

Source: VNS

Petrolimex prepared for intensified competition

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Competition in the local retail petroleum market has stiffened with the involvement of foreign investors. Bui Ngoc Bao, chairman of Vietnam National Petroleum Group, discussed the firm’s plans to expand its future operations and undergo state stake divestments with VIR’s Bich Thuy.

In 2016, Japan’s JX Nippon Oil and Energy acquired an 8 per cent stake in Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex). What are the firm’s main changes since having the foreign strategic partner?

JX Nippon Oil and Energy is a leading group in Japan with 100 years of experience. We have improved our business governance by increasing transparency and operational efficiency and minimising risks. Our operational standards have been internationalised.

Specifically, the business plan for three years has been built alongside the traditional five-year plan, which enables us to achieve our targets of cutting operational costs by 5-10 per cent a year and increase the sales volume by 3.5 per cent annually.

For example, in the first nine months of this year, the sales volume rose 7 per cent on-year, thus fulfilling 76 per cent of the group’s sales target.

Our business results have also improved a lot. As of December 31, 2016, Petrolimex’s total assets reached VND54.2 trillion ($2.46 billion). Its consolidated net revenue in 2016 was VND123 trillion ($5.59 billion), and pre-tax profits reached VND6.3 trillion ($286.36 million), up 68 per cent on-year.

In the first nine months of this year, PLX posted total consolidated net revenues of nearly VND112.43 trillion ($5.11 billion), up 27.7 per cent on-year, while total consolidated pre-tax profit reached VND3.55 trillion ($161.36 million), meeting 75.7 per cent of the whole-year target. With the result, our profit and revenue this year will surpass the targets.

Under Decision No.1232/QD-TTg, Petrolimex will divest 24.9 per cent of its state-held stake in 2018 to reduce state holdings to 53.7 per cent. Do you have plans to attract more foreign strategic partners? How can Petrolimex realise this plan?

We welcome influential and capable foreign investors. We already have JX Nippon Oil and Energy as a foreign strategic partner that is interested in strengthening its position in our company.

We are planning to issue more shares to reduce the state’s holding, buy stake in existing oil refineries in Vietnam or abroad, or invest in new projects. We are considering the efficiency of such actions before making any final decision.

We have two mammoth projects. The first is the over $7 billion South Van Phong oil refinery project. We and JX Nippon Oil and Energy have finished the feasibility study and are seeking governmental approval for investment incentives. We want the project to be treated similarly to others of comparable size and scope in the country.

We are also preparing to develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project to serve power projects. We are studying a location in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, which has a huge demand for LNG – in the millions of tonnes. JX Nippon Oil and Energy is also interested in this project.

State-run Electricity of Vietnam is also proposing the government to shift to this fuel for new power projects. We will build more LNG plants when market demands increase. In addition, using clean fuels has become more popular in Vietnam and is set to become even more trendy in the future. Thus, we are focusing on developing clean fuel.

As planned, important investment decisions will be made for the two projects in 2018. With these two projects, we are able to achieve the state divestment target.

The participation of a Japanese giant in opening the first foreign-owned petrol station in Hanoi has opened the door to mounting competition. What is Petrolimex focusing on in terms of future business operations to retain its position as Vietnam’s biggest petroleum retailer?

We now hold nearly 50 per cent market share. Petrolimex now has 2,400 petrol stations and opens 70-100 new ones every year, which enables us to compete with any domestic or foreign rival at any level.

We are co-operating with powerful domestic groups, including Vietnam Railways, to expand our petroleum station network.

For overseas activities, we have been operating well in Singapore, Laos, and Cambodia. Sales in Singapore account for 15 per cent of the group’s total sales volume. In Laos, we focus on retail sales, while in Cambodia, we lean more towards wholesale transactions.

We are also considering overseas expansion into Myanmar. We are negotiating with a partner in Myanmar to capitalise on this growing market.

Source: VIR

Bitcoin regulation headaches reemerge in Vietnam

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The question Bitcoin regulation is back on the table in Vietnam after a private university announced plans to accept tuition payments in the cryptocurrency despite the central bank reiterating its position that the digital currency is outlawed in the country.

While Vietnam originally made Bitcoin transactions illegal, the government issued a directive in August tasking relevant agencies with preparations to complete a legal framework to manage the cryptocurrency.

The agencies were required to identify the appropriate regulatory measures to oversee Bitcoin and other ‘virtual assets’ by August 2018 and complete the legal framework to enact those measures by June 2019, according to the directive.

However, the State Bank of Vietnam announced late last month that Bitcoin is banned in the country and those who do business using the currency will be subject to fines or even criminal charges.

In a media statement on October 28, the central bank asserted that Bitcoin and other types of cryptocurrency are not considered as legal modes of payment in Vietnam, and the issuance, supply, and use of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are prohibited in the Southeast Asian country.

Those breaching this regulation will be subject to a fine of between VND150 million (US$6,575) and VND200 million ($10,959), in accordance with a decree on penalties in the monetary and banking sector.

The announcement came after Le Truong Tung, president of privately-owned FPT University, announced that the institution “accepts tuition payment in Bitcoin,” calling the payment in the cryptocurrency a “feasible solution” for many international students.

Following the latest announcement of the central bank’s position, Tung defended that FPT University “only planned to” accept tuition in Bitcoin and has yet to enact the payment method in practice.

With the central bank reiterating its position that Bitcoin is outlawed, FPT University will “form a research group on Bitcoin” as it believes that “cryptocurrency is an issue that shouldn’t be ignored during these times of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

To ban or not to ban

While the State Bank of Vietnam is unlikely to recognize Bitcoin as a legal mode of payment, the ‘underground world’ of Bitcoin investors and ‘miners’ in Vietnam is quite active.

The central bank only bans the use of Bitcoin as a means of payment, which means investors in the currency are still able to store and exchange the cryptocurrency as an asset, not a currency unit, without violating the law.

Regulating Bitcoin is a headache suffered not only by Vietnam, according to Associate Professor Nguyen Khac Quoc Bao, dean of the finance department of the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City.

“The world is still unable to find, or to be more precise, come to a mutual decision on how to treat this special form of currency,” Bao said.

“People around the world are arguing over the nature of Bitcoin as a currency, and whether it should be accepted in official transactions.”

Economic expert Ngo Tri Long said the first problem that needs solving is whether Bitcoin should be treated as goods or a currency.

In the meantime, Vietnam may look to other countries to form its official policy.

In early September, Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov said his ministry expects to finish working on a law that would define a procedure for buying cryptocurrencies, including the registration of entities willing to buy the virtual money, by the end of this year.

Siluanov said Russia’s government understands that cryptocurrencies are real and there is no sense in banning them, but instead, there is a need to regulate them, according to Reuters.

“The buying of crypto-currencies should be similar to buying securities, such as treasury bonds for households launched by the finance ministry this year,” Siluanov was quoted by Reuters.

China has banned Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies since September 30, but there are signs that the ban will soon be lifted.

Analysts believe that Bitcoin has the potential to replace China’s currency in everyday transactions and as a store of value in the long term, according to Forbes.

Source: Tuoi Tre News

 

​Vietnam releases water from brimming reservoirs as APEC summit nears

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Vietnam released water from seven dangerously full reservoirs on Tuesday to avoid further flooding.

Vietnam released water from seven dangerously full reservoirs on Tuesday to avoid further flooding, after a weekend typhoon killed nearly 90 people.

Authorities said particular effort was being made to avoid flooding around the city of Danang, which will host U.S. President Donald Trump, China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin among Asia-Pacific leaders at a summit this week.

Water was being released from seven reservoirs, in line with a flood relief plan, the Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention said, and observers had been posted at major reservoirs to monitor water levels constantly.

Typhoon Damrey, which struck on Saturday, was the 12th major storm of the year. Eighty-nine people were known to have died because of the storm, 18 people were missing and 174 people were injured, the search and rescue committee said.

As much as 1,700 mm (67 inches) of rain was recorded at one weather station in the week to Monday. Rains are expected to continue until Wednesday before reducing on Thursday.

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings began in Danang on Monday, and Trump, Xi and Putin are due to join other regional leaders at the main summit on Friday and Saturday.

The schedule of meetings has not been disrupted by the rain, but the leaders’ spouses may not be able to make a planned excursion to the UNESCO heritage town of Hoi An on Saturday.

Waters in the streets rose to head height at the weekend, although they had subsided somewhat by Tuesday.

Because of its long coastline, Vietnam is prone to destructive storms and flooding. Floods killed more than 80 people in northern Vietnam last month, while a typhoon wreaked havoc in central provinces in September.

The storm hit a key coffee-growing region of the world’s biggest producer of robusta coffee beans near the start of the harvest. But farmers in Daklak, the heart of the region, said the damage was limited.

Source: Reuters

 

New expressway to cut travel time from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay by half

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Road trips from Vietnam’s capital to the famous bay will be slashed to one and a half hours.

A new expressway scheduled for completion in March next year will reduce travel times from Hanoi to the world famous Ha Long Bay to just an hour and a half.

The obvious transit point for people wishing to visit the bay is Hanoi, which is 180 kilometers (112 miles) to the west and home to an international airport.

The journey currently takes at least three hours.

Van Don International Airport around 50 kilometers from the bay is also scheduled to open next spring.

The $330 million airport is designed to receive two million arrivals a year by 2020, and there are plans to expand the capacity to five million by 2030.

Officials said the new infrastructure is being put in place so that Ha Long and Quang Ninh Province can host a national tourism year for the first time in 2018 and the ASEAN Tourism Forum in January 2019.

The national tourism year will include a paragliding tournament in April, an international car race in June and a food festival in the fall.

Ha Long Bay was named a UNESCO world heritage site in 1994, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Vietnam.

Visitors to Ha Long during the first half of 2017 rose 12 percent on-year to more than 4.3 million, including 1.7 million foreign travelers, according to Quang Ninh’s news portal.

The bay was used to film the recent Hollywood blockbuster “Kong: Skull Island”, and has been raved about by many travel bloggers.

Source: Vy An

Internet hiccups in Vietnam as newly repaired undersea cable disrupted again

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This is the fifth time that the infamous AAG has been disconnected this year.

Internet connections along a major undersea cable system linking Vietnam with the rest of the world were disrupted on Tuesday, according to a local internet service provider (ISP).

The hiccup, which occurred at the section connecting Ho Chi Minh City with the main cable system, is likely to slow down internet speed in Vietnam.

The cause of the problem has yet to be identified, and no repair schedule has been announced.

Vietnam’s ISPs said they have switched to their backup plans to ensure stable internet connections for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.

This is the fifth time the AAG has been ruptured this year, following incidents in January, February, August and October. Repair works to the infamous cable system’s problem in October were finished just over two weeks ago.

Connected in November 2009, the $560-million AAG with a capacity of 2 terabits per second handles more than 60 percent of the country’s international internet traffic.

With a length of over 20,000 kilometers (12,420 miles), the cable connects Southeast Asia and the U.S., passing through Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

Vietnam currently has six submarine cable systems, as well as a 120 gigabit channel that runs overland through China.

With a download speed of 5.46 megabytes per second, Vietnam’s internet speed was ranked 74th out of 189 countries and territories in a global survey of broadband speeds compiled by Cable.co.uk, a U.K. broadband, TV, phone and mobile provider, in August.

Vietnam’s average broadband speed was 10 times lower than its Southeast Asian neighbor Singapore, according to the survey. However, the country still managed to trump six other countries in the region.

Nearly 49 million people in Vietnam, or more than half of the country’s population, are online.

Source: Bao Anh

Russia’s Putin pledges $5 million in humanitarian aid for Vietnam following Typhoon Damrey

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The typhoon has killed at least 89 people and devastated central Vietnam.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed his government to render humanitarian assistance to Vietnam, the Kremlin said in a statement on Tuesday.

The instruction came following Putin’s discussion with the Russian prime minister, emergencies minister and finance minister regarding the situation in Vietnam, which was devastated by Typhoon Damrey last weekend.

An Il-76 aircraft is already preparing to leave for Vietnam with humanitarian aid, and Putin has issued instructions to provide $5 million in financial assistance to the Southeast Asian country.

The Russian president also expressed his hope that other countries attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Vietnam this week will also show solidarity with the Vietnamese people, the Kremlin said.

Typhoon Damrey, which made landfall in central Vietnam last Saturday, and the subsequent floods and landslides have killed at least 89 people, while 18 others are still missing. It has also destroyed more than 1,300 houses, damaged nearly 115,000 houses and sunk or damaged nearly 1,300 fishing boats.

Da Nang, which will host Putin and other world leaders attending the APEC Summit including U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping, was spared from the worst of the damage. However, heavy rain has still flooded nearly 11,000 houses in Hoa Vang District, forcing more than 300 households to evacuate and causing around VND44 billion ($1.94 million) in damage.

Source: Trong Giap

Canada’s Trudeau begins state visit to Vietnam ahead of APEC entrance

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He will meet with leaders in Hanoi and university students in Ho Chi Minh City before stopping in Da Nang.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be arriving in Hanoi on Wednesday for his first official visit to Vietnam, which will include a trip to Ho Chi Minh City before the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Da Nang.

Trudeau is scheduled to hold a joint press conference with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc and meet with other Vietnamese leaders in Hanoi on Wednesday.

On Thursday, he will head south for Ho Chi Minh City where he will attend a roundtable meeting at the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange and visit university students.

He will join the APEC Summit on Friday, when U.S.’s Donald Trump, Japan’s Shinzo Abe and China’s Xi Jinping are expected to speak at the CEO Summit.

The Leaders’ Meeting, the most important event of the summit, will be held on Saturday, gathering leaders from the 21 APEC economies.

Trudeau, 45, visited Vietnam as a traveler in 1995. His arrival as a political leader comes amid growing ties between Canada and Vietnam.

Source: Staff Reporters

Vietnam Business Summit opens in Da Nang city

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The Vietnam Business Summit was opened in the central city of Da Nang on November 7 morning under the theme “Vietnam: We Mean Business”.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc delivers an opening speech at the Vietnam Business Summit

The Vietnam Business Summit is part of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in Da Nang from November 6 to 11

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ​speaks at the Vietnam Business Summit

Participants in the summit

A participant talk to speakers at the summit

A participant talk to speakers at the summit

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc talks to participants in the summit

Source: VNA

Cashless economy is coming

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“A non-cash society is coming to Vietnam,” Chairman of Alibaba Jack Ma told the Vietnam E- Payment Forum (VEPF) held on November 6 in Hanoi with the main topic “Mobile Payments”.

He said that 54 per cent of Vietnam’s population use mobile phones but they use both mobile payments and cash.

He also fully agrees with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc about mobile payments: financial inclusion will help reduce corruption.

Mr. Tran Cong Quynh Lan, Deputy General Director of the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Trade and Industry (Vietinbank), said that mobile payments will bring a new revolution to Vietnam regarding payment methods and be accompanied by many benefits. “The operations of commercial banks, however, remain inconsistent,” he said.

Commercial banks, he added, must cooperate together to ensure advantages are provided to customers and mobile payments increase.

Mr. Ma noted that, in the past, Alibaba did not have many relationships with banks but he told his colleagues that they should start to do so right now. “We believe that within ten years we will succeed,” he said.

Talking about AliPay, Alibaba’s mobile payment service provider and a prominent example for the forum, Mr. Ma said that 14 years ago, when he got the idea for AliPay, many people told him that it would be impossible because Chinese people are too fond of cash payments.

He also spoke of policies to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Success, he said, must bring people together and all young people must be given opportunities. Only 20 per cent of enterprises in the global economy are large enterprises, while the remaining 80 per cent are SMEs. The focus should therefore be on providing them with proper support.

Member of the Government Advisory Group, Vu Viet Ngoan, asked Mr. Ma whether there is space for SMEs and startups given the dominance of leading tech companies. “We do not dominate the market but support local businesses,” Mr. Ma said. This is a great way to help small businesses grow in the local market and reach out to the outside world, especially in areas where they want to do business. “We do not compete; we support you,” he said.

The forum attracted nearly 700 representatives of the business community, mostly bankers, financiers, tech companies, online payment providers, and startups.

Jack Ma is a Chinese business magnate who is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, a conglomerate of internet-based businesses.

He is one of richest men in China and in Asia, with a net worth of $47.5 billion. He has become a global icon in business and entrepreneurship, one of the world’s most influential businessmen, and a philanthropist known for expounding his business philosophy. He was ranked second on the Fortune 2017 “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” list.

He is one of the world’s most powerful people and been a global inspiration to many, giving numerous lectures and advice throughout his life and career.

Source: VN Economic Times

​Vietnamese rapper releases MV on Apple Music

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Well-known Vietnamese rapper Suboi released her latest music video exclusively on Apple Music last Friday.

“Nguoi Ta Hieu” (They Understand) is the first music video from her new mini album “2.7.”

Apple Music is currently displaying a banner introducing “2.7,” marking Suboi the first Vietnamese artist to have a banner featured on Apple’s music and video streaming service.

“Nguoi Ta Hieu” will be released on Suboi’s official YouTube channel on November 10.

In addition, a remake of her 2012 hit “Loi Thinh Cau” (I Pray), which is also on “2.7,” is currently on the “Best of the Week” playlist, a weekly collection of popular songs from all over the world curated by Apple Music.

“2.7,” a jazz and hip hop collaboration between Suboi and Norwegian jazz band Mino & The Band, is expected to be promoted all over Southeast Asia.

After her debut album was released seven years ago, Suboi called this mini album a comeback “full of improvisation.”

According to the rapper, this is a time for her to “appreciate the past, focus on the present and enjoy the freedom of being an artist making music.”

The album cover, which is a joint-production by the rapper herself and locally based design agency Rice-Creative, focuses on the contrasting images of Suboi through a daily life picture sourced from her personal Instagram account.

In explaining the album’s title, Suboi said it relates to the number 27.

“2017 is the 100th anniversary of jazz and jazz is the father of hip hop – the music genre that I have pursued,” she said.

“27 is also my age this year,” the singer added, saying she decided to call the album “2.7” as a gift to her listeners.

Suboi, whose real name is Hang Lam Trang Anh, raps in both Vietnamese and English.

She often says that American rapper Eminem is her inspiration.

Easily one of the most famous female rappers in Vietnam, she was dubbed “Vietnam’s Queen of Hip-Hop” by The Daily Beast, and “her country’s Queen Latifah” by The Wall Street Journal in 2015.

Also that year, she performed at the Center for Asian American Media festival, known as CAAMfest in San Francisco, and the South by Southwest festival in Texas.

Last year, she made headlines after she rapped for former U.S. President Barack Obama when he met with young people in Ho Chi Minh City during his visit to Vietnam in May 2016.

Source: Tuoi Tre News

 

 

 

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