The Internet turns 20 in Vietnam: P1 – Forerunners

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Not many can remember when the Internet was in its infancy in Vietnam just over two decades ago.

NetNam Co., based in Hanoi, is considered the pioneering Internet provider in Vietnam.

Founded in 1994, the firm was among the country’s first four Internet Service Providers (ISP) back in the 1990s, according to its website.

The company’s Internet, online and managed services have been highly trusted by individual users, organizations and enterprises ever since.

Feeling their way

Internet services were officially introduced in the Southeast Asian country in December 1997.

However, insiders began seeking ways to obtain a permit from the government as far back as 1993.

In 1991, Dr. Mai Liem Truc, head of the National Administration of Posts (now the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group), attended an international seminar in the U.S., where he was first introduced to the Internet.

The National Administration of Posts was the country’s watchdog and sole supplier of post and telecoms services back then.

Applying his great vision, Truc was positive the Internet would be indispensable to his country’s integration and growth.

The global computer network would help Vietnam free itself from isolation and connect to and keep pace with the rest of the world.

NetNam, originally comprising scientists from the Institute of Information Technology under the Vietnam Institute of Science and Technology (now the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology), was tasked with the mission of pioneering the country’s first Internet services.

Despite Vietnam not adopting an open-door policy until the 1990s, the Vietnam Institute of Science and Technology had earlier sent its academics to Eastern and Western European countries for training, according to Tran Ba Thai, a former NetNam director.

Employees work at a software company in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre

“This greatly facilitated the institution’s and NetNam’s efforts as pioneers,” he noted.

Thai along with some other pundits from the institute attended an international conference in Kobe, Japan in 1992, when the use of the global network was limited to the intelligentsia and a number of universities in the U.S. and Europe.

“We initially considered the Internet an instrument for scientific study only,” he added.

The Internet’s comprehensive value soon dawned on the scientists, however, who later formed a partnership with a research group from the Australian National University (ANU), a national research university located in Canberra, to test the network.

Bound by ‘destiny,’ Thai and Professor Rob Hurle from the Australian institution soon embarked on experiments in connecting computers in Vietnam and Australia through landline phone lines.

Hurle designed a new piece of software for the UNIX system, a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems, so that modems could be utilized to link computers in Vietnam, allowing the exchange of computer information.

The experiment was a success, delivering the earliest experiences of the Internet to Vietnamese users, who could then use their own email boxes, though with the Australian domain .au.

Thai and Prof. Hurle were then able to exchange emails, believed to be Vietnam’s first-ever email system.

In September 1993, Prof. Hurle and a colleague from the University of Tasmania, also located in Australia, partook in a seminar in Hanoi to address plans to foster Internet use in the Southeast Asian country.

“With Vietnam’s domain .vn not yet registered, our first email address was registered in Australia, hanoi@coombs.anu.edu.au, and we used it to receive and send emails from Vietnam to people around the world,” Thai recalled.

Users in Vietnam had an email address using the Vietnamese domain, username@hanoi.ac.vn, to which the coombs.anu.edu.au was affixed for international exchange, he explained.

Driving forces

One of the main facilitators of the introduction of the Internet to Vietnam was Thai’s awareness of its immense potential, working as a chief engineer of a United Nations information technology project back then.

“Another stroke of luck was that the visionary leaders of the Vietnam Institute of Science and Technology at that time were warmly receptive to change and supportive of our drive to explore the Internet world,” Thai stressed.

A senior citizen gets access to the Internet on a laptop in Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The third element was the relatively lax government control.

“These three factors were conducive to our initial successes in connecting Vietnam to the global network,” the expert added.

State agencies, however, were not really ready for the launch.

“We met with tremendous hurdles because of high-ranking officials’ reluctance. Opponents raised concerns including risks of revealing confidential state information, spreading defamatory, anti-state information, and users’ exposure to morally and culturally corrupt content,” Dr. Truc, the then-leader of the country’s post and telecoms sector, elaborated.

After providing a complimentary email service on a two-year pilot basis, NetNam became the country’s first carrier of Internet services in 1994, offering the Vietnamese domain .vn in their email addresses.

Thousands of users gained access to free email-based services such as forums, internal communication and electronic libraries only one year following the launch, with NetNam receiving sponsorship from the Australian government and Telstra, Australia’s leading provider of phones and broadband Internet, to cover international connection expenses.

“We tried to talk the high-ranking officials into embracing the Internet launch by underlining its various merits and suggesting ways to keep a rein on its problems,” Dr. Truc recalled.

“They finally gave their nod on the establishment of the National Internet Coordinating Committee in Vietnam,” he said.

In March 1997, the government issued temporary statutes on the management, tapping and usage of the Internet, followed by the National Administration of Posts granting a temporary Internet Service Provider (“ISP”) permit to the Institute of Information Technology in October 1997, before the network was officially launched just over one month later.

In 2001, Asia Week named Tran Ba Thai, along with two others from India and Mongolia, Digital Revolutionaries for their tremendous efforts in bringing the Internet to their communities.

Source: Tuoi Tre News

 

HSBC profits up five-fold in third quarter

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‘Our pivot to Asia is driving higher returns and lending growth, particularly in Hong Kong.’

HSBC said Monday that profits were up more than five-fold in the third quarter as its Asia business drives higher returns.

Reported pre-tax profit jumped to $4.6 billion in the three months to the end of September, compared with $843 million over the same period in 2016.

The Asia-focused banking giant has been on a recovery drive over the past two years to streamline the business and slash costs, and has laid off tens of thousands of staff.

Shares were up 1.1 percent at HK$77.95 ($9.99) by lunch, shortly after the results were released.

Chief executive Stuart Gulliver said the bank had “maintained good momentum in the third quarter”, with higher revenue across its main global businesses.

“Our pivot to Asia is driving higher returns and lending growth, particularly in Hong Kong,” he added.

Source: AFP

Eight simple ideas for APEC to leave no one behind

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Poverty and extreme inequality are not destiny. They can be challenged and eliminated.

Next week Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders will meet in Vietnam’s central city of Da Nang. They face a region divided as ever between a few rich and the rest.

After decades of leading the world in economic growth that benefited everyone, Asia today is rapidly becoming a fractured region with sharp economic and social divisions between the rich and the underdogs.

The Da Nang summit should be a reflective moment for APEC political and business leaders to critically review their policies and growth paradigm which are failing to achieve shared prosperity and just helping a minority to increase their wealth while leaving millions of women, workers and peasants behind.

In Asia- Pacific, the population-weighted income Gini coefficient, based on household income estimates, increased from 0.37 to 0.48 between 1990 and 2014; an increase of almost 30 percent in less than three decades. In using the Gini coefficient, zero represents perfect equality and 100 perfect inequality.

In Indonesia, the four richest men have more wealth than the poorest 100 million people. In Vietnam, 210 of the country’s super rich individuals earn more than enough in one year to lift 3.2 million people out of poverty and end extreme poverty. Similarly, 1 percent of rich people in Thailand own 56 percent of national wealth, and half of the wealth in Indonesia is owned by just 1 percent.

Despite political pronouncements and inclusive growth mantras, why is exactly the opposite happening? There are four major causes.

Firstly, the economic growth model pursued in the region is sucking benefits upward from women, workers, fisherfolk, peasants and small producers. Instead of increasing access to land and other productive resources, the growth model has helped a few rich to capture resources.

Secondly, women’s work is not treated equally. Women are burdened with unpaid care work and low paid jobs, exacerbating gender inequality. Low paid and unpaid care work by millions of women in Asia has anchored rapid economic growth, but the very system they support is leaving them behind.

Thirdly, unjust fiscal systems, where rich corporations and individuals are not contributing their fair share to national revenue, are affecting public investment in essential services. Dwindling public services such as universal healthcare, quality education and social protection are shrinking the opportunities for future generations to break the poverty cycle.

Fourthly, people not only lack access to decent wages, productive resources and public services, they also lack a voice and an ability to participate in policy and decision-making processes. Much of the economic decision making happens behind closed doors, with no mechanisms in place to ensure broad citizens’ participation.

APEC leaders agreed that inclusive growth should be at center stage in the upcoming leaders’ meeting. The Vietnamese government, which hosts this year’s meeting, underscores the importance of promoting economic, financial and social inclusion as strategies to achieve inclusive growth.

In Oxfam’s new policy paper, “Redefining inclusive growth in Asia- How APEC can achieve economies that leave no one behind,” we propose eight simple ideas to turn APEC’s inclusive growth aspiration into a reality.

1. APEC leaders must recognize that rapidly growing inequality is a serious threat to growth and prosperity in the region. They should agree to all set national timebound targets to reduce the gap between rich and poor, in line with their commitments under Sustainable Development Goal 10 (SDG 10).

2. Revenue mobilization is critical to finance sustainable development goals and provide public services. APEC leaders must work together to create tax systems where rich individuals and corporation pay their fair share and put a stop to tax evasion and tax dodging. APEC must foster regional and global tax cooperation to end tax base erosion and profit shifting frameworks, and enhance tax administration capacity.

3. Essential public services have transformational power, therefore APEC members should reaffirm their commitment to increase resources for essential public services such as education, health and social protection. They should respect global targets to spend a minimum of 15 percent of their budgets on health and 20 percent on education.

4. APEC leaders should legislate and implement living wages as a central component of a strategy to promote economic inclusion and reduce the gender pay gap. Governments must live up to the Bali Declaration on labor rights and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

5. Support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) led and owned by women. APEC should ensure and expand women’s access to credit and capital, and invest in their capacity building, particularly on enterprise development and management.

Equally important, APEC must encourage its members to extend and expand public services aimed at supporting care work, reducing and redistributing unpaid care work. This will allow women to invest time and energy to establish and manage enterprises, and expand women’s life choices beyond economic areas alone.

6. Uphold direct citizen engagement in APEC pillars for inclusion. APEC leaders should promote direct citizens’ engagement in all three pillars of social inclusion – economic, social and financial. APEC can create an enabling environment in which communities contribute to decision-making, ensuring that workers are represented in corporate structures.

7. Create an APEC stakeholders’ engagement mechanism so that representatives from people’s organizations and civil society groups can participate in and contribute to APEC processes. The creation of these mechanisms will demonstrate APEC’s commitment to inclusion.

8. Measuring progress in reducing inequality. SDG 10 states that by 2030, all countries progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 percent of the population at a rate higher than the national average. Therefore, APEC members must set clear national targets to reduce inequality and collect accurate data on top incomes and wealth, aiming to achieve SDG 10.

Poverty and extreme inequality are not destiny. They can be challenged and eliminated. APEC leaders are in a unique position to put an end to these long-standing problems by building a human economy, where no one is left behind and where we can build a better world for our children and grandchildren.

*Babeth Ngoc Han Lefur is country director of Oxfam in Vietnam, a worldwide development organization that mobilizes the strength and voice of people against poverty, inequality and injustice. The views expressed here are her own.

Source: Babeth Ngoc Han Lefur

Hanoi ranks in top 10 fastest growing tourism cities

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The 2017 Global Destinations Cities Index produced by credit card company Mastercard said foreign arrivals in the city grew at 16.4 percent between 2009 and 2016, the fastest after Osaka, Chengdu, Colombo, Abu Dhabi, Jakarta and Tokyo.

Tourists stand on “The Huc” Bridge, which leads to Ngoc Son Temple on Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi
Jakarta’s and Hanoi’s entry into the top 10 point to Southeast Asia’s rising significance as a key travel hub, the report said.

In the previous edition, which measured arrivals growth between 2009 and 2015, Hanoi ranked 13th, while the Indonesian capital came in at 11th.

The survey, which ranked 132 cities, found the Asia-Pacific leading global tourism by dominating in terms of visitor arrivals and revenues, raking in 91.16 billion USD in 2016, compared to 74.74 billion USD for Europe and 55.02 billion USD for North America.

Hanoi was named the cheapest travel destination by TripAdvisor travellers between 2014 and 2016. The travel site estimated last year that a three-night holiday for two in Hanoi cost only 494 USD, a quarter of the New York cost, the most expensive travel destination in the ranking.

International arrivals in Hanoi topped 3.5 million in the first nine months of this year, up 24 percent from a year ago, according to the city’s statistics office.

Source: VNA

HCM City advances additional investment for metro project

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HCM City has advanced an additional VND1.2 trillion (USD54.5 million) to pay contractors for the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro project which is facing capital delays.

This is the third time the city has advanced for the project finance while it awaits ODA capital allocation.

Earlier, the city advanced VND500 billion (USD22.7 million) and VND900 billion (USD40.9 million) for the project contractors.

Chairman of the city people’s committee Nguyen Thanh Phong asked the Department of Finance to arrange capital for the project.
Phong also urged District 1 to speed up site clearance to hand over the land for the project implementation.

The HCM City urban railway management board has been required to send a report on the project’s implementation, including the ODA capital allocation from the central budget during the 2016-2020 period.

According to the HCM City urban railway management board, the current ODA for Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro project only meets 36% of what is required, a problem attributed to slow ODA disbursement. The project needs around VND21 trillion (USD954.5 million) between 2016 and 2020, but to date, only VND7.5 trillion has been provided.

Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro project has a total investment capital of USD2.49 billion. Being started in August 2012, the 20-km route is scheduled for completion in 2020.

Source: NLD

Grab, Uber tax inspection results announced

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Both Uber and Grab Taxi have reported losses, with Grab Taxi incurring VND938bn (USD41.3m) in losses due to too much promotion, discount programmes and subsidies to drivers.

At a press conference on October 27, Dang Duy Khanh, deputy inspector of the General Department of Taxation, said Grab Taxi has earned VND1.7trn (USD74.8m) from 2014 to 2016 and paid VND9.5bn in taxes. After the inspection, HCM City Department of Taxation has collected nearly VND2.3bn in tax arrears.

Grab has VND20bn (USD880,000) in chartered capital but in the report, Grab announced that it had incurred VND938bn in losses due to too much promotion, discount programmes and subsidies to drivers.

Since entering Vietnam in 2014, Uber has earned a total VND2.7trn (USD118m) and paid VND77bn in taxes. However, the authorities still had to collect VND67bn in tax arrears.

“Uber misunderstood Document 1882 issued in 2016 about corporate income tax,” Khanh said.

Uber only paid the taxes after the document was issued, however, Khanh said the taxes for the past three years must be collected.

Many traditional taxi firms have complained about unfair treatment in relation to tax policies in their competition with app-based taxi services.

According to the General Department of Taxation, the operation and legal status of Uber and Grab Taxi are different from each other. Grab Taxi is considered a local business. Uber is a foreign firm that has not had any official branch in Vietnam so it has to pay outstanding tax.

Source: dtinews

A surprise discovery: Vietnam’s propolis can help treat cancer

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Dr Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai, Dean of Chemistry, at the HCMC University of Natural Sciences, has discovered that Vietnam’s propolis has very strong anti-cancer activity, especially for pancreatic cancer.

Biologically, propolis is a mixture of resins and secretions from the honey bee’s salivary gland, which is flexible and glutinous at high temperatures but hard and fragile at low temperatures.

Studies have found more than 149 compounds and 22 different types of minerals in propolis. These compounds have many biological activities: antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer.

Most of the products made of propolis take full advantage of its antibacterial characteristics. Bees use propolis to stabilize the structure of the nest, reduce vibration, mend tears and cracks of the nest. This strengthens the defense of the nest by blocking the entrance, prevents parasites and invasive bacteria, restricts the development of bacteria, fungi, and prevents any possibility of spreading harmful disease.

The best known propolis products available in the market are from South American countries, including Green Propolis which has very strong antibacterial activity, used to prevent flu.

Mai and her co-workers found that the propolis of Apis mellifera, which is raised in Vietnam, has flavonoid and polyphenol compounds much lower than the Brazilian honey bee, by 3-10 times.

Therefore, Vietnam’s propolis has weaker antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. However, Vietnam’s propolis has very strong anti-cancer activity, especially pancreatic cancer.

According to Mai, her team is joining forces with the research team led by Prof Suresh Awale from Toyama University in Japan to carry out new research used specifically for pancreas cancer cells. If the experiments and treatment mechanism can be clarified, this would be used as medicine for the treatment of pancreas cancer in the future.

Initial studies found that the propolis from the bees raised in the western part of the southern region contain much cycloartane triterpene which can poison pancreas cells.

To find out why Vietnam’s propolis contains a lot of triterpene, Mai and her team analysed the chemical elements of mango plants, which is the major source of food for honey bee farms. And they found that mango plants also contain much cycloartane triterpene and have a cytotoxic effect on pancreatic cancer cells.

With the discovery, scientists have shown that Vietnam’s propolis has a value different from Brazilian propolis and that it is necessary to carry out further research to develop medicine to support the treatment of pancreas cancer.

According to Mai, in order to obtain active ingredients such as flavonoids, polyphenols and triterpene from propolis, it is necessary to use heat extraction method or immersion in alcohol and apply certain steps to refine propolis.

Source: VietNamNet

Vietnamese photographer wins international photo prize on environment

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Vietnamese photographer Nguyen Linh Vinh Quoc has won first prize at the 2017 International Photo Contest on Environment (EPOTY 2017).

Quoc’s photo titled ‘The hopeful eyes of the girl making a living by rubbish’ was taken in a garbage dump in the Central Highland province of Kon Tum.

The photo is a poignant image of a girl who is following her mother to collect waste to make her living. With a happy face, she looks up at the dark clouds and chats to her mother.

The girl’s eyes are filled with the hope for a better future, escaping this miserable life.

Nguyen Linh Vinh Quoc (from Pleiku, Gia Lai province) is a professional photographer. He has always visited the suburbs to capture the images of the daily life of people as well as localities with devastated forests.

The annual EPOTY contest was held by CIWEM agency (the UK), which is specialised in sustainable water and environmental management and development.

The contest is for both professional and amateur photographers around the world to express their concern about the environmental pollution in the planet. It is hoped that it will inspire people to pay more attention to environmental issues.

Source: Nhan Dan

Will Phu Quoc compete with British Virgin Islands?

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More than 2.26 million travelers visited Phu Quoc Island in the first nine months of 2017, an increase of 8.8 percent over the same period last year.

In some countries, expat investor programs are being applied, under which people are eligible to apply for permanent residence if they make investments there.

To obtain permanent residence cards, investors have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy properties or government bonds. The investors are generally wealthy people who can make great contributions to the development of local economies.

Vietnam’s Phu Quoc Island is considering a similar plan. Under the draft document on the organization of special economic zones, the government is considering allowing foreigners to get long-term residence cards in Phu Quoc if they can satisfy requirements.

If a foreigner invests $5 million or more in Phu Quoc, lives there for five years and more and doesn’t violate the laws, he will have the opportunity to get a permanent residence card which will replace a visa.

To increase the attractiveness of Phu Quoc, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc has proposed other investment incentives, such as extending the duration investors can use land and allowing foreigners to own houses for up to 99 years. They might also be allowed to use property as collateral for bank loans.

Vietnam is also planning to slash tariffs for large conglomerates and foreign specialists in an effort to the compete with the well-known ‘tax havens’ in the world.

Troy Griffiths, deputy CEO of Savills Vietnam, said that Phu Quoc has great potential in selling residence cards. Being an island, it is easy to put it under control when eliminating restrictions on residences to attract foreign investors’ cash flow.

However, he said that Vietnam may not follow the existing models applied in tax havens. Some countries offer attractive job opportunities and commitments to slash taxes, becoming rivals to the tax havens.

British Virgin Islands (BVI) has stable economic structure and high competitiveness. However, with more and more taxation agreements and global revenue recognition policies adopted, BVI’s advantages are declining.

Griffiths said that Phu Quoc would focus on industrial development and investment rather than selling residence cards or becoming a place for investors to register business. Therefore, the model Phu Quoc pursues will be different from BVI’s.

By June 2017, Phu Quoc had licensed 233 projects with total capital of $14.4 billion.

Marc Townsend, CEO of CBRE Cambodia, said foreign investors, retired men and wealthy people are interested in the stable political regime, healthcare system and good weather, capability to access international schools, flights connecting with the US, Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore and modern entertainment amenities.

Source: VietNamNet

Ho Chi Minh City to host Korean fest for over three weeks

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A Korean cultural festival will run for over three weeks from next month in Ho Chi Minh City to celebrate more than two decades of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and South Korea.

Lasting 23 days, Gyeongju International Cultural Festival 2017 will feature performances by artists from 15 different countries.

The cultural festival marks 25 years of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and South Korea.

Running from November 11 to December 3, the fest will boast unique gigs at well-known venues such as Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street, 23/9 Park, Municipal Theater, Hoa Binh Theater and so forth.

At a ceremony to introduce the festival on October 25, Lee Yong Seok, director of international relations in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, South Korea, said that the main activities will be organized into four areas.

Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street and 23/9 Park will host opening and closing ceremonies, fashion shows, and artistic performances.

Apart from that, 23-9 Park will also be home to an exhibition on South Korea’s culture during the Silla period, the old capital Gyeongju, and another exhibit on distinctive Confucianism.

Tourists will have the chance to visit The way of light on both sides of the park as well as Vietnamese and Korean businesses’ stands.

Musicals, orchestra performances, art exhibitions and others will be held at other venues such as Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Arts, Ben Thanh Theater, Hoa Binh Theater and Conservatory of Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Doan Tuan Linh, an external affairs official in Ho Chi Minh City, around 800,000 people are expected to visit the festival, including those from Ho Chi Minh City, Koreans and foreign citizens living in the city.

Gyeongju International Cultural Festival is a biennial event held by Gyeongsangbuk-do Province.

The festival was first held in 1998 in South Korea. The first fest abroad was in 2006, and ever since the venue has alternated between a foreign country and South Korea.

Until now, the festival has been held eight times, including twice abroad.

Ho Chi Minh City will be the third venue abroad chosen for the festival thanks to the flourishing diplomatic relations between Vietnam and South Korea.

Source: Tuoi Tre News

22-year-old shocks audience to win Miss Ocean Vietnam crown

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A young contestant has been crowned Miss Ocean Vietnam 2017 to the disappointment of the audience, despite the chief of the organizing board claiming she met both knowledge and beauty requirements.

Le Au Ngan Anh, 22, burst into tears when knowing she had been chosen as the winner of the beauty pageant in the finale organized at Hoa Binh Theater in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday.

There was rumor that Anh had paid to win the title, given her physical appearance, but the chief of the organizing board Vo Viet Chung, who is a famed local designer, refuted it, saying she deserved it.

“This is a good result,” Chung claimed. “She met many requirements, from looks to knowledge.”

Regarding reports that Anh had undergone cosmetic surgery, which is a taboo, before attending the contest, Chung said he had nothing to explain as the winner had passed an anthropometric test.

The beauty from Tien Giang Province in southern Vietnam made light of public criticism, underlining her own victory.

“What matters is that I have overcome myself,” Anh said

The woman said she had done well in the Q&A round, a very important part of the pageant, answering a question of the jury, headed by the chief executive officer of Interactive Co. Ltd., Forbes Vietnam, Duong Thu Huong, about the importance of learning foreign languages.

Anh thought she had spoken English with a “pretty good” accent while the audience had to guess what she was talking about when she described a beach in Vietnam.

Many members of the audience took to Facebook, saying that either the first or second runner-up, Nguyen Thi Dieu Thuy or Dang Thanh Ngan, should have been crowned.

The beauty contest had been ongoing for two months before 30 contestants were selected for the finale on Saturday.

The winner was given VND500 million (US$22,020) together with a crown worth VND3.2 billion ($140,928), plus other benefits.

Anh will represent Vietnam at Miss Supranational 2018, whose host country has not been known.

Miss Ocean Vietnam 2017 Le Au Ngan Anh

Le Au Ngan Anh poses during the finale in Ho Chi Minh City on October 28, 2017. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Le Au Ngan Anh in the finale. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Le Au Ngan Anh walks onstage in the finale. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Le Au Ngan Anh (C), first runner-up Nguyen Thi Dieu Thuy (R), and second runner-up Dang Thanh Ngan. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Source: Tuoi Tre News

 

 

Bitcoin transactions remain illegal in Vietnam

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The only payment methods allowed in the country are issued or controlled by the State Bank.

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin remain illegal in Vietnam, the State Bank affirmed in a statement released on Saturday.

“From January 1, 2018, the act of issuing, supplying or using illegal means of payment may be subject to prosecution in accordance with the provisions of Article 206 of the Penal Code 2015,” the statement said.

The only payment methods allowed in the country are issued or controlled by the State Bank.

People who attempt to use illegal means of payment will be subject to a fine ranging from $6,600-9,000.

Earlier this week, Vietnam’s top technology university FPT announced plans to allow students to pay for their tuition fees using Bitcoin.

Some service providers have already started accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in Vietnam, but they are mostly used for trading and speculation on the free market.

The central bank has warned organizations and individuals in Vietnam not to invest in Bitcoins or conduct transactions in the currency, saying they would be taking a huge risk with no legal protection.

“Bitcoin transactions are anonymous and can be used for money laundering, drug trafficking, tax evasion and illegal payments,” the bank claimed.

Source: Thanh Le

Alibaba chairman to address over 3,000 students in Hanoi

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Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group will speak with more than 3,000 students from 5pm to 6:30pm at the National Convention Centre, Hanoi on November 6.

The event is co-organized by FPT Group, HCM City Communist Youth Union Central Committee, and online newspaper VnExpress.

Alibaba’s billionaire founder will hold an exchange with over 3,000 students and inspire them with stories of his career and technologies.

The event aims to encourage a spirit of entrepreneurship in the young generation, offering opportunities for students to learn from the experiences of one of the world’s most inspiring billionaires.

Before visiting Vietnam, Jack Ma spoke to students of the Republic of Korea, and the US, during which he stressed the importance of technologies and foreign languages and told stories of his start-up process and difficult childhood.

Jack Ma is the founder of the e-commerce giant Alibaba with a total value of US$460 billion, ranking among world’s fastest growing businesses. The group has funded major investments into research activities and technological developments as well as start-ups.

Source: VOV

HCM City to begin $15 million flood-prevention project

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The HCM City Department of Planning and Investment has asked the city’s People’s Committee to approve a new flood-prevention project funded by Denmark.

The US$15 million project will be funded with a loan from the Danish government.

The money will be spent on improving hydrologic and rainfall forecasting and flood-control projects, and flood research and evaluation efforts, with the aim of improving the city’s natural disaster responses.

The project is expected to begin next year and run through 2022 if approved. It will be applied in HCM City and in the provinces of Đồng Nai and Long An.

The city in recent years has faced severe flooding due to rising tides, water discharge and torrential rains.

Sites with heavy flooding include Nhiêu Lộc –Thị Nghè, Kênh Đôi-Kênh Tẻ, Bến Nghé-Tàu Hũ, Tân Hòa-Lò Gốm and Tham Lương-Bến Cát, located in the districts of Bình Thạnh, Tân Phú, Tân Bình, Thủ Đức, 8 and 12.

Property damages from flooding are estimated to be around VNĐ5 trillion (US$234 million) each year.

 

Source: VNS

Hà Nội street offers tax-free foreign goods

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On Nguyễn Sơn Street in Hà Nội’s Long Biên District, there is a small alley which is home to dozens of mini-shops standing close to each other.

In each store, there is a variety of goods, including cosmetics, food, beverages, clothes, tooth brushes, cigarettes, glasses, knives, chopsticks and cooking pans.

All of them are foreign branded and hand carried to Việt Nam on airlines. For this reason, Alley No 158 is infamously called the “paradise of hand carried goods (HCGs)” in Hà Nội.

The goods sold by residents are not low cost compared to Vietnamese products, however, they are cheaper than legally imported products.

Being sold at only slightly lower cost than market prices, hand-carried perfumes, cigarettes and wine are the favourite products because legally imported goods often bear high taxes and also, there are many fakes.

Nearly 20 years ago, mini shops started to appear on this street, also home to a lot of airline agencies. It has another nickname – “airline street”.

At that time, life for Hanoians was getting better. People often asked relatives working for airlines to carry foreign products back home to sell them for local consumption.

The products are purchased at duty-free stores at airports. Regulations allow each airline staff member to carry about 30kg of luggage and a small suitcase. If airline staff take full advantage of the regulation, each flight attendant or pilot is able to carry up to 40-50kg of goods per flight without bearing taxes. Airline staff can carry bigger amounts of goods if they ask for help from colleagues or corrupt custom officers.

The sellers can earn greater profits through promotions and sales campaigns. If they buy a large number of goods, they will enjoy a discount of 20-30 per cent, presents and free shipment. The profits are therefore multiplied many times.

Selling HCGs is also performed by officers or young mothers, some of whom earn a daily profit of up to VNĐ500 million (US$22,200) by selling goods worth VNĐ2 billion per day during Lunar New Year.

Tax free: A variety of hand-carried goods are sold on Nguyễn Sơn Street, Hà Nội. — Photo laodong.vn

A store owner named Vân (not her real name) told the Lao Động (Labourers) newspaper that the products were mostly from Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Hongkong, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States. Profits are divided based on product value. The higher value, the higher the profits.

“For example, an airline worker receives a profit of VNĐ200,000-300,000 (US$8-13) for a perfume bottle worth VNĐ2 million ($87). Profits are counted based on product weight if the product values are low,” she said.

However, in recent times, retail customers visiting the shops are on the decline due to the popularity of online shopping.

“Hand carried goods are now mainly sold in bulk for localities. A bill of products delivered to a province can be worth VNĐ1 billion ($43,500),” another store owner said.

Disguised as customers who want to buy a large quantity of goods, Lao Động reporters were introduced to one of the biggest shops on the street. The shop has more than 1,000 to 2,000 product codes and is famous for selling products with no big difference between retail and wholesale prices.

Staff at the store said the products were all hand carried from overseas. However, most of them, including cigarettes to wine, did not pay tax bills due to evasion.

“Our products are best sellers because they are all authentic,” a shopkeeper told reporters.

Another staff said “Some hand-carried goods have invoices, others do not, but the bills are not important. Customers who buy our products all have trust”

Other store owners also fail to show invoices, but all of them confirm the quality of the goods. Customers can order any kind of goods in any quantity. It takes at most one week, even only two or three days to send ordered goods to Việt Nam.

When asked if they are aware of penalties for tax evasion, a shop assistant said: “We must have a “relationship” (which means relationship with custom agencies)”

Being asked how such a large quantity of goods was hand carried on airlines, an old cashier said goods were also carried through other ways.

A shop worker in one of the biggest stores said the goods were carried in massive quantities in big containers by sea. Shipping fees were paid by shop owners based on the weight of their goods.

The goods are delivered to Hải Phòng port in northern Hải Phòng City and have their taxes reduced at most thanks to a “relationship” between shop owners and customs agencies.

According to store owners, they often declare low-cost and simple goods to avoid customs check. Products related to human health such as cosmetics, functional food, medicine skip the watch of authorised agencies. The products are then sold at low cost because they do not have to bear taxes and checking fees, bringing huge profits to local sellers.

However, not all products are authentic. A woman who has more than 10-years experience in selling hand-carried goods said that sellers mix authentic products of developed countries with Chinese low-quality goods to increase the quantity.

After receiving goods from other countries, shop owners will send them to China where factories mix the product content. One week later, the goods claimed to be authentic by many sellers are delivered back to Việt Nam for consumption, she said.

Hand carried goods are now available for online sales. Typing “HCGs” on Google search, reporters could find thousands of results from Việt Nam. The prices of these products sold on websites and Facebook pages also vary greatly.

Due to the love of foreign products, many customers are still lured by both online and tax-free stores.

Quách Thành Lực, director of Hà Nội Tinh Hoa Law Company, told the Lao Động newspaper that airline crew were able to carry tax-free goods once every 90 days.

“The regulation is not strictly implemented. If we want to control hand-carried goods, we must control from the root. We must answer the questions why overseas goods easily skip the supervision of authorities. The popularity of the goods, both authentic and fake, shows loopholes in the management.”

According to Hà Nội’s Market Surveillance, in the first nine months of this year, the unit inspected 19 cases of hand-carried goods, mostly cosmetics of unknown origin, imposed total fines of more than VNĐ61 million ($2,650) and confiscated goods worth nearly VNĐ145 million ($6,300).

The team said that illegal sales and transport of overseas products with unclear quality and without tags was complicated, adding that there were a lot of tricks. A small number of cosmetics are manufactured illegally in Việt Nam. Others are made abroad and then smuggled through different channels, mostly in small volumes, to Hà Nội and consumed in other provinces.

Nguyễn Thành Phong, head of Food Safety Department under the Ministry of Health, advised customers not to trust tax-free products because they “might carry potential risks”.

Source: VNS

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