Saigontourist, VNPT cooperate to build smart travel solutions

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Saigontourist Holding Company (Saigontourist) and the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) on Tuesday signed a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly build smart travel solutions.

Notably, with the commitment to provide the best telecommunication products and consultancy services to Saigontourist, VNPT will supply and cooperate with Saigontourist in developing and deploying smart travel solutions (Smart Tourism).

These solutions will help businesses provide customers with the best experience in a swift and economical manner.
The realisation of smart travel solutions will not only help Saigontourist maximise revenue, but is also in line with the smart city development roadmap of HCM City and other provinces and cities.

In addition, VNPT will also provide Saigontourist with software products, software, technology and digital equipment serving the hospitality, restaurant, travel and entertainment businesses, such as hotel online reservation system and customer loyalty management system.

In return, Saigontourist will provide services to VNPT and its subsidiaries with the best possible conditions, at reasonable prices in accordance with the law and on the basis of contracts signed.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Nguyễn Thành Phong, chairman of the People’s Committee of HCM City, said in its strategy of tourism development, besides investment in infrastructure and tourism products, the city is also encouraging the application of technology, especially digital tools to meet the increasing demand of visitors.

Therefore, the strategic cooperation between Saigontourist and VNPT is an important premise for the city to achieve the goal of attracting 10 million international visitors by 2020.

Nguyễn Thành Phong suggested the two sides quickly concretise the terms signed, so that the cooperation process can be practically and comprehensively implemented.

Saigontourist CEO Trần Hùng Việt said the company wants to develop smart travel solutions to bring customers the most unique products, services and experiences, especially during the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The signing of the strategic cooperation with VNPT will facilitate Saigontourist to accelerate the application of new technologies and techniques.

According to Phạm Đức Long, general director of VNPT, it is the first time VNPT has signed a strategic cooperation with a tourism business.

Therefore, VNPT wants to cooperate with Saigontourist in converting the entire operating system into a digital technology-driven system to bring the best benefits to customers and the tourism enterprise.

Source: VNS

Auto market waits for import tariff removal

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Despite continuous price cuts by auto manufacturers and dealers for the last two months, the market has remained to be gloomy as customers have been likely to wait for price drop to bottom levels when import tariff on products imported from ASEAN will reduce to 0 percent on January 1, 2018.

Toyota dealers have cut the price by VND50 million to VND500 million a Vios car, much lower than that in early this year. Prices of old Camry versions has slid by VND75-100 million.

Truong Hai Auto Corporation (Thaco) has slashed prices of Mazda types which it is distributing in Vietnam. The most cut has been VND45-106 million on Mazda 6. After record reductions in previous months, Mazda CX-5 2017 price has furthered drop an extra of VND20-41 million.

Taking the lead in the price cut list is SUV Pajero Sport of Misubishi Vietnam Joint Venture. Of these, seven seater type has decreased VND198 million to VND704 million a car. In addition, all Mitshubishi car models have slid by VND40-170 million but they have still been unsold.

After dropping to VND730 million, VND766 million and VND835 million, the prices of Honda CR-V 2.0AT, A.4 AT and 2.4AT-TG have no considerable changes. However, they have been sold out.

Despite the strong cuts, purchasing power has fallen by 50 percent. That might be because customers have been waiting for 0 percent import tariff and special consumption tax cut next year.

With the price reductions of many lines of cars, dealers have nearly been profitable or earned very little, still they have been forced to implement promotional and discount programs to stimulate demand and obtain set targets, said a representative of Toyota East Saigon Company.

Reports from Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) show that in September, the market sold only 21,216 automobiles, down 20 percent over the same period last year.

Of these, passenger cars moved down 7 percent, commercial vehicles 7 percent and specialized automobiles 18 percent over the same period last year.

During the first nine months this year, 71,559 automobiles were imported, sliding 7.7 percent in volume and 13.1 percent in value over a year ago. VAMA said that auto businesses have faced with increasing inventory volume.
2018 will come in two months and import tariff will drop to 0 percent. However, many experts said that the preferential tax rate will be applied for products from ASEAN with the localization rate in the region of 40 percent.

Cars imported from other nations or not meeting the localization rate requirement will not enjoy the special treatment.

In addition, the Government has recently issued Decree 116/2017, effective from October17, to stipulate conditions on auto manufacturing, assembly, import and maintenance service business. It does not untie import cars as many people expected but tighten regulations.

According to the new regulations, each consignment of import automobiles must pay the fee of VND30-40 million and will experience strict inspection.

Hence, auto prices will be difficult to reduce if the import volume is not high and costs increase. That might lead to price manipulation without close control from the state, said Mr. Hoang Van Cuong, director of Hoang Son Auto Export Import Company in Binh Tan district.

Source: SGGP

Apple reduced Face ID accuracy to ease production: Bloomberg

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The Face ID system uses a mathematical model of users’ faces to allow them to sign on to their phones or pay for goods.

Apple Inc recently allowed its suppliers to reduce the accuracy of the iPhone X’s facial recognition system to speed up production of the smartphone, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the situation.

The Face ID system – among the $999 iPhone X’s most talked about features – uses a mathematical model of users’ faces to allow them to sign on to their phones or pay for goods with a steady glance at their phones.

Apple could not immediately be reached for comment outside regular business hours.

Apple has been facing a slew of issues with its latest set of phones that it launched on Sept. 12, with the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus facing muted demand, and news and analyst reports suggesting reduced shipment plans for the iPhone X.

The iPhone X is set to be released on Nov. 3.

Source: Reuters/Arjun Panchadar

​Vietnam’s seafood ‘yellow carded’ by European Commission

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Vietnam has been given the equivalent of a ‘yellow card’ by the European Commission for failing to take sufficient action against illegal fishing.

The ‘yellow card’ is a warning given by the European Commission to any “non-cooperating country” in its fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing worldwide.

In a press release obtained by Tuoi Tre News on Monday, the European Commission explained that the decision to give the warning to Vietnam was based on the country “not doing enough to fight illegal fishing.”

The decision is a result of thorough analysis, takes into account the development of the country and follows a long period of informal discussions with Vietnamese authorities that began in 2012, according to the European Commission.

The commission said it had identified several shortcomings, including the lack of an effective sanctioning system to deter IUU fishing activities and a lack of action to address illegal fishing activities conducted by Vietnamese vessels in non-Vietnamese waters.

“Furthermore, Vietnam has an inadequate system of control over fish that are processed locally before being exported to international markets, including the EU,” the commission said.

A Vietnamese fishing boat

Karmenu Vella, the Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries at the European Commission said the ‘yellow card’ demonstrates the Commission’s firm commitment to fighting illegal fishing globally.

“We cannot ignore the impact that the illegal activities of Vietnamese vessels are having on marine ecosystems in the Pacific,” Vella said.

The commissioner said the European Commission is willing to offer technical support, and called on Vietnamese authorities to “step up their fight so we can reverse this decision quickly.”

The European Commission underlined that the decision does not immediately include measures that impact trade.

The ‘yellow card’ is considered a warning and offers the opportunity for Vietnam to rectify the situation within a reasonable timeframe.

“To this end the Commission has proposed an action plan to support the country in addressing the shortcomings,” it said in the press release.

“Vietnamese authorities are now invited to engage in a formal procedure of dialogue to resolve the issues and implement the action plan.”

Six months to change

Vietnam’s seafood industry had been well aware of the impending warning from the European Commission.

In late September, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), held a meeting to seek solutions to avoid the decision, however no significant improvements had been made since.

At the VASEP meeting, industry insiders said that the warning would put Vietnam’s seafood in jeopardy.

Fishermen aboard a fishing boat.

During the six-month ‘yellow card’ period, the country will have 100 percent of its shipments to the EU held for inspection before clearing customs.

The process will take up to four weeks and some 500 GBP ($675) per container, not to mention storage expenses charged by seaports, according to VASEP deputy general secretary Nguyen Hoai Nam.

“However, the biggest danger is that any yellow-carded country will experience a higher rate of rejection by international customs,” Nam warned.

“For instance, the Philippines now has 70 percent of its containers shipped to the EU returned, resulting in losses of up to 10,000 euro [$11,860] per container.”

Vietnam’s annual seafood exports are worth between US$1.9 billion and $2.2 billion, with the EU and U.S. markets each accounting for 16-17 percent.

The industry now faces the challenge of having its ‘yellow card’ revoked as soon as possible.

VASEP chairman Ngo Van Ich told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Tuesday that the association is carefully evaluating the situation to come up with adequate solutions.

“There is a high possibility that the ‘yellow card’ will become a ‘red card,’ resulting in severe consequences for Vietnamese seafood, so we are trying our best to improve the situation before it is too late,” Ich said.

Source: Tuoi Tre News

 

Thousands of taxi drivers leave jobs

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Vinasun, one of Vietnam’s biggest taxi firms, saw nearly 2,000 staff leave in the third quarter of this year due to fierce competition with app-based taxi services.

According to Vinasun, by the end of the third quarter, the company employed 7,292, down nearly 2,000 compared to by late June this year.

In a document sent to the prime minister in May this year, Vinasun said that it is facing many operational difficulties due to competition from Uber and Grab.

Vinasun earned net revenues of VND547 billion (USD24.8 million) in the third quarter, the lowest level since 2011 while its after-tax profits in the period dropped 50% over the same period last year to VND47 billion (USD2 million).

The firm’s total revenues of the Jan-Sept period to VND2.45 trillion (USD111.3 million), fulfilling just 58% of the year’s set target.

In order to cut the loss, Vinasun has actively been using app-based taxi services as well boosting the franchise. The company recently launched a service to book rides via Facebook.

This year, Vinasun has set a goal to reach revenues of VND4.25 trillion (USD187.3 million) and profits of VND205 billion, down 10.6% and 34% on-year.

Mai Linh Group also saw nearly 6,000 staff leave in the first six months of this year which they claimed was due to competition with app-based services.

Source: dtinews, TP

More international air routes to be launched to Phu Quoc Island

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Phu Quoc International Airport will launch several new international air routes in the coming months which aims to attract more visitors to the southern island.

The information has just been announced by a representative of Kien Giang Provincial People’s Committee at a Wednesday meeting with the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

According to the committee, Bangkok Airway will launched a Bangkok – Phu Quoc route beginning October 29 on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

On November 1st, TUI IK Airway will open a charter flight connecting England and Phu Quoc.

More international flights will be launched at Phu Quoc International Airport

From December 19th till the end of April, 2018, Italy’s Neos Airline will launch charter flights between Milan and Phu Quoc on Tuesday and Wednesday using 250-seated Boeing 767.

“It is expected that Noes Airlines will bring some 4,000 visitors to the beautiful southern island of Vietnam during those five months,” the committee said, adding that this would be a good opportunity for Phu Quoc to show its potentials.

Source: NLD

Sinking oil output should make Vietnam focus on tourism for economic growth

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‘It is better to welcome 1 million tourists than trying to find 1 million tons of crude oil.’

Vietnam needs to stop relying on crude oil and focus on tourism to ensure its economic growth, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue said at an ongoing meeting of the legislative National Assembly on Tuesday.

Hue said that mining output of fossil fuels has been falling for the past two years, local media reported.

Data from the General Statistics Office (GSO) showed that the mining sector slowed by 8 percent on-year in the first nine months, and crude oil output during that period fell 10.3 percent to 11.7 million tons.

In a bid to reach its economic growth target of 6.7 percent for 2017, the government in early June floated fresh plans to tap more oil and gas, despite warnings from lawmakers of becoming over-reliant on the mining industry to fuel growth. The government had planned to exploit 13.28 million tons of crude oil this year, down 3 million tons compared to last year,

“But even when we want to exploit more crude oil to ensure growth, we can’t,” Hue said on Tuesday. “This means we have to move our oil rigs further out to sea where there is less crude oil. There is just no way we can depend on crude oil to boost economic growth,” he said.

“It is better to welcome 1 million tourists than trying to find 1 million tons of crude oil because tourism is more eco-friendly and safe for the economy.”

To prove his point, Hue said tourism played a key role in the country’s economic growth of 6.41 percent during the first three quarters of the year.

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the country earned VND376 trillion ($16.5 billion) in tourism revenue in the first nine months, a 26.5 percent increase from last year, after welcoming 9.45 million foreign visitors and 57.9 million local tourists, up 28.4 percent and 10.3 percent respectively.

The deputy PM said that tourism has a direct impact on the service sector, so more tourists means higher growth.

The service industry expanded 7.25 percent in the first three quarters, the strongest growth recorded across all sectors, according to the General Statistics Office.

Late last month, the Asian Development Bank cut Vietnam’s growth forecast this year to 6.3 percent from its previous projection of 6.5 percent.

The Manila-based lender said it had trimmed the projection due to weak mining output.

Growth prospects are likely to hold up fairly well in the second half, though continued contraction in mining will drag on the economy, it said in its Asian Development Outlook Update 2017.

Foreign direct investment, exports, credit growth, agriculture and government efforts to speed up the implementation of public infrastructure projects are the main factors that will drive economic growth in the last six months, the report said.

The ADB’s latest growth forecast matches the projections made by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. In July, HSBC lowered Vietnam’s economic expansion forecast this year to only 6 percent from its previous estimate of 6.4 percent.

All of them are below the government’s target of 6.7 percent, a goal that some experts have said is unrealistic.

However, the country has been working hard to realize this target.

Earlier last month, the government instructed the Ministry of Finance to put on hold a series of proposed tax hikes to make life easier for local businesses and the growth target more achievable. The ministry had been planning to increase a number of different taxes and fees, including raising VAT from 10 percent to 12 percent.

The central bank in July reduced its lending interest rate by 0.25 percent to 6.25 percent for the first time in three years to boost economic growth, as many Vietnamese companies still rely heavily on bank loans.

Source: Minh Nga

Vietnam in Group D of AFC U23 Championship 2018 finals

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A draw for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Championship 2018’s final round took place in China on October 24.

Vietnam’s U23 squad is placed in Group D with Syria, Australia, and the Republic of Korea.
The host China is in Group A together with Oman, Uzbekistan, and Qatar.

Palestine, Thailand, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and Japan are in Group B.

Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Iraq make up Group C.

The final round of the AFC U23 Championship 2018 is set to take place from January 6-27, 2018 in China.

For the Southeast Asian region, this is the second time Vietnam and Thailand have been competing in the AFC U23 Championship’s final round, while it is the first time for Malaysia.

In the AFC U23 Championship 2016’s final round in Qatar, U23 Japan was the winner. U23 Republic of Korea, Iraq, and Qatar came second, third, and fourth, respectively.

Source: VOV

What does Samsung plan to do in the telecom sector?

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The Vietnamese telecommunications market is shaped by the dominance of three big players – VinaPhone, MobiFone and Viettel. But now Samsung may join forces with businesses to develop IT.

Samsung Group leaders recently expressed their willingness to invest in the telecom sector in Vietnam.

Vu Tri Dung from the Marketing Faculty of the Hanoi Economics University said this is Samsung’s backward vertical integration development strategy. When the lead market develops well, it will make backward vertical integration, not only to provide terminal devices, but also strive to become a network service provider.

However, the expert thinks Samsung wouldn’t do this alone, but may join the telecom sector in Vietnam by teaming up with some businesses, possibly one of the three big telecom players, or Beeline, the telecom brand which left Vietnam some years ago, or any other business.

“No one would build a network from A to Z because it would be very costly to develop. I don’t think Samsung will develop a network, but it would specialize in providing terminal devices,” Dung said.

“The telecom market is saturated, but information technology has been developing very rapidly. Samsung will jump into the telecom sector and develop IT,” Dung said

The expert said Beeline, a brand of Russian VimpelCom, once put high hopes on its investment in Vietnam, but it could not compete with the three big Vietnamese players.

Before leaving Vietnam, Beeline had 187,000 subscribers, accounting for 0.17 percent of the market share. Its ARPU was $0.7-0.9 per subscriber, which meant revenue of less than $2 million a year.

The cost to maintain 4,000 BTS throughout the country alone was $40 million ($10,000 per station per annum). In addition, it also had to pay other expenses on marketing, operation and maintenance. Beeline incurred heavy losses.
“Samsung must have learned the lesson and it will have other calculations,” Dung commented.

The biggest strength of Samsung is the strong brand. It also has powerful financial capability and terminal devices. It understands Vietnamese customers as it has been in Vietnam now for a long time.

However, a telecom expert said there was no need to worry about Samsung’s competitiveness if the South Korean conglomerates make investments in telecom. The three Vietnamese mobile network operators are dominating the market and Samsung won’t be able to change the situation.

He believes that telecom sector is not the major goal for Samsung, because the sector, which requires huge investment in infrastructure, is no longer attractive, and that Samsung may eye the IT sector.

Source: VietNamNet

Experts object to fees on cars entering downtown

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Experts and car owners have objected to a long-planned yet highly controversial scheme to impose a fee on cars entering HCMC’s central business district.

The HCMC government suspended the scheme five years ago to conduct a review due to strong opposition.

Director of the HCMC Department of Transport Bui Quoc Cuong said the city has refloated the scheme in a bid to restrict cars from traveling to the city center to reduce worsening traffic congestion.

The scheme has been passed to relevant agencies for comment, but what an alternative means of transport is and how effective the plan is remain unanswered.

Under the current circumstances, motorbikes and commuter buses can be used to enter the city center. However, a sudden spike in motorcycle traffic in the downtown area would not help solve the traffic congestion issue.

Meanwhile, public bus transit remains inconvenient and uncomfortable.

Worse still, the city has no metro line. The city’s first mass rapid transit line, Metro Line No.1 connecting Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and Suoi Tien Park in District 9, is still under construction and will not be up and running until 2020.

The only metro line would serve people travelling from districts 2, 9 and Thu Duc to the city center only.

People travelling from districts 7 and 8 to Tan Son Nhat International Airport or from Binh Thanh and Thu Duc districts to districts 5 and 10 will have to go through the downtown area. It would take a longer time if they use ring roads, so car owners would have no other choice but to go through the downtown and willingly pay a fee.

Instead of imposing a fee on cars entering the central business district, the city government should weigh relocating schools and hospitals out of the downtown area, develop a public transit system and suspend the licensing of new high-rise residential blocks in the central districts.

Source: SGT

Foreign ownership in Techcombank officially at 0%

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Foreign ownership in the Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) is officially at zero per cent, the bank announced late last week.

Previously, in its announcement to shareholders on August 30, the bank requested shareholders to approve the zero foreign ownership temporarily, following HSBC Bank’s divestment in July. It also expressed its intention to raise the level of foreign ownership later, but not higher than 30 per cent of its charter capital.

Following HSBC’s departure, Techcombank intends to actively seek a capable strategic investor in the near future.
Back in mid August, HSBC sold all 172 million shares to Techcombank, to be used as treasury stocks at VND23,445 (US$1.04) per share, according to the bank’s board of directors.

The shares previously amounted to 19.4 per cent of Techcombank’s charter capital, and are currently priced at a total of some VND4 trillion ($178.1 million).

Besides Techcombank, other banks such as VPBank and LienVietPostBank have also recently reduced the foreign ownership ratio. VPBank has lowered the rate to 22.378 per cent from the earlier 25 per cent, while the rate at LienVietPostBank is at just 5 per cent.

According to LienVietPostBank, the move is aimed setting aside the ownership of strategic foreign partners and restricting purchase by individual foreign investors.

Source: VNS

Alibaba and Tencent eye Vietnamese e-payment sector

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Technology giants Alibaba and Tencent are trying to penetrate the Vietnamese e-payment market.

On November 6, 2017, Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba Group, will attend a briefing of developing e-commerce and mobile payment at Vietnam Electronic Payment Forum 2017, which will take place in Hanoi. Afterwards, Jack Ma will attend the 2017 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting Week in Danang.

According to business circles, Jack Ma is probably looking for a way to enter the Vietnamese fintech and electronic payments market, which holds great potential.

In China, electronic or online payment methods are completely replacing cash payments as most people to use their phones to pay for their daily shopping needs.

According to a report conducted by Analysis International—a Beijing-based consulting company—in the second quarter of 2017, the total value of third-party mobile payment transactions reached $3.460 billion in China.

In particular, the two giants, Alibaba and Tencent, are making up 92 per cent of the mobile payment market in China. Of this, Alipay, Alibaba’s mobile payment service, takes the lead with 53.7 per cent of the market, while Tencent Finance’s Wechat Pay accounts for 39.1 per cent.

Yuebao, a mobile deposit and investment platform developed by Jack Ma, has become the world’s largest monetary fund with a total capital surpassing $170 billion. It has become a direct threat to the traditional Chinese banking industry.

Yuebao receives money from Alipay accounts, paying higher interest rates than the banks’ average lending rates, making Alipay a huge idle fund with more than 300 million users allowing customers to easily transfer and withdraw any amount of money at any time in a few steps.

Yuebao has attracted 100 billion yuan from more than 29 million customers in just six months after its launch. It then offered loans to both businesses and individuals with attractive negotiable interest rates.

Prior to this, Alibaba spent US$1 billion acquiring Lazada, a leading online shopping channel currently operating in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

Exactly one year later, in April 2014, HelloPay—Lazada’s online payment service—was successfully merged with Ant Financial, Alibaba’s online mobile payment platform. After that, HelloPay changed its name to Alipay Singapore, Alipay Malaysia, Alipay Indonesia, and Alipay Philippines, according to the markets where Lazada operates.

In another move, Jack Ma now plans to spend $1.5 billion investing in Grab, which is “stirring up” the Vietnamese market. Previously, Alipay has cooperated with Grab by allowing Chinese tourists visiting Singapore and Thailand to pay for Grab via Alipay since June 2016.

According to Grab, this allows Chinese travelers to freely pay in yuan without having to worry about foreign exchange rates.

Alipay is shaking up the market and is becoming a real threat to the financial industry in Southeast Asia. Alibaba’s ambition to penetrate the Vietnamese market has also become very clear.

A subsidiary of Alibaba is said to have applied for payment authorisation in Vietnam, but has not been granted one yet. According to Vietnamese laws, payment intermediaries are conditional business lines, subject to strict conditions as assessed and licensed by the State Bank of Vietnam.

As committed to the World Trade Organization (WTO), regarding intermediary payment services, Vietnam has no commitments to expand or open up the market for foreign investors.

On the other hand, with respect to conditional business lines, the ownership ratio of foreign investors in the telecommunications sector ranges from 49 to 65 per cent (with or without network infrastructure). Meanwhile, since the banking sector is a sensitive industry, the government is limiting foreign ownership in banks to 30 per cent.

Yet, it seems Alipay is trying to enter Vietnam through the backdoor. To date, the group has tried to acquire Lazada and Grab to penetrate the Vietnamese market in particular and the ASEAN in general.

Tencent hunting for acquisitions

Meanwhile, Alibaba’s main rival Tencent has also made quite a few fierce moves. The strategy Tencent is pursuing is the acquisition of e-commerce platforms to set foot in the electronic payments market by its main service Wechat Pay.

Wechat now has 938 million users each month and its payment platform has been launched in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Africa.

In Vietnam, Garena, a subsidiary of Tencent, now occupies a large market share in the gaming industry and is turning to e-commerce. Most recently, Sea (Garena renamed) bought an 82 per cent stake in Foody.vn for $64 million. Sea has also expanded its e-commerce and online payment services with the introduction of Shopee and AirPay.

At present, Shopee receives around 2.7-3.6 million orders every month, equivalent to 100,000 orders per day and is on the way to catch up with Alibaba’s Lazada Vietnam.

Many believe that Tencent’s payment application seeks to penetrate Vietnam through the e-commerce channel and will expand into the financial sector after securing a firm position. Particularly, Wechat Pay will follow millions of Chinese tourists to Vietnam each year.

This strategy of Chinese tech giants penetrating Vietnam, given the realities in China, Europe, ASEAN countries, and Africa, has seriously depressed Vietnam’s corporate banks as they are afraid that Alibaba and Tencent will seize and manipulate the Vietnamese financial market in the coming time.

“Let’s imagine Wechat or Alibaba or even both of them pouring tens of millions of dollars into the Vietnamese financial market, accepting massive losses to launch attractive promotion programmes, even willing to forego service charges in the first two to three years. Then, what will be the future of the payment sector in Vietnam? $10 million or $100 million is clearly not a big deal for Wechat or Alibaba to increase market share,” said Tran Cong Quynh Lan, VietinBank’s deputy general director.

Source: VIR

Best destinations in Vietnam to visit in autumn

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This is an ideal destination for tourists from late September till March next year. Phu Quoc island is famous for beautiful beaches such as Bai Sao, Bai Khem, and a variety of coral reefs.

The capital city of Hanoi in autumn is popular for ancient streets with yellow leaves, beautiful Hoan Kiem lake and delicious food such as Pho Ly Quoc Su (Vietnamese noodle soup in Ly Quoc Su str), Hang Buom spring rolls, and Cha Ca La Vong (fish dish)

Terraced fields and a carpet of clouds are stunning scenes in Sapa.

Da Lat city in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong attracts tourists to its cool climate, beautiful flower gardens and cathedrals as well as romantic destinations such as Valley of Love, Lang Biang Plateau, Cam Ly waterfalls and Xuan Huong Lake.

Floating markets and orchards in the Mekong Delta region are must-see destinations for tourists.

Source: VOV

IDG Ventures Vietnam vice president dies at 40

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Nguyen Hong Truong, deputy head of IDG Ventures Vietnam and one of the founders of Vietnam’s start-up community, died on October 22 from a stroke.

IDG Ventures Vietnam is the first technology venture capital fund in Vietnam and has funded various successful start-up projects including YanTV, Vietnam Communications Corporation and Vat Gia online shopping website.

Before joining IDG Ventures Vietnam, Truong managed the Vietnam Software/ICT Cluster, a nationwide network of ICT CEOs and other stakeholders to promote the development of ICT industry in Vietnam.

While working at IDG Ventures Vietnam, Truong had shared much valuable knowledge and advice to the start-up community. He was still enthusiastic about helping people start their projects and shared many lessons he learned.

He had a bachelor degrees from Hanoi Law University and Hanoi National Economics University and graduated with an MBA degree in Management Information Systems and Computer Resource Management from Webster University.

Truong had also worked at Development Alternatives Inc, J.E. Austin Associates and Procter and Gamble in Vietnam. Besides fostering start-up projects, he was also a member of various associations including Hanoi Bar Association.

Many entrepreneurs in the communication and technology sector, as well as founders of start-up community in Vietnam, have expressed their shock and offered their condolences to Truong’s family.

Source: VietNamNet

Experts come up with new idea to cure gridlock near Saigon airport: monorails

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The idea came as the city is grappling with funds to complete its first metro line.
A proposal to build two monorails into Saigon’s international airport Tan Son Nhat has met with doubt as experts said the plan is financially unfeasible.

The Institute of Transport Science and Technology at the transport ministry has suggested that the megacity build two monorails from two parks that are around two kilometers, or 1.2 miles, from the airport to reduce the regular traffic jams in the area.

Gia Dinh Park is to the west of the city and Hoang Van Thu is to the south.

The monorails are expected to cost VND9.15 trilllion ($402.8 million), the institute said.

That is not to mention parking lots with space for 2,000 cars at each park.

Bui Xuan Cuong of the city’s transport department said the proposal is just an idea, and any next step will depend on whether it is deemed practical or suitable to the city’s urban planning.

The idea has so far received a lot of jeers.

Ha Trong Truong, vice chairman of the city’s Road, Bridge and Port Association, said the project is hardly practical.

Truong said the cost estimate is around 40 percent higher than the average market price, he said.

Also, the city has already planned a $250-million metro line between Hoang Van Thu Park and the airport, he said.

That would be the fourth line in the metro system planned for the city, although the first line connecting Districts 1 with 2 has hit several delays and the city is grappling with funding to meet its planned completion in 2020.

Some experts in the field have also suggested an elevated road and cable cars as an answer to traffic jams around the country’s largest airport.

In January, a company in the city proposed to build a one-kilometer cable car system which would cost only $24.3 million and take 10 months.

But the company withdrew the proposal in July, after experts questioned the safety of having cable cars flying over crowded roads.

Heavy traffic jams have occurred regularly around Tan Son Nhat airport in recent years. Sometimes vehicles are stuck for hours and travelers could be seen abandoning their taxis and running to the airport to catch their flights.

Vietnam’s airline market is growing at the third fastest pace in Asia-Pacific and the country is grappling with an acute dearth of airport capacity.

Aviation authorities estimated that the number of passengers on domestic flights soared 35 percent to 28 million in 2016, accounting for more than half of the total air travel in the country.

Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific, VietJet and the newly founded Vietstar are planning to expand their fleets to a total of 263 aircraft in the next four years. Vietstar has not even been licensed to fly yet.

The country is working on a design for a massive airport in Dong Nai Province to share some of the heavy load for Tan Son Nhat, but construction can take years.

Source: Huu Cong

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