Digital transformation plays a vital role in agricultural development To achieve ambitions to become a modern-oriented industrialised nation by 2030 and a developed country with high income by 2045, Viet Nam must succeed in the digital transformation process, in which agriculture is one of the priority areas, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son said. Minister Son gave the statement at the Vietnam Agricultural Digital Transformation International Forum 2021, themed “Keeping up with market trends, ensuring the pivotal role of the economy during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.” which was held virtually on Thursday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Vietnam Digital Agriculture Association (VIDA), and e-newspaper VnExpress. The forum is a place for dialogue and public-private policy activities between the Government, private sector and stakeholders. It was also an activity within the framework of the Vietnam International Agricultural Exhibition 2021 (AgriTech Expo …
Final train for Hanoi’s second metro route arrives in Vietnam
A ship carrying the 10th train, the last of the second metro route, docked at Hai Phong Port on Thursday and is on its way to the Nhon depot area in Hanoi, a representative of Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board (MRB) said Saturday. As of August, the route was 74 percent complete, including 90 percent of its elevated section. The metro route is scheduled to begin commercial operation of its 8.5-kilometer elevated tracks in the second half of this year. However, MRB said the target could be missed due to the impacts of the Covid pandemic. The Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station route consists of 10 trains with four cars each, manufactured by French company Alstom. Each train, which is 80 meters long and has a designed speed of 80 kph and a commercial speed of 35 kph, can carry 944 to 1,124 people. Its low floor makes it quite convenient for passengers to get on and off, especially for those with luggage or having to move on wheelchairs. There are priority areas for people with …
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Vietnam records 9,360 new local Covid cases
Ho Chi Minh City led with 4,237 new cases, followed by Binh Duong (2,877) and Dong Nai (939). Saturday's infection tally pushed the infection tally in the ongoing wave since late April to 672,593. 220 deaths were recorded on Saturday, including 165 in HCMC, 39 in its neighbor Binh Duong and seven in the Mekong Delta's Kien Giang. Other deaths were recorded in Tay Ninh (three), Dong Thap (two) and Binh Thuan, Thanh Hoa, Quang Ngai and Hanoi (one each). The national death rate over the past week has been 250 a day on average. The coronavirus death toll in Vietnam so far is 16,857, or 2.5 percent of all infections, compared to the world's average of 2.1 percent. Also on Saturday, 14,903 Covid-19 patients were announced recovered, bringing the total tally of recovered cases so far to 448,368. The country has vaccinated over 33 million people with at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot. Over 6.3 million have been fully vaccinated. Ho Chi Minh City, epicenter of the fourth …
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American investor earns VND1,000 billion from Vietnam’s hot stock
The largest private equity fund management company in the US has just sold Vinhomes shares and made a profit of more than VND1,000 billion (nearly US$ 43.5 million) after a year. According to Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE), Viking Asia Holdings II PTE. LTD - an organization related to the largest private equity fund management company in the US - KKR - has sold 31.96 million Vinhomes shares (VHM) during the period from August 18 to September 14, when VHM was priced at around 110,000 VND/share. At this price, the organization could collect nearly VND3,500 billion, earning a profit of more than VND1,000 billion after more than one year holding the shares. In June 2020, this organization bought VHM shares at the price of VND75,000 per share. After the transaction, the ownership of Viking Asia Holdings II PTE. LTD decreased from 5.5% to 4.6% of charter capital and is no longer a major shareholder in VHM. This means that it will not have to publish its next …
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Vietnam’s auto market hits bottom
Although car manufacturers have cut prices deeply to stimulate demand, the Vietnamese auto market witnessed a record decrease in monthly sales over the past five years when fewer than 9,000 cars were sold in August 2021. Vietnam's auto market has declined for 5 consecutive months. According to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), a total of 8,884 vehicles were sold in August, a drop of up to 45% compared to July. This is the 5th consecutive month the auto market recording a decline in retail sales and is also the month with the lowest sales in the history of the Vietnamese auto market since 2015. Monthly sales began to decline from April, when the fourth wave broke out, with 3.7% compared to March, while the decrease of May was 15% compared to April, the decrease of June was 8% compared to May, and the decrease of July is 32% compared to June. Since the fourth outbreak, many factories of VAMA members have had to suspend production sometimes. …
Wedding ritual of the Nung ethnic group in northern Vietnam
Young Nung boys and girls in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai make friends and date when they work in the fields or go to market fairs. The groom’s family takes the bride to their home. Luon singing sessions at night are also good opportunities for them to find a partner. When a boy and a girl fall in love, the boy’s family sends a matchmaker to make a proposal to the girl’s family. Tran Chi Nhan, deputy head of the Culture Office of Hoang Su Phi District, Lao Cai Province, says a love proposal is the first step of a marriage. “At the proposal meeting, the boy’s matchmaker asks the girl’s parents to allow their daughter to marry. They meet again 10 days later at an engagement ceremony, to which the boy’s family brings an offering that includes a rooster, a bottle of wine, and confectionaries. Then they cook the rooster. The rooster’s legs are given to a shaman who uses them to predict a lucky date for the wedding ceremony,” says Nhan. At the engagement …
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Western tourists keen to return, not keen on quarantine rules
Peter Scott, an Australian from Queensland, was happy to hear that the Vietnamese government plans to reopen the famous resort island to vaccinated foreign tourists from next month after nearly two years of closing national borders. "That's the best news I've heard in the last 18 months. I'll wait a few more weeks to return to Vietnam." Scott said he has already traveled to Phu Quoc four times and was impressed by the beauty of long, sandy beaches, peaceful fishing villages and busy night market. "It's a really beautiful island. I was taken by a local to visit fishing villages and enjoy seafood." But the foreigners that VnExpress International spoke to were also unanimous that quarantine requirements would be decision-influencing factor in making a trip to the Mekong Delta island. Their concern was that although Vietnamese authorities agreed to reopen the island, they did not specify whether fully vaccinated visitors would be exempt from the 14-day quarantine or have the …
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Businesses propose new regulations to replace Directives 15, 16
Associations of businesses have asked the Prime Minister to issue new directives on pandemic prevention and control to replace Directives 15 and 16 with regulations that fit the new circumstances. Localities should be allowed to conduct random examinations on people in transfer vehicles at departures and destinations. Enterprise associations in the fields of textile and garment, footwear, beverage, plastics, seafood processing, paper and pulp, forestry, dairy production, and food and foodstuff signed a document to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh containing a strategic proposal on "preventing and controlling the pandemic by points" to recover production and business safely in the new conditions. The social distancing during the fourth Covid-19 outbreak in Hanoi, HCM City and southern provinces has lasted 2-3 months, which has put a lot of businesses at risk of going bankrupt, disrupted supply chains, and caused workers to lose jobs, and made it more difficult for farmers and …
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VN football team drops in FIFA rankings in September
The World Football Federation (FIFA) has announced the rankings of national teams for September 2021. In the first half of September, the 2022 World Cup qualifiers took place in all regions, making a lot of changes on the FIFA rankings this month. The Vietnamese team got a total of 1244.09 points and dropped from 92nd to 95th in the world. The results came from the team’s two losing games against Saudi Arabia and Australia in the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia, with 16.76 points deducted. Vietnam also fell from 13th to 15th in Asia. In Asia, Iran overtook Japan to take the top spot and climb to 22nd in the world. The next positions in the top 10 are still Australia, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia... In Southeast Asia, except for Vietnam, which is participating in the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup, the remaining teams are not to be counted this time. Therefore, the ranking of these teams remains the …
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E-commerce turns small businesses into big cross-border traders
Many business owners have found major partners after joining international B2B marketplaces. Vihaba is a small and medium enterprise that exports and distributes agricultural products, handicrafts and garments. Since the enterprise began selling products on Alibaba, its revenue has increased by 55 percent over the last two years. Vietnam’s products are exported to many big markets, including the EU, US, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, thanks to the e-commerce platform. A representative of the company said the company makes the most of the e-commerce platform to effectively manage clients and improve the advertisement of products. DSW received orders soon after entering Alibaba. Its CEO Tran Thi Yen Phi said since the day of getting the first order worth $3,000, the company’s export turnover reached $400,000 a month. Ten percent of that comes from the contracts it gets via Alibaba. DSW has expanded its business scale, exporting products to 10 markets, while its staff …
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