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Category: General

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest General Retail news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Myanmar firm set for return to Ambiente next year

    Myanmar firm set for return to Ambiente next year

    Thanks to the firm’s satisfactory business performance over the past two years, Bella Interiors, which produces a spectrum of Myanmar crafted rattan furniture and accessories, hopes to return to the Ambiente, an annual global consumer-goods platform held in Frankfurt, next year.

    Stellabeth Swezin Le, business development director of Bella Interiors, said that the firm received some new clients at the recent Ambiente 2017, and also aroused the interest of big names during its second presence at the event.

    “As a market leader in Myanmar, we are proud to represent the country at such a mega fair again. We are confident that international branding will lead us to further growth in the long run,” she said.

    She is excited that the Netherlands will make a special presentation at the 2018 edition of the fair as the new Ambiente Partner Country. Following Denmark, France, Japan, the USA, Italy and the United Kingdom, the Netherlands will be the seventh partner country of the fair, which will be held from 9 to 13 February next year.

    Earlier this week, a total of 142,000 buyers from 154 countries made their way to Germany’s commercial hub for the fair, an increase of almost four per cent when compared to last year. There, 4,454 exhibitors from 96 countries presented the latest trends and innovations on 308,000 square metres (gross) in 27 exhibition halls.

    Top German and international decision makers were also better represented than in 2016, and this ensured good export business and a positive atmosphere in the halls. The top ten visitor nations after Germany were Italy, China, France, the United States, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Korea and Turkey.

    More than 3,000 visitors came to Frankfurt from the United Kingdom, this year’s Ambiente Partner Country, an increase of around 200 over last year. There was also above-average growth in the number of visitors from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam, as well as the US, Canada, Australia, Russia, United Arab Emirates and South American nations such as Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. Parallel to this, there was a significant upsurge in the number of visitors from Germany. 95 per cent of the visitors said they were satisfied with the fair.

    “It is also the number one for the German retail trade. Covering the dining, living, and giving sectors, it is the professional venue for numerous German retail outlets where they order large parts of their assortment. The trade had the opportunity to discover the main trends and order the latest products,” said Thomas Grothkopp, director general of German Home and Office Association.

    Matthias Schöffel, marketing manager of Schönwald, said that the event is indispensable for his firm, especially when it comes to international sales.

    “The whole world comes to Frankfurt and it is an excellent opportunity to meet the vast majority of our sales partners and potential customers from all around the globe. In addition to general marketing themes and discussions with customers, the fair is also of enormous importance for us with regard to trend developments,” he said.

    According to Arnold Maier, chief executive officer of AM Design, the halls are always full and that is a good sign.

    “In principle, the age of order fairs is past. Making new contacts is what it is all about nowadays,” he said.

    Lars Adler, chief executive officer of Hoff Interieur, said that they were very pleased with their business at the fair.

    “Both the number of customers and average sales are very encouraging. We even had some unexpected customers from countries such as Iceland, Finland and Sweden. We have been able to maintain our export quota and expect to finish with a slight increase over last year. Accordingly, we are highly satisfied,” he said.

    The top visitor nations on the firm’s exhibition stand were the Middle East, Lebanon and Turkey. There was a slight decline in the number of visitors from Italy. However, this was compensated for by increases from France and Spain.

  • China Duty Free Group confirms Kunming arrivals award

    China Duty Free Group confirms Kunming arrivals award

    China Duty Free Group (CDFG) has confirmed to DFNIonline it has been awarded the 489sq m Kunming airport arrivals duty-free contract. The airport handled 37.7 million passengers in 2015, an increase of  16.8% on 2014.

    The award follows China National Service Corporation for Personnel Working Abroad’s (CNSC) recent capture of the five-year Chongqing airport arrivals contract spanning 572 sq m.

    Speaking in the Cannes issue of DFNI last year, CDFG chairman Peng Hui said: “In recent years, the Chinese have undoubtedly been the main force for luxury spend. Maintaining high-end consumption at home is a key part of the government’s strategy. The opportunities in inbound shops are in response to this national strategy.”

    News of the government’s plan to open arrivals duty-free shops in Chinese airports and seaports to boost the domestic economy was first revealed in 2015. The motive was to encourage domestic consumption and deter Chinese consumers was purchasing duty-free products overseas. Duty-free arrivals shops are already operational at Beijing Capital and Shanghai Pudong and Hongqiao International airports. But in February 2016 the government announced it will be extended to 13 other airports and six border port locations as previous reported.

    The full list of those Chinese airports comprise: Guangzhou Baiyun, Hangzhou Xiaoshan, Changdu Shuangliu, Nanjing Lukou, Shenzhen Bao’an, Kunming Changshui, Chongqing Jiangbei, Tianjin Binhai, Dalian Zhoushuizi, Shenyang Taoxian, Xi’an Xianyang, Urumqi Diwopu and Qingdao Liuting International airports. Four border ports are located in Shenzhen (Futian, Huanggang, Shatoujiao and Wenjindu) with the others located in Zhalou (Zhuhai) and Heihe (Heilongjiang).

    The situation further developed last November with the announcement CDFG, CNSC, Shenzhen Duty Free and Zhuhai Duty Free had been named as qualified bidders for the licenses.

    All contract awards are expected to be awarded by March or April, according to CNSC deputy general manager Duty Free Department Jacky Yan, who told DFNIonline during a visit to Beijing last year: “All winners should be revealed by March or April after the airports have registered results through the Ministry of Finance.”

  • AirAsia inks pact with Odisha to run direct flights to Kuala Lumpur

    AirAsia inks pact with Odisha to run direct flights to Kuala Lumpur

    Malaysia-based low-cost carrier AirAsia on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Odisha government for running direct international flights from Bhubaneswar to Kuala Lumpur.

    The agreement was signed between Nitin Bhanudas Jawale, Director of tourism department in the state and AirAsia Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Aireen Omar.

    “AirAsia’s engagement is very important for Odisha. This pact marks the culmination of our efforts and very soon, we will be starting international flights. We have asked for permission to ply two to three flights per week. The state government is offering subsidy in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF)”, said Jawale
    AirAsia CEO said an announcement would be made shortly regarding the commencement of international flights from Bhubaneswar — a development industry experts feel could attract other players to launch operations from Odisha’s capital.
    “Sometime in April,  the services will start but it may be in the first or the last week. The exact date will be known in a week’s time. Air Asia will also be starting another flight to Bangkok in the next three to four months. With Air Asia launching its operations, we are hopeful that other players will be attracted to start their operations from Bhubaneswar. Invest Bhubaneswar has been pursuing Air Asia for the past five years to start operations from the city”, said Debasish Patnaik, convenor of the Invest Bhubaneswar event.
    AirAsia has selected through competitive bidding. The state government had invited an Expression of Interest (EoI) from the scheduled air carriers for running flights to destinations in South East Asia like Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. To woo the air carriers, the state government had agreed to provide reasonable VGF in the form of subsidy grant.
    The state government has offered to provide the subsidy grant initially for six months with the possibility of extending it for a year from the date of starting commercial flight operations. The continuation of subsidy grant would depend on the trend in passenger traffic.
    If an operator is already running flights from an Indian city to Singapore, Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur and is keen to use Bhubaneswar as a hopping destination, the state government would offer subsidy grant. However, the grant would be released on the condition that the operator reserves 30 per cent of seats for passengers flying from and to Bhubaneswar.
    The subsidy would be provided on a monthly basis and would be given if there are regular flights on scheduled days irrespective of the passenger flow. If the operator chooses to increase or decrease the frequency as per demand, the state government would vary the subsidy grant accordingly. Despite getting the international tag since October in 2013, international flight operations are yet to take off from Bhubaneswar except for Air India, which currently routes international passengers from the city via New Delhi.
    To incentivise global flight operations, the state government has announced the complete waiver of VAT (value added tax) on aviation turbine fuel (ATF).
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  • Tata Steel explores Myanmar

    Tata Steel explores Myanmar

    Boosted with the success of its solution business in the retail segment in the domestic market, steel major Tata Steel is now exploring possibility of entering overseas markets like Bangladesh and Myanmar with retail branded steel solution products.

    “We have a great success in developing brands and distribution network in B2C markets in India.

    Bangladesh and Myanmar are the two B2C markets which have similar profile as India.

    We see the opportunity there in the B2C markets to build the brand and distribution network,” Tata Steel MD (India and South East Asia) T V Narendran said.

    Tata Steel terms consumer products as B2C and has marketed these steel products similar to FMCG strategy.

    Narendran however, did not elaborate further on the overseas foray.

    Tata Steel offers branded rebars, doors, windows, modular housing, toilets and water ATMs etc in the Indian market and generates some Rs 700 crore revenue annually and was aiming to increase the same to 20 per cent of the topline over the next few years.

    Speaking at Bengal Chamber of Commerce organised Metal 2017, he said country’s steel industry had been spending less towards R&D compared to global standards.

    “Most industries and countries spend about 2 per cent (of the revenue) towards R&D.

    Indian steel industry is spending less than 0.5 percent to it.

    The government is providing incentives to the industry to invest more in R&D,” he said here.

    “R&D expenditure is not about spending the money but having the right projects,” he added.

    Narendran also mentioned that India lacks in high end steel processing for automotive sector.

  • Clarion Events Asia Announce the Acquisition of RetailEX ASEAN

    Clarion Events Asia Announce the Acquisition of RetailEX ASEAN

    Clarion Events Asia, part of the global Clarion Events Group – a leading event organiser, producing and delivering innovative and cutting edge events since 1947 – today announced that they have acquired RetailEX ASEAN, a fast growing trade exhibition serving retailers in the ASEAN region. Co-organising the event with IMPACT, the premium venue in Thailand, Clarion Events look to enhance its offering to the retail industry in Asia.

    The purchase of RetailEX, based in Thailand, further increases Clarion Events involvement in the Asian retail market. “The combination of RetailEX ASEAN’s early success with Clarion’s history of nurturing events will provide our clients with the business intelligence to transform retail in Asia” said Richard Ireland, Managing Director of Clarion Events Asia. “The acquisition is expected to result in a show that can support the needs of retailers across ASEAN as they transition through the next 5-10 years of exciting transformation. We are grateful that the co-founder of RetailEX ASEAN, Ms Rosalind Ng, Managing Director of Globe International Events Consultancy has set a good foundation for us to bring the event to the next level.”

    “A partnership was formed with Clarion Events Pte Ltd (Asia) to broaden and strengthen RetailEX ASEAN’s position in the ASEAN region,” commented Mr Loy Joon How, General Manager, IMPACT Exhibition Management. “This new collaboration with Clarion Events could not have come at a better time for us as we are anticipating new upcoming challenges for the ASEAN retailers in this digital age of disruption. Clarion Events, with their success in e-Commerce and Internet Retailing events will bring a whole new dimension to RetailEX ASEAN, which now promises to be the most complete and most exciting retail trade show in the region.”

    RetailEX Asean will continue to operate under that name. Clarion Events will leverage the IMPACT team’s knowledge of the market and to work closely with them during the integration of both companies – which will take place over the next 6 months, leading to the RetailEX ASEAN show happening on 14-17 September, at the IMPACT Exhibition Hall, Bangkok. “With the involvement of Clarion Events, our clients will expect higher international quality services,” stated Mr Loy. 

    To augment the offering to retailers of the region, Clarion Events will introduce Internet Retailing Expo (IRX) ASEAN to co-locate with RetailEX ASEAN. With a successful history in Indonesia the event provides a vital digital/ ecommerce offering to retailers looking to compete in the online retail space. “We look to offering the Thailand retail market even more expertise from around the world and seeing more visitors attracted to the show this September” says Richard Ireland. 

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  • Real Singapore retail sales slightly rising

    Real Singapore retail sales slightly rising

    Real Singapore retail sales – the data excluding motor vehicles – recovered 0.7 per cent in December over November – and by an even smaller 0.3 per cent year-on-year.

    Retail sales index Feb.

    The total value of retail sales in December 2016 was estimated at $4.2 billion, similar to that of December 2015.

    Sales of computer & telecommunications equipment and department stores fell 6.8 per cent and 2.2 per cent month-on-month.

    But sales of watches & jewellery, medical goods & toiletries, optical goods & books, recreational goods, mini-marts & convenience stores, furniture & household equipment, petrol service stations and supermarkets increased between 1.2 per cent and 6 per cent. Retailers of wearing apparel & footwear and food & beverages recorded marginal growths of 0.2 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively.

    Year-on-year, retail sales of medical goods & toiletries, recreational goods, furniture & household equipment, mini-marts & convenience stores, optical goods & books and supermarkets rose between 0.8 per cent and 9.9 per cent in December 2016.

    In contrast, sales of computer & telecommunications equipment fell 9 per cent, with sales of petrol service stations, food & beverages, wearing apparel & footwear, watches & jewellery and department stores down by between 0.3 per cent and 2.2 per cent.

    Food & beverage services

    Sales of food & beverage services (seasonally adjusted) fell 2.2 per cent in December 2016 month-on-month. Compared to the same period last year, sales of food & beverage services declined 0.3 per cent in December 2016.

    F&B index Feb.

    After seasonal adjustment, turnover of fast food outlets decreased 5.6 per cent month-on-month, while sales of other eating places (such as cafes), restaurants and food caterers fell between 1.5 per cent and 1.8 per cent over the same period.

    Year-on-year, restaurant sales declined 7.9 per cent, but turnover at other eating places, food caterers and fast food outlets rose between 3.7 per cent and 5.1 per cent.

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  • Parkson Retail sales continue to slide

    Parkson Retail sales continue to slide

    Parkson Retail Asia has flipped from a S$2.9 million (US$2 million) net profit a year ago to a net loss of $2.23 million for its second quarter.

    This is despite a 7.4 per cent year-on-year rise in revenue to $111.14 million, with Parkson attributing its red ink to weak same-store sales growth as well as losses by some new stores and businesses.

    For the six months to December 31, the department-store group had a net loss of S$7.42 million, compared to a net profit of $52.36 million for the same period the previous year. Revenue rose 4.2 per cent to $204.48 million.

    Parkson Retail Asia says its performance in Malaysia will remain muted because of “fragile” consumer sentiment, while rising competition will make Vietnam challenging.
    Meanwhile, its business in Indonesia could be affected by the changing retail landscape in Jakarta, it says.

    In Myanmar, its store at FMI Centre in Yangon will be closed in the third quarter for property redevelopment by the landlord, with a replacement store scheduled to open later in the year.

  • Garuda to Launch Jakarta-Moscow Flight in August 2017

    Garuda to Launch Jakarta-Moscow Flight in August 2017

    The Indonesian flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia, will launch its Jakarta-Moscow direct flight route A330-200 aircraft, which is expected to be operational in August this year.

    The inaugural flight plan was established in a memorandum of understanding signed by a representative of the Indonesia Russia Business Council, Mikhail Kuritsyn, and the Director of Garuda Indonesia, Arif Wibowo, in the presence of Russian Ambassador to Indonesia, Mikhail Galuzyn, and Indonesian Ambassador to Russia, Wahid Supriyadi, on Tuesday (Feb 14).

    “We are trying to accelerate the plan to be realized in August. The flight will be available three times a week,” Arif said.

    He added that since the tourist traffic between the two countries continues to increase, the direct flight plan is expected to support Russias efforts to increase tourist arrivals from Indonesia to more than 100 thousand in 2017.

    The number of Russian tourist arrivals in Indonesia in the first half of 2016 increased by 14 percent, while the number of Indonesians visiting Russia was about 14,000 in 2015.

    Arif stated that the launch of the new flight route marks the beginning of a series of international flight network expansion programs by Garuda Indonesia in 2017.

    In addition to Moscow, Garuda Indonesia will also launch a flight from Jakarta to Los Angeles (USA) via Tokyo, Japan, by mid-2017.

    Meanwhile, Galuzyn noted that the direct flight would further boost the economy and tourism sectors of the two countries.

    “The direct flight has become one of our main priorities in the effort to enhance the number of tourists visiting Russia,” he asserted.

    We are optimistic that the new plan will open a positive opportunity not only for the tourism sector but also for the economic, social, and cultural sectors.

    In 2014, Garuda Indonesia officially joined the SkyTeam global airline alliance, in which the Russian airlines Aeroflot is also a member.

    Through the SkyTeam airline alliance network, all passengers can enjoy the Garuda Indonesia flight network services to more than 1,062 destinations around the world in 177 countries with 17,343 daily flights.

    SkyTeam airline network services currently serve more than 655 million passengers every year.

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  • SevOne, Google teamup for business agility

    SevOne, Google teamup for business agility

    SevOne has collaborated with Google to enable enterprises to leverage the critical network and operational data that SevOne collects with Google’s analytics platform to accelerate their business and IT initiatives.

    With the partnership, enterprises are now able to combine SevOne’s performance monitoring platform for data collection and operational insight capabilities with Google’s Cloud platform for rich analytics and machine learning.

    The engagement intends to ensure that organizations are able to drive faster and more effective business decisions as well as improve the performance of their current service offerings and accelerate the delivery of new network data services.

    “By leveraging end-to-end infrastructure visibility, valuable operational insights, and powerful analytics, organizations will be able to achieve unprecedented business agility,” said Jack Sweeney, CEO of SevOne.“Whether it’s rolling out new services or enhancing current offerings, this partnership will ensure they have the intelligence they need to win against their competitors.”

    Enterprises are promised the ability to unify their disparate data, normalize it, and analyze it effectively for intelligent decision-making across the organization to improve their operations.

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  • AirAsia to launch Manila-Caticlan flights

    AirAsia to launch Manila-Caticlan flights

    In a statement, Philippines AirAsia said it will start offering twice daily flights from Manila to Boracay via Caticlan airport starting March 15, using the airline’s fleet of Airbus A320s that can accommodate up to 180 passengers.

    “It’s an exciting time to be in Boracay this summer with AirAsia’s signature low fares now available for direct flights to Caticlan airport. Our twice daily flights will significantly enhance connectivity to one of the world’s best island destinations,” Philippines AirAsia CEO Dexter M. Comendador was quoted as saying.

    AirAsia also maintains four times daily flights from Manila to Kalibo airport including international flights from Kuala Lumpur and Incheon/Seoul and has announced it will restart Clark-Kalibo flights starting March 27.

    With the introduction of Caticlan flights, AirAsia is offering promo fares from as low as P1,699 until Feb. 19. Travel period is between March 15 and June 18, 2017.

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  • Singapore retail sales up 0.4% in December

    Singapore retail sales up 0.4% in December

    Singapore’s retail sales rose 0.4 per cent in December 2016 compared to the same month in 2015, mainly due to higher sales of medical goods & toiletries.

    Stripping out sales of motor vehicles, retail sales went up by 0.3 per cent, the Department of Statistics said on Wednesday.

    Compared to November, the seasonally adjusted retail sales figure decreased by 1.9 per cent in December. Excluding motor vehicles, they rose 0.7 per cent.

    Notably, retailers of medical goods & toiletries reported 9.9 per cent increase in sales year on year. Surprisingly, motor vehicle sales rose only 0.9 per cent year on year.

    On a seasonally adjusted basis, motor vehicles sales recorded a dip of 11.9 per cent compared to November. Retail sales of computer & telecommunications equipment and department stores also fell 6.8 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively over the same period.

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  • Indonesia urges Facebook to open local office

    Indonesia urges Facebook to open local office

    The Communications and Information Ministry has urged Facebook to open a proper local office to enable it to adequately tackle complaints about fake news and negative content that spreads through the social media platform.

    Minister Rudiantara conveyed the request during a meeting with the Asia Pacific-based delegation led by Facebook’s head of global policy management, Monika Bickert, on Tuesday, saying that the existence of an official office in Indonesia would enable the firm to better respond to content complaints and improve communication with the government.

    Facebook, which has up to 96 million users in Indonesia, runs a small local representative office, while its regional office is located in Singapore.

    “The minister Rudiantara asked Facebook to step up its service agreement in Indonesia and suggested that a good way to ensure better quality service was to open up an official office here,” said the ministry’s director general for applied informatics, Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan.

    “This way, it will be able to familiarize itself with the Indonesian perspective and cultural context.”

    The Facebook logo is displayed on an iPad in Philadelphia. Facebook is taking new measures to curb the spread of fake news on its huge and influential social network, focusing on the “worst of the worst” offenders and partnering with outside fact-checkers to sort honest news reports from made-up stories that play to people’s passions and preconceived notions.(AP/Matt Rourke)

    Semuel added that while Facebook would be responsible for content management, the legal process in relation to the content itself would be carried out by the police and relevant institutions.

    Posts promoting terrorism, for example, will require consultation and assessment by the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT).

    Both the public and the ministry’s monitoring team are able to flag inappropriate content.

    Fake news, including those related to the racially charged Jakarta gubernatorial election, and overall air of discrimination exhibited by members of the public online, has been plaguing the Indonesian internet recently.

    In the past few months, the government has stepped up its battle against the distribution of false information. The police is committed to prosecuting any party behind the spread of the “cancer of democracy.”

    To address the fake news and negative content issues, the ministry is set to hold a meeting with Twitter on Feb. 20.

    The ministry’s spokesperson, Noor Iza, noted the importance of setting up an official local office, comparing how Twitter, which also has a sizeable number of users in Indonesia, and Facebook manage problems.

    “Twitter’s responses toward the complaints and the negative content management are a lot quicker than Facebook because they have an official office here. Therefore, it has an established understanding on what impacts the country negatively,” she said.

    The government views that the take down response time for hoax news is ideally less than 24 hours, but the quicker, the better.

    From late 2016 to the beginning of 2017, the ministry has received 1,572 complaints in relation to the negative content on social media, including hoax news on Facebook and Instagram, with 197 occurring in the first two months of this year.

    The ministry said it was only able to respond to around 60 percent of all complaints in that period.

    Complaints about Twitter’s content in the same period reached 3,252, with those related to pornography topping the list.

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  • Vietnam set for IT hiring boom in 2017

    Vietnam set for IT hiring boom in 2017

    Demand for IT workers has doubled over the past five years, according to the latest VietnamWorks report on salaries, benefits and skills in the sector.

    Another survey conducted by Hanoi Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs in 2016 shows that, on average, each year Vietnam lacks approximately 78,000 IT workers.

    The VietnamWorks report said demand for skilled technical workers would leap from 250,000 in 2016 to 400,000 by 2018 giving employers just a year to nearly double their workforce.

    Eighty percent of the new positions would require at least two years experience, for which recruiters are willing to pay up to $1,160 per month.

    Last year, only one in 10 respondents reported satisfaction with their remuneration, but the vast majority of employers say they’re willing to offer raises to talented employees.

    Big data, cloud computing and cyber security will pave the way for talented Vietnamese developers. By September of 2016, around 330 start-ups had registered to offer web software development, according to data extracted from Geektime, one of the biggest tech blogs focusing on global innovation.

    The number of tech start-ups is expected to mushroom in the next few years, especially as Ho Chi Minh City is chasing its Silicon Valley dream.

    Vietnam has long been known as one of the world’s top software outsourcing hubs for giant tech companies like IBM, Microsoft and Intel. The country now aspires to become one of the top 10 global suppliers of software outsourcing and digital content by the end of the decade, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said during a recent seminar.

    The survey queried 2,400 developers and 73 recruiters regarding over 50,000 IT-related job posts on VietnamWorks within five years.

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  • VietJet Air seeks to proceed with $1.2 billion listing

    VietJet Air seeks to proceed with $1.2 billion listing

    Vietnam’s biggest private airline is expected to surpass flag carrier Vietnam Airlines this year as the nation’s top domestic carrier.

    Vietnamese budget airline VietJet Air is preparing to list on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange at a starting price of VND90,000 ($3.97) per share, it said in a filing to the exchange on Thursday, valuing the company at $1.19 billion.

    VietJet, Vietnam’s biggest private airline, did not state a precise date for the listing but it had planned to join the exchange later this month. The company received a listing approval earlier this week from the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange.

    The airline had intended to list overseas by last year, but the plan was put on ice. Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and a Morgan Stanley investment fund are among 26 foreign investors which recently bought a stake in VietJet.

    Company CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, the nation’s first female billionaire, is the biggest shareholder.

    The CAPA Center for Aviation has said that VietJet, which currently commands 40 percent of Vietnam’s domestic market, will likely surpass flag carrier Vietnam Airlines this year as the nation’s top domestic carrier.

    VietJet currently operates about 60 routes both locally and internationally, and expects to have a fleet of 200 aircraft by 2023. It had ordered billions worth of jets from both Airbus and Boeing in recent years.

    VietJet will list 300 million shares on the stock exchange. The company also plans to issue an additional 22.4 million shares at VND84,600 per share in 2017, subject to approval by shareholders and the State Securities Commission, it said.

    Its 2016 net profit jumped 96 percent annually to VND2.29 trillion on rising revenue, the filing showed, while its CEO Thao told Reuters the bottom line is expected to climb 30 percent this year.

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  • Hanoi plans to put taxi-style roof signs on Uber, Grab cars

    Hanoi plans to put taxi-style roof signs on Uber, Grab cars

    Officials in the city are tightening rules on transport services. Popular ride-hailing services Uber and Grab may soon be asked to put signs on their cars as officials in Hanoi are tightening rules on transport companies.

    Officials said some private cars offering transport services are operating without signs or badges.

    Grab, a Malaysia-based company, is the only foreign-run transport service allowed to operate in five cities across Vietnam using registered private vehicles between 2016 and 2018.

    Uber, however, has been singled out for providing ride-hailing services without permission.

    The company has recently had its application to operate on a trial basis rejected for a second time in Vietnam, according to local transport authorities.

    It applied for a license after local regulators outlawed Uber’s smartphone app-based services in November 2015, due mainly to its failure to establish an independent legal entity in Vietnam.

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