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Tag: Vietnam

  • Apple set to add Vietnamese to Siri

    Apple set to add Vietnamese to Siri

    Apple has placed an advertisement for a Vietnamese language specialist for its virtual assistant Siri team.

    According to the LinkedIn job post, the person will be based at Ang Mo Kio in Singapore. The 15 key qualifications applicants require include reading, writing, and comprehension skills in both English and Vietnamese, understanding verbal nuances in Vietnamese, and having an understanding of the Asia-Pacific region and cultural variations where the language is spoken.

    Analysts said the company might be seeking to develop Siri in the Vietnamese market. It currently supports 37 languages, but not Vietnamese.

    According to MacRumors forum, an aggregator of Apple-related rumors and reports on the web, Apple is also looking for Ukrainian, Hungarian, Slovak, Czech, Croatian, Greek, Flemish, Romanian, Polish, and Indonesian language specialists.

    If successful, it is possible these languages will be added to Siri in the iOS 15 update. Apple has gone on a hiring spree in Vietnam since the beginning of this year including from senior roles like regional operations.

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  • Traditional matches producer to delist

    Traditional matches producer to delist

    Matches producer Thong Nhat Match Jsc will delist its shares this month since the number of its shareholders has fallen below the minimum requirement of 100.

    They will be delisted on October 21, the Hanoi Stock Exchange announced. It had only 45 shareholders as of the end of last year, according to the company’s annual report.

    The 64-year old company ceased matches production after sales slumped this year and instead switched to importing from India. It had said last year the popularity of lighters was largely to blame for falling demand for matches. Besides, the cost of wood was rising and its outdated equipment could no longer make matches cost-efficiently, it said.

    The company now focuses on producing lighters. Its profit fell 58 percent last year to VND920 million ($39,600). Thong Nhat Match was established in 1956 as a state-owned company with a factory in northern Vietnam. It was equitized in 2002, and has charter capital of VND22 trillion ($950 million).

    Like other traditional companies Thuy Ta Ice-cream and Thuong Dinh Footwear, all over 60 years old, it too has been struggling to grow in the modern competitive market.

  • 2nd airport proposed for Hanoi as air travel boom looms

    2nd airport proposed for Hanoi as air travel boom looms

    The Hanoi Department of Planning and Architecture has recommended the construction of a second airport in the city to cope with the rising demand for air travel. The new airport should be built in the southern district of Ung Hoa, 40 kilometers from the downtown, while the existing Noi Bai International Airport should be upgraded and have its capacity doubled to 100 million passengers a year, it said.

    Ung Hoa has several advantages such as good transport links with the city center since it is served by roads, rail, and waterway, and a large area of 1,300 hectares available for the airport, it explained.

    It could become a satellite town with an industrial zone and a logistics complex in the future, it said. Consultancy Transport Engineering Design Inc (TEDI) has said the number of air passengers could reach 150 million a year in the future, and a second airport should be built starting in 2035.

    The number of passengers and cargo passing through Noi Bai Airport has been growing by 10 percent a year reaching 29 million in 2019.

    Its designed capacity is for 25 million passengers. Vietnam generally saw demand for air travel rise before the Covid-19 outbreak, with its airports handling 116 million passengers last year, up 12 percent from 2018, according to the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV).

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  • MobiFone offers customers free data, calls to make up for disruption

    MobiFone offers customers free data, calls to make up for disruption

    Telecom operator MobiFone has promised free data, calling, and text credit to customers affected by a network error lasting hours on Tuesday. It will offer 7.5 gigabytes of data for free to subscribers using smartphones and 1,000 minutes of calls in case of feature phones.

    On Tuesday many subscribers complained they were unable to make phone calls, send text messages or access the Internet from around 4.30 p.m. The issue was fixed the same evening. A spokesperson for the state-owned company said Wednesday it was still trying to determine how many subscribers were affected by the issue.

    Many people have expressed indignation that the problem occurred and the fact the operator was slow in notifying them about it. They were unable to contact the operator either during the disruption. In 2005, 2010, 2011, and 2016 too similar problems occurred.

    On December 6, 2018, many MobiFone subscribers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were unable to connect to the Internet. MobiFone is the third-largest network operator in Vietnam behind Viettel and VNPT.

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  • Starbucks struggles to beat Vietnamese coffee chains

    Starbucks struggles to beat Vietnamese coffee chains

    Despite recording double-digit growth last year, the American coffee chain Starbucks remained in third place in revenues behind two local competitors.

    Its 2019 revenue of VND780 billion ($33.6 million), up 32 percent year-on-year, was behind market leader Highlands Coffee at VND2.2 trillion and The Coffee House at VND863 billion.

    This makes the international coffee shop chain rank third in revenues for the second year in a row after securing second place behind Highlands Coffee in 2017.

    It also stood in the third place in terms of growth rate behind Phuc Long’s 65 percent and Highlands Coffee’s 35 percent. Although Starbucks, the only foreign brand in Vietnam’s top five coffee chains, has been established in the country for seven years, the number of outlets in four localities (60) remains small compared to main competitors. Highlands Coffee has 336 outlets and The Coffee House has over 150.

    The number of outlets is less than one-fifth of its presence in other Southeast Asian markets. Starbucks Thailand has 336 outlets and Starbucks Indonesia more than 320. In terms of gross margin, Starbuck’s rate of 19 percent is smaller than 60-70 percent for Highlands Coffee and The Coffee House and 35 percent for Phuc Long.

    One of the reasons for the lower margin is that Starbucks sources its coffee from the U.S. to ensure the same quality globally, so its costs are higher than those making local procurements.

    The brand, however, is among a few that remain in the market even as several other foreign brands have left, including Australia-headquartered Gloria Jean’s Coffees and Singapore’s New York Dessert Coffee (NYDC).

    Another foreign brand, U.S.-based The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, saw revenues in Vietnam dropping 30 percent year-on-year to VND71 billion last year.

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  • Steel exports to China multiplies 19 times

    Steel exports to China multiplies 19 times

    Vietnam’s steel exports to China surged 19 times to 2.07 million tonnes between January and August on the strength of rising demand in a recovering economy.

    This was nearly 35 percent of Vietnam’s total steel exports in the period, and its value rose 15 times to $844.5 million, according to Vietnam Customs.

    China’s customs data shows that steel imports in the first eight months rose 11 percent year-on-year to 759.9 million tonnes.

    The country, the largest steel producer in the world, became a net steel importer in June for the first time since the last global recession in 2009 as demand overshot supply in the rapidly recovering economy.

    The surge in domestic demand for steel has been driven by infrastructure projects and the property market, the report said, citing China’s commodity price reporting agency.

    Vietnam’s steel exports in the first eight months to all markets rose nearly 37 percent year-on-year to 5.96 million tonnes, with increases of 195 percent to Brazil and 143 percent to Germany.

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  • Domestic aviation on the road to recovery

    Domestic aviation on the road to recovery

    Vietnam’s aviation industry is gradually recovering with passenger numbers heading toward pre-pandemic levels after a months-long slump. Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi handled 29,000 passengers daily during the weekend, nearly triple the daily average of August when there was a Covid-19 resurgence.

    To Tu Ha, deputy director of the airport, said there has been a weekly increase of 15 percent since the beginning of September. “As Vietnam is doing well in controlling the pandemic, we expect domestic travel growth to be maintained for the rest of the year as traveling abroad is mostly limited.”

    International flights have been halted since March. Vietnam Airlines currently operates 200 flights a day, with the number of passengers rising from 17,500 in August to nearly 40,000 now.

    It resumed services on six domestic routes this month and increased the frequency of eight others. It plans to resume flying on six more routes next month, including popular travel destinations Da Lat in the Central Highlands and Nha Trang and Da Nang in the central region.

    “The growth in a number of passengers will help us pare trillions of dong in losses from our earlier forecast,” a spokesperson said. The airline had forecast a loss of VND13 trillion ($560 million). Bamboo Airways is also recovering with the number of passengers doubling this month to 12,000-15,000.

    “We expect strong growth in the routes between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and Con Dao Island,” a spokesperson said. Budget airline Vietjet said passenger numbers have risen by 30 percent since last month though still less than in September last year.

    A spokesperson for Vietjet said: “As the aviation market recovers, losses are being reduced. But airlines continue to face difficulties and we still need government support with taxes and fees.”

    Vietnamese carriers are also expecting a revenue boost from the resumption of flights to seven destinations including Japan, South Korea, China, and Thailand, a proposal the government has approved.

    But Dinh Viet Thang, head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, said Tuesday that flights to these destinations have not resumed due to the need for Vietnam and these countries to first reach agreement over-testing, immigration, and quarantine protocols.

    Another challenge is that both Vietnamese and foreign carriers are having trouble identifying businesspeople and “experts,” the only categories of non-diplomatic passengers allowed to enter Vietnam, he added.

    The CAAV wants the Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take this into consideration when issuing visas so that airlines could sell tickets to the right passengers.

    Vietnamese airlines carried 24.2 million passengers in the first eight months, down 35.1 percent year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office.

  • Vietnam opens anti-dumping probe into sugar imports from Thailand

    Vietnam opens anti-dumping probe into sugar imports from Thailand

    The Ministry of Industry and Trade has initiated an anti-dumping investigation into sugar imports from Thailand, which have increased six-fold this year.

    The probe follows complaints by Vietnamese sugar producers that Thai exporters, with a subsidy from their government, are dumping their products in Vietnam and causing damage to the local sugar industry, the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam said in a statement.

    The import of sugar from Thailand increased six times year-on-year in the first eight months of this year to nearly 950,000 tonnes, it said.

    Vietnamese producers, represented by six major companies, said the surging imports hit their production, causing it to fall by 33 percent to 800,000 tonnes in the 2019-2020 crop.

    They have sought an anti-dumping duty of 37.9 percent. Vietnam removed import duties on sugar imported from ASEAN countries this year in accordance with the commitments of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA).

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  • Police investigate Saigon Beer copycat

    Police investigate Saigon Beer copycat

    Police in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province are investigating a copyright infringement involving Saigon Beer by a former employee of its brewer, Sabeco. They found over 9,000 boxes of the Saigon Vietnam Beer with the brand name and packaging similar to that of the 43-year old Saigon Beer brand produced by Sabeco, the largest brewer in Vietnam.

    The beer is distributed by the Saigon Vietnam Beer Group Jsc., not a subsidiary of Sabeco. Its CEO, Le Dinh Trung, held several positions in Sabeco for years, including assistant to the deputy CEO and head of its legal department.

    Another person involved in the copyright infringement is Tran Thi Ai Loan, a distributor of Sabeco beer for the last four years.

    The original headquarter address of Saigon Vietnam Beer Group Jsc was registered at Floor 9, Vincom Building, 72 Le Thanh Ton, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, the same as Sabeco. Although the Saigon Vietnam Beer Group Jsc. later changed its headquarters to a different location in Binh Thanh District, its beer packaging carried the old address, confusing customers.

    Authorities said Loan, as a legal representative, had signed a contract with BiVa Beer Brewer in southern Ba Ria–Vung Tau Province to produce the Saigon Vietnam Beer and started distributing the product in May.

    The same month, Sabeco requested the Vietnam Intellectual Property Research Institute to inspect the similarities between the packaging and brand name of the two beers. The institute concluded in June that there were signs of copyright infringement, following which Sabeco requested market authorities to intervene.

    Authorities later found thousands of Saigon Vietnam Beer boxes in the southern localities of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Phuoc, Soc Trang and Can Tho as well as the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak. Each box was being sold at VND159,300 ($6.91), nearly 12 percent lower than that of Sabeco’s Saigon Beer.

    Vu Tuan Chau, owner of BiVa Beer Brewer, told authorities that they had distributed a total of 4,400 boxes so far. Chau said they only produced the beer to the requirements of Saigon Beer Vietnam and was not aware of any copyright infringement. A lawyer representing Sabeco said that the infringement has damaged their brand’s reputation and misled customers into purchasing the wrong product. Sabeco is working with authorities to continue the investigation, the lawyer said.

    No comments were available from the representatives of Saigon Beer Vietnam at the time of going to print.

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  • Economy VN-Index gains for fourth consecutive session

    Economy VN-Index gains for fourth consecutive session

    The VN-Index edged up 0.14 percent to 897.47 points Wednesday, with trading volume significantly down compared to the last several sessions. The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw a fairly balanced session with 183 stocks gaining and 198 losings.

    Total trading volume fell around 20 percent compared to the previous session, to VND5.05 trillion ($217.57 million), after two weeks when daily liquidity consistently surpassed the VND6 trillion mark.

    Although the benchmark VN-Index had been in the red for most of the session, a surge in buy orders within the final 15 minutes of trading, also known as at-the-close orders, brought the index up above its opening.

    The VN30-Index for HoSE’s largest caps also rose 0.14 percent, with 11 tickers gaining and 11 losings.

    Topping gains was PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex, up 2.6 percent. Results in the oil and gas sector were mixed, with POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power keeping its opening price, while GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas shed 0.4 percent.

    Of the VN30, most oil and gas stocks rose Wednesday. PVC of PetroVietnam Chemical and Services surged 7 percent, PVB of PetroVietnam Coating added 5.4 percent, OIL of PetroVietnam Oil 2.6 percent, and PVD of PetroVietnam Drilling 2.25 percent.

    Gains in this sector seem to be in line with the rise in global oil prices. The threat of a hurricane to America’s coastal refineries is causing oil prices to surge on the threat to fuel supplies. As of 5.13 p.m., U.S. benchmarks WTI Crude and Brent Crude were up 2.27 percent and 2.10 percent respectively, to $39.15 and $41.38 a barrel.

    On the VN30, the next major gainers were MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World, up 1.8 percent, PNJ of jewelry retailer Phu Nhuan Jewelry, up 1.3 percent, FPT of IT services group FPT, 1 percent, and SSI of top brokerage Saigon Securities Inc., 0.6 percent.

    VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, the HoSE’s largest cap, added 0.5 percent this session. VHM of its real estate arm Vinhomes also gained 0.5 percent, while VRE of retail arm Vincom Retail remained flat.

    Leading losses this session was MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, down 0.9 percent.

    Most banking tickers were in the red this session. CTG and BID of state-owned banking giants VietinBank and BIDV slipped 0.8 percent and 0.5 percent respectively.

    In the private sector, STB of Sacombank, VPB of VPBank, and HDB of HDBank dropped 0.4 percent, 0.2 percent and 0.2 percent respectively.

    Other major losers were VNM of dairy firm Vinamilk, TCH of truck dealer Hoang Huy Group, and ROS of construction firm FLC Faros, all down 0.5 percent.

    Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid- and small-capped stocks, fell 0.05 percent, and the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market rose 0.34 percent.

    Foreign investors were net sellers again, to the tune of VND202 billion on all three bourses. The most net sold stocks were VHM of Vinhomes and VNM of Vinamilk.

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  • Nissan ends partnership with current Vietnam distributor

    Nissan ends partnership with current Vietnam distributor

    Japanese carmaker Nissan has announced it will officially cut ties with its current distributor in Vietnam, Tan Chong, at the end of September.

    Both sides said they will part ways on September 30, ending all their partnerships in the production and distribution of Nissan vehicles for the Vietnamese market.

    Before ending ties with Malaysian-owned Tan Chong Motor Holdings, the automaker put Nissan X-Trail and Sunny models on clearance discount to try and sell its remaining inventory of vehicles assembled in Da Nang City.

    Tan Chong, a multinational corporation based in Malaysia, is not only the official distributor of Nissan in Malaysia and Vietnam, but also in Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

    A representative of Tan Chong in Vietnam told local media that sales of Nissan models in Vietnam will still happen as usual until the official termination of the joint venture. Local dealerships will continue to provide warranty and technical support services for customers post-purchase.

  • Bamboo Airways poised to expand international services

    Bamboo Airways poised to expand international services

    Bamboo Airways plans to launch more new routes to Asian destinations like Japan, Singapore, and Australia besides resuming services to Taiwan and South Korea.

    It will resume flights from Hanoi to Taipei in Taiwan on September 29 and Seoul in South Korea on October 7. There will be one weekly round trip to begin with.

    The airline will begin to fly on the HCMC-Tokyo sector from November 1 and the Hanoi-Tokyo sector from December.

    It will also begin service between the northern port city of Hai Phong and Singapore besides direct flights from Hanoi and HCMC to Melbourne, Australia, in the fourth quarter.

    A spokesperson for the airline said wide-body Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft would be used for long-haul flights, adding preparations are underway to fly to Europe once Covid-19 is contained globally.

    It is scheduled to start services from Hanoi and HCMC to London in the U.K. and Munich/Frankfurt in Germany in the first quarter of 2021 and is awaiting approval.

    Nguyen Ngoc Trong, the deputy CEO of Bamboo Airways, said there are long-term plans to fly to 27 European destinations. Vietnam suspended all international flights on March 25.

    Bamboo Airways, launched in January last year, was operating on 40 domestic and international routes before the pandemic struck in January. It reported a pre-tax profit of VND303 billion ($13 million) in 2019.

  • 60,000 file for unemployment benefits in Hanoi

    60,000 file for unemployment benefits in Hanoi

    The number of applications for unemployment benefits in Hanoi as of September 10 has risen 22 percent year-on-year to nearly 60,000 as a fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

    Last month the Hanoi Center for Employment Services (HCES) received 9,000 applications, down from the monthly peak of 10,000 in June, Vu Quang Thanh, deputy director of the center, said Monday.

    Half the applicants said they were affected by the impacts of Covid-19, he said. The second wave of the disease last month did not have as severe impact as in the second quarter because the government did not impose social distancing, he explained.

    With nearly 4,000 businesses resuming operations last month, the labor market is less affected, he added.

    Hundreds of people queued up for tokens at HCES in Cau Giay District on Monday, and of them, Hao was lucky to get one. The 34-year old mother is now looking forward to the VND2.8 million ($121) monthly support after losing her human resources job in April after nine years of service.

    Tai, a 28-year old man in the queue, said the VND2.5 million unemployment support would be a third of his family’s income after losing his lobby manager’s job at a downtown hotel in May.

    With a baby expected by the end of this month, he now works as a driver for a motorbike ride-hailing company.

    Thanh of HCES said that the number of applications would rise or fall in the remaining months of the year depending on the Covid-19 situation. If there is a surge in the number of cases, 90 percent of businesses would be affected, and monthly applications could double to 20,000, he added.

    In the first eight months, nearly 34,300 companies nationwide suspended business, up 70.8 percent year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office.

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  • Miniso sees positive and steady development in Vietnam market

    Miniso sees positive and steady development in Vietnam market

    Chinese discount retailer Miniso has opened more than 40 stores in Vietnam, four years since it launched in the market.

    Miniso entered Vietnam with its first store in Hanoi in 2016. Since then, the brand has been the local’s favorite destination for discount merchandise. Miniso now has more than 700,000 fans following its Facebook account.

    Miniso operates in key cities in the country and has a presence at major shopping malls including Aeon, Lotte, and Vincom.

    During the early stages of entering Vietnam, Miniso showed its understanding of the market by choosing local top star Son Tung M-TP as a brand ambassador. The brand also teamed with well-known Vietnamese host Sam to launch a beauty line called Sam Skin and Makeup.

    “The Vietnamese market has always shown great potential for development,” the company said in a statement. “Even under the epidemic, the market’s increasing demand for consumer experience and cost-effective products have made Miniso very confident in the future development of the Vietnamese market.”

    Miniso has not only joined several e-commerce channels, including Shopee, Lazada, and Tiki, but also created Shopify to provide “a barrier-free shopping environment”.

  • Vinpearl loss triples as pandemic hits tourism

    Vinpearl loss triples as pandemic hits tourism

    Vinpearl Jsc, the hospitality and entertainment arm of conglomerate Vingroup, saw first-half losses triple year-on-year due to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

    The operator of premium resorts and theme parks recorded a loss of nearly VND5.1 trillion ($220 million), up from VND1.69 trillion.

    Its debt to equity ratio rose to 22.57 at the end of H1 from 2.2 a year earlier.

    The rising loss and debts were the result of the pandemic crippling the tourism and hospitality industries in Vietnam since the first quarter.

    In March Vinpearl shut down some of its resorts and golf courses amid travel restrictions and dwindling demand.

    The company recently raised VND865 billion through three-year bonds. In 2018 and 2019 it had issued a total of VND14.3 trillion worth of bonds.

    The company operates 43 resorts and hotels nationwide with over 17,000 rooms, golf courses, theme parks, and a safari park.

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