Thứ Năm, Tháng Tư 18
Shadow

English

Vietnam exports to US rise 28 pct as China-US trade war intensifies

Vietnam exports to US rise 28 pct as China-US trade war intensifies

English
A truck driver runs past containers at a port in Hai Phong city. Photo by Reuters/Kham There has been a surge in Vietnam’s exports to the U.S. whose trade war with China continues without an end in sight. The U.S. was Vietnam’s largest export market in the first five months with a value of $22.6 billion, up 28 percent year-on-year. China came second with $13.4 billion, down 2.6 percent, according to Vietnam's General Statistics Office. Vietnam was the U.S.’s 12th largest supplier last year, but if this pace of growth is sustained for a full year, it could leapfrog Italy, France, the U.K., and India in the ranks of top exporters to the U.S, Bloomberg said in a new report. The country has become a standout in a region where the world’s export engines are largely hurting amid ...
Vietnam police bust $170-million online gambling ring

Vietnam police bust $170-million online gambling ring

English
Police in Thanh Hoa Province examine phones and other items seized from a million-dollar gambling ring busted May 28, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Lam Son Police in the central province of Thanh Hoa have arrested nine people for allegedly operating online gambling operations. But the gang's leader, Tran Quang Truong, 30, has gone into hiding and the police are looking for him. They said the organizers of the gambling ring had set up a system of tier 1 and 2 agencies through which their clients could buy virtual money to play online card games. They could convert the virtual money back into cash whenever they wanted. The clients could make their transactions either directly at the agencies or through banks. The total value of these transactions have been estimated at nearly V...
Hanoi observation deck among world’s best vantage points

Hanoi observation deck among world’s best vantage points

English
An aerial view of Hanoi skyline is captured from above. Photo by Shutterstock/Huy Thoai The Guardian has listed a Hanoi observation deck as offering one of the world’s 10 best aerial city views. Based on readers’ comments, the U.K.-based newspaper recommends that holiday-goers check out the observation deck at the top of the Lotte Center, Vietnam’s third highest skyscraper. Keep in mind that tourists will be charged for a £8 ticket ($10) each and takes around 50 seconds for elevator ride to reach the 65th floor of the building. Among the biggest highlights of the Observation Deck are the skywalks, two vertigo-inducing glass sky decks that jut out from the side of the building, The Guardian said. Observation deck at the top of the Lotte Center at 54 Lieu Giai Street, Ba ...
South Korean SK Group a major Vingroup shareholder

South Korean SK Group a major Vingroup shareholder

English
The logo of SK Innovation is seen in front of its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea. Photo by REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji SK Group has spent nearly $1 billion on a 6.15 percent stake in Vingroup, Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate. The Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) announced Tuesday afternoon that 205.7 million VIC shares of Vingroup were bought by SK Investment Vina II – a subsidiary of the SK Group, on May 21. With a 6.15 percent stake in Vingroup, SK Group has become a major shareholder under Vietnamese law, a status conferred on a shareholder directly or indirectly owning at least 5 percent of voting shares. The transaction happened five days after Vingroup and SK Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement. According to the agreement, SK Group would spend V...
Beirut serves up Middle Eastern delights: food and dance

Beirut serves up Middle Eastern delights: food and dance

English
Beirut Mediterranean Restaurant & Lounge, opened in Saigon and Hanoi in 2012, offers authentic Middle Eastern food and entertainment. Beirut serves up Middle Eastern delights: food and dance Established by a native Lebanese-Canadian entrepreneur who moved to Saigon and made it her mission to introduce authentic Middle Eastern food and entertainment in Vietnam, Beirut delivers an authentic exotic experience. Named after the Lebanese capital, the restaurant stays true to the Middle Eastern tradition of welcoming guests effusively and serving delicious food. It is not a surprise that it has become a popular fine dining destination in both cities. It delivers on authentic food, exotic drinks and eye-catching live performances. The Arabian inspired interior is colorful. There...
Tam Coc shimmers in silver and gold

Tam Coc shimmers in silver and gold

English
The Tam Coc area glistens in silver and gold as rice fields ripen along both sides of Ngo Dong River in northern Vietnam. Hundreds of photographers and thousands of tourists are making their ways to Tam Coc, about 100 km south of Hanoi, to capture the stunning seasonal landscape in the area dubbed ‘Ha Long Bay on land". Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO world natural heritage in Quang Ninh Province, northern Vietnam. The Tam Coc (Three grottoes) – Bich Dong area is part of the UNESCO heritage site Trang An Landscape Complex in the northern province of Ninh Binh, home to the ancient capital Hoa Lu under the reign of Dinh Dynasty (968-980). Unlike other places in Vietnam, Tam Coc only has one rice crop per year due to the rise in the river’s water level during the monsoon, making farming ...
Homestays offer a taste of local life

Homestays offer a taste of local life

English
Homestays offer guests the chance to experience Vietnam away from a hotel or resort and have found favor among local homeowners with room to spare. After her sister’s family moved out, Ms. Tu Dao had three rooms available in her house. Rather than look for new housemates, she decided to make her house a homestay. The idea came to her after she noticed there were more and more homestays being offered in Hanoi, and she saw it as a good opportunity to earn some money. Thousands of local residents are also taking up the opportunity to provide homestay services as a way of earning more income, which is also providing more homestay options in the country. First appearing in Vietnam in the 1990s, a few years after the country applied policies to open up its economy, homestay servi...
Vietnamese parents uncomfortable about children’s early sex initiation

Vietnamese parents uncomfortable about children’s early sex initiation

English
While the majority of Vietnamese prohibit their children from having sex at an early age, others are more open and do not consider this to be a moral problem. “He is a seventh grader. He disseminated a hot girl’s sex clips to classmates. In the classroom, he and a girl embraced each other in front of me, a teacher that he met for the first time,” Vu Thu Huong, a teacher with a PhD in the Psychology faculty at the Hanoi University of Education. Do Thuy Linh, a parent from Dong Da district in Hanoi, said she wasn’t surprised about this. “Vietnamese students nowadays enter puberty sooner than we did in the past. A seventh grader now could be 1.6 meters tall and can easily search for information about sex on the internet,” Linh said. Lien Huong, whose daughter is an eighth grad...
Essence lists must-try things to explore Vietnam

Essence lists must-try things to explore Vietnam

English
Danielle Pointdujour, editor from Essence, a monthly magazine for African-American women between the ages of 18 and 49, has recommended things to explore the ancient wonders of Vietnam. Golden Bridge in Da Nang. Typically, globetrotters flock to countries like Thailand and Cambodia on their Southeast Asian journeys, but these days Vietnam has started to truly grab the world’s attention. Vietnam has something for every type of traveler and budget. The magazine advises them to go in the spring or fall. Book a room in the heart of the city at hotels like the Park Hyatt Saigon or escape the crowds and head to the coast to spend a few nights at one of the country's most instagrammed hotels, the Intercontinental Da Nang. In addition, foodie lovers will rejoice in the flavorful (a...
Young Vietnamese turn to dating apps to seek relationships

Young Vietnamese turn to dating apps to seek relationships

English
Tinder and other online dating apps are gaining popularity among young Vietnamese. Photo by Shutterstock/BigTunaOnlineAn increasing number of Vietnamese are turning to online dating apps to look for their future partner. When Quynh first heard about Tinder, she was not convinced it would actually work, but downloaded it anyway out of curiosity. The app allows users to browse through thousands of profiles to find an interesting one. If two people are matched, they can start an online conversation. Sitting with a group of single friends at a weekend party recently after a busy week, Quynh heard the story of a man and a woman sitting next to each other at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi when they were matched by the app. They went on to become a couple. "It sounded too ...