Deposits at all banks, including the Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), are guaranteed by the State in all cases, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Thi Hong affirmed on October 10 when talking to the media regarding recent issues related to the SCB.

Depositors at the SCB should stay calm and not decide to withdraw their money, especially before the due dates, to have their interests ensured, Hong stressed.

In face of the information affecting SCB operations, the central bank has applied necessary measures to help the commercial lender run normally, and ensure its liquidity, she added.

According to the governor, with the role of the central bank as well as an agency managing banking activities, the SBV always sets the goal of being consistent with the management to control inflation, stabilise the macro-economy and currency, and ensure the safety of operations of the banking system, including the SCB, when making monetary and banking management policies.

Winners of Vietnam Digital Awards 2022 announced

Forty-nine organisations, businesses, products and solutions were honoured at Vietnam Digital Awards 2022 in Hanoi on October 9 for their contributions to the process of national digital transformation. 

The awards has accessed 10,000 businesses, attracted 1,000 entries and honoured a total of 300 units and individuals that offer outstanding digital transformation solutions through its five editions, according to Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Huy Dung.

Notably, apart from domestic firms, this year’s awards saw the participation of foreign enterprises, he added, expressing his hope that the winners will further contribute to Vietnam’s digital transformation.

Nguyen Duc Hien, Vice Chairman of the Party Central Committee's Economic Commission, said the awards has also created a playground for collectives and individuals to exchange experience in digital transformation, digital economic development, and high-tech application in management, production and business.

Organisers said they received nearly 400 dossiers, many of which have used new technologies like AI, Big Data, IoT, Blockchain and Cloud, covering health care, education, banking, transport, energy and logistics, among others.

National centre, Google team up to provide training for startups

A training course of the Google for Startups programme has been held for 25 tech startups in the southern region of Vietnam.

This is part of the cooperation between the National Innovation Centre (NIC) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment and Google to support small- and medium-sized enterprises and the development of the innovation and startup ecosystem.

Nguyen Duc Long, a NIC official, said this is the first time Google for Startups has been organised in the country, and the programme will become an annual activity of the NIC and Google for the sake of Vietnam’s development.

In this programme, startups will receive advice from more than 20 experienced Vietnamese and foreign mentors, including Google experts and successful entrepreneurs of large businesses.

Google for Startups, launched in 2011, has been carried out in many developed countries, where the innovation and startup system matured, such as the UK, Israel, Spain, the Republic of Korea, Poland, Brazil, and Japan.

Nearly 200 startups in Vietnam have registered for the programme.

Accordingly, 25 southern firms will take part in a week-long training course in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to prepare for their next development steps.

Twenty-five others in the northern region will join the training course in Hanoi from November 14 to 18.

In December, the 10 most outstanding startups will be chosen to participate in the Demo Day, where they will present their innovation business models and raise capital.

Swiss newspaper optimistic about Vietnam’s economic prospects

Switzerland newspaper Agefi recently ran an article titled “Le Vietnam et les nouveaux tigres asiatiques” (Vietnam and the new Asian tigers), affirming that Vietnam has become one of the emerging economies which holds an important role in Asia.

The author, Guy Mettan, wrote that the world is seeing the emergence of Vietnam and Indonesia as rising economic powers in Asia.

According to him, Vietnam may be the country that benefits the most from the new international situation. From January to July, foreign direct investment (FDI) poured into the country was estimated at 11.57 billion USD, up 10.2% year-on-year - the highest amount in the last five years.

The author also cited the World Bank’s August projections as saying that Vietnam’s GDP growth may hit 7.5% in 2022, and inflation curbed at 3.8% this year.

According to Fitch, Vietnam ranks fifth out of the 35 Asian markets in terms of economic openness, with a score of 74.6 out of 100, far above the Asian average (46) and the world average (49.5).

“The country is emerging as a manufacturing hub in the East and Southeast Asian region, supported by government-led economic liberalisation efforts and integration into global supply chains, through trade agreements and membership of regional and international blocs,” the article wrote. In Asia, Vietnam followed Singapore, China’s Hong Kong and Macau, and Malaysia. Globally, it ranks 20th out of the 201 markets.

In July, Moody's raised its GDP growth forecast to 8.5%, the highest growth projection in the Asia-Pacific region. The Growth Lab of US-based Harvard University recently forecast that Vietnam could be one of the fastest growing countries over the next decade.

The Swiss newspaper also appreciated Vietnam’s candidacy to the United Nations Human Rights Council after successfully assuming the role of a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2020-2021.

Bamboo Airways expands fleet with new Airbus aircraft

A brand new Airbus A321NEO ACF landed at Noi Bai international airport in Hanoi on October 8, becoming the 30th plane of Bamboo Airways’ fleet.

It is the latest in Airbus' narrow-body A320 family, featuring the longest fuselage in its class and providing comfort for all passengers on board. Bamboo Airways has changed the design of its passenger compartment by reducing the number of seats from 240 to 223.

With its new member, the carrier officially operates the maximum fleet approved by the government, with three wide-body airplanes of Boeing, 22 narrow-body aircraft of Airbus and five regional jets of Embraer.

Bamboo Airways Chairman Nguyen Ngoc Trong said the fleet expansion is a priority of the airline to expand its flight networks to countries in Europe, Australia, Northeast Asia, and the US.

Currently, Bamboo Airways operates a wide domestic flight network connecting with 21 out of 22 airports in Vietnam, and an international network with connection to key airports in Asia, Europe and Australia.

Since the beginning of 2022, during peak periods, its average occupancy rate has remained above 90% for both networks.

HCM City seeks to diversify tourism products

The tourism sector of Ho Chi Minh City needs to focus on developing river-based tourism, cuisine tourism, MICE tourism as well as organise festivals and nighttime activities, a municipal leader has said.

Speaking at a conference held this week, Chairwoman of the municipal People’s Council Nguyen Thi Le asked the city’s Department of Tourism to diversify tourism products and step up the adoption of information technology and digital transformation for marketing and promotion activities as part of measures to boost tourism development.

Marketing and promotion activities needed to focus on major traditional markets as well as potential markets, Le said.

She ordered the People’s Committee and related departments to build more boat docks and upgrade infrastructure to support businesses to develop river-based tourism products.

Tourism linkages with localities in the Mekong Delta and the southeast region needed to be strengthened to create more inter-provincial tours, she said.

Dang Thi Thi Thanh, Deputy General Director of BenThanh Tourist, said tourism businesses found it very difficult to access subsidised loans as travel firms had no assets to mortgage for the loan.

She proposed that the city authorities offer flexible policies to make it easier for businesses to get low-interest loans.

Support packages for tourism businesses such as reductions of value-added taxes and corporate income taxes should be extended until year end, she said.

Huynh Ngoc Van, Director of Ao Dai Museum, said cultural heritage played an important role in tourism and coordinated efforts between cultural and tourism agencies were needed to introduce cultural activities to tourists.

It was difficult for museums to continue to keep employees on their payroll due to a drop in income, Van said.

Museums in the city needed support from the Government to retain employees, she said.

Huynh Phan Phuong Hoang, Deputy General Director of Vietravel, said the city’s authorities should support businesses to diversify tourism offerings, promote linkages with neighbouring provinces for inter-provincial tour packages and develop the night economy.

These measures would help tourists stay longer and spend more on their trips, Hoang said.

Duong Anh Duc, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, said tourism was a driving force for economic development, contributing significantly to the city’s GDP.

It was vital to improve the quality of products and services and push for digital marketing to develop tourism sustainably, Duc said.

In the first nine months of this year, the city welcomed more than 2.1 million international visitor arrivals and 21.6 million domestic visitor arrivals. Tourism revenue totalled 92.4 trillion VND (3.88 billion USD).

Honda Vietnam launches recall ​​​​​​​

Honda Vietnam (HVN) launched a recall on October 5 to replace incomplete welding in the driver's seat slide adjuster of Honda CIVIC, Honda HR-V imported from Thailand.

This recall is a precautionary safety measure to rectify the welding point at the slide adjuster in the driver's seat. When a collision occurs, it may cause the driver's seat to move and may compromise the seatbelt protection for the driver.

All owners of the affected vehicles will be informed by Honda Automobile Distributors via letter/e-mail/direct telephone, based on the information of owners registered on Honda's customer management system.

While no problems related to the defective frame seat cushion have been recorded in Vietnam, HVN recommends all affected customers contact Honda Authorised Distributors to make an appointment to have their vehicles checked and repaired.

The inspection and replacement of the affected parts are free of charge. For vehicles imported through non-genuine import companies, in case the customer takes the car to Honda Authorised Distributors, the company is still willing to help check related information.

Experts suggests solutions to develop farm produce, rural tourism in Mekong Delta

Training on free trade agreements are among the measures suggested for the development of the farm produce market and rural tourism in the Mekong Delta.

The region is a key agricultural development area for the country, making up 32% of GDP of Vietnam’s agricultural sector.

According to Nguyen Van Hong, Vice Chairman of the Can Tho People’s Committee, despite such potential, the average income of people, especially farmers, in the region remains low. Local agricultural products are mainly exported raw, with a large post-harvest loss rate recorded. Meanwhile, its tourism is still fragmented.

While the region’s infrastructure has yet to meet development requirements, a lack of high-quality human resources is considered a major obstacle for the Mekong Delta to develop agriculture and rural tourism.

Participating experts, at a recent conference on the matter, said local educational facilities must shake up their training programmes to catch up with the current demand and suggested the Ministry of Education and Training set up a suitable mechanism and policy for the development of a high-quality workforce for the region.

Prof. Andreas Stoffers, Country Director of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in Vietnam, emphasised the role of the Vietnamese Government in promoting agricultural enterprises’ quick action to take advantage of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

On that basis, the Mekong Delta will have the chance to attract more high-quality investments and quality knowledge transfer from the EU. In addition, local agricultural companies will benefit from the bloc’s high-quality goods and services. Capitalising on these advantages will promote the delta’s integration into the global agricultural value chains.

Experts said incorporating tourism into the value chain of farming products in the region is the way forward. However, it is necessary to orient rural tourism development towards sustainability and responsibility, they noted.

Agricultural sector strives to surpass targets

The agricultural sector is aiming for a growth rate of 2.8-3% this year, higher than the growth of 2.5-2.8% assigned by the Government, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

It is also striving to earn 55 billion USD from agro-forestry-aquatic product exports in 2022, 5 billion USD higher than the figure assigned by the Government.

In the first nine months, the export turnover of agro-forestry-aquatic products is estimated at 40.8 billion USD, up 15.2% year-on-year. Meanwhile, imports totalled 33.9 billion USD, up 5.7% year-on-year. This means the trade surplus mounted to 6.9 billion USD, doubling the same period last year.

To achieve the targets, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that the ministry will adjust production plans and the crop structure to suit domestic consumption and export demand, and focus on directing the development of concentrated production areas.

Efforts will be made to promote sustainable livestock development, ensure supply and stabilise food and pork prices to keep the consumer price index (CPI) within the allowable range, especially during the coming Lunar New Year, Tien said.

Along with closely monitoring the developments of climate and diseases on plants and livestock, the ministry will seek measures to boost production; remove difficulties in circulation, consumption and exports of agricultural products; and ensure sufficient supplies of food and foodstuffs.

To develop the consumption market for agricultural, forestry and aquatic products, the ministry will cooperate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to research, analyse and forecast market developments, opportunities and challenges; and consult the Prime Minister on countermeasures and scenarios to adapt to the supply and demand of agro-forestry-aquatic products in the world.

Vietnamese farm products gain foothold in major overseas markets

Several Vietnamese farm products are seizing upon opportunities to penetrate and gain a firm foothold in foreign markets, including demanding ones such as Japan, the EU, and the United States.

Vietnam earned more than US$40 billion from exporting agro-forestry and fishery products during the past nine months of the year, a rise of 15% compared to the same period from last year.

The reviewed period witnessed seven groups of products each rake in over US$2 billion from exports. In addition, a range of items recorded higher export value than the same period from last year, including Pangasius which rose by more than 83%, coffee up nearly 38%, and shrimp up nearly 25%.

Furthermore, Vietnamese agricultural products continued to achieve steady growth in four key markets - the US, China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.

Moving forward, the remaining three months of the year is likely to see the export of agro-forestry and fishery products encounter difficulties, especially in terms of a decrease in orders caused by the impact of inflation hitting major markets. However, the agricultural sector has devised solutions in an attempt to raise the export turnover of its products to more than US$50 billion for the entire year.

The export of shrimp, one of the country’s hard currency earners, has fallen victim to the ongoing global recession due to demand for the product falling considerably as a result of the impact of rising inflation in major economies. In contrast, nine-month seafood export turnover recorded a remarkable increase thanks to high export growth, with items such as tuna, squid, octopus, and fish contributing to offsetting shrimp exports.

Flexibility in terms of export structure remains a factor that helps groups of agro-forestry-fishery products maintain their growth rate.

Enhancing deep processing to create a high-added value instead of increasing the quantity of export items is a move which is viewed as a basic solution to ensure the efficiency of exports. This solution is therefore anticipated to help pepper exporters reach US$900 million this year.

HCM City sees a spike in traveler interest this fall

HCM City travel firms are in full swing to welcome holidaymakers during the peak travel season of the last three months of the year, tourism authorities said.

Nguyễn Hữu Y Yên, general director of Saigontourist, said domestic tourism, and inbound and outbound tourism had all fully resumed.

International tourist groups travelling to Việt Nam had increased sharply, mostly from Europe, Australia and the US, Yên said.

Cruise ship passengers visiting Việt Nam had resumed gradually, he said.

On October 2, HCM City received the luxury cruise ship Le Lapérouse.

The ship brought nearly 100 tourists of French, American, and German nationalities and stayed in the city for three days.

After leaving HCM City, the cruise ship will visit other destinations such as Nha Trang, Quy Nhơn, Đà Nẵng, Huế, Quảng Bình, and Hạ Long.

HCM City is expected to receive a few large cruise ships with 200-300 guests each to visit this year, according to the city’s Department of Tourism.

Nguyễn Thị Khánh, chairwoman of the HCM City Association of Tourism, said this month kickstarted the busiest season of inbound tourism, but the number of large international tourist groups visiting the country remained modest.

Domestic travel firms would have to find new international travel markets to replace traditional travel markets such as China and Russia, which would not recover this year.

Nguyễn Minh Mẫn, marketing and communications director of TSTtourist, said travellers from India and ASEAN countries considered Việt Nam as an attractive destination for their holidays.

According to Nguyễn Thị Ánh Hoa, director of the city’s Department of Tourism, the last three months of the year is the peak time for international tourists travelling to Việt Nam.

A wide range of new tourism products had been launched to lure tourists, she said.

HCM City was listed among seven destinations that are seeing surges in interest from travelers this fall by the US magazine Condé Nast Traveler.

According to metasearch site Kayak, HCM City has seen an increase of 46 per cent in searches compared to 2019.

Expedia reported a 630 per cent growth in searches from last fall.

In the first nine months of this year, the city received 20.6 million domestic visitor arrivals and 2.11 million international visitor arrivals, up 66 per cent and 100 per cent year-on-year, respectively. Tourism turnover surged 3.9-times year-on-year to total VNĐ18.2 trillion (US$756 million). 

Wood pellet industry needs sustainable raw material areas for export expansion
     
The wood pellet industry should focus on developing raw material plantation areas to tap the potential from the increasing global demand for exports, experts have said.

In the global market, the demand for wood pellets was increasing as the Russia – Ukraine conflict pushed up the demand of EU countries in addition to the trend of switching to clean fuels along with commitments about emissions reductions at COP26.

Viet Nam’s wood pellet exports saw rapid increases in recent years and were expected to become one of the agro-forestry products which touched a revenue of $1 billion or higher.

Statistics showed that wood pellet exports reached US$354 million in the first six months of this year, equivalent to 85 per cent of the revenue in 2021 and were forecast to reach $700 million for the full year.

Average export prices also increased rapidly to nearly $150 per tonne, up by 27 per cent over the 2021 average.

Nguyen Ba Duy, deputy director of Smart Wood Viet Nam which exported wood pellets to the Republic of Korea and was looking to penetrate Japan, said there was still significant room for expanding exports in these two markets.

The EU also had a lot of potential, Duy said, adding that meeting the quality requirements of the EU remained a problem for a majority of domestic pellet producers.

To Xuan Phuc from Forest Trends, said the demand and prices of pellets in the EU were increasing rapidly, which was grabbing large attention from the US – the biggest pellet exporter in the world.

Although Viet Nam was not a big supplier of pellets to the EU, the rising demand and price in the EU brought a significant opportunity for Vietnamese producers to expand exports to this market, Phuc said.

Currently, Viet Nam mainly exported pellets to Japan and the Republic of Korea, while exports to other markets were very modest. Especially, the exports to Japan posted rapid growth of an average 90 per cent in the 2019-21 period and are expected to continue to increase this year.

Phuc said that the source of input wood for pellet production played the most important role in the development of the industry, adding that the current source was mainly by-products from wood processing.

Phuc said that pellet producers and exporters should pay attention to developing raw material plantation areas to stabilise the source of input materials.

Enterprises could cooperate with households who had access to the land for afforestation, he said.

Besides, the trend of pellet consumption in major markets demonstrated that in the future, pellets would be required to be made from sustainably certified materials, he said, stressing that developing raw material areas was necessary.

According to Duy, as pellet prices increased, many enterprises rushed to invest in pellet production. This posed a risk to the sustainable development of the industry because the source of raw materials for pellet production remained limited, Duy said.

Another concern to pellet producers was that the Government was considering increasing the export tax on pellets which was currently zero because pellets were not deeply processed, thus, competing directly with the large-timber plantation development.

Duy said that increasing the export tax on pellets was unreasonable because pellet production mainly used by-products of the wood processing industry.

Do Xuan Lap, President of the Viet Nam Timber and Forest Product Association, said the government should not impose an export tax on pellets to maintain competitiveness in the global market.

Development strategies should also be raised for the pellet production industry to grow sustainably, Lap said.

There were more than 300 pellet production facilities in Viet Nam, around 80 per cent of which were in the southern and central coast regions. 

Banking sector needs improved legal framework to speed up digital transformation     

The banking sector was expecting amendments to the Law on Electronic Transactions would help remove bottlenecks and speed up the sector’s digital transformation progress.

According to Nguyen Quoc Hung, general secretary of the Viet Nam Banking Association, banks and financial intermediaries were facing a number of difficulties and even legal risks due to the lack of a legal framework about e-transactions in the context that the demand for e-transactions was increasing strongly across all sectors in recent years.

The transaction methods were also changing dramatically with the breakthrough development of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, biometrics and blockchain.

Hung said that the Law on Electronic Transactions dated back to 2005 and proved to be outdated in the era of digital transformation.

Hung said that draft amended Law on Electronic Transactions was expected to tackle bottlenecks which were hindering the digital transformation progress of the banking sector. Specially, electronic transactions would be recognised with the same legal value as traditional transactions with attached requirements.

It was necessary to raise clear and practical regulations about electronic signatures to create favourable conditions for electronic operations of credit institutions, Hung said.

Economic expert Pham Xuan Hoe pointed out that the biggest challenge to the banking sector was the shortage and inconsistency of the legal framework.

How to share population data so that credit institutions could use eKYC to authenticate was also a problem that needed to be solved, Hoe said.

The digital transformation process of the banking industry could not be carried out in a comprehensive way, in part because the Law on Electronic Transactions had not yet been revised, he said.

According to Hung, the digital transformation in lending operations was stagnating because Circular 39/2016/TT-NHNN on lending activity of credit institutions could not be amended until the amended Law on Electronic Transactions was passed.

The Ministry of Information and Communications has sent a report to the National Assembly about the draft revised Law on Electronic Transactions.

The draft would be discussed at the National Assembly’s fourth meeting in October and is expected to be passed in May 2023.

To speed up the digital transformation of the banking sector, the State Bank of Vietnam set up a steering committee and approved a digital transformation plan to 2025 with an aim that 50 per cent of the banking operation would be digitalised and 70 per cent of transactions would be conducted on digital channels by 2025.

Shares to correct on continued poor sentiment
     
Vietnamese shares are forecast to follow a downward trend in the short-term period as poor sentiment weighs down the market.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE), the VN-Index tumbled to a 20-month low, falling sharply by 3.59 per cent to end Friday at 1,035.91 points. The index had lost a total of 8.5 per cent last week.

According to the news site cafef.vn, VN-Index of Viet Nam was the worst performing index in Asia on Friday, besides other decliners such as Hong Kong down 1.37 per cent, Thailand down 0.84 per cent and Singapore 0.11 per cent.

The domestic market last week went against the recovery trend of world stocks as it continued to decrease for the 6th consecutive week. This is also the strongest weekly decline in the past five months. The VN-Index has dropped nearly 31 per cent since the beginning of the year, one of the biggest decliners in the world.

After nearly three years, VN-Index has returned to the price range of 1,000-1,030 points, the same value as the highest price peak in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The current price trend and market sentiment resemble that during the strong decline week in March 2020. Therefore, it is expected that the market will gradually differentiate, and the selling pressure will occur in the next 1-2 weeks at the support area of ​​1,000-1,030 points.

In the short term, market sentiment will remain pessimistic. VN-Index will follow the falling path in the short and medium term so the market can regain balance.

Due to the prevailing risk sentiment, VN-Index will be strongly supported at 1,000-1,060 points, corresponding to an estimated price-to-earnings (P/E) at the end of 2022 of 9.9x-10.5x. Therefore, the next correction phase will open the opportunity to accumulate good stocks, said Mirae Asset Securities Vietnam.

According to the State Securities Commission (SSC), in the last months of 2022, with the possibility that the Fed and many central banks around the world will continue to tighten monetary policy to bring inflation back to control, the stock market may face a number of challenges, typically a wave of interest rate hikes, inflationary pressures, rising corporate costs, geopolitical tensions. The above factors are likely to affect cash flow and liquidity in the stock market.

$2 billion Quang Ninh LNG power plant behind schedule

The joint venture of PV Power, Colavi, Tokyo Gas, and Marubeni is behind schedule for the completion of the $2 billion Quang Ninh liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plant.

Quang Ninh People’s Committee last week said the process of the Quang Ninh LNG power plant was behind the set timetable initially laid out by the investors.

Deputy Chairman of the committee Cao Tuong Huy said that the investors initially planned to complete investment procedures by the end of the first quarter of 2022, to start construction the following quarter, and finish the project in late 2027.

Quang Ninh People’s Committee has asked the joint venture to accelerate establishing a legal entity to build a feasibility study to submit to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for appraisal this month.

The province requires Cam Pha People’s Committee to hand over land to the investor in November this year. Thus, the join venture must also accelerate procedures for building the fence and levelling the site after the land handover.

Covering 56 hectares, including 13.38ha offshore, in Cam Pha city, the Quang Ninh LNG power project will include a 1,500MW power plant, gas storage, and an LNG port with an annual capacity of 2.4 million tonnes.

Around 1.1 million tonnes of LNG materials will be imported from Australia, Qatar, Russia, and the United States to support the plant's operation.

New infrastructure projects connecting HCMC – Long An to be executed soon

The People’s Committees of HCMC and Long An Province have mutually agreed to accelerate the construction of five routes connecting the two localities.

The five projects consist of Beltway No. 4; Tay Bac road in Binh Chanh connecting with provincial road DT.823D in Duc Hoa, Long An; the extended Vo Van Kiet street – section across Binh Chanh connecting with Hai Son – Tan Do Industrial Park in Duc Hoa, Long An; Le Van Luong Street in Nha Be District connecting with the provincial road 826C in Can Giuoc, Long An at Tach Doi Bridge; and the road parallel with National Highway No. 50 connecting with the road DT.827E.

For the first route of Beltway No. 4, Long An Province will take charge of updating the relevant planning and forecasting of the vehicle volume to determine the scale and investment plans.

The second route is the Tay Bac new open road in Binh Chanh connecting with provincial road DT.823D in Duc Hoa, Long An. HCMC has approved the policy on the route direction adjustment and updated the relevant planning in the area of Binh Chanh.

The third route is the extended Vo Van Kiet street, a section across Binh Chanh District connecting with Hai Son–Tan Do. The route direction and scale of the section from Beltway No. 3 to the boundary of Long An should be supplemented into HCMC’s general planning project to have a basis for implementing the next steps.

The fourth route is Le Van Luong in Nha Be District, connecting with the provincial road 826C in Can Giuoc, Long An at Rach Doi bridge. The HCMC Department of Architecture has been assigned to update the route direction and scale of the Rach Doi bridge in HCMC’s general planning project.

The fifth route is the investment in the road in parallel with National Highway No. 50 connecting with the DT.827E road (the possible name of National Highway 50B). The HCMC Department of Transport is tasked with preparing an investment policy to ensure synchronized traffic connection with Long An.

International Travel Mart expected to lure over 30,000 turns of visitors

The Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA) in collaboration with the People’s Committee of Da Nang City and Da Nang Tourism Association yesterday held a press conference to announce the Vietnam International Travel Mart – VITM Da Nang 2022. 

The fair will be taken place from December 9 to December 11 with its theme of “Marine tourism development, exploitation of Vietnamese tourism’s strength”.

The VITM Da Nang 2022 will attract enterprises in the field of sports tourism comprising golf, sailing, surfing and so on; resorts, businesses providing MICE services, Vietnam and international discovery tourism. 

It is expected that VITM Da Nang 2022 will organize around 350 booths, comprising 15 percent international booths and 85 percent domestic ones. The organizing board desired to lure the participation of around 50 cities and provinces nationwide and welcome some 30,000 turns of visitors. 

Downstream parts of Mekong Delta experience largest tidal wave this year

Many streets in Can Tho City were submerged due to the current high tide on the Hau River in the early morning of October 9. The worst flooded areas are streets along Hau River, Can Tho River and canals in Cach Mang Thang Tam, Tran Viet Chau, Mau Than, Nguyen Van Cu, Vo Van Kiet streets.

By 7 a.m., the tidal water started receding. The engine of many motorbikes was shut down and many residents were trapped in the water.

According to the Can Tho City Hydrology Meteorology Station, the water level on Hau River reached 2.16 meters, 0.16 meter higher than alert level 3 due to high tide along with long lasting heavy rains and floodwater from upstream rivers.

It is forecast that the tidal level is expected to continue rising in the following days and is likely to peak at 2.20 meters-2.25 meters from October 10 to 12, equivalent to the historical peak tidal level of 2019.

Dyke sections could be collapsed any time amid the high water levels on Tien and Hau rivers following the tidal wave.

Floods bring abundance of fish to Mekong Delta

Every October, water from the Mekong River comes in with continuous rains in the Mekong Delta submerging hundreds of houses and thousands of hectares of farmland; however, floods also bring with them an abundance of fish and other aquatic animals.

According to the Directorate of Water Resources, in the coming days, the flood will peak in the watershed with water level measuring 3.5 meters – 3.7 meters, exceeding the first-stage warning level whereas in-field flooding in the upstream area at the second and the third warning level and above the third warning level in the coastal areas.

Many farmers have abandoned the production of autumn-winter rice, allowing water to overflow the fields. This is also a good way to let soil receive silt. Flood season also helps people in the Mekong Delta earn a livelihood thanks to abundant aquatic resources.

Source: VNA/SGT/VNS/VOV/Dtinews/SGGP/VGP/Hanoitimes