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[Hurricane88]

Rain to lessen as tropical depression weakens, making landfall in southern Vietnam

TUOI TRE NEWS
UPDATED : 11/06/2016 11:02 GMT + 7

The tropical depression hitting southern Vietnam has weakened after making landfall on Saturday evening, with rainfall forecast to decrease as the result.

After reaching the southern coastline, the tropical depression, which formed on Friday in the East Vietnam Sea, weakened to a low pressure area and is expected to dissipate in a few days, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

Less rain is forecast while ships in the affected areas had been allowed to resume their operations by Saturday night.

The climatic phenomenon packed strong winds of up to 74 kilometers per hour along the coastal areas from Ninh Thuan to Ba Ria-Vung Tau, bringing downpours to southern localities as well as Dak Lak, Dak Nong and Lam Dong in the Central Highlands.

Strong squalls caused waves three to five meters high off Binh Thuan Province, damaging and sinking many fishing boats, the provincial committee for search and rescue reported.

Torrential rain also brought about landslides along several roads in the south-central province of Phu Yen, while some houses in the affected zone were on the edge of collapsing, forcing the residents to abandon their homes.

Prolonged downpours and flooding damaged roads and bridges in Dak Lak Province, isolating multiple residential areas.

A total of 1,636 houses in Krong Bong District were isolated and 318 households were evacuated to a safer location.

About 10.5 kilometers of local streets and some 2,000 hectares of crops were inundated in the locality.

Fourteen speedboats and 200 officers were tasked with supplying food and water to people who were isolated by the floods.

[Hurricane88]

Vietnam to issue online visa next year

TUOI TRE NEWS
UPDATED : 11/06/2016 10:01 GMT + 7

Foreign visitors to Vietnam can begin applying for visas and have them issued online within three days starting next year, the government site VGP News reported on Friday.

The online application, processing, and issuance of visas for foreign tourists will be piloted for two years since January 1, 2017, according to a recent government resolution.

Payment of visa fees will be made via bank transfer to guarantee transparency and convenience for tourists, as well as minimizing intermediate costs.

No letter of guarantee or invitation is required for online visa application, and visas will be issued within three days of application with the validity period of 30 days.

Nguyen Van Tuan, head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, regarded the move as Vietnam’s breakthrough in the facilitation of visa issue for foreign tourists compared to traditional visas.

In addition to the introduction of online visas, the tourism administration is also looking to expand the country’s visa exemption to include more of the top tourism markets, Tuan said.

Vietnam welcomed over eight million foreign visitors in the first ten months of 2016, whose top countries of origin were China, South Korea, Japan, and the United States, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam.

[Hurricane88]

Tourism boom threatens Vietnam's 'Tonkinese Alps'

By AFP/Jenny Vaughan November 7, 2016 | 04:00 am GMT+7

'If building continues at this rate, then one day we will lose Sapa.'
Throngs of giddy tourists wield selfie sticks on the peak of Vietnam's Fansipan Mountain.

Amateur trekkers once spent two days slogging to the top for a photo of Lao Cai Province's undulating rice fields.

But most in today's crowd take a 20-minute cable car to the highest peak in Indochina.

Insiders say this quick ride has upended tourism in the tiny mountain resort of Sapa, where the completion of a new highway to Hanoi coincided with a boom of hotel construction.

"If building continues at this rate, then one day we will lose Sapa," said Giang Thi Lang, a guide and member of the Black Hmong ethnic group. "We won't have any more mountain."

'They didn't listen'

In Sapa, lots piled with rubble mark out the sites of future hotels.

Way back in 2009, the misty hill station had a permanent population of just over 50,000 people.

The following year, it reported 2,500 hotel rooms. Last year, it had 4,000, according to official figures. Visitor numbers snowballed too, hitting 700,000 in 2015.

During the same period, tourism revenues tripled to yield a whopping $50 million.

At the center of that growth lies the Fansipan Sa Pa Cable Car—the longest in the world, which launched its maiden voyage in February. The three-rope system now has the capacity to ferry 2,000 people to the mountaintop, daily.

"It's good for Sapa that they've attracted more tourists," said Nguyen Van Manh, deputy director of Sapa's Tourist Information Center. "A large number of locals now have jobs."

But some tell a different story.

"Before the cable car, more porters in the village had regular work," said Hmong trekking guide Ma A Tro as he stood on Fansipan's summit following a two-day trip. "Now with the cable car, villagers no longer have jobs; most now work as day laborers on construction sites."

The government ignored opposition to the cable car, he said, lamenting that the number of aspiring mountain climbers has dwindled since its completion.

"We talked to them, but they didn't listen," he added. "The central government came and said they had to do it, so they did it."


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http://e.vnexpress.net/news/travel-l...s-3494973.html

[Hurricane88]

Don't know how to save money? Just ask the Vietnamese

By Ha Phuong November 6, 2016 | 02:00 am GMT+7

Vietnamese are the most careful spenders in Southeast Asia.

Vietnamese people are more careful with their money than their peers in Southeast Asia, according to Nielsen’s Consumer Confidence Index quarterly report.

Four in five Vietnamese respondents chose to save money rather than spending on leisure activities in the third quarter.

Southeast Asia was also the region with the highest saving rate -- around 70 percent, compared to the global average of 52 percent.

Click here to continue
http://e.vnexpress.net/news/business...e-3494663.html

[Hurricane88]

VinaPhone becomes first network to launch 4G service in Vietnam

By VnExpress November 4, 2016 | 03:51 pm GMT+7

Enjoy downloads speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G.

VNPT VinaPhone has officially become the first mobile network provider in Vietnam to launch 4G services after receiving a license from the Ministry of Information.

As one of Vietnam’s top three mobile network providers besides MobiPhone and Viettel, Vinaphone has chosen the southern resort island of Phu Quoc to launch its 4G network.

This is the company’s first step towards providing 4G services nationwide.

At the launch event, test results showed that the access speed on the 4G network reached 50 to 80 Mb/s, which is 7-10 times higher than average speed of 3G. With LTE-A technology, internet access speeds on VinaPhone’s 4G can reach 300 Mb/s.

Analysts said that at this speed, internet users will experience far less delays when they livestream, up/download or play games.

“Our strategy is focusing on high speed and stability. After Phu Quoc Island, we will expand 4G services to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and 10 other provinces,” said Luong Manh Hoang, chairman of VNPT VinaPhone.

Hoang said VinaPhone will install more than 10,000 base transceiver stations (BTS) in the first quarter of 2017, and the number is expected to reach 21,000 by the end of the year.

The company has committed to extending 4G to all 63 provinces with nationwide coverage expected to be 85 percent on average and 100 percent in big cities.

Hoang also said Vinaphone will provide large data packages at competitive rates similar to the current 3G deals it offers.

In January, Vinaphone started piloting 4G in Ho Chi Minh City and Phu Quoc Island with successful results. Recorded up/download speeds were several times higher than 3G networks.

Other mobile providers such as Viettel started piloting 4G in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau in December 2015. MobiFone joined the fray in June 2016 by debuting in Da Nang, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City.

According to the broadband development plan ratified by the prime minister in January, the Vietnamese government plans to expand 4G coverage to 95 per cent of the population by 2020.

[Hurricane88]

China firms eye 'Made in Vietnam' windfall - if Obama's TPP survives

REUTERS
UPDATED : 11/07/2016 07:53 GMT + 7

HO CHI MINH CITY, Nov 7 -- From textiles and shoes to paper and furniture, Chinese manufacturers are pouring investments into neighbouring Vietnam, hoping to ride on the coattails of the Southeast Asian country's pending trade blitz.

Vietnam's Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union, signed last year, and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), if it clears significant political hurdles in the U.S., would collectively give the country access to markets worth $44 trillion in combined gross domestic product.

Even as doubts linger over the future of U.S. President Barack Obama's TPP once he leaves office, early moves by China Inc to leverage off Vietnam's lower factory wages - about a third that of China's - show a re-centering of the world's factory activity.

Importantly, a base in Vietnam gives Chinese manufacturers access to trade agreements of which China is not currently a part.

"So far this year, I've had more than 30 Chinese wood companies coming to me for consultation," said Nguyen Ton Quyen, who heads Vietnam's Timber and Forest Product Association.

"There's a considerable amount of Chinese wood furniture firms moving their investments to Vietnam, to enjoy tax incentives."

Chinese inflows into Vietnam in 2015 doubled from a year earlier to $744 million and 80 percent of that was in the second half of the year, just after Vietnam signed the EU FTA and the TPP.

In the first nine months of this year, investments from China quadrupled to $1 billion compared with the same period in 2015.

Vietnam has numerous other free trade agreements, including with top investor South Korea, supporting resident giants like Samsung and LG. As a part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, it also enjoys free trade with other members of the 10-nation zone, plus the various bilateral agreements the bloc has with other economies, like China.

Nguyen Chien Thang runs a furniture factory and is also feeling the Chinese surge. He estimates a third of the approximately 500 foreign-owned wood processing firms in Vietnam are from China and Taiwan, adding to competition for his Scansia Pacific, a supplier for Swedish giant IKEA.

"Tax rates here are also much more favourable," said Thang. "Labour costs in their mainland are getting much higher."

click here to read
http://tuoitrenews.vn/business/37875...s-tpp-survives

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

Zaryl kor kor...long time no hear and see...come here tcss with me more often...recently found more taller vb for you...

Clever lah, thats the way to lure him out of his cocoon

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

only you mah...only you understand...

Ah now I remembered liao there's this stalker in other threads many years back that keep stalking another samster in every post he makes, and keeps posting something like this = "only you know, only you.......blah blah blah"

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

dun knoe about you...but for me I sleep so well after every trip...needs to recuperate few days...

Eh, tot you always also sleep early in your overseas trips mah I opposite of you, always come back cannot sleep well cause keep too many late nites when overseas so got difficulty to adjust back

Cheerios.......SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

At my NTUC Fairprice Xtra the organic section had the least crowd...the whole lane passable even when everywhere else traffic jam...

Sometimes I feel those are more geared towards the Eng-Mo crowd, I just buy the normal standard groceries nia nia

Cheerios.......SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

ha...you want to buy meh...death penalty in Singapore...dun hope to see headline news in the local daily...

Siao eh, buy???? Wana take selfie mah kakakaka

Cheerios.......SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

hehe...this not so important...come here say hello more important lah...

You just made him expended his "1 year 1 post" quota liao

Cheerios.......SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by smallplayer

chao buoi sang!
wah...maybe have turn of events..but ticket buy liao..
so still stick with schedule..just see if still have CO....

Haiz now I finally understand why you asked me for my travelling schedule liao, so that you can siam my dates.......

Still waiting for your CO to introduce her younger sisters to me

Cheerios........SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

Breakfast @ Tuoi Tre News – November 7

TUOI TRE NEWS
UPDATED : 11/07/2016 08:30 GMT + 7
-- According to the General Department of Preventive Medicine, the number of Zika-infected patients has reached 40 across six localities in Vietnam, with Ho Chi Minh City topping the list with 29 cases..

From beginning 2 cases to 29 cases in just a few days

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

Don't know how to save money? Just ask the Vietnamese

By Ha Phuong November 6, 2016 | 02:00 am GMT+7

Vietnamese are the most careful spenders in Southeast Asia.

Thats simply becos the rest of Asia are spendthrifts like gullible Sinkies like us "donating" to their economy & VBs

Cheerios.......SS08 ^_^