Special Reports

VietNamNet Bridge - Related to APEC Summit 2017 in Vietnam, one of interests of the public is the costume of APEC leaders this time. According to the latest information released by Mr. Huynh Vinh Ai, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Deputy Chief of the Subcommittee on Media and Culture of the National Committee for APEC Year 2017 at a press conference on December 9: the costumes designed for leaders at the APEC Summit 2017 will be made by the materials mainly produced by Vietnam, demonstrating the Vietnamese tradition, and easy to wear. Ai said the highlight of the cultural activities in the APEC Week 2017 is the Gala Dinner, where the APEC leaders will wear the costume. The subcommittee on media and culture invited five leading fashion designers of Vietnam to design the outfit. Ai further noted that this is not the national costume of Vietnam but the costume for the APEC Summit held in Vietnam. The costume will be made by mainly material produced by Vietnam, and … [Read more...] about Vietnam prepares costumes for APEC leaders at APEC Summit 2017

VietNamNet Bridge – Some people are earning a living by crying or singing and dancing at funerals. When I approached Mr. Huu, 41, a mourner at funerals with almost 10 years experience, to learn about his special job, he said: "I have nothing to say about my job in your newspaper. I don’t want to be sneered at by others." Then, a few days later, my phone rang and it was Huu. "I think I should tell people about my job. Yesterday, I just cried at a funeral but then I was beaten by a local group of mourners. This profession is both shameful and miserable!" Huu said. Huu was tired when he met me. He said he had undergone a lot of bitterness and humiliation. He came to Saigon as a construction worker. After a motorcycle accident, his leg was injured and he could not do difficult jobs so he became a mourner. Huu said all members in his group were ill because their everyday work is with the dead. When asked why he doesn’t look for another job, he said: "This profession … [Read more...] about The odd jobs

VietNamNet Bridge - VinEcom is the e-commerce project of the head of Vingroup Pham Nhat Vuong. Although the site has not yet officially launched, some signs show that Vuong may have the ambition to turn VinEcom into an Alibaba of Vietnam. VinEcom is a big e-commerce firm of Vingroup - one of the largest real estate companies in Vietnam, owned by the country’s first USD billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong. In February, it was reported that VinEcom will invest $30 million to do e-commerce. However, Vingroup website said that VinEcom had received a total of $50 million. Who is Pham Nhat Vuong? In 2010, Vuong sold his instant noodle company in Ukraine to Nestle for about $150 million. He then started investing in resorts, condominiums, commercial centers, hospitals and schools in major cities in Vietnam. Currently, Vuong has assets worth over $1.3 billion, becoming the richest man in Vietnam. In 2006, he invested in VC Corp, one of three leading Internet firms in Vietnam. This … [Read more...] about Is Vingroup’s ambition to become “Alibaba Vietnam”?

VietNamNet Bridge - Among the richest entrepreneurs in the early 20th century were the owner of Co Ba (Ms. Ba) soap brand, the king of waterway transport Mr. Bach Thai Buoi, the 'ancestor' of the paint industry Ms. Nguyen Son Ha.Entrepreneur Truong Van Ben One of the most famous businesspeople in Vietnam in the 1930s was Mr. Truong Van Ben, the owner of Ms. Ba soap brand. At that time, Ms. Ba soap cakes with the picture of a beautiful Vietnamese woman with a kind face was famous across the country and this product even beat foreign brands. To day, Ms. Ba soap brand is still widely remembered by Saigonese and is sold at the Co Op Mart supermarket chain. Mr. Truong Van Ben (1883 - 1956) was born in Cho Lon, Saigon. At age 25, he established a coconut oil factory and then a rice mill, a small-sized rubber plantation and a company to reclaim land in Dong Thap Muoi. In the 1940s, he established the sugar company named Rue de Cambodge (now Kim Bien Market in District 5) and began … [Read more...] about The wealthiest Vietnamese in the early 20th century

VietNamNet Bridge - From birth until death, Vietnamese continually find themselves at the mercy of all sorts of clever and unscrupulous "co", a word which can be roughly translated as "middleman". They must pay middlemen to approach healthcare services, to complete vehicle registration, to buy a house, to apply for a job and even to find a plot of land for their dead. Estate middlemen To pay the school fees for his two children, both university students, Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh put up for sale a 100m2 plot of land located in the central province of Phu Yen. He posted an advertising signboard in the morning. Soon thereafter, a man named Hung called him, offering VND570 million ($27,000) for the land. As the offer was far too low, Thanh turned him down. In the afternoon, Thanh paid a visit to his lot. In place of his advertising signboard, he discovered another that read: "Selling land, please contact Mr. Hung". Thanh then got his neighbor to agree to post the ad on the wall of … [Read more...] about “Co” – a special job in Vietnam