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A SIM card store on Hà Nội’s Giải Phóng Street. All SIM card stores in the city will be checked and not allowed to sell unregistered SIM cards. – Photo vietnamplus.vn Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI — The Hà Nội Department of Information and Communications has set up inter-sector inspection teams to supervise the management of pre-paid SIM cards in the city from November 29 to December 31, department chief inspector Nguyễn Văn Minh said. The city’s Department of Industry and Trade, police, market surveillance force and people’s committees at the district level joined the inspection. The move came following a request by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) to retrieve pre-activated SIM cards across the country. It is aimed at strengthening information security of mobile phone service users and cracking down on the illegal purchase of SIM cards and promotional programmes. The … [Read more...] about Hà Nội set to inspect SIM card retailers

The first express 36 express boat is scheduled to run on December 11. It departs from Ninh Kieu Wharf in Can Tho City to Ben Dam Port in Con Dao Island at 7:00 and from the island to Can Tho City at 13:30. The prices are from 520,000 to 990,000 million VND (22.5-42.8 USD) per turn. The trip is operated by Phu Quoc Express Joint-Stock Company. The company also operates high-speed boat services in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang from Rach Gia City-Phu Quoc Island, Rach Gia-Hon Sơn Island, Rach Gia-Nam Du Island, and Ha Tien-Phu Quoc Island. With the boat trips, visitors to Con Dao now have more transport options with a wide range of prices./. VNA … [Read more...] about Express boat connecting Can Tho and Con Dao

Foreign visitors get on a train to tour Da Lat city, the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong (Photo: VNA) Quang Nam (VNA) – The Smoke-free Cities ASEAN Network (SCAN) convened the 6th regional meeting in Hoi An city, the central province of Quang Nam, on November 20, focusing on reshaping tourism through smoke-free environments. The event was attended by more than 100 foreign delegates from smoke-free tourism cities of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, China and Mongolia. It also saw the presence of the Fund for Tobacco Harms Prevention and Control of the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance and the World Health Organisation (WHO) Western Pacific Regional Office. Addressing the meeting, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Viet Tien, member of the management council of the Fund for Tobacco Harms Prevention and Control, said in Vietnam, the building of smoke-free tourism cities began in Hoi An city in … [Read more...] about ASEAN cities seek to promote smoke-free tourism environments

Smuggled cigarettes in Binh Phuoc province are destroyed (Photo: sggp.org.vn)   HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Prevention of smuggling of goods across the country’s borders is becoming more difficult as the New Year season approaches, according to border authorities. Three districts in Binh Phuoc province (Bu Gia Map, Bu Dop and Loc Ninh) which border Cambodia have seen an increase in smuggled goods. For the first nine months of the year, authorities detected 2,659 smuggling cases. Smuggled goods were mostly cigarettes, sugar and clothing. The amount of issued fines and back taxes totalled over 37 billion VND (1.6 million USD). The smuggling cases are usually carried out by small groups of individuals in a number of ways that have become more sophisticated. Many smugglers use shortcuts through the rocky terrain and rivers that help them elude capture by authorities. Smugglers travel to Cambodia to purchase goods, split up the goods in smaller portions, and then smuggle them into … [Read more...] about Smuggling up as New Year approaches

Volunteers join a campaign against the use of tobacco in central Da Nang city (Photo: VNA)   Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The new cigarette tax rate of 5,000 VND (0.2 USD) per pack will help reduce the rate of tobacco consumption and increase the State budget, health experts have said. Speaking at the conference on tax incentives to prevent tobacco harm on September 25 morning, health experts said the application of the special consumption tax rate will reduce the tobacco use rate among men from 45.3 percent to 39 percent by 2020. Currently, Vietnam has the world’s ninth-highest number of smokers. On average, one in every two male adults is smoker. The prevalence of smoking among adolescents is 24.3 percent. The country has been suffering the burden of disease and financial loss caused by tobacco use. In 2015, Vietnamese people spent up to 31 trillion VND (1.3 billion USD) on cigarettes and more 24 trillion VND (1.03 billion USD) on treatment of tobacco-related diseases such as … [Read more...] about Increase on special consumption tax vital to reduce smoking