USD 7,400 RETURNED TO TOURIST BY LOCAL MAID.
Hien, a 26-year-old employee at Dat Phuong Nam Apartment Complex, was cleaning a flat after a temporary tenant left when he came across USD7,400 in cash. He then notified the manager to establish contact with the rightful owner and was eventually able to return the cash to a Ukrainian guest named Artern, who had just ended his six-month lease of the unit. Hien received a “Nguoi Tot Viec Tot” (Good People Doing Good Things) award from the building’s management board, along with praise from the complex’s residents and Arten. Arten was not shy in admitting his shock that the money was returned. Hien’s mother said in an interview with Tuoi Tre newspaper that he dropped out of school when he was a tenth grader to help his mother earn a living after his father’s sudden death. He now works to ensure that his mother will have enough money when she is ready to retire in the near future. “Our family is poor but I’ve always taught my son to keep his dignity and be a good person,” the mother said.
1,2 Million PIGS HAVE BEEN KILLED SO FAR AS AFRICAN SWINE FEVER SPREADS NATIONWIDE.
Pork accounts for three-quarters of total meat consumption in Vietnam, a country of 95 million people where most of its 30 million farm-raised pigs are consumed domestically. The virus was first detected in Vietnam in February and has spread to 29 provinces, including Dong Nai, which supplies around 40% of the pork consumed in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s southern economic hub. “The risk of the virus spreading further is very high and the evolution of the outbreak is complicated,” the government said in a statement. The disease, which is harmless to humans but incurable in pigs, has also spread quickly across neighboring China. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in March advised Vietnam to declare the swine fever outbreak as a national emergency.
104 PASSENGERS CRAMMED INTO 45-SEATER BUS HEADING TO HANOI.
Traffic police in Hanoi said they have caught an overcrowded passenger bus that carried holidaymakers from the north-central province of Thanh Hoa back to the Vietnamese capital. As many as 104 passengers had been crammed into the 45-seater bus, police said after pulling over the vehicle for check on Giai Phong Street in Hanoi’s Hoang Mai District. The longhaul bus, running between Thanh Hoa and Hanoi, was also found to have dropped off passengers at the wrong location, according to officers. Police said they managed to catch the overcrowded bus thanks to a tip-off made through a hotline for reports of traffic safety violations. Another tip-off from members of the public also led police to catch a 29-seat passenger bus carrying 38 passengers as it was heading to Hanoi from the northern province of Thai Binh.
418 USED MOBILE PHONES CONFISCATED FROM A SOUTH KOREAN MAN AT SAIGON AIRPORT.
The 35-year-old man was stopped at the airport after customs officials found 418 used cell phones, worth VND3 billion, in his luggage. Among the phones were brands popular in Vietnam, like iPhones and Samsung, media reports said. The man failed to declare the phones he was carrying in his luggage, customs officials said. Police are investigating the incident. Earlier this year, another South Korean man was arrested at the same airport smuggling 200 used cell phones into the country. In 2017, a Ho Chi Minh City court sentenced two South Korean men to three years in jail each for smuggling 96 used cell phones into Vietnam. Vietnamese regulations require mobile phone importers to register for quality inspections with the Department of Telecommunications. Importers who fail to do so will be fined and ordered to re-export their goods. However, passengers arriving in Vietnam are allowed to freely carry a second mobile phone with them if it is for personal use. The second phone is still subject to duty if its value exceeds VND10 million.
USD 7 Billion APARTMENT COMPLEX PROPOSED FOR QUANG NINH BY VINGROUP.
The VND165 trillion Ha Long Green project in the northern province, that is home to world famous natural attraction Ha Long Bay, would cover an area of nearly 3,200 hectares. It would be located alongside the Ha Long–Hai Phong expressway, connecting Ha Long Bay with the northern coastal city of Hai Phong. It would consist of 55,300 properties for both residential and commercial purposes, as well as schools and parks. Quang Ninh has been receiving significant increase in investments in recent years. It is home to Vietnam’s first private airport, the Van Don International Airport, which began operations last December.
USD 4 Million IS HOW MUCH HANOI WILL SPEND ON CNN ADS OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS
to reach global audience. Hanoi officials early this week signed a memorandum of understanding with CNN to advertise on social media and air documentaries on the popular cable news network in the 2019-2024 period. Over the next five years, the network will produce 30-second and 60-second commercials introducing Vietnam’s first Formula 1 race, which will be held in April 2020 and the 31st edition of the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in 2021. Both events will be held in Hanoi. In addition, the advertising series will include 30-minute special programs that show the city’s unique values to a global audience. The campaign will be aired in Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South Asia. A survey conducted by the U.K. research firm BDRC Continental shows that 92 percent of interviewed viewers said the ads on CNN have sparked interest in traveling to Hanoi, as the capital has a lot to discover in terms of food, shopping, culture and historical relics. The city is also on top of the list of most affordable destinations in the world, with backpackers needing just USD18.29 a day in Hanoi, according to the 2019 Backpacker Index formulated by Price of Travel, the world’s largest database of travel costs.
