A woman browses an e-commerce website on her phone (Photo: dantri.com.vn)
Dao Duong Thanh, development director at Moca, a popular mobile payment firm in Vietnam and partner of ride-hailing firm Grab, said more than 61 million people in the country access the internet through the mobile devices and spend as much as three 3 hours and 12 minutes online daily.
Thanh said since his firm's partnership with Grab in 2018, Moca has built a cashless regime for Grab's ecosystem, which covers not just rides, food and package deliveries but also other services such as electronic payments for utility bills and mobile phone top-ups.
By mid-2020, 43 percent of all transactions on Grab were classless, claimed Thanh as his firm observed a steady growth of users, indicating a shift in consumers' habit in favour of online, cashless payments, reported VNS.
Hoang Quoc Quyen, a PR executive from Tiki, a major e-commerce platform in Vietnam, said the development of 4G infrastructure, fibre optic internet technology and more than 100 million registered mobile phone subscriptions in the country have laid the foundation for the rapid development of e-commerce and electronic payment.
A relatively young population quick to adapt to and adopt new technologies, coupled with one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, made Vietnam a fertile ground for the digital economy, including e-commerce. Online shopping not only offers a faster and more convenient shopping experience but also reduces risks on the buyers' side compared to traditional cash-based transactions.
Opportune time for Vietnam to boost rice exports
Export prices of Vietnam’s 5% broken rice have climbed to USD488-492 per tonne, up US$25 from a month ago and marking the highest levels for years.
Photo for illustration (Source: nhandan.com.vn)
Purchasing prices in the Mekong Delta also rose significantly against previous crops, up to VND6,200 per kilogram, generating good profits for rice farmers.
According to the Vietnam Food Association, Vietnamese rice price rises were partly thanks to many countries increasing their reserves to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, with Vietnam’s ST25 rice named the world’s best rice, global consumers have paid more attention to Vietnamese rice in general, helping to boost both export volumes and prices.
In other good news, Vietnamese rice has begun to penetrate high-quality markets with Vinaseed recently announcing it will ship 50 tonnes of Japonica rice to Australia. The company already exported VJ Pearl Rice and RVT fragrant rice to the Netherlands and the Czech Republic in July at a price of US$1,040 per tonnes.
Such varieties have received the FSSC 22000 certificate on processing, packaging and shipping from Bureau Veritas, a world-leading British certification company. This is one of the comprehensive food safety standards necessary to penetrate demanding markets such as the EU and the US.
Besides Vinaseed, many Vietnamese rice exporters are also working to meet the stringent requirements of the EU, especially as the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement has already come into force, under which the EU is giving Vietnam an annual quota of 80,000 tonnes of rice with zero tariffs.
This is a special opportunity for Vietnamese rice exporters to build and promote their image as well as outlining new strategies for production and export by focusing on speciality rice varieties designed to target discerning markets with higher prices and also reduce reliance on traditional markets, which mainly purchase lower-quality rice at lower prices.
Flights from/to Da Nang starts from September 8
Budget airline Vietjet is resuming domestic flights from and to the central city of Da Nang on September 8 as the COVID-19 outbreak in the city has been put under control, in accordance with a decision of the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.
Budget airline Vietjet
According to initial plans, Vietjet will resume Da Nang - Hanoi and Da Nang - Ho Chi Minh City routes with a frequency of one return flight per day for each route. The move meets the travel demand of people as well as contributes to economic recovery in Da Nang in particular and the Central Highlands region in general.
Passengers on flights from and to Da Nang are arranged to sit at a safe distance and take sufficient measures to prevent the pandemic, including wearing masks at airports and on aircraft; filling mandatory health declaration; and installing Bluezone app on smartphone (if possible).
To ensure the health of the community and to prevent the pandemic, Vietjet has been strengthening the coordination of disease prevention measures, strictly controlling health check procedures for passengers and crews before and after each flight, and following required medical regulations. All Vietjet flights are in accordance with all global supreme standards and recommendations from authorities, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in order to ensure the health and safety for passengers, flight crews and the community.
Vietnam had no new COVID-19 cases to report on the whole of September 7, with the national count remaining at 1,049, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control on September 7.
The figure includes 691 cases infected domestically, of which 551 related to the outbreak in the central city of Da Nang since July 25.
Also on September 7, 38 patients were given the all-clear, bringing the total of this group to 853. Meanwhile, the country’s total deaths related to COVID-19 still stood at 35, most of them the elderly with serious underlying diseases.
Among the active patients, 14 have tested negative for the novel coronavirus once, 19 twice and 33 three times./.