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| Electronic toll collection (ETC) is officially applied for all vehicles at Nội Bài International Airport on December 20. (Photo: VNA) |
The change, which happened on Friday (December 20), should make airport arrivals and departures by vehicle much quicker and smoother.
Terminal T1 has nine entry lanes and ten exit lanes, where the ETC system has been in force since the beginning of this month, while Terminal T2, with seven entry lanes and eleven exit lanes, completed its final preparations to ensure smooth operations starting on December 20.
A survey showed that the cashless and ETC systems at both terminals worked well, ensuring accurate fee collection and saved time for customers. In particular the system has significantly reduced localised congestion at toll gates during peak hours.
Currently, all lanes accept hybrid payment methods.
In the future, based on data on the proportion of vehicles using ETC cards for payment, Noi Bai’s authorities will segregate lanes into ETC lanes and hybrid lanes to further expedite vehicle passage.
“With the full implementation of automatic toll collection ahead of Christmas and New Year’s holidays, Noi Bai Airport ensures smoother, faster and more convenient traffic flow,” said an airport representative.
To make quick and convenient entry, exit, and payment, the airport authority advised vehicle owners to ensure their vehicles have ETC tags and sufficient balance in their ETC accounts for service fees, and to keep vehicle number plates clean and intact to facilitate accurate recognition by cameras at the toll gates.
At present, the payment methods are supported for ETC toll lanes including traffic fee accounts (VETC/VDTC), bank cards, QR code payments and e-wallets, and cash.
The cashless and ETC toll collection project, carried out by the State-run Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), has been approved for implementation at 21 airports under ACV's management.
Currently, five airports have successfully transitioned to this system, including Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat (HCM City), Da Nang, Cat Bi (Hai Phong), and Phu Bai (Thua Thien-Hue) airports.
ACV will accelerate investments and upgrades to extend this toll collection system to other airports.
The project aims to enhance social benefits, improve convenience and ease congestion at airport gateways, aligning with ACV’s digital transformation roadmap through 2025, with a vision towards 2030.
Hanoi shopping festival 2024 launched
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| People shop at the festival in Soc Son district. (Photo: kinhtedothi.vn) |
The Hanoi Investment, Trade, and Tourism Promotion Centre and the Soc Son district People's Committee on December 20 kicked off the Hanoi Shopping Festival 2024 in the district’s Tien Duc commune on December 20, reported Vietnam News Agency.
The five-day festival aims to enhance connections and support for businesses, cooperatives, and One Commune One Product (OCOP) programme participants in Hanoi in general and Soc Son in particular, and other provinces in promoting trade and marketing for their goods and agricultural products.
It is also to promote culinary culture, showcase traditional crafts, and introduce the local heritage of Hanoi, particularly Soc Son district, to both domestic and international visitors.
There are about 120 booths showcasing over 1,000 products at the event, including agricultural goods, regional specialties, processed foods, high-tech agricultural products, green agriculture items, OCOP products, and handicrafts.
Visitors can also enjoy traditional art performances and participate in various cultural exchange activities.
Japanese retailer AEON boosts recruitment and expansion in 2025
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| AEON Vietnam expands Its business network with diverse retail formats in 2025 to meet customer needs (Photo AEON Vietnam) |
Identifying Vietnam as its second most important market after Japan, AEON Group of Japan continues to intensify its business investments, reported Vietnam News Agency.
AEON Vietnam’s business strategy focuses on enhancing customer touchpoints and brand visibility. Specifically, the company will expand its business network with various retail models, including opening the AEON Tan An Shopping Mall, department stores, supermarkets, medium and small-sized supermarkets and speciality stores nationwide in 2025.
To realise its expansion plans, AEON Vietnam continually implements nationwide recruitment drives, recognising workforce development as a core factor alongside business growth. The company aims to contribute to building a high-quality workforce for the retail sector and support Vietnam’s sustainable development goals.
In 2024, AEON Vietnam inaugurated new business locations across the north, central, and south regions, while organising three mass recruitment and several other focused recruitment programmes, attracting tens of thousands of applicants nationwide.
From now until 2030, AEON Vietnam will continue to scale up operations and enhance workforce recruitment. In 2025 alone, the company plans to hire nearly 5,000 full-time and part-time employees, offering diverse career opportunities for talents in the retail industry.
In addition, AEON Vietnam aims to develop its next-generation leadership team to achieve its medium-term business development goals, creating advancement opportunities for current employees.
With the direction “Nourish to Flourish”, AEON Vietnam fosters a working environment based on three core pillars: Sustainable Career Development, Sustainable Working Culture, and Sustainable Business Development.
At AEON Vietnam, training is the most significant benefit the company offers its talents. To develop a high-quality workforce for Vietnam’s retail industry and local communities, AEON Vietnam enables employees to take on multiple roles, enhance their skills, and cultivate leadership capabilities, preparing them as future successors. Employees can actively choose their career development paths, from generalists to specialists.
With a large workforce, AEON Vietnam identifies coaching culture as a critical factor in its talent development strategy and workplace culture. This culture encourages individuals to unlock their potential, share ideas, think creatively and maximise their capabilities. AEON Vietnam’s coaching programmes are flexibly designed to suit the unique needs of each individual and team, empowering employees to showcase their strengths confidently.
Through relentless efforts and strong commitments, AEON Vietnam was honoured with the ICF Coaching Impact Awards 2024 in Athens, Greece in October.
Mekong Delta tourism continues to surge
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| Visitors enjoy feeding fish while exploring the Tien river, located in An Thanh ward, Hong Ngu city, Dong Thap province. (Photo: VNA) |
The Mekong Delta, one of Vietnam's key tourism regions, has worked hard in developing new products and promoting its offerings this year, achieving impressive results in visitor numbers and revenue from tourism and related services, reported Vietnam News Agency.
Its localities have diversified their products by leveraging their unique riverine ecosystem, natural landscapes, marine resources, cultural and historical sites, and rich traditional value.
In 2024, the region is projected to welcome over 52 million visitors, generating more than 62 trillion VND (2.44 billion USD) in revenue.
Can Tho city, the regional urban hub, hosted approximately 6.3 million tourists, earning nearly 6.23 trillion VND. Kien Giang province, meanwhile, attracted over 9.8 million visitors, an annual increase of 15.6%, with total revenue exceeding 25 trillion VND, up nearly 44% year-on-year. An Giang, Ca Mau, and Dong Thap provinces recorded 9 million, 2.15 million, and 4.2 million tourist arrivals, respectively.
Looking ahead to 2025, the delta aims to elevate tourism via refreshing products and enhancing visitor experiences. Regional collaboration will focus on optimising tourism resources and infrastructure advantages through strategic clusters, such as the An Giang - Dong Thap - Long An, Tien Giang - Ben Tre - Tra Vinh - Soc Trang, and Kien Giang - Ca Mau.
Nguyen Thuc Hien, Vice Chairman of the Can Tho People’s Committee, stated that under its 2021-2030 plan for cultural and sports facilities and tourism networks, the city will continue to improve local cultural and tourism infrastructure to better serve residents and visitors.
According to Bui Quoc Thai, Director of the Kien Giang Department of Tourism, the province aims to attract over 10.4 million visitors in 2025.
The Dong Thap Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, meanwhile, is working on the development of ecological, cultural, wellness, and leisure tourism. With a focus on enriching visitor experiences, the province aims to transform tourism into its key economic sector and establish itself as a regional hub for freshwater ecological tours.
Chinese enterprises survey coconut raw material areas in Tra Vinh
A delegation from the Chinese Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, led by Consul General Wei Huaxiang, and 30 Chinese coconut companies made a field trip to raw material zones in Cau Ke district, the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh, on December 20, reported Vietnam News Agency.
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| Chinese Consul General Wei Huaxiang visits a coconut farm in Cau Ke district, the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh, on December 20. (Photo: VNA) |
They aimed to explore the supply capacity and potential for exporting fresh coconuts and processed products from local businesses and cooperatives to the Chinese market.
During a meeting with the delegation, Tran Truong Giang, Director of the Tra Vinh Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, reported that the province ranks second nationwide, after Ben Tre, in terms of coconut cultivation area – 27,520ha, with an output exceeding 404,000 tonnes (equivalent to 337 million fruits). Notably, around 6,000ha meets EU, USDA, and Chinese standards.
The main coconut varieties grown in Tra Vinh include green and yellow coconut, as well as dwarf coconut, which account for 85% of the total farming area.
The quality and yield of coconuts in Tra Vinh are considered the best in the country. There are 29 coconut-growing zones granted production unit codes in the province, including ten qualified for export that cover an area of 1,392 ha, along with two packaging facilities for export to China.
Tra Vinh also boasts a large area of macapuno coconut, approximately 1,300 ha, producing about 3.16 million fruits annually.
Giang said that the province is focusing on sustainable coconut development, aiming for over 28,000 ha and an annual output of 520,000 tonnes (equivalent to 440 million fruits) by 2030. It plans to have farming zones meeting VietGAP and organic standards and given production unit codes to meet export requirements.
Additionally, Tra Vinh is enhancing technology application and transfer to boost productivity and quality to meet export needs while developing deep processing industries.
Consul General Wei highly valued the quality of raw material zones in Tra Vinh, particularly the unique macapuno variety and their processed products.
He emphasised that the Chinese Business Association will strengthen connections and trade cooperation with local growers, cooperatives, and businesses to facilitate export to China.
The diplomat called on Chinese enterprises to invest in deep processing of coconut products, asking local authorities to improve logistics. He also encouraged local businesses, cooperatives, and farmers to improve macapuno quality while reducing production and transportation expenses for Chinese companies.
Nguyen Quynh Thien, Vice Chairman of the Tra Vinh People's Committee, emphasised the province's commitment to fostering connections between local and Chinese businesses for exporting fresh coconuts and coconut products to the Chinese market. He expressed his hope for Chinese authorities to assist in brand protection, export standards, and regulatory compliance.
On this occasion, Tra Vinh and Chinese companies exchanged information about their operations, trade demand, and capabilities, and ended by signing a memorandum of understanding for cooperation./.