Foreign currencies

How about the first time you went to a supermarket in your new country overseas only to discover a favourite food item had a price tag that nearly knocked you off your feet? Or you visited accommodation while apartment hunting that was expensive yet missing what you consider to be basic features? When we move abroad we have to decide which toys, trinkets, and habits we’ll keep in our adoptive country and which we’ll let go. I recently wrote an article about the cost of living for an expat retiree in Vietnam and discovered during research that I was spending money on things out of habit, not need, and that I could save a fair amount by tweaking priorities:  How much does it cost an expat retiree to live in Vietnam? - Tuoi Tre... Part of that exercise was a sanity check on where money was going because the cost structure is quite different in Vietnam, so simply converting prices from a foreign currency to Vietnamese dong (VND) only tells part of the story. Some … [Read more...] about Out of sight…

The five-day visit aligns with an agreement between the two countries during U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Vietnam in 2017 A U.S. Navy aircraft carrier will dock in Vietnam’s central city of Da Nang next week for a goodwill visit aimed at boosting the two countries’ ties, the spokesperson of the Vietnamese foreign ministry said Thursday. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, accompanied by guided missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain and destroyer USS USS Wayne E.Meyer, will be in Da Nang from March 5 to 9, spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang told reporters in Hanoi. Hang said a number of activities are scheduled for the visit, including a welcome ceremony, a press conference, courtesy visits, technical exchanges, sports matches, and various community activities. The port call aligns with an agreement announced by the two countries in the joint statement issued during U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Vietnam in November 2017, she … [Read more...] about ​​Aircraft carrier visit to boost Vietnam-US ties: foreign ministry spokesperson

The country’s exports of cement and clinker bore out respective increases of 121% in volume and 112% in value compared to the same period last year, reaching 2.9 million tons, valued at US$101.12 million. The export price of cement and clinker in January dropped by 4.6% against December 2017, to an average of US$34.8 per ton. Bangladesh remains the largest of the 12 major consumers of Vietnam’s cement and clinker products, accounting for 31.3% of the country’s total exports, trailed by the Philippines. Cement and clinker exports to nearly all foreign markets in January witnessed a rise against last year’s corresponding period.  Especially, exports to Taiwanese market increased remarkably with a 545.6% rise over the reviewed period comprising 161,407 tons valued at US$4.88 million. … [Read more...] about Sharp rise in January exports of cement and clinker

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ha Kim Ngoc will serve as Vietnamese Ambassador to the U.S. from 2017 to 2020 Vietnam’s lawmaking National Assembly has approved a new ambassador to the United States. The Standing Committee of the National Assembly (NA) issued its approval to the prime minister’s nomination of Ha Kim Ngoc as the new Vietnamese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the U.S. for the 2017-20 tenure. Ngoc, currently serving as the country’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, will replace current Ambassador Pham Quang Vinh. Ngoc was born in 1963 in Hanoi and holds a master’s degree in international relations.  His diplomatic career began in 1988.  He has since garnered significant experience in bilateral relationships, particularly between Vietnam and its partner countries in North America. He was appointed to the role of the foreign minister’s assistant and head of the Department of American Affairs under the Ministry of … [Read more...] about ​Vietnam approves new ambassador to US

Shoppers have had to wait for at least an hour to enter Vietnam’s first-ever store of famous Japanese apparel retailer Uniqlo following its grand opening in downtown Ho Chi Minh City on Friday. Uniqlo Dong Khoi, located at the Parkson Saigon Tourist Plaza on the corner of Le Thanh Ton and Dong Khoi Streets in District 1, was officially open on Friday morning. The three-story store, which covers a total area of more than 3,000 square meters, welcomed over 2,000 guests on its first day, according to a Uniqlo representative. The number of customers appeared to be even larger on Saturday. According to a local motorbike taxi driver, the waiting line nearly doubled that on Friday. Shoppers wait in front of the store on the morning of December 7, 2019. Photo: Nguyen Tri / Tuoi Tre Nguyen Thi Hong Nhi, a second-year university student, said she had waited more than 45 minutes and was still not able to get inside the venue. A lot of people were still waiting in front of the shop … [Read more...] about Shoppers wait in long queues during grand opening of Vietnam’s first Uniqlo store