1% of GDP may be affected if foreign firms forced to locate servers in VietnamVietNamNet Bridge - The data relocation and regulation that requires foreign firms to set up data centers in Vietnam remains the most controversial issue of the draft cybersecurity law. Some experts say data localization may not be good for network securityThe latest draft law doesn’t clearly state that businesses must have their servers in Vietnam, but says the data originating from Vietnam must be managed in Vietnam. Lawyer Nguyen Tien Lap from NHQuang & Associates Law Office referred to the enacted Law on Information Security to find similarities mentioned in both the law and the draft Cyber Security Law. The Draft Law on Cyber Security says Vietnam prioritizes supporting the network security related to socio-economic development, security, national defense and foreign affairs. The businesses providing network security products and services and anti-virus services will bear direct impact from the law.

Vietnam’s taxi firms gear up for ride hailing appsVietNamNet Bridge - As Uber has lost to Grab in Vietnam and has left the market, Vietnamese are taking advantage of a golden opportunity to jump into the ride-hailing market. Trying to support Vietnamese businesses, hundreds of thousands of users have downloaded the apps. Trying to support Vietnamese businesses, hundreds of thousands of users have downloaded the apps. It is very costly to develop a professional ride hailing app. There are hundreds of ride hailing apps on the App Store, but most do not satisfy users’ requirements.

Vietnamese parents rush to register children for summer campsVietNamNet Bridge - As the summer holiday begins in late May, life-skill training centers have launched summer camp programs with very attractive offers. English summer camps attracts parents and childrenAs the summer holiday begins in late May, life-skill training centers have launched summer camp programs with very attractive offers. “I feel that my kids lack life skills, which are not taught at school.”Hoa also hopes that by attending summer camps, her kids would have opportunities to make new friends.English summer camps also draw special attention from students and their parents, though most of the courses are expensive.One training center has launched an eight-week English summer camp which aims to help children practice English. However, she is still willing to pay to help her children have a good time.“My children are excited about the summer camp. RELATED NEWSExtracurricular classes for kids during summerVietnamese children have few places to play during summer holidayChi Mai

Vietnam attends ESCAP’s 74th session in BangkokDeputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc has led a Vietnamese delegation to the 74th session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), which is taking place in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 11-16. Speaking at a discussion relating to policies to address inequality in Asia-Pacific, Ngoc said to deal with this issue, it is necessary to maintain a peaceful and stable environment based on international law. High political determination is essential to improve institutions and policies and turn the viewpoint of sustainable development into a long-term and regular orientation as well as integrating Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into all national people-centered strategies and programmes, he stressed. While discussing the multilateralism in Asia-Pacific, Ngoc said no single country could address global issues without multilateral approach. Vietnam is committed to coordinating closely with members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum to implement programmes strengthening regional economic integration, promoting economic, financial and social development, and developing human resources in the digital era.

GDP not an ideal indicator for growthJoint winner of the 2004 Nobel prize in Economics, Prof. Finn Kydland, speaks to Viet Nam News about the Vietnamese economy and growth on the sidelines of the 2018 Recontres du Vietnam – a development initiative that has brought world-renowned scientists to Viet Nam for discussions since 1993. Viet Nam, not unlike many other countries, relies on GDP as a single all-powerful indicator of growth. For example, if a bigger chunk of GDP was consumption then it’s not a good thing for developing economies. One of the limiting factors of GDP as an indicator of growth is that it often fails to calculate the damage done by economic development to the environment. Rising public debt has been a hotly debated topic in Viet Nam in recent years.

Facebook details scale of abuse on its siteFacebook says it deleted or added warnings to about 29 million posts that broke its rules on hate speech, graphic violence, terrorism and sex, over the first three months of the year. But it said it had yet to develop a way to judge if this was also true of hate speech and terrorist propaganda. The figures indicate graphic violence spiked massively - up 183% between each of the two time periods in the report. 'Screaming out of the closet'The complexity of that job emerges when considering hate speech, a category much more difficult to control via automation. "We can't currently measure how prevalent hate speech violations were on Facebook, because when we're asking our representatives to go and look, 'Is this hate speech, is this not?

Copyright infringement lawsuit hinders Xiaomi’s ambitionsXiaomi’s intellectual property infringement may keep it from reaching $100 billion on its initial public offering (IPO) and becoming the number one smart phone brand in Vietnam. The suit alleges that Xiaomi Telecom Technology Co., Ltd., Xiaomi Technology Co., Ltd., and Xiaomi Factory Co., Ltd. used Yulong's intellectual property without authorisation. In January, Coolpad filed a similar lawsuit against Xiaomi in a Shenzhen court, however, the lawsuit has yet to be finished. Yulong’s move comes nearly two weeks after Xiaomi filed to stage the largest IPO in the last four years. In addition, the lawsuit may hinder the dream of becoming the number one smart phone brand in Vietnam.

VN concerned about escalating conflicts in Gaza: spokespersonVietnam keeps a close watch on and is concerned about the escalating violence in the Gaza Strip over the past days, leaving many Palestinians dead and injured, the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said. Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang. Hang made the statement in Hanoi on May 15 while answering reporters’ question regarding Vietnam’s reaction to increasing conflicts in the Gaza Strip between Israeli security forces and Palestinian people. “Vietnam calls on the concerned parties to exercise restraint, handle conflicts through peaceful measures and create favourable conditions for negotiations as well as international efforts to reach comprehensive, equitable and sustainable solutions, ensuring legitimate interests of the parties, and regional peace and stability,” the spokesperson said. She stressed the need for all parties to respect international humanitarian law, stop any act of hostility, incitement and violence, to ensure unimpeded access to humanitarian assistance.

Vietnam’s largest industrial properties supplier debutsThe BW Industrial Development JSC, a joint-venture between the US private equity fund Warburg Pincus and Vietnam’s Investment and Industrial Development Corporation (Becamex IDC), made debut in the southern province of Binh Duong on May 15. With over 2 million sq.m of industrial land and 200 million USD in initial capital, BW is considered the largest supplier of industrial properties and logistics services in Vietnam, thus meeting demand of multinational corporations and e-commerce companies. Nguyen Van Hung, Becamex IDC General Director, said Becamex commits a 30 percent capital to the partnership in service of the local socio-economic development. Meanwhile, Becamex IDC is a developer of industrial and urban areas with the largest land base in Vietnam. It is known as one of the most successful industrial property developers in Vietnam with a capital of more than 10 billion USD currently.-VNA

VNAT General Director: foreign tourists must abide by Vietnamese lawGeneral Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Nguyen Van Tuan has stated that Vietnam welcomes visitors across the world to the country, however, they must abide by Vietnamese law. Tuan urged localities to direct tourists, inbound and outbound travel agencies abide by legal regulations, preventing similar occurrences and impacts on tourism cooperation between the two countries. In 2014, a Chinese couple were caught attempting to bring bundles of world maps showing the illicit “nine-dash line” into Vietnam through Moc Bai border gate in the southern province of Tay Ninh. The “nine-dash line” is a widely rejected cow tongue-shaped line illegally created by China to claim its sovereignty over about 80 percent of the East Sea, including Vietnam’s Paracel (Hoang Sa) and Spratly (Truong Sa) archipelagoes. Vietnam has consistently rejected China’s territorial claims as they are not based on any legal foundation and violate the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.-VNA

Hue looks to become ‘food capital’ of VietnamHue city, which has long been known as the only place in Vietnam that has royal dishes, is striving to become the capital of gastronomy in Vietnam. One distinctive quality of Hue food is the harmonisation of yin and yang in each dish. Meticulousness of Hue cuisine comes all the way from ingredients selection to dish decoration, which has always attracted people’s attention when visiting the former capital of Vietnam. Myriad activities were being held throughout the event in order to promote the city’s one-of-a-kind cuisine, including Hue international food festival, royal gala dinner, and vegetarian food court, among others. In addition to completing a dossier to recognise Hue as a food capital of Vietnam, Thua Thien-Hue province moves to build a culture and food museum in the imperial city.-VNA

Best players to compete at AFF U-19 Youth ChampionshipCoach Hoang Anh Tuan has made a plan calling the best players to participate in the annual ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) U-19 Youth Championship to be held in Indonesia from July 1-15, looking towards the final round. As planned, after gathering at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Centre in Hanoi, Vietnamese players will have health check-ups on May 16. Before leaving for Indonesia, Vietnamese footballers will join a training course in China from June 15-25. At the AFF U-19 2018, Vietnam will play in Group A with Thailand, Singapore, Laos, the Philippines, and host Indonesia. Earlier, Vietnamese players took part in the Suwon JS Cup 2018 in the Republic of Korea on April 18-22 in preparation for the AFF U-19 Youth Championship.-VNA

Tension in Gaza as Palestinians begin to bury 58 deadFunerals are being held in Gaza for 58 people killed on Monday when Israeli troops opened fire on Palestinian protesters, in the deadliest day of violence there since a war in 2014. The burials coincide with the 70th anniversary of what Palestinians call the Nakba - a mass displacement of Palestinians after Israel's creation. Monday's violence came as the US inaugurated its first embassy in Jerusalem, a controversial move that broke with decades of US policy and incensed Palestinians. Palestinian officials said that, as well as those killed, about 2,700 people were injured in Monday's violence - which they condemned as a massacre. The relocation breaks with decades of US policy and has incensed Palestinians and other nations, who say it violates international law.

Tougher fines for animal, fishery products’ violationsVietNamNet Bridge – The Government has issued a new decree regulating the fines imposed for violations in the livestock breeds, feed and fishery products sectors. A pig slaughtering house in Ben Cat Town, southern Binh Duong Province committed violations in using banned substances in 2016. In the new decree, these will increase to VND50 million - VND100 million on the use of banned substances on animals and fishery products, depending on the products’ values. The violating individuals or organisations will be forced to dispose the banned substances or feed and products containing banned substances. Besides violations in using banned substances, the violations stated in the decree include the use of anti-biotic in livestock breeds and fishery products; and management and preservation of livestock’s genes, among others.

Door to world market opens for Vietnam’s rice exportersVietNamNet Bridge - After winning bids to sell rice to Indonesia and the Philippines, Vietnamese exporters are attending a bid to sell rice to South Korea and preparing for another contract with the Philippines. The door to world market opens for Vietnamese rice exportersPham Thai Binh, director of Trung An Hi-tech Agriculture JSC, said in Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon newspaper that his company and other exporters had offered to sell rice to South Korea. Thanh Nien newspaper commented that Vietnam’s export markets have expanded, which means less heavy reliance on China as the major export market. In the domestic market, rice merchants in Ba Dac wholesale Market in Tien Giang province said the rice price rose after Vietnam won the bid to sell rice to the Philippines on May 4. RELATED NEWSVietnamese prefer Thailand’s expensive rice to Vietnam’s cheap riceAuspicious start to Vietnamese rice export in 2018Kim Chi