Vietnam education can take off only if biased treatment ends: expertsVietNamNet Bridge - Analysts say that discriminatory treatment is hindering the development of Vietnam education. Most students want to enroll in state-owned schools which have classes of 50-60 students, while teachers prefer working for state-owned schools, accepting pay of hundreds of millions of dong. One of the reasons is that state-owned schools receive big financial support and enjoy preferences, while private schools do not. Most students want to enroll in state-owned schools which have classes of 50-60 students, while teachers prefer working for state-owned schools, accepting pay of hundreds of millions of dong. “Maybe the education department fears that private schools will lure all students from well-off families and have better student quality,” she said.

Facebook F8: Zuckerberg's dating service takes on TinderFacebook's chief has said that 2018 has been an "intense year" for his firm.But Mark Zuckerberg also took the opportunity to unveil a dating service among other new products at his firm's annual F8 developers conference in San Jose, California. "There are 200 million people on Facebook who list themselves as single," said Mr Zuckerberg. The firm owns Tinder, a dating app that sources its profile information from Facebook. Mr Zuckerberg also announced that video chat and new augmented reality filters were coming to its photo-sharing Instagram app. "One of the things I'm most proud of is we've built the largest, fully encrypted network in the world," Mr Zuckerberg said.

Unique music buffet offered at Hue Festival 2018Foreign artists devoted their unique performances to entertain audiences at An Dinh Palace on April 30 as part of the ongoing Hue Festival 2018 in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue. An art performance at Hue FestivalThousands of rock fans had a frenetic night with songs in the debut album of France’s rock band Lysistrata. Meanwhile, Mongolian artists brought their epics (Mongolian tuuli) – UNESCO-regconised Intangible Cultural Heritage - traditional dances and music to the festival. Themed “Cultural Heritage with Integration and Development: Hue - One Destination, Five World Heritage”, the Hue Festival 2018, the 10th of its kind, are taking place from April 27 to May 2. Not only in Hue city, this year’s festival is also being held in villages.

Eximbank embattled after scandalsEximbank is facing an uphill battle to regain the trust of its shareholders and depositors, following a series of embezzlement and fraud scandals. Eximbank has lost a great deal of trust from customers and shareholders, as some demand the board to step downLoss of reputationAt last week’s annual general shareholders meeting, shareholders of Eximbank expressed their disappointment at the bank’s recent crises. The expert hoped to see new board members using their expertise and skills to bring Eximbank back to its former glory. Inter-bank dramaLast week’s meeting at Eximbank was also shrouded in drama related to its board members. At last week’s meeting, Eximbank also gave updates on its divestment from commercial lender Sacombank, as it was instructed by SBV to reduce cross-holdings in the banking sector.

Proposed Van Don zone rakes in cashThe proposed Van Don Special Administrative-Economic Zone in the northern province of Quang Ninh, with the tourist magnet of Halong Bay, is receiving great investments into property and infrastructure projects. The proposed incentives are making Van Don on the radar of infrastructure and real estate developers. Along with Van Don International Airport invested in by one of the country’s leading property developer Sun Group and slated to be completed in October this year, Van Don would be connected by a highway linking it to the cities of Haiphong and Halong, as well as Cai Net-Con Ong Seaport. Meanwhile, Jonathan Hanh Nguyen’s Imex Pan Pacific, specialised in luxury brands and airport-based fashion, wine, and duty free shops, is also eyeing Van Don with an expected investment capital of $440 million. According to the first-quarter report of the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS) 800 land transactions were recorded in the first three months of this year in Van Don.

ACV suffers bitter losses from Viethaus projectIrrational calculations at its largest outbound investment project, Viethaus, have brought remarkable losses to ACV, Vietnam’s largest airport operator. The Viethaus project was mired down in difficulties from the startThe Government Office has collected comments from the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, and Planning and Investment on how to deal with the Viethaus project based in Berlin (Germany) of Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV). According to the Government Inspectorate, by the end of 2015, Viethaus project’s cumulative losses came to EUR13.4 million ($16.4 million). After three revisions, the project reported EUR9.41 million ($11.5 million) in total investment capital, of which the investors contributed EUR2.63 million ($3.2 million) (Sasco contributed $934,100 and Global Telecom $2.28 million). “Satsco is negotiating to close the cooperation deal with Sasco at the Viethaus project,” a source from ACV revealed.

Almost 51,000 people visit President Ho Chi Minh MausoleumThe President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum welcomed nearly 51,000 visitors, including 11,500 foreigners during holidays in celebration of the 43rd National Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers’ Day (May 1), according to the mausoleum’s management board. People visit President Ho Chi Minh MausoleumDuring the holidays, the management board has coordinated with units in the Ba Dinh Historical-Cultural Relic Complex, and authorised agencies of Hanoi to well serve domestic and foreign visitors. The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is an important landmark of Hanoi capital city and stands integrated to the political and social history of Vietnam. After his death on September 2, 1969, President Ho Chi Minh was embalmed and put for view in this granite mausoleum. The mausoleum, modelled after Lenin's tomb in Moscow, was built in two years, from 1973 to 1975, with materials donated by people from all over the country.-VNA

Feast of fireworks lights up Da Nang's night skyThe Da Nang International Fireworks Festival (DIFF) 2018, themed “The Legends of Bridges”, kicked off on the banks of the Han River in the evening of April 30. Addressing the opening ceremony, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Da Nang city Huynh Duc Tho said the DIFF is a pride of Da Nang. Teams Da Nang of Vietnam and Surex Firma Rodzinna of Poland were the first to show their fireworks in the festival on April 30. Apart from the overall theme “The Legend of Bridges”, each of the fireworks nights also takes its own theme, namely Love, Time, Happiness, Desire, and Friendship. The firework display of Da Nang team of VietnamThe firework display of Da Nang team of VietnamThe foreign teams are from Poland, France, the US, Italy, Hong Kong (China), Sweden, and Portugal.

From Doi Moi reforms to Vietnamese billionairesAfter more than 30 years of Doi Moi, the Vietnamese economy has begun to see its own local billionaires who while contributing to national development, are in need of a facilitating environment to continue prospering. However, the private economic sector is now finding it difficult to grow further. “Other billionaires like him also do not want to be termed ‘billionaires,’ though they have contributed to society. However, other statistics suggest that the number of Vietnamese billionaires may be higher. However, in Southeast Asia, the number of Vietnamese billionaires remains smaller than those in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia.

Thousands of households threatened by polluted riverPolluted Chau Giang RiverMany households and farmers in Ha Nam Province are calling for help as their health and fish have been badly affected by the polluted Chau Giang River. The households living by the river have to close their doors all day or move elsewhere because of the foul smell coming from the rubbish and rotting fish. The locals also worry that the underground water used for daily activities may be polluted. Hoang Dang Truong from An Mong Village said Chau Giang River had been polluted for years and caused severe damage to the fish farms. Many people also continue to dump rubbish in the river, worsening the pollution.

Vietnam Airlines shares to be auctioned in MayThe Ministry of Transport will auction 371.5 million Vietnam Airlines shares on May 22 to increase the national flag carrier’s chartered capital. Vietnam Airlines became a joint-stock company in 2015 with chartered capital of VND11.19trn (USD493m). In January 2017, Vietnam Airlines traded more than 1.2 billion shares, listed as HVN, on UpCOM. Vietnam Airlines has several subsidiaries companies including the Vietnam Air Petrol Company Limited and holds more than 50% shares of 10 other companies. Vietnam Airlines will list its shares on the HCM Stock Exchange (HoSE) in the second quarter.

Quang Ngai mass fish deaths under investigationAuthorities of the central province of Quang Ngai’s Tu Nghia District have set up a taskforce to investigate the mass fish deaths in a local river. The mass fish deaths on Bau Giang RiverThe information was given by Huynh Ngoc Quan, vice chairman of the district People’s Committee. The dead fish have been detected along 10 kilometres of the Bau Giang River. According to Quan, the fish deaths may be due to the wastewater from agriculture farm processing factories along the river. The factories have been temporarily banned from discharging their waste into the river to await the investigation result.

Hue Festival 2018 features diverse art, cultureNearly 1,300 domestic and foreign artists are brought together at the Hue Festival 2018, which is taking place in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue from April 27 to May 2 to stage unique art performances representing the typical cultures of different regions in Vietnam and abroad. Considered a highlight of the Hue Festival 2018, “Van hien kinh ky” was a comprehensive art show which combines a variety of elements: dance, chorus, animation, poem reciting and music. The 90-minute show featured all cultural values of Hue through heritage elements. The Hue Festival, previously known as the France-Vietnam art festival, was first held in 2000 by the French Embassy in Vietnam and the ancient city of Hue. This year’s event carries the theme “Cultural heritage with integration and development - Hue one destination, five world heritages”.-VNA

Khanh Hoa feels pressure from rising number of Chinese travelersVietNamNet Bridge - The number of Chinese travelers to Vietnam in the first three months of 2018 increased by 40 percent in comparison with the same period last year. Chinese travelers on Hon Mun IslandThe good news about the sharp increase has been overshadowed by the decrease in foreign travelers from traditional markets. Some analysts have urged restriction of the number of Chinese travelers to ease the burden on infrastructure. He said that despite some problems, with 135 Chinese outbound tourists a year who spend $261 billion a year, Chinese travelers are welcomed all over the world. Vietnam has been advised to learn from Thailand how to deal with Chinese travelers.

BusinessFDI focuses on real estateForeign direct investment (FDI) in real estate increased in the first four months of this year, putting the sector behind just processing and manufacturing industry. Around USD455 million was poured into the real estate sector between January and AprilAround USD455 million was poured into the real estate sector between January and April, accounting for 12.8% of the country’s total FDI capital during the period. USD3.05 billion in FDI was committed during the same period last year to real estate by foreign investors, accounting for 8.5% of Vietnam’s total registered FDI capital, the Ministry of Planning and Investment reported. Commercial Real Estate Services said that previously, investment in the real estate focused on the southern market. Experts said hotels and luxury property were among the most attractive property to foreign investors.