Vietcetera

A 30-Year-Old Urban Dream Returns: Could Thanh Da Finally Catch Up With Thao Dien?

Anh Trang — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:14:23 +0000

Binh Quoi–Thanh Da is a peninsula encircled by the Saigon River, with Thao Dien sitting just across the water. In contrast to the bustling streets and modern skyline on the opposite bank, the area has retained a quiet, rural charm despite being located in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City.

The contrast is striking. Plans to transform Thanh Da into a modern riverfront eco-urban district were first approved in 1992—five years before Thao Dien was established as a ward in 1997. More than three decades later, the peninsula is entering a new phase of development.

In June, Ho Chi Minh City approved a new development plan for the area, envisioning a modern urban district with a total investment of nearly VND 99 trillion (about US$3.8 billion).

The Evolution of a Three-Decade Vision

Covering nearly 550 hectares, the Binh Quoi–Thanh Da Peninsula sits between the Saigon River and Thanh Da Canal, just 6.5 kilometers from downtown Ho Chi Minh City. With its prime location and waterfront setting, it has long been considered one of the city’s most valuable land reserves. While its transformation into a modern urban district has taken longer than initially envisioned, the peninsula remains one of Ho Chi Minh City’s most closely watched development areas.

While its transformation into a modern urban district has taken longer than initially envisioned, the peninsula remains one of Ho Chi Minh City’s most closely watched development areas. | Source: CafeF

The project was first approved in 1992 and officially launched in 1998. More than three decades later, Thanh Da remains largely unchanged. Just across the river, neighbouring Thao Dien took a different path. Established as a ward in 1997, it gained momentum through clearer urban planning from 2006–2007 and rapidly became one of the city’s most desirable neighbourhoods during the 2010s.

Over the years, Ho Chi Minh City appointed multiple developers to develop Thanh Da, only to revoke their projects after years of inaction. In 2004, the city handed the project to Saigon Construction Corporation. Six years later, it took the land back after construction failed to materialise.

In 2015, the city selected a joint venture between Bitexco and Dubai-based Emaar Properties to lead the redevelopment, with an estimated investment of more than VND 30 trillion (USD 1,14 million). Just a year later, Emaar pulled out, reportedly “unwilling to wait for the site to be cleared”. Bitexco was unable to move forward on its own, and the city terminated the project.

The biggest hurdle has always been land clearance. More than 16,000 households are affected, many with complicated land ownership records. The project's massive upfront costs and uncertain returns have also discouraged investors.

For nearly 1,300 households in Thanh Da’s apartment blocks, the latest redevelopment plan has brought renewed hope. | Source: NLD

The Most Visible Change In 30 Years

After the project was revisited over the years, Ho Chi Minh City announced a new plan for the peninsula in early 2026, with total investment estimated at VND 99 trillion, three times the VND 30 trillion figure previously approved for the project.

In 2025, the city approved adjustments to the Binh Quoi–Thanh Da urban plan, shifting its vision toward a “Saigon River riverfront eco-urban area.” The revised plan defines the project area at 549.4 hectares, including 423.61 hectares of land and 125.79 hectares of waterways.

Under the new plan, the urban area will be divided into three residential zones.

The first zone, located in the northwest, will cover around 116.7 hectares and accommodate approximately 18,000 residents, primarily through resettlement housing and social housing.
The second zone, located in the south and spanning more than 155 hectares, is planned as a modern residential community with a higher quality of living for around 20,000 residents.
The third zone, in the northeast, will cover nearly 152 hectares and focus on riverfront development, featuring a marina and ecological spaces for approximately 16,000 residents.

A visualisation of Thanh Da’s development plan. | Source: Cafe F

The project will allocate around 20% of residential land for social housing. Apartment sizes will range from 25 to 70 square meters, with units larger than 70 square meters capped at no more than 10% of the total supply.

The redevelopment has also moved at an unprecedented pace. In February 2026, the city officially approved the investment policy and selected the developer.

By early May 2026, the city had issued 3,919 land acquisition notices, covering around 80% of affected households. Land surveys and inventory work had been completed for 2,122 cases, representing more than 43% of the total workload. The city aims to complete site clearance and hand over cleared land by October 31, 2026, allowing the project to move from preparation into the construction phase.

For residents and observers, Binh Quoi–Thanh Da is entering what could be its clearest turning point since the project was first conceived. With the investment policy approved, a strategic developer selected, and a compensation and land clearance roadmap in place, the peninsula is finally approaching a new chapter of development.

The Conditions for a New Chapter

According to experts, the latest planning approach for the Binh Quoi–Thanh Da Peninsula could have a better chance of success thanks to Resolution No. 260/2025/QH15, approved by the National Assembly on December 11, 2025.

The resolution grants Ho Chi Minh City a range of breakthrough mechanisms, including the ability to select strategic investors based on actual capabilities rather than through simple appointment; shorten administrative procedures from five years to just six to 12 months; separate funding responsibilities by allowing the city to take the lead in transport infrastructure investment while developers focus on building the urban area; and introduce more flexible compensation mechanisms to accelerate land clearance—the biggest obstacle that led Emaar Properties to withdraw from the project in 2016.

The revised planning framework has also made the peninsula more attractive to investors, who are now more willing to participate in the bidding process compared with previous years.

The updated master plan and the potential selection of a new investor signal a shift in the city’s approach, with a stronger focus on creating favorable conditions for private investment in the peninsula’s development.

The revised planning framework has also made the peninsula more attractive to investors. | Source: Thanh Nien

However, with the project still in its early stages of implementation, it remains too soon to determine whether the 30 years of waiting and hardship experienced by Thanh Da residents have finally come to an end. While the project has moved further than it ever did, major challenges remain.

One of the biggest hurdles is land clearance. According to local reports, residents were told that a final compensation plan would be completed in June. Yet as of mid-July 2026, no official announcement has been made by the developer.

Another challenge lies in developing Thanh Da to attract investment while preserving its rare river ecosystem. Dr Vo Kim Cuong, former Deputy Chief Architect of Ho Chi Minh City, warned that excessive concrete development could erase the landscape identity that has long been the peninsula’s greatest advantage.

Binh Quoi–Thanh Da is now entering a promising new phase. With careful planning and steady implementation, the peninsula has the potential to develop into a distinctive riverfront destination—one that draws comparisons with Thao Dien while preserving its own ecological character.

Realising that potential will depend on balancing development ambitions with the interests of local communities and the protection of Thanh Da’s unique landscape.

Can Thanh Da peninsula realise its vision in the near future? | Source: VnExpress

Inside the Female-Led, DEI-Nominated Set of Vietnamese Director Zen Nguyễn’s Blue Season

Thanh Trúc — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 09:30:00 +0000

This year, the gritty British crime noir series Blue Season will make its official debut on Galaxy Play, following an exclusive preview screening and Q&A in Ho Chi Minh City on July 21st. Directed by Zen Nguyễn, co-produced by Sylvia Wang, and lensed by veteran Director of Photography Mari Yamamura, the series is a fast-paced, high-stakes police drama set entirely on the cold, atmospheric winter streets of London.

Behind its suspenseful narrative lies a production of remarkable caliber. With women leading most key creative departments,including an all-female camera team, Blue Season offers an uncommon production model for a British crime drama. The approach earned the series a nomination at the 2026 Global Production Awards in the DEI category.

Director Zen Nguyễn and producer Sylvia Wang at the Global Production Awards, where Blue Season received a DEI nomination. | Source: Provided

Ahead of the premiere, Vietcetera International sat down with director Zen Nguyễn, producer Sylvia Wang, and DP Mari Yamamura to demystify the mechanics of building tension, the visual psychology of lighting, and how they built a world-class thriller by rejecting lazy storytelling shortcuts.

British crime dramas are one of the UK's most established television genres. What made you want to tell this story through that format?

Zen Nguyễn: Crime is universal. Everybody loves a good crime story, and British crime dramas already have a strong audience. What interested us was how we could bring something new to that space. Both of our lead detectives come from Asian backgrounds. One is British French with Vietnamese heritage and one is British Chinese. But the story isn't about them being Asian. They just happen to be Asian.

Rather than defining them by their ethnicity, Blue Season places two Asian detectives (one British-French Vietnamese and one British Chinese) at the center of a mainstream British crime drama. | Source: Provided

For us, that's actually the most exciting form of representation. Instead of fitting Asian characters into a stereotype, we wanted them to exist naturally within a mainstream story.

You've said before that Blue Season isn't trying to be an "Asian story." What do you mean by that?

Zen Nguyễn: We experienced the film and television industry in the UK and realised Asian people are still underrepresented on screen.

British East and South East Asian (BESEA) acting talent has appeared in a main role in just 17 British theatrical releases over a 10-year period — 1.7% of all British films.

We knew we wanted to use our craft to address this gap. But rather than making a story entirely about identity, we wanted to tell a compelling crime drama that happened to feature Asian characters. We wanted audiences to see them as detectives, sisters, suspects, victims, colleagues.

How did you avoid falling into familiar stereotypes while writing those characters?

Sylvia Wang: While Zen and I are first-generation immigrants, our lead actors are second- and third-generation immigrants. They brought a completely different nuance of thinking, behavior, and lived experience that we couldn't have written ourselves.

For instance, the two lead sisters in the show have the same mother but different backgrounds. The actresses spent weeks rehearsing and bonding, translating that real-life chemistry into the script.

The show's two lead sisters in one of several scenes featuring Vietnamese dialogue. | Source: Provided

Zen Nguyễn: It also saved us from lazy storytelling. Initially, we thought about having the British-Chinese protagonist speak a few lines of Cantonese just to "hint" at his identity. But the actor Earl Wan rightfully challenged us, saying: "Show, don't tell". Spoken Cantonese for the sake of it can be a lazy trope. Instead, the actors invested their own personalities and generational immigrant experiences into their characters, making them feel incredibly grounded and alive.

Blue Season is unmistakably British, yet shaped by Asian voices behind and in front of the camera. How did London make that combination possible?

Sylvia Wang: I always describe Blue Season as a truly international series. Not "international" in the stereotypical sense, but genuinely shaped by different cultures. London made that possible. It's a city where people from different backgrounds naturally coexist, so our Vietnamese, British Chinese and British characters don't need their identities explained. They're simply part of the world.

That's what I love most about London. We didn't have to force diversity into the story. It already exists there.

The show brings together a Japanese DP, a Vietnamese director, a Hong Kong-born editor, and a diverse British-Asian cast. How did this cross-cultural fusion impact the production?

Mari Yamamura: It wasn’t diverse just for the sake of ticking a box. This was a true international collaboration born because Zen and Sylvia had the open-mindedness to tackle underrepresentation from the top down. Actors contributed ideas. Departments contributed ideas. Nobody felt locked into a rigid hierarchy. That openness created a really creative atmosphere.

DP Mari Yamamura preparing a shot on the set of Blue Season. | Source: Provided

The production of Blue Season was incredibly tight—a 14 -principal photography day winter shoot, and a few additional days for general view shots. Each shooting day lasted 10 hours, with a one hour break. How did having a female-led creative department shape the operational efficiency on set?

Sylvia Wang: When you are running a tight, high-pressure shoot, the day-to-day environment can make or break a film. And in some cases, the atmosphere can sometimes feel rigid or aggressive. But on our set, because we had key departments led by women, there was a deeply supportive, calm, and highly organized environment. The camera crew would constantly check in on each other, maintaining an immense sense of trust and speed.

Women led many of Blue Season's key creative departments, including an all-female camera team. | Source: Provided

Many conversations about women in film focus on representation. But beyond who was on set, what did female leadership actually change about the way Blue Season was made?

Sylvia Wang: I noticed lots of small things that you might not think about. Sometimes someone would hand you a piece of equipment with a little note on it. They were tiny gestures, but during a stressful 14-day shoot they made a real difference. It created an environment where people felt supported rather than just expected to keep going.

Zen Nguyễn: One day we were filming at London's Embankment under huge time pressure. We were racing against daylight, and I was also on my period. I stepped outside for a moment because I felt overwhelmed, and Mari came over and simply said, "It's fine. We'll do it together." It sounds like such a small moment, but when you're leading a production, that kind of understanding can completely change your day. It reminded me that collaboration isn't just about solving technical problems. It's also about taking care of each other.

Mari Yamamura: Our camera and lighting team were organized, motivated and they were totally on-board on this tough shoot with me. What I did notice was that atmosphere. When the leadership at the top sets a collaborative, open-minded tone, that positive energy permeates the entire crew. When everyone feels comfortable speaking up, ideas travel much more freely. I think audiences may not consciously notice that, but they may feel it in the finished work.

You described the set as calm, supportive and collaborative. Was there a day when those qualities became essential to getting the job done?

Zen Nguyễn: That same day at London's Embankment was when those values were really put to the test. We were racing against the fading winter light, juggling an incredibly tight schedule, and everyone was under pressure. It wasn't just how we solved the logistical challenges, but how we looked after one another while doing it. Mari's reassurance reminded me that a calm, supportive environment isn't just nice to have, it allows people to keep thinking clearly and making good decisions when everything is on the line.

Mari Yamamura: I remember we were all under enormous pressure that day. We were losing daylight rapidly and we hadn’t shot half of the day’s schedule. Zen and I had a quick chat on the spot. We made a split-second decision to adjust our plans. Instead of moving to a secondary location which we would have lost, we brought the cast into our existing location.

We also simplified several big complex scenes into 2~3 shots each to get through the scenes. In the end, we avoided showing the street lights and the buildings with lit windows in our frames, and by supplementing the daylight with our portable lights, we managed to complete all the schedule. We used the grade to match later shots with the earlier day scenes in the post.

As we cut the final take, the Big Ben gongs started chiming at 7:00 PM wrap time. And right as the actor walked out of the tunnel, a real crowd of tourists—whom we had no control over—naturally walked in front of him, allowing him to disappear into the crowd as intended in the script. It was a magical moment.

DP Mari Yamamura (left) and director Zen Nguyễn (right) during the London Embankment shoot, where the team raced against fading daylight to complete a crucial scene. | Source: Provided

The "female gaze" is a concept that is often discussed but rarely demonstrated. How did having a female-led creative team impact how intimacy and emotional connections were portrayed on screen?

Zen Nguyễn: When depicting the central romantic relationship, we wanted to portray a deep, authentic connection rather than objectifying the characters. It’s about tenderness, shared breathing, the eye contact, and mutual desire, rather than explicit, voyeuristic imagery.

We worked closely with an intimacy coordinator to build choreography that made the actors feel entirely comfortable and safe. We also instituted a strict "closed set" protocol, allowing only essential crew members in the room. Having that baseline of safety allowed the actors to perform with absolute vulnerability.

After making this series, what does authentic representation mean to you?

Zen Nguyễn: Like I have said, authenticity isn't about ticking boxes. It's about letting people who have lived those experiences contribute to the storytelling. We had actors who challenged our assumptions. We had conversations about family dynamics, language and identity. Sometimes the best decision was actually to remove something we'd written because it felt too obvious.

For us, representation is about allowing Asian characters to feel like complete people.

Zen, bringing Blue Season to Galaxy Play in Vietnam feels like a massive homecoming. What do you hope Vietnamese audiences, and particularly young filmmakers, take away from this show?

Zen Nguyễn: It is a huge milestone in my journey. Living, studying, and working in the UK, I always look for ways to weave my Vietnamese heritage into my films, whether through casting or characters. To bring a mainstream British crime thriller back to Vietnam is incredibly emotional. I hope it inspires young Vietnamese filmmakers to realize that they, too, can direct mainstream international projects, break into traditionally male-dominated departments, and tell complex, high-caliber stories that resonate globally without losing who they are.

The Blue Season team at the Cannes Film Festival. | Source: Provided

Blue Season at a Glance

Genre
British crime noir / Police procedural

Directed by
Zen Nguyễn

Story Created and Written by
Dennis Gallagher

Produced by
Zen Nguyễn & Sylvia Wang

Director of Photography
Mari Yamamura

Starring
Earl Wan, Catherine Dauphin, Kate Cook, Ray Calleja, Matt Penson

Producion Companies
Featherstone Pictures UK & Golden Finger Entertainment Singapore

Vietnam Preview Screening & Q&A
July 21, Ho Chi Minh City
Featuring director Zen Nguyễn, Earl Wan and Kate Cook - the series' lead actors.
The official release date for Galaxy Play will be announced at the event.

Allison Vương: I Didn't Miss Vietnam Until I Couldn't Speak Vietnamese

Thanh Trúc — Sun, 19 Jul 2026 09:24:09 +0000

The midday sun blazes over Thủ Thiêm, with the kind of heavy, humid Saigon heat that makes you want to sit as close to the air conditioner as possible. The ice slowly melts with beads of condensation sliding down the side of the glass. Across from us, Allison Vương (Vương Ái Nhi) is laughing.

She speaks with a fascinating, almost cinematic duality. When she talks about her time at New York University (NYU), her English is fast, sharp, and effortlessly American. But when she switches to Vietnamese, her voice drops into a soft, melodic cadence of Saigon—the kind of voice you'd expect to hear in a classic Southern Vietnamese film.

At just 20, Allison has already accumulated a lifetime of transitions: choosing New York over a full-ride scholarship in Australia, graduating from NYU a year early with a degree in economics, working three student jobs simultaneously, and now preparing to move to Boston for her Master's before heading to law school.

But as our conversation unfolds during Allison’s first trip back to Vietnam in three years, it becomes clear that the milestones she collected were only part of the story.

You left Saigon for New York when you were only 17. Back then, what were you running toward?

I really wanted to be independent. Growing up as the eldest daughter in a Vietnamese household, you carry a lot of quiet, unspoken expectations – you always feel the pressure to be a role model for your younger siblings.

I think a part of me wanted to go to the other side of the world just to find out who I was when no one was watching, and to have some time away from my family. And then, once I finally had that independence, all I wanted was to be close to them. It’s kind of ironic, isn't it?

Part of Allison wanted to go to the other side of the world just to find out who she was when no one was watching. | Source: Provided

What was the dream you were chasing when you applied to NYU?

Studying abroad was always on my mind because my dad did his undergraduate and master's degrees in the U.S., and he heavily encouraged me to go. NYU was my absolute dream school. To me, New York represented a "city of opportunities" where you could meet incredibly diverse people.

At the time, success felt straightforward: major in economics and math, graduate, and go straight into corporate finance. I was always chasing that next achievement, convinced that climbing the corporate ladder in one of the world's fastest cities was the ultimate goal.

What was the reality of New York like when the initial high wore off? What is the side of studying abroad that nobody prepares you for?

My dad helped me move in, and then he left just three days later. Suddenly, I was alone in a tiny, shoe-box-sized freshman dorm room with a roommate from China.

People always think studying abroad is this non-stop adventure where you have all the time in the world to explore. The reality is that classes take up an overwhelming amount of time. Because I wanted to save tuition, I decided to graduate a year early, which meant taking 18 to 20 credits every single semester while working. There were days of getting lost on the subway, settling for phở that never quite hit the spot, and realizing that in a city of eight million people, you can feel completely alone.

At the 8th Street–NYU subway station, where countless commutes between classes, work, and home eventually led to graduation a year ahead of schedule.| Source: Provided

But the hardest part wasn't the academic workload or the physical smallness of New York; it was living in a language that wasn’t my own. Because I grew up in an international school environment, speaking English felt natural to me. But in New York, I realized I didn't know anyone who spoke Vietnamese. For almost three years, I couldn't speak my mother tongue with anyone except brief phone calls from home. It felt incredibly uncomfortable and frustrating. Your language is your identity, and when you can't use it, a part of you goes quiet.

When you are 17, completely alone, and facing that level of pressure and loneliness, how do you keep going?

I think it's in my DNA as an eldest sister. I have two younger siblings back in Vietnam. Even though my parents never placed outward pressure on me to achieve, I felt this silent, internal responsibility to set an example for my sister and brother.

Allison with her younger siblings. | Source: Provided

So when things got completely overwhelming, I had a very specific routine: I would panic, then cry, and then I would tell myself, "You have to lock in. No one is here to save you, so you have to do this yourself." But the biggest breakthrough was realizing that "locking in" didn't mean isolating myself. It meant having the courage to ask for help. I learned that people aren’t running against you; if you just ask, professors and friends are more than willing to support you.

That willingness to reach out eventually led you to some incredible student leadership roles at NYU.

Yes, absolutely. Once I experienced how much a simple conversation or someone's willingness to help could change everything, I wanted to become that person for someone else.

That's what led me to work at the University Learning Center (ULC), tutoring younger students in math and economics. Later, I was scouted to run the social media channels for NYU's College of Arts and Science (CAS). But honestly, neither role was about the title. They were about being the person I needed when I first arrived.

One last visit to one of Allison's favorite places at NYU on her graduation day. | Source: Provided

For the social media role especially, what I wanted was to highlight authentic student experiences and make sure international students, whose stories are often overlooked, could see themselves represented. Looking back, I think I was trying to create the sense of belonging I’d struggled to find in my own first years in New York.

It sounds like your career path went through a major transformation as well.

Completely. During my senior year, I took a financial economics class and had this sudden realization: I don't want to do this for the rest of my life. I watched the corporate executives they brought in as guest lecturers, and instead of feeling inspired, I felt out of place. I realized I didn't want to spend my career working with abstract numbers forever.

When I looked back at the moments that had been most meaningful throughout college, none of them came from the classroom. They came from tutoring students, supporting classmates, and volunteering back in high school, whether that was organizing the Global Issues Network council or raising nearly 100 million VND for local NGOs.

I realized what fulfilled me wasn't solving problems on paper. It was helping people navigate them in real life. That's when I knew I wanted a career where I could make a difference in people’s lives.

I'm now heading to Boston for my Master's, with my sights firmly set on corporate or immigration law.

It feels like there's a common thread running through everything you've described—from tutoring students to amplifying international voices. It's all about helping people find where they belong. Is that what draws you to immigration law?

I think so. Throughout my time in New York, I kept asking myself what had made the biggest difference in my own experience. And the answer was the people who helped me find my footing when everything felt unfamiliar. Sometimes it was a professor. Sometimes it was a friend. Sometimes it was simply being able to speak Vietnamese again after feeling like I'd lost a part of myself for three years.

Studying abroad taught me that crossing a border doesn't make your identity any less important. If anything, it makes you hold onto it even tighter. That's why immigration law feels so meaningful to me. It's about helping people build a life in a new country without losing themselves.

The friendships she found in New York continue to shape the kind of future she hopes to build through immigration law. | Provided

Looking back, I think that's the common thread through everything I've done, whether tutoring students, telling international student stories at NYU, or choosing my next career. If my own journey from Saigon to New York can help someone else feel a little less alone, then it all comes full circle.

Coming back to Vietnam after three years without a single visit home, did you experience any “reverse culture shock”?

Not at all. I actually feel far more like a local here than I ever did in New York. Coming back, I realized I’ve become much softer, more patient. I find myself helping out around the house more and trying to be a better sister to my younger siblings.

I love wandering around the old District 1 and District 2, reconnecting with high school friends who have returned from the UK, Australia, and the US. We’ve all changed so much over these three years, but Saigon is the common ground where we get to meet as our new, adult selves.

If a 17-year-old student came to you today, terrified of leaving their family behind to study abroad, what would you tell them?

I would tell them to embrace independence, but don't mistake it for having to do everything alone.

When you first step off that plane, you are suddenly handed this incredible amount of freedom. So, it’s important to build good habits early because there’s no one to tell you when to study, what to eat, or when to sleep.

And don't be afraid to make mistakes, and try not to take things too personally. Every awkward conversation, every wrong subway stop, and every moment of loneliness is just your comfort zone expanding.

After everything you’ve been through, how has your relationship with home changed?

Before I left, I valued my independence and wanted time away from my family. Now? I follow my parents and siblings into every single room because I miss them so much. I can’t stand being away from them.

I came back to Vietnam with a deeper appreciation for things I used to take for granted. The warmth of home, the culture, and the support my family gave me were the reasons that I was able to build a life in New York in the first place.

After finding her footing in New York, Allison is ready to begin again in Boston. | Source: Provided

Vietnam gave me the foundation to leave, and New York gave me the confidence to keep going. I’m heading to Boston next, and this time I’m not scared. I know that no matter where I end up, Vietnam will always be the place that made me who I am.

This interview has been conducted by Tory Trần and Thanh-Trúc.

How One Vietnamese Rock Band Earned Its Place In Hollywood

Ngạo Thuyên — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 10:41:51 +0000

Imagine you're a Vietnamese musician living in the United States. You bring together a group of fellow Vietnamese - different generations, different backgrounds, united by a shared love of rock - to form a band that reimagines iconic Vietnamese songs through the language of heavy guitars and distortion.

How long would you expect it to take before your band's name appears on a poster at one of Hollywood's most legendary rock venues? Before you're invited to open for the very band your members grew up idolizing? Before you receive an email welcoming you into the Recording Academy?

Five years? Ten? Twenty?

For Hưng BlackhearteD and DẠ MA, it all happened before the band's first birthday.

Formed in the summer of 2025, DẠ MA became the first Vietnamese band to perform at Whisky A Go Go just a few months later. By July 2026, the band had opened for SteelHeart, while frontman Hưng BlackhearteD had officially joined the Recording Academy. Individually, each of these milestones could define an artist's career. Achieving all of them within a band's first year feels almost unimaginable.

Hollywood isn't a place where breakthroughs happen by accident. So what made DẠ MA's rise possible just in under twelve months?

Vietnamese Band With International Standards

For anyone who followed Vietnam's rock scene in the 2000s, Hưng BlackhearteD needs no introduction. As the frontman of Black Infinity, he and his band carved out a distinct identity with melodic death metal infused with gothic and black metal influences - an unconventional sound in Vietnam at the time.

Black Infinity was unmistakably global in its musical language, from its songwriting and arrangements to its lyrics. Most of the band's songs were written entirely in English. As Hưng told Sports&Culture Newspaper in 2013: "We wanted people around the world to understand what we were saying."

DẠ MA opened for SteelHeart on July 24, 2026. | Source: Eventbrite

It wasn't an unrealistic ambition. Under Hưng's leadership, Black Infinity steadily turned it into reality.

In 2010, the band's song The Secret became the first Vietnamese rock track to be featured on Planet Metal, the compilation CD released by the UK's Metal Hammer - one of the world's leading metal magazines. The song also earned Black Infinity a place in the Top 10 of a regional competition to find Southeast Asia's best rock band, with Thailand's The Nation describing the band as a formidable contender.

Ironically, The Secret also marked one of the few times Black Infinity wove distinctly Vietnamese elements into its music. The đàn tranh - a traditional Vietnamese zither, cut through the band's melodic death metal sound, creating a striking contrast between Vietnamese musical heritage and a genre rooted in the West.

The Secret helped introduce Hưng BlackhearteD and Black Infinity to the international metal scene. | Source: Black Infinity

If Black Infinity's goal was to help the world understand what a Vietnamese band had to say by speaking its language, DẠ MA has taken a different path - not trying to become an international band that happens to play Vietnamese music - but to become a Vietnamese band that meets international standards without compromising its identity.

DẠ MA's music embraces traditional Vietnamese songs such as Trống Cơm and Bèo Dạt Mây Trôi, weaves the haunting sound of the đàn bầu into layers of distortion, brings the áo dài onto the stage at Whisky A Go Go, and fills a Hollywood venue with Vietnamese lyrics. That's why the band may feel more immediately familiar to listeners in Vietnam than Black Infinity ever did. Not because the music is simpler, but because Hưng BlackhearteD and his bandmates have chosen to place Vietnamese culture at the center of their sound - allowing audiences to recognize the identity before they stay for the music.

If Black Infinity represented Vietnamese rock's first attempt to reach the world through a global musical language, DẠ MA is the next chapter of the same ambition. This time, Hưng BlackhearteD isn't simply asking the world to understand his words. He's asking it to understand who they are: what Vietnamese rock sounds like, how Vietnamese musicians create it, and why the culture behind the riffs and thunderous drums deserves a place alongside any other musical tradition.

DẠ MA brought distinctly Vietnamese stories and sounds to the Hollywood stage. | Source: YAMA - DẠ MA 夜摩ヤマ Facebook

"I'm At the Heart Of The Battlefield Now"

"I have to do something for Vietnamese rock on the world stage," Hưng BlackhearteD told me. "I'm at the heart of the battlefield now."

It didn't sound like an artist talking about a personal dream. It was someone who had stepped into one of the most competitive corners of the global music industry and understood exactly what that meant.

Hollywood isn't short on great rock bands. It's the birthplace of countless legends, where every night, musicians take the stage with world-class musicianship, flawless production and years of live experience behind them. In that environment, no Vietnamese band is going to stand out simply by playing faster solos, singing higher notes or writing more intricate riffs.

DẠ MA brought the Vietnamese áo dài to the stage at Whisky A Go Go. | Source: YAMA - DẠ MA 夜摩ヤマ Facebook

Perhaps that's exactly why Hưng didn't bring an "internationalized" version of Vietnamese rock to the U.S. Instead, he leaned into the most distinctly Vietnamese elements he could offer. But those elements were never treated as cultural decoration. They were backed by an international-caliber production process - from the arrangements and recording to mixing by Tim Palmer and mastering at Sterling Sound. For DẠ MA, cultural identity and technical excellence aren't competing priorities. They are the baseline for sharing the stage with bands like Trapt and SteelHeart.

"Know yourself and your opponent, and you’ll win every battle"- Hưng quoted a familiar saying to sum up his philosophy. He understands Hollywood doesn't need another band trying to sound American. It will always make room for one with a voice that's unmistakably its own.

Black Infinity used to be a project of a musician determined to see how far his creativity could take him. DẠ MA reflects a different ambition. It's no longer about proving himself, but about proving something larger: that Vietnamese culture can be a competitive advantage - even at the heart of the world's rock industry.

Hưng BlackhearteD is on a mission to bring Vietnamese rock to the world. | Source: YAMA - DẠ MA 夜摩ヤマ Facebook

SteelHeart, The Recording Academy And The Beginning Of A Much Bigger Journey

If one word could describe DẠ MA's first year, it would be extraordinary. This wasn't simply the story of a band finding success. It was one of the most significant international breakthroughs Vietnamese rock has ever seen.

For Hưng BlackhearteD, however, the goal has never been to simply break into Hollywood. It's to earn Vietnamese rock a lasting place within one of the world's most competitive music ecosystems.

That journey, of course, belongs to more than one person. DẠ MA is the product of a rare collaboration between musicians from three generations of Vietnam's rock and metal scene. The lineup brings together artists whose careers span some of the country's most influential bands, including Black Infinity, Disgusted, Kháu, Saigon Metal, The Headline and Friends, 3Somelues and Midnight Fire. Each arrived with a distinct musical background, but they share the same ambition: to bring Vietnamese identity to the world's biggest stages through music that can stand alongside the very best.

Joining Hưng BlackhearteD in DẠ MA are musicians from three generations of Vietnam's rock scene, many of whom made their names in some of the country's most influential bands. | Source: YAMA - DẠ MA 夜摩ヤマ Facebook

Perhaps that's what makes DẠ MA's story so compelling. Their greatest achievement isn't sharing the stage with rock legends or seeing one of their own join the Recording Academy. It's proving that a band can sing in Vietnamese, draw from Vietnamese culture and tell distinctly Vietnamese stories while earning a place at the heart of the global rock scene.

Sun Group Joins Vietnam’s Race To Own The Customer

Hao Tran — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:49:39 +0000

The average consumer enrolls in eight loyalty programs and actively uses five, according to Deloitte research, and Vietnam is no exception to the fatigue. As far back as 2019, over half of Vietnamese consumers surveyed had already joined at least one program, yet most schemes remain what they have always been: a phone number recited at checkout, points that quietly expire. It is against this backdrop that Sun Group launched Sun Signature on the evening of July 14 at Ascott Tây Hồ in Hanoi, a program that consolidates the conglomerate's entire ecosystem, from aviation to real estate, onto a single platform built with Amadeus, Visa, and National Citizen Bank (NCB).

Sun Signature offers five membership tiers: Member, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Infinity.

The mechanics: one account earns two currencies, Sun Points for redemption and tier points for status, across flights on Sun PhuQuoc Airways, Sun Group hotels and resorts, Sun World parks, golf courses, Sun Group Healthcare, and Sun Property transactions. Five tiers run from Member to Infinity, the latter requiring 8,000 tier points. Through NCB and Visa, points can be earned and spent at more than 1,600 merchants nationwide via QR payment. A co-branded NCB Visa card in four editions functions as both membership credential and payment card, usable at Visa's 175 million acceptance points globally, with an "Infinity Private" tier planned on Visa's new ultra-premium line.

Read one way, this is a press release. Read another, it is a data point in a structural shift worth watching. Vietnam's loyalty market is projected to reach $542 million in 2025, up 18.2% year on year, and nearly double to $971 million by 2029, per PayNXT360 research. The same analysts point to coalition programs, where multiple brands share one points pool, as the model gaining ground fastest, displacing the single-brand punch card. Sun Signature is textbook coalition strategy, and it is not the first: Vingroup consolidated VinFast, Vinhomes, Vinpearl, Vinschool, and Vinmec under VinClub in August 2024. Vietnam's two largest private conglomerates have now reached the same conclusion, that the customer relationship, not any single transaction, is the asset worth investing in.

Two features distinguish Sun Group's version. The first is the banking layer. By making the loyalty card a functioning Visa card, and by letting NCB's Signature Savings deposit product convert returns into points, the program blurs the line between loyalty and consumer finance. This mirrors a broader regional pattern: across Asia, the most durable loyalty ecosystems, from Rakuten in Japan to Shinhan's in Korea, are anchored in payments and banking rather than perks. The second is aviation. Sun PhuQuoc Airways announced direct international routes to Phú Quốc from Chengdu, Singapore, and Bangkok at the same event, and airline miles remain the only loyalty currency most consumers genuinely chase. A conglomerate that owns both the airline and the destination can close a loop that hotel chains and retailers cannot.

Government interest is also notable. Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyễn Huy Dũng framed the launch less as a corporate perk scheme than as infrastructure, connecting tourism data, customer identification technology, and finance. That reading aligns with Vietnam's push toward a cashless economy, one of the forces analysts credit for the loyalty market's 20.7% annual growth between 2020 and 2024.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyễn Huy Dũng

The open questions are real. Point accrual currently applies only to Sun PhuQuoc Airways flights and Sun Property customers, with other categories promised later, so the "unified ecosystem" is for now more architecture than experience. The program claims 53,600 members in its first month of registration, a respectable start but modest against incumbents like MoMo and VinID that count users in the tens of millions. And the global pattern is cautionary: consumers sign up easily and disengage just as easily. Coalition programs succeed when earning feels effortless and redemption feels valuable; they stall when points accumulate faster than reasons to spend them.

Sun Signature connects every Sun PhuQuoc Airways journey to a broader world of value.

Still, the direction of travel is clear. Vietnam's loyalty landscape is consolidating from thousands of orphaned point schemes into a handful of ecosystem-scale platforms backed by banks, airlines, and data infrastructure. Whether Sun Signature executes remains to be seen. But the era of the plastic punch card in Vietnam is ending, and the question for every consumer brand without an ecosystem behind it is what they intend to do about it.

voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang Marks June With Global Wellness Day, International Yoga Day And The Show

Cao Vy — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 07:30:00 +0000

This June, voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang by IHG invites guests to discover a fresh approach to wellness with Rhythm by the Bay, a month-long programme celebrating Global Wellness Day and International Yoga Day through oceanfront experiences focused on movement, mindfulness, connection and curated culinary experiences.

As a vibrant new coastal destination in Nha Trang, voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang by IHG is reimagining wellness beyond traditional spa offerings through a more dynamic approach to hospitality. Through curated activities and wellness stays, the campaign reflects the hotel’s playful yet thoughtful spirit, encouraging guests to reconnect with themselves, others, and the natural environment.

voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang by IHG introduces Rhythm by the Bay, a month-long wellness programme in June. | Source: voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang by IHG

Two Weekends Dedicated To Wellness And Yoga

At the heart of “Rhythm by the Bay” are two special weekends in June, with complimentary activities designed for in-house guests.

From 12 to 14 June, the hotel celebrates Global Wellness Day under this year’s theme, #JoyMagenta. The weekend focuses on joyful wellbeing, encouraging guests to rediscover energy, movement, and a more playful approach to taking care of themselves.

From 19 to 21 June, the programme continues with International Yoga Day Weekend. While the first weekend highlights movement and energy, the second weekend focuses more on inner balance through yoga, breathwork, and restorative experiences.

Together, the two weekends offer different entry points into wellness: one more active and uplifting, the other more mindful and grounding.

Source: voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang by IHG.

Yoga, breathwork, and holistic wellbeing experiences

The programme brings together a network of wellness partners and practitioners.

Henri Hubert, Global Wellness Day Ambassador in Vietnam for seven consecutive years, joins the programme as wellness ambassador and will host a talk on balanced living.

Yoga Pod Saigon will lead yoga and movement sessions, including breathwork and sound healing. Meanwhile, Evolve Wellness Center, the hotel’s official spa operator, will offer a range of holistic treatments and spa-led experiences for guests who want to further enhance their stay.

Through these activities, wellness is presented in a more approachable way. It is not only about escape or indulgence, but also about small practices that help travellers slow down, listen to their bodies, and return to a better sense of balance.

Source: Source: voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang by IHG.

Experiencing Nha Trang’s Coastline Through Water Sports

Beyond the hotel’s wellness spaces, “Rhythm by the Bay” also brings guests closer to Nha Trang’s coastal environment.

Seaya Vietnam and Rainbow Divers Vietnam will introduce a series of water-based activities, including stand-up paddleboarding, waterskiing, and professionally guided scuba diving.

These experiences are designed for travellers who want to discover Nha Trang beyond its postcard views. Instead of simply looking out at the ocean, guests are invited to step into the rhythm of the bay itself through movement, exploration, and direct connection with the sea.

When dining becomes part of the wellness experience

The Show is voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang’s signature space for immersive dining and curated experiences. | Source: Source: voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang by IHG

Another highlight of the programme is a special culinary showcase at The Show, taking place on the evening of 20 June.

The Show is voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang’s signature space for immersive dining and curated experiences. For this special evening, wellness takes on a more artistic expression through live cooking performances, chef-led storytelling, and a multi-sensory menu inspired by movement, nourishment, and glow.

The event brings together seven culinary talents: Chef Pierre Meneau, Galli Gilles, Sakal Phoeung, Tsuruhara Shozo, Olivier Genique, Huy Tran, and Chef Kiet Huynh. The evening will be hosted by Tracie May.

Source: Source: voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang by IHG

A notable moment of the night will be the Escoffiers Induction Ceremony, marking voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang’s admission as a new member of this international culinary organisation.

At The Show, dining becomes more than the final part of a travel day. It becomes a point of connection between chefs and guests, between dishes and stories, and between culinary technique and emotion at the table.

Alongside the featured event weekends, voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang by IHG will introduce special wellness stay packages throughout June.

The packages combine accommodation, breakfast, spa experiences, and access to selected “Rhythm by the Bay” activities. They are available for booking and stay from 1 to 30 June 2026.

Through “Rhythm by the Bay”, voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang by IHG suggests a more accessible way to think about wellness travel. A balanced holiday does not always require a complete escape from daily life. Sometimes, it can begin with a morning breathwork session, a moment in the sea, a meal with a story, and a few slower days by the bay of Nha Trang.

For more information, visit the hotel website HERE or contact +84 (0) 258 359 5555/ email reservations.voconhatrang@ihg.com.

The Saigon Opera House : A History Of One Of HCMC's Most Iconic Monuments.

Lorne Carr-Ellison — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Olivier modelled the Saigon Opera House after the Petit Palais art museum in Paris. When it opened, the Opera house boasted a capacity of up to 1800 spectators spread across a 3-floor seating plan.

Vietnam Was Once Among The World’s Top 20 For Working Hours. Could That Change?

Anh Trang — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 09:00:00 +0000

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Vietnamese workers averaged 41.74 hours per week in 2025, down significantly from 45.3 hours in 2024, when the country ranked among the world’s top 20 for working hours. The decline has pushed Vietnam closer to the global average and well below the maximum 48-hour workweek permitted under its Labour Code.

Yet despite the downward trend, lawmakers, labour experts and worker representatives are renewing calls to shorten the statutory workweek to between 40 and 44 hours. The debate raises a broader question: Are the Vietnamese really working too much?

Uneven working hours between different sectors

Vietnam has fallen to 60th place globally in working hours in 2026, after ranking among the top 20 just a year ago. The shift suggests that Vietnamese workers, statistically, no longer spend significantly more time at work than their counterparts in many other economies.

However, national averages do not show differences in working hours across sectors and employment groups, particularly between factories and offices.

In office sectors, a growing number of companies have moved toward 40-hour workweeks and below as a way to attract and retain talent. Yet in industries such as manufacturing and garment production, the 48-hour workweek remains the norm. During peak export seasons, overtime can stretch for weeks as factories race to fulfil overseas orders.

The 48-hour workweek remains the norm in many industries. | Source: Mekong Asean

Data from the National Statistics Office’s 2024 Labour and Employment Survey shows that around 46% of workers put in between 40 and 48 hours per week, while nearly 29% work beyond the 48-hour threshold. Foreign-invested enterprises (FDI) recorded the longest average workweeks in late 2024, exceeding 50 hours per week.

The maximum working time of eight hours per day or 48 hours per week was established under Vietnam’s 1994 Labour Code. In 1999, the public sector adopted a 40-hour workweek, while the private sector retained the 48-hour limit, which remains in place today. The government has since encouraged businesses to implement a 40-hour workweek for employees voluntarily; however, implementation remains uneven.

Moreover, Vietnam also lacks a mechanism to regulate maximum working hours for the informal sector, which accounts for 62.4% of the country’s labour force. According to labour experts, this gap can lead to the self-exhaustion of informal workers who regularly work 10 to 12 hours a day to earn a sufficient income.

From 48 to 44 to 40

The Vietnam General Confederation of Labour has recently called for a roadmap to reduce the standard workweek below the current 48-hour limit.

Over the past three years, this organisation has repeatedly called for a roadmap to reduce weekly working hours from 48 to 44, and eventually to 40 hours for employees in the corporate sector. The proposal has been raised at the 13th and 14th National Trade Union Congresses, as well as at national forums on improving labour productivity. Similar suggestions have also been made twice in the National Assembly.

Pham Trong Nghia, a National Assembly delegate, has twice raised the proposal to reduce working hours before the National Assembly, in 2023 and 2025. | Source: Dan Tri

Under the proposal, a phased roadmap could be introduced to implement the reduction in working hours. For example, Vietnam could cut the workweek to 44 hours by 2030, further reduce it to 40 hours after 2030, and potentially consider a 35-hour workweek by 2045.

According to Lawyer Lê Đình Quảng, former Deputy Head of the Legal Policy Department at the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, this is a “ripe” moment to implement the roadmap. As Vietnam has achieved significant economic progress, workers should also be able to benefit from these gains—not only through higher income, but also through improved quality of life.

Moreover, the reform is seen as a way to ensure fairness and equality across different labour sectors. Lawyer Quảng noted that while the public sector has long adopted a 40-hour workweek, workers in production and business sectors still typically work 48 hours per week, with reductions only encouraged rather than mandated. In practice, however, such encouragement is rarely implemented.

He also argued that productivity has been enhanced through the advancement of science and technology in production and business, along with more modern corporate governance. It is now an appropriate time to reduce working hours to 40–44 hours per week, and potentially move toward 35 hours per week in the future.

The government has not yet provided an official response to the proposed roadmap. The proposal has been received, and a review was requested in 2024, but no specific timeline has been set for when the roadmap will be formally considered or issued.

A policy with competing pressures

While reducing working hours is being increasingly welcomed for its potential benefits to employees, businesses, and even workers, expressed hesitation about the proposal. Speaking to Tuổi Trẻ, Nguyễn Thị Việt Nga, a member of the National Assembly’s Committee on Culture and Social Affairs, cautioned that such a policy cannot be implemented simply without a thorough impact assessment.

She noted that Vietnam’s business structure is still dominated by small- and medium-sized enterprises, with labour-intensive industries such as textiles, footwear, processing, and assembly relying heavily on workforce input and facing constant pressure from orders, costs, and delivery schedules.

Businesses in Vietnam often are highly dependent on workers’ working hours. | Source: Thanh Nien

Without the parallel effort put into improving productivity and upgrading technology, reducing working hours could increase production costs, weaken business competitiveness, and ultimately harm employment and workers’ incomes.

For employees, income remains their top concern. Workers expressed concern that a reduction in working hours could lead companies to cut wages, as the output produced by workers may decrease.

“Living expenses keep rising, and if wages are cut, how are we supposed to manage?”, a worker told VOV.

According to Phạm Thị Thu Lan, former Deputy Director of the Institute of Workers and Trade Unions under the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, reducing working hours would increase pressure on businesses, but this could also create positive momentum.

She argued that only when reducing working hours will companies feel greater pressure to innovate their thinking and operations to improve efficiency. At the same time, workers must continuously learn and upgrade their skills and professional qualifications to avoid being left behind.

However, she added that in order to ensure effectiveness, there is a need to carefully study the appropriate weekly working hours and implementation roadmap. There is also a strong need to develop specific programmes and policies for training and human resource development, particularly for high-quality labour.

Only when reducing working hours will companies feel greater pressure to innovate their thinking and operations to improve efficiency. | Source: Dan Tri

Anatomy Of Vietnam’s Most Expensive Painting Medium

Kiều Nga — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 11:09:39 +0000

In December 2022, Villageoises parmi des bananiers (Villagers Among Banana Trees) by Nguyễn Gia Trí sold for US$1.08 million at a French auction. The six-panel work became the most expensive Vietnamese lacquer painting ever sold publicly, a milestone not only for the artist but for the medium itself.

The sale was another reminder of something art historians have long known: few artistic mediums are as distinctly Vietnamese or as technically demanding as lacquer painting.

Yet despite its international recognition, lacquer remains a paradox. The material is expensive, the process laborious, and the number of artists working seriously with traditional lacquer is shrinking. At the moment the world is paying attention, Vietnam risks losing the people capable of carrying the medium forward.

Before it became fine art

Long before lacquer entered galleries, it was already woven into Vietnamese life.

For centuries, lacquer was used to protect and decorate temple sculptures, ancestral altars, religious objects, furniture, and water puppets. Derived from the sap of the Rhus succedanea tree, known locally as sơn ta, lacquer was valued for its durability in Vietnam’s humid climate.

The Vietnamese Lacquer Tree (sơn ta) Cultivated in Tonkin, featured in a French magazine in 1925. | Source: gallica.bnf.fr.

The material itself is notoriously difficult to work with. Raw lacquer is harvested by making incisions into the tree’s trunk. Exposure to the sap can cause severe skin irritation, and every stage of production—from harvesting to application—requires specialized knowledge.

Across Asia, lacquer has long been associated with prestige. Japanese lacquerware dates back thousands of years and remains one of the country’s most respected craft traditions. Chinese artisans developed intricate carved lacquer techniques centuries ago. Vietnam inherited this broader Asian lacquer culture, but transformed it into something different: painting.

The Hanoi College of Fine Arts (1925-1945), Landscape in Northern Vietnam. | Source: Sotheby’s

A product of the colonial school

Modern Vietnamese lacquer painting emerged during the French colonial period.

In 1925, the École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine (EBAI) was established in Hanoi. While the school introduced European academic training, several teachers encouraged students to explore local materials rather than simply imitate Western oil painting.

Student-artists of École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine (EBAI).

A turning point came in 1927 when French painter Joseph Inguimberty invited lacquer artisan Đinh Văn Thành to teach at the school. What followed was a decades-long experiment that transformed lacquer from a decorative coating into a fine-art medium.

By 1938, lacquer studies had become compulsory for painting and sculpture students.

Among those students was Nguyễn Gia Trí. His generation accomplished something remarkable. Rather than treating lacquer as craft and oil painting as “high art,” they elevated a traditional material into a modern artistic language. In doing so, they challenged a colonial hierarchy that often positioned European artists above Vietnamese artisans.

Tran Van Can, Knitting (1959). | Source: Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum

Phung Pham, Against The Drought (1990). | Source: Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum

Painting from back to front

Part of lacquer’s appeal lies in the fact that it works almost opposite to oil painting. With oil, artists build an image from front to back. What appears on the surface is largely what remains visible. Lacquer demands a different way of thinking. Artists begin by preparing a wooden panel known as vóc. Cloth soaked in lacquer is stretched across the surface before multiple layers of lacquer, clay, and sawdust are applied. Each layer must dry under carefully controlled humidity before being sanded and polished.

Artists first sketch the composition onto the prepared surface using chalk or pencil. Major forms and outlines are then painted with lacquer, establishing the structure of the work before additional materials are introduced.

Dozens of layers may be required before painting even begins. The image itself is then constructed through successive layers of coloured lacquer, eggshell, mother-of-pearl, gold leaf, silver leaf, and metallic powders. Rather than adding highlights on top, artists often bury them beneath later layers. The final image emerges through sanding.

Applying silver leaves on lacquer painting. | Source: Lam Phong for Thanh Nien

As artists grind away the surface, hidden layers gradually reappear. Colours reveal themselves unexpectedly. Gold begins to glow. Eggshell fragments create distinctive crackled textures. The process contains an element of chance that cannot be fully controlled.

The Vietnamese term for lacquer painting—sơn mài—literally means “polished” or “ground lacquer,” a reference to this essential act of revealing rather than covering.

Why lacquer is so expensive?

The cost of lacquer painting comes not only from materials but from time.

Natural sơn ta remains significantly more expensive than conventional paints. Gold and silver leaf are frequently incorporated into works. Humidity-controlled drying periods can stretch production over months. Some paintings require dozens of separate layers before completion.

Unlike canvas painting, where a mistake can often be painted over, errors in lacquer frequently require restarting large portions of the process. The result is a medium that is difficult to scale.

Beyond Indochina shadows

Today, lacquer painting remains one of Vietnam’s most internationally recognizable artistic contributions. Works by Nguyễn Gia Trí, Nguyễn Tư Nghiêm, Phạm Hậu, and Trần Văn Cẩn continue to attract collectors worldwide.

Yet the future of the medium depends on more than auction records.

The generation that transformed lacquer into fine art emerged from a moment of experimentation, when artists were willing to push beyond inherited traditions and reimagine what the material could become.

The challenge facing Vietnam now is different. Lacquer no longer needs international validation. A million-dollar auction result has already proven its value.

What it needs is a new generation of artists willing to work through its complexity.

Because lacquer painting is not merely a relic of the colonial art school or a symbol of cultural heritage. It remains one of the few mediums that Vietnam can genuinely claim as its own—a visual language developed from local materials, local knowledge, and local history.

The question is no longer whether the world recognizes Vietnamese lacquer.

It is whether Vietnam will continue producing the artists capable of advancing it.

High-Tech Exports Surpass 50% As Global Investors Double Down On Vietnam

Genesia Ventures — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 07:48:01 +0000

Vietnam’s Hi-Tech Exports Surpass 50% As Startup Ranking Reaches Record High

High-tech products accounted for 50.76% of Vietnam’s total exports in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring the growing contribution of technology-intensive industries to the country’s economy. The milestone comes as Vietnam continues to strengthen its innovation ecosystem and accelerate digital transformation efforts across both the public and private sectors.

The country also achieved its highest-ever position in StartupBlink’s Global Startup Ecosystem Index, climbing five places to rank 50th globally in 2026. The improvement reflects continued growth in Vietnam’s startup and innovation landscape, which now includes 963 science and technology enterprises, 20 technology exchanges, and 37 innovation centres operating across 26 provinces and cities.

Digital adoption is also expanding. As of May 2026, 50.2% of administrative procedures were fully available online. At the same time, Vietnam’s digital economy contributed an estimated 14.02% of GDP in 2025, equivalent to approximately US$72.1 billion, highlighting the increasing economic impact of digital technologies.

For the first time, high-tech products accounted for more than half of Vietnam’s total export value, reaching 50.76% in Q1 2026. | Source: Ministry of Industry and Trade Portal

The country has also maintained a strong position in telecommunications infrastructure, ranking 11th globally for both mobile and fixed broadband speeds. Vietnam currently has 110.5 million mobile broadband subscriptions, including 24.29 million 5G users, alongside 25.62 million fixed broadband subscriptions.

Beyond domestic development, Vietnam is expanding international cooperation in innovation and emerging technologies. Initiatives such as the Vietnam–India Innovation Forum, along with discussions on future technologies including 6G, drones, and satellite systems, are helping strengthen connections between local innovation efforts and global technology networks.

Vietnam's First Unicorn VNG Sets Strong Profit Target Amid AI Push

Vietnamese technology unicorn VNG has set its first full-year profit target since listing on UPCoM, signaling a stronger emphasis on profitability alongside growth. The company aims to generate VND12.5–13.5 trillion (US$480–510 million) in net revenue and VND300–450 billion (US$12–17 million) in pre-tax profit in 2026, representing revenue growth of 15–25% and adjusted operating profit growth of 15–30%.

The target follows a strong start to the year. In the first quarter of 2026, VNG reported revenue of VND2.785 trillion (US$106 million), up 32% year-on-year, while adjusted operating profit surged 154% to VND470 billion (US$17.9 million). The company also recorded a net profit for the quarter, reinforcing signs that its business is entering a new phase where operational performance is becoming increasingly important.

That shift gained momentum in 2025, when VNG achieved its first positive operating profit since listing. Operating results improved from a loss of VND286 billion to a profit of VND57 billion, marking a significant turnaround after years of investment across gaming, messaging, payments, and digital infrastructure.

VNG Campus, the headquarters of VNG, in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City. | Source: VNG

At the center of VNG’s ecosystem, Zalo continued to strengthen its position with nearly 80 million monthly active users in 2025. The platform also reached a milestone as non-advertising revenue surpassed advertising revenue for the first time, while business accounts under Zalo OA expanded by more than 50%.

Meanwhile, ZaloPay moved closer to profitability. Revenue exceeded VND1 trillion in 2025, increasing 47% from the previous year, while revenue from financial services jumped 413%. The company is targeting breakeven in 2026 and profitability in 2027.

Artificial intelligence is becoming a key layer across VNG’s businesses rather than a standalone operation. The company is embedding AI capabilities into messaging, payments, gaming, and enterprise solutions, with a goal of having 30% of users adopt AI-powered features. This approach reflects VNG’s broader strategy of using AI to enhance existing products and services across its digital ecosystem.

The company is also expanding its AI infrastructure business through GreenNode, which now serves more than 1,000 enterprise customers across Southeast Asia, the United States, and the Middle East. International markets account for 68% of GreenNode’s revenue, highlighting the growing contribution of overseas operations.

Despite the improvement in business fundamentals and the company’s profitability trajectory, liquidity in VNZ shares remains limited, with average daily trading volume continuing to stay below 1,000 shares.

KKR-Backed EQuest Secures US$115.5 Million Syndicated Loan

EQuest has secured a US$115.5 million offshore syndicated loan arranged by Standard Chartered and CTBC Bank, with participation primarily from Taiwanese lenders. The financing round was oversubscribed, reflecting strong interest from international lenders and underscoring continued investor appetite for established Vietnamese businesses operating in sectors with long-term growth potential.

The new facility will support both EQuest’s balance sheet and expansion plans. Approximately half of the proceeds will be used to refinance existing debt, while the remainder will be allocated to expanding the company’s education network as it continues to build a branded platform focused on certified, high-quality educational programs.

The transaction follows EQuest’s US$120 million financing package in 2023, which included a combination of equity investment from KKR and debt financing. Backed by the global investment firm since 2021, EQuest has grown into one of Vietnam’s largest private education platforms.

The investment will be used to upgrade and expand the Canadian International School System (CISS), the largest international K–12 school network in Ho Chi Minh City. | Source: CIS

According to Standard Chartered, the latest financing helps diversify EQuest’s lender base while reflecting confidence in both the company’s credit profile and the long-term prospects of Vietnam’s education sector. The deal also highlights ongoing interest among international lenders in Vietnam, supported by the country’s economic fundamentals and expectations for future capital market development.

The successful fundraising demonstrates that Vietnamese companies with established operating models and clear growth strategies can continue to attract sizeable international financing, particularly in sectors supported by long-term structural demand such as education.

Genesia Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm operating in Japan and Southeast Asia, with a strong belief in the long-term potential of Vietnam’s digital economy. Beyond providing capital, the fund actively supports startups through strategic guidance and connections to a broader regional network.

A Global View On Studying Abroad: Insights From HSBC Premier On International Education, Risk, And Readiness

Nhật Hạ — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 08:30:00 +0000

When his daughter was just three months old, Manpreet Singh and his family left India to start a new life in Dubai. 22 years later, that little girl has grown up navigating multiple educational systems, cultures, and countries. This firsthand journey is why the leader at HSBC Vietnam looks at studying abroad from a different perspective than most parents.

In the latest episode of Vietnam Innovators, Manpreet Singh – Country Head of Customer Propositions and Marketing at HSBC Vietnam – shares deep insights into global education trends. Moving away from the conventional talk around university rankings or acceptance rates, the conversation focuses heavily on “risk and readiness,” offering practical lessons for families preparing their children to step out into the world.

Manpreet Singh – Country Head of Customer Propositions and Marketing at HSBC Vietnam.

From Personal Parenting To Global Expert Insights

Manpreet Singh is a familiar face to the audience of Vietnam Innovators. With nearly 3 decades of experience across five countries and leadership roles at some of the world’s leading international banks, he currently oversees customer propositions and marketing at HSBC Vietnam, helping shape solutions for the country’s affluent and emerging affluent segments.

However, in this return, he brings a deeply personal perspective. Beyond his role at HSBC, he is also a father whose daughter has grown up across different cultures and education systems around the world. Because of this, the stories he shares are not dry institutional data from a bank, but reflections from his own parenting journey. “Today, what I’m going to share is not just what we hear and see with HSBC customers, but also some firsthand parenting experience as well.”

This personal experience helps him deeply understand the anxieties, expectations, and hurdles a family faces when sending a child overseas. According to Singh, preparing for a successful study abroad journey needs to start early and be comprehensive. “If you take care of the basics and the financial part, the rest of the things fall in place, and students get more headspace to learn and settle in faster.”

According to Manpreet, preparing for a successful study abroad journey needs to start early and be comprehensive.

International Education Is More Than A Strong CV

While studying abroad undoubtedly enhances a student’s academic profile, Manpreet emphasizes that the true value lies in the profound behavioral shifts that happen outside the classroom. He identifies three major life skills that overseas students naturally develop: ownership, resilience, and judgment. As Manpreet explains: “I feel they become more steady and more self-directed because they have to fend for themselves. There are no longer parents and family systems around to support them.”

In places like the UK and the US, students quickly learn to navigate administrative systems on their own, from tenancy agreements to healthcare registration. In Australia, many learn to balance academics with part-time work, while in Singapore, managing the cost of living becomes part of everyday life.

For Vietnamese students, cultural differences may initially make them more reserved. Over time, however, many gain the confidence to contribute more actively while never losing the humility often associated with Vietnamese culture. Resilience is built through everyday challenges. It may come from dealing with homesickness during long winters in the UK, adapting to Singapore’s intensity, or finding one’s place socially in the US.

Finally, judgment develops when students learn how to make the right decisions without constant supervision. From personal safety and financial responsibility to setting boundaries in social situations, these are lessons that rarely come from textbooks.

Manpreet emphasizes that living abroad forces you to become more steady and self-directed, as you suddenly have to fend for yourself without your family support system.

Two Risks Families Often Underestimate

When preparing for overseas education, many parents focus heavily on tuition fees and accommodation costs. However, Manpreet believes two major risks are frequently overlooked: emotional challenges and hidden financial pressures.

The emotional side is difficult to quantify. Culture shock, loneliness, homesickness, and the pressure to fit into a new environment can take a significant toll on students. Without proper preparation and consistent support from family, these challenges can become overwhelming.

Financially, unexpected expenses are often what catch families off guard. Beyond tuition and rent, students may face rental deposits, textbook fees, medical bills, or emergency costs that were never part of the original budget.

Drawing from his daughter’s own experience, Manpreet recommends maintaining two separate bank accounts: one for everyday spending and another for savings. Keeping most funds in a secondary account creates a small psychological barrier before spending, encouraging students to think more carefully about their financial decisions while maintaining an emergency buffer.

The International Playbook Of Experienced Families

Instead of viewing the study abroad journey as a series of constant anxieties, experienced international families approach it like a structured system. Manpreet notes: “The families who do it better, they approach it like a plan, not like a worry. They have a playbook in place and that playbook has a few elements in it.”

This strategy heavily relies on building financial redundancy and setting clear decision rules before the student leaves. Financial redundancy means ensuring the student has at least two ways to access money, such as a local bank account and a backup international card, to avoid panic if a payment method fails or a phone is lost.

At the same time, parents and children need to agree on clear decision rules for unexpected situations. A rule in the playbook could dictate that if a student feels sick for more than 24 hours, they should book a doctor’s appointment first and update their parents later. If they ever feel unsafe in their accommodation, they should leave first and explain the details afterward.

Equally, having the right insurance coverage is a step that shouldn't be overlooked. Manpreet highlights a unique, first-of-its-kind insurance product that HSBC worked on with its partner, Bao Viet, which covers uncommon contingencies like sponsor protection and study interruption: “If something was to happen to me, the study doesn't get interrupted, right?”

This policy comprehensively covers mental health support, dental treatments, emergency medical evacuations, loss of passports, and digital bank frauds. Manpreet strongly encourages parents to ensure that their insurance coverage is fully sufficient, reminding them that these administrative mishaps are rarely anticipated until they actually occur.

Manpreet notes: “The families who do it better, they approach it like a plan, not like a worry. They have a playbook in place and that playbook has a few elements in it.”

Real Stories Behind The Statistics

Also joining the conversation were three former international students - Peter, Minh Anh, and Tran Le - whose personal experiences reinforced many of Manpreet Singh's observations.

Peter, who studied in Singapore, arrived overseas at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic on a flight carrying only three passengers. Upon arrival, he spent 14 days in hotel quarantine, managing university coursework and visa paperwork entirely on his own. “It was a huge mental challenge,” he recalled.

Minh Anh, a former student in the United States, faced a different kind of difficulty. During a school break, she developed a high fever while the university health center was closed. With no family nearby, she had to navigate the local healthcare system on her own and seek emergency treatment elsewhere. While her condition eventually improved, the unexpected medical bills became a significant financial burden and a source of stress for both her and her family back home.

Tran, who studied in Melbourne, Australia, experienced another unexpected setback when she developed a severe ear blockage that significantly affected her hearing. The specialist treatment costs exceeded her student budget, forcing her to request urgent financial support from her family. Without an international banking setup in place, transferring funds through a local bank took time, adding further anxiety for everyone involved.

Looking back, all three agreed on one thing: had they established international banking support before leaving home, their transitions would have been far smoother.

Recognizing these challenges, HSBC Premier’s international banking network allows families to open overseas accounts before students leave Vietnam. Parents can manage global banking relationships in one place, schedule recurring transfers, and send emergency funds across borders quickly without transfer fees.

The bank also partners with global real estate firms such as CBRE and JLL to assist with student accommodation, alongside education consultancy partners including Crimson Education and ILA.

A Message For Families Preparing To Let Go

Ultimately, Manpreet believes international education has never been solely about academic achievement. Families send their children abroad because they believe the experience will help them become stronger, more capable versions of themselves.

Manpreet Singh and host Hao Tran from Vietnam Innovators.

“It’s not easy to send our kids overseas to study. We do it because we feel they will become a better version of themselves.” The distance may test parents emotionally, but it also creates the conditions for young people to build independence, confidence, and resilience.

His final message to families was simple: “Be brave. You’re walking this journey together, just in different time zones.” And perhaps that is the most important lesson behind every study-abroad journey: it is not only a test of a student’s readiness to step into the world, but also a family’s readiness to let them grow. And this is where HSBC is best positioned to support customers across this journey, across different time zones.

Watch the full Vietnam Innovators episode here:

HSBC Premier International Education Proposition

Studying abroad is a long journey, and HSBC Premier can support your family from the very first step - planning. Through our trusted partners, you can receive guidance on school selection, the application process, and visa support, while building a strong financial foundation with planning solutions aligned to your family’s goals.

Before departure, HSBC Premier helps your child feel prepared and more financially independent: open a Premier Next Gen account, get support to open an overseas account in advance and collect the card in Viet Nam (subject to local country/territory policies). The student can get supplementary cards, travel insurance/medical assistance solutions, plus destination guides and practical checklists.

Throughout the study period, HSBC Premier continues cross-border support: manage your global HSBC accounts in one place, make secure tuition and living-cost transfers via HSBC Global View and Global Transfers, access help in urgent situations (emergency cash advances/card replacement), and enjoy privileges through the HSBC Premier Credit Card and HSBC’s global partners.

Saigon's 160-Year-Old Zoo Stepped In To Help 400 Stolen Cats Find Their Way Home, And The City Loves It

Thanh Trúc — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 10:35:38 +0000

The Zoo Called First

When Ho Chi Minh City police dismantled an interprovincial cat theft ring earlier this month, they recovered over 400 cats. That left them with a different problem: how do you reunite hundreds of traumatized animals with their owners?

Thảo Cầm Viên (Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens) called first.

Founded in 1864, the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens is one of the oldest zoos in the world and the oldest in Vietnam. It sits on 33 hectares in the heart of Saigon ward (the old District 1) – part zoo, part botanical garden, part city park that generations of Saigonese have grown up visiting.

Thảo Cầm Viên (Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens) sits on 33 hectares in the heart of Saigon ward. | Source: Thanh Niên

Beyond the public-facing role, Thảo Cầm Viên also houses and rehabilitates animals listed in Vietnam's Red Book, the country's registry of endangered species. While the illegal wildlife trade remains a serious problem, the zoo operates as one of the few institutions with the veterinary capacity and legal standing to care for confiscated and rescued animals.

So when the criminal police had 400 cats and no system to process them, calling Thảo Cầm Viên made sense. The zoo's veterinary team came to the headquarters on Xa lộ Hà Nội, examined each cat, assigned it a number, and photographed its markings, including coat color and eye color, and breed logged into a profile. The photos went up on the zoo's Facebook page. The posts got thousands of shares within hours.

Owners started showing up with phones full of old photos, standing in front of the cages calling their cats' names. Some found them. Many are still looking. The vets came back the next morning to finish the rest.

400 Cats, One By One

The theft ring had been operating across multiple provinces. Police seized over 500 cats in total, with more than 400 surviving. After time in overcrowded conditions, many arrived thin, stressed, and difficult to recognize than their owners expected. A tabby that once weighed four kilos doesn't look like itself at two and a half. Some cats had retreated completely. The vets noted bites, respiratory problems, and digestive issues across the group.

Two of 400 — each one photographed, numbered, and waiting. | Source: Thảo Cầm Viên

The individual profiles helped. Specific enough to be useful, public enough to spread. A few reunions happened through the Facebook posts alone, with owners recognizing a particular white patch or an unusual eye color from the photographs.

For the cats that remain unclaimed, some people have already asked about adoption. Dr. Nguyễn Quỳnh Thiện Hảo, head of the zoo's veterinary unit, noted that adult cats who have been through this kind of stress need patience and time to adjust.

A City That Shows Up

Since Thảo Cầm Viên became part of this city in the 19th century, it has witnessed the long trajectory of Saigon’s history, evolving from a colonial botanical garden into a beloved municipal landmark. Last week, its 160-year-old résumé added a poignant new line: acting as a municipal lost-and-found for hundreds of stolen pets.

Thảo Cầm Viên became part of Ho Chi Minh City in the 19th century, evolving from a colonial botanical garden into a beloved municipal landmark and a must-visit destination in Vietnam. | Source: @otthobot

The city noticed. The shares, the comments, the people arriving with old photos that responded said something about Saigon that no press release could. When something goes wrong here, institutions don't always wait to be asked.

Owners who lost a cat to theft can contact the Criminal Investigation Police Department directly at 9 Xa lộ Hà Nội, Tăng Nhơn Phú Ward, Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam's GDP Is Up, But One Thing Is Down: Its Birth Rate

Kiều Nga — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 05:37:57 +0000

In 1996, as Vietnam was emerging from decades of economic isolation, one thing was booming: its population. Vietnamese women gave birth to an average of more than three children each, prompting policymakers to promote family-planning campaigns and expand access to contraception.

Three decades later, Vietnam faces the opposite problem. The country's economy has become one of Asia's growth stories, ranking as the 32nd largest economy in the world in 2025, with GDP multiplying many times over since the Đổi Mới reforms. Yet its fertility rate has fallen to a record low of 1.91 children per woman in 2024, below the replacement level of 2.1.

According to Vietnam's General Statistics Office, the country now has one of the lowest fertility rates in Southeast Asia. The regional average stands at around 2.0 children per woman, while Vietnam trails behind only Brunei (1.8), Malaysia (1.6), Thailand (1.0) and Singapore (1.0) in having lower birth rates.

One might assume that declining birth rates are the concern of rich countries. Yet Vietnam remains a middle-income economy. That makes the issue more pressing. The country's challenge is not merely that fewer babies are being born, but whether it can maintain its demographic advantage long enough to become a high-income nation before its population grows old.

Growing old before growing rich

For decades, Vietnam benefited from what economists call a "golden population structure": a large working-age population supporting a relatively small number of dependents. That demographic dividend helped fuel industrialisation, manufacturing growth and rising incomes.

Now policymakers worry that the window may close before Vietnam completes its economic transition.

Population pyramids of Vietnam in 2019 and projected for 2039 and 2069 under the low-fertility scenario. | Source: General Statistics Office of Vietnam.

The concern is understandable. Countries such as Japan and South Korea entered periods of population ageing after achieving high-income status. Vietnam may face the same demographic pressures while still climbing the development ladder.

But the public debate often begins from the wrong premise. Falling birth rates are treated primarily as a national economic problem when they are first and foremost the result of millions of personal decisions.

Down the childless path

Dating, marriage and having children are intensely personal choices. The fact that more people can choose to remain single or childless than in previous generations, when social pressure to marry was far stronger, could be considered one of the quieter social transformations of modern Asia.

Yet not everyone who remains childless has actively chosen that path.

Birth rates are especially low in Vietnam's major cities. Ho Chi Minh City's fertility rate fell to just 1.32 children per woman in 2023, among the lowest in the country. At the same time, surveys suggest that younger Vietnamese are increasingly delaying marriage and parenthood.

Source: Happiness Saigon

According to a report by Happiness Saigon, 75.9% of Gen Z respondents said they would rather establish a stable life with their partner before having children. More than half said they were comfortable delaying or even foregoing marriage and parenthood altogether.

The Dual Income, No Kids lifestyle (DINK) is often portrayed as a cultural shift. It may be more accurately understood as an economic one.

How can people be expected to raise children when many struggle to achieve the lifestyle they want for themselves? In a country where housing costs continue to rise faster than wages and urban living grows increasingly expensive, financial security has become a prerequisite for family formation rather than a consequence of it.

$76 to buy a baby

Vietnam's government has begun experimenting with incentives. Under a new policy, women who have two children before age 35 will receive financial support of at least 2 million dong ($76).

The gesture is symbolic. Whether it will change behaviour is another matter. Because, realistically, what can $76 buy?

Many wealthy countries have spent decades attempting to raise fertility through cash payments, tax incentives and childcare subsidies, with mixed results. South Korea has spent billions of dollars on pro-natalist policies while maintaining one of the world's lowest birth rates. Singapore offers extensive family support programmes yet continues to struggle with fertility decline.

Bích Thủy @salted.evian for Vietcetera

Research increasingly suggests that money alone is rarely enough.

For many women, the issue is not simply the cost of raising children but the opportunity cost of having them. As the sociologist Wei-Jun Jean Yeung notes, women across East Asia have gained unprecedented access to higher education and careers. Marriage and motherhood can still mean taking on a disproportionate share of childcare, elder care and domestic work.

In that sense, fertility policy is also labor policy, housing policy and gender policy.

Countries such as Spain, Germany and Japan increasingly focus on paid parental leave, childcare support and encouraging fathers to take greater responsibility at home. Such measures do not necessarily restore replacement-level fertility. But they make parenthood less economically and professionally punishing.

Is the golden population ratio that important?

The assumption underlying much of the debate is that falling birth rates inevitably threaten economic growth.

The evidence is less clear-cut. Many developed countries with low fertility continue to maintain high living standards through productivity gains, technological advancement and immigration. A smaller population does not automatically mean a poorer country.

Vietnam's challenge, then, may not be simply producing more children before the demographic dividend disappears. It may be investing more effectively in the people who already exist.

Before asking citizens to have more babies, policymakers may need to answer a simpler question: can young Vietnamese afford the lives they want today?

Because if they cannot, no amount of encouragement is likely to persuade them to take on the far greater responsibility of raising a family tomorrow.

Why Does Vietnam Ask Students How To Find Its Own Steve Jobs?

Anh Trang — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 06:42:48 +0000

“The U.S has Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk…whose innovations changed the world. From that context, write an opinion paragraph of 200 words answering the question: How to have Vietnam’s Steve Jobs?”

That was the question featured in the Literature paper of Vietnam’s 2026 National High School Graduation Exam, held on June 11–12. It was posed to 1.2 million students across the country, all of whom must take Literature as a compulsory subject to earn their high school diploma.

Yet the question was never really about the exam itself. Rather, it reflects a broader national aspiration: to nurture innovators, entrepreneurs, and visionaries capable of driving Vietnam’s next wave of economic and technological growth.

Why does Vietnam ask students to find its own Steve Jobs?

Besides Steve Jobs, the exam paper also listed Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk as those “whose innovation has changed the world”.

The full question on the paper. | Source: Facebook

Innovation has become one of the key drivers in Vietnam’s development agenda. In a speech on September 29, 2025, President, General Secretary To Lam stressed that science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation are no longer optional, but critical to the country’s future growth.

He argued that Vietnam cannot continue developing in the same way it has in the past. The country is increasingly looking to science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation as new growth drivers and strategic tools for achieving sustainable development. “If we do not move faster, we will fall behind,” President To Lam said.

In recent years, Vietnam has made notable progress. The country ranked 44th out of 135 countries in the 2025 Global Innovation Index, placing third in ASEAN behind Singapore and Malaysia. It has also consistently outperformed its level of development in innovation rankings. At the same time, global technology companies such as NVIDIA, Apple, Google, Qualcomm, Intel, Meta, AMD, and Samsung have expanded their investments in Vietnam, particularly in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and research and development.

NVIDIA built an R&D centre in Vietnam in 2024. | Source: Bao Chinh Phu

While the numbers appear promising, Vietnam’s innovation journey still faces significant challenges.

The country’s spending on research and development (R&D) remains relatively low, accounting for only around 0.5% of GDP in 2025. This falls well below the global average of 2.3% and lags behind regional peers such as China (2.5%), Singapore (1.9%), and Malaysia (1%).

Experts say Vietnam’s R&D ecosystem remains fragmented, with limited collaboration between large corporations, research institutes, and universities. The country's ability to develop and control core technologies also remains constrained, largely due to a shortage of highly skilled talent and difficulties in attracting long-term investment capital.

Against this backdrop, the appearance of Steve Jobs in a national exam is not merely an academic exercise. For policymakers and educators, figures like Steve Jobs symbolize the kind of talent Vietnam hopes to cultivate: people who can transform ideas into products, build globally competitive companies, and create new industries.

In that sense, asking students how Vietnam can find its own Steve Jobs reflects a national wager: that the country's future competitiveness and prosperity will be shaped by young people capable of creating, innovating, and building what has never existed before.

Does Vietnam really need its own Steve Jobs?

Soon after the exam paper was released, the question sparked debate. A VnExpress poll of 8,338 readers found that 58% viewed it as unfamiliar and difficult for many students.

The Steve Jobs question is viewed as unfamiliar and difficult to many students. | Source: Bao Chinh Phu

Some educators argued that the topic was too ambitious for high school students. They also questioned whether the exam was equally accessible to all candidates. References to figures such as Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg may be less familiar to students from remote or underprivileged areas, who often have fewer opportunities to engage with global technology trends.

Many teachers, parents, and observers also argued that the exam emphasised too much on individual success stories. Steve Jobs did not emerge simply because a country wanted one. He was the product of a unique ecosystem—one that combined world-class universities, abundant venture capital, a culture that tolerated failure, and decades of investment in science and technology.

If Vietnam hopes to produce its own transformative innovators, the answer lies in more than the ambition and talent of 18-year-old students. It also depends on the broader ecosystem surrounding them: the quality of education, access to opportunities, support for research and entrepreneurship, and a society willing to invest in innovation over the long term.

Moreover, every country develops under a different set of historical, economic, and social circumstances. What worked for Silicon Valley may not fully work in Vietnam. Rather than replicating another country's icons, Vietnam's long-term success may depend on strengthening its own innovation ecosystem and building on its own competitive advantages.

The question, then, may not be how Vietnam can find its own Steve Jobs. It may be how Vietnam can create an environment where many innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, and builders can emerge—and where the next breakthrough idea has a chance to succeed.

Can Vietnam create an environment where innovation can grow? | Source: Doanh Nghiep Tiep Thi

The Timeshare Scam That Exposed a New Challenge for Vietnam's Multigenerational Families

Thanh Trúc — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 10:22:53 +0000

This week, Hanoi police announced the prosecution of 187 suspects tied to 21 fraud cases across 23 companies. The alleged schemes stole more than 181 billion VND from 493 victims, most of them elderly.

The method was consistent across all cases. A phone call, a free hotel seminar, a room full of salespeople, and vacation ownership packages priced between 200 and 900 million VND. The scammers promised passive income and resale profits, but these claims were only verbal and were never included in the actual contract.

The mechanics will be familiar to anyone who followed the timeshare scandal wave that swept the United States and United Kingdom through the 2010s, where developers trapped hundreds of thousands of buyers in contracts nearly impossible to exit and spawned a secondary industry of fraudulent "exit companies" charging thousands more to escape them. Vietnam's version skipped the resorts entirely and went straight to the fraud.

A New Challenge For Multigenerational Households

Across Vietnam, the aftermath of these scams follows a recognizable pattern. An adult child – typically in their 30s or 40s, fluent in digital finance, instinctively skeptical of anything promising outsized returns – discovers what happened. They see the contract immediately for what it is. They feel the particular helplessness of understanding something that came too late.

The parent, meanwhile, is navigating shame, defensiveness, and the disorientation of having been deceived by something that felt, in the room, entirely legitimate.

For decades, Vietnamese families have functioned as one of the country's most effective social safety nets. Parents passed down practical knowledge about money, work, relationships, and risk. Children, in turn, often helped older family members navigate newer systems as society changed.

For decades, Vietnamese families have functioned as one of the country's most effective social safety nets. | Source: adrienjeanphotography

That model still works remarkably well. But it is being tested by a new category of risk: financial products, digital fraud, and highly engineered sales tactics that did not exist when many retirees built their savings.

The issue is that the speed of change has outpaced traditional pathways of knowledge transfer.

Vietnam's Rapid Transformation Created Different Expertise

Vietnam's economic transformation over the past thirty years has been staggering in speed. The generation that built their savings did so in a world of cash, personal relationships, and institutions they could walk into. Their children grew up online, absorbing a literacy in digital skepticism, financial products, and the grammar of modern fraud.

Yet that knowledge does not always meet before a decision is made. For parents who spent decades as the primary decision-makers in the household, consulting their children on a financial opportunity may not feel instinctive. And once a scam becomes apparent, embarrassment can become another barrier. Many victims are reluctant to admit they may have been deceived, particularly when they suspect their children would have immediately recognized the warning signs.

In many cases, scammers were exploiting not family weakness but family transition: a generation adapting to new forms of risk while carrying assumptions shaped by an earlier era.

Every rapidly modernizing society eventually encounters this challenge. South Korea and Japan had it. One generation builds wealth in one world, another learns to navigate a completely different one, and the expertise each develops does not always overlap neatly. Vietnam is not unique in facing this transition. It is simply having it now, visibly, with a price tag attached.

An Physical Infrastructure Gap The Scammers Understood Better Than Anyone

But the timeshare scam also reveals something larger than a difference in experience. It highlights how quickly the lives of Vietnam's retirees have changed, and how slowly the systems around them have adapted.

A generation ago, retirement was often imagined as a quieter stage of life centered on family and familiar routines. Today's retirees are living longer, remaining active for longer, and seeking opportunities to travel, invest, socialize, and make the most of decades of accumulated savings. In many ways, they have become a new consumer demographic.

A victim interviewed in the documentary said they felt "stuck at home," highlighting the growing gap between the needs of Vietnam's retirees and the services available to them. | Source: VTV

Yet Vietnam's infrastructure for this stage of life remains underdeveloped. Trusted retirement-focused financial products, senior communities, leisure services, and long-term planning tools remain limited relative to the size and growing purchasing power of the population they serve.

The challenge arises when demand evolves faster than the institutions built to support it. Scammers understood this gap well. The promise of vacation ownership was a financial pitch packed as a lifestyle product aimed at a generation whose aspirations had changed faster than the market around them.

What Comes Next

The 187 suspects will face prosecution. Some victims will recover partial funds from the assets seized over 16 billion đồng in cash, 59 billion frozen in accounts, seven cars, ten land certificates. Most will not recover what they lost.

But the scam also points, indirectly, to a genuine and growing market need. The generation that was targeted is also a generation that is looking for trusted products, services, and communities designed with their lives in mind.

Vietnam's infrastructure for elderly people remains underdeveloped. | Source: Thanh Niên

Senior living facilities, financial products built for retirees, intergenerational planning tools, elder care services are among the categories where Vietnam's market remains significantly underdeveloped relative to the demographic reality. The vulnerability that scammers exploited also signals unmet demand that legitimate businesses have barely begun to serve.

The question isn't only how to prosecute fraud better. It's what Vietnam's next chapter looks like for the generation that built the country's wealth and whether the products, services, and conversations that generation deserves will be built in time.

Opinion | I Hid My Overseas Degree While Working In Vietnam

Anh Trang — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 03:58:59 +0000

At my previous workplace, whenever someone asked where I had graduated from, I deliberately mentioned the Vietnamese university I attended for a year before studying abroad—not the U.K. university where I had invested billions in earning my degree.

An overseas education was once one of the biggest advantages in Vietnam’s job market. It promised access to better opportunities, higher salaries, and stronger career prospects. Yet in recent years, many overseas graduates came back and realised their hard-earned degree is no longer a “golden ticket”. Vietnam’s market has changed, and an overseas degree has become something some graduates even hesitate to talk about.

When reality mismatched with expectation

When reality mismatched with expectation. Source: Freepik

It is undeniable that my overseas degree made the job application process much smoother. I graduated with a degree in Broadcast Journalism from the U.K., and it helped me secure interviews with nearly every newspaper and television station I applied to in Vietnam. Eventually, I landed a reporting position at one of the country's leading national newspapers.

That was when reality hit.

I realised my skills didn't fully match what the job required. While my colleagues who had graduated from local journalism schools were already familiar with the newsroom, had built professional networks, and understood how reporting worked on the ground, I struggled to apply many of the skills I had learned overseas. Much of my training had been designed for a different media landscape. Even my greatest strength, English, offered little advantage. In Vietnamese newsrooms, strong reporting skills matter more, while English is often valued as a tool for translation rather than for writing or editing.

From being seen as someone with great potential, I gradually became the one perceived as "slow" and faded away in the newsroom. That was when I realised an overseas degree had given me a label and the social expectation, without teaching me how to live up to either. Over time, whenever I met my colleagues, I deliberately left my overseas degree out of the conversation instead of mentioning it with pride.

The mismatch between expectations and reality has left many returning international graduates struggling to navigate Vietnam's job market. Research on International Graduates Returning to Vietnam in 2019 found that many graduates returned with high expectations for their careers, with some hoping to earn between US$800 and US$1,000 a month. Many also sought positions at FDI and MNC companies to pursue better pay and career prospects.

The reality, however, was very different. Among the 202 overseas graduates surveyed, 72% reported monthly salaries of around VND7 million (approximately US$280), while only 48% earned about VND13 million (approximately US$494). Many respondents also expressed dissatisfaction with their salaries, compensation packages, working environments, and the overall level of professionalism in their workplaces.

Many overseas graduates return with salaries as low as VND 7 million (USD 280) per month. Source: Tuoi Tre

From businesses’ perspective, companies are more and more prioritising experience over qualification." In the past, an overseas degree could help candidates make it to the final rounds. Today, it just encourages employers to take a closer look at their CVs," said Dr. Tran Thi Yen Anh of Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

Dr Yen Anh also noted that many returning international graduates are reluctant to apply for entry-level positions, as they often perceive such roles as "too basic" and not commensurate with the time, effort, and financial investment they made in studying abroad.

"However, when they apply for more senior positions, their lack of practical experience often becomes a barrier, preventing them from meeting employers' expectations. This reflects a significant gap between holding an international degree and being able to perform effectively in the local workplace. Ultimately, the issue is not where you studied, but the value you can create after returning home," Dr Yen Anh told Sinh vien Viet Nam.

Is overseas education still necessary?

If somebody asked whether I regret studying abroad, my answer would be no.

Studying abroad taught me skills that I still use every day. It taught me how to think critically, do research, learn independently, and, more importantly, how to adapt to unfamiliar situations and solve problems on my own.

Studying abroad taught me many skills that I still use today. Source: Thanh Nien

Those skills helped me bridge the gap between what I had learned overseas and what my job in Vietnam actually required. Over the next six months, I relearned the reporting skills I needed and gradually adapted to the newsroom. As I settled into the role, I was able to contribute not only my English but also the analytical and research skills I had developed abroad. Over time, my work was recognised by my editors.

In practice, there are several reasons why overseas graduates continue to be valued by recruiters, even if not as highly as they once were. According to Le Dinh Hieu, a doctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins University, Vietnamese graduates returning from overseas still possess significant advantages.

Overseas students are exposed to modern technology, new ways of working, and international standards used by leading companies around the world. When they return home, they bring back new knowledge and fresh perspectives that can help Vietnamese organisations grow and innovate.

However, it required overseas graduates to shift their mindset from assuming they already have an advantage to proving their real value to the job market. Le Dinh Hieu pointed out that many returning graduates often assume their local colleagues to be “wrong and outdated”, not matching the international standards they bring back. In fact, Vietnamese companies understand their own context much better, including the local workforce, business conditions, and customer needs and preferences.

On the other hand, Mr Hieu emphasised that Vietnamese companies should also respect the differences of overseas graduates. While they are often given high expectations at work, they still need time to adapt and learn.

At the same time, companies also need time to learn the knowledge and experience these graduates bring back. This ongoing two-way learning process helps businesses benefit from their international exposure, while also helping returning graduates integrate more smoothly into the local work environment.

In the end, an overseas degree is not worthless, and studying abroad remains a valuable journey even for those who choose to return and contribute to Vietnam. With a proactive mindset and a strong willingness to adapt to the local environment, overseas graduates do not need to hide their degrees but to use them meaningfully to contribute to Vietnam’s development.

With a proactive mindset and strong willingness to adapt to the local environment, overseas graduates can prove their value by what they learned from abroad. Source: Thanh Nien

The Hanoi Scholar Handed the Gavel to the World's Oceans

Thanh Trúc — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 09:26:23 +0000

On June 18, 2026, inside the United Nations headquarters in New York, a quiet but historic shift occurred for Vietnam's place in global governance. Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, the Vice President of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam and Director General of the East Sea Institute, was elected as a judge to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).

Securing the highest number of votes among candidates in the Asia-Pacific region, her election marks the first time a Vietnamese national will serve on the tribunal since its doors opened in 1996. When she officially leaves Hanoi to begin her nine-year term (2026–2035) this October in Hamburg, Germany, she will join a highly exclusive bench of just 21 independent judges worldwide.

What does this actually mean for Vietnam, beyond a standard diplomatic victory?

To understand the weight of this moment, you have to look beyond the state-media announcements and look at the docket. The Hamburg-based tribunal, established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), is the world's highest court for resolving international disputes over how the oceans are used, shared, and protected.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Manh Cuong addresses the 14th Ocean Dialogue in Hanoi: "Vietnam remains committed to adhering to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)". | Source: VLLF

This is not a purely bureaucratic role. Today's oceans are buckling under unprecedented crises. The global maritime legal system is currently wrestling with the existential threats of climate change, rampant marine pollution, severe biodiversity loss, and the murky, unregulated impacts of emerging technologies.

If Dr. Lan Anh's election is being celebrated in Hanoi, it is also because few countries have as much at stake in the future of maritime governance as Vietnam.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan Anh | Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Stretching along more than 3,000 kilometers of coastline, Vietnam has long been a nation shaped by the sea. Its fisheries support millions of livelihoods, its ports serve as gateways to global trade, and its offshore waters are intertwined with questions of energy security, environmental protection, and national development.

But the ocean that sustains Vietnam is also becoming increasingly contested.

Over the past decade, maritime disputes in Biển Đông (international name for now: South China Sea) have elevated legal arguments from a niche academic field into a matter of strategic importance. Questions surrounding exclusive economic zones, continental shelf rights, fisheries management, marine scientific research, and freedom of navigation are no longer abstract concepts found in legal textbooks. They are issues that directly affect how coastal states exercise their rights and protect their interests.

Maritime disputes in Biển Đông have elevated legal arguments from a niche academic field into a matter of strategic importance | Source: Collected

This is where institutions such as ITLOS occupy a unique position. While the tribunal is not a political body and does not represent any country's national interests, its judgments and advisory opinions help shape how the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is interpreted around the world. In many cases, the tribunal's reasoning influences how governments, diplomats, and international courts approach disputes over maritime rights and responsibilities.

For Vietnam, which has consistently emphasized international law and UNCLOS as the foundation for managing maritime disputes, the tribunal represents something larger than a courtroom in Hamburg. It embodies the rules-based order that smaller and middle powers depend upon in an increasingly competitive maritime environment.

The significance of Dr. Lan Anh's election therefore reflects the growing recognition of Vietnamese expertise in a field that sits at the center of some of the most consequential geopolitical and environmental questions of the twenty-first century.

And those questions are rapidly expanding. The tribunal is increasingly being asked to confront issues that go far beyond territorial disputes, including climate change, marine biodiversity protection, deep-sea mining, and the legal responsibilities of states in preventing ocean degradation. For a country among the world's most climate-vulnerable coastal nations, these debates are not distant international conversations. They are discussions that may ultimately shape the future of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam's coastal economy, and the sustainability of the seas on which millions depend.

A seat for Vietnam, not a voice for Vietnam

Yet, the defining tension of her new reality is the burden of absolute objectivity. Dr. Lan Anh ran as the candidate from Vietnam, but when she takes her seat on the bench, she is required by the tribunal’s statute to act with total independence and impartiality. She will not be there to represent Vietnam’s specific national claims; she will be there to interpret the law for the world.

For the next nine years, a legal scholar who has spent her career understanding the nuanced maritime anxieties of Southeast Asia will be stepping back to adjudicate the future of the globe's waters. It is the ultimate proof of a new era in the country's international integration, where Vietnam isn't just adapting to the world's rules, but actively supplying the minds trusted to uphold them.

The Newest Food Trend from Vietnam Is Not a Bánh Mì Variation, But A Delicacy Deeply Local

Thanh Trúc — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Scroll through international food TikTok lately and something unexpected keeps appearing. Foreign creators are handing out perfect scores — not to another bowl of phở or a reinvented bánh mì, but to a hyper-local dish from central Vietnam that most of the world has never heard of.

The virality has produced a strange echo back home. Vietnamese youth, watching clips of foreigners discovering the dish before they have, are flooding social media with a single question: Does anyone know where to find this in Ho Chi Minh City?

The internet has found Bánh Ram Ít. Its rise suggests that the next wave of Vietnamese food culture abroad may arrive not through adaptation, but through dishes that remain stubbornly, unmistakably themselves.

The Best of Both Worlds

Bánh Ram Ít is, structurally, two entirely different cakes stacked into one. The base is bánh ram: deep-fried, golden, built for a loud, satisfying crunch. On top sits bánh ít trần, a soft steamed dumpling of glutinous rice that offers the dense, yielding chew that central Vietnamese cooking prizes as much as any flavor.

In the fifteen seconds it takes to consume on video, you can’t fathom the labor behind it.

True artisans in Hue don't reach for standard flour. They use nếp hương (fragrant glutinous rice) ground by hand and pressed under weights in cloth bags to drain naturally.

The filling is a whole little tôm đất, small local shrimp slow-cooked in scallion oil. The fried base is golden and hollow; the steamed top, translucent white. The whole thing is finished with tôm chấy, a fine golden shrimp powder, and eaten in a single bite with sweet-spicy fish sauce.

An Overlooked Genre of Vietnamese Cuisine

Vietnamese cuisine reached the world through a handful of highly visible representatives: phở, bánh mì, fresh spring rolls. Yet beneath those global exports exists an entire category of dishes that rarely crossed borders at all. Bánh Ram Ít belongs to a broader world of Vietnamese savory dishes built from rice flour, tapioca, fresh shrimp, pork, and mung beans. Despite their local prominence, these dishes have not achieved the same international recognition as Vietnam's famous broths and noodle varieties.

The category of savory dishes built from rice flour, tapioca, fresh shrimp, pork, and mung beans | Source: Blog Huế

It’s the genre where culinary culture treats texture as seriously as taste, producing a dense constellation of small-portion dishes. Some of the names include the flat, banana-leaf-steamed bánh nậm; the translucent, chewy bánh bột lọc; the delicate bánh bèo, topped with shrimp floss and crispy pork fat. Light and intricate, they belong to the register of afternoon snacks and gentle breakfasts, not the heavy main event.

None of them made it onto the global menu… until now.

The Florida Bánh Ram Ít Problem

Among the wave of foreign praise, one comment stood out: "This crunch is really appealing. I have to ask my mom if she knows how to make this. I've never seen it in Florida."

It's a small observation, but it maps something real. Phở and bánh mì traveled because they were adaptable. Both of the famous dishes are structurally simple enough to survive transplantation, legible enough to attract a broad audience. Savory cakes like Bánh Ram Ít did not make the crossing. Too labor-intensive, too perishable, too rooted in the specific rhythms and ingredients of a particular place. What reached the diaspora was a selection; what stayed in Vietnam was much of the depth.

Bánh Ram Ít now is the newest food trend on TikTok.

For Vietnamese communities abroad, watching Bánh Ram Ít go viral isn't quite the same as discovering a food trend. It's a sudden, public window into a craft their parents carried in memory but couldn't always carry in practice, a piece of inheritance that, by surviving intact and largely unknown, turned out to be exactly what the internet was waiting to find.

The Strange Journey Home

Among the thousands of comments praising Bánh Ram Ít, another pattern began appearing beneath the videos. Not from foreigners, but from Vietnamese viewers.

"Where can I find this in Saigon?"

"I've never seen this before."

"I'm Vietnamese and this is my first time hearing about it."

The reactions are amusing at first glance. How does a dish become internationally viral before some people in its own country have tried it?

The answer says something about how Vietnamese food actually moves, or doesn't. Regional cuisines here remain genuinely regional. A dish that feels unremarkable in Hue or Binh Dinh can be invisible to someone two hundred kilometers away in a city. For generations, geography was the barrier. Now the algorithm decides what surfaces, and to whom.

In that sense, Bánh Ram Ít did not simply travel from Vietnam to the world. It made a strange loop back home. Foreign creators discovered it, rewarded it with millions of views, and in doing so reintroduced it to a generation of Vietnamese who might otherwise never have encountered it.

After garnering millions of views from international creators, Bánh Ram Ít has been reintroduced to a Vietnamese audience now eager to experience this Hue specialty for themselves.

The internet often gets blamed for flattening cultural differences. Occasionally it does the reverse by fixating on something specific and local and hard to categorize, it hands people a map to corners of their own culture they didn't know how to look for.

Inside One Of The World’s Top Schools: What Defines Educational Excellence Today?

Cao Vy — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 09:00:00 +0000

In an era when artificial intelligence is reshaping every profession, parents expect education to deliver both outstanding academic achievement and equip young people with the adaptability and resilience needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving world.

For nearly 200 years, King’s College School Wimbledon (King’s), one of the UK’s and the world’s leading schools, has cultivated educational excellence precisely through this approach. Today, that same King’s excellence has arrived in Ho Chi Minh City.

King’s College School Wimbledon (King’s), one of the UK’s and the world’s leading schools.

What underpins nearly 200 years of King’s excellence?

King’s has earned its formidable reputation through consistently exceptional academic excellence that significantly outperforms national averages in the UK. Approximately 98% of pupils achieved grade 9–7 at GCSE/IGCSE, compared to a UK national average of around 20–25%. At A Level, roughly half of all pupils secure A* grades. Each year, 25% of leavers win places at Oxbridge or Ivy League universities, while 97% progress to leading global institutions.

These outstanding results are not achieved in isolation but reflect sustained academic outcomes passed down through generations of pupils. This consistency has seen King’s regularly ranked among the very best schools in the UK and worldwide by prestige awards, including The Sunday Times Parent Power 2026 and the HSBC Hurun Global High Schools Ranking. Beyond academics, these rankings also assess teaching quality, learning environment, pastoral care, and the breadth of co-curricular opportunities.

Dr Anne Cotton, Head of King’s College School Wimbledon and Mr Kieran McLaughlin, Founding Head of School, King’s HCMC.

Mind, Spirit and Heart: The philosophy driving excellence

We have always believed that academic achievement is a central pillar of education. However, we also recognise that in a world changing at unprecedented speed, academic success alone is not enough. Young people need more if they are truly to flourish in the future.

Dr Anne Cotton, Head of King’s College School Wimbledon, believes educational excellence cannot be measured by examination results alone. That is why King’s has built its philosophy on three pillars: Mind, Spirit and Heart.

In an age when AI can retrieve information in seconds, King’s focuses on cultivating irreplaceable human qualities: critical thinking, intellectual curiosity and a lifelong love of learning (Mind); kindness, emotional intelligence and resilience in the face of adversity (Spirit); and the confidence and character developed through sport, the arts and pupil leadership (Heart).

This Mind, Spirit and Heart framework reflects a broader vision of success. King’s not only prepares pupils for entry to the world’s finest universities but also nurtures the personal qualities and skills that will serve them throughout life - from early adulthood and beyond.

Excellence in teaching, pastoral care and co-curricular life

A defining feature of King’s is the conviction that every pupil should be known, understood and supported as a unique individual. This belief underpins a robust pastoral care system that is integral to daily school life.

From the moment a child joins the school, they become a member of a House, a small, supportive community in which they build friendships, learn to help others and develop a strong sense of belonging. Each pupil is guided by dedicated form tutors, House leaders and wellbeing specialists who closely monitor and support their academic, emotional and social development.

Additional provision includes confidential counselling services, personal development programmes, mental health initiatives and community-building activities that foster a culture of care and mutual support.

Co-curricular activities are equally central to the King’s experience. From debating, music and drama to sport, entrepreneurship, community service and international exchanges, pupils are encouraged to explore diverse interests, discover their passions and develop collaboration and leadership skills.

Bringing Nearly 200 Years Of Educational Excellence To Ho Chi Minh City

In partnership with Millennia Education, King’s College School Wimbledon is establishing King’s College Wimbledon Ho Chi Minh City (King’s HCMC), for pupils aged 2–18. The first academic year is scheduled to begin in August 2027 at The Global City.

Dr Anne Cotton has affirmed that “King’s College Wimbledon Ho Chi Minh City will be built upon the same values and standards of excellence that have defined King’s Wimbledon in the UK”

King’s HCMC has been built with the same values and standards of excellence that define King’s in the UK.

Direct oversight from the UK

King’s College School Wimbledon will maintain direct involvement in curriculum, quality assurance, regular evaluations and academic monitoring. The school’s governing and educational leadership in Ho Chi Minh City will include British representation.

All teachers at King’s HCMC will be recruited and trained to the same global standards applied at the UK school. Subject leaders from Wimbledon will work closely with the team in Ho Chi Minh City to ensure fidelity to the King’s approach.

Part of a growing global network

King’s HCMC forms part of the expanding King’s family of schools across Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Pupils in Ho Chi Minh City will benefit from exchange programmes, joint academic projects and collaborative activities with other King’s schools, becoming part of a wider international learning community.

King’s College Wimbledon Ho Chi Minh CityThe school will follow the English National Curriculum, culminating in IGCSE and A Level qualifications. Designed by internationally renowned architects Broadway Malyan on a nearly two-hectare campus, the facilities will include a 500-seat auditorium, an indoor swimming pool, state-of-the-art laboratories and versatile creative spaces.School Gallery: 179 Vo Nguyen Giap, An Khanh, TP. HCM
For more information about King’s College Wimbledon Ho Chi Minh City, visit HERE.

Masan Secures Record $750M Loan As Vietnam’s Startup Ecosystem Maintains Momentum

Genesia Ventures — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 10:25:26 +0000

Masan Secures US$750 Million Loan From 15 International Banks

Masan Group has secured a US$750 million senior unsecured syndicated loan facility from 15 international banks, marking the company’s largest international corporate borrowing to date. The transaction reflects continued support from global lenders and strengthens Masan’s financial position as the group pursues longer-term funding and deleveraging objectives.

The facility is structured to address both refinancing needs and future growth plans. Approximately US$490 million will be used to refinance existing debt, while the remaining US$260 million has been set aside to support strategic flexibility and future capital requirements. The refinancing also comes with significantly improved borrowing terms. The loan carries a margin of 1.8%, compared with 3.5% on Masan’s syndicated facility arranged in 2023, representing a reduction of 170 basis points and the group’s most competitive pricing to date.

Beyond lowering financing costs, the new facility extends the maturity of Masan’s US dollar-denominated debt to six years, compared with the three-to-four-year tenor of its previous borrowing. The company expects the refinancing to reduce annual interest expenses by approximately US$4.4 million, providing additional room to support business operations and future initiatives.

Masan’s leadership team speaks at the 2026 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. | Source: Masan

The transaction follows a period of improving financial metrics for the group. Masan reported continued progress in reducing leverage, with its net debt-to-EBITDA ratio improving from 3.9 times at the end of 2023 to 2.84 times in the first quarter of 2026, supported by stronger earnings and cash generation.

While strengthening its balance sheet, Masan is also advancing broader capital market initiatives. The group is exploring a potential initial public offering for WinCommerce around 2028–2029 and previously transferred Masan Consumer’s listing from UPCoM to HoSE in late 2025. Together with the latest financing, these moves are intended to maintain financial flexibility while supporting the company’s long-term growth strategy.

ADI Targets Vietnam’s Funding Gap Through Local Venture Funds

Australian Development Investments (ADI) is increasing its focus on Vietnam by targeting the country’s “missing middle” — growth-stage businesses that typically require between US$2 million and US$10 million in funding but often face difficulties accessing capital. Rather than investing directly in companies, the organization is working through local fund managers in an effort to strengthen the broader investment ecosystem and expand access to growth capital.

As part of this strategy, ADI has partnered with Vietnamese fund managers including ABB, Ascend Vietnam Ventures (AVV), and Do Ventures. The organization recently committed US$10 million to Do Ventures Fund II, reflecting its preference for channeling capital through local investment platforms that can support businesses at scale while building long-term institutional capacity within the market.

Vietnam has become an increasingly important market for ADI, accounting for around 40% of its global portfolio. The organization attributes this to the country’s strong economic fundamentals, a maturing startup and investment ecosystem, and growing demand from businesses seeking expansion capital.

Kate Wallace (center), Australian Consul-General in Ho Chi Minh City, with Archer Goh, Managing Partner and Head of Sustainability at Do Ventures, and Le Hoang Uyen Vy, Managing Partner of Do Ventures. | Source: Nhan Dan Newspaper

ADI’s investment priorities include climate technology, renewable energy, sustainable manufacturing, AI-enabled climate solutions, healthcare, logistics, and financial inclusion. Beyond financing, the organization also provides support in areas such as corporate governance, ESG integration, climate risk management, and technical assistance to help portfolio companies and fund managers strengthen their long-term impact.

According to ADI, attracting larger pools of institutional and climate-focused capital will require greater regulatory clarity, policy consistency, and a stronger pipeline of investment-ready projects. By supporting local fund managers and addressing funding gaps for growth-stage companies, the organization aims to help unlock scalable innovation opportunities while strengthening the foundations needed for Vietnam’s next phase of private capital development.

Vietnam’s Private Market Draws Interest, But Investors Want Clearer Execution

Vietnam continues to attract attention from private equity investors thanks to a series of favorable developments, including its expected FTSE market upgrade, plans for an International Financial Centre (IFC), and shifting global trade dynamics. These factors have strengthened the country’s appeal as a potential destination for private capital in Southeast Asia, although investors remain focused on how policy initiatives are implemented in practice.

Despite the positive outlook, fund managers continue to identify several barriers to deploying capital. Regulatory uncertainty, lengthy approval procedures, foreign ownership restrictions, and unpredictable timelines remain key concerns. Investors say these issues can complicate deal execution and make it more difficult to navigate the market efficiently.

Tax policy is another area drawing attention. Unclear implementation guidance, particularly around capital gains taxation and exit mechanisms for overseas funds, continues to create uncertainty for private equity firms. As a result, many Vietnam-focused funds still rely on offshore structures while industry participants call for a more competitive fund management framework and broader regulatory reforms.

Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Phuong chaired the Ministry of Finance's conference on corporate operations and production-business performance in the first half of 2026 on the morning of June 19. | Source: Finance and Investment Newspaper

Market participants also emphasize the importance of strengthening the foundations needed to attract long-term institutional capital. Stronger corporate governance, improved accounting standards, clearer legal frameworks, and greater operational transparency are increasingly viewed as critical factors for successful fundraising and exit opportunities. Well-governed companies are expected to enjoy a competitive advantage as investors become more selective.

Even with these challenges, investors continue to view Vietnam as an attractive market. Many believe the country already possesses the structural advantages needed to become a leading private capital destination in the region. However, sustained investor confidence will depend less on policy announcements and more on consistent execution, regulatory clarity, and the creation of a more predictable investment environment.

Vietnamese Startups Look Beyond Fundraising To Corporate Partnerships

Vietnamese startups are increasingly looking beyond fundraising as they pursue growth, placing greater emphasis on strategic partnerships with established corporations. Rather than focusing solely on raising capital, many founders are seeking opportunities to validate products, acquire customers, and accelerate commercialization through direct collaboration with large enterprises.

The shift is reflected in growing interest in open innovation programs. Applications for Global Shinhan InnoBoost 2026 tripled compared with previous years, highlighting rising demand for enterprise-led proof-of-concept (PoC) opportunities. For many startups, access to corporate partners is becoming as valuable as funding, providing a pathway to test solutions in real business environments and gain industry expertise without giving up equity.

Programs such as InnoBoost are designed to help startups build long-term commercial relationships while strengthening their market readiness. In addition to mentorship and practical deployment opportunities, participants can use these collaborations to refine products and demonstrate their value to potential customers and partners.

InnoBoost 2026 continues to serve as a bridge helping startups tackle real-world problems, while enabling enterprises to access innovative solutions tailored to their digital transformation needs. | Source: Shinhan Bank

Several startups have already used corporate partnerships to expand their businesses. BNPL startup Fundiin, for example, has grown its ecosystem through collaborations with major merchants and financial institutions, illustrating how enterprise relationships can support customer acquisition, strengthen distribution channels, and drive growth beyond venture capital.

In some cases, proof-of-concept projects have evolved into broader strategic partnerships. Previous editions of the program led to collaborations such as Finnn’s partnership with Shinhan Bank and Fineksi’s AI-powered credit analysis initiative. These examples underscore the growing role of corporate-startup collaboration in Vietnam’s innovation ecosystem, where success is increasingly measured not only by fundraising but also by the ability to secure real-world deployments and long-term business relationships.

Resolution 80 Raises New Questions For Vietnam’s Game Startups

Vietnam’s gaming industry is entering a new phase following the adoption of Resolution 80, which officially recognizes gaming as a cultural industry for the first time. The move signals a shift in policy thinking, from regulating the sector to supporting its long-term development, while positioning games as a strategic cultural export capable of bringing Vietnamese stories and intellectual property to global audiences.

The policy shift comes as Vietnam’s game industry continues to demonstrate significant scale and international reach. Vietnamese studios have generated 4.9 billion game downloads worldwide, with one in every 25 game downloads globally developed by Vietnamese creators. At home, the market has grown to 54.6 million players, highlighting the sector’s growing economic and cultural influence.

The Vietnam Audition team wins gold at the 33rd SEA Games. | Source: VTC

Despite these achievements, much of the value created by Vietnamese developers has yet to remain within the domestic ecosystem. Many game startups choose to establish entities in Singapore, while foreign titles account for around 85% of legally published G1 games in Vietnam. As a result, although the country has built a strong talent base and gained global visibility in game development, a significant share of the industry’s economic benefits continues to be captured overseas.

Industry stakeholders argue that regulatory barriers remain a key challenge. Lengthy licensing procedures and approval timelines can make it difficult for local studios to keep pace with the rapidly evolving global gaming market. To address these issues, policymakers and industry representatives are calling for reforms, including risk-based regulation and a shift from pre-approval mechanisms toward post-market supervision.

For many developers, Resolution 80 represents more than symbolic recognition. By acknowledging gaming as a strategic cultural industry rather than simply a sector to regulate, the resolution lays the groundwork for policies that could help more Vietnamese studios scale both domestically and internationally. Supporters believe that reducing regulatory friction and encouraging innovation will be critical to retaining greater value within Vietnam’s gaming ecosystem while strengthening the country’s position in the global market.

Beyond Thảo Điền: 3 Saigon Streets Worth A Full Day Out

Tùng Thư — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:30:00 +0000

1. Đinh Công Tráng: A full day in one compact street

Đinh Công Tráng is not long. On paper it sounds almost too modest: a bánh xèo institution, a few cafés, a handful of hẻm addresses. But that modesty is the point. A whole day can unfold here naturally, from breakfast coffee to a late glass of wine, with enough detours to make the hours stretch.

Most people arrive because of Bánh Xèo 46A. Anthony Bourdain once stopped by; Michelin now lists it as a Bib Gourmand. At lunch or dinner you still find locals, office workers, and visitors all leaning over plates of giant crisp-edged bánh xèo. It would be easy for the street to live permanently in that shadow. The more interesting thing is how quickly it outgrows the "come for bánh xèo" label.

Source: 김원기Aiden

There’s more than bánh xèo at Bánh Xèo 46A. | Source: onJuice Nguyen

Start not with lunch but with a drink. Sipply Coffee Roastery makes the case for specialty coffee without turning it into a lecture, with a roomy setup and comfortable seats. A few doors away, Tiệm Lưu does something different: fruit-forward, jam-laced teas that feel like the shop's real personality rather than an afterthought. If Sipply belongs to the morning ritual, Tiệm Lưu belongs to Saigon's longer, slower afternoons.

Sipply Coffee Roastery - 73 Đinh Công Tráng, Tân Định, HCMC | Source: Sipply Coffee Roastery

Inside the Sipply Coffee Roastery | Source: Duy Le, Tiến mù Nguyễn, Cincau Chan, Uyên Thái Trúc

Tiệm Lưu located in Halo Building, 39 Đinh Công Tráng, Tân Định, HCMC. | Source: Tiệm Lưu, Galina Yudina

Then there is hẻm 67 on Đinh Công Tráng street. Nấm Vegetarian Bistro is one of the area's strongest arguments that vegetarian food in Saigon can be genuinely exciting rather than austere or temple-adjacent.

You can find Nấm at 67C Đinh Công Tráng, Tân Định, HCMC. | Source: Nấm Vegetarian Bistro

Source: IVy Ng

A few steps away, Blue Dream Bread shifts the atmosphere entirely: pastries, cakes, and an interior warm enough to feel like a Christmas bakery that forgot to close in July. It makes perfect sense as a mid-afternoon stop.

Right next to Nấm Bistro is Blue Dream Bread at 67C Đinh Công Tráng, Tân Định, HCMC. | Source: Chi Mai Nguyen, Nhuc Nhich, Nguyễn Huỳnh Bích Ngọc, 등정초 ‘s Youniverse

The street doesn't run out of steam after dark. In the same hẻm 67, Sturmfrei Haus moves between café and wine-bar energy with ease, absorbing solo laptop sessions, catch-up coffees, and the moment when an afternoon quietly decides to become an evening. Around the corner, Giao Coffee & Wine serves Vietnamese coffee, Italian coffee, and cocktails in a space built around glass and light.

Sturmfrei Haus at 67B Đinh Công Tráng, Tân Định, HCMC | Source: Scott Nguyen, Drey

Giao Coffee & Wine at 44G Đinh Công Tráng, Tân Định, HCMC| Source: Coffeetimeofhang, Giao Coffee & Wine, Nguyệt Anh, Will Ton

What makes Đinh Công Tráng work, though, is not any single address but the texture between them: a secondhand clothing shop like Goût tui, a hair wash or massage spa when the heat catches up, small local food stalls that keep the street moving from morning to evening. None of it alone would make the street a destination. Together, they make it feel livable.

You may know Goût-tui in Thảo Điền, check out their other store at 27 Đinh Công Tráng, Quận 1, HCMC | Source: Goût tui second-hand store

2. Phạm Ngọc Thạch–Trương Quyền: A more central kind of cool

This area works differently from Đinh Công Tráng. There is no single iconic dish, no must-visit institution. What it offers instead is a walkable concentration of places to browse, snack, and linger, closer to the center of the city than Thảo Điền and without the expat-enclave feel.

Society Cafe & Dining is a good place to start. Part café, part restaurant, it is the kind of all-purpose anchor a neighborhood outing needs. You can come for coffee and end up staying for lunch; the table tends to be too comfortable to give up quickly.

Society Cafe & Dining is at 39C Phạm Ngọc Thạch, Xuân Hòa, HCMC. | Source: nam xuan dang vu, Le Vinh, Vũ Thu Thủy Nguyễn

From there, the area works best as a browsing district rather than a food crawl. Sugar High is a good example: artisanal bonbons, cakes, and drinks that are sweet without being cloying and polished enough to feel giftable. It slows the day down in the best way.

Find some quality sweet at 55D Phạm Ngọc Thạch, Xuân Hòa, HCMC. | Source: Ryan đi tùm lum, Thủy Trúc Lê, Mai

Then there is The Hidden Spine Bookshop, tucked away enough to preserve the pleasure of finding it. Any street can offer coffee and lunch. Far fewer can offer the possibility of losing an hour in a bookshop and still have the rest of the day feel intact.

A lovely bookstore at 58/15 Phạm Ngọc Thạch, Xuân Hòa, HCMC. | Source: Biluki

After visiting the bookstore, you can take a turn and then, you’re Trương Quyền. The street provides the turn back toward food. Nem Nướng D'Ran is the obvious stop, and a useful reminder that a good neighborhood day does not need every meal to be conceptual or dressed up. After a stretch of browsing and sweets, something straightforward and deeply crowd-pleasing hits differently.

Phan Liêm–Phan Tôn–Huỳnh Khương Ninh: The small triangle that comes alive after dark

This pocket makes its case after sunset. It is not a neighborhood you visit for one famous landmark. It works as a compact nightlife triangle: small enough to do entirely on foot, varied enough to keep the evening moving, dense enough that a whole night can unfold within a few blocks.

Oddfather Coffee & Wine on Phan Liêm helps explain why the cluster works as more than a bar crawl. It opens through the day into the night, giving the neighborhood a gentler entry point. You could come in the late afternoon for coffee, settle in slowly, and only later let the evening spill outward. That flexibility makes the area feel like an extension of the all-day city rather than a zone that only switches on after dark. Set inside a building that feels unmistakably old Saigon, weathered and lived-in, Oddfather does something many newer venues don't: it lets the setting do half the work.

Oddfather at 12 Phan Liêm Str., Tân Định, HCMC. | Source: Oddfather Coffee & Wine, Huỳnh Thị Tố Uyên

A few minutes away, Lulu Bar & Eatery on Phan Tôn gives the neighborhood a more social center of gravity. Walk in and the mood shifts: warm Cuban soul, tropical energy, a modern edge that somehow feels nothing like Saigon and exactly right for it. It is the kind of place where food, conversation, and a longer hang fold into the same stop naturally, before the night decides where to go next.

Lulu Bar & Eatery at 1A Phan Tôn Str., Tân Định, HCMC | Source: Biluki, Ann Vng, Linh Ngọc

From there, the neighborhood becomes interesting because it does not repeat itself. Du Bar on Huỳnh Khương Ninh brings a more concept-driven edge, with collaborations built around fragrance and cocktails that make it feel invested in sensory experimentation rather than just ambiance.

At 36Bis Huỳnh Khương Ninh, Tân Định, HCMC, you may find some of the most unique drinks. | Source: Du Bar

Nearby, the Pi has built a reputation as one of the more notable bars in the city, singled out by Tatler among Saigon's best. Though the space is undeniably tight, the drinks are inventive enough that the crampedness almost becomes part of the appeal, giving the place a sense that everyone has willingly squeezed into the same room because what is happening there is worth it.

Cozy and delicious at 45 Huỳnh Khương Ninh, Tân Định, HCMC. | Source: the Pi

What matters is not just that these places are good, but that they sit close together while offering distinctly different atmospheres. Within a short walk, the neighborhood shifts from all-day café-bar to casual social stop to dedicated cocktail room. That range, in a tight geographic radius, is exactly what makes the area worth the whole evening.

King’s Spotlight: A King’s Classroom From The UK, For The First Time In Ho Chi Minh City

Cao Vy — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:30:00 +0000

King’s Spotlight is the first event in the series, offering pupils in Ho Chi Minh City the opportunity to learn directly from teachers from King’s College School, Wimbledon, and experience the distinctive King’s approach to education. Through engaging, thought-provoking lessons, children are encouraged to be curious, reflective and collaborative as they take on new challenges, embracing the King’s belief that education should prepare young people for far more than the next test.

King’s Spotlight runs from 7 to 9 July 2026, with two sessions each day. It is open to children in Years 2 to 7, aged 6 to 12. Each child joins one session matched to their year group: a single experience built from two connected lessons, with a short break in between. In the first, Logical Maths, children work through rich problems built on patterns, shape, number and strategy, building clear thinking and the confidence to tackle the unfamiliar.

In the second, Language and Communication, they explore how language works and how young people use words to collaborate, influence and lead. These lessons offer pupils the opportunity to experience a King’s classroom led by teachers from King’s College School, Wimbledon, and to discover how curiosity, challenge and independent thinking shape learning at King’s.

Mr Kieran McLaughlin, Founding Head of School at King’s College Wimbledon Ho Chi Minh City, said: “King’s Spotlight is an invitation to families to explore a King’s education for themselves, ahead of our school opening. Through these events, children and parents can see what a King’s classroom feels like, meet our teachers, and understand the values that shape everything we do. We are delighted to welcome teachers from Wimbledon to teach pupils here in Ho Chi Minh City for the very first time.”

Taught entirely in English, King’s Spotlight will be led by two teachers from King’s UK.

Meet The Teachers From King’s

King’s Spotlight will be taught by two senior teachers from King’s College School, Wimbledon, and run entirely in English.
Leading most of the lessons is Mr Ted Lougher, Junior School Headmaster at King’s College School, Wimbledon since 2021. A trained linguist, he graduated with first-class honours from the University of Exeter and completed a master’s in education with distinction at the University of Oxford, and he brings experience from leading British schools including Cheltenham College and Clifton College. He is also a member of the board of King’s International.

Alongside him is Mr Simon Connolly, one of King’s senior teachers, who currently leads the school’s assessment and academic tracking. He began teaching at King’s in 2014 and was a founding member of staff at King’s College International School Bangkok, where he served as Head of Year 6. More than a decade with King’s gives him a deep understanding of how a King’s school is built, grows and sustains its core values across different countries.

King’s Spotlight will be taught by two senior teachers from King’s College School, Wimbledon, and run entirely in English.

An Experience For The Whole Family

King’s Spotlight is designed as an experience for the whole family. While children are in class, parents follow their own programme.
Mr Simon Connolly will share the story of King’s growth from the UK to Bangkok, how a King’s school is built and develops in an Asian city, along with the trends shaping primary education today.

For families whose children are about to enter Year 1, Mr Ted Lougher, Junior School Headmaster, will share the skills and qualities the school looks for at this age, and how parents can support their child through this important transition.

Parents will also meet Mr Kieran McLaughlin, Founding Head of School, King’s College Wimbledon Ho Chi Minh City, to learn about the school’s educational vision, its curriculum and its plans for the early years.

Programme details
King’s Spotlight takes place at the School Gallery, 179 Vo Nguyen Giap, An Khanh Ward, with two sessions each day for pupils in Years 2 to 7 (aged 6 to 12). Pupils join one of two groups, Years 2–4 and Years 5–7, in classes designed for their age. Every session is taught entirely in English.
Learn more about the detailed schedule and register: www.kingshcmc.edu.vn/kings-series/kings-spotlight.

About King’s College Wimbledon Ho Chi Minh City
King’s College Wimbledon Ho Chi Minh City offers a British educational pathway for pupils aged 2 to 18, leading to IGCSE and A level qualifications. The school will open at The Global City in August 2027.
Campus address: The Global City, Binh Trung Ward, HCMC
School Gallery: 179 Vo Nguyen Giap, An Khanh Ward, HCMC

Vietnam Opens The Table: Phu Quoc Kicks Off Marriott's Luxury Dining Series

Hao Tran — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 12:18:58 +0000

When the Luxury Group by Marriott International maps out a three-month culinary tour across its most rarefied addresses in Asia, the question of where to begin is never accidental. This year, the answer is Vietnam. The third edition of the Luxury Dining Series opens at JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa from August 5 to 9, before the journey moves on to Thailand, the Maldives, Bali, Kyoto, and finally out to sea.

That ordering matters. For a long time, Vietnam was the place luxury travelers passed through on the way to somewhere else. Now it is the curtain-raiser. The opening note of a series that ends aboard a Ritz-Carlton yacht off the coast of Japan starts on a Phu Quoc beach. That is a quiet but real marker of where the country sits in the regional luxury story.

JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa | Source: JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa

The Theme: Across the Table

The series runs under a theme that says the quiet part out loud: "Across the Table." The idea is simple and slightly radical for a category that usually sells distance and exclusivity. Instead of putting the chef on a pedestal, it pulls him out of the kitchen and sits him down next to you. The plates matter, but the point is the conversation that happens over them.

In Phu Quoc, that translates into curated experiences designed to connect guests with the island, its ingredients, and each other. The recurring formats across the series give a sense of the texture:

Chefs [At The] Table is the heart of it. The chef leaves the pass, sits among the guests, and tells the story behind a dish before anyone eats it.

The Grand Banquet takes dinner out of the hotel and into iconic local settings, leaning into heritage, ritual, and place.

Heirloom AM/PM builds collaborative menus around a single heirloom ingredient or technique, treating one product with real seriousness.

Page to Plate sends guests home with a curated set of the chefs' favorite recipes, so the experience does not end when the trip does.

On the drinks side, The Shared Memory Menu explores mixology through flavors tied to memory and place, Spirited Social hands the bar over to expert bartenders, and Journey To Exceptional Taste pairs chef-guided tours and masterclasses with an intimate meal at the end. Moët Hennessy joins as a partner across the participating destinations.

Why This Is A Vietnam Story, Not Just A Marriott One

There is a version of this news that is purely a hospitality announcement. The more interesting version is what it says about Vietnamese tourism. Phu Quoc has spent the last few years trying to shed its reputation as a fast-built resort island and prove it can hold a genuinely high-end audience. Anchoring a pan-Asian luxury series here, ahead of Kyoto and the Maldives, is a vote of confidence that the infrastructure, the produce, and the storytelling are ready.

Phu Quoc has spent the last few years prove it can hold a genuinely high-end audience. | Source: JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa

"This year, the focus is to highlight the emotional heart of dining, exploring how stories unfold, flavors linger, and connections deepen when meals are shared," says Oriol Montal, Regional Vice President of Luxury at Marriott International Asia Pacific excluding China. "Our hope is that discerning travelers will be inspired to discover somewhere new, and in doing so, rediscover the art of gathering."

For a Vietnamese reader, the line that lands is "discover somewhere new." For much of the world, that somewhere is still here.

The Full Route

After Phu Quoc, the series continues to The Naka Island, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Phuket (August 12 to 15), the St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort (August 26 to 30), Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Bali (September 9 to 11), and The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto (September 23 to 26). It closes aboard Luminara, The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, on a Japan voyage from October 9 to 18.

The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto | Source: JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa

If You Want In

Exclusive stay packages are available across the destinations. The onboard experience aboard Luminara is reserved for guests booked on the Japan voyage. Marriott Bonvoy members can also bid on these dinners using their Bonvoy Moments loyalty points. Details live on the Luxury Dining Series page.

The art of gathering was never really lost. It just got crowded out. This year, the invitation to sit back down at the table starts in Vietnam.

8 Misunderstandings About Dating In Vietnam

Thư Trần — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 07:30:36 +0000

I have quite a few friends who are expats, Viet Kieu returning to Vietnam, or Vietnamese people who have spent years abroad. Somehow, after a few drinks, a long dinner, or a coffee chat, dating in Vietnam always comes up - along with familiar takes about money, foreignness, Viet Kieu, English, passports, income, and family background.

But dating is complicated everywhere. In Vietnam, it can feel especially layered because love, family, money, and social expectations often overlap. So instead of treating dating here as a fixed set of cultural rules, it may be more useful to look at the misunderstandings that shape how people enter, interpret, and sometimes misread relationships in Vietnam.

Here are 8 of them...

1. Thinking Vietnamese Women Are “Gold Diggers”

This is probably the laziest stereotype about dating Vietnamese women. There is a big difference between being a gold digger and wanting financial stability. In many Vietnamese families, financial stability is about maturity, responsibility, and security - not greed.

A woman asking about your career or future plans is often just checking if you are stable and serious. That said, if you lead every date by flashing luxury and status, don’t be surprised when you attract people who only respond to exactly what you chose to advertise.

2. Assuming Vietnamese Men Are Automatically Traditional

Another common mistake is assuming local men are universally conservative or emotionally reserved. While traditional gender roles still influence society, many modern Vietnamese men are thoughtful, emotionally aware, and open to equal partnerships.

Characters like Nhat Minh - a cold, controlling, and patriarchal husband in the Vietnamese drama So You Call Yourself a Man? - may reflect one familiar type of traditional masculinity, but they should not become the template for all Vietnamese men. | Source: So You Call Yourself a Man?/VTV

They might not always make grand verbal declarations, but they show care through practical action, like picking you up in the rain or buying medicine when you’re sick. Sometimes affection here isn’t a long paragraph about feelings; it’s simply: “Em an com chua?” - Have you eaten yet?

3. Thinking Dating The Person Means Dating Only The Person

In Vietnam, relationships often exist within a wider social context. You may think dating is only about chemistry and compatibility. But family and close friends can also play an important role, especially when the relationship becomes more serious.

Parents may not directly decide who someone dates, but their opinions can matter. Friends may not choose your partner, but they often influence how your partner processes the relationship. A close friend saying, “I’m not sure about this person,” can carry more weight than expected.

This can feel unfamiliar if you come from a culture where romance is seen as mostly private. In Vietnam, love is often more connected to family, community, and social belonging.

This does not mean you need to impress everyone, but ignoring the people who matter to your partner can create distance over time. You are not just entering someone’s romantic life. In many ways, you are also entering their social world.

4. Mistaking Check-Ins For Control

In some dating cultures, privacy and independence are very important. A question like “What are you doing?” can feel intrusive. “Who are you with?” can sound like someone is checking up on you.

In Vietnam, frequent check-ins can carry a different meaning.

What are you doing? can mean I’m thinking about you.
Have you eaten? can mean I care about you.
Text me when you get home can mean I want to know you’re safe.

A simple text can mean care, pressure, or both, depending on how each person understands closeness in a relationship. | Source: TBD Tuyên/Pexels

Of course, there is still a boundary. Care should not become control, and affection should not turn into monitoring. Everyone deserves privacy and trust in a relationship, but misunderstanding the meaning behind everyday check-ins can easily create unnecessary conflict. One person may think they are being caring, while the other feels pressured.

In many Vietnamese relationships, being present in each other’s daily rhythm is seen as a form of closeness, not necessarily less freedom, but more emotional connection.

5. Treating 50/50 As A Universal Moral Principle

The bill is rarely just about the money. While splitting is common elsewhere, the person who invites - traditionally the man, is usually expected to pay on early dates in Vietnam. This isn’t about capability; it’s about tấm lòng (heart). Covering the initial tab acts as a signal of care and serious intention, whereas insisting on a strict 50/50 split right away can easily feel cold or stingy.

However, modern expectations are changing toward a more natural balance. Instead of calculating costs down to the cent, healthy couples contribute in alternating, thoughtful ways like one person covering dinner and the other grabbing coffee or snacks next. The goal isn’t rigid accounting or a one-sided burden, but a mutual generosity that flows both ways.

6. Missing The Small Acts Of Service

Romance in Vietnam usually shows up in quiet, everyday gestures rather than big, dramatic surprises. It is found in the little things: walking on the street side, flipping down the motorbike footrests, checking if they have a raincoat, or making sure they get home safely. These small details matter because they show attentiveness, proving you are genuinely paying attention to the other person.

In Vietnamese dating, love often shows up in quiet gestures: a hand held at the crosswalk, a ride home, or a small act of care. | Source: @chutai.photo_/Instagram

This practical care goes both ways. Vietnamese women often show affection through thoughtful actions - like bringing you a snack, reminding you to rest, or quietly helping you with your pronunciation before you get embarrassed in public. It is easy to miss these signals if you are looking for louder, more obvious displays of romance, but local dating relies heavily on these quiet, thoughtful moments.

7. Thinking Directness Always Works

While honesty is important, how you say something in Vietnam matters just as much as what you say. Local communication deeply values timing, emotional nuance, and saving face, meaning that being too blunt too early can easily come across as harsh or socially clumsy. This doesn’t mean people avoid the truth; it just means that clarity and kindness are expected to go hand in hand.

You can easily show your intentions without losing your warmth. If you aren’t interested, you can be honest without being cold, and if you want something serious, you can express it without making the date feel like a job interview. Being clear is useful, but being considerate makes that clarity much easier to receive.

8. Underestimating The Pacing Difference

In many Western cultures, the casual phase can comfortably last for months. People easily drift into a “situationship” - that blurry middle ground where you act like a couple but have no official labels.

The “casual” phase can feel light at first, until one person starts waiting for a clearer answer. | Source: kittbui/Pexels

In Vietnam, however, leaving things open-ended for too long tends to feel uncomfortable much more quickly. If you are texting every day, hanging out every weekend, and meeting each other’s inner circle, the other person will naturally want to know what you are.

This doesn’t mean everyone is rushing to get married, young people in major cities are highly career-focused and independent. However, they do value intentionality over endless ambiguity. If you try to keep things in a permanent situationship while enjoying all the perks of a relationship, it will likely be read as a lack of seriousness, and they will simply move on.

Dating in Vietnam can be warm, funny, generous, and occasionally overwhelming, mostly because relationships here sit between many different cultural expectations at once. The rules are rapidly changing, but they haven’t disappeared. Perhaps the biggest misunderstanding of all is thinking there is a single, fixed rulebook. There isn’t.

Instead, it’s a mix of group chats, motorbike rides, late-night phở, and many small gestures that mean more than they first appear. Good luck out there!

Why Many Foreigners Ride Illegally In Vietnam Without Realizing It?

Bảo Anh — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 02:49:11 +0000

For many visitors, riding a motorbike is the quintessential Vietnam experience. The country has more than 70 million registered motorcycles, and in cities like Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, two wheels are the fastest way to navigate vibrant urban hubs.

Renting a bike is deceptively simple. You can walk into almost any rental shop with a passport, leave a deposit, and hit the road within minutes. However, renting a vehicle is not the same as riding it legally.

Every year, countless tourists, digital nomads, expats, and overseas Vietnamese assume that because a rental shop handed them the keys, they must also have the legal right to ride.

In reality, Vietnam's licensing rules are shaped by international treaties, domestic regulations, and different requirements depending on who you are and where your licence was issued. The result is a system that's surprisingly easy to misunderstand which can lead to serious consequences if something goes wrong.

The Rental Shop Isn't Checking Whether You're Legal

Motorbike rentals are easy to find across Vietnam, but few shops verify whether customers hold a licence that's actually valid to ride. | Source: Vietnam Motorbike Rental

Unlike renting a car in many countries, scooter rentals in Vietnam are largely built around convenience. Rental businesses may ask to see your passport, keep it as a deposit, or request your home-country driving licence. Their priority is ensuring the bike comes back, not determining whether every customer satisfies Vietnamese licensing regulations.

This dynamic creates a massive misconception among visitors who assume that vehicle access equals legal permission. The law does not operate that way; your legal status is determined entirely by your licence, not by a rental agreement.

"I Have An International Licence."

Ask a group of travelers whether they have an "international driver's licence," and many will confidently say yes. Yet two people carrying documents that look almost identical can have completely different legal standing in Vietnam.

Vietnam recognizes International Driving Permits (IDPs) issued under the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. If you're visiting Vietnam temporarily and hold a valid motorcycle licence from home together with a qualifying 1968 IDP, you can generally ride without obtaining a Vietnamese licence.

However, not every country issues a 1968 IDP. Several countries,including the United States and Canada, primarily issue permits based on the older 1949 Geneva Convention, which Vietnam does not recognize. This means a traveler may possess what they genuinely believe is a valid international driving permit, only to discover that it has no legal effect in Vietnam.

Vietnam recognizes International Driving Permits (IDPs) issued under the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, but not those issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention. | Source: International Driving Permit

The issue is further complicated by websites selling unofficial "International Driving Licences," which are merely novelty translations with no legal standing.

Tourists, Expats, And Việt Kiều Don't All Follow The Same Rules

Another reason for the confusion is that not every foreign rider falls into the same legal category.

Short-term visitors are generally concerned with whether their home licence and international permit are recognized.

Long-term residents, however, often have another option: converting an eligible foreign licence into a Vietnamese one. If their existing motorcycle licence meets Vietnam's requirements, many can obtain a local licence without taking a full driving test.

Those who don't already hold a recognized motorcycle licence, or whose licence cannot be converted must instead obtain a Vietnamese licence by passing both the theory and practical examinations.

Then there are overseas Vietnamese, commonly known as Việt Kiều. Many assume that being ethnically Vietnamese automatically changes the rules. In reality, what matters isn't heritage but legal status. Someone who still holds Vietnamese citizenship is generally treated differently from a foreign national entering Vietnam on another passport. Two people who both identify as Việt Kiều may therefore follow entirely different licensing procedures.

Getting A Vietnamese Licence Isn't As Intimidating As Many Think, Until The Theory Test

For foreigners who do need a Vietnamese licence, the process can be more manageable than it first appears.

The motorcycle licence examination consists of two parts: a multiple-choice theory test covering Vietnamese traffic laws and road signs, followed by a practical riding assessment on a closed course. Candidates navigate a figure-eight, narrow lanes, uneven surfaces, and other controlled obstacles designed to assess basic vehicle handling rather than real-world traffic situations.

Candidates navigate a figure-eight in a practical riding test. | Source: DC Motorbikes

But for many foreigners, the real challenge is the theory exam. The test includes 250 questions and is currently available only in Vietnamese, which means candidates need more than a basic ability to memorize road signs. They must be able to read and understand written traffic scenarios well enough to analyse them correctly. As a result, many rely on help from Vietnamese spouses or friends, or enrol in dedicated preparation classes just to pass.

Those who already possess an eligible foreign motorcycle licence may avoid the testing process altogether by converting their existing licence instead.

The Biggest Risk Isn't The Traffic Police

While riders often focus on police checks and fines, the most significant risk occurs after an accident. Most travel and medical insurance policies strictly require the policyholder to hold a locally valid driver's licence.

If you are riding illegally under Vietnamese law, your insurer can reject claims for medical treatment, bike damage, or third-party liability. A simple paperwork oversight can instantly turn into a devastating financial burden, a reality many riders only discover when it is too late.

Riding Legally Starts Before You Start The Engine

Motorbikes remain the ultimate way to experience Vietnam, whether wandering through the limestone mountains of Hà Giang or following the curves of the Hải Vân Pass. Yet the era of expats simply relying on home-country licences or hoping to avoid police stops is changing.

Motorbikes remain the ultimate way to experience Vietnam. | Source: VNExpress

Driving schools and testing centres in major cities report a sharp increase in foreign applicants. In Da Nang, intakes that once attracted fewer than ten foreigners now regularly see forty to fifty candidates, while enrollment in Ho Chi Minh City has roughly doubled.

This shift highlights a changing reality: as Vietnam attracts more long-term residents looking to settle in legally, stricter traffic enforcement is pushing riders to secure a licence that stands up to both police inspections and crucial insurance claims after an accident.

Ultimately, the conversation is moving past whether you can rent a bike to whether you can ride it legally. Many in the expat community are now hoping for a system that better reflects Vietnam's growing international population, such as official English-language theory exams and integration into the country's expanding VNeID platform.

Until then, the responsibility still falls on riders themselves. While getting the keys can take five minutes, making sure you're legally entitled to use them deserves a little longer.

Three Off-The-Track Stays To Keep In Mind This Summer

Hao Tran — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 11:48:41 +0000

Vietnam's coast and highlands fill up fast in summer, but the most rewarding stays are rarely the ones trending on your feed. Three properties are worth the detour this season: one a quiet veteran that has aged beautifully, one a brand-new mountain experiment, and one that has not even opened its doors yet. Here is where to point your attention.

Banyan Tree Lang Co

Start here, because Banyan Tree Lang Co has quietly become one of the most assured luxury stays in central Vietnam without ever shouting about it. Tucked into the Laguna Lăng Cô destination between Huế and Da Nang, with the East Sea on one side and the Trường Sơn mountains on the other, it is the kind of sleepy address that rewards travelers who want heritage and calm over crowds. The resort is now 13 years strong, and that longevity shows in ways glossier newcomers cannot fake.

Source: Banyan Tree Lang Co

The clearest sign is the staff. More than half of the team has been here since opening day, and most are drawn from the surrounding Lăng Cô area rather than imported from elsewhere. That continuity translates into a fluency of service that feels genuine rather than rehearsed. People remember returning guests, they know the land, and they carry a quiet pride in the place. When a resort keeps its people for over a decade, you feel it in every interaction.

The accommodation leans into space. These are expansive pool villas, generous in footprint and built for the kind of slow, unhurried stay the location invites. You are not perched in a tower stacked above hundreds of rooms. You get room to breathe, a private pool, and the sense that the resort was designed for unwinding rather than churning through bookings.

The activity that locals and repeat guests single out is the jet ski tour, and not for the adrenaline alone. The route takes you out across the lagoon and past the working neighborhoods that ring the water, so you glimpse everyday central Vietnamese life rather than a manicured resort bubble. It is a rare luxury experience that points outward toward the community instead of sealing you off from it. Pair that with the resort's water sports center, wellness sessions, and the heritage appeal of nearby Huế and Hội An, and you have a stay that feels rooted in its place. For a summer that balances polish with authenticity, Lang Co is the safe, soulful choice.

Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges

Auko is now bookable, and that is exactly why it belongs on this list. Set in Phong Nha, on the edge of the Phong Nha–Kẻ Bàng UNESCO World Heritage area and within reach of Sơn Đoòng, the largest cave on earth, it is arriving in one of the most dramatic landscapes Vietnam has to offer. Bookings are open for stays from 20 July, so now is the moment to get it on your radar before word travels.

Source: Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges

The pedigree is the reassuring part. Auko is managed by Lumina Wellbeing, the same wellness hospitality management company behind the acclaimed Namia River Retreat in Hội An. They have already shown they can build a wellness property with real depth rather than spa-menu gloss, and they are now bringing that philosophy into a wilder, more elemental setting. Namia River Retreat sits gently on the Thu Bồn River. Phong Nha gives Auko jungle, limestone, and cave country to work with, which is a far bolder canvas.

Source: Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges

The concept matches the ambition. Auko is being positioned as an all-inclusive eco-wellness retreat, with a small collection of eco-tented lodges, forest-to-table dining, and wellness pathways designed around the surrounding wilderness rather than imposed on top of it. The emphasis is on regenerative, low-impact hospitality, the sort of thing that is easy to claim and hard to deliver, which is why the Namia track record matters. If they pull it off, this becomes a benchmark for what conscious luxury can look like in Vietnam.

For travelers, the appeal is the combination you rarely find in one place: serious wellness programming, genuine ecological intent, and direct access to a landscape most people only see on a day trip. Phong Nha has long been treated as a quick stop on the way somewhere else. Auko is betting that people will want to stay, slow down, and let the wilderness do the work. Keep it bookmarked, and consider being among the first in when reservations open.

Garrya Mù Cang Chải

The third is the most adventurous pick, and the most honest to call a work in progress. Garrya Mù Cang Chải is a new brand from Banyan Group, the same parent behind Lang Co, and it is still finding its feet. That is not a knock. It is simply the reality of a young property in a remote, demanding location, and travelers who go in with the right expectations will be rewarded for getting there early.

Source: Garrya Mù Cang Chải

The setting alone justifies the journey. The resort sits about 1,000 meters above sea level, overlooking the sculpted rice terraces of Mù Cang Chải in Yên Bái province, an agricultural landscape shaped over generations by H'Mong communities and now recognized as national heritage. It is roughly a five-hour drive from Hanoi, which keeps casual crowds away and means the views are earned. This is northern Vietnam at its most photogenic, especially as the terraces shift color through the season.

Source: Garrya Mù Cang Chải

The design is a genuine talking point. Garrya bills this as one of the world's largest bamboo-structured retreats, with architecture that appears almost carved from the hillside and interiors that weave in H'Mong brocade motifs. The wellness program draws on Banyan's pillars of wellbeing, with barefoot meditation, trekking through the terraces, beeswax painting workshops, and charcoal-fired dining among the offerings. As a new operation in a hard-to-reach spot, the service and logistics are still maturing, so this suits the curious traveler more than the comfort-seeker. But for anyone who wants a stay with a real sense of discovery this summer, a brand still defining itself in a landscape this striking is a compelling gamble.

A Sensory Guide To Fighting Mosquitoes The Vietnamese Way

Lê Lang — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 01:03:00 +0000

There are two things you should know about mosquitoes in Vietnam.

First, they are not a summer problem, but a year-round fact of life, like motorbikes, or iced coffee. Second, summer is when they get ambitious. The rain comes harder, the air gets thicker, and suddenly every dinner, café catch-up, and pre-bed scroll session turns into a side quest: kill the mosquito before it gets you first.

Heavy chemical sprays are rarely the best solution here. If you want real protection, it is time to fight exactly the way locals do: through a unique sensory ecosystem of sharp reflexes, traditional aromas, and daily rituals.

1. The Sound: Vợt Muỗi As A Household Sport

If there is one sound that belongs in the Vietnamese summer hall of fame, it is the sharp electric tách of a mosquito getting zapped mid-air.

The vợt muỗi (electric mosquito swatter) usually leans against a wall, rests beside the TV, or waits near the dining table. The moment a mosquito appears, someone is already on their feet, racket in hand.

Two types of swatter in Vietnam. | Source: Gi Home

It can look, from a distance, like a local summer sport more culturally rooted than pickleball, but the performance itself is simple: one quick swing, one tiny electric crackle, and suddenly the mood of the whole room improves.

Please don't do this if you don't want to appear on local newspaper. | Source: VTC News

2. The Scent Map of Mosquito Season

Mosquito defense in Vietnam has a distinct olfactory library. Each aroma reveals exactly where you are, who you are with, and how serious the situation is.

Pomelo Peel Smoke (Vỏ Bưởi)

Dried pomelo peels are placed around the house or lightly burned to release a bitter citrus smoke that helps keep mosquitoes away. | Source: Bách Hóa Xanh / VPC

The most nostalgic method relies on dried pomelo peel (vỏ bưởi), burned slowly so the smoke drifts under tables and across courtyards. It is common in garden cafés and backyard family gatherings. The aroma is bitter, smoky, and earthy, with a faint underlying sweetness. It feels less like a modern wellness product and more like practical, old-school comfort.

Mosquito Coils (Nhang Muỗi)

A mosquito coil is a slow-burning spiral that releases repellent smoke, usually used in small rooms, balconies, or outdoor corners. | Source: Người Lao Động

A staple in countryside homes and traditional bedrooms, the spiral nhang muỗi carries a distinctly spiritual side effect: lighting one instantly makes a bedroom smell like a small temple. Whether it is an airtight defense or a fragrant placebo, the heavy incense scent provides a powerful psychological shield that allows everyone to rest easy.

Aerosol Sprays (Thuốc Xịt Muỗi)

For many households, aerosol sprays remain the quickest way to clear mosquitoes from a room before bedtime.

Modern households rely heavily on aerosol defense. Anyone who grew up here remembers legacy sprays with aggressively synthetic citrus scents. Fortunately, advanced odorless formulas have largely taken over, saving bedrooms from smelling like a chemical plant. Still, the ritual remains unchanged: spray the room, shut the door, and let the air clear before entering.

Anti-Mosquito Creams (Thuốc Bôi)

Repellent lotions are rubbed onto exposed skin before mosquito-heavy evenings; brands like Soffell have become familiar in many Vietnamese homes. | Source: Tripi

The final scent layer lives directly on the skin. Brands like Soffell and Remos dominate the market. These sharp, medicinal lotions are applied directly to ankles, calves, and wrists before heading out to dinner. It is the scent of accepting reality: your body now carries its own little protective force field.

The Ultimate Milestone

True integration into Vietnamese life is not just about navigating chaotic motorbike traffic; it is about how you react to a buzz at 10 p.m.

Seasoned residents no longer play the victim. You learn to locate the vợt muỗi without looking, know exactly which corners need a pre-bed spray, and remember which family member keeps the cream in their bag. The defense becomes an unconscious, background habit running through every evening.

What looks like a quirky household routine to an outsider is actually a necessary masterclass in community health and adaptation.

Vigilance Wrapped in Ritual

This collective vigilance is born from a serious reality. Dengue fever is a severe, year-round threat that peaks during the rainy months between June and October. Health authorities reported a sharp surge in 2026, with over 50,000 cases recorded in the first five months alone, marking a significant increase from previous years. At its worst, the virus can cause severe illness and lengthy hospitalizations.

This reality turns simple household habits into vital lines of defense. Armed with an electric racket, a smoldering coil, and a bottle of lotion, locals transform a public health necessity into a graceful daily routine. It proves that the best way to handle a persistent threat is to meet it with practical tools, and sometimes, shared humor.

What A Silver Medal At IWSC For Vietnamese Vodka Really Tells Us

Hao Tran — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 07:30:00 +0000

When I read that Nhậu Vodka and Nhậu Com had both earned Silver Medals with 93 points at the International Wine & Spirit Competition, my first reaction was not about the medals. It was about the method. The IWSC has been running since 1969, and its judges score blind. No country of origin on the table, no founder story whispered in advance, no flag to wave. Just the liquid, evaluated for quality, balance, and technical execution by people who taste the best in the world for a living. That is the part that matters to me.

At IWSC 2026, Nhậu Vodka and Nhậu Cốm were both recognized with Silver Medals and 93-point scores in a blind judging setting.

For years, the quiet assumption about Vietnamese products, including by many Vietnamese, has been that “local” means “almost as good.” Good enough for the home market, good enough at a lower price, but not quite ready to stand next to the established names. A blind tasting strips that assumption away. When the judges did not know they were drinking something distilled from Mekong rice, made by a young brand from Ho Chi Minh City, they still gave it 93 points. The product spoke for itself, and what it said was that the gap we assumed existed is smaller than we thought, or in this case, not there at all.

I want to be careful not to overclaim. A Silver Medal is a strong result, not a coronation. Nhậu is among the first Vietnamese vodka expressions to be recognized at this level, which makes it a milestone, not a finish line. But milestones matter precisely because they reset what people believe is possible. Once one Vietnamese spirit proves it can be judged on equal terms and hold its own, the next conversation with an importer, a distributor, or a skeptical buyer starts from a different place. The burden of proof shifts.

What I find most interesting is the consistency. Two expressions, both scoring exactly 93. The standard vodka and the pandan version landed at the same level. Anyone can get lucky once with a single hero product. Repeatability across a portfolio is a different signal. It points to process, to control over the distillation, to a team that understands what it is making rather than stumbling onto a good batch. That is the difference between a novelty and a category that can actually scale.

Can a Vietnamese spirit grow beyond one hero bottle?

There is also something I love about the choice of name. Nhậu is one of those Vietnamese words that does not translate cleanly. It is the act of gathering to eat, to drink, and to share stories, the loosening of the room after the first round, the conversation that runs later than planned. Building a premium spirit around that idea is a genuinely Vietnamese proposition, not a Western template with a local label glued on top. The brand is not asking the world to accept Vietnam as a cheaper version of somewhere else. It is offering something the world does not already have, distilled from rice drawn from over 1,600 varieties in the Mekong delta. Origin is not a marketing footnote here. It is the product.

Nhậu is less a drink than a social setting: food, friends, rounds, and stories that run later than planned.

This is the pattern I keep watching for across Vietnamese business. For a long time our competitive story was cost. We were the affordable factory floor, the value option, the place you came to save money. The more durable story, the one that actually builds lasting brands and margins, is craft and identity. It is harder to copy a culture than to copy a price. A vodka that wins on blind quality while carrying an unmistakably Vietnamese idea is a small but precise example of that shift, and it is the version of “Made in Vietnam” I want to see more of.

The bottle brings the story back to a larger question: what can a Vietnamese-made spirit say when it travels beyond the local market?

So I am paying attention to what comes next. The brand says it is now talking to international importers and distribution partners. That is the real test. Awards open doors, but distribution, consistency at volume, and patience are what turn a promising bottle into a category the world takes seriously. Japanese whisky did not become a global benchmark overnight, and it did not get there on one medal. It got there because the quality kept showing up, year after year, until the doubt simply ran out.

Ninety-three points, judged blind, is a good place to start that argument. The harder and more exciting work is everything that has to follow.

18+ Drink Responsibly.
Please do not share with those under legal drinking age.

voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang Introduces “Rhythm By The Bay” And The Show Restaurant

Cao Vy — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 09:30:00 +0000

voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang introduces “Rhythm by the Bay”, a month-long program created for its June Wellness Month, also in celebration of Global Wellness Day and International Day of Yoga. As part of the program, the hotel also launched The Show restaurant with “Symphony of the Bay”, a dining experience that combines food, entertainment, and multi-sensory storytelling.

Through a series of wellness activities, creative experiences, yoga, sound meditation, and a special show-dining evening, “Rhythm by the Bay” reflects the hotel’s growing focus on experiences that bring together wellness, culture, dining, and entertainment. The program also offers a more approachable view of wellness, where well-being can be supported through everyday choices, not only through short retreats or holidays.

Ocean-inspired Wellness

In celebration of Global Wellness Day 2026 and its 15th anniversary theme #JoyMagenta, voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang partnered with Rainbow Divers Vietnam (PADI) and Evolve Wellness Center, the hotel’s in-house destination for recovery and renewal, to introduce a series of joy-led activities.

At the wellness area on Level 05 and the Infini Bleu infinity pool, guests were invited to take part in scuba diving activities, enjoy the water, and reconnect with a sense of freedom through gentle underwater movement. The journey continued at the Evolve Wellness Center, where refined, private spaces and tailored experiences catered to each guest’s needs for relaxation and rejuvenation as part of a signature wellness experience.

Together, these activities share a simple idea: wellness can begin with small moments of joy, whether through movement, rest, body care, or connection with nature.

Movement, Breath, And Creativity

One of the highlights of the program was a creative wellness journey led by Henri Hubert, Global Wellness Day Ambassador in Vietnam. The journey brought participants through different touchpoints across the hotel, from the comfort of the guestroom and the gym to music, movement with singer Doan Trang, and a farm-to-table-inspired experience with fresh ingredients.

Each activity introduced a different way to approach wellness, showing how well-being can be part of daily life through mindful and intentional choices. | Source: voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang

The program continued with a sunrise yoga session and sound meditation led by Yoga Pod Saigon, set against the view of Nha Trang Bay. In the spirit of International Day of Yoga, the session offered guests a quiet moment to listen to their bodies, connect with nature, and experience wellness as a gentle habit for long-term well-being.

Introducing The Show With “Symphony Of The Bay”

Source: voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang

As “Rhythm by the Bay” came to a close, voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang introduced The Show, a new restaurant built around the concept of show-dining, where food is paired with live artistic performances. Designed to change with different themes, The Show invites guests into a multi-sensory dining experience where each dish becomes part of a larger story.

Source: voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang

Speaking about the idea behind The Show, Justin Malcolm, General Manager of voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang, shared: “From the very beginning, when we envisioned this dining concept, we wanted to create an experience that could only be found at voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang. The launch of The Show is therefore a meaningful milestone for us, marking the beginning of our journey to bring guests memorable moments through gastronomy, art, and emotion.”

Source: voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang

The launch evening introduced its first chapter, “Symphony of the Bay”, bringing guests into an ocean-inspired world through a blend of music, stage performances, magic, and dining. The restaurant was transformed into a lively stage, with the kitchen also becoming part of the experience.

The seven-course menu was created by Chef Huy Tran, Executive Chef of voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang; Chef Sakal Phoeung, President of Disciples Escoffier Vietnam; Chef Pierre Meneau; Chef Galli Gilles; Chef Tsuruhara Shozo; Chef Olivier Genique; and Chef Kiet Huynh, under the guidance of Tracie May in the role of the mermaid guardian of Scenia Bay. Combining French culinary techniques with local flavors, each chef brought a distinct perspective to the menu, together creating a dining story inspired by Nha Trang Bay.

The evening also included the induction ceremony of Disciples Escoffier Vietnam in Nha Trang, adding a meaningful culinary moment to the launch of The Show.

Source: voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang

Chef Sakal Phoeung shared: “It is a great pleasure to be in Nha Trang alongside other talented chefs. Traditional French cuisine provides a strong foundation, but it is people and the passion for cooking that truly bring each dish to life. We are here to continue sharing the spirit of the association through training, guidance, and the exchange of culinary techniques and values with the next generation of chefs.”

“Symphony of the Bay” marks only the opening chapter of The Show’s story. With new themed evenings and culinary collaborations planned across the year ahead, The Show at voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang is set to become a defining fixture on Nha Trang’s dining and entertainment calendar. For upcoming event dates and reservations, guests are invited to follow the official hotel fanpage or contact the hotel directly.

More than a series of wellness activities, “Rhythm by the Bay” reflects voco™ Scenia Bay Nha Trang’s broader interest in creating meaningful guest experiences along Vietnam’s South Central Coast. By bringing together wellness, culture, dining, and entertainment, the program presents Scenia Bay as a destination where guests can pause, explore, participate, and enjoy the vibrant energy of northern Nha Trang.

About voco™ hotels

Designed to stand out with its own distinctive character, voco hotels is IHG’s fastest-growing premium brand, offering stays that are both reliable and individual. Each voco hotel has its own unique identity while carrying the trust of a global hospitality brand. Built around three brand hallmarks “Come on in”, “Me time”, and “voco life” voco creates welcoming, relaxed, and engaging spaces for guests.For more information and reservations, please visit www.vocohotels.com/sceniabay

The Free Bus Era Is Expanding In Hanoi And Ho Chi Minh City

Anh Trang — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have announced free bus travel within the cities, starting July 1. The policy is to encourage greater use of public transportation, helping ease traffic congestion and promote greener mobility as Vietnam's two largest cities work to cut emissions in line with the government's Directive No. 20.

Accordingly, Ho Chi Minh City will offer free rides on 134 bus routes across the city, while Hanoi will waive fares on bus routes operating within and across Ring Road 1. Here's a guide to the fare-free routes, along with key things to know before traveling around the two cities by bus.

Ho Chi Minh City: route from Ho Chi Minh to Vung Tau will not be covered

From July 1 to December 31 2026, Ho Chi Minh City will fully subsidize bus fares on 134 intra-city routes, including services operating in the newly merged areas of Binh Duong and Ba Ria–Vung Tau.

The final list includes 134 routes, one fewer than the 135 routes originally proposed to the City People's Council in June. Bus Route 172, which runs from centre Ho Chi Minh City to Vung Tau, is not covered by the fare-free policy, since the nearly 100-kilometer route passes through Dong Nai Province.

Route no 172 from Ho Chi Minh City to Vung Tau

The fare-free bus program will be rolled out in two phases.

In the first phase (starting from July 1 to September 30), buses travel will be free with no identity verification or registration required.
During this period, the city will focus on encouraging residents to use public buses while completing its passenger database, digital infrastructure and electronic ticketing system.

In the second phase (starting from October 1 to December 31): The free fare policy will be linked to passenger verification or identification through methods such as national ID cards, the VNeID digital identity app, bank cards, e-wallets and the MultiGo app. Separate guidelines will be issued for seniors, people with disabilities, children, school and university students, visitors and other special groups to ensure convenient access while supporting efficient program administration.

Hanoi: Travel to and from Ring Road 1 will be free

The Hanoi People's Committee has approved a policy to waive fares on regular public bus services operating within Ring Road 1 from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027. The fare exemption does not apply to tourist or commercial buses.

Under the policy, free bus travel will apply to passengers whose journeys begin and end within Ring Road 1. Trips that pass through the area without stopping will not be eligible for the fare exemption.

Buses in Hanoi. | Source: Lao Dong

To implement the policy, the city will introduce an electronic ticketing system which can calculate travel distances and automatically apply the fare-free zone.

The city will also waive fares on regular public buses (excluding tourist bus services) and the urban railway network across Hanoi during public holidays, Lunar New Year and major political or social events of national or municipal significance through December 31, 2030.

How to make the most of Vietnam's free bus policies

The fare-free schemes make it easier for both residents and tourists to explore Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City by public transport.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the Sai Gon Bus Station on Pham Ngu Lao Street in Ben Thanh Ward serves as one of the city's main bus hubs. From there, passengers can reach popular destinations including the City Opera House (Route 155), Tan Son Nhat Airport (Route 109), Can Gio (Route 75) and the Cu Chi Tunnels (Route 13).

Bus route no 109 from central Ho Chi Minh City to Tan Son Nhat Airport

Meanwhile, in Hanoi, 45 bus routes operate within Ring Road 1. Several of them stop in the Old Quarter and at major attractions in the city centre, including Routes E02, E05, 09A and 09B.

Passenger can plan their journeys using BusMap – a dedicated public transportation app in Hanoi; or Multi Go – Ho Chi Minh City's integrated public transport platform that combines buses, Metro Line 1 and other transport services. The apps also help passengers identify bus-to-metro connections, making it easier to continue their journeys without relying on private vehicles.

Officials hope the fare-free programs will encourage more people to switch from motorbikes and cars to public transport, while strengthening connections between bus networks and urban rail systems as Vietnam expands its public transportation infrastructure.

Officials hope the fare-free programs will encourage more people to switch from motorbikes and cars to public transport. | Source: thanglong.chinhphu

Vietnam Accelerates AI Adoption, Green SM Expands B2B, VC Funds Face Pressure To Return Capital

Genesia Ventures — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Vietnam Records Southeast Asia's Second-Highest AI Adoption Rate

Vietnam recorded the second-highest AI adoption rate in Southeast Asia in the first quarter of 2026, with 26.5% of its working-age population using AI, according to Microsoft's Global AI Diffusion Report. The country ranked behind only Singapore (63.4%) and ahead of Malaysia (21.8%), the Philippines (20.1%), and Thailand (12.4%). During the quarter, Vietnam also posted the region's largest increase in AI adoption, rising 3% points from the previous period and reinforcing its position as one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing AI markets.

The rapid pace of adoption reflects Vietnam's growing readiness to embrace AI across both business and society. AI usage increased steadily from 21.2% in the first half of 2025 to 26.5% in Q1 2026, supported by strong engagement from businesses, developers, educational institutions, and public-sector organizations in applying AI to improve productivity and drive innovation.

Logos of some AI apps on a smartphone, March 2026. | Source: VnExpress

The report also highlights Asia as a global AI growth engine, with 12 of the world's 15 fastest-growing AI economies located in the region. Against this backdrop, Vietnam is well positioned to benefit from the next wave of AI-driven economic growth, backed by an expanding technology ecosystem and a growing pool of digital talent. As AI adoption continues to accelerate, the country's next challenge will be translating widespread usage into productivity gains, innovation, and globally competitive AI-powered products and businesses.

Green SM Partners RouteMatic To Expand EV Fleet Services In India

Green SM has partnered with RouteMatic, one of India's leading corporate mobility providers, to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles in enterprise transportation. Under the agreement, Green SM's EV fleet will be integrated into RouteMatic's employee transportation services, giving the Vietnamese mobility company access to a broad enterprise customer base while supporting India's transition toward sustainable transportation.

The partnership builds on Green SM's official entry into the Indian market on June 5, when the company launched operations in the Delhi-NCR region with the VinFast Limo Green electric SUV. RouteMatic currently serves more than 400 enterprises across 24 cities, facilitating over 5 million rides each month and supporting more than 300,000 employees. By leveraging this network, Green SM is expected to strengthen its presence in India's corporate mobility sector through strategic ecosystem partnerships.

Executives of Green SM, representatives from the Government of India, the Embassy of Vietnam in India and invited guests officially launched Green SM's electric taxi service in India. | Source: Thanh Tra Newspaper

The collaboration also aligns with India's broader push to electrify commercial vehicle fleets, particularly under Delhi's proposed EV Policy 2.0. Backed by VinFast's manufacturing footprint in India, including its Tamil Nadu assembly plant with an annual production capacity of 50,000 vehicles, Green SM is well positioned to support long-term expansion in the market while combining local market access with Vietnamese EV technology and manufacturing capabilities.

Da Nang Unveils Incentives To Attract AI And Semiconductor Talent

Da Nang has introduced a new incentive framework to attract high-quality talent and accelerate the development of its semiconductor and artificial intelligence industries. The initiative targets global experts, researchers, strategic business partners, educational institutions, and organizations involved in talent development, reflecting the city's broader strategy to strengthen its position as one of Vietnam's leading technology and innovation hubs while addressing the growing demand for skilled professionals.

Under the policy, qualified experts in semiconductors and AI will receive a one-time incentive of VND100 million after 12 months of employment, along with accommodation support of up to VND20 million per month. Eligibility is based on demonstrated expertise and experience, including research achievements, intellectual property, income level, or advanced academic qualifications. The city also offers incentives for research activities, including support of up to VND50 million for international patents.

Infrastructure at Da Nang Software Park No. 2 is being completed to attract investment. | Source: Brand & Public Opinion E-Magazine

Beyond individual talent, the framework extends support to strategic partner companies. Businesses can receive subsidies covering 30% of the cost of hiring highly qualified professionals during their first five years, subject to annual funding caps. Through these measures, Da Nang aims to strengthen its advanced technology capabilities, foster innovation, and capitalize on opportunities arising from the global growth of the semiconductor and AI industries.

LPs Push VC Funds For Earlier Capital Returns

Limited partners (LPs) are placing greater emphasis on early cash distributions, making Distributed to Paid-In Capital (DPI) an increasingly important measure of venture fund performance in a slower exit environment. Several investors said general partners (GPs) should actively pursue opportunities to return capital to LPs, even if that means accepting lower valuations in certain transactions. However, they stressed that short-term liquidity should not come at the expense of venture capital's long-term value creation, which is typically driven by a small number of exceptional portfolio companies.

Monthly Net Capital Inflows and Outflows. | Source: FiinPro-X Platform

To balance liquidity with long-term upside, Ascend Vietnam Ventures (AVV) highlighted the importance of a staged secondary strategy that allows funds to generate cash returns while maintaining exposure to high-performing companies. At the same time, growth-stage investing is gaining traction as it offers clearer pathways to capital realization and distributions.

Looking ahead, investors believe Vietnam's greatest venture opportunities will come from startups capable of expanding beyond the domestic market, rather than relying solely on local demand. Strong corporate governance and institutionalization are also becoming increasingly important for fundraising, mergers and acquisitions, and successful exits. As Vietnam's venture ecosystem continues to mature, sustained success will depend on long-term capital, stronger infrastructure, scalable businesses, and clear pathways to liquidity while maintaining a long-term investment perspective.

From July 1, 2026: 4 Legal Changes Foreigners And Viet Overseas Should Know

Lê Lang — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 04:50:48 +0000

1. Entering Vietnam? Public health rules have changed

Six years after COVID-19 upended international travel, Vietnam is introducing a new legal framework for disease prevention.

The Law on Disease Prevention, which takes effect on July 1, formally incorporates many of the lessons learned during the pandemic. For travelers, the biggest takeaway is that health declarations can now be required electronically whenever authorities determine there is a public health risk. Instead of relying on temporary emergency measures, Vietnam now has a permanent legal basis for implementing border health controls when necessary.

That does not mean travelers should expect to complete a health declaration every time they enter the country. Rather, the law gives authorities a clear framework to react quickly during future outbreaks without creating entirely new regulations each time.

For tourists, business travelers and overseas Vietnamese returning home, the practical advice remains simple: before flying, check whether any health declaration or disease-control requirements have been activated for your destination.

For travelers, the main change is not a daily new form, but a clearer legal basis for health checks when risks emerge. | Source: VnExpress International

2. Selling online? Vietnam now has its first dedicated E-commerce Law

Whether you’re running a small business through Facebook Marketplace, selling handmade products on Instagram or operating a TikTok Shop, Vietnam’s new E-commerce Law is worth paying attention to.

For years, online commerce in Vietnam has been regulated through a patchwork of decrees and circulars. The new law consolidates those rules while introducing clearer responsibilities for both sellers and digital platforms.

The legislation strengthens consumer protection, requires greater transparency from online marketplaces and establishes clearer accountability for platform operators. It also reflects the reality that e-commerce is no longer a niche industry but a core part of Vietnam’s economy.

For foreign entrepreneurs and digital nomads operating online businesses, the message is straightforward: selling online in Vietnam is becoming more regulated, and platforms are expected to play a much bigger role in ensuring compliance.

3. Government services are becoming more digital

Vietnam has spent years digitizing public services, but the new Digital Transformation Law provides a legal foundation for that effort.

The law supports wider use of digital identity, electronic documents and online public services across government agencies. While the changes won’t happen overnight, they signal a future where administrative procedures increasingly move away from paper forms and in-person visits.

For foreigners living in Vietnam, that could eventually make routine tasks, from administrative registrations to interactions with government offices, more convenient and more standardized.

Anyone who has spent a morning moving between government counters with multiple photocopies of the same document can appreciate why this matters.

For foreigners living in Vietnam, digital public services could eventually mean fewer photocopies, counters, and repeated forms. | Source: Vietnam.vn

4. Vietnam’s embassies are taking on a new mission

Vietnam’s overseas representative offices are no longer focused solely on diplomacy and consular services.

Under the amended Law on Vietnamese Representative Missions Abroad, embassies and consulates are expected to play a broader role in promoting Vietnamese culture, attracting investment, supporting science and innovation, and strengthening ties with overseas Vietnamese communities.

The shift reflects Vietnam’s broader ambitions on the global stage. Rather than serving only as diplomatic outposts, overseas missions are increasingly expected to help connect businesses, universities, researchers and investors while showcasing Vietnam as a destination for trade, tourism and talent.

For overseas Vietnamese, the law signals stronger engagement with diaspora communities. For foreign businesses and investors, it points to a more proactive approach to economic diplomacy, where Vietnam’s embassies play a greater role in building commercial and cultural bridges.

Vietnam Isn’t Playing In The World Cup. Why Is Everyone Up At 3 A.M.?

Anh Trang — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:37:28 +0000

Dozens of people gathered at a café – rather than in their living rooms–to watch the World Cup Round of 32 clash between Germany and Paraguay in Ho Chi Minh City. The café would normally be closed at that hour, but its owner has extended operating hours to 24/7 throughout the tournament to accommodate football fans eager to catch the late-night matches.

“We’ve seen customer numbers increase by 50% to 70% during the World Cup,” the owner told Tuoi Tre.

Vietnam’s love for football is most visible whenever the national team takes the field. Yet every four years, another tournament captures the country’s attention on a similar scale. During the World Cup, millions of Vietnamese stay up through the night, fill cafés, and gather in public spaces to watch matches—even though Vietnam has never qualified for the tournament.

Vietnam’s decades-long of “eating and sleeping” with the World Cup

Before live television arrived, the planet’s largest football tournament reached Vietnam through newspaper reports, radio commentaries and occasional highlight reels. Football existed as words, still photographs and voices on the radio. Fans followed scores the next morning, collected newspaper clippings and relied on commentators to recreate matches.

The World Cup’s commentary on newspapers in the 1990s. | Source: Bao Tin Tuc

That changed in 1982, when the World Cup in Spain became the first tournament to be broadcast live on Vietnamese television. For the first time, Vietnamese fans stayed up through the night to watch football unfold in real time. Television sets were still rare, often turning a single living room into a gathering place for an entire neighbourhood. Black-and-white screens, flickering signals and rooftop antennas became defining memories of the country’s earliest live World Cup experience.

Over the following decades, live coverage became more reliable as Vietnam Television (VTV) and Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV) expanded their broadcasts. The World Cup gradually evolved from a rare television event into a four-year ritual. Families planned their evenings around kick-off times, while newspapers published fixtures, player profiles and collectable posters that were hung on café walls, office noticeboards and living-room doors.

The World Cup commentary on HTV in the 1980s. | Source: Tuoi Tre

The 2002 World Cup, co-hosted by Japan and South Korea, marked another turning point. With matches played in a similar time zone, the tournament felt closer than ever to Vietnamese audiences. Cafés stayed open late, public screenings became increasingly common, and brands began embracing the World Cup as one of the country’s biggest consumer events.

By 2014, high-definition broadcasts had transformed the viewing experience, while the 2022 tournament ushered in a multi-platform era, allowing fans to watch matches on television, mobile apps and streaming services simultaneously.

Yet despite four decades of technological change, every four years, Vietnam adjusts its rhythm to the World Cup. Streets grow quieter during kick-off, cafés stay open past midnight, and millions of people gather to share football’s biggest spectacle.

More than football: Why do Vietnamese people love the World Cup?

Why World Cup is popular in Vietnam partly because football is the country’s most popular sport. Football requires little equipment, can be played almost anywhere from schoolyards to narrow alleyways, and its straightforward rules make it accessible even to casual spectators. As the World Cup brings together the world’s greatest players and national teams, it becomes an ultimate showcase of a sport generations of Vietnamese have grown up with.

Unlike domestic leagues or the UEFA Champions League, which return every season, the World Cup arrives only once every four years. The long wait gives each edition the anticipation of a festival, which many Vietnamese call it as Tết bóng đá (Tết for football).

The long wait gives each edition the anticipation of a festival, which many Vietnamese call it as Tết bóng đá (Tết for football). | Source: Dan Viet

For many, the tournament also serves as a measure of time. Vietnamese fans often say that they “count their age in World Cups,” recalling each tournament alongside milestones in their own lives—the year they graduated, started a new job, fell in love, got married, or watched the matches with their children for the first time. Every tournament carries not only memories of unforgettable goals and dramatic upsets, but also snapshots of personal lives unfolding alongside football’s biggest stage.

Perhaps that is why the World Cup resonates even with people who rarely follow football during the rest of the year. A 2022 survey found that 81% of 595 Vietnamese respondents said they were interested in or followed the FIFA World Cup, making Vietnam the second most enthusiastic World Cup audience in the Asia-Pacific region, behind only Indonesia (83%).

In Vietnam, the World Cup is no longer just a sporting event. It is a recurring cultural moment—one that connects generations, creates collective memories, and reminds millions why football remains the country’s most beloved game.

A unique glimpse into Vietnamese culture

While the matches take place thousands of kilometres away, visitors can experience the excitement of the FIFA World Cup right in the heart of Vietnam. More than a global sporting event, the tournament has become a local cultural phenomenon—one that offers travellers a unique glimpse into Vietnam’s passion for football.

The World Cup reshapes the country’s nightlife. Activities that normally belong to the daytime spill well past midnight as cafés, restaurants, sports bars, rooftop venues and beer halls stay open for live screenings. Football-themed decorations, score prediction games and tournament promotions turn venues into lively gathering spots, where locals and visitors cheer, debate and celebrate side by side.

Football theme decoration in a cafe in Go Vap, Ho Chi Minh City. | Source: Tuoi Tre

For travellers, joining a World Cup watch party is one of the easiest ways to experience Vietnam’s social culture. Many foreign visitors are impressed with the vibrant atmosphere and Vietnam’s strong affection for the World Cup.

During the 2022 tournament, for example, Ho Chi Minh City’s Bùi Viện Walking Street came alive as supporters from around the world gathered to watch matches together. Flags from different nations flew side by side, conversations shifted effortlessly between languages, and cheers echoed through the streets with every goal.

Perhaps that is what the World Cup has come to mean in Vietnam. Beyond the goals, the trophies and the final whistle, it is the memories that last. Watching the World Cup in Vietnam is more than watching football. It is joining a tradition that generations of Vietnamese have embraced as their own.

Flags of all countries were raised on Bui Vien street during the World Cup. | Source: Thanh Nien

A Photographer’s Favorite Places For Street Photography In Saigon

Adrien Jean — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Saigon never ceases to amaze the French photographer Adrien Jean and he never gets tired of roaming the streets in search for unique stories and characters. Here is the list of Adrien's favorite areas in this vibrant city.

Cho Lon

Without surprise, the home of Saigon’s once-large ethnic Chinese community, ‘Chợ Lớn’, literally meaning “Big Market”, is one of my favorite areas for street photography. It still bears traces of this history, with plenty of Mandarin signage, dim sum stalls and an assembly hall built by immigrants from the north. The atmospheric Chinatown is a great playground for street photographers on my Down in Chinatown sunrise photography tour.

Chanh Hung, Binh Dong, and Phu Dinh Ward (The Old District 8)

District 8 is a largely residential area characterized by canals and rivers, often overlooked by tourists and photographers. An exception is the period before Tet where boats from the Mekong Delta bring flowers along the river. Despite its low profile, District 8 offers an interesting scene for street photographers, showcasing a blend of traditional and modern Vietnamese culture.

Dien Hong, Hoa Hung, and Vuon Lai Ward (The Old District 10)

The old District 10 has become slowly but surely one of my favorite areas to photograph in Saigon. The district holds a unique local charm and quieter streets compared to its more frenetic neighbors, making it an ideal spot to experience the city from a local perspective. There is also something really cinematic in the old buildings and markets I love exploring on my Rise and shine in an enchanted maze sunrise photography tour.

Thanh Da

Binh Quoi is one of Saigon's best-kept secrets: an island nestled within the bustling metropolis, connected to the city by a single bridge. The residential area at the island's entrance encapsulates all that defines Saigon – a vibrant market surrounded by historic apartment buildings, a tranquil park where adults gather for exercise and jogging, and cozy coffee shops where locals gather to exchange the latest neighborhood news. Thanh Da is part of my Explore an island of wonders sunset photography tour.

Thu Thiem

Also part of my Explore an island of wonders sunset photography tour, the Thu Thiem Peninsula is one of the most fascinating areas to document in the city due to its rapid transformation, especially since the completion of the new Ba Son bridge in late 2023. The Thu Thiem New Urban Area, designated as the city's new financial and innovation hub, will radically alter the landscape of this neighborhood. But for now, family still gather by the river at sunset for kite-flying, a cherished childhood pastime for many Saigonese, or simply to revel in quality family time.

Railway District

Starting from the train station and following the railway tracks is the promise of an exhilarating and fun adventure in Saigon. Keep going and you will arrive in a quieter part of the city I haven’t been exploring as much as I wish but which is like a snapshot from bygone times and a great area to discover the real Saigon and capture local people’s daily life.

Xom Chieu, Khanh Hoi, and Vinh Hoi Ward (The Old District 4)

Historically, the old District 4 was a slum area that became a crime hotspot under the reign of infamous gangster Nam Cam, also known as the ‘Godfather of Saigon’. It is nowadays a safe and vibrant urban area known for its bustling streets, lively markets and street food. With its rich cultural heritage and energetic atmosphere, District 4 offers a glimpse into the dynamic life of the city and has become one of my favorite district to explore on my Step into Saigon unseen morning photography tour.

Vietnam’s Metro Race Is Finally Underway

Anh Trang — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On June 22, Hanoi simultaneously broke ground on five new metro lines, with a total investment of VND 1.3 quadrillion (about US$50 billion). According to Vu Dai Thang, Chairman of Hanoi’s People's Committee, this is the largest-ever metro development programme for the city, marking a transition from constructing individual metro lines to building an integrated, citywide network.

The move comes as Ho Chi Minh City also aims to complete 200 kilometres of metro lines by 2030. While the first metro line in both cities took more than a decade to complete, the simultaneous launch of multiple projects signals a shift from years of slow metro development to an unprecedented construction push.

The extended metro network by 2030

Hanoi currently has two metro lines in operation: the Cat Linh–Ha Dong Line and the elevated section of the Nhon–Hanoi Railway Station Line. Under the capital's 100-year master plan, the city aims to develop an 18-line urban railway network spanning approximately 979 kilometres.

The plan targets completing around 500 kilometres of metro lines by 2035, with the remaining network to be built between 2035 and 2045.

On June 22, 2026, Hanoi simultaneously broke ground on five new metro lines with a combined length of more than 300 kilometres. The projects are expected to be substantially completed by 2030.

Once completed, the five lines will connect key transport hubs and emerging urban centres, including Noi Bai International Airport, Hanoi Railway Station, the Ngoc Hoi transport hub, Hoa Lac, Thu Lam, Co Loa and Ocean Park.

Map of 5 new metro lines in Hanoi. | Source: Hanoimoi

Meanwhile, in May 2026, through Resolution No. 09-NQ/TW, the Politburo directed Ho Chi Minh City to complete around 200 kilometres of metro lines by 2030 and finish its urban rail network by 2045.

That means the city must build more than 180 additional kilometres of metro within the next 4 years, while the 20-kilometre Metro Line 1 (Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien) took almost two decades to complete and enter operation.

Ho Chi Minh City has already broken ground on several new projects, including the 11-kilometre Ben Thanh–Tham Luong section of Metro Line 2, the approximately 54-kilometre Ben Thanh–Can Gio line, and the six-kilometre Ben Thanh–Thu Thiem section of Metro Line 2.

The city also plans to begin construction on four more rail projects this year: the roughly 48-kilometre Thu Thiem–Long Thanh railway; the Binh Duong New City–Suoi Tien line; Phase 1 of Metro Line 6, connecting Tan Son Nhat International Airport and Phu Huu over 22 kilometres; and the Thu Dau Mot–Ho Chi Minh City railway.

Ho Chi Minh City aims to complete 200 kilometres of metro lines by 2030. | Source: Lao Dong

Why do Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City accelerate expanding metro networks?

Beyond the immediate benefits of easing traffic congestion and improving air quality, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are accelerating metro development in response to broader strategic pressures.

In Hanoi, the capital's 100-year master plan envisions a comprehensive metro network that is expected to reshape population distribution and the city's property market. To ensure these long-term planning goals are realised before the next development cycle, the city is under pressure to accelerate construction.

For Ho Chi Minh City, the metro expansion is more than a transport project—it is a real test of whether recent institutional reforms can deliver faster infrastructure development.

The city has been granted two landmark policy frameworks: Resolution 98, which gives it greater autonomy over planning, land use and transit-oriented development (TOD), and Resolution 188, which introduces special mechanisms for financing, technology, procurement and strategic investors for urban rail projects. Together, the two resolutions are intended to address the planning and regulatory bottlenecks that contributed to Metro Line 1 taking nearly two decades to complete.

Metro Line 1, which takes 20 years to complete. | Source: Thanh Nien

Resolution 188 also gives Ho Chi Minh City unprecedented flexibility in mobilising capital and delivering metro projects, but those advantages depend on timely implementation. Whether the city can translate these new powers into completed metro lines by 2030 will determine its ability to carry the projects in favour of the reform.

Metro expansion is also critical to supporting broader economic development. In Ho Chi Minh City, the rail network needs to keep pace with the opening of Long Thanh International Airport to maximise regional connectivity. Both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City see metro systems as the backbone of a transition from monocentric urban growth to multi-centre metropolitan regions capable of sustaining future investment.

“Vietnam needs to move beyond a single-centre urban model and develop well-connected, multi-centre cities. Otherwise, investors may look elsewhere, and economic growth could suffer. If Vietnam wants to prosper, it cannot afford such a long time,” said Marc Townsend, Senior Advisor at Arcadia Consulting Vietnam, to Nhip Cau Dau Tu.

The unprecedented challenge

Experts have described the goal of completing 200–300 kilometres of metro lines within the next four years as “an unprecedented challenge.”

For Ho Chi Minh City, the scale of the challenge remains immense. According to economist Dr Tran Du Lich, delivering 355 kilometres of metro lines within the next decade would require the city to complete around 35 kilometres of urban railway every year—a pace that would be difficult even for countries with far more experience in metro construction.

Analysts stressed that the focus should not be on questioning the target, but on identifying the obstacles and finding solutions. While Resolution 188 provides a new institutional framework, the city must also overhaul its implementation model, project management and administrative approach. "If we continue with the old procedures, Ho Chi Minh City is unlikely to achieve its goal of building 355 kilometres of urban rail within 10 years," said Nguyen Trong Hoai , Professor and former Vice President of the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City.

To build 355 kilometres of metro lines within 4 years is the “unprecedented challenges”. | Source: NLĐ

In Hanoi, meanwhile, experts have described the simultaneous construction of five metro lines as a breakthrough, marking a shift from building isolated rail projects to developing an integrated urban transport network.

Hanoi’s metro lines face challenges beyond construction delays: interoperability. Existing and planned metro lines are being built using different technical standards and technologies. The Cat Linh–Ha Dong line uses Chinese technology, the Nhon–Hanoi Railway Station line follows European standards, while the Nam Thang Long–Tran Hung Dao line is expected to adopt Japanese technology. Differences in rolling stock, signalling systems, control technologies and maintenance standards make seamless integration more difficult.

Each line in Hanoi uses different standards and technologies. | Source: CafeF

The result is that even physically adjacent lines are not always well connected. For example, Cat Linh Station and Station S10 on the Nhon–Hanoi Railway Station line are only a few hundred metres apart, yet passengers must walk through surrounding streets to transfer because no direct interchange has been built.

As a result, Hanoi’s challenge is not only delivering hundreds of kilometres of new metro lines on schedule, but also whether the city can integrate those lines into a unified, interoperable network. In that sense, success will be measured not simply by how many kilometres of track are built, but by whether the system functions as a coherent urban railway once it is fully operational.

In that sense, both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are racing against an ambitious deadline while facing unprecedented technical, financial and institutional challenges. Whether the two cities can translate their ambitions into functioning metro systems that ease congestion, support economic growth and reshape urban development remains a question that only time can answer.

Could both cities deliver the projects and the qualities on time? | Source: VTV

Behind A Quiet Door, Antonio De Torres Is Building Vietnam’s New Language Of Luxury

Thư Trần — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 02:42:41 +0000

We almost walked past ADT.

From the street, Antonio De Torres’ Atelier does not announce itself like a conventional luxury house. There is no glowing signage, no theatrical glass frontage, no mannequins positioned to perform for passersby. If anything, from the outside, the building could be mistaken for a quiet restaurant - discreet, almost private, as if it were meant to be discovered rather than advertised.

Then the door opened.

Inside, the atmosphere changed immediately. Warm golden light moved across textured fabrics, tailored garments, furniture, art, and interior details arranged with a kind of deliberate restraint. Nothing shouted. Nothing demanded attention. Yet everything seemed considered.

It was an appropriate beginning to a conversation with Antonio De Torres, Antonio De Torres Creative Director & Chief Visionary Officer, about a deeper shift taking place in luxury, away from the accumulation of recognizable names, and toward something more personal, more private, and more difficult to imitate: taste.

The Private Door Buzzer at ADT's Bespoke Atelier.

Bespoke As A Personal Language

For many people, bespoke still means tailoring. A suit made to measure. A better fit. A more personal garment.

At ADT, however, a suit is only the opening sentence. When a client enters the atelier, Antonio does not begin by reading the usual signals of wealth. Not the watch. Not the car. Not the brands already worn. Those details may say something, but rarely enough.

What matters more is the first conversation.

Who is this person? What world do they move in?

How do they want to be perceived?

Do they already understand luxury, or are they just beginning to build that language for themselves?

Are they here simply for a suit, or are they searching for a more complete image of who they are becoming?

For Antonio, luxury is not something people strictly need. It is something they desire because they want an object, a space, or an experience made specifically for their life.

That is why bespoke, in his view, cannot stop at measurements, shoulder lines, or fabric choices. It touches presence. It touches identity. It touches the way a person enters a room and how they are remembered after they leave it.

A suit, then, is not merely clothing. It is visual language.

The Natural Link Between Apparel & Interiors

ADT began with bespoke menswear, but Antonio never saw clothing as separate from the rest of a person’s life. To him, the way a man dresses and the way he lives often come from the same instinct: the desire to express identity through proportion, material, discipline, and taste.

That philosophy eventually led ADT into interiors in 2018. For Antonio, it was not a pivot. It was a natural expansion.

Apparel and interiors, he argues, are parallel worlds. One works with the body - silhouette, posture, fabric, movement. The other works with space - lighting, furniture, materials, art, flooring, atmosphere. But both are ultimately concerned with proportion. Both require restraint. Both reveal how a person sees himself and how he wants to be seen.

Song Hong Elite Business Lounge.

ADT Hai Duong Hideaway Collection

Among ADT’s notable interior projects are the SH Elites Luxury Business Lounge Projects at Noi Bai & Tan Son Nhats International & Domestic Airports & and the Hai Duong Hideaway Compound, both of which reflect the company’s growing ambition to build world class environments rather than simply design rooms.

A suit shapes the way someone enters a room. A home reveals the world they return to.

“If people see the outside,” Antonio said, “what does the inside guy look like?”

That question has become central to ADT’s evolution. The company no longer treats bespoke menswear and interiors as separate stories. When a client moves beyond buying a single suit and begins building a wardrobe, ADT often finds itself helping shape a broader lifestyle of image. From there, the living space becomes a natural extension.

Clients do not come to ADT only for products. They come for a certain “gu” - a way of seeing, choosing, editing, and composing a life into one coherent world.

From Brand-Name Hoarding To Bespoke Curation

For decades, luxury was easy to read. A logo, a famous house, a visible signature, these were the symbols that quickly communicated status, wealth, and belonging.

Antonio believes that language is changing.

He sees luxury consumers in Vietnam becoming more educated, more internationally exposed, and more confident in their own preferences. They still care about quality. They still understand status. But increasingly, they do not want to express those things in the most obvious way.

A large logo is no longer the only way to communicate success. In some circles, it may not even be the most persuasive one.

“If I’m going to spend a huge amount of money on clothing,” Antonio said, “wouldn’t it make more sense that it is actually made for me?”

For Antonio, this is why luxury cannot be reduced to a logo or a price tag.

“Luxury is a myth,” he said.

It is a striking statement from someone who has spent much of his career building within the luxury world. But what he means is that luxury is never created by price alone. It is created by belief, by scarcity, by craftsmanship, by context, and by the emotional meaning attached to an object.

A person can purchase expensive things and still fail to create a beautiful life. Without taste, the picture can fall apart.
That, for Antonio, is the shift from brand-name hoarding to bespoke curation. Instead of accumulating recognizable products, clients are beginning to curate a personal world: garments, interiors, objects, and experiences that reflect who they are, rather than simply what they can afford.

In an era increasingly shaped by digital images, artificial content, and algorithmic sameness, the physical world has taken on new importance. The handmade, the tailored, the weight of fabric, the grain of wood, the quiet confidence of a room - these things offer a kind of grounding.

“AI can design a garment or write a story,” Antonio noted, “but it cannot replicate human taste or touch. That is why hard, physical products - custom furniture, hand-stitched garments - are where craftsmanship remains safe.”

Money can buy products.

Taste turns those products into a way of living.

ADT store entry.

ADT At The Intersection Of Fashion, Space, And Lifestyle

Antonio believes ADT occupies a relatively new position in Vietnam: between bespoke apparel, interiors, and luxury living.
That position makes the company difficult to define in traditional terms. It is not only a tailoring atelier. It is not simply an interior studio. It is becoming a bespoke lifestyle house - one where clothing, space, and taste are treated as parts of the same larger conversation.

The ADT story, then, is not only about a beautiful suit. It is about the person who wears it, the room he walks into, the home he returns to, the objects he chooses to live with, and the sensibility that connects all of it.

In a market that has often learned to read luxury through surface signals, ADT is choosing a quieter language.
Less logo.
Less display.
Less need to impress from the door.

Perhaps that is why almost walking past ADT felt like such a fitting beginning. The new luxury does not always introduce itself with a glowing sign. Sometimes, it waits behind a quiet door, in a room of warm light, where every detail has already been considered.

Interviewed by Thư Trần and Gấm Võ.

Vietnam’s Tropical Storm Season Is Running Late, And That's Not Necessarily Good News

Tùng Thư — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 10:25:37 +0000

The arrival of Tropical Storm Maysak in Biển Đông earlier this month marked a deceptively quiet start to Vietnam’s 2026 typhoon season. Developing nearly a month later than the historical average, the storm's delayed debut might tempt summer travelers into a false sense of security.

Fewer storms typically imply fewer canceled flights and a smoother summer vacation. However, meteorologists warn that a lower aggregate number of tropical storms does not automatically translate to a safer season. A single storm can still bring days of heavy rain, flash floods, landslides, and transportation delays across parts of Vietnam.

Why Did Vietnam’s First Tropical Storm Arrive So Late This Year?

Vietnam’s first named storm, internationally known as Maysak, formed in early July after weeks of relatively calm weather over Biển Đông. According to Vietnamese meteorological agencies, this delayed start is linked to the current transition of the ENSO climate pattern. As the Pacific Ocean shifts from weak La Niña conditions toward a more neutral phase, atmospheric conditions become less favorable for tropical storm formation during the early part of the season.

Maysak became Vietnam’s first storm of 2026 in early July, nearly a month later than the usual start of the season. | Source: Vietnam.vn

Climate experts also expect 2026 to see fewer tropical storms than average, especially if El Niño conditions strengthen later in the year. However, fewer storms does not mean travelers can stop monitoring the forecast.

Why A Quieter Season Can Be More Dangerous?

Trần Island in Cô Tô Special Zone, Quảng Ninh Province, was flooded after Typhoon Maysak, showing how a quieter season can still turn disruptive when one storm brings enough rain to expose coastal communities. | Source: Vietnam News

Scenes from Hainan Island, China, where Typhoon Maysak made landfall with strong winds, heavy rain, and major transport disruption.

Modern tropical storms are increasingly defying historical precedents. Recent data shows that the primary threat to life and infrastructure in Vietnam is no longer just high wind speeds at landfall, but the intense, localized rainfall that follows.

The delayed season makes this danger even worse. Because the monsoon rains arrived weeks late, much of Vietnam’s terrain has endured an extended period of intense seasonal heat and drought. When heavy rain hits this dry, hard ground, the soil cannot absorb the water, making it act like concrete. This triggers rapid, severe surface runoff, turning even moderate storms into catalysts for disaster.

Consequently, slow-moving systems that dump vast volumes of water over short periods pose an escalated threat, dramatically heightening the risk of:

Flash floods and landslides in the mountainous northern and central highlands, where drought-weakened hillsides quickly liquefy and give way under sudden downpours.
Severe urban waterlogging in coastal hubs and major cities, as overtaxed drainage systems are instantly overwhelmed by the immediate runoff.
Logistical standstills, including the suspension of cruise overnights in Ha Long Bay, ferry closures to islands like Phu Quoc, and sudden domestic flight groundings.

As Typhoon Maysak neared Vietnam’s northern coast, Quang Ninh suspended vessel operations and paused Co To Island tours. | Source: Vietnam.vn

For travelers navigating the country between July and November, a moderate, unnamed tropical depression striking a drought-parched landscape can trigger localized infrastructure collapses just as effectively as a major typhoon.

How To Prepare And Stay Informed?

Traveling safely in Vietnam from July to November means staying flexible. Don't stick to fixed plans. Instead, use these steps to stay informed and plan your day during the rainy season:

1. Diversify your news sources

Do not rely solely on international weather apps, which often fail to capture the immediate micro-climatic shifts of Southeast Asian storms.

Local English-Language Media: Follow established local outlets as they provide rapid, English-language translations of official government weather warnings, road closures, and flood alerts.
Official Meteorological Data: Bookmark the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF) website for the most accurate, localized track maps.

2. Monitor diplomatic channels

Foreign embassies routinely issue real-time safety alerts that bypass standard news cycles.

Your Home Embassy: Prior to arrival, register with your home country’s travel notification system (such as STEP for US citizens) and follow your embassy or ambassador’s official social media accounts on Facebook or X (formerly Twitter).
The Backup Plan: If your home country does not maintain an active, real-time social media presence in Vietnam, monitor the accounts of major diplomatic missions known for highly active crisis communications, such as the UK, Australian, or US embassies. Alternatively, follow the updates from Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) channels.

3. Tap into ground-level networks

In a rapidly evolving weather event, official press releases can lag behind reality.

Expat and Traveler Communities: Localized Facebook groups and forums dedicated to regions like Hanoi, Da Nang, Hoi An, or Saigon are invaluable resources.
Real-Time Intel: Locals and long-term expats frequently post live updates regarding which streets are flooded, whether local ferries to islands like Phu Quoc are operating, and which train routes are experiencing mudslide delays.

4. Pack for absolute climate resilience

When a tropical depression hits, infrastructure can buckle quickly. Your day pack should always feature essential gear to manage sudden inundation:

Professional-Grade Rainwear: Swap cheap disposable plastic ponchos for a high-quality, breathable, windproof raincoat or heavy-duty poncho that can protect both you and your luggage.
Waterproofing Essentials: Keep electronics, passports, and vital documents in certified dry bags or heavy-duty Ziploc bags.
Power and Connectivity: Carry a fully charged, high-capacity power bank. Heavy downpours can trigger localized power outages, making your phone your only lifeline for maps, translation, and emergency contact.
Footwear Strategy: Pack quick-drying, high-traction sandals or waterproof trail shoes. Flooded urban streets can hide open drains and debris, making flip-flops highly impractical and dangerous.

Adapting To Less Predictable Weather

Storm preparation in Vietnam moves through official channels first, from boat recalls to evacuation and rescue planning. | Source: VietnamPlus

The delayed arrival of the first tropical storm should not discourage anyone from visiting Vietnam. The country remains a year-round destination, and millions of international visitors travel safely during the rainy season every year by adopting a more flexible approach to their schedules. Vietnamese airlines and tour operators are highly accustomed to these patterns, routinely adjusting travel schedules in real-time as storms approach.

Ultimately, a delayed storm season is a reminder of a broader global trend: climate change is decoupling weather events from their traditional calendars. A slow start does not guarantee a quiet finish. For anyone looking to explore Vietnam over the coming months, flexibility—rather than relying on historical weather averages—remains the most critical asset.

Flavors Vietnam 2026 Returns With A New Role In Vietnam’s F&B Culture

Thư Trần — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:40:41 +0000

Over the past decade, Vietnam’s F&B scene has changed in many ways. The market has become more competitive, and consumers have become more thoughtful about what they expect from a brand. Good food and drinks still matter, but so do the overall experience, quality, story, and sense of connection that a brand can offer.

This shift can be seen in both directions. Vietnamese brands such as Highlands Coffee, Pizza 4P’s, and Cộng Cà Phê have expanded beyond Vietnam, bringing local F&B concepts closer to international audiences. At the same time, Vietnam has received more attention through platforms such as the Michelin Guide, Asia’s 50 Best Bars, and The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Some F&B brands associated with Vietnam, such as Highlands Coffee, Pizza 4P’s, and Cộng Cà Phê, have expanded their presence into international markets, helping bring Vietnamese food and beverage experiences closer to global diners. | Source: Jennifer Nguyen for Vietcetera.

Alongside this, a new generation of restaurants, bars, chefs, bartenders, and F&B professionals is finding new ways to tell Vietnamese stories through food, drinks, spaces, and experiences. Instead of focusing only on service, they are also exploring culture, design, hospitality, and identity through every detail.

As food and drink become more closely connected to lifestyle and culture, F&B has become one of the ways Vietnam shares its story with the world.

Flavors Vietnam 2026 returns in that context.

A Strategic Shift For Flavors

Looking back, Flavors has grown alongside the evolution of Vietnam’s F&B industry.

The journey began in 2018 with the Vietnam Restaurant & Bar Awards, also known as the Bánh Mì Awards, created to recognize outstanding individuals and brands in the industry.

The distinctive “bánh mì” trophy of the Vietnam Restaurant & Bar Awards.

In 2020, Flavors expanded into professional conversations through the Vietnam F&B Conference, where experts, businesses, and industry professionals came together to discuss the movements, challenges, and opportunities shaping the sector.

In 2020, Flavors expanded with the Vietnam F&B Conference, creating a space for professional dialogue and industry-wide solutions.

From 2022 to 2023, Flavors developed into a wider annual platform with several pillars, including the Vietnam F&B Conference, Vietnam Restaurant & Bar Awards, Vietnam Restaurant Week, Vietnam Bar Week, and Rising Chefs Challenge. What started as an awards platform gradually became a space that connected chefs, bartenders, restaurants, bars, brands, and the wider F&B community.

From 2022 to 2023, it developed into a multi-pillar annual series, including awards, urban experience weeks, and a young talent competition.

In 2024, Flavors continued to open up more public experiences through Flavors Bar Week, Flavors Conference, Flavors Awards, and Flavors Vietnam 2024 x HOZO International Food Fest. These activities showed how Flavors was growing beyond recognition alone, creating more ways for audiences to take part in Vietnam’s food and drink culture.

In 2024, Flavors expanded its public community experience touchpoints with Flavors Vietnam 2024 x HOZO International Food Fest.

In 2026, Flavors officially returns with a refreshed identity and new positioning: Vietnam’s F&B Culture Platform.

This marks a strategic shift from “Celebrate” to “Shape Culture.”

From 2018 to 2025, Flavors established itself as a media-event platform that celebrated excellence through stories, awards, festivals, and experiences, recognizing the people and brands shaping Vietnam’s F&B landscape.

In 2026, Flavors expands its role beyond recognition. By connecting chefs, brands, creators, producers, and communities, Flavors becomes a platform that fosters collaboration, inspires new ideas, and contributes to the evolution of Vietnam’s F&B culture.

Instead of only recognizing existing achievements, Flavors becomes a shared space where culture is celebrated, ideas are exchanged, and the industry continues to evolve.

What’s New About The Flavors Identity?

The new role of Flavors is reflected in its refreshed visual identity. Inspired by the way flavors move, blend, and change in everyday life, the new identity uses soft, organic, and flexible forms.

Each curve suggests openness, movement, and adaptability, reflecting a culture that is constantly shaped by different people, ideas, and experiences.

The Flavors logo still keeps familiar references to Vietnamese cuisine, including rice, bánh mì, a plate, scallions, herbs, and the warmth of the kitchen fire. In this new version, these details are not only symbols of heritage. They also become starting points for a wider story: Vietnam’s F&B culture is always moving, growing, and being continued by the people of today.

This refreshed identity is not just a visual update. It also marks the way Flavors sees its role in Vietnam’s F&B ecosystem moving forward.

While taking on a new look, the Flavors logo still retains familiar references to Vietnamese cuisine: the grain of rice, the bánh mì, the plate, scallions, fresh herbs, and the warmth of the kitchen fire.

Flavors 2026 Theme: “Thời Vị” – The Flavors Of Our Time

This season, Flavors is guided by the theme “Thời Vị” – The Flavors of Our Time.

Theme “Thời Vị” – The Flavors of Our Time

In Vietnamese...

“Thời” refers to time, season, era, and moments. It suggests the imprint of each generation and the context of the time they live in.
“Vị” means taste, flavor, essence, and also position. It carries both the identity a generation leaves behind and the place that identity holds in culture.

“Thời Vị,” therefore, is not only about the food or drinks of today. It is about the mark each generation leaves behind through the way they cook, drink, gather, experience, and tell stories about their culture.

There is a Vietnamese saying: “Ăn theo thuở, ở theo thì,” meaning every era has its own way of living and tasting. The bowl of phở we eat today carries different textures from the phở remembered by previous generations. The bánh mì, once shaped by French influence, has now become an unmistakable symbol of Vietnam.

Every familiar tradition today was once an act of innovation in the past. Culture does not stand still. It continues to evolve as different “flavors” coexist, influence one another, and are passed on to the next generation.

Three Movements Bringing “Thời Vị” To Life

To bring the spirit of “Thời Vị” into real life, Flavors 2026 will be built around three key movements: Discover - Connect - Shape.

1. Discovery Through Flavors Week

Flavors Week brings the public closer to the flavors, stories, and personalities shaping Vietnam’s F&B culture today.

Through limited-edition menus, participating venues, curated guides, and the partnership with Royal Arctika, Flavors Week invites consumers to discover the people, places, and experiences that define the rhythm of Vietnam’s food and drink scene today.

It is a space for audiences to explore bar culture, contemporary drinking experiences, and selected urban destinations in a more accessible and engaging way.

2. Connection Through Rising Chefs Challenge And Flavors Awards

Rising Chefs Challenge creates a platform for the next generation of chefs, where memories, identities, and the spirit of the times are transformed into new expressions of Vietnamese cuisine.

It gives emerging chefs the opportunity to show their creativity, gain visibility, access mentorship, and connect with leading chefs, restaurants, brands, and the wider F&B community.

Flavors Awards, on the other hand, recognizes outstanding restaurants, bars, chefs, bartenders, brands, and talents across Vietnam. More than an awards ceremony, it gives talents and businesses greater visibility within the community, helping them reach new audiences, attract collaborators, and become part of the conversations shaping Vietnam’s F&B culture.

One opens the way for new talent. The other recognizes the people, places, and ideas that are contributing to the current shape of Vietnam’s F&B industry.

3. Shaping The Future Through Flavors Conference

Flavors Conference is a flagship gathering that brings together chefs, founders, operators, brands, creators, and experts to exchange perspectives, spark conversations, and explore the emerging ideas, movements, and cultural shifts shaping the flavors of our time.

Through keynotes, panel discussions, fireside chats, workshops, and networking sessions, the conference creates space for forward-thinking ideas and meaningful connections.

It looks at shifts in taste, consumer behavior, drinking and dining culture, and the broader F&B market, turning these conversations into perspectives that can inspire future collaborations and real industry progress.

From public experiences to professional conversations, from a platform for emerging talent to an annual awards program, Flavors 2026 does not only introduce “Thời Vị” as a theme. It creates an ecosystem where that spirit can be discovered, shared, experienced, and carried forward in Vietnam’s F&B culture.

This return also affirms Flavors’ new role: a platform that connects the F&B community, opens up new ideas, and contributes to the next chapter of Vietnam’s food and drink culture.

Follow the Flavors collection for the latest stories, people, and experiences shaping Vietnam’s F&B culture today.

Flavors Vietnam 2026 Kicks Off With "Thời Vị" - The Flavors Of Our Time

Nhật Hạ — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 04:21:30 +0000

Flavors Vietnam is Vietcetera’s annual F&B platform, created to celebrate the people, places, and ideas shaping Vietnam’s food and drink culture. In 2026, Flavors Vietnam continues its journey with a refreshed identity and a new theme for the season.

Under the theme “Thời Vị” - The Flavors of Our Time, Flavors Vietnam 2026 looks at how every era leaves behind its own flavor. “Thời” speaks to the time, context, and moments that shape a generation, while “vị” refers to taste, identity, essence, and the cultural position that Vietnam’s F&B scene continues to build.

From traditional culinary heritage and new interpretations of food and drink, to the chefs, bartenders, restaurants, bars, and brands defining how we eat and drink today, Flavors Vietnam 2026 invites the community to discover, connect, and shape the next chapter of Vietnam’s F&B culture.

What’s Happening At Flavors Vietnam 2026?

The Flavors Vietnam 2026 journey will unfold through four key activities, bringing together industry professionals, tastemakers, and the wider community of food and drink lovers.

1. Rising Chefs Challenge: July 11 - August 28

Opening Flavors Vietnam 2026 is the Rising Chefs Challenge, a creative platform for young chefs who want to tell their stories through Vietnamese cuisine.

With the themes “The Dish That Made You” and “The Dish That Makes You,” the competition invites contestants to look back at the roots that shaped them, then turn memory, regional identity, and personal vision into new expressions of Vietnamese cuisine.

The winning dish of the Rising Chefs Challenge 2023 champion. | Source: Vietcetera

Contestants will begin with the online application round, officially opening on July 12, before going through the judging process. The selected finalists will then move on to the cook-off round, taking place on August 28 in Ho Chi Minh City.

More than a cooking competition, Rising Chefs Challenge is also a space for young chefs to gain visibility, receive feedback from industry experts, and connect with chefs, restaurants, brands, and the wider F&B community.

Rising Chefs Challenge 2026 is co-organized with Royal Arctika, bringing more experiences to the program and supporting the celebration of Vietnam’s F&B culture.

To help contestants prepare for their journey, the official Rising Chefs Challenge 2026 landing page now provides full details on the theme, rules, timeline, prizes, and submission guidelines. Learn more here.

2. Flavors Awards: October 1

Flavors Awards is an annual event that honors the individuals, restaurants, bars, brands, and destinations making a meaningful mark on Vietnam’s food and beverage industry.

In 2026, the awards continue to recognize not only excellence, but also the identity, character, and lasting impression that a person or place brings to the community.

It is also a moment for the F&B community to look back at the people and places helping shape the way we eat, drink, gather, and experience hospitality today.

3. Flavors Conference: October 2

Flavors Conference is a professional gathering for chefs, founders, operators, brands, experts, investors, media, and those interested in the future of Vietnam’s F&B industry.

This year’s conference centers on one key question: What makes guests want to come back? Through conversations around experience, trust, customer loyalty, and changing consumer behavior, Flavors Conference creates space for the industry to exchange ideas and discuss how F&B businesses can build more sustainable value.

Alongside talks and panel discussions, the conference also offers opportunities for networking, collaboration, and new partnerships.

4. Flavors Week: September 19 - October 4

Flavors Week is an urban experience series that brings the public closer to bar culture, contemporary drinking, and selected F&B destinations across major cities.

In 2024, visitors enjoyed food and drinks from more than 60 booths on Nguyen Hue Walking Street. | Source: Vietcetera

Expected to take place in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Nha Trang, Flavors Week will feature selected venues where guests can explore limited menus, tasting activities, happy hour offerings, group experiences, and moments centered around food, drinks, and city life.

Are You Ready For Flavors Vietnam 2026?

In the coming months, Flavors Vietnam will continue to introduce the stories, people, places, and activities that make up the 2026 season.

Flavors Vietnam 2026 is Vietcetera’s annual F&B platform. Under the theme “Thời Vị” - The Flavors of Our Time, the program brings together activities that connect the F&B community, celebrate meaningful contributions, and help shape the future of Vietnam’s food and drink culture.

The Flavors Vietnam 2026 season will run from July to early October, including Rising Chefs Challenge, co-organized with Royal Arctika, Flavors Week, Flavors Awards, Flavors Conference, and a series of editorial stories around the people, places, and experiences creating the flavors of our time.Learn more about Flavors Vietnam 2026 here.

18+ Drink Responsibly.
Please do not share with those under legal drinking age.

International Streets, Vietnamese Names: Marks Of Trade And History

Huy Hoàng — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 07:46:25 +0000

It’s not a rare case for Vietnamese residents and even foreign visitors to see streets with non-native names like Alexandre de Rhodes, Pasteur, or Calmette around the city centers. But, what about international streets that have Vietnamese names on them? How many of them do you know?

This article will explore the stories behind some Vietnamese names on streets in Hong Kong, India, Italy, and many others, and see what such phenomena might give clues about Vietnam’s relationships with the outer world.

Behind The Vietnamese Streets In Hong Kong: A Mark Of Trades

Hong Kong is hundreds of kilometers away from Vietnam, yet there are around 5 streets/roads that might give you flashbacks of Vietnamese destinations. Here’s the list: “Saigon Street”, “Haiphong Road”, “Tonkin Street”, “Hanoi Road”, “Hoi An Street”, and still counting. Before any further details, yes, “Tonkin Street” is actually a Western adaptation of a Vietnamese name: “Đông Kinh” - the former name of Hanoi capital.

Tonkin street (Đông Kinh street) in Hong Kong. | Source: 아카라이브

Historically, Hong Kong was a vibrant trading hub back in the late 19th and 20th centuries, with Vietnam being one of the country’s strategic and important trading partners. This was because during the French colonial period, in order to maintain trading relationships between Vietnam and China, goods went through 2 main routes that connected to Hong Kong: Hai Phong Port and Saigon Port.

In 1909, Hong Kong underwent an event of renaming streets in Kowloon. In this event, to pay tribute to the trading connection, it decided to give 3 of its streets the first-ever Vietnamese names: Haiphong Road, Hanoi Road, and Saigon Street, whose previous names were Elgin Road, East Road, and Third Street, respectively.

POV: You're in Hong Kong but walking on Saigon Street and Hanoi Road. | Source: Facebook Thao Bui

Behind The Vietnamese Streets In Italy & India: A Mark Of History

Not all streets are named after famous destinations; many of them are, in fact, named after one great Vietnamese hero and leader: President Ho Chi Minh, or Uncle Hồ, cherishedly called.

India was the first country to have one of their streets named after Ho Chi Minh: Ho Chi Minh Sarani, Kolkata (previously Harrington Street), where a historic moment was marked. In 1970, during a protest against the brutal aggression of the U.S toward Vietnam in the ongoing war, a group of young demonstrators in Kolkata decided to rename Harrington Street as Ho Chi Minh Sarani. And ironically, the street was also where the U.S. The Consulate General was located at the time, making it both a symbol of anti-colonial resistance and a subtle note of mockery. Years later, the name was officially approved by the Calcutta Municipal Corporation and lived on until today.

In the heart of Kolkata, India, a street was named after Ho Chi Minh in honor of his enduring legacy as an inspiration for national liberation movements. | Source: A memorial plaque dedicated to President Ho Chi Minh on Ho Chi Minh Sarani in Kolkata.

Italy was one of the countries that Ho Chi Minh once lived and worked in the 1930s on his quest for national liberation. His presence there left a strong impression on Italian people with his peace-loving nature, self-determination, and unwavering will to liberate his country. Later on, when the Vietnam revolutions were gaining more and more attention and progress, to send love and advocacy to its people on the land, Italy named many of its streets after Ho Chi Minh. Although exact dates for such naming were not public, 21 is now the number of streets around Italy that have Vietnam’s most revered leader as their name.

The memorial plaque marks the site where President Ho Chi Minh visited during his international activities in the 1930s. | Source: The National Assembly Portal

Italy and India are the primary examples, but, they are not the only ones. Worldwide, over 10 countries have Ho Chi Minh names as their street names: Russia, Cuba, Paris, Angola, Algeria, and Mozambique to name just a few. From such evidence, Ho Chi Minh and his quest were a global phenomenon and an indispensable part of Vietnam’s image to the world.

Why Choose Streets?

Street naming is a common way for commemoration but not the only form. Other forms such as dedicating public spaces or building statues are popularly seen across countries, from Ho Chi Minh Square in Moscow to his bronze statues in Cuba, Venezuela, and Madagascar. However, according to Dr. Yolandi Burger in her research on “The stories in Gauteng’s street names: Street naming as a form of urban storytelling,” street naming is still a powerful move by being both economical yet ordinarily narrative. Undoubtedly, this practice is a simple, down-to-earth, and visual way to pay tribute to historical figures and events. On the other hand, when woven into ordinary spaces, these streets are also a form of storytelling where urban areas share their history, identity, and memories.

Ho Chi Minh Square in Moscow. | Source: Van Hieu/VNA Correspondent in Russia

A Quest For You

Still interested? Apart from the mentioned roads or streets, there are still many international streets with Vietnamese influence that remain unexplored or rather “lowkey”. Here are some streets that you might want to add to your research list or perhaps explore when given a chance:

Viale Nam-Dinh in Italy
Vietnam QuyNhon-gil (베트남퀴논길) in Korea
Rue Bac-Ninh in France

A Bigger Picture Of Streets

Around 5 streets in Hong Kong, over 10 countries that have Ho Chi Minh as the name of a street, and many more to count. Such phenomena can signify a much bigger picture. One is that Vietnamese influence ranges from neighboring countries to global nations, from humble trading partners to a worldwide symbol of anti-colonism. The fact that these partnership ties were bonded in the past and have lasted also evidences Vietnam’s tendency to form long-term and reciprocal relationships with its partner countries. Finally, it is undeniable that Ho Chi Minh’s journey and efforts laid a profound foundation for modern ties between Vietnam and global nations.

Street names may be viewed as ordinary or even trivial, yet under a closer look, they are great storytellers. Through their presence, we know that Vietnam has already been acknowledged internationally, but mostly through its past stories of war and trade. Therefore, one question hangs: what could and will the Vietnamese do today and in the future to honour this significant part of history and also highlight the country’s new and emerging and perhaps global identity?

Between New York’s Sets and Hanoi’s Ghosts: How Distance Made Director Chí Trần "100% Vietnamese"

Thanh Trúc — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

A digital window on Google Meet connects Saigon to a softly lit apartment in New York City. On the other side of the screen, Chí Trần greets us with a relaxed smile and a simple black T-shirt. To his peers back home in Hanoi, Chí’s life looks like the ultimate study-abroad success story: moving to New York, studying media at NYU Steinhardt, working for Disney+, and directing award-winning short films like Visa.

Chí Trần on his graduation day at New York University. | Source: Provided

Yet, beneath the polished professional resume lies a deeper, more fascinating contradiction: the further Chí gets from Vietnam, the more intensely Vietnamese he becomes. Whether he is binging the latest MCK rap album, cooking a steaming pot of phở for his international friends, or drawing film inspiration from traditional Vietnamese funeral rituals, his creative soul remains deeply rooted in Hanoi.

We sat down with Chí via video call to discuss identity, the reality of living abroad, and how the distance taught him to appreciate the steep cultural edge of home.

When you first left Vietnam to pursue film, what were your expectations? And what did success look like to you back then?

It’s funny to look back now, but when I was nine years old, my family visited New York. I wrote a note on Facebook declaring that I was going to attend NYU. Ever since I was four, I knew I wanted to be a director, though I had no idea how to break into the industry. I eventually chose NYU Steinhardt’s Media and Communications program because it was more affordable than Tisch, but my dream of directing never wavered.

Chí Trần behind the camera. | Source: Provided

Before leaving Hanoi, I had a very black-and-white view of success. I believed that if you worked incredibly hard, did everything your parents set out for you, and made all the right moves, you would automatically get rewarded. I prepared my entire young adulthood for New York, believing it was the ultimate destination.

My preparation actually started early in Vietnam. When I was 12, I enrolled in the TPD Center for Youth Filmmaking in Hanoi. My teacher was Bùi Thạc Chuyên, one of the premier Vietnamese directors working today. I did everything from editing documentaries to composing music. During the pandemic, I landed a film development internship at CJ ENM in Ho Chi Minh City. I would work from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and then attend my NYU online classes from 8:00 PM to 3:00 AM. It was an 18-to-19-hour day, but I loved every second of it.

And what was the reality of New York when you actually landed? What did you find challenging?

When I first arrived, it felt amazing. It was like a fish meeting the ocean. I made friends quickly, and it felt like the place I was always meant to be. But New York is also an incredibly costly city.

Chí with his friends. | Source: Provided

My first apartment was a two-bedroom where I lived in the living room with curtains hanging over my space to separate it. I could hear every single person coming in and out, doing everything in the house. I was too embarrassed to ever have friends over because I didn't want them to see how I was living. But I had a view of the city, and it constantly reminded me that no matter what, I was grateful to be there.

I’m really interested in the community you’ve built in New York. Did you seek out Vietnamese circles to remind you of home, or did your friendships mostly form through your work and film circles? Do they feel like a safe space where you can fully be yourself?

That’s a great question, because I’ve always felt like there are two parts of my brain when it comes to that. There’s a part of my brain that hangs out with Vietnamese international students studying at NYU, Columbia, or Pace. And then there’s another part of my brain that hangs out with my film friends and international friends.

Chí (center) with friends and films. | Source: Provided

Because of that, I’ve always had a bit of a split identity. When I’m with my Vietnamese friends, I’m much more Vietnamese. We talk about cultural nuances, or the impact of the new MCK album, without me having to skip a beat or explain the cultural context of everything. With my international friends, it feels like a different version of me—the version that formed after I turned 18. I find myself wanting to learn more about them than talking about myself, so my brain is constantly shifting gears. It’s a strange sensation, and I'm still learning how to balance it.

You’ve mentioned that living in New York has actually made you love and appreciate Vietnam much more. How did that realization happen?

When I lived in Vietnam, my field of vision was very narrow – it was just the path from my house to my school, and from school to my friends' houses. It was a great childhood, but it was only when I moved to the US and looked back that I realized how incredibly privileged I was. I was able to make films and explore my creative side at a young age, while many other kids had fewer opportunities to explore creative pursuits early on.

Being in New York acted as a mirror. I realized that the cultural edge of Vietnam is much steeper than in the US. In the US, you can easily assimilate and migrate into the culture. But in Vietnam, if you don’t understand the deep, unspoken cultural norms, you can easily lose your footing. Learning to navigate that steep cultural landscape gave me the mental flexibility to go to any country, adapt, and be deeply respectful of their perspective and background. It made me appreciate my family, my parents, and my heritage so much more.

Your most successful film, Visa, became a viral hit. Why do you think that story resonated so deeply, and how has it shaped your next projects?

Visa is a dark comedy about an international student at the end of his work visa who tries to get hate-crimed in order to secure a permanent green card. I had that idea in my head for two years because of the increasingly hostile political climate toward Asian people in the US.

When I was making it, I debated whether to make the character Vietnamese or not, because Vietnamese people are very proud. But I chose to be 100% authentic to my own Vietnamese self. Because I stayed true to that, the film became a viral hit on NextShark, Instagram, and YouTube. I received so many DMs from international students sharing their own heart-wrenching visa stories. It taught me that authenticity is a filmmaker's ultimate superpower.

Chí presenting his upcoming film - Inhuman. | Source: Provided

Right now, I have two films in the pipeline. One is a romantic comedy shot on 16mm about a green-card marriage, commissioned by Migrate Mate. The other is a horror film rooted in a deeply personal Vietnamese tradition. When my grandmother passed away, my family was so caught up in the logistics of the funeral that we barely had time to grieve. It made me think about the traditional ritual of guarding the deceased person's body for one night before the burial. It’s a eerie, atmospheric concept, but it's also my way of communicating with my grandmother and honoring my roots.

On the topic of visas, how hard is it to manage a work visa in such an unpredictable industry? Does it ever feel like an anxiety-inducing part of your daily life?

It’s a very funny question, and obviously a sensitive topic with how unpredictable the immigration system can be. Very recently, I was planning a trip to Europe. I'm currently on a STEM OPT extension because my Media and Communications major counts as a STEM subject. To maintain that status, you must work for an E-Verified company. Just two days before my flight, I discovered that the company’s E-Verify status had been temporarily terminated.

My life was set. I had a contract through next year and thought I was completely secure. Suddenly, I was in a panic, emailing and messaging everyone in HR and my boss. It was a rude awakening. You get hit with these moments that remind you: 'You are still just a visitor in this country'. I do intend to go back home to study and learn more later, but that is the quiet reality of being on a work visa.

Is there a support system you can turn to when that reality feels too heavy or isolating?

Honestly, it’s not that hard. I feel like once you have a job, you have a deep responsibility to yourself, to your parents who paid for your education, and to everyone looking up to you. You have to fight for yourself to stay here, because you’re not just living for yourself; you’re living for them too.

And actually, I miss my parents a lot, and I feel guilty all the time. Recently, my sister moved to Singapore, meaning my parents became empty nesters for the first time. I get incredibly anxious thinking, What are they doing? What if they fall? I feel guilty because I haven't been able to make enough money yet to give them an easy, comfortable life, and they are getting older. But I know I have a responsibility to be here and become the person I'm destined to be.

Chí with his mom in Hanoi. | Source: Provided

And I want to be a successful director. To do that I have to hold down a job, have a savings account, and keep health insurance so I don’t have to worry about the basic emergencies of life. When you don't have to stress about the basics, you have the freedom to pursue what you love. So it’s not hard; it’s just that every day brings a new challenge. I just take it in stride and call it a "10% silly tax", you lose a little money or energy, but you keep moving.

Your ultimate goal as a director has evolved. What is "your Vietnam" that you want to put on screen?

I want to make films in Vietnam, about Vietnam, representing a side of our culture that has never been seen before on film. It doesn't have to be a standard coming-of-age drama or a pure commercial comedy. It could be about cooking, food, or the ghosts that lived in my closet when I was little.

The Vietnamese film industry is growing, but it's very fast-paced and financially motivated. Producers often rush screenwriters and jump on whatever genre is lucrative, like horror or comedy. I want to go back and bring a personal, patient, and artistic lens. I want to prove that a Vietnamese filmmaker can tell authentic stories that travel globally.

If all of this—the films, the jobs, the New York life—were to disappear tomorrow, would leaving home and chasing this dream still have been worth it?

Yes, 100%. If everything vanished tomorrow, I would still be incredibly happy with what I’ve done. Had I not left Vietnam for the US, I would not be the person I am today. My films would probably suck because I wouldn't have traveled, made these memories, or experienced these harsh, realistic realizations about how life works. I would have been a very boring person.

When I was 18, I was a very easily overwhelmed person. Now, at 24, New York and this unpredictable industry have taught me radical adaptations. Recently, I was producing a set where we had a major car accident involving seven or eight crew members. Everyone was physically fine, but most of the crew couldn't work for the rest of the day. If I hadn't learned to adapt, the entire production would have fallen apart. Now, you could place me in the middle of a hailstorm and I'd just calmly figure out a way out.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

In five years, I see myself having directed at least one feature film. I want to make a horror film, and I want to shoot a film in Vietnam. But I don’t want to make another “Vietnamese film”. I want to tell my version of Vietnam that I grew up with. It could be about food. It could be about familial ghosts. It could be about my grandmother. Whatever the story is, I want it to feel unmistakably Vietnamese because it’s honest, not because it fits a stereotypical idea of what Vietnam should be.

At 24, Chí celebrates one of his early filmmaking milestones. | Source: Provided

Ultimately, my goal is to travel freely between Vietnam and the US, making authentic, personal films in Vietnam with Hollywood-level production quality. When my name—"Directed by Trần Dân Chí"—appears on the screen, I want the audience to be entertained, to laugh, cry, or be scared. But more than that, I want to show that Asian creators have earned the right to entertain the world in our own mother tongue, and the industry is finally ready to listen.

This interview has been conducted by Tory Trần and Thanh-Trúc.

A 24-hour Trip For A Toy: What Makes Us Travel Today?

Gấm Võ — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 02:37:47 +0000

Somewhere over the two-hour flight, I kept asking myself the same question: what on earth made me decide, in five minutes flat, to fly to Singapore for 24 hours and hop back to Vietnam the very next afternoon?

The answer, I think, comes down to three forces shaping consumer culture today: the rise of purpose-driven travel, the genuine connection in a FOMO economy, and… the stories behind the tears that I’m falling in love with.

The New Currency Of Purpose-Driven Travel

Travel used to mean meticulous planning: food, accommodation, the must-check-in spots, and the promise of a picture-perfect escape.

But something has shifted. Increasingly, people are travelling for a single experience: a concert, a sporting event, a pop-up exhibition, or even the launch of a limited-edition product,... This trend has become so widespread that it has earned its own name: gig-tripping - where fans travel to another city or country to attend a live event and build a holiday around it. Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour in 2023 generated an estimated US$5 billion in consumer spending across the United States, while destinations hosting concerts by BTS, BLACKPINK,... have reported noticeable boosts in tourism, hospitality and retail spending. That proves we are entering an era where why we travel matters just as much as where we go.

Gig-tripping, where fans travel to another city or country to attend a live event and build a holiday around it. | Source: Tony Pham/Unsplash

My trip to Singapore belonged to the same reason, except I wasn't chasing a concert.

I was there for CRY ME AN OCEAN - a collaboration between POP MART, the Singapore Oceanarium, Resorts World Sentosa and Singapore Tourism Board. Less than five minutes after spotting it online, I had booked a flight. No visa applications, no elaborate planning. With Singapore only a short flight from Vietnam, immigration was almost entirely automated, and I was through to my departure gate in under fifteen minutes.

But a bigger question happened: What makes an experience compelling enough to persuade thousands of people to board a plane for it?

In an era of fast-moving trends, capturing attention is difficult. Keeping it is even harder. The brands that endure rarely rely on a single successful product. Marvel didn't just make blockbuster films. Nintendo has kept franchises like Mario and Pokémon relevant for decades by continuously expanding how fans engage with them. Starbucks transformed coffee from a beverage into a lifestyle centered on place, routine and community.

POP MART, it seems, is attempting something similar. Rather than simply selling designer toys, it is creating destinations, stories and experiences that people are willing to travel for.

A Genuine Connection

By the time art toys reached Vietnam, they were already far more than collectibles.

And over the past two years, Vietnam has quietly become one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing consumer markets for art toys (US$570 million in 2024). Characters like Labubu, Crybaby, Baby Three, Hirono,... have spread far beyond niche collector circles, filling TikTok feeds, Facebook communities and livestream auctions. Limited editions routinely sell out within minutes, while rare pieces often command several times their original retail price on the resale market.

Over the past two years, Vietnam has quietly become one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing consumer markets for art toys. | Source: Radii China

That booming demand has also created a thriving counterfeit market. Fake figures, imitation packaging and copied QR codes have become increasingly common, making authenticity more valuable than ever. In that context, official experiences like CRY ME AN OCEAN offer something buying online cannot: a genuine connection to the characters and the world behind them. And as it turns out - the whole reason behind my short-but-so-worth-it trip.

From The Stories Behind The Tears To The Stories Of The Tears Under Water

Beyond offering an authentic brand experience, CRY ME AN OCEAN also reflects POP MART's growing emphasis on purpose-driven storytelling. Created in collaboration with Singapore Oceanarium, Resorts World Sentosa and Singapore Tourism Board, the exhibition uses CRYBABY's emotional world to raise awareness of ocean conservation.

Explaining the choice of venue, Michael Song, Country Head of POP MART Singapore, said: "One of the largest aquariums in Southeast Asia, Singapore Oceanarium houses many of the sea creatures that have been transformed into various emotions through the eyes of CRYBABY, and would be the best partner to launch a larger-than-life activation to bring the CRYBABY Cry Me an Ocean story to fans around the world."

Stepping into Singapore Oceanarium, I quickly realised this wasn't simply another aquarium, nor was it a collection of CRYBABY installations scattered throughout the venue. Instead, the experience unfolds across 11 themed zones that seamlessly weave through the Oceanarium, inviting visitors to discover what felt like the stories beneath the sea.

Source: POP MART / Designed by Thúy Anh for Vietcetera

Along the way are displays explaining climate phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña, alongside stories about marine ecosystems and the challenges facing ocean life. Surrounded by towering tanks in every shade of blue, I forgot I was standing on solid ground. It felt as though I had been submerged beneath the surface, with CRYBABY characters guiding me through the ocean - each carrying its own story, each leaving behind a quiet reminder of why these fragile ecosystems deserve protecting.

According to POP MART, the collaboration also reimagines CRYBABY for a wider audience. The collection transforms the character's signature tears into ocean-inspired creatures, including whales, sharks and other marine animals, while carrying a simple message: In an ocean filled with emotional baggage, stay true to yourself and refuse to be defined.

The POP MART space inside Resorts World Sentosa. | Source: Sentosa

Inside POP MART's CRYBABY Takeover at Singapore Oceanarium. | Source: DEJIKI

For Resorts World Sentosa and Singapore Oceanarium, the partnership represents a new way of refreshing a familiar destination. As Lena Lee, Executive Vice President of Attractions & Destination Experience at Resorts World Sentosa, explained, the goal is to give visitors new reasons to return by continually introducing fresh experiences. CRYBABY offered a distinctive emotional and visual language that could reinterpret the Oceanarium while remaining true to what makes the attraction unique.

This is not POP MART's first collaboration in Singapore. The company first partnered with Gardens by the Bay for the DIMOO in the Garden City exhibition in 2021, before bringing multiple IP activations and three POP TOY SHOW events to the country. Last year, together with the Singapore Tourism Board and the National Museum of Singapore, it also launched the first overseas edition of SKULLPANDA: CAGE–UNCAGE.

SKULLPANDA CAGE-UNCAGE Singapore. | Source: National Museum Of Singapore

John Conceicao, Executive Director of Marketing Partnerships, Planning & Capability Development at the Singapore Tourism Board, noted, these partnerships support Singapore's Tourism 2040 vision by creating richer visitor experiences, encouraging higher tourism spending, and keeping the destination vibrant for both international travellers and locals alike.

POP MART, in partnership with Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), will bring its beloved CRYBABY character to the Singapore Oceanarium in the CRYBABY Cry Me an Ocean activation – the first to be set inside a real oceanarium. The vibrant, ocean-themed experience featuring 11 photo zones – including 2 towering outdoor inflatables, life-sized sculptures, and immersive photo opportunities – set alongside marine habitats within one of the world’s largest oceanariums, bringing the Cry Me an Ocean collection into an authentic marine environment for the first time.

- When: 24 June – 30 August 2026
- Where: Singapore Oceanarium - Resorts World Sentosa (24 Sentosa Gateway, Sentosa Island).
- Buy tickets here.

The 500-Day Search For Closure: How Vietnam Heals Its Wartime Wounds, One Name At A Time

May Ng — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 06:00:00 +0000

In a bustling corner of Ho Chi Minh City, where the neon lights of modern cafes blur into the endless hum of evening traffic, history has a way of quietly resurfacing. Recently, at Lê Thị Riêng Park—a vibrant green space now filled with the laughter of children, skateboards clacking against concrete, and elderly locals practicing tai chi—the remains of eleven wartime soldiers were discovered. Decades after the guns fell silent, these fallen fighters were finally brought out of the shadows of the soil, triggering a profound wave of collective remembrance across the country.

For the international observer, contemporary Vietnam is often celebrated as a dynamic economic tiger, a land of thriving specialty coffee culture, and an optimistic Gen-Z workforce looking firmly toward the future. Yet, beneath this forward-moving energy lies an unspoken local truth: the past is never truly buried; it is woven into the very dirt people walk on, the parks they relax in, and the peace they enjoy.

A City Park With A Hidden Past

Military engineers checked Lê Thị Riêng Cultural Park for possible bombs, mines, and UXO to ensure safety during the search for martyrs’ remains. | Source: VNA

To truly understand why the discovery at Lê Thị Riêng Park resonates so deeply with Vietnamese people, one must understand the bittersweet history of the land itself. Long before it became a park named after a revolutionary heroine, this site was known as the Đô Thành Cemetery. During the war, it was a place of mass burials, a chaotic intersection of grief where the lines between combatants and civilians often blurred.

A memorial service at Lê Thị Riêng Cultural Park honored soldiers and civilians believed to have been buried there after the 1968 Tet Offensive. | Source: VNA

For decades, locals whispered stories about the spirits that lingered beneath the shaded trees. When the park was built, it transformed into a place of life, but the soil kept its secrets. The recent excavation is a stark, tangible reminder that the ghosts of the past are never far from the sanctuaries of the present.

The 500-Day Search For The Missing

This discovery is not an isolated event; it is a poignant chapter of a much larger, quieter national mission. In 2023, the Vietnamese government launched an intensive 500-day campaign dedicated to searching for, excavating, and identifying the remains of missing martyrs using advanced DNA testing and archival research. It is a grueling race against time. As the wartime generation grows older, eyewitnesses pass away, and the geography of the country shifts due to rapid urbanization, the window to find these missing souls is closing.

DNA sampling has become a crucial part of Vietnam’s effort to give unidentified martyrs back their names and return long-awaited answers to families. | Source: VNA

This mission is driven by nghĩa tình—a cultural concept of deep loyalty, gratitude, and moral obligation that spans across generations. In Vietnamese spiritual culture, a person cannot truly rest until they are given a proper burial. To die away from home, with an unknown name and an unmarked grave, is considered one of the ultimate tragedies. For the living, leaving a fallen soldier behind is an unfulfilled duty, an open wound that refuses to heal.

Walk into almost any traditional Vietnamese home, and the bàn thờ gia tiên (the ancestral altar) occupies the most sacred space. It is the spiritual heart of the household, where incense sticks burn to connect the living with the deceased. For countless families across Vietnam, these altars still feature an empty space, or a photograph of a young man in uniform with no final resting place listed underneath.

Families still do not know where their sons, uncles, or grandfathers drew their last breath. These unsung heroes left everything behind to protect their homeland. Because they surrendered their youth for the peace enjoyed today, they have earned every right to finally return to theirs. The national search for remains, then, transcends military bureaucracy. It is a deeply personal, collective effort to give these wandering spirits their rightful position, guiding them back across the threshold so they can finally take their place as heroes at the center of the home.

As July arrives, this nationwide search takes on an even heavier emotional weight. Every year on July 27th, Vietnam observes Martyrs and Wounded Soldiers Day (Ngày Thương binh - Liệt sĩ). For foreigners, it might look like another official holiday marked by banners and state television broadcasts. But on the ground, the reality is deeply intimate. It is one of the most important in the country, commemorating some of its most noble citizens, a day when young and old alike pause to reflect on the human cost of sovereignty.

Every July, candlelight ceremonies at martyrs’ cemeteries turn remembrance into a shared act across generations. | Source: VNA

A New Generation Remembers

In recent years, there has been a noticeable shift in how the younger generation engages with this day. Moving away from rigid historical textbooks and political slogans, young Vietnamese are approaching the past through the lens of empathy and human connection. On platforms like Threads, TikTok, and Facebook, Gen-Z creatives share digitized black-and-white photos of young soldiers, translating archival letters into emotional storytelling. They look at the faces of those who died in their early twenties and realize that these were individuals who had dreams, romantic crushes, and favorite songs—just like them, but whose youth was cut short by the lottery of history.

The 500-day campaign, culminating around this sacred time of remembrance, shows that Vietnam’s approach to its history is not about living in the past, but about honoring the foundation upon which the present is built. It is about reconciling the scars of yesterday with the sky-high ambitions of tomorrow.

When the eleven soldiers found at Lê Thị Riêng Park are finally laid to rest with full military honors, their names etched into stone or recorded in the national archives, a circle closes. A mother’s lifelong prayer is answered, a family’s multi-generational grief is eased, and a community is reminded of the true cost of the ground they stand on.

By looking closely at these quiet, dignified efforts, international readers can see the true soul of modern Vietnam. It is a nation that does not run away from its historical trauma, nor does it dwell on it. Instead, Vietnam touches its scars with care, dignity, and profound respect, ensuring that as the country marches confidently into a bright, globalized future, no one is left behind in the silence of the past. For it is only when the nameless are known, and the wandering are brought home, that the restless ache of time becomes history.

Vietnam’s GDP Grows 8.39% In Q2 2026 As The Country Targets Double-Digit Growth

Anh Trang — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 04:27:06 +0000

According to the General Statistics Office, Vietnam’s economy recorded positive growth in the second quarter of 2026, with GDP expanding by 8.39% – 0.25 percentage points higher than the same period in 2025. In the first six months of 2026, GDP grew by 8.18%, up from 7.63% in the same period last year. This is considered an impressive growth performance, especially as the global economy continues to face uncertainty and mounting risks.

However, achieving double-digit growth in the second half of the year will require Vietnam to overcome far greater challenges. Experts warn that the country will face mounting pressure from trade deficits, inflation risks, and the pace of public investment disbursement, amid geopolitical uncertainties worldwide.

GDP Grew By 8.39% In Q2 and 8.18% In The First Half

GDP growth in Q2 2026 and the first half of the year was largely driven by sustained growth across all sectors.

The industry and construction sector maintained positive momentum. The sector’s value added increased by 9.86% year-on-year in the first half of the year, contributing 40.35% to the overall growth in the economy’s total value added.

Accordingly, the manufacturing and processing industry emerged as the economy’s key growth engine, expanding by 10.23% and contributing 33.07% to overall growth. The sector has maintained solid momentum since the first quarter, signalling a recovery in production activity and domestic supply capacity. Robust export activity has also provided a strong foundation for domestic manufacturing.

Robust export activity has provided a strong foundation for domestic manufacturing. | Source: Bao Chinh Phu

Public investment emerged as a key leading growth driver in the second quarter, with disbursement reaching approximately VND 137.6 trillion (around US$5.2 billion) in June – the highest level since the beginning of the year and nearly four times higher than in April. Accelerated disbursement in the second quarter not only directly supported growth in construction and related industries but also generated a “pull” effect on private-sector investment, improving production capacity and infrastructure connectivity in the medium and long term.

Meanwhile, the services sector, including trade and transportation, recorded solid growth, driven by stronger consumer demand and increased activity in goods circulation and travel. The sector’s value added rose 8.09% compared with the same period last year.

The agricultural sector, meanwhile, maintained stable growth, with agricultural export markets continuing to expand. The sector’s value added increased by 3.57% year-on-year.

The average Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the second quarter rose 5.25% year-on-year. Domestic demand showed signs of improvement, supported by seasonal factors and rising demand for services, particularly tourism, accommodation, and entertainment. At the same time, consumption patterns are shifting toward a higher share of services and higher value-added products, reflecting changing consumer behaviour and contributing to Vietnam’s deeper economic restructuring.

Strong Growth Comes With Rising Pressures

This performance indicates that the economy is continuing to recover, as well as reflecting significant efforts in economic management and the resilience of businesses and the broader economy in overcoming challenges.

However, according to Associate Professor Dr Trần Thế Đông, an expert at the Ministry of Finance, this positive growth momentum comes with ongoing pressures. These challenges require economic management in the second half of the year to accelerate selectively without compromising macroeconomic stability.

In the first six months of 2026, Vietnam recorded a merchandise trade deficit of US$16.65 billion, compared with a trade surplus of US$10.18 billion in the same period last year. The sharp increase in imports reflects rising demand for raw materials, machinery, and components to support expanding production. However, it also highlights the economy’s continued heavy reliance on external inputs, particularly electronic components, machinery, raw materials, petroleum products, chemicals, and metals. Experts warn that this poses significant risks to the trade balance, exchange rates, and the domestic manufacturing sector’s ability to strengthen self-reliance.

Vietnam recorded a trade deficit in the first half of 2026. | Source: VietnamFinance

Despite recording strong growth momentum in Q2 2026, public investment disbursement has yet to meet expectations. As of June 30, 2026, total disbursement nationwide reached VND 356.9 trillion (US$13,57 billion)., equivalent to 35.5% of the annual target assigned by the Prime Minister. While some ministries, central agencies, and localities have achieved disbursement rates above the national average, 25 central-level agencies and 11 localities remain below the average pace.

Bottlenecks related to administrative procedures, land clearance, construction materials, project implementation capacity, and coordination across government levels continue to slow capital flows into the economy. Dr Trần Thế Đông said that without clear progress in the third quarter of 2026, public investment may struggle to play its role as a “seed capital” for growth in the second half of the year.

In addition, inflation risks will require close monitoring as consumer prices continue to rise, particularly with the cost of raw materials, fuel, and production inputs increasing by 5.40%. This indicates that cost pressures could continue to be passed through to consumer prices in the final months of the year.

Inflation needs to be closely monitored. | Source: thanglong. chinhphu

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s reliance on FDI, along with persistent geopolitical risks around the world, also underscores the need for more cautious policy measures to sustain economic development while achieving its growth targets.

Can Vietnam Achieve Double-digit Growth By The End Of The Year?

Associate Professor Dr Trần Thế Đông assessed that achieving double-digit growth remains a highly ambitious scenario. While the target is feasible and worth pursuing, it would require exceptional growth momentum in the second half of the year, without sacrificing macroeconomic stability for short-term expansion.

To reach the 10% growth target, Dr. Đông estimated that Vietnam’s GDP would need to expand by around 11.5–12.5% in the second half of the year. This would only be possible if several highly favourable conditions happen at the same time: public investment accelerates significantly and achieves a high disbursement rate; the manufacturing and processing sector maintains strong and sustained growth; exports remain resilient amid trade and geopolitical risks; domestic demand strengthens without creating excessive inflationary pressure; financial and monetary markets remain stable; and businesses can effectively absorb credit and expand production.

“Double-digit growth can only be achieved under a breakthrough scenario, in which these growth drivers accelerate simultaneously and external risks are proactively managed,” he told VnEconomy.

Double-digit growth can only be achieved under a breakthrough scenario. | Source: Thanh Nien

From another perspective, Dr. Nguyễn Văn Điển, Head of the Faculty of Political Economy at the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics Region II, said that growth potential in the final two quarters of the year remains significant.

“I still see a positive scenario. At this point, the task is to raise the contribution of each sector slightly, with many factors and incremental improvements coming together to create a major step forward. Double-digit growth should not be viewed as pressure placed on any single agency, ministry, sector, or locality. Instead, it is about breaking down this ambition into smaller, achievable targets that everyone can contribute to. For example, how much exports and imports can increase, how much investment can rise, and how much consumption can grow — when these factors work together, they will ultimately lift GDP,” he told Thanh Niên.

The 10% annual growth target remains within Vietnam’s sights, with the government aiming for 11.9% growth in the second half of the year. However, achieving this goal will require more than policy direction or increased investment alone. It will depend on the combined strength of multiple economic drivers, effective implementation, and resilience in the less favourable global environment.

Achieving 10% growth required combined strength and collaborative effort. | Source: Quan Doi Nhan Dan

Vietnam’s Temporary Residence Rules: What Foreigners Need To Know

Anh Trang — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 08:03:00 +0000

Temporary residence declaration is a mandatory procedure for foreigners in Vietnam. It is not only an administrative obligation but also helps protect foreigners’ legal rights during their stay.

As Vietnam continues to tighten its management of temporary residence, completing required declarations can help foreigners enjoy a hassle-free experience in the country. Here is what you need to know about temporary residence rules for foreigners in Vietnam.

Even Visiting Friends Must Be Declared As Temporary Residence

Regulations on temporary residence declarations for foreigners are stipulated in Article 33 of the 2014 Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam, which was amended and supplemented in 2023.

Under the law, foreigners temporarily residing in Vietnam must declare their temporary residence through the person directly managing or operating the accommodation where they are staying. The declaration must be submitted to the commune-level police authority (including the police of communes, wards, or townships) or the police station located in the area where the accommodation establishment is based.

Accommodation in this context includes hotels, homestays, rental houses, and even private residences of friends or relatives. Under the new temporary residence regulations taking effect on July 1, even visiting a friend overnight can be considered as temporarily residing and must be declared as a temporary residence.

Even visiting a friend can be considered as temporary residence. Source: Thanh Nien

The temporary residence declaration must be completed within 12 hours from the time the foreigner begins their stay, or within 24 hours in remote and mountainous areas.

In addition, Article 33 stipulates that foreigners may stay temporarily at accommodation establishments located in industrial parks, export processing zones, border-gate economic zones, and coastal economic zones. However, foreigners are not allowed to stay temporarily in prohibited areas or areas where activities are suspended within land border areas, as well as prohibited or restricted areas within maritime border zones.

In cases where foreigners temporarily reside at accommodation located in border areas, or in towns, cities, tourist and service areas, special administrative-economic units, or other economic zones related to border areas, the temporary residence information must be promptly reported to the Border Guard station located in the area where the accommodation is situated.

Do Foreigners Have To Handle The Declaration?

Do foreigners need to handle the paperwork? Source: Thanh Nien

The answer is no. The responsibility for making temporary residence declarations lies with the accommodation owner or the landlord when a foreigner comes to stay. However, before foreigners can reside in Vietnam, they must provide a passport or international travel document, along with relevant residence documents (such as a visa, temporary residence card, or permanent residence card, if applicable) to collect the required information for the declaration.

Foreigners should also ensure that the accommodation establishment is legally eligible to declare temporary residence on their behalf. They are advised to stay at official, registered accommodation providers that use the electronic temporary residence declaration system, such as hotels, registered homestays, and rental properties that comply with declaration requirements.

Failure to declare temporary residence, or providing inaccurate or late declarations, may result in administrative penalties for the accommodation establishment. Foreigners may also face penalties, which could affect their visa extensions, temporary residence card applications, and immigration records.

If a foreigner changes their place of temporary residence (such as moving to another hotel, rental property, or another city), the new accommodation establishment must submit a new temporary residence declaration in accordance with regulations. Foreigners are not allowed to stay at an address that has not been declared.

If there are changes to passport information, visa details, an extension of the permitted stay period, or the issuance of a new permanent residence card, foreigners must notify the accommodation establishment so that their temporary residence declaration information can be updated.

What Could Foreigners Do?

For foreigners in Vietnam, temporary residence are relatively manageable if they follow a few practical steps.

Temporary residence declaration process. Source: LuatVietnam

1. Choose A Compliant Accommodation Provider

Always stay at accommodation establishments that are legally registered and able to declare temporary residence for foreign guests, including hotels, licensed homestays, serviced apartments, and registered rental properties.

Avoid informal rentals where the landlord refuses to declare your temporary residence or does not have access to the electronic declaration system. If your accommodation provider cannot complete the declaration, your stay may be considered undeclared.

2. Keep Your Travel Documents Valid And Accurate

Keep your passport, visa, and temporary or permanent residence cards valid and readily available when checking in or moving to a new accommodation.

Make sure your personal information, including your full name, passport number, nationality, and document validity dates, is entered correctly in the accommodation provider’s system. Even minor errors could create difficulties during visa extensions or residence card applications.

3. Confirm That Your Stay Has Been Declared On Time

While the responsibility for temporary residence declarations belongs to the accommodation provider, foreigners should confirm that their information has been submitted, especially within the required timeframe: 12 hours after arrival, or 24 hours in remote and mountainous areas.

If you arrive late at night, during weekends, or on public holidays, check with your host or accommodation provider to confirm the declaration will be completed promptly.

4. Report Changes In Address And Residence Status

Whenever you move to a new hotel, rental property, or another city, your new accommodation provider must submit a new temporary residence declaration. Foreigners should not stay at an address that has not been declared.

You should also inform your accommodation provider of any changes to your passport information, visa status, permitted stay period, or residence card so that your temporary residence information can be updated.

5. Be Aware Of Restrictions In Border And Protected Areas

Foreigners should not stay in prohibited areas, areas where activities are suspended in land border regions, or restricted areas within maritime border zones.

If you stay in border-related economic zones, coastal economic zones, special administrative-economic units, or other areas connected to border regions, ensure that your accommodation provider reports your temporary residence to the relevant Border Guard station when required.

6. View Temporary Residence Declaration As A Form Of Legal Protection

Temporary residence declaration is not only a legal requirement. It also helps protect foreigners’ rights during their stay in Vietnam.

Having properly declared residence information can make it easier for authorities to verify your status and support smoother immigration procedures, including visa extensions and residence card applications. It can also be important in emergencies, when seeking consular assistance, or when resolving disputes.

Rather than administrative obligation, foreigners should view temporary residence declaration as a form of legal protection. Source: Thanh Nien

Rising Chefs Challenge 2026 x Royal Arctika: Who Will Be The Next Generation Of Chefs Shaping The Flavors Of Our Time?

Thư Trần — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 03:31:19 +0000

A smoked lobster pho served in a fine dining restaurant may feel contemporary, but for many Vietnamese, a simple bowl of traditional beef pho from a neighbourhood stall remains just as memorable.

While Vietnamese cuisine continues to evolve through new techniques and global influences, many of its most meaningful dishes are still rooted in local ingredients, family traditions, and regional stories. For many chefs, these familiar flavours remain the starting point for new ideas.

Behind Vietnam's 34 provinces and cities are countless dishes and culinary traditions that continue to shape the country's food culture today.

A New Chapter For Rising Chefs Challenge

As part of Flavors Vietnam 2026, Rising Chefs Challenge returns with this year's theme, "The Makers of Our Time." Co-organised by Vietcetera and Royal Arctika, the competition continues to support young culinary talent while encouraging a new generation of chefs to explore Vietnamese culinary identity through their own perspectives.

Open to participants aged 19 - 30, Rising Chefs Challenge provides a platform for aspiring chefs, culinary students, and young professionals to share their creativity while celebrating the regional flavours that have shaped them.

Aditya Sud, Regional General Manager of Royal Arctika, shared:

"For Royal Arctika, Rising Chefs Challenge is more than a competition. It is an opportunity to support young chefs as they develop their ideas, learn from experienced mentors, and share their own culinary perspectives. We hope this year's participants will continue exploring Vietnam's diverse culinary heritage while bringing fresh interpretations that reflect their generation."

Winners of Rising Chefs Challenge 2023.

Can A Dish Honor Its Roots While Defining A New Generation?

This year's competition follows two stages that reflect both personal memories and creative development.

The first round, "The Dish That Made You," invites contestants to submit a signature main course inspired by their hometown or personal story, together with a three-minute video introducing the dish. Entries will be evaluated based on storytelling, the use of regional ingredients, and culinary technique.

From all eligible submissions, the judging panel will select the Top 20. The Top 10 highest-scoring contestants will advance directly to the Grand Finale, while contestants ranked 11–20 will compete for the final place through a People's Choice Vote.

The Grand Finale, "The Dish That Makes You," is scheduled for 28 August at Saigontourist Hospitality College. The eleven finalists will create a three-course menu that reflects their own interpretation of Vietnamese cuisine.

Contestants preparing dishes for the 2023 competition under the theme "Elevate Your Favorite Childhood Dish." | Source: Khooa Nguyen for Vietcetera

Royal Arctika Joins The Creative Journey

This year, Royal Arctika joins Rising Chefs Challenge 2026 as a co-organizer, bringing a new dimension to the competition.

Sharing the belief that memorable dining experiences are shaped not only by culinary technique but also by craftsmanship, creativity, and thoughtful pairings, Royal Arctika will accompany contestants throughout their journey of turning ideas into complete dining experiences.

Royal Arctika Day Chiller will be part of the judging experience during this year's Grand Finale.

During the Grand Finale, the Top 11 finalists will face a special challenge featuring a secret ingredient revealed during the competition briefing. Each team must thoughtfully incorporate this ingredient into at least one dish within their three-course menu.

Between courses, Royal Arctika Day Chiller will be served as part of the judging experience. Acting as a palate cleanser, it helps remove lingering flavors and allows both the judging panel and invited guests to fully appreciate the subtle layers and creativity of each subsequent dish.

Through this collaboration, Royal Arctika and Vietcetera aim to provide emerging chefs with greater opportunities to showcase their cuisine, stories, and talents to Vietnam's wider F&B community.

Supporting The Next Generation Of Vietnamese Chefs

As one of the founders of Flavors Vietnam, Hao Tran, CEO of Vietcetera, said: "I'm proud to see Rising Chefs Challenge continue to grow as a platform that supports young culinary talent in Vietnam. Every season introduces new stories, perspectives, and ideas from the next generation of chefs.

Flavors Vietnam has always been committed to celebrating Vietnamese cuisine. This year, we're pleased to welcome Royal Arctika as a partner who shares that commitment, and we look forward to creating more opportunities for young chefs to share their work with the wider F&B community."

Rewards Worth the Challenge

The Rising Chef Challenge 2026 offers an attractive prize pool for the top three outstanding talents, which is exclusive of trophies, sponsor gifts, and media privileges across the Vietcetera ecosystem.

The Champion will receive:

VND 45 million in cash,
Championship trophy,
Sponsor prizes
A short documentary
An exclusive feature interview published across Vietcetera's channels

The First Runner-up will receive VND 25 million, while the Second Runner-up will receive VND 15 million, along with trophies and sponsor gifts.

All finalists will receive certificates, sponsor gift packs, and promotional opportunities across Vietcetera's social media platforms.

Winners of Rising Chefs Challenge 2023 (from left): Nguyen Kim Quy, Trinh Tuan Dung, Nguyen The Son. | Source: Khooa Nguyen for Vietcetera

Applications Are Now Open

Applications for Rising Chefs Challenge 2026 are open from 11 July to 1 August 2026.

The competition welcomes contestants aged 19–30 who are passionate about cooking and currently living in Vietnam. Eligible participants include culinary students, vocational trainees, and professional chefs working in restaurants, hotels, catering companies, and other F&B establishments.

If you have a dish that tells the story of your hometown, your memories, and your vision for the future of Vietnamese cuisine, now is the time to bring that story beyond your kitchen.

After all, Vietnamese cuisine is not defined only by the dishes that have already become famous—it continues to evolve through a new generation of chefs who are creating, experimenting, and shaping the flavors of their time.

Rising Chefs Challenge is part of Flavors Vietnam 2026. This year's competition is co-organized by Royal Arctika, bringing new culinary experiences while continuing to celebrate Vietnam's vibrant F&B culture.

Applications are open from 12 July to 2 August 2026.
Learn more about the competition here. Apply HERE.Grand Finale
Date: 28 August 2026
Venue: Saigontourist Hospitality College, Ho Chi Minh CityEnjoy Responsibly. 18+
Please do not share this content with anyone under the age of 18.

A New Chapter Together: Mâm Mâm By KOTO Brings Purpose To The Table In Saigon

Cao Vy — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 10:57:27 +0000

On a quiet stretch of Nguyễn Siêu in District 1, one of Saigon’s favorite contemporary Vietnamese restaurants is beginning its next act. On Tuesday, 28 July, Mâm Mâm officially relaunches as Mâm Mâm by KOTO, a partnership that joins one of the city’s most beloved dining rooms with one of Vietnam's most enduring social enterprises. The result is more than a new name above the door. It is a statement about what hospitality in Vietnam can be when purpose sits at the center of the business.

On Tuesday, 28 July, Mâm Mâm officially relaunches as Mâm Mâm by KOTO. | Source: Mâm Mâm Eatery & Lounge

For those who know Vietnam’s hospitality story, KOTO needs little introduction. Founded by Jimmy Pham, the organization has spent more than three decades transforming the lives of at-risk and disadvantaged youth through hospitality training, turning first chances into lifelong careers across kitchens, hotels, and restaurants throughout the country and beyond. Its name, famously, stands for “Know One, Teach One,” a philosophy that every person lifted up carries an obligation, and an opportunity, to lift up the next.

Jimmy Pham, Founder of KOTO and a longtime advocate for purpose-driven hospitality in Vietnam. | Source: KOTO

Mâm Mâm, meanwhile, has earned its place in Saigon’s dining conversation by doing something deceptively difficult: serving contemporary Vietnamese food that feels both proudly familiar and quietly ambitious. Co-founded by Hao Tran, who is also CEO of Vietcetera, the restaurant has become a gathering point for a generation of diners who want their meals to say something about where Vietnam is headed.

Now the two are joining forces, and the launch event on 28 July is designed to explain why. Guests will hear directly from Jimmy Pham and Hao Tran as they share the thinking behind the partnership: how great hospitality can create meaningful social impact, and why building purpose into a business is not a marketing flourish but the foundation of this new venture. For both founders, the partnership is a bet that the best restaurants of Vietnam’s future will be judged not only by what they serve, but by who they serve and who they train along the way.

Hao Tran, CEO of Vietcetera and Jimmy Pham, Founder of KOTO on the recent episode of the Vietnam Innovators Digest podcast. | Source: Khooa Nguyễn

The evening also welcomes a third voice whose story embodies the theme of new chapters. Cat Thao Nguyen, Founder of Earth Water Farms, has traded a career as a corporate lawyer and investment executive for life as a rice farmer, a second act as remarkable as any in Vietnam’s business community. In partnership with Mâm Mâm by KOTO, Earth Water Farms will curate a special seasonal menu for the evening, built around pesticide-free rice grown on Cat Thao’s own farm and locally sourced ingredients that celebrate sustainable Vietnamese agriculture. It is a fitting collaboration: a restaurant with a social mission, supplied by a farm with an environmental one.

Cat Thao Nguyen, Founder of Earth Water Farms. | Khooa Nguyễn

Vietcetera is proud to serve as the event’s official media partner, and the connection runs deeper than a logo on an invitation. The stories at the heart of this launch, of social enterprise, of career reinvention, of Vietnamese food and farming finding global-standard expression at home, are the stories Vietcetera exists to tell.

The launch unfolds in two parts. The Welcome Event runs from 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM and features short talks from the speakers, a tea break, and a happy hour reception beginning at 5:30 PM. From 6:30 PM onwards, guests can continue into an optional ticketed seated dinner: a specially curated menu by Mâm Mâm by KOTO in collaboration with Earth Water Farms, featuring Cat Thao's pesticide-free rice and paired with wine and beverages.

You can RSVP here.

The venue is Mâm Mâm by KOTO itself, at 13 Nguyễn Siêu, Bến Nghé Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, an address worth remembering, because if this partnership delivers on its promise, it will become one of the city’s most meaningful tables.

There is a familiar arc in Vietnam’s growth story: ambition first, refinement second, and now, increasingly, responsibility. Mâm Mâm by KOTO sits at that third stage. It asks whether a restaurant can be excellent and generous at once, whether a dinner service can double as a classroom, and whether the simple act of sharing a meal, mâm to mâm, tray to tray, can move a community forward. On 28 July, Saigon gets its first taste of the answer.

Join us as we celebrate a new chapter, where exceptional Vietnamese hospitality, purpose-driven business, and community come together.

Mu Cang Chai Terraced Fields: The Shimmering "Mirrors" Of The Northwest Summer

Minh Nguyễn — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 11:37:45 +0000

Leaving behind the hustle and sweltering heat of the metropolis, you are invited to step into a world where heaven and earth become one. Mu Cang Chai is a highland district located in the western part of Yen Bai province.

During the water-pouring season, this land becomes a place where tens of thousands of terraced fields transform into giant, glistening mirrors, reflecting both the majestic beauty of nature and the proud, rhythmic labor of its people.

Mu Cang Chai terraced fields reflect both the majestic beauty of nature and the proud, rhythmic labor of its people / Source: Tom De Decker

People often speak of Mu Cang Chai in autumn, when the ripe rice fields form brilliant golden waves stretching to the horizon. However, for souls who seek authenticity and surreal beauty, Mu Cang Chai in the summer – known locally as the "water-pouring season" (typically from May to June) is truly an unmatched masterpiece. Unlike lowland farming, terraced fields on steep hillsides lack natural water reservoirs.

Therefore, locals must wait for the first seasonal rains, channeling natural streams from high peaks down to the fields to commence a new crop. The sight of water cascading from one terrace to another creates a spectacular visual phenomenon, turning the entire mountainous region into a colossal ink-and-wash painting.

Here are three reasons you should pack your bags and set off to visit one of the most culturally vibrant lands in Vietnam.

Witness A Giant Ink Wash Painting

The tranquil water surfaces look like tens of thousands of shattered mirrors / Source: Trần Giang Lê Vũ

If you ever doubt the creative power of nature combined with human hands, stand atop Khau Pha Pass – one of Vietnam's "Four Great Passes" and cast your gaze over the Cao Pha, La Pan Tan, or Che Cu Nha valleys during this season.

Thousands of terraced fields hug the steep mountain slopes. Water from high-altitude streams and ravines is ingeniously guided through bamboo pipes, trickling down to each terrace. The tranquil water surfaces look like tens of thousands of shattered mirrors, meticulously pieced together on the precarious hillsides. The true magic lies in the shifting colors throughout the day.

The water softly reflects the light in a hazy, rose-gold shimmer / Source: @GARRYAMUCANGCHAI

At dawn, as the first rays of sunlight pierce through the thick fog, the water softly reflects the light in a hazy, rose-gold shimmer. Ribbons of white clouds wrap around the mountain slopes and cast their reflections on the water, seemingly erasing the boundary between earth and sky.

As the sun reaches its zenith, the entire canvas is cloaked in the crystalline cerulean of the Northwest sky / Source: Collected

As the sun reaches its zenith, the entire canvas is cloaked in the crystalline cerulean of the Northwest sky, dotted with the reddish-brown of fertile soil, the fresh green of newly sown rice seedlings, and the deep emerald of the surrounding primary forests.

Sunset is perhaps the most magnificent moment / Source: @hlinhnggg

Sunset is perhaps the most magnificent moment. The fiery red and deep purple hues of the setting sun dye the thousands of water "mirrors." The scenery takes on a surreal, captivating, and majestic beauty that can leave even the most discerning photographers in awe.

No photograph or film can fully capture the overwhelming sensation of standing amidst that windswept space, breathing in the earthy scent of mud and the crisp aroma of wild grass, and silently marveling at this visual masterpiece.

Listen To An Epic Of Vitality And Diligence

The Mu Cang Chai terraced fields are an invaluable physical cultural heritage / Source: Du lich nhat ky

The Mu Cang Chai terraced fields are an invaluable physical cultural heritage, serving as the clearest testament to the intellect, patience, and fierce vitality of the indigenous H'mong people. To create these giant mirrors reflecting the clouds, countless generations have poured their sweat and labor into this arid land over hundreds of years.

Due to the rugged, steep alpine terrain and water scarcity, the H'mong have invented an incredibly unique terraced farming technique. Using primitive agricultural tools, they carved into mountains and leveled narrow strips of land into uniform steps.

The H'mong have invented an incredibly unique terraced farming technique / Source: Trần Giang Lê Vũ

The most crucial and arduous phase is the irrigation system. They must source water from deep within old-growth forests, spending months digging canals and laying bamboo pipes from the highest terrace, allowing the water to gently overflow into the lower steps without eroding or breaking the field banks.

A vibrant rhythm of labor in Mu Cang Chai the water-pouring season / Source: Du lich nhat ky

Visiting Mu Cang Chai during the water-pouring season, you will witness a vibrant rhythm of labor. Standing out amidst the shimmering fields is the image of robust H'mong men diligently guiding buffaloes to plow the soil, working in perfect harmony with women whose nimble hands transplant rows of lush green seedlings.

In this lively portrait of industriousness, the vividly colored traditional costumes they wear act as exquisite highlights, standing out proudly against the dark brown earth and the immense, silver-reflecting water.

You will witness a vibrant rhythm of labor during the water-pouring season / Source: Báo Lào Cai

The cheerful chatter, the calls to the buffaloes, and the babbling of flowing water blend into a symphony of life – a symphony that is raw, authentic, and touches the deepest parts of the soul. You will realize that the beauty of Mu Cang Chai is woven from the absolute harmony between modest human beings and magnificent nature.

Immerse In The H'mong Life

Mu Cang Chai during the water-pouring season welcomes you with open arms / Source: @heri.ngo

If you are looking for a destination full of majestic landscapes to reconnect with the most fundamental values, Mu Cang Chai during the water-pouring season welcomes you with open arms. It offers experiences that test your perseverance while remaining rustic and intimate:

Rent a motorbike and let an experienced local drive you along the tiny, winding trails / Source: Tiên Phong Travel

Conquer legendary coordinates: Rent a motorbike and let an experienced local drive you along the tiny, winding trails clinging to the mountainsides to reach Mam Xoi (Raspberry) Hill in La Pan Tan or Mong Ngua (Horseshoe) Hill in Mo De. The highly artistic, spiral-shaped terraces here will undoubtedly leave you in awe.

Experience the local lifestyle with H'mong families / Souce: Mu Cang Chai Homestay & Trekking

Experience the local lifestyle: Don't just stay in comfortable hotels. Choose to spend the night in traditional wooden stilt houses of the Thai or H'mong people, tucked away in the villages. At night, by the flickering fire, you can join your host family to enjoy famous Northwest specialties: fragrant sticky rice, grilled local pork with mac khen (wild mountain pepper), or a sip of spicy tao meo (docynia indica) wine to dispel the highland chill.

One of the most unforgettable experiences is spending time inside a traditional H’Mong family home / Source: Zonitrip

Cultural exchange and learning: Highland children with their dark, sparkling eyes and radiant smiles will be your most adorable little "tour guides." You can try rolling up your trousers to wade into the mud, planting the young seedlings yourself to better understand the hardships and joys of the farmers. The friendly smiles, hospitality, and rusticity of the locals will easily erase any linguistic or cultural barriers.

In the corn-stalk houses, you can experience the traditional weaving of ethnic minority communities, try your hand at painting with beeswax, and more.

Mu Cang Chai in the water-pouring season boasts no urban glitz, nor any blinding neon lights. Instead, it possesses a magical illumination radiating from thousands of glossy mirrors amidst the great mountains. It is the beauty of grandeur, of hard-earned sweat, and of a millennia-old culture preserved through countless generations.

May be it’s time for you to take a bag and travel to Mu Cang Chai / Source: AKA Photography

If you don't have a specific plan for this summer, pack your backpack, bring an open heart, and head to Vietnam's Northwest. Mu Cang Chai is shimmering, waiting to tell you a story of earth, water, and resilient people above the clouds.

Tan Son Nhat Airport’s 60-Year-Old Terminal 1 Could Be Torn Down And Rebuilt

Anh Trang — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 11:33:59 +0000

One of Vietnam’s oldest aviation gateways, Terminal 1 at Tan Son Nhat Airport, could be completely demolished and rebuilt under a proposal unveiled by the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) on July 10.

Originally built during the 1960s, Terminal 1 served as the only terminal at one of the world’s busiest airports between 1954 and 1975 and has undergone several expansions over the decades to accommodate growing passenger traffic. Under the new plan, the existing terminal will be demolished and rebuilt from the ground up, with an underground tunnel connecting it to the newly opened Terminal 3.

The Only Terminal At Tan Son Nhat Airport For Decades

Terminal 1 served as Tan Son Nhat Airport’s sole passenger terminal until the international Terminal 2 opened in 2007, followed by the domestic Terminal 3 in 2025.

The original terminal, covering 1,800 square meters, was built by the French between 1963 and 1964. As Tan Son Nhat grew into one of the world’s busiest airports between 1954 and 1975, the passenger terminal underwent four major expansions in 1956, 1960, 1963, and 1969. By 1972, its floor area had increased to 10,800 square meters, enabling it to handle up to 1.5 million passengers annually.

Over the following decades, the terminal was repeatedly expanded to keep pace with surging passenger demand. By 2023, its annual capacity had increased tenfold to 15 million passengers. Even so, Terminal 1 continued to experience chronic overcrowding, routinely handling passenger volumes well beyond its designed capacity.

Chronic overcrowding at Terminal 1 before Terminal 3 was launched. | Source: Thanh Nien

Today, the terminal spans 40,948 square meters. It features 20 boarding gates along with 126 check-in counters, 30 security screening lanes, 3 outbound baggage conveyor belts, and 6 arrival baggage carousels. Since Terminal 3 opened, Terminal 1 has served only Vietjet Air’s domestic flights, accounting for roughly 20% of Tan Son Nhat Airport’s domestic passenger traffic.

Despite its many upgrades, ACV said the terminal has become visibly outdated and severely deteriorated. The facility has experienced fire incidents in the past, while its technical infrastructure has aged significantly, with persistent problems that can no longer be resolved through routine maintenance.

One of the terminal’s most pressing challenges is traffic congestion around the pick-up and drop-off area. Pedestrians crossing roadways between the departure and arrival halls and the existing parking facility not only disrupt traffic flow and the airport’s appearance but also pose significant safety risks.

For these reasons, ACV concluded that the most effective solution is to demolish Terminal 1 and rebuild it from the ground up, rather than continue with piecemeal renovations and repairs.

Underground Tunnels, VIP Terminal, And International Flights

Speaking to the media, ACV confirmed that the corporation is studying a proposal to completely rebuild Terminal 1 while also considering the construction of an underground tunnel linking it with Terminal 3.

Under the preliminary proposal, the new Terminal 1 would be rebuilt as a multi-story facility to expand passenger space and include an integrated parking and commercial complex. The terminal would initially be designed to handle 10 million passengers annually, with potential expansion to 15 million in the future. The project would add approximately 56,565 square meters of floor space, raising the passenger service area to 16 square meters per passenger during peak hours.

A key feature of the proposal is a dedicated VIP terminal that would accommodate private jets. The facility would be capable of handling either one Code E aircraft or up to five Code C aircraft, serving heads of state, corporate executives, high-profile travellers, and private aviation.

The proposal also includes an underground tunnel directly linking Terminals 1 and 3, allowing passengers to transfer seamlessly between the two domestic terminals without having to travel by road.

An underground tunnels would be built to link between Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. | Source: VnExpress

The new Terminal 1 would also no longer serve only domestic flights. It is also expected to accommodate international services, expanding Tan Son Nhat's international handling capacity and helping ease congestion at the already overcrowded Terminal 2.

ACV stressed that Tan Son Nhat Airport will neither cease operations nor scale down once Long Thanh International Airport becomes operational.

"On the contrary, we plan to build a new and even larger terminal. Tan Son Nhat will continue operating at a capacity of 50 million passengers a year," an ACV executive told Thanh Nien.

However, the reconstruction of Terminal 1 and the proposed tunnel remain at the feasibility study stage. The project’s scale, investment model, and implementation timeline will only be determined after the Ministry of Construction approves adjustments to the Tan Son Nhat International Airport master plan for 2021–2030, with a vision to 2050.

No decision has yet been made on demolishing the existing terminal, and no construction timeline has been announced.

If approved, the project would bring an end to more than six decades of history embodied by Terminal 1 – a building that has stood through generations of change from Saigon to Ho Chi Minh City today. Whether that history will soon give way to an entirely new terminal now depends on the government’s approval of ACV’s proposal.

If approved, the project would bring an end to more than six decades of history embodied by Terminal 1. | Source: VnExpress

Before Your Next Beach Trip: 5 Questions That Could Matter More Than You Think

Gấm Võ — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:27:44 +0000

As summer temperatures climb, Vietnam's beaches continue to draw record numbers of travelers. In the first half of 2026 alone, Phu Quoc welcomes more than 5.7 million visitors, up 30.2% from a year earlier. Phu Quy receives over 126,000 visitors, with high-speed ferries frequently fully booked, while Nha Trang's tourist pier handles around 6,000 passengers a day on average - surpassing 10,000 on busy weekends.

However, the tourism boom has also coincided with a series of water transport accidents in recent years, the latest of which was a fatal speedboat capsize off Phu Quoc - one of Vietnam's most popular island destinations. Travel should be about relaxation and new experiences - not disaster. Therefore, before boarding a ferry, speedboat or any other tourist vessel, it's worth asking yourself a few important questions first.

1. What Kind Of Transport Will You Be Traveling On?

Different destinations call for different types of water transport. In Vietnam's Mekong Delta, that might mean a small wooden boat or a local ferry. A trip to Phú Quý usually involves a high-speed ferry or speedboat, while exploring Hạ Long Bay or Nha Trang Bay often means boarding a tour boat, a glass-bottom boat or a tender. In Tràng An and Tam Cốc, visitors travel by hand-rowed boats through rivers and limestone caves. Knowing what you'll be traveling on can help you prepare for the journey and react more confidently if the unexpected happens.

Take canoes, for example. They come in many different designs depending on their purpose, from recreational rides and sightseeing tours to rescue operations. Some are open, while others have enclosed cabins. According to Mr. Trần Ánh Dương, Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Register, neither design is inherently safer than the other. Each must meet its own technical standards for stability, buoyancy and safe operation. That said, enclosed cabins can make evacuation more difficult in an emergency.

Before you book, ask your tour operator what type of boat you'll be traveling on and do a little research yourself to understand what to expect. Once on board, take a moment to locate the emergency exits and think about the quickest way out from where you're seated. If safety instructions are provided, don't skip them.

Once on board, take a moment to locate the emergency exits and think about the quickest way out from where you're seated. | Source: Sông Lô

2. Who Is Responsible For Your Safety? Is the Boat Properly Licensed?

On most speedboats and tour boats, passengers typically know only the captain and the tour guide. In reality, however, there's often a larger crew working behind the scenes to keep the trip running safely.

Knowing who's responsible for your safety can make a real difference if something goes wrong. Whether it's a missing life jacket, a jammed cabin door or any other issue, you'll know exactly who to turn to.

Just as important is the boat itself. In Vietnam, passenger boats operating tourism services are required to meet licensing and inspection requirements, depending on the type of operation. Yet unlicensed or improperly certified vessels still exist, particularly in the private charter market.

As a passenger, don't hesitate to ask the operator whether the boat is properly licensed and has passed the required inspections - especially if you're hiring a private boat or speedboat. A reputable operator should have no reason to avoid those questions.

3. Is The Weather Forecast Enough?

Many serious boating accidents are described the same way: the weather looked fine - until it wasn't. Calm skies can give way to strong winds and rough seas much faster than most travelers expect.

Before setting off, don't rely solely on a weather app. Check for marine weather forecasts, storm warnings and any local advisories that may affect boat operations. If authorities have restricted or suspended departures, take those warnings seriously.

It's also worth asking your tour operator about the planned route and whether any stretches of the journey are likely to encounter rough seas. Knowing what to expect can help you prepare and decide whether it's worth making the trip at all.

4. Will A Life Jacket Save You?

It can - but not in every situation.

After the 2025 tour boat capsized in Ha Long Bay that claimed 34 lives, reports indicated that 80–90% of the victims recovered from the vessel were wearing life jackets. In other words, many passengers had already put them on after the captain warned of deteriorating conditions.

A life jacket is one of the most important pieces of safety equipment on board, but it isn't a guarantee of survival. Factors such as the severity of the accident, sea conditions, and whether passengers can escape the vessel in time all play a role.

Under Vietnam's regulations, passengers are required to wear life jackets throughout the journey on river-crossing ferries. For longer trips at sea, however, they are typically instructed to put them on only when the captain determines there is a safety risk.

Life jackets are designed to keep you afloat, but their buoyancy can also make movement more difficult in certain emergencies. Inside a confined cabin, for example, a fully inflated life jacket may make it harder to squeeze through narrow openings or escape hatches. If an exit is submerged and requires passengers to dive underwater before resurfacing, buoyancy can also make that maneuver more challenging. That's why knowing where the emergency exits are - and how to reach them - matters just as much as wearing a life jacket.

Life jackets are designed to keep you afloat, but their buoyancy can also make movement more difficult in certain emergencies. | Source: Stepbystep

5. What Should You Prepare For An Emergency?

"The biggest mistake people make is thinking about safety only after an accident happens," says Mr. Trần Việt Phường, Chairman of the Mekong Delta Tourism Association. "In reality, safety begins long before a boat leaves the dock."

Sometimes, being prepared means taking a few simple steps: keeping your phone in a waterproof pouch, saving your tour operator's contact information, and noting the local emergency or rescue numbers if you're traveling independently. Those small preparations can save valuable time when every second counts.

More importantly, invest in basic safety skills before any trip on the water. Knowing how to swim - or at least stay afloat - along with CPR, basic first aid and the proper use of safety equipment can make a critical difference.

According to Mr. Phạm Quốc Việt, leader of the FAS Angel first-aid response team, water survival skills remain a blind spot for many Vietnamese people. Beyond swimming, he recommends learning techniques such as the HELP (Heat Escape Lessening Posture) position for conserving body heat when alone, and the HUDDLE position when in a group to reduce heat loss while waiting for rescue.

HELP (Heat Escape Lessening Posture) position for conserving body heat when alone. | Source: Scouting America và tlsv.org

HUDDLE position when in a group to reduce heat loss. | Source: Scouting and Sail-world

Conclusion

These five questions are designed not to eliminate every risk, but they can help you travel more prepared - instead of leaving your safety entirely in someone else's hands.

Vietnam's rivers, islands and coastline will continue to attract millions of travelers in the years ahead. Making every journey a safe one starts long before you step on board: ask questions, stay alert and take responsibility for your own safety. It may be the most important thing you pack for the trip.