Boeing 737 700

Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines announced on December 7 that it will have six more flights to Manila on December 10 to serve football fans, who want to watch the finals of SEA Games 30's men football between Vietnam and Indonesia. The additional services from Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City to the Philippine capital of Manila will provide more than 1,300 seats. The added flights, using Airbus A321 and wide-body Boeing 787 Dreamliners, are scheduled to depart from Vietnam on the morning of December 10 and return home on the early morning of the following day. Vietnam Airlines is also cooperating with several travel agencies to create two-day tours on December 10 and 11 by combining air tickets with travel services to help fans enjoy the atmosphere of the SEA Games. The package tours already include return tickets, tickets for the men’s football final match, tour guides as well as travel and food costs. … [Read more...] about Vietnam Airlines to increase flights to Philippines for football fans

  The Empire Group could not pay annuity for its CocoBay condotel buyers since next year. Photo vneconomy.vn HÀ NỘI – Đà Nẵng authorities need to carefully review the offer to convert the Cocobay Đà Nẵng condotel project into apartments as it could harm the city’s economic development plan, experts have said. The project developer, Thành Đô Investment Development and Construction JSC (Empire Group), had guaranteed to pay 12 per cent profit on the value of investors' condotel purchases from January 1, 2020, but has since announced it cannot fulfil this commitment due to financial woes. Condotels are often sold to investors and then leased back to the developer or an operating firm to manage rentals to holidaymakers, which is where the 12 per cent profit was supposed to come from. A lack of regulations on condotel development and ownership has also harmed the project. The … [Read more...] about Tough decisions for Da Nang over Cocobay project

Workers of Minh Phú Hậu Giang Seafood JSC, a member of Minh Phú Seafood Corporation, at Hậu Giang Industrial Zone in the southern province of Hậu Giang prepare goods for export. Việt Nam hit US$9 billion in total export value of seafood products this year, a year-on-year increase of 8.4 per cent. — VNA/VNS Photo Vũ SinhViet Nam News HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said yesterday the total export value of forestry and seafood products reached a record high at about US$18 billion this year. Việt Nam gained $9 billion in total of seafood products this year, a year-on-year rise of 8.4 per cent, said Nguyễn Quang Hùng, deputy director of the ministry’s Directorate of Fisheries. He was speaking at a conference on production and business of the fishery industry this year and tasks in 2019 held in Hà Nội yesterday by the general department. The meeting heard how … [Read more...] about Forestry, seafood export reaches record high

California's Pacific Gas and Electric will pay $13.5 billion to settle lawsuits over its role in a series of wildfires that killed scores of people and destroyed thousands of homes, the utility giant said Friday. Faulty PG&E powerlines were blamed for sparking last year's so-called Camp Fire in northern California -- the deadliest in the state's history -- that left 86 people dead Faulty PG&E powerlines were blamed for sparking last year's so-called Camp Fire in northern California -- the deadliest in the state's history -- that left 86 people dead. Outdated facilities including vulnerable wooden poles and failure to deforest land surrounding high-voltage transmission lines were blamed for the inferno, prompting accusations the San Francisco-based firm had put profit before safety. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in January, saying it faced more than $30 billion in claims over the blaze. It was also sued over three other fires dating back to 2015, including … [Read more...] about PG&E agrees to $13.5 billion payout for deadly California fires

Volunteers join a campaign against the use of tobacco in central Da Nang city (Photo: VNA)   Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The new cigarette tax rate of 5,000 VND (0.2 USD) per pack will help reduce the rate of tobacco consumption and increase the State budget, health experts have said. Speaking at the conference on tax incentives to prevent tobacco harm on September 25 morning, health experts said the application of the special consumption tax rate will reduce the tobacco use rate among men from 45.3 percent to 39 percent by 2020. Currently, Vietnam has the world’s ninth-highest number of smokers. On average, one in every two male adults is smoker. The prevalence of smoking among adolescents is 24.3 percent. The country has been suffering the burden of disease and financial loss caused by tobacco use. In 2015, Vietnamese people spent up to 31 trillion VND (1.3 billion USD) on cigarettes and more 24 trillion VND (1.03 billion USD) on treatment of tobacco-related diseases such as … [Read more...] about Increase on special consumption tax vital to reduce smoking