News

The leasehold for home ownership for foreigners in Vietnam will be extended from 50 years to 99 years if the draft Law on Special Administrative-Economic Units is approved.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired a meeting on August 2 to discuss the draft.

He agreed to create an outstanding institutional framework that transcends existing laws and minimizes the application of business investment conditions in special zones, to attract investment into such zones.

Regarding land policy, the law will be adjusted to extend the leasehold to 99 years for foreigners and allow them to mortgage assets in association with land use rights at foreign credit institutions.

PM Phuc confirmed the determination to establish a law guaranteeing long-term and sustainable development. He highlighted the spirit of ensuring international and regional competitiveness and seeking advantages to attract investment. He asked the Ministry of Planning and Investment to update information on special zones and issues identified by strategic investors.

Vietnam has 18 special economic zones with 325 industrial zones. At the end of 2016, the government agreed to establish three more: Van Don in northern Quang Ninh province, North Van Phong in south-central Khanh Hoa province, and Phu Quoc Island, off the coast of the Mekong Delta’s Kien Giang province.

Vietnam opened up its housing market to outsiders in 2015, with a regulation stating that foreign investment funds, foreigners with valid visas, and international firms operating in Vietnam and overseas could buy unlimited residential properties with a leasehold of 50 years.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), more than 80,000 foreigners live and work in Vietnam and there are more than 4 million Viet Kieu (overseas Vietnamese).

Meanwhile, foreign direct investment (FDI) flowing into Vietnam is forecast to rise to a record high this year as the country continues its efforts to improve the economic climate, Dang Huy Dong, deputy minister of Planning and Investment, said.

According to him, disbursed FDI will exceed $16 billion this year, and pledged investment will reach $28 billion. The country received $15.8 billion of actual investment last year, which was up nine per cent from 2015, according to the ministry.

Source: VIETNAMNET ,  investvine

Mahanakorn University of Technology (MUT) and Synacor (Nasdaq:SYNC) today announced a partnership to launch a Zimbra Innovation Center. The Center will be focused on enhancing academic curriculum to improve technical knowledge and critical thinking skills required to develop software solutions. Thailand aspires to be a digital hub in Southeast Asia, attempting to use government services in all sectors including but not limited to the education, investment, and tourism sectors. This initiative was recently announced in the Digital Government Plan.

The program will deliver an end-to-end curriculum spanning topics such as Linux operating systems, virtualization, messaging platform (Zimbra), security and networking along with the corresponding certification from the university. IST MUT is well equipped with modern facilities for teaching and research including campus-wide WIFI connectivity, fully furnished computer and research laboratories to support the academic activities and programs within the faculty. In addition, Zimbra, Synacor’s email platform, will be offered to faculty and students at MUT. The announcement was made at a press conference hosted by MUT and Synacor.

“Thailand is an attractive destination for IT companies, however the workforce is lacking the essential vocational training. Our partnership with Synacor will help us advance our academic environment so we can build a workforce that will help Thailand achieve its digital goals,” said Associate Professor Sujate Jantarang (D.ENG), The President of Mahanakorn University of Technology.

“We are excited to collaborate with MUT to launch the Zimbra Innovation Center program,” said Marcus Teo, Vice President Sales and General Manager of APxJ, Synacor. “The program will provide essential training to faculty and students as Thailand looks to make innovation an engine of economic growth.”

The global email market is growing. By year-end 2020, nearly half of the global adult population will have an email account.1 The future of email is bright and Synacor and its partners are on a mission to enable its renaissance. Recently, Synacor released a new whitepaper, “Email’s Renaissance,” that outlines changing consumer behaviors, attitudes, and habits around email, key challenges facing email providers and the benefits of leveraging collaboration to accelerate innovation.

Zimbra, a Synacor product, connects people and information with unified collaboration software that includes email, calendaring, file sharing, chat and video chat. It powers approximately 500 million mailboxes and works with 1,500 partners. More than 2,500 enterprises, 1,000 governments and 120 service providers trust Zimbra.

¹ Radicati Group. “2016 Annual Email Report.”

About Mahanakorn University of Technology

Mahanakorn University of Technology (MUT) was founded in 1990 focusing mainly on engineering and technology and has been growing rapidly. Its teaching programme won recognition countrywide as a leading standard in technological education. Recently, it achieved an assessment score of 4.86 out of 5 which is the highest score in the research university category by the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA), a public organization set up to assess research and learning qualities and qualities of graduates of all educational institutes in Thailand. In the past, MUT has been ranked as one the best universities in Thailand in terms of engineering and technology.

About Synacor

Synacor (Nasdaq: SYNC) is the trusted technology development, multiplatform services and revenue partner for video, internet and communications providers, device manufacturers, governments, and enterprises. Synacor’s mission is to enable its customers to better engage with their consumers. Its customers use Synacor’s technology platforms and services to scale their businesses and extend their subscriber relationships. Synacor delivers managed portals, advertising solutions, email and collaboration platforms, end-to-end video solutions and cloud-based identity management.

Source: AFP

The lotus may be a symbol of Vietnam, but it might have outgrown its popularity when it comes to new building designs.

Hanoi has revealed the design for its largest theater – a six-story building with six giant lotus flowers rising up from a lake.

According to the Lonely Planet news, the project is located in the western district of Vietnam’s capital and positioned along one of the main arterial roads that connect the city with Noi Bai Airport, the Hanoi Lotus project aims to create a brand new cultural epicentre in the area while offering a striking first impression for people entering the city. The building will sit atop a lake and will act as part of the city’s stormwater control system for drainage, as well as providing spaces for a range of different events.

It will house areas designed for ceremonies and weddings, a 2000-seater multi-functional theatre and performance space, and an ice skating rink. The ceiling of the main space takes inspiration from the colours and patterns of the underside of a lotus leaf, and will have a sculpted form that blends into the central auditorium. Each petal that forms a layer of the design will be formed from specially crafted glazing that will provide shading to the restaurant and VIP areas inside.

The design was created by Australian architecture firm deciBel, and incorporates Vietnam’s national flower the lotus into a modern and eye-catching design. The building has a pentagonal shape with the Lotus Building at its central node. As well as being inspired by the flower, the design is based on the five points of an out-stretched person in a bid to introduce a human element to it.

The project has been approved to go ahead, with the aim of having the building fully operational by Lunar New Year 2019, which will fall on Tuesday 5 February.

In a country where more than half of the population is online most of the day, the project has once again started a lot of chatter. A common theme seems to be people asking if the spending is necessary, or if the money should be used for schools, hospitals and roads. But this time, there’s a new debate that can be summed up in one word: “Again?”

The public appears to have had enough of lotus-inspired constructions.

The transport ministry has also chosen a lotus-themed design for Long Thanh Airport, a multi-billion dollar international airport in the southern province of Dong Nai that will be the largest in Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City’s tallest skyscraper, Bitexco, also bears the image of a lotus bud.

Officials said construction is expected to be completed next year. The estimated cost has not been revealed. The city hopes that the theater, together with four horse race tracks which will be started later this year, will bring in more tourists. Hanoi aims to attract 4.3 million foreign visitors this year, up 7.5 percent from 2016.

Source: VnExpress  ,  Lonely Planet

Your idea could become an official mascot of the 2020 Games. The organizing committee for the Tokyo Olympics launched a campaign Tuesday to solicit ideas for official mascots.

The committee will decide the winner based on multiple screenings and a vote by elementary school students. The result will be announced by early February next year.

 

The vote by elementary school students will be key to the selection.

“What you pick in the final phase will be the mascots,” said Cultural Affairs Commissioner Ryohei Miyata, who chairs the committee’s mascot-screening panel. Miyata spoke at a ceremony at Kuramae Elementary School in Tokyo’s Taito Ward to mark the campaign launch.

“I ask of you a very important task,” he told the students.

“I want mascots that are adorable and brand new,” said Yuya Kagami, a 10-year-old fifth-grader.

Citizens and foreign residents aged 18 and over as of April 1 are eligible to enter the campaign, regardless of experience. Applicants can be individuals or groups of under 10 people. Entries will be accepted through Aug. 14.

Three or four final entries will chosen after several rounds of screening before the final vote by students.

One vote will be allocated to each elementary school class taking part in the poll, which will be conducted between Dec. 11 and Jan. 19.

The screening panel will choose the names of the mascots from multiple outside proposals.

source: The Japan Times

Airbnb Inc. is looking to deliver experiences in Japan that they can’t get anywhere else, by offering customers the opportunity to stay in temples, train stations and other unusual settings.

The San Francisco-based home-sharing startup will work on the initiative with Blue Lab Co., a financial-technology venture backed by Mizuho Financial Group Inc., the companies said in a statement Tuesday.

Japan is Airbnb’s fastest-growing market, now with more than 53,000 listings. More than 24 million tourists visited Japan in 2016, topping the record for a fourth straight year, according to the National Tourism Organisation. After years of regulatory hurdles, Japan’s government passed a law earlier this year setting out rules for home-sharing. That’s spurring an effort to expand the number and variety of lodgings available to visitors.

“This is a great way to bring together different businesses with different ideas to provide better services for customers to enjoy and experience the real Japan,” Daisuke Yamada, president of Blue Lab, said at a news conference in Tokyo. “With our connections and financial knowledge, and Airbnb’s international platform, we hope to promote the excellence of Japanese service.”

Airbnb and Blue Lab are aiming to introduce more hotel-like extras, such as room cleaning and personalized services for older visitors. Other tourists may want to participate in local events, such as praying at a temple or joining a festival, they said. Globally, Airbnb has been looking at new ways to provide hotel-like services to higher-paying customers.

Additionally, Mizuho Bank said it would help property owners and enterprises by extending financing and other services. Blue Lab, backed by between Mizuho and venture firm WiL LLC, is seeking to offer payments services, blockchain-based products and other financial technology services.

There’s also local competition. Rakuten Inc. and real estate listing operator Lifull Co. announced plans last month to enter the home-sharing business. HomeAway, part of Expedia Inc., also offers home-sharing lodgings in Japan.

Airbnb, which is valued at $29 billion, accommodated 3.7 million visitors in Japan last year. With Tokyo set to host the Rugby World Cup and the Olympic Games, the government expects 40 million visitors by 2020.

Source: Bloomberg