District 1 in ho chi minh city

Vung Tau, a popular beach town in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, came second in the list of 10, followed by central beach city Da Nang, Nha Trang, and Phu Quoc, Vietnam’s largest island off southern Kien Giang Province, according to data based on the bookings for April 30-May 3 collected by the world’s biggest accommodation website.

Hoi An, home to beautiful beaches like Cua Dai and An Bang, ranked eighth while Ha Long, a popular bay in northern Quang Ninh Province, came in ninth.

Mui Ne, a coastal destination in central Binh Thuan Province, often referred to as “a seaside paradise” for windsurfing, surfing, jet-skiing, and kayaking, ranked 10th.

Mui Ne beach in Binh Thuan Province, central Vietnam. Photo by Shutterstock/Andy Tran.

Da Lat, much loved for its year-round cool climate, green pine forests and misty landscape, was the most sought for holiday destination by Vietnamese travelers.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s southern metropolis, came in sixth while Sa Pa, a famous highlands town in northern Lao Cai Province, secured seventh spot.

Vietnam will celebrate a four-day national holiday for Reunification Day (April 30) and Labor Day (May 1).

With the nation having contained its Covid-19 outbreaks, domestic air travel has returned to normal.

Vietnam’s latest Covid-19 outbreak in late January came just a few weeks before the Lunar New Year ( Tet ), its biggest holiday, forcing many people to cancel travel plans. The country has gone over two months without community transmissions.

According to PNJ chairwoman Cao Thi Ngoc Dung, these targets mean a 20 and 15 per cent increase in revenue and net profit against last year.

At its annual general meeting of shareholders on April 17 in Ho Chi Minh City, Dung said that 2020 was a remarkable year for PNJ with stronger business recovery after a long time of being suppressed by COVID-19.

“While many companies are forced to reduce their business, PNJ is on a path of steady development and growth,” Dung said.

PNJ targets higher revenue and expanded to the international market this year

The digital transformation in manufacturing and marketing and promotion activities has helped PNJ maintain stable growth.

Dung said that many investors had shown doubts about PNJ’s targets, but the company’s management board confirmed that business prospects this year are much brighter as the pandemic is easing up and the economy has been recovered step by step.

“We have been carefully preparing for the next step of development in the next two years, then we do believe that we can reach that target,” Dung said.

In order to cope with the market turmoil, PNJ has actively restructured its retail outlets. In 2020, the company opened 29 new outlets but closed 36 ones in order to have better rental and locations. This year, PNJ plans to open 40-45 new outlets and invest more in production technologies and product design.

“When global logistics broke down, we have refreshed our entire network. When the first social distancing order from the government was sounded, we have right away implemented online and digital marketing and promotion. These timely reactions have helped maintain our business.”

At the meeting, shareholders also approved plans for 2021, including a private placement of 15 million shares – equivalent to 6.6 per cent of its outstanding shares, to raise its charter capital from VND2.276 trillion ($98.96 million) to VND2.426 trillion ($105.5 million) .

The funds raised will be used to strengthen jewellery production, improve production technologies and product designs, expand the retail network, and speed up digital transformation.

It also approved the issuance of more than 3.4 million shares at VND10,000 per share to employees who have made outstanding contributions.

By Bich Ngoc

* Strong winds and high waves lashed the eastern Philippines on Monday as the strongest typhoon ever recorded in April barrelled past in the Pacific Ocean, killing one man and triggering flooding in lower-lying communities, disaster officials said.

* The Russian Foreign Ministry said Sunday that it is expelling 20 staffers of the Czech embassy in Moscow in response to the expulsion of 18 Russian diplomats from the Czech Republic.

* Nearly 192.13 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered across China as of Sunday, the National Health Commission said Monday. The Chinese mainland on Sunday reported 11 new imported COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 90,510, according to the commission.

* The COVID-19 vaccination program in Laos is underway and the majority of people in target areas have had their first dose of the vaccine. The Lao government plans to vaccinate at least 150,000 people in the initial stages of the program.

* Cambodia on Monday predicted that international tourist arrivals to the kingdom this year would decline by another 70 percent due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19. The report of the Ministry of Tourism said the Southeast Asian country received 1.31 million international tourists in 2020, down 80 percent from 6.61 million in 2019.

* Malaysia started phase 2 of its national immunization program against COVID-19 on Monday, expanding to other high risk groups following the vaccination of the country’s frontliners.

* The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 4,952 within one day to 1,609,300, with the death toll adding by 143 to 43,567, the Health Ministry said on Monday.

* Brazil’s COVID-19 death toll on Sunday reached 373,335 after registering another 1,657 fatalities, the country’s ministry of health reported. According to the ministry, another 42,980 cases were registered, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 13,943,071.

* Just more than half of US adults have now received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed on Sunday, with nearly 130 million people aged 18 years or more having received their first shot.

* The European Union has exercised an option to acquire an additional 100 million doses of BioNTech and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, the two companies said.

* Denmark’s health authority said it may be possible for people to choose to have the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine if they wish, Ritzau news agency reported.

* The number of coronavirus patients in intensive care units in France edged up on Sunday, amid a nationwide lockdown to try to stem a third wave of infections.

* British scientists launched a trial which will deliberately expose participants who have already had COVID-19 to the coronavirus again to examine immune responses and see if people get reinfected.

* Canada will present a budget with billions of dollars for pandemic recovery measures as COVID-19 infections skyrocket, CAD2 billion (US$1.6 billion) toward national childcare, and new taxes on luxury goods.

* The number of people heading out to shops across Britain jumped 87.8% in the week to April 17 versus the previous week as non-essential stores in England reopened after three months of COVID-19 lockdown, market researcher Springboard said.

* Spain will study the effects of mixing different coronavirus vaccines, government researchers said on Monday, responding to shifting guidelines on the safety of the AstraZeneca’s shot.

* Poland may be able to open up a significant part of the economy at the end of May or beginning of June, depending on progress with COVID-19 vaccinations, the prime minister said on Monday.

* NASA successfully launched its Mars helicopter Ingenuity from the surface of the Red Planet earlier on Monday, marking the first powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet.

* The coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa can break through the protection provided by Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine to some extent, a real-world data study in Israel found.

* Vaccination against COVID-19 is a requirement to perform the Umra pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi state TV said on Sunday, citing a government official.

The 210kV station was built at the total cost of more than VND348 billion (US$15 million) on an area of 40,100 square metres spanning Dong Son and Kenh Giang communes.

According to EVNNPT Deputy General Director Luu Viet Tien, the station helped cut around 80% of the amount of copper cable, slash copper cable transport and installation costs, while reducing the risks of incidents caused by cable damage.

Tien said that the digital transformer station is a new technology in both Vietnam and many developed countries in the world, adding before carrying out construction of the station, EVNNPT held several conferences with large equipment suppliers such as Siemens, ABB and GE.

He said the 220KV digital station will ensure stable power supply for socio-economic development in Thuy Nguyen and regions in the vicinity, reduce power loss as well as enhance connectivity, safety, stability and flexibility in operation of power system.

EVNNPT will make evaluation on the efficiency of the station so as to select suitable technologies for transformer stations in the future.

The Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) plans to have all equipment on transmission lines and 80% of 110 kV circuit facilities digitalised from now to 2022.

By 2025, EVN will have digitalised 100% of facilities on medium- and higher-voltage power lines, according to EVN Chairman Duong Quang Thanh.

To that end, the group will press on with applying digital technologies like Internet of Things, big data, and cloud computing, he said, noting that it will use artificial intelligence (AI) in monitoring and examination and make use of cameras and smart drones to repair lines.

It will continue research on building information models and digital worker platforms to serve its staff while developing AI applications for image analysis and data governance.

EVN said it has completed 61 of the 63 centres for remote control of transformer stations and converted 670 of the 844 transformer stations into unmanned ones.