Mat xa han quoc pham ngoc thach

Vingroup’s billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong

Bloomberg has cited a source as saying that Vingroup Group (VIC) of billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong is considering an initial public offering (IPO) in the US for its VinFast auto company, which is expected to mobilize about $2-3 billion.

VinFast expects a valuation of at least $50 billion or even up to $70-75 billion. With this valuation, the capitalization of VinFast will surpass the famous car maker Ferrari (capitalization at $52 billion), Honda ($51 billion), Ford ($49 billion), Kia ($30 billion) … and only behind some famous brands such as Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz, GM, BMW and others.

This is an unexpected move, but it is in line with his aim of conquering the top market in the world.

The information was released when Vuong’s VinFast company began receiving the first orders for electric cars in Vietnam last month and had models shown on CNN, paving its way into the US market.

VinFast has also registered two electric car models in the US and will sell a number of models in Vietnam, the US, Canada and Europe from late 2021.

In the trading session on April 12, Vingroup shares (VIC) – VinFast’s parent company – increased by 5.7% to VND132,000/share, helping the group’s capitalization reach more than $19 billion to be the largest capitalized enterprise in Vietnam’s stock market.

During the morning session of April 13, Vingroup shares continued to rise by more than 4 percent, to nearly VND138,000 per share.

As the price for VIC shares soared, Vuong’s assets rose to over $9 billion and he became the 262nd richest person in the world.

If the IPO is successful, VinFast will set a new record, surpassing the record of $1.4 billion in capital mobilization in 2018 of Vinhomes (Vingroup’s real estate management company).

At that time, VinFast was also the first Vietnamese company listed in the US.

VinFast is Vingroup’s company that manufactures motorbikes, and gasoline- and electric-powered cars. The business, only a few years old, began delivering gasoline fueled cars (using engines licensed by BMW) in 2019.

In the mobile phone segment, Vingroup has achieved many positive results, with the sale of Vsmart phones in the country increasing over the past year, even though the No. 1 private corporation in Vietnam just entered the smartphone market in 2018. Vingroup has become the 3rd largest smartphone manufacturer in Vietnam, behind only Samsung Electronics and Oppo.

On the website of the leading US carrier – AT&T – an image of the first Vingroup smartphones has appeared, a testament to the group’s plan to enter the American smartphone market.

Pham Nhat Vuong has great ambition in the field of technology and industry, with Vsmart phones, Vinfast cars and electric cars.

In recent years, Vuong’s Vingroup had to withdraw from many fields, selling the retail segment to billionaire Nguyen Dang Quang and recently presenting the Youth Football Training Center to Van Lang Education Group, even though it had many achievements in these fields.

V. Ha

The Ministry of Public Security on Friday arrested and started legal proceedings against Nguyen Quoc Anh, former director of Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, and two of his subordinates at the infirmary for “abuse of position and authority” in the alleged price gouging of medical equipment.

The two subordinates are Nguyen Ngoc Hien, former vice director of Bach Mai Hospital, and Trinh Thi Thuan, former chief accountant at the infirmary.

Officers also inspected Anh and Hien’s residence on Friday evening.

While the two men were in office, Bach Mai Hospital purchased a robotic system from BMS Medical Technology Joint Stock Company.

The arrested inflated the purchase price of the system to VND39 billion (US$1.7 million) from its market price of VND7.4 billion ($319,000).

Consequently, patients had to pay VND23 million ($990) per instance of the machine’s use while the rate should have been VND4 million ($172) only.

It is estimated that the arrested appropriated VND10 billion ($430,800) from patients via more than 500 cases of the system’s use from 2017 to 2019.

Previously, the Ministry of Public Security also arrested and began legal proceedings against Pham Duc Tuan, chairman and director of BMS, Ngo Thi Thu Huyen, BMS deputy director, and Tran Le Hoang, an appraiser of VFS JSC — which had been hired by Bach Mai Hospital to appraise the robotic system, for their involvement in the case with the charge of “fraud and appropriation of property.”

Hoang is now under home arrest.

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Nowhere else in Vietnam serves up leftovers like Hue – the country’s ancient capital – where yesterday’s rice is the hottest item on the menu.

In Hue’s city center, where tourists abound, bun bo Hue – a beef and vermicelli soup famous in the ancient capital – may be the most popular dish at local street stalls.

But walk just a few minutes from the city’s famous and attractions and visitors will find themselves immersed in a culinary world centered around a rather peculiar ingredient: leftover rice, known in Vietnamese as com nguoi .

For day laborers, the leftover rice served with bun bo Hue is integral, giving them the extra energy they need to work from dawn till noon.

Arguably, Hue is a city which runs on yesterday’s rice.

An unknown version of bun bo Hue

Hue’s Gia Hoi Islet is a hotbed of bun bo stalls, with the area surrounding Bach Dang, Chi Lang, To Hien Thanh, Nguyen Du, and Chua Ong Streets doubling as the epicenter of the city’s traditional cooking styles.

The close observer will notice that most of the bun bo stalls there have a lunchbox sitting near the service area.

Inside the lunchbox is the stall owner’s leftover rice, an ingredient that many locals agree is necessary in order to enjoy bun bo in true Hue fashion.

Cultural researcher Tran Dinh Son said serving leftover rice with bun bo dates back to the 1950s and 1960s when vendors, after running out of fresh vermicelli, would wander around the city selling their leftover ingredients – chopped pig’s feet, cooked beef, pig blood curd, and meatballs – to those who would have them with leftover rice.

A bowl of bun bo broth and rice in Hue. Photo: Thai Loc / Tuoi Tre

Strange servings

Com va or ‘slurping rice’ is another traditional dish in Hue which has not yet made it on tourists’ radar screen.

This dish consists of large strings of vermicelli, julienned pork ham, banana flowers, herbs, and a spoonful of chicken broth.

Long ago, the people of Hue enjoyed leftover rice in a variety of ways, including by munching on it with shrimp paste and fresh chili, or topping it with fat, shrimp sauce, and hot pepper flakes.

Hue’s famous mam tom chua or sour fermented shrimp paste is made using cooked glutinous rice which adds a sweet taste and thickens the dish.

According to many mam tom chua enthusiasts, the dish must be prepared with leftover rice rather than glutinous rice in order to embody the true Hue spirit.

Worker’s food for royalty

It would not be right to talk about leftover rice without mentioning com hen or baby mussel rice.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Nga, the owner of an eatery at 17 Han Mac Tu, Hue City, says she cooks rice early in the morning and waits for it to cool down before making baby mussel rice. Photo: Thai Loc / Tuoi Tre

Hoang Tung De – a cousin of Vietnam’s last emperor Bao Dai – loved eating at street stalls outside of the citadel despite knowing it might ruin his royal status, according to cultural researcher Son.

When Bao Dai was asked about it, the emperor said he “would like to do the same thing but could not.”

There is no official record of whether com hen was served to royals, yet many former servants said the emperor often asked to have vendors cook the dish at the palace.

Leftover rice accounts for much of the food in com hen so it would have been carried along with the vendors in order to serve the royalty.

Later, when Emperor Bao Dai built his palace in Central Highlands city of Da Lat, to cook his favorite dish of com hen , servants released baby mussel breeds in several springs nearby.

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