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Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi (Source: Metropole)

Hanoi – Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi has been awarded a five-star rating – the top level of recognition from Forbes Travel Guide in its independent assessment of luxury hotels, restaurants and spas.

This is the second consecutive year Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi has had its name in the rankings.

In Forbes Travel Guide’s review for 2021, Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi was praised as “a supremely beautiful hotel, inside and out”.

Every corner is a compelling photo opportunity, especially in the gleaming historic wing and all-white inner courtyard, the review said.

According to the review, Metropole Hanoi has a strong sense of pride in its Vietnamese heritage. Its staff dons an eye-catching array of ao dai costumes, walls glow with local art and ceramics, and detailed explanations of Vietnamese culture are sprinkled throughout the luxury hotel.

Situated at 15 Ngo Quyen street in Hanoi since its opening in 1901, Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi draws deeply from a century of stories to weave a rich, nostalgic guest experience in the heart of the Vietnamese capital.

Over the years, Metropole Hanoi has checked in many an illustrious character, including novelist Graham Greene, writer Somerset Maugham and movie star Charlie Chaplin.

Forbes Travel Guide, established in 1958, is the oldest travel guide in the US, and is the creator of the original Five-Star rating system for hotels. The guide’s ratings are among the most highly respected in the hotel industry.

Its five-star rating is meant to designate “outstanding, often iconic properties with virtually flawless service and amazing facilities”.

Coach Park Hang Seo has set a goal for the Vietnam national football squad: to win at least six points in the remaining three matches of Group G, the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia.

The Hanoitimes – The head of Vietnam’s stock market watchdog urged players to trust the internal strengths of the economy and the resilience of Vietnam’s stock market.

The State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC), the country’s stock market watchdog, is considering a number of solutions to help investors and securities firms overcome negative impacts of the Covid-19 epidemic and global turmoil, according to the SSC’s Chairman Tran Van Dung.

Chairman of the SSC Tran Van Dung.

Among them are lowering fees for some brokerage services and easing regulations on margin trading, Dung told Vietnam Financial Times.

At the close on March 9, the benchmark Vn-Index plunged 6.28% to 835.49, the biggest tumble since May 2014 when the standoff between Vietnam and China occurred after China moved an oil rig into Vietnam’s waters.

Dung, however, noted the liquidity of the Hochiminh and Hanoi stock exchanges remained abudant with nearly VND6.5 trillion (US$278.69 million) traded, indicating investors were buying in battered stocks.

Besides, foreign investors remained net sellers but at a moderate amount of VND230 billion (US$9.85 million) on March 9, Dung added.

Dung said the freefall of the stock market was a common situation globally, especially as “all bad news came at one time” that directly impact investor sentiment, including the sharpest decline of oil price since 1991, prompting Goldman Sachs to predict Brent oil could drop to US$20 per barrel this year.

On early March 9, the Japanese government issued lower-than-expected economic data for 2019, heightening fears the global economy may come to a recession under the growing impacts of the Covid-19 epidemic.

The Federal Reserves (FED) on March 3 cut interest rates by 0.5% in an emergency move, prompting 65% of traders to expect the FED to continue lowering interest rates by 0.75% in the upcoming meeting on March 17. If it happens, the cut in the federal funds rate would take the borrowing cost in the short-term markets down to a range of 0.25% – 0.5% and raise concern over the US and global economies going to slow down.

For the Vietnamese stock market, new cases of Covid-19 infections were the main reason for shares going downhill, Dung said. However, Vietnam’s successful containment of the epidemic is just a matter of time, given strong determination of the government and the public.

Moreover, in the mid- and long-term, credit and fiscal support packages from the government will no doubt help enterprises recover, Dung added.

Dung urged enterprises, intermediary financial institutions and investors to trust the internal strengths of the economy and the resilience of Vietnam’s stock market.

Such confidence would help the market to rebound sooner and avoid unnecessary sell-offs, Dung stated.

In the coming time, the SSC would continue to closely monitor the market and only intervene out of necessity, Dung added, stating the authority would strictly punish cases of market manipulation or providing false information for unfair gains.

Accountability sought in e-commerce, illustration photo

A draft decree amending 2013’s Decree No.52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce, which will see comments collected from businesses and consultant firms, has recently caused concern for e-commerce operators if the draft is adopted.

Nguyen Chi Linh, representative of an e-commerce platform which is a subsidiary of the Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group, noted her criticisms to VIR about an adjusted article which orders a searching tool for state authorities to manage all information of their traders to check and inspect any violations or complaints.

“This regulation is unnecessary and can seriously impact the convenience of traders. Even if traders do not violate or make any complaints, they don’t want private information to be monitored by state management agencies. They could jump to other social platforms, and hamper e-commerce development,” said Linh.

She added that the platforms are assisting state management agencies in investigating illegal business acts, saying that providing registration information, transaction histories, and other documents on the issue on the e-commerce trading platform should be enough.

In addition, new regulations related to joint responsibility on goods and services on the platforms has caused headaches for e-commerce operators. The draft decree has added responsibilities in Article 36.11.d, and the representative of the Chinese e-commerce platform said this is impossible for them, which plays a commercial intermediary role only.

Without a legal framework, the role and responsibilities of e-commerce platforms continue to be highlighted. At the end of 2019, sneaker and sports apparel giant Nike ditched its deal with Amazon after two years, after noting its concerns about third-party sellers offering counterfeit products on the marketplace. Many brands are unhappy with how Amazon operates, with fake goods running rampant.

According to Bloomberg, the e-commerce giant is also notorious for identifying popular products sold by third parties on its website and then selling its own similar products at lower prices.

In Vietnam, e-commerce platforms like Shopee and Sendo are used to inspections for massive violations and complaints related to bad service or fake and prohibited goods.

Nguyen Minh Long, director of Dragon Law Company, said that e-commerce platforms should not shirk their duty to provide a management tool for state authorities, and take the joint responsibilities to improve themselves.

“In order to enhance the efficiency of these regulations, we need some sanctions strong enough to ensure owners of e-commerce platforms improve accountability and compliance, ensure good performance of online trading, and protect local consumers,” said Long.

He agreed with new provisions, saying, “In the context that online trading is increasingly developing, especially during the pandemic, strengthening the state management for the sustainable development of the retail market is necessary to maintain both benefit of businesses and consumer protection, and avoid e-commerce platforms developing as a place for trading illegal goods,” explained Long.

The draft decree amending 2013’s Decree No.52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce is being compiled by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The draft adds provisions on managing e-commerce activities involving foreign factors, and those on social networks. It also revises several regulations on the responsibility of both e-commerce platforms and their operators.

Some popular e-commerce platforms in Vietnam are backed by Chinese technology giants, or funded by regional venture funds. However, results often fail to match investment, and competitiveness increasing. In 2020, Lazada.vn fell behind Shopee and Tiki, according to Malaysian shopping aggregator iPrice Group, with a sharp month-by-month drop of its traffic, while that of the leading player Shopee has tripled Lazada and Tiki.