Editor’s note : This story by Ray Kuschert is about quán , a type of small food outlet which is very popular in Vietnam in general and in Ho Chi Minh City in particular. Kuschert has been living in Ho Chi Minh City for the past ten years. Mention 'street food' to any traveler and people all over the world instantly turn their minds to the amazing, cheap, and available street food in Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City is the street food megacity of Vietnam with almost every type of Vietnamese food imaginable available around the city. However, hidden within this gem is a secret superhero that has been feeding locals and tourists for generations. People eating bò né (Vietnamese-style beefsteak) at a quán in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Bong Mai / Tuoi Tre Often confused with street food, the small business known as a quán is the very heart and soul of culinary culture. Such small food outlets specialize in one dish and are the places to go for a sit-down meal or … [Read more...] about ‘Quán’: A secret superhero of ‘real’ fast food in Ho Chi Minh City
When customer expectations regarding product quality service quality and value based price
Bạc Liêu expands growing rice to organic standards
Shrimp-rice fields grown to organic standards in Bạc Liêu Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Tuấn Kiệt BẠC LIÊU — The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Bạc Liêu is expanding the use of organic fertilisers in rice cultivation to improve farmer’s incomes and protect the environment. In the last winter-spring rice crop, the Phước Long District Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development launched a pilot programme for increasing the use of organic fertilisers and reducing the use of chemicals on a total area of 110ha, with 60 farmers involved. Phạm Văn Cầu, one of the farmers, said: “The prices of inputs, especially fertilisers, have shot up, and so the use of organic fertilisers helps farmers reduce costs while rice plants still have high yields and quality.” He grew 2ha of Đài Thơm 8, a speciality rice variety, and got nearly 10 tonnes per hectare, and earned more than VNĐ300 million (US$13,000), he said. Organic fertilisers cost less than chemical fertilisers, and farmers in fact … [Read more...] about Bạc Liêu expands growing rice to organic standards
Vietnam’s seafood exports to EU going swimmingly well
Vietnam’s seafood exports to the EU are expected to increase sharply in 2022 Preferential fishery product tariffs The EVFTA, which took effect on August 1, 2020, has provided great opportunities for Vietnam’s seafood exports to the EU thanks to a series of commitments on preferential tariffs. Under the EVFTA, among about 220 tariff lines of fishery products with rates ranging from zero percent to 22 percent, most tariff lines in the high range of 6-22 percent were reduced to zero percent immediately after the trade deal took effect. The remaining tax lines will be phased out to zero after 3-7 years. Shrimp is a major export benefitting from the new tariff scheme’s zero-percent tax rate for 3-5 years, while tariffs on frozen tra fish have been reduced to zero percent for three years. Other seafood, such as oysters, scallops and octopus, also enjoy zero-percent tax rate. In addition, the Russia-Ukraine war and sanctions imposed on Russia have offered Vietnam with … [Read more...] about Vietnam’s seafood exports to EU going swimmingly well
Vietnamese rice must increase brand recognition in ASEAN
Rice loaded for export. The focus should be placed on building brands for Vietnamese rice and increasing brand recognition to expand export to ASEAN markets. — VNA/VNS Photo Compiled by Mai Linh HÀ NỘI — ASEAN has been a huge potential market for Vietnamese rice, and export firms should have a strategy to expand in the market of nearly 700 million people with similarities in culture and lifestyles, Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy, deputy director of Export Support Centre under the Việt Nam Trade Promotion Agency has said. Among ASEAN countries, the Philippines is the largest export market for Vietnamese rice, with a volume of 2.45 million tonnes worth US$1.25 billion and an average price of $509.7 per tonne in 2021, a rise of 10.7 per cent, 18.5 per cent and 7.1 per cent against 2020, respectively. Despite being the world’s third-biggest rice exporter after India and China, Indonesia is a potential market for Vietnamese rice. Phạm Thế Cường, trade counselor of Việt Nam in Indonesia, … [Read more...] about Vietnamese rice must increase brand recognition in ASEAN
Upgrading the market for the sake of all participants
An employee passes electronic boards showing share prices inside Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange in HCM City. — VNA/VNS Photo Hữu Khoa HÀ NỘI — An upgrade to emerging status will not only help the stock market develop quickly, transparently and sustainably, but also attract huge foreign capital inflows, said experts. Recently, the Government has directed to purge the market and improve the trading system’s capacity, showing its determination to enhance the quality of the stock market. The refinement is to protect investors and open a door for the Vietnamese stock market to be upgraded from a frontier to an emerging market. Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has taken an interest in the development of the capital market and the stock market, including the matter of upgrading the market. During a trip to attend the ASEAN-US Special Summit, on May 16, the PM visited the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) – the largest stock exchange in the world – hoping it supports and shares experience to … [Read more...] about Upgrading the market for the sake of all participants