VTV hasn’t bought World Cup’s copyrightViet Nam Television (VTV) has not bought the television copyright of World Cup 2018 as the Cup is coming in Russia in June. Fans will wait to see stars such as Lionel Messi competing in the World Cup 2018 in Russia. — Photo kenh14.vnAccording to Nguyen Ha Nam, Chief of the VTV Secretariat and Editorial Board, VTV is trying its best to negotiate with the partner holding the right of distributing but its price is very high. Nam didn’t reveal the exact price but it is more than the price of World Cup 2014, which cost around US$7 million. VTV paid $3.5 million to buy the copyright of World Cup 2010.

HCM City hotel market bounces back in Q1Average hotel occupancy rate in Ho Chi Minh City reached 74 percent in the first quarter, increasing by 6 percentage points from the same period last year. A tour guide shows local products to foreign tourists at Ben Thanh Market in HCM City. Savills Vietnam said by 2020, 14 new projects will add to the market about 3,500 rooms. Tourism services revenue earned during the period exceeded 31.7 trillion VND (1.39 billion USD), up 14.4 percent on year. The first quarter also saw 394 travel companies established in the past three months, registering 1.2 trillion VND (52.8 million USD) in capital.-VNA

HCM City lacks mental health resourcesAbout 16% of HCM City population have mental problems while the city lacks facilities for the patients. The HCM City Mental Health HospitalAt a meeting with the city people's council on April 10, Trinh Tat Thang, director of HCM City Mental Health Hospital, said that the number of out and in-patients increases by 10-15% annually. Despite the increasing number of patients, HCM City Mental Health Hospital only have 500 beds and 61 doctors. "No one wants to go to work at the mental health hospital because of low wages and poor infrastructure," Thang said. Le Truong Giang chairman of the City Public Health Association, said people face more pressure and mental health problems as a country urbanises.

Report reveals problems of Vietnam’s economy despite Q1 strong growthVietnam posted an impressive growth rate of 7.38 percent in the first quarter of 2018, but there remain many problems behind this 10-year high expansion, many experts said at the April 10 launch of a report on the country’s macro-economy in Q1. The firm’s export of mobile phones and components reached 12.3 billion USD in the three months, surging 58.8 percent year on year. Meanwhile, 53.01 billion USD worth of goods were imported in the period, including 31.75 billion USD by FDI businesses and 21.26 billion USD by domestic firms. According to the report, the rise of new jobs did not match the high economic growth in Q1 compared to the same period last year. Economic growth rates for the upcoming quarters are forecast at 6.51, 6.84 and 6.75 percent, respectively.-VNA

Rabies vaccine shortage reports dismissedThere is enough stock of rabies vaccines to meet demand in the country, the Drug Administration of Viet Nam has said. The Drug Administration of Viet Nam has rejected reports of a shortage of rabies vaccines. The announcement follows reports from many hospitals and medical centres in HCM City last week that they face a shortage. The administration said two kinds of rabies vaccines are imported, Verorab and Abhayrab. The administration has instructed hospitals and centres providing vaccines to report any temporary shortage so that it could resolve them soon.

Deputy PM slams MPI for poor allocation of investment capitalDeputy Prime Minister Vương Đình Huệ speaks at a meeting with the ministry yesterday on mid-term public investment. At a meeting with the ministry yesterday on mid-term public investment, the Deputy PM also pointed out that there were shortcomings in legal documents on public investment, including the Law on Public Investment and a number of the Government’s decrees on implementing it. Slow administrative reforms and a lack of efforts to improve management and leadership capacity were another reason, he said, admitting that the Government’s target of disbursing 100 per cent of public investment capital in 2018 was a challenge. In 2016, 91.3 per cent of public investment capital approved was disbursed, although the figure for 2017 decreased to 86 per cent. The ministry therefore proposes that the Government prepare scenarios of public investment disbursement for the remaining two years to define demand and disbursement ability which will serve as a basis to review and adjust the mid-term public investment plan.

Doctors warn against eating wild mushrooms as poisonings riseVietNamNet Bridge – A spate of wild mushroom poisonings in the mountainous provinces has alarmed doctors who fear locals are disregarding their warnings that the only way to prevent poisoning is to avoid eating wild mushrooms entirely. In some cases entire families have died after eating wild mushrooms. Three members of his family had already died days before after eating wild mushrooms growing on the hill. Up to 50 per cent of people who are poisoned by wild mushrooms will die, doctors say. Wild mushrooms are known to be delicious and sweet, so many people living in areas where they grow find them attractive.

Billions of VND for ping pongVietNamNet Bridge – The Viet Nam Table Tennis Federation has received sponsorship of VND10 billion (US$448,000) for their activities from 2018-22. Vietnam’s table tennis receive sponsorship for their activities in 2018-22. In their schedule this year, the national men’s team will take part in the World Team Championship in Sweden later this month. The National Table Tennis Championship will be held from May 22-27 in Da Lat. Table tennis is one of key sports at the National Sport Games this year as well as at the Asian Games in August in Indonesia.

ASEAN trade, culture exchange to be held in HCM CityA trade and culture exchange programme among ASEAN member states will take place in Ho Chi Minh City’s September 23 Park from April 18-24. An ASEAN cultural exchange event (Source: cand.com.vn)The event, hosted by the city’s People’s Committee, is to mark Vietnam’s 43rd Reunification Day (April 30) and the 3rd founding anniversary of the ASEAN Economic Community. It also aims to intensify friendship and cooperation between ASEAN countries and international partners and boost Vietnam’s trade, investment, tourism and cultural ties with other nations, especially those from ASEAN. The programme will include a fair with over 110 trade pavilions and over 40 cuisine pavilions. Visitors are offered a chance to read books, play folk games and watch Central Highlands gong performances.-VNA

Healthcare service prices to be adjusted: Health MinistryBeginning on July 1, the Health Ministry and Viet Nam Social Security will adjust the unreasonable prices of some healthcare services to better manage health insurance funds, said Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien. The new prices of medical services will increase by 5 to 8 per cent, according to the Health Ministry. Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue required the Health Ministry to calculate healthcare service prices in accordance with market mechanisms. According to the Health Ministry, drug bidding is being conducted at three levels: national, provincial and hospital-level. Deputy Prime Minister Hue asked the Health Ministry to conduct open, transparent and competitive bidding on medical equipment and other supplies at some Health Ministry hospitals.

AFC Women’s Asian Cup: Vietnam suffers 0-8 defeat to AustraliaVietnam were defeated 0-8 by Australia on April 10 in the team’s second match in the final round of the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup held in Amman, Jordan. Kyah Simon scored the first goal for Australia in the eighth minute from a favourable pass of May Kerr. Vietnam managed to maintain the score with their solid defence in the last minutes of the match. In an earlier match of Group B, defending champion Japan had a 0-0 draw with the Republic of Korea (RoK). Vietnam is scheduled to face the RoK in their last match in Group B on April 12 afternoon (local time).

Central province cracks down on overfishingA patrol boat of Quảng Bình Province (left) inspects a fishing vessel suspected of violating seafood harvesting in May 2017. According to local authorities, most of these juvenile prawns were imported from other provinces as home-grown production failed to meet demand. In the evening of March 6 alone, six trucks were found transporting 10 million juvenile prawns with such lack of documentation. They accounted for 50 per cent of juvenile prawns sold in the market. Likewise, the number of home-grown juvenile prawns only accounts for 60 per cent of the demand in Bạc Liêu.

Made-in-China smartphones becoming more popular in VietnamVietNamNet Bridge - Despite their reservations about the quality of made-in-China products, Vietnamese are still spending money on Chinese smartphones which have low selling prices and strong features. The Vietnamese market in the last two years has seen a huge influx of Chinese smartphone brands. An analyst estimated that there are tens of Chinese smartphone brands in Vietnam, putting pressure on brands such as HTC, LG and Blackberry. With strong sales, Vietnam is seen by Chinese smartphone manufacturers as a key market in their international expansion strategy. The Chinese brands outstripped giants like Sony and ousted Asus and HTC.

Japan treasures ties with Vietnam: Prime Minister AbeJapan attaches much importance to its relations with Vietnam and wants to bolster the extensive strategic partnership between the two countries, said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. For his part, General Ngo Xuan Lich stressed that Vietnam and Japan boast a long-standing friendship and share similarities in culture and customs. “Vietnamese Government and people always treasure the development of comprehensive relations with Japan,” he said, adding that 2017 was a significant year for Vietnam-Japan ties when both sides saw the visits of the Japanese Emperor and Empress and Prime Minister to Vietnam and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to Japan. Briefing the Japanese Prime Minister of the outcomes of his talks with Defence Minister Onodera Itsunori, he expressed his wish that Abe will continue support for the cooperation between the two ministries. Vietnam, Japan step up audit cooperationAuditor General of the State Audit Office (SAV) of Vietnam Ho Duc Phoc (R) and President of the Audit Commission of Japan Teruhiko Kawato.

Go-Jek and Didi Chuxing eye Vietnam's ride-hailing marketsChinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing has submitted its request for market entry to the Ministry of Transport (MoT). Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing has submitted its request for market entry to the MoT. "Indonesian Go-Jek is exploring the opportunity in Vietnam market, Chinese Didi Chuxing also has similar move." Consequently, Didi Chuxing has not been given permission to operate in Vietnam. Customers are more and more demanding, so we have to improve ourselves, instead of waiting for others to push us out of the market," Hien concluded.