In 2024, Vietnam's digital economy saw a major uptick in interest in artificial intelligence (AI).

Vietnam can unlock the digital economy across sectors through the effective use of AI-powered solutions.

The growth of Vietnam's esports market is highlighted in the Vietnam Esports White Book 2022-2023, which outlines global trends.

The Hanoi Times - The Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) said this year it will invest $1 billion in broadband networks to develop multimedia services like o­nline movie, data sharing, etc.

The Hanoi Times - Climate change adaption plans for land and water management topped the agenda at a workshop held yesterday in Ha Noi by Viet Nam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) and the Danish Ministry of Development Co-operation.

The Hanoi Times - Mobile-phone owners have been warned to expect jammed lines o­n New Year’s Eve, despite extra work to improve the network. During the holidays, telecom traffic volume increases by 20 to 40 percent.

The Hanoi Times - Dong A Bank launched four mobile ATM machines, carried o­n trucks, for the first time o­n January 15.The two trucks will travel through districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, Phu Nhuan, Go Vap, Binh Thanh, Tan Binh, stop at parks, markets, entertainment complexes and finally ending at Tan Thuan and Pouyen Industrial Zones. Workers will be able to withdraw savings at their convenience. The two ATMs will travel January 15-18It is planned to launch two ATM mobile trucks for the central provinces of Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, Nha Trang, Quy Nhon, the central city of Da Nang and the capital, Hanoi, for the Tet holidays.The roving ATMs are a pilot project. The bank is expected to launch 20 additional trucks carrying ATM machines if it proves successful.

The Hanoi Times - The Vietnam Software Association (Vinasa) and the Rhythm of Digital Life Magazine o­n Monday announced the ten outstanding events of the country’s software industry last year.

The Hanoi Times - The Ministry of Education and Training awarded 590 prizes to winners of the ‘National Science Research’ contest for students Saturday.Among 590 prizes, 14 first prizes were presented with 51 second prizes, 132 third prizes and 393 consolidation prizes awarded.   The Ministry also sent certificates of merit to universities and schools which have the greatest number of scientific studies carried out by students.   In other news, the Central Communist Youth Union joined hands with Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Association to award 27 first prizes and 100 second prizes to outstanding candidates of the National Technical Innovation Contest held by VN Fund for Supporting Scientific and Technological Innovations.      

The Hanoi Times - Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Quoc Thang spoke to Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Viet Nam Economic Times) about the market for scientific and technological innovation.

The Hanoi Times - The mobile phone industry performed exceptionally well last year to reach high development targets despite the world recession.

The Hanoi Times - Deputy Minister of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan o­n January 8, 2009 in the afternoon told the press he had received an instruction from the government to implement the Personal Income Tax (PIT) law as scheduled. However, the collection of the tax will not begin until May 2009. 

The Hanoi Times - Vietnam has succeeded in growing spermatids to be used in treatment of sterility in men, a doctor with Military Hospital 103 has said. According to Quan Hoang Lam, Director of the hospital’s Centre for Embryo Technology, an infant was born via spermatid-based fertilisation and six others are expected this year.

The Hanoi Times - The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) will provide o­nline 41 public services under its management, according to its recent decision. The services will cover the processing of complaints and denunciations about violations of consumers’ rights, approval of trade promotion activities, registration of overseas exhibitions, and provision of information o­n foreign markets to assist local businesses.

The Hanoi Times - Vietnam has become the first nation in Asia to successfully carry out a new treatment to help childless couples.

The Hanoi Times - Vietnam plans to develop a modern, rapid and sustainable railway transport system, with close connection to other modes of transport, helping to reduce traffic jams and the number of accidents as well as contributing to socio-economic development in remote and disadvantaged areas.

The Hanoi Times - Hundreds of small and medium businesses in Viet Nam have reduced their energy costs by about 50 per cent after implementing energy saving solutions from the Ministry of Science and Technology's energy conservation project.The five-year project, which began in 2006, is financed by the United Nations Development Programme and the Global Environment Fund with US$29 million.Vietnamese small and medium sized enterprises last year saved 30,800 of oil TOE (tonne of energy) and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 120,000 tonnes.Nguyen Ba Vinh, manager of the Promoting Energy Conservation in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (PECSME) Project, said more than 50 per cent of enterprises producing bricks, ceramic, pottery, paper, textiles and garments used backward technologies that wasted a huge amount of energy and negatively impacted the environment.SMEs in the five industries are particularly supported by the project. Vinh said the enterprises would get financial support for energy auditing, technology transfer and loan guarantees for 75 per cent of the investment made for energy conservation.According to experts, the project will help SMEs in Viet Nam cut 10 to 15 per cent of production expenses or hundreds of billions of dong every year through updated production technologies.Until 2010, the project will have 500 SMEs reduce their average energy cost per unit of production by 10-15 per cent, saving around 136,000 tons of oil and cutting CO2 emission by 962,000 tonnes.According to the project management board, so far 370 out of the 500 SMEs have been supported by the project.Vinh said last year the project carried out 149 sub-projects in total to propagate and help enterprises in 20 provinces and cities update their production technologies, o­ne less than targeted. In 2006 and 2007, a total of 221 projects were carried out and another 150 had been targeted for 2009, he added. By the end of last year, 23 enterprises had been given loan guarantees worth $630,000 to renovate their production technology, against the target of 30. All businesses benefiting from the project have been able to save between 15 to 50 per cent of their energy costs for each finished product. Vinh cited enterprises in the pottery village of Bat Trang as an example. With financial support programmes, many local businesses have switched from traditional furnaces to gas-powered o­nes to save energy and become more environmentally friendly.In 2007, 20 energy efficient furnaces were built and 3,000 tonnes of oil saved, with 14,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions cut, Vinh said.Dr Pham Huu Giuc, an official of the Ministry of Science and Technology who is director of the project, told a meeting in Quang Ninh Province last week that this year, the project would be strengthened to raise awareness among businesses about energy conservation and environment protection.Giuc said that at least another 150 SMEs would enroll in the project this year and apply energy saving methods.The HCM City Energy Conservation Centre (ECC - HCM City) said the lack of official legal regulations o­n energy use was a hurdle to carrying out energy conservation programmes.Huynh Kim Tuoc, head of the centre, said the Ministry of Science and Technology had proposed a draft regulation o­n energy usage, urging application of advanced technology for saving energy in production and transportation. The regulation was expected to be issued this year.It would be a basis for preserving the nation's power resources and raising awareness among the public about energy conservation, Tuoc said, adding that a series of energy related policies were already being applied.The campaign begun last year to have energy-efficient flourescent bulbs used by households and in public lighting systems, and the affixing of energy-saver stamps o­n electronic products was an example, he added.

The Hanoi Times - The Ministry of Information and Communication will soon bring out regulations to govern chaotic promotions by mobile service operators that have sparked unhealthy competition among telcos, a senior official said.Pham Hong Hai, head of Telecom Department under the ministry, asserted that the ministry would issue a circular early next year to govern promotions that are going wild so as to create a corridor for healthy competition and protect the nation's digital resources being depleted.While promotion programs help telecom providers increase subscriptions by attracting users, such promotions are giving way to undercutting among service providers and increase the number of inactive subscriptions, resulting in a waste of the digital resource, Hai said."To limit negative points, the ministry is working with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to complete a new circular to manage telecom promotions. It is expected to come out early next year," he said.According to Hai, the circular will stipulate what telecom services and products are subject to promotion. In addition, it will limit the duration of promotion programs.Currently, the promotion duration for o­ne package service may last up to 90 days, and if a telecom provider launches three package services a year, it can offer a promotion campaign as long as a 270 days, thus offering lengthy benefits for users.Due to various benefits when activating a new simcard, many clients choose to buy a new simcard rather than to purchase a mobile card to replenish the currently-used mobile number, thus discarding the old o­ne and resulting in a waste of digital resource, Hai said.Asked for his opinions o­n the upcoming circular, Bui Quang Tuyen, deputy marketing director of Viettel Telecom, told the Daily o­n the phone that his company would welcome the new rule because it would create a fair and healthy competition among telcos.Agreeing with Tuyen, Le Ngoc Minh, director of MobiFone, said the new regulation would help save the digital resource."We strongly support the new policy. However, we should be clearly informed of the specific road to implement it," Minh added.While awaiting the new rule, telecom providers are still in a neck-to-neck race to bring out promotion campaigns.Three leading mobile networks, comprising the military-run Viettel Telecom, MobiFone and VinaPhone under the umbrella of the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group are offering big promotions towards the end of the year.Recently, MobiFone and VinaPhone have launched programs allowing clients to double the value of their mobile cards when purchasing a new card from mid-December to year-end, a move in nature similar to that by Viettel.Dinh Viet Hung, head of Telecom Charge of MobiFone, said that telecom providers normally launched promotions to stimulate clients demand ahead of the Lunar New Year. Up to date, Viettel, VinaPhone and MobiFone vying to be recognized the Number o­ne service provider o­n the local telecom market.Viettel declares that its network has more than 12,000 base transceiver stations nationwide and its capacity can meet demand of 50 million subscribers. Meanwhile, MobiFone says it has over 30 million subscribers.However, the General Statistics Office reported that as of October this year, the country has nearly 60 million mobile subscribers, with Viettel having 19 million subscribers, while MobiFone and VinaPhone combined have 30 million. The remaining number belong to S-Fone and EVN Telecom and some others.Vietnam now has seven licensed telecom network' providers, namely Viettel, VinaPhone, MobiFone, S-Fone, EVN Telecom, HT Mobile and Gtel, the last-named being a joint venture between Russia-based giant telecom VimpelCom and the Ministry of Public Security's Global Telecommunication Corporation, which will o­nly start operation early next year.

The Hanoi Times - The successful launch of Vietnam ’s first satellite, the VINASAT-1, tops the annual list of prominent information and communication events for 2008, that was made public o­n Dec. 30. VINASAT-1 was launched into orbit at 5:17 a.m of April 19 ( Vietnam time) Kourou, French Guyana. Together with more than 200,000 km of optical cable in land and under sea, the modern digital microwave system, VINASAT-1 has contributed to modernising the national information facilities, improving the capacity and safety of the information network and accelerating the supply of telecom, IT, Internet and television services for people in remote, mountainous areas and islands.

The Hanoi Times - The Ministry of Information and Communication will soon bring out regulations to govern chaotic promotions by mobile service operators that have sparked unhealthy competition among telcos, a senior official said.Pham Hong Hai, head of Telecom Department under the ministry, asserted that the ministry would issue a circular early next year to govern promotions that are going wild so as to create a corridor for healthy competition and protect the nation's digital resources being depleted.While promotion programs help telecom providers increase subscriptions by attracting users, such promotions are giving way to undercutting among service providers and increase the number of inactive subscriptions, resulting in a waste of the digital resource, Hai said."To limit negative points, the ministry is working with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to complete a new circular to manage telecom promotions. It is expected to come out early next year," he said.According to Hai, the circular will stipulate what telecom services and products are subject to promotion. In addition, it will limit the duration of promotion programs.Currently, the promotion duration for o­ne package service may last up to 90 days, and if a telecom provider launches three package services a year, it can offer a promotion campaign as long as a 270 days, thus offering lengthy benefits for users.Due to various benefits when activating a new simcard, many clients choose to buy a new simcard rather than to purchase a mobile card to replenish the currently-used mobile number, thus discarding the old o­ne and resulting in a waste of digital resource, Hai said.Asked for his opinions o­n the upcoming circular, Bui Quang Tuyen, deputy marketing director of Viettel Telecom, told the Daily o­n the phone that his company would welcome the new rule because it would create a fair and healthy competition among telcos.Agreeing with Tuyen, Le Ngoc Minh, director of MobiFone, said the new regulation would help save the digital resource."We strongly support the new policy. However, we should be clearly informed of the specific road to implement it," Minh added.While awaiting the new rule, telecom providers are still in a neck-to-neck race to bring out promotion campaigns.Three leading mobile networks, comprising the military-run Viettel Telecom, MobiFone and VinaPhone under the umbrella of the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group are offering big promotions towards the end of the year.Recently, MobiFone and VinaPhone have launched programs allowing clients to double the value of their mobile cards when purchasing a new card from mid-December to year-end, a move in nature similar to that by Viettel.Dinh Viet Hung, head of Telecom Charge of MobiFone, said that telecom providers normally launched promotions to stimulate clients demand ahead of the Lunar New Year. Up to date, Viettel, VinaPhone and MobiFone vying to be recognized the Number o­ne service provider o­n the local telecom market.Viettel declares that its network has more than 12,000 base transceiver stations nationwide and its capacity can meet demand of 50 million subscribers. Meanwhile, MobiFone says it has over 30 million subscribers.However, the General Statistics Office reported that as of October this year, the country has nearly 60 million mobile subscribers, with Viettel having 19 million subscribers, while MobiFone and VinaPhone combined have 30 million. The remaining number belong to S-Fone and EVN Telecom and some others.Vietnam now has seven licensed telecom network' providers, namely Viettel, VinaPhone, MobiFone, S-Fone, EVN Telecom, HT Mobile and Gtel, the last-named being a joint venture between Russia-based giant telecom VimpelCom and the Ministry of Public Security's Global Telecommunication Corporation, which will o­nly start operation early next year.

The Hanoi Times - The Government of Vietnam launched a website, created with American assistance, o­n December 30th that will dramatically enhance administrative reform in Vietnam. The website will enable public officials, entrepreneurs, and private citizens to participate in an ambitious three-year project to eliminate cumbersome administrative procedures that hinder business operations and growth.

The Hanoi Times - The Minister of Transport just required all units to effectively realize the National Program o­n Energy Use and promote environment protection in the time to come. Accordingly, all groups, corporations and enterprises in the sector should set up and apply the environment managing systems in their production and business activities. By 2020, 80% of enterprises are granted with environment certificates.The chief of the transport sector urged enterprises, especially those engaging in shipbuilding or repair, seaport, automobile manufacture, and cleaning oil tankers, to regularly survey and assess environmental indicators (sewage, emission, noise, vibration).The Việt Nam Railway Corporation was asked to install sewage treatment facilities o­n passenger trains. The Minister asked the Việt Nam Shipping Industry Group to speed up the application of clean technologies in its shipbuilding and repairing workshops.

The Hanoi Times - The Ministry of Construction inked this morning a US $6.4-million contract with international joint consultant PPJ o­n planning the construction of Hanoi to 2030 and visions to 2050.