The five-day international event, themed "Innovating Futures: AI & Semiconductors Globally," is expected to provide local businesses with meaningful connections with global companies, facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experience in AI and semiconductors.

The database allows for identifying which tax collector supervises each taxpayer.

Welcome to this week's Words on the Street, where we explore the latest shifts shaping Vietnam's digital landscape, and look at Deepseek's quiet but intriguing entry into an AI market where ChatGPT reigns supreme.

Vietnamese scientists believe that domestic enterprises have sufficient capability and intelligence to make the robots that serve industrial production at the prices much lower than the imports.

Japan will begin exporting social infrastructure and its most advanced information technology from March and Vietnam will be the first destination to benefit.

Mobile networks’ 3G services have posted strong growth despite the nation’s protracted economic difficulties, becoming a major revenue generator of local mobile phone services firms.

Hi-tech enterprises can be a driving force to speed up sustainable socio-economic development in mountainous rural areas, said Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan.

Scientists have conducted seven field research projects to preserve and develop gene sources, especially that of two rare tree species, scientifically called Hopea pierrei and Sindora tonkinensis, at Bach Ma National Park in central Thua Thien-Hue province.

The Hanoitimes - o­n the occasion of Lunar New Year 2013, the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee met and extended happy new year wishes to intellectuals and scientists at the Party Central Committee’s headquarters .

The Hanoitimes – Vietnam plans to completely switch from analogue television to digital television by 2020 with five major cities finalising the switchover in 2015.

With the budget from the new rural construction programme, in 2012, the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development started to implement 28 agricultural models which contribute to changing the face of rural areas and increasing the income of the farmers.

State-owned telecom giants Viettel, VinaPhone and MobiFone continue to dominate the Vietnamese telecom market, indicating a less competitive year in 2013.

The ethanol plants run by Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) are facing many troubles due to low consumption at home and export prices below production costs.PVN chairman Phung Dinh Thuc said his group was operating two ethanol plants, o­ne in Dung Quat, Quang Ngai and o­ne in Binh Phuoc. Meanwhile, the plant in Phu Tho will start production soon, said Thuc at a press briefing o­n the 2012 business performance of PVN last Thursday.It now costs 15,000 VND to produce a liter of ethanol, while export prices are o­nly around 13,000 VND, he informed.“We are studying how to operate these ethanol plants efficiently. We have developed ethanol plants but ethanol use has been limited,” he said.As per a schedule approved by the Government, petrol with 5% bio-ethanol content, or E5 petrol, will be officially sold in Hanoi, Haiphong, HCMC, Can Tho, Danang, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Quang Ngai in late 2014. Later, from December 1, 2015, E5 petrol will be widely available nationwide.This promises outlets for ethanol producers. In addition, cassava farmers may no longer suffer poor sales after each harvest.However, the period of nearly two years from now to late 2014 will be challenging for local ethanol plants.Nguyen Anh Toan, deputy general director of PV Oil, a member of PVN, told the Daily that the two ethanol plants of PVN in Quang Ngai and Binh Phuoc began production in the second quarter of 2012. Most of their products are exported and less than 10% are consumed locally.In 2012, PV Oil sold nearly 200,000 liters of E5 petrol, versus the annual capacity of 100 million liters of each of the ethanol plants that PV Oil invests in.According to a previous plan, five ethanol plants would have begun operations by 2012. However, given the trivial market share of E5 petrol, some plants are still o­n a trial run, leading to a huge volume of cassava being unsold.

Viettel corporation, the nation's largest telecom, has surpassed rival VNPT Group in earnings for the first time, according to reports released by Viettel yesterday.

MobiFone has become a member of the Bridge Alliance, the Asia Pacific's leading mobile operators' association comprising members from 12 major territories and with over 470 million customers.

As of January 1, 2013, a tourism website of the eight Northwestern provinces of Hoa Binh, Son La, Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Phu Tho and Ha Giang will officially open at http://dulichtaybac.vn.

The Prime Minister has agreed on a planned "Centre for applications of robotics in paediatric endosurgery" at the National Hospital of Pediatrics under the Ministry of Health, with total invested capital for the project at about 100 billion VND.

NASA Administrator Charles F.Bolden made the statement at the meeting with the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) to review the results of cooperation between the two nations in this field over the years.

The ability to buy and sell goods and services via cell phones will become more popular in sales and marketing, says Department for E-Commerce head Tran Huu Linh.

The Vietnamese Government has made great efforts to help businesses promote exports and join the global trade network. Domestic businesses need to capitalise o­n the government’s investment in developing and expanding markets.Deputy Head of the Import-Export Department Tran Thanh Hai says trade liberalisation can remove tariff barriers and create tax incentives for export businesses to penetrate new markets within the framework of trade agreements signed between Vietnam and other ASEAN countries.The Ministry of Industry and Trade forecasts that despite facing crunch time at home and abroad, this year’s exports will grow by 16.6% (still higher than the projected figure of 13%) to US$113 billion. This means Vietnam will join the club of exporters exceeding US$100 billion.Like other export-oriented Asian countries, Vietnam has become the world’s largest coffee and rice supplier.It owes its successful export business to e-commerce, an effective tool for most businesses to minimise production costs, improve competitiveness and expand their markets.Vietnam has huge potential for information technology and e-commerce to develop. By the end of September 2012, its Internet users accounted for 35.49% of the total population, 12 times higher than nine years ago. Experts say that if a country has more than 10% of its population using internet services, e-commerce is bound to grow and flourish.While the global economic downturn has yet to ease, more and more international clients are moving away from traditional markets like China to ASEAN countries where new markets are emerging with low transport costs. This is a good opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to grasp.Alibaba.com Group representative Michael Mang suggest they take the initiative to expand their client network through e-commerce channels and gradually adjust their sales and marketing methods to meet customer demand.Export businesses should evaluate the efficiency of their e-commerce performance o­n a regular basis to ensure sustainable growth, Michael says.According to the latest statistics gathered from a survey into export businesses o­n website B2B, their most favoured items o­n the e-trading floor are food and beverages and agricultural products (24% and 18% respectively), followed by construction materials and housing estate (8%).By the end of the third quarter of 2012, the US topped other countries with bulk orders for Vietnamese products (10%), followed by China (8%), and India (7%) and three newly-emerging markets, Russia, Hong Kong, and Australia.

Bio-technology is an important component of sustainable agriculture development in Vietnam, Dr. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Dean of the Bio-technology of the Hanoi Agriculture University No.1 told a workshop held on Thursday in the capital city.

Vietnam has tens of millions of internet users but many of them have not known how to secure their personal information and protect themselves from malicious content in the digital world, according to a workshop held in Hanoi o­n Wednesday.Google detects 9,500 malicious sites around the web each day while discovering more than 300,000 phising sites (websites that attempt to trick people into revealing personal information) each month this year, according to Mike Orgill from Google's Public Policy and Government Affairs department for Southeast Asia."The internet offers great opportunities and plays a very important role in Vietnam's economic growth now and in the future," said Orgill. "As more and more activities are carried out o­n the internet, equipping Vietnamese people with sufficient knowledge to take advantage of the benefits of the web is becoming increasingly important."There are more than 30 million internet users in Vietnam, and the number of internet users has been increasing by an average rate of 14.6% during the past five years. The internet has also contributed 0.9% to the country's GDP, according to the global business management strategy company McKinsey.As part of activities to mark Vietnam Information Security Day, the Vietnam Information Security Association (VNISA), Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT) and Google are working together to provide practical and useful advice o­n information security and management.Internet users are encouraged to use different passwords for different accounts and enable two-layer verification for Google accounts to enhance security. They are also provided with advice o­n how to protect themselves from malicious and incognito contents."When people know that they have adopted sufficient and necessary measures to protect themselves and their family when using the internet, they will comfortably and safely enjoy the benefits that technologies bring about," said VNISA's chairman Nguyen Duy Ngoc.

Vietnam will start blending bio-fuels with petrol o­n a large scale to power road vehicles from 2014, as the Government seeks to push ahead with its commitment to establish green credentials.