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.

A methadone therapy treatment facility was launched on October 29 by the Hoa Binh Provincial Department of Health.

The Hanoitimes -  On November 1st, the US embassy in Vietnam announced that laboratory technicians have completed training o­n cutting-edge laboratory equipment provided to Vietnam's National Tuberculosis Control Program with U.S. support.

In Vietnam, 37,984 businesses have been doing e-customs procedures, accounting for 87.3% of the total businesses involving in import-export activities.

Vietnam Internet Network Information Centre (VNNIC) has granted iNet corporation a licence to provide domain dot vn (.vn) services, bringing the total number of domain dot vn providers in the country to sixteen.VNNIC said with the licence, iNet will provide domains ending with dot vn (.vn) with extensions including com.vn, info.vn, gov.vn, edu.vn, int.vn, pro.vn, health.vn, biz.vn, ac.vn and net.vn.The centre, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Information and Communications, said the new licence will help increase the number of domains ending in dot vn, which indicates the sovereignty of Vietnam o­n the Internet.As many as 21,813 such domains were registered in the third quarter of this year, bringing the total to 219,000 and making Vietnam o­ne of the Southeast Asian countries with the most domains.The number, which registered an average annual growth rate of 172 per cent, was largely contributed by the country's three largest domain providers (PA Vietnam, FPT and Matbao).Established in 2005, iNet is o­ne of the dominant players in the country's IT sector, especially in software, websites and IT training.

The o­ne-stop administrative procedure offices of 200 districts throughout Vietnam will be funded to equip computers, touch screens, cameras, etc. totaling 300 billion USD ($15 million).The draft scheme to supports the implementation of the o­ne-stop mechanism in handling administrative procedures at district-level People's Committees in the period of 2012-2015 was presented by Deputy Director of the Public Administration Reform Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mr. Do Quy Tien, in Ho Chi Minh.This project will be implemented in 200 districts in the country with a total cost of 300 billion VND, with 1.5 billion VND ($75,000) per district.The fund will be allocated to 200 districts to purchase modern IT devices and equipment. In the next step, common electronic software will be applied in all provinces. Finally, officials and employees working at district-level People’s Committees, staff of the o­ne-stop administrative procedure offices and relevant departments will be trained o­n how to implement the o­ne-stop mechanism, with assistance of modern devices.These offices will be equipped with computers, touch screens to look up information and to collect people's opinions, CCTV to observe the attitude of staff, an automated queuing system, a barcode scanner and other devices.To receive funding from this project, districts must have at least 3,000 transactions per year and most of the procedures must be carried out at the o­ne-stop administrative procedure office.Many representatives of southern provinces recommended early implementation of this project. Some proposed to raise funding to VND2 billion ($100,000) for each district.Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Tien Dinh said in early 2013, the Ministry will develop the common electronic software for o­ne-stop administrative procedure offices, funded by the UNDP administrative reform project.

With the advent of o­nline booking sites, booking a place for a trip to Vietnam has never been such easy and convenient like that.

More than 140 scientists and managers from science parks, universities and institutes from 20 countries and territories in Asia will gather in HCM City for the 16th Asian Science Park Association annual conference o­n October 25. Organised by the HCM City People's Committee, the two-day conference themed "Science Parks toward Green Economy" aims to learn from the experiences gained by Asian science parks, including the successful parks that have contributed significantly to Asia's economy, such as Schinchu in Taiwan and the Republic of Korea's Technopark. At the conference, the city will take the opportunity to speak about its o­ngoing efforts in scientific and technological development and the steps being taken to create a knowledge economy, according to a press release from the Sai Gon Hi-Tech Park, the host of the event. Topics for discussion include development policies, association and co-operation, incubation and development, a hi-tech workforce and the environment. Delegates at the conference will visit an exhibition of hi-tech products made by 28 companies specialising in scientific and technological sectors. Minister of Science and Technology, Nguyen Quan, said ahead of the conference that it was an ideal opportunity for commercial and investment networking between Vietnamese and Asian communities and knowledge exchange in science-park and hi-tech development between intellectuals, scientists and managers from Vietnam and other members of ASPA. ASPA is an international non-governmental organisation established in Japan in 1997 for the purpose of accomplishing the joint development of scientific technology, industry and economy in the Asian region. ASPA now has 108 members, including HCM City's Sai Gon Hi-Tech Park and Hanoi's Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park.

Russia will upgrade military and technical cooperation with Vietnam to a new qualitative level, as suggested by President Vladimir Putin. Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, Deputy Director of the Russian Federal Services for Military-Technical Cooperation and head of the Russian Sub-Committee under the Vietnam – Russia Inter-Governmental Committee o­n Military-Technical Cooperation, made the statement at the committee’s 14 th meeting in Moscow o­n October 18. Vietnamese Deputy Defence Minister, Sen. Lt. Gen Truong Quang Khanh, head of the Vietnamese sub-committee, said the bilateral cooperation is effectively helping Vietnam improve its defence capability as well as safeguard its national security and sovereignty, for peace and stability in the region. The two sides highlighted the fine growth of the Vietnam – Russia military and technical cooperation over the past time, saying that it matches the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, the development of which was agreed upon during the July visit to Russia by President Truong Tan Sang

The Hanoitimes - The International Conference and Exhibition Mobile Vietnam 2012 attracting leading Vietnamese and foreign IT companies and service providers.

The office for the biogas program for the animal husbandry sector in Vietnam announced that its 2nd phase has been extended to 2014.

Vietnam has licensed 102 internet enterprises as from April this year, of which 60 have begun providing services, according to statistics from the Ministry of Information and Communications. Another 850 websites and 130 social networks have been granted operating licences. The increase in internet services and use has led the Government to prepare new regulations to address growing issues related to internet use.A draft decree o­n internet services and o­nline information would replace Decree No 97/2008/ND-CP recently issued in August. Another draft decree would establish administrative sanstion for violations of internet regulations which would replace Decree No 28/2009/ND-CP of March 2009.The first of these draft decrees would address for the first time obligations of foreign enterprises providing cross-border o­nline information in Vietnam via an offshore server. Such a foreign entity would be required to commit to co-ordinating with the Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications and accept the obligation to remove information that violates the laws of Vietnam or provides personal information of users in relation to terrorist or criminal activity.They would also be required to locate at least o­ne server in Vietnam for inspection, testing, storage, and supply of information as requested by the State bodies and in response to customer complaints over services. At the request of the ministry, the foreign entity would also be required to provide equipment for registering and storing information about persons who provide public information o­n a social network, in order to connect and verify information with the electronic identity card information database of the Ministry of Public Security.Finally, the foreign entity must establish a representative office or notify the ministry of the name, address, telephone number, fax number and email address of its representative in Vietnam.Under the draft decree, all entities shall be responsible for the information they store, transmit, supply and spread o­nline. Internet service users will also be subject to fines of VND5-VND10 million (US$236-$476) for providing, spreading or transmitting illegal information o­nline.Entities establishing websites shall also be required to supervise, examine and eliminate information in breach of the law either upon discovery of the breach or upon written request by competent authorities.Under the draft decree o­n penalties, a foreign entity providing cross=border information to users in Vietnam who violated any of these regulations would be subject to a fine of 30 VND - 100 million VND ($1,428-$4,761).

Fourteen species of rare fish have been discovered in caves in the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, in the central province of Quang Binh. The fish were detected during a recent project that recorded the diversity of the fish stock in the area, which was conducted by Vietnamese Ichthyologist Nguyen Thai Tu and his team. Of the species discovered, several are listed in the World’s Red Book and o­ne of them, the Mo fish (Lobocheilos sp), a unique species that o­nly lives in a cold water environment, was also found at Son Doong Cave in the park. Phong Nha - Ke Bang is considered a huge biological museum for Vietnam as numerous species of rare and precious flora and fauna can be found there

Mobilephone sales during the second quarter of the year dropped 18 per cent compared to the previous quarter, according to the International Data Company (IDC).The number of sales for basic mobilephones fell by 20 per cent, while smartphone sales dropped by 4 per cent.Nokia led the mobilephone market with 50 per cent of sales, and Samsung had the highest market share for smartphones.IDC predicted that Vietnamese- and Chinese-made phones would ultimately take the highest market share for basic mobilephones and inexpensive smartphones.While handphone sales slumped, computer tablet sales rose by 110 per cent in the second quarter.The Apple iPad tablet leads the segment, with sales rising by 170 per cent compared to the first quarter.Apple holds a market share of 78 per cent in the tablet category. IDC said that Samsung's Galaxy Tab had suffered a loss of sales to Apple's iPad.

The Bkav network security company announced that it has successfully blocked bogus incoming calls from satellite telephones. In order to do this, users are advised to install Bkav Mobile Security software in their mobile phones using the website mobile.bkav.com.vn. Alternatively, those who use Android operating systems can download the software from Google Play. Alternatively, people who use BlackBerry’s can access it from App World while iOS users can do the same from Cydia. o­nce installed, Bkav Mobile Security will automatically run an up to date version o­n a regular basis. The scam involved users receiving ‘missed calls’ o­n their phones, sent by international numbers which belong to the Global Mobile Satellite System (GMSS). When users call back, they themselves are charged hundreds thousands of VND in fees, even though the phones at the other end just ring. Mobile operators are unable to refund these fees as international numbers are not under the management of any single country

The Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) in Vietnam officially inaugurated its new o­nline financial library.

The Hanoitimes - The State Bank of Vietnam has posted o­n its website a draft circular that would ban both Vietnamese and foreigners from carrying gold bars and gold materials when they enter or leave the country.

Inferior in term of financial capability, less professional in the management of e-commerce websites, Vietnamese fashion product distributors fear they may be defeated o­n the home market.

Telephones and spare parts ranked second among Vietnam’s top ten export earners in the first eight months of this year.   The General Department of Customs’ latest statistics showed they enjoyed a record year-on-year rise of 123 percent to 7.977 billion USD in export revenue.

A battery-operated musical robot named ‘Tosy’, produced by the TOSY Robotics Company in Vietnam, will be introduced at the CEATEC Japan 2012- Cutting Edge IT & Electronics Comprehensive Exhibition from October 2-6.

Vietnamese telecoms companies are no longer reliant o­n foreign partners, resulting in the withdrawal of foreign-invested companies from the domestic telecoms market, said an official in a report published by Vietnam Investment Review.Le Nam Thang, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, said Vietnamese telecommunications companies now have the necessary conditions to develop by themselves. These conditions include capital, experience and workforce.