BUSINESS IN BRIEF 8/2 Thai group to launch Robinsons supermarket in Vietnam Thailand’s largest retail conglomerate – Central Group – is expanding into Vietnam with the opening of a Robinsons Department Store in Hanoi in March. Managing Director Tos Chirathivat said the decision comes on the heels of its successful operation of SuperSports, Crocs and New Balance stores in Vietnam and the forecast of a potential 90 million consumer market. The group’s first international store will be located at the Royal City entertainment site in Hanoi on 10,000sq.m. It will be stocked with high quality products, including world’s leading brand names, providing Hanoians a great shopping experience. The President of Robinsons Department Store in Thailand, Alan Thomson, said Hanoi and surrounding areas have enjoyed stable and high growth and their citizens’ median income has also been rising. Central Group plans to open a second supermarket in Ho Chi Minh City in late 2014. The two supermarkets will employ around 1,000 staff. Vietnam Motorbike Association prepares to debut The initial five members of the Vietnam Motorbike Association (VMA) will officially debut the new industry body later in February. Founding members Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, SYM, and Piaggio together account for more than 95% of the Vietnamese market share. Honda controls the largest proportion of 70%, followed by Yamaha, SYM, Suzuki, and Piaggio. The five joint ventures began sharing sales data last year. One VMA member explained the association grew out of mutual desires for a unified industry policy lobbying voice and an equitable competitive environment. The association arrives after a 2013 slump that marked the second consecutive year of declines in turnover. Although the Vietnam Bicycle and Motorbike Association has existed for some time, it never manages to attract the support of key motorbike businesses, and its market influence has steadily faded to almost nothing. Manufacturing PMI zooms up Growth in the Vietnamese manufacturing sector gathered momentum at the start of 2014, highlighted by the strongest rise in output since April 2011, and the fastest rise in purchasing activity in the survey's history, according to a HSBC report released yesterday. Higher workloads led firms to take on extra staff for the sixth month running. Meanwhile, output prices were raised marginally in response to higher input costs. The headline seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) – a composite indicator designed to provide a single-figure snapshot of operating conditions in the manufacturing economy – rose for the second month running in January, posting 52.1 from 51.8 in December. The reading pointed to a fifth consecutive monthly improvement in business conditions in the sector and the second-strongest in the survey's history, just short of the record seen in April 2011. The rate of growth in production was also the second-fastest in the series history. Output rose for the fourth month running, with rising new orders and the completion of outstanding business mentioned by respondents. New orders increased for the fourth time in the past five months, and at a solid pace that was little-changed from that seen in December. Panelists reported strengthening client demand. New export orders also rose in January, ending a two-month sequence of decline. Meanwhile, backlogs of work decreased at a solid pace for the third consecutive month. The delivery of goods to clients led to a marked reduction in post-production inventories at Vietnamese manufacturing firms. The rate of depletion was the fastest since February 2013. Rising production requirements led firms to take on extra staff in January. Employment has now risen in each of the past six months. The rate of job creation eased slightly from December, but remained solid. A further increase in input prices was registered in January, with the rate of cost inflation little-changed from those seen at the end of 2013. Increased demand for inputs imparted capacity pressure on suppliers, leading to a lengthening of delivery times for the first time in four months. That said, the deterioration in vendor performance was only slight. Commenting on the Vietnam Manufacturing PMI survey, Trinh Nguyen, Asia Economist at HSBC said: "The notable bounce of the manufacturing sector reflects strengthening demand, both domestic and abroad. The continued increase of employment shows that manufacturers are upbeat about the sector's growth outlook. We expect exports to boast another strong year in Vietnam, lifting growth to 5.6 per cent. With input price inflation stable, the State Bank of Vietnam has space to keep rates on hold." More Samsung satellite companies invest in Vietnam The People’s Committee of northern Thai Nguyen province has granted an investment license to Hansol Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd., an affiliate of the Samsung group of the Republic of Korea, to produce electronic parts for the group’s mobile phones. The 150 million USD project is scheduled to become operational by the end of this year to provide parts for the Samsung Electronics Vietnam Thai Nguyen (SEVT) complex. The Hansol Electronics Vietnam General Director, Park Hyun Soon, pledged to speed up the project’s progress and strictly follow Vietnam’s laws and policies. He also added that once operational, the company will employ about 6,000 local people. Together with Hansol, Samsung Electro-Mechanics Vietnam received an investment license to produce electronic chips for mobile phones last year. The project, worth 1.2 billion USD, is expected to begin this September. According to Duong Ngoc Long, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, Samsung’s investment in Thai Nguyen is an important economic factor which will largely contribute to the province’s socio-economic development and create the foundation for FDI projects to come in the future. Last month, the Yongbo Vina company, also from the Republic of Korea, was licensed to invest in an 8 million USD project in the northern province of Bac Ninh which will manufacture headphones, batteries, cables and chargers for mobile phones. The province attracted 1.474 billion USD in foreign direct investment in 2013, including 1 billion USD of additional capital from Samsung Electronics Vietnam (SEV). According to the SEV, as many as 60 Samsung satellite companies have poured investment worth a total of 2 billion USD into Vietnam. These companies are dominating the support industry for the country’s electronics sector.- Vietnam Airlines attends Brussels Holiday Fair 2014 The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines represents Vietnam at the 56th Brussels Holiday Fair 2014 which is taking in Belgium from February 6-10. The company introduced Belgian visitors to a number of attractive tours of natural exploration, golf courses, and sea travel with lower airfares. Vietnam Airlines representative Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang said the number of European visitors, including Belgians, to Vietnam via Vietnam Airlines has increased sharply over the years. Most of them book group tours and stay long in Vietnam. The company is strengthening cooperation with travel agents to diversify services and improve the quality, so as to attract more customers, said Trang. Marie Aude Ma, a representative of France-based Nature Vietnam Travel Company, said Vietnam is an open country with beautiful scenery and hospitable people. Its hotel infrastructure has developed for the past 10 years. This is a favourite destination for French and Belgian tourists. Preux Paule, a Belgian resident, recalled her discovery tour of Vietnam two years ago where she visited Ha Long Bay and Sapa tourist resort in the north, and Phong Nha-Ke Bang and Hue city in the central region. She said she was impressed by distinctive Vietnamese food and wants to return to Vietnam one day. The Brussels Holiday Fair takes place every February to promote tourism products and attractive destinations in the world. This year’s event has been attended by 700 travel agents and aviation companies from around the globe.   Industrial production inches up The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in January rose 3 per cent from January last year but fell 6.2 per cent against December 2013, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said. Economist Vu Quang Ha of the GSO noted that the mining and exploitation industry saw a strong decline of 9.6 per cent, thereby affecting the entire industrial sector. The coal mining industry mined three million tonnes of coal, a decline of 24.7 per cent, while crude oil posted a loss of 1.3 million tonnes, or 0.5 per cent, compared to the same period in 2013. Ha said the slight increase in the IIP in January was due to a growth of 6.6 per cent in the processing and manufacturing sector. This sector accounted for about 70 per cent of the total domestic industry. The processing and manufacturing sector strongly grew in January, due to contributions from sub-sectors such as detergent, up 27.3 per cent; powdered milk, 22.4 per cent; television, 18.2 per cent; and rolled steel, 16.7 per cent. Contributions also came from processed seafood, up 10.5 per cent; automobiles, 8.8 per cent; and processed food, 12.3 per cent. The inventory index of the manufacturing and processing industry declined 9.7 per cent, from 21 per cent in January 2013. This growth rate for industrial production combined with the decline in the inventory index indicate that there will be a strong recovery in domestic industrial production in the next few months, noted economist Ha. SSI forecasts bright future for VN Index Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) forecasts a brighter future for the local stock market, powered by gradual economic recovery and the ongoing reforms. It believes that the VN Index might reach 590-600 points by the end of this year. SSI's market outlook, issued in January 2014, estimates that the VN Index can increase by 17 to 20 per cent compared with its closing level of 504.6 at the end of last year. SSI says that the local market will be powered by gradual economic improvement and the ongoing reforms, which will trigger positive catalysts such as the extension of Foreign Ownership Limit, new IPOs or mergers and acquisitions of banks. It also says that industry and related sectors such as infrastructure construction, building materials and industrial wharfs are the preferred SSI sectors this year. According to its calculation, with a 5 per cent dividend yield added, the average total return from Viet Nam's equity market would be 23 per cent in 2014, adding that the turnaround stocks are attractive as many turnaround companies have just transitioned from ‘loss' to ‘profit-making' status. SSI also forecast better revenue growth with support from lower Corporation Income Tax, down from 25 per cent in 2013 to 22 per cent in 2014, no salary cuts and a slightly lower interest rate in 2014. Retail sales rise 13% in January The nation's total revenue from retail sales and services topped VND273.49 trillion (US$13 billion) in January, a year-on-year rise of 13 per cent, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported. Vu Manh Ha, a senior expert at the GSO Trade Department, described it as an encouraging result compared with the average growth rate of 12 per cent in the latter half of 2013. He also attributed the first month's retail sales growth to the rapidly rising demand for commodities during the Lunar New Year holiday. The trade sector, which accounted for nearly 80 per cent of the total revenues, rose 10.8 per cent over the same period last year, while the services sector experienced a significant rise of 24.2 per cent. Statistics have shown that last year, the country's retail industry recorded a yearly increase of 12.6 per cent at VND2,618 trillion (US$124.66 billion). The revenue growth, however, was the lowest over the past four years, compared with 24.5 per cent, 14.2 per cent and 16 per cent in 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively. During the year, the sector with foreign investments posted the highest revenue rise of 33 per cent, following by the private sector with 15.3 per cent. Notably, the State-owned sector recorded an 8.6 per cent slump in the total retail sales. Shares off to shaky post-Tet start After the nine-day Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, shares were mixed on the opening trading day of the Year of the Horse. On the HCM City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index was marginally down by 0.33 per cent to 554.68 points, due to losses suffered by several blue chip companies. Both PetroVietnam Drilling (PVD) and Masan Group (MSN) lost VND3,000 (US$0.14) per share yesterday. Technology giant FPT Group (FPT) and real estate groups Vingroup (VIC) and Vinamilk (VNM) also dropped VND1,000 ($0.048) per share each. Despite these losses, the VN30-Index, which tracks the southern city's largest shares by capitalisation and liquidity, managed to rise 0.26 per cent to 626.31 points. The increase was largely due to gains by insurance company Bao Viet Group (BVH), Southern Rubber Corporation (CSM), Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAG), and Hoa Phat Group (HPG). Gains by PetroVietnam Low Pressure Gas Distribution (PGD) and Sacombank (STB) also contributed to the increase. The Kinh Do Group (KDC) increased VND3,500 (0.16) per share yesterday to reach its ceiling price of VND60,000 ($2.8). The selling pressure was strong yesterday, once pushing the VN-Index to 552 points during the morning trading session. However, the pressure eased in the afternoon. Overall, more than 89 million shares were traded, with a total value of VND1.52 trillion ($72.3 million). Gainers overwhelmed losers by 152-88. According to Bao Viet Securities, stocks of the real estate and building materials sectors were active yesterday, due to signs of a recovery in the property market. Despite the VN-Index closing down yesterday, many analysts were optimistic and forecast strong growth this year in the benchmark index, fueled by the macro-economic recovery and the appeal of the stock market as an attractive investment channel. The benchmark indices on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, however, welcomed the Year of the Horse in the black. The HNX-Index advanced 1.11 per cent to 75.05 points, while the HNXFF-Index, composed of stocks with a minimum free-float rate of 5 per cent, gained 1.21 per cent to 74.34 points. Liquidity was average, and 39 million shares changed hands, with a total trading value of VND362.5 billion ($17.26 million). The HNX30-Index, composed of the capital city's top 30 shares, edged up 1.28 per cent to 146.84 points. On the northern bourse, 158 codes increased yesterday, while only 49 codes lost. Central bank to restructure non-bank credit institutions The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) will focus on restructuring non-bank credit institutions such as financial companies and finance leasing firms this year. "Currently these institutions show low operational efficiency and have little impact on the public, as they fail to mobilise significant deposits from the people," central bank chief inspector Nguyen Huu Nghia told the Phap luat TPHCM (HCM City Law) newspaper. "Many enterprises are having equities in these lenders and we will urge them to withdraw their capital this year," he added. Nghia said the SBV would continue to inspect the quality of loans by clarifying banks' bad debts, in accordance with a central bank circular on dealing with lending risks which will be implemented this June. "From the inspection results, we will see what the lending quality really is one year after the bad debt settlement process began, to take more specific solutions," he said. Tran Du Lich, the deputy head of the HCM City's National Assembly delegation, said the market confidence in the banking system had significantly improved as the industry had entered "quite a sustainable orbit". He told Thoi bao Ngan hang (The Banking Times) that this was the result of SBV management moves, which were based less on administrative measures and more on market operations last year. In 2013, about 90 per cent of the domestic credit institutions bought State bonds, enabling the government to balance national spending and investments. The greatest challenge facing the banking system in 2014-15 is to assure credit growth while keeping long-term interest rates low to support the restructuring of enterprises, he said. He noted that the slow progress in dealing with bad debts in the property sector would create significant pressures for the banking sector, as liquidity remained low in the real estate market. Chile key market for Viet Nam Chile is becoming an increasingly important market for Viet Nam, with exports to the South American country growing at a scorching 20 per cent per year since 2010. Tran Dinh Van, Viet Nam's commercial counsellor in Chile, told Hai Quan (Customs) newspaper that last year exports were worth around US$250 million. Vietnamese companies have lots of opportunities to tap that market since every year Chile imports consumer products worth $18 billion, according to Van. Vietnamese goods are competitive there because Chile is not a fastidious importer like Japan or the EU. Things are likely to look up even further with a free trade agreement between the two countries coming into effect in the new year, eliminating tariffs on Vietnamese products such as footwear, handicrafts, and wood furniture. Chile could also be used as a gateway to enter other Latin American markets, thanks to agreements among them, Van said. Besides, Chile had sunk a lot of money in supermarkets on its soil as well as in neighbouring countries, and these would play an important role in helping Vietnamese companies advertise their products in the region, he said. An Giang sees itself as Mekong tourism hub Leaders of the southern province of An Giang have planned to turn the province into the main tourism centre of the Mekong Delta by capitalising on its local potential. By diversifying tourism, upgrading infrastructure and training human resources, in 2014, the province hopes to attract 5.8 million local andinternational tourists, a growth of 2 per cent against 2013. According to the province's tourism leaders, religion-related tourism is among the new tourism angles that the province is hoping to maximize. As part of this, tourists will visit Cam and Sam mountains, Xu Lady Temple, and take part in traditional ox racing held annually by the local Khmer ethnic groups. The province also plans to build a Chau Doc entertainment complex and Cam Mountain tourism aimed at medical tourism with cool weather on the mountain. This is similar to the well-known "Da Lat" resort city in the Central Highlands. Meanwhile the Tra Su cajuput forest will focus on eco-tourism. Activities including fishing and boating through the forest in addition to visits to historical sites. Alongside this, the canvas-weaving craft villages of the Cham ethnic groups, will also be restored. An Giang Province's Famers' Association recently introduced a tour package entitled 73 Hours in That Son (Seven Mountains), which gives tourists an introduction to typical farming practices and families in the locality. Last year, 13,000 tourists including 600 foreigners went on the tour which involves them in local life, such as farming, fishing, cooking and listening to traditional music. In the previous year, with the support of Dutch farmers, An Giang announced an investment of VND18.4 billion (US$0.86 million) for agriculture tourism development in the province. Farmers of fifteen communes in the province registered to participate in the programme. Each commune now has five to ten families involved in tourism services. VN eyes Bangladesh export potential Vietnamese businesses need to conduct research into the Bangladesh market to boost export value, the Africa, West Asia, and South Asia Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade has said. Further investment in the country is needed as well, the department said, to take advantage of local production that could increase Vietnamese exports to other countries. With a population of 162 million, Bangladesh is a large market for consumer products. As an estimated 89.5 per cent of Bangladeshi citizens follow Islam, Vietnamese firms need to understand consumers' tastes and should familiarise themselves with the unique demands of these consumers. Since establishing diplomatic ties in 1973, the two countries have signed co-operation agreements in various sectors. Although bilateral trade remains modest, it has increased in recent years, from US$65 million in 2008 to $390 million in 2012, with Viet Nam enjoying a trade surplus. According to statistics from the General Department of Viet Nam Customs, Vietnamese exports to Bangladesh in the 2008-12 period went up by 7.5 times, from $47 million in 2008 to $354 million in 2012. The figure topped $446 million last year, a year-on-year increase of over 42.3 per cent. Viet Nam's key export items to Bangladesh include clinker, fibre, garments, machinery, equipment, spare parts, mobilephones, leather and footwear. Viet Nam imports garment and textile materials, pharmaceutical products, and seafood from Bangladesh. Currently, Bangladesh is encouraging more foreign investment by keeping labour costs at the region's cheapest level and by maintaining low land rental rates. It is also introducing a range of investment incentives, the department said. Vietnamese businesses, especially those in the footwear and garment and textile sectors, have faced tough competition from their Bangladeshi counterparts. With the EU offering preferential policies to exports made in Bangladesh, Vietnamese garment and textile firms can take advantage of investment and production opportunities in Bangladesh and then export goods to the EU. Germany is Viet Nam's largest EU partner Germany is Viet Nam's largest European trade partner, comprising 20 per cent of the country's total trade turnover. Viet Nam Customs statistics show that Vietnamese exports to Germany last year reached US$4.72 billion, a year-on-year rise of 15.4 per cent. Its major export items include mobile phone handsets and components, footwear, garments, coffee, timber products, seafood, rucksacks, bags, purses, handicrafts, computers and electronics. Among exports, mobile handsets and components topped the list, earning $1.54 billion, representing an annual increase of 32 per cent and comprising one-third of the total export value. Germany is the largest EU garments importer, creating plenty of opportunities for Vietnamese garments manufacturers. In 2013 alone, Vietnamese garments exports to the market were valued at $652 million, an annual rise of 16.7 per cent, and accounting for 13.7 per cent of the total export earnings. Computers and electronics posted the highest growth of 108 per cent, raking in $337 million. Localities greet large number of tourists during Tet Renowned tourist sites in the central provinces of Binh Dinh and Ninh Thuan and Mekong Delta Tien Giang province have greeted a large number of local and foreign visitors during the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) festival, the country’s biggest annual holidays. From January 31 to February 6, Binh Dinh received over 94,000 holiday-makers, recording a year-on-year increase of 25 percent. The Quang Trung Museum in the locality heralded 50,000 tourists on February 4, the day marking the 225th lunar anniversary of the famous Ngoc Hoi-Dong Da battle in commemoration of Nguyen Hue, or Emperor Quang Trung, who led his guerrillas in a surprise attack from Hue imperial palace to Hanoi and defeated more than 20,000 soldiers of the Chinese Qing army. As many as 20,000 arrivals were recorded at Ham Ho amusement park in Tay Son district, 2,000 people higher than the previous year’s same period, while the Ghenh Rang tourism site in Quy Nhon served more than 15,000 people during the holidays. Meanwhile, Ninh Thuan province welcomed over 40,000 tourists from January 28-February 5, up 15 percent against the same period last year. The locality’s most favorite destinations are Ninh Chu-Binh Son tourism site, Vinh Hy bay, and the Po Kklong Garai Cham temple towers. Tien Giang also saw a strong rise in the number foreign and domestic visitors to the province during the nine-day Tet holidays. It received 50,000 tourists, up 14 percent over the same time in 2013 and earned 2.6 billion VND in revenue, a year-on-year surge of 53 percent. The three localities are intensifying promotion activities to spread their image to fascinate foreign arrivals. They also focus on creating links with other localities across the country to open new tours and diversify products in the time to come. EVN debt owed to PV Power falls by half Vietnam Electricity Group’s (EVN) debt owed to PV Power has declined by half to VND5 trillion thanks to monthly payments of VND1-1.5 trillion, according to a senior source from PV Power. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Bich, deputy general director of PV Power, told the Daily that by end-2013, EVN had paid her company VND6.5 trillion. Both sides have reached agreement over the payment of the remaining VND5 trillion within this year. This debt, including the interest, was owed to PV Power from 2010 to 2012. This payment has enabled PV Power to pay for PV Gas, which supplies gas for PV Power plants. The main reason EVN owes a lot of money to PV Power and Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group is that it has long been selling electricity at below cost, but the situation has gradually improved. While EVN was heavily in debt, a slew of solutions were worked out to help it ride out the doldrums, such as issuing bonds to roll over debt, undertaking debt-for-project swaps, and rescheduling debt. Another factor for the drop of EVN’s debt to PV Power is that EVN revised up power tariffs by 10% over 2012 and that the business performance of the state utility improved in 2012-13. Moreover, the group fetched total profit of VND4.4 trillion, making it possible to partly settle debt. PV Power last year also reported pre-tax profit of VND659 billion on total electricity sales of around 16.2 billion kWh of power, which made up about 13% of the nation’s total power output. This year the power firm is looking to supply 15.7 billion kWh of electricity with total revenue of some VND23.8 trillion and pre-tax profit of VND622 billion. It plans to commission the 125-MW Dakdrinh power plant, take over and operate the coal-fired Vung Ang 1 power plant with capacity of 1,200 MW, upgrade the gas-fueled Ca Mau 1 power plant, and expand the gas and coal-fueled Nhon Trach 2 power station. PV Power is the country’s second biggest power generating firm after EVN, with seven combined cycle power plants in addition to hydropower and wind power plants having total capacity of nearly 2,900 MW, 13-15% of the country’s power output. Tokyo promotes trade and tourism in Hanoi Tokyo will host business and tourism seminars in Hanoi on February 13-14 as part of its first ever large-scale promotion campaign in Vietnam. Tokyo City Promotion 2014 includes seminars for travel agents and businesses on February 13 and for the press on February 14, aiming to create business opportunities and attract visitors to Tokyo. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Vietnam is one of the economies with the most impressive growth in recent years, and more and more Vietnamese now travel to Japan on holiday and shopping. It is collaborating with travel agents to provide information about tourism sites in Japan and launch incentive programs, enabling travel agents, companies and airlines to lure tourists. Around 29 Japanese businesses have registered to join Tokyo City Promotion 2014 which will also be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, on February 10. Gov’t okays formulation of home savings bank plan The Government has given the green light to a Ministry of Construction proposal to formulate a plan to set up a home savings bank in hopes of propping up the long-distressed real estate market. The relevant Government agencies are expected to begin rolling up their sleeves to draw up the plan after the Lunar New Year holiday, or Tet, said Nguyen Tran Nam, deputy minister of Construction. “The Ministry of Construction wanted to include the home savings bank plan into the draft Housing Law but the Prime Minister told the ministry to do it separately on a pilot basis,” he said. “According to the Government, a pilot plan should not be put into a law but if needed, it should be included into the Credit Law and that would be more appropriate.” Nam said his ministry was eager to see more capital flowing into the real estate market, so it asked the Government for approval to proceed with the home savings bank plan. However, he noted, the central bank wants to take charge of the plan and will coordinate with the ministry to translate it into reality. “After Tet, the Ministry of Construction will be working with the State Bank of Vietnam to prepare for the formulation of the plan,” he said. Home savings banks are popular in other countries, Nam said, adding the ministry and the central bank already sent people to Germany to take a look at home savings banks there. In Germany, parents should have monthly home savings so that their children can buy homes when they are grown up. Tet holiday tours surge Travel firms have all reported a sharp increase in the number of Vietnamese tourists booking domestic and outbound tours during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday. Vietravel, a leading tour operator, served more than 5,000 holidaymakers in Ho Chi Minh City on February 1-2 - the first two days of Tet, a year-on-year increase of 30%. The most popular domestic tours centered on Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, and Bai Dinh Pagoda in the north; Danang, Hue, Hoi An, and Phong Nha-Ke Bang Cave in the central region; and Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, and Phu Quoc Island in the south. Prices for four-day tours averaged an estimated VND4–10.6 million. The number of Vietnamese travellers to Southeast Asia and Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong also increased significantly over last year’s figures. Saigontourist, the country’s largest tour service provider, says its six-day tours of Japan and the RoK were particularly big hits enticingly priced at VND35 million and VND25 million  respectively. Tours to the US (VND74 million, 8 days), Europe, (VND60 million, 8 days), and India-Nepal (VND43 million, 9 days) were also among Vietnamese customer favourites. Over 2.6 mln tourists flock to Hanoi during Tet Hanoi has so far welcomed over 2.6 million domestic and foreign arrivals during the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday that began on January 27 and will end on February 9. Of the figure, 2.5 million have travelled from all parts of the country to the capital city, up 11 percent from the same period last year, while the remaining were foreigners, marking a rise of 12 percent, reported the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism on February 6. Popular local tourist attractions included the Temple of Literature, Sword Lake – Ngoc Son temple and Huong pagoda. During the same period last year, the city greeted 2.08 million tourists, including 60,000 foreigners, up 11 percent from 2012. In 2013, Hanoi welcomed 2.5 million international tourists.- Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR