Vietnam - News and Regulations

Personal income tax exemption “FOREVER”for International NGOs in Vietnam (INGO) expatriates

According to Committee for Foreign NGO Affairs (Comingo) the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has decided to grant the exemption of personal income tax (PIT) to foreigners employed and working at Representative and Project offices of INGOs in Vietnam.

This exemption shall be considered on the following conditions:

- As from 1st of January 2009, all income (salaries, allowance subsidies and other benefits) paid to foreign employees of INGOs must be proven as stemming from sources outside Vietnam and not from project/programme budget.

- INGO foreign employees deemed eligible to PIT exemption include expatriates and Vietnamese individuals with a foreign passport.

- Terms of exemption shall be defined in an agreement which is duration - based, and agreed mutually by the individual INGOs and the Government of Vietnam of the Committee for Foreign NGO Affairs upon the Government's authorization.

The Ministry of Finance of Vietnam shall provide necessary instructions accordingly and INGOs will be notified in due course.

For the time being, if you have any question, do not hesitate to contact the People's Aid Coordination Committee (telephone: 04-38436936(ext:206), fax: 04-38452007) or email: info@paccom.org.vn

INSURANCE - Insurance companies cooperate with banks

Only after short time of cooperation between insurance companies and banks, banks now have become a potential distribution channel of insurance products. Insurance companies are continuously developing bancassurance and expect that this will be the key product in the next two-three years.

Insurance companies are also trying to turn clients of banks into clients of insurance companies.

After signing a cooperation deal with ABBANK on selling insurance products to key staff of corporate clients who are depositing money in the bank, Prevoir Vietnam has signed another cooperation contract on insuring secured consumer borrowers at Asian Commercial Bank (ACB). Accordingly, in case consumer borrowers unfortunately meet risks in the scope of insurance, Prevoir Vietnam will help them to pay the remaining debts to ACB. Currently, over 12,000 clients of ACB have used lending and deposit products insured by Prevoir Vietnam. A representative from Prevoir Vietnam said that in the near future, the company would continue cooperating with banks to develop independent insurance products.

On November 17, AIA Vietnam and VietBank also signed a cooperation agreement in order to supply and manage life insurance products for clients. The two sides will cooperate together in distributing life insurance products to the existing and potential clients of VietBank.

From 2009, Prudential Vietnam has considered cooperating with banks as a development strategy of the company. Currently, Prudential has developed bancassurance products in HCM City, Hanoi through branches of partner banks. At present, Prudential is cooperating with four banks, ABBank, Standard Chartered, Agribank and Vietcombank in order to distribute retail sale insurance products through branches of those banks. Prudential now continues working with many potential partner banks in order to strike new cooperation deals.

Taking most advantage of clients in the banking system of Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (Bidv), Bidv Insurance Co (BIC) has launched insurance products for Visa credit card holders of Vietnam-Russia Joint Venture Bank (VRB). Pham Quang Tung, director of BIC, said that the company would continue developing more bancassurance products in order to satisfy demand for finance and health package products of clients. BIC is also expanding its cooperation with other banks to take most advantage of potential from different banks in developing products and taking care of clients.

Talking about the trend of cooperating between insurance businesses and banks, a representative from Prudential said that with the development of banks, the bancassurance model in Vietnam will develop as in other Asian countries.DTCHK

BANKING - VietinBank targets $1b inward remittance in 2009

Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) is launching online VietinBank eRemit remittance transfer product, creating facilities for transferring money from the US to Vietnam via Internet.

According to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), this year's inward remittance could reach $6.8 billion, marking a satisfactory figure against the forecast figure of $5.8-6 billion in early this year but still lower than the figure of $7.2 billion of last year.

In the common downturn tendency, the remittance revenue of many banks also fell. However, some banks including VietinBank still set a higher target of remittance compared to previous year.

VietinBank's head of Remittance Service Department said that this year, VietinBank plans to reach $1 billion of remittance, accounting for some 15 percent of the market share. In comparison with last year's figure of $900 million, the bank accounted for 12 percent market share.

During the first nine months this year, VietinBank's remittance revenue achieved $700 million. Traditionally, the volume of inward remittance often increases by the end of the year because overseas Vietnamese send money to their relatives in Vietnam for Tet festival (Lunar New Year). Therefore, the bank's remittance target of $1 billion is very feasible.

VietinBank is confident with this target because it has many advantages such as wide network, plentiful foreign currency sources, and many foreign partner banks to set up a direct money transference channel to Vietnam. At the same time, VietinBank has also strived to offer suitable products with each market such as money delivery service via mobile phone in Korean market and online eRemit money delivery service in the US market.

Particularly, the VietinBank's online eRemit service could bring many conveniences for customers. With this service, customers can access website http://vietinbank.vn at home to deliver money to receivers in Vietnam in anytime and at anywhere without going to the bank.

The VietinBank's online eRemit service includes two main products namely Direct Deposit applying for receivers having ATM account at VietinBank and Cash Pickup applying for receivers without account at VietinBank.

At present, VietinBank has 800 branches and transaction sites nationwide. This will be very convenient for receivers. As for customers with ATM accounts, receivers can receive money during 24h/24h and seven days/week at any ATM machine of VietinBank.

VietinBank's remittance service department said that with transaction worth $3,000 (the regulated limit for one delivery) the fee will be only $10 for each transaction. Customers are allowed to deliver a total amount of $15,000 a month and not exceed 10 times a month.

The registration procedures to use VietinBank eRemit service are very simple. Depositors just access VietinBank's website, select using online VietinBank eRemit remittance delivery service and finish simple proceedings.

Currently, VietinBank's eRemit service is carrying out for money delivery from the US to Vietnam. VietinBank is studying to develop this service to other markets such as Canada, Australia and Germany in the near future.

Along with online remittance delivery product, VietinBank is now launching other services like WellsFargo Express Send from the US to Vietnam. The product has come on account of the cooperation between VietinBank and the US-based WellsFargo Bank with the fee of only $8 per transaction. Customer living in the US can send money up to $300 per day and they are able to receive money within that date. WellsFargo Bank has over 3,000 transaction sites throughout the US so WellsFargo Express Send service is very convenient.

In order to meet money delivery demands of customers in the US, VietinBank is building online cooperation with many big banks in 20 countries and territories such as Germany, France, the UK, Switzerland, Sweden, Russia, Australia, Middle East areas, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Malaysia.

VietinBank is an official and prestigious agent of Western Union global express money delivery service with some 10 percent remittance revenue of VietinBank.DT

RENEWABLE ENERGY - Energy security challenge-wind power and difficult start

The world now has over 80 nations and territories using wind power energy. Vietnam has only the five-turbine wind power project of Renewable Energy Joint Stock Co (REVN) in Tuy Phong Dist, Binh Thuan province.

According to World Bank, many provinces nationwide receive resources to generate wind power plants. From southern Binh Thuan to Ninh Thuan's Thuan Bac Dist (bordering Khanh Hoa province's Cam Ranh) are ideal locations to install wind power turbines. In these areas, the wind speed reaches over seven metres per second (m/s) and there are 60-100 metre high sand hills compared sea surface.

To date, Binh Thuan provincial People's Committee has approved nine investors to carry out 12 wind power plants in the province. After one investor asked for withdrawal, the province has remaining 10 projects with total registered capacity of 1,511 MW, using about 13,000 hectares of land. Currently, the investors have built 11 wind measurement pillars.

Five turbines of REVN's project put 7.5MW to the national grid. The number will be 13 turbines in 2010 and 20 turbines in 2015 with a total capacity of 120 MW. Some other projects include the 50 MW wind power project of Renewable Energy Asia JSC in Bac Binh Dist of Binh Thuan province, another 200 MW plant of Saigon-Binh Thuan Electricity Plant Investment and Development JSC, and one 50MW plant of Thuan Binh Co in Tuy Phong Dist.

Director of Binh Thuan provincial Department of Industry and Trade, Tran Van Nhut said that the government gave special priorities for wind power field by issuing many preferential policies for investors. An official from the province's Energy Service assessed, the operation starting of five turbines of REVN"s wind power plant abolished the doubt on the success of wind power projects in Vietnam and initially built up the experiences in technology, installation skill and management for following projects.

The big difficulty in developing wind power is the equipment supply. All turbines of REVN in Tuy Phong Dist must be imported from Germany and cost much because Vietnam could not produce the technical equipments requiring high accuracy. Total expense of REVN for purchasing the five turbines is over 817 billion dong (according to the market prices of 2008). Even REVN had to purchase the over-500 tonne cranes to install the turbines.

Another project investor in Tuy Phong said that the investment cost for wind power is very high compared with that for hydropower, thermo-power and gas power. While the hydropower investment is $1,300 per KW, the investment for wind power is $2,000 per KW. Therefore, the price of 1 kWh of wind power will be no less than $cent 10 per KWh (about 2,000 dong per kWh). Also, wind power investors had to hire experts of equipment suppliers to install and transfer generating and repairing techniques.

Tran Van Nhut worried, there are many wind power projects asking for Binh Thuan governance's approval but the human resource training here has no progress. An investor said that wind power is a totally new field so banks still are hesitant in lending. The tardiness of wind power project is partially for capital shortage.

Wind power projects of Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan province now are mainly located in black sand areas (titanium) so the majority of projects must be controlled closely while waiting for the titanium reserve exploration and mining.

While Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment does not yet finish the titanium survey in two provinces, local governances will be disallowed to license new wind power projects, according to prime minister's order.VNS

TRANSPORTATION/RAILWAY - Jica funds Ben Thanh centre railway-station project

HCM City People's Committee has recently approved the plan of using non-refundable capital source of Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) to build feasible study for Ben Thanh centre railway station project.

The Ben Thanh centre railway station is under the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien inner-city railway route project.

PMU of urban railway project is responsible for determining the content and work scope of advisory services and responsibility regulations of consultant, in close coordination with consulting units of Jica to complete the feasible study report on the project to submit to the authorities for approval.

Ben Thanh centre railway station is a complex function, serving to connect the urban railway lines with multiple modes of passenger transportation, especially buses, combined with the urban services and diversified commerce in the city.DT

TELECOMMUNICATION - Ministry says difficult to manage pre-paid subscribers

The Ministry of Information and Communications yesterday re-affirmed its failure in managing pre-paid subscribers despite issuing a regulation requiring personal information declaration last year, as about half of the country's pre-paid subscribers have supplied false information.

Minister of Information arid Communications Le Doan Hop said at the question and answer session of the 12th National Assembly meeting in Hanoi yesterday that the management of pre-paid subscribers was facing difficulties in spite of the regulation.

According to Hop, Vietnam has 119 million phone numbers, with about four million post-paid mobile subscribers and 16 million landline users. The rest are pre-paid subscribers. Meanwhile, at least 30 percent of the pre-paid accounts are virtual users.

"To manage pre-paid subscribers, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affair must complete e-identify cards and e-passport numbers. With these digital numbers, the ministries can manage pre-paid subscribers;' Hop suggested.

At the question and answer session, Le Nhu Tien, a deputy from Quang Ninh, raised the question on how to reduce the unhealthy competition and prevent a monopoly among telcos.

Hop said his ministry deeply understood that too many telecom providers could lead to a waste of digital resources. However, if there were few companies, it could result in monopoly.

According to Hop, Vietnam has seven telecom providers but the country's telecom industry is still in the early stages of development.

Hop admitted to' unhealthy competition among the telcos like unlawful promotions and undercutting.

"To choke off the phenomenon, we are drafting a regulation to punish any telcos who are found to engage in unhealthy competition;' Hop said.

In answering another NA deputy, Hop said Vietnam had 42,000 BTS, a modest number compared to other countries. Viettel has 16,000 BTS, MobiFone has 11,000andVinaphone 10,000. The rest are divided among the other telcos.

Hop forecast that the number of BTS would rapidly increase because Vietnam was building a.3G network.

According to Hop, his ministry this year has examined 25,000 BTS and found only 117 violations, such as poor construction quality and building without a license.SGTD

Telecommunication - Huawei Group provides equipment for 3G network of EVN Telecom

China-based Huawei Group and Electricity of Vietnam (EVN)'s Telecommunication Co (EVN Telecom) recently signed a contract whereby Huawei Group has pledged to supply equipments and solutions for 3G network building project of EVN Telecom.

Accordingly, Huawei Group will focus its human resource and equipments for timely fulfilment of the project so that EVN Telecom is able to provide 3G mobile information services with the best quality.dt

Where Your Customers Are: How Facebook, Twitter and Others Break Down by Age

Facebook, the largest social media network, recently reached 300 million users worldwide — roughly the population of the United States. So do your homework before you approach your customers online. Here's how users on the top social media sites broke down by age in August 2009.

http://www.bnet.com/2403-13237_23-366331.html?promo=713&tag=nl.e713

Eight Ways to Ruin Your Social-Media Strategy

by Catharine P. Taylor

So you’ve set up a company fan page on Facebook and you’re letting your employees fire off messages to the world via Twitter — or you’re at least thinking about it. Well, congratulations! You’re part of the social-media revolution, which can offer unparalleled access to word-of-mouth buzz among those you most want to reach: your customers, current and future.

Hold on, though. While social media might sound simple, there are as many ways to screw up in this new world as in the old. More, in fact, because technology and online norms are both new and rapidly evolving, often in ways that are particularly challenging to deal with in a corporate setting. Here are eight mistakes to avoid as you make your way in the buzzing cauldron of grass-roots chat.

Mistake 1: Pretend you can do without it.

You may have already run into the Graying Skeptics, executives who can’t understand why they should devote employee time and company resources to social media, and who dismiss Facebook and Twitter as fads that amount to little more than a waste of time and money.

Well, social media is here to stay, and the rocketing growth of some outlets makes it foolish to ignore them. Facebook, the largest, recently reached 300 million users worldwide — roughly the population of the United States. And the largest demographic is the 35 to 49 set that most businesses are eager to reach. So listen to Sebastian Gard of social marketing firm Context Optional when he says bluntly: “You’re going to have a social-media strategy whether you do it or not. It’s not up to you.”

"You’re going to have a social-media strategy whether you do it or not. It’s not up to you," says Sebastian Gard of social marketing firm Context Optional.

Mistake 2: Play down the costs.

Sure, Twitter accounts, Facebook fan pages and YouTube channels don’t cost a thing. But don’t think for a second that you can do your social-media effort on the cheap. Getting the most out of these tools requires time, attention and skill — none of which are free.

Over time, however, social media does save you some money, since you can use these outlets for efforts you might otherwise contract out to PR firms, ad agencies or market researchers. Don’t expect to replace them all. Instead, think of social media as a necessary and powerful complement to your existing outreach.

Mistake 3: Act like you own the conversation

Social media is a conversation, and conversations — more so than ads — require tact. “It all begins with listening,” says Paul Chaney, an Internet marketing director who bills himself as The Social Media Handyman. Just as you wouldn’t walk into a cocktail party and start bragging about yourself, Chaney says, you shouldn’t “just jump into the conversation” in social-media channels, either.

So if your customers are talking about your stores online, don’t just start blasting them with canned sale promotions — unless, of course, you want to lose customers. Instead, get a feel for the vibe of the conversation, then ease your way into it, for instance, by answering general user questions, even if they don’t pertain directly to your company or its brands. Let your social-media mavens become resources for these customer micro-communities. Once your folks have earned some trust, they’ll have the leeway to advance your business goals.

Dunkin’ Donuts did this well when it set up a social-media presence last year on Facebook and elsewhere. “We wanted to have conversations with our consumers, who were already having these conversations themselves,” says David Puner, a communications manager at the Canton, Mass.-based company. “Once we got out there, people found us.” A year later, one million people are fans of the official Dunkin’ Facebook page. The brand has its own YouTube channel, and its Twitter feed, @dunkindonuts — which Puner runs — has more than 35,000 followers.

Mistake 4: Fear empowering your employees

“A client once told me they were nervous about letting customer-service employees speak to the public through Twitter,” says David Griner, social-media strategist for Birmingham, Alabama-based ad agency Luckie & Co. “I asked, 'Would you trust these people to talk to customers on the phone or face to face?' Of course they would. The key is to think of social media more like a call center than a press release.”

The online shoe store Zappos, now part of Amazon, has a reputation for personalized customer service and communication — and social media played a big role. Dozens of employees maintain blogs on the company Web site; hundreds have Twitter accounts. It’s not just Web-only companies that offer such empowerment, Dell, IBM, Sun Microsystems and Southwest Airlines do as well. The common thread: All have corporate cultures that value transparent relationships with customers.

Mistake 5: Assume you have little to learn

Dell, however, joined the social media revolution the hard way. When Jeff Jarvis, a prominent media blogger, did a series of 2005 posts on his horrible customer-service experience with Dell — posts that came to be known as “Dell Hell” — the company suddenly realized how powerful, and damaging, the voice of the consumer could be. Spurred by the public relations disaster, CEO Michael Dell blessed an effort to work his company into its customers’ conversations. According to a case study on Dell in the book “Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies,” the listening effort helped Dell figure out, for instance, that it needed to better coordinate technical support and customer service to quickly resolve customer problems.

Mistake 6: Take negative feedback personally

Look, this is the Internet, where there are always going to be trolls and other nasty individuals who delight in saying unpleasant things about your company. Don’t let it bug you. On the other hand, don’t overlook the opportunity to address real concerns head-on.

Comcast began to repair its dismal customer-service reputation several years ago by using Twitter to reach out to complaining customers, offering to troubleshoot problems or sometimes offering refunds. Frank Eliason, the director of digital care, originally manned the account, @comcastcares; it’s now staffed by a small platoon of Comcast employees. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Comcast’s score is inching upward. “It’s still not where we would like to see it, but we are happy it is heading in the right direction,” Eliason says.

Mistake 7: Fret about return on investment

Solid return on investment in social media is tough to measure. You can, however, evaluate your outreach efforts the same way you might a PR or advertising campaign.

You can start by looking at simple tallies such as your number of Facebook fans and Twitter followers, or how often people visit your company’s blog. Other metrics, such as the number of blog comments and the number of times consumers shared a link to your content, can show how engaged users are with your brand.

That said, many companies still take the value of social media largely on faith. Context Optional’s Sebastian Gard, who until June was a social-media manager at Microsoft, admits, “The only way I can tell you it’s effective [at Microsoft] is that they continue to do more of it.”

Mistake 8: Underestimate the power of seemingly small efforts

Embracing social media isn’t about achieving specific goals so much as it is establishing a real bond with your customers. Rick Karp, president and “keeper of the karma” for the San Francisco-based Cole Hardware chain, recently announced via Twitter (@colehardware) that the company would exchange a particular water bottle suspected of chemical contamination — no questions asked. Within two weeks, consumers returned about 1,000 of the bottles. “We lost money, but we gained so much [for our brand] by virtue of our doing it,” he says. “I will do a lot to build our brand, regardless of whether it pays off immediately economically or not.”

“We wanted to have conversations with our consumers, who were already having these conversations themselves,” says David Puner, a communications manager at Dunkin' Donuts.

http://www.bnet.com/2403-13237_23-366324.html?promo=713&tag=nl.e713

Social media and CRM -- The marketing perspective

By Allen Bonde

10 Nov 2009 | SearchCRM.com

There’s no denying that social media is a phenomenon. Forrester reports that three out of four Americans use social technology (I guess at least once!), and social networks and blogs are now the 4^th most popular online activity, according to Nielsen. But as someone who has been around the Internet and CRM since the mid-1990s and spent a good part of the early 2000s defining and evangelizing self-service models, I tend to think of social models as an evolution rather than a revolution -- especially in the context of multi-channel marketing and online applications.

With this in mind, I’ve been focusing on the opportunities provided by the convergence of social media and CRM and how a community-centric model can not only drive product innovation and lower support costs (via peer support) but can also reinvigorate your brand and turn your customers into your greatest sales reps.

As you can imagine, making sense of this convergence is no small feat. So while many discussions about the future of CRM and social channels are targeting the big picture and especially the impact on CRM system architecture and customer service delivery, my firm has been looking at the marketing side and how combining online social channels and offline marketing and community-building programs may be both a practical and profitable approach. It’s a think global, act local philosophy, if you will, and it will be the theme I hope to develop across a series of columns on the topic.

So to get started, recognizing that adopting this approach requires a certain level-setting in terms of definitions and core beliefs, I thought I’d devote this article to setting the stage, with subsequent columns looking at the unique characteristics and emerging roles for the leading social channels like Facebook and Twitter, case studies for social media marketing, and how to move from social networking to a true social business (or social CRM) strategy.

Some definitions

In case you have been blissfully unaware of the hype around Web 2.0, CRM 2.0 and even Enterprise 2.0, social media are the blogs, wikis, forums, public social networking sites, microblogging (Twitter), audio or video sharing sites where a community model is in play and user-generated content and connections are the primary currency. I will also refer to both social networking sites and communication/collaboration tools as “channels” in the course of this and other articles and view these channels as the primary tools for social media marketing.

On the enterprise side, social business software (think Jive or Socialtext or OutStart) is the general class of Web 2.0 “packages” geared toward enterprise users (also called Enterprise 2.0). SBS to this point has been used mostly to power private/company communities and public or specialty forums where scale or management or monitoring is critical.

Finally, social media marketing is the business use of social media for engaging customers, building thought leadership, creating leads and/or driving product innovation. I view social media marketing as a special case of “community marketing,” which actually precedes many social sites and networks and can be applied strictly offline using traditional campaigns and programs – although, as we’ll discuss, the real power comes from combining the power of both offline and online techniques in a measurable, repeatable fashion.

A framework for community marketing

When I was at McKinsey, I remember vividly that the big-wigs used to say: “You don’t sell, you have a discussion.” Put another way, every relationship begins with a discussion. This is a key core belief for both social media and community marketing. In today’s Facebook world, our goal as marketers (and CRM managers) is to use social media and networking to engage in discussions and then to capture feedback that allows us to improve both our products and the brand experience (ah, marketing nirvana!) and generate unusually qualified leads.

Man, this sounds great – doesn’t it? But of course there’s a catch. And that catch is that while many businesses are good at one or more of the activities that make up this type of “community marketing model,” they lack the repeatable processes and coordination among marketing, sales and support or have not yet cracked the code when it comes to being viewed as a trusted advisor or member of the community.

This is where a framework can be helpful. While certainly not completely baked, there is a working version I’ve developed. If you’d like to build your own, I’d suggest starting with two principles.

First, it’s important to recognize that conversations and casual discussions are not the same as engagement. Social sites like Facebook or LinkedIn can be great places to start conversations, and a corporate blog or wiki can build a deeper dialog. But true engagement requires some additional discovery, identification of common interests and even profiling or segmenting into interest groups. Some of this could be done online via discussion forums or rating and reviews, or even the application of social search via a platform such as Baynote. But it’s likely that true engagement will need to include some face-to-face time at a roundtable event or perhaps a focus group – even if these are delivered virtually over the Web.

Second, engagement is wasted if you don’t steer the community to help define your product features or propose support solutions or even “nominate” peers who might benefit from also buying your services or products. This is why feedback and measures are critical, and how they bridge community marketing to product development and sales. In fact, this is where leads naturally flow out of a community marketing program and intersect with the sales cycle at the end rather than the beginning (remember, discuss, don’t sell – at least up front!).

So, what’s next? Picking the right social channels and tools, and staging them at the right place in our CMM model, is both an art and a science. In our next installment, we’ll look at one approach to characterizing the top channels and ways to integrate social models into your current marketing (and CRM) toolbox.

About Allen Bonde

Allen Bonde was recently CMO of eVergance and is a well-known analyst, entrepreneur and management consultant. He has 20 years of experience at McKinsey, Extraprise, the Yankee Group, and GTE (now Verizon); he has written for CIO.com and SearchCRM.com; and he has appeared on CNBC and Fox News. Bonde is the founder and currently managing director of Evoke CRM Partners (www.EvokeCRM.com), a consultancy focused on multi-channel customer strategies and the convergence of social media, self-service and CRM.

Published: Sunday November 8, 2009 MYT 9:32:00 AM
Updated: Sunday November 8, 2009 MYT 11:05:55 AM

Malaysia wins seven Asian travel awards

By CHOI TUCK WO

LONDON: Malaysia swept seven Asian awards at the prestigious World Travel Awards 2009’s regional finals gala ceremony here Saturday.

While Malaysia Airlines bagged Asia’s Leading Airline award, Resorts World Genting scooped Asia’s Leading Family Resort and Asia’s Leading Casino Resort titles.

Tourism Malaysia’s “Malaysia: Truly Asia” tagline was also voted Asia’s Leading Marketing Campaign during the star-studded function at Grosvenor House, a JW Marriot Hotel, in London’s Mayfair.

MAS chairman Tan Sri Dr. Munir Majid (third from left) and MAS regional manager for United Kingdom and Ireland Syed Abdillah Syed Aziz (beside him) with their award. With them are: (From left) MAS air hostesses Lilis Surianty (far left) and Yvonne Kow (second from right) as well as Miss Vietnam Huong Giang (third from right) and Miss China Yu Sheng (far right).

Two other titles – Asia’s Leading City Hotel and Asia’s Leading Design Hotel – went to Hilton Kuala Lumpur while Asia’s Leading Airport Hotel award went to Pan-Pacific Kuala Lumpur International Airport Hotel.

MAS chairman Tan Sri Dr Munir Majid and Genting Malaysia Berhad president and chief operating officer Datuk Lee Choong Yan received their awards from Miss Vietnam/Miss World 2009 contestant Huong Giang.

Dr Majid said the recognition bore testament to the fact that the global industry and travellers recognised the national carrier’s brand of service delivery.

“Our focus has always been on serving customers, with a commitment towards continuous service, improvement and delivery,” he said.

MAS chairman Tan Sri Dr Munir Majid (second from right), MAS regional manager for United Kingdom and Ireland Syed Abdillah Syed Aziz (beside him) with MAS air hostesses Lilis Surianty (far left) and Yvonne Kow (far right) after the awards ceremony in London.

Lee said the awards would further encourage them to consistently provide memorable guest experience through innovative products and services.

“I am also confident these awards will help Malaysia enhance its reputation in the tourism industry and attract more visitors to our resort and the country,” he added.

The Malaysians picked up seven awards in the Asian category while regional awards were also given out to winners in the Australasia and Indian Ocean as well as the Caribbean and South America regions.

In the individual countries’ category, Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur was voted Malaysia’s Leading Hotel; Ritz-Carlton Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia’s Leading Business Hotel); Sheraton Langkawi Resort (Malaysia’s Leading Resort) and Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa in Penang (Malaysia’s Leading Spa Resort).

The event was attended by more than 1,000 senior management and decision-makers from the global travel and tourism industry.

Genting Malaysia Berhad president and chief operating officer Datuk Lee Choong Yan received his award from Miss Vietnam/Miss World 2009 contestant Huong Giang.

Dubbed the “Oscars” of the global travel and tourism industry, the awards are recognised as the highest accolade within the travel industry.

Votes are cast globally in 919 categories by travel professionals from 183,000 travel agencies, tour and transport companies and tourism organisations in over 160 countries.

Tonight (Sunday) the winners of the grand finals will be announced, marking the culmination of a year-long quest to find the very best travel brands in the world.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/8/nation/20091108093434&sec=nation

2 in 3 Malaysians working abroad professionals

2 in 3 Malaysians working abroad professionals

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 — There are 785,000 Malaysians who work overseas, and an estimated two out of every three are likely to be professionals, said the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF).

A government policy was launched in 2000 with the aim of wooing them back, with offers of tax and duties exemptions, targeting doctors, engineers and IT executives. It has seen only 770 applicants approved since then, or an average of 85 each year.

The MEF said that of the Malaysian professionals who work abroad, 44 per cent are in Singapore and 28 per cent in other parts of Asia. The rest work in other parts of the world.

The MEF is an umbrella group for 4,000 private-sector employers. Its council members include Telekom Malaysia, multi-industry giant Sime Darby and Malayan Commercial Banks Association.

In the recent announcement for the 2010 Budget, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said new incentives will be offered to attract foreign talent. One of these makes it easier for skilled expatriates to apply for permanent resident status.

Visas will also be granted automatically to working and dependent expatriate family members within 14 days.

Critics wonder if it will succeed as things often boil down to salaries and expectations. But Malaysia has an edge over developed countries — the cost of living is lower. — The Straits Times

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/42864-2-in-3-malaysians-working-abroad-professionals-

Vietnam - News and Regulations

Vietnam - The only country on earth which walks the talk?



Vietnam supports its citizens via PIT exemption for 6 month

(Authors: Oliver Massmann, Giles Cooper, Partners at Duane Morris Vietnam LLC)



Given the financial crises and its results for the financial markets Vietnam was like every other country thinking about a solution which boosts the economy and encourages investments. Based on these aims Vietnam became aware of the fact that displayable money is needed.



Most people of Vietnam have a job but they are still too poor to spend their money without any reasonable care. Investors watch the market carefully before they place their money into a county’s market.



Therefore the National Assembly came to the conclusion that the easiest way of supporting its citizens could be achieved by an exemption of their duty to pay Personal Income Tax (“PIT”). For this reason Vietnam decided as first and only country in the world to exempt its citizens from the PIT for 6 month.



The basic idea behind the PIT deferral resulting in a surplus of money is that the surplus of money will stir people into spending their money and so boost the market. In order to that a mobilization of the capital needed for investment will be arranged.



For this purpose a governmental bond worth of 20,000 billion VND was issued as well which should stimulate the development of transportation, healthcare and other kinds of investment projects.



In addition, the National Assembly decided to amend the GDP growth target for 2009 to 5% and the CPC ratio of less than 10% as well as export increase of 3% and the national budget's over-expenditure of less than 7%.



The PIT exemption stipulates the deferment of PIT from 1 January to 30 June 2009. To guarantee the achievement of the underlying aims the exemption is applicable to nearly the whole income which is normally assessable. The beneficiaries are resident and non-resident persons.



In the case of residents the exemption covers business activities, salaries and wages, income resulting from capital investments or transfers as well as its security transfers, royalty or franchise activities, inheritance and any kind of gifts.



In contrast, the non-residents just benefit from the tax exemption of their income from capital investments and capital transfers (including security transfers). The reason for this is crystal clear: They do not deal with business activities in Vietnam but abroad. For this reason the different treatment is no disadvantage.



Beyond that, PIT exemption shall probably continue from 1 July 2009 to the end of 2009.



Formally this proposition has already been advertised by circular 2009 27/2009TT-BTC dated on 6 February 2009. Finally it has been granted by the decision of the National Assembly which agreed in the afternoon of 19 June 2009 to the idea of the exemption.



The whole process will have a huge influence on Vietnam’s market development.

In fact, Vietnam is the only country on earth which exempted all its citizens from the duty to pay income tax. In contrast to other governments the Vietnamese government walks the talk. Its decision is unique in the world and shows how the government is willing to back up its country. This should be appreciated from all citizens as well as from the investors which enjoy the benefits.









INSURANCE - ACE Life's Q3 revenue up 64pct



ACE Life Insurance Ltd Co (ACE Life) has recently officially reported business results with a growth of 64 percent in insurance premium in Q3.

Totally, ACE Life's total premium in Jan-Sep reached nearly 319 billion dong, up 54 percent against the same period last year.

Along with impressive business results, ACE Life also reached high contract maintenance ratio. The ratio of cancelled contracts accounted for only 3 percent.DTCHK





HEAVY INDUSTRY - Finally, Tata Steel gets land in Vietnam for $5b project



Decision to allocate 725 hectares comes after a long delay.

After two years of waiting, Tata Steel will get alternative land in Vietnam for building a 4.5 million tonne a year steel plant with an investment of $5 billion. The board of Vung Anh Economic Park has proposed allocation of 725 hectares to Tata Steel and its Vietnamese partners in the central province of Ha Tinh.

Tata Steel's spokesperson told Business Standard the proposal had been accepted by the company. Under the proposal, 700 hectares would be used for construction of a steel plant with a designed capacity of 4.5 million tonnes a year, Indronil Sengupta, Tata Steel's executive manager of projects in Southeast Asia told Vietnamese media.

The Indian steel maker has a 65 percent stake in the venture, while Vietnam's Steel Corporation and Vietnam Cement Industries Corporation hold 30 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Under the terms, the steel venture was supposed to get a 30 percent stake in the Thach Khe iron ore mines.

The venture had been dogged by delay in acquiring land and tying secure supplies of iron ore. A memorandum of understanding for the project was signed in May 2007 and the joint venture (JV) agreement was reached in August 2008. The land that had been identified by Tata Steel was given away to a Taiwanese company. The JV wanted a 2.2 km stretch of shoreline. Tata and its Vietnamese partners have completed procedures for the project and were waiting for an investment licence.

Tata Steel officials earlier said it would take at least 30 months to complete the first phase of the project. Sources said the first phase would be completed by 2012, the second by 2013-2014 and the third by 2017-2018. Implementation of the third phase will also depend on the market situation and operational conditions of the Thach Khe mine.

The company plans to start with a cold rolled mill (CRM), as it will take time to develop the mine. Until it can achieve backward integration by establishing a plant to make hot rolled coils, the CRM plant will source the raw material locally.BS



POWER - Electricity surcharge in year end predicted to surge



Electricity of Vietnam Group (EVN) lately announced that from now to the end of the year, there would be a sharp increase in electricity surcharge in the end of this year, together with the development growth of industrial sectors. It's predicted that in year end, the average output of the national power network may reach 245-247 million KWh per day and the maximum capacity of 13,100-13,400 MW.

In order to meet the power demands of the whole country and to prepare water reserve for the dry season of 2010, EVN has asked the hydropower plants in the northern region to closely follow the hydro-metrological forecast to limit the exploitation works in order to retain the highest water level, especially in the end of November; and to maximise the working capacity of other coal-fed, gas-fuelled power plants.

In the first ten months of this year, the total power output that EVN has produced and purchased from other plants outside EVN's network was posted at 69.795 trillion KWh, fulfilling 85.85 percent of the year plan. In details, the total electricity output supplied by EVN's member companies was 47.478 trillion KWh, up 7.04 percent year-on-year; and the electricity purchased from EVN non-member power plants of 22.31 billion KWh, increasing by 25.76 percent against the same period of last year, in which those purchased from China was 2.302 billion KWh, up 17.2 percent.DT







TELECOM INFRASTRUCTURE - EVN Telecom officially launches new marine cable system



Vietnam Electricity Telecommunication Co (EVN Telecom) on November 6 officially launched the inter-Asia submarine optical cable system (IACS).

IACS is the trans-Asia marine cable system that EVN Telecom directly cooperated with India-based TATA Communication Co. The system offers a data transmission speed of 3.84Tbit/second.

The project's initial investment capital was posted at $200 million, in which EVN Telecom contributed $50 million.

The total length of the system was 6,800 kilometres, connecting Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Japan. In Vietnam, the system hooks into the national network in the southern coastal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau with the initial usage capacity of EVN Telecom of 50Gbps.TBKT

Warren Buffett tackles bankers’ bonuses

Warren Buffett tackles bankers’ bonuses

“Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful”. — Reuters pic

LONDON, Oct 27 — Warren Buffett has given another insight into the thinking that has made him one of the most successful investors ever.

In a BBC interview, the Sage of Omaha criticised the huge rewards enjoyed by those in the financial industry and called for a more “progressive” taxation system. The second-richest man in the world also sympathised with those who are furious with the bankers who helped to create the financial crisis.

The interview shows that the 79-year old has lost none of his charm. Buffett jokes that in another life he would probably have been devoured by a wild animal. He also defended his use of a private jet, the definitive symbol of corporate excess, on the grounds it made his life easier — even though it did undermine his “Huckleberry Finn” image.

The full interview will be shown on BBC — but here are some of the highlights:

On taxation and a fairer society:

“I get paid enormously, and it’s no great credit to me, I was just lucky at birth. It’s nice to give me a fair amount of the benefits from that but I shouldn’t delude myself into thinking that I’m some superior individual because of that.

“I don’t think society ought to count entirely on the goodwill of the rich to decide on the proportions that go back. So I believe in a very progressive tax on income.”

On the lottery of life:

“As my friend Bill Gates says, if I’ve been born in some different place or some different time I’d have been some animal’s lunch. I’d have been running real fast, and the animal would have been chasing me and I’d say ‘I allocate capital’ and the animal would say ‘well, those are the kind that taste the best’. I’ve been in the right place at the right time, and I’m lucky, I think a fair amount of that luck should be shared with others.”

On the place of financiers within society:

“If 50 of us were on a ship and there was a shipwreck, we all swam to an island, we knew we’d never be rescued — and fortunately it was a fertile island so we could all plant rice and grow enough to take care of ourselves. We would not take the five smartest people out of the 50 and tell them ‘why don’t you start trading rice futures and speculate among yourselves’, and by the way we think that’s so valuable we’re going to give you the most money and probably a favourable tax rate on top of it. Hell no, we’d get everybody producing rice.

On the public’s anger over the banking crisis:

“It’s infuriating for people to see their friends losing their jobs, their friends having their homes foreclosed on and no one going to jail. It was one thing in Enron, at least you had [Jeffery] Skilling and Ken Lay, or WorldCom or those things ... society at least felt there was a little bit of vengeance taking place. But here nobody’s going to jail, in fact a lot of them are walking off with tons of money, which they got in many cases with preferential tax terms.

“So the American public’s exasperation at this is very understandable.”

On the challenge of investing when you’re a billionaire:

“If you want to invest £100,000 (RM540,000) or £1 million, you’re probably going to get a better deal than I am because you can look at the whole universe of investments and you can find things where your £100,000 or £1 million will have an impact. I have a very small universe now ... I’ve only got a few hundred things I can look at, tops, and you’ve got thousands. If I was working with a very small amount of money I would get higher returns now in terms of percentages. But, it’s a high-class problem to have, of having too much money.”

As I was saying ...

One of Buffett’s most famous quotes comes from 2003, when he presciently described derivatives as “financial weapons of mass destruction”. Other pithy sayings include:

“You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out” — his 2001 warning that the good times would not last forever.

“Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful” — his golden rule for profitable investing.

“An economic Pearl Harbour” — Buffett on the credit crunch.

“It gets dug out of the ground in Africa or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it” — on gold. — The Guardian

Malaysian English vocabulary

Malaysian English vocabulary

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Malaysian English is a form of English used and spoken in Malaysia as a second language. Malaysian English is primarily used in informal speech.
Many Malay and Malaysian words or phrases that describe Malaysian culture have become part of Malaysian English. For instance, although kampung which literally means village is a Malay word, it is often used in Malaysian English literature, everyday speech and sometimes, even in Malaysian media.

General vocabulary
These words are used either in writing or orally.
This list is not intended to be comprehensive. Please note that many, if not most words listed are much localised or almost obsolete today.

A to D

A
• ABC - Air Batu Campur (ice blended with melted sugar, beans, corn and chendol)
• Aci - elderly Indian woman
• Ah Long/Along - loan shark, from Cantonese, 阿隆
• aiyoo/aiyah - to express frustration. The former's from Indian, the latter Chinese, from Mandarin-哎哟/哎呀.
• amoi/amoy - Chinese girlfriend, from Teochew/Hakka-阿妹.
• angkat (someone) - to praise other people to gain interests of favour
• apartment - a medium-cost and high-cost flat with veranda/balcony.
• apek - elderly Chinese man, from Hokkien-阿伯
• aqua/ah kua - Derogatory term for transsexuals
• ATM - automated teller machine.
• awek - Malay girlfriend.
• aisey man - "I'll say, man." Used to express frustration.
• angmor - [omit the r sound when pronounce] westerner, from Hokkien-红毛
• angpau - red packet with money to be given on Chinese New Year or during some occasion like weeding, birthday party and so on as a wishes to the receiver, from Hokkien-红包

B
• blue
o offensive ("blue language").
o porn reference ("blue movie", "blue film").
• bapok - transvestite, sissy
• botak- bald-headed
• blur - confused/slow-thinking.
• bodoh - stupid.
• bohsia - young female slut, literally means 'no sound' ("boh" - No "sia" - Sound) from Hokkien
• brinjal - eggplant.
• bungalow - a villa.

C
• cantik - beautiful.
• ceramah - public speech, seminar
• ceti haram - loan shark (Indian)
• chao/chow - goodbye/see you.
• Cik - Miss (a Malay title used to address unmarried women).
• cincai - informal, sloppy
• chop - to stamp (with a rubber stamp), as well as the stamp itself.
• condominium - a high-rise flat typically high-cost with veranda and other facilities.
• comot - messy
• cut (other vehicles) - to overtake

D
• dadah - illegal drugs
• dang - damn.
• deco - decoration.
• demo - demonstration.
• driver
o someone who drives.
o chauffeur.

E to K

E
• encik - mister.
• entao - handsome (hokkien)
• expressway - motorway (similar to the expressways in Japan or China)

F
• flat - a low-cost high-rise flat typically without veranda.
• follow - to accompany.

G
• ganja - marijuana
• gwai lou - Derogatory term for white person. From Cantonese 鬼佬
• gostan - derived from "go astern", reverse
• geng - powerful, From Cantonese

H
• having-in - eat-in at a restaurant.
• hang- you, generally used in Kedah, Perlis and Pulau Pinang. Used only to address good friends.
• highway - motorway, roads
• horn - (used as verb) to sound the vehicle horn.
• HP - acronym of handphone, mobile phone or cellphone.

I
• ikan bilis - anchovies.

J
• jack (someone) - to praise other people to gain interests of favour
• jangan - don't.
• jom- let's go

K
• kampung
o village
o hometown (used as a possessive noun, for example my kampung which means my hometown)
• kaki/kakilang - friend, company from Hokkien (literally means 'leg'. e.g. "I can't go, I have no kaki.")
• kantoi - get caught in trouble.
• kautim - to finish a task. From Cantonese term 搞掂
• kay poh chee/kepoh - busy body (for example "why are you so kay poh chee?")
• keep
o to put away or store.
o to retain as one's own.
• kerang - cockles
• kong already - dead or non-functional
• kuih - small cakes eaten before or after meals.
• kupang - cent, generally used in Kedah, Perlis and Pulau Pinang

L to P

L
• lady's fingers - Malaysian/British English term for Okra.
• lawak - funny.
• lepak - loiter.
• leng lui - Pretty girl. From Cantonese 靓女
• leng zai - Handsome guy 靓仔
• limteh - Go out drink.

M
• makan - eat.
• mamak – Indian Muslim Stall.
• mau - want (eg "Mau makan?" ; "Want to eat?").
• MC - abbreviation for medical certificate, or sick note in British English
• McD (pronunciation "Mac-D", no "s" sound) - McDonald's restaurant.
• mee - noodles.
• megi - instant noodles, adopted from the Maggi brand instant noodle.
• member - also means a friend.
• menteri - minister.
• Mat Gian - drug addict (male).
• Mat Motor - generic term for Malaysian bikers.
• Mat Rempit - illegal motorbike racer (male).
• mata - police (literally: eye)
• Mat Salleh - a white person or Caucasian
• Milo - generic term for hot chocolate or any chocolate drink, adopted from the Milo brand chocolate drink.
• momantai - no problem (from Cantonese)
• malu - shy/embarrassed

N
• nah - here (used when giving something to another person. e.g: "Nah, kotak!" ; "Here, a box!").
• nasi - cooked rice
• NS/KN - National Service/Khidmat Negara

O
• off / close (an electric appliance) - to turn off the switch of an electrical appliance
• on / open (an electric appliance) - to turn on the switch of an electrical appliance
• ong - Having good luck. From the Hokkien word 旺
• outstation - out of town/overseas.

P
• padan muka - serves you right.
• paikia - bad guy. (from Hokkien)
• pass up - to hand in (for example "pass up your assignments").
• pass motion - defecate.
• pat - see kay poh chee. (from Cantonese)
• pokai - being broke. penniless.
• pondan - a derogatory term for shemales and transsexuals, the term also covers homosexuals in certain communities.
• Puan - Mrs. (a Malay title used to address married women).

Q to Z

R
• rakyat - citizen.
• raya - festive (usually referring to Eid).
• remisier - stockbroker.
• rubber - meaning eraser (for example "can I borrow your rubber?").

S
• sambal - traditional sauce.
• send - to take somebody to somewhere (for example "I'll send you to the airport.").
• seow - from the Hokkien term meaning crazy.
• sirap/syrup - rose syrup beverage.
• sotong - squid.
• sky juice - plain water.
• slippers - Japanese sandals; as in US and UK "flip-flops", Australia "thongs".
• SMS - text message.
• stylo - stylish. Stylo-mylo is occasionally used.
• suey/sueh - having bad luck. From Cantonese and Hokkien word 衰

T
• take-away - food purchased at a restaurant but eaten elsewhere.
• tapau/tarpau-ed
o See take away.
o To defeat an opponent in games. Similar usage to the term pwned
• thrice - three times.
• tin - can, especially for processed foods. (for example "give us a tin of beans.") Can is usually reserved for soft drinks or beer/cider.
• toyol
o little child-like spirit in Malay folklore who steals valuables.
o cheat sheets during tests or exams.

U
• U - university.

W
• warung - Malay food stall

Biển xe cơ giới Việt Nam

Bách khoa toàn thư mở Wikipedia

(đổi hướng từ Danh sách biển kiểm soát xe cơ giới Việt Nam)

Ở Việt Nam, biển kiểm soát xe cơ giới (hay còn gọi tắt là biển số xe) là tấm biển gắn trên mỗi xe cơ giới, được cơ quan công an cấp khi mua xe mới hoặc chuyển nhượng xe. Biển số xe được làm bằng hợp kim nhôm sắt, có dạng hình chữ nhật hoặc hơi vuông, trên đó có in những con số và chữ cho biết: vùng và địa phương quản lý, các con số cụ thể khi tra trên máy tính còn cho biết danh tính người chủ hay đơn vị đã mua nó, thời gian mua nó phục vụ cho công tác an ninh...Đặc biệt trên đó còn có hình quốc huy của nước CHXHCN Việt Nam.

Biển xe của các cơ quan hành chính, sự nghiệp, hay hợp tác xã, giai đoạn từ 1975 - 1995, với chữ màu trắng trên nền biển xanh lá đậm.

• Nền biển màu trắng, chữ màu đen là xe tư nhân và doanh nghiệp tư nhân.
• Nền biển màu xanh dương, chữ màu trắng là biển xe của các cơ quan hành chính sự nghiệp.
• Nền biển màu đỏ, chữ màu trắng là xe quân đội, xe của các doanh nghiệp quân đội.
• Nền biển màu vàng là xe thuộc bộ tư lệnh biên phòng (ít gặp)
• Nền biển màu vàng chữ đen là xe cơ giới chuyên dụng làm công trình

Biển xe dân sự

Tên tỉnh	Biển số xe	Mã bưu chính	Mã vùng điện thoại
An Giang	67	94	76
Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu	72	79	64
Bạc Liêu	94	99	781
Bắc Cạn	97	17	281
Bắc Giang	98 (số cũ 13)	21	240
Bắc Ninh	99 (số cũ 13)	16	241
Bến Tre	71	83	75
Bình Dương	61	72	650
Bình Định	77	53	56
Bình Phước	93	77	651
Bình Thuận	86	62	62
Cà Mau	69	96	780
Cao Bằng	11	22	26
Cần Thơ	65	92	710
Đà Nẵng	43	59	511
Đắk Lắk	47	55	50
Đắk Nông	48	55	50
Điện Biên	27	28	23
Đồng Nai	60, 39	71	61
Đồng Tháp	66	93	67
Gia Lai	81	54	59
Hà Giang	23	29	219
Hà Nam	90	30	351
Hà Nội	29, 30, 31, 32	10	4
Hà Tây (đã thuộc về Hà Nội)	33	31	4
Hà Tĩnh	38	43	39
Hải Dương	34	34	320
Hải Phòng	15,16	35	31
Hậu Giang	95	92	711
Hoà Bình	28	13	218
Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh	50 đến 59	70	8
Hưng Yên	89	39	321
Khánh Hoà	79	57	58
Kiên Giang	68	95	77
Kon Tum	82	58	60
Lai Châu	25	28	23
Lạng Sơn	12	20	25
Lào Cai	24	19	20
Lâm Đồng	49	61	63
Long An	62	81	72
Nam Định	18	32	350
Nghệ An	37	42	38
Ninh Bình	35	40	30
Ninh Thuận	85	63	68
Phú Thọ	19	24	210
Phú Yên	78	56	57
Quảng Bình	73	45	52
Quảng Nam	92	51	510
Quảng Ngãi	76	52	55
Quảng Ninh	14	36	33
Quảng Trị	74	46	53
Sóc Trăng	83	97	79
Sơn La	26	27	22
Tây Ninh	70	73	66
Thái Bình	17	33	36
Thái Nguyên	20	23	280
Thanh Hoá	36	41	37
Thừa Thiên-Huế	75	47	54
Tiền Giang	63	82	73
Trà Vinh	84	90	74
Tuyên Quang	22	25	27
Vĩnh Long	64	91	70
Vĩnh Phúc	88	11	211
Yên Bái	21	26	29

Phụ chú : 13 là biển số tỉnh Hà Bắc cũ, nay là tỉnh Bắc Giang (biển số mới 98) và Bắc Ninh (biển số mới 99), biển số này vẫn còn lưu hành

Biển xe các cơ quan thuộc Bộ Quốc Phòng

Kí hiệu	Cơ quan áp dụng	Ghi chú
AA	Quân đoàn 1	A: Quân đoàn
AB	Quân đoàn 2
AT	Binh đoàn 12
AD	Quân đoàn 4, Binh đoàn Cửu Long
BB	Bộ binh	B: Binh chủng, Bộ tư lệnh
BC	Binh chủng công binh
BH	Binh chủng hóa học
BK	Binh chủng đặc công
BV	Dịch vụ bay miền nam
BS	Binh đoàn Trường Sơn
BT	Bộ tư lệnh thông tin liên lạc
BP	Bộ tư lệnh pháo binh
HB	Học viện lục quân	H: Học viện
HD	Học viện kỹ thuật quân sự
HC	Học viện chính trị quân sự
HH	Học viện quân y
KA	Quân khu 1	K: Quân khu
KB	Quân khu 2
KC	Quân khu 3
KD	Quân khu 4
KV	Quân khu 5
KP	Quân khu 7
KK	Quân khu 9
PA	Cục đối ngoại BQP
PP	Bộ Quốc Phòng
QH	Quân chủng hải quân	Q: Quân chủng
QK	Quân chủng phòng không không quân
TC	Tổng cục chính trị	T: Tổng cục
TH	Tổng cục hậu cần
TK	Tổng cục công nghiệp quốc phòng
TT	Tổng cục kỹ thuật
TM	Bộ tổng tham mưu
VT	Tổng công ty viễn thông quân đội (Viettel)

còn chữ QA

Biển số 80

Các cơ quan sau áp dụng:

1. Các ban của Trung ương Đảng
2. Văn phòng Chủ tịch nước
3. Văn phòng Quốc hội
4. Văn phòng Chính phủ
5. Bộ Công an
6. Xe phục vụ các uỷ viên Trung ương Đảng công tác tại Hà Nội và các thành viên Chính phủ
7. Bộ Ngoại giao
8. Viện kiểm sát nhân dân tối cao
9. Toà án nhân dân tối cao
10. Đài truyền hình Việt Nam
11. Đài tiếng nói Việt Nam
12. Thông tấn xã Việt Nam
13. Báo nhân dân
14. Thanh tra Nhà nước
15. Học viện Chính trị quốc gia
16. Ban quản lý Lăng Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh, Bảo tàng, khu Di tích lịch sử Hồ Chí Minh
17. Trung tâm lưu trữ quốc gia
18. Uỷ ban Dân số kế hoạch hoá gia đình
19. Tổng công ty Dầu khí Việt Nam
20. Các đại sứ quán, tổ chức quốc tế và nhân viên
21. Người nước ngoài
22. Uỷ ban Chứng khoán Nhà nước
23. Cục Hàng không dân dụng Việt Nam
24. Kiểm toán nhà nước

Biển đặc biệt

• Biển dành cho người nước ngoài: ký hiệu NN (nước ngoài) hoặc NG (ngoại giao) (phải có sự đồng ý của các cán bộ cao cấp nhất của Việt Nam và được sự đồng ý của Đại Sứ quán nước đó) và dãy số:
• Hai chữ số đầu: thể hiện địa điểm đăng ký (tỉnh/thành)
• Ba chữ số tiếp theo: mã nước (quốc tịch người đăng ký)

011 Anh, 026 Ấn Độ, 041 Algérie, 061 Bỉ, 066 Ba Lan, 121 Cu ba, 156 Canada, 166 Campuchia, 191 Đức, 206 Đan Mạch, 296 và 297 Mỹ, 301 Hà Lan,321 Iran, 331 Italia, 336 Ixrael, 346 Lào, 364 Áo, 376 Myanma, 381 Mông Cổ, 441 Nga, 446 Nhật Bản, 456 New Zealand, 501 Úc, 506 Pháp, 521 Phần Lan, 546 547 548 549 Các tổ chức Phi Chính Phủ, 566 Cộng hòa Séc, 581 Thụy Điển, 601 Trung Quốc, 606 Thái Lan, 626 Thụy Sỹ, 631 CHDCND Triều Tiên, 636 Hàn Quốc, 691 Singapore, 731 Slovakia, 888 Đài Loan). còn các số 316,885,886...

• Ba chữ số khác ở bên dưới: số thứ tự đăng ký
• Các biển A, B, C là xe của ngành Công an, xe của UBND tỉnh thành hoặc xe của các cơ quan hành chính sự nghiệp, ví dụ: 31A tức là xe các cơ quan, đơn vị nhà nước của thủ đô Hà Nội.
• Biển ngoại giao hoặc nước ngoài có gạch mầu đỏ chạy ngang hàng chữ số thể hiện mức độ cao hơn của mỗi dòng biển đó (sự cấm xâm phạm dù bất cứ tình huống nào).

Tại Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh

Hiện nay (áp dụng cho xe 2 bánh), chữ cái trên biển số cho biết quận, huyện đăng kí:

Quận 1 là T;

Quận 2, Quận 9, Thủ Đức: X ;

Quận 3: F;

Quận 4, Quận 7, Nhà Bè: Z,

Quận 5: H;

Quận 6: K;

Quận 8: L;

Quận 10: U;

Quận 11: M;

Quận Bình Tân, Bình Chánh: N;

Quận 12, Hóc Môn, Củ Chi: Y;

Quận Tân Bình, Tân Phú: P;

Quận Bình Thạnh: S,

Quận Gò Vấp: V,

Quận Phú Nhuận: R

Ví dụ: 52T2 0001 nghĩa là xe được đăng kí tại Quận 1, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh.

Hiện nay Quận Gò Vấp đã hết chữ V, do vậy sử dụng thêm chữ R của quận Phú Nhuận ( R5 ) VD: biển 51-R5-3388 được đăng ký cho quận Gò Vấp