The U.S. dollar plummeted to a sell price of VND22,740-22,745 on Wednesday at banks across Vietnam, a VND10-15 per dollar slide from earlier this week. Bid prices also took a hit, dropping to VND22,660 per dollar the same day, according to listed prices at Vietcombank and ACB. According to bank officials, the trend is due to a desire for Vietnamese dong in lieu of dollars for shopping ahead of Tet, or the Lunar New Year, the biggest public holiday in Vietnam. Tet falls on February 16 this year, with nationwide celebrations beginning at least a week prior and lingering for another week afterward. A wave of inward remittances from overseas Vietnamese during the holiday season has also led to abundance in domestic supply of the currency, contributing to falling dollar prices on the market. The State Bank of Vietnam has the adjusted the central exchange rates of VND versus USD to VND22,445 per dollar, a slight drop of VND5 per dollar after a period of continued increase. Listed VND-USD rates at commercial banks in Vietnam are still up to VND388 per dollar lower than the ceiling rate stipulated by the central bank. Foreign exchange reserves at the State Bank of Vietnam exceeded US$54.4 billion in February following recent large-scale net purchases. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
About 10 international cruise ships are expected to arrive in Vietnam for the coming Tet holiday from the mid to the end of February. These boats will take tens of thousands of tourists and their crews from many countries in the world to visit Hanoi, Hạ Long, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Nha Trang and HCMCity. At the same time, scores of foreign visitors in vans and on motorbikes will come to Vietnam by road from Thailand and Laos. In 2006, over 3.6 million foreign visitors came to Viet Nam, an increase of 4% over the previous year. A lot of…... [read more]
(Cinet)- Food plays a major role in the Lunar New Year celebration. Some traditional dishes served on this event are square sticky-rice cake, boiled chicken, sausage, and different kinds of Tet jams, ect. Banh Chung (Square sticky-rice cake): Square sticky-rice cake is unique to Vietnam's Tet holiday. Banh Chung is a food made from glutinous rice, mung bean and pork, added with many other ingredients. Banh Chung is covered by green leaves (usually banana leaves) and symbolizes the Earth, invented by the prince Lang Lieu from Hung King dynasty. Besides traditional reason, Banh Chung is chosen as the main food…... [read more]
Farmers in Cho Lach district, the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre have prepared eight to nine million of ornamental plants and flower pots for the Tet Holiday falling in February next year. Farmers take care of flowers for Tet holidays in the Mekong Delta (Photo: SGGP)Dr. Bui Thanh Liem, head of Agriculture and Rural Development Department in the district, yesterday said that local farmers are taking care of many types of flowers such as daisy, marigold, apricot blossom and kumquat so that they will blossom on the occasion of the Lunar New Year Festival. Many households have produced dog…... [read more]
Vietnam's food companies are stocking up for the coming Tet lunar New Year, but many households will do without the most traditional food of the year's biggest holiday - chicken. Avian influenza or bird flu, and the possibility of a human-borne outbreak of the disease from consuming chicken means pork, beef, and seafood will dominate family holiday meals this Tet. Tet, which this year begins on Jan. 29. Saigon Trading Corp. (Satra) has estimated a 40% year-on-year increase in seafood inventories, a whopping 150% in fish, said Satra general director Huynh Van Minh. To cater to holiday demand, APT Co.,…... [read more]
While Tet, or the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, retains its significance among local people, a global market research consultancy has discovered changes in the way the holiday is celebrated when compared to twenty years ago. This year’s Lunar New Year falls on February 8, but Vietnamese started preparing for the country’s biggest holiday months in advance. Ninety-three percent of respondents in TNS’s Consumer Pulse study released on January 29 said that "Tet is a time to pay respects to ancestors," indicating that the event "still carries a lot of traditional and family significance for Vietnamese." The quarterly survey, the first…... [read more]
