Two Vietnamese men have led a team in successfully designing a smartphone app for urban drivers searching for an available parking spot in a bid to reduce common issues related to parking. Trieu Khac Thiep and Dang Duc Huy, 31, who are long-standing close schoolmates from the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, have implemented a joint project of creating Pakme – a free application for iOS and Android platforms. Their technological brainchild encapsulates information regarding about 1,400 parking locations in two of Vietnam’s largest cities – Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. Thiep said one of the main reasons for the creation of Pakme was his empathy with frustrated spot seekers in big cities. “Many drivers face difficulty in finding parking spaces, or are prone to be fined for parking their cars in the wrong place,” Thiep said. He clarified that if drivers fail to secure an available spot, they can be forced to drive up to one kilometer searching for an on-street spot, which requires more fuel consumption, more time and helps cause air pollution and congestion. Additionally, drivers are unlikely to know the charge and operating timeframe of new parking lots, or unsure whether there are any empty spaces left there. His passion for the app caused Thiep to depart from his stable, high-income job in a foreign company in April 2017 to concentrate on the Pakme project, which at the time was in its second phase. In its early stages, Thiep and Huy hired college… [Read full story]
Online travel app Vntrip.vn has hit the jackpot with massive foreign cash injection. John Wu, a former leader of China’s largest e-commerce company Alibaba, has pledged to invest nearly $3 million in Vntrip.vn, a Vietnamese start-up project involved in online hotel booking. Alibaba’s former chief technical officer and his investor group plan to help the Vietnamese online travel agency to improve customer services . Vntrip’s CEO and founder Le Dac Lam told VnExpress that the investment came during the first round of fundraising, and John Wu’s investor group has agreed to cooperate with them. “The financing will be used to…... [read more]
The app is hoped to solve Hanoi's crowded streets but some drivers have found it inconvenient. Hanoi launched a smart parking service on Monday that will allow drivers to find parking spots and pay parking fares using their smartphones. The pilot project covers Tran Hung Dao and Ly Thuong Kiet, with 17 parking lots with a capacity of 248 cars. The lots will be open seven days a week, with 16 available from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and one available 24 hours a day, according to Tuoi Tre newspaper. The trial period is expected to run until August 1.…... [read more]
A nationwide search has been launched to find a new generation of Eco-Entrepreneurs to serve Vietnam's fight against climate change and global warming. An E-idea competition offering six cash awards will be held in the country. The six awards are worth a total of VND720million (US$36,000), while VND100million will be awarded for any fresh idea and VND140million is set for implementation of a project. The British Council and Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) in Australia, China, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam will launch the competition across the Asia Pacific Region. A website, www.e-idea.org is now up and running…... [read more]
Mobile app sizes men up for affordable custom shirts. A couple from Ho Chi Minh City have made custom-fit clothing more affordable with a mobile app called UKYS. The innovative approach removes much of the costs associated with taking customers’ measurements by measuring them via the apps. With the mobile app, customers can take their measurements using the camera on their smartphones to scan the body, rather than using a traditional tape measure. The start-up claims that the measurements are even more precise than the more traditional way of getting fitted, and offers shirts at more affordable prices than a…... [read more]
The Law on Common Investmentand the Unified Enterprise Law have come into effect, thus boosting the development of all forms of business operations in terms of both quality and quantity. At present, Vietnam has more than 300,000 private businesses, 3 million house-hold businesses, 15,000 co-operatives and nearly 12,000 farms, which are operating like businesses. The strong development of the business community goes hand-in-hand with the development of Vietnamese entrepreneurs. Over the past years, entrepreneurs have contributed greatly to Vietnam’s socio-economic development and helped the country integrate into the region and the world. Speaking at a national conference to honour outstanding…... [read more]
