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mollydpowellus · 6 years

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Section 702 FAA expires: what are the problems with PRISM and Upstream?

Two important NSA programs, PRISM and Upstream, are based upon section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act (FAA), a law that was scheduled to expire today. Now the US Congress has to decide whether to continue or to reform this crucial legal authority. Although PRISM became almost synonymous for NSA's alleged mass surveillance, it's actually, just like the Upstream program, targeted collection aimed at specific foreign targets. Still, many people think that way too many data are pulled in (incidental collection) and subsequently queried in an illegal way (backdoor searches). Here we'll show how complicated these two collection programs are, but also that there are various internal procedures and methods in order to keep collection and analysis as focussed as possible.

Slide from the PRISM presentation that for the first time revealed PRISM and Upstream as part of section 702 FAA collection.

Until recently, US lawmakers were too involved with president Trump's tax reform to devote enough attention to section 702 FAA. Therefore, on December 21, Congress extended the authority of this law through January 19, 2018. Lawyers from the Trump administration even concluded that the intelligence agencies can lawfully continue to operate under the FAA through late April (because the current FISA Court certification for the program actually expires late April 2018). This leaves Congress some extra months to either reform or strengthen this important authority. There are several proposals, spanning from making the existing law permanent without changes, to imposing significant new limits to safeguard the privacy rights of Americans. Meanwhile, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) came with additional information about data collection under section 702 FAA, and published for example a Section 702 Overview, which includes some nice infographics:

Diagram showing the tasing process for section 702 FAA collection. Click to enlarge.

The Snowden-revelations revealed that under the legal authority of section 702 FAA, NSA conducts two types of data collection:

- Upstream collection, for both internet and telephone communications, which are filtered out based upon specific selectors at major telephone and internet backbone switches. This takes place under the collection programs FAIRVIEW and STORMBREW. - Downstream collection, only for internet (including internet telephony) communications, based upon specific selectors, which are acquired from at least 9 major American internet companies. This takes place under the collection program PRISM.

The Upstream and Downstream programs are different from eachother in many ways, but the thing they have in common is that collection take place inside the United States, while being aimed at foreign targets, although just one end of their communications has to be foreign. This means these programs also pull in communications between targeted foreigners and Americans - which is one of the main purposes of these programs: finding connections between terrorists inside and outside the US. Upstream filtering Although Upstream collection is based upon specific selectors, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) presents it as "bulk surveillance", because in their opinion, the automated filtering actually means that NSA is "searching the contents of essentially everyone’s communications" and therefore they call these searches "extraordinarily far-reaching" and "unprecedented and unlawful." The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has a similar position and says that splitting internet cables is "unconstitutional seizure", while the subsequent search for selectors is an "unconstitutional search." These judgements seem based upon comparing digital filtering with intercepting letters or telegrams (like what happened under project SHAMROCK from 1945-1975), but this ignores the differences with computer technology: indeed entire data streams are copied, but at virtually the same moment the filter system picks out the communications associated with the selectors, all the other data are gone. Searching through data packets of innocent people means at the same time destroying them - except when they contain one of the selectors which NSA is interested in.

Dataflow diagram for Upstream collection under the FAIRVIEW program. Disclosed on November 16, 2016. Click to enlarge.

Under section 702 FAA, only data that are associated with a specific selector are stored. For Upstream collection, this means only the communications that remain after the filtering proces. These are processed (decoded, formatted, etc.) and stored in NSA databases for a maximum of only 2 years. Downstream collection under the PRISM program results in all the data associated with specific selectors that the big internet companies hand over to the FBI, which then forwards them to NSA. These are also processed and then stored for a maximum of 5 years. Incidental collection As almost every NSA target will communicate with at least some individuals who are not involved in terrorism or other crimes, it's inevitable that even targeted interception will result in storing communications of innocent (American) people too - NSA calls this "incidental collection". The share of this incidental collection as part of the overall collection is not known: early 2017, NSA agreed to provide some information about how many American citizens may be impacted, but later, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Dan Coats said that it "remains infeasible" for the government to cite a meaningful number. Edward Snowden was also eager to draw public attention to this issue, and maybe he took his last job for Booz Allen at NSA in Hawaii just to get access to raw data collected under section 702 FAA. He succeeded and was able to exfiltrate a cache of some 160.000 internet communications, which he handed over to the Washington Post - a much more substantive leak than the usual internal powerpoint and sharepoint stuff. The Post reported about this cache on July 5, 2014. After a burdensome investigation, it found that the intercepted communications contained valuable foreign intelligence information, but also that 9 out of 10 account holders were not the intended surveillance targets and that nearly half of the files contained US person identifiers. Targeted interception This sounds like a massive overcollection, but we should keep in mind that this still is targeted collection, something that privacy advocats always prefer rather than bulk collection. NSA's Upstream program will likely result just as many communications of innnocent people as traditional police wiretaps ordered by a judge, although NSA targets may be more careful in conducting private telecommunications than ordinary criminals. Unfortunately we don't know whether the dataset examined by The Washington Post came from Upstream or PRISM collection, or both, so it's hard to say whether PRISM is more or less intrusive. Upstream collection however became less useful after the most common communication services are now encrypted. PRISM on the other hand may also not be as productive as before, after it was exposed through the Snowden-revelations.

Dataflow diagram for Downstream collection under the PRISM program. Disclosed on June 29, 2013. Click to enlarge.

Backdoor searches On August 9, 2013, The Guardian disclosed the so-called "backdoor searches", a method used by NSA analysts that was approved in 2011 - apparently as a replacement for the bulk collection of domestic internet metadata under the PR/TT program, which was terminated by the end of that year. These backdoor searches are not about collecting new data by tapping telephone and internet cables or acquiring data from internet companies, but about conducting searches in data that have already been collected. While in general, NSA is only allowed to collect new data when they are related to foreign targets, these backdoor searches may also involve identifiers (like e-mail addresses and phone numbers) of US citizens, hence they are now officially called "U.S. person queries". These searches are only allowed for data from PRISM, not from Upstream collection. NSA analysts retrieving communications of Americans is of course something that reminds of the notorious project MINARET (1967-1973), under which NSA targeted 1.650 US citizens, including civil rights leaders, journalists and even two senators. After Greenwald tried, but failed to proof that NSA is still monitoring American citizens in that way, it's now these backdoor searches which are considered the biggest privacy violations under section 702 FAA - the ACLU says that they allow "spying on U.S. residents without a warrant." Although some aspects of these queries are questionable, they are not illegal like the term "backdoor" suggests - the practice was approved by the FISA Court. According to the PCLOB report about section 702 FAA operations, NSA has different procedures for content and for metadata queries using US person identifiers:

- Queries of content are only permitted for US person identifiers that have been pre-approved (i.e. added to a white list) through one of several processes, including other FISA processes. Such approvals are for example granted for US persons for whom there are already individual warrants from the FISA Court under section 105 FISA or section 704 FAA. US person identifiers can also be approved by the NSA's Office of General Counsel after showing that using a certain US person identifier would "reasonably likely return foreign intelligence information." - Queries of metadata may only be conducted in a system that requires analysts to document the basis for their metadata query (a Foreign Intelligence (FI) justification) prior to conducting the query. An oversight report adds that "analysts are not required to check any specific database or seek any internal approvals prior to executing a query against [702 FAA] metadata."

Relevant queries In general, NSA analysts are required to create queries that are as focussed as possible so they return information that is most useful and relevant for their foreign intelligence mission. According to the PCLOB report, analysts receive "training regarding how to use multiple query terms or other query discriminators (like a date range) to limit the information that is returned in response to their queries of the unminimized data." In the Section 702 Overview that was published by ODNI on December 20, it is explained that US person queries on metadata are useful as they are often the fastest and most efficient way to check whether and how a certain US person (either suspect or victim) is connected to foreign actors. The overview provides some remarkably concrete examples:

- Using the name of a US person hostage to cull through communications of the terrorist network that kidnapped her to pinpoint her location and condition; - Using the e-mail address of a US victim of a cyber-attack to quickly identify the scope of malicious cyber activities and to warn the U.S. person of the actual or pending intrusion; - Using the name of a government employee that has been approached by foreign spies to detect foreign espionage networks and identify other potential victims; - Using the name of a government official who will be traveling to identify any threats to the official by terrorists or other foreign adversaries.

Numbers of queries While NSA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) were apparently not able to provide numbers about the "incidental collection" under section 702 FAA, they do better when it comes to numbers about the backdoor searches. In a letter to senator Wyden, then DNI Clapper wrote that in 2013, NSA approved 198 US person identifiers for querying the content, and that there had been ca. 9.500 queries on metadata from data collected under the PRISM program, but of the latter ca. 36% were duplicative or recurring queries. ODNI's annual transparancy report over now also provides numbers of US person queries. In 2016, there were 5.288 content queries, but this also includes CIA queries and NSA searches of content from Upstream collection, something that was actually unauthorized, but which the agency is now trying to make visible. The rise of the number of US person queries on metadata is even higher, as it went from 9.500 in 2013, to 30.355 in 2016. The total presented in the ODNI report is supposed to apply to NSA, CIA and FBI, but actually it only shows the number for NSA, as the CIA isn't yet able to count such queries and the FBI isn't required to do so (see below). It should also be noted that for content, it's the particular identifier that is counted, not the number of times such an identifier is actually used to query the databases. For metadata this is different, as the agencies count each time a certain identifier is queried, which of course results in far higher numbers.

Numbers of US person queries on metadata, 2013-2016. Click to enlarge.

FBI searches Besides NSA and CIA, the FBI is also allowed to conduct backdoor or US person searches on data that NSA collected under the PRISM program - something that is considered even more problematic, given the risk of parallel construction. The FBI also doesn't need individual warrants for these searches, but its agents should "design their queries in such a way that they will return evidence of a crime." The FBI stores data from section 702 FAA collection in the same repositories as data from its own traditional FISA monitoring and physical searches. This means that these data are searched and queried many times for other than national security purposes too, although the section 702 data can only be viewed by agents or analysts with the proper training and access rights. According to the FBI, it's extremely unlikely that agents who are for example investigating criminal cases would get a responsive result from a query against section 702 FAA data.* Links and sources - Wired.com: Congress is Debating Warrentless Surveillance in the Dark - New York Times: Warrantless Surveillance Can Continue Even if Law Expires, Officials Say - Emptywheel.net: The Problems with Rosemary Collyer’s Shitty Upstream 702 Opinion - Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board: Surveillance Program Operated Persuant to Section 702 FISA from My Updates http://electrospaces.blogspot.com/2017/12/section-702-faa-expires-what-are.html

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rjzimmerman · 7 years

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This is disgusting. While the House hasn’t passed a “law” here, they have changed the rules of the House of Representatives making it easier to dispose of federal public lands. It doesn’t transfer the land; it will still take legislation to do so. But if a Congresswoman or Congressman introduced a bill to transfer, let’s say Rocky Mountain National Park, to the State of Colorado, the loss of federal revenues from that Park, such as visitor fees and camping fees, doesn’t count in calculating the budgetary effect. Or if a fracking well is located on BLM property, and the oil company pays a royalty for the oil pulled up, and then that land upon which the well is located is transferred to the state, the loss of royalty revenue to the federal government isn’t counted. Amazing way to screw the American people.

So, all of you 62 million people who voted for trump and Republicans, is this what you intended? I didn’t think so. Tough, Own It!

Excerpt:

The change, approved by the GOP-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday, eliminates the requirement to account for the cost of turning over federal lands to state or local governments. Out of such small revisions are revolutions made.

In this case, the revolt is being led by Republican politicians in the West with the enthusiastic backing of developers, mining companies and oil drillers who have long lusted after the vast areas of land that have been kept as a legacy for the American people. Those business interests know they can far more easily get their greedy hands on these pristine areas if the federal government is out of the picture and the only people they need to influence are malleable state legislators and timid local officials.

The ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, Arizona Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, issued a statement urging his fellow Democrats to oppose the change — which they did to no avail. “The House Republican plan to give away America’s public lands for free is outrageous and absurd,” Grijalva said. “This proposed rule change would make it easier to implement this plan by allowing the Congress to give away every single piece of property we own, for free, and pretend we have lost nothing of any value.”

If you’re interested in the technicality of the Republican maneuver, a post in The Hill explains it:

The provision in the package of House rules due for a vote Tuesday would prohibit the Congressional Budget Office from taking into account lost federal revenue from energy production, logging, recreation or other uses when it decides whether a piece of legislation is revenue-neutral or would contribute to the federal deficit. The change regarding federal land would make it easier from a budgetary standpoint to reduce the federal government’s land holdings.

Unfortunately for him, Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana, who has been nominated by trump as Secretary of the Interior, voted in favor of this rule change. We thought he was opposed to the transfer of federal lands, so why support this? Probably because it was part of a package of other rule changes the House Republicans wanted, and he was playing the role of a loyal party member. Regardless, he has royally pissed off not just the greens, but also the hunters and fishers, including those in his home state of Montana.

#public lands #Republicans

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ttsuitesoftware · 3 years

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khalilhumam · 4 years

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The Caribbean's ‘double standard’ on the enforcement of COVID-19 protocols

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/the-caribbeans-double-standard-on-the-enforcement-of-covid-19-protocols/

The Caribbean's ‘double standard’ on the enforcement of COVID-19 protocols

‘These laws should be across the board’

Screenshot of the introductory section of Trinidad and Tobago's Public Health Regulations, 2020, as they relate to COVID-19.

Across the Caribbean, the COVID-19 pandemic has widened the gap of social inequity — including the various treatments of citizens who flout safety regulations. In Trinidad and Tobago, COVID-19 restrictions should apply to everyone, but several recent instances reveal a stark difference in the way police regulate violations depending on class and status. Based on updated public health ordinances, authorities prohibit public gatherings of more than five people, and face coverings and physical distancing are required. Yet, at a birthday party with over 20 guests at a communal pool area at Bayside Towers, an upscale residential high-rise, no one wore masks. The property managers reportedly asked attendees several times to comply with the COVID-19 protocols; when the guests refused, they called the police and advised them as such. By the time officers arrived, the few remaining guests got off with a warning, despite the fact that they breached several public health ordinance violations, including being in a public pool for recreational purposes, and failure to social distance or wear face masks. The consequences of not adhering to these safety requirements involve hefty fines and possible imprisonment for up to three days. The loophole, according to Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith, appeared to be that although the gathering was in a common area, the property itself is private — a rationale that did not go over well with social media users who accused law enforcement of perpetuating a double standard when it comes to the enforcement of COVID-19 regulations. Back in April, under similar public health ordinance guidelines, police detained 27 youth — many of them minors — who were congregating in larger groups than was allowed in the low-income community of Sea Lots. A video showing police making the group lie on their stomachs on a rocky beach and apologise to Griffith as guns were trained on them, went viral. Compounding the issue was Griffith's apparent backpedaling on statements he made in April, when he claimed the police had the authority to stop house parties. The Bayside pool party, he said, was a “gray area,” suggesting that there needs to be clarification on what defines a private and public space. Opposition Minister of Parliament Dinesh Rambally expressed support for Griffith, calling the legislation itself “vague, uncertain and imprecise.” This, he maintained, leads to arbitrary and inequitable enforcement. While Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh confirmed that the existing regulations “more or less speak to public spaces,” he added, “We don't need a constitutional argument to tell people that how you conduct yourselves in your private premises will capsize the whole thing.” In a post at Wired868, Lasana Liburd called out the hypocrisy of it:

Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith tried to turn the table on persons critical of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service’s handling of a pool party in Bayside Towers, by suggesting that they were the ones with a ‘hang-up’ on race and class—and not his lawmen. […] Nobody was charged, although the public health ordinance carries a TT$1,000 fine [US$148)] for failure to wear masks — even if it is in your own vehicle alongside a single family member. To date, the TTPS has charged 179 persons for failure to wear masks. So […] did the police choose not to hold someone accountable at Bayside Towers because it is an affluent neighbourhood?

Griffith noted that under his leadership, the TTPS has conducted raids in affluent areas as proof that he was above bias. At a press conference, however, one journalist questioned why the police visit to Bayside wasn't filmed and uploaded to social media by the TTPS when other raids had. Griffith admonished the media for “nitpicking.” When members of the media persisted, Griffith replied that he did not have the details of what happened, but that investigations were continuing. He also said that some of the guests may not have been Trinidad and Tobago nationals and that the police would check their documentation. Media outlet Wired868, however, scoffed at the attempt to reframe the issue:

Griffith did not explain why the deportation of Venezuelan refugees — whose reason for being at the Bayside Towers event is uncertain — might be considered a suitable response to an arrogant, reckless Bayside resident’s failure to show due consideration to COVID-19 regulation.

On Facebook, Ian Y. Dass echoed similar sentiments:

So let me get this straight… A party with 40 persons at Bayside Towers is not a breach of the public health ordinance because it's in private property. I'm pretty sure all these persons aren't living under the same roof. And I'm pretty sure they will be mingling with the public at some point in the near future. Meanwhile, if a family who lives in the same house is seen in their PRIVATE vehicles not wearing masks, they get charged $1000 (inclusive of children over the age of 8). Make. It. Make. Sense. You see, I have no problem with there being laws in place to help reduce the spread of the virus. BUT…these laws should be ACROSS THE BOARD. I guess in sweet T&T, some are above the law. Injustice and unfairness in big daylight. Right in front we eyes. But we like it so.

The memes and spoofs were quick in coming, but underneath it all, social media users were well-aware of the gravity of the issue, underscored by another incident in which a young woman claimed that the legislation — which deems it an offence to “be found at or in any beach […] or similar body of water” — doesn't apply to her or her family because they are on their “private” property. Private beaches do not exist in Trinidad and Tobago. Even though COVID-19 regulations differ throughout the Caribbean, scenarios like these have been playing out in comparable ways. In Jamaica, social media erupted after superstar athlete Usain Bolt celebrated his birthday by throwing a large party on August 21. Event videos showed little regard for Jamaica's COVID-19 protocols, but weeks later, police confirmed that Bolt had received a permit. Authorities are, however, still waiting to hear whether several high-profile guests who had arrived from overseas to attend the party adhered to the required quarantine protocols upon their arrival. The government has already said that Bolt will not receive any special treatment, and investigations are continuing into possible breaches of the country's Quarantine Act. Jamaica, like Trinidad and Tobago, is currently experiencing community spread, and government officials continue to review and update COVID-19 protocols as required, through amendments to the Disaster Risk Management Act, which are gazetted in parliament. Three days after the party, Bolt tested positive for COVID-19, forcing several of his guests into quarantine themselves. Jamaica is a popular destination for celebrity visitors. Pop icon Madonna and her entourage arrive during the pandemic to celebrate her 62nd birthday. Videos and photos posted on social media showed that although the birthday party was held outdoors, guests did not adhere to social distancing or mask-wearing. On the other hand, with case numbers rising, Jamaican police have arrested several citizens for not wearing masks in public places. On September 1, several young men were stopped in the busy Half Way Tree area of Kingston — actions that are now being questioned by some lawyers, since — unlike Trinidad and Tobago — public safety measures like mask wearing have not been passed into law, but are recommendations. However, Jamaica's Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. Christopher Tufton, has made it clear that fines of up to a million Jamaican dollars (just under seven thousand US dollars) or six months imprisonment can be imposed on those who defy COVID-19 protocols.

Written by Janine Mendes-Franco, Emma Lewis

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wctouchthesky · 4 years

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Site Rules

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• Nonconsensual breedings are possible, in which one cat forces another to breed. This will be noted in the breeding application, and both members must be in agreement for this to occur.

• You cannot breed your own cats to each other. So if you play the female cat and the male cat, you cannot submit a breeding application. You can only breed with another player's cat. On the same note, don't have your own characters take part in a relationship between each other.

• When the kits are being adopted out, the members playing the mother and father may claim one kit each. In the case that there are two kits, only one parent will be allowed to claim a kit. In the case that there is one kit, it must be adopted out.

• You cannot age up your kits to be playable. It will take 4 moons (4 months) before they can be officially adopted out. After they reach 4 moons of age, applications can be posted for them, but no sooner.

• Keep track of your kits ages until they are adopted. If no one has claimed them by the time they are 6 moons old, you will be given the option to surrender them to Starclan.

• When it comes time for your cat to kit, you must have a thread in which the she-cat gives birth. This can either be in the normal setting of the nursery, or somewhere in the territories, but it must be done.

Posting & Characters

• Do not post for any character other than for the account you are currently logged in as. So, if you are logged into Snufflebutt's account, do not post as Rainbowface or you will be asked to correct it.

• When naming your cat, be sure to check the name claim to ensure your desired name hasn't already been chosen. Cats are allowed to have the same suffix, however, you should try to keep prefixes diverse. Under no circumstance would a cat bear the exact same name as a living cat in their clan.

• Before you are allowed to roleplay with your characters, their application must be accepted by a staff member. If your character application hasn't been accepted before you start posting anywhere not OOC on the board, the staff will remove the post and ask that you please wait until your character is accepted before you start posting. Likewise, do not start posting in claims until your character has been accepted.

• After your character is accepted, be sure to post in all the appropriate claims. Remember: these are mandatory, and must be completed in a timely manner.

• All IC posts are to be done in the third person, past tense. Ex. He/She went to the lake.

• It is not required that you post in a template, but if you do use one, you must be sure not to stretch the board or you will be asked to edit it. If it is not edited in a reasonable time frame, the staff will remove the template.

• TTS acts under liquid time within the present moon, so long as you are not making posts moons in advance or in the past; an exception, though, would be if you are finishing a thread that was started in the previous moon. This means you are allowed more than one thread with the same character, provided you can remain active in all of them.

• For your female cat to be labeled as a "queen," and reside permanently in the Nursery, they must have a mate. This can be a played character, or an NPC'd character, but there must be a mate.

• To keep the number of orphan kits down, each member is allowed a maximum of two orphan kits at a time. Whether they be orphaned in the clan, or found alone in the territories, you may only have two. Once one dies, or becomes a warrior, you are allowed to make another if you so desire.

• The youngest age for a kit to be playable is 4 moons. They must be NPC’d if they are younger than that.

• The oldest age to make an apprentice (with the exception of LKR’s becoming clan cats) is 9 moons, and there must be legitimate reasons for the delay.

• The youngest age for an apprentice to become a warrior is 10 moons, provided the clan leader has agreed, and you have completed all the necessary requirements.

• Apprentices will be matched to an available mentor by the staff. You may request a mentor/apprentice and the staff will take this into consideration, but ultimately we will decide who is paired with who.

• For an apprentice to be eligible to become a warrior ICly, you must first complete the following:

► You must have at least two training threads between the apprentice and mentor.

► You must have an assessment thread between the apprentice and mentor. After these two steps have been completed the leader may hold a ceremony to name the apprentice as a warrior.• While this is more of a suggestion than a rule... Every member should try to make at least a single post in their respective clan's meetings. Even if it's just a post mentioning your character is present, you should still try to at least post something.

• As TTS operates as a sandbox roleplay, there is no constant, overarching plot. However, every once in a while, the staff will hold mini plots that will affect one or more clans. We also encourage members to establish wide-impact plots to include multiple people and aid in character development. You should keep in mind, though, that cats can die in these events, and while we will never allow a cat to be killed off without its player's consent, once a cat dies it's dead forever.

• There will be a small allowance for small wild feline breeds to interbreed with clan cats. Please just be reasonable with size differences (so don't try to say your character is part mountain lion or something...). However, to keep things reasonable, as these sorts of breedings are not the norm within clan life, you are only allowed one at a time, so once it dies you are free to make a new one, and it cannot be purebred. We will allow second generation mixes and on, only. These pairings do not usually last, and as such you will never see a wild cat as a clan member; ex. A bobcat wouldn’t join up with a clan for any reason.

• There is a maximum life expectancy for all cats; 108 moons is the oldest a playable cat can be. If your cat makes it this far, you will have to find a way for them to make it to Starclan. This is to keep things more on the realistic side as - with all things considered whether predators, starvation, sickness, etc. - it is extremely unlikely that a wild cat should live beyond 9 years.

• Death is a common occurrence in clan life, every day is a struggle for survival. However, we ask that you please refrain from making a character for the sole purpose of killing them off. If this becomes an issue the staff will get involved.

• Godmodding, and power playing will not be tolerated. If we see it anywhere on the board, the member will be warned. If the offense is repeated twice they will be temporarily banned.

These rules are subject to change at any time for any reason.

#wctouchthesky #cat rp #warrior cats rp #warrior cats #warriors #animal rp #cat #jcink rp #warriors rp #jcink site

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awesomelephuoclocblog-blog · 4 years

Text

Vidtoon Review – Increase Your Leads with Animated Videos Simon Brooks

https://lephuocloc.com/vidtoon-review/

Howdy everybody and welcome to another thing presentation by Nero Reviews!

In the present post, we'll be imparting the bits of information to regard to an eminent action styled video causing instrument even understudies to can benefit by. It's called Vidtoon!

We've understands how to interface with the dealers and got a see of the thing, and should share what we've found about Vidtoon the enabled video producer.

Part by area oversee

Vidtoon Overview

What Is Vidtoon?

Vidtoon Features

Vidtoon Benefits?

Who Should Use Vidtoon Animation Software?

How Does Vidtoon Work?

The entirety Does Vidtoon Cost?

End

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VIDTOON OVERVIEW

Creators: Cindy Donovan

Dispatch Date: 20 April 2020

Dispatch Time: 09:00 AM

Evaluating (Early Bird): $27

Thing Type: Video Software

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Official Site Vidtoon

WHAT IS VIDTOON?

Vidtoon is this too simple to even think about evening consider using, smoothed out vivified video programming that is relied upon to unwind and improve your video creation experience. It's worked with a goliath proportion of highlights that are locked in at development styled excitement making a bit of cake.

It can help both on the web and isolated affiliations get more traffic and game plans. Consequently, to the degree that you have a story to share this is the gadget you ought to use.

VIDTOON FEATURES

The staggering work zone programming handles the two Windows and Mac OS. You can locate the fundamental highlights of Vidtoon that caught our eye;

Essential regular style video creator

Substance to talk alternatives that give your annals a sensible sounding voice

Each and every set plan and revived characters

Voice record and import include

Goliath power free library

Different amazing changes and in a general sense more!

Official Vidtoon Website

VIDTOON BENEFITS?

Video is the #1 utilized substance on the web and 81.3478% of affiliations use it as a fragment of their showing. We in addition comprehend that they are a torment in the **s to make and can take until the completion of time!

Regardless, not with Vidtoon! This thing lets you make assorted revived records in any distinguishing strength rapidly and with no issue. So you can get their idea and partner better.

Envision a mechanical get together that packs character creation, character activity, keyframes, and an entire host of other tech stuff that can stump even likely the most gifted tech individuals on earth into a fundamental instinctual distribution boss. That is the thing that Vidtoon is about.

You are getting a mechanical gathering that joins the sound and visual fragments together that abuses our imaginative mind. Vidtoon likewise causes you make a progressively noticeable proportion of what you need, for example, leads, game plans, and favorable circumstances!

WHO SHOULD USE VIDTOON ANIMATION SOFTWARE?

The makers worked amazingly not separating sorts of clients or the particular undertakings for what this thing can be utilized for. Vidtoon can be utilized by in any case not kept to:

Impelled Marketers

Accomplices

Online business

Aides

Online frameworks organization

YouTube Channels

Near to Businesses and Consultants

Bloggers

Thusly, to the degree that you have a story to share this is the device you ought to be searching for! On the off chance that you aren't at present making quality video content your business will be failing miserably in some horrendous, nightmarish way.

Open Your Bonuses

HOW DOES VIDTOON WORK?

Vidtoon video programming works in such basic advances

Stage 1 – Drag and distinguish your favorable circumstances on the screen

Stage 2 – Make some reasonable changes

Stage 3–Export your video and you are finished!

In any case, don't take our words and watch this demo video!

The whole DOES VIDTOON COST?

It comes in two specific gatherings; Vidtoon individual and Vidtoon business. We should explore the regarding breakdown and what you can get in each permitting pack.

Individual LicenseCommercial License

Characters: Select from a plan of empowered characters – 10

Improvement Per Character: Make your characters talk, move, read, ricochet, drive vehicles or sell houses – 10

Enormity Free Music Tracks: Professionally recorder Music Tracks – 10

Overwhelming quality Backgrounds: Set the scene with dazzling pictures – 9

Substance to Speech: Use the free or reasonable Google TTS for your records – Yes

Record or Import Audio: Record direct inside the thing – Yes

Charge Videos, No Added Fees: Publish yout accounts in UHD, HD and standard definition – Infinite

Present On Mac or PC: Number of PCs you can introduce it on – 1

Extra #1: Free Commercial License Upgrade – Sell your records – NO

Extra #2: Ten Days of Giveaways: Get various dollars worth of high worth programming instruments and accomplished for you packs and arranging – No

In the event that you presentation smart you can get all the additional things to the detriment of Personal License today.

Get to know Vidtoon

End

Revived Video is Expensive

Do we suggest Vidtoon? Totally! Particularly on the off chance that you don't have a social event of editors, originators and creatives orchestrated open to you, and don't have hundreds and thousands of dollars to spend on individuals who accomplish for a 15-second video!

You can utilize Vidtoon to make toon styled accounts for your business or gathering in a snap! Far prevalent you can make these records for other people and charge them insane aggregates! – Two winged creatures, one stone.

#https://lephuocloc.com/vidtoon-review/

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womenofcolor15 · 4 years

Text

Everybody’s Rocking Beyonce’s #IvyParkXAdidas Collection Except The Curvy #BeyHive + Did Bey Crash The Adidas App?! Fans Lose It!

Beyonce laced all her celeb friends in her brand new #IvyParkXAdidas Collection before the BeyHive could get their hands on it. However, there weren’t any clothing pieces for the Curvy #BeyHive and the Adidas app had technical issues for fans who signed up for the pre-sale. More inside…

Beyoncé for adidas x IVY PARK.#adidasxIVYPARK pic.twitter.com/XwZKAeBa0C

— BEYONCÉ LEGION (@BeyLegion) January 17, 2020

One thing is for sure – Beyonce has brand marketing down to a science. It's just what Queens do.

Before the release of her highly anticipated Ivy Park x Adidas collection, Mrs. Carter (and her team) put together PR packages to send out to a few of her celeb friends that included pieces from her epic collection, which ranges from $25 (for a logo beanie) - $250 (for the Asym Coat). The athleisure line includes bodysuits, hoodies, joggers, jackets and four different sneakers.

adidas x IVY PARK CAPSULE COLLECTION. Online Jan. 17th. In-store Jan. 18th.

• Logo Beanie — $25 • Logo Beanie — $25 • Logo Belt — $39 • Logo Belt — $39#adidasxIVYPARK pic.twitter.com/LceJl8xx7v

— BEYONCÉ LEGION (@BeyLegion) January 15, 2020

adidas x IVY PARK CAPSULE COLLECTION. Online Jan. 17th. In-store Jan. 18th.

• Asym Coat — $250 • TT Bodysuit — $65 • 7/8 Tights — $55 • Cargo Sweatpants — $85#adidasxIVYPARK pic.twitter.com/iYPWl505kg

— BEYONCÉ LEGION (@BeyLegion) January 15, 2020

adidas x IVY PARK CAPSULE COLLECTION. Online Jan. 17th. In-store Jan. 18th.

• LS Hoodie — $85 • Track Jacket — $120 • Cargo Sweatpants — $85 • Track Pants — $95#adidasxIVYPARK pic.twitter.com/dwicppn20l

— BEYONCÉ LEGION (@BeyLegion) January 15, 2020

adidas x IVY PARK CAPSULE COLLECTION. Online Jan. 17th. In-store Jan. 18th.

• Sleek Super 72 — $99 • ultraBOOST — $199 • Nite Jogger — $159 • Nite Jogger — $159#adidasxIVYPARK pic.twitter.com/QsphPszndE

— BEYONCÉ LEGION (@BeyLegion) January 15, 2020

Social media posts featuring Bey’s big, orange and purple box filled with Ivy Park goodies have been taking over our timelines. And she even added a hand-written note to each box. The roll out was perfectly put together to get the BeyHive even more excited to cop pieces from the collection. Celebs like Janelle Monae, Yara Shahidi, Cardi B, Missy Elliott, June Ambrose, Laverne Cox, Reese Witherspoon, Ellen DeGeneres, and Hailey Bieber.

View this post on Instagram

Thank you Bey for these @weareivypark pieces ! And a special thank you for my new hide out where I’ll bey escaping my duties . S O proud of you ! Luhhhhh uuuuu @beyonce swiiiipe

A post shared by Janelle Monáe (@janellemonae) on Jan 15, 2020 at 10:35pm PST

View this post on Instagram

ADDIDASXIVYPARK PEEK

A post shared by Yara (يارا‎) Shahidi (@yarashahidi) on Jan 10, 2020 at 11:41pm PST

View this post on Instagram

“This ain’t no intro..this the entreeeee” @adidasxivypark

A post shared by Yara (يارا‎) Shahidi (@yarashahidi) on Jan 14, 2020 at 5:01pm PST

View this post on Instagram

That new @weareivypark bomb

A post shared by Cardib (@iamcardib) on Jan 13, 2020 at 10:15pm PST

Thank you so much @Beyonce I am soooooooo humbly grateful you are a GEM! Lol the box was so big I was scared to open I thought a whole human was gonna jump out but this FYE sis #IVYPARK I LOVE IT! pic.twitter.com/hJbrfDWvXL

— Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) January 16, 2020

View this post on Instagram

#fashionfriday Going to @weareivypark in the #juniverse this weekend thanks to @beyonce u and it! Congrats Darling P.S. My frames match perfectly

A post shared by June Ambrose (@juneambrose) on Jan 17, 2020 at 8:47am PST

View this post on Instagram

#mood4eva in my Adidas X IVY Park ... #mood #TransIsBeautiful @adidas @weareivypark @beyonce #DisclosureDoc

A post shared by laverne cox (@lavernecox) on Jan 16, 2020 at 12:00pm PST

Thanks for the new #IvyParkXAdidas swag @Beyonce, you’re my girl! PS: Sorry @TheEllenShow, we are now officially broken up. Looks like B and I are best friends. pic.twitter.com/DYzqdRnl7g

— Reese Witherspoon (@ReeseW) January 15, 2020

Thank you, @Beyonce. I love my big orange box. Your new clothes are really cool too. #adidasxIVYPARK @adidas pic.twitter.com/ecTxZ5o0CG

— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) January 15, 2020

.@haileybieber unboxing her #adidasxIVYPARK package. pic.twitter.com/Y3rcxIDhCe

— BEYONCÉ LEGION (@BeyLegion) January 15, 2020

And, of course her Destiny’s Child sisters, Kelly Rowland & Michelle Williams received some too. Former DC singer Farrah Franklin received one as well.

.@KELLYROWLAND unboxing her #adidasxIVYPARK package. pic.twitter.com/vGqwwnZrnl

— BEYONCÉ LEGION (@BeyLegion) January 16, 2020

.@RealMichelleW celebrating her #adidasxIVYPARK box. pic.twitter.com/Btp6DV4zM5

— BEYONCÉ LEGION (@BeyLegion) January 16, 2020

Omg, Farrah Franklin got a box!!!! pic.twitter.com/QoWre2JlTV

— (@Malc_white1) January 17, 2020

Bey also sent some of her collection to a fan who gushed about her on The Wendy Williams Show recently:

Yall. Beyoncé sent the girl who went on the #WendyWilliams show to talk about her Bey-obsession an #IvyParkXAdidas box.

We love to see it. I'm so happy for her. pic.twitter.com/DULo6b07p1

— Jayde I. Powell (@jaydeipowell) January 17, 2020

Noticeably missing from Bey’s collection are plus-size pieces. The largest size the collection goes up to is an XL, which is odd since Adidas sells plus-sized clothing up to 4x.

The fact that @Beyonce didn’t sent @GabbySidibe an #IvyParkXAdidas box has me all like pic.twitter.com/119xIV9hhD

— Tiffany (@tippy____) January 16, 2020

Hmm...we def were expecting to see folks like Ashley Graham to rock this as well. But maybe it's in the next round!

Also...

Live on https://t.co/SDScvRTZ6p 12 PM PST pic.twitter.com/ozhQd1chIx

— BEYONCÉ (@Beyonce) January 17, 2020

A pre-sale went down today where BeyHive members could download the Adidas app and be notified when the pre-sale would be live. It was supposed to start at 12pm EST, but several Hive members never got an alert, nor was the collection available. It's unclear if she crashed the app or if folks just weren't ready:

Me calling adidas to cuss them tf out. Had me download this trifling app for no damn reason #IvyParkxAdidas pic.twitter.com/MBG0lfpvuM

— AmustbetheMANI (@AmustbetheMANI) January 17, 2020

Me on the @adidas app right now thinking this would go smoothly. #IvyParkXAdidas pic.twitter.com/405bfZKoqS

— Paz Valdes Stan Account (@theboujeebaldie) January 17, 2020

Now @adidas y’all told me if I downloaded your funky ass app that the ivy park collab would be available at 12PM EDT, somebody finna get cussed out, why nobody be trying to put out Beyoncé’s shit on time pic.twitter.com/SwcjS4FTZR

— CardiBey (@bey_cardi) January 17, 2020

everyone who downloaded the Adidas app for pre-launch access to the Ivy Park collection, even though access wasn’t guaranteed... pic.twitter.com/tPK4BEHCky

— tash. ; ) (@tati_mama) January 17, 2020

Me and the rest of the hive gettin ready to call Adidas customer support cuz Ivy Park still ain’t on the gotdamn app yet...

pic.twitter.com/G6LnDVwnfd

— The Notorious M.G. (@ohhhMG_) January 17, 2020

#FixItJesus.

Maybe they'll have better luck trying to get some of Bey's new collection, which is set to hit stores tomorrow. Good luck!

Before everything sold out during the pre-sale, fans nabbed the videos of the Queen posing it up in her pieces:

youtube

Killin' it!

Photo: Janelle's IG

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2020/01/17/everybody%E2%80%99s-rocking-beyonce%E2%80%99s-ivyparkxadidas-collection-except-the-curvy-beyhive-fans-los

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medproish · 6 years

Link

The Swedish Academy’s annual meeting in Stockholm in December. The academy will not award a prize in literature this year, but it will name two winners in 2019. Jonas Ekstromer/TT News Agency, via Reuters

STOCKHOLM — The Swedish panel that awards the Nobel Prize in Literature said on Friday that it would take the extraordinary step of not naming a laureate this year — not because of a shortage of deserving writers, but because of the infighting and public outrage that have engulfed the group over a sexual abuse scandal.

The Swedish Academy said it would postpone the 2018 award until next year, when it will name two winners, making this the first year since World War II that the panel has decided not to bestow one of the world’s most revered cultural honors. The academy is involved only in the literature award, so other Nobel Prizes are not affected.

[Read more about the Swedish Academy’s crisis here.]

Though the prizes should be awarded annually, they can be postponed or skipped “when a situation in a prize-awarding institution arises that is so serious that a prize decision will not be perceived as credible,” Carl-Henrik Heldin, chairman of the Nobel Foundation, which governs all of the prizes, said in a statement posted online Friday morning. “The crisis in the Swedish Academy has adversely affected the Nobel Prize. Their decision underscores the seriousness of the situation and will help safeguard the long-term reputation of the Nobel Prize.”

Peter Englund, a member of the academy, wrote in an email: “I think this was a wise decision, considering both the inner turmoil of the Academy and the subsequent bloodletting of people and competence, and the general standing of the prize. Who would really care to accept this award under the current circumstances?”

The announcement that there will be no 2018 prize is the latest in a series of blows to the academy that, occurring in the glare of the #MeToo movement, have drawn worldwide attention.

In November, a Swedish newspaper reported that 18 women said they had been sexually assaulted or harassed by Jean-Claude Arnault, who is closely tied to the Swedish Academy and is accused of using his stature in the arts world to try to coerce women into sex. Other allegations against him emerged later, including a report that Mr. Arnault had groped Sweden’s crown princess, Victoria.

Through his lawyer, he has denied all of the allegations.

Mr. Arnault, a photographer, is married to a member of the academy, Katarina Frostenson; is a close friend to other members; and is co-owner, with Ms. Frostenson, of Forum, a cultural center in Stockholm that received funding from the academy. Some events were said to have occurred at academy-owned properties in Stockholm and Paris, and at least one woman’s complaints to the academy about Mr. Arnault more than 20 years ago were rebuffed.

The crisis escalated when the academy dismissed another member, Sara Danius, as its permanent secretary, the group’s chief official — the first woman to hold that post — though she remained part of the panel. She had severed the group’s ties with Mr. Arnault and Forum, and commissioned an investigation of the academy from a law firm.

Her demotion prompted mass protests by critics who said that a woman had suffered for the misdeeds of a man, and that Ms. Danius had been punished for trying to introduce openness and accountability to a group that preferred to close ranks.

In practical terms, the academy was prepared to stick to its usual schedule, winnowing potential laureates to a shortlist by summer and anointing a prize winner in October, its acting permanent secretary, Anders Olsson, told Swedish Radio on Friday. “But confidence in the academy from the world around us has sunk drastically in the past half year,” he said, “and that is the decisive reason that we are postponing the prize.”

The decision not to award the literature prize this year “is a sensational piece of news, but it was the only possible decision,” Bjorn Wiman, culture editor of the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, told Swedish Radio. “It wasn’t possible under these conditions to appoint a winner. It would have been an insult to anyone who received it.”

Some of the academy’s 18 members resigned over Ms. Frostenson’s continued membership, and several more quit over the treatment of Ms. Danius. That left the group with 10 active members — too few, under its rules, to elect new members.

But academy appointments are for life, and until this week, the organization’s rules did not provide for resignations; it viewed those who quit as members who had become inactive, but could not be replaced.

On Wednesday, King Carl XVI Gustaf, the academy’s patron, who said he had followed the matter “with great concern,” announced that he had changed the academy’s rules to allow members to leave, and to allow the panel to replace any member who had been inactive for two years. It was a rare intervention by the monarch, whose role is mostly ceremonial.

Mr. Olsson said: “We are bringing in legal expertise and we are going to get better at what we do. We must vote in new members, and fast.” He promised increased transparency, and “more and better dialogue” with the royal court and the Nobel Foundation.

After meeting on Thursday, members of the academy had voiced optimism that the prize could be awarded in October, as usual.

“I see it as self-evident that we are still capable of awarding the prize,” Kristina Lugn, a panel member, told Dagens Nyheter. “We have a short nomination list with five candidates left. If we can’t do this then I think everyone should resign.”

Such comments raise the possibility that the Nobel Foundation might have pressured the Swedish Academy to change its position.

“The Nobel Foundation presumes that the Swedish Academy will now put all its efforts into the task of restoring its credibility as a prize-awarding institution,” Mr. Heldin, the foundation chairman said, “and that the academy will report the concrete actions that are undertaken.”

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megadarkbouquettidalwavethings · 6 years

Text

BUSINESS IN BRIEF 27/2 – News VietNamNet

Shadow economy measuring scheme to be proposed in Q1

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has been tasked with compiling a project on measuring Vietnam’s non-observed economy (NOE), to be submitted to the Government in the first quarter of 2018, according to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen The Phuong.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has been seeking advices from relevant ministries and agencies on the statistical scheme, with one of the key issues being the definition of the unobserved economy that consists of five elements.

The first element comprises underground economic activities that are legal but deliberately concealed from the public authorities to avoid payment of taxes and social security contributions; or complying with certain legal standards, such as minimum wage, maximum working hours, and safety or health standards, and with administrative procedures, such as completing statistical reports.

The second comprises illegal economic activities that generate goods and services forbidden by law, for example, drug trafficking, prostitution, and human trafficking. Legal economic activities carried out by unauthorized producers also belong to this category.

The third one is the informal sector including productive activities conducted by households with the main objective to generate employment and income for the people involved. The production is operated on a small scale, at a low level of organization and generally based on casual employment, kinship or personal and social relations, and not on contractual agreements.

The fourth element is the household production for self-consumption including productive activities that result in goods or services consumed or accumulated by the households that produced them, for instance, producing crops and livestock, weaving cloth, and building one’s own house.

The last one comprises economic activities that are missed out by data collection programmes due to problems arising either from statistical coverage or statistical errors.

Vo Tri Thanh, former deputy director of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), said that since 1990, the GSO estimated the size of the underground economy to be more than 10% of GDP.

About 10 years ago, reports of evaluations conducted by other agencies and organisations measured the amount of cash outside official circulation. The results showed that the value of this area was about 30 to 35% of GDP.

DHL-VNPT Express has new general director

DHL Express, the world’s leading international express services provider, has appointed Shoeib Reza Choudhury as new general director of DHL-VNPT Express Ltd.

Based in Ho Chi Minh City, Shoeib will be responsible for all aspects of the business operations and activities of DHL Express in Vietnam, in particular, leading the company’s strategic development and ongoing investment in the country.

With seventeen years of industry experience, Shoeib has worked in various functions within DHL. In his previous role, he was chief financial officer of DHL Express Singapore and Emerging Markets. As part of the Singapore and Emerging Markets management team, Shoeib played a key part in the strong growth and expansion of DHL businesses across many countries.

Reporting to Yasmin Aladad Khan, executive vice president, commercial and managing director, Emerging Markets, DHL Express Asia Pacific, Shoeib succeeds George Berczely, who has been appointed as chief financial officer at DHL Express Mexico.

“Dynamic and passionate, Shoeib has a strong track record throughout his tenure in DHL Express. We are confident he will make significant contributions in his new capacity and grow the Express business in Vietnam from strength to strength,” said Khan.

Shoeib holds a Masters’ Degree in Business Administration from Warwick Business School and is a member of Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and Chartered Professional Accountants, Australia.

“I am excited to take on this new role and join the company’s strong management team in Vietnam, one of the most dynamic countries in the region,” commented Shoeib.

DHL is the leading global brand in the logistics industry. DHL family of divisions offer an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfillment solutions, international express, road, air and ocean transport to industrial supply chain management.

DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group. The group generated revenues of more than 57 billion euros in 2016.

Ramping up tax audits to boost shrinking state budget

Many firms in Vietnam, both local and domestic, will face tax audits this year.

Vietnam’s General Department of Taxation (GDT) has issued Official Letter No.5339/TCT-TT directing local tax offices to create a tax audit plan for 2018.

Taxation is a major component of the state budget revenues and as the country’s budget deficit increases, taxpayers and enterprises will continue to face increased scrutiny from tax authorities trying to meet their revenue targets.

In a bid to curb tax evasion and swell state budget, the government stated in its recently-released Resolution 01 on major solutions to boost socio-economic development in 2018 that in addition to trimming unnecessary recurrent spending, authorised agencies must apply measures to ensure the nation’s financial health, including tax inspections, audits, and examinations.

The General Department of Taxation (GDT) has issued Official Letter 5339/TCT-TT directing local tax offices to create a tax audit plan for 2018.

Taxation is a major component of the state’s budgetary revenue and as the country’s budget deficit increases, taxpayers and enterprises will continue to face increased scrutiny from tax authorities trying to meet their revenue targets.

In a bid to curb tax evasion and the swell state budget, the government stated in its recently-released Resolution 01 on major solutions to boost socioeconomic development in 2018 that in addition to trimming unnecessary recurrent spending, authorised agencies must apply measures to ensure the nation’s financial health, including tax inspections, audits, and examinations.

Under GDT’s directions, local tax officials will be conducting on-site tax audits of at least 18.5 per cent of taxpayers under each local tax office. This is an increase from 2017’s target of 18 per cent. In addition, at least 1 per cent of taxpayers will face tax inspections, while the remainder will be subjected to tax examinations.

The taxpayers facing tax audits will be selected based on the tax probable risk system (TPR) system. The TPR system analyses taxpayers risk information for conducting tax audits.

As per the Official Letter, tax audits will mainly focus on taxpayers who claimed refunds on value added tax (VAT) and those involved in sectors with significant revenue.

The latter group includes oil and gas, petroleum, private hospitals, airlines, credit institutions, pharmaceutical companies, hotels and casinos, lottery companies, seaports, airports, and multinational companies.

Besides, tax audits will also focus on firms involved in investment project transfers, capital transfers, and franchising; enterprises with numerous transactions with related parties, including ones who have reported continuous losses or lower profit margins than other enterprises in the same sector.

Moreover, tax audits will also centre on companies engaged in upcoming sectors, such as multi-level trading companies, gaming, and digital technology-based services.

Furthermore, tax audits will also target other sectors, including real estate, construction materials manufacturing, natural resource exploitation, FMCG, and automobile manufacturing/trading.

According to Asia Briefing, a subsidiary of pan-Asia consulting firm Dezan Shira & Associates, with growing scrutiny from tax authorities, firms need to have a tax risk management system in place to help identify risky tax areas in an organisation.

“Once identified, they need to evaluate them to understand the effects and likelihood of occurrence and managing risks to minimize tax exposure,” Asia Briefing said in a bulletin on tax audits in Vietnam in 2018.

“With regulators and tax officials taking an aggressive approach in 2018, firms and taxpayers should be proactive in nature to reduce compliance costs and tax exposures.”

How a ‘fake doctor’ swindles $21mn from 500 Vietnamese rich-wannabes

More than 500 Vietnamese have been duped into joining and losing a hefty amount of money to a fraudulent ‘how to get rich’ scheme run by an unsuccessful businessman who claimed to hold a PhD.

Pham Thanh Hai, 52, managed to swindle more than VND476 billion (US$20.97 million) from 508 people by encouraging them to invest in ‘lucrative businesses’ that would yield easy money, according to the Hanoi People’s Procuracy.

Prosecutors have finished their probe into the case and decide to file charges against Hai for “swindling and appropriating assets” as per the Penal Code.

Failed businessman turn ‘teacher for rich-wannabes’

Hai used to be the chairman and CEO of a private company called IDT, registered and headquartered in Hanoi.

The company had been struggling with its internet-based business until 2008, when Hai decided to take advantage of its legal entity to mobilize investment from individuals for his personal purpose.

He then set up a website and social media page called ‘hoclamgiau.vn’ (Learn to get rich), and organized different conferences on the theme to lure people into investing in his bogus projects.

Hai then introduced himself as a PhD with extensive experience in doing business in the former Soviet Union, encouraging people to pour money in several highly remunerative investments run by IDT.

Even though IDT did not conduct any real business, Hai promised to pay his ‘investors’ interest rates of 40%-50% a year, and offered high commissions of up to 10% to those who introduced new members to the network.

Hai, in the name of IDT chairman and CEO, used the company’s seal in the investment authorization contracts he signed with investors to win their trust.

The trick enabled him to mobilize more than VND2,725 billion (US$120.04 million) in only a year from October 2014 to October 2015.

Hai only used a meager sum of VND114 billion (US$5.02 million) from this to put into real investment projects, with the remainders spent on his personal uses, paid interests and commissions to the investors and funded the ‘hoclamgiau.vn’ activities to expand its network.

According to investigation results, none of the investment projects Hai channeled his money to were as profitable as he promised to investors. None of these projects were run by IDT as Hai claimed with his victims.

As the network expanded, Hai had to spend a few hundred billion dong a month to afford payments to his investors, and had to try hard not to let the network collapse as investors would realize they were fooled and notify authorities.

Hanoi prosecutors said Hai is now incapable of paying his investors, with 508 people demanding that he compensated them a total of VND594 billion (US$26.17 million) for the VND476 billion he swindled of them.

Why foreign banks are turning tail and pulling out of Vietnam

HSBC, Standard Chartered and BNP Paribas are just some of the institutions that have joined a mass exodus.

Foreign banks concerned about high bad debt ratios and poor risk management in Vietnam have been steadily withdrawing their investments from local credit institutions.

The most recent case was Standard Chartered Bank, which sold its entire 8.75% stake in Vietnam’s publicly listed Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) in January after a 12-year partnership.

Standard Chartered had previously withdrawn its representatives from ACB’s board of directors for unspecified reasons.

Late last year, France’s BNP Paribas divested its entire 18.68% stake in the local Orient Commercial Bank (OCB), ending a decade-long partnership.

Also in 2017, HSBC sold is majority 20% stake in Techcombank, while the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) offloaded a 20% stake in VIB.

Economist Nguyen Tri Hieu said that foreign banks have accelerated their divestments from Vietnam over the past few years after rushing to invest in the country nearly two decades ago. The exodus gathered momentum in 2017.

Explaining the reasons for the sell-offs, he said many international banks have been unsatisfied with their businesses in Vietnam because of high bad debt ratios and poor risk management at local financial institutions, and a non-transparent legal system. Meanwhile, other lucrative markets have sought ways to draw their investment.

“The business environment in Vietnam is quite different from in their countries. Foreign banks have found it hard to do business in Vietnam due to overlapping legal regulations and inefficient risk management at local banks,” Hieu said.

Most foreign banks have invested in Vietnam under strategic partnerships or other joint arrangements with local partners.

A high ratio of non-performing loans has also contributed to reducing the attractiveness of Vietnamese banks, he said.

Bad debt in Vietnam’s banking sector, mostly incurred due to a slowdown in the country’s real estate market in the early 2010s, had been cut to 2.34% by the end of September 2017, down from 2.46% at the end of the previous year, according to the central bank.

A low foreign ownership cap is another reason for the capital withdrawals by foreign partners, who have been waiting for the limit to increase for many years now, economists said.

The 30-percent cap covers total foreign shareholdings and limits a single foreign strategic investor to a one-fifth stake in a local bank.

This has proved unattractive for many foreign lenders who see little incentive in a minority share and limited control of banks requiring restructuring and recapitalization.

A limit increase would help retain foreign investors, many economists concluded.

Some other experts and industry insiders said the foreign capital withdrawal is individual and normal moves. It is not a trend. Foreign banks could leave a market for a new one when having new business strategies.

For example, Australian lender ANZ sold its retail business in Vietnam to the Republic of Korea’s Shinhan in 2017.

Farhan Faruqui, ANZ’s international group executive, said in a statement that the sale will allow the bank to focus its resources on institutional banking, its “largest business in Asia.”

“We will be maintaining our presence through our institutional bank in Vietnam which will continue to support our corporate clients in the Greater Mekong Region,” he said.

Nguyen Dinh Tung, CEO of the Orient Commercial Bank (OCB), said, “Banks leave markets where their business is ineffective or competition is too fierce. This happens not only in Vietnam, but in many other countries.”

Vietnam now has seven wholly-owned foreign banks, as well as 50 branches and more than 50 representative offices of foreign banks and joint-venture banks. Their total assets have topped US$35.8 billion.

2018, pivotal year for start-up nation building

Vietnam has made efforts to nurture the start-up ecosystem since the government defined 2016 as the “start-up nation year.” 2018 is considered pivotal in encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has delivered a strong commitment to building a righteous government who facilitates, acts, and serves businesses and people.

Ho Chi Minh City has led Vietnam’s start-up movement, allocating US$43 million from the municipal budget to aid start-up projects. By the end of 2016, 200 registered projects had received support. The city aims to help 2,000 start-up projects by 2020.

Tran Thi Binh Minh, deputy director of the municipal Department of Planning and Investment, said, “The city will set up start-up support centers. These centers will offer advices and connect projects with investment funds.”

Vu Tien Loc, President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said 5 years from 2016 to 2020 are designated as start-up nation years.

“Start-up has become a movement and trend of Vietnam’s economy. The future of our economy can be described in 5 words: “Facilitating government and all-people start-up.” So innovative start-up is becoming the most important requirement of the Vietnamese economy. By 2020, we should have at least 1 million businesses. This means that in 5 years the number of businesses should double. The workload is equal to what we did over 30 years of renewal. This is a breakthrough in Vietnam’s business development policy,” said Mr Loc.

Vietnam is ranked one of the most entrepreneurial countries in the world. The 4th industrial revolution has created major changes in business and production, which will be opportunities for start-up in Vietnam.

Economist Pham Chi Lan called on enterprises to map out sustainable development strategies and steady steps to take advantage of this revolution. She said, “Technology should serve sustainable development goals. The most important infrastructure of the digital era is database. Vietnamese enterprises, mostly run by young people, should work with each other and with other partners.”

ROK at forefront of foreign investors in Vietnam

The Republic of Korea (ROK) is the largest foreign investor present in Vietnam with investment capital of US$355.6 million, accounting for 28.3% of the country’s total foreign direct investment (FDI).

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, there are 24,941 valid FDI projects with a total registered capital of US$320.3 billion from businesses across 125 countries and territories. The ROK tops the list with registered capital of US$58.1 billion, making up 18.1% of total investments, followed by Japan at US$49.46 billion (accounting for 15.4%), Singapore, Taiwan, British Virgin Islands, and Hong Kong.

Foreign businesses have invested in projects in each of the 63 provinces and cities nationwide, Ho Chi Minh City is the most attractive option with US$44 billion, trailed by Binh Duong with US$30.4 billion, and Hanoi with US$27.67 billion.

Up to January 20, Vietnam licensed 166 new projects with registered capital of US$442.59 million (just 35.6% of last year’s figure) and 61 existing ventures registered an additional investment level of US$456.78 million in their total capital (up 155% on the corresponding period of last year).

The general picture shows the total of newly-registered and additional investments and foreign investors’ capital to buy shares of Vietnamese businesses reached US$1.255 billion in January, or 75.9% of last year’s figure for the same period. The disbursement of FDI reached US$1.05 billion, a year-on-year rise of over 10%.

Garment exports to China show impressive growth

Despite receiving huge imports of materials from China, Vietnam’s exports of textiles and garments to the vast market have consistently increased over recent years, rising from US$2.7 billion in 2016 up to around US$3.2 billion in 2017, and this growth pattern is expected to continue this year.

Economic experts say the fact that the average annual growth of exports has held at over 20% for the past three years.

According to the statistics of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, import value of textile and garment materials from China reached nearly US$9 billion last year, making up more than 42.7% of the country’s total imports and up more than 12% on last year. The value trade was nearly four times higher than that of the Republic of Korea and nearly five times higher than that of Taiwan (China) – the two major import markets of Vietnam in recent years.

China and Vietnam are seen as chief rivals in many garment export markets. China’s textile and garment exports have hit US$260 billion annually, while Vietnam’s apparel products were initially exported to the Chinese market, rising to over US$31 billion last year.

The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) forecasts that it will be easier for the association to ship greater numbers to China from 2018 as a result of drastic growth in Chinese, Russian and Cambodian markets. Especially, exports to China account for a relatively meagre 3% of the country’s total textile and garment export value.

Vu Duc Giang, Vitas president, has analyzed the contributory factors to the increase and concluded that Vietnam’s fibre exports to China benefit greatly from a zero percent tariff under the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement, while products from other markets such as India and Pakistan are subject to duties of 3-5%.

In addition, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) between ASEAN and the six countries of China, the ROK, Japan, India, Australia, and New Zealand which is currently under negotiation will also give a wealth of create solid opportunity for Vietnam to boost its exports to China.

By the end of 2017, China was among the top five consumers of Vietnam’s textile and garment products with the value reaching over US$3 billion.

Le Tien Truong, General Director of the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), says Vietnam has so far been the world’s leading textile and garment exporters, but Chinese products are dominating the domestic market. However, remarkable improvements have been seen in Vietnam’s exports to China.

China has begun to consume Vietnamese products, including fibre, fabric, and finished products like jackets and shirts, showing the great efforts by garment and textile businesses to make an entry into the huge potential market.

Vietnamese businesses say that China, as the world’s most populous nation, has many goods divisions, thus enabling Vietnamese textile and garment products to gain a foothold for further success. If businesses know how to choose the appropriate product niche they will be able to develop their brands on the highly lucrative market.

With a firm grasp of the necessary steps to greater market penetration and the short-term and long-term investment programs, Vietnam’s textile and garment brands will be widely known internationally.

Agricultural exports flourish in first months of 2018

Agroforestry and seafood exports likely reach an estimated US$2.6 billion in February, bringing the two-month total export value of the year to US$6.1 billion, up 30.2% year on year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

In contrast to exports, the country spent US$5.29 billion importing agricultural materials. Consequently, the first two months’ trade surplus stood at US$819.3 million.

In the reviewed period, agroforestry and seafood products reported vigorous export growth, with agricultural products growing by 27.8% to US$3.3 billion, seafood by29.5% to nearly US$1.2 billion, and forestry products by 28.5% to US$1.43 billion, and by 101% for other products.

Since early this year, exports of many agricultural products such as rice, coffee, tea, cashew nut, fruit and vegetables, and cassava and cassava products have shown strong indicators of an upward trend in both volume and value. Cashew nuts achieved the highest export growth among agricultural products at 54,000 tons with a value of US$555 million (up over 73% in volume and nearly 95% in value).

Vietnam face a number of difficulties last year, particularly the European Commission (EC)’s issuance of a “yellow card” warning for the country’s failure to demonstrate sufficient progress in its fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing worldwide.

Despite these hurdles, seafood exports still hit US$8.317 billion, exemplifying the seafood sector’s strong growth. With the subsequent impressive performance of 2017, businesses gave a boost to seafood exports from early this year as shown by the biggest ever consignment of seafood products worth more than US$590 million shipped via Cai Lai Port.

The batch included a 20-ton container of frozen shrimp valued at more than US$290,000 for transport to Canada, a 20-ton container of sea fish worth over US$216,000 to the US, and a 22-ton container of fillet catfish valued at more than US$84,000 to the EU.

Although the EU was the largest importer of Vietnamese seafood soaring by 32.9% over two months, China – the second biggest consumer – posted the greatest growth at 102.9%, says the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Based on the results of 2017 and over the first two months of this year, Nguyen Ngoc Oai, acting general director of the Directorate of Fisheries, says the US$9 billion seafood export target set for this year is a realistic aim.

This year, the seafood sector will continue to fully exploit profitable marine resources such as shrimp and tra fish by prioritizing hi-tech seafood farming models, speeding up intensive processing, and increasing added value products.

The major focus will be on dealing with the problem of removing market and trade barriers and having the EU’s yellow card rescinded.

Price of cashew nuts surges high during Tet

The average price of cashew nuts increased by VND30,000 per kilo to VND280,000 as many processing plants in Binh Phuoc province have bought a large quantity of raw cashew nuts to meet the increasing demand during the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) while supplies were limited.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development says the price of cashew nuts will continue upward trend due to limited supply in the crop period.

Cashew nut exports jumped 73% in volume to nearly 31,000 tons and 94% in value to US$317 million in January this year. The average export price hit US$10,254 per ton, up 1.3% compared to December last year.

The US remained the largest importer of Vietnam cashew nuts with 9,238 tons, trailed by the Netherlands and China. Cashew nuts exports to these markets are forecast to maintain a stable growth thanks to their rebounded economy and improved consumption demands.

With an export value of US$3.52 billion last year, Vietnam remained the world’s biggest cashew nuts processor and exporter. This year, the sector will focus on improving the product quality, processing technique and domestic market development.

Thai Binh begins $24.6m auto parts factory

Construction on a US$24.6-million auto parts factory is under-way in the northern Thai Binh Province’s Tien Hai Industrial Zone with completion expected in July 2019.

Financed by the Japanese Toyoda Gosei Group, the 11.3ha-factory will manufacture airbags and leather steering wheels which will be mainly exported to Japan, the US and Europe. Work on the factory kicked off early this month, baodautu.vn reports.

Once operational, the factory is expected to create about 1,500 local jobs. The company said it believes that the project will contribute to accelerating the development of Thai Binh Province as it will create more jobs for local people and improve their skills.

Established in 1949 and headquartered in Kiyosu, Japan, Toyoda Gosei is a leading manufacturer of rubber and plastic automotive parts and LEDs. Today, the group provides a variety of high-quality products internationally, with a network of some 100 plants and offices in 18 countries and regions.

Viet Tien Garment targets $13.6 million profit

Viet Tien Garment JSC, one of the leading companies in the garment-textile industry in Viet Nam, has set a goal of grossing US$1 billion in export turnover by 2020 with an annual average growth of 10 per cent.

To realise this target, the company will take measures to improve the efficiency of investment projects, expand investment and shift towards green production, vietnamplus.vn quoted its general director Bui Van Tien as saying.

The company will invest in new production technologies, particularly automation, and business administration.

The company will launch campaigns to enhance productivity, encourage efficient practices, and increase the added value of products, as well as improve income and working conditions for employees while developing brands and distribution channels, striving to become a multinational economic group.

Last year, Viet Tien earned VND14.1 trillion ($627.1 million) in revenue, up 11.4 per cent. Of which the parent company recorded VND8.29 trillion, up 12 per cent and its subsidiaries grossed VND794 billion, up 1.5 per cent.

Pre-tax profit hit nearly VND695 billion, while export turnover was estimated at $871 million, of which revenues from the Japanese market made up 32 per cent, the US 22 per cent, and the EU 17 per cent.

VN goods on show at Gulfood 2018

Twenty four Vietnamese enterprises are displaying their farm produce, foodstuff and beverage at Gulfood Dubai 2018 – the world’s largest annual food and hospitality exhibition.

Gulfood, which is taking place at the Dubai World Trade Centre in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), attracts the participation of over 5,000 local, regional and international exhibitors and and 97,000 attendees bearing witness to the food industry’s latest trends and technology.

The four-day exhibition event, which wraps up on Thursday, is described as a good opportunity for Vietnamese firms to advertise their goods to international customers and seek new trade partnerships. This is the fifth consecutive year Viet Nam’s companies have participated in this large-scale event. During the show, Vietnamese goods, typically processed and organic ones, have captured the attention of many international buyers.

Plastics export turnover to increase by 15%

Exports of plastics are expected to grow by 12–15 per cent this year, according to the Viet Nam Plastics Association (VPA).

Ho Duc Lam, chairman of the association, said the country’s key export markets this year would be Japan and the US, which has high demand.

Other markets such as China, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar are expected to become new export markets for plastics in the future.

Plastic bags made in Viet Nam are still subject to anti-dumping taxes in the US market, but the US imposition of anti-dumping duties has had almost no impact on exports of the sector, according to Lam.

Every year, the average US import turnover is more than US$50 billion for plastics and plastic products, accounting for 9.1 per cent of the world’s total import of plastics, according to VPA.

The largest plastic export market is Japan, with an average growth rate of 20–25 per cent per year. Viet Nam now ranks sixth in the top 10 countries exporting plastics to Japan, which is one of the most difficult markets with many strict regulations on the quality of goods. Vietnamese plastic exporters have been urged to improve quality, design and trade promotions to enter this market.

Lam recommended that Vietnamese plastic producers prepare long-term strategies and invest in market research to increase their penetration into the Japanese market.

In addition, the EU’s demand for plastic products imported from Viet Nam is high, especially plastic pipes.

Viet Nam’s plastic products are not subject to anti-dumping duties in the EU markets like other Asian countries (the average tax rate is from 8-30 per cent). Thus, Vietnamese producers are also urged to seek new export markets.

Despite the high export prospects and strong development in recent years, the plastics industry is still known only as part of the plastic processing industry.

More than 80 per cent of raw materials are still imported from other countries.

Each year, the plastic industry needs an average of four million tonnes of raw materials, but only manages to produce about 900,000 tonnes, with the rest imported.

Experts have said that a shortage of raw materials will reduce the competitiveness of exporters.

Because of regulations on the origin of goods, it is difficult to take advantage of tax incentives in free trade agreements.

Exporters also need to focus on environmentally-friendly and safe products for sustainable growth.

Viet Nam’s plastics industry earned $3 billion last year, posting a 17.3 per cent increase over 2016, according to VPA.

Becamex IDC to trade on UPCoMin February

The Investment and Industrial Development Corporation (Becamex IDC) will trade more than 23.4 million shares on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) on February 21.

The firm’s shares will start trading at VNÐ31,000 (US$1.37) per share.

On December 1, 2017,Becamex IDC put 311.2 million shares, or 23.6 per cent of its chartered capital, for sale at its initial public offering (IPO) but sold only six per cent of the shares.

The company raised only VNÐ587 billion from its IPO, with foreign investors purchasing 56 per cent of the shares sold.

One month after the IPO, Becamex IDC attempted to sell 296.4 million shares left over at its previous IPO, but the second attempt was also unsuccessful as the company was able to offload only 5.1 million shares, earning VNÐ158 billion.

Thus, Becamex IDC sold a total of 24 million shares, or 7.7 per cent of the total shares offered for sale after two attempts, earning VNÐ745 billion.

Under the privatisation plan for Becamex IDC, the company has VNÐ13.17 trillion in chartered capital.

The company will offer 311.2 million shares in its third IPO, while a quarter of its capital will be sold to strategic investors and 0.4 per cent stake will be transferred to its employees.

The government will hold 51 per cent of the company’s chartered capital after it completes the equitisation process.

Thaco opens plant to manufacture agricultural machinery

Truong Hai Automobile Company (Thaco) has inaugurated an agricultural machinery manufacturing plant in the Chu Lai-Truong Hai Industrial Complex in the central province of Quang Nam.

The plant, which took one year to complete, has been built in collaboration with Korean company LS Mtron.

Thaco said the manufacturing plant, which was built under a cooperation agreement signed in 2017, aimed to provide made-in-Viet Nam agricultural machinery with a 50 per cent localisation programme for domestic use as well as for exports to ASEAN markets.

As planned, Thaco will be the exclusive agent of LS Group’s farming machinery’s distribution and production in Viet Nam under its own trademark from 2018.

Thaco and LS Mtron under the LS Group in Korea plans to speed up mechanisation of farming in Viet Nam to create a value chain in the agricultural machinery industry.

The LS Group has two LS cable and system factories in Dong Nai and Hai Phong and LS Mtron has an electronic components factory in Bac Ninh Province.

Meanwhile, Thaco and other partners have invested VND7.8 trillion (US$345 million) in an agriculture production project in the north of Viet Nam.

Thaco has manufactured and distributed vehicles of foreign brands – Kia of South Korea, Mazda of Japan, France’s Peugeot and BWM of Germany.

Sale of cars in January up 28% year-on-year

As many as 26,037 cars were sold in January, marking a year-on-year increase of 28 per cent, reports the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA).

Of this, the sale of passenger cars grew 25 per cent to 18,371 units, while the volume of commercial cars and special-purpose cars reduced by 38 per cent and 78 per cent to 7,363 units and 303 units, respectively.

VAMA’s report shows that the volume of locally-manufactured cars reached 20,586 units, up three per cent compared to the previous month, while 5,451 imported cars were sold, down 30 per cent.

The main reason for the sharp decline in the import of complete built-up units was Decree 116, which came into effect in January. This decree tightens control over quality, technical safety and environment protection of imported autos. This is why many automakers, such as Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, Ford, Suzuki and GM, have announced that they will temporarily stop importing cars to Viet Nam.

Ca Mau hopes crabs are the next big thing

The southernmost province of Ca Mau is aiming to develop crab farming to make the crustacean its second biggest aquatic export after brackish shrimp.

Last December the province unveiled a programme to boost sea crab farming to VND2.3 trillion (US$101 million) worth of harvests a year by 2020.

The crab farming area will be expanded to 100,000ha by 2020 with average productivity of 70-80 kilogrammes per hectare and annual output of 12,000 tonnes.

Ca Mau has many advantages that aid its aquaculture plans including the sea on three sides, a coastline of 254km and 87 river mouths.

It also has 100,000ha of mangrove forests, which are a good habitat for raising shrimp, fish and crab.

Crab farming has been growing in the Cuu Long (Mekong) delta for the last two decades and generates good incomes for people in Ca Mau, Tra Vinh, Kien Giang, Soc Trang, and Ben Tre provinces.

The biggest wholesale crab market in the delta is located in Nam Can District in Ca Mau.

The market attracts hundreds of traders every day who come to buy crab and other seafood coming from the province and neighbouring areas.

There are around 50 local traders who pay a total of VND3 billion to buy 15 tonnes of crab on average per day.

Another 20 enterprises also buy a large quantity daily.

Most of the crabs are then resold to processing companies in HCM City for export.

About 70 per cent of live crabs with roe is exported by air; the rest is sold to consumers in the city and the delta.

Though crab generates as high incomes and its market is as good as for backish-water shrimp, the price volatility is a big challenge for crab farmers in the delta.

Two or three crops of crabs can be harvested in a year.

The seventh and eighth lunar months are usually the time for the year’s second crab harvest, but it is a time when many people are vegetarian.

Demand for crab drops leading to a decrease in crab prices.

During this period crab with roe type 1, which refers to the best quality, falls to VND250,000 per kilogramme or sometimes even VND100,000.

The prices of smaller crabs – weighing five or six to the kilogramme — fall to VND150,000 and sometimes even to VND50,000-60,000.

This causes big losses for farmers.

China is the biggest market for the delta, and if Chinese traders stop buying, prices drop.

The lack of efficient distribution channels also causes price volatility.

Viet Nam exports crab to 42 markets, mainly the EU, the US, China, Japan, Australia, and Canada.

If the country can better monitor the production and consumption of the crustacean and set up a good distribution network, crabs have the potential to become the biggest export item after shrimp and tra fish.

President calls on India firms to do business in Viet Nam

Viet Nam always treasures and encourages foreign investors, including those from India, to invest and do business in the country, President Tran Dai Quang told Indronil Sengupta, Chief Executive – Vietnam at Tata Sons.

Speaking at a reception for Sengupta in Ha Noi on February 13, President Quang said the Government of Viet Nam is continuing with reform and improving business regulations to meet international standards and create favourable conditions for foreign investors.

He said developing energy, particularly renewable energy, is a priority of Viet Nam, expressing his belief that when Long Phu 2 thermal power plant is completed, it will pave the way for Indian projects to enter Viet Nam.

The President asked Tata Group to fast-track the project and put the thermal plant into operation on schedule.

President Quang spoke highly of Tata’s move to expand business operations to other fields in Viet Nam, including port development and coffee production and processing.

He hoped that enterprises from Viet Nam and India will propose ideas to step up two-way trade and investment between the two countries at the upcoming Viet Nam – India Business Forum in a bid to lift bilateral trade to US $15 billion as soon as possible.

Sengupta informed President Quang about the Tata Group’s projects in Viet Nam, including a $70-million coffee processing facility in Binh Duong and solar power projects in four provinces with a combined capacity of 250MW.

He affirmed that Tata is working hard to complete these projects on schedule and wants to expand to other fields in Viet Nam.

Found in 1869, Tata Group is one of India’s largest conglomerates, which has been present in over 40 countries and territories and among India’s biggest investors in Viet Nam. It is building the Long Phu 2 thermal power plant in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang.

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