Archive for year: 2015

As announced by the Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh on behalf of the Prime Minister, foreigners and Vietnamese expatriates will receive value added tax (VAT) refunds for goods purchased in Vietnam when exiting the country through Phu Quoc International Airport in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang.

The Deputy Prime Minister also assigned the Ministry of Finance to work with relevant agencies to implement the provision.

Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam has become a favorite destination of not only domestic travelers but also international ones. Phu Quoc Airport began offering international routes in February 2014 with four weekly flights to Russia. Later, two routes linking Phu Quoc with Singapore and Cambodia’s Siem Reap became operational with two and three flights a week, respectively.

The airport VAT refund for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese is expected to boost Phu Quoc Island’s tourism development.

Ha Noi’s Noi Bai Airport and Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport were the first to pilot the refunds in July 2012, officially providing VAT refunds in July 2014.

Also since July 2014, five other entry ports have started refunding VAT for foreigners and expatriates, namely Da Nang International Airport and Da Nang Port (Da Nang city), Cam Ranh International Airport and Nha Trang Port (Khanh Hoa province), and Khanh Hoi International Seaport (HCM City).

It’s only ten days to Tet Nguyen Dan which is considered the biggest and most popular festival of the year in Vietnam. Celebrated on the first day of the first month in Lunar Calendar, Tet’s celebration is the longest holiday which may last up to seven days. Vietnamese New Year in 2015 will last from February 18-22.

What is Tet?

Tet is the occasion for Vietnamese to express their respect and remembrance for their ancestors as well as welcoming the New Year with their beloved family members. Moreover, in the past, Tet was essential as it provided one of few long breaks during the agricultural year, which was held between the harvesting of the crops and the sowing of the next ones. To make it easier, one can imagine Tet as a combination of Christmas and New Year: every family will get together to have big meals, decorate Tet trees and eat Tet food but to welcome the new year instead of a religious cause.

How is Tet celebrated?

Since Tet occupies an important role in Vietnamese’s religious beliefs, Vietnamese will begin their preparations well in advance of the upcoming New Year. In an effort to get rid of the bad luck of the old year, people will spend a few days cleaning their homes, polishing every utensil, or even repaint and decorate the house with kumquat tree, branches of peach blossom, and many other colorful flowers. The ancestral altar is especially taken care of, with careful decoration of five kinds of fruits and votive papers, along with many religious rituals. Everybody, especially children, buy new clothes and shoes to wear on the first days of New Year. People also try to pay all their pending debts and resolve all the arguments among colleagues, friends or members of family.

Like other Asian countries, Vietnamese believe that the color of red and yellow will bring good fortune, which may explain why these colors can be seen everywhere in Lunar New Year. People consider what they do on the dawn of Tet will determine their fate for the whole year, hence people always smile and behave as nice as they can in the hope for a better year. Besides, gifts are exchanged between family members and friends and relatives, while children receive lucky money kept in red envelope.

No matter where Tet is celebrated, it must be clarified from the beginning that Tet is not a day, but several days of celebration.

The AsiaOne, a Singapore-based website has recently released the list of 8 must-see places in Southeast Asia for great views including the Halong Bay in northern Vietnam.

As said by AsiaOne, “Halong Bay, which means “Bay of Descending Dragons”, is a unique karst topography carved out by Mother Nature. The UNESCO World Heritage site offers views of vertical formations which are rich in dense vegetation”.

“A boat cruise meandering through any of the 1,969 islets is both tranquil and insightful. Avoid the monsoons from June to September and from January to March, but visit the high seasons to enjoy sunny skies that won’t put a damper on your exploration plans of the natural outlying islets”.

After about three hours flying from Singapore to Hanoi, you will reach the port to visit Halong Bay by taking a five-hour road trip via mini bus; it costs around USD 6 (S$7.50) and can be arranged upon arrival.