The Word - Ho Chi Minh City

Consumer confidence in Vietnam rose one point to a grade of 88 in the fourth quarter of 2012, as measured by Nielsen, a leading global provider of consumer information.

Following the departure of the French, Vietnam began a struggle for re-unification and independence from interests overseas. With the help of historian Tim Doling, we take a step back in time and look at 50 buildings — 50 sites accessible to the general public that chart the development of Saigon into the conurbation it is today.

Sen, a Vietnamese cultural performance featuring grand masters and professional dance artists, is coming to the Saigon Opera House on Wednesday Jan. 30 and Thursday Jan. 31.

Dawn will never forget that night. She had come to Vietnam with her two best friends for a dream holiday which took her a year of savings to pay for. She was out shopping at Ben Thanh Market with her friends but she could sense something was not right. A few seconds later she spotted two men hovering around near the market stall where she was haggling with a persistent seller. She noticed that she had temporarily lost her two friends, and handed the man VND200,000 for a tacky souvenir she didn’t even want just to get out of there.

In early October, Coca-Cola and Samsung pulled their advertising from Zing.vn, an entertainment portal that provides access to news, music and social networking services. The decision was in response to an article written by Associated Press, who described the website as “notorious for providing unlicensed downloads of western and local songs”. Taking such a bold stance may potentially have a rippling effect on how Vietnam handles future copyright infringements.