Geography

- Area: Vietnam occupies a land area of 330,000 sq. km. and measures 1,650 km from its northern border with China to its southernmost tip at the Eastern Sea. Situated in the heart of Southeast Asia, with 3,260 km of spectacular coastline
- Climate: Vietnam is located in both a tropical and temperate zones. It is characterized by a strong monsoon influence, a considerable amount of sunny days, and a high rate of rainfall and humidity. Therefore, it has 2 separate climates.

• The southern and central regions have a tropical climate with only dry and rainy season. The average temperature is 270C
• In the northern region, there is four season (spring, summer, autumn, winter) with average temperature is 210C

- Population: At the end of 2007, the total is 85.195 million with 27.4% Urban and 72.6% Rural with population growth rate is 1.21%. To be classified in Ethnic Groups, Vietnamese occupy 85-90%, Chinese 3%, H’mong, Thai, Khmer, Cham and mountain groups remain

Economy history

Until French colonization in the mid-19th century, Vietnam's economy was uniformly agrarian, subsistence, and village-oriented.
In 1954, the North and South were divided politically. There were 2 different orientations to develop economy: communist in the North and capitalist in the South.
From 1975 to 1986, Vietnam tried to recover economy after the war by 2 Five-year plans.
In 1986, Vietnam decided to launch a political and economic renewal campaign (Doi moi) that reform and renovate the economic to a “market economy with socialist direction”.
Up to now, Vietnam is a member of many international organizations such as:

• Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (joined in 1970)
• Nation United (joined in 1977)

• Vietnam – United State diplomatic relation normalization (in 1995)
• Association of Southeast Asia Nations – ASEAN (joined in 1995)
• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation – APEC (joined in 1998). In 2006, APEC meeting was organized in Vietnam and had a successful result.
• World Trade Organization – WTO (joined in 2007)
• Being Elected member of United Nations Security Council (2007)

Language and Currency

Language:
Vietnamese is nation language. The popular language in Vietnam is English, French and Chinese.

Currency:
The currency of Vietnam is Dong (VND). Nowday, they circulate three kinds of money: coin, cotton and polimer with value of from 200 VND to 500.000 VND. For information about the Exchange Rate, please click here.

Vietnam Dong Gallery:

• Coin

200 VND	500 VND	2.000 VND	5.000 VND

• Cotton

500 VND	1.000 VND
2.000 VND	5.000 VND

• Polymer

10.000 VND	20.000 VND
50.000 VND	100.000 VND
200.000 VND	500.000 VND

Major Cities

Religions

The religions in Vietnam are Buddhism (which is a blend of Taoism and Confucianism forms), Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism), Islam, Caodaism and the Hoa Hao sect.

-    Currently, Buddhism is the most popular, about 85% of Vietnamese identify with Buddhism (all sects). There are two types of Buddhism found in Vietnam:

• Mahayana Buddhism first spread from China to Vietnam's Red River Delta region around 300 BC and remains popularly followed throughout the whole country.
• Theravada Buddhism arrived from India into the southern Mekong Delta region between 300-600 AD and remains commonly adhered to in only the south delta area of Vietnam.
• To this day, Mahayana Buddhism is largely affiliated with the majority ethnic Vietnamese.

Trấn Quốc pagoda, Hà Nội capital

-    Roman Catholicism first entered Vietnam through catholic missionaries in 16th century and strengthened its influence when Vietnam was a French colony. The French encouraged the spread of the religion as they thought it balanced Buddhism and supported Western culture. Presently, the Catholics occupy Bui Chu-Phat Diem in the northern province of Ninh Binh and towards the South it occupies Ho Nai-Bien Hoa in Dong Nai Province .Only 10 % of the population constitute the Catholics.   

-    The followers of Islam occupy the central region of the central coast of Vietnam. Majority of the Islam followers are from the Cham ethnic minority group.

-    The Vietnam religion Caodaism entered Vietnam in 1926. The followers of this religion live in South Vietnam near the Church Tay Ninh.

-    The Hoa Hao sect entered Vietnam in 1939. The followers of this religion in Vietnam occupy the north west of the country.

Telecomunication

Wired Phone:
There are 2 service providers: VNPT, Viettel Telecom

VNPT – Vietnam Posts and Telecomunications Group - www.vinaphone.com.vn

- You could come to post office in all provinces to apply this service. For more information about applying service in some cities:

• Hanoi: Tel: 84.4.39361405 - Fax: 84.4.39361397 – Address: 75 Dinh Tien Hoang Str., Hoan Kiem Dist, Hanoi
• Ho Chi Minh City: Tel: 84.8.39 116 116 – Address: 125 Hai Ba Trung Str., 1 Dist., Ho Chi Minh City

- Activate fee: 250.000 VND
- Monthly fee (without VAT): 27.000 VND for Basic packet and 37.000 VND for Upgraded packet.
- Airtime charge (without VAT): 120 VND / minute

Viettel Telecom - www.viettel.com.vn

- For information about applying service, you could call these numbers: Hanoi: +84.4.62 555 888 Ho Chi Minh City: +84.4.62 555 888 Other Provinces: +84.(are telephone code). 6250 119 - Monthly fee (without VAT): 27.000 VND - Airtime charge (without VAT): 120 VND / minute

Viettel Telecom

- For information about applying service, you could call these numbers:

• Hanoi: +84.4.62 555 888
• Ho Chi Minh City: +84.4.62 555 888
• Other Provinces: +84.(are telephone code). 6250 119

- Activate fee: 119.000 VND
- Monthly fee (without VAT):

• Prepaid Packet: 900 VND / day
• Postpaid: 27.000 VND / month

- Airtime charge (without VAT): 120 VND / minute

EVN – Vietnam Electricity - http://www.evntelecom.com
- For information about applying service, you could call these numbers:

• Hanoi: +84.4.62 555 888
• Ho Chi Minh City: +84.4.62 555 888
• Other Provinces: +84.(are telephone code). 6250 119

- Activate fee: 90.909 VND
- Monthly fee (without VAT): 27.000 VND / month
- Airtime charge (without VAT): 120 VND / minute

Mobile Phone

There are 6 service providers:
- GSM standard: VinaPhone, MobiFone, Viettel Telecom, HanoiTelecom (HTMobile)
- CDMA standard: SFone and EVN

Services providing: SMS, MMS, GPRS, Roaming, WAP …

Fee
Active fee is about 100.000 – 150.000 VND depends on service providers.

Television Services

There is a local television in each province in Vietnam. They also provide some free channels. However, there are two biggest television service providers in Vietnam that their channels are over the country: Vietnam Television (VTV) and Vietnam Television Corporation (VTC). VTC provides Digital and Mobile Television services. VTV provides Cable Television services (VCTV) and 4 official channels over the country (VTV1, VTV2, TVT3, VTV4). Except VTV, some local Televisions also provide Cable Television service as Hanoi Television (HCTV) and Ho Chi Minh Television (HTVC).

Cable Television

Digital Television

To watch digital television, you need an equipment of receive signal. After that, you buy a card to decode the channels that are encoded. Then you could enjoy them without monthly fee.

Mobile Television

To use the Mobile Television service, you need a mobile that support television such as Nokia N92, N77… and an account on website http://mobiletv.vtc.vn.
You need to buy an activate card (price is 500.000 VND) to activate your account. And then you could maintain your account by using card (with value of 500.000 VND, 300.000 VND and 200.000 VND)

Hospital

Veterinary Hospital

The pet treatment is more and more popular in Vietnam. There are not only curing services but also cosmetic surgery, goods and food for pet providing... You could either bring your pet to the clinic when he has trouble with his health or call the centre. The doctor at home service is available. Currently, the inpatient room and nurse are convenient for inpatient in every clinic. There are many high standard veterinary hospitals in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with professional doctor and modern equipments such as: X-ray, ultrasound machine, analysis of blood machine...

Vietnam accommodation

With the recent development of the Vietnamese tourist industry, there are now more and more kinds of hotels in all of the major cities. Whether you are in Vietnam on vacation or on business, it is quite easy to find a hotel, especially in highly developed or tourist regions. There are about 50,000 hotels from tiny guesthouses to luxury 5-star hotels all over country. Price and quality vary according to the rank of hotels. Room should be booked about one week in advance. In particular, booking should be done about one or two months during the tourism season or international events.

The hotels are rated as 4-5 stars follow the international standard and all of them have a nice view. It is easy to access the transportation to the air port, as well as to popular destination. With these hotels, conference rooms, dining halls, restaurants, bars, duty free shops, health clubs and other facilities are available. You could find the list of some three to five star hotels in Vietnam by download pdf file attached herewith.

For more information about cheap hotels, you could find here Vietnam is a famous country with many delicious food and drinks such as: Noodle soup (Phở), rice vermicelli, steamed rolled, ... Besides, you could find a lot of foreign restaurants with famous brand such as: KFC, Asahi Sushi, BBQ, ...

Buying and Renting a house

Recently, there are about 21.000 foreigners living in Vietnam. The housing for rent and for bought both convenient for foreigner. The price of renting house depends on the city, area of city and kind of house. The average price is about US$700-1000 in Hanoi and US$ 1000 – 1500 in Ho Chi Minh City. For further information about buying house in Vietnam, the Ministry of Construction has established the pilot scheme to allow foreigners to buy houses in Vietnam, especially since Vietnam has joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). This policy encourages investors and helps them stabilize their lives in Vietnam. It will be valid from 1st January, 2009.

According to this draft, foreigners can buy houses in Vietnam. However, they must be among the following subjects: people who directly invest in Vietnam; those who contribute to the development of Vietnam (receive medals from the Vietnamese government); scientists working in Vietnam; experts and highly skilled workers working in Vietnam; and those who get married to Vietnamese citizens.

Foreign economic organizations operating in Vietnam can also buy houses for their foreign employees. Foreigners who buy houses in Vietnam must meet the three following conditions as well: living and working in Vietnam; already in Vietnam and allowed to live in Vietnam one year more at least; and buying a house to serve themselves and their families.

Airline

Currently, Vietnam has four Airlines firms such as Vietnam Airlines (VNA), Jetstar Pacific, Indochina Airline and Vietnam Aviation Service Company (Vasco). There two private owner Airlines firm was issued a license in the beginning of 2008 – Vietjet Aviation JSC. and Air Speed Up – will have the first flight in April, 2009. The biggest firm in Vietnam is VNA – that owned by State – that have the largest working scope and joint venture with many Airlines firms in Asia, Europe, North American, Oceania, … However, there are some firms that work effectively like Jetstar Pacific (joint venture with Qantas Airways – Australia national Airlines firms – in 2007), Vasco… Especially when two private owner Airlines firms join in the Airlines industry, the quality of service is more and more improved. Besides, there are about 30 international Airline firms established their office in Vietnam such as: Korean Air, Air France, Hong Kong Express Airways, Aeroflot (Russia), .... You could book ticket easily by internet, calling or going to the Airline agencies. For further information of Airline firms in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, please click download button on top.

In Vietnam, there are three international airports that are in Hanoi (Vietnam Capital), Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang City. Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City is Vietnam's main airport. It has two terminals, one for international and the other for domestic flights. In the north, Noi Bai International Airport is biggest.

In addition, the list below is a list of domestic airports in Vietnam

Indochina Airline - http://www.indochinaairlines.vn

In Hanoi

Tel: (84-4) 39 411 411

Fax: (84-4) 39 411 470

In Ho Chi Minh City

Tel: (84) 1800 5858 40

In Da Nang

Tel: (84-511) 3893 999

Fax: (84-511) 3584 669

Bus

Bus system in major cities is popular and modernized, especially in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The bus stops are easily recognizable. The official operation time of bus system is from 5am to 10pm every day. The interval time between two turns is about 5-10 minutes. To travel by bus, you just get into the bus at bus stops. There is an inspector, he will give you the single ticket and collect the money. However, you could buy monthly ticket at any agency in the city.

You could find more information of bus system in each city below.

In Hanoi

There are some routes to provinces next to Hanoi as below:

In Ho Chi Minh City

Long distance buses

Long distance bus is the most popular transportation to travel to any destination in Vietnam. There are many companies that provide high standard services for traveler. During the traveling on high standard services buses, passenger will be fully convenient with modernly – equipped such as air conditioner, comfortable chair or bed-chair, television, music player, water, wet tissue, fast-food ... Besides, passenger could buy the ticket at bus station or book it by telephone. The passenger shuttling at home service is available with comfortable fare.

LIST OF BUS STATIONS IN VIETNAM

Car rental

Traveling by car is one of the most popular modes of transportation in Vietnam. Upon arrival visitors generally opt to rent a car or hire a taxi to proceed to their hotel or to other destinations.

There are two kind of renting car. First of all, you could rent car and drive by yourself. In this case, you should have driving license and traffic regulation knowledge. When you travel, you should be carefully because it includes motorbike and bicycle in traffic. For further information, motorbike is the most popular vehicle in Vietnam. Secondly, it is possible to rent car with driver. Driver does not only take you to your destination, he also could give you suggestion about sightseeing, restaurants, bars, ...

Car rental in Vietnam is relatively inexpensive and considered convenient. It is about USD 50-70 depending on brands of car. Some common brands of cars used in Vietnam are Mercedes, Toyota Altis, Toyota Camry, Ford Laser, Mitsubishi Lancer, Toyota Land Cruiser, Mitsubishi Jolie, Isuzu Hilander Extreme, Mercedes Benz, Euro Space with model from 2000 to 2007.

For further information, a common character of Vietnamese is taking interested in appearance. They have high valuation with professional and polite look. What is more, the brand of your car is important.

List of some big rental companies in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

In Hanoi
1.    Vietnam Holiday travels
Tel: 04.7735565 0912.9888 55    Ad: 97, Nguyen Chi Thanh

2.    Nhat Quang Company
Tel: 04. 2300400, 098.913.1931    Ad: 14 Van Phuc Street, Lieu Giai, Ba Dinh

3.    Newland tourism Company
Tel: 04.7614751            Ad: 471 Hoang Hoa Tham, Ba Dinh

4.    Ngan Anh Company
Tel: 04.5147408            Ad: 389 De La Thanh, Ba Dinh

5.    Hoang Giang Company
Tel: 04.8511434            Ad: 174 Dong Cac, Hoan Kiem

In Ho Chi Minh City

1.    Hai Au Company
Tel: 08 931 7760            Ad: 16/16 Ky Dong, Precinct 9,Dis 3

2.    Minh Duc Company
Tel: 9.070.904                Ad: 35 Ton That Tung- Pham Ngu Lao Precinct

3.    Vietnam Logitem
Tel: 7.442.281                Ad: Thao Dien Precinct, District 1st

4.    Thao Vi Company
Tel: 7.415.031                Ad: 242 Luong Dinh Cua- An Khanh, Dis 2nd

5.    FImexco Company
Tel: 8.230.611                Ad: 71C Dong Khoi, Distric 1st

Taxi

Travelling by taxi is the most convenient way in big cities. Passenger could call for taxi or take taxi on the street, hotel, super market, shopping centre... Taxi service is available 24 hours in day. The fare is calculated by the distance. The basic fare is 12.000 VND for the first 1 km and 10.000 VND for each additional km. There are many kind of car used to be taxi but the most popular car brands are Toyota Altis, Toyota Inova, Kia Morning, Martiz ...

LIST OF SOME TAXI PHONE NUMBER

Railway

Travelling by train is one of interesting way to enjoy the beauty of Vietnamese people and sights. With a total length of 2600 km, Vietnam Railways network connects residential area to cultural, agricultural and industrial center, except the Mekong river delta area. Currently, beside the existent domestic lines, there are some train routs that link to Chinese cities such as Beijing, Gui Lin, Nanning, Ping xiang, Han Kou ... Vietnam Railways is using 3 kinds of gauge, namely 1000 mm-gauge, 1435 mm-gauge (standard gauge) as well as 1435 mm and 1000 mm-gauge (mixed gauge)
Reservation for passenger tickets can be made conveniently at ticket counters in the station, travel agents or via internet at website www.vetau.com.vn . Fare per each doesn’t include the food fee except a bottle of water.

LIST OF SOME MAIN STATIONS AND AGENTS

Flower Telegram

Flowers telegram in Viet Nam is very developed. It is convenient in two ways for you to use flower telegram service: online and directed service. Many companies are able to send flowers to the all provinces in Vietnam and worldwide to 250 countries. In addition to the flower business, these companies are also able to transfer gift as the request of customers. It is easy to use this service. You only select and order on the website, call or contact them directly at the company, flowers and gifts will be sent to receiver as you wish.

List of some Flower Telegram Companies in Vietnam

Express Mail Service

At present, Express Mail Service has been rapidly developing in Vietnam, including the delivery of letters, documents and airmails, domestic and abroad packages with a various service system. EMS is available in 64 cities and provinces nationwide and  50 countries all over the world. In regulations, the acceptance time for delivery nationwide is from 24 to 72 hours depending on destination, or hour-based delivery while scheduled acceptance time from Vietnam to other countries is 2 - 10 days depending on destination time of each country. At present, several companies have provided new services delivering special commodities, such as: dangerous commodities, health samples, high-tech products, unprocessed products, valuable products in need of protection,…These companies will undertake all-in services from legal procedures, maintenance to delivery.

Nowadays, besides Head Company of Vietnam Posts and Telecommunication and private enterprises, many foreign enterprises have also participated into Vietnam EMS market in joint-venture form, such as TNT, DHL, Fedex,…

List of some EMS Companies in Vietnam

Internet Services

In Vietnam, there’re many kinds of Internet services, from prepaid card to monthly subscription charge. In the telecommunication market, there are six Internet Information Providers (ISP), such as VNPT, Viettel, EVN Telecom, SPT, FPT Telecom, NetNam and CMC Telecom.
They provide various types of Internet Services: ADSL, Virtual Mail, Private Mail Service, Domain Name Registration, IXP, Leased Line, PSTN, ISDN, Internet Phone, Infogate, Internet Roaming…

Follows are contacts of ISPs:

VNPT -  http://www.vnpt.com.vn
•    Ha Noi :

• Hanoi Informatics Centre: www.ptic.com.vn
• Direct telephone number: 04 39345345

•    Ho Chi Minh City:

• Internet & Software Company: www.netsoft.com.vn
• Direct telephone number: 08 39306000

Viettel - http://www.viettel.com.vn/

• Hanoi: +84.4.62 555 888
• Ho Chi Minh City: +84.4.62 555 888
• Other Provinces: +84.(are telephone code). 6250 119

EVN Telecom - www.evntelecom.com.vn

• Hanoi: +84.4.62 555 888
• Ho Chi Minh City: +84.4.62 555 888
• Other Provinces: +84.(are telephone code). 6250 119

SPT - www.spt.vn

• Tel: +84.8 54 04 06 08

FPT Telecom - http://www.fpt.vn
•    Hanoi:

• Hanoi 3 Branch:  (84-4) 2200 1700         (84-4) 3903 2124
• Hanoi 2 Branch:  (84-4) 2200 4838         (84-4) 3901 4276
• Hanoi 1 Branch:     (84-4) 2202 3555         (84-4) 3904 8881

•    Ho Chi Minh City:

• Binh Thanh Branch: (84-8) 2200 9495
• Cho Lon Branch:  (84-8) 2202 5125
• Tan Binh Branch: (84-8) 2200 3833
• Ben Thanh Branch: (84-8) 2200 8828
• Ky Hoa Branch:  (84-8) 3549 4438

NETNAM Company -  http://www.netnam.vn

• Tel: (84-4) 39.334.821

CMC Telecom - www.cmctelecom.vn

• Hotline: 1900 545 428

Visa Entry

Most visitors to Vietnam need a vise to enter the country. Visas are exempted for the citizens of the countries, which have signed a bilateral or unilateral visa exemption agreement with Vietnam; tourist visa may be valid for 15 to 30 days.

Visa exemption:

Vietnamese people that hold foreign passports and foreigners who are their husbands, wives and children are exempt from visa requirements to enter Vietnam and are allowed to stay for not more than 90 days. In order to be granted visa exemption certificates at Vietnamese representative offices abroad, overseas Vietnamese need conditions:
- Foreign-issued permanent residence certificate (PRC) with the validity of at least six months since the date of entrance.
- Vietnamese appropriate authorities grant visa exemption paper (VEP).

Those who expect to stay more than 90 days must apply for visa according to current stipulations before their entrance.

Bilateral visa exemption agreement
- Citizens of Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Laos holding valid ordinary passports are exempt from visa requirements and are allowed to stay for not more than 30 days.
- Citizens of China, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea, and Rumania holding valid ordinary passports for official mission and citizens of 52 countries holding valid diplomatic or official passports are exempt from visa requirements. The duration of staying is stipulated in certain cases. For more information, please visit le website of Ministry of Foreign Affaires.

Unilateral visa exemption
- Visa with 30-day validity exempted for officials from ASEAN secretariat holding different kinds of passports.
- Citizens of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Japan and South Korea holding different kinds of passports are exempt from visa requirements and are allowed to stay for not more than 15 days.

Others who want to enter Vietnam must be provided with a visa
- Tourist visa is valid in 15 days.
- Visa is issued at the Vietnamese diplomatic offices or consulates in foreign countries. Visa is possibly issued at the border gates to those who have written invitations by a Vietnamese competent agencies or tourists in the tours organized by Vietnamese international travel companies.
- Application files for visa: the entrance application (printed form); two 4x6 cm photos; passport and fee for the visa issuance.

Visa type

A. Tourist Visas

Tourist Visas are generally issued as one-month single entry visas. Multiple-entry tourist visas are also available, but they often require special attention and processing to receive. It is quite common to apply for a multiple entry visa and instead receive a single entry visa, so please confirm that you are getting the visa that you need. If you would like to stay longer that one month, you can extend your visa after your arrival in Vietnam.

B. Diplomatic and Official Visas

- No fees unless otherwise agreed upon between Vietnam and applicant’ s country
- On applying this visa, the applicant must submit an official letter from the concerned agencies of local government, foreign embassies or consulates accredited to the applicant’s country, international organizations, or other accredited organizations based in that country

C. Business or other types of Visas
Business visas are usually issued as 3- or 6-month multiple-entry visas, although one-year business visas are also possible with special permission. To get a business visa, you often need a letter from a business sponsor in Vietnam.

REQUIMENTS

To process a visa for you, we need the following information: 

1. Your title (Mr./Mrs./Ms.)
2. Your name exactly as it appears in your passport 
2. Date of birth
3. Nationality
4. Passport No. (valid at least 06 months)
5. Date of Passport issuance
6. Date of Passport expiration
7. Proposed date of arrival
8. Flight Ref.
9. Port of arrival - Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) or other
10. Purpose of visit (Vacation/Business/Visit family)
11. Type of service (Visa approval code or Visa on arrival)
12. The city at which a Vietnam embassy or consulate is located, where you plan to get the visa (only for visa approval code type)