Mardi Gras has nothing on Saints mania

(CNN) -- There's a party brewing in New Orleans that's filling up hotels and drawing the faithful to the city, but this weekend the magnet isn't Mardi Gras. The New Orleans Saints' Super Bowl debut has fans in a fever to celebrate with their brethren.

Phillip Davenporte wants to be with his people -- the "Who Dat" fans -- on Super Bowl Sunday.

"I'm a die-hard Saints fan. I've been dying hard for 43 years," Davenporte, from Mobile, Alabama, said. "Oh my goodness, it's our time."

Davenporte, 55, and his wife, Gail, plan to drive to New Orleans on Sunday morning to take in the long-awaited event with other devotees. After looking into traveling to Miami, Florida, and staying in a hotel two hours from the stadium where the New Orleans Saints will battle the Indianapolis Colts, the Davenportes decided to get into the thick of things in the Saints' home town.

They're checking into a hotel and playing it by ear about where they watch the game, but they shouldn't have any trouble finding the requisite big screen and fired up crowd: The city's notoriously good times are rolling into a frenzy that fans can't resist.

Video: Big Super Bowl for Big Easy

RELATED TOPICS

• Super Bowl XLIV
• New Orleans

Hotel bookings over the weekend are rivaling the traditional height of the Mardi Gras season, which is under way and usually peaks the weekend before Fat Tuesday (February 16), according to the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Even some locals are getting rooms in the French Quarter for Super Bowl weekend to be closer to the heart of Saints mania, said Marvin Allen, who is head bartender at the Carousel Bar in the French Quarter's Hotel Monteleone.

"I really think this is the only city that has an NFL team, where the fans want to be in ... the home city, rather than actually being at the Super Bowl itself because it's going to be so much more fun here," Allen said.

The Carousel Bar will be showing the game on all its TVs, and Allen expects to be busy as soon as the doors open at 11 a.m. He'll be mixing Black and Gold Sours and Bulleit Brees bourbon cocktails in honor of the team.

"I think the mood is even greater than it is for Mardi Gras," Allen said. "People are in a much better mood, everybody's excited, everybody's wearing black and gold."

The 250 spots for the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel's Super Bowl viewing party were gone by Tuesday, said hotel employee Renee Maxwell, and rooms for the weekend are steadily filling up.

I think the mood is even greater than it is for Mardi Gras. People are in a much better mood, everybody's excited, everybody's wearing black and gold.
--Bartender Marvin Allen

Black and gold paraphernalia is flying off the shelves at Beads by the Dozen, said store owner Dan Kelly.

Kelly, 60, a Saints season ticket holder and president of the Mardi Gras Krewe Endymion, has never seen anything like the Saints euphoria in New Orleans.

"You can't describe what it's all like. But everybody, anywhere you go -- even in doctors' offices -- everybody's wearing black and gold and high-fiving people," he said.

It's a boost the city needed along the long road to recovering from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

"You know whether we win or lose, the city has something to hold onto now. We have something we can hang our hat on," Kelly said.

Mardi Gras parades will be rolling over the weekend, after a bit of schedule shifting to avoid Super Bowl overlap. Tourism officials haven't had time to poll hotels about booking levels for next weekend -- the weekend before Mardi Gras Day and typically the season's busiest -- but win or lose, the city will be celebrating.

A parade for the Saints will be held on Tuesday after the Super Bowl, and Saints quarterback Drew Brees and team owner Tom Benson will ride with the Bacchus and Endymion krewes next weekend.

Davenporte feels good about a win. "We are ready. It is our time. Peyton Manning is gonna have to wait."

And if the Saints are victorious?

"I'm sure that if the Saints win there's going to be many more people coming to the city to help celebrate that weekend and make Mardi Gras probably the biggest Mardi Gras that I've ever seen in my 60 years," said Kelly.

ATMs a waste of time: customers

VietNamNet Bridge – Huynh Cong Ly was enjoying a pleasant Sunday afternoon in HCM City until he joined the long queue of shoppers wishing to withdraw money from an automatic teller machine at a supermarket.

Huynh Cong Ly was enjoying a pleasant Sunday afternoon in HCM City until he joined the long queue of shoppers wishing to withdraw money from an automatic teller machine at a supermarket.

However, it was the only ATM for miles around so he patiently waited his turn. But when Ly, 35, who works for a garment maker in Binh Thanh District, eventually got round to inserting his card in the machine, he could not withdraw money. It was a particularly frustrating experience because Ly was on his way home to Rach Gia City in Kien Giang Province to celebrate Tet with his family.

His experience however is far from unique.

"There are only a few ATMs in my hometown. They are far from my home and usually out of order," Ly said, "I have tried to withdraw cash from three ATMs near my company but all failed. I need money for Tet which is coming soon. Is this what they call a revolution in financing?" he said furiously.

At this time of year, just before Tet, demand for cash soars. However, ATMs, even when working properly, can only dispense a maximum of VND2 million (US$100) at a time.

Demand for ATMs grew significantly in 2008 when the Government decided to pay salaries electronically. Employees in processing zones and industrial parks are also paid directly in their bank account.

Trendy bankcards

"Yes, like every employee who is paid into their back account, I used to think it was more convenient to use an ATM because of their safety and privacy," Ly said. "For example, when my company decided to pay us this way, nobody could know what others were being paid."

Tran My Chi, who works as a check-in clerk for Vietnam Airlines, said ATMs were far from convenient. "I have had a lot of trouble with withdrawing cash. Last month my supervisor didn't know why she lost VND10 million from her account. After payday, she went to get some cash but the machine said there was nothing in her account. The bank refused to compensate her because they had proof the money was withdrawn.

"I don't know if there was fraud, whether her account had been hacked or there was some technical errors but I have heard of this type of thing happens frequently. Now I never keep more than VND2 million ($100) in my account. We need more secure ATMs," Chi said.

In Viet Nam, there are 26,000 people per ATM compared with 2,700 people per machine in Singapore. There are currently just 125,800 cash machines, with most being in major cities. The first started appearing 10 years ago.

An official from the State Bank of Viet Nam, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "Bank customers can rarely use ATMs from other banks due to a lack of co-operation among different banks or for technical reasons. The result is that machines are overburdened at peak times, such as on pay day, during holidays or on the weekend.

"Many ATMs are outdated and break down causing trouble for those who want to withdraw or deposit money. Bad security, wrong withdrawals and occasional losses of data caused customers to lose money," he added.

Tran The Nam, director of Asia Commercial Bank's ATM centre, said there were a lot of pitfalls in the current banking system.

"Criminals forge bankcards to withdraw clients' money. It's time banks did something," Nam said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

First made-in-Vietnam aircrafts

VietNamNet’s reporters visited the Museum for Air Defense and the Air Force to see Senior Lieutenant-colonel Nguyen Huu Dac, the museum’s director, to learn about Vietnam’s aircrafts.

The planes manufactured by the army.

Dac said that 2010 is an important year, when many great events will take place, such as the 80^th anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the 1000^th great anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi and the 35^th anniversary of the country’s union.

In that context, the Museum for Air Defense and Air Force will hold an exhibition of the first aircrafts manufactured by Vietnam, the first of its kind so far.

VietNamNet would like to introduce the history of the first aircraft manufactured by the Vietnam Army.

1. Small-sized reconnaissance plane TL-1

In March 1979, the project to design and manufacture small-sized propeller planes was approved and the Air Force was assigned to implement.

At that time, lieutenant-general Truong Khanh Chau, director of the Institute for Aviation Military Technology, (Deputy Minister of Defence later) chaired this project. The aircraft was designed based on the Rallye-220 GT model of France’s Aerospatiale group. After three years, the first TL-1 plane was manufactured.

The aircraft was tested at the Hoa Lac Airport in August 1980, by pilot Nguyen Xuan Hien (General Director of the Vietnam Airlines Corporation later). The first test failed. Later on September 25, 1980, the plane successfully flew at a height of 200m.

After that, TL-1 was tested successfully ten times totaling 102 minutes on the air. This is a landmark of the development of the country’s aviation technology industry.

2. Training plane HL-1

After this project, the Ministry of Defense and the High Command of Air Force assigned the Institute for Aviation Military Technology to manufacture the coaching plane HL-1 in January 1981.

Thanks to experience learnt from the first project, the HL-1 plane worked well in the first trial. HL-1 was designed based on three models Pilatus P3 of Switzerland, Zlin 526 of former Czechoslovakia and Jak 18y of the former USSR.

On July 24, 1984, Chairman of the Ministerial Council Pham Van Dong congratulated the institute’s success and presented a car for designers.

3. Coaching plane HL-2

High-ranking General Van Tien Dung, Minister of Defence suggested to manufacture hydroplanes because Vietnam has a long coach and many rivers.

The project was divided into two phases: 1/ perfecting the HL-1 model and 2/ installing buoys to the airplane. The job began in early 1985 and finished in March 1987. The aircraft was tested successfully in April 1987.

3. Super-light amphibious plane VNS-41

To celebrate the 60^th anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army, Minister of Defense Pham Van Tra instructed the Air Defense - Air Force Arms to manufacture super-light amphibious plane VNS-41.

This is a light hydroplane made by Factory A41 of the Technical Department of Air Defense and Air Force, based on Russian Che-22 Korvet.

This model is used for forest patrol, agricultural, sports and tourism purposes. This plane can fly for four hours at speed of 120-135km/h. This project was carried out from June 2003 to September 2005. This model has been used for coaching and will be used for commercial purposes.

For the first time, the process of manufacturing of these planes will be introduced at the exhibition at the Museum for Air Defence and Air Force in Hanoi, which opened on February 2.

Song Ha

Japan’s aids to Vietnam likely to go down this year

Japan’s aids to Vietnam likely to go down this year

The under-construction East-West Highway in Ho Chi Minh City is a project funded by Japan's aids Japan’s official development assistance to Vietnam was likely to decrease this year compared to the record loan of 202.3 billion yen (US$2.2 billion) given last year, according to a press briefing on Monday.

Motonori Tsuno, chief representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Vietnam, said this was because there was little chance that the country would need emergency aid this year. However, normal assistance may exceed that of last year, he added. He said as much as $500 million of last year’s loan was approved in November to help Vietnam cope with the global economic crisis. The recipient of the largest ODA from JICA, Vietnam is supposed to repay debt and interest of about 20-25 billion yen ($220-270 million) a year, he said. But JICA wasn’t concerned about the country’s capacity to repay the debt, he noted, adding that since last year the country had started servicing loans taken in the 1992-1999 period. Source: Thanh Nien, Tuoi Tre

Global recovery still a fragile process: World Bank

Global recovery still a fragile process: World Bank

Workers at an apparel factory in Ho Chi Minh City. The global economic recovery currently underway will slow down later this year and the process remains fragile, the World Bank has cautioned.

In its “Global Economic Prospects 2010” report released Wednesday, the bank says the slowdown will happen on the back of the waning impact of fiscal stimulus programs implemented by many governments. Financial markets remain troubled and private sector demand lags amid high unemployment, the report said, warning that the worst of the financial crisis may be over, but the global recovery was fragile. It predicted that the fallout from the crisis will change the landscape for finance and growth over the next 10 years. Global gross domestic product (GDP), which declined by 2.2 percent in 2009, is expected to grow 2.7 percent this year and 3.2 percent in 2011. Prospects for developing countries are for a relatively robust recovery, growing 5.2 percent this year and 5.8 percent in 2011, up from 1.2 percent in 2009. GDP in rich countries, which declined by 3.3 percent in 2009, is expected to increase much less quickly – by 1.8 and 2.3 percent in 2010 and 2011. “Unfortunately, we cannot expect an overnight recovery from this deep and painful crisis, because it will take many years for economies and jobs to be rebuilt. The toll on the poor will be very real,” said Justin Lin, World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, Development Economics. “The poorest countries, those that rely on grants or subsidized lending, may require an additional US$35-50 billion in funding just to sustain pre-crisis social programs.” The report warned that, despite the return to positive growth, it will take several years before economies recoup the losses already endured. It estimates that about 64 million more people will be living in extreme poverty (on less than $1.25 a day) in 2010 than would have been the case had the crisis not occurred. Implications for Vietnam Economists speaking to the press on the sidelines of a seminar held to discuss the World Bank report agreed that the greatest challenge facing Vietnam this year will be the task of ensuring growth without triggering runaway inflation. They said that while the government’s measures to overcome the impacts of the global economic crisis have been effective, serious shortcomings in the economy could affect its post-crisis development. Vietnam is one of 12 economies in the world gaining positive growth and keeping inflation low last year, said Phan Chi Thanh, deputy head of the Department of International Cooperation under the Government Office. He said the country had succeeded in attracting large investments, direct and indirect, accounting for 42 percent of its GDP, but even bigger challenges lay ahead. Tran Dinh Thien, director of the Vietnam Economics Institute, said the country’s land and manpower market still lacked a systematic structure, coordination among firms was weak, and the government’s macro management capacity is still low. Bottlenecks in the fields of transport and rural infrastructure, electricity and water supply have not yet been dealt with, he said. Matthias Dühn, director of EuroCham Hanoi, said infrastructure was not only limited to roads, seaports and airports, but also including sustainable power generation and power supply. “In 2009, we have observed troubling delays in many important infrastructure projects. With container shipping demand already challenging terminal capacity, the state of the nation’s ports remains an issue of the utmost importance and one which risks having a severely limiting effect on future investment if not addressed comprehensively and as a matter of urgency,” he said. Economist Thien said the efficiency of capital, land and labor use is low in Vietnam compared to other regional countries. This was reflected in the Incremental Capital-Output Ratio (ICOR) of 8 last year. “The ratio is too high to an underdeveloped country like Vietnam.” He also warned of the risk of an inflation hike in the context of big credit growth and impacts of the government’s stimulus. “Preventing an inflation hike is our most difficult task in 2010.” Credit in Vietnamese dong grew fast last year, a 37.7 percent increase year-on-year. The central bank increased interest rates in November 2009 to slow credit growth. Besides, the country’s stimulus packages, which cost some $8 billion, were very large compared to its GDP, he said. The packages were used to offer enterprises a 4-percent interest subsidy, tax reductions and tax exemptions in an effort to push the economy through the recession. The plan to increase salaries for employees was also a factor, and would contribute to raising the risk of an inflation hike this year, Thien said. Restructuring Thien said the country should focus on restructuring the economy, increasing firms’ competitiveness, and combating inflation to ensure stable economic growth. Vietnam should also strengthen the reform of state-owned enterprises, especially economic groups, so that they can use capital more effectively. Matthias Dühn said the biggest challenge for Vietnam in 2010 would be to carefully balance growth without fuelling inflation, while coming up with sustainable long-term solutions for the country. The Vietnamese economy is still relatively small in scale and businesses are very reactive to monetary or fiscal policies. Therefore, carefully tightening of monetary policies and ending the stimulus is a reasonable action under the circumstances, he felt. Dühn said Vietnam’s economy was still at a comparatively early stage, mainly exporting raw materials, like oil and gas, leather, rice and coffee. “We believe that one of the keys to sustainable economic development is to shift from these basic exports to more sophisticated added-value exports in the long run, in particular in the high-tech sectors.” In addition, the FDI composition needs to shift from speculative to more added-value and sustainable industries, in particular the manufacturing segment, he said. FDI, or foreign direct investment, in 2009 was driven mainly by real estate and not by the more important manufacturing sector. Opening up of the telecom and retail sectors to foreign competition, continuing privatization of state-owned enterprises, and, more generally, tackling corruption and red tape, will be other tasks to be pursued soon, he added. Reported by Ngan Anh

Key rate remains, inflation ‘no concern’: Vietnam central bank

Key rate remains, inflation ‘no concern’: Vietnam central bank

A noodle vendor waits for customers at a market in Hanoi. The central bank chief has said the key interest rate would not change this month as he was not greatly concerned about inflation, even though the central bank has injected money into the market to improve liquidity.

The benchmark interest rate will remain unchanged at 8 percent through February, State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Giau said at a meeting in Ho Chi Minh City Tuesday. This is the second straight month the central bank has maintained its key interest rate after an unexpected increase that came into effect December 1 amid signs of quickening inflation. “Although inflation is rising, at the moment, the government still needs to maintain the interest rate at a reasonable level to support economic growth,” Le Ba Hoang Quang, vice director of Sacombank Securities Inc.’s Hanoi branch, told Bloomberg. He said supporting growth was especially important because the government’s stimulus package had “more or less ended late last year.” Vietnam is trying to boost economic growth while preventing accelerating inflation from eroding confidence in the country’s assets. The government Monday raised US$1 billion in its second international bond sale, and the benchmark stock index saw its biggest gains in three weeks on the same day. Policy makers will also keep the refinancing rate at 8 percent and maintain the discount rate at 6 percent, according to a statement on the central bank’s website Tuesday. Inflation target “If the central bank keeps rates unchanged, it shows that inflation is at a controllable level,” said Le Van Minh, head of the Ho Chi Minh City branch at Agribank Securities Joint-Stock Co., the brokerage unit of Vietnam’s biggest bank. The government has set a 7 percent target for inflation this year. January’s inflation accelerated for a fifth month to the fastest pace since April, driven by rising prices for food and construction materials. Consumer prices rose 7.62 percent in January from the same month last year, according to figures released Tuesday by the General Statistics Office in Hanoi. “Inflation risks are rising,” wrote Johanna Chua, head of Asian economic research at Citigroup Inc. in Hong Kong, in a research note on January 22 that cited increasing food, transportation and construction material prices. Vietnam needs to take “significant” action on interest rates to restore confidence in the dong, she said. “Once inflation gets into the double digits, it’s at the point where you have to consider policy changes,” said Adam McCarty, chief economist at Mekong Economics in Hanoi. “The stimulus package that Vietnam’s government introduced and the credit growth last year are a large part of the inflation story.” Vietnam last year introduced stimulus spending it valued at about $8 billion in an attempt to boost economic growth that slowed to 3.1 percent in the first quarter. The economy expanded 5.32 percent in 2009, the slowest pace in a decade. The government aims to quicken growth to 6.5 percent this year. Phan Chi Thanh, deputy head of the international relations department of the Government Office, said Wednesday that Vietnam’s 2010 monetary policy would “be conducted on the basis of gradual tightening.” The central bank has set the target for credit growth at 25 percent this year, down from 37.7 percent in 2009. Liquidity issue Governor Nguyen Van Giau told the meeting on Tuesday that banking system liquidity was not a substantial problem at the moment. “The central bank will be proactive in ensuring sufficient liquidity in the system. Banks need to watch for signs from us,” he said. “The central bank will manage the money market in a sophisticated way to avoid a strong impact on the market.” Giau said the central bank recently lowered the compulsory reserve ratios for foreign-currency deposits at banks. “By doing this, money will be released slowly into the market and we won’t cause any large impact,” he said. The mandatory reserve ratio, the amount of money that banks need to set aside to cover deposits, was lowered to 4 percent for deposits of less than one year, from the current 7 percent, and to 2 percent for deposits of more than one year, from 3 percent at the moment. The new ratios will be effective from February, the statement said. “Interest-rate competition at banks is not healthy and not normal at times,” Giau said. “Banks violated the rules when they raised deposit rates and then charged extra fees.” He said the central bank would inspect lenders whose outstanding loans are 20 percent more than their total deposits. The central bank wants to allow lenders to negotiate interest rates with clients, but Vietnamese law currently prohibits such a move. Giau said he wanted to move toward negotiated rates “the sooner the better,” but it would depend on the government and the National Assembly. “At the moment banks can decide lending rates for consumer loans and some feasible projects. But we think banks should be able to lend at 10 percent to 15 percent or even 30 percent depending on the level of risk. This will allow everyone to have access to credit, just at different borrowing costs.” Source: Thanh Nien, Agencies

Modern retail set to continue big boom in Vietnam

Modern retail set to continue big boom in Vietnam

The rapid growth of supermarkets, trade centers and e-commerce is expected to strengthen throughout Vietnam in 2010, said Dinh Thi My Loan, general secretary of Vietnam Retailers Association.

Vietnamese consumers are spending less on shopping than before, but that doesn’t mean they’re buying less stuff, she said. Many people still shop every day but they want it to be a more “convenient” and modern experience than they find at Vietnam’s traditional markets. Modern retail channels now account for only 20 percent of distribution in Vietnam, said Loan. The percentage is rather low, compared to that of 90 percent in Singapore, 60 percent in Malaysia, 51 percent in China, and 34 percent in Thailand. Consumers in Vietnam used to buy products from traditional markets, and small household shops or tiny stores. Loan said Vietnam’s two biggest cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, had only one modern outlet for every 30,000 people, while there was room for one supermarket per 10,000 people and at least one large trade center for every 100,000. Meanwhile, market research firm Nielsen said the proportion of people who sometimes purchase goods at supermarkets had increased to 96 percent in 2008 from 66 percent in 2007, and the people using supermarkets as their main purchasing channel also rose to 21 percent from 11 percent. “With spending on consumption accounting for up to 70 percent of income coupled with consumer optimism in Vietnam, purchasing power is expected to continue to surge in coming years,” said Loan. The local retail industry aims to increase its total sales by 20 percent this year, said experts at a conference in Hanoi late last week. They said the domestic retail market remained very attractive for investors as retail sales in the country were recorded at nearly VND1,200 trillion (US$65 billion) last year, up 18.6 percent from 2008. Richard Leech, director of real estate and research firm CB Richard Ellis Vietnam, said demand for retail space is expected to rise as Vietnamese retail chains expand and more international brands arrive in the country. In Hanoi, the supply of retail space is expected to surge to 510,000 square meters, five times its current figure. Loan said that in the future, traditional retailers would have to improve the quality of their services while investors should not ignore potentiality in rural areas, where over 70 percent of all Vietnamese people still live. Reported by Ngan Anh