As part of Vietnam M&A Forum 2017, the awards were voted for and judged by independent and renowned mergers-and-acquisitions experts through the nominations of consultation organisations and researchers.

Vietjet’s IPO was judged by the panel to have been very professionally conducted via consultation with world-renowned law firms and financial institutions, taking a total of around 800 days following the international IPO standards of regulations.

The judge panel also lauded the airline for its information disclosure. Vietjet was perceived to have done a good job building investor relations, attracting attention from investment funds and the public, and bringing transparent, detailed and internationally standardized information to investors and the public.

Vietnam M&A Forum, an annual event for companies and investors from Vietnam and other countries was held in Ho Chi Minh City on August 10, 2017 under the auspices of the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Nguyen is on an official visit to Thailand aimed to strengthen the two countries bilateral relationship and enhancing the cooperation in economics, trade and investment sectors.

For the next week, up to her spectacular funeral, Britain was plunged into an unprecedented outpouring of popular grief which shook the monarchy.

Here is how the week unfolded:

High speed crash

Divorced for the past year from heir to the throne Prince Charles, Diana, 36, and her new millionaire lover, Egyptian Dodi Al-Fayed, are stalked by a posse of press photographers over the summer as they holiday in the Mediterranean.

They arrive in the afternoon of August 30 in Paris and dine in the evening at the Hotel Ritz, in the luxurious Place Vendome. They try to leave discreetly shortly after midnight in a Mercedes.

Chased by paparazzi on motorcycles, the powerful sedan careers at high speed into a pillar in an underpass near the Alma Bridge opposite the Eiffel Tower on the north bank of the River Seine.

Diana is pulled out of the Mercedes, which has been reduced to twisted metal, by rescue workers.

Al-Fayed and their chauffeur, who the probe shows had a high level of alcohol in his blood, die instantly. Their bodyguard is seriously injured.

Seven photographers are arrested. From the next day, photographs of the crash will be offered to magazines for a million dollars each.

Diana is taken to Pitie-Salpetriere university hospital where at 4:00 am (0200 GMT) she dies of massive chest injuries after two hours of desperate surgery.

France’s ambassador to Britain telephones Queen Elizabeth II’s aides at Balmoral, in Scotland, where the Queen, her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, Charles as well as the couple’s two children, William, 15 and Harry, 12, are holidaying over the summer.

The ‘people’s princess’

Britain awakes in mourning. Under a grey sky hundreds of tearful Londoners start to lay flowers in front of Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace, the princess’s residence.

A tearful young Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair pays homage to “the people’s princess”.

The world reacts with dismay. US president Bill Clinton says he is “profoundly saddened”.

In India Mother Teresa prays for Diana, just days before her own death, and US rock star Michael Jackson cancels a concert in Belgium in shock.

The press is the first to be accused. Diana’s brother Charles Spencer says newspapers have blood on their hands.

Embarrassed, the British tabloid press elevates Diana to the status of an icon.

“Born a Lady. Became our Princess. Died a Saint,” writes the Daily Mirror.

Popular grief

The popular fervour grows. At Saint James’s Palace, where Diana’s body is taken, it takes eleven hours to reach condolence books.

“The vision of the bouquets of flowers is amazing: a veritable sea, almost a hundred metres long,” AFP writes.

The organisation of the funeral proves complex.

Since her divorce Diana is no longer known as “Her Royal Highness” and does not have the right to a state funeral, although she still had the title of princess.

But Britons call for a tribute worthy of their “queen of hearts”.

Royal silence

Anger mounts at the silence of the royal family, still holed up in Balmoral.

Newspapers, furious that the Union Jack flag is not flying at half-mast over Buckingham Palace, call on the Queen to address her subjects.

The Sun tabloid asks : “Where is our Queen ? Where is our flag ?” It says not flying the flag is a “stark insult to Diana’s memory “.

The Queen decides on September 5 to pay homage to her former daughter-in-law, whom she did not like, in a televised speech for only the second time in her reign. She then publicly bows before Diana’s coffin.

“If they (the royals) fail to heed her lesson, they will bury not just Diana on Saturday — but their future too,” The Guardian broadsheet warns, as nearly a quarter of Britons call for the abolition of the monarchy in a poll.

Billions watch funeral

The next day, nearly a million people watch as the funeral procession passes in a deep silence punctuated by sobs and tolling bells.

Their heads bowed, the two princes follow the coffin, accompanied by Prince Charles, the Duke of Edinburgh and her brother Earl Spencer, under the eyes of 2.5 billion television viewers around the world.

At Westminster Abbey, 2,000 invitees, including US First Lady Hillary Clinton, Blair, opera singer Luciano Pavarotti, former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and US film star Tom Cruise attend the ceremony.

Elton John adapts his song “Candle in the Wind”, rewriting the lyrics in homage to Diana.

In the afternoon, the princess is buried discreetly on a small island at Althorp, Diana’s ancestral home.//AFP

“The Internet has become crucial in every aspect of the world and Myanmar people, especially those from rural areas, need to be aware of the importance of the Internet, how to stay safe on the Internet and how the Internet can be utilised to improve themselves, said Min Thu, head of business sustainability for Telenor’.

The nation’s largest Internet network is hoping that the video series helps children and teenagers understand the pros and cons of using the Internet.

Each of the video series’ six episodes would be posted weekly on Telenor Myanmar’s Facebook page and on Youtube. The first episode, launched last week, explored benefits found online and how to fully utilize them.

Future episodes will explore online safety awareness, responsible use of the Internet, and profile Telenor’s safe-Internet initiatives.

The videos are part of Telenor’s “Safe Internet for School” programme which began in August, 2016. Under the initiative, Telenor had conducted Safe Internet talks at a number of government and private high schools in Yangon, and private and monastic schools in Mandalay during 2016.

Moreover, Telenor educated children, teenagers and parents in rural areas about safe use of the Internet through 61 Light House Digital Education Centres across the country

Telenor Myanmar also surveyed 12,368 people in 2016 aiming to understand how digital bullying is perceived or experienced in its markets in 13 countries including Myanmar.

Telenor’s “Safe Internet” education initiative has already reached over 50,000 Myanmar people including children and teenagers in rural areas – over 24,000 in 2016, and 26,000 in 2017 to date. They hope that number will rise to 50,000 people by year-end.

Telenor is Myanmar’s largest and fastest growing mobile data network with about 8,000 sites and close to 100,000 points-of-sale, serving 19 million customers nationwide.

Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow were sentenced to six months, eight months and seven months respectively after the Court of Appeal upped their previous non-custodial sentences.

Activists say the case is more proof that Beijing is tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city.

Wong shouted: “Hong Kong people, don’t give up!” as he was led away by security.

Hong Kong enjoys much greater freedoms than on the mainland, with its liberties enshrined in the handover agreement made when the city was given back to China by Britain in 1997.

But there are growing concerns Beijing is trampling the deal.

All three defendants were found guilty last year on unlawful assembly charges for storming a fenced-off government forecourt known as “Civic Square” as part of a protest calling for fully free leadership elections in September 2014.

Their arrests sparked wider rallies which exploded two days later when police fired tear gas on the crowds, triggering mass demonstrations that brought parts of Hong Kong to a standstill for more than two months in an unprecedented challenge to Beijing.

Wong and Law received community sentences and Chow a three-week suspended sentence at magistrates’ court last August over the Civic Square protest.

Nathan Law (R) greets a distraught supporter ay Hong Kong’s High Court in Hong Kong, China, 17 August 2017. EPA PHOTO

But Hong Kong’s justice department then sought to overturn those terms, with prosecutors arguing they should receive harsher punishment.

In emotional scenes before the judgement, tearful supporters hugged the three and chanted: “Shame on political persecution!”

Around 20 pro-Beijing supporters shouted back through loudspeakers, chanting “Pay the price in jail!”

Ahead of the judgement Thursday, the department of justice said there was “absolutely no basis to imply any political motive” on its part in relation to the case.

Hanson wore the Islamic garment in the chamber to highlight what she said were the security issues it posed, linking it to terrorism as fellow senators heckled her.

“Will you work to ban the burqa in Australia in light of what is happening with national security?” she said after whipping off the garment to question Attorney-General George Brandis.

She added: “Terrorism is a true threat to our country, many Australians are in fear of it.”

Brandis said his conservative government had no such plans, warning Hanson she risked offending the Muslim community by wearing a burka when she was not a follower of Islam.

“To ridicule that community, to drive it into a corner, to mock its religious garments is an appalling thing to do, and I would ask you to reflect on what you have done,” he said.

Brandis, his voice cracking with emotion, also said that being a strict adherent Muslim, such as those who wear the burka, was “absolutely consistent” with being a law-abiding citizen.

A combined picture shows One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson taking off a full Islamic burqa veil during Senate Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, 17 August 2017. // EPA PHOTO

“We have about half a million Australians in this country of the Islamic faith and the vast majority of them are law-abiding, good Australians,” he said.

Brandis’ remarks prompted a standing ovation from his political opponents in the Labor and Greens parties.

Independent senator Derryn Hinch labelled Hanson’s conduct “disgusting”.

“Pauline Hanson mocked the religion of some Australians… she made a mockery of an honourable place (the Senate),” he told Sky News.

Labor senator Sam Dastyari accused Hanson of stoking extremism in a poorly timed bid for “a cheap headline”.

“In the same week that we saw white nationalism rear its ugly head in the country of our closest ally — in that week a stunt like this gets pulled in the Australian Senate,” he said.

“It is hurtful, it is offensive, it is wrong,”

Hanson first gained prominence in the 1990s, when she warned Australia was in danger of being “swamped by Asians”.

After a 12-year hiatus from politics she returned in 2014, this time targeting Muslims and was elected to the Senate two years later as leader of the right-wing One Nation party.

In her first speech after returning to parliament, she said Islam was “a culture and ideology that is incompatible with our own”.

Hanson was unrepentant after her latest stunt, telling commercial radio: “Is it extreme? Yes. Is it getting my message across? I hope so.”

The mass pictorial purge was sparked by a controversial new law banning any political party from “using the voice, images or written documents” of anyone convicted of a crime.

The opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) believes the law was specifically designed to neuter the influence of Rainsy ahead of next year’s national elections.

The 68yearold politician lives in self-imposed exile in France to escape a string of convictions he says are politically motivated.

CNRP member Bunleng said he tore down his former boss’s image from a large party banner erected in front of his home outside of capital Phnom Penh last week.

“If we don’t remove his image, there will be a trouble for us, they would dissolve our party,” the 59yearold, who requested that only his first name be used, told AFP.

“Sam Rainsy is still inside people’s hearts…. His image will not fade away from people’s hearts very quick,” he added.

Cambodia has been ruled for the last 32 years by Hun Sen, one of the world’s longest serving leaders.

He portrays himself as a premier who has brought growth and stability to an impoverished country ravaged by decades of war.

But critics say corruption, inequality and rights abuses have flourished under his watch.

Next year’s elections are viewed by the opposition as perhaps the best opportunity they have ever had to unseat the strongman.

Under Rainsy’s leadership, they made significant gains at polls in 2013 and did well in local elections earlier this year.

But the CNRP has also been hit by a slew of court cases as Hun Sen and his Cambodian People’s Party ramp up efforts to thwart their opponents.

Speaking from overseas, Rainsy hit out at the new law which has led to his face being purged from the Cambodian landscape.

“Such a clumsy attempt at censorship will only make the party more popular, and improve its chances of winning in 2018,” he told AFP.

“I remain a symbol of resistance to the current regime and, in that sense, involved in politics,” he added.

In February Rainsy resigned as official leader of the party but remains its most prominent and influential figure.

Sebastian Strangio, author of a biography of Hun Sen, said there was “a personal element to Rainsy’s erasure from the Cambodian political scene”.

“For a quarter century, Rainsy has buzzed around, prodding at the CPP’s legitimacy and questioning the benefits of Hun Sen’s rule. I think Hun Sen simply got tired of it,” he told AFP.

“But it seems unlikely that removing Sam Rainsy from CNRP signs will remove him from the memories of Cambodian voters,” he added.//AFP

“First of all, answered prayers our hosting of the SEA Games will push through,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said in a press conference.

“Glory to God that our athletes would have the chance not only to showcase their sports, their talents, but also the new Philippines, which we expect in the next two years,” he added.

Cayetano shared the news together with Philippine Sports Commission Chair William “Butch” Ramirez and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr.

Earlier Philippines’ President Duterte, through the Philippine Sports Commission, said the country will not host the regional sports meet so the government can use the money intended to fund the Games for projects aimed at rehabilitating war-torn areas in Mindanao.

The 29th biennial multi-sport event participated in by Southeast Asian nations will be held in Malaysia from Aug. 19 to 30 this year.

It has organised a Facebook Like and Share campaign with its customers.

Ooredoo Myanmar made a post “Let’s celebrate Ooredoo 3rd Anniversary together with everyone!” on its official Facebook page starting today. Customers who like the post should share it by typing #Ooredoo3Years and should share this post not later than 23:59:59 on August 20.

Ooredoo Myanmar will select 30 winners and inform the winners with a comment under their shared post. The winners should send the message though Ooredoo Facebook message box not later than August 23 by typing their Ooredoo SIM number together with #Ooredoo3Years tag.

“It is already three years since we became an integral part of the nation’s daily life. We will continue to work hard to provide innovative products with quality service,” said Charity Safford, chief marketing officer of Ooredoo Myanmar.

The ministry has proposed that the government apply a special consumption tax on pickups to be set at 60 per cent of the tax on cars with nine seats or less with similar engine displacement.

Speaking at a press conference in Hanoi yesterday, Pham Dinh Thi, head of the ministry’s Tax Policy Department, said pickups mainly have engine displacement of between 2,000 and 3,000cc, so if the tax on the car with nine seats and less is currently 55 per cent of the car value, the tax on the pickups should be 33 per cent.

The proposal was made after the prime minister required the ministry to study and check the tax on pickups in the region. The ministry found that regional countries usually levy special consumption tax on pickups lower than that of autos with nine seats or less.

According to the Law on Special Consumption Tax regulations, a special consumption tax of 15 per cent is levied on pickup trucks with engine displacement of 2,500cc or less, 20 per cent for those with over 2,500cc-3,000cc and 25 per cent for those with over 3,000cc.

In recent years, the number of pickups has sharply increased in Vietnam, the majority imported. In 2012, 3,291 units were sold, of which 3,252 were imported and 39 units were locally assembled. In 2016, sales soared to 28,233 units, of which 27,265 units were imported and 968 units were locally-assembled.

Thi said the five-seat pickups had for many years enjoyed special consumption tax lower than that of vehicles with the same number of seats (lower than SUV models, with engine displacement from over 2,500cc to 3,000cc, taxed 55 per cent). Therefore, the number of consumers moving to buy pickups instead of SUVs has been seen increasing rapidly.

If the finance ministry’s proposal is approved by the government and the National Assembly, the average special consumption tax on pickups will increase by 50 to 100 per cent.