Cross-posted from: http://vn.gohalalplanet.com/2011/10/16/gohalalplanet-vietnam-update/

GoHalalPlanet had a very productive weekend in HCMC. There are many updates to the Vietnamese GoHalalPlanet site for Hanoi, HCMC and Nha Trang which are included below:

Nha Trang

Nha Trang now has a Halal Groceries in Nha Trang section. Citimart has a store in Nha Trang with some halal products from Malaysia very useful for any Muslim Expats or travelers in Nha Trang. We are also still trying to contact the two halal restaurants currently in Nha Trang.

Hanoi

For Hanoi, we added a Halal Meat in Hanoi section with three contacts for halal meat in the city. Muslims can buy either local halal meat (chicken, sheep, or beef) or imported New Zealand halal meat. We also updated the Halal Groceries in Hanoi section to include two Citimart stores.

Next week we hope to start updating the entire list of halal restaurants in Hanoi.

Ho Chi Minh City

The biggest update occurred in Ho Chi Minh City. We added the Halal Meat in HCMC section with four local halal meat contacts and two New Zealand halal meat import contacts. It is now easy for any Muslims to get halal meat in HCMC.

The Halal Groceries in HCMC section has been updated to include 17 Citimart stores where Muslims can buy some halal products. This was one of the biggest surprises for GoHalalPlanet when we saw the large number of halal certified food products at Citimart.

We added 6 halal restaurants to the Halal Restaurants in HCMC section. They include:

1. Pho Muslim
2. Flavour of India
3. Sari Indo (Parkson)
4. Vicki’s Teppanyaki & BBQ
5. Halal Street Food Vendor
6. Kedai Zai Dah

They are all halal restaurants worth visiting. We still have about 7-10 more halal restaurants to visit and add to this list.

Cambodia

Yes, we will start to research for our next country site. We hope to provide information on all halal restaurants in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Related posts:

1. GoHalalPlanet.com launched Most of you probably know that I have been working...
2. Pho Muslim – Halal Pho and Bun Bo Hue in Saigon For the last month, I have started to follow a...
3. D’Nyonya Penang Halal Restaurant – Saigon, Vietnam This is another one of my favorite halal Malaysian restaurants...

Yeah, doing business in Vietnam does seem to get easier and easier day by day but Vietnam still has a long way to go.  Government policies are ineffective when their is a lack of transparency among the various government agencies.  Corruption and graft are ripe.  It is a shame that laundered money is still considered as FDI in Vietnam (I am not pointing fingers but just take a look at the many projects “sponsored” by East European and Chinese Malay “investors” around the country).

If Vietnam signs the Hague Convention, doing business could become even easier but does it really want to at this time?  That is for the Vietnamese government to decide…

Anyway, I bet my Turkish friends are wondering how a Democratic Turkey (60) is ranking below a Communist Vietnam in global competitiveness.

View the full report here: -> http://www.weforum.org/documents/GCR10/Full%20rankings.pdf

Despite this report, the Vietnam Index remained unchanged by the end of trading session.

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The photos below are shots of the Tonle Sap from the restaurant where I had breakfast.  The Tonle Sap flows into the Mekong River at this point.

(Tonle Sap flowing into the Mekong River at the far right)

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Currently Zaman University is finishing wiring of the school and more furniture should begin arriving from Turkey shortly.

Zaman University is looking for faculty and teachers, if you are interested, contact them through their website.

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My last night in Phnom Penh, I stayed in one of the rooms available to teachers and guests at the high school.  The room was really nice and comfortable.

I only took a few pictures on this trip but I will surely visit these schools several times this year.

Zaman Primary School

(Zaman Primary School)

(Activities area)

(Canteen, I enjoyed watching these kids eat their lunches)

(End of the day, students waiting for their parents)

Zaman High School

(Entrance of the Zaman High School next to the Russian Embassy compound)

(My room at the Zaman High School)

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