Danang City hotline takes English queries

The hotline of Vietnam’s central hub, Danang City, has been officially extended to assist and receive feedback in English from foreign tourists and organizations since August 25. 

The move comes after the city hotline at (+84) 0511 1022 has been receiving on average 400 calls in English each day, the government portal reported on August 26.

Foreigners will now be able to call the hotline for addresses of local restaurants, accommodation, tourist sights and upcoming events. The city also plans to include information on policies and administrative procedures.

After the trial period, Danang wants to extend the hotline to become a regular source of information in English available everyday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., said Pham Truong Quoc Vuong, the deputy director of Danang Community Information Services Center. 

The fully functioning hotline is expected to be ready for the fifth Asian Beach Games (ABG 5), scheduled from September 24 to October 3 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit 2017, which will take place in October.

Last April, Danang merged 200 hotlines into one number (0511-1022) to receive and process queries from the public. Calling from a landline in Danang only requires dialing 1022.

The call costs VND200 (1 cent) per minute. Landline calls from other provinces and from mobile phones will need to add the area code 0511 and calls cost VND888 per minute.

Danang has recently computerized various services, including one-stop shops, residential management, public transport and water supervision. The city also plans to become a smart city by 2020.