HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 26, 2025--
The Vietnam Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR Vietnam), established by the World Economic Forum and the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, and Ant International today announced a strategic partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance Vietnam’s digital economy, foster innovation, and support Ho Chi Minh City’s (HCMC) ambition to become an international financial centre and regional fintech hub.
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The partnership was announced at the Ho Chi Minh City Economic Forum 2025, officiated by Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Van Duoc.
As Vietnam emerges as one of Asia’s most dynamic engines of trade, travel, and inclusive digital finance, the collaboration between C4IR Vietnam and Ant International aims to accelerate the country’s Fourth Industrial Revolution agenda while strengthening HCMC’s competitiveness in the global economy and expanding access for the country’s small businesses.
Beyond payment infrastructure, the partnership focuses on developing Vietnam's domestic fintech ecosystem through regulatory innovation and talent development.
Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Van Duoc expressed his hope that cooperation with Ant International would accelerate the city’s progress toward becoming an international financial centre, advance digital transformation, train high-quality talent, and strengthen Vietnam’s position in the global financial system. He commended the company’s global leadership in digital payments, digitisation, financial technology and its ecosystem of advanced technology platforms, and acknowledged the positive contributions of Ant International in promoting digital transformation and developing Vietnam’s fintech ecosystem.
“We play together and win together,” Chairman Duoc emphasised, underscoring a spirit of partnership and shared success.
Accelerating Innovation and Digital Growth for Vietnam
Both parties will collaborate across several key areas to enhance Vietnam’s innovation ecosystem and ensure that businesses — particularly SMEs and startups — benefit from progressive policies, cutting-edge technology, and global connectivity:
Ant International's businesses already operate in Vietnam and will progressively expand merchant access, while all three parties will ensure continuous alignment towards the partnership goals, with regular evaluation of progress toward HCMC’s financial center development targets.
“Vietnam is one of the most exciting digital economies in the world today, powered by forward-looking policy, a vibrant startup ecosystem, and fast-growing local talent pool, " said Peng Yang, CEO of Ant International. “Ant International is excited to work with C4IR to advance the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam. We are committed to expanding such public-private partnerships continuously to bring together policy innovation and technology expertise to drive inclusive growth in Vietnam and a much more vibrant and sustainable global digital economy.”
In a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and leaders of ministries, branches and representatives of technology and financial companies at the Forum, Yang reinforced Ant International’s support towards the development of Vietnam. “We believe Ho Chi Minh City has the unique opportunity to truly become a world-leading international financial centre and we’re committed to supporting Vietnam to become a regional innovation hub under the leadership of the Prime Minister, with our full capabilities to implement the right technologies and regulation that brings real-world impact to the local community,” he added.
“Ant International will strengthen our presence and investments in Vietnam, making it one of our regional hubs for global market access.”
About Ant International
Headquartered in Singapore, Ant International is a leading global digital payment, digitisation and financial technology provider offering a unified techfin platform to unlock next-gen commerce for all. In close collaboration with partners, they support merchants of all sizes worldwide to realize their growth aspirations through a comprehensive range of tech-driven digital payment and financial services solutions. To learn more, please visit https://www.ant-intl.com/
Vietnam’s C4IR and Ant International Partner to Accelerate Innovation as Ho Chi Minh City Eyes Becoming International Financial Centre
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — New DNA testing has definitively linked the unsolved death of a Utah teenager in 1974 to the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy, the local sheriff’s office said Wednesday.
Laura Ann Aime, 17, went missing Halloween night 51 years ago after she left a party alone to go to a convenience store. About a month later, her body was found on the side of a highway in American Fork Canyon. She was bound, beaten and without clothing. Authorities said she had likely been kept alive for several days after her abduction.
Investigators long suspected that Bundy was responsible — police said he verbally acknowledged his culpability before his execution in Florida in 1989 — but the case remained open until they could be certain.
“It's really quite amazing that people are even still interested in Laura's case,” her sister, Michelle Impala, said at a news conference Wednesday. “Know I speak for my family when I thank you, and thank you media, too, for even caring.”
Bundy was one of the nation’s most prolific serial killers, with at least 30 women and girls’ deaths linked to him in several states in the 1970s. His murders — which occurred in sorority houses, parks and elsewhere — set the nation on edge. Bundy’s arrest drew widespread fascination, in part because many considered him to be charming and handsome.
Investigators had carefully preserved the evidence from Aime’s case, and forensic analysts were able to identify portions that seemed most likely to have usable DNA samples, Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said.
The state crime lab got new technology in 2023 that allows investigators to extract DNA from samples even if they are small, degraded from age or contain DNA from multiple people, he said. That technology allowed them to identify a single male DNA profile, which they submitted to a national law enforcement database.
Bundy’s DNA was a match, Mason said.
That profile can now be used by other law enforcement agencies who have long suspected Bundy of additional unsolved killings, he said, adding that more families could get similar closure.
“Laura Aime is the quintessential daughter of Utah County,” Sgt. Mike Reynolds said. “We felt the pain the family feels when she was taken. We felt the pain that you felt this whole entire time, and we’ve had the desire to deliver to you some type of healing.”
Impala was only 12 when her older sister died. Even with a five-year age gap, she said they were very close and did everything together. They shared a bedroom on the family's farm in Fairview, Utah, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Provo.
“I'm a little kid just following her around, but we had a lot in common," Impala said.
Impala reminisced about about riding horses with her sister and watching Aime feed her horse licorice nibs.
“When she died, he would not eat those anymore,” she said.
It’s not known when Bundy first began his attacks, but by 1974, young women — many of them college students — began disappearing in Washington state. Authorities were still investigating those cases when Bundy moved to Salt Lake City and began killing people in Utah, Idaho and Colorado.
At the time of Aime’s killing, Bundy was studying law at the University of Utah.
In August 1975, he was arrested for the first time in connection with the attacks. Police pulled him over and found incriminating items in his vehicle including rope, handcuffs and a ski mask.
He was found guilty the following year of kidnapping and assaulting a teen in Utah who had managed to get away. Bundy was sentenced to 15 years in prison for that crime, and while imprisoned he was charged in connection with the earlier death of a nursing student.
He was brought to Aspen, Colorado, for a hearing in that case in 1977, and he escaped custody by climbing out a second-story courthouse window when he was left alone for a time. He was caught after about a week, but escaped again six months later by breaking through the ceiling of a jail.
Bundy fled across the country, eventually making his way to Tallahassee, Florida. On Jan. 15, 1977, he entered the Chi Omega sorority house at Florida State University, bludgeoning two women to death with a large branch and leaving two more badly injured. He then went to another house nearby, badly injuring another woman.
Less than a month later, he abducted, sexually assaulted and killed a 12-year-old girl in Lake City, Florida. Kimberly Leach was believed to be his last victim before he was arrested again and executed years later.
Boone reported from Boise, Idaho.
Brent Bullock, center left, who led investigations at the Utah County Attorney's Office around the time of Laura Ann Aime's murder, shakes hands with Michelle Impala, Aime's younger sister, after a news conference at the Utah County Sheriff's Office in Spanish Fork, Utah, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, announcing definitive evidence linking Ted Bundy to Aime's murder. (Isaac Hale/The Deseret News via AP)
Michelle Impala, right, sister of Laura Ann Aime, speaks, joined by Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith, during a news conference announcing that definitive evidence has linked Ted Bundy to Aime's murder, at the Utah County Sheriff's Office, in Spanish Fork, Utah, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (Isaac Hale/The Deseret News via AP)
Utah County Sheriff's Deputy Jake Hall, lead detective on the case, looks to other family members as he hugs Tommi Aime, youngest sister of Laura Ann Aime, after announcing that definitive evidence has linked Ted Bundy to Laura's murder at a news conference at the Utah County Sheriff's Office, in Spanish Fork, Utah, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (Isaac Hale/The Deseret News via AP)
FILE - Mourners say goodbye to Kimberly Leach at her funeral, April 13, 1978, in Lake City, Fla. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Accused murderer Ted Bundy attends the second day of jury selection in his murder trial, June 27, 1979, in Miami, Fla. (AP Photo,File)
FILE - Accused murderer Ted Bundy leans back in his chair as trial judge Edward Cowart speaks, in Tallahassee, Fla., April 26, 1979. (AP Photo/Mark Foley, File)
