Viet nam

From left to right: PhD Dương Thị Hồng, deputy director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Australian Ambassador to Việt Nam Robyn Mudie, and Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative in Việt Nam pose at the launching ceremony of the supportive package to help support COVID-19 vaccine delivery in Việt Nam. — Photo courtesy of the Australian Embassy

HÀ NỘI — Australia, in co-operation with UNICEF, on Monday launched a support package worth AU$13.5 million (VNĐ241 billion) to aid COVID-19 vaccine delivery in Việt Nam.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Australian Ambassador to Việt Nam Robyn Mudie said the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines via COVAX Facility has arrived in the country , so it was necessary to ensure Việt Nam was fully prepared to administer the mass immunisation programme against COVID-19.

The package will assist Việt Nam in a range of areas to ensure successful vaccine delivery, focusing on helping the country purchase cold chain equipment to store and transport vaccine doses.

It will also provide training courses and materials for Việt Nam’s health workers and officials, and assist with the development of immunisation plans in remote localities.

The funding will support technical assistance for immunisation planning, assessments of vaccine safety and quality, capacity building for health workforces and developing information and communications campaigns.

“Over the coming months, we will be liaising with the Ministry of Health to plan how we can best complement Việt Nam’s vaccination roll-out,” she said.

Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative in Việt Nam, said introducing a new vaccine for COVID-19 was a colossal task for any government with many important steps.

UNICEF, in co-operation with the government of Australia, will work with the Ministry of Health of Việt Nam and other partners to support the introduction and rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in Việt Nam.

“No one is safe until everyone is safe, so mass vaccination against COVID-19 is an important step to contain the pandemic, protect frontline workers who serve children and for the country to reopen to the rest of the world,” she said.

PhD Dương Thị Hồng, deputy director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, which has been assigned to receive the support, said the institute would take advantage of the support for the delivery of vaccines to ensure a successful mass immunisation programme.

The package aims to help Việt Nam inoculate the prioritised 20 per cent of the population by the end of 2022 and set the foundation for immunising the remainder of the population as vaccines are rolled out nationwide.

Funding for the programme is drawn from Australia’s A$523.2 million regional Vaccine Access and Health Security Initiative, as well as from Australia’s bilateral development co-operation programme with Việt Nam.

In total, Australia has committed A$40 million over three years to support Việt Nam’s vaccine procurement and delivery efforts. Of that, A$34 million comes from Australia’s Vaccine Access and Health Security Initiative, and A$6 million from Australia’s bilateral development co-operation programme. — VNS

Davipharm’ s high-potency drugs zone in Bình Dương Province. This is Việt Nam’s first HP drugs zone for the production of cytotoxic/cytostatic oral solids. — Photo courtesy of the company

HCM CITY — Davipharm, a member of Adamed Group and manufacturer of generic drugs, has set up a high-potency drugs zone for the production of cytotoxic/cytostatic oral solids in Bình Dương, the first of its kind in Việt Nam.

These are oncological drugs in hard-shell capsules, tablets and coated tablets.

According to new regulations from the Ministry of Health and guidelines from the World Health Organization, European Medicines Agency and the Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme, the production of certain products containing hazardous ingredients must be done at separate facilities that meet certain criteria.

Speaking at a ceremony held to announce the news in HCM City on April 16, Michal Wieczorek, Davipharm’s CEO, said the HP drug zone will provide high-quality oncological drugs to Vietnamese patients.

“Currently eight out of 10 people in Việt Nam die from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cancers. This is also why Davipharm decided to be the first domestic drug manufacturer to become a partner of the Ministry of Health in the prevention, early detection and treatment of NCDs in Việt Nam.”

Davipharm’s portfolio includes 28 high-potency drugs, including for the treatment of leukaemia, breast, pancreatic, colorectal, stomach, cervix, prostate, and lung cancers, and glioblastoma.

The company has an annual capacity of 500 million units of HP drugs and 1.8 billion units of other drugs.

In 2017 Adamed Pharma, a Polish pharmaceutical and biotechnology company acquired controlling stakes in Davipharm, one of the fastest-growing drug companies in Việt Nam.

Việt Nam’s first HP Zone for the production of oncological drugs in solid form is an important milestone in terms of investing in high quality. — VNS

Davipharm’ s high-potency drugs zone in Bình Dương Province. This is Việt Nam’s first HP drugs zone for the production of cytotoxic/cytostatic oral solids. — Photo courtesy of the company

Davipharm, a member of Adamed Group and manufacturer of generic drugs, has set up a high-potency drugs zone for the production of cytotoxic/cytostatic oral solids in Binh Duong, the first of its kind in Viet Nam.

These are oncological drugs in hard-shell capsules, tablets and coated tablets.

According to new regulations from the Ministry of Health and guidelines from the World Health Organization, European Medicines Agency and the Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme, the production of certain products containing hazardous ingredients must be done at separate facilities that meet certain criteria.

Speaking at a ceremony held to announce the news in HCM City on April 16, Michal Wieczorek, Davipharm’s CEO, said the HP drug zone will provide high-quality oncological drugs to Vietnamese patients.

“Currently eight out of 10 people in Viet Nam die from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cancers. This is also why Davipharm decided to be the first domestic drug manufacturer to become a partner of the Ministry of Health in the prevention, early detection and treatment of NCDs in Viet Nam.”

Davipharm’s portfolio includes 28 high-potency drugs, including for the treatment of leukaemia, breast, pancreatic, colorectal, stomach, cervix, prostate, and lung cancers, and glioblastoma.

The company has an annual capacity of 500 million units of HP drugs and 1.8 billion units of other drugs.

In 2017 Adamed Pharma, a Polish pharmaceutical and biotechnology company acquired controlling stakes in Davipharm, one of the fastest-growing drug companies in Viet Nam.

Viet Nam’s first HP Zone for the production of oncological drugs in solid form is an important milestone in terms of investing in high quality. — VNS

Lychee being canned for export to the US. Việt Nam’s exports to the US in the first two months of the year accounted for $13.83 billion or 28.4 per cent of total exports. VNA/VNS Photo Vũ Sinh

Compiled by Thiên Lý

Exports for the year as of March 15 were worth US$62.01 billion, a year-on-year increase of 22.7 per cent, according to the General Department of Việt Nam Customs.

Exports to the US in the first two months of the year accounted for $13.83 billion or 28.4 per cent of total exports.

In recent years the US has become Việt Nam’s biggest market. Last year, for instance, at $76.4 billion it accounted for 27 per cent of the latter’s total exports.

Thân Đức Việt, general director of Garment 10 Joint Stock Company, said there were several factors behind Việt Nam’s rapid growth in exports including to the US.

Primarily, he said, the COVID-19 pandemic has gradually been controlled around the world, especially after several countries started vaccinating their populations, enabling many of them to reopen their borders and trade to resume.

Businesses in the country, hit badly for the last year or so by the pandemic, are making strenuous efforts to bounce back, he pointed out.

Many countries around the world have rolled out large stimulus packages to spend their way out of the economic slump, and this has revived trade, he added.

Many analysts concurred with these views, saying the US recently launched a $1.9 trillion package to make direct payments of $1,400 to individuals earning up to $75,000 a year starting in April.

This is the third and largest stimulus since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

Việt Nam, one of the US’s major exporters, supplying essential items like fisheries products and garments and electronics, is expected to benefit from this relief package.

Việt of Garment 10 told Đầu Tư Chứng Khoán magazine that Vietnamese exporters hope to get orders from the US.

Americans are known as big spenders, and if they get the money from the Government consumption would surely rise, he said.

His own company’s exports to the US saw relatively high growth in the first quarter and are expected to grow further due to the huge new stimulus package.

Bùi Việt Quang, general director of Red River Garment Joint Stock Company, said his company had enough export orders for until August this year, 80 per cent from the US.

“The US’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package will surely affect enterprises that export to the market. We expect to see robust growth [in US export orders] in the fourth quarter.”

Analysts said a recovery in the US economy would help Vietnamese exporters, especially those in the textile and garment industry.

However, analysts also sounded a warning saying while the US stimulus packages would benefit Việt Nam’s exporters in the short term, loose monetary policies could cause high inflation, which would increase their costs whereas they would not be able to increase prices immediately, affecting their margins.

Besides, the inflation would also hurt demand, they added.

Why property companies want to own banks

Nguyễn Tuấn Anh, director of the State Bank of Việt Nam’s department of credit for economic sectors, said growth in bank lending to the property sector in 2020 was 9.97 per cent, lower than the overall credit growth rate of 12.13 per cent.

This is becoming an emerging trend.

Enterprises in the sector have found it difficult to borrow from banks after the central bank issued a circular in 2019 prescribing limits and prudential ratios for banks.

It reduced the use of short-term deposits for medium- and long-term loans from 40 per cent to 37 per cent from October 2021 and to 30 per cent from October 2022.

This was aimed at controlling credit to high-risk sectors like real estate.

In the event, the only option real estate companies have is to themselves acquire stakes in banks.

They also target owning a piece of securities firms since that would enable them to mobilise capital from the market by issuing stocks and bonds.

Thus, Trần Thị Thu Hằng, the CEO of Sunshine group, became vice chairwoman of the Kiến Long Joint Stock Commercial Bank in 2018 and chairwoman of KS Joint Stock Company (KS Securities) around the same time, indicating that Sunshine or related parties had become major shareholders in the two.

Analysts said the finance and property sectors always have a symbiotic relationship since the latter is highly capital intensive with slow returns.

Thus, Vingroup has tied up with Techcombank, MIKGroup with VPBank, Đất Xanh Group with Viet A Bank, and TNR Holdings Việt Nam with MSB.

While the Government’s efforts to control lending to the property sector have had some effect, banks remain an important source of funding for real estate development projects.

This trend is expected continue in future, analysts said. VNS

Participants attend the United Nations Security Council’s open debate on cooperation between the UN and regional organisations via videoconference late on Monday. VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI – While peace, co-operation and development are the prevailing trends and fervent aspirations of all countries and peoples, the world today is still riddled with challenges, said Vietnamese President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc.

He made the statement at an open debate of United Nations Security Council entitled ‘Enhancing cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organisations in enhancing confidence-building and dialogue in conflict prevention and resolution’ which was held both in-person and online late on Monday.

In the past five years, conflicts have taken away half a million lives across the globe, he said as the current President of the United Nations Security Council.

“In 2020 alone, the world recorded 20 million refugees over 50 million people displaced due to conflicts and around 170 million in need of humanitarian assistance.

“These are the people who are left behind and we call upon our Council to take action against major challenges, such as COVID-19, natural disasters, severe climate change, border and territorial disputes and conflicts, frictions and geostrategic competition. Increased international energy is more crucial than ever,” he said.

In his speech, the President emphasised the importance of confidence and dialogue in international relations, appreciating ties between regional organisations and the United Nations in preventing and resolving conflicts.

He said ASEAN has been working with China to negotiate the establishment of the code of conduct in the South China Sea (called East Sea by Việt Nam) to maintain peace, stability, maritime security and safety in the waters. ASEAN is also playing a central role in seeking an adequate solution to help stabilise the situation in Myanmar, through dialogue and reconciliation, and on April 24, ASEAN leaders will host a special summit to discuss this important issue.

He submitted three proposals at the debate.

First, he said it was essential to promote interactions between the UN and regional organisations to share knowledge and co-ordinate joint endeavours.

Second, it was a must to promote the role of multilateralism and uphold the UN Charter and international law because this is the most concrete and solid foundation to build trust and promote dialogues.

“Early conflict prevention requires inclusive and comprehensive solutions to address the root causes of conflicts such as poverty, hunger inequality and violence.

“The international community should strive to fulfil the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other global security and development strategies and initiatives, led by the UN, paying greater attention and giving adequate assistance to developing countries who face serious resources constraints,” he said.

Regional organisations should take comprehensive agendas and integrate the UN’s development frameworks and initiatives into their national and regional development plans, he said.

ASEAN is making every effort to fulfil the goal, building a community united in politics, diverse in culture, connected in economics and with increased co-operation with external partners by 2025.

“As an active member of ASEAN, Việt Nam has effectively placed COVID-19 under control, enjoyed a high economic growth rate and actively engaged in international integration,” he said.

Third, it was necessary to continue enhancing co-operation between the UN Security Council and regional organisations through dialogue and co-operation frameworks and early warning mechanisms on volatile issues.

“The UNSC needs to continue acknowledging and respecting the perspectives, role and contributions of regional organisations,” he said.

With the motto ‘Partnership for a sustainable peace’, Việt Nam will do its best to bring co-operation between the United Nations and regional organisations, including ASEAN, to new heights, he said.

Also at the debate, he presided over the adoption of a Declaration of the Chairman of the Security Council proposed by Việt Nam to affirm the cohesion between the UN and UN Security Council and regional organisations in preventing and resolving conflict, with trust-building and dialogue essential elements.

The declaration called for ensuring cohesion and the complementary nature of co-operation efforts, urging regional organisations to play a supporting role and making recommendations on conflict prevention and resolution for member states in accordance with the UN Charter and related agreements. It suggested the UN Secretary-General propose solutions to promote measures to build trust and dialogue. — VNS

HCM City FC’s coach Alexandre Polking criticised Nam Định after the 3-2 loss. Photo thanhnien.vn

NAM ĐỊNH — HCM City FC coach Alexandre Polking slammed Nam Định for time-wasting at the end of his side’s 3-2 defeat on Sunday, but Nam Định coach Nguyễn Văn Sỹ insisted what his side did was within the limits of fair play.

At Thiên Trường stadium in Nam Định, the home team won thanks to two goals by Ossou Konan and one from Rodrigo Dias while Lâm Ti Phông’s brace wasn’t enough for HCM City to take anything.

The turning point came after a beautiful free-kick from Rodrigo Dias in the 67th minute to make the score 3-2. Tempers flared in the dying minutes and Phan Văn Hiếu of Nam Định and City star Lee Nguyễn received red cards in extra time.

After the match, Polking said he wasn’t happy to see the home team wasting time by committing fouls to preserve their lead.

“What I saw here today in the last 12 minutes is not good for the league at all. It’s a shame for me to see that. I would never do that for a team to win a game. Never,” he said, referring to time-wasting from Nam Định.

Polking congratulated Nam Định’s players and said the referee did the right thing in adding on a lot of extra time but lambasted the home team’s efforts to slow the game by throwing the ball away when it went out of play and players staying down.

“It’s not good for the league he said,” adding, “this is (from) 20 years ago.”

Nam Định’s coach Nguyễn Văn Sỹ disagreed with Polking’s statement and said his opponents would have done the same thing if roles were reversed.

“HCM City would have done that too if they had been in the same situation,” Sỹ said.

“The dedication of the players in this match was amazing. I hope they keep their determination in the next matches. This is a worthy result for the club and the fans of Nam Định.

“They said my team bought time, but they also have to look in the mirror. HCM City also injured my players. What we did to preserve the score is completely within the limits of football,” said the 49-year-old.

Nam Định currently sit sixth in the table with 15 points after 10 games, while HCM City are in 12th place with only 10 points – only one point away from bottom.

In the next match, Nam Định will meet Than Quảng Ninh, while HCM City will face defending champions Viettel. VNS