Deputy finance minister

An online portal has been launched to help farmers in pandemic-hit Bac Giang province sell their lychees.

“Thank God, it’s so effective,” vice director of Bac Giang Enterprise Consulting and Assistance Centre (BECA) Duong Thanh Son said about the portal launched by the centre. Bac Giang has been hit hardest by COVID-19 during its fourth wave in Vietnam, causing difficulties for local farmers.

The portal www.hotrotieuthuvaithieubacgiang.com was launched about three weeks ago and a Facebook page hotrotieuthuvaithieubacgiang was created just a few days later when Bac Giang started entering the lychee harvest season.

Consumers can register to buy a large volume of lychees – a minimum of a tonne – after inputting basic information like name, e-mail, phone number, address and amount of lychee.

Son, who specialises in information technology and communication, said that the portal looked simple but behind it were automatic customer management and customer care programmes that help with online sales.

The portal and the Facebook page have reached hundreds of thousands of users, Son said, adding that he has received positive feedback on social media.

“We connect Bac Giang lychee farmers and co-operatives with buyers. We pledge that our consumers can buy high-quality lychee at very good prices,” Son said.

“If we had thought of the portal earlier and prepared for it about three months ago when lychee was still green, we could have reached more consumers,” Son said.

He said the idea for the portal came up when Bac Giang farmers entered lychee harvest time but the province was struggling to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, the province has about 28,100 ha of lychee with an estimated production of 180,000 tonnes. The COVID-19 outbreaks caused difficulties for harvesting, transporting, selling and exporting the fruit.

Together with the Government, provincial authorities, organisations and individuals, BECA helped farmers in lychee consumption. All BECA staff, mostly IT and media personnel, have helped with online sales.

On the first day of launching the portal, Son said they received hundreds of messages asking to buy lychees. Orders for small amounts, for example a few kilos, were transferred to local retailers while BECA would concentrate on large orders, especially those from enterprises, which as Son said, had financial ability and willingness to buy large amounts.

Within the first week, BECA helped to sell nearly 140 tonnes of lychee.

“We have a goal to help farmers sell 1,000-1,800 tonnes of lychee. It’s a big goal, so we need help from associations, enterprises and businesses,” Son said.

Son is also looking for other potential consumers – community groups. He said, for example, the Duong community – sharing the family name Duong in Vietnam – was very large. Son received an order of 17 tonnes from the Duong community in HCM City, and they were set to order two more containers. The Duong communities in Binh Thuan and Binh Duong ordered two containers each.

Dinh Thi Anh from the northern province of Nam Dinh said that on seeing news about COVID-19 hotspots in Bac Giang province, she wanted to do something for people there, especially farmers who faced difficulties in selling lychee.

She said that she was very happy to find a reliable source that supplies Bac Giang lychees and she asked her friends to add their orders on hotrotieuthuvaithieubacgiang.com and then sell the fruit to people in Nam Dinh city.

All the funds raised would be donated to the national COVID-19 vaccine fund, Anh said.

Anh and dozens of volunteers on June 7 received the first shipment of lychee from Bac Giang and by the afternoon of the same day, they sold nearly a tonne of lychee at two stalls located at 757 Vu Huu Loi and 440 Tran Hung Dao in Nam Dinh city.

“We unloaded the lychees, weighed and divided them into bags of 2kg, received orders and then delivered them to consumers or sold them at the stalls,” Anh said, adding that people not only bought lychee but also donated to the fund.

“We will be with Bac Giang! We can not do big things, so we offer a little help,” Anh said.

Son said that he deeply understood the hardships that local farmers faced as well as the importance of lychee fruit – a source of pride for people in Bac Giang.

They are more proud of the fruit, as now, lychee is grown with VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards. The farming products are not only tasty but also safe. For years, Bac Giang lychee has been exported to 30 countries all over the world including demanding markets like the US, EU and Japan. In the domestic market, the fruit is sold in major supermarket chains.

Son said that since the beginning of harvest time, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Bac Giang lychee could reach consumers both in and outside of the country.

Bac Giang authorities were determined to minimise the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lychee harvesting and consumption.

Particularly, the authorities set up COVID-19-free lychee growing areas, meaning that in lychee growing areas, all people suspected to have close contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases are taken to concentrated quarantine areas and none of such areas are located in lychee growing areas.

Checkpoints have been set up to strictly control and monitor people and vehicles entering the lychee growing areas. All drivers, workers and traders arriving in lychee growing areas must take quick COVID-19 tests.

All vehicles carrying lychee must be disinfected.

Tran Quang Tan, director of the province’s Trade and Industry Department, said that lychee farmers would feel hurt if they hear their fruit needed rescuing.

The province’s authorities called for support, not rescue. To some extent, when it comes to “farming product rescue campaigns”, people tend to think about abundant, cheap, low-quality products.

“Bac Giang lychee does not need rescuing,” Son said, adding that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, since the beginning of harvest time, the lychee consumption was still going on.

“Difficulties? Yes, we face a lot of difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic and we need your support to overcome them. Bac Giang will overcome all such difficulties,” Son said.

“Bac Giang people are now proud to offer tasty lychee at reasonable prices. As the consumption goes smoothly, both farmers and consumers are happy for the benefits they get,” Son said.

The lychee harvest time in Bac Giang province will last about one and a half months. The province reported more than 70,000 tonnes were sold, meaning that more than 100,000 tonnes of Bac Giang lychee still needs to be sold. This year, lychee prices are similar to those of last year, ranging from 13,000 VND to 30,000 VND per kilo ($0.5-1.3)./.

VN-Index heading toward 1,400 points this week on bullish sentiment: analysts

The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) closed last week at 1,351.74 points, recovering on the back of large-cap stocks. But for the week, the index still lost 0.5 per cent.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index rose 1.72 per cent last Friday to 316.69 points. The index, however, slightly declined by 0.6 per cent for the week.

After plummeting due to strong profit-taking activities earlier last week, the market rebounded later in the week as risk appetite increased.

The market also received support from the improvement of the overload order problems and the comeback of foreign investors after net selling for eight consecutive sessions.

Analysts from MB Securities Corporation (MBS) said that the market was showing investors’ optimism. The positive sentiment would continue throughout this week, helping the market in the race to the 1,400 point-level.

On the technical front, MBS thought that the strong recovery of the market in late sessions last week ended the correction period around 1,300 points, creating momentum for the market to enter a new rising wave.

“With the current strong rally, we think the market can head to the target of 1,400 points in the coming sessions,” MBS said.

SSI Securities Corporation (SSI) also expressed optimism. “The VN-Index followed a positive scenario once there was confirmation about the recoveries of large-cap stocks, as well as the even spread of cash inflows,” SSI said.

“Therefore, there is the possibility that the VN-Index will continue to reach higher in the near future and head toward the target zone of 1,400 points.”

According to BOS Securities Corporation (BOS), technically, the market benchmark breached the resistance level of 1,350 points on strong demand, along with weaker selling pressure. This made some technical indicators reverse and showed positive signs in the short term.

However, cash flow warned about the possibility of weaker demand in some coming sessions. The VN-Index is likely to maintain its rally and head back to its previous peak of 1,370 points this week.

“Nevertheless, selling pressure is expected to increase during rallies, making the market face some more fluctuations,” BOS added.

Meanwhile, Saigon – Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS) said that the market corrected after five straight weekly gains, but last week’s market liquidity remained at a high level with an average of nearly VND31.3 trillion (US$1.36 billion) per session on both bourses, which showed relatively strong selling pressure.

SHS forecast that the market might see some corrections when selling pressure rises at the current level.

As the market corrected last week, most pillar stocks edged down. Of which, gas and oil stocks fell the most in market capitalisation, down 5.7 per cent. PetroViet Nam Coating JSC (PVCoating, PVB), PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (OIL), PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services Corporation (PVD), Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (BSR) and PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS) all posted losses of more than 5 per cent in market cap.

They were followed by utilities and banking sectors, down 4.3 per cent and 3.8 per cent, respectively.

Foreign investors were still net sellers last week as they net sold a value of VND730 billion (US$32 million). But this amount was lower than that of the week before, which was nearly VND6.2 trillion (US$267.8 million).

Finance ministry inspectorate to check out ailing HCM City stock exchange

The Ministry of Finance’s Chief Inspector has signed a decision to inspect the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) after its failure to resolve the chronic overload of its trading system.

The decision follows an order from Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc for an immediate inspection.

The inspection delegation will work out a work plan depending on the COVID-19 situation in the city.

Nguyen Hoang Hai, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Association of Financial Investors, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) online, that the overload left investors unable to trade securities.

The problem began last year and has steadily worsened, weakening investors’ trust and causing them losses, he added.

According to evn.express.net, the system has been unstable for months, with orders simply frozen or executed very slowly, and stock prices are not displayed, forcing investors to take needless risks.

The worst happened on June 1, when there were excessive volumes and trading value topped VND21.7 trillion ($935.3 million) in just the morning session. The system sounded a warning, and HoSE was forced to suspend trading in the afternoon to prevent possible problems.

From June 2, it refused to allow traders to cancel or modify orders to prevent the system from overloading.

Leading brokerages have to date reallowed the use of the features though some are still enforcing limits during peak trading hours.

Businesses in Ho Chi Minh City wallowing in lack of capital and high production costs

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, most businesses in Ho Chi Minh City face a shortage of capital while production costs are increasing.

Regarding business activities, since the beginning of the year, 1,365 businesses have reported difficulties due to the pandemic, more than 42,500 workers lost their jobs or stopped working, 410 businesses needed loans to pay wages to workers, and 2,274 enterprises completed dissolution procedures.

The chairman expects the business community and people in the area to join the government to overcome this difficulty. He stated that, currently, Ho Chi Minh City has to spend about VND7 billion ($304,350) a day on testing. The city’s goal is to vaccinate its entire population.

“It is very difficult to access vaccines now because supply still cannot meet the demand,” Nguyen Van Nen, Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Committee said and urged people who know of guaranteed vaccine supply to contact the city.

Meanwhile, Le Thi Huynh Mai, director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Investment, said that in the first five months, more than 6,400 businesses resumed operations.

However, the business community is facing difficulties, with the number of enterprises registering for dissolution increasing by 5 per cent over the same period last year (2,458 enterprises) and the number of enterprises temporarily suspending operation increasing nearly 24 per cent with more than 9,800 enterprises.

There are five common difficulties that businesses are facing, including a decrease in the labour force involved in production, incurring expenses for the prevention of COVID-19, employees having their work hours cut or forced to quit, disruptions in access to customers and supply chains, and lack of raw materials for production.

Chu Tien Dung, head of the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Business Associations (HUBA), expressed concerns, saying that more businesses withdrew from the market in the first two quarters than those entering.

A quick online survey of over 100 businesses by HUBA showed that over 84 per cent of small- and medium-sized enterprises have been facing difficulties since the fourth outbreak of COVID-19. Accordingly, 40 per cent of respondents claimed to have had difficulties from a lack of capital, 80 per cent from market disruptions, 52 per cent from downsizing employment, 14 from interruptions to raw material supply chains, and more than 50 per cent suffered from social distancing measures.

Although some enterprises in key industries have quickly reconnected the source of raw materials and re-adjusted their operations, they are facing the biggest pressure from the lack of capital and the rising price of raw materials, raising manufacturing costs and reducing competitiveness.

Many businesses want to restructure, apply new technologies, or digitally transform to promote online shopping, but lack capital for it.

“The first support packages for businesses and employees were timely but the implementation has not had a clear impact on businesses. Some policies such as tax exemption, social insurance reduction have helped businesses reduce difficulties in terms of liquidity and cash flow, but the application time is short and the number of these packages is not large, so it cannot help businesses overcome their difficulties,” said Dung.

Textile and garment companies struggle in fourth Covid-19 wave

Most textile and garment companies in the country have received large orders for the second half of the year but the fourth Covid-19 wave is threatening to hinder production.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, textile and garment orders increased significantly after the Covid-19 pandemic was brought under control in the United States, the European Union and Japan, some of Vietnam’s main importers of textile and garment products.

The manufacturing index of the textile and garment sector in May 2021 rose 2.2% from the previous month and 10% compared with the same period last year. From January to May, the index grew 8.1% year-on-year.

The country exported over US$12 billion of textile and garment products in the first five months of the year, increasing 15% year-on-year.

However, textile and garment companies are struggling with disruptions caused by the ongoing fourth Covid-19 wave, which began on April 27.

Vu Duc Giang, chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, said at least 45 textile and garment companies had to suspend their operations over the past two weeks. They are facing a number of problems including rising costs, salary payments to maintain the staff and compensation for customers in case of late shipments.

“If a textile and garment company has to shut down for 14-21 days, its production plan for the entire year may be ruined,” he said.

Le Tien Truong, chairman of the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), said even if textile and garment companies remain operational, they may not be able to maintain their workforce as workers staying in areas under lockdown or social distancing are not allowed to travel to the workplace. This can cause a loss of billions of dollars and affect the reputation of the Vietnamese textile and garment sector.

Nguyen Xuan Duong, chairman of the board of Hung Yen Garment Corporation, said the Government should accelerate Covid-19 vaccination for workers of industrial parks and export processing zones, especially in current hotspots such as Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, HCMC and Hanoi. These hotspots are also home to many industrial parks and export processing zones.

Enterprises under Vinatex said they are willing to use their own money to vaccinate their workers against Covid-19. The cost is estimated at VND100-200 billion.

“We hope the Covid-19 vaccination will be prioritized for workers in the textile and garment sector so that we can stabilize our production in the coming time,” Duong said.

Local firms boost processed mango exports to U.S.

Due to difficulties in exporting Vietnam’s fresh mangoes, many firms have invested in processing to boost the consumption of processed mangoes in foreign markets, mainly the United States.

In the first three months of the year, Vietnam was the United States’ 13th largest mango supplier, according to the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

During the three-month period, the U.S. increased its import of dried mangoes and mango juice from Vietnam. Vietnam shipped 97 tons of mango juice worth US$102,600 to the American market, skyrocketing by 340% in volume and 160.5% in value year-on-year. The country’s export of dried mangoes to the United States reached 68 tons worth US$83,000.

Despite the modest volume, fostering the export of processed products is a growth trend for Vietnamese mango, said many firms.

Nguyen Dinh Tung, general director of Vina T&T Group, told the Saigon Times that the export of fresh fruits, including mango, had faced multiple difficulties due to high transport costs and the prolonged transportation time, while fresh fruits also have a short shelf life. Besides, many countries have erected technical barriers to fresh fruits to protect local products and customers, he said.

Taking the U.S. market as an example, he said that in the past, it took 20-23 days to ship goods by sea from Vietnam to the market, but now, the transport time is 30-35 days. Meanwhile, Vietnam’s preservation technology keeps mangoes fresh for a mere 30 days.

“Sometimes, the fresh mangoes arrived in the U.S. market, but reached the expiration date and were not sold to customers,” Tung said.

Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetables Association, said that since 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic emerged, many fruit exporters have sought ways to adapt to the new market situation.

Due to high transport costs and the shortage of containers, many firms which specialize in exporting fresh products have shifted to processed products for shipments.

“Processed mangoes have a longer shelf life than fresh ones and do not face severe competition from the products of other countries,” Nguyen said.

Statistics indicated that in 2020, Vietnam shipped some US$800 million worth of processed vegetables and fruits to the United States, accounting for 25% of the total value of veggie and fruit exports, while the proportion was 10%-15% in 2019.

In addition, Europe and other countries are raising their consumption of Vietnam’s processed fruit, mainly dried mangoes and mango juice, urging many local exporters to upgrade and improve their machines and technology and expand production to ramp up the capacity of processing fruits and meet demands.

“This year, Vietnam’s export of processed fruits, including mangoes, is expected to soar by 30% against last year,” said Nguyen.

Vietnam shipped an estimated US$400 million of vegetables and fruits to foreign countries in May, up 48.3% year-on-year, sending the country’s export value of these products in the first five months of the year to US$1.77 billion, up 18% year-on-year.

In 2020, Vietnam exported 2,100 tons of mangoes worth US$4.6 million to America, up 66% in volume and 70% in value against 2019, while the latter bought 1,150 tons of frozen mangoes from Vietnam, up 38% from the 2019 figure.

Unsecured debts require regulation

Unsecured loan sales may see growth accelerated in response to a Vietnamese government ban on debt collection services – however, experts believed a clearer legal framework and firmer rules would help spur a more substantial unsecured debts market.

The package of nine debts includes small loans, valued from VND1.68 million ($73) to VND17.58 million ($770). The consumer loans are unsecured and the starting selling prices are equal to their book value. The total value of nine debts is around VND75.5 million ($3,300).

The bank will select the buyer with the highest bid that is at least equal to the starting price of each debt. The starting price does not include any costs regarding to fee for ownership transfer and other costs, if any, when purchasing the debt.

These costs shall be solely borne by the auction winner. The down payment is also equal to the starting price of the debt.

“Loan sales are not a new phenomenon. Collateral-backed loans are quite common as a part of banks’ asset and liability management,” said Truong Thanh Duc, director of ANVI Law Firm. “They often sell loan packages with collateral such as real estate, machinery, equipment, factories, and cars, among others, while unsecured consumer loans sales are among the first of its kind for a commercial bank.”

A representative of VietinBank said that selling consumer loans is one of the bank’s normal operations, according to regulations, to handle and recover debts.

“Perhaps this is the first time that a commercial bank has offered unsecured loans sales to the public, so it attracts a tonne of attention. We will continue follow our precedent cases on debt sales. At the first stage, we set the initial price equal to book value. If these debts cannot be sold, we would lower the price later on,” the representative said.

Duc of ANVI said that it is not just “a walk in the park” to sell consumer loans at a book value, coupled with interest and late payment penalty interest. Banks can only sell loans at a price equal to 50-70 per cent of their book value even for collateral-backed ones.

The question of whether or not VietinBank could successfully execute their sales still remains unanswered, but it could set a precedent for other lenders to follow suit.

Financial expert Huynh Trung Minh noted that in other countries, trading unsecured debts is familiar to financial institutions and debt buyers, and consumer debts are important for buyers to expand their customers’ database and information.

According to Vietnam’s revised Law on Investment, debt-collecting businesses are now banned in Vietnam as part of local government action to protect customers’ rights.

However, this is considered a strict approach to consumer finance companies, since the majority of their customers are underbanked or unbanked.

Currently, there are nearly 20 consumer finance companies operating in the country. In the last 10 years, FE Credit has emerged as the top player, accounting for around 52 per cent of market share, far ahead of the rivals Home Credit (17 per cent) and HD Saison (11 per cent).

Masataka “Sam” Yoshida, head of the Cross-border Division of RECOF Corporation and CEO of RECOF Vietnam said, “Putting a stop to the operation of debt collectors poses challenges to lenders or creditors where their collection performance will be affected. Consumer finance companies need to make changes to meet these evolving regulatory requirements. This will be inconvenient, time-consuming, and expensive at first but creates an opportunity for the consumer finance companies to rethink their collections strategies and operations.”

On the other hand, Duc of ANVI shared his concern that it would be tough to take advantage of unsecured debts. Therefore, he hypothesised that the sale of the debts is just another approach to dodge the debt collection service ban. Duc also stated most debt collectors, after the Law on Investment took effect, have not dissolved, but instead converted their business to debt trading/buying to be legally in line with the current law.

If banks can sell their unsecured loans, it is likely that they will transfer their debts to ensure operational efficiency. Furthermore, driving forces behind loan sales may stem from a better cashflow statement and financial information to the public.

“We might also see an increasing trend of selling or trading the debts from those who are not strong enough in debt collection. Debt sales can be an effective tool for certain accounts, especially those with low expected recoveries. However, it might be better implemented if policies and procedures for debt sales could have clearer guidance from the government,” Yoshida of RECOF added.

Investors pointing to upbeat momentum

Vietnam’s generally effective control of the health crisis and improvement of the investment and business climate have further strengthened the confidence of investors in the country.

Over the next few weeks, the province will hold an online investment promotion conference to attract more Japanese funding. The event is expected to be joined by 40-50 Japanese companies, mostly operating in manufacturing and processing.

Currently, the province is instructing 10 foreign investors to complete dossiers, which are expected to be licensed this year with the total registered capital of $576 million, including some big projects involving liquefied natural gas warehousing ($200 million), refrigerator equipment ($90 million), and environmental protection ($160 million).

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), Quang Ninh is a typical example among many localities as good destinations for FDI in Vietnam, where the business and investment climate is significantly improving.

Despite causing grave consequences worldwide, COVID-19 has as yet been unable to prevent FDI inflows to Vietnam for the long term, and rising manufacturing, with both being major drivers of Vietnam’s economic growth this year and beyond.

For 2021 up to May 20, the total of newly-registered, added capital, and capital contributions as well as share purchases hit $14 billion, up 0.8 per cent on-year. Notably, the newly-registered capital hit $8.83 billion, up 18.6 per cent on-year, and the added capital reached $3.86 billion, up 11.7 per cent on-year.

FDI disbursement hit $7.15 billion, up 6.7 per cent on-year, thanks to production and business recovery.

The MPI said many major foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) are expanding in Vietnam, which is again restricting COVID-19 to only a handful of already locked-down areas.

For example, CEVA Logistics (Vietnam) under global logistics and supply chain company CEVA Logistics is now boosting recruitment of more employees for many positions. Under the business plan of CEVA Logistics Vietnam, the firm is expanding its network to ship goods to the US, which was Vietnam’s largest export market, with total turnover of $ 37.6 billion in the first five months of 2021, up 49.8 per cent on-year.

“In Vietnam, the company’s total revenue in the first quarter from freight shipping increased about 30 per cent on-year,” Nguyen Thanh Van, head of Contract Logistics at CEVA Vietnam, told VIR. “It is expected that the rate will be about 20-35 per cent for the entire year.”

According to the General Statistics Office, businesses such as CEVA have contributed greatly to the country’s goods transportation which hit 739 million tonnes in the first five months of 2021, up 10.5 per cent as compared to the same period last year, when the rate declined 8 per cent on-year. Also in the first five months, Vietnam’s total export-import turnover is estimated to hit $262.2 billion, including $130.94 billion from exports – up 30.7 per cent on-year, and $131.3 billion from imports – up 36.4 per cent on-year.

A World Business Outlook Survey conducted released two weeks ago by the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad said that German businesses are showing optimism about Vietnam’s economy.

“Vietnam is still one of the countries with the fastest economic growth in Southeast Asia,” said the report. “German business leaders in Vietnam maintain a positive view with the economic expectation as well as with their situation in Vietnam and they look forward to a recovered year of 2021 and 2022.”

According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), in the first five months of this year, the economy’s index for industrial production (IIP) climbed 9.9 per cent as compared to that of only 1 per cent in the same period last year. Notably the manufacturing and processing sector, which creates 80 per cent of the nation’s industrial growth, ascended 12.6 per cent in comparision with that of merely 2.2 per cent in the corresponding period of 2020.

The IIP in May expanded 11.6 per cent over the same period last year, when the IIP declined 3.1 per cent on-year.

The GSO also reported that, in the first five months of 2021, the economy witnessed 55,800 enterprises newly established, registered at VND778.3 trillion ($33.84 billion) and employing 412,400 new labourers, up 15.4 per cent in the number of enterprises and 39.5 per cent in registered capital.

If another VND975.1 trillion ($42.4 billion) registered by 19,100 operational enteprises was included, the total capital supplemented into the economy in the period was VND1.753 quadrillion ($76.2 billion), up 27.5 per cent on-year. Moreover, 22,600 businesses resumed their operations, up 3.9 per cent on-year. Source: General Statistics Office

Virus-hit provinces seek continuation of production

The people of the two northern provinces of Bac Giang and Bac Ninh are demonstrating their mettle in the fight against recent coronavirus outbreaks, retaining production to protect supply chains as much as possible.

Amishh Rajnikant Jaitha, CEO of Spica Elastic Vietnam Co., Ltd. in Bac Ninh’s Que Vo IZ, said that the interruption recently has caused a lot of challenges to its 45 partners, especially some key ones that have 8,000-12,000 workers. “My company is operating four factories and four offices in separate places. We have asked office staff to work from home, and office areas will be accommodation for other workers. We have bought a lot of beds, and built some more bathrooms for them to live,” Jaitha said.

Dang Thi Kien Chung, head of Planning for ITM Semiconductor Vietnam in Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) said, “That is the best solution to keep employees safe and resume factory operations. Safety is the goal that all of us should pay attention to, in order to confirm our responsibilities to society.”

A representative of Wisol Hanoi, also in VSIP said, “Instead of buying beds, we provided individual tents to make some privacy for workers. At living areas there are services such as wi-fi, air conditioners and purifier, clothes extractor, and the toilets have become bathrooms. They are also fed meals each day,” she said.

Bui Hoang Mai, director of the Bac Ninh Industrial Zones Management Authority said over 500 businesses resumed last week after careful preparation. “The board has established 40 delegations to check and guide factories and facilities to ensure safety. If enterprises are stuck or face some difficulties, they can report to us or the provincial government to ask for some help and resume operations as soon as possible.”

As of June 3, there were 951 positive COVID-19 cases in Bac Ninh, including almost 250 cases at businesses. Over 35,700 vaccines were administered for local people, and 90,000 workers in IZs are expected to be vaccinated this week.

In a meeting last week with Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh, Chairwoman of Bac Ninh People’s Committee Nguyen Huong Giang proposed the government to provide an additional 500,000 antigen rapid tests, and support businesses hit by the pandemic with policies such as tax exemption or extension. She also proposed the state budget to provide around $21.7 million to the province to promptly prevent the pandemic from damaging the area further.

Before resuming operations, businesses have to meet all regulations on preventing and fighting against COVID-19 like negative tests and safe distancing in the factories; as well as setting up accommodation areas for employees. Bac Ninh and Bac Giang authorities continue to closely work with the delegations of the Ministry of Health to manage the pandemic before allowing businesses back into operation.

As of the end of June 4, there were 2,819 cases in Bac Giang positive with COVID-19, including about 380 cases in Van Trung IZ and 1,700 cases in Quang Chau IZ.

Cooperation plans still on hold amid railway system revamp

While state-owned giant Vietnam Railways’ new restructuring plan is expected to leverage private investment in the ailing railway industry, the track to prosperity remains steep.

Vu Anh Minh, chairman of VNR – the operator of the country’s railway network – told VIR, “We will keep the merger of Haraco and Saratrans, the two largest train operators in Vietnam, under VNR and then proceed with the establishment. The submission of the separation to the prime minister for approval is expected within June.”

VNR expected that it will be able to attract private investment for its development plans when the separation is approved. Thus, in the establishment of a cargo transport company, stakes are being planned to sell for potential investors.

The separation also includes investment in construction of warehouses and inland container depots (ICDs); upgrading and development of railway stations into trade centres and offices for lease in line with the Law on Railways 2017; and upgrading of railway routes connecting with China to develop international railway transportation.

“When the separation and restructuring plan is approved, the new changes will enable the company’s partnership with private firms in hundreds of stations and ICDs to more effectively tap into their available potential, thus enabling us to move faster,” Minh noted.

Industry insiders, however, said that it is impossible that there will be any significant foreign interest in railways, although transport is one of the six sectors covered in the Law on Public-Private Partnership Investment, which took effect from January.

Railways have proven difficult for the public-private partnership (PPP) model in many countries worldwide, with Vietnam being not an exception. More opportunities might come for domestic private firms instead. To enable this, the master scheme in line with implementation of Decree No.46/2018/ND-CP governing the management and use of railway infrastructure assets, should be approved, with VNR’s proposal to hand over 297 railway stations, warehouses, and ICDs to the giant to own, use, and develop with assets to be recorded as state capital contribution to the operator to be included.

However, the master scheme remains at odds with the VNR proposal, and so no final conclusion has yet been made. Legal barriers have so far hindered VNR from making the next steps with its cooperation plans with its partners, and many of its projects as well as investors have been suffering as a result.

In 2017, VNR signed a cooperation agreement with Saigon Newport Corporation to develop ICDs and warehouses at Song Than, Dieu Tri, Yen Vien, Dong Anh, and Dong Dang stations, with the plan to develop more in the future to meet demands. However, the projects have not yet been carried out.

Similarly, Lotte E&C’s proposal to invest in the second phase of the upgrading of the Yen Vien-Lao Cai railway route has been on paper for years, while Japanese auto giant Toyota is seeking to build a railway route connecting its factory in the northern province of Vinh Phuc to the main North-South network, using the Danang railway station as a transhipment hub to other provinces in the central region.

Furthermore, Southern Airports Services JSC has sought a partnership with VNR in upgrading the Saigon Railway Station building. Many other initiatives remain stuck because of Decree 46.

In 2017 when the restructuring plan of VNR was first submitted to authorised agencies, the giant planned for the restructuring by 2020, but inevitable disagreements and legal issues have dragged the proposals into the 2021-2025 period instead.

The separation of the railway network is important at this time as the new restructuring plan is still waiting for completion of a new order that replaces 2017’s Decision No.707/QD-TTg on approving the restructuring of state-owned enterprises. At present, the draft master plan on restructuring of such enterprises for 2021-2025 is still being completed by the Ministry of Finance.

In the last 10 years, the railway sector has failed to mobilise resources for its development plans. State funding for railways, despite an increase, was just $174-196 million annually over the period, which has been mostly used for maintenance works and social security, and not for development plans.

IFC promotes Vietnam’s PPE production capacity for COVID-19 fight

As the significant shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) in many countries has impacted the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past 18 months, IFC is supporting PPE manufacturers in developing nations including Vietnam to supply reliable and quality PPE products to protect frontline health workers and reduce community transmission.

Given the unprecedented pandemic, the global demand for high-quality PPE products – face masks, medical gloves, safety glasses and shoes, respirators, coveralls, vests, and full bodysuits – increased three to four times between 2019 and 2020, according to a recent study funded by the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

In Vietnam, PPE manufacturing capacity surged with a 6-fold jump in production in 2020 and the country has emerged as one of the new PPE suppliers globally. This ramped-up supply was initially driven by textile manufacturers shifting production in response to the health emergency and to mitigate losses caused by cancelled orders for garments.

“Some textile manufacturers who started producing PPE products as an immediate response to the pandemic, are now considering the medium- to longer-term business opportunity in this area,” said Vu Duc Giang, chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS). “However, local manufacturers have struggled with insufficient input materials, technical skills, and sector knowledge, and disparity between local and international standards to access the global market.”

In response, as part of the global PPE advisory programme supported by the UK government, the IFC is working with local garment manufacturers through the VITAS and national labs through the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality of Vietnam (STAMEQ). The aim is to improve PPE producers’ operations and reduce costs by removing unnecessary burdens related to PPE standards and conformity assessments.

A kick-off webinar – PPE Supply and Demand Perspectives – was organised today in Hanoi in collaboration with VITAS. This is the first of a series to boost PPE-related industry knowledge, with a focus on technical requirements and standards for PPE products in different markets.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has tested the resilience of supply chains to the limit, especially on medical supplies including PPE. The UK believes that the diversification of PPE manufacturing will make the global supply chain more adaptable and prevent future disruption,” said Gareth Ward, British Ambassador to Vietnam. “I am very pleased that Vietnam has been chosen as a priority country for this UK government-funded programme. Vietnamese companies have a lot of potential to succeed globally with a skilled labour force.”

Over the next 18 months, the project will also support select manufacturers to scale quality PPE production, access reliable supply of materials and equipment, and achieve PPE international standards and certification to expand exports.

“Access to cost-effective and quality PPE products is vital to national COVID-19 responses, helping contain and manage the spread of the coronavirus,” said Kyle Kelhofer, country manager for Vietnam, Cambodia and Lao PDR. “Promoting the production of PPE products in compliance with international standards not only helps increase Vietnam’s resilience to the pandemic but also presents a business case as the PPE global supply chain is diversifying with opportunities for new manufacturers from emerging markets including Vietnam.”

In January 2021, the IFC and the UK government launched a global PPE advisory programme to increase the supply of COVID-related PPE products to developing countries – as part of the IFC’s COVID-19 response and under the IFC’s Global Health Platform. The IFC’s platform was launched in July 2020 and includes up to $4 billion financing to increase access to critical healthcare services and products to fight the pandemic in the developing world.

Foreign investors from South Korea continue ramping up investment in Dong Nai

Investors from South Korea are looking to increase investment in Dong Nai in the midst of the global health crisis.

South Korean Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Kang Myong-il said that many South Korean companies wanted to expand investment in the province. However, their projects have been suspended due to travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Once the pandemic is controlled and trade flows between two countries return to normal, a new wave of South Korean investment is expected to flow into Dong Nai. South Korean investors highly appreciated Dong Nai’s potential in the field of industrial production, technical infrastructure, and real estate sector.

Some South Korean investors have made big investment in the province including Changshin’s $100 million footwear factory in Tan Phu Industrial Zone (IZ), Hansol Technics’s $100 million electronic component factory in Ho Nai IZ and Intops’ $30 million electronic equipment factory in Amata.

The representative of Hansol Technics said that the company decided to develop its factory in Dong Nai due to the province’s developed IZs and convenient traffic. The company specialises in manufacturing electronic components so the investment in Dong Nai will facilitate it to source input products from other partners.

Park Hyun Bae, chairman of the Korean Business Association in Dong Nai is upbeat about the potential of Dong Nai to lure foreign direct investment (FDI) capital in the industrial, energy, service, trade, and supporting industries. Despite the pandemic, many Korean businesses have requested information about Dong Nai. They hope that when the COVID-19 pandemic is contained, it will be easier for them to travel to the province to register new investment. Indeed, South Korean investors are looking to rent big ​​land sites in Dong Nai to carry out large projects to produce electronic components, fabrics for the textile, footwear, as well as machinery and equipment.

As of present, South Korea is the second-largest import market of Dong Nai, following China. The province mainly buys materials to produce textile, apparel, footwear, computers, electronic components, equipment, tools, and spare parts. On average, local companies spend $200 million importing materials from South Korea.

Obstacles hindering O Mon III venture

The O Mon III thermal power plant in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho is facing lingering issues related to investment policy and responsibility, leading to the protracted delay in part of the gas project.

After the Law on Public Investment took effect in 2020, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) proposed to the prime minister to apply the provisions of the law to appraise and decide on the investment policy for the O Mon III. Meanwhile, the ministry proposed amendment and supplement of Decision No.1015/QD-TTg dated August 2019 on the establishment of a state appraisal council to appraise the project’s feasibility study. However, some obstacles have emerged during the implementation of investment policies, especially the authority to approve investment policies.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the MPI, the National Steering Committee for Power Development, and the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC) have submitted many reports to the government to tackle difficulties in the investment procedures for the project.

Last December the government submitted a report to the National Assembly Standing Committee on this issue. According to its conclusion, the use of official development assistance (ODA) loans for enterprises to borrow 100 per cent for the O Mon III is not within the scope of the Law on Public Investment as well as under the prime minister’s authority to approve investment policies. It has been nearly two years since EVN submitted the project to the CMSC to request for investment policy. However, the authority to approve the investment policy for this project has not been determined.

The O Mon III was approved by the government to be on the list of ODA projects funded by the Japanese government in 2012. EVN was the investor of the project and signed the ODA loan contract with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). In 2013, Vietnam and Japan signed a commitment note to grant the first loan worth $254 billion for the O Mon III. The JICA loan agreement would be signed by the parties following the result of negotiation and signing of a gas purchase and sale contract.

Foreign investors have often raised their voices about the obstacles hindering the Block B gas project. In 2015, US oil giant Chevron decided to withdraw from the project by transferring stakes to PetroVietnam.

In July 2020, Japan’s Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., Ltd. (MOECO) and Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Public Co., Ltd. (PTTEP) also submitted letters to the prime minister about their concerns for the slow approval of the onshore power project, which has caused tremendous challenges for the Block B gas project chain and delayed the final investment decision (FID). Thus, the target of the first gas flow by the end of 2023 will be missed.

Two months later the foreign investors sent another letter to the prime minister noting that the first gas for the project is expected in September 2024 at the earliest. Due to the delayed approval of investment policy, the investors could not make the FID in 2020 while the first gas flow by the end of 2023 became infeasible.

EVN said the delayed approval of the investment policy is due to the inability to identify the agency responsible for this project, which slows down the progress and efficiency of the project chain. Meanwhile, the wellhead gas price has been calculated since 2016 with the price slippage of 2.5 per cent per year and the transportation price slippage of 2 per cent a year, which has raised investment and electric production costs.

Commenting on the conditions for borrowing ODA loans from JICA, EVN said that the plan has better economic efficiency than the commercial loan plan. In addition, the Japanese government has confirmed to continue to provide ODA loans for the O Mon III. However, to make efficient use of the loans, it needs to establish the authority to approve investment policy for the project. Up to now, the project is still waiting for the amended decree to be approved for implementation.

To issue the amended decree, it is necessary to get feedback from relevant ministries and sectors. It will take a great deal of time, even though FID needs to be made this October.

EVN has formulated a plan to use domestic and foreign commercial loans to remove bottlenecks at the O Mon III. With this plan, the power generation progress of the project will take place in the third quarter of 2026, 18 months earlier than the plan of using the ODA loan. However, the biggest obstacle for the new plan is the increase in the total investment, mainly due to the loan interest.

On May 7, the Government Office issued a document announcing the opinion of Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, assigning the CMSC to cooperate with the MoIT and relevant agencies to handle EVN’s proposal and report it to the prime minister soon.

In 2018, when calculating the O Mon III and IV projects using gas fuel, EVN proposed the electricity selling price of VND2,355 (10 US cents) per kWh and a maximum of about VND2,840 (12 US cents) per kWh to ensure efficient financing of these projects.

The Block B gas pipelines are being implemented by Phu Quoc Petroleum Operating Company (PQPOC) and South West Pipeline Operating Company (SWPOC), along with PTTEP and MOECO. The approval of O Mon III is the premise to finish commercial negotiations and select the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor.

The bidding packages will expire in bid validity in October, and investors expect the investment policy to be issued by August to open commercial bidding packages. If delays continue, PQPOC could have to extend the EPC bidding validity for the fifth time for contractors. In the worst scenario, PQPOC would have to reorganise the international bidding, which would likely delay the whole project for more than a year.

Inflation reined in as materials prices rise through year

Despite a big rise in the prices of construction materials and fuel, a 5-year low in the consumer price index caused by weak demand in the first five months of 2021 is signalling a successful control of inflation.

“Weak demand at home and in the global market are generally there. In the first five months, prices have increased, but not too strongly. COVID-19 has led to tightened spending,” Anh said.

According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), in the first five months of 2021, the average 5-month consumer price index expanded 1.29 per cent on-year, the lowest ascension in the period since 2016 (see chart).

Vietnam is using prices of 11 groups of items to measure the inflation rate in the country. In the period, the average price of the groups rose by about over 1 per cent on-year. Notably in the group of housing and materials, in which the average price rose 4.42 per cent on-year, the steel price has augmented strongly.

The Vietnam Steel Association was cited by the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Department of Industrial Economy as reporting that due to a rise in input material prices in the global market, the domestic price of steel products has also climbed strongly. In May the average steel billet price hovered at VND14,000 (60 US cents) per kg, up 30 per cent against that in early last December.

The price of construction steel in Vietnam in early May increased in parallel with the rise in steel material price. For example, the price of iron ores on May 5 was around $190 per tonne at China’s Tianjin Port, up by about $50 per tonne or up 25-39 per cent as compared to that in early December. This has caused a big rise in the price of the domestic steel market in the first quarter and the beginning of the second quarter.

“The price of materials is likely to highly increase,” said department director Le Tuan Anh.

In the same vein, the price of oil globally has also increased. By late last week, oil prices rose by more than 3 per cent on renewed optimism about global demand as global vaccinations continue.

Goldman Sachs is expecting the price of global crude oil to rise to $80 per barrel by the end of the year. “The case for higher oil prices therefore remains intact given the large vaccine-driven increase in demand in the face of inelastic supply,” Goldman analysts said.

So far this year, the number of enterprises halting operations was 59,800, up 23 per cent on-year. On average, each month has seen nearly 12,000 enterprises withdraw. This has also reduced demand for goods in the market.

Global analysts FocusEconomics told VIR in a statement that price pressures in Vietnam this year are expected to ease slightly compared to 2020 amid a projected appreciation of the VND, with panelists seeing inflation average well below the government’s estimate of 4 per cent.

“FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect inflation to average 2.9 per cent in 2021. For 2022, the panel projects inflation to average 3.6 per cent,” read the FocusEconomics statement.

Vietnam to shortern quarantine period for fully-vaccinated people

Vietnam is mulling to reduce the quarantine period for vaccinated foreign experts and Vietnamese people stranded overseas to seven days.

Specifcailly, the MoH is urgently completing the process of receiving experts and Vietnamese people to Vietnam. The ministry is developing a closed management process from the time of immigration registration to concentrated quarantine and medical monitoring at home.

It is expected that people entering Vietnam will be classified into different groups. Vaccinated people are subject to various coronavirus tests to confirm the effectiveness of vaccination. The main reason is that at present vaccines are 70-90 per cent effective. If they test negative, the quarantine period will be shortened to seven days.

The committee expected that the COVID-19 pandemic will be contained by June but there are still some sporadic cases in the community. It will not be easy to achieve herd immunity soon given vaccination efforts in Vietnam and many countries around the world. Therefore, the forces should always be alert to prevent and fight the epidemic.

Relaxing quarantine rules for fully vaccinated business people and foreign experts will help ensure the investment and trade flow between Vietnam and the world.

According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs, there are nearly 8,500 highly-skilled foreign workers on a priority list to enter Vietnam. They involve some 2,000 employees of key national projects that use new technologies.

Live streaming in Vietnam growing more popular for agricultural business

Farmers across the country have picked up live-streaming to boost sales amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

“With live streaming, millions of customers can keep track of how we harvest lychee,” said a farmer. “We received many orders after each live stream.”

Regarding the activities, Nguyen Dac Viet Dung, chairman of Sendo said, “As the pandemic is growing more serious, we hope to aid farmers to efficiently approach new technologies such as live streaming to form a firmer foundation for the agricultural sector.”

A representative of Shopee also said that the Shopee Farm programme is expected to help farmers to shift to online business models to take advantage of e-commerce like other vendors selling clothes and cosmetics.

Indeed, live streaming for agriculture is an inevitable trend in Vietnam, said Nguyen Hoa Binh, chairman of Nextech Group which operates live streaming skill training institution NextOn.

“Before Vietnam, China was very successful in adopting the live streaming model for agricultural businesses,” said Binh. “Many trends in China also take root in Vietnam and the rest of Southeast Asia in 2-3 three years.”

A prime example for the success of agriculture in e-commerce is Hubei, a Chinese province, where farmers began to sell their produce online with live streaming to overcome the health crisis. As a result, over the first quarter of 2020, revenue from online sales in the province saw an on-year growth of 184 per cent with hundreds of millions of RMBs.

In the 1.4-billion population market of China, live streaming is a core part of online sales and has become a skill most retailers in the country demand from their staff members.

In particular, in last May, the country’s Ministry of Labour and Social Security listed retail live streaming as one of the top 10 new sectors generated by Industry 4.0.

As of the end of 2020, China had about 600 million people purchasing goods after watching live streams, and 250 million vendors (16 per cent of the country’s population) have adopted the business.

As the pandemic grew more serious last year, live streaming has became a lifebuoy for all corners of Chinese society. Leaders of local authorities, billionaire Jack Ma, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and even farmers use live-streaming services.

Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/VIR/SGT/Nhan Dan/Hanoitimes

The Health Ministry on June 12 granted conditional approval of Comirnaty vaccine manufactured by Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium NV and Germany’s BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH for domestic emergency use in the fight against COVID-19.

This is the fourth vaccine to receive such authorisation, following Oxford/AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, and Sinopharm’s Vero Cell.

According to the approval decision, the vaccine comes in doses of 0.3ml of mRNA molecules protected by lipid nanoparticles.

The packaging is described as trays of 195 vials, with each vial holding six doses of vaccine.

The ministry asked the Drug Administration of Vietnam to license the import of Comirnaty vaccine as well as oversee its quality in line with the regulations.

The Administration of Science Technology and Training was directed to choose qualified units to assess the safety and efficiency of Comirnaty vaccine based on feedback from the ministry’s advisory board on the use of vaccines and medical biologicals during the use.

The General Department of Preventive Medicine was responsible for Cormirnaty vaccination while the National Institute for Vaccines and Biologicals must test and grant a certificate for the vaccine before it is put into use.

Previously, the health ministry said it had negotiated for a deal of 31 million doses of Pfizer and the first shipment could likely arrive between now and July.

Last week, during a meeting with UNICEF Representative in Vietnam Rana Flowers, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long has also expressed his request for COVAX Facility – the global vaccine sharing initiative – to supply Pfizer vaccine to be used for Vietnamese children aged 12-18.

As of 4pm on June 12, 1,454,221 doses of vaccines – mostly AstraZeneca – have been administered in Vietnam since the inoculation drive started in March 8, 2021. 54,385 people have received the full two doses./.

Award-winning writer and translator passes away

Award-winning writer Nguyễn Xuân Khánh passed away due to natural causes at his home on Saturday in Hà Nội. He was 88 years old.

Khánh was popular for a series of novels on Vietnamese culture and history including Hồ Quý Ly; Mẫu Thượng Ngàn (Mountain Goddess) and Đội Gạo Lên Chùa (Bring Rice to the Pagoda).

His work on the founder of the Hồ dynasty Hồ Quý Ly (1336-1407), published in 2000, and Mẫu Thượng Ngàn published in 2006 have been reprinted many times due to their historical and cultural insights.

Đội Gạo Lên Chùa was published in 2011 by the Women’s Publishing House and created a stir in the local literary scene. The novel was highly acclaimed by not only literary critics but also the wider reading public.

The novel, which sold out its initial print run and was reprinted two more times over three months, also won acclaim for explaining the origins of Buddhism in Việt Nam.

His works earned him the Việt Nam Writers’ Association Award in 2000 and in 2011 and the Hà Nội Writers Association in 2011.

Born in Hà Nội, Khánh studied medicine at Hà Nội Medical University. He joined the military in 1952. He began to write in 1957. He worked at the Văn Nghệ Quân Đội (Military Literature and Arts) magazine and Tiền Phong (Avant-garde) newspaper before retirement in 1983.

He wrote his latest novel Chuyện Ngõ Nghèo (Poor Alley’s Tale) in 2016.

He also translated many works including Nathalie Sarraute’s The Golden Fruits and Jules Verne’s Five Weeks in a Balloon.

National COVID-19 vaccine fund raises over 4.8 trillion VND

The national COVID-19 vaccine fund received more than 4.84 trillion VND (210.2 million USD) worth of donations from 283,169 organisations and individuals as of 5pm on June 12, according to the fund’s management board.

Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc said that his ministry commits to transparently publicising the fund’s daily and periodical amounts of donations obtained as well as the spending of the Ministry of Health after each round of the domestic vaccination against COVID-19.

The ministry, which is in charge of the vaccine fund, has established a management board for it at the State Treasury and opened a bank account to receive support from individuals and organisations inside and outside the country.

Vietnam needs 150 million doses of vaccines to administer about 75 percent of its population this year, with total cost amounting to 25.2 trillion VND./.

Phu Quoc fish sauce making becomes national intangible cultural heritage

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recognised the making of fish sauce on Phu Quoc island city in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang as a national intangible cultural heritage in late May, creating a driving force for local residents to maintain and uphold the essence of the traditional craft.

Chairwoman of the Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Association Ho Kim Lien said Phu Quoc’s waters are home to a variety of seaweed and plankton that are major feed sources for anchovies – a key ingredient in its fish sauce.

The craft has existed in Phu Quoc for over 200 years ago. Local residents catch fresh anchovies and salt them before fermenting them in giant wooden barrels.

Fermenting them in wooden barrels is a feature of the traditional craft. The older the barrel is, the more durable it becomes and the better the quality of the fish sauce is.

The barrel has a wide mouth and is made from 55 planks of equal size: 2.2 metres long, 20cm wide, and 6cm thick. The diameter of the barrel mouth is about 3.2 metres and that of the bottom is some 2.6 metres. It is also strapped with green rattan.

Lien said the fish sauce is produced based on traditional methods, with the recipe being three parts anchovy and one salt, and the fermentation period lasts from 10 to 15 months. From the first to final layers, the fish sauce is divided into different types based on their protein levels. The final product has an amber colour and a slight aroma.

With support from the French Embassy in Hanoi in 1998, the Ministry of Fisheries along with Kien Giang province prepared an application for geographical indication. On June 1, 2001, Phu Quoc fish sauce was the first product in Vietnam to secure such status.

In July 2013, the EU granted the “Phu Quoc” origin certificate to the Vietnamese fish sauce.

A month later, the Ministry of Industry and Trade handed over the certificate to representatives of the Phu Quoc island district People’s Committee and the Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Association and it has now become an attractive local tourism product.

Phu Quoc city is now home to around 100 fish sauce makers, mostly in Duong Dong and An Thoi wards. Between now and 2025, it will strive to produce 12 million litres of fish sauce each year on average.

According to Lien, a major difficulty for the industry is that some consumers cannot identify genuine Phu Quoc traditional fish sauce, leading to unstable prices. There is currently no planning for a Phu Quoc fish sauce craft village, so it has not yet become a tourist destination.

The Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Association, founded in October 2000 and with 53 members, will pay attention to developing fish sauce quality to continue promoting its trademark, she said.

The craft is also expected to seek UNESCO world intangible cultural heritage status, contributing to improving its brand value and promoting the image of Phu Quoc island city./.

NA Chairman urges stepping up vaccine strategy

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue has asked for stepping up the vaccine strategy with a specific roadmap and measures to achieve herd immunity, thus laying an important foundation to catch up with the global economy.

Chairing a working session with permanent members of the NA Committee on Social Affairs and several NA organs in Hanoi on June 13, Hue urged the Government to review the efficiency of support packages for laid-off workers and those hit by COVID-19 pandemic to report to the NA in the next meeting.

He reiterated the Politburo’s stance on continuing to realise the dual goals of fighting the pandemic and ensuring macro-economic stability and the safety of finance-banking and public debts.

The leader suggested continuing with the 5K technology message, considering vaccination a strategy; and enhancing international cooperation in seeking vaccine supplies.

In order to effectively perform socio-economic development policies and provide support for those hit by the pandemic, Hue asked the Government to soon issue a growth scenario, accelerate the disbursement of public investment, continue improving business environment, developing private and digital economy, and stimulating domestic demand  while boosting collaboration to effectively direct fiscal-monetary policy, and soon bring the Resolution adopted by the 13th National Party Congress into life.

Lawmakers reported that the NA and its Standing Committee issued nine resolutions and documents to ease difficulties amid the pandemic.

As a result, payment of 99.2 trillion VND (4.3 billion USD) worth of added value tax, corporate and individual income tax, land lease for 57,000 business households and 128,600 firms has been extended, along with 19.3 trillion VND in special consumption tax for automobiles last year./.

Vietnam Young Initiatives forum held virtually

The Vietnam Young Initiatives forum was held virtually on June 12, with Vietnamese students across Europe taking part.

The event also marked the beginning of the Innocity 2021 competition for Vietnamese youths at home and abroad, which was a joint effort between the Vietnamese students’ associations in Europe and the Global Network of Young Vietnamese Intellectuals under the auspices of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, the Vietnam Software and IT Services Association, and the Association of the Vietnamese in Europe.

The competition aimed to seek solutions to developing smart cities and urban areas in Vietnam.

Discussions at the event focused on the role of young Vietnamese on innovation and ecological system in Vietnam, and support for Vietnamese at home and abroad in the country’s innovation.

Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh, member of the Vietnam Youth Federation and President of the Vietnamese Students’ Association in the Czech Republic, expressed her hope that new factors will be discovered at the event to contribute to the homeland./.

Nearly 160 wild animals saved in May

The Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV) said as many as 157 wild animals were saved thanks to notice from residents via its hotline in May.

The ENV also reported that there were 299 crime cases related to wildlife were dealt with during the month, adding that it also recorded the 20,000th case since its wildlife protection office and hotline 1800-1522 was launched in 2005.

After receiving notice from the ENV, the Binh Duong provincial forest ranger department received 44 rare and precious turtles, which have already been sent to the Dau Tieng wildlife conservation station in the locality.

EVN Deputy Director Nguyen Thi Phuong Dung expressed her hope that the organisation will continue serving as a bridge to contribute to preventing wildlife trade in the country./.

VGCL delegation presents gifts to pandemic-hit workers in Thanh Hoa

A delegation led by Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) Ngo Duy Hieu visited and presented gifts to workers hit by COVID-19 pandemic at Sakurai Vietnam Co. Ltd in the Le Mon Industrial Park in the central province of Thanh Hoa on June 12.

President of the Thanh Hoa provincial Labour Federation Vo Manh Son said the province has yet to discover any official or worker infected with the coronavirus. Several F1 and F2 cases who finished quarantine have returned to work.

Trade unions distributed 36,300 leaflets to its members and workers to raise their awareness of prevention and control measures as recommended by the Health Ministry. They also directed the establishment of over 2,300 safety teams to fight the pandemic in businesses, particularly in industrial parks.

Son suggested the VGCL soon add workers and trade union employees into the list of those being given priority to vaccination.

Hieu, for his part, asked the provincial trade unions at all levels to continue staying vigilant in the fight against the pandemic.

Firms were also required to adjust distance and work shifts in factories to mitigate possible transmissions.

On the occasion, the delegation presented 100 million VND (4,300 USD) to support trade union members and workers hit by the pandemic./.

Vietnamese-Cambodians obey notice on relocating floating houses

Close to 1,000 households of Cambodians of Vietnamese-origin have followed the Phnom Penh authorities’ June 2 notice on relocating floating houses and fish farming rafts along the Tonle Sap river in seven days.

Accordingly, the group – mostly eking out a living from fishing and cage fish farming – in Chbar Ampov and Prek Pnov districts, among other locations, on June 11 and 12, dismantled their raft houses while waiting for a place to resettle.

Earlier, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Vu Quang Minh directly visited and encouraged the people of Vietnamese origin in displaced areas across six districts in Phnom Penh. He also met with leaders of neighbouring Kandal province, saying the embassy is seeking a plan to support the group.

Regarding the matter, the Foreign Ministry’s State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, meanwhile, discussed with the Cambodian side, proposing Cambodia create favourable conditions and take practical support measures for the group to resettle and ensure their legitimate interests./.

Lao provinces join hands with Vietnam to fight COVID-19

Many Lao provinces have joined hands with the Vietnamese Government and people in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

On June 12, representatives from Phongsaly province’s authorities arrived at the Vietnamese Consulate General in Luang Prabang to present about 15,900 USD in support of Vietnam’s northern provinces of Lai Chau, Son La, Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc, Tuyen Giang and Thai Nguyen.

Earlier on June 11, representatives from Luang Namtha provincial authorities granted nearly 31,900 USD to the Consulate General to assist the northern provinces of Dien Bien, Son La, Phu Tho and Vinh Phuc.

Speaking at the event, the Lao side affirmed great friendship with Vietnam and wished that the Vietnamese localities would soon curb the virus spread and overcome difficulties to restore production and trade for socio-economic development.

Vietnamese Consul General in Luang Prabang Nguyen Dang Hung hailed the deed as a vivid manifestation of the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive partnership between the two countries.

He also vowed to soon send the sum to his homeland to help with pandemic prevention and control./.

Vietnam seeks COVID-19 vaccine technology transfer

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the Health Ministry has directed units to study and clinically test made-in-Vietnam vaccines while seeking technology transfer from abroad to proactively fight the pandemic in the country.

The ministry’s Administration of Science Technology and Training (ASTT) said on June 12 that two domestic manufacturers are working on COVID-19 vaccines. In particular, Nanocovax by the Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC has been approved for the third stage of clinical trials, which will be carried out by the Military Medical University and the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute right there and in Hung Yen, Long An and Tien Giang provinces and several qualified units.

About 13,000 people will be chosen for the phase.

Another candidate is COVIVAC by the Nha Trang Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC) which is under the first stage of clinical testing. The second stage is scheduled to take place in Thai Binh province.

The IVAC plans to produce about 6 million doses each year while Nanogen expects to manufacture around 20-30 million doses annually.

According to the ASTT, the Health Minister on May 7 issued Decision No.2301/QD-BYT on the establishment of a steering committee for a research programme on COVID-19 vaccine technology transfer and production.

Vingroup negotiated with a US manufacturer to transfer the technology of producing vaccine from mRNA which requires only one shot of 5mg. Its plant will be capable of producing 100-200 million doses each year, starting from the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of next year.

At present, the Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No.1 is stepping up negotiations with a Japanese partner to transfer technology to Vietnam.

It also signed a deal with a Russian investment fund for the sale of 5 million doses of Sputnik-V vaccine each month, towards transferring technology with an annual capacity of 100 million doses./.

President Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality, lifestyle – precious assets: Party chief

President Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality, and lifestyle are precious spiritual assets of the Vietnamese Party and people, illuminating the revolutionary cause, leading to the victory of the Vietnamese revolution.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made the remarks at the national teleconference reviewing the five-year implementation of the 12-tenure Politburo’s Directive 05-CT-TW on enhancing the studying and following of President Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality and lifestyle on June 12.

Learning and following the late leader’s thought, morality and lifestyle is a necessary, regular and indispensable task for the entire Party and people, particularly Party organisations, State agencies and officials and Party members.

On behalf of the Party Central Committee, the Party chief welcomed and praised collectives and individuals that stand out in performing this task.

The nation’s revolutionary cause is still facing many difficulties and challenges, he noted, given rapid, complex and unpredictable developments of the national and global situations.

He stressed the importance of continue learning and following the President’s ideology, morality and style, and highlighted the need for officials and Party members to set themselves as good examples for others.

The leader showed his hope that this task will continue to be enhanced in a more substantive and effective manner so as to contribute to the implementation of the 13th National Party Congress’s Resolution as well as the nation building, safeguarding and renewal cause.

The national teleconference also saw the presence of Politburo members: State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, and permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Scretariat Vo Van Thuong./.

Ca Mau tourism works to adapt to “new normal” situation

The tourism sector of the southernmost province of Ca Mau is taking measures to adapt to the “new normal” situation amid complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the fact that it had remained free of COVID-19 so far.

Tourist destinations pay great attention to following the “5K message” of khau trang (facemasks), khu khuan (disinfectant), khoang cach (distancing), khong tu tap (no gatherings), and khai bao y te (health declarations).

Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Tieu Minh Tien said the province has issued a set of criteria to assess safety in COVID-19 prevention and control in the tourism sector, including specific regulations in each category and destination.

The local tourism sector is ready with measures to record new development progress in the near future, he said.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Tran Hong Quan said the province has set tourism as one of its economic pillars and identified measures for sustainable development.

The Prime Minister has approved the master plan for Ca Mau Cape national tourism site and the province already has planning for tourist areas such as Khai Long and Hon Da Bac and ecological tourism sites in Tran Van Thoi and U Minh districts.

It has upgraded infrastructure, diversified products at destinations, and actively sought investment in various fields, including tourism.

According to Tien, Ca Mau will step up tourism marketing at home and abroad to promote its land, culture, and people.

It is due to link up with cities and provinces to form tourism product chains in the Mekong Delta and on an inter-regional scale./.

Contributing to strengthening people’s trust in Party, State, regime

The Secretariat of the Party Central Committee on June 12 held a nationwide online conference reviewing the five-year implementation of the 12-tenure Politburo’s Directive 05-CT-TW on enhancing the studying and following of Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality and style.

General Secretary of the Party Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong attended and chaired the conference, which was also to carry out the 13th-tenure Politburo’s Conclusion 01-KL/TW on continuing the implementation of Directive 05.

The report delivered at the conference stated that this work over the past five years has been seriously and effectively implemented throughout the political system, creating a positive change in awareness and action.

During the implementation process, ministries, departments, sectors and localities have identified breakthroughs to focus on leading, directing and organising effective implementation, thereby promoting socio-economic development, strengthening the people’s confidence in the Party and State; contributing to preventing the deterioration in political ideology, morality, lifestyle as well as “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” manifestations; and actively protecting the ideological foundation of the Party, and refuting wrongful and hostile views.

Over the past five years, educating political theory and the contents of Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality and style for officials, Party members, members of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and students has been seriously carried out, contributing to improving political level and mettle of officials, Party members and people, especially the young generation.

In addition to the obtainments, the report pointed out shortcomings and limitations that need to be overcome during implementing Directive 05 such as creativity, efficiency, drastic measures, and forms in leadership, direction, organisation of implementation in some areas. The deterioration in political ideology, morality and lifestyle still exists among some officials and Party members, leading to violations of the Party’s regulations with some being disciplined and penalised./.

Joint efforts for a healthy Vietnam

The establishment of the national COVID-19 vaccine fund is a vivid illustration of the nation’s solidarity, enabling each citizen to make a contribution to the formidable fight against the pandemic. All of the funding is being used to win the fight and ensure no one is left behind.

After a long hospital stay for treatment of ameloblastoma (a benign tumour), actor Tran Hoang Long, who goes by the stage name Long Chun and is “TikToker”, thoroughly understands the hardships that doctors and medical staff have endured. He has called for support for Covid-19 hotspot Bac Giang province over the past days, while making a small contribution to the vaccination fund and spreading the message behind the fund.

Meanwhile, for scientists like Dr Dang Minh Tuan, support for the fund is not just about material contributions. He said he wanted to spread the fund’s message in an effective fashion, with many number “9s” in his donation.

At the epicentre of the latest COVID-19 outbreak and facing formidable challenges, many local people in Bac Giang province are taking up the COVID-19 fight and stand ready to make a contribution to the fund.

The vaccination fund is a vivid illustration of national solidarity in the fight against the pandemic. Information about the fund and its significance should be distributed to call on the national strength.

During tough times, Vietnamese people have shown their resilience and solidarity. Everyone believes that no one will be left behind in this fight, and each citizen will receive COVID-19 vaccine shots./.

Firms violating COVID-19 prevention rules must be suspended: Deputy PM

Businesses that have failed to meet COVID-19 prevention and control requirements must be suspended, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said at a meeting in Hanoi on June 11.

Dam, who is also head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, asked enterprises to arrange work shifts to make it easier for quarantine in case of infections.

Once COVID-19 cases are found at industrial parks, testing results must be produced within a day to accelerate contact tracing and quarantine, the official requested.

He asked localities to use different testing methods for different groups of people, and implement the quarantine and lock-down work flexibly and creatively.

According to the Deputy PM, all of the workers who are at the high risk of infection would be vaccinated against the coronavirus in July, while the inoculation for employees at industrial parks nationwide is expected to be completed in August.

At the meeting, leaders of localities with industrial parks like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An, Tay Ninh and Ba Ria-Vung Tau said they have drawn up scenarios for COVID-19 infections in the industrial parks.

Nguyen Huong Giang, Chairwoman of the People’s Committee of northern Bac Ninh province, which has been hit hard by the pandemic, said relevant forces should quickly take actions in contact tracing and sealing off pandemic clusters, while focusing on testing.

She also stressed the significance of screen testing to detecting COVID-19 cases at industrial parks.

Le Anh Duong, Chairwoman of the neighbouring province of Bac Giang, also stricken by the pandemic, pointed out major causes of transmission at industrial parks, and suggested other localities prepare on-the-spot plans, especially improving testing capacity./.

Storm Koguma weakens into tropical depression, no damage reported

Storm Koguma, the second storm to hit Việt Nam this year, weakened into a tropical depression on Sunday after reaching the central province of Nghệ An.

The storm caused heavy rainfall and thunderstorms in the northern region, including Hà Nội, and in the central provinces from Thanh Hóa to Quảng Trị.

No casualties or property damage were reported.

High school entrance exam sitters in Hà Nội had a difficult commute to their test venues on Sunday because of the rain.

Risks of flash floods and landslides were forecast in the northern provinces of Hòa Bình, Sơn La, Lào Cai, Yên Bái, Phú Thọ, Tuyên Quang, Thái Nguyên, Quảng Ninh, Lạng Sơn, Lai Châu and Điện Biên, as well as the central provinces from Thanh Hóa to Hà Tĩnh.

Moderate and heavy rainfall was forecast to continue in the northwest region Monday morning.

The Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control has been collaborating with the Directorate of Fisheries and the Border Guard Command to keep track of fishing vessels at seas, as well as maintaining communication with fishermen to help them avoid the storm.

Local authorities were tasked with ensuring safety at dyke constructions and keep track of water levels in paddy fields at low-lying, urban areas and industrial parks to avoid sudden floods.

Singer presents music video dedicated to LGBT community

Two years after leaving Vietnamese showbiz to head to the US to study, singer Hương Tràm has surprised her fans by releasing a music video Đong Tình (Flirting) touching on LGBT issues.

A project with songwriter Tú Dưa, a former member of the once-famous boyband Quả Dưa Hấu (The Watermelon), the video is about a love triangle between a woman and two men.

On the conception of the video, the singer said that since she was a child, she felt she was more sensitive than her peers.

“I could recognise some friends who had different and extremely sensitive hearts. To this day, they are still my best friends and my loyal audience, who are always by my side,” she said.

“My video depicts the pain and sacrifice of people who still haven’t been accepted widely by the whole of society,” Tràm said.

Aiming to present a message that “love is among any of us and regardless of gender and social class”, the video is for music lovers as well as anyone who supports equality, she said.

“The music video has premiered in Pride Month, after two years without any music product, I hope it would not make my audience disappointed,” Hương Tràm said.

In the video, the singer plays the role of a wife who learns her husband is in love with a male colleague. The video features her pain and the experience of the two men and the pain they feel at having to keep their love hidden.

The video took the singer and her English-speaking team three days to film.

“The biggest challenge for me during the filming process was probably the language barrier. I’ve been in the US for two years. Everything is new for me, including the language. I couldn’t have done the shooting without the help of young friends I met here in the US,” the singer said.

According to songwriter Tú Dưa, the recording process faced several obstacles due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the geographical distance between Việt Nam and the US.

“The pop ballad song was recorded when Hương Tràm flew back to Việt Nam. The recording was given to four different musicians for arrangement. The singer then selected the best version to bring to the US for mastering,” Tú Dưa revealed.

Before working on this project, in 2018, the songwriter also composed the hit Duyên Mình Lỡ (Hopeless Love) for Hương Tràm.

His ballads presenting delicate and romantic lyrics have helped his former Quả Dưa Hấu bandmate Tuấn Hưng have a solid reputation in Việt Nam’s contemporary music scene.

He also composed the song Giữ Lại Hạnh Phúc (Hold Back the Happiness) for singer Thu Phương.

Born in 1995 in Vinh City in the central province of Nghệ An, Hương Tràm won the first season of The Voice Vietnam in 2012. A year later, in 2013, she bagged the Việt Nam’s Devotion Music Award for ‘The New Artist of the Year’.

Her video Em Gái Mưa (The Rainy Girl) brought the singer the second Devotion Award for ‘The MV of the Year’ in 2018. In the same year, she was given the Best Asian Artist Vietnam title at the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) 2018 in Hong Kong.

New songs honour frontline forces battling pandemic

As Việt Nam is facing the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, new music productions have been released to honour frontline forces.

Tỏa Sáng Việt Nam (Việt Nam Shines Bright) is a new song by young singer and songwriter Bùi Công Nam to show his love and gratitude to health workers and frontline workers who are working day and night to take care of and protect the community.

The song has meaningful lyrics combined with a joyful melody that bring faith and joy to people.

Nam said: “The song reflects my pride as a Vietnamese. I expect Vietnamese people to keep strong together to overcome the challenging time and make Việt Nam shine.”

The song features the voices of Nam, singer Miu Lê and rapper GDucky.

GDucky, runner-up of TV reality show Rap Việt 2020, wrote rap lyrics for the song, calling on people to fight against the pandemic, donate to the national COVID-19 vaccine fund, and praise the solidarity and bravery of frontline forces and Vietnamese people.

The MV contains beautiful images of healthcare workers across the country working to protect people, as well as charity activities such as Việt Nam Red Cross Society’s campaign to help farmers in pandemic-hit localities sell agricultural products, and “rice ATMs” to support the poor across the country.

MV Tỏa Sáng Việt Nam was released on YouTube on June 4, and has earned more than 517,000 views and hundreds of compliments for its emotional lyrics.

Singer and songwriter Nam was born in 1994 in the Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) province of Đắk Lắk.

He became popular after competing in Bài Hát Hay Nhất (Sing My Song), a TV reality show about original songs, launched by the Việt Nam Television in 2016. His music is pop, ballad and country.

He won Song of the Year at the 2019 Cống Hiến (Devotion) Awards given by Thể Thao & Văn Hóa (Sports & Culture) with his song Có Ai Thương Em Như Anh (Nobody Loves You As I Do).

This year, he became a hit on social media in Việt Nam after joining  Xuân Hạ Thu Đông Rồi Lại Xuân (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring), a TV reality show showcasing street performances of favourite Vietnamese singers.

Its videos, which screen live performances on HCM City streets, have earned tens of millions of views on YouTube.

Lieutenant Colonel Vũ Thị Huyền Ngọc of the cultural house of the Việt Nam Border Guard’s Political Department has released a song Lời Ru Nơi Tuyến Đầu (Lullabies at Frontline) as a gift to the country’s heroes who are sacrificing to protect the people.

Ngọc said she wrote the song to honour motherhood after seeing a baby girl cry when she saw on TV her mother, a doctor sent to Bắc Giang Province, a hotspot of the latest COVID-19 outbreak.

“As a mother, I cried at this beautiful image,” Ngọc said.

The song also expressed her gratitude to her women colleagues and frontline forces who left their families and children to fulfil their duties.

Lời Ru Nơi Tuyến Đầu is Ngọc’s third motivational song during the pandemic, along with songs Vì Nơi Ấy Có Anh (Because You’re Here) and Nếu Anh Không Về (If You Don’t Return).

As recognition for her contribution to the fight against the pandemic, the General Department of Politics under the Việt Nam People’s Army last year granted Ngọc a certificate of merit for studying and following President Hồ Chí Minh’s thought, morality and lifestyle.

Experts call on community to keep donating blood

Health experts have called on the community to maintain blood donation activities to ensure blood sources for emergency aid and treatment at hospitals on the occasion of World Blood Donor Day (June 14).

President of the Việt Nam Red Cross Society and Permanent Deputy Head of the National Steering Committee for Voluntarily Blood Donation Mobilisation, Nguyễn Thị Xuân Thu, said that COVID-19 seriously impacted blood donation mobilisation and collection activities.

“On this occasion, we call on those who are healthy enough to donate blood, which is the responsibility and sacred duty of every citizen. I also request the Steering Committees at all levels and relevant authorities to honour and praise typical examples of blood donation and mobilise relatives and friends to participate in blood donation, especially amid the COVID-19 outbreak in the community,” said Thu.

The appeal was made as blood shortages have occurred across the country due to a decline in blood donors amid the COVID-19 pandemic spreading in many provinces and cities nationwide.

“Each unit of blood is valuable as a lifebuoy for the patient. I want each person to stay healthy so that they can keep a regular blood donation rhythm and to give patients the safest blood source,” said the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion director Bạch Quốc Khánh.

Khánh said the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected blood donation activities and blood transfusion safety globally as well as in Việt Nam. Despite challenges of organising blood donations during the pandemic, millions of people around the world still continue to make efforts to donate blood, including blood for treating COVID-19 patients.

“Over one million blood donations in our country in 2020 and tens of thousands of people who came to donate blood during the COVID-19 outbreak have shown the community’s responsibility in helping the health sector overcome the blood shortage,” said Khánh.

“I’m very happy to say that all blood donors are safe and none tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Ensuring the safety of blood donors, medical staff and blood recipients is always the number one priority of blood transfusion facilities,” added Khánh.

On the occasion, 100 outstanding blood donors across the country will be honoured for their contribution to the country’s blood donation mobilisation movement, 14 of them have donated blood 50 times or more. Huỳnh Thanh Hùng from HCM City has donated blood 74 times, followed by Nguyễn Hoàng Nhơn also from HCM City with 70 blood donations, Phan Vũ Quốc Chinh from HCM City donated blood 64 times, Nguyễn Văn Lâm from Trà Vinh Province 63 times and Nguyễn Văn Nguyên from Hà Nội 60 times. They have donated a total 3,220 units.

With the theme “Give blood and keep the world beating”, World Blood Donor Day aims to raise global awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products for transfusion and of the critical contribution voluntary, unpaid blood donors make to national health systems.

The day also provides an opportunity to call governments and national health authorities to provide adequate resources and put into place systems and infrastructure to increase the collection of blood from voluntary, non-remunerated blood donors.

On this occasion, the World Health Organisation also called on the Government, health sector and blood transfusion services of countries to ensure sufficient resources and facilities to ensure the quality and effectiveness of blood collection.

In Việt Nam, the health sector has received more than 1.4 million blood units, equivalent to nearly 1.5 per cent of the population participating in blood donation; in which, 99 per cent of blood came from voluntary blood donors. In the first five months of 2021, blood donation campaigns such as the Red Spring Festival and the All People’s Voluntary Blood Donor Day (April 7), the whole country collected nearly 425,000 blood units.

HCM City sets up working group to buy COVID-19 vaccines

HCM City authorities have set up a working team responsible for buying COVID-19 vaccines for at least two-thirds of its population by year-end, said Nguyễn Thành Phong, chairman of the People’s Committee, during an online meeting on June 11.

Speaking about the city’s economic development in the first five months of the year, Phong said the city would speed up the vaccination drive by encouraging the business community to connect with suppliers.

The city had achieved “remarkable results” in its implementation of its “dual goal” of maintaining the economy while applying strict COVID preventive measures in the first five months, he said.

“The city will continue its flexible economic management and pandemic prevention measures.”

Since the fourth wave that began in late April, the city has detected more than 630 locally transmitted cases, ranking third in the country. The cases have been mostly related to the Gò Vấp District cluster.

Phong said the outbreak was basically under control, but warned that the situation remained unpredictable because infection chains without known sources of infection continue to occur.

The city will continue to take serious measures to contain the spread. It has banned religious and group activities, suspended citizen-identification granting procedures, and postponed the entrance exam for 10th grade until further notice, among other social-distancing measures.

The city plans to offer another support package for companies and workers affected by the outbreak, according to Phong.

Since the beginning of 2021, some 1,365 firms in the city have been affected, with more than 42,500 workers losing their jobs, according to the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

More than 400 companies are in urgent need of preferential loans for wage payments to workers to maintain their business operations.

More than 2,270 enterprises completed dissolution procedures in the first five months of the year (up 4.99 per cent year-on-year), and 9,308 enterprises temporarily suspended operations (up 22.99 per cent year-on-year).

Phong said the city would also set up a working group to speed up the progress of major traffic projects.

The city had asked the Department of Transport to report on seaport toll collection to the People’s Committee, and would continue to accelerate implementation of digital transformation and smart city projects. It would also strengthen fire and explosion prevention measures.

Lê Thị Huỳnh Mai, director of the Department of Planning and Investment, said the city’s total retail sales of consumer goods and services in the first five months were up 8.9 per cent year-on-year. Accommodation and catering service sales increased in the period by 30.8 per cent year-on-year.

Exports reached $19.63 billion in the first five months, up 15.1 per cent year-on-year. Total state budget revenue was estimated at more than VNĐ174 trillion, up 22.8 per cent year-on-year.

Of the figure, exports of hi-tech products at the Saigon Hi-Tech Park reached $8.37 billion in the first five months, up 26.5 per cent year-on-year.

The industrial production index (IIP) increased by 7.4 per cent over the same period. As many as 6,461 enterprises resumed operation in the period.

HCM City opens two more COVID-19 treatment health facilities

The 500-bed Củ Chi COVID-19 Treatment Hospital in HCM City’s Củ Chi District on June 12 was officially put into use, and the COVID-19 Treatment Unit at Phạm Ngọc Thạch Hospital in District 5 will open on the 13th.

Human resources for these facilities are health officials from departments of contagious diseases, resuscitation, and emergency services at the city’s major hospitals.

The facilities will help the city adapt to the ongoing COVID outbreak. The Hospital for Tropical Diseases said three of its staff were suspected of having contracted COVID-19. This will be confirmed later by the Ministry of Health.

The Hospital for Tropical Diseases is temporarily locked down for tracing contacts and stamping out the spread. However, the hospital continues providing reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests for diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 patients who are staying there.

On the same day, the city Department of Health sent an urgent dispatch about health staff compliance with regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control after working hours.

To minimize the risk of cross-infection in hospitals and from outside hospitals, the department has instructed the directors of hospitals to urgently ask their employees to improve their self-discipline in COVID-19 prevention and control.

Health staff should always comply with the Ministry of Health’s 5k message:  masks – disinfection – distance – no mass gathering – health declarations. They should also wear masks during working hours.

Moreover, after working hours at hospitals, health staff should stay at home and limit contact with their neighbours and friends.

The city has recorded small COVID-19 clusters in its districts. Besides the transmission risk from COVID-19 patients who visit hospitals, health staff face other transmission risks from outside and could transmit the virus to their colleagues.

Two of the three staff at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases who may have contracted COVID-19 live in Hóc Môn District and the other resides in Bình Tân District.

Cancer patient dies of COVID-related complications

A woman being treated for lung cancer has died of COVID-related complications. She is the 58th fatality in Việt Nam.

The 64-year-old who lives in Hà Nội’s Ứng Hòa District was undergoing chemotherapy at the capital’s K Hospital when she tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on May 14.

She received treatment for the virus but because of her pre-existing illness, her immune system was weak and she failed to respond to medication.

The woman died on June 11 and her cause of death has been recorded as septic shock and pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2 in lung cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Researchers propose measures for a successful vaccination strategy

Independent Vietnamese researchers from the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Australia, have proposed four measures for a successful vaccination strategy in the face of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in Việt Nam.

Nguyễn Thu Anh, the country director of the institute, said vaccination is the key solution for the country to escape from the pandemic, get back to normal and be able to open its borders.

“A successful vaccination campaign is one that will be conducted widely, quickly, safely and effectively,” she said.

Anh, together with her colleague, Ngô Hoàng Anh, recommended four key measures to launch a successful campaign.

Better capacity

First, they called for decentralisation, digitisation and improvement of capacity in handling vaccine-related side effects to speed up inoculation.

Vaccination speed is an important factor affecting the vaccine allocation decision of the COVAX Facility. In addition, the shelf life of vaccine batches provided through this programme is usually about half to two-thirds shorter than the shelf life specified by the company. Therefore, rapid vaccination not only protects people but also determines the number of vaccines the country receives.

The nation’s biggest advantage in COVID-19 prevention and control is the grassroots health system, which includes about 11,000 ward/commune-level health stations.

To rapidly increase vaccination capacity, it is necessary to take full advantage of this by decentralisation of the inoculation programme to the grassroots level, training health workers on anaphylaxis management with the support of mobile ambulance from district or provincial hospitals, and digitising the vaccination workflow, Thu Anh said.

Digitisation is not only convenient for the future deployment of vaccine passports but also helps optimise resources.

People could access a vaccination registration website to declare personal information and make a medical declaration before vaccination. Healthy people with a low risk of side effects can be classified into the safe group and register for vaccination at the commune health station where they are residing. As a result, the commune/ward health station can prepare for vaccination sessions by contacting registered people via text message.

“People at risk of side effects of the vaccine such as a history of anaphylaxis, a history of blood clotting disorders, etc. could be classified into groups that need careful monitoring, and registered for vaccination according to the list of hospitals,” said Thu Anh.

After vaccination, people could be provided with a certificate with full information such as the type of vaccine injected, number of shots, batch number, date of vaccination along with a QR code to access the electronic history. Vaccination information could also be linked to Government-issued anti-COVID applications such as Bluezone, VHD and the National TMCR system to issue vaccine passports.

“Looking at the data of developed countries, we find that after the first 2-3 months of the survey, these countries will vaccinate at an average rate of about 0.5-1 per cent of the population/day. Thus, with 11,000 primary health stations, eight working hours/day, five to six patients/hour and one injection course at a time, if there is no disruption to the supply chain, we have the capacity and facilities to inject about 0.5 per cent of the population or 500,000 doses/day. At this time, to get herd immunity, it will take us a full year, that is, until the third or fourth quarter of 2022,” Thu Anh said.

Effective vaccines

The second recommendation is to use highly effective vaccines.

“The selection of the right vaccine directly affects the effectiveness of the vaccination campaign in controlling of the pandemic in the community. Early or late opening of the border depends on our choice,” Thu Anh said.

Researchers suggested vaccines be divided into two groups.

Group 1 would feature vaccines that have been widely used, have clear clinical trial data, are deployed in many countries on a large scale, and have a full side effect record system such as Pfizer – BioNTech, Moderna, Vaxzevria (AstraZeneca), Novavax and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).

Group 2 would have vaccines proven to be effective but need more evidence as well as testing with new variants such as Sputnik V, Sinopharm BBIBP – CorV and Sinovac.

“Priority should be given to vaccines that have been shown to be highly effective against the virus variants that have been reported as well as the variant of concern that have been reported elsewhere,” she said.

This table shows the final model inputs for vaccine efficacy at preventing disease and infection, by vaccine and variant type. Source: The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), University of Washington.

Adjusting the plan

The third recommendation is changing the domestic COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan due to current inconsistencies.

According to Decision 1210/2021, issued on February 9, people over 65 years of age and people with chronic diseases are among 11 priority groups for vaccination against COVID-19 in Việt Nam.

However, in Decision 1624/2021 issued more than a month later, on provisional guidelines for pre-vaccination screening, these two groups were listed as subject to delay or caution in vaccination.

According to WHO recommendations, priority populations for vaccination include those at high risk of dying from the disease, such as the elderly and those with underlying/chronic medical conditions.

Therefore, in any country in the first phase of vaccination, in addition to staff involved in pandemic prevention, the old, the sick and pregnant women should be next.

Trials

The last recommendation is to conduct clinical trials in high-risk areas.

Locally produced vaccines are entering different stages of clinical trials, including Nanocovax in phase 3 in early June, and IVAC in phase 1/2.

While the current outbreak posing a significant challenge to the health system, this is also a “golden” opportunity for Việt Nam to see the effectiveness of vaccines researched in the country, Hoàng Anh said.

Testing at the epicentre of the outbreak also creates a real test for large-scale, mass-production capabilities before being approved for emergency use on a scale of up to tens of millions of doses.

“Conducting a vaccination campaign that can be said to be the largest in history can be very difficult. Just we take one wrong step, such as the selection of an ineffective vaccine, slow, unsafe vaccination, etc., the pandemic can completely return and erupt more violently. Therefore, we must at the same time be quick, but decisive and precise,” Hoàng Anh said.

Việt Nam’s preparation

Minister of Health Nguyễn Thanh Long said Việt Nam is promoting the purchase of technology, receiving technology transfer for vaccine production to be able to produce vaccines to serve domestic demand.

The clinical trials of Vietnamese COVID-19 vaccine candidate Nano Covax are set to enter Phase 3 this month, aiming to further test the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in humans before mass production.

Another domestic vaccine contender, Covivac from the Institute of Vaccines and Biological Medical (IVAC), is preparing for Phase 1 trial data to be reviewed by the Ministry of Health and could start Phase 2 around late June or early July.

Another locally-developed COVID-19 vaccine, from Vabiotech, is in pre-clinical trials on animals, and another from Polyvac (the Centre for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biologicals, under the Ministry of Health) is still under laboratory research.

Regarding plans for vaccine rollout when more doses are available, Phạm Quang Thái, head of the northern regional office of the National Expanded Programme on Immunisation, said the current system will be used.

“We have everything ready with the current national expanded programme on immunisation, so once the vaccines are here, we’ll just apply the same model,” he said.

Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/VIR/SGT/Nhan Dan/Hanoitimes

The anti-Covid-19 steering committee of Nghe An Province decided to lock down part of Ha Huy Tap Ward in Vinh City starting this morning, June 14, after the province’s capital city reported its first suspected Covid-19 case by community transmission, affecting 5,000 local residents.

Duong Dinh Chinh, director of the provincial Department of Health, said that the suspected case is a hairdresser living in the ward, who tested positive for the coronavirus yesterday, VnExpress reported.

The hairdresser could have caught the disease from another coronavirus patient in her hometown in Ha Tinh. She had a complicated travel history, but did not declare it honestly and was also in close contact with many people.

Therefore, the health department and the provincial government had to request the local competent forces specialized in information and technology to find the locations she had been to, according to VietnamPlus.

Earlier, on May 6, the north-central province of Nghe An reported one locally-infected case who was a local man in Hoang Mai Town. He was found to have caught the disease from the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi.

Two more employees of frontline hospital in HCMC infected with Covid-19

The HCMC Hospital for Tropical Diseases tested 924 employees from June 11 to 13 and detected 55 Covid-19 infections, up two over the figure reported yesterday, June 13, said director of the HCMC Department of Health Nguyen Tan Binh.

At a meeting of the municipal steering committee for Covid-19 infection prevention and control held today, June 14, Binh said the 55 cases were employees of 13 units of the hospital, such as IT, administrative, general planning, personnel organization and pharmacy, the local media reported.

Especially, all of them have got two shots of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. Worryingly, almost all of them are asymptomatic carriers of the active virus, so if anyone comes into close contact with these cases, Covid-19 will spread silently.

Among the cases, one is residing in a Covid-19 hotspot of the city—Ehome 3 apartment building in Binh Tan District, Binh said.

Binh added that the coronavirus volume in the 55 cases was extremely low, which was a positive signal, proving the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Therefore, the risk that they will get worse is lower than that of unvaccinated people and their transmission possibility is also lower than those linked to the Revival Ekklesia Mission in Go Vap District.

In addition, two employees of Gia Dinh Hospital’s Microbiology Department were also found to be infected with Covid-19, with one being the wife of an IT staff of the HCMC Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

Binh said the department had asked the Cu Chi District Hospital to get prepared to receive Covid-19 patients with a capacity of 500 beds and a recuperation area for critical patients. Medical workers from leading hospitals in the city will be mobilized to support the treatment of Covid-19 patients at this hospital.

The department will also establish emergency and recuperation units at the Cu Chi Field Hospital and the Can Gio Covid-19 Treatment Hospital and mobilize resources from general and specialized hospitals in the city.

Hospitals in the city should enhance their support for the Covid-19 treatment. General hospitals having the department of infection control were asked to receive patients from the HCMC Hospital for Tropical Diseases so that the hospital can focus on treating Covid-19 patients.

100 more Covid-19 patients announced in Monday noon report

An additional 100 more Covid-19 infections have been confirmed in Vietnam, raising the total number of patients in the country to 10,730, the Ministry of Health reported at noon on Monday.

According to the ministry’s report, all of the newly-confirmed patients are locally-transmitted cases most of whom were detected in quarantine sites or areas under lockdown in some localities including 69 in Bac Giang, 26 in Ho Chi Minh City, four in Hanoi and one in Ha Tinh.

The outbreak in Ho Chi Minh City has become more complicated, especially following detection of a chain of transmission at its Hospital for Tropical Diseases. Fifty-five employees of the hospital have tested positive for the virus. The HCM City Centre for Diseases Control is working closely with the hospital to carry out contact tracing, isolation, testing and disinfection.

The 69 cases in Bac Giang were recorded at some local industrial parks which have reported a large outbreak over the last few weeks.

As of Monday noon, 7,523 locally-transmitted cases have been reported since the new outbreak occurred in the country on April 27, including 4,137 in the virus epicentre of Bac Giang. The outbreak has so far spread to 40 cities and provinces nationwide.

With these new infection cases, the number of Covid-19 patients in Vietnam has increased to 10,730 including 9,093 locally-transmitted cases.

As of 6 pm on June 13, a total of 3,998 Covid-19 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospital.

So far there have been 59 deaths, most of them being the elderly with serious underlying diseases.

At present, over 196,000 people who had close contact with Covid-19 patients or returned from virus-hit areas are being monitored at hospitals, quarantine facilities, and at home.

On June 13, an additional 43,222 people were given Covid-19 vaccine in Vietnam, raising the total number of vaccine doses used in the country to 1,498,323. The number of people who have received two doses has risen to 55,265.

Airports face fake driver licenses

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has raised warnings after many people have been found to use fake driver licenses for flight check-ins.

Dinh Viet Son, deputy head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, signed the official document asking related agencies to be alert and have measures to deal with the problem.

In 2020, 23 people were caught using fake driver licenses and 13 people were caught in the first six months of 2021.

“Using fake papers is a legal violation and an aviation risk,” Son said.

In the latest case, a male passenger was found to use a fake driver licence for a flight from Hanoi to HCM City. He said he had the fake license made at the price of VND1.5m. This is the first time he used a fake licence. The case was later transferred to the police.

According to airport employees, people were sometimes found using fake papers to board planes every day including fake IDs and fake driver licenses.

Vietnamese citizens over 14 years old can use various papers to board planes including ID, driver licenses, press cards and identity cards of Vietnamese airlines.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam also asked the Road Directorate to have measures to put an end to the easy availability of fake papers.

WURI honours two Vietnamese universities in top global 100 rankings

The World’s Universities with Real Impact (WURI), a new university ranking system run by the Hanseatic League of Universities, has honoured two Vietnamese in its global top 100 Innovative Universities.

Tra Vinh University and Lac Hong University are among best performing education institutions that WURI has highlighted in its global top 100 Innovative Universities.

In its 2021 WURI rankings, Tra Vinh was placed 71sr, up 15 notches compared to the 2020 rankings, while Lac Hong was positioned 93rd.

Notably, Lac Hong came in 27th in the Ethical Value category, up six notches compared to the 2020 listing.

Tra Vinh University finished 17th for start-up innovation and 48th for student mobility and openness.

WURI highlights creative and innovative approaches to university research and education that focus on industrial applications, value-creating startups and entrepreneurship, social responsiblilty, ethics and integrity, and student mobility and openness for exchange and collaboration.

Vietnamese expats in Japan launch fundraising campaign to help Vietnam’s COVID-19 fight

The Vietnamese embassy in Japan on June 13 launched a fundraising campaign to collect money for Vietnam’s COVID-19 vaccine fund in response to the call of the Vietnam Fatherland Front’s Central Committee on “National unity to fight COVID-19.”

“Keep the world beating” chosen as slogan for World Blood Donor Day 2021

The slogan “Give blood and keep the world beating” has been chosen for World Blood Donor Day 2021 (June 14), said the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion.

The day aims to honour blood donors and encourage more people to voluntarily give blood, as well as raise public awareness of the necessity of safe blood products.

It is also meant to commemorate World Health Organisation for his discovery of major blood groups A,B,O.

On the occasion, the World Health Organisation (WHO) called on countries’ governments, medical sectors and blood transfusion services to ensure resources and infrastructure to receive quality blood.

According to the WHO, one in every 10 patients needs blood transfusion. In Vietnam, it is estimated that 5,200 units of blood are needed everyday for emergency and treatment. The shortage of blood remains prevalent in developing countries, especially during disasters and epidemics.

With the slogan, WHO wants to convey a message that blood is the life of every person, healthy or ill. For a patient, blood is not only the help from the community but also a source of life for them to survive.

Besides, blood donors also have a chance to have their health checked.

Last year, Vietnam received over 1.4 million units of blood, 99 percent of them came from voluntary blood donors, who accounted for about 1.5 percent of the total population./.

Psycho-horror movie earns millions of views on YouTube

Điên Tối (Darkness), a new psychological horror movie by young director Jack Carry On, has become a hit on social media since it premiered on YouTube on June 10.

The Viettel Media production earned more than 1.84 million views 15 hours after its premiere.

The 90-minute movie features Thạch, a young director from an orphanage who to make a movie adaptation of a novel by famous author Mạn Châu.

After meeting with Châu at her bookstore, Thạch and Châu begin a mysterious adventure.

Award-winning actor Lương Bỉnh Phát and actress Yu Dương play roles in the film.

Phát rose to fame after performing in Song Lang (The Tap Box), a film about the 100-year history of cải lương (reformed opera), a genre of traditional theatre in southern  Việt Nam.

The film was directed by Vietnamese-American Leon Lê in 2018. Phát played a cải lương performer who falls in love with his male colleague and makes sacrifices to pursue his dream.

Phát won Best Actor at the Golden Kite Awards 2019 organised by the Việt Nam Cinematography Association. He also won the Tokyo Gemstone Award in the Best Newcomer category at the Tokyo International Film Festival 2018.

Yu Dương, whose real name is Nguyễn Thùy Dương, is known for playing the leading role in the 2014 horror movie Lời Nguyền Huyết Ngãi (Blood Curse) directed by Bùi Thạc Chuyên, when she was only 16 years old.

She later took part in movies and TV series such as Cô Dâu Đại Chiến 2 (Bride War 2) and Tốc Độ và Đường Cong (Speed and Curve).

In 2020, she impressed audiences with two thrilling movies Bí Mật Của Gió (Secrets of the Wind) and Thang Máy (Elevator).

Võ Ngọc Anh from Đồng Nai Province said that when she heard of the film and the cast with Phát and Dương, she knew it would be a good production.

“The film is awesome and meaningful. I cried at the ending,” Anh said.

The director said: “Although Điên Tối is covered with darkness, it finally exposes the evil and opens a bright and better world.”

Jack, whose real name is Trịnh Tài Việt, began making movies when he was 14 years old.

The 26-year-old self-taught director is known for his online short films such as Câu Chuyện Pháp Sư (Story of a Shaman) and Bí Mật Phòng Kế (Secret of the Next Room).

In 2020, he introduced his first web series Ảo Tưởng Tuổi 18 (Illusion at 18) consisting of 18 episodes, featuring struggles and challenges that young people face in modern society. The film received a warm welcome from young audiences.

Điên Tối is available on YouTube channel FIM360, with English subtitles.

Nguyễn Du film to shine at national film festival

A documentary movie about celebrated 18th century poet Nguyễn Du will compete at the Việt Nam National Film Festival in Thừa Thiên Huế Province in September.

Called Đại Thi Hào Nguyễn Du (Great Poet Nguyễn Du), it was produced by Việt Media over three years.

Producer Phạm Xuân Mừng, who has 20 years of experience in film and literature, said that it will honour the poet and highlight the value and longevity of Nguyễn Du’s masterpiece Truyện Kiều (The Tale of Kiều) as well as his significant role in promoting Vietnamese language.

“For Vietnamese people, Truyện Kiều and poet Nguyễn Du is familiar,” said Mừng.

“However, not everyone knows nor profoundly understands the life and career of the poet and the context of the writing and creations of characters.”

Key parts of the series used writings and studies from famous authors and cultural researchers.

The film script was penned by a group of writers including Mừng. It was directed by Nguyễn Văn Đức and features 50 actors from leading film studios and art schools and 1,000 extras.

The crew travelled to capture beautiful scenes of traditional culture and rural life in Hà Tĩnh, Hà Nội, Bắc Ninh, Thái Bình, and Huế.

Great Poet Nguyễn Du focuses on his life and career from his birth in Thăng Long citadel in 1765, his military service during the Gia Long dynasty through to his death in Huế in 1820.

His father, Nguyễn Nghiễm, a mandarin under the Lê dynasty, is also highlighted.

The 180-minute documentary film has three episodes: Gia Thế và Tuổi Thơ (Family and Childhood), Mười Năm Gió Bụi (Ten Years of Vicissitude), and Nghiệp Văn và Quan Trường (Literary Career and Mandarinate).

The first episode made its debut in Hà Nội and central province of Hà Tĩnh last year in celebration of Nguyễn Du’s 255 birth anniversary and his 200th death anniversary. It made a deep impression on audiences.

“Our film aims to introduce and promote celebrated poet Nguyễn Du’s masterpiece and other works to both Vietnamese people and foreigners,” Mừng said.

“We hope it will inspire younger generations’ patriotism and national literary pride.”

The film also features poetic love between Nguyễn Du and female poet Hồ Xuân Hương — a beloved poet known for her sharp wit and sterling command of chữ Nôm (Nôm script).

Great Poet Nguyễn Du will be released next month and participate at the Việt Nam Film Festival, 22nd edition, from September 12 to 16.

Trà Vinh embraces science, technology in agriculture

The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Trà Vinh has earmarked VNĐ150 – 200 billion (US$6.6 – 8.7 million) for research into and adoption of processing technologies, especially for its key agricultural products, in 2021 – 25.

It will focus on creating hybrid plant and animal strains that can adapt to climate change, expanding production models that use high technology, bio-technology and organic methods to improve yield and quality, according to Lê Thành Ôi, director of the province Department of Science and Technology.

The research and use of technology would be linked with guaranteed sales of produce, he said.

The department has implemented three projects that used modern agricultural technologies in the first five months of the year.

They include growing a high-yield peanut variety on sand dunes in Trà Cú, Cầu Ngang and Duyên Hải districts, producing bio-products EMTV1 and EMTV2 and using them for breeding shrimp in Duyên Hải District and Duyên Hải Town, and growing honeydew melon in polyhouses equipped with drip irrigation system in Châu Thành District.

It has also worked with localities like Cầu Ngang District and Trà Vinh City for intercropping grapefruit and guava using efficient irrigation systems and growing clean watermelon in Cầu Ngang District and a fresh eating grape variety in combination with offering tourism services on a pilot basis in Trà Vinh City.

It also plans a project to compare the efficiency of models to grow honeydew melon on the ground and on substrates in polyhouses.

Phạm Minh Truyền, director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the province has more than 17,000ha of hi-tech farming areas, including 10,400ha of aquaculture and 7,000ha of rice, vegetables and fruits.

In hi-tech cultivation, farmers use advanced technologies such as automatic irrigation, nano fertilisers, net houses, hydroponic methods, net houses, tissue culture, and good agricultural practices (GAP) standards.

In aquaculture, farmers use modern facilities for breeding shrimp under intensive and super intensive farming models.

Truyền said the province planned to use 1,500ha of unproductive rice fields and 500ha of sugarcane fields to grow high-value crops or perennial trees or rotate between rice and aquatic species on the same fields this year.

In the first five months of the year more than 1,200ha of rice fields and more than 125ha of sugarcane farms have been converted, with farmers growing vegetables, coconut and fruits and breeding aquatic species.

Sugarcane farmers have struggled in recent years because of low prices, and the province encourages them to switch to other crops.

Trà Vinh is one of the delta’s coastal provinces and has been severely affected by saltwater intrusion in the dry season.

So local authorities have dissuaded farmers from growing rice in coastal areas and those without irrigation, and encouraged them to switch to other crops.

Farmers who grow vegetables, corn and watermelon have earned an average of VNĐ80 – 90 million ($3,500 – 3,900) per hectare per crop this year, according to the province Plant Protection and Cultivation Sub-department.

It has instructed farmers to adopt GAP standards to increase the competitiveness of their produce and incomes.

Bình Dương IPs tighten COVID prevention measures

Companies in industrial parks in Bình Dương Province are applying stricter COVID-19 prevention measures while maintaining production activities.

Chutex International Co., Ltd. in Dĩ An City’s Sóng Thần Industrial Park, for example, which has over 6,000 workers, has required staff to wear face masks and disinfect themselves as they enter the premises, as well as take temperature checks at their work stations.

Businesses in the Việt Nam Singapore Industrial Park in Thuận An City have set up pandemic prevention teams at their gates, and have had staff disinfect themselves, make health declarations, and have their temperature checked.

Lê Văn Phức, a guard at Maruei Việt Nam Precision Co., Ltd in the industrial park, said that his company began applying prevention measures when the pandemic first appeared in the country, but has been stricter since May 25 as serious outbreaks have occurred in industrial parks in the north.

Staff are required to make health declarations via paper forms or smartphones, and smartphone users must install the Bluezone tracing application.

Meanwhile, Liwayway Joint Stock Company in the same park has put up large, hard-to-miss information boards about the pandemic at their gate, and has increased the number of staff stationed at the gate to monitor the health of more than 1,000 workers.

Staff with high fever are sent to a separate clinic room to be monitored.

Banners and posters on how to protect against COVID-19 can also be found throughout the industrial parks in the province.

For more than a month, Bình Dương People’s Committee and local authorities have been instructing regions, businesses and industrial parks to carry out strict pandemic prevention measures.

The Bình Dương Industrial Parks Management Board has instructed local IPs to regularly update their status on the COVID-19 safety map to keep the public informed, closely monitor workers, and form pandemic inspection teams.

The province is also working with health authorities and the management board to hold drill sessions and draw up plans to requisition factories and offices to quarantine up to 4,000 people if necessary.

According to Trần Văn Nam, secretary of the provincial party committee, Bình Dương has thousands of workers, many of whom are living within the industrial parks.

Local authorities have been asked to refer to preventive measures taken by other industrial parks and regions, and come up with their own solutions for Bình Dương.

Bình Dương Province is one of the top regions in Việt Nam in terms of FDI attraction, exports and economic growth.

Cà Mau ramps up production of processed agricultural products for export

The southernmost province of Cà Mau is increasing its output of processed agricultural products and promoting trade activities to expand markets for its key products like shrimp, crab, rice and banana.

Châu Công Bằng, deputy director of the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the aim was to increase value and attract investors.

Cà Mau, the country’s largest shrimp producer, produces fresh, frozen and dried shrimp as well as shrimp chips. It exported US$163 million of shrimp products in the first quarter of the year, up 6 per cent year-on- year. The province’s People’s Committee plans to reach more than $1 billion in shrimp export value this year.

OCOP products

The province’s products certified under the country’s one commune – one product (OCOP) programme have improved the quality of its speciality products and increased income for OCOP producers.

Lê Văn Sử, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee, said that 33 products were certified as OCOP in the 2018 – 20 period, including three four-star and 30 three-star products, out of a five-star system.

Last year, farmer Trương Ngọc Giàu, from Đầm Dơi District’s Tân Tiến Commune, received certificates for two OCOP products: three-star instant shrimp flakes and Vietnamese caramelised shrimp. This year she plans to apply for OCOP certificates for her dried greasyback shrimp and fried shrimp cakes.

Her clean shrimp products with their good brand name have increased her income. “They have contributed to improving the general quality of the province’s OCOP products,” she said.

Other areas have high potential for export as well. In Thới Bình District, concentrated farming areas use the shrimp – rice farming model. The district, the largest shrimp – rice area in the province, has been granted a collective brand name for its clean rice under the name “Thới Bình clean rice” from the National Office of Intellectual Property.

The district plans to produce 10,000 – 20,000ha of clean rice each year. The rice, which sells at a high price, is guaranteed outlets by companies.

Lý Minh Vững, chairman of the Thới Bình People’s Committee, said the district was developing its speciality products and encouraging local residents to produce them to improve their income.

It was also prioritising the development of co-operatives and small-size companies in order to turn speciality products into OCOP products, he said.

Bằng, deputy director of the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the OCOP programme had gradually changed production by establishing linkages among stakeholders, developing large-scale production, and establishing key product systems.

The province planned to develop more of these products as part of its strategy to promote OCOP sales, he said.

Many producers and trading businesses involved in specialty products are selling more of their products online to maintain revenue amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Tân Phát Lợi Co-operative in Ngọc Hiển District, for instance, is selling dried shrimp, shrimp salt, shrimp chips and shrimp flakes on its website.

Bùi Văn Chương, director of Tân Phát Lợi, said: “The co-operative has improved our website and increased our sales online.”

The co-operative can sell 100 – 200kg of products a day, equal to the amount sold before the pandemic.

The Ngọc Hiển District Farmers Association said that two companies, two co-operatives, five establishments and 10 households in the district were now selling local speciality products.

Lê Ngọc Lâm, chairman of the association, said most of them had begun selling products online after COVID-19 broke out last year.

Lê Quân, chairman of the province’s People’s Committee, said that producers and trading businesses individually had begun selling their products online.

But the province wants to promote its key products on an electronic commerce exchange so that producers and trading businesses can have their own virtual shops to show products on the exchange, according to Quân.

To attract customers, producers and trading businesses must provide efficient and convenient delivery services and suitable selling prices for OCOP and speciality products.

HCM City restricts use of groundwater, provides more clean water for residents

The People’s Committee of HCM City has issued a plan to provide clean water to all residents and stop the exploitation of groundwater.

The city Department of Natural Resources and Environment has approved a plan to restrict groundwater exploitation in 2021, while the city People’s Committee has set a roadmap to 2023 with a maximum of 150,000cu.m of groundwater exploited each day.

The plan aims to reduce groundwater exploitation by 16,650cu.m per day this year. This includes 8,000cu.m per day for households, 4,650cu.m per day for industrial production, and 4,000cu.m per day for the State-run Sài Gòn Water Supply Corporation (Sawaco).

To achieve the goal, the department will stop licensing 74 groundwater exploitation works that belong to companies, industrial parks and export processing zones, and will encourage households to fill up wells in areas where clean tap water is accessible. Costs for filling up wells will be covered by the city’s water sector.

Groundwater can be harmful to health because of dangerous chemicals and wastewater.

To protect residents’ health, city authorities said that clean, safe water would continue to be supplied to all households in every district.

According to Sawaco, under its plan for 2020-2025, the city aims to increase the average supply of clean water per capita per day by 165 litres and reduce the tap water leakage rate to 15 per cent.

The overexploitation of groundwater has changed underground water levels and the geological structure.

The city has an average subsidence rate of 4cm a year, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Land subsidence of 5-10mm has occurred in districts Bình Chánh, Bình Tân, Thủ Đức and Nhà Bè and districts 2, 7, 8 and 12.

HCM City vows to speed up COVID vaccination

HCM City will speed up COVID-19 vaccination, Nguyễn Thành Phong, chairman of its People’s Committee, told an online meeting on Friday.

A team led by People’s Committee vice chairman Dương Anh Đức and health experts will be set up to carry out procedures related to negotiations for vaccine supplies, consultations and organisation of inoculations, he said.

The city aims to vaccinate two thirds of its population this year, has a roadmap with a priority list of people because of limited supply yet, but would also ensure a sufficient number of people get vaccinated, he said.

District 12 authorities sought permission from the People’s Committee to continue district-wide social distancing under the Government’s Directive No. 15 after 15 days of social distancing under the more stringent Directive No. 16 in its Thạnh Lộc Ward.

Lê Trương Hải Hiếu, its chairman, said Thạnh Lộc has not recorded more new COVID-19 cases since social distancing began.

Tân Thới Nhất Ward has the largest number of COVID-19 cases in the district, 51, he said.

The district has set up a quarantine with 100 beds at the Trần Phú Secondary School.

Nguyễn Trí Dũng, chairman of the Gò Vấp People’s Committee, said the district has had 106 COVID patients, including five whose status would be announced by the Ministry of Health.

According to the city Department of Health, the city’s largest cluster, which began in Gò Vấp on May 26, has seen 441 cases.

They include one each from four industrial parks. But thanks to early detection, there has been no spread from them to other workers, it said.

The city has so far controlled Gò Vấp cluster well, it said.

Dũng said 15 days of social distancing is enough for the district.

He said locals have complied strictly with regulations on social distancing under the Directive No.16. Non-essential services enterprises have closed.

The district has seven markets, seven supermarkets, and 200 convenience stores open to keep prices steady he said.

The district also identified facilities for use as quarantine.

Tân Bình District People’s Committee sought permission from the city for social distancing under the Directive No. 15 for one more week.

Head of the department, Nguyễn Tấn Bỉnh, said many small COVID clusters have been found this week in the city, but due to social distancing, the risk has been low.

In the clusters found in a warehouse in Hóc Môn District, Ehome apartment building in Bình Tân District and a family in Thủ Đức city, only people in the infected people’s family were found infected, he said.

The city is monitoring the clusters, he said.

According to a Ministry of Health report, the city has 838 COVID patients, including 270 recovered and two dead ones.

Bỉnh said the city would continue to tighten preventive measures, especially at industrial parks and export processing zones, to detect, localise and stamping out outbreaks in a timely manner.

Dương Hồng Thắng, chairman of the Hóc Môn People’s Committee, said manual workers and street vendors should be tested since they make up 70 per cent of the district’s patients so far.  VNS

Inbox:

The People’s Committee of the Mekong Delta province of Tiền Giang has ordered social distancing under the Government’s Directive 15 for COVID-19 prevention and control starting on June 12 until further announcement after three new cases were found recently.

Cần Thơ to build embankment on Trà Nóc River to prevent erosion

Cần Thơ plans to build an embankment to prevent erosion along the Trà Nóc River at the Trà Nóc Bridge – Xẻo Mây Bridge section at an estimated cost of VNĐ531 billion (US$53.2 million).

After inspecting erosion that occurred recently along the river in Bình Thuỷ District’s Trà An Ward on Wednesday, Nguyễn Ngọc Hè, deputy chairman of the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta city People’s Committee, said the embankment should be built soon to safeguard local people and their property and infrastructure.

The work will comprise building a 1.1km embankment and pavements, planting trees and erecting lights.

The 122 families living along that stretch of the river will be relocated.

The place has suffered erosion five times since 2020, affecting 40 houses.

The city is undertaking a number of erosion prevention projects, including an embankment along the Cái Sơn Canal in Ninh Kiều and Bình Thuỷ districts and another at the junction of the Ô Môn River and Rạch Tra Canal in Thới Lai District.

They will be 2.8km and 430m and cost VNĐ290 billion ($12.7 million) and VNĐ49 billion ($2.1 million).

Last month the city began building a 950m embankment on the right bank of the Ô Môn River in Ô Môn District at a cost of VNĐ114.5 billion ($4.96 million).

Airports face fake driver licenses

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has raised warnings after many people have been found to use fake driver licenses for flight check-ins.

Dinh Viet Son, deputy head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, signed the official document asking related agencies to be alert and have measures to deal with the problem.

In 2020, 23 people were caught using fake driver licenses and 13 people were caught in the first six months of 2021.

“Using fake papers is a legal violation and an aviation risk,” Son said.

In the latest case, a male passenger was found to use a fake driver licence for a flight from Hanoi to HCM City. He said he had the fake license made at the price of VND1.5m. This is the first time he used a fake licence. The case was later transferred to the police.

According to airport employees, people were sometimes found using fake papers to board planes every day including fake IDs and fake driver licenses.

Vietnamese citizens over 14 years old can use various papers to board planes including ID, driver licenses, press cards and identity cards of Vietnamese airlines.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam also asked the Road Directorate to have measures to put an end to the easy availability of fake papers.

Ha Long tourist boats lie idle despite end to social distancing

Tourists boats in Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh Province are still lying idle despite being allowed to resume operation.

The Management Board of Ha Long Bay said tourist boats were still lying idle although local tourist sites and services have reopened since June 8. According to a boat owner, the residents are already familiar with all the sightseeing spots and will not use their services while there were no visitors from other cities and provinces yet. Moreover, the operation cost is high and the crew are reluctant to return to work for fear of another outbreak.

On June 11, several restaurants also reopened. Nguyen Hai, the owner of Hai Quan Restaurant in Bai Chay Ward, said they took a risky move and bought some seafood, hoping that there will be customers during the weekends.

“During the previous outbreak, I also bought seafood but there were no customers. I still decided to invest some tens of millions of VND this time though. I hope to recoup some money,” he said.

Statistics from Quang Ninh Department of Tourism show that by the end of May, the province had received 2.3 million visitors, accounting for 56.5% of the number of visitors in 2020. The revenue from the tourism industry was VND5trn (USD217m), accounting for 61% of 2020’s firgure.

Tourism activities were resumed only for a short time between two Covid-19 outbreaks in Vietnam.

Ca Mau tourism works to adapt to “new normal” situation

The tourism sector of the southernmost province of Ca Mau is taking measures to adapt to the “new normal” situation amid complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the fact that it had remained free of COVID-19 so far.

Tourist destinations pay great attention to following the “5K message” of khau trang (facemasks), khu khuan (disinfectant), khoang cach (distancing), khong tu tap (no gatherings), and khai bao y te (health declarations).

Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Tieu Minh Tien said the province has issued a set of criteria to assess safety in COVID-19 prevention and control in the tourism sector, including specific regulations in each category and destination.

The local tourism sector is ready with measures to record new development progress in the near future, he said.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Tran Hong Quan said the province has set tourism as one of its economic pillars and identified measures for sustainable development.

The Prime Minister has approved the master plan for Ca Mau Cape national tourism site and the province already has planning for tourist areas such as Khai Long and Hon Da Bac and ecological tourism sites in Tran Van Thoi and U Minh districts.

It has upgraded infrastructure, diversified products at destinations, and actively sought investment in various fields, including tourism.

According to Tien, Ca Mau will step up tourism marketing at home and abroad to promote its land, culture, and people.

It is due to link up with cities and provinces to form tourism product chains in the Mekong Delta and on an inter-regional scale.

Website mobilises online donations for Covid-19 vaccine fund

The management agency of the COVID-19 vaccine fund has built an online donation system through the fund’s website, with a friendly and intuitive interface, in order to help benefactors easily access and support the vaccine fund.

On June 5, the Government held a ceremony to launch a vaccine fund against the COVID-19. This fund is managed by the Ministry of Finance to mobilisecontributions from domestic and foreign enterprises, organisations and individuals.

In addition, the official website www.quyvacxincovid19.gov.vn was also introduced with the aim to create an online donation channel for the vaccine fund.

The website is designed to be easy to use, with the function of directly supporting the Government’s Vaccine Fund through international credit cards, ATM cards, e-wallets, internet banking, mobile banking, and traditional bank transactions. Users can also register their support byleaving information to receive instructions to support the Vaccine Fund.

Through the website, all contributions from organisations and individuals will be directly transferred to the Government’s COVID-19 vaccine fund account.

The Fund’s official website also affirms its public and transparent commitment, as well as its commitment to not create any benefits for businesses or any other organisation or individual other than for the purpose of mobilising contributions from businesses and organisations both at home and abroad to finance the purchase, transportation, preservation and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

Moc Chau plateau enters plum season

In June, many young people want to get a hide-way from the sweltering heat of summer. When Hai Lam, a Nhan Dan (People) journalist, saw his friend’s photos on Facebook, capturing a bunch of ripen plums in a garden in Moc Chau plateau, Son La province, he knew it as a call to visit the plateau.

No matter whether traveling by motorbike, car or bus, the road to Moc Chau is very beautiful for passengers. Having a passion for the nature of the Northwest region, Lam has been to Moc Chau quite a few times in different seasons.

The weather is cool all year round and the plateau wins the hearts of visitors thanks to its assorted green shades from both the mountains and forests.

During spring, the plateau is adorned with pink peach blossoms and white plum flowers while in autumn it is sprinkled with bright wild sunflowers. Winter comes with mustard and buckwheat flowers.

Nature lovers who were once enchanted with the pure white of the plum forest in February, come back here in summer and are often surprised to see that the tiny plum flowers have now become ripe fruit.

Taking a tour around Moc Chau town this season, one can see plum gardens and hills everywhere, which stand out against the blue sky with their clusters of dark purple and red fruit. With nearly 1,000 hectares of plum cultivation, Moc Chau is considered the largest plum grower in the country.

In recent years, tours to plum gardens have become an attractive tourist product of Moc Chau. While wandering in the plum gardens, visitors can enjoy the natural atmosphere and pick juicy and fresh fruit. The ripe plums turn dark red and has a sweet and fragrant taste while medium-ripe fruit is slightly sour, thus often served with chili salt or pounded salt with ‘mac khen’ pepper.

Visitors to the garden can also buy products made from plum including plum jam, plum wine, and plum syrup as souvenirs for their families and friends. Therefore, a trip to Moc Chau leaves impressions not only on the fruit pickers but also on the recipients of the delicious and aromatic dishes made from the plums.

This year, as the Plum Festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ripe plums are being harvested and distributed to many places for consumption.

National Highway 50 linking HCMC, Long An needs expanding: Transport Dept

The HCMC Department of Transport has written to the HCMC People’s Council proposing expanding National Highway 50 that connects the city’s outlying district of Binh Chanh with Long An Province, at a cost of VND1.5 trillion.

The national highway is an important traffic route connecting the city with some Mekong Delta provinces, including Long An and Tien Giang and an approach road to the Da Phuoc solid waste treatment complex, leading to high traffic density, according to the municipal department.

The current national highway has only two lanes, while container trucks and garbage trucks share the road with motorbikes, cars and rudimentary vehicles, resulting in frequent traffic congestion, mainly at the National Highway 50-Nguyen Van Linh intersection, posing a high risk of traffic accidents.

Besides, once in place, the Ben Luc-Long Thanh expressway, which is underway, will attract many vehicles, increasing the burden on National Highway 50 as the former is set to directly connect to the national highway.

As such, the upgrade and expansion of the national highway in Binh Chanh District is necessary to facilitate traffic, strengthen the connection between HCMC and the Mekong Delta provinces, ease traffic jams and reduce traffic accidents.

The project to expand National Highway 50 will be developed by the HCMC Management Board of Investment and Construction of Traffic Projects under the public investment mode. Over VND680.3 billion of the total cost will be sourced from the central State budget and VND812.2 billion from the HCMC budget.

In the first phase of the project, a parallel road to the highway will be built at a length of 4.36 kilometers. The current national highway will be expanded in the second phase, while two bridges and tree, lighting and drainage systems will also be developed.

The project is set to be executed from 2021 to 2024, the local media reported.

HCMC needs over VND137.6 trillion for traffic infrastructure projects in 2021

The HCMC government has come up with a plan to develop the traffic infrastructure system in the city from 2020-2030, in which more than VND137.6 will be needed for traffic infrastructure projects in the city this year.

Of the total, nearly VND64 trillion will be sourced from the city’s budget and the remaining from the State budget, official development assistance loans and private resources, the local media reported.

Many projects were expected to be completed this year, such as four main roads in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area, the Thu Thiem 2 Bridge, the Dong Van Cong Street expansion and an overpass in front of the New Mien Dong Coach Station in Thu Duc City and the Hang Ngoai Bridge in Go Vap District.

In addition, many key and urgent projects will be approved, including the HCMC-Moc Bai Expressway, the Ring Road No. 2, the An Phu intersection and the Thu Thiem 4 and Can Gio bridges and projects to expand national highways 50, 22 and 13.

Elevated roads Nos. 1 and 5, the new Mien Tay Coach Station and a project linking bus routes to metro line No. 1 are also expected to be approved this year.

According to the municipal government, more than VND970 trillion is needed to develop the traffic infrastructure in the city in the 2020-2030 period. The first projects to be executed in the period are the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway expansion, the HCMC-Thu Dau Mot-Chon Thanh expressway, the Ring Road Nos. 2 and 3 and a road connecting Tran Quoc Hoan and Cong Hoa streets.

Moreover, the city will complete and put into operation the first metro line and start work on the second metro line, the first phase of the fifth metro line, a light railway linking the Thu Thiem Urban Area and the Long Thanh International Airport and inland clearance depots in Thu Duc City and Cu Chi District.

According to the municipal Department of Transport, it will coordinate with the relevant agencies and the authorities of Thu Duc City and districts to build a list of priority projects.

As of 2020, the total length of roads and bridges in HCMC reached over 4,500 kilometers. The city currently manages more than 8.3 million vehicles, including nearly 7.5 million motorbikes and over 785,000 autos. Its traffic infrastructure projects have failed to the meet the demand.

Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/VIR/SGT/Nhan Dan/Hanoitimes