High speed railway of india

A ceremony marking the handover was held April 9 at the offices of the 3rd Regional Coast Guard in the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau.

Attending the ceremony were Vietnam Coast Guard commander Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Son, U.S. Consul General Marie Damour and other officials, the U.S. embassy said in a Facebook post Saturday.

Lt. Gen. Son said that Vietnam highly appreciated the U.S. gesture and considered the event “an important milestone of the Vietnam-U.S. partnership,” helping Vietnam improve its law enforcement capacity at sea.

The cooperation between the coast guards of both countries has strengthened in recent years.

In 2017, the U.S. Coast Guard handed over the Hamilton-class (the second-largest class of vessels in the U.S. Coast Guard) USCGC Morgenthau cutter to the Vietnam Coast Guard under their Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program. The ship was then commissioned for the Vietnam Coast Guard and renamed CSB 8020.

The U.S. has also sold a total of 24 Metal Shark high-speed patrol boats and is overhauling the USCGC John Midgett, another Hamilton-class vessel, to hand it over to Vietnam.

At a press conference in Hanoi, outgoing U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink had remarked that security cooperation was developing strongly between the two countries, especially between the two militaries.

He said that Vietnam and the U.S. have worked together to implement a United Nations resolution on North Korea and to promote a common stance on the East Sea. The U.S. has assisted Vietnam in building its defense capacity, especially maritime capabilities, and supported Vietnam in sending peacekeeping personnel to South Sudan.

Referring to East Sea disputes, Kritenbrink had stressed that the U.S. always stood by its partners and allies in building an international order based on rules, and opposed ” the provocative actions of China with the other countries in the region.”

In particular, ST25 rice was sold for more than $1,000 per ton and Jasmine rice for $600 per ton.

The Vietnam National Seed Group (Vinaseed) has also inked many contracts to export rice to Australia, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic at high prices.

The first batch of Vietnamese rice exported in 2021 was 1,600 tons of Trung An High-tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company. Its two types of Jasmine rice were sold for $680 and $750 per ton.

Pham Thai Binh, general director of Trung An, told VietNamNet that the company has changed its policy: producing and exporting high quality rice only.

Vietnam was known for exporting low-grade, low-priced rice for the past 30 years. Now, Vietnamese firms export high-quality rice for high prices. Vietnam is also the producer of ST25, the most delicious rice product in the world.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh, after more than 30 years of conquering the world rice market, Vietnam is no longer inferior to others in terms of the quality and price of its exported rice. The country currently has many valuable rice varieties and the price for Vietnamese rice is sometimes higher than that of Thailand and India.

Doanh said that five to six years ago Vietnam had 35-40% of high-quality rice varieties, but now the ratio is 75-80%. As the quality of rice has increased, the export price has risen very quickly. The rice industry has been successfully restructured in recent years, although the rice cultivation area has been reduced.

Recently, many people were “startled” by the information that Vietnam imported rice from India. But for experts, this is ‘the new normal’ of Vietnamese rice. Vietnam lacks and has to import low-grade rice to process cattle-feed as the proportion of high-grade rice varieties is overwhelming.

The Bangkok Post on January 25 commented that this is “Vietnam’s wise rice strategy”. Vietnam chose to import Indian rice at lower prices to meet domestic demand, while focusing on producing high-quality rice for export. The production of high-quality rice is on the right track with the world, taking advantage of export opportunities to the EU when the EVFTA went into effect.

Dr. Dang Kim Son, former director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, acknowledged that rice is the most successful export commodity in recent years. From exporting 1 million tons per year, Vietnam has become the world’s leading rice exporter. If in the past, the price for Vietnamese rice was much lower than the world rice price, especially Thai rice, now it is equal or even higher.

Vietnamese rice holds No. 1 position in world

In mid-2018, when the price Vietnamese rice surpassed Thailand’s, many people called it a “miracle” because, for many years, Vietnamese rice had been inferior to Thai and Indian rice in both quantity and quality.

As a result, the position of Vietnamese rice has changed. In 2020, Vietnam overtook Thailand to become the world’s second rice exporting country, with 6.15 million tons, earning $3.07 billion. Notably, the export volume decreased by about 3.5% but turnover increased by 9.3%.

Vietnamese rice has surpassed both Thailand and India to take the number one spot in the world in terms of selling price. In 2020, with an average export price of $499 per ton, an increase of 13.3% compared to 2019, Vietnamese rice farmers earned high profits. It is estimated that with an output of about 7 million tons per hectare, farmers can earn from VND65-VND70 million per hectare, while the cost is only about VND16-VND17 million per hectare. It means a profit of 70%, equivalent to about VND50 million per hectare.

In early 2021, Vietnamese rice maintained its top position in price. On March 25, the price for Vietnam’s 5% broken rice increased to $515-520 per ton, compared to $500-$518 per ton for Thai rice and $398-403 per ton for Indian rice of the same kind. In January 2021, Vietnam’s rice export price hit $551.7 per ton.

‘Heavenly pearls’

According to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), rice exports in 2021 will be very positive. The Asian rice market started to heat up again as customers were rushing to buy. Many countries have great demand for fragrant rice and sticky rice, which are an advantageous commodity of Vietnam. Vietnam’s export outlook is wide open thanks to opportunities from a number of markets that have signed free trade agreements (FTA) with Vietnam. In particular, under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), Vietnam has a quota of 80,000 tons of rice per year with 0% tax.

However, Pham Thai Binh said that to ensure a stable future for Vietnam’s rice export, it is necessary to strengthen the link between enterprises and farmers to improve quality of rice. Local governments need to find solutions to promote these links. This is a prerequisite for enterprises and farmers to jointly produce rice for export to serve various needs of the international market.

Agricultural expert Hoang Trong Thuy said that rice trading firms should keep shifting the structure of exported rice to high value-added types because if Vietnam produces low-grade rice, it will not be able to compete with India and Pakistan. Investing in the production of high-quality rice will help increase export value and enable Vietnamese rice to enter big markets such as Japan, Korea, and the EU.

Tam An

Police force patrol on Hà Nội-Hải Phòng Expressway. — VNA/VNA Photo

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has issued a directive urging ministries and government agencies to ensure traffic safety during the national holidays marking Reunification Day and May Day.

The directive was sent to the ministries of public securities, transport, information and communications, the National Committee for Traffic Safety, news agencies and provincial and municipal people’s committees.

Under the directive, PM Chính said efforts are needed to improve the capacity of public transport services to meet increasing demand for travel during the holidays.

Transport companies, stations, airports, railway stations, terminals and inland waterways were required to strictly comply with the traffic safety regulations; promote the application of electronic ticket sales; improve service quality; reduce traffic jams, delays and illegal price hikes and at the same time, strictly comply with regulations on prevention and control of the pandemic.

The PM asked the ministries and agencies to strengthen security and order at the major traffic routes, shopping centres, entertainment venues and major tourist and festival destinations. Illegal bus stations, vehicles that fail to meet technical safety standards and carry more than the prescribed number of people will be punished, the PM said.

Traffic infrastructure will be checked, including signals, warning signs and warning equipment in places that have a high risk of traffic accidents. Tollbooths will assign more workers to collect fees quickly to reduce traffic jams.

Drivers must ensure passenger safety by driving more carefully on steep roads and through level crossings, he added.

Increased inspections should be used to strictly punish traffic regulation violators, especially those who cause traffic accidents.

Public order disturbances, illegal racing and violations against public servants on duty should be strictly dealt with, at the same safety of COVID-19 prevention for enforcement forces and people need to be ensured.

Local departments of transport were also asked to remind people of the importance of wearing helmets and obeying regulations to minimise accidents and strictly comply with anti-virus protocols.

Hotlines to receive traffic complaints should be widely publicised, he added.

The PM also requested news agencies to regularly update traffic accidents, traffic jams, information to support travel guidance during the holidays and encourage citizens to strictly comply with traffic safety regulations.

Reports on these efforts will be sent to the National Committee for Traffic Safety before 3pm on May 3 to submit to the Prime Minister. — VNS

Thang Long II Industrial Zone in My Hao District, Hung Yen Province.

The provincial governments have shown further plans to establish new IPs of roughly 23,400 ha in the future, which are all in notable markets surrounding HCM City. The ready-built factory market was also buoyant, with the expected new launch of roughly 897,000 sq.m of ready-built factories by the end of 2021.

Nguyen Hong Van, JLL Vietnam’s Director of Markets, said since technology conglomerates continue to eye Vietnam for production relocation, the demand for industrial land and ready-built factory remains vibrant.

To lure foreign investments, localities in the Northern area have shown strong commitment to promote IPs, with roughly 10,500 ha of additional supply in the future, she said.

In addition to existing markets, second-tier provinces like Hung Yen, Hai Duong or further North of Hanoi like Bac Giang and Vinh Phuc are emerging as potential destinations for foreign investors, fostering the rents in those areas to speed up at an expected year-on-year growth of about 8-10 per cent.

The ready-built factory market remains upbeat, with the expected new launch of roughly 332,000 sq.m of ready-built factories by the end of 2021, predominantly in Hai Phong and Bac Ninh.

According to JLL Vietnam’s quarterly report on Vietnam’s property market in the first quarter of this year unveiled on Thursday, Dong Nai and Binh Duong accounted for the biggest supply of both industrial land and ready-built factory sectors on the property market in the first quarter of this year.

The other localities still have a long journey to catch up to Binh Duong and Dong Nai’s industrial park supply as these two are the oldest-developed industrial markets. Whilst in terms of ready-built factory supply, Dong Nai overwhelmed other provinces due to its well-developed industrial base and sufficient land bank for ready-built factory developers to penetrate, Van said.

However, the report said that no new supply of either industrial parks or ready-built factories was launched in the market in the quarter, she said.

Industrial properties in the Southern area remained significantly desirable for manufacturers to penetrate, although the pandemic still posed difficulties. Keeping the healthy demand momentum, both industrial land and ready-built factories recorded high occupancy rates at nearly 86 per cent and 82 per cent, increasing 0.60 per cent and 0.76 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, respectively. Of which, industrial land recorded transactions which have been negotiated since last year, whilst ready-built factories witnessed new leasing expansions of existing tenants rather than newcomers.

Industrial land remained the hottest sector for either newcomers or to meet the manufacturing expansion needs of existing investors, backed by Vietnam’s strong manufacturing fundamentals, Van said.

Therefore, most industrial park developers in Southern markets still maintained strong momentum to raise land prices reaching a new high at US$111 per sq.m per lease term, up 8.1 per cent year on year in the first quarter of this year. Whereas ready-built factory rents averaged $4.5 per sq.m per month across the region, increasing 3.1 per cent year on year, driven by the healthy demands of small and medium-sized enterprises as they expanded operations.

According to JLL Vietnam, in the first quarter, no new supply in industrial land and ready-built factories were introduced in the Northern market. The cumulative leasable land area in the market achieved roughly 9,500 ha, while the total supply of ready-built factories stood at approximately 1.8 million sq.m.

Bac Ninh and Hai Phong dominated the total supply in both sectors thanks to their strategic locations, strong footprints in the industrial market and improving business environment.

The third wave of COVID-19 swept the Northern area in late January has led to the postponement of new investments in the region, especially the lockdown in Hai Duong freezing most of the transactions in industrial parks in the first quarter.

Nevertheless, thanks to the strong influx of FDI in high-tech industries starting in the second half of 2020, the average occupancy rate of industrial parks recorded a healthy rate, reaching 75 per cent, whereas the occupancy rate of ready-built factories stood at 98 per cent in the quarter.

Given healthy demand, backed by Vietnam’s strong industrial fundamentals and combined with industrial park developers’ strong confidence in potential long-term investments, the land price continued its momentum to reach a new peak of $107 per sq.m per lease term in the first quarter, up 8.1 per cent year on year.

Meanwhile, ready-built factory rents also showed an increasing trend, at 5.8 per cent year on year, of which Bac Ninh recorded the strongest growth rate of nearly 9 per cent year on year fuelled by the launch of high-quality ready-built factories.

VNS

A medical worker administrates a dose of a Comirnaty Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine to a woman at a new vaccination hub in Lingotto Fiere Torino Pavilion in Turin, on April 14, 2021. (MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP)

Rival drugmaker AstraZeneca faced a similar setback after Denmark banned its use, also over blood clot links.

Concerns over using the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines have dampen hopes that mass immunizations will lead to a swift exit from the global pandemic that has killed nearly three million people and ravaged the global economy.

Nevertheless there was some good news as BioNTech/Pfizer announced that 50 million doses that were due to arrive in Europe in late 2021 will instead start arriving as early as this month.

More than 820 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have now been administered globally. Demand continues to outstrip supply, and countries are scrambling to secure the much-needed jabs for their people.

The race to secure vaccines has sparked diplomatic rows, notably between Britain and the EU after the bloc accused London of hoarding jabs. Australia has also accused the EU of falling short on promised doses.

– Fear of blood clots –

A panel of US health experts ruled that the pause on using the J&J vaccines would continue for at least another week so they have time to assess the risk of blood clots.

Another case of the clotting disorder was reported Wednesday, bringing the total of US cases to seven — including one death — among the 7.2 million J&J doses administered in the country.

“I don’t want to send the message that there is something fundamentally wrong with this vaccine,” said Beth Bell, chair of the expert group convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“But I want to be able to understand and defend the decision that I’ve made (to continue using the vaccine or not) based on a reasonable amount of data,” she added.

Johnson & Johnson said it would delay its European rollout, again over blood clot fears — a major hit for the continent’s beleaguered immunization campaign.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it would make a recommendation on the safety of the J&J jab next week after evaluating clot links.

AstraZeneca has faced similar setbacks, with many countries now limiting its use to older people following isolated cases blood clots among younger populations, some fatal.

Denmark said Wednesday it would stop using it altogether — a European first — despite assurances from the EMA and the World Health Organization that the benefits far outweigh possible risks.

Russia’s state-run Gamaleya research institute meanwhile said there was no risk of blood clots from its Sputnik V vaccine.

Several countries, from Germany to India to Argentina, are battling a worrying spike in cases.

– River Ganges infections –

In India, more than 1,000 people tested positive for the virus after bathing in the River Ganges for the world’s biggest religious festival.

A huge crowd of worshippers packed the river banks to take a dip as part of a bathing ritual, despite India’s soaring virus cases.

“Our faith is the biggest thing for us,” Siddharth Chakrapani, a member of one of the Kumbh Mela organizing committees, told AFP, explaining why so many people entered the river.

The WHO is concerned that the pandemic could worsen in the Middle East and North Africa during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Confirmed cases in the region last week rose 22 percent and deaths by 17 percent, said Ahmed al-Mandhari, WHO’s chief for the eastern Mediterranean.

In Turkey officials imposed new restrictions including a tougher overnight curfew, while in Bangladesh police patrolled the capital as a strict nationwide lockdown was rolled out.

Most European countries still face virus restrictions due to stubbornly high caseloads, but cafes and restaurants in Belgium were allowed to open their terraces starting May 8, and bars and restaurants in Switzerland can reopen starting Monday.

In Argentina however Covid-19 cases have risen fivefold compared to one month ago. President Alberto Fernandez announced that clampdown measures that include closing schools in the greater Buenos Aires area, limiting business hours, and an 8 pm to 6 am curfew.

In hard-hit Brazil, where the vaccine rollout has been chaotic and the virus is out of control, authorities said that some 1.5 million vaccinated people vaccinated have not shown up for their second jab.

Covid deaths averaged 3,000 a day in Brazil over the past week, forcing cities and states to reimpose lockdown measures.

In Japan, a spike in Covid cases forced a section of the Tokyo Olympics torch relay to be pulled from public roads.

But with just 100 days to go before the scheduled opening, International Olympic Committee vice president John Coates said that cancellation was “certainly not” on the table.

AFP