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In Viet Nam, Emirates currently operates three flights from Ha Noi and four flights from HCM City to Dubai and onward to over 95 destinations around the globe. — Photo Emirates

Emirates has announced the latest updates to its booking policies, offering customers even more confidence and flexibility to make their travel plans.

Customers holding tickets issued before September 30, 2020 for travel before December 31, 2021, can now rebook to travel anytime within 36 months, an extension of 12 months from the previous policy.

Those holding tickets issued after October 1, 2020 for travel before December 31, 2021, can utilise their tickets anytime within 36 months from the date of their original booking.

Fees for reissuing any ticket will be waived, and vouchers or unused portions of Emirates tickets may be refunded without penalty.

Customers who hold tickets issued directly by Emirates, whether via emirates.com or the airline’s retail and contact centres, do not have to contact Emirates as the tickets are automatically extended. Customers who purchased their tickets via a travel agent will need to contact their agent before the expiry date to reissue their tickets.

Emirates was the first airline to provide global multi-risk travel insurance cover for all passengers, and the airline is now extending this facility beyond March 31, 2021 until further notice, offering added value and peace of mind for its customers.

For its loyal frequent flyers, Emirates Skywards is extending the Tier Status of its Silver, Gold and Platinum members until 2022. The validity of any Skywards Miles due to expire since April 2020 has been further extended until August 31, 2021, providing Skywards members with more opportunities to utilise them for an extensive range of flight and partner rewards as well as other privileges.

In addition, Emirates Skywards is offering members a chance to earn double Tier Miles on all Emirates and flydubai flights booked from April 1 until June 30, for travel until December 30, 2021. — VNS

Since March 20, the 7-day moving average of new COVID-19 cases in the country has consistently remained higher compared with the previous 7-day moving average, according to data of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The current 7-day moving average of daily new cases stands at 67,530 cases, up around 6 percent from the previous seven days.

Meanwhile, new COVID-19 hospitalizations also went up 7.3 percent from the previous 7-day period, according to the CDC.

As of April 10, the United States had recorded more than 21,000 infection cases of coronavirus variants, according to the latest data of the CDC.

Among those variants cases, 20,915 cases were caused by the variant known as B.1.1.7, which was originally detected in Britain.

There were 453 cases of a new strain initially discovered in South Africa, called B.1.351, and 497 cases of the P.1 strain first discovered in Brazil.

In addition, the B.1.427 and B.1.429 variants, two coronavirus strains first detected in the US state of California, are also being closely monitored by the CDC.

The five coronavirus strains are currently classified by the CDC as “variants of concern,” as evidence shows that they have a stronger transmissibility, increase hospitalizations or deaths, and reduce effectiveness of treatments or vaccines.

B.1.1.7 is the most common variant circulating in the United States and has been reported in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, while variants P.1 and B.1.351 are relatively less, according to the CDC.

Even as the country picks up its COVID-19 vaccination pace, the coronavirus variants are spreading rapidly, and health experts warn the variants infections could potentially stall the nation’s recovery from the pandemic.

Vingroup’s billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong

Bloomberg has cited a source as saying that Vingroup Group (VIC) of billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong is considering an initial public offering (IPO) in the US for its VinFast auto company, which is expected to mobilize about $2-3 billion.

VinFast expects a valuation of at least $50 billion or even up to $70-75 billion. With this valuation, the capitalization of VinFast will surpass the famous car maker Ferrari (capitalization at $52 billion), Honda ($51 billion), Ford ($49 billion), Kia ($30 billion) … and only behind some famous brands such as Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz, GM, BMW and others.

This is an unexpected move, but it is in line with his aim of conquering the top market in the world.

The information was released when Vuong’s VinFast company began receiving the first orders for electric cars in Vietnam last month and had models shown on CNN, paving its way into the US market.

VinFast has also registered two electric car models in the US and will sell a number of models in Vietnam, the US, Canada and Europe from late 2021.

In the trading session on April 12, Vingroup shares (VIC) – VinFast’s parent company – increased by 5.7% to VND132,000/share, helping the group’s capitalization reach more than $19 billion to be the largest capitalized enterprise in Vietnam’s stock market.

During the morning session of April 13, Vingroup shares continued to rise by more than 4 percent, to nearly VND138,000 per share.

As the price for VIC shares soared, Vuong’s assets rose to over $9 billion and he became the 262nd richest person in the world.

If the IPO is successful, VinFast will set a new record, surpassing the record of $1.4 billion in capital mobilization in 2018 of Vinhomes (Vingroup’s real estate management company).

At that time, VinFast was also the first Vietnamese company listed in the US.

VinFast is Vingroup’s company that manufactures motorbikes, and gasoline- and electric-powered cars. The business, only a few years old, began delivering gasoline fueled cars (using engines licensed by BMW) in 2019.

In the mobile phone segment, Vingroup has achieved many positive results, with the sale of Vsmart phones in the country increasing over the past year, even though the No. 1 private corporation in Vietnam just entered the smartphone market in 2018. Vingroup has become the 3rd largest smartphone manufacturer in Vietnam, behind only Samsung Electronics and Oppo.

On the website of the leading US carrier – AT&T – an image of the first Vingroup smartphones has appeared, a testament to the group’s plan to enter the American smartphone market.

Pham Nhat Vuong has great ambition in the field of technology and industry, with Vsmart phones, Vinfast cars and electric cars.

In recent years, Vuong’s Vingroup had to withdraw from many fields, selling the retail segment to billionaire Nguyen Dang Quang and recently presenting the Youth Football Training Center to Van Lang Education Group, even though it had many achievements in these fields.

V. Ha

The Vietnamese economy is forecast to grow seven percent per annum in 2021-22, largely driven by increased export and investment, Fitch Ratings said in a post on its website on Tuesday.

“Strong export growth and a successful campaign to contain the spread of COVID-19 have supported Vietnam’s economy through the pandemic,” the American credit rating agency remarked.

Other parts of Vietnam’s economy have proved robust despite tourism, one of the country’s main sectors, hit the hardest by the coronavirus crisis.

The government posted 2.9 percent in GDP growth last year, placing Vietnam among a handful of nations globally that reported positive economic growth amid the pandemic stress.

“Growth was buoyed by external demand, with goods exports rising by 6.9 percent,” Fitch Ratings stated.

“Domestic activity was also supported by the limited spread of COVID-19 in the country.

“Just 1,465 cases and 35 deaths from the virus were officially recorded in 2020.

“We expect growth to remain strong, at around seven percent annually, in 2021-2022, buoyed by continued export expansion and higher investment.”

The Southeast Asian country’s COVID-19 tally has reached 2,733, with 2,445 patients having recovered from the respiratory disease, as of Wednesday evening, according to the Ministry of Health’s data.

Growth prospects will be reinforced by a pandemic fiscal package for 2020-21 of about VND292 trillion (US$12.7 billion), or roughly 3.6 percent of the 2020 GDP, Fitch Ratings forecast.

Goods exports rose 23.8 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year, supporting real economic growth in the quarter of 4.5 percent year on year.

Vietnam is benefiting from such new trade agreements as the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, as well as the country’s cost competitiveness.

“Rapid increases in public infrastructure investment and FDI should bolster the sustainability of strong medium-term growth,” Fitch Ratings said.

Vietnam’s generally robust economic outlook remains subject to risks, as its vaccination program has moved slowly, beginning only on March 8, the company observed.

The nation has so far received 928,800 coronavirus vaccine doses from direct purchases or the COVAX scheme, co-led by the World Health Organization, according to the health ministry’s figures.

Over 60,000 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Wednesday evening.

“Vaccine hesitancy among the public appears low, which is a positive sign, but Vietnam’s confirmed vaccine orders cover a lower proportion of the population than in some neighboring states, such as Indonesia and Malaysia,” Fitch Ratings said.

“Should the country experience a major COVID-19 outbreak before vaccines are widely rolled out – prompting lockdowns – growth prospects and public finances could be affected.”

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Nowhere else in Vietnam serves up leftovers like Hue – the country’s ancient capital – where yesterday’s rice is the hottest item on the menu.

In Hue’s city center, where tourists abound, bun bo Hue – a beef and vermicelli soup famous in the ancient capital – may be the most popular dish at local street stalls.

But walk just a few minutes from the city’s famous and attractions and visitors will find themselves immersed in a culinary world centered around a rather peculiar ingredient: leftover rice, known in Vietnamese as com nguoi .

For day laborers, the leftover rice served with bun bo Hue is integral, giving them the extra energy they need to work from dawn till noon.

Arguably, Hue is a city which runs on yesterday’s rice.

An unknown version of bun bo Hue

Hue’s Gia Hoi Islet is a hotbed of bun bo stalls, with the area surrounding Bach Dang, Chi Lang, To Hien Thanh, Nguyen Du, and Chua Ong Streets doubling as the epicenter of the city’s traditional cooking styles.

The close observer will notice that most of the bun bo stalls there have a lunchbox sitting near the service area.

Inside the lunchbox is the stall owner’s leftover rice, an ingredient that many locals agree is necessary in order to enjoy bun bo in true Hue fashion.

Cultural researcher Tran Dinh Son said serving leftover rice with bun bo dates back to the 1950s and 1960s when vendors, after running out of fresh vermicelli, would wander around the city selling their leftover ingredients – chopped pig’s feet, cooked beef, pig blood curd, and meatballs – to those who would have them with leftover rice.

Strange servings

Com va or ‘slurping rice’ is another traditional dish in Hue which has not yet made it on tourists’ radar screen.

This dish consists of large strings of vermicelli, julienned pork ham, banana flowers, herbs, and a spoonful of chicken broth.

Long ago, the people of Hue enjoyed leftover rice in a variety of ways, including by munching on it with shrimp paste and fresh chili, or topping it with fat, shrimp sauce, and hot pepper flakes.

Hue’s famous mam tom chua or sour fermented shrimp paste is made using cooked glutinous rice which adds a sweet taste and thickens the dish.

According to many mam tom chua enthusiasts, the dish must be prepared with leftover rice rather than glutinous rice in order to embody the true Hue spirit.

Worker’s food for royalty

It would not be right to talk about leftover rice without mentioning com hen or baby mussel rice.

Hoang Tung De – a cousin of Vietnam’s last emperor Bao Dai – loved eating at street stalls outside of the citadel despite knowing it might ruin his royal status, according to cultural researcher Son.

When Bao Dai was asked about it, the emperor said he “would like to do the same thing but could not.”

There is no official record of whether com hen was served to royals, yet many former servants said the emperor often asked to have vendors cook the dish at the palace.

Leftover rice accounts for much of the food in com hen so it would have been carried along with the vendors in order to serve the royalty.

Later, when Emperor Bao Dai built his palace in Central Highlands city of Da Lat, to cook his favorite dish of com hen , servants released baby mussel breeds in several springs nearby.

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Some 221 practitioners and staffers of Hanoi’s Bach Mai Hospital, one of the largest public health facilities in Vietnam, have turned in their resignation over the past year.

Discussing this issue with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Nguyen Quang Tuan, director of Bach Mai Hospital, confirmed the mass departure.

Some are highly qualified medical workers who switched to better paying jobs, while a majority are less skilled staffers who became dissatisfied with the hospital’s decision to go fully self-funded instead of relying on state subsidies, or displeased at their job rotation at the facility, Tuan said.

Pressure from the COVID-19 workload is also a possible reason for the mass departure, added Do Van Thanh, head of human resources at Bach Mai Hospital.

While 221 had departed, the facility has also recruited 506 new practitioners and officers, many of whom hold senior medical titles.

“Our hospital is striving for a change in service quality,” Thanh stated.

“Pressures of changes might be the reason for many staffers to leave.”

The Ministry of Health, the immediate managing body of Bach Mai Hospital, demanded a full list of resigned staffers along with an explanation from the hospital management after being informed of the situation in February.

“The hospital is responsible for the administration and usage of human resources in their facility,” a Ministry of Health official stated.

In a responding report submitted on March 22, the hospital leaders cited the reduced benefit package, which stems from the poor revenue that the institution reported during the pandemic, as the reason for the mass resignation.

Bach Mai Hospital also requested the Ministry of Health to raise the price ceiling for medical services to improve its returns, which will help uplift the income of personnel.

The report also mentioned tempting job offers from private hospitals that target highly-skilled practitioners in public facilities, which may cause a ‘brain drain’ from the public sector.

Bach Mai is a central-level hospital in Hanoi under the management of the Ministry of Health.

It receives some 6,000-7,000 visiting patients per day, with an outstanding reputation for many of its departments, including emergency, poison control, rehabilitation, cardiovascular medicine, cancer treatment, and orthopedics.

The hospital faced multiple mishaps in 2020, as it was placed on lockdown for over one month due to a coronavirus outbreak in the facility, plus two of its former executives were detained over allegations of inflating prices of medical equipment .

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