Manufacturing food industry

Complied by the Vietnam Records Organization (Vietkings) and Vietnam Top Center (VietTop), the list includes dishes and food gifts from each of Vietnam’s 63 provinces and municipalities.

In order to qualify for the list, dishes must be a reflection of Vietnamese culture, made from natural ingredients, healthy and widely available.

Specialties selected must meet key criteria such as reflecting Vietnamese characteristics.

The project to compile the list began in 2012.

During the past decade, Vietkings has evaluated over 500 dishes and specialties from across the nation before settling on a finalized ranking.

The noodle dishes which made the list include ‘bun nuoc leo’ from Soc Trang, ‘banh canh Ben Co’ from Tra Vinh, ‘pho kho Gia Lai’ from Gia Lai, ‘bun cha ca Quy Nhon’ from Binh Dinh, ‘bun bo Hue’ from Hue, and ‘banh da cua’ from Hai Phong.

In the ‘cakes’ category are ‘banh khot’ from Ba Ria – Vung Tau, ‘banh tam bi’ from Bac Lieu, and ‘banh gia Go Cong’ from Tien Giang.

Salads on the list include ‘sau dau’ dried snakehead fish salad from An Giang and sardin salad from Kien Giang.

The list of gift specialties includes Thoai Son dried snakehead from An Giang, Ben Tre coconut candy, Lai Thieu mangosteens from Binh Duong, honey from U Minh forest in Ca Mau, shrimp salt from Tay Ninh, and Ly Son garlic from Quang Ngai.

All foods listed in the two categories will be issued certificates and medals from VietTop and a ceremony honoring the dishes will be held on April 26.

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Nearly 33,000 subscribers left Vietnamobile in the first three weeks last month, showcasing the difficulties the carrier faces in retaining customers.

It received no request for subscriptions in the period, during which telecom giant Viettel welcomed over 24,600 new subscribers, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Vietnamobile, which aims to attract subscribers with a low-cost strategy, often receives complaints of low signal even in major cities, the small number of branches and poor customer service quality.

In 2019, Vietnamobile and two other carriers accounted for just 4.61 percent of the market, while three state-owned giants Viettel, VNPT and Mobifone, claimed more than 95 percent, according to the ministry.

Vietnamobile has blamed its difficulties on the limited spectrum it receives compared to the three main competitors, which it says limits it from providing the best services to customers.

In 2019, the company had requested five government bodies to create fairer spectrum auction policies.

Another challenge the company faces is its limited resources and staff. Last year, the company recorded a profit of nearly VND60 billion (), compared to VND42 trillion by market leader Viettel.

Vietnamobile had also proposed the provision of a new spectrum last year; as well as approval for 5G testing.

The move came following Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s order , requiring the poor, families under preferential treatment and some prioritized groups approved by the government to be inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine quickly.

The first batch of 30 million vaccines Vietnam ordered from AstraZeneca arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on a flight from Seoul last Wednesday. After working with South Korea to evaluate the quality of the batch, the health ministry said the vaccine is eligible for inoculation, Long told a Friday meeting.

On Saturday, the ministry will host a conference on the implementation of large-scale vaccination, nationwide training on receiving, using and preserving vaccines, as well as handling post-vaccination complications.

Two days later, those directly treating Covid-19 patients at 18 medical facilities and prioritized categories of people in 13 pandemic-hit localities, with Covid-19 epicenter Hai Duong given the highest priority, will be among the first to be vaccinated.

In April, Vietnam would receive an additional 1.3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through Covax, a global mechanism for developing, manufacturing and procuring Covid-19 vaccines and supply for member countries.

Long said the vaccination does not guarantee 100 percent immunity against Covid-19.

According to AstraZeneca, the vaccine is 76 percent effective, with the second shot measured at 81 percent.

Therefore, Long stressed everyone continues complying with pandemic prevention measures.

Earlier, the government had approved a list of prioritized groups to be vaccinated against Covid-19, which included frontline medical workers, military, and police forces.

Others in the priority list are teachers, diplomatic personnel, customs and immigration officers, those working in essential services like transport, people aged 65 and above, and those with chronic diseases that make them more vulnerable to the disease.

Those seeking to study or work abroad or are living in pandemic-hit areas are also listed.

While the production of domestic vaccines is underway, the government has speeded up foreign procurement to inoculate prioritized groups.

The government has said it is stepping up negotiations with vaccine manufacturers in the U.S., Russia and some other countries to ensure it could obtain a total 150 million doses to cover 70 percent of its population.

It has also approved the use of Moderna and Sputnik V vaccines.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the seven-day Lunar New Year holiday and the outbreaks of the COVID-19 pandemic in several localities in February 2021 slowed down trade and service activities in February compared to the previous month.

Total retail sales of goods and services in February was reported at VND439.7 trillion, down 5.4% from the previous month but up 8.2% over the same period in 2019.

During the two-month period, total retail sales of goods was reported at VND722.1 trillion, up 7.8% over the same period last year, accounting for 79.8% of total retail sales of goods and services in two months.

Meanwhile, total retail sales of accommodation, catering, travel and tourism services all decreased in the first two months of this year, with a 4.3% decrease in the revenue of accommodation and catering services and a 62.1% decrease in the revenue of tourism and travel services.

Retail sales of other services was posted at VND91.5 trillion, up 3% over the same period in 2020, accounting for 10.1% of the total retail sales of goods and services.