Natuzzi editions quality

State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Party and State officials offer incense to the Hung Kings. (Photo: VNA)

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Bui Van Quang spoke highly of the great contributions of the Hung Kings, the legendary founders of Van Lang – the first State in Vietnam, while praising the ancestors’ resilience in protecting the nation.

Vietnamese people pay homage to their ancestors. (Photo: VNA)

This year, many activities held on the occasion have been adjusted to suit the “new normal” situation, with COVID-19 prevention measures strictly put in place. The worship of the Hung Kings was organised to popularise the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity among Vietnamese nationals and foreign friends.

Legend has it that the eldest son of Lac Long Quan (son of Kinh Duong Vuong) and Au Co (the fairy daughter of De Lai) was made king. He named the country Van Lang and set up the capital in Phong Chau (modern-day Viet Tri city), beginning 18 dynasties of the Hung Kings.

The kings chose Nghia Linh Mountain, the highest in the region, to perform rituals devoted to the rice and sun deities to pray for healthy crops.

To honour their substantial contributions, a complex of temples dedicated to the kings was built on Nghia Linh Mountain, and the tenth day of the third lunar month serves as the national commemorative anniversary for the kings.

Earlier on the morning, President Phuc came to Tu Xa new-style rural commune in Lam Thao district, where he visited several public works like markets and stadiums, and met with local residents.

The leader congratulated Tu Xa commune on its achievements in building new style rural areas in the past time, stressing a new style rural locality needs an advanced and quality education system, sound medical services, and good living conditions.

He asked the commune to speed up application of science and technology, and develop One Commune One Product (OCOP) products to better serve the market.

PAPI displays fruits of anti-corruption drive. Photo: VGP

At last week’s release of the 2020 Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI), Dr. Paul Schuler of the PAPI Research Team said that the 2016-2021 government term saw more improvements in provincial governance and public administration with the strongest improvement in the control of corruption seen in the public sector.

While each of the past five years saw corruption in the public sector better controlled, the past year saw the strongest improvement.

“The result is attributed to the country’s intensified crackdown on corruption since 2016. From the citizen perspective, the anti-corruption campaign driven by the Party seems to have permeated local-level officials,” he added.

Nationwide, the proportion of respondents claiming that bribes are necessary for state employment, public healthcare services, land use rights certificates, fair treatment by primary school teachers, and the granting of construction permits has been declining since 2016.

Regarding the importance of personal connections to gain government positions, the 2020 PAPI report shows a continued decline in this indicator, although it remains high. However, across a range of positions, the number of citizens suggesting that connections were important in hiring is at its lowest since the survey began in 2011.

As many as 18 provinces made significant progress in 2020 in controlling corruption in the public sector. As in previous years, Ben Tre performed well in this vertical, while six provinces experienced significant setbacks, with Ninh Thuan and Ninh Binh seeing the largest declines.

Nine out of the top 10 performers in controlling corruption were central and southern provinces. The top five performers in this indicator were Quang Ninh, Dong Thap, Ben Tre, Quang Tri, and Quang Nam. On the other hand, corruption was reported to be the most rampant in Lam Dong, Haiphong, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Binh, and Kon Tum.

Since 2016, personal relations have become less important in all provinces, implying that local governments have been paying more attention to the fair recruitment of state employees. However, personal relations remain important at the commune level, even among the top performers.

However, citizen feedback on bribery based on respondents’ actual experience of accessing specific public services paints a far less rosy picture. In 2020, more than 32 per cent of respondents said they paid a bribe to obtain a land use right certificate, compared to just over 22 per cent in 2019.

According to Paul Schuler, this divergence between perceptions of and the actual experience with bribes could be due to positive impressions among those who did not pay bribes, which can be ascribed as a result of anti-corruption campaigns. Alternatively, it is possible that the size of bribes has decreased, thereby improving perceptions.

Over the past years, corruption has been an issue of special concern in the business community and the public, and is often on the agenda of business conferences. Experts showed that successful anti-corruption will contribute to improving business confidence in Vietnam’s long-term sustainable development.

Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Robyn Mudie noted, “Findings from the 2020 PAPI report show that there is a correlation between good governance and effective pandemic responses. In other words, good governance matters. Looking ahead, improving governance will prove extremely useful in managing other unexpected emergency situations in Vietnam.”

Of the eight dimensions measured by the index, vertical accountability has also steadily improved during the 2016-2020 term. However, there have been declines in participation at local levels, as well as in public administrative procedures.

While general confidence levels rose, the greatest concerns of locals remained poverty and hunger, economic growth and employment, and health and health insurance.

As in each of the last five years, poverty and hunger remain the issues of greatest concern in 2020, with about 18 per cent of respondents indicating concerns. However, there has been a substantial decline in the percentage of respondents for whom this was a top concern, and this is the lowest number of respondents since 2015 to highlight these areas as their primary concerns.

On the other hand, short-term economic worries emerged, with economic growth and employment two of the top four concerns in 2020. Concerns around health and health insurance also soared, from around 2 per cent in 2019 to 17 per cent in 2020.

In PAPI 2020, 16 cities and provinces were named in the group of the “best”; 16 others were “above average”; 15 were “below average”; and 16 were dubbed the “worst”. The northern province of Quang Ninh gained the highest overall PAPI score while Danang continued to drop. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City both ranked at the bottom.

Caitlin Wiesen – Resident representative in Vietnam, UN Development Programme Since its inception, PAPI has continued to grow and adapt new development priorities. It is now the largest citizen-centric and nationwide policy monitoring tool in Vietnam. The overall aim of PAPI is to improve the quality of government functions, the responsiveness, transparency, and accountability of public institutions, as well as ensure access to information and quality services. These are aims that also mirror the mission of the UNDP. 2020 has been a turbulent year for the world and for Vietnam. However, after two waves of COVID-19, coupled with unprecedented natural disasters with historic floods in the central region last October, I am delighted to see that PAPI findings are increasingly being used and mentioned in government documents ranging from, the Politburo, ministries, agencies, the National Assembly, and socio-political organisations. Matti Tervo – Development and Economic counsellor, Embassy of Finland PAPI gives a good oversight of the governance within cities and provinces across Vietnam. It also shows Vietnam’s progress over the years. The index shows great efforts to improve, especially the investment environment. Some cities and provinces are more concentrated on this, with some becoming one-stop shops for foreign direct investment (FDI). We can use this data as a baseline for any investment by the Finnish government. We do not actually have that much FDI, we prefer making direct capital investments into Vietnamese companies. We hope that the market would open up a little more. We still offer public investment loans to the Vietnamese government and hope the business environment will remain open and in line with international laws, especially now we have a free trade agreement.

Hunger and malnutrition were an increasing problem worldwide before the pandemic. Restrictions imposed to curb disease spread have disrupted local and international food supply chains, making the problem even more urgent.

VSIP Bac Ninh will hold a music show in memory of Trinh Cong Son

The music night show is part of a programme of series to commemorate the 20th death anniversary of musician Trinh Cong Son. It will be the largest show to attract 30,000 spectators.

Joining the concert, Trinh music fans will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the melodies of Cat bui (Sand and dust), Diem xua (Diem of the Past), Ha trang (White summer), Chieu tren que huong toi (An afternoon in my homeland), Moi ngay toi chon mot niem vui (Each day I choose one joyful thing), and others by Vietnam’s top singers such as Cam Van, Hong Nhung, Duc Tuan, Tran Manh Tuan, Tan Son, and Hoang Trang with MC Vu Manh Cuong.

The theme of the concert “Nhung som mai Vietnam 2021” focuses on Trinh songs that have a profound philosophy on human life as well as expressing a desire to find happiness and belief in a bright future. In the context that Vietnam and the world have been going through difficult times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, songs bearing the spirit of optimism and positive living of the late musician will help spread the message of love and arouses feelings of sublimation in the community.

Held at the key road in the heart of VSIP Bac Ninh Integrated Township and Industrial Park, the concert is a chance to bring people together to enjoy a quality music performance on site, including employees working at the VSIP Bac Ninh Industrial Park, residents in the urban and service areas of Belhomes, Centa City, Centa Villas, as well as local people in the surrounding neighbourhood.

The programme not only helps to improve the spiritual life of residents but also contributes to affirm VSIP Bac Ninh’s vision to build a good working, living, and playing environment.

Themed “Nhung som mai Vietnam 2021”, the concert will gather Vietnam’s leading vocal singers to bring a moment of pleasure to the audience

Berlin (VNA) – Vietnam has rolled out the red carpet for foreign investors , including those from ASEAN member states, to land investment in the field of advanced medical equipment , said Counselor Nguyen Manh Hung at the Vietnamese Embassy in Germany.

At a virtual conference held by Ernst & Young (EY) Global Limited on April 20, Hung said that ASEAN has produced a wide range of medical equipment, and 5-7 percent of the global equipment exports are sourced from ASEAN countries.

Vietnam has huge demand for medical equipment due to its rapid aging population, he stressed, believing that a network between ASEAN member states should be established to enhance information exchange as well as cooperation in the field so as to ensure timely supply of medical equipment and pharmaceutical products.

At the event, which also aimed to promote trade and investment in consumer goods within the bloc, Hung highlighted the important role of Vietnam’s garment and footwear in both domestic and export markets.

Despite adverse impacts of COVID-19, Vietnam’s exports of consumer products topped 100.3 billion USD in 2020, a year-on-year rise of 2.4 percent. Particularly, shipments of garment and footwear products accounted for 20 percent of the nation’s total export revenue in 2019.

Currently, Vietnam is the fourth largest garment and textile exporter, and the second biggest source market of footwear. However, 80 percent of the leather shoes come from the FDI sector, Hung said.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the supply of materials for the two production sectors, while global demand has declined sharply, Vietnam is working to diversify its material supplies to reduce risks.

In a bid to enjoy tax preferences from free trade deals such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Europe-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), brands and suppliers in Vietnam are using domestic materials.

According to Hai, with robust economic growth, ASEAN is both a large supplier of consumer products and a big market.

With increasing income, ASEAN consumers have preferred high-quality products, including garments and leather shoes; therefore, Vietnam is striving to branch out the two sectors through developing transport and logistics infrastructure, he added./.

VNA

In its 12-year history, the Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) programme has witnessed plenty of evolution. What is the current status of the 2020 Index?

Dang Hoang Giang, deputy director of the Centre for Community Support and Development Studies – a collaborator in the research

In the past, cities and provinces in the south often led the PAPI index. However, the trend seemed to cease as the 2020 PAPI saw many those in northern and central regions named at the top of the list.

As seen in PAPI 2020, there are some sad changes. Hanoi is in the group of cities and provinces with low ranking despite strong effort from local authorities. Elsewhere, Danang dropped to the bottom-line group, even though it topped the list in the earlier years of the index.

One highlight is that some central provinces like Quang Ngai, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Nghe An are maintaining their high rankings over many years.

In PAPI 2020, Quang Ninh made impressive results in varied dimensions from the economy and public administration to vertical accountability towards citizens and others.

During 2020, COVID-19 caused serious impacts in all socioeconomic aspects. Did the pandemic affect the accuracy and assessment of the research?

Provincial governance and public administration was not affected by the pandemic as much as economic sectors were. PAPI focused on transparency and corruption, administrative procedures, and public services, which were not hit. Some dimensions like healthcare and education were little affected. Fortunately, COVID-19 has been controlled successfully here.

We interviewed 14,000-15,000 citizens nationwide, which experts say is a large enough figure to ensure the quality of the PAPI database. So for years, the quality and the results have remained stable.

The PAPI index has created great changes in the performance of state organs. How does the ranking of localities into groups rather than single ratings help in this regard?

We do not want to create an achievement run with this kind of ranking. With the division into groups, we want to prompt cities and provinces to race against themselves by looking thoroughly into dimensions to improve them year-by-year. Other contests may have specific rankings, but many of them focus on a narrow set of factors, while PAPI has over 120 indicators to take into account.

Vietnam’s new leadership has been inaugurated. What are your expectations for the upcoming PAPI index, and what are the grounds for this?

The government, led by the former prime minister, said that there has been a modest improvement of 1-2 per cent annually in the PAPI index. With the new leadership, we hope that the uptrend will continue and reach at least 3-4 per cent.

It is too early to say which provinces and cities will perform better in the upcoming PAPI index, but we do hope the growth momentum remains in the gun barrel.