Period arrived 5 days late

HCM City authorities plan to gradually relocate its water supply sources further upstream of the Sài Gòn and Đồng Nai rivers as part of its effort to ensure clean water for local use.

Experts have warned that the current main source of water has become seriously polluted due to the impact of socio-economic development along the Sài Gòn – Đồng Nai river system. 

The city currently draws some 94 per cent of the water for treatment at a spot downstream of where the Sài Gòn River meets the Đồng Nai River, at the Hòa Phú pumping station in its Củ Chi District, and at Hóa An in Đồng Nai Province.

Under the city’s 2020-30 water supply plan, the city will relocate the Hòa Phú pumping station to a new location, about 20 km from the existing pumping station and 15 km upstream from the junction of Thị Tính and Sài Gòn rivers. 

According to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, water in downstream Sài Gòn River is suffering from severe microbiological pollution and slight oil contamination.

Pollution indicators like ammonia, microorganisms and manganese have all increased, exceeding the permitted standards of Việt Nam and the World Health Organization.

Dr. Hồ Long Phi, director of the Centre for Water Management and Climate Change under the National University of HCM City, said that pollution in the Saigon River remains ‘serious’. 

He said it was vital to develop hi-tech water treatment plants if the city continues to draw this water for local use. 

“The water upstream in the Sài Gòn and Đồng Nai rivers is in the safe zone, which is less impacted by climate change and sea level rise in the next 50-100 years,” he said.

He said the city would need a huge investment in building new pumping stations with extremely large capacity of millions of cubic metres a day, as well as investment in long and large-scale pipelines. This would also require site clearance compensation costs. 

Dr Trần Đức Hà, director of the city Research Institute of Water Supply, Sewerage and Environment, said: “The core solution is to ensure water security management.”

Dr. Phùng Đức Tùng, director of the Mekong Economic Research and Development Institute, said that water for daily life has become increasingly rare. “Authorities should work on a plan to build reservoirs to store water for treating.”

Two projects, one on water supply in the 2020-2050 period, and the other on clean water supply and ending the exploitation of underground water in the 2020-2030 period, have recently been approved by the city People’s Committee.

By 2025 the city plans to ensure that every resident has access to tap water and increases the average supply to 165 litres. The municipal water supply capacity would reach 3.6 million cu.m per day, using only 100,000 cu.m of groundwater by 2025.

Royal rite held at Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long to welcome Tết

The Thăng Long – Hà Nội Heritage Conservation Centre held the ancient Thăng Long royal rite to celebrate the Lunar New Year at the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long in Hà Nội yesterday.

For the first time, The Thăng Long – Hà Nội Heritage Conservation Centre worked with several organisations to practise the ritual of Tiến Xuân ngưu (The ceremony of offering an earthen buffalo in spring) of the Lê Trung Hưng Dynasty (16th to 18th centuries), a unique rite in the old court, taking place on the first day of spring.

The ritual featured a clay buffalo being offered to Heaven to ask to expel the cold winter and welcome a warm spring to the nation. The coming Lunar Year is the Year of The Buffalo.

Also yesterday, the centre held the Ông Công, Ông Táo (Land Genie and Kitchen Gods) ritual as well as the ceremony to set up a Cây Nêu (New Year’s tree). 

People across the nation held their own ceremonies to send off the Land Genie and the Kitchen Gods of the household on their yearly visit to Heaven.

The Kitchen Gods, the guardian spirits of the kitchen, are believed to comprise two male gods and one female, who bless the household and maintain the kitchen fire, making every member of the family happy and well-off.

The ritual involves releasing a carp into a river or lake and the fish are often bought on the side of streets in plastic bags. In the past, many people threw the fish still in the plastic bag into the water, causing pollution.

In recent years, awareness-raising efforts have encouraged more and more people to dispose of the plastic waste properly instead of throwing it into the water. 

Poor students and workers receive free tickets to travel home for Tết  

The HCM City Communist Youth Union and its partners have launched a programme to offer free bus and flight tickets for poor students in HCM City to travel home for the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday, from January 31 to February 10.

The programme, called Mang Tết Về Nhà (Coming Home for Tết), is funded by the union, employers and organisations. 

More than 3,000 return tickets, including 1,152 flight tickets, have been provided to outstanding students from colleges and universities around the city. Many of these students are from central provinces that were seriously affected by flooding and storms last year. 

Several thousand gifts and 4,000 bánh chưng (square glutinous rice cake), a Vietnamese cake cooked with glutinous rice, mung bean and pork used during Tết, have also been offered.  

Trần Thị Kim Oanh and Lý Thành Tâm from Hà Tĩnh Province, who study at HCM City National University in Thủ Đức District, were happy to receive bus tickets and New Year’s greetings from the programme’s organisers. They both began their trip home yesterday.  

“I did not return home for Tết last year, so I’m very happy to participate in the programme Mang Tết Về Nhà this year,” said Oanh, a fourth-year student in trade & marketing.

“Today, my peers and I go back to our hometown to celebrate Tết with our family and nothing is happier. I hope there will be more and more bus trips like this every year for poor students and workers to return home.” 

Oanh and other students have been asked to wear face masks, wash hands with sanitiser and keep a safe distance during their trips. 

Under the programme, the first two flights and 15 buses transported 500 students, starting last Sunday. 

Labour unions at industrial parks and export processing zones in the city have also presented nearly 7,000 airline tickets and train tickets to migrant workers this Tết. More than 13,000 gifts worth VNĐ500,000 each have also been provided to poor labourers.  

Nguyễn Hồ Hải, Deputy Secretary of the city’s Party Committee, has sent New Year’s greetings to workers and their families and wished them a happy Tết.

Hải said that he hoped the workers would return to the city after Tết and continue to work and contribute to the city’s development.

Tao Dan Spring Flower Festival 2021 opened

Spring Flower Festival 2021 was officially opened at Tao Dan Park in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City in the afternoon of February 6.  

The 11-day event displays ornamental fish and flowers, bonsai plants, more than 2,500 flower-related exhibits of domestic and foreign artisans, 40 specialties and souvenir booths. 

Besides, the festival also comprises dragon dances, circus and magic performances, folk games, demonstrations of calligraphy. 

On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of Ho Chi Minh City named after President Ho Chi Minh (1976-2021), the main road connecting the park’s entrance on Truong Dinh Street and King Hung Memorial Temple is decorated with flowers simulating the Truong Son mountain range.

The festival will close on February 17 (the sixth day of the lunar year).

Ethnology museum promotes traditional Tet’s values

The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi organised a programme on February 4 (the 23rd day of the last month of the lunar year) themed “Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tet) – a sacred space”, with the participation of researchers and folk artists. 

Every year when spring arrives, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology organises many activities with bold national identity, rich in cultural values to welcome new year.

The programme features the participation of folk researchers and artisans with a variety of contents such as: Sharing the meaning of Lunar New Year’s Day, featuring the installation of ‘cay neu’ (a tall bamboo tree with decorations used to ward off evil spirits), introducing the meaning of a traditional tray altar on Tet holidays and the “Ong Cong – Ong Tao” (Land Genie and Kitchen Gods) ritual; writing calligraphy and printing Dong Ho paintings; and wrapping banh chung (square glutinous rice cake).

Coming to the programme, visitors also have the opportunity toenjoy the performance of water puppetry and play folk games of some ethnic groups, such as: fighting buffalo, catching trach in jars, tug of war, walking on stilts, and sack racing.

In recent years, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology’s activities have always attracted large numbers of not only tourists but also families living in Hanoi, increasing the deep understanding of the rituals and traditional cultural beauty of the Vietnamese people. The programme also contributes to preserving the Vietnam’s traditional values.

Through activities and programs to help tourists, especially children to understand more about the Vietnamese Tet’s rituals, especially the fine traditional cultural features of the national New Year holidays that should be preserved.

Minister officially orders classes to go online

Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha has asked local schools to start online classes amid the spreading of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The ministry is working with the Education Union of Vietnam to visit and support students, teachers and parents who are being quarantined for Covid-19 prevention. As of February 4, 53 localities announced that they had allowed students to stay home.

According to the minister, statistics from the previous stay home order show that 20% of the children in remote and rural areas still couldn’t access online classes. Nha directed and asked the education sector to continue to expand and improve online education.

35,037 schools, or 83.6% of schools in Vietnam, have installed mobile apps to fill medical declarations online as well as to better implement preventive measures.

“We have experience this time, so we must do better,” he said. “Responsible agencies must quickly complete the regulations about managing online classes for education facilities. We’ll ask telecommunication firms to help with infrastructure and services for online classes.”

He went on to say that an online library of online courses would be built and shared publicly.

“We must be pro-active and calm and have plans for specific scenarios to ensure the health of both students and teachers as well as education progress,” he said.

On January 30, the Ministry of Education and Training sent an official document to departments of education across the country, asking them to prepare to move classes online in case students are asked to stay home.

Three more hotels in HCM City provide paid quarantine service

Three more hotels in HCM City have been allowed to offer paid quarantine services for Covid-19 prevention.

The figure has increased the total number of municipal hotels used as paid quarantine areas to 32 to date. These hotels have around 2,500 rooms in total.

The HCM City Department of Tourism has considered permitting 29 other hotels to offer paid quarantine services in case of a wider Covid-19 outbreak.   

Since the Covid-19 outbreak in Hai Duong and Quang Ninh provinces, the HCM City tourism sector has tightened control over Covid-19 prevention, said Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, Director of the city’s Department of Tourisms.

Hoa added that the department has prepared scenarios in case of Covid-19 resurgence in the city.

According to the HCM City’s Covid-19 prevention and control steering board, the quarantine fees range between VND1.35-6 million per day, depending on their star ranking.

All paid quarantine hotels have to conform to the city’s Covid-19 prevention and control steering board as well as local authorities’ instructions.

Hotels also need to provide training courses for all of their staff to serve people during the quarantine time to ensure safety for Covid-19 prevention.

It is compulsory for hotels to co-operate with local health agencies to update people’s health condition during the quarantine period.

Hotels have to inform local authorities of quarantine violations.

Cải lương guru offers Tết gifts to poor artists

Poor artists and their children living in HCM City will receive Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday gifts this weekend thanks to a charity programme launched by People’s Artist Kim Cương, a guru of cải lương (reformed opera). 

Cương and dozens of veteran and young theatre performers raise VNĐ1.5 billion (US$65,000) funds for her art programme called Nghệ Sĩ Tri Âm (Traditional Performers Together).

More than 150 actors, including elderly and backstage workers, will receive Tết gifts worth VNĐ6 milllion ($240) each. 

Forty children from artists’ families with good study results will receive scholarships worth VNĐ3 million ($120) each. 

Many food and clothes will also be offered. 

“Our artists performed for free in the show Nghệ Sĩ Tri Âm in December to encourage organisations and individuals to contribute to charity,” said 83-year-old Cương, a member of the HCM City Association in Support of Disabled People and Orphan Children. 

“We hope poor artists, who have devoted their life to Vietnamese art, will have a happy Tết.” 

Last year, Cương’s annual charity show Nghệ Sĩ Tri Âm featured 120 theatre performers, including cải lương stars Út Bạch Lan and Kim Tiểu Long. The event received clothes, food, and VNĐ1 billion (US$45,000) in cash.

Born in 1937 to a traditional family in Sài Gòn (now HCM City), Cương began her love for cải lương through her parents, and the late talented performers Nguyễn Phước Cương and Bảy Nam, owners of Đại Phước Cương Troupe.  

She started her career when she was 17, after training with her mother, Nam, and actresses Phùng Há and Năm Phỉ, who are recognised as some of the most talented cải lương performers in the country. 

She played leading roles in famous plays, such as Giai Nhân Và Ác Quỷ (The Beauty and Beast) and Phụng Nghi Đình (Tragic Love Story). 

In the 1960s, Cương became involved in drama, a modern imported genre of theatre, working to combine cải lương and drama. 

She later opened Kim Cương Drama Troupe, the first and leading drama troupe in the south, managing a staff of more than 70 actors. 

Cương worked as a scriptwriter and became a phenomenon in the industry in the 1960s and 1970s. 

She wrote 50 plays during her career, most highlighting southern women and their characters. Her works have been staged many times by leading drama troupes across the country.  

She had also performed in more than 30 films. 

Baby girl saved from most severe type of immunodeficiency

The child patient spent a whole year in hospitals to fight her serious illness of innate combined immunodeficiency and other diseases. — Photo from the Ministry of Health

It’s always a bold decision to conduct a bone marrow transplant to save a baby who suffers from combined innate immunodeficiency and many other diseases.

The success rate of the stem cell transplant is just 10-20 per cent, but without the transplant, the baby would die before they turn a year old, said Associate Professor and Dr Trần Minh Điển, deputy director of the National Children’s Hospital.

According to health experts, immunodeficiency is a genetic defect that makes the child’s body unable to fight off pathogens such as viruses and bacteria. Therefore, children often get serious, persistent or recurrent infections. Depending on the type of immunodeficiency type, patients will develop different infections.

Thiên Ngọc, a baby girl born in late 2019 in the southern province of Đồng Nai was diagnosed with combined innate immunodeficiency when she was around three months old.

Doctors at HCM City-based Children’s Hospital No.2 came to that inclusion after treating her for repeated diarrhoea, sore throat and pneumonia.

At times, when the child recovered and was set to be discharged, she suffered a fever again, said Trần Quỳnh Hương, head of the Respiratory Department at the hospital – who examined and treated the baby.

In February 2020, Hương for the first time contacted doctor Nguyễn Ngọc Quỳnh Lê from the Department of Immunology-Allergy-Arthritis at Hà Nội-based National Children’s Hospital to discuss the case.

For the following three months, they called each other regularly to talk about the child’s conditions, discussing possible treatment and tests as well as seeking a healthcare unit that could offer a stem cell transplant for the baby.

At that time, a bone marrow transplant was identified as the only way to save the baby. With the advanced technique, stem cells from a healthy donor that are genetically suitable to the recipient would be taken and replace the dysfunctional stem cells.

Bone marrow transplant (hematopoietic stem cell transplant, or HPSCT) involves the administration of healthy hematopoietic stem cells in patients with dysfunctional or depleted bone marrow. This helps to augment bone marrow function and allows, depending on the disease being treated, to either destroy tumour cells with malignancy or to generate functional cells that can replace the dysfunctional ones in cases like immune deficiency syndromes, hemoglobinopathies, and other diseases.

“It was a challenge for both doctors and the patient’s family as in Việt Nam, only the National Children’s Hospital has sufficient equipment and experience to conduct the transplant,” Hương said.

Transferring a patient from HCM City to Hà Nội during the pandemic was not easy, while the medical cost would be far out of reach for the patient’s family.

“Seeing Lê’s enthusiasm and the chance to save the baby, we had the motivation to work with relevant parties to speed up the patient transfer and transplant,” doctor Hương said.

In late May 2020, the baby’s health condition worsened and doctors from the two hospitals – one in the south and the other in the north – had an online meeting.

Deputy director of National Children’s Hospital Điển said they were bold to receive the child with such serious health conditions.

“The success rate is only ten to 20 per cent while few such successful transplants were recorded in the world,” he said.

Doctor Hương from HCM City’s Children’s Hospital said that doctors not only completed insurance procedures for the baby but also called on donations for transferring her to Hà Nội and covering costs that health insurance did not cover. The patient’s family at that time could afford only VNĐ700 million (over US$30,000) while the medical cost for such a transplant could reach billions of Vietnamese đồng.

On May 29, 2020, Hương and a nurse escorted the child to Hà Nội on a Vietjet flight thanks to the airline operator ensuring proper medical and security conditions amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

Hương said that when arriving at the National Children’s Hospital, the child was suffering from severe pneumonia that required supplemental oxygen, tuberculosis complications, diarrhoea caused by Rotavirus, rectal prolapse due to prolonged diarrhoea, and severe malnutrition.

It took two months to improve the baby’s health so that she would be healthy enough to undergo the first stem cell transplant.

Nguyễn Thanh Bình, vice head of the Blood Testing Department at the National Children’s Hospital said that the hospital took bone marrow from the baby’s mother for her transplant after finding no suitable bone marrow donor.

“Previously, the hospital succeeded in conducting such transplants,” Bình said, adding that the technique was complicated and costly in which only stem cells and good cells were kept while bad cells which cause harmful reactions would be removed.

As the baby was in poor health, using chemicals to kill marrow could put the baby at risk of many complications, even death, doctor Chi said.

After discussing with experts from Hong Kong and reviewing foreign medical records, doctors decided to conduct two bone marrow transplants for the baby.

The first transplant using no chemicals aimed to revive part of the baby’s immune system to help her fight against bacterial infections. The second transplant would use chemicals under treatment protocol to kill all the baby’s faulty hematopoietic stem cells and transfer the mother’s healthy stem cells to the baby.

The first transplant was conducted on July 22, 2020. After that, the baby got a high fever and diarrhoea for four straight weeks, Chi said, adding that they were thinking the transplant had failed.

However, continuing efforts were made to save the baby. She gradually recovered from the fifth week, with no fever and diarrhoea.

The second transplant was conducted on November 23, 2020 – three months after the first one. 

Undergoing intensive care for a month after the second stem cell transplant, the child patient did not have any complications. Results showed that the mother’s stem cells are growing well inside the baby.

“All hardships, difficulties and stress we faced when treating her seemingly disappeared, the baby is healthy, has gained weight and is very active,” doctor Lê said.

Spring seemed to come early to the doctors and the baby’s family since the moment she was announced as not having the life-threatening illness – combined immunodeficiency – anymore.

“Facemask bus” comes into operation in HCMC

Residents in Ho Chi Minh City were surprised seeing a bus equipped with an automatic device deliver free facemasks to passengers at HCMC Youth Cultural House in District 1 on February 6. 

This is Dony Mask antibacterial fabric facemask recognized in accordance with Germany’s REACH standard. 

Passengers lined up, kept the safe distance of two meters from each other to receive two facemasks each and washed their hands with hand sanitizers.

From now until Tet Holiday onward, the bus is expected to deliver facemasks at Mien Dong (Eastern) and Mien Tay (Western) coach stations, Tan Binh Cultural Center, public places and industrial parks.

The bus is expected to provide 100,000 antibacterial fabric facemasks during Tet holiday. 

HCMC to continue working on two key transport projects in Tet holiday

Ho Chi Minh City will continue working on the tunnel project at Nguyen Van Linh-Nguyen Huu Tho intersection and Nguyen Huu Canh Street upgrading project during Tet holiday, according to Director of the HCMC Management Board of Investment and Construction of Traffic Projects Mr. Luong Minh Phuc. 

The number of vehicles travelling through the intersection is too high as the tunnel project plays an important role of linking to seaports and Hiep Phuoc Port Industrial Park. 

Ho Chi Minh City decided to promptly construct the main items of the tunnel project on Tet holidays when travel and transport demand will reduce. It is expected that the tunnel project heading to Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone in Binh Chanh District will be put into exploitation by the end of the year.

After that, contractors will try their best constructing the vice-versa tunnel project which would be expected to put the whole project into operation in 2022.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Huu Canh Street upgrading project has reached around 80 percent of the work volume and it is expected to be put into operation on April 30, 2021.

Hai Phong controls all people coming into, out of city from 12 p.m. on January 6

In an effort to reduce the risk of Covid-19 exposure and to help prevent the spread of the virus, the northern coastal city of Hai Phong has controlled all people come into and out of the city starting from 12 p.m. on January 6, said the Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee. 

Arrivals must present their official confirmation from commune-level People’s Committees, schedules and accommodations. Local residents who leave Hai Phong City for other localities must also display their certifications on travelling issued by the commune-level People’s Committees.

Transport operators and businesses have to arrange places for drivers of trans-provincial coaches and trucks to stay.

People returning from the northern provinces of Hai Duong, Quang Ninh and other affected areas will be sent to quarantine areas.

The municipal government allows travelers from localities not affected by the pandemic with the commune-level certifications of arrivals and departures granted by the local authorities.

Teams for Covid-19 Prevention and Control in communes must track the people’s travelling history and monitor the latest arrivals. The municipal Police Department has asked the Waterway Traffic Police to constantly inspect river routes sharing borders with Hai Duong, Quang Ninh and Thai Binh provinces.

Hai Phong has established eight Covid-19 monitoring and control checkpoints in districts of Thuy Nguyen, Hai An, Duong Kinh, An Lao, An Duong, Tu Ky and Vinh Bao.

Bac Giang sees fruitful results of personnel rotation

The rotation of senior State officials to key leadership positions at grassroots levels has proven effective in the northern province of Bắc Giang for years.

The activeness, creativeness and high responsibility of such officials had made a difference in the localities where they arrived.

Dương Văn Phong, vice chairman of Tiến Dũng Commune People’s Committee in the province’s Yên Dũng District, was rotated to the position in 2020.

Before that, he worked in the district People’s Committee including as the vice secretary of the district’s Youth Union Party Committee and vice head of the district’s agriculture department.

A graduate of Thái Nguyên Agriculture and Forestry University, Phong has a passion for farming.

Leading a commune where locals heavily rely on farming, he had the opportunity to make use of what he studied and what he was good at, Phong said.

The young vice-chairman introduced safe vegetable models and modern farming technologies to local farmers including Israeli automatic watering and fertilising systems.

As a result, clean vegetables from local co-operatives were accepted by major distributors like BigC, Vinmart and Saigon Co.op supermarkets.

Phong said many local co-operatives were increasing investment and expanding production to better meet market demand.

Another young official of Yên Dũng District, Nguyễn Mạnh Chiến, was rotated to Trí Yên Commune and has worked as chairman of the commune People’s Committee and secretary of the commune’s Party Committee since 2018.

Before the rotation, Chiến was the chairman of the Yên Dũng District’s Farmer’s Association and a top leader of the district’s Youth Union.

With experience from frequently working with farmers and young people, Chiến made decisive moves in Trí Yên Commune, which focused on improving local transport infrastructure and implementing high-tech agriculture.

In October last year, Trí Yên Commune was recognised a new rural area model, with all local roads being improved, expanded and concretised.

Agriculture production models in the commune are seen as good examples for other localities to follow.

Vice head of Personnel Organisation Department of Yên Dũng District Party Committee Trần Văn Quỳnh said that in the last five years, the district moved six district senior officials to the grassroots level, of them, two are a commune People’s Committee chairman cum secretary of commune Party Committee, two others hold the position of People’s Committee chairman while two work as the secretary of commune Party Committees and vice chairman of commune People’s Committee.

“The personnel rotation policy pushes every official to make efforts to show their ability and impress both leaders and people,” Quỳnh said.

Vice secretary of Yên Dũng District Party Committee Tạ Quang Khải said he highly appreciated the performance of rotated young officials as they had experience and responsibility.

“In any position, assigned any tasks, they have fulfilled excellently and more importantly, they have gained the trust of local people,” Khải said.

Before any rotation, district leaders must know about difficulties, desires and expectations of local people, then select suitable personnel for the localities, Khải said.  

Enterprise and social responsibility efforts in the context of COVID-19

In 2020, facing COVID-19, the Vietnamese economy has been suffering from severe aftershocks. However, in that context, we also witnessed resilience in maintaining jobs for employees, vigorous recovery and restructuring efforts of enterprises to overcome the crisis and work to repel the pandemic. Especially, many businesses showed their social responsibility and solidarity.

The same goes for Samsung Vietnam. An unprecedented challenge from the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of the values of co-prosperity and development. Continuing to implement social responsibility activities is one of the ways Samsung reveals these values. 

Samsung Vietnam donated VNĐ10 billion, including cash and protective clothing, to the Vietnamese Government for the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, more than VNĐ1.6 billion donated by employees’ through CSR kiosks and factory grassroots labor union contributions was also presented for COVID-19 prevention and control in Việt Nam.

To assist the Government in accelerating the deployment of technology applications in preventing the pandemic, Samsung Vietnam also presented the group’s most advanced smartphone products to serve testing and developing the application for COVID-19 in Việt Nam. At the same time, Samsung Vietnam also provided large-screen displays and televisions to assist authorities in monitoring the pandemic.

Strive to maintain community activities

Besides supporting Việt Nam’s pandemic prevention, various community activities of Samsung have continued to grow despite the pandemic.

Most recently, factories and employees of Samsung Vietnam donated VNĐ5 billion to support fellow Vietnamese in the central provinces affected by floods. The donation was given through the Fatherland Front Committees of Bắc Ninh, Thái Nguyên and partly transferred directly to people in flooded areas. 

Previously, to share the heavy losses caused by flooding in the Central region, Samsung Vietnam factories simultaneously launched a fundraising programme. The total amount came from the employees’ donations along with contributions from the trade union fund and the factory’s social responsibility fund.

In addition, Samsung Vina Electronics, the sales and marketing units of Samsung in Việt Nam, have carried out the program “Joining hands with people in the Central region to overcome the effects of floods and storms” in six affected provinces. The most affected areas are Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, Thừa Thiên Huế, Quảng Nam and Quảng Ngãi. Accordingly, Samsung will repair and maintain all Electronics-Refrigeration products for free, support 50 per cent of the price to replace new genuine components; do laundry for free, to ensure the hygiene and well-being of residents in the floodplain, and donate Samsung washing machines to the locality after the programme ends.

“Blood for Vietnamese 2020” is also a programme that Samsung continued to implement in 2020 in the conditions of ensuring safety against the pandemic. Since 2010, Samsung has implemented the “Blood for Vietnamese 2020” programme, so far it has contributed more than 87,000 blood units for emergency and disease treatment and is expected to contribute an additional 10,000 units of blood this year.

As part of a series of activities that light up the aspirations to reach the young generation’s science dreams, Samsung has built Hope School for the poor in Bắc Ninh and Thái Nguyên provinces. In 2020, Hope School in Bắc Giang has officially started construction in Đinh Hương Village, Thắng Town, Hiệp Hòa District, Bắc Giang Province. At the same time, Samsung also signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the implementation of the Samsung Hope School project in Mai Pha Commune, Lạng Sơn City. It is the fourth school in the Samsung Hope School project.

In addition, amid the pandemic, many meaningful activities, and humane programmes of the Samsung Vietnam community have brought happiness, hope and motivation to many people such as: donating wheelchairs, awarding scholarships, along with many other programmes.

Families in Nghệ An still waiting for houses after three years

Tết (Lunar New Year) is approaching and more than 60 households in Lượng Minh Commune of the central province of Nghệ An will be forced to spend the holiday in makeshift huts because two projects to resettle the people in proper houses lack capital.

Along road 543B passing Lương Minh Commune of Tương Dương District, dozens of makeshift tents made of bamboo are home to the local people of ethnic minority hamlets Minh Phương, Lả and Xốp Mạt.

This is the third year hundreds of people will spend Tết in the temporary houses, still awaiting resettlement.

Lô Văn Thành, a resident of Minh Phương Hamlet, said: “In August 2018, the Bản Vẽ Hydro-Power Plant discharged water with a record flow which washed away dozens of houses along the Nậm Nơn River in Lương Minh Commune.”

“Fortunately, 34 households in the villages were promptly evacuated,” he said.

However, since then Thành’s family and other households have lived in makeshift tents waiting to move into resettlement areas in Lả Hamlet.

“My whole family of 10 people has lived in a temporary house about 30sq.m wide, built from wooden panels, roofed with leaves for the past three years,” Thành said.

“When the rain was heavy, the whole family could not sleep because of the water leaking and strong wind,” he said.

“The hard work of adults was clear, but the poor children. This is the third Tết we don’t have a real home to celebrate like other people,” he said.

Not far away from Thành’s family, the situation of Lô Thị Lan’s family in Minh Phương Hamlet is not much better.

During the floods in August 2018, the homes of Lan’s family and 30 other households in the hamlet were swept away.

Many families had to build shelters on the mountainside or road 543B.

Some other families still have to live in their relatives’ homes to wait for moving to the resettlement area.

Lan said: “When setting up temporary camps on the side of the road, the local government said it would take about six months to move to the resettlement area.”

“But we have lived here for three years. My family had to fix the ‘house’ three times because whenever it was raining, water flowed into the tent, causing furniture in the house to be damaged,” Lan said.

“The biggest desire of the people is that the authorities soon complete the resettlement sites for people to move to new places,” she said.

According to Vi Văn Phúc, chairman of Lượng Minh Commune, there were 63 households of the commune in Lả and Xốp Mai hamlets who were supposed to move to the two resettlement areas.

But the two resettlement projects had been paused for years because of a lack of capital, Phúc said.

The families were living in bad conditions without electricity and clean water, he said.

Meanwhile, Nguyễn Trung Sơn, vice director of the project management board of Tương Dương District, said in 2018, the People’s Committee of Nghệ An Province issued a decision to set up an investment project to construct a resettlement area in Lả Hamlet to evacuate 34 households out of landslide-prone areas.

In August 2020, 12 households who were severely affected by the flood in 2018 were added to the list of the project’s beneficiaries, bringing the total number of households to be resettled to 46, Sơn said.

The project was estimated to cost VNĐ14.8 billion (US$641,000).

After two years of implementation, the project had completed ground clearance with total capital disbursement of VNĐ7.4 billion (US$320,500) from the province.

Currently, the remaining capital for implementing other items had not been allocated for the contractor to complete the project, Sơn said.

The other project is the construction of resettlement area for 17 households in Minh Phương Hamlet and Xốp Mạt Hamlet which regularly flood.

The project planned to be invested with VNĐ7.3 billion (US$320,000) but so far only a third of the total capital from the Tương Dương District fund has been allocated.

To implement this project, the contractor had to spend its money to carry out 90 per cent of the project volume.

However, when the project was about to be completed, natural disasters caused damage to the construction so work was to paused to fix the problem.

There were many difficulties in the process of implementing these two projects and they had their design adjusted twice because the number of reallocated households increased, said Sơn.

In addition, the appraisal process for the adjustment took a long time which led to the construction delay, he said.

In October last year, many communes of the district were seriously affected by three big storms and heavy rains.

At present, the two projects reportedly are short of over VNĐ12 billion (US$520,000) to finish the electric network and provide clean water and communal houses, Sơn said.

The construction of two resettlement projects in Lương Minh Commune was extremely urgent, so all concerned authorities should pay attention to finding capital to complete the projects to soon stabilise the lives of the 63 families, Sơn said.

Deputy Minister of Health calls for pandemic prevention alongside economic development

All close contacts with COVID-19 patients, designated F1, must be put in centralised quarantine, while people designated F2 should be quarantined at home under Ministry of Health (MoH) regulations, a senior health official has said.

Deputy Minister of Health Đỗ Xuân Tuyên said on Friday after much speculation about quarantine for COVID-19 prevention over the upcoming Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday.

For those who are F3 and are allowed to home quarantine, they are required to declare and monitor their health, and quarantine at home so that if any problems arise, they must immediately handle them, he said.

“In areas which are not affected with the pandemic and are not locked down, activities should still be carried out normally following the Prime Minister’s direction to ensure both economic development and pandemic prevention,” said Tuyên.

He said, in recent times, some localities have not fully envisioned an outbreak and have not fully understood when a lockdown would be placed.

“For a ward with many streets, if a COVID-19 case appears in a street, it would be locked down whereas streets with no cases are free,” he said.

The MoH has assigned the General Department of Preventive Medicine to urgently compile guidance documents about when and how lockdowns will be imposed for nationwide implementation.

“We are not subjective and are ready to have a response whenever an outbreak occurs. Reality has proved that when a new COVID-19 case occurs, like in Quảng Ninh and Hải Dương provinces, we all have a very quick response,” said Tuyên.

Due to the work of the National Steering Committee, localities are doing relatively well and the two outbreaks of Hải Dương and Quảng Ninh are still under very strict control.

When a new infection is detected, the patient must be quarantined, he said.

“Only then can we manage to prevent the pandemic from spreading to the community,” he said.

In areas where there are no cases and activities are normal, people still have to fully comply with anti-pandemic measures under the direction of the MoH and the National Steering Committee, Tuyên added. 

Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu tightens forest-fire prevention measures

The southeastern province of Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu is taking urgent measures to prevent forest fires as the area enters the peak period of the dry season.

Agencies have to identify major forests at a high risk of fire and spread, and localities must be prepared to prevent and control fires.

The province has 33,600 ha of forests, accounting for nearly 17 per cent of the province’s total land area.

Forest fire-prevention drills have been held at district and provincial levels, while firebreaks, reservoirs and canals that would help prevent forest fires were completed before January 20.

The province’s Forest Protection Sub-department has inspected high-risk forests around the clock since last December.

The sub-department has temporarily stopped all activities that clean vegetation in forests during the peak dry season.

Trần Giang Nam, deputy head of the sub-department’s Nature Conservation and Forest Management and Protection Division, said: “Forest owners have established plans for reservoirs, firebreaks and controlled forest burning to prevent and control fires.”

The sub-department has also increased public awareness about forest fire prevention and control.

One forest fire, at the Trương Phi Mountain in Đất Đỏ District’s Phước Hải Town, has occurred in the province in the dry season, destroying 1ha of bushes and grasses.

Đất Đỏ and the neighbouring district of Long Điền typically have forest fires every year.

Nguyễn Văn Lời, deputy head of the Long Điền – Đất Đỏ Forest Protection Bureau, said the two districts have mountainous terrains and no fences surround the forests, which allows people to enter forests to harvest honey and burn incense, causing forest fires. 

Xuyên Mộc District, which has the largest forest area in the province, is also a hotspot for forest fires in the dry season because of alternating residential and forested areas.

Phạm Hữu Phương, deputy head of the Xuyên Mộc Forest Protection Bureau, said the bureau would establish measures to prevent and control forest fires this dry season.

The district has completed the preparation of facilities and human forces for fire prevention and control, he said.

The district will pay more attention to prevent and control forest fires from now to after Tết (Lunar New Year), which falls on February 12, he said.

In the 2019 – 20 dry season, the province had eight forest fire cases, causing damage to 2.1ha of forest, down two cases against the 2018 – 19 dry season.

AstraZeneca vaccines prove safe, effective, will be delivered to Viet Nam by mid-year

The Ministry of Health has approved the use of COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca following the primary analysis of Phase III clinical trials from the UK, Brazil and South Africa, which confirmed that it is safe and effective at preventing COVID-19, with no severe cases and no hospitalisations, more than 22 days after the first dose, according to a press release from AstraZeneca Vietnam issued on February 4.

AstraZeneca Vietnam and the Vietnam Vaccine Joint Stock Company will work together to supply 30 million doses in the country, starting mid-year.

A representative from VNVC told the Sài Gòn Giải Phóng (Liberated Sài Gòn) that the company has completed negotiations on the deal with AstraZeneca – a global biopharmaceutical business from the UK.

Supply Director of VNVC Vũ Thị Thu Hà said her company has made the best preparations to receive the vaccines and give injections to residents.

The analysis result of the vaccine was published as a preprint in The Lancet.

Results demonstrated vaccine efficacy of 76 per cent after the first dose, with protection maintained to the second dose. With an inter-dose interval of 12 weeks or more, vaccine efficacy increased to 82 per cent.

The analysis also showed the potential for the vaccine to reduce asymptomatic transmission of the virus, based on weekly swabs obtained from volunteers in the UK trial. The data showed that PCR positive readings were reduced by 67 per cent after a single dose, and 50 per cent after the two dose regimen, supporting a substantial impact on transmission of the virus.

The primary analysis for efficacy was based on 17,177 participants with 332 symptomatic cases from the Phase III UK, Brazil and South Africa trials led by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, a further 201 cases than previously reported.

Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of biopharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca, said: “This primary analysis reconfirms that our vaccine prevents severe disease and keeps people out of hospital. In addition, extending the dosing interval not only boosts the vaccine’s efficacy, but also enables more people to be vaccinated upfront.”

Professor Andrew Pollard, chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial, and co-author of the paper, said: “These new data provide an important verification of the interim data that has helped regulators such as the MHRA in the UK and elsewhere around the world to grant the vaccine emergency use authorisation. It also helps to support the policy recommendation made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation for a 12-week prime-boost interval, as they look for the optimal approach to roll out, and reassures us that people are protected 22 days after a single dose of the vaccine.”

Data will continue to be analysed and shared with regulators around the world to support their ongoing rolling reviews for emergency supply or conditional approval during the health crisis.

AstraZeneca is also seeking Emergency Use Listing from the World Health Organization for an accelerated pathway to vaccine availability in low-income countries. 

Efforts made to promote sale of crops in virus-hit provinces

Efforts are being made to promote the sale of crops, fruits and meat of farmers in coronavirus-hit provinces, including the two hardest-hit Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, as the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday nears.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total winter crop area which had not been harvested was more than 7,830 ha, or 35 per cent of the northern province’s total crop area. In Kinh Mon District, there was about 3,500 ha of onion, 350 ha of carrot in Nam Sach and 400 ha in Cam Giang, 200 ha of vegetables in Gia Loc, 200 ha in Tu Ky and 400 ha in Kim Thanh.

In Quang Ninh, the total unharvested crop area was more than 2,000 ha, mainly potato, corn and vegetables with a total yield of about 30,000 tonnes.

The ministry said that it was important to raise solutions to promote the sale of farm produce for farmers in locked-down areas.

The ministry said that prices of farm produce in Hai Duong had decreased by around 10-20 per cent since the outbreak of virus clusters late last month.

Nguyen Nhu Cuong, Director of the ministry’s Department of Crop Production, the sale of carrot and potato was the most difficult at the moment because these two products had high output volume while domestic consumption accounted for just 10 per cent and the rest must be exported.

The capacity of cold storage in Hai Duong was limited, which would be a problem if the virus was not put under control before Tet, he said.

He added that the transportation of goods to/from locked-down areas was very difficult. Local markets were also tightening disease control measures.

Ha Noi, Hai Phong and Quang Ninh were the major markets for the consumption of Hai Duong’s farm produce. However, these provinces were banning all vehicles and people from Hai Duong, which affected the consumption. Wholesalers from other provinces did not want to come to Hai Duong to collect farm produce with hesitation over the virus and worries that they must practice social distancing.

According to Hai Duong Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, around 128,000 tonnes of vegetables, meat and fish in the province were waiting for consumption.

In that context, it was important to promote consumption in the province, increase storage and implement processing for longer preservation, the ministry said.

It was a must to apply prevention measures following the guidance of the Ministry of Finance when transporting products out of the virus-hit areas, the agriculture ministry said.

At the same time, preparations must be made for the next cultivation season.

Recently, Quang Ninh Province Department of Industry and Trade helped connect for the sale and 17 million potatoes, worth VND153 million (US$6,600).

Six enterprises also bought more than 10,000 chickens for farmers in Chi Linh City.

Passenger bus fares hike as Tet nears

Passengers bus tickets have increased by up to 50% as travel demand has increased near Tet.

Because of Covid-19, the number of passengers at Giap Bat Bus Station on February 1 was more like a normal weekend than the seasonal rush expected before Tet. Some short-trip buses to Ninh Binh, Thai Binh and Nam Dinh only have five to seven passengers. Hoang, an employee of Thien Truong Company, said in previous years, they had to work full capacity and even used back-up buses.

Nguyen Anh Toan, director of Transerco, said they had started the transportation plan for Tet with 2,200 back-up buses at major bus stations like My Dinh, Giap Bat, My Dinh, and Gia Lam. The number of passengers is expected to increase by 130%-150%. However, they haven’t had to use back-up buses yet.

Despite the slight increase in the number of passengers, fares have increased by 30%-50%. The fares for buses to Thanh Hoa Province increased from VND120,000-VND150,000 to VND180,000-VND200,000.

Nguyen Tat Thanh, director of Giap Bat Bus Station, confirmed that many transportation firms had applied for a price hike. During Tet, most buses only run with passengers one-way and have to return empty so they have raised prices to pay for extra costs.

Procedures for the price hikes were already completed with the departments of finances and departments of transport before the new Covid-19 outbreak.

Third Covid-19 field hospital to be handed over to Hai Duong

More than 200 workers and soldiers on February 6 completed renovating 5,000 square meters of floor area at the Sao Do University in the northern province of Hai Duong into a third Covid-19 field hospital, which is ready to be handed over for the province to treat coronavirus patients.

It took just a week to complete the renovation work. The three-story field hospital is located far away from residential areas. Its ground floor was equipped with testing and treatment facilities as well as is a place for receiving coronavirus patients. The remaining floors accommodate patient rooms and a number of functional units.

The hospital has 239 beds, which will be extended to 300 if necessary.

Early this month, the equipment used at a similar hospital at Da Nang city’s Tien Son sports center was transported to the Sao Do University to set up the field hospital.

All of the engineers and workers involved in the construction of the field hospital had their health monitored regularly by the Hai Duong Province Center for Disease Control and Prevention during the construction.

Source: VNA/VNN/VNS/SGGP/VOV/NDO/Dtinews/SGT/VIR   

Coach Park Hang-seo

The head coach of the Vietnamese national football team, Park Hang-seo has just received a present from PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc for the Lunar New Year Festival. 

The head coach of the Vietnamese national football team, Park Hang-seo has just received a present from PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc for the Lunar New Year Festival.

Coach Park Hang-seo said that he would come back to work soon and try to work hard to improve the national team’s results.

Coach Park Hang-seo arrived in Hanoi on February 3 after a holiday in his home country of South Korea. He was now on a 21-day quarantine period for Covid-19 prevention following regulations from the Vietnamese government.

Under the leadership of coach Park Hang-seo, the Vietnamese national football team finished as runners-up at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Championship, champions of the AFF Cup 2018, qualified in semi-finals of the 18th Asian Games and made the 2019 Asian Cup quarter-finals.

PM calls for strong local COVID-19 response

Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, and other major cities where COVID-19 cases have been confirmed should take strong measures to effectively prevent the spread of the pandemic within the community, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said on February 8.

Such measures include social distancing in line with the PM’s Directives No 15 and 16 in case of a worsening situation, the PM said at an online meeting of permanent Cabinet members.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) pointed out the high risk of the pandemic spreading as there remain sources of infections yet to be detected in major cities, especially in baggage and cargo handling services at HCM City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

It reported that all 7,300 employees at the airport have been tested and five of them were positive for the coronavirus. Twenty-four related cases were also found later.

The pandemic has been basically contained in the northern provinces of Quang Ninh and Hai Duong, where the first cases in the latest outbreak were recorded, and most other cities and provinces, the ministry said.

Phuc asked HCM City and the ministry to play a more active role in the fight and encourage people to follow COVID-19 prevention and control measures, including wearing facemasks and avoiding mass gatherings.

Travel during the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday should be limited, he said, urging localities to prepare resources, including medical supplies, food, and COVID-19 hospitals in case the situation worsens.

Hai Duong, Quang Ninh, Gia Lai, and Hai Phong will continue with proposed plans, while Hanoi and HCM City need to identify their own way forward in this regard, according to the leader.

Social distancing should be imposed when necessary, he said, ordering stronger alertness among medical and political systems and the public, as well as an active role from the media in the fight.

The PM agreed with the ministry’s proposal to buy COVID-19 vaccine produced by the AstraZeneca Group and begin injections in the first quarter.

The MoH and its minister are responsible for selecting partners, vaccines, and those to be vaccinated, with funding coming from the State, he said.

He also asked relevant forces, most notably the police, army, and market management forces, to step up measures to ensure security and order.

Short cold spell causes rains in northern, north-central regions

The northern and north central regions are forecast to experience moderate to heavy rains on February 9 due to the influence of a fresh cold spell combined with the turbulence of high east winds.

The short-lived cold spell, coupled with high wind turbulence, is predicted to bring total precipitation of 30 – 70mm, even over 80mm in certain locations, within 12 hours, according to the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting. Whirlwinds, lightning and hails are also expected.

It also caused temperatures to plummet to 9 – 12 degrees Celsius in the north and 12 – 15 degrees Celsius in the north central region while higher mountainous areas are likely to see sleet.

In Hanoi, the temperature is forecast to drop to 12 – 15 degrees Celsius at the lowest and 15 – 18 degree Celsius at the highest./.

Bình Dương Province bans entry of foreign employees amid pandemic

The southern province of Bình Dương has prohibited foreign experts from entering as it seeks to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The People’s Committee made the announcement on Friday (Feb 5).

Since last September, 1,720 foreign experts have come to the province, mostly through HCM City but also through the Mộc Bài and Tây Ninh land borders, according to the People’s Committee.

Two people have tested positive for COVID-19 and placed under quarantine on arrival in Việt Nam.

The Pasteur Institute in HCM City on Saturday (Feb 6) confirmed a new case in Bình Dương, taking its total number so far to six, according to the province Department of Health.

The 26-year-old patient, who lives in Ehome 4 apartments in Thuận An Town, was sent to the Củ Chi Field Hospital in HCM City for treatment.

The apartment and its thousands of residents were placed under lockdown on Saturday.

Nguyễn Thanh Tâm, chairman of the Thuận An Town People’s Committee, held a meeting with local authorities and public health officials on Saturday to speed up implementation of measures to contain the spread of the virus.

Nguyễn Hoàng Thao, chairman of the province People’s Committee, on the same day carried out inspections of quarantine areas around the province. 

Quang Ninh successfully controls COVID-19 pandemic in one week

The northern province of Quang Ninh announced on February 8 that it was able to control the COVID-19 pandemic just in one week after it detected the first locally-transmitted infection on January 27, according to the provincial steering board for COVID-19 prevention and control.

To date, the province has logged 50 SARS-CoV-2 infections in Van Don, Cam Pha, Ha Long and Dong Trieu township which is adjacent to the country’s largest hotspot of Chi Linh city in Hai Duong province.

Right after Chi Linh city reported the first COVID-19 infections, Quang Ninh province activated prevention and control measures with a view to containing the virus spread. In the past week, the province conducted mass testing, zoned off infected areas and quarantined people with a high risk of infection, helping reduce economic losses as well as stabilise the lives of local residents.

It was the first locality to carry out mass testing for COVID-19 so as not to leave out any F1 cases and miss travel history of F0 cases.

As of February 8, the province traced 109,000 people who had close contact with the confirmed cases, and carried out testing for 53,869 samples and at the same time, conducted mass testing for 40,891 samples in the community.

Particularly, the province has completed a map of safe zones to raise public awareness of safe and timely travel, as well as inform locals with travel history of confirmed cases, quarantine sites and medical facilities.

To look up the COVID-19 situation within the locality, residents can access to bandocovid.quangninh.gov.vn and covidmaps.quangninh.gov.vn.

In the coming time, Quang Ninh province will ease social distancing measures, while calling on officials and workers in the province not to leave the locality for the Tet holiday to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 spread, contributing to the safety of the whole community./.

Cà Mau expands shrimp output using environmentally friendly methods

The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Cà Mau plans to maintain its shrimp farming area at 280,000ha between 2021 and 2025, with an increased output.

The province, which is the country’s largest shrimp producer, aims to produce about 225,000 tonnes of shrimp this year, up 15,000 tonnes against last year, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Châu Công Bằng, deputy director of the department, said that intensive and super-intensive farming methods as well as advanced farming techniques would be used to increase yield and profit for farmers.

To develop sustainability, the province’s agencies have instructed farmers in environmentally friendly techniques.

Many shrimp farmers using super-intensive farming methods have built ponds to filter and treat waste water before releasing it into the environment.

Local agencies have stepped up inspections of shrimp breeding in unzoned areas and the treatment of waste water, and have strictly penalised violations.

Last year, the province had 2,800ha of super-intensive shrimp farming areas, up 12 per cent against 2019. The farming areas had a success rate of 85 per cent and a yield of 40-50 tonnes per hectare a crop.

The province plans to develop super-intensive shrimp farming areas to 3,200ha this year. Most of these areas are located in Đầm Dơi, Cái Nước and Phú Tân districts and Cà Mau City.

With its three sides bordering the sea and its many mangrove forests, the province has advantages for shrimp-forest farming, shrimp-rice farming, extensive farming, intensive farming and super intensive farming.

The province has 280,000ha of shrimp, accounting for 40 per cent of the country’s total shrimp area.

Many shrimp breeding areas have been granted international standard certificates such as global good agricultural practices (GlobalGAP), Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) and Global Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC).

The province has 30 companies processing shrimp for export. The companies have a total processing capacity of more than 250,000 tonnes of shrimp a year.

Environmentally-friendly shrimp farming models like shrimp-forest and shrimp-rice farming models produce biological shrimp as shrimp eat natural food and shrimp breeders do not use chemicals.

Under the shrimp-forest model, shrimp are bred in mangrove forests. Under the shrimp-rice model, farmers grow rice in the rainy season and breed shrimp in the dry season on the same fields, or intercrop shrimp breeding and rice cultivation at the same time on the same fields.

The province has nearly 34,000ha of shrimp-forest farming, and more than 20,000ha of that figure are certified as biological shrimp.

The department plans to increase the area for certified biological shrimp to the rest of the shrimp-forest farming area this year.

Bằng, deputy director of the department, said biological shrimp is one of the province’s key products under its agriculture restructuring plan.

The co-operation between farmers and companies has increased shrimp value, he said.

The breeding of biological shrimp has increased farmers’ income, and shrimp companies now have clean and high-quality shrimp for export.

“The environmental protection activities have helped to confirm the role of biological shrimp,” he said.

The province has dozens of thousands of hectares of rice – shrimp fields which are also sources for producing biological shrimp.   

In Thới Bình District, which has the largest area of giant river prawn bred under the shrimp-rice model in the province, many farmers are breeding shrimp and growing rice on the same rice fields at the same time.

Phạm Văn Khải, who cultivates giant river prawn and rice on a 1.3ha field in Thới Bình’s Bạch Đông Commune, said giant river prawns are intercropped in organic rice fields that grow high-quality ST speciality rice varieties without pesticides or other chemicals and only a small amount of organic fertiliser.

“Giant river prawns eat natural food in rice fields, so the prawn has a specific flavour and firm meat,” he said.

When saltwater intrusion occurs early and rice dies because of saline water, his family plants bulrush to replace dead rice, which provides a habitat for giant river prawns.

Bulrush is grown for the inner portion of its lower stalk which is used in many dishes like fresh salads, pickles and hotpots. 

Farmers in the district had harvested about 30 per cent of the giant river prawn area as of mid January, according to the district’s Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Giant river prawns are purchased at fields for VNĐ110,000-130,000 (US$4.7-5.6) a kilogramme.

Nguyễn Hoàng Lâm, head of the bureau, said after deducting all production costs, farmers can earn a profit of VNĐ20 million ($870) per hectare a prawn crop. 

Plastic waste photo contest launched online

Artworks made from plastic waste in Hanoi’s Phuc Tan Commune.

The photo contest, entitled Cau Chuyen Rac Nhua (Story of Plastic Waste), aims to increase community awareness about environmental protection.

“Currently, Vietnam is one of the top five countries in the world discharging the most plastic waste into the ocean,” said Chu Thi Ha, Editor-in-chief of the Career & Life magazine.

“We hope that this photo contest will contribute to raising awareness of the management of plastic waste and somewhat limiting the amount of plastic waste discharged to the environment.”

The submitted photos must be taken from January 1 to April 30 in the coastal provinces of Vietnam. Entrants are not allowed to use Photoshop to change the content and nature of their pictures.

The contest organisation board encourages photos from the southern provinces of Binh Duong and Binh Thuan, the central province of Binh Dinh and central Da Nang city and the northern province of Quang Ninh.

The photos should focus on the spread of waste, which is not properly disposed of in Vietnam; plastic waste in the ocean; the impact of plastic waste on the environment and ecosystem and to people, and waste treatment.

Contestants can register at cuocthianh.mediamaxvietnam.vn until May 5.

The organisation board is calling on both Vietnamese and foreigners living in Vietnam above 18 years old who are concerned about plastic waste to participate in the contest. Each of them can send 20 photos.

Top prizes will be announced in the magazine and Facebook Ocean or Plastic at the end of June. The top prizes will be awarded cash worth 1 million VND to 5 million VND (43 to 220 USD).

Although there are no official statistics on the amount and varieties of plastic in the Vietnamese sea and islands, plastic waste is easy to see in Vietnamese waters, with the country’s 112 estuaries the main gateways of plastic to the ocean.

Numbers from Vietnam’s Association of Plastic illustrate the scale of the problem. In 1990, each Vietnamese consumed 3.8kg of plastic per year, but 25 years later, the figure hit 41kg.

As many as 1,000 plastic bags are used each minute but only 27 percent of them are treated and recycled.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment estimated that about 80 tonnes of plastic waste and bags are thrown away every day in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City combined.

On the positive side, Vietnam has taken efforts to manage imported plastic scrap and monitor plastic production and consumption./.

VNAT’s short film promotes Vietnam’s natural beauty

A video clip titled “Dat nuoc, con nguoi Viet Nam” (Vietnam – The Country and People) developed by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and published on its Youtube channel attracted over 1 million views after one month of launch.

The 70-second clip offers a chance to viewers to admire stunning and unique terraced rice fields which make the Northwest region’s more attractive to visitors.

It also overwhelms viewers with the magnificent scenery and rich natural ecosystems in Son Doong – the world’s largest cave – in central Quang Binh province, and provides them with fresh air in the Mekong Delta region as well as the hospitality of local people.

The vivid and emotional short film, which is one of the 70 clips launched on Youtube by the VNAT, has contributed to promoting the natural beauty of Vietnam as well as the hospitality of Vietnamese people to visitors./.

Famous comic artists celebrate Lunar New Year

A special TV show featuring famous comic artists Trung Dân, Quốc Thảo and Lê Giang will air on HCM City Television (HTV) to celebrate Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday, which falls on February 12 this year.   

The show, called Tự Trào Xuân (Satirical Show for Spring Festival), features a series of one and two-act plays portraying social issues in the country in 2020. 

The pandemic, quarantines, and working and studying from home will be highlighted. 

Southern farmers and their traditional culture and lifestyle during the holiday will also be included. 

Dân, Thảo and Giang, who have more than 25 years of experience in the industry, will demonstrate their talents in comedy, singing and dance. 

They will perform together in a comedy featuring the story of Ông Công- Ông Táo (Kitchen Gods) who, as tradition, flies up to Heaven on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month to report to Ngọc Hoàng (the Ruler of Heaven) every happening on the Earth throughout the year. 

According to Vietnamese legend, families burn vàng mã (votive paper) of clothes, hats and boots to ride Ông Công-Ông Táo to Heaven to report on the household’s activities to God.

On the show, dozens of singers and dancers will perform folk songs and dances in praise of country, soldiers, love and Spring.

American singer Kyo York and young pop idols will perform dance and electronic music. Songs about Tết, youth and love will be featured. 

Kyo York, 35, came to Việt Nam in late 2009. He offered English training to young people in the southern province of Hậu Giang. Later, he moved to HCM City and developed his music career.  

Young singer Jay L of HCM City, said: “We hope our performance in Tự Trào Xuân sends best wishes for Tết to people across the country.” 

Featured performances include folk dances staged by artists in áo dài (Vietnamese traditional dress) from the HCM City-based dance troupe Việt Hải. 

The show, Tự Trào Xuân, will air at 8.30pm on the HTV9 channel on the last day of lunar calendar, February 11.

Nearly 811 tonnes of rice offered to needy families in Dak Lak

Close to 811 tonnes of rice supplied by the Government have been distributed to impoverished residents in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak ahead of the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival.

The assistance was presented to about 15,800 families with 54,065 members across 12 districts of the province.

Director of the Dak Lak Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Tran Phu Hung said the aid has helped ease difficulties for local people amid the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters.

The distribution was carried out in a prompt manner with preventive measures being in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19./.

Vietnam supports health workers amid Covid-19 outbreak   

The Hanoitimes - In the fight against Covid-19, Vietnam has made efforts to keep its frontline workers safe to save human resources for the fierce battle.

Vietnam continues offering subsidy to health workers who get infected by Covid-19, the third time since the pandemic detected in the country in early 2020.

The Ministry of Health will offer a stipend worth VND10 million (US$434) to people who are tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus and VND100 million for those die of the virus.

The allotment will last from January 1 until June 30, 2021.

Beneficiaries include doctors, nurses, midwives, technicians, pharmacists, pharmacy staff, administrators, ambulance drivers, security guards, service staff, and volunteers working at hospital/ medical facilities/ testing facilities/ field hospitals that test, diagnose, and treat Covid-19.

So far, more than 40 health workers benefit the allotment.

At present, local Covid-19 transmission has been recorded in 12 cities and provinces, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. New daily cases have been reported, prompting tough actions by the local authorities as Tet, the country’s biggest holiday will come in less than a week.

In the fight against Covid-19, Vietnam has been aware of keeping frontline workers safe to save human resources for the unprecedented battle.

In the outbreak in Bach Mai Hospital, the country’s largest clinic institute, in March 2020, some doctors and nurses were confirmed positive for the virus and thousands of others quarantined, worrying the government about the shortage of health workers.

The number of doctors per 10,000 inhabitants in Vietnam was 8.6 in 2018, according to Germany-based market research company Statista.

As showed in the “Health care quality in Southeast Asia: Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Indonesia” research by Aetna International, one of the industry’s largest and most prominent international health insurance providers, in comparison with regional countries, Vietnam has a little over 1 doctor per 1,000 people, compared to nearly 2 in Singapore, 0.4 in Thailand, 1 in Malaysia, 1.4 in Brunei, and 1 per 5,000 people in Indonesia.

In terms of expenditure, Vietnam spends 7.1% of its GDP on public health care, compared to 2.75% in Singapore, 6.5% in Thailand, 4.2% in Malaysia, and 2.9% in Indonesia.

Hanoi suspends activities on pedestrian space around Hoan Kiem Lake

This is the third time Hanoi’s pedestrian space has to be suspended since the Covid-19 pandemic started to hit the capital city in early March 2020.

The People’s Committee of Hoan Kiem district has decided to suspend all activities on the pedestrian streets around Hoan Kiem Lake from this weekend in order to avoid crowded gatherings in strict compliance with the city’s measures on Covid-19 prevention.

The move is made in line with the Hanoi authorities’ regulations on Covid-19 prevention and control, according to Vice Chairman of the district People’s Committee Dinh Hong Phong.

The pedestrian streets include those around Hoan Kiem Lake, its neighboring streets in the Old Quarter, such as Hang Dao, Hang Giay and Dong Xuan Night Market. These streets often attract a large number of people which poses high risks for Covid-19 spreading without appropriate preventive measures.

“If the walking streets continues to be operating, people from different places would flock here, which is difficult for curbing the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Mr. Phong said.

The weekend walking space around Hoan Kiem Lake and surrounding areas in downtown Hanoi has become a brand name, a cultural venue, and a highlight of the capital city, luring thousands of visitors during daytime and at nights in the pre-pandemic period.

It also contributes to creating a new lifestyle for Hanoi’s people, and promoting the capital city’s image – the City for Peace.

The walking streets normally are open from Friday night to Sunday night, from 7:00pm to 12:00pm in summer and from 6:00pm to 12:00pm in winter.

UNDP extends disaster-resilient house program for people in coastal Vietnam

UNDP believes that the support will help residents rebuilt their lives and livelihoods.

A crowdfunding campaign entitled “Safe Houses Save Lives” to build houses for residents in Vietnam’s central coastal areas was launched on February 5, contributing to recovery plans in the flood-hit region.

In the partnership among the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Dan Tri newspaper, and the Vietnam Fund for Promoting Education, the campaign aims to build 100 new storm- and flood-resilient houses for poor and near-poor families in Quang Binh.

The two-year campaign, which receives financial support by the Korean non-governmental organization World Share and VND1 billion (US$43,000) from Dan Tri, is part of a broader UNDP effort to support government response and recovery work in central Vietnam.

It is estimated that 100,000 resilient houses are needed to meet the demand of vulnerable households in typhoon-prone coastal areas.

In her opening remarks, Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam, stressed the importance of ensuring no most vulnerable left behind in the recovery plans in the flood-hit region, saying that “We believe that the more resilient houses are built, the less people will suffer from loss and damages when storms and floods strike, and the more quickly they will be able to rebuild their lives and livelihoods.”

Critically, with safe homes and protected property, less people will need emergency support in the future. “With joined up action, we believe the goal can be achieved. We invite all partners to join with us to build more storm-resilient houses to ensure that no one is left behind,” said Ms. Wiesen.

So far, more than 3,400 low cost ‘resilient houses’ have already been built by a joint Green Climate Fund (GCF)-UNDP-Government of Vietnam project since 2018 including more than 700 in Quang Binh.

The resilient houses have been specifically engineered to include special features such as flood-proof floor that is 1.5m above the highest flood level to provide a safe refuge from rising floodwaters and strongly reinforced roofs that can withstand typhoon-strength winds.

They proved their effectiveness during the severe floods and storms of 2020, when they saved the lives and livelihoods of not only their owners, but in some cases other members of the community as well. Their success garnered attention from the media, and they have since been specifically highlighted by the government as a model for wider replication.

In another move, UNDP and Quang Nam authorities on February 4 handed over the first houses in a program to repair more than 3,300 houses and 20 new ones in Quang Ngai and Quang Nam. Handing over the houses ahead of Tet holiday is meaningful for beneficiaries.

“Thanks to successes of the project “Improving resilience of vulnerable coastal communities to climate change-related impacts in Vietnam” under the support by the Green Climate Fund, Government of Vietnam and UNDP, roughly 3,500 storm- and flood-resilient houses built since 2017 in coastal provinces including Quang Nam have effectively protected lives and property. We are delighted to hand over new homes in the province before the Lunar New Year,” said Mr. Dao Xuan Lai, Head of Environment and Climate Change Department, UNDP Vietnam.

Vietnam considers reducing Covid-19 quarantine back to 14 days

Vietnam’s health ministry is waiting for final reports before amending the rule on the quarantine period.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health is considering reducing the Covid-19 quarantine period from 21 to 14 days since the incubation period for the new coronavirus variant is also two weeks.

Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen said at a government meeting on February 5 that the latest studies in Vietnam showed the new strain, originating from the UK, has a higher basic reproduction number than previous strains and faster onset time.

However, its incubation period is still 14 days like other variants, Mr. Tuyen said, adding that countries around the world have decreed a 14-day quarantine for those who were in close contact with Covid-19 patients despite the outbreak of the new coronavirus mutant.

The ministry is waiting for final reports before amending the rule on the quarantine period.

Vietnam has recently increased the quarantine period to 21 days instead of 14 days following the new community outbreak that emerged in late January.

Besides, social distancing, if imposed, will also last 21 days, longer than the 15 days prescribed previously, because the disease has spread to major cities across the country, including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong.

At the time of writing, the national tally of the ongoing Covid-19 wave is 394, with infections recorded in ten cities and provinces. The nation has registered 1,976 cases of novel coronavirus carriers, of them 1465 recovered and 35 deceased so far.

Vietnamese people will celebrate the Lunar New Year (Tet) next week, the biggest and longest holiday of the year. The government has imposed lockdowns at Covid-19 epicenters, many cities and provinces have canceled Tet fireworks shows and other celebrations.

Ninh Binh bolstering digital transformation in tourism development

Digital transformation and information technology application have important roles to play in the realisation of northern Ninh Binh province’s tourism development plan, which aims to turn tourism into a spearhead economic sector by 2030, according to the provincial Department of Tourism.

The province has taken the initiative in rolling out a smart tourism portal and mobile app and has also digitalised tourism data in connection with other sectors, built a database, and offered free wi-fi services at tourist destinations.

As Ninh Binh is host of the 2021 National Tourism Year, it has set a target of improving the quality of tourism products as well as devising new products to meet visitor demand.

This is also viewed as a chance for the province to call for further investment in tourism infrastructure and bolster human resources quality and services.

Boasting some of Vietnam’s most diverse terrain, the province is home to well-known tourist sites such as Tam Coc – Bich Dong, Cuc Phuong National Park, Van Long Wetland Nature Reserve, and mineral hot springs.

Of particular note, the Trang An Landscape Complex was inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Culture and Nature Heritage Sites in 2014 – the first complex in Vietnam and Southeast Asia to receive the honour.

Some 90 km south of Hanoi, Ninh Binh is also home to Hoa Lu, the ancient capital of Vietnam in the 10th and 11th centuries, and a number of spiritual destinations, such as Phat Diem Stone Cathedral and Bich Dong and Bai Dinh Pagodas.

It is also the ancestral land of folk music like “cheo” and “xam”, as well as the traditional craft villages of Ninh Van stone carving, Bo Bat pottery, and Van Lam lace embroidery./.

Southeast Asian nations rapidly deploy COVID-19 vaccination

The Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) of Indonesia has considered granting emergency using licenses for three COVID-19 vaccines namely AstraZeneca, Sinopharm and Novavax, Head of BPOM Penny K. Lukito said.

Speaking at an online press conference on February 7, Peny said it will take up to 20 working days for the consideration process after BPOM has received all the necessary data from pharmaceutical companies representing vaccine manufacturers.

According to Penny, BPOM is still waiting for these companies to complete the submission of data.

However, data may be provided in stages, while the consideration is under process. Sinovac’s Coronavac vaccine is the only one that has received an emergency licence from BPOM to date.

In January 14, Indonesia officially launched the first phase of its national programme on free vaccination against COVID-19 among health workers and civil servants, with three million doses of Coronavac vaccine provided by Sinovac.

The Indonesian government’s updated data shows that nearly 800,000 people were given the first shot.

Another 25 million doses of the vaccine are expected to be produced by the end of March with materials supplied by Sinovac, local officials said.

Previously, the Indonesian government also identified seven COVID-19 vaccines that will be considered to be used in the country, including Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Novavax, Sinovac, and the Red and White Indonesian-developed vaccine.

Meanwhile, Fresh News of Cambodia has reported that 600,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine funded by China were delivered to Cambodia on February 7.

Under the plan, China will provide 1 million doses of COVID19 vaccine to Cambodia. In the first phase, 300,000 doses will be handed over to the Health Ministry, and the remaining 300,000 doses to the Ministry of Defence.

A number of other Southeast Asian countries are also gradually implementing the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

Singapore started its vaccination programme at the end of December 2020 and is expected to have enough vaccines for all residents by September 2021.

Despite reaching an agreement to import 2 million doses of vaccine from China before April 2021 for health workers, Thailand has to rely on the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine of the UK that will be produced domestically for its extensive vaccination programme .

Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu tightens forest-fire prevention measures

Agencies have to identify major forests at a high risk of fire and spread, and localities must be prepared to prevent and control fires.

The province has 33,600 ha of forests, accounting for nearly 17 per cent of the province’s total land area.

Forest fire-prevention drills have been held at district and provincial levels, while firebreaks, reservoirs and canals that would help prevent forest fires were completed before January 20.

The province’s Forest Protection Sub-department has inspected high-risk forests around the clock since last December.

The sub-department has temporarily stopped all activities that clean vegetation in forests during the peak dry season.

Trần Giang Nam, deputy head of the sub-department’s Nature Conservation and Forest Management and Protection Division, said: “Forest owners have established plans for reservoirs, firebreaks and controlled forest burning to prevent and control fires.”

The sub-department has also increased public awareness about forest fire prevention and control.

One forest fire, at the Trương Phi Mountain in Đất Đỏ District’s Phước Hải Town, has occurred in the province in the dry season, destroying 1ha of bushes and grasses.

Đất Đỏ and the neighbouring district of Long Điền typically have forest fires every year.

Nguyễn Văn Lời, deputy head of the Long Điền – Đất Đỏ Forest Protection Bureau, said the two districts have mountainous terrains and no fences surround the forests, which allows people to enter forests to harvest honey and burn incense, causing forest fires.

Xuyên Mộc District, which has the largest forest area in the province, is also a hotspot for forest fires in the dry season because of alternating residential and forested areas.

Phạm Hữu Phương, deputy head of the Xuyên Mộc Forest Protection Bureau, said the bureau would establish measures to prevent and control forest fires this dry season.

The district has completed the preparation of facilities and human forces for fire prevention and control, he said.

The district will pay more attention to prevent and control forest fires from now to after Tết (Lunar New Year), which falls on February 12, he said.

In the 2019 – 20 dry season, the province had eight forest fire cases, causing damage to 2.1ha of forest, down two cases against the 2018 – 19 dry season.

Malaysia records highest COVID-19 deaths ever, Indonesia extends ban on foreign entries

On February 8, Malaysia reported a daily record 24 deaths from COVID-19, raising total fatalities to 896, while Indonesia decided to close its borders to foreigners for two weeks amid the spread of the pandemic.

On the day, Malaysia also posted 3,100 new coronavirus cases, bringing the cumulative total to 245,552, of which 51,977 were under treatment.

The country will receive a batch of COVID-19 vaccine of Pfize /BioTech in late this month.

Meanwhile in Indonesia, the government on February 8 decided to extend the ban on the entry of foreigners to February 22 amidst the spread of the pandemic.

All foreigners are principally still banned from entering Indonesia, Wiku Adisasmito, spokesman for the country’s national COVID-19 task force told a press conference.

Exceptions, however, will be granted for long-term residents, those from countries who have travel corridor arrangements with Indonesia and those who get special permission from Indonesian ministries or institutions, but by still applying health protocols, including a five-day quarantine.

In December, the Indonesian government barred all foreign visitors, except for ministerial-level government officials and long-term residents, from entering the country, as it tries to keep out seemingly more transmissible variants of the coronavirus.

The nation reported 8,242 new COVID-19 cases on February 8, pushing its tally to 1,652,958, the highest in Southeast Asia, with the death toll standing at 31,763./.

Malaysia’s unemployment rate rises to highest level since 1993

Malaysia’s unemployment rate increased to 4.5 percent in 2020, the highest rate since 1993 when it was recorded at 4.1 percent, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).

Chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said an additional 772,900 people were unemployed in December 2020, up 4.8 percent month-on-month, while the number of employed persons edged up only 0.1 percent month-on-month, equivalent to 19,300 persons, to 15.22 million persons.

The labour force participation rate (LFPR) in 2020 remained at 68.4 percent, down 0.3 percentage point year-on-year.

Mohd Uzir said the country experienced a slower labour demand in 2020 due to adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the health crisis had given a huge impact on the labour force which led the unemployment rate to reach above 4 percent against an average of 3 percent recorded in the pre-crisis period.

Malaysia’s labour market will remain in a challenging situation in early 2021 but various assistance and initiatives introduced by the government will cushion the impact of the pandemic on the labour market, he added./.

Over 3.5 billion VND channeled into charity market for Tet

The Central Committee of the Vietnam Red Cross Society (VNRC) channeled more than 3.5 billion VND (153,000 USD) into charity markets opened by its chapters nationwide from January 22 to 31 to support needy people before the Lunar New Year holiday (Tet).

Pham Thi Hoa, a resident in Hanoi, who received assistance from the charity market serving Tet, said her family is poor and gifts from the market helped ease her difficulties.

VNRC Vice President Tran Thi Hong An said these markets for Tet have made a practical support for needy people so that they can enjoy a warm and happy holiday.

Initiated in May last year, the market model is organised on the basis of mobilising resources and supports from the community, in order to serve people in difficult circumstances or severely affected by natural disasters, which hinder them from having enough food and necessities. Due to its high flexibility and practical response, it can run anywhere on a large scale.

The market offers food and household items of good quality and clear origins, with its consumers given coupons worth at least 300,000 VND to shop for their demand.

According to An, in mountainous, border, and island areas with poor transport infrastructure, mobile charity markets have been organised, attracting a large number of participants./.

Vietnamese embassy in South Africa shows strong performance as APC Chair in 2020

The Vietnamese Embassy in South Africa successfully completed its role as Chair of the ASEAN Pretoria Committee (APC) in 2020, contributing to promoting the partnership between ASEAN and South Africa and Africa in general.

Addressing a ceremony in Pretoria on February 8 to take the role of APC Chair from Vietnamese Ambassador to South Africa Hoang Van Loi, Indonesian Ambassador Salman Al Farisi lauded the activeness of Vietnam as the APC Chair in 2020.

He said that Ambassador Loi received the role from Thailand when South Africa was experiencing severe impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic on aspects of life as well as operations of foreign representative offices.

Despite difficulties, the Vietnamese diplomat applied operation methods to adapt to the reality, he noted, adding that Ambassador Loi regularly contacted with APC members and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) to exchange information on the situation in South Africa and Africa and share experience in COVID-19 prevention and control as well as promote cooperation among parties and optimise opportunities from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The Vietnamese Embassy played the role as a bridge linking the DIRCO and the Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry in preparing for South Africa to join the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC).

Under the chair of Vietnam – the ASEAN Chair 2020, South Africa, along with Colombia and Cuba, signed the agreement to join the TAC, opening opportunities on broader and deeper cooperation in politics, economy, socio-culture between ASEAN and the countries.

Ambassador Salman Al Farisi hailed the achievements that Vietnam has made as the ASEAN Chair and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, contributing to strengthening the common voice of ASEAN in the international arena, dealing with challenges of the region in a timely manner, and helping to build a Southeast Asian region of peace, solidarity and prosperity.

Ambassador Loi said that in 2020 when South Africa performed the role as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and the President of the African Union, Vietnam and South Africa coordinated closely at regional and international forums for the common interest of the international community, Africa and Asia.

The Vietnamese and Indonesian ambassadors agreed to continue exchanging information and experience to help Indonesia fulfil the APC Chair role in 2021.

Earlier on January 27, ASEAN ambassadors in South Africa had an online meeting to evaluate the performance of the committee in 2020 and sketch out plan for 2021.

Source: VNA/VNN/VNS/SGGP/VOV/NDO/Dtinews/SGT/VIR