Self deportation

A year on since the Covid-19 pandemic first began Vietnamese are taking more control of their health and finance, driving greater interest in fitness and well-being along with insurance and retirement planning. — Photo courtesy of Manulife

HCM CITY — A year on since the Covid-19 pandemic first began Vietnamese are taking more control of their health and finance, driving greater interest in fitness and well-being along with insurance and retirement planning, as Asia looks to the longer-term impact of the disease, according to new research from Manulife.

The latest version of the ‘Manulife Asia Care Survey’ takes a closer look into customers’ concerns, priorities and aspirations, polling 4,000 people across the region who either own insurance or intend to buy it in the next six months, including around 520 in Việt Nam.

Nearly all (95 per cent) of those who worry most about Covid have made an effort on a personal level to improve their overall health, mostly through more regular exercise (58 per cent) and improved diet (54 per cent).

In Việt Nam, all the respondents said they had taken action to help them manage Covid, with 72 per cent saying this included doing more regular exercise. More people in Hà Nội (85 per cent) do more regular exercise than in HCM City (73 per cent).

Almost everyone is self-monitoring health, and Vietnamese pay the most attention to the number of steps walked (44 per cent) among the four emerging markets covered in the survey, against a regional average of 38 per cent.

Three out of five (60 per cent) of Vietnamese also own fitness wearables, well above the regional average of 46 per cent.

A large majority of Vietnamese (79 per cent) also said retirement planning has become more important since Covid-19 started, below the Philippines (90 per cent), Indonesia (88 per cent) and Malaysia (83 per cent) but higher than all the developed markets.

The regional average is 73 per cent.

This high level of interest in retirement ties in with their concerns about personal wealth.

In Việt Nam, more than half (52 per cent) thought their personal wealth would decline as a result of Covid-19. The rate was only higher in Hong Kong (58 per cent) and Singapore (55 per cent).

Aligned with taking better control of health and finance is an interest to buy new insurance.

In Việt Nam, a remarkable nine out of ten (91 per cent) said they intend to buy new insurance in the next six months, higher than anywhere else in the region. The regional average is 71 per cent.

The Vietnamese respondents were most interested in life, hospitalisation, accident and critical illness cover.

Three quarters (75 per cent) of Vietnamese respondents, again more than anywhere else in the region, said they prefer to manage their policies through digital means such as mobile apps, including for claims and payment.

The survey found that 71 per cent of them had spoken to an agent about purchasing insurance, well above the regional average of 64 per cent, with only Hong Kong (77 per cent) and mainland China (76 per cent) scoring higher.

“Vietnamese insurance customers are seeking more digital touchpoints that are safe, simple and convenient,” Sang Lee, CEO of Manulife Vietnam, said.

“While those digital habits are here for the long term, a good many still like to speak to their agents. This underscores the importance of our omnichannel approach, one that fully integrates digital, while maximising our human qualities of empathy, trust and a holistic understanding of our customers’ needs.” — VNS

Located nine kilometres from the centre of Buon Ma Thuot city, Kontam tourist site is an attractive destination for tourists, particularly at weekends and public holidays.

Covering a total area of 17 hectares and hosting magnificent hills, mountains, waterfalls, springs, valleys, and accommodation facilities imbued with the typical culture and architecture of the E De ethnic group, Kotam welcomes more than 400,000 tourists every year.

According to Deputy Director of Dak Lak provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Dang Gia Duan, the launch of the Kontam tourist site has contributed to preserving and promoting the distinct culture of the Central Highlanders while reducing poverty and generating income for local ethnic minority people.

The successful tourism model was made possible thanks to a joint effors of a group of five female entrepreneurs five years ago. They are Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh, Nguyen Thi Hue, Nguyen Thi Phuc Minh, Vu Thi Xoan and Doan Uyen Thao, directors of five companies operating in trading, processing and exporting agricultural products, honey and mechanical equipment.

The quintet are also enthusiastic members of the Dak Lak Female Entrepreneurs club, headed by Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh, which has actively participated in charity activities in the locality.

They came up with the idea of building a model which can help locals reduce poverty in a sustainable way. The Kotam ecological site was born, surrounded by the E De ethnic people’s villages, including Pak, Kotam, Krong A, and Krong B.

As the owner of Quang Anh Trade Ltd. Co, one of the top companies with the highest revenues in Dak Lak, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh was appointed the Director of the Kontam Community-based Tourism Joint Stock Company.

Not long after its launch, the Kontam company had attracted 35 members from the Dak Lak Female Entrepreneursclub , who poured a large investment into the construction of the tourist site.

Traditional long stilt houses of the E De ethnic people at the Kontam tourist site (Photo: Vietnam Pictorial)

According to Ngoc Anh, from the beginning, the project team has kept in mind that the ultimate goal of the project is to protect the environment and pristine beauty of the natural landscape while honouring the cultural identity of the Central Highlanders.

Therefore, the traditional long stilt houses of the E De ethnic people were constructed at the site and all staff members at the site wear an E De ethnic brocade uniform.

Thanks to its amazing scenery and landscapes, Kotam quickly became an alluring tourist complex for visitors from across the country.

Nguyen Thi Hue, a member of the Board of Directors of Kotam Community-based Tourism Joint Stock Company, said that the tourist site has the huge advantage of food self-sufficiency, providing tourists with a fresh and clean source of vegetables, meat, and fruit.

Visitors to the site can taste the delicious indigenous dishes of the Central Highlanders, including papaya flowers cooked with fish, grilled snakehead fish, pork grilled in bamboo tubes, and chicken salad with banana flowers.

When the COVID-19 pandemic saw complicated developments in the province, Kotam staff members donated quintals of vegetables to those working at the front lines against the pandemic.

In an effort to welcome back vacationers in the post-COVID-19 period, the tourist site has coordinated with training facilities on tourism services, hotels and restaurants to improve the skills of staff members.

Promotional activities have also been launched to further advertise the site to travel agencies and tourist companies.

Built with both enthusiasm and love for the homeland of the five female entrepreneurs, the Kotam tourist site has contributed to upholding traditional culture as well as boosting socio-economic development in Dak Lak province.

* Global airline industry body IATA said it would launch a COVID-19 travel pass at the end of March, bringing into use a digital system for test results and vaccine certificates which will help facilitiate international travel.

* India announced an expansion of its vaccination programme but warned that breaches of coronavirus protocols could worsen an infection surge in many states.

* Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide said Japan would start vaccinating the elderly from April 12.

* Malaysia launched its COVID-19 inoculation programme, with a target of vaccinating at least 80% of its 32 million people by February next year.

* Thai authorities are preparing a plan to ease restrictions for travellers vaccinated against the coronavirus, senior officials said on Wednesday, as the country looks to revive a tourism industry battered by travel curbs.

* Germany still expects to receive a planned 16 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine in the second quarter, despite a report that there would be delivery shortfalls.

* Poland was set to announce tougher restrictions, especially in regions hit particularly hard by the variant of COVID-19 first detected in Britain.

* Greece will not be able to lift lockdown restrictions in the wider Athens area on March 1 as previously planned, following a sharp increase in infections.

* Hungary cannot yet ease its partial lockdown as a third wave of infections has boosted new cases and only a small section of the population has received a vaccine so far, the prime minister said.

* Denmark plans to allow shops and some schools to reopen in March in a much awaited move that could however send hospital coronavirus admissions soaring in coming months.

* COVID-19 vaccine makers told the US Congress that supplies should surge in the coming weeks.

* The presidents of Mexico and Argentina pressed the United Nations and the world’s richest countries to improve poorer nations’ access to vaccines.

* Colombia approved the emergency use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine.

* Hospitals should prepare for a possible second wave of coronavirus and take steps to prevent its spread, health authorities in the government-controlled part of Yemen said.

* The United Arab Emirates is opening field hospitals to increase the health sector’s capacity.

* The European Commission on Wednesday said it would create an arsenal of data tools to anticipate and adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change.

* A unit of Sinopharm and CanSinoBIO has applied for public use of its COVID-19 vaccines in China, which if granted would mean China has four locally developed approved vaccines.

* European shares opened generally higher but world shares remained in the red after a weak Asian session, even after Fed Chair Jerome Powell pushed back against inflation fears.

* Strong exports and solid construction activity helped the German economy to grow by a better-than-expected 0.3% in the final quarter of last year, but stricter lockdown measures at home and abroad are clouding the outlook.

* Spain announced an additional EUR11 billion (US$13.4 billion) package for small and mid-sized companies and the self-employed.

* The Norwegian government will reassess the national measures introduced to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the second half of March, Health Minister Bent Hoeie said on Wednesday.

* It is not yet possible to loosen restrictions on businesses and movement aimed at curbing COVID-19 infections in Italy because of the threat of a surge in cases, Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Wednesday.

* Egypt has approved Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, becoming the 34th country outside of Russia and third in North Africa to do so, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in a statement on Wednesday.

* Ukraine started its COVID-19 vaccination campaign on Wednesday, with doctors the first to be inoculated.

* Israel is giving small amounts of surplus vaccines to Palestinian-run territories as well as to several countries.

* The World Bank threatened to suspend its multi-million- dollar financing for Lebanon’s vaccinations over politicians jumping the line.