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Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Duong Anh Duc has signed a programme on artificial intelligence (AI) research and development in the city for the 2020-2030 period.

The Hanoitimes – Medical declaration will be used merely for the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Vietnam will require all residents to make compulsory medical declaration from March 10 in an effort to curb the outbreak of the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam at the meeting on March 8. Photo: VGP

The declaration will contribute to the national combat against the Covid-19 epidemic, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, said at a meeting on Sunday morning.

Health information will be used merely for the prevention and control of the epidemic, according to the committee.

The Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Health, Vietnam Social Security, and IT agencies will assume responsibility for the implementation.

So far, Vietnam has required compulsory medical declaration for all people coming to the country. But the move is not enough when the country has already entered the second phase of the battle against the epidemic, the deputy PM said, noting that this phase is much more severe.

Compulsory health declaration is required after a Vietnamese woman ignored the request when she returned to the country from a European trip that included a visit to Lombardy, an epicenter in Italy.

After she tested positive with the new coronavirus on March 6, Vietnam found 13 more cases within two days, including 10 on the same Vietnam Airlines flight as her.

Vietnam has identified crew members and passengers of the flight and applied quarantine and medical check.

Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam predicted that the number of infection cases will continue rising in the days ahead.

The northern province of Quang Ninh has become the first locality to require the health declaration. Since March 8, around 300,000 residents in Ha Long city have filled out medical inquiries after four foreign visitors got infected with the virus. The visitors were on board the same plane from London to Hanoi as the woman who was the first infected case of Hanoi.

Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s National Economic and Social Development Council ( NESDC ) has approved a framework for the country’s 13th national economic and social development plan , spanning from 2022 to 2026, with the focus placed on high value-added economic development.

The next national economic and social development plan should aim to provide Thailand a high value-added economy , according to the state planning unit.

This is an appropriate time for Thailand to restructure the manufacturing sector to focus more on high value-added activities, said Danucha Pichayanan, Secretary-General of the NESDC.

A high value-added economy focuses on those activities that generate a large margin between the final price of a product or service and the cost of the inputs used to produce it, thus creating higher profits for businesses and higher wages for workers.

He said under the 13th national plan, Thailand’s development will focus mainly on four areas over the next five years.

The first area is to restructure the industrial sector towards higher technology.

Danucha said companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand are still engaged in conventional industries, in contrast to those listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which contains high-technology companies.

Thailand needs to transform the manufacturing sector to higher value-added industry and high technology such as the bio-, circular, green economy, which can increase the value of farm products; electric vehicles, which can create supporting industries including smart electrical parts and a smart grid; and an emphasis on the medical industry, tourism, logistics and digital services, he said.

Danucha said Thailand should no longer focus on a high volume of foreign visitors, instead attempting to attract high-quality foreign visitors with relatively high spending.

The second area of the new plan is to build opportunity for Thais to have more security in their life, both in terms of income and well-being, in order to narrow income disparity, he noted.

Thirdly, the government needs to ramp up its support for community-based businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises, smart city development and a better environment, added Danucha.

The fourth area is high-quality workforce development, improvement of government management to facilitate investors, and public services, he said./.

VNA

Riding the wave of 5G

As planned, those network providers will pilot 5G services in 2019 and commercially offer the services to subscribers in 2020. Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said, “Based on the results of the test run, the ministry will announce the frequency planning for 5G networks and licenses will be granted to the services soon. When offering both 4G and 5G services, providers must improve the quality of mobile broadband so that Vietnam can be named among 30 – 50 top countries in the world in this field. The information and communications infrastructure will also serve the development of the digital economy.”

The minister revealed further information at the conference reviewing the task accomplishment of the ministry in the first six months of the year, saying that when Vietnam shifts to the digital platform, information and network security is paid special attention to. Regarding information and network security, 5G devices are part of the telecommunications infrastructure. At present, three corporations, namely Viettel, FPT, and Vingroup are researching and developing the 5G technology. FPT is responsible mostly for producing microprocessors while the other two are tasked with network infrastructure.

Minister Nguyen Manh Hung hoped that Viettel and Vingroup will produce commercial 5G devices, stressing that if it comes true, it will really be a vigorous development step for Vietnam’s ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) sector, as few countries in the world can produce 5G devices.

Most recently, in May this year, Viettel and Ericsson (Sweden) made the first official 5G call connection in Vietnam, marking a milestone in the history of the telecommunications sector that enables Vietnam to join other leading countries in the world in testing and offering 5G services. Viettel is expanding its 5G mobile networks in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City while the other two corporations are urgently setting up their pilot 5G networks. VNPT will pilot its network in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and MobiFone intends to carry out the test run in Hanoi, Hai Phong and Da Nang cities. As for Vingroup, it will inaugurate a smartphone factory using 5G technologies in the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park in the coming time.

Service providers ready for the game

Regarding the manufacturing of 5G devices, according to Deputy General Director of Viettel Hi-tech Industrial Corporation Nguyen Minh Quang, Viettel has established the Group’s Steering Committee to run the 5G project, with the involvement of 300 experienced engineers. As for the infrastructure research and development, it has a fully-equipped 4G Lab. Currently, Viettel is cooperating with a number of U.S., RoK and Indian companies to work on the manufacturing of 5G devices, and investing VND 200 billion in building a 5G Lab. The goal is to master core 5G technologies, which can be reused on many different products. It is expected that by June 2020, Microcell 5G services will have been piloted on the network. All 5G hardware and software products will be researched, developed and produced by Viettel in Vietnam. The group focuses on building a high-tech research and development team to apply the new technology to military and civilian products.

Meanwhile, VNPT is completing the last steps to pilot its 5G services. To deploy the services, the corporation has prepared strong R&D personnel, strengthened cooperation with many major technological partners in the world to learn from their experience, and got itself ready for producing 5G devices, gradually mastering the technologies like the way it did with 2G, 3G and 4G networks.

As for MobiFone, it is now providing free 5G trial services for its subscribers, meeting their need for information and entertainment. The service provider affirmed that together with partners, it is pushing a plan for its test run of the 5G network.

According to IT experts, 5G services will have big impacts on all aspects of life and help develop a digital economy, expanding the operation environment for different sectors based on the broadband infrastructure. The 5G network will also facilitate the sales of smart mobile devices and services.

Translated by Huu Duong

The draft law on measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other deadly and serious infectious diseases, which consists of six chapters and 18 articles, was approved on February 28 during a Cabinet Meeting chaired by Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Earlier, the country’s Health Ministry created a task force, headed by Army Commander Lieutenant General Hun Manet, to manage security and public order at quarantine centres.

Meanwhile, Laos’ National Taskforce Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control is requiring all foreign citizens entering Laos to purchase COVID-19 insurance, in addition to other travel documents and requests for permission to enter the country.

Non-Lao citizens wishing to enter Laos must contact their embassy concerning COVID-19 insurance, which will cover the cost of any medication prescribed in the event that the policyholder contracts the virus, as well as wearing a health tracking device.

The special insurance is now required because ordinary health and travel insurance policies do not provide cover against pandemics, including any incidents relating to COVID-19.

Given the cost of hospital treatment and the possible need for repatriation, especially when considering quarantine requirements, the government is concerned that it could be responsible for unpaid hospital bills if foreigners contract the virus and are unable to pay for treatment.

Source: VNA