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>>> Vietnam tightens border control against complex development of COVID-19

On April 19, at the request of the Ministry of Health, a mobile team consisting of 13 medical staff from the Ho Chi Minh City-based Cho Ray Hospital set out to support Kien Giang in COVID-19 prevention and control. The team will coordinate with the local authorities and concerned units for emergency construction of two field hospitals in the cities of Ha Tien and Rach Gia, as well as an ICU with sufficient equipment to support treatment for critically ill patients stationed at Ha Tien General Hospital, which is defined as the local frontline unit in receiving, caring for and treating COVID-19 patients.

In addition, in order to take initiative in planning, improving treatment capacity and efficiency, and being ready to respond to any epidemic situations in Kien Giang, the ministry has assigned Cho Ray Hospital to coordinate with the locality to build options for establishing treatment venues that can accommodate severe to very critical cases, as well as providing training and guidance to help the local health sector master difficult techniques in emergency resuscitation.

On April 19, a number of localities continued to inject, train and receive batches of vaccines against COVID-19. Phu Yen Province started vaccination in nine districts, towns and cities, with the first round taking place from April 19 to 26, in which 3,000 doses are to be given first to forces directly involved in the prevention and control of COVID-19. In addition to the 5,600 doses allocated by the Ministry of Health previously, Phu Yen has also been allocated an additional 950 doses for the police and border guards on duty in isolation camps and medical checkpoints.

Vaccination against COVID-19 in the first phase at Phu Yen General Hospital. (Photo: NDO/Trinh Ke)

Ho Chi Minh City has organised the 1st COVID-19 vaccination drive for 8,872 people directly involved in the prevention and control of COVID-19, including employees from 71 medical facilities and staff from concentrated camps in the city. On April 19, the city started the second injection campaign with the first injection held at District 1 Hospital. With 56,250 doses provided by the Ministry of Health for the second stage, the city will organise vaccination for health care workers who received the first shot in the first round, people working in medical facilities who have not been vaccinated and staff working at Tan Son Nhat International Airport who have contact with passengers and incoming goods. They are at high risk of COVID-19 infection and works in key facilities and units that need the highest security against COVID-19 to prevent it from entering and spreading into the community.

On the same day, the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long received 5,600 doses of COVID-19 vaccines provided by the Vietnam Vaccine Joint Stock Company according to the allocation plan from the Ministry of Health for vaccination in phase 2, which is scheduled to commence from today, April 20.

On October 29, CARE, Mastercard, VPBank, WISE and Canal Circle announced the Ignite Initiative in Vietnam – a new partnership focused on promoting the empowerment of female entrepreneurs, aimed at accelerating the growth of economy-developing businesses while advancing financial security and also promoting inclusive growth through actions prioritising enabling female entrepreneurs to thrive.

The Ignite Initiative is part of a broader three-year partnership between CARE and Mastercard, that aims to equip 3.9 million micro and small businesses in Vietnam, Peru and Pakistan with increased financial access and digital know-how.

Earlier this year, the partners collaborated to provide both funds and expertise to help 1,000 women-led micro, small and medium enterprises in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to help drive a robust recovery from the pandemic, followed by sustained long-term inclusive growth.

In Vietnam, 27% of all businesses in Vietnam are owned by women, according to the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs 2019. The country also scores well on a number of indicators such as equality in entrepreneurial activity, and access to financial assets and knowledge.

Dao Tu Hien, WISE’s CEO said that the proportion of enterprises owned by women in Vietnam has been increasing in recent years, and this both clearly demonstrates the emerging role of women in leadership and business management, and their capacity to be equally as influential as male business leaders in the country.

Despite the relatively high levels of ownership, women face several challenges relating to social and gender norms around their ability to successfully own businesses. COVID-19 has made women entrepreneurs even more financially vulnerable although the crisis has also helped a number of small and agile businesses adapt their business models and stay afloat, taking advantage of changing customer behaviours.

Nguyen Thu Ha, CEO and Founder of fintech group Canal Circle stressed the necessity of technology application and digitisation to facilitate access to business opportunities for female entrepreneurs. Canal Circle would partner with Micro-finance Institutions (MFIs) and People’s Credit Funds to help rural businesswomen access affordable financial resources, thus ensuring better opportunities for growth or recovery from disrupted business as a result of the pandemic, she added.

With long experience working in the support of women around the globe, Le Kim Dung, Country Director, CARE International in Vietnam, said that female entrepreneurship is a critical avenue by which women’s economic empowerment can be supported. The initiative is expected to fuel the growth engine of female -owned businesses with the tools and financial resources that better suit their needs, thus helping build resilience and a more inclusive and equitable economic recovery, Dung added.

>>> Vietnam takes steps to facilitate recovery of manufacturing sector

For the first time since 2015, the business registration system recorded a decrease in the number of newly established enterprises in nine months this year, instead of maintaining an average annual growth rate in two-digit level. In addition, the number of enterprises withdrawing from the market also increased to a record high.

Accordingly, in the past nine months, the country has less than 90,000 enterprises established, down 3.2% over the same period last year, while the number of enterprises to withdraw from the market in the form of business suspension, pending for dissolution and completing dissolution procedures increased dramatically to more than 78,300 enterprises. On average, the whole country had over 8,700 enterprises withdrawing from the market each month, increasing by 27.2% over the same period last year, with most of them having been in operation for under five years.

Notably, the number of enterprises registered to suspend operation increased by a record 81.8% and took place in all business sectors. The negative impacts from the COVID-19 epidemic have forced enterprises to contract, leading to the decrease in new job creation (about 31.8 million labourers affected), unemployment increase and reduced laborers’ income.

The above “talking numbers” about business registration and employment showed that young and small-scale enterprises are facing critical difficulties in withstanding the impact from the pandemic. In fact, indicators regarding enterprise registration have been continuously decreasing since February, when the first case of COVID-19 infection was recorded in the community. However, the “health” of enterprises showed signs of recovery in June thanks to the resumption of normal socio-economic activities and the Government’s drastic implementation of support policies provided to the people and businesses to ensure social security.

Although the second COVID-19 wave had laid further negative impact on the recovery momentum, the indexes of enterprise development in the third quarter were kept stable and tended to increase in the following period.

The positive signal is that, even in such a difficult time, investors are still constantly looking for opportunities, reflected in the strong increase in additional capital and committed investment to put into business operation as well as the increased average capital size of a newly established enterprise.

In a recent survey by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, enterprises operating in the processing and manufacturing sector – the main growth engine of the economy – still believe that their business prospects will be stable and continue to improve in the last quarter of the year.

To speed up the economic recovery process and strive to achieve an economic growth rate from 2.5-3% in 2020 as expected, economists have suggested the government to immediately provide more solutions to support businesses – the largest contributors to GDP growth.

Currently, the concerned ministries and agencies are reviewing, evaluating and reporting to the government on the results of implementing stimulate packages to support people and businesses that were issued right after the COVID-19 outbreaks in Vietnam. Based on the upcoming practical situation, Vietnamese authorities will make specific recommendations for new support policies.

Experts have recommended that the government should continue to offer a large and effective support package to remove difficulties for production and business operation, aimed at recovering the economy in 2020 and creating growth momentum for 2021.

The support should focus on solutions to help businesses maintain and develop their operation, as well as keeping jobs for their employees, along with the need to promote process and procedure reform to facilitate businesses in accessing support policies in a simple, convenient and timely manner.

At the same time, the government should support the business community in finding import markets for raw materials, fuels and spare parts.

In addition, flexible and prudent management of monetary policy, interest rates and exchange rates is required and should be in line with domestic and international market developments. Such policies should be harmoniously coordinated with fiscal policy and other macro policies to control inflation, support production and business operation and promote economic growth.

Health minister Nguyễn Thanh Long (centre) at the meeting with Cambodian counterpart Mam Bunheng. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam stands ready to support Cambodia in its fight against COVID-19 as the latter is experiencing a serious wave of infections.

Vietnamese health minister Nguyễn Thanh Long made the statement on Thursday morning during a virtual meeting with Cambodian counterpart Mam Bunheng.

Minister Long keeps in high regard Cambodia’s efforts to contain the outbreaks, and said one of the lessons of Việt Nam in the fight against the pandemic is to involve the entire political system and the public.

“All health centres tasked with the treatment of COVID-19 patients are connected via telehealth system so that [the medical staff] could discuss and diagnose the challenging cases,” Long said, adding that in the third wave of infections lasting from late January to March – recording the biggest number of cases since the pandemic began at nearly 900 – Việt Nam has not recorded any deaths from COVID-19.

Long said Cambodian health centres could make contact with Việt Nam if they require support and Việt Nam would be willing to deploy its doctors and experts to assist the treatment of patients.

He also stressed the critical need for medical supplies and protective gear for the frontline workers given the intensifying outbreaks in Cambodia, and said the Government of Việt Nam has decided to send to Cambodia 800 ventilators, two million medical masks, 300,000 N95 masks and other medical supplies.

“We will send these supplies to Cambodia as soon as possible. Vietnamese airlines would transport the products from Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport to Phnom Penh International Airport,” Long said, adding that this is the biggest donation Việt Nam has made to a country in support of their pandemic prevention and control efforts.

The health minister hoped his Cambodian counterpart would direct prevention and control efforts especially at the border areas with Việt Nam, given that Việt Nam has recorded many cases of illegal entrants from the neighbouring country which might risk sparking another outbreak here.

Minister Long hopes Cambodia would quickly prevail against the pandemic, protecting the health and lives of Cambodian people, including Vietnamese people residing and working in Cambodia.

He also thanked Cambodia for having provided necessary medical care for Vietnamese COVID-19 patients contracted in the country.

Speaking at the meeting, the Cambodian health minister Mam Bunheng expressed his thanks to Việt Nam for its support for Cambodia’s pandemic prevention and said there would be official exchanges on receiving support of Việt Nam through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Since the so-called February 20 Community Event earlier this year, Cambodia has recorded over 7,648 domestic cases, taking the tally to nearly 8,200, while throughout 2020, the country registered only 400 cases.

The same day, the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation expressed its appreciation of the Vietnamese Government providing US$300,000 in humanitarian aid for its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The provision of the aid demonstrates the continuous development of the two countries’ traditional friendship, solidarity, and neighbourliness, the ministry said in a press release.

Vietnamese leaders believe that under the wise leadership of Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, Cambodia will soon overcome this difficult time posed by the pandemic and emerge stronger.

The Cambodian Government and people sincerely thanked the Vietnamese Government and people for their continuous assistance in the effort to fight the pandemic in Cambodia. — VNS

The award ceremony was held in Hanoi on October 2. The award is run by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in coordination with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI). The organisers give annual rankings and then present the award every three years.

The award was held for the first time in 2016, honouring 15 outstanding enterprises and 12 typical ones who were awarded with the Prime Minister’s Certificate of Merit for taking good care of their employees. The second award ceremony honoured 50 enterprises ranked in 2019, of which 30 were awarded certificates of merit from the organisers and eight leading enterprises were granted the award along with the Prime Minister’s Certificate of Merit.

Speaking at the ceremony, Politburo member and Head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission Nguyen Van Binh affirmed that the award is a great source of encouragement for businesses and businessmen across the country to work hard together and share both the difficulties and achievements with their employees – their most valuable asset.

Although it was only initiated in 2014, the VGCL has quickly expanded the programme into a nationwide emulation movement that has motivated and encouraged enterprises to care for their workers’ lives, while constantly improving the working environment and building harmonious and beneficial relationships between enterprises and employees as well as in connection with the interests of the society towards sustainable development in the process of international integration and the country’s development, Binh stated.

Chairman of the VGCL Nguyen Dinh Khang said that the award has created a profound social effect, encouraging enterprises to improve working conditions and employees’ welfare, and build harmonious, stable and progressive labour relations.

This activity not only creates an emulation movement to care for employees among enterprises, but also is one of the activities responding to the emulation movement “Vietnamese enterprises in active integration and development” launched by the Prime Minister in October 2016, Khang affirmed.