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Receiving consensus from the public, these candidates are officially named in the election list, which is posted at 72 election locations of District 3. The voter list is also completed.

Noticeably, District 3 has launched a special information portal for the voter list at the address of quan3tphcm.gov.vn , along with a QR code so that the general public can check their personal information.

If there is a mistake, they can request information editing, which will be then passed to the corresponding wards for verification. Within 2 business days, the editing request will be fulfilled, less than the regulated time by 2 days.

District 3 also implements IT to publicize the voter list via its official Facebook fanpage and Zalo page, the Zalo groups of each neighborhood.

“Only after 2 days after activation, the portal welcomed around 3,000 visits, 60 of whom asked for information revision”, said Chairman Duc.

Deputy Secretary Nguyen Ho Hai highly appreciated the effort of state officers in District 3 in performing necessary election preparation tasks and applying technology innovatively to ease the burden.

He then asked that the district continue to propagandize necessary election information to the community, especially those living in apartment buildings, so that all can actively join in the upcoming ‘Citizen Festival’ on May 23.

Finally, the Deputy Secretary reminded the localities that District 3 accommodates several central-leveled and city-leveled offices, which means the state leaders here need to pay more attention to public security maintenance on election days.

Chairman of District 1 People’s Committee Nguyen Van Dung also reported the current status of election preparation tasks. Accordingly, the district has finished hanging 213 banners and 21 panels in different locations. It has also distributed 9,600 pamphlets and 7,000 booklets of election regulations to its residents.

District 1 has 73 election locations to accommodate 164,143 voters.

Deputy Secretary Nguyen Ho Hai praised the localities here for their completion of the assigned election-related tasks.

He then noted that the district should propagandize the content of Resolution No.131/2020 by the National Assembly and Decree No.33/2021 by the Government about establishing the urban administration in HCMC. Simultaneously, the community should be updated about legal regulations regarding the election process.

Lastly, he reminded that state officers who serve the election tasks must try their best to aid the public in fulfilling their voting duty and to ensure security at election locations.

By Kieu Phong – Translated by Vien Hong

The Vietnamese economy is forecast to grow seven percent per annum in 2021-22, largely driven by increased export and investment, Fitch Ratings said in a post on its website on Tuesday.

“Strong export growth and a successful campaign to contain the spread of COVID-19 have supported Vietnam’s economy through the pandemic,” the American credit rating agency remarked.

Other parts of Vietnam’s economy have proved robust despite tourism, one of the country’s main sectors, hit the hardest by the coronavirus crisis.

The government posted 2.9 percent in GDP growth last year, placing Vietnam among a handful of nations globally that reported positive economic growth amid the pandemic stress.

“Growth was buoyed by external demand, with goods exports rising by 6.9 percent,” Fitch Ratings stated.

“Domestic activity was also supported by the limited spread of COVID-19 in the country.

“Just 1,465 cases and 35 deaths from the virus were officially recorded in 2020.

“We expect growth to remain strong, at around seven percent annually, in 2021-2022, buoyed by continued export expansion and higher investment.”

The Southeast Asian country’s COVID-19 tally has reached 2,733, with 2,445 patients having recovered from the respiratory disease, as of Wednesday evening, according to the Ministry of Health’s data.

Growth prospects will be reinforced by a pandemic fiscal package for 2020-21 of about VND292 trillion (US$12.7 billion), or roughly 3.6 percent of the 2020 GDP, Fitch Ratings forecast.

Goods exports rose 23.8 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year, supporting real economic growth in the quarter of 4.5 percent year on year.

Vietnam is benefiting from such new trade agreements as the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, as well as the country’s cost competitiveness.

“Rapid increases in public infrastructure investment and FDI should bolster the sustainability of strong medium-term growth,” Fitch Ratings said.

Vietnam’s generally robust economic outlook remains subject to risks, as its vaccination program has moved slowly, beginning only on March 8, the company observed.

The nation has so far received 928,800 coronavirus vaccine doses from direct purchases or the COVAX scheme, co-led by the World Health Organization, according to the health ministry’s figures.

Over 60,000 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Wednesday evening.

“Vaccine hesitancy among the public appears low, which is a positive sign, but Vietnam’s confirmed vaccine orders cover a lower proportion of the population than in some neighboring states, such as Indonesia and Malaysia,” Fitch Ratings said.

“Should the country experience a major COVID-19 outbreak before vaccines are widely rolled out – prompting lockdowns – growth prospects and public finances could be affected.”

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Under the Cambodia lockdown, which is also imposed on a satellite district of the capital, most people are banned from leaving home except for going to work, to buy food, or for medical treatment.

Police manning checkpoints on Thursday in Phnom Penh asked motorists to show work documents and identity cards in order to pass, television footage on local media showed.

In a voice message posted on his official Facebook page, Hun Sen warned Cambodia was on the brink of “death valley” and urged people to work together to avoid calamity.

“The purpose of the lockdown is to combat the spread of Covid-19 and this closure is not a way to make people die or suffer,” he said.

The Southeast Asian country still has one of the world’s smallest coronavirus caseloads, but an outbreak that started in late February saw cases spike almost ten-fold to 4,874 within two months and the first deaths recorded with 36 fatalities.

Hours before the lockdown, Hun Sen’s message was leaked on social media, prompted panic buying of food and other goods in shops by residents in Phnom Penh and the nearby Takhmau area, where a lockdown has also been imposed.

Tran Dac Phu, senior advisor of the Vietnamese Health Ministry’s public health emergency operations center, has warned on Tuesday that the infection risk across the Cambodia-Vietnam border is high.

“The border between Vietnam and Cambodia is really long, not to mention the sea and air routes. It should be noted that controlling travel by sea is truly difficult.”

Many Vietnamese people stay and do business in Cambodia and the number of people traveling back and forth, both legally and illegally, is high, he said.

There have also been concerns among the public in Vietnam about the situation in Thailand, another Southeast Asian neighbor.

Thailand reported 1,543 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the sharpest increase since the start of the pandemic and the fourth record rise this week, amid a third wave of infections in the country.

It reported 1,335 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday.

The spike in cases comes as Thais celebrate the Songkran new year holidays and authorities have urged people to avoid unnecessary travel and reduce gatherings to help limit the outbreak, which includes the highly transmissible B.1.1.7 variant first identified in Britain.