Vietnam plus airline

Vietnam’s biggest airport jammed by crowds, leaving many queuing for hours

April 16, 2021 by e.vnexpress.net

On Friday, a Vietnam Airlines flight was scheduled to depart from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi at 10 a.m. But at 9:40 a.m. Nguyen Thanh, her husband and three-year-old daughter had yet to pass the security checkpoint, prompting airline staff to “rescue” the family ahead of departure.

Arriving at the airport at 8 a.m., they completed check-in and medical declaration procedures, then queued up for an hour waiting to pass the security checkpoint.

Another Vietnam Airlines flight was scheduled to leave HCMC for Cam Ranh at 10:10 a.m., about 30 minutes before departure, many passengers were still at the security checkpoint.

“My family was about to go on a weekend trip – I was surprised the airport was so crowded. I’ve only witnessed such scenes during the Tet holiday,” a passenger named Nguyen Sy commented.

A representative of Tan Son Nhat airport, Vietnam’s largest, said overcrowding got worse closer to the weekends.

On Wednesday, 64,000 passengers passed through the airport, but the number rose to 77.000 a day later.

In 2019, the airport received 40 million passengers, up 4.5 percent from the previous year but the figure was down 47 percent last year to 22 million due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tan Son Nhat airport has served 36 million passengers a year since 2017, well above its capacity. Construction of a third terminal will begin in October this year.

With Vietnam having contained its Covid-19 outbreaks, domestic air travel has returned to normal.

The latest Covid-19 outbreak in late January came just a few weeks before Lunar New Year, the country’s biggest holiday, forcing many people to cancel travel plans.

Citi Vietnam wins Digital Bank of the Year award

April 14, 2021 by www.vir.com.vn

Citi Vietnam’s mobile-first strategy empowers customers to do the majority of their banking needs remotely

Citi was also named Digital Bank of the Year in the Asia-Pacific as well as Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand, Bahrain, and the UAE in The Asset’s Triple A Digital Awards 2021.

Separately, in the magazine’s Triple A Sustainable Capital Markets Regional Awards, Citi was named Best Bank in the Asia-Pacific.

“These awards represent exceptional recognition of our team’s focus on delivering solutions across the Asia-Pacific through a time of challenge. We thank our clients for the trust they place in us every day, and we are excited about continuing to support and grow with them,” said Peter Babej, CEO, Citi Asia-Pacific.

The Digital Awards 2021 logo

In Vietnam, Citi’s mobile-first strategy empowers the customers to do the majority of their banking needs remotely. In Vietnam, the customers all but one have opted for e-Statements, and more than 60 per cent of them are active using Citi Mobile App and Citibank Online.

Despite the ongoing pandemic, Citi’s award-winning online banking platform for corporate and institutional clients – Citi Direct BE – has enabled clients to continue with their core banking activities.

In consumer banking, during the COVID-19 period, Citi partnered with the biggest e-commerce sites in Vietnam to bring more discounts for customers. Citi cardholders could also use their points to pay directly for several transactions. Citi is proud to be the only bank in Vietnam that offered such digital features to cardholders. In April 2021, it is also the first bank in the market to launch some prominent features on mobile application including Citi Pay with Points, Cash Rebate, Booking Installment Plans.

“Our global mission is to ‘Be the Best’ for our clients and this is the cornerstone of our digital product development roadmap for both corporate and individual clients,” said Thuy Lai, Citi Vietnam interim country officer.

By Dinh Thuy

Con Dao affirms Vietnam’s sea and islands beauty

April 16, 2021 by en.nhandan.org.vn

Travel+Leisure writes: “With distinct golden sand, soft swells, and shady groves of bamboo and evergreen trees, it’s the kind of place to spend the day gently swinging in a hammock with a beach read, or walking in the surf with a freshly hacked coconut”.

The site added that, due to its location close to the airport, “commercial flights fly thrillingly close,” giving swimmers a chance to watch planes take off and land.

Located around 230 kilometers (143 miles) southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, Con Dao is an emerging tourist destination in Vietnam.

Eariler, the New York Times included southern Vietnam’s 16-island archipelago, Con Dao, in its list of “52 places to love in 2021”.

In 2017, CNN praised it as one 12 paradise islands in Asia, while the US magazine Time included Con Dao in its list of 13 places around the world that amaze travelers with their clear blue water.

Hanoi Oncology Hospital and Roche Vietnam work together in improving cancer treatment

April 16, 2021 by vietnamnews.vn

Representatives of the Hà Nội Oncology Hospital and Roche Vietnam sign a Memorandum of Understanding on improving patient cancer care and treatment in Việt Nam on April 15. — Photo Roche Vietnam

HÀ NỘI — The Hà Nội Oncology Hospital and Roche Vietnam will work together in improving patient cancer care and treatment in Việt Nam as part of a Memorandum of Understanding signed on April 15 in Hà Nội.

The 3-year partnership aims to improve cancer patient care and treatment capability, connecting the knowledge exchange and international cooperation in oncology as well as raising patients and community’s awareness of cancer.

The cooperation is expected to bring positive impacts and put patients as a priority by providing immediate initiatives to meet the rising demand for cancer care. It will focus activities on enhancing healthcare professionals’ ability and experience in cancer care and treatment for patients; fostering local and international cooperation in the field of oncology. It will also establish and carry out activities targeting cancer patients and the community and implement the project on improving high-risk breast cancer patients’ access to innovative therapies in the 2020–25 period that was signed between the Ministry of Health and Vietnam Medical Association in 2020.

“The partnership between Hà Nội Oncology Hospital and Roche Vietnam over the last years has brought positive impacts to patients. The new cooperation will help strengthen the relationship between the two organisations with the strong focus on cancer patients and the community in the most tangible way,” said the Hà Nội Oncology Hospital director Bùi Vinh Quang.

“Roche Vietnam proudly continues the partnership with Hà Nội Oncology Hospital as a part of our long-term commitment, setting patients at the core to improve the comprehensive competencies of cancer treatment in Việt Nam. By leveraging Roche’s global strengths and innovative solutions, accompanied with the dedicated team of Hà Nội Oncology Hospital, we wish to contribute positive impacts to progress in healthcare as well as bring outcomes throughout the patient-journey from diagnostics to treatment. This effort is not only to improve the living quality of people with cancer but also reduce the mortality and burdens it caused as well,” said Girish Mulye, General Director of Roche Pharma Vietnam.

According to the GLOBOCAN 2020, there are more than 350,000 cancer patients in Việt Nam, over 182,000 new cases and 122,000 deaths of cancer yearly. A large-scale study by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in June 2020 also showed that the mortality rate of cancer cases in Việt Nam was beyond 70 per cent, ranking in the highest group among Asian countries. Most cancer patients are diagnosed and treated at a late-stage, leading them to the verge of death. This has caused many challenges in treatment as well as burdens on the patients, the healthcare system and society, showing an urge to accelerate the improvement of diagnosis and cancer treatment quality. — VNS

RoK assists Vietnam in social housing development

April 16, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn

A social housing project in Vietnam (Illustrative photo: HUD)

Hanoi (VNA) – Workshops sharing experience in social housing development of the Republic of Korea (RoK) and policy improvements in Vietnam will be held in major cities of HCM City, Da Nang and Hanoi in the coming time, according to the Ministry of Construction (MoC).

The events are part of a project on the building of a master policy on Vietnam’s social housing development for the 2021-30 period, which is carried out using non-refundable official development assistance (ODA) from the RoK government via the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), said Deputy Director General of the MoC’s Housing and Real Estate Market Management Bureau (HREM) Ha Quang Hung.

The project strives to devise and complete legal documents on the field, particularly in Vietnam’s current policies, survey the need of those who are eligible for social housing, provide training for staff in charge of building social housing policies for 2021-30, and revise the housing law 2014.

KOICA experts will replicate ideas from different pilot programmes and apply successful ideas in Vietnam’s specific conditions. Analysis, evaluation and recommendations will be provided for the MoC to fine tune mechanisms and policies in a bid to integrate advanced social housing development approaches in the world into Vietnam’s social housing programmes.

Statistics of the HREM showed that 249 social housing projects for low-income earners in urban areas and workers at industrial parks have been finished so far, with more than 104,200 apartments spanning about 5.4 million sq.m.

Meanwhile, 264 projects housing some 219,000 apartments are underway. However, the result is still far behind the target set by the national housing development strategy of 12.5 million sq.m of social housing by 2020./.

VNA

Korean firms look to invest in auto parts industry in Vietnam

April 16, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn

Participants at the seminar (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Many businesses from the Republic of Korea (RoK) are looking to connect and get more information about the Vietnamese market as well as investment policies of the country, especially in auto parts, mechanics, and electronics, said Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Speaking at seminar jointly held by Vietrade, the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Vietnam National Trade Fair and Advertising Company (Vinexad) in Hanoi on April 15 in the framework of the 30th International Trade Fair (Vietnam Expo 2021), Phu said this was a good opportunity for Vietnamese industrial parks and businesses to connect with Korean firms to attract investment and expand cooperation in developing value chains in manufacturing.

Auto parts manufacturing is one of the top areas attracting interest from businesses in Vietnam at present, Phu said.

Participant focused their discussions on policies for developing the automobile manufacturing and assembling industry in Vietnam, as well as how to form a sustainable manufacturing link chain in the auto parts sector.

Pham Tuan Anh, Deputy Director of the MoIT’s Industry Agency, said that a number of domestic firms have actively participated in the global automobile manufacturing chain.

Accordingly, the country’s total designed assembling capacity is about 755,000 vehicles per year, of which foreign-invested firms account for about 35 percent. Domestic manufacturing and assembling of many large firms have meet about 70 percent of the domestic automobile demand with the total output of passenger cars hitting 200,000 units per year.

However, Anh noted that the automobile manufacturing industry has not yet formed a system of large-scale suppliers of materials and components, which makes car prices in Vietnam still remain high compared to other countries in the region.

In order to further promote the domestic automobile manufacturing and assembling industry and help the auto parts manufacturing industry participate deeply in the global value chain, experts said attention should be paid to developing healthily the automobile market by creating a market large enough for domestic automobile manufacturers, and encouraging the use of locally-manufactured cars.

Vietnamese automobile manufactures should be supported more to improve their manufacturing ability and competitiveness, they added./.

VNA