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Vietnam post independence

VIETNAM NEWS HEADLINES FEB. 22 (Updated hourly)

February 22, 2021 by vietnamnet.vn

A healthcare worker infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Vietnam

An orderly working for Transport Hospital in Hai Phong city, northern Vietnam, has been confirmed as a COVID-19 patient in Vietnam.

The female worker, 26, has been diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 virus after a COVID-19 screening campaign for all healthcare workers at Hai Phong Transport Hospital.

She has tested positive for the virus twice, said the Hai Phong Preventive Medicine Centre on February 22, adding the remaining 88 workers have tested negative.

The patient was said to have stayed in Hai Phong for the past 14 days. She showed no flu-symptoms.

She was transferred to Vietnam-Czech Republic Hospital for medical surveillance and treatment.

Relevant agencies scrambled to cordon off Transport Hospital and Lo village in Thuy Nguyen district, her hometown, for chemical disinfection and epidemiological investigations.

They also tracked down people who had come into contact with the patient for immediate quarantine and testing.

Earlier Hai Phong recorded just one case at its Children’s Hospital who was then transferred back to Hai Duong province, the country’s biggest coronavirus hotspot at present.

As many as 795 cases have been confirmed in Vietnam since the virus recurred in Hai Duong late last month. The outbreak has spread to 13 cities and provinces across the country, with Hai Duong, a gateway to Hanoi capital, reporting 615 cases alone.

Haiphong locks down commune due to new Covid-19 case

Haiphong City locked down Hoang Dong Commune after a 26-year-old woman living there tested positive for Covid-19 today, February 22.

Haiphong Transport Hospital at No. 40, Street 5, Hong Bang District, where the patient works, has also been locked down and disinfected.

The woman, residing in Hamlet 4, Hoang Dong Commune, Thuy Nguyen District, has neither left Haiphong City nor developed Covid-19 symptoms over the past 14 days.

Pham Thu Xanh, head of the Covid-19 quick response team of Haiphong City, said the local authorities are identifying venues the patient visited and people who came into contact with her. The citizens are not allowed to enter or leave Hoang Dong Commune until further notice.

The steering committee for Covid-19 infection prevention and control of Haiphong City asked people who had close contact with the patient to immediately contact the nearest medical center for health declarations, an epidemiological investigation and quarantine procedures.

Local residents were encouraged to strictly comply with preventive measures such as wearing masks while stepping out, using hand sanitizers, keeping a safe physical distance from each other and avoiding large gatherings. They should immediately contact the health authorities if they develop symptoms such as a fever, a cough or shortness of breath.

Nearly 35,000 returnees from Covid-19 regions to Hanoi tested negative for coronavirus

Hanoi has recorded 36 cases, with health authorities saying that the outbreak could last longer if drastic measures to control the disease are not taken.

The Hanoi Department of Health on February 21 reported 34,600 returnees from the northern epicenter of Hai Duong province and other pandemic-hit areas have tested negative for the novel coronavirus.

As of February 21, the number of returnees from Cam Giang district, a Covid-19 hotspot in Hai Duong province, stands at 2,388, of which 2,368 have been tested in Hanoi. More than 1,900 people have tested negative while the results of the rest are pending, the municipal health department reported.

The number of returnees from other parts of Hai Duong province and 11 high risk provinces and cities from February 2 is 46,460 people, of them, 44,355 people have taken Covid-19 test and 32,692 people tested negative. The results of the rest are still pending, the department added.

Hanoi has gone five days without confirming any new cases of Covid-19. At the time of writing, Hanoi has recorded 36 cases, with health authorities saying that the outbreak could last longer if drastic measures to control the disease are not taken.

There have been 791 cases confirmed across Vietnam since the pandemic resurgence late January. Quang Ninh is the country’s second latest Covid-19 outbreak with its first case being detected on January 28. The infection has since then spread to 13 other cities and provinces.

Vietnam has so far had 2,383 cases, 627 of them active.

Capital “rescues” unsellable produce from pandemic-stricken province

Volunteer groups and authorities from Hanoi over the weekend after Lunar New Year successfully distributed and sold tons of unsellable agricultural produce from Hai Duong Province, which has been in Covid-19 lockdown for weeks.

A whopping 15 tons of fresh produce from Hai Duong were sold on February 21 alone at makeshift vegetables stalls at 38 Giai Phong Street in Hanoi, which received 30 tons more the following day.

The produce and transporting vehicles were disinfected at least thrice – at the source, when going through quarantine posts in Hai Duong, and before entering the capital city.

According to the Deputy Director of the Domestic Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade Le Viet Nga, some major domestic distributors have reached out to Hai Duong authorities with offers to help distribute slow-selling products.

Meanwhile, the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade transported and distributed 300 tons of agricultural produce from Hai Duong and Quang Ninh province over the course of last week.

Hai Duong Province during the Lunar New Year holiday locked down multiple localities for 14 to 21 days, including the major Hai Duong Province, making regular citizens as well as retail distributors refrain from entering these regions.

Hanoi Mayor urges enterprises to put health, safety as utmost priority

The Hanoi Mayor expected local firms to accelerate the digital transformation process, which remains the city’s priority for development in the next five years.

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Chu Ngoc Anh urged local firms to put health and safety as utmost priority to prevent a potential Covid-19 spread, which in turn leads to disruption of production chain.

The Hanoi’s Mayor gave the remarks during his visit to TOTO Vietnam, INTERSERCO Vietnam International Trade My Dinh, and CMC Technology & Solution last week.

Business Manager of TOTO Vietnam (located at Thang Long industrial park, Dong Anh district) Takashi Yokoyama expressed his thanks to local authorities’ efforts in effectively containing the Covid-19 pandemic.

“As the pandemic continues to cause severe impacts to the global economy, many subsidiaries and affiliates of the corporation were forced to close, but TOTO Vietnam remains operational and records positive growth,” said Yokoyama.

In 2020, TOTO Vietnam posted revenue of nearly VND4 trillion (US$173.5 million), in which export turnover contributed VND2 trillion (US$86.75 million).

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Anh highlighted TOTO Vietnam’s creativity and flexibility in timely adjusting its business strategy to cope with Covid-19 impacts.

“Hanoi is committed to accompanying TOTO Vietnam and other FDI enterprises during their operations in the city,” he noted.

Meanwhile, INTERSERCO My Dinh during the recent Covid-19 outbreak gave permission for employees from Hai Duong province, the country’s pandemic hotspot, to stay at home but still get paid their full salary until the situation is under control.

Anh expected INTERSERCO My Dinh to continue focusing on logistics as its core business activity in 2021 with greater application of modern technologies and higher level of automation.

At CMC Technology & Solution, the Hanoi’s Mayor was briefed on the firm’s advanced technologies application in real-time monitoring, analyzing and warning in the fields of traffic and environment.

Anh requested CMC to accelerate the digital transformation process and enhance its competitiveness.

“Hanoi gives priority to innovation and digital transformation in the next five years,” stated Anh, adding the city expects digitalization to make up 30% of the total gross regional domestic product by 2025.

NA Standing Committee examines preparations for general election

VIETNAM NEWS HEADLINES FEB. 22 (Updated hourly)

The National Assembly Standing Committee is to convene its 53rd session in Hanoi on February 22 to discuss preparations for the upcoming general election.

The NA Standing Committee is scheduled to approve the report following in-depth discussions.

Vietnamese people will cast their ballots to elect deputies to the 15th National Assembly and local People’s Councils in May this year.

The following legislature is expected to be comprised of 500 deputies, including 207 deputies working at central agencies. 95 deputies are members of the Party Central Committee.

The Standing Committee will also examine preparations for the 11th session of the 14th National Assembly, the last in its 2016-2021 tenure.

No new COVID-19 infections recorded on early February 22

Vietnam posted no new locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases in the past 12 hours until 6am on February 22, keeping the national tally at 2,383, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

Of total, 791 cases have been found since January 27 when a new COVID-19 wave broke out.

The number of recoveries and fatalities remains at 1,717 and 35, respectively.

Among patients still undergoing treatment, 69 have tested negative for the virus once, 39 twice and 55 thrice.

At present, a total of 120,827 people who had close contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients or entered Vietnam from pandemic-hit regions are being under quarantine nationwide, including 588 in hospitals, 12,984 in state-designated establishments and 107,255 others at their residences./.

Vessels need to proactively respond to storm Dujuan

The National Center for Hydro-meteorology Forecasting and warning centers in the Asia-Pacific region predicted that storm Dujuan will quickly downgrade to a tropical low pressure system and dissipate at sea when it enters the East Sea this week.

Amidst the warnings, the Standing Office of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control asked provinces and cities from Quang Ninh to Ca Mau to regularly keep in touch with captains, ship owners and timely provide information related to big waves and blustery winds at sea under the impact of an ongoing cold air mass and storm Dujuan.

The General Department of Natural Disaster Prevention and Control informed that the number of fishing vessels in the East Sea would be numerous as it has been in the fishing season.

Accordingly, storm Dujuan yesterday made landfall in the Philippines.

Hai Duong province sees 90 new recoveries from COVID-19

Ninety patients were discharged from the temporary hospital for COVID-19 treatment No 1 of northern Hai Duong province on February 21 after making a full recovery.

This is the largest number of COVID-19 patients discharged at a time in Hai Duong, the largest hotspot of the coronavirus transmission at present, in the latest outbreak.

They will have to conduct self-quarantine and health monitoring at home for another 14 days, after which they will undergo testing again.

The COVID-19 hospital No 1 of Hai Duong, based at the healthcare centre of Chi Linh city, has provided treatment for 293 patients, including nine children and four pregnant woman, since the new outbreak began on January 27.

As of February 21 morning, this province had recorded 603 infections, including five new cases linked with a previously confirmed patient in Kim Thanh district, according to the provincial steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control.

Pham Quang Hung, Chairman of the Kim Thanh People’s Committee, said authorities have sealed off the entire Kim Lien commune, where the new patients live, sent persons in close contact with them to concentrated quarantine sites, and speeded up taking samples from local residents to carry out testing. They look to complete sample collection on February 21./.

HCM City Writers’ Association honours best literary works in 2020

The HCM City Writers’ Association has honoured publicly acclaimed literary works created in 2020 at an awards ceremony held in HCM City.

The memoir Gánh Gánh… Gồng Gồng… (Burden of Life) by female documentary filmmaker Nguyễn Thị Xuân Phượng of HCM City was named the best literary work.

The 308-page book includes stories about the ups and downs of the life of the 92-year-old Phượng since 1945.

Phượng quit school to join the war of resistance against the French in Huế City in 1945.

She served as a dynamite maker and a doctor, before being assigned by President Hồ Chí Minh to become an interpreter and guide to foreign journalists and filmmakers in 1967.

In 1968, she became a documentary director and war correspondent for the Television Department (now Việt Nam Television).

She has made a series of documentaries about the country’s historical events such as Khi Tiếng Súng Vừa Tắt (When Gun Sound Ends), 1975; Khi Những Nụ Cười Trở Lại (When Smiles Return), 1976; and Hai Tiếng Quê Hương (My Homeland), 1978.

In 2011, she was conferred the Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur (National Order of the Legion of Honour), the highest French order of merit, both military and civil, for her contributions to developing Việt Nam – France relations.

Gánh Gánh…Gồng Gồng… was published by the Culture, Literature and Arts Publishing House.

The association also awarded a prize to the novel Đất K (Land K) by author Bùi Quang Lâm, and poetry book Bấm Chân Qua Tuổi Dại Khờ (Walking by Innocent Age) by poet Cao Xuân Sơn.

Both works were released by the Writers’ Association Publishing House.

According to the association’s managing board, the association will recruit 21 new members at the ceremony.

Author Trịnh Bích Ngân, chairwoman of the association’s managing board, said: “The association is working to build solidarity among members and create inspirations for each member to release more quality literary works in the future.”

Ca Mau launches tourism stimulus programme

The southernmost province of Ca Mau has launched a tourism stimulus programme for this year with the dual goal of fighting COVID-19 and developing a safe, efficient, and sustainable tourism sector.

The Ca Mau Cape national tourism area is offering free entry to teachers and students nationwide.

To promote the potential that local tourism holds, the province plans to hold the “Ca Mau Destination 2021” event, with activities including cultural-artistic activities, and famtrips to local tourism areas.

Nearly 70,000 people visited local landmarks from February 10 to 16, with revenue standing at over 2.21 million USD.

Tourist arrivals to Ca Mau last year slumped by more than 56 percent compared to 2019, leading to a decline of over 71 percent in revenue./.

Hanoi launches tree-planting festival on New Year of Ox

The launching ceremony of a tree-planting festival on the New Year of Ox was held in Hanoi on February 21 as part of this year’s efforts in response to the Government’s programme on planting 1 billion trees to 2025.

Addressing the launching event, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Chu Ngoc Anh said tree planting has remained as the city’s annual programme. Planting a tree is just the beginning; it is more important to take good care of it and let them grow well, he said, adding that it is a responsibility of everybody.

He asked all districts and towns to accelerate public awareness campaigns on the meaning of the tree planting festival and the importance and benefits of growing and protecting trees.

Hanoi sets to plant more than 300,000 trees this year and strives for each Hanoian to plant at least one tree by 2030, he unveiled.

Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Tran Hong Ha said increasing natural disasters and extreme weather events have taken heavy toll on Vietnam for years. At the same time, pollution, especially air pollution, has been rising in an alarming rate, causing harmful effects on the quality of life in humans and social and economic activities in metropolises, while rapid urbanisation and industrialisation have put enormous pressure on the environment, he added.

He highlighted the significance of the five-year campaign of growing one billion trees, saying that various effective models, initiatives and actions have been put in place to scale up the tree planting campaign nationwide in response to President Ho Chi Minh’s teaching and the one-billion-tree-planting campaign.

Previously, the capital city has fulfilled its goal of planting one million trees two years ahead schedule. It has planted around 600,000 new trees along over 250 urban streets to not only expand urban tree canopy cover but also prevent dust and noise pollution.

On November 28, 1959, President Ho Chi Minh wrote an article published in the Nhan dan (People) newspaper stressing the significance of tree planting for each person, each family, and the entire nation. Since the first tree planting festival was held in the spring of 1960, the activity has become a common practice whenever a new year arrives./.

Vietnam attends int’l round-table on preserving linguistic diversity

Vietnam has been among countries attending an expert round table on “Topical Issues of Preserving Linguistic Diversity” held to mark International Mother Language Day (February 21).

The virtual event was organised on February 19 by the International Union of Non-Governmental Organisations “The Eurasian People’s Assembly” under the auspices of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO.

It gathered member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States (SNG) and countries from other parts of the world.

The aim of the round table was to find ways to expand the linguistic and intercultural communications of peoples, to promote multilingualism in the interests of Eurasian integration.

Its discussion focused on a number of issues, for example, the role of the native language as a carrier of culture, traditions and history of each nation; increasing interest in languages and stimulating the study of native languages; the role of education in the preservation and development of the languages of the people of Eurasia; creation of an accessible communicative language environment in the context of Eurasian integration; and the role of public associations in the preservation and development of the languages of the people of Eurasia.

At the event, To Thi Tuyet Khanh, a representative of the Banking Academy of Vietnam in Russia and advisor to the union’s first vice secretary-general, delivered a report focusing on education of Vietnamese and Russian languages in both countries.

Vietnam and Russia have boasted a long-standing cooperation in education and training, particularly in linguistics, which has produced good results, she said.

Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese students have pursued education in Russia and with their acquired knowledge, they have made contributions to the national construction and development in Vietnam and strengthening the bilateral relations, Khanh noted.

She voiced her hope that the Vietnamese will be taught in Russia’s schools and universities as a foreign language, especially for Vietnamese children born in Russia.

PM asks for greater effort for Phu Yen to further prosper

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on February 20 urged Phu Yen to exert efforts so as to attract more investment into key projects, thus creating breakthroughs for the locality’s development.

In a working session with key officials of the central coastal province, PM Phuc stressed that the locality needs to give attention to developing the private economic sector, making the area’s growth stronger.

It should work hard to accelerate the implementation of investment projects, especially in agriculture, real estate and tourism, in order to fully tap its strengths and potential in these fields.

Phu Yen’s tourism is like a rare and raw gem that needs the hands of skilled and qualified workers to make it shine, the leader said.

He also emphasised the importance of proper planning and vision in attracting investment and prompting sustainable development in the locality.

PM Phuc praised local authorities’ strong determination to promote socio-economic development, saying that the province has concentrated on the planning work, applying information technology, proposing mechanisms, and improving its business and investment environment.

Phu Yen has done well in implementing core strategies, including developing economic and industrial zones, tourism areas, transport, airport and seaport infrastructure, he noted.

Despite difficulties facing the locality amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Phu Yen still completed and even exceeded important socio-economic development goals, particularly in poverty reduction, the PM noted.

However, he also pointed out weak points the province needs to overcome in the coming time, especially in improving the investment and business environment and speeding up the progress of projects./.

Quang Ninh has no COVID-19 cases in community in 12 days

The northern province of Quang Ninh has gone through 12 straight days with no COVID-19 infections in the community, and four consecutive days without any new cases.

As of February 19, only 20 COVID-19 cases out of the 43 infections in Quang Ninh had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus.

From February 14 -18, 15 cases were cured in the locality.

Since the first case of COVID-19 in the community confirmed on January 27, the locality has recorded 60 infections, of which two cases are being quarantined and treated at the Central Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi’s outlying district of Dong Anh, and the rest are treated in health facicalities in Quang Ninh.

Regarding testing, more than 136,000 locals have been tested from January 27 to February 19.

Provincial authorities on February 8 announced that the pandemic was kept under control in the locality.

OVs in Malaysia get support for COVID-19 prevention

The Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia, on behalf of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, presented medical equipment, antibacterial cloth face masks and sanitiser to the Vietnamese community in the country at a ceremony on February 20.

The activity is part of the programmes conducted by the committee to support overseas Vietnamese in preventing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Addressing the event, Ambassador Tran Viet Thai touched upon difficulties and challenges facing the mankind amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, including the Vietnamese community in Malaysia.

The committee has made every effort to support the Vietnamese community in the fight against the pandemic, helping them overcoming difficulties posed by the health crisis, he stressed.

The ambassador also announced the COVID-19 vaccination programme for foreigners in Malaysia, which is expected to be held in May or June. He affirmed that the embassy will serve as a bridge to support Vietnamese citizens in this programme.

The Vietnamese Party and State always pay attention to the Vietnamese community abroad in general and Vietnamese expats living and working in Malaysia in particular, Ambassador Thai said.

He also highly appreciated contributions by overseas Vietnamese to the homeland’s development./.

Tree planting festival: Individual trees make a forest

The tree planting festival initiated by President Ho Chi Minh has beeen a tradition in Vietnam for more than 60 years, encouraging afforestation and forest protection and greatly contributing to national development.

On November 28, 1959, President Ho wrote an article in the Nhan dan (People) newspaper stressing the significance of tree planting for each person, each family, and the entire nation.

Since the first tree planting festival was held in the spring of 1960, following the late leader’s teachings, authorities and sectors from the central to grassroots levels, along with people nationwide, have joined hands in planting trees whenever a new year arrives.

To uphold this tradition and cope with global climate change, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on December 31, 2020, issued Directive No 45/CT-TTg on organising a tree planting festival and stepping up forest protection and development at the beginning of 2021.

Accordingly, Vietnam is to plant 1 billion trees from now to 2025, including about 182 million this year.

In response, many cities and provinces nationwide have been promoting tree planting this spring.

On February 17 (the sixth day of the Lunar New Year), Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong, together with leaders of central agencies and Hanoi, offered incense in commemoration of the country’s ancestors, heroes, and martyrs at the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long. They also planted trees there on the occasion.

Apart from the tree planting festival, the Vietnam Environment Administration is also establishing a plan for the implementation of a 1 billion tree programme, with a view to protecting the environmental, adapting to climate change, preventing natural disasters, and moving towards sustainable development.

The country views its forests as important ecological resources for socio-economic development and community happiness.

About 25 million Vietnamese people earn 20-40 percent of their annual income from forests./.

Spring festivals suspended as part of COVID-19 prevention efforts

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has requested that localities nationwide cancel all spring festivals in order to prevent mass gatherings, therefore minimising the potential spread of the COVID-19 pandemic following the Lunar New Year (Tet).

With the country facing fast-spreading outbreaks, people nationwide are required to limit their attendance of cultural festivals, with local authorities suggesting that such events should be suspended to protect residents from SARS-CoV-2.

Following the Prime Minister’s guidelines, many localities have decided not to hold spring festivals, including the long-standing Huong Pagoda festival, the Hai Ba Trung Temple festival in Hanoi, the annual Hoa Ban, also known as Bauhinia variegate, festival in Dien Bien province, and a traditional boat race in Quang Ngai province.

Hanoi families faces shortage of home helpers after Tet

Many families in Hanoi are facing difficulties finding home helpers after Tet Holiday due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Duong Thu Huong from Thanh Xuan District said she has a two-year-old child and is in need of a home help before she returns to work. She already placed advertisements online but has not been able to find anyone suitable yet.

“I can’t contact our previous home helper after Tet. As schools are still closed for Covid-19 prevention, I need someone to take care of my child from 7 am to 7 pm nearly all week, except Sunday,” she said. “People I have interviewed either can’t work right away or only want to only work in the afternoon. I want to find someone healthy and who can work for us for a long time. The starting wage is VND5m (USD216) a month and will increase.”

Trinh Thi Linh from Nam Tu Liem District had a good relationship with a home help for two years. But after the Tet Holiday, their home help said she wanted to take leave for several months and has stayed in her hometown as Hanoi is still discovering new cases.

“We’re really busy, so we need someone to take care of our two children. We’ll pay VND7m (USD302) a month and a Tet bonus,” she said.

Nguyen Van Thuong from Cau Giay District also said he wanted to find a home help who could stay at their house and work for a long time. Thuong said he was willing to pay VND10m (USD432) a month if the house helper can take care of all housework.

“There are many three-generation families that have both old people and young children like us,” he said. “I want to find someone in their forties and fifties. I had the same difficulties last year too and I had to let my old parents look after the children at home.”

Quang Binh fishermen enjoy big post-Tet catches

Fishermen in Nhan Trach Commune, Quang Binh Province have enjoyed bountiful catches after Tet.

For the fishermen in Nhan Trach, the first fishing trip after Tet Holiday is meaningful and signifies their luck for the new year. Most fishing boats in Nhan Trach are small so they often have a quick trips overnight and return in the early morning. The beach was busy with all the boats and activity.

Pham Nguyen said his crew were able to bring back 700kg of anchovies. “We’re all really happy to have such a good trip after Tet. We’ll be able to earn about VND20m (USD866). We just hope for good weather and bountiful trips,” he said.

Another fisherman, Pham Tan, said they caught nearly a tonne of anchovies. As they reached the shore, they could see the traders already waiting along the beaches. Anchovies and baby shrimp can be sold for VND30,000 (USD1.30) or VND20,000 per kilo respectively. Both of them can be used to make fish sauce and shrimp paste.

According to the fishermen, if they have a bountiful trip with baby shrimp they will have good herring scad and cutlass fish trawls too.

Nguyen Van Nghi, chairman of Nhan Trach Commune People’s Committee said they have over 100 fishing boats. They are mostly nearshore fishing boats so they only work seasonally. Bountiful anchovies trips also mean local fish sauce manufacturing facilities will have good materials and an optimistic outlook.

Construction of My Thuan – Can Tho expressway and My Thuan 2 bridge commenced

The construction of the My Thuan – Can Tho expressway and the My Thuan 2 bridge recently commenced in the southern province of Vinh Long in the presence of Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The.

The My Thuan – Can Tho expressway and My Thuan 2 bridge are expected to be completed in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

The My Thuan – Can Tho expressway is nearly 23 km long, passing through Vinh Long province and Chau Thanh district in Dong Thap province while the My Thuan 2 bridge is 6.6 km long. The two projects are being funded by the State budget with a total investment of over VND10 trillion.

* The Management Authority for the Urban Railways of Ho Chi Minh City (MAUR) and contractors kicked off work on the power supply for the southern economic hub’s first metro line project on February 19, which now has 82 percent of work completed.

Consultation and construction are now underway to link the power sources from the 110kV Binh Thai and Tan Cang electricity stations to supply all power stations along the metro line.

According to the MAUR, if COVID-19 can be controlled, the work of cable pulling will be completed in the second quarter of this year, which would allow for trial runs and commercial operations to take place earlier.

* The Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) said that 150,000 workers from the Group’s units have returned to work after the week-long Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

Currently, Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises, including Vinatex have secured signed orders until the end of April. This is considered a good signal for the recovery of the Vietnamese textile and garment industry, especially as the country in a good position in a global supply chain redeployed after the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in 2020.

* The Trung Nam Construction Investment Joint Stock Company has launched the first phase of the Ca Na port project in Thuan Nam district in the south-central coastal province of Ninh Thuan.

The project covers an area of ​​more than 108 hectares, including two ports of 70-100 thousand tonnes; a port of 20 thousand tonnes, a warehouse, and service infrastructure.

Nature-friendly farmers in the Delta

Over the years, the Mekong Delta has fallen victim to drought and salinity invasion which cause great damages for the local people. However, there are some rays of hope. During the past five years, facing the shortage of freshwater in the dry season, some farmers in Dong Thap—a province of the Mekong River—have taken regulatory measures in agricultural production to adapt to climate change in a “nature-friendly” approach.

Many models of water-saving agricultural practices have been underway, contributing partly to reducing the volume of water used, greenhouse gas emissions and production costs in unfavorable weather conditions. Local farmers also practice alternate wetting and drying techniques, the use of in-field concrete irrigation systems, smart fertilizers, IoT (Internet of things) in irrigation pump system management.

This model was pioneered by My Dong 2 Agricultural Service Cooperative in Thap Muoi District of Dong Thap Province. According to Ngo Phuoc Dung, director of My Dong 2 Cooperative, to cultivate rice, farmers had to use a significant amount of water for irrigation. However, rice paddies do not have to be submerged in water all the time of the growth process. There are times, rice paddies can develop very well in a dry field. Therefore, applying alternate wetting and drying techniques and watering by concrete troughs may help save the volume of water used.

“Compared to the technique of flooded fields using pumped water, the new farming practice helps reduce 30% of water and also 20-30% of electricity costs. These figures represent not only economic benefit but also a message to the community that we farmers are making a change to be more responsible to the environment,” said Mr. Dung.

Aside from rice, water-saving models are also integrated in the cases of vegetables, flowers and fruit trees across the localities in Dong Thap. By the end of last year, the total area with the new economical irrigation system had reached 24,299 hectares versus 21,506 hectares in 2019. In addition, other agricultural models have been applied, such as net houses and smart water-saving irrigation systems along with training programs for farmers. From these State-supported models, quite a few farming households have taken in the integrated fish-rice or lotus-fish systems, which  yield a high economic efficiency, and, at the same time, use freshwater rationally.

During a recent meeting with leaders of Dong Thap Province discussing the impacts of climate change on agriculture in the region, Assoc. Prof. Le Anh Tuan, deputy director of the Institute for Climate Change of Can Tho University, stressed on the necessity of being “nature-friendly” in cultivation. “Climate change is inevitable and we need to come face to face with it,” said Mr. Tuan. “However, rather than seeing it as a confrontation, we should adapt ourselves to be more nature-friendly.”

According to Mr. Tuan, in the past, although climate change grew more extreme, the people in some provinces have come up with adaptive and effective agricultural practice models. For instance, the integrated rice-shrimp system in the coastal provinces, discharge dike system in Dong Thap to lure natural fish instead of building dikes for the third rice crop and the integrated lotus-fish or lotus-tourism systems. “To be harmonious with nature, people in the Mekong Delta have come up with new measures,” said Mr. Tuan. “The crucial point is we need to change our mindset about climate change to live in peace with nature.”

What’s more, experts say facing climate change which is ravaging the world, commodity production has to comply with environmental protection criteria, which is also one of the top binding regulations on imports under new-generation free trade agreements (FTA) singed by Vietnam.

That is how farmers in Dong Thap are going more “nature-friendly” to introduce their products to the world market.

HCMC proposes to exchange information of illegal immigrants

Ngo Minh Chau, Deputy Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee proposed to exchange information of illegal immigrants through trails along borderlines with neighboring countries.

In his urgent letter to provincial administrations in the southern provinces of Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh, Long An, Dong Thap, Kien Giang and An Giang which share a border with other neighboring countries, Mr. Chau stated clearly that for the past time, many immigrants have entered Vietnam through trails along borderlines violating the governmental regulations of Covid-19 prevention and control.

Deputy Chairman Chau said in the letter that illegal immigrants have traveled many places contacting with many people; as a result, they have been causing the widespread transmission in the community.

Subsequently, state competent forces must be mobilized to track down all contacts as well as adopted preventative measures and quarantine contacts for the safety of city dwellers.

Therefore, to proactively prevent Covid-19 locally-transmitted cases because of illegal immigrants, the municipal People’s Committee made proposal to administrations of six neighboring provinces to send the information of illicit immigrants who are permanent dwellers or temporary residents in HCMC so that the People’s Committee have timely tracking and preventative measures.

Vietnam to deploy 500 policemen to Covid-19 hotspot

Hai Duong, the fresh coronavirus outbreak, is home to dozens of industrial parks with hundreds of thousands of workers.

The Ministry of Public Security will send 500 policemen to support the fight against Covid-19 in Hai Duong, the fresh epidemic center in Vietnam since late January.

The deployment of police officers to the coronavirus hotspot is to respond to the call for support by the local government, according to Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Van Son, deputy minister of Public Security.

So far, Hai Duong recorded nearly 600 infections after the locality was affected by the resurgence of SARS-CoV-2 in late January. Rising infections have brought some localities under lockdown while the entire province is observing shelter-in-place order.

Police will help local authorities check the enforcement of safety rules in residential areas and at industrial parks to ensure social distancing and economic activities.

They assist the local government in keeping social security, residency management and illegal immigration.

At present, there are 959 checkpoints deployed with policemen to tighten control over quarantine and stay-at-home order.

According to Associate Prof. Tran Nhu Duong, deputy head of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE), Hai Duong currently has nearly 18,000 people who made contact with confirmed cases (F1), nearly 67,000 made contact with suspected cases (F2), and nearly 50,000 F3.

More than 160,000 people have been tested for the virus.

As the situation remains complicated, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son said Hai Duong needs to prepare for the worse-case scenario in which the pandemic breaks out again.

As the Covid-19 outbreak remains uncertain, the local government has called for both financial and medical support by the central government. So far, some cities and provinces have committed money and face masks to the hotspot.

VIETNAM NEWS HEADLINES FEB. 22 (Updated hourly)

Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/VIR/SGT/Nhan Dan/Hanoitimes

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VIETNAM NEWS HEADLINES FEB. 23

February 23, 2021 by vietnamnet.vn

High-quality workforce crucial for Mekong Delta

A high-quality workforce is considered an important factor for the Mekong Delta to make breakthroughs in the future, according to the annual Mekong Delta Economic Report 2020.

The report was jointly prepared by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Fulbright University Vietnam’s Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management.

Despite being abundant, the workforce in the Mekong Delta is aging, and younger workers are tending to migrate to other regions, especially Ho Chi Minh City and the southern region, where job opportunities are plentiful, according to the report.

The Mekong Delta now has the lowest immigration in the country and the highest emigration. It is also the only region to have recorded population growth of zero percent during the 2009-2019 period.

Secretary of the Dong Thap provincial Party Committee Le Quoc Phong said the province has launched five strategic breakthroughs for 2020-2025, including continuing to improve workforce quality to meet development demand amid the fourth Industrial Revolution and global integration, enhancing the quality of educational establishments, linking with universities, and paying attention to the transfer of technological advances and economic management knowledge to farmers.

Meanwhile, Secretary of the Can Tho municipal Party Committee Le Quang Manh said the city is now home to over 70 universities and research institutes and more than 7,450 people are involved in scientific research, including leading units in agriculture in the country and the region such as Can Tho University (CTU), Can Tho University of Technology, Nam Can Tho University, and the Mekong Delta Rice Research Institute.

To develop human resources and scientific research, Can Tho looks to continue expanding close and effective ties with regional localities in both breadth and depth via sustainable measures.

CTU Rector Prof. Ha Thanh Toan said it has set a goal of becoming one of the 20 leading universities in Southeast Asia before 2030 and among 1,000 leading universities globally before 2045./.

Hanoi: lockdown measures lifted in 14 areas

VIETNAM NEWS HEADLINES FEB. 23

Lockdown and social distancing measures were lifted in 14 out of 18 areas in Hanoi, Director of the municipal Department of Health Nguyen Khac Hien reported on February 22.

Addressing a meeting of the municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control on the same day, Hien said if there are no more suspected cases of SARS-CoV-2 found this week, the city will remove lockdown measures in the remaining areas.

According to Vice Director of the department Hoang Duc Hanh, Hanoi has basically completed SARS-CoV-2 testing for people returning from the northern province of Hai Duong – the country’s largest COVID-19 hotspot.

The health agency has proposed purchasing 15 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 18 and above.

Meanwhile, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Chu Xuan Dung stressed that although Hanoi has gone through 7 straight days with no new COVID-19 cases, the risk of infection in the community remains high.

He asked the committee and local anti-pandemic forces to continue strictly implementing preventive measures, and conducting SARS-CoV-2 testing at hospitals, health facilities, clinics, and concentrated quarantine areas, in order to effectively contain the spread of the pandemic./.

Social distancing lifted in more areas of Hai Duong province

Chairman of the People’s Committee of Hai Duong province Nguyen Duong Thai, who is also head of the provincial Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, signed a decision on February 22 lifting social distancing measures for 185 people in Vinh Hoa commune, Ninh Giang district, where no F0 cases have been reported for the last 21 days.

So far, 2,063 households with a total of 9,623 people in 14 communes and wards in Ninh Giang district and Kinh Mon township have seen social distancing measures lifted.

According to the provincial Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, as of February 22, Hai Duong had recorded 615 COVID-19 infections and 15,051 F1 cases, of which 8,772 have completed quarantine.

Sixty-four residential areas, nine villages, two communes, and two districts in the province are still under medical blockade.

Nearly 236,900 samples have been collected for testing. On February 20 and 21, 997 drivers were tested, with 285 negative for SARS-CoV-2. The remainders are still awaiting their results.

Patient No 2,362 in Kim Lien commune, Kim Thanh district, was identified as being related to patient No 2,332 in Kinh Mon township. Kim Lien commune is now under blockade, and all local residents have been tested.

Vietnam posted no new locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases on the morning of February 22, keeping the national tally at 2,383, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

Of the total, 791 cases have been found since January 27, when the new COVID-19 wave broke out./.

Ministry steps up scientific research for COVID-19 prevention

The Ministry of Science and Technology has said it is intensifying studies serving COVID-19 prevention and control, particularly those on vaccine production.

It will prioritise cooperation with competent agencies in Vietnam and international partnerships in the import, research and production of COVID-19 vaccines, it noted.

The body said it is also working with relevant units in offering information on the pandemic developments.

Since the first outbreak detected in Vietnam, the ministry has joined scientists to conduct studies on epidemiology, virology, treatment regimens, especially the production of the virus test kits. Such work laid the basis for current mass production of the kits.

Vietnam logged three more COVID-19 cases on February 23 morning, raising the country’s total community infections to 1,496, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

Vietnam is one of the 40 countries that have conducted human trials of a COVID-19 vaccine. The nation expects to have 80 percent of its population vaccinated against COVID-19. However, the current supply allows the country to inject only 20 percent of the population in 2021-2022, targeting 95 percent of those vulnerable to virus infection./.

Nationwide response to Lunar New Year tree planting campaign

The Da Nang Municipal People’s Committee launched the Lunar New Year 2021 tree planting campaign on February 21, as part of the nation’s efforts to plant one billion trees within the five years from 2021-2025 at the call of the Prime Minister.

Addressing the event, Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People’s Committee Ho Ky Minh reported that the central coastal city has planted about 13,250 scattered trees and 200,000 native trees since early 2020.

* From now until 2025, Lao Cai Province’s Muong Khuong District strives to plant 500 hectares of anise in the communes of Ta Ngai Cho, Pha Long and Tung Chung Pho. The cultivation area includes 350 hectares planned for forestry and 150 hectares to be converted from low-productivity corn growing land to anise farming.

* According to the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam, provincial road management authorities and transport departments are planning to plant more than 10,000 green trees along the National Highways in February, thus contributing to protecting the environment and minimising losses caused by traffic accidents.

* The logistics department of Military Zone 4 has directed its affiliated units to implement the tree planting campaign on the occasion of the Lunar New Year 2021, with nearly 10,000 new trees, including both fruit trees and timber trees, having been planted.

* On February 21, the central province of Binh Dinh launched a tree planting festival, targeting to plant 5,000 trees in cultural-sports facilities, rural roads and at schools.

* Subordinate units under the Vietnam Coast Guard High Command have simultaneously launched the Lunar New Year tree planting movement, with 2,615 new trees grown by the Coast Guard Region 1 High Command, 1,750 trees by the Coast Guard Region 2 High Command, and 150 by the Coast Guard Region 4 High Command.

* Affiliated agencies and units of the Military Command of Phu Yen Province recently planted over 1,000 trees of various types around their barracks and training arenas in response to the Lunar New Year tree planting campaign.

* An Giang Province’s border guard forces have planted about 2,000 new trees and 500 sovereignty trees in border areas, contributing to affirming the fatherland’s sacred territorial sovereignty.

The Lunar New Year tree planting festival was first launched by Uncle Ho in the spring of 1960. Since then, the campaign has become a fine tradition of the entire Party, people and army every spring, aiming to maintain a healthy environment for the people and future generations.

People encouraged to give blood voluntarily

Many blood donors have given their blood in response to the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion’s appeal for blood donation.

After the institute called for people to donate blood on February 19, many donors have voluntarily given their blood; however, the institute receives some hundreds of blood units everyday whereas it needs 1,200 – 1,500 blood units; therefore, the institute’s reserve has gradually reduced.

Head of the institute Bach Quoc Khanh said the institute needs an estimated 50,000 blood units for treatment and emergency treatment in February and March, 2021. Despite of blood donation, the institute is still short of 20,000 blood units causing tremendous impacts on supply of blood to 177 medical facilities in 28 cities and provinces in the North region.

To facilitate blood donation, from March 7, Hanoi-based medical facilities where receive donated blood at 26 Luong Ngoc Quyen in Hoan Kiem District; at 132 Quan Nhan in Thanh Xuan District; at 122 Duong Lang Street in Dong Da District will be open from 8 -12 AM and 1:30 – 5 PM all days in a week including Saturday and Sunday.

The institute encouraged those who are healthy enough for blood donation to give their blood to save people. The institute expected organizations to call for more employees to give blood.

Enterprises in Binh Duong Province need over 36,000 workers

According to the Labor Federation of Binh Duong Province, enterprises in the Southeastern province now need more than 36,000 workers.

After Tet holiday, the province welcomed nearly 471,000 workers of 1,420 firms coming back to work, approximating 80 percent.

Accordingly, there are around 200 enterprises registering their recruitment on different channels such as Binh Duong Employment Service Center, recruitment websites, especially on online recruitment platforms of the province, etc.

Of which, some enterprises have demand of numerous workers such as Timberland Joint-Stock Company in Tan Uyen Town with over 4,000 workers, Yazaky Company in Di An City with 900 workers, Fengheng Vietnam Company in Nam Tan Uyen Industrial Zone with over 300 employees, etc.

Book Street revenue falls sharply during Tet

The HCM City Book Pedestrian Street, one of the most-visited attractions in the city during the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday, saw a decrease of 50 per cent in revenue compared to Tết last year, earning VNĐ500 million (US$21,600).

Lê Hoàng, director of the Book Street Company, said the attraction welcomed around 20,000 visitors, including 2,000 foreigners, from February 10-16.

The number of visitors declined 80 per cent compared to the last Tết, he added.

The book street on Nguyễn Văn Bình Street in District 1 offered a series of reading and cultural activities during the holiday, including a showcase of book and new publications about Tết.

It also held workshops about making lucky money envelopes, writing calligraphy, and painting glasses and bottles made of bamboo.

Local artisans gave instructions on making Vietnamese traditional toys — colourful figurines made of glutinous rice dough — as well as different kinds of jams like coconut and ginger, and chocolate for Valentine’s Day.

Local painters and calligraphers taught children to paint T-shirts and fabric totes with traditional images such as buffalo and bamboo.

The HCM City Journalists’ Association set up a stall to sell special publications for Tết from the city’s major newspapers and magazines including Trẻ (Youth), Thanh Niên (Young People) and Sài Gòn Giải Phóng (Liberated Sài Gòn). All money from selling the publications will be used for charity purposes.

All staff and visitors to the book street were required to wear face masks, wash hands with sanitiser, and have their body temperature checked.

Opened in 2016, the book street features dozens of book stalls of more than 25 publishers.

It has earned VNĐ181 billion (US$7.8 million) in turnover. More than 3.5 million books on different topics, including 57,000 new titles, have been sold, and 11.5 million people have visited the street.

Police officers receive thank-you notes

Writing letters is no longer common as technology has advanced, but police officers across the country still receive thank-you letters every year from people who they have helped.

Each letter was written in a different circumstance, but they all show the favourable public impression of the police force and the positive changes the police have made in ensuring security and order.

Kpă Hùng, a resident of Ia Bòng Commune, Chư Prông District, in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, sent a note to local police to thank them for finding his lost cows.

In August 2020, he had three cows stolen. In a short time, the police of Chư Prông District found the thief.

“I write this letter to thank Chư Prông District’s police for tracking and recovering my property for my family. I was personally touched by your help. Other villagers came to congratulate me and expressed their admiration for the police,” he wrote.

Phạm Thị Huyên, living in Việt Quang Town, Bắc Quang District, the northern mountainous province of Hà Giang, will never forget when she found her three-year-old daughter missing in a crowded festival last November thanks to the help of local police officers.

“I felt like I was turned crazy and panicked not seeing my child. When I almost fell into despair, I was encouraged by police officers who told me ‘We are here to help you. Please calm down!’.”

“My child told me ‘When I went missing, I reported it to police’. It showed that in my child’s mind, police are always a helpful force who she would come to ask for help in time of trouble,” Huyên said.

The police of northern Hòa Bình Province have also been praised by local people for their quick response in administrative procedures.

In a thank-you letter sent to police of Tân Lạc District, Hà Minh Thọ, a local resident, said his child had a brain injury and was treated at the provincial hospital. However, he didn’t have an ID card to use the insurance scheme.

“Police came to his bed at the hospital to help him with the ID card and household registration despite the rainy weather and COVID-19,” Thọ said.

Police officers of Hòa Bình Province visited houses of every veteran so they do not have to travel to administrative offices to apply for ID card registration.

Nguyễn Văn Cuối, a resident of Hòa Bình City, said: “I am unable to walk due to injuries in the war and being impacted by Agent Orange. Thanks to the police visiting my house to help me with the procedures, now I have my ID card.”

Universities use variety of evaluative methods to make decisions on student admissions

Universities in the country are using several kinds of evaluative methods to make decisions on student admission this year, including competency assessment examinations.

Việt Nam National University-Ho Chi Minh City (VNUHCM), for example, will continue organising competency assessment examinations for its member universities and other universities that are not VNUHCM members.

The examination will be held on March 28 at venues in HCM City, Đà Nẵng City, and Bến Tre, An Giang, Khánh Hòa, Bạc Liêu and Đắk Lắk provinces.

Students who cannot take the exam on March 28 can register for other competency assessment examinations for VNUHCM on July 4 in HCM City, Đà Nẵng, and An Giang and Khánh Hòa provinces.

The University of Social Sciences and Humanities under VNUHCM will admit 50 per cent of its total enrollment quota based on competency assessment examinations’ results. The University of Technology under VNUHCM will admit 70 per cent of its total enrollment quota based on these exam results.

The HCM City University of Food Industry will admit students with more than a 650 score on the competency assessment examinations, and other students based on results of the national high school graduation examination and high school profile. It plans to enroll 3,500 students for 26 majors this year.

The University of Economics and Finance and HCM City University of Technology will admit 10 per cent of their total quota based on the competency examinations’ results.

In 2020, nearly 70 universities in the country admitted students based on the examinations’ results.

Hồng Bàng International University (HIU) this year will organise a competency assessment examination along with scholastic aptitude tests (SAT) II for maths, literature, physics, chemistry, biology, English, arts, and pre-school and physical education subjects.

Students who have more than an 800 score on the SAT will not need to take the competency assessment examination and can use this SAT score to apply for HIU admission.

HIU for the first time will use interviews and admit students based on the condition of each its faculties. In this method, students will not take any examination. The number of students admitted with this method will account for 2 per cent of its total enrollment quota for this year.

The university will also enroll students based on the results of the national high school graduation examination.

It will enroll 38 per cent of its total quota based on students’ high school profile.

For majors in health and education sciences, the university will comply with the Ministry of Education and Training’s enrollment regulation.

In 2021, the university’s total enrollment quota is expected to be more than 4,200 students for its 68 majors.

HCM City Open University will enroll 4,500 students for 38 majors. The national high school graduation examination and high school profile will be used for admission. But the university will also give priority to enrolling students with excellent learning results at high school, and those who have more than a 26 score on an International Baccalaureate examination or Cambridge International A Level exam, or a 1,100 score on the SAT.

The Hà Nội University of Sciences and Technology and Vietnamese-German University will organise their own examinations this year, and will also use national high school graduation examination results and other methods for admission decisions.

Việt Nam National University in Hà Nội this year will resume organising competency assessment examinations after many years of not using them.

VIETNAM NEWS HEADLINES FEB. 23

HCM City health sector launches community campaign for fighting against Covid-19

The health sector in Ho Chi Minh City has been conducting a community campaign for fighting against Covid-19, said Deputy Director of the city Department of Health Associate Professor Tang Chi Thuong yesterday.

The Department has been calling the participation of the whole medicine system including preventive medicine sector, private and public clinics citywide in the community campaign for fighting against Covid-19. The campaign will last from now till March 10. It is one of activities to welcome Vietnamese Physicians’ Day (February 27).

The campaign includes continued control of Covid-19 clusters; health declarations, screening testing and supervision of those who are from Covid-19-hit areas as per the Ministry of Health’s list especially from northern provinces as well as foreign experts entering Vietnam from January 1 till now.

Additionally, the health sector will continue performing tests on doctors and nurses to ensure all medical workers being tested before March 10. Moreover, the sector will also continue assessing risk of transmission of Covid-19 in the community and enhance the role of the group of people propagandizing Covid-19 information in the community and encouraging dwellers to conduct 5K principle including Khau trang (Facemask) – Khu khuan (Disinfection) – Khoang cach (Keeping distance) – Khong tap trung dong nguoi (No gathering) – Khai bao y te (Medical declaration) and write accurate health declaration.

The city Center for Disease Control (HCDC) has just sent its document to medical facilities in Thu Duc City and other districts asking them to tighten control of Covid-19 prevention regulation in places for wordship. In the document, HCDC proposed to stop all religious activities gathering 20 people up in places for wordship.

HCM City proposes using minibuses

The southern metropolis Ho Chi Minh City is seeking to run 12-17-seater minibuses to make it easier for local residents to get access to this public transport services as the city has a lot of narrow roads with high traffic flows.

In a proposal sent to the Prime Minister, the municipal People’s Committee said minibuses would provide better connections between residential areas and those where traffic infrastructure has yet to be developed thanks to their small size.

The city currently has over 2,300 buses, mostly 17-60-seater vehicles.

It has nearly 5,000 streets in total with over 3,450 routes of less than seven meters in width, which are impossible for its existing public buses to enter.

The lack of public bus services has thus forced residents to rely on their personal vehicles.

As planned, by 2022, the city will have 30 minibus routes linked with stations along the metro line No.1, 10 bus routes connecting with the bus rapid transit No.1, and several others linking with new urban areas./.

Schools in Quang Ninh to reopen next month with tightened anti-pandemic measures

Students in the northern province of Quang Ninh will return to school from March 1 after the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday was extended due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

However, COVID-19 prevention and control measures will be tightened at the local schools, heard a meeting of the standing board of the provincial Party Committee on February 22.

Notably, schools in Dong Trieu town that borders Hai Duong province’s Chi Linh city – a COVID-19 hotspot will reopen one week later, depending on the latest situation.

Since the latest COVID-19 outbreak, Quang Ninh has closed its schools and adopted online learning.

The first community infection was recorded in Quang Ninh on January 27. However, thanks to its quick response, the province has soon put the pandemic under control.

Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Xuan Ky asked local departments and agencies to continue with the communication work in order to raise public awareness of the epidemic which is expected to continue developing complicatedly in the time ahead.

COVID-19 checkpoints within Quang Ninh will be removed, while those outside its territory will be maintained, he said, stressing the need to closely control people and vehicles entering the province, especially through waterways.

COVID-19 frontline workers will be tested for the coronavirus within 14 days, the official said.

Discos, bars and karaoke parlours will remain closed. However, localities where COVID-19 cases have yet been detected will decide the resumption of such services themselves and take responsibility for the decision.

At the same time, medical declaration and check-up will be stepped up in localities in the province./.

Rare animals released to the wild in Ha Tinh province

Vu Quang National Park in the central province of Ha Tinh announced on February 22 it received two stump-tailed macaques and one python molurus from local people.

The primate and reptile animals belong to Group IIB, the group of rare animals restricted from being held in captivity, hunted and used for commercial purposes.

The Vu Quang National Park said that it received the animals from residents in Son Linh commune, Huong Son district, who found the macaques, one weighing 4 kilogrammes and the other 2 kilogrammes, injured in the forest. They took the animals home, and took care of them.

Meanwhile, the python, over 2.5 metres in length and over 7 kilogrammes in weight, was handed over by a local resident in Tho Dien commune, Vu Quang district./.

Binh Thuan minimises COVID-19 impact to boost domestic tourist arrivals this year

The south-central province of Binh Thuan is taking preventive measures against COVID-19 so as to fulfil its goal of welcoming 6.5 million visitors in 2021.

The province expects over 90 percent of all tourist arrivals this year to be Vietnamese and for revenue to reach 15.5 trillion VND (672.2 million USD), according to the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

To this end, it is crucial to keep the COVID-19 pandemic at bay, the department said, adding that it has been sticking to guidelines on preventive measures in the new context.

An inter-sectoral force from the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Department of Health, and local administrations has been established to inspect the implementation of the guidelines and grant safety labels to those strictly following them.

According to the guidelines, local tour operators and providers of lodging and other tourism-related services must require their tour guides and staff as well as visitors install and use the Bluezone contact-tracing app.

Each must also set up an information board providing guidelines on how to stay safe and prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The local hotline for medical reports must be visible at reception areas, public spaces, and private rooms in lodging facilities.

Temperature checks and hand sanitiser should also be made available to tourists, while services can only be provided if safe distancing rules are adhered to.

Binh Thuan remained a safe destination for travellers last year though it was hit hard by the pandemic. It welcomed 3.2 million tourist arrivals, representing just 46 percent of the annual plan. Tourism revenue plunged 38 percent year-on-year to 9.4 trillion VND./.

“Free & easy” tours to thrive in 2021

More independent trips, “free & easy” tours and guided small group tours will be high on travellers’ agendas for 2021, the HCM City Department of Tourism has said.

Staycations and luxury leisure vacations are also popular this year, the department said in a report. Short-distance itineraries to the southeastern region and Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, following health and safety protocols, are favoured by travellers.

Independent trips, including self-drive itineraries located near the city such as Vung Tau, Da Lat and Phan Thiet, saw a rise in visitors during the Tet holiday.

Lai Minh Duy, general director of TST Tourist, said domestic tours could be customised for each group or family, with socially-distanced and mask-wearing guidelines.

Many Tet tours had been delayed until the Reunification Day holiday on April 30, when COVID-19 outbreaks were expected to be contained by that time, Duy said.

Travellers scrambled to cancel trips and get refunds for tours during the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday due to COVID-19 outbreaks in late January, just a few days ahead of Tet.

Around 500 customers cancelled Tet tours worth a total of 6 billion VND (260,400 USD) at leading travel firms in the city. Most of them required full refunds and refused to delay trips, firms said.

Travel demand during Tet was nearly at a standstill. During the holiday, popular tourist and entertainment sites in the city such as Dam Sen Park, Suoi Tien Theme Park, Van Thanh and Binh Quoi tourist sites were closed to contain the spread of the virus.

Hotels in HCM City are now operating at occupancy rates of less than 10 percent, according to the department. Many hotels prepared special F&B programmes and offered promotions to meet rising demand during the Tet season but were then affected by the new outbreaks.

As many as 29 hotels with a total of 2,053 rooms have been approved to serve as hotel quarantine areas, and four more, with a total of more than 440 rooms, are waiting for approval from city authorities./.

Some provinces, enterprises, universities to offer free COVID-19 vaccinations

Several provinces, enterprises and universities nationwide will provide free COVID-19 vaccinations to their residents, staff and students in order to share the financial burden for pandemic prevention and control.

The Ministry of Health has approved the import of 30 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, the first COVID-19 vaccine to obtain such authorisation in the country.

Under the ministry’s plan, the Drug Administration of Vietnam will import the first 200,400 doses of the vaccine for emergency use on February 28.

Following the ministry’s approval, Hanoi, Hai Phong, and Quang Ninh and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces asked for approval from the Government and Ministry of Health to buy vaccines for their localities.

Hai Phong authorities expect that it will be one of first localities in the country to buy the vaccine. It aims to provide free vaccinations to more than 2 million people.

Quang Ninh province will allocate 500 billion VND (21 million USD) to buy the vaccine and give priority to frontline workers.

Ba Ria – Vung Tau province and Hanoi authorities said they would use funds from their budget and call on sponsors to buy vaccines to provide free vaccinations to local residents.

Coteccons Group has been working with the Vietnam Vaccine Joint-Stock Company to register in advance to buy vaccines for 8,000 staff and their families of Coteccons and Unicons, a member of the Coteccons Group.

Tran Thi Lieu Vinh, human resources director at Coteccons, said: “Free vaccination to staff not only helps prevent transmission but also makes us feel more confident in work amid the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Pham Thai Son, director of the Communications and Enrollment Centre at the HCM City University of Food Industry, told Vietnam News that the university plans to buy 25,000 doses of the vaccines to provide to its lecturers and students.

According to AstraZeneca Vietnam, the primary analysis of Phase III clinical trials from the UK, Brazil and South Africa have confirmed that it is safe and effective at preventing COVID-19, with no severe cases and no hospitalisations more than 22 days after the first dose.

Vietnam’s locally made COVID-19 vaccine, Nano Covax, is in the second phase of human trials following the first phase results, which showed that the vaccine is safe and 90 percent effective, according to the National Council for Ethics in Biomedical Research.

Besides Hanoi, the People’s Committee in the Mekong Delta province of Long An on February 21 said that Nano Covax could start its second phase human trial in the province on February 26, one month earlier than scheduled.

The second phase trials in Hanoi and Long An will reduce the time needed to three months instead of the previously scheduled six months.

The number of registered volunteers in the second phase is nearly 1,000. The phase is expected to last until the end of March and the results will be reported in April.

The third phase of human trials is expected to start in May.

The other two locally made COVID-19 vaccines are in the first phase of human trials.

Source: VNA/VNN/VNS/VOV/Dtinews/SGT

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VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS FEBRUARY 8

August 2, 2021 by vietnamnet.vn

Flower growers look to online sales amid COVID-19 resurgence

Workers at a flower farm in Da Lat City.

Traditionally, city dwellers shop for flowers and botanicals at flower markets to fill their home with the most cheerful blooms to celebrate the new year.

But many flower growers said that flower markets were not busy this year, leaving them with an oversupply.

Nguyen Duy, a flower farm owner in Da Lat City, said that COVID-19 outbreaks in many localities would likely affect people’s purchasing power for flowers ahead of Tet festival.

Thuy Vu, director of the The Gioi Hoa Tuoi JSC, a wholesale supplier of flowers, said it would not focus on retail sales for the Tet festival this year due to market uncertainty.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan, a flower vendor at Ho Thi Ky flower market in HCM City, said flowers stockpiled for the Tet market this year were not as numerous as last year due to concerns over weak purchasing power.

Purchasing orders with flower farms are expected to change in the next few days depending on the control of COVID-19, Lan said.

Flower farms in Da Lat City have seen a 55 per cent drop in orders from wholesale markets in other cities and provinces, according to a survey of the Da Lat City People’s Committee.

The committee, however, has reported a boom in online sales of agricultural produce, flowers and botanicals ahead of Tet.

It advised farms to use bank transfer payments for retail orders and to sign contracts with merchants for wholesale orders to ensure the success of online deals.

Livestreams

Shoppers can find various types of flowers from flower farms and merchants on online shopping platforms.

Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy from Biofresh Company in Da Lat City has hosted livestreams via Facebook to guide viewers through different types of flowers and plants available on the farm.

Amid the pandemic, live commerce has helped promote and sell products, and engaged potential shoppers, Thuy said.

Tran Van Tam, a flower grower in Da Lat City, said that flower farms in the city adopted online sales to reach new buyers as wholesale buyers were reluctant to close deals due to worries about weak demand.

This year, flower farm owners are concerned that they will be left with an oversupply of flowers, so they expect to quickly sell stocked products at reasonable prices, Tam said.

Dalat Hasfarm is offering Tet collections of flower vases and combo deals for cut flowers and pot plants with discounts on online orders.

Online flower markets are also featuring extensive selections of imported flower products such as forsythia, ilex, and Japanese peach flowers. A vase of imported flowers costs VND3-9 million (US$130-390). 

Rice trading businesses post good results on higher rice price

Vietnamese agricultural companies recorded high profit in 2020 as the country’s rice exports saw good results.

In 2020, Viet Nam’s rice export volume fell by 1.9 per cent year-on-year to 6.2 million tonnes, but export value increased 11.2 per cent to $3.1 billion, according to calculations based on data from the General Department of Viet Nam Customs.

Climate change and disruptions in supply chains due to COVID-19 have affected Viet Nam’s rice production, resulting in an increase in the rice price. Last year, Viet Nam’s average rice price for export rose 13.3 per cent year-on-year to nearly US$499.3/ton.

The rice price was also boosted by rising demand around the world as many countries stockpiled food due to concerns over the pandemic.

This helped rice trading companies like Loc Troi Group JSC (LTG), Vietnam National Seed Group JSC – Vinanseed – (NSC) and Trung An Hi – Tech Farming JSC (TAR).

The fourth quarter financial report showed that Loc Troi’s revenue surged nearly 77.5 per cent year-on-year to VND3.5 trillion in the last quarter of 2020. The company’s profit after tax was VND163.7 billion in the same period, four times higher than that of 2019.

In the whole of 2020, Loc Troi’s revenue declined by nearly 9.7 per cent to VND7.5 trillion, but it still recorded an increase of over 10 per cent year-on-year in profit after tax to nearly VND369 billion as its expenses reduced.

Loc Troi is a leading company in trading agriculture commodities, such as pesticides and seeds, and food which mainly is rice.

Vinaseed also saw a sharp increase in revenue in the fourth quarter after slowing down in the first three quarters.

The company’s revenue climbed 22 per cent year-on-year to nearly VND666.6 billion in the last quarter, but its profit after tax fell 6.2 per cent to over VND70 billion as sales and administrative expenses increased 15.6 per cent and 10.5 per cent, respectively. It’s profit after tax in 2020 also decreased to VND194.5 billion.

The seed sector, which mainly is rice, plays an important role in Vinaseed’s businesses, accounting for more than 93 per cent of revenue and profit. Last year, Vinaseed’s industrial centre for seed and agricultural product processing in Dong Thap Province was opened, increasing its production capacity by over 40 per cent.

In the fourth quarter, Trung An reported a rise of 8.5 per cent year-on-year in net revenue to VND613.1 billion, while its profit after tax fell sharply in the same period as its financial activities and other expenses rose. The company’s profit after tax decreased by 81 per cent year-on-year to nearly VND6.3 billion.

However, thanks to good results in the first nine months of 2020, Trung An’s profit after tax for the whole year still increased 46.5 per cent to VND88.2 billion.

With the rally of rice prices since the beginning of 2021, investors expect businesses in the industry to take advantage of this trend to see positive results in the first quarter of this year.

Viet Nam’s rice price for export was quoted around US$500/ton in January, according to a report from the United States Department of Agriculture. 

Local wood industry to capitalise on export opportunities to US

With the housing market in the United States enjoying strong growth, demand for wooden furniture is expected to rise considerably, opening up bright export prospects for the Vietnamese wood industry.

According to data released by the United States International Trade Commission, during the opening 11 months of last year, the US’ imports for wooden furniture endured a decline of 0.6% to US$16.8 billion compared to the same period from 2019.

Vietnam remained as the largest supplier of wooden furniture to the United States throughout the reviewed period, with the export turnover reaching US$6.26 billion, a rise of 30.9% on-year.

The proportion of imports from the country accounts for 37.2% of the total import value, up 9% compared to last year’s corresponding period.

Most notably, Vietnam is the largest market for bedroom furniture for the US, making up 49.7% of the US’ total import value, followed by Malaysia, China, and Indonesia.

Nguyen Liem, chairman of Lam Viet Joint Stock Company, attributed this increase in US demand for wooden furniture to the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as it has forced many Americans to remain indoors and focus on activities such as renovating their homes and purchasing new furniture.

He emphasised that Vietnamese wood brands in the US market have significantly improved in recent years due to American people being willing to purchase Vietnamese wooden furniture at more expensive prices over similar products from the Chinese market.

Do Xuan Lap, chairman of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association, pointed out that the wood industry’s strategic export products in the US market will be kitchen cabinets and bathroom cabinets.

Due to this, Lap advised local firms to be aware of market changes and appropriate product strategies, while enhancing their competitiveness to deeper penetrate into the global supply in order to increase exports to the demanding market.

US to impose anti-dumping tax on Vietnamese copper pipes

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has issued a preliminary conclusion regarding an anti-dumping investigation into copper pipes which originate from Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

This includes copper pipes coded: 7411.10.1030; 7411.10 .1090; 7407.10.1500; 7419.99.5050; 8415.90.8065; and 8415.90.8085

In line with the preliminary conclusion reached by the DOC, copper pipes have been imported from Vietnam and subsequently dumped in the US with a margin of 8.05%, which is far lower than the plaintiff’s initial allegation of 110%, along with the anti-dumping tax of up to 60% that the US is currently applying to copper pipes from China.

Based on these conclusions, the US is set to impose a preliminary anti-dumping tax rate of 8.05% on Vietnamese copper pipes.

The DOC also stated that due to the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it will not conduct on-site verification as part of the investigation. Instead, it will make the final determinations through use of alternative methods.

The DOC is poised to announce a deadline for stakeholders to submit its written comments, while concerned parties may also request a hearing by submitting a written request to the DOC within 30 days since the notice of the preliminary conclusion.

Vietnam’s export turnover of copper pipe products to the US in 2019 and 2020 reached US$151.1 million and US$183.9 million, respectively.

Industrial park developers promote sustainability to attract “eagles”

It is these industry leaders who are driving a movement as they look for a partner that matches their same sustainable outlook and goals.

As a result, local businesses in Vietnam, and industrial park developers in particular, are transforming their business model as well as adapting to international standards to attract these “eagles”. Although it can be tricky for industrial parks to balance profitability, concern for environment, and social commitments, there are still multiple ways they can do to stay sustainable.

In 2020, the “Eco-industrial Park Intervention in Vietnam – Perspective from the Global Eco-Industrial Parks Programme” project was launched in Ho Chi Minh City by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

At the workshop, five industrial parks across the country were chosen to implement eco-industrial park initiatives. The project will be carried out in a period of three years with an aim to establish a more sustainable industrial park model and pave the way to the replication of this model across Vietnam in the future.

One of the five pilot industrial parks is DEEP C Hai Phong I (also known as Dinh Vu Industrial Zone), the first footprint of DEEP C group in Vietnam. The industrial park cluster has gained a reputation as the only European-managed industrial park in Vietnam, with compatible European quality in all business aspects, from general infrastructures, utilities supply to park operations. Located in Hai Phong City and Quang Ninh province, DEEP C Industrial Zones is the northern representative of the project.

Long before the recent selection, DEEP C implemented their environmental sustainability strategy on four pillars: power, water, waste, and green zone. The main goal is taking the complexity out of investing in Vietnam while achieving common sustainability goals with investors. Overall, the strategy is to drive economic growth in a sustainable manner for DEEP C, investors and local community.

Depending on the nature of each industrial park, the developers can adopt different practices to stay sustainable. For DEEP C, they are the first industrial park to make a road from recycled plastics and a smart electricity grid possible in Vietnam. The recycled plastics road currently lies in DEEP C Hai Phong II Industrial Park in Hai Phong. More asphalt roads using recycled plastic will be stretched out all over DEEP C Industrial Zones as an innovative solution to address plastics waste and advance circular economy in Vietnam.

The group is now working on the generation of renewable energy from rooftop solar panel and wind turbine. By 2030, it aims to supply 50% of energy demand within its industrial park. Sustainability is also present in reusing of treated wastewater for various industrial purposes such as cooling tower of tenants, preserving mangrove forest along our port area as a natural buffering.

Construction work comply with strict standards on safety and environment before, during and after construction such as innovation (road made from plastics), sustainable sourcing of materials (containers), sustainable sites, energy efficiency (optimising solar and wind energy), indoor environment quality and water efficiency. In the years to come, DEEP C’s ready-built factories will be designed in the most nature-friendly way possible with LEED standards.

“We believe that eco-industrial park is the future of the industry and are happy to raise the standards for developing infrastructures inside industrial park and spread the benefits of eco manufacturing,” said Koen Soenens, General Sales and Marketing Director at DEEP C Industrial Zones.

“Sure it’s good for the environment, but it’s also good for the image, the quality of working and living, and it’s cost-saving for the maintenance and operations.”

DEEP C Industrial Zones launched its base in Hai Phong City, Vietnam in 1997 with the development project of Dinh Vu Industrial Zone (nowadays known as DEEP C Hải Phòng I), a collaboration between Belgian group Rent-A-Port and Hai Phong People’s Committee.

Over the past 23 years, DEEP C has evolved to be one of the largest industrial park developers in Vietnam with five sub-zones covering 3,400 ha of industrial land, forming an industrial cluster in Hai Phong City and Quang Ninh province – the most dynamic growing region in the northern region.

To date, DEEP C Industrial Zones are home to 120 projects with a total investment of US$4 billion, backed by multinational companies like Bridgestone, Idemitsu, Knauf, Chevron, tesa.

Efforts made to promote sale of crops in virus-hit provinces

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total winter crop area which had not been harvested was more than 7,830 ha, or 35 per cent of the northern province’s total crop area. In Kinh Mon district, there was about 3,500 ha of onion, 350 ha of carrot in Nam Sach and 400 ha in Cam Giang, 200 ha of vegetables in Gia Loc, 200 ha in Tu Ky and 400 ha in Kim Thanh.

In Quang Ninh, the total unharvested crop area was more than 2,000 ha, mainly potato, corn and vegetables with a total yield of about 30,000 tonnes.

The ministry said that it was important to raise solutions to promote the sale of farm produce for farmers in locked-down areas.

The ministry said that prices of farm produce in Hai Duong had decreased by around 10-20% since the outbreak of virus clusters late last month.

Nguyen Nhu Cuong, Director of the ministry’s Department of Crop Production, the sale of carrot and potato was the most difficult at the moment because these two products had high output volume while domestic consumption accounted for just 10 percent and the rest must be exported.

The capacity of cold storage in Hai Duong was limited, which would be a problem if the virus was not put under control before Tet, he said.

He added that the transportation of goods to/from locked-down areas was very difficult. Local markets were also tightening disease control measures.

Hanoi, Hai Phong and Quang Ninh were the major markets for the consumption of Hai Duong’s farm produce. However, these provinces were banning all vehicles and people from Hai Duong, which affected the consumption. Wholesalers from other provinces did not want to come to Hai Duong to collect farm produce with hesitation over the virus and worries that they must practice social distancing.

According to the Hai Duong provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, around 128,000 tonnes of vegetables, meat and fish in the province were waiting for consumption.

In that context, it was important to promote consumption in the province, increase storage and implement processing for longer preservation, the ministry said.

It was a must to apply prevention measures following the guidance of the Ministry of Finance when transporting products out of the virus-hit areas, the agriculture ministry said.

At the same time, preparations must be made for the next cultivation season.

Recently, the Quang Ninh provincial Department of Industry and Trade helped connect for the sale and 17 million potatoes, worth VND153 million (US$6,600).  

Six enterprises also bought more than 10,000 chickens for farmers in Chi Linh city.

First Chilean cherries enter Vietnamese market

A launching ceremony took place recently at Thu Duc wholesale market and Biovegi store in Ho Chi Minh City to mark Chilean cherries penetrating the Vietnamese market for the first time.

To meet the increasing demands of consumers, the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association (ASOEX) has been co-operating alongside the Chilean embassy and the Chilean trade promotion agency in Vietnam (ProChile) to accelerate the import and distribution of Chilean cherries within the Vietnamese market.

Cherries are popular among Vietnamese consumers due to their taste and health benefits, especially their antioxidant capacity. Indeed, the consumption season for Chilean cherries usually begins in December and lasts until the end of February.

After being imported into Vietnam, cherries will then be distributed to shopping malls, supermarkets, convenience stores, and wet markets throughout the country.

The promotional scheme started on February 5 and is due to run for the duration of February.

Agribank among most valuable global banking brands

The Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) ranks 173rd among the world’s 500 most valuable banking brands, according to a list recently released by the world’s leading independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance.

Featuring in the Brand Finance Banking 500 list for 2021, Agribank climbs a total of 17 notches compared to the 2020 version, earning the highest spot among the eight commercial Vietnamese banks to be named on the list.

Last year saw the Vietnamese banking industry face many changes and challenges as the entire country coped with the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Throughout 2020 Agribank continued to confirm its prestige by winning major prizes such as Vietnamese national brand, being among the top 10 of the VNR500 which features the 500 largest local enterprises, and being named the bank for the community.

Brand Finance is a leading independent brand valuation and global strategy consultancy that was founded in London, the UK, in 1996.

The consultancy evaluates 5,000 brands globally and announces over 100 reports annually.

HCM City industries make good start to 2021

HCM City’s Index of Industrial Production rose by 34.5 per cent in January despite the continuing problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The city’s four main industries have seen year-on-year growth, with electronics achieving the highest rate of 61.9 per cent.

The remaining three industries are mechanics (44.3 per cent growth); food and beverages (27.3 per cent); and chemical, rubber and plastic (up by 51.7 per cent).

Others such as wood and bamboo processing and automobile also reported growth.

Nguyen Phuong Dong, director of the Department of Industry and Trade, said that due to the city’s efforts to control the pandemic, economic activities are recovering.

Business activity has generally picked up, with more than 3,300 businesses reopening.

Retail sales and services were worth nearly VND120 trillion (US$5.2 billion), a 4 per cent increase.

Exports were up by 16.4 per cent.

The local authority said the city will seek to keep the pandemic under control while still ensuring economic growth.

It is guaranteeing sufficient supply of foodstuff and other high-quality goods and steady prices during Tet, and will organise festival and entertainment events for the festival while complying with the Government’s COVID-19 requirements.

It is focusing on carry out the 13th National Party Congress’ resolution (which contains social-economic targets and national development orientations) and the city’s 11th Party Congress resolution. 

Digital Transformation will “give a hand” to businesses in the new era

Digital transformation holds the key to businesses keeping up with market trends, overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities amid the current unpredictable situation.

And, Microsoft’s ‘Tech Intensity’ will play a key role in enhancing businesses’ resilience and transformation of organisations.

According to a Microsoft-IDS study, 74% of all business decision-makers in the Asia Pacific say that innovation is an imperative now. They see the ability to innovate, especially digital transformation, as vital to performance and resilience before and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Always the pioneer in technology, Microsoft has never stopped researching or developing tools and solutions to enhance digital transformation globally, especially by businesses.

In Viet Nam, it keeps businesses abreast of new digital transformation trends by organising programmes to introduce digital transformation solutions and share the experiences of businesses that have achieved the transformation.

Digital transformation is always an urgent requirement for business to survive and thrive, especially amid the pandemic. To enable businesses to embrace innovation, Microsoft has introduced the concept of Tech Intensity, which determines the success of businesses amid the current crisis.

Tech Intensity consists of four key pillars that enable the success of an organisation during the transformation process.

The first is vision and strategy. Businesses need to become more resilient to change, and also need to think beyond what organisations think is possible, especially at a time when speed and agility are vital to survive.

The next is culture, which supports strategy and vision to activate and empower employees. Organisations that are successful in digital transformation will have their employees unite and work based on a vision in which employees are shared.

The third one is differentiation of potential. Those businesses that discover the differentiation of potential of their organisations will respond and adapt to any circumstance more easily.

The last one is capacity, a combination of human capacity and technology. Businesses need human capital equipped with the right skills as well as appropriate and secure technology platforms with the ability to empower employees with remote access and promote business development under any circumstances.

Pham The Truong, General Manager of Microsoft Vietnam, said, “The combination between people and technology within an organisation will create new opportunities for businesses.”

Nanoco, a leading electrical equipment distributor, has chosen Microsoft as a trusted partner for its digital transformation. To meet its business development and market expansion needs, the company has adopted Microsoft’s digital transformation solutions and achieved much success.

Luong Luc Van, General Director of Nanoco, said: “We are really pleased with our experience with [Micosoft solutions] from Office application to Teams tool and cloud storage solution OneDrive. It is also very easy to collaborate and share documents.”

With its diverse and flexible solutions, Microsoft will continue to help businesses achieve digital transformation, successfully exploit digital data, improve their efficiency, and optimise their operation process.

Food company Vissan profit tops $9.01 million

Vissan Joint Stock Company reported pre-tax profits of nearly VND208 billion (US$9.01 million) on revenues of VND5.16 trillion ($223.4 million) for last year, in both cases achieving the targets it set for itself.

Its production of beef and processed products also met the targets while pork output fell slightly short.

It launched many new products last year, including pork braised with eggs and coconut water, beef ball, dragon fruit dumpling, gac fruit dumpling, pumpkin dumpling, five-spice mushroom spring roll, and ready-to-cook pork.

It began selling via a hotline, 19001960, Fanpage and website at vissanmart.com, and launched online stores on Sendo, Lomart and Grab.

In 2021, amid shrinking pork supply due to the African swine fever epidemic, Vissan plans to find more farms that meet VietGAP standards and TE-FOOD traceability to ensure steady pig supply.

It also plans to develop more fresh meat products using chilled meat processing technology and modified atmosphere packaging technology, and expand its distribution system, especially online.

HCM City to throw the book at high-end property developers for violations

The HCM City Department of Natural Resources and Environment plans to review the progress of high-end property projects and fine or even withdraw the licences of those found violating regulations.

If they are excessively late, their land might be repossessed as permitted by the law.

At the same time, the city’s authorities will publicise the mortgaged projects, according to the city People’s Committee.

It has instructed the Department of Planning and Investment to tighten control over foreign investment in property and the repatriation of profits to prevent money laundering and tax evasion.

The city will also review mortgaged and long-delayed projects facing obstacles caused by land regulations, delay in paying land-use fees or the slow handover of house use right certificates.

The Department of Construction has been ordered to keep a close watch on the property market to avoid price bubbles.

The directives seek to redress the imbalance in the housing market caused by the huge supply of high-end apartments and shortage of housing for low-income people.

The shortage of social housing and mid- and low-priced houses is making it hard to ensure social welfare, according to a recent report by the HCM City Real Estate Association.

It has called on developers to increase their investment in the mid- and low-priced segments to address the imbalance. 

Tourism firms ask for help during new Covid-19 outbreak

Tourism firms in HCM City are calling for support from local authorities after thousands of customers cancelled their Tet tours following the new Covid-19 outbreak.

Nguyen Thi Khanh, chairwoman of the Tourism Association of HCM City, said they had sent an official document to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, HCM City People’s Committee, Vietnam National Tourism Association and HCM City Department of Tourism about support policies for tourism firms.

According to Khanh, many tourism firms in the city are facing great difficulties as thousands of customers have cancelled their bookings following the recent Covid-19 outbreak. 

The official said that the government’s response to new community Covid-19 infection cases has resulted in many achievements but there are still several shortcomings. For example, tourism firms still have to pay both corporate taxes and VAT on time while the deadline for at least VAT was extended for six months in March 2020. Firms were still suffering from losses.

The programme to reduce electricity charges for restaurants ended in 2020. Khanh also sought support policy to extend the deadline to pay social insurance. Currently, the deadline will only be extended for firms who already cut 50% of their staff.

The Tourism Association of HCM City asked to waive or reduce the VAT by 50% for 2021 because most accommodation establishments, tourism firms, transportation firms and tourism sites have little to no income while having to pay interest and other costs. The government should exempt land rental fees in 2021 and 2022, help tourism firms access preferential loan packages, extend the repayment period to avoid bad debts and help renew and issue business licenses for free in 2021.

Other requests include reducing electricity charges in 2021, extending the deadline for social insurance payment until June 2022 and adjusting the requirements for unemployment insurance benefits like reducing minimum working time requirements from 12 to 3 months.

Statistics from the Department of Tourism show that 453 accommodation facilities in HCM City had electricity charges reduced, 600 tour guides were given support packages, 21 firms had various fees reduced and some firms which had collaterals had repayment deadlines extended for interest rates lowered.

In the future, firms will get support from Vietnam Bank for Social Policies so that they can access lower interest rates or longer deadlines without needing collateral.

Home cleaning services in high demand as Tet nears

Home cleaning services are in great demand again in Hanoi as busy homeowners want clean houses for Tet. 

Thuy Quynh from Hai Ba Trung District said both she and her husband were all too busy at year-end so they decided to a hire cleaning service.

“Both I and my husband are not allowed to have an early break. We only have enough time to buy food for Tet,” she said. “We called many places but they were all full of orders. We kept calling and finally were able to find a provider that was still receiving orders.”

Despite higher fees, Phuong Hoa from Hoang Mai District said it was still acceptable.

Nguyen Thu Trang, an employee at Alin Cleaning Services said only a few slots left. They have different packages for cleaning apartments while the cost for cleaning houses will be calculated by square metres. A cleaning package for an apartment that is less than 60 square metres is around VND1.2m (USD52). The prices are VND22,000 per square metre for penthouse apartments that are over 150 square metres.

The services remain open until the 28th day of lunar December.

The detail of the service will be given to the customers. Another service provider in Cau Giay said they had to visit the houses or apartments first to gauge the size and materials they have to work with to set the prices. It will also be varied depending on the cleaning chemicals the owners want to use.

The usual prices are VND15,000 to VND20,000 per square metre. At year-end, the prices often increased by 20%.

Vietnamese and foreign investors open more stock trading accounts

Both Vietnamese and foreign investors continue to open more accounts as the local stock market to capitalise on perceived opportunities in the market.

According to fresh data from on stock trading from Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD), the number of newly opened domestic individual investor accounts in January 2021 reached a record high with 86,107 accounts – an increase of 36.5 per cent compared to December 2020.

This is also the fifth consecutive month domestic individual investors have opened more than 30,000 new accounts a month. Meanwhile, domestic institutions opened 162 new accounts in January, down from 168 accounts in December 2020.

As of January 31, the total number of securities accounts of domestic investors reached more than 2.8 million, an increase of 86,269 accounts compared to the previous month.

In January, the VN-Index hit 1,200 points and created a short-term market peak. Around the beginning of January, trading value on Vietnam’s stock market continuously set a record high and reached more than VND20 trillion ($870 million) in one trading session.

However, due to strong fluctuations at the end of January, trading liquidity in the first sessions of February decreased significantly and was only around VND15 trillion ($652 million) per session.

Meanwhile, foreign investors opened 476 new accounts in January, up about 23.3 per cent on-month. This is also the highest level since June 2018. Of this, foreign individual investors have opened 460 new accounts, while 16 accounts are from institutional investors. By the end of January 31, foreign investors had a total of 35,547 accounts in Vietnam’s stock market.

Which Vietnamese banks have been keeping NPLs under 1 per cent?

While a number of banks experienced sharp increases in non-performing loans (NPLs) due to the unprecedented pandemic, some lenders have successfully kept their NPL ratios below 1 per cent. 

Meanwhile, Vietcombank – one of the largest state-owned lenders in Vietnam – recorded VND5.229 trillion ($227.35 million), down more than 50 per cent compared to the end of September and down 10 per cent compared to the beginning of 2020.

The bank’s NPL ratio dropped sharply from 1.01 per cent at the end of this year’s third quarter to 0.62 per cent by the end of 2020 – also the lowest level in its history.

ACB’s NPL ratio remains one of the lowest levels in the landscape. According to the bank’s financial statements, soured debts at the end of 2020 were VND1.840 trillion ($80 million), up 27 per cent compared to the beginning of the year.

Similarly, BAC A BANK’’s NPL ratio increased slightly but was still controlled below 1 per cent. The bank’s NPLs at the end of 2020 amounted to VND628 billion ($27.3 million), up 25.6 per cent from the beginning of the year.

The fifth lender reporting an NPL ratio below 1 per cent is ViettinBank (around 0.94 per cent as of December 31, 2020), according to local newswire Doanh nghiep & Tiep thi. This is also its lowest NPL ratio in the 2016-2020 period.

VietinBank and ACB in 2020 have signed exclusive bancassurance contracts with major life insurers (VietinBank with Manulife, ACB with Sun Life). These deals are envisaged to provide the two lenders with a large amount of revenue, while also boosting their stock value.

HDBank and MB had more than 1 per cent NPL ratios due to their consumer finance companies (HD Saison of HDBank, and MCredit of MB). However, the asset quality of the parent banks remains basically good in the domestic banking system.

The bad debt ratio of HDBank’s banking arm by the end of 2020 was only 0.93 per cent, while that of MB was 0.92 per cent.

Another local lender below the 1 per cent threshold is NamABank, the newly-listed ticker in UPCoM. The bank’s total bad debt ratio decreased from 1.97 per cent at the end of 2019 to 0.83 per cent as of December 2020.

Insurance segment sits in good stead

Despite several challenges stemming from intense competition, the health crisis, and low interest rates, the local insurance landscape is predicted to maintain its growth momentum in 2021. 

Other insurers are also going public or working with foreigners. For instance, Petrolimex Insurance JSC – a subsidiary of Petrolimex – has confirmed to raise its foreign cap from 49 per cent to 100 per cent.

Currently Vietnam boasts 31 non-life insurers, 18 life insurers, 16 brokers, and two reinsurers. Many reputable foreign insurance companies have a presence in Vietnam in both life and non-life sectors.

However, according to brokerage Saigon Securities Incorporation (SSI), aviation, travel, and freight insurances, which make up for around 6 per cent of the total non-life insurance premium revenue, were heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The premium revenue for both health and life insurance reported a plunge in the social distancing period in March and April of 2020. However, these segments witnessed a steady recovery in the following months.

According to the Association of Vietnam Insurance, the health and life insurance premium revenue in the first three quarters of 2020 increased by 25.6 and 21.2 per cent, respectively, against the same period of 2019.

SSI indicated that the two largest enterprises are losing market share in life and non-life insurance, demonstrating fierce industry competition.

In the first three quarters of last year, the non-life market share of Bao Viet Holdings Group and PetroVietnam Insurance decreased while six companies increased their life insurance market share – Manulife, AIA, Generali, MB Ageas, FWD, and Aviva. Others lost market shares, such as BaoViet Life, Prudential, Dai-ichi Life, Chubb Life, and Hanwha Life.

In late December, VietinBank and Canadian insurer Manulife inked an exclusive 16-year bancassurance partnership to better meet the growing financial and insurance needs of Vietnamese people.

Manulife would also acquire insurance firm Aviva Vietnam since the latter formed a joint venture with VietinBank to distribute insurance products. Manulife’s life insurance market share is predicted to reach 18.5 per cent – nearly equal to Prudential’s share of 18.8 per cent.

“We’re in an exclusive bancassurance agreement with Techcombank, SCB, and VietinBank, three prestigious groups, and are putting in our best efforts to become the market leader in this regard,” said Hoe Shin Koh, chief partnership distribution officer at Manulife Vietnam. “Bancassurance is our strategic approach not just in Vietnam, but in the entire Asian market. For instance, in 2015, Manulife Asia paid $1.2 billion to Singapore’s DBS Group Holdings for a 15-year partnership, allowing us to sell products through this lender’s Asian branch network.”

Experts at SSI forecasted that the growth of the premium revenue for life and non-life insurance segments in 2021 would be 22 and 10-12 per cent on-year, respectively.

“However, the insurance industry will still face numerous roadblocks, including low-interest rates and increasing re-insurance costs. These factors will consequently reduce insurers’ profit because their investment portfolios are bank deposits and government bonds. Also, if the government bond yields drop, profits will be negatively impeded due to higher life-insurance reserves,” said SSI.

In 2020, in spite of the pandemic, the insurance market still maintained growth momentum with total property insurance of approximately VND552.4 trillion ($24.01 billion), up 21.5 per cent on-year, according to the statistics published by the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

Total equity capital was estimated at VND113.5 trillion ($4.9 billion) and total insurance premium was VND184.7 trillion ($8.03 billion), signifying increases by 27 and 15.2 per cent respectively. The claim cost was VND48.2 trillion ($2.09 trillion).

Data revealed by the MoF also showed that between 2016 and 2020, the total assets of the insurance market witnessed an average hike by 19 per cent on-year, with the figure for 2020 estimated at VND526 trillion ($22.87 billion).

The total money that insurance companies invested back to the economy saw an average increase by 19.4 per cent, with an estimated VND416 trillion ($18.09 billion) in 2020. The whole premium income boosts an average of 19.3 per cent and was estimated at VND226 trillion ($9.83 billion) last year.

The MoF continued to improve the draft decree on compulsory civil liability insurance for motor vehicle owners, replacing Decree No.103/2008/ND-CP dated 2008 and Decree No.214/2013/ND-CP from 2013. In addition, vehicle insurance is forecast to grow strongly, especially after Decree No.70/2020/ND-CP from last year introduced a registration fee cut of 50 per cent for cars.

KIS Securities believed the local government’s eagerness to accelerate development of the domestic car market will lay a vital foundation for vehicle insurance in particular.

Source: VNA/VNN/VNS/SGGP/VOV/NDO/Dtinews/SGT/VIR   

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VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS FEBRUARY 9

September 2, 2021 by vietnamnet.vn

Demand for top meat drives funding

Demand for top meat drives funding

In the midst of the rising demand for quality pork, Vietnam has witnessed growing investment in the clean meat market. 

Last week, AVG Capital Partners, a private equity fund from Russia, signed an MoU with Thanh Hoa People’s Committee to develop a $1.4 billion pork processing complex in Nghi Son Economic Zone.

With an area of 1,000 hectares, the complex has a designed capacity to produce five million hogs a year. It will boast 43 commercial pig farms and three hybrid pig farms, a mixed feed factory with a capacity of two million tonnes a year, as well as a slaughterhouse and processing plant with a capacity of 600,000 tonnes a year.

Phong Quach, head of business development at Ipsos Strategy3 in Vietnam, said that as a general principle, any high-tech investment in agriculture is good for Vietnam. This is because the Vietnamese agricultural sector is still trying to attract more technology that can provide higher output for both the domestic and export markets.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has identified in its objectives for 2030 that it wants to strive for high-value added agricultural outputs rather than volume.

Quach added, “When we take a closer look at different points in the value chain and investments, there are different dynamics in the competition depending on the node we review. The latest investment from AVG Capital Partners is a feed-farm-food (3F) investment encompassing the entire production chain. However, the output capacity of the processing facility is much higher than its supply, with 600,000 tonnes of processed meat against five million hogs a year.”

This would suggest that there is still significant opportunity for Vietnamese farms to supply this facility. If AVG Capital Partners is looking to source hogs from Vietnamese farms, this would be a vote of confidence for local farming while epidemics still wreak havoc in the global husbandry industry, Vietnam included, according to Quach.

Another player, CJ VinaAgri, a member of CJ Group in Vietnam, has officially launched its clean meat retail chain Meat Master in Ho Chi Minh City. The chain supplies quality meat produced under the 3F model. The move is part of CJ Group’s efforts to increase its presence in Vietnam and tap into the promising market.

C.P. Group from Thailand is meanwhile investing in its retail channel to deliver chilled and processed meat like Fresh Mart and C.P. Pork Shop. The revenue of C.P. Vietnam’s farm and food business has increased to $640 million in the recent two quarters, with earnings from the feed segment reaching around $200 million per quarter. C.P. has the largest farms in the country with an output of 16,000-17,000 pigs a day.

Dutch animal feed giant De Heus meanwhile has joined forces with local Hung Nhon Group to develop the DHN Dak Lak Agricultural High-Technology complex.

The project is expected to form a disease-free zone and provide high productivity pig and chicken breeds to the market. The $66-million venture will feed 2,500 grandparent and great-grandparent pigs, as well as 25,000 parent and gilt pigs to the market when it is launched.

Vu Manh Hung, general director of Hung Nhon Group said, “We will invest in a clean meat store chain with a closed process from breeding and processing to distributing products directly to consumers to reduce intermediate and transport costs.”

Key players share the approach to raising quality and standards to achieve success, reacting to a strengthening demand among Vietnamese consumers – especially the middle class – for clean and safe food. The Vietnamese meat market is huge and fresh, high-quality, and high-st,andard products make up only a fraction of the total market so the sector will continue to attract investment.

Quach pointed out that the major difference among players lies in their retail strategy. In Vietnam, based on Ipsos’ experiences, there are three dominant meat retail strategies, including one that leverages modern trade, one that focuses on wet markets, and one that works independent from the marketplace.

The first two strategies have a clear focus on customer base and emphasise convenience, which is critical for Vietnamese consumers. Locations are picked through researching consumer habits to create the shortest possible meat shopping journey within the total shopping journey.

“Meanwhie, the retail format of CJ Meat Master follows the third category. Its first shop in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City is at a spot where there are no wet markets, convenience stores, or supermarkets nearby. This means that the retail format does not intend to leverage any available food and meal shopping traffic nearby and instead take advantage of other types of traffic and strategic purposes,” Quach added.

Ahead of the game, Masan MEATLife, a subsidiary of Masan Group, launched its certified branded chilled meat line MEATDeli in 2018 using European processing technology and standards. In particular, Masan has stepped up its game by acquiring Vingroup’s VinCommerce and VinEco arms, putting MEATDeli products on the shelves of VinMart.

Both the clean meat and processed meat markets are still very small in Vietnam but the growing middle class in Vietnam sets it up for tremendous opportunities.

“Therefore, it is critical for local and foreign players to understand the needs of Vietnamese consumers and provide a quality offering that takes into account local shopping culture and craft a long term journey for their shift to clean and safe meat production,” Quach concluded.

Dong Nai looks for investor for 300-hectare industrial park

Dong Nai province is looking for an investor to develop Cam My Industrial Park with the total investment capital of VND2.71 trillion ($117.83 million).

The industrial park (IP) is one of three IPs approved by the prime minister. The two others are the 300-hectare Gia Kiem and the 190ha Phuoc Binh IP. At present, the provincial Department of Planning and Investment is completing dossiers to call for investment in infrastructure development for the three projects. Cam My IP has yet to complete site clearance.

Once the three IPs come into operation, Dong Nai will have a total of 35 IPs in its master plan for the 2021-2030 period.

According to the plan, the province will have an addition of eight IPs in the period of 2021-2030, including four new projects with the total area of 4,300ha in Long Khanh, Trang Bom, Nhon Trach, among others and four expansion projects, including Dau Giay, Long Khanh, and Tan Phu.

According to a study by the province, enterprises shifting operations from China to Vietnam are boosting IP development and industrial real estate in Dong Nai.

The province also has numerous advantages for IP development while numerous large-scale infrastructure projects are under construction, including Long Thanh International Airport as well as the Dau Giay-Lien Khuong and Ben Luc-Long Thanh highways.

Dong Nai is one of the leading provinces attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Vietnam. Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, the province exceeded its investment attraction target of 2020 with more than $402.2 million.

Especially, FDI in the province’s IPs hit a five-year record in the first days of the year, according to the provincial Industrial Zones Management Authority. Notably, the province attracted FDI of more than $226 million in 11 projects in the first 10 days of the new year.

Three new projects accounted for $190 million with the other eight being existing projects that expanded investment by $36 million.

Animal feed exports increase in 2020

Vietnam acquired $800.7 million in export turnover from animal feed in 2020, up 16.98 per cent on-year, according to statistics published by the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

This sharp increase in December was fuelled by a high growth rate in three leading markets of China, Cambodia, and the US at 84, 66, and 69 per cent, respectively.

At present, the three largest export markets in terms of animal feed are China, Cambodia, and the US, which account for 10 per cent of the total export value of these goods.

Notably, Vietnam acquired $221.23 million from China (up 15.68 per cent), $122.32 million from Cambodia (up 23.15 per cent), and $114.5 million from the US (up 125 per cent).

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the country’s export turnover from these products to key markets increased in 2020. However, turnover in many small markets declined such as Japan with $26.2 million, down 27 per cent on-year; South Korea with $19 million, down 18.5 per cent; and Indonesia with $11 million, down 33 per cent.

The MoIT forecasted that with the existing productivity in collaboration with the large-scale expansion, animal feed will be one of the goods categories having export turnover over $1 billion.

However, the export value of animal feed only accounted for one-fifth of the import turnover of $3.9 billion in 2020.

Vietnam is now home to 265 animal feed production businesses, 180 of which are domestically run. Although domestic enterprises outperformed in terms of quantity, foreign firms still led the way in terms of capacity and market share.

Japan’s health names latch onto Vietnam

More Japanese pharma and healthcare companies are heading to Vietnam as drug demands in the local lucrative market are on the rise.

The second-largest pharmaceutical company in Japan, Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd., has entered a licence agreement with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation to register and launch edaravone brand Radicava in Vietnam. The medication treats patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and helps with recovery from a stroke.

Yukinori Tominaga, general director of Daiichi Sankyo Vietnam Co., Ltd., told VIR, “We are going to provide more access to new medications in order to increase options for Vietnamese doctors to improve the quality of life in Vietnamese people.”

The agreement is one of several plans by Daiichi Sankyo for Vietnam in 2021. It aims to contribute to the enrichment of quality of life in the country through the innovative pharmaceuticals from Daiichi Sankyo and external resources, as the Mitsubishi Tanabe case, in order to address diverse medical needs.

Having established a representative office in Ho Chi Minh City in 2014 to provide support activities for the sale and promotion of its pharma products, last year Daiichi Sankyo strengthened its presence in Vietnam by announcing the establishment of its Vietnamese arm as a wholly-owned subsidiary to conduct sales activities. This is to better respond to the changing business environment of the pharmaceutical industry in Vietnam and to strengthen its business operations, focusing on new products.

The Tokyo-based company researches in the field of innovative drugs, with subsidiaries operating worldwide. In fiscal year 2019, Daiichi Sankyo generated a revenue of almost ¥982 billion ($9.46 billion), up from approximately ¥930 billion ($8.96 billion) in the previous fiscal year.

Tominaga admitted that during 2020 with the global health crisis, Daiichi Sankyo has suffered some negative impacts especially in primary care, but avoided significant impacts throughout the year.

Daiichi Sankyo is one of several Japanese companies in the health sector with more presence in Vietnam, which is deemed a safe place to do business and which has growing demands for innovative medicines and high-end services, in a move to diversify their supply chains.

According to a representative from the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), besides traditional investment sectors like manufacturing, Japanese investors are also grasping onto other sectors such as healthcare, clean energy, and customer services.

As demonstrated in the list of 30 Japanese companies planning to move from China to Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Laos announced last year by JETRO, half of those will shift to Vietnam, with the majority operating in the health sector. They include names like Inoue Iron Works, Able Yamauchi, Showa, Techno Global, Hashimoto Cross, and Matsuoka. They specialise in pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment, medical gloves, masks, and other medical clothing among others.

Matsuoka Corporation, which produces protective clothing for the health sector, plans to invest ¥3 billion ($28 million) in An Nam Matsuoka Garment Company, its Vietnamese manufacturing unit, to start production of protective wear and other items in the next few months.

Elsewhere, seeing growth potential in Vietnam, Taisho Group, one of the five largest pharmaceutical firms in Japan, increased its ownership in Hau Giang Pharmaceutical JSC, the biggest publicly-traded drugmaker in Vietnam, to 50.78 per cent in 2019 as a way to deepen its footprint there.

Similarly, Nipro Pharma Corporation – Japan’s biggest prescription drug contract manufacturer – is expanding its operations in Vietnam with a new project worth $300 million in Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) after investing $150 million in the first plant in the northern port city of Haiphong.

A source from SHTP told VIR that Nipro is completing procedures to enlarge its facility by increasing the investment capital by about $270 million.

Experts forecast that private domestic and foreign investment in the Vietnamese health sector will be on the rise as the state has plans to divest its stake in a number of powerful pharma firms, including leading pharma firms Vinapharm and Traphaco. The sector’s existing challenges, including hospital overloads and downgrades, also bring about chances for financiers to venture further into.

According to data researchers Fitch Solutions, the country’s total health expenditure was about $17 billion in 2019, or 6.6 per cent of the country’s GDP. The company also projects that the figure will reach $23 billion in 2022 with compound annual growth rate of 10.7 per cent.

Development drivers and expectations for Vietnam in 2021

Vietnam successfully managed to ride out the unprecedented challenges in 2020 and is gradually recovering with new development drivers and expectations in 2021.

The drivers of and expectations for the Vietnamese economy in 2021 are primarily built on the achievements in containing Covid-19, with Vietnam recognised as one of the most successful countries in the world, as well as economic resilience and a positive growth rate of 2.91% in 2020.

Entering 2021, Vietnam is quite confident with a US$340 billion economy, among the 40 largest economies in the world and the fourth largest economy in ASEAN; GDP per capita of US$3,521; a trade surplus of US$19.1 billion; and foreign reserves of more than US$90 billion.

The growth drivers in 2021 will be strengthened and supplemented by institutional breakthroughs and an improved business environment, making Vietnam one of the best investment destinations in the world. The business community continues to record growth in both quantity and quality, with many companies working towards breakthroughs in industrial production and technology and deeper participation in regional and global value chains. Growth in 2021 is also expected to be driven by successes in economic restructuring, especially in agriculture and tourism.

The drivers for 2021 will also come from the country’s sustainable development achievements. With a human development index (HDI) of 0.704, Vietnam has been included in the group of countries with high HDI for the first time, ranking at number 117 among 189 countries and territories. Vietnam’s human capital index is also higher than the average of countries with the same income level. Vietnam is one of the first countries to fulfil the UN’s goal on sustainable multidimensional poverty reduction.

Other drivers for 2021 include a strong digital push in the business community, major improvements in telecommunications infrastructure and the building of electronic government and smart cities.

The expectations of comprehensive and profound breakthroughs on the path of reform and modernisation in Vietnam are also being elevated by the high consensus in personnel work and the quality of documents at the 13th National Party Congress, the people’s confidence in the Party, and the dynamism, innovation and responsibilities of a new crop of officials elected at the 13th Party Congress.

Vietnam is now in possession of an economy, strength and international prestige like never before, as recognised by both people at home and the international community. Such accomplishments are an affirmation of the quality of institutions and the effectiveness of policy response and market response of the Party, State and entire business community and people of Vietnam.

With new confidence and good spirit following the success of the 13th Party Congress, we are fully confident that Vietnam will continue to emerge as bright spot in terms of socio-economic development in a more sustainable and effective manner in 2021.

IPC has new general director

Lam Hoai Anh, deputy general director of HCMC Finance and Investment Company (HFIC), has been appointed as new general director of HCMC-based Tan Thuan Industrial Promotion Co., Ltd (IPC).

On February 5, HCMC Vice Chairman Le Hoa Binh handed over the municipal government’s decision on the appointment to Anh, the local media reported.

Anh, born in 1972 in the Mekong Delta province of Long An, will hold the post for five years.

HCMC Vice Chairman Binh said Anh is an active and enthusiastic official. He had worked in the finance sector, which will help him do the new job well.

Despite difficulties in the initial stage, Binh expected Anh would coordinate with the board of directors and the member council of IPC to develop the company.

Anh’s predecessor is Pham Phu Quoc, a National Assembly deputy of HCMC, who had resigned after he was found holding Cypriot citizenship.

Covid-19 dashes aviation, tourism sectors’ hopes to earn profits during Tet

Many enterprises in the aviation and tourism sectors as well as hotels had expected to earn profits during the upcoming Lunar New Year or Tet holiday to make up for their losses last year, but their hopes have been destroyed due to the new Covid-19 wave.

Flights have been suspended as many air passengers returned their tickets, while tours during the holiday have been canceled. In addition, many stores and restaurants in many localities have been temporarily closed.

Vietravel has suspended all of its tours to the northern region and is working out response plans in case the pandemic takes a turn for the worse. Vietravel Airlines, which has been put into operation for over a month, has also faced multiple difficulties.

Vietravel Holdings Chairman Nguyen Quoc Ky said travel companies had invested heavily in their products and services for Tet but the pandemic has upset their plans. If the situation gets more complicated, even those that survived the previous two pandemic waves will find it hard to overcome this one.

As a result, laborers will be put at a disadvantage. Only half of Vietravel’s employees have returned to work.

Not only travel firms, lodging facilities have also faced the same fate. According to Savills Hotels, the new Covid-19 wave has hindered the recovery of hotels.

Savills Hotels director Mauro Gasparotti said the pandemic has hit not only localities with Covid-19 outbreaks but also others.

Some conferences have been suspended, directly affecting the Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition tourism segment.

He forecast the situation this year might be similar to that of last year if the international tourism segment is not resumed.

As for the aviation sector, the number of air passengers has declined 15% over the period that new Covid-19 cases had not been confirmed.

In addition, the demand for flights to Danang and HCMC plunged 35% and 34%, respectively, according to OTA Insight.

As a result, Vietnam Airlines’ losses of more than VND11 trillion may need more time to be recouped. Moreover, it will be difficult to introduce a credit package worth VND14 trillion for the national flag carrier.

Meanwhile, Vietjet Air has significantly cut expenditures.

According to SSI Securities Corporation’s recent report on the outlook of the aviation sector this year, the market will remain gloomy as the United Kingdom’s coronavirus variant has been found in many countries. The aviation sector will not recover until the end of 2021, when Covid-19 vaccines are approved.

Development of Tan Phu-Bao Loc expy project approved

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has agreed in principle that the Lam Dong Province government will be in charge of developing the Tan Phu-Bao Loc expressway project, which connects Lam Dong with the neighboring province of Dong Nai, during the 2021-2025 period under the public-private partnership format.

The Central Highlands province of Lam Dong was asked to mobilize capital to ensure that an appropriate amount of the province’s budget is invested in the project, reported Thanh Nien Online.

The ministries of Transport, Planning and Investment, Finance and the relevant agencies have to create optimal conditions and facilitate investment procedures for the project, PM Phuc said.

The Transport Ministry was told to work with Lam Dong’s government to comprehensively assess the impact of the construction of the project along with other build-operate-transfer projects to avoid possible disputes and ensure investment effectiveness. The ministry has to coordinate with other agencies to study the construction of the Dau Giay-Tan Phu and Bao Loc-Lien Khuong expressways.

PM Phuc asked the three ministries to give their feedback on the allocation of the State budget during the 2021-2025 period for the road project as proposed earlier by Lam Dong.

The provincial government of Lam Dong has to quickly conduct the project’s pre-feasibility study and report to the higher authorities by March for consideration and approval, select qualified investors and funding organizations for the project and execute the project in a lawful, transparent and efficient manner.

Earlier, in January last year, Lam Dong sought an approval from the Government leader to develop the 67-kilometer Tan Phu-Bao Loc expressway project with four lanes, as a component of the 200-kilometer-long Dau Giay-Lien Khuong expressway project, which is set to link the Central Highlands provinces and the southeastern provinces.

The Tan Phu-Bao Loc expressway will require some VND18.2 trillion in investment, with some VND9.7 trillion backed by the investor and an equal amount funded by the State budget.

Ministry plans to develop Can Tho-Ca Mau expy in 2021-2025

The Ministry of Transport plans to add the Can Tho-Ca Mau expressway project to the list of public investment projects in the 2021-2025 period instead of after 2030 as approved earlier by the prime minister.

The ministry announced the decision in a document sent to the Party Committee of Soc Trang Province and the provincial delegation of National Assembly deputies on their proposal to complete an expressway from HCMC to Can Tho and develop the Can Tho-Ca Mau expressway project parallel to the Quan Lo-Phung Hiep route to ensure that economic centers are connected in the localities that the expressway will pass through, the local media reported.

According to the Ministry of Transport, the Trung Luong-My Thuan section of the HCMC-Can Tho Expressway has been opened to traffic, while work on the My Thuan-Can Tho section started early this year and was expected to be completed in 2022 and that on the My Thuan 2 bridge project in 2023.

The Ministry of Transport is drawing up a plan to develop the road system in the 2021-2030 period with a vision to 2050, proposing adjusting the roadmap to invest in the Can Tho-Ca Mau expressway and some other projects.

The ministry has assigned the Cuu Long Corporation for Investment Development and Project Management of Infrastructure to prepare the prefeasibility reports for these projects.

After the National Assembly and the Government handed over the mid-term public investment capital in the 2021-2025 period, the ministry will coordinate with the relevant ministries, agencies and localities to review and choose important and urgent projects for the Government and the National Assembly to develop first.

As for the Can Tho-Ca Mau expressway project, besides three plans proposed by the consulting firm, the ministry has asked Cuu Long Corporation to direct the consulting firm to study a new direction of the expressway that is parallel to National Highway 1 and five to seven kilometers from Soc Trang City of the province of the same name and Bac Lieu Province.

The direction will ensure the connection of cities in the region and ease traffic on National Highway 1, especially at the gateways of large cities.

Smuggling activity recorded most on aviation route

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, the situation of smuggling and cross-border trafficking of goods in January tends to decrease compared to the same period in 2020, but the nature of smuggling cases is still complicated, more sophisticated and the number of seized goods increased. 

As from December 16, 2020 to January 15, 2021, the customs forces discovered 803 cases and seized violated goods with total amount of more than VND518 billion (over US$22 million), performed state budget collection of VND12.5 billion (US$540,000), prosecuted two cases and transferred five cases to other agencies to prosecute.

The smuggling activity took place the most on aviation route.

The number of arrests has increased sharply; the violated goods are high value, tiny, easy to hide such as drugs, weapons, gold, rhino horn, ivory, pangolin scales, cell-phones, alcohol, tobacco, etc.

Investors need to protect themselves against market volatility

Vietnam’s stock market this week has recovered again with gaining trading sessions and impressive trading volume. The shock caused by the historic slump on January 28 when the VN Index volatilized 6.67 percent, along with the state of no buyers, seems to have been left behind. However, the lesson from that historic stock market crash will never be old when being placed in the context that hundreds of thousands of new investors have entered the stock market lately.

After the losing trading session on January 28, the most exciting topic on securities forums at that time was ‘What makes the stock market so volatile?’. Investors cited all the reasons, even conspiracy theories, such as market manipulation by the “strong hands” and cornering the market combined with shutting down the trading system. Not so many investors dare to accept the truth that they were the reason for those fluctuations.

When stocks climb up wildly, no one mentions their extraordinary excitement but immerses in the increasing profits day by day, feeling the joy of gaining a few more percentage points of profit every day. When the market flips over, the crowd unexpectedly becomes concerned about the management responsibilities of the regulator for such a sudden plummet in the market. They seem to think that the regulator must make the market go up.

From a psychological perspective, trying to find external reasons to explain an adverse outcome or a mistake of oneself is actually an avoidance of responsibility or a state of trying to soothe the pain. This kind of sentiment is quite common in the stock market. Therefore, books on securities investment and trading all emphasize the principle of eliminating emotions from decisions.

This principle has only a few short lines, but it is summarized in hundreds of years of securities trading of investors. Many new investors in the stock market only want to see drawings describing investment strategies and tips on making stock investments profitable, easy to understand and practice immediately. However, they are reluctant to absorb the experiences written in multi-page books.

They know the support, resistance, and technical buy point of stocks. However, they do not understand the risk-return tradeoff principle in each transaction, the win/loss ratio, and the principles of capital management, trading, portfolio building, and risk management.

F0 investors – newcomers to the market – before every decision to buy or sell, usually pay attention to profit first. Meanwhile, experienced investors often concern about the maximum risk they will encounter and whether it is worth the expected return or not. For instance, when an investor decides to buy stock A at VND25,000 per share, if he thinks that the price will go up to VND30,000 in the next week, giving him a profit of 20 percent, then he is an F0 investor.

On the contrary, if he thinks that the price of stock A does not increase as expected but decreases, so he will cut loss at VND24,000, then he is an Fn investor. When putting risks before profits, investors are responsible for their capital and have determined that securities investment is a long-term career instead of an opportunity to make money quickly.

The fierce turbulences, like the market volatility last week, have occurred many times in the past 10 years and contributed to eliminating several generations of amateur investors. What goes up must come down: that is the rule. Market trends also have many different levels.

A long-term uptrend based on macroeconomic growth or micro-growth of enterprises still mixes with short-term downtrends when supply and demand dominate in a period. The current market is a short-term downtrend in a long-term uptrend. Therefore, long-term investors do not need to panic, even though the downward volatility can reach dozens of percentage in just a few days. It is an opportunity to restructure the portfolio, take partial profits on the portfolio, and buy back stocks at lower prices, or even buy more stocks.

In contrast, short-term speculators have to focus on protecting cash assets. For not knowing whether we are making long-term investments or speculating, it will lead us to emotional transactions going along with the majority and being dominated by unusual movements in the market. Worse, we will trade stocks erratically, making consecutive mistakes and being kicked out of the game.

Supply of affordable housing still fails to meet demand

The supply of affordable housing in general and social housing, in particular, in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh in the past years, has always failed to meet the needs of the people. Especially, in HCMC, although the city government has had many programs and plans to develop social housing, the number of projects that have been completed and put into use remains small. 

Some large-scale social housing projects that have been put into use in recent years include the HQC Plaza project in Nguyen Van Linh Street in Binh Chanh District, invested by Hoang Quan Real Estate Joint Stock Company, with a scale of 1,750 units, inaugurated at the end of 2019 and the HOF-HQC Ho Hoc Lam project, invested by the HCMC Housing Development Fund (HOF) in association with Hoang Quan Real Estate JSC. The project has a total investment of more than VND608 billion, with a scale of 718 apartments. It is the first public-private partnership project implemented to solve the needs of social housing in HCMC.

Earlier, the apartment project of the Ministry of Public Security in No.3 Street in Binh An Ward in Thu Duc City, invested by Phu Cuong Investment Joint Stock Company, was also put into use in 2016. The 20-story apartment building with functional areas, including residential apartments, parking areas, a kindergarten, and a technical infrastructure system, covers more than 20,020 square meters. It has 956 apartments and a floor area of 128,425.51 square meters. However, according to authorities, the number of social housing projects is much less than the demand.

According to real estate experts, although accounting for 70-80 percent of the demand for housing in big cities like HCMC, the supply of affordable housing is extremely scarce or even unavailable in the market. From 2019, the chances for young people to buy houses were lower and lower because the kind of apartments priced at VND1.1 billion-VND1.5 billion per unit was almost no longer available in the market. Specifically, from the past 3 to 5 years, the price of Grade C and Grade B apartments from VND16 million to VND21 million per square meter has now reached VND25 million-VND36 million per square meter. Thus, people with a need for affordable housing can only rely on social housing projects.

“We really need an apartment to settle down, but with limited financial resources, we can only look forward to social housing projects to enjoy the policy of this program. However, for many years, our dream has not come true yet because the number of these projects is too low. I have searched for them, but they are unavailable,” shared Mr. Binh, a person looking to buy an affordable house.

According to the HCMC Housing Development Program for the 2016-2025 period approved by the municipal People’s Committee in Decision No.5086/QD-UBND on November 14, 2018, in the 2016-2020 period, the city would strive to complete about 1.78 million square meters of housing floor area. In fact, only 1.28 million square meters of floor area were completed, equivalent to 15,177 apartments.

In the 2021-2025 period, HCMC plans to develop about 2.27 million square meters of social housing floor area, equivalent to about 25,000 apartments, to meet a part of the demand. According to Mr. Huynh Thanh Khiet, Deputy Director of the HCMC Department of Construction, the department will continue to monitor and urge the implementation of 19 social housing projects, with a scale of 26,983 apartments, to meet the set target. The department will also update and review commercial housing projects with a scale of 10 hectares that have identified a 20-percent land fund to implement social housing and urge the implementation to ensure the achievement of the target of building social housing in these projects.

The Department of Construction has updated 65 commercial housing development projects, which have a land-use scale of 10 hectares upwards and have to spend 20 percent of residential land on building social housing, with a total area of about 197.3 hectares, equivalent to about 146,550 apartments. According to Mr. Khiet, the department plans to develop and manage social housing in the city in the 2021-2025 period to submit to the municipal People’s Committee for promulgation.

However, how to mobilize social resources and various economic sectors to participate in this housing segment is not an easy problem. Although there are many incentives for enterprises to develop affordable housing and social housing, they remain apathetic. Mr. Nguyen Van Duc, Deputy Director of Dat Lanh Real Estate Company, one of the pioneering enterprises in building affordable houses in HCMC, analyzed that enterprises were not interested in affordable housing because the return was low, at only VND1 million-VND2 million per square meter. If there are financial problems, they will go bankrupt or suffer losses. In terms of legal procedures for low-income housing or high-end apartment projects, they are the same complicated as each other.

Mr. Ngo Quang Phuc, CEO of Phu Dong Group, said that the core solution to increase the supply of affordable housing is to create equal competition in the market and transparency in investment procedures for affordable housing. Especially, it should put an end to the “ask-give” situation to attract large enterprises with great potentials. According to Mr. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of the HCMC Real Estate Association (HoREA), one of the reasons why the supply of affordable housing is scarce in the market is that the approval process for building construction is usually time-consuming.

On the other hand, the State Bank of Vietnam is currently implementing a schedule to gradually restrict credit to the real estate market, causing enterprises to face difficulties in seeking alternative capital sources.

“To increase the supply of housing, the State needs to continue to launch financial support packages to develop social and affordable housing, creating favorable conditions for investors, as well as buyers. At the same time, localities, including HCMC, should put forward solutions to consolidate and speed up the approval process of projects to stabilize the real estate market and prevent projects from being delayed, affecting the approval of new projects,” Mr. Chau suggested.

Hanoi starts conducting national 2021 economic census

The data collection period is set to take place from March 1 to July 30, 2021 on various economic component groups.

Result from the national 2021 economic census would serve as the foundation for the calculation of the country’s GDP and GRDP data.

“The main objective of the economic census is to collect data from different economic components and assess their development in terms of quantity, scale and number of employees,” stated the Head of Hanoi’s Statistics Office Dau Ngoc Hung at the meeting marking the launch of the national 2021 economic census in Hanoi on February 5.

According to Mr. Hung, the economic census will also evaluate the efficiency in Vietnam’s process of economic restructuring and revising growth model.

“Throughout the process, the government will have a better understanding on the application of IT and modern technologies under the Industry 4.0 in the business community,” noted Mr. Hung, saying this is an opportunity for enterprises to inform the authorities of their difficulties in accessing financial resources or integrating into the global economy.

The target in this national 2021 economic census include manufacturing facilities, businesses, public-non business units, associations, non-governmental agencies in Vietnam, and religious groups.

The National Statistics Office will collect information via 22 questionnaires in online platforms or direct interview.

The data collection period is set to take place from March 1 to July 30, 2021 on various economic component groups.

Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Ha Minh Hai, who also heads the Steering Committee on 2021 economic census in Hanoi, said statistics data holds great significance to support the city’s leaders in the process of management.

Mr. Hai requested the municipal Statistics Office to enhance the quality of analysis and economic forecast to better meet the demand for information in the current environment.

The municipal Statistics Office is set to announce the result of the economic census in December 2021, and the official result in the first quarter of 2022.

Vietnamese shoppers seek premium goods for Tet

In-home consumption will drive Vietnam’s fast-moving consumer goods sales in this Lunar New Year.

The Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on employment will lead to Vietnamese consumers optimizing spends and looking for better bargains, according to Mr. Richard Thomas, Director of Intelligent Analytics at NielsenIQ Vietnam. 

Lunar New Year, the biggest festive event in Vietnam, is a banner event in Vietnam’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) calendar. Normally, its sales are 12%-15% higher than non-festive periods and close to 20% of total FMCG sales of the whole year.  

Given that the country’s economy is dependent on exports and tourism, the adverse impact on the key sectors have resulted in job losses and a rise in constrained consumers in the country.  

Despite toned-down celebrations, Tet will still boost FMCG sales, Ms. Didem Sekerel Erdogan, Senior Vice President, Intelligent Analytics, APAC & EEMEA at NielsenIQ, predicted. “Local manufacturers and retailers have a unique opportunity to help consumers continue their beloved festive traditions during the pandemic by anticipating and adapting to changing consumer needs,” she said.  

Vietnam’s retailers and manufacturers, when planning their promotional strategies for the Lunar New Year, should focus on offering free gifts and direct discounts as the most sought-after promotions in Vietnam, according to NielsenIQ. 

According to NielsenIQ, local retailers and manufacturers invest heavily on promotions and price reductions during banner festive events such as Lunar New Year. These promotions, which are among the most effective ways to drive sales, can sometimes result in “promotional wastage” – where brands lose money because of ineffective promotions.  

“There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to promotions, as consumers respond differently to deals across different categories,” Ms. Erdogan said and suggested that, in order to capitalize on festive sales, brands and retailers must rethink their promotional strategies and ensure they are promoting the right products using the right mechanics and at the right price to better meet the needs of Lunar New Year shoppers. 

In addition, local manufacturers and retailers should also offer special promotions on premium gifting categories such as abalone, chicken essence, bird’s nest and liquor as insulated spenders may have additional budgets to spend due to scaled down parties, open houses and celebrations. 

Ms. Erodgan believes that these time-tested Lunar New Year traditions will continue during the pandemic, but they will take different forms and be smaller in scale. “We expect a rise in home-cooking, for example, as families avoid crowded restaurants for the reunion dinner,” she explained. “Smaller-sized social gatherings may also impact the sale of alcoholic beverages – with consumers choosing quality over quantity, thereby favoring premium brands.” 

Spending habits will differ between constrained consumers (consumers who have been financially impacted by the pandemic) and insulated consumers (those who have been shielded from financial impact), according to NielsenIQ. 

Constrained consumers will gravitate towards economic pack sizes, attractive promotions and deals, while insulated consumers may choose to indulge even more in anticipation of a more positive Year of the Buffalo, thus seeking more premium items. 

Covid-19 boosts online shopping for Tet

E-commerce floors have pre-stocked goods and integrated new technology for online shopping activities.

Covid-19 has beefed up online shopping for the Tet holiday as it is the time when Vietnamese consumers spend the most throughout year. 

Ms. Thu Hang, an accountant from Techcombank in Hanoi, is busier than usual with financial settlements at the end of the year, and online shopping on e-commerce sites is a salvage solution for her to prepare for Tet, especially in the context of the outbreak of Covid-19.  

This year, Tet items such as kitchen guard meat, dried bamboo shoots, mushrooms, sausages, and clean food are more available on e-market than the previous year at the convenience of local consumers like Ms. Thu Hang. Many retailers have offered more promotions and diverse products with reasonable prices. 

In order to meet the demand of online shopping during the Lunar New Year, e-commerce floors have pre-stocked goods and integrated new technology for online shopping activities. 

Compared to the previous Tet holiday, Tiki, a Vietnamese online marketplace, increased at least its goods supply by 30%, focusing on packaged food, beverages, nutritional products, milk, spices.

“We expect sales in this year’s Lunar New Year at Tiki will grow up to 70% over the same period last year”, a representative from Tiki said. 

Shopee, owned by Singapore-based tech group Sea, has worked with its vendors, brands and shipping partners to launch a new program for Tet delivery during the Lunar New Year.  

Brick-and-mortar retailers such as Saigon Co.op, Big C and Megamarket have turned to their websites and apps to stimulate consumption . Co.opmart supermarkets saw an increase of 30-40% in online orders in recent days. Sales of Tet gift baskets through e-retailing have increased by 200% compared to the same period last year. 

Hanoi Trade Corporation (Hapro) in cooperation with BRG Retail has promoted online shopping channel through its BRG Shopping app and Facebook fanpage, according to Deputy General Director of Hapro Do Tue Tam. 

According to a representative of BigC/GO!, the supermarket chain also receives orders via Zalo and offer free delivery during this Tet season, in addition to receiving orders by phone and website as usual. 

“Covid-19 has created an opportunity for businesses to boost the process of digital transformation, including online sales. We believe that this year’s Lunar New Year will see a boom in online shopping,” Mr. Nguyen Anh Duc, General Director of Saigon Co.op, said.

Nearly 50% of Japanese firms gain profit in Vietnam in 2020

Almost half of Japanese firms in Vietnam said they would expand investment in the country in the next one or two years.

In a difficult year of Covid-19, 49.6% of Japanese companies operating in Vietnam remained profitable and 20.3% at the break-even point.

Chief Representative of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in Hanoi Takeo Nakajima revealed the information at a meeting with Vice Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong on February 4.

“Nearly half or 46.8% of Japanese firms in Vietnam said they would expand investment in the country in the next one or two years,” added Mr. Nakajima as he referred to the data from the JETRO survey on the performance of Japanese enterprises in 20 countries and territories, which was conducted from August 24 to September 25, 2020.

“The rate was lower compared to previous years, but remained fourth among countries/territories in the Asia-Pacific,” he said.

According to Mr. Nakajima, in 2020, companies in the survey expressed more concern over risks in the investment environment of the host country, including the legal framework, tax policies and administrative procedures.

“There are firms that want to utilize the local supply chains to support their operations, but Vietnam’s supporting industries have not been able to meet their demands,” said Mr. Nakajima, adding more firms are looking to partner with Vietnamese startups.

Vice Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong expressed his impression of JETRO’s survey that has provided a comprehensive picture over Japanese business and investment activities in Vietnam.

“While the Covid-19 pandemic has caused negative impacts on Japanese firms in Vietnam, the survey showed most are optimistic for 2021,” said Mr. Dong.

“This requires stronger efforts from local authorities in keeping the pandemic under control and addressing concern of the business community,” Mr. Dong added.

In 2020, Vietnam became the top choice for Japanese firms that participating in a government program to move production facilities out of China, with  37 out of the total 81 having chosen Vietnam as their destination. Thailand came in second place with 19 companies.

The majority of Japanese firms looking to move to Vietnam are in the fields of medical equipment, in addition to those producing semiconductors, phones and parts, and air conditioners, among others.

Vietnam, Japan banks provide joint financial services

The Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB) has recently entered into a strategic cooperation deal with Kiraboshi Business Consulting Vietnam, the representative of Kiraboshi Bank of Japan.

Under the deal, SCB will work closely with the Japanese partner to take care of individual clients of the partner living, working and traveling in Vietnam. The two sides will provide financial solutions for corporate Japanese businesses operating in Vietnam, the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) reported.

According to the two banks, such comprehensive cooperation will enable the two banks to develop into a major financial cooperation alliance in the future that is to support businesses and investors of the two countries.

They will also expand cooperation to serve clients of other countries alongside Vietnamese and Japanese ones.

SCB Acting General Director Jeremy Chen explained said that more and more Japanese organisations and businesses are interested in investing in the Vietnamese market, and this is why SCB has teamed up with the Japanese partner to provide financial support and advice for clients./.

Hai Phong grants investment approval to LG Display’s project

Chairman of the People’s Committee of northern Hai Phong city Nguyen Van Tung on February 7 granted a certificate to LG Display Vietnam Hai Phong’s project adding 750 million USD in investments.

The additional amount brought the investment capital of the entire project to 3.25 billion USD in total, making it the foreign-invested project with the highest value in the port city.

It is set to begin in next month and become operational two months later, creating an additional 5,000 jobs and contributing about 5 million USD annually to the State budget.

LG Display Vietnam Hai Phong’s project was first approved in April 2016 with an investment of 2.5 billion USD, specialising in the production of LG Corporation’s OLED and LCD screens, among others.

In 2020, it posted 5.98 billion USD in sales revenues, a year-on-year surge of 624 percent.

As of early February, Hai Phong had attracted 823 million USD in foreign investment, rising six-fold against the amount recorded in the first two months last year. The figure is projected to hit 910 million USD by the end of this month./.

Source: VNA/VNN/VNS/SGGP/VOV/NDO/Dtinews/SGT/VIR   

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Vietnam makes impressive hallmarks in with “dual role” and “charming foreign policy”

February 15, 2021 by vietnamnet.vn

History is stamped with special landmarks. For Vietnamese diplomacy, 2020 was one of the most memorable milestones.

Vietnam successfully assumed the role of both ASEAN Chair in 2020 and non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the term 2020-2021.

Vietnam makes impressive hallmarks in with 'dual role' and 'charming foreign policy'
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L), the Chair of ASEAN 2020, witnesses the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. (Photo: Duc Anh)

Strong leadership in the region

This is the first time Vietnam has assumed such a “dual role”. This coincidence is quite special but not surprising as it is an inevitable consequence of the tireless efforts of Vietnam over the past decades, the result of an open and multilateral foreign policy to diversify international relations and actively integrate into the world, initiated and successfully implemented by the Communist Party of Vietnam. It shows the recognition from and appreciation by the international community for Vietnam’s global role and its practical contribution to international and regional affairs, while demonstrating Vietnam’s increasingly high position and prestige in the international arena.

However, even with great opportunities, history has always challenged Vietnam’s bravery and wisdom. When Vietnam officially assumed its “dual role”, it was also a time when the world was to face an unprecedented challenge in the form of the outbreak of COVID-19. The rhythm of life was turned upside down, the world economy stagnated, international traffic was paralysed, and many global and regional security issues had to be put to one side temporarily to make room for the epidemic response.

In that unexpected context, as Chair of ASEAN 2020, Vietnam quickly shifted the agenda and focus of ASEAN to COVID-19 prevention and control. The pandemic poses an unprecedented challenge, so the response also requires unprecedented measures. Under the leadership of Vietnam, many “firsts” have come about to help the bloc adapt in this difficult period: It was the first ASEAN Summit to meet three times in one year instead of twice as usual. There were many high-level conferences and ministerial meetings held online for the first time. And in particular, many important ASEAN documents were signed online for the first time in history.

As well as effectively controlling the epidemic, Vietnam also actively promoted international cooperation to overcome it together. One piece of proof of the ASEAN Chair’s active and responsible role in 2020 was the Vietnam’s initiative to convene an ASEAN Special Summit on the COVID-19 Response in April 2020. From this, a series of specific measures to control the epidemic were introduced, such as setting up a COVID-19 response fund, a regional reserve of medical supplies, building a standard disease response process, and issuing a comprehensive post-COVID-19 recovery plan, that will not only help the region deal more effectively with COVID-19, but will also solidify the spirit of the slogan “a Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN”, a trademark of ASEAN in the COVID-19 epidemic era.

With the strong will and action of the entire ASEAN community, effective cooperation from partners and the firm steering of “captain” Vietnam, ASEAN has substantially overcome the storm. Looking back, it can be affirmed that Vietnam’s ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2020 has been a comprehensive, resounding, complete and substantial success. Vietnam is not only a member seriously implementing committed-to agreements, but is also becoming a solid and reliable support for the region, especially in a moment when ASEAN faces challenges like COVID-19.

Recognising Vietnam’s successful role as ASEAN Chair 2020, ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Lim Jock Hoi commented that Vietnam showed its strong leadership in leading a regional collective response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The November 2020 issue of Diplomat magazine ran a headline article on Vietnam’s ASEAN Chairmanship 2020. With its title “Vietnam’s Virtual Charm Offensive”, the article praised the country for its surprising creativity in making the impossible possible, as it skilfully reached consensus in the region as well as with partners, using an online dialogue platform never tried before.

From “active participation” to “proactively contributing to shaping the rules of the conduct”

In January 2020, Vietnam returned to the meeting room of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as a non-permanent member, while at the same time serving in the role of rotating presidency of the council for the month. This is not the first time Vietnam has participated in the UNSC (non-permanent member of the UNSC for the 2008-2009 term), and while the roles and duties of UNSC non-permanent members have not changed compared to before, the situation was much different.

Fierce strategic competition among major countries has downgraded solidarity and unity within the UNSC to a lower level than 10 years ago. On many issues, major countries have conflicts of interests, so it is difficult for them to find a common voice. Meanwhile, tensions in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America have not “cooled down”, along with 68 conflicts and a series of backlogs in the 75 years since the UN’s founding still remaining on the agenda.

In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has become an unprecedented global challenge. Not only does it affect every aspect of international life, it also reveals how multilateral spirit has been eroded. Faced with the challenges of powerful politics, populism, declined political commitment, and pragmatism, amongst others, multilateralism and international cooperation have been seriously affected.

How to offer both practical ideas and initiatives to solve global issues while balancing the interests of stakeholders is not an easy task for Vietnam, especially when as the UNSC’s decisions are always associated with particularly important and sensitive issues, such as war and peace, anti-terrorism, and imposing sanctions or not.

However, few countries have advantages like Vietnam has. Having been through two wars, more than anyone, Vietnam understands the value of peace, so the country always strives for the advancement of humanity. There are also some countries that can put aside the past to heal relations and establish cooperation with “former foes”, similar to how the Vietnamese people have. Therefore, although it is not a big or rich country, Vietnam can actively participate in the UNSC.

In fact, together with other non-permanent members, Vietnam has become a bridge to assist the P5 group (the permanent members of the UNSC) understand each other better, thereby minimising deadlocks and inefficiencies in the council due to disagreements among these countries. Not only that, the responsible participation, contribution and “rational” voice of Vietnam on seemingly very distant issues in Africa, Latin America or the Middle East has been recognised by the international community. It can be said Vietnam’s role has contributed to solving many important global problems, shaping the development of the future world.

On the UN forum, the world has seen more about a steadily growing Vietnam with its new posture – the position of a nation with mastery over its destiny, as well as a being an independent, autonomous, peaceful and stable country on its development path, while having the influence of a partner shifting from “active participation” to “actively contributing to building, shaping new structures, new rules of conduct”, a partner always having a responsible role in regional and global “playgrounds”.

This “dual role” brought about a successful year for Vietnam’s multilateral diplomacy, opening up great opportunities for the country to continue to promote its precious experience in “combining national strength with the fortes of the era” to enhance Vietnam’s position in the international arena, contributing to promoting national development and placing it ahead in the global race.

Nhan Dan

Vietnam gains breakthrough diplomatic success as UNSC member: official

Vietnam gains breakthrough diplomatic success as UNSC member: official

In 2020, Vietnam secured breakthrough success in diplomacy despite adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung affirmed

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August 31 – September 6: Vietnam’s National Day joyfully marked at home and abroad

September 7, 2020 by en.nhandan.org.vn

Leaders commemorate President Ho Chi Minh on National Day

Representatives from the Party, National Assembly, State, Government and Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum in Hanoi on September 1, on the occasion of the 75th National Day (September 2, 1945-2020).

Meetings, cultural events and gatherings were held both across the country and abroad over the past week in celebration of the date in 1945 when the Southeast Asian nation declared its independence from France.

Leaders of various countries sent messages and letters of congratulations to Vietnamese Party and State leaders on the occasion.

New school year begins with joy amid COVID-19

Twelfth grade students of the Phan Dinh Phung High School (Hanoi) during the opening ceremony of the 2020-2021 academic year on September 5 morning.

The 2020-2021 academic year officially began for nearly 23 million students across the country following opening ceremonies, which were held on the morning of September 5 in many different forms in various locales due to the influence of COVID-19.

There were virtual events in some localities that were hit by the pandemic, while in other places, this new academic year’s opening ceremonies were held briefly by local schools, after they fully prepared all safety measures, such as measuring body temperature, washing hands and wearing masks, in order to welcome students to schools.

Many Party and State leaders joined teachers and students nationwide to officially kick off the new school year.

Public investment hits five-year high

Public investment in August and the first eight months of this year increased 45.4% and 30.4% year-on-year, respectively, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). The investment hit five-year high, reaching VND47.4 trillion (US$2.0 billion) in August and VND250.5 trillion from January to August.

Over the eight months, the amount of capital under the management of the central government hit VND41.2 trillion, equivalent to 48.7% of the yearly target and up 65.1% against the same period last year; and the volume of capital under the management of local administrations was VND209.3 trillion, equivalent to 51.1% of the yearly target and a year-on-year rise of 25.2%.

Vietnam attracted US$19.54 billion worth of FDI as of August 20, down 13.7% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Vietnam triumphs in Tank Biathlon at 2020 Army Games

Three members of Vietnam’s tank crew celebrate when they cross the finish line at the final match of the International Army Games 2020 on September 4, 2020. (Photo: qdnd.vn)

The tank team of the Vietnam People’s Army triumphed at the final race of tank crews in the second division of the Tank Biathlon event at the ongoing 2020 International Army Games in the suburbs of Russia’s Moscow on September 4.

The Vietnamese team completed three rounds of competition in 2 hours, 12 minutes and 42 seconds, bringing down 13 out of the total 24 targets. The team received enthusiastic cheers from Vietnamese spectators and foreign friends.

The race also saw the participation of teams from Laos, Tajikistan and Myanmar.

815 COVID-19 patients in Vietnam fully recovered as of September 7 morning

As many as 815 of the total number of COVID-19 patients in Vietnam have fully recovered as of the morning of September 7, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

The country has reported a total of 1,049 COVID-19 cases, including 691 cases of domestic infection. There have been 35 COVID-19-related deaths so far.

Among the active patients, 27 have tested negative for the novel coronavirus once, 24 twice and 35 three times.

There are 39,975 people having close contact with confirmed cases or coming from pandemic-hit areas under quarantine at present.

Vietnam 42nd in global innovation index

Vietnam ranked 42nd among 131 economies for the second consecutive year in the 2020 Global Innovation Index (GII), as announced by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

In economies making the most significant progress in their GII innovation ranking over time, Vietnam was first among 29 lower middle-income countries and third in Southeast Asia.

Compared to its own index last year, it posted higher levels in a number of indicators, including business sophistication, from 69th to 39th place, and creative output, from 47th to 38th.

Vietnam has used the GII as an important management tool since 2017, with its index rising from 71st place in 2014 to 59th in 2016 and 42nd last year.

Vietnam’s cuisine sets five world records

The records were based on applications submitted by the Vietnam Book of Records (VietKings) in early 2020.

Accordingly, Vietnam has been recognised as the country with the world’s most “strand and broth” dishes, the world’s most dishes made from flowers, and the greatest variety of special rolls.

The country also has the most kinds of mam (salted fish) and dishes made from mam, with 100 dishes having been recorded so far.

Last but not least, with up to 143 dishes made from rice flour in different sizes, Vietnam has established itself as the country with the world’s most dishes made from this ingredient.

Vietnamese photojournalist wins big in Malaysian photo contest

“Practicing Ritual” by Viet Van.

Viet Van, a photojournalist with the Lao Dong (Labour) Newspaper in Vietnam, won three gold medals at the Bugis Photo Cup Circuit 2020 in Malaysia.

Works entitled “Practicing Ritual” and “Belief” picked up two golds at the PhotoVivo salon. Meanwhile, “Practicing Ritual” earned another at the Knowledge Bowl salon.

The two colour photos were taken at the Sri Mahamariamman Temple, the oldest Hindu temple in Kuala Lumpur.

The contest was held by the Asia Photographers Union (APU) with support from the Photographic Society of America (PSA) and attracted thousands of entries from a host of countries. Award-winning shots will be nominated for the 2021 APU Golden Dragon awards and showcased in Kuala Lumpur on September 20.

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