Vietnam power

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   

Some solar power developers told VietNamNet that they have had to reduce the capacity by 30-40 percent, and sometimes 50-60 percent. This causes a big loss to investors, hundreds of millions of dong a day.

Solar power plants have to cut the capacity partially because the transmission lines in some localities are overloaded and cannot receive the entire volume of electricity from the plants.

As the electricity demand decreases, the oversupply occurs at some moments of the day, so the national grid doesn’t mobilize all the electricity output from solar and wind power plants.

According to the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), the total designed capacity of renewable energy sources has reached 21,560 MW. Of this, the real electricity capacity provided to the national grid accounts for 26 percent of load capacity at noon of ordinary days and 61 percent of holidays and weekends.

The proportion of the renewable energy sources is expected to continue rising in the time to come.

That is why EVN recently submitted a report to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) about a mechanism to develop energy storage systems in Vietnam.

EVN believes that developing energy storage systems is a necessity, which is also the advice by international consultancy institutions.

EVN has joined forces with GE Energy Consulting to implement the technical assistance project on researching and developing energy storage systems in Vietnam, funded by USTDA.

The consultants said with the low penetration rate of renewable energy, 15 percent in capacity, or 7 percent in output, the investment in storage system won’t bring economic efficiency.

They believe that investment would be effective only if the penetration rate is 15 percent at minimum.

Calculations found that for the purpose of using storage system, to increase the renewable energy release capability, the equivalent operating coefficient of the storage systems energy will be very low, only 1-2 percent, and therefore will not bring efficiency.

The energy storage systems will allow solar and wind power project developers to improve the operational efficiency and reduce the capacity they have to cut.

Consultants also say that,technically, the development of storage systems to ease the overloading of the transmission network caused by renewable energy sources is just a ‘temporary solution’. The radical solution to the overloading is improving and building new transmission lines.

Investors need to build storage systems

According to EVN, the investment in energy storage devices for the purpose of easing the overloading of the transmission network won’t bring economic efficiency to EVN, but will only bring efficiency to renewable energy project developers, who suffer losses because of capacity limitation.

EVN and subsidiaries therefore will not make investment in batteries to store energy. The investment, if it is made, will be implemented by renewable energy plants, which are the direct beneficiaries.

EVN has proposed setting up a legal framework and mechanism to allow renewable energy developers to invest.

The energy storage systems will allow solar and wind power project developers to improve the operational efficiency and reduce the capacity they have to cut.

The plants will recharge electrical energy into the storage systems when the electricity output is in excess, and will release electricity from the systems when necessary.

Under the mechanism, the selling prices of the electricity from the storage systems won’t exceed the prices of renewable energy plants.

For the immediate time, EVN has proposed making a pilot investment in a storage system with capacity of 50-100 MWh. The purpose of the investment is adjusting the frequency to validate equipment performance, to assess capabilities, and to accumulate experience in operating storage systems.

This will provide information to EVN to suggest the policies related to the development and operation of energy storage systems in the power system.

The expenses during the investment and trial operation of the storage system will be taken into account as EVN’s electricity production costs, or in accordance with regulations to be determined by appropriate agencies. 

Luong Bang

HCM City authorities plan to gradually relocate its water supply sources further upstream of the Sài Gòn and Đồng Nai rivers as part of its effort to ensure clean water for local use.

Experts have warned that the current main source of water has become seriously polluted due to the impact of socio-economic development along the Sài Gòn – Đồng Nai river system. 

The city currently draws some 94 per cent of the water for treatment at a spot downstream of where the Sài Gòn River meets the Đồng Nai River, at the Hòa Phú pumping station in its Củ Chi District, and at Hóa An in Đồng Nai Province.

Under the city’s 2020-30 water supply plan, the city will relocate the Hòa Phú pumping station to a new location, about 20 km from the existing pumping station and 15 km upstream from the junction of Thị Tính and Sài Gòn rivers. 

According to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, water in downstream Sài Gòn River is suffering from severe microbiological pollution and slight oil contamination.

Pollution indicators like ammonia, microorganisms and manganese have all increased, exceeding the permitted standards of Việt Nam and the World Health Organization.

Dr. Hồ Long Phi, director of the Centre for Water Management and Climate Change under the National University of HCM City, said that pollution in the Saigon River remains ‘serious’. 

He said it was vital to develop hi-tech water treatment plants if the city continues to draw this water for local use. 

“The water upstream in the Sài Gòn and Đồng Nai rivers is in the safe zone, which is less impacted by climate change and sea level rise in the next 50-100 years,” he said.

He said the city would need a huge investment in building new pumping stations with extremely large capacity of millions of cubic metres a day, as well as investment in long and large-scale pipelines. This would also require site clearance compensation costs. 

Dr Trần Đức Hà, director of the city Research Institute of Water Supply, Sewerage and Environment, said: “The core solution is to ensure water security management.”

Dr. Phùng Đức Tùng, director of the Mekong Economic Research and Development Institute, said that water for daily life has become increasingly rare. “Authorities should work on a plan to build reservoirs to store water for treating.”

Two projects, one on water supply in the 2020-2050 period, and the other on clean water supply and ending the exploitation of underground water in the 2020-2030 period, have recently been approved by the city People’s Committee.

By 2025 the city plans to ensure that every resident has access to tap water and increases the average supply to 165 litres. The municipal water supply capacity would reach 3.6 million cu.m per day, using only 100,000 cu.m of groundwater by 2025.

Royal rite held at Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long to welcome Tết

The Thăng Long – Hà Nội Heritage Conservation Centre held the ancient Thăng Long royal rite to celebrate the Lunar New Year at the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long in Hà Nội yesterday.

For the first time, The Thăng Long – Hà Nội Heritage Conservation Centre worked with several organisations to practise the ritual of Tiến Xuân ngưu (The ceremony of offering an earthen buffalo in spring) of the Lê Trung Hưng Dynasty (16th to 18th centuries), a unique rite in the old court, taking place on the first day of spring.

The ritual featured a clay buffalo being offered to Heaven to ask to expel the cold winter and welcome a warm spring to the nation. The coming Lunar Year is the Year of The Buffalo.

Also yesterday, the centre held the Ông Công, Ông Táo (Land Genie and Kitchen Gods) ritual as well as the ceremony to set up a Cây Nêu (New Year’s tree). 

People across the nation held their own ceremonies to send off the Land Genie and the Kitchen Gods of the household on their yearly visit to Heaven.

The Kitchen Gods, the guardian spirits of the kitchen, are believed to comprise two male gods and one female, who bless the household and maintain the kitchen fire, making every member of the family happy and well-off.

The ritual involves releasing a carp into a river or lake and the fish are often bought on the side of streets in plastic bags. In the past, many people threw the fish still in the plastic bag into the water, causing pollution.

In recent years, awareness-raising efforts have encouraged more and more people to dispose of the plastic waste properly instead of throwing it into the water. 

Poor students and workers receive free tickets to travel home for Tết  

The HCM City Communist Youth Union and its partners have launched a programme to offer free bus and flight tickets for poor students in HCM City to travel home for the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday, from January 31 to February 10.

The programme, called Mang Tết Về Nhà (Coming Home for Tết), is funded by the union, employers and organisations. 

More than 3,000 return tickets, including 1,152 flight tickets, have been provided to outstanding students from colleges and universities around the city. Many of these students are from central provinces that were seriously affected by flooding and storms last year. 

Several thousand gifts and 4,000 bánh chưng (square glutinous rice cake), a Vietnamese cake cooked with glutinous rice, mung bean and pork used during Tết, have also been offered.  

Trần Thị Kim Oanh and Lý Thành Tâm from Hà Tĩnh Province, who study at HCM City National University in Thủ Đức District, were happy to receive bus tickets and New Year’s greetings from the programme’s organisers. They both began their trip home yesterday.  

“I did not return home for Tết last year, so I’m very happy to participate in the programme Mang Tết Về Nhà this year,” said Oanh, a fourth-year student in trade & marketing.

“Today, my peers and I go back to our hometown to celebrate Tết with our family and nothing is happier. I hope there will be more and more bus trips like this every year for poor students and workers to return home.” 

Oanh and other students have been asked to wear face masks, wash hands with sanitiser and keep a safe distance during their trips. 

Under the programme, the first two flights and 15 buses transported 500 students, starting last Sunday. 

Labour unions at industrial parks and export processing zones in the city have also presented nearly 7,000 airline tickets and train tickets to migrant workers this Tết. More than 13,000 gifts worth VNĐ500,000 each have also been provided to poor labourers.  

Nguyễn Hồ Hải, Deputy Secretary of the city’s Party Committee, has sent New Year’s greetings to workers and their families and wished them a happy Tết.

Hải said that he hoped the workers would return to the city after Tết and continue to work and contribute to the city’s development.

Tao Dan Spring Flower Festival 2021 opened

Spring Flower Festival 2021 was officially opened at Tao Dan Park in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City in the afternoon of February 6.  

The 11-day event displays ornamental fish and flowers, bonsai plants, more than 2,500 flower-related exhibits of domestic and foreign artisans, 40 specialties and souvenir booths. 

Besides, the festival also comprises dragon dances, circus and magic performances, folk games, demonstrations of calligraphy. 

On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of Ho Chi Minh City named after President Ho Chi Minh (1976-2021), the main road connecting the park’s entrance on Truong Dinh Street and King Hung Memorial Temple is decorated with flowers simulating the Truong Son mountain range.

The festival will close on February 17 (the sixth day of the lunar year).

Ethnology museum promotes traditional Tet’s values

The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi organised a programme on February 4 (the 23rd day of the last month of the lunar year) themed “Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tet) – a sacred space”, with the participation of researchers and folk artists. 

Every year when spring arrives, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology organises many activities with bold national identity, rich in cultural values to welcome new year.

The programme features the participation of folk researchers and artisans with a variety of contents such as: Sharing the meaning of Lunar New Year’s Day, featuring the installation of ‘cay neu’ (a tall bamboo tree with decorations used to ward off evil spirits), introducing the meaning of a traditional tray altar on Tet holidays and the “Ong Cong – Ong Tao” (Land Genie and Kitchen Gods) ritual; writing calligraphy and printing Dong Ho paintings; and wrapping banh chung (square glutinous rice cake).

Coming to the programme, visitors also have the opportunity toenjoy the performance of water puppetry and play folk games of some ethnic groups, such as: fighting buffalo, catching trach in jars, tug of war, walking on stilts, and sack racing.

In recent years, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology’s activities have always attracted large numbers of not only tourists but also families living in Hanoi, increasing the deep understanding of the rituals and traditional cultural beauty of the Vietnamese people. The programme also contributes to preserving the Vietnam’s traditional values.

Through activities and programs to help tourists, especially children to understand more about the Vietnamese Tet’s rituals, especially the fine traditional cultural features of the national New Year holidays that should be preserved.

Minister officially orders classes to go online

Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha has asked local schools to start online classes amid the spreading of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The ministry is working with the Education Union of Vietnam to visit and support students, teachers and parents who are being quarantined for Covid-19 prevention. As of February 4, 53 localities announced that they had allowed students to stay home.

According to the minister, statistics from the previous stay home order show that 20% of the children in remote and rural areas still couldn’t access online classes. Nha directed and asked the education sector to continue to expand and improve online education.

35,037 schools, or 83.6% of schools in Vietnam, have installed mobile apps to fill medical declarations online as well as to better implement preventive measures.

“We have experience this time, so we must do better,” he said. “Responsible agencies must quickly complete the regulations about managing online classes for education facilities. We’ll ask telecommunication firms to help with infrastructure and services for online classes.”

He went on to say that an online library of online courses would be built and shared publicly.

“We must be pro-active and calm and have plans for specific scenarios to ensure the health of both students and teachers as well as education progress,” he said.

On January 30, the Ministry of Education and Training sent an official document to departments of education across the country, asking them to prepare to move classes online in case students are asked to stay home.

Three more hotels in HCM City provide paid quarantine service

Three more hotels in HCM City have been allowed to offer paid quarantine services for Covid-19 prevention.

The figure has increased the total number of municipal hotels used as paid quarantine areas to 32 to date. These hotels have around 2,500 rooms in total.

The HCM City Department of Tourism has considered permitting 29 other hotels to offer paid quarantine services in case of a wider Covid-19 outbreak.   

Since the Covid-19 outbreak in Hai Duong and Quang Ninh provinces, the HCM City tourism sector has tightened control over Covid-19 prevention, said Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, Director of the city’s Department of Tourisms.

Hoa added that the department has prepared scenarios in case of Covid-19 resurgence in the city.

According to the HCM City’s Covid-19 prevention and control steering board, the quarantine fees range between VND1.35-6 million per day, depending on their star ranking.

All paid quarantine hotels have to conform to the city’s Covid-19 prevention and control steering board as well as local authorities’ instructions.

Hotels also need to provide training courses for all of their staff to serve people during the quarantine time to ensure safety for Covid-19 prevention.

It is compulsory for hotels to co-operate with local health agencies to update people’s health condition during the quarantine period.

Hotels have to inform local authorities of quarantine violations.

Cải lương guru offers Tết gifts to poor artists

Poor artists and their children living in HCM City will receive Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday gifts this weekend thanks to a charity programme launched by People’s Artist Kim Cương, a guru of cải lương (reformed opera). 

Cương and dozens of veteran and young theatre performers raise VNĐ1.5 billion (US$65,000) funds for her art programme called Nghệ Sĩ Tri Âm (Traditional Performers Together).

More than 150 actors, including elderly and backstage workers, will receive Tết gifts worth VNĐ6 milllion ($240) each. 

Forty children from artists’ families with good study results will receive scholarships worth VNĐ3 million ($120) each. 

Many food and clothes will also be offered. 

“Our artists performed for free in the show Nghệ Sĩ Tri Âm in December to encourage organisations and individuals to contribute to charity,” said 83-year-old Cương, a member of the HCM City Association in Support of Disabled People and Orphan Children. 

“We hope poor artists, who have devoted their life to Vietnamese art, will have a happy Tết.” 

Last year, Cương’s annual charity show Nghệ Sĩ Tri Âm featured 120 theatre performers, including cải lương stars Út Bạch Lan and Kim Tiểu Long. The event received clothes, food, and VNĐ1 billion (US$45,000) in cash.

Born in 1937 to a traditional family in Sài Gòn (now HCM City), Cương began her love for cải lương through her parents, and the late talented performers Nguyễn Phước Cương and Bảy Nam, owners of Đại Phước Cương Troupe.  

She started her career when she was 17, after training with her mother, Nam, and actresses Phùng Há and Năm Phỉ, who are recognised as some of the most talented cải lương performers in the country. 

She played leading roles in famous plays, such as Giai Nhân Và Ác Quỷ (The Beauty and Beast) and Phụng Nghi Đình (Tragic Love Story). 

In the 1960s, Cương became involved in drama, a modern imported genre of theatre, working to combine cải lương and drama. 

She later opened Kim Cương Drama Troupe, the first and leading drama troupe in the south, managing a staff of more than 70 actors. 

Cương worked as a scriptwriter and became a phenomenon in the industry in the 1960s and 1970s. 

She wrote 50 plays during her career, most highlighting southern women and their characters. Her works have been staged many times by leading drama troupes across the country.  

She had also performed in more than 30 films. 

Baby girl saved from most severe type of immunodeficiency

The child patient spent a whole year in hospitals to fight her serious illness of innate combined immunodeficiency and other diseases. — Photo from the Ministry of Health

It’s always a bold decision to conduct a bone marrow transplant to save a baby who suffers from combined innate immunodeficiency and many other diseases.

The success rate of the stem cell transplant is just 10-20 per cent, but without the transplant, the baby would die before they turn a year old, said Associate Professor and Dr Trần Minh Điển, deputy director of the National Children’s Hospital.

According to health experts, immunodeficiency is a genetic defect that makes the child’s body unable to fight off pathogens such as viruses and bacteria. Therefore, children often get serious, persistent or recurrent infections. Depending on the type of immunodeficiency type, patients will develop different infections.

Thiên Ngọc, a baby girl born in late 2019 in the southern province of Đồng Nai was diagnosed with combined innate immunodeficiency when she was around three months old.

Doctors at HCM City-based Children’s Hospital No.2 came to that inclusion after treating her for repeated diarrhoea, sore throat and pneumonia.

At times, when the child recovered and was set to be discharged, she suffered a fever again, said Trần Quỳnh Hương, head of the Respiratory Department at the hospital – who examined and treated the baby.

In February 2020, Hương for the first time contacted doctor Nguyễn Ngọc Quỳnh Lê from the Department of Immunology-Allergy-Arthritis at Hà Nội-based National Children’s Hospital to discuss the case.

For the following three months, they called each other regularly to talk about the child’s conditions, discussing possible treatment and tests as well as seeking a healthcare unit that could offer a stem cell transplant for the baby.

At that time, a bone marrow transplant was identified as the only way to save the baby. With the advanced technique, stem cells from a healthy donor that are genetically suitable to the recipient would be taken and replace the dysfunctional stem cells.

Bone marrow transplant (hematopoietic stem cell transplant, or HPSCT) involves the administration of healthy hematopoietic stem cells in patients with dysfunctional or depleted bone marrow. This helps to augment bone marrow function and allows, depending on the disease being treated, to either destroy tumour cells with malignancy or to generate functional cells that can replace the dysfunctional ones in cases like immune deficiency syndromes, hemoglobinopathies, and other diseases.

“It was a challenge for both doctors and the patient’s family as in Việt Nam, only the National Children’s Hospital has sufficient equipment and experience to conduct the transplant,” Hương said.

Transferring a patient from HCM City to Hà Nội during the pandemic was not easy, while the medical cost would be far out of reach for the patient’s family.

“Seeing Lê’s enthusiasm and the chance to save the baby, we had the motivation to work with relevant parties to speed up the patient transfer and transplant,” doctor Hương said.

In late May 2020, the baby’s health condition worsened and doctors from the two hospitals – one in the south and the other in the north – had an online meeting.

Deputy director of National Children’s Hospital Điển said they were bold to receive the child with such serious health conditions.

“The success rate is only ten to 20 per cent while few such successful transplants were recorded in the world,” he said.

Doctor Hương from HCM City’s Children’s Hospital said that doctors not only completed insurance procedures for the baby but also called on donations for transferring her to Hà Nội and covering costs that health insurance did not cover. The patient’s family at that time could afford only VNĐ700 million (over US$30,000) while the medical cost for such a transplant could reach billions of Vietnamese đồng.

On May 29, 2020, Hương and a nurse escorted the child to Hà Nội on a Vietjet flight thanks to the airline operator ensuring proper medical and security conditions amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

Hương said that when arriving at the National Children’s Hospital, the child was suffering from severe pneumonia that required supplemental oxygen, tuberculosis complications, diarrhoea caused by Rotavirus, rectal prolapse due to prolonged diarrhoea, and severe malnutrition.

It took two months to improve the baby’s health so that she would be healthy enough to undergo the first stem cell transplant.

Nguyễn Thanh Bình, vice head of the Blood Testing Department at the National Children’s Hospital said that the hospital took bone marrow from the baby’s mother for her transplant after finding no suitable bone marrow donor.

“Previously, the hospital succeeded in conducting such transplants,” Bình said, adding that the technique was complicated and costly in which only stem cells and good cells were kept while bad cells which cause harmful reactions would be removed.

As the baby was in poor health, using chemicals to kill marrow could put the baby at risk of many complications, even death, doctor Chi said.

After discussing with experts from Hong Kong and reviewing foreign medical records, doctors decided to conduct two bone marrow transplants for the baby.

The first transplant using no chemicals aimed to revive part of the baby’s immune system to help her fight against bacterial infections. The second transplant would use chemicals under treatment protocol to kill all the baby’s faulty hematopoietic stem cells and transfer the mother’s healthy stem cells to the baby.

The first transplant was conducted on July 22, 2020. After that, the baby got a high fever and diarrhoea for four straight weeks, Chi said, adding that they were thinking the transplant had failed.

However, continuing efforts were made to save the baby. She gradually recovered from the fifth week, with no fever and diarrhoea.

The second transplant was conducted on November 23, 2020 – three months after the first one. 

Undergoing intensive care for a month after the second stem cell transplant, the child patient did not have any complications. Results showed that the mother’s stem cells are growing well inside the baby.

“All hardships, difficulties and stress we faced when treating her seemingly disappeared, the baby is healthy, has gained weight and is very active,” doctor Lê said.

Spring seemed to come early to the doctors and the baby’s family since the moment she was announced as not having the life-threatening illness – combined immunodeficiency – anymore.

“Facemask bus” comes into operation in HCMC

Residents in Ho Chi Minh City were surprised seeing a bus equipped with an automatic device deliver free facemasks to passengers at HCMC Youth Cultural House in District 1 on February 6. 

This is Dony Mask antibacterial fabric facemask recognized in accordance with Germany’s REACH standard. 

Passengers lined up, kept the safe distance of two meters from each other to receive two facemasks each and washed their hands with hand sanitizers.

From now until Tet Holiday onward, the bus is expected to deliver facemasks at Mien Dong (Eastern) and Mien Tay (Western) coach stations, Tan Binh Cultural Center, public places and industrial parks.

The bus is expected to provide 100,000 antibacterial fabric facemasks during Tet holiday. 

HCMC to continue working on two key transport projects in Tet holiday

Ho Chi Minh City will continue working on the tunnel project at Nguyen Van Linh-Nguyen Huu Tho intersection and Nguyen Huu Canh Street upgrading project during Tet holiday, according to Director of the HCMC Management Board of Investment and Construction of Traffic Projects Mr. Luong Minh Phuc. 

The number of vehicles travelling through the intersection is too high as the tunnel project plays an important role of linking to seaports and Hiep Phuoc Port Industrial Park. 

Ho Chi Minh City decided to promptly construct the main items of the tunnel project on Tet holidays when travel and transport demand will reduce. It is expected that the tunnel project heading to Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone in Binh Chanh District will be put into exploitation by the end of the year.

After that, contractors will try their best constructing the vice-versa tunnel project which would be expected to put the whole project into operation in 2022.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Huu Canh Street upgrading project has reached around 80 percent of the work volume and it is expected to be put into operation on April 30, 2021.

Hai Phong controls all people coming into, out of city from 12 p.m. on January 6

In an effort to reduce the risk of Covid-19 exposure and to help prevent the spread of the virus, the northern coastal city of Hai Phong has controlled all people come into and out of the city starting from 12 p.m. on January 6, said the Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee. 

Arrivals must present their official confirmation from commune-level People’s Committees, schedules and accommodations. Local residents who leave Hai Phong City for other localities must also display their certifications on travelling issued by the commune-level People’s Committees.

Transport operators and businesses have to arrange places for drivers of trans-provincial coaches and trucks to stay.

People returning from the northern provinces of Hai Duong, Quang Ninh and other affected areas will be sent to quarantine areas.

The municipal government allows travelers from localities not affected by the pandemic with the commune-level certifications of arrivals and departures granted by the local authorities.

Teams for Covid-19 Prevention and Control in communes must track the people’s travelling history and monitor the latest arrivals. The municipal Police Department has asked the Waterway Traffic Police to constantly inspect river routes sharing borders with Hai Duong, Quang Ninh and Thai Binh provinces.

Hai Phong has established eight Covid-19 monitoring and control checkpoints in districts of Thuy Nguyen, Hai An, Duong Kinh, An Lao, An Duong, Tu Ky and Vinh Bao.

Bac Giang sees fruitful results of personnel rotation

The rotation of senior State officials to key leadership positions at grassroots levels has proven effective in the northern province of Bắc Giang for years.

The activeness, creativeness and high responsibility of such officials had made a difference in the localities where they arrived.

Dương Văn Phong, vice chairman of Tiến Dũng Commune People’s Committee in the province’s Yên Dũng District, was rotated to the position in 2020.

Before that, he worked in the district People’s Committee including as the vice secretary of the district’s Youth Union Party Committee and vice head of the district’s agriculture department.

A graduate of Thái Nguyên Agriculture and Forestry University, Phong has a passion for farming.

Leading a commune where locals heavily rely on farming, he had the opportunity to make use of what he studied and what he was good at, Phong said.

The young vice-chairman introduced safe vegetable models and modern farming technologies to local farmers including Israeli automatic watering and fertilising systems.

As a result, clean vegetables from local co-operatives were accepted by major distributors like BigC, Vinmart and Saigon Co.op supermarkets.

Phong said many local co-operatives were increasing investment and expanding production to better meet market demand.

Another young official of Yên Dũng District, Nguyễn Mạnh Chiến, was rotated to Trí Yên Commune and has worked as chairman of the commune People’s Committee and secretary of the commune’s Party Committee since 2018.

Before the rotation, Chiến was the chairman of the Yên Dũng District’s Farmer’s Association and a top leader of the district’s Youth Union.

With experience from frequently working with farmers and young people, Chiến made decisive moves in Trí Yên Commune, which focused on improving local transport infrastructure and implementing high-tech agriculture.

In October last year, Trí Yên Commune was recognised a new rural area model, with all local roads being improved, expanded and concretised.

Agriculture production models in the commune are seen as good examples for other localities to follow.

Vice head of Personnel Organisation Department of Yên Dũng District Party Committee Trần Văn Quỳnh said that in the last five years, the district moved six district senior officials to the grassroots level, of them, two are a commune People’s Committee chairman cum secretary of commune Party Committee, two others hold the position of People’s Committee chairman while two work as the secretary of commune Party Committees and vice chairman of commune People’s Committee.

“The personnel rotation policy pushes every official to make efforts to show their ability and impress both leaders and people,” Quỳnh said.

Vice secretary of Yên Dũng District Party Committee Tạ Quang Khải said he highly appreciated the performance of rotated young officials as they had experience and responsibility.

“In any position, assigned any tasks, they have fulfilled excellently and more importantly, they have gained the trust of local people,” Khải said.

Before any rotation, district leaders must know about difficulties, desires and expectations of local people, then select suitable personnel for the localities, Khải said.  

Enterprise and social responsibility efforts in the context of COVID-19

In 2020, facing COVID-19, the Vietnamese economy has been suffering from severe aftershocks. However, in that context, we also witnessed resilience in maintaining jobs for employees, vigorous recovery and restructuring efforts of enterprises to overcome the crisis and work to repel the pandemic. Especially, many businesses showed their social responsibility and solidarity.

The same goes for Samsung Vietnam. An unprecedented challenge from the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of the values of co-prosperity and development. Continuing to implement social responsibility activities is one of the ways Samsung reveals these values. 

Samsung Vietnam donated VNĐ10 billion, including cash and protective clothing, to the Vietnamese Government for the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, more than VNĐ1.6 billion donated by employees’ through CSR kiosks and factory grassroots labor union contributions was also presented for COVID-19 prevention and control in Việt Nam.

To assist the Government in accelerating the deployment of technology applications in preventing the pandemic, Samsung Vietnam also presented the group’s most advanced smartphone products to serve testing and developing the application for COVID-19 in Việt Nam. At the same time, Samsung Vietnam also provided large-screen displays and televisions to assist authorities in monitoring the pandemic.

Strive to maintain community activities

Besides supporting Việt Nam’s pandemic prevention, various community activities of Samsung have continued to grow despite the pandemic.

Most recently, factories and employees of Samsung Vietnam donated VNĐ5 billion to support fellow Vietnamese in the central provinces affected by floods. The donation was given through the Fatherland Front Committees of Bắc Ninh, Thái Nguyên and partly transferred directly to people in flooded areas. 

Previously, to share the heavy losses caused by flooding in the Central region, Samsung Vietnam factories simultaneously launched a fundraising programme. The total amount came from the employees’ donations along with contributions from the trade union fund and the factory’s social responsibility fund.

In addition, Samsung Vina Electronics, the sales and marketing units of Samsung in Việt Nam, have carried out the program “Joining hands with people in the Central region to overcome the effects of floods and storms” in six affected provinces. The most affected areas are Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, Thừa Thiên Huế, Quảng Nam and Quảng Ngãi. Accordingly, Samsung will repair and maintain all Electronics-Refrigeration products for free, support 50 per cent of the price to replace new genuine components; do laundry for free, to ensure the hygiene and well-being of residents in the floodplain, and donate Samsung washing machines to the locality after the programme ends.

“Blood for Vietnamese 2020” is also a programme that Samsung continued to implement in 2020 in the conditions of ensuring safety against the pandemic. Since 2010, Samsung has implemented the “Blood for Vietnamese 2020” programme, so far it has contributed more than 87,000 blood units for emergency and disease treatment and is expected to contribute an additional 10,000 units of blood this year.

As part of a series of activities that light up the aspirations to reach the young generation’s science dreams, Samsung has built Hope School for the poor in Bắc Ninh and Thái Nguyên provinces. In 2020, Hope School in Bắc Giang has officially started construction in Đinh Hương Village, Thắng Town, Hiệp Hòa District, Bắc Giang Province. At the same time, Samsung also signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the implementation of the Samsung Hope School project in Mai Pha Commune, Lạng Sơn City. It is the fourth school in the Samsung Hope School project.

In addition, amid the pandemic, many meaningful activities, and humane programmes of the Samsung Vietnam community have brought happiness, hope and motivation to many people such as: donating wheelchairs, awarding scholarships, along with many other programmes.

Families in Nghệ An still waiting for houses after three years

Tết (Lunar New Year) is approaching and more than 60 households in Lượng Minh Commune of the central province of Nghệ An will be forced to spend the holiday in makeshift huts because two projects to resettle the people in proper houses lack capital.

Along road 543B passing Lương Minh Commune of Tương Dương District, dozens of makeshift tents made of bamboo are home to the local people of ethnic minority hamlets Minh Phương, Lả and Xốp Mạt.

This is the third year hundreds of people will spend Tết in the temporary houses, still awaiting resettlement.

Lô Văn Thành, a resident of Minh Phương Hamlet, said: “In August 2018, the Bản Vẽ Hydro-Power Plant discharged water with a record flow which washed away dozens of houses along the Nậm Nơn River in Lương Minh Commune.”

“Fortunately, 34 households in the villages were promptly evacuated,” he said.

However, since then Thành’s family and other households have lived in makeshift tents waiting to move into resettlement areas in Lả Hamlet.

“My whole family of 10 people has lived in a temporary house about 30sq.m wide, built from wooden panels, roofed with leaves for the past three years,” Thành said.

“When the rain was heavy, the whole family could not sleep because of the water leaking and strong wind,” he said.

“The hard work of adults was clear, but the poor children. This is the third Tết we don’t have a real home to celebrate like other people,” he said.

Not far away from Thành’s family, the situation of Lô Thị Lan’s family in Minh Phương Hamlet is not much better.

During the floods in August 2018, the homes of Lan’s family and 30 other households in the hamlet were swept away.

Many families had to build shelters on the mountainside or road 543B.

Some other families still have to live in their relatives’ homes to wait for moving to the resettlement area.

Lan said: “When setting up temporary camps on the side of the road, the local government said it would take about six months to move to the resettlement area.”

“But we have lived here for three years. My family had to fix the ‘house’ three times because whenever it was raining, water flowed into the tent, causing furniture in the house to be damaged,” Lan said.

“The biggest desire of the people is that the authorities soon complete the resettlement sites for people to move to new places,” she said.

According to Vi Văn Phúc, chairman of Lượng Minh Commune, there were 63 households of the commune in Lả and Xốp Mai hamlets who were supposed to move to the two resettlement areas.

But the two resettlement projects had been paused for years because of a lack of capital, Phúc said.

The families were living in bad conditions without electricity and clean water, he said.

Meanwhile, Nguyễn Trung Sơn, vice director of the project management board of Tương Dương District, said in 2018, the People’s Committee of Nghệ An Province issued a decision to set up an investment project to construct a resettlement area in Lả Hamlet to evacuate 34 households out of landslide-prone areas.

In August 2020, 12 households who were severely affected by the flood in 2018 were added to the list of the project’s beneficiaries, bringing the total number of households to be resettled to 46, Sơn said.

The project was estimated to cost VNĐ14.8 billion (US$641,000).

After two years of implementation, the project had completed ground clearance with total capital disbursement of VNĐ7.4 billion (US$320,500) from the province.

Currently, the remaining capital for implementing other items had not been allocated for the contractor to complete the project, Sơn said.

The other project is the construction of resettlement area for 17 households in Minh Phương Hamlet and Xốp Mạt Hamlet which regularly flood.

The project planned to be invested with VNĐ7.3 billion (US$320,000) but so far only a third of the total capital from the Tương Dương District fund has been allocated.

To implement this project, the contractor had to spend its money to carry out 90 per cent of the project volume.

However, when the project was about to be completed, natural disasters caused damage to the construction so work was to paused to fix the problem.

There were many difficulties in the process of implementing these two projects and they had their design adjusted twice because the number of reallocated households increased, said Sơn.

In addition, the appraisal process for the adjustment took a long time which led to the construction delay, he said.

In October last year, many communes of the district were seriously affected by three big storms and heavy rains.

At present, the two projects reportedly are short of over VNĐ12 billion (US$520,000) to finish the electric network and provide clean water and communal houses, Sơn said.

The construction of two resettlement projects in Lương Minh Commune was extremely urgent, so all concerned authorities should pay attention to finding capital to complete the projects to soon stabilise the lives of the 63 families, Sơn said.

Deputy Minister of Health calls for pandemic prevention alongside economic development

All close contacts with COVID-19 patients, designated F1, must be put in centralised quarantine, while people designated F2 should be quarantined at home under Ministry of Health (MoH) regulations, a senior health official has said.

Deputy Minister of Health Đỗ Xuân Tuyên said on Friday after much speculation about quarantine for COVID-19 prevention over the upcoming Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday.

For those who are F3 and are allowed to home quarantine, they are required to declare and monitor their health, and quarantine at home so that if any problems arise, they must immediately handle them, he said.

“In areas which are not affected with the pandemic and are not locked down, activities should still be carried out normally following the Prime Minister’s direction to ensure both economic development and pandemic prevention,” said Tuyên.

He said, in recent times, some localities have not fully envisioned an outbreak and have not fully understood when a lockdown would be placed.

“For a ward with many streets, if a COVID-19 case appears in a street, it would be locked down whereas streets with no cases are free,” he said.

The MoH has assigned the General Department of Preventive Medicine to urgently compile guidance documents about when and how lockdowns will be imposed for nationwide implementation.

“We are not subjective and are ready to have a response whenever an outbreak occurs. Reality has proved that when a new COVID-19 case occurs, like in Quảng Ninh and Hải Dương provinces, we all have a very quick response,” said Tuyên.

Due to the work of the National Steering Committee, localities are doing relatively well and the two outbreaks of Hải Dương and Quảng Ninh are still under very strict control.

When a new infection is detected, the patient must be quarantined, he said.

“Only then can we manage to prevent the pandemic from spreading to the community,” he said.

In areas where there are no cases and activities are normal, people still have to fully comply with anti-pandemic measures under the direction of the MoH and the National Steering Committee, Tuyên added. 

Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu tightens forest-fire prevention measures

The southeastern province of Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu is taking urgent measures to prevent forest fires as the area enters the peak period of the dry season.

Agencies have to identify major forests at a high risk of fire and spread, and localities must be prepared to prevent and control fires.

The province has 33,600 ha of forests, accounting for nearly 17 per cent of the province’s total land area.

Forest fire-prevention drills have been held at district and provincial levels, while firebreaks, reservoirs and canals that would help prevent forest fires were completed before January 20.

The province’s Forest Protection Sub-department has inspected high-risk forests around the clock since last December.

The sub-department has temporarily stopped all activities that clean vegetation in forests during the peak dry season.

Trần Giang Nam, deputy head of the sub-department’s Nature Conservation and Forest Management and Protection Division, said: “Forest owners have established plans for reservoirs, firebreaks and controlled forest burning to prevent and control fires.”

The sub-department has also increased public awareness about forest fire prevention and control.

One forest fire, at the Trương Phi Mountain in Đất Đỏ District’s Phước Hải Town, has occurred in the province in the dry season, destroying 1ha of bushes and grasses.

Đất Đỏ and the neighbouring district of Long Điền typically have forest fires every year.

Nguyễn Văn Lời, deputy head of the Long Điền – Đất Đỏ Forest Protection Bureau, said the two districts have mountainous terrains and no fences surround the forests, which allows people to enter forests to harvest honey and burn incense, causing forest fires. 

Xuyên Mộc District, which has the largest forest area in the province, is also a hotspot for forest fires in the dry season because of alternating residential and forested areas.

Phạm Hữu Phương, deputy head of the Xuyên Mộc Forest Protection Bureau, said the bureau would establish measures to prevent and control forest fires this dry season.

The district has completed the preparation of facilities and human forces for fire prevention and control, he said.

The district will pay more attention to prevent and control forest fires from now to after Tết (Lunar New Year), which falls on February 12, he said.

In the 2019 – 20 dry season, the province had eight forest fire cases, causing damage to 2.1ha of forest, down two cases against the 2018 – 19 dry season.

AstraZeneca vaccines prove safe, effective, will be delivered to Viet Nam by mid-year

The Ministry of Health has approved the use of COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca following the primary analysis of Phase III clinical trials from the UK, Brazil and South Africa, which 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, according to a press release from AstraZeneca Vietnam issued on February 4.

AstraZeneca Vietnam and the Vietnam Vaccine Joint Stock Company will work together to supply 30 million doses in the country, starting mid-year.

A representative from VNVC told the Sài Gòn Giải Phóng (Liberated Sài Gòn) that the company has completed negotiations on the deal with AstraZeneca – a global biopharmaceutical business from the UK.

Supply Director of VNVC Vũ Thị Thu Hà said her company has made the best preparations to receive the vaccines and give injections to residents.

The analysis result of the vaccine was published as a preprint in The Lancet.

Results demonstrated vaccine efficacy of 76 per cent after the first dose, with protection maintained to the second dose. With an inter-dose interval of 12 weeks or more, vaccine efficacy increased to 82 per cent.

The analysis also showed the potential for the vaccine to reduce asymptomatic transmission of the virus, based on weekly swabs obtained from volunteers in the UK trial. The data showed that PCR positive readings were reduced by 67 per cent after a single dose, and 50 per cent after the two dose regimen, supporting a substantial impact on transmission of the virus.

The primary analysis for efficacy was based on 17,177 participants with 332 symptomatic cases from the Phase III UK, Brazil and South Africa trials led by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, a further 201 cases than previously reported.

Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of biopharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca, said: “This primary analysis reconfirms that our vaccine prevents severe disease and keeps people out of hospital. In addition, extending the dosing interval not only boosts the vaccine’s efficacy, but also enables more people to be vaccinated upfront.”

Professor Andrew Pollard, chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial, and co-author of the paper, said: “These new data provide an important verification of the interim data that has helped regulators such as the MHRA in the UK and elsewhere around the world to grant the vaccine emergency use authorisation. It also helps to support the policy recommendation made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation for a 12-week prime-boost interval, as they look for the optimal approach to roll out, and reassures us that people are protected 22 days after a single dose of the vaccine.”

Data will continue to be analysed and shared with regulators around the world to support their ongoing rolling reviews for emergency supply or conditional approval during the health crisis.

AstraZeneca is also seeking Emergency Use Listing from the World Health Organization for an accelerated pathway to vaccine availability in low-income countries. 

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

Efforts are being made to promote the sale of crops, fruits and meat of farmers in coronavirus-hit provinces, including the two hardest-hit Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, as the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday nears.

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 per cent 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 per cent 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.

Ha Noi, 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 Hai Duong Province 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, Quang Ninh Province 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.

Passenger bus fares hike as Tet nears

Passengers bus tickets have increased by up to 50% as travel demand has increased near Tet.

Because of Covid-19, the number of passengers at Giap Bat Bus Station on February 1 was more like a normal weekend than the seasonal rush expected before Tet. Some short-trip buses to Ninh Binh, Thai Binh and Nam Dinh only have five to seven passengers. Hoang, an employee of Thien Truong Company, said in previous years, they had to work full capacity and even used back-up buses.

Nguyen Anh Toan, director of Transerco, said they had started the transportation plan for Tet with 2,200 back-up buses at major bus stations like My Dinh, Giap Bat, My Dinh, and Gia Lam. The number of passengers is expected to increase by 130%-150%. However, they haven’t had to use back-up buses yet.

Despite the slight increase in the number of passengers, fares have increased by 30%-50%. The fares for buses to Thanh Hoa Province increased from VND120,000-VND150,000 to VND180,000-VND200,000.

Nguyen Tat Thanh, director of Giap Bat Bus Station, confirmed that many transportation firms had applied for a price hike. During Tet, most buses only run with passengers one-way and have to return empty so they have raised prices to pay for extra costs.

Procedures for the price hikes were already completed with the departments of finances and departments of transport before the new Covid-19 outbreak.

Third Covid-19 field hospital to be handed over to Hai Duong

More than 200 workers and soldiers on February 6 completed renovating 5,000 square meters of floor area at the Sao Do University in the northern province of Hai Duong into a third Covid-19 field hospital, which is ready to be handed over for the province to treat coronavirus patients.

It took just a week to complete the renovation work. The three-story field hospital is located far away from residential areas. Its ground floor was equipped with testing and treatment facilities as well as is a place for receiving coronavirus patients. The remaining floors accommodate patient rooms and a number of functional units.

The hospital has 239 beds, which will be extended to 300 if necessary.

Early this month, the equipment used at a similar hospital at Da Nang city’s Tien Son sports center was transported to the Sao Do University to set up the field hospital.

All of the engineers and workers involved in the construction of the field hospital had their health monitored regularly by the Hai Duong Province Center for Disease Control and Prevention during the construction.

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