Day: June 25, 2021

The Ministry of Health and the National Council of Ethics in Biomedical Research on June 25 agreed with the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City and the Military Medical University to speed up the third-phase clinical trial of the homegrown COVID-19 vaccine Nano Covax on all the 13,000 volunteers.

The agreement was made during a Hanoi meeting of the council to update the progress. Accordingly, all the volunteers are expected to have received the first jab by July 15 and the second shot by August 15. Data on the result of the third-phase trial will be gathered within August.

According to the council, the vaccine, which is developed by Vietnamese Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC, has a high level of safety and antibody production in this stage. However, it is necessary to have more time and number of samples as well as lab evaluation to access the effectiveness of the vaccine.

As scheduled, the results in the second-phase trial of the vaccine will complete in February 2022. However, after the Ministry of Health approved the implementation of the third phase, Nano Covax shots have been injected into the volunteers.

As of June 24, the 1,007 volunteers had been administrated with the first jab.

Members of the council stressed the need to ensure safety of the trial while hastening its progress./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has unveiled a plan to strengthen the management, recycling, reuse, processing, and reduction of plastic waste in the city.

It targets supermarkets and other commercial centres in the city using eco-friendly reusable plastics in place of single-use plastics this year.

Traders at traditional markets are encouraged to use eco-friendly reusable plastics to package food and cut single-use plastic packaging by half by year-end.

Shoppers are encouraged to limit the use of disposable plastic items and take reusable bags when they shop.

State agencies and State-owned companies are required to take the lead in campaigns for the reduction and recycling of plastic waste and ban single-use plastic items such as bottles, straws and containers.

Plastic waste discharged by seaside tourism services and seafood farming have to be collected and transferred to waste treatment facilities for recycling and treatment to reduce plastic waste in the oceans.

The city’s reduction, reuse and recycling programme will be scaled up to encourage the reduction of plastic waste.

City authorities have ordered district authorities to strengthen communication to raise public awareness and change attitudes towards plastic to reduce waste and to reuse and recycle.

It should be carried out at crowded public places such as supermarkets, malls, traditional markets, the airport, railway stations, hospitals, schools, stores, tourist sites, hotels, and parks.

Inspections related to plastic waste discharge and environmental protection taxes will be tightened.

More than 9,000 tonnes of solid household waste are generated daily in HCM City, including 1,800 tonnes of plastic, according to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Politburo has agreed in principle to continue issuing policies supporting the employees and employers hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chairing the Politburo’s meeting in Hanoi on June 25, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said the complex COVID-19 outbreaks since 2020 have substantially affected production, business, and service activities, especially in industrial parks, export processing zones, businesses employing a large number of workers, and populous provinces and cities, seriously impacting people’s employment, life, and income.

He applauded ministries, central agencies, and localities’ activeness in carrying out the guidelines on measures assisting pandemic-affected people issued by the Party Central Committee’s Politburo and Secretariat, the National Assembly, and the Government.

The implementation of the support policies for people and enterprises since the pandemic broke out last year holds great political and social significance, helping to minimise losses caused by the pandemic, recover production activities, ensure people’s life and safety, continue to promote people’s trust in the Party and State’s policies, and reflect the superiority of the regime, according to the Party leader.

Despite certain achievements in the COVID-19 combat, numerous difficulties remain and the disease situation is still complicated, he pointed out, requesting vigilance be maintained.

Support will be provided for employees and employers hit by the pandemic so as to simultaneously sustain production activities and fight against the disease, which are also the twin targets of the country now, he added.

At the meeting, the Politburo assigned the Party units at the Government and the National Assembly to base on its opinions to order relevant agencies to devise, soon issue, and effectively carry out support policies.

The Party chief demanded the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, ministries, sectors, and localities make timely response to the pandemic’s developments while stepping up examination and inspection to strictly deal with any violations and prevent losses and wastefulness during the enforcement of those policies./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate at 23,179 VND per USD on June 25, down 12 VND from the previous day.

With the current trading band of +/- 3 percent, the ceiling rate applied to commercial bank during the day is 23,876 VND/USD and the floor rate 22,586 VND/USD.

The rates listed at commercial banks continued to see decreases.

At 8:30 am, the rates at Vietcombank were listed at 22,870 VND/USD (buying) and 23,100 VND/USD (selling), both down 10 VND from June 24.

BIDV also cut both rates by 10 VND, listing the buying rate at 22,900 VND and the selling rate at 23,100 VND/USD./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The central province of Quang Binh has approved the establishment of a strict protection zone on 710ha of special-use forest area to protect 22 Hatinh langur herds in Dong Hoa commune of Tuyen Hoa district.

The province said all rock mining and mineral exploitation activities will be banned in the area and surrounding communes to ensure a safe habitat for the endangered primates.

The provincial rangers sub-department said at least 22 endangered langur herds with a total population of 156 have been found living in 509ha of primary limestone forest of Son Hoa, thanh Hoa, Dong Hoa, and Thuan Hoa communes since 2015. Thanh Hoa commune is home to the largest population with 12 herds and 91 individuals.

The urgent action plan on the protection of the endangered primates will help conserve the langurs and promote awareness among the community to conserve their natural habitat and the forest.

International biologists, conservationists and wildlife photographers have visited the site to take photos of the primates and nature.

According to Nguyen Thanh Tu, 59, a retired border guard soldier, he and local communities in the area have voluntarily protected the Hatinh langurs in Dong Hoa commune over the past decades.

The Hatinh langur, which is listed as an endangered species by the International Union of Conservation of Nature (on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species), lives only in central Vietnam and eastern Laos.

The largest population is in Quang Binh province, and a small group lives in neighbouring Quang Tri province.

A herd of five Hatinh langurs, which was found in a primary forest of Huong Lap commune of Huong Hoa district in Quang Tri, was reported to have had conflicts with local residents in 2020. The district rangers have been trying to move the endangered herd back to the forest since early May./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnam Railway Corporation (VNR) has proposed borrowing non-interest loans worth 800 billion VND (34.77 million USD) to deal with its difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proposal had been sent to the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises.

According to Vu Anh Minh, Chairman of the VNR Members’ Council, the corporation suffered losses of more than 1.3 trillion VND last year, and expected to lose an additional 942 billion VND this year.

If the pandemic lasts until next year, the VNR might lose all of its equity and would not be able to pay salaries for employees, he said.

Therefore, Minh said, apart from the 34.77 million USD non-interest loans, the VNR also suggested authorities give support policies to its 13,000 affected employees.

The corporation also proposed reducing the railway infrastructure use fees this year and in the following years, and reducing or exempting the land use fees for railway transportation firms this year and extending the fee payment deadlines.

Over the past five months, the railway sector earned more than 1.11 trillion VND in revenue, equivalent to 81.6 percent of the figure recorded in the same period last year and 60.1 percent in the period in 2019, when the pandemic had yet to break out.

At present, 1,169 employees of the VNR have their employment contracts suspended and 136 others have taken unpaid leave./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The 10-year government bond future contracts will be officially launched on derivatives market from June 28, according to the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX).

It is the third derivative product following the VN30 index and 5-year government bond futures.

The HNX hoped that the new futures will contribute to diversifying derivative products on the market and become an effective hedging tool for Government bond market.

The product has underlying assets as 10-year government bonds issued by the State Treasury, each worth 100,000 VND (4.3 USD) with an annual interest rate of 5 percent.

Since the start of its operation on August 10, 2017, derivatives market has seen a surge in trading volume, from 10,954 contracts per session in 2017 to 158,390 in 2020./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A trade promotion expo featuring more than 150 Vietnamese goods of high quality is taking place in Thailand’s Udon Thani province from June 24 to 27 as part of activities marking the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The Vietnamese Goods Week in Thailand – Udon Thani 2021 themed “A Flavour of Vietnam” is being participated by more than 20 Vietnamese firms, including Dalat Hasfarm, which sells fresh flowers and plants; Lam Dong Pharmaceutical JSC; Dong Xuan knitting company; Hong Ha and Thien Long stationery companies.

As part of the event at the Central Plaza in Udon Thani, fruits imported from Vietnam by the Central Group like lychee, dragon fruit, and sweet potato, are on display. Notably, close to 200kg of lychees prepared by the organisers have sold out. Other stalls selling traditional Vietnamese food like pho and spring roll are attracting many visitors.

Speaking at the opening ceremony on June 24, Vietnamese Trade Counsellor in Thailand Tran Thi Thanh My said the programme brings opportunities for Vietnamese companies to introduce their goods in Thailand and for Thai people to access made-in-Vietnam products.

She said the number of participating firms is limited due to COVID-19, expressing her belief that Vietnamese products on display will be favoured by Thai locals.

My hoped for more trade promotion events to take place in the time to come for increasing economic and commercial cooperation between the business communities, and people of Vietnam and Thailand.

Wanchai Janporn, Deputy Governor of Udon Thani, informed that his province houses the highest number of Vietnamese expatriates in Thailand, reflecting deep ties between locals and Vietnamese people. The official also highlighted his confidence in the success of the expo.

Emmananuel Couronne, Chief Merchandise Officer at Central Food Retail Group, said the Vietnamese Goods Week in Thailand is an important annual event of the Central Group, considering it a good chance for boosting Vietnam – Thailand relations and connecting their enterprises, serving Vietnamese and Thai consumers’ demand.

The Central Group and its partners wish to play the role of a product promotion channel for Vietnamese goods in Thailand and in the world, he affirmed./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency