Month: August 2021

The strategy on building and perfecting the legal system and law enforcement by 2030 towards 2045 was discussed at the first meeting of sub-committee No. 1 in Hanoi on August 31, under the chair of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

The strategy aims to meet the demand for building and perfecting the rule-of-law socialist State of Vietnam.

The sub-committee for developing the strategy was headed by NA Chairman Hue. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh and NA Vice Chairman Nguyen Khac Dinh serve as deputy heads.

The strategy development is one of the four projects that the Party delegation to the legislature has been assigned to implement.

The sub-committee approved a plan on the implementation of the project, and looked into a draft report regarding the issue.

The implementation should be based on the reality as well as documents issued by the 13th National Party Congress, the top legislator said, asking the compiling group to consider opinions raised at the meeting and international experience to ensure the quality of the project.

The project must be submitted to the steering committee of the Party delegation to the NA before September 15.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The 2021 amnesty decision of the Vietnamese President was announced at a press conference held in Hanoi on August 31.

Vice Chairman of the Presidential Office Pham Thanh Ha announced President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s Amnesty Decision No 1535/QD-CTN, which was signed on August 30 and will take effect on September 1.

Accordingly, amnesty is granted to 3,026 prisoners who are serving jail terms, three whose sentences have been suspended, and six others with imprisonment delayed.

Among the amnesty beneficiaries, there are 21 holding foreign nationalities, 499 persons of ethnic minority groups of Vietnam, and 314 religious followers, said Deputy Minister of Public Security Maj. Gen. Le Quoc Hung, who is also a permanent member of the amnesty advisory council.

Ha noted granting amnesty is a legal institution regulated in Article 88 of the Constitution of Vietnam, and it was institutionalised in the 2018 Amnesty Law and relevant legal documents.

Granting amnesty illustrates the humanity and magnanimity tradition of the Vietnamese people, as well as the Party and State’s leniency policy towards prisoners who have shown good conduct, the official noted.

He stressed that the amnesty deliberation process consistently adheres to the principle of ensuring strictness, openness, democracy, right persons, and right conditions so that all eligible prisoners are taken into consideration.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam consumed nearly 2,600 tonnes of HCFC substances in 2020, down 35 percent from the base consumption, and also down from nearly 3,600 tonnes in 2019, statistics showed.

In January 1994, Vietnam became one of the first countries to join the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s department of climate change is implementing the second phase of Vietnam’s project on eliminating HCFC substances for 2018-2023 (HPMP II).

The project, funded by the World Bank, targets to reduce Vietnam’s HCFC consumption by 35 percent as committed to the Montreal Protocol.

The project has so far provided technical and financial support to enterprises manufacturing air conditioners, refrigeration equipment, and foam insulation in line with the conditions set by the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol regarding technology conversion without using HCFC-22 and HCFC-141b pre-blended polyol.

To date, a number of sub-projects providing technical assistance and funding for the procurement of technology conversion equipment have been implemented, and a number of proposals for similar sub-projects are in the making.

Vietnam is expected to issue regulations banning the import of HCFC-141b pre-blended polyol used in the production of foam insulation from January 1, 2022.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam (CAAV) has asked domestic airlines to continue reducing the frequency of flights from/to cities and provinces currently placed under social distancing.

The CAAV said to strictly comply with the directions of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Transport amid complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic nationwide as well as to ensure the interests of customers, it asked Vietnamese airlines to stop selling tickets on domestic routes.

“Airlines are responsible for refunding money to passengers who have made payment for tickets on domestic flights issued after July 21 until further notice,” the CAAV said.

According to the CAAV, airlines are currently being asked to minimise flights from provinces and cities which are under social distancing orders to Hanoi. Specifically, flights from Can Tho and Phu Quoc to Hanoi and vice versa have been suspended. There are only two flights a day between Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City operated by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines.

However, there are no restrictions on cargo flights, it said.

Regarding flights serving disease prevention and public service, carriers make plans and report to the CAAV for consideration on a case-by-case basis.

The CAAV also requested the airlines to strengthen COVID-19 prevention and control work. Passengers on flights between provinces and cities that are implementing social distancing and Hanoi are required to have a COVID-19 negative certificate by RT-PCR method or a negative rapid test in line with the Ministry of Health’s regulations.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has signed a decision approving a programme on training and retraining skills of human resources to meet requirements of the fourth Industrial Revolution.

The programme aims at training new occupations and new vocational skills for at least 20 professions and occupations at the college and intermediate educational level, with priority given to information technology, new technology, high technology and future skills that meet the requirements of the fourth Industrial Revolution.

The minimum number of trainees in each industry or occupation is 120, and the total number of trainees participating in the programme is about 4,800.

It also aims to retrain to improve knowledge and skills associated with job change for at least 300,000 workers affected by the fourth Industrial Revolution with the training time of under one year, and identify new industries, training occupations, vocational skills and training models to adapt to the revolution.

Its tasks and solutions are to assess and identify training and retraining needs, develop training and retraining programmes, improve the capacity of teachers and managers of vocational education institutions and teachers in enterprises, and select vocational education institutions and enterprises to order training and retraining.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Kim Dong Publishing House has released a book named “Uncle Ho wrote the Declaration of Independence” by journalist Kieu Mai Son on the occasion of the 76th anniversary of the August Revolution (August 19) and National Day (September 2).

The book recreates a short but very important historical moment in the August Revolution in 1945, when President Ho Chi Minh wrote the Declaration of Independence giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

Son has diligently collected, researched, classified and compared sources to be able to obtain detailed, specific, and convincing documents about the Declaration initiated and completed by President Ho Chi Minh. Those are documents of people who lived and worked with the late leader rewritten or recounted

Through documents that Son provides, readers know that President Ho Chi Minh read the original Declaration of Independence of the United States while in the Viet Bac war zone. After drafting, he read and consulted with members of the provisional government who were reputable intellectuals before finalising.

The book also cited History Professor Furuta Motoo of Japan’s University of Tokyo as saying that President Ho Chi Minh’s career and his thoughts are of great epochal significance, not only to the Vietnamese nation alone.

Dr. Tonnesson, a Norwegian historian, when researching the history of the August Revolution of Vietnam and President Ho Chi Minh, assessed the Declaration of Independence as one of the main inspirations of a major struggle guideline, born after the Second World War. It was the process of gaining national independence on a global scale.

On September 2, 1945 at Hanoi’s Ba Dinh Square, President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence declaring the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam)

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Co-operatives in the capital city of Hanoi have affirmed their role in “One Commune, One Product” (OCOP) programme and rural economic development, with 282 out of 1,054 products have been evaluated and recognised as OCOP goods.

However, they are facing difficulties in accessing capital, science and technology and markets. Therefore, it is necessary to find solutions to bring into full play the role of co-operatives.

According to the Hanoi Coordination Office for New-style Rural Development Programme, 64 co-operatives have taken part in the OCOP Programme since 2019 and their products have been well received by consumers.

Thanks to detailed and comprehensive evaluation criteria and guidance from authorities, the co-operatives have understood shortcomings and strengths of each product. Thus, they can make some adjustments, innovate and perfect the production and processing processes in a more scientific manner.

In addition, the OCOP Programme has helped co-operatives to develop strategies for new market segments as well as improve products’ quality and brand.

Phung Van Ha, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nui Be Grapefruit Cooperative in Chuong My district’s Nam Phuong Tien commune, said he hoped to receive support from the city authorities in terms of capital, land, access to science and technology advance to enhance management and production capacity to meet the increasing demand of the market.

Representatives of many co-operatives proposed that the city promote communication about OCOP products to make it easy for consumers to access, choose and use them.

The Hanoi Coordination Office for New-style Rural Development Programme said that the city had 1,054 OCOP products by the end of last year, mainly agricultural produce, food, beverages, and handicrafts.

The promotion of these products was particularly important: Participating in e-commerce, online sales and livestreams to promote the products is an effective solution to help maintain the supply chain of agricultural produce during the pandemic, said the office.

Deputy head of the office Nguyen Van Chi said that even in the days when the city is implementing social distancing to prevent and control the COVID-19 pandemic, it still organises many trade promotion activities to support the consumption of OCOP products and online training programmes to improve knowledge and sales skills for sellers.

Currently, the office is preparing for “2021 Hanoi Online Forum connecting supply and demand of OCOP products and safe agricultural produce and food” which will take place in early September.

Pham Thanh Do, head of Economic Division of Me Linh district, said that in the coming time, the district will focus on supporting co-operatives to apply high technology and connect chains for sustainable production. The co-operatives will be assisted in selecting and perfecting products participating in the OCOP Programme, he added.

Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Ta Van Tuong said along with improving the efficiency of agricultural cooperations towards enhancing cooperation and association in production and consumption of products, the city will promote the development of general service co-operatives combined with tourism activities. It aimed at helping the cooperatives have more products verified, rated and recognised as OCOP goods this year and in the following years.

Hanoi targets to evaluate and classify at least 400 OCOP products with three-star and above ratings this year. To achieve the goal, the city will set up 30-40 new showrooms displaying and selling OCOP products.

The city authorities will ask departments and agencies to boost dissemination to enhance the people’s awareness on the OCOP products and urge broader participation. It will strengthen supervision on the deployment of OCOP programme and organise promotional activities to boost consumption of the products.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

An online exhibition held by the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum is underway to introduce 18 paintings on various materials by 15 individuals and groups of painters, featuring historical events leading to the success of the August Revolution in 1945.

The “Con duong doc lap” (Independence path) exhibition tells a story of Vietnamese people staying united to overcome all difficulties and hardship to gain victory.

It affirms the great significance of the August Revolution as well as devotion of President Ho Chi Minh, as well as the historical lessons for the national reform and international integration.

Particularly, many paintings at the event feature President Ho Chi Minh in important moments of the Vietnamese revolution, including “Mua xuan Bac v? Pac Bo” (The Spring that Uncle Ho returns to Pac Bo) by painter Duong Tuan, showing the memories of President Ho Chi Minh’s returning to Cao Bang on January 28, 1941 after more than 30 years of touring the world to seek ways to savage the nation. The exhibition, which is organised on the occasion of the 76th anniversary of the National Day (September 2) and August Revolution, is available on the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum’s website at vnfam.vn and fanpage at https://www.facebook.com/baotangmythuat./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency