Day: September 10, 2021

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has basically agreed with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s proposal on a pilot plan to welcome international tourists with vaccine passports to Phu Quoc resort island in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang for six months from October.

In a document issued on September 10, Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam asked the provincial People’s Committee to coordinate with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and relevant agencies to collect opinions from organisations, associations and businesses in order to develop and issue a specific plan for the implementation.

The Ministry of Health will work with the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in guiding the issuance of certificates of vaccination against COVID-19, and distributing vaccines to swiftly inoculate people living and working in Phu Quoc island city.

The Ministries of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Health; Public Security; National Defence; Foreign Affairs; Transport; and Information and Communication and related agencies are requited to coordinate with, guide and support the provincial People’s Committee in implementing the plan.

According to a draft pilot scheme, the plan targets foreign tourists who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or those with certificates of recovery from COVID-19 recognised by an authorised agency in Vietnam.

Eligible tourists should be given their second shots at least 14 days and no more than 12 months before their entry. For those who have recovered from COVID-19, the time from hospital discharge to their entry date must not exceed 12 months. Travelers will be requested for a RT-PCR test within 72 hours prior to their departure, and certified negative for COVID-19 in English by authorities of the country that conduct the test.

The scheme will be applied for visitors who have registered to join package tours of travel agencies.

General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Nguyen Trung Khanh said Phu Quoc needs to speed up the vaccination for its residents, and those that will directly involved in welcoming and serving holiday makers.

Attention should be paid to developing a specific plan for the pilot programme related to medical regulations, immigration procedures, procedures to welcome and serve tourists at accommodation establishments, tourist attractions, and plans for handling medical incidents.

Phu Quoc is one of the eight “green zone” districts and cities of Kien Giang province. It has to date recorded five COVID-19 infections which have been successfully treated.

Under the draft plan, Kien Giang needs to prepare human resources, materials, medical equipment and supplies, strengthen testing capacity, ensure safety plans for disease prevention and settlement of incidents.

Previously, the Government Office sent a document to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, ordering “rapid” study and piloting of a ‘vaccine passport’ mechanism for foreign arrivals to some popular tourism destinations where COVID-19 outbreaks could be contained such as Phu Quoc island.

At a regular meeting of the Government on September 6, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh directed the implementation of the pilot plan, aiming to attract between 2-3 million foreign arrivals to the island this year.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Dr Kidong Park, Representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Vietnam, has highlighted the Vietnamese Government’s measures and efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The whole-of-society approach is led by the highest level of the Government, with the Prime Minister now heading the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 prevention and control. This demonstrates the strong determination of the Government to combat the outbreak situation,” Park said in an inclusive interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) on September 10.

Following is the full text of the interview.

What are the WHO’s opinion of safely living with the COVID-19 pandemic? What are the specific steps Vietnam should take to safely adapt to life amid the pandemic?

The world has been fighting this pandemic profusely in the past 20 months. In Vietnam, our early and strong action in 2020 kept in virus at bay. However, we have been facing the most challenging phase of the pandemic in the last four and half months. Vietnam has been taking a whole-of-society approach to limit transmission and save people’s lives.

It now seems clear that globally, the virus will not disappear – at least not in the near future. The virus will continue to spread and endanger people’s lives. It will also have both short- and long-term financial consequences.

At the same time, we have gained more knowledge on the virus – its characteristics and who are at higher risk of severe disease. We also have effective tools to fight the virus – 5K and vaccine.

With this in mind, WHO can see some scenarios for the future.

The first scenario is where our actions allow us to live with the virus, also called the NEW NORMAL.

We reduce the risk it poses by making the best use of vaccination and other prevention measures, and respond with short, targeted measures.

This does not mean giving up on controlling the virus. We focus on trying to limit spread, protecting the most vulnerable, and in doing so, reduce the health and broader social impacts of outbreaks.

The second scenario is where more dangerous variants are able to evolve – variants that spread even more easily, cause more severe disease, or are resistant to existing vaccines.

This scenario – and all of the associated health, social and economic costs – is the one we wanted to avoid if possible.

Which of these two scenarios becomes reality depends on which individual and collective actions we choose to take in the weeks and months ahead. So it is in our power to shape the course that the pandemic takes next.

The Government may consider the followings to shape the future scenario of this pandemic toward more favorable one:

First, getting priority populations, especially health workers, older people, those with co-morbidities and then whole communities, vaccinated as quickly as possible is crucial.

Second, give more priorities of vaccination to areas with relatively weaker health system and fragile settings.

Third, continue to strictly practice 5K measures at home, school, workplace etc., with the personal protective behaviors and public health measures that reduce transmission even some social distancing measures are relaxed.

Fourth, further strengthen health system capacity to better manage serious COVID-19 patients while introducing appropriate right care pathway model to avoid overloading of hospitals with mild and moderate cases.

Using these tools in combination is the key to limiting spread, and the virus’ ability to mutate into more dangerous variants.

The Government, and with support from the people, can work hand in hand to do all we can to avoid the second future scenario.

What is WHO’s assessment about Vietnam’s home-grown COVID-19 vaccine and medicine?

I am aware that a few COVID-19 vaccine candidates are being developed by manufacturers in Vietnam. Some are already at clinical trial phases.

WHO has supported Vietnam in strengthening the capacity of national regulatory authority of vaccine and medicine, the NRA. The NRA Vietnam has been certified as the Maturity Level 3 by WHO in 2020 which is the second highest level in WHO assessment scheme of NRA. It means that the NRA in Vietnam is capable to guide vaccine manufactures and evaluate the efficacy, safety and quality of vaccine candidates.

I would remind you that the development of new vaccine is very challenging task. Sometimes, it fails.

The best way to support the vaccine research and development in county is to let the NRA and the developer do it scientific way and do not skip any essential step to ensure efficacy, safety and quality of vaccines under development.

WHO’s evaluation on the country’s COVID-19 prevention and control measures in the past time? What should Vietnam do in the time to come.

Vietnam is still in a very complicated and difficult outbreak situation, with number of cases crossing more than half million since beginning of September. We continue to report high numbers of daily recorded cases and deaths over the past weeks, mainly from Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring provinces. This trend is concerning as it indicates a very high risk of onwards community transmission.

Health care facilities in outbreak provinces are overstretched, health care system is under a huge pressure and health care workers are overwhelmed.

The Government of Vietnam has been tirelessly implementing measures, making tremendous efforts and mobilising resources to fight this pandemic, especially to support hotspot provinces. We have seen human resources and technical experts sent for surge support to provinces that needed additional capacities.

The whole-of-society approach is led by the highest level of the Government, with the Prime Minister now heading the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 prevention and control. This demonstrates the strong determination of the Government to combat the outbreak situation.

There is still a lot of tasks ahead to overcome and the next few weeks will be critical. WHO remains confident that Vietnam’s robust public health emergency response is on the right track in managing the current outbreaks.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Belgium’s biotechnology company Univercells can access and provide vaccines for Southeast Asia in particular and Asia at large through cooperation in Vietnam, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien has affirmed.

He made the remark during a recent meeting with representatives of Belgium’s biotechnology company, trade partners and the Wallonia Export-Investment Agency, on cooperation in COVID-19 vaccine and medicine production.

The meeting, part of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue’s visit to Belgium and the European Union, was among efforts by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in seeking vaccine supply and carrying out vaccine diplomacy.

A representative of Univercells said the company is paying heed to investment in vaccine production facilities in Vietnam, along with production of personal medical equipment; experience sharing and training for vaccine manufacturers and connection with various partners to find suitable financial sources for cooperation projects.

Dien suggested development orientations in line with the country’s infrastructure in the field, urging the Belgian firm to promptly send suggestions and materials to the Vietnamese side for consideration.

During his trip, Dien also received Secretary General of the Federation of European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI) Jerome Pero and representatives from Nike Group.

He hoped that FESI and Nike will raise voice to the EU and US administration to make it easier for Vietnam to access vaccines at the earliest via the COVAX mechanism or commercial channel.

FESI and Nike also discussed the possibility of assisting Vietnam in COVID-19 fight such as supplying test kits or factory cleansing equipment.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A talk on Vietnam’s innovation and start-ups took place in Switzerland on September 9 to exchange views on innovation and digital transformation in Vietnam, and on how to start a business in blockchain technology, health care, community service and startup ecosystem in Vietnam.

The event was jointly organised by the Vietnamese Embassy in Switzerland, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), and the Association of Vietnamese Intellectuals and Experts in Switzerland.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Switzerland Le Linh Lan informed participants of Vietnam’s economic development achievements during the 35 years of Doi Moi (Renewal), making it one of the most vibrant economies in the Asia-Pacific region, with its development goals focusing on promoting national digital transformation and developing digital economy and digital society.

Lan emphasised the role of innovation and digital transformation in Vietnam’s development strategy in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, the pandemic is the factor that promotes the development and innovation in digitisation in Vietnam with the birth of many applications to connect and protect public health such as Bluezone and Zavi.

Lan and other speakers discussed and answered many questions related to the Government’s policies on startups and the startup ecosystem in Vietnam, and the building of blockchain application projects to collect and share data on health, and the development orientation of VietSearch ecosystem to support Vietnamese individuals, communities and businesses around the world.

On the same day, the ambassador and the Association of Vietnamese Intellectuals and Experts in Switzerland had a meeting with FHNW president Regula Altmann-Hohl to discuss cooperation in business training, promoting the business and investment environment in Vietnam, and boosting exchanges between researchers and experts of the two countries.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A wide range of Vietnamese agriculture, forestry and fisheries products, processing food, wood furniture and handicrafts, consumption good, as well as tourism and trade services are on display at the China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) which opened on September 10 in Nanning, China.

These products are brought to the event by over 60 Vietnamese firms and their partners in China at a pavilion spanning across more than 2,000 sqm in Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

CAEXPO 2021 takes place to boost economic cooperation and trade between China and ten ASEAN member states. Nearly 4,000 foreign companies from over 40 countries and territories worldwide are showcasing their products and services in 905 pavilions, up 13.4 percent from 2020.

The expo was launched together with the 18th China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (CABIS) where governmental officials and business leaders will exchange views and seek partnership in trade, investment, cross-border financial services, technology innovation and digital economy.

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan attended the opening ceremony of the two events during which he read a congratulatory note from President Xin Jinping.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh and other leaders from Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Pakistan also delivered their remarks via pre-recorded videos at the ceremony.

Exhibitors from other ASEAN member states bring to the expo various products in the fields of aviation, marine transport, coffee, footwear and agriculture, while those from China, including tech giant Huawei, display goods in electronics, agriculture, engineering, food packaging, and equipment.

Latest customs data shows that ASEAN remains China’s biggest trade partner as the two-way trade spurred by 33.3 percent year on year to 553.9 billion USD in the first eight months of 2021. The value accounted for 14.5 percent of China’s foreign trade.

Launched in 2014, CAEXPO has been an important platform for enhancing bilateral trade and relations between China and ASEAN. This year, 26 high-level forums and 148 economic and trade promotion activities will take place in the framework of the four-day event, alongside a host of events to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the ASEAN-China dialogue ties.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnamese consumers expect a seamless banking experience when it comes to opening an account via a mobile app or website, with two in five expecting to answer 10 questions or less or they will abandon the process. One out of six Vietnamese will drop out if asked more than five questions.

The figure is part of the 2021 digital banking survey conducted by the Silicon Valley-based analytics company FICO.

“The pandemic is driving a digital-first mindset in Vietnam with 63 percent of consumers more likely to open an account digitally than a year ago,” said Aashish Sharma, senior director of decision management solutions for FICO in Asia Pacific.

“The number of consumers who prefer to open bank accounts digitally has grown to 42 percent and continues to rise, which is significant in a country with a strong branch culture,” said Sharma.

The survey revealed that consumer patience with account applications varied according to product. Vietnamese consumers had the highest expectations for completing applications in 10 questions or less, for savings accounts (53 percent), transaction accounts (51 percent) and Buy Now Pay Later products (47 percent).

Interestingly this expectation was significantly higher than other countries in the survey. For instance, just 41 percent of UK consumers and 51 percent of Australian consumers expected to answer 10 questions or less when opening a transaction account.

Overall Vietnamese consumers want digital experiences that reduce friction and inconvenience. They expect their main bank to know them, 70 percent want to prove their identity online and 25 percent of Vietnamese consumers say that financial institutions ask too many questions.

The survey also showed that increased friction and security is deemed appropriate by consumers when it comes to applying and onboarding for specific high-value financial products.

Despite relatively high levels of ease and confidence in applying for day-to-day online financial products such as current accounts, savings, loans and credit cards, more than half (61 percent) of customers polled expect greater rigour when it comes to mortgage applications.

Research showed that just 31 percent of Vietnamese consumers would apply for a mortgage digitally, compared to the survey average of around one in three (34 percent). In all countries bar the USA and UK, in-branch openings are preferred to online methods. South Africa was a modest outlier with 43 percent of customers favouring online mortgage applications.

More than one in two Vietnamese respondents polled (56 percent) said they were willing to answer 11 to 20 or more questions when it came to applying online for a mortgage.

Vietnamese consumers who open an account digitally prefer to carry out the process entirely in their chosen channel, whether it is a smartphone or a website. If customers are asked to move out of the channel to prove their identities, many of them will abandon the application, either giving up on opening an account completely or by going to a competitor. Of those who don’t immediately abandon, up to an additional 20 percent will delay the process.

This survey was conducted in January 2021 by an independent research company adhering to research industry standards. 1,000 Vietnamese adults were surveyed, along with 13,000 consumers in the USA, the UK, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnamese Ambassador to Ukraine Nguyen Hong Thach recently visited and had working sessions with leaders and businesses of Chernihiv city.

Leaders of Chernihiv said the Ukrainian city boasts strengths in export of farm produce, agricultural machinery and bunker gear. Such products are being shipped to some Southeast Asian nations, but have yet to gain a foothold in the Vietnamese market.

Local authorities voiced a hope that the Embassy of Vietnam in Ukraine will help connect the countries’ firms by taking into account the holding of a virtual business forum in tandem with COVID-19 prevention and control.

Chernihiv has set up sister city relations with two Vietnamese localities of Can Tho and Ca Mau, and will work to renew fields of cooperation and stand ready to create the optimal conditions for Vietnamese firms to cooperate and invest in the Ukrainian city.

For his part, Thach said economic-trade cooperation between Vietnamese localities and Chernihiv remains modest compared to their potential.

The two sides need to arrange trade promotions and diversify export items, he stated, agreeing on the organisation of a business forum in the coming time.

Then, the Vietnamese diplomat worked with two major businesses of Chernihiv in animal husbandry, meat processing and farm produce export, which are hoping to ship their products to Vietnam and import materials from the Southeast Asian nation, particularly rice.

During his trip, Thach also met with the Vietnamese community in the city.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Babies with mothers infected with COVID-19, born between April 27 and December 31, 2021, will be provided with 1 million VND (44 USD) each, according to the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA).

Under a decision made by Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affair Dao Ngoc Dung, Standing Vice Chairman of the National Committee on Children, orphaned or disadvantaged children with their mothers or fathers die of the coronavirus between April 27 and December 31, 2021 will also get 2 million VND (88 USD) each. Funding for the aid package comes from the National Fund for Vietnamese Children (NFVC).

The MOLISA requested the People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to direct relevant agencies to strictly comply with regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control to protect children from infection, prioritise treatment and care for those infected with COVID-19 at medical facilities, as well as care for their mental and psychosocial health.

They were also asked to coordinate with the NFVC to timely deploy, simplify procedures and create maximum favourable conditions for children of the above-mentioned groups to receive assistance.

In related news, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai on September 9 asked the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to collaborate with the Ministry of Education and Training and relevant agencies in guiding localities delivering rice support for students in the 2021-2022 school year.

The MoF was assigned to supervise the receipt, distribution and use of rice, ensuring that it reaches the right people at a right time in line with regulations.

According to the MOLISA, the COVID-19 pandemic has left a big impact on socio-economic development and people’s health, including children and pregnant women.

It is estimated that 11,822 children were F0s (COVID-19 patients) and 27,334 others are in close contact with COVID-19 patients as of August 31, 2021.

The pandemic has seriously affected children, both physically and mentally, because many of them had to study online for a long time and had a reduced source of nourishment, and even some are left without care as their parents were treated, quarantined, or died due to COVID-19.

Source: Vietnam News Agency