Day: October 8, 2021

Vietnam’s seafood exports continued falling 23 percent in September, following a significant decline of 36 percent in August, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

The association attributed the decrease to shrinking production as the southern localities had to impose social distancing measures to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Specifically, in the first half of September, most of the southern localities applied social distancing under the Prime Minister’s Directive 16, many processing factories suspended operations, leading to a decrease of 31 percent in the nation’s total seafood export turnover. In the second half of the month, several localities began loosening social distancing, which helped restore some production activities. Seafood export turnover in the whole month reached over 628 million USD, down 23 percent over the same period in 2020.

In the month, seafood exports to the US recovered with a slight increase of 3 percent year-on-year to 159 million USD, while those to other markets continued to decline, with China seeing the biggest drop (nearly 50 percent), and Japan, Canada, the UK and Australia also experiencing decreases of between 35 and 45 percent.

During January-September, the export of aquatic products hit 6.2 billion USD, up 3 percent year-on-year. Notably, shrimp exports reached 2.76 billion USD, up 2.6 percent, the exports of tra fish and tuna rose by 3.2 percent and 9 percent to 1 billion USD and 520 million USD, respectively.

VASEP said that the best outlook for seafood exports this year is to be equal to that of 2020, or 8.4 billion USD.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam is planning to reopen certain tourist destinations from November this year, towards a full resumption in June 2022, according to a plan mapped out by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Under the draft plan that the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) announced at a recent meeting, domestic tourism would be resumed from November with travelers from localities where the COVID-19 pandemic is under control allowed to travel under strict pandemic preventive rules regarding vaccination, RT-PCR testing, “5K message,” health declaration, and health app use.

As for foreign visitors, Phu Quoc will re-open on a pilot basis from November this year to March 2022, followed by other destinations meeting certain requirements like Ha Long (Quang Ninh), Hoi An (Quang Nam), Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa) and Da Lat (Lam Dong) from December 2021 to June 2022.

The full opening to international visitors could be in June 2022.

On October 7, the central province of Thanh Hoa proposed to the ministry that it hopes to receive foreign tourists at the end of this year.

Meanwhile, northern cities and provinces like Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh and Ha Giang have built various tourism products in preparation of the return of domestic visitors.

Localities that want to reopen tourism asked the VNAT to work with concerned agencies, including the Ministries of Health, Transport, Public Security and Foreign Affairs, to design consistent regulations for tourism when reopening.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Bamboo Airways plans to resume services on certain domestic routes from October 10 after seeking opinions from competent agencies and localities.

There will be flights from Ho Chi Minh City to such localities as Thanh Hoa, Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, and Binh Dinh provinces and Phu Quoc island in Kien Giang province.

A detailed plan will be rolled out after the carrier receives a licence from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) in line with new regulations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The airline said all of its staff have been vaccinated and taken regular COVID-19 tests.

During the first phase, passengers will have to keep physical distancing and show a certificate of negative COVID-19 results tested within 72 hours before departure. Those who have got the first dose three weeks prior to departure, or full two shots or recovered from the disease within six months will be exempted from the testing.

Passengers from HCM City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Long An provinces need to take PCR or rapid tests within 72 hours before departure.

After their arrival, they will undergo medical monitoring at home or lodging facilities for seven days, follow the Health Ministry’s “5K message” and take PCR or rapid tests on the first day and the seventh day.

For other domestic routes, Bamboo Airways will further observe instructions of competent agencies and seek opinions from localities to map out resumption plans.

Once licensed, it will resume nearly 60 domestic flights, including those from Hanoi and HCM City to almost airports nationwide, along with niche routes like Vinh-Buon Ma Thuot, Vinh-Da Lat, Da Lat-Buon Ma Thuot and Phu Quoc-Da Nang.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam’s artist Nguyen Trinh Thi and Nha San Collective have been selected to participate the 15th edition of contemporary arts exhibition Documenta (Documenta 15) in Germany’s Kassel next year.

Documenta 15 marks the first time Vietnam has sent representatives to the event, said curator Ace Le from Singapore.

Thi is a Hanoi-based filmmaker and artist. Thi uses montage to compose her works, drawing on different image media, from her own audio and visual recordings to found footage and still images from postcards, photography, newsreels, Hollywood films and ethnographic footage. She is also interested in incorporating new media into current works, including organic materials and natural forces.

Vietnamese artists to attend German exhibition Documenta for first time hinh anh 2

Nha San Collective, Artists gathering at Nha San during Lunar New Year’s Eve in Hanoi in 2018. (Photo: documenta-fifteen.de)

Her films and video art works have been shown at festivals and art exhibitions, including the 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane (2018); 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018); International Film Festival Rotterdam (2016); Jeu de Paume, Paris (2015); CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux (2015); 13th Lyon Contemporary Art Biennale (2015); Asian Art Biennial, Taichung (2015), among others.

In 2009, Thi founded Hanoi DOCLAB, an independent centre for documentary film and the moving image in Hanoi. In 2015 – 2016, she was a fellow of the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Programme.

Nha San Collective began operating as an independent artist collective in Hanoi in 2013, when a group of friends set up a publicly accessible space.

Nha San Collective has worked with fellow companions and collaborators to organize exhibitions, workshops, film screenings, talks, and other activities as a support platform for artists in the community.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and the Colombian Embassy in Vietnam on October 8 held a webinar discussing the role of central and local management agencies and enterprises in managing tourism at heritage sites.

The event, part of activities to realise the memorandum of understanding on tourism cooperation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Colombian Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, attracted the participation of hundreds of experts and delegates from the two countries.

They shared information, policies and experience in the role of central and local management agencies and businesses in tourism management at the UNESCO-recognised heritage sites, including Vietnam’s Trang An Landscape Complex – a World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site – in Ninh Binh province.

The delegates focused discussions on issues related to tourism management such as promoting the cultural and spiritual values of heritage sites, and preserving these values in a sustainable way.

Speaking at the webinar, deputy head of the VNAT Ha Van Sieu said that although the COVID-19 pandemic has had a heavy impact on the tourism industry, the world has the right to hope for the sector’s recovery and development in the near future.

This series of events will be the premise to clearly orient the recovery and development of the tourism industry of the two countries.

Director of the Ninh Binh Department of Tourism Bui Van Manh said that the title of world heritage has created an important highlight, making Ninh Binh a bright spot on the tourist map of Vietnam (top 10 localities with the highest number of visitors in Vietnam).

In order to actively respond to COVID-19 and prepare resources to develop tourism after the pandemic is put under control, the provincial Department of Tourism and the Management Board of the Trang An Landscape Complex have implemented many measures to stimulate tourism, including offering attractive products at preferential prices and ensuring service quality to attract domestic visitors.

The province is also developing new products to attract international tourists, especially those from regions that are not affected by the pandemic.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, the city Party Committee’s Mass Mobilisation Commission and municipal Religious Affairs Committee on October 8 held a send-off ceremony for 50 volunteers who are Buddhist dignitaries, monks, nuns and followers to join frontline forces in the fight against COVID-19 at the COVID-19 Intensive Care Hospital.

This is the ninth time the city has sent religious volunteers to support the frontline forces.

Speaking at the ceremony, Phan Kieu Thanh Huong, vice chairwoman of the VFF Committee of HCM City thanked the volunteers for their willingness to support the city’s health sector in treatment for COVID-19 patients. Their contributions will help reduce the pains and create a motivation for patients to quickly recover, she said.

Since July 22, 605 religious volunteers have served at COVID-19 treatment hospitals in the city.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi’s handicraft has ample room for growth and huge export potential and products must meet international requirements to enter foreign markets.

Representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the municipal Department of Industry and Trade joined a working session with some businesses in Bat Trang ceramics craft village on October 7 to seek ways for economic recovery in the post-pandemic period.

A survey amongst craft businesses and small scale companies showed that production chain is partly disrupted for a while, said Director of the MoIT’s Local Industry Department Ngo Quang Trung.

Therefore, solutions are needed to remove bottlenecks in consumption and maintain orders for export firms while continuing to observe COVID-19 prevention and control regulations.

It is necessary to bolster promotions once COVID-19 is brought under control and take part in international trade fairs.

Incentives for industrial production establishments to join trade fairs at home and abroad will be continued, Trung said, adding that efforts will be made to foster links amongst businesses for consumption.

The MoIT will mull over new policies which conforms with the reality in localities for support firms, he said.

For their part, businesses in craft villages are advised to devise solutions and optimal strategies for market development.

Bat Trang is well-known for the traditional pottery trade. There are approximately 200 enterprises and 1,000 households who produce and trade ceramic wares here, with the products exported to many countries such as Japan, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Russia, Italy, and France.

Hanoi has 1,350 craft villages producing diverse, sophisticated and high-quality products. Some of these products have gained firm footholds in the market.

Craft villages employ around one million labourers in rural areas with an average income of 5-6 million VND per month per person.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Schools in HCM City will reopen for in-person learning in the second semester of the academic year that begins in January amid declining COVID-19 infection cases and hospitalisations, according to the city’s Department of Education and Training.

Schools in the city have been fully online since the beginning of the new school year as part of an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

With more than 1.3 million students taking online classes, it is a tough task for the city’s educational sector, Nguyen Van Hieu, director of the department told a meeting on October 7.

The participation rate of online learning at primary education level stands at 97 percent, and 99 percent for secondary and high school education levels.

More than 30,000 students have not returned to the city after being sent back to their hometowns in different localities across the country after school closures.

Of that figure, more than 5,000 students have missed out on online learning due to lack of electronic devices, and the remaining 26,000 students have attended online classes.

More than 1,500 educational establishments in the city have been used as concentrated quarantine facilities and field hospitals. They will be closed in the middle of next month.

Schools will be sanitised and essential preparations will be made to ensure a clean and safe school environment prior to reopening.

The Can Gio district People’s Committee wants the department to reopen two schools in the island commune of Thanh An next week.

A total of 242 students in the first, second, sixth, ninth and 12th grades and 60 teachers are expected to attend in-person classes if the proposal is approved.

A total of 1.71 million students of all grades are studying at more than 2,400 schools in HCM City.

The first semester is slated to end by mid-January for secondary and high schools, and primary schools will complete their first semester one week later.

Source: Vietnam News Agency