Day: October 15, 2021

Over the past 30 years, natural disasters in Vietnam cause the death or missing of nearly 400 people along with economic losses of about 1-1.5 percent of GDP each year.

The information was released at a recent ceremony held by the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control to celebrate International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction and ASEAN Day for Disaster Management (ADDM).

Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh said that with the theme “Cooperation to overcome challenges together”, the event affirms Vietnam’s determination in cooperating with countries, agencies of the UN and ASEAN, and international organisations in raising global awareness of mitigating disaster risks and improving adaptive capacity and responding more effectively to natural disasters in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to him, Vietnam is one of the countries which are most affected by climate change and often suffer from many types of natural disasters, especially storms, floods, landslides, drought, and saltwater intrusion.

Therefore, the Vietnamese Party, State, and Government, local authorities, and socio-political organisations always pay attention to disaster prevention and control, he stressed.

Vietnam has actively joined international organisations and forums related to natural disaster prevention and mitigation, Thanh said, adding that Vietnam always is an active member and effectively contributes to ASEAN’s joint efforts in disaster risk reduction and prevention.

However, there are still many limitations related to forecast, warning, resources, equipment, infrastructure, forces, application of science and technology, and post-disaster recovery, he said. The COVID-19 pandemic poses a requirement to effectively respond to risks when they occur at the same time with natural disasters.

The Vietnamese Government always considers natural disaster prevention and control the top task of the whole political system in order to protect the people’s lives, health, and property, Deputy PM Thanh said.

Vietnam highly values and hopes that countries, organisations and international friends continue to accompany and support Vietnam in early access to advanced science and technology, and resources to promptly respond and quickly overcome impacts and consequences of natural disasters.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnamese national swimming team will leave for Hungary on November 1 to train for the 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and 19th Asian Games (ASIAD).

The team has nine athletes including Nguyen Huy Hoang, Nguyen Huu Kim Son, Hoang Quy Phuoc, Le Thi My Thao, Ngo Dinh Chuyen, and Pham Thi Van.

Swimming star Nguyen Thi Anh Vien wasn’t on the list to go to Hungary, because she had previously written an application to leave the Vietnamese swimming team. Although the National Sports Administration and her military team haven’t made a final decision on her proposal, she refused to go to Hungary.

According to Tran Duc Phan, deputy director of the National Sports Administration, right after the Vietnamese sports delegation returned from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the administration discussed investment and training for the swimmers.

Phan said that the process of preparing the swimming team to train abroad was urgent. If swimmers don’t train abroad, the current training conditions in the country plus the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic will greatly affect their performance.

High task

At the 30th SEA Games in 2019 in the Philippines, Vietnam won 11 gold medals and finished second in the region after Singapore (23 golds). The gold medallists in the 30th Games included Vien (six golds), Hoang (two golds), Tran Hung Nguyen (two golds), and Tran Tan Trieu (one gold).

In Hungary, the Vietnamese swimming team will enter the intensive training process to prepare for the 31st Games. Without Vien, the members of the Vietnamese swimming team will have to double their efforts to assert their position in the regional Games.

Another important task in 2022 of the team is to prepare for the ASIAD 19 in China in September. Vietnam has never won an ASIAN gold medal, the best achievement that Vietnamese swimmers is Hoang’s silver medal at the 2018 ASIAD in the men’s 1,500m freestyle in Indonesia.

At the Asian event in 2018, Hoang finished with a time of 15:01.63 and only lost to the world’s top swimmer Sun Yang of China. Currently, Sun Yang is banned after testing positive for a banned substance, so Hoang’s chance to change his colour of medal at the ASIAD 2022 is great.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung on October 15 held phone talks with the Foreign and Defence Policy Advisor to the Canadian Prime Minister, David Morrison, to discuss ways to promote bilateral ties and cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dung conveyed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s congratulations to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party on their victory in the general election on September 20.

The Deputy Minister also spoke highly of Canada’s foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific, and with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Vietnam.

Towards the 5th founding anniversary of the comprehensive partnership next year and the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Canada in 2023, Dung expressed his wish to further strengthen the bilateral comprehensive partnership in all areas to bring benefits to both people of both nations, contributing to peace, stability and development in the region and the world.

Amid complicated developments of the pandemic, he called on Canada to continue providing vaccine and treatment medicine support for Vietnam.

Morrison, for his part, said he treasures and wants to further deepen the Canada-Vietnam comprehensive partnership.

He highly valuated Vietnam’s COVID-19 prevention and control efforts with safe and flexible adaptation to the pandemic.

The official affirmed Canada’s commitment to help Vietnam and regional countries access vaccines via the COVAX Facility and the ASEAN COVID-19 Response Fund.

Both sides agreed to strengthen bilateral relations, initially facilitating visits all levels when conditions allow and maintaining regular cooperation mechanism between the two foreign ministries.

On regional and global issues of shared concern, including the East Sea issue, they highlighted the observance of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and agreed to continue close cooperation at regional and international multilateral forums.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan on October 15 attended the Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs’ Forum themed “Digital Transformation: From perception to action” on the occasion of Vietnam Entrepreneurs’ Day (October 13), Vietnamese Women’s Day (October 20) and the 20th anniversary of the Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs’ Council.

Speaking at the event, Xuan said the Vietnamese Party, State and society have increasingly spoke highly of the role of enterprises and businesses owned by women in particular which have made important contributions to Vietnam’s developmentTogether with the cause of gender equality, the contingent of female entrepreneurs has been growing stronger, with their firms accounting for 26.5 percent of the total nationwide, placing Vietnam sixth among countries with the highest number of businesswomen.

In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, they actively engaged in prevention and control while making contributions to social welfare, she said.

According to the Vice President, the event afforded participants a chance to share experience and seek ways to step up digital transformation, towards building a healthy and sustainable business environment.

She expressed her belief that the business community will contribute to effective and practical policy planning and enforcement, accelerate business restructuring, including digital transformation, for rapid and sustainable development.

Following the event, the Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs’ Council held a ceremony to celebrate its 20th founding anniversary (May 8).

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hosted a reception for Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Robyn Mudie on October 15, during which he spoke highly of the bilateral cooperation.

Two-way trade maintained an upward trend in the first months of this year, posting a year-on-year surge of nearly 50 percent despite difficulties brought by COVID-19, the PM said, affirming that the countries have ample room for growth.

The Government leader urged the two sides to effectively carry out the Vietnam -Australia Plan of Action for the Strategic Partnership for the 2020-2023 period, and step up economic, trade and investment cooperation.

He called on Australia to consider opening its door for Vietnam’s agro-fishery products and create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in the country, as well as increase scholarships for Vietnamese students and prioritise Vietnam in official development assistance.

Vietnam will create optimal conditions for Australian citizens living and working in the country, the PM pledged.

He thanked the Australian Government for its commitment to providing a total of 5.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine and a large amount of medical supplies to Vietnam following phone talks between the Vietnamese PM and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison in May, which reflect sentiments of the Australian Government and people for Vietnam. He also voiced his hope that Australia will continue to assist Vietnam’s COVID-19 fight.

In May, PM Chinh and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison held phone talks to discuss bilateral cooperation and issues of mutual concern.

For her part, the Australian ambassador affirmed that Australia will further support Vietnam in terms of vaccine and medical equipment, as well as help raise health care capacity in the Southeast Asian nation.

Australia always treasures and wants to lift its relationship with Vietnam to a new height in the near future, hoping that Vietnam will support its strategic partnership with ASEAN and continue close cooperation in climate change issues, particularly at the upcoming 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP 26.

At the reception, the two sides rejoiced at the strengthened political trust between the countries, voicing a wish to promote economic, trade and investment in a practical and efficient manner. They also took the occasion to exchange views on international and regional issues of mutual concern.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Its tourist attractions, unique culinary culture and pleasant night weather are great assets that will enable Binh Thuan province to develop its night-time economy, experts have said.

They were referring to the Government’s recent approval of a project to develop the province’s night-time economy from now through 2030, focusing on culture, entertainment, food and beverage services, and travel.

The project will have policies to encourage enterprises and business households to participate in the night-time economy, including improving their ability to access funding, especially from banks.

Promotion for night-time activities will be stepped up together with building night-time tourism products based on local cultural factors.

It will be implemented in Phan Thiet and Mui Ne in the first phase and in La Gi town in the next.

Binh Thuan needs to start developing the night-time economy not only for its own benefit but also to become a model for adjacent provinces like Ninh Thuan, the experts said.

Night-time attractions for tourists are still not diverse, and so the average time visitors stay is quite short at two to three days, they said.

The economists said enterprises need to make plans for the night-time economy, ensuring the products are different from daytime ones since consumer behaviours and demands are different.

Vietnam needs a reasonable legal framework to develop, failing which opportunities would be missed again, experts warned.

Phan Thiet seems set for a boom thanks to imminent transport upgrades, they said.

The first phase of the Long Thanh International Airport is expected to be ready by 2025 with an annual capacity of 25 million passengers. Situated 130km from Binh Thuan, it is expected to attract many foreign tourists.

When the Dau Giay – Phan Thiet Expressway is completed, La Gi will benefit since travel times will be reduced: it will take only 30 minutes to Phan Thiet and 45 minutes to Ba Ria – Vung Tau, the neighbouring coastal province that is only 90 minutes away from Ho Chi Minh City.

But the experts said specific planning is necessary to develop the night-time economy, and in the early stages only large investors and high-quality services should be allowed.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc has emphasised the need to build an open and transparent court and judicial sector under the public supervision for the people and serve the people in the best way.

The President, who is also Head of the Central Steering Committee for Judicial Reform, made the request during a working session with the Party Civil Affairs Committee of the Supreme People’s Court on judicial reform of the court sector in Hanoi on October 15.

President Phuc hailed courts for their achievements in judicial reform over the past years, helping to protect citizens’ rights, State interests, and legitimate rights and interests of individuals and organisations and to create a healthy and stable environment for socio-economic development and international integration.

He commended the courts for successfully dealing with corruption with thousands of serious and complex economic cases being brought to light. The leader requested continuing reclaiming embezzled assets for the State and encouraging offenders to voluntarily compensate in corruption and economic cases.

The Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Justice and local authorities were asked to work closely with courts on the serious enforcement of sentences, especially in civil cases in localities while listening to public aspirations.

Courts all all levels were assigned to suggest amendments and supplements to the Law on Organisation of People’s Courts, the Civil Procedure Code, the Law on Administrative Procedure, the Law on Bankruptcy and the Law on Child Protection. The Supreme People’s Court must promptly improve the working quality of people’s courts, adopt technological advances to successfully build e-courts, discover shortcomings in court hearings, and build a contingent of qualified staff capable of joining in the settlement of international disputes, thus meeting global integration demand, he said.

In the past tenure, courts nationwide received over 2.4 million cases and handled 97.6 percent of the total. Over 7,400 serious corruption and economic cases were brought to trials with 14,450 defendants. The court sector publicised more than 733,000 verdicts and decisions on its portal.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hai Long Offshore Wind Power has signed a preferred supplier agreement with a Vietnamese consortium led by Semco Maritime A/S of Denmark and PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation Mechanical & Construction (PTSC M&C) of Vietnam to construct two offshore substations off the coast of Chinese Taiwan.

The consortium will deliver design, engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning for the two substations with a total weight of 18,000 tonnes. Of which, PTSC M&C will take charge of designing the foundation and building for all components of the project.

The substations’ jackets will be manufactured at PTSC M&C’s facilities in Vung Tau in the 2022-2024 period. It is expected that the project will be put into operation in 2025 – 2026 and provide more than 1 GW of clean energy.

A leader of PTSC M&C said that the project is the first contractor project of this company in the field of renewable energy services, adding that it will be an important foundation for the company to anticipate the trend of energy restructuring from fossil fuels to clean energy that is taking place widely in Vietnam as well as other countries around the world.

PTSC M&C is an enterprise specialising in building oil platforms in Vietnam.

Source: Vietnam News Agency