Month: October 2021

Vietnam’s economy has slowed down due to the prolonged impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are still many optimistic forecasts about the country’s economic outlook in 2022, Dr Tran Thi Hong Minh, Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), told the Vietnam News Agency (VNA).

Minh called attention to a number of factors that will affect the Vietnamese economy in 2022, including the capacity to control the pandemic, the capacity to ensure production recovery, and the capacity to keep pace with the implementation of an extensive programme on economic recovery and development until 2023.

This programme not only helps remove difficulties and creates motivation in the short term, but also ensures macroeconomic stability and lays the foundation for stronger economic institutional reforms in the next 3-5 years, she added.

However, in order to achieve firm economic recovery in 2022, Minh stressed the need to continue giving priority to effectively preventing and controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, along with speeding up the vaccination process. She proposed building and implementing early a master programme on economic recovery and development during and after the pandemic in three phases as specified in research outcomes announced by the CIEM earlier this year.

Accordingly, the first phase will last until the first quarter of 2022, during which priority will be given to pandemic prevention and control in combination with macro-economic policies to help businesses survive the difficult situation.

The second phase will last through 2023, during which macroeconomic policies should be relaxed to stimulate demand for the economy and create momentum for businesses.

In the third phase in the years after 2023, macroeconomic policies will be normalised, the macroeconomic foundation strengthened and more intensive economic institutional reform promoted.

Minh also emphasized the importance of applying flexible macroeconomic policies in line with scenarios to cope with adverse developments of the world and regional economies; diversifying exports; and speeding up the implementation of support packages for people and businesses.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

AI Hack Bootcamp 2021 – a programme that seeks AI solutions for e-commerce – was launched at a ceremony jointly held by the Saigon Hi-tech Park Incubation Centre and the Vietnam E-Commerce Association on October 1.

It aims to promote the research and development of AI solutions and products, attract promising projects and form a community of outstanding AI developers.

The annual programme will provide support for and connect AI startups, projects solutions and products that would be utilised in e-commerce, focusing on coaching and mentoring.

After the eight weeks of training and mentoring, the programme will move to its second phase when about five to seven projects will be incubated for one to three years, starting from late December this year.

Entries should be submitted to organisers from now to December.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan on October 1 suggested EU firms increase investments in Vietnam’s agriculture, in the direction of high-technology, green standards and environmental sustainability.

At a working session with Ambassador Pier Giorgio Aliberti, head of the EU Delegation to Vietnam, Hoan also called on the EU to help Vietnam improve capacity for its cooperatives and upgrade small-scale agricultural production infrastructure.

Vietnam is gearing towards transparent, responsible and green agriculture, and is making efforts to promote a quality-based and multivalued agricultural sector, according to the minister.

He suggested FDI firms from the EU export machinery, equipment, technologies and materials to Vietnam.

For Vietnam’s exports to the EU, the official proposed the EU send experts to Vietnam or establish a representative office in the Southeast Asian country to supervise food safety before the shipment.

Hoan described the EU as a potential market for tropical agricultural products, including those from Vietnam, noting that the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has created more opportunities and momentum for trade cooperation between the two sides.

In the first eight months of this year, Vietnam earned 2.38 billion USD from agro-forestry-fishery export to the EU, up 8.11 percent year-on-year. Its import value also reached 542 million VND, a rise of 2.24 percent.

During the working session, Hoan also highlighted Vietnam’s efforts in implementing recommendations by the European Commission (EC) to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Combating the IUU fishing is a central task of the agricultural sector and an urgent need for Vietnam to help the country develop the fishery sector sustainably, demonstrate its responsibility and promote its prestige in the international arena.

The ministered thanked the EU for its support to Vietnam in this regard, and affirmed that Vietnam will make all-out efforts to implement relevant recommendations.

He appealed to the EU to soon remove the “yellow card” warning imposed on Vietnam as soon as possible.

Hoan suggested the EU help Vietnam build smart cold chain logistics connecting the Mekong Delta and Southeastern localities with Cai Mep-Thi Vai Port to boost Vietnam’s fruit export to Europe and the Middle East.

For his part, Aliberti said after two years of realising the Voluntary Partnership Agreement on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (VPA/FLEGT), the two sides have cooperated and expected to have more in-depth, effective dialogues in the time ahead.

Vietnam will effectively implement the timber legality assurance (VNTLAS), he believed.

The EU would provide Vietnam with technical assistance to ensure cold storage for fruits and vegetables for export to the EU, he said, suggesting the two sides continue to seek solutions regarding animal and plant quarantine.

The minister and ambassador shared the view that there is ample room for trade cooperation between Vietnam and the EU in agriculture.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang earned over 526 million USD in export value in the first nine months of 2021, meeting over 70 percent of the year’s plan and posting a year-on-year rise of nearly 2 percent, according to the provincial Department of Industry and Trade.

Accordingly, shipments of rice raked in 181.28 million USD, seafood 172.76 million USD, leather footwear 84.25 million USD and others 78.2 million USD.

The province’s trade via Ha Tien and Giang Thanh international border gates was valued at over 90 million USD in the period, of which exports expanded nearly 10 percent compared to the same period last year to 55.11 million USD.

Despite difficulties brought by the ongoing pandemic, the province aims to post export turnover of more than 203 million USD in the fourth quarter so as to bring the total to 730 million USD for the whole year, up 7 percent compared to the previous year.

To realise the target, relevant agencies are asked to keep a close watch on the situation at home and abroad, with a focus on markets of countries that have brought COVID-19 under control and high demand for goods at the end of the year, especially major celebrations.

It will also continue helping local firms roll out COVID-19 preventive measures and vaccination for workers, and send outstanding products to international trade fairs.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Trade Remedies Authorities of Vietnam has recommended domestic enterprises to prepare legal knowledge and resources to deal with potential lawsuits from export markets, particularly in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

ASEAN is currently one of the markets that investigate and apply the most trade remedies against Vietnamese exports.

According to the Authorities, as of 2020, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand had investigated 13, 11, 10, and 8 trade remedy cases involved Vietnamese products, respectively.

Parts of bilateral turnover between Vietnam and these nations affected by trade remedy lawsuits initiated or reviewed in 2020 alone were about 2 million USD, 5.73 million USD, 82 million USD, and 550 million USD, respectively.

In addition to the increase in the number, the nature of new trade remedy cases against Vietnamese exports has also become more diverse and complex than in the past. Currently, the range of products is not only limited to such base metals as iron and steel but also expanded to many others including ceramic tiles, plastic, and cigarette paper.

Due to the protectionism trend in some markets as well as the influence of the world economic situation, which still faces many difficulties, it is forecast that in the coming period, the number of trade remedy investigation cases against both Vietnamese imports and exports will increase. This will lead to new challenges and hurdles for domestic industries.

The trade remedies authorities said it will continue working with relevant units to help boost businesses’ capacity, conduct early warning activities, and intensify State management in the field.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has just approved the municipal Transport Department plan on transporting workers to Ho Chi Minh City as the city, the largest COVID-19 hotspot of Vietnam, began gradually resuming economic activities from October 1.

Many workers at enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City have returned to their home towns during the prolonged social distancing period in the city, hence the need to bring them back.

Accordingly, three modes of transportation will be applied in two stages. The first mode is that the employers will arrange the transportation of their workers by themselves using over-10-seater vehicles with QR-coded business registration certificates issued by the transport department. The vehicles will take workers to the Eastern or Western Bus Stations, then the workers will move from the bus stations to their place of residence by taxi licensed by the department or by the vehicles registered by their enterprises.

In the second mode, the Management Boards of Export Processing Zones, Industrial and Hi-Tech Parks will be responsible for coordinating with passenger transport units to make transportation plans, and the Department of Transport will consider and issue identification certifications with QR codes and report the transportation plans to the provinces and cities where the workers will depart from. The vehicles can only stop at places registered in the plan.

The third mode is to organise fixed passenger transport routes from intercity bus stations of provinces and cities where the workers will depart to the Eastern and Western Bus Stations, with a maximum frequency of four trips per day per route.

The first phase will be implemented from October 1 to October 31, with the first and second modes to be applied. Meanwhile, the third mode will be added to the second stage (from November).

Before boarding vehicles to return to HCM city, workers are requested to provide a certificate of negative test result for SARS-CoV-2 within 72 hours, and a certificate of having received at least one dose of vaccine for at least 14 days or a certificate of recovering from COVID-19 issued by a competent authority.

The municipal People’s Committee has sent a document to provinces and centrally-run cities, requesting them to create favourable conditions for workers to travel to HCM City

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on October 1 launched the Vietnam Workforce for an Innovation and Start-up Ecosystem (WISE) project.

The two-year USAID-funded project is expected to support the nation’s strategy on the fourth industrial revolution to advance continued economic transformation.

MPI Deputy Minister Tran Duy Dong said that Vietnam’s innovation ecosystem has passed the stage of quantitative development, and now entered a critical stage requiring in-depth investment to be able to form high-quality innovative start-ups.

To that end, the development of human resources is identified as one of the most important foundations. However, Vietnam’s high-quality human resources in the fields of information technology, computer engineering and automation have not yet met the needs of the market, Dong noted.

Ann Marie Yastishock, Mission Director for USAID/Vietnam, stated that USAID WISE showcases the US Government’s commitment to partnering with Vietnam along its economic transformation, and will help advance this strategy, which centres on mastering and integrating new advanced technologies, spurring innovation, and accelerating the growth of the digital economy.

USAID WISE will therefore support scalable, market-driven, and sustainable models in which to prepare the nation’s workers for Industry 4.0 via partnerships with the private sector. The project will build basic digital literacy, provide Industry 4.0 career pathways information to make smart talent investments, offer information and communication technologies, upskilling and reskilling for lifelong learning, and explore innovative financing mechanisms for relevant skills acquisition.

The project will also support Vietnam’s efforts to emphasise Industry 4.0 skills development opportunities to all demographics by devoting a special focus on women and vulnerable groups in order to help narrow the country’s digital divide. This priority is consistent with the USAID Digital Strategy and will deliver a long-term impact in the nation through an information and communication technology sector that features leaders, coders, designers, and technicians that advance the use and development of Industry 4.0 as it takes root across the Vietnamese economy.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

COVID-19 has killed over 19,000 people in Vietnam, leaving thousands of children orphaned. More than ever, they are in need of special and long-term care to ensure their comprehensive development.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, over 1,500 students in local schools have lost their parents in only two months. But the figure may be much higher in reality when considering all the children not included in the education system.

Head of the Children Department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dang Hoa Nam said that the crisis caused by COVID-19 is different from others in that there is a crucial need to take care of both physical and psychological health for children to ease their psychological trauma, especially among orphans.

The Children Department has asked localities to make accurate lists of needy children, especially children orphaned by COVID-19, in order to give them timely and full support and ensure that no child is left behind, and no child has to leave school due to COVID-19.

Along with efforts from the State and local government, many organisations and individuals have joined hands in assisting children in overcoming losses.

Recently, three non-governmental organisations in Vietnam – the Management and Sustainable Development Institute (MSD), Saigon Children’s Charity (saigonchildren) and Capacity Building and Support Center for Women and Children (CSWC) – have joined hands to launch the “You are not alone” campaign to support children orphaned by COVID-19 – the hidden victims of the pandemic.

The “You are not alone” campaign aims to support disadvantaged children orphaned by COVID-19 within the networks of participating organisations, as well as extending support towards the wider community through an open application system where any orphaned child outside their existing networks can seek help.

In order to offer timely and suitable support to the orphans, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has asked cities and provinces nationwide to keep updated on the numbers of needy children and the situation of each case as well as the aspirations of the children and their guardians.

The ministry has requested localities to prioritise family-based environment for the children by giving them alternative care in the family of their relatives to ensure best benefits for them. Nursing facilities will be considered the last choice. The ministry’s guidance has received support by many children support organisations, including the UNICEF in Vietnam.

UNICEF Representative in Vietnam Rana Flowers said that this is a timely decision to ensure that children deprived of parental care due to COVID-19 receive the support they need to overcome this incredibly challenging and difficult period, to have love and attention, even though it doesn’t come from their beloved parents, and through this care to thrive and to develop to their full potential.

Holding that institutions are not the best choice for orphans, Flowers stressed the need for the development of a child protection system that ensures alternative family placements are identified and monitored, Government allowances are provided, allowing children at risk to stay in a family environment, in their own community, connected to what they know, able to attend the same school with the same friends and supportive community.

Nguyen Dac Vinh, Chairman of the National Assembly’s Culture and Education Committee said that the support to children orphaned by COVID-19 is not a short-term issue but it needs a long-term policy. He underlined the need for the Government to design long-term and suitable policies to assist the children to overcome difficulties and receive best care until they become adults.

Source: Vietnam News Agency