Day: November 26, 2021

A Vietnam Innovation Network in Chinese Taipei (VIN Taiwan) has been set up in Taiwan (China), marking a new development step of the Vietnamese intellectual community in the territory, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI).

This network is expected to contribute directly to innovation activities in the homeland and abroad, the ministry said.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong said Vietnam’s innovation system is gradually being developed, noting that innovation activities need active participation of Vietnamese experts and intellectuals around the world.

The network aims to mobilize and promote intelligence, capacity, and more contributions of young people to the development in the homeland, he said.

VIN Taiwan will focus on promoting connections with Taiwanese enterprises and technology groups, participating in consulting activities, supporting technology transfer, and assisting Vietnamese enterprises in accessing advanced technology and participating in the value chain of Taiwanese enterprises.

The network will also make proposals and evaluation on technology, techniques and infrastructure for the project on planning a technical facility and business incubation in Hoa Binh province, which has a Taiwanese consultation partner.

It will also connect digital transformation experts with activities supporting businesses in digital transformation for the 2021-2025 period, and introduce technology groups to participate in annual international innovation exhibitions.

Currently, the Vietnam Innovation Network has five components in Germany, Japan, Australia, the Republic of Korea and Europe, and Taiwan, with more than 1,000 members.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and members of Hanoi’s delegation of National Assembly (NA) deputies met with voters of Ba Dinh, Dong Da and Hai Ba Trung districts on November 26 to report the outcomes of the recent second session of the 15th legislature, and listen to their ideas and recommendations.

After listening to the outcomes, most Hanoi voters appreciated the contents discussed and decided at the second session, which, they said, demonstrate democracy, responsibility and enthusiasm of the legislature.

They emphasised that the success of this session continues to affirm important steps forward in building a proactive, intellectual, united, innovative and responsible National Assembly, and a more democratic, public and transparent legislature which is close to voters and people.

They also hailed efforts by the Party and State in the prevention of corruption and negativity, thus helping consolidate people’s confidence.

As a member of the Hanoi NA deputy delegation, Party General Secretary Trong acknowledged voters’ ideas and recommendations.

Regarding the ongoing complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, he asked the municipal authorities and people to stay vigilant to ensure pandemic prevention and control, focus on economic development and maintain socio-political stability.

He affirmed that voters’ ideas and proposals will be sent to authorised agencies to be dealt with.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hong Duc Industry JSC, part of DEEP C Industrial Zones, Bamboo Capital Group and Sojitz Corporation on November 25 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop an industrial park project and ancillary infrastructure services with expected total investment capital of approximately 250 million USD.

The signing was under the framework of the Investment Promotion Conference held in Japan, under the witness of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Under the agreement, DEEP C Industrial Zones together with Bamboo Capital Group and the Sojitz Corporation will cooperate to develop an industrial park project and rooftop solar power as well as ancillary infrastructure services in the northern region of Vietnam.

DEEP C is a cluster of industrial parks and seaports developed and operated by the investment holding Infra Asia Investment Hong Kong (IAI, majorly owned by Belgian company Ackermans van Haaren), in Hai Phong city and Quang Ninh province – the most dynamic development area of north Vietnam.

Over 24 years of establishment and development, DEEP C has established its position as one of the most prestigious industrial zone developers in Vietnam. Up until now, DEEP C has attracted over 140 secondary investors in various manufacturing and logistics services, with total registered capital of 4 billion USD. DEEP C is now operating five industrial zone projects with a total area of 3,400 hectares, supported by a synchronised infrastructure network and reliable utilities and services. The potential to develop a rooftop solar network in factories and workshops in DEEP C Industrial Zones is very promising and part of the sustainability vision developed by the company.

Bamboo Capital (BCG) is a Vietnamese multi-industry corporation, with a strong focus on the field of renewable energy. BCG Energy, a subsidiary of BCG, is one of the pioneers in the development of renewable energy in Vietnam. Today, BCG Energy owns over 500 MW in solar energy capacity and aims to reach 1.5 GW generation capacity in 2023.

The third partner joining DEEP C and BCG is Sojitz Corporation (Japan). Sojitz is one of the largest multi-industry corporations in Japan and appears on the Forbes Global 2000 list. With nearly 440 subsidiaries and branches across Japan and 50 countries and regions globally, Sojitz focuses on the field of automobiles, manufacture of machinery and equipment; metal, energy; chemicals and industrial infrastructure, as well as the fields of agriculture – forestry – fishery and consumer goods. Sojitz Corporation is one of the Japanese pioneers investing in the Vietnamese market since 1986, as well as the first foreign independent power producer with the Phu My 3 Power Plant project in Ba Ria – Vung Tau. In addition, Sojitz has a number of investment projects in industrial park infrastructure, afforestation and timber production and trading in Vietnam.

The three-party agreement between DEEP C, BCG and Sojitz will create synergy from each party’s strengths, aiming to develop together with the Industrial Park project and ancillary infrastructure services, including rooftop solar systems, as well as to conduct research into other types of green energy and storage, so as to ensure the supply of clean and stable electricity for the Industrial Zones operated by DEEP C.

All three parties, DEEP C, BCG and Sojitz, have set a target to develop the first industrial zone in Vietnam that is fully energy independent, enhancing the generation and consumption of renewable energy. This collaboration will not only bring economic benefits to DEEP C, BCG and Sojitz but also contribute to reducing emissions, moving towards carbon neutrality and sustainable development of Vietnam in the future.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Children must be placed at an important position during the process of developing human resources for national development, said Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan.

Xuan made the statement while chairing a meeting of the National Fund for Vietnamese Children (NFVC) Sponsorship Council in Hanoi on November 26 to review its 2021 performance and discuss activities for the 2022-2026 period.

As children are among those hard hit by the pandemic, Xuan, who is also Chairwoman of the council, suggested the NFVC set out urgent and immediate tasks to promptly adapt to the context. The council and the NFVC need to outline long-term tasks in accordance with the national human resources development strategy as well as deliver on international commitments regarding children’s rights.

She proposed the NFVC further expand domestic and global resources to train young generations to meet development demand.

In her opinion, it is necessary to renew communication work regarding the effort because it is an effective way to disseminate the Party and State’s guidelines on children-related issues, contributing to improving children’s rights and human rights in the eyes of international friends.

The official expressed her wish that with dedication, brainpower and responsibility of the council and philanthropists, more effective and practical results in child care and protection would be achieved.

According to her, the NFVC is the only Vietnamese State fund established in 1992 in accordance with the 2016 Law on Children. Therefore, it is necessary to make clear the role, position, function and tasks of the council in the operation of the NFVC as well as funds at all levels to meet requirements in the near future.

At the event, Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung said in the coming time, the council and the NFVC will celebrate the fund’s 30th anniversary, prepare for the 15th edition of the “Mua Xuan cho em” (Spring for Children) next year, and hold a meeting with domestic philanthropists and international organisations.

He called for further attention to needy children living with cancer and kidney failure in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, as well as considering expansion of the NFVC’s operations to offer more suitable policy consultations.

During the 2016-2021 tenure, the NFVC raised nearly 575 billion VND (25.36 million USD) and received the title of “Labour Hero” in the renovation period.

This year, it offered assistance to 113,870 children, or 103 percent of the yearly target, at a total cost of over 72.2 billion VND (3.13 million USD).

Earlier, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha announced new Chairperson, Vice Chairpersons and 19 members of the council.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) on November 26 announced an e-commerce week and the Vietnam Online Shopping Day – Online Friday 2021.

The Online Shopping Week will be held from November 27 to December 5 while the Vietnam Online Shopping Day – Online Friday 2021 is scheduled for December 3 nationwide.

Vietnam will work toward incorporating its Online Shopping Day with the online shopping event in the region to catch up with trans-border e-commerce trend as well as step up cashless payment, thus laying a foundation for authorities to suggest policies in support of enterprises in promotional activities.

Consumers across the country could visit the website https://onlinefriday.vn and Online Friday app to acquire information about discounts and promotion programmes by participating firms and shop at websites and apps of others.

The online shopping day was started in 2014.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has proposed the resumption of normal operations on all domestic routes from the beginning of 2022.

According to the proposal submitted to the Ministry of Transport, the number of two-way flights on Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi – Da Nang, and HCM City – Da Nang routes will be increased to 16 per day per route during December 1-14, and to 20 per day per route from December 15-31. Meanwhile, the number of two-way flights on other routes will be no more than nine flight per day per route.

The CAAV also proposed adjusting regulations on transferring passenger information from the PC-COVID application directly between the Ministry of Information and Communications and localities. Airlines do not need to transfer passenger destination information to the local authorities.

With this proposal, localities can update passenger information by themselves every 30 minutes from the PC-COVID application.

The current flight plan is only applicable until November 30, so airlines would have difficulty in planning their operations in the winter 2021/2022 flight schedule, especially during the Lunar New Year of 2022, the agency said.

At present, most domestic routes can only operate one flight per day.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Forty female entrepreneurs won prizes in the competition “Women entrepreneurs planning for success” funded by the Netherlands Government and implemented by Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) and the Netherlands Embassy in Hanoi on November 25.

The competition is one of the activities of the project “Enhancing the capacity for women entrepreneurs to own in the digital economy” (e-SWB Vietnam) funded by the Netherlands Government. More than 600 women entrepreneurs participated in the training sessions under the framework of e-SWB Vietnam and 60 business plans were submitted to the competition.

Nguyen Thi Huyen from Simple Decor JSC won the best business plan on creating a sustainable ecosystem of handicraft products based on digital transformation. Thirty-nine other business plans from enterprises won second, third and encouragement prizes.

Speaking at the award ceremony, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said women and women business leaders continued to play a pivotal role in socio-economic development. In dire circumstances of the pandemic, numerous women-owned businesses still developed with the help of this programme, being a great inspiration for the young generation and start-ups.

Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Vietnam Elsbeth Akkerman highlighted that trade, investment and gender equality are key to job creation, economic growth and sustainable development.

“Women are half of the world’s population and should therefore be equally represented in the business world. But that is however not the case… yet. We should all be aware of that. And we should all do everything we can to change that,” the ambassador said.

The event also witnessed the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of the SheTrades Office in Vietnam between the International Trade Center (ITC) from Geneva and Vietrade from Hanoi. Shetrades Office in Vietnam is expected to make an important contribution to support Vietnamese businesswomen to start or expand their businesses, as well as to access international markets.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh put forward four proposals to enhance cooperation among Asian and European countries while addressing the 13th Asia – Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit via videoconference on November 26.

Themed “Strengthening Multilateralism for Shared Growth”, the summit took place under the chair of Cambodia.

Noting the proposals to strengthen Asia – Europe ties, the PM said the countries should stay united and join hands to boost global cooperation since no country can single-handed deal with global issues. They should cooperate to share and ensure equal access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatment drugs and developed nations should assist developing countries to improve the capacity of coping with global issues, he said.

Besides, it is necessary to step up digital transformation and human resource training for developing and poor countries, while enhancing public-private partnership to mobilise resources for development, PM Chinh said.

To contribute to this process, Vietnam will organise an ASEM roundtable meeting on the digital economy in 2022, the PM added.

He also talked about Vietnam’s efforts and priorities in COVID-19 response and socio-economic recovery and development, affirming that the country has been making responsible contributions to the settlement of non-traditional security challenges.

Non-traditional challenges have been increasing in terms of both extent and intensity, setting an urgent requirement for enhancing multilateral cooperation on the basis of international law, cooperative spirit, responsibility sharing, and contribution for common interest. The key factor is dialogue, respect, sincerity, practicalness, effectiveness, and reinforcement of trust among countries, according to the Government leader.

PM Chinh highlighted efforts by Vietnam and other ASEAN countries to maintain peace, stability, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, stressing that each country needs to uphold their sense of responsibility and avoid taking unilateral actions that may complicate the situation or run counter to international law.

He also took this occasion to ask Asian and European countries to further open their export – import markets and increase investment.

At the summit, PM Chinh’s practical assessments and proposals were highly valued by other ASEM leaders and reflected in the event’s documents.

The leaders shared the common perception on the need to boost cooperation to ensure a peaceful and stable environment for development. They reiterated the commitment to sustaining peace, stability, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight, and not impeding economic activities that are in line with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The 14th ASEM Summit is scheduled to take place in Europe in 2023.

Source: Vietnam News Agency