Day: December 25, 2021

Electronics giant Samsung of the Republic of Korea’s recent board meeting has approved the spending of some 850 million USD for its unit in Vietnam to manufacture flip-chip ball grid arrays (FC-BGA), according to KBS News.

FC-BGA is a highly-integrated package board used to connect a high-integration semiconductor chip to a main board.

The company will spend the investment in phases until 2023 to build the new FC-BGA production line.

According to the plan, the Vietnamese subsidiary will focus on producing FC-BGA while Samsung’s factories in Suwon City (Gyeonggi) and Busan City will specialise in technology development and high-end products./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Demand of goods in Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s biggest, is increasing gradually before the Lunar New Year holidays thanks to promotions and the greater diversity of products than last year.

Though there is more than a month to go for the year’s biggest festival, many retail chains have started offering discounts already.

Products such as cosmetics, cleaning products, personal care and beauty products, and foods that can be stored for long without spoiling are sold at discounts now so that customers only need to buy fresh foods or ready-to-eat dishes before the holidays.

Other promotions such as offer of gifts, higher reward points than normal and gift vouchers are also regularly rolled out.

City authorities have urged businesses to ensure there is adequate supply and offer promotions for the festival while following pandemic prevention measures.

Consumers would tend to focus on basic items such as fresh goods, essential foods and typical items such as confectionery, beer, soft drinks, and wine for the occasion.

The city has called on distributors and manufacturers to launch promotions and prioritise online sales and non-cash payments.

It is holding the annual Promotion Fair from December 21 to 26 with more than 450 booths showcasing consumer goods, farm produce and handicrafts and the city’s 50 percent limit on discounts scrapped.

Participating businesses must ensure the origins and quality of products.

The promotions they offer include discounts, gifts and lucky draws./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The first village police station built with support from the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security (MPS) in Laos was inaugurated in Nonghet village of Nonghet district, Xiengkhouang province, on December 25.

It is one of the 287 facilities the MPS is building in the 10 Lao provinces bordering Vietnam.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister Lt. Gen. Nguyen Duy Ngoc applauded efforts by the public security forces and administrations of the countries’ border provinces to promote the construction and unveil the first station only more than one month since the project began on November 12.

The building of the village police stations comes as part of a document signed in Vientiane on August 9 supplementing the two ministries’ cooperation plan.

He asked police of the 10 Vietnamese provinces bordering Laos to work closely with their Lao counterparts to accelerate the construction with the highest quality and put the remainders into use in early 2022 as scheduled.

Lao Deputy Minister of Public Security Lt. Gen. Thonglek Mangnomek described the Vietnamese ministry’s assistance in building the village police stations as a demonstration of the close-knit and special ties between the public security forces of the two countries.

He affirmed that the stations will greatly help to guarantee security and order in Laos, including in the countries’ shared border areas, thereby contributing to peace in each nation, as well as the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between Laos and Vietnam./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A conference was held in Cua Lo beach town, the central province of Nghe An, on December 25 to look into the tourism industry under the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact and discuss ways to promote this sector’s recovery and development in the time ahead.

The hybrid event was attended by Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man, officials of central agencies and localities, along with representatives of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), and hundreds of experts, enterprises, and organisations operating in the tourism sector.

Nguyen Dac Vinh, Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee for Cultural and Education Affairs, said affected by COVID-19, Vietnam’s tourism has been facing unprecedented difficulties over the last nearly two years. As the pandemic is gradually being brought under control, the tourism sector and the economy as a whole are taking steps to surmount hardships, but the path to tourism recovery and flexible and safe adaptation to the outbreak remains full of challenges.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Doan Van Viet noted Vietnam welcomed just 3.7 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2020, dropping 80 percent year on year, while the number of domestic visitors stood at 56 million, down 34 percent, and tourism revenue also plunged 59 percent to 312.2 trillion VND (13.6 billion USD).

This year, the fourth wave of infections nationwide led to a stagnation in socio-economic activities of many localities for months. The country stayed closed to international tourists, and domestic travellers continued declining by almost 30 percent from the same period of 2020.

Viet noted that to help the tourism industry overcome the current trying time and resume development, the parliament and Government should promote the tourism recovery and development programme, which is part of the socio-economic recovery and development programme for 2022 – 2023; continue assisting businesses and workers in this sector; issue new mechanisms and policies facilitating tourism; boost the attraction of investment to nighttime, ecological, leisure, and community-based tourism; step up digital transformation in tourism; and make plans on developing tourism personnel in the new normal context./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Participants in a tourism conference, held on December 25 in the presence of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, recommended several measures to help revitalise the tourism industry which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking at the hybrid event in Cua Lo town of central Nghe An province, President and CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Julia Simpson highlighted some important measures for recovering international tourism, accelerating the sector’s recovery, and generating jobs and profit for the economy.

She said it is necessary to have simplified procedures for international tourists, permit fully vaccinated citizens to travel without restrictions, and develop and carry out technical solutions enabling people to prove their COVID-19 status and enter the country easily.

Stressing the importance of digital transformation, Tran Nguyen, a division leader from the Sun Group, said the transformation will help travel firms to conduct restructuring; build a database of clients, products, and others; access clients and the market from afar; improve labour productivity, save operational expenses; improve tourists’ experience; and increase revenue and profit.

Measures suggested to shore up tourism industry hinh anh 2

Participants in the tourism conference held in Nghe An province on December 25 (Photo: VNA)

Nguyen Quoc Ky, Chairman of the Board of Director of the Vietravel company, held that to effectively revive tourism activities, there is a need for fully vaccinating at least 70 percent of the people aged 18 and above, including workers at tourist destinations; ensuring healthcare infrastructure and tourism personnel; and boosting coordination among relevant parties in welcoming visitors and keeping pandemic safety.

He also called for tax cut for travel businesses, regardless of their sizes, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Da Nang city Le Trung Chinh proposed the Government order the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to implement the “vaccine passport” scheme early and align the tourism sector with the reality, which has changed much under the pandemic’s impact.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung noted the pandemic has fundamentally changed the tourism development context and trend in Vietnam and the world at large. Though tourism is one of the hardest hit, the industry also has the ability to recover fastest in the post-pandemic period, provided that proper strategies and preparations are made./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has projected 2.7 million seats for the upcoming Lunar New Year which will come more than a month later.

Travelers during the country’s longest festival, always the peak of the transport demand, will be carried by about 14,000 flights from December 29, 2021 to January 18, 2022.

The figures are 70-75 percent of those a year ago, with carriers focusing on flights from Ho Chi Minh City to northern localities, and those to tourist destinations.

The CAAV said the cause of the decrease is the complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the reluctance of workers in coming back to southern economic hubs./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Many countries have soon adopted policies and measures to reopen their doors to foreign visitors and revive tourism, and this prompts Vietnam to keep up with this trend and not waste the time, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man told a conference on December 25 afternoon.

The hybrid Tourism Conference 2021, themed “Vietnam’s Tourism – Recovery and Development”, was held in the central province of Nghe An to discuss ways to accelerate the industry’s recovery and growth in the coming time.

Man highlighted the importance of tourism in each country’s socio-economic development strategy, saying it made up about 10.4 percent of the global GDP growth and 10.6 percent of jobs globally in 2019. In Vietnam, the industry generated some 32.8 billion USD in revenue the same year, or 9.2 percent of the national GDP, and created around 2.5 million jobs, he highlighted.

The sector has remained on hold because of COVID-19, with most firms closed down or suspending operation, causing a large number of workers left jobless.

Man emphasised it is crucial to have a comprehensive assessment on the impacts of COVID-19 on tourism and the industry’s current status and future outlook which will lay a basis for making recommendations and proposing solutions for reviving tourism in the time ahead.

Recovery solutions must focus on improving Vietnam’s tourism competitiveness and bring its potential and advantages into full play to create distinctive, culturally and historically rich products and brands, he noted, adding that they must also take into account conservation of cultural heritages, protection of the environment and natural landscapes, and sustainable tourism development./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnamese automaker VinFast on December 25 delivered its first smart electric cars VF e34 to customers, making Vietnam one of a few countries worldwide mastering electric vehicle production technology.

Nearly 100 cars will be delivered in December, and about 2,000 others in January.

Vinfast said it has received orders for over 25,000 units of the SUV model in the C segment, with respective length, width and height being 4,300mm, 1,768mm and 1,613mm, equipped with an electric motor with a maximum capacity of 110 kW.

VinFast delivers first smart electric cars to customers hinh anh 2

The model features a smart virtual voice assistant capable of recognising Vietnamese accents regardless of regions for function control and casual QandA. (Photo: VNA)

The car features a smart virtual voice assistant capable of recognising Vietnamese accents regardless of regions for function control and casual QandA.

The model uses a 42kWh battery pack, which can travel a distance of 300km after each full charge. In fast charging mode, the car can travel 180km after 15 minutes of charging./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency