Day: January 6, 2022

The Ministry of Health has asked localities to set out scenarios and plans to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, given the emergence of the Omicron variant that is raging around the world.

In Vietnam, Omicron cases have been found in all northern, central and southern regions, all imported and quarantined in a timely manner.

In a dispatch sent to heads of COVID-19 prevention and control boards, and Chairpersons of People’s Committees of cities and provinces, the ministry ordered stronger preventive measures.

It asked localities to improve medical capacity, especially at the grassroots level, and ensure medical supplies as well as personnel to serve the combat.

People entering Vietnam must undergo close monitoring, the ministry said, stressing that great efforts are needed in contact tracing, medical quarantine and testing even when a single Omicron case is detected.

The ministry urged localities to speed up vaccination for people above 12 years old, review the list of high-risk groups, and those with underlying diseases, while continuing with the use of health record platforms.

It emphasised pandemic prevention and control at industrial parks, schools and workplaces, particularly hospitals, production facilities, supermarkets, airports, and bus and railway stations.

Localities need to step up the communication work to raise public awareness of the variant and encourage them to seriously observe the 5K message – khau trang (facemask), khu khuan (disinfection), khoang cach (distance), khong tu tap (no gathering), and khai bao y te (health declaration), and other pandemic prevention and control regulations, the ministry said./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Trade between Vietnam and the EU rose 14.8 percent in 2021 to 63.6 billion USD despite impacts of COVID-19.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the year, Vietnam exported 45.8 billion USD worth of goods to the EU, up 14.2 percent year on year, while importing 17.9 billion USD worth of products from the market, a rise of 16.5 percent.

The ministry attributed the results to the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), which took effect more than one year ago.

Notably, the export revenue of products using the EUR.1 certificate of origin (C/O) reached about 7.8 billion USD, which showed Vietnamese firms’ greater attention to optimising of incentives from the deal.

The EVFTA is a bilateral commitment with incentives and long-lasting value.

At present, 20 percent of local enterprises have taken export tax incentives from the EVFTA with the EUR.1 certificate of origin (C/O). For shipments to the EU worth less than 6,000 EUR, local enterprises are allowed to self-certify origin. This helps ensure smaller businesses do not have to spend time applying C/O, while still being able to enjoy tax incentives./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

German medical professor Horst Klinkmann has been decorated with an Order of Friendship in recognition of his remarkable contributions to Vietnam’s healthcare sector and the bilateral relations.

On behalf of the President of Vietnam, Ambassador Nguyen Minh Vu presented the country’s highest award for foreigners to the 87-year-old in a ceremony held in Berlin on January 5.

The diplomat showed his gratitude towards Klinkmann for his tireless contributions to Vietnam and the bilateral ties. Throughout his life, the German professor has dedicated to saving people’s lives and constantly nurturing the Vietnam-Germany partnership in not only health care but also economy, culture, sports and education, he highlighted.

Klinkmann, for his part, expressed his pride for the honour, saying he expects the friendship and partnership between the two peoples will expand further in the future. He also said he was impressed with Vietnamese people’s desire for independence which motivated him and his companions to work together to promote friendship with and provide support to Vietnam.

A student and then a lecturer at the University of Rostock, one of the oldest universities in Germany, Prof. Dr. Horst Klinkmann provided active support for the first Vietnamese medical students in the university after the restoration of peace in Vietnam in 1954.

Klinkmann has helped promote the Vietnam-Germany links in education and medicine, reflected by the establishment of the Viet-Duc Friendship Hospital and Nghe An’s Vinh General Hospital, and deliver much-needed medical supplies to Vietnam when the country was in difficulty because of blockade in the past./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A ceremony was held at Tong Khao cemetery in the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien on January 6 to rebury remains of six Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who died for international missions in Laos.

The unidentified remains were found by Military Zone 2’s searching team with the help of competent forces in Laos.

Reading the eulogy at the ceremony, Standing Vice Chairwoman of the provincial People’s Council Giang Thi Hoa emphasised that the friendship, solidarity, and loyalty between Vietnam and Laos have been fostered by their Parties, States, and people over many decades, especially in their revolutionary struggles against common enemies.

The official expressed her gratitude for the Lao side’s assistance to Vietnamese volunteer soldiers in the past and for efforts made by the search team to bring the martyrs home.

On this occasion, local leaders, military personnel, and residents offered incence and laid wreathes to pay tribute to the soldiers./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Department of Public Security of southern Long An province has decided to commence legal proceedings against individuals involved in wrongdoings at “Tinh that bong lai”, a family Buddhist worship place.

Colonel Van Cong Minh, deputy director of the department, said the case is being brought to light as its founder, Cao Thi Cuc, took advantages of religions and charitable activities for her own benefits.

Earlier, the Executive Board of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) in Long An affirmed that the establishment, now named “Thien am ben bo vu tru”, is not under the management of the VBS’s Long An chapter, and those living there are not Buddhist monks and nuns.

Initial investigations reveal that 62-year-old Cuc has turned the nearly 2,000sq.m land lot in Hoa Khanh Tay commune, Duc Hoa district, into a family worship place after purchasing it in 2014.

A 90-year-old man, named Le Tung Van, moved in to live with Cuc in 2015, earning his living on child adoption.

In fact, most of the children the group announced to be orphans or homeless are living with their mothers in the worship place that accommodates 18 people, of whom six are with their mothers.

The establishment has called for support from donors at home and abroad for the children under the cover of caring for orphans, affecting social security and order and causing public concern.

Notably, the group has used different social network accounts to publish video clips distorting the fact about the case./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The National Committee for Traffic Safety in collaboration with the Hanoi People’s Committee on January 6 held a ceremony to kick off the Traffic Safety Year 2022.

Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh highlighted positive results in ensuring traffic safety in 2021, saying that the traffic order and safety last year was improved considerably with sharp declines recorded in the number of accidents, deaths and injuries. He attributed the results to the effective implementation of solutions over the year.

Traffic Safety Year 2022 launched in Hanoi hinh anh 2

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh speaks at the event (Photo: VNA)

The official stressed the need for comprehensive solutions to ensure the work in the current situation, especially preventing COVID-19 infections in transportation activities as the pandemic is forecast to continue in a complicated way in the coming years.

He ordered member agencies of the National Committee and People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to build plans for effectively implementing the goals of traffic order and safety in 2022 which focus on improving the public awareness of the law on the field; reducing traffic accidents by 5-10 percent annually in the number of cases, deaths and injuries; curbing traffic jams in key traffic hubs and big cities; and preventing COVID-19 infections and outbreaks in transportation activities.

According to the National Committee for Traffic Safety, as of December 14, 2021, 11,495 traffic accidents had occurred across the country, killing 5,799 people and injuring 8,018 others, down 23.32 percent, 15.55 percent, and 28.16 percent year-on-year, respectively.

As many as 55 provinces and centrally-run cities recorded a strong decrease in the number of fatalities due to traffic accidents compared to 2020. Notably, An Giang and Son La provinces reported a decrease of over 40 percent.

Traffic police had handled 2.88 million violation cases, giving out fines of over 2.8 trillion VND (123 million USD), revoking 248,6000 driving licences and sequestering 460,000 vehicles./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Executive Board of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) in the south-central coastal province of Khanh Hoa has held a ceremony announcing decisions on the appointment of heads of six pagodas in Truong Sa island district.

The six establishments are on Truong Sa Dong, Song Tu Tay, Sinh Ton Dong, Truong Sa Lon, Phan Vinh, and Nam Yet.

Khanh Hoa’s Buddhist information and communication board on January 6 cited Most Venerable Thich Minh Thong as saying at the ceremony that border residents have a limited material, spiritual and religious life due to geographical difficulties.

He asked the new heads of the pagodas to make every effort to complete their assigned tasks.

Khanh Hoa is home to nine pagodas located on islands of Truong Sa district./

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnamese automaker VinFast announced on January 6 to stop producing internal combustion engine (ICE) cars and switch to all-electric vehicle production from the end of 2022 at the Consumer Electronics Show CES 2022 in Las Vegas, the US.

Along with the commitment to becoming a carmaker of this type, the company launched five electric vehicles including models VF 8 and VF 9 in the D and E segments, which were previously introduced at the 2021 LA Auto Show.

The exteriors of these cars were designed by Italian design firms Pininfarina and Torino Design.

VinFast announces plan to switch to all-electric vehicle production hinh anh 2

The electric vehicles officially launched by the company at the event. (Photo: VNA)

On the day, VinFast also officially announced retail pricing and a reservation campaign for the VF 8 and VF 9 in the US, Europe and Vietnam. The initial prices for the VF 8 are 41,000 USD in the US; 36,133 EUR in Europe; and 961 million VND (over 42,200 USD) in Vietnam. The figures for the VF 9 are 56,000 USD; 49,280 EUR; and 1.312 billion VND.

Each VinFast’s EV comes with a warranty of 10 years or the first 200,000km.

Established in 2017, the company is a member of Vietnam’s private conglomerate VinGroup.

In December last year, VinGroup’s construction of its VinES battery manufacturing factory costing 4 trillion VND began in the central province of Ha Tinh’s Vung Ang Economic Zone. The factory will be developed on 8ha in its initial phase, providing lithium batteries for VinFast’s electric cars and buses./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency