Day: January 10, 2022

The Ministry of Public Security’s Traffic Police Department is studying changes to the current format of car registration plates, according to the department’s deputy director Colonel Do Thanh Binh.

Possible changes include new font and the addition of a QR code, the national flag and symbol of the car’s year of production, Binh said.

It is part of an effort to stop drivers from covering their number plates with tape to avoid getting detected for traffic fines. “With the new font, it will be very difficult for drivers to tape (the number plate),” he explained.

The department is testing the new plate format in various physical environments and lighting conditions to see how they are seen by surveillance camera system and human eyes./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The APEC Statue Park expansion project was inaugurated in Hai Chau district of Central Da Nang city on January 10.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Trung Chinh highlighted the political and social significance of the project, saying that it shows not only the spirit of international integration, but also the desire of local people for a green, friendly, harmonious, and peaceful city.

In the time to come, the municipal authorities will implement an artistic lighting project on both sides of the Han River, he said.

APEC park expansion project inaugurated in Da Nang hinh anh 2

(Photo: VNA)

These are expected to contribute to improving the spiritual life of the city’s people, and serve as attractive tourism products for domestic and foreign tourists, Chinh said.

Covering an area of 8,668 sq.m, the project was invested in by the Da Nang Urban Development and Infrastructure Investment Project Management Unit with a total investment of 759.15 billion VND (33.47 million USD).

Before the expansion, it covered an area of nearly 3,000 sq.m and displayed statues representing the economies that joined the 2017 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in Da Nang./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A ceremony was held at Platform DK1/9 of Naval Region 2 on January 10 to pay tribute to soldiers who laid down their lives on Vietnam’s southern continental shelf.

Colonel Vu Duy Luu, deputy head of the Political Department of Naval Region 2, recalled the establishment of the economic-scientific-service platform cluster DK1 on the southern continental shelf, which was set to serve the task of safeguarding national sea and islands.

Over the past three decades, generations of naval solders of Battalion DK1, who come from different localities across the country, have braved great hardship and worked on those platforms on the continental shelf, he said.

During strong storms in 1990, 1996, 1998 and 2000, several platforms were destroyed, causing the death of a number of naval officers and soldiers working on the platforms.

Their sacrifice has become a noble symbol of naval soldiers’ heroic virtue in the new period, Colonel Luu stressed.

The participants held a one-minute silence, burned incense and released flowers in memory of the fallen soldiers./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces have allocated big budgets to provide aid for disadvantaged people and factory workers ahead of the upcoming Tet, Vietnam’s traditional Lunar New Year holiday.

The HCM City Fatherland Front Committee will cooperate with its chapters to distribute over 40,000 gift packages, worth 1-2 million VND (44.05 – 88.1 USD) each, to needy people in the city. Beneficiaries include residents living in difficult circumstances, ethnic minority people, war invalids, children who lost their parent(s) to COVID-19 and others.

The committee has also launched a fundraising campaign, calling for donations from private enterprises and individuals for the poor. The campaign has so far raised more than 55.9 billion VND from 22 donors.

The Dong Nai People’s Committee on January 10 approved some 20 billion VND (880,860 USD) funding which will be spent on giving 100,000 pre-Tet gift packages, worth 200,000 VND each, to local workers.

Additionally, the provincial Labour Confederation will offer gifts to about 800,000 disadvantaged labourers; those suffering from occupational accidents, living in quarantined sites or locked down areas, infected with COVID-19; and migrant workers who will be not returning to their hometowns to keep production going.

Ba Ria-Vung Tau plans to spend a total of more than 40 billion VND on multiple programmes to support local workers. Thousands of gifts, ranging from 300,000 – 1,000,000 VND, will be delivered to needy people./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

An emergency relief project funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was launched by the Vietnam Red Cross Society in Thua Thien-Hue province on January 10, targeting people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam’s central region.

The 1-million-USD project is carried out in 40 communes in 10 central localities, namely Da Nang city and Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh and Phu Yen provinces from now to April 2022, so as to help affected local residents soon overcome difficulties and stabilise their lives.

Accordingly, each locality selects four communes severely affected by the pandemic, as well as floods in late 2020 to implement the project. It is expected that over 12,000 poor and near-poor households with over 37,300 people will benefit from the project.

The project will provide food coupons for the needy people and boost communications about hygiene and clean water to raise public awareness of the issues, thus helping to prevent and slow down the disease transmission.

Tran Sy Pha, Head of the Disaster Management Board of the Vietnam Red Cross Society’s Central Committee, said that the project is of great significance to people in the central region amid the pandemic outbreaks with the appearance of new variants of SARS-CoV-2.

According to a recent survey by the Vietnam Red Cross Society, out of 509 interviewed households in 43 districts of the 10 central localities, 55 percent lost incomes from farming or fishing, 28 percent lost revenue related to small business, 26 percent lost their jobs, and 23 percent saw reductions in working hours. As a result, 82 percent of the households need cash or vouchers to meet their main needs, and 49 percent need support to restore their livelihoods./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

More than 1,000 sao den trees (Hopea odorata), a rare species, have been planted on two hectares in Ta Cu Nature Reserve in central coastal Binh Thuan province’s Ham Thuan Nam district.

The provincial committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCM CYU) organised the tree planting event in coordination with Viet Vision and Menard companies, aiming to prevent soil erosion and restore primitive forests, protect the environment, and respond to climate change.

As many as 4,000 more sao den trees will be planted in May this year, according to the provincial HCM CYU committee. The activity not only expands green coverage across abandoned land but also contributes to enhancing awareness of local youth union members and the community about the importance of forest, thereby mobilising joint efforts to care for forest and environment protection.

The effort is part of the Vietnam Forest community project which was initiated in 2019 aiming at creating a positive impact on the community, helping to spread the love for nature. The project has been carried out in a number of localities including Lam Dong, Da Nang and Ha Giang provinces./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Treatment for COVID-19 patients, plan for the injection of third vaccine shots, and workforce supply following the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival were put under discussion during a periodic meeting in Ho Chi Minh City on January 10.

Chief of the municipal Health Office Nguyen Thi Huynh Mai said the city is vaccinating those who are suffering from health effects after infecting with coronavirus. Hospitals set up post-COVID-19 clinics to offer consultancy to recovered patients. Apart from 310 basic medical stations, the city also established 391 mobile stations.

Recently, the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy has issued a guideline to post-COVID-19 recovery.

Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Centre for Disease Control Nguyen Hong Tam said if 200,000 shots are given daily like now, the city will achieve the coverage of third shots later this month.

Data from the municipal Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control and Economic Recovery showed that from January 7-9, the number of deaths from the disease was under 20. The number of recoveries was higher than infections. At present, 4,602 patients in the city are under treatment.

Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Van Lam said following Tet, the city needs about 45,000 skilled workers and will launch a job transaction floor connecting with provinces.

He added that the city earmarked over 901 billion VND (39.17 million USD) in support of workers for Tet, requested presenting 15,000 gifts to workers in industrial parks and helping them return home on the occasion./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam earned nearly 336.25 billion USD from exports in 2021, up 19 percent from the previous year, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) reported on January 9.

Minister Nguyen Hong Dien said despite a slew of difficulties, the country’s export-import revenue still hit a new record of nearly 670 billion USD, a year-on-year rise of 23 percent.

Vietnam has maintained a trade surplus for the sixth consecutive year, with a value of over 4 billion USD, mainly with developed, demanding markets like the US (with a trade surplus of about 80.1 billion USD) and Europe (close to 23.2 billion USD).

Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Khanh said the growth in exports has surpassed the target of 4-5 percent as set by the National Assembly and the Government.

Last year, shipments of raw materials decreased, while the export volume of processed and industrial products increased, with processed products accounting for 86.24 percent in the export structure.

Vietnam’s exports rise sharply in 2021 hinh anh 2

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

Good growth was seen in exports to markets engaging in FTAs with Vietnam like China (15 percent), the US (24.2 percent), the EU (14 percent), ASEAN (25.8 percent), the Republic of Korea (RoK) (15.8 percent), India (21 percent), New Zealand (42.5 percent) and Australia (3.1 percent).

Apart from traditional markets, Vietnam’s export to new markets, particularly signatories of free trade agreement (FTAs), has also seen improvements, Khanh said,

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) have proven effective as Vietnam’s export to the markets that are members of the pact expanded significantly

Source: Vietnam News Agency