Day: February 14, 2022

Vietnam is expected to accelerate its economic recovery from the pandemic this year after having recorded a 2.6 percent increase in gross domestic products (GDP) in 2021, Singapore’s Business Times reported.

Once among the poorest countries in the world, its economy is now booming and the World Bank describes it as one of the most dynamic and emerging countries in the entire East Asia region, Business said in an article published last week, calling Vietnam a “new Asian tiger.”

Singapore’s DBS Group Research forecasts Vietnam’s GDP growth to reach 8 percent in 2022, boosted by an accommodative monetary policy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that Vietnam will climb three spots to rank third in GDP among ASEAN member states this year, thanks to the fast-growing middle class and the rise of ultra-rich people.

Knight Frank’s latest Wealth Report estimates there were about 19,500 high-net-worth individuals in Vietnam in 2020, defined as those with assets of at least 1 million USD, the article said. By 2025, that number is expected to grow by almost 25 percent to top 25,000, it added.

Business Times attributed the robust growth of the economy to increasing flows of foreign investment into the country. Many Singapore companies, including CapitaLand and Keppel, have invested heavily in the country as they seize the abundant opportunities.

“Vietnam has long been known as Southeast Asia’s coding farm, where talent and wages are in a sweet spot for companies to use it as a base for their technical development,” it noted.

The article also referred to Vietnam as the largest solar power producer in Southeast Asia today with 16.6 gigawatts of installed capacity as of 2020. Vietnam’s construction industry is set to continue its recovery in 2022 as several large-scale infrastructure projects move through different stages of development, it further said.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A prayer for peace for overseas Vietnamese (OVs) living in Paris and surrounding areas was held on February 13 at Truc Lam Zen Monastery in Villebon-sur-Yvette, 25km south of the capital.

A large number of Vietnamese expats attended the event.

All participants prayed for a happy new year, and good health for their families and other loved ones.

Every year, on the first day of the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival, and the 15th day of the first lunar month, OVs go to the monastery to worship the Buddha, praying for a New Year with blessing, prosperity for the homeland; and good health, success and good luck for their relatives and themselves. This activity has contributed to preserving Vietnam’s traditional values and cultural identities.

Inaugurated in 1990, Truc Lam Zen Monastery in Villebon-sur-Yvette is among the popular destinations for the Vietnamese community, as these places offer them a spring atmosphere like in theỉ homeland.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Foreign Ministers of Laos and Singapore, Saleumxay Kommasith and Vivian Balakrishnan, will pay official visits to Cambodia and attend the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat (AMM Retreat) in Phnom Penh from February 15 – 17 at the invitation of their Cambodian counterpart Prak Sokhonn.

According to a press release issued by the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on February 13, during his visit, Lao Foreign Minister Kommasith will meet with Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni and Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, and hold talks with Sokhonn on many aspects in the bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries, as well as in international and regional issues of common concern.

Kommasit’s official visit to Cambodia is hoped to further deepen and lift the fine cooperation and traditional relationship between Laos and Cambodia to a new height, for their common benefits.

Meanwhile, Singaporean Foreign Minister Balakrishnan will also meet with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, and hold official talks with his Cambodian counterpart Sokhonn on bilateral cooperation in the fields of economics, trade, tourism, education and health, and regional and international issues of mutual interest and concern.

The Singapore official will also have separate meetings with other Cambodian officials: Economy and Finance Minister Aun Pornmoniroth, Environment Minister Say Samal, and Chairman of the National Assembly Commission on Education, Youth, Sports, Cult and Religious Affairs, Culture and Tourism Hun Many.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has asked the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM) to issue a Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) on the lifting of all restrictions on international flights from February 15, returning to the normal situation as before the outbreak of COVID-19.

According to the CAAV, limits on the number of inbound and outbound international flights in Vietnam will be removed. Meanwhile, regulations on entry and pandemic prevention and control for passengers entering Vietnam will continue to be implemented in line with guidelines of the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Health, the authority said.

Except China, all the countries receiving Vietnam’s proposal have agreed to restore the aviation links with Vietnam, it said.

Currently, air routes linking Vietnam and European countries, Australia and the US have been resumed. However, Japan and the Republic of Korea have still applied restrictions on passengers from Vietnam as part of their efforts to prevent COVID-19 spreading.

Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan has directed the CAAV to discuss with foreign aviation authorities on the resumption of regular flights with markets that had direct air routes to Vietnam before the pandemic, except those that have been re-opened to Vietnam since January.

The frequency of flights on the routes will be gradually increased in a roadmap to ensure the principle of safely, flexibly adapting to and effectively controlling COVID-19, creating favourable conditions for travelling activities with strict implementation of guidelines on medical supervision on passengers entering Vietnam.

Tuan also asked the CAAV to report to the Transport Ministry on the results of the re-operation of international flights in February so that the ministry can submit a report to the Prime Minister.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The eighth session of the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee will take place at the NA House in Hanoi from February 15-17.

NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue will attend, deliver the opening remarks, and take turns with his deputies to chair the session.

Regarding the law-making work, the NA Standing Committee will consider and give opinions on the explanation, acquirement and adjustment of the draft Law on Mobile Police and the draft law on amendments and supplements to a number of articles of the Law on Intellectual Property.

The full-time lawmakers are expected to give comments on a proposal of adding the draft Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (amended) to the Law and Ordinance Building Programme in 2022, discuss the draft Resolution on amendments and supplements to the NA Standing Committee’s Resolution No. 575/NQ-UBTVQH12 dated January 31, 2008 stipulating the functions and tasks of its board for deputy affairs and the draft Resolution amending the working regulations of the NA Standing Committee.

For the supervision work, the NA Standing Committee will consider the legislature’s report on the people’s aspirations in January 2022; and report on initial results of the implementation of policies and laws on the planning work since the Law on Planning took effect.

At this session, the NA Standing Committee will also mull over and make a decision on the establishment of wards of Pho Yen township and Pho Yen city in the northern province of Thai Nguyen.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

An image snapped by Vietnamese photographer Tran Viet Van has been named the winner in the Indigenous Cultures category at the CEFF International Environmental Photography.

The photo “Sunny Day” features a woman drying incense sticks in Quang Phu Cau, a 100-year-old incense making village located in Hanoi, reported the Voice of Vietnam (VOV).

Viet Van is currently a journalist working for the Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper. He got a bachelor’s degree from Hanoi Cultural University in 1996.

He started photography in 1998 and has so far won over 80 international photo prizes. He has also worked as a judge at many film festivals and photo contests in Vietnam.

The CEFF International Environmental Photography is part of the Colorado Environmental Film Festival (CEFF) of the United States. It is open to all photographers over 18 years old and features categories such as landscape, wildlife, indigenous cultures, and environmental impact.

Most notably, a grand prize will be awarded 1,000 USD in cash, while the winners of each category will receive 500 USD.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Department of Health and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of Ho Chi Minh City have established three working groups to inspect preparations at kindergartens and primary schools before they resume in-person classes on February 14.

The working groups on February 13 found that the schools have made thorough preparations for the reopening.

Apart from installing thermal scanners at gates, the schools have prepared hand sanitizer, face masks and quarantine rooms; cleaned up classrooms, and set out plans to deal with COVID-19 cases detected among their students.

Director of the Health Department Tang Chi Thuong, who led a working group to district 3, said the local schools have seriously followed instructions and been guided to identify infections.

During a field trip to district 1, Deputy Director of the Health Department Nguyen Huu Hung asked the schools there to step up the communication work among their staff, students and parents.

HCM City’s decision to resume in-person classes has received the warm response of parents as the pandemic situation in the city remains stable after the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival.

The city has been classified as a “green” zone, equivalent to Level 1 – the lowest in the four-level pandemic scale, for five consecutive weeks.

The department will soon issue new regulations on the identification of F1 cases and how to deal with F0 cases at schools.

The Department of Education and Training asked schools to closely coordinate with the local health sector and follow its guidelines.

On February 7, the first day after the Lunar New Year holiday, students from the 7th to 12th grades in the southern hub continued in-person learning, which has been resumed since early January.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Frost covered the top of Fansipan Mountain, the highest peak in Indochina, in Sa Pa town, the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai early on February 14, as the temperature dropped below 0 degree Celsius.

This is the fifth time that frost has appeared on Fansipan peak since the beginning of this winter.

Frost can burn leaves and flowers, and damage fruits. If seriously, plants can be completely killed, causing loss of crop production.

The Lao Cai Hydro-Meteorological Station forecasts that in the early morning of February 15, the temperature on Fansipan will remain low and frost will continue to occur.

Local authorities and agencies are urgently directing locals to apply all measures to protect plants and animals from cold.

Source: Vietnam News Agency