Day: March 12, 2022

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) is collecting opinions on the Prime Minister’s draft decision on approving the national action plan on green growth for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050.

On October 1 last year, the PM adopted the national green growth strategy for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050.

This strategy aims to help promote economic restructuring in tandem with growth model reform, and achieve economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, and social equality. It also looks to obtain a green and carbon-neutral economy to help with efforts in curbing global warming.

The green growth strategy focuses on economical and efficient use of energy and natural resources based on science and technology, digital technology application and digital transformation, development of green and sustainable infrastructure, and promotion of green lifestyles.

Approved right ahead of the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) last November, it reflects Vietnam’s determination to carry out the commitments on greenhouse gas emission reduction and climate action through realising green growth targets. Workers produce solar panels at the Canadian Solar Manufacturing Vietnam Co. Ltd, invested by Canada, in the Vietnam – Singapore Industrial Park in Hai Phong city. (Photo: VNA)

At COP26, Vietnam pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, cut down methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030, gradually reduce and eliminate coal-fired power generation during 2030 – 2040, and protect forests.

To that end, Vietnam will have to further accelerate the green growth strategy implementation and translate the strategy into an action plan.

The MPI said the draft national action plan on green growth for 2021 – 2030 identifies concrete activities, tasks, along with implementation duration and resources. It was built with the new context and existing strategies and plans taken into account so as to ensure the compatibility, complementarity, and feasibility of green growth measures when they are carried out in each sector and the entire economy.

According this draft, the ministry will be the coordinating body for green growth, and its minister will act as head of the national steering committee on green growth./.

VNA

Source: Vietnam News Agency

An expert has suggested several measures for upholding and tapping into cultural values so as to help build up the culture and strength of Vietnam.

At the recent National Cultural Conference, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong demanded more attention to preserving, restoring, and optimising the country’s cultural values, including tangible and intangible cultural values of all ethnic groups, in tandem with acquiring the cultural essence of the era and developing the “soft power” of the Vietnamese culture, thereby helping promote the country’s combined strength in the time ahead.

Assoc. Prof. and Dr. Tong Trung Tin, Chairman of the Vietnam Archaeological Association, said it is necessary to comprehensively and drastically carry out the preservation, restoration, and optimisation of cultural values, both tangible and intangible ones, so as to implement the Party and State’s policies on culture.

He pointed out the need to be fully aware of the humane and political values of culture, the origin of the people, along with the country’s glorious history and the relics proving it. It is also important to complete the legal system on cultural heritage preservation and gear up material and human resources for the work

Some relics in the Po Klong Garai tower complex in Ninh Thuan province (Photo: VNA)

Tin recommended that to effectively bring into play cultural heritage, attention be paid to enforcing the Law on Cultural Heritage and relevant regulations, translating the Party and State’s viewpoints and directions into concrete and practical actions, and not distorting traditional heritages.

The expert noted all of those working on cultural affairs were delighted at the important speech by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the National Cultural Conference on November 24, 2021. This address provided a comprehensive and profound look into the role of culture, the capitalisation of resources, existing weaknesses, as well as some urgent solutions.

After the conference, if the cultural sector nationwide can fuel a strong movement in the preservation and optimisation of cultural heritage values, it will reap many considerable successes, according to Tin./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

An Giang province, a hub of relic and scenic sites in the Mekong Delta, is making efforts to improve its quality of tourism products and services as well as build a trademark catering to visitors’ needs.

The local sector will focus on those with demand for cultural-spiritual tours, festivals, eco- and resort tourism, aiming to gradually expand its tourist market and recover the foreign arrival segment in line with COVID-19 safety measures.

According to statistics from the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, An Giang used to welcome over 6 million domestic and foreign tourists each year on average. In 2021, due to the pandemic impact, it received just about 3.5 million visitors, down 46 percent on-year, and obtained 2.3 trillion VND (100.59 million USD) worth of revenue. In 2022, the province aims for 4.6 million tourists and revenue of about 3 trillion VND.

Toward turning tourism into its key economic sector, An Giang prioritises investing in the development of infrastructure and high-quality and diverse products.

For the 2021-2025 period, it plans to host 42 million arrivals, reeling in 27.8 trillion VND. By 2025, An Giang will have at least one large-scale cultural and spiritual tourist area; restaurants and hotels meeting 5-star standard; as well as amusement parks and large-scale entertainment sites in key tourist destinations and big cities such as Long Xuyen and Chau Doc.

To achieve the targets, Nguyen Khanh Hiep, director of the department, said the tourism industry will work to improve product and service quality to serve domestic demand.

Sam Mountain National Tourist Area in An Giang’s Chau Doc city. (Photo: VNA)

Le Van Phuoc, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said An Giang will boost tourism cooperation with the cluster of cooperation and tourism development in the West Mekong Delta; while stepping up its engagement in a tourism development cooperation programme between Ho Chi Minh City and 13 localities in the delta.

An Giang is home to many festivals, historical-cultural relics and scenic spots recognised at provincial and national levels as well as many types of intangible cultural heritage accredited by the Government. Some of them are the Ba Chua Xu festival on Sam Mountain and the Bay Nui (Seven Mountains) ox racing festival, which have annually attracted millions of tourists./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on March 12 demanded favourable mechanisms be issued to facilitate public – private partnership (PPP) in infrastructure building, so as to boost the development of the Van Phong Economic Zone (EZ).

Established in 2006, the Van Phong EZ is located in Van Ninh district and Ninh Hoa town of central Khanh Hoa province. It is a multi-sectoral EZ with an international container port, an oil refinery industry, and a point of transit for petroleum and petroleum products playing the key role. It also includes tourism, services, industry, aquaculture, and other economic sectors. Van Phong serves as the economic centre of Khanh Hoa, an investment magnet, and a driving force for economic development in neighbouring areas.

As of 2021, it attracted more than 150 investment projects with registered capital totaling over 4 billion USD, including over 120 domestic projects and 30 foreign ones. Most of the nearly 100 projects already operational are small ones.

Visiting the zone, PM Chinh said Van Phong boasts outstanding potential and great competitiveness in economic development, especially sea-based economy and tourism.

However, he noted, as it will be hard to achieve fast growth if the EZ relies solely on public investment, Khanh Hoa, ministries, and sectors need to work out mechanisms and policies, especially those boosting PPP in infrastructure building, to promote its development.

PPP models should be stepped up basing on the principle of harmonising interests among the State, people, and businesses, he added.

Visiting the Hyundai Vietnam shipyard in the Van Phong EZ, the Government leader expressed his hope that Hyundai will continue expanding its investment, increase the proportion of domestically-made components in its products, improving manufacturing quality in tandem with environmental protection, bettering its workers’ material and spiritual life, and contributing more to the local budget, thereby helping promote relations between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea.

The shipyard posts annual revenue of over 500 million USD, contributes more than 5 million USD to the local budget each year, and is providing jobs for more than 5,000 workers.

The same day, PM Chinh examined the site set to be the starting point of an expressway from Khanh Hoa to Buon Ma Thuot city of Dak Lak province in the Central Highlands. This road will be about 115-130km long and invested with over 21.9 trillion VND (957 million USD).

He asked ministries and sectors to work with the two provinces to accelerate preparations in order to submit this project to the National Assembly for consideration in the coming session. He stressed that the expressway holds great significance since it will help connect eastern areas with western ones, and the north with the south, thus contributing to the development of the entire Central Highlands region./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A clear mechanism is essential to ensuring a preferential credit package will benefit pandemic-hit firms and contribute to economic recovery.

Under the State Bank of Vietnam’s draft, which was recently made public, loans of pandemic-hit firms will enjoy an interest rate cut of 2 percent.

The package will total 40 trillion VND sourced from the State budget, aiming to ease financial difficulties for enterprises, cooperatives and business households and recover business operations.

In 2009, the Vietnamese Government used a credit package worth 17 trillion VND (equivalent to 1 billion USD at that moment) sourced from the foreign exchange reserve to provide an interest rate cut of 4 percent for businesses.

However, many banks had not managed to settle these loans, according to Nguyen Quoc Hung, General Secretary of the Vietnam Banks Association.

Although the past package contributed to stimulating economic recovery, it also brought problems, Hung said, pointing out that after the package was implemented, the banking system faced big liquidity problems and rising bad debts.

“It is necessary to put the mechanism of the new preferential credit package under careful consideration to prevent similar problems,” he said.

Banking expert Can Van Luc said lessons learned from the past showed that the new package should have a clear and detailed implementation process.

Luc said that the 2009 package lacked a process, regulations and focus, resulting in several preferential loans being provided to high-risk sectors such as securities and real estate.

Tran Du Lich, member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Group, said that the preferential interest rate credit package was essential. It was also necessary to have a mechanism to direct preferential credit flows at targeted sectors and pandemic-hit firms to prevent distortions in the financial markets and bab debts.

Sectors and enterprises must be carefully selected, Lich stressed.

Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Dao Minh Tu said that the Ministry of Finance might be in charge of approving which enterprises would be provided with the preferential loans./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Overseas shipments of shrimp products are set to earn more than 4 billion USD in 2022, up 2.56 percent on-year, as heard a conference held on March 11.

The hybrid conference on shrimp sector development, co-organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the People’s Committee of the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang, gathered the participation of 28 coastal cities and provinces nationwide.

In his remarks, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien requested relevant agencies and localities to identify difficulties and challenges facing the sector for the ministry to take into account during its works toward sustainable growth.

Tien himself listed a number of obstacles and shortcomings including COVID-19-induced difficulties, outdated farming and rural infrastructure, and environmental pollution.

Participants put forth a series of solutions such as forming linkages among shrimp farming localities; developing a scenario for brackish water shrimp production in the context of COVID-19; and increasing the application of technological advances.

Per a report of the Vietnam Directorate of Fisheries, despite difficulties from abnormal weather and the pandemic, the sector produced 970,000 tonnes of shrimps last year, an annual rise of 4.3 percent. Shrimp export turnover grew 5.4 percent annually to about 3.9 billion USD in 2021, with Soc Trang and Ca Mau contributing over 2 billion USD to the sum.

As planned, in 2022, shrimp farming area will reach 750,000 ha for a production of 980,000 tonnes./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese (OV) Affairs (SCOV) on March 11 sent an open letter asking Vietnamese people’s associations in some European countries to continue helping with the evacuation of those from Ukraine.

The SCOV under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the associations in Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Germany to help the Vietnamese leaving Ukraine register for repatriation flights and make contact when necessary.

It noted that facing the complicated situation in Ukraine, many OVs there have moved to neighbouring countries and expressed their wish to return to the homeland. To meet their legitimate demand, under the Government’s directions, domestic authorities conducted a repatriation flight from Bucharest (Romania) on March 7 and another from Warsaw (Poland) on March 9.

After those flights, there remain many people wishing to come back to Vietnam, and authorities are maximising efforts, with businesses’ support, to arrange more repatriation flights, the SCOV said.

The committee asked the associations to instruct the evacuees to stay updated with the announcements published on the official websites of the Vietnamese embassies in Romania and Poland.

When official information about repatriation flights is released, the evacuees need to liaise and register with the embassies directly or via the registration links.

As some Vietnamese people have continued moving to some other countries like the Czech Republic and Germany, the embassies and associations of Vietnam there have also worked to disseminate the host countries’ policies for people evacuating from Ukraine, according to the SCOV.

The Vietnamese evacuees needing assistance can liaise with the embassies via the followings:

– The Vietnamese Embassy in Poland: website: vnembassy-warsaw.mofa.gov.vn; email: sqbl.covid@gmail.com; hotlines: (+48) 782 257 359; (+48) 22 742 01 00.

– The Vietnamese Embassy in Romania: website: vnembassy-bucharest.mofa.gov.vn; email: dangkychuyenbayvn@gmail.com; hotline: +40 744 645 037.

– The Vietnamese Embassy in the Czech Republic: citizen protection phone number: +420792392299.

– The Vietnamese Embassy in Germany: citizen protection phone number: +49 152 2133 5656./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency