Day: March 26, 2022

Vietnam’s exports of wood and wooden products are expected to rake in 18.5 billion USD in 2025 and 20.4 billion USD in 2030, per a project freshly approved by Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh on March 10.

The 2021-2030 project on the wood processing industry’s sustainable development aims to turn the sector inro a key economic one and promote the trademark of Vietnamese wood products domestically and internationally.

Accordingly, the value of wood and wooden products for export is set at 20 billion USD in 2025 and 25 billion USD in 2030 while that for domestic consumption 5 billion USD and 6 billion USD, respectively. All wood and wooden products for export and domestic consumption are expected to source from legal wood materials with sustainable forest management certification.

Toward these targets, a key task of the project is to develop infrastructure and expand production scale. As such, it will work to form five high-tech forestry areas, attracting investment from wood processors and auxiliary materials producers. It also eyes the building of a national furniture exhibition center and encourages the establishment of centers for research and design of wood products catering to consumers’ demand.

Another task is to develop groups of products with competitive advantages, value added, and high and stable demand in the market. Those prioritised for production include furniture, outdoor furniture, and artificial wood plank products, among others.

The US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the EU, and China are identified as main markets for Vietnamese wood products, while wood processing firms are encouraged to use the “Go Viet” (Vietnamese wood) trademark and capitalise on e-commerce and other technological applications./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam reported 103,126 new COVID-19 infections, including two imported cases, on March 26, the Ministry of Health announced.

The capital city of Hanoi continued to log the highest number of infections, with 9,623.

It was followed by northern Phu Tho and central Nghe An provinces, with 4,679 and 4,362 cases, respectively.

Also on March 26, the northern province of Nam Dinh registered an additional 55,179 infections.

The new infections brought the country’s total caseload to 8,919,557, ranking 121st among 225 countries and territories in the world.

As many as 164,553 patients were declared to be free from coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 on the day, raising the total number of recoveries to 5,166,117.

Meanwhile, 62 fatalities were recorded, lifting the national death toll to 42,258, accounting for 0.5 percent of the total infections.

More than 204.86 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Vietnam so far./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Thousands of people were ordered to evacuate from their homes near Taal volcano in the Philippines on March 26 after an eruption sent ash and steam hundreds of metres into the sky.

The volcano, which sits in a lake south of Manila, exploded with a “short-lived” burst at 7.22am (local time), the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in a statement.

It warned further eruptions were possible, which it said could trigger dangerous, fast-moving volcanic flows of gas, ash and debris, as well as a tsunami.

The seismological agency “strongly” recommended residents living in vulnerable communities around the lake be evacuated, as it raised the alert level from two to three.

Residents of five villages were ordered to leave their homes. More than 12,000 people live in the settlements, according to the latest available official data.

Taal is one of the most active volcanoes in the Philippines which has been hit periodically by eruptions and earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” – a zone of intense seismic activity.

Access to the volcano island, which was once home to a community of thousands, has been prohibited since January 2020./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The south-central province of Khanh Hoa, home to the famed resort city of Nha Trang, welcomed some 254,000 tourists in the first quarter of 2022, up more than 12 percent year-on-year, said the provincial People’s Committee.

Of the holidaymakers, 14,000 are foreigners, a year-on-year rise of nearly 49 percent, the committee said, noting that tourism brought about 1.33 trillion VND (58.17 million USD) to the province during the reviewed period.

Khanh Hoa has asked travel firms to put forth operational plans in accordance with regulations set by the tourism and health sectors, including those on COVID-19 prevention and control.

The enterprises have also focused on developing new products, improving the quality of products and services and boosting promotion activities.

Lodging facilities and tourism destinations in Khanh Hoa have gradually resumed their operations after a long hiatus due to the pandemic, and met requirements to serve tourists in the new normal.

However, there still remain difficulties induced by COVID-19 and global uncertainties, Director of the provincial Department of Tourism Nguyen Thi Le Thanh said, adding that major markets for Vietnamese tourism like China, the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Japan have still tightened their entry and exit regulations.

According to the department, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines will open a route between Singapore and Cam Ranh (Khanh Hoa) from April 15, and will resume the Incheon (the RoK) – Cam Ranh route from early July.

Other carriers like Vietjet and Bamboo Airways and many international airlines also plan to restore some flights to Cam Ranh.

Khanh Hoa expects to attract more than 1.2 million tourists this year, including 1.16 domestic visitors and 40,000 international arrivals, and earn 4 trillion VND from tourism this year./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Total liquidity in the banking system reached about 13.7 quadrillion VND (601 billion USD) in January, increasing by 2.59 percent against the end of 2021, according to the State Bank of Vietnam.

Of which, saving deposits made up 5.4 quadrillion VND, up 1.95 percent compared to late 2021, and total deposits of economic entities at 5.6 quadrillion VND, down 1.21 percent.

Experts underlined the 1 percent increase in term deposit interest rates by many banks as a significant cause behind the surge in savings.

Another cause is that the profitability of some other investment channels has begun to wane, resulting in a redirection of cash flows into bank deposits.

Regarding deposits of economic entities, experts said the drop was seasonal since economic entities had to withdraw money to pay wages, salaries and bonuses to their employees before Lunar New Year.

However, the seasonal drop in 2022 was lower than in previous years, at around 2.5 percent since 2013, indicating that economic entities had cut back on bonuses to keep more money on deposits for future production expansion.

Economic expert Nguyen Tri Hieu believed that the lower deposit drop is a sign of economic recovery since firms do not withdraw money in a large lump sum but in small instalments to invest in production little by little.

He also said that bank deposits had returned to normal patterns after two years.

Notably, deposits of economic entities have surpassed saving deposits since November 2021. In 2017-2018, the latter was normally higher than the former by hundreds of trillions to over 1,000 trillion VND.

Currently, bank deposits are a safe and profitable investment channel as they offer interest rates far higher than inflation rates, and banks are launching promotion programmes to attract more clients to current accounts and saving accounts.

Bao Viet Securities Company forecast that interest rates would continue to rise by 0.25-0.5 percent this year, making bank deposits more appealing to investors./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnamese Embassy, in coordination with the embassies of French-speaking countries in Chile, has organised the Francophone Film Week 2022 on the occasion of International Francophonie Day.

The event, which will last until March 31, is part of the cultural activities of the Francophone Week, with 10 films from countries in the Francophone community being screened.

It is expected to reflect the diversity in terms of culture of the Francophone community. Vietnam’s movie “Yellow flowers on green grass” by director Victor Vu with Spanish subtitles will be shown at the film week.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Chile Pham Truong Giang attended the opening ceremony of the event and gave an interview to local media about the embassy’s active role in events aimed at promoting the Francophone and multiculturalism of the Francophone community.

On this occasion, the ambassador informed about the working visit to Vietnam of Secretary-General of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) Louise Mushikiwabo.

The Francophone Week in Chile is an annual event held for countries in the Francophone community to popularise their traditional cultures, images and cuisine to local and international friends, and at the same time, to show their friendship relationship among member countries./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The south-central coastal province of Binh Thuan is endowed with sand hills and dunes dubbed as “little deserts,” which have supported the development of eco- and sport tourism.

Sand dunes in Mui Ne whose colours change depending on the angle of the sun or cloud cover, are ideal for kite-surfing and hiking. Meanwhile, the endless sand hill Trinh Nu is suitable for camel riding and jeep tours.

The sand dunes have attracted crowds of international tourists, painters, poets and photographers who come to find inspirations for their works.

Lee Joo Yun, an expert from the Republic of Korea (RoK), said he had learnt about famous sand dunes in Binh Thuan earlier, which offer great views of sunrise and sea.

The sand dunes have also provided materials for sand paintings, which are special souvenirs of Binh Thuan province.

Le Thi Ngoc, from Phi Long Sand Painting Company Ltd., said tourists are excited to learn about the art, and many have bought them as gifts for their relatives and friends./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency