Day: April 18, 2022

The People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City on April 18 opened a trial against 12 defendants on the charge of conducting acts aiming at overthrowing the people’s administration.

The defendants are members and supporters of the so-called “Chinh phu quoc gia Viet Nam lam thoi” (Provisional National Government of Vietnam), which is a terrorist organisation founded and led by Dao Minh Quan from abroad. The organisation has conducted many propaganda activities advocating armed riots against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Under the instruction of many key members of this organisation, the defendants have actively to entice others to join the terrorist organisation and a “referendum” to elect Dao Minh Quan as “the President of the third Republic of Vietnam”.

In Ho Chi Minh City, defendant Tran Thi Ngoc Xuan joined the organisation and regularly used the Facebook social network to streamlive contents calling on others to participate in organising and conducting the “referendum”. From March-June 2018, Xuan lured six people, including her husband, two children and three acquaintances to join the organisation. Also during this time, she also received many documents from the members of the organisation via Facebook.

On February 19, 2019, while visiting poor households in Tam Binh ward, Thu Duc city, Xuan brought along five sets of printed documents and handed over the documents to three households. During the time participating in the organisation, Xuan was given a mobile phone, 300 USD, 400 CAD (316.4 USD) and 3 million VND (130.9 USD).

Like Xuan, defendant Nguyen Thanh Xoan was lured by La Ngoc Duyen to register to join the organisation. In addition to spreading the organisation’s propaganda, Xoan also enticed and guided four other to vote in the “referendum”.

In Dong Nai, Luong Thi Thu Hien contacted many acquaintances, saying that she was participating in a foreign organisation that was engaged in charity activities, giving away land and houses for the poor, and asked for the acquaintances’ information to register for the gifts. Many provided personal information for Hien, but in fact Hien used them to register for the “referendum” for Dao Minh Quan.

Also in Dong Nai, defendant Tran Van Long used personal information of more than 20 people to register for the “referendum”.

Other defendants committed similar acts in An Giang, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Lam Dong, Phu Yen and Kon Tum. In addition, the defendants in the case also made yellow flags with three red stripes of different sizes. They printed and distributed documents such as “Provisional Constitution”, “Constitution of the Third Republic of Vietnam”, “Biography of Prime Minister Dao Minh Quan” in order to propagandise about the organisation and the referendum to others.

In this case, nine defendants including Tran Thi Ngoc Xuan (born in 1969), Nguyen Thanh Xoan (1972), Nguyen Thi Kim Phuong (1967), Luong Thi Thu Hien (1968), Y Hon Enuol (1988), Y Phuong Ding Rieh (1978), Nguyen Minh Quang (1960), Ho Thi Xuan Huong (1968), and Le Ngoc Thanh (1972) were prosecuted under Clause 1, Article 109 of the 2015 Penal Code. Three others, namely Y Tup Knul (1970), Pham Ho (1949) and Tran Van Long (1955) were prosecuted under Clause 2, Article 109 of the Penal Code 2015.

The trial is scheduled to last until April 19.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam’s economic growth in the first quarter of 2022 was consolidated thanks to the solid performance of export-oriented manufacturing and recovering service sector, according to the Vietnam Macro Monitoring report recently released by World Bank.

The country’s GDP grew by 5.0 percent year-on-year in Q1-2022, comparable to the growth rate in Q4-2021, yet still two percentage points below pre-pandemic rates.

Industry and construction and services sectors grew 6.4 percent year-on-year and 4.6 percent year-on-year, respectively, contributing 4.3 percentage points to quarterly GDP growth. Growth of industry and construction was driven by strong external demand for manufactured products, while services sector performance varied across sub-sector. Finance, banking and insurance, and information and telecommunications have been exceptionally resilient over the past two years and maintained solid growth. On the other hand, accommodation and catering services were 1.8 percent lower than a year ago, and well below their pre-pandemic level, the report pointed out.

Industrial production index grew by 8.5 percent year-on-year in March, comparable to pre-pandemic rates, while retail sales growth accelerated from 4.1 percent in February to 9.4 percent, the second-highest growth rate since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This rebound is partly due to the post-pandemic resumption of economic activities and was driven by a 10.7 percent growth in the sales of goods.

The merchandise trade balance posted a surplus of 1.4 billion USD in March, while registered and disbursed foreign direct investment (FDI) remained stable amid global uncertainties related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 2.4 percent (y/y) in March, compared to 1.4 percent in February. This is the highest inflation rate in seven months but remains well below the 4.0 percent target.

According to the World Bank, rising consumer and producer prices warrant close monitoring of domestic price developments as rising inflation would affect the recovery of domestic consumption and economic growth. While CPI increases have been subdued in 2021 due partly to slack in aggregate demand, accumulated increases in intermediate and producer price index in the last three quarters could impact production decisions and translate into higher consumer prices, especially food prices.

In the short run, the bank said, targeted policy intervention to alleviate the impact of the price hikes on the general population, and especially on the most vulnerable is recommended. The temporary petroleum tax reduction recently introduced by the authorities is one such short term measure. In the medium term, other measures would include a more targeted, effective, and responsive social protection system that would help build resilience to shocks in the economy. If price increases persist, the economy should be allowed to adjust to the price changes.

The authorities should consider structural reforms to help the economy become more productive and increase aggregate supply. These would include tax breaks for productive and innovative investments, reducing barriers to doing business and logistics costs and investing in the education and technical training of the work force, said World Bank.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) and the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum will organise a forum on April 24 to seek measures to promote tourism in the locality and the region as a whole.

Ha Van Sieu, Deputy General Director of the Vietnam National Administration for Tourism (VNAT) under the MCST, said at a meeting on April 18 that the forum will contribute to tourism stimulus and development in the Central Highlands.

The event will be attended by some 600 representatives from the MCST, Kon Tum province, the VNAT, ministries, associations and businesses, and experts.

They are scheduled to look into the tourism potential of Kon Tum, as well as measures to build products, promote tourism and trade, and enhance connectivity in the sphere.

The Plan for Tourism Development in the Cambodia – Laos – Vietnam Development Triangle Area for 2021-2025 with a vision towards 2030 will be announced on this occasion.

Within the framework of the forum, Kon Tum will introduce its tourism logo and slogan, and sign cooperation documents with other localities, associations, enterprises and investors.

There will be a wide range of activities before and after the forum like a Famtrip with the participation of representatives from travel firms and journalists, a hot-air balloon festival, a paragliding show and exhibitions.

Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Binh noted that Kon Tum is now ready for tourism reopening, and expressed his hope that the locality and the Central Highlands will welcome more holidaymakers.

Source: Vietnam News Agency