Day: May 5, 2022

A 60-sq.m. LED display has been set up in Viet Tri city of the northern province of Phu Tho to serve football fans of the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31).

The province’s Viet Tri Stadium will host fixtures in Group A of men’s football, including of Vietnam’s U23 team, from May 6-21.

Thousands of people gathered at the sports complex of Phu Tho from May 2 night to buy tickets for Vietnam’s football match against Indonesia.

The match, assessed as the fiercest in Group A, will take place on May 6.

Previously on May 4, the organising committee checked security work for SEA Games 31 in the province.

The Phu Tho Military High Command together with units of Military Zone 2 stationed in the province will inspect locations and devise security plans at accommodation facilities, training grounds and competition venues of the Games.

SEA Games 31, themed “For a Stronger South East Asia”, will be held in the capital city of Hanoi and 11 neighbouring provinces and cities.

Featuring 40 sports with 526 events, it is expected to attract around 10,000 participants. The biennial event was initially slated for late 2021 but delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Duong Anh Duc hosted a reception for UNICEF Representative in Vietnam Rana Flowers on May 5 to discuss the future cooperation between the two sides.

Duc thanked UNICEF for its assistance to supporting projects for children in the city from 2017 – 2021, saying the city always cares for and provides the best conditions for vulnerable people, including children and women.

HCM City and UNICEF will continue implementing what has been agreed, including the co-organisation of a conference to discuss strategies for bilateral partnership in childcare and children’s protection, he affirmed.

The city’s departments will continue coordinating with UNICEF to study, develop and implement projects supported by the latter, the leader added.

He further said that the city wants UNICEF’s companion in childcare, children’s protection and development while urging both sides to strengthen exchanges and seek ways to remove difficulties, reduce burdens from public administrative procedures and ensure the good cause of the projects.

Flowers, for her part, said certain problems have surfaced in the way UNICEF and HCM City have cooperated so UNICEF hopes the two sides can find solutions to them to ensure the effectiveness of the projects.

She also proposed high-level discussions to be held among HCM City and UNICEF’s leaders and stakeholders for the development and implementation of the city’s strategic agendas on childcare and children’s protection.

She noted that UNICEF will step up cooperation with HCM City in multiple areas, such as child labour, protection of children with disabilities, and improving children’s skills regarding emotional management, climate change action and others./

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Thailand will host a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)’s Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) from May 19 to 22 to push for the digital economy and post-pandemic economic revival among several goals, a senior Thai Commerce Ministry official said on May 5.

Auramon Sapthaweetham, director-general of the Department of Trade Negotiations (DTN), said Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit will chair the APEC MRT meeting.

The meeting will discuss several issues, including the push for Bio-Circular-Green Model economy, cooperation to ease trade and investment restrictions, tourism promotion, free trade agreements, and promoting implementation of a digital economy and society, Oramon said.

During the meeting, ministers of the member nations will also discuss cooperation for sustainability in food production and “new normal” trade that will be suitable for the post-COVID-19 era, she added.

The member states will be asked to help support access to vaccines and necessary goods, she said.

In November 2021, Thailand took over the rotating chairmanship of the APEC from New Zealand, declaring the theme for APEC 2022 as “Open, Connect, Balance.”

The annual APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting will be held on November 18-19 in Bangkok./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Germany’s newspaper Finanzmarktwelt has run an article on Vietnam’s full reopening post the COVID-19 pandemic, with rosy signs seen in all sectors.

According to the article, Vietnam faced a range of difficulties in the fight against the pandemic last year due to the spread of the Delta variant. However, the Southeast Asian nation has fully opened and shifted to living safely with the pandemic despite Omicron waves this year.

The country’s export-import value hit a record 67.37 billion USD in March, of which 34.71 billion USD came from exports, surpassing the previous record in July 2021.

The article cited a forecast by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as saying that Vietnam’s economy will expand about 6.5 percent this year.

It also highlighted Vietnam’s export of electronic products, especially mobile phones, garments-textiles and timber products.

Tim Lee Lahaphan, an economist from Standard Chartered Bank, said more and more foreign firms have planned to move their supply chains to Vietnam that is dubbed as a centre of electronics, garments-textile and footwear in the region, the article noted.

Apart from production and trade, the domestic tourism is also bouncing back, the article said, adding that since mid-March, Vietnam announced its complete resumption of tourism activities.

Tourism has significantly contributed to Vietnam’s economy, making up 9.2 percent of the national gross domestic product (GDP) last year, the article said./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Venue of myriad events within the upcoming 31st Southeast Asian Games, have issued a related plan to manage traffic for all types of vehicles.

From May 6 to 23, the opening, closing ceremonies and events of 25 sports are expected to take place at 19 locations across the capital’s 14 districts.

The traffic plan covers routes for foreign sports delegations to reach their hotels in Hanoi’s districts of Nam Tu Liem, Cau Giay, Dong Da, Ba Dinh, Tay Ho, Hoan Kiem, and Hai Ba Trung.

There are also planned routes for them to go to competition venues in other northern localities – Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Ha Nam, and Nam Dinh – during the biennial tournament.

Serving the opening ceremony at the My Dinh National Stadium on May 12 and closing ceremony at the Indoor Games Gymnasium on May 23 in Hanoi, the police will conduct traffic management and restrict the movement of trucks from 500 kg as well as passenger cars with 16 seats or more on a series of routes around the venues.

Spectators are encouraged to use public transport to reach the 19 locations for games./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Up to 89 percent of the imports in the first four months of this year are raw materials and accessories for domestic production with a combined value of 106.6 billion USD, up 16.8 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

It reported on May 4 that Vietnam’s total imports expanded 15.7 percent year-on-year to an estimated 119.8 billion USD in the period.

In April alone, the figure was estimated to reach 32.2 billion USD, down 1.5 percent month-on-month and up 15.5 percent compared to the same period last year.

The import of energy products strongly surged, partly due to scarce supply.

Notably, the import turnovers of gasoline and oil, coal, crude oil and liquefied natural gas surged by 146.9 percent, 123 percent, 63.7 percent and 62.7 percent, respectively.

In addition, the import of other items also increased sharply such as petroleum products (up 30.3 percent), chemicals (up 29.3 percent), chemical product (26.71 percent), fertiliser (73.3 percent), rubber (34 percent), mobile phones and accessories (20.8 percent).

China was the largest market of Vietnam in the first four months, with an estimated turnover of 36.78 percent, up 8.3 percent compared to the same period last year.

Vietnam also imported goods from the Republic of Korea, ASEAN, Japan, EU, and the US with respective values of 23.3 billion USD, 16.4 billion USD, 8.2 billion USD, 5.3 billion USD and 4.7 billion USD./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The northern province of Quang Ninh, one of the 12 localities hosting the upcoming 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31), has mobilised more than 300 volunteers to support sport delegations attending the biggest regional sports event.

The volunteers are students of Ha Long University who can communicate fluently in English and Chinese. Some can also speak other languages used in Southeast Asia. They are all fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The students have received trainings on SEA Games 31 as well as regional nations and hospitality activities and support to delegations and athletes in medical facilities, airports, hotels and tourist sites.

The 31st SEA Games, which is slated for May 12 – 23, featuring 40 sports with 526 categories, will take place in Hanoi and 11 nearby localities.

Quang Ninh will host competitions in seven sports from May 6 – 22. It expects to welcome more than 1,200 athletes, referees and coaches during the games./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam’s U23 football team has been training hard in the northern mid-land province of Phu Tho, determined to keep the highest title at the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31).

During a training session on May 4, head coach Park Hang-seo reminded the players to focus on the training, which is crucial before matches.

Striker Tien Linh who was said to get injured and be racing against time to recover also joined the training. He, midfielder Nguyen Hoang Duc and captain Do Hung Dung are the three overaged players. Linh scored six goals at SEA Games 30 in the Philippines, helping U23 Vietnam bring home a gold medal.

Earlier the same day, the head coach announced the list of 20 U23 players who will defend the SEA Games title this month.

He picked two goalkeepers, seven defenders, five midfielders, and three strikers.

Players not on the list will be sent back to Hanoi and keep training as usual. They will be substitutes for the main team.

If there is any COVID-19 case in the main team, a maximum of 15 substitutes will be called up, as per the SEA Games football tournament regulation.

U23 Vietnam will meet Indonesian footballers in the opening match of Group A at the 20,000-seat Viet Tri Stadium, Phu Tho province, on May 6.

SEA Games 31, themed “For a Stronger South East Asia”, will be held in the capital city of Hanoi and 11 neighbouring provinces and cities.

Featuring 40 sports with 526 events, it is expected to attract around 10,000 participants. The biennial event was initially slated for late 2021 but delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency