Day: August 25, 2022

The following is a list of selected news summaries last night by the Vietnam News Agency.

– President Nguyen Xuan Phuc has lauded young parliamentarians of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan for their deep understanding of the traditional ties between the Vietnamese and Japanese people, saying it laid an important foundation to continue fostering bilateral ties. During a reception in Hanoi on August 24 for a delegation of the LDP’s Youth Division led by Suzuki Norikaru, member of the House of Representatives and Sato Kei, member of the House of Councillors, who are Acting Heads of the Youth Division, President Phuc said on the occasion of the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties next year, Vietnam wished to welcome the Emperor, Empress and senior leaders of Japan. Read full story

– Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue expressed his delight at the development of ties between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) during a reception in Hanoi on August 24 for President of the RoK-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group Kim Tae-nyeon. Hue spoke highly of results of meetings and exchanges between the two friendship parliamentarians’ groups, considering them practical activities on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations this year, contributing to further deepening the Vietnam – RoK strategic partnership in general and ties between the two legislatures in particular. Read full story

– Experts gathered at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on August 24 to discuss export and investment opportunities generated by the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) through sustainable development.

Vo Tan Thanh, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said that after two years, two-way trade between Vietnam and the EU rose 14.5% in 2021 to 57 billion USD. Read full story

– The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has asked airports and airlines to announce the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s latest regulations on compulsory COVID-19 testing before entering the East Asian country.

It said the Korea Disease Prevention and Control Agency (KDCA) recently sent a notice on the regulations to airlines operating flights between Vietnam and the RoK. Read full story

– The People’s Committee of Binh Duong southern province held a teleconference on August 24 to attract Taiwanese investors. Speaking at the event, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Danh said as of August 15, the province had drawn 4,063 foreign-invested projects worth over 39.6 billion USD, ranking second nationwide in terms of FDI attraction behind Ho Chi Minh City. Read full story

– More than 4,270 people died in traffic accidents in the first eight months of 2022, a rise of 8.67% over the same period last year, according to the National Committee for Traffic Safety.

Tran Huu Minh, head of the committee’s office, said that 7,488 traffic accidents occurred in the period, injuring 4,957 people, year-on-year decreases of 2.47% and 7.24%, respectively. Read full story

– Vietnam’s U20 team will play a friendly match against Palestine on September 3 at Viet Tri Stadium in the northern province of Phu Tho, according to the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF). The match will be a warm-up for the Vietnamese team before they move to Indonesia for the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U20 qualifiers./. Read full story

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Japanese investors’ confidence in Vietnam has still been increasing despite adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shigetoshi Aoyama, Executive Vice President of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), has said.

Speaking at the Vietnam-Japan trade and investment forum in Tokyo on August 24, Aoyama said the free trade policy and efforts in attracting investors and improving the business environment by the Vietnamese Government have helped to raise the confidence of Japanese firms.

According to the Vice President, after Vietnam relaxed its entry restrictions last March, JETRO had received many requests regarding trading activities in Vietnam.

Aoyama cited a recent survey by JETRO showing that over 55% of Japanese companies want to expand their business in Vietnam in this and next year, the highest among Southeast Asian nations.

Trade between Vietnam and Japan has also grown amid the pandemic, he said, adding that the bilateral trade value last year doubled that recorded 10 years ago, and Japan’s investment in the Southeast Asian nation amounted to 3.65 billion USD, tripling the figure in 2020. The forum was held by the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and Embassy in Japan in coordination with JETRO and the ASEAN-Japan Centre (AJC), with the participation of more than 100 representatives from associations and businesses of the two countries, including Japanese companies operating in the areas in which Vietnam interested like energy, technology, logistics and real estate.

MoIT Minister Nguyen Hong Dien called on Japanese firms to increase their investments in Vietnam and expand operations to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other markets that sign free trade agreements with Vietnam.

The minister said he is ready to hear opinions from Japanese enterprises and investors to better improve the business environment in Vietnam.

The participating businesses explored cooperation and investment opportunities at the forum.

On the sidelines of the event, Vietnam’s T&T Group JSC and Marubeni Corporation of Japan exchanged a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in energy./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnamese team came fourth behind strong rivals from China, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan in Group 2 of the “Tank Biathlon” semifinals at the ongoing Army Games 2022 on August 24 in Russia.

This was the first time the Vietnam People’s Army tank team have advanced to the semifinals in the category.

Overall, the team ran 13 rounds in 2 hours 10 minutes and defeated 19/24 targets, becoming the squad with the most goals shot down in the race.

China finished first in 1 hour 51 minutes and 55 seconds, followed by Kazakhstan with 1 hour 53 minutes and 13 seconds, and Azerbaijan with 2 hours 1 minute 20 seconds. All the three teams shot down 16 targets.

According to the organiser’s rules, each participating team consist of three pools with three members each. Starting at the same time, they race, clear obstacles, and shoot at targets. It is not until a pool returns to the starting line can the next pool of that team begin its turn. On this occasion, Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi came to cheer for the Vietnamese team in the semifinals at the Alabino training ground in Moscow region.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency’s resident correspondent, the diplomat affirmed that Vietnam’s participation demonstrated the close cooperation between Vietnam and Russia in all fields, especially in security and defense, especially when the two nations are celebrating their 10th founding anniversary of comprehensive strategic partnership. This also shows that the Vietnamese military is integrating into the world, and striving to ensure peace, security and stability in the region and around the world, he noted./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) has so far launched 2,805 projects that resulted in over 707 trillion VND (30.7 billion USD) in revenue.

As one of the pioneers in PetroVietnam’s labour emulation movement, the Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical JSC (BSR) has had hundreds of registered initiatives. A total of 137 of them have been recognised and earned over 1.3 trillion VND in revenue.

Electricity engineer Tran Quang Thuong from BSR’s group of authors for the initiative “Manufacturing 110VDC, 25A Power Supply for Equipment Repair, Maintenance” said in the past, the troubleshooting of 110VDC equipment at factories or power stations was always difficult due to the lack of 110VDC power supply devices. The authors have successfully studied and manufactured a 110VDC power supply that met the criteria for large capacity and underwent tests for circuit breakers and contactors. It is easy to use, lightweight, and easy to move for handling work inside and outside of the factory.

Since mid-2020, good quality 110VDC power supply systems have been manufactured. With the new power supply, the Dung Quat Oil Refinery saved 200 million VND in the cost of buying new equipment. The new power supply helps quickly check experiments, handle problems related to relay and circuit breakers in TA4, and indirectly shortens time to perform jobs. Engineers can easily repair and build 110VDC power supplies with equivalent or greater capacity.

Deputy head of the BSR repair and maintenance department Ngo Huu Chien affirmed that power system at Dung Quat Oil Refinery is very complex so that maintenance work requires highly skilled engineers. With a passion for learning and creativity, the contingent of electrical workers and engineers brought into full play many initiatives to ensure safe and stable operation of the power delivery system at the factory.

Technology engineer Tran Cong Nhat from the Bien Dong Petroleum Operating Company (BIENDONG POC) said Bien Dong 01 is a major project of Vietnam’s oil and gas sector. It exists in particularly complicated conditions such as deep water – close to deep water (128-145m of water) and is far from shore. It is also the largest scale project in Vietnam, with a total volume of 70,000 tonnes. It requires very strict technical standards. Such challenges require engineers and workers at the project to constantly study and apply technical innovations and improvements tostabilise the country’s gas supply.

Over the past five years, BIENDONG POC has launched 40 initiatives and benefited 1.4 trillion VND. Most notably is a project on optimising the cost of managing underground pipelines by simulation research in combination with risk-based testing and advanced non-destructive testing.

Chairwoman of PetroVietnam’s Trade Union Nghiem Thuy Lan said during the 2017-2022 period, out of 2,805 initiatives, 108 were recognised at PetroVietnam. Twelveof the initiatives won oil and gas and VIFOTEC sci-tech awards, and four others were honoured as “Pride of Vietnamese labour brainpower”. Such works brought home hundreds of millions of VND to the corporation. Outstanding units in labour emulation campaigns include Vietsovpetro, PVCFC, BSR, PV GAS, PVFCCo, BIENDONG POC, PTSC, PVEP, PV Drilling and others. Vietsovpetro had 524 initiatives and inventions, 202 of them were not counted into money and the remainder brought over 53.4 trillion VND. PetroVietnam Gas had 406 initiatives and raked in more than 2.7 trillion VND.

When it comes to building model criteria and project goals, it is necessary to track the tasks for each period and functions of companies. It is also necessary to formalize the model project contents into appropriate criteria. When any emulation movement is launched, she called for enhancing inspection and offering all possible forms of support for employees to make the best use of their creativity and bring the initiatives into reality, thus improving work efficiency./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The People’s Committee of Hai Phong city and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) jointly organised a conference on investment promotion with the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s enterprises and another with supporting firms of LG Group in Seoul capital and Gyonggi province on August 23-24.

These are activities among those in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries’ diplomatic relations, aiming to provide investors with an insight into socio-economic development of the northern port city in particular and Vietnam in general, strengthen the promotion and attraction of quality and effective investment projects into the city and its industrial and economic parks, and open up more cooperation opportunities between RoK investors and the city in the coming time.

The delegation of Hai Phong city was led by Nguyen Van Tung, Vice Secretary of the municipal Party Committee and Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee. Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Nguyen Vu Tung, Minister Counsellor Nguyen Viet Anh also attended and delivered speeches at these conferences. At the investment promotion conference with Korean businesses held in Seoul, the Hai Phong delegation briefed participants on the city’s potential, advantages, investment opportunities and attraction policies, while listening to their ideas and recommendations and clarifying their queries on investment in the city.

Meanwhile, in Gyeonggi province, the delegation focused on exchanging information to attract the multinational conglomerate’s supporting firms.

Hai Phong’s investment attraction activities attracted hundreds of Korean investors and businesses.

These conferences were opportunities for the northern port city to continue promoting its cooperation with RoK localities, agencies, organisations and businesses. It focused on introducing to RoK officials and investors its major policies on building and developing Hai Phong into a modern, smart and sustainable industrial city on the Southeast Asian scale by 2030, with a vision to 2045. To improve the efficiency of production and business of investors that are present in the city and to attract new ones, Hai Phong commits to continuing to strongly improving its business investment environment, developing infrastructure, especially transport infrastructure related to regional connectivity, speeding up construction on new industrial zones, and stepping up the concerted implementation of measures to attract high-quality human resources, and support employees.

These conferences also offered chances for RoK investors and businesses to better understand the investment environment of Hai Phong city so that they can make fact-finding tours to and pour capital into the Vietnamese city in the coming time, thus contributing to creating motivation for Hai Phong to become a dynamic, convenient, safe and successful investment destination for RoK investors.

At the conference in Seoul, representatives of Hai Phong city People’s Committee presented the investment registration certificate for new projects from the RoK, including Hai Phong – Nam Dinh Vu Logistics Centre Projects 1&2 with a total investment of 98 million USD, Posco Vietnam Processing Centre worth 18.5 million USD, and KREMS Project with an additional investment of 35 million USD.

Regarding foreign investment attraction, Hai Phong ranks sixth nationwide with 872 projects totaling 23.76 billion USD. Of the total, 173 projects worth 9.65 billion USD have been invested by Koreans, making the country rank first in both the number of projects and value among 42 nations and territories pouring capital in the port city.

In the first seven months of this year, the city attracted 1.1 billion USD worth of FDI, ranking fifth nationwide. In the period, Korean investors poured 71.86 million USD into the city.

LG Group has to date invested 7.24 billion USD in its projects in Hai Phong, accounting for 37.13% of the total FDI capital lured by the city./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has demanded Acting Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan to consult with experts on solutions to handle the current shortages of medicines and medical supplies, thus giving appropriate and timely directions for this issue at medical examination and treatment facilities.

According to Document No. 514/VPCP-KGVX dated August 24, 2022, PM Chinh requested the Acting Minister of Health to carefully assess recommendations of experts in order to direct the implementation of proper solutions. Previously, the Government Portal hosted a seminar on measure to address the shortages of medicines and medical supplies, during which participants pointed out causes of the shortages of medicines and medical supplies, and proposed solutions to the issue.

They underlined the need to assess the extent and situation of drug shortages at all levels from central health establishments to local facilities, and determine the cause of medicine shortages at each unit.

A number of contents related to medicine prices in the Pharmacy Law, and provisions of the Law on Bidding need to be considered, they said.

The Ministry of Health was reminded to urgently amend and soon issue circulars related to bidding instructions, drug registration and prices; and guidelines for procurement of medical equipment, including medical supplies.

Issues under the authority of the MoH, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment, which remain stuck and affect relevant bidding activities, must be reviewed, participants said.

They also emphasised the necessity to improve the capacity and responsibility of agencies relating to the bidding work, strengthen the state governance at all levels, and promote the application of IT in this work.

According to Dao Khanh Tung, a representative from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam, the State can significantly save on drug costs in the way that UNDP has been supporting countries.

Specifically, every two years, UNDP will organise a global tender, then negotiate with manufacturers and suppliers of drugs and medical supplies around the world to help poor and developing countries access to the right supply of generic drugs, brand-name medicines and other medical goods at their right prices.

UNDP’s such support is to minimise the intermediary stages, and ensure transparency of the price, thus benefiting not only patients but also countries whose budgets are already tight, Tung said./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency