Month: December 2022

Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son on December 30 sent a letter of congratulations to Qin Gang on his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs of China./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnamese Embassy in Bangladesh has given awards to three Bangladeshis in recognition of their contributions to promoting friendship relations between the two countries, especially to introducing the life and career of President Ho Chi Minh who was recognised by UNESCO as a Hero of National Liberation and a Great Man of Culture, to local residents.

 

The awardees are Pooja Sengupta, Artistic Director of Turongomi Dance Theatre, Dr Mostafizur Rahman Faisal, registrar of Heritage University of Bangladesh and KM Abdul Mozid, a senior reporter for Dainik Arthoniteer Kagoj newspaper.

 

Sengupta, the author and main artist in the ballet “Ho Chi Minh – Journey to find the light”, was awarded a Friendship Order from the Vietnamese President.

 

Faisal and Mozid, who translated books “Ho Chi Minh’s Biography” and “How Ho Chi Minh wrote his testament”, were presented with Certificates of Merit from the Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs.

 

Ho Chi Minh’s Biography” (L) and “How Ho Chi Minh wrote his testament”

 

Speaking at the awarding ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to Bangladesh Pham Viet Tien underscored that the Party, the State and people of Vietnam always remember the support from the Bangladeshi people in the past struggle for national independence as well as in the current process of national construction and development.

 

He hoped the awardees will continue to have more excellent works to further contribute the friendship between the two nations, and introduce not only Vietnam and President Ho Chi Minh to Bangladeshis, but also introduce Bangladesh and Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to Vietnamese people./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

 

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines on December 31 announced that it will offer a free flight to bring workers with difficult circumstances in southern provinces to their homes in the North for Lunar New Year (Tet) celebration.

 

Labour confederations in southern provinces proposed a list of the beneficiaries with priority given to workers who have difficult circumstances and spent Tet festival away from their hometowns many times.

 

The airline also offers free tickets for those who registered on its fanpage and website.

 

A flight carrying the workers home will depart from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi on January 9, 2023. Flights bringing them back to Ho Chi Minh City will depart from Hanoi, Van Don, Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa, and Vinh from February 10-15, 2023.

 

The workers are also supported to travel from Noi Bai International Airport to stations where they catch coaches to go home.

 

A representative from Vietnam Airlines said that the flights are part of its campaign named “Flights of Love” which promotes the human value for the community and social responsibility that the carrier has been implementing for years.

 

The flights are organised thanks to the cooperation and support of members of its Frequent Flyer Programme Lotusmiles at a charity auction./

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Although the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) appears to be a boon for Vietnamese pepper, expanding market reach in Europe requires much more than FTA-induced tariff advantages.

 

Hoang Thi Lien, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Pepper Association, estimated that Vietnam exported roughly 211,500 tonnes of pepper in the first 11 months of 2022, raking in 911 million USD. Europe remained a major importer of Vietnamese pepper, taking about one-fourth of the pie.

 

As the country has entered into a free trade agreement with Europe, the pepper has become better positioned in the market. In the short term, EVFTA is expected to give it huge tariff advantages over its major competitors, including Indian and Malaysian pepper.

 

However, Lien urged pepper firms not to take the advantages for granted as Europe has begun to raise the bar on imported pepper. Moreover, some countries are slated to strike their own FTAs with Europe in the years to come, further eroding the advantages.

 

“Firms need to improve themselves constantly to adapt to higher standards in the market,” said Lien.

 

The chairwoman also forecast that the demand for Vietnamese pepper would soar in Q2/2023 on the back of China’s less restrictive stance on COVID-19.

 

Nguyen Nhat Minh, a representative from Vietnam Insight, said Europe is one of the largest pepper importers in the world, consuming one-third of global pepper exports. In the next five years, the market is expected to grow by around 2% annually.

 

Vietnam is one of the four countries in Asia that have signed FTAs with Europe. As the EVFTA has come into effect, Vietnamese pepper enjoys a preferential tariff of 0%, putting it at a huge advantage over pepper from non-FTA countries.

 

However, tariff cuts are only part of the story. In fact, the FTA-induced advantages normally come with specific technical barriers to trade. Such barriers include strict regulations on Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) applicable to pepper.

 

“Pepper imported to European markets is required to come up to European standards. It must be safe for consumer health, clearly labeled, and free of impurities,” said Minh.

 

Luong Phuoc Vinh, Southeast Asian Regional Manager of Tentamus Group, asserted that a closer tie between firms and farmers is needed to keep output stable and increase the proportion of processed pepper in total exports.

 

He urged Vietnamese farmers to shift from a quantity-focused to a quality-focused mindset to help Vietnamese pepper gain ground in the demanding European markets.

 

He also said it is tough to bring Vietnamese pepper to Europe, but it is tougher to get it to supermarket shelves as supermarkets set the bar on imported pepper higher than the bar set by European authorities.

 

“For instance, the maximum residue levels of certain agents in pepper are set at 0.1% by European authorities. Supermarkets, meanwhile, require maximum residue levels of 0.07 %,” said Vinh.

 

Pham Minh Thong, General Director of Phuc Sinh JSC, believed that the commitment to sustainable development would hold the key to commercial success in Europe. It is the case because European consumers prefer a sustainable way of production and consumption.

 

“If firms do not have a sustainable mindset, consumers would turn their back on them,” said Thong.

 

The general director urged Vietnamese firms to shift their focus to extensively processed pepper to strengthen their position in global markets. He took freeze-dried pepper as an example, which can be sold at a price six times that of ordinary black pepper./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam and Russia boast huge potential for cooperation in economy, trade and investment, and the two countries should take the collaboration as a main priority in the bilateral relations, a Russian industrialist has said.

 

Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska, founder of aluminum giant RUSAL, and Russia’s largest auto maker GAZ Group, said over the past 15 years, two-way trade has grown stably, hitting a record high of 25.9% last year.

 

He stressed that to maximise the potential, the two countries need to perfect common legal frameworks and implementation mechanisms, develop networks of logistics and infrastructure, with new sea routes, streamline customs procedures and resume direct air routes.

 

The two countries should consider forming a single payment platform and use their currencies in payments to ease damage to exporters and importers, Deripaska proposed.

 

He suggested that Russian businesses should provide raw materials for factories in the Southeast Asian nation, noting energy, transportation and logistics, maritime communications, diamond processing, forest management, pharmacy and health care, tourism and humanitarian sectors are Russia’s priority investment areas.

 

Deripaska also expressed his hope that the bilateral collaboration in education, science and culture will grow further in the time ahead./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has revised its forecast for foreign arrivals from 18-20 million to 25 million in 2023 after China eased COVID-19 travel restrictions.

 

TAT expects about 500,000 Chinese tourists to visit Thailand during the Lunar New Year holidays at the end of January.

 

To prepare for a potential influx of Chinese tourists, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports plans to offer COVID-19 shots to tourists at an affordable price.

 

According to Minister of Tourism and Sports Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the vaccination service will be available to tourists from any country and may possibly cost between 500-800 baht (15-23 USD) per person.

 

Phiphat said he will meet with Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul and Minister of Transport Saksayam Chidchob to discuss plans to preparing for a potential surge in foreign arrivals next year./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Malaysian Government has been urged to tighten COVID-19 control measures to prevent a possible large-scale spread of the disease when the country welcomes tourists from China.

 

Prof. Dr. Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh, a public health expert at the Faculty of Medicine under the National University of Malaysia, said that the government needs to consider the current developments of the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent its variants that have not been detected in the country

 

She said that the possibility of new variants entering the country is high, especially when the Lunar New Year Festival is approaching, which adds difficulty to control the disease.

 

Public Health Organisation Malaysia advisor Dr. Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said it is not necessary to impose restrictions on tourists from China.

 

However, Malaysia’s Ministry of Health and airline companies must conduct strict surveillance such as vaccination certificates or COVID-19 testing results with PCR testing is preferable.

 

He called on the government to ensure that more and more people in the country receive COVID-19 booster vaccine doses.

 

The Health Ministry earlier announced that all visitors to the country will have to have their body temperature checked at the border. Those who are found to have a fever, or symptoms or are infected with COVID-19 will be referred to a quarantine centre or health authority for further testing.

 

Health Minister Zaliha Mustafa said that all travellers who have been to China within 14 days of arriving in Malaysia will have to undergo RTK-Antigen testing and samples will be sent for a genomic test if they are tested positive for COVID-19.

 

For the last week, the number of new COVID-19 infections per day in Malaysia has decreased significantly, only ranging from 400-500 cases, but there are still a few deaths.

 

Since May 1, Malaysia has lifted the mandatory testing requirement for all travellers who have been vaccinated against COVID-19. It is not mandatory to wear a mask indoors, except on public transport and medical facilities, while social distancing measures are removed./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

The Singaporean Ministry of Health said on December 30 that the city-state is ready to step up border health measures if needed and that it is closely watching the global COVID-19 situation.

 

The ministry noted that there has been some public concerns about the high level of infections in China and its latest announcement to relax their border measures on January 8 next year.

 

As air travel with China is progressively restored, Singapore will take a cautious approach towards increasing seat capacity, taking into account the overall public health assessment, it said.

 

Singapore’s Changi airport sees between 700-1,000 arrivals from China daily, or about 1%-1.5% of the total by air a day, mostly comprising of residents or long-term pass holders. About 40 to 80 of the arrivals are detected to be positive with COVID-19 on a weekly basis, it said.

 

Singapore has been working with international partners to monitor new variants circulating globally, the ministry said.

 

Singapore still requires travelers who aren’t fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to take pre-departure tests, and for short-term visitors who haven’t completed the regime to have sufficient travel insurance./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency