Day: January 3, 2023

Posted on

Thailand strengthens fights against drug crimes

Thai authorities last year seized a large volume of narcotic drugs and arrested more than 1,000 drug traffickers.

 

Speaking at a press conference on January 2, the Royal Thai Army’s deputy spokeswoman Maj-General Sirichan Ngathong said that last year, its seven territorial protection forces along the borders carried out patrols and monitoring operations by joining forces with police and Interior Ministry officials.

 

They seized 181.933 million meth pills, 201,617 ecstasy pills, 2,875kg of ice, 51.29kg of heroin, 441.90kg of ketamine, and 47.16kg of raw opium.

 

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that 3-6 billion tablets of methamphetamine were smuggled through Thailand in 2021.

 

Jeremy Douglas, the UNODC regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, called the scale of the methamphetamine trade “staggering”.

 

He warned it will continue to expand if the region does not address the root causes, including governance in the Golden Triangle and market demand.

 

Organised crime have all the ingredients in place that they need to continue to grow the business, he said.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Posted on

Government-to-localities conference opens to review 2022 performance, launch 2023 tasks

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (centre), President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (third from left), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (third from right), NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (second from left), and Deputy PMs at the conference on January 3 (Photo: VNA)

 

Hanoi (VNA) – A teleconference between the Government and the 63 provinces and centrally-run cities opened on January 3 morning to review the 2022 performance and carry out the Party Central Committee’s conclusions and the National Assembly (NA)’s resolution on the socio-economic development plan for 2023.

 

The event was attended by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

 

In his opening remarks, PM Chinh said amid difficulties in the domestic and international situations in 2022, thanks to solidarity, strong resolve, great efforts, and drastic actions, Vietnam surmounted difficulties and challenges to fulfill the tasks assigned by the Party, State, and people.

 

Among the 15 main targets for 2022 set by the Party Central Committee and NA, 13 were achieved or surpassed. Notably, the macro-economy remained largely stable, inflation was kept under control, growth recovered fast, and major economic balances were guaranteed.

 

The consumer price index (CPI) increased 3.15% while the gross domestic product (GDP) was up 8.02%, increasing the size of the economy to 409 billion USD and per capita income to 4,110 USD. State budget revenue rose by 392 trillion VND (16.7 billion USD), 27.8% higher than the target. Total export and import value stood at 732.5 billion USD, with a trade surplus of 11.2 billion USD. More than 208,000 companies were established or resumed operations, 1.45 times higher than those withdrawing from the market.

 

Many international organisations kept and upgraded Vietnam’s credit ratings and highly valued the country’s economic results and prospects, the PM said.

 

However, he also pointed out certain shotcomings, difficulties, and challenges, including internal and external inflationary pressure; the slow disbursement of public investment and implementation of some policies in the socio-economic recovery and development programme; and latent risks in the stock, corporate bond, and real estate markets.

 

The Government leader held that the year 2023 holds special importance in the implementation of the socio-economic development plan for 2021 – 2025. Meanwhile, the world situation is forecast to continue witnessing fast, complex, and unpredictable changes. External and internal challenges, adverse factors, and emerging issues will continue considerably affecting the socio-economic situation, people’s life, and security – defence in Vietnam.

 

To carry out the Party Central Committee and Politburo’s conclusions along with the NA’s resolution, the Government will direct ministries, sectors, and localities exert all-out efforts to successfully carry out the 2023 socio-economic development plan, PM Chinh added./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

Posted on

Vietnam, Germany cooperate in preventing future pandemics

An environmental microbiology laboratory, which is capable of detecting pandemic viruses through testing wastewater samples, will be set up at Vietnamese – German University (VGU) with the support of the World University Service (WUS) of Germany.

 

The lab, worth around 500,000 EUR (533,860 USD), will be funded by the Ministry of Economics of the German State of Hessen and the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. It will be the first one of this type in Southeast Asia and will effectively contribute to the early detection of the pandemic.

 

Various studies showed that the virus can be noticed in wastewater up to 14 days earlier by evaluating tests. This will be useful in combating pandemics, for example, researchers can localise an epidemic hotspot on a certain street.

 

The early detection of the pandemic through the study of domestic wastewater has been developed by Dr Susanne Lackner of Germany’s Technical University of Darmstadt (TU Darmstadt). The laboratory at TU Darmstadt is also one of the leading laboratories for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 by genome sequencing and operates as a reference laboratory of the European Union (EU).

 

WUS President Kambiz Ghawami said that the above-mentioned cooperation reflects the friendly, deep and close relationship between the state of Hessen and Vietnam, making an essential contribution to the cooperation in research and teaching in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Posted on

Russian expert speaks highly of Vietnam’s stance on East Sea issue

A Russian expert has spoken highly of Vietnam’s consistent stance and viewpoint of addressing disputes in the East Sea peacefully and via negotiations.

 

Grigory Trofimchuk, Chairman of the Council of Experts of the Eurasian Research Fund, also stressed that Vietnam’s stance meets the goal of stability and security in Southeast Asia.

 

At a commentary on the East Sea, held recently by the information channel Avrova in Moscow, the official stressed that the disputes should be settled through negotiations to prevent tension escalation.

 

He cited the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), towards the signing of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), as important legal documents for the negotiations.

 

The programme was broadcast live on Avrova’s radio and Youtube channels.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

Posted on

Thai economy to return to pre-pandemic level this year: Office

 

The Thai economy is expected to return to the pre-pandemic level in 2023 thanks to the recovery of the tourism sector and private consumption, according to Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor Office (EECO).

 

The office predicted that the country’s the economy will expand by 3.8% this year despite the risk of declines in export due to rising production costs and high interest rates.

 

In the third quarter of 2022, the Thai economy grew 4.5%, it said, adding that investment in production and construction sectors rose despite rising production costs.

 

According to the EECO, operators of 376 projects in industries targeted for the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) have won investments worth 247 billion baht (nearly 7.2 billion USD) for the first nine months of last year.

 

The target industries include next-generation automobiles, medical and wellness tourism, agriculture, food for the future, robotics, aviation and logistics, biofuels and biochemicals, and digital technologies.

 

Investment in these industries is expected to expand further, EECO said.

 

It added that 77 factories worth 6.66 billion baht had been set up in the EEC in the third quarter last year, 13 of which worth 1.66 billion baht are located in Chachoengsao, 40 worth 2.43 billion baht in Chonburi and 24 worth 2.55 billion in Rayong.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

Posted on

Thailand set to speed up digital transformation in 2023

Thailand is set to accelerate digital transformation in 2023 as businesses across the Asia-Pacific have become more engaged in their online journey, driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Prapussorn Pechkaew, research manager at tech market research firm IDC Thailand, said the country needs to leverage data to gear up for digital transformation.

 

Many initiatives have now been developed to transform Thailand into a data-driven nation, including the roll-out of Open Government Data of Thailand, a collection of important data through www.data.go.th that can be analysed for other purposes, she said.

 

According to an IDC Asia-Pacific cloud survey in 2021, 92% of Thai organisation respondents said they will increase the use of cloud services in the next 12 months, giving a huge opportunity for cloud business in the country.

 

The country’s public cloud service market is expected to reach 1.7 billion USD by 2025 at an annual growth rate of 23.4% during 2020 – 2025, IDC said.

 

Sandra Ng, group vice-president and general manager for Asia-Pacific research at IDC, said businesses are now entering into a new era in which digital acceleration is taking place around the world.

 

“This is going to be super important for organisations to drive the new digital value creation,” she said.

 

According to IDC, spending on digital technology by organisations in Asia-Pacific will grow by 3.5 times the economy in 2023, establishing a foundation for operational excellence, competitive differentiation, and long-term growth.

 

By 2026, 40% of total revenue for 2,000 organisations based in Asia will be generated by digital products, services and experiences, up from 26% in 2022.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Posted on

RCEP takes effect for Indonesia

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement officially took effect for Indonesia on January 2, with the country putting new regulations in place for its trade with other members of the world’s largest free trade deal.

 

So far, the free trade pact that entered into force on January 1, 2022 has become effective in 14 out of its 15 members, which include 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their five trading partners, namely China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

 

Indonesia’s new regulations on origin of goods and issuing documents of origin for goods exported from it have been in place starting from January 2, as part of implementing this agreement.

 

Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said in a press release on December 30, 2022, that the new regulations specify the procedure of obtaining certificates of origin for goods exported from the Southeast Asian country.

 

The business sectors in Indonesia can also choose between the two types of document, namely a certificate of origin and a declaration of origin, to claim preferential rates, he said, adding that both documents can be issued independently.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

Posted on

Indonesia to have only 30 SOEs in 2034

Indonesia will keep only 30 State-owed enterprises (SOE) by 2034 following the country’s consolidation roadmap between 2024 and 2034, according to Indonesian SOEs Minister Erick Thohir.

 

Speaking at a press conference on January 2, Thohir said that the decision to consolidate state-owned enterprises into 30 aims to develop state companies as the bulwark of the national economy and avoid excessive government monopolies in too many economic sectors.

 

He said that Indonesia will develop the ecosystem including SOEs, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), regional enterprises, and the private sector.

 

If an extraordinary situation occurs, SOEs, as the bulwark of the national economy, could then intervene, he added.

 

Earlier, the minister affirmed that the transformation to improve and enhance SOEs’ performance will continue despite leadership succession in 2024.

 

SOEs’ transformation has successfully dispelled negative public perceptions deriding government companies as inherently corrupt, as SOEs recorded the consolidated income of 124.7 trillion Rp (8 billion USD) in 2021 and 155 trillion Rp by September 2022, proving their capabilities to compete economically, he said.

 

Thohir affirmed that he will continue to create more breakthroughs, including by consolidating a large number of state companies to only 30 firms, to create healthy and dependable companies for national development.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency