Category: General

 

First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) Central Committee and President of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermudez has expressed his gratitude to Vietnam and other international friends for their support for the Caribbean nation in times of hardship.

 

In his Twitter account, the Cuban top leader wrote that the solidarity between Cuba and others has been strengthened during difficult times, voicing his gratitude to governments and peoples that have helped Cuba.

 

He also shared an article of Granma daily newspaper, the official mouthpiece of the PCC, which highlights assistance for Cuba in the last few days.

 

The newspaper cited an announcement by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on presenting 12,000 tonnes of rice to Cuba, in which he said that Vietnam will stand side by side with the Carribean country.

 

Other countries such as Bolivia, Mexico, Nicaragua and Russia and numerous organisations have sent aid to Cuba, Granma reported.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam and India are emerging as economic powers in the region that will make a difference in the post-pandemic times, The Economic Times cited Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Pranay Verma as saying.

 

The ambassador was speaking at a recent webminar on global trade and investment opportunities for Indian industry in Vietnam organised by India’s PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI).

 

Vietnam and India have emerged as global trade partners due to their policy initiatives and increase in their trade and investments, he said.

 

While applauding PHDCCI’s diligent efforts in fostering business and trade relations of India with other countries of the world, Verma discussed challenges faced in Vietnam related to disruption in production, supply chain, logistics, and many more yet at the same time arising of new opportunities in areas of technology, business practices, trade relations, diversifying partners and trade baskets.

 

Verma emphasised that there is a need for Vietnam and India to take advantage of each other’s economic strength for increasing business relations between the two nations, at the same time leverage each other’s global value chains to utilise each other’s trade network.

 

There is also a need to look at the domestic market, especially in India that can offer growth opportunities to Vietnam with focus on e-documentation and e-payments which help to increase business growth and foster B2B engagement, connecting MSMEs.

 

There is a need for structural improvement where the government and business partners need to work in sync and also improve shipping connectivity between the two nations.

 

He further added that mutual recognition of standards and certifications will have a positive impact on the trade and electrical machinery vertical.

 

Counselor Do Thanh Hai spoke about the flow of economic and trade opportunities between Vietnam and India despite the pandemic, saying the economic and trade exchange will pick up in the time to come.

 

There is a restructuring of the global supply chain and both nations have the capabilities to take advantage of the opportunity. With the strategic location of both nations and change in reforms, there will be an increase in trade exchange and will be a driving engine for the global economy in near future, he said.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

The 2021 national football season will resume in November, according to a proposal from the Vietnam Professional Football Company (VPF).

 

After receiving votes from participating teams, VPF has finalised the reschedule date based on the development of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The V.League 2 tournament will restart on November 20 and end on January 14, 2022. The V.League 1 will be from February 12 to March 12. The National Cup will be held on January 17 to March 13.

 

There is only one team relegated from V.League 1 to V.League 2, instead of 1.5 team as in original plan. It is the same with the V.League 2 and the third-tier league.

 

VPF’s new plan needs an approval from the Vietnam Football Federation.

 

In other football news, national team head coach Park Hang Seo has called 30 U22 players to prepare for Vietnam’s Asian U23 championship qualification campaign.

 

The South Korean coach will pick his team from three goalkeepers, 10 defenders, 11 midfielders and six strikers.

 

The players will start training from August 10 in Hanoi.

 

The tournament will be held from October 23-31. Vietnam are in Group I with Myanmar, Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei. The team expect to secure a place in the finals which will be organised next June in Uzbekistan.

 

Park also call 31 players of the national team for the 2022 World Cup qualifier. They are three keepers, 14 defenders, nine midfielders and five forwards.

 

They will start their training camp on August 5 in Hanoi.

 

Vietnam are in the same group with Japan, Australia, Oman, China and Saudi Arabia with first match is planned in September.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

 

Authorities of Kokubunji city, west of Japan’s Tokyo capital city, on July 31 held an event to help local people understand more about Vietnam prior to the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.

 

In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent, Mayor Izawa Kunio said as Japan and Vietnam have been nurturing a sound friendship, local residents want to cheer for the Vietnamese teams at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, hoping that the athletes will spare no efforts to achieve outstanding results.

 

The event will be held on August 1, 28 and 29. Participants will write their encouragement messages to the Vietnamese athletes. Kokubunji is among the host localities for the Vietnamese teams at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

 

In 2019, the city and the Vietnam Sports Administration inked a memorandum of understanding on training for Vietnamese swimmers with disabilities ahead of the Paralympics.

 

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics, started on July 23, will close on August 8. Meanwhile, the Paralympics will take place from August 24 to September 5.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on July 30 asked the southern province of Binh Duong, one of the localities hardest hit by the ongoing fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, to ensure food and medical services for local people during the period of social distancing and lockdown.

Binh Duong holds an important role in the country’s goods supply chains, has high population density, houses many factories, and serves as a gateway between the southern largest economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City and Southeastern localities, the State leader said during his field trip to the province.

Therefore, he stressed, Binh Duong needs to take measures to complete the dual goal of pandemic containment and economic development, with ensuring public health being the top priority.

President Phuc agreed with the Health Ministry’s proposal to impose effective policies, which are being rolled out in HCM City, in Binh Duong to ease overload at local hospitals.

Binh Duong must observe the social distancing order seriously, the President requested, suggesting the province mobilise retired doctors and private hospitals in the pandemic fight, apart from temporary hospitals.

The Party and State always accompany HCM City, Binh Duong and other southern localities in the fight against COVID-19, he said.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Since the EU – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) took effect, the country’s imports from the EU have been rising sharply, with many commodities posting import value of billions of US dollars.

The EVFTA, which took effect on August 1 last year, has given an impulse to bilateral exportation and importation, with Vietnam currently recording trade surplus with the EU.

In the first half of 2021, the country’s exports to the EU stood at 19.3 billion USD while imports from this bloc grew 17.2 percent from a year earlier to 8.14 billion USD. The import turnover was 14.65 billion USD in 2020, up 4.3 percent year on year.

The largest EU exporters to Vietnam consist of Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, and Ireland, which accounted for 85 percent of the country’s total imports from the EU last year.

Computers, electronic products and components; machinery, equipment, tools, and spare parts; along with pharmaceutical products are the main groups of items with billions-of-USD imports from the EU. They saw respective import turnover of 4.1 billion USD, 3.1 billion USD, and 1.75 billion USD last year, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

The importation of meat and dairy products is also expected to increase strongly in the time ahead thanks to the EVFTA.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said under the deal, Vietnam eliminated import duties on 48.5 percent of the tariff lines, equivalent to 64.5 percent of the EU’s exports to the country, as soon as the agreement took effect.

After that, 91.8 percent of the tariff lines, equivalent to 97.1 percent of the bloc’s exports, will have their import duties removed in seven years. For the remaining 1.7 percent of the tariff lines, Vietnam will gradually lift duties in more than 10 years or apply the tariff-rate quota regime under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) commitments.

At present, agricultural and aquatic products, consumer goods, processed food, milk, and dairy products from the EU have yet to benefit from zero-percent tariffs in Vietnam. As livestock products hailing from the EU are still subject to the tax rate ranging 10 percent – 40 percent, imports of these commodities have grown but not at a fast pace.

However, import duties on the EU’s frozen pork, other types of pork, and chicken will be slashed to zero percent in seven, nine, and 10 years, respectively, since the EVFTA enforcement. Beef will enjoy this tax rate, from 20 – 30 percent at present, in the next three years.

Vietnam currently ranks 17th among trading partners of and 11th among exporters to the EU.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on July 30 announced that it will present some medical devices for COVID-19 treatment worth about 120 million JPY (1.1 million USD) to Ho Chi Minh City.

The aid, granted per request of the HCM City-based Cho Ray hospital, is in the framework of the agency’s activities to support Vietnam in the fight against the pandemic.

The medical devices include extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machines and ventilators, among others. They will be sent to a newly-established COVID-19 resuscitation centre at the city’s Oncology Hospital 2.

Meanwhile, testing equipment will be presented to Cho Ray hospital.

This is the second medical device aid package for Cho Ray hospital after the first one in July 2020.

JICA, along with the Japanese government, has pledged to further support Vietnam in battling COVID-19.

Cho Ray hospital has bolstered collaboration with Japan since the 1970s and JICA has conducted numerous activities to support the Vietnamese hospital.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnamese real estate developer Nam Long Group has partnered with Japan’s Nishi Nippon Railroad Co. Ltd in the EHome Southgate housing project in the Mekong Delta province of Long An.

In its announcement on July 29, Nam Long Group said that this is the first time the Japanese firm has teamed up with the company in developing an affordable housing project with the price of an apartment at about 1 billion VND (43,565 USD).

Tran Xuan Ngoc, General Director of the Nam Long Group, said that although the EHome products do not bring Nam Long as much profit as those belonging to other segments. The firm is delighted to share with Nishi Nippon Railroad a common mission and vision in creating the valuable living environment and products for the community.

Meanwhile, Fukumori, chief representative of Nishi Nippon Railroad, said that Nam Long and Nishi Nippon Railroad have jointly developed six projects from small to large scales.

EHome is a highly appreciated affordable apartment product line of Nam Long. This product line has an average price of about 1 billion VND with three core values: Economy (affordable), Ecology (green living environment), Efficiency (effective design).

Nam Long introduced the product line for the first time in 2007. Since then, EHome has realized the dream of having a house for 5,000 households with income of 10-15 million VND per month.

The EHome Southgate, which covers 4.5 hectares of land in the area, was designed to have seven apartment blocks, equivalent to more than 1,400 apartments. The project is expected to have a synchronous utility infrastructure system and easily connect to the infrastructure of the competed Waterpoint River area.

Online sales of the project will start in the third quarter this year.

Source: Vietnam News Agency