VIETNAM NEWS HEADLINES MARCH 1
16:02
Prompt moves taken to
ensure safety for Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine: spokeswoman The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has
been working with relevant authorities, domestic airlines, and representative
agencies in Ukraine and surrounding areas to make plans for ensuring
security, safety, and conditions necessary for evacuating Vietnamese citizens
from war zones and repatriating them if they wish. MoFA Spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang made
the remark on March 1 in response to reporters’ question about Vietnam’s
reaction to the tensions in Ukraine and moves to protect its citizens there. She noted that Vietnam has paid close
attention to and kept a close watch on the developments in Ukraine, as well
as the situation of Vietnamese people in this country. There are about 7,000
Vietnamese people in Ukraine at present, and they have not suffered from any
damage. Prioritising the ultimate safety of
the lives, property, and legal and legitimate interests of Vietnamese
citizens and legal entities in Ukraine, since tense developments began, the
MoFA has promptly moved to protect citizens. The ministry has directed the
Vietnamese Embassy in Ukraine to keep frequent contact with the Vietnamese
community there, operate hotlines around the clock so as to receive
information and provide timely support, ask the host country’s authorised
agencies to assist and ensure safety for Vietnamese citizens and businesses,
and coordinate with agencies in Vietnam to have citizen protection plans
ready, according to Hang. She added the MoFA and the embassy
have also issued recommendations and safety guidance for the overseas
Vietnamese. The State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs set up a
communication channel with Vietnamese associations in Ukraine to stay updated
on their situation and give them safety guidance while requesting
associations in nearby countries to prepare for helping Vietnamese people in
Ukraine. Vietnam’s representative agencies in
Poland, Russia, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia have been ordered to keep the
citizen protection hotlines available; liaise with the host countries’
agencies to update information about the Vietnamese coming from Ukraine; ask
for the facilitation of Vietnamese people’s entry, transit, and temporary
stay; provide evacuated Vietnamese with essential goods; and coordinate with
Vietnamese associations to aid the evacuation. The MoFA has also asked authorities of
the relevant parties to create a “safe corridor” for Vietnamese people to
evacuate, the spokeswoman went on, saying that Vietnam has called on agencies
of the United Nations and the host countries to help provide the conditions
necessary for citizen safety and evacuation. As of March 1 noon, about 200
Vietnamese were helped to move out of war zones. The Vietnamese Embassy in
Ukraine is continuing to gather the citizens’ needs in order to carry out
appropriate plans, Hang added. COVID-19: New cases almost
reach 99,000 on March 1 A total 98,762 cases of COVID-19 were
recorded in the past 24 hours from 4pm February 28 to 4pm March 1, including
19 imported cases, according to the Ministry of Health. Besides, the northern province of Ha
Giang supplemented 15,382 cases after verifying information. The national tally reached 3,557,629. There are 3,851 patients in critical
conditions, while an additional 86 deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours,
taking the total fatalities to 40,338, accounting to 1.1 percent of the
caseload. Fine arts museum opens new
space for contemporary artworks A space dedicated to contemporary
artworks is opened at the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum (VNFAM) on
February 25. On display are 65 drawings and
sculptures which were created from 1986 onward. The show is being uploaded on the
iMuseum VFA app to help enhance visitors’ experience in both in-person and
virtual forms. HCM City opens training
course on COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 5 - 11 The Ho Chi Minh City Centre for
Disease Control (HCDC) on March 1 opened a training course on safe COVID-19
vaccination for children aged 5 - 11. The course, which will last until
March 11, will provide training for about 1,350 members of local vaccination
teams, with guidance given by experts from three children’s hospitals in the
city. About 963,000 children aged 5 - 11 in
HCM City need to be vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the
Department of Education and Training and the Department of Labour, Invalids
and Social Affairs. On February 5, the Government issued a
resolution on purchasing COVID-19 vaccine of Pfizer for children aged between
5 and under 12. The number of COVID-19 cases among
local children has been on the rise, especially when schools have reopened.
From February 13 to 26, there were 2,659 confirmed cases who are children
under 18, according to the Department of Education and Training. At least 80 percent of total
communes hoped to be new-style rural areas by 2025 The national target programme on
new-style rural area building for 2021 - 2025 has recently been approved by
the Prime Minister, aiming to have at least 80 percent of the communes
nationwide earning the status by 2025. Among the detailed targets for 2025,
the programme looks to have at least 80 percent of the communes recognised as
new-style rural areas, with about 40 percent meeting advanced standards and
at least 10 percent being model areas. At least 50 percent of the
district-level localities are hoped to earn the new-style countryside status,
with at least 20 percent meeting advanced standards or named model areas. In this programme, Vietnam will also
strive for about 17 - 19 provinces and centrally-run cities completing the
building of new-style rural areas. Deputy PM requests inter-sectoral
inspections in ensuring aviation security Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh
has requested inter-sectoral inspections in ensuring aviation security, as
well as in preventing and combating terrorism and illegal intervention in
civil aviation activities in provinces and cities with airports. In a notice dated March 1, Minh, who
is Head of the National Civil Aviation Security Committee (NCASC), praised
agencies and member units of the NCASC, the People's Committees of provinces
and centrally-run cities with airports and aviation enterprises for their
efforts to complete the tasks last year, especially amid complicated
developments of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of flights, passengers and
the volume of cargo decreased sharply last year and production and business
activities of aviation firms was seriously affected by the pandemic. However,
ministries, agencies and localities have focused their resources on pandemic
prevention and control and effectively implemented measures to ensure
aviation security, he said. The NCASC was requested to organise
training for its members in line with the pandemic situation as well as
conduct inter-sectoral inspections over coordination in guaranteeing aviation
secuirty, and terrorism prevention and combat. Gov’t sets up appraisal
council for press network planning An appraisal council with
representatives of several ministries and agencies has been established to
evaluate the development plan for press, radio and television, electronic
information and publishing networks for 2021-2030 period, with a vision to
2050. The appraisal council will be headed
by Nguyen Manh Hung, Minister of Information and Communications and Pham Anh
Tuan, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications will be the council’s
vice chairman, according to Decision 276/QD-TTg signed by Deputy Prime
Minister Vu Duc Dam. The council’s members include leaders
of ministries of Public Security, National Defence, Justice, Planning and
Investment, Finance, Home Affairs, Natural Resources and Environment,
Culture, Sports and Tourism, as well as representatives from the Party
Central Committee’s Commission for Popularisation and Education, Nhan Dan
newspaper, Vietnam News Agency, Radio The Voice of Vietnam and Vietnam
Television, among others. Hanoi asked to be ready for
COVID-19 peak in next two weeks Hanoi must prepare necessary medical
plans to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic that is forecast to reach its peak
in the next two weeks, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Chu Ngoc
Anh has ordered. More than 10,000 new patients are
reported in Hanoi on a daily basis, causing pressure on the treatment work. So far, the city has prepared 2,180
beds, of which only 1,000 bed are being used. F0 cases treated at home
account for 96 percent of the total infections reported in Hanoi. The municipal health system is not
overloaded in treating patients, Director of the municipal Health Department
Tran Thi Nhi Ha affirmed, adding that it has prepared plans to meet even when
the number of cases doubles. International arrivals to
Vietnam surge in first two months
Vietnam welcomed 49,200 foreign
tourists in the first two months of this year, representing a year-on-year surge
of over 71 percent. In February alone, the number of
foreign visitors to Vietnam increased by over 49 percent month-on-month, and
more than 196 percent compared to the same period last year. The positive results were attributed
to Vietnam’s pilot roadmap for re-opening its door to foreign tourists, and
the resumption of international air routes. The tourism industry is implementing
the second phase of a pilot programme on welcoming international visitors,
while making necessary preparations to fully open tourism activities from
March 15. This year, the sector is expected to
serve 65 million holiday-makers, including 5 million foreigners. Writing contest on protecting
Party's ideology, refuting hostile views launched The second essay writing contest on
protecting the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV)’s ideological foundation and
refuting wrongful and hostile views was launched during a press conference in
Hanoi on March 1. The contest, the second of its kind,
is organised by the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, the Party
Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education, the Central
Theoretical Council, the Communist Review, the Nhan dan (People) Newspaper,
and the Vietnamese Journalists’ Association. The entries can be submitted from now
until July 30. The award ceremony is slated for October. Last year, the
contest was successful with 8,129 entries. Long An soldiers strive to
find martyrs' remains in Cambodia A team of soldiers from the Military
High Command of southern Long An province is striving to search for remains
of Vietnamese volunteers and experts who laid down their lives during the
wartime in Cambodia. The head of the team, Sen. Lieut. Col.
Tran Chi Cong, said that it recently had working sessions with authorities of
Cambodia’s Pailin and Battambang provinces where the soldiers perform their
mission. Representatives of the two provinces
pledged to create all favourable conditions for the team, showing their hope
to continue tightening solidarity and friendship between Pailin and
Battambang and Long An, and between Cambodia and Vietnam at large. On February 26, the team unearth
remains of two martyrs in Sala Krau district of Pailin province. They expect
to find remains of another 80 during this dry season which will last until
the end of April. Since 2001, the team has detected and repatriated remains
of about 280 matyrs. HCM City: Festival honouring
traditional dress to begin this month The Ho Chi Minh City Department of
Tourism on March 1 announced the 8th municipal ao dai (traditional long
dress) festival will kick off on March 5 and last until April 15. The festival will introduce the beauty
and convenience of ao dai, making it a familiar garment of people in
contribution to preserving the nation’s cultural identity and promoting the
image of the country and Vietnamese people. The opening ceremony on March 5 will
treat the public to a display of more than 300 ao dai models from 15 outstanding
collections by renowned local designers. The festival is planned to feature a
peace demonstration of over 2,000 people wearing the dress, an art programme,
an exhibition, and a fashion design contest, among others. Youth Month 2022 promotes
creative spirit among young people The Central Committee of the Ho Chi
Minh Communist Youth Union (HCYU) launched the Youth Month 2022 themed
“Creative youth” during a ceremony in Hanoi on March 1 on the occasion of the
91st founding anniversary of the union. Activities during the month will focus
on popularising and educating the glorious traditions of Vietnamese youth and
the HCYU; promoting creativity and voluntary spirit of the youth for
community; supporting young people in starting a business and integrating into
the world; taking care of children and teenagers; and building strong youth
organisations. A dialogue between the First Secretary
of the HCYU Central Committee and youth union members and young people, a
programme to award 10 Vietnam outstanding young faces in 2021 and present the
Ly Tu Trong Award 2022 will be held within the framework of the month. Children aged 5-11 to get
0.2ml of Pfizer vaccine each dose Children aged between 5 and 11 in
Vietnam will be administered with Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine with a
dosage of 0.2ml, according to the Ministry of Health. The ministry on March 1 issued a
decision amending Article 1 of a decision on conditional approval of vaccines
for urgent needs in COVID-19 prevention and control. People aged from 12 will receive 0.3ml
of Pfizer each dose. The Government recently decided to buy
21.9 million doses of Pfizer for children aged 5-11. 13th National Women's
Congress to take place next week The 13th National Women's Congress
will be held from March 9-13 in Hanoi, said Vice President of the Vietnam
Women’s Union (VWU) Central Committee Nguyen Thi Minh Huong at a press
briefing on March 1. The congress, themed “Promoting
tradition, solidairty, creativity and integration; building a strong
association for the happiness of women and prosperity of the nation,” is
expected to lure 1,000 delegates representing Vietnamese women from different
social classes, ethnic groups, religions and sectors, along with about 200
guests. Various activities will be held within
the congress’ framework, including a photo exhibition, a texting campaign to
raise funds to support at least 130 livelihood models worth 13 billion VND
(569,800 USD) for women in border areas, and a dialogue on gender equality
and women empowerment. Dong Thap: yellow apricot
tree collection sets world record A collection of ten yellow apricot
trees, including one aged over 100 years, by a resident in the Mekong Delta
province of Dong Thap has made a world record for its unique values, a rare
one for Vietnam in the field of ornamental trees. With a great passion for the plant,
the owner Vu Duc Dong, born in 1972 in Sa Dec city, has spent decades and
about 20 billion VND (876,616 USD) on forming and caring for his ten special
trees. Freshly accredited by the World Records
Union (WorldKings), the collection has a 2m-high ancient tree of more than
100 years old, whose trunk is gold-inlaid with two words “Tue Sam” – the
names of Dong’s parents. Its nine roots rising above the ground represent the
images of nine dragons. As his parents have nine children, the
nine other trees of Dong’s collection, each having its own value, demonstrate
many shapes featuring family affection. All of the ten valuable trees are now
on display at the Sa Dec Apricot Blossom Tree Club. Dong himself currently
owns 14 record-making ornamental plants, with 19 related Vietnamese,
regional, and world records already established. Ministry, UNDP step up
efforts on poverty reduction The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and
Social Affairs (MOLISA)’s National Coordination Office for Poverty Reduction
and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on February 28 signed a
memorandum of understanding and launched a project on programme development
and policy advising on multidimensional and sustainable poverty reduction for
2021-2023. Vietnam’s poverty rate, which was 58.1
percent in 1993, decreased to 2.75 percent in 2020 and 2.23 percent in 2021.
On January 18 this year, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 90/QD-TTg
approving the national target programme on sustainable poverty reduction in
the 2021-2025 period, which focuses on investing in improving the capacity of
the poor and clearly identifies the causes of poverty in order to radically
and thoroughly solve the problem. The launched project is a join work
among the UNDP, the MoLISA, and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade (DFAT). It has provided technical support for the MOLISA in a
series of contents, such as researching and developing the national
programme; studying and finalising the poverty line and instruments for
multi-dimensional poverty measurement for the period 2021 - 2025 which are
relevant to Vietnam; and researching and proposing solutions to support the
poor affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; among others. Policy reform aims to promote
socio-economic development in ethnic minority-inhabited, mountainous areas Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh
has signed a decision issuing an action framework on mechanism and policy
reform to support the national target programme on socio-economic development
in ethnic minority-inhabited and mountainous areas in the 2021-2030 period. Under the scheme, as part of the
efforts to improve the human development indicator, the Ministry of Education
and Training this month will form a mechanism to implement the second phase
of a project to strengthen the teaching of the Vietnamese language among
pre-school children and primary pupils in the areas. The ministry will also complete a
draft circular on the organisation and operation of boarding schools for
ethnic minority students and a similar circular for semi-boarding schools for
ethnic minority students. Projects funded by Vietnamese
defence ministry handed over to Laos The economic-defence team of Vietnam’s
Army Corps 15 has handed over five projects as gift to Vang Tat hamlet
cluster in Sanxay district, Attapeu provinces of Laos. The facilities, including irrigation
and water systems, an upgraded boarding school and rooms for boarders, have a
total funding of over 4.1 billion VND (179,750 USD) sourced from the
Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence. UNHRC opens 49th session,
Vietnam attends its high-level segment The United Nations Human Rights
Council (UNHRC) opened its 49th session in Geneva on February 28, with the
participation of many high-ranking leaders and representatives of 47 member
countries and over 100 observers of the UNHRC, and inter-governmental and
non-governmental organisations headquartered in Geneva. Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs
Bui Thanh Son attended and delivered an online speech at a high-level segment
of this session. Tra Vinh earmarks 64.2
million USD to improve ethnic minority people’s life The Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh
will spend 1.4 trillion VND (64.2 million USD) on projects which aim at
improving ethnic minority people’s living conditions over the next three
years. The sum, mobilised from central and
local government resources and others, will be used to build infrastructure
in areas where ethnic minority people reside, help poor people set up
businesses or carry out agricultural production in sustainable methods and
enhance the quality of human resources. It will also seek to improve health
care services and promote traditional values of ethnic minority people in
association with tourism development. The province targets to raise the
average income of ethnic communities to 80 million VND per person per year by
2025. The number of poor ethnic minority households will also be reduced by
3-4 percent each year. It will no longer have extremely difficult communes. Expiry date of Cuba’s Abdala
vaccine extended The Ministry of Health has announced
the extension of an additional three months to the shelf-life of Cuba’s
Abdala vaccine against COVID-19. On October 8, 2021, the Ministry of
Health issued Decision No. 4749/QD-BYT on conditional approval of the Abdala
vaccine for urgent needs in the prevention and control of the COVID-19
pandemic. According to the producer’s instructions for use, the shelf life is
six months at storage conditions of two to eight degrees Celsius. Like other COVID-19 vaccines, the
Abdala vaccine is researched and approved on a rolling basis, meaning it is
approved for completed portions while the manufacturer continues doing
research on others. According to the Ministry of Health's
statement on February 28, based on additional studies assessing the stability
related to the vaccine's shelf life, Vietnam’s specialised agencies have
considered and appraised it. Specifically, on February 23, the Drug
Administration of Vietnam agreed to increase the shelf life of the Abdala
vaccine from six months to nine months at storage conditions of two to eight
degrees Celsius. Ex-officials of Khanh Hoa
prosecuted for land-related wrongdoings Seven former officials of Khanh Hoa
province have been prosecuted for violating land management regulations under
Clause 3 of Article 229 in the 2015 Penal Code. They consist of Nguyen Chien Thang and
Le Duc Vinh, former chairmen of the provincial People’s Committee; Dao Cong
Thien, former vice chairman of the provincial People’s Committee; Le Mong
Diep and Vo Tan Thai, former directors of the Department of Natural Resources
and Environment; Le Van De, former director of the Department of
Construction; and Tran Van Hung, former head of the land management division
at the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. From 2012 to 2015, the suspects, who
were then leaders of the provincial People’s Committee and the departments,
illegally handed over land, changed land use purposes, and granted land use
right certificates in connection with the Cuu Long Son Tu ecological and
spiritual tourism project and the Vinh Trung villa project in Nha Trang city,
according to the indictment issued by the provincial People’s Procuracy. Khanh Hoa police started a criminal
case on the law violations related to those projects on June 8, 2021 and
later started legal proceedings and detained the above-mentioned former
officials to serve the probe. Mekong Delta faces increasing
saline intrusion The Mekong Delta is seeing increasing
saltwater intrusion caused by high tides this week, with salinity boundary of
4 g/l likely to penetrate up to 65km upstream, according the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development’s Directorate of Water Resources. The agency forecast that saltwater is
expected to enter 35-50km deep into estuaries of the Mekong River, 55-65km
into Vam Co River and 35-45km into Cai Lon River this week. Though saline intrusion started
affecting irrigation in areas 35-45km upstream during days when tides are
high, freshwater supply remains sufficient for agricultural production. In March, the salinity boundary of 4
g/l is predicted to penetrate 55-65km inland, 10-20km lower than that in
2020. Saline intrusion is expected to
decline from April. Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/VGP/SGT/SGGP |
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