Vietnam News Today (Apr. 7): Vietnam, New Zealand Foster Agriculture Economies

Photo: VOV

More than 49,000 fresh Covid-19 cases confirmed across 61 localities

The nation confirmed an additional 49,124 local Covid-19 cases on April 6 across 61 cities and provinces, with Hanoi continuing to lead the tally with more than 4,037 infections detected.

The number of infections saw a fall of 5,871 from one day earlier.

Localities recording thousands of Covid-19 cases behind Hanoi include Nghe An Ninh province with 2,302, the northern province of Phu Tho with 2,257, and Yen Bai with 2,230.

The Health Ministry confirmed a further 37 more Covid-19 deaths over the past 24 hours, thereby raising the national death toll to 42,712, or 0.4 % of total infections.

Since the start of the pandemic, more than 9.98 million cases have since been detected, ranking 12th out of 227 countries and territories globally.

The same day saw the Ministry of Health announce a further 130,273 recoveries, pushing up the total number of recovered patients up to more than 8.27 million, cited VOV.

In another move, Ho Chi Minh City is set to vaccinate all children aged five to 12 against Covid-19 by September, according to an urgent plan detailed by the municipal People’s Committee.

As a result, approximately 900,000 children residing in the southern metropolis are expected to be inoculated. The city’s Department of Education and Training and Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs have been asked conduct a review and compile a list of those who are eligible prior to the vaccination campaign launching.

The municipal People’s Committee has therefore requested that localities work together with the health sector in response to adverse incidents, with relevant agencies asked to keep a close watch on children following their Covid-19 inoculation.

As of April 5, more than 207.2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered across the country.

SEA Games 31: Vietnam in Group A of men’s football

Vietnam are pooled in Group A of the men’s football at the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31) together with Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Timor Leste, as the result of a draw held in April 6.

Group B comprises of Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia and Laos.

The seed groups were based on teams’ performance at the two most recent SEA Games in 2017 and 2019. Vietnam and Thailand were in the top seed group, according to VNA.

Groups A and B of men's football at the SEA Games 31. Photo: Vietnam Football Federation

Teams are to play each other in a round-robin format in the group stage and the top two of groups A and B will qualify for the semi-finals. Fixtures will be held at Viet Tri Stadium in Phu Tho and Thien Truong Stadium in Nam Dinh from May 6.

Meanwhile, Vietnam are in Group A in women’s football along with the Philippines, Indonesia and Cambodia.

Vietnam won gold medals of both men's and women's football in the previous SEA Games.

SEA Games 31, themed “For a stronger South East Asia”, will run in Hanoi and 11 neighboring localities from May 12 to 23. It will feature 40 sports with 526 events and expect to attract around 10,000 participants. The biennial event was initially slated for late 2021 but delayed due to the pandemic’s impact.

Vietnam, New Zealand foster agriculture economies following Covid-19 pandemic

Vietnam and New Zealand affirmed their commitment to deepening the two countries’ agriculture and trade relationship at the second Vietnam - New Zealand Agricultural Dialogue held virtually on April 6.

The sides underlined that in order to realize the goal of lifting two-way trade turnover to US$2 billion by 2024, increasing bilateral agricultural cooperation and connections between the two countries is key.

Speaking at the ceremony, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said: “Both nations are strong agriculture producers and exporters, with complementary products. The Vietnam - New Zealand Agricultural Dialogue will boost our connections, cooperation and two-way trade, in line with what our two Prime Ministers highlighted in the Strategic Partnership Joint Statement.”

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh speaks at the dialogue. Photo: New Zealand Embassy in Vietnam

Vietnam remains a promising market for New Zealand and vice versa due to robust demand for key agricultural products.

Vietnam’s agro-forestry-aquatic product export and import turnover to New Zealand hit US$549.2 million in 2021, posting a year-on-year growth of 11 percent. The country has exported mango, dragon fruit and rambutan, and is working to ship lime, pomelo and passion fruit to New Zealand.

Of note, Doanh proposed that the New Zealand side help Vietnam to build a supply chain for dragon fruit, as the Southeast Asian nation is the world's largest producer and exporter of the fruit, reported NDO.

For his part, Chief Executive of the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries Ray Smith emphasized that this is the opportunity for both sides to consider how the countries can work together to build resilience and vitality in their agriculture economies following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The sides committed to enhancing bilateral trade, reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, promoting food safety, utilizing agriculture research and technology, and in rural development.

The New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries is supporting agriculture cooperation with the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) with activities in plant health, veterinary epidemiology and electronic certification.

These activities complement New Zealand’s ongoing development program, which has a number of agriculture projects including the premium fruit development project in Tien Giang, the rural dam safety project in the central region, and the safe vegetables project in Binh Dinh.

Smith also reaffirmed that New Zealand will keep assisting the MARD’s greenhouse gas inventory capability through the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases.

Two-way trade between Vietnam and New Zealand topped US$1.56 billion last year, an increase of 14 percent, and by last December, Vietnam was New Zealand’s 15th largest trading partner.

Karaoke, bars, massage venues in Hanoi to reopen

Hanoi authorities will allow the reopening of karaokes, bars, massage venues and gaming centers from April 8, according to the latest Covid-19 adaptation plan released by the city on Wednesday afternoon.

These places, considered high risks for spreading the coronavirus, are usually the first to be closed when a Covid-19 outbreak occurs and the last to reopen when it eases.

Foreigners drinking beer in the ‘backpacker’ street Ta Hien, downtown Hanoi. Photo: VNS

They have been ordered to shut down in the capital since late April last year in response to the emergence of the fourth wave of infections in the country, cited VNS.

The venues must ensure Covid-19 prevention and control measures as per health authority guidelines and advise customers with suspected Covid-19 symptoms – fever, coughing, breathing difficulties and loss of taste and smell, for example – to avoid using the services, and instead seek medical instruction from local health authorities.

District- and township-level people’s committees must cooperate with authorities to inspect these service venues in compliance with Covid-19 safety guidelines and other legal regulations.

With these services reopening and students in the first to sixth grades returning to school today, Hà Nội has resumed nearly all socio-economic activities, thanks to a high vaccination rate that kept the significant Covid caseload in recent months from translating to hospitalizations and deaths.

Only pre-schools have not been allowed to reopen.

Five major cities to limit use of motorbikes after 2030

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh has just approved a new resolution on traffic safety and order for the 2022-25 period, which will look into limiting motorbikes in five major cities of Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Can Tho, and HCM City.

It will be necessary to partially or completely restrict the use of motorbikes in several districts in these cities after 2030, as per the document issued on April 5.

The plan will be developed in accordance with the existing infrastructure, as well as the capacity of the public transport system.

The cities’ People’s Committees are also instructed to work with their People’s Councils on the development of mass public transportation, which is aimed to account for 30 to 35 percent of the total traffic by 2025.

Technology will be applied in traffic management to reduce congestion and pollution. The objective is to have no traffic jam that lasts longer than 30 minutes, VNA reported.

Nguyen Trai street in Thanh Xuan district has long been known as a traffic jam hotspot in Hanoi. Photo: VNA

Toll collection is also considered in several locations at risk of traffic congestion, aiming to limit the number of vehicles entering these areas.

Construction permits for apartment buildings, skyscrapers and malls will only be issued when they fit with the city’s planning, while also meeting the requirements on parking, traffic infrastructure, and connection to major routes in the urban area.

Another goal stated in the resolution is to bring down the number of accidents by 5 to 10 percent every year. By 2030, there must be a decrease of at least 50 percent in road traffic injuries and fatalities compared to 2020.

The Ministry of Transport will continue implementing additional measures to improve traffic safety on National Routes 1A, as well as on other key national roads. The focus will be put on the hotspots of road accidents.

The Ministry of Public Security will also implement the project on installing traffic monitoring cameras, and proceed to the second phase of building a common database for public safety and order.

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