Vietnam News Today (Dec. 24): Vietnam Greatly Values Ties with ASEAN

A health worker prepares to administer Covid-19 vaccine to a woman. Photo: VNA

Vietnam reports 312 new Covid-19 cases on December 23

The national Covid-19 caseload rose to 11,524,093 with 312 new cases recorded on December 23, according to the Ministry of Health.

With 119 patients given the all-clear during the day, the number of recoveries rose to 10,610,692.

Meanwhile, there are 52 patients needing breathing support, cited VNA.

Two deaths from Covid-19 were recorded in the past 24 hours. The total fatalities rose to 43,184.

With 17,264 doses administered on December 22, the total number of doses of Covid-19 vaccines injected rose to 265,336,568.

Vietnam greatly values ties with ASEAN: President Phuc

The nation places special importance on its relations with ASEAN in its foreign policy, and exerts efforts to actively contribute to building a strong and united ASEAN and to uphold its central role in the regional security structure, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc affirmed on December 23.

Talking to ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi and Ambassadors and Chargé d’Affaires of member states at the ASEAN Secretariat headquarters in Jakarta, President Phuc, said that over the past years, despite the complicated and unpredictable developments of the international and regional situations, a united ASEAN has stood firm, matured, and grown stronger and stronger, with its reputation increasing, and its central role in the international arena confirmed.

This is a result of the cooperation and joint efforts of each member of the ASEAN community, he affirmed.

On the threshold of the new year 2023 when Indonesia will hold the ASEAN Chairmanship with the theme of “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth”, he expressed his wish that Indonesia will have a successful chairmanship year.

The Vietnamese leader affirmed that Secretary-General Lim’s efforts have helped ASEAN develop strongly amidst difficulties, and successfully carry out initiatives to drive back the Covid-19 pandemic and boost recovery, according to VOV.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (sixth from left, first line) poses for a photo with ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi and Ambassadors and Chargé d’Affaires of member states at the ASEAN Secretariat headquarters. Photo: VNA

Phuc expressed his hope that the official, in any positions, will continue his contributions to the development of the bloc.

In his speech, Lim emphasized that Vietnam’s admission as an ASEAN member state in 1995 was a historic landmark which set in motion and created momentum for ASEAN to embrace other Southeast Asian nations.

Over the past 27 years, Vietnam has made important contributions to ASEAN’s unity and centrality, exemplified by prominent contributions such as the Hanoi Declaration and Hanoi Plan of Action in 1998. Additionally, the most recent success of Vietnam’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2020 with the theme “Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN” constitutes an important contribution to ASEAN’s Community building process.

According to him, together with other ASEAN member states, Vietnam has made invaluable contribution in developing ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision, as well as in ASEAN’s in-principle decision to admit Timor-Leste as a member. Furthermore, as the Chair of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Task Force last year, Vietnam played the leading role as a strong driver of the initiative towards narrowing the development gap between ASEAN member states.

The Secretary-General expressed his belief that with its strong commitment to integration and dedicated leadership, Vietnam will continue to make greater contributions still to the development of a forward-looking ASEAN which leaves no one behind.

Vietnamese documentary film nominated for 2023 Oscars

“Children of the Mist” (Nhung dua tre trong suong), a documentary film by Ha Le Diem, a woman director from the Tay ethnic minority group, has been included into the shortlist of the top 15 documentary films advanced in the Documentary Feature Film category of the 95th Academy Awards (2023 Oscar).

The 92-minute documentary tells a story about Di, a 12-year-old girl from the Mong ethnic minority group, who struggles with many challenges during her maturity journey due to conflicts between traditions and modern values, VNA reported.

A scene in the documentary film “Children of the Mist”. Photo courtesy from filmmakers

The 2023 Oscar includes 10 categories - Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film, International Feature Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song), Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Sound, and Visual Effects.

The Oscars ceremony will be held on March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theater Hollywood district of Los Angeles.

PM chairs meeting of steering committee for Covid-19 prevention and control

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on December 23 chaired a teleconference of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control with leaders of 63 provinces and centrally-run cities.

He said the meeting aimed to review the Covid-19 prevention and control performance and set out tasks to control the pandemic and other infectious diseases in the New Year holidays to “not leave anyone behind”.

According to the committee, as of December 19, Vietnam has recorded more than 11.5 million Covid-19 infections. Over 10.6 million patients have recovered from the disease, and more than 43,100 people have died.

In the last 30 days, there have been 12,008 new cases, declining by 23.5% compared to 30 days earlier.

As of December 18, Vietnam has administered more than 265 million Covid-19 vaccines. Roughly 100% of people from the age of 12 have completed the first two doses.

The proportion of over-18-year-old people receiving the third and the fourth doses has reached 80% and 86.8%, respectively, cited VOV.

About 92.3% of children between 9 and 12 years old have received the first dose. As many as 72% of children between 9 and 12 have been administered the second dose.

State agencies and localities have distributed VND87 trillion to over 55.6 million citizens and nearly 1 million employers affected by Covid-19.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh addresses the meeting. Photo: VNA

Regarding implementing Prime Minister's Decision No 08/2022/QD-TTg on supporting employees with house rental fees, by November 30, localities have distributed more than 3.74 trillion VND to over 5.2 million employees and 122,991 employers.

The steering committee predicted the pandemic would get complicated with new variants. In particular, the seasonal changes will cause more respiratory diseases, leading to various outbreaks simultaneously.

The New Year season involves a high intensity of travelling that will also create favourable conditions for illnesses to spread, especially among children and the elderly with underlying conditions.

PM Chinh ordered participants to give comments on the Covid-19 treatment and vaccination, especially for children, as well as problems that the steering committee needs to solve.

Vietnam's e-commerce revenue grows by 15% in 2022

Vietnam's e-commerce revenue in 2022 maintained an increase of about 15 per cent compared to last year, according to the Viet Nam E-commerce Association (Vecom).

Last year, revenue saw growth of 16 per cent to US$13.7 billion on year, the association said.

Vietnam's e-commerce market has been forecast to see a fast and stable growth rate at double digits during the 2016-25 period.

Although Viet Nam's economy was heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, its e-commerce revenue still grew by about 15 per cent to $13.2 billion compared to 2019.

The Vietnam E-commerce White Paper in 2022 said that in 2021, Vietnam's economic growth was only 2.58 per cent, the lowest in the past 30 years. In that context, Vietnam's e-commerce revenue still maintained a growth rate of 6 per cent to $13.7 billion.

With the rapid change in online shopping habits in Vietnam, its e-commerce activities as well as trade promotion activities in the online environment continue to maintain rapid and sustainable development.

Vietnam's e-commerce market is forecast to see a fast and stable growth rate at double digits during 2016-2025. Photo: tapchitaichinh.vn

However, many enterprises with quality goods and products now still do not know how to use information technology as well as e-commerce or are not ready to carry out trade promotion activities on different online platforms. This is a weakness of many Vietnamese enterprises.

Using information technology and e-commerce in business activities is an urgent requirement for all enterprises to achieve the goal of national digital transformation.

Therefore, a fair on connecting trade and promoting trade in e-commerce applications (Ecommerce Expo 2022) is held by the Vietnam E-commerce Association from December 16, 2022 until January 1, 2023, VNS reported.

At the one-month fair, online exhibitions are combined with traditional exhibitions to create opportunities for manufacturing and service enterprises in expanding their business activities.

Ecommerce Expo 2022 is held to promote the introduction of products and services of e-commerce businesses to domestic manufacturing enterprises.

This event also creates opportunities for bilateral or multilateral exchanges and cooperation among enterprises in providing e-commerce promotion solutions to manufacturing enterprises.

During the fair, a forum on digital transformation activities is organised to attract the participation of about 150-200 guests.

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