A man gets vaccinated against Covid-19. Photo: VNA

Vietnam records additional 132 Covid-19 cases on December 28

Vietnam reported 132 new Covid-19 infections on December 28, according to the Ministry of Health.

The new infections lifted the country’s total Covid-19 cases to 11,524,779.

Meanwhile, 142 patients fully recovered from the disease on the day, bringing the total number of recoveries to 10,611,059.

The death toll was kept at 43,184, accounting for 0.4% of the total infections, as no fatality was logged on the day, cited VNA.

So far, Vietnam has administered nearly 265.43 million Covid-19 vaccines doses.

Strong cold spell impacts national weather during New Year holiday

A strong cold front is moving toward north and north-central Vietnam and is forecast to affect the region during the upcoming three-day New Year holiday, said weather experts.

Temperatures throughout the northern region dropped to between 12 and 15 degrees Celsius as the cold front hit northern border localities on the morning of December 28.

Mountainous regions have been the first to be hit by the cold spell in the build up to the New Year holiday with temperatures dropping to three to five degrees Celsius in some areas.

Photo: VNA

Hanoi and neighbouring localities are due to experience rain on December 28 and 29. However, after New Year's Eve, the cold spell will subside and the weather is forecast to turn sunny and dry once again.

During the three-day New Year holiday from December 31 to January 2, localities in the northern region will record average lows of 13 to 16 degrees Celsius, with mountainous areas seeing drops to between six and nine degrees Celsius, according to VOV.

Throughout the reviewed period the central region will also be affected by the cold starting from December 28, with temperatures in Thanh Hoa falling to between 10 and 12 degrees at their lowest, while areas from Nghe An to Thua Thien-Hue will see temperatures plummet to around 12 to 16 degrees.

After New Year's Eve, temperatures in central Vietnam will also begin to gradually rise, hovering around 13 to 19 degrees. The region is also set to be accompanied by drizzly conditions.

Elsewhere, the weather in the southern region during the three-day New Year holiday is predicted to be quite beautiful, sunny and dry. Most notably, Ho Chi Minh City will see little rain in the evening and at night, with the average temperatures ranging between 18 and 22 degrees Celsius.

In contrast, Hanoi is forecast to experience cold and dry weather. It will be sunny at daytime before turning very cold at night. Temperatures are anticipated to hover at around 16 and 20 degrees Celsius on average during the New Year holiday.

President receives outgoing ambassadors of Sri Lanka, Cambodia

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc received the outgoing ambassadors of Sri Lanka and Cambodia, who came to bid their farewells, in Hanoi on December 28.

Talking to Sri Lankan Ambassador Prasanna Gamage, President Phuc affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Sri Lanka.

He highly valued the diplomat’s efforts to boost cultural exchanges and partnerships in religious affairs and trade while thanking the South Asian country for supporting Vietnam’s candidacy for membership of the UN Human Rights Council for 2023-2025.

He asked the two countries to work together more closely in fisheries and agriculture, step up existing cooperation mechanisms, strive to raise bilateral trade to 500 million USD, and expand ties in investment, tourism, education-training, culture, Buddhist affairs, and people-to-people exchanges.

They should also continue coordinating within the UN and Non-Aligned Movement frameworks, the President noted, calling on Sri Lanka to keep supporting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s common stance on the East Sea issue, maintenance of peace and freedom of navigation and overflight, and compliance with international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Ambassador Gamage once again thanked Vietnamese authorities for helping save and assist the 300 Sri Lankan nationals on a vessel in distress in the waters off Vung Tau in November 2022, VNA reported.

He underlined his country’s consistent stance on the East Sea issue and support for peace, freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, and peaceful settlement of disputes in line with international law and UNCLOS.

At the reception for Cambodian Ambassador Chay Navuth, President Phuc highlighted the two countries’ cooperation achievements, including increasingly consolidated political trust and the building of a shared border of peace, stability, friendship, and cooperation for common development.

Appreciating his guest’s efforts during the last tenure, he noted despite the Covid-19 pandemic, meetings between Vietnamese and Cambodian leaders have been maintained while bilateral trade in the first 11 months of 2022 increased 13.2% year-on-year to nearly 10 billion USD.

The State leader applauded the two sides’ coordination in holding activities in celebration of the Vietnam - Cambodia Friendship Year 2022. He also congratulated Cambodia on its successes in holding communal-level council elections in June and serving as Chair of ASEAN and the 43rd General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) this year.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) shakes hands with Sri Lankan Ambassador Prasanna Gamage. Photo: VNA

Ambassador Navuth thanked the Vietnamese Party, State, and people for assisting Cambodia during the pandemic, noting that as ASEAN Chair in 2020, Vietnam proposed many important initiatives to promote the bloc’s solidarity and cooperation in pandemic control.

Cambodia highly values Vietnam’s coordination in organising practical activities to reinforce the two countries’ traditional friendship, he went on, adding that in any position he holds, he will do his utmost to help nurture the long-standing relations between the two countries.

Vietnam Airlines adds over 500 flights ahead of Lunar New Year

Vietnam Airlines has announced plans to add more than 500 flights, equivalent to 90,000 seats, in order to meet increasing travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year, the country’s biggest festival of the year.

The extra flights will be on busy domestic routes between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vinh, Thanh Hoa, Dong Hoi, Chu Lai, as well as between Thanh Hoa and Da Lat.

Photo: VOV

Furthermore, the airline is expected to add 36,000 seats, equivalent to 200 flights, on the route between Ho Chi Minh City and Thanh Hoa from January 15 to February 5, 2023, after it has been green-lighted by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

Vietnam Airlines earlier increased flights in August and December in a bid to serve passengers during Tet, thereby providing millions of seats throughout domestic and international routes, cited VOV.

According to several online ticketing platforms, air tickets for several main routes, including Ho Chi Minh City to central provinces, have been already sold out.

Vietnam’s outbound investment reaches US$534 million in 2022

Vietnamese businesses poured nearly US$534 million into their projects abroad in 2022, a sharp increase over last year, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Some 109 new projects received certificates for overseas investment with total registered capital of nearly US$426.6 million, up 78.7% in the project number and 4.3% in new capital over the year-ago period.

Some 26 operational projects saw additional investment of nearly US$107.4 million.

The statistics from the Foreign Investment Agency show that Vietnamese investors made outbound investments in 14 sectors.

Among those, the manufacturing and processing industry received the most capital of nearly US$251.9 million, with 15 newly-licenced projects and four having capital adjustments, representing 47.2% of the country’s total outbound investment.

The real estate industry came in second with US$76.8 million, accounting for 14.4% of the total outbound investment, followed by the wholesale, retail trade and mining industries.

Employees at work at a local factory. Photo: VNA

Singapore was the largest receiver of Vietnam’s outbound investment, with total registered capital of US$79.5 million pledged in 21 new projects and three operational ones, making up 14.9% of the total, cited VNN.

Laos ranked second with over US$70.5 million, amounting to 13.2% of the total, followed by Australia, the U.S. and Germany.

As of December 20, 2022, Vietnam has gotten involved in some 1,611 operational projects overseas with a total investment of over US$21.75 billion. Of these, some 139 projects belong to state-owned enterprises with total capital of nearly US$11.6 billion, accounting for 53.3%.

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