The national Covid-19 caseload rises to 11,525,013 with 234 new cases recorded on December 29. Photo: VNA

Vietnam logs 234 new Covid-19 cases on December 29

The national Covid-19 caseload rose to 11,525,013 with 234 new cases recorded on December 29, according to the Ministry of Health.

With 55 patients given the all-clear during the day, the number of recoveries rose to 10,611,114.

Meanwhile, there are 35 patients needing breathing support, cited VNA.

No death from Covid-19 was recorded in the past 24 hours. The total fatalities stand at 43,184.

With 11,148 doses administered on December 28, the total number of doses of Covid-19 vaccines injected rose to 265,444,085.

Vietnam named among top 20 best cuisines in the world

The nation has been listed among the top 20 countries in the world with the best cuisines, as compiled by renowned international food magazine TasteAtlas.

TasteAtlas released a collection of the top 100 world’s cuisines, ranking them according to audience votes for ingredients, dishes, and beverages.

Vietnam came in a respectable 20th place.

Banh Mi Phuong is named as one of the best banh mi's restaurant in Hoi An. Photo: VOV

The magazine suggested that visitors to the country same some of the best rated food the nation has to offer, including Phu Quoc Fish Sauce, Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup), Banh mi heo quay (Banh mi with roasted pork belly), and bun cha (vermicelli with grilled pork and fresh herbs). Other popular dishes include Bun bo Hue (Hue beef noodle soup) and Com Tam (Broken Rice).

This comes after Pho was also ranked 34th in a list of the 100 most popular dishes by TasteAtlas.

Italy topped the international list, followed by Greece, Spain, Japan, and India.

Vietnam targets 8 million foreign visitors in 2023

Vietnam’s tourism sector targets to serve about 8 million foreign visitors from the total of 110 million next year, according to the General Administration of Vietnam Tourism.

The country expects to earn about 650 trillion VND (USD27.5 billion) from tourism.

Also next year, Vietnam will launch its tourism network planning from 2021 to 2030 with a vision to 2045.

The sector will implement the Vietnam Tourism Marketing Strategy to 2030, the project "Application of Industry 4.0 technology to develop smart tourism, turn tourism a spearhead economic sector", and the project on developing Vietnam's community-based tourism.

The administration is planning to organise the National Conference on Tourism in the first quarter of 2023, a conference to review the 5-year implementation of the Politburo's Resolution No. 08-NQ/TW on developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector, and a conference on training human resources for tourism.

Tourism authorities will participate in international events such as the ASEAN Tourism Forum ATF 2023 in Indonesia, the ITB travel fair in Germany’s Berlin, and the World Travel Market in London. They will also launch communication campaigns on CNN and some major international media channels.

Vietnam targets 8 million foreign visitors in 2023. Photo: VNA

The General Statistics Office (GSO) on December 29 reported that 707,000 foreign visitors arrived in Vietnam in December 2022, an increase of 18.5% compared to that of last month.

So far this year, Vietnam has welcomed more than 3.36 million foreign visitors, 23.3 times higher than that last year, VNA reported.

The number of foreign tourists to Vietnam by air accounts for 89.5% while 10.4% came by road, and 0.1% by sea.

In 2022, Vietnam’s tourism gradually recovered, especially inside the country. The number of domestic tourists is estimated at over 101 million. Total revenue from tourism is estimated at 495 trillion VND, 23% higher than planned and 66% higher than that of 2019.

Some localities have high tourism revenue in 2022 compared to the previous year, including Can Tho (10.3 times higher), Binh Dinh (9.3), Khanh Hoa (8.2), Thua Thien – Hue (8), Da Nang (6.7), Hanoi (4.1), Hai Phong (3.8), and Ho Chi Minh City (1.9).

Vietnamese GDP growth of 8.02% highest for 11 years

Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) this year witnessed the highest growth of 8.02% for the past 11 years, with GDP in the fourth quarter increasing by 5.92% on-year, higher than the growth rate over the recent two years, the General Statistics Office (GSO) announced on December 29.

This comes as the country’s GDP in the first, second, and third quarter inched up 5.05%, 7.83%, and 13.71%, respectively.

The agro-forestry-fishery sector continued to represent the main growth driver of the national economy with a rise of 3.36%, duly contributing 5.11% to the added value of the entire economy.

Furthermore, the industrial and construction sector increased by 7.78%, thereby contributing 38.24% to the national economy.

In terms of the overall figure, the processing and manufacturing industry continued to play a key role in leading economic growth with an increase of 8.10%, contributing 2.09 percentage points to the entire economy’s total added value

Moreover, the service sector enjoyed a strong recovery with this year’s growth rate reaching 9.99%, the highest level in the 2011 to 2022 period.

A number of market service industries also saw sharp increases, thereby making a significant contribution to the economy’s total added value, including wholesale and retail which rose by 10.15%, transportation and warehousing up 11.93%, and accommodation and food services up 40.61%.

The GSO also noted that as many as 208,300 new enterprises have been either established or returned to operation, an increase of 30.3% against the previous year, while the number of firms withdrawing from the market reached 143,200, up 19.5%.

The total retail sales of consumer goods and services is estimated to stand at VND5.6 billion, up 19.8% from the previous year, cited VOV.

Photo: vneconomy

Foreign arrivals to the nation hit 3,661 million this year, a 23.3-fold boost compared to the previous year, although a decline of 79.7% compared to the pre-pandemic era in 2019.

As of December 21, the total means of payment increased by 3.85% in comparison to the end of 2021, while capital mobilisation from credit institutions rose by 5.99%.

The export turnover of goods was estimated to be US$371.85 billion, up 10.6% over the previous year, while the import turnover of goods edged up 8.4% to reach US$360.65 billion compared to the previous year.

Moving forward, the country is forecast to enjoy a trade surplus of US$11.2 billion this year, particularly as the United States has become the largest Vietnamese export market with an estimated turnover of US$109.1 billion. Elsewhere, China remains the country’s largest importer with an estimated turnover of US$119.3 billion.

The total realised investment capital of the entire society rose by 11.2% over the previous year. As of December 20, the total registered foreign investment capital in the nation was estimated to be at nearly US$27.72 billion, a decline of 11% compared to the previous year.

However, the total disbursed FDI surged by 13.5% to reach US$22.4 billion on-year, the highest level over the past five years.

2023 Homeland Spring program to be held on January 14

The annual “Xuan Que Huong” (Homeland Spring), the biggest external and cultural event held for overseas Vietnamese (OVs), on the occasion of the Lunar New Year festival, will take place in Hanoi on January 14, with about 3,000 people taking part, including 1,000 OVs.

The information was revealed by the deputy head of the State Commission for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs Mai Phan Dung, during a press conference in Hanoi on December 28.

As part of the program, traditional activities, such as incense offering, the release of carps, a tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum, meetings with Party and State leaders, and a Vietnamese cuisine festival, will be held.

The President will extend New Year wishes to participants during a music show, which will be broadcast live on the national Vietnam Television, its digital platforms or mobile app, cited NDO.

At the press conference. Photo: NDO

Its sideline activities will begin on January 13, including a workshop of the National Assembly’s Committee for External Affairs with OVs on legal regulations for them, a meeting with leaders of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee to honour outstanding OVs, a spring fair with trade, investment and tourism promotion activities in Hanoi, an exchange at the national radio The Voice of Vietnam, and the release of carps at Ao Sen, based in Thang Long Imperial Citadel, which will be hosted by the President.

Held for the first time in 2008, the programis a joint effort between the Foreign Ministry, several agencies and localities.

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