Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam actively contributes to global health care

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on February 24 adopted two resolutions on the organisation of the High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response and the High-Level Meeting on the Fight Against Tuberculosis, which are expected to be held during the High-Level Week of the UNGA’s 78th session in September.

The High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response aims to draw lessons and experiences from around the world in the fight against COVID-19, thus promoting a multidimensional approach to enhancing prevention and response to future pandemics.

Meanwhile, the High-Level Meeting on the Fight Against Tuberculosis will look to mobilise political will and strengthen measures to promote scientific research, financing, and innovation toward quickly ending the global tuberculosis epidemic by ensuring equal access to preventive, diagnostic, care, and treatment methods.

Chairing the drafting of the UNGA resolution on International Day of Epidemic Preparedness in 2020 and proposing the resolution on organising the High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response in 2022, Vietnam has actively partnered with other major countries to lead the negotiation process to secure the adoption of the two above-mentioned resolutions, cited VNA.

During the negotiation process, Vietnam emphasised and successfully protected the important contents of the resolutions, such as the need to ensure coherence and complementarity between major health processes discussed in relevant multilateral forums, narrowing the gap in financing, the necessity of strengthening the prevention and response to future pandemics by sharing lessons and experiences from the fight against COVID-19; the importance of ensuring timely, equitable, and unimpeded access to vaccines, diagnosis, treatment as well as strengthening healthcare systems and resilience to achieve universal health coverage for all people.

In the near future, Vietnam will continue actively engaging in the negotiation of political declarations of the above-mentioned meetings to further contribute to the common efforts of the international community in pandemic preparedness and response, and ending the global tuberculosis epidemic as soon as possible.

Vietnam, Laos enhance cooperation in forest protection

The Forest Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in coordination with the Department of Forest Inspection of Laos, organised a conference in the central city of Huế on Friday to review their cooperation in the last five years and discuss coordination activities in the 2023-28 period.

The event brought together representatives of forest management and protection units in 10 provinces of Vietnam and Laos.

The two agencies agreed to exchange information on new regulations and policies in managing and protecting forests, and timber and wildlife trade; continue mutual support at international forums; share experience in formulating mechanisms, policies and laws; strengthen cooperation in preventing and controlling forest fire along the border areas shared between the two countries; and coordinate to build a system for early detecting and monitoring forest changes.

They will also coordinate in deploying many activities to respond to changes in wood and wood products in the international market, especially large ones; improving sustainable forest management ability; and creating favourable conditions for businesses to expand investment in producing and processing forest products in accordance with current laws of the two countries, according to VNS.

The Forest Protection Department of Vietnam and Department of Forest Inspection of Laos on Friday held a conference in the central city of Hue to review cooperation in the last five years. Photo: VNS

The two agencies will work closely to supervise and promote trade in forest products; enhance coordination in preventing illegal cross-border transportation and trade of rare animals and plants; and boost communication and education activities to raise public awareness on forest protection and biodiversity preservation.

They will also coordinate in proposing bilateral programmes and projects and mobilising resources from international organisations to build a cross-border biosphere reserve; monitoring the conservation and restoration of endangered species; and searching for, breeding and restoring the saola (an endangered bovine, scientifically known as pseudoryx nghetinhensis) population in the central area of Truong Son Mountain Range between the two countries.

Vietnam and Laos share a 2,340 km borderline, sketching through 10 Vietnamese provinces which adjoin 10 Lao provinces. The two countries share seven international border gates, and six main border gates.

Festival promotes Vietnam – Japan friendship, mutual understanding

The Vietnam – Japan Festival, the eighth of its kind, was officially launched on February 25 in Ho Chi Minh City as part of activities to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Phan Van Mai, head of the Ho Chi Minh City administration, noted that the southern city is honoured to play host to the eighth iteration of the Vietnam - Japan Festival, a cultural exchange of great significance in the relationship between the two countries.

The Vietnam - Japan Festival has become an annual cultural exchange event and can be viewed as a milestone in bilateral relations since it was first held in Ho Chi Minh City in 2013 in celebration of 40 years of diplomatic ties, he said.

According to the municipal leader, Ho Chi Minh City and the Japanese side are expected to hold a range of trade promotion activities, tourism exchanges, business connections, and business community meetings between the two countries during this year’s festival.

Phan Van Mai, leader of the Ho Chi Minh City administration, speaks at the inauguration ceremony of the festival.

He expressed his hope that the festival would contribute to deepening the extensive strategic partnership that exists between the two countries, for peace and prosperity in Asia.

Tsutomu Takebe, head of the Japanese organising board of the Vietnam-Japan Festival, said the function is a typical event that celebrates the history and tradition that the people of the two countries have united to create, with this bond set to continue to develop in the future.

Japan currently ranks third among foreign investors in Vietnam, with two-way trade being maintained and yielding good results, despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, reported VOV.

There are 2,000 Japanese companies doing business and about 20,000 Japanese people living in Vietnam. In addition, tourism is a pillar in bilateral ties, with approximately one million Japanese nationals travelling to Vietnam in 2019 before COVID-19 broke out.

The Vietnam – Japan Festival 2023 is taking place at September 23 Park from February 23 to February 26.

Visitors will have the chance to learn more about Japan through performances of Doraemon and Conan that are famous Japanese manga in Vietnam, fashion shows displaying Ao Dai of Vietnam and Kimono of Japan, along with performances of Japanese martial arts, Japanese folk songs, Japanese drums, Shamisen musical instrument, and Bon Odori dance.

Vietnam plans various activities in response to Earth Hour 2023

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has called for the organisation of practical activities to respond to Earth Hour 2023 in Vietnam from 8:30p.m to 9:30p.m on March 25 with a message of saving energy, protecting the environment and coping with climate change.

Centrally-run provinces and cities have been asked to organise communications activities in response to the Earth Hour in March in order to raise public awareness of the campaign.

Citizens nationwide are encouraged to take a simple but meaningful act of turning off lights and other unnecessary devices during the campaign, cited VNA.

The Earth Hour 2023 will be observed in Vietnam from 8:30p.m to 9:30p.m on March 25 with a message of saving energy, protecting the environment and coping with climate change. (Photo: internet)

The Earth Hour is an initiative launched by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and is the largest social event globally. So far it has been observed in 7,000 cities and towns across 172 countries and territories globally.

Vietnam first joined the Earth Hour campaign in 2009. In 2022, the country saved 309,000 kWh of electricity, equivalent to 576.1 million VND (more than 24,000 USD).

The Earth Hour campaign in Vietnam is hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and receives the support of many businesses, especially Vietnam Electricity (EVN) which serves as the primary sponsor of the campaign.

The campaign is one of several actions being taken by the Vietnamese Government and people, demonstrating their strong commitment to uniting with the world in the fight against climate change.

Domestic airlines doing well but challenges ahead

The Vietnamese aviation industry is getting back on its feet but recovery is not evenly shared across segments.

That was the message from Bui Doan Nen, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Aviation Business Association who was speaking at the conference 'Creating an effective market mechanism for Vietnamese airlines' held in Ha Noi on February 24.

He said passenger transportation was recovering but at a slower pace than cargo transportation. As such, the latter had returned to its operational level in 2019 whereas the former still had a gap to fill.

But it wasn't all doom and gloom. Nen said there was ample room for growth because a post-pandemic travel boom was looming, giving fresh impetus to the industry.

He forecast that Vietnamese airlines would rebound strongly this year because, unlike many foreign airlines which had to shut down during the pandemic, domestic airlines had weathered the storm afloat, reported VNS.

But despite this positive long-term outlook, the deputy chairman warned that there were many challenges ahead that needed addressing to ensure a strong recovery.

Passengers waiting in line to board a plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Ha Noi. Photo: Huy Hung

He believes Vietnamese airlines are on the mend but against a backdrop of mounting costs, including fuel costs. This unfavourable situation eroded their profits and led to an uneven recovery spreading along the supply chain.

Experts shared this view, saying that mounting fuel costs were a drag on the industry's progress because fuel contributed to over 40 per cent of airlines' total costs.

Last year, Jet A1 fuel hiked up by 80 per cent in price to hit US$130 per barrel, adding heavily to airlines' operational bills. The fuel is expected to stay high this year, at between $110 and $130 per barrel.

The appreciation of the dollar against Vietnamese dong is another matter of concern for experts because most of the airlines' costs are denominated in the currency. Experts forecast that Vietnamese dong would weaken by around 4 per cent against the dollar this year, adding to their woes.

Nen called on the industry to invest more in facilities and open new air routes to untapped countries to accelerate the recovery.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Vietnam was on top among the 25 countries with the fastest-recovering aviation industries last year.

In the first two months of 2023, the industry served 19.7 million passengers. Of these, 4.7 million were foreign travellers and 14.8 million were domestic ones. Around 42,500 tonnes of cargo were carried during the period.

IATA forecast that the industry would reach approximately 80 million passengers for the whole year of 2023, up 45.4 per cent year-on-year, and 1.44 million tonnes of cargo, up 9.8 per cent compared to last year.

Yuanta Securities Vietnam has an optimistic outlook for 2023, saying that the reopening of China would bode well for domestic airlines.

However, its positive effect would come as late as mid-year given China's non-inclusion of Vietnam in the list of 20 countries that Chinese travel agents could organise group tours.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has called on its Chinese counterpart to resume outbound travel tours to Vietnam to boost bilateral tourism flows. Meanwhile, Vietnam Airlines said it would reoperate nine out of 10 air routes to China by late April.

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