People at HCMC's Nguyen Hue flower street on Jan 29, 2022. Photo: VnExpress

Vietnam records 12,160 new Covid cases

The Health Ministry confirmed 12,160 new local Covid-19 cases Saturday in 58 cities and provinces, pushing the ongoing wave's tally to 2,298,323.

The three localities with the highest number of new cases were Hanoi with 2,778 cases, Da Nang with 783 cases, and Quang Nam with 735 cases.

Of the day's tally, 7,235 cases were detected in the community, cited VnExpress.

Vietnam has recorded 192 cases infected with the Omicron variant, six of them community cases in Hanoi and HCMC linked to foreign entrants.

The Covid-19 death toll in Vietnam rose to 38,264 with the confirmation of 114 deaths Saturday.

The Health Ministry also confirmed 3,457 recoveries the same day, bringing the total number of recovered cases so far to 2,105,913.

Over 74.2 million people of Vietnam's 96 million population have been vaccinated with two doses, and more than 28.8 million have received the third dose.

Vietnamese family tradition in Lunar New Year festival

Family reunion is expressed right from the New Year’s Eve offering to the ancestral worship ceremony on the first day of the Lunar New Year, a festival of the nation as well as Vietnamese families.

For generations, the Vietnamese nation has treasured family tradition, considering family a home and a cradle to nurture people from childhood to adulthood.

In anytime, the cultural value of Tet is always preserved and upheld via traditional customs such as visiting ancestors’ graves, wrapping glutinous rice cake, cleaning the house and the Lunar New Year’s Eve offering.

There are popular scenes such as crowds in flower or Tet markets, children wearing new clothes, elderly scholars giving calligraphic words, family relatives meeting together, which bring people closer and deepen family love.

Tet is an occasion for family union. Photo: vneconomy.vn

Since ancient times, the Vietnamese people have had the tradition of worshiping their ancestors. No matter how poor they are, every family tries to prepare for a few food trays to offer to them, thus reminding the merit of giving birth and upbringing, and strengthening filial piety in each child, according to VNA.

For the Vietnamese, a meal is a moment of reunion, a place to show respect, love and care for each family member. Children show respect to their grandparents and parents through every gesture of eating and drinking. A Tet reunion meal becomes more and more special because it not only offers quality food but also educates children on a healthy lifestyle. A Tet meal is considered the soul of unity and love, creating a close relationship among generations in the family.

Tet also affords a chance for family members to celebrate the longevity of their grandparents and parents. Depending on local customs, it can start from the age 60, showing their care for and respect to the elderly.

For generations, “Going home for Tet” has been considered a pilgrimage to the place of birth, only once a year. The reunion of a Vietnamese family every traditional Tet is not just the story of a family and carries emotional value, but also is the value of moral and cultural education and the matter of survival and sustainability of a nation. Preserving the beauty of family tradition is contributing to upholding national cultural identity in contemporary life, bringing people closer to the homeland, community and families and making them live more responsibly with the past, present and future.

Phu Quoc attracts 66,991 visitors throughout Tet holiday

Phu Quoc island city in Kien Giang province received 66,991 visitors, including 2,668 foreign tourists, throughout the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival between January 29 and February 4.

Most notably the fourth day of the Lunar New Year saw the number of domestic arrivals to Phu Quoc reach 18,382, marking an increase of 4979 arrivals compared to the third day of Tet.

Furthermore, the period between January 27 and January 31 saw Phu Quoc welcome over 40 flights per day, with an increase in the number of between 60 and 62 flights per day from February 1 to February 3, and from 52 to 56 flights each day from February 4 to February 6.

VinWonders Theme Park offers a range of adventure games for young visitors. Photo: VOV

The sudden rise in the number of tourists can largely be attributed to advantages in terms of the warm sunny weather coupled with attractive entertainment sites such as Sun World Hon Thom Nature Park, Aquatopia Water Park, Safari, VinWonders Theme Park, Coral Park, the Protected Area marine reserve, and Grandworld Pedestrian Street.

Several travel firms note that Phu Quoc tours have become something of a "magnet" for visitors during Tet thanks to wonderful array of natural scenery on offer. Other areas which prove popular on the island includes its beautiful beaches, diverse cuisine, a wide range of high-end hotel and resort systems, and Hon Thom cable car which is the world's longest sea cable car route, reported VOV.

Huynh Quang Hung, chairman of the Phu Quoc City People's Committee, revealed that all residents in the city have now been fully vaccinated, with the third jab being deployed, adding that thorough preparations have been made in order to welcome both domestic and international tourists.

Along with an array of competitive advantages in terms of climate, natural landscape, and increasingly modern synchronous tourism infrastructure, the city has emerged as an attractive destination thanks to the implementation of incentive policies for foreign investors.

This has been done through the use of the "vaccine passport" mechanism which has proved to be effective amid ongoing Covid-19 challenges, said Lam Thi Diem Tram, director of Phu Quoc Island Tourism and Events Co., Ltd.

Tram emphasized that Phu Quoc is set to surpass other destinations such as Nha Trang, Da Nang, Nha Trang, and Sa Pa in becoming a booming international hotspot in the year ahead.

5G – breakthrough factor for Vietnam’s economic growth

The 5G services are projected to contribute 7.34 percent to Vietnam’s GDP growth in 2025, according to a research by the National Institute of Information and Communications Strategy.

At the recent high-level forum on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that the revolution and innovation form a new driving force for socio-economic development.

He noted that in order to recover and develop the economy post pandemic, it is necessary to have an infrastructure development strategy, including digital transformation infrastructure, and telecommunications services that reach low-lying and border areas, and islands.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (sitting, centre) at the Industry 4.0 Summit 2021. Photo: VNA

Vietnam's next wave of socio-economic development will come from innovation, science and technology, driven by the digital economy, said Denis Brunetti, President of Ericsson Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia & Laos.

According to him, Ericsson's studies show that manufacturing, energy/utilities, health care and security are the sectors that have the best opportunities to take advantage of the 5G-induced benefits in Vietnam. Businesses’ digitalisation capability through 5G network will significantly improve labour productivity and redefine the entire digital ecosystem.

In Vietnam, the Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group (Viettel) has identified the 5G network as the infrastructure foundation for digital transformation and the 4th Industrial Revolution. As such, the company is promoting the research and creation of applications on the 5G platform, cited VNA.

Viettel’s main goal is to put Vietnam on par with the world in digital transformation as well as R&D for the high-tech industry, emphasised Le Dang Dung, Viettel's Acting Chairman and General Director.

Huynh Quang Liem, General Director of the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), said the 5G technology is helping VNPT gradually making applications using artificial intelligence, internet of things, and robotics, among others, for smart city building, health care, education, and smart factories.

Vaibhav Saxena, former co-chair of the Indian Business Chamber in Vietnam, noted the nation has an outstanding vision as it is the second fastest growing Internet economy in Southeast Asia. Such growth rate will help it achieve greater goals and transform itself into a technology hub in the region, he affirmed.

Online shopping continues to boom in 2022

The ravaging Covid-19 pandemic over the past two years has forced many businesses to accelerate their digital transformation, with e-commerce being a lifeline to assist them to overcome difficulties and effectively respond to the new normal.

Increase in online shoppers and businesses joining digital transformation

A report with the theme of “Vietnam – E-commerce accelerates after Covid-19 pandemic” produced by the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM) indicates that the country witnessed a skyrocketing rise in the number of online shoppers and businesses joining in the digital transformation process.

Tran Van Trong, general secretary of the VECOM, said the fourth wave of the Covid-19 outbreak has brought about several major changes in customers’ behavior and shaped new trends. In line with this, businesses had been using many digital tools to connect with customers, including making sales on e-commerce floors, the company's website or mobile application, and social networks.

With Covid-19 forcing people to remain at home and spend time online, e-commerce has been thriving.

Photo: VOV

The report unveiled that the pandemic has triggered major changes in customers’ behavior and shopping habits, with 58% of surveyed Vietnamese saying that they will continue shopping on online marketplaces because of its convenience. This habit is likely to remain in place in the future as 53% of respondents indicated that online shopping has now become a part of their life.

Vietnam sees strong e-commerce growth

Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy of the e-commerce platform Voso noted that the country’s e-commerce market was widely recognized for having the fastest growth rate throughout the Southeast Asian region.

Sales on e-commerce sites reached US$13 billion last year, an increase of 16% against the figure of US$11.8 billion recorded in 2020, thereby making Vietnam one of the top three Southeast Asian countries with the highest growth in online retail sales.

The figure may far exceed the US$13 billion mark seen last year, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic with e-commerce continuing to boom, thus changing customers’ behavior and shaping new trends.

Economists believe that online shopping channels will record high growth in the coming time as this model has created greater convenience for consumers, while helping to push the retail chain expansion locally, thereby boosting sales of agricultural products, particularly during the recent strong resurgence.

According to Nguyen Ngoc Dung, president of VECOM, a series of e-trading floors have been formed, creating greater motivation for businesses and consumers to shop and transact more, according to VOV.

The majority of businesses are now in the process of developing their Industry 4.0 technologies. Instead of doing business whilst making use of the traditional method, enterprises have gradually focused on building websites and operating their systems through online tools via email and social media in order to save time and to achieve better results. This can be viewed as a good signal, especially as businesses continue to face great difficulties due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.

Lai Viet Anh, deputy director of the Vietnam e-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the terms of e-commerce and online marketing have become popular.

According to the e-Conomy SEA 2021 report released by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, the nation saw the addition eight million new digital consumers last year, with 55% of them coming from non-metro areas.

This figure shows that the country’s e-commerce market boasts great potential, providing many opportunities for businesses to recover, enjoy stronger development, and overcome difficulties influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic, he stressed.

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