Heavy Covid-19 patients under treatment. Photo: VNA

Vietnam logs additional 702 Covid-19 infections on October 7

Vietnam recorded 702 new Covid-19 cases on October 7, according to the Ministry of Health.

The country’s total number of Covid-19 infections now reaches 11,485,361.

On the same day, 437 patients were declared to be free from the disease, lifting the total number of recoveries to 10,595,796.

Meanwhile, the death toll rose to 43,152 after one fatality was reported in the northern province of Quang Ninh on October 7, cited VNA.

So far, 260.24 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the country.

Two Vietnam parks nominated for ASEAN Heritage Parks

Vietnamese sites Bach Ma National Park and Con Dao National Park have been put forward by ASEAN environmental officials to become the 54th and 55th ASEAN Heritage Parks.

This information was announced during the 33rd Meeting of ASEAN Senior Officials on Environment (ASOEN) which was held in Cambodia from October 3 to October 7.

The national parks, along with Pasonanca Natural Park and The Mount Inayawan Range Natural Park of the Philippines, are set be submitted to the ASEAN Environment Ministers for approval. They will subsequently be certificated at the 17th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment.

Bach Ma National Park. Photo: Internet

At present Vietnam boasts 10 ASEAN heritage parks, namely Hoang Lien National Park in Lao Cai province, Ba Be National Park in Bac Kan province, Bai Tu Long National Park in Quang Ninh province, Vu Quang National Park in Ha Tinh province, Ngoc Linh Nature Reserve and Chu Rom Ray National Park in Kon Tum province, Kon Ka Kinh National Park in Gia Lai province, U Minh Thuong National Park in Kien Giang, Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park in Lam Dong, and Lo Go-Xa Mat National Park in Tay Ninh province.

The recognition greatly contributes to the conservation of ecosystems and raise greater public awareness of biodiversity conservation throughout the region, according to VOV.

In order to achieve such recognition the sites have had to meet specific criteria, including maintenance of ecological processes and life support systems, preservation of genetic diversity, the guarantee of sustainable utilisation of species and ecosystems, and the maintenance of wilderness with scenic, cultural, educational, research, recreational, and tourism values.

Vietnam always treasures bilateral ties with RoK: PM

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has affirmed that Vietnam always highly values bilateral relations with the Republic of Korea (RoK) and wants to strongly develop the ties between the two countries in a more practical manner.

During a reception in Hanoi on October 7 for outgoing RoK Ambassador to Vietnam Park Noh-wan, PM Chinh hailed the diplomat for promoting bilateral economic ties during his three-year tenure in Vietnam, particularly his support for connecting Vietnamese localities with Korean firms and localities, and jointly holding successful dialogues between the Vietnamese PM and the Korean business community to address their difficulties, toward lifting two-way trade to US$100 billion in 2023 and US$150 billion by 2030.

The RoK now ranks first in terms of direct investment in Vietnam, second in ODA development cooperation and third in trade with the Southeast Asian nation, he stressed.

The PM expressed his belief that the two sides will upgrade the bilateral ties to a new height on the occasion of the 30th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties this year to match with the aspirations of their people and contribute to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world as well.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) and RoK Ambassador to Vietnam Park Noh-wan. Photo: VNA

As Vietnam is building an independent, self-reliant and globally-integrated economy, he expected that the RoK would assist Vietnam in training hi-quality workforce, developing core industries, energy transition, green and digital transformation as well as supporting Korean firms in expanding long-term operations in the country, including in electronic chip production.

Vietnam will offer all possible support to Korean enterprises in line with the laws in the spirit of harmonizing interests and sharing difficulties and risks, he said.

The government leader suggested the RoK continue coordinating with the Vietnamese side to well organize high-level visits and people-to-people exchanges, create favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community working and residing in the RoK, and continue supporting Vietnam at international forums and ASEAN’s stance on the South China Sea issue.

Park, for his part, thanked the Vietnamese Government for assisting enterprises, including Korean businesses, in the country.

He said the Korean Government is considering the provision of more quota for Vietnamese guest workers in the RoK. He expressed his hope that Vietnam will continue assisting Korean firms in expanding cooperation in different fields such as digital economy, energy transition and climate change response, reported VNA.

The ambassador also vowed to continue backing the promotion of bilateral ties in the near future.

Vietnamese companies can now compete fairly with cross-border platforms

Cross-border TV OTT platforms will have to have operating licenses and pay tax, and domestic firms will be subjected to looser censorship, thus creating opportunities for domestic firms to compete with foreign ones.

A report found that the pay-TV market saw a 9.5 percent growth rate in revenue as of the end of Q2 2022 in comparison with the same period last year, while revenue from OTT TV service (film and TV content provided via internet) had increased by 300 percent.

In addition to businesses that have been licensed and operate in accordance with Vietnamese laws, the domestic pay-TV market is also the home of foreign companies providing OTT TV services across borders such as Netflix, AppleTV, WeTV and IQIYI.

The platforms mostly provide VOD (videos on demand) which are films, cartoons, documentary films and TV series. There are also reality shows and game shows.

Vietnamese service providers are inferior to foreign platforms in their home market. According to the Pay-TV association, cross-border platforms hold 80 percent of market share.

State management reported that in 2021, the total pay-tv subscribers on the internet of cross-border platforms such as Netflix, Apple TV and WeTV in Vietnam was about 1 million with estimated revenue of VND1 trillion.

However, cross-border OTT TV operates without licenses and there is still no mechanism for content censorship.

“The businesses in the TV field have to face stiff challenges and fierce competition with Big Tech, like the challenges telcos met many years ago when telecom revenue was ‘eaten’ by foreign OTT platforms,” a representative of a Vietnamese firm said.

Vietnamese businesses complain about the unhealthy competition with foreign platforms. The Pay-TV Association has many times asked state management agencies to tighten control over cross-border platforms and put domestic and foreign firms on the same playing field, cited VNN.

The government has issued Decree 71 that amends and supplements articles of Decree 06 released in 2016 on the management, provision and use of radio and television services.

According to the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information (ABEI) under MIC, the decree affirms the view about foreign companies providing services across borders to users in Vietnam as well. The cross-border service providers must be licensed.

Photo: VNN

For OTT TV services, businesses can choose either a service with both online channels and VOD, or a service with VOD only.

Those firms that provide only VOD service have to make declarations in accordance with the form set by MIC.

Foreign firms that want to join the Vietnamese market have to follow the same procedures as Vietnamese firms.

ABEI said the new decree importantly loosens the regulation on editing, classification and translation of VOD content applied to domestic firms.

VOD content is classified into three groups and must comply with specific regulations. For example, in terms of film, businesses now have the right to classify films themselves under criteria set by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) and take responsibility for the classification; or they can authorize the classification if the films have not been granted a classification license or broadcasting decision.

ABEI affirmed that the new regulation is looser than previous regulations as it allows businesses to take the initiative in editing and classifying the VOD content that is not film, sports and entertainment programs if they can satisfy the criteria set by appropriate agencies.

Previously, under Decree 06, all VOD content had to be edited by press agencies with broadcasting licenses before they were provided on the services.

As for the translation of films and programs, it is necessary to ensure the respect and preserve the purity of the Vietnamese language and not violate prohibitions under Vietnamese laws. The regulation is also applied to the translation of foreign channels.

The new regulations aim at creating conditions for domestic and foreign firms to provide services on the same legal ground, thus ensuring fairness between domestic and foreign firms.

Vietnam keen on boosting partnership with Japanese localities: official

Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh has affirmed that Vietnam is keen on promoting partnership among localities of Vietnam and Japan.

At a reception for Vice Governor of Japan's Wakayama Prefecture Shimo Hiroshi in Hanoi on Thursday, the official highlighted that the Vietnam-Japan extensive strategic partnership was in its prime with high political trust despite impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, and underlined that Japan had been a leading and important economic partner of Vietnam.

Bilateral ties in trade, investment, labour and education-training had been fruitful, he noted.

The Deputy PM said that partnerships between localities of the two countries had deepened, VNS reported.

He said he hoped Wakayama would continue to effectively implement signed agreements with Vietnam, establish partnerships with more Vietnamese localities, encourage local businesses to invest more in Vietnam, strengthen cooperation in personnel training, and expand the reception of Vietnamese practitioners and laborers to work in the prefecture.

For his part, the Japanese official said the prefecture was implementing an agricultural and fisheries cooperation agreement with the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and a deal in the field of industry with the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh (right) receives Vice Governor of Japan's Wakayama Prefecture Shimo Hiroshi in Hanoi on Thursday. Photo: VNS

The locality had also strengthened people-to-people exchange with Vietnam, including a “lotus” exchange program between Kinokawa City and Quang Nam Province, which was initiated by the Chairman of the Japan – Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance Nikai Toshihiro, aiming to make the lotus a symbol of spiritual connections between Vietnamese and Japanese people, he said.

He added that Wakayama was hastening the formation of a Japan-Vietnam Friendship Association in the locality and he would be the first leader of the association.

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