Photo: VOV

Hanoi to host Vietnam-Singapore forum for senior energy industry leaders

A Vietnam-Singapore forum specifically for senior energy industry leaders is scheduled to be held on October 21 in Hanoi in order to discuss how to maintain growth and sustainability, even during crises and challenging contexts.

The key topics on the agenda for discussion are global energy sector development and trends, challenges, opportunities, and strategic implications for the nation. This is along with methods for navigating through the Covid-19 pandemic as adopted by leading regional corporations such as Temasek Holdings and Sembcorp Industries.

Speakers include influential regional leaders such as Douglas Foo, president of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation, chairman of the Vietnam-Singapore Business Council, and a nominated Singapore MP. He will be joined by Vu Minh Khuong, associate professor at the National University of Singapore, Fadah Alsagoff, management team member and head of enterprise development at Temasek Holdings, Singapore, and Wong Kim Yin, group president & CEO of Sembcorp, cited VOV.

Pham Thi Thu Hang, CEO of VIETSTAR Training and Consulting JSC, one of the forum’s organizers, stated the forum offers a prime opportunity to both Vietnamese and Singaporean businesses to share their experiences, create value, and further boost the good relationship between the two countries.

“We will make efforts and focus our resources to make Vietnam-Singapore Board Forum successful and bring practical values,” she said.

Co-organized by the Paris Graduate School of Management, the forum will run with the title of ‘Enhancing Resilience, Strategy Formulation and Execution in the New Normal: Singapore Experience for Energy Industry’ and will be held at the Fortuna Hotel Hanoi in conjunction with Zoom webinars in both nations.

Localities remove quarantine, testing regulations for tourists

Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Binh and Quang Nam, home to famous tourist hotspots, have gradually lifted quarantine and testing rules for tourists with certain requirements.

Tourists arriving in Thua Thien-Hue, home to former imperial capital Hue, by air would be exempt from quarantine if they have been fully vaccinated or have recovered from the disease within six months before arrival. Before flying, they need to furnish a negative Covid certificate obtained within 72 hours as regulated by aviation authorities.

Hue has reopened tourist destinations and historical sites from early October.

Tourists flood An Hoi Bridge in Hoi An ancient town, Quang Nam Province, April 2021. Photo: VnExpress

Ho An Phong, vice chairman of Quang Binh Province, said it has removed centralized quarantine for arrivals who have received two doses of a Covid vaccine or recovered from the coronavirus. They only need to monitor their health at home or place of accommodation upon arrival.

Authorities in Quang Binh, home to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and the world’s largest cave Son Doong, earlier this week approved major tour operator Oxalis Adventure trialing a tour package program that welcomes fully vaccinated domestic tourists from now until June next year.

As envisaged, tourists from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi would arrive in Quang Binh by charter flight or bus to join the tour package that allows them to stay at isolated homestays and explore pristine caves like Tien and Tu Lan over five days and four nights.

Authorities in Quang Nam Province, home to Hoi An ancient town, plans to reopen tourism from next month. Under the latest regulations, visitors from localities that have passed 14 days without community transmissions would be exempt from quarantine and testing upon arriving in Quang Nam, according to VnExpress.

Da Nang that borders Quang Nam currently requires arrivals from localities and areas deemed safe from the pandemic to furnish a negative Covid certificate obtained within 72 hours before arrival.

The popular tourist hub plans to resume intra-provincial tourism from Oct. 20 and welcome back foreign tourists from next month.

After two months of suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic, flights restarted on 19 domestic routes last Sunday, with two more added on Wednesday. There is currently one daily flight from HCMC to Hue, Quang Binh, Quang Nam and Da Nang each, and one from Hanoi to Da Nang.

Vietnam is planning to switch from seeking zero Covid cases to responding safely to the disease so socio-economic activities could resume after months of lockdown.

“Living safely with Covid-19” requires flexible and effective adaptation

The Government’s Resolution No 128 is viewed as a proper change which will allow the country to gradually return to a life in a new normal and live safely alongside the Covid-19 pandemic, according to experts.

Following Resolution 128 on safe and flexible adaption and effective control of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Health has also issued a provisional guideline relating to medical expertise specifying three evaluation criteria regarding the pandemic level.

In line with this there will be specific criteria for each level, coupled with requirements for testing, isolation, and appropriate medical options.

In response to this flexible change, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vu Dinh Thiem, director of the Clinical Trial Center under the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, said that for the time being, the nation must manage itself and live with the Covid-19 pandemic.

With regard to the Ministry of Health's three criteria for pandemic level assessment, including new infections within the community, vaccine coverage, and the ability to ensure medical examination and treatment at all levels, Dr. Thiem said vaccine coverage is the best way to evaluate pandemic levels. This is particularly true with regard to pandemic spread in different areas.

Vaccine coverage is the best way to evaluate pandemic levels. Photo: VOV

"Where the vaccination rate is high, the pandemic level will certainly see a drop, and where the vaccination rate is still low, the risk of spreading is higher," he added.

According to experts, approximately two years on from its appearance with complicated and unpredictable developments on a global scale, the Covid-19 pandemic has continuously created new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Upon facing this situation, the World Health Organization (WHO) has duly changed its stance on disease response from "zero Covid-19" to "living safely with Covid-19".

Scientists believe it is still impossible to assess how long it will take for Covid-19 to become a common disease, but the vaccination campaign will help countries worldwide reduce the rate of severe Covid-19 patients hospitalized and the mortality rate.

The Government's Resolution 128, which took effect on October 11, marked a major change in Vietnamese anti-pandemic thinking and attitude. According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Dac Phu, former director of the Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health, this freshly promulgated Resolution serves to respond to Covid-19 prevention and control amid the current situation, VOV reported.

With regard to the latest decision made on October 14 by the Ministry of Health regarding Covid-19 vaccination for children aged between 12 and 17, Dr. Phu also said that this is a completely appropriate decision and also a way to respond to Covid-19 prevention and control in the new normal.

Dr. Phu went on to emphasize the necessity of vaccinating children against Covid-19 when they go to school as they will face more risk of infection and pathogens will be seen in the community, thereby resulting in more new cases.

According to the decision made by the Ministry of Health, vaccinations can be expanded to people aged 12 to 17 years old under a roadmap from high to low age, in which, pre-vaccination is given to those aged 16 to 17 and those with gradually descending age.

Vietnamese university listed in Times Higher Education’s ranking by subjects

The Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City (VNUHCM) has been placed among the Top 601+ group worldwide at the Times Higher Education (THE)’s 2022 World University Rankings for the subjects of Social Sciences and Business - Economics.

Performance indicators used for both subjects include citation, industry income, international outlook, research, and teaching, cited VNA.

The Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City (VNUHCM). Photo: vnuhcm.edu.vn

THE’s Business and Economics ranking assesses universities by their performance in the disciplines of business and management, accounting and finance, and economics and econometrics.

The Social Sciences table, meanwhile, highlights the universities that are leading across communication and media studies, politics and international studies (including development studies), sociology and geography. It is the first time the VNUHCM has secured a place in the ranking.

To date, THE has announced the rankings for 10 out of its 11 subjects, in which the VNUHCM earned places in six tables.

Vietnamese movie wins project award at Busan film festival

‘If Wood Could Cry, It Would Cry Blood’ by Nguyen Phan Linh Dan has won an award in the Asian Project Market at the Busan International Film Festival.

Her maiden effort received the ArteKino International Award and 6,000 euros (US$6,966) in cash.

It will be allowed to be screened in on the website of the online ArteKino Festival in Europe to held through Dec.

‘If Wood Could Cry, It Would Cry Blood’ is adapted from the autobiographical novel ‘Tam Van Phong Dao’ (rough translation: A Board for Daggers) by famous comedian Mac Can.

The movie depicts his life growing up as the middle child in a family that ran a traveling circus. The film centers on the three siblings who perform the famous knife-throwing act. Ba, the main character, a quirky 14-year-old boy is the one who holds the wooden board into which his older brother, Hai, throws the knives. To add extra thrill to the performance, their little sister, Tu, stands in front of the board. His brother′s talent and his little sister′s fearlessness create the blueprint for a tragedy waiting to happen.

Director Nguyen Phan Linh Dan. Photo: Dan

The festival website says: "At its core, this is a coming-of-age story, exploring identity and one’s place as an individual within a family and society. The movie unveils the world inside Ba’s head as he attempts to save his sister from the inevitable fate he has foreseen in his dreams, under the financial pressures of their family life and the political pressures of a country at war."

The movie’s trailer and stills have not been released yet, reported VnExpress.

Dan studied film and TV production at the New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. She became the first Vietnamese woman cinematographer for a Vietnamese movie, ‘Bi Mat Cua Gio’ (Secrets of the Wind), which premiered at the 2019 Busan International Film Festival.

The Asian Project Market links new film projects with global film investors, producers and distributors.

This year’s event took place from Oct. 12 to 14, with 25 projects from 14 countries and territories in contention. Seven were given different awards in the event.

In 2020, ‘Tick It’ by Tran Thanh Huy won an award at the APM.

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