Photo for illustration (Source: nld.com.vn)
The ministry sent an urgent document to the People's Committee of provinces and cities that have medical quarantine activities to temporarily stop requiring arrivals to make health declarations, reported the Vietnam News Agency.
They include Hanoi, Hai Phong, Lao Cai, Lang Son, Quang Ninh, Quang Tri, Da Nang, Kon Tum, Khanh Hoa, Dong Nai, Ho Chi Minh City, An Giang, Tay Ninh, Binh Thuan, Thua Thien-Hue, Dien Bien, Tien Giang, Quang Binh, Quang Nam, Can Tho, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Long An, Dak Nong, Lam Dong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Phu Yen, Kien Giang, Lai Chau, Nghe An, Dong Thap, Nam Dinh, Binh Phuoc, Son La, Ca Mau, Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Thai Binh, Ninh Binh, Ha Tinh, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Binh Duong, Tra Vinh and Vinh Long.
The ministry said vaccinations against COVID-19 have proved effective with the SARS-CoV-2 variants that are currently circulating. The numbers of new infections and deaths have recently dropped across the globe.
In Vietnam, the pandemic has been temporarily put under control with high vaccination coverage, the ministry said.
Based on the pandemic situation and the Government Decree 89/2018/ND-CP regulating the implementation of the Law on infectious disease prevention and control regarding border health quarantine, the Ministry of Health asked the People's Committees of localities to guide agencies to temporarily cancel the requirement to make health declarations for all arrivals from April 27.
They are instructed to continue monitoring arrivals' health at border gates and proactively update COVID-19 prevention and control recommendations in line with the real conditions.
The dropping of this measure is in response to recent reports of long waiting time and congestion at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City due to the rising number of flight passengers with the country's reopening and the upcoming four-day public holiday April 30-May 1.
The ministry said it will continue to update and provide information relating to the pandemic inside and outside the country to have proper prevention and control solutions.
The number of new infections in Vietnam has reduced significantly. The country recorded 8,431 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.
Vietnam has so far administered more than 213 million doses of vaccines to date.
Chance for local rice to penetrate Nordic region amid growing demand
Rice remains one of the Vietnamese products which is most popular among Northern European consumers, creating plenty of opportunities for this product to penetrate the Nordic region amid growing market demand.
Photo for illustration (Photo: congthuong.vn)
According to information given by the Vietnam Trade Office in Sweden and the Nordic market, this market's rice imports are anticipated to increase over the coming years due to Europe not being fully self-sufficient with regard to the item.
According to the Voice of Vietnam, the region only meets roughly 60% of its production needs, making it necessary to import 1.8 million tonnes of milled rice. Under the EU Agriculture Outlook for 2020 to 2030, demand for imported rice will go up until 2030, with imports likely to grow by around 250,000 tonnes over the next decade.
Nordic countries must rely on imported rice which is not grown in the region. In 2020, they imported 147,718 tonnes of rice worth US$186.52 million, of which imports from within the EU stood at US$99 million, duly accounting for roughly 53% of total import turnover in the region.
With regard to the type of rice, the Vietnam Trade Office in Sweden said that Europe mainly produces Japonica rice, approximately 75%, and most of it is produced and consumed in Southern Europe. However, in the Nordic region, the traditional Asian variety Indica remains more popular, including long-grain and fragrant rice varieties such as Bastima and Jasmine.
Nordic nations typically import milled rice. In 2020, their total import turnover of milled rice stood at US$159.11 million, making up 85.3% of the total rice import turnover of these countries.
Products that are considered to be particularly attractive to the European market in general and the Nordic market in particular include milled or milled long grain Indian rice, such as Basmati rice.
At present, Basmati is the most popular specialty rice in Europe, with this fragrant rice being much sought after by a lot of European consumers. The majority of brown rice imports and import growth have come from basmati varieties.
“Another way to differentiate from other suppliers is to add product labels. Labels such as organic products and fair trade are recognisable to consumers and can add value to a product,” the trade office recommended.
Specialty rice varieties such as fragrant basmati and jasmine rice, risotto rice, and paella rice, and to some extent coloured rice, are now traded through official channels.
Consumption of specific varieties is at its highest in traditional markets. For example, Vietnamese rice is often sold in Asian foodstuff stores, or Vietnamese foodstuff stores.
With the increasing integration of different countries, European and Nordic consumers are increasingly gaining access to transnational foods.
Sustainability in rice production will become standard in the future as there is increasing interest in sustainable rice production.
Rice therefore has a higher chance of being accepted in Europe providing it is grown sustainably. However, according to some industry sources, organic rice can also be considered sustainable, showing stronger growth than traditional rice.
Liem beats reigning World Champion at Oslo Esports Cup
Leading local chess player Le Quang Liem sprung a surprise at the Oslo Esports Cup after successfully beating reigning world champion Jan Krzysztof Duda of Poland on the fifth day of the competition.
Liem beats reigning world champion Jan Krzysztof Duda of Poland at Oslo Esports Cup (Photo: chess24)
The first game saw Liem, Elo rating 2,765, enjoy the advantage of holding the white pawn to beat Jan Krzysztof Duda after 36 moves. The next three games saw various counterattacks from the Polish player, forcing Liem to accept a 2-2 draw.
The final result was decided by a tiebreak by playing two Blitz chess games as Liem successfully defeated Jan Krzysztof Duda with a score of 4-2, according to the Voice of Vietnam.
Liem also enjoyed two wins over the Polish champion at the Airthings Masters online tournament and Charity Cup.
The result therefore helped him earn eight points, equaling Jan Krzysztof Duda of Poland and Van Foreest of the Netherlands. He is now just one point behind Magnus Carlsen of Norway and four points behind Indian prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa.
Following these strong performances, the top Vietnamese player will still have a chance of competing for first position in the tournament.
Moving forward, Liem will next face off against Anish Giri of the Netherlands, Elo rating 2,759.
Quang Ninh tops PCI for five consecutive years
The northern province of Quang Ninh has led the way for provincial competitiveness among all 63 localities and cities nationwide for the fifth consecutive year, according to the ranking announced on April 27 by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).
Overview of Ha Long city (Photo: tuyengiao.vn)
With a score of 73.02, Quang Ninh maintained its top position for the fifth straight year, becoming the only locality to see the quality of economic governance achieve a ‘very good’ ranking, according to the results of provincial competitiveness index (PCI) report 2021.
The provinces and cities in the top five of the 2021 PCI ranking include Hai Phong, Dong Thap, Da Nang, and Vinh Phuc, respectively.
Elsewhere, Hanoi ranked in 10th position with 68.6 points, while Ho Chi Minh City finished in 14th place with 67.5 points, reported the Voice of Vietnam.
The PCI report highlighted the great efforts made by Quang Ninh province last year in terms of accelerating the administrative reform and improving the local business climate in a proactive and drastic manner, thereby helping save time for enterprises.
Furthermore, the locality has also realised its commitments to effectively resolving the existing difficulties facing local enterprises.
Since 2005, the PCI report has been produced annually to assess the ease of doing business, economic governance, and administrative reform efforts made by provincial and city governments in a bid to promote the development of the private sector.
Pham Tan Cong, chairman of the VCCI, said the 17th report was based on responses from more than 11,312 enterprises, including 10,127 domestic private firms from 63 provinces and cities, as well as nearly 1,185 foreign-invested enterprises across 22 provinces.
As part of the rankings published this year, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, and Dong Thap are the top localities that have been highly appreciated for the quality of their economic management.
These provinces have also made positive changes in economic development and COVID-19 pandemic containment efforts.
Huu Anh to compete in Man Of The World 2022
Nguyen Huu Anh, winner of Vietnam Fitness Model, will represent Vietnam to compete at the Man Of The World 2022 pageant.
Nguyen Huu Anh (Photo: VOV)
According to the Voice of Vietnam, Huu Anh, born in 2000 in the central province of Quang Ngai, stands at 1.84 metres tall. The Vietnamese model has since moved to Ho Chi Minh City to hone his skills in preparation for the global contest.
The Man Of The World 2022 male pageant aims to seek outstanding male talents who possess a good look, are interested in social issues, and can have a positive impact on their communities.
The 2018 contest saw Vietnamese model Cao Xuan Tai beat 26 other contestants to be named Man Of The World./.