Talk Vietnam

Vietnamese Ambassador Lê Linh Lan in Switzerland speaks at the launching event. — VNA/VNS Photo GENEVA — The Vietnamese Embassy in Switzerland recently held a ceremony to launch the non-profit Switzerland-Vietnam business group (SVBG), which aims to promote exchanges and investment and trade co-operation between enterprises of the two nations. Based in Lausanne, the SVBG, the first of its kind founded by Vietnamese expatriates in Switzerland, will focus on offering trade information via workshops, forums, and internal bulletins; providing legal consultations and guidance; developing links for technological transfers and improvement; and introducing quality human resources. It will also make recommendations for a more favourable business climate to agencies of both nations while organising socio-cultural activities serving its goals. Speaking at the debut ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador Lê Linh Lan said the group came into being at a special time as Việt Nam has placed the COVID-19 pandemic under control and prepared the best conditions possible to welcome Swiss investors. Lan said the would embassy support the operation of the SVBG. According to the diplomat, Switzerland is the sixth-largest European investor in Việt Nam, with its investment totalling US$2 billion, mostly in manufacturing – processing and electricity. Currently, close to 100 Swiss firms are operating in Việt Nam. Meanwhile, Việt Nam is the fourth-biggest trade partner of Switzerland in ASEAN, with bilateral trade exceeding $3.6 billion in 2019. Since 2012, Việt Nam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – the intergovernmental organisation of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland – began negotiations for a trade deal which is expected to be signed this year. — VNS …

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A cafe on Nguyễn Hữu Huân is closed off following local COVID-19 outbreaks in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo Thành Đạt HÀ NỘI — Restaurants and cafes in Hà Nội were allowed to re-open under certain conditions as from 0:00 on Tuesday (March 2), the capital city’s authorities have announced, lifting the closure order enforced two weeks ago. The requirements include a distance of one metre from one customer to another or a shield between them. All restaurants have to report their COVID-19 prevention and control work via an app. Discos, bars, karaoke venues, online games shops, and sidewalk food stalls and trà đá (iced tea) mobile stalls will remain closed, however. Local authorities have also requested agencies to check COVID-19 prevention and control at religious facilities in preparation for their operations opening. At the city’s COVID-19 meeting on Monday, Deputy Director of the municipal health department Hoàng Đức Hạnh said the local outbreaks had been basically placed under control, with the city recording no new community cases for 14 consecutive days. However, new cases could still emerge, as foreign experts and technicians are allowed to enter the city, and students from across the nation will return to the city to resume in-person learning at universities and colleges. Between February 17 and March 1, Hà Nội logged 35 COVID-19 cases, with 18 sites sealed off over links to the cases. Quarantine has now ended at all of these sites. — VNS …

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Passionate Bình Định FC supporters ahead of their match with Sài Gòn FC earlier this season. Photo laodong.vn Peter Cowan Legendary Celtic manager Jock Stein once said that football without fans is nothing, or something to that effect. Even my Rangers supporting friends would have say he hit the nail on the head with that one and most people the world over would agree that the beautiful game is best served in front of a pair of baying mobs chanting bloody murder at each other. While we’ve all gotten somewhat used to watching matches without a crowd due to the pandemic, even the money men in big-time football who normally couldn’t give a flying you-know-what about the punters are desperate to get the crowds (and their wallets) back in the grounds when it’s safe. Everyone is itching for fans to return, except it seems, the VPF. The organisers of domestic football recently announced that V.League 1 teams would return to action in two short weeks and also released fixture dates up until mid-April. The announcement included the sad but probably sensible news that fans won’t be allowed to attend at least initially due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak, but that’s not what’s got my panties in a bunch. If things keep trending as they have been regarding control of the pandemic here, I reckon it won’t be too long before fans are allowed back onto the terraces. Well, the supporters who can get off work will be able to go watch their team. By my count, more than a whopping 35 per cent of the 54 matches scheduled for the month of action kick-off between 5pm and 6pm on a weekday. To say this is treating the loyal fans of V.League 1 clubs with disregard would be putting it mildly. Football is meant to be a working-class sport and clubs here are by and large supported by working people, so how exactly are they supposed to attend the third of matches that start before the working day even ends? Such kick-off times are tough enough …

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