Talk Vietnam

Đỗ Thị Băng Ngân, doctor at Quảng Ninh Lungs Hospital, talks online to her future husband after work. Photos nhandan.com.vn QUẢNG NINH — Đỗ Thị Băng Ngân had no other choice but to delay her wedding earlier this year. This is the third time she has made the decision. Ngân and her fiance have no idea when their wedding will take place. Both of them are doctors. Ngân works for Quảng Ninh Lungs Hospital and her husband works for Quảng Ninh General Hospital in northern Quảng Ninh Province. When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out for the first time in the province in early last February, Ngân was among many volunteer doctors transferred to the centralised quarantine area to help treat infected patients. The outbreak was more complicated than the couple had expected. The wedding, which was scheduled to take place in mid-February, was postponed. As a frontline doctor, Ngân worked hard in the quarantine area and only returned home three months later. The couple planned to hold the wedding last August when the second wave of the pandemic broke out in her future husband’s hometown in northern Hải Dương Province. Due to the social distancing measures applied in the province, their wedding had to be delayed again. Ngân decided to volunteer to join the virus fight in the province. The third delay was when the latest outbreak was reported in Hải Dương and Quảng Ninh provinces before the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday. The hospital where Ngân was working has become a treatment facility for COVID-19 patients. The wedding has been delayed and the couple can’t be together on the wedding day, but they decided to be together in another way: they have volunteered to work in field hospital No2. “The pandemic has been so complicated here. We’ve decided to put aside our personal plans and focus on stamping out the pandemic,” she said. Special Tết Dr Nguyễn Thị Ánh is busy testing samples of patients in northern Hải Dương Province, the …

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An oddly-shaped tiny house on Phạm Văn Đồng Street in HCM City’s Bình Thạnh District. The city government has approved a proposal to reclaim land along new road expansion projects as part of its effort to stop the construction of tiny houses. — VNA/VNS Photo Mạnh Linh HCM CITY — Land along new road projects in HCM City will be reclaimed for auction and resettlement as part of the city’s effort to get rid of or reduce the number of oddly-shaped tiny houses that have appeared as a result of road-expansion projects. Dealing with super-small and skinny houses has been a problem for years, according to the city Department of Construction. Many houses have been built in tiny or oddly shaped land areas, especially along newly expanded roads, destroying the urban landscape. Districts which have seen the construction of many tiny houses include 5, 6, 11, Bình Thạnh, Tân Phú and Tân Bình. Tiny-sized houses can be seen on Trần Hưng Đạo Street (District 5), Điện Biên Phủ Street (Bình Thạnh District) and Võ Văn Kiệt Street (District 5 and District 6). More of these tiny houses have been built recently on Tân Hóa – Lò Gốm Street (districts 6 and 11 and Tân Phú District) and Phạm Văn Đồng, Bùi Đình Túy, Nguyễn Xí streets (Bình Thạnh District). The city has more than 1,000 oddly shaped tiny houses as result of road expansion projects. On Cách Mạnh Tháng Tám Street (Tân Bình District) where construction of Metro Line 2 has begun, some 86 houses are sub-standard, accounting for 23 per cent of the total affected houses near the subway line, mostly near the Bảy Hiền intersection. One owner of a tiny house on the street, who did not want to be named, said after site clearance was issued to expand the road, his remaining land was only 12sq.m. But it was street-side, which is considered more valuable, and he is now selling it at VNĐ4.5 billion (nearly US$200,000). “Despite the tiny area, you can open a take-away coffee shop, lottery ticket agent or …

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Wood supplies are produced for export. — VNA/VNS Photo HÀ NỘI — Statistics from the General Department of Việt Nam Customs showed that exports to Australia grew 62.08 per cent over the same period last year, hitting $392 million last month. Two-way turnover between Việt Nam and Australia is estimated at nearly US$873 million, a year-on-year increase of 39.92 per cent. In addition to telephones, many items exported to Australia increased last month. Seafood surged by 106.09 per cent, wood and wood products up 69.95 per cent, toys and parts 218.11 per cent, textiles 62.72 per cent, footwear 72.47 per cent, electric wires and cables 329.68 per cent, plastics materials more than 900 per cent, agricultural products and vegetables 37.16 per cent. During the Lunar New Year, Vietnamese goods for the holiday sold well at Asian supermarkets and other supermarkets in Australia. Although the Australian market reduced global import by 5.14 per cent last year, exports from Việt Nam to Australia still grew by 2.65 per cent. The Việt Nam Trade Office in Australia has closely followed Australia's economic recovery plan based on the needs of Australian businesses in the context of trade tensions to connect trade and promote export. The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that in addition to the Online International Exhibition of Vietnamese Goods 2021 to be held in Australia this year, many promotional events would be hosted by the Việt Nam Trade Office in Australia each month. Activities aim to enhance business associations in Australia and promote Australian businesses and overseas Vietnamese enterprises to become distributors of Vietnamese products. The trade office will also promote the consumption of agricultural products in Australia through promotional activities. — VNS …

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