Vietnam begins COVID-19 vaccination on March 8 Vietnam launches its COVID-19 inoculation drive on March 8 morning, administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to medical workers in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and northern Hai Duong province – the country’s biggest pandemic hotspot at present. The vaccination is conducted at the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, the HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases and two medical centres in Hai Duong. As many as 100 staff members of the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases are expected to receive the shots in the morning of March 8. The hospital is allocated 450 doses among the first batch of 117,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine the country has received. In Hai Duong, 50 medical workers at Hai Duong city’s medical centre, and 30 others at Kim Thanh district’s medical centre will be the first in the province to be injected. The Ministry of Health has allocated the vaccine to 13 localities, along with the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Public Security and 21 hospitals during the first phase. Among the localities, all having reported COVID-19 cases since the latest wave of outbreaks since January 27, the Hanoi Centre for Disease Control (CDC) is given 8,000 doses, Hai Duong CDC 32,000, and HCM City CDC 8,000. Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Public Security each receive 30,000 doses. At a meeting on March 6, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long stressed the need to ensure equality in vaccine access as suggested by the WHO, UNICEF and COVAC. The localities excluded in the first phase should continue to prepare for the inoculation, with training programmes, he said, adding that they would receive the vaccine after the next shipment arrives in Vietnam in March. The ministry will roll out the vaccination in all COVID-19 treatment hospitals, prioritising those involved in frontline work, and those who participate in the pandemic combat in the community like …
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VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS MARCH 8
Small investors oppose expanding trading lot Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE)’s proposal to raise the minimum trading lot to 1,000 shares is receiving mixed opinions from market experts and investors. The proposal was initiated by newly-appointed General Director of HOSE Le Hai Tra as a solution to reduce system overloads which have troubled traders recently. A 1,000 minimum trading lot will limit the participation of small investors, while the stock market is moving towards fairness and equality, said a budding investor. “My friends and I, when joining the stock market, only have a few tens to several hundreds of millions of dong, raising the minimum trading lot to 1,000 shares will directly affect our investment capacity,” said individual investor Diep. “With expensive stocks, we may have to spend hundreds of millions of dong to buy the minimum 1,000 shares,” she said. According to Diep, the stock market has never had such a chance for growth. New cash flow into the market pushed liquidity to a record high level. However, the new proposal may not only prevent new investors from entering the market but also discourage existing investors. “The plan to raise the minimum trading lot to 1,000 shares could quickly reduce the number of orders delivered daily on HOSE. However, it will cause frustration among small investors who are directly affected by the plan as they think they are not protected,” said Do Bao Ngoc, Deputy General Director of Kien Thiet Securities Vietnam (CSI). “This plan, if in place, will affect the rapid development of the stock market under the current favourable conditions, one of which is great interest from global investors,” he said. “Under the new plan, the most affected are the investors whose trading accounts have VND1 billion or less,” said Nguyen Hoang Hai, Vice Chairman of Viet Nam Association of Financial Investors (VAFI) According to VAFI statistics, investors whose trading accounts have VND500 million or less …
Kien Giang prioritises attracting foreign investment in five main pillars
Five main pillars have been prioritised, namely high-tech agriculture; clean and renewable energy; tourism; trade-services, education-training, and high-quality healthcare; and developing the sea-based economy in association with ensuring defence-security. Kien Giang targets attracting 30-40 FDI projects with total capital of 60-100 million USD during the 2021-2025 period and 40-50 projects with 80-120 million USD in 2026-2030. The province has also set a target of the number of projects using technologies from G7 or OECD countries accounting for 45-50 percent of the total during 2021-2025 and 60-70 percent during 2026-2030, with the localisation rate to equal the country’s average. It expects to create about 175,000 jobs and collect 545 million USD for the State budget during 2021-2025 and over 680 million USD during the next five years. To increase the quality and efficiency of foreign investment, it will bolster its administrative procedure reform and publicise investment registration and assessments of FDI projects. It also encourages projects using clean and environmentally-friendly technologies and employing local workers. It will not consider foreign investors using out-of-date technologies that present a risk of environmental pollution. Foreign businesses are also encouraged to voluntarily increase technology transfer. Kien Giang commits to creating favourable conditions for foreign enterprises in training and improving workplace skills. Source: VNA …
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