Cultural features

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The French Institute in Ho Chi Minh City will host a series of activities to celebrate International Women’s Day held at the Institute of Cultural Exchange with France (IDECAF) on March 8. The celebration will open with a photo exhibition featuring portraits of Vietnamese women taken by 15 young artists who participated in a photography workshop hosted by the French Institute in Hue and Da Nang in January. The photos can be seen until April 9. A talk show about gender equality will be organised featuring speakers of Julia Levivier, head of the French NGO organisation Planète Enfants & Développement (PE&D) in Vietnam, psychologist Ly Thi Mai, and Le Thi Hong Anh, head of Human Resources of Sanofi Vietnam. The show will be hosted by Tran Anh Dao, economist, lecturer and researcher at the University of Rouen in France, and the Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia. It will be presented in both Vietnamese and French. The event will end with a screening of French documentary Des Femmes Et Des Hommes (Women And Men) by female director Frédérique Bedos with Vietnamese subtitles. The celebration will begin at 5:45pm at 31 Thai Van Lung street in District 1./. VNA …

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Amid difficulties, many Vietnamese businesses are still staying firm and seeking opportunities to rise up. The Vietnamese spirit has helped them survive and prosper, further developing the economy. The year 2020 was an extremely challenging period. But the challenges showed Vietnam’s strength and bravery. Not fearful of hardships nor shrinking from difficulties, the Vietnamese spirit stems from the history of the country. The whole nation stands side by side, joining forces to cope with difficulties. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said Vietnam always has an existing "vaccine" – the resilience which allows Vietnamese to advance forward and cope with all obstacles. The Vietnamese spirit demonstrated in 2020 reminds Trinh Van Quyet, president of FLC Group, of a bamboo tree, an important symbol of Vietnam’s culture and daily life. It is flexible, resilient and able to adapt to harsh conditions. These were the virtues that helped Vietnam’s businesses overcome the stormy year of 2020. To Nhat, vice president and CEO of AMACCAO, believes that the Covid-19 crisis brought both challenges and opportunities. After Covid-19 broke out in Vietnam in March 2020, the country had to impose social distancing. As a result, AMACCAO could not implement its education projects. As for water supply and liquor production, the group failed to obtain a 50 percent growth rate. However, when Covid-19 led to the interruption of production activities in South Korea and China and affected the global supply chain, opportunities opened up for some Vietnam enterprises. “Previously, imports from South Korea and China competed with our products. As the supply chain was disrupted because of Covid-19, enterprises had to look for domestic suppliers, which was the opportunity for Vietnam’s enterprises to expand their market share,” he explained. To overcome difficulties, FLC carried out drastic restructuring, going against the wind to find opportunities in danger. It reorganized the …

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MPI proposes a draft decree on procurement bidding under CPTTP MPI proposes a draft decree on procurement bidding under CPTTP The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) has summited to the Government a draft decree on amending Decree 95/2020/ND-CP providing guidelines on procurement bidding under the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-pacific Partnership Agreement (CPTTP). According to the MPI, the draft decree will amend and supplement some articles of Decree No 95. It aims to guide State companies to execute bidding packages under the CPTTP agreement and EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). However, per the Government's Resolution No 190/NQ-CP on the provisional application of the UK-Việt Nam FTA (UKVFTA), Việt Nam agreed to temporarily apply the UKVFTA from January 1, 2021. The agreement was negotiated based on the principle of inheriting commitments in the EVFTA with necessary adjustments to ensure compliance with the bilateral trade framework between Việt Nam and UK. By doing so, the draft decree will avoid amending Decree 95/2020/NĐ-CP many times. The MPI has asked the Government to revise Decree No 95 as follows. The first option aims to implement international treaties on bidding and the second option is to execute the bid for public procurement of goods under the CPTTP, EVFTA and UKVFTA. To boost competitiveness in bidding, the draft decree has stipulated the implementation of bidding related to consultancy services, non-consultancy services and construction services. In the draft decree, bidding packages specified in Appendix II of the Decree No 95 show State companies will decide to allow intra-regional contractors or contractors from member countries of CPTTP to attend only. For bidding packages specified in Appendix III of Decree No 95, State companies can allow intra-regional contractors or contractors from member states of the EU and UK to bid. Regarding the intra-regional procurement bidding for the supply of goods …

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