Grooms shoes

Although the Covid-19 pandemic greatly affected global trade and investment, the country ranked 22nd in the world in terms of turnover and export capacity, coming in 26th place in terms of the scale of international trade, a factor which looks set to momentum to import and export activities. Foreign trade has been one of the three driving forces of the Vietnamese economy for many years. Vietnam fulfilled the import and export targets of the 2011-2020 period ahead of schedule - despite the severe effects of the pandemic in 2020. In the first half of 2020, when foreign trade fell short of the target, the MoIT and other authorities made strenuous efforts to create the best conditions for import and export enterprises, while businesses in the field adopted solutions to increase goods export value. Phan Van Chinh, Director of the MoIT’s Agency of Foreign Trade, said taking the initiative in preparing materials by textile and garment, and leather and footwear enterprises, for example, helped them maintain export growth and contribute to the country’s export achievement. According to the latest statistics from the MoIT, Vietnam exported goods worth an estimated US$281.5 billion in 2020, up 6.5 percent from 2019, while the growth in 2019 was 8.4 percent over 2018. The country imported goods worth an estimated US$262.4 billion in the same year, up 3.6 from 2019, taking the country’s total foreign trade value to an estimated US$543.9 billion, US$26.64 billion higher than in 2019. Shift from agriculture to industry Notably, Vietnam has been changing its export goods structure towards increasing the contribution of processed and industrial goods and decreasing the proportion of raw materials and semi-finished products in compliance with Vietnam’s export and import development strategy for the 2011-2020 period with a vision to 2030. This has paved the way for Vietnamese goods to participate more deeply in global production and supply chains. Accordingly, …

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Despite hard workloads during weekdays, many female workers in Ho Chi Minh City still spend time learning social skills and knowledge to fulfil their personal lives on weekends. At one gathering, more than 20 women will enjoy fruit juice while listening to psychology experts sharing knowledge about child education and proper behaviors. Learning to lead a happy life The organization behind the gathering of female workers is ‘We Are One’ group, which includes workers from Nobland textile company in District 12, Ho Chi Minh City. In the hope of helping female workers become confident women, We Are One usually holds such gatherings so members can improve knowledge and better organize their personal lives. In the latest event, We Are One invited experts to talk about kid education and communication skills. “The thing for our workers is we don’t have enough time to raise our kids, which in some cases results in poorly-behaved children," said Phung Thi Thanh Phuong, one of the workers who took part in the events held by We Are One. “Without psychological knowledge, we cannot understand our children’s growth phases, which sometimes brings us into conflict with them. "The class helps us to know what we should do." Learning to raise a kid Unlike a normal class, the We Are One classes, held at a café in District 12, Ho Chi Minh City every Sunday, are always filled up with children’s voices. Letting the children play outside, mothers sit together to gain knowledge from invited experts. The host sometimes must ask kids to go out to let their mothers continue learning. According to Dinh Thi Ngoan, 31, head of the garment unit of the company and chairwoman of We Are One, it is extremely difficult to organize such an event with many female coworkers. As a worker, they spend most of the day at the workplace, with some even taking an evening shift. Therefore, they often spend precious spare time on the weekend with their families. “I have to bring …

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The Quan Su Pagoda in downtown Hanoi welcomed devout Buddhists Friday morning, the first of day the Lunar New Year. It is a tradition that Vietnamese go to pagodas on this day to pray for peace, luck and prosperity. Tet , the most auspicious festival in Vietnam, as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak. Inside the pagoda, every devotee wore a face mask and tried to maintain the distance recommended. Unlike normal days, when the pagoda requires everyone to leave their shoes outside the sanctum sanctorum, the devotees were allowed to keep them on, so as to keep the crowd flow going and preventing the usual gathering in a cluster as people take off their shoes. At Phuc Khanh Pagoda in Dong Da District, notices reminding people to sanitize their hands and wear face masks were glued to all the pillars. The pagoda also switched all their meditation sessions and courses online. Outside the pagoda, a long table was set up with hand sanitizers, the bottles placed two meters apart. A woman keeps her face mask on while praying. Another woman takes the precautions further, donning two face masks and a face shield. The usual crowding of vendors on the path leading to the pagoda was also missing this Tet . This vendor sells salt in small red bags as an offering to the deities while praying for luck. The latest Covid-19 outbreak in Vietnam, which began on January 28, has so far recorded 555 community transmissions in 13 localities. It is yet to be contained. …

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