15th National Assembly expected to have 500 seats There will be a total of 500 seats in the 15th National Assembly at both central and local levels, according to a new resolution adopted by the National Assembly Standing Committee. Minister promises greatest efforts to ensure safety in COVID-19 vaccinations The Ministry of Health will mobilise all resources to carry out COVID-19 vaccinations, the largest-ever vaccination programme, so as to ensure absolute safety for people, Minister Nguyen Thanh Long has said. Long chaired a teleconference which was organised on March 6 and connected with 700 places across Vietnam to launch the vaccination plan and provide related training for medical workers nationwide in the use and storage of the vaccine, as well as the treatment of post-injection complications. He informed the teleconference that the vaccination programme will start on March 8, although the first batch of vaccine arrived in Vietnam on February 24. “As the vaccine is new, we need to carry out thoroughly,” Long said, adding that Vietnam has to obtain an accreditation certificate from the producer and reassess the safety index of the batch of vaccine. Because of the limited number of vaccine, the ministry cannot allocate for all 63 provinces and cities, but for 13 pandemic-hit localities, with priority given to Hai Duong province – Vietnam’s largest outbreak at present, he added. The minister asked localities which have yet to receive the vaccine to prepare and make training programmes as the ministry will allocate vaccines to them when more are transported to Vietnam in March. COVAC and AstraZeneca have agreed to provide 30 million doses each for Vietnam this year, the minister said, adding the ministry asked the producers to hand over the vaccines to Vietnam before September and is negotiating with Pfizer to buy an additional 30 million doses from this producer. The ministry has assigned three deputy ministers to be …
Improving infrastructure
VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS MARCH 7
Vietnam striving to promote sustainable marine aquaculture development Vietnam striving to promote sustainable marine aquaculture development hinh anh 1 A shrimp farming area in Phu Yen province Vietnam is to have 280,000 ha of marine aquaculture area and 10.5 million cubic metres of farming cages by 2025, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). Annual marine aquaculture output and export turnover are expected to reach 850,000 tonnes and between 800 million and 1 billion USD, the ministry said. The MARD has taken a series of measures to promote sustainable marine aquaculture in coastal areas nationwide, towards turning the sector into a key part of the country’s maritime economy by 2045. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said agencies have coordinated with coastal localities to review and build a plan for aquaculture development in Vietnam to 2030 with a vision to 2045. The plan will focus on improving the output, quality, and economic efficiency of marine aquaculture, protecting the environment and adapting to climate change, restructuring production activities, and building value chains for each group of products, with industrial marine aquaculture to play a key role. Incentive policies will be available to offshore industrial aquaculture enterprises, to encourage them to invest. Attention will be paid to creating business communities in offshore aquaculture in major coastal cities and provinces, including Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Ca Mau, and Kien Giang, as well as others with substantial potential. Marine aquaculture and aquatic processing centres, logistics services, and fisheries infrastructure will be developed in north-central and central coastal localities from Thanh Hoa to Binh Thuan. Priority will be given to developing models of multi-species farming and in supporting establishments …
Private firms need more institutional support
Experts discuss solutions to promote private sector development. — VNS Photo HÀ NỘI — Private enterprises do not need money but institutional support to enjoy a stable and safe business environment, bringing them equality and respect. Vũ Tiến Lộc, Chairman of Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), made the statement at a conference held in the northern province of Quảng Ninh on Friday. Creating a transparent and equal investment environment among business sectors is always an important issue when discussing the disadvantages of the private sector, especially in accessing important resources such as the labour market, business rights and information. After more than three years of implementation of Resolution 10, private businesses have become more protected. At the same time, there is also a better playing field for the sector when participating in economic fields. The private firms therefore have contributed to the economy as they attract about 85 per cent of the country’s total workforce while contribution to GDP is always over 43 per cent. Meanwhile, the contribution to GDP of the State economic sector and foreign direct investment (FDI) sector are 29 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively. However, Lộc said that domestic companies in many localities are not as highly appreciated as foreign firms despite creating value and jobs. Many private businesses also said that when localities called for FDI, they commit to provide site clearance and are ready to be fined if they fail to meet the schedule as foreign investors often have high requirements. However, for domestic enterprises with even larger size than foreign companies, there is no such commitment, he added. The chairman added that the private economic sector in Việt Nam has not only 8,000 businesses, but over 6 million, including business households. The first priority should be improving their quality, scale, efficiency and competitiveness not quantity. The entrepreneur’s desire is …
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