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Sexual violence in conflict becomes more serious in the face of Covid-19. Conflict-related sexual violence became thorny at an open debate of the UN Security Council (UNSC) on April 14 as all participants took it a critical opportunity to take stock of the issue in order to eradicate the scourge of it. The open debate, which was hosted by Vietnam, the UNSC President for the month of April, drew attention to the chronic underreporting of wartime sexual violence, especially at a time being compounded by Covid-19 containment measures. The participants thanked Vietnam for keeping this important topic on the agenda of the Council. Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations said the victims should be assisted to access psychological, medical, training and legal services, integrate into the community and seek livelihood sources. He emphasized the need to take a comprehensive approach to the problem, noting the prevention and full and equal participation of women in decision-making and peace processes, much-needed development assistance, capacity-building, technical support and training. Meanwhile, UN Under-Secretary-General Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, stressed the need of prevention, saying that “prevention is the best and only cure” to stem the multiple, devastating and enduring consequences faced by survivors of sexual violence in conflict, especially as a brutal tactic of war. Citing over 2,500 UN-verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 18 countries last year alone, Patten said there was a “chasm between resolutions and reality”. She mentioned the long litany of battles fought on the bodies of women and girls in Bosnia, Rwanda, Iraq, Syria and other places to remind others of what they did to honor their commitments to solving the problem. The Delegation of the EU to UN said they owe this to all victims and …

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The C04 and local police also determined 106 major drug trafficking routes, 169 complicated places of drug crimes and 2,000 suspects in the above-mentioned localities. According to Major General Nguyen Van Vien, Head of the Ministry of Public Security's Drug Crime Investigation Department (C04), the traffickers are increasingly sophisticated acts and tricks to camouflage and hide their drugs. They often sign in to social networks for trading so the functional forces are difficult in the detection, arrestment, investigation and handling. Police forces arrest many suspects related to drug trafficking violations. Regarding the fight against drug crimes, Senior Lieutenant General Le Quy Vuong, Deputy Minister of Public Security suggested that the functional agencies should further connect with local police forces to get achievements in anti-drug operations. The information was released at a summary conference about the Ministry of Public Security’s anti-drug criminal plan. By Chi Thach- Translated by Huyen Huong …

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Good growth Ong Tiong Hooi, transaction services partner of PwC Vietnam, said Vietnam’s mergers and acquisitions (M&A) landscape is likely to remain active this year. In demand, assets have commanded high valuations amid fierce competition driven by macroeconomic factors. These include low interest rates, a desire to acquire innovative, digital or technology-enabled businesses and an abundance of available capital from both corporate (over US$7.6 trillion in cash and marketable securities) and private equity buyers (about US$1.7 trillion). Asia’s retail sales of goods and services, which decreased by 27 percent in April 2020 compared to a year ago due to the impact of social distancing, have strongly recovered since May 2020. According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, total retail sales of consumer goods and services in 2020 increased by 2.6 percent compared to 2019, reaching VND5,059 trillion. In the first two months of this year, this figure reached VND904.5 trillion, an increase of 5.49 percent compared to a year ago. Of which, retail sales of consumer goods stood at VND722.1 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 7.8 percent, accounting for 79.8 percent of the total. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift towards a more digital world, with consumers minimizing purchases in physical stores and maximizing online buying. According to a We Are Social report, as of January 2020, there were over 68 million internet users and about 146 million mobile connections in Vietnam, opening up opportunities for retailers to re-examine consumer preferences and habits, and then re-consider their strategies. Hopes for increased M&A deals in retail sector Under the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, small businesses are greatly affected due to lack of finance and output for their products. Therefore, large firms will continue to increase their market share by acquiring small businesses. M&A deals help them save time to establish a …

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