Viet nam news

Captain Quế Ngọc Hải is on the precipice of history. — Photo VFF

Peter Cowan

Win and they’re in, it’s that simple.

Okay, win or draw against the UAE tonight and Việt Nam make the third round of World Cup qualification for the first time in history as the winners of Group G, but that doesn’t have the same ring to it as “win and they’re in”.

After dispatching Indonesia 4-0 and grinding out a 2-1 win over Malaysia, coach Park Hang-seo’s men stand on the cusp of history and it would be a brave man to bet against them getting the result they need tonight in Dubai.

However, if I take my red-tinted and yellow-starred spectacles off for just a moment, it should be acknowledged that the UAE are favourites to take all three points.

They have momentum thanks to three wins on the trot, they have some superb players in flying form like Ali Mabkhout and they have home advantage.

I expect Park, who will watch from the stands due to his suspension , to set his team out to frustrate the UAE and perhaps nick a goal on the break, a formula that has worked well against stronger sides.

If the formula fails Việt Nam this time though, all hope isn’t lost, as a defeat will most likely still see them go through to the next round as one of the five best group runners-up.

My lack of maths skills means using an algorithm to determine Việt Nam’s chances of going through (99.2 per cent according to some) is out of the question, but I have had a look at Tuesday night’s fixtures across Asia to figure out just what would need to happen for Việt Nam not to qualify.

With 17 points already you might think there’s no way Việt Nam won’t be in the third round, but as North Korea dropped out of their final three matches, results against the bottom team of each group don’t count towards the runners-up rankings.

This means if Việt Nam were to be beaten tonight, they’d lose the six points they won against Indonesia and sit on 11 points in the runners-up table. This would place them second at the moment, and it would take an extraordinary string of results to knock them out of the all-important top five.

First, China would have to defeat Syria in a match also being played in the UAE on Tuesday to put them on 13 points.

Next, Saudi Arabia would have to lose at home to Uzbekistan, which would put Uzbekistan through as group winners and leave the Saudis on 13 points in the runners-up table.

Beneath these two sides would be Oman, who are virtually locked-in on 12 points unless they lose to minnows Bangladesh and Afghanistan beat India.

Rivals Iran and Iraq also play on Tuesday but in Bahrain, and a win for Iran would send them through as group winners and put Iraq level with Việt Nam on 11 points.

Finally, if Jordan pull off a huge upset against Australia in Kuwait they would also have 11 points.

This is where things get really complicated.

Goal difference would be needed to settle this three-way tie between Việt Nam, Iraq and Jordan, but goals scored and conceded against the bottom-placed team in each group wouldn’t count.

As it stands, Việt Nam are on plus three, Iraq plus four and Jordan plus five, though if the results play out as described so far, Jordan would improve their goal difference by winning and go through. That would leave the final slot between Iraq and Việt Nam.

If Iraq lose by two goals more than Việt Nam do, coach Park’s men would go through. If Iraq lose by just one goal more than Việt Nam do, the next tiebreaker is goals scored and Iraq currently have six to Việt Nam’s four. Any other pair of results would mean Việt Nam lose out.

Hopefully after reading all that it’s apparent just how badly things would have to go wrong for Việt Nam to miss out, but more importantly, hopefully they get a result tonight and we can celebrate the history-makers and chuck our calculators in the bin. — VNS

Lạch Huyện Terminal in Hải Phòng. The minimum container loading and unloading charges at some ports in the northern region are proposed to be increased by 10 per cent per year in three consecutive years, starting from July 1, 2021. — VNA/VNS Photo Đức Nghĩa

HÀ NỘI — Careful consideration is needed before increasing seaport services charges to limit negative impacts on the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Việt Nam Maritime Administration.

Responding to the Việt Nam Ship Agents, Brokers and Maritime Service Providers Association (VISABA)’s proposal to raise container handling charges, the maritime administration said while the COVID-19 pandemic was still complex and hitting firms hard, the logistics costs must not cause any more burdens for import and export firms.

The Government also asked to keep service charges stable at this time.

VISABA recently proposed the minimum container loading and unloading charges at some ports in the northern region be increased by 10 per cent annually for three consecutive years, starting from July 1, 2021.

For deep-water seaports, Lạch Huyện and Cái Mép – Thị Vải, the increase was proposed to be at least 20 per cent from July 1 and 10 per cent for the next three years.

Nguyễn Xuân Kỳ, general director of Tân Cảng – Cái Mép International Terminal Company Limited, said seaports played an important role in the circulation of goods, adding it was necessary to increase services changes so enterprises could have resources for reinvestment.

According to the Việt Nam Maritime Administration, foreign shipping lines collect a terminal handling charge of around US$114-173 per container on their customers in Việt Nam. However, Việt Nam’s ports collect very low container handling charges, about $33 per 20ft-container at Đình Vũ, $52 at Cái Mép and $41 at HCM City.

The container loading and unloading charges of Việt Nam remained low, only equivalent to 80 per cent of Cambodia, 70 per cent of Malaysia, 61 per cent of Indonesia and 46 per cent of Singapore.

The low container handling charges were considered a competitive advantage of Việt Nam’s seaport system to attract big cargo container ships to deep-water seaports, including Cái Mép – Thị Vải and Lạch Huyện.

Việt Nam has attracted 40 foreign shipping lines with the transported cargo volume increasing by an average of 13 per cent each year, helping promote the development of the logistics system and accelerate trade, according to the maritime administration.

The maritime administration said reasonable seaport service charges helped not only attract shipping lines but also stabilise the market and prevent unhealthy competition among service providers.

Port companies have reported profits, with Hải Phòng Port earning VNĐ173 billion after-tax profit in the first quarter of this year, while Đà Nẵng and Quy Nhơn reported increases by 7 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively.

The maritime administration said that Circular 54/2018/TT-BGTVT only regulated the minimum services charges and enterprises could charge higher fees than the minimum levels.

However, most seaports were applying the minimum fees under the circular to attract shipping lines. — VNS

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn holds phone talks with Canadian counterpart Marc Garneau on Monday. —VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn on Monday held phone talks with his Canadian counterpart Marc Garneau, during which he said Việt Nam highly valued Canada’s efforts in enhancing its relations with ASEAN and Việt Nam.

Sơn congratulated Canada on its successes in containing COVID-19, and thanked the country for its support to Việt Nam in dealing with the consequences of natural disasters in the central region and fighting the pandemic, especially in access to COVID-19 vaccines.

For his part, Garneau said Canada attached importance to the bilateral ties, and wanted to deepen the Canada-Việt Nam comprehensive partnership.

He also applauded Việt Nam’s efforts in controlling COVID-19, as well as the close coordination between the two countries in the fight against the pandemic.

The minister reiterated Canada’s commitment to help Việt Nam and other countries in the region secure COVID-19 vaccines via the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, the COVAX Facility, and the ASEAN COVID-19 Response Fund.

The two ministers highly evaluated the fruitful development of Việt Nam-Canada relations in many fields, especially since the two countries elevated bilateral relations to a comprehensive partnership in 2017.

Despite adverse impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, two-way trade still reached US$5 billion in 2020, up 31 per cent before the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) took effect.

Towards the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties (1973-2023), the two ministers agreed to take concrete measures to promote relations as directed by the two Prime Ministers during their phone talks on May 19, 2021, including the exchange of delegations at all levels and the regular maintenance of cooperation mechanisms between the two foreign ministries.

The two sides agreed to expand collaboration in many fields, especially in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting Việt Nam’s access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Việt Nam and Canada will strive to raise two-way trade to $8 billion in the next two years and encourage their businesses to take advantage of opportunities brought by the CPTPP, while strengthening cooperation in education, finance, digital economy, innovation, sustainable development, clean energy, response to climate change and cooperation between localities.

The two ministers also discussed the international and regional situation, including the East Sea issue, affirming the significance of observing international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They also agreed to continue working together closely at regional and international multilateral forums such as the United Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the International Organization of the Francophonie. — VNS

Duy An

Apart from specialities such as Vinh oranges and eel vermicelli soup, Nghệ An Province is also famous for its bánh mướt (rice roll) cake thanks to its unique flavour.

Different from rice rolls in the north, bánh mướt is made of a special rice variety named Vê in the province’s Quỳnh Lưu District and can be eaten with beef soup or chicken soup, but local people prefer it with pig’s tripe.

Nguyễn Thị Nguyệt, 60, recently returned to the province from Germany and said she always missed the dish while living abroad for almost 40 years.

Nghệ An’s bánh mướt (rice rolls) can be eaten with pork paste. Photo baoquocte.vn

“I still remember the tastiest and delicious dish made by makers in Quy Chính Village of Nghệ An’s Diễn Châu District,” she said, adding that her home was one kilometre from the Sò Market where her mother often bought the dish home.

“The image of my mother returning home bringing us the cake wrapped in fresh banana leaves always moved me,” Nguyệt said, adding that she loved to dip the dish in a bowl of fish sauce mixed with a bit of lemon juice, minced garlic and chilli.

Phan Thị Hằng, 70, who has been making the cake with her mother since she was young, said her mother’s cake was the best seller in the district for years.

The cake is most tasty when being eaten with pig’s tripes soup. Photo wecheckin.vn

But one day many eaters commented that her cake was sourer than before.

Hằng’s mother was very worried and tried to find out what had happened.

“Seeing her stressing all day long, I was very afraid but bravely tried to confess to her in tears that I poured several bowls of congee in the wet rice powder,” she said, adding that her mother simply asked her not to do it again.

“We should always be careful to try to keep our dish’s quality and prestige among customers,” her mother said.

The ingredients to make the cake should be carefully chosen. In the past, they bought Vê rice from Quỳnh Lưu District which was fragrant and kept the cake crispy.

Bánh mướt eaten with eel soup and fresh herbs are very enjoyable. Photo wecheckin.vn

But as the rice variety no longer exists due to low productivity, bánh mướt makers have to use rice named Khang Dân which is not too soft and not too hard, Hằng said, adding that other ingredients include fresh and dried onions, chilli and pig’s tripe, which should be fresh, pink and from a pig raised without the use of chemicals.

To have a quality cake the rice should be soaked in water for three hours before grinding it into wet powder which should soak for another three hours before being cooked.

Making the cake needs skills to stop it from becoming too thin or too thick. After the cake is done to a turn, the cooker uses a big flat bamboo chopstick to take the cake out of the cooking pot, roll it well and put it on fresh banana leaves in a flat basket, said Hằng.

“We have to wake up at 4am to make the cake until 5 or 5:30am then we bring it to the market to serve our customers,” she said, noting that her cakes sell out by 7am.

Hằng recalled in the past they had to grind the wet powder in a stone mortar. “It took us nearly five hours at night to grind 20kg of rice. Sometimes we had to work until 2am the next day.”

Apart from pig’s tripes, many people prefer to enjoy the dish with fried spring rolls dipping in a sweet and sour sauce made of many ingredients such as vinegar, lemon, minced garlic, chili, sugar and others. Photo @boyvietnamese 777

In modern times with electricity available, their job is easier but Hằng said every year she has only three days off at Tết (Lunar New Year).

“During the last days before the Lunar New Year comes, we have to work very hard to supply increasing demands because we receive a lot of orders from locals and people from surrounding areas. They buy the cake to eat at Tết instead of bánh chưng (square cake),” Hằng said.

Lê Thu Thủy comes from Nghệ An and lives in Hà Nội and said she has been addicted to bánh mướt since she was a little girl so she often orders the cake from Hằng to enjoy it.

“My family members, relatives and friends also enjoy the dish so much,” she said.

Overseas Vietnamese Nguyệt told Việt Nam News that almost all Nghệ An people living and working abroad fondly remember their year-end parties with family members.

“We particularly miss the dish eaten with pig’s tripe soup so much,” she said. — VNS

Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng holds a phone tallk with Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday. VNA/VNS Photo Trí Dũng

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam and Sri Lanka have agreed to continue building stronger bilateral ties as both countries recover from the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The agreement was reached during a phone call between Party chief Nguyễn Phú Trọng and Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday.

The Vietnamese leader said Việt Nam is willing to work with Sri Lanka in the fight against COVID-19.

The two countries will take measures to boost ties and work together at regional and international forums as well as to promote ties in trades, investment, defence and the fight against climate change. — VNS