Ho chi minh to mekong delta

Many entrances leading to Ho Chi Minh City were crammed with vehicles on Sunday as travelers came back to the city one day early before the end of a four-day holiday.

Many returnees had thought that they should come back to the city on Sunday instead of Monday, the last day off, to avoid traffic congestion.

Salaried workers in Vietnam are entitled to four days off from Friday to celebrate Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers’ Day (May 1).

The number of vehicles began to increase gradually on Sunday afternoon at the gateways to the city, keeping traffic police forces busy at important traffic points.

A prolonged jam formed on the Ly Thai To Street section in Dong Nai Province leading to the Cat Lai Ferry in Ho Chi Minh City at 4:30 pm, mainly in the automobile lane, with the line of stuck vehicles stretching more than one kilometer.

The same situation was observed at 5:30 pm on National Highway 1 in its section linking the Mekong Delta province of Long An with Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Chanh District.

Tran Minh Hiep, one of the returnees, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that he would not go to work on Monday but he opted to leave Bao Loc City of the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong for the southern metropolis sooner to avoid traffic jams.

Bao Loc Pass began to be packed with vehicles that moved at a snail’s pace at around Saturday noon, Hiep said.

“I started to enter the Ho Chi Minh City – Long Thanh – Dau Giay Expressway at about 4:30 pm,” Hiep said.

“The first section of the expressway in Dau Giay was not stuck and the toll collection booth was operating normally.

“But after I passed Long Thanh District, congestion started to happen, with vehicles moving very slowly.”

Sunday afternoon also saw slight congestion on the Ho Chi Minh City – Long Thanh – Dau Giay Expressway, the National Highway 6 traffic patrol team reported.

Traffic officers, therefore, had to restrict the traffic flow from entering the highway from the Dong Nai Province direction until the handling of the incident was completed.

Meanwhile, the Cat Lai traffic police team assigned its units to be on duty around the clock in areas prone to congestion like expressway lead-ups and such streets as Mai Chi Tho, Luong Dinh Cua, and Dong Van Cong.

In addition, the Cat Lai ferry area was also put under control by a large traffic police force.

Traffic police officers, in conjunction with other forces, also allocated a part of traffic flow from the expressway to the My Thuy intersection, Phu Huu roundabout, and the branch road leading to Do Xuan Hop Street in order to relieve the traffic load on the highway.

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Ho Chi Minh City authorities have locked down an alley after a man retested positive for COVID-19, a source and the director of the local Department of Health told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Friday.

The alley in question is located at 359 Le Van Sy Street, Ward 13, District 3, the source said.

The man tested positive for the novel coronavirus when he carried out procedures to leave Vietnam.

He has been identified as T.H.T., 22, who hails from the Mekong Delta province of An Giang but stays at 359/1/31A Le Van Sy, Ward 13, District 3.

T. had visited two locations in the district on May 1 and 5.

He has been sent to a field hospital for COVID-19 treatment in Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City.

This is a positive retest, Nguyen Tan Binh, director of the municipal Department of Health, told Tuoi Tre.

T. had entered Vietnam and been isolated for COVID-19 treatment in Ha Tien City under Kien Giang Province for two weeks in March, Binh elaborated.

After the treatment, he was required to self-isolate at home for another two weeks but left his place of residence in Ho Chi Minh City and got tested himself as part of the immigration procedures, for he wanted to leave Vietnam.

The man has not finished his self-quarantine as required, the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control said.

Sixty-one households including 210 people live in the alley, according to local authorities.

The Ministry of Health has yet to confirm this case as a COVID-19 patient.

Vietnam has recorded 3,091 coronavirus patients as of Friday afternoon, with 2,560 recoveries and 35 deaths, according to the health ministry.

The country has registered 121 local infections in over a dozen provinces and cities in this fourth wave that started in April 27.

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Before 1975, when Vietnam was reunified, Go Cong – nowadays Tien Giang Province in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta – was a hub for well-attended martial arts exhibitions, which appealed to highly-skilled fighters from famed schools in the south of the country.

To add drama to the events, two opponents customarily prayed to their coffins before engaging.

Martial arts fights in Go Cong could be comparable to the present-day soccer matches considering the number of spectators.

Thousands would gather around the ring to witness fierce fights similar to modern-day boxing.

Fight to the death? Coffins and pride

In the 1960s, the organizing committee wanted to inject a sense of theater into the fights and placed a coffin on each side of the ring, which the fighters would touch and pray to at the beginning of their match.

Fighting to the death was the spirit, but no one ever died in any actual encounter.

However, the props were effective enough to force younger audience members to keep their light on at bedtime.

According to Le Tan Long, now 65 years old, a once famous boxer at the Trieu Tu Long martial arts center in Go Cong before 1975, what made these fights tick was essentially its sense of naked reality.

Boxers came to the stage with a pair of shorts, no chest and rib guards and very thin boxing gloves.

Their punches, kicks and special moves were as naturally done as they could be.

Long had a genuine passion for martial arts, but it took him years to talk his parents into giving their approval.

The raging ring was the stage where fighters pulled out all the stops in their martial arts center’s name.

According to Long, one could earn around VND6,000 (US$0.26) for every fight.

“People stepped into the ring simply for the pride of their center,” he said.

“Merely voicing their name was a source of pride and a catalyst for the fight.”

Money or not, they all rushed to the ring

Bui Minh Loi, 65, used to escort fighters to their spot and act as their cutman.

He informed that people were wrong to think only the wealthy could afford to attend these combats.

Quite on the contrary, even farmers saved for these events.

“Tickets sold out every time,” he said.

“The have-nots and children used to sneak in across the fences or through wall holes.”

During festivals like Ky Yen – a peace prayer ceremony by a small local religion in the south of Vietnam – or the mid-February fest of the lunar calendar when people commemorated a local deity, the fiery fights attracted more people than ever.

Whether they were friendly fights, challenges or duels, the crowds were cheering.

When Go Cong began to popularize a lunar new year fun fair in the early 1960s, the authorities decided to add a boxing ring.

The ring was established on a soccer pitch opposite a high school.

It was made from wooden panels and was well lit with bright yellow stage lights, making every single move clearly visible from a distance.

Phan Van Nam, 70, used to live near the governor’s mansion in Go Cong.

He recalled that a tournament lasted two to four nights, with as many as six pairs of fighters every night.

According to him, fun fair goers tripled in numbers thanks to this novel feature, amounting to thousands of people.

Some of them crossed over 40 kilometers on either horse carts or mini buses.

“Even my cousin came. He took his whole family there just to watch these fights,” Nam said.

Ladies were part of the scene as well. Young girls dressed up nicely and constituted an indispensable proportion of the spectators.

Some simply hoped to hold the hands of victors in their glory. Others could afford to bring over a bunch of flowers or a little lovely card.

One point of interest was that there were as many female fighters as male boxers in the Trieu Tu Long martial arts center.

Fighters’ stories

Tan Long was a boxer from the Trieu Tu Long martial arts center.

Beginning his career in 1973, he made four appearances in Go Cong tournaments by 1975, not including undocumented challenges.

He asserted that Go Cong called more spectators than other places.

“Once there were too many people around that I got overwhelmed for a while. It took me some time to regain my vigor,” he recalled.

“And there was one fight when spectators were crowding onto the ring.

“The policemen had to step in and protected us.”

A few boxers left Go Cong for the urban tournaments. One of the most impressive fights on record was between Nguyen Van Doan from Can Tho and Nguyen Phi Long from Go Cong.

The fight took place in Saigon, which is present-day Ho Chi Minh City.

Based on an article written on the October 28, 1974 by the Sports newspaper, the event occurred on October 27.

“In the first round, Doan tried to win it fast and knock out Long, who remained calm and smartly fought back,” the article reads.

“Carefully calculating his moves, Long suddenly sent out his knee attacks, sending Doan to the ground and unable to get up.

“The spectators were disappointed as the KO came too soon – merely 1.25 minutes into the first round.”

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Cold storage of Hanh Nguyen Logistics Center is expected to meet the fruit processing demand in the Mekong Delta. (Photo: SGGP)

By Cao Phong – Translated by Thuy Doan

During the meeting, Government members mulled over the COVID-19 fight and preparations for the upcoming elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils for the 2021-2026 tenure.

They also looked into the Government’s draft action programme on the implementation of the Resolution adopted at the 13th National Party Congress, and the socio-economic situation in April and the first four months of this year, among others.

In his remarks, PM Chinh highlighted significant achievements in the macro-economy, export and investment attraction, notably inflation control, which are regarded as the best since 2016.

The government leader, however, pointed out difficulties and challenges such as the complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-economic impacts, plus “land fever” and issues regarding the stock market.

Thanks to the timely instructions of the Government, ministers and the State Bank of Vietnam, the situation has got stable, he said, stressing the importance of monetary and banking policies to the macro economy.

The PM also talked about poor-performing projects, law-related issues, the slow disbursement of public investment capital, especially foreign investment, and illegal exit-entry activities.

To complete the dual goals of socio-economic development and pandemic combat, PM Chinh asked ministries and agencies to review and perfect mechanisms and policies, saying priorities should be given to resources in service of national development.

He ordered more flexible monetary and fiscal policies to spur growth, stabilise the macro economy, curb inflation, and ensure major economic balances, and urged greater efforts to remove obstacles in production and business, and creating a favourable, equal business environment.

Greater efforts are also needed to study and implement transport projects in the Mekong Delta, the Central Highlands and key economic regions, the leader said.

Regarding the pandemic fight, PM Chinh requested agencies to stay alert, creative and flexible in the work, saying information must be objective to encourage people to actively engage in the combat and overcome pandemic consequences.

He called on Vietnamese people both at home and abroad to voluntarily observe COVID-19 prevention and control regulations.

The PM also highlighted preparations for the upcoming elections of deputies to the 15th legislature and all-level People’s Councils, as well as the national high school graduation exam.

While some provinces have become shining examples in Vietnam’s PCI, its metropolises are lagging behind. Photo: Le Toan

According to the Korea Chamber of Business in Vietnam (KorCham), Hanoi is planning to organise a dialogue with South Korean businesses in May to help them deal with various problems, including administrative procedures.

KorCham vice chairman Hong Sun told VIR, “South Korean businesses are still encountering some problems related to investment procedures, especially real estate and trade centre investments and others. We are expecting that all will be solved at the upcoming meeting.”

South Korea is among the targeted foreign investors Hanoi plans to attract more of. To increase its attraction, the city has taken a number of measures to reform administrative procedures. According to Hanoi People’s Committee, the capital had been determined to deploy the government’s administrative reform plan for the 2016-2020 period, and the city’s administrative reform programmes in which many targets were fulfilled before the schedule set in Resolution No.30c/NQ-CP on the master programme on administrative reform in the 2011-2020 period.

Nonetheless, Hanoi’s stronger efforts have not brought about a fruitful result. Most recently, in the 2020 Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI), the city ranked ninth, with no increase from the previous year.

As shown in the 2020 PCI, the results of the 10 sub-indices making up the city’s overall PCI index remain lower than cities and provinces in the “excellent” category and, in terms of entry costs and land access, Hanoi is named among the lowest.

Specifically, entry costs score 6.74 out of 10; land access and tenure scores 6.07; policy bias and proactivity both 6.06; and transparency even 5.81. In comparison, the three best performers of Long An, Dong Thap, and Quang Ninh have scored over seven points in most of their 10 sub-indices.

In the same situation, as shown in the 2019 and 2020 PCI indexes, Ho Chi Minh City dropped from eighth in 2016 to 14th now. In the Vietnam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI), the biggest city of Vietnam also saw a downgrade from 31st in 2019 to 46th in 2020, ranking among the worst performers.

The northern province of Bac Ninh also saw a slip from fourth in the 2019 PCI to 10th in 2020. Vuong Quoc Tuan, Deputy Chairman of Bac Ninh People’s Committee, blamed this for a decrease of score in the areas of transparency, policy bias, law and order, proactivity, land access, and tenure. “We will take bolder and more comprehensive measures to improve them in the months to come,” he insisted.

A few days after the announcement of the 2020 PCI, Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, worked with the city’s Institute for Development Studies on the implementation of the 2021 tasks. “Recently, local authorities reported that they all made better achievements. Why this has happened is unclear,” he admitted. “They have to reassess themselves. If we do not assess ourselves exactly, we are likely to get into the way of subjective thinking.”

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have other connected issues on their collective plates because, according to statistics from the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the two cities also dropped in ranking in foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction in the first quarter of 2021. Ho Chi Minh City dropped from top of the pile in 2020 to fourth so far this year, while Hanoi fell to 14th from third in 2020.

Chairman Phong emphasised that the focus of Ho Chi Minh City this year is to improve the business climate and to build urban governance, urging stronger effort from local authorities to improve the situation.

Similarly, Chairman of Hanoi People’s Committee Chu Ngoc Anh, at a recent meeting to review the first-quarter performance and set tasks for the upcoming months, requested more administrative reforms to further facilitate business activities in the capital.

The major cities are being urged to learn from Quang Ninh, Long An, Dong Thap, and Binh Duong on how to make improvements to increase future efficiency in order to meet business expectations. Sun of KorCham noted, “The transition of the Hanoi leadership might bring about positive results, and South Korean investors are pinning high hopes on this.”

Outside Ho Chi Minh City and the capital, Long An and Binh Duong were among the most impressive localities in terms of the PCI results last year. The Mekong Delta province of Long An surpassed many others to be listed among the best performers, ranking third and rising from eighth in the 2019 index. Binh Duong meanwhile jumped to fourth from 13th the previous year.

Long An is emerging as an attractive destination for foreign investment. In the first quarter, the province led 63 cities and provinces in FDI inflows with nearly $3.2 billion, making up about 32 per cent of the country’s total. Meanwhile, Binh Duong remains in the top-six of FDI attractors.

Elsewhere, last week Long An signed MoUs with powerful domestic and international groups – Saigontel, Roland Berger, Viettel IDC, VNPay, Microsoft, Siemens, SAP, SMBL, and DVL Venture – on digital transformation and investment at its investment promotional workshop.

Nguyen Van Duoc, Secretary of Long An Party Committee, said, “We continue to make administrative reforms with a focus on the 10 sub-indices, thus further improving the business climate. We envision developing high-tech economic zones in parallel with the development of South Korean-modelled smart cities.”

John Rockhold – Vice chairman, American Chamber of Commerce Hanoi Vietnam was successful in its dual efforts to contain the pandemic and maintain economic growth, emerging as one of the few countries in the world to record a reasonably high rate of positive economic growth in 2020. The Provincial Competitiveness Index’ (PCI) infrastructure index ranks the quality of infrastructure and connectivity in each province. This index is not included in the calculation of the PCI scores. However, it serves as a useful reference for businesses as well as policymakers. The PCI research team has determined it is unfair to include infrastructure in the overall ranking for three reasons: initial endowments were dramatically different across provinces, making it very difficult for some rural provinces to catch up; provinces are not solely responsible for infrastructure within their borders, as many investments are funded through central government initiatives; and the team strongly believes the improvement of infrastructure is best achieved through regional cooperation and does not want to encourage duplicative and damaging competition in construction, particularly for large projects such as ports and airports. Infrastructure in Vietnam has generally improved since 2014. However, in 2020, the median score of the infrastructure index dropped slightly to 67.41 points from the all-time high of 68.45 points, achieved in 2019. The findings show the correlation between the quality of governance and infrastructure in 2020. There remains a close correlation across all provinces. Consistent with previous surveys, the PCI 2020 finds that provinces performing well in governance indicators tend to have higher quality infrastructure. Provinces that outperform the median province in terms of infrastructure but do not perform as well in governance appear to be caught in a structural advantage trap. They have not vigorously pursued good governance because they were confident that investment would come regardless of their efforts. Finally, provinces that perform better than the median province in terms of their governance but face the obstacle of limited infrastructure have to “conquer hardships” through dedicated reforms to overcome their limited endowments. The 2020 report also dedicates another special chapter to explore factors that drive businesses to invest in green technologies and discover what motivates them to become more eco-friendly. The Vietnamese government has declared environmental protection as a key element in its foreign investment attraction and economic development policies. In emerging markets like Vietnam, where much of the world’s future demand for energy and infrastructure will be located, there is a clear recognition of the central role that businesses can play in promoting green growth and climate action. However, there is less clarity about how to motivate private players to invest in green technologies and environmentally friendly operations. In Chapter 4 of the 2020 PCI report, we use a survey experiment embedded in two nationally representative surveys in Vietnam to test which type of stakeholder pressure (governmental or societal) has the strongest impact on whether and how much domestic and foreign business leaders are willing to invest in green operations. Our main findings include: Foreign investors are more susceptible to intensive regulatory pressure; and around 74 per cent of foreign businesses that received the regulatory treatment expressed a willingness to expend greater resources on environmental upgrading, compared to 67 per cent of businesses that received the social pressure treatment. By contrast, we find no difference for domestic investors; 68 per cent expressed a willingness to invest in new environmental equipment and processes, regardless of treatment. We also do not find evidence for change with respect to the intensive margin (the increase in the share of operating costs that foreign and domestic businesses were willing to incur to increase the environmental cleanliness of their operations). The most effective policy varies by actor. Digging deeper, we disaggregated our analysis by whether businesses’ primary customers are citizens and businesses in Vietnam or customers outside the country, who are reached through export. Fascinatingly, the effects on the extensive margin (the business’ willingness to pay for environmental upgrading) are most pronounced for foreign investors seeking to access the domestic market, and domestic businesses pursuing exports. However, the type of stakeholder pressure that matters most varies between the two groups. Domestic-oriented foreign businesses, particularly because of their visibility and size, are more likely to respond to the regulatory pressure treatment. By contrast, export-oriented domestic players, as they are concerned about selling to consumers with Western values, are more likely to be influenced by the social pressure treatment. Businesses’ assessment of climate risk does not influence the effect of regulatory or social pressure on their decisions to upgrade. Businesses’ subjective and objective vulnerability to climate risk does not influence the effects of regulatory or social pressure. The higher the climate risk to a company’s particular business, the more likely they are to upgrade, but this effect is not enhanced by additional social or governmental pressure. As businesses’ role in climate action becomes increasingly important, the question is whether more government regulation is needed to bring about change in businesses’ behaviour or whether there is room for self-regulation, when they respond most strongly to pressures from non-government actors, including non-governmental organisations and citizens’ demands. The bottom line is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to encouraging environmental upgrading. Enhanced regulation of domestic businesses will not pay the same dividends as it does for foreign ones and comes with more costs to inspect the numerous, diffuse, and small domestic companies. At the same time, ambitious domestic businesses hoping to reach international markets will find that social pressure is an extremely effective force in motivating green behavioural change.

VIR