Son tung m tp – Talk Vietnam

June 18, 2021 by english.thesaigontimes.vn Leave a Comment

Menas Mall to hold blood donation program in July

The Saigon Times

The Menas Saigon Airport shopping mall – PHOTO: MENAS SAIGON AIRPORT

HCMC – The Menas Saigon Airport shopping mall in Tan Binh District, HCMC, will organize a blood donation program next month.

HCMC is facing a shortage of blood supply, which has become more serious during the Covid-19 pandemic. The local authorities have banned large gatherings to curb the spread of the pandemic, forcing many organizers to cancel or postpone their blood donation programs.

To help address the blood shortage, especially in this critical situation, Menas Saigon Airport has called on its employees and others to donate blood, which can help them improve their immune system and also save lives.

The event will begin at 8 a.m. on July 1 at the Menas Saigon Airport building, No. 60A Truong Son Street, Ward 2, Tan Binh District, HCMC.

The donors and organizers will have to strictly comply with Covid-19 infection prevention and control measures during the event.

For registration, visit https://bit.ly/3xoPciX or call 0833.588989.

June 18, 2021 by en.qdnd.vn Leave a Comment

OVs contribute VND 6.2 billion to national COVID-19 vaccine fund

According to minister Son, the Vietnamese community abroad has always thought of and supported their compatriots at home in the fight against COVID-19.

When the Prime Minister decided to establish the national COVID-19 vaccine fund and in response to the call from the State President, the Prime Minister, the VFFCC, and the Foreign Ministry since the fourth wave of COVID-19 outbreaks in Vietnam, overseas Vietnamese from all over the world have raised funds for the COVID-19 combat in their home country while surmounting difficulties, preventing COVID-19 and implementing civic obligations in their host country.

Apart from the aforementioned money, overseas Vietnamese and nearly 30 organizations and groups in the US, Canada, France and more have launched campaigns such as “Joining hands for Vietnam” and “10,000 vaccine doses for Vietnam”. The proceeds raised during the campaigns will be transferred to the home country to support front-line forces in the COVID-19 fight.

As of June 16, Vietnamese OVs have donated about 5.3 billion VND to the national COVID-19 prevention and control efforts and vaccine fund.

In his speech, VFFCC Chairman Do Van Chien thanked the Foreign Ministry for handing over the donations. He highly valued and thanked Vietnamese expats for their material and spiritual support for their compatriots at home.

Translated by Mai Huong

June 18, 2021 by e.vnexpress.net Leave a Comment

HCMC proposes metro link to new mega airport

The city wants the Metro 4b line, which is in the process of project documentation, to eventually connect all three terminals of the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCMC and runs to Long Thanh being built in its neighboring province of Dong Nai.

The proposal for the metro link between the airports is contained in a proposal the city made for the national railway development plan for the next decade with vision until 2050.

The proposed route will also boost connectivity between the two localities and Thu Duc City, the new city within HCMC, the proposal says.

Under the current plan, Metro 4b will run underground with three stations for a total length of 3.2 kilometers, connecting the Gia Dinh Park in Phu Nhuan District with Lang Cha Ca intersection south of Tan Son Nhat in Tan Binh District.

Construction of the VND109 trillion ($4.6 billion) first phase of Long Thanh International Airport began earlier this year. The first phase is set to be completed by 2025, giving the new airport a capacity of 25 million passengers a year.

June 18, 2021 by e.vnexpress.net Leave a Comment

Pandemic wipes out demand for house, office cleaners

Huyen Kim, who works for a company that cleans office buildings in HCMC, is in dire need for a job.

She was furloughed by the company in late May as the fourth Covid-19 wave began to spread, and told she would be taken back in July if the outbreak is better controlled. But she is worried sick since this is the worst Covid situation Vietnam has faced so far.

“I asked my nephew to help me find a housemaid or babysitter job online, but have had no luck so far,” the 43-year-old woman said.

“I am waiting for the day I can start working again. All I can do now is wait for the outbreak to die down.”

She used to earn around VND8 million ($345) a month cleaning five offices every day in the city’s downtown.

Kim is by no means the only domestic helper to be severely hit by the new wave, which has stripped many of their livelihoods.

A study published Tuesday by the International Labor Organization (ILO) said cleaners and helpers have suffered job losses at nearly three times the rate as other workers. It said in the second quarter of 2020 they suffered a 17 percent jobless rate compared to 6.1 percent for other workers like drivers, cooks, security guards, and others.

For people from rural areas, getting stuck in metropolises amid the pandemic is a luxury they cannot afford, especially when many neighborhoods in Hanoi and HCMC have been placed under lockdown.

Pham Thu Hang, 40, who works in Hanoi’s Long Bien District, moved back to her hometown in the northern Phu Tho Province in late May to work as a farmer when the capital saw Covid resurge.

“I need to save money to support my children in Phu Tho, so the idea of getting stuck in Hanoi for months scared me,” she said.

She is reconciled to alternating between the two places after having faced such upheavals before. In January too she had to move back to Phu Tho soon after the third wave began, and only returned to Hanoi to work in March after it died down.

“I’m now used to the fact that my job is unstable. The only thing that saddens me is that I can put less food on the table for my children.”

She used to earn a monthly income of around VND7 million ($302) in Hanoi. She admitted she is afraid of getting infected and so “fleeing to her hometown is the best bet.”

With the outbreak continuing to rage, HCMC authorities extended social distancing by two more weeks after imposing the first one on May 31.

Since the fourth wave began on April 28 the southern city has become the third hardest hit locality with 1,346 cases as of Friday evening. Hanoi was in fourth place with 464.

Some families have taken extra precautions and decided to stop hiring cleaners after the number of daily cases continues to rise.

Following the Ministry of Health’s preventive guidelines, Phi Thi Thu Thao has stopped hiring helpers from a service company after HCMC mandated social distancing.

“Since the company my husband and I work for allows us to work from home, we have been taking turns caring for our two-year-old son and doing household chores,” the 33-year-old accountant said.

In the same report the ILO said the working hours of cleaners and helpers fell by 24.7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2019. As a result, wages plummeted by 26.2 percent.

Some commercial cleaning services are struggling to survive.

Nguyen Truong Son, a marketing staff for Giupviec.vn, a home and office cleaning services company with offices in Hanoi and HCMC, said revenues had fallen by 50-60 percent since the Lunar New Year [in mid-February].

Besides, the demand for office cleaning services had also declined since people have started working from home.

“The company offers disinfection services along with cleaning at a cheap price to attract and retain customers. But the promotion is not effective since not many people want a combination of those services,” he said.

Cleaners like Kim are desperate to go back to work and make a living.

“I just hope the outbreak will be under control soon so that things can go back to the pre-pandemic era,” she said wistfully.

June 18, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn Leave a Comment

Two foreigners fined for working without permission in Hai Duong

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Hai Duong (VNA) – Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of northern Hai Duong province Luu Van Ban has signed decisions fining two foreigners 40 million VND (1,739 USD) in total for entering Vietnam, working or engaging in other activities without permission of Vietnamese competent authorities.

Specifically, the first one is Wang Shoucheng , who is a Chinese national born in 1970 and now living in Lam Son commune, Hai Duong’s Thanh Mien district. Wang was granted a visa by the border guard station of Lang Son province’s Huu Nghi Border Gate with a temporary stay extension until June 23, 2021 to work at Kam Fung Vietnam International Company Limited in Quat Lam township in Nam Dinh province’s Giao Thuy district. However, on April 22, he quit this job and began working for Champion Product Vietnam Co., Ltd. in Lam Son commune one day later. Wang was fined 20 million VND for violating regulations at Point b, Clause 5, Article 17 of the Government’s Decree 167 dated November 12, 2013 on penalties for administrative violations in the field of security, social order and safety, and prevention of social evils; fire prevention and fighting, and domestic violence prevention and control.

The other was also given the same charge. The Chinese national, Ye Zhaoxin, was born in 1996 and is now living in Lam Son commune as well. He had a temporary stay extension until June 18, 2021 to work at Sun Vigor Vietnam Smart Toy Joint Stock Company in Hai Phong city’s Tien Lang district. However, on April 27, he also left his job and came to work at Champion Product Vietnam Co., Ltd.

With involvement with Wang Shouchen, Vu Van Buong, born in 1967, was fined 1.25 million VND for “letting foreigners stay overnight without declaring temporary residence, failing to instruct foreigners to declare temporary residence as prescribed or failing to comply with other regulations of competent agencies./.

VNA

June 18, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn Leave a Comment

Oil and gas companies recover strongly in Q1 from last year’s losses

The Dung Quat refinery in Quang Ngai province is operated by Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (Photo: bsr.com.vn)

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – Surging international crude oil price on improving demand has helped many oil and gas companies record big profits in the first quarter of this year, after losing in 2020.

In the first quarter financial result, Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex, PLX) posted a slight fall of 0.6 percent in net revenue to nearly 38.2 trillion VND (1.6 million USD). However, it was still profitable thanks to a cut in expenses in financial activities and others, and gains in other incomes.

Of which, the company’s profit after tax was nearly 736.2 billion VND in the first quarter after reporting a loss of 2.3 trillion VND in the same period last year.

During the period, Petrolimex’s domestic output rose 4.7 percent year-on-year to 2.27 million m3. Retail sales accounted for 55 – 60 percent of its total sales but contributed around 80 percent of its profit.

SSI Securities Corporation (SSI) said that the company’s production growth will continue until the first half of the second quarter, boosted by the Government’s restriction on illicit petrol, especially in the south.

Similarly, Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (BSR) witnessed its revenue reach 21 trillion VND in the first quarter with a profit of over 1.8 trillion VND, while it reported a loss of 2.33 trillion VND in the same period last year.

The main driving force for the recovery in profit was higher crude prices in the international market and crack spread of gasoline products.

Crack spread is the spread created in commodity markets by purchasing oil futures and offsetting the position by selling petrol and heating oil futures.

PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PVOIL)’s profit after tax was 190.6 billion VND, after losing 537.7 billion VND in the same period last year.

Notably, Thu Duc Trading & Import Export JSC (TMC) even reported net profit of more than 4 billion VND, nine times higher than that of last year.

Another company witnessing profit rise sharply was Nam Song Hau Trading Investing Petroleum JSC (PSH). The company’s revenue was up 10 percent over last year to more than 1.7 trillion VND, resulting in a profit of 44 billion VND, 2.1 times higher than that of the same period in 2020.

Even though there were still some companies recording declines in profit or even losses during the first quarter, in general, oil and gas companies’ results were quite positive.

With positive oil demand outlook, the oil price is expected to continue to rally. Therefore, there is still more room for oil and gas firms to recover.

SSI forecasted that Brent crude price will trade at an average of 68 USD per barrel in 2021, up 62.6 percent year-on-year, and can even go up to 70 USD in 2022.

According to SSI, developed economies are gradually opening again as they have pushed the vaccination rollout. Businesses activities will also recover quickly when countries continue to ease measures to contain COVID-19.

Brent crude was traded at 74.23 USD per barrel on June 17, and on track to head toward 75 USD./.

VNA