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Vegetables being loaded into a bus belonging to Bảo Yến Construction Services Tourism Co., Ltd. in HCM City last week. Five such buses are being used to distribute vegetables around the city. – VNA/VNS Photo HCM CITY — I was surprised to receive a call from an American friend who lives in Singapore, asking about the pandemic situation in HCM City, Việt Nam’s current COVID-19 epicentre with a daily record of thousands of cases. He was concerned that the situation could spin “out of control”, comparing it to India or Indonesia. I told my friend that he had called at a good time as I had just read a news story from the Singapore-based The Straits Times, headlined “Vietnam grapples with public frustration over Covid-19 pandemic missteps and transparency”, mentioning the growing unhappiness about the pandemic control measures. The story, I believe, described the situation in a superficial way. I have closely observed the global situation, especially in the US, EU and Asia …

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Nguyễn Thị Vân Anh, the first myasthenia gravis patient in Việt Nam to receive stem cell transplantation, can now walk and climb stairs by herself after being unable to move for 15 years. — VNA/VNS Photo HÀ NỘI — The 108 Military Central Hospital in  Hà Nội has announced that for the first time, its doctors have successfully applied stem cell transplantation to treat a patient with myasthenia gravis, a rare condition that causes weakness of the muscles. Myasthenia gravis is caused when signals sent between the nerves and the muscles become distorted. An autoimmune disease, it confuses your immune system and makes it believe a part of your own body is foreign and must be removed or disabled. In the case of myasthenia gravis, your immune system targets the acetylcholine receptors that your muscles need in order to contract. It is characterised by weakness and the rapid fatigue of muscles under voluntary control. In March, 40-year-old Nguyễn Thị Vân Anh, who has suffered from …

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A treatment area in HCM City Intensive Care COVID-19 Hospital based in HCM City Oncology Hospital in Thủ Đức City. — Photo Courtesy of the Ministry of Health HÀ NỘI — Doctors and medical personnel from three central-level hospitals across Việt Nam will help set up three COVID-19 intensive centres with 3,000 beds in HCM City in a bid to reduce the number of deaths amid rising number of seriously ill patients. Health Minister Nguyễn Thanh Long said during a meeting on Thursday that the Hà Nội-based Việt Đức, Bạch Mai and Huế Central hospitals will be assisting local staff in the treatment of patients in a critical condition. Long said that the southern city was struggling to cope with unprecedented COVID-19 outbreaks that are the largest and toughest to contain to date, despite the increasingly drastic measures that HCM Cit authorities have implemented. He went on to say that despite the rising case numbers the city was on the right track. “The …

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An AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine shot is being prepared in a hospital in Vĩnh Phúc Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hùng HÀ NỘI — The foreign ministry of Việt Nam said the UK and Czech governments will donate 660,000 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca to Việt Nam. On Thursday, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the UK will donate 415,000 doses to Việt Nam, as the country begins to ship their surplus supply to countries across the world. This is the first tranche of the 100 million vaccines that Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged the UK would share with the world within the next year at last month’s G7 Summit in Cornwall, saying the donation was “to get those most in need in the world vaccinated as a matter of urgency.” A total of 30 million doses are to be sent by the UK to countries around the world by the end of the year. “We’re doing this to help the most vulnerable, but also because we know we won’t be safe until everyone is safe,” Raab said. …

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Vietnam and the US have made milestones in building a forward-looking partnership. US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin expressed Washington's wish to upgrade ties with Vietnam to a strategic partnership in a meeting with Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on July 29. He said the two countries could expand cooperation in areas that are of each side’s strengths. US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin and Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi on July 29. Photo: VNA Being head of the National Defense and Security Council, Phuc said he was committed to facilitating the cooperation of the two defense ministries. Vietnam expected further the US-ASEAN ties for peace and prosperity in the region and the world, he added. Austin agreed with Phuc on the issue, saying that the US will continue speeding up the relations with ASEAN, participating in the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+), and committing itself to fortify the ties with regional …

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Vietnam has appeared to be a valuable partner for Washington in the Indo-Pacific region amid China’s militarization of islands in the South China Sea. The Vietnam – US defense policy dialogue took place at the US Department of Defense in Washington DC on December 11 with regional and international issues of mutual concerns put in the spotlight. The US – Vietnam Defense Policy Dialogue took place in Washington DC on Dec 11. Photo: VNA Sen. Lieut. Gen Nguyen Chi Vinh, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of National Defense, and US Assistant Secretary of Defense Randall Schriver co-chaired the dialogue, the Vietnam News Agency reported. Randall Schriver said defense cooperation has been a highlight in the Vietnam – US relations and the two sides are working to enhance the ties in the coming time, particularly in maritime security, UN peacekeeping activities, and humanitarian aid. He affirmed that the US always stressed the importance of the comprehensive partnership …

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Vietnam welcomes and is grateful for the timely and practical assistance from countries, partners, and international organisations to Vietnam with regards to COVID-19, foreign ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said on Thursday. Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang. The spokesperson also confirmed that a further three million doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine donated by the US Government would be delivered to Việt Nam via the global vaccine sharing initiative COVAX on Sunday, bringing the total assistance to five million doses after the first shipment of two million doses of Moderna arrived on July 10. “Vaccine diplomacy is being carried out with vigour, and with the engagement of Party, State, Government and National Assembly leaders, in a bid to inoculate at least 70 per cent of the population by early next year and achieve herd immunity against COVID-19,” Hằng said. To date, Việt Nam has received some eight million doses of …

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The Biden Administration is considering donating additional COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam besides the allocated 5 million doses, according to Ha Kim Ngoc, Ambassador of Vietnam to the US. Ambassador Ha Kim Ngoc says the US is considering delivering additional COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam through COVAX Ngoc told a Washington-based VOV correspondent that the second US-donated shipment of 3 million doses of the Moderna vaccine has arrived in Vietnam, with about 1.5 million doses transferred to Ho Chi Minh City on July 24 and the remainder expected to arrive in Hanoi the following day. The US has supplied Vietnam with 5 million doses out of a total of 23 million doses that the Biden administration has committed to 20 countries and territories in Asia. “As far as I know the US is considering donating additional vaccines to Vietnam in the coming time,” he revealed. “This is timely and significant sharing and assistance for Vietnam,” said Ngoc, citing the fact that the US …

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Nguyen Xuan Phuc was sworn in as the new State President of Vietnam on July 26 morning, immediately after lawmakers cast secret ballots to elect him to the new position for the 2016-2021 term during the ongoing first session of the 15th legislature. While taking the oath of office, State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc pledged his absolute loyalty to the Fatherland, the people and the Constitution, saying he will do his utmost to fulfill the tasks assigned by the Party, State and people. Nguyen Xuan Phuc was born on July 20, 1954 in the central province of Quang Nam. He was Politburo member of the 11th, 12th and 13th tenures, member of the Party Central Committee of the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th tenures, and NA deputy of the 11th, 13th and 14th tenures. He had held a number of key positions such as Deputy Secretary of the Quang Nam provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Quang Nam provincial People’s Committee, and Minister-Chairman of the Government Office before being …

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Securities firms cautious on directionless stock market Viet Nam’s stock market struggled to find direction last week as liquidity fell continuously and foreign investors net sold a value of more than VND2.22 trillion (US$96.6 million), causing analysts from securities firms to have cautious views of the market this week. On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the market benchmark VN-Index inched down in the last trading session to 1,268.83 points, while the HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) plunged to 301.77 points. For the week, the VN-Index lost 2.34 per cent and the HNX-Index plummeted 1.95 per cent. Both benchmarks had declined more than 4 per cent since the close of trade Monday. The liquidity on both exchanges declined compared to the previous week. It was lower than the recent 20-week average, with a value of VND20.5 trillion per session. The trading value on the HOSE decreased by 5.2 per cent to VND91.54 trillion, equivalent to a drop of 4 per cent in …

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