HCM City develops 10 criteria for reopening of massage, spa services

Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Le Hoa Binh has approved 10 criteria for local massage and spa businesses to resume operation.

Among the conditions, staff and customers must be recovered Covid-19 patients or those who are fully vaccinated with two doses of vaccine. The facilities must ensure a minimum density of 4m2 per person and a distance of at least 1m between two people.

Southern police seize 50kg of drugs transported from Cambodia

The Southern Border Guard task force in collaboration with the police forces of Ho Chi Minh City and Long An province and the Anti-Smuggling and Drug Control Team of the General Department of Customs have detected a drug trafficking case, seizing 50kg of narcotics.

According to the police, the drugs were smuggled from Cambodia to Vietnam. The drugs were packaged as tea bags, hidden at the bottom of iron barrels and covered by live eels. The drugs were seized when traffickers were about to hand it over at Binh Dien market in HCM City.

State Bank to propose policies on national digital currency

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued a plan on development of non-cash payment in Vietnam in the 2021-2025 period. One of the important contents is that the State Bank will submit to the Government a Decree on a pilot implementation of financial technology (FinTech) activities in the banking sector.

The SBV will also study and propose policies on national digital currencies and non-cash payment service fees to enable users to access non-cash payment services at a reasonable cost.

MoMo gets $200 million, raises its value to $2 billion

MoMo has completed the 5th round of capital raising (Series E). The company has received $200 million from global investors including Mizuho, Ward Ferry, Goodwater Capital and Kora Management. This funding round is led by Mizuho – Global Bank of Japan.

With the new investment, MoMo’s value now reaches $2 billion and is listed as one of the few unicorns (those with value of more than $1 billion) in Vietnam.

Ministry of Science and Technology deletes information on website about Vietnam’s test kits

Information posted on the website of the Ministry of Science and Technology about the World Health Organization’s recognition of the test kit produced by a local firm – Viet A Company – has been removed. The same thing happened with information about the British Ministry of Health’s grant of a European standard certificate for this company’s Covid-19 test kit. It is not clear why the Ministry of Science and Technology removed this information from its website.

HCMC records 34 Covid cases after return to school

A week after 9th and 12th graders in HCM City returned to school, the authorities discovered 34 Covid cases, including four teachers, three staff members and 27 students.

“The increase in the number of infections is within the school’s expectations and is safely handled by educational institutions according to the scenario,” said Trinh Duy Trong from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training. He said that teaching in classes with such cases is proceeding normally.

Da Nang still has no international tourists

After more than a month opening its door to domestic and international tourists, Da Nang city’s tourism industry is still gloomy and no international visitor has come to the city.

However, other localities allowed to welcome international visitors are also facing great difficulties. It is said that when Vietnam starts welcoming foreign guests, it takes them a few months to find out before deciding to visit Vietnam. Businesses have not received many positive signals from large markets such as Korea and Japan.

“Made in Vietnam” liver transplant for HCM City child

Doctors at the Children’s Hospital 2 in HCM City has performed a liver transplant operation for a 7-year-old girl. This is the hospital’s 15 liver transplant surgery and the first time it was conducted by all Vietnamese doctors. The liver donor is the girl’s father.

300 extra working hours/year for employees in all industries proposed

The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs has proposed removing restrictions about overtime hours in a month and will raise the total number of overtime hours of employees in all occupations to no more than 300 hours per year.

Vietnam records trade deficit of $124.8 million with Laos

Two-way trade turnover between the nation and Laos reached more than US$1.2 billion from January to November this year, 33.8% up year on year. Specifically, exports posted more than US$541 million, an increase of 5.4%, while imports were valued at over US$666 million, up 71.3%.

Most notably, Vietnam continued to run a trade deficit of US$49.96 million in November, thus pushing up the 11-month trade deficit with the neighbor to US$124.8 million. The total trade turnover between the two countries is anticipated to reach US$1.3 billion by the end of the year.

Hanoi to have 8 more districts in next 9 years

It is expected that by 2030 Hanoi will have eight more urban districts, which are now rural districts, namely Hoai Duc, Gia Lam, Dong Anh, Thanh Tri, Dan Phuong, Thanh Oai, Thuong Tin and Me Linh. Specifically, five rural districts will become urban districts in 2021 – 2025, including Gia Lam, Dong Anh, Hoai Duc, Thanh Tri, and Dan Phuong, and the remaining three districts will be promoted to urban districts in 2026 – 2030 (Me Linh, Thanh Oai, Thuong Tin).

Dust concentration in 10 provinces and cities exceeds national standard

According to the report ‘The current situation of PM2.5 dust in Vietnam for the period 2019-2020 using multi-source data’ published on December 1, there are 10 provinces and cities with an average annual concentration of PM25 dust exceeding standards, including: Bac Ninh, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Hanoi, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Hai Phong, Ha Nam, Ninh Binh, Vinh Phuc.

On a national scale, dust concentration in 2020 had a decreasing trend compared to 2019. In 2019, there are 13 out of 63 provinces and cities nationwide with an average annual PM2.5 concentration exceeding regulations.

Over 25.000 cases of drug activities intercepted in 11 months

On December 1, Major General Nguyen Van Vien – Director of the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department (C04, Ministry of Public Security) – reported that in the past 11 months, more than 25,000 cases of drug trafficking were detected and stopped nationwide, and over 37,000 subjects were arrested. Around 596kg of heroin, 2.6 tons and 2.4 million drug pills were seized.

Police also seized 67 military guns, seven grenades, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition related to drug activities.

20 types of harmful pesticides to be banned in Vietnam

Vietnam will ban 20 pesticides with high risks to human health and the environment within the next two years.

The Plant Protection Department has been collecting scientific evidence that say several pesticide ingredients have high risks of causing adverse effects on human health, domestic animals, ecosystems, and the environment.

It is proposing that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development remove pesticides containing these ingredients from the list of pesticides permitted for use in Vietnam.

This agency is expected to ban 20 pesticides with high risks to human health and the environment within the next two years.

PV