Saigon Times Podcasts

Domestic fuel prices soared for the seventh straight time, amid global oil market volatility.

Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air and Bamboo Airways are set to resume more domestic and international air routes, add flights and launch new services to meet the rising travel demand as the country will fully reopen tourism on March 15.

Russian power engineering company Power Machines is seeking to withdraw from the billion-dollar Long Phu 1 thermal power plant project in Vietnam due to U.S. sanctions.

The local fuel price has skirted VND27,000 per liter of A95 gasoline after being adjusted on March 1, but traders say they are still incurring losses due to a spike in global prices and unstable supply.

The Ministry of Health has proposed allowing asymptomatic Covid patients and direct contacts of Covid cases to work during their quarantine period to avoid the wastefulness of manpower.

Singapore announced the vaccinated travel lane (VTL) for Vietnam on March 4, which will restore quarantine-free travel between the two countries from March 16.

The escalating Russia-Ukraine military conflict would result in disruptions in the supply chain and increase the production cost in Vietnam, some experts have warned.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent the Prime Minister a proposal to reinstate a visa waiver for international tourists to help the Covid-battered tourism industry recover.

A national master plan is being formulated to turn Vietnam into a developed and high-income country by 2045, said Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung.

Vietnam has called on the relevant parties to end the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, use dialogue to resolve tension and guarantee the security and safety of the Ukrainian people.

The prime minister has urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to reinstate the visa waiver for international travelers to revive the country’s pandemic-battered tourism sector when tourism services for local and foreign visitors are fully reopened on March 15.

The worsening Russia-Ukraine crisis would result in disruptions in the supply chain and increase the production cost in Vietnam, some experts have warned.

Russia and Ukraine have shut down some of their airports, and restricted or closed parts of their airspace as well as air routes, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has said.

Some 3 million students of all grades, including more than 1.4 million kindergarteners, had to leave their in-person classes and returned to online learning as the country continued to witness a surge in new Covid infections.

The Vietnam Directorate for Roads is seeking over VND5.6 trillion in funding for upgrading three roads in the Mekong Delta— National Highway 62 in Long An, National Highway 53 passing through Tra Vinh and Vinh Long, and Nam Song Hau road.

Three Covid-19 antiviral drugs containing the molnupiravir active substance that have been approved by the Health Ministry recently will be priced in the range of VND8,675 and VND12,500 per pill, according to the ministry’s Drug Administration of Vietnam.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has ordered the Ministries of Finance and Industry-Trade to prepare a study on the reduction of environmental protection tax on oil and gasoline.

The Ministry of Health has issued a dispatch shortening the quarantine time of fully-vaccinated people who are in close contact with Covid cases or those who have recovered from the disease in the last three months to five days from the current seven days.

Despite the soaring prices of input materials, including fuel and construction steel, inflation will be well controlled and stand at under 4% this year, said Nguyen Thu Oanh, director of the Price Statistics Department under the General Statistics Office.

The HCMC Department of Health has told the grassroots authorities to review the healthcare system and improve the Covid treatment capacity to prepare for a potential coronavirus flare-up.

On February 16, the Government agreed to fully reopen the tourism sector from March 15, following a proposal by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and other ministries and agencies.

Thick fog forced nearly 30 domestic and international flights heading to the Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi City last night, February 17, to divert to other airports, including Van Don in Quang Ninh Province and Danang.

Vietnam Railway Corporation (VNR) has written to the relevant ministries and agencies proposing spending nearly VND2.4 trillion repairing and upgrading 41 railway stations in the 2022-2023 period.

The Ministries of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Health, Foreign Affairs, Transport and National Defense have jointly proposed fully reopening the tourism sector from March 15.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh has ordered the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) to quickly establish a management board for the Long Thanh international airport project and report it to the prime minister before February 18.