E

Hanoi (VNA) - The COVID-19 pandemic has been well controlled in Vietnam, but risks of an outbreak are still present, especially with the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday approaching, leading experts to warn that people need to strictly abide by preventive regulations. Associate professor Tran Dac Phu, senior advisor to the Vietnam Emergency Operations Centre, told Ha Noi Moi (New Hanoi) newspaper that the current risk of infection was mainly due to a lack of strict control of entry and lax quarantining. Each ministry, branch and locality must continue to seriously implement pandemic prevention and control measures, he said, adding that along with the strict control and prevention of illegal entry, local authorities and police need to closely monitor border areas, especially land borders. Along calling on provincial and municipal health departments to strictly implement COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control measures, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long urged … [Read more...] about People urged to continue pandemic prevention to ensure peaceful Tet

Jakarta (VNA) – Members of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) are discussing candidates for the supervisory board of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), representative of the House’s Commission XI Amir Uskara said on January 19. Earlier, President Joko Widodo sent a letter to the parliament, proposing the names to the DPR leaders. The President’s letter on the SWF investment authority board is still in possession of DPR leaders, who is going to hold an official meeting about the letter itself, he said, adding the formation of the SWF authority board will be discussed in the consultative assembly while the President’s proposed names will be considered carefully. The SWF is established in the context that the Indonesian economy has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is planned to operate early this year, and is expected to help the Southeast Asian country recover its economy after the outbreak is controlled. President Widodo earlier said that … [Read more...] about Indonesian parliament discusses candidates overseeing sovereign wealth fund

Malaysia reported 3,631 new infections on January 19, the second highest daily number since the pandemic broke out in the Southeast Asian country. Selangor continues to log the most of the new cases with 1,199, followed by Sabah (526) and Kuala Lumpur (521)./.  … [Read more...] about Malaysia re-imposes nationwide lockdown to curb COVID-19’s surge

Hanoi (VNA) – The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) has agreed to provide 1.5 trillion VND (65.1 million USD) in credit for the PetroVietnam Gas Corporation (PV Gas) to finance the second phase of the adjusted Nam Con Son 2 Gas Pipeline Project. The credit agreement marks a new milestone in the comprehensive strategic partnership established in 2018 between the two State-owned enterprises. Part of the Master Plan for Vietnam’s Gas Industry Development to 2025 and a vision until 2035, the project is significant for the synchronous development of infrastructure in the country’s gas industry and will help enhance the capacity and flexibility of local gas projects. The first phase, laying 151 km of undersea pipeline off the coast of southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, was completed in 2015. The second phase will build main pipelines for transporting gas from the Cuu Long and Nam Con Son fields to the mainland. PV Gas General … [Read more...] about Vietcombank provides 65 mln USD in credit to PV Gas pipeline project

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia has recently filed a complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the European Union (EU)’s rules affecting the consumption of palm oil-based biofuels. In the complaint, dated January 15, Malaysia charges that the EU, particularly its member states such as France and Lithuania, had imposed restrictive measures on the use of palm oil that violate international trade agreements. Malaysia holds that the bloc and its members confer unfair benefits to EU domestic producers of certain biofuel feedstocks such as rapeseed oil and soy, and the biofuels produced therefrom at the expense of palm oil and oil palm crop-based biofuels from Malaysia. The EU has embarked on a major plan committing its members to build a carbon neutral economy by 2050, including by promoting the use of biofuels. However, it has deemed that palm oil production is not sustainable and palm oil-based biofuels cannot be counted towards EU renewable targets. … [Read more...] about Malaysia files WTO lawsuit against EU on palm-biofuel curbs