Usa new rules

Vietnam has 13 preferential trade agreements in force, significantly liberalising trade According to the index, Vietnam’s economic freedom score is 61.7, making it the 90th freest on the index. Its overall score has increased by 2.9 points, primarily because of an improvement in fiscal health. Vietnam scored 82.8 in fiscal health, higher than the world average of 74.2. The score is up 24.8 against last year and is the highest growth rate over the last four years. Vietnam ranks 17th among 40 countries in the Asia-Pacific, and its overall score is above the regional and world averages. Vietnam’s economy broke into the moderately free category this year for the first time. According to the Heritage Foundation, Vietnam’s ranking could increase further if the government took additional action to liberalise investment rules and the financial sector. Business freedom has declined slightly in comparison to other countries. However, Vietnam’s new 2019 labour code has added … [Read more...] about Vietnamese economy breaks into “moderately free” category

Vaccine passports – the future?, illustration photo, source: internet At the end of December, thousands of Europeans received the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine after the company received authorisation in the EU. Since then, other countries such as the US, Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, India, and several Asian countries, including Vietnam, have also started to receive or order vaccines to prepare for mass vaccination programmes. This has awakened optimism about an end to the pandemic and the idea of a vaccine passport. A heated discussion Some parts of the world, such as the Seychelles, Cyprus, and Romania, have begun to remove quarantine requirements for visitors who have been vaccinated. In early January, Denmark also announced that it would issue vaccine passports to citizens within the next three to four months. To get digital vaccine passports, Danish citizens will have to declare their medical and vaccination status on a government-issued app. … [Read more...] about Vaccine passports – the future?

TOKYO -- More than 110,000 Olympic volunteers had their dream summer all mapped out for 2020. But now, with the Games postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic and for many still in doubt, they are left waiting in limbo, lives on hold. Hiromi Yamamura and others had hoped to make friends from around the globe in an experience of a lifetime. Instead, the unsung backbone of any Olympics - its corps of volunteers - has had to recalibrate lives, put vacations or returns to home countries on hold and seek out part-time jobs in Japan so they are still free to volunteer. Volunteers acknowledged their uncertainty was small in the face of the pandemic’s brutal global cost, but it’s nonetheless taking a toll. Even as organisers swear the Games will go ahead as rescheduled this summer, some are nervous and pondering changes of plan. “I’m actually wavering about taking part now,” said Yamamura, 40, who lives in southwestern Japan, far from Tokyo. “Getting to Tokyo is … [Read more...] about Waiting for Tokyo: How 110,000 Olympic volunteers put their lives on hold

Prime Minister meets with outstanding Vietnamese entrepreneurs The sustainable development of the business community is an important foundation contributing to the nation’s prosperity, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc shared at a meeting with outstanding Vietnamese entrepreneurs and intellectuals with the theme of “Dialogue 2045” in Ho Chi Minh City on March 6. In his opening remarks, PM Phuc affirmed that entrepreneurs and intellectuals have made great contributions to the nation’s development. To stand shoulder to shoulder with powers around the world, Vietnam must have strong businesses and competitive brands at the regional and global levels, and competent human resources who can undertake the great jobs of the country, he stressed. To that end, it is necessary to free all resources and potential of and mobilise the strength of nearly 100 million Vietnamese people, including overseas Vietnamese, and at the same time attract and bring into full play the international resources … [Read more...] about March 1-7: Prime Minister meets with outstanding Vietnamese entrepreneurs

When his roommates turn the lights off to go to bed at 10 p.m., Hoang Minh is just starting his eight-hour shift at work. Sitting with a laptop on his bunk bed, the 21-year-old enters information about overseas orders his company has received into the system. "This job just needs hands and eyes," he says. Because of the Covid-19 outbreak, Minh was allowed to work from his room in Hanoi's Cau Giay District. But within two days the company required him to return to office since his output had been lower than normal. His salary has remained at VND6 million ($260) a month since he began working here since 2019. Hoang Minh doing his data entry work in his room in Hanoi's Cau Giay District. Photo courtesy of Minh. After dropping out of college, the young man from central Vietnam had been dreaming of working in the technology field, a job he perceived as "computer-related." But instead he ended up with a data entry job. After two months of working through the … [Read more...] about To quit or not: a Covid-19 dilemma for Vietnamese workers