Vietnam Today

In a phone call with the AstraZeneca Group’s General Director on August 19, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that Vietnam wishes to strengthen strategic, comprehensive, and long-term cooperation with the company not only in vaccines but also in pharmaceuticals and healthcare in general. He also proposed that AstraZeneca negotiate with other countries to cede their unused vaccines to Vietnam.

Vietnam is facing many difficulties in securing sufficient doses of Covid-19 vaccines for its population of nearly 100 million as well as medical equipment for disease prevention. State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent letters to Mr. Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and Ms. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, respectively, requesting EU support in Covid-19 vaccines and have asked COVAX to prioritize allocations to Vietnam and ASEAN countries.

Vietnam posted a trade deficit of $1.36 billion for the first half of August, bringing the year-to-date deficit to $3.88 billion. FDI enterprises posted a surplus, however, with export turnover of more than $145 billion as of August 15 and import turnover of $130.82 billion.

At a government meeting on August 17, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized the need to drastically remove bottlenecks in law-making and advocate “one law to amend many laws”, without sacrificing social security, social progress, and fairness in pursuit of economic growth. For the amended Law on Insurance Business, it is necessary to cut administrative procedures and control the transfer of profits abroad.

According to a draft Circular from the Ministry of Finance (MoF) on resolving congestion at seaports, there are many regulations relating to administrative procedures and the responsibilities and obligations of entities. The draft therefore needs to be specific and clear to ensure common understanding and convenient implementation.

The Polish Government has decided to donate more than 501,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Vietnam and has ceded 3 million additional doses and donated medical equipment and supplies worth $4 million. Vietnam is the first non-European country to which Poland has provided vaccines and medical equipment.