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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403101

Vietnam aims for GDP per capita of $5,000 by 2025, developed country status by 2045

Feb 27. 2021Party delegates voted to adopt the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress at the final session of the Congress held on February 1, 2021. — VNA/VNS Photo

By Viet Nam News/ANN

HÀ NỘI — The Communist Party is aiming for Việt Nam to reach GDP per capita of $5,000 by 2025 and to be a developed country by 2045. 

The goals are part of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress held from January 25 to February 1, the entirety of which has just been released by the Office of the Party Central Committee.

The Resolution noted the highlight of the 12th tenure was the successful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in significant economic achievements – including stable macroeconomics, controlled inflation and high GDP growth, while people’s living standards were improved. The fight against corruption, loss and waste was intensified, while the socio-political situation remained stable, foreign relations deepened and Việt Nam’s profile on the international stage grew.

However, numerous shortcomings – including slow modernisation and industrialisation, shifting in the growth model, limited competitiveness and quality and productivity of the economy, inadequate adaptation to climate change and environment protection demands, drawbacks in Party building and rectification, that science and technology has not been the driving engine of socio-economic growth and the lives of certain groups of people remain difficult – of the 12th tenure have been identified in the Resolution.

The achievements of 35 years of implementation of đổi mới (Reform), 30 years of implementing the 1991 Party Platform and in the 10 years of implementing the 2011 Revised Party Platform have proved that the country’s path towards socialism is consistent with Việt Nam’s practical situation and the times’ development trends, with the Party’s righteous leadership the leading factor in Việt Nam’s revolutionary victories, the Resolution reads.

Amid rapidly shifting and complex developments in the global scene, the Party Platform continues to serve as the ideological flag to gather the collective strength of united peoples for the goal of a “prosperous-people, strong-nation, democratic, equitable, and civilised” Việt Nam.

Development vision and orientations

In the coming years, the challenges and opportunities of a complicated world demand the entire Party and Vietnamese people to “unite” and continue to have major changes in mindset and make correct and timely forecasts of the situation to prepare and deal with any circumstance, to “bring the country forward on the path of rapid, sustainable development” and the attainment of many orientations, goals, and tasks.

The Resolution lists major guiding orientations of the years forward, including “persistent and innovative” implementation of Marxist-Leninism and Hồ Chí Minh ideology, persistent pursuit of socialism and independence and upholding national interests based on the principles of the United Nations’ Charter and international law and the spirit of equal and win-win co-operation, with national defence and security in mind.

It also aims to enhance patriotism, the spirit of resilience, national unity and people’s aspirations to develop a prosperous and happy nation, promoting socialist democracy, enhancing the quality of human resources and promoting innovation and science and technology – especially the achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution – in service of the country’s sustainable and rapid development.

In addition, Party building and governance are goals, working towards a streamlined and effective Party system with quality cadres and civil servants.

The “general objectives” are identified as improving the Party’s leadership and ruling capacity; building a pure, strong and comprehensive Party and political system; consolidating and raising people’s confidence in the Party, the State and the socialist regime; fomenting aspirations to develop a prosperous and happy country; promoting the will and strength of national solidarity; promoting comprehensive and synchronous đổi mới (reforms), industrialisation, and modernisation; building and firmly defending the Fatherland, maintaining a peaceful and stable environment; and striving to become a developed country with socialist orientations by the middle of the 21st century.

The “particular objectives” are set on Việt Nam becoming a developed nation with a modern industrial base and leaving the ranks of lower-middle-income countries by 2025 – the year marking the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the south and national reunification. By 2030, when the Party celebrates its 100th founding anniversary, Việt Nam is hoped to become a developing country with a modern industrial base and upper-middle incomes. By 2045, the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Việt Nam, now the Socialist Republic of Việt Nam, Việt Nam is hoped to become a developed, industrialised nation with high income.

In 2021-25, the Resolution sets a target for average GDP growth of 6.5-7 per cent, GDP per capita by 2025 reaching $4,700-5,000, the contributions of total factor productivity (TFP) in economic growth reaching 45 per cent, the labour productivity increase hitting 6.5 per cent a year, urbanisation reaching 45 per cent, the ratio of processing and manufacturing industries in the GDP exceeding 25 per cent, and the digital economy accounting for 20 per cent of the country’s GDP.

In this time frame, the Resolution aims for agricultural labour ratio staying at 25 per cent, the ratio of trained labour reaching 70 per cent, urban unemployment kept at below 4 per cent, the rate of multidimensional poverty maintaining a decrease of 1-1.5 per cent year-on-year, aiming for 10 doctors and 30 hospital beds for every 10,000 people, striving towards 95 per cent of the Vietnamese population being covered under the State’s health insurance, life expectancy reaching 74.5 years, and the ratio of communes obtaining new rural standards reaching at least 80 per cent, including 10 per cent meeting the requirements of exemplary new rural standards.

In terms of environment, by 2025, the goals are to have 95-100 per cent of the urban population and 93-95 per cent of rural population having access to clean and hygienic water, 90 per cent of urban waste properly collected and treated, 92 per cent of active industrial-processing zones outfitted with proper wastewater treatment facilities; 100 per cent of all businesses polluting the environment punished; and upholding the national forest coverage at 42 per cent.

The 13th tenure has “six central tasks”, with the first being Party building, building rules-based socialist State, with effective, corruption-free governance. The second task is controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring COVID-19 vaccination coverage, while engaging in economic recovery, pursuing the transformation of growth model and economic restructuring, implementing national digital transformation strategy, raising labour productivity and innovation, and third is upholding independence, improving the effectiveness of foreign affairs and international integration, building modern and elite armed forces, and maintaining peaceful and stable environment for development.

The fourth central task is inspiring patriotism among the people to develop a prosperous and happy nation, promoting the role of cultural values and the strength of Vietnamese people in nation-building and defence, with detailed policies to develop the culture of ethnic minority groups, carrying out social policies and ensuring social security for the people, raising living standards and happiness indexes of the Vietnamese people. Fifth is perfecting the legal system, institutions, and policies to promote socialist democracy. The final central task is to strictly manage, reasonably and effectively use land and natural resources, protecting the environment, and implementing adaptation measures to cope with climate change and natural disasters.

Breakthrough strategies

To achieve the goals, the Party sets three major breakthrough strategies – completing development institutions, developing human resources, and building modern infrastructure.

Regarding institutions, the Party identifies the need to improve development institutions for a socialist-oriented market economy; reforming State governance towards modernity and competitiveness; improving the legal system and institutions to create a favourable, healthy, and fair business and investment environment for all sectors of the economy where innovation can foster; mobilising, managing and using all resources – especially land, finance, public-private partnership – for development purposes; bolstering reasonable decentralisation, while enhancing inspections and keeping powers in check via the legal system.

For human resources, the Party wants a priority on high-quality human resources for leadership and management and key positions, based on “comprehensive and radical transformation of education and training quality in tandem with recruitment and incentive policies”; promoting research, transfer, application and development of science and technology, innovation; promoting the aspirations for national development, people’s sense of unity and national pride in nation-building and defence efforts.

The Resolution also states the demand for “modern and synchronous” social and economic infrastructure, with a focus on national key transport projects, climate adaptation projects, and information and communications projects to serve national digital transformation and the development of a digital economy and society. — VNS

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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403100

12-year-old US resident identified as suspect of terror threat against Incheon airport

Feb 27. 2021This file photo shows two airport security guards walking a corridor inside Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. (Yonhap)

By The Korea Herald/ANN

INCHEON — A 12-year-old YouTuber living in the United States has been identified as the alleged culprit of a terror threat against Incheon International Airport on the national holiday next week, officials said Friday.

The teenage boy, who was born in South Korea and is residing in the US, is accused of having uploaded a YouTube video that warns of an attack at the Incheon airport, west of Seoul, at 11 a.m. on the March 1 Independence Movement Day, according to the Incheon International Airport Police Corps. 

The 10-second-long video, uploaded Sunday, has since changed its content to a message that Osama Bin Laden, the late leader of Al Qaeda and the mastermind of the September 11 terrorist attacks, should not be blamed

The airport police launched an investigation into the online content after being tipped off about the clip on Tuesday.

With the cooperation of Google, the parent company of YouTube, the police confirmed that the video was uploaded in the US and tracked down the suspect based on his login history.

Investigators said they have shut down the boy’s YouTube channel and are considering charging him with violation of the Aviation Security Act.

The police said they will beef up security at the airport for a while as a precautionary measure, although there is scant possibility of terrorist attacks.

“It seems difficult to find ways to question the YouTuber who uploaded the video after gaining cooperation from the foreign authorities,” the police said. (Yonhap)

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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403099

Contact tracing process shortened with almost 90% of Singapore residents using TraceTogether

Feb 27. 2021About 4.7 million residents have the TraceTogether app or have collected the TraceTogether tokens. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO

By Cara Wong
The Straits Times/ANN

SINGAPORE – Close to nine in 10 eligible residents here have joined the Government’s digital contact tracing programme, despite a recent public backlash over privacy and trust issues.

About 4.7 million residents have the TraceTogether app or have collected the TraceTogether tokens, and this has allowed the authorities to shave days off the contact tracing process, said Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation initiative Vivian Balakrishnan in Parliament on Friday (Feb 26).

With both the TraceTogether and SafeEntry programmes, the authorities now take 1½ days or less to identify and quarantine close contacts of Covid-19 patients, down from the previous average of four days, said Dr Balakrishnan.

This update comes on the heels of a public outcry earlier this year, when it was revealed that TraceTogether data could be used for criminal investigations, despite earlier assurances that the data would be used solely for contact tracing.

The backlash prompted the Government to enact extra laws to restrict the use of TraceTogether data to investigating serious crimes only, and Dr Balakrishnan said in Parliament that he “deeply regrets” the mistake on TraceTogether data.

In Parliament on Friday, Dr Balakrishnan said many of the tech solutions deployed during the crisis, like TraceTogether and SafeEntry, were built by engineers in weeks or even days.

The Government also came up with information portals like MaskGoWhere, SupportGoWhere and FluGoWhere, to disseminate information such as where to get masks and the Public Health Preparedness Clinics residents can visit to treat their respiratory symptoms.

To help businesses, the authorities also created more than 700,000 manpower and workplace applications through the GoBusiness portal, disseminating information such as safe management guidelines.

“The Government was therefore able to continue serving people, providing services online, even during the circuit breaker, and thereby cushioning the social and economic impact of the crisis,” said Dr Balakrishnan.

Describing the pandemic as a good “stress test” for the Smart Nation initiative, Dr Balakrishnan added that the nation’s achievements were made possible only because of a “relentless recruitment” of talent and in-house engineering capabilities before the crisis hit.

He added that technology will continue to be critical in allowing the safe resumption of daily activities, and the authorities will continue to invest in tech talent and the latest technologies.

“We must now double down on building up our people, building up our capabilities and our agility using the latest cutting-edge technologies,” he said.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403098

Hong Kong launches mass COVID-19 vaccination

Feb 27. 2021Photo taken on Feb 26, 2021 shows a community vaccination center in Hong Kong. [Photo/Xinhua]

By China Daily/ANN

HONG KONG – Hong Kong started the COVID-19 vaccine rollout on Friday for priority groups, including medical workers and the aged, a week after the arrival of the first batch of mainland-made doses.

The vaccine was given at five community vaccination centers and 18 general out-patient clinics, where people waited in long queues to get their first shots. As far, all 70,000 booking slots available for the next two weeks have been taken up.

Tung Chee-hwa, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, received the first jab at the vaccination station set at Hong Kong Central Library. After getting vaccinated, Tung gave a thumbs-up and said he felt “very good.”

The vaccination will protect the receivers, their families and Hong Kong, he said, urging every Hong Kong resident to get the vaccine at an early date in joint efforts to defeat COVID-19.

The vaccine administered in Hong Kong was produced by Sinovac Biotech, which has been widely used across the world. The first one million doses arrived in Hong Kong on Feb. 19, the earliest vaccine delivered here.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has altogether procured 22.5 million doses of vaccine from three different producers for its free inoculation program expected to cover the entire population. One million doses of the Fosun Pharma/BioNTech vaccine are expected to be shipped to Hong Kong soon.

“The vaccination process is short and I don’t feel uncomfortable,” said a resident surnamed Cheung, who was also given the priority as a cross-border truck driver. The man will receive the second shot 28 days later.

Another resident surnamed Lau, in his 70s, came to the Kwun Chung Sports Center to get vaccinated with two family members. He believed the Sinovac vaccine is safe and hoped the vaccination program will help resume cross-border traveling so that he can visit his mainland friends.

“The vaccine supply is sufficient and I hope the public can get the vaccine to protect both themselves and others,” Patrick Nip, secretary for the civil service of the HKSAR government said, adding that the online booking system will reopen on March 1 with three more vaccination centers set up.

The government has earmarked over 8.4 billion Hong Kong dollars ($1.08 billion) for the free vaccination of the majority of the population this year. 

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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403080

UK investors keen to participate in renewable energy in Vietnam

Feb 26. 2021A wind farm in Bình Thuận Province. Investors from the UK were showing significant interest in investing in renewable energy projects in Việt Nam, especially off-shore wind power. — VNA/VNS Photo Mạnh Linh

By Viet Nam News/ANN

HÀ NỘI — Investors from the UK were showing significant interest in investing in renewable energy projects in Việt Nam, especially wind power, expecting the Vietnamese Government to introduce long-term support policies as well as simplification of procedures for project implementation.

British Ambassador to Việt Nam Gareth Ward said at the UK – Việt Nam Renewable Energy Dialogue on Wednesday that clean energy was becoming a global trend, adding that every US$1 investment in clean energy would help generate from $3-8.

The Vietnamese Government in 2015 approved the renewable energy development strategy to 2030 with a vision to 2050 which aimed to increase the percentage of renewable power from 35 per cent in 2015 to 38 per cent in 2020 and 43 per cent in 2050.

The Government also introduced incentive policies to encourage the development of wind power, biomass energy, energy from waste and solar power.

Hoàng Tiến Dũng, Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Electricity and Renewable Energy Authority, said developing renewable energy was important in the context that sources for hydropower were being exhausted, thermopower was limited due to commitments to global climate change and gas-fired power had high production costs.

According to the draft national power development planning for 2021-30 period with a vision to 2045, Việt Nam had large potential for renewable energy development which was estimated to amount up to 855GW, mostly solar power (434GW), and wind power (375GW). The potential for off-shore wind power was estimated at 158GW.

Off-shore power was attracting increasing interest from foreign organisations and investors, Nguyễn Ninh Hải, Head of the Renewable Energy Department under the Electricity and Renewable Energy Authority, said.

Hải said that as off-shore wind power was a new thing to Việt Nam, the Ministry of Industry and Trade was cooperating with some research organisations to have a comprehensive evaluation about the off-shore wind power development potental in the country.

Bùi Vĩnh Thắng, director of Mainstream Renewable Power Việt Nam, said that the Government’s planning and policies played a very important role for renewable energy investors, especially in wind power and off-shore wind power.

Benjamin Dubas, a representative from Lightsource BP, said that renewable energy investors expected the transparency and stability of policies in the long term to invest in Việt Nam, especially feed-in tariffs (FIT).

According to Dũng, FIT pricing was applied to accelerate investment in renewable energy in the first stage in Việt Nam but this mechanism would not be maintained for a long period and be replaced by competitive bidding when the technology development helped push down prices of solar and wind power.

He added that the national power development planning which was being completed would give priority to renewable energy on the basis of ensuring balance of power sources and the power transmission between regions.

The ministry expected to continue receiving support from the UK in renewable energy, especially off-shore wind power which the UK had experience in and Việt Nam had large potential.

By the end of 2020, the total renewable energy output accounted for around 25 per cent of the total output worth 69,000MW of the Việt Nam’s power system. There were 148 solar power projects with a total capacity of more than 8,800MW, 100,000 rooftop solar power projects with a total capacity of 9,300MW, and 11 wind power projects with a total capacity of 511MW. — VNS

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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403079

South Korea officially starts COVID-19 vaccination

Feb 26. 2021Kim Yoon-tae, a doctor at a children’s hospital, receives a COVID-19 vaccination at a public health center in Mapo, western Seoul, Friday as President Moon Jae-in and Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong watch the process. (Yonhap)

By Ko Jun-tae
The Korea Herald/ANN

The first COVID-19 vaccination in South Korea has taken place, as the country kicked off its first-ever nationwide immunization campaign during a virus pandemic.

At 9 a.m. Friday, COVID-19 vaccines made by AstraZeneca started to be distributed at 1,915 public health center and nursing homes across the country. The vaccines were contract manufactured by SK Bioscience at its factory in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province.

Health officials had announced that more than 5,000 nursing home residents and workers younger than 65 would be receiving the AstraZeneca vaccines Friday morning, all at the same time.

President Moon Jae-in asked medical workers to carry out inoculations quickly and safely during his visit to a public health center in Mapo District, western Seoul, with Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Director Jeong Eun-kyeong.

Unlike some countries, Korea did not designate the first person to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Individual public health centers throughout the country designated their own first vaccine receivers.

But, a 61-year-old nursing home worker at a public health center in Nowon District, northern Seoul, ended up being the first person to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as she received her shot at 8:45 a.m., 15 minutes before the officially designated time to start administering the vaccine.

“I have been anxious about COVID-19 for the past year but after taking [the vaccine] I feel much better. I also thank the government, district office and the public health center for their efforts,” the worker said. “I didn’t see any difference from taking other types of vaccines.”

Close to 94 percent of the 289,480 people designated to receive the inoculations agreed to be vaccinated, and 5,266 residents and workers at 213 nursing homes were scheduled to take their first shots on Friday.

Those receiving the vaccines had to register at a designated public health center and consult with medical professionals to be determine whether they were healthy enough to take the vaccine.

People who were unable to come to designated centers themselves, such as nursing homes residents, were visited by vaccination teams of doctors, nurses and assistants dispatched to administer the shots.

After receiving a jab, people are asked to stay at the public health center for 30 minutes to be monitored for any adverse symptoms. A team of doctors and nurses were on standby at vaccination sites to respond to any hazardous medical conditions.

Health officials advised people to keep an eye out for side effects even after the 30 minutes of monitoring.

The KDCA said people can experience pain and swelling on the arm where the vaccine was administered, along with a fever, chills, tiredness and a headache for three days after being given the vaccine, all of which can happen naturally as bodies create immunity against COVID-19 with the vaccine’s help.

The agency advised people to apply a cool washcloth over the pain area and take over-the-counter antipyretics or painkillers if needed after taking the vaccine.

If patients develop a rash, have difficulty breathing or a swollen tongue accompanied by dizziness, the disease control agency advised they should report to a nearby emergency room immediately.

The government has said a benefit of up to 430 million won ($383,739) will be provided to those who become severely disabled or die from taking a COVID-19 vaccine. Health authorities promised the government will provide compensation for serious side effects after taking scheduled shots, including the cost for hospital stays and treatments.

The nationwide initiative comes a full year and 37 days after the country identified its first COVID-19 case on Jan. 20, 2020.

More than 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are expected to be sent to at least 1,900 public health center and nursing homes through Sunday.

Some 3,900 doses that were supposed to go to Jeju Island were exposed to unsafe temperatures on the way and had to be withdrawn. The doses were not discarded, but another shipment set off following the incident and Jeju Island was able to get its quota of vaccines in time.

AstraZeneca’s vaccine is more convenient for mass inoculation as its storage temperature requirement of between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius is much easier to maintain than the vaccine by Pfizer, which needs to be stored in temperatures as low as negative 80 degrees Celsius.

Public health center employees in Gwangju check the delivered batches of COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca on Thursday. (Gwangju City Buk-gu)

Public health center employees in Gwangju check the delivered batches of COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca on Thursday. (Gwangju City Buk-gu)

Health officials said another vaccination scheme will start Saturday for the first group of around 55,000 medical workers at hospitals for virus patients. These workers will be receiving vaccines from Pfizer, which were provided as part of the World Health Organization’s global vaccine COVAX Facility project.

Some 300 healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients in the greater Seoul region will be administered the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a state-run vaccination center run by the National Medical Center in central Seoul.

The doses from Pfizer will be given out at four other state-run facilities. Authorities are working to build 120 vaccination facilities throughout the country utilizing general hospitals, gymnasiums and state-run sites.

The government plans to complete the first round of inoculation for more than 70 percent of the population by September and achieve herd immunity by November to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.

So far, the government has secured COVID-19 vaccines for 79 million people under COVAX and separate deals with foreign drug makers.

The COVID-19 vaccination scheme comes as the country continues to fight the third virus wave to date. Korea on Friday added 406 new cases – 382 locally transmitted and 24 imported from overseas – raising the accumulated total to 88,922.

The country also reported four more COVID-19 deaths, raising the total number of deaths from the virus to 1,585. By Thursday’s end, the number of COVID-19 patients in serious condition stayed unchanged at 144.

Health authorities on Friday decided to extend its current social distancing guidelines for two additional weeks until March 14 while keeping the ban on gatherings of five or more people in place. At the moment, Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province are under Level 2 rules while other areas are under Level 1.5 rules.

“Although another uptick in virus cases that we worried of happening after the Lunar New Year holiday did not occur, we still have not reached stability,” Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said in a meeting Friday. “Sporadic cluster infections are breaking out continuously.”

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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403078

Experiment tests guiding people by drone in Tokyo’s Shinjuku area

Feb 26. 2021A drone flies near the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office in Shinjuku Ward on Wednesday. (The Yomiuri Shimbun)

By The Japan News/ANN

The use of a drone to help guide people who have trouble returning home after a disaster was tested Wednesday in Tokyo’s Shinjuku area, in a joint trial involving members of the business community, academia and a local government.

The experiment was planned by Sompo Japan Insurance Inc., which has its head office in Shinjuku, and Kogakuin University, which has a campus there. The Shinjuku Ward government and other organizations were also involved.

The experiment was conducted on the premise that an earthquake had occurred measuring upper 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7.

A drone flies near the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office in Shinjuku Ward on Wednesday.

The drone was remotely operated from the university’s campus. It took off from Shinjuku Central Park, and made such announcements over its speaker as “If you have nowhere to go, please stay where you are.”

Footage taken from the sky was sent to staff at the university and the Shinjuku Ward Office.

Shinjuku is lined with high-rise buildings and has busy shopping districts, so many people are likely to be in the streets after a large-scale disaster occurs. Footage recorded from the sky will be used to ascertain the situation.

Masahiro Murakami, a professor of urban disaster prevention at Kogakuin University’s school of architecture, was one of those participating in the project. “We want to create a system in which local organizations can share information and disperse evacuees when a disaster occurs,” Murakami said.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403077

Singapore not expected to move out of phase 3 any time soon: Janil

Feb 26. 2021Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary noted that the coronavirus situation in Singapore and around the world remains dynamic. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG

By Linette Lai
The Straits Times/ANN

SINGAPORE – Singapore is not expected to move out of phase three of its reopening any time soon, said Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary on Thursday (Feb 25).

Phase three is a “new normal” which will last until there is evidence vaccines are effective in preventing future outbreaks, he added. In addition, a substantial proportion of the population must be vaccinated and the rest of the world must have the coronavirus under control.

He noted that the coronavirus situation here and around the world remains dynamic.

The authorities are awaiting more evidence that the vaccines approved for use here – which have been shown to protect against the virus – will also prevent viral transmission.

“We are also closely monitoring their effectiveness against new viral variants,” Dr Janil said. “Meanwhile, our best strategy is to continue to be disciplined about safe management measures, and achieve a high level of vaccination within our population to boost our collective immunity.”

He was responding to Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang), who had asked about Singapore’s plans to ease out of phase three, as well as the criteria that must be fulfilled for restrictions to be lifted.

Dr Janil noted that even within phase three, Singapore had tightened safe management measures following an increase in unlinked cases and community cases.

It will continue to find ways to allow its economy and society to further reopen in a safe way, he said. “But given the dynamic situation here and around the world, we will need to adjust our safe management measures from time to time.”

Mr Yip then asked if the arrival of China’s Sinovac vaccine will push forward Singapore’s vaccination timeline, assuming the vaccine is approved for use.

Dr Janil replied that the vaccine timeline is dependent on several factors, the most important of which is the country’s ability to ramp up the capacity and capability of vaccination centres. Other factors include Singaporeans’ willingness to get vaccinated, as well as vaccine supply.

“The approval or licensure of one given vaccine is not a rate-limiting step in that process,” he said.

Workers’ Party MP Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC) then asked if the Health Ministry could share details of how it plans to deal with outbreaks of more virulent strains of the virus.

Dr Janil said there are general fundamentals in Singapore’s approach to preventing outbreaks and dealing with them when they occur. These include safe distancing measures, contact tracing and quarantine.

“When it comes to the specifics of a given viral variant, these are now in a hypothetical space,” he added. “The key point would be that we take reference from technical and professional advice.”

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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403076

Shanghai to make big splash in NEV sector

Feb 26. 2021Employees put finishing touches to a vehicle at Tesla’s gigafactory in Shanghai on Nov 20. [Photo/Xinhua]

By WANG YING
China Daily/ANN

New energy vehicle output will account for 35 percent of Shanghai’s auto manufacturing industry and reach 350 billion yuan ($54 billion) by 2025, said a five-year action plan for the sector that was unveiled recently.

Shanghai will look to expand the annual production capacity of green cars to more than 1.2 million units by 2025 and raise the output value to 350 billion yuan, or more than 35 percent of the city’s car industry value, Qiu Wenjin, deputy head of the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission said on Thursday while releasing the new energy vehicle industry development plan for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25).

“Apart from expanding the industry scale, we should make breakthroughs in core technologies, acquire leadership in research and development of key components and manufacturing, make breakthroughs in connected vehicles and intelligent technologies, and establish a complete supply chain,” said Qiu.

The action plan specifies 19 key tasks in five key areas, including industrial capability enhancement, creation of an ecosystem, establishment of a green transportation energy system, development of “new infrastructure” facilities and integration of related systems and mechanisms.

Thanks to the municipal government’s consistent and supportive policies for new energy vehicles, several residents have started choosing green vehicles.

More than 120,000 new energy vehicles were sold across the city last year, compared with 70,000 units in 2019. In January alone, sales of new energy cars exceeded 20,000 units, with the sales continuing to rise, said Qiu.

“After making consistent efforts in developing new energy vehicles, Shanghai has not only formed a complete new energy vehicle industry chain, but also has effectively promoted the use of green cars in the city,” said Zhang Jianming, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information.

In 2020, 2.65 million units of automobiles were manufactured in Shanghai, and their auto industrial production value reached 673.5 billion yuan, up 9.3 percent on a yearly basis.

The city’s new energy vehicle output rose by 190 percent on a yearly basis to 238,600 units, while output value soared 170 percent to 66.4 billion yuan.

“Green vehicles have played a significant role in stabilizing automobile industry development,” said Zhang.

Shanghai leads all Chinese municipal cities and provinces in new energy vehicles. By the end of last year, nearly 424,000 green vehicles were in operation in the city.

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403043

S. Korea prepares for vaccine shots as 1st batch of 1.5m doses begins to ship

Feb 25. 2021A truck carrying vials of AstraZeneca’s vaccine departs from a cold chain logistics warehouse in Icheon, 80 km southeast of Seoul. under the strict guard of the Army and police on Thursday. (Yonhap)

By The Korea Herald/ANN

Trucks and ships carrying the first batch of some 1.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccines headed across the country Thursday, marking the start of the long-awaited vaccination program in South Korea, where COVID-19 cases are nearing 90,000 since the first confirmed case in January last year.

The nationwide distribution of the AstraZeneca vaccine for some 750,000 people, mostly health care workers and patients at nursing homes, came as the country is set to kick off the free inoculation campaign Friday.

The vaccine doses were produced at a local plant by SK Bioscience Co. under a manufacturing partnership deal with British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

The sealed one-ton truck, escorted by the police and military vehicles and personnel, first left a cold chain logistics warehouse in Icheon, 80 kilometers southeast of Seoul, around 5:50 a.m.

The first shipment for a total of 55 container trucks was delayed for around two hours at the site due to extra caution about maintaining storage temperatures, health authorities said.

A total of 1.57 million doses of vaccines under AstraZeneca’s full two-dose regimen will be delivered to a total of 1,900 long-term care hospitals and public health centers across the country for the next five days.

The first batch of AstraZeneca’s vaccine is enough to provide jabs to 785,000 people, which is 35,000 higher than the previous estimate.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is deemed more convenient for mass inoculations as its storage temperature is 2 to 8 C, compared with the vaccine by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. that requires ultra-cold chain storage.

According to health authorities, a total of 289,271 people, or 93.6 percent of the patients and people working at facilities including sanatoriums, nursing facilities and rehabilitation facilities will receive the first shot.

Meanwhile, Pfizer’s vaccine will be offered to medical staff members starting Saturday. South Korea hopes to attain herd immunity by November after inoculating 70 percent of its population by September.

On Thursday, the country reported 396 more virus cases, raising the total caseload to 88,516. Thursday’s daily caseload marks a slight drop from 440 posted the previous day. The figures hovered above 600 last week before falling below 500 over the weekend and under 400 earlier this week on fewer tests. (Yonhap)