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Seoul court orders Japan to compensate sex slavery victims

Jan 09. 2021Attorney Kim Gang-won, who represents the so-called comfort women, answers reporters’ questions after the court’s ruling on Friday. (Yonhap)

By Shin Ji-hye
The Korea Herald/ANN

Court expected to seize Japanese assets in Korea; Japan immediately protests ruling

For the first time in history, a Seoul court has ruled that the Japanese government is liable to pay compensation for wartime sex slavery, ordering it to give 100 million won ($91,340) to each victim.

The Seoul Central District Court said at 9:55 a.m. on Friday that “State immunity cannot be applied to crimes against humanity” in regards to the suit that 12 victims had filed against the Japanese government.

The case began when the 12 so-called comfort women, including the late Bae Choon-hee, submitted a petition for mediation to the Japanese government, seeking 100 million won per person in damages in August 2013.

After the Japanese government refused to mediate, the victims filed a suit domestically in October 2015. The court accepted their request and assigned the case to the Seoul Central District Court in January 2016.

But the trial was delayed for four years as the Japanese government refused to cooperate. In January 2020, the court decided to hold a trial after a procedure called “service by public notice,” a method of posting documents on the court’s bulletin board if the address of any party is unknown or if the documents are impossible to deliver. Bae and the others had their cases heard in a total of four trials, including the final hearing held in October last year.

When the trial began, the Japanese government argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed without appearing in court, asserting the principle of state immunity, which is an international law that says “a court of one country cannot judge another country as a litigant.”

In response, the court said on Friday, “The illegal act in this case violated international norms as a planned and organized anti-humanitarian act,” adding, “National exemptions such as state immunity do not apply to such cases.”

“The plaintiffs suffered from extreme mental and physical pain that is hard to imagine, and they did not receive an international apology,” the court said.

Despite the court’s decision, however, the Japanese government, which did not properly respond to the lawsuit, does not seem likely to pay damages.

After the court’s ruling, the victims’ attorney Kim Gang-won said, “Many reporters are asking if it’s possible to enforce (the judgment), but that part needs to be reviewed separately, so it’s hard to answer right away today.”

If the Japanese government does not respond to the ruling, the court may move to seize Japanese government assets in Korea.

On Oct. 30, 2018, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling that Nippon Steel must pay 100 million won each to four victims of forced labor in its factories when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule. On Nov. 29 of the same year, the court recognized the liability of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for damages in a similar case filed by victims. As the companies did not respond, the court began procedures to seize their assets in Korea.

In this case, the court could seize the property of the Japanese Embassy in Korea or the assets of the Japanese Cultural Center in Korea, although this might not be easy in reality.

Kim Dae-wol, a manager at the House of Sharing, a nursing home south of Seoul for survivors of Japanese military sexual slavery, said, “The grandmothers do not place much meaning on compensation. Because they don’t have much time left to live.” The victims, known as the grandmothers to their supporters, watched Friday’s ruling at the nursing home online in real time.

“Rather than reparations, there is a greater desire for an apology and they hope that the government will inform its people of these things so that there will be no such war crimes in the future.”

The historic court ruling is expected to make the already frosty relations between the two countries even worse.

Immediately after the court ruling came out, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan conveyed to the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs the position that the ruling was contrary to the 2015 Korea-Japan military comfort women agreement and against the “principle of sovereign immunity” under international law.

South Korean Ambassador to Japan Nam Gwan-pyo was summoned by Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba.

Akiba reportedly strongly protested, saying, “The Japanese government can never accept it,” and asked Nam to take appropriate measures to correct what he called a violation of international law.

Another similar lawsuit, filed by 20 victims, including the late survivor of Japanese military sexual slavery Gwak Ye-nam, seeking damages in the amount of 200 million won each, is set for a ruling on Jan. 13.

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Chinese COVID vaccines get wider distribution in other countries

Jan 09. 2021A nurse holds a dose of China’s CoronaVac before administering it to a volunteer at Emilio Ribas Institute in Sao Paulo, Brazil, July 30, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]

By China Daily/ANN

BRASILIA－Brazil has signed an agreement with the Butantan Institute of Sao Paulo to purchase 100 million doses of CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccines, developed by Chinese company Sinovac, Brazilian Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello said on Thursday.

A total of 46 million doses will be delivered in April and another 54 million doses by the end of the year, the minister said. All vaccines from the institute will be incorporated into the national immunization plan and will be fairly distributed throughout the country, he said.

Health officials of Sao Paulo state also announced earlier that Corona-Vac is 78 percent effective in protecting against the coronavirus. The state government said it will ask Brazil’s federal health regulators on Friday for emergency approval to begin using it.

Gonzalo Vecina, one of the founders of Brazil’s health agency, said the data revealed so far is reassuring enough to approve the shot for emergency use.

“In a general picture, we do have sufficient information to move on to register and use it,” Vecina said. “We need 320 million vaccines for 160 million Brazilians－that’s our population above 18 years of age.”

Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria called Thursday “the day of hope, the day of life”, and said he plans to start a vaccination campaign for the state’s 46 million residents on Jan 25.

Elsewhere, the Indian Ocean island nation of the Seychelles will begin administering COVID-19 vaccinations on Sunday with the 50,000 doses it has of the Chinese-developed Sinopharm vaccine.

President Wavel Ramkalawan said he will be the first to get the vaccine. Health Minister Peggy Vidot said on Thursday that health workers will be among those vaccinated early. The Sinopharm vaccines are a donation from the United Arab Emirates, which has shown it to be 79.3 percent effective.

In Indonesia, President Joko Widodo has asked Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin to complete the mass COVID-19 vaccination program within the year. The president is to be given the first shot, officials said.

The Southeast Asian country has ordered 329.5 million COVID-19 vaccines from various manufacturers, including 125.5 million from Sinovac.

Thailand will receive its first COVID-19 vaccines in February from Sinovac, and will be able to produce 200 million doses a year locally of the AstraZeneca vaccine, senior officials said.

Another 800,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine will arrive by March and one million in April, said Supakit Sirilak, director-general of the Medical Science Department of Thailand.

Egypt has allocated 34 centers across the nation for providing the Sinopharm vaccine to citizens, state-run Ahram news website reported on Tuesday. All the centers, in 27 provinces, will remain open and citizens will receive the vaccines later this month.

Egypt last week approved use of the Sinopharm vaccine, said Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed.

Liu Xuan in Beijing, Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.

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SK kicks off 2021 with $1.5b investment into US hydrogen company Plug Power

Jan 08. 2021Hydrogen is pumped into Plug Power’s hydrogen charger (SK Group)

By Kim Byung-wook
The Korea Herald/ANN

South Korea’s No.3 conglomerate SK Group said Thursday it would acquire a 9.9 percent stake worth $1.6 trillion won ($1.5 billion) in the US hydrogen fuel cell maker Plug Power to jointly take the initiative in Asian hydrogen markets.

The group’s holding firm SK Holdings and a natural gas subsidiary SK E&S will invest 800 billion won each into Plug Power, which will make SK Group the largest stakeholder in the New York-based hydrogen company.

SK Group is expected to finalize the deal in the first quarter this year.

Through the partnership, SK Group and Plug Power plans to set up a joint venture in Korea next year to provide hydrogen fuel cell systems, hydrogen fueling stations and electrolyzers to the Korean and broader Asian markets.

“In Korea, SK Group will utilize Plug Power’s hydrogen technology to accelerate the hydrogen ecosystem it envisions. Also, with its network in China and Vietnam, SK Group will seize new business opportunities in those countries,” an SK Group official said.

As to why it chose Plug Power as its partner, SK Group offered two reasons — growth potential and price competitiveness.

According to SK Group, Plug Power is the exclusive supplier of hydrogen forklifts to global retailers including Amazon and Walmart and dominates the US hydrogen forklift market. Plug Power has seen an annual growth of about 50 percent and its market capitalization stood at 16 trillion won as of end of last year.

In the second half of this year, Plug Power will complete and begin the operation of its 1.5-gigawatt hydrogen fuel cell manufacturing plant, the biggest in the world. Through economies of scale, Plug Power will be able to bring down the price of key products including hydrogen fuel cells and electrolyzers.

Fuel cells can generate electricity without any direct carbon emissions, with their only byproduct being water. Electrolyzers are devices that use electricity to break water into hydrogen and oxygen.

SK Group’s aggressive investment is expected to support the Korean government’s ambitious hydrogen goals. By 2040, the government aims to produce 6.2 million hydrogen vehicles, establish 1,200 hydrogen charging stations and roll out 80,000 hydrogen taxis, 40,000 hydrogen buses and 30,000 hydrogen trucks.

To power those vehicles, the government will increase the annual production capacity of hydrogen to 5.2 million metric tons by 2040 from 130,000 tons as of 2018.

For power generation, the government will produce fuel cells worth 15 gigawatts — 8 gigawatts for domestic use and 7 gigawatts for export — by 2040.

“SK Group will establish an annual hydrogen production capacity worth 280,000 tons by 2025 and operate a complete value chain of hydrogen from production to retail to supply,” the official said.

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Crowne Plaza Changi Airport closed for two weeks after second Covid-19 case emerges

Jan 08. 2021The health ministry will test all staff working at the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport hotel for Covid-19. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

By Ang Qing
The Straits Times/ANN

SINGAPORE – Crowne Plaza Changi Airport will be closed for two weeks from Friday (Jan 8) after a second unlinked Covid-19 case working at the hotel’s Azur restaurant emerged.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday (Jan 7) said it is closing the hotel till Jan 21 as a precautionary measure, as it cannot exclude that transmissions could have occurred at the hotel.

The hotel will stop accepting new guests, and foreign air crew and guests currently staying there will be checked out progressively, said MOH.

Incoming air crew will be housed in alternative facilities, it added.

Restaurant and event spaces within the hotel will also be closed, and deep cleaning and disinfection carried out.

MOH has started to test all staff working at the hotel for Covid-19.

The second case who works at Azur is a 43-year-old Malaysian woman who delivers pre-packed meals to air crew and hotel guests. She was one of two unlinked community cases reported on Thursday.

The work permit holder is the second Azur staff to test positive for the infection after a Korean national was confirmed as a Covid-19 patient on Wednesday.

Like the Korean, she does not interact with diners at the restaurant.

MOH said she developed symptoms while at work on Jan 3 and went to a general practitioner clinic on Tuesday where she was tested.

Her result came back positive for Covid-19 infection the next day, and she was brought to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in an ambulance.

Her serological test result has come back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection.

Preliminary investigations reveal she is probably not infected with the more infectious UK strain of Covid-19, said MOH.

The second community case is a 63-year-old cargo operator at AirMark Aviation who is based at Dnata Cargo Centre.

He mainly handles loading and unloading of cargo for My Indo Airlines, and does not interact with flight passengers.

He developed symptoms on Monday, and sought treatment at Changi General Hospital on Wednesday.

He was confirmed to be positive for Covid-19 on the same day, and was warded. His serological test result is pending.

There were also 31 imported cases confirmed by MOH, taking Singapore’s total to 58,813.

These 31 cases comprise four Singaporeans, three permanent residents, three dependant’s pass holders, two work pass holders and 19 work permit holders. They came from several countries including India, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

All except one case were placed on stay-home notices (SHN) upon arrival in Singapore and were tested while serving SHN, said the Health Ministry.

The work permit holder arrived from Bangladesh on Dec 22 but could not clear immigration due to incomplete documentation. He was held at a facility located at the airport’s transit area until Dec 24, and sent to a dedicated SHN facility after the issues were resolved.

Apart from Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple and NTUC Income at 2 Tampines Central 6 were added to places visited by Covid-19 patients while they were still infectious, said the Health Ministry.

Those who had been identified as close contacts of confirmed cases would already have been notified by MOH.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased from seven cases in the week before to nine cases in the past week.

The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from three cases in the week before to six cases in the past week.

With 21 cases discharged on Thursday, 58,547 patients have fully recovered from the disease.

A total of 61 patients remain in hospital, including one in the intensive care unit, while 161 are recuperating in community facilities.

Singapore has had 29 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.

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More than 32 million workers impacted by pandemic in Vietnam

Jan 08. 2021A worker at the apparel and clothing company Hưng Việt, based in the northern province of Hưng Yên, with Japan being its main export market. — VNA/VNS Photo Trần Việt

By Viet Nam News/ANN

HÀ NỘI — The labour market in the fourth quarter of 2020 showed many signs of improvement compared to the previous quarter, but many in Việt Nam still suffered from job or income losses, according to the General Statistics Office of Việt Nam (GSO).

In Wednesday meeting reviewing the labour market situation of the fourth quarter and whole of 2020, GSO noted that as of December, there were are 32.1 million people aged 15 years and over negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including losing their jobs, taking time off work, and reducing working hours.

Up to 69.2 per cent of people faced income reductions, 39.9 per cent had to cut working hours and take time off work, and about 14 per cent had to stop working altogether.

The service sector was most affected by the pandemic with 71.6 per cent of workers affected, followed by industry and construction with 64.7 per cent, and the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector with 26.4 per cent.

The labour force aged 15 and over in the fourth quarter of 2020 was 55.1 million people, an increase of 563,800 people compared to the previous quarter, but lower than the same period of 2019.

This once again confirmed the recovery of the labour market after recording a decline in the second quarter of 2020.

Generally in 2020, the labour force aged 15 and over reached 54.6 million people, a decrease of 1.2 million people compared to 2019.

Out of the 1.2 million people pushed into unemployment, 51.6 per cent were women and most of them of working age.

In the 2016-2019 period, the average annual labor force increased 0.8 per cent. If the workforce in 2020 maintained the same growth rate as in the 2016-2019 period and there was no COVID-19 pandemic, Việt Nam’s economy would have 1.6 million more employees.

In other words, the pandemic has deprived 1.6 million people of the opportunity to enter the labour market.

Average monthly income of employees in the fourth quarter of 2020 reached VNĐ5.7 million (US$247), up VNĐ212,000 (US$9.1) against the previous quarter and down VNĐ108,000 from the same period of 2019.

GSO’s recommendations

For the first time in 10 years, Việt Nam’s economy has witnessed a serious decline in the number of people entering the labour market and the number of people employed.

The average income of workers was also down. The indicators on the unemployment rate, underemployment rate and the rate of workers with informal jobs have all increased in contrast to the decreasing trend in recent years.

With the development of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially a new variant of the virus that has a higher spread, the effects of the disease on life and production will be very unpredictable.

In order to proactively respond and adapt to the evolution of the pandemic to both control the pandemic and promote production and business, it is necessary to carry out several measures and policies.

First, the government should offer policies to help businesses overcome difficulties and avoid bankruptcy as well as help labourers keep their jobs. The policies will also motivate production and business development.

Second, the government should further deploy assistance packages, diversify forms of assistance and open more vocational training programmes, especially for female labourers, manual labourers and part-time labourers, contributing to social welfare stabilisation and economic recovery from the pandemic.

At present, about 75 per cent of the Vietnamese labour force are not trained. This is a major limitation of the Vietnamese economy in the context of a pandemic still spreading and the fourth industrial revolution taking place around the world.

The low quality of the labour force will be a barrier of opportunities to adapt and catch up with new technology trends and new business methods.

Therefore, in the future, Việt Nam needs to actively renew and implement training and retraining policies to improve the quality of human resources to adapt to the requirements of economic growth and development. — VNS

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China, WHO discussing expert visit details

Jan 08. 2021In this file photo, a team of experts from China and the World Health Organization visit a hospital in Wuhan, Central China’s Hubei province, on Feb 23, 2020. (ZHU XINGXIN / CHINADAILY.COM.CN)

By Mo Jingxi
China Daily/ANN

China is still in consultation with the World Health Organization over details for a visit by international experts to trace the origins of COVID-19, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Wednesday.

“We hope that the specific dates and arrangements of their visit can be decided as soon as possible through our discussions. We will timely inform the media as long as we have further information,” Hua told reporters at a regular news briefing in Beijing.

On Tuesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference that China has still not authorized the entry of a team of international experts for virus origin-tracing.

“The epidemic situation globally is still severe and in China we are also working to prevent and contain the virus. Our health departments and experts are wholeheartedly in the stressful battle,” Hua said.

The spokeswoman noted that China is still overcoming its own difficulties to advance internal preparations and create conditions for the experts to come to China.

“The origin-tracing is a very complicated matter. To ensure the work of international experts goes smoothly, we need to undergo necessary procedures and make specific arrangements,” Hua said.

She pointed out that China highly values anti-epidemic cooperation and has been open, transparent and responsible on COVID-19 origin-tracing.

China was among the first countries to cooperate with the WHO on COVID-19.

In February and July last year, faced with arduous tasks of domestic epidemic prevention and control, China twice invited WHO experts to come to the country for origin-tracing and formulated the China part of a global scientific cooperation plan on origin-tracing.

In October last year, China agreed with the WHO on the members of the international expert team.

“We had frequent interaction and held four conferences via video link in October and December last year. We candidly talked about our results in origin-tracing and recently we have been adopting a positive and constructive attitude in discussing the origin-tracing cooperation with the WHO,” Hua said.

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Suga declares state of emergency

Jan 08. 2021Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declares a state of emergency in Tokyo and naighboring prefectures at the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday. (The Yomiuri Shimbun)

By The Japan News/ANN

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and its neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa early Thursday evening in response to the increase in novel coronavirus infections. Suga said the state of emergency would remain in force from Friday Jan. 8 through Feb. 7.

The prime minister urged residents in the areas covered by the state of emergency to refrain from going out after 8 p.m. if not necessary. The central government is coordinating with local governments for them to pay up to ¥60,000 per day to restaurants that close by 8 p.m., as “cooperation money” for eating establishments that accept requests to shorten their operating hours.

The government’s advisory committee on basic action policy held a meeting Thursday morning to discuss the contents of the emergency declaration and the draft revisions to the government’s basic action policy. The committee deemed that it was reasonable to issue the declaration.

Yasutoshi Nishimura, the economic revitalization minister who is also in charge of the government’s COVID-19 countermeasures, said at the meeting: “We will not suspend a wide range of economic activities. Instead, we will implement effective measures for situations that have a high risk of infection, focusing on gatherings involving eating and drinking.”

The prime minister declared a state of emergency at a meeting of the government’s coronavirus task force early Thursday evening, after giving prior notice to the Diet.

A state of emergency is declared under the special measures law to cope with new strains of influenza. This is the second declaration, following the state of emergency that was in force from April 7 to May 25 last year. Last time, the Tokyo metropolitan government asked a wide range of facilities and businesses, including karaoke establishments and live music clubs, to suspend their operations. Some local governments asked elementary, junior high and high schools to close for that period.

To minimize the impact on the lives of the people and the economy, the government will not request a wide range of business suspensions and school closures this time around.

According to the draft revisions of the basic action policy, the government is calling for residents to avoid nonessential outings, particularly after 8 p.m. Restaurants will be requested to shorten their business hours and close by 8 p.m. It is also stated that alcoholic drinks should not be served after 7 p.m.

The government is considering including commercial facilities that do not sell daily necessities among those required to shorten their business hours. It also plans to revise the ordinance so that it can reveal the names of restaurants and other businesses that refuse the request for shorter business hours.

The draft also calls on companies to promote telecommuting, with the aim of reducing by 70% the number of employees at offices. The government plans to limit the attendance at sports and other events to 50% or less of capacity, and a maximum of 5,000.

Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures are currently at the highest alert level, Stage 4, for the spread of infections. The government intends to lift the declaration after the level is lowered to Stage 3.

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World Bank: China’s growth expected to reach 7.9% in 2021

Jan 07. 2021

By Zhao Huanxin
China Daily/ANN

China’s economy is expected to expand by 7.9 percent in 2021, nearly double the global growth rate predicted for the year, the World Bank said in its forecast on Tuesday.

“Growth in China is projected to accelerate to 7.9 percent this year—1 percentage point above the June forecast—reflecting the release of pent-up demand and a quicker-than-expected resumption of production and exports,” the 189-member global lender said in a statement at the release of the 2021 Global Economic Prospects.

In October, the International Monetary Fund has predicted China will reach 8.2 percent growth this year, after becoming the only major economy to show positive growth in 2020.

Output in China is estimated to have rebounded last year at a faster-than-expected clip, with particular support from infrastructure spending, according to the World Bank, which predicted a modest 2 percent increase in China for 2020.

China’s official statistics have so far charted a steady course of its economic rebound.

The country’s GDP expanded 4.9 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2020, reversing from a 6.8 percent slump in the first quarter and up from 3.2 percent growth in the second quarter.

The World Bank said China’s strength was “an exception”, however, and disruptions from the pandemic in most other emerging market and developing countries were more severe than previously envisioned, resulting in deeper recessions and slower recoveries, especially in countries with recent large COVID-19 outbreaks.

Ning Jizhe, vice-minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, has said that China will maintain a proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy, and stabilize the economy at a “reasonable” level this year, amid uncertainties in external environment.

US gross domestic product is forecast to expand 3.5 percent in 2021, after an estimated 3.6 percent shrinkage in 2020, according to the World Bank.

It noted that the shallower contractions in advanced economies, plus a more robust recovery in China, have resulted in downturn of global economy “slightly less severe” than previously projected.

In all, global economy is projected to pick up by 4 percent, assuming an initial COVID-19 vaccine rollout becomes widespread throughout the year.

Although the global economy is growing again after a 4.3 percent decline in 2020, the pandemic has caused a heavy toll of deaths and illness, plunged millions into poverty, and may depress economic activity and incomes for a prolonged period, the World Bank said.

A recovery, however, will likely be subdued, unless policy makers move decisively to tame the pandemic and implement investment-enhancing reforms, the World Bank cautioned, as COVID-19 has continued to spread, with sharp resurgences in many regions.

“While the global economy appears to have entered a subdued recovery, policymakers face formidable challenges—in public health, debt management, budget policies, central banking and structural reforms—as they try to ensure that this still fragile global recovery gains traction and sets a foundation for robust growth,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass.

“To overcome the impacts of the pandemic and counter the investment headwind, there needs to be a major push to improve business environments, increase labor and product market flexibility, and strengthen transparency and governance,” he said.

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Vietnam expects to hit its GDP goal in 2021 with stable economic development

Jan 07. 2021GSO General Director Nguyễn Thị Hương

By Viet Nam News/ANN

Việt Nam’s gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated to increase 2.91 per cent in 2020 due to the Government’s economic management experience over the past years, a safe and healthy macroeconomic environment and stable politics.

In 2021, the economic growth is expected to reach the target of 6 per cent set by the National Assembly, although the world economy is forecasted to continue the slowing trend due to challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The General Director of General Statistics Office Nguyễn Thị Hương spoke to the Vietnam News Agency reporter about this issue.

What are the bright spots of the Vietnamese economy in 2020?

The socio-economic development this year has performed in the context of a strong outbreak of the COVID-19 world wide. Unpredictable development of the pandemic has seriously affected all socio-economic aspects at home and abroad.

Therefore, the Prime Minister has promptly instructed ministries, sectors and localities to implement synchronously and effectively solutions in both preventing the pandemic to ensure the people’s health and completing the socio-economic development goals and tasks in 2020.

As a result, the national GDP this year was estimated to increase 2.91 per cent. This is a success for Việt Nam with the growth that is among the world’s highest.

The highlights in the economy have included the processing and manufacturing industry, which is the driving force for economic growth, with a growth of 5.82 per cent, contributing 1.25 percentage points to the national GDP. Especially, in the fourth quarter, this industry achieved the high growth rate of 8.6 per cent.

In addition, the disbursement of capital from the State budget this year reached 91.1 per cent of the yearly plan, an increase of 34.5 per cent compared to 2019, reaching the highest level in the 2011-2020 period. This is the result of accelerating the disbursement of public investment to maintain economic growth in the context of controlled COVID-19 in Việt Nam.

Meanwhile, the nation’s total trade value this year has set a new record with $543.9 billion. Therefore, it has gained a trade surplus of $19.1 billion, the highest level ever. This has contributed significantly to economic growth in 2020. At the same time, that will have a positive impact on the exchange rate and foreign exchange reserves in the context that the nation needs more capital to prepare for economic recovery in 2021.

The agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector has also played a supportive role for the economy during the difficult period, ensuring enough supply of essential food and goods. Of which, production of the plantation and husbandry sectors have recovered. However, the pig production are slowly recovering.

Commercial and service activities have showed signs of recovery with a year-on-year increase of 6.2 per cent in the total retail sales of goods and services in the second half of the year. It decreased by 1.2 per cent in the first six months. The retail sales for the whole year were estimated to increase by 2.6 per cent compared to 2019.

What contribution has the statistics sector made in advising the Government to achieve economic growth in 2020?

This year, besides of regular tasks to support for the Government in governing the economy, the General Department Statistics has compiled reports on the effects of the COVID-19 on Việt Nam’s socio-economic development.

In addition, the office has also conducted two surveys about the impact of COVID-19 on businesses, thereby providing information for the Government to assess the situation and issue supports for the business community.

At the same time, the office has built up price management scenarios to report the Price Management Steering Committee when having unpredictable changes of the world market, the pandemic and the weather. As a result, the national inflation was at 3.23 per cent this year, reaching the target set by the National Assembly.

The world economic growth in 2021 is forecasted to continue the trend of slowing down due to challenges from the COVID-19. Which industries are predicted to be bright spots in the domestic economy next year?

Complicated development of the pandemic at present will continue affect the socio-economic development at home and abroad.

For Việt Nam, effective anti-pandemic measures have gained the trust of the local people and foreigners. Therefore, we can see some bright spots of our economy in 2021, including the processing and manufacturing industry. Especially, the manufacturing of electronic components will have expansion of production scale of foreign-invested manufacturers.

The construction sector will continue its growth with expressway projects that will be completed in 2021.

With advantage of the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agrement (EVFTA), Việt Nam’s exports to the EU will increase, especially seafood, fruits, coffee, textiles, garments and shoes.

Meanwhile, with a population of nearly 97.6 million people and diversified stimulus policies, the service sector will also be the highlight of 2021, including wholesale, retail, banking and insurance.

According to the Brand Finance’s report on national brands in 2020, the national brand value of Việt Nam this year has increased by 29 per cent to $319 billion, among the fastest in the world. Việt Nam’s ranking has also improved from 42th in 2019 to 33rd in 2020, whereby foreign investment attraction will flourish in the coming years.

What should Việt Nam do to achieve the growth targets in 2021?

On November 11, 2020, the 14th National Assembly passed the Resolution 124/2020/QH14 on the Socio-Economic Development Plan for 2021, including the GDP growth goal of about 6 per cent.

2021 is the first year of implementing the 2021-2025 Economic Development Plan, so the successful implementation of the economic development targets set by the National Assembly has very important significance, creating a foundation for completing the socio-economic development plan in the whole period.

To achieve the growth targets, the Government should continue to focus on solving difficulties of the enterprises, resuming the economic development, implementing procedures reform for businesses to access supportive policies.

In addition, it continues to stabilise socio-economic development environment to ensure safety and convenience for people’s lives and activities of the businesses.

The Government needs to support the business community in finding import markets for raw materials, fuels and spare parts in order to overcome difficulties caused by the COVID-19.

The Government also needs to implement solutions for the enterprises to promote application of technology for operation, step by step improving their innovative and creative abilities in production and business activities. It should focus on improving labour productivity and competitiveness of the economy.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese enterprises need to focus on developing the domestic market and developing distribution channels for Vietnamese products. At the same time, the Government should have programmes on encouraging the local people to use made-in-Vietnam goods. That will also encourage the enterprises to promote production and distribution of the products.

The State Bank should have flexible and prudent monetary, interest rate and exchange rate policies that are suitable with domestic and global market developments and the fiscal and macro policies to curb inflation, support for production and business and promote the economic growth.

Along with that, the Government should encourage investment in the export product production sector to have available goods for promoting exports according to EVFTA and in the post pandemic period.

The agricultural sector needs to develop specific production and consumption strategies based on cooperation between business households and enterprises. The cooperation will produce organic farming products under stable consumption contract, being an important factor to ensure sustainable agricultural production. — VNS

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

S. Korean delegation departs for Iran to negotiate release of seized oil tanker

Jan 07. 2021This photo, captured from the DM Shipping website, shows the South Korean oil tanker, MT Hankuk Chemi. (DM Shipping website)

By The Korea Herald/ANN

A government delegation left for Iran on Thursday to negotiate an early release of the South Korean oil tanker and its crew seized by Iranian authorities earlier this week.

The delegation, led by Koh Kyung-sok, director-general of the foreign ministry’s Africa and Middle Eastern affairs, boarded a plane early Thursday and is set to arrive in Iran via Qatar, foreign ministry officials said.

On Monday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) seized the MT Hankuk Chemi carrying 20 crewmembers, including five South Koreans, due to environmental pollution allegations. The ship is currently at a port in Bandar Abbas, a city on Iran’s southern coast.

“I plan to meet my counterpart at the Iranian foreign ministry, and will meet others through various routes if that will help efforts to address the ship’s seizure,” Koh told reporters at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul.

Iran has claimed that the seizure took place due to “technical issues” and the matter will be addressed in line with its judicial process. The ship’s operator has denied the oil pollution allegations.

Seoul’s First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun is also expected to travel to Iran early next week to discuss the seizure and other bilateral issues.

The seizure came amid lingering tensions between Seoul and Tehran over the latter’s money frozen at South Korean banks under US sanctions.

Tensions between the United States and Iran also rose as Tehran began a uranium enrichment process and marked the first anniversary of the death of an Iranian general killed in a US drone attack. (Yonhap)