Doctors Create Free Medical Facility For Needy in Thu Duc
by Joe Fotalattee
Vietnam News reports Dr. Lê Thanh Nga and her husband, Hunh Văn Huy, took four years and spent nearly half a million dollars building a medical facility and residence to serve underprivileged patients.
Nga, 44, formerly worked at Hospital 175 in HCM City, and her husband Huy, 47, is employed by Lê Văn Viet Hospital in Thu Duc.
According to Vietnam News, Nguyen Văn Nên, secretary of the municipal Party’s Committee, stated at a recent meeting that the city will experience challenges in 2023 due to a global slowdown and lowered its growth target to 7.5-8% next year.
The city has set a goal of bringing in 4–5 million foreign visitors to earn five billion USD in revenue.
The city intends to maintain a 60% service-based economic structure with a labor growth of 7%. However, post-pandemic economic numbers look promising. The city’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) increased by 9.03% in 2022.
Exports from the city were worth $49 billion USD, and imports were worth $66 billion USD, both up 10%.
Tourism grossed over five billion USD. Three and a half million foreign visitors visited the city this year, a fraction of neighboring countries with welcoming visa policies. For example, Thailand received over 10 million visitors in 2022, generating 16 billion USD in tourism revenue.
Fortunately, Vietnamese were buying more than 36 billion USD in sales of goods and services, an increase of 30 percent from the previous year.
Vietnam to Speed Up Infrastructure Spending
by Joe Fotalattee
According to the HCM City People’s Committee chairman, Phan Văn Mi, the city will accelerate public spending to prevent delaying the development of public works and infrastructure.
Phan Văn Mi said the city has a target of disbursing 95% of approved public investment capital during a meeting on the city’s socio-economic goals for 2023.
Additionally, the city will prioritize enhancing public services, streamlining administrative reform, reducing inflation, and stabilizing the local economy. Major transportation projects will also move along more quickly.
By Joe Fotalatte
VNG Corporation announced the opening of its new data center in District 7, a Tier 3 facility that is a carrier-neutral facility. Carrier-neutral connectivity provides more stability and flexibility by offering multiple providers. The data center will initially offer 410 racks and will be expanded to 1,600 racks.
Senior Director of VNG Gary McKinnon stated during the Opening Ceremony, “VNG’s Data Center will continue to build on our existing customer services while providing both local and global customers surety in meeting data residency, compliance, and security needs.”
A Tier 3 facility does not require a complete shutdown for maintenance or equipment replacement and can maintain operations in the event of a local or regional power outage. Tier 3 facilities provide 72 hours of backup power and an overall 99.982 percent up-time on an annual basis.
The company’s data center is now operational, offering its Vietnamese clients the best up-time infrastructure for all digital service platforms, safe data storage, and customized cloud solutions.
Additionally, VNG disclosed Up-time Tier III certification for the new data center’s design (TCDD) and hardware for data center installation (TCCF). There are currently only three data centers in Vietnam that meet this requirement. The VNG team earned international certificates in data center operations.
According to VNG’s press release, the opening of the VNG Data Center ensures flexible, secure, and dependable access to data storage for local and international clients in the private and public sectors, and leverages the data solutions to advance their business.
By Joe Fotalatte
According to the Ministry of Health, 234 new cases were reported on December 19. The number of new daily COVID-19 cases in Vietnam has decreased in the past few days.
Twenty-four patients received the all-clear, and 47 patients currently require assistance breathing. The number of fatalities from COVID-19 has increased to 43,180 after one death in the last 24 hours.
On December 18, 3,251 additional vaccine doses were administered. Public health experts encourage the 65+ and immune compromised to receive updated bivalent booster shots to protect the most vulnerable population.
by Joe Fotalattee
According to Vietnam News, The HCM City People’s Procuracy on Monday proposed life imprisonment for Nguyn Thái Luyn, 36, chairman of the board of directors of Alibaba Real Estate Company. Property fraud and money laundering by the company resulted in more than 4,500 victims losing more than VN2.4 trillion (US$101 million).
The prosecution recommended that V Th Thanh Mai, Luyn’s wife, serve more than 30 years in prison, with 20 years for property fraud and 12–14 years for money laundering.
Nguyn Thái Lc, Luyn’s younger brother, was recommended to serve more than 30 years in prison, with 20 years for property fraud and 10 to 12 years for money laundering.
The accountant for the business, Hunh Th Kim Thng, was recommended to serve five to six years in prison for money laundering.
Regarding the other defendants, the prosecution recommended 12 to 20 years in prison for property fraud.
The prosecution recommended that Luyn and his wife Mai compensate 4,550 victims with VN $2.54 trillion. In addition, it demanded that Mai return the VN$13 billion she had obtained through money laundering.
The judge will impose a sentence within the parameters prescribed by law.
By Joe Fotalatee
Two thousand people in District 7 walked on a call to end domestic violence on Sunday. The successful rally reminds society to support all victims and to consider donations to women’s shelters and support systems this holiday season. It is also a good reminder how close this hits home by reviewing domestic violence prevalence by the numbers.
In the 2019 UN survey of nearly 6,000 Vietnamese women, aged 15 to 64, nearly two out of three, or 66 percent, reported having experienced physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or controlling behavior from male partners at some point in their lives. Within a year, approximately 32% of women experience abuse.
Other key findings from 2019 UN study:
