Carolyn Turk, World Bank (WB) Country Director for Viet Nam, made the statement on October 13 while participating in a webinar discussing measures to boost post-pandemic economic recovery, adapt flexibly to the COVID-19 pandemic, overcome economic disruption, and strengthen locality-to-locality connectivity.

The country's fundamentals are strong, and the World Bank remains optimistic about the country's longer-term growth trajectory, she said, adding that the future will be determined in part by what the government does in the next six months.

Carolyn Turk emphasized that the Vietnamese government has already reacted by vaccinating people at a rapid pace (over 1 million per day) and adopting a new government resolution providing a nationally uniform framework for mobility restrictions.

She suggested Viet Nam should use more its fiscal policy to start the economic recovery, adding that there is sufficient fiscal space as the debt level is only about 56 percent of GDP and has only marginally increased in the past year, while revenue collection has been performing relatively well.

Meanwhile, borrowing costs are at their lowest level over the past few decades – in both domestic and international markets, as today the Government could actually borrow in EURO at almost zero cost, said Carolyn Turk.

“The good news is that Viet Nam can spend more without additional borrowing. This could be achieved by reallocating unspent resources or by allocating not-allocated resources–both at the central and sub-national levels. The key constraint might not be money but the existing rigidities that prevent its efficient use in the short-term”, stressed Carolyn Turk.

by The world and VietNam report

All its rooms are fully booked for this weekend, the resort said.

The resort’s guests are mainly from Hanoi who usually stay for three days and two nights. Some families have booked longer stays of up to a week though rooms cost VND5 to 20 million ($216.71-866.84) a night.

Nestled deep in the lush forests of Panh Hamlet in Mai Chau Town amidst Hmong, Thai and Dao ethnic communities, the resort’s isolation makes it ideal for those wishing to avoid large crowds amid the pandemic.

Similarly, a representative of Mai Chau Hideaway Resort said its room occupancy rate in the first week of reopening (September 25-30) reached a ‘moderate’ level, but a week ago all rooms were fully booked.

The representative said its occupancy rate on weekends in the coming weeks is forecast to reach over 80 percent.

Eighty percent of tourists to the resort come from Hanoi and they mainly stay from one to two nights and return to the capital as their negative Covid certificate remains effective only for 72 hours.

Located on an isolated peninsula, the resort has 31 stilt-houses that sport a simple and rustic feel with balconies offering beautiful views of the Hoa Binh Lake. Room prices range from VND1.9 to 2.2 million.

The Mai Chau Ecolodge and the Serena Resort Kim Boi, which reopened September 25, have received a large number of bookings as well.

Hoa Binh Province requires people coming or returning from areas under lockdown or social distancing to show Covid negative certificates of RT-PCR tests done within 72 hours before arrival. Those coming from safe Covid areas only need to furnish a negative certificate of rapid antigen test done within the previous 72 hours.

Nguyen Thu Huong of Hanoi stayed with her family at the Serena Resort Kim Boi in the eponymous district on October 4. Before arriving at the resort, Huong and husband had rapid Covid tests done VND150,000 per person while her two children under six were exempt from Covid testing.

"After a long time of strict social distancing measures, my family had a great relaxing time inside the resort," Huong said.

Her family only stayed one night and returned to Hanoi with their testing certificate.

"If the country switches to living with the pandemic, pandemic prevention regulations including testing are unavoidable; so I didn’t feel inconvenienced. We enjoyed our trip. It was comfortable," Huong said.