International media, organizations hail Vietnam’s anti-pandemic efforts

Hanoi (VNA) - Foreign media and international organizations have praised Vietnam’s efforts in containing the spread of the COVID-19 virus, suggesting that other countries could learn from its experience.

East Asia Forum ran an article on April 14 saying that Vietnam has been one of Asia’s most successful in dealing with the pandemic.

It was among the first countries to impose strict containment measures, the paper noted, even when COVID-19 was still confined to China.

The paper added that despite the negative effects COVID-19 had on its socioeconomic development in the first quarter, “Vietnam may get out of the pandemic in better shape than others.”

“Despite expected growth in 2020 falling to 4.9 percent, it is among only a few economies in Asia Pacific - and perhaps the world - to still post growth,” it wrote.

“The Asian Development Bank, while predicting a sharp decline in GDP growth in Vietnam, said its economy remains ‘uniquely robust’ in the subregion,” it went on, adding that Vietnam’s success in curbing the pandemic may attract more foreign investors, as will its traditional advantages of cheap labour, political stability, and proximity to China.

Physical distancing has also helped accelerate the country’s transition to a digital economy, which is considered by the government to be a pillar of sustainable growth, the paper noted.

A day earlier, German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) published an article highlighting anti-pandemic activities undertaken in Vietnam.

Despite its border with China, it wrote, Vietnam, thanks to a combination of early decisive action, extensive testing, vigorous quarantining, and social unity, has avoided greater losses and confined the number of confirmed cases to the mere hundreds, with no fatalities.

It emphasized that “much of Vietnam’s success can be ascribed to its social unity.”

On April 12, Resident Representative of the UN Development Program (UNDP) Caitlin Wiesen congratulated Vietnam on its success in combating COVID-19, with more than half of all patients having fully recovered.

UNDP donated 20,000 high-quality surgical masks to the Ministry of Health to help protect healthcare workers on the frontlines in fighting the pandemic.

WHO Representative to Vietnam Kidong Park said previously that the country has responded proactively and early to the outbreak. Its first risk assessment exercise was conducted in early January - soon after cases began being reported in China.

Meanwhile, Christoph Dölitzsch - a researcher at the Berlin-based Dalia Research Institute - said Vietnam has the ability to control any increase in infections, in stark contrast to many other countries around the world.

According to its largest survey on COVID-19, some 62 percent of respondents in Vietnam say their government is doing the “right amount” in response to the pandemic./.