Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung speaks at the press conference

Dung said the economic growth will hit 6.27 percent this year if the outbreak is contained in the first quarter, and 6.09 percent if it is under control in the second quarter, much lower than 6.8 percent assigned by the National Assembly.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen The Phuong urged ministries, agencies and localities to step up the disbursement of public investment to propel growth.

According to Minister Dung, the Finance Ministry was asked to work with other ministries to submit a document on tax exemption for the production of medical masks to the government for approval.

As the securities market dropped strongly amid the epidemic, Deputy Finance Minister Vu Thi Mai said the ministry will shape the market under a plan on the restructuring of securities and insurance markets till 2020 with orientations to 2025, and continue enhancing inspection to foster public trust in the market.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien pledged to focus on farm produce processing and boost trade with Europe, Japan, the Republic of Korea and South America.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said the PM on February 5 issued a directive on the resumption of cross-border exports and imports.

He highlighted the need to restructure the agricultural production and enhance linkage with domestic supermarkets so as to ease reliance on Chinese market.

Vietnam doing its best to combat coronavirus: health official Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long speaks at the press conference     Vietnam is doing its best to control the acute respiratory disease caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV), focusing on carrying out multi-level isolation for those suspected of infection, a health official said on February 5. Speaking at a Hanoi press conference, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said the coming 7-10 days are not the peak of the epidemic in Vietnam and it is too early to give assessments on the disease development in the country. To prepare for the worst scenario of the disease outbreak in the community, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has asked 22 central-level hospitals to arrange 3,000 beds for treating patients. Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the MoH’s Medical Examination and Treatment Department, also stressed the need for special attention to monitoring the epidemic level and implementing isolation measures Vietnam has so far confirmed 10 infection cases and 304 suspected ones, of whom 214 have tested negative for the virus and 90 are in quarantine while their samples are being tested./. VNA