Vietnam has been warned that serious air pollution will affect economic growth in the long term, and lead to foreign investment decline.

HCM City has faced severe air pollution over the past week with a high index of PM2.5.

The quality of air in HCMC is worsening due to emissions from the rising number of vehicles on the roads as the Lunar New Year holiday, or Tet, approaches, Thanh Nien newspaper reported.

HCMC plans to examine emissions from motorcycles on a trial basis this month as part of a broader plan to remove aging vehicles from the road to reduce air pollution in the city.

Vietnam suffers around 10.8 – 13.2 billion USD worth of economic losses associated with ambient air pollution each year, equivalent to 4.45 – 5.64 percent of the country’s GDP, heard a discussion in Hanoi on January 14.

2019 was a bad year for the environment with a series of incidents, including water contamination, forest fires and factory fires.

Students of Thanh Đa Secondary School in HCM City’s Bình Thạnh District have greater awareness of air pollution and measures to prevent it after an air quality index monitor was installed in the school a few months ago.

Mitigating air pollution in Hanoi is a difficult task as pollutants are spread out in the air with no boundaries. Hanoi alone won’t be able to fulfill the task, scientists say.

The emission sources outside Hanoi make up two-thirds of PM2.5 fine dust concentrations in Hanoi, according to a survey released in October 2018 on quantifying pollution sources.

People have been advised to restrict outdoors exercise, close windows and doors, and wear protective masks to protect themselves from PM2.5 fine dust.

Hanoi parents are concerned about the notice that their children will not go to school on days of serious pollution.

Many areas in the Central Highlands city of Dalat are being polluted by a fire at a local rubbish dump site.

As air pollution has engulfed HCMC, the municipal Department of Transport is set to adopt multiple energy-efficient solutions in early 2020, including the launch of bike rental services, to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution.

Dust and smoke from production workshops in Hanoi and neighboring provinces are one of the reasons behind the serious air pollution in the capital city.

Hanoi People's Committee Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung signed Directive 19 on December 25 asking related agencies to quickly deal with air pollution and let pupils stay home on bad air days. 

Late on Saturday, the Ministry of Health, for the first time, released a list of 14 recommendations for coping with air pollution.

HCMC is mapping out a plan to control vehicle emissions on a trial basis from January 2020, aiming to terminate old transport vehicles to reduce air pollution in the city.

Hanoi mayor Nguyen Duc Chung has asked local bodies to bring back water trucks to wash the streets with a view to reducing air pollution nearly three years after their suspension, VnExpress reported.

Experts have accused coal-fired power plants of causing air pollution in Hanoi, noting that they are emitting fine dust during operations. But operators of such plants have rejected the claim, according to local media.

As air pollution in big cities passes far beyond acceptable limits, the interest in electric vehicles is rising.