Day: June 14, 2021

The capital city of Hanoi will pilot the rental of electric bicycles to facilitate connections among local bus routes and the bus rapid transit (BRT) system from the third quarter of this year.

The pilot project will be launched by the municipal Department of Transport and the University of Transport Technology, on the route from the AEON Mall Ha Dong to the Van Khe BRT platform, until the end of 2023, followed by a review to expand the model to the entire city.

With funding from the European Commission and Government agencies, the service will be offered free of charge in the pilot period.

People who want to use the service will receive support to install a mobile application, which stores and tracks a user’s movement between the two destinations. The app also indicates the bikes’ battery level and sends an alert if problems arise.

According to the Hanoi Department of Transport, the project aims to improve the efficiency of public transport services as well as reduce personal vehicle use.

Vu Ngoc Khiem, Chairman of the University of Transport Technology’s board, said given the layout of urban areas in the country, travel is heavily reliant on motorbikes, so increasing the use of eco-friendly vehicles and raising public awareness of environmental protection would help reduce congestion and pollution in the capital city.

Buses are currently the only means of public transport in Hanoio, comprising more than 100 routes operated by the State-owned Transerco and several private companies./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnamese embassy in Japan on June 13 launched a fundraising campaign to collect money for Vietnam’s COVID-19 vaccine fund in response to the call of the Vietnam Fatherland Front’s Central Committee on “National unity to fight COVID-19.”

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Vu Hong Nam urged all staff members of the embassy and Vietnamese representative offices in Japan as well as the Vietnamese community in Japan to join hands with the homeland in order to achieve the dual targets of curbing the spread of COVID-19 while promoting socio-economic development.

Ambassador Nam highly appreciated the prevention measures and mutual support among the Vietnamese community in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that the number of community-transmitted cases among Vietnamese expats in Japan remains particularly low.

At the ceremony, over 500 million VND (more than 21,780 USD) was contributed to the COVID-19 vaccine fund.

Overseas Vietnamese also expressed their strong confidence in the Vietnamese Government’s effective measures to fight the pandemic, and hoped that with the concerted efforts of the Government and people at home and abroad, Vietnam would soon overcome the epidemic.

According to statistics of the Japanese Ministry of Justice, there were 448,053 Vietnamese living in Japan as of the end of 2020, up more than 10 times from a decade ago and accounting for more than 15 percent of the total number of foreigners in Japan./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency