Category: Education

The smuggling of 24.13 kilograms of drugs from the Islamic Republic of Iran to Azerbaijan was prevented in the ‘Goytapa’ and ‘Lankaran’ border detachment areas of the Azerbaijani State Border Service’s border troops, as part of measures to ensure reliable protection of the state border, as well as combat drug trafficking, the Service told Trend.

As a result of the operational and investigative measures conducted in the ‘Goytapa’ border detachment area, near the Yardimli district’s Deman village, Azerbaijani citizen Novruz Dadashov, who was trying to illegally cross the state border, was detained at 21:55 (GMT+4) on March 13.

When inspecting the detainee, drugs with a total weight of 5.98 kilograms were found.

Following operations carried out in the ‘Lankaran’ border detachment area, near the Archivan village of Astara district, border guards recorded unknown persons attempting to illegally cross the state border with Azerbaijan at 05:30 (GMT+4) on March 14, 2023.

It was established that residents of Baku Kamil Hasanov and Novruz Mirzoyev, who tried to escape from the territory in a Mitsubishi car with a state license plate 99-DK-727, were detained.

During the inspection of the car, two bundles of drugs with a total weight of 18.15 kilograms were found and seized.

The corresponding operational and investigative measures are being taken.

Source: TREND News Agency

The Monitoring Group of Human Rights Organizations has issued a report on human rights and freedom violations in Armenia, Trend reports.

The report refers to violations of human rights and freedoms in Armenia in 2020-2022, ill-treatment of the civilian population, people detained during demonstrations, criminal cases against journalists, etc.

According to the report, international human rights organizations have always been applying double standards toward Azerbaijan, whereas Armenia’s anti-democratic and inhumane treatment of its people has been ignored over the last two years.

In particular, during the period from April through July 2022, international organizations, for some reason, turned a blind eye on the police brutality against demonstrators in Armenia, as well as the use of sound grenades.

Although Pashinyan’s government positions itself as “democratic” in Armenia, the facts envisaged by the mentioned report give grounds to say that this governance is far from democratic in its practical activities.

The Monitoring Group of Human Rights Organizations of Azerbaijan urges international human rights organizations to be sensitive to the inhuman processes occurring in Armenia, as well as staying away from double standards.

Source: TREND News Agency

The People’s Committee of central Quang Tri province in collaboration with the Irish Embassy in Vietnam held a ceremony on March 14 to turn on green lights on Hien Luong bridge in the Hien Luong-Ben Hai national relic site on the occasion of the 27th anniversary of Vietnam-Ireland diplomatic relations and Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Day (March 17).

The lighting of green lights on Hien Luong bridge was part of the “Global Greening” campaign of Ireland which has become a global activity. The selection of Hien Luong bridge as the only location in Vietnam for the 2023 campaign is expected to popularise images of Quang Tri among international friends, especially Irish people.

Speaking at the event, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Hoang Nam said the Irish Embassy’s selection of Quang Tri for the second time as the only locality in Vietnam to organise the green lighting activity marking Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Day has reaffirmed the special relationship between Quang Tri and Ireland.

Irish Ambassador to Vietnam John McCullagh, for his part, said the lighting at Hien Luong bridge has a special meaning, as the bridge is no longer a symbol of the division of Vietnam, but of the connection among people. The event reminds both sides of the time-honoured relations between Ireland and Vietnam.

He stressed that the partnership between Ireland and Quang Tri has always been given priority through various programmes and development projects funded by the Irish Government.

In the afternoon the same day, the Irish Ambassador and local leaders joined 120 athletes in the “We run – We share” community running event on Hien Luong bridge.

A ceremony was also held to hand over a mobile functional rehabilitation vehicle for RENEW project, a cooperative programme to eliminate war-time unexploded ordnance and support victims funded by the Irish Government./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

It’s critical for Vietnam to focus on promoting intellectual property rights for areas associated with agricultural products which would enable farm produce to go far in international markets.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development was planning to propose the Government approval to build a decree on managing national brands of agricultural products. This is pressing as the export of agricultural products was seeing a significant drop in the context of increasing uncertainties in the global market.

Statistics showed that the agro-forestry-aquatic product export value was estimated at 6.28 billion USD in the first two months of this year, dropping by 22.5% against the same period last year.

Director of the ministry’s Agro Processing and Market Development Authority Nguyen Quoc Toan said that economic and political instabilities coupled with changes in production policies of many countries made many farm produce of Vietnam lose advantages, such as coffee, rice, cashew, tra fish and timber and wooden products.

It’s time to attach greater attention to protecting brands and geographical indications for farm products to go far in the international markets, he said, adding that protected brands and geographical indications would help increase value while creating confidence among consumers about their origin and quality.

Bac Giang was a good example of protecting the brands of agricultural products in foreign markets.

The northern province was known for the largest “thiêu” lychee production in Vietnam with a total area of more than 28,000 hectares and an annual output of about 200,000 tonnes. The specialty was thi?u lychee from Luc Ngan district which provided 120,000 tonnes and brought a value of more than 3 trillion VND each year.

Luc Ngan “thiêu” lychee is currently granted certificates of industrial property protection by the Ministry of Science and Technology in seven countries, including China, Laos, Cambodia, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Australia and the US. This is also the first agricultural product of Vietnam granted a certificate of geographical indication in Japan, opening up significant opportunities for this product to reach out to international markets.

Bac Giang also developed trademarks for Yen The hill chicken which was protected in China, Laos and Singapore and Chu noodle protected in Japan, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and Laos. The province also built brands for Yen Dung fragrant rice and Van Village wine.

Nguyen Phuc Thuong, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Science and Technology, said that trademark protection contributed to increasing the value of agricultural products. Products with protected trademarks had guaranteed quality and origin, met the requirements of export markets and gained the trust of consumers.

However, the protection of geographical indications in foreign markets remained complicated in terms of time, procedures and costs, he said.

For example, it took nearly three years to negotiate the protection of geographical indication for L?c Ng?n thi?u lychee in Japan.

Many other provinces and cities paid attention to the development of intellectual property for local products.

However, the use of geographical indications for the commercialisation of products remained inefficient.

Stressing that products with protected geographical indications were mainly agricultural products, Mai Van Dung, from the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam, said there were challenges in the protection of geographical indications.

While there was an increasing trend of protecting processed products, not many processed products of Vietnam were protected, he said. In addition, the production scale of protected products remained modest.

According to Tran Le Hong, Deputy Director of the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam, the number of geographical indications increased strongly recently but just a few products were successfully commercialised in the domestic market and for exports.

To date, only 40 out of 94 products with protected geographical indications were exported, of which, only 26 were printed on the packaging and labels when exported while the rest of 14 were exported under other brands.

According to Thuong, greater effort must be taken to increase communication and provide training to improve the awareness of intellectual property and form a culture of intellectual property protection as well as encourage innovation.

Consultancies and guidance would also be given to localities, businesses and cooperatives in registering and establishing rights to products of high economic value with a focus on building geographical indications for key products.

Special attention should be paid to foreign market research for commercially potential products to implement protection in export markets.

Trademark protection alone was not enough, he said, adding that it was also critical to strengthen production linkage and develop value chains to ensure traceability, origin and quality of products./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Phan Van Mai hosted a reception for visiting former French Prime Minister Edouarad Philipe, who is now Mayor of Le Havre city, on February 16.

Mai expressed his belief that Philipe’s visit will open up many cooperation opportunities for businesses of the two countries and the two cities in particular.

Briefing the guest on HCM City’s socio-economic development, the official said the city always attaches importance to international cooperation, especially with Europe, including France.

Navigation, seaport and export-import are among the focuses of the southern metropolis, he said, adding that they play a crucial role in local economic development.

Apart from the existing seaports like Tan Cang and Saigon, HCM City is aiming to build an international entrepot, according to the official.

Mai used the occasion to thank Philipe for inviting HCM City to join the International Association of Cities and Ports, and informed the guest about the locality’s activities towards green, sustainable economic development.

HCM City has mobilised resources for infrastructure development, attracted both domestic and foreign investments, reformed administrative procedures and promoted high-quality personnel training, towards becoming an international centre of finance and trade, he said.

Mai stressed the importance of educational cooperation, and noted that HCM City wishes to cooperate with enterprises in France and Le Havre in culture, health care, personnel training, and biological research.

For his part, Philipe said he hopes to intensify cooperation, cultural exchanges, and trade promotion between the cities. He affirmed that many French experts, businesses and investors are keen to cooperate with HCM City, particularly in fields suggested by the city’s leaders.

Philipe suggested HCM City continue with administrative reform to raise the efficiency of investment attraction, facilitate operations of businesses, and contribute to economic development.

Earlier, Philipe and his entourage visited a number of seaports and schools in HCM City./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Singapore’s Office for Space Technology and Industry (OSTIN) and Thailand’s Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to boost their aerospace cooperation on February 15.

The MoU signing ceremony took place on the sidelines of the 2023 Global Space and Technology Convention held in Singapore. The MoU provides a framework for them to work more closely in earth observation application, discuss space policies and study science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Both sides will also make further contributions to aerospace development in the region, including projects at ASEAN’s Sub-Committee on Space Technology and Applications.

OSTIN Executive Director David Tan wished to work more closely with GISTDA to strengthen their aerospace ecological systems and boost bilateral collaboration.

GISTDA Executive Director Pakorn Apaphant said both countries not only benefit from the MoU but also could expand effective cooperation in Southeast Asia./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam’s Military Engineering Unit Rotation 1 at the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) on February 11 handed over some humanitarian works to Abyei High School.

The soldiers helped build a 5m-wide, 150m-long road leading to the school, a clean water well and a 5,000 cu.m tank; and install a pump, a generator, and a pipeline system to provide clean water to teachers and students.

They built two classrooms, one teachers’ room, a library a canteen and one security room.

The unit also granted six laptops worth over 60 million VND (2,545 USD) to the school.

UNISFA Acting Head of Mission and Force Commander, Major General Benjamin Olufemi Sawyerr said that these works will help teachers and students overcome difficulties and deficiency in infrastructure and equipment to improve the quality of teaching and learning for a brighter future of Abyei./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Huy Dung emphasised the importance of a safe internet in the development process in Vietnam on the occasion of World Safer Internet Day 2023 (February 7).

This year’s World Safer Internet Day is themed “Want to talk about it? Making space for safe conversations about life online”.

Statistics show that more than 175,000 children around the world access the internet every day, and they experience both the benefits and risks of using the internet. Equipping children with information safety knowledge when using the internet is a matter of concern in all countries worldwide.

Therefore, World Safer Internet Day aims to promote the safe use of digital technology and create positive effects on children and young people. It conveys a message that young people, parents, teachers, police, and technology companies join hands in coming up with initiatives in order to create a safe internet environment.

According to Deputy Minister Dung, all the people in Vietnam need to use a safe internet environment.

In 2022, Vietnam’s digital technology industry reached a total revenue of about 148 billion USD. The revenue from internet security products and services in 2022 hit about VND 4.85 trillion VND, 26% higher than that of 2021. Domestic information security enterprises have mastered over 95% of information security products and solutions.

Many new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, and virtual reality technology (AR, VR) have been applied to ‘Made in Vietnam’ information security products.

According to Tran Dang Khoa, Deputy Director of the Authority of Information Security under the Ministry of Information and Communications, relevant agencies need to pay attention to and allocate resources to train and foster full-time or part-time staff in information security towards the goal of meeting standard skills of information security human resources.

Nguyen Quang Dong, Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Media Development, stressed the importance of strengthening the promotion of digital safety campaigns. They accomplished this with vivid short clips and infographics in order to popularise digital security safety knowledge and skills to the public and provide guidelines on cyber safety for all people.

World Safer Internet Day was initiated in 1999. By 2004, many countries had joined the initiative to raise public awareness of cyber threats. The day aims to promote joining hands to fight threats from the internet, bringing people around the globe a safer online environment./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency