Category: General

Hanoi: The Nhan Dan (People) Newspaper in collaboration with IB Group Vietnam debuted a music video titled 'Going Home', a special musical production aimed at popularising Vietnamese tourism. In the music video, viewers can enjoy the skilled sounds of the saxophone played to a familiar tune by Kenny G while being treated to visuals of culturally and historically significant locations in Hanoi and throughout the country, including Long Bien bridge at dawn, Hoan Kiem lake on the year-end days, the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long and the Temple of Literature. Speaking at the event, Editor-in-Chief of the Nhan Dan Newspaper Le Quoc Minh said this was the first time the newspaper has engaged in popularising Vietnamese tourism in a new way that uses music instead of journalism products, a traditional strength of the newspaper. He also presented the music video to leaders of the Hanoi municipal People's Committee, major television stations, travel groups, hotels and aviation companies to spread this special musica l production to a wide audience both at home and abroad. The idea for the music video originated from "Good Morning Vietnam' programme, a joint initiative launched by Nhan Dan and IB Group Vietnam in 2023. All proceeds from the ticket sales were donated to charity./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has asked village elders and chiefs, skilled artisans and reputable citizens to make greater efforts to preserve and promote tangible and intangible cultural heritage, which is the quintessence and core value of the nation. He made the statement while meeting with them in Hanoi on April 19 on the occasion of the 49th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification (April 30), 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory (May 7) and Vietnam Ethnic Groups' Culture Day (April 19). At the event, PM Chinh stressed that the Party and State has paid due regard to and invested big in the development of the culture as well as preservation of traditional culture of ethnic groups, with various standout heritage items being recognised internationally and thousands of ethnic festivals being organised nationwide that help develop tourism into an economic spearhead. He hailed local contributions, especially those by village elders and chiefs, skilled artisans a nd reputable people, to promoting cultural traits and sound customs and traditions, wiping out supertious activities and building the political system at the grass roots level, security order and great national solidarity. 'The 128 village elders and chiefs, skilled artisans and reputable people are prime examples for patriotism, responsibility, aspiration and devotion to the cause of the cultural and national development', he affirmed. He expressed his hope that despite challenges, they will continue mobilising their peoples to promote the patriotic and revolutionary tradition as well as enhance resilience and the great national solidarity to make contributions to building a prosperous nation. He asked the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and competent ministries, sectors and localities to continue raising local awareness of and complete mechanisms for cultural development, while paying attention to the education and training works on traditional culture and encouraging study and creativity in the sector. Besides, he ordered the mobilisation of all resources, particularly public-private cooperation, encourage the enthusiastic engagement of the whole people and business community to branch out the national culture, and promote the organisation of cultural events and festivals to boost locals' pride in the country's heritage items. It is a must to complete the investment of the Cultural village Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism, making it a common house of the 54 ethnic groups, study policies to encourage village elders and chiefs, skilled artisans and prestigious people to effectively carry out the Party and State's great national solidarity policy, bolster digital transformation in cultural development, and enhance international cooperation in preservation and promotion of the traditional cultural values, he highlighted. Briefing the Prime Minister on the difficulties in the preservation work, the village elders and chiefs, skilled artisans and reputable people said they hope t hat the Party and State will pen better policies for those who have significant contributions to handing down traditional cultural values to younger generations./ Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) hosted an array of activities to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory (May 7, 1954 - 2024). On April 19, the agency officially launched a special news website on the event at http://dienbienphu.vnanet.vn with products displayed in various forms, from text to television, infographic, megastory and podcast, and in the three languages of Vietnamese, French and English. The website is expected to give readers as well as domestic and foreign press agencies insights into the Dien Bien Phu Victory, with the highlight being 70 black-and-white and colour photos selected from tens of thousands of file images taken by VNA journalists. Of them, 32 black-and-white photos depict the entire Dien Bien Phu campaign in 1953-1954, and the remainders capture the present Dien Bien Phu which has been given a facelift thanks to the Party and State's attention. In her remarks at the launching ceremony, VNA General Director Vu Viet Trang highlighted efforts by VNA journa lists during the fierce battle 70 years ago, who stood side by side with the frontline forces, on each road or in each trench in the battlefield. Carrying forward the tradition, present VNA journalists are working to overcome many difficulties and challenges to fulfill their roles and missions in the digital era, she stressed. Through the news website, VNA hopes to spread this source of valuable information to the public and promote the spirit of the Dien Bien Phu Victory, Trang said. The same day, the VNA war veterans' association held a talk focusing on the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Moscow: Overseas Vietnamese in Russia on April 18 held a ceremony in Moscow to mark the death anniversary of Hung Kings, the legendary nation founders. The event held at the Hanoi - Moscow multifunctional complex Incentra in the Russian capital saw the participation of representatives of the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia, agencies, associations, and Vietnamese people who are living, working and studying in Moscow. The participants solemnly offered incense and traditional offerings to Hung Kings. Standing Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese People Association in Russia Tran Phu Thuan affirmed that Hung King's Commemoration Day, which falls on the tenth day of the third lunar month or April 18 this year, is a celebration of great importance among Vietnamese citizens, particularly those living abroad as they can together express gratitude to the ancestors and consolidate the national solidarity. The worship of the Hung Kings, closely related to the Vietnamese people's tradition of ancestor worship, was recognised as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2012./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Sydney: The amended Land Law, approved by the National Assembly in January 2024, is expected to exert impacts on the business activities of overseas Vietnamese (OVs), including those in Australia., said a lawyer. Lawyer Do Gia Thang, a founder of Nguyen Do Lawyers, an Australian and Vietnamese law firm based in Melbourne city, pointed to differences between the present law and its revised version, scheduled to be put in place from January 1, 2025, with no distinction between individuals at home and Vietnamese residing abroad in the right to land access. The amended law allows people of Vietnamese origin living in foreign countries to buy houses in Vietnam, he added. Thang, who is also Secretary General of the Vietnamese Business Association in Australia (VBAA), said in the past, OVs only owned houses in their homeland through relatives, which not only affected State management efficiency and but also posed risks to OVs in case of disputes over land use right. Therefore, such legislative changes will facil itate OVs' real estate investment, he said, noting that they also demonstrate the Vietnamese Party's consistent policy of considering OVs an integral part of the nation. Thang forecast that the revised law will help attract remittances to the domestic real estate market, and create investment opportunities for OVs, calling the amended Land Law as a breath of fresh air blown into the national economy. The lawyer suggested the Government and relevant agencies to soon issue decrees and documents guiding the implementation of the new document, review procedures for renewing Vietnamese passports and certificates of Vietnamese origin for overseas Vietnamese, and step up the communications work to popularise the law./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) held an event in Hanoi on April 19 to respond to the World Creativity and Innovation Day (April 21), aiming to enhance public awareness of the role of creativity and innovation in socio-economic development and calling for organisations and individuals to join hands in promoting innovation activities. Through the event, the start of a series of creative and innovation encouragement activities, the ministry also aims to promote the development of the national innovation system with close links between the public sector, manufacturers, investors, and research, education and training facilities. Addressing the event, MoST Minister Huynh Thanh Dat noted that Vietnam has continuously climbed up the Global Innovation Index (GII) from the 59th position in 2016 to the 46th position in 2023. Vietnam has always maintained the second position in the group of lower middle-income countries and is one of the seven middle-income countries that have achieved the most pr ogress in innovation over the past decade, he said. The launch of the Provincial Innovation Index (PII) in 2023 have provided the grounds and evidence on strengths, weaknesses, potential and necessary conditions for the country to promote socio-economic development based on science, technology and innovation of each locality, said the minister. However, Minister Dat said that Vietnam needs to continue improving its creativity and innovation capacity more strongly to increase labour productivity and product quality, protect the environment and strengthen sustainable development. He called for stronger guidance from the Party, Government and National Assembly, stronger cooperation from ministries, sectors, localities as well as the deeper engagement of research institutes, businesses and the whole society in scientific research, technological development and innovation activities. Meanwhile, UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam Pauline Tamesis said that innovation can help speed up the realisation of sustaina ble development goals (SDGs) and the UN 2030 Agenda. She cited the National Report of Vietnam in 2023, which showed that Vietnam had achieved five out of 17 SDGs. She advised Vietnam to speed up this process through innovation and creativity, inspiring activities to promote green technologies and solutions, thus contributing to reducing carbon emissions as well as enhancing environmental sustainability, improving people's lives, and bringing economic opportunities. Tamesis held that Vietnam can achieve its goal of becoming a high-income developed country by 2045. The UN hopes to accompany and support Vietnam during this journey, she stated. On this occasion, the MoST launched a number of activities in response to the World Creativity and Innovation Day, including a National Innovative Entrepreneurship Day 2024 (Techfest 2024), the start of PII 2024, and innovation and startup activities for women. Following the event, a conference on creativity and innovation was held, discussing creativity and innovation situation in businesses in Vietnam, policies and orientations for developing the national innovative startup ecosystem, industry-level innovation measurement tools, and innovation activities and startups./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

New York: A representative of Vietnam has affirmed the youth's commitment to joining hands in climate change response, while attending a plenary session of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum in New York on April 17. Addressing the event, Nguyen Ngoc Luong, Permanent Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCYU) Central Committee and President of the Vietnam Youth Federation (VYF), said climate change is a global issue with increasing impact that requires better awareness and joint action by the whole world to resolve, and the youth have a crucial role to play in this regard to help with sustainable development in the future. He stressed that at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in 2021, Vietnam made a commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. With its role, the HCYU and the VYF always view promoting and mobilising the enormous force of the youth, whose strengths are wisdom, creativity, and enthusiasm, as a focal and strategic task in both short and long terms. The two organisations have worked to improve awareness among the public, including young people, through communication campaigns and training courses, especially the Green Sunday model. Youth clubs, teams, and networks for environmental protection and climate change response have been established from grassroots to central levels. Environmental protection models, ideas, and facilities have also been built and applied such as the 'flood resistant house' model. Young people have also actively engaged in the planting of 1 billion trees during 2021 - 2025, according to the official. Luong stated that the Vietnamese youth are strongly committed to join hands in taking drastic, concrete, and effective action to protect the environment and respond to climate change. He also called for cooperation and mutual assistance among organisations and individuals to together build a world of sustainable development in the future. In his opening remarks at the forum, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the en ergy and conviction of young people are widespread and have become more vital than ever. He appealed to young people to be on the frontlines for bold climate actions, deliver solutions, and create a world of peace and prosperity for all. The ECOSOC Youth Forum, taking place from April 14 to 22, provides a global platform for dialogue between UN member states and young leaders from across the globe to search solutions to the challenges affecting youth welfare. It also gathers young people to share recommendations and innovative ideas in regional-focused discussions and in preparation for the Summit of the Future, to be held under the auspices of the General Assembly this September./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Chachoengsao, Minister Thammanat orders urgently to set up a Ministry of Education headquarters. Accelerate surveys and help farmers who are experiencing problems with salt water invading the Chachoengsao-Samut Prakan area. Captain Thammanat Phromphao, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, traveled to follow up on solving the problem of saltwater intrusion into the Prawet Burirom Canal. In the area of ??Tha Tuan Pumping Station and Phraya Wisut Pumping Station. Chachoengsao Province By urgently ordering the establishment of a command center for the Ministry of Agriculture. To solve the problem of salt water in Prawet Burirom Canal as an emergency. By driving integrated operations between agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture. and related agencies within the province To solve problems thoroughly and directly At present, the Ministry of Agriculture through the Royal Irrigation Department has solved this problem by installing water pumps and water boosters at various points. To speed up the drainage o f saltwater from Prawet Canal. and branch canals continuously flowing out into the Bang Pakong River Including transporting water from the upper area to help dilute the saltwater in another way. This is for all agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Accelerate the survey of damages to farmers affected in both crops and fisheries in order to help people and farmers survive this crisis as quickly as possible. In addition, water trucks must be mobilized to distribute water for consumption. To help areas that have suffered from the village water supply system being unable to continuously pump water from canals to produce tap water. until the situation is resolved Including preparing a plan to solve the problem of polluted water that may occur in the future. Source: Thai News Agency