Day: September 13, 2021

The People’s Committee of the central province of Thua Thien-Hue has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in smart city development with the Korea Land and Housing Corp.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Phuong and Director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment Nguyen Dai Vui represented the Vietnamese locality at the online signing ceremony on September 10. Meanwhile, General Director of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation Kim Hyun-jun was representative of the firm.

Under the MoU, the two sides will establish cooperation in developing strategy and policy, master planning, and smart city development, focusing on implementing researches on urban development and Chan May – Lang Co economic zone, and other urban works, which are managed by the provincial People’s Committee, towards turning the locality into a typical smart city of Vietnam.

After the signing ceremony, webinars and meetings to discuss and share necessary information in order to prepare plans and strategies for applying models and projects related to smart city development being implemented in Thua Thien-Hue will be organised.

The two sides will also cooperate in promoting projects on a communication smart urban area in An Van Duong new urban area, two industrial parks in the Chan May – Lang Co economic zone and a pilot smart urban area in the Vietnamese locality, and work together on research and development projects.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

After two years of “freezing”, the Phu Quoc island city in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang is expected to be first destination in the country to receive foreign tourists after the Government approved the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’ proposal on a pilot plan to welcome tourists back under the vaccine passport programme.

Under the plan, visitors from countries with high safety in COVID-19 prevention and control in regions such as Northeast Asia, Europe, the US, the Middle East, and Australia will need to book package tours of travel agencies if they want to go to Phu Quoc.

To enter the country, visitors must meet certain requirements including a certificate of full vaccination or recovery from COVID-19 not more than 12 months from the date of their release from hospital to the date of entry. They also have to present a negative COVID-19 testing certificate issued by authorised agencies within 72 hours before departure.

Children under 12 years old have to travel with their parents or guardians that satisfy the above-mentioned papers.

Visitors are also required to install the Vietnam Safe Travel or the Healthy Vietnam apps and make a medical declaration through those apps. In case visitors do not meet all the necessary requirements, they may be denied entry and bear the cost of returning to their home country or transit.

After arriving in the country, visitors must comply with the Health Ministry’s 5K message – khau trang (face masks), khu khuan (disinfection), khoang cach (distancing), khong tu tap (no gatherings), and khai bao y te (health declarations).

Any tourists who have suspicion symptoms forCOVID-19 at the entry point should follow quarantine measures, and always turn on bluetooth and GPS after installing medical declaration applications.

Visitors have to travel on their designated cars in line with the approved schedule. Service staff, drivers, guides and tourists are required to wear masks throughout the journey.

Under the tourism sector’s plan, Phu Quoc will receive tourists for six months in two phases on a trial basis, starting from October. In the first phase, lasting three months, the island is expected to welcome 3,000-5,000 international visitors per month via charter flights, with visitors’ activities limited to certain sites.

Depending on the outcome of the first phase, the pilot programme would be scaled up to welcome 5,000-10,000 passengers per month on commercial flights, and the sites opened to foreign visitors might be extended.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnamese Embassy in Belgium participated in the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB)’s 11th Manifesta (solidarity) festival in the Belgian western province of Ostend from September 11-12 with one booth introducing the country’s cuisine, culture and tourism.

Publications introducing Vietnamese tourism such as Vietnam Pictorial and Le Courrier du Vietnam were also available at the Vietnamese stall.

Herman Dereymaeker, a member of the PTB, expressed his impression about Vietnamese tourism, land and people.

At the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Belgium Nguyen Van Thao held meetings with PTB leaders to brief them on socio-economic achievements that Vietnam has gained over the years as well as the fruitful outcomes of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue’s freshly-ended Europe trip, which has contributed to accelerating relations between Vietnam and the EU and Belgium in particular.

Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent in Belgium, Deputy Ambassador to Belgium Le Vinh Thang said that the festival is a chance for the embassy to promote the image of the Vietnamese nation and people to foreign friends, while introducing Vietnam’s achievements in international integration and exchanging experience in workers’ movements, social welfare policies and the protection of workers’ interests.

Various activities were held within the festival’s framework, including music concerts, seminars, discussions and book fairs.

Well-known speakers of Belgium and other countries highlighted issues related to the history of Belgium’s communist movement, world peace, the health crisis caused by COVID-19, and the solidarity of the working class all over the world.

Manifesta is one of the first outdoor mass gatherings in Belgium as part of the country’s roadmap to remove restrictions to prevent COVID-19 spreading that started on September 1.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

More than 10,000 volunteers nationwide have registered through website http://chongdich.doanthanhnien.vn to participate in the COVID-19 prevention and control work in the southern region, according to the central committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union.

The number has doubled the original estimate of 5,000 volunteers.

Of the more than 10,000 registered volunteers, nearly 8,000 are from the healthcare sector. More than 60 percent of volunteers have participated in COVID-19 prevention and control activities held by local administrations, agencies or in other provinces and cities.

The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union will coordinate with the Health Ministry to ensure that the volunteers will receive at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine and training in necessary health care knowledge and skills before they are sent to the pandemic hotspots.

On September 10, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union coordinated with Hanoi Medical University to organise the first online training for volunteers on safety for medical workers in the COVID-19 fight.

The activities are part of the union’s Central Committee’s plan to send volunteers to help southern localities in COVID-19 prevention and control efforts.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Hanoi People’s Committee has just submitted a report to the municipal People’s Council for approving in principal a project to upgrade and rebuild old apartment buildings in the capital city.

According to the municipal People’s Committee, only 19 projects to upgrade and re-build old apartment buildings in Hanoi (or 1.2 percent of the total), have been completed and put into use. Meanwhile, 14 others are being implemented.

It attributed the slow progress to different difficulties.

In order to remove difficulties, in December 2019, the municipal People’s Committee established a team of experts, and assigned the city’s Department of Construction to be responsible for researching and proposing mechanisms and policies, and developing a project to renovate and rebuild old apartment buildings.

On April 20, 2021, the municipal Party Committee issued Decision No. 947-QD/TU on establishing a steering committee for renovating old apartment buildings in the city.

The municipal People’s Committee and the steering committee have met to consider and give opinions on a draft project on renovating and rebuilding old apartment buildings in Hanoi.

The project is expected to be considered and approved in principle at the 2nd meeting of the municipal People’s Council on September 14-15. This will be basis for the Hanoi People’s Committee to conduct next relevant steps.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Nhan Dan (People’s) Newspaper introduced Vietnam’s culture and cuisine at the 86th Fête de L’Humanité, an annual festival of French newspaper L’Humanité, held from September 10-12 in La Courneuve park in the suburbs of Paris.

The Fête de l’Humanité is considered a festival of the communist and left-wing movements across France and around the world, attracting the participation of tens of communist and left-wing parties from many countries. This year, the festival attracted around 40,000 visitors a day, down 70 percent compared to the previous edition due to impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is not only an important political event of France but also a festival of French people, especially the youth, as it provides a platform for participants to introduce their countries’ culture, tourism and cuisine.

In the Vietnam booth, along with photos on President Ho Chi Minh and photos featuring the beauty of the Vietnamese country and people, there were also Vietnamese press publications such as Nhan Dan newspaper, Vietnam Pictorial, and Le Courrier du Vietnam and books of the World Publishing House and the Su That (Truth) National Political Publishing House.

There was always a long queue of visitors at the booth who patiently waited for their turn to taste Vietnamese food such as spring rolls, beef vermicelli and fried rice.

On this occasion, Collectif Vietnam Dioxine also colllected signatures by visitors to support the fight for justice for Agent Orange victims in Vietnam.

Visiting the Vietnam booth, Director of L’Humanite, Patrick Le Hyaric, hailed the participation of Nhan Dan Newspaper in the festival.

He affirmed that the newspaper’s presence would help promote the image of Vietnam to international friends.

Source: Vietnam News Agency