Day: September 17, 2021

The South East Asian Games Federation (SEAGF) Office held a virtual meeting on September 17, with the participation of representatives of 11 national Olympic Committees and members of the SEAGF Office.

The event was to adopt a minute of the meeting held on July 8 which updated COVID-19 situation in each country, and preparations for the 31st and 32nd edition of SEA Games in Vietnam and Cambodia, respectively, along with the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games hosted by Thailand in 2022.

It also gathered opinions on the Joint Statement of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Sports, which aims to improve athletes’ performance and achievements at regional and international competitions.

At the meeting, Deputy General Director of the Vietnam Sports Administration Tran Duc Phan said the Vietnamese Government has basically approved the postponement of the SEA Games 31 until the second quarter of 2022. The Vietnamese side will soon inform other countries of its plan, he added.

As originally planned, SEA Games 31 and the 11th ASEAN Para Games would take place from November 21 to December 2 in Vietnam this year.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The ancient port city of Hoi An in the central province of Quang Nam has entered the Top 15 cities in Asia selected by Travel Leisure’s World’s Best Awards 2021.

Hoi An was placed at the 13th position with total scores of 86.98. The ancient city is a heaven for photography and cuisine lovers. In 1999, the small city was recognised by the UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage site. It has been honoured by Travel Leisure many times in its list of world top cities in 2019, 10 best cities in Asia in 2018, and 50 best cities to visit in 2019. This year, Udaipur city of India leads the list, which also includes Mumbai (India), Luang Prabang (Laos), Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka (Japan)), and Seoul (the Republic of Korea).

This year’s World’s Best Awards survey was open for voting January 11 through May 10, 2021, as destinations around the world were gradually lifting COVID-19 restrictions. The cities’ rating is based on travellers’ assessment on sights and landmarks, culture, cuisine, friendliness, shopping, and overall value.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnamese Consulate General in Fukuoka city, in the Japanese prefecture of the same name, raised a total of 7.65 million JPY (69,600 USD) from August 21 to September 15, in support of Vietnam’s national COVID-19 vaccine fund.

Speaking at an event to summarize the fundraising campaign on September 16, Consul General Vu Binh thanked the support and contributions of the Vietnamese community as well as Japanese and international friends and partners.

Two members of the House of Representatives Tomioka Tsutomu, and Oniki Makoto sent greetings to the event, expressing sympathy over current difficulties facing the Vietnamese Government and people.

Tomioka, who is head of the Nagasaki-Vietnam Friendship Association, affirmed that Nagasaki people will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Vietnamese people in the fight against the pandemic to soon restore exchange activities.

Oniki praised those who engaged in the fundraising drive and expressed his belief that the donations will be useful for Vietnam’s pandemic response.

The Consulate General plans to cooperate with Vietnamese organisations and associations in the region to organize the second fundraising campaign.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam Airlines’ flight VN5656 carrying medical equipment donated by Singapore’s Temasek Foundation safely landed at Van Don airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh on September 17.

Carried by wide-body and modern Airbus A350 free-of-charge, the batch comprises ventilators, protective suits, gloves, safety glasses and N95 masks which are necessary for hospitals and medical establishments in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

They were promptly sent to hospitals to strengthen resources for the effort.

Since early 2021, the national flag carrier has carried nearly 10,000 medical staff and hundreds of tonnes of medical equipment to cities and provinces nationwide to fight the pandemic.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on September 16 sent a letter to constituents in Ho Chi Minh City as he could not go to the city for inspection mission as a National Assembly deputy due to his planned working schedule.

In his letter, the President shared the local people’s loss of health and lives and expressed his deep sympathy for their difficulties and damage as they have had to comply with the lockdown and social distancing regulations. The developments of the pandemic are still complicated, but President Phuc believed that it will soon be controlled and people’s lives will soon return to new normal.

He recommended the municipal Party Organisation, administration, constituents, and people continue upholding the spirit of solidarity and closeness between the administration and the people; and better promoting the role of the community, grassroots authorities, and mass organisations in the grassroots political system in taking care of people’s social security.

President Phuc emphasised that the administration’s biggest “treasure” is the people’s trust. Therefore, it is necessary to have many channels and ways to listen to their opinions, thoughts and aspirations, and to respond at the highest and most timely levels to the needs of the people with the view of “leaving no one behind in the pandemic”.The President suggested that the Government, ministries, sectors and HCM City’s administration should continue to have more worthy treatment and recognition for medical workers and doctors who stand on the frontline against the pandemic.

The city’s success in the fight against the pandemic will lay a foundation for the entire nation’s, President Phuc wrote, urging the maintenance of belief in the Vietnamese spirit and in a bright future as the country will certainly push back the pandemic and bring back a peaceful life to the people.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Committee in Hanoi on September 17 received more than 182 billion VND (nearly 8 million USD) in cash and kind donated by localities, enterprises and individuals to support the capital city’s COVID-19 fight.

The T&T Group presented 1 million RT-PCR test kits worth 6 million EUR.

The assistance is hoped to increase Hanoi’s testing capacity in an effort to promptly detect and “filter out” COVID-19 cases from the community, and bring COVID-19 under control, said Deputy General Director of T&T Group Nguyen Tat Thang.

Meanwhile, people and officials of Hanoi’s outlying district of Me Linh donated 20.6 billion VND for the COVID-19 vaccine fund of the city.

Receiving the aid, Chairwoman of the city’s VFF Committee Nguyen Lan Huong pledged that the donations will be distributed in a transparent and efficient manner, contributing to curbing the spread of the pandemic in the capital.

On the same day, a delegation of the Hanoi’s VFF Committee led by Huong visited and handed over aid packages to a group of disadvantaged builders residing in Tay Ho district.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s upcoming attendance in the 76th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 76) shows Vietnam’s strong sense of responsibility and commitment as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) over the last two years, Vietnamese Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy told Vietnam News Agency.

President Phuc is scheduled to attend the high-level General Debate of the UN General Assembly’s 76th session and three high-level meetings on global food security system, climate security and response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and meet with a number of heads of state and partners from the US, the diplomat revealed.

As the trip takes place amid the complex resurgence of the COVID-19 globally, it carries a very special meaning, the ambassador said, adding that it shows how Vietnam takes its responsibility very seriously and is strongly committed as a non-permanent member of the UNSC for the 2020 – 2021 term.

The meetings are expected to accelerate response to the pandemic, deal with its consequences and promote post-pandemic economic recovery, he continued. It also provides the president a chance to discuss with other heads of state about the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

He moved on to say that Vietnam has been highly regarded by the international community for its work in the UNSC and UN at large and the imprints it has left after accomplishing its role as President of the UNSC in January 2020 and April 2021.

Many countries held that Vietnam has fulfilled its commitments to the UNSC, foster the rule of law and enhance the role of the UN Charter and international laws, he noted, adding that one of Vietnam’s successes as President of the UNSC was to have the Resolution on protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population adopted. It was the first UN resolution initiated by Vietnam.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s upcoming official visit to Cuba will affirm the continuity of fraternal solidarity, comprehensive cooperation and mutual absolute trust between the two Parties, States and people over the past more than six decades, said Vietnamese Ambassador to Cuba Le Thanh Tung.

Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s correspondent in Havana, Tung stressed that the visit, scheduled to take place from September 18-20, will be the first high-level visit between the two countries since the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the 8th National Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba. This will be the first time that Cuba welcomes a foreign head of state since COVID-19 broke out in the country in early 2020, he noted, stressing that this manifests the special solidarity between Vietnam and Cuba.

The diplomat held that the close ties between the two countries have been shown during the fight against COVID-19 pandemic. Right since the beginning of the outbreak in 2020, Vietnam and Cuba have offered gifts and relief aid to each other, he noted.

Right after gaining initial positive results in COVID-19 vaccine research, Cuba showed its willingness to cooperate with and support Vietnam in the pandemic combat in specific aspects such as vaccine provision, technology transfer and collaboration in research, production and use of vaccines for children as well as manufacturing COVID-19 treatment medicine. Regarding bilateral economic ties the area that has received great attention from Party and State leaders of both nations, Tung said that during President Phuc’s visit, the two sides are expected to sign a joint Plan of Action to implement the bilateral economic cooperation agenda in the 2021-2025 period, which covers cooperation in more than 10 fields from trade, investment, energy, and tourism infrastructure to science – technology, and health care as well as other fields, along with many agreements in economy, trade and investment.

Vietnam has been the second biggest trade partner and the largest investor of Cuba in the Asia-Oceania region.

The ambassador expressed his belief that during the visit, more Vietnamese enterprises will pour investments in Cuba to optimise the strength of each country and the supplements of the two economies, especially in energy, construction materials and consumer goods production, and tourism infrastructure.

Source: Vietnam News Agency