Day: December 29, 2021

Cold air will linger in the north during the first days of January, with temperatures ranging from 13 to 16 degrees Celsius, according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

Meanwhile, the central region, from Thanh Hoa province to Khanh Hoa province, is expected to witness scattered rains on January 1 and 2, and temperatures from 16 to 30 degrees Celsius.

Temperatures in the Central Highlands would stand at 17-29 degrees Celsius, and in the southern region, at 23-32 degrees Celsius, the centre said.

A strong cold spell hit Vietnam starting December 25, resulting in showers and low temperatures across the northern and central regions.

Snow fell on the top of Fansipan Mountain in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai – the highest peak in Indochina – on December 26.

At present, the temperature continues to decrease, with low and mountainous areas in Lao Cai and the northern and central regions experiencing biting cold.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The southwestern province of Tay Ninh will allow tourists to visit Ba Den Relic Complex without paying entrance fee from January 1 to December 31 next year, according to Truong Van Hung, Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

It is part of the province’s efforts to promote tourism and share difficulties with visitors and enterprises who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since October 16, the province has piloted resuming a tourism route with Ho Chi Minh City in line with the “safe tourism” campaign. However, not many tourists have visited the site due to COVID-19’s impact, he said.

Ba Den (Black Lady) Mountain, which is over 100 km to the northwest of HCM City, is famous for its majestic landscapes and magnificent caves and pagodas and is part of the Nui Ba Relic Complex in Tay Ninh province.

The 24-sq.km complex covers an intricate system of mysterious caves, pagodas, and temples, making it a favourite venue for pilgrims. The Ba Den Mountain Festival in the first lunar month sees pilgrims come and pray for a prosperous and peaceful year ahead.

The Ba Den tourism site has been continually upgraded over recent years. With a cable car system, electric cars, and even a resort, it is now an ideal getaway for visitors.

A two-way cable car ride between the foot of the mountain and Linh Son Thanh Mau Temple, 900 metres above sea level and near the peak, costs 170,000 VND (7.5 USD). It takes 15 minutes each way.

From the cable car, tourists can get a panoramic view of a waterfall under the glistening sun, mysterious caves and the dense forest beneath. They can also trek to the top of the mountain.

The Ba Den tourism site welcomes millions of tourists each year. Ba Den Mountain alone welcomed over 500,000 pilgrims in 2019 and 2020.

The province has unveiled plans to turn the Ba Den national tourist site into a competitive tourism destination. The Ba Den Mount tourism site will spread over nearly 3,000ha in Ninh Son and Ninh Thanh wards and Thanh Tan commune in Tay Ninh city, and parts of Suoi Da and Phan communes in Duong Minh Chau district. There will be separate areas for spiritual-cultural tourism, culture-sport, entertainment, accommodation besides scientific, natural and environmental research.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Permanent Vice Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Tran Thanh Man presented gifts to policy beneficiary families in Long Xuyen city ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) Festival as part of his working trip to An Giang province.

At the meeting with the gift recipients, Man said that the Party and State and people always remember the great contributions of people who rendered services to the nation during the cause of national defence and construction.

He asked the Party Committees, administrations, provincial Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at all levels and organisations of An Giang to focus on ensuring a safe and warm Tet festival for local residents amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

An Giang should continue mobilising resources to care for locals during the Tet Festival, while better implementing social welfare policies and poverty reduction, especially in mountainous and ethnic minority-inhabited areas, he said.

Man also requested local authorities to give stronger support to policy beneficiary families and relatives of wounded veterans and martyrs as well as Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, and poor and COVID-19-hit households.

On behalf of Party, State and NA leaders, Man wished the Party Organisation, administration and people of An Giang a happy Tet Festival and a successful new year.

On the occasion, he also handed over 1 billion VND from the National COVID-19 Vaccine Fund to An Giang for pandemic prevention and control activities.

The same day, Man visited the family of Nguyen Thanh Hoang, a policy beneficiary in Long Xuyen city.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Ho Chi Minh City will improve its public digital infrastructure and allow the private sector to engage in smart tourism solutions and mobilise investment resources for the sector as part of its efforts to develop smart tourism in the 2021-2025 period.

In the period, the city will launch technologies integrated with tourism service information, while building smart tourism apps on mobile devices which provide digital tourism maps and virtual tours and helps visitors plan their trips.

The city will continue to apply QR codes in introducing destinations, expand public wifi connections and build an information and entertainment service provision system – City4U.

Meanwhile, HCM City will build a database on tourism and visitors, while developing a tourism management system and a smart tourism operation centre.

According to Phan Thi Thang, Vice Chairwoman of the municipal People’s Committee, the scheme aims to deal with bottlenecks of the tourism sector and bring better experiences to tourists, while connecting data of relevant sectors serving the analysis and forecast of tourism demand and trend, thus better developing the sector.

She advised local travel firms to build their business strategies in line with the smart tourism orientations of the city, speed up their digital transformation process and share their data.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Agriculture, farmers, and rural areas have made important contributions in various aspects to stabilising macroeconomics, ensuring major balances, sustaining growth, and boosting economic recovery in 2021 when the economy faces serious COVID-19-induced impacts, stated Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at a conference held in Hanoi on December 29.

The conference, run by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, reviewed the operations of the sector in 2021 and kicked off plans set for 2022.

In his speech at the event, Chinh praised the sector for overcoming difficulties and flexibly adapting to challenges from natural disasters, diseases, and supply chain disruptions to meet its yearly targets.

In 2021, the sector saw its added value increasing by 2.9 percent, forest coverage rate reaching 42.02 percent, and export turnover hitting 48.6 billion USD.

The PM also pointed to such shortcomings as development, particularly of marine economy, yet to be on par with potential; inadequate attention to tackling climate change impacts; weak post-harvest processing capacity; undiversified export markets; and a lack of breakthrough policies to attract more investment; among others.

Ordering these issues to be thoroughly addressed, Chinh agreed with the sector’s goals and solutions earmarked for 2022. Accordingly, next year, the sector will strive to achieve a growth rate of 2.8 – 2.9 percent; production value growth rate of 2.9 – 3.0 percent; total export turnover of about 49 billion USD; and forest cover rate of 42 percent.

The PM requested the sector to conduct effective COVID-19 prevention and control, mobilise all resources serving sustainable agricultural development, make prompt supply – demand and market predictions, develop more national products, and boost production capacity, among others.

Chinh highlighted the importance of developing a sustainable maritime economy, having the European Commission (EC)’s “yellow card” removed, and strengthening forest management, protection and development. It is also necessary to focus on digital transformation in agriculture, restructuring the sector toward sustainability, and boosting people’s living standards, he added.

At the conference, on behalf of Party and State leaders, Chinh presented gifts to individuals with outstanding contributions to the agricultural sector and to the overall cause of national construction and defence.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Ten storm-proof houses were handed over to families in the central province of Quang Ngai’s Ly Son island on December 29.

The houses, each equipped with a solar power system, were designed by the provincial Department of Construction in line with criteria set for such building type.

They are part of a project funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam, with beneficiaries being poor and near poor households; families with disabled members; and women living alone with their houses affected by storms.

According to a representative of the UNDP in Vietnam, the storm-proof houses are among the most effective solutions to help Ly Son people reduce risks from natural disasters.

In addition to the building of these solar-powered shelters, more than 680 storm-proof houses were constructed in Quang Ngai with the assistance of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the UNDP in Vietnam, and the Vietnamese Government.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnam – Russia oil and gas joint venture Vietsovpetro aims to exploit over 2.9 million tonnes of oil equivalent and 65.4 million cu.m of natural gas next year, according to the company.

The venture also aims to generate more than 1.3 billion USD in revenue from oil sales and nearly 190 million USD in profit while contributing 679 million USD to the State budget in 2022.

Ending 2021, Vietsovpetro’s oil output exceeded 3.16 million tonnes and natural gas output reached 82.3 million cu.m, surpassing the yearly plan by 5.5 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively.

Its oil and gas sales hit over 1.68 billion USD while profit totalled 282,5 million USD, 50 percent and 73 percent, respectively, higher than the plan. It contributed nearly 922 million USD to the State budget, 317 million USD higher than the goal, or 53.4 percent. Profit for both sides was 282.5 million USD, equal to 173 percent of the set target.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A strengthened protection system and zero tolerance to violence are required to better protect children, said Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative to Vietnam in a statement released on December 29.

In her statement, Flowers said UNICEF expressed its deep sadness and concern over the recent violent death of a young girl at the hands of someone who she should have been able to trust, to protect her. Sadly, the majority of abuse is perpetrated by someone known and trusted by the child. Shrouded in silence, alone. The rising accounts of abuse of children, even greater during COVID-19 lockdowns, signal an urgent need for a strengthened approach.

A strengthened protection system – for women and children is urgently needed in Vietnam – a system that is staffed by trained social workers, not volunteers, not non-trained welfare workers – but qualified professional staff – who can identify, intervene, respond and protect.

“Underpinned by the best interest of the child, by protection of the women– not the perpetrator –a system that works together with trained police, child-friendly judges and courts – and where a zero tolerance to violence is practice by all authorities, in all schools, across coremmunities,” she said.

“And it requires us all to do more, to take a stand to protect those made vulnerable, to raise the awareness of women and children that any form of violence is not acceptable and that reaching out for help to make it stop is essential,” Flowers continued.

She said working with sister agencies, with the support of the Governments who inspire commitment and bring expertise and funding, such as Australia, the EU and others, UNICEF supports the creation of a coordinated protection system, but for this to secure change for the people who need it most, to achieve the levels of awareness, accountability for protection across Vietnam, an injection of Government resources and a revitalised Government commitment is needed to create the kind of protection system that exists in so many countries in this region, and the world.

Source: Vietnam News Agency