Day: January 3, 2022

Hanoi will set off fireworks at both high-altitude and low-altitude from only one location – the Thong Nhat Park in Hai Ba Trung district – on the upcoming Lunar New Year’s Eve, according to a plan recently issued by the municipal People’s Committee.

Cost for the 15-minute firework display will be contributed by businesses.

The city has assigned relevant departments and agencies to make preparations for the fireworks to ensure utmost safety and security.

This will be the second year in a row that the capital city will set off fireworks at just one location due to the complicated development of COVID-19 pandemic.

On previous Lunar New Year’s Eves, fireworks shows were organised in all 30 districts and towns of the city.

Earlier, the capital city canceled all outdoor activities for Solar New Year’s eve, including countdown events and firework displays amid a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Sa Pa township – a famous tourist destination in the northern province of Lao Cai welcomed 17,346 visitors during the three-day solar New Year holiday (January 1-3), according to head of the Culture-Information Office of the township Hoang Thi Vuong.

Vuong said that revenue from tourism activities during the holidays reached 46 billion VND (2.01 million USD), up over 7.8 billion VND (341,281 USD) compared to the Christmas holidays (December 24-26).

Although the number of tourists was equivalent to only 30 percent of that in the same time last year, the results showed signs of recovery of Sa Pa tourism after a tough year due to impacts of COVID-19, she said.

As part of efforts to promote the “Lao Cai-Safe Destination” trademark, local authorities and businesses have applied effective measures to ensure epidemic and transport safety, environmental sanitation and food safety for tourists.

Alongside, local travel firms have offered various promotion programmes to attract tourists. On average, Sa Pa welcomed about 4,000 – 5,000 visitors each day, with many hotels fully booked during weekends.

Sa Pa has long been among the country’s leading destinations. Of note, young people accounted for more than 70 percent of tourist arrivals to the town last year.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vocational training development will be boosted to meet the diverse demands of the labour market and the higher requirements in human resources quality for national growth in the new period under a new Vocational Training Development Strategy in the 2021-2030 period with a vision to 2045, which has just received approval.

Under the scheme, in 2025, the scale and structure of the sector is expected to meet demand for socio-economic recovery and development, with some training facilities meeting the standards of top four ASEAN countries. The ratio of trained labourers with certicates is hoped to reach 30 percent of the workforce in 2025 and 35-40 percent in 2030.

In 2025, about 40-45 percent of high school graduates are expected to take up vocational training. Meanwhile, the proportion of labourers acquiring IT skills in thte workforce is hoped to reach 80 percent. The figure is expected to hit 90 percent in 2030.

From now to 2030, the country will focus on enhancing the quality and efficiency of vocational training to meet the demand for skilled labourers for modern industrial production, while actively engaging in the international human resources training market.

To this end, the strategy outlines eight groups of main tasks and solutions, focusing on speeding up digital transformation, modernising training equipment and reforming training curricula and method, along with enhancing the quality of trainers, lecturers and management officials in the vocational training sector.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The first extraordinary session of the 15th National Assembly (NA) will open in Hanoi on January 4, the 15th NA announced on January 3.

The session will be held via videoconference linking 62 NA deputy delegations from all localities across the country, except for Hanoi deputies who will attend the session from the NA Hall.

Prior to the opening of the session, leaders of the Party, State, Vietnam Fatherland Front and NA deputies attending the session in Hanoi will pay tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at the late leader’s mausoleum.

A preparatory session will take place at 8am the same day, during which participants will discuss and approve the agenda of the extraordinary session.

At 9am, the first extraordinary session of the 15th NA will officially open at Dien Hong Hall of the NA Building.

The opening of the session will be broadcast live on channels VOV1 of the national radio broadcaster The Voice of Vietnam, VTV1 of the Vietnam Television Channel 1 (VTV1), and the Vietnam NA Television.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Sixty four traffic accidents took place nationwide during the three-day solar New Year holiday (January 1-3), causing 38 deaths, according to the Ministry of Public Security’s Traffic Police Department.

Of the total, 63 accidents happened on the country’s roads, claiming 37 lives and injuring 35 others, down three cases and two deaths compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, one person died in one railway accident.

During the three-day holiday, traffic police officers across the country handled a total of 19,285 traffic law violations and gave fines worth 22.65 billion VND (991,000 USD)

Source: Vietnam News Agency