Day: February 4, 2022

Co Loa now is serving as not only a cultural relic and evidence of ancient Vietnamese’ creativeness and technical level, but also an ideal destination for visitors.

Not only associated to the Vietnamese nation’s legends like the selection of the capital by King An Duong Vuong, the creation of a multiple-shot crossbow or a moving love, Co Loa Ancient Citadel is a unique tourist attraction of Hanoi.

Described as the largest ancient citadel in Vietnam, Co Loa historical relic covers about 500 ha, built at an order by King An Duong Vuong in the third century BC as the capital of the then Au Lac (now Vietnam), in Hanoi’s outlying district of Dong Anh.

Legend has it that the citadel consists of nine spirals, hence the ancient name of Snail Citadel. Under the ravage of time and wars, there are currently only three spirals with ancient traces.

The perimeter of the outer spiral measures 8 km with tall walls, from 4 to 5 m or even 8 to 12 m at some places, and moats. Meanwhile, the middle spiral’s perimeter is about 6.5 km, built in a similar way like the outer but stronger; and the inner covers about 2 sq. km serving as residence of the royal court.

The citadel takes various names like Loa (Snail) Thanh, Con Lon Thanh, Tu Long Thanh, Cuu Thanh, Viet Vuong Thanh, Kha Lu Thanh and Co Loa Thanh. In the 10th century, it became the capital for the second time when Ngo Quyen was the king of the country.

The Co Loa relic complex now houses many historical, architectural and art relics like the upper shrine dedicated to King An Duong Vuong, the one to Warrior Cao Lo, and the one to Princess My Chau; and the Bao Son Pagoda. Insides those constructions, visitors can have a look at objects excavated in the citadel, including bronze statues and arrows, and sophisticatedly decorated earthenware and stone utensils.

Not only a cultural heritage, Co Loa Ancient Citadel these days is standing as evidence of the creativeness, culture and the technical levels of the ancient Vietnamese in the national defence against foreign aggression. Besides, it is also serving as an ideal destination for visitors from all corners of the country who wish to have a deeper look into cultural values and familiar images of a peaceful northern village. For local villagers, Co Loa Ancient Citadel still holds an important role in their spiritual life and cultural activities.

Every year, on the sixth day of the first lunar month, Co Loa villagers hold a solemn festival to commemorate the constructors of the citadel and to express gratitude to King An Duong Vuong, the founder of the Au Lac feudal state.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The century-old ancient tea gardens in Cam Lo district, the central province of Quang Tri, have significantly contributed to the promotion of tourism and economic development in the locality.

Visiting Cua and getting lost in the ancient, tall and green tea gardens feels like being lost in a fairy land. Sturdy, mossy tea trees have witnessed many of the great historical moments of this land.

Cua is a basalt red land in Cam Lo district. It covers Cam Nghia and Cam Chinh communes. There are still many old tea gardens here, aged between 70 and 100 years old. Many trees were planted more than 150 years ago.

This land is home to tens of hectares of rubber and pepper. However, when industrial crops were not yet developed here, the green tea is the most important crop and creates significant income for local residents.

For a long time, ancient tea gardens have been a pride of locals.

Hoang Thi Thoai’s in Mai Trung village is one of the households with many of the oldest tea trees in Cam Chinh commune. Her family’s garden now has over 100 ancient tea trees aged more than 100 years and hundreds of decade-old ones. Her family earns about 30 million VND (more than 1,300 USD) from the tea garden per year on average.

With its fragrance and deep taste, this tea is very popular among Quang Tri people.

The ancient tea tree seems to have been born for this land. This variety has been cultivated in many places but it finds it difficult to thrive.

The trees here rarely need to be fertilised or irrigated, but they still grow up to be strong, solid and full of vitality.

In Cam Chinh commune, there are more than 100 households that cultivate ancient tea trees, with many of those owning hundreds of tea trees aged over 100 years.

To harvest leaves from these ancient tea trees, it is necessary to climb a ladder as each tree has a height of up to 10m and a diameter of 30-40cm.

For Cua villagers, ancient tea trees not only bring economic profit but also represent the resilient will of local people. A cup of fresh tea is indispensable to the daily life of local people.

Each kilogramme of fresh tea leaves is sold for 4,000-6,000 VND.

In recent years, local authorities and villagers have intensified efforts to preserve the ancient tea trees in the area.

The 80-year-old Nguyen Thi Tien in Mai Trung village, Cam Chinh commune, said her family’s trees are over 120 years old. Many people have offered to buy them at the price of 7-10 million VND per tree but Tien always shakes her head as she considers the trees her family members who have witnessed all their joyful and sorrowful moments.

Today, many new tea areas can be seen alongside ancient orchards.

Secretary of the Party Committee of Cam Chinh commune Nguyen Thanh Lam emphasised the role of the tea trees in tourism and economic development of the locality, saying that the local administration has called on locals to pay special attention to preserving ancient tea gardens as well as maintaining the quality of the trees.

The locality has planned to develop spiritual tourism programmes and the brand “Cua tea”, as well as make the most of the strengths of local agricultural products and services, he said.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

About 65,500 tourists visited the south-central province of Khanh Hoa, home to famous beach cities of Nha Trang and Cam Ranh, on the first five days of the Lunar New Year holiday (January 31-February 4).

The provincial Department of Tourism said Khanh Hoa earned some 233 billion VND (10.28 million USD) from tourists during the period.

Apart from cultural and art activities held by local authorities, travel firms have offered various programmes and products to attract holidaymakers.

Competent agencies have regularly asked the businesses to seriously observe COVID-19 prevention and control regulations and limit mass gatherings.

During the period, Cam Ranh International Airport welcomed about 29 domestic flights each day and one international flight.

Khanh Hoa on November 25, 2021 welcomed the first international tourists with vaccine passports after a long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is among localities selected to roll out the pilot “vaccine passport” programme, which is divided into three phases, starting from last November.

In the first phase, designated places and tourism facilities in the selected localities could receive foreign tourists within package tourism programmes arriving via either charter flights or international commercial flights.

In the second phase that took effect from January 2022, the scale of the pilot plan will be expanded by connecting destinations through regular charter and international commercial flights.

Vietnam’s tourism market will fully open to international tourists in the last phase, the starting time of which will be based on the contemporary pandemic situation on the evaluation of the two previous phases.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Executive Board of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has approved the 10th Country Programme for Vietnam in the amount of 26.5 million USD to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030.

The programme targets those at risk of being left behind, including women and girls, adolescents and youth, older persons, ethnic minorities, migrant workers, people with disabilities, and survivors of gender-based violence.

Under the programme, UNFPA commits to supporting the implementation of the National Plan of Action for the Vietnam’s Sustainable Goals for the Decade of Action and the new Socio-Economic Development Plan (2021-2026) under the Socio-Economic Development Strategy (2021-2030) framework, both of which place focused attention to population dynamics and population issues.

The 10th Country Programme was developed, following extensive consultations with the Vietnamese Government and other national and international stakeholders. It is in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Vietnam to fulfil the transformative promise of “Leaving no one behind” by directly contributing to two areas: inclusive social development, and governance and access to justice, thus reducing inequalities and vulnerabilities.

Naomi Kitahara, UNFPA Representative for Vietnam, highlighted the significance of the 10th cycle of UNFPA’s work in Vietnam.

“Building on the successes of the previous country programmes, UNFPA’s interventions and initiatives in the next five years will aim at achieving the transformative results of the UNFPA’s corporate strategic plan, towards Vietnam with zero preventable maternal death, zero unmet need for family planning, and zero gender-based violence and other harmful practices against women and girls. Rights-based, gender-sensitive, and people-centred approaches will be used, and interventions in relation to humanitarian preparedness and response in light of climate change will be mainstreamed across all programmatic intervention areas,” she said.

The new UNFPA Country Programme has been designed to achieve specific results.

For adolescents and youth, the enabling environment is created to support comprehensive youth development and participation, including in disaster management policies and programmes and to advance the ICPD Programme of Action.

Regarding population aging and social protection, a coherent and inclusive social protection system is enhanced, applying life-cycle and gender-transformative approach for ageing and meeting the individual needs of the most vulnerable groups.

For equitable access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, vulnerable groups including ethnic minorities, adolescents and youth, PWDs, and migrant workers have increased equitable access to comprehensive and gender-transformative SRHR information and services, including in the humanitarian-development nexus.

For data and evidence for policy and programme making, evidence-based and rights-based policy and programme making, budgeting and monitoring are strengthened based on data production, analysis and use.

In terms of gender-based violence and harmful practices, harmful attitudes that accept violence and perpetuate gender inequality especially those of young people are transformed to reduce GBV and other harmful practices including in the humanitarian-development nexus.

To achieve these results, UNFPA will partner with the Government, national institutions and CSOs fully in line with the principles of national ownership and mutual accountability.

UNFPA and the Government of Vietnam, through the Ministry of Planning and Investment as the Government coordinating agency, will be jointly accountable for the management of the programme, and will plan, monitor and evaluate programme implementation using the results-based management approach.

In terms of UNFPA’s humanitarian support to Vietnam, UNFPA will focus on the provision of integrated sexual and reproductive health care, the prevention and response to gender-based violence, and support for the elderly population groups. The rights and choices of women and girls, young people and older persons affected by humanitarian crises will be prioritised, leaving no one behind.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

It is inevitable to utilise scientific and technological advances in linking sectors, regions, institutions and schools with businesses amid complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The national innovation system has been kickstarted with businesses playing the central role. However, Vietnam has yet to be fully ready for the fourth Industrial Revolution.

The year 2021 witnessed the marked developments of digital transformation and e-government, as well as the formation of a digital ecology connecting administrations with businesses and people, and the birth of a new generation of enterprises that run knowledge-based business.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Le Xuan Dinh said apart from pressures, the pandemic has presented opportunities for the application of scientific and technological advances and innovation.

Vietnam’s innovation startup ecology is developing strongly, creating the new generation of enterprises that are able to access the global market, he added.

The National Innovative Entrepreneurship Day (Techfest Vietnam 2021) lasted from September to December in both online and in-person formats, with 120 events.

Over 350 startups registered for the programme which featured 997 booths and 711 products. Some 100 investors wanted to pour 15 million USD in Vietnamese startups.

Along with the national startup portal, which is operating effectively, 13 cities and provinces have launched their own startup portals.

The Ministry of Science and Technology has also established a Hanoi-based centre to support innovation startups and is working to form a network of such centres in Hanoi, Da Nang and HCM City.

Vietnam ranked 44th out of 132 economies in the Global Innovation Index 2021 (GII 2021) which was announced by the United Nations’ World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Dinh said.

Its international publications also increased 2.5 percent from 2020 to reach 18,510 publications last year, which demonstrates the country’s efforts in scientific and technological research and innovation.

According to the Deputy Minister, Vietnam earmarked a record of over 1.3 billion USD for innovation startups despite the pandemic.

Startup initiatives need support of research institutes, universities, experts and scientists so that research results would be brought to life, Dinh stressed.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc has sent a letter to General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and President of China Xi Jinping, wishing the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics a complete success and extending Lunar New Year greetings to the Chinese people.

Noting that the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics are the biggest international sporting event of this year, President Phuc wrote Beijing will be the first city in the world to successfully host both the Summer and Winter Olympics in 2008 and 2022.

He said the Olympic flame lit at the National Stadium in Beijing will be a symbol of the sports spirit transcending national boundaries, which embodies the strong will and unity of mankind and inspires confidence in building a peaceful and prosperous world.

As a friendly neighbour and comprehensive strategic cooperative partner of China, Vietnam and its people fully support and firmly believe that China will successfully hold the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, President Phuc wrote.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong offered incense in tribute to late kings and talented persons who had made contributions to the nation at Kinh Thien Palace in Thang Long Imperial Citadel in Hanoi on February 4, the fourth day of the Lunar New Year.

The Party leader affirmed the resolve to uphold Vietnamese traditional values and strengthen the great national unity bloc to build a nation of wealth, democracy, equality and civilisation.

Talking with the staff of the relic site, he urged them to work harder to preserve and promote values of the UNESCO-recognised citadel to international friends and contribute to educating young generations about national traditions.

The Thang Long Imperial Citadel, which was placed on the UNESCO list in August 2010, was a power centre for over a thousand years of Vietnamese history and unique evidence of Vietnamese civilisation during the development of monarchies in Southeast Asia and East Asia.

Kinh Thien Palace is the main building in the central sector of the citadel, which is located in what is today downtown Hanoi. It sits in the centre of the complex, facing Doan Mon (south gate) and Flag Tower.

The palace was built in 1428 and is believed to be of the highest importance, hosting many royal ceremonies. It was also the place wher eroyals were invited to discuss national issues.

It was almost destroyed at the end of the 19th century by the French colonialists, however, and all that remains today is a 100-cm-high banister to the south of the plot and several large stone steps with dragon carvings.

Source: Vietnam News Agency