Month: February 2022

Educational technology (edtech) startups in Vietnam have drawn many domestic and foreign venture capital funds thanks to their high development potential.

CoderSchool, a startup providing online training in programming, has recently announced that it has raised 2.6 million USD in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Monk’s Hill Ventures.

Earlier, English learning app ELSA successfully called for 15 million USD at the Series B round co-led by Vietnam Investments Group and SIG.

Revealing the reasons to invest in Vietnamese edtech, Justin Nguyen, Director of Monk’s Hill Ventures highlighted that Vietnam is an attractive market with a fast growing young middle-income class where education receives great attention, and great efforts are being taken by the Government to draw investment in the sector. These are factors making its edtech market attractive to investors, he said.

He noted that since 2008, the Vietnamese Government has spent 15-20 percent of public investment on education, one of the highest levels in the world and only after Malaysia in the Southeast Asian region. Therefore, although the country’s edtech market is still young, it is vibrant with startup founders looking to tap unexploited opportunities through renovation to improve learning efficiency, he said.

According to Le Hoang Uyen Vy, CEO of Do Ventures that has invested in online learning platforms of Vuihoc and Manabie, the online learning market of Vietnam boasts huge potential with more than 23 million students, rising income of the middle class and one of the highest ratio of Internet users in the world. She noted that Vietnamese people spend 30 percent of their income on education, and parents are willing to pay more for higher quality education for their children.

Despite the bright future, startups in the field have a long way to go to rise stronger in edtech area. Amid the pandemic, many startups have grown strongly, but none have been able to clinch an overwhelming position in the market, keeping the door open for investors, she said.

Michael Ngo, ELSA Country Director in Vietnam said that online education will become a new standard in the future, especially amid the pandemic. Digital technologies help reduce cost and increase people’s access to high quality education.

Currently, no domestic edtech firm is valued at 100 million USD. Experts said that Vietnamese edtech firms still lack breakthrough technologies to grow stronger.

Vy said that the Vietnamese edtech market is still in its infancy, which means Vietnamese start-ups need time to catch up with the development speed of other companies in larger markets in the region. She advised edtech start-ups to develop healthy revenue models towards sustainable growth.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Lying on the southern bank of Ma River in Ham Rong ward, Thanh Hoa city in the north central province of the same name, Dong Son village has been viewed as one of the ten most beautiful ancient villages in Vietnam.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the name Dong Son has been well-known as an archaeological treasure. Due to its thousand years of history, the village has the structure of purely agricultural villages, featuring the most typical architecture of northern villages.

It is attractive to visitors for its peaceful beauty, historical architecture, and Dong Son archaeological relics.

With a total area of nearly 4sq.km, Dong Son ancient village is home to 330 households whose main earnings come from farming.

The history of the village is associated with the ups and downs of the history of Thanh Hoa. It reflects the development of the locality from the time of Hung Kings to the modern age.

Touring the thousand-year village, tourists will be firstly impressed by the archaeological vestiges of Dong Son Culture, which has been famous all around the world since the mid-1920s. They will be then impressed by characteristic elements of Vietnam’s traditional villages with small lanes, ancient pagodas, temples, communal houses, and wells. To reach small lanes, tourists can only enter the village through the main gateway.

Dong Son ancient village is considered as a typical Vietnamese village as it retains a system of tangible and intangible cultural values and villagers still observe a 100-article village convention on communal land management, funeral and wedding. In addition, the village is divided into hamlets which classify locals by their spiritual life. For example, Van (Literature) hamlet is home to Chinese script learners, while Vo (martial arts) hamlet gathers those who serve in the military, and Nhac (Music) hamlet is for those who are interested in music.

Together with keeping the values of religious relics, including temples, communal houses, and epitaph, the village preserves its annual festival on the third day of the third lunar month with a wide range of rituals in commemoration of the village founder.

The Thanh Hoa provincial People’s Committee has organised a tour of the village as an effort to preserve and promote cultural values and create an interesting tourism product of the province. Joining the tour, visitors have an opportunity to learn about and experience Dong Son Culture and visit interesting tourism destinations, including the national relic of the Le Uy – Tran Khat Chan temple, Dong Son archaeological relics, the provincial-level relic of Dong Son pagoda, and an over 200-year-old ancient house of Luong Trong Due’s family. Tourists will ramble through the village’s four lanes: Nhan (Humanity), Nghia (Righteousness), Tri (Wisdom), and Dung (Bravery).

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Thi said to fulfill the twin goal of keeping the COVID-19 at bay and boosting socio-economic development, Thanh Hoa will step by step reopen to holidaymakers, keeping in mind that any location that is verified as safe from the virus will be reopened first.

Accordingly, Thanh Hoa will serve vacationers living in local “green areas” for a start and then “green areas” from outside the province. It will welcome all visitors, both at home and overseas, when the COVID-19 vaccine coverage is wide enough to achieve herd immunity nationally and globally, he said.

Plenty of challenges still lie ahead for Thanh Hoa’s tourism to adapt to the “new normal” and restart safely and sustainably.

Last year, Thanh Hoa welcomed 7.3 million tourists to earn close to 10.4 trillion VND (453.7 million USD) in revenue. Its tourist arrivals reached 3.1 million and revenue exceeded 4.61 trillion VND in the first nine months of this year due to impacts of the fourth COVID-19 wave.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The People’s Committee of the southern province of An Giang has approved a project on preserving and upholding cultural values of “Buong” leaf scriptures of the Khmer ethnic group by 2030.

The project is significant to conserving cultural heritage in general and intangible cultural heritage in particular in An Giang province.

Unique “Buong” scriptures

According to the State Records and Archives Department, the Khmer people first carved scripts on “Buong” leaves, known as Satra, in the 19th century to record Buddhist teachings, folk stories, descriptions of festivals and folk games, and lessons.

More than 100 Buddhist scriptures, written in ancient Khmer or Pali language on “Buong” leaves, are now kept at 30 out of 65 Khmer pagodas in Tri Ton and Tinh Bien districts.

Each “Buong” leaf prayer book comprises 20 to 60 leaves, with five lines containing 150 words on each leaf. A book weighs less than one kilogramme and its thickness depends on the content.

The scriptures have technical and art values, and play a significant role in the spiritual and religious life of Khmer people.

The manuscripts on “Buong” leaves are carved with an iron stitch, then absorb a mixture of coal and turpentine through a sheet of cloth. Thanks to the leaves’ durability and the writers’ skills, manuscripts can be written on both sides of the leaves.

Monk Chau Ty, head of Xvay Ton Pagoda in Nui To commune, Tri Ton district, said young leaf sprouts are chosen and pressed between two boards for three to five months before being exposed to the sun until they are withered.

Writing prayers on leaves is not an easy job, as it requires patience and must be performed by those who master Buddhist teachings and have a tranquil mind, he said.

It takes artisans several months to complete each prayer book, said Chau Chenh from Co To commune, Tri Ton district, who used to join the writing.

With its unique value, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2017 recognised the art of writing on “Buong” leaves as national cultural heritage.

On the verge of oblivion

Through ups and downs, the “Buong” scriptures have been on the verge of oblivion. Currently, only Monk Chau Ty knows how to write the ancient Khmer language on “Buong” leaves. He is striving to pass down the art to Khmer monks and nuns in the region.

Due to wars, only a small number of Buddhist scriptures have been preserved at large ancient pagodas. This preservation work has also met a wide range of difficulties given environmental impacts.

Previously, the writing was passed down to the best monks and nuns. However, the teaching is now expanded to other groups, helping to promote the art.

Moreover, it is now not as easy to find “Buong” leaves as it was in the past, says Monk Chau Son Hy from Sa Lon Pagoda in Luong Phi commune, Tri Ton district, An Giang province. “We have to buy materials collected from Cambodian forests.”

An Giang’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has established a provincial management board to preserve and promote the “Buong” scriptures of Khmer people.

Digitized scriptures

The project on preserving and upholding intangible cultural values of writing on “Buong” leaves of the Khmer ethnic group by 2030 is necessary and matches policies and guidelines of the Party and the State regarding traditional culture preservation and promotion.

Under the project, from 2022 and 2026, An Giang will focus on researching, collecting, verifying, classifying and restoring this heritage.

It will also digitize the “Buong” scriptures, and make variants of some books to serve educational and tourism services, thus promoting the heritage to attract more resources in the preservation work.

Meanwhile, during the 2028-2033 period, the province will build a dossier on the “Buong” scriptures, seeking recognition of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A get-together to celebrate the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival for Vietnamese people living, working and studying in Egypt was hosted by the Vietnamese Embassy in the African country on January 31.

Addressing the event, Ambassdor Tran Thanh Cong briefed participants on the socio-economic situation in the homeland, Vietnam’s achievements in the fight against COVID-19, and remarkable developments in the Vietnam – Egypt relationship in 2021.

He highlighted the traditional relationship between the two countries, saying that there are good prospects for Vietnam and Egypt to further promote the bilateral relations in the time to come.

The diplomat expressed his hope that the two sides will focus on stepping up the cooperation in their strong fields such as agriculture, textiles, aquatic processing, aquaculture, and electronics.

He added that the two countries should also promote the implementation of cooperative agreements between their localities, thus making it easier for their businesses to access each other’s markets.

The ambassador took the occasion to praise efforts and contributions of the Vietnamese community in Egypt to strengthening the friendship between the two countries.

In Russia, a New Year celebration has been held for Vietnamese workers at Sarlanter garment factory in Kirzhach, a town about 100km from Moscow.

According to the owners of the factory – Do Van Tieu and Le Thi La, despite the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years, the company has managed to maintain stable jobs and incomes for about 40 Vietnamese workers.

All the employees expressed their joy at welcoming the traditional Tet of Vietnam here, saying that they hope for a new year of happiness and prosperity.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam beat China 3-1 at My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi on February 1, the team’s first victory in the final round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Vietnam won better footing in the game very early as Tan Tai opened the first score for Vietnam in the 9th minute and Nguyen Tien Linh doubled it in the 16th.

The first half ended with Vietnam leading 2-0. Beginning the second half, China hardly had any chance before Vietnamese goalkeeper Nguyen Manh. Phan Van Duc replaced Nguyen Tien Linh in the Vietnamese side in the 70th minute, and just six minutes later, Duc beat Chinese goalkeeper Yan Junling to score the third goal for Vietnam.

Vietnam slowed the game down as China got increasingly excited in thirst of goals. Keeper Manh was in pain and he was replaced by Bui Tan Truong.

In the last minute of the game, China managed to put the ball in Vietnam’s net, their only goal in the match.

Source: Vietnam News Agency