Day: July 17, 2022

Dong Son bronze drum, the earliest form of bronze drum found in Vietnam, has been introduced at the World of Sky Discs Exhibition held in Pfannerhall Braunsbedra in the German state of Sachsen Anhalt by two archaeologists Dr. Dominique Görlitz and Dr. Kai Helge Wirth.

According to the German archaeologists, the Dong Son bronze drum, dating back to the Bronze Age, shares various similarities with many famous discs found elsewhere around the world, including “Nebra Sky Disc,” an ancient object thought to be the world’s oldest map of the stars created in Germany around 1670 B.C. The disc illustrates what may be the sun or full moon, a crescent moon and stars.

Through their decades-long cooperation, Görlitz and Wirth provided visitors with a glimpse on not only ancient astronomy but also the Bronze Age. The use of new image science methods has also led to ground-breaking discoveries of the sky discs. Speaking at the launch of the event on July 15, Nguyen Thu Hang, Second Secretary at the Embassy of Vietnam in Germany thanked Görlitz and Wirth for offering the public with many useful information about astronomy and worldview from new perspectives.

Hang said she was proud to see Vietnam’s Dong Son bronze drum introduced at a German exhibition in such a unique way.

Dong Son Culture (dated from the seventh century BC to the first – second century AD) was a Metal Age in ancient Vietnam. It was named by archaeologists for the Dong Son village on the banks of Ma River, Thanh Hoa city where a number of bronze items were accidentally discovered in 1924.

The Dong Son bronze drums (also called Heger Type 1 drums according to F. Heger’s classification) are bronze drums fabricated by the Dong Son culture and one of the finest examples of Vietnamese ancient bronze casting technique.

They were perhaps used as one kind of important musical instrument initially, but step by step, they became the symbol of power of Dong Son tribe leaders and representing for the survival of the Lac Viet Community./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Ho Chi Minh City on July 16 welcomed 460 Indian tourists who took a MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) tour to the city.

The city was recommended for the visitors by the Vietnamese Embassy in India and the Asia Destination Management JSC.

The visitors are leaders, staff, customers and partners of VOLVO – EICHER, a company specialising in truck and bus manufacturing of India.

They are scheduled to stay in the city until July 18 and take a number of tourism, shopping and entertainment activities. They will also visit some Mekong Delta localities Over the past 300 years, HCM City has become a dynamic city and a tourism hub of the country. The modern and friendly city has been a favorite destination for a large number of foreign tourists.

On July 17, the Indian visitors visited the Mekong Delta of Tien Giang where they toured Long, Lan, Quy, Phung isles in Tien River, enjoyed local food and music and explore the local life.

In the first six months of 2022, Tien Giang welcomed nearly 300,000 tourists, up 14% year on year, including over 7,000 foreigners, earning 160 billion VND.

This year, the province aims to welcome 580,000 visitors, doubling the figure in 2021./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

There has been dynamic and lively cultural exchange and cooperation between Vietnam and Laos over recent years, contributing to the development of each country in the new period, according to Lao Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Suansavanh Viyaketh.

The Vietnamese and Lao culture sectors have boosted active cooperation, experience exchange and support for each other to grow together, Suansavanh said in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s resident correspondents on the occasion of the 60th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties (September 5, 1962 – 2022) and the 45th year of the signing of the Vietnam-Laos Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (July 18, 1977 – 2022).

Laos has received support from Vietnam in the first phase construction of the national school of music and arts as well as various scholarships for short-term and long-term training courses in music, circus performance, fine arts, cinema and others, she said, adding that a number of Vietnamese books and documents in politics, economics and culture have been translated into the Lao language.

The two countries have also cooperated in producing films on the bilateral friendship and partnership, the minister noted.

In terms of tourism, Vietnam ranked third in the number of tourist arrivals to Laos in 2019 with around 1 million visitors. Many Vietnamese and Lao visitors showed particular interest in exploring history of the other country, allowing the people of the two nations to better understand the traditional ties and become closer, she said.

With such a good bilateral relationship, Vietnam and Laos must pay greater attention to boosting cooperation in tourism so they can welcome more visitors from the other, the minister said.

She suggested that the two sides should further facilitate cross-border travel, encourage enterprises of both countries to develop regional tourism programmes, organise workshops and experience-sharing events for both public and private sectors, and together promote the distinctive beauty of their destinations.

Suansavanh unveiled that to mark the Vietnam – Lao Solidarity and Friendship Year 2022, her ministry and the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will work together to host a series of celebrations. They include a Lao culture week in Vietnam held in parallel with a similar event of Vietnamese culture in Laos from July 18 – 22, featuring photo exhibitions on the bilateral partnership and cultural and arts exchange events./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

All vehicles must use electronic toll collection (ETC) system when travelling on expressways from August 1, according to a notice of the Ministry of Transport (MoT) recently sent to cities and provinces nationwide.

The MoT said the move, directed by the National Assembly and Prime Minister, aims to enhance the effectiveness, transparency and modernisation of the toll collection.

The ministry asked the municipal and provincial People’s Committees to cooperate with the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam to ensure safety and security at tollbooths. Mixed toll payment will only be applicable at one lane of each side of a road, it noted.

Local authorities must encourage people to register for electronic toll payment before July 31, the ministry said, adding that toll payment service providers must also accelerate communication campaigns to expand coverage of the service. The ministry sets to have 80 – 90% of vehicles registering for ETC by September this year.

Fully automatic collection began on Hanoi-Hai Phong expressway on June 1, the MoT informed. So far, more than 3.2 million out of 4.5 million vehicles in Vietnam, or 71%, have registered for automatic toll payment./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

As many as 8,500 runners joined the Vietcombank Mekong Delta International Marathon – Hau Giang 2022 in Vi Thanh city in the morning of July 17.

At the tournament, the runners, including 47 foreign from 18 other countries, competed in the categories of 5 kilometres, 10 kilometres, 21 kilometres and 42 kilometres,

Initiated by Hau Giang province, this was the third time that the Vietcombank Mekong Delta International Marathon – Hau Giang was organised, after the first in 2019 and the second in 2020.

According to the organisers, the marathon is the highlighted festival of sport, culture and tourism in the Mekong Delta region. It was a great chance to introduce the image, and people of Hau Giang province, potential and advantages in the fields of culture and tourism and spread the message of “Green Hau Giang” heading to environmental protection activities and dealing with climate change.

Concluding the tournament, runner Hoang Thanh came first in the 42km race for men, while runner Hoang Thi Ngoc Hoa won the 42km race for women./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam logged an additional 745 COVID-19 cases on July 17, according to the Ministry of Health.

The new infections raised the country’s total caseload since the pandemic broke out to 10,760,595.

The same day, 7,948 patients were declared to be free from coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, lifting the total number of recoveries to 9,814,276.

Meanwhile, the death toll was still kept at 43,091, equivalent to 0.4% of the infections, as no fatality was reported on the day

More than 238.65 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country so far./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) is taking extra efforts to realise the target of welcoming 5 million foreign visitors amidst a decline in the numbers of tourists from China and Russia.

The VNAT will further optimise markets which have air routes with Vietnam and those that permitted their citizens to travel abroad and Vietnamese expats to return to the home country after the COVID-19 pandemic was put under control.

Priority will be given to attracting arrivals from the Republic of Korea, Japan, Western Europe, Australia and ASEAN nations. Greater attention will also be paid to new markets, such as India, the United States, the Middle East, and Russian-speaking countries, including Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.

The VNAT will cooperate with local authorities, enterprises, airlines and Vietnam Tourism Development Fund (VTDF) to implement a programme called “Fully live in Vietnam” through promotional events held in ASEAN, the RoK, Japan, India, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Vietnam also plans to attend the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) Tourism Expo in September and the World Travel Market (VMT) in London in November, according to the VNAT.

The number of international tourist arrivals reached about 413,000 in the first half of 2022. The number of foreign visitors has been on the sharp rise since Vietnam reopened its border. The May figure doubled that of April while that of June quadrupled that of May.

Most of the foreign travellers came from countries that enjoy visa exemptions from Vietnam, including the RoK, the UK, France, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Toyota Vietnam produced 16,629 vehicles in the first six months of this year, pushing its total number of manufactured vehicles so far to 621,051, the company reported.

In the first half of this year, Toyota Vietnam sold 43,986 vehicles (including Lexus cars), a surge of 47% over the same period last year.

So far, the firm has sold 814,128 vehicles, continuing to lead the market in the sales of passenger cars in the first six months of 2022.

In the period, Toyota Vietnam opened three new sale agencies, raising the total number to 81 in 42 provinces and cities nationwide.

Meanwhile, the company earned 37 million USD from exporting automobile spare parts and accessories in the period, up 11% year on year. It also paid 615 million USD to the State budget, a 54% rise over the same period last year.

Toyota Vietnam attributed the results to the introduction of new products, including new Corolla Altis model, MPV Veloz Cross and Avanza Premio.

Particularly, Toyota Vios and Toyota Corolla Cross have regularly entered the list of best-sellers in the first half of this year with 11,937 and 10,913 vehicles sold, respectively.

Alongside, Toyota Vietnam also continued its contributions to the society through activities to promote traffic safety, environmental protection, education and human resources development.

Since 2021, the firm has engaged in the programme of planting 1 billion trees launched by the Vietnamese Government./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency