Day: July 28, 2022

 Despite improvement seen in the first quarter of the year, the pace of international travel recovery remains slow since mid-March when Vietnam reopened its borders to international tourism, according to the Vietnam Tourism Association.

The number of international tourist arrivals reached more than 600,000 in the first half of 2022, making the target of welcoming five million foreign visitors this year more challenging, said Vu The Binh, chairman of the association.

In the first six months of this year, domestic travel saw a strong performance, with tourist arrivals jumping to 60.8 million, a 1.9-fold increase compared to the same period last year, he said at a press briefing held on July 25 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Domestic visitor arrivals are expected to reach pre-COVID-19 levels of 85 million in October, he said.

But domestic travel accounted for only 30% of the tourism sector, which covers inbound, outbound and domestic travel.

Government agencies and tourism stakeholders will identify challenges and discuss measures to quicken the recovery of international tourism and the sustainable growth of the tourism sector at a national forum held on August 8, he said.

The forum with the theme “New products, new markets” and a national workshop on training tourism human resources are part of a range of activities during the two-day programme entitled “Lien Ket Suc Manh Du Lich Vietnam năm 2022” (Power of Vietnam Tourism Linkages) held August 8-9 at the Independence Palace.

The programme will feature an exhibition with 120 booths showing tour packages, travel products and services, and B2B interaction.

Organised by the HCM City Tourism Association, the event offers opportunities for tourism businesses to network and take advantage of opportunities for cooperation to accelerate the tourism sector’s recovery from COVID-19.

Free entrance to the Independence Palace is offered for visitors during the event./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 The People’s Committee of Ninh Thuan province plans to improve its Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) in 2022.

According to the PCI 2021 survey results from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Ninh Thuan ranked 49th out of 63 provinces and cities, down 17 notches, and achieved 62.23 points, down 1.21 points (it was 63.44 points in 2020).

Ninh Thuan is among provinces with average economic performance.

Deputy Chairman of the Ninh Thuan People’s Committee Phan Tan Canh said six of Ninh Thuan’s sub-indexes saw their scores and rankings reduced. These are business support services, fair competition, transparency, cost of time, dynamism of provincial leaders and market entry costs.

To improve PCI, Ninh Thuan will build an equal business environment for all sectors, and have suitable solutions to support small and micro business groups.

In addition, the province should continue working on administrative procedure reform, especially in the fields of taxes, fees, land and social insurance as well as reducing the burden on enterprises during inspections.

Canh also highlighted the need to increase business consultation and promote the role of provincial business associations to consolidate the trust of the business community.

Localities should create mechanisms and policies to support small- and medium-sized enterprises, such as capital support, information, training and policy advice, but should not expect that the economic efficiency of small businesses would be the same as that of big ones, experts said.

Small businesses create job stability and ensure social security along with providing logistics and products for large businesses, they added.

Canh said the province was determined to promote the application of information technology to reduce the unofficial costs for businesses.

Provincial agencies would provide public hotlines for feedback from people and businesses. Provincial leaders and localities need to increase the dialogue with business communities to solve pressing problems quickly, Canh noted.

At the same time, the monitoring of public officials would be strengthened and civil servants who caused trouble for businesses or violated regulations would be strictly punished, he added.

He called on all local agencies to step up administrative reforms to improve the province’s investment environment and position in the Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) and the Public Administration Reform Index (PAR-index)./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 Lt. Gen. Phung Si Tan, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army, attended the 2022 Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defence (CHODs) conference in Sydney from July 25 – 27.

At the invitation of Commander of United States Indo-Pacific Command Admiral John C Aquilino and Chief of the Australian Defence Force General Angus Campbell, Tan joined the 24th edition of the event together with senior military leaders from regional countries, including Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France and Peru, Timor Leste, and several other ASEAN nations.

He participated in discussions in climate change and security implications for the Indo-Pacific, advanced technology and its impacts on the regional security, and impacts of current security threats to Indo-Pacific. In addition to bilateral meetings with Admiral Aquilino, General Campbell, Tan also met Chief of General Staff of Mongolia, Lt. Gen. Dovchinsuren Ganzorig.

CHODs is an annual event co-hosted by the US Indo-Pacific Command since 1998 to enhance mutual understanding and cooperation among chiefs of defence and armed forces of Indo-Pacific countries./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 New expressways in the southern region are expected to be a motivation for the economic growth of regional localities, stated Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh while chairing a conference in An Giang on July 27 to realise Government’s resolutions on the implementation of Khanh Hoa-Buon Ma Thuot, Bien Hoa-Vung Tau, and Chau Doc-Can Tho-Soc Trang expressways.

According to the Ministry of Transport, the projects have a total investment of 84.46 trillion VND (3.61 billion USD) in the first phase.

About 70% of land area for construction and installation packages will be handed over to contractors by June 30, 2023, and the rest by the last day of that year.

Deputy PM Thanh said that the three projects play an important role in the development of the country in general and the southern region in particular. Their construction is hoped to start in June 2023.

He asked central agencies and localities to work hard to ensure the progress of the projects, thus making a breakthrough in regional transport infrastructure.

The Deputy PM reminded local authorities to pay greater attention to the selection of construction material suppliers and the ground clearance activities as well as the choosing of contractors.

Earlier the same day, he inspected the construction site of the Chau Doc-Can Tho-Soc Trang Expressway, one of the three projects.

The 188.2km Chau Doc-Can Tho-Soc Trang will be the first expressway in the Mekong Delta region, connecting Can Tho city and An Giang, Hau Giang and Soc Trang provinces. Comprising four component projects, it has a total investment of 44.96 trillion VND, using public investment./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 The Roadmap on the ASEAN Higher Education Space 2025 and its two-year implementation plan were launched at the 15th SHARE Policy Dialogue in Hanoi on July 27.

Addressing the dialogue, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc said targets and initiatives proposed at the dialogue are in line with Vietnam’s top priorities of improving quality, promoting integration and innovation and strengthening international cooperation in higher education.

The event aims to share information, exchange views and propose initiatives to establish a common higher education space in Southeast Asia, he noted.

Vietnam is being in the process of socio-economic renovation and extensive international integration, so developing high-quality human resources that meet regional and international standards is an important goal for the country, he stressed.

Deputy Minister Phuc expressed the belief that the ASEAN higher education space will help enable greater harmonisation and internationalisation of the ASEAN higher education, especially in enhancing people to people connectivity and supporting ASEAN community building.

The launch of the Roadmap is expected to contribute to the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the strengthening of future resilience through enhanced people-to-people connectivity, and improved access and recognition of higher education in the ASEAN region.

The roadmap was developed by the ASEAN Working Group on Higher Education Mobility, the ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN Foundation, and the European Union (EU) Support to Higher Education in the ASEAN Region (SHARE) Programme. Its objective is to strengthen connectivity, people-to-people exchange and knowledge transfer within ASEAN through promoting student mobility within ASEAN by 2025, and implementing ASEAN scholarships.

This roadmap is expected to be submitted to the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia in November this year.

The SHARE programme, which was launched in March 2014, is the leading higher education programme of the European Union (EU) in association with ASEAN, to support the implementation of the ASEAN Work Plan on Education./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 Booths introducing Vietnamese products at the International Food and Beverage Exhibition in Kansai region (Foodex Japan in Kansai 2022), Japan, have attracted the attention of a large number of Japanese consumers and enterprises.

They include fruits, handicrafts, beverages and food.

Nathalia Uemura, a representative of Mundial Foods company that imports and distributes Vietnamese goods in Japan, said they are favoured by many Japanese people.

Tetsuji Haruta, a representative of Gold Cashew company, said customers have a special taste for Vietnamese cashew nuts, adding his company plans to further promote Vietnamese products to Japanese consumers as well as foreign visitors at stores and tourist attractions in the region.

First held in 1976, Foodex Japan is the largest international food and beverage exhibition in Japan. The event attracts attention of businesses around the world because it is the chance to promote the trade of agricultural products between this Northeast Asian country and foreign countries.

Foodex Japan in Kansai 2022, which opened on July 27, will run until July 29./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 Over the 60 years of the Vietnam – Laos diplomatic ties and 45 years of their Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, the close-knit relations and fruitful mutual support between the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and Lao News Agency (KPL) have contributed to the special solidarity, cooperation and friendship between the two countries.

During the fierce resistance war against the US in Vietnam, even before 1968 – when the KPL was set up, the VNA sent a number of reporters, editors and technical staff to perform duties in Laos.

They and their Lao colleagues braved hardships and heavy bombardment, even sacrificed their lives, to follow the Pathet Lao army to deliver timely news and photos about the latest developments on battlefields and report on the liberated areas and victories of the Lao army.

News, articles and photos made by VNA correspondents were sent to the Lao revolution’s central body in Sam Neua to serve the country’s resistance war. They were also provided for Radio Pathet Lao, the newspaper of the Lao Patriotic Front, and media outlets of Vietnam and other countries, helping win over support from the peoples in Vietnam and the world for the Lao people’s struggle.

During that time, VNA experts also assisted the Lao side to gear up personnel and equipment for the establishment of the KPL. All kept in mind President Ho Chi Minh’s teaching that Vietnamese cadres working in Laos must completely abide by the leadership of the Lao Central Government, especially Prime Minister Souphanouvong, while steering clear of arrogance.

Their efforts paid off when the VNA’s Department of World News cited Radio Pathet Lao’s first bulletin on the establishment of the KPL (Khaosan Pathet Lao) on January 5, 1968.

Since that historic landmark, the VNA and the KPL have always maintained strong relations. The former views providing technical assistance and sending professionals to help its Lao counteprart as a political task and also its noble responsibility and obligation. After the KPL moved its headquarters to Vientiane in 1976, bilateral ties entered a new period – that of cooperation for common development.

The VNA has continued offering personnel and material support for the KPL, including holding training courses, upgrading the information system, designing a new content management system, equipping the KPL’s new headquarters with advanced facilities, building a modern and fully equipped studio for TV news programmes, and donating computers and cameras to the Lao side.

With its wholehearted cooperation with and support for the KPL, the VNA was bestowed with the first-class Issara Order in 1995 and the second-class Issara Order in 2019 by the Lao Party and State.

On March 29 this year, VNA General Director Vu Viet Trang and her KPL counterpart Khampheuy Philapha signed a cooperation agreement for 2022 – 2025 during their virtual talks.

Trang noted the agencies’ cooperation and information sharing have helped popularise the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, State and peoples./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 Hanoi has welcomed an estimated 10.62 million visitors in the first seven months of this year, an increase of 3.6 times over the same period last year, according to the municipal Department of Tourism.

Total revenue from tourism activities in the period is likely to reach 31.9 trillion VND (1.36 billion USD), up 3.9 times year-on-year, the department reported.

In July alone, the capital city served 1.94 million tourists, earning 6.15 trillion VND (263.3 million USD).

Hanoi’s tourism sector set to welcome 9-10 million visitors in 2022, including 1.2-2 million foreigners. Its total revenue is expected to reach 27.84 to 35.84 trillion VND.

Director of the municipal Department of Tourism Dang Huong Giang said the city is focusing on developing tourism products of its strength such as cultural and sport tourism, and resort and MICE tourism, while strengthening connection in tourism development in potential areas.

It has also paid attention to enhancing communication activities to promote the image of the capital city, its tourism destinations and new products to visitors worldwide through programmes of the Vietnam Television (VTV), HanoiTV, the US Cable News Network (CNN), and social network platforms, she said./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency