Day: August 2, 2022

Vietnam Summer Camp 2022, which brought together more than 100 young Vietnamese expats aged 16-24 from 25 countries and territories, wrapped up in the city of Vung Tau in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province on August 2.

Addressing the closing ceremony, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Ngoc Khanh said nearly 20,000 people from Ba Ria-Vung Tau are living in over 50 countries and territories worldwide, mainly the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and ASEAN nations.

He hoped the campers had great experiences with Vietnam and Ba Ria-Vung Tau and that they would become ambassadors promoting Vietnamese nature, culture and people to international friends.

Khanh also wanted them to act as a bridge to strengthen the friendship and relations between Vietnam and their host countries and territories.

The young expats travelled across nine cities and provinces, namely Hanoi, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam, Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City and Ba Ria-Vung Tau during the Vietnam Summer Camp 2022 which started on July 19.

They visited many natural attractions and historic relics; and participated in charitable activities. They also took part in exchanges with local youths and explored Vietnam’s sovereignty over seas and islands.

The camp, an annual event for Vietnamese young expats living abroad, was first held by the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2004, attracting those with excellent performance not only in academy but also in arts and sports and outstanding contributors to community activities.

It is expected to be an opportunity for the young expats to explore the life in Vietnam and their home country’s history and culture; and to meet their peers from Vietnam and other countries and territories./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent their condolences to Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos over the death of former President Fidel Ramos.

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son also extended condolences to his Philippine counterpart Enrique Manalo.

Former Philippine President Fidel Ramos died on July 31, aged 94.

Ramos was born on March 18, 1928 in Pangasinan province, north of Manila. He was a military leader, politician, and the 12th President of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The northern province of Ninh Binh where Hollywood blockbuster ‘Kong: Skull Island’ was filmed in 2016 was named one of the 12 “coolest movie filming locations” in Asia, according to US magazine Travel Leisure.

Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, the 190-million-USD film was shot in Trang An limestone complex, Van Long Lagoon and Tam Coc, where limestone karst mountains rise out of the waters.

Travel Leisure wrote: “The Ninh Binh area is known as the inland cousin of Ha Long Bay. Scenically similar, though significantly smaller, it has far fewer visitors. The Trang An area where scenes were shot is listed as part of a UNESCO World Heritage area, which has several unique Buddhist pagodas and temples.” Situated around two hours from Hanoi, Ninh Binh was home to the ancient capital of Hoa Lu during the reign of the Dinh Dynasty (968-980) and was overlooked by foreign tourists for years until “Kong: Skull Island” was filmed there, giving it a global reputation.

The other Asian filming locations worth a visit include Cambodia’s Siem Reap, the Republic of Korea’s Busan, India’s Khempur, Thailand’s Krabi province, Singapore, Indonesia’s Bali, the Maldives, and Japan’s Tokyo./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The potential of renewable energy sources, especially wind and solar power, is one of the keys to Vietnam’s energy transformation towards carbon neutrality, but barriers stemming from the unresponsive transmission network and pricing mechanism is wasting the capacity of billions of kWh of electricity, according to experts.

According to preliminary surveys and assessments, Vietnam’s potential of onshore wind power is about 217GW, and offshore wind power is over 160GW. The feature of offshore wind power is long operating hours and high efficiency.

Le Thanh Thanh, deputy director of Soc Trang Department of Industry and Trade, said: “The province has planned to develop 20 wind farms including 18 farms being granted investment certificates with a total capacity of 1,345MW and two farms being considered”.

Among 18 farms, 11 projects started construction in 2020 with a total capacity of 496.4MW. As of October 31, 2021, the last day of FIT price, four farms were put into commercial use, he said, adding other projects were also completed but could not be connected to the grid because the FIT pricing mechanism had expired.

Thanh told local media: “The province still has many locations that could develop farms. However, they have to wait for the PDP VIII (The National Power Development Plan for the 2021-30 period, with a vision towards 2045) to be approved to have a basis for proposing a new project.”

In the southernmost province of Ca Mau, Chairman of the People’s Committee Huynh Quoc Viet said: “Ca Mau has 16 wind farms with a capacity of 1,000MW. In which, 12 projects have been granted investment certificates, and five investors have implemented their projects, but only three have been connected to the national grid to run commercial operation with a total capacity of only 100MW as of the FIT deadline.”

Viet said: “As a locality with great potential for wind power development, the province has proposed to add 24 wind power projects with a capacity of 12,018MW to the national power development plan. However, it still needs to wait for the PDP VIII to be approved.”

According to the Vietnam Electricity (EVN), by the end of October 31, 2021, the final deadline for recognition of commercial operation projects and for the projects to enjoy the support price (FIT) under Decision No. 39/QÐ-TTg of the Prime Minister, 84/146 wind power projects had signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with EVN, with a total capacity of nearly 4,000MW.

Thus, 62 projects with a total capacity of 4,170MW which also had PPA contracts with EVN, but due to slow progress, could not be put into commercial operation on time. Many projects have completed construction and equipment installation but could not be operated commercially due to the end of the FIT pricing mechanism, said EVN.

International energy organisations calculated the potential of solar power in the country at 434GW, including terrestrial solar power with 309GW, offshore solar power with 77GW and rooftop solar power with 48GW.

As of the Government’s incentive mechanism, more than 16,400MW of solar power sources have been put into operation, including 7,755MW of rooftop solar power sources since 2019, most of them concentrated in the southern and central regions.

While Vietnam is trying to develop solar power, the projects’ development pace is faster than that of transmission infrastructure.

As a result, the power industry has temporarily suspended the connection of new projects and reduced the capacity of both projects.

According to EVN, in 2021, the untapped electricity output of the aforementioned renewable energy sources, which has increased to 1.68 billion kWh including 1.25 billion kWh of solar power, had to be reduced by 430 million kWh as per the EVN programme.

Experts consider the increasing untapped output of renewable energy sources as “a huge waste” while other thermal power sources are in short supply, and the electricity price is increasing./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The National Assembly of Vietnam is ready to continue to improve the legal system and policies, creating the best conditions for all economic sectors and investors, including those from the Republic of Korea (RoK), to expand their investment and do business in the country, National Assembly chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said on August 2.

At a reception for Kim Jung-tai, Chairman of the Global Strategy Committee of the RoK’s Hana Financial Group, Hue expected the group to contribute to perfecting the legal system as well as the investment and business environment in Vietnam.

He appreciated the fruitful cooperation between the group and the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) in banking activities and social security contributions to Vietnam in recent years.

The NA Chairman welcomed Hana’s signing of an agreement to invest 35% of the charter capital of BIDV Securities JSC, saying this is a long-term strategic decision that reflects the confidence of foreign investors in the economic prospects of Vietnam.

Kim, for his part, said the Hana Group will work closely with BIDV to find solutions to increase investment and create the best cooperation results in the coming time. He also reaffirmed that in addition to participating in investment and business activities, it will contribute to social security work.

Kim also took the occasion to inform the Vietnamese NA leader that as the main sponsor for Korean football tournaments at all levels, the group hopes to have more Vietnamese players taking part in the RoK’s professional tournaments, thereby nurturing the sports talents as well as increasing exchanges in the sports field between the two countries./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A memorial service was held in central Da Nang city on August 2 for Hero of the People’s Armed Forces Kostas Sarantidis – Nguyen Van Lap, a man who held Greek and Vietnamese nationalities and joined the Vietnamese people in the resistance war against the French colonialists.

Representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People’s Army, Military Region 5, the Da Nang administration, along with local people came to pay tribute to the deceased who passed away in Athens on June 25, 2021, at the age of 94.

Maj. Gen. Truong Thien To, Deputy Political Commissar of Military Region 5, said Kostas Nguyen Van Lap was born in Greece but he spent his entire youth living and fighting besides his comrades in Vietnam which became his homeland.

The death of the revolutionary soldier has left a great grief to his family, friends, as well as comrades and people in Vietnam. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese Party and State have lost an exemplary “Uncle Ho” soldier who made enormous contributions to the national liberation, construction and defence, To added.

At his and his family’s wish, the hero’s remains were brought to Vietnam.

Born in 1927, Kostas Sarantidis – Nguyen Van Lap was forced to serve as a soldier for Nazi Germany in 1943. He was sent to the foreign legion of France after the Second World War ended.

In February 1946, he was brought to Vietnam as a soldier in the French army. However, witnessing the French colonialists’ barbaric crimes against Vietnamese people and realising the just nature of the fight against France, in June 1946, he fled from the French army to a liberated area in Binh Thuan province and joined the Viet Minh force in the resistance war. Since then, he became a friend and a comrade of Vietnamese people who called him by the name Kostas Nguyen Van Lap.

He was repeatedly honoured by the Vietnamese Party and State, including the first-class Feat Order, the Friendship Order, the third-class Victory Order, and the second-class Resistance Order. In particular, he was granted the Vietnamese nationality in 2010 and then the “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces” title in 2013, becoming the first and only foreigner to be bestowed with this title so far.

After the memorial service, remains of Kostas Sarantidis – Nguyen Van Lap were buried at the cemetery of Military Region 5 in Da Nang city./. Born in 1927, Kostas Sarantidis – Nguyen Van Lap was forced to serve as a soldier for Nazi Germany in 1943. He was sent to the foreign legion of France after the Second World War ended.

In February 1946, he was brought to Vietnam as a soldier in the French army. However, witnessing the French colonialists’ barbaric crimes against Vietnamese people and realising the just nature of the fight against France, in June 1946, he fled from the French army to a liberated area in Binh Thuan province and joined the Viet Minh force in the resistance war. Since then, he became a friend and a comrade of Vietnamese people who called him by the name Kostas Nguyen Van Lap.

He was repeatedly honoured by the Vietnamese Party and State, including the first-class Feat Order, the Friendship Order, the third-class Victory Order, and the second-class Resistance Order. In particular, he was granted the Vietnamese nationality in 2010 and then the “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces” title in 2013, becoming the first and only foreigner to be bestowed with this title so far.

After the memorial service, remains of Kostas Sarantidis – Nguyen Van Lap were buried at the cemetery of Military Region 5 in Da Nang city./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Czech Republic has declared to not recognise Vietnam’s new passports, becoming the third country, all in Europe, to do so.

“Vietnam’s new passports, which were issued from July 1, 2022 do not meet technical standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO),” the Czech Embassy in Vietnam said in a statement on its official website on August 2. “Therefore, the Czech Republic agrees with other European Union (EU) member countries to stop recognising its validity.”

The decision took effect from the time of notification, the embassy said, but did not specify the standards as prescribed by the ICAO that Vietnam’s new passports have not met.

The other two European countries rejecting Vietnam’s new passports are Germany and Spain.

In separate announcements, both Embassies of Germany and Spain in Vietnam said the reason for the non-recognition of the new navy blue-coloured passports because they do not have a place of birth (province/city) listed.

This can make it difficult for the German side to identify the specific locality where Vietnamese citizens were born, especially in the case of minors where ID number has not been granted, the Embassy of Germany said on July 27.

It noted the Vietnamese holders of the new passports who have already received visas to Germany should refrain from travelling since they would be denied entry at the border.

The Embassy of Spain in Vietnam described the place of birth of passport holders as an important information for personal identification, which is also required for processing Schengen visa applications.

Current regulations do not allow the issuance of a Schengen visa to Vietnamese nationals holding the new passports, the embassy announced on August 1.

Currently, the Spanish authorities, in collaboration with other Schengen member states, are conducting technical analysis.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Consular Department is working with the Ministry of Public Security’s Vietnam Immigration Department to exchange information and seek solutions. The Consul Department has asked the German Embassy in Hanoi for cooperation to jointly find ways to facilitate Vietnamese nationals’ entry in Germany, in line with the two countries’ Strategic Partnership.

At the same time, the Embassy of Vietnam in Germany has said it stands ready to provide written confirmation on the place of birth that can be tagged along with the new passports./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Three firefighters who died while on their duty in Hanoi’s Cau Giay district on August 1 afternoon were posthumously promoted to higher rankings under a decision signed by Minister of Public Security, General To Lam, on August 2.

The decision was made in recognition of their bravery while fighting the inferno and rescuing the victims at a six-storey building which was under repair. Also on August 2, State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc extended his deepest condolences to the People’s Police and the bereaved families./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency