Day: August 26, 2022

A workshop was held in Ha Long city, northern Quang Ninh province, on August 26 with the aim of promoting public awareness of marine plastic waste and actions against single-use plastic products in Ha Long Bay, a world natural heritage site.

An estimate in 2020 by the Ending Plastic Pollution Innovation Challenge (EPPIC) project showed that among over the 28,280 tonnes of plastic waste released in the Ha Long Bay area each year, about 5,272 could be discharged to the sea, and 34 tonnes of waste came from tourism activities every day.

Patrick Haverman, Deputy Resident Representative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam, said plastics accounts for an estimated 70 – 80% of marine debris. While many countries have made considerable efforts to fight plastic waste, challenges caused by marine plastics are transboundary.

Under a Norwegian Embassy-funded project on scaling up community-based models of domestic waste and plastics management, the UNDP has developed integrated, green, and equal models for improving the domestic waste management system. It has also worked with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to carry out the EPPIC project in four ASEAN countries, namely Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, he noted.

Nguyen Van Duong, Vice Chairman of the Quang Ninh Farmers’ Union, said environmental protection requires the engagement of the entire political system, society, businesses, and the community, adding that each people’s awareness is the most important factor.

Tourism has a great role to play in protecting the marine environment as many of the vessels operating at sea belong to the industry, he went on, holding that a system of all-round solutions is necessary for mitigating adverse impacts of plastic waste.

Duong noted a project has been implemented in the areas bordering Ha Long Bay since 2020 to build a community-based model of waste management, sorting, collection, and treatment. The project, funded by the UNDP, the Global Environment Facility, and the Norwegian Government, has helped improve local authorities, businesses and residents’ awareness and capacity.

At the workshop, participants shared views on marine environmental protection, the role of each organisation in boosting sustainable tourism, and activities carried out in localities to ease impacts of tourism vessels and single-use plastic products on the environment.

On this occasion, the UNDP debuted “Trash Hunt” (http://sanrac.undp.org.vn), a mobile app to report and monitor all indiscriminate dumping sites in Vietnam so that local authorities, related parties, and residents can make timely response./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Hanoi chapter of the Vietnam – Australia Friendship Association held its sixth Congress for the 2022-2027 tenure on August 26 to review the past achievements and outline working orientations for new tenure.

The Congress elected a 27-strong executive committee led by Director of the municipal Department of Education and Training Tran The Cuong.

During the new tenure, the chapter will enhance friendship exchanges, actively launch education cooperation programmes, and popularise culture and people of Vietnam and Hanoi, contributing to strengthening traditional relations and mutual understanding between the two peoples.

Speaking at the event, Permanent Vice Chairwoman of the municipal Union of Friendship Organisations Tran Thi Phuong suggested the chapter pay attention to promoting Vietnam – Australia friendship and cooperation, especially among young generations. Activities during the new tenure need to be practical and effective, particularly during the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties next year.

She stressed that the chapter needs to expand its partners, especially mass and friendship organisations in Australia while actively boosting exchanges in economy, culture, education and tourism and admitting more members in districts and businesses having ties with Australia./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

An award programme was launched in Hanoi on August 26, seeking to honour energy efficient industrial enterprises, construction works, and products.

According to Nguyen Dinh Hiep, Chairman of the Vietnam Energy Conservation and Energy Efficiency Association (VECEA), the awards are part of communications activities serving the national programme on effective and efficient use of energy for 2019 – 2030. The programme target a goal of saving 8-10% of total power used nationwide.

Contestants can submit their documents from August 26 to October 31. The award technical council will evaluate and select works, products and enterprises that fulfill related criteria, with the announcement of award winners and award presentation ceremony slated for December.

The organiser said the award for energy efficiency in industry was first held in 2017, attracting the participation of nearly 100 businesses with 460 power-saving solutions.

The award for energy efficiency in construction took place for the first time last year, recording 44 participants and 220 solutions. It presented the award for 22 new and upgrade projects.

The annual award for highest energy efficient products is running its third edition this year. To date, it has recognised more than 300 products and 20 brands.

The industrial sector accounts for over 47% of the total national energy consumption. According to statistics of the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), the country has more than 2,900 big energy users. If they reduce about 2% of their power consumption or 1.4 billion kWh per year, about 2.7 trillion VND (115.3 million USD) will be saved.

For construction projects, the level of energy waste is also quite large. According to the Ministry of Construction, its energy saving potential is estimated at 30-35%./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc joined teachers and students of Hope School in the central city of Da Nang in their “Going to school festival” on August 26.

Founded by IT giant FPT and the Hope Foundation, the boarding school is home to children orphaned by COVID-19, and the 2022-2023 school year will be the first for more than 200 Hope School students from 41 cities and provinces nationwide.

Speaking at the meeting, the President lauded FPT for its initiative to build the school, which has received support from many ministries, agencies, businesses and Da Nang.

Expressing his best wishes and regards to the teachers and students, President Phuc said he hoped the students will make continuous efforts to contribute to national development.

Also on August 26, the Vietnam Stature Foundation and Vietnamese dairy producer TH Group announced that they will provide Hope School students with 27,000 glasses of milk in the academic year.

According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than 4,400 children to lose their parents. Of them, 193 have lost both./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Plan International Vietnam, in collaboration with Care International Vietnam and the Research Centre for Initiatives in Community Development, held a workshop on August 26 to launch the “Reaching the Furthest Behind in Quang Tri and Hoa Binh Provinces” programme.

Funded by the Irish Embassy in Vietnam with a total capital of over 11 billion VND (470,000 USD), it is being implemented from June 2022 to August 2023, aiming to improve the quality of the life of ethnic minority people living in extremely difficult circumstances in Ta Long and Ta Rut communes of Dakrong district, and Huong Loc, Lia and Ba Tang communes of Huong Hoa district of the central province of Quang Tri, and Yen Hoa, Trung Thanh and Cao Don communes in Da Bac district of the northern province of Hoa Binh.

Nearly 30,000 local residents in these communes, mainly belonging to Pa Co, Van Kieu, Mong, Tay, Muong and Dao ethnic groups, are expected to be the beneficiaries of the programme which looks to increase the capacity of responding to natural disasters of children, enhance community-based disaster risk management, and improve women’s economic capacity.

Seán Farrell, Ireland’s Deputy Ambassador, said this is one of the most important programmes in Vietnam and the region.

Pham Thu Ba, Acting Country Director of Plan International Vietnam, emphasised that through the programme, ethnic minority communities, especially girls, people with disabilities and women in extremely difficult communes in Hoa Binh and Quang Tri will have their capacity improved to be able to cope with and adapt to climate change; and have the opportunity to access basic services and participate in economic development models to improve their life./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam plays a crucial role in connecting the Republic of Korea (RoK) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Foreign Minister of the RoK Park Jin affirmed on August 26.

The minister was among the Korean guests at a ceremony marking the 77th National Day of Vietnam (September 2) and the 30th anniversary of Vietnam-RoK diplomatic ties hosted by the Vietnamese Embassy in the RoK.

He noted with pleasure the development of bilateral relations over the past three decades, pledging to make more efforts to further cooperation.

In his remarks, Vietnamese Ambassador Vu Tung highlighted the significance of Vietnam’s August Revolution (August 19) and the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam) on September 2, 1945.

Vietnam plays important role in ASEAN-RoK relations: FM Park Jin hinh anh 2

Participants at the ceremony (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam is working towards a developing country with a modern industry and high average income by 2030, and a developed nation with high income by 2045, the ambassador continued.

Tung also affirmed the Vietnamese Party’s and the State’s consistent foreign policy of peace and being a reliable friend of all countries worldwide to build an environment of peace, stability and cooperation.

Vietnam and the RoK aim to elevate their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership this year, he said, noting that Vietnam always attaches importance to developing their multi-faceted cooperation.

The ambassador also expressed his hope that apart from traditional fields, the two countries will expand their cooperation to new areas.

On the occasion, the embassy organised an exhibition featuring Vietnam’s achievements in socio-economic development and foreign relations, its history, culture and people, as well as Vietnam-RoK relations.’

On August 25, the Vietnamese Embassy, in collaboration with the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, held a workshop in Seoul, seeking measures to improve the efficiency in supporting the country’s labourers in the RoK.

The workshop, one among a series of the events to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries’ diplomatic relations, aimed to review the activities to bring Vietnamese workers to the RoK over the past 30 years, assess the support for these guest workers, and propose solutions to improve the efficiency of this work.

Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Vu Tung stated that labour cooperation has over the past 30 years continuously developed, bringing economic benefits to the two countries’ peoples and businesses.

Along with the significant increase in the number of Vietnamese workers in the RoK, the consultancy and support are also carried out systematically and effectively, he said, adding that the embassy always accompanies and coordinates with labour support centres to find solutions to enhance the supply of information, advice and support for employees in a substantive, effective and comprehensive way.

About 205,000 Vietnamese are living, working and studying in the RoK, of whom 27,000 have arrived under the Employment Permit System (EPS) programme.

After 30 years of the establishment of the bilateral diplomatic ties, cooperation between Vietnam and the RoK has been thriving across spheres.

Two-way trade revenue also increased 160 times, from 500 million USD in 1992 to 80 billion USD last year.

The RoK is currently the largest investor of Vietnam with 9,288 underway projects worth over 79 billion USD, accounting for 18.5% of total FDI in Vietnam. Korean investors have been present in 59 out of 63 Vietnamese localities, focusing on areas of processing, manufacturing, electronics, high technology, logistics and construction.

In a recent interview with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Kawk Sung-il, Director of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)’s security strategy centre, said the RoK – Vietnam bilateral relations have developed strongly over the past three decades and reaped fruitful achievements, especially in terms of economics.

The the two sides need to discuss more cooperation methods to develop sustainably the relations in the future, he suggested.

According to Kwak, economic cooperation is a bright spot in the bilateral relationship with Vietnam now being the 3rd largest trading partner of the RoK./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam and Singapore have enjoyed fruitful partnership in various areas, including politics, economy, security and people-to-people exchange, Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Mai Phuoc Dung has said.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the 77th National Day of Vietnam in Singapore on August 25 with the participation of more than 300 local guests, Ambassador Dung said that in the field of economy, Singapore has been the second largest among the 139 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

As of the end of June, Singapore had run about 3,000 projects in Vietnam with a total investment of about 70 billion USD.

In the first half of this year, Singapore invested 4.3 million USD in Vietnam, becoming the largest foreign investor in the country. Meanwhile, two-way trade rose nearly 22% year on year to 15.7 billion USD.

Currently, Vietnam is the 12th biggest trade partner of Singapore, while Singapore is the 15th of Vietnam, he noted. At the same time, the diplomat affirmed that people-to-people exchange is one of a firm pillar in the Vietnam-Singapore ties. Tens of thousands of Vietnamese scholars, students and workers are living and studying in Singapore, who have acted as bridges linking the two nations, he said.

According to the ambassador, Vietnam has seen strong recovery after the pandemic, with GDP growth in the first half of this year reaching 6.42%.

Singaporean Minister of Communications and Information Josephine Teo highlighted that Vietnam is an important partner and friend of Singapore in the ASEAN. Both sides have cooperated closely in key areas of trade, investment, finance, security and defence, she said, underlining that the regular exchange among leaders of both sides and the mutual support throughout the pandemic period attested the strong ties between the two countries.

Teo expressed her delight that Singapore was the largest investor in Vietnam in 2020 and 2021 with a total investment of about 20 billion USD. Ten Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) have been operating, creating 270,000 jobs for Vietnamese labourers, she noted, adding that the two sides have expanded their partnership to many new other areas such as cybersecurity, smart city building, sustainable development and digital economy.

As members of the ASEAN, both sides have also worked closely together and shared viewpoints on many regional issues, she said./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

An additional 3,195 COVID-19 cases were reported in Vietnam on August 26, making it the fourth consecutive day the number of daily infections has exceeded the 3,000 mark.

The new infections brought the country’s total caseload to 11,399,400, according to the Ministry of Health.

Also on August 26, 9,338 patients were declared to be free from coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, lifting the total number of recoveries to 10,126,265.

Meanwhile, the death toll was kept at 43,110, accounting for 0.4% of the total infections, as no fatality was recorded on the day.

Nearly 255.19 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered so far./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency