Day: September 5, 2022

Banh Xeo, a crispy Vietnamese pancake filled with pork, shrimp and bean sprouts, won the second prize at the culinary competition, part of Bagnara ethnic culture festival, which is held in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region from September 1-4.

This year’s edition featured stalls from 25 countries, attracting more than 15,000 visitors.

The people who prepared traditional Vietnamese dishes at the event were members of the Vietnam-Italy Cultural Bridge Association, who volunteered for this work. Le Thi Bich Huong, president of the association, said that the annual festival aims to create bridges between foreigners’ associations in the Emilia-Romagna region, adding that it offers an opportunity to promote the Vietnamese culture through gastronomy in Italy.

The association also devotes part of the profit to charitable activities, she said.

Vietnamese culture and cuisine have become familiar to Italians and foreigners living in the Emilie Romangne region through four festivals. Previously, Vietnam won the first prize in the culinary competitions in 2016, 2018 and 2021, with nem ran (fried spring rolls), nem lui (grilled pork paste), nem chay (vegetarian spring rolls), respectively./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban metro line has transported nearly 6 million passengers during more than nine months of operation, according to Hanoi Metro One Member Limited Company (Hanoi Metro) – a State-owned enterprise specialising in the operation and maintenance of urban railway in Hanoi.

In the four-day National Day holiday, more than 156,000 passengers used the line, with over 55,000 on September 2 alone, surpassing the record daily number of 54,000 on the May Day.

The company’s survey showed 54% of the passengers use monthly passes.

The line started running last November. It was officially inaugurated on January 13 this year and welcomed the one millionth passenger the same day. With a total investment of approximately 868 million USD (up 315 million USD compared to initial estimates) and funded by China’s official development assistance (ODA), the elevated line is more than 13km long and has 12 stations and 13 trains.

Trains run every 10 minutes with a capacity of 960 passengers each train. One-way tickets cost from 8,000-15,000 VND (0.35-0.65 USD) for a trip and 30,000 VND for a day pass. A monthly pass is priced at 200,000 VND, with lower price schemes available for bulk purchases by companies or factories. /.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

No matter how the world situation changes, the Party and State of Vietnam, together with the Party and State of Laos, always strives and stays determined to cultivate their relationship, both in width and depth, Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung has said.

Talking with the press in Laos on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Vietnam – Laos diplomatic ties and the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Vietnam – Laos Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, Hung pointed out why both countries call their relationship special.

In terms of geography and history, he said the two neighbouring countries lean on the Truong Son mountain range and share the water of Mekong river. In the past, they lived peacefully together and even fought against common enemies to protect themselves.

Peoples of both countries were led by the pioneering parties of the working class with a common origin, the Indochinese Communist Party, now the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party. Therefore, fostering the special solidarity between the two countries has become a consistent and long-term guideline and policy of the two Parties and States. The tradition has been passed down from generation to generation and continues to be passed on to future generations.

Hung said tens of thousands of Vietnamese officers, experts and voluntary soldiers of both Vietnam and Laos have sacrificed their lives to the building of this special relationship. The two countries offer mutual support in a sincere, impartial, pure and good-will manner while their political and strategic trust are solid.

Highlighting the significance of the 2022 Year of Vietnam – Laos, Laos – Vietnam Solidarity and Friendship, the diplomat said it is vital to the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive partnership between the two nations, affirming that it is an invaluable common asset of the two nations.

The two peoples will hold their hands together and move forward on the path of building their countries forever in peace, independence, self-reliance and prosperity, he said./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Singapore’s manufacturing sentiment fell in August to its lowest point in two years, with the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the electronics sector recording the sharpest contraction after 24 consecutive months of expansion.

According to the Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management (SIPMM), Singapore’s electronics sector PMI decreased by 0.9 points from July to 49.6 in August, making the country’s PMI edge down 0.1 points from the previous month to remain on expansion at 50.

The result was attributed to a contraction in the key indices of new orders, new exports, output and inventory, SIPMM said.

UOB senior economist Alvin Liew said Singapore’s electronic sector PMI was displaying the same pattern of slowdown seen in the Republic of Korea and Taiwan (China), both electronics production powerhouses.

Meanwhile, chief economist at OCBC Bank Selena Ling said although manufacturing PMI recorded its 26th consecutive month of expansion, the signs are not encouraging and a challenging road is lying ahead.

Economists said a potentially much slower electronics performance and weaker demand from North Asian economies could increasingly weigh on non-oil domestic exports momentum and domestic manufacturing demand./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The first Vietnamese Children’s “Ao Dai” Festival, themed “Back to the roots,” was held in Viet Tri, the capital of northern Phu Tho province on September 4, along side with the final round of a contest entitled “Vietnamese Children’s Ao Dai Ambassador 2022.”

The event saw the participants of 70 outstanding children aged 5 – 15 selected in the contest’s qualifying round. They performed six collections of Ao Dai (Vietnam’s traditional gown) by designers David Minh Duc, Si Hoang, Ta Linh Nhan, Phuong Ho, Bui Thi Thom and Alana’s Kid. The organisers selected the Top 20 and Top 10 candidates before announcing two winners, Nguyen Gia Bao from Yen Bai and Nguyen Tri Nam Kha from Binh Duong, who outperformed the others to claim the ambassador titles.

The festival and competition are expected to preserve and promote the Vietnamese traditional costumes and national identity among the young generation and make “ao dai” a symbol of inter-generation connections and one that keeps the nation’s soul./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Indonesia and the Philippines on September 5 agreed to intensify cooperation in border security, during a State visit of Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos to Indonesia.

The two countries agreed to review the revised border crossing and the border patrol agreements, said Indonesian President Joko Widodo at a joint press statement broadcast live.

The two sides also pledged to accelerate negotiations on the delimitation of the continental shelf based on the 1982 UN Convention of Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Additionally, Widodo lauded the inking of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the two countries in defence and security, which encourages strengthening water safety and security in border areas.

He also highly spoke of the renewed Trilateral Cooperative Agreement (TCA) between Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia, saying securing waterways is very important to avoid threats from hostage-taking and kidnapping.

Widodo said that he also discussed with his Philippine counterpart on several matters, including fostering partnership between State-owned enterprises of the two sides in trade, infrastructure development, strategic industry, border cooperation, maritime border security safeguarding, and how to strengthen ASEAN’s centrality and unity.

Jakarta hopes ASEAN to continue to be a pioneer in maintaining stability, peace and prosperity in the region, he emphasised.

President Marcos, for his part, said that Indonesia is one of the Philippines’ closest neighbours and partners. The two sides plan to form task forces at the technical level to expand bilateral ties in multiple areas, contributing to the regional peace and development./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Cao Lanh, the capital city of the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap, has been added to the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC), raising the number of such cities in Vietnam to five.

Along with 76 cities from 43 other countries, it was officially listed in the GNLC on September 2.

Other Vietnamese cities joining the network, which gathers 294 cities in 76 countries, are Hai Duong and Ho Chi Minh City in 2015, and Sa Dec in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap and Vinh in the central province of Nghe An in 2020.

According to Vietnamese Ambassador Le Thi Hong Van, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to UNESCO, in order to deal with emerging challenges and maintain good reading culture, Cao Lanh has introduced many learning software and organised various meetings on education and reading.

The locality has also effectively promoted the role of local students and youngsters in the work, she said.

UNESCO General Director Audrey Azoulay said the newly-recognised learning cities are well-deserved thanks to their excellent expertise and efforts to transform the interests in learning into reality.

The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, a center for research in lifelong learning, launched the “UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities” in 2012.

Since then, the UNESCO Learning City Award has been presented to cities that have made breakthrough progress based on promoting equal learning opportunities for all from beginner to university, promoting learning at home and in community, facilitating learning for work and in the workplace, expanding the use of advanced learning technologies, enhancing the quality and inclusiveness of learning, and promoting a lifelong learning culture./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency