Day: September 19, 2022

The central city of Da Nang is seeking to develop tourism products that are tailored to suit the taste of vacationers from India and the Middle East, which are defined as important markets for the city’s tourism in the future.

 

Director of the municipal Department of Tourism Truong Thi Hong Hanh said that since the Government fully reopened domestic and international tourism on March 15, Da Nang has focused on promotion and communication activities to resume international flights and markets, in which India will be an important market during the post-pandemic recovery period.

 

Experts said India’s positive open-door policy and the great travel demand of its people can help Vietnam make up for the number of visitors from the traditional Northeast Asian markets, which have not yet reopened fully after the pandemic.

 

Da Nang has organised programmes to introduce its attractive destinations in India, and welcoming delegations from the country to survey tourism products and services in the city.

 

The Middle Eastern region, especially nine nations in the project on “Developing relations between Vietnam and countries in the Middle East – Africa for the 2016 – 2025 period”, is also one of the strategic markets in tourism cooperation and development of Vietnam in general and Da Nang in particular, according to Hanh.

 

She said to attract more holiday-makers from India and the Middle East, the municipal Department of Tourism has worked with the city’s Tourism Association, Tourism Development Promotion Fund, tourist sites, travel agents, and airlines to build attractive product packages.

 

The city will continue developing products especially designed for these markets, especially high-class ones, including wedding and resort tourism products that suit the needs and taste of Indian and Middle Eastern tourists.

 

According to Tran Duc Hung, Vietnamese Ambassador to Qatar, tourists from the Middle East and India prefer to go to private beach resorts and combine traveling with looking for commercial and investment opportunities, and therefore prefer not to travel in tour groups.

 

Hanh said that Vietjet Air’s opening of the two first direct air routes linking Da Nang to India’s largest and most important cities of Mumbai and New Delhi in October will create favourable conditions for both sides to boost tourism.

 

In addition, the city plans to send delegations to Middle Eastern countries to introduce its tourism, and work with the Qatar side to soon resume the Doha – Da Nang air route, she added.

 

Vietjet Air has also announced that the airline will operate three new routes to Da Nang from India’s Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad on November 28, November 29 and December 1, respectively.

 

Deputy General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Ha Van Sieu said that India and the Middle East are considered potential markets that need to be prioritised in the Vietnam Tourism Development Strategy by 2030.

 

Statistics from Google Trends showed that the number of searches about Vietnam from the Indian market has been increasing. This reflects the demand from India, which has a population of more than 1.3 billion and will become the most populous country in the world by 2023 with more than 1.4 billion people.

 

By the year-end, there will be 21 direct air routes, with over 60 flights per week, connecting Vietnam with India.

 

There are also direct flights linking Vietnam’s major cities such as Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City with the capitals of Middle East countries.

 

The central city of Da Nang has witnessed a strong post-pandemic rebound across various fields, especially in tourism and investment.

 

According to the municipal Department of Statistics, total revenue from accommodation and catering services in the city in the first eight months of 2022 reached an estimated 11.85 trillion VND (503.7 million USD), up 56.1 percent year-on-year.

 

Da Nang welcomed nearly 2.4 million visitors in the period, including 221,000 foreigners, up 125.7% and 144.9%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.  It raked in over 1.2 trillion VND from tourism activities, up 483.9% year-on-year./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

An independent evaluation recognising Cambodia’s progress on tackling violence against children has recently been released at an event co-hosted by the Cambodian Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation (MoSVY) and UNICEF.

 

The evaluation examined the Cambodian Government’s Action Plan to Prevent and Respond to Violence Against Children, which ran between 2017 and 2021.

 

Minister of the MoSVY Vong Sauth said the evaluation is very encouraging for the government, showing that Cambodia is on the right track to ending violence against children.

 

Foroogh Foyouzat, UNICEF’s Representative in Cambodia, said this evaluation shows progress in certain areas, but there is still much more to be done.

 

She recommended the finalisation of the upcoming child protection bill, and increased investment in the social welfare workforce and prevention programmes in a bid to keep children safe and break the vicious cycle of violence that afflicts too many families.

 

The latest figures from the Cambodia Health and Demographic Survey 2022 reveal that 43% of children report that they are disciplined in the home using physical violence./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

 

The Korea Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA Hanoi) plans to organise a business-to-business (B2B) trade event on September 21 between enterprises from the Republic of Korea’s Incheon city and Vietnamese importers.

 

The event will draw the participation of 25 Korean manufacturers/suppliers with typical products including cosmetics, instant food; smart home appliances and medical equipment, among others.

 

These high-quality products have been widely sold in the RoK and exported to many countries around the world, according to KOTRA Hanoi.

 

Incheon is a central-run city and also an important trading port of the RoK. It became Korea’s first free economic zone in 2003 and is one of the largest export hubs with 11 key industrial production complexes.

 

The event is expected to provide Vietnamese enterprises with opportunities to cooperate with potential partners from Incheon city./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee opened its law-making session on September 19 under the chair of NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

 

In his opening speech, Hue briefed the committee on the session’s agenda with 17 important matters.

 

The Standing Committee is expected to opine on a host of draft laws, including the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (amended) and the Land Law (amended).

 

They will discuss draft laws to be submitted to the NA for the first time at its upcoming 4th session, slated for October, which are the law amending and supplementing the Law on Electronic Transactions; Law on Prices (amended); Law on Cooperatives (amended); and Law on Bidding (amended).

 

The draft Law on Civil Defence, which was revised taking into account comments from the previous law-making session, will be submitted to the committee for the second time at this session.

 

In addition, the law makers will comment on the pilot of a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Buon Ma Thuot in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak with a goal of turning the city into a driving force for the development of the province and region.

 

A number of draft resolutions to be discussed included those on auction of licence plates for cars; amending and supplementing the committee’s resolution on the classification of urban areas; and the promulgation of regulations on protecting state secrets in the activities of the NA and other related agencies, among others./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

The Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang has taken a number of measures to cope with natural disasters and climate change.

 

The coastal province is normally affected by saltwater intrusion into rivers in the dry season and erosion along the sea, rivers and canals.

 

It has had more than 20 strong winds that flattened or blew off the roofs of more than 80 houses, injured one person and damaged nearly 1,000ha of rice so far this year.

 

It has suffered erosion on 60 occasions along a total of 3,400 metres of land, with Ke Sach and Cu Lao Dung districts and Vinh Chau town being the worst affected.

 

The provincial People’s Committee has allocated 5.3 billion VND (220,000 USD) to Ke Sach to cope with its erosion along embankments and riverine islands and 3.1 billion VND (130,000 USD) to Long Phu district for riverbank erosion in Song Phung and Phu Huu communes.

 

The province has built saltwater prevention sluices and erosion prevention embankments, and plans two more coastal erosion prevention projects in Vinh Chau town at a cost of 143 billion VND (6 million USD).

 

In the first eight months of this year the province took various measures to combat saltwater intrusion, including warning farmers not to grow a late winter-spring rice crop in some localities to avoid a shortage of irrigation water at its end.

 

Vuong Quoc Nam, deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said the province would have human resources standing by for preventing natural disasters, conduct more disaster-prevention drills and strengthen inspection and penalties to prevent violations of regulations.

 

The local Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, Search and Rescue and Centre for Hydro-Meteorology Forecasting will focus on forecasting high tides, dangerous weather, low pressure systems, storms, and saltwater intrusion.

 

The province will work to raise public awareness of prevention and control of natural disasters.

 

It will zone residential areas and restructure agricultural production to cope with natural disasters, and relocate households in disaster-prone areas to safer places./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

 

The Lao Government and relevant energy companies plan to spend over  2 billion USD for the construction of a wind power project in Sepon district, Savannakhet province to serve domestic demand and export to Vietnam.

 

Local media reported that Lao Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Sathabandith Insisiengmay and Savan Vayu Renewable Company and LTM Lao Company recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to examine the possibility of wind power projects in the region.

 

The wind power factory is designed to have an installed capacity of 1,200 megawatts and an approximate construction cost of 2.15 billion USD. Its construction is expected to complete at the end of 2025.

 

The signing of the MoU is part of a cooperation plan with Vietnam in the energy sector which was put into place in 2016./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

 

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) announced that the railway service connecting Thailand’s Nong Khai province with Thanaleng station in Laos has resumed operation since September 16, in the context that the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided in both countries.

 

The route crosses the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge over the Mekong River. Every day, there will be two trips departing from Nong Khai at 7:30am and 2:45pm and returning from Thanaleng at 10:00 am and 5:30 pm.

 

A SRT spokesperson said the journey takes 15 minutes and the fare is 20 THB (0.54 USD) per trip.

 

SRT is gradually bringing railway operations back to normal after the Thai Government eased restrictions on COVID-19 prevention.

 

A rapid rail service between the capital Bangkok and Yala province in the southernmost province of Thailand was also resumed on September 16./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam News Agency’s London-based correspondents visited Katrin Kandel’s home in London on a warm summer afternoon, which, Katrin said, reminded her of the heat of Hanoi summer.

 

Located in the centre of London, the home of the voluntary CEO of Facing the World (FTW), is decorated with beautiful paintings, some of which are from Vietnam, giving us a feeling of closeness to the homeowner.

 

Our talk with Katrin revealed her compassion for Vietnamese children with birth defects and the motivation for her to pursue a journey that has brought about life changes for thousands of unfortunate children in Vietnam.

 

In 2007, the foundation first was invited by a US charity to Vietnam where they found a very high rate of birth defects, which is estimated by some experts to be almost ten times the regional level. Following on from this, Katrin and colleagues felt very strongly that FTW should develop craniofacial centres in Vietnam given the compelling need across the country.

 

The visit marked the start of a long journey in which FTW has accompanied Vietnamese doctors to help bring smiles and a normal life to thousands of Vietnamese children with craniofacial birth effects.

 

A UK-registered medical charitable foundation set up in 2002 to treat children from developing countries with craniofacial defects, FTW initially brought Vietnamese children to the UK for treatment at the foundation’s partner hospitals with costs ranging from 50,000 GBP (over 57,000 USD) to 1million GBP per child. However, since 2008, the foundation began sending multidisciplinary teams of medics to Vietnam to join local doctors operating on complex surgical cases.

 

Since then, the foundation has developed a unique, clear, sustainable strategy and solution which will continue to lead to tens of thousands of children, initially in Vietnam and then beyond, receiving the treatment they need for often horrifically disfiguring birth defects.

 

Katrin said the key to this viable and sustainable solution is the “teach a man to fish” approach. FTW awards international training fellowships to Vietnamese medics, having sent more than 100 doctors to top medical institutions in the UK, Canada, the US and Australia to observe and learn new techniques and approaches. The doctors are offered 2-6 week fellowships which are covered by the foundation (approximately 11,000 GBP/two-week fellowship).

 

Katrin said by sending Vietnamese doctors abroad for training, the foundation aims to create an opportunity for the doctors to work and establish relationships with doctors in centres of excellence throughout the world.

 

These fellowships are supplemented by in-country medical missions where complex surgeries are carried out by coordinated teams of the Vietnamese doctors and the international doctors involved in the fellowship programme. Since 2008, there have been on average two missions to Vietnam per year, with all missions now including teaching conferences to which doctors throughout Vietnam are invited.

 

The foundation also regards telemedicine as an important part of its training strategy. FTW has partnered with a platform technology developed by In Touch Health (now Teladoc’s World Telehealth Foundation) that enables the development of a ‘hub-and-spoke’ outreach programme within Vietnam. The platform facilitates a two-way mentoring, educational system for international partners as well as longer term domestically. The foundation has collaborated with its Vietnamese partners to identify game-changing technology needs, which are met through donations.

 

Katrin pointed out that while the number of doctors can’t be multiplied, technology like Telemedicine can help multiply their  expertise. By having the expertise in the centres in large cities, it means that doctors, nurses and health centres from outlying areas are able to access the expertise. Longer term, the foundation expects that the doctors will be able to assess children in all the outlying areas and determine whether they need to be brought into the centres or can be given advice remotely on how to treat their problems.

 

According to Katrin, Vietnam is in a strong position to roll out the approach.  To date, 2.4 million GBP worth of telemedicine equipment and technology has been donated to FTW partner centres in Vietnam. Close to 10 million GBP in other medical equipment has been donated to the same partner hospitals.

 

FTW has now partnered with three hospitals in Vietnam: the private Hong Ngoc General, and two leading public hospitals in Vietnam: 108 Military Central Hospital and Viet-Duc University Hospital.  Their networks of approximately 100 further hospitals and clinics, allows the foundation’s reach to extend throughout the country, enabling treatment for the poor, primarily children, born with severe facial differences.

 

At 108 Hospital, the foundation opened in late 2018 the Centre for Craniofacial and Plastic Surgery, the first of its kind in South East Asia. So far 26 medics from the Centre have taken part in FTW’s  fellowship programme and two telemedicine platforms from InTouch Health have been donated to the hospital. After 8 years, the Centre is expected to reach and treat 60% of all children born in Vietnam with significant facial differences. Katrin said 108 Hospital was a wonderful example of how the number of children being operated on  has been measured. Before the centre was established, the hospital was able to run only one mission a year into the outlying areas, but now is running one mission every month. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the centre was still working, performing operations for children even though FTW medics and Vietnamese doctors couldn’t travel.

 

In the next 5 years, FTW plans to enable 40,000 operations to be performed by its trained Vietnamese doctors. The foundation expects to send at least another 200 Vietnamese doctors abroad for training. Medical equipment which is considered to be game changing will continue to be donated.

 

FTW’s efforts have been recognised by the governments from Vietnam and UK. Katrin Kandel was awarded the Vietnamese President’s Medal for Friendship; the Medal for Peace and Friendship among Nations; and a Certificate of Merit for significant contributions to Vietnam’s socio-economic development in 2021 by the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations. Katrin was also awarded the Points of Light Award in recognition of excellence, commended in 2017 by the then  British Prime Minister. The foundation also received official endorsement by the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vietnam and the Vietnam-UK Network.

 

Katrin said an important goal in the longer-term is for Vietnam to be very much part of the surgical expertise at FTW, acting as a craniofacial centre in Southeast Asia. When the foundation is able to expand into one of the neighbouring countries like Laos and Cambodia, Vietnam is expected to become part of the training scheme similar to the UK, Canada, Australia and America. She noted that with 108 Hospital and Viet Duc hospital being accredited by the Royal College of Surgeons for Accreditation, the hospitals are now seen as having the expertise for training which is at a level similar to the UK hospitals.

 

Leaving Katrin’s home, we understood why Katrin is determined to change the destiny of unfortunate Vietnamese children as she told us a touching memory about a baby she had met. The baby, perhaps only six months old, had severe defects that made her look horrific to any ordinary person other than a doctor. But the baby turned into an adorable child after an operation performed by FTW medics in collaboration with Vietnamese doctors. Katrin said it was such a lovely feeling seeing the change that could make a child who is ostracised become part of society. She said the very lovely children that have horrific birth defects and the love that their families have for them have largely encouraged FTW and herself in fulfilling the foundation’s mission in Vietnam.

 

We believe with such a great motivation, Katrin and FTW will achieve new successes in their journey to bring hopes and happiness to unfortunate children in Vietnam and all around the world and their families as well./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency