Day: November 9, 2022

The southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau’s rescue force coordinated with representatives of the Sri Lanka Consulate General in HCM City to receive over 300 Sri Lankan nationals who were saved by a Japanese cargo ship after their boat faced a serious incident in the waters off the Vietnamese locality on November 8.

 

At 8:30pm, the first group of 155 Sri Lankans were transported to the port of Vietsovpetro Oil and Gas Joint Venture (Vung Tau city) by the rescue ship SAR 413, and the other 150 were also brought ashore on the same day.

 

Accommodations for them were arranged in Vung Tau city, Dat Do and Xuyen Moc districts.

 

Two days earlier, on November 6, the Myanmar-flagged fishing vessel LADY R3, which was carrying them to Canada, broke down and drifted at sea about 258 nautical miles to the southeast of the province’s Vung Tau cape. Encountering the incident coupled with strong wind, the ship sent out a mayday.

 

Upon receiving the distress signal, the Region 3’s maritime search and rescue coordination centre urgently searched the waters to find the fishing vessel.

 

From 3:30 to 5:30pm on November 7, Japanese cargo ship HELIOS LEADER, en route from Japan to Singapore, approached the LADY R3 and brought all the passengers and crew members on its board.

 

At noon on November 8, the Japanese vessel transported the Sri Lankans to Vung Tau anchorage area and handed them over to Ba Ria-Vung Tau authorities./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A celebration of the traditional Ok Om Bok Festival of the Khmer ethnic group was held in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh in the evening of November 8, attracting thousands of local people and tourists alike.

 

The Ok Om Bok (moon worshipping) is one of the three main festivals, along with Sene Dolta and Chol Chnam Thmay, that Khmer ethnic people celebrate every year. It has been recognized as Vietnam’s intangible cultural heritage by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

 

Addressing the celebration, the Chairman of Tra Vinh Provincial People’s Committee, Le Van Han, acknowledged the contribution of Khmer people to local socio-economic development.

 

After a year of suspension due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, celebrations of the Ok Om Bok Festival resumed this year with a series of activities, including cultural, artistic and sports programmes, to both entertain the local Khmer community and preserve their unique culture, he said.

 

In the framework of the festival, a Culture, Tourism and Food Festival Week took place from Nov. 2-8 to promote the traditional culture of the Khmer people and the province’s potential for culture and tourism. It attracts the participation of provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta.

 

On the occasion, the province’s Association for Learning Promotion and Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs presented 20 scholarships to poor Khmer students./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Along with seeking partnership in the UK and Europe, Vietnamese travel firms and localities attending the World Travel Market (WTM) in London from November 7-9 have promoted the image of Vietnam as an attractive, friendly and safe destination for international tourists.

 

The Vietnamese pavilion covers 250 sq.m, spreading the message “Live fully in Vietnam” to the event, which draws about 5,000 businesses from 182 countries and 51,000 visitors.

 

This year, Vietnam focuses on popularising sea tourism and the country’s nature, culture and cities.

 

Various activities have been held during the event, including those to connect with international partners, art performances and the introduction of the Vietnam National Tourism Year 2023, which is themed “Binh Thuan: Green Tourism”.

 

Vo Anh Tai, Deputy General Director of Saigontourist, said that the UK is a promising market for Vietnamese tourism with visitors’ high spending at over 1,300 USD per day. Thanks to the visa exemption applied for five European countries, including the UK, the number of British tourists to Vietnam rose 20% each year from 2016 to 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, he noted.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

The Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2022, the largest to date, will take place from November 11 to 18, aiming to honour and promote creative design resources in the capital city.

 

Themed “Design and Technology”, the event is jointly organised by the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, the Architecture Magazine and relevant agencies.

 

A range of activities will be held within the framework of the festival, including exhibitions and seminars with innovative features.

 

The event’s organising board will launch some creative design contests for young people to encourage them to get involved in the construction of the city space in the future, including the Dream House contest and a photo contest for youth “Hanoi from a perspective view”.

 

During the festival, the city will honour the winners of Hanoi’s public art design contest and another to seek new and unique ideas in creative spaces, designs and products for Hanoi which were launched in August this year.

 

According to Do Dinh Hong, director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, the Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2022 continues to affirm Hanoi’s creative resources by connecting artists, creative designers and experts in different fields as well as creating a highlight for Hanoi at the national and regional levels.

 

The event is also an annual activity to realise Hanoi’s commitment to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) after joining the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, he said, adding that it contributes to raising awareness of businesses and social community on creativeness in the development of cultural industries./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam will need nearly 400 trillion VND (16.08 billion USD) to upgrade its seaport system by 2030, heard a workshop held by the Ministry of Transport in Hanoi on November 8.

 

The workshop looked into the detailed planning scheme of seaports, harbours, wharves, floating terminals and water areas and another planning scheme of the inland container deport system in 2021-2030 with a vision to 2050.

 

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Xuan Sang said the domestic seaport system, with more than 90km in total length, can handle about 750 million tonnes of cargo each year.

 

More than 90% of Vietnam’s exports and imports have gone through the seaports, helping the country ensure its macro-economic stability, the official added.

 

Seaports have been formed at northern and southern gateways like Lach Huyen in northern Hai Phong city than can handle ships of up to 132,000 DWT and Cai Mep in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province which is designed to sustain ships of up to 214,000 DWT.

 

Deputy Director of the Consulting Centre for Transport Development Investment (CCTDI) Pham Hoai Chung said Vietnam has put 10 inland container deports into service.

 

The facilities and inland clearance deports are located along the five out of the 15 economic corridors and zones included in the planning scheme, and handle about 4.2 million TEUs of cargo each year.

 

Chung suggested public-private partnership (PPP) in inland container deport investment, and expanding and diversifying investment forms with the involvement of different economic sectors.

 

Representatives from localities and enterprises and experts stressed the need to define orientations to utilise the country’s coastline.

 

Sang asked localities to uphold their responsibility in planning, saying local budget should continue to be used in maritime infrastructure development./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A delegation of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam) led by Chairman of Members’ Council Hoang Quoc Vuong had a working session on November 7 with representatives from relevant agencies of Algeria to speed up the implementation of the second phase of a tripartite joint venture project at the Bir Seba field in the African country.

 

The joint venture of Petrovietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP) under Petrovietnam, Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Public Company and the national state-owned oil company of Algeria – Sonatrach Group was established in 2009 with total investment of 1.26 billion USD.

 

In the first phase, the Bir Seba field produces 20,000 barrels of oil per day. Since welcoming the first oil flow in August 2015, the project has pumped a total of 44.27 million barrels. It is considered a bright spot in the bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and Algeria.

 

The second stage of the joint venture project is expected to welcome the first oil flow in the first quarter of 2016, also with a design capacity of 20,000 barrels per day.

 

On the occasion, the Vietnamese delegation had a meeting with Algerian Minister of Energy and Mines Mohamed Arkab on November 7, during which the two sides reviewed the oil and gas partnership between Sonatrach and Petrovietnam, and assessed the prospects for expanding cooperation between the two sides in the coming time.

 

Arkab invited the Vietnamese firm to further invest in the oil and gas industry in his country, and set up more win-win partnerships.

 

For his part, Vuong expressed his satisfaction with the quality of the Petrovietnam – Sonatrach cooperation, and showed interest in increasing investment in Algeria, especially in existing oil and gas projects as well as new ones./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

Towards the 68th traditional day of the electricity sector (December 21), the Vietnam Electricity (EVN) is carrying out a lot of activities to honour its customers.

 

Specifically, this year’s EVN Customer Gratitude Month Programme is taking place in November and December, targeting all of the group’s customers, particularly businesses, to help them use electricity safely, economically and effectively.

 

The group focuseson ensuring safe and stable electricity supply and improving customer service quality; and provide free support and checks of the power system to ensure the safe and effective use.

 

The EVN also provides free installation of electric meters and cleaning of transformer stations for businesses.

 

It also plans to provide assistance for poor households, policy beneficiaries and lonely old people./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Two favourite plays “Khoc giua troi xanh” (Crying under the Blue Sky) and “Yeu la thoat toi” (Love to be Unguilty) have entertained local residents and visitors to the Central Highlands resort city of Da Lat.

 

The screening forms part of a project aiming to offer a new form of cultural tourism on the occasion of the biennial Da Lat Flower Festival, with free tickets available at Da Lat Opera House on November 26-27.

 

The two plays will then be staged once a month in the city, and more works are hoped to make debut in the time ahead.

 

“Khoc giua troi xanh” is a tragic work featuring the life of Le Van Thinh, a famous official of the royal court of the Ly Dynasty in 1084. Meanwhile, “Yeu la thoat toi” is inspired by the love story of Nguyen Trai, a national hero and world cultural celebrity (1380 – 1442), and Nguyen Thi Lo. Both won awards at the National Theatre Festival.

 

Through the project, the Da Lat Opera House is expected to be a destination for local residents and tourists in the time ahead.

 

Located on Lam Vien Plateau at an altitude of 1,500m above sea level, Da Lat in Lam Dong province is a popular tourist attraction, spanning 394 square km and having a population of nearly 232,000 from many ethnic groups.

 

It is home to the cultural space of gongs in the Central Highlands, which was recognised by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in November 2005.

 

The land is also associated with many famous Vietnamese musicians and singers such as Trinh Cong Son, Le Uyen Phuong, Khanh Ly, and Pham Duy./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency