Da Nang will not impose social distancing or shut down the city in the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) Festival, according to Ngo Kim Yen, Vice Chairwoman of the central city’s People’s Committee.

At a meeting of the municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control on January 17, the official further said Da Nang will not apply any travel restrictions but maintain operation of supermarkets and traditional markets, while working to ensure the supply of necessities and smooth traffic during the holidays.
The affirmation was given amid rumours about the city’s closure and social distancing during the largest festival of Vietnamese people in a year.

Yen stated that although the number of COVID-19 infections in the city is rising, its response is effective with low fatalities and good control of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the city is injecting the booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines for locals as scheduled.

HCM City adds 44 olds villas to preserved list

The HCM City People's Committee has added 44 old villas to the conservation list for their historical and cultural importance.

Buildings are classified into three based on their historical and cultural significance and have detailed regulations for their preservation. 

Those in groups 1 and 2 are conserved, while those in group 3 have little historical or architectural value and can be demolished.

In the first group, everything from exterior architecture and internal structure to construction density, number of floors and height have to be kept unchanged.

In the second group the external architecture must be maintained.

Only one old villa -- at 12B Bà Huyện Thanh Quan Street, District 3 -- is in group 1. 

Eight villas have been added to group 2 and 33 to group 3, most of them in districts 1 and 3.

Group 3 buildings, though they can be demolished, must still comply with building and architectural planning and management laws, and demolitions need express permission from the Department of Planning and Architecture 

So far more than 350 villas, mainly in districts 1 and 3 with the rest in Thủ Đức City and districts 5, Phú Nhuận and Bình Thạnh.

Legal foundations sought for tiger conservation in Vietnam

The Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV) on January 17 organised a seminar on raising tigers for conservation efforts in Vietnam.

Bui Thi Ha, ENV deputy director, said that the wild tiger population has decreased significantly in Vietnam and all around the world over the past 30 years. Meanwhile, the breeding of tigers for "non-commercial" purposes by individuals and businesses in Vietnam is growing strongly with the number of registered captive tigers increasing over the years. 

In the near future, relevant State agencies will conduct surveys and make records of all tigers being raised in Vietnam as sell as set up up a national database to manage tigers being kept in captivity within the framework of the National Programme on Tiger Conservation, she said.

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), there were less than five tiger individuals left in the wild in Vietnam in 2016. 

Winners of contest ‘Reporting on violence against women, girls’ announced

The Voice of Vietnam (VOV) and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on January 17 announced winners of a joint contest ‘Reporting on violence against women and girls’ for media workers nationwide.

The contest, launched in early December 2021, attracted a large number of journalists and media professionals all over the country. In their works, journalists expressed their opinions and suggested media solutions to reduce gender inequality and gender-based violence.

Organisers presented a first prize worth VND9 million to reporter Ma Thi Thao Van from Labour and Social Affairs newspaper, a second prize worth VND7 million to reporter Bui Thuy Loan from Vietnam Law newspaper, and a third prize to reporter Nong Thi Thuy Hang from Cao Bang Province newspaper.

Logo marking 30 years of Vietnam-RoK diplomatic ties unveiled

An official logo marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) was announced on January 17.

The logo was selected from a total of 775 entries that were submitted by both Vietnamese and Korean citizens through a logo design contest jointly organised by the RoK Embassy in Vietnam and the Vietnamese Embassy in the RoK in October and November last year.

Ngo Quang Trung, a fourth-year student at the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, won first prize in the logo design contest.

The work features the national flags and famous landmarks of the two countries combined with the number 30 to represent the 30-year friendship between Vietnam and the RoK. The logo will officially be used in events to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Vietnam – RoK diplomatic relations. Vietnam and the RoK established diplomatic ties on December 22, 2022.

A Tet cake making contest for Vietnamese people in Singapore

The Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore in collaboration with the Vietnamese Students’ Association in Singapore held a Chung cake making contest for local Vietnamese people on January 15-16 to celebrate the 2022 lunar New Year festival (Tet).

The contest attracted the participation of 11 teams comprising two persons each at different age groups and from different careers. Participants had prepared Dong leaves, sticky rice, pork, steamed green beans and pepper for making Chung cakes.  

After the contest, organisers donated 100 Chung cakes together with Tet gifts to Vietnamese students who are unable to return to their homeland for family reunion during the festival.

Red Sunday blood donation campaign kicks off in Hanoi

The main event of Red Sunday, a blood donation campaign was officially launched in Hà Nội, collecting 1,235 units of blood at two blood donation points at the People’s Police Academy and the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusions on Sunday.

On the same day, the 14th Red Sunday campaign also received 3,319 blood units from a number of blood donation events in Thái Bình, Thái Nguyên, Bắc Kạn, Thừa Thiên-Huế and Đắk Lắk provinces, bringing the total amount of collected blood to 15,362 units in 20 provinces and cities.

In 2021, due to the pandemic, many blood donation events were cancelled, and the 2021 Red Sunday festival mobilised more than 61,000 blood units in 43 provinces and cities, compared to 96 blood units collected at the first Red Sunday in 2009.

Last year, the health sector received more than 1.3 million blood units donated from voluntary donors across the country. 

Exhibition reproduces traditional Lunar New Year Festival

An exhibition, which recreates the Vietnamese traditional Tết (Lunar New Year) is being at the display space of the National Archives Centre 1 in Hà Nội.

More than 100 rare documents and images from the Nguyễn dynasty to the end of the 20th century are on display.

It is arranged in three themes: Phiên chợ ngày Xuân (Spring Market), Cung chúc Tân Xuân (Happy New Year) and Du Xuân (Travelling in Spring).

Many interactive activities during the spring market were held in parallel with the exhibition to bring interesting experiences to visitors.

The exhibition offers free entry from January 14 to March 15 at the National Archives Centre 1, 5 Vũ Phạm Hàm Street, Cầu Giấy District, Hà Nội.

Miss Universe Vietnam turns fierce girl in debut film

Miss Universe Vietnam 2017 H'Hen Niê has made her acting debut by playing the lead role in 578: Phát Đạn Của Kẻ Điên (578 The Magnum), an action film by director Lương Đình Dũng.

The movie is due to hit the screens in February, after delays in release due to the COVID pandemic.

578 The Magnum revolves around a container truck driver and his daughter who lead a nomadic life. After he discovers she was sexually assaulted he sets out to find the culprit to get justice.

In her first acting role, H'Hen plays a young woman named Bảo Vy who has a strong and cheerful personality but always tries to hide something inside that makes her mysterious.

Proficient both in martial arts and driving containers or large motorcycles, she secretly accompanies the father on the journey to pursue evil.

VN face tough COVID-19 challenge ahead of Asian Cup

A COVID-19 outbreak among the Vietnamese women's' team is threatening their participation in the AFC Asian Women's Cup.

On January 16, one more player tested positive and has been isolated in a hotel in Pune, India, host country of the tournament.

The player, whose name has not been revealed, is the latest in the squad to test positive after 13 players and two doctors

Five healthy players are continuing training under coach Mai Đức Chung and wait for other teammates who are coming from Spain where they practised and competed over the last three weeks.

The national football governing body are also working on document procedures to send more players from Việt Nam to India. However, due to the lack of flights, these players are able to fly on January 20 and will still miss the first match against South Korea on January 21.

Over 20,000 Da Nang students join contests on homeland sea, islands

The People's Committee of Da Nang city's Hoang Sa district, in collaboration with the municipal Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, recently organised a ceremony to announce the winners of a contest on writing letters, drawing pictures, making cards with the theme "I love my homeland sea and islands" and another titled "Adolescents and children with homeland sea and islands".

The event was part of a series of activities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the formation of centrally-run Da Nang city, the 25th anniversary of Da Nang city's management of Hoang Sa island district and the 40th anniversary of establishment of Hoang Sa district.

The "I love my homeland sea and islands" contest attracted the participation of more than 4,500 students. The jury selected 13 outstanding works for each category of painting, writing letters and making cards, granting one first, one second, one third and 10 consolation prizes.

The organising board gave away one first, one second, one third and 10 Consolation prizes to those who completed the contest with the highest scores and in the shortest time.

Vietnam, Poland beef up defence cooperation

Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Pham Hoai Nam hosted a reception for Polish Ambassador to Vietnam Wojciech Gerwel on January 17.

The two sides noted with satisfaction that the bilateral national defence cooperation has been bolstered over the recent past, especially after the signing of a memorandum of understanding on bilateral defence cooperation in 2010, primarily in exchange of delegations, human resource development and defence industry.

They agreed to intensify defence cooperation in the coming time in a flexible manner and in tandem with the COVID-19 situation, with a focus on maintaining the exchange of delegations, particularly of high-ranking ones.

The sides will step up discussion towards the prompt approval of the Vietnam-Poland defence cooperation plan for this year.

HCM City moves to cope with Omicron variant as Tet nearing

Concerned about the Omicron variant, Ho Chi Minh City is boosting actions to keep COVID-19 under control as the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, the biggest traditional festival in Vietnam, is nearing.

To enter Vietnam, people currently have to show a negative RT-PCR test result for SARS-CoV-2 within 72 hours prior to their arrival, along with a negative rapid test result before and after their flights.

Besides this, the city’s centre for disease control (HCDC) will conduct screening tests in the areas having many people from aboard or recording a sudden surge in COVID-19 cases, and push ahead with other measures instructed by the Ministry of Health, HCDC Deputy Director Nguyen Hong Tam told a meeting on January 17.

Though the pandemic is being put under control in HCM City, people returning to the city after Tet, which falls in the first week of February, still need to comply with the 5K principle (khau trang - wearing face masks, khu khuan - disinfection, khai bao - making health declaration, khoang cach - keeping physical distance, khong tu tap - no gathering).

Northern region experiences biting cold weather

The northern region is experiencing biting cold weather on January 18-19, with the temperature dropping to 11-14 degrees Celsius at the lowest and even below 5 degrees Celsius in high mountains.

According to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, temperatures in the northern central region will drop to 14-17 degrees Celsius at the lowest.

Downpours, thunderstorms, whirlwinds, with lightning, hail and strong winds are expected in the central region, the centre said.

On January 18, the northern part of the East Sea, including the waters around the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, and the western area of the sea’s southern part, including the western waters of the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago, are expected to see strong northeasterly wind and rough sea.

Women’s football squad faces human resources crisis over COVID-19

The national women’s football team is hoping to have at least 13 players negative to COVID-19 so that they will qualify for the opening match against the Republic of Korea on January 21 as part of the 2022 Asian Women's Cup finals, said head coach Mai Duc Chung.

After the short training camp last December, 10 members, including head coach Mai Duc Chung, arrived in India’s Pune city on January 16 for the tournament scheduled to run from January 20 to February 6. Others are waiting for their COVID-19 test results in Spain, hoping to get a timely flight to India on January 19.

Among the 10 players in India, only one received positive test result for coronavirus upon arrival. Currently, Vietnam prioritises ensuring the wellbeing of the squad and joining the upcoming matches safely in line with regulations.

At the finals, five teams will qualify directly for the 2023 World Cup via the knockout stages, and two more teams will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs. Vietnam hopes their performance will gain them a place in the World Cup for the first time in history.

Two 300-year-old whale skeletons on Ly Son Island restored

The two largest whale skeletons in Vietnam, dating back about 300 years, in Ly Son Island district in the central province of Quang Ngai, have been successfully restored.

After 2 months, the restoration of two giant whale skeletons at the Lang Tan relic site in Dong An Vinh village, Ly Son Island, in Quang Ngai province has been completed.

The two restored whale skeletons are 22 metres and 28 metres long and nearly 4 metres high.

They are believed by experts to be 300 years old and are the two largest whale skeletons in Vietnam.

According to the beliefs of local fisherman, the two whale skeletons have long been conferred the titles Dong Dinh Dai Vuong and Duc Ngu, as two deities.

Residents of Ly Son beach village have worshiped and held spiritual beliefs surrounding the two whale skeletons for hundreds of years.

The restoration is expected to provide a highlight for sea and island tourism in Ly Son district. 

Scholarships granted to needy ethnic minority students in HCM City

Fifty ethnic minority students in Ho Chi Minh City received scholarships, each worth 5 million VND (219.97 USD), at a ceremony on January 17.

On this occasion, businesses, collectives and individuals raised nearly 5 billion VND to provide scholarships for local ethnic minority students who are in difficult circumstances.

The ceremony was jointly held by the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee in HCM City, the municipal Board for Ethnic Minority Affairs and the People’s Public Security Newspaper.

Colonel Tran Kim Tham, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the People's Public Security Newspaper, said since 2007, the newspaper’s fund for poor and ethnic minority students has presented 26.6 billion VND to outstanding students in HCM City and other localities.

Earlier, through the fund, donors provided 60 tablets for children of officers and soldiers belonging to the Khmer group in the southern provinces of Soc Trang and Tra Vinh. 

Vietnamese officials receive Laos’s labour orders

Individuals from the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (HCMA) and the Truth National Political Publishing House were honoured with the labour orders of Laos at a ceremony in Hanoi on January 17.

Associate Prof. Dr. Hoang Phuc Lam, Vice President of the HCMA, said the labour orders recognise contributions of the academy’s leaders, managers and experts to the publication of a book series named "Ho Chi Minh toan tap” (Ho Chi Minh Complete Collection) in the Lao language.

The 15-volume book series introduces 3,300 works written by President Ho Chi Minh between 1912 and 1969.

On this occasion, the publishing house presented books on the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and others on political theory to staff members of the Lao Embassy and Lao students in Vietnam.

Additional 16,378 COVID-19 cases reported in Vietnam on Jan. 17

A further 16,378 new COVID-19 infections, along with 179 deaths, were registered in Vietnam on January 17.

Among the new cases, 53 were imported and the rest local transmissions. A total of 11,178 new infections were detected in the community.

The capital city of Hanoi again topped the list with 2,955 new cases, followed by central Da Nang city with 924 and northern Hung Yen province with 675.

Vietnam’s number of Omicron infections remained the same as on the previous day at 68, all imported and quarantined upon arrival.

The national caseload since the start of the pandemic now stands at 2,045,290. In the past week, the country saw an average of 16,155 new infections daily.

The total number of COVID-related fatalities in the country is now 35,788, or 1.7 percent of the total infections.

Congratulatory messages exchanged to mark 72nd anniversary of Vietnam-China diplomatic ties

Top Vietnamese and Chinese leaders have exchanged their messages of congratulations on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of Vietnam-China diplomatic relations (January 18, 1950 - 2022).

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue exchanged congratulatory messages with China's Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China Li Zhanshu.

On the occasion, Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son also exchanged his congratulatory message with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Company assists HCM City’s care of the elderly

Ho Chi Minh City on January 17 received 10,000 blood pressure monitors worth 8 billion VND (352,035 USD) donated by the Indochina Development Export Import Company Limited in aid of the local health sector's care for the elderly as well as COVID-19 prevention and control.

At the handover ceremony, Vice President of the municipal Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Committee Pham Minh Tuan expressed his gratitude toward the assistance, which he considered meaningful and practical.

The official pledged to work with the city’s association of the elderly to quickly distribute the machines to people in need.

According to the committee, since the beginning of 2022, the city has received more than 772 million VND worth of donations from organisations, businesses, and individuals serving its responses to the pandemic.

Earlier, the HCM City Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has submitted a proposal on providing support for lonely senior citizens and orphans hit by the COVID-19 pandemic to the municipal People’s Committee.

Accordingly, the total cost is estimated at nearly 16.8 billion VND each year, benefiting over 380 lonely old persons and over 2,200 orphans.

Many flights see occupation rates reach up to 90 percent ahead of Lunar New Year

Vietnam Airlines Group, which operate Vietnam Airlines, Pacific Airlines and VASCO, said on January 17 that flights on many air routes on recent days have seen their occupation rates ranging from 70 to 90 percent as many people began to make the journey home for the traditional Lunar New Year.

The most crowded flights were from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, Vinh, Thanh Hoa, Da Nang, Hue, Quy Nhon, and Quang Nam.

The group observed that this year, passengers have chosen to depart sooner instead of waiting until a few days before Tet like in previous years. A large number of flights whose schedules fall between January 17 and 23 now have most of their seats booked. The 2022 Lunar New Year holiday, the longest and most important traditional festival in Vietnam, lasts from January 31 through February 4.

Experts evaluate Viet Nam's eco-industrial park model

Experts from UNIDO and Việt Nam shared their knowledge to evaluate the eco-industrial park model according to the international framework, at a recent online workshop.

The workshop is part of the project “Eco-industrial parks intervention in Việt Nam - Perspective from the Global Eco-Industrial Park Programme" co-operated by the ministry and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) with funding from the Swiss Federal Economic Agency (SECO).

The project is designed to promote activities to support the industrial parks in participating in the project to identify opportunities for eco-industrial parks, to bring environmental and economic benefits to businesses through a series of training activities to strengthen capacity in resource efficiency in cleaner production (RECP) and industrial symbiosis.

At the workshop, participants also discussed how to manage eco-industrial parks and provide services for businesses in the eco-industrial parks, key concepts, methods and tools in identifying and implementing RECP, as well as industrial symbiosis. 

Culinary film festival to open virtually in Vietnam 

Some “sweet and savory” Asian film-themed gastronomy will entertain Vietnamese and international audiences on the occasion of the Tet holiday.

The culinary film week entitled “Encore! Crosscut Asia” will be introduced by The Japan Foundation Asia Center and Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF).

The online film festival will run between January 21 and February 3, 2022. Those wishing to watch the motion pictures should email to jfac_film@jpf.go.jp (Tokyo International Film Festival Promotion Group) or delicious@tiff-jp.net for free registration.

Thousands of employees given free vouchers for Tet shopping

The Union of Export Processing Zones and Industrial Parks of Ho Chi Minh City yesterday launched the “Worker's Day – Beloved Market” program for employees with difficult circumstances.

Nearly 20 enterprises participated in the program who discounted 20 percent to 50 percent for their essential products of food, fresh vegetables, beverage, Tet goods, medical facial masks to serve the needs of employees for Tet shopping.

The organizers also gave 1,000 vouchers worth VND300,000 (US$13) each to needy workers for shopping at the event and presented 20 Tet gifts with VND500,00 (US$22) each for laborers affected by Covid-19, train, coach and air tickets to employees returning to their hometowns to enjoy Tet.

Source: VOV/VNA/VIR/VNS/SGT/SGGP/VGP

VIETNAM NEWS HEADLINES JANUARY 17

NA Standing Committee's 7th session to open on January 18