Vietnamese footballers had a great start in the U20 Asian Cup qualifiers, as they defeated Hong Kong 5-1 in their opening match in Indonesia on September 14.

Dinh Xuan Tien scored the opener for Vietnam in the 25th minute. The team got the second goal five minutes later from a penalty when captain Khuat Van Khang's cross hit the arm of a Hong Kong player inside the box. Nguyen Quoc Viet converted with no fuss.

Continuing to dominate after the break, Vietnam scored their third goal in the 51st minute and the fourth seven minutes later by Xuan Tien and Van Khang.

Leading 4-0, Vietnam slowed down and let Hong Kong get one back. With a few seconds left, Vietnam scored their fifth goal of the match.

Vietnam will play their next game on September 16 against Timor Leste.

Vietnam, New Zealand continue deepening bilateral relations

Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and his New Zealand counterpart Nanaia Mahuta co-chaired the first Vietnam – New Zealand Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Wellington on September 14.

The meeting was in line with the Action Plan to deploy the Vietnam – New Zealand Strategic Partnership for the 2021-2024 period.

Son, who is on an official visit to New Zealand from September 13-15, affirmed that Vietnam always highly values strengthening ties with New Zealand, a strategic partner of Vietnam in the South Pacific and also a strategic partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Both sides shared the view that since they upgraded the bilateral ties to the strategic partnership in July 2020, practical and effective progress has been seen in their comprehensive cooperation.

Despite impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, two-way trade still rose by 26.7% annually in 2021 to 1.3 billion USD. New Zealand committed 26.7 million NZD (16 million USD) in official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam from July 2021 to June 2024. Cooperative ties in the fields of national defence-security, education-training and agriculture have also been promoted.

The ministers agreed to continue consolidating political ties and trust via the exchange of delegations and high-level meetings, maintain bilateral cooperation and dialogue mechanisms, effectively tapping existing economic cooperation mechanisms such as the Joint Committee for Economic and Trade Cooperation, the High-Level Dialogue on Agricultural Cooperation, and implement new-generation trade deals such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to which both nations are members.

Son suggested New Zealand offer all possible support for Vietnam’s farm produce to enter the country, initially fresh lemon, pomelo and longan. He also proposed New Zealand to continue providing ODA for Vietnam in the fields of sustainable agriculture, climate change response, health and innovation.

Mahuta vowed to create conditions for Vietnamese firms to do business in the country in promising fields such as processing, wholesale and retail, and agriculture.

The Vietnamese minister asked New Zealand to offer more scholarships to Vietnamese students and officials from Vietnamese ministries, agencies and localities, as well as make it easier for Vietnamese students to return to New Zealand following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two sides discussed increasing quotas for Vietnamese citizens under the Working Holiday Visa programme and the resumption of direct flights between the two nations.

The host minister pledged to continue assisting Vietnam in training personnel for peacekeeping missions, fighting trans-national crimes, and sharing experience in disaster prevention, control, search and rescue operations.

They highlighted the need to bolster ties in climate change response, reduction of greenhouse emissions, forest preservation and development, sustainable and eco-friendly agriculture, fishery cooperation, and marine environment protection.

On regional and global issues, they promised to continue mutual trust and support at multilateral organisations and forums, especially at the United Nations and ASEAN.

They shared a stance on ensuring peace, stability, security, cooperation and development in the region based on rules, and settling matters, including the East Sea issue, in line with international law, and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Mahuta reaffirmed that New Zealand treasures its strategic partnership with ASEAN and will support sub-regional mechanisms.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh receives JBIC Governor

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh described Japan as a leading important economic partner of Vietnam during a reception in Hanoi on September 14 for Governor of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) Hayashi Nobumitsu.

The PM also hailed Japan as the top bilateral supplier of official development assistance (ODA), the second biggest labour cooperation partner, the third biggest investor and the fourth largest trade partner of Vietnam.

Japan has so far provided nearly 30 billion USD in ODA for Vietnam while about 350,000 Vietnamese labourers are working in the Asian country. Japan now has 4,873 valid projects worth over 65 billion USD in Vietnam. Two-way trade reached 42.7 billion USD in 2021 and rose by 11.9% annually the first half of this year to 23.4 billion USD, according to the government leader.

Vietnam is determined to maintain political stability, social safety and order, build a transparent business environment and drastically deal with difficulties faced by Japanese firms, PM Chinh added.

He suggested the Governor continue working closely with Japanese agencies to help Vietnam build a self-reliant and globally integrated economy; enhance policy consultations and workforce training; and promote public-private partnerships in the transition to green and clean energy; build strategic infrastructure, especially transport infrastructure; step up innovation and digital transformation; build a digital government, digital economy and society; and develop supporting industries and equipment production for renewable energy.

The Vietnamese leader proposed JBIC offer more preferential loans to Japanese and Vietnamese enterprises participating in joint projects as agreed by the two PMs, encourage Japanese firms to diversify supply chains to Vietnam, thus helping Vietnam join its supply chains and making Japan the biggest investor in Vietnam soon.

He expects that more priority would be given to Vietnam to deliver on its commitments to reduce greenhouse emissions to zero by 2050 as well as access the 10-billion-USD aid package committed by Japanese PM Kishida Fumio at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26).

On the occasion, PM Chinh hoped JBIC and the Japanese Government will work with parties concerned to deal with issues related to Nghi Son oil refinery project in the spirit of “harmonised interests, shared risks”.

Agreeing with the PM’s proposals, Nobumitsu hailed Vietnam as an attractive destination for Japanese investors and the top priority of JBIC.

He promised that JBIC and Japan will actively partner with Vietnam in climate change response, especially energy transition and renewable energy development via assistance in terms of capital, technology and workforce training.

The Governor also vowed to work with relevant agencies to deal with issues related to the Nghi Son oil refinery project as directed by the PM, and continue launching practical initiatives to intensify the Vietnam-Japan extensive strategic partnership.

Buddhists carry out social activities worth over 500 million USD

The board for charitable and social affairs of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) Central Committee and its chapters nationwide have carried out charitable and social activities totalling over 12 trillion VND (508 million USD) during 2017 - 2022.

The information was released at a conference looking into Buddhist affairs during the 8th tenure (2017 - 2022) and tasks for the 9th tenure (2022 - 2027) held by the board in Ho Chi Minh City on September 14.

Most Venerable Thich Quang Tung, Vice President of the Executive Council of the VBS Central Committee and head of the board, said during the last tenure, the board has implemented an effective charitable programme to join hands with the State and local authorities in the COVID-19 combat, raise funds to assist disadvantaged people, and carry out social security activities.

Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia strengthen defence cooperation

Minister of National Defence Gen. Phan Van Giang attended the annual meeting among the defence ministers of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in Vientiane on September 14 to strengthen the countries’ defence ties.

Minister Giang and his counterparts Chansamone Chanyalath from Laos and Tea Banh from Cambodia discussed the regional and international issues of common concern; cooperation orientations for the time ahead, including increasing all-level mutual visits, holding joint search and rescue exercises, and coordinating to combat transnational crimes; and sharing information about hostile forces sabotaging their countries.

The Vietnamese official recommended the three defence ministries step up sharing their strategic visions; maintain the annual meeting among the three defence ministers; and enhance the three militaries’ coordination in responding to non-traditional security challenges.
 
He also called for more attention to educating the three countries’ militaries and people, especially the young, on the significance of the Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia solidarity; and for further mutual support at international and regional forums, especially mechanisms in ASEAN such as the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and the ADMM Plus, thus promoting the stature and role of each nation.

On this occasion, Minister Giang invited his Lao and Cambodian counterparts to attend an international defence exhibition to be held by the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence in Hanoi this December.

Vietnam Airlines launches online check-in at Dong Hoi airport

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has announced that it will launch online check-in service for passengers departing from Dong Hoi airport in the central province of Quang Binh from September 15 to improve their experiences and convenience.

The move has raised the total number of domestic and international airports applying this service to 18 and 30, respectively, toward the goal of becoming a digital airline.

Passengers will be able to check-in via www.vietnamairlines.com or the Vietnam Airlines app within 24 hours to one hour ahead of departure.

After the check-in process, they will receive an online boarding pass via e-mail. In case they do not have check-in luggage, they can go directly to the security counter with their online or printed boarding passes.

The service has already been deployed at domestic airports including Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat, Da Nang, Cam Ranh, Van Don, Cat Bi, Vinh, Chu Lai, Con Dao, Phu Quoc, Da Lat, Dien Bien, Can Tho, Tho Xuan, Pleiku, Phu Cat and Phu Bai.

National teleconference discusses administrative procedure reforms

A national teleconference took place under the chair of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on September 15 to promote administrative procedure reforms and governance modernisation.

Vietnam has made important strides in administrative reforms, especially in terms of administrative procedures, and improvement of all-level administrations’ governance, but shortcomings still exist and need to be addressed quickly for the optimisation of every resource for the recovery and development, the PM said.

Minister - Chairman of the Government Office Tran Van Son reported that since 2021, 1,758 business regulations in 143 legal documents have been scrapped or simplified. The PM has also approved plans to remove or streamline 1,107 regulations of nine ministries and agencies.

The portal for consulting and searching for business regulations has been updated with 17,687 existing rules, 352 others set to be issued, and plans to remove or simplify 1,029 business regulations to seek feedback from associations, enterprises and people, and also to monitor the implementation of reforms.

The PM has also approved a plan on the decentralisation of power in dealing with 699 of the 5,187 administrative procedures in the over 100 areas, equivalent to 13.47%, helping shorten the time needed to solve those procedures, improve civil servants’ performance and reduce costs for people and enterprises, Son said.

Besides, about 11,700 single-window divisions at different levels have been set up nationwide to handle administrative procedures.

Regarding governance modernisation, important platforms and information systems of an e-Government are being operated and developed, helping to strongly reform the working methodology and boost digital transformation at State administrative agencies, he added.

MoH urges strict disease monitoring, faster COVID-19 vaccinations

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has demanded stricter disease prevention and accelerated COVID-19 vaccinations in a document recently sent to provincial-level administrations, epidemiology and Pasteur institutes, and hospitals nationwide.

The MoH pointed out that the global COVID-19 pandemic is forecast to remain complicated and unpredictable with the appearance of new variants.

In Vietnam, the pandemic has been basically put under control, but the number of new infections, hospitalisations, and deaths have been on the rise recently, with over 2,000 infections documented daily on average and new sub-variants of Omicron including BA.4, BA.5, BA2.74, and BA 2.12.1 that are more contagious than the original strains recorded in many localities.

Meanwhile, vaccine coverage expansion has become stagnant in certain places and the inoculation rate among children is still low, the ministry noted, stressing risks of other infectious diseases like monkeypox and acute hepatitis.

The MoH urged sustained vigilance and drastic and effective implementation of anti-pandemic measures to prevent COVID-19.

The ministry also asked localities to set up special working groups with the participation of local administrations, health and related authorities to ramp up and complete vaccinations for all age groups as soon as possible.

It also ordered health departments, hospitals and epidemiology and Pasteur institutes to ensure sufficient drugs, medical supplies and personnel for disease prevention and control; consolidate the anti-pandemic forces; and improve benefits for health workers.

Vietnam Culture Week 2022 underway in Hungary

The Vietnam Culture Week 2022 is underway in District 3, Budapest, Hungary from September 10-24.

In her opening speech, Vietnamese Ambassador to Hungary Nguyen Thi Bich Thao said the event aims to raise mutual understanding and exchanges between the two countries' people via popularising Vietnam, its culture, food and people to the European nation.

She affirmed that culture and tourism are promising cooperation areas in their bilateral comprehensive partnership, and asked for similar activities to be held in other Hungarian localities.

Mayor of District 3 Kiss László hoped the event will help local residents understand more about the united and law-abiding Vietnamese community living there, thus opening up the prospects of bilateral collaboration.

Participants at the event are treated to music performances, ao dai (traditional dress) shows and traditional Vietnamese dishes, along with a photo exhibition on Vietnam.

During a working session with the Vietnamese ambassador, László affirmed that District 3 is ready to welcome Vietnamese delegations and coordinate with the Vietnamese side in organising cultural events.

He committed his support for the Vietnamese community living there, and proposed establishing twinning ties with a Vietnamese locality.

Singer fined VNĐ12 million for unauthorised balcony shows in Hanoi

A famous pop singer has been fined VNĐ12.5 million (US$531) for conducting 'musical shows' from his balcony and using loudspeakers without permission in the Hoàn Kiếm pedestrian area in Hà Nội.

Hoàn Kiếm District People's Committee said it had summoned Nguyễn Tuấn Hưng, the 43-year-old singer who came to fame in the late 90s-early 20s with pop ballad hits, to receive the sanction on Friday morning.

Hưng did not turn up, but an authorised representative pledged to pay the fine within the day and to follow regulations in Hưng's next performances.

Hưng later posted on Facebook a receipt proving his payment of the fine, with the caption saying that he would complete necessary legal procedures to get the shows back and running legally.

Hoàn Kiếm People's Committee said the singer received fines for administrative violations in the field of culture and advertising as prescribed in Government's Decree 38 (dated March 29, 2021) when holding a live show on the balcony of his own private house without permission.

The district said the singer has been holding free-of-charge musical performances from the balcony of his home at No.19 Hàng Khay Street since 2019, usually to a crowd of cheering people. The shows went on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic but made a return in the last month.

Local authorities have previously requested the singer to follow the rules but Tuấn Hưng rejected such demands, saying that this is a balcony of his private residence, not a public space.

Hoàn Kiếm District authorities noted that they welcome the artistic performances, but the singer needs permission from the city's Department of Culture and Sports first.

If Tuấn Hưng gets permission, they also would be willing to provide support to ensure public security and order at the site so that the shows could be a highlight feature of the pedestrian space, the district said.

According to Bùi Hoài Sơn, permanent member of the Culture and Education Committee of the National Assembly, the singer's wishes to contribute to society and satisfy his fans are fine. The public spaces need cultural performances that draw mass attention like this, but legal regulations must not be flaunted.

Handling of this case should be appropriate, so all parties involved should understand and feel 'reasonable,' so that there could still be performances and cultural activities that serve the public and befit a public space while still complying with noise, security, or safety regulations. 

Lacquer painters showcase results of their residency

A group of three contemporary painters, Trần Dân, Trần Hiền and Lại Minh Huyên, has unveiled their newest works at an ongoing exhibition in Hà Nội.

Entitled Khởi Sinh Lacquer (The Birth of Lacquer), the exhibition showcases 33 lacquer paintings which are the result of their creativeness over the past two years at X-No8 – an artist-in-residence studio founded by artist Trần Dân.

Initiated in mid-2020, X-No8 is a sanctum dedicated to the Vietnamese traditional art form of lacquer, where the artists have been working together, creating contemporary paintings with this traditional medium.

Explaining the reason why the trio chose to use lacquer as the medium, they said that the material also plays an important role in their creative process.

The Birth of Lacquer exhibition opens to the public until the end of September at X-No8 Studio which is located within the V-Art Space, Level 1, Ciputra Club in Ciputra Urban Area in Bắc Từ Liêm District, Hà Nội.

The exhibition then travels to HCM City in November.

TV game show featuring cải lương airs

The TV game show Tài Tử Miệt Vườn (Traditional Music of the South) featuring traditional music and theatre of the South will air on Đồng Tháp Radio & Television this weekend.  

The show encourages young people to learn about cải lương (reformed opera), the South’s most popular theatre form. 

It attracts nearly 800 candidates, many of whom are young farmers living in provinces of the Mekong River Delta region. 

The semi-final round will feature 15 candidates who have a chance to work with skilled performers, such as celebrated artists Kim Tử Long, Ngọc Huyền and Hữu Quốc, to prepare for their performance.

They will perform vọng cổ (nostalgic tunes) songs and cải lương plays in praise of the country and patriotism. 

Six finalists will compete for the first prize of VNĐ80 million (US$3,500) in cash. The final round is scheduled to be organised in December.

Tài Tử Miệt Vườn will be aired live every Sunday starting on September 11 on Đồng Tháp TV to serve millions of viewers around the region. 

More Hanoi karaokes suspended for fire safety violations

Twenty-seven more karaoke parlours in Hanoi have been suspended for fire safety violations.

Hanoi police are investigating fire safety standards at local karaokes following Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s instructions after the recent deadly karaoke fire in Binh Duong.

Since mid-August, 27 additional karaoke parlours in Hanoi have been suspended for fire safety-related problems. They have also been fined a total of VND1 billion (USD43,103).

After finishing the investigation on September 20, the police will release the details of the businesses to the media.

Colonel Pham Trung Hieu, head of the Hanoi Department of Fire Prevention and Control and Rescue Police Office, said that any karaokes violating fire safety regulations would be strictly punished.

Hanoi is home to 1,400 karaokes, but 58 percent violate fire safety requirements. Among those, 426 have pledged to deal with the problems, while another 326 that are unable to meet the standards have been suspended.

Hanoi displays 29 royal treasures

Hanoi has selected 29 outstanding artifacts from among the millions of artifacts unearthed at Thang Long Imperial Citadel to introduce to the public.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage and the 20-year restoration and promotion of Thang Long Imperial Citadel, the Thang Long - Hanoi Heritage Conservation Centre in collaboration with the Institute of Imperial Citadel Studies organised an exhibition space with the theme "Royal Treasures of the Thang Long Imperial Palace".

Through the exhibition space, the visitors have the chance to enjoy the beauty of 29 typical and unique antiques in the Thang Long Imperial Palace.

These are important utensils and items, serving from daily life to banquets of the king and the court on great occasions.

In addition, the exhibition also introduced several pieces of jewellery, utensils decorated in gold, and utensils and swords symbolising power or imperial orders.

These artifacts are divided into three exhibition spaces: a space to introduce artifacts from Ly-Tran dynasties; a space to introduce artifacts from the early Le, Mac, and Le Trung Hung (Restored Le) dynasties; and an exhibition space for artifacts that were being introduced to the public for the first time, such as the largest Tran Dynasty terracotta pots ever and the green enamel architectural model of the early Le Dynasty.

In particular, this is the first time 3D mapping projection technology that simulates the unique patterns of artifacts has been introduced so that visitors can better recognise the beauty and elegance of the ceramics used in the Thang Long royal palace.

The combination of static and dynamic display methods along with the use of artistic lighting and 3D mapping technology has created an attractive effect, helping the public to fully feel the beauty and special value of the royal treasures.

AI helping to save more lives of stroke victims

Thousands of stroke patients hospitalised in Ho Chi Minh City's People's Hospital 115 over the past three years have been saved by RAPID, an artificial intelligence software.

Nguyen Huy Thang, head of the hospital's Cerebrovascular Disease Department, said about 1,000 stroke cases survive each year thanks to using RAPID, instead of only 400 cases in previous years.

Described as a "hidden killer", stroke is the third leading cause of death after cancer and cardiovascular disease in Vietnam. Notably, stroke among young people has continued to increase in recent years.

In order to improve quality and effectiveness in treatment and care of stroke patients, since 2019, People's Hospital 115 was the first hospital in the country to apply RAPID to take blood clots to treat cerebral infarction for stroke patients hospitalised after six hours of symptoms.

RAPID, developed by US-based Stanford University, is being used in more than 40 countries around the world.

The “golden” time to treat stroke is in the first six hours from onset, he said.

Patients who do not recanalide large cerebral blood vessels during this period are at risk of death or severe disability.

Patients who come to the hospital after six hours could be refused intervention by the doctor because they could not determine how much the risk area in the patient's brain was damaged.

With conventional imaging techniques, the doctor can only see the necrotic brain parenchyma, but not the brain area that will be dead in the next few hours.

People's Hospital 115 recorded around 12% of stroke patients hospitalised in the first four to five hours after the onset symptoms, 30% of them are hospitalised after the first six hours, and 60% of them are hospitalised within 24 hours.

Using RAPID could help to extend the golden time for medical intervention from six hours after onset of a stroke to up to 24 hours, Thang said.

Each year Vietnam has about 200,000 stroke cases. Although there have been advanced technologies and modern equipment, the survival rate of stroke cases is only 50%.

Specific guidelines for waste separation at source should be issued soon

Managerial agencies should soon issue specific guidelines for localities to effectively apply separation of domestic solid waste at source.

This follows the Government's Decree No. 45/2022/NĐ-CP on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of environment.

The decree says that households and individuals will receive a fine of between VNĐ500,000 and 1 million (US$22-43) from December 31, 2024, if they fail to separate domestic solid waste at source and do not use packaging to hold the domestic solid waste as regulated.

According to environmental expert Hoàng Dương Tùng of Việt Nam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment, experience of countries that have been successful in separating waste at source is because it must be mandatory.

Currently, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has drafted guidelines on solid waste separation at source and collected comments from localities.

On that basis, the ministry would issue guidelines so localities could make detailed regulations to fit with each locality.

Statistics of the environmental administration show that the whole country generates more than 60,000 tonnes of domestic waste daily.

The domestic waste in urban areas accounts for 55 per cent while domestic waste in rural areas accounts for 45 per cent.

Only 13 per cent of the waste is incinerated, 16 per cent is processed and about 71 per cent is buried.

In previous years, several large urban areas in Hà Nội, HCM City, Thừa Thiên Huế and Lào Cai already piloted to separate domestic waste at source but failed.

Hanoi welcomes 1.76 million tourists in August

Hanoi is estimated to have welcomed 1.76 million visitors during August, of which international visitors totalled 156,000.

In the first eight months of this year, tourists visiting Hanoi reached some 12.38 million, an increase of 4.2-fold over the same period of 2021. International visitors are estimated at 582,000.

Hanoi’s tourism sector is set to welcome 9-10 million visitors this year, including 1.2-2 million foreigners. Total revenue is expected to come in at nearly 1.2 billion USD to over 1.5 billion USD.

The capital is focusing on developing tourism products where it possesses strengths, such as cultural and sports tourism.

Source: VNA/SGT/VNS/VOV/Dtinews/SGGP/VGP/Hanoitimes