A new express boat service of Pacific Express connecting HCMC and neighboring Vung Tau City has been operational since the Lunar New Year holiday.

There are eight to ten services a day, according to the Petro Pacific Tourism Corporation, the operator of the new service.

Each air-conditioned ship can accommodate 40 passengers. The stern has a smoking area and there are free Internet access, water, wet towel and cell phone charging services on board the vessel.

Officially the one-way trip lasts 90 minutes but the time may be shortened to 75 minutes.

The firm’s vessels depart at both ends of the route at the same schedules: 8 a.m., 10 a.m., 12 p.m., and 2 p.m. on weekdays but on weekends, one more time slot, 4 p.m., is added.

Tickets costing VND200,000 (US$8.8) per passenger on weekdays and VND250,000 on weekends can be bought at ticket offices or booked by phone.

All hydrofoil services between HCMC and Vung Tau were stopped late last year as these ships expired after 20 years of use, according to Decree No. 111/2014 of the Government.

3-alarm fire burns through Dak Lak warehouse

In the early morning hours of February 9, flames completely destroyed an agricultural products warehouse located at the Ea Yong Commune of the Krong Pak District in Dak Lak Province.

There were no reports of injuries from the fire that caused property damage in the billions if Vietnamese dong, officials at the scene said.

Firefighters were called out at around 5:00am when a security guard saw smoke coming out of the 1,500-square metre warehouse owned by the Rong Hoa Thai Company Ltd.

Officials weren't sure what was in the structure when the fire broke out.

Dak Lak fire officials said part of the building's wall and roof collapsed, so crews attacked the fire from the outside.

Bach Dang Park holds fun, food, music festivals for all ages

The first weekend community festival at the Bach Dang Park in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City organized by the Student Culture House promises to have lots of food, music and fun for all ages.

Local area vendors will offer a variety of fun food from traditional and barbequed pork and treats on a stick to healthy smoothies.

A wide variety of games and competitions will be held for kids and adults to participate in with prizes awarded to the winners. Art exhibitions and musical events will also entertain guests at the Park.

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee is sponsoring the festival and has requested the organizers to start it up at their earliest convenience. The Committee is also considering beginning similar weekend events at other venues soon.

Vietnam Airlines Classic - Hanoi Concert 2017 set for March

Vietnam Airlines Classic - Hanoi Concert 2017 is set to take place on March 4 at the site of Ly Thai To statue in Hoan Kiem District, according the Hanoi municipal People’s Committee.

London Symphony Orchestra and conductor Elim Chan will perform a 70-minute concert.

The city’s Department of Culture and Sports, the Airports Corporation of Vietnam and Production Thanh Viet Co. Ltd will work hand in hand to hold a press conference for the event.

Fishermen rescued in Quảng Trị sea area

Six fishermen from the central province of Quảng Trị were rescued and taken home safely on Thursday after their broken boat sank at sea.

Cửa Việt Port Border Guard Station reported at 4am Thursday that it discovered a fishing vessel had sunk on the way back to Cửa Việt Port.

The fishing boat sent emergency signals for help while water washed over its deck 500m off the Cửa Việt Port. Immediately, border guard forces were mobilised to approach the incident area. One hour later, all six fishermen were taken land safely.    

The cause was that the ship’s freshwater pipe collapsed causing sea water entering the cabin, resulting in the sinking, the border guards confirmed.

Major Hồ Văn Hinh, deputy head of Cửa Việt Port Border Guard Station said rescue process was smoothly because the incident area was near shore.

These fishermen were all healthy and were taken home this afternoon.

Border guards and local authorities are working to salvage the ship.

Comprehensive inspection on treatment, medicine to be conducted

Health ministry's chief inspector Dang Van Chinh yesterday said that a thorough inspection on hospital fee, treatment services as per patients' order will be performed in some big hospitals.

As planned, inspectors will visit the National Odonto-Maxiallo-Facial Hospital, Eye Hospital in Hanoi and Vietnam-Thuy Dien (Vietnam-Sweden) in the central province of Quang Ninh.

Moreover, inspectors will check the financial, budget execution and corruption prevention in medicine, material and equipment bidding, personnel and construction management in the Hospital C in the central city of Da Nang, the National Dermatology Hospital, the General Hospital in the central province of Quang Nam and the Central Lung Hospital.

Hanoi Railway offers cheap train tickets after Tet

Hanoi Railway Transport Joint Stock Company is offering a promotional program on Thong Nhat trains running between Hanoi and Sai Gon from February 9-18.
 
Accordingly, passengers will receive a 20% discount on trains No. SE1, SE3, SE5, SE7, SE21, TN1; and 10% discount on trains No. SE2, SE4, SE6, SE8, SE22, TN2.

The company will also will add more trains to the SP7/8 Hanoi-Sapa to meet the demand for travel during the opening ceremony of the National Tourism Year 2017 in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai on February 10-13.

Thua Thien- Hue receives 4,600 int’l cruise tourists

Around 2,400 international tourists from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia via a journey of Celebrity Millennium cruise ship arrived in Chan May port of Thua Thien- Hue province to visit Hue ancient capital, Hoi An, Da Nang and My Son sanctuary from February 6- 8 before the ship starts travelling in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

From February 7-9, Celebrity Constellation luxury cruise ship carrying 2,200 international travelers from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia also docked at Tan Sang, Cai Mep of Ba Ria- Vung Tau province to begin non- stop tournaments to Ho Chi Minh City, Ba Ria- Vung Tau, My Tho city before it arrives in Chan May port of Thua Thien- Hue.

Currently, Vietnam is one of the most favorite destinations for international cruise tourists.

Saigontourist Travel Service Company said that around 28 cruise ships belonging  to five luxury cruise ship brand names of Celebrity Millennium, Celebrity Constellation, Europa II, Superstar Virgo and Silver Shadow will visit Ho Chi Minh City, Vung Tau, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Hue and Ha Long this month.

HCMC carries out sustainable poverty reduction program to have good living quality

For years, Ho Chi Minh City has gained achievement in poverty reduction which is a contributable factor to keep political and social order.

Currently, it has carried out multi-dimensional poverty reduction program for the period 2016-2020. In the third phase, more than 93,000 households in the city have escaped poverty.

By statistics, 34,800 households are no longer rated as poor households in 2011 meanwhile 29,968 and 28,300 households no longer needed support of the government for low-income households in 2012 and 2013 respectively, helping to decrease the rate of poverty households from 5.69 percent in 2011 to 0.57 percent in 2013.

Accordingly the city has ended the third phase to reduce poor houses and increase average households (poor households are those with income of below VND12 million (US$ 529.4) per person per year, two years earlier than the Party’s resolution wrote.

Under the new standard for the period 2014-2015, families with income of under VND16 million a person per year are ranked as poor households and those with VND16 to VND 21 million a person a year are families whose economic condition is close to poverty line. 

At the end of 2014, the city has approximately 55,000 poor households, accounting for 2.8 percent of the whole population and 59,000 close to poverty line accounting for 3 percent. Until end of 2015, the city efforts to decrease poverty households were rewarded as the number of low-income families is just around 30,000 households accounting for 1.53 percent and 35,000 close-to-poverty families accounting for 1,78 percent.

HCMC carried out well poverty reduction policies in the period 2014-2015 combining with the government’s new rural plan and increase people’s awareness of escaping poverty. Along with this, the city spent fund from social policy bank, fund to eliminate poverty, the national fund for employment, and the fund 156 for vocational training and employment for those whose land was reclaimed to provide training to 2,000 residents a year as well as employment for approximately 15,000 laborers from low-income families. Overall, the city strived to improve poor people’s living condition.

However, the city faced some difficulties as the government issued new standard of poverty and some poor people still have the habit to rely on the government’s aid. Some localities are not determined in carrying out the program and change in the number of staffs affected the implementation of the results.

To have a thorough look at the poverty in the city, it should adopt a multi-dimensional poverty approach. To identify poor and near-poor households, the program will use as criteria income, education and training, healthcare, employment and social insurance, living conditions and access to information to identify poor and near-poor households.

Poor households will be those who lack one or two above-mentioned criteria  or their income is below VND21 million a person a year meanwhile near-poor families have income from VND21 to VND28 million per person year and have the criteria rate under 40.

Authority has approved the sustainable poverty reduction program and new criteria in December, 2015 for the period 2016-2020. HCMC is the only city in the country piloting adopting the multi-dimensional poverty plan and related matters including services for vulnerable residents. The city also launched policies to increase income for people and improve the education and training, healthcare, employment and social insurance, living conditions and access to information.

Tenders to be invited for tours to Hang Va and Hang Nuoc Nut caves

The authority of the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in the central province of Quang Binh will hold a bidding to choose an entity to organize tours to the stunning Hang Va and Hang Nuoc Nut caves.

The bidding is expected to take place in April and four firms have expressed interest, according to Le Thanh Tinh, the park’s director.

The park authority is in the process of liquidating a contract with the current tour operator, Oxalis Adventure Tours.

“The contract will expire at the end of April, so we will have to move quickly to release bidding rules before April,” he told the Daily on February 7.

In a press release issued several days ago, the park clarified some matters related to this expedition. Meanwhile, Oxalis may close tours to the two caves from next May over a fee hike, according to the media.

The firm got the nod from provincial authorities to tap into these breathtaking caves in mid-July 2015. Its expedition to the caves has been organized for eight months, including three months of trial service.

The management board of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park has so far charged the forest environmental service fee of VND300,000 (US$13.2) per person on those making a one-day expedition, and VND1 million (US$44.2) on those spending two days there. This means no sightseeing fee has been collected.

It was not until October last year the province had decided on a sightseeing fee. Accordingly, the fee is the same as that for forest environmental services and effective from early this year. Therefore, visitors now have to pay both fees – one for sightseeing and the other for forest environmental services.

This means the overall charge is double, thus leading Oxalis to propose terminating the contract with the park authority. Around 500 people have joined the expedition over the period of eight months.

Vietnam supports Cambodian hospital via telemedicine

The Defence Ministry’s Military Hospital 175 handed over telemedicine equipment to the Cambodian Royal Army’s Hospital 179 on February 9.

The system will help medical experts of the two hospitals to hold teleconferences and discussions for more precise diagnosis and treatment.   

On the occasion, doctors from the Vietnamese hospital helped their Cambodian colleagues in diagnosing a patient with kidney stone and another with lung diseases.

Nguyen Hong Son, Director of the Military Hospital 175, said the Vietnamese side is willing to provide technical assistance for its Cambodian counterpart.

As a leading medical establishment in telemedicine in Vietnam, the Military Hospital 175 has used the technology to help save several cases in Truong Sa island district.-

Lim festival spotlights love duet singing

A large number of local people  and visitors have flocked to Tien Du district in the northern province of Bac Ninh to attend the Lim festival, which is dedicated to Quan ho (love duet singing) recognised as the world’s cby UNESCO. 

The annual festival took place on February 8 and 9, which fell on the 12th and 13th days of the Lunar New Year. It is being held on in Lim town, Noi Due and Lien Bao communes.

The incense-offering rituals will be organised at local temples and pagodas during the festival.   

The Lim festival contributes to preserving the locality’s traditional cultural values and promotes images and tourism potential of Bac Ninh.

Besides Quan Ho singing, Lim Festival is also space for various folk games such as traditional wrestling, human chess, cockfighting, earthenware pot breaking, and bamboo swinging.

Love duet singing was inscribed in the UNESCO's representative list of intangible cultural heritage in September, 2009.

It is an art form combining various elements, including music, lyrics, costume and a unique style of singing the reflects the close relationship between singers. Performances of love duet songs are made by “lien anh” (brothers) and “lien chi” (sisters), who are ordinary people hailing from different villages.

The rich and diverse tunes and fine lyrics of the songs portray the zest for life and distinctive cultural features of people in the region formerly called Kinh Bac.-

Binh Thuan moves to prevent seawater intrusion

The south central coastal province of Binh Thuan plans to invest 27 billion VND (around 1.2 million USD) to build sea dikes in landslide-hit areas.

The information was released by Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Pham Van Nam at a meeting on February 8.

Nam urged the targeted localities to complete sea dike designs right in February to accelerate the implementation of the projects.

Binh Thuan, with a 192 km-long coastline, has seen increasingly serious seawater intrusion along 15 km in the coastal areas of Tuy Phong district, Phan Thiet city, and La Gi town, affecting over 350 local households.

According to the Phan Thiet city People’s Committee, since 2010, sea encroachment has triggered landslides along its 1.8 km coast and about 20-30 metres inland in the city’s Duc Long ward and Tien Thanh commune.

The sea encroachment has affected 200 households, pulled down 66 houses and threatened 34 other homes. Other households have struggled to prevent high waves to keep their residence.

Quang Tri tourism bounces back after environmental incident

The tourism sector in the central province of Quang Tri is recovering from mass fish deaths last year, with 3,000 arrivals recorded during the seven-day lunar New Year holiday.

Historical and revolutionary sites, such as the Quang Tri ancient citadel and Vinh Moc tunnel, remained the most popular tourist destinations.

On February 6, the local port welcomed a cruise liner with 52 foreign visitors on board, the first of its kind in Quang Tri.

According to Nguyen Huy Hung, deputy head of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the February 6 event was a result of tourism cooperation among central provinces.

He said the encouraging start to 2017 was thanks to coordination among relevant agencies. 

Hung said that Quang Tri will prioritise communications activities to promote local tourist destinations, adding that it will expand connected tours with neighbouring provincies, particularly Thua Thien – Hue and Quang Binh.

With spiritual tours still at the centre of development, the sector will boost its eco and adventure tourism products, he said.

The mass fish deaths last year paralysed tourism in the central region. 

Quang Tri alone received 1.14 million visitors in 2016, an annual reduction of 30.9 percent. Of the total, 995,000 were domestic arrivals, while the rest were foreigners. The figures represented respective decreases of 31.5 and 26.3 percent year on year.

Ceremony marks 110th birth anniversary of late Party leader Truong Chinh

The 110th birth anniversary of the late Party General Secretary Truong Chinh was marked at a ceremony in the northern province of Nam Dinh on February 9. 

Prominent among guests at the event were Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Tran Dai Quang, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan and Politburo member and permanent member of the Party Central Committee Secretariat Dinh The Huynh.

Secretary of the Nam Dinh provincial Party Committee Doan Hong Phong delivered a speech highlighting the revolutionary career of the late Party leader, who is known as the Party General Secretary of Doi Moi (Renewal). 

Truong Chinh, real name Dang Xuan Khu, was born on February 9, 1907 in Hanh Thien Village, Xuan Hong Commune, Nam Dinh’s Xuan Truong District. When he was 18, Truong Chinh participated in a movement campaigning for the release of patriotic scholar Phan Boi Chau from French prison, marking the first step in his revolutionary career.

In 1927, Truong Chinh joined the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth League, the predecessor of the Indochina Communist Party. He was one of those who campaigned for the establishment of the Indochina Communist Party in North Vietnam in 1929.

Truong Chinh served as Party General Secretary three times and as a Politburo member for more than 20 years. 

It was him who realised the need for and initiated the Doi Moi (Renewal) process. 

The late Party leader is also known as an outstanding political theorist,  journalist, cultural researcher and poet, with many works on Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought, as well as the Party’s view on cultural issues, which laid the theoretical foundation for the building of a new Vietnamese culture. 

“Nam Dinh is proud to be the homeland of Truong Chinh, who is a steadfast communist, a brilliant student of President Ho Chi Minh and an outstanding leader of the Communist Party and the revolution of Vietnam,” said Doan Hong Phong.

Hanoi to build, upgrade nearly 7,300 houses for the needy

Hanoi plans to conduct several activities to care for revolution contributors in the city ahead of the 70th War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day (July 27), including the upgrade and construction of nearly 7,300 houses. 

The house upgrading programme is projected to be completed before July 27 at a cost of more than 370 billion VND (16.33 million USD).

According to deputy head of the municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Quoc Khanh, as of September 30, 2016, Hanoi had 7,298 families of revolution contributors living in poor housing conditions. 

Among the families, 3,520 will receive 70 million VND each to build new houses, while 3,778 others will get 35 million VND each to upgrade their homes.

Khanh said that the city has mobilised 104 billion VND from the community, while paying in advance for localities to implement the work.

In 2012, Hanoi became the first locality nationwide to provide healthcare vacations to revolution contributors every two years instead of every five years using the city’s budget.

Last year, the city launched a centre to care for and treat Agent Orange/dioxin victims, the first State-run facility of its kind in the country. The centre provides nursing services to 150 victims and detoxification treatment for another 500 each year.

More markers built along Dak Nong-Mundulkiri border

Construction of auxiliary markers along the Dak Nong-Mundulkiri section of the Vietnam-Cambodia border began on February 9.

According to the Steering Committee for Land Border Demarcation and Marker Planting of Dak Nong province, the construction of the auxiliary markers will be carried out in two phases with a total 168 markers being erected at 87 places.

In the first phase, 86 auxiliary markers will be built at 45 positions. The Vietnamese side will be responsible for building even-number markers, while the Cambodia will plant odd-number markers.

The first phase is scheduled to be completed by April 30 and the second phase will be accomplished by the end of this year.

Dak Nong has a 130-kilometre border with Cambodia’s Mundulkiri province. To date, 16 major markers at 8 positions out of 24 major markers at 13 positions have been planted along the Dak Nong-Mundulkiri border.

Workshop promotes preservation of Ly Dynasty’s culture, art

Art and culture under the Ly Dynasty in Vietnam was the main focus of a workshop in the northern province of Bac Ninh on February 9, which brought together a crowd of domestic and foreign scientists. 

Addressing the event, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Thi Bich Lien said the workshop offers a venue for Vietnamese and foreign  scientists to discuss academic issues and share experience in preserving  and upholding the values of cultural and art heritages of the Ly Dynasty. 

Participants presented their studies of the dynasty’s culture and art, delving into the formation and development of distinctive art forms of Vietnam among mixed cultural factors. 

They also introduced new approaches in researching culture and art in the Ly Dynasty, new findings concerning archaeology, history and cultural heritages, while analysing the role of Buddhism in the development of culture and art at that time. 

According to Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Phong, Bac Ninh boasts 131 relic sites related to the Ly Dynasty. 

The local authorities have implemented many measures to preserve and promote cultural heritages of the Dynasty, including a project to turn the Phat Tich pagoda in Tien Du district into a famous spiritual culture tourism site.

Other projects include upgrading the tombs and temples of Ly Kings in Tu Son district, Dam pagoda in Bac Ninh city and Duong Loi Communal House in Tu Son district, he said. 

Phong affirmed that the workshop contributes to guiding the preservation and promotion of values of cultural heritages of the locality in general and those in the Ly Dynasty in particular.

Bac Giang: Bo Da pagoda festival becomes national cultural heritage

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has recognised Bo Da pagoda festival in the northern province of Bac Giang as national intangible cultural heritage.

The newly-recognised heritage brings the total number of national intangible cultural heritage in Bac Giang province to 12.

The recognition acknowledges the province’s cultural values while opening new opportunities for spiritual tourism development.

A ceremony will be held during the Bo Da festival that takes place on March 13-15 (the 16th to 18th day of the second lunar month) to receive certificates for a special national relic site, national intangible cultural heritage, a Vietnam heritage tree, and two records for the nation’s largest tower garden and the oldest wooden sculpture of the Lam Te Thien (Zen) Lineage of Vietnamese Buddhism.

The festival helps promote the historical and architectural values of the Bo Da pagoda while introducing the beauty of the landscape, people and traditional culture of Viet Yen district and Bac Giang province in general.

The event features several activities, including a ceremony to receive the certificate of special national relics status for the Bo Da pagoda and a Quan ho (love duet) singing festival.

Quan ho artists will also perform on boats in Ao Mieu (Temple Pond) in Ha Lat hamlet, Tien Son commune while bonsai trees and local agricultural products will be on display.

Competitions such as calligraphy writing and folk games will also take place during the festival.

Da Nang ready for international fireworks festival

The annual international fireworks competition in the central city of Da Nang will become a two-month festival for the first time in order to lure more visitors to the city.

According to Le Quy Duong, the festival’s general director, said the event will be the biggest fireworks festival in Southeast Asia.

Beginning in 2008, the Da Nang International Fireworks Competition has since become one of important events to attract tourists to the city at the end of April every year. However, it lasted only a few days without any additional activities to keep visitors staying.

This year, the festival promises a lot of activities to entertain besides eight nights of fireworks display during it courses from April 29 to June 24.

Visitors can join barefoot runs on sand, taste food and beer at international cuisine and beer fairs, contemplate statues at an international sculpture show, study the local Cham culture, or amuse themselves at street carnivals. 

Eight teams from eight countries – Switzerland, Japan, China, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Austria and Vietnam will show off their firework performances.

Hội An debuts culture, research institute

The ancient city of Hội An has debuted its Phan Châu Trinh Institute to boost culture and social science research of the central Quảng Nam Province, the central and Central Highlands region and Việt Nam as a whole.

The institute, chaired by famous writer Nguyên Ngọc, will introduce cultural and social services including English and Vietnamese lessons for foreigners, and the culture and ideology of Quảng Nam as written by scholar Phan Châu Trinh (1872-1926) – a Vietnamese nationalist seeking to end France’s colonial occupation of Việt Nam in the early 20th century.

The institute’s council also voted former vice president Nguyễn Thị Bình as an honorary chairman at the official inauguration of the institute on February 7th.

The institute plans to compile a 20-volume book about Quảng Nam as a comprehensive encyclopedia of the central province and a study of the 30-year development of Hội An city, as well as sociological surveys, and studies on the culture and history of the Central Highlands region.

In 2007, the Phan Châu Trinh private college was established in the city, with 12 faculties of language, literature, information technology, business and finance.

Nails spread on national route frustrate drivers, authorities'

The number of nails spread on the stretches of the National Route 51 passing through several communes in Đồng Nai Province has increased recently, creating risk of traffic accidents and frustrating motorists and local authorities.  

Motorbike rider in Đồng Nai Province takes his motorbike to a repair shop to fix the tires flattened by nails. 

People who travel on the stretches of the National Route 51 that across Tam Phước and Phước Tân communes in Biên Hòa City, and An Hòa Commune in Long Thành District, have gotten used to seeing nails left on the roads by unidentified suspects since last June.

The number of nails increased recently around the time of the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday to an average of 1kg per day, an equivalent of hundreds of nails, according to Nguyễn Hữu Lợi, member of a local group that volunteers to retrieve the nails.

“Every day some 20 people need to patch their tires flattened by the nails,” Lợi told VOV on Wednesday. “We have patched 300-400 tires since we started.”

Nguyễn Văn Dậu in Biên Hòa City always brings along a tire patch toolbox and a new tire so that he can patch his motorbike tires himself if he run over the nails. “It’s too dangerous and likely to cause accidents,” he said. “I had to change my tires every ten days.”

Nguyễn Cao Cường, chairman of the People’s Committee of Tam Phước Commune, said that even though local authorities and police have examined several nearby motorbike repair shops and lurked at night in hopes of catching the culprits, these measures have not yielded results.

“They move so carefully that we could not find out whether the repairmen and the nail-spreaders are one and the same,” he said. 

Binh Thuan moves to prevent seawater intrusion

The south central coastal province of Binh Thuan plans to invest 27 billion VND (around 1.2 million USD) to build sea dikes in landslide-hit areas.

The information was released by Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Pham Van Nam at a meeting on February 8.

Nam urged the targeted localities to complete sea dike designs right in February to accelerate the implementation of the projects.

Binh Thuan, with a 192 km-long coastline, has seen increasingly serious seawater intrusion along 15 km in the coastal areas of Tuy Phong district, Phan Thiet city, and La Gi town, affecting over 350 local households.

According to the Phan Thiet city People’s Committee, since 2010, sea encroachment has triggered landslides along its 1.8 km coast and about 20-30 metres inland in the city’s Duc Long ward and Tien Thanh commune.

The sea encroachment has affected 200 households, pulled down 66 houses and threatened 34 other homes. Other households have struggled to prevent high waves to keep their residence.

Quang Tri tourism bounces back after environmental incident

The tourism sector in the central province of Quang Tri is recovering from mass fish deaths last year, with 3,000 arrivals recorded during the seven-day lunar New Year holiday.

Historical and revolutionary sites, such as the Quang Tri ancient citadel and Vinh Moc tunnel, remained the most popular tourist destinations.

On February 6, the local port welcomed a cruise liner with 52 foreign visitors on board, the first of its kind in Quang Tri.

According to Nguyen Huy Hung, deputy head of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the February 6 event was a result of tourism cooperation among central provinces.

He said the encouraging start to 2017 was thanks to coordination among relevant agencies. 

Hung said that Quang Tri will prioritise communications activities to promote local tourist destinations, adding that it will expand connected tours with neighbouring provincies, particularly Thua Thien – Hue and Quang Binh.

With spiritual tours still at the centre of development, the sector will boost its eco and adventure tourism products, he said.

The mass fish deaths last year paralysed tourism in the central region. 

Quang Tri alone received 1.14 million visitors in 2016, an annual reduction of 30.9 percent. Of the total, 995,000 were domestic arrivals, while the rest were foreigners. The figures represented respective decreases of 31.5 and 26.3 percent year on year.

Israel assists Dien Bien farmers in growing safe vegetables

The Israeli Embassy and CARE International in Vietnam will assist farmers in the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien in growing vegetables in greenhouses.

A delegation from the Israeli Embassy and CARE International in Vietnam paid a fact-finding trip to Dien Bien on February 7-8.

During a working session with the local authorities, Yaniv Tessel, head of the economic and trade division at the Israeli Embassy in Vietnam, said each household participating in the project will be partly financed to build a 200-sq.m greenhouse.

Each greenhouse costs 1,680 USD, of which Israel donates 680 USD and the remainder is sourced from Dien Bien province and participating households.

Jointly carried out by Top Greenhouse Company Israel and CARE International, the pilot project will provides farming techniques for 100 local households.

Lo Van Tien, Vice Chairman of the Dien Bien People’s Committee, said the province pledged to create favourable conditions for the implementation of the project.

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri/VNE