Massive fire ruins Tan Thanh border gate market

A massive fire broke out in Tan Thanh border gate market in Van Lang district, the northern province of Lang Son on July 10.

The blaze was first spotted by local residents at 7:20am and spread to gut many kiosks in Tan Thanh border gate market. 

Traders managed ways to evacuate goods out of their stores. However, most of the goods were destroyed. No injuries have been reported so far.

Vice Chairman of Van Lang district’s People’s Committee said nearly 300 people including police, army officers and residents were mobilized to stamp out the blaze.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Every citizen should promote VN tourism: Deputy PM

Every citizen in the country, even those not involved in tourism, should promote the image and culture of Việt Nam so that the industry flourishes and becomes a key economic sector, Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam said on Saturday.

He was speaking at a ceremony held at the Hà Nội Opera House, marking the 57th anniversary of the establishment of Việt Nam’s tourism industry (July 9, 1960-2017).

The ceremony saw 91 enterprises receiving the Việt Nam Tourism Award 2017 in various categories.

The awards were introduced in 1999 to honour enterprises which make significant contributions to tourism development by improving service quality, diversifying tourism products, promoting Vietnamese destinations and strengthening international integration.

The 91 awards were given to: Top 10 inbound tour operators; Top 10 domestic tour operators; Top 10 five-star, four-star and three-star hotels; Top five tourist automobile transport businesses; Top 10 restaurants; Top two tourist rest stops; Top seven tourist attractions; Top five tourist sites; Top 10 golf courses; one airline carrying the largest number of passengers; and one airline with the fastest growth in passengers.

Deputy PM Đam highly valued the efforts and contributions of business community to the development of Việt Nam’s tourism sector. Tourism has increased its share of the GDP and job creation, and fostered the growth of other industries, he said.

Việt Nam was ranked 67th among 136 economies in the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s recently released Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) 2017, up eight places over 2015.

However, Đam said that this ranking was still placed modest compared to the huge tourism potential that Việt Nam has.

"I hope that every Vietnamese citizen, even those who do not work in tourism industry, can contribute to promote the image and rich culture of Việt Nam," he said.

The first half of this year has been one of the most remarkable periods in the history of Vietnamese tourism.

Nguyễn Văn Tuấn, director of the Việt Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), said at a press conference last week that the number of foreign tourists visiting the country in the first six months crossed 6.2 million, a 30.2 per cent increase over the same period last year. Total income from tourism activities reached approximately VNĐ254.7 trillion (US$11.17 billion), a 27 per cent increase over the same period last year.

Top seven tourist attractions which were honoured this year include:  Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long (Hà Nội), Imperial City (Huế), Temple of Literature (Hà Nội), Vietnamese Women’s Museum (Hà Nội), Việt Nam Museum of Ethnology (Hà Nội), Củ Chi Tunnels (HCM City), Vally of Love (Lâm Đồng).

Top five tourist sites of Việt Nam which were honoured this year include: Hạ Long Bay (Quảng Ninh), Bà Nà Hills (Đà Nẵng), Vinpearl Nha Trang (Khánh Hoà), Vinpearl Phú Quốc (Kiên Giang), and Sầm Sơn Beach (Thanh Hoá). 

Vietnam attends Asian political parties’ meetings in RoK

Vice Chairman of the Commission for External Relations of the Party’s Central Committee Tran Dac Loi represented Vietnam at the 28th Standing Committee Meetings of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) in Seoul, the Republic of Korea from July 7-9.

Loi also led the Vietnamese delegation to the third Meeting of the ICAPP Media Forum and the first Meeting of Asia-Europe Political Forum held alongside the ICAPP Standing Committee meetings.

At the meetings, political leaders and representatives from Asian and European countries discussed global and regional issues, focusing talks on Asia-Europe connectivity, climate change and populism and the role of the media in politics.

They underscored the importance of enhanced cooperation between countries and political parties to cope with common challenges, particularly terrorism, conflicts, poverty and climate change, for peace, stability, prosperity and sustainable development.

The ICAPP Media Forum and Asia-Europe Political Forum adopted joint declarations while the ICAPP Standing Committee approved its working programmes and elected members for the committee.

The Vietnamese delegation took the occasion to meet with representatives from other parties and senior officials at the RoK’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and politicians from the Democratic Party of Korea and Liberty Korea Party to discuss ways to improve Vietnam-RoK cooperation this year, with the two countries celebrating 25 years of diplomatic ties.

25 women awarded AmCham scholarships

Twenty-five female engineering students from eight universities in HCM City have been awarded merit-based scholarships worth VNĐ8 million each and an English course worth VNĐ6 million each from the American Chamber of Commerce in HCM City.

The American Chamber of Commerce in HCM City, in cooperation with Intel Products Việt Nam and Axcela Việt Nam, has awarded the AmCham Women in Engineering Scholarship (ACWES) to the students who achieved the highest results throughout the assessment rounds.

The assessment process includes three phases: application, interview with HR specialists from AmCham and partners and an English test.

Founded in 2011, ACWES is a part of AmCham and AmCham’s members in production/engineering which support and develop female human resources in high-tech fields in Việt Nam.

Up to now, the programme has awarded a total of 205 scholarships to excellent female engineering students with a value of VNĐ1.65 billion (US$72,660).

Besides financial aid, the programme offers a chance to explore companies involved in the programme and to get exposed to a variety of job opportunities from high-tech companies.

3 City districts to get tap water

Three outlying districts in HCM City where households are supplied fresh water by lorries will be linked by pipelines within the next three years at a cost of nearly VNĐ1.75 trillion (US$78 million), the city water utility has said.

“The Sài Gòn Water Supply Corporation (Sawaco) provides fresh water to 100 per cent of households in HCM City,” Trần Quang Minh, general director of Sawaco, told Sài Gòn Giải Phóng (Liberated Sài Gòn) newspaper.

“But 51,000 households in districts Bình Chánh, Hóc Môn and 12 do not get water through pipes and Sawaco is trying to resolve this.”

A rapidly growing population due to migration is a big challenge in supplying water, he said.

“We have just found that in Bình Chánh District there are still 38,000 households which do not get fresh water through pipes.”

Over the last three years Chợ Lớn Water Supply Company, a subsidiary of Sawaco, has been installing a VNĐ850 billion ($38 million) pipeline in Bình Chánh District.

Minh said: “Now Sawaco has decided to give the rest of work to the Rural Water Supply Company instead of Chợ Lớn Water Supply Company. It will make funding easier.”

It is expected that another VNĐ1.175 trillion ($52 million) is needed to complete the pipeline, he said.

He added that 2,600 households in District 12 and 9,000 in Hóc Môn would get fresh water through pipes, with the installation costing VNĐ570 billion ($25.3 million). 

Corruption found in central province

Wrongdoings in budget estimation, settlement, collection and expenditure worth some VNĐ100 billion (US$4.4 million) have been discovered in the central province of Nghệ An during the first half of this year.

The province’s tax sector has conducted inspections at 529 enterprises, from which it proposed to return VNĐ42.3 billion ($1.9 million) of ill-gotten gains to the State budget, as well as imposing fines of VNĐ13.9 billion ($611,000) on miscreant enterprises.

A number of enterprises in the province have failed in the fields of asset disclosure and transparency. Several officials were not aware of the importance of anti-corruption measures and did not take the lead on the matter.

To improve the situation, the province’s authorities said they would consider anti-corruption effort of localities to be one of the major evaluation criteria at the end of the year.

The province has requested the National Assembly to adjust the 2005 Law on Anti-Corruption with clarifications on feasible, practical and constructive anti-corruption regulations such as investigating responsibilities of corrupted leaders, developing asset disclosure mechanisms, and only requiring those with high positions and authority on essential matters to disclose their assets.  

The province will continue eliminating favourable conditions for corruption, coordinating with localities to handle financial misconduct and raising awareness on anti-corruption.

Vietnamese firm active in charitable work in Cambodia

Golden Land Cambodia Group (GLCG), one of Vietnamese real estate enterprises operating in Cambodia, presented 400 gift packages to disadvantaged locals and Vietnamese expatriates living in the country at a ceremony in Phnom Penh on July 9.

This is part of GLCG’s activities to implement its commitment to ensuring social security in Cambodia.

Speaking at the event, Chairman of the General Association of Vietnamese in Cambodia Chau Van Chi and Chairman of the Association of Vietnamese in Phnom Penh Huynh Minh Phu hailed the group for this activity, saying that it helped promote the relations between the two countries.

Along with other Vietnamese businesses operating in Cambodia, GLCG has made active contributions to local economic development and charitable work.-

“Rice field with flower bank” model

An Nhut cooperative in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province is piloting a new cultivation model called “Rice field with flower bank”, where farmers grow flowers along rice field banks to entice useful insects to eat harmful worms and increase the productivity.

"The model is part of a program to control rice pests and disease by using biotechnology. It was piloted by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) during the 2009-2010 Winter-Spring crop in Cai Lay and Cai Be districts of Tien Giang province. 

The model aims to improve the botanical system in rice fields to increase their ecological resistance and reduce the use of pesticides during the early stage of rice cultivation. Farmers participating in the model have been instructed to plant specific kinds of flowers around their rice fields. This saves them US$22  per hectare for pesticide products plus the cost of spraying.

The program is being widely applied in Ba Ria-Vung Tau. Many farmers say that without using pesticides their rice fields gained 6 tons per hectare with the Summer-Fall crop and 7 tons with the Winter-Spring crop.

Nguyen Huu Sang, a farmer with the An Nhut Cooperative, said “We don’t have to spend any money growing cotton. We receive more capital to apply new technology in rice production. This is a practical model for farmers.”

According to the farmers who have been participating in the model, trees with yellow or white flowers produce more pollen and attract more useful insects who eat harmful insect.

Tran Van Hai of An Nhut commune said “Insect pests can’t be found in rice fields where cotton trees are growing. I don’t know why that is, but I know it has benefited us a lot.”

Tran Thi Thien Huong, head of the agriculture section of the provincial Agricultural and Fishery Extension Center, said the model helps reduce environmental pollution, create ecological balance in the fields, protect farmers’ health, and improve their technical know-how, and disease control in rice fields.

She explains “Farmers in the Mekong Delta region have applied the model to grow flowers around their rice field. This has created a good ecological environment, reduced epidemic diseases in rice fields, and improved product quality.”

The “Rice field with flower bank” model is a breakthrough for rice field restructuring in Ba Ria-Vung Tau which reduces harmful pesticides, preserves the natural environment, develops agriculture sustainably, and boosts people’s incomes.

Da Nang to ban private vehicles from downtown streets

Following the steps of Hanoi, Da Nang City will restrict private vehicles from certain streets in downtown areas where public transport can handle local travel demand in a bid to tackle traffic gridlock.

This US$6-billion plan approved on July 7 by lawmakers has yet to say which roads will be freed from private vehicles except for those running along both sides of the Han River in the evenings. 

Under the three phase plan that stretches from now till beyond 2025, new pedestrian-only areas will be opened in the downtown and the city will impose stricter building restrictions to avoid overcrowding.

Specifically, Da Nang won't build new hospitals or schools in the city center or expand existing ones. It will also move warehouses and buildings that usually gather big crowds from the downtown to the outskirts.

In return, the city will operate more public buses to ensure that locals will not have to walk longer than 500 meters to find a bus stop in the downtown.

Yet it will limit the number of newly-licensed vehicles each year and offer incentives to locals to hand over their substandard vehicles. 

da nang to ban private vehicles from downtown streets hinh 0 From 2028, the city hopes to stop issuing licenses to new motorbikes altogether. 

Da Nang, a city of 1.1 million people, has roughly 65,000 cars and about 800,000 motorbikes and scooters.

The explosion of new vehicles is stretching the city's infrastructure, and Da Nang’s population is forecast to reach 2.5 million by 2030, according to a survey by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Banning and limiting private vehicles now seems to be the popular solution to tackle gridlock in Vietnam's big cities.

Earlier this week, Hanoi approved a proposal to ban motorbikes from the city center from 2030 to reduce traffic congestion, despite strong opposition from experts and the public.

The capital city will also impose restrictions on cars, but not a blanket ban. 

Following Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City is also looking at ways to limit the number of private vehicles entering the city center.

The municipal transport department said that they are working on a plan to reduce vehicle numbers in some central areas once its first metro line is up and running.

Interpol-wanted Russian drug dealer arrested after hiding as spa attendant in Vietnam

A Russian woman internationally wanted by Interpol for trading drugs was arrested, when hiding under the guise of a spa attendant, by local police in south-central Vietnam on July 7.

Bering Ekateria, 47, was captured by Vietnamese police in Nha Trang, the capital of Khanh Hoa Province and has been handed over to the Interpol National Central Bureau for Vietnam. 

Ekateria had been in Interpol’s wanted list for making, storing, and selling drugs in her home country since 2015.

The Russian national had been successfully hiding in Vietnam for three years by working at a spa in a four-star hotel in Nha Trang until her arrest.

Back in Russia, Ekateria and her husband ran a drug ring that was busted in September 2013, according to Interpol.

The woman was later released on bail and eventually ran away from Russia for Vietnam in late 2014, where she got a job as a spa attendant in Nha Trang.

In June 2015, Vietnamese police received the wanted notice of Ekateria from Interpol.

Police had followed all the possible leads but only discovered her whereabouts and disguise earlier this week.

The Interpol National Central Bureau for Vietnam is completing procedures to send her back to Russia for further legal proceedings.

Solution found for million-ton pile of copper slag waste near Nha Trang

The company responsible for a huge mountain of copper slag waste left untouched for years in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa has come up with a solution for local residents’ pollution nightmare.

Copper slag, known in Vietnam as ‘nix grains,’ is a by-product of copper extraction by smelting and is mainly used to clean and shape the surface of metal, stone, concrete and other materials. 

Hyundai Vinashin Shipyard Company (HVS), located in the Khanh Hoa-based Van Phong Economic Zone, some 80km from the popular beach of Nha Trang, has imported a huge number of this material to clean its vessels since May 1999.

The copper slag waste dumped by HVS was previously supposed to be treated by a plant developed by the Hanoi Minerals – Metallurgy inside the same economic zone.

However, the VND1.49 trillion (US$74.6 million) waste treatment plant, licensed in December 2009, failed to get work started and lost it license in January 2013.

The cancelation of the Hanoi Minerals – Metallurgy project has resulted in a huge pile of more than one million metric tons of the copper slag waste at Van Phong Economic Zone over the last four years.

The toxic dust from the ‘waste mountain’ has since affected thousands of residents of two villages located near the plant.

It was not until July 2017 that HVS revealed that it has found a solution for the problem: transporting the waste to other localities where they would be used as auxiliary materials for cement production.

According to the Khanh Hoa administration, HVS has closed contract to supply its nix waste to three companies outside the province, namely Hanoi-based Mascon, Dong Do Co. in the northern province of Ninh Binh and Holcim Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City.

Of the three companies, only Holcim Vietnam directly uses the waste for its production. Mascon and Dong Do Co. would resell the materials to other cement-making plants, including the Hoang Phat – Vissai in Ninh Binh and Cosevo Song Gianh in the north-central province of Quang Binh.

As per the contract, HVS will give a financial support of US$5 per ton, covering both transportation and treatment costs, to the waste recipients.

Thanks to these agreements, HVS has managed to clear nearly 48 percent of the ‘waste pile’ at Van Phong, with some 10,000 metric tons taken out of Khanh Hoa on a monthly basis, according to the company’s own report.

The shipbuilder said it is still looking for new partners capable of receiving and treating the copper slag waste to speed up the process of clearing the nix waste mountain.

Khanh Hoa authorities have confirmed that HVS has been approved to carry out its waste clearing solution, and the transportation of the waste out of the province is under strict oversight.

The General Department of Environment has also said in a statement that it supports the HVS solution, but requesting that the shipbuilder “be legally responsible for the waste treatment from start to finish.”

This means HVS has to ensure that its partners are capable of properly treating the copper slag waste taken from Khanh Hoa as the shipbuilding company will be held accountable for any wrongdoings, according to the general department.

Why women in southern Vietnam are having fewer children

As northern Vietnam grapples with high fertility rates, the opposite problem is faced by the country’s southern provinces and cities, where more and more women are reluctant to have children.

Ho Chi Minh City’s total fertility rate (TFR) – the average number of children born per woman – was 1.45 children per woman in 2015, according to Pham Thi My Le, deputy manager of the municipal Population and Family Planning Branch. 

That number is remarkably low considering Vietnam’s replacement fertility rate, the TFR needed for a country’s population to exactly replace itself from one generation to the next without migration is 2.10, Le said.

The situation is similar across southern Vietnam, with the TFRs in the Mekong Delta and southeastern regions falling short at 1.9 and 1.8 children per woman, respectively, according to Nguyen Van Tan, deputy director general of the General Office for Population and Family Planning.

Ho Chi Minh City and the southeastern region – Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Phuoc, and Tay Ninh prinvinces – consistently post the lowest fertility rates in the country, despite the fact that these areas are rapidly growing economic hubs where healthcare and social welfare are significantly more accessible than in areas of Vietnam where fertility rates are high, such as the Central Highlands, the Red River Delta, and the northern mountainous region. 

The Red River Delta region, for example, has a rising TFR of 2.3 children per woman, according to recent reports.

The high costs associated with rearing children are among the top reasons why women in more developed regions of southern Vietnam say they have chosen to avoid having children. 

Parents in these areas are often better educated than their rural counterparts and seem more aware that having too many kids in a family can be a heavy burden.

Women in big Vietnamese cities are also trending toward marrying later in life, a major factor in their decision to have only one child or, in some cases, no children after marriage.

The growing tendency of women opting to stay childless in southern Vietnam has become so worrying that Ho Chi Minh and others have revised their family planning propaganda from “each family should only have one or two children” to “each married couple should have two children.”

As observable in countries where population-control policies were once adopted, it is extremely challenging to bring fertility rates back up after they have plunged too low, regardless of efforts to encourage childbirth.

Population ageing, an increasing median age in the population due to declining fertility rates and rising life expectancy, is forecast to occur at a rapid rate, putting pressure on social welfare and pension programs.

Dropping fertility rates are also responsible for the declination of a country’s population and workforce, especially its young labor.

Despite reporting Vietnam’s lowest fertility rate, Ho Chi Minh City continues to follow decades-old nationwide family planning policies, which state that families should not have more than two children.

Until now, the southern metropolis has not received governmental permission to adopt pronatalist policies.

“[Family planning] policies should be implemented flexibly according to the actual conditions of each region,” said Nguyen Viet Tien, Deputy Minister of Health.

“Each family should have two children to avoid the 4-2-1 inverse pyramid of family structure, in which one child has to care for two parents and all four grandparents for their paternal and maternal sides.”

Six-year-old boy allegedly kidnapped found dead in central Vietnam

A six-year-old boy who had been missing for five days after allegedly being kidnapped was found dead not too far from his house in north-central Vietnam on July 8.

Tran Trung Nghia disappeared when he was playing in front of his house in Ba Don Town of Quang Binh Province on the night of July 3.

The family has since reported the missing of their child to police and sought help from social media.

It has been alleged that Nghia was kidnapped by two people on a motorbike, when his mom was busy cooking in the kitchen.

Ba Don police said on July 8 they had found the dead body of Nghia at a pond located some 2km away from his house.

He was first discovered by a local fisherman on the morning the same day, according to officers.

Police are performing an autopsy to determine the cause of death and looking into the kidnapping claim.

Northwest cuisine festival kicks off in Lao Cai

The Northwest Cuisine Festival opened in the northern province of Lao Cai on July 8, as part of the activities of the Lao Cai – Northwest National Tourism Year 2017.

Hundreds of traditional dishes of ethnic people in the northwestern localities are being served at the event. Visitors could experience local cultures while participating in the cooking process.

In addition, the event also hosted the re-enactment of liquor making of the Tay, Day, Xa Pho, H’Mong and Red Dao ethnic groups and the traditional wedding of the Red Dao people in Sa Pa, along with other cultural activities.

The cuisine festival runs until July 16 at the Sun World Fansipan Legend in Sa Pa.

Vietnam-Laos culture, sports and tourism festival wraps up

The second culture, sports and tourism festival of the Vietnam-Laos border areas wrapped up in the northern mountainous province of Son La on July 7 evening.

The three-day event aimed to mark the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Laos, and the 40th anniversary of the signing of the bilateral Treaty on Amity and Cooperation, along with saluting the Year of the Vietnam-Laos Solidarity and Friendship 2017.

Visitors were thrilled at diverse activities, including games, and the introduction of signature farm produce as well as distinctive cultural and tourist products of bordering localities of Vietnam and Laos.

Pham Van Thuy, Vice Chairman of the Son La provincial People’s Committee, spoke at the closing ceremony that the festival did help preserve and promote cultural values of localities lying along the shared border and cement the traditional friendship and special solidarity between Vietnam and Laos.

Vietnam’s provinces bordering Laos include Dien Bien and Son La in the north, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Nam in the central region and the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum. 

Son La: 200 handicapped children get free checkups, surgeries

More than 200 children with disabilities in the northern mountainous province of Son La have been given free checkups, health consultations and surgeries thanks to a programmewhich ran from July 3-7.

The programme, jointly held by Son La General Hospital, the Centre 2 of the Vietnam Relief Association for Handicapped Children, gave surgeries for 100 children with harelip, cleft palate and other in-born disabilities as well as those suffering from after-effects of accidents.

Doctors provided advice on caring and rehabilitation methods at home for families of children whose conditions are not suitable for surgeries. They also presented over 1,000 packs of milk to children joining the programme.

The programme is part of a project to help handicapped children in the five northern mountainous provinces of Son La, Lai Chau, Dien Bien Lang Son and Lao Cai. It was launched in 2006 with funds sourced from the Child Surgery Vietnam

HCM City responds to World Population Day

Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Population and Family Planning held a meeting on July 7 in celebration of World Population Day (July 11).

The department took this occasion to announce the city’s population and reproductive health strategy for the 2016-2020 period, with increasing engagements of organisations and individuals in population and planning policies.

It called for support from organisations and individuals in holding communications activities and training personnel, especially for 12,000 collaborators in communes, wards and residential areas.

As part of the meeting, the department signed a cooperation memorandum of understanding with Thai Nakorn Patana Company Limited, under which the latter will provide affordable contraceptive pills for local residents. 

Lauded the efforts made by the local health body, Vo Thanh Dong, Deputy General Director of the General Office for Population and Family Planning, requested it to boost the quality of reproductive health in rural and mountainous areas and work harder to reduce abortion rate. 

In the 2011 -2015 period, Ho Chi Minh City recorded the birth ratio of 106/107 boys to 100 girls, with 70 percent of pregnant women taking screening tests. However, the city is facing a risk of gender imbalance, as the number of districts with imbalanced sex ratios increased from two in 2015 to five in 2016.

Thanh Hoa: Forum equips children with safe skills

Children were provided with essential skills to protect themselves from violence, sexual abuse, labour exploitation and accidents at a children forum held in the central province of Thanh Hoa on July 7.

The 6th Thanh Hoa Children Forum, jointly held by the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the World Vision Vietnam, drew the participation of local leaders and 80 children from Thanh Hoa city and seven districts.

At the forum, children voiced their hope to live in a safe and friendly environment that promotes the comprehensive development of both physical and mental health. They had opportunities to discuss with leaders of relevant agencies effective measures to enhance health care and education for children and especially prevent children from violence and sexual abuse.

Participating children were also equipped with self-protection skills to deal with any emergencies.

In response to recommendations by local children at the event, Thanh Hoa authorities promised to continue realising the action programme for HIV/AIDS children in the 2012-2020 period and another programme for children affected by HIV/AIDS.

They will carry out comprehensive child protection programmes and encourage the engagement of children in activities against accidents and child labour in 2016-2020.   

Wreath-laying ceremony in Quang Tri honours heroic soldiers

The province of Quang Tri held a wreath-laying ceremony today (July 8) at the Truong Son National Martyr Cemetery Ancient Citadel in honour of all the soldiers who gave their lives in defence of liberty.

Nguyen Van Binh, member of the politburo and head of the Central Economic Committee, attended the event, reported the Vietnam News Agency, after which he offered incense in tribute to the heroic soldiers.

The ceremonies were part of activities marking the 70th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs Day (July 27).     

Search begins for possible mass grave beneath HCM City airport

Field surveys and excavations are underway at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City to search for a mass grave said to contain the remains of hundreds of Vietnamese soldiers killed in wartime.

The grave is suspected to be located in an open field to the west of the airport near the end of one of its runways.

According to Major General Tran Huu Tai, deputy political commissar of Vietnam’s 7th Military Region, if the information that there is such a grave proves accurate, it should contain the remains of hundreds of Vietnamese soldiers killed during the Tet Offensive of 1968.

The Tet Offensive was a military campaign of surprise attacks on several commands and control centers throughout US-controlled southern Vietnam, including the Tan Son Nhat airbase, launched by the People’s Army of Vietnam in 1968.

The name of the offensive comes from the Tet holiday, or Vietnamese Lunar New Year, when the first major attacks took place.

The piece of land where the excavation is being carried out used to be under the management of the 370th Air Force Division before being transferred to estate developer CT Land for a commercial project.

Search operations for the possible mass grave will be conducted just 100 meters from the site of a similar excavation that took place in 1995 and uncovered the remains of 182 soldiers.

Major General Ngo Tuan Nghia, political commissar of the Ho Chi Minh City Military Command, said the excavation would be done by motorized machines until any sign of human remains is found, upon which the work would be continued by hand.

The first sod was turned on July 6 after a seminar was held the same morning by the city’s Military Command to announce the plan.

No fewer than 1,000 Vietnamese revolutionary soldiers were killed in their ambush on Tan Son Nhat during the Tet Offensive of 1968, according to Vu Chi Thanh, a veteran who fought in the campaign.

The remains of more than 300 soldiers who fought in the battle were never found, Thanh added.

“We will do our best to bring them home,” Major General Tran Huu Tai said.

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