Australia continues support to Vietnamese alumni

Australian Ambassador to Vietnam H.E. Mr Craig Chittick with Australia Awards alumni who have recently returned to Vietnam. Photo: Embassy of Australia

The Australian Embassy has recently held a ceremony to welcome home more than 60 Australia Awards alumni who have just returned to Vietnam upon completing their postgraduate studies in Australia.

At a ceremony in Hanoi on June 12, Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, Craig Chittick said that Australia Awards recipients are a remarkable and talented group of Vietnamese scholars.

"They go through a very challenging and competitive process to win the awards," he said. "However, this is just a part of their success. When they return home, they strive to apply the knowledge, experience and links gained in Australia to help Vietnam realise its aspiration to be a more prosperous, secure and inclusive country.”

According to the embassy, these alumni are part of a dynamic network of nearly 60,000 alumni of Australian education in Vietnam. They represent a wealth of knowledge, expertise and influence and are making valuable contributions to Vietnam’s sustainable socio-economic development and strengthening linkages between Vietnam and Australia.

“Australia’s experience in harmonising economic development and environmental protection really made an impression on me throughout my studies in Australia. I think that Australia’s lessons learned are very helpful to Vietnam to sustain its socio-economic development and I am incorporating these lessons into my work,” shared Alumnus Hoang Xuan Thin, Researcher of Scientific Technological Centre for Environmental Protection in Transportation.

“With knowledge and skills gained in Australia, I will develop the Disability Resources and Development (DRD) as a professional social work practice centre to provide social services including counselling, mental health treatment and information to people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. I thank Australia for the knowledge, experience and confidence to return to Vietnam and make a difference,” said Dr Vo Thi Hoang Yen, Founder cum Director of the DRD, on behalf of more than 60 newly returned postgraduates at the ceremony.

At the ceremony, Ambassador Craig Chittick encouraged the alumni to actively participate in the Australian Alumni Small Grants Fund, an initiative to empower alumni to consolidate their professional knowledge and skills and strengthen linkages between Australia and Vietnam, through undertaking applied research, organising training courses and workshops and improving their workplace systems and processes.

“The Small Grants Fund has enabled me to organise the training course on Empowering girls through life skills program - Shine. The training helped girls discover their strengths, become more confident and lead a useful life. As a trainer of the course, I had an opportunity to put theory into practice and sharpen my actual ground experience when engaging with the girls through their life stories,” said alumnae Nguyen Thi Kim Dung, Lecturer of Social Work Faculty, Thang Long University.

Last year, the Australian Government provided nearly AUD 500,000 in grants for alumni through the Australian Alumni Small Grants Fund. The 2018 round recently closed and results will be announced later in the year.

Thua Thien-Hue province to expand Phu Bai airport

Phu Bai International Airport 

The central province of Thua Thien-Hue plans to expand Phu Bai International Airport in a bid to welcome 3-3.5 million passengers in 2020 and up to 7 million per year in 2025.

The province will expand the airport’s terminal, taxiway, runway and apron at a total investment of 5.56 trillion VND (245 million USD).

The Phu Bai International Airport is located on National Highway 1A in Huong Thuy town. 

The airport has an important role in the economic, cultural, social and defence strategy of Thua Thien-Hue and the northern central region. The airport is significant in promoting tourism for Hue city and the whole central region.

In 2018, the airport and the People’s Committee of Huong Thuy town have coordinated in marking planting landmarks around the airport, while reviewing the land area for the airport’s expansion.

Initially, the airport will be extended to Phu Bai, Thuy Tan and Thuy Phu communes of Huong Thuy town.

The area needing cleared for the project is 153.17 hectares, including 24.22 hectares in Phu Bai, 20.79 hectares in Thuy Phu and 108.16 hectares in Thuy Tan. A total of 296 households should be removed to other resettlement areas.

Currently, the Phu Bai International Airport is able to welcome 1.5 million passengers per year and is often overloaded.

In 2017, the airport served 1.75 million passengers, with growth of 15 percent per year in the number of passengers.

Vietnamese soldiers’ remains brought home from Laos

The remains of 25 Vietnamese soldiers who died during wartime in Laos are repatriated from Oudomsay province on June 14. 

The remains of 25 Vietnamese soldiers who died during wartime in Laos were repatriated from Oudomsay province, Laos, on June 14.

The event was attended by Vice Political Commissar of Vietnam’s Military Zone 2 and Head of the zone’s Steering Committee 1237 Pham Duc Duyen, and Governor of Oudomsay province Khamphieng Yachongva, among others.

This is the second repatriation conducted during the 2017-2018 dry season by the Military Zone 2’s team for the search and repatriation of martyrs’ remains in collaboration with the Special Working Committee of six northern provinces of Laos, including Oudomsay, Luang Prabang, Xayabouly, Phongsaly, Luang Namtha and Bokeo.

The remains were found in Pack U district (Luang Prabang province), and Muang Nga district (Oudomsay province).

Personal belongings of the fallen soldiers were unearthed with the remains, including soles of shoes, water containers and cartridges.

A memorial  and reburial seremony for the fallen heroes will be held at Tong Khao cemetery, Dien Bien Phu city, Dien Bien province, on June 15.

Earlier, nine sets of remains of Vietnamese soldiers were found and repatriated from Oudomsay province in January.

Bank helps ethnic minorities in Lam Dong reduce poverty

Capital from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) has helped to reduce poverty significantly in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, especially among ethnic minorities.

After making a field trip to Lac Duong district, Vice Chairman of the Government Committee for Ethnic Affairs Phan Van Hung noted that credit programmes for the poor and policy beneficiaries have helped poor households promote production, contributing to reducing the ratio of poor households in the locality to 3.91 percent by the end of 2017, and 11.56 percent among ethnic minorities.

Lam Dong is implementing 13 credit programmes for the poor, two of which target poor households from ethnic minority groups.

Capital from the programmes is mostly allocated through the Farmers’ Association, Women’s Union, War Veterans’ Association and Youth Union.

From 2007 to May 2018, the VBSP lent more than 7 trillion VND (308 million USD) to 500,000 customers. Total outstanding loans in the VBSP’s Lam Dong branch were 2 trillion VND as of May 2018, 2 trillion VND (88 million USD) more than 2007.

At a working session with the Committee for Ethnic Affairs of Lam Dong province, Huynh Thanh Lan, Director of the VBSP’s Lam Dong branch, said that in policy research and preferential credit policies, it is necessary to focus on the economic situation of each region and lending period.

Lan proposed uniform credit policies to support poor households from ethnic minority groups, concentrating on the lending amount, interest rate and lending period.

Meanwhile, it is crucial to continue reviewing all policies to invest in mountainous areas and support households from ethnic minority groups, thus choosing the most feasible and effective policies.

To finish the programme of building new-style rural areas in 2020, Lam Dong needs capital to transform economic structure, develop production and improve the environment towards sustainable poverty reduction.

Nguyen Van Yen, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, highlighted the efficiency of the VBSP’s capital for ethnic minority groups in helping locals escape poverty.

He suggested that the VBSP will continue prioritising Lam Dong in its credit programmes to assist the province in creating jobs and implementing clean water and rural sanitation programmes.

Lam Dong is home to 43 ethnic minority groups, including Co Ho, Ma, Chu Ru, M’nong, Raglai, Van Kieu, Gia Rai, Co Tu and Ba Na, accounting for more than 24 percent of the province’s total population. 

Government allocates rice for Kon Tum province

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has instructed the Ministry of Finance to provide rice for the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum to support local people during the between-crop period (Illustrative photo: VNA)

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has instructed the Ministry of Finance to provide rice for the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum to support local people during the between-crop period.

About 160.59 tonnes of rice from national reserves will be sent to the province.

The provincial People’s Committee is responsible for distributing the rice to people in need in accordance with regulations.

Facebook supports natural disaster response in Vietnam

At the launching ceremony of the programme designed to help Vietnamese officials at all levels to enhance their capacity of using technology and social networks to cope with natural disasters (Source: www.hanoimoi.com.vn)

Facebook has launched a programme designed to help Vietnamese officials at all levels to enhance their capacity of using technology and social networks to cope with natural disasters.

This is part of the collaboration between Facebook and the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority (VDMA) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

At the event to announce the programme, Facebook also launched the website https://www.facebook.com/PCTTVN/ to help sharing latest information about natural calamities among the community.

Under the programme, Facebook will host a series of workshops and training courses for officials from the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control in Vietnam.

Vietnam is one of the five countries hardest hit by natural disasters. Over the past two decades, natural disasters left over 400 people dead and missing each year, caused economic losses equal to about 1-1.5 percent of GDP, and affected people’s living environment and conditions, as well as socio-economic activities and sustainable development of the country. 

In 2017, a record number of 16 typhoons and four low pressures occurred in the East Sea. The storms claimed the lives of 386 people in the year, damaged more than 600,000 houses and caused economic losses of about 60 trillion VND (2.64 billion USD), with the worst typhoons being Doksuri and Damrey.

Be alert to crimes involving sophisticated methods: Police

Hà Nội police implement tasks to ensure security and social order. 

People need to be wary of new sophisticated methods and tricks of criminals, said Phạm Tùng Vân, deputy head of the Hà Nội Police’s Advisory Board.

At a regular Tuesday meeting between journalists and the municipal Party Committee, Vân said there had been a rise in cybercrimes in the first six months of this year. These crimes involve the use of advanced technology and sophisticated methods and tricks to deceive people and appropriate their property, he added.

Remarkably, in some cases, criminals have posed as State judicial officers (working at the police, at the court or as procurator) to take money from people on the guise of freeing their family members involved in a criminal offense.

Criminals have illegally appropriated up to hundreds of millions of đồng using this method.

To deal with the situation, deputy head of the City Communist Party’s Propaganda Commission, Trần Xuân Hạ, has asked the media to promote public awareness of the law and encourage people to be vigilant towards crimes. He also urged the media to inform the public about criminal plots to help prevent them.

Hà Nội police reported that in the first six months of this year, there were 1,900 criminal cases, of which 57 caused serious damages. Although the number of criminal cases reduced by 403 against the same period last year, serious criminal cases increased by 11.

Child abuse is another discreet crime. Forty such cases have been reported so far this year, four more than the same period in 2017.

Drug abuse has also increased in severity, with users employing dangerous and ready-to-use weapons against State officials on duty.

Vietnam cares for elderly population

Seminar spotlights communications on social networks

VNA Deputy General Director Le Quoc Minh speaks at the seminar 

Communications on social networks was the topic of discussion during a seminar held at the headquarters of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) in Hanoi on June 13, gathering young employees of central agencies, including many journalists.

At the event, participants talked about influence of communications on the social networks on journalism in Vietnam and challenges facing journalism in the digital age. Many proposed measures to improve awareness of extreme contents and fake news on the social networks among young people and how young journalists should properly access and process news and information on the social networks.

They also advised competent authorities on how to enhance regulations to effectively manage information on the social networks and the Internet at large.

Speaking of the fight against fake news and social responsibility of the press, VNA Deputy General Director Le Quoc Minh said fake news are rampant on the social networks today and not only readers but also the mainstream press in Vietnam and the world often fall into trap of the fake news. 

Many journalists shared or broadcasted news from unreliable sources on the Internet without verifying them, he noted.

Minh urged each social network user to click “like” and “share” with a sense of responsibility.

He moved on to cite the fact that many news outlets are applying a risky way – “Publish first, correct later if necessary” – as in many cases, the mainstream press published stories without checking their facts. 

Fake news alongside such mistakes of press agencies in the race with social networks to lure more readers and increase revenue from advertising have lowered trust from the public towards the mainstream media, the VNA leader said.

He suggested the press to actively take action to win back the readers’ trust as it is not only important to the development of the press but also affect society’s stability.

A representative of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union of the Ministry of Justice said young people should improve their knowledge and study technical solutions to prevent fake news on the Internet and together build a safe social networking environment.

Bui Lan Anh, a young editor from the Voice of Vietnam (VOV), said despite the robust growth of the social networks, they cannot replace mainstream media outlets. Therefore, the press must take full advantage of the social networks and use these online platforms to orient readers.

Vietnam Embassy in Russia joins World Cup heat

Staff at the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia in their World Cup 2018 shirts 

The Vietnamese Embassy in Russia encouraged all staff to enjoy the upcoming World Cup 2018 at a ceremony held on June 13, a day before the event begins.

The embassy is decorated with national flags from the 32 participating countries and images of Zabivaka, the official mascot of the tournament.

At the ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Ngo Duc Manh wished embassy staff an enjoyable World Cup, asking them to pay attention to supporting Vietnamese citizens visiting Russia to watch the matches.

Manh said he expects in the near future, Vietnam will also take part in a World Cup.

At the event, all members of the embassy received a World Cup 2018 shirt.

Screenings at the embassy have been scheduled for matches, running outside working hours.

The FIFA World Cup 2018 will take place in 12 stadiums in Russia from June 14 to July 15.

Vietnam Embassy in Russia joins World Cup heat

Staff at the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia in their World Cup 2018 shirts 

The Vietnamese Embassy in Russia encouraged all staff to enjoy the upcoming World Cup 2018 at a ceremony held on June 13, a day before the event begins.

The embassy is decorated with national flags from the 32 participating countries and images of Zabivaka, the official mascot of the tournament.

At the ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Ngo Duc Manh wished embassy staff an enjoyable World Cup, asking them to pay attention to supporting Vietnamese citizens visiting Russia to watch the matches.

Manh said he expects in the near future, Vietnam will also take part in a World Cup.

At the event, all members of the embassy received a World Cup 2018 shirt.

Screenings at the embassy have been scheduled for matches, running outside working hours.

The FIFA World Cup 2018 will take place in 12 stadiums in Russia from June 14 to July 15.

Experts talk solutions to turn HCM City into smart urban area

Foreign experts presented solutions to turn Ho Chi Minh City into a smart urban area at a conference held by the municipal People’s Committee on June 13. 

The proposed solutions focused on general architecture framework, information-technology foundation, smart city management centre, traffic, education, health care, natural resources-environment, tourism, emergency operation centres and cyber security, among others. 

The project on developing HCM City into a smart urban area during the 2017-2020 period with a vision towards 2025 was ratified by the municipal People’s Committee in November 2017. 

Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee Tran Vinh Tuyen said the city has held working sessions with many international partners, experts and organisations to select specific solutions to materialise the project. 

Tran Minh Tuan, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Information and Communications Strategy under the Ministry of Information and Communications, said it requires a master plan with the participation of social organisations and the mobilisation of different capital sources to implement the project. 

The smart urban area project will be piloted in districts 1 and 12 and Thu Thiem Urban Area in District 2.

Under the smart urban area project, there will be four centres: one on a shared database and open database eco-system; another that will integrate all the city’s information sources and databases from various departments and district committees; one used for simulations to forecast socio-economic strategy; and another on information security.

This is the first time the city has created a specific roadmap for the smart urban project, with targets including sustainable development, improved quality of life, and more effective administration.

Ba Ria-Vung Tau strictly tackles illegal fishing in foreign waters

Authorities of the southern province of Ba Ria -Vung Tau have revoked the operating licenses of 75 fishing ships for illegally fishing in foreign waters last year.

The provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said this is part of efforts to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in foreign waters, especially after the European Commission (EC) issued a “yellow card” warning to the country’s fishery sector.

Local authorities are also considering permanently withdrawing licenses for 12 local fishing vessels that violated regulations in the last five months. 

According to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Department, the causes of violations are due to local anglers’ poor knowledge of the law and a lack of strong punishments. 

This violation has caused serious economic losses for local fishermen and affected diplomatic relations between Vietnam and other countries, as well as Vietnam’s prestige internationally.

The EC issued a "yellow card" warning to Vietnam in September 2017 after the country failed to demonstrate sufficient progress in fighting IUU fishing.

On December 13, 2017, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued a directive on urgent tasks following the EC’s warning.

The whole political system, from the central to local level, and fishermen have taken actions to fight IUU fishing.

There have been an array of measures, including supplementing anti-IUU fishing regulations, enforcing issued regulations, disseminating solutions to fishermen and relevant parties and enhancing cooperation with coastal and island countries.

Can Tho city works to foster tourism development

An aerial view of Tan Lap floating village, an eco-tourism area in the Mekong Delta province of Long An 

Leaders of the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho had a working session on June 12 with representatives of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to discuss plans and measures to promote tourism development in the city and in the whole region. 

Under the master plan for tourism development until 2020 with a vision to 2030, the Mekong Delta is expected to become one of the seven key tourism regions of Vietnam.

Many provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta have worked out plans and schemes for tourism development. However, the progress remains slow, while investment and exploitation are not connected effectively at the regional level.

According to statistics from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the region welcomed over 20 million holiday-makers in 2017. 

Each tourist visiting the Mekong Delta spends about 22 USD per day, 75 percent less than the average in the country. Overall, the annual growth of tourism sector in the region is 9 percent, while those in other tourism regions always reach two-digit level. 

Christopher Lewis Malone, BCG Managing Director in Vietnam, noted that traffic connectivity is one of the reasons causing difficulties for the Mekong Delta’s tourism sector. 

Can Tho International Airport is planned for the whole region, but only four localities are connected to the airport. In the field of waterway tourism, Ninh Kieu wharf of Can Tho only serves about 4,000 visitors per day, while Ha Long port of Quang Ninh province averagely serves 22,000 visitors per day.

More importantly, the Mekong Delta is not a main destination for visitors, but is just a stopover of tourists en route to Ho Chi Minh City – the largest economic and cultural hub in the southern region.

The Mekong Delta also faces many negative impacts of climate change. Rising sea level, saline intrusion, droughts, landslides have been occurring and have seriously affected the economic development and the life of regional people as they destroy natural resources and make it difficult to promote tourism potential. 

This fact requires a new vision and comprehensive measures for the region to promote sustainable tourism development, Malone said. 

The BCG selected Can Tho city as its direct partner in the project and hoped the city would become a diring force in promoting tourism development in the whole region, he added. 

At the working session, representatives of the BCG proposed four groups of measures to push tourism development in the Mekong Delta in the coming time, focusing on developing tourism along rivers; sightseeing tours and those to historical sites, learn about local customs and cuisine and enjoy daily life of locals; and adventure tours with diverse games such as canoeing on rivers, exploring the regional land with hot air balloons.

Regarding tourism infrastructure, Malone stressed that it is necessary to expand and connect air routes between Can Tho, Phu Quoc, Ca Mau and Co Ong airports to establish a strategic transport system throughout the region.

Regional provinces and cities should pay attention to building and fine-tuning integrated aviation services such as taking off and landing services, airplane parking, security screening systems, cargo, check-in counters, luggage conveyors, and ground services.

The whole region must have at least 20 international flights and 10 domestic flights within the next ten years

Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Vo Thanh Thong stressed that the project plays an important role in the overall development of the region. 

He hoped many suitable models will be built within the framework of the project to help the Mekong Delta become a leading destination in Asia in terms of tourism on rivers. 

The city is working with Novaland Group to finance tourism development  projects in the Mekong Delta that are invested directly in Can Tho, Vinh Long province and other localities in the region, Thong added. 

The projects are hoped to create a momentum for sustainable development and create jobs for local residents, contributing to socio-economic development of the locality and helping it attract more investment, he said.

Seminar spotlights communications on social networks

VNA Deputy General Director Le Quoc Minh speaks at the seminar 

Communications on social networks was the topic of discussion during a seminar held at the headquarters of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) in Hanoi on June 13, gathering young employees of central agencies, including many journalists.

At the event, participants talked about influence of communications on the social networks on journalism in Vietnam and challenges facing journalism in the digital age. Many proposed measures to improve awareness of extreme contents and fake news on the social networks among young people and how young journalists should properly access and process news and information on the social networks.

They also advised competent authorities on how to enhance regulations to effectively manage information on the social networks and the Internet at large.

Speaking of the fight against fake news and social responsibility of the press, VNA Deputy General Director Le Quoc Minh said fake news are rampant on the social networks today and not only readers but also the mainstream press in Vietnam and the world often fall into trap of the fake news. 

Many journalists shared or broadcasted news from unreliable sources on the Internet without verifying them, he noted.

Minh urged each social network user to click “like” and “share” with a sense of responsibility.

He moved on to cite the fact that many news outlets are applying a risky way – “Publish first, correct later if necessary” – as in many cases, the mainstream press published stories without checking their facts. 

Fake news alongside such mistakes of press agencies in the race with social networks to lure more readers and increase revenue from advertising have lowered trust from the public towards the mainstream media, the VNA leader said.

He suggested the press to actively take action to win back the readers’ trust as it is not only important to the development of the press but also affect society’s stability.

A representative of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union of the Ministry of Justice said young people should improve their knowledge and study technical solutions to prevent fake news on the Internet and together build a safe social networking environment.

Bui Lan Anh, a young editor from the Voice of Vietnam (VOV), said despite the robust growth of the social networks, they cannot replace mainstream media outlets. Therefore, the press must take full advantage of the social networks and use these online platforms to orient readers.

Hà Nội extend lead at top of V.League 1

Players of Hà Nội FC celebrates after scoring the third goal into Quảng Ninh Coal’s net. They defeated Quảng Ninh Coal 4-1 in the 13th round match of the V-League 1 yesterday. — Photo vietnamnet.vn

Hà Nội FC continued their dominance at the top of the V.League 1 with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over closest challengers Quảng Ninh Coal.

The 13th round fixture at Hàng Đẫy Stadium in the capital marked 13 matches undefeated for Hà Nội, leaving them 11 points clear of their northern rivals.

The game started with Quảng Ninh in the ascendancy, and the visitors opened the scoring after a mistake by Hà Nội goalie Nguyễn Văn Công gifted them a penalty, which forward Joel Vinicius duly converted in the 7th minute.

The opener boosted the visiting side’s confidence, but Hà Nội equalised minutes before half-time when striker Ganiyu Oseni prodded home a cheeky back-heel finish.

The hosts pressed for a winner in the second half, with a five minute spell securing victory via goals from forward Nguyễn Văn Quyết in the 62nd minute and striker Hoàng Vũ Samson five minutes later.

Samson completed the rout with a 92nd minute goal, leaving onlookers in no doubt as to the side to catch in this year’s title race.

Elsewhere, Sông Lam Nghệ An (SLNA) defeated Hải Phòng FC 1-0, snapping an 11 game losing streak.

The match was held at Vinh stadium, SLNA’s home ground.

This victory was crucial for the hosts, who desperately needed a win after 11 consecutive losses had left them near the bottom of the table.

In contrast, Hải Phòng FC came into the game in fine form and have an impressive record at Vinh stadium.

The two teams played on the counter most of the first half, which ended scoreless, largely thanks to the excellent performance of Hải Phòng FC’s goalkeeper Đặng Văn Lăm.

In the 65th minute, a headed pass from substitute forward Hồ Tuấn Tài allowed midfielder Ngô Xuân Toàn to score the opener. It was also the only goal of the match, earning SLNA three important points after and moving the team up one position in the table.

Elsewhere, Hoàng Anh Gia Lai were defeated by Quảng Nam FC 2-3, dropping into 7th in the table while 6th position belongs to Quảng Nam.

Meanwhile, Nam Định FC defeated Sài Gòn FC 1-0 after a tough match at Nam Định Stadium, however, with this match, Nam Định FC is still ranked at the bottom of the table with seven points below Sài Gòn FC on 11 points.