Thousands flock to Trang An festival in Ninh Binh

Thousands of people and visitors flocked to the 2017 Trang An Traditional Festival which officially kicked off on April 15 at Suoi Tien temple under the Trang Tan ecological tourism area in Ninh Binh province.

The festival is held annually to celebrate Saint Quy Minh Dai Vuong, a general under the reign of the 18th Hung King.

During the two-day festival, numerous rituals imbued with cultural identities of the ancient city of Hoa Lu (now Ninh Binh province) were held, including boat and palanquin processions and a dragon dance on the river.

A wide variety of cultural and arts activities of 11 provinces and cities, including performances of folk songs which were recognised as intangible cultural heritages of humanity such as Quan ho (love duet), Xoan (a special art form in Phu Tho province), and Nha nhac cung dinh Hue (Hue royal Court Music), will be the highlight of the event.

Visitors to the festival will have a chance to enjoy specialties of the province and several other localities. Furthermore, the setting of the Hollywood blockbuster ‘Kong: Skull Island’ was reproduced at the ecological tourism complex and is open free-of-charge to visitors.

The festival is one of practical activities to celebrate the country’s major events in 2017 as well as promote the image of the land and people of Vietnam, including Ninh Binh province, to international friends.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Vice Chairman of Ninh Binh provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Ngoc Thach said that Trang An Festival aims to educate the public on the patriotic tradition and the spirit of great national unity among people, particularly younger generations.

The event is also an opportunity to pray for a peaceful country and prosperous people, fair winds and good crops.

51 outstanding ethnic minority youth honored

The Youth Union in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday honored 51 outstanding ethnic minority young people at an ethnic culture festival which celebrates the diverse culture of ethnic groups.

51 ethnic minority young people are those who studied well and greatly contributed to the movements of Youth Communist Union and charity activities.

At the festival, over 1,000 youths watched photos of 54 ethnic groups in the country; enjoyed musical performances of folk instruments and made traditional handicraft products and partook in folk games.

On the same day, the Union held a competition Olympic for Marx, Lenin subject and Ho Chi Minh ideology.

505 candidates from 85 teams of universities and colleges citiwide took part in the competition. It is scheduled the prize-giving ceremony will be held on May 18. 

Candidates will compete on the subjects such as learning and following Uncle Ho example, basic principles of Marxist-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh ideology, the 10th and 12th Party resolution, matters relating to history, economy, culture of Vietnam and HCMC as well as the application of  Marxist-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh ideology into reality.

Fire occurs in Kwong Lung – Meko Co. in Can Tho

Can Tho's Fire Prevention and Fighting Police Department said that a flame suddenly burnt inside Kwong Lung – Meko Company in Tra Noc industrial park at 9:45 am yesterday.
 
After receiving the information, the city Fire Department sent three fire trucks and 50 fire fighters to the scene. At 11am, the blaze was extinguished.

The functional agencies continue investigating reasons.

Accordingly, it seems the second consecutive fires happened in the Kwong Lung – Meko Company in recent two months.
 
Another fire occurred in Ho Chi Minh City this morning

A big flame suddenly burnt into a clothing unit at No.13 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street in Tan Phu district, Ho Chi Minh City at 5am today.

The flame quickly spread out 11 neighboring houses due to many clothing and the easy materials insides the place.

The local people moved property out of the scene.  

After receiving the information, the functional forces and Fire Prevention and Fighting Police Department of Tan Phu district sent six fire trucks and firefighters to the scene.

By 6am, the functional forces extinguished the blaze. However, the flame burnt again and the firefighters continued praying water to extinguish the blaze.

The fire completely destroyed two houses and properties. Fortunately, nobody was hurt and killed in the fire. The case is under investigation.

Exhibition raises marine environmental awareness

An exhibition called “Altered Cloud II” aiming to raise the awareness of the community for the protection of the marine environment opened at Then Café in Hue City from April 15-28.
 
The project is a long journey of some giant kites that are flown in the areas damaged by garbage, including plastic bottles, plastic bags, and other types of waste. 

The artists collaborated with local residents and kite artists in Hue City to create the kites from the garbage collected from those areas.

The project offers a new approach to marine pollution issue and a means of spreading knowledge on, and protecting, the marine environment in particular and the environment in general.

The display is one of the activities of the biennial Hue Traditional Craft Festival 2017 themed “The Quintessence of Vietnamese Crafts” that will be held in Hue, the capital city of Thua Thien-Hue Province on April 28-May 2.

30 year old dialysis patient gives birth safely

A women undergo regular hemodialysis for seven years gave birth safely several days ago.

30 year old Nguyen Thi Mo from the Northern Province of Thai Binh with renal disease for seven years came to Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi for consultation when she got pregnant, said Dr. Nguyen Huu Dung, head of the hospital’s Hemodialysis Ward.

A meeting was convened which doctors discussed the case carefully and then the woman was hospitalized under doctors’ observation. When her pregnancy is 33 weeks, doctors performed a C section to take out the baby.

The mother and her baby were discharged.

A study carried out by a European center during past ten years in Belgium, Denmark, France and British showed that only 52 percent of neonates of 23 women who got pregnant while undergoing hemodialysis have chance to survive during the pregnancy.

Patient Nguyen Thi Mo is the third case who gives birth safely while undergoing hemodialysis in Bach Mai hospital.

Pregnancy in women with chronic renal insufficiency possesses much higher maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality when compared to women with normal renal function.

Bus ticket prices increase during national holidays

Bus ticket prices on the Reunification Day on April 30 and International Labor Day on May 1 will increase by about 40 percent higher than normal days since April 28, according to Director of the Mien Dong (Eastern) Bus Station in Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen Ngoc Thua.

Accordingly, fares on bus routes from Ho Chi Minh City to Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai will see a 30 percent jump; ticket prices on routes from HCM City to the central highlands provinces, Binh Thuan, Nha Trang will rise 40 percent.

Meanwhile coach fares on routes from Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong Delta provinces, such as Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Can Tho, An Giang, Dong Thap and Kien Giang will increase from 20-40 percent.

Additionally, Saigon Railway Transportation Company will plan to add more trains from HCM City to Pha Thiet, Nha Trang and Quy Nhon on national holidays; and give a discount of 10-50 percent for students, the elderly and groups of 10 or more persons.

The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA) will fly 175 additional flights on 8 local routes to meet increasing travel demand on the Reunification Day and International Labor Day.

The domestic routes to benefit from this program are from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc. VNA will operate additional flights from April 27 to May 3.

Air and train fares jump for upcoming holiday

Air and train ticket prices during the Reunification Day (April 30) and International Labor Day (May 1) holiday have soared due to high demand.

According to some ticketing websites, most ticket prices of flights from April 28 to April 30 have increased sharply. For example, Vietjet Air has hiked the fare for the Hanoi-Phu Quoc service on April 28 to more than VND3.1 million (exclusive of taxes and fees) from VND1.7 million on April 27. Meanwhile, tickets for Vietjet’s Hanoi-Phu Quoc flights on April 29 are fully booked.

Similarly, Vietnam Airlines charges VND3.3 million on April 28 on this same route, compared to more than VND1 million on April 27.

The price hike also applies to other routes such as Hanoi - Nha Trang, HCMC - Phu Quoc and HCMC - Danang.

Representatives of airlines said that due to high travel demand during the holiday, they have to add flights and increase ticket prices to offset their higher operating costs.

Meanwhile, train tickets from HCMC to tourist destinations like Nha Trang also recorded a strong increase. For example, the fare for the HCMC – Nha Trang route has edged up to VND216,000 from VND141,000, while the price of tickets on a sleeper carriage

has increased to VND482,000 from VND337,000 before the holiday.

Prices of bus tickets to other provinces such as Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Lam Dong and Quang Ngai during the holiday have also soared 30-40%.

In related news, Vietnam Airlines announced to add 175 one-way flights on eight domestic routes during the upcoming holiday, with a total supply of over 180,000 seats, up nearly 25% compared to ordinary days and 15 % over the same period last year.

Extra flights during the peak period from April 27 to May 3 mainly focus on routes from Hanoi and HCMC to tourism destinations such as Danang, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc. Vietnam Airlines adds over 100 flights for Hanoi/HCMC - Danang routes, 40 flights for Hanoi/HCMC - Phu Quoc routes and 18 flights for Hanoi/HCMC - Nha Trang routes.

Vietnamese arrivals to Taiwan up 90% in two months

Taiwan (China) received 47,000 Vietnamese people during the first two months of this year, up 90% against last year’s January-February period.

vietnamese arrivals to taiwan (china) up 90% in two months hinh 0 Half of the arrivals were holidaymakers and the rest came to Taiwan for study, work and business operations, said a representative from Taipei Tourism Bureau.

The number of Vietnamese nationals to Taiwan increased from 146,300 in 2015 to 196,600 people in 2016. However, the figure is still lower than regional countries like Malaysia (474,000 people), Singapore (407,200) and Indonesia (188,700).

According to Taipei Tourism Bureau, the growing number of Vietnamese arrivals to Taiwan is attributable to promotional campaigns and budget tours.

The bureau is set to launch more carry out advertisement programs in Ho Chi Minh City in September.

CAAV rushes off feet for global aviation safety evaluation

The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) and the US’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will join hands to make an overall assessment on the CAAV’s aviation safety supervision next month, which is essential to Vietnamese airlines’ plan to open direct flight to the US.

The Transport Ministry has approved a 40,000 USD investment for the CAAV for the purpose.

Based on the evaluation, the FAA will map out plan and issue official announcement on the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) to the CAAV.

As part of its preparations for the assessment, the CAAV has implemented a project on enhancing its safety checkup capacity by shoring up the CAAV’s action plans, providing trainings for its staff and updating related legal regulations and documents in line with the FAA standards.

The move aimed to obtain the Category 1 (CAT 1) rating from the FAA, recognizing CAAV as having the capacity to ensure safety standards of Vietnamese airlines. 

The project, which received 0.56 million USD of financial support from the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), was completed in March, 2016.

Currently, Vietnam has no direct flight to the US. Last November, the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines applied to the US Department of Transportation for providing direct service to the North American nation. However, in order for the application to be considered, the Vietnamese aviation management agency must meet safety supervision requirements as per FAA standards.

Total passengers between Vietnam and the US reached 689,000 in 2016, and the number of travelers on the route increased at an annual average 8.4 percent during 2010-2016.

Kien Giang urged to take full advantage of Phu Quoc for development

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang to develop Phu Quoc island into a leading model among three special administrative economic zones of the country.

During a working session with provincial officials on April 14, PM Phuc described Kien Giang as a miniature of Vietnam with an important position not only in terms of economy but also national defence, security, and external relations in the region. 

Speaking highly of Kien Giang’s socio-economic development over the past years, including its marine-based economy, agricultural production and tourism, he said the province has economic potential and sustainable development directions, while the living conditions of local people have continually improved. 

Regarding the development vision, PM Phuc said Kien Giang must strive to become a wealthy province based on its natural advantages and application of technological advances into tourism, agriculture, marine-based economy, and supporting and processing industries. 

Phu Quoc island should be developed into a precious, big pearl and a unique, world-class tourism and resort centre, hence attracting more investors and intellectuals and serving as a momentum for the province’s economic development in the time to come, he said. 

The leader suggested issuing breakthrough policies and mechanisms, especially terms in the Law on Special Administrative Economic Zone, to facilitate the local economy and livelihoods. 

About the future tasks, PM Phuc requested Kien Giang to complete Phu Quoc development plans with a vision to 30 years and 50 years in different areas while ensuring the quality of the environment, wastewater, waste, and marine ecological system, thereby making Phu Quoc a truly resort paradise. 

At the same time, the province was required to build tourism facilities, diversify community-based tourism, offer tax incentives and encourage investors to join in vocational training for local residents. 

The government leader also reminded Kien Giang province to study economic restructuring in the context of climate change while simultaneously performing socio-economic tasks and ensuring national defence, security, food hygiene and safety. 

On the occasion, he assigned the Transport Ministry to study the establishment of a search and rescue centre on Phu Quoc island. 

Kien Giang boasts a diverse mangrove ecological system and great potential for agro-forestry-fishery and tourism. Last year, the local economy expanded by 6.57 percent, higher than the country’s average of 6.21 percent. 

Phu Quoc island district has attracted 254 projects worth 377.83 trillion VND (16.64 billion USD). 

The province has set a target of collecting over 8.8 trillion VND (384.2 million USD) for the State budget and serving 5.82 million tourists, including 360,000 foreigners this year.

Party leader suggests economic focuses for Kon Tum province

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has suggested the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum focus on developing high-quality agriculture and border gate economy and making use of forest advantages to attain faster and sustainable growth.

At a working session with provincial officials on April 14, he applauded the province’s efforts to brave difficulties to develop.

Kon Tum shares more than 280km of borderline with Laos and Cambodia. More than 53 percent of the local population are ethnic minority people while 42 percent are religious followers.

In 2016, its gross domestic product exceeded 11 trillion VND (485.1 million USD), up 8.06 percent from the previous year. While annual per capita income reached 32 million VND (over 1,400 USD), more than 1.9 trillion VND (nearly 83.8 million USD) was collected for the State budget last year.

Kon Tum has set up Mang Den – a 150-hectare agricultural area using high technology – along with some zones specialising in industrial trees (such as rubber, coffee) and herbal plants (such as Ngoc Linh ginseng).

Industrial production value increased by 14 percent while export revenue hit 113 million USD in 2016. In the first quarter of 2017 alone, the province earned 57 million USD from exports, shooting up more than 300 percent from a year earlier.

Poverty reduction has been stepped up, reducing the household poverty rate from 26.11 percent in 2015 to 23.03 percent in 2016 according to the multidimensional poverty measurement.

The Party leader, who is touring the Central Highlands, lauded Kon Tum’s performance in ensuring defence, security, social order and safety, fighting crimes, and strictly handling deforestation cases.

However, it remains a poor province with untapped development potential, modest economic growth and per capita income, limited human resources quality, and underdeveloped infrastructure, he noted.

Suggesting several fields that Kon Tum should pay heed to, General Secretary Trong said the province should invest more in high-quality and large scale agriculture. 

He took Ngoc Linh ginseng as an example, saying that Kon Tum should expand the cultivation and processing of this indigenous species while applying technology in processing and surveying the market to ensure the sale of ginseng products. Clean vegetable and sugar canes are also suitable for farming here, he added.

He told local officials to boost border gate economic activities to capitalise on the province’s location, which is favourable for trade with Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar.

It is also necessary to protect forests and optimise forest advantages to improve local living standards and conserve the environment, the leader said, stressing the must for keeping political security and social order and safety, doing a good job of external activities, and maintaining peace and stability for development.

On April 13, the Party chief visited Kon Ro Bang 2 hamlet of Vinh Quang commune and the Kon Tum Sugar Joint Stock Company in Kon Tum city.

Quang Tri presents gifts to the disabled

The Quang Tri chapter of the Association for the Support of Vietnamese Handicapped and Orphans will present gifts to the disabled and orphans living in need from April 16-20 on the occasion of the 37th Vietnam Day of Persons with Disabilities (April 18).  

The gifts include 126 wheelchairs, 20 scholarships worth 1 million VND each, 50 gifts worth 500,000 VND each, and 70 bicycles valued at 1.6 million VND each. 

It is a joint effort with the US’s non-profitable organisation Giving it Back to Kids. 

Quang Tri is currently home to more than 37,000 people living with disabilities caused by the war. 

Together with the local Association for the Support of Vietnamese Handicapped and Orphans and mass organisations, the province has held a number of cultural-sports activities to make it easier for the disabled to integrate into the community and overcome difficulties.

Canon pushes forest planting in Thanh Hoa

Hundreds of trees were planted at Ben En National Park in the central province of Thanh Hoa during the forest planting festival held by Canon Vietnam in the locality on April 16.

The festival, under Canon’s project “For a green Vietnam”, drew the participation of hundreds of local students and volunteers from the company.

A painting competition themed “our action today for the planet tomorrow” was also included in the event.

This year, Canon Vietnam aims to plant 20 hectares of new forest at Ben En National Park to reduce climate change’s impacts and raise awareness of environmental protection for young people.

The company has supported forest planting activities at Ben En National Park under the “For a green Vietnam” project since 2011. After seven year, the area of newly-planted forest at the park has grown to 130 hectares. Most of the planted trees are lim xanh (Erythrophleum fordii), a species in the list of plants needing protection.

Project on climate change adaptation benefits Ben Tre province

A five – year project on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, launched by Oxfam organisation, has benefited 15 communes in three coastal districts of the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre. 

Funded by New Zealand’s aid, the project aims to increase the resilience and adaptive capacity of poor people and local authorities to disaster and climate risks in coastal communities in the Mekong Delta. It also targets to improve income and living conditions for local people through building climate-change adaptive livelihood models and water supply systems. 

Running from June 2012 to October 2017, the project has done 94 percent of the total work.

During nearly five-year implementation, the project has helped local authorities integrate disaster prevention into annual social – economic development plans, said Nguyen Van Buoi, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

He added that the project also conducted educational campaigns to raise awareness of local people of disaster risks and climate change effects. 

Under the component on improving incomes of the poor, 2,469 goats and 370 breeding cows have been given to more than 2,600 households. As a result, 384 local households have risen out of poverty. 

Meanwhile, nearly 6,000 households gained access to clean water.

Thua Thien-Hue recovers fishery activities after Formosa incident

Fishermen in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue have made efforts to recover production and resume to normal life after one year of sea environmental incident caused by Formosa.? 

?Most of families in Phu Thuan commune, Phu Vang district live on fishing and seafood processing. The incident one year ago largely affected their production.

Residents and fishermen in the locality have made effective use of compensation from the Taiwan-invested Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation.The money has been spent to build high-capacity fishing vessels and buy new fishing gear.

Nearly 700 cases in Phu Thuan commune have received compensation and support worth13 billion VND. The local government has paid heed to guiding fishermen to use the money correctly to recover production and fishery activities as well as change their jobs. 

On a larger scale, Thua Thien- Hue province has doled out the compensation to over 18,000 people, created conditions to help them change their jobs as well as provided them with loan to build new fishing vessels.

The receivers include ship owners and employers, fishermen, aquaculture production households and cooperatives and fish sauce producers.

The province has to date had a total of 2,500 fishing vessels with 12,000 fishermen. Many of them have earned big from fishing recently, making them happy and feeling secured to cling on the sea for fishing and protecting the national island sovereignty.

Lao parliament hails governmental cooperation with Vietnam

The cooperation between the Vietnamese and Lao governments have contributed to taking bilateral relations to new heights, said Lao National Assembly Chairwoman Pany Yathotou.

She made the remark at a meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi on April 15.

The Lao leader wished Vietnamese leaders further success in the implementation the 12th National Party Congress’ Resolution. 

She appreciated Vietnam’s support for Laos’ development, particularly in allowing her country to use the local Vung Ang port in the central region – the nearest gateway to the sea.

For his part, Prime Minister Phuc stressed Vietnam’s commitments to boosting the traditional friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive partnership with Laos.

Regarding the Vietnamese-funded construction of the Lao National Assembly headquarters, which is set to begin in this July, Phuc informed his guest that the work will be carried out by a reliable contractor from Vietnam.

He took the occasion to request the State Bank of Vietnam to assign the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and other banks to cooperate with the Lao side in establishing more credit sources serving joint investment projects between the two countries.

Land accumulation must benefit farmers: Deputy PM

The land accumulation process should not deprive farmers of their livelihoods and force them into unemployment, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said at a conference in Vinh Phuc province on April 14.

The process should ensure farmers’ benefits, he stressed.

The conference in the northern province aimed to find solutions to promote land accumulation so as to reap economies of scale in agricultural production, boosting industrialisation and modernisation of the sector.

It was attended by representatives of many localities and enterprises as well as the ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development and Natural Resources and Environment.

Representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said at the conference that land accumulation was being implemented very slowly.

Scattered, small-sized land lots hindered locals and enterprises from making long-term investments in agriculture, they said.

The average land area owned by agricultural households is about 0.46 hectares and each household owns 2.83 lots on average, which is lower than in China and many other Asian countries.

They also said that in many cases, accumulated land had not been used effectively.
There was a general lack of awareness among officials and farmers on the necessity for land accumulation for large scale production, the conference heard.

Speakers also said that land accumulation for agricultural development had not been properly linked with the economy of farming households, co-operatives, enterprises, sci-tech applications and the market.

Deputy PM Dung said that the household economy, with scattered and small land lots no longer matched the need to develop agriculture on a large scale with high-quality, competitive produce.

Promoting land accumulation and applying advanced technology on large-scale farms would improve the capacity, quality and competitiveness of the agricultural sector in particular, and the Vietnamese economy in general, he added.

He said the Party and the State are paying due attention to agriculture, rural areas and farmers, as they are the foundation for ensuring social stability, eradicating poverty and reducing hunger, thereby contributing to the nation’s development.

He reiterated that the agricultural economy was a “first priority” for the State with household economy as its driving force.

Over the last several years, there had been many changes in land policies to tighten land-use management, he said.

The need for efficient agricultural production should be analysed to find out where land accumulation was needed and where it should be dispersed, the Deputy PM said.

“We must carefully study impacts of land accumulation on society, agriculture and the environment, especially the relaxation of land limits, to ensure benefits of the State and its subjects, farmers in particular,” he said.

He urged those attending the conference to find solutions to conflicts between land accumulation and local livelihood stability, and also study effective land accumulation models.

After due analysis, measures must be taken to initiate “various types of land accumulation and shift to creating jobs and improving lives of locals while ensuring that accumulated land lots have high productivity, high competitiveness, and deliver benefits to farmers,” he said.