Red Journey collects more than 23,000 units of blood

More than 23,000 units of blood were collected during a 20-day Red Journey blood donation campaign in 20 provinces and cities.

HCM City and provinces of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu, Khánh Hòa, Đắk Lắk and Thái Nguyên collected a total of more than 1,000 units.

In July, HCM City and the provinces of Kiên Giang, Nghệ An, Thanh Hóa, Thừa Thiên Huế and Khánh Hòa faced a shortage of blood for patients needing emergency aid.

The campaign will continue in eight more provinces and cities until July 27.

Begun by the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion in 2013, the campaign aims to raise awareness about the need for blood donations as well as thalassaemia, a genetic blood disorder that can lead to heart failure and liver problems.

Professor Dr Nguyễn Anh Trí, head of the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, said the amount of blood collected in the areas where the campaign was held had met local demand.

However, provinces and cities where the campaign has not been held still face a shortage of blood.  

To ensure enough blood for the long term, Trí called on all healthy people to donate blood at any time of the year, not just during campaigns like Red Journey.

Requiem held in Quảng Trị to honour fallen soldiers

Thousands gathered at the old Quảng Trị Citadel yesterday morning for a requiem for soldiers who died during a 81-day battle here during the summer of 1972. This year’s event also marks the 70th War Invalids and Martyrs Day and the battle of Quảng Trị Citaldel’s 45th anniversary.

Fierce fighting for control of the citadel, the central province’s symbol of power, started from June 28 and ended on September 26, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides.

The fight contributed to Việt Nam’s triumph at the Paris Conference and was a prerequisite for the General Offensive and Uprising in the spring of 1975, which completely liberated the south and reunified the country.

The old citadel, just under 3,000sq.m, and a small area around it were bombarded by the combined fire power of American B52 strategic bombers, the 7th Fleet and thousands of artillery pieces.

An estimated 328,000 tonnes of bombs were dropped on the old citadel and a small town of some 10,000 houses around it. By the time the fighting ended, the town was almost leveled. No houses remained intact.

The requiem, held on a yearly basis in July, allows war veterans, families of fallen soldiers and countrymen to gather and pray for the souls of the dead from both sides.

It is also meant to be a reminder to the country’s young generation of their forefathers’ determination and sacrifice during their struggle for freedom and independence, according to organisers of the event.

At the ceremony, people also pray for lasting peace and the souls of their loved ones, who lost their lives during the battle. Historians believe that the number of casualties from both sides may total twenty thousand with thousands of others injured. Many were maimed for life.

Defence Minister Ngô Xuân Lịch, other officers and thousands of war veterans and soldiers from across the country laid wreaths and offered incense at the war martyrs altar, built at the centre of the ruins of the old citadel as a shared grave for fallen soldiers who were never found. The defence minister also visited the Trường Sơn National Martyrs’ Cemetery and Road No 9 National Martyrs’ Cemetery.

Earlier on Thursday night, 30,000 paper lanterns were floated down the Thạch Hãn River, which runs along the northern wall of the old citadel. Buddhist monks and thousands gathered by the river in a prayer, while an incense burning ceremony was held in Trường Sơn Cemetery, the final resting place for thousands of Vietnamese soldiers who died during the American War in Việt Nam. 

City continues special support for policy beneficiaries

Support for beneficiaries of special policies, including heroic martyrs, is being continued this year, with increases in funding for people in need, the deputy chairwoman of the city’s People’s Committee has said.

Speaking on the occasion of the annual 70th Day for War Invalids and Martyrs (July 27), Nguyễn Thị Thu said the city’s Party, State and residents continued to support citizens who had contributed to national independence.

Since the beginning of the year, the city has spent more than VNĐ42 billion (US$1.84 million) to care for war invalids and martyrs’ families, she said.

The city has more than 271,000 policy beneficiaries, including 5,184 Vietnamese heroic mothers, according to the city’s Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

On the occasion, Nhà Bè District’s People’s Committee on July 17 held medical examinations for local policy beneficiary families and presented gifts.

Lê Thị Ánh Tuyết, head of Củ Chi District’s Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Office, said besides providing monthly allowances, the district has offered preferential policies to policy beneficiaries, including health insurance, healthcare services and reduced fees for education.

The district has also spent around VNĐ160 billion ($7 million) upgrading and repairing cemeteries, graves of martyrs and heroic monuments.

A representative of District 9’s Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Office said the district has about 1,560 policy beneficiaries receiving monthly allowances.

Thủ Đức District’s two former communes of Hiệp Bình and Tam Bình have been awarded the title “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces”. The district has more than 2,800 policy beneficiaries receiving monthly allowances.

City authorities at all levels have helped policy beneficiaries escape poverty and improve living standards.

Nguyễn Thị Út, head of Nhà Bè District’s Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Office, said the district authorities had introduced them to jobs, provided loans, and granted scholarships to students from poor families.

District 9 authorities have also renovated or built gratitude houses, provided low-interest loans, vocational training, introduced many policy beneficiaries to jobs and offered special policies on education and healthcare.

In Củ Chi District, mass organisations have supported a total of 115 poor households to help them increase their incomes.

Mai Thị Xuân Hồng, head of the Thủ Đức District’s Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Office, said "Since last year, the district has renovated 25 gratitude houses, and offered land and built new gratitude houses for three policy beneficiaries facing difficulties.”

The deputy chairwoman of the district’s People’s Committee, Nguyễn Thị Kim Thúy, said the district had asked the city’s People’s Committee to help them raise funds to build gratitude houses for an amount higher than the VNĐ60 million ($2,636) currently given per family.

Nguyễn Thị Thu, deputy chairwoman of the city’s People’s Committee, said that by the end of the year the city would complete all files that request recognition of martyrs, war invalids and policy beneficiaries.

She said the city would continue to support the policy beneficiaries facing difficulties, search for the remains of martyrs, and identify remains of unknown martyrs.

TESOL teachers urged to embrace digital technology

“Avoid or embrace technology?” is a question faced by educators in the 21st century as students become increasingly dependent on their smart devices.  

“We can no longer avoid our students’ love of and dependence on technology,” said Ushapa Fortescue, an Oxford Teacher Academy trainer.

Fortescue spoke at the annual Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Conference 2017 held on Friday in HCM City, organised by the Vietnam-USA Society English Centers.

Fortescue said that teachers should understand how digital natives interact and allow the use of cellphones, which she had previously banned in her classroom.

She uses cellphones to teach listening skills to her students, and encourages students to talk about topics such as the last photo they took, the nicest message they received during the week, or the person who contacts them the most.

“I also allow the students to have Facebook time in the classroom,” she said, adding that on a class Facebook page, students can write messages on the page’s wall.

This gives them practice in writing, but Facebook time should be limited to only five to 10 minutes, she said.

When students in her classroom prepare for the Cambridge English exams, they are given guidance in how to interact with teachers, classes in other countries and Cambridge English pen friends via social media.

Joanna Raskin, the commercial head of Southeast Asia and the Pacific at Cambridge English Language Assessment, which is part of University of Cambridge, said that English teachers should help their students learn how to use and share digital resources by creating, organising and uploading information with certain tools, media and social networks.

Such resources can build collective and personal understanding, Raskin said.

Integrating skills such as critical thinking, communication, problem-solving and collaboration into English teaching are also important, as well as the effective use of references.

Students also need help in building competency in soft skills and foreign-language proficiency to assist them in future work, she added.

Gordon Lewis, vice president of Language Programmes for Laureate Higher Education at Laureate International Universities based in the US, said that not all innovation was connected to technology.

“In fact, technology can even have a negative impact on innovation in certain circumstances,” Lewis said. “It can facilitate creative projects, but not having it isn’t always a deterrent. Absence of technology has actually improved class interaction.”

The conference, with the theme “Redefining English Language Teaching & Learning in the 21st Century Context”,  focused on the changes and innovations in English-language teaching and learning in a world where students are surrounded by developing technology, internet access and a myriad of digital devices.

Friendship Hospital’s CT revolution

Patients undergoing diagnosis and treatment at Hữu Nghị (Friendship) Hospital have benefited from a new high-performance CT scanner, the first of its kind in the north, hospital director Assoc Prof Nguyễn Thanh Hà said at a launch ceremony for 256 new detector rows in Hà Nội on Thursday. 

"Hữu Nghị Hospital has invested in CT 64 detector row technology to improve the quality of cardiac disease treatment; however, this method still has some drawbacks. In order to solve these problems and meet professional requirements, we invested in the 256 detector rows and a GE Revolution CT scanner,” Hà said.  

The new multi-slice technology plays an important role in the diagnosis and monitoring of cardiac diseases. It delivers high quality images for early diagnosis of congenital heart disease, infantile heart disease as well as cardiac disease in adults, which helps clinicians decide the right treatment, said Prof. Nguyễn Quốc Dũng, head of Hữu Nghị Hospital’s Diagnosis Imaging.

"The new technology integrates software that gives 82 per cent dose reduction compared to traditional methods; it also allows the assessment of both the morphology and myocardial perfusion in one shot. Especially, the results help accurately assess the area of the brain that can be saved in stroke, and provide effective chemotherapy in cancer," Dũng said.

Thái Sơn Nam thrash Vic Vipers

Thái Sơn Nam defeated Australia’s Vic Vipers 9-2 in their second Group A match on Saturday at the AFC Futsal Club Championship in HCM City to keep alive their quarter-final hopes.

Taking full advantage of nearly 3,000 fans on their home turf, the national champions stormed to a 5-0 lead in the first half with a brace from Lê Quốc Nam and a goal each from Hossein Tayebibidgoli, Phùng Trọng Luân and Trần Thái Huy.

The visitors’ resistance was weak and they did not create scoring chances of their own.

In the second half, Luân scored his second goal of the night after poor defending by Adam Cooper.

Just a minute later, Phạm Đức Hòa got his hat-trick, latching on to a corner kick from Trần Văn Vũ. Then it was Vũ’s turn to score, a left-legged drive beating Christos Apostolakis. 

Jason Barrientos got one in for the visitors, pouncing on a rebound, but the home side extended their lead again with Tayebibidgoli scoring with a long-range shot to get his brace.

Jordan Constantinidis helped Vic Vipers add to their score in the one-sided match.

"Today was a complete opposite from the first day. I could see the motivation was there, especially in defence and the way we pressed high, it made all the difference. You could tell the Australians were a bit tired but take nothing away from my players. This is the type of high-tempo modern futsal that I have been trying to get us to play,” Thái Sơn Nam’s head coach Miguel Rodrigo said on the website www.the-afc.com.

"The fans were amazing, they were our sixth man, and I hope they will continue to show us such fantastic support in our next match," Rodrigo added.

Meanwhile, coach Miltiadis Sakkos of  Vic Vipers said: “Obviously, I am disappointed with the result. We started off badly and couldn’t recover from then on. It’s now time to recover, regroup and most importantly, play with pride in the next game. It is a matter of going back to the basics, back to the fundamentals, get the simple things right."

In another Group A match, Al Dhafra of United Arab Emirates beat FC Erem of Kyrgyzstan 4-0.

With one loss and one win in two matches, the Vietnamese team rank third in Group A with three points. Al Dhafra are on top with six, Erem second with three, and Vic Vipers at the bottom with zero.

Thái Sơn Nam will play Al Dhafrah today, while Vic Vipers face Erem.

Hydropower water discharge causes mass fish deaths

Hundreds of tonnes of fish have been found dead on the Da River following the water discharge of Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant.

On July 18-19, the reservoir of Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant in the northern province of Hoa Binh Province discharged water, leading to the rapid rise in the Da River’s water levels. 

As a result, by the morning of July 21, around 240 tonnes of fish raised in cages on Da River running through Phu Tho Province’s districts of Thanh Son and Thanh Thuy were found dead. Meanwhile, around 30 fish cages of households in Hoa Binh Province were also affected.

According to Tran Quang Hoai from the Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention, the fish deaths brought about the total loss of nearly VND10 billion (USD454,540).

Hoai noted that the water discharge had also resulted in a sharp rise in the amount of mud in the river so the fish suffered from oxygen shortages.

Up to 444 cages of fish owned by households in Phu Tho Province. Among those, 160 cages were affected by the water discharge, said Nguyen Thanh Tung, a representative from the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Vietnam Fisheries Association opposes mud dumping for power project

The Vietnam Fisheries Association has filed a complaint about the dumping of tonnes mud off the coast of Binh Thuan to construct the Vinh Tan 1 Coal Power Plant.

The association also proposed to set up an independent team to monitor the licensing process of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as well as the environmental impacts.

According to the association, the output in the dumping area is much higher than other places. Even though there are only sand and rock in the seabed, many crustaceans live there such as lobster.

Binh Thuan is a key supplier to lobster farms in Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan. With clean water, one-third of shrimp seeds are from Binh Thuan Province. Nearby is the Hon Cau Marine Protected Area and the fish also migrate through the region via the currents from the north.

The association said the mud in the estuaries contains unsafe substances discharged from factories and hospitals that won't decompose for decades and shouldn't be dumped in the sea.

Moreover, the association said that parts of the mud won't settle under the seabed and will be swept away and destroy the local ecological environment. "Binh Thuan plans to have five thermal power plants. Where will other projects dump their mud? Or will they also dump them into the sea?" the association wrote in their complaint.

Last month, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment approved Vinh Tan 1's proposal to dredge about 920,000 cubic metres of mud and soil and dump the waste into the sea in order to build the harbour for the plant.

Eighty percent of the mix is sand, 20% is mud and the rest are mostly seashells and gravel. It is said not to contain toxic or radioactive substances. It will be dumped into a 30-hectare sea area in Vinh Tan Commune, 8km away from Hon Cau Marine Protected Area. According to the authorities, the dumping ground is 36.1 metres deep while the Hon Cau Marine Protected Area is only 5 to 10 metres deep so it's unlikely that the dumped waste will affect the protected area.

Private clinic owner suspended while investigation underway

Hoàng Thị Hiền, owner of a private health clinic in Hưng Yên Province, has been suspended from work for 15 days while investigation into her illegal treatment of phimosis in boys is underway.

The suspension will be extended until the investigation is completed, the Tuổi trẻ (Youth) reported on Monday.

The decision was made recently by deputy director of the province’s health department Bùi Quang Chung.

The clinic, based in Khoái Châu District, was found to be responsible for nearly 50 boys developing genital warts after undergoing circumcision there.

On Monday, Chung is heading a meeting with the department’s health experts to identify the connection between Hiền’s treatment of phimosis and the boys’ disease.

The department will collaborate with doctors from the National Hospital of Dermatology and Venereology in Hà Nội to provide treatment to the boys and health examinations for their parents to prevent transmission. It will also examine the clinic’s medical equipment seized by police to identify the source of disease transmission to the boys.

The capital city’s hospital recorded a drastic increase in the number of children requiring treatment of genital warts in June and July. Nearly 50 out of 52 boys from HưngYên Province were from Khoái Châu District and had received treatment for phimosis at Hiền’s clinic.

The hospital advised those who had received treatment at the clinic to get checked up at the hospital since genital warts incubation period can last for a year.

Boys under 15 years old will receive free treatment for the disease from the hospital until the end of this year.

Hiền has been working as a nurse at Mễ Sở Commune’s health clinic in Văn Giang District and practising at her unlicensed home clinic.

The province’s health department has proposed revoking Hiền’s professional certificate for between six and 12 months and imposed a VNĐ110 million (US$4,400) fine on her home clinic.

However, the department has not taken responsibility for allowing the unlicensed clinic to operate for the last several years, the newspaper reported. 

Hepatitis B, C - silent killer in Vietnam: conference

Hepatitis B and C viruses, the silent killers that cause millions of deaths worldwide a year, are estimated to affect over 8.7 million Vietnamese people in 2017, as heard a conference jointly held by the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Hanoi on July 21.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said that hepatitis B and C are public health issues, referring to vulnerable groups of same sex practices and injection drug users.

He underlined that the two forms of hepatitis put a heavy burden on the country as the viruses steal thousands of lives every year. He also called the participants to evaluate the viral hepatitis situation in Vietnam and discuss effective measures to prevent the diseases.

Representatives from the WHO and a research group estimated that among 7.8 million people living with hepatitis B, 51,000 get cirrhosis, 14,000 develop liver cancer and 32,000 die of liver diseases.

Policies scenarios have been studied to enhance viral hepatitis diagnose and treatment, helping reduce infected cases. The health sector will make investment in preventive intervention, testing and treatment to save more lives. 

Up to 325 million people or 4 percent of the world’s population are living with chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C. Millions are at risk of slow progression to cirrhosis and cancer and the viral hepatitis causes 1.34 million deaths every year, a number comparable to deaths caused by tuberculosis and malaria.

Reporters trained to cover APEC Leaders’ Meeting in Da Nang

The Media Training Centre of the Vietnam Journalists Association has organised a training course in the central coastal city of Da Nang for 30 reporters and editors who will cover the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting later this year.

The July 20-21 course aimed to provide the trainees, who came from central and local press agencies, with general knowledge about APEC, including its history and development through meetings and the main objectives of the APEC Year in Vietnam. 

The trainees were also equipped with skills to cover such an important event, towards the formation of a network of journalists to disseminate information on the APEC Year 2017.

They also learnt to work at international conferences to write in-depth articles about political events.

Established in 1989, APEC comprises 21 economies, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the US and Vietnam.

Theme "Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future”, the APEC series of events began in Hanoi on December 8, 2016 and will conclude with the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Da Nang in November 2017.

Vietnam, Taiwan cooperate in vocational training

Taiwan (China) will open 70 vocational training courses for 2,234 Vietnamese students in 2017, Taiwanese Deputy Minister of Education Lin Teng-Chiao said at a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on July 21. 

Lin Teng-Chiao said this is one of activities in Taiwan’s new “Look South” policy, which aims to promote cooperation between enterprises and educational establishments in vocational training, especially in training foreign students. 

Accordingly, Taiwan’s colleges and universities and Vietnam’s vocational training establishments will sign agreements and select candidates for training courses in Taiwan.

The programme will help trainees access job opportunities in Taiwanese enterprises in their territory or those operating in Vietnam after they graduate. 

Lin Teng-Chiao said the cooperation between educational establishments and enterprises has proven effective in Taiwan. 

He underlined the important role play by the Government in the link, and the need to have policies encouraging training units and businesses to join the model. 

According to Nguyen Hong Minh, General Director of the General Department of Vocational Training under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Vietnam has nearly 2,000 vocational training establishments, but coordination between them and enterprises is not effective. 

He hoped this cooperation will help Vietnam roll out effective connection models, towards reducing unemployment rate among graduates and meeting the requirements of enterprises.

Seminar seeks solutions to climate change in Mekong Delta

A seminar on building plans in response to drought, saline intrusion and flooding which are consequences of climate change in the Mekong Delta region was held in Can Tho city on July 21. 

Director of the Department of Crops Production Nguyen Hong Son said the agency aims to build a crop structure map for the whole region. However, it cannot cover small areas in the region but only large sub-regions such Dong Thap Muoi and Long Xuyen quadrilateral, Ca Mau Peninsula and coastal areas, and alluvium areas. 

According to Dr. Bui Tan Yen from the Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security in Southeast Asia, the Mekong Delta region is negatively impacted by climate change, especially drought, saline intrusion and flooding. 

He said it is necessary to apply different adaptive solutions to each locality in the region. 

He also noted the lack of coordination among regional localities in responding to climate change as well as in building long-term response plans, stressing the need to build disaster risk maps and enhance links among relevant sectors. 

Luong Quang Xo, Vice Director of the Southern Irrigation Science Research  Institute, said the agency is working with the Department of Crops Production to build disaster risk maps, laying a foundation for localities to reschedule crops, thus reducing production costs and avoiding risks. 

Participants recommended solutions to the issue, including storing water for the dry season and growing crops that require less water among others. 

According to Dr. Le Quang Tri, Director of the Climate Change Research Institute of the Can Tho University, the Mekong Delta is facing six risks including climate change and rising sea level; hydroelectricity development in Mekong River; increasing population and migration; over-exploitation of natural resources; change of land use; and land, water and air pollution. 

Regional farmers concurrently meet many difficulties, and they need solutions that help them effectively adapt to climate change and improve livelihoods, he stressed.

Deputy PM asks for multi-reservoirs’ safety

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has ordered relevant agencies to conscientiously maintain the dyke system and supervise flood developments in the Hong (Red) River basin multi-reservoir operation.

The direction was made at a meeting held by the Central Steering Committee on Natural Disasters Prevention and Control on July 21.

Dung asked authorised agencies to consider opening the second floodgate in Son La Reservoir in the coming days if the situation calls for.

The first floodgate was opened on July 19 morning to reduce the reservoir’s water level, which had reached 201.9 metres following heavy rain across the northern region. After discharging water, the water level remained high, about 201.07 metres by 8am on July 21.

Dung also tasked the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting to issue more frequent forecasts of rains and flows affecting the reservoirs before 5-10 days so that competent agencies could have enough time to smoothly operate the basin’s reservoirs.

The Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development was told to take responsibility for guaranteeing safety for the dyke system and agricultural production activities downstream of the reservoirs, he said.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the country’s largest power company the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) were told to speed up their progress of setting up online meetings with the Central Steering Committee on Natural Disasters Prevention and Control. It aims to help the committee issue prompt directions, he added.

Dung also required the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Security to install signs that instruct waterway vehicles to safety downstream.

Also at the meeting, Minister of Agricultural and Rural Development and head of the steering committee Nguyen Xuan Cuong decided to open the third floodgate of Hoa Binh Reservoir at 6am today (July 22).

Previously, due to prolonged torrential rains, the water level of the reservoir quickly rose. The first floodgate was opened when the water level reached 106.19 metres on July 18. Then, the second floodgate also opened on July 19 morning, and eight turbines were run at full capacity to discharge water out of the reservoir.

However, the water level of the reservoir stayed at 106.32 metres at 8am on July 21, even higher than the water level when the first floodgate was opened. Therefore, Cuong decided to unlock the third floodgate.

Permanent steering committee member Tran Quang Hoai said that discharging water out of the two reservoirs did not affect the dyke system in 13 localities in the Hong (Red) River system.

Hoang Duc Cuong, director of the National Central for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting, said that there was no additional forecast of torrential rain in the northern region so far. A low-pressure system formed in the northeast of the East Sea yesterday has yet to show any impact on Vietnam.

Incense offering event commemorates heroic martyrs in Laos

The Vietnamese Embassy and Vietnamese people in Laos offered incense to heroic martyrs at the Laos-Vietnam Fighting Alliance monument in Keun village of Thoulakhom district, Laos’s Vientiane province, on July 23.

The activity took place ahead of the 70th anniversary of the War Invalids and Martyrs Day of Vietnam (July 27, 1947). 

It saw the participation of representatives of the Vietnamese Embassy, the associations of Vietnamese people in Laos, the Association of Vietnamese Investors in Laos, the Vientiane provincial administration, and the Lao War Veterans’ Association.

Addressing the ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Ba Hung said the two countries are celebrating 55 years of the establishment of their diplomatic ties and 40 years of the signing of the Vietnam-Laos Treaty of Amity and Cooperation.

Countless Vietnamese and Lao soldiers laid down their lives for the countries’ peace, independence and special relationship, he said, adding that those enormous sacrifices nurtured peace and aspiration and created the close-knit solidarity between the two countries.

He pledged that younger generations of both nations will make all-out efforts to promote that special relationship and develop their respective countries.

Located about 70km to the north of Vientiane capital city, the Laos-Vietnam Fighting Alliance monument in Keun village was built by the Lao War Veterans’ Association and the Vietnamese community in the country. It is meant to commemorate 28 soldiers of the Laos-Vietnam Fighting Alliance who died while protecting Vientiane capital in early 1946.

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