US$61.6 million spent to help disadvantaged people enjoy Tet

Social policy beneficiaries, including disadvantaged and poor adults and children, have enjoyed a happy Lunar New Year holiday (Tet), heard a meeting on February 22 hosted by Ho Chi Minh municipal People’s Committee.

A total of US$61.6 million was spent to support less fortunate citizens enjoy the festive season, according to the Committee’s Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong.

"The city launched a string of activities to make sure that the lunar New Year festival was joyful and safe. This is partly attributed to the National Assembly’s newly issued Resolution 54 which sets out customized policies for HCM City’s development", he said.

Practical programs were held for people from all social strata to welcome Tet. There are also numerous spring flower festivals and marketplaces for locals to enjoy on Tet celebration.

ADB announces winners of GMS program photo contest

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday announced the winners of its Instagram photo contest, which was held to showcase the development progress in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the GMS program. 

Photo featuring early morning trading in Soc Trang floating market wins first prize

Kiều Anh Dũng from Vietnam won the first prize of USD500, for his photo depicting early morning trading in Soc Trang floating market. 

Pitchayawat Proongsak from Thailand won the second prize of USD200, while Saravut Whanset, also from Thailand, won the special prize of USD100 for the most likes.

The photo contest, which ran from 8 January to 9 February 2018, received more than 1,200 entries from nonprofessional photographers from ADB member countries. Using the hashtag #GMS25, the photos show how daily life in the Mekong subregion have changed in the last 25 years. The winners will be contacted by ADB representatives for instructions on how to claim their prizes.

Countries under the GMS program, which focuses on increased regional cooperation and integration for inclusive and sustainable development, include Cambodia, the People’s Republic of China (specifically Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region), Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Established in 1992 with support from ADB, the GMS program helps the implementation of priority subregional projects in transport, energy, telecommunications, environment, human resource development, tourism, trade, private sector investment, and agriculture. As of 2017, ADB has approved USD8.2 billion for 87 GMS loans and grants, while GMS member countries and development partners provided USD5.5 billion and USD7.1 billion, respectively.

The Sixth GMS Summit, with the theme, Leveraging on 25 Years of Cooperation, and Building a Sustainable, Integrated, and Prosperous GMS, will be held from 29-31 March 2018. GMS countries’ leaders will attend the event and endorse the Hanoi Action Plan 2018-2022. Also expected are other senior public officials, private sector representatives, development partners including ADB, and members of the media.

Vietnam beats US in new 4G speed survey, ranks second in SEA

Vietnam’s 4G connections are much faster than the United States and most of its Southeast Asian neighbors, although signal is not always available, according to a new report.

The 4G speed in Vietnam was measured at 21.49 Mbps, far better than 16.31 Mbps in the US and faster than the rest of Southeast Asia, apart from Singapore.

Singapore clocked the world’s fastest 4G speed of 44.31 Mbps, followed closely by the Netherlands, Norway and the Republic of Korea, according to the survey by OpenSignal.

The London-based company released the “State of LTE” report this week, analyzing the performance of the global mobile wireless networks after conducting nearly 60 billion measurements on almost five million devices in 88 economies during the last quarter of 2017.

Vietnam’s 4G networks performed better in terms of speed than availability.

Vietnamese users only had access to 4G networks 71% of the time, less than Thailand (85%), Singapore (84%), Malaysia (75%), Brunei (74%) and Indonesia (72%), the report showed.

The Republic of Korea claimed the top position with its 4G connections available more than 97% of the time. The US made the top five in terms of network availability, joining Japan, Norway and Hong Kong (China).

Vietnamese telecos started piloting 4G, the fourth generation of broadband cellular network technology, succeeding 3G, in December 2015. The government plans to expand coverage to 95% of the population by 2020.

Plenty of job openings in HCM City

Thousands of jobs are available in HCM City after the Lunar New Year holiday, said recruitment officials at the city’s job centres.

The HCM City Centre for Youth Employment Services is in charge of recruiting 2,000 labourers as per request by service businesses such as restaurants, hotels and security agencies, said deputy director Nguyễn Văn Sang.

“We contacted the businesses before the holiday to get hold of their labour demand to better inform job-seekers,” he told the Thanh Niên (Young People) newspaper.

“We also have about 500 urgent job openings for fresh graduates for the accounting, sales and customer service positions in the fields of financial consultancy, mechanics and electronics,” he added.

The HCM City Student Assistance Centre has 2,000 job openings from 300 enterprises, said Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng, head of the centre’s Department for Life Support.

“Plenty of them are part-time jobs that university students can take without interfering with their class schedules, with pay rates range from VNĐ22,000-50,000 (US$1-2.2) per hour,” he added.

Positions such as boutique sales, restaurant cashiers, as well as call centre agents, deliverymen and housekeepers can start right away, he added.

Several other full-time, seasonal positions in accounting, programming and engineering are also open for fresh graduates at the pay rates of VNĐ3.5-5 million ($154-220) per month, he said.

There are also about 1,000 job openings at the job centre of the HCM City Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs for the positions of cooks, cashiers, supermarket staff, and security guards.

Apart from applying directly at job centres, job-seekers can search for job openings on the website vieclamhcm.net.

Ha Nam: 78 communes recognised as new-style rural areas

Nineteen communes in the northern province of Ha Nam were named new-style rural areas in 2017, raising the total number of communes with the recognition to 78.

Two districts of Kim Bang and Duy Tien in the province have completed documents for the recognition.

The number of communes meeting all criteria of new-style rural area building is expected to reach 3,300 – 3,400 (or 37 – 38 percent of the total communes across the country) this year, according to the Coordination Office of the national target programme on new-style rural.

At the district level, the number will reach at least 53.

A total of 3,069 communes and 43 districts nationwide were new-style rural areas by the end of 2017.

The National Target Programme on New Rural Development, launched in 2010, set 19 criteria for new-style rural areas covering infrastructure, production, living standards, income, culture and more.

The list of criteria includes the development of infrastructure, the improvement of production capacity, environmental protection and the promotion of cultural values.

Blood donation campaign opens in Hanoi

The annual blood donation campaign held by the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) after Tet (Lunar New Year) began in Hanoi on February 22.

Director of the NIHBT Bach Quoc Khanh said that during this time, there is a lack of blood available for use while blood demand in hospitals and health facilities often rises after Tet.

Staff members of the NIHBT registered to donate on this occasion, he added, calling on agencies and organisations to take part in blood donation campaigns.

The NIHBT needs a minimum of 1,500 units of blood daily for emergencies and medical treatment at 180 hospitals in Hanoi and northern provinces. Of the amount, 45 percent needs to be Type O, equivalent to about 700 units. 

Following Tet, the annual Red Spring Festival will be held in a week, starting from March 10. The blood bank expects to collect 1,000 – 2,000 units of blood each day during the festival.

Thua Thien-Hue holds wrestling bout to warm up new year

The central province of Thua Thien-Hue has held a wrestling bout as a recreation event during the new lunar year.

Sports authorities in the province, which includes the former imperial capital Hue city, worked with the outlying Thu Le village to organise the bout, according to a tradition in the village.

According to the elderlies in the village, the bout is traditionally held on the sixth day of a new year, starting from the Nguyen Lords (1558-1777) era, for selecting healthy men for soldiers. The tradition later was resumed by the lords’ descendant Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945) until today.

A sandy round bout is made in front of the communal house of the village, where young men from the village and nearby villages come for competitions under the Vietnamese traditional wrestling rules.

The rules require a wrestler to make his rival “lam lung trang bung,” which means sticking the rival’s back to the sand’s surface while his stomach faces the sky, to win a game. The rules do not allow any vicious attacks, pushing or attempts to choke or break the rival’s hands and legs.

The rules of the game remain the same today, but there is a difference, as it welcomes amateur wrestlers from localities throughout the province, and not the nearby villages only.

Wednesday’s bout started with a pair of old men performing the techniques during a ritual ceremony. Later, several games were held for female wrestlers.

Games for men were much more thanks to the number of wrestlers who came and registered to compete right before each game.

Ho Dang Trong Khanh, a winner at games held for youth, said he was attracted by the games and travelled 20km from Hue city to the village to participate in it.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Quang Khanh, a local wrestler said he took part in the game to maintain his village’s tradition.

As the organisers had no chance to categorise competitors according to their weight days before the bout, several games were held between a 65kg man and a 110kg rival. Some others were between 51kg and 85kg. This made the bout really thrilling as the thinner competitors outclassed their heavier rivals through their courage and cleverness.-

Dak Nong keeps wary eye on forests to prevent dry season fires

The Central Highlands province of Dak Nong is working hard to ensure its more than 250,000ha of forests are not affected by fires during the dry season, which will last until the end of April.

More than 120,000ha face a high risk of fires. Of them, nearly 90,000ha are natural forests, according to the province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The department’s Forest Protection Division is increasingly using information technology for forecasting forest fires and providing early warning.

Local authorities and private managers of forests have been instructed to strictly follow forest-protection and fire-prevention regulations.

Periodic fire prevention and firefighting drills are organised at localities to ensure full preparedness in case of forest fires.

Forest managers have assigned staff to monitor vulnerable areas during the dry season.

Information and instructions on fire safety are put up on boards at public places to remind the public to be vigilant.

Authorities are also strengthening other dissemination activities to raise public awareness about forest protection and fire safety.

Swiss university holds seminar on Vietnam’s economy

The FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) is organising its annual seminars on ASEAN, highlighting technology, innovation and entrepreneurship in three member states – Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia.

The event, which is taking place from February 19-23, has attracted the participation of FHNW students, lecturers, as well as representatives from institutions and businesses in Northwestern Switzerland.

As a speaker on Vietnam’s economy and business climate, Counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy in Switzerland Ngo Minh Nguyet introduced the country’s fast-growing economy, intensive global integration and outstanding achievements in economic and external affairs last year.

She talked about startup and innovation movements in Vietnam as well as the Government’s policies to support and encourage the development of start-up ecosystem, considering the development of technology and innovation as one of the major momentum for the country’s economic growth and prosperity.

The diplomat also fielded participants’ questions on Vietnam’s competitive advantages in ASEAN, its efforts to boost regional connectivity, differences between Vietnam and Switzerland in terms of business and investment, and Vietnam’s policies to increase economic cooperation with Switzerland.

The seminars are part of the university’s project to explore ASEAN. The project was launched three years ago with an aim to boost students’ knowledge on the economy, contributing to enhancing economic ties between the European country and the bloc. It has organised several field trips to ASEAN member countries for its students, lecturers and business partners.

Hai Phong culls 3,000 bird-flu affected poultry

The sub-department of animal husbandry and veterinary in northern Hai Phong city has culled 3,000 chickens infected with the avian flu virus A/H5N6.

The poultry were owned by Nguyen Van Tinh, a resident in Van Tien village, Dai Ban commune, An Duong district. Tinh bought them from Thai Nguyen without any certificates of animal transport inspection, and the chickens were yet to be vaccinated.

The animal husbandry and veterinary agency has built a temporary office to monitor the disease.

In January 2015, Hai Phong recorded the first A/H5N6 hotspot in Dong Hung and Tay Hung communes, Tien Lang district. The disease returned to the city the second time three years later.

Over 96 percent of workers in Da Nang return to work after Tet

Over 96 percent of workers in the central city of Da Nang returned to work after the week-long Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday on February 22.

Tran Xuan Hoe, Vice Director of the 29/3 garment company, said that all 4,000 workers of the company resumed their work on February 22.

This year, the company aims to earn 1 trillion VND in revenue 63.2 million USD from export, thus paying workers 8.2 million VND each per month, he said, adding that the company will recruit additional 300 labourers in the first quarter of 2018 to work in Duy Xuyen district of Quang Nam province.

After Tet, many enterprises have offered more support policies in salary and bonus to attract more workers.

In the Tet holiday, the Da Nang Federation of Labour supported poor workers with 2,470 gifts worth total 1 billion VND, while mobilising 1,130 Tet gifts worth 135 million VND from Dang Nang-based enterprises for them.

Local trade unions organised 45 free buses and gave away 5,000 travel tickets to workers to return to their hometown for the holiday.

Da Nang currently has 18,170 enterprises and co-operatives involving 345,000 labourers.

Winter-Spring crops start nationwide

Northern localities have basically completed rice sowing for the 2017-2018 Winter-Spring crops, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

As of mid-February, northern provinces had sowed rice on 935,000 hectares of Winter-Spring crops. They strive to complete rice sowing and planting by the end of this month.

The southern region has completed rice sowing on 1.9 million hectares, up 2.4 percent of the plan, including 1.55 million hectares, up 2.6 percent of the plant, in the Mekong Delta.

The February rice prices rose slightly in comparison to the previous month’s. IR50404 rice is sold at around 5,900-6,100 VND per kg, while the prices of OM 5451, OM 6976, OM 4218 range between 6,400 – 6,600 VND per kg. The price of Jasmine rice is at 6,600 VND per kg.

Besides, other crops have been planted on 354,000 hectares, including 232,000 hectares of maize and 41,000 hectares of sweet potato. Short-term industrial crops made up of 155,200 hectares.

According to the ministry, prolonged and severe cold spells killed 7,216 cattle and poultry in the north in the first two months of this year.

The ministry has instructed localities to work with enterprises and seedling and animal production establishments to ensure seedling and animal supplies for production. 

Temple festival honoured

The Hai Bà Trưng Temple Festival in Hà Nội’s outskirt Mê Linh District has officially received the title ‘National Intangible Cultural Heritage’.

The title was awarded to the festival at its opening ceremony on Wednesday or the 6th day in the first month of the Lunar New Year to mark the 1,978th anniversary of the Hai Bà Trưng (Two Trưng Sisters) Uprising at the temple, a special national historical relic in the city.

The Chairman of Mê Linh District People’s Committee Đoàn Văn Trọng, said local people and authorities were happy and proud to receive the title.

“In the future, we, the authorities and people in Mê Linh District, vow to continue to preserve and promote the cultural values as well as the history of the festival to deserve the great merit of the two national heroine sisters Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị”, said the official.

According to Mê Linh District People’s Committee, the special national historical Hai Bà Trưng temples annually receive millions of visitors from across the country to conduct spiritual activities and enjoy cultural activites at the festival.

Prominent among delegates at the ceremony were Vice President Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh, Deputy Prime Minister Trịnh Định Dũng and former Vice President Nguyễn Thị Doan.

On the sixth day of the second lunar month in AD40, Trưng sisters led a mass uprising against Chinese Han invaders to reclaim national independence after more than 200 years of foreign rule.

After defeating the invaders, Trưng Trắc became Queen. Three years later, the Han army returned and defeated the Trưng sisters and their army, after which the sisters killed themselves by jumping into the Hát Giang River.

The uprising has gone down in Vietnamese history as a demonstration of the nation’s strength and patriotism, as well as the crucial role of Vietnamese women in national defence.

The festival comprises several rituals such as incense offering, a parade and folk performances. It will last until today, or the 8th day in the first lunar month.

International circus attracts big crowds

People from HCM City and neighbouring provinces are flocking to the 2018 International Circus Gala being held at the Gia Định Park in Gò Vấp District.

The circus features 50 artists from the US, Ukraine, Mongolia, and Russia and the local Hồng Lộc Circus Group and Phương Nam Arts Troupe performing juggling, acrobatics, aerial straps, and animal training.

Nguyễn Lam Giang, a mother of two living in Tân Bình District, said: “After a very long time I have seen a circus again. Both my children and I enjoyed the show.”

Thùy Trang, a representative of the Phương Nam Troupe, which is organising the event, said it opened on Lunar New Year’s Day (February 16).

“The programme has received a warm welcome from audiences and most of shows have been sold out.”

There are two shows daily until February 25 at 5pm and 8pm.

It will move later to Vũng Tàu, Buôn Ma Thuột, Đà Nẵng, and Hạ Long.

Pilgrimage tours in spring

The first month of the Lunar New Year is the perfect time to make pilgrimage trips to pagodas and temples around the country to pray for happiness, good luck and prosperity in the year ahead.

One surely worth visiting is Yên Tử Mountain in Quảng Ninh Province, which is known as the holy land of Vietnamese Buddhism and attracts thousands of pilgrims in the first lunar month coming to find peace of mind and meditation.

Tourists should attend the Yên Tử Spring Festival, the longest festival in the northern region, which lasts from the 10th of the first lunar month, which falls on February 25 this year, to the end of the third month.

The festival is awash with traditional rituals, folk games, festivities and art performances to commemorate the king who founded the Trúc Lâm Zen sect in the late 13th century, laying the foundation for Buddhism in the country.

Soul-searching in Tuyên Quang

Along with a boom of traditional ethnic festivals, spiritual tourism destinations in the northern mountain province of Tuyên Quang are attracting more visitors during the Lunar New Year days.

Visitors to spiritual destinations including temples dedicated to saints and heroes such as Saint Mẫu (Mother) Ỷ La, Thượng, Hạ and Thác Cái, can admire the beauty of nature and learn about the cultural and historical significance of each vestige.

To ensure safety for visitors, the cultural authority has worked with local people to implement plans focusing on social security and preventing fire and explosions.

Tràng An opens new waterway

The Xuân Trường Construction Company has begun operating a third transport waterway at the Tràng An eco-tourism site to serve tourists visiting the Tràng An Scenic Landscape complex in Ninh Bình Province.

Visitors begin their boat trip at Tràng An wharf and go to destinations such as Trình Temple, May cave, Tiên stream, Địa Linh cave, Đại cave, Hành Cung Vũ Lâm and the location where Kong: Skull Island was filmed.

The trip takes 3-4 hours. 

Tràng An eco-tourism site is part of the 2,200ha Trang An Scenic Landscape complex. 

Located some 90km from Hà Nội, the complex has been recognised by UNESCO as a world heritage site.