Gia Lai’s team K52 continues search for soldier remains in Cambodia

Members of Group K52 receive gift sets ahead of their departure

A send-off ceremony was held on October 27 for team K52 of the Military Command of the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, who is responsible for the search and repatriation of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who laid down their lives in Cambodia during wartime.

This time, the 19th of its kind, the group will search for Vietnamese fallen combatants and experts in three Cambodia’s north eastern provinces of Ratanakiri, Stung Treng and Preah Vihear in the 2018-2019 dry season.

Addressing the ceremony, Vice Chairwoman of the Gia Lai People’s Committee and head of the provincial steering board for the search and repatriation of soldiers’ remains, said authorities of Cambodian provinces have always created favourable conditions for the group’s mission. 

She also expressed her belief that the team will fulfil its tasks in the assigned period.

Team K52 of the Gia Lai Military Command was established in 2001. In the 2017-2018 dry season, the group collected 21 sets of remains of fallen Vietnamese soldiers in the three provinces of Cambodia, raising the total number of repatriated sets to 1,395 since 2001.

Talent contest kicks off for students in Ho Chi Minh City

The Greatest Show will run until December. (Photo: tienphong.vn)

The student association of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) under the Vietnam National University-HCM City in collaboration with 60 universities and colleges in the city kicked off “The Greatest Show” programme on October 25.

The event, designed to seek talents among students from all universities, colleges and vocational schools in the locality, will run until December this year. Contestants will compete in various rounds to show off their talents in singing, dancing and magic performance.

The top ten students will vie for the highest prize at the final round.

Famous artists who have great influence on the students will attend the event, including dancer Quang Dang, singer Thai Trinh, singer Ung Hoang Phuc and MC Lieu Ha Trinh.

According to Truong Ha An, president of the USSH student association, the organising board has received 500 registrations so far, and students should register to join the programme no later than November 4.

Exhibition highlights AO impacts on environment, human health

At the exhibition. (Photo: tuoitre.vn)

More than 200 photos and objects featuring impacts of Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin on the environment as well as human health are on display at an exhibition that kicked off in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue on October 25.

The month-long exhibition also highlights Vietnam’s efforts, and international support and cooperation in dealing with the war-left toxic chemicals. 

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Major General Ha Van Cu, Commander of the Chemistry Corps, said between 1961 and 1971, the US army sprayed nearly 80 million litres of toxic chemicals over Vietnam’s central and southern regions. Of the volume, 44 million litres were AO, containing nearly 370 kilograms of dioxin. 

Around 4.8 million Vietnamese were exposed to the toxic chemical. As a consequence of exposure, many of the victims have died of numerous diseases, while millions of their descendants are living with deformities and diseases due to the chemical’s effects.

Thua Thien-Hue is one of the localities hardest hit by AO/dioxin, especially A So airport in A Luoi district, and Nam Dong and Phuc Loc districts.

Ninh Binh’s beautiful spots popularised in Khanh Hoa province

Tran An complex is known as “Ha Long Bay on Land”

The Tourism Department and the Tourism Association of the northern province of Ninh Binh recently organised a tourism promotion conference in Nha Trang city, the central province of Khanh Hoa, drawing the participation of nearly 100 tourism agencies and companies from both provinces.

Throughout the event, Ninh Binh wanted to connect with tourism firms in Khanh Hoa to attract more travellers to the locality and vice versa. It expects to learn experience from Khanh Hoa in organising the Visit Vietnam Year 2019 as Ninh Binh will host the event in 2020.

Local excellent tourism products and policies to attract investment in the field were introduced at the event. Besides renowned destinations like Tam Coc-Bich Dong, Trang An Landscape Complex – a world cultural and natural heritage, Hoa Lu ancient capital and Bai Dinh Pagoda, the province is working to develop alluring tourism packages.

Representatives from tourism firms suggested measures for Ninh Binh province to extend visitors’ stay in the locality with a view to increasing tourism revenue. Local tourism sector should improve quality of accommodation and services while developing more night entertainment activities.

Located about 90 kilometres south of Hanoi, Ninh Binh is known as “Ha Long Bay on Land”, given its limestone mountains rising out of paddy fields. The most famous local attraction is the Trang An Landscape Complex with a total of 40 tourism spots of historical, cultural, art and natural vestiges, including 20 recognised as national heritages.

In UNESCO’s words, "Trang An is a resplendent complex of limestone karst peaks which are permeated with valleys, including submerged ones, and surrounded by steep, almost vertical cliffs".

Together with other famous sites in the province such as Tam Coc Grottos and Van Long Lagoon, the Trang An Landscape Complex was also used as a location for the movie Kong: Skull Island, one of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters of 2017. The locations opened to tourists last April.

The province has been listed as one of the 50 best spots to visit in 2018 by US travel site Insider.

Ripe rice season at Tam Coc-Bich Dong tourism site (Photo: VNA)

Ninh Binh is striving to become one of the tourism hubs of Vietnam by 2020 and to turn tourism into a spearhead industry of the local economy by 2030. This is the goal of the province’s master plan on tourism development until 2025, with a vision to 2030.

Ninh Binh looks to attract 1 million foreign arrivals and 7 million domestic visitors by 2020, 1.5 million and 9 million by 2025, and 2.1 million and 11.2 million by 2030. Meanwhile, tourism revenue is expected at over 4.2 trillion VND (179.7 million USD), 11.8 trillion VND (504.8 million USD), and 27 trillion VND (1.15 billion USD), respectively.

Under the plan, the province will turn Ninh Binh city into the main tourism centre while Tam Diep city and townships in Hoa Lu, Gia Vien, Nho Quan, Yen Mo, Yen Khanh and Kim Son districts will be developed into supporting centres.

The Trang An Landscape Complex and the Kenh Ga – Van Trinh national tourist area will continue to be improved to deserve their national status. Six provincial tourist areas and more places of interest will also be formed in the coming years.

To realise this plan, Ninh Binh is set to ask for the Government and relevant ministries’ permission to apply some special preferential policies to attract investment to tourism.

Provincial authorities also called on the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to further include local tourism information in promotion programmes for Vietnamese tourism and support Ninh Binh in training human resources, expanding markets and products, and protecting the environment.

According to the provincial Department of Tourism, Ninh Binh welcomed more than 7 million visitors and earned over 2.5 trillion VND (107 million USD) from this industry in 2017, respectively rising by 9.5 percent and 43 percent year on year.

In the last eight months, over 6 million vacationers chose Ninh Binh as their destination, helping the province gain 2.3 trillion VND (98.4 million USD) in tourism revenue, up 5 percent and 18.8 percent from the same period last year, respectively.

Conference updates women on technology foundation in business

The Australian Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh in collaboration with Australia’s Victoria and Monash Universities held a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on October 25 on women and business in the digital era.

The event was part of a scholarship programme funded by the Australian government on the use of mobile devices to deal with small firm’s disadvantages.

Drawing a large number of female entrepreneurs and startups, the event aimed to give domestic firms a chance to learn international experience in optimising mobile devices and applications as well as social networks, while updating them on the Internet of Things and social networks in business.

Petra Bright, Australian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City said the conference sought to improve awareness and skills helping women run their business effectively by using mobile devices and social networks.

Ngo Phuong Thao, Director of Anbooks company, introduced the Social Books application, which was launched in 2016 and runs on Facebook messenger and QR codes.

The solution helps readers, especially youths, seek opportunities to find mentors, she said.

Each book of Anbooks has a QR code helping readers avoid fake books and connect with the author and publishers, as well as those who also read that book.

Thao said that to be successful, women should optimise free or paid technology effectively, while using social networks to better understand customers’ demand and habits.-

Phu Tho pays more attention to national-standard schools

A school in Phu Tho province (Source: hahoa.phutho.edu.vn)

The northern midland province of Phu Tho has focused on maintaining and improving the quality of schools that meet national standards during the 2018-2019 academic year. 

At the same time, the province has also mobilised investment resources for building such schools, aiming to meet set targets as well as requirements of educational reform. 

Phu Tho is expected to have 738 out of 917 schools recognised as national-standard ones by 2020, including 226 kindergartens, 272 elementary schools, 207 secondary and boarding schools, and 33 high schools. 

The locality now houses 669 national-standard schools, including 196 kindergartens, 275 at elementary level, 170 at secondary level and 28 at high school level. 

Viet Tri city and the districts of Lam Thao, Thanh Ba, Thanh Thuy, Tam Nong, Phu Ninh, Cam Khe, Doan Hung, Ha Hoa and Yen Lap are among the best performers in this field. 

However, efforts in building national-standards in Phu Tho have faced a range of difficulties such as limited resources, unsuitable investment and less attention of relevant educational institutions and localities. 

Nguyen Minh Tuong, Director of the provincial Department of Education and Training, said to reach the above-said target, his department is reviewing and reassessing the quality and quantity of teachers, officials and managers in the sector. 

Ha Ke San, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said the province has always considered building national-standard schools a central task and an important solution to fulfill educational development goals.

Ha Tinh works to support Chut ethnic minority community

Ha Tinh border guards visit and present gifts to Chut people in Rao Tre village (Photo: http://cand.com.vn)

The central province of Ha Tinh has built a resettlement area for 11 households of the Chut ethnic minority group in Rao Tre village, Huong Lien commune, Huong Khe district as part of efforts to support the group.

According to Major Nguyen Van Thien from Ban Giang Border Guard Post under the Ha Tinh Border Guard High Command, the Chut are nomadic people living in mountainous areas in Huong Khe district.

In 2001, Ha Tinh border guards discovered the community and persuaded them to settle in Rao Tre village of Huong Lien commune, Huong Khe district. A project to develop the Chut community has been built to improve their living conditions.

The resettlement area was constructed in May 2018 for 43 people from 11 young families in need of safe shelter. Along with the houses, worth 200 million VND (8,600 USD) each, the households have received more than 2 hectares of forest for production.

Ho Viet Me and his wife Ho Thi Nui are a couple benefiting from the project. Nui said that with the new house, equipped with necessary appliances, her family no longer worries about storms.

The project has also helped improve the infrastructure and living conditions of the Chut community. So far, all households in Trao Tre village have solid houses and land for production and access to clean water, power, healthcare and education services. All people in the community have also learnt to read and write.

Seminar discusses Vietnam’s capitalisation of IoT market

Participants of the seminar at a stall of its associated exhibition (Photo: hcmcpv.org.vn)

More than 1,200 regional and local experts and businesses discussed ways to exploit the potential of the internet of thing (IoT) market in Vietnam at a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on October 24.

Participants presented their opinions on a number of topics, including cyber security, IoT use in smart city building and IoT and the production revolution.

Speaking at the seminar, Head of the Communist Party of Vietnam Cemtral Committee’s Economic Commission Nguyen Van Binh stressed the need for the correct approach in policy-making on IoT development.

On the national side, IoT technology has to boost production, accelerate digitisation and build a smart society, he added.

He recommended the country design and implement its national development plan for digital economy, as well as issue policies to upgrade production sectors, particularly manufacturing industry, via IT application, among others.

Binh noted information and cyber security are key to IoT growth.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung informed the seminar on Vietnam’s strategy for IoT connection platform by 2020, which aims for an average household to have a cable connection, an average citizen to have a smartphone and 5G network to cover a large area. 

He said Vietnam’s good telecommunication system is an advantage in IoT development and that the country needs a cyber-security industry.

Mai Thanh Truong, deputy head of VNPT Technology’s IoT research and development centre, said based on its Smart Connected Platform, VNPT Technology has operated solutions for smart city building in various fields.

VNPT Technology is a member of the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), which are among giant Vietnamese telecoms service providers with largest numbers of broadband subscribers in the country.

On the sidelines of the seminar, an international IoT exhibition took place, featuring 40 stalls run by ICT companies such as ABB, LG Electronics, Dell EMC, Vietttel, MobiFone and BKAV.

Forum to help Vietnamese women boost businesses

More than 300 women entrepreneurs discussed ways to boost their businesses at the Women Entrepreneurs Forum, entitled ‘Key to success in the Digital Age’, in Hanoi on October 26.

The event was organised by the Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs Council (VWEC) as part of Facebook’s #SheMeansBusiness, an initiative that celebrates and empowers women entrepreneurs across the country.

The forum was a chance for speakers and participants to discuss how to create a better environment to empower women entrepreneurs looking to gain the digital marketing skills they need to start and grow a business online.

“Industry 4.0 is a great revolution that requires the active roles of all levels, sectors and businesses, especially women. Technology solutions and smart applications give women entrepreneurs the ability to overcome barriers and embrace business opportunities to succeed,” Vice President of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Hoang Quang Phong said at the event.

Nguyen Thi Tuyet Minh, Chairwoman of VWEC and Vice President of the Central Council of Vietnam Business Associations said that women faced many challenges in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

However, Minh said if women actively learned and embrace technology, they could grasp opportunities to start their own business and run it effectively at low cost by leveraging technology solutions.

“Small businesses are the backbone of the Vietnamese economy and our goal is to help women business owners embrace opportunities to support themselves, their families and communities to contribute to the country’s growth,” Beth Ann Lim, Head of Community Affairs, APAC, Facebook said.

One year after the launch of the #SheMeansBusiness initiative, nearly 3,000 women have gained digital marketing and business skills through 41 workshops across 25 cities in Vietnam. Facebook remains committed to helping more women entrepreneurs prosper in Vietnam and aims to inspire more women in Vietnam to start their own businesses, according to Lim.

Statistics from the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (VINASME) shows that SMEs, including micro enterprises, contributed 45 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), and accounted for nearly 98 percent of total businesses.

A study conducted by Development Economics and YouGov on behalf of Facebook, revealed that four in five women in Vietnam would like to start a business. If only half of these women were empowered to start a business today, it would not only boost economic growth, but also help to build 1.1 million new businesses, and create 3.9 million additional jobs – all by the end of 2021.