No case of Zika virus reported in Vietnam

No cases of the Zika virus have been recorded in Vietnam so far, the Preventive Medicine Department under the Ministry of Health said on February 27.

The Ho Chi Minh City-based Pasteur Institute reported that samples taken from dengue patients in 2015 tested negative for Zika.

In early 2016, 83 patients from localities that have a high prevalence of Aedes mosquitoes – the main transmitter of the virus – with symptoms similar to Zika also tested negative for the virus, according to the institute.

The department, however, warned that there was a high risk the virus could enter the country.

The ministry will continue collecting samples from suspected cases in localities to detect the disease and prevent it from spreading.

It advised pregnant women or those who want to get pregnant in the next six months not to travel to Zika-hit countries listed at the department’s website http:www.vncdc.gov.vn..

Travellers from Zika-striken countries should keep an eye on their health within 12 days since their arrival to Vietnam. They should go to medical facilities when they begin to experience unusual symptoms, the ministry said.

People are recommended to use mosquito repellent and securely cover all containers of water to prevent mosquitoes from entering them and laying eggs.

The ministry also set up a hotline on the Zika virus: 0989671115.

Zika is mainly transmitted through the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which also carries dengue fever. The virus has been linked to microcephaly, a condition that causes babies to be born with unusually small heads and, in the vast majority of cases, brain damage. Currently there is no vaccine or specific medicine to treat Zika.

The virus is characterised by a low-grade fever (from 37.5 degree Celsius to 38 degree Celsius). The symptoms are similar to other arbovirus infections such as dengue and include skin rashes, muscle pain, joint pain with possible swelling (notable in small joints in hands and feet), headaches, conjunctivitis and malaise. The incubation period is usually between three and 12 days.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control , by February 25, the virus had circulated in 43 countries and territories, mostly in South America, the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean.

Continued funding confirmed for provincial vision care project

The Australia-based Brien Holden Vision Institute (BHVI) has announced it will continue to fund a vision care support project at schools in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

Huynh Phuong Ly, BHVI Vietnam Country Representative, made the announcement at the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Eye Hospital’s 10 th anniversary celebration on February 27.

Under the support of the BHVI, the hospital has provided eye examinations for 80,000 students and given more than 7,000 free pairs of glasses to those from difficult backgrounds since 2011.

The project has also provided high-quality, affordable eye tests and glasses for tens of thousands of people across the province.

The Ba Ria-Vung Tau Eye Hospital was founded in February 2006 with only nine ophthalmologists and nurses, and limited medical facilities.

The hospital, which today has 80 beds, has been upgraded to a level 2 specialised hospital by the Ministry of Health. It offered medical check-ups for 44,600 people in 2015, compared with 9,700 in 2006.

It has provided free eye surgery to approximately 5,000 impoverished people, and organised hundreds of seminars and talks on vision care in the province.

Thanks to such efforts, the number of blind people in the province fell to 2.2 percent last year from 3.01 percent in 2007.

Hospital, dairy maker join hands in nutrition programme

Cho Ray hospital and the Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk) signed a strategic cooperation agreement for a nutritional consultation programme in Ho Chi Minh City on February 26.

The programme will provide nutritional consultation for one million patients in the hospital between 2016-2018.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Director of Cho Ray hospital Nguyen Truong Son highly evaluated the significance of the work, hoping that it could benefit patients practically as well as increasing the awareness of patients and health officials of the importance of nutrition in treatment.

The project contributes to improving nutritional conditions and treatment quality for patients, and enhancing clinical nutritional therapy knowledge for health workers, he added.

The project is comprised of three major goals: providing nutritional consultation for one million inpatients and outpatients, nutritional training for the hospital staff and research on specific nutritional products for patients.

Vinamilk Marketing Operational Director Phan Minh Tien expressed the company’s interest in cooperating with the hospital in particular, and the health sector at large in improving the nutrition and health conditions of patients, as well as the community as a whole.

Tien said the company has collaborated with the health sector in the fields of training and communications. Vinamilk is also committed to providing quality nutritional products at the most reasonable prices to the local market.

It is estimated about 40-50 percent of the hospital’s patients are malnourished. Nutrition monitoring is expected to help patients increase their ability to recover, and reduce treatment costs.

Cold weather blamed for hampering afforestation effort

The Vietnam Forest Administration has blamed the recent severe cold weather for partly slowing afforestation progress during the first two months of 2016.

The administration, which is under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, reported that about 2,510 hectares of concentrated forests had been planted across Vietnam by February 20, down 6 percent from the same period last year.

Due to the strong cold in the north in late January and early February, the forest area planted in the region declined by 10 percent from a year earlier to 2,403 hectares, the administration noted.

Meanwhile, the dry weather and local residents’ poor awareness resulted in forest fires in some province such as Vinh Phuc, Lao Cai and Cao Bang in the north and Tay Ninh in the south.

Thirty-two hectares of forests burned down during the first two months, up 25 percent from the previous year, the agency added.

Da Nang to host beach-leisure and large group tourism event

The Beach-Leisure and M.I.C.E Travel Mart, the first of its kind in Vietnam, will take place from June 24 to 26 at the Tien Son Sports Centre.

The event aims to promote high-class beach-leisure and MICE tourism to attract more purpose-driven large groups of international tourists to the central region, particularly in Da Nang.

The mart is expected to have around 200 booths set up by local companies as well as those from ASEAN and Northeast Asia (China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea).

There will be promotional programmes, a gala dinner to showcase Vietnamese cuisine, traditional art performances, seminars on beach-leisure, MICE tourism, and key central tourist markets, photo exhibitions to promote the country's people, culture and attractions.

Da Nang has grown rapidly to become one of the top tourist destinations in the country, welcoming a total of 4.68 million visitors last year.

Binh Thuan to invest over 159 mln USD to build sea dykes

About 100 kilometres of sea embankment in the south central province of Binh Thuan will be built at an estimated capital of 3.5 trillion VND (159 million USD).

According to the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the construction will be implemented over a five year period until 2020.

The local 192 km-long coastline has been severely degraded by erosion, including sections in Tien Thanh commune in Phan Thiet city, and Lien Huong and La Gi towns.

Notably, some areas in Tien Duc hamlet in Tien Thanh commune have been eroding 10-20 metres each year.

The province built more than 16,000 meters of dykes with a total investment of over 200 billion VND (9 million USD) over the past years, with a view to protecting locals.

However, the existing sea dyke system is not sufficient to prevent erosion. Since 2011, more than 100 houses have been damaged, forcing many locals to leave their homes for safer places.

Work begins to link Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway with Sa Pa

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc pressed a button to launch a project to connect the Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway with touristy Sa Pa town in northern Lao Cai province on February 27.

At a cost of over 2.5 trillion VND (112.5 million USD), the project will build a four-lane provincial road crossing Sa Pa and Bat Xat district and Lao Cai city and upgrade existing highway 4D.

The work on overall 29.2 kilometres of road is expected to finish within the first quarter of 2019.

At the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Phuc said he supports the project’s build-operate-transfer (BOT) model and coordination among different constructors.

Highway 4D plays a significant role in the development of the northwestern region. However, the road is relatively small and easily blocked by heavy traffic.

Recently, the road to Sa Pa has become overloaded with the large volume of tourist arrivals. During the lunar New Year holiday alone, more than 35,000 people visited the town.

Workplace safety to be scrutinised

A labour inspection campaign to promote compliance in the construction sector will take place from March to October this year, the labour, invalids and social affairs ministry (MOLISA) said recently.

Inspectors from the ministry will collaborate with the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in managing the campaign.

The campaign aims to promote compliance with labour regulations and criteria on working conditions, health and safety in order to reduce labour accidents.

It also aims to improve the knowledge of managers and labourers about labour inspections at central and local levels, as well as to expand the sphere of the labour inspectors' influence on the application of labour regulations at enterprises and construction sites.

The target groups of the campaign are construction sites and enterprises that are responsible for the constructions. Its two phases will cover communication and inspection at enterprises.

In the communication phase, informative events and seminars will be organised in four cities and provinces across the country. Flyers, posters, notebooks and other materials to raise awareness will also be distributed to employers and labourers. Mass communication channels will also be utilised.

The inspection phase will focus on examining the workplace conditions and compliance with general regulations on labour health and safety at construction sites.

Inspectors from the labour ministry will directly participate in the inspections in some local areas, in accordance with the approved annual inspection plan.

The campaign is part of a project to promote compliance with workplace regulations through labour inspections, to be implemented by the labour ministry and the International Labour Organisation in Vietnam.

The construction sector is reportedly one of the fastest growing sectors in Vietnam, which has seen the highest number of labour accidents in the recent years.

In the first two months of this year, the number of construction accidents accounted for more than 30 percent of the total labour accidents, and the number of deaths account for nearly 40 percent of the total labour deaths.

A pilot labour inspection campaign was executed last year in the textile sector in 12 cities and provinces. It discovered nearly 1,800 violations of salary and labour safety regulations in more than 150 textile enterprises.

The inspectors recorded 19 enterprises as violating labour regulations, and imposed fines amounting to nearly 600 million VND (26,890 USD).

2016 Youth Month launched in Vinh Phuc

The 2016 Youth Month kicked off at the Ho Chi Minh Square in Vinh Yen city, the northern province of Vinh Phuc, on February 27 with the participation of 3,000 local young people.

Addressing the event, Truong Thi Mai, head of the Party Central Committee’s Mass Mobilisation Commission, expressed her belief that the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCMCYU) will actualise the 12 th National Party Congress’s Resolution soundly, and that young people nationwide will help bring the document into reality through their creations and specific actions.

She called on young people and youth union organisations to make practical contributions to the society and the country, roll out good models on a larger scale and improve the efficiency of their campaigns.

Activities to be carried out in the month will focus on youths’ vocations, green environment, social welfare and the founding anniversary of the HCMCYU.

At the ceremony, the Secretariat of the HCMCYU Central Committee presented gifts and scholarships to social welfare beneficiaries and disadvantaged students.

On this occasion, 1,000 youths donated their blood and 500 others cycled to raise public awareness of traffic safety. Young doctors provided free health check-ups and medicines for workers at industrial parks based in the locality.

Held annually, the Month of Youth aims to educate young people on the position and role the Youth Union plays in socio-economic development, nation building and defence.

Vietnam attends ASEAN Family Day in Hong Kong

Vietnamese Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau Hoang Chi Trung and his spouse joined other diplomat couples from the 10 ASEAN member countries at the ASEAN Family Day 2016 at Indonesia’s Consulate General in Hong Kong on February 27.

Addressing the event, Indonesian Consul General Chalief Akbar Tjandraningrat said Indonesia hopes the ASEAN Community will unite and gear up toward sustainable development.

He expressed his hope that the event will help bring ASEAN countries’ Consulate Generals closer.

Trung said the ASEAN Family Day was of special significance, as it was held after the formation of the ASEAN Community in December.

It offers an opportunity for ASEAN diplomats to strengthen their mutual understanding and support, looking toward an ASEAN of unity and prosperity, he said.

The event introduced cultural identities and traditional dishes from ASEAN countries.

Youth prove role in community building

The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union’s Chapter in HCM City on February 28 launched the 2016 Youth Month with a string of activities.

Pham Hong Son, Vice Secretary of the Chapter, called for widespread participation in the programme in order to build a modern city.

Volunteer teams have been dispatched to districts across the city to help poor families with power repairs and water metre installation, equip locals with firefighting skills, and clean up the environment.

From now until the end of this year, young intellectuals will update scientific and technological research outcomes for locals, especially in rural areas and suburbs, focusing on new-style rural building, rural economic development, urban civilisation, environmental protection and climate change response.

On February 27, the 2016 Youth Month also started in Hanoi with the participation of more than 1,000 young people in the capital.

Nine volunteer teams were set up to promote Hanoi’s tourism, protect the environment and serve the upcoming election of deputies to the 14 th National Assembly and People’s Councils at all levels for 2016-2021.

They will also participate in building new-style rural areas, administrative reform, international integration, historical and cultural promotion, and traffic safety.

Held annually, the Youth Month aims to educate young people on the position and role the Youth Union plays in socio-economic development, nation-building and defence.

This year’s campaign has also received enthusiastic responses from other localities, such as the central province of Quang Ngai.

US medical mission provides free operations to needy children

About 80 volunteer paediatric surgeons and professionals from the US-based Project Vietnam Foundation (PVNF) began a Medical Mission on February 27 to offer free treatment to needy children in Vietnam.

The mission, which runs until March 11, provides free operations to children with congenital facial deformities such as harelip and cleft palate, and eye defects, as well as dental care to people in Nghe An, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho.

Physicians, therapists and psychologists with expertise in caring for children with special needs will also share their knowledge and experience to support Vietnamese families who have children with autism.

According to Dr. Quynh Kieu, the paediatrician who established the PVNF in 1996, the foundation is a non-profit programme of the American Academy of Paediatrics that ensures health care assistance to children with birth defects and eye problems, as well as those in poor rural communities. It also provides medical training to local health personnel in Vietnam.

A number of events are scheduled to take place in Ho Chi Minh City, including free surgeries for 100 children with harelips and cleft palates at Military Hospital 175 from February 28 to March 5, training sessions in autism for paediatricians at Children’s Hospital 2 and Ton Duc Thang Hospital from February 29 to March 5, and a seminar on autism at Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital on March 5.

A training programme on paediatrics will run until March 11 in Nghe An and Can Tho while free medical check-ups, dental care and medicine will come to impoverished people in Vinh Thanh and Co Do communes in Can Tho between March 7 and 11.

Traffic safety programme launched

The National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC), nearly 300,000 members of the Otofun forum and local people will work together to raise public awareness about responsible driving to build a safe, civilised traffic community under a traffic safety programme launched in Hanoi on December 28.

At the launching ceremony, Vice Chairman of the NTSC Khuat Viet Hung highlighted that the activity is part of a cooperation agreement on traffic safety enhancement for the 2015-2018 period signed between the committee and Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV).

The programme’s three major contents are not using mobile phones at the wheel, not drinking and driving, and wearing a seatbelt, Hung added.

Meanwhile, TMV General Director Yoshihisa Maruta said drivers will set good examples for raising public awareness on traffic safety in Vietnam.

He stressed that more proactive participation will play a significant role in building a culture of traffic safety in the country.

In the cooperation framework with the NTSC, TMV will continue to present equipment used for traffic inspections, support victims of traffic accidents and help the Ministry of Transport set up calibrating standards for technical safety.

Competitions on designing video clips and stickers disseminating traffic safety information have also begun.

Anyone on Facebook who lives and works in Vietnam can compete. They can enter the contests through the website http://www.facebook.com/ViATGTVN2016 until April 9.

Blood donation festival kicks off in Hanoi

The ninth “Xuan Hong” (Pink Spring) blood donation festival kicked off at the National Convention Centre in Hanoi on February 28 with the presence of Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan.

The event was organised by the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT), the Hanoi Steering Committee for voluntary blood donation, and the Hanoi Association of Youth Blood Donor Recruiters, aiming to raise public awareness of voluntary blood donation.

An estimated 25,000 people, of whom 1,000 were volunteers, participated on the first day of the month-long event, which is expected to collect nearly 8,000 units of blood.

Launched in 1997, the annual festival has collected nearly 42,000 units of blood.

Earlier on February 27, more than 400 doctors from 16 hospitals in the city took part in a parade to call for blood donations.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, Head of the National Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation, highly valued the role of youth and students in blood donation events.

She said that over the past 22 years, the blood donation movement in Vietnam has gained considerable achievements, particularly with the success of the Pink Spring Festival, an initiative by the NIHBT and Hanoi authorities that aims to tackle blood scarcity after the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

The minister also wished the institute and the city to continue the initiative, encouraging people in all walks of life to donate their blood to save lives.

This year’s festival will also feature art performances with the participation of famous singers and artists.

Ethnic policies should be promptly completed: official

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has underscored the need to complete mechanisms and policies to spur socio-economic development in ethnic minority-inhabited regions.

The official made the request at a conference held by the Government’s Committee for Ethnic Affairs and the Lao Cai provincial People’s Committee on February 27. The event aims to review ethnic work from 2011 to 2015 and roll out tasks for 2016.

Over the past five years, ethnic-related policies have contributed to raising living standards of ethnic minority and mountainous people, he said.

However, there are policies that are overlapping and unsuitable, he said, adding that many localities have yet to outline ethnic strategies for 2016-2020.

As a result, the income gap between regions has widened, especially among ethnic minority-inhabited and mountainous areas, according to the official.

Against the backdrop, Deputy PM Phuc asked ministries, agencies and localities to promptly amend ethnic-related policies and allocate more resources for mountainous, remote and far-flung areas.

While echoing the Deputy PM’s views, the Committee’s Minister-Chairman Giang Seo Phu also blamed resource shortage for pending policies, programmes and projects.

He said ethnic minority-inhabited and mountainous regions still met a lot of economic difficulties, poor socio-economic infrastructure, especially in transport, electricity, irrigation, and medical and educational facilities.

High poverty rate, unemployment, low income, low-quality human resources, natural disasters and unexpected diseases are posing a headache, he said.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat added underdeveloped agricultural production in the regions to the list of problems.

Given this, the minister suggested the close connection between businesses and farmers as well as among farmers, and the acceleration of the application of scientific and technological advances in production.

The ministry has always paid attention to policies supporting ethnic groups in all localities, particularly those regarding sustainable and rapid poverty reduction, Phat affirmed.

Addressing the conference, Vice Chairman of the Dak Nong provincial People’s Committee Cao Huy said policies towards ethnic minority and mountainous groups have proven effective, contributing to improving living standards of remote, far-flung, mountainous and marginalised communes.

He noted his hope that ethnic minority and mountainous people will have easy access to information to learn how to earn higher income.

Representatives from Quang Nam and Tra Vinh provinces also proposed the Party and the State pour more investments in ethnic groups and lay out specific policies to support ethnic minorities.

Delegates at the conference agreed on key tasks in 2016, which focus on the synchronous and effective realisation of ethnic-related programmes, policies and projects.

Efforts will be made to raise awareness among mountainous people of plots of hostile forces who take advantage of Vietnam’s ethnic and religious policies to defame the Party and the State and break the great national unity bloc.

HCM City strengthens traffic safety work

The number of traffic accidents and deaths in the southern city in 2015 remained relatively high while traffic congestion in some districts have not been solved thoroughly.

The information was heard at a conference on deploying traffic safety work for 2016 held in the southern city of Ho Chi Minh on February 26.

Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Van Khoa stressed from the beginning of this year, the city has proactively sped up progress of major traffic projects and re-planned the local public transport network in order to ensure its interoperability, while maintaining an uninterrupted city transport system.

Regarding to management of traffic violations, the Vice Chairman ordered districts to regularly instruct relevant bodies to detect and handle misconducts in a timely and strict manner.

The city is striving to reduce the number of traffic accidents, deaths and injuries by at least five percent compared with 2015, improve traffic congestion and raise the public’s observance of traffic rules.

The city is also actively carrying out the National Traffic Safety Year 2016 programme focusing on enhancing the effectiveness and discipline of duty enforcement forces in ensuring traffic safety.

In 2015, the city had 3,712 traffic accidents, killing 703 victims and injuring 3,302 others.

Performance of Lao students in Vietnam reviewed

The Lao Embassy to Vietnam held a conference in central Thue Thien-Hue province to review a performance of Lao students in Vietnam during the academic year 2014-2015, and set plans for the year 2015-2016.

Present at the event were representatives from the Lao Consulate in Da Nang, the Lao Ministry of Education and Sports, Vietnamese officials and nearly 100 Lao students studying in Vietnam.

According to the Lao Embassy to Vietnam, more than 12,000 Lao students are attending postgraduate and undergraduate courses at 150 universities, colleges and institutes across Vietnam this academic year.

The Lao and Vietnamese embassies agreed to continue working closely with the Lao Ministry of Education and Sports and the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training to implement a project on enhancing Vietnam-Laos cooperation in education and human resources.

On the occasion, the Lao side honoured its country’s students in Vietnam who had excellent academic results during the last year.

Centre gets credit for anesthesiology, rehabilitation accomplishments

The centre for anesthesiology and surgical recovery at the Viet Duc (Vietnam – Germany) Friendship Hospital in Hanoi has been awarded with the title “Labour Hero” for its significant attainments during the past decades.

The title was bestowed upon the centre by President Truong Tan Sang at a ceremony at the hospital on February 26 marking the 61 st Vietnamese Doctors’ Day (February 27).

The Viet Duc Hospital is a pioneer in surgery in Vietnam which deals with critical cases from across the nation and provides in-depth training in surgery, anesthesiology, recovery and related specialties.

The centre, previously the department for anesthesiology and recovery, was founded in 1962 and is now the largest of its kind in the country. It has 43 operating rooms, 96 beds and 350 experienced staff members.

The facility has released a number of valuable scientific studies such as one on the process of diagnosing and rehabilitating brain-injured patients.

It has also conducted the biggest number of organ transplants in Vietnam, including 29 organ donation cases, 52 kidney transplants, seven heart valve replacement cases, and 27 liver transplants.

Severe drought, water shortage threaten Binh Phuoc

Drought and water shortages are forecast to hit the southern province of Binh Phuoc , seriously affecting locals’ daily activities and taking a toll on agricultural production.

According to the provincial People’s Committee, about 11 percent of rural households and about 34,000 hectares of cultivation area will face a shortage of fresh water, while around 2,000 hectares of aquaculture will be threatened by drought.

According to surveys conducted by local authorities, water level in reservoirs managed by the locality in early January fell by between 0.1-0.5 metres compared to the average level. A number of reservoirs, such as Ta Te in Loc Ninh district, Dak Ton, Binh Ha and Bu Ka in Bu Gia Map district, and An Khuong and Bau Um in Hon Quan district have water levels 1.5-3 metres below average.

Water levels in irrigation and hydroelectric reservoirs in the end of January also fell compared with their designed capacity, causing water shortages for over 10,000 ha of farming areas.

To counter the situation, local authorities have taken measures to prevent drought, aiming to minimising damage to agriculture production, industry, services and aquaculture.

Relevant sectors and agencies, and the local agricultural sector were asked to ensure enough water for the cultivation area in the winter-spring 2015-2016 crop. Local farmers are advised to switch to crops that require less water to adapt to water shortages caused by prolonged drought.

El Nino is causing extreme weather in Binh Phuoc. This year’s rainy season will come late and end early. Rainfall in the locality dropped 20-30 percent compared to the average for previous years.

Data collected at the Phuoc Hoa hydrological monitoring station showed that water levels in the Be River in late January reached 17.5 metres, 1.5 metres below the alarming level.

Can Tho, UK step up cooperation in education

The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho wants to deepen education cooperation with the UK through overseas study, student and lecturer exchanges, and establishment of research institutes.

Receiving UK Ambassador to Vietnam Giles Lever on February 26, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Vo Thanh Thong said that the move will help the two sides boost bilateral collaboration in training and scientific research in fields of mutual concern.

For his part, the ambassador highlighted that the UK always pays attention to fostering education cooperation with Vietnam.

In addition to offering more than 30 scholarships through Chevening, the UK government scholarship programme, the UK also provides in-country courses to Vietnamese students, Giles Lever said.

The students have a chance to study with UK-designed curricula and British lecturers in their homeland while receiving degrees granted by universities in the UK, he added.

Last year, Save the Children, an international children’s charity based in the UK , gave a financial support worth 297,000 USD to help local students with financial management, job hunt, and other soft skills.

Furthermore, the UK outlined specific roadmaps on building high-tech and bio-tech research centres and institutes in line with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between two nations through Newton Fund, a partnership programme on research and innovation. The cooperation aims to reduce critical impacts of climate change.

Location for Lao Cai Airport changed

The location for Lao Cai Airport will be moved from Cam Con commune, Bao Thang district to Gia Phu commune, Bao Yen district in the northern province of Lao Cai.

The provincial People’s Committee and the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) announced the change to plans for Lao Cai Airport on February 26 in the province.

Accordingly, the airport will cover an area of 261.5 hectares in Cam 3 and Cam 4 villages, Cam Con commune, 34 kilometres from the city of Lao Cai.

It will be used for both civilian and military purposes, and will be able to accommodate A320 and A321 aircraft.

The new location will allow safer landings and takeoffs that do not involve sharp turns to avoid mountains.

Lao Cai Airport will be constructed following the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)’s C4 airport standard and will be developed into a military airport level 2, CAAV Director Lai Xuan Thanh said.

The airport will be able to serve not just domestic but also international flights to Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, China and Laos.

Once completed, it is expected to serve 560,000 passengers and handle 600 tonnes of goods per year by 2020. It will have two aprons and a 10,000sqm terminal designed to serve 308 passengers per peak hour.

By 2030, the airport will expand to five aprons, with a zone for shops and restaurants and a cargo terminal. Its capacity will be more than 1.5 million passengers and 2,880 tonnes of goods per year.

Danish-supported art education project inspiring

Vietnamese art teachers and students across the nation were deeply inspired by the new teaching and learning methods developed under a 10-year Danish project.

The achievements of the “Art Education in Primary school” project, implemented by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs were announced at the project’s closing workshop in Da Nang on February 25 and 26.

The project aimed to stimulate the creative thinking and cognitive development of children through child-centred teaching methods and materials, according to the Danish Embassy’s press release.

The project was implemented in 63 provinces with a total invesment of 1.2 million USD.

The project’s key outcomes include developing learner-friendly art curricula for the primary level, building capability for more than 600 art teachers and outlining art text books.

Ambassador of Denmark to Vietnam Charlotte Laursen highlighted the positive outcomes of the project and stressed the priority of education cooperation between Denmark and Vietnam.

“Education is a clear priority in the Danish Government's growth market strategy for Vietnam. Education is also included as an important part of the Danish Vietnamese Comprehensive Partnership Agreement,” she said.

“Continued cooperation in the educational sector creates mutual benefits for Denmark and Vietnam. This lays a strong foundation for our continued and further cooperation in the future.”

Since 1994, Denmark has provided Vietnam with more than 1.3 billion USD in development assistance.

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