HCMC: Monthly income averages VND4 million in rural

GDP per capita reached VND4,098,000 (US$480) a month in 56 new rural communes, HCMC last year, increasing 22.8 percent over 2014.

That was reported the city Department of Agriculture and Rural Development quoting data from HCMC Statistics Department at a conference yesterday.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Ho, director of the agricultural department, said that the city strives to have at least 30 communes meeting new rural standards this year. The remaining of 26 communes will meet the standards in the following year.

To obtain the targets, the agricultural industry must restructure in association with implementing the new rural development program, encourage farmers to concentrate on producing high quality, high tech and bio technology applied crops and provide job training to improve agricultural production value and income for farmers.

In addition, the industry should speed up safe vegetable production projects and mechanization to develop trade and production in rural areas.

Deputy Minister works with Tan Son Nhat airport on Tet travel

Deputy Minister of Transport Le Dinh Tho yesterday worked with Tan Son Nhat International Airport on preparation work to meet surging travel demand and prevent traffic jam on Tet holidays.

Director of Southern Airports Authorities Tran Doan Mau said that passengers through the airport is forecast to highly increase from January 30 to February 3, up 25 percent over the last Tet holiday to reach 4.1 million passengers.

The number of landings and take-offs is expected to surge 20 percent to near 26,300 flights.

Deputy chairman of National Traffic Safety Committee Khuat Viet Hung proposed the airport to well do propaganda work and supply the press with information in a timely manner to limit residents from meeting and seeing off their relatives in the airport.

During the peak time of the Tet holiday, there will have measures to limit vehicles from travelling in Truong Son street, Tan Binh district to prevent traffic jams.

Deputy minister Le Dinh Tho proposed the aviation industry to ensure security and safety in and outside the airport and coordinate with HCMC Transport Department to prevent traffic jam from occurring in the airport area.

Mr. Tho said that aviation infrastructures have not developed appropriately so HCMC must exactly forecast the number of passengers during Tet holidays to well implement solutions to meet surging travel demand and connect with bus routes to transport passengers to and from the airport.

Security procedures should be faster and airport staff must guide passengers to do online check in and other procedures.

Airlines must limit flight delay and rectify their staff’s serving attitude to passengers.

HCMC assigns districts to carry out inundation prevention projects

People’s Committee in Ho Chi Minh City has approved Cu Chi District to invest in five irrigation projects to reduce flooding.

Once completed, the projects will help better irrigation and reduce flooding in the area 70 hectares or 350 households will not suffer the inundation anymore.

The municipal People’s Committee also asked People’s Committee in district 8 to dredge and reinforce two construction in the district with total spending of VND8 billion from the city’s budget.

The construction will help fighting inundation; therefore, 1,250 households in the area will not endure environmental pollution any longer.

Meantime, authorities in Thu Duc District was also required to build 20 works with total investment of VND20 billion taken from the city’s natural diseases prevention fund.

Vietnam Airlines transports apricot, peach blossoms for Tet holidays

The national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines will transport apricot and peach blossoms for the upcoming lunar New Year Festival (Tet) on domestic flights from now until February 25.

Vietnam Airlines transports apricot, peach blossoms for Tet holidays

A passenger will be allowed to check in with one branch of apricot or peach blossoms, measuring maximum 150cm x 40cm x 40cm as a special ‘Luggage Consignment Service’.

Transportation fees will cost around VND297, 000 (U$13) - VND473,000 (US$20).

Travelers must register to transport apricot and peach blossoms at least 3 hours before departure time.

HCMC deputy chairwoman gifts 400 poor kid patients

Deputy Chairwoman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Thi Thu visited and gifted 400 needy child patients in the Children Hospital No1. and No.2 on Friday.

On behalf of the people’s committee leaders, Ms. Thu handed over gifts to 400 kids from low-income families who are undergoing treatment in the hospitals. Over 80 percent of them come from many provinces.

Ms. Thu said that HCMC authorities allocates VND700 billion ($30.8 million) to take care of disadvantaged people on Tet holiday ( the Lunar New Year). additionally, it called for social contribution to help poor people and social welfare brackets to have enjoyable holiday.

Ms. Thu stressed anyone will be taken care of when they receive medical treatment in the city despite hailing from all corner. These gifts are the municipal government’s love to people with expectation to ease patients’ and their relatives’ pain.

Winners of Vietnam Writers’ Association Awards honoured

The 2017 Vietnam Literature Awards were presented to a number of outstanding works at an award ceremony held in Hanoi, on February 4, by the Vietnam Writers’ Association (VWA).

The annual awards were presented to poet and critical theorist Le Thanh Nghi for his critical essay titled “People’s shadow in mountain’s shadow”, critical theory researcher Phung Van Tuu for his work ‘Innovation in the western literature and arts’, and translator Le Duc Man for his translated versified play ‘Woe from Wit’ by Aleksander Griboedov.

The 18-volume book on children's literature by writer Vu Hung won the Career Award – a new award this year.

The VWA also presented the Dedication Award for ten writers including Van Linh, Phuong Vu, Huu Dat, Ho Khai Dai, Hai Ho, Nguyen Van Xuan, Hoai Anh, Vo Hong, Tu Bich Hoang and Le Van Ngan.

On the occasion, more than 29 members were added to the association in the fields of prose, poem, critical theory and literary translation.

The prize-winning works were selected from 75 prose works, 88 poems, 20 critical theory works and 13 translations.

Passengers via Tan Son Nhat airport to rise 25% during Tet

An estimated 4.1 million passengers are forecast to go through Tan Son Nhat international airport in Ho Chi Minh City during the 2018 Lunar New Year (Tet) festival, up 25% from the 2017 Tet.

There will be nearly 26,300 take-offs and landings, up by 20% from the 2017 Tet occasion, according to the Southern Air Authority.

Carriers had plans to increase their flights by 10-15% from the 2017 Tet to meet the travel demands during the country’s biggest festival.

Airlines, by December 26, had registered to increase nearly 3,000 flights and 582,000 seats on 22 routes from and to 18 domestic airports for the Tet Holiday.

Flight routes with additional flights and seats include Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport to Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport (790 flights/158,000 seats), Tan Son Nhat Airport to Thua Thien - Hue province’s Phu Bai Airport (335 flights/67,000 seats), Tan Son Nhat Airport to Khanh Hoa province’s Cam Ranh Airport (324 flights/66,000 seats) and Tan Son Nhat Airport to Da Nang Airport (262 flights/51,000 seats), as well as Tan Son Nhat Airport to Nghe An province’s Vinh Airport (185 flights/36,000 seats) and Tan Son Nhat Airport to Thanh Hoa province’s Tho Xuan Airport (182 flights/37,000 seats).

Earlier, Deputy Minister of Transport Le Dinh Tho urged the aviation industry and relevant state bodies to work to minimize flight delays and cancellations during the Tet holiday.

According to Bui Minh Dang, deputy head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam’s transport division, the aviation industry saw a significant growth of around 19-20% in 2017. It served about 62 million passengers in 2017, an increase of 19% from 2016.

In 2017, the average On-time Performance (OTP) of airlines was estimated at 87.7%, higher than the global average of 75-79%. Most of delays and cancellations have occurred due to severe weather like storms or mist or during public holidays.

Thousands of OVs register to attend Homeland Spring programme

Thousands of overseas Vietnamese have registered to participate in the annual “Xuan Que Huong” (Homeland Spring) 2018, said Deputy Foreign Minister and Head of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs Vu Hong Nam.

The event, themed “Vietnam with bright future”, is scheduled to take place in Hanoi on February 7 (the 22nd day of the 12th lunar month).

Many Vietnamese artists in foreign countries will perform at the event alongside domestic artists, Nam added.

“In each of our overseas business trips, we have sensed the Overseas Vietnamese’s confidence in the development of the homeland as well as their pride of the homeland’s growing role and position in the world arena,” he said.

“This year’s theme meets the Overseas Vietnamese’s aspirations for Vietnam to build a bright future and these expats showed they stand ready to join hands in building a bright future for the homeland,” he noted. 

There are approximately 4.5 million Vietnamese living and working in 103 countries and territories worldwide. They form an indispensable part of the nation and play an important role in intensifying friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and the rest of the world.

The annual “Xuan Que Huong” (Homeland Spring) is aimed at providing a platform for Vietnamese expats to share their aspirations and thoughts and honouring those who have contributed to the homeland’s development.

Health authorities stay alert against flu

The Ministry of Health has issued an urgent notice asking health departments to strengthen their measures against flu, with the number of flu patients rising.                                      

Deputy minister Nguyễn Thanh Long on Friday acknowledged that the flu was spreading in several localities.

Hà Nội, which is still in a cold spell, witnessed a hike of children sick with the flu recently. The National Hospital of Pediatrics said more than 1,000 children caught the flu in January alone, of whom some 220 in serious conditions had to stay at the hospital for treatment.

More sick children were also recorded at other hospitals, with many diagnosed with the influenza A and B viruses, which can be fatal.

Seasonal flu is also sweeping the United States while China and North Korea have announced cases of the swine influenza A/H7N9 and A/H1N1 virus, respectively.

The health ministry asked local departments to keep guiding residents on flu prevention measures and to focus on early detection and quarantine work.

Health departments should work closely with veterinary agencies and relevant units to detect and handle any flu outbreaks among poultry, and to tightly control the trans-border sale and transportation of sick poultry, to prevent virus transmission to people.

The ministry also recommended citizens not go to crowded places where an outbreak occurred, and encouraged them to get flu vaccinations if possible. 

According to the World Health Organisation, about 5 to 10 per cent of adults and between 20 and 30 per cent of children in the world are infected with flu every year. Of which, from 250,000 to half a million die due to the disease. 

The Public Ministry calls for enhancing traffic order and safety

The Ministry of Public Security has sent a dispatch to heads of provincial and municipal police, requesting them to focus on enhancing traffic order and safety for Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday to control traffic jams and accidents.

The number of traffic accidents increased by 12.67 per cent in January compared with the previous month while the number of deaths and injured people rose by 11.59 per cent and 5.81 per cent, respectively, the dispatch said.

Notably, three serious traffic accidents occurred in HCM City, Hà Giang and Thái Nguyên in January, killing 12 people.

Prolonged traffic jams often happened in Hà Nội and HCM City in the month, it said.

To carry out the campaign to ensure traffic order and safety on the occasion of the Lunar New Year and the Spring Festival 2018, the Ministry of Public Security ordered heads of police units and localities to direct traffic police to work with relevant agencies to raise people’s awareness, strengthen patrols and strictly handle traffic violations.

Special attention should be paid to speeding, road encroachment, drunk driving and not wearing helmets when riding motorbikes, the dispatch said.

Heads of police force at all levels should limit their meetings and spend more time on inspecting traffic on the roads.

According to the dispatch, police from Hà Nội, HCM City and neighbouring provinces should mobilise all forces including volunteer youths and veterans to regulate traffic to reduce congestion in urban areas.

Heads of Traffic Police Department and its sub-departments were asked to frequently inspect and monitor the implementation of involved police units and localities, with priority given to hotspots and localities that had many traffic accidents in January.

Lunar New Year festival held for poor workers

Various programmes to support workers were held in southern provinces, including Đồng Nai and Long An, on the occasion of Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday, Vietnam News Agency reported.

The Central Committee of Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union, in coordination with Đồng Nai Provincial Youth Union, organised a New Year Festival on Sunday night with workers at NhơnTrạch Industrial Zone in the province, attracting 3,000 workers and local people.

The festival had contests such as wrapping bánh chưng (square glutinous cake) and decorating mâm ngũ quả (a set of five kinds of fruits) and other traditional games.

On the occasion, the Central Youth Union presented 50 free one-way air tickets to disadvantaged workers who were unable to go home. The workers will depart one day before Tết and will be assisted by shuttle to Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport and from Nội Bài International Airport to five provinces in the north.

The provincial Youth Union also gave over 4,000 Tết gift packages, worth VNĐ2 billion (US$88,000), to needy workers.

Nguyễn Anh Tuấn,  secretary of Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union, said over the past few years, the Central Youth Union had worked with the Labour Confederation to direct local youth unions and trade unions to assist labourers through such meaningful activities as presenting gifts to disadvantaged workers, handing free bus tickets or helping them buy Vietnamese products with reasonable prices.

The Youth Union has so far held 700 cultural activities and given 50,000 Tết gifts worth VNĐ14.5 billion ($638,400) to underpriviledged workers.

It also presented 100 free air tickets and 21,000 free bus tickets, as well as made available free home-coming buses on the occasion.

Similar activities were also organised in the Mekong Delta province of Long An. During the festival, participants enjoyed many interesting performances and games.

Some 500 gifts worth VNĐ400,000 ($17.6) each were handed over to needy workers by the provincial Youth Union and donors.

Also on Sunday, Bạc Liêu Province Young Entrepreneurs Association presented more than 170 gifts worth VNĐ300,000 ($13) to families of civil servants, workers and students with financial difficulties.

Two adults, five children die in two drowning accidents

Four people drowned on Sunday while picking apples near a pond in a garden in Bắc Giang Provice’s Hiệp Hòa District.

Đỗ Xuân Hồng, chairman of Đông Lỗ Commune, said the relevant authorities and local residents rushed to the scene as soon as they were informed of the incident.

According to the local authorities, two students, aged six and eight years, together with their father on Sunday visited relatives in Đông Lỗ Commune.

After lunch, Nguyễn Văn Sơn, 31, took his children to the relatives’ garden to pick apples. He saw a boat near a pond, measuring 2m deep and 1,000sq.m. wide, and put his children in it. The boat overturned abruptly, and all three of them fell into the pond.

Nguyễn Văn Hòa, 45, Sơn’s relative, jumped into the pond to rescue Sơn and his children but to no avail.

Another tragic drowning occurred at around 5pm on Saturday in the southern province of Đồng Tháp, leaving three children dead.

The victims were identified as Trần Như Ý, 6, Trần Văn Thuận, 5, and Trần Thị Thảo, 3. They were siblings living in Hồng Ngự Township.

Some local residents reported they had previously seen the three children playing near the canal, but they had later disappeared.

At 5.30pm, a local ferry driver passing the area discovered Thảo’s body. He informed local authorities and rushed back to find the remaining children.

After one day of searching, the remains of the other two children were found.

Vietnamese artist debutes his first memoirs

Vietnamese artist Lộc Vàng, who has spent most of his life preserving bolero music, has debuted his memoir entitled Cung đàn số phận (The Melody of Fate).

Lộc Vàng, 72, real name Nguyễn Văn Lộc, is best known for his passion and dedication to Vietnamese bolero music.

Lộc Vàng was born to a family of arts tradition, and inherited the love for music from his father’s songs. Despite living in destitution, and taking many jobs to make ends meet, his passion for music kept burning.  

The Melody of Fate tells his inner feelings and love for his biggest life passions, bolero music and his wife.

At present, Lộc Vàng has a coffee shop near Hà Nội’s West Lake to keep singing, like as he said, “Until the day I can not sing bolero anymore”.

Lạng Sơn strives to resolve jams at border gate

Officers at the Tân Thanh Border Guards have worked to resolve seasonal traffic jams at the border gate over the past four days, according to Đoàn Tuấn Anh, deputy director of the Tân Thanh Customs Department.

Anh told the Vietnam News Agency that jams occur at the border gate almost every year just before and after the Tết (Lunar New Year) festival.

Most of the goods now blocked at the gate, which is in Văn Lãng District in the northern mountainous province of Lạng Sơn, are fruits such as watermelon, bananas, rambutans and dragon fruits.

To resolve the jams, Anh said, the managers lengthened working hours over the past few days. Usually, the border gate closed at 5pm, but now it stays open until 9pm. Procedures have been shortened so that the goods can pass through as quickly as possible.

From last Friday to Sunday, the Tân Thanh Customs Department completed procedures for 845 lorries to pass the border gate. By yesterday, nearly 400 vehicles were still waiting for their turn.

One factor contributing to the jams is that it is currently harvest season for many fruits in the southern provinces, many lorries are carrying fruit to China and must pass through the border gate.  

Lạng Sơn Province has several border gates, but Chinese authorities only allow agricultural goods to be imported via the Tân Thanh Border Gate, so the jams often occur during the main harvest season for the goods.

Anh said that every year, leaders of the Lạng Sơn Department of Industry and Trade and other concerned agencies issue warnings to other provinces that they should adjust the amount of harvested fruits so that the border gate can handle the flow of traffic and avoid jams that cause fruits to go bad and create losses for farmers.

The border gate managers also give instructions to small traders to postpone taking the goods to the border gate to prevent jams.

Dương Phương Thảo, deputy director of the Import and Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, told the Thanh Niên (Young People) newspaper that the problem was not new, but remains a difficult issue year after year.

“This year the climate in China is more severe than in 2016 and 2017, and it affects the import of goods,” she said.

The department proposed the Chinese authorities give priority to import fruits while postponing the dried goods, she said.

Rice aid, presents for the needy before Tết

So far, nine provinces have received rice aid under a government programme to give nearly 5,200 tonnes of free rice to needy households as the Lunar New Year (Tết) draws near, said officials at the General Department of State Reserves.

Five northern mountainous provinces of Tuyên Quang, Lào Cai, Yên Bái, Bắc Kạn and Hà Giang share the rice aid with central province Thanh Hoá and the two south central coastal provinces of Ninh Thuận and Phú Yên.

Most recently, on February 2, poor households in six districts and townships of the northern province Yên Bái received 400 tonnes of rice aid.

Previously, the General Department of State Reserves has fulfilled rice handout requests from 18 provinces in the Tết occasion, totalling 12,500 tonnes for 830,000 people. After the first handout, there remain some 7,300 tonnes to be given away.

Yesterday, chairman of the Việt Nam Fatherland Front (VFF) Trần Thanh Mẫn together with leading authorities of the southern province An Giang visited the local army, poor households and social beneficiaries in border localities.

At the border guard station Nhơn Hưng, VFF Chairman Mẫn congratulated the officers for upholding social security and order in the area, contributing to the integrity of national sovereignty. He also presented Tết gifts for the officers at the border station.

One hundred gifts, worth VNĐ 1.2 million ($53) each, have also been given to needy households in the two districts, Tri Tôn and Tịnh Biên, that border Cambodia. The two border districts’ population is mostly Khmer people (70 per cent), many of whom live in difficult socio-economic conditions. VFF Chairman Mẫn expected local authorities to pay the utmost attention to help poor ethnic minority households in the area to climb out of poverty, joining the ranks of middle-income and rich households. 

Various programmes to support workers were held in southern provinces, including Đồng Nai and Long An, on the occasion of Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday, Vietnam News Agency reported. 

The Central Committee of Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union, in coordination with Đồng Nai Provincial Youth Union, organised a New Year Festival on Sunday night with workers at NhơnTrạch Industrial Zone in the province, attracting 3,000 workers and local people.

The festival had contests such as wrapping bánh chưng (square glutinous cake) and decorating mâm ngũ quả (a set of five kinds of fruits) and other traditional games.

On the occasion, the Central Youth Union presented 50 free one-way air tickets to disadvantaged workers who were unable to go home. The workers will depart one day before Tết and will be assisted by shuttle to Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport and from Nội Bài International Airport to five provinces in the north.

The provincial Youth Union also gave over 4,000 Tết gift packages, worth VNĐ2 billion (US$88,000), to needy workers.

Nguyễn Anh Tuấn,  secretary of Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union, said over the past few years, the Central Youth Union had worked with the Labour Confederation to direct local youth unions and trade unions to assist labourers through such meaningful activities as presenting gifts to disadvantaged workers, handing free bus tickets or helping them buy Vietnamese products with reasonable prices.

The Youth Union has so far held 700 cultural activities and given 50,000 Tết gifts worth VNĐ14.5 billion ($638,400) to underprivileged workers.

It also presented 100 free air tickets and 21,000 free bus tickets, as well as made available free home-coming buses on the occasion.

Similar activities were also organised in the Mekong Delta province of Long An. During the festival, participants enjoyed many interesting performances and games.

Some 500 gifts worth VNĐ400,000 ($17.6) each was handed over to needy workers by the provincial Youth Union and donors.

Also on Sunday, Bạc Liêu Province Young Entrepreneurs Association presented more than 170 gifts worth VNĐ300,000 ($13) to families of civil servants, workers and students with financial difficulties. — 

Overseas Vietnamese celebrate Lunar New Year

Overseas Vietnamese (OVs) worldwide are celebrating the 2018 Lunar New Year (Tet) with traditional New Year treats and art performances.

The Embassy of Vietnam in Bangladesh has made careful preparations for the New Year celebration, bringing herbs and ingredients of traditional dishes from Vietnam to give the overseas Vietnamese a taste from home.

Addressing the event, Ambassador Tran Van Khoa said the annual event aims to consolidate the solidarity among the Vietnamese community in Bangladesh, thus raising their understanding of their role and responsibility as an important bridge connecting the people of the two nations, particularly when the two countries mark their 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

Numerous local friends were invited to the event, thus giving them an insight of Vietnamese tradition, culture while strengthening the friendship between the two nations.

Bangladesh is home to 100 Vietnamese, mostly Vietnamese brides, students, and technicians working for Vietnamese projects in the country. 

On February 4, crowds of Vietnamese expats in the Macau Special Administrative Region of China also gathered at a Tet celebration. The region is home to over 20,000 Vietnamese workers.

The Vietnamese communities across the Czech Republic are holding celebrations throughout the early half of February, usually at weekends to celebrate the occasion.-

Fire-fighting and rescue rehearsal held at Ca Pass tunnel

The Deo Ca (Ca Pass) management and operation company under the Deo Ca Investment JSC organised a fire rehearsal on February 5 in Ca Pass tunnel linking the central coastal provinces of Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa.

The drill was carried out based on a simulated situation that a truck caught fire due to an electrical short circuit while carrying rubber tyres inside the tunnel in the direction from Phu Yen to Khanh Hoa. 

The burnt truck blocked all the traffic in the west side of the tunnel, and the fire also injured the truck’s driver and assistant.

Upon detecting the fire, the tunnel’s Monitoring Centre decided to close both gates, preventing other means of transport entering the tunnel. Firemen and rescue force were sent to the site to put the fire under control and rescue the victims.

The fire was extinguished and the tunnel was re-opened after 20 minutes.

The fire drill is part of the plan to ensure safety for Ca Pass, particularly when the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday nears.

The Ca Pass tunnel stretches over 13 kilometres, including two bi-tube tunnels- Ca Pass tunnel (4.1 kilometres in length) and Co Ma tunnel (500 metre). Each tunnel has two sides, each of which has two lanes for vehicles travelling in the same direction at the speed of 80 kilometres per hour.

The tunnel helps solve traffic congestion, enhance traffic safety through Ca Pass and connect the two provinces to boost socio-economic development.

EU-funded World Cities project concludes in Vietnam

The World Cities project, funded by the European Union, has come to an end in Vietnam, leaving opportunities for Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to partner with foreign cities to foster inclusive growth and sustainable development.

World Cities is a 700,000 EUR (785,000 USD) project managed by the Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) of the European Commission based in Brussels, Belgium. The project originated in a Preparatory Action of the European Parliament to promote the exchange of experience and best practice between the EU and non-EU countries on the theme of territorial development with particular reference to sustainable urban development.

It facilitated the exchange of information and good practices on regional and urban development policy issues. Cooperation was based on the identification of pilot cities and the development of concrete actions, for implementation in the short-term, in areas including urban innovation (smart-city) and green technologies (energy efficiency, low carbon development).

The project was launched in Vietnam last June, in which two Vietnamese cities of Hanoi and HCM City were paired with two European cities – Milan (Italy) and Kosice (Slovakia). 

The project was a helpful initiative that provided cities in the world with opportunities to share knowledge in multiple areas, particularly sustainable development in the era of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry. 4.0), said Vo Van Hoan, chief of the Office of the HCM City People’s Committee.

Leaders of HCM City and Kosice will meet and discuss the details of their future cooperation, he noted.

HCM City has been working on seven breakthrough programmes with focus on improving growth quality and economic competitiveness, ensuring a favourable and fair investment climate, encouraging innovation and startups, and speeding up administrative reform and smart city building.

The project’s ending brings in a new start as involved parties are developing cooperation plans in suitable areas, according to Ramon Lopez, DG REGIO International Relations Officer.

Vietnamese expats in US, UK celebrate Tet

The Vietnamese Embassy in the United States has recently held a get-together for nearly 300 Vietnamese people living in the country to celebrate the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) festival, which falls in mid-February this year.

Addressing the event, Ambassador Pham Quang Vinh wished overseas Vietnamese a new year of happiness and prosperity.

He informed them of Vietnam’s new developments, thanking for their sentiments towards the homeland and their contributions to the country’s growth and its comprehensive partnership with the US.

Vinh affirmed that in the context of the US’s new administration, the bilateral ties continue to develop in all fields and see new cooperation opportunities, especially after Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s US visit in May 2017 and US President Donald Trump’s visit to Vietnam to attend the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in November 2017.

In 2018, the two countries will work together to deepen the relations as well as regional and international cooperation, for the interests of each country, and for peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and the world, he added.

On February 4, over 400 Vietnamese people living in the United Kingdom and international friends gathered at the Vietnamese Embassy in the country to welcome the Year of the Dog.

Ambassador Tran Ngoc An called on Vietnamese expats to contribute to promoting the image of Vietnam’s land and people to international friends.

Health sector works to enhance herbal medicine-based treatment

The Ministry of Health will work to increase medical examinations and treatment using herbal medicine.

According to the ministry, 57 out of 63 localities have hospitals using herbal medicine in treatment.

The treatment with herbal medicine has gradually risen over the years, with the method used in 4.1 percent, 11.7 percent and 13.4 percent of total cases in central, provincial and district levels, respectively.

In 2017, the sector continued developing and completing a legal framework on traditional medicine in terms of herbal medicine processing methods, list of herbal materials, among others.

Local herbal materials were developed to ensure supply for traditional medicine institutions while increasing supervisions to improve the quality of herbal materials at health care facilities and shops.

The Ministry inspected examinations and treatment at traditional medicine hospitals in Lang Son, Bac Giang, Hoa Binh provinces, and Ho Chi Minh City, and evaluated the treatment quality at central hospitals.

It also worked closely with the National Steering Committee No. 389 on combating smuggling, commercial frauds and counterfeit goods in the sector.

A number of models were piloted to enhance the skills of herbal medicine treatment, such as training volunteers providing primary health care services based on traditional medicine in Thanh Tri district, Hanoi, and bettering acupuncture treatment skills at a communal health care station in Thanh Mien district, Hai Duong province.

Workshops were conducted to seek measures for the development of herbal medicine.

However, the quality of examinations and treatment based on herbal medicine has yet to meet the increasing demand of people, while the combination of herbal medicine and modern medicine remained ineffective in some places.

Therefore, in the coming time, the sector will continue completing the State management system in term of herbal medicine at all levels, aiming to ensure all provincial health departments will have staff in charge of this medicine.

Focus will be put on expanding the service network, raising examination and treatment quality, training human resources at all levels.

Two additional provincial traditional medicine hospitals will be built in 2018. 

Treatment with herbal medicine combined with modern medicine will be improved, raising the rate of people using the services to 10 percent, 15 percent and 20 percent, and 35 percent of total cases in central, provincial, district, and communal levels, respectively.

The sector will instruct relevant bodies, agencies, and health care institutions to inspect the quality of treatment services and herbal materials and medicine production.

Combating smuggling, commercial fraud and counterfeit goods of herbal materials will be strengthened in a number of provinces and cities.

Em to take charge at Sài Gòn FC

Sài Gòn FC announced the hiring of former national team midfielder Phan Văn Tài Em as their head coach at the weekend.

Tài had agreed to leave Long An FC at the end of last season to work as Lư Đình Tuấn’s assistant at Sài Gòn FC, the latter seeming set to leave HCM City FC to take up the position.

But Tuấn in the last minutes refused the position, then the club tapped Tài, 35, as the head coach, replacing his former teammate Nguyễn Đức Thắng.

The team hope to sign goalkeeper coach Nguyễn Đức Cảnh, who just finished a successful tournament with the national under-23 squad in China, to fill out their coaching ranks.

The club will hold a ceremony to introduce their new head coach later this week.

Sài Gòn FC finished fifth in the 2017 V.League season.

Tú, Trang claim Elite Table Tennis Tournament trophies

The second Elite Table Tennis Tournament found a new champion on wrapping up in Hà Nội on Sunday.

On the last day of competition, national squad teammates Nguyễn Anh Tú of Hà Nội T&T defeated Nguyễn Đức Tuân of Hải Dương Province 4-2 to take the men’s singles trophy and a bonus of VNĐ60 million (US$2,700).

It was the second time in a row that Tuân had failed in a final. Last year, he lost to Lê Tiến Đạt of the military team. Đạt was earlier eliminated in the quarter-final round.

On the women’s side, Mai Hoàng Mỹ Trang from HCM City beat Nguyễn Thị Nga of Hà Nội 4-0 to top the ranking and win $2,700.

This event marked the first time the organisers had created a category for female players.