1.3 tonnes of ivory to be investigated

On Thursday, Sài Gòn Habour Gate’s Zone 1 Customs Branch, under HCM City Customs Department, launched an official investigation into the shipment of 1.3 tonnes of ivory.

This is the sixth ivory shipment being transported through District 2’s Cát Lái Habour Gate from the beginning of 2017 pending investigation.

On September 6, Sài Gòn Habour Gate’s Zone 1 Customs Branch collaborated with the Ministry of Public Security and HCM City Police to inspect two suspicious containers.

After examining 100 barrels of asphalt, the functional forces found 1.3 tonnes of ivory covered with sawdust and plaster.

The containers of the Empire – Group Company Limited in Phú Nhuận District transited in Việt Nam on the way to Cambodia.

Côn Sơn–Kiếp Bạc Autumn Festival starts in Hải Dương

A ceremony to commemorate the 717th anniversary of national hero Trần Hưng Đạo (1300-2017) and open the Côn Sơn – Kiếp Bạc Autumn Festival has been held in Chí Linh District in the northern province of Hải Dương.

The festival aims to promote the values of Côn Sơn- Kiếp Bạc national relics as well as contribute to improving the awareness of  local people in preserving and promoting the values of the national heritage.

Many activities mark the festival, including a ceremony praying for peace, a festival of flower garlands, traditional boat racing, Hải Dương Province’s seventh Water Puppetry Festival and folk games.

The highlight of this year’s festival is to pay tribute to Trần Hưng Đạo, who has been proclaimed a saint in traditional belief. The event has attracted the participation of art troupes from Hà Nội, HCM City and Cẩm Giàng and Bình Giang districts in Hải Dương Province.

At the opening of the event, the vice-chairman of the province’s People Committee, Lương Văn Cầu, delivered a speech recalling the life and career of the national hero.

Born in around 1228, Supreme Commander Trần Hưng Đạo, also known as Great King of Hưng Đạo, was a talented military leader and an excellent writer. Under the Trần Dynasty (1225-1400), he commanded the Đại Việt (Great Việt) armies to victories over three major Mongolian invasions, making him one of the most accomplished military strategists in world history. He died on the twentieth day of the eighth lunar month in 1300 at the age of 70.

Trần Hưng Đạo is honoured as a saint in Việt Nam. He is considered a bright example of patriotism and his worship has become part of the nation’s folk religion.To commemorate the hero, residents built Kiếp Bạc temple, which was recognised as a national heritage site in 1962 and a special national heritage site in 2012. 

Covering an area of more than eight hectares in Chí Linh Town, the Côn Sơn- Kiếp Bạc historical site is closely associated with the life and career of Trần Hưng Đạo and also of great poet Nguyễn Trãi (1380-1442) who was recognised as a Great Man of Culture of the World by Unesco in 1980. 

The Côn Sơn - Kiếp Bạc Spring and Autumn Festivals were recognised as national intangible cultural heritage in 2012. The Autumn Festival will last until October 9.

HCM City’s water puppet troupe performs at Mekong Festival in Taipei

The Rồng Vàng Water Puppet Troupe of HCM City has entered the Traditional Arts- Mekong River Festival, which opened on October 2 in Taipei, Taiwan.

The troupe will offer a series of two and three-act plays based on traditional legends, including Tễu ( Uncle Tễu), Đánh Cá Trên Sông (Fishing on the River) and Bác Ba Phi (Uncle Ba Phi).

These performances combine the traditional genres of circus and puppetry as well as traditional music.

Folk dances, called kim liên tài tử (lotus dance), will also be featured.

People’s Artist Vương Tấn Lợi will talk about the art of Vietnamese water puppetry and puppet sculpture after every show.

The nine-day festival attracts traditional art troupes from five countries, including Việt Nam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar.

Opened in 2015, the private Rồng Vàng Puppet Troupe has worked with local and foreign tourist agencies in the city to introduce their art to visitors. They have also co-operated with many schools in the region to offer free shows for students.

The troupe has participated in many cultural exchanges and art festivals at home and abroad.

This year, they toured to Korea and the US.

Mekong Delta focuses on disease prevention in animals

As the flood season continues in the Mekong Delta region, fears of epidemics in cattle and poultry has led to a focus on disease prevention.

This has led the An Giang Province Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary to set up disease-free poultry breeding areas. The provincial People’s Committee has also approved a 2017-20 plan to controll outbreaks.

Authorities have prepared a step-by-step plan to eradicate the avian-flu pandemic, ensure the safety of livestock and poultry, maintain human health and preserve the ecological environment.

According to the department, the situation is stable. The main ongoing problems are sun-stroke and loss of appetite among animals and poultry. This has been addressed by veterinarians. There were no cases of serious diseases such as foot and mouth disease, blue ear or avian flu.

The total number of infected animals and poultry was 7,926, of which 262 died - a cure rate of  97 per cent.

Workers at animal breeding centres and veterinarians are closely monitoring stock for any outbreak of disease.

Under the 2017-20 plan, local authorities have vaccinated against bird flu, foot-and-mouth disease and blue ear. They have also disinfected areas for poultry breeding, trading and slaughtering.

The department will co-ordinate with localities to further manage the transport and slaughter of animals. This is aimed at controlling the illegal slaughter of cattle and poultry to ensure food hygiene.

Lê Thanh Tùng, director of Vĩnh Long Province’s Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department, said "The monitoring of diseases in animals is being carried out strictly. Pets are fully vaccinated, so there is very little chance of disease. Disease outbreak is handled in a timely manner, so there is no spread or serious damage.

“Since the beginning of this year, more than seven million chickens and ducks have been vaccinated against avian influenza. Bird flu was reported in only a small number of households.

"As awareness of disease has increased among livestock breeders, they have become more proactive in preventing disease. Most farmers actively vaccinate their poultry," he said.

According to Tùng, many years ago, ducklings bred in the field were at the risk of spreading A H5N1 influenza due to the habit of ducks moving in flocks from one place to another, making it difficult to manage diseases.

At present, ducks bred in the field are managed by the local animal department. Poultry are vaccinated, reducing the fear of disease. Department statistics show that more than 2.5 million live ducks were treated.

Women use micro-credit to beat poverty

Preferential microfinance loans have helped improve the lives of more than 140,000 poor and low income women and their families over the last 25 years.

The women from 12 northern and north-central provinces received preferential loans from the Tình Thương One Member Limited Liability Microfinance Institution (TYM) set up by the Việt Nam Women’s Union.

The loans helped the women start businesses and increase incomes, improving their status within the family and society as large, TYM general director Dương Thị Ngọc Linh said on Friday.

Speaking at a function held to celebrate the institution’s 25th anniversary, Linh said TYM originated from the Tình Thương Fund launched by the Việt Nam Women’s Union in 1992 to join the Government’s hunger elimination and poverty reduction programme while improving women’s status within and outside their families.

“To build on its positive impact, the project was continued and formalized into a professional credit institution,” she said.

Over the last 25 years, TYM has given more than 1.3 million loans worth VNĐ10.6 trillion (US$495 million). to more than 141,000 clients. It has outstanding loans of VNĐ1 trillion ($48 million) at present.

TYM’s clients are typically women from poor, near-poor and low-income households, and micro-enterprises. TYM also pays special attention to supporting ethnic minority women, and those who are living with disabilities or those affected by HIV/AIDS.

Lê Thị Dạn, of Đức Hiệp Commune in the northern province of Hưng Yên said that she first borrowed VNĐ1 million from TYM in 2003 to buy 100 ducks.

“I earned VNĐ3 million after raising and selling the ducks and I continued to borrow from TYM,” Dạn said, adding that she was borrowing VNĐ50million now to breed poultry and grow orange, longan and grapefruit.

“The farming helps generate about VNĐ50-80 million yearly to my family,” she said.

Lê Anh of Cửa Lò District in the central province of Nghệ An said that it was very difficult for her to get loans, even from Việt Nam Bank for Social Policies, because her family had nothing to mortage.

In 2011, Lê Anh got a loan of VNĐ5 million from TYM to buy four pigs. She was able to invest the funds well and expand her farming. She now plans to open a food stall and seafood restaurant.

Anh said that TYM allowed them to borrow money and return part of the loan every week. Moreover, people could send small sums of money, even VNĐ10,000, to their saving accounts at TYM any time, and this helped form the habit of saving, she said.

Dạn and Lê Anh also said that with improved family incomes, they were more positive and confident about expanding production and joining other social organisations like local People’s Council, Women’s Association or Red Cross.

Nguyễn Thái Hà, chairman of the Mỏ Chè Commune People’s Committee in Thái Nguyên Province, said that once local women began getting TYM’s loans, they did not have to leave their hometowns to seek jobs elsewhere, and had more time to take care of their families and join social activities.

Nguyễn Thị Hà, chairwoman of the Nam Định Women’s Association, said lending to women was an effective way to empower them and ensure social security in the local community.

In 2011, Dương Thị Tuyết, a TYM member from the northern province of Nam Định, was one of six micro-entrepreneurs honoured internationally with the Global Micro-Entrepreneur Award for her copper molding business.

Spratly Island soldiers get green fingers

For the soldiers who are charged with safeguarding the country’s sovereignty on the Spratly Archipelago in the East Sea, life outside the training ground is not so different from that of a farmer.

One of the soldiers’ primary concerns is the lack of vegetable in their diet. A lack of greens in one’s diet for an extended period of time will result in a deficiency of vitamins and minerals, malnutrition, digestive complications and numerous other health problems. It is, therefore, one of the army’s priorities to ensure soldiers are provided with enough vegetables.

Shipping vegetables is out of the question due to the long journey to the island, so the only option left for the soldiers is to grow the veggies themselves. However, extremely harsh weather conditions of the islands make it a particularly challenging task.

With soil and fertiliser delivered from the mainland, the soldiers utilise every single spot suitable to grow vegetables on the islands. Factors such as sunlight, wind, heat and humidity must be considered, the soil must be enriched and types of vegetable carefully chosen to ensure productivity. Soldiers also raise small farm animals such as ducklings and fish to improve their daily menu.

To many of them, gardening after hours spent training helps relax the mind and makes the soldiers feel connected to their home towns. Somewhere on the mainland, their families may be doing the exact same things in their home garden.

HCM City pilots one-stop shop for construction permits

Trần Vĩnh Tuyến, deputy chairman of HCM City’s People’s Committee, has the piloting of a one-stop shop for the licensing of construction permits for six months beginning on October 5.

All administrative steps for approval of construction permits will be implemented by the city’s Department of Construction. Individuals and organisations only need to submit documents, and later receive the results at the department.

The wait time for receiving results will be cut from 122 to 42 working days, according to the department.

Party Central Committee discusses reform of public non-business agencies

The Party Central Committee discussed in groups a project on renewing the management and financial mechanisms and re-arranging the system of public non-business agencies, in the morning of October 7. 

The discussions were part of the sixth plenary meeting of the 12th Party Central Committee, which opened on October 4. 

The committee takes one and a half day off from the afternoon of October 7 and will resume the meeting on Monday (October 9).  

The plenum is scheduled to last until October 11.

Vietnamese alumni in Laos meet up

Nearly 100 Vietnamese alumni and over 60 teachers at the National University of Laos (NUL) gathered in Vientiane on October 6. 

The event was meant to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of Lao Teachers’ Day (October 7), the 55th anniversary of Vietnam-Laos diplomatic ties (September 5), the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Vietnam-Laos Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (July 18). 

Speaking at the event, chief representative of the Vietnam Rubber Corporation in Laos and a former student of the 1986-1989 course Duong Dinh Bang said over the past decades, generations of Vietnamese students have studied at the NUL and many other universities in Laos. Many graduates are holding important positions in Vietnamese ministries and agencies, or at representative offices of Vietnamese agencies and Vietnam-Laos joint-ventures in Laos. 

On behalf of the former students, Bang pledged to do his best to foster traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries. 

Dean of the NUL’s Faculty of Letters Aloun Silattanakoun expressed his wish that the alumni would exert their most efforts to further tighten the everlasting Laos - Vietnam ties.-

Over 124,000 Soc Trang households escape poverty

Over 124,000 households in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang have escaped poverty thanks to State preferential loans over the past 15 years. 

The information was released by Duong Dinh Lang, Director of the Soc Trang branch of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) at a conference reviewing the 15 years of implementing the Government’s Decree No.78/2002/ND-CP on credit for poor people and other beneficiaries of State preferential welfare policies and the bank’s operation.

The bank has provided preferential loans for over 471,000 poor households and welfare policy beneficiaries and 11 cooperatives, thus helping reduce the rate of poor households in the locality by over 2.5 percent annually and create jobs for over 123,000 labourers.

As of the end of August, the branch’s total capital exceeded 3 trillion VND (132.66 million USD) while outstanding loans totalled over 3 trillion VND. The rate of bad debt fell from 26.61 percent in 2002 to 6.67 percent.

Dutch organisation helps Vietnam with sustainable development

Vietnamese Ambassador to the Netherlands Ngo Thi Hoa has called on PUM, a non-profit organisation of the Netherlands committed to sustainable development of small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries and emerging markets, to turn its eyes towards poor and remote localities in Vietnam.

At a reception for PUM’s Country Coordinator in Vietnam Sven Dekker and PUM’s Country Project Officer Kim Nagtegaal on October 5, Hoa suggested the organisation pay special heed to disadvantaged groups like women and farmers to help them access business opportunities and improve livelihoods. 

She also urged PUM to implement education and livelihoods projects in Vietnam. 

The ambassador applauded the organisation for its active and sustainable activities to support SMEs in Vietnam. 

The Vietnamese Embassy in the Netherlands will closely coordinate with PUM to roll out more projects in Vietnam, she pledged. 

Sven Kekker said PUM has 150 representative offices in more than 30 countries worldwide. With 30 years of operation in Vietnam, PUM has carried out about 100 small-scale projects in the country each year, focusing on vocational training, agriculture, start-up and tourism.  

PUM has also sent experts to Vietnam to help the country implement new projects sustainably. 

PUM has been present in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, the central city of Da Nang, the Central Highlands city of Da Lat, the Mekong Delta and adjacent areas, he said.

EVN, World Bank promote gender equality

The Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) group and the World Bank (WB) organised a technical discussion in Hanoi on October 6 to highlight the importance of gender equality in Vietnam’s energy sector.

Speaking at the event, Khuat Quang Mau, Chairman of EVN Trade Union, said the group is committed to promoting gender equality and providing a working environment that is beneficial and rewarding for female and male employees alike.

The commitment will help EVN meet its goals for productivity, skills and customer service, by ensuring that all employees, regardless of gender, can develop their talents and perform to their fullest capacity, Mau added.

Among main activities under the joint EVN – WB project is the launch of a new leadership programme for women, designed to enhance women’s capacity to advance to senior management positions and to raise the rate of women among the management from 12.7 percent in 2015 to 14.5 percent in 2020, which is a goal outlined in the group’s Gender Actions Plan (GAP).

Achim Fock, Portfolio and Operations Manager of the WB in Vietnam commended EVN for its proactive efforts to meet the GAP targets.

“This will not only create a more inclusive environment for EVN’s workforce, but it can also bring organizational benefits for EVN that will contribute to establish a more resilient and sustainable power sector in Vietnam,” Fock said.

EVN and WB are also considering further joint activities in support of the GAP implementation, including adjustments to human resource management procedures to ensure that women are always included on the list of candidates considered for recruitment and promotion.

Guest speakers of the discussion included Nguyen Thuy, Senior Government Affairs Manager of GE Vietnam, and Beverley Smith, Director of POWERful Women, an initiative in the UK energy sector that works to promote gender diversity in leadership roles. 

The event will be followed by a pilot “Women in Leadership” training programme for select EVN staff, which is scheduled to take place from October 9 to 13.

Da Nang conference spotlights University-Enterprise Cooperation

The University of Da Nang in the central Da Nang city hosted the international conference on “University-Enterprise Cooperation in Asia: Trends and Challenges” on October 6.

The conference was held as part of the EU-funded project “Heightening University-Business partnerships for Smart and Sustainable Growth in Asia – HUB4GROWTH”. It brought together participants from academia, business and other stakeholders interested in the interplay between education and economic development.

The organising board hoped the event will help start long-term and sustainable partnerships between universities and businesses in Vietnam and overseas; create opportunities for cooperation in research, technological transfer, and curriculum development; and enhance students’ employability.

The HUB4GROWTH project, involving four European and eight Asian universities, is responsible for providing training for lecturers and establishing University-Enterprise centres at the participating Asian universities. 

It will promote good practices for setting business interfaces in universities, enhance human resources’ capacities, provide for coherent information and communication strategies amongst the universities and within the local business environment. It will also give necessary strategic input for the creation of long-term partnerships and collaborative innovation-related initiatives with enterprises.

Conference looks to promote efficiency of public asset management

How to improve the efficiency of public asset management was tabled at a conference jointly held by the Ministry of Finance and the International Data Group, Inc. (IDG) in Hanoi on October 6.

At the event, Tran Duc Thang, Director General of the Public Asset Management Department under the Ministry of Finance stressed the need to complete legal system on public asset management and use and promote application of information technology (IT) in the field.

The Law on Management and Use of Public Assets, which will take effect from January 1, 2018, will create an important legal corridor to ensure the tight and effective management of all public assets in accordance to the 2013 constitution.

Accordingly, the law is expected to prevent waste, corruption and other violations coupled with mobilising social resources for socio-economic development, he said.

Meanwhile, Vu Danh Hiep from the Finance and Budget Committee under the National Assembly Office said that State agencies hold responsibility for securing capital sources and deciding to use them in line with their assigned missions.

They are allowed to set up joint ventures with other economic constitutions, providing that their activities are transparent.

At the conference, experts also discussed measures to apply IT in branching out national database on public assets.

Foreign countries’ IT trends used to promote public assets management effieciency were also shared at the event.

Canon Vietnam builds kindergarten in mountainous province

Canon Vietnam Co. Ltd and Vemba5 charity fund on October 7 handed over a friendship kindergarten to Khun Ha commune, Tam Duong district, the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau.

The Canon-Vemba5-San Phang Cao friendship kindergarten, part of the Khun Ha pre-school, was built under the “Canon friendship school chain” project which aims to improve the learning environment for pupils in disadvantaged mountainous areas in Vietnam.

Speaking at the hand-over ceremony, Deputy General Director of Canon Vietnam Niimura Minoru, said as children are the future owners of the country, the company has always tried its utmost to bring the best things to pupils in particular and the Vietnamese society in general.

Besides, the company also presented books, notebooks, learning tools and blankets to the school’s pupils.

The “Canon friendship school chain” project has helped build 106 new classrooms, 2 teachers’ rooms, 14 standard toilets and hand washing areas in 45 friendship schools in 19 provinces in the northern and central regions since 2007.

Canon has three production facilities in Thang Long (Hanoi) and Que Vo and Tien Son in Bac Ninh province.

HCM City run to support cancer patients

The Terry Fox Run 2017, which aims to raise funds for cancer patients, will take place on Tan Trao street, Phu My Hung urban zone, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City on November 5.

All the proceeds will be used to finance Vietnam’s projects on cancer research, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CanCham) in HCM City said at the launching ceremony on October 6.

Anony Nezic, co-chairman of the Terry Fox Run Vietnam, said the event has raised around one million USD over the past more than 20 years. The sum was used for projects on child cancer research in Vietnam, jointly implemented by CanCham, Terry Fox Vietnam, the British Columbia University in Canada, and the HCM City University of Medicine and Pharmacy.

Last year, the run raised 1.9 billion VND (83,600 USD), which was used to fund a project on cancer research at the Nhi Dong 2 Hospital in HCM City.

Terry Fox Run is a non-competitive charity event held annually in numerous countries throughout the globe to commemorate Canadian cancer activist Terry Fox, who made a Marathon of Hope across Canada to raise funds for cancer research in 1980 after losing his leg to osteosarcoma.

To date, more than 750 million USD has been collected over the world for cancer research.-

Vietnam, Japan share experience in invention commercialisation

Vietnamese and Japanese intellectual property experts gathered at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on October 6 to share experience in completing copyright system and improving the quality and comercialisation of inventions.

According to a representative from the Department of Intellectual Property under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Vietnam’s capacity to commercialise inventions remains low as inventions’ quality fails to meet the market’s demand.

Although the number of inventions and solutions submitted to Vietnam has increased, a few of which were made by domestic inventors. In 2016, patent applications by Japanese inventors were 13,578, while those by Vietnamese were 886.

Do Thien Hoang, Deputy Director of the Department of Intellectual Property’s Research and Training Centre said that applications from research institutes and universities were lower than those from individuals and enterprises.

He attributed the situation to a lack of specific guidelines in pricing, adding it takes a long time for the verification of inventions, causing a loss of investment and commercialisation opportunities.

At the same time, cooperation between inventors and businesses in commercialising inventions was still limited, he said.

Participants at the event shared the real situation in intellectual property registration, the commercialisation of inventions in Vietnam and Japan as well as the process of commercialising and developing technologies from inventions of businesses in Japan.

Japanese experts said that the intellectual property system of Japan was formed 130 years ago, while its national strategy on the field has been implemented since 2003. Therefore, Japan has been a leading country in intellectual property with 318,000 applications each year.

Kazazuo Hoshino, head of the international cooperation section of the Japan Patent Office (JPO) said that although Vietnam is 100 years behind Japan in intellectual property, the country can catch up with Japan in 5-10 years.

He held that Vietnam should make full use of its advantages and learn from other countries’ experience.

In recent years, Vietnam and Japan has organised many joint activities in improving the quality of verification of patent applications. In April 2016, the two sides launched a Patent Prosecution Highway project basing on verification results of JPO. 

JPO has also trained 621 Vietnamese intellectual property experts and sent 92 specialists to Vietnam to give technical support.

Vietnam aims for medals at world skills contest

Vietnam is aiming for medals at the 44th World Skills Competition (WSC 2017) from October 8-20 in the United Arab Emirates, an official has said.

Speaking at a Hanoi ceremony on October 7 to send off 13 Vietnamese competitors to the event, Deputy Director General of the General Department of Vocational Training under the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Cao Van Sam, who is also Head of the delegation, said the team pins hope on CNC milling, programming, brick laying and plumbing.

The competitors have been well-trained by experienced domestic and foreign experts, Sam said.

As many as 1,258 competitors from 58 countries and territories worldwide will be competing in 51 occupations, including 49 official occupations and two performance skills during this year’s WSC.

This is the fifth time Vietnam participated in the competition. The country earned a bronze medal and eight medallions of excellence in 2015 the 43rd WSC in 2015.

Photos of Cuban revolutionary leader go on display

A photo exhibition featuring the life and career of Cuban revolutionary leader Che Guevarra kicked off in Hanoi on October 6 to commemorate his 50th death anniversary. 

The exhibition, entitled “Che-Constructor”, has been arranged by the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), the Vietnam-Cuba Friendship Association and the Vietnam bureau of Cuba’s Prensa Latina news agency. 

The exhibition demonstrates the affection of Vietnamese people to Che Guevarra who wholeheartedly supported Vietnam in the fight for its national re-unification. 

In his opening remarks, VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi said to Vietnamese people, Che Guevarra was known as a courageous soldier fighting for national liberation and a talented politician who always defended justice and true values of internationalism and freedom of nations. 

The photos on display offer visitors an impressive image of an enthusiastic, modest, friendly and creative person who was also a warrior, he stressed. 

The exhibition showcases 30 photos of Che Guevarra from 1959 to 1965 taken by photo journalists from Prensa Latina. The originals are preserved in archives of Prensa Latina in Havana, Cuba. 

The exhibition will run until October 13.

National Cup final: Nghệ An faces Bình Dương

Two former football champions, Sông Lam Nghệ An and Becamex Bình Dương, will face-off in the final of the National Cup, after both teams won their semi-final matches yesterday.

Sông Lam Nghệ An tied with Quảng Nam with a score of 3-3 in the second leg of their semi-final, winning 7-4 on aggregate while Bình Dương defeated SHB Đà Nẵng 2-1 yesterday, winning 5-2 on aggregate.

Sông Lam Nghệ An travelled to Quảng Nam confident about winning their match, after they won the first leg by 4-1.

Despite being the away team, the Sông Lam Nghệ An players were the ones who set pace and they took the lead through a 27th minute opener by Nigerian striker Olaha Michael.

From a counter-attack, Trần Phi Sơn left Quảng Nam’s defenders behind before passing the ball to Olaha in the penalty box, and the striker controlled the ball and turned to tap it into the net from close range, with goalkeeper Văn Cường just failing to save.

The hosts were under immense pressure as they needed to score at least four goals to level the results of the two legs, but their coach, Hoàng Văn Phúc, and his players did not give up, and the striker, Đại Dương, was sent to the field to strengthen their front line. 

The tactic subsequently worked, as Kovacevic Claudecir levelled the score just two minutes after the break with a penalty.

However, three minutes later, the visitors again led, by a score of 2-1.

Sơn once again lost the Quảng Nam defenders and passed a dangerous ball to Danko, who faced Cường in goal one-on-one, and the Montenegro player did not miss his shot.

Sông Lam Nghệ An then wasted many opportunities to increase his team’s score, before they conceded a second goal.

Phan Thanh Hưng broke into the Sông Lam Nghệ An box to meet a free kick in the 80th minute, and his powerful and straight header gave the keeper no chance.

In the last 10 minutes, Quảng Nam created consecutive opportunities to score more goals, but at the expense of their defence.

Sơn counter-attacked and passed to substitute striker Hồ Phúc Tịnh, who finished from a narrow angle to make the score 3-2 for the visitors.

However, Quảng Nam proved their fighting spirit, with the third goal by Nguyễn Văn Hậu, which he scored in the far corner of the goal after receiving a smart pass from captain Đinh Thanh Trung.

In the second leg of the second semi-final match, striker Nguyễn Anh Đức netted a goal for his club, Becamex Bình Dương, before joining the national team for the first time after many years of absence.

Earlier, SHB Đà Nẵng opened the score with a header by Đỗ Merlo in the 21st minute.

Becamex Bình Dương took seven minutes to find the equaliser, when Tô Văn Vũ burst through from the right wing into the box and netted, for a score of 1-1.

Five minutes later, Đức converted a penalty for his team’s second goal, his fifth goal at the tournament.

In the second half, Becamex Bình Dương had to play with 10 men after Tấn Tài was sent off.

However, Đà Nẵng could not make their advantage count and scored no further goals in the match.

Đức and Quế Ngọc Hải of Sông Lam Nghệ An will fly to Hà Nội to meet their national teammates and coaches, to prepare for their Asian Cup qualifier next week.

Next month, they will face each other while playing for opposing teams in the two-leg National Cup final, to be held on 25th and 30th November.