The national high school graduation exam for the academic year 2022- 2023 will take place on June 27-30. (Photo: SGGP)

Students will come to examination sites to do procedures in the afternoon of June 27 and officially take four tests on June 28-30.

On the morning of June 28, they will take a 120-minute Vietnamese Literature test. On the afternoon of the same day, they will take a 90-minute mathematics test. On the morning of June 29, they will sit for a 50-minute combined test in Natural Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, and Biology) or Social Sciences (History, Geography, and Citizen Education). On the afternoon of June 30, they will do an English test within 60 minutes.

The Ministry of Training and Education will provide exam software to localities for the examination, including management software for the national high school graduation exam, university and college entrance examination, exam marking software and multiple choice exam grading software.

Students can choose one of seven languages, including English, Russian, French, Chinese, German, Japanese and Korean.

Candidates may register for a foreign language exam that is different from the foreign language subject they are studying at high school; candidates who are students of Continuing Education are eligible to register for the foreign language exam to get the results for university and college entrance examination.

Candidates will continue to register for the exam online while freelance candidates would directly register for the exam from May 4 to 5 pm on May 13, 2023.

New COVID-19 cases rising again, particularly Omicron variant: health official

The number of new COVID-19 cases is on the rise again, with those infected with Omicron variant making up the majority, and mainly concentrating in the northern region - where the season is changing, Prof. Phan Trong Lan, Director of the Health Ministry's Department of Preventive Medicine reported at a press conference on April 13.

Statistics last week showed the number of cases had increased by nearly four times compared to the previous week. In addition, the current weather is favourable for the development of the virus, Lan said.

Based on the number of cases, COVID-19-affected areas are assessed at level 1 (low risk), Prof. Lan said.  

The elderly and people with underlying diseases, those are immunocompromised, and pregnant women are prone to severe changes and are at risk of death when infected with COVID-19, so it is necessary to get vaccinated against COVID-19 timely in accordance with the guidelines and recommendations of the MOH, he noted.

Inspection commission decides disciplinary measures against Party members

The Party Central Committee’s Inspection Commission met in Hanoi on April 12 and 13, during which it looked into disciplinary measures against some Party organisations and members.

The commission decided to issue a warning against the Party Civil Affairs Committee of the People’s Committee of the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai in the 2011-2016 tenure for its violations of the Party’s principles and regulations, lack of responsibility, and lax leadership and direction.

The Party Civil Affairs Committee let the People’s Committee and many organisations and individuals seriously violate the Party’s laws in mining activities, and some officials and Party members declare their assets dishonestly, violate the Law on Anti-corruption, show degradation of political ideology, morality and lifestyle, and violate rules for Party members.

Such violations have caused very serious consequences and great loss of State assets, triggered public concern, and adversely affected the reputation of the local Party organisation and authorities, according to the commission.

A warning was also given to Vu Dinh Thuy, member of the Standing Board of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment; and Trinh Huy Dai, former Deputy Chief Inspector of the Department of Industry and Trade, for their wrongdoings.

The commission expelled other members from the Party, including former leaders of Vietnam Apatit Limited Company and former leaders of Lao Cai province.

It proposed the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee consider and impose disciplinary measures against Nguyen Van Vinh, former member of the Party Central Committee, former Secretary of the provincial Party Committee, and former Secretary of the Party Civil Affairs Committee and former Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee.

It also proposed the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee consider and impose disciplinary measures against Doan Van Huong, former Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee, and former Secretary of the Party Civil Affairs Committee and former Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee; Nguyen Thanh Duong, former member of the Standing Board of the provincial Party Committee, former member of the Party Civil Affairs Committee and former Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee; Le Ngoc Hung, former member of the provincial Party Committee, former member of the Party Civil Affairs Committee and former Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, and former Secretary of the Party Committee and former Director of the Department of Industry and Trade; Mai Dinh Dinh, former member of the Standing Board of the provincial Party Committee and former Head of its Board for Information and Education, former Secretary of the Party Committee of Lao Cai city, and former Secretary of the Party Committee and former Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

The commission asked the Standing Board of the provincial Party Committee to handle organisations and individuals involved and make a report on the results.

Also at the meeting, the commission concluded that the Party Delegation of the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance violated working rules and organisation and operation principles of the Party, especially the rules on democratic centralism, criticism and self-criticism, and solidarity and unity within the Party; and showed a lack of responsibility, and lax leadership and management, letting the alliance and many organisastions and individuals to violate the Party’s regulations and the State’s laws in the organisation, personnel, emulation and reward work, and in the management and use of land, finance, assets and investment projects.

The Party Delegation of the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance in the 2013-2020 and 2020-2025 tenures, and the Party Committee of the alliance agency in the 2020-2025 term, along with some Party organisations and individuals must bear the responsibility.

The commission asked the Party Delegation and Party Committee of the alliance agency to coordinate in inspections over signs of violations by concerned Party organisations and members, and report them to the commission.

On this occasion, it proposed the Secretariat consider and discipline Nguyen Ngoc Anh, member of the provincial Party Committee and Chief Inspector of the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. Anh showed degradation of political ideology, morality and lifestyle, received bribes, violated the Party’s regulations and the State’s laws, as well as the rules for Party members, causing serious consequences and public concern, and adversely affecting the reputation of the Party organisation and the inspection sector.

The commission mulled over violations and wrongdoings by the Party Civil Affairs Committee of the Ministry of Information and Communications and Nguyen Manh Hung, member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Party Civil Affairs Committee and Minister of Information and Communications, in the building, issuance and implementation of working rules, State management, personnel work and the roll-out of some public investment projects.

They were asked to look back their mistakes, draw lessons, take actions to handle the violations and wrongdoings, review responsibility of relevant organisations and individuals and report results to the commission.

Transgender beauty contest organized without permission to be strictly handled

The HCMC Department of Culture and Sports will coordinate with relevant units to verify the transgender beauty contest, Miss International Queen Vietnam 2023 that was organized on April 8 without permission from authorities.
 
After investigating, the Department of Culture and Sports of the city will strictly handle the case in accordance with the law.

On March 23, the announcement of the top 20 contestants in the final of the contest was asked to cancel because the organization did not have approval from functional agencies.

Miss International Queen Vietnam is a beauty pageant for transgender women. The contest’s final night took place at a film studio in District 12 and live streamed on Facebook in the evening of April 8.

Nguyen Ha Diu Thao, 23, from Hai Duong Province was crowned Miss International Queen Vietnam 2023. The second and third places went to Nguyen Tuong San and Nguyen An Nhi.

Vietnam put in seed group No. 2 for World Cup qualifiers

The Vietnamese national football team has been placed in seed group No. 2, or Pot 2, for the qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the draw set to be held in July.

In the latest rankings announced by the global football governing body FIFA, Vietnam ranks 95th in world and 12th in Asia.

By being among the world’s top 100 and Asia’s top 20 teams, the Vietnamese national team won’t need to take part in the play-off round to progress through to the group stage of the qualifiers for both the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.

During qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the team led by head coach Philippe Troussier have been put in Pot 2 together with Uzbekistan, China, Jordan, Bahrain, Syria, Palestine, Kyrgyzstan, and Lebanon.

Elsewhere, Pot 1 sees the presence of leading teams from the Asian region, including Japan, Iran, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Oman.

Pot 3 features India, Tajikistan, Thailand, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Turkmenistan, Malaysia and two play-off winners.

Pot 4 will be made up of teams qualifying from the play-off round.

All 36 teams will be divided into nine groups, with the best two teams going to the third qualification round of the Asian region for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and making the finals of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.

Vietnam is scheduled to play in the World Cup qualifiers from mid-November to June, 2024.

Over 25,000 drivers fined for blood alcohol content violations in first 3 months

The Ho Chi Minh City Road and Railway Traffic Police Department (PC08) has just informed that the traffic order and safety in the first quarter of the year were maintained stably and the number of traffic accidents was reduced in three criteria.

From December 15, 2022 to March 14, 2023, Ho Chi Minh City recorded 394 traffic accidents, causing 146 deaths and 215 injured ones, reduced 23 percent over the same period last year.

During the period, the traffic police of Ho Chi Minh City handled over 148,220 violations of traffic orders and safety, revoked licenses of nearly 25,460 drivers; temporarily hold 285 automobiles, 30,986 motorbikes, 461 three-to-four-wheeler vehicles.

Of these, 25,260 violations were related to alcohol concentration and over 22,760 ones infringed the speed limit.

In addition, the HCMC traffic police also detected and raid 43 criminal cases in the streets to hold custody of 39 subjects, 26 means of vehicles and exhibits.

All of the cases had been handed over to functional agencies to handle in accordance with the regulations.

Hanoi Amateur Water Puppetry Festival to take place in late April

The Hanoi Amateur Water Puppet Festival 2023 will be held in late April and early May, aiming at preserving Vietnam’s unique intangible heritage and meeting the public’s demand, according to the municipal Department of Culture and Sports.

The festival, which will take place at thuy dinh (communal house on the water with decorations typical of northern Vietnamese villages) stage area at the Cultural Centre of Hanoi, is part of activities to celebrate the National Reunification Day (April 30) and May Day.

Folk puppet artisans and non-professional members of traditional water puppet troupes from all around Hanoi will join in a single water puppet show, which lasts for at least 25 minutes.

Each performance puppet show contest should re-enact glorious historical events of the nation; present the daily life and work of Vietnamese people; and promote the cultural value of Vietnam.

The event offers an opportunity for water puppet troupes to exchange experiences in traditional art performances.

Water puppetry originated in the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam around the 10th century, where almost all towns and villages have communal ponds, which were used as the puppet show stage.

Thach That and Dao Thuc villages in Hanoi and Rach and Nguyen Xa villages in the nearby provinces of Nam Dinh and Thai Binh are some of the earliest known centres of water puppetry.

Traditionally, water puppetry performances portray the daily life of Vietnamese farmers (cultivating, tending buffalo, and catching fish), communal entertainment (swimming races and dragon dancing), or historical legends (like Le Loi returning the precious sword to the Golden Turtle in Hoan Kiem Lake) appealing to audiences for centuries.

Ninh Binh promotes tourism combined with bear preservation

A seminar on tourism development associated with bear conservation was held in the northern province of Ninh Binh on April 12 by Bear Sanctuary Ninh Binh, gathering representatives of the provincial Tourism Association, travel agencies and accommodation facilities.

Addressing the event, Ngo Thi Mai Huong, Director of Save Vietnam's Wildlife (SVW), said she wishes to promote connection and cooperation to build sustainable tourism products, thus creating a unique image of Ninh Binh tourism in the eyes of tourists.

According to Huong, Bear Sanctuary Ninh Binh is home to 47 bears that were kept in captivity and illegally traded to harvest their bile.

The establishment welcomed over 10,000 visitors, including international tourists, groups from schools and families, in 2022. Visitors can join education activities to raise public awareness of animal welfare and conservation when they visit the facility, she said.

Participants focused their discussion on orientations for exploiting and developing tourism products, education programmes being implemented as well as the possibility of cooperation in tourism development at Bear Sanctuary Ninh Binh.

Tourism development must be associated with raising awareness of environmental protection, they emphasised, adding that it is necessary to integrate experience and eco-tourism tours with activities to raise public awareness of wildlife products, and single-use plastic items.

Bear Sanctuary Ninh Binh is a project initiated by FOUR PAWS - a global animal welfare organisation. This is the only place that has a bear exhibition combined with a sightseeing route where visitors can enjoy a panoramic view of the facility from above.

Located near Cuc Phuong National Park, the sanctuary allows greater governmental enforcement of the existing laws prohibiting the abuse of bears for bile extraction by providing a place for any confiscated or voluntarily handed over bears to be taken care of appropriately. It is an attractive destination oriented towards sustainable tourism and wildlife protection.

Circular economy for plastics needs consensus of stakeholders: seminar

 To promote the circular economy for plastics, it requires a consensus of all stakeholders, from plastic producers and plastic waste management companies to the community, heard a seminar in Hanoi on April 12.

The seminar formed part of activities within the annual conference of the working group implementing the Vietnam National Plastic Action Partnership, which took place the same day.

In his opening remarks, Le Ngoc Tuan, head of the International Cooperation Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, stressed that the circular economy has been seen as a solution to plastic pollution.

He also stressed the need to adopt a comprehensive approach, both nationally and globally, to spur the circular economy for plastics, citing cooperation mechanisms between countries and incentives in plastic pollution settlement.

Countries should upgrade their technological infrastructure to encourage businesses and the private sector to embark on long-term investment, the official continued.

The working group reported that the accumulative volume of plastics that is not properly managed in Vietnam is expected to pile up to 3.15 million tonnes in 2030 from 1.53 million tonnes in 2018 according to a normal scenario. This will lead to a significant increase in plastic waste leakage.

If the current pace of waste collection and treatment is maintained, the estimated amount of plastic discharged into the environment each year will rise from about 182,000 tonnes in 2018 to 373,000 tonnes in 2030.

The participants looked into the current situation of plastic waste in Vietnam, and identified key actions that need to be taken. These include raising consumer awareness of sustainable packaging, promoting the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), green financing for recycling projects, and raising localities’ capacity in plastic and solid waste management.

Sea turtle nesting season starts at Con Dao National Park

The sea turtle nesting season has started at the Con Dao National Park, the first in Vietnam to have successfully carried out a turtle conservation programme.

The waters surrounding Con Dao archipelago, off the southern province of Ba Ria - Vung Tau, record four turtle species, namely the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), and loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta).

The number of green sea turtles laying eggs in Con Dao is the biggest in Vietnam. Eighteen of the park’s beaches are nesting grounds covering about 24ha, and five of them have seen over 150 turtle arrivals coming to lay eggs annually – Bai Cat Lon and Bai Duong on Bay Canh Island, Cau Island, Tai Island, and Tre Lon Island.

All the species are currently on the brink of extinction and have been named in the Vietnam Red Data Book and the world’s list of threatened species. The country prohibits any hunting, catching, trading, transporting, or using the reptile and related products.

Studies by the park’s division for conservation and international cooperation show that the green sea turtle, about 93cm long, 84cm wide and 90kg in weight, nests all year round, with the peak season from May to October.

In the first four months of 2023, sea turtles have dug 50 nests to lay eggs in the park. Meanwhile, 134 nests, including those created in late 2022, have hatched. The forest protection force, volunteers, and tourists have released more than 8,000 baby turtles into the sea so far this year.

From 1993 to 2022, 11,643 turtles came to the park’s beaches to lay eggs. As many as 31,400 nests with 2,898,640 eggs were saved and successfully hatched while 2,238,597 baby turtles were released to the nature. The rate of hatched and released animals surpassed 80%, according to statistics of the Con Dao National Park.

The park has attached tracking devices to 10 mother animals. Results show that the green sea turtles laying eggs in Con Dao travel to search for food in the waters off Phu Quy and Truong Sa (Spratly) of Vietnam, Palawan province of the Philippines, Sihanoukville city of Cambodia, Pahang state of Malaysia, and the Natuna Islands of Indonesia.

It has also attached tracking tags to over 5,750 turtles laying eggs in Con Dao to monitor their behaviours and morphology. Findings show that each individual digs three nests each breeding season and return to Con Dao to lay eggs every three years. Each nest contains about 90 eggs which will hatch after about 55 days.

Here in the park, the forest protection force goes on patrol to protect the 18 nesting beaches every night, when turtles often come to lay eggs. They have also cleaned the beaches regularly to create conditions for nesting.

After being laid, all the eggs will be moved to a designated site to avoid adverse human and natural impacts and ensure a high hatching rate.

The Con Dao National Park was the first place in Vietnam to have successfully carried out a sea turtle conservation programme. It records about 450 coming to lay eggs and over 150,000 baby animals released to the wild each year.

In January 2009, it was recognised as the place hatching and releasing the biggest number of baby turtles to the sea in Vietnam.

Sa Pa named among 5 destinations for a healthy and happy trip: Booking.com

Conquering Fansipan Peak from the resort town of Sa Pa is one of the favourite experiences of tourists in the world to improve their physical strength, according to a hotel booking app covering 220 countries and territories.

Sa Pa is the only representative of Vietnam in the list of the world's five destinations that are most loved by sports enthusiasts, said Booking.com, 

Coming there, visitors are not only satisfied with the natural scenery but also have an opportunity to practice sports and improve their health.

Standing 3,143 m above the sea level, Fansipan is the highest peak in the Hoang Lien Son range and is known as the "Roof of Indochina".

Tourists who choose Sa Pa as their favourite destination also point out that in addition to climbing, this place also has many things that are attractive to them such as fresh air and unique cuisine. It is also an ideal place to explore the traditional culture of local residents.

The other four destinations are Lake Michigan, the US, with the experience of being a mermaid; Mumbai, India, with a laughter yoga class on Chowpatty beach; Auckland, New Zealand, with a dog yoga class to relieve stress; and Gothenburg, Sweden, picking up litter when hiking to protect the environment.

The ranking was based on a survey with the participation of more than 24,000 adults from 32 countries and territories who select destinations that both have beautiful scenery and offer experiences that help travelers improve their health and they enjoy these places.

1.2 million phone users face having SIM cards two-way locked

About 1.2 million mobile phone subscribers will have their SIM cards two-way locked from Saturday if they do not provide accurate personal information.

If the SIM card is two-way locked, users cannot make or receive phone calls and messages.

Nguyen Phong Nha, deputy head of the Vietnam Telecommunications Authority, said that 1.67 million subscribers with unverified information have been one-side locked since the end of last month.

They are not allowed to make phone calls or send text messages.

From April 1 to 10, 394,000 mobile phone subscribers had their information verified following the Ministry of Information and Communications plan.

There remain about 1.2 million unverified subscribers.

Those with unverified information will have their mobile phone numbers withdrawn on May 15.

Mobile users are advised to follow the verification request to avoid being locked. Subscribers can text 'TTTB' to number 1414 without fees to know if the subscription is verified or not.

Vietnam has about 126 million mobile subscribers.

Digital art space to open in Hue 
 
A digital art space called SốngLab will open in May in the city of Huế, bringing visitors a multidisciplinary space integrating technology, art, entertainment, and education.

Covering an area of over 1,000sq.m, SốngLab is the first digital art space in Việt Nam that will offer visitors a chance to experience digital art in a large area. 

The space, which is jointly organised by Dương Đỗ, founder of Toong co-working space network, and visual artist Tùng Monkey, with the participation of many Vietnamese visual and sound artists, holds the promise of a uniquely elevated living experience for all visitors. 

SốngLab plans to welcome the public by May 2023, and is devoted to becoming a source of pride and renewed connections for Huế residents, as well as a remarkable attraction for domestic and international tourists.

The opening of this digital art space plays a meaningful role as this year also commemorates 30 years of the Huế Citadel Relics complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site. In that vein, a next-gen entertainment and art space, equipped with avant-garde technologies and taking shape right at the centre of the former royal capital city, will be not only the pride of local residents but also an outstanding tourism product for national and international tourists, helping elevate the tourism landscape of Huế and Việt Nam in general.

As curators, Tùng Monkey and The Visual 084 have been working with talented emerging visual artists including Dustin Ngô, Minh Nhật, Cường Nguyễn, Julian Tuấn, Kyunri Vien, Ngọc Quý, and Travis Cohantz.

Together, they are telling unique visual stories in the Huế-based digital art space. Audiences will get to be immersed in breathtaking experiences powered by state-of-the-art 3D mapping technologies, the same technologies that enabled large-scale art installations at Changi Airport and Marina Bay in Singapore. 

Dương Đỗ, creative director and manager executive of SốngLab, says that he feels lucky to be supported by and collaborating with Tùng Monkey, as well as so many artists and artisans in Huế, Hà Nội and HCM City throughout the journey of building the 9,000sq.m commercial and entertainment complex SốngPlatform, the new heart at the heart of Huế.

SốngPlatform is a big leap in Đỗ’s grand vision to design a complete ecosystem for work, leisure, pleasure, art, shopping, cuisine, and education, which he started by founding Toong co-working space back in 2015. SốngPlatform is working at full capacity to open its doors by May 2023. 

Around 7,000 runners to take part in Bà Đen Mountain Marathon

Around 7,000 runners will take part in the Bà Đen Mountain Marathon in Tây Ninh Province on April 22-23.

Participants will compete in four distances of 5km, 10km, 21km and 42km in the event with the message "Legendary run".

The event was first introduced in the 2021 season, however, it was not held last year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year's second edition promises to continue to be a sports and tourism festival of the province.

The event has a very beautiful running track.

Runners will run through the areas around Bà Đen Mountain and the most beautiful places in Tây Ninh. The competition route connects the suburbs and the city, allowing athletes to immerse themselves in nature, away from crowded areas.

Bà Đen Mountain is known as the "roof of the south" with an altitude of 986m. The area at the foot of the mountain will be the starting and finishing points of all distances.

This year, athletes will be able to admire a new category that was not available in 2021: a Buddha statue on the top of Bà Đen Mountain. In 2021, the statue was not completed.

Another special feature for runners competing in the 42km and 21km is that the track will go through Núi Đá Lake of Ma Thiên Lãnh Valley. This is a tourist destination that is still very unspoiled in Tây Ninh. Núi Đá Lake is famous for its jade-like clear blue water and surrounded by majestic cliffs on all sides.

In addition, the 42km track continues to take athletes through the Tây Ninh Holy See, a sacred symbol of the Cao Đài religion, a must-visit landmark when coming to Tây Ninh. 

Malaysia seeks to attract more Vietnamese tourists

The Malaysian tourism agencies held seminars on April 11 - 12 to promote the diversity of the country’s tourism products to Vietnamese tourists, and launch the Visit Melaka Year 2024 campaign.

Nor Hayati Zainuddin, director of the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Agency, affirmed Vietnam is one of Malaysia's important tourism markets, saying since Malaysia opened its borders on April 1, 2022, it has welcomed over 173,000 Vietnamese travelers.

Malaysia received up to 400,000 Vietnamese visitors in 2019 before COVID-19 broke out, proving Vietnam is a potential tourism market, she said, revealing Malaysia has set a target of attracting 300,000 Vietnamese tourists this year.

Currently, there are 131 direct flights from Vietnam to Malaysia with over 23,400 seats on offer per week. The Malaysian side expects this figure to increase to meet the increasing travel demand between the two countries.

Along with the capital of Kuala Lumpur, other Malaysian cities are also seeking measures to lure more Vietnamese tourists, including Melaka city in Melaka state which is located roughly 125km from capital Kuala Lumpur.

In 2019, the Vietnamese market ranked fifth in terms of international visitors to Melaka state.

The Visit Melaka Year 2024 campaign aims to honour the diversity of culture in Melaka state and promote it as a tourist attraction in Malaysia.

Monument built to commemorate 13 rescue members in Thua Thien-Hue 
 
The central province of Thua Thien-Hue Military Command started construction of a monument on Wednesday to commemorate 13 rescue members who died while searching for flood victims in Phong Dien District in October 2020.

A monument is being built to commemorate 13 rescue members who died while searching for flood victims in Phong Dien District in October 2020.

The VND 6.5 billion monument was funded from the province's budget.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony, vice chairman of Thua Thien-Hue Provincial People's Committee, Nguyen Thanh Binh said that the deaths of 13 military rescue team members showed their determination and dedication to protect people in need.

The 13 were part of a 21-member rescue team that was sent to verify reports of 10 workers buried by a landslide near the Rao Trang 3 Hydropower Plant deep in the jungle in Phong Dien District on October 13, 2020.

The 13, including Nguyen Van Man, Deputy Commander of the Vietnam People's Army Military Region 4, and several soldiers and officials, were buried by another landslide that struck at midnight that day while they were resting at a forest rangers station. Eight others managed to escape.

Binh Duong’s Tan Uyen town upgraded to city
 
Tan Uyen Town, with a population of around 466,000 people, has become the fourth city in the southern province of Binh Duong, the local media reported.

Binh Duong’s government held a ceremony to announce a resolution of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on the establishment of Tan Uyen City this morning, April 12.

Following the establishment of Tan Uyen City, Binh Duong Province now has four cities, one town, four districts.

Tan Uyen is located in the southeast of Binh Duong Province, covering an area of ​​192 square kilometers. It borders Thu Dau Mot, Thuan An, Di An, Bac Tan Uyen District, and Dong Nai Province.

Tan Uyen leads the industrial development of Binh Duong Province, with two industrial parks and three small-scale industrial zones.

It has 1,866 domestic businesses with total registered capital of over VND32.5 trillion and 637 foreign-invested companies capitalized at a combined US$5.2 billion.

Over the past 10 years, Tan Uyen has recorded an average economic growth rate of 13% per year.

Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra said that Tan Uyen is a center of industry and services, with a significant role in promoting the economic, social and urban development of Binh Duong.

Low proportion of trained workers restricts Mekong Delta’s economic growth

The Mekong Delta has a low proportion of trained workers. This disadvantageous factor can be a barrier that restricts the economic growth of provinces in the region.

Human resources, especially high-quality human resources play an important role in the development of the economy. Although in recent years, the central government has issued many policies to promote education in the Mekong Delta, high-quality human resources for development in the region are still limited.

According to the annual economic report of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) - Can Tho Branch, as of June 2022, the Mekong Delta has about 10 million employees, but the proportion of trained workers accounts for only 14.9 percent and the proportion of the labor force with university degrees or higher accounts for only 6.8 percent, which is lowest in the country. Meanwhile, the proportion of workers with university training in the Southeast region is more than 16 percent and it is 14.5 percent in the Red River Delta region.

Professor Nguyen Thanh Phuong, Chairman of the Can Tho University Council, said that the Mekong Delta has the lowest proportion of trained workers as well as workers with university degrees. Therefore, in order to achieve the goal that the proportion of trained laborers will reach 65 percent according to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 287/QD-TTg on the planning of the Mekong Delta in the period of 2021 - 2030 with a vision to 2050, the Mekong Delta urgently needs breakthrough solutions and orientations.

The General Statistics Office’s figures have shown that the Mekong Delta has about 160,650 students amongst more than 1.9 million students in the country in 2020. Currently, 17 universities in the region have offered training to approximately 1,000-35,000 university students.

Before 2000, the region had only Can Tho University, now 10 provinces and cities in the region have universities. The remaining provinces including Ca Mau, Ben Tre and Soc Trang also have universities that are branches of large universities in other localities. For instance, Ben Tre has a branch of Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City.

Despite the growth in higher educational facilities, the Mekong Delta is facing an imbalance in the training industry.

According to Prof. Nguyen Thanh Phuong, through the analysis of the trend of career registration in 2020, 2021 and 2022 of Can Tho University, only 19 percent-23 percent of students enrolled in engineering and technology majors while the rest enrolled in economics, law, social sciences and humanities. Meanwhile, the region’s laborers are shifting from agriculture, forestry and fishery to technical and technological occupations.

Therefore, the Ministry of Education and Training should give priority to enrollment quotas for industries and professions that are in high demand by society for the Mekong Delta region.

HCMC opens peak patrol for inland waterway vessels

Ho Chi Minh City has just launched a peak patrol for inland waterway vessels to ensure traffic order and safety as well as control and reduce the number of waterway accidents.

Particularly, the Ho Chi Minh City Waterway Traffic Police (PC08B) under the Ho Chi Minh City Public Security Department said that the unit has collaborated with relevant functional forces to open a peak patrol of inspection and handling violations on registration, fire prevention and fighting, rescue works for inland waterway vessels in the city until mid-May.

Through inspections, the functional forces will be likely to promptly detect and guide vehicle owners to overcome shortcomings and minimize the risks of fire, explosion and accidents in addition to strictly handling violations.

The functional forces will focus on inspecting fire prevention and fighting equipment following requirements on safety for vehicles and people, means of transport carrying passengers, fuel and flammable and explosive substances.

Up to now, the functional forces have uncovered violations on the waterway in Ho Chi Minh City, mainly violations related to fire extinguishers and requirements and the rules on fire prevention and fighting.

Vietnam, Laos cooperate in science-technology

The forum for technology and innovative startups ‘Tech – Innovation Laos – Vietnam 2023’ has just been co-held in Vientiane by Vietnam’s Science-Technology Ministry and Laos’ Technology-Communications Ministry.

With a series of seminars under the topics of technology connections, innovative startup activities, ‘Tech – Innovation Laos – Vietnam 2023 is an event to create clear development directions for startup ecosystems thanks to working sessions between technology transfer partners of the two countries.

The event attracts about 1,500 visitors in 67 exhibition sections to observe research results and potential technologies with high potential for commercialization in the fields of processing, produce preservation, IT, digital transformation, e-commerce.

It also welcomes the participation of Vietnamese innovative startup ecosystems, namely Smart Agricultural Village, Community Building and Development Village, Marketing Technology Village.

It is expected that the forum can boost collaboration and technology transfer among educational institutes and businesses of the two countries.

Binh Dinh announces its Summer Tourism Festival 2023

The central coastal province of Binh Dinh on April 12 held a press conference in Quy Nhon City to announce the 2023 Quy Nhon - Binh Dinh Summer Tourism Festival featuring a wide range of cultural and sporting events.

The festival will include a series of cultural, tourism and sports activities, such as an exhibition of One Commune, One Product (OCOP) products and traditional craft villages, a conference on trade and supply-demand connection, a cooking performance and food fair, Vietnamese traditional martial arts competition, the 2023 Miss World Vietnam beauty contest, a marathon and more.

The highlight event is a hot-air balloon festival themed “Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh – sea heaven” which will be organized for the first time on April 25 – May 5.

The event includes daily performances of 12 enormous colorful hot air balloons from 6 am. Visitors can take a hot air balloon ride over the city and enjoy the stunning scenery of the sea at the height of 30-50 meters from the ground level. A hot air balloon can carry two people. Each flight will last around 45 -60 minutes.

The hot air balloon ride operator has got a license from the Department of Operation under the Ministry of Defense to fly hot air balloons. Passenger insurance alone is a total of VND100 million per person.

No requirement on authorized papers for first-time car registration procedures

After receiving reflections on requiring the vehicle’s owner to submit the authorization paper for registration, the Vietnam Register will reorganize the issue.

According to the reflection of automobile agencies staff, the procedure of registration for new vehicles on behalf of the owner for the first time still faces difficulties as the centers required the authorization paper of the vehicle’s owners.

Regarding the issue, a representative of the Vietnam Register said that the current process did not force the vehicle’s owner to directly perform the procedures or submit the authorization paper to other people. Everyone can drive the vehicle with valid documents and the register centers are responsible for receiving the vehicles to perform the registration procedures.

In case of the registration certificate or registration stamp were lost or broken, the car owner or authorized person has to directly perform the registration procedure for the new car.

Besides, the first-time registration certificate or registration stamp of the vehicle were broken or misinformed, the car owner will have to directly submit the granted documents and papers to the centers without driving the car to the centers.

Source: VNA/SGT/VNS/VOV/Dtinews/SGGP/VGP/Hanoitimes