The Science and Technology Ministry has cooperated with Hanoi People’s Committee for the management transfer of Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park from the former to the latter.

Acting Director Pham Thi Van Anh of the Personnel Arrangement Department (under the Science and Technology Ministry) informed that this Ministry has worked with Hanoi People’s Committee to prepare a draft resolution for a smooth transfer of management right of Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park to Hanoi People’s Committee.

At present, the draft resolution is ready to submit to the Government for consideration. It is expected to earn approval at the end of this July. Acting Director Anh further stated that the transfer can take place right after the greenlight of this resolution from August 1.

Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park was established under Decision No.198/1998/QD-TTg, issued on October 12, 1998. After 25 years of operation, it has attracted 104 investment projects with a total registered capital of nearly VND100 trillion (US$4.23 billion). It offers job openings for 30,000 people.

For many years, the development of Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park has met various challenges, and thus has not achieved the expected results, especially the issues of infrastructure competition and investment attraction.

Hanoi buses serve 223 million passengers in first half

Buses in Hanoi served a total 223 million passengers between January and June this year, according to the city’s Department of Transport.

The figure included over 2.28 million bus rapid transit route users. 

According to Transerco Director Nguyen Thanh Nam, the firm tried to improve its bus service quality in the first six months of this year. Dozens of bus routes were adjusted in line with the city’s traffic reorganisation plan. While 52 bus stops were upgraded to ensure traffic safety.

Hanoi wants 30-35 percent of trips done by public transport by 2025, but as of October 2022, only 15 percent of travel was done by public transport.

During the six-month period, the Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro route attracted five million people, up 63.7 percent on-year.

Vietnam to send 320 athletes to Asian Games

Vietnam will send a strong team of about 320 competitors to the 19th Asian Games (ASIAD), which will be held in China this September.

They will participate in 32 sports and target between three and five gold medals at the quadrennial tournament.

The 19th ASIAD encompasses 40 sports and 483 events in Hangzhou province.

Originally scheduled to take place from September 10-25, 2022, the event was postponed to this year due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic in China.

On July 19, 2022, the new dates were announced as September 23 to 8 October.

"Our preparation for the Games faces challenges, including the shortage of facilities, finances and human resources. We have to make plans to ensure the best results based on what we have," said General Director of the Sports Authority of Vietnam Dang Ha Viet.

"Currently, athletes are working hard for the Games, taking part in tournaments to sharpen their skills and enrich their experience. All are expected to reach their peak at the Hangzhou Games."

At the previous Games in Indonesia, Vietnam had 352 athletes and won five golds, 15 silvers and 19 bronzes.

Whale shark spotted swimming in central coast of Vietnam

A large whale shark suddenly appeared in the sea near Ky Co tourist area in Quy Nhon city of Binh Dinh province, central Vietnam, right in front of a group of tourists aboard a tourist boat on July 20.

The whale shark seen swimming and hunting for food in the central coast of Vietnam. (Video: Nhat Phong)A video clip shot by Nhat Phong, a tour guide, shows the big shark was swimming and hunting for food close to the boat in front of the tourists.

Phong said the video clip was recorded at around 11:45am when the boat was taking the tourists from Ky Co tourist area to see the coral at Bai Dua beach.

When the boat approached, the shark appeared to be quite friendly, swimming slowly, said the tour guide, adding many tourists and he recorded the fish.

The fish is more than 4m long, with white spots on the head and back.

According to Dr. Vo Van Quang, head of Marine Vertebrates Department of the Nha Trang Oceanography Institute, the fish in the video is the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species.

This is a rare fish species, widely distributed in tropical and warm temperate seas of the world. The fish has appeared in many localities in Vietnam, including in Binh Dinh in 2010.

HCMC successful in digital transformation process

The Information and Communications Ministry has announced the ranking of Digital Transformation Index (DTI), with HCMC occupying the second position. 

This is the third consecutive year that HCMC is highly evaluated as to its effective digital transformation programs. In particular, the city stands at high rankings in the aspects of Digital Institutions (first position), Digital Infrastructure (first position), Activities of Digital Government (second position), Activities of Digital Economy (fourth position).

So far, HCMC has successfully launched the centralized IT infrastructure for state agencies on the cloud computing platform at the city’s Database Center. Valuable information and network facilities of state agencies and the Party units have their security ensured.

The quality of both telecoms networks and the Internet via broadband fiber optic cables in the city is improved so that these networks cover all households of all wards and communes in HCMC. The Local Government Service Platform of HCMC (HCM LGSP) is linked to the counterparts in other nations for smoother connections.

HCMC is one of the first localities in the country to successfully integrate the system of electronic authentication and identification for citizens with the National Population Database managed by the Public Security Ministry, the National Public Service e-portal, the Database on Administrative Procedures managed by the Government Office, and other essential national databases (social insurance, justice).

Until now, in HCMC, over 1,000 units of state departments and organizations, businesses, hospitals, and schools have formed connections to this important system to accelerate the digital transformation process in state management activities, provision of public services to citizens in need.

HCMC announces top three hospitals with high-quality services

Hung Vuong Maternity Hospital, Children’s Hospital 1,the People’s Hospital 115 are the top three medical facilities in HCMC in 2022, according to the Health Department’s report on the results of quality assessment of hospitals in the city in 2022.

According to an announcement of the HCMC Health Department on July 19, 37 hospitals achieved an average quality score of over four while the point grading scale is five, up 15.6 percent compared to 2021. There is only one private hospital with a score below 2.5.

The HCMC Department of Health previously conducted inspections of the quality of 115 hospitals, including 54 public medical facilities and 61 private healthcare units in the city in 2022 starting on February 24.

The assessment criteria include the quality of the hospital, safety for epidemic prevention and control, surgical safety, the quality of laboratories, satisfaction of patients and medical staff, and application of information technology.

Green economy exhibition to launch in July

The organization board of the international innovation event ‘Innovation & Green Economy’ (InnoEx) yesterday held a press conference to provide information related to this important event. 

Accordingly, InnoEx is planned to welcome the participation of over 1,000 technology enterprise leaders and international business associations, 50 investment funds, 200 startups from 33 nations with outstanding, pioneer technologies in green economy.

InnoEx is an event specially for domestic and foreign business communities which are the pioneers in innovation, green economy growth, and sustainable development.

Taking place on July 24-25, InnoEx has several inspiring activities of a forum for pioneer businesses and leaders, a forum on green economy, a technology display to show off innovative products and services.

South Korean ginseng grown at Gia Lai national park

Around 300 South Korean ginseng trees have been planted at Kon Ka Kinh National Park in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai.

The activities were part of the itinerary for a South Korean business delegation seeking investment opportunities in the province.

The South Korean guests instructed the national park on how to grow and take care of the ginseng. They hoped that this pilot ginseng cultivation would be successful to open opportunities for the development of this herb in Gia Lai.

Gia Lai authorities have revised a VND110 billion (USD4.68 million) project for the 2022-2025 period to address the sustainable development of Kon Ka Kinh National Park.

Kon Ka Kinh Mountain sits 1,748 metres above sea level. Kon Ka Kinh National Park boasts a highly diverse flora and fauna ecosystem.

Two pangolins handed over to authorities in Binh Phuoc

Two Java pangolins, also known as the Malaysian or Sunda pangolin, weighing 3kg in total, were handed over to authorities in Phu Rieng district, the southern province of Binh Phuoc on July 20.

Around 10 pm on July 19, a man spotted the pangolins near the toll station in Thuan Phu commune, Dong Phu district, Binh Phuoc province.

Knowing that they are listed as an endangered species in Vietnam’s Red Book, he handed them to the police of Phu Rieng commune.

According to the Centre for Education for Nature (ENV), a nature conservation organisation of Vietnam, the country is home to two species of pangolin, the Java and Chinese pangolin, which are listed as critically endangered species and prioritised for protection.

Vietnam attends Hong Kong (China) Book Fair

Books introducing Vietnam’s trade, investment, culture, tourism, and cuisine are being exhibited at the 2023 Hong Kong (China) Book Fair.

Among those on display are English and Chinese versions of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s Vietnam Pictorial.

The 33rd edition, running from July 19-25, adopts the tagline "Reading the World: The Joy of Reading for Children & Youth" with a focus on Children's and Young Adult Literature.

It attracts the participation of 760 exhibitors from over 30 countries and regions, with a wide selection of books, cultural art pieces, sports and leisure products and experiences, as well as tasty treats from around the world.

Vu Thi Thuy, head of the Vietnam Trade Office in Hong Hong, said to make Vietnamese publications attract readers in Hong Kong, proposed focusing on books in English and Chinese languages and in culture, arts and cuisine, and those on Vietnamese language teaching.

Two pangolins handed over to authorities in Binh Phuoc

Two Java pangolins, also known as the Malaysian or Sunda pangolin, weighing 3kg in total, were handed over to authorities in Phu Rieng district, the southern province of Binh Phuoc on July 20.

Around 10 pm on July 19, a man spotted the pangolins near the toll station in Thuan Phu commune, Dong Phu district, Binh Phuoc province.

Knowing that they are listed as an endangered species in Vietnam’s Red Book, he handed them to the police of Phu Rieng commune.

According to the Centre for Education for Nature (ENV), a nature conservation organisation of Vietnam, the country is home to two species of pangolin, the Java and Chinese pangolin, which are listed as critically endangered species and prioritised for protection.

Japan supports Vietnam to enhance laboratory capacity for agricultural, fisheries product testing

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on July 20 held a ceremony to hand over equipment and officially open a new laboratory at the Reference Testing and Agrifood Quality Consultancy (RETAQ) Centre.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam spoke highly of Japan's support to Vietnam in the expansion of the food inspection system and improvements in testing capacity through the provision of testing equipment and facilities.

RETAQ Centre now has the most advanced equipment in Vietnam, he said, adding that its improved testing capacity can help businesses producing and exporting agricultural and fisheries products to improve their capacity and product quality.  

Japanese Deputy Ambassador to Vietnam Watanabe Shige said that food safety is not only an important issue to Vietnam but also a major global one. 

He expressed his hope that the laboratory will help Vietnam improve the quality of its agricultural fisheries products to meet international standards.

In 2012, the Japanese side started to provide 1.2 billion yen (8.6 million USD) as grants to Vietnam to invest in equipment and facilities for RETAQ Centre's laboratory which offers services in food safety testing, consulting, and certification.

On this occasion, the two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) approving a project on strengthening capacity for testing, verifying, and consulting food quality and safety with a total budget of about 345 million yen using Japanese official development assistance (ODA).

VN Drama Theater’s special art programme honours Lưu Quang Vũ

On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the death of famous playwright Lưu Quang Vũ, Việt Nam Drama Theater introduces the art programme ‘Thói đời’ – Lưu Quang Vũ: Lăng kính, sân khấu và cuộc đời (‘Ways of this world’ – Lưu Quang Vũ: Prism, stage, and life).

Việt Nam Drama Theater will perform four plays of the late playwright Vũ including Bệnh sĩ (‘Conceit’ Disease), Người tốt nhà số 5 (The Good Person of the House No. 5), Người trong cõi nhớ (The Person in Memory), and Nguồn sáng trong đời (The Light in Life) from July to August.

Bệnh sĩ (‘Conceit’ Disease) is a play about the chairman of Toàn Nha Commune. Because of their pride and conceited personality, they strive for fame and achievement.

Người tốt nhà số 5 (The Good Person of the House No. 5) is about Hiệp and other families living in the same house. That house is like a miniature society when each family is in a different situation, reflecting the facets of life.

Nguồn sáng trong đời (The Light in Life) is about two veterans Lê Chí and Toàn. Although Chí is blind, his love for sculpture receives admiration, which encourages him to find an opportunity to see the world again. Meanwhile, Toàn gets a fatal illness and he is on the fence about whether to do surgery or not.

Người trong cõi nhớ (The Person in Memory) portrays life, death, and the world between, which expresses Vũ’s philosophical art style.

Lưu Quang Vũ (1948-1988) was a celebrated playwright, poet, and essayist. His literary repertoire includes nearly fifty theatrical plays, three short stories, one collection of essays, and several books of poetry.

He received many posthumous awards, including Việt Nam’s most prestigious honour for cultural achievements, the Hồ Chí Minh Prize in Literature and Arts in 2000.

With the ability to observe the hot issues of life quickly and astutely, along with rich knowledge in many aspects, he conveyed his concerns about social problems and opened reflection on philosophical conflicts.

His works are always alive and followed by contemporary generations of directors, who still adjust to modern-trending details and contexts.

The art programme by Việt Nam National Drama Theater is not only an opportunity to express gratitude to Vũ for his contribution to the national dramatic treasure but also a place to recreate Vũ’s space of art, which delivers profoundly moral and philosophical values.

The first performance of the art programme is ‘Conceit’ Disease at 8pm, on July 22 at Việt Nam Drama Theater.

Tickets can be purchased through the hotline: 024.3933.3535 - 0889.67.67.67 or at Việt Nam Drama Theater, 1 Tràng Tiền Street, Hà Nội.

Đồng Tháp Province focuses on farming flowers, ornamental plants

The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Đồng Tháp plans to make flower and ornamental plant farming one of its key sectors.

It plans to grow it into a VNĐ7 trillion (US$300 million) sector by 2025, according to its People’s Committee.

It aims to have more than 3,500ha under flowers and ornamental plants by then, 1,100ha in Sa Đéc City, 1,500ha in Lai Vung District, 450ha in Lấp Vò District, and 50ha in Cao Lãnh City.

It will provide each farmer and organisation requiring new varieties of flowers and ornamental plants with two to three of them.

It will produce disease-free seedlings through the in-vitro method to meet the requirements of farmers and both domestic and export markets, tying up with research institutes, universities and other organisations for the purpose.

It will link up with other delta provinces to establish high-quality seedling producing areas, operate efficiently and expand value chains for the production of flowers and ornamental plants.

It will develop linkages between stakeholders in producing and consuming them to achieve economies of scale and consistent quality to meet the requirements of markets.

It will develop flower and ornamental plant growing villages that also offer tourism services.

It will develop three to four products recognised under the country’s One Commune – One Product (OCOP) programme, and encourage companies to participate in this.

It aims to set up a community-based tourism site growing flowers and ornamental plants that have a three-star OCOP rating.

Sa Đéc City, well known nation-wide for its flowers and ornamental plants, has been at it for more than 100 years.

Bùi Thanh Sơn, deputy chairman of its People’s Committee, said the city has rezoned flower and ornamental plant growing areas in line with its socio-economic development.

It has supported co-operatives that gather farmers together and secure outlets for their produce.

Local farmers grow more than 2,000 varieties of flowers and ornamental plants on 946ha, and earn VNĐ2.8 trillion ($120 million) a year. 

Cà Mau Province develops aquaculture

The southernmost province of Cà Mau is restructuring agricultural production toward increasing aquaculture and reducing rice cultivation.

It has turned more than 1,100ha of unproductive rice fields into breeding aquatic species or rotating the cultivation of rice and aquatic species, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Of the area, nearly 950ha in coastal areas are rotating growing rice in the rainy season and breeding shrimp in the dry season when fields are affected by saltwater intrusion and are not suitable for growing rice.

The profit of the shrimp-rice farming model is about VNĐ68 million (US$2,900) per hectare a year, higher than the mono-rice farming model.

Phan Hoàng Vũ, director of the department, said the province had implemented the shrimp-rice farming model since 2000 and has nearly 40,000ha of shrimp-rice farming, mostly in Trần Văn Thời, U Minh and Thới Bình districts and Cà Mau City.

“The model is sustainable in terms of economy, production efficiency and improving income for farmers,” Vũ said.

Thới Bình District has implemented many models of intercropping giant river prawns and rice in the same fields.

Nguyễn Hoàng Bạo, deputy chairman of the Thới Bình People’s Committee, said giant river prawns bred in rice fields had few diseases and low loss risks compared to breeding black tiger shrimp and white-legged shrimp, and the investment cost was not large for farmers who have medium financial capacity.

Besides the shrimp-rice farming model, the district had the potential for breeding mud crabs to improve the lives of farmers, he said.

With the use of advanced farming techniques, the yields of giant river prawns and mud crabs had increased significantly, he said.

The district was soliciting investment to establish giant river prawn breeding areas for export and develop linkages among stakeholders in breeding and selling mud crabs, he said.

The district’s mud crabs are now sold mostly through traders and farmers who do not have these linkages.

Mud crabs bred in the province are well known nationwide for their deliciousness and are exported.

The restructuring of agricultural production based on natural conditions in the province has helped improve production efficiency and turned challenges into opportunities, according to the department.

Saltwater intrusion and drought have become more severe year after year and most rice growing areas affected by natural disasters have been turned into other crops in the dry season.

Vũ, director of the department, said after nearly five years of implementing Government Resolution 120, which called for sustainable and climate-resilient development in the delta, the province had achieved effective results in agricultural production.

People and companies are willing to participate in implementing the resolution and the province has received the assistance of international organisations, and this helps improve the lives of local people and solve climate change issues, according to the director.

The province has implemented 328 projects to assist nearly 5,000 households develop production, diversify livelihoods and reduce poverty sustainably in difficult communes.

It is focusing on developing brackish water shrimp farming areas on a large scale to have large output and high quality to increase shrimp competitiveness.

It is also developing high quality rice growing areas in localities that have sufficient conditions such as farming areas not affected by saltwater intrusion with irrigation works and intensive farming techniques.

The province has 111,000ha of rice, with the cultivation of high quality rice accounting for 60 per cent.

The yield and quality of rice have been increased, according to the department.

However, the province still faces difficulty in securing sufficient irrigation water for agricultural production as its investment for irrigation works has only met 15 per cent of the demand.

International Yoga Day takes place in An Giang

The ninth International Yoga Day was held in Long Xuyen city of the Mekong Delta province of An Giang, with the event drawing a huge number of guests and yogis from 15 local yoga clubs.

The function began with a mass performance of yoga poses known as asanas.

The International Day of Yoga celebration represents a great platform for yoga enthusiasts in An Giang to showcase and share their passion for achieving a healthy lifestyle.

It also represents a cultural and sports exchange activity, contributing to further enhancing the mutual understanding of the peoples of Vietnam and India.

Celebrations for International Yoga Day on June 21 held in Vietnam have been going strong for nine years. It is frequently arranged by the Indian embassy and has become an essential gathering for yoga practitioners in the country.

Huynh Nhu listed among six Asian stars at 2023 Women’s World Cup

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has highlighted several Asian stars who could emerge as heroes for their countries at the upcoming 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, including striker and captain Huynh Nhu of Vietnam.

A symbol of the rise of women’s football in the nation, Huynh Nhu will captain her country on the biggest stage of all as the Vietnamese team make their World Cup debut.

With more than 100 caps and as the winner of Vietnam’s player of the year for the past four years in a row, she is the poster girl of Vietnamese football, according to the AFC.

The 31-year-old is her country’s all-time leading scorer with 67 goals as she has fired Vietnam to four gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games. In addition, her opener against Thailand at the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup set the Vietnamese team on their way towards their historic World Cup qualification, it wrote. 

The website shared that Huynh Nhu became the first Vietnamese women to play professional football in Europe when she signed for Portuguese top-flight club Lank FC Vilaverdense last year, netting seven goals in her debut campaign.

That experience will hopefully stand her in good stead as the national team get set to open their World Cup against two-time defending champions United States, the AFC noted.

The AFC also picked out other Asian stars who could inspire their national teams at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, namely Sam Kerr of Australia, Yui Hasegawa of Japan, Ji So-yun of the Republic of Korea, Wang Shuang of China, and Sarina Bolden of the Philippines.

As scheduled, Vietnam will face the defending champions the US in their opening match at 8 a.m. on July 22. Later, they will play against Portugal at 2:30 p.m. on July 27 and against the runners-up Netherlands in the final match of the group stage at 2 p.m. on August 1.

Nine-year-old girl wins silver medal at International Mathematical Olympiad

Nine-year-old local girl Tran Pham Ngan Khanh successfully won a silver medal at the fourth Copernicus International Mathematical Olympiad held at Colombia University in New York, USA.

Ngan is an outstanding student from Ba Trieu Primary School in Hanoi. The Copernicus Olympiad is an international competition held for students from Grades 3 to 12. The purpose of the event is to increase students’ interest in science and related disciplines, as well as enhancing and developing their potential by honing their logical deduction abilities.

This is not the first time that Khanh has won a medal in international competitions. In April, she attended the final round of Thailand International Mathematical Olympiad (TIMO) and grabbed a silver medal.

Khanh is good, not only at Maths, but is also talented at English. The Thai Nguyen-born girl previously won consolation prize at Teeneagle, an International English Language Competition for students from Grades 5 to 12 and was invited to compete at the final global round in London and Italy in October.

Bình Thuận to host street culture festival next month

The south-central coastal province of Bình Thuận is planning to host the first Street Culture Festival from August 25 to September 3.

The festival is part of the National Tourism Year 2023 themed “Bình Thuận - Green Convergence” to introduce the potential and advantages of the province’s tourism to visitors and attract investors at home and abroad.

The event also aims to honour and promote cultures of 30 ethnic minorities in the province such as the Ka Tê and Ramưwan festivals of the Chăm people.

The festival will include three main programmes, including the opening ceremony having the theme of “Bình Thuận Embraces the Future” with traditional music and dance performances by ethnic communities in Phan Thiết City.

Performers from the province and neighbouring province will offer a street carnival called Sắc Màu Bình Thuận (The Colours of Bình Thuận) in downtown of the city.

Two-night concert “Rock Fest” will be held at Mũi Né sand dunes which is located 25km far from central Phan Thiết.

In addition, the festival will open an exhibition highlighting Việt Nam’s seas and islands with the participation of 28 coastal provinces and cities.

The exhibition will present historical documents, artefacts, publications, and photos featuring the beauty of Việt Nam’s seascapes and the evidence of the country’s sovereignty over seas and islands.

The showcase will also introduce cultural heritages and unique tourism products of the provinces and other localities to the public.

Bình Thuận welcomed 4.46 million visitors in the first half of 2023, an increase of 86 per cent compared to the same period last year, with a total revenue of VNĐ11.34 trillion (US$479 million), according to the province’s tourism authority,

The province plans to organise a wide range of cultural, sports and tourism activities by the end of this year and improve service quality to attract more local and foreign tourists. 

Classical music meets rock at HCM City Opera House

The HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) will host the “Rock Symphony Vol. 3” concert featuring a blend of classic music and rock at the HCM City Opera House on July 29 and 30.

The concert will present 17 classic rock and roll songs performed by HBSO orchestra and choir, and famed vocalists.

The evening will begin with an orchestral version of Hot Stuff, which won American singer and songwriter Donna Summers a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance (Female) in 1979.

The performance will continue with Help!, Hey Jude and Something by The Beatles, The Sound of Silence and Bridge over Troubled Water by American duo Simon & Garfunkel, Waterloo by ABBA, and Heal the World by Michael Jackson.

Familiar songs by Queen, Billy Joel, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston and Toni Braxton will also be included.

The concert will feature HBSO vocalists Đào Mác and Hồ Hoàng Ngọc, rocker Phạm Anh Khoa, and famed singer Võ Hạ Trâm.

Veteran musician Nguyễn Tuấn Lộc will play saxophone at the concert, while Tim Trần, who is studying music in Australia, will play guitar.

Conductor Lê Phi Phi, who is visiting from North Macedonia, will stage and lead the concert.

Phi, who earned a Master of Music at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Russia, worked as the conductor of the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra from 1993 to 2000.

He has performed and collaborated in staging and performing with several popular artists, symphony orchestras, choirs, musical theatres, and ballets in European countries, such as Germany, France, Italy, and Finland.

He has worked with Việt Nam National Opera Ballet and HBSO for years to stage the “Rock Symphonies” series.

He has also performed in national concerts such as “Xuân Quê Hương” (Homeland Spring) organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Committee of Overseas Vietnamese, and “Điều Còn Mãi” (Remaining with Time).

The concert will begin at 8 pm at 7 Lam Sơn Square in District 1. Tickets are available at the venue. 

Runner Oanh to represent VN at world championship

Nguyễn Thị Oanh will be Việt Nam's sole representative at the World Athletics Championship next month in Hungary.

Việt Nam did not have any athletes qualified for the tournament prior to the Oanh's invitation being extended. Oanh is the top athlete in the nation currently.

She was one of the most successful athletes at the Phnom Penh 32nd SEA Games where she won four gold medals in the 1,500m, 5,000m, 10,000m, and 3,000m steeplechase events in May.

Earlier, she triumphed in the women's 1,500m at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Kazakhstan, in February. 

The 27-year-old just finished the Asian Championship earlier this week. Due to sickness, she didn't get a good result in either the 1,500m or the 3,000m steeplechase.

Oanh will travel to Budapest on August 8, having several days to practice for the August 19-27 event.

The coaching board has not revealed which category she will take part in.

After the championship, Oanh will return home to prepare for the Asian Games in China in September, where she is expected to win a medal. 

At the previous Games in 2018, Oanh secured a bronze in the 3,000m steeplechase.

Last year, Việt Nam's representative was Quách Thị Lan in the women's 400m hurdles in the US. She finished No 35 overall. 

Jujitsu fighters bring home medals

Việt Nam made an impression at the World Jujitsu Championship, securing one silver and two bronze medals in an intensely competitive event held in Mongolia.

Phùng Thị Huệ clinched the silver medal in the women's fighting 45kg class. The Vietnamese was edged out of the top spot by Colombia's Daniela Nicolle Morales Urbano. France's Alexandra Humbert rounded out the podium in third place.

Đặng Thị Huyền performed commendably in the women's 53kg class, earning a bronze medal. This division was led by South Korea's Im Eon Ju and Israel's Aronov Pnina.

In the performance category, Vietnamese pair Nguyễn Ngọc Bích and Trịnh Kế Dương came in third, surpassed only by teams from Thailand and Romania.

On the overall tally, the UAE emerged victorious, bagging eight golds, followed by Sweden and Thailand. Việt Nam found their place at number 23.

In the opinion of coach Trần Văn Thạch, this tournament served as a critical assessment for Vietnamese athletes in preparation for forthcoming international events, including the much-anticipated Asian Games in China. 

Swimmers to test skills at world championships in Japan next week

Vietnamese swimmers will take part in the World Swimming Championship next week in Japan.

Ten athletes, including national champions, left for Fukuoka on July 19 to take part in several days of warm-ups for the tournament which will be held from July 23 to July 30.

They qualified for the world event after reaching standards through different competitions earlier this year.

Among them Phạm Thanh Bảo, Trần Hưng Nguyên, Hoàng Quý Phước, Nguyễn Hữu Kim Sơn and Nguyễn Quang Thuấn pocketed medals from the recent 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia.

They are accompanied by young swimmers such as Mai Trần Tuấn Anh, Hồ Nguyễn Duy Khoa, Đỗ Ngọc Vinh and Võ Thị Mỹ Tiên.

Due to the large gap between Vietnamese and international competitors, the world championship is considered a learning experience for Vietnamese swimmers.

It is also a practice for them ahead of September's 18th Asian Games in China.

Thua Thien – Hue strives to turn tourism into spearhead economic sector

The tourism industry of the central province of Thua Thien - Hue continued to regain recovery momentum and high growth in the first half of 2023, ranking 11th among 63 provinces and cities in terms of total revenue.

During the reviewed period, the province served 1.6 million tourists, 65% of them are domestic visitors, raking in nearly 3.5 trillion VND (149.9 million USD), up 148% year-on-year.

Thua Thien – Hue saw stable growth in the number of international tourists, especially from the traditional markets such as Thailand and the Republic of Korea (RoK).

It also recorded a recovery in the number of tourist arrivals from European markets such as France, Germany, and the UK. Meanwhile, the numbers of visitors from new and potential markets such as Malaysia, the US, and Australia accounted for a large proportion of the total international holidaymakers to the province.

Thua Thien - Hue is ready to welcome potential segments of visitors from India or Muslim countries through direct flights in the near future.

Director of the provincial Department of Tourism Nguyen Van Phuc attributed the province's tourism recovery to the effectiveness of tourism promotion programmes in recent times.

Businesses have made creative efforts to diversify tourism products, focusing on community-based tourism; and maritime, health and agriculture tourism.

A number of hotels and resorts in Thua Thien - Hue have received positive reviews and high ratings from international tourism organisations.

In particular, Hue city was named in the top 10 in the “best cities” category at the Luxury Awards Asia Pacific 2023 held by US travel magazine Travel Leisure.

Vice Chairwoman of the Thua Thien – Hue Tourism Association Nguyen Hoang Thuy Vy said the above-mentioned results are achieved thanks to the long-term efforts and well-prepared investment strategy of the local tourism industry.

There remains potential for Thua Thien – Hue to welcome more international holidaymakers, she said, noting that investment in developing infrastructure will be a “springboard" for local tourism to make breakthroughs.

Thua Thien – Hue aims to develop various services, with tourism will be a spearhead economic sector.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has recently launched a project to promote night-time services to diversify Vietnam's tourism products.

Thua Thien - Hue was selected as one of the localities to build at least one model of night-time tourism, toward forming a separate night-time entertainment complex. Night-time tourism models have been exploited by Hue city in recent years.

According to Vy, Thua Thien - Hue possesses many advantages in terms of cultural heritage which has been honoured by UNESCO, along with the diversity of landscapes of rivers, mountains, sea and lagoons.

Vy said that it is necessary to spend more investment on developing special products to fully tap the locality’s tourism potential, towards promoting sustainable tourism development, affirming its position on the tourist map of Vietnam.

Informal recycling facilities do more harm than good environmentally

Although informal recycling facilities play an important part in plastic waste management, their substandard practices are often doing more damage than good to the environment.

Waste management in Vietnam involves waste collectors, who normally rummage through household waste to collect tradable items such as plastic bottles and cardboard.

After going from street to street filling their bags, the collectors bring their items to a collection point to do their daily trading. The point then consolidates waste from different sources and trades with recycling facilities, where the waste gets pre-processed and ready for recycling.

In 2022, about 3.27 million tonnes of plastic waste were disposed in landfills. As informal facilities often outbid formal ones for items sold by collection points, the former obtained most of the waste for recycling whereas the latter had to import waste to keep their operation running. Remarkably, the imported waste has topped 3 million tonnes annually.

But the cost advantage does not mean informal facilities provide an inexpensive solution to plastic pollution. In fact, the advantage comes directly from the environmental controls that they dodge by taking shortcuts.

"Formal facilities are no match for informal facilities cost-wise because the latter never spend a penny on green technologies," said Hoang Duong Tung, former Deputy Director of the Vietnam Environment Administration. 

Huynh Thi My, Secretary-General of the Vietnam Plastics Association, said the waste management industry has around 4,500 informal facilities but all of them were recycling waste with substandard technologies.

In a World Bank's estimation, the ensuing inefficiency costs Vietnam nearly 3 billion USD per year and causes heavy damage to the environment.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is drawing up proposals for defining the reasonable and valid rate of recycling cost for a unit volume of waste (Fs), which is expected to lay the ground for recycling cost calculation and foster the formal recycling sector.

The European Chamber of Commerce (EuroCham) in Vietnam has raised concerns about the proposed cost norms, which were believed to fail to take into account the core principles of the circular economy.

The chamber suggested Fs be set at zero for highly-profitable recyclable items such as aluminum-based products and cardboard. It is unreasonable to get producers to cover the recycling costs of those items, given the profits from recycling them come straight to recyclers' pockets.

In contrast, the Fs applicable to unprofitable items such as plastic bags and composite papers should be set to non-zero to support the facilities which are recycling those items. More importantly, the Fs should not surpass the global average norm.

EuroCham also suggested factoring out the administrative costs of 3% from the Fs formula to ensure the rate is in line with Law on Environmental Protection.

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