A workshop on solutions to improve the quality of human resources in Ho Chi Minh City was held by the municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs on June 29.

The event offered a venue for experts, researchers, representatives from universities and vocational schools, and relevant sectors to exchange ideas and discuss measures to promote human resources development in the city,  towards promptly satisfying the labour demand in the East Asian market.

According to Dang Duc Long, Director of the Economic Information, Analysis and Forecast Centre of the Party Central Committee's Economic Commission, Vietnam needs to develop a new strategy in sending workers and experts abroad to work in order to effectively bring into play the valuable resources for the nation’s development.

Sharing the opinion, Dr. Tu Minh Thien, Rector of Van Hien University, said that East Asia is seen as a potential labour market with many attractive job opportunities not only for Vietnam but also other Asian countries.

According to the municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, HCM City is home to 67 companies operating in sending Vietnamese labourers to work abroad under contracts. Workers tend to choose Asian markets such as Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan (China) in the fields of agriculture, fishery, industry and construction.

North East Sea tropical depression strengthens into storm

A tropical depression to the north of the East Sea has strengthened into a storm, the first hitting the waters this year, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF).

At 7am on June 30, the eye of the storm, internationally named CHABA, was  about 430km from Vietnam's Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago. The strongest wind near its eye was 62-74 km per hour.

The storm is forecast to mostly move northwest at a speed of 10-15km per hour between July 1 and 3.

By 7am on July 3, the storm is predicted to see the strongest wind close to its eye reaching level 9 (75-88km per hour), with gusts at level 12.

By 7am on July 4, it will change its direction to move north-northwest with a speed of about 5-10 km, with the intensity tending to weaken.

NA Chairman vows favourable conditions for Vietnam-UK trade ties

Vietnam is willing to create all favourable conditions for investors of the UK to operate in the Southeast Asian country, National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue told UK Secretary of State for International Trade Anne – Marie Trevelyan during their meeting on June 29 (local time).

Hue is on an official visit to the UK from June 28 - 30 at the invitations of Speaker of the House of Lords John McFall and Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle.

The Vietnamese top legislator highlighted the significance of the signing of the UK – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), and initially positive results brought by the trade deal to economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.

He said economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries is still modest, proposing both sides to fully tap cooperation potential and effectively promote commitments in UKVFTA.

The Vietnamese NA will always support and accompany the Government to promote cooperation between the two countries, he affirmed.

The two officials agreed that there remains a large room for Vietnam and the UK to expand cooperation, especially economic, trade and investment ties.

For her part, Trevelyan expressed her pleasure that the two countries have signed the UKVFTA after Brexit. She thanked NA Chairman Hue, who is former Deputy Prime Minister, for his support and important contributions to accelerating the negotiation and ratification of this agreement.

According to the UK official, her country is conducting negotiations to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the results so far have been positive.

The UK is also focusing its trade activities on the Indo-Pacific region, in which Vietnam holds an important position, not only as a bilateral partner but also a member of the CPTPP, she said.

Green and renewable energy is one of the areas that British businesses are very interested in expanding cooperation with Vietnam, she noted, showing her hope that this cooperation will be stronger in the future.

NA Chairman meets Vietnam-UK Network leader in London

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue had a meeting with Warwick Morris, Chairman of Vietnam-UK Network (VUKN), in London on June 29 (local time), during which he hailed the network’s effective contributions to the strengthening of friendship and solidarity among organisations and individuals of the two countries.

According to Morris, a former Britain Ambassador to Vietnam, the open network gathers organisations operating independently, connecting organisations and individuals interested in Vietnam to promote bilateral partnership in all fields, including trade, education, expert and student exchange, and culture, contributing to strengthening mutual understanding and friendship between people, agencies and organisations of Vietnam and the UK.

Hue underlined that besides Party and State diplomacy, the people diplomacy is also an important channel to promote the mutual understanding between the two peoples, contributing to fostering cooperation between the two countries.

On the foundation of positive results over the years, NA Chairman Hue suggested that in the time to come, the network coordinate closely with the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK and organisations and agencies in Vietnam to organise more practical activities to further promote the sound bilateral relationship.

Also on June 29, as part of his ongoing official visit to the UK, Hue laid flowers at the plaque of President Ho Chi Minh at New Zealand House on Hay Market Street in London. The plaque reads “Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969) – founder of modern Vietnam – worked in 1913 at the Carton Hotel which stood on this site”.

Vietnam Internet centre registers national domain name ".vn"

The Vietnam Internet Network Information Centre (VNNIC) under the Ministry of Information and Communications on June 29 officially announced the change of its brand identity on the Internet with the Vietnamese national domain name '.vn'.

The presence of brand names and digital services is the key to helping local businesses and business households build brands for products and services and develop their online business in in a professional, sustainable, reliable manner.

It is listed among the 10 country-code domain names with the largest number of registered users in the Asia-Pacific region, and ranked 44th globally.

The change of the VNNIC’s domain name aims to meet requirements of universalisation of domain names associated with the implementation of digital citizen and business scheme.

The centre has set a target to universalise the domain name ".vn" to the entire population, promote the digital transformation community to use the domain name and Make-in-Vietnam digital products and services for digital economic and society activities, Thang went on.

The number of '.vn' domain names registered in Vietnam is expected to reach at least 1 million by 2025, he said.

Vietnam, Japan boost legal and judicial cooperation

Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Khanh Ngoc held talks with visiting Japanese Minister of Justice Furukawa Yoshihisa in Hanoi on June 29 to chalk out ways to step up cooperation.

Ngoc highly appreciated Furukawa for selecting Vietnam as one of the destinations in his first foreign trip since taking office in October 2021, saying Japan was the first bilateral partner providing technical support for Vietnam in legal and judicial matters, particularly through projects run by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Vietnam since 1996.

Japan has been providing Vietnam with assistance in law-making in civil and economic affairs and litigation, as well as capacity building.

To further boost the bilateral partnership in the coming time, Ngoc suggested the two sides continue effectively executing the Memorandum of Understanding on legal and judicial matters signed in October 2020 and jointly implementing the JICA-funded project on improving the quality and effectiveness of law-making and law enforcement in Vietnam from 2021 – 2025.

The two sides should also strengthen cooperation in mutual legal assistance in civil and commercial matters and settling cases on civil and nationality registration regarding Vietnamese and Japanese citizens, given that Vietnam and Japan are seeing growing civil, trade and investment exchanges, he said.

Vietnam shares efforts on human rights

Vietnam took part in several activities held at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 28 to share its efforts, achievements and commitment to human rights in responding to climate change, preserving national identity, and ensuring the freedom of religion and belief.

Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC)’s debate on climate change impacts on vulnerable groups, Assistant to Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet, head of the Vietnamese delegation to the HRC’s 50th regular session, said climate change is posing challenges to communities, countries and all people, especially vulnerable groups.

The international community should step up commitments on climate change response, enhance adaptation and mitigation efforts, and increase support for developing countries in terms of finance, technology and capacity building, he said.

Vietnam pledges strong efforts to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, the official affirmed, stressing the need to ensure the transition process takes place equally and inclusively with people’s voices heard and their interests ensured, particularly among vulnerable groups.

On the sidelines of the session, Viet and Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, the World Trade Organisations and other international organisations in Geneva, chaired the opening ceremony of a photo exhibition on ethnic and religious communities in Vietnam.

In his opening remarks, Viet said the display aims to introduce Vietnam as a “great family” of nearly 100 million members who live harmoniously in diversity, which is reflected in the material and spiritual life of the 54 ethnic groups and the guaranteed freedom of religion and belief. The harmony in diversity can also be seen in the Vietnamese communities’ relations with nature.

Vietnam reaffirms support for UN Secretary-General’s appeal for global ceasefire

Vietnam reaffirmed its support for the UN Secretary-General’s appeal for a global ceasefire while attending a dialogue held at the UN headquarters in New York on June 28.

In her remarks, Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Tra, Charge d'affaires a.i. of Vietnam to the UN, pointed out that while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten peace and development efforts, conflicts in many regions have led to heavy casualties and growing humanitarian challenges.

She held that the international community should give high priority to ensuring compliance with international law and the UN Charter. She also underlined the role of multilateralism and multilateral mechanisms with the UN at their centre.

To promote a ceasefire, it is necessary to boost compliance with Resolutions 2532 and 2565, and relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, Tra said, suggesting a framework be set up to effectively monitor ceasefire agreements in conflict-hit regions.

Highlighting Vietnam’s efforts to promote the UN Security Council’s adoption of Resolution 2573 on the protection of critical civilian infrastructure in armed conflicts, the ambassador said this issue as well as ensuring safety for vaccine distribution amid conflicts needs serious efforts.

She also stressed the importance of resolving root causes of conflicts, stepping up peacebuilding, and enhancing long-term resilience to cope with future challenges.

National conference reviews 10-year corruption fight

The Politburo held a national conference in Hanoi on June 30 to review the fight against corruption and negative phenomena during 2012 - 2022 and identify orientations for the work in the time ahead.

The hybrid event saw the presence of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, head of the Central Steering Committee for Corruption and Negative Phenomena Prevention and Control; President Nguyen Xuan Phuc; Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh; along with key officials of central agencies and the 63 localities.

At its fifth session in May 2012, the 11th-tenure Party Central Committee decided to establish the National Steering Committee for Corruption Prevention and Control under the Politburo which is chaired by the Party General Secretary so as to ensure comprehensive leadership over the corruption combat nationwide.

On September 16, 2021, the Politburo issued Regulation No. 32-QD/TW that expands the functions, tasks, and power of the central steering committee, which now also covers the prevention and control of negative phenomena.

Reporting on the 10-year fight, Phan Dinh Trac, Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Internal Affairs and Standing Vice Chairman of the central steering committee, said during the period, more than 2,700 Party organisations and nearly 168,000 members have been disciplined, including 7,390 members punished for corruption or links with corruption. Among them, the Party Central Committee, Politburo, Secretariat, and Inspection Committee have issued disciplinary measures against over 170 officials under the Party Central Committee’s management.

Through inspection and auditing, relevant agencies have proposed nearly 44,700 collectives and individuals with wrongdoings be dealt with along with over 975 trillion VND (41.8 billion USD) and nearly 76,000ha of land be recovered, and transferred about 1,200 cases showing signs of crime to investigation agencies.

Besides, prosecution authorities have launched investigation into 19,546 cases with 33,868 suspects and prosecuted 16,699 cases with 33,037 suspects for corruption, position abuse, and economic-related charges.

Meanwhile, corrupt asset recovery has been improved much as civil judgment enforcement bodies have regained 61 trillion VND, equivalent to 34.7% (compared to the rate of less than 10% in 2013). In particular, nearly 50 trillion VND, equivalent to 41.3 percent, worth of corrupt assets in the cases subject to the central steering committee’s supervision has been recovered.

Trac also highlighted improvements in institutional building, personnel affairs, asset and income control, policy and law dissemination, as well as the inspection, investigation, prosecution and hearing of cases, and the enforcement of verdicts.

At the conference, participants said the fight has been carried out drastically, comprehensively, and methodologically with very strong political resolve, resulting in considerable outcomes and winning people’s support.

The achievements so far have proved that the Party and State’s objectives, viewpoints, policies, and solutions on the fight, especially the establishment of the central steering committee led by the Party General Secretary, are completely right and timely and match demand in the reality, they added.

Passenger bus plows into roadside café, one dead, four injured

A passenger bus slammed into a roadside coffee shop in the Mekong delta city of Ca Mau on June 30, killing one and injuring four others.

The accident happened at 9am when the bus is en route from Bac Lieu to Ca Mau.

The bus driver was said to lose control and drive into a roadside coffee shop.

The driver and three telecom engineers were injured, while another telecom engineer was killed at the scene.   

When the bus crashed into the café, the four FPT telecom employees were repairing network lines near the site.

Approximately 20 passengers on board the bus were safe.

Immediately after the accident, rescue forces and traffic police were quickly deployed to take the injured to hospital and regulate traffic.

Senior Government official inoculated with second booster against COVID-19

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam received his second booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine during a working visit to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City on June 30.

The 58-year-old Government official, who is the deputy head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, underwent a medical check-up before receiving the Pfizer shot at the hospital.

Health experts suggested that local residents be injected with the second booster dose to increase their immunity against new various sub-variants including the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron sub-lineage BA.5 that has been reported in the country.

The new sub-variant is said to have the potential to overwhelm the previous sub-lineage BA.2 which was dominant in the country.

To date more than 227 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered to people nationwide, according to the Ministry of Health.

About 64.7% of adults have been injected with three doses, although progress on the second booster dose, or the fourth inoculation, tends to be slow in recent days. So far over 2.5 million people have received their fourth vaccine dose.

Ha Tinh coastal road faces severe landslide risk

A coastal road in the central province of Ha Tinh is facing high risk of more landslides following a severe incident last year.

Some sections of Xuan Hoi-Thach Khe-Vung Ang Road have faced landslides since last October after a long period of heavy rain. 

The 300-metre section running through Cam Linh Commune has been hardest hit. Thousands of cubic metres of soil spilled onto the road, blocking traffic in the area. Local authorities had to mobilise a rescue force to clear the rubble. However, at present, many heavy rocks precariously sit above the road and could fall at any time, particularly during the rainy season.

Pham Van, 29, from Ha Tinh City, said that he often travels along the road and is always worried about landslides.

Many large rocks have fallen onto the road recently, Van added. He hoped that local authorities would take more concerted solutions to tackle the problem.

Concrete walls have been built along several landslide spots on the road, however, the problem has not yet been thoroughly resolved, Nguyen Cong Tung, chairman of Cam Linh Commune said.

According to a representative from the provincial transport department, under the instruction of the provincial people’s committee, the department will seek a contractor to consolidate road sections to help prevent landslides.

Book on poet Nguyen Dinh Chieu released

A book entitled ‘Nguyen Dinh Chieu - The World Cultural Celebrity’ has been released to mark the 200th birth anniversary of the celebrated poet.

A ceremony to introduce the book was held on June 28 in Ben Tre Province by the Su That (Truth) National Political Publishing House and the Ben Tre Provincial Political School.

The book includes two chapters, with the first one grouping articles of various researchers on the life of Nguyen Dinh Chieu and the second one introducing poems and literary works penned by Nguyen Dinh Chieu.

An online version of the book also debuted on Stbook.vn and Thuviencoso.vn on the occasion.

Transport Ministry orders solutions to flight delays, cancellations

The Ministry of Transport has written to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) and local airlines, asking them to cope with rising flight delays and cancellations.

According to the ministry, since early this year, the Covid-19 pandemic has been brought under control, the travel demand has surged and air transport has been gradually resumed, the local media reported.

As for domestic flights, the number of passengers and the volume of cargo in the first half of the year increased sharply over the same period last year.

In specifics, there were 40.7 million passengers, surging 56.8% year-on-year. The total number included 1.8 million international passengers and 38.9 million domestic passengers, soaring 904.6% and 52.6% over the year-ago period, respectively.

Local airlines carried 20.1 million passengers, up 56.1% year-on-year, which is a positive result of the aviation sector.

However, the number of delayed or canceled flights increased, sparking concern among air passengers and damaging the prestige of air carriers.

Several universities announce passing scores of competence assessment exam

Many universities yesterday posted the passing scores of the competence assessment exam, held by Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCMC), for their training programs

The first to announce the passing scores of the competence assessment exam for its majors is the University of Information Technology – VNU-HCMC. Depending on the majors, the passing scores range from 800 – 940 points. The gaps between the two groups and two areas next to each other are 40 points and 10 points, respectively. The major with the highest passing score is AI (10 points lower than the one of last year), but many other majors issue a higher passing score than those of last year.

International University – VNU-HCMC also announced the passing scores for the two admission methods of academic result screening and competence assessment result screening. The English language major has the highest passing score in the former method, at 27.75 points; while in the latter method, the highest passing score is 870 points for the Logistics and Supply chain management major.

HCMC University of Technology – VNU-HCMC revealed the passing scores for the methods of direct admission with priority and academic result screening according to regulations of VNU-HCMC. The passing scores for both methods range from 69.5 points to 86.6 points.

Those meeting the above requirements need to re-register on the common admission system e-portal of the Education and Training Ministry with specific university selection order; otherwise, their result will not be valid. The formal admission results will be announced after the screening of untrue selections nationwide, scheduled by this ministry.

Successful candidates will then enroll into corresponding universities at the above e-portal as well as directly at the universities.

HCMC supports farmers to do business on e-commerce platforms

The HCMC Farmers Association, HCMC Television (HTV), the Management Board of HCMC High-Tech Agricultural Park on June 29 signed a cooperation agreement on strengthening propaganda activities, including submitting suggestions and requests of the association’s members, famers, and businesses to city’s leaders.

At the signing ceremony of cooperation agreement between the HCMC Farmers Association, HCMC Television (HTV), and the Management Board of HCMC High-Tech Agricultural Park 
The cooperation agreement also aims to encourage farmers to apply high technology and advanced techniques in agricultural production.

The local farmers' associations at levels need to continuously provide consultation and career training programs, contributing to the effective implementation of the farmers’ movement; build a new collective model; support farmers to implement digital transformation in production and product consumption on e-commerce platforms.

Additionally, the HCMC Farmers Association must focus on organizing meetings between the city’s leaders and the association’s members in 2022 and the congress of the HCMC Farmers’ Association for the 2022-2027 term.

Former leaders of Binh Phuoc CDC arrested in Viet A test kit case

According to information from the Department of Public Security of Binh Phuoc Province, on June 30, the Provincial Police Investigation Agency (PIA) prosecuted and initially arrested former director of Binh Phuoc Province Center for Disease Control (CDC) Nguyen Van Sau and former head of Pharmaceutical Division Le Thanh Bac to clarify violations related to Viet A test kit case.

The police raided the workplace and private houses of the arrestees above to perform investigation works. 

According to initial investigation and verification, in 2021, the subjects illegally carried out the preparation of bid documents for purchasing biological products and medical materials for testing of Viet A Technology Joint Stock Company and Thuan Giang Service Trading Company Limited to serve for Covid-19 prevention and control works that caused a financial damage of VND5 billion (US$214,712) to the State.

Previously, on April 6, Sai Gon Giai Phong (SGGP) Newspaper informed that the Director of Health of Binh Phuoc Province had signed Decision 104/QĐ-SYT to discipline and dismiss Director of Binh Phuoc CDC Nguyen Van Sau. 

In 2021, Binh Phuoc CDC purchased over 80,000 Covid-19 test kits and 47,900 extraction test kits from Viet A Technology Joint Stock Company (Viet A Company) with a total amount of over VND41.5 billion (US$1.8 million). Of which, Binh Phuoc CDC paid over VND7.1 billion (US$ 304,501) and the rest has not yet completed payment procedures. Additionally, Binh Phuoc CDC also purchased Realtime - PCR testing machines and automatic DNA/RNA extraction machines from Viet A Company with a total cost of VND2.75 billion (US$ 117,918) which have not been performed the payment procedures yet.

Ly Hoang Ly solo exhibition adds to artistic vitality in Hanoi

Artworks of talented Ho Chi Minh City-based artist is on display at Manzi Art Space in Hanoi.

Over ten years ago, Ly Hoang Ly officially commenced her project “0395A.ĐC”. Now the year 2022 marks the second time she presents it in Vietnam.

According to Bill Nguyen, the curator of the exhibition, spanning over a decade of Ly’s career, “0395A.ĐC” is a multilayered living body of work consisting of text, painting, sculpture, photography, artistic book, video art, installation art, performance art, architecture and public art.

From a seed of an idea to an ever-evolving project now, “0395A.ĐC” continues to grow alongside the artist’s ongoing inquiry into the notions of home, identity, life, and death, as well as her re-telling of the epic story and continuous struggle of human immigration.

In doing so, the project both highlights and contests the ways in which micro and personal narratives are often forgotten in the memorization and circulation of History.

In 2017, the art project was first launched in Saigon. This time, it ‘travels’ to Hanoi with the name ‘The dreamer: heterotopia, tabula rasa, noble silence’. A different self - one that showcases the accompanying artworks in a different composition, under a different light. A deviation from the original, one might say, without realizing that the original, indeed, has never existed.

Every time ‘0395A.ĐC’ is shown in a new location or exhibition space, the artist would disassemble its body, reconstruct its parts, transform its essence and breathe new life into its multifaceted identity.

The exhibition “The dreamer: heterotopia, tabula rasa, noble silence” will last until July 17 at Mazi Art Space at No 2 Hang Bun Alley, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi.

Nearly 52,000 laborers sent abroad in first half

Viet Nam sent 51,677 workers, including 19,849 females, abroad under labor contracts in the first half of 2022, according to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Japan was the largest recipient of Vietnamese workers, employing 32,053 ones, followed by Chinese Taipei 15,533 and the Republic of Korea 1,209. 

Viet Nam's plan to send 90,000 laborers abroad to work under contract this year, is feasible, said deputy head of the Department of Overseas Labor under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Gia Liem. 

Due to COVID-19 impacts, last year, Viet Nam sent 45,058 workers abroad, equivalent to 50 percent of its yearly labor export target.

In Europe, nine countries including Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Cyprus Republic, Turkey, Slovakia, Belarus and Portugal, have accepted workers from Viet Nam. Many labor suppliers are recruiting up to thousands of laborers for jobs overseas.

Besides traditional markets such as Japan, the RoK and Taiwan, the department will try to make inroad into promising markets like Germany, Russia, Australia and Israel. Currently, Germany is in need of about 40,000 health workers as well as a large number of workers for the automobile and hospitality sectors.

Last March, Vietnamese Minister of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung and Australian Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne signed the first memorandum of understanding (MOU) under the Australian Agriculture Visa Program.

Under the MoU, Australia planned to receive about 1,000 Vietnamese workers per year with an average wage of VND 52.8-66 million (AUD 3.200 AUD-4.000) per month./.

Hanoi Book Fair returns after two-year COVID hiatus

The Hanoi Book Fair will return this October, following a two-year postponement due to COVID-19 concerns, according to the Hanoi Municipal People’s Committee.

The fair is set to take place from October 7 to 9 at the King Ly Thai To Monument garden and along Dinh Tien Hoang Street as an event to celebrate the 68th anniversary of Hanoi’s Liberation Day (1954-2022).

It also aims to support publishing houses and book distributors in overcoming the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic while creating a venue for book lovers and encouraging book reading habits in the community.

The Hanoi Book Fair 2022 will gather local and international publishers and book distributors with around 250 booths introducing reading lovers to various genres of books, ranging from comic and literature to politics.

The fair will also include cultural programmes, book introduction events, contests and other side-line activities.

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