Work on a VND16-trillion (USD653-million) bridge linking the centre of Hanoi and Long Bien District is slated to be started in 2025.

Tran Hung Dao Bridge will go through Hoan Kiem District, Hai Ba Trung, and Long Bien districts. 

The bridge will start from the intersection of Tran Hung Dao Street and Tran Thanh Tong Street and end at the area intersecting with Nguyen Van Linh Road. It will be 5.6 kilometres long and have six lanes.

Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2027. Once put into operation, the project will play a key role in connecting the two banks of the Red River and helping to ease traffic pressure for Hanoi.

According to the Vietnam News Agency, Tran Hung Dao will be one of 18 bridges crossing the Red River that were approved in the master plan for the transport sector by 2030.

Positive socio-economic results recorded so far: Government meeting

Vietnam saw a continuous recovery trend and positive socio-economic results across all fields in February and the first two months of this year, heard the Government regular meeting held in Hanoi on March 2 under the chair of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Participants noted that the macro-economy was kept stable, inflation reined, in and all major balances of the economy ensured.

In February, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.98% year on year, while State budget collection rose 10.4%, completing 23.5% of the yearly estimate. At the same time, import-export revenue increased 18.6%, with trade surplus reaching 4.72 billion USD. Public investment disbursement reached 9.13% of the yearly plan, 2.16% higher than that in the same period last year.

The Index of Industrial Production (IPP) in two months expanded 5.7% over the same period last year. The country attracted more than 3 million foreign visitors, up 68.7% year on year. The total foreign direct investment in the January-February period hit 4.3 billion USD, a surge of 38.6% compared to the same time last year.

Socio-cultural activities received due attention, while social welfare was ensured. During the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival in February, 17,700 tonnes of rice was provided to 693,000 needy people, while Tet gifts worth 2.74 trillion VND (111.13 million USD) were presented to policy beneficiaries, along with 7.8 trillion VND to the needy on the occasion.

Socio-political and defence-security situations were ensured, while external relations and international integration were strengthened, elevating up the country's position in the world arena.

Concluding the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that so far this year, the Government has focused on directing the drastic implementation of set tasks and targets.

The PM issued seven directives, four dispatches, as well as 18 documents and plans guiding the implementation of laws. Particularly, the PM approved the action plan of the socio-economic sub-committee serving the 14th National Party Congress, he said.

Regarding priorities for the coming time, the leader underlined the need to promote growth in association with maintaining macro-economic stability, inflation control, ensuring major economic balances, speeding up strategic breakthroughs and economic restructuring, and enhancing the efficiency and competitiveness of the national economy.

He stressed the need for active and flexible management of monetary policies with close and harmonious coordination with fiscal policies.

Ministries, sectors and localities should work hard to increase income and reduce State budget expense, while popularising the use of e-invoice and deploying measures to ensure the supply of power, petrol, and water for business and daily activities, he requested.

The PM underlined the necessity to renovate traditional growth drivers and promote motivations from investment, exports and consumption, while speeding up the expansion of new growth motivations from institution completion, resources exploitation, and the development of six socio-economic regions, tapping opportunities from the shifting of the global and regional supply chains, and promoting digital transformation and green transition.

Along with boosting the growth of key sectors, it is crucial to speed up the disbursement of public investment capital, striving for a rate of 95% for this year, he said.

Particularly, the PM ordered stronger efforts in administrative reform and removing difficulties facing production and business activities, as well as the prompt issuance of documents detailing laws and resolutions approved at the NA's sixth session and fifth extraordinary session.

On the occasion of the 65th founding anniversary of the Border Guard Force (March 3, 1959 - 2024), PM Chinh extended greetings to all officers and soldiers of the force in particular and the Vietnam People's Army in general.

Hanoi holds festival of women for peace and development

The Hanoi Women for Peace and Development Festival 2024 opened in Hanoi on March 2.

Hanoi was recognised by the UNESCO as a City for Peace in 1999, becoming the only city in Asia-Pacific to earn the title. In 2019, the city joined the UNESCO Creative City Network (UCCN).

Over the years, the administration and people of Hanoi, including women, have worked hard to build and develop the city, making it more prosperous, civilised, and modern, deserving the position of the heart of the nation and a city of peace and creativity.

The festival aims to inspire the pride of women in the capital city on the glorious tradition of the international women's movement and Vietnamese women as well as the tradition of the heroic Hanoi with time-honoured culture, a city of peace, Vice President of the Vietnam Women's Association (VWA) Le Kim Anh said.

At the same time, the event is expected to spread the spirit of solidarity, connectivity, integration and development of women of Hanoi and the world for gender equality and women's progress, the official stated.

The festival featured various activities, including the introduction of culture, typical products, and food of Hanoi and other countries with 30 booths, as well as a walking tournament and a special art programme.

Earlier the same day, the first walking tournament themed “healthy and beautiful capital city's women” kicked off, drawing more than 300 athletes.

The organising board of the tournament called for donations to support needy women and children in the city, ensuring that no woman or child is left behind.

PM asks for greater efforts to boost new growth motivations

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has requested ministries, sectors, and localities to consistently implement priorities for growth linked with macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation, and ensuring major balances of the national economy, said Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Tran Van Son at the regular Government press conference on March 2.

At the Government meeting for February held earlier the same day, the PM also ordered efforts to continue revitalising traditional growth drivers and promoting new growth motivations, Son said.

Alongside positive results, the leader also highlighted limitations, shortcomings, difficulties, and challenges that need to be solved in the coming time, especially those related to real estate market, bad debt, and interest rate.

Son said that PM Chinh emphasised the need to continue comprehensively and resolutely implementing tasks and solutions in accordance with conclusions of the Party Central Committee, the Politburo and key leaders, and resolutions of the National Assembly and the Government.

It is necessary to manage flexibly and effectively the monetary policies in a timely manner; ensure sufficient credit supply to serve the economy; closely monitor the bad debts; continue strong measures to reduce interest rates; and strive to increase revenue, reduce State budget expenditures.

Attention must also be paid to enhancing price and market management, ensuring inflation control in line with set targets, while promoting growth and ensuring an adequate supply of electricity, petrol for production, business, and consumption.

Regarding investment, the PM instructed authorities to facilitate the attraction and disbursement of social investment, decisively resolve obstacles, speed up the implementation of investment projects, and have measures in place to attract more foreign direct investment projects, Son went on.

The leader also asked for more solutions to promote exports to traditional markets, expand new markets, effectively implement free trade agreements, tap new opportunities from the global and regional shifts in production, trade and investment supply chains, and strongly promote digital transformation, green transformation, circular and sharing economy, and new sectors such as semiconductors, and artificial intelligence.

Relevant sectors were requested to accelerate the disbursement of public investment capital, expedite the approval of planning, urgently complete the formulation, appraisal, and approval of remaining plans and five regional plans.

The PM also underlined the necessity to improve mechanisms, policies, laws, administrative procedures, and remove obstacles for production and business activities, Son said.

Two expressway sections to ready by late April

Two sections of the North-South Expressway project are set to become operational by late April.

The Cam Lam-Vinh Hao section, which runs through the provinces of Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, and Binh Thuan, and the Dien Chau-Bai Vot section, passing through Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces, will be completed as part of the eastern North-South Expressway sub-project.

The Ministry of Transport reports that nearly 95 percent of the work on the Cam Lam-Vinh Hao section had been completed by mid-February. However, some facilities, including toll booths, the Intelligent Transportation System, and the Thuan Nam intersection, remain unfinished.

Construction of the VND8.92 trillion (USD364 million) 78.5-kilometre road began in September 2021. Once open, it will nearly halve the travel time between HCM City and Nha Trang to around four hours.

Meanwhile, the Dien Chau-Bai Vot section is approximately 72 percent complete. Work on the 49.3-kilometre section, costing VND11.15 trillion, started in May 2021.

Both road sections feature four lanes.

One dead, 12 injured in terrible crash on HCMC- Long Thanh- Dau Giay Expressway

One person was killed and 12 injured in a terrible crash between a sleeper bus and a container truck on the path heading to a rest stop of the Ho Chi Minh City- Long Thanh- Dau Giay Expressway this early morning.

Currently, the police of Cam My District, Dong Nai Province coordinates with functional forces to investigate the reason for the road accident.

Initial information said that the traffic collision occurred at a path heading to a rest stop in Cam My District, Dong Nai Province at 5 a.m. on March 2.

The front of the passenger bus was completely deformed after the head-on crash.

12 injured were taken to Long Khanh General Hospital for emergency treatment and a driver reportedly died late at the hospital.

Over VND233 billion to be invested in upgrade project of Vinh Airport

The People's Committee of Nghe An Province has approved the investment policy for the expansion and renovation project of the apron at Vinh International Airport, the Office of the Provincial People's Committee said on February 28.

Vinh Airport is currently overloaded with a growing number of passengers, especially at peak times. The airfield has not got enough parking spaces and its runway with a length of 2.4km serves for small aircraft only with a maximum of six aircraft. There is also no parallel taxiway system, affecting the takeoff and landing times.

The People's Committee of Nghe An Province has previously approved the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) to be the investor for the expansion and renovation project of the apron at Vinh International Airport with a total capital of VND233.6 billion. The project will be implemented in 12 months.

Lotus to be grown at Hanoi lakes

Authorities in Tay Ho District, Hanoi, will start growing West Lake or Bach Diep Lotus at four lakes from March.

They are collaborating with the Fruit & Vegetable Research Institute to implement a project on integrated lotus cultivation and eco-tourism development. 

Authorities in Tay Ho District, Hanoi, will start growing West Lake or Bach Diep Lotus at four lakes from March

The first phase of the project, running from March to June, will see lotus plants covering a total area of 7.5 hectares across Dau Dong and Thuy Su lakes in Quang An Ward, and Ao Sen 1 and Ao Sen 2 in Nhat Tan District.

Bach Diep Lotus, known for its use in tea, decoration, and culinary purposes, is distinguished by its unique feature of having up to 100 petals.

In the project's second phase, the initiative will expand to include lotus cultivation over 20 hectares across approximately 20 lakes in Tay Ho District.

Next week, workers will transport the lotus to Dong Dau Lake.

Nguyen Thanh Tinh, Vice Chairman of Tay Ho District, noted that the area dedicated to lotus cultivation in Tay Ho District has been decreasing since 2018.

Restoring lotus plantations is crucial for developing lotus tea production, he added.

Vietnamese community in Israel celebrates Lunar New Year

A  “Xuan Que Huong” (Homeland Spring) programme was held by the Vietnamese Embassy in Israel on March 1 to bring the Lunar New Year (Tet) atmosphere to overseas Vietnamese (OVs) living, working and studying in the country.

Ambassador Ly Duc Trung briefed participants on notable political, economic, and diplomatic achievements of Vietnam in 2023, affirming that the Vietnamese State always has favourable policies for the Vietnamese communities abroad.

He took the occasion to present certificates of merit to outstanding individuals who have made significant contributions to the citizen protection work in Israel, where an armed conflict has been ongoing for several months.

Dan Oppenhelm, a healthcare expert who has been involved in supporting various projects in Vietnam, expressed his deep impression with the Southeast Asian's scenic landscapes, dynamic cities, and peaceful villages.

He said that he is very excited to attend the event, which is the biggest cultural event for OVs on the occasion of the Lunar New Year.

The Vietnamese community in Israel consists of approximately 500 who have acquired citizenship, 80 long-term labour migrants, and around 120 short-term agricultural trainees.

Binh Phuoc dispatches team on search for remains of Vietnamese soldiers, experts in Cambodia

A ceremony to start the search for, collection and repatriation of remains of Vietnamese voluntary soldiers and experts who laid down their lives during wartime in Cambodia, in the 2023 – 2024 dry season (the second phase), was held at the Hoa Lu International Border Gate in the southern province of Binh Phuoc on March 1.   

The event was organised by the provincial Steering Committee for search, collection and identification of fallen soldiers' remains (Steering Committee 515).

Previously, during the first phase of the mission in the 2023 – 2024 dry season, Team K72 under the provincial Military Command collected and repatriated the remains of 43 volunteer soldiers and Vietnamese experts found in Kratie and Kampong Thom provinces of Cambodia. The remains were then reburied in Binh Phuoc’s martyrs' cemetery on February 2.  

In the second phase, the team will continue their mission in the mentioned-above localities.

Addressing the ceremony, Colonel Pham Nhu Quan - Political Commissar of the provincial Military Command and deputy head of the Standing Board of the provincial Steering Committee 515, reminded the searching team to maintain close coordination with the authorities, armed forces, and people of the host country to gather more information about fallen soldiers, and expediting the repatriation of their remains back to their homeland.

After more than two decades, Team K72 has so far collected and repatriated 2,853 sets of remains of Vietnamese voluntary   soldiers and experts from Cambodia.

Regulations for cardiac death donations needed to save more people

Director of the National Coordinating Center for Human Organ Transplantation Associate Professor-Dr. Dong Van He proposed having regulations for cardiac death donations to save more people.

The Director made the proposal at yesterday’s workshop on donating tissues and organs from people with cardiac death in Vietnam organized by the National Coordinating Center for Human Organ Transplantation.

The workshop was held to seek opinions from scientists and experts to propose additional cardiac death and donating organ tissue from people with cardiac death which should be included in the future’s amended Law on Organ Tissue Transplantation.

At the conference, Associate Professor-Dr. Dong Van He, Director of the National Coordinating Center for Human Organ Transplantation cum Deputy Director of Viet Duc University Hospital, said that two sources of donated organs include heart-dead and brain-dead donors for organ transplantation in the world. Currently, in Vietnam's legal documents, regulations are guiding the diagnosis of brain death and tissue and organ donation from brain-dead people.

The 2006 Law on Organ Tissue Transplantation only mentions tissue and organ donation from brain-dead people without mentioning organ tissue donation from heart-dead people. Meanwhile, over the past 10 years, organ donations from people with cardiac death have caught on many countries and the use of organs from heart-dead donors for transplants has been increasing in the world. Furthermore, many Vietnamese people died of cardiac diseases who are ideal donors for organ transplants.

Therefore, if multiple organ donation is accepted by the law, the source of organ donations will be expanded, helping patients with tissue and organ failure have more hope of overcoming a serious illness and increasing the rate of tissue and organ donations after brain death and heart death across the country in the coming time, said Associate Professor-Dr. Dong Van He.

He added that after a few hours of heart death, experts will still resuscitate the lungs, kidneys, liver, pancreas, cornea, skin, bones, and blood vessels, so the source of donated organs from circulatory death could make more organs available for patients in need.

Clipper Round World Yacht Race’s sailing teams leaves Quang Ninh, starting 8th leg

All sailing teams competing in the 2023-2024 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race left Ha Long International Cruise Port in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh on March 2, officially setting sail for the 5th leg to Jiuzhou Port (Zhuhai city in China’s Guangdong province).

During their 2-week stay in Quang Ninh, nearly 400 sailors on 11 sailing boats participated in a series of experiential activities and events to promote local destinations and tourism organised the provincial authorities.

Laura Ayres, CEO of Clipper Ventures, said that the warm welcome from local authorities and people has provided an experience that exceeded all expectations for those joining this race leg.

She expressed her hope that in the next Clipper Race tournament, there will be participants from Vietnam as members of racing teams or ambassadors.

The Clipper Race was first organised in 1996 in the UK. Since then, almost 6,000 race crews from diverse backgrounds representing more than 60 nations have undergone training and taken part in the competition.

In the 7th race, fifth leg, the Vietnamese sailing team Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam finished in the fifth place, and temporarily stands at the sixth place in the ranking.

Over 5,000 people to join HCM City Ao Dai festival

Over 5,000 people from all walks of life will join various activities during the 10th Ho Chi Minh City Ao Dai (long dress) Festival from March 7-17, the event’s organising board announced on March 1.

According to Nguyen Tran Phuong Tran, chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Union, the festival will include a variety of unique activities such as an art programme themed “Ao Dai – Colours of Ho Chi Minh City”, an Ao Dai exhibition and interaction space, and an online Ao Dai competition.

This year’s event will feature more than 20 key opinion leaders in various fields like politics, economy, beauty queens, singers, actors, actresses, and travel bloggers as image ambassadors. Along with that, the festival will see the participation of 30 famous Ao Dai designers from many localities across the country, she noted.

Le Truong Hien Hoa, Deputy Director of the municipal Tourism Department, said that the festival will not only an unique cultural tourism product of the locality, but also a driving force for socio-economic development.

During the 10-day event, the union will strengthen coordination with departments, branches, districts, and Thu Duc city to conduct a series of activities in many locations.

The festival is expected to spread the love for Ao Dai among both the locals and visitors, particularly civil servants, public employees, and female workers.

Vietnamese tourism sees positive recovery

Vietnam welcomed more than 3 million foreign tourist arrivals in the first two months of 2024, up 68.7% year-on-year, and equivalent to 98.5% of the figure recorded before the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the General Statistics Office.

Localities across the country also served 14 million domestic visitors, of whom 4.9 million stayed overnight.

Total revenue from tourists in the period reached 136.1 trillion VND (5.5 billion USD).

The Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT) said that these figures showed positive recovery of Vietnamese tourism, and are a foundation for the sector to fulfill its target of 18 million foreign tourists this year.

In the period, all regions reported growth in the number of holiday-makers to Vietnam, such as Asia (77.8%), Europe (76%), Oceania (36.5%), and America (8.4%).

The Republic of Korea remained the biggest source of visitors to Vietnam, followed by China, Taiwan (China) and the US.

The potential Indian market continued to see optimistic signals with an increase of 34.7% over the same period in 2023, ranking 8th in the top 10 markets of Vietnamese tourism.

Notably, all European markets reported growth, especially markets enjoying the unilateral visa exemption policy such as the UK (32.6%), France (34.6%), Italy (82.3%), Spain (48.5%), and Russia (58.7%).

Project to develop multi-use values of forest ecosystem to 2030 approved

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang on February 29 signed a decision approving a project on developing multi-use values of the forest ecosystem to 2030, with a vision to 2050.

The project aims to improve the efficiency of management and sustainable use of forest resources; create jobs, increase incomes, stabilise and improve the material and spiritual lives of ethnic minorities, mountainous people, forestry workers and those living near forests, thus contributing to socio-economic development, conservation of natural resources and biodiversity, environmental protection, and climate change adaptation.

It is also expected to preserve and promote cultural and historical values, indigenous knowledge of local communities; and help ensure national security and defence.

One of its specific goals is to sustainably develop the supply of wood materials through organising intensive farming and expanding areas of big timber trees to ensure proactive supply of materials for the wood processing industry, striving for the output of domestically exploited wood materials to meet at least 80% of the raw material demand for this industry by 2030 and 100% by 2050; and 100% of wood and wooden products having legal origins, thus meeting the requirements of the export markets and domestic consumption.

The value of processed non-wood forest products and medicinal herbs by 2030 will increase by 1.5 times compared to 2020 and double by 2050. The export value of non-timber forest products and medicinal herbs produced under forest canopy will account for 10-15% by 2030 and 25% by 2050 of the total value of forestry product exports.

The project also sets goals of developing forest environmental services on the basis of specifying and expanding service types; effectively managing and using resources from these services to ensure compliance with legal regulations; efficiently implementing forest carbon absorption and storage services; reducing greenhouse gas emissions from limiting deforestation and forest degradation, sustainable forest management, and green growth; and striving to ensure stable growth of revenue from forest environmental services, at 5% a year.

Attention will be paid to developing sustainable community-based tourism, ecotourism, resort and entertainment activities, with the aim of increasing revenue from these activities by 50% by 2030 compared to 2020 and 100% by 2050.

Dien Bien province proactively preparing for Visit Vietnam Year - Dien Bien 2024

The Dien Bien provincial People's Committee on March 2 organised a meeting with representatives of  production and service businesses in the locality to discuss preparations for major events in the Visit Vietnam Year - Dien Bien 2024 and the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory (May 7, 1954 – 2024).

According to Vice Chairman of the committee Pham Duc Toan, there are over 130 restaurants capable of serving visitors with more than 6,700 tables; and 19 tourist attractions and entertainment spots capable of serving over 80,000 visitors simultaneously.

Dienn Bien is home to 205 tourism accommodation facilities offering nearly 2,800 rooms or about 5,100 beds.

Accommodation facilities have been required to cooperate and prioritise delegates attending the events.

The committee will coordinate with the Ministry of Defence and Military Region 2 to organise a survey of locations and accommodations for those  participating in parades at fireworks display areas, and parade streets to promptly deploy related activities.

For transportation services, approximately 100 fixed-route inter-provincial bus trips operate daily, transporting around 3,000 passengers departing from and arriving in the locality. The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines operates one flight daily, while VietJet Air runs three flights a week to serve the travel demand between Dien Bien and Hanoi. Additionally, VietJet Air also operates three flights per week on the Dien Bien - HCM City route.

Delegates focused their discussion on solutions to improve the local tourism environment, primarily addressing issues related to tour design, passenger transportation, food safety and hygiene, and transparent pricing.

Chairman of the committee Le Thanh Do said Dien Bien province will exploit and maximise its potentials, vigorously promoting the goal of developing tourism into a key economic sector of the locality, contributing to socio-economic development and improving the livelihoods of local residents.

It is working hard to build distinctive and impressive tourism products, thus creating momentum for breakthroughs in tourism development, he stressed.

In association with the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory, Visit Vietnam Year - Dien Bien 2024 is expected to bring endless experiences to tourists.

There will be 169 programmes and events throughout the year, comprising 13 national ones to be held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and other agencies, 28 by host Dien Bien province, and 128 by 33 other provinces and centrally-run cities.

The event is hoped to promote tourism values and potential of Dien Bien province, the northwestern region and Vietnam at large.

Northern localities team up to attract more tourists

Last year, northern localities enjoyed flourishing tourism while many destinations in this region won international awards and recognition, greatly contributing to Vietnam’s tourism development.

Vu The Binh, Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, said northern provinces and cities have shown fruitful cooperation in creating many tourism products to attract more visitors and encourage holidaymakers to extend their stay, thus helping with tourism development nationwide, reported Dau tu (Vietnam Investment Review).

Tourism in the north has bounced back strongly since the COVID-19 pandemic was brought under control, especially in 2023.

Nguyen Manh Than, head of the group of northern localities’ tourism associations and Chairman of the Hanoi Tourism Association, said the Hanoi association worked with its peers to organise many programmes last year such as the one on tourism development cooperation between eight northeastern provinces and Ho Chi Minh City; a trip for the tourism associations of some provinces, including Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Hai Duong, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, and Ninh Binh, to explore products in central Binh Dinh province; and a delegation of travel companies coming to Laos for tourism promotion activities.

He noted thanks to such programmes, many new tours and routes have taken shape, forming strong links among localities to attract more visitors to their destinations.

In 2023, Vietnam’ tourism revenue was estimated at 37.8 trillion VND (1.5 billion USD), surging 52.5% from the previous year, proving the effectiveness of travel stimulation policies of provinces and cities, including those in the north. Many in this region like Hanoi, Quang Ninh, and Ninh Binh were among the best performers nationwide in terms of the tourist number and revenue, according to the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism.

In addition, many international tourism titles came to northern localities last year. For example, Hanoi was named Asia’s Leading City Destination and Asia's Leading City Break Destination at the World Travel Awards 2023, Ha Giang province – Asia’s Leading Emerging Tourism Destination, Ha Nam province – Asia's Leading Regional Cultural Destination, Moc Chau district (Son La province) – Asia's Leading Regional Nature Destination, Cuc Phuong National Park – Asia's Leading National Park, and Tam Dao township (Vinh Phuc province) – Asia’s Leading Town Destination.

Hanoi Tourism Association will coordinate with other localities to increase promotion and stimulation activities as part of Visit Vietnam Year 2024. The group of northern localities’ tourism associations will also strengthen partnerships with domestic and international airlines to introduce their products and services to passengers and organise tours more professionally.

More people in southern region hospitalised due to hot weather

Hospitals in the southern region of Vietnam have reported an increase in patient admissions due to the prolonged heatwave.

The Medical Examination Department at Thong Nhat Hospital was crowded on Thursday, with the majority of patients being elderly. People have been encouraged to seek medical check-ups to prevent their health from deteriorating.  

Patient admissions to Thong Nhat Hospital have increased by 20 percent year-on-year since before the Tet Lunar New Year. Each day, the hospital attends to around 2,500 patients, with 150 requiring hospitalisation.

Doctor Truong Quang Anh Vu noted that cases of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, and coronary artery disease at Thong Nhat Hospital have been on the rise. He advised people, particularly the elderly, to take extra precautions to protect their health during hot days.

It is crucial not to set the room temperature with the air conditioner 6-8 degrees Celsius lower than the ambient temperature. Before going outside, individuals should adjust the air conditioner to a higher temperature to acclimatise to the external environment more comfortably.

The heatwave has continued to intensify in the south, with temperatures reaching up to 38 degrees Celsius.

Recruitment for Hanoi Metro Line

The Hanoi Transport Construction Joint Stock Company is set to recruit 447 employees for the Nhon-Hanoi Station metro route.

The company has announced that it plans to commence operations of the elevated section of the Nhon-Hanoi Station metro project in July this year. 

Since March, the company has been conducting trial runs of the 8.5-kilometre elevated section that connects the Nhon area in Bac Tu Liem District to Cau Giay Street in Cau Giay District. The construction of the elevated section is nearing completion, with 77.76 percent of the entire route's work finished.

Spanning 12.5 kilometres with 12 stations, the Nhon-Hanoi Station metro route began construction in 2009 and was initially expected to be completed in 2014.

However, the project has faced significant delays, causing costs to escalate to EUR1.3 billion (USD1.46 billion).

IT application in border management promoted

The Border Guard High Command announced on March 2 that it has accelerated the application of information technology (IT) and administrative reform in managing and safeguarding sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national border security, and has achieved significant results.

According to Colonel Do Ngoc Toan, Director of the Department of Border Gate Management under the command, the pilot of the information technology application in issuing and controlling various permits at port border gates via the electronic border information portal is currently underway. The force is now supplementing utilities and refining software to facilitate the issuance of permits at online port border gates and confirm them with digital signatures.

As scheduled, in 2024, the system will be deployed at seven port border gates. By 2025, it will be implemented at all port border gates nationwide, he said.

The control of various permits is conducted using 2D barcode technology, which helps reduce inspection time for sailors, shoreline passengers, and disembarking workers from around three minutes to about 30 seconds per person, he noted.

In the coming time, the Department of Border Gate Management will collaborate with relevant agencies to implement the Government’s Project 06 as per the Ministry of National Defense's plan to connect and utilise national population database for immigration management, among others, Toan added.

Currently, the force is implementing 21 electronic border procedures, including 18 procedures integrated with the national one-stop-shop portal and the procedures deployed on the electronic border information portal at 89 ports of entry, international border gates, and main land border gates.

The results of resolving administrative procedures for 19 electronic border procedures at 89 ports of entry have been synchronised to the Ministry of Defence's public service portal.

An entry-exit  management and control software based on a centralised data model has been connected with 109 border checkpoints and synchronised with data from the Ministry of Public Security's Immigration Department through direct connection systems.

Bulgaria's National Day marked in HCM City

The Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organisations and the Bulgarian Embassy in Vietnam on March 1 co-organised a ceremony to mark Bulgaria's National Day (March 3,1878-2024) in the southern metropolis.

Addressing the event, Bulgarian Ambassador Pavlin Todorov stated that it is an act of preserving memories of Bulgaria in Vietnam, contributing to the development of the relationship between the two nations.

The diplomat said the Vietnam-Bulgaria traditional friendship has been preserved and developed across various fields. In addition to strong political and diplomatic relations, their economic and trade ties have seen positive developments and still have plenty of room for improvement in the future.

Potential areas for bilateral collaboration also include science and technology, energy, industry, agriculture, healthcare, information technology, tourism, education and training and locality-to-locality cooperation, he noted.

People-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries play a crucial role in strengthening their relations, he added.

In response, Chairwoman of the municipal Vietnam-Bulgaria Friendship Association Hoang Thai Lan said that the countries have a long-standing bond of friendship, as Bulgaria was one of the first ten countries in the world to recognise Vietnam's independence and establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam on February 8, 1950. In 2013, they elevated their relations to a strategic partnership, opening up new opportunities for cooperation.

Over the past 74 years, the governments and people of both countries have continuously nurtured the traditional friendship in various fields such as politics, diplomacy, culture, science, education, and security-defence, she remarked.

Vietnam, Italy see strong potential in agriculture cooperation

The Vietnamese and Italian economies are complementary, with great potential for cooperation, with agriculture being a key area, said head of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations Le Hoai Trung.

During a reception in Hanoi on March 1 for Italian Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry Francesco Lollobrigida, Trung said that Vietnam attaches importance to and gives high priority to the strategic partnership with Italy, stressing that the two countries share views on many global issues, have mutual interests and enjoy strong people-to-people ties.

He informed Lollobrigida, who is also a Politburo member of the Brothers of Italy Party, about Vietnam's significant socio-economic achievements over nearly 40 years of reforms, particularly in the agricultural sector.

Host and guest discussed several major directions and measures to expand and improve the effectiveness of bilateral collaboration, with party-to-party relations between the CPV and political parties in Italy playing a crucial role.

Lollobrigida, in response, affirmed that Italy attaches importance to Vietnam's role and position in the region and the Italy-Vietnam strategic partnership.

He expressed the Italian leaders’ high regard for the positive developments of bilateral strategic partnership over the past years. He stressed the importance of outlining specific orientations to the further development of bilateral relations, including increasing contacts and exchanges through the party channels and promoting agriculture cooperation between businesses.

The minister concurred with Trung on the need for the two countries to continue fostering political trust and people-to-people exchanges, and making strong changes in all-around coordination, especially agriculture in which Italy boasts expertise.

Binh Duong, Japanese region cooperate in building environmental protection capacity

The enhancement of environmental protection capabilities for officials has taken centre stage in the collaboration between the southern province of Binh Duong and Japan's Kansai region, heard a meeting between the local authorities and the Kansai Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI Kansai) on March 3.

At the function, the sides underscored a shared commitment in exchanging experiences, technologies, and advanced solutions to ensure a sustainable and healthy environment.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Mai Hung noted that the bilateral cooperation is not only an opportunity for local officials and businesses to access advanced technologies, but also a significant step towards enhancing environmental management capacities and advancing sustainable development in the southern industrial hub.

The Japanese side proposed specific development directions, including encouraging businesses to invest in new environmental protection technologies in Binh Duong.

Morishita Tsuyoshi, Director-General of the International Affairs Department at METI Kansai, expressed his hope that Japanese environmental technologies will contribute to the province’s environment improvement and carbon emissions reduction.

According to a report from the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the collaborative project on technology transfer, technical cooperation, and human resource training in the fields of environment and energy conservation has been underway since November 2022. Through training courses and seminars, it has significantly contributed to enhancing the capacities of environmental management officials in Binh Duong, while providing substantial support for the province in building plans and regulations regarding environmental protection, pollution control, and climate change response for 2021-2025.

Project supports HCM City children, adolescents in gender equality issues

The Ho Chi Minh City Association for Protection of Child Rights and the Save the Children International in Vietnam on March 1 launched a project “Rainbow Voice - Gender and gender equality issues in implementing programmes to support children and adolescents”.

Nguyen Trong Vu Binh, a representative from the Save the Children International in Vietnam, said that the project's goal is to accompany Ho Chi Minh City in gradually improving gender capacity and gender equality issues for municipal agencies, units, and social organisations in the process of implementing support programmes and in the field of child and adolescent protection, thus helping children develop physically, intellectually and spiritually.

Mai Thi Ngoc Mai, President of the Ho Chi Minh City Association for Protection of Child Rights, said that the project helps build and complete communication documents to support the raising of public awareness of gender and gender equality issues; and holds training for non-public social assistance organisations, and organisations, agencies and units of the child protection system.

Surveys will be conducted to collect opinions from children and adolescents to assess their awareness of gender and gender equality issues in the supply of support services, along with seminars related to domestic violence prevention and control for those directly affected.

The project also aims to promote the right to participation of children and adolescents on the basis of ensuring gender equality issues, and provide training for children and adolescents on gender-related knowledge and gender equality issues in accordance with the Children's Law, and the National Strategy on Gender Equality.

Veteran painter introduces new portrait collection to the public

An exhibition showcasing portraits by Phạm Luận, a renowned painter in Vietnamese contemporary arts, has opened at the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum in Hà Nội.

Renowned for his landscape paintings, this is the first time he has introduced his portrait works to the public, showcasing his distinctive and remarkable artistic space.

Nearly 60 paintings displayed at Phạm Luận – Chân Dung (Phạm Luận – Portraits) exhibition were selected from hundreds of works that the painter has created since the early days of his career. Two-thirds of them have been painted over the past two years.

Luận believes that portraits must accurately depict the image and aura of the person being portrayed. His most beautiful portraits are those of his wife, children, siblings, colleagues, close friends, and himself, simply because he feels the closest connection to them.

Besides individual portraits, the 70-year-old painter also unveiled group portraits, including notable ones such as Studio Của Phạm Luận (Phạm Luận's Studio) and Tối Nay Có Khách (Guests Tonight). Each person, whether a colleague or a family member, has been "placed" into the paintings, appearing with their own distinctive personalities and expressions, evoking much interest in the viewers.

Over the course of more than 50 years as an artist, Luận has marked the stages of his creative journey with 23 solo exhibitions. His first exhibition was organised in 1991, and the most recent titled Tíc Tắc Sài Gòn took place in 2022, portraying the resurgence of HCM City after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. His artworks have been featured in numerous renowned museums and private collections both domestically and internationally.

His 24th exhibition is held this year as a gift to celebrate his 70th birthday and welcome the Lunar New Year of the Dragon.

Phạm Luận – Portraits marks a new milestone in Luận’s artistic career in the genre of portrait painting. He went beyond his familiar successes to set new challenges for himself, demonstrating his dedication and relentless creativity.

Artist Lương Xuân Đoàn, chairman of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association, remarked: "The artistic space of Phạm Luận is always open, with countless entrances and elusive exits."

“Luận is indeed a humble person who leads a simple life and has a warm and approachable personality towards everyone. The path of artistic creativity is never without challenges. The horizon seems so close, but with each step taken, it feels farther away. Luận understands this. The more he paints, the more he explores, the more he evolves and grows as an artist,” the chairman said.

Phạm Luận – Portraits runs until March 5. 

Việt Nam wraps up Asian championship with three more golds

Vietnamese swimmers took three golds on the last day in the pool at the 11th Asian Age Group Aquatics Championship on February 29 in New Clark City, the Philippines.

Nguyễn Thúy Hiền won the only title for Việt Nam in the girls' discipline after she finished first in the 13-14 age group in the 50m butterfly with a time 27.53sec.

She overcame Li Sum-yiu of Malaysia and Wei Yan of Hong Kong, who came second and third, respectively, among other strong rivals.

The second gold went to Mai Anh Tuấn in the boys 15-17 years 800m freestyle. He swam in a time of 8:11.12, leaving behind Ryo Furue of Japan and Vietnamese Nguyễn Quang Thuấn.

It was Tuấn's second gold at this tournament. His first was in the 1,500m event on February 28.

The last gold went to the mixed over-18 4x100m team. Trần Hưng Nguyên, Phạm Thanh Bảo, Võ Thị Mỹ Tiên and Phạm Thị Vân topped the podium in a time of 3:58.35, setting a new tournament record.

Swimmers also took three silvers in the male over-18 4x200m freestyle, male over-18 200m backstroke and male over-18 breaststroke. Bronze medals were in girls' and boys over-18 50m butterfly, girls' and boys' over-18 200m backstroke and girls' 15-17 years old 800m freestyle.

After four days of competition, Việt Nam won 14 gold, 17 silver and 23 bronze medals and set nine records finishing fifth overall.

The Vietnamese also competed in diving on February 29 and pocketed two bronze medals in the girls' and boy's 3m board 16-18 years old by Đinh Anh Tuấn and Bùi Thị Hồng Giang.

The diving events wrapped up on March 1.

The championship will continue until March 9 with water polo and synchronised swimming but Việt Nam is not taking part in these events. 

11,000 runners to join midnight marathon in HCM City

About 11,000 runners, including 3,000 foreigners, will join in the VPBank VnExpress Marathon HCM City Midnight set to be held in HCM City on March 3.

Kicking off in the early morning, the marathon will start on Trương Định Street, and pass through Tao Đàn Park, one of the city's iconic landmarks.

Runners will compete along the route, visiting famous landmarks such as Independence Palace, Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Sài Gòn and Bạch Đằng Wharf, exploring the youthful and vibrant atmosphere of District 1 and the new urban area Thủ Thiêm before crossing the finish line at Lê Duẩn Street, just before the Sài Gòn Zoo and Botanical Gardens.

Organisers said that this would be the first marathon to ensure proper lighting conditions for runners along the entire course.

This is a testament to the organising committee's efforts to ensure safety and provide a unique nighttime running experience for every step taken by the runners as they explore a different side of the city at night, organisers said.

The route of the marathon has been certified by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) as meeting the standard requirements in terms of race distances for all four categories - 5km, 10km, 21km and 42km.

Therefore, runners participating in the event will be able to use their results as part of the criteria for registering in the world's biggest marathons such as those in Chicago, Tokyo, Boston, and others.

The VPBank VnExpress Marathon HCM City Midnight 2024 kicks off the VnExpress Marathon series for 2024, featuring eight races spanning across different regions. VnExpress Marathon will send the results of participants competing in the 42km distance this year to Abbott World Marathon Majors Wanda.

The results will be aggregated with runners worldwide in the Abbott WMM Wanda Age Group World Rankings.

Participants who meet the criteria in their respective age groups will receive invitations to compete in the 2025 World Championships. Performance will be based on the fastest time recorded in a VnExpress Marathon event.

Runners participating in the marathon will be given a race kit before the race and receive a medal when completing the race legally. Runners of 21km and 42km distances will receive finisher shirts.

The male and female winners of the 42km race at VnExpress Marathon will receive the biggest prize, with a total value of VNĐ48.7 million (US$2,000). The prize includes VNĐ25 million ($1,000), along with a Garmin watch and discount vouchers from the Nike brand. It is an attractive and valuable reward for the glory of winning the race.

VnExpress Marathon is the largest running event series in Việt Nam, operated and owned by VnExpress online newspaper, and FPT Online Joint Stock Company.

The event was first organised in 2019 in Quy Nhơn City of south central Bình Định Province. Since then, it has evolved into an annual series of running events held in attractive tourist cities.

The marathons contribute significantly to the local economy, generating tens of billions of Vietnamese đồng in revenue for each event. Participation by tens of thousands of athletes, along with their friends and family, adds vibrancy to each location. 

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