Hoi An city was recognised by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage in 1999 (Photo: VNA)

Owning many tangible and intangible UNESCO-recognised heritage sites, Vietnam is striving to optimise the value of the UNESCO titles for stronger socioeconomic development.

With 65 UNESCO titles spanning all the 63 cities and provinces, Vietnam contributes to enriching, protecting, and promoting the cultural treasures of humanity. This helps international friends better understand the country, its people, traditions, and history.

Vietnam’s UNESCO titles include world heritage sites, world biosphere reserves, world documentary heritage, global geoparks, and intangible cultural heritage, with world heritage title being the most prestigious and oldest.

Destinations with UNESCO titles have become popular tourist attractions, helping build a trademark for the hosting locality, contributing to expanding the livelihoods for the local communities, and promoting the sustainable growth of the country.

For example, in 2012, the Trang An Landscape Complex received only 1 million visitors each year, but five years after being recognised by the UNESCO as a World Natural Culture Heritage Site, it drew 6.3 million visitors in 2019.

In 2019, World Cultural Heritage Sites of Vietnam alone received 21.3 million visitors, including 10.6 million foreigners, with revenue from direct ticket selling reaching 3.12 trillion VND (123.17 million USD).

The optimising of cultural heritage resources also entails the development of many other factors such as infrastructure, services, the expansion of exchanges, and the increase of flows of goods and labour, creating inclusive and harmonious development.

With outstanding efforts in preserving and promoting the values of UNESCO titles, Vietnam is considered as a model of harmony in preserving and promoting values of heritages in association with sustainable tourism development and expanding people’s livelihood.

Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ninh Binh Pham Quang Ngoc said that the province has defined the system of cultural and natural heritages and UNESCO titles as a foundation for the locality’s sustainable development.

Ninh Binh chose an economic structure model suitable to the function of a "heritage city", capable of eliminating the classic industrialisation that damages cultural heritage and conflicts with environmental protection as well as signs of racing towards a model of concentrated urban population structure development that exceeds the capacity of a "heritage urban area”, he stated.

In order to further promote the role of UNESCO titles for sustainable development and enhancing the national position in the world arena, experts held that Vietnam should associate efforts to preserve and promote heritages with the overall socio-economic development policy. Vietnam is currently one of the 11 countries selected by UNESCO to pilot the development of a set of cultural indicators associated with the implementation of sustainable development goals on 22 criteria.

At the local level, it is necessary to include the efforts in tourism development strategies and investment cooperation, they held.

Besides, experts also underlined the need to promote public-private partnerships in the work, along with stronger communications activities to promote UNESCO-recognised sites, especially via social networks and the application of digital technology./.

The exhibition displays 300 artefacts of the Điện Biên Phủ Campaign

The thematic exhibition named "Victory of Điện Biên Phủ - An Eternal Epic" showcases some documentaries and artefacts for the first time to the public about Điện Biên Phủ Campaign.

The exhibition aims to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Điện Biên Phủ Victory (May 7, 1954 - 2024), which ended nine years of the resistance war against French colonialists. 

The exhibition introduces to the public the bold imprints of the strategic decisive campaign that created the Điện Biên Phủ Victory, which “resounded throughout the five continents and shook the world.”

It showcases 300 documentaries and artefacts divided into three parts, namely Road to Điện Biên Phủ; Điện Biên Phủ - The Decisive Strategic Battle; The Pride of Điện Biên.

“Through the exhibition, the visitors can learn about the outstanding maturity of the Việt Nam People's Army. From 34 soldiers with rudimentary weapons on the day of establishment on December 22, 1944, under the leadership of the Party and President Hồ Chí Minh, our army has continuously grown stronger," said Vũ Mạnh Hà, director of Hồ Chí Minh Museum.

The exhibition depicts many new photos, documents and artefacts that have been collected and put on display for the first time. The museum introduces many valuable artefacts, such as the hat and parachute hammock that President Hồ Chí Minh used in the Việt Bắc war zone.

The exhibition opens to the public until October 20 at Hồ Chí Minh Museum, 19 Ngọc Hà Street, Ba Đình District, Hà Nội. 

Students promote Vietnamese culture in Russia’s Far East

An event promoting Vietnamese culture was held on April 27 at the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok city in the Far East of Russia.

The event saw the participation of representatives from the Vietnamese Consulate in Vladivostok city, the university, researchers, and Vietnamese and international students.

Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Consul General to Vladivostok Nguyen Dang Hien said that he is happy to see the cultural event organised by Vietnamese students and Russian students who love Vietnam, to introduce Vietnamese cultural values to international friends.

Honorary Chairman of the Russia-Vietnam Friendship Association of Primorye region Aleksander Sokolovskyi highly appreciated the efforts of Vietnamese and Russian students to organise the event which is the third of its kind that has been held at the university.

Sokolovskyi highlighted special friendship between Vietnam and Russia, saying that Vietnamese language and culture have been studied and taught for the longest time at the university.

Participats at the event have a chance to learn about Vietnamese traditional costumes and calligraphy, play Vietnamese games, and take part in other activities.

Vietnamese space to be constructed in Uruguayan capital

Authorities of Urugay's Montevideo city have passed a resolution to name a Vietnamese space on Jose Pedro Valera Avenue on the occasion of the 49th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification (April 30, 1975 - 2024), and the 134th birth anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh (May 19, 1890 - 2024). 

The resolution said to enhance bilateral cooperation between Uruguay and Vietnam following the commemoration of the 30th founding anniversary of the diplomatic relations in 2023, authorities of the capital have agreed to approve  a plan to establish a public space named "Vietnam".

The space will also serve as a tribute to President Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the Vietnamese people, who visited Uruguay in 1912 in his journey to seek ways for national salvation.

As scheduled, Montevideo and Ho Chi Minh City will collaborate to implement a project to construct the area. The two localities signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in April 2023 to promote tourism development and people-to-people exchanges./. 

Russia premieres documentary on aerospace cooperation with Vietnam

Russia's TV channel Russia-24 aired a documentary on the country's international aerospace cooperation, including with Vietnam, on April 29.

The 30-minute film, by renowned Russian television journalist Aleksandr Rogatkin, consists of exclusive interviews with the first astronaut of Vietnam Pham Tuan, and those of other countries.

In the film, Tuan recalled memories from his selection and training process under the Intercosmos cooperation programme between Vietnam and the Soviet Union over 40 years ago. He shared his feelings during his flight in the weightlessness, particularly the emotional experience of seeing his homeland from space.

All these feelings of pride, sacredness, and significance are still vivid in the memories of the Vietnamese astronaut, the film said. 

Tuan appreciated the assistance of the Soviet Union and its people to Vietnam in the war time, as well as the strong cooperation between the two countries in peacetime, including the aerospace field. 

He said that the Soviet Union assisted Vietnam on land, at sea, and in the air during wartime, while in peacetime, they flew into space together with Vietnam, demonstrating the close friendship and solidarity between the peoples of the two countries in the modern era./.

Hefty profit from cobra breeding

Phan Thanh Binh, 40, a farmer in My Tu District in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang, is raising thousands of cobras, earning profits of nearly VND1 billion per year.

In 2015, Binh started to buy 70 cobras from Vinh Long Province to rear in an old, 30-square-meter pigpen on a pilot basis. Due to his lack of experience, the snakes died gradually one by one. 

After learning the reasons for the death of the snakes, he spent tens of millions of dong building wider and cleaner cages and continued raising cobras. His cobras amounted to 200 individuals two years later, and he began to sell full grown snakes to restaurants.

In 2019, Binh had more than 1,000 parent snakes and thousands of snakelets. As many farmers in the region turned to breeding cobras at that time, he took the chance to sell thousands of snakelets at the price of VND100,000-150,000 each to those in need.

Every year, Binh sells nearly three tons of full grown cobras (to be used as meat) to the market, and thousands of snakelets to interested farmers. He also sells 200kg of the snakes to restaurants in his locality and neighboring provinces. A cobra weighing 1.6kg or more is sold at VND600,000-650,000 per kilogram, vnexpress.net reported.

Horse-drawn carriage made by a mechanic

Tran Van Dung, a 68-year-old mechanic living in Binh Chanh District, HCMC, has made a two-wheeled carriage drawn by a mechanical horse also manufactured by himself. A video featuring the weird horse-drawn carriage riding slowly around the mechanic’s neighborhood went viral on social media these days.

The steel horse is equipped with an internal combustion engine and has two forelegs. The motor horse is attached to the two-wheeled carriage with Dung onboard, and under his operation, it can pull the carriage slowly forward, to the right or to the left. It is noteworthy that the exhaust fumes of the engine emit through the mouth of the steel horse.

Dung told tuoitre.vn that manufacturing machines is his hobby. He added that it took him one month and VND15 million to make the steel horse with an engine and two forelegs. Formerly, he manufactured a three-wheeled electric vehicle for a disabled relative.

Experiencing a nomadic life with eight-month-old son

Le Ngoc Hoa, a 26-year-old resident of HCMC, and her husband have spent the past year living a nomadic life with their eight-month-old son in different regions across the country. Their story has captured huge attention from the public.

When their son reached five months, Hoa’s husband, Le Ngoc Son, secured an online job. They spent three months in Thanh Hoa, celebrating Tet with his parents. With backing from both families, they started their nomadic journey in April 2023, settling in a small homestay in Song Cau Town, Phu Yen Province, for five months.

After that, the family rented a small house at the end of a secluded village overlooking the pine hills in Lam Ha District, Lam Dong Province. After four months, they moved to rent a homestay in the ancient town of D’ran, Don Duong District, Lam Dong Province.

Impressed by the fresh atmosphere, natural beauty, and local culture, the family decided to stay longer there. Son intended to rent a land plot for a long term to pursue his passion for growing organic vegetables.

They also planned to continue their journey until their son starts first grade, then will buy a pickup truck or a mobile home to continue their travels, they told the Thanh Nien news site.

Mountainous people get knowledge of environment, health

Nearly 30,000 local officials and citizens from three districts of the northern province of Bắc Kạn received training on healthcare skills and environment protection through a project sponsored by the Australian People for Health, Education and Development Abroad (APHEDA).

The trainees in ten classes have been taught general knowledge on safe and unsafe building materials, especially asbestos (a soft, greyish-white material used mainly in buildings and clothing as a protection against fire and as a form of insulation), diseases resulting from using asbestos and when asbestos causes danger.

Hoàng Thị Ngân, Deputy chairperson of Bắc Kạn Province’s Women’s Union, said due to backward customs and limited awareness, locals still use building materials that are not friendly to the environment.

“They also farm in a way that harms the surrounding environment,” she said.

The localities have so far hosted ten training classes on the matter.

Locals have been using asbestos to tile their houses, toilets, and barns without knowing that the material may harm the environment when being dismantled.

According to statistics by the World Health Organisation, each year over 100,000 people die due to diseases caused by asbestos while 1.5 million people are living with such diseases.

Nguyễn Văn Sơn, Deputy Director of the Professional Health and Environment Institute under the Ministry of Health, said asbestos is a top cancer cause.

Việt Nam is among the top seven countries in the world using imported asbestos. In 2020, the country imported some 20,000 tonnes of asbestos. 

Water suppliers urged to prevent water shortages

The authorities of Hà Nội City have instructed water suppliers to carefully manage water resources to prevent prolonged water cuts that could disrupt residents' daily lives.

The city has urged water companies to operate their water treatment plants and distribution stations at maximum capacity to meet the water needs of all households in the inner city and suburban areas connected to the city's centralised water supply system.

The city has also urged them to upgrade the water distribution network, apply Industry 4.0 technologies for customer management, deploy booster pumping stations and use communication to raise public awareness about water conservation.

In addition, the companies are urged to accelerate water network development projects to expand clean water supply to rural areas.

Another task is to tighten the control of water quality at the source and after treatment, regularly update water data to water monitoring centres and regulate the water supply between centralised water treatment plants to meet the increased demand.

The Hanoi Water Company LTD, which produces about 600,000c.m of fresh water daily, forecasts that it will be overstretched to supply enough water to 16 districts and wards in the city in the summer as water demand is projected to reach about 780,000c.m daily.

Due to the supply-demand gap, the water supplier predicts that some localities in Hà Nội would continue to experience water shortages or even water cuts in the summer. 

Singing Vietnamese folk songs in the park

A group of young people gathers at Le Van Tam Park in District 1, HCMC, every weekend to play musical instruments and sing various Vietnamese folk opera songs.

Gathering with guitars, Vietnamese zithers, and other instruments, they often perform excerpts from traditional southern music styles, such as cai luong, ca co, tan co giao duyen, and folk songs. Their performances attract the attention of passersby, showcasing the beauty of Vietnam’s musical heritage.

Most of these young individuals are members of the Southern Melodies Club, under the management of the HCMC Student Cultural House. Others join them to express their love for traditional music.

Ho Thanh Trinh, head of the Southern Melodies Club, told the Thanh Nien news site that this activity attracted many people from provinces like Dong Thap, An Giang, and Long An. Despite the distance, they still come to HCMC to have fun together. “Our passion for music has brought us closer,” Trinh said.

Old men’s livestream from wheelchairs

Convinced by his daughter, Tran Xuan Hien, 59, and his friend of the same age, Nguyen Trong Cho, both live in Khoai Chau District, Hung Yen Province, started to livestream to sell baked clay piggy banks via their cellphones after years of peddling children’s toys, piggy banks, and even ice cream around their locality.

Suffering from lower limb paralysis, Hien and Cho have been close friends since the days they tended buffaloes together when they were young. Although having to move around in wheelchairs, the two men always try to help each other do their farmwork or household chores.

After having learned how to livestream to sell goods, Cho and Hien take turns to livestream for three hours every day. Out of the livestream time, the two men manage to work on their fields and do household chores to help their wives.

Livestream has helped the two old men in wheelchairs do their job easily, sell more products to earn higher income, and make their life happier and more optimistic, according to thanhnien.vn.

A bride-welcoming procession with excavators

With a view to surprising the bride’s family, neighbors and passers-by, Do Hong Son, the 25-year-old groom in Dai Tu District, Thai Nguyen Province, secretly mobilized seven excavators for the bride-welcoming procession to and from the bride’s house in Thai Nguyen City on April 10.

Son and Duong Thi Lien, the bride, have been in love for 10 years. Operating an excavator to make a living for almost a decade, Son told vnexpress.net that he thought of using excavators in the bride-welcoming procession. Having two excavators of his own, Son asked to borrow five more ones for the procession from his colleagues, who were all willing to do so. One day before the wedding, the seven excavators were washed and decorated with colorful balloons.

At 8 a.m. on the wedding day, the seven excavators started the procession from the groom’s house to the bride’s house. Son planned to ride the bride back to his house on an excavator, but because of the rain, he had to welcome the bride home by car, which was accompanied by the seven excavators.

The photos and video clips of the bride-welcoming procession with seven excavators went viral on social media these days.

Introduction of community tourism area in Hanoi herb kingdom

The Hanoi Tourism Department and Ba Vi District authorities launched the community-based tourism area called Ban Mien (Mien Village).

The community-based tourist village is located in Hop Son Hamlet, Ba Vi Commune, Ba Vi District.

Touring the village will offer travelers some time to feel calm, tranquility, peace, and positivity.

One of the main activities is a bike ride around the village to get in touch with nature and its vibrancy.

Travelers will also visit herb gardens cultivated by local Dao Quan Chet (Dao ethnic people who wear tight pants) and learn about the positive effects of herbs on both physical and mental health.

They will also be able to learn the process of growing herbal plants and producing medicines in the traditional way that has existed for hundreds of years.

Herbal medicines are used in experimental services for tourists such as skin care, health, and food.

During their visit, tourists will enjoy stage shows performed by local artists to recreate ancient rituals, ceremonies, and activities of the local Dao people.

Dang Huong Giang, Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism, said the community-based tourist village has been widely accepted and supported by the people of Hop Son hamlet.

"We hope that by experimenting with a community-based tourist village, we will be able to better preserve and promote local culture, particularly herbal cultivation and medicine making.

Mien Village, the community-based tourism area, was created through the determination and resilience of local authorities and people, said Do Manh Hung, Chairman of the Ba Vi District People's Committee.

The local authorities have also set up a management board and are drawing up rules to run and develop the community-based tourist village.

"The emergence of the Mien Village tourism area is an important event that will provide great momentum for sustainable socio-economic development in the area based on local cultures and the spiritual strength of the people," he said.

It has also provided another option for tourists arriving in Hanoi and Ba Vi District. The model is expected to help attract more Vietnamese and foreign travelers to the capital and the district. 

Hop Son Hamlet is located in the mountainous Ba Vi Commune, Ba Vi District. It takes travelers almost two hours to get there by car from central Hanoi.

The hamlet is home to the Dao Quan Chet people, a branch of the Dao ethnic group in Vietnam.

The locals are known for their herbal production and the hamlet was recognized as a Traditional Handicraft Village in 2021.

Security ministry presses ahead with zero tolerance policy for drink driving

The Ministry of Public Security has insisted on maintaining a total ban on alcohol consumption for drivers as part of wider efforts to promote a culture of traffic safety and to reduce traffic accidents.

This proposal was made as part of the road traffic order and safety bill which has been drafted by the Ministry and will be debated and approved  at the upcoming National Assembly session in June.

In a report to the National Assembly, the Ministry proposed maintaining the zero-tolerance policy for drivers, despite heated arguments regarding the issue.

According to the Ministry, drink driving is a social problem that can be seen not only in Vietnam, but also elsewhere in the world. Therefore, countries globally work to strictly handle such behaviour, though there are both supporters and opponents. While some countries have imposed a drink driving limit, others have introduced a zero-tolerance policy.

“Given the current cultural and traffic conditions in Vietnam, it is really necessary to control alcohol concentration to zero when driving a vehicle,” explained the Ministry.

The actions of many road users are not good, particularly as they disregard or intentionally violate traffic laws, whilst some even challenge authorities when being inspected and handled.

“As a bad conscience can take the lives of many people, strictness is needed,” emphasised the Ministry.

Currently, the regulation banning road users from driving vehicles after consuming alcoholic beverages is stipulated in the Law on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Alcohol Beverages in 2019.

“This law does not prohibit drinking alcoholic beverages, but only prohibits road users from driving after drinking alcohol beverages,” the Ministry further explained.

The World Health Organisation estimates that between 5% and 35% of global road deaths are alcohol related. In most high-income countries, about 20% of fatally-injured drivers have blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels above the legal limit. Meanwhile, studies conducted in low- and middle-income countries highlights that between 33% and 69% of fatally-injured drivers and between 8% and 29% of non-fatally injured drivers consumed alcohol before being involved in a road traffic collision.

In Vietnam, there have been many tragic traffic accidents caused by drink driving over recent years. Though the state promulgated the 2019 Law on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Alcohol Beverages, wine and beer are commonly consumed by local people, mostly young people. Statistics show that Vietnam ranks second in Southeast Asia, 10th in Asia, and 29th in the world in terms of alcohol and beer consumption.

Statistics also indicate that about 18,000 victims are hospitalised annually due to traffic accidents, of which 36.9% of traffic incidents are alcohol-related, 36% of motorcyclists have blood alcohol levels above the legal limit, 66.8% of car drivers violate alcohol concentration regulations, and 11% of people who die in traffic accidents are killed in incidents related to alcohol.

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