Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on November 9 visited Cho Ray-Phnom Penh Hospital and Metfone, an affiliate of the Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group, which are considered symbols of the Vietnam-Cambodia partnership.

Located in Meanchey district of Phnom Penh, Cho Ray-Phnom Penh Hospital was established in 2014 with the cooperation between Saigon Medical Investment JSC of Vietnam and Sokimex Co. of Cambodia.

In the first phase, it has 200 beds and 25 departments, with modern facilities and management technology and personnel supported by Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

PM Chinh lauded the hospital’s performance over the years in providing health care services to locals, fostering cooperation between the two countries in health care, and training medical human resources for Cambodia, thus contributing to reinforcing the friendship between the two countries.

 Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh talks to a patient at Cho Ray-Phnom Penh Hospital (Photo: VNA)
He asked the hospital to focus on enhancing the quality of medical services and its personnel, and bettering its governance to reduce treatment cost for patients.

Visiting Metfone, PM Chinh hailed the firm's effective business operations over the past 13 years, as well as its active engagement in social welfare activities, including those to care for Vietnamese-origin Cambodians, which has contributed to the friendship between the two countries.

Launched in 2009, Metfone has become the top telecommunications brand in Cambodia with more than 9 million customers, holding 41.7% of the local market share. Its mobile network has covered 99% of Cambodia's population. The firm has created jobs for nearly 30,000 labourers.

The PM urged the firm to continue expanding its operation, improving service quality and increasing revenue, and further enhancing the value of the Metfone trademark not only in Cambodia but also in the region.

The Vietnamese Government leader said he hopes Metfone will make more contributions to reinforcing the Vietnam-Cambodia friendship, promoting the tradition of Vietnamese military as well as the image of Uncle Ho’s soldiers in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era in Cambodia.

Hanoi to host largest Creative Designs Festival

The Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2022, the largest to date, will take place from November 11 to 18, aiming to honour and promote creative design resources in the capital city.

Themed “Design and Technology”, the event is jointly organised by the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, the Architecture Magazine and relevant agencies.

A range of activities will be held within the framework of the festival, including exhibitions and seminars with innovative features.

The event’s organising board will launch some creative design contests for young people to encourage them to get involved in the construction of the city space in the future, including the Dream House contest and a photo contest for youth "Hanoi from a perspective view".

During the festival, the city will honour the winners of Hanoi’s public art design contest and another to seek new and unique ideas in creative spaces, designs and products for Hanoi which were launched in August this year.

Central Vietnam records three earthquakes on Nov. 8 evening

Three earthquakes measuring between 2.6 – 3.7 on the Richter scale hit Kon Plong district of the Central Highland province of Kon Tum on November 8 evening.

The three earthquakes occurred 1t 18:01, 19:41 and 20:32 at a depth of 8.1km, according to the Earthquake and Tsunami Warning Centre under the Institute of Geophysics of Vietnam.

They all caused no disaster risk, said the centre, adding scientists are keeping a close watch on these earthquakes.

Kon Plong district has since 2021 recorded hundreds of earthquakes with magnitudes of 2.4 to 4.7. The biggest one, measuring 4.7 o the Richter scale, was captured on August 23, 2022.

Hanoi, Hai Phong to co-host fifth International Experimental Theatre Festival

As many as 15 domestic and six foreign art troupes will participate in the fifth International Experimental Theatre Festival in Hanoi and Hai Phong City between November 15 and November 26.

The festival will witness the participation of artists from the Hanoi Drama Theatre, the Vietnam National Puppetry Theatre, and the Vietnam Circus Federation.

Foreign art troupes, including Tom Corandini Teatro of Italy, Yvua Arts of the Republic of Korea, Patch Theater of Poland, Singapore Raffles Music College of Singapore, Mass Foundation of Pakistan, and Dhyaas Performing Arts of India, will all perform at the festival, with each group staging a play.

The opening ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Youth Theatre of Vietnam in Hanoi at 7:30 p.m. on November 15.

Co-organised by the Vietnam Stage Artists' Association and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Performing Arts Department, the first, second, third, and fourth editions of the festival were held in Vietnam in 2002, 2006, 2016, and 2019, respectively.

Vietnam, Cambodia foster partnership in post, telecoms, digital transformation

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung had a working session with Cambodian Minister of Post and Telecommunications Chea Vandeth in Phnom Penh on November 8, seeking ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the fields of post, telecommunications, and digital transformation.

In the session, held within the framework of the ongoing official visit to Cambodia by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the two ministers briefed each other on the situation, management policies, strategic orientations, opportunities and challenges in developing digital infrastructure system and promoting digital transformation in their countries.

They agreed that their collaboration priorities in the future will include institution cooperation and experience exchange on the building and completion of the legal environment in the field, and the creation of optimal conditions for the promotion of investment, renovation and digital startups.

They concurred to expand their partnership to digital human resources, digital skill improvement, and the popularisation through the organisation of training courses and the sharing of training programmes and documents, while supporting each other in developing digital platforms, especially the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) for online training.

The two ministers also agreed to increase the sharing of initiatives and effective methods in digital transformation, while jointly holding programmes and conferences to exchange experience and connect digital technology firms of both sides and encourage them to implement digital transformation projects together.

The two sides will create favourable conditions for businesses in the field of telecommunications and digital technology of both sides to foster their partnership, contributing to reinforcing the cooperation and friendship between the two countries, they affirmed.

At the working session, leaders of the Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group delivered a report on its business performance and contributions of the Viettel Cambodia and Metfone to the socio-economic development of the host country.

11 Vietnamese universities listed in QS Asia University Rankings 2023

Vietnam has 11 representatives listed in QS Asia University Rankings 2023 released by UK-based education organisation Quacquarelli Symonds.

The highest ranking in Vietnam went to Ton Duc Thang Univerisity, at 138th place, closely followed by the Duy Tan Univerisity, Vietnam National University-Hanoi and Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City at 145th, 162nd and 167th position, respectively.

Hanoi University of Science and Technology is placed 248th.  Hue University ranks in the 351-400 group, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City in 401-450 and University of Da Nang in 501-550.

The remaining Vietnamese universities in the 2022 rankings are Can Tho University and Hanoi National University of Education in the group of 551-600 and the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City in the 651-700 group.

Featuring 760 Asian universities, the 2023 rankings of the top Asian universities are the biggest to date, QS stated.

This year, Peking University takes the top spot. It is followed by National University of Singapore and Tsinghua University of China.

Vietnam, Thailand bolster defence cooperation

Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien has voiced support of cooperation contents reached during talks on November 8 between the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army Lt. Gen. Nguyen Van Nghia and Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army Gen. Narongpan Jittkaewtae.
 
Receiving the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army in Hanoi on November 8, Deputy Defence Minister Chien stressed that amidst the strong development of Vietnam-Thailand ties, their defence cooperation has also seen active progress, reflecting the mutual trust between the two armies.

He said as the two countries will mark the 10th anniversary of their strategic partnership in 2023, the two armies should actively roll out activities to enhance mutual trust, such as holding strategic discussion, exchanging delegations, and sharing experience in handling unconventional security issues.

Chien also suggested the two sides promote joint work in fields suitable with each side’s needs and strength like logistics, military medicine, search and rescue, and terrorism combat.

He took the occasion to invite leaders of the Defence Ministry and military of Thailand to attend the first Vietnam International Defence Expo in December.

The Thai Commander-in-Chief informed his host of the success of his talks with Deputy Chief of Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army Nguyen Van Nghia, affirming that the two sides agreed to continue boosting their cooperation to contribute to the relationship between the two countries and bring a peaceful and happy life to their people.   

The Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army is in Hanoi to attend the 23rd ASEAN Chiefs of Army Multilateral Meeting (ACAMM-23).

During the talks between Deputy Chief of Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army Lt. Gen. Nguyen Van Nghia and Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army Gen. Narongpan Jittkaewtae,  the two sides reached consensus on a number of cooperation priorities in the time ahead. They will maintain the exchange of information and assessment as well as delegations at all levels, continue cooperation in training, including language training, and expand collaboration to unconventional security fields like search and rescue, border management, cross-border crime control, terrorism combat, and sharing of experience in army’s involvement in poverty reduction.

The two sides also pledged to continue consult and support each other at multilateral forums and events in the framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Khmer culture-sport-tourism festival underway in Kien Giang

The opening ceremony of Kien Giang’s Khmer culture-sport-tourism festival took place on November 8 on the bank of Cai Lon river in Go Quao district, which houses the largest number of Khmer people in the Mekong Delta province.

This year’s event, the 14th edition, is scheduled for November 6 – 9, in conjunction with the Ok Om Bok (moon worshipping) – one of the three main festivals, along with Sene Dolta and Chol Chnam Thmay, that Khmer ethnic people celebrate every year.

With the participation of nearly 3,000 artisans, actors and athletes from across the province, it features a range of activities, including musical-art performances, a food-culture trade fair and exhibition, a football tournament, and a Ngo (Khmer boat) race.

The Ngo race, considered a big draw to locals, sees 12 teams competing in the three categories of 800m and 1,200m for men, and mixed 800m.

VN cueists to compete in three-cushion World Championship 2022

Vietnam will send four cueists to the three-cushion World Championship 2022 scheduled to get underway from November 9 to November 13 in Donghae City, the Republic of Korea.

This year’s tournament sees a total of 48 cueists divided into 16 groups, and according to rules the two leading players of each group will progress through to the next round.

Tran Quyet Chien has been placed in Group D alongside world No. 34 Ruben Legazpi of Spain and world No. 53 Fadi Abousaleh of Lebanon.

His teammates, world No. 14 Nguyen Duc Anh Chien and world No. 129 Chiem Hong Thai are in Group P with world No. 19 and former World Championship Choi Sung Won of the Republic of Korea.

Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu, No. 41, faces a tough task in a group with world No. 1 player Dick Jaspers of the Netherlands and talented French youngster Gwendal Marechal, No. 42.

Phu Quoc to host first national triathlon race

Vietnam’s first triathlon race BIM Group 5150 Phu Quoc will get underway from November 18 to 20 on Phu Quoc Island in Kien Giang province, bringing a fresh experience for participating athletes.

Around 400 athletes from 34 countries and territories worldwide are expected to register for the competition, said organisers at the press conference recently held in Ho Chi Minh City.

The tournament will be part of the 5150 Triathlon Series. Athletes must compete in a 51.5km race, including a 1.5km swim, 40km bike race, and 10km run.

Ministry requires localities to inspect old apartment buildings

The Ministry of Construction has requested localities to inspect the quality of old apartment buildings in their areas and make a list of apartment buildings that need to be renovated.

To speed up the renovation of old apartment buildings, the ministry also proposed localities allocate local budgets and direct the local departments of construction to review the quality of old apartment buildings, serving as a basis for early identification of apartments that need to be re-built or upgraded.

It is among the contents that have been sent by the Ministry of Construction to the people's committees of the provinces and cities on the implementation of the Government’s Decree No. 69/2021/ND-CP dated July 15, 2021 on renovating and rebuilding old apartment buildings.

Decree No. 69/2021 took effect from September 1, 2021 in order to remove difficulties and obstacles in the renovation and reconstruction of old apartments. The Decree has been supported by localities as well as people living in many old apartment buildings across the country.

However, in reality, there were still many localities, especially in Hà Nội and HCM City, that had old apartment buildings in need of work, while the implementation of Decree No. 69/2021/ND-CP was still slow. 

Festival to promote heritage values to the world

Tràng An Heritage Connecting - Ninh Bình Festival will have the participation of the Laos art troupe from Udomxay Province and about 70 beauty queens of Miss Tourism World beauty pageant from around the world. They will perform at the opening ceremony and the street festival programme.

Beauty queens from the Tourism World Pageant will gather at Tràng An Heritage Connecting - Ninh Bình Festival that will take place in the northern province of Ninh Bình from November 17-19.

Tràng An Heritage Connecting - Ninh Bình Festival will have the participation of the Laos art troupe from Udomxay Province and about 70 beauty queens of Miss Tourism World beauty pageant from around the world. They will perform at the opening ceremony and the street festival programme.

It will also be attended by representatives and artists from 15 provinces and cities nationwide including Hà Nội, Hải Phòng, Hà Nam, Nam Định and Thanh Hóa.

Vietnamese basketball team ready for tip-off at FIBA Asia Cup

Vietnam are in Group D with Tahiti, Thailand, Malaysia and Mongolia. Their first match will be against Tahiti.

The Vietnamese basketball team will begin their FIBA Asia Cup 2025 pre-qualifiers journey in Mongolia on November 10.

Việt Nam are in Group D with Tahiti, Thailand, Malaysia and Mongolia. Their first match will be against Tahiti.

The Việt Nam Basketball Federation (VBF) selected their 12 best players, including Justin Young and Đinh Thanh Sang.

Saigon Heat head coach Matt Van Pelt will lead the Vietnamese team in this tournament. It is the first time a young American coach has trained the national team, replacing Kevin Yurks.

The FIBA Asia Cup 2025 pre-qualifiers have two rounds. The teams will be divided into four groups based on their regions. West Asian teams are in Groups A and B, while East Asian teams are in Groups C and D.

The teams will play in a round-robin format in the first round, with the top three teams advancing to the second round.

Sahako wins national futsal championship

Sahako FC won the National Futsal Championship title for the first time on November 7 in Cần Thơ City. The club secured their trophy one match before the season ends on November 10.

On Monday, Sahako tied Hiếu Hoa Đà Nẵng 1-1 with Đinh Công Viên scoring for Sahako at the 15th minute. With 37 points after 15 matches, Sahako are on top of the ranking, three points more than defending champion Thái Sơn Nam.

This means that whatever the result of their last match against Hưng Gia Khang Đắk Lắk, Sahako will still finish the season in first place.

The club, which finished second three years in a row from 2019 to 2021, has ended Thái Sơn Nam's six-year reign as champions.

HCM City authorities on high alert for erosion along rivers and canals

HCM City authorities have asked agencies and relevant units to take necessary measures to ensure safety for more than 1,300 residents living around 32 erosion-prone locations.

Eight of the locations are in Thủ Đức city, seven in Nhà Bè District, four in Bình Chánh District, seven in Cần Giờ District, four in Bình Thạnh District, one in Hóc Môn District, and one in Củ Chi District.

Of them, there are eight areas considered dangerous in Thủ Đức city and the districts of Bình Chánh, Nhà Bè and Cần Giờ.

Hanoi to offer free entry to public parks

Fences will be removed from public parks in Hanoi as parkgoers would no longer need to buy entry tickets, according to Hanoi People's Committee Chairman Tran Sy Thanh said when talking about the city's plans to upgrade local parks.

Currently, Hanoi has four parks under the city's administration, including Thong Nhat, Thu Le, Botanical Garden Park, and Hoa Binh. Local authorities have planned to upgrade these parks since late 2021, but faced numerous difficulties.

Over 40 parks under the management of districts have also been included in the renovation plan during the 2021-2025 period, such as Linh Dam, Bac Linh Dam, Ba Mau, Nghia Do, Cau Giay, Den Lu, Indira Gandhi, and Nguyen Trai.

Hanoi also set the goal to build nine new parks by 2025, including those in the Hanoi Southwest urban area; CV1 at Cau Giay and Nam Tu Liem districts; Chu Van An memorial park in Thanh Tri; Kim Quy cultural, tourism and entertainment park in Dong Anh; Phung Khoang lake park in Nam Tu Liem and Thanh Xuan districts; and Ha Dong park.

Additional 3,000 train tickets go on sale for Tet holiday

The railway industry will offer 3,000 more train tickets to meet the strong travel demand during the 2023 Lunar New Year holiday (Tet).

The 3,000 tickets will be for the routes from Saigon, Di An and Bien Hoa train stations to those in central provinces such as Tuy Hoa, Dieu Tri, Quang Ngai and Danang from January 9 to January 20, 2023.

The Saigon Railway Transport JSC will operate more trains on the HCMC-Quang Ngai route to handle an extra volume of 3,900 seats during the holiday.

Specifically, the train SE26 will run additional services from HCMC to Quang Ngai on January 14, 16 and 18, while the train SE25 will run in the opposite direction on January 26, 28 and 31.

Khanh Hoa: Two injured Filipino sailors brought ashore for treatment

Vietnam’s maritime search and rescue forces have brought two injured Filipino sailors on board a Panama’s vessel to the central province of Khanh Hoa for emergency treatment.

On November 8, the ship was navigating through waters about 78 nautical miles southeast of Nha Trang when one sailor suffered from a headache, bleeding profusely and was in a life-threatening situation while another had difficulty walking.

The Energry Hopy ship, which was en route from Singapore to the Republic of Korea, asked for assistance to bring the sailors ashore for emergency aid.

Upon receiving the information, the Vietnam Martitime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) contacted the vessel to give instructions on how to provide first aid for the victims.

The centre dispatched a rescue ship and arranged a medical emergency team in Nha Trang port to rescue the sailors. The victims were brought to the port at 10.30pm on the same day and then rushed to a hospital in Nha Trang city for treatment.

Vietnam reiterates strong climate commitments at COP27

Vietnam will reiterate its strong commitments to climate change response at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), which is taking place in Egypt from November 6-18.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha, who leads the Vietnamese delegation to the event, said Vietnam and other countries at the conference will work to perfect mechanisms and policies to mobilise resources from developed nations for the implementation of the commitments.

The resources should be allocated transparently and equally to developing and underdeveloped nations that are making efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change, the minister noted.

He highlighted energy transition as a solution to climate change, on which Vietnam has set out a specific roadmap.  

The Vietnamese government has issued a strategy on climate change and assigned specific tasks to ministries, agencies and localities, Ha added.

Vietnam is working hard to materialise the commitments using its internal resources as well as the support from the international community, especially through mechanisms of the COP26 agreement reached in the UK last year.

He said the Vietnamese delegation came to COP27 with three major task, one of which is to join other UNFCCC members to seek ways to realise the reached commitments and mechanisms, and raise new initiatives, mechanisms and policies to conduct energy transition firmly.

The second task is upholding Vietnam's pioneering role in energy transition, green transition and digital transformation, and the third one is to mobilise resources and learn from developed partners’ experience, and join more initiatives, especially those on financial mobilisation and energy transition.  

The delegation is scheduled to carry out many bilateral activities with international organisations and businesses relating to energy transition, and hold meetings with big financial institutions like the World Bank.

He described COP27 as an opportunity for Vietnam to meet leading international organisations and financial institutions to discuss financial mechanisms and policies, and how to mobilise resources for Vietnam.

Within the framework of COP27, Vietnam will continue to hold discussions with partners from G7 and enlarged G7 over just energy transition for Vietnam and help for the country to utilise opportunities in preferential financing and technology transfer to fulfill its net-zero commitments.

According to the minister, Vietnam is engaging in negotiations regarding issues in which the country needs international support, such as financing and technical assistance to draft plans in energy transition and assess renewable energy potential. 
 
Ha stressed that besides meeting domestic demand, renewable energy could help turn the country into an energy exporter in Southeast Asia, Asia and the world in the future.

Hanoi’s air pollution has negative impact on children’s health

PAM Air monitoring stations in Hanoi reported that the Air Quality Index (AQI) in areas of the capital have reached hazardous levels, mostly in densely-populated areas near schools and kindergartens which have an adverse impact on the health of children and the elderly.

This comes after the AQI in Nguyen Che Nghia street and Time City urban area was recorded at between 406 and ​​464 at 8:15 a.m. on November 9, with PAM Air 2.5 dust reaching up to 320.9 and 435.3 microgram/m3, a level extremely dangerous for human health.

The majority of the capital remains in the red, purple, and brown levels, all of which are unhealthy for sensitive groups and people who suffer from respiratory diseases or underlying health issues.

Dr. Hoang Duong Tung, chairman of the Vietnam Clean Air Network, analysed that the recent spell of weather without rain and calm wind has prevented pollutants from being dispersed or washed away, with these being viewed as the main cause of Hanoi’s air pollution over recent days.

Air pollution often occurs at this time of year with the air indicators only being improved when there is rain and strong wind, Dr. Tung added.

Environmental experts have also attributed Hanoi’s “unhealthy” air pollution to temperature inversion, pollutants coming from traffic, construction, industrial production, and craft villages, as well as straw burning occurring in outlying districts.  

Due to these challenges, environmental experts recommend that people avoid prolonged exercise outside, protect their health by wearing fine particulate matter (PM2.5) dust masks, as well as limiting outdoor activities.

Furthermore, people suffering from asthma may need to use their medication more often, while sensitive groups should avoid outdoor activities.

Hoi An to organise diverse events during year-end period

The ancient town of Hoi An in the central province of Quang Nam will arrange several diverse cultural and tourism activities in a bid to attract more tourists during the remaining two months of the year.

These activities aim to be held as a buildup to the closing ceremony of the National Tourism Year 2022 which will run with the theme of "Quang Nam - a green tourism destination" in late December.

The highlight of these events is set to be an art programme titled "Hoi An - Colors of Silk" which will be held on the evening of November 25 at Ba Mu Temple in the Old Quarter. The scheme will include silk fashion shows, art performances, and a wide range of folk activities.

Furthermore, a series of photo and painting exhibitions on Hoi An city will be organised as part of the occasion along with a cross-country run, a festival of folk songs, and a tea culture festival.

The ancient city is anticipated to host two major events under the National Tourism Year 2022, including the National Food Festival and the ASEAN Music Festival 2022.

Vietnamese and Indian artists join arts exchange in Ho Chi Minh City

The Vietnam – India International Exhibition and Workshop opened in Ho Chi Minh City on November 8 under the theme ‘Beyond and Beneath Arts Exchange’.

The event, which is jointly held by India’s World University of Design, Vietnam’s Van Lang University, and the Kekkeyellam Foundation, is the first exchange event of fine art and paintings to be organised by universities from the two countries.

The exhibition showcased 30 acrylic paintings by 29 Vietnamese and Indian painters.

The exhibition will run until November 13 at Van Lang University, 45 Nguyen Khac Nhu Street, Co Giang Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.

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