Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Penny Wong has affirmed that the relationship between her country and Vietnam is underpinned by their close economic and trade links, growing peacekeeping relationship, and longstanding people-to-people ties.

In a September 12 media release following the Australia-Vietnam Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Canberra co-chaired by Wong and her visiting Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son, she said that Australia and Vietnam reaffirmed their strong partnership during the event.

Australia and Vietnam are strong partners and friends that share a commitment to ASEAN's centrality and a strategic interest in maintaining a peaceful, stable and prosperous region in which sovereignty is respected.

The two countries have supported each other throughout the pandemic, she wrote, adding that Australia will provide Vietnam with a further 4.2 million adult Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses, in addition to the 22.2 million doses delivered to date.

“Foreign Minister Son and I had warm and productive discussions about how we can further expand our Strategic Partnership. We also discussed ways to strengthen our climate change cooperation as both countries work towards meeting our commitments to net zero emissions by 2050,” added Wong. “Australia and Vietnam will mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations next year. Throughout 2023 we will reflect on our relationship and look forward to what we can achieve together”.

FM’s New Zealand visit to review, boost multifaceted cooperation: ambassador

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son’s official visit to New Zealand from September 13-5 is a chance for the nations to review their strategic partnership, and set out measures to beef up their multifaceted cooperation in line with regional and international developments, Ambassador to New Zealand Nguyen Van Trung has said.

At the outset of the trip at the invitation of New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta, Trung informed the press that it is Son’s first official visit to the nation and the first ministerial visit by a Southeast Asian country to New Zealand since it opened the border on August 1.

On the occasion, the ministers will co-chair the first face-to-face meeting of the annual foreign ministers' meeting (FMM) mechanism under an action plan to implement the Vietnam-New Zealand strategic partnership framework for 2021-2024.

The action plan was inked in December 2021, focusing on strategic links formation, economic integration, and people connection. As a result, a series of activities and meetings in the fields of agriculture, defence, diplomacy, trade-industry and cooperation among localities have been organised since the beginning of 2022 despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

New Zealand’s official border reopening has allowed the sides to conduct delegation exchange activities in education, economy - trade and investment, judicial cooperation, information and communication, and tourism in the last months of the year.

In addition, while in New Zealand, the Vietnamese FM and local officials will discuss the preparation for delegation exchange activities between senior leaders of the countries, Ambassador Trung noted.

According to the diplomat, the visit takes place in the context that both nations have opened their borders and are making efforts to reconnect with the outside world after more than 2 years of dealing with the pandemic. They share the common interest of quick economic recovery and development, consolidating and diversifying international relations, given the fact that the political, security and economic environments in the world and Asia-Pacific are experiencing many changes this year.

Through the trip and associated meetings by Minister Son with senior leaders of New Zealand, Vietnam affirms its desire to strengthen and deepen the strategic partnership to be commensurate with the nations’ high level of political trust and goodwill, said Trung.

He stated that Vietnam is also determined to cooperate more deeply with New Zealand in accordance with the spirit of the agreement on establishing their strategic partnership signed on July 22, 2020, on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.

Trung stressed New Zealand is one of Vietnam's important partners in trade and official development assistance.

PM chairs national meeting on COVID-19 prevention, control

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on September 13 chaired the 17th meeting of the national steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control, which gathered participants from the 63 provinces and cities across the country.

Addressing the virtual session, Chinh, also head of the committee, highlighted the importance of issuing the Government’s Resolution 128 on making Vietnam’s response to the pandemic more flexible. He said it was key to the work and to socio-economic recovery and development.

Chinh noted that to date, the response has proved effective, with the epidemic put under control, macroeconomics kept stable, the economy and labour market recovering, and national territorial sovereignty, politics, and social security ensured.

Given the current complicated developments of the pandemic, the Government leader requested competent agencies and localities to come up with measures to tackle a state of neglect as well as slow vaccination progress.

The committee warned of the epidemic’s unpredictable developments in the world, and underscored the need to boost vaccination - still a vital solution.

According to a report of the committee at the function, Vietnam has so far logged more than 11.4 million COVID-19 cases, including 10.3 recoveries and over 43,000 deaths.

In the past seven days from September 5-11, an average of about 2,900 new cases was posted daily, with the number of infections being on the rise again.

As of September 11, 258.7 million shots of COVID-19 vaccines were given to the people in Vietnam. The rate of the people aged from 12 years old completing the first and second shots of the vaccines reached almost 100%.

Long Thanh Airport must operate first flight on September 2, 2025: Transport ministry

Long Thành International Airport must operate its first flight on September 2, 2025, coinciding with Việt Nam's 80th anniversary of National Day (September 2, 1945), closing out Phase One of the project's construction. 

To achieve this progress, the Ministry of Transport, Đồng Nai Province and the Airports Corporation of Việt Nam, the project's investor, will coordinate to speed up the works.

That was the conclusion of Deputy Minister of Transport Lê Anh Tuấn speaking at a conference to review the progress of the Long Thành International Airport Phase One, which was organised on Monday.

Although the investors have =implemented different procedures simultaneously, such as land handing over, application preparation and investment, the project is still not meeting the progress requirements.

To ensure the component projects' progress, the Ministry of Transport requires concerned units to coordinate project implementations closely.

​The goal is to operate the first flight on September 2, 2025.

The Long Thành International Airport project phase one has a total investment of about US$4.6 trillion, with a capacity of 25 million passengers per year. The project started in January last year.

Nation welcomes arrival of further 1.5 million doses of Pfizer vaccines

Approximately 1.5 million additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines for children aged 12 and above produced by Pfizer of the United States arrived in the country on September 12, according to National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology.

The move aims to boost the supply of vaccines to the nation amid the number of severe COVID-19 cases increasing.

At present the country has administered roughly 258.7 million COVID-19 vaccine shots.

It is now one of the nations with the largest vaccination coverage globally as almost 100% of people aged 18 and above have now received their first or second dose. In addition, 77.3% of the population have had their third dose and 78.8% of the population have had their fourth inoculation.

VN secures silver at ASEAN Grand Prix

Việt Nam came in second in the second ASEAN Grand Prix Women’s Volleyball Invitation which closed in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand on September 11.

Việt Nam lost 25-19, 25-17, 26-24 to Thailand, who made a perfect sweep in the three-day tournament having previously beaten teams from Indonesia and the Philippines at Chartchai Hall.

It was a massive match with over 5,000 spectators packing the competition site, as world No. 14 Thailand ended their title defence campaign in the ASEAN Grand Prix with a remarkable unbeaten run without dropping a single set to capture the title for the second time in a row.

In their fourth match within four months, Thailand were still the stronger side who set up their domination in the first and second sets easily.

The third set was the most thrilling as Việt Nam gradually gained control with an initial 14-10 lead. Thailand recovered from a slow start to catch Việt Nam at 17-17, 23-23 and 24-24 before they clinched the second set 26-24 to completely end the strong visitors’ challenge.

Labour hero Nguyễn Quang Mâu named Honorary Professor of World Record University

Hero of Labour Nguyễn Quang Mâu was awarded the title of Honorary Professor of World Record University at the 4th World Record Reunion in New Dehli, India on September 11.

Organised by the World Records Union (Worldkings), the event saw the participation of nearly 3,000 business leaders and the world's record holders and communities.

Mâu who also is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gốm Đất Việt (Vietnamese Pottery) JSC, has become one of the first Vietnamese to receive this noble title.

At the event, former General Director of Gốm Đất Việt JSC Đồng Đức Chính and General Director of Đất Việt Brick and Tile JSC also received the title of the Honorary Professor from World Record University.

Gốm Đất Việt JSC also received two new World Records, including the world's largest producer of baked clay tiles (500x300mm) by ultra-fine dry grinding method and the company gains the most National and World Records in the field of production of baked red bricks and tiles.

To date, the Gốm Đất Việt brand name has established 34 Vietnamese Records and four World Records.

PM: Vietnam maintains stability amid global uncertainties

Vietnam is staying active and maintaining stability with risk management tools and healthy competition amid global integration, said Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Chairing a conference in Hanoi on September 12, PM Chinh said amid rapid and uncertain developments in the world, Vietnam has maintained macro-economic stability, controlled inflation and promoted growth. Political stability, social safety and order have been kept while external relations and global integration have been expanded.

In order to keep that momentum, he ordered staying vigilant, closely grasping domestic and international situation, and improving forecasting capacity to manage fiscal and monetary policies flexibly and effectively.

Stabilising macro-economy, controlling inflation, fueling growth and ensuring major balances of the economy are urgent, strategic and also key tasks during the remainder of this year and next years, he said.

The Government leader requested accelerating public investment disbursement, the socio-economic recovery and development programme and three national target programmes.

The Government, ministries, agencies and localities were asked to promptly strengthen the inter-sectoral Steering Committee on macro-economic management, continue stepping up administrative reform, building a streamlined apparatus with effective and efficient operations, developing high-quality human resources, and fighting corruption, negative behaviours and wastefulness.

The PM reiterated the consistent policy of building an independent, self-reliant economy that actively and proactively integrates into the world. Further attention must be paid to socio-cultural development while social welfares guaranteed, national defence-security consolidated to protect national independence and sovereignty.

In the end, he highlighted a need to reach social consensus to fulfil the goals of achieving macro-economic stability, controlling inflation, promoting economic growth and ensuring key balances of the economy.

Hanoi golf tourism week 2022 to popularise luxury services

The Hanoi golf tourism week 2022 will take place in October in Dong Mo, Legend Hill, Minh Tri, Sky Lake and Long Bien golf courses, said the municipal Tourism Department on September 12.

Co-hosted by the Vietnam Golf Tourism Association, the municipal Tourism Department, and the municipal Department of Culture and Sports, the event is expected to attract numerous golfers at home and abroad.

As part of the event, an exhibition on golf equipment and golf fashion show, a tour of Hanoi for golfers’ families, friends and supporters will be held.

During a working session with the municipal Tourism Department, President of the World Travel Awards (WTA) Graham Cooke said in order to host the event, the city’s infrastructure must meet requirements such as being a promising destination for international golf tourism development, golf courses qualified for professional tournaments and adjacent to world-class lodging facilities and well-known tourism landmarks.

State management of sea, islands environment asked to be enhanced

The Government has issued a document No.5657/VPCP-NN asking competent agencies to strengthen the protection of natural resources, sea and islands environment.

Under the requirement, the Ministry of Industry and Trade needs to build regulations on technical requirements for offshore constructions, including works exploiting ocean renewable energy.

The Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Public Security, relevant departments and localities have to coordinate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to inspect and supervise offshore wind power projects.

The Ministry of Home Affairs must cooperate with relevant units and coastal provinces and cities to delimit coastal administrative boundaries for approval by higher-level authorities.

The People’s Committees of coastal provinces and cities that belong to the central government must enhance the state management of natural resources, sea and islands environment.

Vietnam culinary culture festival 2022 to take place from September 23-25

The Vietnam Culinary Culture festival 2022 will be organised from September 23-25 this year at Cua Viet tourist site in central province of Quang Tri’s Gio Linh district.

The event aims to promote Vietnam's impressive cultural space with about 100 booths popularising specialties of the northern, central and southern regions. It also contributes to honouring the diversity and uniqueness of the Vietnamese cuisine in general and that in the central region in particular, as part of reopening tourism activities in the new normal.

The opening ceremony will be held on September 23 evening, including performances by artists across the country as well as culinary promotion activities.

The quintessence of Vietnamese cuisine will be performed by renowned chefs. They will demonstrate not cooking techniques but also the values of each dish and drink.

Da Lat farmers exchange pesticide packaging for gardening protective gears

According to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Lam Dong Province, the rate of pesticide packaging in the area being collected and treated properly is not high, only about 8 - 9 percent, leading to the situation that pesticide packaging are littered in fields, rivers, streams, and canals or ditched them together with household wastes causing environmental pollution.

Faced with this fact, to join hands in collecting and handling pesticide packages, on the morning of September 8, many farmers in Ward 5 in Da Lat City went to the hall of the Van Thanh flower village to exchange pesticide packaging for gifts. This program is organized for the first time by the Da Lat Farmers' Association. Accordingly, gifts include protective equipment for gardening, such as gloves, protective boots, raincoats, and hats.

As soon as the program was held, nearly 500 kilograms of pesticide packaging have been exchanged by farmers for gifts. Farmers will receive a pair of gloves for one kilogram of pesticide packaging, a hat for 2 kilograms of pesticide packaging, a pair of protective boots for 3 kilograms of pesticide packaging, and a raincoat for 5 kilograms of pesticide packaging.

Nine-month flight ban for smoking fine refuser

A man in Hanoi has been banned from flying for nine months after failing to pay a fine for smoking on a domestic flight last month.

The ban will last from September 15 to June 14, next year.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, the passenger smoked on a flight from Hanoi to HCM City before its departure at 4:35 pm on August 1.

After being detected, he was quickly expelled from the plane. the Northern Airports Authority then issued an administrative fine against him a day later.

Despite being reminded several times, he still refused to pay the fine.

Vietnamese and foreign airlines have been asked not to serve him during the banned time.

Son La proposes airport construction

The northern mountainous province of Son La has proposed adding Moc Chau Airport to the national airport development plan until 2050.

According to local authorities, Son La, as home to 12 ethnic minority groups, boasts abundant natural potential for tourism development. In 2019, the province attracted around 2.5 million visitors. The locality sees an annual tourist growth of 23.2 percent.

The government had earlier issued a decision in August approving the plans for developing the Moc Chau national tourist site by 2030. 

The airport would be divided into two phases. In the first phase to 2030, it would serve around one million domestic and international passengers. It would cover an area of around 350 hectares.

The airport’s capacity will be doubled in the second phase (from 2030 to 2050), to two million passengers and the area will increase by 500 hectares.

The project would cost VND6.5 trillion (USD280.17 million) and be carried out under a public-private partnership.

Moc Chau Airport’s international flights would link to East and Southeast Asia.

More Vietnamese visit S.Korea

The pent-up travel demand through the Covid-19 pandemic has given way to an increasing number of Vietnamese tourists flocking to South Korea.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization, South Korea received 80,000 Vietnamese visitors in the first eight months of the year 2022.

More Vietnamese are expected to come to South Korea during the peak fall travel season.

South Korea now offers a variety of travel activities to attract tourists to the country, including accepting multiple-entry visas, unregulating the number of Covid-19 vaccine shots and easing Covid-19 tests upon entry.

The Q-code system has now been integrated with the Vietnamese language to facilitate online declaration.

Besides Seoul, South Korea is drawing the attention of tourists to local attractions, of which Gangwon Province in the north of the country is considered a hotspot.

In October, the new Korean airline, Fly Gangwon, will open direct flights from Yangyang, Gangwon Province, to Hanoi and HCMC.

The visa exemption is meant for package group tours on arrival at the Yangyang International Airport on either charter or commercial flights.

The maximum length of stay in Korea with a visa exemption is no more than 15 days.

HCMC starts teaching informatics as per international standards

Ho Chi Minh City starts teaching informatics as per international standards by calling for parents’ contributions.

Today, the Department of Education and Training in Ho Chi Minh City issued a guide on funding for the implementation of the project ‘Improving the capacity, knowledge and skills of informatics application for high school students in the city according to international standards for the 2021-2030 period at educational institutions in the academic year 2022-2023.

According to the project, for teaching high school students computers following international standards in the 2022-2023 academic year, schools will collect fees from students’ parents on a voluntary basis.

Educational institutions are allowed to actively cooperate with higher education institutions, research institutions, vocational education institutions, enterprises, business households, organizations, individuals, and students' families to organize suitable educational activities.

Thus, the educational institution is responsible for proactively choosing an appropriate teaching partner who is the official representative of the computer programs according to international standards.

French consulate in HCMC opens to public marking European Heritage Days

The consulate general of France in Ho Chi Minh City will open its doors to the public as a part of activities to mark European Heritage Day, starting on September 17.

On this occasion, visitors will have a chance to enjoy the 150-year-old historical building which is an example of Indochina architectural style and French special dishes.

Visitors are required to register before taking a 30-minute tour around the consulate’s premises between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Organized for the first time in 1984, the European Heritage Days are a French creation. It is an occasion for visitors to discover public buildings serving administrative, diplomatic, and economic purposes, which open their doors to the public just these days.

Vietnam well develops cultural industries: UNESCO representative

The National Strategy on the Development of Vietnamese Cultural Industries is a huge effort of the country in realising UNESCO’s Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (Convention 2005).

The affirmation was made by UNESCO Chief Representative in Vietnam Christian Manhart at a symposium reviewing the five-year implementation of the strategy in the 2016-2021 period held on September 12.

According to him, this strategy combines socio-economic development with cultural development, focuses on the economic values of cultural-artistic creativity, and pays attention to the creativity diversity of individuals, collectives and communities.

The development of cultural industries is one of the key factors for economic growth, contributing to GDP development through job generation and opening of new markets.

Vietnam will succeed if it can properly mobilise cultural resources, knowledge, and modern technology to create diverse and attractive cultural products and services, he added.

Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong, Director of the Vietnam National Institute of Cultural and Arts Studies (VICAS), said that cultural industries are strategic assets in Vietnam’s foreign policy and international cooperation and help to strengthen the uniqueness of the country. Cultural industries play a key role in promoting cultural identity and modernising the nation, serve an effective tool for economic growth and innovation, and make culture an important component of international trade and competitiveness.

The National Strategy on the Development of Vietnamese Cultural Industries by 2020, with a vision to 2030, was approved by the Prime Minister on September 8, 2016, with a goal of cultural industries’ occupation of around 3% to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020.

In 2018, cultural industries contributed 7.46 billion USD, accounting for 3.61% of GDP, and generating jobs for over 3 million people, making up 6.1% of the country’s total number of labourers.

New anti-pandemic media campaign launched

A new media campaign against the COVID-19 pandemic for the “new normal” was launched by the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Hanoi on September 12, aiming to promote the theme “For a strong and healthy Vietnam”.

Addressing the launching ceremony, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong called on all ministries, state agencies, orgnisations and people to together take action and raise sense of responsibility in taking COVID-19 control measures – Mask, Disinfection, Vaccine, Medicine, Treatment and Technology – in accordance with the MoH’s revised COVID-19 message.

According to Dr. Shane Fairlie, a specialist from WHO Vietnam, the pandemic is not likely to be fully under control before 2023 as evidenced by the emergence of new highly-infectious variants. Therefore, Vietnam must continue observing COVID-19 preventive rules in the new normal, he said, adding that vaccination and implementing virus control measures remain the most important and necessary solutions.

The media campaign will be run until October 31 by the MoH in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), Unilever Fund Vietnam, Meta Group (Facebook), Zalo Vietnam, and Lotus Vietnam.

Various activities are scheduled to be organised on Vietnam’s most popular social networks, including Facebook, Zalo, TikTok, Youtube and Lotus, with the engagement of many celebrities, tiktokers and KOLs in the fields of health care, culture, education, and others.

Vietnam takes actions to make world cleaner

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Tuan Nhan signed a dispatch on the organisation of activities to respond to the global campaign to make the world cleaner in 2022.

The campaign, initiated by Australia and started in 1993, has become an important annual event drawing hundreds of countries and millions of people around the globe with various activities to protect the environment and promote sustainable development.

Vietnam has responded to the campaign since 1994 with many specific and practical activities. This year, Vietnam has launched community movements such as those to clean up the environment, plant trees, recovering the clean environment in urban areas, rivers and canals, while paying greater attention to environment issues at the local level and settling pollution.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has asked localities and agencies to popularise the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 and guiding documents, while urging the media to increase environmental communications, focusing on issues related to green and circular economy and environmental actions.

Themed "Working together to change the world", the campaign to make the world cleaner is a chance for localities and agencies to strengthen the control and supervision over waste concentrated areas such as industrial parks, industrial clusters, craft villages, river basins and pollution hotspots, as well as better the air conditions.

It also aims to enhance public awareness of extended producer responsibility (EPR), and encourage food and goods supply chains to minimise the use of plastic bags and single-use plastic products.

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