Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on September 23 asked Ho Chi Minh City to further bring into play its role as the biggest development driver for the southeastern region and Vietnam as a whole.

At a working session with him during his working visit there, the Standing Board of the municipal Party Committee reported on the implementation outcomes of the resolutions adopted at the 13th National Party Congress and the 11th municipal Party Congress.

It proactively issued a resolution for the recovery period as soon as HCM City had basically brought the COVID-19 pandemic under control. Its Standing Board also ordered the issuance of a local socio-economic recovery and development programme for 2022 - 2025.

As a result, the city posted economic growth of 3.82% in the first half of 2022, a rate expected to reach 9.71% in the first nine months. It has enjoyed fair growth in foreign trade, strong recovery in trading, services, and tourism, and 2.91 billion USD in FDI attraction so far. Encouraging outcomes have also been recorded in cultural and social affairs, health care, education - training, science - technology, COVID-19 response, defence - security ensuring, and foreign relations.

The Party leader requested the continuation of reforming and comprehensively improving education and training; developing human resources, especially high-quality ones and those for leadership and management positions; strongly facilitating science - technology and the knowledge economy to support fast and sustainable development; and consolidating and completing the healthcare network from the municipal to grassroots levels.

At the meeting, he also asked HCM City to improve local residents' spiritual life, resolutely prevent and eradicate social vices and crimes, reduce traffic accidents, ensure due attention to defence - security safeguarding, stay ready to respond to any circumstances, and capitalise on the combined strength of the entire political system and the great national solidarity.

The local Party Organisation needs to unceasingly reform and enhance its leadership and combatant strength, properly carry out the Party building and rectification, and build a truly incorruptible and strong political system, the General Secretary said, demanding it to take this as a key task decisive to the success of other fields.

He emphasised the importance of further strengthening the Party and administration’s ties with the people, relying on the people to build the Party and political system, and using the people’s satisfaction as the measurement of all-level Party committees and administrations’ performance.

The leader expressed his belief that the Party Organisation, administration, and people of HCM City will further cement solidarity, make stronger reforms, and live up to its role as the biggest development driver for the southeastern region and the country.

President Biden says he looks forward to visiting Vietnam

US President Joe Biden expressed his wish to make an official visit to Vietnam at an appropriate time, during a banquet for leaders of countries attending the ongoing 77th session of the UN General Assembly held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on September 21.

Vietnamese Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh was among distinguished guests at the function.

President Biden said that he personally has had a lot of affection for the country and people of Vietnam since he was a senator, and he always supports the strong development of the two countries’ relations.

Deputy PM Pham Binh Minh conveyed the Vietnamese leaders’ greetings to President Biden, and thanked the President for his support to the Vietnam-US relations over the past decades.

Vietnam always considers the US one of its most important partners and wishes to further promote the Vietnam-US Comprehensive Partnership for mutual benefit, making a practical contribution to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the wider world, said Minh.

Biden thanked the Vietnamese leaders for greetings, and recalled the good impressions of Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s historic visit to the United States in 2015.

He expressed his wish to make an official visit to Vietnam at an appropriate time.

During a visit to Vietnam in early September, John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, revealed that President Joe Biden looks forward to visiting Vietnam, but there are no specific plans for this visit yet as the president is busy with other pressing issues such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict or the US-China tension.

At earlier meeting with his US counterpart Wendy Sherman, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam Ha Kim Ngoc expected that the US side would speed up Biden’s Vietnam visit that could take place this year. 

The US leader is scheduled to tour Southeast Asia in November to attend a G20 summit in Indonesia, an East Asia summit in Cambodia and an APEC summit in Thailand.  

PM calls for global approach, int'l solidarity against climate change

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called for a global approach, and international solidarity in response to climate change in his message to the informal Leaders' Roundtable on Climate Change in New York, co-chaired by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Egyptian President on September 22.

The event was initiated by Guterres to unify awareness and promote strong political commitment to climate finance, greenhouse gas emission reduction and energy transition, in the lead up to the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt in November.

It is crucial to have a global approach, strengthened international unity and multilateralism, with the UN placed at the centre to tackle climate change, Chinh said in the message. A people-wide approach is also needed in this effort as people remain the heart, subject, resources, motivation and goal of development, he noted, adding that it is particularly important to ensure equality and justice globally and in each country.

A developing nation rising from the ruins of wars, yet Vietnam has long been a responsible UN member and determined to fulfill its international commitments with the greatest endeavour, the PM stated.

He then asked development partners to support Vietnam through technology transfer, financial incentives, personnel training and active experience sharing, in improving regulatory framework and governance.

It will enable Vietnam to realise the goal of cutting greenhouse emission, effectively responding to climate change, ensuring energy security, promote sustainable socio-economic development, addressing social security issues and improving living standards, the leader emphasised.

He also took the occasion to thank international partners, UN bodies and the UN Secretary-General for their cooperation with and support to Vietnam in climate change response, particularly accelerating the talks for the establishment of a Just Energy Transition Partnership.

Vietnam promotes cooperation with Cuba, Canada, Comoros

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh on September 22 met the President of the Comoros and the foreign ministers of Cuba and Canada on the sidelines of the High-Level Meetings of the UN General Assembly’s 77th session in New York.

At the talks with President of the Comoros Azali Assoumani, Minh stated Vietnam attaches importance to relations with African countries, including the Comoros.

He proposed measures to strengthen the nations’ cooperation and requested the Comoros support Vietnam’s bid to join the Human Rights Council in the 2023-2025 term.

Nodding at Minh’s proposal, Azali Assoumani wished that Vietnam shares experiences and enhances collaboration with his nation regarding the development of farming, trade, fishery, and tourism. The President also agreed to promote the early negotiation and signing of some important documents to create a favourable legal basis for the bilateral cooperation.

Talking to Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, the Vietnamese Deputy PM expressed his delight at the growth of the countries’ special and traditional ties and thanked Cuba for supplying Vietnam with COVID-19 vaccine.

Minh suggested the Vietnamese and Cuban foreign ministries work closely together to prepare for upcoming meetings of the two countries' leaders and a theoretical seminar between the two parties.

He also stressed it is also necessary to increase consultations and close collaboration and support at international organisations and multilateral forums; and seek measures to deepen trade, investment, and cooperation in agriculture, health, science-technology.

B.R.Parrilla affirmed that Cuba always highly value and wishes to foster the special friendship, solidarity and comprehensive cooperation with Vietnam.

He appreciated Vietnam’s assistance for his nation over the past time, particularly its consistent stance calling for the lifting of the embargo against Cuba.

He agreed with suggestions from the Vietnamese side and pledged to further coordinate tightly with Vietnam.

At his meeting with Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly, Minh expressed his delight at the countries’ growing relations toward effectiveness and welcomed Canada’s strong commitment to supporting ASEAN’s centrality and concrete efforts to promote the ASEAN-Canada comprehensive partnership.

Joly, for her part, stated Canada considers Vietnam among its leading partners in the region, and wishes to strengthen and expand cooperation with Vietnam on a bilateral basis, at multilateral organisations and forums, and within the framework of the ASEAN-Canada partnership, in contribution to the maintenance of regional and international peace, stability and prosperity.

Vietnamese movie to compete in Tokyo International Film Festival

A Vietnamese film titled "Tro tàn rực rỡ", known as “Glorious ashes” in English, by director Bui Thac Chuyen will compete for a prize in the Competition category at the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) to be held from October 24 to November 3 in Japan.

Adapted from short stories produced by renowned Vietnamese writer Nguyen Ngoc Tu, the film won the Busan Award in the Asian Project Market of the Busan International Film Festival 2017.

Furthermore, the movie was also presented at the Cannes’ Cinefondation L’Atelier 2018.

This year the film has been selected from a total of 1,695 works submitted by directors from 107 countries and territories worldwide.

A total of 15 films have been chosen to compete in the Competition category at the Tokyo International Film Festival, including the Vietnamese movie.

The Tokyo International Film Festival was first established in 1985 and was held biennially from 1985 to 1991, with the event being held annually thereafter. It is widely considered to be the largest film festival in Asia.

Liem qualifies for quarterfinals of Generation Cup

Vietnamese chess master Le Quang Liem has earned a place in the quarterfinals of the Julius Baer Generation Cup after competing in a total of 15 matches during the qualifying round.

The 13th and 14th matches saw the Vietnamese GM (Elo rating 2791) record two draws against Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Poland (Elo rating 2795) after 34 moves and Boris Gelfand of Israel (Elo rating 2668) after 39 moves.

In the final match of the round, the local player suffered a defeat at the hands of 15-year-old player Christopher Woojin Yoo of the US, thereby missing the chance to grab a high place in the rankings.

After 15 matches, Liem finishes the first stage ranked in sixth position and will face off against the third-placed player Hans Moke Niemann of the US in the next round.

Sick fisherman aided to get adequate treatment

The High Command of Naval Zone 4 has just aided a sick sailor, ordering its vessel to take him to shore for further treatment.

Huynh Van Do, born in 1982, from the central province of Binh Dinh, was onboard a fishing ship when he fell sick on September 19. The man then was taken to Son Ca island, Truong Sa district, the central province of Khanh Hoa for emergency treatment.

Having fever, difficulty in movement, and poor health, he was diagnosed with liver abscess.

A coast guard vessel under the High Command picked up the man from the island on September 22, bringing him to the mainland for better treatment.

The man is expected to be ashore on September 25 morning.

Hanoi sees sharp rise in hospitalised children

Hospitals in Hanoi are witnessing a surge in the number of children being admitted.

Over the past month, the number of children being brought to Thanh Nhan Hospital’s Paediatrics Ward has considerably increased.
 
The ward receives around 30 children a day with most of them being under five and diagnosed with respiratory problems, particularly dengue fever.

Children who face respiratory failure stay on the ward for treatment, while those with simpler symptoms are given prescriptions for home treatment.

The ward has only half a dozen doctors, meaning that each has to care for between 20-30 patients.

Ha Dong District’s General Hospital serves roughly 100 children a day who come for treatment.

Bach Mai Hospital’s Paediatrics Ward has seen a 20-30 percent on-year increase in patient numbers over the past month.

According to Dr Tran Thi Mai from Thanh Nhan Hospital, post-Covid-19 effects have caused more risks for children suffering from respiratory problems. The prolonged pandemic has slowed the vaccination of children, affecting their immune systems.

The return to school for the new school year has also provided a favourable context for the outbreak of respiratory diseases.

Vietnam-Laos culture-sport-tourism border exchange festival slated for October

The northwestern border province of Dien Bien will host the 3rd Vietnam-Laos culture-sport-tourism border exchange festival on October 1 – 3, as heard at a press conference in Hanoi on September 22.

According to the organiser, the event will see the participation of artists, actors, ethnic people from 10 Vietnamese provinces and troupes from 10 Lao provinces.

The opening ceremony is slated for the evening of October 1 at the May 7 Square in Dien Bien Phu city. With nearly 800 professional and amateur actors, the three-chapter event will be broadcast live on the Vietnam Television channel VTV1.

The festival is set to feature a host of activities, including a fashion show of traditional costumes, exhibitions of border tourism and culture, a musical gala, and sport events.

A workshop on Vietnam-Laos border tourism linkage and cooperation and a farm trip to discover eco- and community-based tourist destinations in Dien Bien are also on schedule.

The closing ceremony will be held at the provincial cultural centre in Dien Bien Phu in the afternoon of October 3.

Vietnam eyes cooperation with Argentina’s Buenos Aires in agriculture, energy

Vietnam values cooperation with Argentina’s Buenos Aires and wishes to diversify goods traded with the province, Ambassador Duong Quoc Thanh has said.

At his recent meeting with Buenos Aires Governor Axel Kicillof, Thanh recommended the sides further beef up collaboration between localities in various sectors of Buenos Aires’s strength such as agriculture and energy.

Kicillof stressed that given difficulties facing the global economy, Argentina in general and Buenos Aires in particular are willing to promote their agricultural and energy strength, increase exports and attract more foreign investments, especially from Vietnam.

The official said Buenos Aires is conducting offshore oil and gas exploration and hopes to get Vietnam's attention when it comes to the exploration and processing phases.

He expressed his wish to invite leaders of Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City to visit his province in 2023 so that the sides can discuss measures to foster their cooperation.

The same day, Thanh chaired a conference with representatives of the provincial government and legislative agencies, during participants agreed to boost trade and experience exchange between Vietnamese localities and Buenos Aires regarding agricultural technologies, renewable energy, and digital economic transformation.

Thai Binh police detain wanted Chinese national

Police of northern Thai Binh province have arrested a Chinese national put on the wanted list for the charge of smuggling products made from endangered animals.

Police said on September 22 that the 30-year-old man, Wang Yuan Min, had been taken into temporary custody by the anti-smuggling department of China’s Nanning Customs on June 15, 2022, but escaped after that.

Under the Ministry of Public Security’s direction, Thai Binh police coordinated with relevant units to conduct an investigation and verify information.

Wang was arrested on September 21 while hiding in Hoang Dieu ward of Thai Binh city.

Local police have transferred him to the Ministry of Public Security.

Exhibition replicates world of Hanoi’s street vendors before 1930

Street vendors which are a unique feature of the culture in Hanoi will be the theme of an art exhibition set to open on September 23 in Ho Chi Minh City.

The exhibition will open with the theme of “Gánh hàng rong”, known as “Hanoi’s Street Vendors” in English, and will feature a collection of sketches and paintings created by 15 students of the École des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine in Hanoi, the current Vietnam University of Fine Arts, and their lecturer Ferdinand de Fénis, from 1925 to 1929.

Images of the street vendors wandering every corner of the capital with their shoulder baskets filled up with goods such as fruit, vegetables, and snacks will be put on display as part of the exhibition.

A collection of old photos selected from the archives of the French School of the Far East (EFEO) will also be showcased as part of the occasion.

The exhibition will run through to November 5.

PM assigns tasks to overcome difficculties, ensure macro-economic stability

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has assigned urgent tasks to particular ministries and agencies to deal with current economic difficulties in the new situation during a Government law-building session on September 22.

The PM noted that the world economy is facing numerous difficulties due to a growth slowdown and soaring inflation. The central banks of the US, the EU, the UK, and Japan have also moved to hike interest rates and appreciate their currencies, which has substantially affected other countries, including Vietnam

In the context, he asked ministries, sectors and localities to show strong performance in implementing Decree 15/CT-TTg on maintaining macro-economic stability, reining in inflation, promoting development and ensuring major economic balances.

He underlined the need to manage the monetary policy in a cautious and steady manner, ensuring its activeness, flexibility and efficiency, along with an open, reasonable and efficient fiscal policy.

The PM requested the Ministry of Planning and Investment to keep a close watch on the situation to make timely policy responses, while working to speed up the public investment capital disbursement for three national target programmes and the economic recovery and development programme, and promote investment.

The ministry was directed to ensure the security and safety of currency, credit, finance, public debt, food, energy and information, while reviewing and completing institutions, mechanisms and legal policies to remove obstacles facing production and business activities.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development was asked to ensure absolute food security, speeding up agricultural restructuring and promote exports of farm produce.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade was urged to develop the domestic market and expand international markets, ensuring energy security and striving for trade surplus.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs was assigned to make sure that the labour market develops in a sustainable, safe and effective manner, while showing stronger performance in social welfare activities.

The PM also asked media agencies to help promote solidarity and unity in the political system and call for the community’s support for the Party and State’s policies and the Government’s management, contributing to the common efforts to overcome difficulties.

10,000 Mekong Delta households benefit from German-funded rice value chain project

Around 10,000 households in the Mekong Delta provinces of An Giang, Dong Thap and Bac Lieu and Can Tho city have received training on the adoption of sustainable rice-farming practices and rice quality improvement, as part of a project underway since 2018, heard a conference on September 21.

The conference took place in Can Tho to review the results of the project Better Rice Initiative Asia phase II (BRIA 2) – Market-oriented Smallholder Value Chains Project (MSVC), or MSVC-BRIA 2, aiming to promote SRP standards for sustainable rice cultivation in the four localities.

It is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project implemented by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and Olam Agri Vietnam, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)’s Department of Cooperatives and Rural Development.

The project has enabled Vietnamese smallholder farmers to cut costs and increase earnings, and strengthened cooperation between cooperatives and processors.

Vietnamese universities, foreign partners co-launch over 400 training courses

Universities nationwide are implementing more than 400 joint training programmes with foreign countries for the undergraduate level, as per statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training’s Department of International Cooperation.

Of the programmes, 186 were licensed by autonomous higher education institutions and 222 by the ministry.

The UK tops the lineup of foreign nations by joining 101 join programmes, or about 25% of the total. It is followed by the US with 59 programmes, France 53, Australia 37 and the Republic of Korea (RoK) 27.

Meanwhile, between 2016 and 2021, Vietnam annually welcomed 4,000 – 6,000 foreign students on average. The figure was the highest in 2019 with 6,300, dropping to some 3,000 each in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19.

Up to 80% of the foreign students in Vietnam come from Laos and Cambodia. Their proportion is followed by that of those from the RoK, China, France, and Japan. Most of them study short-term courses and undergraduate programmes.

The Vietnam National Universities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are currently offering training to the highest numbers of students  belonging to different nationalities, at 74 and 44, respectively.

Austrian saxophone quartet to perform in Vietnam

The Austrian Embassy in Vietnam in cooperation with the Vietnam National Academy of Music and Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music will organise the Concerts of the AUREUM Saxophon Quartett in Hanoi on September 28 and HCM City on October 1.

These concerts are among the events which are taking place in the framework of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Austria, according to a press release by the Austrian Embassy.

The Quartett will present pieces from their recently launched album “golden roots”.

Samsung Innovation Campus launches in Hanoi

The Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC) 2022 – 2023 officially launched on September 21 in Hanoi by Samsung Vietnam, Samsung Vina Electronics, and JA Vietnam.

SIC is a programming - coding project for young people aged between 15 and 24 which provides students technological knowledge from basic to advanced skills to give them a solid foundation in technology to practice in real life.

The scheme first debuted in 2019 and has since expanded to 33 countries across the world, including the United States, Germany, Spain, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Launched in Vietnam back in 2019, the programme has since attracted the participation of 3,000 teachers and students.

Following its successes, SIC 2022 – 2023 will continue to run a number of training courses for an additional 3,000 participants.

“Contemporary Saigon” Lotto set for European performances

Artists of the "Sai Gon Tan Thoi" or “Contemporary Saigon” Lotto group are currently on tour in three European countries with the aim of introducing Vietnamese bingo folk art to international audiences.

Five members of the group are set to perform in several shows in France, Germany, and Switzerland.

"Contemporary Saigon" have toured Australia and Taiwan (China) and taken part in many different TV shows both in Vietnam and worldwide.

Established in October 2017, the group currently consist of a total of 30 members, mostly from the LGBT+ community. They had previously performed at trade fairs, but gradually transitioned to more professional stages over recent years.

Bingo or lotto, as it is called in Vietnam, is especially popular in the southern countryside.

Lotto originated in the 16th century as the Italian game of bingo, which then spread to England, France and other parts of Europe in the 18th century. It came to Vietnam with the French in the 19th century. Those were also its heydays, especially in the southwestern provinces, when everyone played it during the Lunar New Year festival.

In Vietnam, before the performances, the lotto artists sell to the audience a paper with a jumble of bingo numbers. The performers then sing songs based on the theme of that day’s show – acoustic or ballad – interspersed with the bingo numbers.

The audience listens attentively to the lyrics and crosses out the numbers the performers call out. The person with the winning number is called to the stage and given a gift. The process is then repeated.

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