Day: June 4, 2023

More than 6,000 women wearing Ao dai (the Vietnamese traditional long dress) took to street in a parade at the April 2 Square in Nha Trang beach city in the south central province of Khanh Hoa to honour the costume as a heritage of the nation as part of the 2023 Nha Trang-Khanh Hoa Sea Festival.

Speaking at the June 4 parade, Dinh Van Thieu, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee said the special cultural event contributes to preserving and promoting the beauty of Ao dai, affirming its value as part of Vietnam’s cultural heritage.

The Nha Trang-Khanh Hoa Sea Festival opened on June 3 evening with a live-broadcast ceremony which featured an artistic light show of 1,653 drones.

Lasting until June 6, the 10th edition of the festival is set to treat visitors to more than 70 events taking place in Nha Trang and other localities. Highlights among them include an art programme on June 4, a musical gala on June 5, and a closing ceremony on June 6.

The festival is held every two years and has become a trademark of the beach resort city since 2003. In 2021, the festival was suspended due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, Khanh Hoa welcomed 2.57 million tourists, raking in nearly 14 trillion VND (590.5 million USD) in tourism revenue. This year, it targets four million visitors, including 1.5 million foreigners, and a revenue of approximately 21 trillion VND./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A teleconference was held on June 2 to explore chances for investment and business partnerships between the northeastern region of India and Vietnam.

The event was held by the Vietnamese Trade Office in India, the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency (Invest India) under the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the Indian Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER). It also saw the participation of over 70 businesses of both countries.

Vietnamese Ambassador to India Nguyen Thanh Hai said India is an important trading partner of Vietnam, which in turn is also a pillar in the South Asian country’s Act East Policy. The northeastern region is also the starting point of this Act East Policy, so it has received the greatest number of preferential policies from the Indian Government. This region also shares many culinary, customs, and cultural similarities with Vietnam.

Le Thanh Hoa, Deputy Director of the Agro Processing and Market Development Department under the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the two countries have been enjoying growth in the trade of agro-forestry-fishery products.

Vietnam exports fishery products, coffee, peppercorn, cashew nut, tea, rubber, timber, rattan and bamboo handicrafts, among others to India. Meanwhile, India ships such items as fishery products, fruits, vegetables, wheat, corn, plant oil, animal fat, and rubber to the Southeast Asian country. Vietnam is running a deficit in agro-forestry-fishery trade with India, with a value of 473.8 million USD in 2021 and 687.73 million USD in 2022, he noted.

Harpreet Singh, Joint Secretary at the MDoNER, said the northeastern region of India, with over 60% of its area covered with forest, holds potential for developing agricultural, bamboo, and handicraft products. It is also home to 17 airports as well as river and sea route systems favourable for goods transportation. These are drivers for economic growth and regional connectivity.

He suggested several areas the two sides can cooperate in, noting that transportation costs in India are declining, so Vietnamese firms can make use of this opportunity.

Geetima Krishna, head of the North East division at Invest India, said the region boasts many demographic advantages, including a young workforce with good knowledge, capability and skills, which is an important impulse for economic partnerships with Vietnam.

Dang Viet Phuong, Deputy Director of the Industry and Trade Department of Vietnam’s Phu Tho province, highlighted his locality’s economic potential and the possibility of cooperation with India in agro-forestry processing and tea export.

He called on Indian enterprises and investors to consider cooperation in tea production and transfer technology to Phu Tho to help improve tea value. He expressed his hope that tea products from his province will be sold in the northeastern region of India in the near future.

For his part, Bui Trung Thuong, Trade Counsellor of Vietnam in India, held that as the northeastern region of India and Vietnam share similarities in terms of geography, climate, and culture, they can further explore cooperation opportunities in agriculture, handicraft production, tourism, and cultural exchange./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A workshop held in Japan’s Fukuoka prefecture on June 3 highlighted the importance of teaching the Vietnamese language and culture to Vietnamese children in Kyushu, the third largest island of the Northeast Asian country.

Addressing over 120 participants in the hybrid event, Vu Chi Mai, Consul General of Vietnam in Fukuoka, said the workshop was part of activities the Consulate General has carried out under the Prime Minister-approved plan on the Day for honouring the Vietnamese language in overseas Vietnamese (OV) communities in the 2023 – 2030 period. Promoting the language is also part of the Consulate General’s efforts to help develop OV communities and maintain and popularise the Vietnamese culture.

She said teaching the Vietnamese language and culture to OV children will bring about many substantial benefits, including enhancing their patriotism, awareness of the homeland, and understanding of society and also strengthening their bonds with families.

Encouraging the use of the Vietnamese language in second- and third-generation Vietnamese families in Japan will also help the community develop strongly and create an important source of manpower for both countries, Mai went on.

Mai Phan Dung, Vice Chairman of the State Committee for OV Affairs, said the Vietnamese community in Japan as well as others around the world have shown their sense of responsibility towards younger generations as seen in the organisation of numerous practical activities to maintain and popularise the homeland’s language, including opening Vietnamese language schools, classes, and centres.

He hailed the opening of a class giving guidance in how to teach the Vietnamese language and culture to Vietnamese children in Kyushu, voicing his hope that similar initiatives will be implemented in not only Northeast Asia but also around the world.

At the workshop, experts presented their opinions on issues related to the maintenance and teaching of the Vietnamese language and culture in foreign countries.

On this occasion, the Vietnamese People Association in Fukuoka officially debuted a board for the Vietnamese language to honour and maintain the language and culture in the local OV community./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnamese Trade Office in Singapore is working to promote the export of Vietnamese fruits, particularly longan and lychee, to Singapore.

Accordingly, a series of activities, including the Vietnamese Goods Week programme, as well as business networking and lychee testing events, have taken place in the island nation.

Further support from the office is also available for any Vietnamese localities and enterprises with intention to export fresh lychee and longan to the market.

As per data from the Singaporean business administration, last year, the country spent 6.78 million SGD (5.02 million USD) and 4.6 million SGD on importing fresh lychee and longan, respectively. Of the sums, shipments of the two fruits from Vietnam were worth 43,000 SGD and 4,000 SGD.

Vietnam’s lychee and longan have so far entered many demanding markets such as Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Australia. With their quality, brand, and potential, they see ample room to gain a foothold in Singapore./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Vuong Dinh Hue met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is on an official visit to Vietnam, in Hanoi on June 4.

The two leaders voiced their delight that Vietnam and Australia have built strategic trust and close cooperation in multiple spheres over the 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations.

They shared the belief that bilateral ties will be elevated to a new level soon.

Chairman Hue shared his guest’s view that there remains much room for the two countries to enhance cooperation, noting on the basis of free trade agreements, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), they can bolster trade and investment ties.

He suggested that aside from maintaining existing supply chains, the countries should create new ones to diversify their markets.

The Vietnamese parliament supports the two countries to strengthen trade and investment partnerships and hopes that more Australian investors will come to operate in Vietnam, he remarked.

PM Albanese welcomed his host’s recommendations for the two sides to hold more workshops, meetings, and events to share experience in adapting to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and to increase exchanges to boost mutual understanding between the countries’ legislators and parliaments.

He said that in his position, he will help promote locality-to-locality ties so that both sides can record even better results.

Albanese went on to say that RMIT University has announced the next phase of its investment in education, research, and cooperation in Vietnam, including a strategic investment fund worth 250 million AUD (165.5 million USD).

Vietnam is the fifth biggest source of foreign students in Australia, which in turn is the second largest destination of Vietnamese students, he noted, adding that RMIT University is a role model of their education – training cooperation, and he hopes bilateral ties in this regard will grow more strongly in the future.

Applauding the collaboration in education and training, the top legislator of Vietnam said during his official visit to Australia last December, universities of both countries signed 12 cooperation agreements. He also welcomed RMIT University’s expansion of investment and cooperation in Vietnam.

Besides, Hue highlighted the opening of the Vietnam – Australia Centre at the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, perceiving that it will help improve Vietnamese officials’ capacity. He also thanked the Australian Government for sponsoring a training course on climate change and energy for Vietnamese NA deputies and cadres of the NA Office.

The Chairman took this occasion to thank and ask the Australian Government and PM to continue creating conditions for the Vietnamese community to integrate into the local society, and contribute more to the country’s socio-economic development as well as bilateral relations.

Vietnam always attaches importance to and highly values Australia’s role in the region and the world, he stressed, calling on Australia to keep advocating ASEAN and Vietnam’s stance on the East Sea issue.

At the meeting, PM Albanese also affirmed that he will promote the sending of an Australian parliamentarians’ delegation to the ninth Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians, scheduled to take place in Hanoi this September./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency