HCM City: Anh Viet Hop on Hop off Vietnam Co. Ltd. on December 21 evening launched a night sight-seeing double-decker bus tour, raising the time of double-decker bus services to 24 hours.

The tour themed “Sleepless in Sai Gon” is a night city tour from 11pm to 7am in the next morning, offering visitors an opportunity to travel through 30 routes and nearly 20 tourist attractions in the city such as Bui Vien street, Nguyen Hue street, Ben Thanh market, or Notre Dame cathedral. Tourists can experience the most beautiful streets of the city, cross Ba Son bridge and see the city at night.

Nguyen Khoa Luan, director of the company, said that the night tour is expected to increase Ho Chi Minh City’s competitiveness and attract more visitors.

He said his company will cooperate with high-quality restaurants, souvenir shops and establishments with typical local products so that tourists can better access the sites.

In addition, the company is proposing to open a second tour of this kind that will connect the city c
entre to Lon (Big) market in District 6./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Fifteen individuals and organisations were honoured at the Vietnam Digital Content Creation Award (VCA) 2023 during a ceremony in Hanoi on December 22.

VCA 2023, the first of its kind in Vietnam, was co-hosted by the Vietnam Digital Content Association (VDCA) and the Vietnam Digital Content Creation Alliance (DCCA).

Over the course of three months since its launch, the awards received 256 entries across seven categories.

In the best educational digital content category, VinUni University library secured a prize for their work titled ‘Bao tang Sieu thuc di san Viet Nam’ (The Supra-real Museum of Vietnam’s Heritage) while the Mam Xanh team received accolades for their e-book for children titled ‘Biet doi sieu nhan nang luong’ (Energy Superhero Team).

The best short film category saw Pham Quoc Dung earning the prize for his creation titled ‘Nhung nguoi bao ve cuoi cung’ (The Last Protectors of Vietnam). Additionally, Nam Phuong Vietnam Co., Ltd and Catsy Co., Ltd were distinguished in the best adverti
sing film category for their respective films “Barona” and “Hành trình không d?ng l?i” (Unstoppable Journey).

In the category of best animated films, “Doi lan su nhi nho” (Funny Lion Team) by Alpha Studio Vietnam Co., Ltd and “Ice Creams and Furious” by WOLFOO World Entertainment and Communication Co., Ltd were recognised as exemplary works.

VCA 2023 aims to honour individuals and organisations that have made noteworthy contributions to culturally and educationally valuable digital content, spreading positive values to the community. It is also meant to propel the development of the Vietnamese digital content, film and cultural industries, while spreading “Make in Vietnam” digital content products to the global community./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

HCM City: Southern coastal provinces have launched a crackdown on fighting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities, in a bid to carry out recommendations made by the European Commission (EC) during its fourth inspection, with the ultimate goal of having the “yellow card” warning lifted.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said since early 2023, fishing vessels violating foreign waters have been mostly from the provinces of Kien Giang, Ben Tre, Binh Dinh, Ca Mau, Binh Thuan, Khanh Hoa and Tien Giang. Therefore, they need to establish a close coordination in the management of offshore fishing vessels.

Vice Chairman of the Ben Tre provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Minh Canh said that defining fisheries as a spearhead economic sector, Ben Tre has paid great attention to switching traditional fisheries to responsible and sustainable fisheries.

It has built a communications programme on IUU fishing prevention and control, while setting up a steering committ
ee for IUU fishing prevention and control in 2017 with annual revision and elevation of the work.

Canh said that so far, Ben Tre has signed a coordination agreement with eight coastal localities in fishing boat management, as well as collaboration deals with the Coast Guard Regions 3 and 4 on IUU fishing prevention and control.

As a result, local fishermen’s abiding by fisheries regulations has been greatly improved, while all fishing vessels have installed the vessel monitoring system (VMS) and strictly follow procedures in vessel registration, fisheries exploitation and operation recording.

In Binh Thuan, competent agencies have handled 366 cases of violating fishing regulations and imposed fines worth nearly 3.5 billion VND (144,370 USD) since the beginning of this year.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to promptly finalise and submit amended decrees on following EC’s recommendations to the Government./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The Prime Minister on December 22 issued a decision approving an investment policy for the first-stage construction and operation of infrastructure in the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park II (VSIP II), located in the Dung Quat Economic Zone, the central province of Quang Ngai.

Invested by the VSIP Quang Ngai Co., Ltd, the 50-year project will sit on a site of 497.7ha in Binh Thanh and Binh Hiep communes, Binh Son district. The project’s total investment is over 3.73 trillion VND (155.7 million USD), 560.55 billion VND of which is contributed by the investor.

Assigned by the Governments of Vietnam and Singapore to operate VSIP projects in Vietnam in 1996, the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park and Township Development JSC, a joint venture between Singapore’s Sembcorp Development and Vietnam’s Becamex IDC, has to date expanded to 13 developments across the country.

On February 10 in Singapore, Sembcorp announced a new partnership with Becamex on the occasion of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chin
h’s visit, to develop five new VSIPs in Vietnam valued at approximately 1 billion USD./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

Jakarta: With a strong foundation, Indonesia will generate optimism and demonstrate an ability to recover from many current global challenges, said participants at a December 22 seminar on the country’s 2024 economic prospects.

Speaking at the event, President Joko Widodo affirmed that Indonesia has been successful in handling and overcoming various crises, receiving high praise for its efforts in accelerating the economic recovery process.

With the current economic achievements, he expressed his optimism that Indonesia can turn challenges into opportunities, continuing to maintain its growth momentum and adaptive capacity.

Widodo said he remains bullish about the national economic outlook next year, based on the current economic progress, the stable political situation ahead of the 2024 elections and the close coordination between the government and the private sector.

In his opening remarks at the seminar, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto stated that in the short term, the I
ndonesian economy, despite facing many negative risks, is expected to achieve a growth rate of 5.1% in 2023 and 5.2% the following year./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

HCM City: Transportation authorities and service providers in Ho Chi Minh City are gearing up to accommodate the anticipated rise in passenger demand during the upcoming New Year holiday.

According to the 2023-2024 winter flight schedule, a total of 53 airlines are set to operate at Tan Son Nhat international airport, averaging 710 daily departures and arrivals.

During the peak holiday season spanning from December 23, 2023 to January 2, 2024, the airport is expected to handle a daily volume of flights ranging between 680 and 740, catering to an estimated 110,000-120,000 passengers per day.

Thai Van Truyen, CEO of the Saigon Railway Transport JSC, revealed that there remains many train tickets available for the New Year holiday season across all routes and dates. In addition to the daily train services, the company is gearing up to meet travel demand by running extra services connecting with popular tourist destinations in the south central region such as Phan Thiet in Binh Thuan, Nha Trang in Khanh Hoa, a
nd Quy Nhon.

At inter-provincial bus stations, the number of passengers is expected to rise annually by some 25-40% during the holiday./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency