Day: February 17, 2024

Hanoi: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has appointed two female referees of Vietnam to the final round of the 2024 AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup in Uzbekistan, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) said on February 16.

Le Thi Ly from Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Thi Phuong from the northern city of Hai Phuong will work as main referee and referee assistant of the matches, to take place in Tashkent city from February 28 to March 17.

In January, Ly and Phuong were also appointed by the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) to officiate the match between the women’s national football teams of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Japan scheduled for February 24 in Pyongyang, the DPRK.

Ly is one of the three female referees acknowledged by FIFA in Vietnam and she concurrently serves as senior referee of the AFC.

In 2023, she was appointed to officiate in various football events, including the first qualifying round of AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup from March 6 -13 in Thailand, the
32nd SEA Games in Cambodia, the second qualifying round of AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup in Myanmar, the Southeast Asian U19 Football Championship in Indonesia, Asian Games 19 in Wenzhou (China), the second qualifying round of the 2024 Paris Olympics in China, and the AFC Women’s Club Championship in Chonburi, Thailand./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Cao Bang: The 1979 northern border defence war ended a long time ago but the memory of this event has never faded in the minds of locals and veterans who fought to protect the northern border in Cao Bang province.

During the war, Cao Bang’s economic infrastructure was severely damaged. However, the officers, soldiers and people of Cao Bang have overcome difficulties and united to build a province of peace and prosperity.

Thanks to the attention and investment of the Party and the State, Cao Bang has got a facelift. The provincial authorities have made efforts to promote socio-economic development and improve people’s living standards. The locality has effectively implemented national target programmes, focusing on agro-forestry development, promoting economic restructuring and poverty reduction.

Cao Bang aims for the development of the border economy and the tourism economy as spearheads. The province’s foreign trade reached nearly 700 million USD in 2023, up 10% year-on-year. The number of tourists coming
to Cao Bang was estimated at 1.9 million, 12% higher than its annual plan and an increase of 23% from pre-COVID-19 period in 2019. Among them, 34,000 were foreign tourists.

According to Hoang Xuan Anh, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, Cao Bang has focused on improving its transport infrastructure to accelerate its socio-economic development and facilitate its exchanges with other localities in the region.

He said that attention has also been paid to the development of the border economy. Since 2021, it has granted licences to nine projects in the border economic zone with a total registered capital of more than 437 billion VND (1.78 million USD).

Now the province has 64 domestic and foreign investment projects capitalised at 9.6 trillion VND, of which 43 are operational./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Over the past years, the northern province of Lang Son has actively promoted the effectiveness of friendly exchanges, and cooperation programmes and mechanisms with China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Agencies and localities of both sides have maintained regular exchanges and concretised cooperation contents.

Lang Son shares a 231.7km borderline with China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is also an important gateway in exchange activities between Vietnam and China, as well as between the ASEAN region and China, not only in economy and trade but also in culture.

Lang Son and Guangxi have effectively coordinated in preventing and combating the COVID-19 pandemic as a basis for maintaining customs clearance activities, stepping up economic cooperation, upgrading border gates, and promoting import and export of goods, border management and collaboration in combating crime and illegal immigration across the border, thus building a border area of peace, friendship, cooperation and development.

The two sides have maintained regular exchanges and meetings between their senior leaders, and directed border districts and towns to increase contacts and promote cooperation.

Existing mechanisms and activities have been promoted such as the spring meeting between the Secretaries of the Party Committees of Vietnam’s Lang Son, Quang Ninh, Cao Bang and Ha Giang provinces and the Secretary of Guangxi province’s Party Committee, the Joint Committee mechanism between the four border provinces of Vietnam and China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and periodic meetings and talks between departments, agencies, organisations, competent forces, districts and cities of the two sides.

The two sides create favourable conditions for people in border areas to enhance traditional neighbourliness, visit relatives, boost business cooperation and goods exchanges, and establish friendly relations between residential clusters.

Five border districts and Lang Son city of the province have established international friendly di
strict/town relations and 12 Lang Son villages have signed “village friendship” agreements with their counterparts in Guangxi. Cultural-sports and youth exchange activities have been maintained. In addition, the two sides have also actively implemented effective external relations activities and international cooperation in the fields of tourism, education and training, labour, agro-forestry, science-technology, and finance.

Last year, the Party Committee, People’s Council, People’s Committee and agencies of Lang Son province signed 12 agreements and memoranda of understanding with partners from Guangxi, creating a foundation for restoring comprehensive cooperation between agencies and sectors of the two sides in various fields after the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Lang Son’s Department of Foreign Affairs, in the coming time, the two sides will continue to effectively implement the common perceptions reached by the two countries’ high-ranking Party and State leaders, as well as to enhance exchanges and
cooperation between their agencies and localities in various fields./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency