Day: March 27, 2024

Bac Lieu: The Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the southern province of Bac Lieu and Bac Lieu city People’s Committee on March 26 organised an event to release over 6 million shrimp fry to sea to regenerate aquatic resources and improve public awareness on aquatic resources protection and regeneration.

The event was held on the occasion of the 65th traditional day of Vietnam’s fisheries sector (April 2, 1959- 2024).

Speaking at the event, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Pham Van Muoi said the awareness of local people, especially fishermen, about protecting aquatic resources and the environment has been improved thanks to effective communication activities with the participation of the entire political system.

He said that the province gradually effectively controls the use of prohibited fishing tools that destroy aquatic resources.

In the last five years, the province released nearly 40 million black tiger shrimp fry, 500,000 fingerling fis
h and nearly 5 tonnes of adult fish into the natural environment. In 2023 alone, it released over 10 million shrimp fry into the sea and 2 tonnes of fish into inland water areas to regenerate aquatic resources./.

Bac Lieu is aiming to become a “national shrimp industry hub”. The province exported nearly 96,900 tonnes of aquatic products last year, exceeding the plan by 2% and marking a 17% annual uptick. The export revenue surpassed 1 billion USD, registering a 17% increase./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Tra Vinh: Eighteen cooperatives with 70 households engaging in cow breeding and 14 households specialising in beekeeping in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh have benefited from a livelihood support project financed by Samaritan’s Purse International Relief (SPIR) – a US non-profit organisation.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the friendship union of the province reviewed the project at a meeting on March 26.

Accordingly, the project was implemented from July 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024 with a total budget of more than 2.7 billion VND (nearly 108,250 USD).

It focused on providing financial support and technical training in cattle raising and beekeeping to poor households, Khmer households, and vulnerable women in Cang Long, Tra Cu, and Cau Ke districts. As a result, the beneficiaries have significantly improved their income.

Le Van Dong, deputy director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said this is the third consecutive year SPIR has collaborated w
ith the locality to work for the goal of reducing the rate of poor households through livestock and crop farming models.

Over the past three years, SPIR has provided livelihood support to 239 disadvantaged households with a total budget of 7.1 billion VND, including 220 households specialising in cow breeding, 14 households practising beekeeping, and five households engaging in greenhouse vegetable cultivation.

The models have contributed to developing concentrated livestock areas in the direction of forming value chains, ensuring biosecurity, disease control, and environmental protection; and fostering sustainable economic development for vulnerable households./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Tokyo: An international conference popularising Vietnamese corporate culture to Asia-Pacific nations took place in the Japanese prefecture of Chiba on March 26.

The event was co-hosted by the Vietnam Federation of UNESCO Associations (VFUA) and the Society of Japanese Value Engineering (SJVE).

VFUA Standing Vice Chairman and Vice President of the Asia-Pacific Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Associations Tran Van Manh said the forum aims to provide a comprehensive overview of corporate culture of developed countries worldwide, along with a specific focus on the current landscape in Vietnam. It also affords a chance to foster mutual respect among nations from different regions across the globe.

Representatives from the Vietnamese and Japanese firms engaged in constructive discussions, contributing to building corporate cultures towards a sustainable future.

The conference also served as a platform to recognise outstanding contributions to the community made by enterprises, entrepreneurs, organisations and in
dividuals who have championed traditional Vietnamese culture, fostered national identity, and contributed to people-to-people and cultural diplomacy in line with UNESCO’s criteria.

Via the event, VFUA hopes to popularise Vietnam, its country, people and culture to the Japanese people, especially in heritage, education, scientific research and corporate culture./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Ba Ria-Vung Tau: The numbers of vessels and fishermen in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau infringing upon foreign waters have decreased remarkably over the past five years thanks to its efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, according to a report released by the provincial People’s Committee.

At a conference held by the provincial Party Committee on March 26 to review the five-year implementation of its standing board’s resolution on several measures to prevent and stopping fishing vessels and fishermen from conducting illegal fishing on foreign waters, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Cong Vinh affirmed that the state of fishing boats encroaching foreign waters has been basically addressed.

To strengthen the fight against IUU fishing, the provincial People’s Committee has signed coordination regulations with the Naval Region 2 High Command, the Coast Guard Region 3 High Command and the Coast Guard Region 4 High Command in managing activities re
lated to the fishery sector, said Vinh.

As of October 25, 2023, 96.56% of the fishing boats with a length of 15m or more had been installed with the vessel monitoring system (VMS).

Permanent Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Thi Yen requested the provincial People’s Committee to assign specific tasks to each department, agency and unit to take measures to combat IUU fishing, strengthen coordination in this work, and closely monitor boats going in/from fishing ports.

Meanwhile, in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre, the Ham Luong border guard station has intensified the dissemination of information about related laws in diverse forms, targeting vessel owners, captains and fishermen.

The border guard station has also hung banners showing 14 illegal fishing acts for fishermen to avoid./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The regulations related to overseas Vietnamese (OVs) in the revised laws on land, housing, and real estate business were disseminated to expatriate at a hybrid conference on March 26.

The conference was held by the State Committee for OV Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Assembly’s Committee for Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Construction, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. It was connected with over 50 places both at home and abroad via videoconferencing and livestreamed on social networks for OVs to follow.

At the event, officials presented the new points directly related to OVs in the three revised laws, saying the rights of OVs, including those holding Vietnamese nationality or Vietnamese-origin people, are now expanded and stipulated in a more detailed manner.

OVs said the revised laws have met many of their aspirations and opinions contributed during the amending process. With the new points of these laws, OVs’ rights in the fields of land, hous
ing, and real estate business have been expanded, demonstrating the Party, State, and National Assembly’s attention to Vietnamese abroad.

They expressed their hope that documents guiding law enforcement will further detail those new regulations so that OVs can invest more strongly in domestic housing and real estate.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang, who is also Chairwoman of the State Committee for OV Affairs, said that implementing the Politburo’s directions on OV affairs, the committee has actively coordinated with the relevant sides in the amendment of policies and laws related to OVs, especially the ones on land, housing, and real estate business.

She called on OVs to help with the enforcement of these laws and asked relevant agencies to take in their opinions to continue institutionalising the Party’s guidelines and policies and properly implement the laws in reality.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency after the conference, Nguyen Duc Diane Thu Dung, Chairwoman of the French-based
Association for the Promotion of Vietnamese Culture (APCV), highly valued the Government’s attention to OVs. She held that the revised Land Law, the revised Law on Housing, and the revised Law on Real Estate Business will give OVs more opportunities and further inspire their willingness to return and contribute to the homeland’s development.

Bui Kim Tuyet, member of the executive committee of the General Union of Vietnamese in France (UGVF), noted she hopes when coming into force in 2025, the revised Land Law will create many opportunities for more OVs in France to return to Vietnam.

She also proposed the State create favourable passport granting conditions so that they can return to buy housing and land in the country. She considered this as important and essential because a number of Vietnamese-origin people have lived in France for a long time but they haven’t got a Vietnamese passport despite high demand.

Voicing his delight at the new land-related policies, Phan Vinh, Vice Chairman of the association
of Vietnamese sea and island lovers in France, said the revisions will help attract more OVs and OV entrepreneurs to the homeland to buy houses, make investment, and contribute to national development.

Echoing the view, Assoc. Prof. Tran Phuong Tra at the IPAG Business School in France and Director of the Economic Policy Network of the Association of Vietnamese Scientists and Experts (AVSE Global), perceived that the revised Land Law will help create more space of creation for new projects to ensure interests of both localities and OV investors./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Sydney: Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Pham Hung Tam met with Senator Tim Ayres, Assistant Minister for Trade and Manufacturing of Australia, in Canberra on March 27, during which the Australian official spoke highly of positive developments in the relations between the two countries, especially the elevation of their relationship to comprehensive strategic partnership on the occasion of an official visit to Australia by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in March.

Ayres affirmed that the Australian Government’s leadership and he personally hold positive views on the current situation and prospects of the Vietnam-Australia relationship. Therefore, they are interested in and support the further development of the relationship for the benefit of both countries, for peace, stability, and prosperity in the region.

He emphasised that there is still room for growth in the bilateral trade and investment relationship, and committed to continue to pay attention to further opening up the market for Vietnam
ese agricultural products. He also pledged continued support for Vietnam in supplying essential minerals and enhancing cooperation in climate change adaptation and energy transition towards the goal of achieving net-zero emissions.

The Vietnamese diplomat discussed with his host measures to further strengthen bilateral trade and investment relations, ensure sustainable supply chains, effectively implement trade agreements that both countries are members such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA), and hasten the launch of the Ministerial Dialogue on energy and minerals./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The electronic toll collection (ETC) system will be officially and simultaneously implemented at five airports namely Noi Bai, Cat Bi, Phu Bai, Da Nang and Tan Son Nhat from May 5, aiming to create more favourable conditions for vehicles entering and exiting the airports, according to the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV).

The system was piloted initially at the two largest airports in the country – Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi and and Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City – and then at three additional airports, namely Cat Bi in northern Hai Phong city, Phu Bai in central Thua Thien-Hue province and central Da Nang city.

The ACV said that it will install the ETC system at T3 terminal of the Tan Son Nhat airport and expanded T2 terminal of the Noi Bai airport, which are under construction, thus preventing traffic congestion.

Cars that already have ETC tags to use on highways and expressways can travel through the airports’ toll lane without requiring any additional tag
s or procedures.

During the pilot period from February 6 to March 19, as many as 203,606 vehicles passed through the ETC lane at Noi Bai and 132,926 through the lane at Tan Son Nhat.

The ACV said that the system has operated stably, ensuring smooth movement of vehicles even during the peak travelling season during the Lunar New Year (Tet) Festival.

The rate of vehicles successfully paying with ETC cards through the non-stop toll test lanes was about 90%. The number of vehicles passing through the non-stop toll lanes was 1.8 times higher than the number of vehicles passing through the traditional toll lane, significantly reducing congestion at the exit.

Currently, Vietnam has nearly 5 million cars, 96% of which have had ETC tags and accounts.

After applying the ETC system at the airports, the Ministry of Transport plans to install the system for seaport, parking, insurance, and vehicle technical checking services./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency