Category: Miscellaneous

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

Binh Thuan: The Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the south-central province of Binh Thuan on December 22 organised a conference to promote tourism linkages between India and Vietnam’s coastal provinces.

At the event, participants introduced the tourism strengths and potential of Binh Thuan and India, their new tourism products and trade cooperation.

Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Lan Ngoc said that with the advantages of a long coastline, beautiful beaches, nature reserves, and typical cultural festivals, Binh Thuan has emerged to become a safe, friendly tourist destination which is liked by both domestic and international tourists.

Binh Thuan now has about 600 accommodation establishments with a total of nearly 19,000 rooms, 557 apartments and 462 villas. Along with high-end tourism products such as golf, luxury beach resorts, marine sports tourism, and off-road sports tourism, Binh Thuan
is developing tourism product lines such as green tourism, tourism activities combined with natural resources preservation and environmental protection, cultural tourism products associated with festivals, sightseeing and experiencing the daily life of local people. The province has also promotes the development of eco-tourism, adventure tourism, and wellness tourism.

In 2023, Binh Thuan welcomed about 8.3 million visitors, including about 220,000 foreigners. The number of visitors to the province increased by 16.28% a year and the number of foreign tourists doubled a year, including those from India.

The official said that India is a large market that Binh Thuan’s tourism industry is aiming at. The province hopes that Indian travel companies will pay more attention to Binh Thuan in particular and Vietnam in general.

She said it is expected that Binh Thuan will have an airport with a capacity to welcome about 2 million passengers per year, which will help the province to attract more foreign tourists.

Pan
kaj Kumar, a representative of the Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City, said that Binh Thuan and India have cultural similarities. The province has strengths in sea, islands, forests, lakes and waterfalls to organise outdoor activities.

He said Indian tourists are interested in outdoor activities and exploring local culture.

Participants at the event proposed solutions to connect with the Indian market and attract more tourists from the South Asian country./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s state-owned Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has released its 2024-2026 Activity Outlook, outlining forecast activities which call for greater collaboration with oil and gas service and equipment (OGSE) providers to ensure energy demand is met while ramping up its clean energy initiatives.

Within the next three years, the firm is committed to its long-term target of sustaining and growing Malaysia’s oil and gas production in anticipation of opening opportunities for the OGSE providers across exploration, development, production, and decommissioning activities.

Petronas Vice President of group procurement Freida Amat emphasised that the industry needs to gear towards adapting to the energy transition.

She revealed that through cross-industry experiences, insights and knowledge, the co-creation can upskill capabilities and skills, which will chart new frontiers for the OGSE industry.

Freida said that in an attempt to maximise production efficiency and sustainability of oil and gas
supply, the group will carry out an average of about 300 facilities improvement plans (FIPs) annually. These include rejuvenation projects, gas turbine and gas generator change-out activities as well as other major maintenance works that are crucial in eliminating bottlenecks, maximising hub capacity and curbing flaring activities at new onshore facilities.

Meanwhile, Petronas said the decommissioning activities will also be carried out for some 150 matured assets to restore the area to a safe and environmentally stable condition while disused assets will be assessed for potential reuse or repurposing.

The group said the downstream business is increasingly expanding into cleaner energy initiatives, venturing into biofuels with the ongoing development of a greenfield biorefinery and co-processing plant set to begin in 2026.

Its petrochemical arm is also making inroads into the specialty chemicals market segment and is actively driving the circular economy through the construction of Asia’s largest advanced
chemical recycling plant that converts end-of-life plastics into pyrolysis oil to be used as chemical feedstock for sustainable plastic production./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

Bangkok: Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health has set a target to reduce road accidents during the upcoming New Year holidays by 5%, by emphasising the message: no drinking and driving.

Minister of Public Health Cholnan Srikaew noted that there is a possibility that road accidents during the festive period may increase, due to the government’s decision to allow pubs to stay open until 4am, and until 6am on New Year’s Day.

Therefore, it is necessary to tighten measures to prevent road accidents by drawing on support from public health volunteers, local administrative officials and the police to test the blood-alcohol levels of drivers and motorcyclists.

According to statistics, there were 2,440 road accidents between December 29, 2022 and January 4, 2023, resulting in 317 deaths and 2,437 people injured.

The minister added that the most shocking finding is that 96% of those involved in the accidents were over the legal alcohol limit.

To achieve the 5% cut in road accidents, the minister said all parties c
oncerned must cooperate, including drivers, who should not drive when they are drunk. He also asked all hospitals to be on standby to support the police and local officials.

Meanwhile, Pol Major Veerawat Sivapaet, deputy commander of the Office of Police Strategy, said that, if the drunk drivers are under 20 years old, the police will take legal action against the venues or stores that sold the alcohol to them./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: More than 1,100 natural disasters have taken place across Vietnam this year, heard a conference held by the office of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control in Hanoi on December 22.

Accordingly, natural disasters have to date caused 166 people dead and missing, down 5% year-on-year. The estimated economic damage is about 8.23 trillion VND (339.38 million USD), an annual decrease of 58%. Faced with the abnormal and extreme nature of the disasters, the Government, Prime Minister, national steering committee have directed ministries and localities to vigorously and promptly implement responsive solutions.

According to Hoang Phuc Lam, Deputy Director of the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, this year has so far seen eight storms and tropical depressions. Severe heatwaves have occurred, with temperatures in some places reaching up to 44.2 degrees Celsius. Heavy rains have taken place in the central region, with 35 provinces and cities affected by fl
oods and landslides.

Throughout the year, the centre has implemented a comprehensive set of measures to enhance the detailed level of flood and landslide warning messages, focusing on applying new and modern technologies to determine more detailed rainfall thresholds. Notably, a real-time warning information system is being integrated into its related forecasting./.
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

Singapore: Singapore’s latest spike in COVID-19 cases may be starting to peak but the public needs to stay up to date on vaccinations, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said on December 21.

The country reported 56,043 COVID-19 cases in the week of December 3 to 9, marking a 75% surge compared to the week before. The previous high recorded was 28,410 infections in the week to March 26.

A new COVID strain, the JN.1 variant, which has been classified as a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organisation (WHO), accounts for the “vast majority” of the country’s latest wave of infections.

In addition to vaccination and booster shots, the country’s “primary defense” against COVID-19, the health ministry has also urged the public to wear masks in crowded spaces even if they are not sick, particularly in the airport and other indoor settings.

The minister maintained that the number of hospitalisations remain a key metric to watch. The average daily COVID-19 hospitalisations rose to 350 from 225.

Singapore exited
the acute phase of COVID-19 in February and entered the endemic norm. The island-nation subsequently scrapped mandatory mask-wearing on public transport and indoor health-care settings, amongst other community measures such as working from home protocols and limits on group sizes./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

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