Activities mark President Ho Chi Minh’s birthday in France
The Vietnamese Embassy in France has held a wide range of activities to mark the 120th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh’s birth.
A large number of embassy staff, representatives from the Vietnamese Residents Association, the Vietnamese Students Association and representative offices in France offered incense at Uncle Ho’s altar at the embassy on May 14. After that they laid wreaths at House No9 on Compoint alley in Paris’s District 17, where Uncle Ho stayed from July 1921 to June 1923.
A meeting was held on the same day at Montreau Park which has Ho Chi Minh space and statue with the participation of leaders of Montreuil and the council of the Ile-De-France region as well as close friends of Ho Chi Minh and Vietnam.
At the meeting, Claude Reznik, representative of Montréal Council affirmed the city’s support for Vietnam’s struggle for independence and freedom and emphasised that President Ho Chi Minh always fought against slavery and devoted his whole life to Vietnam’s land and nation. He praised Vietnam’s strong development in recent years and the constant development of ties of friendship between Vietnam and France.
Ambassador Le Kinh Tai delivered a presentation on President Ho Chi Minh’s life and career – the great leader of the Vietnamese working class and the whole people.
National meeting to mark World Environment Day
A national meeting in response to World Environment Day, World Oceans Day, the International Year of Biological Diversity and the Vietnam Week for Seas and Islands will be held in the central province of Quang Binh on June 5.
About 3,000 people are expected to attend the event.
Under the theme “Many species – One Planet – One Future”, this year’s World Environment Day warns people about the damage being done to biodiversity due to bad management and poor public awareness of the importance of preservation.
At a press briefing in Hanoi on May 5, the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Nguyen Van Duc, stressed that the environment, the seas and islands and biodiversity are all intrinsically linked. Vietnam is widely recognised as a country with a high level of biodiversity, ranking 16th in the world.
However, ecosystems, especially tropical forests, which have the highest and most varied biodiversity, have declined drastically over the last few years.
As in many countries around the world, Vietnam is holding numerous activities to respond to the International Year for Biological Diversity. Along with the meeting, a workshop entitled the “The Year of Biological Diversity and upholding the Law on Biodiversity” and a discussion themed “Action Day for Biodiversity” will be held on June 3 and 4, respectively.
During the “Vietnam Week for the Seas and Islands ” from June 3-6, many events will take place in Quang Binh province. They include a sand painting competition, a trade fair and an auction of paintings to raise funds for disadvantaged children.
Three Vietnamese army units receive Lao Order
The Lao Defence Ministry held a ceremony to confer orders on three units under the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) in Hanoi on May 14.
The Lao Deputy PM and Defence Minister Lieut. Gen. Douangchay Phichit presented the Development Order, first class, to the Vietnamese Defence Ministry; and the Labour Order, first class, to the Military Zone 4 High Command and the COECCO Company under the Military Zone 4’s Economic Cooperation Corp for their contributions to developing the friendship, solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States, armies and peoples of Vietnam and Laos.
Vietnamese Defence Minister General Phung Quang Thanh said that the Labour and Development Orders are high honours recognising the Vietnamese army units’ contributions and assistance to the Lao army over the past years.
France and Japan help Vietnam to cope with climate change
The French Development Agency (AFD) has approved a 20 million-euro loan for Vietnam as part of a Support Programme to respond to climate change (SP-RCC).
This budgetary support comes in addition to the 10-billion-Yen loan (around 85 million euro) already granted by the Japanese government to support this initiative, said a press release issued by the French Embassy to Vietnam on May 14.
This programme aims at promoting the development of a legal and regulatory framework to foster climate change mitigation and adaptation measures as well as facilitating the implementation of pilot projects.
If the sea-level rises 1 metre, close to 5 percent of Vietnam’s land, 11 percent of the country’s population and, 7 percent of its agricultural land would be affected.
Vietnam’s GDP would suffer a 10 percent drop, the press release said.
To deal with these challenges, the Vietnamese Government has approved the National Target Programme to Respond to Climate Change (NTP-RCC) in December 2008.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and AFD will support NTP-RCC implementation through their commitment to financing SP-RCC.
Uncle Ho’s birthday celebrated nationwide
A variety of activities have been organised around the country to celebrate Uncle Ho’s 120th birthday.
The Can Tho provincial Mass Mobilisation Department on May 13 held a ceremony to honour outstanding participants in the campaign “Study and follow the moral example of Ho Chi Minh”.
Since the campaign was launched three years ago, the Can Tho Mass Mobilisation Department has taken the initiative to participate in the programme through a series of seminars.
Organisations in the province have combined professional activities with the establishment of effective mass mobilisation models in different fields, in order to improve the quality of mass mobilization and help with hunger elimination and poverty reduction.
The southern province of Ca Mau will organize a number of communication, sports, singing, and entertainment activitites to celebrate the day. There will be an incense ceremony at the President Ho Chi Minh Monument, and a seminar entitled “Ho Chi Minh – a national hero – an outstanding Vietnamese culturologist”. Delegates will pay tribute to Uncle Ho at his house on stilts in the Ca Mau Cultural Park.
Meanwhile, the province will continue implementing the campaign “Study and follow the moral example of Ho Chi Minh” in 2010 to inspire new models of excellence nationwide.
Quang Tri holds reburial service for 48 martyrs
A reburial service for the remains of 48 Vietnamese martyrs who fought as volunteers in Laos during the war was held at the National Martyrs Cemetery on Road No 9 in central Quang Tri province on May 14.
One of the Vietnamese martyrs was identified as Nguyen Van Vo of Division 308 from Quyet Tien hamlet, Chi Lang commune, Hung Ha district, Thai Binh province.
The remains were collected by team 584 with the assistance of people from the Lao provinces of Savannakhet and Salavan.
Since its establishment in May, 1984, team 584 has gathered and reburied the remains of 5,245 Vietnamese soldiers and experts who sacrificed their lives on Lao soil.
More air routes to US
United Airlines in Vietnam have opened up more air routes from HCM City to more major cities in the US, transiting at Narita airport in Tokyo, Japan.
United Airlines have entered into a joint venture with Vietnam Airlines and All Nippon Airways from Japan.
After arriving in Japan from HCM City, passengers will transfer to United Airlines aircraft for the final leg of their journey to other US cities such as Seattle, Washington DC and Chicago.
Fierce competition in the 2010 Vietnam Robocon
The teams compete in the 1/32 round in the 2010 Vietnam Robocon tournament on May 13 received enthusiastic applause from their supporters.
There was tough competition in 12 matches between 24 teams in group E and F. It came down to the last minute of the competition to find out who had their place in the 1/16 round. Some teams even had to depend on the sub-score to decide the two top teams of each group.
The highlight of the night was an impressive performance from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology’s BKIT-BOMBY managing to build a pyramid six successive times. After a poor start against Red Star SD-PRO from the Red Star University, BKIT-BOMBY easily defeated LH-VLC from Lac Hong University with a win in the Pharaoh event.
The competition became fiercer as BKIT-BOMBY had to beat T.VIC from Hung Yen University of Education to book a place in the next round.
The team’s efforts paid off as they won another Pharaoh match. Vo Hai Thong, one of the team members said that they were was extremely happy with the stunning wins and will do their best to win the trophy.
The two teams that qualified for the 1/16 round in group E are CDT3 from Red Star University with 6 match points and 153 sub-scores and HY-Tan Thanh Dat with 6 match points and 121 sub-scores.
In group F BKIT-BOMBY and LH-VLC won their places in the next round.
The 2010 Robocon Vietnam on May 15 will continue with 16 matches in groups G and H.
Hue hosts conference on eco-tourism management
An international conference on eco-tourism management took place in the central city of Hue on May 12.
The conference drew participants from China, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam.
They first heard a presentation on eco-tourism in the Mekong Sub-region countries and measures to protect the diversity of the eco-system and worked out a universal plan to manage and develop eco-tourism in the countries concerned.
The conference was jointly held by the central province of Thua Thien Hue, the Thai Mekong Institute and Hue Tourism College.
UNICEF helps strengthen woman, child rights
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will help Ho Chi Minh City strengthen its capacity for improving the exercise of woman and child rights.
To this effect, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Hua Ngoc Thuan and UNICEF Chief Representative in Vietnam Jesper March signed the Ho Chi Minh City Child-Friendly Project on May 12.
As part of the Vietnam Child-Friendly Programme, the project will assist local authorised agencies in information collection and management, issuance of social policies and assessment of their effects on children.
The project will also help reduce injuries among children and increase children and pregnant women’s access to health care and nutrition services.
With a budget of over US$1.52 million, the project will be implemented until the end of 2011.
The US$22.1 million Vietnam Child-Friendly Programme is part of a national cooperation programme between the Vietnamese government and UNICEF in the 2006-2010 period. Together with HCM City, the programme is implemented in Dien Bien, Kon Tum, Ninh Thuan, An Giang and Dong Thap provinces.
Vietnamese, Lao provinces cooperate in border development
Vietnam’s Ha Tinh province and its Lao neighbouring province of Bolikhamsay agreed on May 11 to invest in upgrading infrastructure at the Cau Treo and Nam Pao border gates.
Construction of the border gate administrative zone, trade, service and cultural centre and a road system between the two border gates covers 23.5ha.
The management board of the Cau Treo international border gate economic zone will invest VND130 billion (US$7.2 million) in building the area in Vietnam and the construction project in Laos will be done with non-refundable aid from the Vietnamese Government.
Bolikhamsay’s Deputy Governor Thoong On Khamphuban said that the project will be submitted to the government for early approval.
PV
