Japanese PM pays official visit to Vietnam
Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and a high-level delegation of Japan paid an official visit to Vietnam from April 30-May 1, at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
During the visit, PM Kishida paid respect to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum, held talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh, attended the exchange of cooperation documents, co-chaired a press conference with PM Chinh, participated in a seminar on Vietnam-Japan cooperation in technology renovation, digital transformation and supply chain diversification.
He also paid courtesy visits to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and had a meeting with National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.
The two PMs witnessed the exchange of 22 cooperative documents between ministries, agencies, localities and enterprises of the two countries.
Vietnam deploys more personnel to UN peacekeeping missions
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Vietnam’s Engineering Unit Rotation 1 and Level-2 Field Hospital Rotation 4 departed for the UN peacekeeping missions in Abyei and South Sudan on April 27.
This is the first time Vietnam has deployed an engineering unit to a UN peacekeeping mission, and it is also the Vietnamese unit with the largest number of personnel joining UN peacekeeping operations so far.
Taking part in UN peacekeeping operations is a major policy of the Politburo and the Party Central Committee to promote the country’s integration into the world at a higher level.
It is an honour of the Vietnam People’s Army to be the first force to send personnel to this international mission. Over the last eight years, its officers have proved themselves completely capable of fulfilling tasks at the request of the UN, and they have received very high evaluations from UN leaders.
Vietnam placed 56th in Chandler Good Government Index 2022
Vietnam has been placed third among low-middle-income nations and 56th globally out of 104 ranked countries in the Chandler Good Government Index (CGGI) 2022 freshly released by the Singaporean-based Chandler Institute of Governance on April 28.
Accordingly, Vietnam made good improvement in the categories of income equality and investment attraction, up 33 and 18 places annually to be in the 42nd and 39th positions, respectively.
The country also performed very well in satisfaction with public services (at 15th place) and gender equality (27th). Meanwhile, its strong performance in the Attractive Marketplace (34th) and Helping People Rise (43rd) indicators reflected the Vietnamese Government’s focus on advancing the national economy and ensuring a more just society.
Action month for labour safety and hygiene launched
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The action month for labour safety and hygiene and the Workers’ Month 2022 were launched in Hanoi, on April 28.
With the determination to control occupational accidents and diseases, the Government launched the Action month for labour safety and hygiene with the theme "Strengthening measures to reduce risks in labour safety and hygiene, improving working conditions at the workplace, adapting safely, flexibly and effectively controlling the COVID-19 epidemic".
The VGCL also launched Workers' Month 2022 with the theme "Vietnamese workers: Pioneering, innovative, responsible, safe, adaptive".
Vietnamese-French painter’s work sold for 529,200 EUR at an art auction
A painting entitled ‘Mère et enfant’ (Mother and child) by Vietnamese-French painter Le Thi Luu has been sold for 529,200 EUR (some 562,000 USD) at an online auction by Sotheby’s.
Though it was initially expected to fetch 80,000 EUR, it ended up getting the highest bid at the ‘Indochine’ auction from April 14-21.
The 35.8 x 27.5 cm ink and colour on silk work, created in 1960, depicts a mother carrying her child in her arms. They appear to be traditional Vietnamese, with the mother wearing a white 'ao dai.'
Send-off ceremony held for Vietnamese delegation to SEA Games 31
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A send-off ceremony was held in Hanoi on the evening of April 28 for the Vietnamese sports delegation to the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31), scheduled to be hosted in Vietnam from May 12 to 23.
Vietnam will send a 1,341-member delegation to SEA Games 31, including about 950 athletes together with coaches, doctors and experts. The Games will offer up to 526 sets of medals for grabs in 40 sports. Competitions will take place in Hanoi and 11 neighbouring localities in the north of Vietnam.
Quang Liem finishes second at Oslo Esports Cup
Vietnam's No. 1 chess player Le Quang Liem bagged his fourth win in a row on the final day of the Oslo Esports Cup in Norway this morning (Apr 29), thereby finishing as runner-up with US$32,500 in cash.
It can be said that Liem had a successful tournament as he is the only player in the tournament that beat reigning world No. 1 Chess King Carlsen and also defeated defending World Cup champion Duda. With 5 wins, including 2 wins by blitz tie-breaks, Liem earned US$32,500 in prize money.
The Oslo Esports Cup is the first main stage of the Champions Chess Tour 2022, bringing together eight top players, four of them in the Top 15 in the world. They play a round-robin format of seven matches. Liem is the first Vietnamese player to attend the main stage of the Champions Chess Tour.
Ho Chi Minh City kicks off new helicopter service
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The first helicopter tours took off over Ho Chi Minh City on April 29, carrying 30 passengers. The flights were organised by TST Tourist and the municipal Department of Tourism in coordination with Military Hospital 175 and the Southern Vietnam Helicopter Company (VNH South). One took off from Tan Son Nhat airport and the other from the 8th storey of the hospital.
The tours include short flights (30-45 minutes) over the centre of HCM City and Can Gio district and mid-range flights (60 minutes) from HCM City to the Endless Field Tourism Area in the Mekong Delta province of Long An. Prices range from 4 to 5 million VND (174 – 272 USD).
Saigontourist, Vietravel, Fiditour – Vietluxtour and TST Tourist are offering the service. They reported that for the upcoming April 30-May Day holidays, 200 people have booked tours.
