Happy Vietnam photo 2023 contest calls for submissions. The contest, themed "Happy Vietnam", also aims to spread human values, empathy and concern of the community for everyone, especially impoverished ones, with the desire of "leaving no one behind”. It’s also an opportunity for overseas Vietnamese and international friends to have a better understanding about Vietnam and its culture, people while joining hands to build a happy and prosperous country. The Foreign Service Information Authority launches a photography and video contest 2023 on June 15. ( Photo : VNA)Authors can submit works online at https://happy.vietnam.vn from June 15 to September 15.

HÀ NỘI — The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have agreed to ensure vaccine supply to support Việt Nam’s expanded vaccination programme, Minister of Health Đào Hồng Lan has said. Talking to the press on June 14, Lan referred to the vaccine shortage for the programme, saying that the situation may increase the risk of disease outbreaks. Over 200,000 doses of the 5-in-1 vaccine pledged by WHO and UNICEF, along with over 65,000 doses from domestic donors, are expected to ensure a sufficient number of vaccines for the programme, Lan said. With the support of WHO and UNICEF, the expanded vaccination programme has been applied in Việt Nam since 1981. According to health experts, the low vaccination rate puts Việt Nam at risk of large-scale outbreaks of infectious diseases.

"The Vietnam Sports Administration will continue to invest in sports that Vietnam has strengths. He pledged to closely coordinate with Vietnam in implementing cooperation proposals effectively, especially in the areas mentioned by the PM. He also asked the UAE to help Vietnam in developing Halal food production and services, and build cooperation mechanisms in Halal certification in Vietnam, helping increase the two-way trade. He expressed his wish that Vietnam would share its development experience and proposed strengthening agricultural cooperation with Vietnam to contribute to ensuring sustainable food security in the African country. Australia, WB extend partnership in support of Vietnamese development prioritiesThe Australian Government and the World Bank (WB) have formally agreed to extend their partnership in support of the sustainable and inclusive Vietnamese development agenda.

Nguyen Thi My Trang celebrates her 32nd SEA Games victory in the women's 57kg wrestling class. Trang will take part in the Asian U23 event on June 15-18. Thuong dominated the women's 68kg and Linh triumphed in the women's 76kg.Vietnam is home to some of the strongest wrestlers in Southeast Asian. The team has dominated every SEA Games competition. In the two latest Games, Vietnam topped the medal tally in men's, women's and overall ranking, leaving all other teams far behind./.

HCM CITY — Meta will focus on three priority areas in 2023 that will help drive business and industry growth in Việt Nam, including video growth, particularly Reels, the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for businesses and building better business ROI through business messaging. The third focus is the role of Business Messaging to facilitate business conversations between business owners and their audiences. Among the countries with the highest rate of Business Messaging adoption, 73 per cent of Vietnamese consumers surveyed use Business Messaging to reach out to businesses. This shows that Business Messaging continues to play a role in supporting business growth and bringing businesses closer to customers," said Khôi Lê, Country Director for Meta in Vietnam. For example, in terms of sales, the order value from customers is 22.1 per cent higher due to communication between sellers and buyers through business messaging.

Writer Kiều Bích Hậu attended the 13th European Poetry Festival in Como, Italy from May 19 to 21. As a member of Việt Nam Writers' Association she is making effort to popularise Vietnamese poetry and prose to the world. You are honoured at the 13th European Poetry Festival in Como, Italy for your effort to popularise Vietnamese literature to the world. In October 2020, I also founded a group of women translators named Hanoi Female Translators to strengthen and widen the volume of the literary translating and publishing Vietnamese works abroad. Canadian Ukiyoto Publishing currently distributes your poetry collection entitled From Red River to Blue Danube through its channel in the world.

Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Thanh Hai (R) and King of Bhutan (Photo: baoquocte.vn)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese Ambassador to India, Nepal and Bhutan Nguyen Thanh Hai has pledged to make efforts to elevate bilateral ties and raise mutual understanding and cooperation in areas of mutual interest such as sustainable tourism, agriculture, forestry, furniture manufacturing, apparel and services. He spoke highly of the strengthening of people-to-people exchanges, considering it a favourable basis to reinforce bilateral ties across economy, trade, investment and other areas. He also shared the major development directions of Bhutan as the happiest country in the world. Vietnam and Bhutan have maintained a good relationship since they established diplomatic relations in January 2012. Along with the increasing number of tourist arrivals, bilateral trade is also gradually growing following the COVID-19 pandemic./.

According to the data recently released by Hana Tour, the percentage of its customers choosing Vietnam as their preferred vacation spot is the highest at nearly 20%. The peak period for summer vacations for Korean travelers will fall within the last two weeks of July and the beginning of August, specifically from July 24-August 6, when students in the RoK start their summer break. Hence, the demand for international travel also enters its peak phase. Last year, the booking rate for tours to Vietnam by Hana Tour accounted for over 26%. This means that for every four Koreans, who wished to travel abroad in July and August, one person chose Vietnam./.

Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos (Photo: AFP/VNA)– The plane of Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos encountered a "minor" technical problem just minutes after takeoff on June 14 morning, forcing the pilot to return to an air base near Manila, China's Xinhua News Agency reported.The President planned to fly to South Cotabato to attend the launching of the Consolidated Rice Production and Mechanisation Programme in the southern province. "The G280 command and control aircraft that flew this morning with the President onboard had to return to base a few minutes after takeoff due to a minor technical issue on the aircraft's flaps operations," Philippine Air Force (PAF) spokesperson Colonel Maria Consuelo Castillo was quoted by Xinhua as saying.She said the problem was "nothing serious." Since the PAF maintains the highest standards of flight safety, the pilots decided to do a precautionary return to the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City and have the aircraft thoroughly checked.Castillo noted the air force prepared a backup aircraft, a C295, so that President Marcos's flight resumed immediately./.

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam Journalists Association needs to build a team of journalists, who are politically and economically sensitive, profound in science and technology, humanistic and professional to serve the nation and the people. Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính made the order when he visited the Việt Nam Journalists Association on Tuesday morning on the occasion of the 98th anniversary of the Việt Nam Revolutionary Press Day (June 21, 1925 – June 21, 2023). “The press must accompany the nation and become a sharp weapon to protect the ideological foundation of the Party and the interests of the nation,” he said. The press needs to arouse the spirit of self-reliance, dare-to-think, dare-to-do to realise the aspiration to develop a prosperous and happy country, he said. Also at the meeting, he said that association plays an important role in uniting, gathering, fostering professional skills, training professional ethics of journalists, and contributing to creating unity within the Party and consensus in society.

Local residents enthusiastically take part in discussions on restoring the rituals and choose people to perform the ceremony. Therefore, when localities want to revive them, local residents are eager to join in the work. While waiting for new locations to be approved and financial sources to be allocated, local residents still have to live in worry inside degraded blocks. After Thai’s arrest, Tien and Khanh set up a crime group aimed at transporting and selling drugs from Laos to Vietnam. Local residents previously used wooden boats operating on the Nhon Chau - Quy Nhon route to reach the mainland.

Modern European style with exclusive highlightsStretching a full 80 metres with a capacity of 360 guests, Paradise Delight is considered the largest dining cruise on Halong Bay. Accompanied by the splendid sunsets along the shores of the heritage bay, this provides the perfect start on a gourmet journey. Pioneering an on-board fine-dining experience, Paradise Delight serves guests two premium menus with two types of fine-dining experience. El Loto restaurant on the 1st floor has a capacity of 200 guests and offers a buffet dining experience of Eurasian cuisine. Iconic rendezvous for entertainment showsWith premium cuisine, world-class services, ample capacity, and top-end facilities, Paradise Delight is the ideal rendezvous venue for mesmeric shows, parties, and conferences.

Tourists at a spiritual tourism site in Fansipan, Lao Cai (Photo: VNA)Seoul (VNA) – Vietnam is the most popular destination among Korean tourists this summer, according to Hana Tour, the largest travel company in the Republic of Korea. According to the data released by Hana Tour on June 12, the percentage of its customers choosing Vietnam as their preferred vacation spot is the highest at 19.9%. Last year, the booking rate for tours to Vietnam by Hana Tour accounted for 26.2%. This means that for every four Koreans who wished to travel abroad in July and August, one person chose Vietnam. Following Vietnam were Guam 10.9%, Western Europe 9%, the Philippines 8.9%, and Japan 8%./.

In the upcoming second session, the NA will focus on voting on the approval of various draft laws and resolutions. The committee is expected to give opinions on eight draft laws, including six draft laws that had been reviewed by the NA during the fourth session and two more draft laws to be passed. According to the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents, the committee will take responsibility during the process of reviewing and amending draft laws. Also on Monday, Chairman of the Finance-Budget Committee Lê Quang Mạnh reported on several major issues regarding the amended Law on Procurement and Law on Prices. During Monday’s session, the committee also provided opinions on several major issues regarding the amended Law on Prices.

HÀ NỘI – The development of the circular economy aims to create impetus for innovation and improve labour productivity, contributing to achieving economic development, environmental sustainability and social equality, according to economic experts. This was one of the many messages raised at the forum of Regulatory Sandbox for Circular Economy Development. Accordingly, an important task to soon concretise these orientations is to issue a decree on a pilot mechanism for circular economy development. The formation of a solid legal basis for circular economy development will also help concretise contents of international cooperation related to the circular economy including green energy transformation and agriculture. Along with that, international cooperation plays a very important role in accessing, applying and mastering science-technology and innovation in circular economy development, Dương said.