On display are 250 art works selected from 2,300 entries in the “For a triumphant Vietnam” contest. Contestants are children that were or are being treated at hospitals around the country and from SOS children villages across the country. Launched on August 8, the “For a triumphant Vietnam” contest is being co-organised by “The Sun of Hope” (formerly The Sun) program, the Hope Foundation, and the Foreign Trade University. According to organizers, the paintings will also be exhibited in several other countries. Paintings on display will also be sold, at prices starting from 500,000 VND, to support a fund for cancer patients and disadvantaged children./.

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)– Nam Son Co., Ltd and Asia Tea of Vietnam will supply tea to Kong Wooi Fong Tea Merchants Sdn Bhd based in Malaysia under a contract worth up to 2 million USD.The contract was inked by Vietnamese Trade Counsellor in Malaysia Pham Quoc Anh and Liew Choon Kong, Director of Kong Wooi Fong, within the framework of the Selangor International Business Summit 2021 (SIBS 2021) on November 19. Ltd and Asia Tea are among the biggest companies specialising in tea production, processing and export in Vietnam.In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s correspondents, Liew Choon Kong expressed his satisfaction at the Vietnamese partners, and highly valued Vietnamese tea products, especially black tea.As the second biggest exporter in Malaysia, only after Indonesia, Vietnam holds a lot of potential, he said, suggesting Vietnam optimise fairs and exhibitions to explore tea demand of local customers, thus going deeper into the Malaysian market.Anh said Vietnamese food and beverage firms need to secure Halal certificates to enter the market.SIBS 2021 takes place from November 18-21, featuring more than 2,000 booths from 10 countries and territories./.

The diplomat also took the occasion to thank Luxembourg for supporting Vietnam through development cooperation projects, contributing greatly to Vietnam’s “Doi Moi” (Renewal) process and socio-economic growth. Over 10,000 new COVID-19 cases recorded in Vietnam on Nov. 18An additional 10,223 COVID-19 cases were reported in Vietnam on November 18, according to the Ministry of Health. The diplomat also took the occasion to thank Luxembourg for supporting Vietnam through development cooperation projects, contributing greatly to Vietnam’s “Doi Moi” (Renewal) process and socio-economic growth. Top legislator attends opening of National Great Unity WeekNational Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue attended a ceremony on November 18 evening to kick off the “National Great Unity - Vietnam Cultural Heritage” Week 2021 at the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism. Photo exhibition highlights world heritage sites in Vietnam and RussiaPhotographs featuring UNESCO-recognised world heritage sites in both Vietnam and Russia have gone on display at the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum in Hanoi as part of activities to commemorate Vietnam Year in Russia and Russia Year in Vietnam.

At the event. (Photo: VNA)Illustrative photo (Source: thoibaonganhang.vn)A workshop on developing smart banks in the process of industrialisation and modernisation by 2030 with a vision to 2045 took place on November 18 in the framework of the third Industry 4.0 Summit and Expo.In his opening remarks, deputy head of the Party Central Committee ’s Economic Commission Nguyen Duc Hien said the Politburo’s Resolution No 52-NQ/TW determines the financial-banking sector as one of the priority, focal and pioneering sectors in digital transformation.The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) issued Decision No. 810/QD-NHNN approving a plan for digital transformation of the banking sector by 2025, with a vision to 2030, focusing on developing a digital and smart banking system.According to Deputy Governor of the SBV Pham Tien Dung, digital transformation of the banking industry over the past time has achieved positive results. The central bank has reviewed and issued legal regulations to meet the digital banking model, digital banking services, innovation activities, application of new technological achievements, data protection, rights and legitimate interests of customers.The achievements of the 4th Industrial Revolution have been widely applied to core banking services. Mobile payment has grown rapidly with 90 percent in quantity and 150 percent in value.According to McKinsey's research, many Vietnamese banks have over 90 percent of transactions on digital channels, and the country is among the regional countries seeing the highest digital adoption rate in the banking industry, creating opportunities for banks.In addition, a digital payment and digital ecosystem has been established by connecting digital banking services with most other digital services in the economy, providing seamless experiences in all fields and utilities for users in digital space services.Dung said the plan for digital transformation of the banking industry by 2025, with a vision to 2030 aims to develop digital banking models, and increase utilities and customer experience.To realise the targets, the State Bank will prepare resources for digital transformation activities, and continue to improve the legal framework to facilitate the process.The central bank will also focus on developing digital infrastructure, connecting and sharing the banking sector’s data with other sectors, developing digital banking models, applying technologies to provide products and services in a safe and convenient manner with low cost, and ensuring safety and cyber security as well as rights and legitimate interests of customers.Delegates also debated smart bank development in the world and in the region, and the need to switch to a smart banking model, strategies and comprehensive solutions to promote development of smart banking, and measures to ensure security and safety of information systems./.

At the media briefing (Photo: quochoi.vn)Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam Education Conference (VEC) slated for November 21 will take a look at the school culture amid education-training reforms, heard a media briefing of the organisers held in Hanoi on November 18. The event will be jointly held by the National Assembly (NA)’s Committee for Culture and Education, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The general session will touch on school culture from State management agencies’ viewpoints; Vietnamese and foreign experts’ opinions on the issue; and challenges, policy recommendations and solutions. The VEC will also scrutinise school culture and its relations with internal and external factors, and in the context of digital transformation and integration. More than 200 reports by scholars at home and abroad have been sent to the organising board.

Before boarding, Oh Young-roh, a RoK national, told the Vietnam News Agency reporter that he goes to Vietnam to visit his family. HIV prevention campaign launchedThe Health Ministry’s Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control (VAAC) launched a campaign on HIV prevention on November 17. The event is directed by the VAAC with technical and financial support from the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Vietnam Health Development Cooperation Organisation together with other partners. The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has officially launched a campaign called "Live fully in Vietnam" to welcome international tourists back to five destinations in the country. The event will be co-hosted by the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee.

A performance of Vietnam ese students at a festival in the US (Photo: VNA)Vietnam remains the sixth leading country of origin for all international higher education students in the US, with 21,631 students studying at American institutions in the academic year 2020-2021, the Vietnam Government Portal (VGP) reported.Of the above figure, 70.6 percent were undergraduates, 15.6 percent were graduate level students, 12.1 percent enrolled in Optional Practical Training (OPT), and the remaining 1.6 percent was pursuing non-degree programmes, the VGP cited the Institute of International Education ’s (IIE) annual “Open Doors” Report released on November 16.Among community college enrollment, Vietnamese students continue to constitute the second largest group of foreign students, accounting for almost 11 percent of all international enrollments.Vietnamese students continue to demonstrate a strong interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and business/management studies. The percentages of Vietnamese students pursuing STEM and business/management majors are 46 percent and 26.9 percent respectively.The US remains the top destination for international students, welcoming over 914,000 international students from over 200 places of origin in the academic year 2020-2021./.

Agricultural restructuring would be done by optimising potential and advantages. (Photo: VNA)Vietnam should step up green agriculture to adapt to the new context, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said at a seminar in Hanoi on November 16.At the same time, the country needs a changed mindset in agriculture, targeting a high-tech, eco-friendly, responsible and sustainable agricultural sector instead of that with high output, he added.To that end, the minister suggested suitable digital transformation in agriculture and rural areas, scientific management in production, harvest and distribution, personnel training, cooperation and connectivity in the sector.At the seminar, experts exchanged views on some orientations to spur agricultural development during the process of reform and integration, and promote brands of Vietnamese agricultural products They said agricultural restructuring would be done by optimising potential and advantages, focusing on linking domestic and international supply chains, thus creating a new position for Vietnamese agriculture.The seminar was jointly held by the National Economics University and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development./.

Agritourism is to be added into the National Target Programme on new-style rural area building in the 2021-2025 period. (Photo: thanhtra.com.vn)– The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has been assigned to coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to make agritourism development part of the National Target Programme on new-style rural area building in the 2021-2025 period.Agritourism is expected to become one of the motivations for the creation of jobs and improvement of incomes for rural people, helping speed up rural economic structure shifting, preserve traditional cultural values and protect the environment.Effective promotion of agritourism is hoped to contribute to making tourism a spearhead sector and strengthening sustainable rural development.So far, rural and ecological tourism has accounted for 10 percent of the global tourism sector with revenue of about 30 billion USD per year. The annual growth of agritourism is about 10-30 percent, much higher than 4 percent of traditional tourism.Currently, Vietnam has seen three forms of rural tourism – community-based tourism, farm tourism and ecotourism. The country has about 365 agritourism destinations and more than 2,000 traditional craft villages with high potential for tourism development.The digital transformation in rural tourism is expected to help agritourism to attract more visitors and support holiday-makers in making plans for their trip more easily, while providing better services to tourists and explore customers’ habits./.

A screenshot of Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (right) and New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta (left) at a virtual press briefing following a bilateral meeting in Jakarta on November 15. (Photo: ANTARA)As a dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), New Zealand reaffirmed its commitment towards the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific and realising peace and stability in the region.New Zealand’s Minister of Foreign Ministers Nanaia Mahuta made the statement following the talks with her Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi on November 16. "Indo-Pacific is a region that is open for trade and investment, an inclusive region, a region with sovereignty that is respected by all countries, big and small, a region that strives for peace and stability. I reaffirm New Zealand's commitment to the Indo-Pacific and ASEAN as its center, with a region that is based on the law, including UNCLOS," Mahuta was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.Aside from bilateral cooperation in health, energy, and economy, the two ministers also discussed regional issues, including the situation in Myanmar and Afghanistan during their talks.Regarding the COVID-19 combat, they affirmed the significance of ensuring fair access to vaccines for all countries to soon contain the pandemic./.

Vietnam is working to develop a modern seaport system with high-quality services meeting socio-economic development demand (Photo: VNA)– Vietnam will need about 313 trillion VND (13.7 billion USD) to develop a modern seaport system between now and 2030, and the funding will mostly come from non-budget sources.During 2011 - 2020, about 202 trillion VND was poured into developing seaport infrastructure, accounting for 20.6 percent of total investment in transport infrastructure Of the figure, more than 173 trillion VND, or 86 percent, was non-State budget capital, according to the Vietnam Maritime Administration Many of the world’s leading maritime transport and seaport operating enterprises have been present in the country.Among them, the Danish group of APMT, the world’s second largest seaport operator, has invested in the Cai Mep International Terminal in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province; the UAE’s DP World, the fifth largest operator, has invested and operated the Saigon Premier Container Terminal in Ho Chi Minh City; and SSA Marine of the US, ranking ninth, has channeled funding into the SP-SSA International Terminal in Ba Ria - Vung Tau.Thanks to private and foreign investment, the seaport system in Vietnam has enjoyed breakthrough growth.The country has established 32 sea lanes, including 25 international shipping routes and seven domestic ones. Apart from the routes linking with Asian destinations, there are two routes to North America from the northern region and 16 others to North America and Europe from southern Vietnam, the Maritime Administration said.The master plan for seaport development during 2021 - 2030, recently approved by the Prime Minister, looks to develop a modern seaport system with high-quality services meeting socio-economic development demand and able to handle 1.14 - 1.42 billion tonnes of cargo, including 38 - 47 million TEUs of container goods.To that end, about 313 trillion VND is needed, mostly from non-budget sources, enterprises’ investment, and other legal sources. Meanwhile, funding from the State budget will focus on public maritime infrastructure and key zones so as to give a boost to investment attraction, the administration noted.Some economic experts held that to have a modern seaport system that is able to compete with others in regional countries, aside from existing investment forms, Vietnam should have representative agencies of the State like port management boards or authorities to mobilise resources for building ports and inviting tenders for port operation./.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) once again asks cities and provinces nationwide to speed up COVID-19 vaccination. (Photo: VNA)The Ministry of Health (MoH) has once again asked cities and provinces nationwide to speed up COVID-19 vaccination, saying they must report to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology the number of unused vaccine doses which would probably be redistributed.As of November 13, some 116 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been allocated to localities and establishments involved in vaccination, the MoH said in an urgent notice recently sent to Secretaries of the provincial Party Committees across the country.The secretaries are asked to require local Health Department to hasten COVID-19 innoculation, so as to cover all citizens aged 18 and older with at least one vaccine shot and accelerate rollout of the second doses, the notice said. Priority must be given to people aged 50 and above and those with underlying medical conditions, it added.Localities must actively review the use of vaccines, the number of administered vaccine doses and the unused, and report about reasons behind the delay in vaccination.Provincial and municipal Health Departments are also requested to calculate how many vaccine doses they need to cover all residents aged 12 and above until the end of this year and demand for 2022 and submit written proposals for vaccine supply to the MoH before November 20, according to the notice.The Health Departments must take responsibility if they fail to make a proposal, leading to a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines in their localities, the MoH emphasised.Data from the MoH shows that as of November 15 afternoon, over 99.7 million COVID-19 vaccine shots had been injected, with close to 35.3 million people fully vaccinated with two jabs. This means more than 15 million doses are yet to be used.The MoH has repeatedly requested localities to accelerate the pace of COVID-19 vaccination . However, vaccination rates are still lagging behind in some provinces, including Son La (with only 45.5 percent of the population aged 18 and above receiving at least one shot), Thanh Hoa (50.6 percent), Nam Dinh (58.2 percent), Nghe An (60 percent) and Cao Bang (63.2 percent)./.

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)– The Army Corps 18 under the Ministry of National Defence has safely operated an emergency flight to carry a patient from Song Tu Tay island of Truong Sa (Spatly) archipelago to the mainland for timely treatment.The patient is a 47-year-old fisherman suffering from severe tetanus in the lower leg and need emergency aid.Receiving the permission from the Ministry of National Defence, the Army Corp 18 coordinated with relevant agencies to send an EC – 225 helicopter to the island to collect the patient. It landed in Tan Son Nhat International Airport on 6:25 on November 15, bringing the patient to Military Hospital 175 in a timely manner.The flight was operated in bad weather conditions amid COVID-19 pandemic. However, thanks to careful preparations, high determination of crew members and close coordination with the Military Hospital 175, the patient had been taken to hospital on time for treatment./.

A scene from the play “Antigone” by Director Tran Luc. (Photo: nhandan.vn)The launch of the play “Antigone” by Director Tran Luc on November 14 marked the start of a theater project by Goethe Institut in collaboration with Hanoi-based Youth Theatre of Vietnam running from late 2021 to early 2022.“Antigone” was written by Sophokles, one of the ancient Greek playwrights. For two and a half thousand years, the play has inspired the creative world and challenged to reflect on human nature and our place in society. The project engages several well-known theatre directors in Vietnam.Antigone by Sophocles is little known in Vietnam. It is said to be very similar to “Kieu”, the main character of Vietnam’s classic verse novel “The tale of Kieu” by Nguyen Du.

World Thailand plans to reopen southern border dates next month The Thai Government is planning to reopen border checkpoints in the deep South by December 16 to promote tourism amid the reducing daily COVID-19 infection number. World Malaysia strengthens COVID-19 control to revive economy Efforts of the Malaysian government to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic is beginning to prove effective as a result of the cooperation of all parties as well as the implementation of effective strategies, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. World Philippines: President's longtime aide runs for president Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's longtime aide-turned-senator Christopher Go on November 13 turned to run for president in the 2022 elections. World Malaysia: majority of COVID-19 deaths related to diabetes, high blood pressure Malaysia's Ministry of Health on November 14 reported that majority of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the country were related to those with underlying diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure.