Buckwheat flowers bring a sparkle to Hanoibrowser not support iframe. They are cultivated for grain-like seeds which are used to make food specialties by ethnic people in the mountainous region.In Ha Giang province, the flower is often planted around September. The carpets of buckwheat flowers usually lure many visitors to the province when they are in full bloom from late October to early November.However, the flowers can be grown at the wrong time of year on alluvial soil in Hanoi.The garden's owner told reporters: "Many visitors have traveled hundreds of km to Ha Giang province for admiring the beauty of buckwheat flowers. In Hanoi the flowers bloom for about a month, changing from white at first to a shade of pink.A visitor to the garden said: "This time is not the buckwheat flower season but I still can enjoy it even in Hanoi. "Meanwhile, according to another visitor, in a noisy big city, this flower garden can help people relax by bringing them closer to nature.-VNA

Vietnam’s academic research relies heavily on foreign cooperationVietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam’s level of academic research is not only modest in quantity but also in quality. Vietnam's level of academic research remains modestWhen asked to comment about research quality of professors and associate professors, a university lecturer in Hanoi cited a report saying that 80 percent of published academic works are undersigned by both Vietnamese and foreign authors. “Professors and associate professors should question themselves if they have fulfilled their tasks and they still don’t have internationally recognized work,” Tam said. This means that if you don’t have published research, you will be weeded out of the academic system,” said Chinh. Some analysts say the value of the professorship title is ‘exaggerated’ and that ceremonies organized to grant the title are unwarranted.

Culture space in Hue connects art and communityThen Cafe in the former royal capital city of Hue is among eight recipients of grants from the Danish Culture Development and Exchange Fund (CDEF) to carry out and develop their activities during 2018. Its owner Tran Tuan was born and raised in Hue, and graduated from the Hue Fine Arts University. We aim to promote participation from the community when it comes to art events, in order to connect art to the community. We’ll build appropriate facilities and action programmes to stimulate art projects that are based on the model of connecting artists to the community. Then Cafe was established in 2011 as an independent, non-profit art space.

People need tools to supervise land useVietNamNet Bridge – A Government decision with detailed mechanisms is needed for people to better practise their rights on monitoring land use and management, experts have recommended. For example, to whom do citizens report and how do they report violations,” Vo said. “It’s time for the Government to develop a system facilitating citizens’ supervision over land use and management,” Vo said. Besides improvements in people’s legal understanding, State employees and officials responsible for land issues should undergo training to better address reported problems. Tri said that Land Management General Department planned to develop a system which would observe and assess the impacts of land policies.

Month for work safety to be launched in MayA ceremony to launch a month-long national campaign on preventing occupational risks to reduce accidents is scheduled for May 6 on Nguyen Hue pedestrian street in Ho Chi Minh City. He said awareness of public agencies, employers and employees has been improved, particularly after the National Assembly’s Law on Occupational Safety and Health took effect on July 1, 2016. Tho attributed the upbeat outcomes to safety management practices, which are capable of controlling risks to workers’ safety. According to statistics released by the MoLISA, 8,956 occupational accidents occurred in Vietnam last year, affecting 9,173 people, of which 928 died. A report from the Health Environment Management Agency showed that nearly 300,000 people contacting harmful factors at work engaged in medical examinations for occupational diseases.

VN-Index dragged down by large-cap stocksVietnamese shares declined on April 18 as selling pressure hit many large-cap stocks. Insurance and banking stocks fell 3.26 percent and 2.99 percent, respectively, though they were the main driving factor pushing the VN-Index the previous day.The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) lost 14.75 points to close at 1,138.53 points. There were 24 declining stocks and five gainers while one ended flat.The HNX30 Index, tracking the HNX’s 30 leading shares in terms of market capitalisation and liquidity, edged down 3.32 points to 247.35 points. Some 41 million units were traded at 744 billion VND (32.67 million USD).UpCoM Index on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UpCoM) declined by 0.3 point to 59.03 points. A total of 10 million units worth 215 billion VND (9.44 million USD) were traded.The VNXALL-Index, the common index between the southern and northern bourses, lost 15.39 points to 1,589.18 points, with 183 million units valued at around 4.59 trillion VND (201.49 million USD) traded.-VNA

Doors still open for Vietnamese tra fish in US: VASEPVietnam’s tra fish exporters can still access the US market despite the US Department of Commerce (DOC)’s imposition of high anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese tra fish, said Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) Truong Dinh Hoe. Therefore, the door to the US market is still open for Vietnamese tra exporters, according to Hoe. It is necessary to lower prices of Vietnamese tra and basa fish to compete with other aquatic products in the US, he said. According to the official, in the first quarter of 2018, export revenue of Vietnamese tra and basa fish exceeded 400 million USD, up about 7 percent year-on-year. Signs of recovery have also been seen in EU and South American markets, along with healthy growth in China, he added, urging greater efforts to balance the demand and supply of tra fish.

Vietnam takes action in GHG reductionVietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam has given top priority to measures aimed at reducing Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and those that promote climate change resilience, with the aim of seeing an 8 per cent GHG reduction by 2030. “Many measures have been taken by the government to raise awareness among communities and businesses on the issue of climate change and GHG emissions. According to GCF, GHG emissions are continuing to rise, making the globally agreed target of keeping atmospheric temperature increase below two degrees Celsius more and more difficult to achieve. The current trajectory of GHG emissions rates will cause global temperatures to increase by four degrees Celsius by the end of this century. Businesses in Da Nang’s Lien Chieu Industrial Zone (IZ) have applied environmentally-friendly technologies with the aim of reducing their GHG emissions by five per cent by 2020.

Historical artefacts found during Kinh Thien Palace excavationVietNamNet Bridge – Archaeologist Tong Trung Tin’s excitement knew no bounds when he found dragon-shaped tiles in the debris from the excavation of Kinh Thien Palace. Pieces of dragon-shaped tiles found at the excavation of Kinh Thien Palace. — VNS Photo Minh ThuThe palace is at the heart of the Thang Long Royal Citadel in Hanoi, Vietnam’s world heritage. The excavation had been conducted by the Thang Long-Ha Noi Heritage Preservation Centre and the Viet Nam Institute of Archaeology on a total area of nearly 1,000sq.m in the main area of Kinh Thien Palace since 2012. — VNS Photo Minh ThuThe area of 1,000sq.m is excavated to discover different cultural layers of Kinh Thien Palace.

Accordingly, the tourism sector also needs to follow regulations to ensure accessibility for disabled persons. Accessibility for disabled persons is not taken into account in typical design or construction process. One recent initiative is building a website on accessible tourism for Vietnamese disabled persons. Handicap’s productsAside from making tourism accessible, Vietnam can also increase the role of people with disabilities in tourism by promoting their products to tourists. Tourists buying products and visiting the workshop of disabled persons can be a viable and practical form of tourism to help ensure their stable livelihoods.

Exhibition portrays Vietnamese life during liberation warsVietNamNet Bridge – Over 80 copies of paintings from the collection “Sketches of the Resistance Wars” are on display at an exhibition that opened on Tuesday at Dak Lak Museum in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak. The copied version of the painting is on display at Dak Lak Museum. “The copies have been created by photographing the original paintings within ‘Sketches of the Resistance Wars’ and printing them with digital technology,” Nguyen Thuy Phuong Hieu, the general director of the museum, said. Also on this occasion, on April 28-30, an experimental programme titled “The Echo of the Forest”, will be held at the museum. Participants can immerse themselves in authentic local cultural environments by joining dances and performances of traditional musical instruments with local ethnic minorities.

CPTPP: Vietnam to feel pressure on labor qualityVietNamNet Bridge - Labor costs in Vietnam are expected to be higher after commitments in the CPTPP (the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) trade agreement are implemented, experts say. Vietnam feels pressure on labor qualityNguyen Thi Thu Trang, director of the WTO Center under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said that all the provisions in the TPP related to labor are also found in CPTPP. With CPTPP, Vietnam will have to implement two groups of commitments on workers’ rights and working conditions, as well as observe the principles in the ILO (International Labor Organization) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Vietnam will not face many challenges in implementing labor commitments stipulated in Chapter 19 of the agreement as the commitments are not as strict as requested by the US in the TPP. However, the pressure will be hard for Vietnam to implement commitments in bilateral agreements between Vietnam and other CPTPP members.

Malaysia calls for cooperation among coast guards in East SeaCooperation among coast guards of countries is necessary to deal with challenges in enforcing the law in the East Sea, a Malaysian officer has said. Admiral Zulkifili Abu Bakar, Director General of the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), made the statement on March 17. He said that the lack of forces and facilities and the invasion of foreign fishing vessels have posed more challenges in the East Sea, adding that cooperation among countries is the key to these challenges. 2017 recorded the largest number of foreign fishing ships entering Malaysia’s waters, he said. The MMEA has cooperated with the Japan Coast Guard and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) since 2004 to strengthen its ability, he noted, revealing that Malaysia will promote cooperation with other neighbouring countries in the field.-VNA

Golden time for logistics M&A deals in VietnamVietnam’s location with a network of cargo ports, alongside a large domestic market, leaves room for both domestic and foreign logistics firms to expand business and enter logistics merger and acquisition (M&A) deals. According to the research team of the Vietnam M&A Forum, the country is developing a policy to call for private sector investment to develop logistics infrastructure, including airports and seaports. In addition, Vietnam is looking to develop a more competitive market for logistics services. Last year, Vietnam saw a boom in M&A deals in logistics that involved both domestic and international players. Vietnamese firms mainly provide domestic logistics services such as transport service, airport, seaport and warehouse services and cargo loading and unloading services.

The BandFest 2018 to feature int’l starsVietNamNet Bridge – Internationally-acclaimed jazz guitarist Nguyen Le and his band will perform at The BandFest 2018 later this month at the Ha Noi Opera House. Smooth sounds: Internationally-acclaimed jazz guitarist Nguyen Le and his band will perform at The BandFest 2018 on April 30 in Hanoi. “Most people are not aware of the importance of a music band. Diva Linh, who has worked with her producer husband Quan to launch The BandFest, will also perform with the Nguyen Le Band. Another highlight of The BandFest 2018 will be the performance by the Yellow Star Big Band.