Renewable energy: which option for Vietnam? VietNamNet Bridge - Considered a country with great potential for solar and wind power, Vietnam continues to be one of the 12 ‘hotspots’ in the globe for coal-fired power development. In India, the renewable power price has decreased by 50 percent in the last two years because of higher capacity. According to Takimoto Koji from JETRO office in HCMC, some Japanese investors came to Vietnam to seek opportunities to invest in renewable energy. RELATED NEWSDeveloping renewable energy from wasteVN seeing a boom in renewable energy projectsKim Chi

IFC to assist HCM City in building smart cityThe International Finance Corporation (IFC) will help Ho Chi Minh City to build a smart city plan, IFC Vice President for Asia and Pacific Nena Stoiljkovic told Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Thanh Liem on April 12. HCM City and IFC officials pose for a photoAt the meeting in the southern economic hub of Vietnam, Liem thanked the IFC for supporting the city’s leaders during their working visit to the US in late 2017 during which HCM City and the IFC signed a cooperation agreement. He asked the IFC to help HCM City learn smart city building experience from countries around the world, especially in the formation of a centre for research, simulation, forecast and building of socio-economic development strategies. She highly evaluated the city’s strategic vision and efforts in building a smart city, noting that the IFC will help it study smart city building projects. Cooperation between the IFC and HCM City will open up new approaches in development cooperation and sponsorship, she said.

Dong Thap works to preserve Vietnamese bamboo speciesMore than 60 Vietnamese bamboo varieties have been planted in the Gao Giong eco-tourism site in Cao Lanh district, the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap, as part of the site’s bamboo conservation project. This is the place having the largest number of bamboo trees in Dong Thap. Huynh Thanh Hien, head of the Gao Giong cajuput forest management board, said there are now 61 bamboo species planted in the forest. The forest management board is collecting bamboo species from other Southeast Asian and European countries. In 2018, the board plans to plant bamboos to form a map of Vietnam covering 15 hectares in the Gao Giong eco-tourism area.-VNA

Sam Son sea festival slated for April 21The 2018 sea festival of Sam Son city of the north central coastal province of Thanh Hoa will take place on April 21, heard a press conference held in the city on April 12. Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Sam Son city Hoang Khac Nhu said the city is striving to improve quality of tourism services in 2018. New destinations in Sam Son are open to the public this year, namely ones invested by Sun Group and FLC Group, he added. Located 16km from the central city of Thanh Hoa to the east, the coastal city of Sam Son is home to the famous Sam Son beach. Sam Son city together with Thanh Hoa city and Nghi Son economic zone will form a development triangle.

Ministry tackles surging land prices in Kien Giang, Khanh Hoa, Quang NinhThe Ministry of Construction has urged authorities on Phu Quoc Island in Kien Giang Province and Van Don Island in Quang Ninh Province as well as Van Phong Bay area in Khanh Hoa Province, to take immediate steps to control surging land prices. A view of Van Don Island in Quang Ninh Province. He told authorities to conduct inspections and uncover violations of land and real estate laws, among other regulations. The localities were told to report their inspection results to the ministry’s Housing Management and Real Estate Market Department before May 7. Land prices in Van Don, Van Phong and Phu Quoc have reached VND60 million (US$2,632) per square metre, according to a report from the Viet Nam Association of Real Estate Brokers.

Man fined for buying tree without legal documentsThe buyer of the three giant trees taken from the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak has been fined VND750 million (USD33,055) for violating regulations on forest protection. It was taken from farmland of a family in Ea Dah Commune, Krong Nang District, Dak Lak Province. "However, Chuong failed to show proper legal documents relating to the tree," Tuan said. Earlier, the department had returned two other trees to Chuong after he was able to show enough legal documents. The two trees were also bought from agricultural lands in Dak Lak Province, Tuan added.

Stolen Marc Chagall painting to be returned after 30 yearsA Marc Chagall painting stolen from a New York couple's home in 1988 will be returned to the family's estate after nearly 30 years, the FBI says. The Chagall was recovered last year after a Washington, DC gallery owner twice refused to purchase the painting. "We took the case from there," said Special Agent Marc Hess, a member of the FBI Art Crime Team. "Well-documented and known art is very hard to move once it has been stolen," said FBI Supervisory Special Agent Tim Carpenter. Statute of limitations laws on the robbery have expired, which means the suspected thief and the Maryland man will not face charges.

Celebrations for Vietnam Book DayVietNamNet Bridge – Book lovers of all ages will flock to Thong Nhat Park, Hanoi, to celebrate Viet Nam Book Day 2018 on April 21. This year’s theme for Viet Nam Book Day is ’books and family’. It will honour reading culture, and also the people who are involved in book publishing and distribution, such as authors, editors, publishers, retailers and librarians. The annual Viet Nam Book Day has become a much loved festival of the community and an important cultural event in its own right. At the event, the national book award organised by the Viet Nam Publishing Association will be given.

Chinese-only shops in Nha Trang flourish despite numerous violationsVietNamNet Bridge - The number of shops that only serve Chinese travelers and refuse Vietnamese customers have been increasing in Nha Trang, to the embarrassment of state and local officials. Travelers make payment for goodsThe number of Chinese travelers flocking to the sea city has soared in the last two years. Domestic travel firms complain that they cannot book hotel rooms in Nha Trang because the hotels have been fully occupied by Chinese travelers. According to the Khanh Hoa provincial Market Management Sub-department, there are 46 trade establishments in Nha Trang City serving mostly Chinese travellers. RELATED NEWSMore Chinese travelers visiting Vietnam via chartered flightsChinese tourists led to shops using only Chinese workersKim Chi

Just one alcoholic drink a day could shorten your life, study saysHaving as little as one alcoholic drink a day could shorten your life, according to a major new study. An analysis of 600,000 drinkers found that drinking five to 10 alcoholic drinks a week was likely to shorten a person's life by up to six months. This increases with higher alcohol consumption, with those who have 18 drinks or more losing up to five years of life. Another Danish study found drinking three to four times a week was linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. "Although non-fatal heart attacks are less likely in people who drink, this benefit is swamped by the increased risk of other forms of heart disease including fatal heart attacks and stroke."

An MOET (Ministry of Education & Training) report shows that by the end of 2016, Vietnam had over 11,000 professors and associate professors. However, only one-third of professors and associate professors now work for universities, which means that each university has only 20 professors or associate professors. Le Viet Khuyen, former director of the MOET Higher Education Department, said Vietnam has numerous professors and associate professors, but has few “knowledge transmitters”. The State Professorship Council denied that Vietnam has too many professors, saying that the ratio of professors remains modest. This means that each professor and associate professor had 1.3 scientific research works published, lower than the expected four to six articles for professors and three for associate professors.

Ho Chi Minh City announces eight buildings violating fire codeHo Chi Minh City announced a list of eight buildings that had been put into use without receiving a fire code certification. In addition, during the investigation, the city’s authorities also detected many buildings where the fire prevention system was different from the approved design. The building’s fire prevention system has not been checked before the building was launched because the building’s construction unit cancelled the constructed contract. No.8 Investment and Construction JSC (CIC8)’s Green Building (District 9)The investor sold 132 apartments of the total 156 since 2016. District 5 People Committee’s Block G apartment building (District 5)The fire prevention system of the 12-floor building has not been constructed.

VN Index bounces back after nosedive in previous trading sessionVN Index recovered and exceeded 1,170 points on April 12 after a nosedive of over 31 points on the previous day. Nearly 180 million units approximating 5.96 trillion VND (261.34 million USD) were traded on HOSE during the trading session. VN30 Index increased by 6.3 points to end at 1,143.5 points with almost 64 million units worth about 3.33 trillion VND (146 million USD) traded. Some 38 million units were traded at nearly 773 billion VND (33.89 million USD). Over 24 million units worth around 464 billion VND (20.34 million USD) were traded.-VNA

Vietnam Airlines adjusts flying routes to avoid Black SeaNational flag carrier Vietnam Airlines said since April 11, it has diverted its flights from/to Europe away from the Black Sea area, which could be under influence of the rising tension in Syria. National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines said since April 11, it has diverted its flights from/to Europe away from the Black Sea areaThe diverted flights include those from Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City to Paris/Frankfurt/London and vice versa. A representative of the airline said although the current air routes are far away from the fighting region, Vietnam Airlines decided to adjust the flying routes to ensure safety for passengers. The carrier will closely monitor the situation and devise suitable flying routes in the coming time. Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam announced that it has also made adjustments to avoid the area, which have been carried out since early this week.-VNA

New fund to boost tourism promotionVietNamNet Bridge – Tourism promotional campaigns in Vietnam will be boosted with the establishment of Viet Nam Tourism Development Fund (VTDF), an official said. Tourism promotional campaigns in Vietnam will be boosted with the establishment of Viet Nam Tourism Development Fund (VTDF). The objective of the fund is to boost investment in promotion, product development, training of human resources, and improvement of institutional capacity in the tourism sector, he said. The tourism industry is implementing many solutions, including the formation of the VTDF to increase financial resources for tourism development activities. At the same time, tourism promotion agencies should be set up abroad, especially at key markets to effectively carry out programmes on promotion Vietnam’s images.