The ancient village of Duong Lam is in Son Tay town, about 40km from Hanoi. Travelers are attracted to its ancient houses, old temples, pagodas, cathedrals and imperial tombs. Rental bike service is available for visitors to tour the village while homestay service is provided at the price of below VND500,000 per room. top 4 tourist hotspots near hanoi for national holidays hinh 8 Tam Dao tourist site in Tam Dao district, Vinh Phuc province is about 80km from Hanoi with cool climate around the year and average temperature ranging between 18-25 Celsius degrees. Co To island is one of the most beautiful island in the north, located in the east in Van Don island in Quang Ninh province.

Construction and land violations rampant in Phu Quoc IslandPhu Quoc Island in the southern province of Kien Giang is facing the serious construction and land violations while a Government Inspectorate probe into land management in the province is underway. Dozens of hectares of agricultural land in the island have been zoned for projectsThe Government Inspectorate have recently announced a 70-day inspection on the land management and planning in Kien Giang Province, including Phu Quoc Island, following continual construction violations in the province. By late 2017, Kien Giang Province’s inter-agency inspection taskforce found many houses in Phu Quoc built without a licence. In the first three months of this year, up to 540 construction works were found to be built illegally in Phu Quoc Island. Land speculationLand adverts can be seen throughout Phu QuocPeople have rushed to buy land in Phu Quoc Island over prospects that the island would become the island administrative economic unit in the near future, pushing the land prices there up rapidly.

VN logistics sector struggling to meet demands of e-commerceThe e-commerce sector in Viet Nam has seen remarkable growth in recent years, but a lack of uniformity in delivery and payment methods may lead to many businesses missing opportunities. The Viet Nam E-commerce Association (VECOM) said that growth in the country’s e-commerce sector was more than 25 per cent last year, and this growth could be maintained between 2018 and 2020. Shipping is considered the backbone of e-commerce, but the current logistics infrastructure in Viet Nam is struggling to keep up. Moreover, he said that the development of the country’s logistics sector had not yet met the requirements of e-commerce development. Vice Chairman of the Viet Nam Logistics Association Dao Trong Khoa said that there are very few logistics enterprises that can meet the requirements necessary for e-commerce businesses.

Mekong Delta students to get access to computer scienceVietNamNet Bridge – Microsoft Vietnam and the Dariu Foundation on Tuesday launched a project called “Enabling Boat” to help disadvantaged youth in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta access computer science and code literacy. This is not only a challenge to enterprises’ digital transformation journey but also to the country’s. “Digital transformation brings economic transformation, and it means transformation for everyone”, Pham The Truong, general director of Microsoft Vietnam, said. “Developed and emerging countries in the Asia Pacific region face similar challenges in digital and economic transformation. This year it will conduct computer skills and code literacy training courses for 35,000 students in Vĩnh Long, Tien Giang and Hau Giang provinces.

Japanese guitarist Yuki Matsui to perform in VietnamJapanese guitarist Yuki Matsui will perform in Ho Chi Minh City on April 27, in Da Nang on April 28 and in Hanoi on April 29 within the “Yuki Matsui - Live in Vietnam 2018” program. Yuki MatsuiMatsui will present famous pieces of music such as Rider, Night street, Memories clock, and You & me. This is the first time the 32-year old artist comes to Vietnam. In addition to performances, Matsui will spend time discovering local landscapes and specialities. Yuki Matsui was born in Yokohama, Japan.

VTV hasn’t bought World Cup’s copyrightViet Nam Television (VTV) has not bought the television copyright of World Cup 2018 as the Cup is coming in Russia in June. Fans will wait to see stars such as Lionel Messi competing in the World Cup 2018 in Russia. — Photo kenh14.vnAccording to Nguyen Ha Nam, Chief of the VTV Secretariat and Editorial Board, VTV is trying its best to negotiate with the partner holding the right of distributing but its price is very high. Nam didn’t reveal the exact price but it is more than the price of World Cup 2014, which cost around US$7 million. VTV paid $3.5 million to buy the copyright of World Cup 2010.

HCM City hotel market bounces back in Q1Average hotel occupancy rate in Ho Chi Minh City reached 74 percent in the first quarter, increasing by 6 percentage points from the same period last year. A tour guide shows local products to foreign tourists at Ben Thanh Market in HCM City. Savills Vietnam said by 2020, 14 new projects will add to the market about 3,500 rooms. Tourism services revenue earned during the period exceeded 31.7 trillion VND (1.39 billion USD), up 14.4 percent on year. The first quarter also saw 394 travel companies established in the past three months, registering 1.2 trillion VND (52.8 million USD) in capital.-VNA

HCM City lacks mental health resourcesAbout 16% of HCM City population have mental problems while the city lacks facilities for the patients. The HCM City Mental Health HospitalAt a meeting with the city people's council on April 10, Trinh Tat Thang, director of HCM City Mental Health Hospital, said that the number of out and in-patients increases by 10-15% annually. Despite the increasing number of patients, HCM City Mental Health Hospital only have 500 beds and 61 doctors. "No one wants to go to work at the mental health hospital because of low wages and poor infrastructure," Thang said. Le Truong Giang chairman of the City Public Health Association, said people face more pressure and mental health problems as a country urbanises.

Report reveals problems of Vietnam’s economy despite Q1 strong growthVietnam posted an impressive growth rate of 7.38 percent in the first quarter of 2018, but there remain many problems behind this 10-year high expansion, many experts said at the April 10 launch of a report on the country’s macro-economy in Q1. The firm’s export of mobile phones and components reached 12.3 billion USD in the three months, surging 58.8 percent year on year. Meanwhile, 53.01 billion USD worth of goods were imported in the period, including 31.75 billion USD by FDI businesses and 21.26 billion USD by domestic firms. According to the report, the rise of new jobs did not match the high economic growth in Q1 compared to the same period last year. Economic growth rates for the upcoming quarters are forecast at 6.51, 6.84 and 6.75 percent, respectively.-VNA

Doctors warn against eating wild mushrooms as poisonings riseVietNamNet Bridge – A spate of wild mushroom poisonings in the mountainous provinces has alarmed doctors who fear locals are disregarding their warnings that the only way to prevent poisoning is to avoid eating wild mushrooms entirely. In some cases entire families have died after eating wild mushrooms. Three members of his family had already died days before after eating wild mushrooms growing on the hill. Up to 50 per cent of people who are poisoned by wild mushrooms will die, doctors say. Wild mushrooms are known to be delicious and sweet, so many people living in areas where they grow find them attractive.

Deputy PM slams MPI for poor allocation of investment capitalDeputy Prime Minister Vương Đình Huệ speaks at a meeting with the ministry yesterday on mid-term public investment. At a meeting with the ministry yesterday on mid-term public investment, the Deputy PM also pointed out that there were shortcomings in legal documents on public investment, including the Law on Public Investment and a number of the Government’s decrees on implementing it. Slow administrative reforms and a lack of efforts to improve management and leadership capacity were another reason, he said, admitting that the Government’s target of disbursing 100 per cent of public investment capital in 2018 was a challenge. In 2016, 91.3 per cent of public investment capital approved was disbursed, although the figure for 2017 decreased to 86 per cent. The ministry therefore proposes that the Government prepare scenarios of public investment disbursement for the remaining two years to define demand and disbursement ability which will serve as a basis to review and adjust the mid-term public investment plan.

ASEAN trade, culture exchange to be held in HCM CityA trade and culture exchange programme among ASEAN member states will take place in Ho Chi Minh City’s September 23 Park from April 18-24. An ASEAN cultural exchange event (Source: cand.com.vn)The event, hosted by the city’s People’s Committee, is to mark Vietnam’s 43rd Reunification Day (April 30) and the 3rd founding anniversary of the ASEAN Economic Community. It also aims to intensify friendship and cooperation between ASEAN countries and international partners and boost Vietnam’s trade, investment, tourism and cultural ties with other nations, especially those from ASEAN. The programme will include a fair with over 110 trade pavilions and over 40 cuisine pavilions. Visitors are offered a chance to read books, play folk games and watch Central Highlands gong performances.-VNA

Healthcare service prices to be adjusted: Health MinistryBeginning on July 1, the Health Ministry and Viet Nam Social Security will adjust the unreasonable prices of some healthcare services to better manage health insurance funds, said Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien. The new prices of medical services will increase by 5 to 8 per cent, according to the Health Ministry. Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue required the Health Ministry to calculate healthcare service prices in accordance with market mechanisms. According to the Health Ministry, drug bidding is being conducted at three levels: national, provincial and hospital-level. Deputy Prime Minister Hue asked the Health Ministry to conduct open, transparent and competitive bidding on medical equipment and other supplies at some Health Ministry hospitals.

Rabies vaccine shortage reports dismissedThere is enough stock of rabies vaccines to meet demand in the country, the Drug Administration of Viet Nam has said. The Drug Administration of Viet Nam has rejected reports of a shortage of rabies vaccines. The announcement follows reports from many hospitals and medical centres in HCM City last week that they face a shortage. The administration said two kinds of rabies vaccines are imported, Verorab and Abhayrab. The administration has instructed hospitals and centres providing vaccines to report any temporary shortage so that it could resolve them soon.

Billions of VND for ping pongVietNamNet Bridge – The Viet Nam Table Tennis Federation has received sponsorship of VND10 billion (US$448,000) for their activities from 2018-22. Vietnam’s table tennis receive sponsorship for their activities in 2018-22. In their schedule this year, the national men’s team will take part in the World Team Championship in Sweden later this month. The National Table Tennis Championship will be held from May 22-27 in Da Lat. Table tennis is one of key sports at the National Sport Games this year as well as at the Asian Games in August in Indonesia.