The first leg will take place at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium of Indonesia on March 21, and the second leg at My Dinh Stadium on March 26. The squad will welcome the return of a number of familiar players, notably defenders Nguyen Thanh Chung, Bui Tien Dung and Nguyen Duc Chien, strikers Nguyen Tien Linh and Nguyen Cong Phuong. The Vietnam national team is set to gather on March 13 but it will be until March 15 that the team will have full players due to the schedule of the round of 1/8 of the 2023-24 National Cup. Thus, Coach Troussier has only four days of training in Hanoi before leaving for Indonesia on March 19. The Vietnamese team will return on March 22 to meet the Indonesian team again on March 26 at My Dinh National Stadium./.

The disease has claimed 25 lives in 16 provinces this year alone, he was quoted by local media as saying. Cholnan said that he has instructed provincial disease control committees to coordinate with health volunteers to look for possible mosquito nursing grounds and spray them with chemicals. Meanwhile, director-general of the Disease Control Department Thongchai Keeratihuttayakorn said the ratio of dengue deaths was far higher than those from influenza and COVID-19, reaching 0.14 per 100 cases, compared to 0.01-0.02 deaths for every 100 influenza patients. The Public Health Ministry has allocated 74.8 million THB (2.6 million USD) for distributing anti-mosquito sprays or lotions to dengue patients, he noted. Thongchai emphasised that if people protect themselves from mosquito bites even for five days, they can save the ministry about 219 million THB in treatment costs./.

Canadian Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Mary Ng recently held a dialogue with Canadian businesses and associations and trade representatives from Việt Nam, Malaysia and Indonesia in preparation for a Canadian trade delegation’s visit to Việt Nam and Malaysia at the end of March. Besides, Canada could become a gateway for enterprises from Việt Nam and other ASEAN member states to penetrate the North American market, she added. Over the past time, Canada’s trade exchange with Việt Nam and Malaysia has been backed by the CPTPP of which the three nations are members. Việt Nam is currently the largest trading partner of Canada in ASEAN and is one of the economies with the highest economic growth that can bring trade and investment opportunities to Canadian firms. Meanwhile, Malaysia is also an important partner of Canada in the bloc, with two-way trade reaching nearly $6 billion in 2023.

He added that he will ask New Zealand to consider and recognise the Vietnamese community as an ethnic minority group. They have contributed greatly to the host nation as well as the Vietnam – New Zealand relations. In addition, Vietnam is investing in resources of Australia, which in turn is importing more products from Vietnam. The first phase of the Long Thanh International Airport project requires a total of nearly VND110 trillion. In the year to early this month, over 141,000 Chinese had crossed the Mong Cai International Border Gate to Vietnam.

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam's public debts have been kept at a sustainable and stable level, which has given room for the country to implement reasonable and expansionary fiscal policies when necessary, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister of Finance Hồ Đức Phớc said. According to Phớc, Việt Nam’s public debt-to-GDP ratio decreased from 43.1 per cent in 2021 to only 37 per cent by early 2024, while the ratio approved by the National Assembly stands at 60 per cent. The restructuring of Việt Nam’s public debt has also been improved. These positive steps can be attributed to the country’s efforts in fiscal consolidation and public debt control. To manage public debt in a sustainable way, the Ministry of Finance said it will continue to strengthen supervision, inspection and audit of public debt, besides publicising public debt information and constantly improving the legal framework for public debt management.

The Da Nang Microchip and Artificial Intelligence Design, Research and Training Centre has been established to train and recruit human resources for the semiconductor industry. It has collaborated with 5 universities in the training of students to meet the specific requirements of tech firms. To prepare a workforce that meets requirements in the semiconductor and microchip sector, teams of specialised lecturers and adequate facilities and equipment that meet international standards have been prepared at member universities of Da Nang University. To stay ahead of semiconductor investment, in addition to supportive policies and readily available training programmes, Da Nang will also enhance its collaboration with global semiconductor corporations to develop specific training programmes aligned with the requirements of global supply chains. Da Nang will also soon have access to a fund from the state budget, to provide supplementary training, long-term training, and technical training for individuals currently working in the field in the city./.

Delegates attending 30th ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Retreat (Photo: VNA)– Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan attended the 30th ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Retreat in Luang Prabang , Laos, on March 8-9, during which he expressed Vietnam’s support for Laos' priority economic cooperation initiatives in its ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2024.Tan said that Vietnam is committed to working closely with Laos and other ASEAN countries to fulfill set goals and plans, thus contributing to the overall success of the ASEAN 2024.He also emphasised the importance of giving priority to recovery activities and connecting economies, especially prioritising resources for new negotiation activities and negotiations to upgrade agreements within ASEAN and between the grouping and partner countries.At the meeting, participating ministers approved 14 priority economic deliverables (PEDs) put forward by Laos, with focus on three main directions of recovering and connecting economies, creating an inclusive and sustainable future, and transforming towards the digital future.They also adopted the ASEAN Services Facilitation Framework (ASFF).Delegates also exchanged other important contents for ASEAN economic cooperation such as the status of negotiations to upgrade the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), negotiations on the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Competition, the upgrade of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA), the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as well as initiatives on sustainability in the ASEAN Economic Community.On the sidelines of the meeting, the ministers discussed with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC), during which they noted ABAC's priorities for 2024 as well as its recommendations to promote a favourable business environment in ASEAN in the coming time./.

AUCKLAND – Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính received Professor Neil Quigley, Vice Chancellor of Waikato University and Chair of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, in Auckland on Sunday. The Prime Minister highly appreciated Waikato University, one of the leading universities in New Zealand, which always considers Việt Nam a priority area in the Southeast Asian region. PM Chính proposed that the university expand cooperation in human resource development with Việt Nam through such activities as opening more branches in Việt Nam, granting scholarships, and exchanging lecturers and teaching curricula. He suggested some new, potential areas where Việt Nam has high demand, such as digital technology, Fintech, artificial intelligence, big data, cybersecurity, hydro, semiconductor chip, biotechnology and environment. They also suggested that Việt Nam re-open air routes and exempt visas to facilitate the travel of New Zealand-based Vietnamese intellectuals to Việt Nam for cooperation.

PARIS Việt Nam always identifies science and technology as a top national policy and an important driving force for the country's rapid and sustainable development, Ambassador Nguyễn Thị Vân Anh, Permanent Representative of Việt Nam to UNESCO has told UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences Lidia Arthur Brito. At their meeting on March 8, the ambassador expressed her wish to strengthen Việt Nam's cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in this field in the coming time in the spirit of implementing the Memorandum of Understanding on Việt Nam - UNESCO Cooperation for the 2021-25 period. The diplomat took the occasion to invite the Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences to visit Việt Nam and attend the 8th Asia Pacific Geoparks Network Symposium to be hosted by the northern mountainous province of Cao Bằng in September. Lidia Arthur Brito thanked Việt Nam for always supporting and contributing to UNESCO's efforts to implement its functions and tasks in the field of natural sciences. She affirmed her willingness to intensify collaboration with Việt Nam in the coming time, especially in the fields of open science, oceanography, water resources management, application of artificial intelligence (AI) in science, and ethics in AI, and preservation and promotion of the value of World Biosphere Reserves and Global Geoparks towards sustainable development.

HONG KONG — Vietnamese businesses joined some 300 exhibitors at the 10th Vegetarian Food Asia (VFA) that took place in China’s Hong Kong from March 8-10 to promote vegetarian and green lifestyles in Asia. A wide range of Vietnamese organic products were on the showcase at the fair for the first time. Other Vietnamese products such as coffee, cashew nut, noodle and dried fruits also won the interest of Hong Kong customers. Chief Representative of Guangdong Import-Export Association in Vietnam Kelvin Chau said that he took Vietnamese firms to the fair so that they could have opportunities to access the Hong Kong market, and through which to enter the Chinese market. Organised for the first time in 2015, the VFA has become the largest and most comprehensive showcase of vegetarian and eco-friendly living in Hong Kong.

HÀ NỘI — Petrovietnam (PVN) and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners Group (CIP) of Denmark will cooperate in the renewable energy sector following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked between the two companies. Under the MoU, the two firms will share knowledge and information on energy transition from oil and gas to renewable energy, with specific topics such as technology, supply chain, logistics, infrastructure and technical expertise. For its part, CIP Group will support training programmes on new types of renewable energy such as technology to convert electricity into other fuel sources, power storage and energy islands. Danish Ambassador to Việt Nam Nicolai Prytz said that the cooperation of the two companies will contribute to tightening the cooperative relationship between Việt Nam and Denmark. Deputy General Director of PVN Phan Tử Giang said that developing clean and renewable energy will help ensure environmental protection and minimise the negative impacts of climate change.

Written to mark the 94th anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (February 3), the book features a full article by the Party leader. The export agreement between Radiner and the Algerian partner represents a notable achievement for Vietnam in the field of health care. The standing board of the Kon Tum provincial Party Committee was required to consider responsibilities of violating organisations and individuals and report the results to the commission. Besides, the national park will increase secondary food source such as rice for red-crowned cranes in order to attract more cranes to the area. The last time when red-crowned cranes returned to Tram Chim National Park was in 2021 and there were only three individuals.

As a fine dining establishment, I wanted to save it for a special occasion, even though I had heard of this restaurant's fusion Japanese style a long time ago. Upon entering Kumihimo, the fusion of modern and Japanese design elements sets a sophisticated tone, accented by a striking colour palette of black with bold red highlights. The ambience, with its intimate lighting and private dining options, focuses on an enriching culinary journey. I purposefully selected fusion dishes that differ from those seen in typical Japanese eateries. As a Japanese food enthusiast, I was quite pleased with the meal at Kumihimo and could write a ton more to convey my happiness.

In addition to peach blossoms, apricot blossoms, and ornamental kumquat trees, Le Ngan’s house is also adorned with meticulously-crafted vases of echeveria this year. Flower artist Thu Hien is among the pioneers in introducing echeveria into creative floral designs, making the plant increasingly popular in Hanoi. Echeveria is a common plant used for decorating indoor spaces or offices. It symbolises peace and blessings, as its leaves resemble lotus, a flower that symbolises purity and spiritual awakening in Buddhism. That is why an increasing number of Vietnamese families have become fond of and choose echeveria to adorn their homes, and present the plant as a gift to loved ones on special occasions./.

He hoped Australia will increase scholarships for Vietnam in the fields of digital transformation, green transition, circular economy, and sharing economy. Vietnam also needs support for farmers, agricultural economic development, and climate change response, especially in the Mekong Delta region, he noted. Vietnam and Denmark promote healthcare cooperationDanish Minister for the Interior and Health Sophie Løhde paid a visit to Vietnam on March 5-6 to further strengthen the bilateral health cooperation, especially on primary health care and non-communicable diseases. The Strategic Sector Cooperation between Vietnamese health authorities and Danish health authorities started in 2016. The proportion of female graduates completing tertiary education in STEM fields in Việt Nam is 36.5%.