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Passenger buses at Giáp Bát station in Hà Nội. The transport companies are planning to operate at their maximum capacity to compensate for the sales lost in the last three months. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hiếu By Mai Hương HÀ NỘI — As the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously impacted the implementation of Việt Nam’s economic development plans, the National Assembly (NA) and Government have been proactively and urgently deploying stimulus packages to quickly restore the economy and leverage growth. The latest Resolution 406/NQ-UBTVQH15, issued by the National Assembly on October 19, is regarded as a correct and timely policy, and was well received by enterprises. The Resolution offers support for enterprises and individuals affected by COVID-19 through tax reductions with a total value of up to VNĐ21.3 trillion (US$926 million). The beneficiaries will enjoy direct tax reductions which is considered more practical than the extension of tax payments in previous support packages. …

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Foreign remittances to HCM City in the first nine months of the year increased by 22 per cent. – Photo vietnamplus.vn HCM CITY – Foreign remittances to HCM City in the first nine months of the year were worth US$5.1 billion, a 22 per cent increase year-on-year. Nguyễn Hoàng Minh, deputy director of the State Bank of Việt Nam’s HCM City branch, said the growth rate is impressive considering the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy. Overseas Vietnamese have faced difficulties travelling abroad or back to Việt Nam for the past two years due to the pandemic, and so “they might be having more savings than before,” he suggested. Most of the remittances was money sent back by overseas Vietnamese to their families to help them get through the pandemic or to invest in business activities, he said. The main sources remained the US, Australia, Canada, and Europe, he said. Total remittances this year could increase by 12 per cent from last year’s $6.1 billion, he said. …

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Great potential According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, about 71 percent of domestic solid waste is treated mainly by landfilling technology, only 16 percent are treated at compost processing facilities and 13 percent by incineration, combined with energy recovery. But the waste-to-energy technology widely used in European countries and Japan, helping reduce environmental pollution and also recover energy, is still limited in Vietnam. The Hoang Mai waste treatment plant in Nghe An Province Apart from some waste-to-energy plants that have already become operational in Ha Nam, Can Tho and Quang Binh, many localities have also stepped up investment procedures to build incinerators, such as the Vinh Tan waste-to-energy plant in Dong Nai Province with a capacity of 600 tonnes/day and power generating capacity of 30MW; the Soc Son waste-to-energy plant in Hanoi, with capacity 4,000 tonnes/day, and power generating capacity of 75MW; and some other …

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Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung (R) presents a token of the gifts to at the event Lao Ambassador to Vietnam Sengphet Houngboungnuang (Photo: VNA) The ceremony saw the handover of the token of gifts to the Lao side. Addressing the event, Dung said with regard to the two nations’ great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation, the Vietnamese leaders and people have always paid great attention to the developments of the pandemic in Laos, especially over the last two months. He hoped the assistance from Vietnam can make a practical contribution to Laos’ fight against Covid-19. He took the occasion to thank the Lao Government for paying attention to the Vietnamese community in Laos, including launching a drive to vaccinate them against the coronavirus. Speaking at the ceremony, Lao Ambassador to Vietnam Sengphet Houngboungnuang stressed that despite facing difficulties in dealing with its fourth wave of Covid-19, the Vietnamese Party, …

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The golf course will be built on an area of 130 hectares in An Sinh Commune, Dong Trieu Town. The project includes an 18-hole championship course and a nine-hole course integrated with the most prestigious golf training academy in northern Vietnam. It will also have a hotel, an amusement park and a resort. The Dong Trieu golf course will carry the Faldo Signature. British golf legend Nick Faldo, who held the number one position in the world for 97 weeks, became a golf course designer after retirement. Faldo received the award for the best golf course designer in 2016. It is expected that the golf course and associated constructions will be completed and put into operation in the third quarter of 2024. The course will be able to accommodate about 800 guests a day. …

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Torrential downpours over the past days have submerged many streets of Hoi An, a popular tourism hotspot. With water levels receding somewhat, coffee shops along the Hoai River have opened their doors to serve customers and their youthful customers have responded in good numbers, not bothered about sipping their beverages with feet submerged in the floodwaters. The annual flood seasoning in Hoi An occurs from late October to January. Over the years, residents of the ancient town have learned to live with the floods and even considered it an opportunity to develop new tourism products like boat tours. From the cafés, people can watch the flooded An Hoi Bridge, famous as a vantage point for the floating lantern festival on the full moon days. People gather in large numbers on the bridge to release colorful lanterns onto the Hoai River. Nguyen Hong Hanh said that as a resident of Hoi An for many years, she was used to the scene of flooded …

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The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam last week proposed the launching of pilot flights to carry foreign tourists to several tourist destinations like Phu Quoc, Khanh Hoa and Quang Ninh from this quarter onwards. Passengers would be quarantined at a designated hotel for seven days upon arrival in Vietnam. In the first month, there would be one international flight a day, with around 4,000 to 6,000 foreign tourists allowed to visit the country. The flight frequency would be increased to two per day in the next months. Dr. Bui Doan Ne, general secretary of Vietnam Aviation Business Association, said the plan would not be feasible with the seven-day centralized quarantine rule. "No foreign tourist would sacrifice seven days of a holiday to be isolated in a hotel," he said. From October 10-20, when some domestic routes were resumed under a trial phase, the seat occupancy rate was just 30-50 percent. Several flights were nearly empty, forcing carriers to cancel flights and avoid …

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At 6.40 am on August 15, through the Hue-S system, Hue City Smart City Monitoring Center received images from local residents that showed a man jumping from a train and running to Alley No 128 off Phan Chu Trinh Street in Hue City. The man was discovered quickly thanks to information from the public. He resided in Thuy Bieu Ward. In an attempt to evade the required concentrated quarantine, the man took a train from Kim Lien Station in Da Nang City and detrained, where he waited for his girlfriend to pick him up. The two individuals were taken to the local clinic, where they had to follow anti-pandemic measures. This was just one of the cases that show the efficiency of the use of technology in urban management. Director of the Thua Thien - Hue Information and Communications Department Nguyen Xuan Son said when the pandemic broke out, the province’s leaders asked to apply technology to disseminate information about Covid-19 prevention and control. There are two major …

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Like an “underground spring” flowing silently in the hustle of modern life, the traditional arts have been being preserved and passed down from generation to generation by young people who love the cultural values of their forefathers. Young people performing under the programme "Mat xam" to honour artisan Ha Thi Cau. (Photo: Dinh Thao) Sharing the same passion, they have made their own creative approaches to spread their love to all people, especially their peers. Born and raised in the Mekong River Delta province of Vinh Long, cai luong (reformed theatre) and the sweet melodies of don ca tai tu (traditional musical art form of the south) from the Mekong River Delta region are an indelible part of child memories of Ho Phuong Thao (also known Thao Ho) and inspire her passion for traditional arts. Despite working in the field of personnel management in a business, she has also devoted her soul and enthusiasm to various types of folk performances. Travelling to many …

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Ha Thanh Hau of Thu Duc City said she has gotten used to working from home during five months of social distancing. She is just one of many office staff in big cities like Hanoi and HCM City who want to continue remote working when social distancing comes to an end. Office staff working from home in HCM City. Hau is a single mother to a six-year-old girl, who still has to stay at home and learn online instead of going to school. Hau said working from home allows her to have more time to take care of her daughter, monitor her learning and keep up with the housework. As the pandemic is still not over she does not want to hire a domestic helper to take care of her daughter. “I prefer to work from home for a while longer, until my daughter is allowed to go back to school,” she said. Nguyen Ha An, who works in an office in Hoan Kiem District in Hanoi, said she has asked her boss to allow her to continue working from home after social distancing ends in Hanoi. An …

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