Digital transformation plays a vital role in agricultural development To achieve ambitions to become a modern-oriented industrialised nation by 2030 and a developed country with high income by 2045, Viet Nam must succeed in the digital transformation process, in which agriculture is one of the priority areas, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son said. Minister Son gave the statement at the Vietnam Agricultural Digital Transformation International Forum 2021, themed “Keeping up with market trends, ensuring the pivotal role of the economy during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.” which was held virtually on Thursday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Vietnam Digital Agriculture Association (VIDA), and e-newspaper VnExpress. The forum is a place for dialogue and public-private policy activities between the Government, private sector and stakeholders. It was also an activity within the framework of the Vietnam International Agricultural Exhibition 2021 (AgriTech Expo …
Western tourists keen to return, not keen on quarantine rules
Peter Scott, an Australian from Queensland, was happy to hear that the Vietnamese government plans to reopen the famous resort island to vaccinated foreign tourists from next month after nearly two years of closing national borders. "That's the best news I've heard in the last 18 months. I'll wait a few more weeks to return to Vietnam." Scott said he has already traveled to Phu Quoc four times and was impressed by the beauty of long, sandy beaches, peaceful fishing villages and busy night market. "It's a really beautiful island. I was taken by a local to visit fishing villages and enjoy seafood." But the foreigners that VnExpress International spoke to were also unanimous that quarantine requirements would be decision-influencing factor in making a trip to the Mekong Delta island. Their concern was that although Vietnamese authorities agreed to reopen the island, they did not specify whether fully vaccinated visitors would be exempt from the 14-day quarantine or have the …
Continue Reading about Western tourists keen to return, not keen on quarantine rules →
Exploring Thác Bà Lake: The biggest man-made lake in Vietnam
Thác Bà lake is one of the 3 biggest man-made lakes in Vietnam. The lake is 140 km from Hanoi or approximately 3 hours of traveling by car on national highway 2 to the West. Thác Bà lake is in an area between Lục Yên and Yên Bình communes of Yên Bái province. Workers began to build the lake in 1962 and finished it in 1970. Thác Bà lake was created to take water from the Chảy river to serve the Thác Bà hydropower plant. Thác Bà hydropower plant was the first structure of its kind in Vietnam. It was built with the help of experts from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), now is the Federation of Russia. The power plant has a designed output of 108 MW. It generates annually 400 million kWh of hydroelectric energy. Until now, Unit 3 of Thác Bà hydropower plant still has bullet penetration marks from the time when the U.S warplanes attacked it in 1972. Before building a dam to form Thác Bà lake, this area has 2 waterfalls with strong currents named "Ông" …
Continue Reading about Exploring Thác Bà Lake: The biggest man-made lake in Vietnam →
Ba Be Lake – “green lung” of northeast uplands
Ba Be Lake in the northeastern province of Bac Kan is an ideal eco-tourism destination with amazing landscapes and biodiversity (Photo: Vietnam travel) Hanoi (VNA) – As one of the 20 largest freshwater lakes in the world, Ba Be Lake in the northeastern province of Bac Kan is an ideal eco-tourism destination with amazing landscapes and biodiversity. The lake has a surface area of about 500 hectares and a length of more than 8 kilometres (Photo: Dep.com.vn) Located in the heart of the Ba Be National Park, the lake has a surface area of about 500 hectares and a length of more than 8 kilometres. The widest area is nearly 2 kilometres and the deepest 35 metres. UNESCO Vietnam Committee proposed the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recognise the park as a world natural heritage site. The Ba Be National Park is recognised as a national historical and cultural relic site (Photo: dep.com.vn) The total area of the park’s core …
Continue Reading about Ba Be Lake – “green lung” of northeast uplands →
SpaceX capsule with world’s first all-civilian orbital crew splashes down off Florida
The quartet of newly minted citizen astronauts comprising the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission safely splashed down in the Atlantic off Florida's coast on Saturday, completing a three-day flight of the first all-civilian crew ever launched into Earth orbit. SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, dubbed Resilience, parachuted into calm seas around 7 p.m. EDT, shortly before sunset, following an automated re-entry descent, SpaceX showed during a live webcast on its YouTube channel. Within an hour the four smiling crew members were seen emerging one by one from the capsule's side hatch after the vehicle, visibly scorched on its exterior, was hoisted from the ocean to the deck of a SpaceX recovery vessel. Each of the four stood on the deck for a few moments in front of the capsule to wave and give thumbs-up to the cameras. Each was then escorted to a medical station onboard for checkups they were to undergo at sea. Afterward, the amateur astronauts were to be flown by helicopter back to Cape …
Basketry dreams of a brighter future
For the Ro Ngao people in Kon Trang Long Loi Village, the wicker basket is a cultural symbol of the entire ethnic community. (Photo: VNS) For the Ro Ngao (a branch of the Ba Na ethnic minority), basketry is considered absolutely central to the very soul of their cultural identity. A Yak, 62, learnt to make baskets from his father as a young boy. It was during trips to the local forests that he became entranced by his father’s stories about the art and craft of basketry. When he was just 12 years old he wove his first basket, a skill that is essential for any Ro Ngao man to gain a wife. “For us Ro Ngao people, for a man to be considered the head of a family he must be a skillful weaver who can make various kinds of wickerwork, especially baskets,” he says. “A common round basket with an open top is made of bamboo wicker, while its strap is from rattan.” He says it is essential for a man to decorate the basket with different patterns and bright colors to easily attract …
Continue Reading about Basketry dreams of a brighter future →