A lotus farm in the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture has recently attracted lots of visitors thanks to the beauty of the flowers that are now blooming. Over the past two weeks, the lotus farm at the academy, which lies some 20 kilometres from the centre of Hanoi has become a favourite destination for young people to visit and take photos with the blooming flowers. The farm covers 7.5 hectares and gathers some 60 varieties of lotus flowers brought from many areas in the country. For many Vietnamese people, lotus is considered the national flower that represents strength and purity. When the lotus blooming season arrives between late May and August, many people would try to come and enjoy the time with the flowers. A visitor from Hanoi, Hoang Ha, said that she visited this farm every lotus season to enjoy its beauty and sweet fragrance. "I always feel very pleasant sitting near the lotus flower, watching them and … [Read more...] about Lotus farm attract visitors in Hanoi suburbs
Hanoi ha minh hai
Hanoi suburbs struggle with power cuts
Residents in many Hanoi’s outlying districts are struggling with long power cuts amid the scorching hot weather. Hanoi is experiencing temperatures of up to 37-38 degrees centigrade and the city has had to cut power in many areas. On Thursday, lots of areas in Son Tay Town and the districts of Thach That, Chuong My and Quoc Oai suffered from a power cut from 10 am until midnight. Nguyen Van Hai from Thach That District’s Thach Hoa Commune said that her family had to come to a tourist site in Ba Vi District to escape the heat. Chu Mui’s family in Phung Xa Commune went to a water park in Quoc Oai to avoid the heat, but it was too crowded. So they decided to go to a shopping mall in Hanoi. People flocked to some roads in Thach That, Quoc Oai and Chuong My to enjoy the breeze. People in Thach That had to wait for electricity until midnight Thursday. Children went outside to escape the heat indoors A person slept on a hammock placed … [Read more...] about Hanoi suburbs struggle with power cuts
Nine Vietnamese universities listed in THE Impact Rankings 2023
Nine Vietnamese universities listed in THE Impact Rankings 2023 (Photo source: nhandan.vn) Hanoi - Nine Vietnamese universities have been listed in the THE Impact Rankings 2023 released by the Times Higher Education (THE) on June 1. Accordingly, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU-Hanoi) has improved its ranking compared to last year, entering the group of 401-600 in the world. In particular, its Quality Education goal ranking saw a strong breakthrough, ranking 70th in the world (5th in Southeast Asia and first in Vietnam). Besides VNU-Hanoi, Duy Tan University is also in the 401-600 group while Ton Duc Thang University, Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST), National Economics University and FPT University are in the group of 601-800, and Phenikaa University is in the 801-1,000 category. The two new institutions that join this year’s list are University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (301-400) and Ho Chi Minh City Open University (1001 ). In 2022, seven … [Read more...] about Nine Vietnamese universities listed in THE Impact Rankings 2023
PM requests intensifying administrative reform, business climate improvement
Illustrative photo (Source: vietnamnet.vn) Hanoi – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on June 1 signed a document requesting all public agencies and localities intensify their work for effective administrative reform and business climate improvement. The document said such work should be in line with the national digital transformation to boost the quality of administrative services and tackle hurdles facing investment, production, and business activities. Since 2021, ministries have cut and simplified more than 2,200 business regulations in 177 legal documents and offered over 4,400 public services on the national public service portal. As of May this year, the country had 6,422 administrative procedures in total, a drop of 376 compared to the same period in 2020. In the document, the PM ordered a thorough review to further reduce and simplify at least 20% of the total regulations and administrative procedures related to investment, production, business and people's lives; and … [Read more...] about PM requests intensifying administrative reform, business climate improvement
Shares end the week on positive note
People walk by a VIB branch in Ha Noi. VIB gained 7 per cent yesterday. — VNS Photo The Vietnamese markets ended the week on a positive note, thanks to the injection of cash flow during the trading session, supporting indices. The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) rose 1.15 per cent, to close the day at 1,090.84 points. The breadth of the market was in positive territory, with 245 stocks up while 150 traded lower. During the session, investors poured over VND18.3 trillion (US$779.3 million) into the southern market, equivalent to a trading volume of more than 1 billion shares. The 30 biggest stocks tracker VN30-Index also closed higher at 1,086.96 points, up 1.77 per cent. Twenty-three ticker symbols of the VN30 basket climbed, while four went down and three ended flat. The VN-30 group performed positively and bolstered the market. In the basket, the biggest gainers were banking stocks, with gainers being Military Bank (MBB), Techcombank (TCB), … [Read more...] about Shares end the week on positive note
Northerners use public ACs to escape heat wave
Going to department stores to avoid the hot weather has become the 36-year-old woman’s family ritual. On sunny days, their house in a cluster of rentals in Quyen District, Hai Phong, absorbs the heat from outside, making it unbearably hot. Hoa tried several ways of reducing the heat in her house, from pouring water onto the floor, to wiping the walls with a wet cloth, to opening every door and window. None seemed to work. The three-member family thus began seeking air-conditioned places outside the home to avoid sitting at home sweating and being uncomfortable. Both Hoa and her husband work at factories. Their accumulated monthly income is VND14 million (around $596), which is just enough to pay for their costs of living. Hoa once contemplated buying an air-conditioner, but even the one with the lowest power consumption would make her family’s monthly electric bill increase by VND400,000. "With that amount of money, I can buy enough food for my family to eat for eight days," … [Read more...] about Northerners use public ACs to escape heat wave
PM Anthony Albanese’s visit hoped to lift up Vietnam-Australia partnership
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) meets with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits in Cambodia (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ’s visit from June 3-4 is expected to further promote the sound relations between the two countries in all fields, including peacekeeping, education and training. This is the first official visit to Vietnam by Anthony Albanese since taking office and only two months after the state visit by Australian Governor-General, showing Australia's great attention to the Southeast Asian nation. Highlighting the Vietnam-Australia partnership in peacekeeping operations, Colonel Pham Manh Thang, Director of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, said that Australia was one of the first countries to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Vietnam in UN peacekeeping activities in 2015. The MoU laid a foundation for the two countries to … [Read more...] about PM Anthony Albanese’s visit hoped to lift up Vietnam-Australia partnership
Cerebral palsy children in need of help after losing father
A mother in Nam Dinh Province is in calling for support to treat her two children who both have cerebral palsy. Tran Thuy Loan and her daughter Tran Thuy Loan's son was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at only 7-months-old. For three years, she brought her son to various hospitals for treatment. Unfortunately, when her son's condition showed signs of improvement, her husband had brain cancer in 2014 and died in late 2020, leaving behind three children and a VND300m (USD13,000) debt. Loan's youngest daughter, Tran Tuong Vy, was born prematurely and also suffers from cerebral palsy. "Who wouldn't want their children to be healthy and pursue studying? After my husband died, one of my children, who was only 7 years old, kept asking me to let him drop out of school to work to save his siblings," Loan said. "The doctors said both my children need long-term treatment. I just don't know what to do." Dr Vu Thi Vui from the National Hospital of Acupuncture said, … [Read more...] about Cerebral palsy children in need of help after losing father
Vietnam to host inaugural NASA Space Week next week
The Vietnam Space Week will be organized in three Vietnamese localities next week, making Vietnam the first Southeast Asian country to hold such a NASA event. The collaboration for the event involves the People’s Committees of Hau Giang Province, Thu Duc City under Ho Chi Minh City, and Binh Dinh Province, alongside the Ho Chi Minh City Computer Association and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Hau Giang Convention Center in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang will kick off the first two days of the multi-day event on June 5 and 6. The Student Culture House in Ho Chi Minh City, located at the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City in Thu Duc City, will host the third day’s activities on June 7. The final two days of the event, June 8 and 9, will take place at the Binh Dinh Convention Center in the south-central namesake province. The objective is to motivate the young generation through captivating stories of astronauts and to … [Read more...] about Vietnam to host inaugural NASA Space Week next week
Foreign investors buying up local businesses
Egroup's chairman Nguyen Ngoc Thuy has purchased Apax Holdings' bonds At a recent meeting with the National Assembly Standing Committee on the socioeconomic situation, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said that increasing numbers of local enterprises have sold their properties to foreign businesses. The selling of assets and properties, or even entire businesses, has been common over the past year or two, with more businesses falling into difficulties and lacking capital. At the beginning of March, for example, the owner of the Dolce by Wyndham Hanoi Golden Lake Hotel in the heart of Hanoi put the hotel on the market at a starting price of $250 million. Nguyen Huu Duong, chairman of the hotel owner Hoa Binh Co., Ltd., said that the company's social housing project had not been granted construction permits, meaning a lack of cash flow and the need to sell off assets to ensure liquidity. “Many of the partners negotiating to buy our hotel are businessmen … [Read more...] about Foreign investors buying up local businesses