Improving student achievement for economically disadvantaged students

/ March 2, 2021

Revamped bicycles change lives of disadvantaged students

70-year-old Lê Trọng Kính, from the northern province of Ninh Binh, collects old and used bicycles, repairing before giving them to poor students. VNA/VNS Photo Thuỳ Dung NINH BÌNH - A man from the northern province of Ninh Bình has spent the last 10 years collecting old bicycles, repairing them and giving them to those less fortunate. The bicycles that Lê Trọng Kính provides aren't worth much money but greatly ease the hardship for students to pursue their studies and motivate disadvantaged people to overcome difficulties. The 70-year-old has presented more than 150 bicycles to needy people so far. The idea came to him after his daughter’s charity trip to several northern mountainous provinces. During the trip, she saw a large number of students who lacked clothes and textbooks. Their families couldn’t afford their vehicles so they had to walk long distances to get to school. Kính said he sent several bikes that he had just assembled to needy kids in the region. The story inspired him to repair as many bicycles as he could to give to disadvantaged students and families in his area. Kính said that after leaving the army, he worked as a teacher at the Vietnam-Russia Vocational College of Electro-mechanics and Construction in Ninh Bình Province’s Tam Điệp City. As he had a passion for antique bicycles, he often bought them to revamp and collect, he recalled. After he retired, seeing many families had discarded old bicycles, he decided to buy and repair them for his family. “Nowadays, many people use motorbikes and electric bikes so old bicycles are hardly used and to be sold," Kính said. He said it cost him between VNĐ100,000-300,000 (US$4.3-$13) to buy an old bike but it would take a long time to fix them because it’s not easy to find spare parts. He could go to repair shops to purchase a few spare parts but for rare ones, he had to wait. To save money, he often collects spare parts from scrap dealers. “Sometimes, I have to buy two or …

/ February 27, 2021

Vietnam aims for GDP per capita of $5,000 by 2025, developed country status by 2045: 13th Party Congress’s Resolution

The Communist Party is aiming for Vietnam to reach GDP per capita of $5,000 by 2025 and to be a developed country by 2045. Party delegates voted to adopt the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress at the final session of the Congress held on February 1, 2021. The goals are part of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress held from January 25 to February 1, the entirety of which has just been released by the Office of the Party Central Committee. The Resolution noted the highlight of the 12th tenure was the successful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in significant economic achievements – including stable macroeconomics, controlled inflation and high GDP growth, while people’s living standards were improved. The fight against corruption, loss and waste was intensified, while the socio-political situation remained stable, foreign relations deepened and Vietnam’s profile on the international stage grew. However, numerous shortcomings – including slow modernisation and industrialisation, shifting in the growth model, limited competitiveness and quality and productivity of the economy, inadequate adaptation to climate change and environment protection demands, drawbacks in Party building and rectification, that science and technology has not been the driving engine of socio-economic growth and the lives of certain groups of people remain difficult – of the 12th tenure have been identified in the Resolution. The achievements of 35 years of implementation of doi moi (Reform), 30 years of implementing the 1991 Party Platform and in the 10 years of implementing the 2011 Revised Party Platform have proved that the country’s path towards socialism is consistent with Vietnam’s practical situation and the times' development trends, with the Party’s righteous leadership the leading factor in Vietnam’s revolutionary victories, the Resolution reads. Amid rapidly shifting and complex developments in the global scene, the Party Platform …

/ July 3, 2020

Hanoi – safe investment destination post Covid-19

The Hanoitimes - In 2020, Hanoi targets to attract over US$5 billion in FDI, while investment promotion activities would focus on new markets, particularly member countries of the CPTPP and the EVFTA. The “Hanoi 2020 – Investment and Development Cooperation” conference, held on June 27, strongly promoted Hanoi as a safe and attractive investment destination in the post-Covid-19 era, according to Nguyen Gia Phuong, director of the Hanoi Promotion Agency. Leaders of Hanoi and the central goverment at the conference. Photo: Pham Hung. The first conference of this kind was held in 2016 when the city attracted 23 projects with investment capital of VND36.91 trillion (US$1.58 billion). In another conference one year later, the number of projects given an investment license increased to 48 worth VND74.36 trillion (US$3.19 billion). Notably, the 2018 edition of this conference, with 71 projects worth VND397 trillion (US$17.06 billion), laid the foundation for Hanoi to claim the top spot nationwide in two consecutive years of 2018 and 2019 in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction. In 2019, Hanoi attracted US$8.67 billion in FDI, the highest figure after 30 years of the open door policy. The actual FDI amounted to US$6.9 billion, up three-fold compared to that of in 2018. Japan is currently the largest investor to Hanoi with US$10.9 billion, followed by Singapore with US$8.2 billion, and South Korea with US$6.3 billion. This results reflect strong efforts by the local authorities in promoting investments and improving the business environment, Phuong said. For this year, the “Hanoi 2020 – Investment and Development Cooperation” was held right after the Covid-19 pandemic had been contained in the city. The event showed Hanoi’s determination to be the pioneer among Vietnam’s localities in rebooting the economy in the post-pandemic period. More importantly, the process would accelerate Hanoi’s administrative reform and enhance …