Foreign ship arrivals down 6 percent in first two months Vietnam’s sea ports have berthed some 4,900 foreign vessels over the last two months, a decline of 6 percent year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Marine Administration. The fall was due largely to the impact of COVID-19, which is resulting in major fluctuations in the transport sector, a representative of the administration said. Despite the lower number of foreign ships, the volume of import and export goods through ports grew. In January and February, 35.3 million tonnes of imports and 26 million tonnes of exports were handled at ports nationwide. The former represented an annual increase of 14 percent while the latter was as same as that last year. In particular, nearly 1.3 million TEUs for exports and 1.2 million for imports were handled during the period, up 32 and 16 percent, respectively, year-on-year; the highest growth since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, the arrival of domestic vessels totalled 5,300, up 11 percent year-on-year./. Quang Ninh’s Van Don airport reopens on March 3 The Ministry of Transport has decided to allow Van Don International Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh reopen from 6:01am on March 3 after the COVID-19 pandemic has been put under control in the locality and the airport is safe to transport passengers. The airport was temporarily shut down from January 29 after an airport security staff was confirmed positive for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes the COVID-19 pandemic. The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines announced earlier that it will resume flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Quang Ninh on March 3, thus becoming the first to restart flights to the Van Don airport since the local COVID-19 outbreak began. From March 3 to 17, one weekly flight will ply the route between the two destinations, on Wednesdays. Flight numbers will be increased to three a week, on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, from March 18 until the …
Selects party leaders in each house of congress
Hanoi asked to enhance State management of culture
He made the direction to the municipal Department of Culture and Sports in a March 3 meeting that reviewed its performance and discussed tasks for the time to come. The Communist Party of Vietnam has described culture as the heart and spiritual underpinning of a society, he said, and it plays a prominent role in Hanoi, as the city has been dubbed the capital of a thousand years of civilisation, the city for peace, and the city of innovation. He asked the department to follow the views and goals outlined in resolutions from the Party and the municipal Party Committee to support its decision-making and fulfil its mission. The leader also requested the department promote digital transformation in culture and sports. Hue moved on to say that the city has demanded a review of the land bank for parks and tree planting as well as space for installing outdoor sports facilities for public use. It will also financially support the construction of more than 280 cultural houses in villages, costing about VND3 billion (US$130,900) each, he said. Districts and relevant units need to mobilise resources and closely coordinate with the city to complete these projects, while encouraging the involvement of society in maintaining and operating local cultural and historic relics, he said. According to the municipal Department of Culture and Sports, the city has mobilised nearly VND1.55 trillion, including nearly VND468 billion sourced from society, to repair and restore 179 cultural and historic relics since the beginning of 2020. Department Director Tran The Cuong said the department will continue to focus on its mission to develop Hanoi into the country’s cultural hub in the future. A digital database on Thang Long - Hanoi’s culture will be established, while a strategy to develop the cultural sector in the city will be implemented, he added. …
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Children group helps keep Danang clean
A group of children in Danang City are collecting scrap metal as a way to protect the environment. Children group helps keep Danang clean The children in the environment club often gather together on Sundays. Their leader is Pham Cong Luong, born in 1956, party secretary of Binh Phuoc 1 Residential Area. According to Luong, he has always been concerned about environmental problems where he was living and tried to set an example by collecting rubbish on the street when he did morning exercises or when he was going out. Then in 2018, a rubbish collecting movement was initiated by Luong to raise funds for the children and poor families in Binh Phuoc. It received a positive response from the locals. The children rubbish collecting club was set up in early 2019. The club includes several children age between 6 to 12 who want to raise awareness about environmental protection and raise funds for disadvantaged families. As of now, the club has a total of 34 members and many contributors. "We have to teach the children because they will be the pioneers who lead others," Luong said. Collecting and classifying the rubbish Ever since the club was set up, the local families have been actively classified their rubbish and placed them in front of their house for the children to collect. The rubbish was brought to the gathering location and classified again by volunteers. 9-year-old Cao Hoang Phuc Thinh said, "I think our club is meaningful and help make our area cleaner so I felt good to come there every weekend." 12-year-old Le Anh Thu said, "It's not just the weekends, now, whenever I saw litter on the street, I'll always pick it up and put it in the bin." The club has earned nearly VND100m (USD4,300) up until now. The money was used as rewards for children with good academic results and to organise sports events for the children. After Covid-19 broke out, the club sent 290kg of rice to 29 disadvantaged cases. They …
