Three oclock high

Major General Nguyen Anh Tuan, Political Chief of the Border Guard Command; Major General Trinh Hoang Hiep, Director of the Border Guard Academy; Senior Colonel Nguyen Thai Sinh, Political Commissar of the academy; and other high-ranking officers attended the event. Speaking at the launching ceremony, Senior Colonel Sinh said that the academy has set a goal to plant 10,000 green trees in 2021. The program is a meaningful activity in response  to the tree-planting festival across the country and the government’s program of planting one billion trees, as well as to build a green, clean, and attractive school. In addition, General Sinh also asked the academy to promote information dissemination among its teachers and cadets about the importance of tree-planting and encourage them to plant more trees to beautify their barracks. Addressing the ceremony, General Tuan said that over the past years, under the direction of the Border Guard Command, the Politics Department of the command instructed its agencies and units to work with the VietinBank branches across the countries to launch the tree-planting festival on the first days of  the lunar new year. So far, the agencies and units have planted more than 90,000 trees. Also, General Tuan acknowledged and hailed the efforts of the academy’s leadership and troops in fulfilling their assigned tasks in response to the tree-planting festival and the government’s program of planting one billion trees. He added that the Political Department of the Border Guard Command and other departments will support VND 100 million for the academy in buying seedlings and tools to plant trees and care for newly-planted trees. After the launching ceremony, over 300 officers, instructors , and cadets of the academy planted more than 300 new trees in the school. Source: bienphong.com.vn Translated by Quynh Oanh …

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Vietnam is currently going through a growth spurt while entering an era with more modern and people-centred considerations rising in prevalence. What role does “soft power” play in GDP growth as well as regional and global success? Vu Ba Phu, director general of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade Vietnam’s soft power stems from not only the promotion of its own values such as the heroic history, rich culture and traditions, and pacifist foreign policy but also the development and optimisation of a range of new positions and advantages. Amid the difficulties of 2020, the successful dispensing of its dual role as both ASEAN chair and non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council is testament to the successful application of soft power in Vietnam’s foreign policy. In 2020, the world lauded Vietnam’s rapid response and contributions to regional and international affairs thanks to its ability to grasp opportunities, taking the initiative in coping with dynamic situations and ensuring economic recovery while promoting multilateralism and international solidarity to get through the COVID-19 crisis. Vietnam not only dived deeper into the global economy and made increasing contributions to shaping the ground rules of international organisations, it also prepared for further comprehensive integration. Possibly the greatest achievements were extending Vietnam’s diplomatic relations to 187 out of 193 member states of the United Nations while completing negotiating and signing new-generation free trade agreements (FTAs), making the country an integral factor in all regional and intra-regional economic links. With these steps, Vietnam is now one of the most open economies in the world, with the ratio of foreign trade to GDP increasing from 136 per cent in 2010 to approximately 200 per cent in 2019. Amid COVID-19 shutdowns in early 2020, Vietnam was among the very few countries to achieve positive GDP …

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Nguyen Thanh Binh, chairman of the Mekong Delta province's People's Committee, on Wednesday said the decision stemmed from mobile karaoke services posing a high risk of coronavirus infection, local media reported. Singing karaoke means many people would use the same mic, which may be an infection source if not properly disinfected, he explained. Those who organize or engage with such services would be dealt with in accordance with existing Covid-19 prevention protocols, he added. Previously on Monday, Binh said the province-wide mobile karaoke ban was also based on the recent coronavirus outbreak in Cambodia, which borders An Giang. Due to the complex situation in Cambodia, there is a high chance more Vietnamese would return home, said Binh. As such, border guards need to be more vigilant to keep out illegal entrants, he stressed. Mobile karaoke often takes place at street restaurants or cafes, operated by a pair, of whom one member would be singing songs and the other trying to sell snacks among diners or drinkers, who sometimes partake in the performance. But such services have garnered criticism as they could result in noise pollution. Fights have been sparked by such disputes, resulting in injuries or even death. Last October, a man in southern Dong Nai Province was stabbed to death by his neighbor for singing karaoke loudly until near midnight, reacting aggressively when asked to stop. Similar incidents have been reported often. Vietnam has recorded 2,475 Covid-19 cases so far, with 538 still active. …

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