Day: March 17, 2024

Hanoi: The USAID Biodiversity Conservation has launched a wild meat demand reduction campaign urging government agencies and Vietnamese citizens nationwide to enhance their actions for wildlife conservation. 'The Vietnamese new year is a good occasion to reflect on our harmonious coexistence and stewardship for wildlife and nature as an imperative to appreciate and safeguard biodiversity and uphold the nation's international conservation commitments," said Vu Van Hung, Director of Sustainable Forest Management and Biodiversity Conservation (VFBC) project. Meanwhile, Director of Office of Climate Change, Energy, and Environment/USAID Vietnam Annie Wallace shared: "USAID stands with the Vi?t Nam government and all citizens in the collective effort to conserve the country's wildlife and natural habitats. We encourage everyone to be active partners by becoming stewards of nature and wildlife and by helping to reduce demand for the consumption of wildlife.' For generations, people in Vietnam have been consuming wildlife meat and other products. The persistent demand for these products has led to a severe decline in the populations of wildlife in the country's natural habitats. A survey on wild meat consumption conducted by WWF-Vietnam in 2021 reveals that 90% of wild animals hunted illegally end up mainly in urban restaurants and the average consumption per a consumer of wildlife meat is seven times per year. These crucial findings highlight the urgency of better action plans to reduce wildlife consumption across sectors and at multiple levels. This entails significant investment in increasing public awareness through communication channels to actively curb both the illegal wildlife trade and the consumption of wildlife meat. Moreover, in the upcoming period, ongoing efforts are essential to strengthen the enforcement of biodiversity conservation laws, with a focus on integrating and implementing biodiversity conservation requirements into the national macro-policy planning process. "While we work to support the improvement of law enforcement and conservation activities inside Vi?t Nam's forest protected areas, to give wildlife populations a chance to survive and recover from the decades of decline, it's crucial to stop the illegal consumption of wildlife meat," said Nick Cox, Chief of Party, USAID Biodiversity Conservation project, WWF. The campaign is promoting its messages through social media platforms and public engagement activities across the country./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Nearly 1,500 people took part in a running event to support the Earth Hour 2024 Campaign on March 16 in Hanoi. Within the framework of the national programme on economical and efficient use of energy in the period 2019-2030, the Ministry of Industry and Trade launched an event for all people to save electricity, Earth Hour 2024. According to the organisers, as a mass sport that connecting huge number of people, running would that was to call, motivate and encourage the participation of state agencies, organisations, enterprises and people to practice saving electricity regularly throughout 365 days of the year, making saving electricity a habit anytime, anywhere. At the same time, runners could exchange and learn about benefit of sport training and active lifestyle; and contributes to improving health, physical, cultural and spiritual of the community. The Earth Hour was first held in 2009. After 15 years, the event has increasingly attracted the participation and response of people from all walks of life. People showed positive change in their awareness of saving and preserving energy, protecting the environment and responding to climate change. All are to contribute to the national sustainable development, towards Vietnam's net-zero emissions goal by 2050./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Dien Bien: The opening ceremony of the Visit Vietnam Year - Dien Bien and Ban (Bauhinia) Flower Festival 2024 took place in the northwestern province of Dien Bien on March 16 evening, drawing a large number of visitors. Addressing the event, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Tran Quoc Cuong underlined that Dien Bien, the home of the glorious Dien Bien Phu Victory 70 years ago, has recorded many important achievements in socio-economic development and become a friendly and attractive tourist destination. With various cultural, sports and tourism events planned throughout the year, Dien Bien hopes to welcome more visitors from localities across the country and foreign friends, and clinch a position in the domestic and international tourism map. For his part, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha affirmed that the theme of the Visit Vietnam Year 2024 - Glorious Dien Bien Phu- Infinite Experiences - was built upon the heroic resonance of the victory, along with the majestic nature of the borderland regi on and the iconic image of the Ban flower. Ban flower, which leaves a strong imprint in the cultural and spiritual life of the community in the northwestern region, is the symbol of eternal love, showing their dream of everlasting happiness, he noted. He called for localities to give active response to the Visit Vietnam Year 2024, and advised Dien Bien to roll out concerted measures in planning and investment attraction to create unique tourism products in association with the development of community-based tourism to promote the cultural identity of local ethnic minority groups. Every citizen needs to become a cultural ambassador with the responsibility to preserve and protect the environment and landscapes, as they are the source of life for today and the future, he stressed. Following the opening ceremony was an artistic programme themed Visiting the Land of Ban Flowers, a highlight of of National Tourism Year and the Ban Flower Festival. The spectacular programme utilised various theatrical elements such as music, dance, and stage performances, accompanied by artistic narration and multimedia presentations including video clips, 3D and 4D visual art, laser projections, and fireworks. Particularly, it incorporated the use of innovative technology like fly cameras to create novel and captivating effects for the audience. Held from March 16 to 18, the Ban Flower Festival boasts a diverse lineup of activities, including the U Va Legend open-air show, sport competitions, exhibition of local specialties and craft village products, traditional art performances and traditional ethnic costumes showcase. A national symposium on Dien Bien potential and advantages for sustainable tourism development and the Sparkling Ban Flower Land photo contest will also be held within the event's framework./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

HCM City: The 2024 National Press Festival wrapped up in Ho Chi Minh City on March 17. With the theme of "Vietnamese Press - Pioneering, Innovation for the Revolutionary Cause of the Party and the People", the three-day event is a highlight of the professionalism and modernity of the Vietnamese press. Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists' Association (VJA) Nguyen Duc Loi, who is also head of the festival's organising board, said it brought together representatives from central and local press agencies nationwide, with 120 booths displaying outstanding publications covering all aspects of economic, political, cultural, social, defence, security, and foreign affairs. Nguyen Trong Nghia, head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Information and Education, urged press agencies to focus on popularising the implementation of the socio-economic development tasks, spreading good and compassionate values in society, and bringing Party, State, and Government guidelines, policies and laws into life, thus meeting the expectations of all people. He also asked them to strengthen the work of building a clean and strong Party, constantly fostering and improving political bravery, revolutionary ethics, and professional expertise for journalists. Within the framework of this year's festival, the organising board and awards council awarded 11 A, 29 B, 53 C, and 88 consolation prizes in the categories of best displaying booth, impressive Tet radio programme, impressive Tet television programme, impressive Tet electronic newspaper interface, and impressive Tet newspaper cover. The Vietnam News Agency won the A prize in the category of best displaying booth. Its affiliates VietnamPlus electronic newspaper and Tin Tuc (News) newspaper won A and C prizes, respectively, in the category "Impressive Tet electronic newspaper interface"./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: More than 2,000 Vietnamese candidates joined the national qualifying round of the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship (MOSWC) in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang after its opening ceremony was held in Hanoi on March 17. The MOSWC 2024 has two exam versions, the Microsoft Office 2019 and Microsoft 365 Apps. In each version, candidates will take three exams in Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. After the national round, six best candidates will become MOS Vietnam Ambassadors to participate in the world finals set to take place at the end of July 2024 in Anaheim, California, US. At the national qualifying round, there will be one first, three second, five third, and 12 consolation prizes, along with one promising prize given to the youngest candidate in each exam. Especially, this year, scholarships will be given to candidates from disadvantaged areas in Vietnam for their efforts to overcome difficulties and excel in information technology. MOSWC is an international competition organised annu ally by the US's Certiport Group for students aged 13 - 22 to find and honour the world's best IT talents in using office IT applications. Vietnam first had candidates in 2010 and has bagged medals for 12 consecutive years with four gold, four silver, and 12 bronze./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Dien Bien: Policy-makers and scholars gathered in Dien Bien province on March 17 to discuss measures to optimise the potential and advantages of the northwestern locality in boosting sustainable tourism development. Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha highlighted Dien Bien's advantages in natural landscapes and the cultural values of 19 ethnic minority groups, and underlined the need for the province to make full use of its potential to create unique tourism products, and to call for investment and design cultural planning. Along with strengthening the application of information technology in tourism promotion, Dien Bien should cooperate with other localities to create destination chains with Dien Bien Phu being a highlight, he said. The Deputy PM emphasised that the core factor for tourism development must be the preservation and respect of natural values. Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung stressed the need to evaluate the current situation of Dien Bien tourism, thus clarifying its c ompetitive advantages and uniqueness. He advised Dien Bien to promote tourism service quality by applying science and technology. Meanwhile, Associate Prof. Vu Trong Lam, Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Su that (Truth) National Political Publishing House, recommended that Dien Bien build plans and strategies for the growth of its strong tourism forms, including community-based tourism, while promoting a friendly and safe tourism environment and ensuring the harmony between development and the protection of the natural environment, ecosystem and local cultural identities. Dr. Bui Thanh Tuan from the Department of Police Science, Strategy and History under the Ministry of Public Security said that Dien Bien has an important location in the northwestern midland and mountainous region and the country as a whole in many aspects, along with a natural beauty, glorious history, unique cultural identity, and favourable weather conditions. These advantages are important factors for the locality to make breakthro ughs in tourism development, he held, underscoring that Dien Bien should focus on building its tourism trademark and design more tourism products on the basis of the traditional culture of ethnic groups. The conference was held on the sidelines of the Visit Vietnam Year - Dien Bien 2024 that opened on March 16./. Source: Vietnam News Agency