Vietnam News Today (Apr. 30): Vietnam, Netherlands Boost International Legal Cooperation

Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and The Hague Academy of International Law sign a memorandum of understanding on training international legal experts for Vietnam (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam, Netherlands boost international legal cooperation

A delegation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs led by Assistant to the Minister Nguyen Minh Vu recently paid a working trip to the Netherlands to strengthen and promote cooperation between the Vietnamese ministry and the The Hague Academy of International Law and the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).

On this occasion, the Vietnamese ministry and the academy signed a memorandum of understanding on training international legal experts for Vietnam, cited VNA.

Under the document, the academy will coordinate with the Vietnamese ministry in organising short-term training programmes or courses on international law and international dispute settlement for Vietnamese experts. At the same time, the Vietnamese side will periodically nominate Vietnamese students to participate in the academy's annual courses and research programmes.

At a meeting with PCA representatives, the two sides discussed cooperation between the PCA and Vietnam, especially after the court officially opened its representative office in Hanoi.

The ministry appreciates the efforts of the PCA Office in Vietnam in 2022 and proposes the PCA Secretary-General to facilitate the Hanoi office to have more training activities on international law for Vietnamese ministries and sectors in 2023.

PCA Secretary-General Marcin Czepelak expressed his gratitude to the ministry and others and sectors of Vietnam for supporting the PCA office in Hanoi’s training activities. He asked Vietnam to participate in activities to prepare for the 125th anniversary of the establishment of the PCA in 2024.

COVID-19 surveillance heightened during five-day national holiday

The five-day national break starting on April 29 poses a high risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus as people flock to crowded tourist destinations or converge on entertainment centres, according to health professionals.

This April has seen the number of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital nationwide increase considerably, with many severe cases transferred to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

The hospital only received and treated 20 COVID-19 patients in January, although the number of admissions rose to 45 in March before climbing to 288 in the initial three weeks of April, said a doctor working at the hospital, adding among the hospitalization were 22 severe cases,

Most of the severe patients are over 70 who also suffer from underlying illnesses such as diabetes, blood pressure, tuberculosis, HIV, hepatitis, and cirrhosis.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has reported that the number of infections has kept rising nationwide over the past days, with more than 3,000 cases being recorded on April 28 alone, according to VOV.

People are encouraged to wear face masks when they venture out to crowded places during the five-day break.

Three deaths have also been reported after four months, including one case suffering from underlying illnesses and another case involving a person unvaccinated against COVID-19.

According to Prof. Dr. Phan Trong Lan, director of the Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health, more than 10 sub-variants of the SARS-nCov-2 virus mutated Omicron, which are classified as variants of interest (VOI) or variants under monitoring (VUM) by the World Health Organisation, have been detected in Vietnam.

Though scientists have yet to find correlation between the emergence of the new variants and the number of infected patients, the health professional emphasised the efficiency of vaccination and suggested that localities strive to speed up the vaccination campaign, especially for high-risk groups, including the elderly.

Meanwhile, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Do Van Dung, dean of Faculty of Public Health under Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, predicted that the number of infections would increase after the long five-day break until May 3.

However, he played down public concerns about a new COVID-19 outbreak, reasoning that people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or who have immunity.

He therefore advised people to stay highly vigilant by following health recommendations and not gathering in large crowds in public places.

The Ministry of Health also asked local health units to closely monitor new sub-variants of the Omicron, enhance communications and prepare all resources in the worst case scenario.

Southern localities signal breakthrough tourism recovery

Southern provinces and cities in Vietnam saw positive signs from the tourism industry in the first three months of this year with diverse products, tours, and activities to attract visitors.

According to Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, in the first quarter of this year, the city welcomed over 7.5 million domestic visitors and over 1 million international arrivals, an increase of nearly 60% and 100%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

Revenue from accommodation and food services in the city increased by over 37% in the last three months, while revenue from travel services increased by 84.5 % over the same period last year.

The city developed effective tourism products, and each district developed at least one. Known as a place of dynamic tourism, the city continuously organised events to attract visitors such as the Vietnamese New Year Festival, the Nguyen Hue Spring Flower Festival, Book Street, Golf Tourism Festival, Ao dai festival, and Banh mi Festival.

Meanwhile, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province welcomed over 3.4 million visitors including over 48,000 international guests in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of more than 42%.

Destinations for sea and island tourism, resort tourism, cultural and historical sites, and ecotourism continue to attract tourists, especially during weekends and holidays, VNA reported.

In the first quarter, the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang welcomed nearly 2.3 million visitors. Particularly, Phu Quoc city - a prominent destination on the domestic and international tourism map - welcomed more than 1.5 million visitors, an increase of over 43% over the same period in 2022. Tourism establishments in the province have deployed solutions to further promote and develop tourism products that meet the rising demands.

Meanwhile, the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho saw accommodation services double over the same period last year, reaching nearly 410 billion VND (17.5 million USD).

The city’s tourism revenue reached over 52 billion VND, up nearly 16% over the same period.

Develop products, branding

After achieving positive results in tourism recovery in the first quarter, localities proposed solutions to continue diversifying products and expanding markets. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, Director of the Department of Tourism of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the city continues to implement its tourism development strategy with a focus on improving quality and diversifying products.

The city targets to develop products for different tourist segments and products for waterway, medical, cultural, and culinary tourism.

Tourists travel to Ba Ria-Vung Tau province by cruise. (Photo: VNA)

For promotion activities, the city introduces those and destinations not only in Ho Chi Minh City but also connected with localities in the southeast region and the Mekong Delta, central coast, Central Highlands, Red River Delta, and northwest region to create attractive tours.

The city also strengthened coordination with provinces and cities in digital transformation to increase the effectiveness of tourism promotion online.

They are building a common database that helps businesses develop inter-provincial and inter-regional products and call for effective investment.

Director of the Kien Giang provincial Department of Tourism Bui Quoc Thai said that to keep attracting tourists, the province has stepped up promotion for destinations such as Phu Quoc island, Ha Tien city, and Rach Gia city, and districts of U Minh Thuong, Kien Luong, Kien Hai, and Hon Dat.

The province’s tourism sector cooperates with others of agriculture, industry, and trade to exploit agricultural products, specialties, and craft villages associated with tourism activities.

A representative from Vietravel said that to attract local and international visitors with higher spending, localities need to improve and renew products, especially tourism ones and night services.

They should focus on developing groups of products associated with community culture, entertainment, cuisine, and products associated with cultural and art programmes.

Foreign arrivals reach nearly 50% of annual target by April

Vietnam welcomed approximately 3.7 million foreign tourists in the first four months of the year, a figure 19.2 times higher than that of the same period last year, and meeting 46% of the target set for 2023, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said on April 29.

About 88.7% of all foreign visitors came by air, 10.1% by road, and 1.2% by sea, said GSO.

Photo: VOV

Throughout the reviewed period, Asia represented Vietnam’s largest tourist source market, with 1.1 million visitors coming from the Republic of Korea (RoK) alone. The RoK was followed by China with 252,136 arrivals and Thailand with 200,000 arrivals.

Four-month revenue from accommodation and catering services also hit VND214.8 trillion, marking a year-on-year rise of 25.8%. Meanwhile, travel businesses earned about VND9.1 trillion, marking a 2.1-fold increase from last year, thanks to an array of exciting cultural and tourism activities held in localities in the first months of the year, cited VOV.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, the country’s international aviation market will continue to recover in the summer, and the market recovery will occur faster in the second quarter, especially following China’s decision to pilot a scheme to send group tours to many countries worldwide, including Vietnam.

It is predicted that between 2.5 million and three million foreign passengers will travel by air every month this summer, with the aviation recovery rate gradually increasing by 80% compared to the corresponding period in 2019. The international aviation market is anticipated to fully recover to the pre-pandemic period in the remaining months of this year.

Art programme celebrates National Reunification Day

An art programme was held on the Nguyen Hue pedestrian street in Ho Chi Minh City on the evening of April 28 to celebrate the 48th anniversary of the Southern Liberation and National Reunification Day (April 30, 1975 – 2023).

The event gathered popular singers and performers, including Minh Vuong, Que Tran, Van Khanh, Quang Linh, Vo Ha Tram, and bands MTV and 135.

The participating artists brought to the stage songs and dances praising the national revolutionary cause, the land of Vietnam, and patriotism of Vietnamese people, cited NDO.

A performance at the programme.

The 1975 Great Spring Victory, the liberation of the South and the nation’s reunification are of great historical significance.

In the Political Report presented at the Fourth Party Congress in December 1976, our Party stressed that “Time will pass by, but the victory of our people in the cause of resistance against America will ever go down in the history of our nation as one of the most glorious pages, a shining symbol of a triumph thanks to the revolutionary heroism and humanity intelligence, and this will go down in the world history as a great victory of the twentieth century, a landmark event of great international significance and of the time”.

In the 48 years since the victory, Vietnam, from a country damaged by wartime, has risen to gain remarkable socio-economic achievements.

Vietnamese people, particularly the youth, always keep in mind the great services of predecessors, and determine to make further contribution to the national construction and development.

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