Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) receives outgoing Cambodian ambassador to Vietnam Chay Navuth, in Hanoi on January 6. Photo: VGP

Vietnam attaches importance to strengthening relations with Cambodia

Vietnam prioritizes strengthening the traditional friendship, good neighbourly relations, and comprehensive cooperation with Cambodia, in the interest of the two peoples, and for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the rest of the world.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was speaking while receiving outgoing Cambodian ambassador to Vietnam Chay Navuth, at a reception in Hanoi on January 6.

He highly appreciated Cambodia’s rapid development in all fields, and expressed his belief the successful organization of the local election in June 2022 would lay a firm foundation for Cambodia to successfully host the seventh general election in July 2023. He also congratulated Cambodia on successes it had reaped in its role as ASEAN Chair 2022 and AIPA-43 Chair in 2022.

Ambassador Chay Navuth thanked the Party, State and people of Vietnam for having provided assistance to the Cambodian people and the ambassador personally during his working term in Vietnam, affirming Cambodia’s success cannot be separated from Vietnam’s assistance in all circumstances.

According to the diplomat, besides helping Cambodia overthrow the genocidal Pol Pot regime in the past, Vietnam has in recent times cooperated closely with Cambodia in many fields, including human resource training, COVID-19 prevention and control, and economic cooperation.

Both host and guest were happy that cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia has yielded positive results over the years through regular reciprocal visit exchanges and existing cooperation mechanisms, cited VOV.

Economic cooperation is a prominent highlight in bilateral cooperation, with two-way trade turnover rising 13.2% as of November 2022 to reach US$9.77 billion. Currently, Vietnam has 198 valid investment projects in Cambodia with a total registered capital of US$2.92 billion, ranking first in ASEAN and in the top five countries with the largest direct investment in Cambodia.

Both countries jointly organized many activities in 2022 within the framework of the ‘Vietnam - Cambodia Friendship Year 2022’, and to mark 55 years of bilateral diplomacy.

PM Chinh proposed that in his new position, the ambassador would continue to make active contributions to cultivating the tradition of solidarity, friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance between the two countries.

He conveyed his New Year greetings to Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, Prime Minister Hun Sen, other leaders and people of Cambodia.

Son Doong among world's 10 most incredible caves: Canadian magazine

Son Doong Cave in the central province of Quang Binh has made its name into the list of 10 'most incredible caves in the world' compiled by Canadian magazine The Travel.

"Being 200m high and 175m wide as well as 9.4km in length, this cave is estimated to fit a 40-story New York skyscraper," it said.

Son Doong, located in the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, has captured international spotlight since it was opened to tourists in 2013.

Son Doong Cave is located in the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. Source: Oxalis Adventures-Ryandeboodt

"It requires two days of intense jungle trekking and river crossings to reach the entrance of Son Doong Cave," the magazine noted.

Oxalis Adventure operates the tour, with a four-day-three-night expedition to the cave costing 69.8 million VND (around 3,000 USD).

Only 1,000 visitors are allowed to explore the cave a year for environmental reasons, and the tour is available only between January and August, according to VNA.

Trekkers accompanied by a specialist go through unique underground rainforests, kayak in rivers both above and below ground and climb a 90-meter-high wall dubbed "The Great Wall of Vietnam" with ropes and ladders.

The other caves in the list are Vatnajokull Glacier Cave of Iceland, Naica Mine Cave of Mexico, Krubera Cave of Georgia, Glowworms Cave of New Zealand, Batu Cave of Malaysia, Marble Caves of Chile, Tham Lod Cave of Thailand, Reed Flute Cave of China, and Škocjan Cave of Slovenia.

Vietnam’s largest airport expects to serve 3.8 million passengers during Tet

Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City is set to serve more than 3.8 million passengers during the upcoming Lunar New Year festival, known locally as Tet.

It is expecting an increase of 10% in the number of travelers this Tet compared to 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

On January 6, there will be a total of 735 flights landing and taking off from the airport with 110,000 passengers, including more than 35,000 foreign nationals.

Passengers crowd the security-check area in Tan Son Nhat International Airport ahead of Lunar New Year holiday. Photo: tuoitre.vn

The airport is set to serve 123,000 passengers on January 20, one day before the final day of the old lunar year, more than 144,000 passengers on January 29 when travelers return to big cities to work after the long break.

To meet the increasing demand during the holiday season, the airport will increase its capacity to 44 flights per hour between 6:00 a.m. and 23:55 p.m. and 36 flights per hour from midnight to 5:55 a.m., the highest number of flights per hour ever scheduled at the airport, VOV reported.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has previously ordered airlines to improve security, flight safety, and service quality, including efforts to minimise delayed and cancelled flights, while maintaining COVID-19 prevention measures for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.

The HCM City Department of Transport has also been requested to work alongside competent authorities in a bid to reduce congestion at the airport.

HCM City’s Tet Festival 2023 opens

The HCM City’s annual Tet Festival 2023 honoring Vietnamese cultural identities on Tet holidays and introducing beautiful images of a peaceful spring in the southern metropolis to visitors opened at the municipal Youth's Cultural House on January 5.

This year’s festival themed “The city I love” includes a wide range of activities such as a calligraphy street, a space of yellow apricot trees, art performances, and charitable and social works supporting disadvantaged people.

In the opening ceremony, the organization board received donations from enterprises, organizations and individuals to offer Tet gifts to poor kids and children orphaned by the pandemic in HCMC.

The organization board of the Tet festival 2023 offers Tet gifts to disadvantaged children. Photo: SGGP

The calligraphy street will introduce to visitors an indispensable Vietnamese New Year tradition. Nearly 50 calligraphers wear traditional costumes and write and sell nice words written in calligraphy to customers on the corner of Pham Ngoc Thach and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai streets, cited SGGP.

In the garden of more than 100 yellow apricot trees, visitors will have an opportunity to enjoy performances of the traditional crafts of To He, toy figurines that are made of rice dough; handmade paintings; a food fair, and stalls of Ao Dai.

There is also Kylin and dragon dance, music shows, performances of Don Ca Tai Tu (southern amateur music), cai luong (reformed opera) and hat boi (Vietnamese classic opera), a fashion show, and more.

The event that has been organized over the past 16 years will run until January 26 (on the 5th day of the first month of the lunar calendar).

Vietnamese unicorn included in 10 Asian companies to watch in 2023 list

VNG - the first Vietnamese tech unicorn - was included in the 10 Asian companies to watch in 2023 list announced by Japan’s Nikkei Asia web.

According to the web, the VNG has emerged as one of the country's most watched companies, with a possible initial public offering in 2023. The tech company has registered to trade some of its shares on a local exchange for unlisted firms, a move that is often used for companies to test the stock market before their official IPO. It is also reportedly eyeing a US listing.

Founded in 2004 by Le Hong Minh, an Australian-educated investment banker, the VNG started out as an online game publisher and developer called Vinagame. The company's cash cow business has expanded to other Asian markets, where it competes with rivals like Singapore-based Sea. With users in more than 130 countries, the VNG aims to reach 320 million customers globally in this year.

VNG - the first Vietnamese tech unicorn - was included in the 10 Asian companies to watch in 2023 list announced by Japan’s Nikkei Asia web. Photo: VNG

The Vietnamese tech company has expanded to other areas, most notably with Zalo, its messenger app launched in 2012. The service overtook Meta's Facebook Messenger in Vietnam in 2020 and now has over 74 million active users in its home market, where the app is used to chat, shop, send money, and pay household bills.

After defending its home market from other tech giants and expanding regionally, the VNG is trying to accelerate its international expansion -- which a US market debut will facilitate, cited VNA.

Nikei Asia also highlighted that after navigating a turbulent year of conflicts, inflation and a lingering pandemic, Asian companies have emerged with their sights set on shaking up markets at home and abroad in 2023.

Other names in the list included Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD, Indonesia’s Indika Energy, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Japanese power chipmaker Rohm.

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