The Hanoi Department of Health has publicised a list of medical establishments ready to provide emergency aid during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

The list comprises 41 public hospitals, 30 health centres, the Hanoi 115 Emergency Centre, 42 private hospitals, and one private general clinic.

To ensure medical services during Tet, the Health Department asked the establishments to gear up medicine, blood, transfusion solution, and other supplies necessary for emergency aid, check-up, and treatment. They were told to ensure that all patients in need of emergency aid receive timely examination and treatment.

The establishments were demanded to prepare patient reception plans, keep a close watch on the disease situation, and make timely response. They also need to boost monitoring to guarantee food safety and prevent food poisoning and food-borne diseases, the authority said.

It also asked the establishments to hold Tet celebrations for in-patients, especially poor and disadvantaged ones.

Vietnamese Ambassador presents credentials to UNESCO Director-General

Ambassador Nguyen Thi Van Anh, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), presented her credentials to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay at the organisation’s headquarters in Paris, France on February 7.

At the ceremony, Ambassador Anh emphasised that Vietnam appreciated multilateralism, the role and contribution of the United Nations and UNESCO in seeking solutions to increasing global challenges, thereby contributing to maintaining peace and security, and promoting sustainable development in the world.

She highlighted Vietnam's foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification, multilateralisation, as well as its policy of considering culture, science and education important driving forces for the country's rapid and sustainable development.

She expressed her joy to hold her position admist fruitful cooperation between Vietnam and UNESCO in all the fields of culture, education, natural science, social science, information and communications.

The diplomat took this occasion to thanked the UNESCO for its support and assistance, especially in implementing the Memorandum of Cooperation between Vietnam and UNESCO for the 2021 – 2025 period.

She expressed her wish that the UNESCO will continue supporting Vietnam, particularly in consulting and developing new heritage documents, and preserving and promoting heritage sites recognised by UNESCO, including the project on conservation and promotion of the value of Thang Long Imperial Citadel.

She affirmed that she will do her best to deepen Vietnam - UNESCO ooperation, thereby contributing to realising the UNESCO's goals and promoting socio-economic development of localities as well as Vietnam.

For her part, UNESCO Director-General Azoulay thanked Vietnam for its role, participation and contribution to the UNESCO.

She spoke highly of close and effective cooperation between Vietnam and UNESCO in all fields, considering it a typical model of cooperation, and propose boosting cooperation with Vietnam in other promising fields such as climate, water, ocean science, artificial intelligence, and others.

She said that more staff arranged at the UNESCO Office in Hanoi will make an important contribution to promoting cooperation with Vietnam in the coming time.

HCM City’s metro trains to run on trial basis throughout Tet

All the 17 trains of Metro Route No 1, Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien, in Ho Chi Minh City will continuously run on a trial basis during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, said the city’s Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR).

Accordingly, contractor Hitachi of bidding package CP3 will make use of the equipment installation suspension to increase pilot operations. The continuous test run aims to complete the testing of remaining equipment so as to put the route into commercial use this year.

Once put into use, the systems of the route will operate harmoniously and almost automatically, so trial operations are compulsory to ensure all equipment are well-connected with one another, MAUR said.

It added that about 40 personnel, mainly experts from Europe and Japan, will be in charge of the test run during the holiday.

Metro Route No 1 consists of 17 trains, each of which comprises three carriages and is 61.5m long. All were manufactured in Japan. Each train can carry a maximum of 930 passengers, including 147 sitting and 783 standing. The designed maximum speed is 110km per hour on elevated sections and 80km per hour on underground sections.

About 97.5% of the route’s workload has been completed. The facility is expected to become operational in July 2024.

PM inspects on-duty situation of major media agencies on threshold of Tet

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited offices of major media agencies in Hanoi on February 9, the last day of the lunar year.

Visiting the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), he hailed the working attitude of VNA officials, reporters, and editors across the country and abroad who provide information to the Party, State, and people in a timely manner.

The Government leader reminded them to ensure smooth information connection between the VNA and international news agencies during Tet, as well as connectivity with VNA reporters to update audiences with Tet atmosphere across the country.

PM Chinh asked the VNA to focus on digital transformation, while paying due attention to infrastructure system upgrading and human resources training, and effectively and creatively building diverse information supply channels to better serve audiences inside and outside the country.

He underscored the need for the VNA to provide the world with better understanding of Vietnam and the country's efforts to care for the people. It is necessary to maintain close coordination between domestic news and foreign service news to ensure full, honest, objective and selected news, creating a new atmosphere, new motivations, and new successes for the country.

As the national news agency with time-honoured tradition, the VNA should promote its tradition and continue to complete all of its assigned tasks, he requested.

Visiting Radio The Voice of Vietnam (VOV), PM Chinh asked it to popularise safety regulations during Tet, ensuring all people enjoy a happy, safe, and healthy festival.

The VOV has allocated about 250 reporters and staff to work during Tet.

He requested the VOV television channel to report the spirit of protecting national sovereignty, territorial integrity, national seas and islands, as well as Tet atmosphere of the people.

Particularly, it should help educate people on traffic regulations as well as other laws, he said.

Inspecting the on-duty situation at the Vietnam Television (VTV), PM Chinh hailed the serious working atmosphere of VTV leaders and staff to ensure the operations of all channels.

The VTV should be highly aware of its important role and invest more in its programmes to better serve audiences and contribute to promoting national development, he said and reminded it to speed up digital transformation and invest more in human resources development.

During Tet festival, the VTV should provide the mass with safety guidance to ensure a healthy and warm Tet for all.

On the occasion, PM Chinh presented gifts and extended New Year wishes to officials, reporters, and editors of the three establishments who are working on the last day of the year.

Tet gathering held for Vietnamese experts working for UN agencies

The Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations (UN) hosted a meeting with Vietnamese experts working for UN agencies in New York on February 8 on the occasion of the Lunar New Year (Tet) - the biggest festival of Vietnam.

In his speech, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, head of the mission, showed his appreciation for the contributions by Vietnamese experts to the UN’s activities in general, as well as for their companionship and cooperation with the mission in many fronts in recent times.
 
The diplomat emphasised that in the context of  many difficulties and challenges in the world, Vietnam’s foreign affairs work, including multilateral diplomacy and international integration, continues to be a bright spot, actively contributing to increasing Vietnam's reputation and position in the international arena.

He expressed his hope that Vietnamese experts, no matter what position they hold, will also continue to well perform their role of representing Vietnamese intelligence and identity at the UN, while maintaining close connection and coordination with the mission, especially in effectively implementing UN programmes and projects, realising sustainable development goals, as well as in community and public affairs with the host country.

Vietnamese experts affirmed that they will always accompany and support the mission in completing all assigned tasks.

There are currently about 20 Vietnamese experts working for UN agencies such as the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Development Program (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), and the Secretariat of the UN.

Vietnam Peru's No.1 partner in ASEAN: Peruvian official

Vietnamese Ambassador to Peru Bui Van Nghi has presented a copy of his credentials to Director –General of Protocol and State Ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru Jaime Cacho-Sousa Velázquez who underlined that Vietnam is the number one partner of his country in ASEAN.

Cacho-Sousa highly valued the efficiency of Vietnamese-funded projects in Peru, especially Bitel telecommunications company which is invested by Viettel and providing services to rural and border areas of Peru.

He said he hopes the two countries will consider a cooperation agreement in the field of telecommunications to expand service coverage in far-flung areas of Peru, helping poor children access technologies for studying.

The Peruvian official thanked Vietnam for supporting Peru to host the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in 2024, affirming that Peru hopes to welcome Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong during the event.

Ambassador Nghi conveyed President Thuong's regards and invitation to Peruvian President Dina Boluarte to visit Vietnam.

The two sides agreed to coordinate closely in organising activities to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Vietnam-Peru diplomatic relations, while cooperating in strengthening two-way trade as well as partnership in new areas such as tourism, education, and technology, and fostering coordination at multilateral forums such APEC and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

At a working session with Ambassador Javier Augusto Prado, Director of the Asia-Pacific Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru, in Lima on February 8, Ambassador Nghi highlighted progress of relations between the two countries in economy, trade and investment, as well as prospects for bilateral ties when both sides become full members of the CPTPP.

Vietnam has supplied Peru with footwear, clinker and cement, computers, electronics and components, plastics, yarn, rubber, aquatic products, and interior products, while importing fishmeal, fish oil, acrylic fibers, and materials from Peru.

The Vietnamese diplomat asked Peru to continue creating favourable conditions for projects of Viettel and Petrovietnam in the country, and Augusto Prado pledged to create optimal conditions for businesses of the two sides to exploit economic cooperation potential between the two countries.

Currently, Peru is the sixth largest trade partner of Vietnam in Latin America.

Phu Quoc welcomes nearly 2,000 European visitors on last day of lunar year

Cruise ship Aida Bella docked at Phu Quoc island in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang, bringing 1,979 European tourists to the “pearl island” on February 9, or the last day of the lunar year.

The group are scheduled to explore Phu Quoc night market, Vinwonders entertainment complex, and Vinpearl Safari, take cable cars to Hon Thom island, and visit Hon (kissing) bridge.

They will also enjoy the best beaches of Phu Quoc and small islands, visit traditional craft villages, and try local dishes before leaving the island at night on the same day.

Earlier on February 2, Italian-flagged cruise ship Costa Serena also carried 1,100 foreign tourists to Phu Quoc.

Bui Quoc Thai, Director of the Kien Giang Department of Tourism, said that since the beginning of this year, especially on the threshold of the Lunar New Year (Tet) holidays, Phu Quoc has welcomed a large number of foreign tourists, signaling a good year for the local tourism sector.

So far this year, the famous tourist destination has served more than 502,000 travelers, including 82,615 foreigners, up 6.1% year on year, earning about 1.76 trillion VND (72.05 million USD).

“Xuan Que Huong” programme held for OVs in Vientiane

A “Xuan Que Huong” (Homeland Spring) programme was held by the Association of Vietnamese People in Vientiane in collaboration with the Vietnamese Embassy and the Vietnamese Cultural Centre in Laos on February 8 to bring the Lunar New Year (Tet) atmosphere to overseas Vietnamese (OVs) in the host country.

In his opening speech, Chairman of the Association Le Van Mui stated that it continued to promote its role in caring for the lives of its members and OVs with difficult circumstances, and coordinated with the embassy to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Vietnamese people in the Lao capital city.

He took the occasion to affirm that the association and its member clubs will continue developing, making more contributions and playing more important role in the host country’s society, contributing to strengthening the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos.

Counselor of the embassy Phan Minh Chien extended New Year greetings to OVs in Vientiane, applauding them for their crucial contributions to the homeland’s development.

He expressed his belief that in the coming years, the Vietnamese community in Laos in general and OVs in Vientiane in particular will continue to strive together to build an united, strong, and successful association, contributing practically and effectively to Laos’s socio-economic development, and further strengthening the great friendship relationship between the two countries.

Within the framework of the programme, the Association of Vietnamese People in Vientiane presented 150 gift packages to disadvantaged Vietnamese expats living in the Lao capital city.

Thua Thien-Hue lures tourists with Tet experience tours

Tours offering foreign tourists with brand-new experience of local life during the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival have become special products of the central province of Thua Thien-Hue in recent days.

At Tram Homestay in Hue city, the owner's family and a group of foreigners were making Chung (glutinous rice) cake and prepare for Tet like a big family.

Anton Schoderboeck from Australia said that he is strongly impressed at the sophisticated steps to make a Chung cake, adding that he had lots of fun joining the process.

The owner of the homestay, Dinh Thi Phuong Thy, said that she has planned various activities for visitors, especially foreigners, to experience traditional Tet practices such as making Chung cake and writing calligraphy. All the 300 Chung cakes made on this occasion will be delivered to the needy in the locality, she said.

This year, the ancient capital city of Hue expects a bright year for its tourism sector, as it has been voted as a world leading cultural destination and one of the must-visit destinations in Asia.

During this Tet holidays, local travel firms have designed unique cultural products drawing great attention from tourists, including tours to explore Tet at local families, during which tourists will join the families in preparing for Tet, going to traditional markets to buy Tet stuff and decorate houses before Tet.

In the first month of 2024, Thua Thien-Hue enjoyed a surge of 25% in the number of tourists over the same time last year.

The local tourism sector expects a bustling season during the traditional New Year holidays.

Director of the Provincial Tourism Department Nguyen Van Phuc said that local resorts and hotels have been booked by 65%. Local relic sites are likely to welcome about 100 visitors each day during Tet from February 7-15, with foreigners accounting for 55%, he said.

An looks for win over Sanson at LFA 176, expecting UFC offer

Vietnamese Hồ Tuấn An will fight host athlete Miguel Sanson in the Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) 176 event on February 10 in Arizona, the US.

This will be the 14th LFA event to take place in the state. There will be 11 thrilling matches organised at the Arizona Financial Theatre in Phoenix City.

The main event will feature a featherweight title fight when top contender Elijah “Baby” Johns faces fellow LFA standout Alfred “Freight Train” Walker.

The co-main card, the flyweight bout between An and Sanson, will be the second to last match of the night.

This will be the second time that An “The Highlight” competes in the LFA and his sixth pro match. The first time, he knocked out American Kendrick Latchman "The Uprising" at the LFA 168, also in Arizona, last September.

The win strengthened An's record of five wins out of five in his career. The 23-year-old is currently the 43rd ranked of 453 active United States Pro Flyweights.

Born in 2000 in Tây Ninh Province, An is no stranger in the Vietnamese mixed martial art community.

In his five wins, he pocketed three knockouts and one submission. An aims to take another win against Sanson to lengthen his winning streak, get closer to a LFA belt match and receive an offer to join the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), an American mixed martial arts promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Sanson is considered An's toughest rival. The 24-year-old ranks No 61 in the United States Pro Flyweights. He has recorded four wins and one loss in his career.

In his last match, Sanson lost to fellow countryman Mark Climaco at the LFA 150 in last January.

The LFA 176 will be broadcast live on UFC Fight Pass.

LFA is a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion that was formed by the powerhouse merger between Real Fight Arena (RFA) and the Legacy Fighting Championship (Legacy FC) in 2017. It gives rising stars and top contenders opportunities to prove their talent to fans and leaders in the industry.

LFA has launched the careers of over 300 athletes that have reached the pinnacle of MMA by competing in the UFC. Among them are Holly Holm, Henry Cejudo, Valentina Shevchenko, Derrick Lewis and Brandon Moreno.

LFA presents live MMA events on a monthly basis around the world at locations including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas, Phoenix, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Based in Las Vegas, LFA is one of the most active and respected MMA organisations in the fastest growing sport in the world.

In addition to An, two other Vietnamese athletes famous on the scene are Quang Lê and Steven Nguyễn. 

Trà Vinh Province prioritises agricultural co-operatives

Trà Vinh Province plans to develop 10 new co-operatives in various sectors this year, giving priority to agriculture, according to its Co-operative Alliance.

The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province established 11 new co-operatives last year, taking its total number to 165, 122 of them agricultural.

However, most of them face difficulties, especially the agricultural ones, according to the alliance.

Last year 15 co-operatives were dissolved because of inefficient operations, capital shortage or lack of efficiencies of scale or linkages with companies.

Many do not have diversified trading and services models and cannot meet their members’ demands to develop production.

Many do not have brand names or geographical indication for their products, and do not produce to Vietnamese or global good agricultural practices standards.

Some do not operate as new-style co-operatives that require their members to use same materials for production, make same products and use uniform production processes.

Many products have high value but the co-operatives do not invest in packaging or labelling to participate in the national “One Commune-One Product” programme.

Thái Phước Lộc, chairman of the alliance, said the province administration has ordered his agency to help co-operatives access support policies, soft loans and advanced technologies.

That would help them develop, link up with companies and expand, he said.

The alliance plans to apprise co-operatives about trade promotion and advertising and using advanced techniques and organise visits for them to efficient co-operatives in other provinces and cities to learn from them.

It will help agricultural co-operatives develop farming models with value chains and produce high-quality products.

Local authorities will help agricultural co-operatives participate in the province’s socio-economic development projects and national programmes on building new-style rural areas, providing vocational skills and creating jobs and a quality workforce.

Effective co-operatives in the province have helped improve members’ incomes and create jobs in rural areas, and played a significant role in implementing national target programmes.

The Ngọc Thạch Agricultural Co-operative in Cầu Ngang District’s Nhị Trường Commune sells fertilisers, plant protection chemicals and rice seeds, helps farmers grow crops and guarantees outlets for them.

Four years after its establishment it has 40 members, 90 per cent of them ethnic Khmer, who grow 100ha of rice, corn for seeds and vegetables.

According to Thạch Dươne, its director, the co-operative sells quality materials for growing crops to its members and this helps them reduce costs.

It also instructs them in farming techniques and secures outlets that fetch prices that are 20-30 per cent higher than in the market.

Members earn average profits of VNĐ20 million (US$820) per hectare per crop from rice and VNĐ30-35 million ($1,200-1,400) from vegetables.

These are VNĐ5-10 million ($200-400) higher than before they joined the co-operative.

“The co-operative is in the process of registering a production code for its rice growing area for exports,” he said.

Lê Văn Phi, head of the Cầu Ngang Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development, said co-operatives made a major contribution to the district’s socio-economic development and effort to build new-style rural areas.

Agricultural co-operatives have linked up with companies in various provinces to secure stable prices and outlets for their members.

The Ngũ Lạc Organic Agricultural Co-operative in Duyên Hải District’s Ngũ Lạc Commune has 56 members and has linked with companies in Trà Vinh and other provinces and cities.

Lâm Thành Cảnh, its director, said the co-operative had signed contracts with three companies to supply corn and okra seeds since 2022.

Merle Ratner’s love for Vietnam to be treasured forever

The profound love that Merle Ratner, a left-wing and anti-war US activist who passed away on February 5, gave to Vietnam during her entire life will be always in the hearts of Vietnamese people.

Ratner passed away in a traffic accident in New York on February 5 evening.

Merle Evelyn Ratner was born to a Jewish-American family in New York City in 1956. At the age of 13, she actively took part in the anti-war movement and showed her support for the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam. At that time, the public in the US and the world were impressed by a small girl climbing the Statue of Liberty and waving the red flag with a yellow star and slogans calling for an end to the wrongful war.

She used to say that images of the destructive war in Vietnam and the stories about napalm bombs and toxic chemicals killing a large number of people had urged her to take to the streets to do something meaningful to help Vietnam.

Inspired by the sympathies and love for the S-shaped country, Ratner sought to read documents and writings about President Ho Chi Minh, General Vo Nguyen Giap, and the just struggle of the Vietnamese people. The more she learned about Vietnam, the more strongly she supported the fight for independence, freedom, and national reunification of its people.
         
To this left-wing activist, the day of April 30, 1975 was not only the day of complete victory for Vietnam but also a happy day of all progressive and peace-loving people around the world.
         
After 1975, with her stronger love for Vietnam, Ratner campaigned for the normalisation of the Vietnam - US relations and supported many international activities of Vietnam. During 1976 - 1979, she and her husband, Prof. Ngo Thanh Nhan, promoted the establishment of an association of patriotic overseas Vietnamese in the US to call on the US Government to normalise the relations with and lift the embargo on Vietnam.

She used to visit the Southeast Asian country for many times and work with mass organisations, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, and the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics.

Ratner was a co-founder and coordinator of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign (VAORRC) in the New York region. She worked tirelessly to appeal to organisations and individuals to support Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange and to the US Government to compensate the victims. Over the past years, she collected tens of millions of signatures via the internet to help Agent Orange victims of Vietnam to launch lawsuits.

Ratner was awarded the "For the Development of Vietnamese Women" insignia in 2010 and the “For Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange” insignia in 2013 in recognition of her enormous contributions.

Jonathan Moore, a lawyer and a board member of the VAORRC, regarded Ratner as a steadfast friend, tirelessly advocating for the rights of AO victims in Vietnam throughout her life. He said she will be remembered by those fighting for dignity and social justice.

Le Thanh Chung, a Vietnamese expatriate in New York, assessed the activist as being unwaveringly faithful to communist ideals and believing in socialism as the true path to happiness for the people. Notably, Ratner devoted her pure and loyal love to Vietnam, Chung said.

In a recent interview with Vietnam News Agency correspondents in New York on February 1 on the occasion of the 94th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), Ratner once again emphasised the leadership role of the CPV as the decisive factor in all of the nation’s achievements and victories. She affirmed that the CPV has steadfastly pursued the path of socialism and advocated for socialist values worldwide, with Vietnam certain to succeed on the chosen path.

Amidst the constant changes in the world, increasing right-wing nationalism, and increasingly fierce competition among major powers, she believed that Vietnam's foreign policy of "Four Nos" and "bamboo diplomacy" approach – which means flexible in practice yet unwavering in principles – demonstrate the rightness and help Vietnam ensure peace, independence and sovereignty, and achieve many meaningful accomplishments.

ASEAN, Australia consent to deepen comprehensive strategic partnership

ASEAN and Australia have agreed to deepen their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the mutual benefit of both sides, whilst also conducting early negotiations to develop an action plan for cooperation for the 2025 to 2029 period, which will be submitted for approval at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Laos in July.

The consensus was reached at the 36th ASEAN-Australia Forum in Melbourne on Tuesday to discuss measures aimed at bolstering ties and preparing for the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Melbourne in March to mark the 50th anniversary of their dialogue relationship.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet led Vietnam’s ASEAN Senior Official Meeting delegation.

The action plan will prioritise collaboration in economics, trade, investment, education, training, disaster management, climate change response, the green economy, and energy transition.

Regarding the building of the ASEAN Community, Deputy Minister Viet underscored the importance of co-operation to narrow the sub-regional development gap, whilst also praising the achievements of both sides, particularly Australia’s support for ASEAN members in implementing the Initiative for ASEAN Integration and in developing the Mekong sub-region.

Deputy Minister Viet therefore urged Australia to institutionalise collaboration mechanisms in a bid to improve the efficiency of links between Australia and Mekong sub-region countries.

Party chief extends Tet greetings to incumbent, former leaders

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong extended Tet (Lunar New Year) greetings to incumbent and former leaders of the Party, the State, and the Vietnam Fatherland Front, at a meeting in Hanoi on February 7, the 28th day of the last lunar month.

The event saw the attendance of former Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh; President Vo Van Thuong and former Presidents Truong Tan Sang and Nguyen Xuan Phuc; Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and former PM Nguyen Tan Dung; Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue and former NA Chairpersons Nguyen Van An, Nguyen Sinh Hung, and Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan; and permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Truong Thi Mai, among others.

In his remarks, Trong emphasised significant, comprehensive achievements the entire Party, people and army recorded last year despite a host of challenges like epidemics and natural disasters.

The macro economy was stabilised, inflation controlled and major economic balances ensured, plus quarter-to-quarter growth, he elaborated, adding 10 out of the 15 socio-economic targets set for the year were fulfilled.

In addition, progress was made in culture, social welfare, poverty reduction, as well as the Party and political system building and rectification, the fight against corruption and other negative phenomena, and external affairs. Meanwhile, socio-political stability and national defence and security were consolidated and national sovereignty maintained.

Such achievements contributed to consolidating and advancing Vietnam’s role, position, and reputation in the international arena, making it a bright spot throughout the year, he affirmed.  

The leader also highlighted the democratic atmosphere within the Party and the society, which created collective strength and promoted the country’s new position and strength.

He thanked revolutionary veterans, officials, Party members, people and soldiers at home and Vietnamese abroad for their great contributions to the cause of reform, and national construction and defence.

Trong also hailed cooperation and support of international organisations and friends for national construction and defence in Vietnam.

The leader called for stronger determination and greater will of the Party, people and army to complete targets set for this year, focusing on stabilising the macro economy and removing obstacles to production and business.

More efforts are needed in such areas as culture, education, science-technology, environmental protection, social welfare, Party building and rectification, and the building of a law-government socialist State and a pure political system.

Other tasks include streamlining administrative procedures, combating corruption and other negative phenomena, preventing wastefulness and practising thrift, he said, stressing the need to strengthen national defence and security, maintain national independence and sovereignty, and ensure political security and social order and safety, as well as an environment of peace and stability conducive to the country’s rapid, sustainable development.

The Party chief urged comprehensively and concertedly implementing external affairs and intensive and extensive international integration, strengthening the great national solidarity bloc, raising public confidence in the Party, and further preparing for all-level Party congresses and the 14th National Party Congress.

Spring longevity celebrations honor veteran leaders of city’s health sector

The Party Committee of the HCMC Department of Health on February 2 held a meeting to extend Tet greetings to leaders and former leaders in the health sector ahead of the Lunar New Year.

Deputy Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee cum Head of the Organizing Committee of the HCMC Party Committee Nguyen Phuoc Loc (R), and Director of the HCMC Department of Health Tang Chi Thuong (L) congratulate veteran doctors. (Photo: SGGP)
The event saw the presence of Deputy Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee cum Head of the Organizing Committee of the HCMC Party Committee Nguyen Phuoc Loc, and Vice Chairman of the HCMC People's Committee Duong Anh Duc.

According to Director of the HCMC Department of Health Tang Chi Thuong, in 2023, the city's healthcare sector had many outstanding activities, including smart medical applications in caring for people in Thanh An island commune in Can Gio District, easing patient overload in HCMC Oncology Hospital and HCMC Children’s Hospital 1.

In addition, the city implemented a health examination program for the elderly while the municipal healthcare sector has identified seven groups of solutions for the specialized medical development.

The HCMC Department of Health has participated in the city's digital transformation to integrate data from the sector into the city’s shared database and collaborated with departments and local authorities to strictly control and handle illegal advertising activities in the medical field.

On this occasion, the Department of Health of the city held a longevity celebration for 26 health professionals over 80.

Public Security Ministry discussing biometric solutions for identification

The Public Security Ministry yesterday held a conference to evaluate the feasibility of biometric solutions to be applied in the new Identification Law effective as of July 1, 2024.

In his speech, Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Duy Ngoc informed that the Identification Law was approved by the National Assembly and will come into effect from July 1, 2024. It contains new regulations on adding biometric information such as AND, iris, and voice into the identification database.

The Deputy Minister affirmed that the implementation of technological utilities for citizens has been synchronously carried out among biometric authentication applications and chip-based utilities on the ID card as well as e-identification. These are supposed to reduce the processing time of administrative procedures and help them become more citizen-friendly.

Like other nations in the world whose national biometric database is being used in citizen management, criminal control, and natural disaster victim locating tasks, Vietnam is trying to gradually follow the step despite various challenges coming from limits in the law and IT infrastructure.

Even though there have been contradictory views on this matter, when the law is approved, the current focus should be the methods to effectively implement that law. During the time to develop the biometric database, the Police Department for Administrative Management of Social Order will continue to collect feedback from the community for necessary adjustments. 

In the conference, scientists, managers, and experts in the field carefully discussed such topics as the prioritized subjects of the law (citizens are not forced to enter their biometric information into the database), the compulsory level to apply biometric rules of crime prevention groups, possible information provided by the application, the implementation of the technological solution, the method to collect samples (blood and saliva), the storage time, and the investment measure.

Prof. Ho Tu Bao from the Vietnam Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics commented that biometrics is the digital side to identify a human being. During the time to implement the Identification Law, it is necessary to carefully collect the samples of each participant.

DNA identification is advantageous thanks to its high precision and impossibility to create a fake version; yet its disadvantage lies in its high cost. Meanwhile, voice identification is more cost-effective and user-friendly, but its weaknesses are the high possibility of faking and the unwanted influence of the language environment. The cost of iris identification is somewhere between the two above, but it needs complex equipment.

Nong Van Hai from the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology shared that careful consideration should be made as to convenience, security, and operation expenses. Until the effective time of the Identification Law, there should be a detailed plan regarding the resources to carry out the sample collection procedure and the council taking care of ethical issues for that procedure.

He then proposed the use of the state budget and the mobilization of social resources as well as international aids (if available) when adopting this law. He also mentioned the need to study from other countries successfully applying this procedure.

Nguyen Duc Cong from Thong Nhat Hospital said that attaching DNA information into a person’s ID card is merely a solution, mostly to serve crime prevention and control tasks. As each human being has a different host factor and diseases that can affect the gene, he supported gene collection via blood samples, yet added that this solution is rather cost-intensive.

Deputy Director Vu Van Tan of the Police Department for Administrative Management of Social Order informed that from the effective time of the Identification Law on July 1, 2024, theoretically, citizens can request the integration of their DNA information into the chip on their ID card.

Many countries in the world like the US, the UK, China have done this. The Europe Treaty allows the sharing of biometric information voluntarily for the sake of criminal tracking. In the US, the Identification Act has the same content. It is not at all a strange case for Vietnam to include DNA in its Identification Law.

Also, Europe agrees to add 20 genetic loci into the biometric database. Vietnam is developing a similar database with 30 genetic loci.

Administrative documents applied in most public services must be digitalized

As per the National Data Strategy until 2030 approved by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang, administrative documents applied in most public services must be digitalized.

Notably, in terms of data infrastructure development, the strategy aims to have all national data centers, regional data centers, and national data storage centers by 2030, large and high-performance computing across the country must be successfully connected, forming a network to share computing capacity and large data processing to serve the country's socio-economic and cultural development.

Regarding data development to serve the digital government, all records and results of administrative procedures are digitized with at least 80 percent of data on the results of administrative procedures being reused and shared according to the present regulations except for specific professional databases. The strategy aims that people and businesses only have to provide one-time information when using online public services or performing administrative procedures.

Regarding data development to serve the digital economy and digital society, build and complete all agricultural data sets including data on land, crops, livestock, and seafood for production areas agriculture across the country serving agricultural production activities, form data of the entire chain of production, business, processing, management and monitoring of origin and supply of important agricultural products.

The supply of information will be ensured to be transparent, and accurate, promoting strongly for the development of e-commerce. All of one-commune-one-product products under the one-commune-one-product program posted for sale on e-commerce trading floors can be traceable by origin data.

In addition, industry, trade and energy data sets will be built and completed.

Furthermore, 90 percent of cultural heritages, national relics, and special national relics have been digitized, fully stored with data and formed into digital libraries and digital heritages, with a digital presence on the network environment so that people and tourists can access, search and learn conveniently in the digital environment. Last but not least, all scenic spots and tourist attractions in the country have been completely digitized and stored and their information will be shared widely.

The strategy also sets the goal of completing all the databases on social insurance for employees. Standardized data on electronic labor books, integrated with data on lifelong learning, and data on vocational training of workers have been deployed and completed for workers paying social insurance.

Moreover, all open data sets on the workforce, the labor market, labor recruitment needs and corresponding qualifications and skills requirements are provided and guaranteed to be updated accurately and promptly, serving as a basis for the implementation of solutions to forecast demand and fluctuations in labor and employment.

Source: VNA/SGT/VNS/VOV/Dtinews/SGGP/VGP/Hanoitimes