Vietnam news in brief - December 20

Second Danang-Asia Film Festival scheduled for early July 2024

Van Phong Economic Zone in Khanh Hoa Province. Photo: vneconomy.vn

The 2nd Danang-Asia Film Festival, themed "Bridging Asia", is scheduled for July 2-6, 2024, in the central coastal city of Danang. The upcoming event will feature screenings of nominated and outstanding Vietnamese films, international workshops and conferences, and visits to famous film studios and locations. The festival will present the first Achievement Award to a filmmaker in recognition of his or her contribution to the film industry.

Deadlines for submissions are March 15, 2024, for Asian films and April 30, 2024, for Vietnamese films.

Khanh Hoa to build $82 million coastal road to improve local transport

The central province of Khanh Hoa plans to spend about VND2 trillion (US$82 million) to build a 20-kilometer coastal road that will pass through the Van Phong Industrial Park and connect Hien Luong 2 Bridge in Van Luong Commune, Van Ninh District to National Road 26B in Ninh Diem Ward, Ninh Hoa Town. Construction is expected to start in late 2024 and be completed three years later.

The road project aims to improve local traffic, reduce the burden on National Highway 1A, and facilitate the Van Phong Industrial Park to become the main growth engine of the province.

Hanoi designates four new tourism sites

Hanoi authorities have recently recognized four local villages, including the famous snake village of Le Mat in Long Bien District, as city-level tourism destinations. Among the four, Le Mat Village in Viet Hung Ward, Long Bien District, is popular for snake breeding and is home to five national heritage sites.

The other three sites classified as urban tourism sites are Thanh Liet, Tam Hiep and Duyen Ha in Thanh Tri District.

Pepsico Food Vietnam receives license to build factory

Pepsico Food Vietnam Company received the license to build a VND2 trillion ($82 million) factory in the northern province of Ha Nam on December 19. The plant will be located in the Dong Van I Industrial Park in Duy Tien Town and will cover 80,000m2.

Construction will start in 2024, and the plant is expected to be fully operational in the third quarter of the following year. The plant is designed to produce a total of 23,000 tons of snacks per year.

Transport sector needs $82 billion by 2030: transport official

Vietnam needs about VND2 trillion ($82 billion) from now until 2030 to develop its domestic transport network, Pham Hoai Chung, deputy director of the Transport and Development Strategy Institute, said on December 19. He said nearly half of the required capital will be spent on maritime, air and rail transport.

The figures were given at a Vietnam-Japan conference on sustainable transportation development, which aims to promote relations between the two countries.

Vietnamese are most positive consumers: regional survey

Visa, the world's leading mobile payment company, has released its Green Shoots Radar report, which shows that 75% of all Vietnamese consumers remain optimistic about the national economic outlook in 2024, the highest among Asia-Pacific countries. Meanwhile, nearly half of consumers surveyed in the region plan to purchase major household items, with Vietnam slightly ahead at 59%.

The report also shows that Vietnamese respondents are second in the region (41%) when it comes to attending concerts in the past 12 months, both locally and overseas, compared to Indians (45%).