Vietnam news in brief - February 14

Secondary students in Hanoi up 11.5% year on year

Secondary students in Hanoi's Me Linh District. Photo: hanoimoi.vn

As of the end of January 2024, Hanoi was home to 675 secondary schools with more than 600,000 students. The number of schools increased by six while the number of secondary students was up by 62,000 persons, or 11.5%, compared to January 2023. Of the total, nearly 10,400 students came from ethnic minorities.

Grade-6 students were the largest community with 189,000 individuals, up 31.5% on-year. 

Vietnamese tourism promoted at Iranian international tourism expo

Vietnamese products and specialties and images of popular landscapes are on display at the 17th International Iran Tourism and Related Industries Exhibition 2024 held in Iran’s capital city of Tehran on February 12-15. During the exhibition, the Embassy of Vietnam in Iran had the chance to discuss potential partnerships with international organizations and companies to boost local tourism.

This year's event is estimated to attract some 500 delegates, government officials, organizations, and companies from 20 countries and territories, including some Southeast Asia countries.

Vietnamese spend over US$3.66 million daily on food delivery apps

In 2023, Vietnamese consumers made food orders through Grab and Shopee Food applications, with a total value of up to US$1.4 billion, or around VND90 billion ($3.66 million) per day, according to the latest report on food delivery apps in Southeast Asia by Momentum Works. The value of orders placed through these applications in Vietnam last year increased by 30% compared to the previous year.

In terms of Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), Vietnam's was lower than Malaysia ($2.4 billion), the Philippines and Singapore ($2.5 billion), and Thailand ($3.7 billion).

Vinhomes, Vietnam Investment Group register for Phuoc Vinh Tay project

Vinhomes and Vietnam Investment Group are the sole entities registered for the 1,000-ha Phuoc Vinh Tay New Urban Area project in Duc Hoa District, the southern province of Long An. This result was announced by the Long An Department of Planning and Investment. The project includes commercial housing construction, approximately 13,440 apartment units for social housing, and about 2,370 low-rise resettlement houses.

It has a 50-year duration and a seven-year implementation period starting from the project's approval. The project cost an amount of VND80 trillion ($3.2 billion), with land clearance expenses exceeding VND10.7 trillion ($435 million).

International visitors to Phu Quoc during Tet increased nearly 6 times

Phu Quoc Island is estimated to welcome 52,000 international tourists during the seven days of the Lunar New Year holiday this year, up six times from the last annual holiday. The sudden increase in international visitors helps the southern province of Kien Giang’s total tourism revenue reach over US$45 billion, eight times higher than the same period in 2023, while room occupancy reaches over 66%.

Over 500 people injured by firecrackers during Tet

The Ministry of Health reported that the whole country had 507 cases of medical examination and emergency due to firecrackers during the four days of the Lunar New Year 2024 holiday, 134 more cases than the same period in 2023.

Particularly, there were 13 emergency cases due to firecrackers from the night of February 9 (the last day of the previous lunar year) to the morning of February 10 (the first day of the Lunar year). Most patients had their hands or fingers injured.