Vietnam news in brief - February 16

Hoi An ranked 2nd in Tripadvisor's top 25 honeymoon destinations

Foreign visitors to the ancient city of Hoi An. Photo: Nguoi Hoi An

The old town of Hoi An in Vietnam is the second best place for a honeymoon in 2024 after the Indonesian island of Bali, according to global travel guide platform Tripadvisor. Bali and Hoi An are followed by the Maldives, Dominican Republic, Mauritius, Khao Lak and Jamaica.

Formerly the capital of Quang Nam province, Hoi An was an important Southeast Asian trading port in the 15th-19th centuries. Today it is a great stop for travelers, with many activities to introduce visitors to local customs and cultures.

Over one million visitors attend Tet Book Street Festival in Ho Chi Minh City

The Tet Book Street Festival 2024 in Ho Chi Minh City attracted more than one million visitors and readers during the eight days of the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival. The book festival generated more than VND10 billion (US$408,200) in revenue, an increase of 18% compared to the previous event.

The Book Festival was held from 7 to 14 February as part of a series of activities to celebrate the Tet holiday, and attracted the participation of 30 publishers. The first edition of the Tet Book Festival was held in 2011.

Vietnam earns over US$14 million from lychee exports

Vietnam's lychee exports reached over US$14 million last year, almost 2.5 times higher than in 2022, according to the General Department of Customs. The export growth of this fruit is the second largest hard currency earner in 2023, after durian. China, Australia, Thailand and Japan were the top consumers of Vietnamese lychees.

Work begins on new air traffic control center in Ho Chi Minh City

A new air traffic control centre with a total investment of nearly VND1.5 trillion ($61.3 million), led by the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM), was launched on 15 February and is expected to be completed by May 2025.

The new centre will be based in a 2,360-square-metre operations building in Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Binh district and will include a power station, two antenna towers, technical infrastructure, specialised equipment and support facilities.  

Apple to deploy Map Car in Vietnam

As part of Apple's efforts to rebuild a detailed data system for the Apple Maps application from 2018, Apple map cars will be deployed across Vietnam from  February 16, according to VnExpress. These cars are fully equipped with LiDAR imaging equipment to collect detailed road data for Apple Maps. After the update, Vietnamese people can use Maps on iPad, Iphone and Macbook with better navigation capabilities, rich details and more accurate information about locations.

Nearly 100 universities announce transcript-based admissions in 2024

Ninety-six universities have announced the use of transcripts for admission in 2024, with some using only two or three semesters of high school grades. Reputable universities such as Foreign Trade University, Polytechnic University, Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Ho Chi Minh City University of Law have set some additional conditions. Most universities only use 2-6 semester grades. Many universities even consider only the end of the first semester of grade 12, including Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Van Lang University for their admission assessment.