Vietnam news in brief - July 18

Launch of the "Homeland Spring 2025" event series in Japan

The opening ceremony of the "Homeland Spring 2025" series of events.

The opening ceremony of the "Homeland Spring 2025" event series in Japan was held in Hanoi on July 17, with activities highlighting the beauty of Vietnamese women and the traditional cultural values of Vietnam, a country that treasures peace, harmony, and friendliness.

The festival will continue in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, from January 4 to 5, 2025, and conclude in Fukuoka, Japan, from January 10 to 12, 2025. It will feature booths showcasing Vietnamese handicrafts, goods, tourism, and culture, as well as performances by popular Vietnamese artists.

Exciting activities for young readers at the Astérix Festival 2024

The Astérix Festival 2024 will be held on July 20 in Hanoi and July 27 in Ho Chi Minh City to help readers better understand Astérix, a comic book considered a French cultural heritage.

The festival will offer a variety of hands-on and discovery activities for children, including an exhibition of 21 prize-winning drawings from the "Asterix Plays Sports with Vietnamese Youth" drawing competition, sports games, Asterix and Obelix book readings, and a screening of the film Asterix and Cleopatra.

Vietnam culture shown at Hong Kong Book Fair

Vietnam will introduce its image, literature, and cinema at the 34th Hong Kong Book Fair which runs until July 23.

At the fair, the stand of the Consulate General of Vietnam in Hong Kong (China) displayed a wide range of publications on culture, art, tourism, and cuisine in various languages. 

Vietnam and South Korea to cooperate on high-speed rail development

Park Sang Woo, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of South Korea, has expressed interest in the Vietnamese and South Korean governments signing memoranda of understanding on the development of transport infrastructure and high-speed railways.

The news was reported at the meeting with Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Xuan Sang on July 16.

Loan limit raised for Rural Clean Water Program

From September 2, 2024, the loan limit for the Rural Clean Water Supply and Sanitation Program at the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies will be increased from VND10 million (US$396) to VND25 million (US$990) per project.

This decision has been signed by Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai to meet the people's demands and to bring the investment costs for the construction and upgrading of rural clean water supply and sanitation projects in line with actual prices.

Short film urging protection of wild birds in Vietnam

The Education for Center - Vietnam recently launched a short film entitled "Chim troi keu cuu" (Wild Birds Call for Help) to urge the community to refrain from consumption and join hands to protect wild birds.

A survey conducted by the Center in 125 restaurants in Hanoi from 2020 to June 2024 found that 42% of the establishments advertised dishes made from wild birds on their menus.

Vietnam to launch Fraud Awareness Campaign in 2024

The Fraud Awareness campaign will be launched in 2024 to educate the public on how to avoid online scams. The campaign, coordinated by the Ministry of Information and Communications and social networking platform Meta, will raise awareness about various scams related to investment, job recruitment, financial and loan fraud, lottery, and impersonation.

Images and short videos will be posted on Meta and the National Cybersecurity Portal to spread awareness and prevention techniques.

Vietnam ETE and Enertec Expo 2024 open in Ho Chi Minh City

The 17th International Exhibition on Electrical Technology & Equipment (Vietnam ETE) and the Exhibition on Energy Saving & Green Energy Products (Enertec Expo) 2024 opened on July 17 at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in Ho Chi Minh City. This year's exhibitions feature over 300 leading domestic and international companies from China, Germany, France, the US, Japan, and South Korea, promoting advances in the electrical and energy sectors.