Vietnam news in brief - October 10

US$14.3 billion mobilized for cultural revitalization activities

Investment in culture accounted for less than 1% of the total budget expenditure in 2017-2021. Photo: Lai Tan

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Doan Van Viet stressed that VND350 trillion (US$14.3 billion) would directly support creative activities, service businesses, and cultural practices, especially in the private sector.

This is the total funding for the 2025-2035 period proposed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in a recent report on the investment policy for the National Target Program on Cultural Revitalization and Development of Vietnamese People for the 2025-2035 period. In the 2017-2021 period, investment in culture accounted for less than 1% of total budget spending.

Vietnam's ICT sector reaches US$100 billion in Jan - Sep

The total revenue of the information and communications technology (ICT) industry in the first nine months of 2023 fell by 1.2% year-on-year, reaching US$100 billion, the Ministry of Information and Communications reported.

The revenue of the hardware and electronics industry in the first nine months was estimated at $95.8 billion, down 2% year-on-year. The industry's decline is due to global economic challenges, which led to lower demand for Vietnam's information technology.

Covid-19 treatment facility to become general health center

The Hanoi University of Medicine Hospital is considering turning a Covid-19 treatment facility in Hoang Mai District into a general health center. The facility has been closed since early February after the pandemic was brought under control. The facility, the largest in the North, began operations two years ago under the management of the Hanoi University of Medicine Hospital to fight the pandemic. The facility has about 500 beds and modern equipment for treatment.

National road safety contest launched

The National Traffic Safety Committee and relevant agencies on October 9 launched a national contest to educate people and raise public awareness about traffic safety and regulations. The contest will run for eight weeks from October 9 to December 4. Participants will answer multiple-choice questions to win weekly prizes totaling VND8 million (US$327.80). Since its first edition in 2020, the contest has attracted millions of participants. In 2022, more than 2.26 million people registered for the contest.

Vietnam launches green education and green sports programs

Delegates attend the signing ceremony. Photo: MoET

The Ministry of Education and Training, in cooperation with the Fund for a Green Future (under Vingroup's Thien Tam Fund), will implement the Green Education and Green Sports programs in educational institutions nationwide in the period 2023 - 2028 through a cooperation agreement signed by both sides.

The Green Education Program consists of four main projects: Green Voice, Sending Green Future to 2050, Green Schools, and Building Green Schools Together. These projects will be implemented in educational institutions, from elementary schools to universities nationwide, as October 2023. The green sports program will be executed by improving the capacity of green sports development and organizing green sports competitions.

Foreign online platforms pay $237.6 million in taxes by the end of September

Sixty-seven international digital service providers paid VND5.8 trillion ($237.6 million) in taxes as of September 20, an annual increase of 37%, according to the General Department of Taxation. These companies include Meta (Facebook), Google, TikTok, Microsoft, and eBay. The General Department of Taxation also reported that as of September 18, Vietnam had about 350 e-commerce platforms, with more than 191,000 individual and corporate shop owners and a total trade value of VND44.5 trillion ($1.82 billion).

Vietnam attracts Singaporean investors

Singaporean investors poured $3.98 billion into Vietnam in the first nine months of the year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. As of September 20, the total registered capital for new investments, capital injections, and capital contributions for share purchases or capital contributions by foreign investors reached nearly $20.2 billion. Singaporean investment capital accounted for more than 19.7% of the total in Vietnam.