Social News 24/11 Whale Worshipping Festival recognised as cultural heritage   The “Cau Ngu” (Whale Worshipping) Festival of the central province of Phu Yen has been recognised as national intangible cultural heritage. A ceremony to receive the certificate was held on November 23. The Whale Worshipping festival, held once or twice a year from the first to the eighth month of lunar calendar, plays an important role in spiritual life of coastal fishing villages in Phu Yen. The event often takes place for two days with a wide range of rituals and ceremonies. A number of fairs, art performances and folk games are also held during the festival. The event features humanity values and experiences dealing with sea and nature of fishermen, helping preserve and promote traditional customs and art forms of coastal fishing villages, said Phan Dinh Phung, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee. The south central province of Phu Yen has two coastal districts, a town and a city stretching 190km of coastline. Its fishermen is well-known for tuna fishing. UNDP-funded project promotes sustainable poverty reduction Vietnam has achieved targets on sustainable poverty reduction in disadvantaged areas thanks partly to a project funded by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ireland Embassy, heard a conference in Hanoi on November 22. The project, which was to support the implementation of the Vietnamese Government’s Resolution 80/NQ-CP on sustainable poverty reduction in 2011-2020 and the National Target Programme on Sustainable Poverty Reduction (NTP-SPR) in 2011-2015, helped Vietnam realise sustainable poverty reduction goals in mountainous, coastal and ethnic minority areas.  It targeted eight provinces: Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Dien Bien, Bac Kan in the north, Thanh Hoa and Quang Ngai in the central region, Kon Tum in the Central Highlands and Tra Vinh in the Mekong Delta.  Under the project, local residents received training in self-help, successful poverty reduction models were multiplied, and local officials were helped to integrate poverty reduce targets in socio-economic plans.  The implementation of the Resolution 80/NQ-CP aims at accelerating poverty reduction in the poorest districts, communes and villages of the country, by setting poverty reduction target of 4 percent per annum (compared to national target of 2 percent), and by emphasizing priority to mobilize resources and support to these areas.  Meanwhile, the NTP-SPR is designed and implemented effectively, contributing to rapid poverty reduction in poorest districts, communes and villages and of ethnic minority people through the application of innovative modalities and approaches.  Participants said successful models and experience from the implementation of the project should be shared, adding that the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and relevant ministries and sectors should receive more support in order to expand the project in other localities in the coming time. Australia launches programme to empower Vietnamese women The Australian government on November 22 launched a Gender Equality Strategy for Vietnam for the first time, outlining its plans to promote women’s empowerment in Vietnam. The strategy will be implemented by Australia’s diplomatic missions in Hanoi and HCM City between 2016 and 2020 and will cover all Australian government agencies in Vietnam. The strategy will highlight Australia’s priorities for improving the quality of life for girls and women and support the Vietnamese government in its efforts to implement its National Gender Equality Strategy 2011-2020. To reduce gender gap, the focus will be on three key areas: improving women’s participation in decision-making and leadership; promoting economic empowerment; and putting an end to violence against women. “Gender equality is an important social policy priority for Vietnam, as it is for Australia.  It is also smart economics,” Australian ambassador Craig Chittick said while speaking at the launch in Hanoi. “Women bring particular perspectives, priorities and strengths from their own life experiences that contribute to the development of businesses, communities and the nation,” Chittick said. “Australia’s investment in women and girls in Vietnam will be an important contribution to Vietnam achieving its social and economic development objectives.” Promoting women’s economic empowerment, including among ethnic minorities, is one of the three pillars of Australia’s development co-operation programme with Vietnam for the period 2015-20. With more than 10 million AUD (7.4 million USD) invested in gender-related programmes over the last few years, Australia is already one of the largest contributors for advancing gender equality in Vietnam. Its newly launched Gender Equality Strategy will make its contribution more focused and purposeful. The Australian government also hosted yesterday a Women in Leadership forum, to encourage the exchange of ideas on how to integrate the focus on women’s leadership through Australia’s scholarship and human resources development programme, and to discuss how it could collaborate with local partners to promote women’s careers. Charity bazaar to take place in Hanoi The Hanoi International Women’s Club (HIWC) will organise its annual charity fair at St Paul American School – Splendora in Hanoi’s Hoai Duc district on November 27. Under a winter wonderland and Christmas theme, the 25th HIWC Bazaar will take place in conjunction with the 30th founding anniversary of the HIWC. It will feature traditional food and handicrafts from 43 embassies and international organisations. A live musical concert, with the performance of Korean opera singer Sung Min Park, pianist Trang Trinh, the Hanoi Brass Band and the African Band, among others, is expected to take visitors by storm. In 2015, the bazaar attracted 8,000 visitors and raised 107,000 USD in total. The club has so far supported 258 ear surgeries for children and 32 breathing machines for infants. Most recently, it organised an award ceremony to honour Vietnamese women with significant contribution to society. Dialogue promotes gender equality in Vietnam A dialogue on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) between young people, the Government and partners took place in Hanoi on November 22. The event was organised by the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in Vietnam. At the function, Shoko Ishikawa, Chief Representative of UN Women in Vietnam, said that the country has actively participated in the convention and well-coordinated with UN Women in promoting gender equality and protecting the rights of women and girls. She stressed that UN Women will continue to help young people organise activities to raise awareness of gender equality and protect the rights of women and girls. According to Hoang Thi Thu Huyen, deputy head of the Gender Equality Department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), the Vietnamese Government is actively building an action plan to implement recommendations by the CEDAW Committee. After getting the Prime Minister approval, the MOLISA will issue documents guiding the implementation of the action plan, she added. She expressed wish to continue receiving support and experience sharing from UN Women and other international organisations in Vietnam in order to help the country better realise the convention’s contents, especially the making of a mid-term report on the implementation of the convention to the CEDAW Committee in 2017.  Participating young people wished that the Government and international organisations will continue creating conditions for them to engage in implementing the convention, contributing to boosting gender equality and the rights of women and girls in Vietnam. CEDAW was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 18, 1979 and took effect on September 3, 1981. To date, 185 countries around the world have ratified and signed the convention. It was adopted by Vietnam in February 1982 and came into force in the country in March 1982. Vietnamese students to join World Tsunami Awareness Day in Japan   Seven students of Hanoi’s Cau Giay High School will attend the High School Students’ Summit on the World Tsunami Awareness Day in Japan.  A press conference announcing the event was held by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on November 21 in Tokyo.  The event will take place on November 25-26 in Kuroshio town in Kochi prefecture with the participation of 250 students from 29 countries and about 100 Japanese students.  The programme aims to raise awareness of high school students – who are future leaders - on natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis.  It will also provide participants with knowledge on how to cope with, survive in and mitigate the effects of earthquakes and tsunamis while building international solidarity and mutual assistance in coping with nation disasters.  Japan’s Kochi prefecture was selected to be the event’s venue due to its initiatives and solutions to the Nankai Trough Earthquakes off the Japan’s central coastline, which are great megathrust earthquakes that are predicted to occur in a cycle of 100 – 150 years.  This is the first time the summit has been organised since the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted November 5 as Word Tsunami Awareness Day in December 2015. More steel ship handed over to Quang Ngai fisherman Another steel fishing vessel was handed over to a fisherman in Duc Pho district’s Pho Quang commune of central Quang Ngai province on November 22. This is the 12th steel ship of its kind built with preferential credits from the provincial Fishermen Support Fund as instructed in the Government’s Decree 67/2014/ND-CP designed to boost the development of the fishery industry, including a programme on building high-capacity, steel boats for deep sea fishing. The vessel was built by Nha Trang Shipbuilding Company at a total cost of 12 billion VND (528,000 USD). It has a capacity of 811CV and measures 26m long, 7m wide and 3.4m high. The ship will be run by a crew of 10 trained members. The owner of the vessel, Huynh Thach, 44, said the vessel will help him fish off-shore effectively and safely.  Also on this occasion, the Fund provided an aid package worth 269 million VND (11,836 USD) to support local needy fishermen.  Vietnam, Cambodia enhance coordination in drug fight Representatives from Border Liaison Offices (BLO) of Vietnam and Cambodia gathered at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on November 22 to discuss measures promoting cooperation in combating cross-border drug crimes in the coming time. The conference, the third of its kind, aimed to review cooperation among the two countries’ BLOs in the work. Addressing the event, Lt. Gen. Dong Dai Loc, Deputy General Director of General Directorate of Vietnam Police under the Ministry of Public Security appreciated close coordination between the two countries’ relevant agencies in the fight against drugs in recent times. The two countries will intensify campaigns to combat drug crimes along the two countries’ border line, while promoting connection to break down drug trafficking rings operating between Vietnam and Cambodia, he stressed. Lt. Gen. Mok Chito, Deputy Chief of the General Department of the National Police of Cambodia said Cambodia’s drug fighting forces will enhance coordination with Vietnam through BLOs, thus supporting task forces in the work. According to the General Directorate of Vietnam Police under the Ministry of Public Security, drug trafficking along the Vietnam-Cambodia border line still remains complicated as the drug is transported to HCM City through border gates or by waterway. Notably, a number of cocaine and methamphetamine transportation cases by postal service have been discovered. Through sharing information between BLOs, police and border guard forces and customs of Vietnam’s southern Tay Ninh province and Cambodia’s authoritised agencies jointly worked to detect three cases of drug transport, seizing six packages of heroin, one kg of methamphetamine , 2,500 synthetic drug pills and 250 gram of cocaine. Agency wants cashless toll payments The Directorate for Roads of Vietnam (DRVN) has asked the Ministry of Transport for permission to test cashless toll collection on one-stop toll highways. In a document sent to the ministry, the DRVN said that there were more than 100 fee collection stations in the country. Of which, 86 were under the ministry’s management and 15 were under local authorities’ management. Currently, the ministry has applied electronic fee collections for 37 tolls along the National Highway No1A and Ho Chi Minh Highway. An electronic toll collection station determined whether vehicles are enrolled in the programme, alerted toll collectors about those that were not, and electronically debits the accounts of registered car owners without requiring them to stop. Vehicles would be equipped with a tag on the windshield with information to be read by the station’s sensor. Those without the tag would have to stop and pay manually. The ministry plans to replace toll booth operators with electronic collection systems. The move aims to reduce traffic jams and delays at toll gates and cut costs. According to the ministry, in many countries, electronic fee tolls and manual fee tolls are used on the same highway. It said vehicles would pay via prepaid Card of State-owned VietinBank. VietinBank would be assigned to install the pre-paid card system as a trial on one-stop toll highways. The model will be implemented from now on until the end of this year. National Highway No1A connects Lang Son and Ca Mau, running more than 2,300km through 32 cities and provinces, while the Ho Chi Minh Highway runs along the west of the country, connecting Cao Bang and Ca Mau via the Central Highlands with a total length of 3,167km. Phu Tho hosts ceremony honouring outstanding prestigious people A ceremony will be held in Viet Tri city, the northern midland province of Phu Tho on December 4 to honour outstanding prestigious people in the northwestern region, said the organising board at a press conference on November 22 in Hanoi. The event will see 547 people representing 22,529 highly accredited people from 14 regional provinces. They are in different ages, from different sectors, ethnic groups and are working in various areas of the social life from public servants to farmers and workers.  They have made excellent achievements in implementing policies of the Party and State as well as in socio-economic development, while actively engaging in the building of the Party and government as well as organisations, which is recognised by their family and the community. According to deputy head of the Steering Committee for Northwestern Region Hoang Thi Hanh, the event aims to affirm the position and role of the region in the country’s strategy, while creating a chance for outstanding and prestigious people to meet and share information. It also contributes to popularise the Party and State’s policies to promote the role of prestigious people in national construction and defence, creating favourable conditions for them to contribute and participate in socio-economic development activities, ensuring defence and security in their locality. Special exhibition on Con Moong cave, nearby relic sites   The US$450-million system is much faster than the Asia America Gateway, which the country has relied on over the past years. Internet users in Vietnam should expect faster speed soon as a new undersea cable connecting the country with neighbors in the Asia-Pacific region has been completed. NEC, a Japanese IT corporation, last week announced that it has finished construction of the Asia Pacific Gateway Submarine Cable linking Japan with Hong Kong, Mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The cable, with a total length of around 10,900 kilometers, will go through Vietnam’s central city of Da Nang. It features 100 Gigabit per second (Gbps) optical transmission capabilities that deliver a capacity of more than 54 Tbps, which is much faster than the 2.88 Tbps speed of the Asia America Gateway (AAG), the notorious rupture-prone system that connects Vietnam and the US. slow no more? new undersea cable ready to boost vietnam's internet speed hinh 0 Vietnam’s two biggest telecom companies Viettel and the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group are among the 13 investors of the new cable. The military-run Viettel, which funded more than half of the $450-million cable, has also invested in another 25,000-kilometer cable connecting Vietnam with Europe. The Asia Africa Euro 1 is scheduled to go into operation this year too. Vietnamese service providers have been trying to ease their reliance on the AAG. The 20,000-kilometer system, installed in 2009, has broken or been shut down for maintenance many times since 2011. In 2015, the cable ruptured three times while in 2014, it went down twice. This year local users also bemoaned slow connection to international services when the cable broke down in August and then went through a maintenance period in September. Nearly 49 million people, more than half of Vietnam’s population of 90 million, are online. Cruise ship SuperStar Virgo docks at Phu My Port Saigontourist Travel Service on November 22 received more than 1,000 foreign tourists on the SuperStar Virgo cruise ship that docked at Phu My port, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province. Accordingly, the travellers who come from China, Austria, Australia, and Canada moved to Ho Chi Minh City on November 23 to tour historical sites, go shopping in Ben Thanh market, enjoy a water puppetry show in the city centre, and walk around Nguyen Hue pedestrian street. In the afternoon, SuperStar Virgo left Phu My Port to dock at Cam Ranh International Port. In Nha Trang, the visitors visited the Po Nagar Cham Towers, discovered Vinpearl Land, dove in Hon Tam and Hon Mun, tasted delicious food and explored traditional handicraft villages. The cruise ship left Cam Ranh Port at 10p.m on the same day for other Asian countries. In November alone, Saigontourist received 8,000 passengers on Superstar Virgo. Saigontourist said Superstar Virgo holds the mantle for largest passenger cruise ship, having replaced Royal Caribbean International’s Legends of the Seas for the top spot.  It is 4.34 metres longer and weighs 5866 tons more than the Legend with two extra decks and carries more than 700 extra passengers (2800) at a maximum capacity almost doubling the crew (1300). VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri/VNE