A Japanese boat with around 1,000 visitors on board called at the central Da Nang city on November 9 for a two-day stopover during its 55th Global Voyage for Peace.

A poster exhibition on APEC Vietnam 2006 opened in Hanoi on November 9.

Vietnam and China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region signed a cultural cooperation document on November 9 to pave the way for the two sides’ cultural exchanges.

A book on Vietnam's 20th century photography made its debut in Hanoi on November 9.

The Asia Cultural Cooperation Forum is an event of great significance for cooperation within culture and cultural industries, said Minister of Culture and Information Le Doan Hop on November 9.

Bronze casting workers in Tra Dong craft village in northern Thanh Hoa province on November 7 successfully cast the largest replica of the ancient Ngoc Lu kettledrum in Vietnam.

An art exhibition entitled "Thirteen visions from Japan" opened in Hanoi on November 8 with 156 artistic photos and 56 paintings which reflect the beauty of Japanese and Vietnamese people.

Vietnamese artists have prepared many art programmes to welcome the upcoming APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, including an art performance at the "Gala Dinner," an international music show to salute APEC Vietnam 2006 and the "Friendship Bridge" music programme.

The Ministry of Education and Training has announced its plan to select 50 students to study abroad under a State-funded project to train scientists and technicians.

The Swedish-Vietnamese Culture Fund has presented 12 sets of gongs worth VND100 million to the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, according to the provincial Department of Culture and Information.

The French Culture Centre L'Espace screened a famous documentary film by director William Karel to begin its sixth documentary film month in Hanoi on November 6.

A fund for regional and ethnic culture has been jointly set up by the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, the Ministry of Culture and Information and the Danish Embassy in Vietnam.

Khmer ethnic minority people in the Mekong Delta jubilantly celebrated their traditional full-moon (Ok Om Bok) festival on November 5.

An exhibition on the image of APEC and Vietnamese cultural heritage will be held in Hanoi from November 14-23. More than 100 photos featuring the 21 APEC member economies will give visitors an insight into the land and people of the APEC member economies.

The Central Highlands province of Dak Nong held the first competition of gongs and musical instruments of ethnic groups from November 2-4 with the participation of 100 players of M'Nong, E'De, STieng and Chau Ma groups.

A 22-member delegation of the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) visited the Republic of Korea from October 30-November 3 to share experience in educational development and personnel training.

The Prime Minister has approved a project to build a National History Museum based on the current Revolution and History Museums.

Directors and more than 100 scientists and educators of Beijing University, Seoul National University, the University of Tokyo and Hanoi National University attended the 8th annual forum of the four representative East Asian universities (BESETOHA) in Hanoi on November 3.

Hanoi will host a cultural festival on November 5 to welcome the 14th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and Vietnam’s WTO accession.

The Ministry of Education and Training held a ceremony on November 2 to honour and award Vietnamese students who attended International Olympic competitions in 2006.

Vietnamese-American woman photographer Liza Nguyen will introduce renowned places she came to see during the past two resistance wars such as Dien Bien Phu, My Lai, Khe Sanh, Hue, Cu Chi and Saigon.

A conference was held in the Central Highlands city of Da Lat on November 1 to discuss measures to compile and revise curricula and textbooks for teaching nine major ethnic minority languages in the Central Highlands.

The National Orchestra of the Republic of Korea (RoK) will perform in a concert at the Hanoi Opera House on November 3 together with Vietnamese pop singer Thanh Lam to salute the upcoming APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting.

French Ambassador to Vietnam Jean-Francois Blarel on October 31 awarded the French Medal for Art and Letters (Chevalier des Arts et des Letters) to well-known Vietnamese choreographer Nguyen Cong Nhac.

The first three volumes of the Encyclopaedia of Hanoi were made public on October 31. The book's editors hope to receive public recommendations in order to continue completing the remaining 15 volumes of the encyclopaedia.

The Vietnamese feature film "Chuyen Cua Pao" (Pao's Story), which won four Golden Kite awards at the Vietnam National Film Festival early this year, was screened in New York, the US, for the first time on October 30.

The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) has made nine suggestions concerning bilateral cooperation between Vietnamese universities with research institutes and universities from the state of Hessen in Germany.

The 2006 Ok Om Bok Festival Fair opened in the Mekong delta province of Soc Trang on October 30 to mark a festive week for local Khmer ethnic people.

Germany’s broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) coordinated with Radio Voice of Vietnam (VOV) to run an online journalism workshop from October 17-27 in the northern province of Ha Nam.

An exhibition entitled “APEC image and Vietnamese cultural heritages” will be held in Hanoi from November 14-23 at the initiative of Vietnam, which will play host to the APEC Summit in the Capital City.