A four-day international expo on energy efficiency and the environment opened at Giang Vo Fair and Exhibition Centre in Hanoi on May 27, attracting 150 domestic and foreign firms, including many from the Republic of Korea, China, India and Taiwan.  

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong has urged relevant ministries and agencies to enhance research capacity and transfer of scientific-technological application to develop agriculture and rural economy in the northwestern region.

Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) has officially invited leaders from regional and international media agencies to attend the 8th Asia Media Conference scheduled to be held in Hanoi in May 2011.

To respond to the 2010 programme to stimulate the tourist industry, “Vietnam-Your Destination,” initiated by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, HCM City’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will organise and encourage a range of events to attract domestic and foreign tourists.

A symposium on boosting public-private cooperation in the health sector opened in Hanoi on May 26 with the participation of 500 representatives of hospitals, businesses and investors in Vietnam and other countries. 

The Red River Delta province of Bac Ninh on May 26 inaugurated six works designed to treat exhaust fumes discharged from non-ferrous recycling furnaces. 

Ministry officials and representatives from United Nations agencies gathered in Hanoi on May 25 to discuss targets of the national poverty reduction programme for the next ten years.

A conference was held in Hanoi on May 26 by the Ministry of Labour and War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) to implement the Government’s action programme on women-related work in the process of national industrialisation and modernisation.

The embassy of Italy in Hanoi organised a seminar on clean energy in urban areas on May 26 as part of activities to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

Dang An Binh from Vietnam has won a bronze medal at the 2010 ASEAN Skills Competition in Malaysia.

Two non-government organisations (NGOs), Bread for the World and Agricultural Development Denmark Asia – ADDA, have committed over US$14 million for poverty reduction projects in Vietnam until 2014. 

The World Bank (WB) will loan Vietnam US$688 million to carry out five projects in poverty reduction, health, energy and environmental sanitation.

Hundreds of scientists, administrators and Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin victims attended a forum to exchange experiences of rehabilitation for victims of toxic chemicals in Hanoi on May 25. 

Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Vu Trong Kim on May 25 visited Most Venerable Thich Pho Tue, Patriarch of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha’s Patronage Council, at Giang pagoda in Phu Xuyen district, Hanoi, on the occasion of the Buddha’s 2554th birthday.

The France-Vietnam Friendship Association is organizing an exhibition at the Saint Laurent Cultural Centre in Verneuil-sur-Avre to introduce Vietnamese culture to rural France.

The Second ASEAN Human Resources Conference entitled ‘Human resources for economic recovery and sustainable development’ started in Hanoi on May 25 as part of the 21st ASEAN Labour Ministers’ Meeting.

Malaysia will continue to welcome Vietnamese workers into the country in the future and will do its best to ensure their safety.

A 31 km-long caved called Thien Duong (Heaven) recently found in Bo Trach district, Quang Binh province, has been considered a new record for the country, reported the Saigon Giai Phong daily newspaper on May 24.

All helmets sold in Vietnam must bear a new CR quality seal from July 1, announced the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST).

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked relevant ministries and provinces to organise anti-drug campaign from June 1-30.

Australian Fred Hollows Foundation has provided nearly US$440,000 for a blindness prevention project which will be carried out over the next two years.

The Central Eye Hospital has reported that up to 23,000 children in the country are blind in both eyes and half of these cases could have been prevented.

A campaign was launched in Hanoi on May 22 for composers to write songs on the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).

A total of seventy individuals and organisations winning the 39th Universal Postal Union (UPU) International Letter-Writing Competition were honoured at a ceremony in Hanoi on May 21.

An international seminar on preserving forest biodiversity is being held in Ba Vi, Hanoi on May 21-22, as part of activities in the UN International Year for Biodiversity 2010.  

The third “Vietnam Humanity” national awards ceremony was organised in Hanoi on May 22.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) will help Vietnam develop a sustainable, environmentally friendly rattan industry by 2011.

A workshop on sharing experiences coping with climate change was held in the central city of Da Nang on May 21 as part of the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) project funded by the US Rockefeller Foundation.

State President Nguyen Minh Triet has sent a letter to people throughout the country on the Traditional Day for Natural Disaster Control and Mitigation, May 22 in Vietnam.

The northern mountainous province of Dien Bien on May 21 reburied the remains of six unidentified Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who fell in Laos.