The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide Vietnam with a US$45 million loan for the Central Region Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project.

The fifth international workshop on information security (Security World 2010) will take place in Hanoi on March 23-24, according to a press briefing in Hanoi on February 2.

Ho Chi Minh City’s Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (IHBT) on February 2 put into operation the nation’s biggest blood bank with a total capacity of 300,000 units per year.

A cooperation programme will be implemented by Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) in 2010.

The French organization, Orange Fleurs D’Espoir, held a concert in the French city of Choisy le Roi on January 30 to raise funds for Vietnamese Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin victims.

Overseas Vietnamese in Belgium held a spring festival on January 30-31 to welcome the traditional lunar New Year (Tet).

Around 150 delegates gathered at a national seminar held in Hanoi on February 1 to discuss risk management in relation to natural disasters.

Many French friends and Vietnamese residents gathered at a meeting in Dreux City, 90km from Paris, on January 31 to celebrate the traditional Lunar New Year festival (Tet).

Hundreds of young Vietnamese people in Russia have been admitted to the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the campaign of studying and following late President Ho Chi Minh’s moral example has achieved many other positive results in this European country, according to Dang Huu Trung, Secretary of the Party Committee in Russia.

Thu Thiem bridge spanning the Saigon River in Ho Chi Minh City was open to traffic on January 31, helping reduce load for Saigon bridge and shorten travel time from Thu Duc district to the downtown.

The Association of Overseas Vietnamese in Cambodia has set up good relations with local authorities and won trust of the Vietnamese community in the country.

Forty-five people have been hospitalised for acute diarrhoea in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang, of whom seven tested positive for bacteria Vibrio cholera.

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) under the US Department of Health and Human Services has provided US$7.9 million to help Vietnam and other developing countries produce vaccines against influenza.

Provinces and cities across the country have carried out humanitarian programmes to ensure the poor and those exposed to Agent Orange/Dioxin will enjoy a happy lunar New Year (Tet).

Intel Semiconductor Inc. and the Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Group (VNPT) launched a programme entitled “Each Teacher – One Computer” in Ho Chi Minh City on January 29.

With more than 1 million people sent to work abroad during the past 30 years, labour export has become an important economic sector, contributing greatly to national development, says a government official.

A project funded by the Swedish Government has improved professional knowledge for nearly 3,000 journalists in Vietnam after a five-year implementation, said an official from the Ministry of Information and Communications.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the steering committee of the Vietnam-Sweden programme on strengthening environmental management and land administration (SEMLA) launched a website http//semla.monre.gov.vn, in Hanoi on January 29.

Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) Director General, Prof. Dr. Vu Van Hien on January 29 received Javad Mottaghi, Director of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), who is on a visit to Vietnam.

The Ministry of Health on January 29 confirmed one more victim of the A/H1N1 influenza in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh, raising the death toll from the disease in the country to 57.

A cold spell is forecast to affect the northern region on January 31, according to the National Hydro-meteorological Forecasting Centre.

The Red Cross in Central Highland Dak Lak province in 2009 raised over VND2 billion, including VND650 million from the Vietnam Red Cross Society, to aid Agent Organge (AO)/dioxin victims.

The French Red Cross (FRC) has committed roughly US$1.03 million in relief aid for storm victims in several central and Central Highlands provinces.

Social experts from Vietnam and Japan gathered in Hanoi on January 28 to discuss issues relating to inter-country marriages with Vietnamese women.

Research undertaken by women scientists has made an important contribution to the country’s renovation process, said a national committee on scientific prizes.

The Vietnam-Russia Friendship Association Chapter in Quang Nam province held a get-together on January 28 to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

A solemn ceremony was held in Do Luong district, Nghe An province on January 27 to rebury the remains of 120 Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who had died in Laos.

The 14th France-Vietnam Medical Day was observed in Ho Chi Minh City on January 27 with the participation of 500 French and Vietnamese professors and doctors.

Vietnam needs to have a proper legal framework if the country wants to achieve better gender equality, says Setsuko Yamazaki, UNDP Country Director in Vietnam.

The British Council and the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam (MoET) will inaugurate a bilingual website www.teachingenglish.edu.vn on February 5.