Construction of a Vietnamese-funded television and radio station has begun recently in the northern Lao province of Luang Prabang.

Radio Voice of Vietnam (VOV) in coordination with the National Committee for ASEAN launched a contest titled” An ASEAN Community of Solidarity and Prosperity” in Hanoi on January 8.

A project to build a radio-television station in the northern Lao province of Louangphabang got underway on January 8.

The committee of Ethnic Minorities is now building a socio-economic development project for four ethnic groups including the Mang, the La Hu, the Cong and the Co Lao in the three northern mountain provinces of Dien Bien, Lai Chau and Ha Giang.  

US academics, scientists and war veterans examined the adverse effects of Agent Orange/dioxin on people’s health and the environment at a workshop in Washington DC on January 7.

The Department of Preventive Medicine and the Environment has forecast that many epidemics will continue to spread far and wide in 2010, especially during winter and spring, Dr Nguyen Huy Nga, head of the agency under the Health Ministry said during an interview granted to VOV.

The German Government on January 7 granted donations worth about US$88,000 to Vietnamese victims of tropical storm Mirinae.

Vietnam strives to achieve the national goal of primary education universalisation for children in all provinces and cities by 2015.

The Prime Minister has approved a rural cultural development plan until 2015 with a view to 2020.

The Vietnam Red Cross (VRC) and the National Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation will encourage at least 192,000 people to donate 136,600 units of blood to provide adequate supplies during the upcoming Lunar New Year festival, said VRC Chairman Tran Ngoc Tang at a conference in Hanoi on January 6.  

Government inspectors uncovered the misuse of more than VND27 trillion, 11,300 sq. m of housing and 2,700 ha of land from more than 60,000 inspections conducted in 2009.

The Republic of Korea (RoK) government has approved an official development assistance (ODA) programme for Vietnam, which includes the construction of a 500-bed hospital, according to the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

About 12,000 people will participate in a charity walk for the poor in Ho Chi Minh City on January 10, said the event organisers at a press conference on January 6.

Foot and mouth disease is currently spreading in Muong Te district in the northern province of Lai Chau.

The Minister of Health Nguyen Quoc Trieu has approved a plan to launch an A/H1N1 vaccination campaign in February 2010.

Bird flu has broken out again in the southern-most province of Ca Mau, a local official confirmed on January 5.

Young Vietnamese people from 11 venues in foreign countries such as China, Russia, Japan, Singapore and the Czech Republic will join their counterparts in Vietnam in an online exchange starting at 1.30pm (Vietnam Time) on Wednesday.

The Hanoi Science and Technology University which is jointly funded by the Vietnamese and French governments will open this September.

The project management unit (PMU) and Japan’s Nikken Sekkei signed a contract on Jan. 5 to provide consultancy services for the building and designing of the National History Museum in Hanoi.

The World Bank (WB) on Jan. 5 launched the Vietnam Innovation Day (VID) programme to seek innovative ideas from local communities to deal with climate change.

The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs officially started a project on January 5 to empower Vietnamese women who take long-term assignments as guest workers in other countries.

The Vietnam Red Cross (VNRC) on January 5 commenced delivery of 2,100 tonnes of rice to people in 10 provinces that were affected by natural disasters in 2009.  

Vietnamese, US and Japanese charitable organisations will continue to team up to build around 20 small-sized schools for disadvantaged areas in Vietnam in 2010.

The government has approved a series of projects to develop the Information Technology (IT) sector on large-scale in 2010.  

A group of US war veterans will visit Vietnam from January 11-17 to help the country deal with the problem of hundred thousands of unexploded land mines and ordnance that remains from the war and has killed and wounded thousands, including many children.

The first Golden Cashew Nut Festival will be held in Binh Phuoc province from March 20-23 at a total cost of VND15 billion.

The Thua Thien-Hue provincial People’s Committee has received a foreign-funded project to build a preservation zone for Sao La deer (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) and other endemic cloven-hoofed animals.

Almost 100 international scholars from 32 countries worldwide will gather in Hanoi from January 6-8 for a workshop held by the International Society of Markets and Development (ISMD).

The State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese said that it will organise a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Day President Ho Chi Minh came to the northern port city of Hai Phong in conjunction with overseas Vietnamese returning to the port city on January 10.