The Saigontourist Travel Service Company received as many as 10,000 visitors registered for MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) in November alone, equivalent to 25 percent of the total number of MICE visitors to Vietnam in the first 10 months of 2009.  

The 5th International Odonto-Maxillo-Facial Conference and Expo was held in Hanoi on November 25 with the participation of more than 1,000 Vietnamese and foreign professors and doctors.

“The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the law on gender equality in Vietnam” was the theme of a seminar held in Hanoi on November 24.

The Japanese Government will support the Hanoi University of Industry’s efforts to develop human resources to meet Vietnam’s growing demand.

Vietnam has well controlled the spread of HIV/AIDS among drug users and raised public awareness of reducing discrimination against people suffering from the disease.

Vietnam’s healthcare policy always gives priority to mountainous areas and regions inhabited by ethnic minority people, affirmed a health official.

The Vietnam Catholic Church launched 2010 Episcopalian Church Year in Thanh Liem district, Ha Nam province on November 23, in the presence of Cardinal Rorge Etchegaray, Vice-Dean of the College of Cardinals of the Vatican and Archbishop Pham Minh Man, President of the 2010 Episcopal Church Year Committee.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) on November 23 held a forum to call on international support to cope with climate change in the agricultural sector.

How to ensure standards of output training for students and pupils and increase the level of self-control for educational establishments are matters of great concern to universities when planning for the 2009-2010 academic year.

Construction work on a Protestant church, the first of its kind in the Central Highland province of Dak Nong, was finished on November 23 to provide services for nearly 1,000 followers, said Pastor Y Dier, Head of the Dak Nong Protestant Representative Board.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has agreed that Vietnam will host the 46 International Chemistry Olympiad in 2014.

Ho Chi Minh City and the Czech Republic’s second biggest city of Brno need to establish ties of cooperation, said Jiří Liška, Vice-Chairman of Czech’s Senate in a meeting with the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee’s chairman Pham Phuong Thao.  

A national conference was held in the central city of Hue on Nov. 23 to increase the commitment of religious followers to fighting HIV/AIDS.

A forum of the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) Network of Local Governments for Sustainable Coastal Development (PNLG) was held in Bataan city, the Philippines on November 21.

The first Meeting of Overseas Vietnamese concluded on November 23 with a host of practical proposals aimed at making a breakthrough in Overseas Vietnamese-related activity.

According to the Department for Preventive Medicine and the Environment under the Ministry of Health, around 1.2 million dozes of A/H1N1 vaccine donated by the World Bank (WB) will arrive in Vietnam next month.

Ho Chi Minh City are joining efforts with An Giang and Kien Giang provinces to launch a tourism investment promotion programme along with Cambodia’s Sihanoukville and capital PhnomPenh on December 7-9, according to the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Women's Union, has praised the role of overseas Vietnamese, especially the female in contributing to the country’s development and boosting the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and other countries.

More than 350 youth delegates have gathered in Hanoi for the Hanoi Youth Union’s Congress for (the 2009-2014 term) on Nov. 22.

More than 5,000 young Vietnamese and foreigners took part in the 2009 Terry Fox Run around Thien Quang lake in Hanoi on Nov. 22 to support poor child patients.

The increasing number of children with school-related diseases has greatly affected their ability to learn as well as their health due to a lack of school healthcare centres and medical workers.

The successful operation of International SOS, a medical service provider, has contributed to the socio-economic and healthcare development in Vietnam, said Minister of Health Nguyen Quoc.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) will freely supply over 2,100 tonnes of crop seeds to farmers in storm-hit provinces.

A plasma laboratory has been built at Danang University with the funding of France’s Joseph Fourier University.

A humanitarian blood donation programme was launched in HCM City on November 21 by Prudential Vietnam Life Insurance Company, the Central Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, and the Vietnam Red Cross.  

The United Nations has called on Vietnam to set up strategies on the development and management of teachers to provide enough qualified and devoted instructors for remote areas to meet the national target the universalisation of junior secondary education by 2010.

Vietnam has made a presentation on mitigating the damage caused by disasters at the 17th session of the General Assembly of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) which is being held in Nairobi, Kenya, from November 18-25.

Vietnam will officially become the sixth member of the Asian Fashion Federation (AFF) at a ceremony in Hanoi on November 22.

Representatives from the central provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien - Hue and Quang Ngai, and a number of foreign embassies, and international organisations have discussed joint efforts to deal with unexploded bombs and mines (UXO).

The fund for Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVAF) debuted in Hanoi on November 20 to mobilize all social resources inside and outside Vietnam for taking care of and alleviating pain and suffering of the victims.