Addressing the opening ceremony of the gala night, Trong thanked the Indian Government for helping Vietnam ’s relevant agencies to organise the programme.

NA Chairman Trong expressed his delight at the development of Vietnam-India relationship and the increasing exchange among the two countries’ businesses.

Both sides should enhance trade and investment promotion and exchanges in order to raise multi-faceted cooperative ties on a par with the two countries’ potentials and meeting the two peoples’ desires and mutual benefits, said the top legislative leader.

He said he hoped the programme will have a significant role in accelerating the two countries’ exchange and cooperation.

The current visit to India by the Vietnamese NA’s delegation aims to convey an important message “Vietnam will exert its efforts to create a transparent environment for both countries’ investors and business people to conduct their business, contributing to boosting the development of the Vietnam-India traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation and strategic partnership for ‘mutual, our and your benefits’,” stressed the NA leader.

The programme, which is being held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Vietnamese embassy in India , relevant ministries and agencies in New Delhi and Bangalore , will last until Feb. 27.

It includes a tourism-trade forum, a trade promotion forum and a photo exhibition and films on Vietnam ’s land, people and development achievements.
Traditional folk music and dance performances, “ao dai” traditional dress show and Vietnam ’s cuisine demonstrations will be held during the programme.-Enditem
      
Journey through history with antique sword
     
Hanoi (VNA) -- An exhibition of 99 ancient swords recently opened in Hanoi , offering visitors a chance to learn more about history’s most popular weapon.

The swords were selected from the private 300-sword collection owned by collector Duong Phu Hien.

Four generations of Hien’s family have maintained and added to the collection. “By collecting and preserving ancient Vietnamese artefacts, especially those relating to the defence of our nation, every member of my family has demonstrated their love for the country,” Hien said.

The exhibition features a large array of swords, including 37 that were made in Vietnam . The others came from different countries, including China , Japan , and the UK .

Each scabbard is decorated with unique and sophisticated patterns, including typical ancient royal Vietnamese designs like pine trees, daisies, bamboo, apricots and dragons.

Hien said almost all of the Vietnamese swords in his collection date from three centuries ago.

The collector was visibly filled with pride when he talked about one of his rare Samurai sword, which is considered as one of the “stars” of the exhibition. The 2.02m-long and 18kg sword is the biggest and longest in his collection.

According to Hien, the 18 th century sword was made out of very special steel. “A very complicated refining technique was necessary to create such a long sword. For this reason, long swords were very rare,” he said.

The valuable collection also includes a bayonet with a solid golden handle, two 17 th -century royal swords covered with Han Chinese characters, and a 1,500-year-old Cham sword.

Historian Duong Trung Quoc said: “The unique sword collection has a historical value which is much more significant than its material value.”

American visitor Brian Brousseau said the exhibition was “beautiful and interesting”. However, he added that the displays needed to be more organised because “it is difficult for people to know detailed information, such as which swords were made in Vietnam ”.

A limited number of informational captions about the history of each sword disappointed another Vietnamese visitor.

“All I can do is look at the swords and admire them, but there are no stories to go alongside the experience,” said Thanh Ha.

However, she was still interested in taking the time to enjoy the exhibit.

“Before I only knew about swords from TV, movies and the theatre, which are usually all the same. Here I see that there are many differences in their shapes and decorations,” she said.

The exhibition also includes five bronze drums from the Dong Son civilisation which date back to 3,000 years ago.

The exhibition will last until the end of May at the Museum of Military History , 28A Dien Bien Phu Street , Hanoi .-Enditem   
 
Government approves Bien Hoa City growth
 
Dong Nai (VNA) – Authorities of Dong Nai province said the southern province has received approval from the Government to expand its capital, Bien Hoa City by more than 26,400 ha and 284,000 residents.

Under the expansion projects, Bien Hoa City will include the communes of An Hoa, Long Hung, Phuoc Tan and Tam Phuong, which cover 10,899 ha with more than 92,000 residents in total. The communes are presently located in Long Thanh district.-Enditem
 
Indonesian expats grant wheelchairs to war-era victims
     
HCM City (VNA)- The Indonesian General Consulate to Ho Chi Minh City held a ceremony on February 25 to hand over 100 wheelchairs to the municipal Association of Agent Orange Victims.

Acting General Consul Dalton Sembiring said these wheelchairs were gifts from the Indonesian community in the southern economic hub of Vietnam .

Stella Sutina, whose husband is working in Vietnam , launched a wheelchair donation campaign after witnessing sufferings by Agent Orange victims in Vietnam .

Although the war has ended a long time ago, their nightmare consequences still live on, affecting younger generations of the Vietnamese people, the kind-hearted Indonesian woman said in explanation of her action that was strongly supported by the Indonesian community in HCM City .

She promised that she would make greater efforts to push up the programme back home to alleviate the plight of Vietnamese Agent Orange victims.

An AO-affected child, Vuong Lai Thuan, in district 1, said in tears that “This is a very practical gift for such disabled Agent Orange victims like me”.

Major General Tran Ngoc Pho, President of the municipal Association of Agent Orange Victims, welcomed the donation as further evidence of traditional relations between Vietnam and Indonesia .

It was the second charity movement launched by the Indonesian community in Vietnam in 2010.

On January 24, they waged a blood donation campaign, drawing 50 volunteer donors from their community.--Enditem
  
Vietnam hosts 2010 Int’l exhibition for young inventors
     
Hanoi (VNA) – Between 30-40 countries and territories will attend the seventh International Exhibition for Young Inventors (IEYI) slated for the end of the year in Hanoi .

The Vietnam Fund for Supporting Technological Creations (Vifotec) of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations on Feb. 25 said that Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan will be honorary President of the IEYI National Steering Committee.

The annual event was first held in Japan and then in Malaysia , the Republic of Korea , India , Taiwan and Nigeria.-Enditem   
 
Conference members advocate alternative medicine

HCM City (VNA) – The benefits of complementary and alternative medicine in serving public health were highlighted by experts at a conference held in HCM City on Feb. 24.

At the conference held by the UNESCI Centre for Public Health, they said this branch of medicine, a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not generally considered part of conventional
medicine, give patients more health care choices.

Alternative medicine has also become popular in industrially advanced countries including the US , they noted.

A survey conducted by the National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the US found 74.6 percent of its residents used complementary and alternative medicine therapies and 54.9 percent used it in conjunction with western medicine.

Most of them use the complementary and alternative medicine to treat and prevent problems involving their joints.

Another study conducted by the Health Forum under the American Hospitals Association also showed that many hospitals in the US are providing complementary and alternative medicine therapies to meet patients’ demands.

In 2008, 37 percent of hospitals in the US used these therapies, an increase of 26.5 percent over 2005.

Complementary and alternative medicine has been applied widely in Canada , the UK , Ireland , France , Germany and Australia , the conference heard.

Experts at the conference also noted that “Universal Energy”, one of the complementary and alternative medicine therapies, has also been applied in other fields including agriculture in Vietnam in order to limit the use of chemical fertilisers and insecticides to protect farmers’ health as well as the natural environment.-Enditem
     
Vietnamese English teacher takes prize
     
Ben Tre (VNA) – An English teacher at Tan Hao Secondary School in southern Ben Tre province was one of five winners world-wide in an English for schools competition held by the UK ’s Cambridge University .

Le Xuan Hang, of Giong Trom district, was among 2,000 teachers world-wide who wrote a 150-word essay on how a teacher development course in Cambridge would benefit them and their students.

As port of the prize Hang will attend a two-week teachers’ training course at Cambridge University in July.-Enditem
      
Tougher controls on taxis’ “must remain”
     
Hanoi (VNA) – Tightening controls over taxi operations in the capital is vital to stopping the massive boom that has caused traffic and service problems across the city, according to the HanoiDepartment of Transport deputy director, Nguyen Hoang Linh.

Linh made the comment over the taxi businesses’ opposition to the department’s proposal that no new licences would be granted until after March.

“Currently, there are more than 12,000 taxis running in the capital’snine inner districts. This means that about 20 taxis operate in each square kilometre, on average,” Linh said.

Nearly 300 taxis are estimated to start operating each month, not to mention the replacement of 4,000 old cars last year alone.

Linh said that 80 percent of the 14,000 taxi drivers in Hanoi are from surrounding provinces. Due to a shortage of drivers, many businesses hire under-age drivers or drivers without licences.

Thus, violations such as scrambling for clients, speeding, parking cars in prohibited areas or wearing well-known taxi firms’ uniforms to cheat passengers have become commonplace. Statistics from the department show that more than 5,000 violations were found last year. Nearly 260 taxis were seized and fines were up to 1.1 billion VND (57,800 USD).

“New regulations will require taxi companies to meet compulsory trade conditions, such as owning a certain number of cars and improving the quality of cars once they are approved,” Linh said.

He said that the department would try to keep the proposal not to increase the number of taxis.-Enditem
 
BUSINESS
 
EVN plans new power plant projects
     
HCM City (VNA) -- National power utility Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) has said it would generate an additional 2,000 MW from new hydro-power and thermal projects this year.

These projects include Banve, Srepok 3, Dongnai, An Khe-Kanak, the first turbine group of the Son La hydropower plant, and the second turbine groups of the Quang Ninh and Hai Phong thermal power plants.

EVN will also complete the transmission grid for Hanoi , a 500-KV transformer station for Pleiku and speed up other transmission projects in the Center Highlands and southern regions to ensure stable power supplies after 2012.

Furthermore, the group will also provide power to remote ethnic minority hamlets in five Central Highlands provinces, for the Khmer people in southern provinces of Soctrang and Travinh, and for poor households in the two northernmost provinces of Dien Bien and Lai Chau.

The Phu Quoc Island in the southern province of Kien Giang will soon be linked to the national grid through the 110-KV undersea cable system.
The northern province of Son La and southern province of Bac Lieu will get 85 percent financial support from State budget to build electricity grids to reach out remote and ethnic minority areas.

The Saigon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon Daily) has quoted the corporation as saying it will also submit to the government a report on investment in nuclear power and other plans for the national power grid in the 2008-15 period.

This year, EVN will start constructing six more thermal and hydropower plants with a total capacity of 5,356 MW and prepare for four other projects capable of generating 2,760 MW that will begin construction next year.-Enditem  
 
Tourists to enjoy discounts in this year’s low season
     
Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has issued a draft programme on tourism promotion in 2010, emphasising discounts for tourists in the low season.

Under the draft, the programme is scheduled for two months from August to September or from September to October in Hanoi , Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City . Local individuals and organisation participating in the two promotion months are expected to offer discounts of up to 70 percent.

The tourism sector also encourage travel agents, hotels, restaurants, tourist sites and entertainment and shopping centres reduce prices by up to 30 percent for groups of domestic tourists in the low season.

The VNAT will work together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Trade Promotion Department and Vietnam Airlines to conduct this year’s programme named “Vietnam – Your Destination”, which followed the 2009 “Impressive Vietnam” programme.

The draft is collecting comments from tourist agencies and businesses nationwide and will be passed in the first quarter of this year.

In addition, the tourism sector will launch two major programmes to attract more foreign tourists in 2010, the “Friendly smiles” campaign and the encouragement of more than three million Vietnamese expatriates to promote Vietnam tourism. According to Vu The Binh, Head of the VNAT Travel Department, the sector’s survey showed that more than 80 percent of foreign tourists come to Vietnam at the recommendations of relatives and friends.-Enditem 
 
Markets send mixed signals at unchanged rate
     
Hanoi (VNA) -- The VN-Index closed nearly unchanged Feb. 25 at 494.99 points, as investors in HCM Stock Exchange reacted with mixed feeling to the news that the State Bank of Vietnam keeps the prime rate unchanged at 8 percent for March.

The value of the day’s trades on the southern bourse remained meagre, at 1.2 trillion VND (65 million USD) on a volume of nearly 28 million shares. Gainers outnumbered losers by 84-64, while Sacombank (STB) led trading with over 2.26 million shares changing hands.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index closed off 0.28 percent after Feb. 24’s surprising gains, ending Feb.25’s session at 162.32 points.

Trading value rose by over 10 percent on the day but remained meagre, at about 413.5 billion VND (21.6 million USD), while the total volume of trades grew to 13 million shares. Gainers on the northern bourse, however, outweighed losers by 138-63. Kim Long Securities Co (KLS) was once again the most active share on the northern bourse with 3.87 billion shares sold.
Commenting on the contrasting moves on the two bourses, Hoa Binh Securities Co deputy director Nguyen Huy Duong said the difference was not clear and significant.

“Although the HNX-Index lost value while the VN-Index was flat, over half of the codes on the northern market posted gains,” said Duong, noting, in particular, that most of the blue chips in Hanoi were gainers, including KLS, PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) and Vinaconex (VCG).

“The Government’s decision to stand firm on economic policies, focusing on stability and controlling inflation, are partly calming investors,” he added.

“In addition, stable developments on global markets have also reassured investors and prevented domestic indices from falling steeply.”

Foreign investors concluded the day as net sellers on the HCM City bourse, selling a net 3.5 million shares worth over 92 billion VND (4.8 million USD), their largest single-day unloading of shares so far this year.
Meanwhile, they returned to being net buyers on the Hanoi market by a net value of 5.5 billion VND (287,958 USD).  
 
Vietnam Airlines increases flights to Japan
 
Tokyo (VNA) – The national-flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines, will increase weekly flights between Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City to Japan’s Tokyo to 14 from the current seven, meeting rising demand of Japanese tourists during summer.

The new flights will depart from Tan Son Nhat airport in HCM City at 6:05 am and land at Tokyo’s Narita airport at 13:50 everyday from March 28, the airline’s representative office in Japan said, adding that vice versa, new flights will take off from Narita airport at 19:00 and arrive in Tan Son Nhat airport at 23:00 the same day.

The new flights will be operated with aircraft Airbus A321-200 with 168 seats for the economic class and 16 business class seats.

The airline will also increase the number of flights on the Hanoi-Osaka route to seven from five a week from July 1 in anticipation of increasing demand as the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi is approaching.

With the latest addition of flights to Hanoi and HCM City, Vietnam Airlines will operate a total of 43 flights a week from Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat international airports to four Japanese cities of Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka, accounting for over 50 percent of the aviation market from Japan to Vietnam.

Veitnam will also open the Hanoi-Yangon ( Myanmar ) service on Mar. 2, turning Vietnam into a convenient transit point in Southeast Asia.-Enditem
 
Tourism targets ASEAN markets
     
Hanoi (VNA)- The hospitality industry is to launch a promotion campaign in Thailand , Singapore and Malaysia from February 28 to March 6, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

The move will focus on Hanoi ’s image with its millennium culture, covering sites of tourist interests that range from natural heritages to traditional crafts villages. Hanoi City tours are expected to satisfy foreign tourists with the ancient city’s rich folk arts and food specialties.

The campaign is co-sponsored by the VNAT, the Vietnam Airlines, Vietnamese embassies in the three countries and national tourist administrations with the participation of over 20 leading travel agents from Vietnam .

Thailand , Singapore and Malaysia into Vietnam held the lead the number of visitors to Vietnam in 2009.

The campaign is part of a national orientation themed “ASEAN-10 member countries-a destination” launched by the VNAT to meet its yearly target of 4.2 million foreign arrivals or an increase of 10.52 percent year on year.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is comprised of Brunei , Cambodia , Laos , Indonesia , Myanmar and the Philippines plus the above-mentioned three countries and Vietnam.--Enditem