Military-run telecoms group Viettel earned VND1 trillion ($41.2 million) in pre-tax profits from its overseas investments in the first half of 2017, a massive jump of 156 percent from the same period last year. During the first six months, its revenue rose 25 percent to VND14 trillion with the highest growth recorded in Peru at 82 percent, followed by Burundi at 38 percent, East Timor at 29 percent and Haiti at 15 percent, according to a report reviewing Viettel’s overseas businesses in nine markets around the world. The positive results came from revenue generated by mobile phone services, especially new services such as 4G, e-wallets and large IT projects for governments and businesses. Those projects include a fiber optical network throughout East Timor, a population management system for Laos, a transmission channel for the Mozambique Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, and a tax payment system for Burundi. In … [Read more...]

NDO/VNA – Politburo member and Head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education Vo Van Thuong has affirmed that the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) wants to further foster ties with the Communist Party of Italy (CPI). During a reception in Hanoi on July 19 for CPI General Secretary Mauro Alboresi, Thuong said the CPV is determined to build a strong and transparent Party consistent with the policy of extending ties with major political parties worldwide. Alboresi, for his part, said Vietnam’s achievements over the past three decades provide a source of great inspiration for Italian communists and progressive forces which are fighting for a better world and communist ideals. He said the CPI will work to reinforce friendship and cooperation between the two Parties, countries and peoples in the future, adding that the CPI highly values Vietnam’s stance on the settlement of disputes in the East Sea by … [Read more...]

NDO/VNA – Politburo member and Head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education Vo Van Thuong has affirmed that the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) wants to further foster ties with the Communist Party of Italy (CPI). During a reception in Hanoi on July 19 for CPI General Secretary Mauro Alboresi, Thuong said the CPV is determined to build a strong and transparent Party consistent with the policy of extending ties with major political parties worldwide. Alboresi, for his part, said Vietnam’s achievements over the past three decades provide a source of great inspiration for Italian communists and progressive forces which are fighting for a better world and communist ideals. He said the CPI will work to reinforce friendship and cooperation between the two Parties, countries and peoples in the future, adding that the CPI highly values Vietnam’s stance on the settlement of disputes in the East Sea by … [Read more...]

NDO - The 2017 CEO Summit themed 'Mastering the Great Transformation 21: Challenges, Opportunities and Strategies for Enterprises in Vietnam' was held in Hanoi on July 18. The annual CEO Summit was jointly held by the Vietnam Report and VietNamNet Online Newspaper with the aim of providing leaders of Vietnamese large corporations with a panoramic picture of the ongoing socio-economic transition as well as advanced management and governance methods to master the transformation and opportunities at this time. At the conference, speakers focused on some of the most pressing issues faced by senior leaders in Vietnam and Europe, based on the research results of the Vietnam Report and the Malik Institute which include rapid changes, staff and governance. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Editor-in-Chief and CEO of Boston Global Forum and Chairman of the International Advisory Committee, UNESCO in Global Learning and Global Citizenship Education, UCLA said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one … [Read more...]

Military-run telecom Viettel Group reported a significant profit and revenue figures generated by its investments in nine foreign countries in the first half of 2017. Viettel’s Bitel brand in Peru posted the highest growth rate among the company’s overseas markets with 82 per cent RELATED CONTENTS: Rosy Viettel outlook strangled by competition in Cambodia Telecom sector revenue on target Viettel: Success story in business and defence Viettel looking back at ten years of development 4G services set to spark mobile price war Viettel deploys largest OCS system … [Read more...]

For a limited time only, Education New Zealand (ENZ) is offering a NZ$10,000 ($7,320) scholarship for a current or prospective international student. RELATED CONTENTS: New Zealand: outstanding education opportunity ENZ is offering this scholarship as a way to celebrate reaching one million social media followers across their various platforms, including the Study in New Zealand Facebook page, Twitter, Weibo, WeChat, Instagram, and Snapchat. The scholarship will cover tuition costs and course-related costs at a New Zealand educational institute of the student’s choice, up to a value of NZD$10,000 ($7,320). In order to enter the promotion, students must post a comment on ENZ’s 1 Million Cent Scholarship post on ENZ’s Facebook page by 12 PM on July 20. ENZ then will shortlist … [Read more...]

Hundreds of parents have joined lucky draws to get a place for their kids at State-owned pre-schools, especially in Hà Nội’s new urban areas, due to the severe shortage of public facilities there. Students at Trưng Trắc Primary School in Hà Nội. Hundreds of parents have joined lucky draws to get a place for their kids at State-owned pre-schools, especially in Hà Nội’s new urban areas, due to the severe shortage of public facilities there.-VNS Photo Thanh Hải The lucky draws have been used for the past three years to give every child a chance to go to the school of their choosing as applications outstrip places at State schools. With this method, parents said they no longer had to stay up all night to queue for application forms. However, many admitted that their child’s … [Read more...]

NDO – On July 12 the southern province of Dong Nai held a solemn memorial service to honour and rebury the remains of 72 martyrs who died during the battle at Bien Hoa airport, on January 31, 1968. Politburo member and head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Education and Communications, Vo Van Thuong, Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, former President Truong Tan Sang, former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and leaders of the Ministry of Defence, Dong Nai province and relatives of the martyrs, from 23 provinces and cities nationwide, attended the ceremony held at the cemetery for martyrs in Dong Nai province. In his eulogy at the memorial service, Le Van Danh, Secretary of the Bien Hoa municipal Party Committee, praised the contributions and sacrifices of millions of people who spared their youth and sacrificed their lives for the cause of national liberation and reunification. During the war, Bien Hoa and Bien Hoa airport in particular were key … [Read more...]

Honeywell (NYSE: HON) and long-term partner, the US Space & Rocket Center (USSRC), welcomed more than 200 middle school teachers from 33 countries and 45 US states and territories to Honeywell Educators at Space Academy (HESA). Eight Vietnamese teachers will participate in Honeywell Educators at Space Academy's STEM training programme This year marks a record number of participants from Vietnam, with eight teachers. Over the course of two consecutive weeks, from June 14 to 27, teachers experienced a unique opportunity to re-ignite their passion for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. Honeywell Hometown Solutions, the company’s corporate citizenship initiative, in partnership with USSRC, created this award-winning scholarship programme in 2004.  Since then, HESA has graduated 2,776 educators from 62 countries and 52 US states and territories, reaching more than three million … [Read more...]

The results from Vietnam's recent national high school exams are in, and it seems that this year's students have yet to develop a taste for foreign languages, primarily English. Nearly 866,000 students sat exams late last month in math, literature, social sciences and a foreign language. Around 750,000 of them took the English test, while the other options were Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Russian. The average score on the English test was 4.6 out of 10, while the score for math was 5.2 and literature was 5.5. Students in Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s commercial center, achieved the highest average foreign language score with 6, followed by Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Hanoi. All other cities and provinces reported average scores of below 5, while northern mountainous provinces propped up the rankings. The national average English test score last year was 3.5. This year, the English exam had 50 multiple choice questions, but did not include … [Read more...]

NDO – A series of international scientific conferences on cosmology and experimental research on neutrino opened at International Centre of Interdisciplinary Science Education (ICISE), in the city of Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh province, on July 10. The opening gathered together honoured guests from Quy Nhon provincial People’s Committee, the French Embassy in Vietnam and over 120 scientists from 20 countries around the world. These are two of a series of 18 international conferences on space science, to be held at ICISE in 2017, which are part of the 13th Meeting Vietnam 2017. Scientific conferences are held to discuss issues studied in cosmic radiation, dark energy, massive objects in the universe, neutrinos in the atmosphere, and problems in Neutrino accelerators. Parallel to the conference, the class "Vietnam school on neutrino" will also organised with the participation of more than 20 young Vietnamese scientists and is supported by leading Neutrino … [Read more...]

The Education Ministry yesterday defended the surprising surge in the number of perfect scores in the latest national high school examination results saying they were concentrated in traditionally studious areas. Distribution of national high school examination scores in 3 compulsory subjects. It also pointed out that the surge in perfect scores was accompanied by an increase in the number below par scores of zero and 1. These explanations were contained as the ministry released official statistics and its analyses of the national high school examinations held last month. Preliminary results in different localities had already been made available over the past several days, prompting the public to air skepticism about the “rain of 10s” – a term some media outlets have used to refer to the surge in the number of perfect scores compared to previous years. According to the MoET, 4,235 … [Read more...]

NDO/VNA – Vietnam always attaches importance to developing friendship and multi-faceted co-operation with Morocco, considering the country as a priority partner in North Africa, said Vice Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam Phung Quoc Hien during his visit to Morocco from July 2-4. He told Speaker of the House of Representatives Habib El Malki and Vice Speaker of the House of Advisors of Morocco Abdessamad Kayouh that his visit aims to promote legislative ties between the two countries, thus contributing to enhancing the bilateral relationship in the coming time. Hien suggested the two sides increase the exchange of delegations, especially of high-ranking levels, and continue their close co-ordination at regional and international forums, particularly within the frameworks of the UN, the Francophone community and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Trade between Vietnam and Morocco reached only US$190 million in 2016, he said, emphasising that the figure is … [Read more...]

NDO/VNA – Vietnam always attaches importance to developing friendship and multi-faceted co-operation with Morocco, considering the country as a priority partner in North Africa, said Vice Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam Phung Quoc Hien during his visit to Morocco from July 2-4. He told Speaker of the House of Representatives Habib El Malki and Vice Speaker of the House of Advisors of Morocco Abdessamad Kayouh that his visit aims to promote legislative ties between the two countries, thus contributing to enhancing the bilateral relationship in the coming time. Hien suggested the two sides increase the exchange of delegations, especially of high-ranking levels, and continue their close co-ordination at regional and international forums, particularly within the frameworks of the UN, the Francophone community and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Trade between Vietnam and Morocco reached only US$190 million in 2016, he said, emphasising that the figure is … [Read more...]

NDO – A delegation from the Party Central Committee's Central Commission for Education and Communications, led by Deputy Head Lam Phuong Thanh, paid a working visit to France from June 26 to July 1 to make exchanges on experience in electronic journal management, social networking and the preservation of cultural heritages between the two sides. The delegation explored the activities of the French press related to publishing, printing and attracting readers at meetings with the Le Monde Diplomatique, L'Humanité of the French Communist Party and the French National Union of Journalists (SNJ). According to French representatives, the French e-newspaper system is developing strongly, largely formed via extended versions of the print press, with very few independent operating newspapers. The majority of French newspapers use social networks to introduce as well as reach online readers in addition to advertising. One of the concerns of the French publishers is … [Read more...]

NDO – Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has requested that the consumer price index (CPI) regulation in 2017 must closely follow and support the set growth targets, avoiding the creation of expected inflation, or a latency of inflation, in the years to come. The deputy PM, who heads the Steering Committee for Price Regulation, made the statement at a meeting held in Hanoi on July 1 to review the price regulation work in the first six months of 2017 and to work out the measures to be implemented in the latter half of the year. He spoke highly of the close and proactive collaboration amongst ministries and sectors in regulating prices in the past six months, noting that the permanent agency of the Steering Committee has calculated and predicted specific statistics on the prices of goods items in service of price regulation in the near future. Based on the statistics provided by the Finance Ministry and the General Statistics Office, as well as reports from … [Read more...]

NDO – Following commitments and obligations made under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism by the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), Vietnam has recorded positive achievements in ensuring human rights, heard a Hanoi workshop on June 29. Co-organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam, the aim of the event was to review the implementation of UPR Cycle II approved by Vietnam. Speaking at the seminar, Pham Sanh Chau, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that Vietnam, as an active and responsible country within the international community, has always respected and fully implemented all obligations under the UPR, in particular implementing the recommendations of the UPR Cycle II, which Vietnam has adopted with the active participation of all relevant ministries and sectors on the basis of receiving information and valuable comments from concerned organisations and … [Read more...]

Police in the northern province of Yen Bai have arrested a journalist for allegedly extorting money from a businessman and also accused him of extracting bribery from a local official. Le Duy Phong, 32, from Giao Duc Vietnam (Vietnam Education) online newspaper, allegedly met Vu Xuan Sang, director of Yen Bai's Department of Planning and Investment, on June 16, Lieutenant General Do Kim Tuyen, deputy director general of the General Police Directorate, said at a press conference Wednesday. During the private meeting, Phong listed some of the department's land violations and demanded VND200 million ($8,800) in return for his silence, Tuyen said. Sang complied with Phong's demand and paid him on the same day. But it was not until last Thursday that the police arrested Phong, saying they caught him receiving VND50 million from a local businessman at a restaurant in Yen Bai. Phong is being investigated for abusing his power to extract bribery, Tuyen said. The … [Read more...]

Police in the northern province of Yen Bai have detained a journalist for allegedly extorting money from a government official, a senior police official has said. Le Duy Phong, 32, from Giao Duc Vietnam (Vietnam Education) online newspaper, allegedly met Vu Xuan Sang, director of Yen Bai's Department of Planning and Investment, on June 16, Lieutenant General Do Kim Tuyen, deputy director general of the General Police Directorate, said at a press conference Wednesday. During the private meeting, Phong listed some of the department's land violations and demanded VND200 million ($8,800) in return for his silence, Tuyen said. Sang complied with Phong's demand and paid him on the same day. But it was not until last Thursday that the police arrested Phong, saying they caught him receiving VND50 million from a local businessman at a restaurant in Yen Bai. Phong is being investigated for abusing his power to extract bribery, Tuyen said. The journalist has … [Read more...]

On June 25. 2017, the Hanoi People’s Committee hosted the conference titled “Hanoi 2017: Investment Cooperation and Development” with the attendance of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Hoang Trung Hai, and Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung. The Hanoi People's Committee and KinderWorld signed the MoU at the ceremony This year, the conference brought together around 1,000 representatives from state agencies, foreign embassies, international organisations, as well as foreign and domestic companies, with the aim to foster business and investment opportunities in the capital. At the event, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for investment in international educational projects between KinderWorld Education Group and the Hanoi People’s … [Read more...]