Authorities of the northern coastal province of Thai Binh have instituted a series of measures to better manage fishing ports, inspect and monitor fisheries activities, in an effort to have the European Commission (EC)’s “yellow card” warning against Vietnam’s seafood exports lifted.

Vietjet will operate the first air route connecting Vietnam with Australia’s Queensland state in June, the airline announced on March 16.

Chairman of the People’s Committee of Vung Tau city, the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Hoang Vu Thanh on March 16 had a meeting with a visiting delegation of the Tourism Promotion Organisation for Asia-Pacific Cities (TPO) led by Secretary-General Woo Kyoung-ha.

The People’s Committee of the central province of Quang Ngai held a ceremony at the Son My memorial site in Tinh Khe commune, Quang Ngai city, on March 16 to commemorate the 504 civilians massacred exactly 55 years ago.

Vietnam’s coast guards have been working closely with localities to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) with concerted measures over the past years.

The Overseas Vietnamese Association in the Netherlands recently held a gathering for Vietnamese women living in the country to celebrate the International Women’s Day (March 8).

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his belief that Vietnam will become one of the top 30 countries worldwide in terms of tourism competitiveness, while chairing an national teleconference on tourism on March 15.

The pair of Mong Cai (Vietnam) – Dongxing (China) International Border Gates officially resumed customs clearance procedures for international tourist on March 15.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan on March 15 said that agritourism should be turned into an integrated economic sector with agricultural products and typical characteristics of rural areas being used as resources to serve the tourism industry.

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines in conjunction with the People’s Committee of Hanoi will organise the “Vietnam Airlines Festa” event from March 18 – 19, during which many air ticket and tourism promotion programmes will be offered.

The northern coastal province of Quang Ninh has planned to launch two more maritime tourism products in Bai Tu Long Bay in Van Don district in order to reduce the density of visitors in Bai Chay and Tuan Chau tourism centres.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT)’s website Vietnam.travel has continued to gain popularity, ranking the128,229th on the world’s top web traffic, data from the SimilarWeb showed.

A requiem was held on March 14 at Phat Tich pagoda in Vientiane in remembrance of the 64 soldiers who laid down their lives defending Gac Ma (Johnson South) Reef in Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) in 1988.

The capital city of Hanoi is striving to complete 70% of the site clearance work for Ring Road No. 4 project in June.

The Vietnam-Venezuela Friendship Association on March 14 presented copies of the Vietnamese version of a book entitled “Xin chao” (Hello), written by Angel Miguel Bastidas Gonzalez, former second Secretary at the Venezuelan Embassy to Vietnam, to the Dinh Huu Du Bookcase Initiative set up by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union chapter at the Vietnam News Agency (VNA).

Vietnam together with other nine countries representing member ‎states and observers of the International Organisation of the Francophonie (OIF) have promoted their cuisines and cultures at the Francophonie month in Malaysia.‎

A delegation from Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund and Club “For Beloved Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos” and the Vietnamese Embassy in Laos on March 14 organised a ceremony to give 100 scholarships worth a total of 5,000 USD to disadvantaged oversea-Vietnamese students with outstanding study performance.

The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Soc Trang plans to increase the cultivation of speciality rice varieties to improve farmers’ incomes.

The People’s Committee of northeastern Quang Ninh province, home to UNESCO-recognised Ha Long Bay, will organise a conference on tourism development in Ha Long city on March 17, heard a press conference on March 14.

Delegations of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army and the Naval Region 4 High Command on March 14 commemorated the 64 naval officers and soldiers who laid down their lives defending Gac Ma Reef in the country’s sea and island area of Truong Sa 35 years ago.