News
Senior officials discuss priorities for APEC 2017
Senior officials from the 21 member economies sat together for the first working day on March 2 in Nha Trang, discussing three out of four priorities proposed by Việt Nam for the APEC Year 2017. The priorities include fostering sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth; deepening regional ...
ASEAN aims for unity on tourism
If Southeast Asia is to truly be a single tourist destination, give visitors from afar a single visa to travel freely. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is undertaking a tourism marketing campaign to mark its 50th anniversary this year. It is called “Visit ASEAN@50: ...
EU-VN pact eagerly awaited
Việt Nam’s upcoming free trade agreement with the European Union is expected to make Việt Nam the most promising business destination for European companies in Southeast Asia. The statement was made by Michael Behrens, Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Việt Nam, at ...
Hướng Hóa protective forest fights logging threat
Trekking through Hướng Hóa protective forest in Đak Rông District of central Quảng Trị Province, it is not hard to see dozens of tree trunks, branches and twigs lying in disorder on the pathway. Right next to the forest protection station, illegal logging is still ...
Coal power plants could endanger marine protection areas
Environmentalists have urged authorities to ‘learn lessons from the Formosa incident and reconsider proposed coal thermal power projects in Vinh Tan’. According to Nguyen Chu Hoi from the Hanoi National University, Vietnam has 16 marine protection areas, including Hon Cau, which, if well developed, will bring ...
Travel firms want open visa policy to lure tourists
‘Kong: Skull Island’, an American film with many scenes shot in Vietnam, to open in cinemas on March 10, is expected to bring a golden opportunity to Vietnam to attract travelers and develop the tourism industry. A report of the General Statistics Office showed that in ...
No surrogacy law likely until after 2018 election: official
A much-needed new surrogacy law might take more than a year to be adopted, an official at the General Secretariat of the National Committee for Counter Trafficking said on March 2 on the sidelines of a stakeholder conference. A senior official, who spoke on condition of ...
Commerce OK with using Article 44 to speed up patent approvals
The Commerce Ministry supports use of the military-led regime’s sweeping powers under Article 44 of the interim charter to streamline patent applications, partly by taking into consideration the judgement of foreign authorities to approve similar patents. Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said more than 36,000 patent ...
DNP set to build DNA database for wildlife
The National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department invited the press to its wildlife forensic lab yesterday to demonstrate its accountability and transparency in wildlife forensic investigation in a move to counter the strong opposition of elephant owners. Kanita Ouithavorn, chief of the department’s Wildlife ...
Academics call for reform of environmental impact studies on projects
A strategic Environment Assessment was proposed by academics to serve as a sustainable solution for conflicts over major development projects such as the Krabi coal-fired power plant. A team of academics and public policy campaigners discussed the current problems of Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental ...
