Thousands make pilgrimage to Yen Tu MountainVietNamNet Bridge – Thousands of people are flocking to the Yen Tu Spring Festival, the largest annual festival in northern Vietnam, which began Sunday in Uong Bi City, Quang Ninh Province. Crowds: There were 50,000 visitors to Yen Tu on the first day of the 2018 Yen Tu Festival, the tenth day of lunar new year. The walkway from the foot to the top of Yen Tu mountain is about 6km. About 50,000 people were expected to visit Yen Tu on Sunday, along with 230,000 people expected to visit Yen Tu during the first ten days of the new year, according to the Yen Tu Relic Management Board. Yen Tu Mountain, located about 50km from Ha Long City, is surrounded with scenic landscape and ancient pagodas.

Australia-VN investment to continue growingVietNamNet Bridge – Dr. Mark Roberts in Melbourne, Australia and retired Vietnamese Nguyen Ba Khuyen write some thoughts on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of bilateral ties (26/2/1973 – 26/2/2018). High-level visits are now more regular, serving to emphasise the growing maturity in the relationship between Australia and Vietnam. Starting with an A$5 million investment, over a decade it became Telstra’s “largest single offshore investment”, with a “committed investment of approximately A$200 million”, evolving into a Business Cooperation Contract, which later became the standard for the telecommunications industry in Vietnam. Australian investment in Vietnam was A$355 million in 1990/91 and A$1.5 billion in December 2015. There is every reason to believe that trade and investment will continue to grow.

Vietnam indecisive about visa waiver extension programVietNamNet Bridge - The one-time valid visa fee for foreigners is $25. Vietnam is applying a visa waiver policy to travelers from 22 countries. It believes that Vietnam should extend the list of the countries enjoying the visa waiver policy. Some economists warn that if more tourism markets enjoy the visa waiver, Vietnam would lose revenue from the visa fee, $25 per traveler. RELATED NEWSTravel firms want more open visa waiver policyVietnam to grant e-visas to citizens of six more nationsTBKTSG

Documentary about renowned Buddhist monk to hit Vietnam’s screensThe documentary film on Vietnam’s famous Buddhist Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh will be screened in Vietnam beginning March 1st this year. Zen Master Thich Nhat HanhThe film titled “Walk with me” is a cinematic journey into the world of a monastic community that practices the art of mindfulness with 91-year-old Zen Buddhist Master Thich Nhat Hanh. The directors also followed Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh to other places, including Europe and North America to make the documentary. The Zen Master was nominated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for the Nobel Prize in 1967. In the 1960s, he launched a movement of Buddhists in Southern Vietnam aiming to call for an end to the Vietnam War.

LGBT groups slam discriminatory comedyTwo LGBT rights organisations in Viet Nam, namely iSEE (Institute for Studies of Society, Economy and Environment) and ICS Centre have sent an open letter to Viet Nam Television complaining about discrimination of LGBT people in an annual comedy that "should not appear on a national channel". Bac Dau (second from right) played by actor Cong Ly, was designed as a transgendered male mandarin in feudal court with dificult to follow characters. Bac Dau has long been mocked for the character’s gender. The show, produced by the Viet Nam Television Film Centre, mocks burning issues in society in a humorous manner. Viet Nam News also tried to reach actor Cong Ly, who played Bac Dau (the discriminated character) and Xuan Bac, another actor in the show but received no response as well.

The new turn of the automobile industryVietNamNet Bridge - The Vietnamese automobile market is expected to have an unpredictable year following an unsatisfactory 2017. The new regulation, scheduled to take effect from 2019, has worried automobile assembling enterprises, both Vietnamese and foreign invested. The automobile market in 2017 was gloomier than expected with the total number of cars sold decreasing by 7.8 percent compared with the year before, to 250,619. Domestic manufacturers move aheadIn 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Trade affirmed that measures would be taken to control car imports and support domestic production. Foreign manufacturers complain about new policies, while Vietnamese manufacturers keep expanding their investments.

Ministry reforms school entry rulesVietNamNet Bridge – This year, the Ministry of Education and Training will decide minimum entrance score for only teacher training institutions while minimum entrance scores for other universities, colleges and vocational schools will be scrapped. The move aims to ensure quality of teacher training institutions and relieve public concern, especially after many students with low examination results were recently admitted to teacher training institutions. Besides using high school exams for university admission, universities and colleges could organise their own exams to select students suitable to their needs and goals. According to the draft, teacher training institutions can consider university admission to students with good performance in 12th grade. Last June, more than 866,000 Vietnamese students took the 2017 national high school exam, the results of which are used for both high school graduation and university admission.

Vietnam signs contract with fitness coach Dominic PalmerVietNamNet Bridge – The Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) has signed a contract with German fitness coach Dominic Palmer. Profile of German fitness coach Dominic Palmer. Before signing his contract with the VFF, Palmer spent one month with V.League 1 club Thanh Hoa. Earlier, he also worked with the Việt Nam U18 team for a short time to prepare for the AFF U18 Championship 2017. As planned, the German coach will then work with head coach Park Hang-seo to prepare the national male teams to compete in the last qualification matches of the Asian Cup 2019, Asian Games 2018 and AFF Cup.

Auto imports plummet over Government’s Decree 116Automobile imports in Viet Nam plummeted in the first month of 2018, also the time before Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday. In 2017, Indonesia was among the top countries after Thailand with the highest number of exported cars to Viet Nam. However, in January this year, both the countries did not export any car to Viet Nam. 116/2017/ND-CP on car manufacturing, assembly, importation and warranty offering, a move that came into effect from January 1, 2018, and tightened car imports. The letter claimed that four automakers — Toyota, Suzuki, Daihatsu and Hino — had stopped the planned production of 9,337 vehicles bound for Viet Nam.

Huong Pagoda boat trip safety fearsBoat operators have been loading as many as 40 people on small boats as visitors flocked to Huong Pagoda Festival in Hanoi during the weekend. According to Huong Son communal authorities, the streams are 1.5 to 1.9 metres deep and the boats have the capacity to carry 6 to 12 people. Moreover, it's also easy for boat operators to help each other in case of emergency. The organising board of Huong Pagoda Festival said they had dealt with three overloading cases and hadn't discovered new cases. Huong Pagoda received over 170,000 visitors since Tet Holiday and 306,000 visitors since early 2018, an increase of 15% compared to the same period last year.

Electronics firms face labour shortageVietNamNet Bridge – Hundreds of electronics manufacturers in Vietnam are having difficulty recruiting labourers, said an official from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA). New technologies are one of the factors leading to the shortage, said Dr Dao Quang Vinh, director of the Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs. To improve the situation, Dr Chu Thi Lan said electronics companies should shake up their practices, strictly comply with labour regulations, maintain labour standards and offer incentives to recruit labourers. “They should absolutely avoid forced labour and child labour, and avoid firing workers over 35 years old,” she said. The State should have policies that ensure job stability and on-the-job training for electronics workers, he added.

Australia-VN to raise relations to a strategic partnershipAustralia and Vietnam established diplomatic relations in 1973 after negotiations were concluded in Paris that resulted in an Agreement to End the War and Restore the Peace in Vietnam. Bilateral relations have been continually developed with two major turning points. On 7 September Deputy Prime Ministers Julia Gillard and Pham Gia Khiem signed a joint statement raising bilateral relations to a comprehensive partnership. The second turning point in bilateral relations took place in March 2015 during the visit to Canberra by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. For example, both countries participated in efforts to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement or TPP.

Vietnam Airlines warns flyers of social-media free ticket scamNational flag carrier Vietnam Airlines warned customers of a scam on social media that entices them to participate in the airline’s survey and get two free tickets in return. Vietnam Airlines warns flyers of social-media free ticket scam. Recently, a malware website that links to http://vietnamair-flyer.club/ promises to give away two Vietnam Airlines’ tickets when customers participate in a survey and share personal information using social network accounts, Vietnam Airlines said in a statement. You have been selected to take part in our short survey to get 2 Free Vietnam Airlines Tickets! For information, please visit Vietnam Airlines’ official channels as follows: Website www.vietnamairlines.com/; Facebook fanpage www.facebook.com/VietnamAirlines/; Instagram fanpage www.instagram.com/vietnamairlines_official/ or call Customer Centre 1900 1100.-VNA

A variety of events will take place during the week, attracting thousands of local people and tourists. Tourists will have a chance to watch and play folk games. A fair has dozens of booths to show off the traditional products of Quynh Nhai District, Son La Province. The fair helps to promote locally-made handicraft products. Traditional ethnic festivals are also recreated as part of the week of events.

Vietcombank prepares to sell 10% stake to foreign investorsVietcombank is expected to sell more than 350 million shares, or 10 per cent of its charter capital, to foreign investors during the first half of this year after receiving the green light from the government. Shares will be limited to a number of foreign investors through either a public or private auction. Japan’s Mizuho Bank, Vietcombank’s largest foreign shareholder with a 15 per cent stake, is entitled to buy more shares to maintain its ownership ratio. Vietcombank planned to complete the sale of a 7.7 per cent stake to GIC in 2016 but the parties failed to agree on a share price. BIDV, one of the three largest State-owned banks, is considering a stake sale of up to 30 per cent to foreign investors.