Hoang Xuan Vinh ranks second in 10m air pistol shooting worldwideVietnam's marksman Hoang Xuan Vinh was named second in the world in February in the men’s 10m air pistol category. Marksman Hoang Xuan Vinh (Source: soha.vn)After winning an Olympic gold medal in 2016, Vinh retained the top place for more than one year, but failed in recent international tournaments and has fallen one place. He was voted best shooter in 2017, according to the International Shooting Sport Federation. In the men’s 25m rapid pistol, there is no change for Vietnamese athletes. Ha Minh Thanh remains at No 37, Phan Xuan Chuyen is No 47, and Phan Cong Minh No 56.

Park Hang-seo: Vietnam’s football could reap more success in futureVietnam’s football teams could achieve more success at the regional and international arena, said national team coach Park Hang-seo in an exchange programme with hundreds of Vietnamese students in the Republic of Korea (RoK) on February 11 ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet). Coach Park Hang-seo takes photo with participants at the exchange programme in SeoulThe Korean received a raucous applauses while entering the hall of the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. The head coach affirmed his hope to contribute more to Vietnamese football, promoting relations between Vietnam and the RoK. Fighting!”Park described his relations with the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) as “fate” when the two sides signed a contract. This is not the peak of Vietnam’s football, so footballers need to improve their skills and have more enthusiasm to go further, he noted.

New Year’s presents favored by the rich: ginseng, saffron and cordycepsVietNamNet Bridge - Iranian saffron, Vietnamese Ngoc Linh ginseng and Tibetan cordyceps are among the most popular items favored by wealthy Vietnamese for lunar new year presents. Iranian saffron, Vietnamese Ngoc Linh ginseng and Tibetan cordyceps are among the most popular items favored by wealthy Vietnamese for lunar new year presents. Ngoc Linh ginseng, one of the five types of ginseng most wanted in the world, has been very popular. Loan, a seller of Ngoc Linh ginseng in Kon Tum province, said pre-Tet days are the highest sales season. Kon Tum provincial authorities have approved a project to grow Ngoc Linh ginseng in Tu Mo Rong district in a bid to preserve and develop the medicinal plant.

"Co Ba Sai Gon" up for awards at Osaka Asia Film FestivalThe renowned Vietnamese romantic-comedy Co Ba Sai Gon (The Tailor) will compete in two categories at the Osaka Asia Film Festival being held from March 9-18. The film will compete on two fronts, being under consideration for the Grand Prix and Most Promising Talent Award. Among its 14 potential competitors are the films Columbus of US, The Empty Hands of Hong Kong, The Bold, The Corrupt and the Beautiful of Taiwan, and Bad Poetry Tomorrow of Japan. Co Ba Sai Gon, produced by multi–talented movie star, director, and producer Ngo Thanh Van, is a story about Vietnamese women living in Sai Gon (now HCM City) in the 1960s. The festival will also be screening 58 films of various genres from 19 countries and regions, including China, Hong Kong(China), Macao, Taiwan (China), the Republic of Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Bhutan, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Qatar, Greece, France, the Netherlands, the USA, and Japan.

Hanoi has three more national intangible cultural heritagesThe Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said it has added three cultural heritages of Hanoi to the national intangible cultural heritage list. Boi Dam festivalThey are Boi Dam (boat racing) Festival in Tay Tuu ward, Bac Tu Liem district, Truong Lam communal house festival in Viet Hung ward, Long Bien district and Tan Vien Mountain God worshipping in Ba Vi district. The ministry has also added 17 other intangible cultural heritages of Bac Kan, Can Tho, Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Lang Son, Son La, Thai Nguyen and Vinh Phuc to the list. Statistics of the Department of Cultural Heritage show that the national list now has 248 cultural intangible heritages. According to Circular 04/2010/TT-BVHTTDL, intangible cultural heritage to be added to the list of national intangible cultural heritages must meet criteria representing community-based and locally-based identity, reflecting cultural diversity and people’s creativeness, being passed through generations, being able to be revived and last for long and receiving public consensus, nomination and protection commitments.-VNA

Interbank interest rate sharply risesThe Vietnam dong’s (VND) interest rate on the interbank market exceeded 3 percent per annum for the first time over the past more than six months. The Vietnam dong’s interest rate on the interbank market exceeded 3 percent per annum. The rate increased from 0.34-0.92 percent, pushing the overnight rate to 3.02 percent, one week at 3.28 percent and two weeks at 3.56 percent, respectively. The increase reflects higher demand for dong with the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival approaching. Meanwhile, the reference VND/USD exchange rate stands at 22,730 VND/USD as listed by commercial banks, dropping from the previous rate of between 22,745-22,750 VND/USD.

Ta Dung Nature Reserve becomes National ParkPrime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved the upgrade of Ta Dung Nature Reserve in the Central Highlands of Dak Nong into a National Park. Ta Dung National Park in the Central Highlands of Dak Nong is billed as a miniature Ha Long Bay. Spanning nearly 20,940 hectares in Dak Som commune Dak Glong district, the park has three zones: strict protection zone, ecological restoration zone and administrative-service zone. Ta Dung is famous for photogenic forests with some 2,000 kinds of fauna and flora. It also features the 2,000 metre Ta Dung mountain, the highest peak in Dak Nong province.

Flowers colour Hanoi's streets as Tet nearsHang Luoc Street in the Old Quarter of Hanoi is famous for its Tet market with various types of peach branches and trees, kumquat trees and other flowers from Hanoi’s famous flower villages. This year, small peach branches are favoured. Due to the size of the market, traders also display their flowers on Hang Ruoi, Hang Chai and Hang Ma streets. However, Hang Ma Street has more lanterns, red envelopes for lucky moneys and parralel sentences. Antique items are displayed on Hang Luoc and Hang Ma streets.

Top-tier banks overthrown, junior banks rise upVietNamNet Bridge - VP Bank and Techcombank have had impressive profits, leaving Military Bank, which once was a leader, far behind. The race among VP Bank, Techcombank and MB began catching the public’s attention in 2015-2016. VP Bank has gained ‘miraculous growth’ since 2013, partially thanks to the strategy on boosting consumer lending via FE Credit, its finance company. Since 2015, the bank’s profit has increased by twofold, 50 percent of which was brought by FE Credit. The strong rise of VP Bank has helped the bank’s share price escalate, now traded at VND53,000 per share, which is only lower than Vietcombank’s shares.

Markets set for low trading before TetShares are expected to move modestly in the coming two trading sessions as investors settle trading before the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, while concerns remain following recent turbulence in global markets. Furthermore, the unlisted market index fell 4 percent after the five trading sessions of the week. Such concerns triggered a massive sell-off across global markets and had a negative influence on Vietnamese stocks. In the first two sessions of the week, Vietnam’s stock market lost some 14 billion USD in total market capitalisation. According to brokerage companies, investors will trade quietly in the next two sessions, before the Vietnamese stock markets close for the Tet holiday.

Tour firms set for profitable Tet holidayThe upcoming Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tet) will be a profitable time for domestic travel companies and tour operators. The number of customers booking overseas tours this Tet season has increased by 20-25 percent. Fiditour has also expressed optimism about the market, hoping the number of tour buyers will rise by 30-40 percent over last Tet. Besides outbound tours, Vietravel has also launched Free&Easy tours, which comprise airfares and hotel rooms, for families to eight domestic destinations, including Hue, Da Nang, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc. According to Vietravel representatives, the prices of tours for Tet are higher than in the normal period due to huge demand.

VietNamNet Bridge - “Sustainable Scenario for the Vietnamese power sector until 2050”, a report by WWF-Vietnam and Vietnam Sustainable Energy Alliance (VSEA) says that 100 percent of Vietnam’s power could be generated by renewable energy technologies by 2050. Dr Du Van Toan from the Marine and island Research Institute cited a report of IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency) in 2017 as saying that the wind power capacity around the world has increased rapidly from nearly zero in 1980 to 60 GW in 2005 and to 500 GW in 2016, or 20 GW a year. Under a Prime Ministerial decision, Vietnam will develop wind power, which now accounts for inconsiderable proportion in the total electricity output, to 1 percent by 2020, 2.7 percent by 2030 and 5 percent by 2050. Regarding the wind power production cost, analysts say renewable energy is now the cheapest power source available.Lazard, the investment company of Bloomberg, in its February 2017 report said wind power cost has dropped by 66 percent since 2009 from $140 per MWh to $47.Meanwhile, the minimum cost of coal-fired and gas-fired electricity is $63 per MWh on average. The investment in wind power globally has exceeded $100 billion a year.Under a Prime Ministerial decision, Vietnam will develop wind power, which now accounts for inconsiderable proportion in the total electricity output, to 1 percent by 2020, 2.7 percent by 2030 and 5 percent by 2050.Vietnam is listed among the countries with biggest potential for wind power.

Mural street brings back good old days to HanoiansPhung Hung street these days has put on a new coat, more eye-catching and vibrant with distinctive mural paintings by Vietnamese and Korean artists. Images of Hanoi’s Old Quarter with cyclos, bicycles and trams inthe past are now reenacted through vibrant paintings on the walls of Phung Hung street. Wanderers through the street, especially elder Hanoians often spend quite time to contemplate and look back to the good old days. Especially on these days when Tet atmosphere is approaching every corner, the street has become an intimate venue for gatherings. Phung Hung mural street is expected to inspire authorities and artists to come up with more fantastic ideas to develop urban areas across Vietnam.-VNA

The wild orchid garden of Pham Vo HiepVietNamNet Bridge - Having been in love with wild orchids since childhood, Pham Vo Hien from the Eahleo district of Dak Lak province, has not hesitated to cross dangerous forest paths to find rare and precious orchids. There are 125 orchid species in the gardenHis garden, just 72 square meters large, now has 125 wild orchid species. “I visited the habitat of each orchid species in the woods and started bringing orchids home to grow in my garden,” he said. Soon after hearing about new orchid species, he will go to the forests to find them. RELATED NEWSSapa orchids can be worth five motorbikesA wild orchid market in townMinh Thai

Over 1,200 professors, associate professors appointed in final sprintVietNamNet Bridge - The list of candidates who met requirements for the titles of professor and associate professor in 2017 released by the State Professorship Council (SPC) includes 1,226 names, a sharp increase of 60 percent compared to the year before. Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien is among the 85 candidates to be awarded the professor title. Tien is fluent in both English and French and has had 13 scientific research articles published internationally in the last years. A Nung ethnic minority woman was one of the candidates for the associate professor title. Among 1,141 selected associate professors, only 532 have internationally published articles, which means that 53 percent don’t have ISI/Scopus articles.