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Delegates cut the ribbon inaugurating the medical facility in Vientiane on November 18.
(Photo: VNA) |
The hospital has been licensed by the Lao Ministry of Health to provide medical services for Vietnamese nationals residing, working and studying in Laos, as well as for Lao residents.
It has 50 hospital beds and has been designed to develop in-depth specialties in cardiology and endocrinology.
La Vie International Hospital has signed a cooperation with the Association for Liaison with Overseas Vietnamese (ALOV) and Hanoi Medical University Hospital to provide medical services for the Vietnamese community in Laos, and Lao people in need of medical examination and treatment.
Addressing the ceremony, Phukhong Bannavong, deputy governor of Vientiane capital, noted the inauguration of La Vie International Hospital is of great significance to the health sector of Laos in particular and its economic development in general.
The opening of the hospital shows the close bond between Laos and Vietnam that has been strengthened over the past decades, said the official.
He expressed hope that the hospital would provide quality services for not only Vietnamese people but also Lao people.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr Nguyen Lan Hieu, director of Hanoi Medical University Hospital, Lavie International Hospital La Vie International Hospital is a leading cardiovascular facility with a modern angiography system that supports in-depth diagnostics of cardiovascular diseases as well as many other vascular diseases to save the lives of patients suffering from myocardial infarction and stroke.
He pledged to provide maximum professional support to La Vie International Hospital in performing its operations.
Hanoi launches convertible single-decker bus route
Hanoi’s convertible single-decker buses hit the road in the capital on November 18 as part of the newly launched City Tour 3, offering foreign tourists a chance to explore the city from a different view.
The buses that are capable of accommodating 20 passengers each are scheduled to take visitors to 13 attractions across the city, including Hoan Kiem Lake, the Hanoi Opera House, Dong Xuan Market, Tran Quoc Pagoda, Tao Sach Pagoda, Kim Lien Pagoda, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Temple of Literature, and Hoa Lo Prison.
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| The convertible single-decker bus will take visitors to 13 attractions across the city (Photo: vnmedia.vn) |
Tickets cost VND100,000 (approx.US$4) for a single 30-minute trip; VND150,000 (US$6) for a four-hour tour; and VND329,000 (US$13.5), for a day long trip.
The buses have an automatic multilingual narration system in Vietnamese, English, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese, which will provide complete information about the capital.
The modern, convenient bus tour is to be operated by Hanoi Passenger Transport JSC.
Golden imperial seal handed over to Vietnam from France
The Nguyen Dynasty's golden imperial seal of “Hoang de chi bao” (Treasure of the Emperor) was handed over to Vietnam at a ceremony held at the Vietnamese Embassy in France on November 16, the Vietnam News Agency qouted the information of the Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST).
The handover took place in the presence of Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung, Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to UNESCO Le Thi Hong Van, and officials of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and UNESCO.
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Representatives of Vietnam and France at the seal handover ceremony on November 16
(Photo: VNA) |
This came as a result of more than one year of negotiation and implementation of legal procedures on halting the open auction of the seal, cast in 1823 under the reign of King Minh Mang, in Paris in November 2022, and handing over the object to Vietnam at the country’s request.
The Hoang Gia Nam Hong Co. Ltd, based in the northern province of Bac Ninh, was chosen to represent Vietnam to handle related financial procedures in line with French law. It will also preserve and display the seal and coordinate with the Vietnam National Museum of History to protect and bring into play the antique’s value.
On November 12, 2022, the Department of Culture Heritage and the Nam Hong company signed an agreement on negotiating the purchase of the seal from France and transferring it to the State.
Under the deal, the company pledged that the seal will be transferred to the State via the MCST after a suitable period of time when the firm no longer has demand for possessing, displaying, and bringing into play the seal’s value at the Hoang Gia Nam Hong Museum in Bac Ninh.
The department said that the “Hoang de chi bao” seal is an important cultural heritage symbolising political power in a period of Vietnam’s history and also marking the transition from monarchy to the people’s democracy in the Ho Chi Minh era.
The collection and repatriation of the golden seal are aimed at not only perfecting the collections of antiquities, treasures, and cultural heritage elements illegally brought abroad but also affirming the country’s stature and influence. The move also shows the Party and State’s judicious policy of preserving and bringing into play cultural heritage values to meet people’s growing cultural enjoyment demand, promote the national pride, and develop an advanced Vietnamese culture deeply imbued with the national identity and contributing to the world’s cultural heritage.
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The "Hoang de chi bao" seal was cast in 1823 under the reign of King Minh Mang.
(Photo: VNA) |
It is also necessary for ensuring the integrity of cultural heritage, which UNESCO attaches importance to during cultural heritage preservation, thus demonstrating Vietnam’s implementation of commitments in the international conventions it has joined, the department noted.
The department also attributed the seal repatriation success to the cooperation from authorities, partners, friends, and the Vietnamese community in France.
In the time ahead, it will propose MCST leaders consider coordinating with relevant ministries and sectors to compile a list of Vietnamese antiquities illegally brought abroad and consult with the UNESCO Secretariat of the 1970 Convention about the list to seek measures for repatriating the antiquities.
Hanoi Creative Design Festival opens
The 2023 Hanoi Creative Design Festival opened on November 17 evening at the Gia Lam train factory with various interesting activities, said the Vietnam News Agency.
The festival, in its second edition, is jointly organised by the municipal People’s Committee, the Vietnam Association of Architects, and the Vietnam Railway Corporation and relevant agencies.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Vice Chairwoman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Vu Thu Ha highlighted Hanoi’s various actions to realise commitments to building a creative city after nearly four years of becoming an official member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
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| Delegates press buttons to launch the festival (Photo: VNA) |
The city has organised the annual Hanoi Creative Design Festival along with a series of activities to rebuild urban areas and promote cultural heritage as an effort to continue to promote the capital's potential and strengths, raise community awareness, toward connectivity and expansion of cooperation between domestic and international organisations, experts and businesses in multiple fields of creative design and cultural industries, as well as realise its commitments to UNESCO when by joining the Creative Cities Network
Ramla Khalidi, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam, said Hanoi, with its tradition, possesses potential to become a pioneering unit in all development fields. The festival, one of Hanoi’s initiatives, is an example for the city’s success in realising the vision to become a creative capital of Vietnam.
The festival’s venue - the nearly 120-year-old industrial heritage space has been transformed into a creative complex with unique architectural works and hosts close to 60 activities, exhibitions, and art and community experience events.
Themed “Flow”, the festival, which lasts until November 26, targets not only the creative community but also art lovers, aiming to engage them in the activities.
Community activities will be organised on the mudflats on the Hong (Red) River, besides a cycle tour, and design contests, among others. There will be a fair showcasing diverse products in handicraft, creation, fashion, and communications.
To give more experiences to visitors, organisers will offer technology activities such as three-dimensional painting and virtual tours.
Besides, workshops and seminars on creation to be held within the framework of the festival will offer a platform for creators and managers to seek ways to realise Hanoi’s desire for reform and creation.
Notably, there will be a special train connecting the two sides of the Red River, departing from the Hanoi Railway Station, going through Long Bien Bridge - a symbolic Red River crossing, to the Gia Lam Railway Station, from where participants will walk to the former Gia Lam Train Factory, which is converted into a community space with booths displaying domestic creative brands and products in many fields from handicrafts to fashion and communication-advertisement.
Hanoi became an official member of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network in 2019./.