Canadian pianist Bruce Xiaoyu Li (Photo courtesy of Chopin Institute)
Another student of Son, JJ Bui, won the 6th prize.
Son, who himself was the first Asian to win first prize and the gold medal at the same competition in 1980, expressed his pride on his students' achievements on Facebook. The Vietnamese pianist is now teaching at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in the US.
Held every five years since 1927, the Chopin competition would normally have been held last year, but was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s competition, held from October 2-23, drew 87 pianists from 18 nations across the globe, including 22 from China, 16 from Poland and 14 from Japan.
Broadcast live on YouTube and via a bespoke mobile app, the contest attracted record online interest. Some 70,000 people watched the result streamed online.
Vietnam to welcome back foreign travelers in November
Foreign holidaymakers who have been fully vaccinated, recovered from COVID-19 at least six months and undergone a negative COVID-19 test are allowed to visit a number of major tourist attractions in Vietnam on a trial basis, reported the Voice of Vietnam.
The tourism sector will implement a pilot scheme to receive back international visitors following a month long hiatus caused by COVID-19.
The proposal which was put forward by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism received an approval in principle from Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam at a working session with leaders of the cultural ministry and several provinces on October 21.
Dam stressed the need to quickly carry out a roadmap for reopening and restoring international tourism markets, but reminded localities of the implementation of COVID-19 prevention and control measures to ensure safety for both visitors and local residents.
Several tourism driven localities such as Kien Giang, Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, and Da Nang have requested that the Government permit them to receive back foreign tourists from November as soon as Vietnam moves into a post-pandemic period.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has worked out a roadmap to be implemented on a trial basis in three phases.
In the first phase, Vietnam will reopen the door to foreign tourists from November 2021 who book package tours to Kien Giang, Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam and Da Nang through charter and commercial flights.
International visitors in Hanoi (Photo: VOV)
The second phase, starting from January 2022, will see Vietnam expand the scope of receiving international tourists and connecting destinations through regular charter and commercial flights.
Visitors can travel to various tourist destinations in different localities after completing their tour programme in the first destination within a period of seven days. In this phase, they can move back and forth between destinations in Kien Giang, Khanh Hoa, Da Nang, Quang Nam and Quang Ninh.
In the third phase, Vietnam will fully reopen its door to international tourism services from the second quarter of 2022, on the condition that all COVID-19 prevention and control plans are in place.
Currently many localities have developed their plans to welcome back foreign visitors. They are accelerating COVID-19 vaccinations to ensure local residents, including hotel and resort staff and tour guides, are fully inoculated against the virus.
Three Vietnamese institutions named among most influential innovators in 2021
Clarivate Plc, a global leader in providing trusted information and insights to accelerate the pace of innovation has recognised 276 organisations from academia, government and corporate sectors as most influential innovators in 2021, reported Nhan Dan newspaper.
Viettel is currently the Vietnamese enterprise with the most exclusive patents. (Photo courtesy of Viettel)
In South Asia and Southeast Asia, there are 27 accredited institutions. The Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group (Viettel) is the only Vietnamese enterprise, together with Hanoi University of Science and Technology, in the category of higher education institutions, and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in the category of Government Research Organisations.
Clarivate’s assessment is based on an analysis of patent and citation volume, patent success and the level of globalisation, using patent data from the Derwent World Patents Index (DWPI) and Derwent Patent Citations Index (DPCI).
By the end of September, 2021, Viettel had 44 patents granted in Vietnam and 7 in the US. According to the list of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Viettel is a Vietnamese industrial - high-tech enterprise having the most exclusive patents in the US.
The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology has always been one of the leading units in the country in terms of international publications, along with focusing on promoting intellectual property work, bringing about effective applied research results. The Academy has 40-50 protected inventions and utility solutions each year.
The Hanoi University of Science and Technology has always attached great importance to promoting creative innovation. The university recently launched innovative research products to serve in COVID-19 prevention and control, such as: the BK-Vent treatment ventilator, Corona virus rapid test kit RT-Lamp and a positive pressure chamber set up on a Vietnam Airlines aircraft used to bring home 120 Vietnamese infected with COVID-19 from Equatorial Guinea in 2020.
Stadium allowed to welcome 30 pct of viewers for Vietnam’s matches in World Cup qualifiers
My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi will be open at 30 percent of its capacity when Vietnam host Japan and Saudi Arabia in the final round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers, reported Vietnam News Agency.
Football fans in Vietnam. (Photo: VNA)
The People’s Committee of Hanoi has approved a plan on the organisation of the matches, announced the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) on October 21.
The two games will take place on November 11 and five days later, respectively.
To be eligible for entering the stadium, spectators must be fully vaccinated with the second shot being injected at least 14 days or recover from COVID-19 within six months; test negative for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 within 72 hours before kick-off; and follow the Ministry of Health’s 5K message.
Vietnam have yet to collect any points after four matches and are at the bottom of Group B of the final qualifying round, which they played for the first time ever.
Vietnam are of the same group with Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, China and Oman./.