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| Illustrative photo (Source: VOV) |
Pakistan continued to represent the largest importer of Vietnamese tea, with turnover reaching US$62.3 million, up 11.3% against the same period from last year.
China spent nearly US$13.2 million on purchasing Vietnamese tea, thereby doubling the figure from the same period last year, while tea exports to the United States also increased sharply to reach nearly US$8 million.
The average tea export prices in the Pakistani market stood at above US$2,000 per tonne, while the price in other markets fluctuated between US$1,600 and US$1,800 per tonne.
Most notably, in the Chinese market, despite the purchasing output witnessing a three-fold rise, the average tea price stood at only US$1,458 per tonne, down nearly 40%.
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| Farmers in Lam Dong province harvest tea. (Photo: Vitas) |
Insiders pointed out that this year will see positive signs ahead for tea exports, with several markets increasing their purchases from 50% to 230%.
Tea exports in the remaining months of the year are anticipated to hit a record figure, duly surpassing the US$229 million mark seen back in 2011.
Despite a wealth of opportunities for expanding markets, the tea industry is required to focus on product quality, diversify products, promote organic tea production, and apply modern production procedures. Last year, Vietnam fetched about US$157 million from exporting approximately 85,000 tonnes of tea, thereby making the nation the world's fifth largest tea exporter.
Vietnam wins first prize at Asia Pacific Seeds for Future Tech4Good Competition
The Vietnamese team has won a first prize at the Asia Pacific Seeds for the Future Tech4Good Competition organised by Huawei Group in Shenzen, China, with the SkyNet project which supports the search for flood victims. With this result, it will advance to the Tech4Good Global Competition next year, reported Vietnam News Agency.
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| The Vietnamese and Cambodian teams both win first prize at the Future Tech4Good Competition. (Photo: Hanoimoi.vn) |
The Vietnamese team comprises six students from four leading universities in Vietnam, including Mai Thi Phuong, Nguyen Thi Thu Trang and Dinh Hoang Anh from the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology; Pham Quynh Trang from VinUniversity; Cao Sy Duong from the Hanoi University of Science and Technology, and Tran Dang Nam from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport.
At the competition, the Vietnamese squad competed with 24 teams from 24 other countries in the region. After two consecutive rounds, the Vietnamese team won the first prize with the SkyNet project, which was devised based on the context of super typhoon Yagi that just caused economic damage of 2 billion USD to Vietnam. The team from Cambodia also won a first prize.
The project was developed based on the application of drones, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and AI technology to support search and rescue of victims in flooded areas in a faster and smarter manner. The cost of the project was also optimised to bring economic benefits and diverse application scenarios when it is commercialised to the market.
Tech4Good is a startup project competition organised by Huawei with the aim of raising students' awareness of local sustainable development challenges, along with capturing the latest digital trends, thereby developing technically and commercially feasible solutions to solve social problems.
Cruise ship brings nearly 3,000 int'l guests to Ha Long
Italian-flagged passenger cruise ship the Costa Serena docked at Ha Long International Cruise Port in the northern province of Quang Ninh on September 30, reported Vietnam News Agency.
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| Italian-flagged passenger cruise ship the Costa Serena (Photo: baotintuc.vn) |
The five-star cruise ship brought with it a total of 3,000 passengers, mainly from China and other Chinese-speaking countries, along with over 1,000 crew members.
During the course of their stay, the tourists will visit Ha Long Bay and go on city tours to explore local culture and cuisine. At 18:00 p.m. on the same day they departed Ha Long Bay as they continued with their journey.
According to the schedule, the cruise ship will continue to bring tourists to Ha Long City on October 14, October 18, November 4, and November 8.
By the end of this month, the northern city will welcome 60 to 70 foreign cruise ships from renowned firms such as Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Azamara, and Mein Schiff 5, bringing with them roughly 70,000 passengers from the United States, Canada, the UK, and Australia.
Most notably, Ha Long City will welcome American-flagged cruise ship The World, carrying with it 170 millionaires and billionaires, mainly from the US and Europe. They will stay in the city for four days.
Vietnamese community in UK provides relief aid for Yagi victims
Vietnamese organisations and associations in the UK have raised funds worth 61,367 GBP (82,132 USD) to support people who were affected by Typhoon Yagi in Vietnam’s northern provinces early this month, reported Vietnam News Agency.
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| An event is hold to mark mid-autumn festival in Liverpool. The event organisers transfer 1,000 GBP to the account of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee to aid victims affected by Typhoon Yagi. (Photo: VNA) |
They included the Vietnamese Association in the UK (VAUK); the Vietnamese Business Association in the UK (VBUK); the Vietnamese Intellectuals Association in the UK and Ireland (VIS); the Students' Association in Oxford; the Vietnamese Women and Children's Association in the UK; the Vietnamese communities in Birmingham and Liverpool; the Vietnam-UK Friendship Network (VUKN) and Vietnamese representative agencies in the UK.
VIS President Prof. Nguyen Xuan Huan said that within only two days, the association mobilised 4,000 GBP not only from Vietnamese intellectuals in the UK but also from British friends. This reflected the development and prestige of VIS in the country.
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese community in Liverpool transferred 1,000 GBP to the account of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee to aid the victims.
Lam Oanh, head of the charity division of the Vietnamese Women and Children's Association in the UK, said that by the end of September, the association had raised a total of 10,588 GBP. Its representatives on September 22 came to the northern provinces of Cao Bang and Lao Cai to present gifts worth 1 million VND each to more than 100 households. It will soon hand over 5,000 GBP to the VFF Central Committee.
VAUK Chairman Tang Tuan Tu presented 100 million VND (4,000 USD) to the VFF Central Committee in Hanoi on September 27, while VBUK had previously transferred more than 236.7 million VND to the VFF.
Meanwhile, the amount of 33,060 GBP donated by the Vietnamese community in Birmingham is expected to be presented directly by the community's representative in Vietnam soon.
The support from the Vietnamese community in the UK to victims in the home country helped show the national solidarity and the tradition of sharing among Vietnamese people./.