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| At the forum (Photo: dangcongsan.vn) |
The event drew the participation of 100 students from 37 universities in 10 countries, namely Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, who came for high-quality academic exchanges, and to promote their role in the digital transformation process in their nations.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union of Ho Chi Minh City and Chairwoman of the municipal Students’ Association Tran Thu Ha said that the forum, among the outstanding activities of the students’ association, aimed to create a venue for students to share experience in scientific research as well as academic issues.
Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Duong Anh Duc said digital transformation, which creates substantial changes in production, management and consumption, poses both opportunities and challenges to all sectors, adding HCM City is making unceasing efforts to shape up a business climate and digital infrastructure system, and devise incentives to encourage investments in IT and AI, creating favourable conditions for startups.
The youth has played an important role in the digitalisation process as their creativity, devotion and knowledge will help countries overcome challenges to realise their digital transformation targets, he said, stressing that the forum was expected to encourage students to better engage in the process, helping their countries develop prosperously in the digitalization era.
In the framework of the forum, an array of research works on digital transformation were delivered by researchers and lecturers from Vietnamese and foreign universities.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chandra Setiawan, former Rector of President University in Indonesia, digital transformation is the application of advanced technologies to carry out business activities in a faster and more effective fashion, thus it is necessary for education establishments to give digitalization training to their students.
The 1st International Students Science Forum was organised in 2016 to welcome the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community. The annual forum spotlights an array of issues, including sustainable development, the fourth industrial revolution, and digital economy.
Da Nang works to attract more visitors from potential markets
The central city of Da Nang is stepping up tourism promotion in India and the Republic of Korea (RoK) to attract more visitors from these potential markets and diversify sources of international travellers, according to the Vietnam News Agency.
Truong Thi Hong Hanh, Director of the municipal Tourism Department, said the department recently had meetings with airlines and travel companies of India to discuss the opening of direct air routes to Da Nang.
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| Golden Bridge, a tourist magnet in Da Nang city (Photo: VNA) |
Meeting Indian carriers of Air India, Vistara, and Indigo, the department provided them with information about local destinations, potential, the impressive growth in the number of Indian tourists to Da Nang, and incentives for international airlines to open direct routes to the city. It also listened to their proposals about air route opening.
Hanh noted that Da Nang is a new and attractive destination for Indian visitors as it boasts numerous advantages such as marine tourism, world-famous hotel brands, theme parks, night entertainment activities, diverse cuisine, the connectivity with world heritage sites in neighbouring provinces, and its recognition as the leading festival and event destination in Asia.
During the first nine months of 2023, this city has welcomed more than 95,000 tourist arrivals from India, accounting for almost half of the total visitors from the South Asian country to Vietnam, statistics show.
The Tourism Department also met with many travel firms of India such as Motherson Air Travel, Dream Trip4U, Luxury Vacations & Holidays and ATG Holidays. These companies specialise in MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Conference and Event), FIT (Free Independent Traveller) and the hi-end family tourism segment, which also match Da Nang’s priorities.
Anuj Anand, Sales Director of Motherson Air Travel, said his business plans to arrange trips to new destinations, and Da Nang is a must-visit place.
Meanwhile, Director of ATG Holidays Vinay Arora noted he is surprised at and also satisfied with the quantity and quality of Indian hotels and restaurants in Da Nang. Vinay and Aishwarya Arora from Luxury Vacations & Holidays also spoke highly of the local treatment for MICE tourist groups.
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| Artists from the RoK perform near the Han River in Da Nang city. (Photo: VNA) |
Joining a recent tourism promotion programme in Seoul, Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People’s Council Tran Phuoc Son said the RoK has continually been a leading source of international visitors to the city.
He noted the local tourism sector has actively carried out promotion activities in the RoK and also worked to offer new and quality experiences to travellers from this Northeast Asian market. Particularly, the new visa policy of Vietnam, coming into force on August 15, will also make it more favourable for international tourists, including those from the RoK, to travel in the city.
During the programme, the city updated Korean travel and service businesses about its destinations along with new products and services, with a focus on marine, MICE, and golf tourism.
Da Nang’s tourism has been showing strong recovery recently. Since the beginning of 2023, local accommodation facilities have served over 5.8 million tourists, equivalent to 115% of the figure recorded in the same period of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. The visitors include 1.56 million foreigners, of which over 1 million are from the RoK, data show.
Vietnam wraps up competition at ASIAD 19 with 3 golds, 5 silvers, 19 bronzes
Vietnamese athletes on October 7 won one silver and two bronze medals in the penultimate day of the 19th Asian Games (ASIAD 19) in Hangzhou city of China’s Zhejiang province, said the Vietnam News Agency.
The silver went to the women's regu (team of three) after they lost to the world's strongest squad of Thailand in the gold medal match, 15-21, 12-21 at the Jinhua Sports Centre.
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The karate team won gold medal for Vietnam at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou city
of China on October 6. (Photo: VNA) |
The Thai team had better techniques but the Vietnamese also made many mistakes, including their serves many of which went wide or hit the net.
It was the last day of the sepak takraw matches and in total, Vietnam won one gold (women's quadrant), one silver and one bronze (men's regu).
The karate team, equally as successful overall as the sepak takraw athletes, added to their medal tally with one bronze on October 7 in kumite (combat) competition.
Do Thanh Nhan defeated the Republic of Korea’s Baek Junhyeok 9-3 in the third-placed playoff of the men's 84kg category at the Linping Sports Centre.
The karate squad have won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals. They still have chance to secure more medals as in the last day on October 8, athletes were slated to compete in the men's team kata (performance) event.
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Do Thanh Nhan defeated the Republic of Korea’s Baek Junhyeok 9-3 in the third-placed playoff
of the men's 84kg category. (Photo: Sports Administration of Vietnam) |
Vietnam's second bronze on October 7 was from xiangqi (Chinese chess).
Lai Ly Huynh beat Liu Kuo Hua of Chinese Taipe in the last round of the men's individual category. He had eight points to place third in the rankings.
It was the second medal of the team after they won a silver in the mixed team event last week.
As karate athletes secured no more medals on October 8 – the last day of ASIAD 19, the Vietnamese delegation officially wrapped up their journey at the Games with three golds, five silvers and 19 bronze medals, placing at No 21./.