Art contest launched to celebrate 50 years of reunification

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports has launched an art competition to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Reunification, which will fall on April 30, 2025. The contest covers various forms of art such as music, film, architecture, dance, and photography. It also hails the development of Ho Chi Minh City, and spreads good values among local people.

The submission is open until April 30, 2024. The evaluation and finalization of the winners will take place in the 2nd quarter of 2024.

Banh chung of Vietnam. File photo

Com Tam and Banh Chung among top 100 rated rice dishes

Vietnamese cuisine dishes com tam (broken rice) and banh chung (sticky rice cake) have been ranked third and 97th, respectively, in a list of the world's 100 best-rated rice dishes, according to TasteAtlas, a world food website. Com tam is a traditional street food dish in Vietnam, but has become a specialty of Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta.

With a score of 4.7 out of 5, Vietnamese com tam ranked behind only Italian risotto and Japanese sushi. The TasteAtlas rankings are based on feedback from international food experts and readers. As of April 24, 2023, the site had received 13,124 reviews.

Storytelling boxes installed in HCM City museums

The Ho Chi Minh City Museum and the Southern Women's Museum received two storytelling boxes on July 5 as part of a partnership agreement between the French Embassy in Vietnam and the city's Department of Culture and Sports. The boxes contain three-minute stories about Vietnamese culture and history, as well as exhibits.

Vietnam is the second nation in the world to install storytelling boxes in local museums after the Confluences Museum in Lyon, France. The installation is part of a French program to preserve and promote Vietnamese values.

Vietnamese classified as responsible tourists Booking.com

Vietnam is the only Asia-Pacific nation listed in Booking.com's "Mindful Voyagers" classification for being environmentally responsible and supporting local communities. The list is released by the Dutch online travel company in the 2023 edition of the APAC Travel Confidence Index after surveying 8,000 people in 11 countries and territories.

According to the index, Vietnamese travelers are paying more attention to sustainability after the pandemic and are willing to pay for sustainable services. Some 83% of Vietnamese respondents plan to travel in the next 12 months.

Over 72,000 Vietnamese workers sent overseas in H1 2023

Over 72,000 Vietnamese laborers went abroad to work in the first half of 2023, representing an increase of more than 1.55 times year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

The number meets 65.72% of the target for 2023. Japan received the largest number of Vietnamese workers with 34,508, followed by Taiwan (China) with 31,538, South Korea with 1,608, China with 902, Singapore with 727, and other markets.