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A month before the Lunar New Year, or the traditional Vietnamese Tet Holiday, gardeners in Dac So Commune, Hoai Duc District, are busy harvesting Buddha’s hand citron, a special fruit for ancestor worship on Tet. The fruit is also known as Citrus medica or finger citron. With the shape of Buddha’s hand, the fingered lemon has long been considered a fruit that brings blessings and good fortune according to Asian beliefs. Farmer Tran Thi Tuyen’s Buddha hand fruit farm in Dac So Commune, Hoai Duc District. Photos: Huy Pham/The Hanoi Times Up to 80% of the total 100 hectares of farmland in Dac So is used for growing this type of tree, making the place a hub for fruit production. According to Tuyen, the fruit originates from the northern mountains and is then grown on a large scale in the locality. Owing to its exquisite appearance and aroma, Buddha’s hand fruit is used as a religious offering in Buddhist temples and Vietnamese household...

Representatives from Vietnamese youth studying and researching at universities across Thailand, as well as representatives from the Vietnamese Association in Bangkok and surrounding areas, and the Vietnamese Businessmen Association in Bangkok, attended the event. The President of the Executive Committee of the Vietnamese Student Association in Thailand (VSAT), Nguyen Thi Ngoc Diep, emphasized that VSAT is the only student association supported by the Vietnam Embassy in Thailand. It is also one of the foreign units directly under the Central Vietnamese Students’ Association. Despite facing numerous challenges since its establishment six years ago, VSAT has become one of the largest and most influential international student associations in Thailand. VSAT’s recent accomplishments include completing the document for the Vietnamese Student Congress in Thailand and the registration of the VSAT Executive Committee in the 3rd term, both recognized by the Central Vietnam Students’ Associ...

The Bodh Gaya Marathon brought together a unique group of participants including soldiers and monks, creating a remarkable blend of spirituality and physical endurance. The distinguished flag-off ceremony was presided over by His Holiness Tai Situpa Rinpoche, Lt Gen. P.S. Minhas, AVSM, Comdt. OTA, Bodhgaya and DG IBC Shri Abhijit Halder. Their presence added a spiritual and military aura to the event, as stated in an official release by the International Buddhist Confederation. The marathon saw a diverse assembly of approximately 800 participants including professional runners, monks, army personnel, lay individuals, and government officials. The event started at Magadha University, gathering individuals from various backgrounds, according to the press release. This enlightening run for peace and unity transcended borders, drawing international participants from countries such as Korea, Hong Kong, London, Bhutan, Kenya, and more. The marathon offered categor...

A Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tet) festival is scheduled to take place in the Japanese city of Amagasaki on February 3-4, ahead of the Lunar New Year’s Eve. The festival will feature art performances, fashion shows, folk games, trade promotion, and cultural activities, according to VOV. The festival is part of the celebrations for Tet, which is the biggest annual event for Vietnamese people around the world. The program is organized by the Japan-Vietnam Trade Association with the sponsorship of Amagasaki City and the Vietnamese Consulate General in Osaka. This year, the festival will also have the participation of the Vietnamese Association in Kansai, the Vietnamese Association in Kobe, the Reiwa-International Business Innovation Association, the Japan-Vietnam Support Association, and the Kansai Vietnam-Japan Cultural and Sports Exchange Association. Calligraphy writing will be performed at the program “Homeland Spring – Vietnamese Tet Amagasaki 2024”. The highlights of the...

Vietnam’s “bamboo diplomacy” and “Make in Vietnam” chip production efforts have been highlighted by Swiss journalist Guy Mettan in an article published on online newspaper bonpourlatete.com on January 12. The article was released ahead of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s attendance at the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, according to VNA. The article of Swiss journalist Guy Mettan. Photo: VNA In the early 2000s, the author visited Vietnam several times to prepare for a book on the Geneva Accords, which ended the war and restored peace in Indochina in 1954. The author was fascinated by the remarkable changes in the country since then. The article mentions that 2023 was a busy year for Vietnam, with its “bamboo diplomacy” policy and efforts to become a new hub of the semiconductor industry. Vietnam took full advantage of the opportunities brought by the international situation, increasing its foreign activities and st...

During his attendance at the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit from January 9 to January 12, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang met Chief Minister of Gujarat state Bhupendra Patel, as reported by VOV. Deputy PM Quang highlighted the increasing cooperation opportunities between Vietnam and Gujarat, especially since the launch of direct flights between Gujarat and the major Vietnamese cities of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi in November 2022. The frequency of flights is now 14 per week. Moreover, several corporations based in Gujarat are planning to invest in the Vietnamese market. Deputy PM Quang proposed that Chief Minister Patel continue to focus on enhancing the cooperation between the two sides by increasing delegation exchanges, improving the efficiency of economic, trade, and investment ties, expediting negotiations to increase flight frequency, and strengthening collaboration between the two countries’ localities. Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang (R) receives Chie...

The eighth Vietnam – Japan environmental policy dialogue took place on January 12 in a hybrid format, with Japan’s State Minister of the Environment, Yagi Tetsuya, and Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Le Cong Thanh, co-chairing the event, as reported by VNA. Deputy Minister Thanh emphasized the significance of the event as the memorandum of understanding for cooperation signed by the two ministries in 2020 had expired. He stated that this provides an opportunity for the two ministries to discuss and initiate a new phase of cooperation in the areas of environment, climate change, and plastic waste reduction. Japanese State Minister Yagi expressed that the cooperation between the two ministries has yielded concrete and practical results, particularly in the field of environment and climate change adaptation. Japan’s State Minister of the Environment, Yagi Tetsuya, and Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Le Cong Thanh, at the s...