U23 vietnam and u23 malaysia

New damselfly found in central Vietnam

March 1, 2019 by tuoitrenews.vn Leave a Comment

A new species of damselfly, an insect closely related to the dragonfly, has been discovered by a researcher from Da Nang’s Duy Tan University studying biodiversity in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum.

Damselflies and dragonflies are indicative of the water quality and general health of an ecosystem. They also help protect crops from pests.

Dr. Phan Quoc Toan first wrote publically about the newly discovered species in an article published in the international journal of Zootaxa in early February, where he announced it would be named Coeliccia lecongcoi in honor of the scientific contributions made by Le Cong Co, the first president of Duy Tan University in the central city of Da Nang.

Two damselflies of the Coeliccia lecongcoi are seen in tandem in this photo taken from Phan Quoc Toan’s paper published in Zootaxa in February 2019 .

Phan Quoc Toan shows Coeliccia lecongcoi, the latest damselfly that he found in Vietnam and was featured in a paper published in Zootaxa in February 2019. Photo: Ha Chau / Tuoi Tre

According to Toan, the duty of naming a new species falls upon the person who discovered it, but the label must not include that person’s own name.

This is Toan’s second major discovery in the past two years, following his identification of the Coeliccia duytan damselfly species at Chu Mom Ray National Park in Kon Tum in 2017.

Toan’s office at Duy Tan University looks more like a natural history museum than an office, with damselflies and dragonflies covering the walls – a precursor to the biological museum he hopes to build one day in central Vietnam.

“When I started doing my PhD thesis on dragonflies in Japan in 2013, my instructors told me to ‘mine for gold’ when I returned to Vietnam,” he recalled.

Phan Quoc Toan shows insect specimens in his office at Duy Tan University in Da Nang, central Vietnam. Photo : Ha Chau / Tuoi Tre

And that he did.

“I knew exactly what they meant. I finished my degree at the Tokyo Metropolitan University in 2016 and immediately came back to Vietnam when I did, in fact, strike gold.”

Those ‘gold mines,’ he says, are the lush world of insects and parasites that make up Vietnam’s characteristically diverse ecosystem.

“Japan is so far ahead scientifically that there’s even an association of nearly 100 scientists studying the characteristics and habits of the damselfly alone,” he said.

“That’s why more there are more chances of being the one to discover a new species in a developing country.”

Over the past two years, Toan and his colleagues have found 19 new species of damselfly in Vietnam’s forests, nature reserves, and national parks.

Phan Quoc Toan poses for a picture holding an aerial insect net. Photo : T.D. / Tuoi Tre

Phan Quoc Toan (first right) poses for a picture with colleagues in a forest in Vietnam. Photo: T.D. / Tuoi Tre

Toan has also taken part in several collaborative projects with foreign researchers and coauthored articles about new insect species discovered in Indonesia and Malaysia.

His current aim is continue researching biodiversity in Vietnam and hopes to use his expertise to focus on conserving insects, studying their origins, and observing their reactions to climate and ecological change.

He is currently considered one of the most knowledgeable damselfly researchers in Southeast Asia, according to To Van Quang, a researcher at Vietnam’s Southern Institute of Ecology.

Toan’s works are expected to provide scientists with more information for research in the evolution, taxonomy, and genetic features of damselflies, Quang added.

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Vietnam Airlines plans to restore its entire flight network by the end of 2023

June 28, 2022 by www.sggpnews.org.vn Leave a Comment

In the first six months of 2022, Vietnam Airlines has resumed flights to 14 countries and territories, including the UK, France, Germany, Australia, the US, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

Lately, the airline has opened a new route to India and is preparing the necessary conditions to immediately reopen flights to China, Myanmar, and Russia when the conditions permit.

The national carrier is expected to resume flights to Indonesia in July and key international routes to Japan, Korea, and Australia in November at the same flight frequency as in 2019. It hopes that it will be able to restore the entire international flight network, equivalent to that in 2019 by the end of 2023.

The gradual restoration of international flight routes is an opportunity for Vietnam Airlines to improve the usage efficiency of resources, increase revenue, improve production and business results, reduce losses, and aim at profits in the following years.

In 2021, the total consolidated revenue of this enterprise was only VND29.75 trillion. However, the consolidated pre-tax loss was VND1.34 trillion lower than the forecast. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, international regular flight routes accounted for 65 percent of the airline’s revenue.

Pacific Airlines faces risks of shutdown

In related news, according to the information from the 2022 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Vietnam Airlines on June 28, the current financial situation of Pacific Airlines is extremely pessimistic.

According to Dang Ngoc Hoa, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Airlines, the carrier currently holds a 98 percent stake in Pacific Airlines. At present, this airline is facing a cash-flow shortage, large overdue debts, and a risk of insolvency and shutdown.

Vietnam Airlines plans to restore its entire flight network by the end of 2023 ảnh 2

Following the policy approved by State agencies, the Board of Directors of Vietnam Airlines had directed the implementation of solutions to maintain the airline’s operations while looking for new investors to participate in the restructuring of Pacific Airlines.

Vietnam Airlines worked with relevant agencies and potential investors. However, the investor selection process encountered many difficulties related to mechanisms and policies according to current regulations for State-owned enterprises. Because of the accumulated losses of Pacific Airlines, the transfer of losses was entangled with regulations and implementation procedures.

Vietnam Airlines will report to the competent authorities to apply regulations to select investors publicly, transparently, and compliantly with the law, ensuring the harmony between the Law on Enterprises and the Securities Law.

Pacific Airlines was established in 1991, with shareholders being State-owned enterprises.

In 2007, Qantas Group bought a 30 percent stake in Pacific Airlines, and the airline changed its name to Jetstar Pacific Airlines.

In 2012, the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) transferred 68 percent of the capital at Jetstar Pacific to Vietnam Airlines.

By July 2020, Jetstar Pacific changed back to its first name – Pacific Airlines.

In October 2020, Qantas Group carried out procedures to withdraw from the partnership at Pacific Airlines and transferred 30 percent of its shares in Pacific Airlines to Vietnam Airlines in the form of gifting. Thus, Vietnam Airlines currently holds about 98 percent stake in Pacific Airlines.

By Bich Quyen – Translated by Da Nguyet

Vietnam leaps up global quality of life ranking

June 28, 2022 by e.vnexpress.net Leave a Comment

Vietnam earned a score of 78.49 to rank 62 out of 165 countries and territories included in 2021 World’s Best Countries For Quality of Life recently released, moving up its ranking of 101st out of 171 countries in the previous edition.

The ranking was determined based on 10 key categories: affordability, economic stability, family-friendly, a good job market, income equality, political neutrality & stability, safety, cultural influence, well-developed public education system and well-developed public health system. Each attribute was graded on a 100-point scale.

Compared to Southeast Asia peers, Vietnam lags behind Singapore (19th place), Thailand (38th), the Philippines (39th), Malaysia (41st) and Indonesia (58th), though ranking above Myanmar (101st), Cambodia (111th) and Timor-Leste (149th).

Laos was not included in the report.

Finland tops the list with 99.06 points. Denmark and Norway each earned an overall score of 98.13 and 96.75 to complete the global top three.

The world’s two largest economies, U.S. and China, ranked 14th and 37th, respectively.

Montserrat, Sudan and Syria made up the bottom three.

Malaysia, Australia reaffirm commitment to strengthen strategic partnership

June 28, 2022 by www.theedgemarkets.com Leave a Comment

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah (right) shakes hands with Australian Foreign Minister Senator Penny Wong after holding a press conference at Wisma Putra on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. (Bernamapix)

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PUTRAJAYA (June 28): Malaysia and Australia reaffirmed their commitment to enhance cooperation in multifaceted areas of mutual interest, driven by Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) that both countries will build on.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah said he and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong had discussed in depth the various positive growth areas under the CSP.

The areas of growth include economy, people-to-people relations, technology as well on stability and security in the region, especially in the post Covid-19 pandemic period and beyond.

“We expressed our delight and satisfaction towards the positive growth of our multifaceted cooperation, especially in the post Covid-19 pandemic period.

“Malaysia is confident that all of the various collaborative efforts made under the partnership will contribute significantly towards supporting the region to rise from the challenges posed by the pandemic,” he told a joint news conference with Wong at his office here on Tuesday (June 28).

Earlier, Saifuddin and Wong had a bilateral meeting that covered a wide range of topics concerning both countries, as well as current regional and global issues.

Malaysia and Australia elevated their bilateral ties to CSP in January 2021. Australia also established Comprehensive Partnership with ASEAN last year.

Saifuddin said the digital economy and cybersecurity were among the key areas that both countries should strengthen cooperation.

Malaysia-Australia bilateral trade in 2021 amounted to US$14 billion, an increase of 30% from 2020, he said adding that there were “ways and means to add to that number”.

People-to-people relation is one of the areas that can be further developed considering the fact Malaysian students studying in Australia represent a significant number, amounting to about 12,000 currently.

Saifuddin said he had taken note on Australia’s position for the humanitarian assistance it provided to Myanmar.

Meanwhile, Wong in echoing Saifuddin said in moving forward Malaysia and Australia would work to give greater momentum to the partnership.

She said Australia is ready to continue to be a wheat and meat supplier to Malaysia, especially at a time when global supply chains have been constrained.

“As comprehensive strategic partners, we will work with Malaysia on any required issue in term of supply constraint arising from the (Ukraine-Russia) conflict,” she said.

As part of her three-day working visit to Malaysia, Sabah-born Wong would also be meeting with Senior Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and Senior Minister of Defence Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, before going to Kota Kinabalu on Wednesday (June 29).

Before arriving in Malaysia, Wong was in Vietnam. After her appointment as the foreign minister early this month, she was in Indonesia with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Australia FM stresses AUKUS will not create nuclear weapons

June 28, 2022 by www.sfgate.com Leave a Comment

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PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) — Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong stressed Tuesday that her country’s security pact with the U.K. and the U.S. will not create nuclear weapons, and said she hoped concerns that it may spark a regional arms race would dissipate over time.

“We are not a nuclear power. There are nuclear powers in this region, but Australia is not one of them,” Wong told a news conference after meeting with her Malaysian counterpart, Saifuddin Abdullah.

Under the agreement, called AUKUS, Australia is to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. Some countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including Malaysia, fear the pact could escalate tensions in hot spots such as the disputed South China Sea, much of which is claimed by China, and have warned the pact will threaten regional stability.

“We remain very clear that we do not seek, nor would we ever seek to arm, (to) have any nuclear capability on our submarines,” she said. “I think sometimes people hear the word nuclear, and I understand there’s a response to that, (but) we are talking about nuclear propulsion, not nuclear weapons.”

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri has said his government rejects any alliances that share nuclear weapons or related technology.

“We are worried that some other major economies will take advantage of AUKUS,” he said in an interview with Japan’s Nikkei newspaper in May. “For example, if China wants to help North Korea purchase nuclear-powered submarines, we can’t say no because AUKUS has set a precedent.”

Wong said Australia’s new government, sworn in on June 1, is committed to ensuring the region is peaceful, stable and prosperous. “And importantly, a region where rules enable some predictability to state behavior and to the way in which disputes would be dealt with,” she said.

Wong said she explained Australia’s stance to Saifuddin and to her counterparts in Vietnam and Indonesia during visits there. “We hope that over time, you know, people’s concerns will be able to be allayed,” she said.

But Saifuddin said Malaysia’s position remains the same.

“Malaysia highly values the regional peace and security of the ASEAN region, and we want to maintain the South China Sea in particular and the region itself as a region of peace, of commerce, of prosperity,” he said at the same news conference.

Wong is traveling next to Kota Kinabalu, the capital of eastern Sabah state on Borneo island. Wong, who has a Malaysian father, has said she is looking forward to visiting her birth city where she spent her early years.