Da Nang People’s Committee has approved cooperation with Viet Nam Television to organise the Asia-Pacific Robocon 2013 competition, themed “The Green Planet”, at the Tien Son Sports & Entertainment Complex from 14 to 18 August 2013.

French-invested projects have made up only a small proportion of the more than 230 licensed FDI projects in the city. Two-way trade between Da Nang and French enterprises totalled 15.6 million USD last year, but that included the city’s export turnover to France of 9.1 million USD. These figures were reported by the Chairman of Da Nang People’s Committee, Mr Van Huu Chien, during his meeting with the newly-appointed Ambassador of the Republic of France to Viet Nam, Mr Jean Noel Poirier, on 21 November.

The Association Internationale des Etudiants en Science Economique et Commerciale (AIESEC) will host its Careers Day 2012 at the HAGL Plaza Hotel (1 Nguyen Van Linh Street) on 18 November (from 8-11.30 am). This is the first time that this event has been held in Da Nang. The event will give students from local universities an opportunity to interact with large companies based in the city through activities which will include mock interviews, stall visits, and panel discussions.

A friendship exchange meeting was held recently in the Da Nang Swimming and Diving Club’s building to welcome the Viet Nam–Korea Friendship Cycling Tour for Agent Orange (AO) victims. The event was organised by the Da Nang People’s Committee and the Da Nang Association of Agent Orange Victims.

The National Information Society Agency (NIA) of the Republic of Korea (RoK) will send technical consultancy experts, and support the organisation of training workshops to share experiences, to help establish e-government for Da Nang.

The Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism recently reported that approximately 2.1 million visitors came to the city in the first 9 months of 2012, a year-on-year increase of 18.1%, and brought a total turnover of more than 1,200 billion VND.

Da Nang has been selected as one of the 20 cities to be involved in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Low Carbon Model Town Project. The decision was announced at the 44th meeting of the APEC Energy Working Group (EWG) which was held in Washington DC, USA, recently.

The Prime Minister has approved the inclusion of Da Nang’s Substainable City Development Project (SCDP) in the list of projects to be financed by the World Bank (WB) during the fiscal year 2013. The project will cost a total of 272.13 million USD, made up of 202.43 million USD of International Development Association (IDA) credit from the WB, and 69.7 million USD of Da Nang’s counterpart funding.

On 16 October, the Vice Chairman of Da Nang People’s Committee, Mr Phung Tan Viet, met with a business delegation from the USA which was led by the Executive Director of the US-China Chamber of Commerce in Chicago (USCCC), Ms Mai Hoang.

Mr Roberto De Castro, the famous Italian genital reconstruction surgeon, and experts and medical practitioners from the Asia Injuries Prevention Foundation (AIPF), recently provided free examinations at the Da Nang Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Paediatrics Hospital. They examined more than 50 children with genital abnormalities caused by accidents or congenital deformities, all from the central region of Viet Nam. The most serious cases have been selected for surgery at the beginning of 2013.