On 11 August, Chairman of the Da Nang People’s Committee, Mr Van Huu Chien met with the Chairman of the Kerry Logistics Corporation and former Singaporean Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr George Yeo. The visit was made within the framework of the business trip of the former Minister of Singapore to Viet Nam to attend the conference on multilateral foreign affairs in the 21st century in Ha Noi on 12 August at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.

Nearly 300 stands from 150 enterprises displayed their products and introduced their services at the East-West Economic Corridor’s International Investment, Trade and Tourism Fair – Da Nang 2014 which began on 15 August. They included 42 stands from Thailand, Laos PDR, Malaysia and South Africa.

The role of police in the anti-corruption efforts of the Vietnamese government and measures to make police officers accountable, efficient, and professional were discussed at a dialogue on police integrity held on 26 August in Da Nang. The event was jointly organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security (MPS).

On 11 August, Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People’s Committee, Mr Phung Tan Viet, met with the Chief Technical Advisor and Project Manager of the Environmentally and Climate-friendly Urban Development in Da Nang (ECUD) project, Mr Erik Schweikhardt.

On 3 July, Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People’s Committee, Mr Vo Duy Khuong, met with the newly-appointed extraordinary and plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to Viet Nam, Mr Panyarak Poolthup, on his visit to the city at the beginning of his term of office in Viet Nam.

The Son Tra Peninsula Strategic Vision Plan, which was designed by the US’s Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP (SOM), has been awarded the excellence prize by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Covering approximately 60 square kilometres, SOM’s plan outlines strategies to guide future development and to protect the peninsula’s natural assets, which are currently threatened by economic development pressures.

The city recently held a ceremony to inaugurate its e-government system including the Information Technology (IT) and communications infrastructure; IT applications, policy and mechanism on IT and communications and IT manpower resources.

Vietnam Airlines will inaugurate its first direct flight from Da Nang to Tokyo’s Narita Airport on 16 July. The opening of this service should be good news for the city’s travel agencies who are trying to appeal to the Japanese tourist market more effectively.

The Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism recently held a programme in Ha Noi and HCM City to publicise Da Nang’s MICE tourism (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) and introduce promotional packages to be available in the city in the low tourism season.

Foreigners and overseas Vietnamese can now claim value-added tax (VAT) refunds on purchases made from certain participating shops in Viet Nam when they exit the country through Da Nang International Airport or Tien Sa Port. The scheme is being applied in Da Nang from 1 July.