On Monday, the Da Nang People’s Committee (PC) Vice Chairman cum Head of the city’s Department of Publicity and Training, Mr Dang Viet Dung, and PC Vice Chairman Nguyen Ngoc Tuan jointly chaired a press conference covering some local issues which have been of greatest concern during the 1^st quarter of this year.

Vice Chairman Dung addressing the press conference

In the spotlight was dealing with the unlicensed construction of 40 villas in part of the eco-resort project on the Son Tra Peninsula.  The city authorities have temporarily suspended the construction work and imposed a fine of 40 million VND on the project’s developer.  Vice Chairman Dung underlined that the Son Tra Peninsula is considered a precious natural gift, and a ‘green lung’ for the city.  Hence, environmental protection has always been one of the city’s top priorities.  The city is currently focusing on increasing the monitoring of local projects to detect and deal with any future violations, especially unlicensed constructions.

With regard to the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week (AELW) in the city from 5 - 11 November, relevant local agencies are now working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make careful preparations for this international large-scale event.  It is expected that all the key local projects in preparation for AELW will be completed by July. 

Also, special attention will be paid to organising a wide range of events on the sidelines of AELW, including investment promotion conferences and activities to advertise the city’s image, in a bid to attract even more domestic and FDI inflows into the city.

The Director of the municipal Department of Culture and Sports, Mr Huynh Van Hung, affirmed that 8 teams will participate in the nearly 2-month-long Da Nang International Fireworks Festival (DIFF) 2017, namely Switzerland, Japan, China, the UK, Italy, Australia, Austria, and Da Nang-Viet Nam. 

One of the differences at this year’s DIFF is that arts troupes from the participating teams will give arts performances to demonstrate their distinctive cultural identities. 

It is reported that a total of 21,000 ticketed seats to watch the fireworks displays will be available each night in the A, B1, B2, B3, B4, and B5 stands alongside Tran Hung Dao in Son Tra District.  Tickets have already have been issued, and their prices range between 300,000 VND and 1,000,000 VND per ticket per person per night.

The Director of the city’s Department of Transport, Mr Le Van Trung, said that the authorities of Da Nang and Quang Nam Province will jointly make suitable adjustments to the travel schedule for the bus route between the 2 localities to ease traffic congestion in the inner city during rush hours.

As for other local socio-economic issues, the incumbent Chief of the People’s Committee Secretariat, Mr Tran Dinh Quynh, announced that, in the 1^st quarter of this year, the city’s gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to have increased by 8.52% compared with the same period last year.  The number of tourist arrivals to the city is likely to have reached over 1.3 million, and the total of taxes collected in the city is likely to have hit 5,816 billion VND, fulfilling 27.8% of the year’s target.  Most notably, Da Nang has come out top of Viet Nam’s 2016 Information and Communications Technology (ICT) applications and development readiness ranking for the 8th consecutive year. 

The Director of the Da Nang Department of Information and Communications, Mr Nguyen Quang Thanh, raised his deep concern over recent untruthful coverage by some online websites regarding some local issues, and this problem has adversely affected the prestige of the city’s leaders and blighted the city’s image.  He, therefore, asked the Ministry of Information and Communications to deal with this matter as quickly as possible.

During his closing speech, Vice Chairman Dung highly praised the city-based media agencies for their active involvement in widely publicising the important policies and strategies of the city, thereby securing a high level of consensus amongst local residents.