Prince William on Wednesday afternoon kicked back over a glass of Vietnamese coffee on a sidewalk along a small road in Ha Noi’s Old Quarter.

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, shakes hands with a local while having coffee at a roadside café on Thuoc Bac Street in Ha Noi’s Old Quarter on November 16, 2016. Tuoi Tre

On the afternoon of his first day in Viet Nam’s capital, the Duke of Cambridge retreated to a roadside café to enjoy Vietnamese style coffee and speak with locals about wildlife conservation.

Prince William landed at the capital’s Noi Bai International Airport earlier the same day to kick off his two-day working visit to the country focusing on wildlife conservation.

Speaking with traditional medicine experts, the duke expressed his hope that wild animals and their body parts would cease to be used as an ingredient in traditional remedies in Viet Nam and other countries.

Bears are raised illegally on farms across the Southeast Asian country to feed the regional demand for their bile - the digestive fluid which is believed to possess healing properties in traditional medicine.

Tran Van Ban, chairman of the Vietnam National Oriental Traditional Medicine Association, asserted that the suggestion by Prince William matches Viet Nam’s soil condition, which is favorable for the growth of nearly 5,000 medicinal herbs, and is consistent with the global trend toward the protection and conservation of wildlife and the natural environment.

In October 2013, the Vietnamese government passed a decision laying out the country’s plan to develop and manufacture herbal medicine by 2020 with a vision towards 2030.

After leaving the Old Quarter, the British monarch visited Ngoc Son Temple (Temple of the Jade Mountain) near Hoan Kiem Lake, a popular tourist site in the Vietnamese capital.

Prince William attended the third International Wildlife Trade Conference (IWTC) on Thursday, hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

He visited Vietnamese leaders in the morning before attending a meeting with experts in traditional Vietnamese medicine as well as public figures, representatives from non-governmental organisations, celebrities, and the business community in Ha Noi later the same day.

(Source: Tuoitrenews)