This year, 35 years after the war ended and Vietnam became unified, five members from the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) led by Jack G. Devine, VVA Vice-President, returned to visit their old combat areas in Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue Provinces.

The Government-funded project on vocational training for rural labourers to the year 2020 has proved its initial efficiency, even though it has been enacted for only a short time. Normally after harvest time farmers have very little to do, so turn to playing card while some leave home in search of employment. Since the project has been operated and many vocational training courses opened, these same people are now finding jobs, sometimes within walking distance from their homes thanks to the vocational training they have received.

With sponsorship from the Animals Asia Foundation (AAF), Vietnam has carried out campaigns to rescue and project a rare and precious species of bears which is on the brink of extinction.

Thoong Philavong Hoang Dieu, an overseas Vietnamese in Laos, has been known as a dynamic businessman and a responsible man in his community.

André Bosia, the French, Executive Chef of Sofitel Metropole Hanoi, is considered as a talented artist in processing Vietnamese dishes. For him, the Vietnamese gastronomy not only brings him a great passion but also conveys interests about Vietnam, its people and culture.

Over nearly two years Nimur Michiko from Japan lived in a rural area in the mountainous district of Yen Dung, Bac Giang Province (Northern Vietnam) to work as a voluntary teacher at a primary school.

Through untold ups and downs, Quan Ho (love duets), an art form of folk music and singing famous in the region of Kinh Bac, present-day Bac Ninh Province (North Vietnam) and its surrounding areas, has been well preserved generation after generation. On September 30^th, 2009 Quan Ho was recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of mankind.