A: Over the past week, we continue to receive lots of emails and letters from our listeners around the world. Thank you very much for tuning in to our shortwave programs and giving us your regular feedback.

B: We appreciate regular reports from listeners in places such as India and Bangladesh, where many VOV Listeners’ Club have been set up. The listeners have great interest in our shortwave programs and many have also commented on our website and programs on the VOV app.

A: Listening to our broadcast on September 13 on the frequency of 7280 at 1615 UTC, Mr. Bhaikan Hazarika of the Universal DX Club of India wrote: “First of all, I want to say thank you to you for your amazing, fantastic program. I really appreciate it. In today’s Letter Box program, you read listeners’ letters, emails and reception reports coming from around the world. The song you played on the show was so nice. I found today’s program most informative and enjoyable. The information about bonsai was especially great”.

Ban Gioc waterfall in Cao Bang province

B: Miss Karobi Hazarika of India also shared her interest in the Letter Box segment: “As a regular listener of your wonderful station, I had listened to your regular “Letter Box” program today. The beautiful Vietnamese song about Ho Chi Minh played in today’s show sung by a male singer was beautiful.”

A: We’d like to acknowledge feedback on our “Letter Box” on September 6 from Deekay Dimple of India who tuned in to our broadcast on the frequency of 7280 using the Philips 4Band Communications Type with a random, long wire antenna.

B: In an email to VOV, Konstantin Pravotorov of Ukraine reported on the reception for the program on August 23 on the frequency of 9840 from 15:00 t0 15:27 UTC. He showed an interest in Ban Gioc waterfall and asked for a QSL card depicting the site.

A: The Ban Gioc Waterfall is one of the most majestic natural features in Cao Bang province. Below the falls lies the Quay Son River, whose right bank is Vietnamese territory while the left bank belongs to China.

Ban Gioc waterfall

B: The Waterfall, located in Dam Thuy commune about 90km from Cao Bang City and 400km from Hanoi, is one of the most beautiful of its kind in Vietnam. With a height of 70m and a width of 208m, it is the largest natural waterfall in Southeast Asia and the world’s 4^th largest waterfall that forms a border. 

A: It’s accessible via the national highway to Cao Bang City, and then several recently upgraded provincial roads, leading through fantastic countryside to the falls. It’s now easier than ever to visit Ban Gioc, but still very few people, especially foreign travelers, make it here. A perfect destination if you’re on a motorbike road trip around northern Vietnam, or an independent traveller looking to get off the beaten track, this waterfall is a favorite destination for tourists.

B: Autumn is the best time when the Ban Gioc waterfall is full of water, and also November and December, when colorful wild flowers blossom throughout the forest. There are thatched houses at the foot of the waterfall where you can fish and admire the landscape.

A: We believe that you can have a wonderful tour of there. Send us your reception reports and we will verify it with a QSL card depicting the beauty of Ban Gioc waterfall.

B: Next is an email from Muhammad Shamim of India. Sending a reception report for the program on September 13 from 1600 to 1630 UTC on the frequency of 7220, Mr. Shamim wrote: “All your programs are interesting and educational. The daily segment “Current Affairs” was both educative and useful. Today your signals in 41 meter band 7220 were good for caption in my area. Signal strength was good, although with slight jamming and background noise in my area.”

Workers at Samsung factory in Vietnam (Photo: VNA)

A: Thank you, Shammim, for your report. We’ll send you a QSL card to confirm it. Shammim also had a question about industrial parks in Vietnam.

B: Vietnam had 325 industrial parks on a total area of more than 90,000 ha as at the end of June, according to a report from the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

A: 220 IPs were in operation together with 105 IPs in the process of site clearance compensation and basic construction. According to the report, Vietnam also has 16 coastal economic zones. There are also two further coastal economic zones - Thai Binh in northern Thai Binh province and Ninh Co in northern Nam Dinh province - which are under planning but are yet to be established.

A: IPs and economic zones have attracted more than 470 newly-registered foreign investment projects, with combined capital of nearly 7.3 billion USD. They have also attracted more than 380 domestic investment projects with total capital of 5.1 billion USD.

A: Noteworthy new projects in the first half of the year are the Hoa Phat Group’s steel plant with total investment capital of 2.7 billion USD at the Dung Quat Economic Zone in Quang Ngai province, and a 2.5 billion USD expansion of Samsung Display Vietnam’s factory at the Yen Phong Industrial Zone in northern Bac Ninh province.

B: Here is a letter from Mr. Bert Sing of Australia. Mr. Sing listened to our broadcast on August 23^rd on the frequency of 10020 from 10:00 to 10:27 UTC and reported that the signal was strong and overall easy to hear. He wrote: “I did enjoy listening to your station and have listened to VOV since the 1980s. I do like the Vietnamese way of life. I’m 70 years old, a pensioner, but still work in a supermarket twice a week. I like to listen to shortwave radio.”

A: Well, that’s amazing. You have listened to our broadcast for such a long time, nearly 40 years. Thank you very much for tuning in to VOV and giving feedback on our programs. We’ll send you our frequency list, program schedule, and QSL card to confirm your reports. We hope to hear more from you.

B: We want to thank Jayanta Chakrabarty for sending condolences for the Vietnamese victims of the recent Doksuri storm. He wrote: “I would like to send my heartfelt sympathy for the loss of valuable life and property in the recent Doksuri typhoon which devastated densely populated areas of central Vietnam. However, I praise the Vietnamese authorities for their prompt relief actions in evacuating and helping the local people.”

A: Vietnamese people inside and outside Vietnam as well as foreigners are contributing to help victims of the Doksuri storm. Doksuri, the strongest storm to strike Vietnam in many years, claimed nine lives and left four missing and more than 100 injured. The typhoon also destroyed more than 69,000 houses.

B: We’d also like to acknowledge feedback from Peter Ng of Malaysia, Hayato Fukurawa, Koichi Ikeda, and Fumito Hokamura  of Japan, Fachri and Eddy Probowo of Indonesia, Richard Nowak of the US, Hannu Kiiski and Risto Happonen of Finland, Christer Carnegren of Sweden, Grant Skinner of the UK, Ram Babu Kumar, of India, and Leonardo Santiago of Venezuela. We greatly appreciate your feedback and comments on the technical aspects of our programming. We’ll confirm your reports with QSL cards soon.

A: We welcome your feedback at: English section, Overseas Service, Radio the Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn. You’re invited to visit us online at www.vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live and recorded programs. Check out our VOV Media App available on both IOS and Android platforms to hear our live broadcasts. We look forward to your feedback on the mobile version of vovworld.vn. Once again, thank you. Good bye until next time.