The 24-year-old Massey masters student, along with her sister, Tamra Ewing, now heads up a literacy charity called Motorbike Book Club - a mobile book library for village children in Vietnam. As the name suggests, the books are transported on the back of a motorbike to places where books - let alone libraries - are hard to come by. "I'm passionate about education. I see the value in it - the power of literacy to really transform and open up children's worlds."

Vietnam is expected to keep chasing stronger relations with China, a political adversary for centuries, despite new signs that Beijing has added military infrastructure on several disputed islands in the South China Sea. The Southeast Asian country, long accustomed to China’s buildup in the contested Paracel and Spratly islands, is anxious to grow its exports and meanwhile wants stronger trade with the world's number two economy China.

The theme of this year's expo is "Joint Prosperity of Asia through Cultural Exchange," and will display performances, exhibitions and symposiums at Ho Chi Minh City Hall plaza and nearby locations. It will be held from November 9 through December 2. More than 10,000 people from 40 countries will participate as performers.

This year, Vietnam organized cultural exchanges, art exhibitions and Vietnamese cultural heritage days in many countries. Preparations for promoting Vietnamese culture at the APEC Summit 2017 in Vietnam were made. Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga is Senior Consultant to the Secretariat of APEC 2017: “As the host of APEC 2017, Vietnam aims to promote the image and culture of Vietnam, its soft power, tradition of humanity, and cultural values. 

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân hosted Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Lee Hyuk and Ambassador of Iran Saleh Adibi in Hà Nội yesterday. [...] Ambassador Lee Hyuk said he believes the similarities, the growing political, economic, trade and investment, and the close bond between the two people will help accelerate bilateral co-operation in the future. 
 

Several of the U.S. government’s development priorities in Vietnam can be traced back to events that damaged relations between the two countries during the Vietnam War. But USAID is now also looking ahead to what’s next, such as an innovative finance mechanism for forest protection, and supporting the country in adopting a more inclusive, modern health system post-PEPFAR procurement.

Poland backs Vietnam’s strengthening of ties with the European Union (EU) and will push for the signing of the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement. [...] Both sides agreed to continue the exchange of cultural-art delegations along with holding film weeks and photo exhibitions, and partnering up in restoration and upgrade of cultural heritage sites, contributing to promoting people-to-people diplomacy