(VOVworld) - We are very glad to know that Gerry Neumann has returned to his home in England safe and sound. On his latest email on March 20, Gerry wrote “At last I’ve got around to sending you a reception report after my recent trip to Vietnam over the Christmas and Tet period, including my visit to VOV’s office in Hanoi, where I again received a tremendous welcome from the staff. My sincere thanks for the gifts you gave me on that occasion.”

B: Gerry, you’re always welcome at VOV and so are our other listeners. If any of you come to Vietnam, please visit us at 45 Ba Trieu street, Hanoi. Gerry commented on the program on Sunday 19: “After the Culture and Sports segment there was a beautiful song called “Green field”. The Sunday show was about the history and production of lacquer ware in Vietnam. Lacquer was first used thousands of years ago to protect household items. Phu Tho province trees produce the best resin (sap) in Vietnam. The best harvest time for sap is in the rainy season. I compliment you on an excellent, varied program that was full of interesting facts and a wide range of information.”

A lacquer painting

A: Gerry noted: “Shortwave reception of VOV in the south of England is not particularly good. On Sunday 19, the reception at 16UTC on 7280 khz and 9730khz were both rated 25242. At 18 UTC on 5955khz, VOV’s program was inaudible, over powered by Radio Romania. SINPO rating at 19UTC on 7280khz was 35343, the best reception so far. VOV was inaudible on 9730khz, overpowered by a strong signal from China Radio International. And at 21:30 UTC on 7280khz and 9730khz there was interference from China Radio International.”

B: We’ve forwarded your remarks to our technicians. Interference from other stations is a major problem of shortwave. We hope our technicians can do something to fix it.

A: We have good news from Richard Nowak of Florida, the US. He said the show on 7315khz at midnight had perfect reception with SINPO rating all 5s. The news about Vietnam-Singapore relations and 2-way trade of 14 billion USD, a folk singing festival, a photo contest, and a weekend ballet performance at the Hanoi Opera House were all good news.

B: Richard also particularly liked our Sunday show about lacquer ware, which was detailed and informative. Your reception report tallied well with our station log, Richard, and we’ll send you a verification card soon.

A: From India, S.B Sharma emailed us to say he and other club members spent a pleasant evening with VOV when they listened with good reception conditions on 7298khz. “On March 20 at 16H UTC VOV came in without interference or mixing with other signals. It was one of the best signal reception conditions.”

Lacquer containers

B: He discussed the news of Vietnam’s tourism and agriculture development. “I listen to VOV regularly and I think tourism and agriculture are two main drawers of foreign currency to Vietnam.  The government is doing everything possible to promote these businesses. Vietnam is trying to set the international standard for rice production and developing rice products. In addition to branding, the government is also implementing a code of conduct in the area of tourism in Vietnam. I think these reveal a strong effort to improve sustainable development and growth.”

A:  Thank you very much, S.B Sharma, for your views. Vietnam’s tourism sector targets annual revenue of US$30 billion – 10 percent of GDP – by 2020. It also hopes to attract 14 to 15 million foreign visitors and create around 3.5 million jobs in the tourism sector by 2020.

Lacquer vases

B: Vietnam has been welcoming an increasing number of Indian tourists in recent years, from 16,000 in 2010 to about 90,000 last year. Indian travelers can visit well-preserved historical relic sites and Indian-style restaurants in many Vietnamese cities. Ho Chi Minh City is one of the most popular destinations for Indian tourists. It received more than 51,000 Indian visitors last year.

A: But Vietnam only received 2-3 percent of the total number of Indian tourists visiting ASEAN countries and even less of the 20 million Indians who go abroad each year. Early this year, a Ho Chi Minh City delegation attended the Outbound Travel Mart in Mumbai City, where it introduced new tourism products and investment attraction policies for Vietnam.

B: Vietnam now allows visa on arrival for all visa classes, including business and tourist visas and both single entry and multiple entry visas. It’s only available to visitors arriving by air at one of three airports: Hanoi’s Noi Bai, Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat, or Da Nang International Airport.

A: To get a visa stamped into your passport at Immigration check-in you must submit a pre-approval letter, your passport with 6 months validity, two passport-sized photos, and the visa fee in cash.

B: taking advantage of Vietnam visa on arrival is highly recommended by TripAdvisor, the LonelyPlanet Guidebook, and other travel forums. Now we’ll continue to read letters from other listeners. Michael Cunningham of Australia emailed us on March 12 with a report on the program on March 11^th from 10h00 to 10h30 UTC on 12020 kHz and 9840 kHz.

A: He wrote: “I enjoyed the feature on the visit to Snack Central in Noumea in New Caledonia serving Vietnamese food.  It’s fun to hear about Pho.  We have excellent Pho here in Brisbane. I stop in to the suburbs of Darra and Inala to get a bowl at least once a fortnight. The Music Program was followed by a song about patriotic Vietnamese women who fought in the war against the US and their allies. Then came a lullaby in Praise of Motherhood. The Shazam phone app told me the song was Me Yeu Con. Very nice program and music associated with International Women’s Day.”

B: That’s great. I didn’t know that Shazam could recognize Vietnamese songs. Your reception report is detailed. We surely will issue a QSL card to confirm it. I’m reading a letter from Pak Ning Tjang of Indonesia who hasn’t emailed the VOV English Section for several months.

A: He wrote: “For the past few months I couldn't open up my email account. I don't know what happened to it. But now I can once again send a reception report to Voice of Vietnam.”

B: His reception report was for March 18th between 10h00 and 10h27 UTC on the frequency of 12020 khz. We’re glad to know that you listened to our program under good conditions and rated SINPO at all 4s. We’ll send you a verification card together with some canceled stamps as you requested.

A: Dear listeners, thank you very much for tuning in to our programs and sending us feedback. We welcome your feedback at: English Section, VOVworld, Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Our email address is englishsection@vov.org.vn. Thank you for listening to VOV on shortwave and for visiting our website. Good bye until next time.