The cake has been put on display since April 3 in the centre of the Hung Temple complex for people to contemplate. It was divided and distributed to people visiting the festival on April 4.

The Mai Linh Corporation has also donated VND230 million to the historic relics board to build a house for displaying traditional products and to buy sound equipment for use at the festival this year.

The books, in English, introduced 12 traditional dishes and 12 contemporary dishes from Hanoi and northeastern region.

Didier Corlou, who has lived and worked in Vietnam for over 15 years, said that the books were compiled in a year.

He informed that the authors plan to study and write about dishes in the northwestern, central and southern regions in the coming time. Corlou expressed his hope that Vietnamese dishes would be known by numerous foreign people.

In 2004, Corlou’s book entitled “Vietnamese Gastronomy” won prizes of best book on gastronomy in western region and best book on Asian gastronomy.

The collection will be published in French and Vietnamese languages in the coming time.

The NewOpenWorld has sent a message of congratulations to the Halong Bay board of campaigning on July 24, praising its efforts bring Halong Bay from the initial list of 440 nominees to the final stage of the voting.

The bay which was twice recognised by the UNESCO for its landscapes and geological values ranks 12th among the 28 successful landscapes in terms of votes, according to the NewOpenWorld’s website on July 21.

The Amazon rainforest, which stretches through nine countries in South America, leads the voting.

Asian countries have six nominees in the final round, of which three were recommended by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, namely Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The campaign will continue to vote for the seven new wonders of nature, which will be unveiled in 2011.

This is the second international border gate to be put into use by the two countries. The first, Moc Bai-BaVet, started operating in September, 2006.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Transport Le Manh Hung praised the cooperation shown between the transportation sectors of both countries for their efforts to implement the Agreement on Road Transportation signed by both governments.

As a result, seven border gates connecting the two countries are now in operation. Both countries have opened up their borders so vehicles do not have to stop, which saves time, cuts costs and boosts trade, tourism, and investment.

Deputy Minister Hung and his Cambodian counterpart Takch ChanKosal also agreed that both countries should make more effort to exchange information, manage transport links and work together to make it easier to travel between both countries.