Two largest ships built by Vietnam’s maritime industry 
The Ha Long Shipbuilding Company, a subsidiary of the Vinashin Business Group, held a ‘keel laying’ ceremony for two new cargo ships weighing 47,500 tonnes each – the largest ever to be built in Vietnam.

The two ships are part of a government project to build four ships of this kind to enlarge the Vietnamese fleet.

The ships measure 190m in length, 32.2m in width, and 17m in height. They have five cargo basements with covers operated by hydraulic pistons, and are designed to travel at speeds of 14.2 nautical miles per hour.

The ships were designed by the Republic of Korea’s Win-Win Engineering company in line with Vinalines’ operational practices.

Building these two ships is a considerable effort by the Ha Long Shipbuilding Company given the current numerous difficulties being faced by the Vietnamese shipbuilding industry.

Hanoi’s CPI up 1.93 percent in November

The November Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Hanoi surged 1.93 percent month on month, the highest increase over the last nine months.

According to the Hanoi Statistics Office, the index was up 11.41 percent over the same period of last year with rises seen in 10 out of 11 groups of commodities.

During the month, except for group of educational services, the other 10 groups of commodities all saw a rise in prices from a month earlier.

The prices of transport, garment, headwear and footwear, beverages and tobaccos, household utensils and appliances slightly increased by less than one percent. Meanwhile, charges of restaurant and catering service group and housing, water and electricity, fuel, and construction materials group sharply rose by 3.98 percent and 2.28 percent, respectively.

Most worth of note, in the restaurant and catering services group, foodstuff posted the strongest price rise of 6.26 percent.

Economic experts attributed the price hike to increasing demand for goods and services during the last months of the year and the bad impacts of flood disaster in the central region.

Due to fluctuations in the global market, gold prices made a surge of 8.7 percent from October and 38.06 percent year-on-year while the US dollar value climbed by 4.35 percent against October and 0.51 percent against the same period of last year.

HCM City’s CPI climbs up  
HCM City’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by 1.73 percent in November compared to the previous month, according to the city’s Statistical Office.

Since beginning of the year, it has kept rising (9.13 percent over the same period in 2009 and 7.84 percent over last December).

The price of eleven groups of commodities increased sharply this month. Food and restaurant services hit 2.76 percent: food increased by 6.65 percent, foodstuffs by 2.88 percent, and restaurant and beverage services by 0.67 percent. 

Other goods and services including accommodation, electricity, water, fuel and construction materials showed a 1.74 percent increase. 

Medicine and health services rose 1.49 percent and household utensils 1.26 percent.

Telecommunications (0.02 percent) and education (0.16) only rose slightly and which helped push the prices of other commodities down.

The gold price index rose sharply by 8.85 percent, affecting some groups of consumer goods while the US dollar increased by 4.48 percent, sending imported commodities soaring up.

More than $100 mil invested in Cai Lan port  
The Cai Lan International Container Terminal (CICT) company has signed a contract package to build more wharves at the port in Ha Long City, Quang Ninh province.

The port will be able to receive fully loaded ships weighing up to 40,000 tonnes by the end of 2011, and will have a capacity of one million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).

The project investment of over US$100 million will come from sources other than the State budget.

Business lecturers honoured 
A ceremony was held in Hanoi on November 19 to honour business lecturers and promote the development of a programme in which 1,000 businesspeople share their experiences with young people.

The programme, which has been operating for three months, was co-organised by the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association, TOPICA E-learning Programme, and the Thanh Giong Intellectual Gateway.

Addressing the ceremony, Nguyen Hoang Hiep, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union said that the programme has attracted nearly 5,000 young students who are gaining experience from the 1,000 entrepreneurs. Notably, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan will be an honoured guest and provide students with online lessons under the programme.

Pham Nhu Quynh, President of the Management Board of the Ha Long Investment and Trade Development Joint Stock Company, who was also honoured at the event, said that the programme is of great importance as it helps students to gain experience from entrepreneurs to map out opportunities and create their own business in future.

First turbine starts idle run at Son La power plant  
The first turbine group of the Son La Hydro-electric Power Plant in the northern province of Son La started its idle run on Nov. 18.

This is an important step before the turbine begins generate electricity by late November, one month ahead of the plan approved by the Prime Minister and two years ahead of the schedule set by the National Assembly.

Construction of the VND37 trillion hydro-electric power plant started in December 2005. It is designed to have six turbine groups with a combined capacity of 2,400 MW.

Once it swings into full operation in 2012, the Son La power plant will be the largest in Southeast Asia, generating 10.2 billion kWh a year.

France hosts conference on urban construction 
The Association of Civil Mechanic and Material Engineering (GCMM) and the Network of Vietnamese Scientists and Experts in Paris (RSE) held a conference on urban construction in Paris on November 17-18.

The conference, dubbed High-Rise Buildings and Underground Structures, attracted the participation of Courtier Philippe, Head Master of École Nationale des Ponts Paris Tech (National School of Bridges and Roads), Nguyen Van Trung, Vietnamese Minister Counselor to France and representatives from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), the Ministry of Construction, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee and many professors and experts.

During two-day conference, participants heard reports and discussed 6 major topics  including transportation and underground construction, high building structure and design, concrete material, construction base, geotechnical engineering and soil conditions.

They were also introduced to Hanoi Technology University’s project on building an urban railway line from Nhon to Hanoi Railway Station and pre-feasible study into metro line no.2 in Ho Chi Minh City.

They also attended a round table discussion the France-Vietnam joint project on basic infrastructure construction in Vietnam with a vision for 2020.

PV