Boat on Sai Gon River bursts into flames

A hydrofoil carrying 85 passengers from the southern city of Vung Tau to HCM City suddenly burst into flames yesterday.

Director of the Maritime Administration of HCM City Nguyen Xuan Sang said that local authorities co-operated with organisations to rescue all the passengers and extinguish the fire.

However, half of the vessel sank into the Sai Gon River, causing an oil spill.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.  

Father arrested for selling newborn son

Vang Ca Du, a 45-year-old man of La Hu ethnic minority from the northern mountainous Lai Chau Province, was arrested yesterday for selling his 15-day-old son to a Chinese man.

The local police also arrested Phan Mo Cho, 25, of the province's Muong Te District, for being Du's accomplice in the crime.

Initial investigation had shown that Du and Cho had colluded with another local man to sell Du's son to the Chinese man last Monday for VND19.5 million (US$916).

The police then decided to prosecute the case and continue their investigation.

800 plastic toy guns seized in Ha Noi

The Ha Noi Market Watch, in cooperation with the municipal police, have seized a cargo of 800 plastic toy guns loaded with plastic bullets in the city's Gia Lam District.

According to the police, the cargo, which contained many anti-personnel guns such as cold pistols, air guns and shotguns, was being transported to Phu Dong Commune in a car. Nguyen Tien Binh, the car driver, failed to present proper documents showing the place of origin of the toys. He said that he was hired to transport them.

The police also found more than 3,000 eggs that were being transported in the car without documents relating to their quarantine and place of origin. The whole cargo will be destroyed and those involved in the case will be fined.

Boat capsizes off Thua Thien-Hue, four missing

At least three fishermen were killed and one remains missing after a fishing boat overturned off Thuan An beach in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue on January 18.

The boat with five people aboard was returning to shore when the incident happened at around 05.00am.

It was said to run aground and sink due to rough seas about 1km away from Thuan An beach.

Thua Thien-Hue’s border guards rescued the boat’s owner and found the bodies of the three fishermen.

They were canvassing the waters to search for the remaining fisherman.

Six-lane road opens to traffic

A 35-km section of Highway 1 that runs through central Ha Tinh Province opened to traffic yesterday.

The six-lane section runs from the province's Xuan Vien Commune in Nghi Xuan District to Thach Viet Commune in Thach Ha District and includes nine bridges.

The VND 2 trillion (US$94 million) BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) construction was built by the Ministry of Transport's Civil Engineering Construction Corporation 4 as part of an overall project to expand National Highway 1 by 2016. It was completed in 16 months, nine months ahead of schedule. Deputy transport minister Truong Tan Vien applauded the contractor's success in finishing the project in a timely manner.

"The project's implementation is a good experience in site clearance and construction safety," he told the Voice of Viet Nam (VOV).

National Highway 1 runs through 31 provinces and cities, from Huu Nghi Border Gate in Lang Son Province to Ca Mau Province. By expanding it, authorities hope to reduce traffic accidents and congestion and promote the country's social and economic development.

US firm donates vitamins to children

US-based Internourish Inc, in collaboration with Doosan Heavy Industries Viet Nam, has donated over tablets of 600,000 multivitamins to improve the health of children in central Quang Ngai Province.

The vitamins, worth over US$10,000, will help overcome nutritional deficiencies of 1,667 children for a year.

Another quantity of medicines were also donated to the Dang Thuy Tram Hospital for the treatment of patients.

Following a charity programme, 55 volunteers from Chung Ang University of Seoul, South Korea, and Doosan Vina joined hands to repair schools for disabled students in Quang Ngai and two primary schools in Binh Son District and Ly Son Island's An Vinh Commune.

Large Tet warehouse burnt down in capital

A large warehouse storing goods for the coming Lunar New Year (Tet) Festival caught fire in Hanoi on January 20.

The 1,000-square metre building, owned by Tuan Minh Co. Ltd. at No39-41 Hong Ha street, Ba Dinh precinct, stocked various Tet goods including stationary, confectionary, beverages, washing powder, votive papers and kid toys.

The fire was extinguished after two hours thanks to joint efforts by firefighters and soldiers.

Nuclear Power Asia 2014 opens in Hanoi

Hundreds of leading atomic energy experts from Asia are gathering in Hanoi on January 20-22 for an annual conference to examine global nuclear power trends.

High on the agenda of the Nuclear Power Asia 2014 will be discussions relating to Japan’s post-Fukushima challenges, safety solutions, social consensus, legal framework, financing, project approval, human resource development, and advanced technology application.

Participants will also touch upon other key issues such as South East Asia’s future prospects for the development of nuclear power and the development of newly emerging countries in the context of global nuclear power.

Vietnam insists Vietnam uses atomic energy for peaceful purposes, committing to nuclear safety and security and nonproliferation of nuclear weapons.

In an effort to fulfill its commitments, the country has joined all international conventions on nuclear safety, security, and nonproliferation of nuclear weapons.

Over the past two years, Vietnam has ratified the Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and Radioactive Waste Management and it has completed the fuel conversion programme for Da Lat reactor.

Vietnam to tackle urban waste water problem

Vietnam needs approximately US$8.3 billion to provide adequate drainage services for estimated 36 million people in urban areas by 2025, said Le Duy Hung, senior urban management expert.

Hung made the statement at a January 20 ceremony in Hanoi to announce an environmental sanitation report in the Asia-Pacific region and Vietnam.

He said in recent years, along with rapid economic development, urban areas in Vietnam have had to face major challenges such as environmental pollution attributed to the improper discharge of waste from households and industrial workshops.

The waste water drainage system remains in poor condition despite upgrades, he said.

The Government has committed to spending around US$500 million per year upgrading the waste water treatment system and improving urban environment nationwide. However, meeting the demands of rapid urbanisation in the country is an ongoing problem.

Charles Feintein, Sector Manager for Water and Energy for the World Bank, also confirmed city dwellers are living in poor, substandard sanitary conditions. Economic losses due to poor hygiene in Vietnam are estimated at around US$780 million each year.

He added Vietnam needs to spend additional funds on waste water treatment in urban areas to develop healthy, clean cities in the future.

The US$8.3 billion aid is aimed at improving water sources in urban areas, raising public awareness of the issue and devising technical solutions for economic development, ensuring the quality of services.

Catholic officials hope for continued gov’t support

A delegation from the Hanoi Archdiocese led by its Archbishop Nguyen Van Nhon paid a pre-Tet visit to the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Mass Mobilisation on January 20.

At the meeting, the two sides agreed that their recent exchange visits have led to the harmonious relationship between them.

Ha Thi Khiet, Head of the Commission for Mass Mobilisation, hailed the country’s Catholic followers, describing them as active in building a healthy cultural lifestyle in residential areas and new-style rural areas.

Khiet extended Lunar New Year wishes to the archdiocese and Catholics nationwide and hoped they will continue contributing to the country’s construction and defence.

For his part, Archbishop Nguyen Van Nhon expressed his wish to receive continued support from the Party and State in religious practices and in handling the Church’s proposals.

Students hailed for role in Vietnam-Japan ties

Vietnamese Ambassador Doan Xuan Hung has praised the Vietnamese Youth and Student Association in Japan (VYSA) for their contributions to promoting exchanges and cooperation between Vietnam and Japan over the past time.

Speaking at the association’s conference on January 19, the ambassador said its activities have helped enrich the spiritual life of Vietnamese youth and students in the host country, thus encouraging them to study and research.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Japan will pay more attention to the association’s movements and integrate them with events relating to the bilateral ties, the diplomat affirmed.

According to Secretary of the Foreign Office of Japan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry Kyoshi Shimonishi, Vietnam and Japan are experiencing fruitful developments in their relationship which are reflected in the high-ranking visits by the two countries’ Government leaders, especially after the celebration of the 40th anniversary of their diplomatic ties.

Cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries have been deepened, he said, attributing such outcomes to the association’s significant contributions.

He voiced his hope that the association will bring into play its role to make more contributions in the time ahead in order to further develop the Vietnam-Japan relationship.

VYSA President Le Minh Hang said the association aims to enhance cooperation with its branches across Japan while providing more support to overseas Vietnamese students as well as their disadvantaged peers at home in 2014.

Established by the Vietnamese Embassy in 2001, the association has served as a venue for Vietnamese youth and students in Japan to share their hobbies and interests in areas such as sports, culture and art.

Vietnamese students join hands to protect environment

Seventy students from Vietnam recently joined 450 students from 13 Asian countries in Singapore for an exchange to improve environmental protection.

Under the framework of the Global Youth Summit “Action for Earth” late last week, students visited waste treatment facilities and listened to lectures by leading environmentalists regarding Singapore’s environmental protection initiatives.

In discussion groups, they shared their countries’ experiences and environmental protection initiatives.

We learned of Singapore’s success in waste water treatment and initiatives to maintain sanitary water in its rivers and streams, said Nguyen Thuy Dung from Tran Phu Secondary School in Haiphong City. “I will share the experience I learnt with my local people”, Dung added.

Ann Phua, President of Hemispheres Organisation, said Singapore’s experience in improving the environment was enhanced by initiatives to change public awareness. The young generation can put forth many such initiatives.

The air and water of many cities in Vietnam are seriously polluted, which is aggravated by emissions from motor vehicles, so we should educate young people about the issues, Ann Phua said.

Singapore Minister of Environment and Water Resources, Vivian Balakrishnan, said although Singapore is considered a green city, it continuously seeks better environmental management solutions.

Key Dong Nai transport projects open

Two major transport projects linking the southern province of Dong Nai with the country’s southern economic hubs were opened to the public on January 19.

The new steel flyover at the Vung Tau intersection and a section of the new Hoa An bridge have been completed in time for the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) festivities.

The 558m long, 16m wide, four-lane overpass is part of an investment project building the new Dong Nai Bridge in form of a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contract.

The VND200-billion (US$9.4 million) flyover, completed in just four months, will help clear traffic jam and prevent accidents at the gateway to the southern economic hubs.

The flyover will also serve local people travelling, especially during the Tet celebrations, said Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong.

Meanwhile, the new 1.3km HoaAn Bridge was built under the Built-Transfer (BT) form with a total cost of over VND1 trillion (US$470 million), linking Dong Nai’s Nguyen Ai Quoc road with the southern province of Binh Duong and Ho Chi Minh City.

Two drug traffickers arrested in Son La

Police in the north-western border province of Son La on January 19 caught red handed two drug smugglers attempting to traffic drugs across the border into Vietnam.

Mua A Thai, 39, and Mua A Lu,32, both from Son La province, strongly resisted relevant forces before they were arrested.

Authorities seized five cakes of heroin weighing1,850g in total, a motorbike, two mobile phones, and several other pieces of related evidence.

The detainees admitted they had purchased heroin from overseas for domestic consumption.

At present, relevant agencies are continuing their investigations into the case.

Hanoi youths help bolster national blood bank

Hanoi’s young people donated more than 1,000 units of blood in a festival on January 18 to tackle blood shortages at hospitals during the coming Lunar New Year (Tet) Festival.

The event was jointly held by the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion and the Hanoi Youth Blood Donation Mobilisation Association as part of activities to mark the Association’s 20th anniversary (Jan. 24).

Over the past two decades, more than 260,000 units of blood were donated in a bid to increase national blood stocks and save the lives of more patients needing blood.

At the ceremony, 20 young volunteers were honoured for their contributions to the blood donation campaign.

Hanoi takes anti-A/H7N9 avian flu measures

The capital city is intensifying efforts to prevent the deadly A(H7N9) avian flu virus strain entering its territory, especially when the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday is drawing near.

The epidemic is spreading across southern China, primarily in Guangdong province bordering Vietnam, and it will affect the country unless tough measures are taken, experts warned.

Hanoi Municipal People’s Committee Chairman Nguyen The Thao directed quarantine units to strictly monitor immigrants entering Hanoi through its border gates.

The medical sector was required to use thermal scanners to detect any suspect cases at border gates, quarantine them and provide immediate treatment, while keeping a close watch on severe acute respiratory infections in community.

Attention will be given to those returning from epidemic-hit areas to minimize infection and possible death.

Thao stressed the importance of preventative planning, pre-prepared treatment options, and keeping the Health Ministry informed and up to date.

The Municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development was asked to take proactive precautions against the potential bird flu epidemic, including systematic sterilization.

The Industry and Trade Department must coordinate with the Customs Department, the Police Department, and border guards to expand its market oversight and ensure any attempts to smuggle illicit poultry are thwarted as early as possible.

IFAD aids Vietnam’s rural development

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will provide a loan of US$22.5 million and a grant of US$500,000 to help Vietnam implement a project on sustainable rural development for the poor.

The US$45.6 million project was launched at a January 15-16 conference in Dong Hoi city, the central province of Quang Binh, aimed at raising incomes and reducing the vulnerability of poor households in Quang Binh and Ha Tinh provinces.

It will focus on rural development models that may see most benefit, ensure social equity, promote climate change adaptation and improve competitive edge in rural business.

A financial support agreement was signed by representatives of the Vietnamese Government and IFAD on November 27 last year in Rome, Italy, where the fund headquarters is based.

Accordingly, the five-year project will be implemented in 40 communes in Quang Binh’s six districts and 50 communes in 10 districts of the neighboring province of Ha Tinh, especially targeting poor households, women and ethnic groups.

IFAD works with poor rural people to enable them to grow and sell more food, increase their incomes and determine the direction of their own lives.

Since 1978, the fund has invested over US$15 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries through projects empowering more than 410 million people to break out of poverty, thereby helping to create vibrant rural communities.

Clean technology strategy to be boosted

By 2020, 100 percent of the new investment projects in energy-intensive industries, potentially causing serious pollution to the environment, must meet the standards and technical regulations on clean technology.

This is one of the specific objectives in the clean technology strategy until 2020 with a vision toward 2030 approved by the Prime Minister on December 30, 2013, the Vietnam Economic News said.

The overall objective of the strategy is to boost the use of clean and environmentally friendly technologies, increase energy and natural resources efficiency, and lower emissions in industrial production.

Specifically, the strategy will focus on building and application of technical regulations on clean technologies in industrial production facilities in energy-intensive industries, which may cause serious pollution to the environment, such as textile, fertiliser, pesticides, steel, mining, mineral processing, thermal power, paper production, cement production, and sugar production.

It is expected that by 2020, all the new investment projects in the above industries must meet the technical standards and regulations on clean technologies; 60-70 percent production facilities that are operating in the industries mentioned above must complete the formulation and implementation of technological innovation roadmap towards using clean technologies.

In addition, six solutions will be implemented related to management, technology, international cooperation, finance and investment, market, and information and communications. Particularly, the management solution stipulates the roadmap for implementation of clean technologies for new investment and increased investment projects.

The strategy also offers clean technology investors incentives and aims at managing clean technology projects right in the stage of granting certificates.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade was assigned to take charge of the strategy implementation in coordination with relevant ministries and local agencies. It will responsible for reporting to the government on the implementation of the strategy annually.

Cambodian officials pay pre-Tet visit to Long An

A delegation from the Cambodian provinces of Svay Rieng and Prey Veng  has paid a New Year visit to the Mekong Delta province of Long An.

Meeting with provincial officials on January 17, Svay Rieng Governor Chieng Am extended New Year greetings to provincial Party leaders, people’s committee leaders and people.

Provincial People’s Committee Chairman Do Huu Lam said the comprehensive cooperation agreement signed between Long An and the two Cambodian provinces in 2013 has helped elevate their traditional ties to a higher level.

A host of activities such as establishing twin relationship between border communes and boosting people-to-people exchanges have deepened mutual understanding, reinforced solidarity between the two peoples, and facilitated the border demarcation and marker planting as well as the search and repatriation of the remains of Vietnamese voluntary soldiers who laid down their lives in Cambodia during wartime.

Chieng Am thanked Long An province for its support in infrastructure upgrade, health care and personnel training and believed that the three provinces will further bolster their comprehensive relations in all areas thus ensuring the successful implementation of the policies adopted by the two governments.

Hanoi boosts cooperation with Japanese prefecture

The Hanoi Municipal People’s Committee and representatives of Japan’s Saitama prefecture have signed a January 17 memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding their cooperation and friendship.

Hanoi Municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Suu said the capital city is developing robustly and forging relations with many major international cities.

Hanoi’s industrial park projects have attracted a great deal of direct foreign investment (FDI), especially in advanced, environmentally friendly technology, he noted.

Suu emphasised Hanoi’s boundary expansion made the city Vietnam’s largest agricultural hub.

He noted Hanoi must still buy agricultural products from surrounding provinces as the city can only meet 60% of its residents’ consumer demand.

Suu is hopeful Hanoi can take advantage of Saitama prefecture’s advanced agricultural technology and plentiful investment capital.

Hanoi will offer Vietnamese and Japanese investors the best conditions possible for running a business in the capital city, he promised.

Saitama Deputy Governor Yasuo Iwasaki expressed pleasure at witnessing the MoU signing. Saitama—one of Japan’s 17 largest localities and boasting a population exceeding 7 million—shares many similarities with Hanoi.

The MoU will help foster bilateral cooperation in fields benefiting both sides, he said.

Quang Binh seizes 250kg of smuggled firecrackers

Border guards in the central province of Quang Binh have intercepted an attempt to smuggle illegal firecrackers across the Lao border and into Vietnam.

Authorities arrested Phan Trong Mui, born in 1990 in central Ha Tinh province. Mui was driving a truck coded 37C-01727 through the Cha Lo border gate when stopped by guards and searched.

He admitted to attempting to smuggle nearly 250kg of firecrackers–the most Quang Binh has intercepted so far volume so far—as well as a quantity of precious wood from the Laotian province of Khammouane.

Agencies are continuing investigations and have foreshadowed the likelihood of criminal prosecution.

Vietnamese in US, UK celebrate the Year of the Horse

As many as 400 overseas Vietnamese living and studying in the US got together in New York on January 19 to celebrate the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.

They took part in joyful art performances, quizzes and charity auctions to support the poor.   

On this occasion, the Vietnamese Youth and Students Association in New York (VNNY) made debut, gathering young Vietnamese and students in New York and boroughs together.

Addressing the ceremony, Ambassador Le Hoai Trung, Head of Vietnam's Permanent Representative Mission to the United Nations, wished Vietnamese students a successful new year, and hoped that the VNNY will be a useful forum for young Vietnamese and students to share experience and support each other in studies and life.

The same day, the Vietnamese community at Social Club E8 Hackney in the UK also held art performances to welcome the Lunar New Year.

Present at the meeting were Nguyen Van Phong, First Secretary of the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK, representatives of Vietnamese organizations and a large number of overseas Vietnamese.

The organizing board raised VND287 million to support poor households in Quang Ngai and Quang Tri provinces which were hard hit by natural disasters last year.

Son Thanh, President of the Vietnamese Association in the UK, said despite living far from the fatherland, Vietnamese residents in the UK follow with keen interest the happenings in the country, and they often launch fundraising campaigns to assist victims of national disasters and Agent Orange/dioxin, as well as other needy people in society.

This year, he said the association plans to purchase water purifiers to send to teachers and students living on the Truong Sa islands in Khanh Hoa province.