The director of Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Construction, Tran Trong Tuan, announced an overall inspection over the illegal encroachment of local river banks and canals.

Ung Van Thiem encroaches on thousands of square metres used to protect Saigon River

The inspection taskforce, led by Mr. Tuan, includes deputy directors from a number of municipal departments and agencies. The results will be issued in a report to the HCM City People’s Committee in December.

According to Mr. Tuan, the problem of encroachment is not a new issue in HCM City and municipal authorities have taken actions against violators. Recently newspapers, particularly Nguoi Lao Dong, have reported on many cases that have not yet been dealt with properly.

The inspection is aimed at assessing the city’s current land use management and policy for the canals and rivers to prevent and settle violations, Tuan added.

Ly Thanh Trong, Chief Inspector of the HCM City’s Department of Construction, said to date, 11 out of 24 local districts have reported on their river and canal encroachment activities.

Le Thanh Tan, Deputy Chief Inspector of the department, said that a recent inspection by the city, which included 11 districts, indicated a boom in illegal canal and river encroachment.

“Dealing with these violations will not be simple and we are waiting for the city People’s Committee for the proper sanctions,” he said.

The municipal Department of Construction had already informed the HCM City People’s Committee of the violations related to canal and river encroachment mentioned by the Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper in July. Among them, dozens were luxury buildings, restaurants, and golf pitches and tennis courts. Most of them take up large swaths of land.

Da Nang, Ha Noi win robotics competition

The host team from Tran Cao Van primary school and Ha Noi's Viet Kids won the two first prizes in the National Robothon (Robot) Competition at Military Zone 5's Sport Centre yesterday.

The competition, titled ‘Smart City', drew over 100 students from 10 primary schools in HCM City, Ha Noi and Da Nang city.

All teams had an hour to programme a robot. Da Nang's team won in the senior division (fourth and fifth grade), while the visitors from Ha Noi won in the junior division (first and third grade).

The winners will officially represent Viet Nam in the International Robothon Competition in the Philippines on November 23.

"We took only 22 seconds to finish the task. We had a little trouble with our automatic robot, but we settled the problem to win over tough rivals from Ha Noi and HCM City," said Pham Nhu Hai, captain of D8 team from Tran Cao Van school.

"The most difficult job was adjusting the light sensor. Our squad of three members worked hard for three months and our efforts paid off," Hai added.

Le Minh Duong, 9, from Ha Noi's Viet Kids, said he was happy with his achievements in his first-ever competition.

"It's the first time that I was in a contest far away from home. We felt nervous in the first minutes, but we did our best to win," Duong said.

Jin Chan, vice president of Eduspec holding company from Malaysia, said the competition was good practice for kids to become comfortable with information technology.

"It's an exciting game for kids. It also creates a foundation for students to build their science and technology knowledge. We hope that Da Nang will host another competition," Jin said.

He also said he hoped more teams from Viet Nam would compete in the International Robothon Competition in the Philippines.

Nguyen The Trung, chief executive officer of DTT Information Technology Group, who hosted the competition, said over 3,000 primary schools in Viet Nam had started robotics programmes since they were introduced in 2011.

This was the first robot competition for primary schools held in Viet Nam. HCM City will host the second national competition next year.

Last year, Ha Noi hosted the International Robotics competition.

Student architects top design contest

An architecture plan to renovate popular backpacker destination Vinh Bui Vien Street in HCM City, has claimed the top prize at the Talent Prize architecture contest sponsored by the Cultural Development and Exchange Fund (CDEF).

The project was completed by a group of a young architects, including Nguyen Phuoc Vinh (born 1988) and two architecture students Phan Thi Khanh An and Hoang Huu Gia Han. The group will embark on a one-week visit to Denmark in early 2014 to mix with local architects.

The project Reviving Ship Dock at Ancient Bao Vinh Quarter in the central city of Hue, was the audience's choice for the prize.

Themed "Architectural Ideas for Improving Urban Spaces" and open only to people under 39 years old, the contest received 39 entries renovating Vietnamese areas into more attractive public spaces.

The jury board includes Danish Ambassador John Nielsen, Vietnamese architect Pho Duc Tung, Nguyen Huu Thai and Danish architect Hans Peter Hagens.

Central provinces restore forests

Twenty communes across the central provinces of Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue will undertake forest restoration activities under a programme launched by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) recently.

The launch of the programme, called "Preservation Carbon Sinks and Biodiversity Conservation Programme" (‘CarBi'), took place via a planting ceremony held in Ta Lu Commune, Dong Giang District, Quang Nam province.

The vital reforestation programme will take place in the Truong Son Mountain range that divides Viet Nam and Laos.

"WWF aims to connect these fragmented forests in the Truong Son Mountain range to provide natural corridors which will facilitate safe migration routes for the area's unique species, including the very rare sao la.

"The planting of indigenous trees is one of the many steps taken by WWF through its CarBi project to restore the integrity of this unique biodiversity treasure," said Dr. Le Thuy Anh, Truong Son Mountain range Landscape Manager with WWF-Viet Nam.

During the planting season, indigenous tree species will be planted over 200 hectares, and forest regeneration activities will be carried out over 430 hectares in priority areas in both provinces.

Another 250 hectares of indigenous trees will be planted, and 2,970 hectares will be regenerated in the 2014 planting season.

The Truong Son Mountain range is one of the areas that has the highest level of biodiversity both regionally and globally, with many rare and endemic species including the sao la, douc langur, Truong Son muntjac, large antlered muntjac and striped rabbit.

However, the forest is now threatened by fragmentation, especially by illegal logging and wildlife trade, as well as unsustainable farming and forestry practices.

Habitats that become fragmented are a major threat to the natural ‘corridors' in the forest that enable species to move around and mate. These corridors are fundamental to the survival of the unique species in this biodiversity hotspot, many of which are being pushed to the edge of extinction. Without active efforts to restore the forest, the ecosystem will not recover, WWF experts said.

The Forest Restoration Component of CarBi is a community-based forest protection strategy, implemented in partnership with local households who will take responsibility for regenerating the forest on which their livelihoods depend.

The selected households work closely with project staff, getting involved in identifying planting areas, and reaching consensus on the most appropriate tree species to plant and how to manage the reforestation process.

This active involvement of local communities in the managed regeneration of the forest is a crucial aspect of the CarBi programme's philosophy, aimed at the diversification and enhancement of local people's livelihoods, and bringing a sense of ownership as well as financial reward to participants.

"The sustainable management, protection, development and use of natural resources is key to the socio-economic development strategy of Quang Nam Province," said Phan Tuan, Director of the provincial Forest Protection Department.

"The provincial Forest Development Plan of 2015 –2020 contains a target to ensure 52 per cent of Quang Nam is covered by forest. Therefore, alongside the province's efforts to reach this target, we highly appreciate the contribution of organizations like WWF.

"This kind of activity helps to raise awareness among local people about protecting and developing forest in their own areas, as well as providing more income for them," Tuan added.

Participating households are given quality seedlings and fertilizer, which will ensure successful establishment of the new forest, while CarBi and government field staff monitor and supervise their work.

They also receive training in transporting, planting and tending to the seedlings, and earn payment for their work in planting and tending to the forest through savings accounts funded by CarBi, set up at district branches of the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.

Through these reforestation activities, the programme seeks to create employment and enhance livelihood resilience among the people most dependent on the forest, while preserving the environment for the astonishing range of species native to the region.

Environmental laws need improvement

Improving legal and institutional systems for effective environmental management was vital for Viet Nam to pursue sustainable development and strengthen international competitiveness, speakers agreed at a workshop in Ha Noi on Thursday.

National development strategies until 2020 have highlighted a shift in the economic model, aiming for greater added value, high productivity and energy efficiency – all particularly needed when the country was striving for industrialisation and ASEAN integration.

At the ongoing session, the National Assembly will discuss a revision of the Law on Environmental Protection (LEP), which has been drafted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) to strengthen legal enforcement.

It is expected to adopt the revision next year.

MONRE International Cooperation Department Director Tran Thi Minh Ha said the ministry would continue to conduct policy talks with development partners on the amendments in the meantime.

Dao Xuan Lai, an expert from UNDP Viet Nam, said that recent developments required closer partnerships between State agencies, the private sector and the public.

From 2006 to 2011, there were 8,000 cases of illegal deforestation and 1,000 cases of illegal wildlife trafficking, while 70 per cent of waste water from industrial zones nationwide was directly discharged without treatment.

The existing LEP from 2005 lacked a mechanism for people to exercise their rights to monitor, inspect and discuss environmental protection. There was also no mechanism for residential communities to sue companies that broke the law or demand compensation for damage caused by environmental pollution.

The latest revisions had provided additional articles to deal with these shortcomings, but more specific regulations could make it stronger, according to the UNDP.

"The draft law is an improvement to the existing law, but it still needs more work before it is adopted by the National Assembly," UNDP policy advisor Koos Neefjes told Viet Nam News.

For instance, the law needed authorities to complete an assessment of the environmental impacts of investment projects before approving them, and give the public access to the plans.

"How to facilitate better connections between private enterprises and environmental management is a big challenge for Viet Nam," Koos noted.

"The private sector is becoming increasingly important here, but companies in that sector can be both polluters and environmental problem solvers.

"The law has to deal with this," he said.

A workshop pointed out that in many circumstances, the public could not do anything to stop enterprises that damaged the environment, even though they were within their legal rights, because many companies held special positions or relationships with local authorities.

"We know that a lot of personnel in State-owned enterprises have also worked for the government, and vice versa. These conflicting roles need to be seperated."

For LEP enforcement, the Japan International Cooperation Agency said the Government should establish an environment database while urging local authorities to strengthen investment inspections.

Vietnamese, Lao social science academies boost ties

Vietnam and Laos have agreed to strengthen cooperation in social science research.

The statement was made between President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Science Nguyen Xuan Thang and acting President of the Lao Academy of Social Science Thongxalit Manomek in Vientiane on October 31.

During the talks, the two sides discussed measures to further boost bilateral cooperation between the two academies.

The two sides briefed each other on each academy’s situation. Both spoke highly of the results of their cooperation over the past time, particularly through joint subjects and delegation exchanges.

The two academies also coordinated in holding many big international conferences, including “Green Growth in the Mekong Sub-region” and the second conference on the role social science plays in driving sustainable development in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia recently held in Khammuone, Laos.

In the time to come, the two sides will continue intensifying cooperation, providing scientific bases for their Parties and States on policy-making, and further upholding the results of gained international cooperation, thus contributing to developing the special friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos.-

Vietnam’s ICT sector calls for UK investment

The information-communications technology (ICT) sector of Vietnam has recorded strong developments recently and is offering various opportunities to foreign enterprises including those from the UK, Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK and North Ireland Vu Quang Minh said at an October 30 seminar in London.

Nearly 60 UK attended the event , which was co-organised by the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK , the UK-ASEAN Business Council and the Asia House organisation.

Commercial Counselor at the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK Nguyen Thi Hong Thuy said Vietnam has put forth many incentives to attract foreign investment in the field.

Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, Deputy Director of the Information Technolgy Department under the Ministry of Information and Communication, also told the participants that the Vietnamese Government has issued many policies to support and accelerate the development of the ITC sector.

He presented statistics that showed the sector’s turnover reached 25.5 billion USD last year, a year-on-year increase of 86 percent from 2011 and a five-fold surge against 2008’s figure, mainly sourced from electronics, hardware and software industries.-

Seminar discusses computer incident response

A seminar on computer incident emergency response held in Hanoi on October 30 drew the participation of many domestic and foreign experts.

The event, organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) in conjunction with the World Bank, aimed to build a mechanism for coordinating domestic and international response in this field.

Addressing the seminar, MIC Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Hong said information security has become a hot topic in recent years following a range of serious incidents such as the Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack targeting several major websites in Vietnam last July.

The incident has raised the alarm over the existence of a network of affected computers which were used for bad purposes in Vietnam, the Deputy Minister said.

Given the situation, the ministry is accelerating the building of a legal framework with priority given to drafting a Law on Information Security which is scheduled to be submitted to the Government early next year, he noted.

The deputy minister also revealed that an Information Security Department will be established soon.

In addition, the ministry has partnered with relevant agencies and organisations to conduct several plans on inspecting and removing harmful software in domestic computer networks.

An array of programmes, seminars and exercises have also been conducted in order to raise public awareness about the problem and enhance response capacity of cyber security workers, he said.

At the seminar, experts proposed basic and effective measures to counter information security threats as well as to response when such attacks occur.

Centre goes hi-tech to preserve Hue relics

The Hue Relics Preservation Centre (HRPC) has decided to manage Hue ’s relic sites through geographic information technology (GIS) on a large scale to meet UNESCO’s requirements, according to HRPC Director Phan Thanh Hai.

To that end, a training course on how to use GIS started in June 2013, held by the HRPC and the Urban Solution consulting company of the NUFFIC – the Netherlands Organisation for International Cooperation in Higher Education.

Some 23 trainees from the course, which ended on October 30, have acquired the skills needed to use GIS and analyse databases concerning Hue’s cultural heritages.

According to Stephanie Geertman, a representative from Urban Solutions, the course helped establish different maps on GIS, which are considered useful tools for preserving and restoring heritage sites and promoting tourism development in the future.

About 1,500 trees in the Hue Royal Palace have been managed by GIS technology, Hai said, adding that the technology helps the city manage its plant system, define the density of flora on each street and make plans to prune the plants in the rainy season.

Hue attracted nearly two million tourists including 752,000 foreign arrivals to the ancient capital over the last nine months.

Hue was the capital of Vietnam between 1802 and 1945 under the reign of 13 Nguyen Kings.-

Ho Chi Minh City moves to combat diabetes

Free check-ups and consultations on diabetes are being offered during a campaign in Ho Chi Minh City to raise public awareness of the insidious killer.

The event running from November 3-5 is part of activities in response to World Diabetes Day (November 14).

Diabetes poses challenges to the health care sector as well as national development, said Ass. Prof., Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue, head of the Health Ministry’s Treatment and Examination Management Department .

He added lack of knowledge of the disease and inadequate access to medical services and necessary medicines may lead to worse conditions such as blindness and heart and kidney failure.

Statistics by the International Diabetes Federation have shown that about 371 million people around the world are suffering from diabetes and another 280 million are in risk of getting the disease.

The number of patients killed by diabetes is estimated to double by 2030 if no adequate solutions applied, the association said.-

18th APBMT Congress held in HCM City

The 18th Asia-Pacific Blood and Marrow Transplantation (APBMT) Congress and the second southern blood transfusion and haematology meeting took place in Ho Chi Minh City on November 1-3.

The events attracted nearly 900 delegates, including experts from hospitals nationwide as well as scientists and haematological experts from the European Haematology Association and the APBMT.

The meetings served as a forum for domestic and regional scientists to share experience in stem cell transplantation, the treatment of malignant haematological diseases, and blood transfusion, as well as exchange views on recent progress in the field.

According to experts, the haematopoietic stem cell transplantation method has become more important in the treatment of hereditary, malignant and high risk diseases.

The meetings also offered a good chance for Vietnam to learn from leading haematological experts in Asia-Pacific and the world at large, they said.

Director of Ho Chi Minh City’s Hospital of Haematology and Blood Transfusion Phu Chi Dung pointed to difficulties Vietnam is facing in conducting stem cell transplants. They include poor infrastructure, high costs and limited cell sources.

Since the first case in July 1995, Vietnam has conducted 250 stem cell transplants, mostly in Ho Chi Minh City.

The first APBMT congress was held in 1990 and has been organised annually since 2004. The group now has 19 members, including Vietnam.-

Criteria for climate change adapted eco-villages announced

The General Department of Environment under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has announced eight sets of criteria for climate change adapted eco-villages in the Mekong Delta region.

According to these criteria, eco-villages are those that ensure each household’s access to sufficient and safe water and wastewater treatment systems, collect and sort solid waste at source, use clean energy, and have communal houses.

The criteria were devised by the General Department’s Centre of Environmental Consultancy and Technology after 24 months of piloting some climate change adapted energy efficient models in Dam Doi district, the southernmost province of Ca Mau.

Participants at a workshop on October 31 said that the building of such an eco-village model is necessary for coping with climate change and sea level rises.

However, it should take account of natural features and local customs as well as criteria for building new rural areas to harmonise economic development and environmental protection, they noted.-

ADB, AusAID help disaster risk management

The Asia Development Bank (ADB) and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) has provided 63.91 million USD for a project to improve the ability of communities in the southern provinces of Tien Giang and Dong Thap to respond to and recover from the negative impact of floods and droughts.

Implemented between 2012 and 2017, the project aims to dredge and expand 77km of canal, while reinforcing 60km of embankment, constructing rural roads, culverts, bridges and many other works in order to improve the drainage system and ensure water supply to almost 186,000 ha of cultivated land in the two localities.

It is expected to foster socio-economic development in the two provinces and help establish and boost regional cooperation to cope with climate change and rising sea levels in the Mekong delta region, coastal areas and low-lying a reas in the Dong Thap province.

The project has four missions, including controlling floods and reducing risks in Ba Rai-Phu An area (Tien Giang province); upgrading the water salinity control system in Go Cong town (Tien Giang province); improving and upgrading the flood drainage canal system and providing water to Dong Thap Muoi area (Dong Thap province) and building an embankment system surrounding Tien River in Thuong Thoi Tien town (Dong Thap province).

Central Highlands faces degradation of soil quality

Soil in the Central Highland is undergoing serious degradation, experts warned at a recent workshop on the region’s development strategy to 2020, with a vision to 2030.

At the event, which was jointly organised by the Steering Committee for the Central Highlands and Nguyen Tat Thanh University in Ho Chi Minh City, Prof. Dr. Le Huy Ba from the university said the region has rich soil resources, including 1.3 million ha of fertile basaltic soil, which allows the cultivation of many types of crop plants, especially industrial plants such as coffee, pepper, rubber, cashew nut, tea, mulberry and fruit-trees.

However, the area of forest and forest land in the region has been reduced rapidly due to lax management, resulting in dropping humidity and disappearance of microorganisms in soil as well as diminishing underground water resource.

On the other hand, the excessive and unscientific cultivation has quickly deprived the land of its vegetation cover, thus causing serious soil erosion in the region.

According to the provincial Department of Science and Technology, the volume of eroded soil on cultivated land can reach 95.1 tonnes per hectare per year, compared to only 12 tonnes per ha of planted forests and under 6 tonnes per ha of primitive forest.

Participants said that a large volume of nutrients in cultivated land in the region is swept away every year due to land erosion.

Scientists urged localities in the Central Highlands to restrict the destruction of natural forests to use land for other purposes, while planting more trees on unused land to expand forest coverage.

The provinces are also advised to adopt sustainable farming techniques and diversify crop plants in order to protect ecological balance and limit land erosion, thus contributing to sustainable socio-economic development in the region.-

Seminar seeks ways for solid waste management

Environmental pollution in the collection, transportation and treatment of solid waste is developing in a complicated way, the Environmental Crime Prevention and Fighting Police told a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on November 1.

According to the department, the lack of environmental reports and projects, improper construction of facilities and irregular solid waste treatment are common violations.

Statistics released by the Technical Infrastructure Department under the Construction Ministry last year show that the whole country discharges 61,500 tonnes of daily solid waste, with 31,000 tonnes in urban areas and 30,500 tonnes in the countryside.

About 85.3 percent of solid waste in urban areas and 20-30 percent in rural areas is treated.

The volume of solid waste in urban areas is expected to reach 37,000 tonnes in 2015 and 50,000 tonnes in 2020.

The country has around 458 dumping grounds with a total area of over 1.8 hectares with only 121 meeting hygiene standards.

Nguyen Quoc Tuan, deputy head of the Technical Infrastructure Department, said solid waste treatment has become a pressing issue not only in urban areas but also in the countryside.

About 73 percent of urban solid waste is collected and treated using unhygienic methods. Meanwhile, a huge volume of solid waste has not been collected and treated in rural areas, causing environmental pollution and occupying a large area of land.

He also pointed out inadequate legal documents on solid waste management and the unclear demarcation of tasks between ministries and branches, especially in rural areas.

Delegates at the seminar proposed solutions to handle the issue such as the ratification of a national plan on solid waste management, building relevant legal documents, supporting investors in this field and public awareness-raising work.

New environmental protection law promotes local activism

The new Law on Environmental Protection, currently under discussion by the National Assembly, hopes to incentivise individuals and social organisations to help protect the environment by clarifying the rights of both groups in regard to environmental protection.

For the commune of Thach Son in the northern province of Phu Tho, increased incomes haven’t equalled increased quality of life as the commune is also home to a wide variety of industries which pollute the environment, such as the Lam Thao superphosphate factory, Vinh Phu battery factory, Bai Bang paper mill and 28 brick kilns.

Dang Dinh Bach, director of the Centre for Law and Policy of Sustainable Development Research recently conducted an environmental survey in Thach Son and concluded, “though there are no official public records for cancer statistics for Thach Son, information collected from various local media sources suggests that the incidence of cancer in the commune has been abnormally high for some time. Particularly since 2006, incidents have increased to very troubling levels.”

It is reported that the 100,000-population commune saw 47 new cases of cancer in 2007, 49 in 2008, 55 in 2009 and 49 in 2010. Since 2010, there have been 600-700 cases per year.

“Although there is a good legal framework on environmental protection, there has not been full implementation of relevant laws by local government agencies or enterprises. This has resulted in the persistence of severe environmental risks and health problems in Thach Son,” Bach said.

“People often ascribe pollution to enterprises, without thinking that localities and law makers must be responsible for pollution too,” he said in reference to the existing Law on Environmental Protection, which lacks mechanisms for people to exercise their rights to participate in environmental protection.

Bach expected that the amended Law on Environmental Protection, expected to be passed by the National Assembly at its first session in May 2014, will have sturdy new regulations to help Thach Son’s residents improve their environment.

The new law makes provisions for people’s right to participate in environmental protection. Specifically, social organisations and individuals will be entitled to access information, consult projects, participate in dialogue, participate in supervision, receive the results of investigations and demand state agencies to sue and demand compensation. Furthermore, individuals and organisations will be encouraged and incentivised to participate in environmental protection activities.

However, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam, more specifics are needed to ensure the feasibility and practicability of the new regulations.

A UNDP document stated, “The new Law on Environmental Protection should provide a time frame and clear mechanisms to implement the rights and responsibilities of social organisations and residential communities. It also needs to establish a legal standing for these communities, so they become a party to environmental disputes and a part of the solution.”

The document says the new law should also supplement provisions on the right of communities to sue in order to create a legal basis for collective lawsuits for environmental cases.

Also the new law needs to supplement provisions of capacity building and awareness raising for residential communities and social organisations, and social-professional organisations.

“The UNDP proposals are correct,” said Bach, “In order to help localities like Thach Son have a better living environment, the new Law on Environmental Protection must strengthen the implementation of public participation in environmental decision-making in villages, including access to information and adequate impact assessment.”

Duong Thanh An, director of the Vietnam Environment Administration’s Department of Policies and Legal Affairs added, “we believe that the development of sound laws is important, but ensuring the enforcement of the law is even more important.”

Geotechnics conference to bring in opportunities

The second international Geotechnics for Sustainable Development, Geotec Hanoi 2013, will take place November 28-29 at the Melia Hotel, Hanoi.

GEOTEC HANOI 2013 is organized by FECON Foundation Engineering and Underground Construction JSC., in collaboration with the Vietnam Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering – VSSMGE, and the Asian Institute of Technology – AIT, under the auspices of the Japan International Cooperation Agency – JICA. Photo: Chi Cuong

The event is organised every two years by FECON Foundation Engineering and Underground Construction JSC in collaboration with Vietnam Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering and the Asian Institute of Technology under the auspices of the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Regarded as a pioneering international conference on geotechnics in Vietnam, it will provide an opportunity for international and domestic scientists, mass-design consultants and managers on issues of general construction and geotechnical foundations to share views, knowledge, experience and achievements related to technological design and building of infrastructure.

“The conference will provide an overview of the development of international and domestic science in geotechnics, to guide scientists, local businesses and international investors to study the development of this science in a practical way,” said Pham Viet Khoa, general director at Foundation Engineering and Underground Construction JSC (FECON).

“At the same time, it will show the local enterprises how to invest in modern technology in order to best meet the requirements of the market, and to improve production efficiency,” he added.

Following the success of Geotec Hanoi 2011, the 2013 event expects to host approximately 500 national and international delegates.

Six intensive lectures from leading geotechnic experts will be given at the event which has attracted the participation of technical experts from local and international universities, research institutes and consulting firms. The conference’s scientific committee has received 110 reports from 23 countries and has selected 81 articles for live presentation.

The selected reports focus on the foundations of high-rise buildings, underground projects in soft soil, soil improvement and reinforcement infrastructure projects, monitoring and instrumentation for tunnels and excavations, and geotechnical modeling and numerical analysis.

Private university opens in Can Tho

Nam Can Tho University opened in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on Wednesday - the second private university in the city after Tay Do University which was established seven years ago.

At the opening ceremony, Professor Vo Tong Xuan, acting principal of Nam Can Tho University, informed that upon the approval from the Ministry of Education and Training, the university is allowed to enroll students for many levels and majors in line with the training model of community college in the U.S.

In the U.S., every large county in a state has a community college offering a vast array of training programs both short-term and long-term to meet local personnel development demand, Xuan said.

Using the U.S. model, Nam Can Tho University has enrolled 968 students for many majors such as medicine, architecture, accounting, business administration, banking-finance and construction.

The university is now cooperating with the Banking University of HCMC to provide banking-finance master training courses. Besides, it is also providing second university degree and in-service training in law, land management, natural resources and environment, and construction technology among others in conjunction with Vinh University.

According to Professor Xuan, Nam Can Tho lecturers and students of the university will carry out science research projects to meet development demand of the delta in general and Can Tho in particular.

Investors in HCMC and Can Tho have invested a total of over VND60 billion in building the university in the first phase and will continue pouring another VND50 billion into constructing a dormitory for 2,000 students in the school year 2014-2015 and an e-library.

There are currently only 116 regular lecturers at Nam Can Tho University, including one professor, six associate professors, nine PhD degree holders, and 90 holders of master degrees. Regarding the limited number of lecturers, Xuan said his university has called on collaboration from lecturers of other universities besides increasing the teaching capacity of the facility’s own lecturers.

More temporary bridges built in city

The HCMC Department of Transport will build two more temporary bridges next to Hau Giang Bridge in District 6 which is being upgraded to meet the demand of goods transport from the Mekong Delta.

Vuong Hoang Thanh, deputy head of the urban upgrade project management board, said the city government has asked related agencies to consider building two more temporary bridges besides the two existing ones that have been constructed earlier.

Hau Giang Street is a major route for goods transport from the Mekong Delta to the city and a route which helps reduce the traffic volume on Hong Bang and Kinh Duong Vuong streets linking Mien Tay coach station with the city’s center. Therefore, the closure of Hau Giang Bridge to build a new one has resulted in serious congestion along the street and affected the routes of many bus services.

According to the city’s public passenger transport center, the number of passengers has declined compared to last week when the bus routes were not changed.

Meanwhile, near the Bong Bridge that has also been closed, the Department of Transport is considering expanding a section of Hoang Sa Street to ease the traffic flow via makeshift bridges.

After Hau Giang and Bong bridges were closed for construction of new ones, temporary bridges have been built in replacement. However, traffic congestion has been observed on some streets in the past three days.

Two other bridges, which are Le Van Sy and Kieu, will be closed on November 9 and November 23 respectively.

The project of constructing Bong, Kieu, Le Van Sy and Hau Giang bridges is implemented with loans of the World Bank to replace old ones that have been used for over 50 years. The respective costs are VND130 billion for Bong Bridge, VND128 billion for Hau Giang Bridge, VND115 billion for Kieu Bridge and VND110 billion for Le Van Sy Bridge.

If the implementation of the four bridges fails to end by next October, the World Bank will cut the funding.