Vietnam wants high-speed north-south rail line

Vietnam is looking at building a USD50bn express north-south rail link from 2020, said Deputy Transport Minister Nguyen Ngoc Dong.

Dong said the state budget will cover 28 percent of total investment, with rest coming from ODA and private sources.

The express link will cut travel time between Hanoi to HCM City to less than six hours.

The Transport Ministry is waiting on approval for the plan from the National Assembly and will then draw up a site clearance plan and call for investment.

Dong said it was hoped the project could be completed by 2024.

The express railway will run parallel with the current North-South railway.

“We will organise conferences with the participation of experts and seek public opinion," Dong said.

He said work was underway to upgrade by 2020 the nation's existing rail network to raise the speed to 80-90km an hour for passenger trains and 50-60km an hour for cargo trains.

Vietnam Coast Guard receives two home-made modern vessels

The Vietnam Coast Guard (VCG) received two modern vessels – CSB 9004 and CSB 8002 at Danang port on July 9.

These two rescue vessels were built by Song Thu Corporation under the Ministry of National Defence for the first time. They will effectively help the VCG conduct sea patrol and enforce law in Vietnam’s territorial waters and continental shelf.

The vessel coded CSB 9004 which is 46m long and 12m wide, was handed over to the High Command of Coast Guard Region 1. Meanwhile, the CSB 8002 which is more than 90m in length and has a capacity of 12,000 hps was delivered to the High Command of Coast Guard Region 2 in Quang Nam province.

On the occasion, the State President presented Song Thu Corporation a National Protection Order (third class).

Health Ministry inspects MERS-CoV preventive measures in Can Tho

A delegation from the Ministry of Health inspected preventive measures against the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) at the Can Tho General Hospital in the Mekong Delta city on July 8.

The delegation, led by Head of the ministry’s Medical Examination and Treatment Department Luong Ngoc Khue, examined preparations for treating MERS-CoV patients and conducting infection control once a MERS-CoV suspect is admitted at the hospital.

The provincial healthcare authority is prepared for any MERS-CoV emergency. A detailed plan was drawn up and some 11 mobile medical teams have been established.

Medical units in the province were zoned off for MERS-CoV patient treatment and have equipped all necessary facilities, medicines and quarantine areas to cope with the epidemic.

The same day, the ministry organised a training course on MERS-CoV diagnosis, treatment and infection control in Can Tho, the fifth of its kind, for medical workers at centrally and provincially-run hospitals.

After the conclusion of the course, the workers will provide training for lower-level medical units at their cities or provinces.

The ministry expects the course will improve public awareness of MERS-CoV among medical workers and the community and recommended those with potential symptoms of the disease immediately present themselves at a hospital for early examination.

LaoVietBank supports infrastructure upgrade in Laos

The LaoVietBank recently signed a contract with a Lao construction company to finance a project to upgrade Route 16 in Laos.

The move aims to support the country in preparation for integration into the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which will be established at the end of this year.

Under the contract, the bank will provide credit worth 20 million USD to build and upgrade the 42.8-kilometre road from two lanes to four-six lanes.

Route 16 is in a strategic position, as it connects the Lao province of Champasak with the Thai province of Udon Thani. The upgrade is said to contribute to linking Laos and other countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region.

Established in 1999 under cooperation between the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and the Banque Pour Le Commerce Exierieur Lao (BCEL), the LaoVietBank has become one of the largest commercial banks in Laos and a model for economic cooperation between the two countries.

Quang Binh encourages locals to use computers, Internet

An “Internet festival” event took place at 39 public sites, including libraries and post offices, in central Quang Binh province on July 9.

It featured a speed-typing contest, information updates and guidance on using computers and cyberspace, such as how to set up an email account and search for knowledge on the Internet.

On the opening day, thousands of local youth attended the activity, part of a project on improving computer usage and public internet access ability in Vietnam funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The central city of Da Nang will apply intelligent transport solutions (ITS) to develop its public transport system, including promoting social investment in the bus network.

Currently, the city has six bus routes and 116 buses which are expected to increase to 11 routes and 160 buses in 2015, as heard at a workshop which opened in the city on July 8.

Da Nang became an official member of CityNet in 2005.

Established in 1987, CityNet is the largest association of urban stakeholders committed to sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific Region.

As of 2013, CityNet had 130 members from over 20 nations around the world, including Da Nang, Hanoi, Hai Phong, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City.

Speaking at the workshop, Professor Doctor Vu Thi Minh from the Association of Cities of Vietnam (ACVN) highlighted transportation as the lifeline of urban economies.

Sustainable urban transport development is based on the three pillars of economics, social affairs and the environment, she noted.

Motorbike transport and pavement culture are the two most outstanding features in most Vietnamese cities, experts said, adding that among means of transport, high-capacity public options are an effective solution for densely populated and centralised economies.

Major Vietnamese cities are looking to develop public transport, experts said.

The workshop is organised by the Korea Transport Institute (KOTI) and the Da Nang Foreign Office and Department of Transport.

New bridge links Long An with Cambodia’s Prey Veng

The Mekong Delta province Long An held a ceremony on July 8 to inaugurate the Huu Nghi (Friendship) Bridge 2, which connects the locality and the Cambodian province of Prey Veng, Nhan dan newspaper reported.

Construction on the 80m long and 4.5m wide bridge started in June last year and finished in March 2015, at a cost of more than 10 billion VND.

The bridge spans the Cai Co canal and links Road 819 in Hung Dien commune, Tan Hung district with Road 103 in Cham commune, Com Pung T’ro Bek district in Cambodia.

The bridge is expected to boost socio-economic development in Tan Hung and Com Pung T’ro Bek districts and improve links between the two localities.

Gifts presented to disadvantaged families, students

A series of charitable events were organised in the Central region on July 8 to support households and students in need.

In the central city of Da Nang, 15 impoverished families in Hoa Vang district were presented with houses and cows worth 300 million VND (13,950 USD), which was donated by organisations and individuals.

Five scholarships, each valued at 1 million VND (46.5 USD), were also awarded to disadvantaged students in the locality.

Over the past two years, more than 2.5 billion VND (116,300 USD) has been mobilised to help households in the district, contributing to the new style rural areas building programme in the locality.

On the same day, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour and the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) gifted 500 schoolbags that can also function as life jackets to students in low-lying areas in Duc Trong and Da Teh in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.

On this occasion, 40 gifts, each worth 500,000 VND (23.26 USD), were presented to disadvantaged children in Duc Trong district.-

Ho Chi Minh City boasts active blood donors

A blood donation campaign across Vietnam, titled “Red Journey”, received more than 1,500 donors during its stop in Ho Chi Minh City on July 9.

Within the day, approximately 1,200 blood units were collected.

After three years of taking part in the national campaign, Ho Chi Minh City leads the nation in the rate of people involved and the blood volume of more than 350 millilitres per person on average.

Since the beginning of 2015, the southern hub has mobilised over 100,000 blood units from 84,000 volunteers, realising 46 percent of its plan for the year.

Previously, travel through the Mekong Delta provinces of Ca Mau and Bac Lieu, and Can Tho City brought almost 2,000 units to the programme.

The last stop will be in Hanoi on July 24.

The Red Journey began in 2013 alongside with an activity to raise public awareness about thalassemia, a form of inherited blood disorder that destroys a large number of red blood cells and can lead to anaemia. Nearly 29,000 units were donated at this campaign in the past two years.

According to Bach Quoc Khanh, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, the number of blood donors has been on the rise in Vietnam in recent years. In 2014, the country amassed about 1 million blood units, 90 percent of which came from volunteers.

Dong Nai invests in automatic wastewater monitoring stations

The southern province of Dong Nai plans to invest more than 30 billion VND (1.37 million USD) in installing six automatic wastewater monitoring stations this year, according to the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

They will be installed in six industrial zones, namely Fosmosa Zones 1 and 2 in Nhon Trach district, Agtex Long Binh in Bien Hoa city, Long Duc in Long Thanh district, Xuan Loc in Xuan Loc district, and Suoi Tre in Long Khanh town.

The stations will observe the operation process of wastewater treatment systems then send data to the Department once every 30 minutes for monitoring purposes.

According to Deputy Director of the Department Nguyen Ngoc Thuong, the province has deployed 22 stations in local industrial zones since 2012 in an effort to protect the environment.

Dong Nai is home to 29 operational industrial zones. All of them are equipped with wastewater treatment systems, and three of them have air sampling systems.

Vietnamese, Cuban women’s unions foster bonds

The Vietnamese Women’s Union (VWU) and its Cuban counterpart has highlighted the joint progress made in improving the lives of women in the two countries during the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation’s visit to Cuba.

During their stay from July 4-9, the Vietnamese delegation, led by Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa, VWU Chairwoman, attended a number of meetings with the National Secretariat of the Cuban Women’s Unions (CWU), the Women’s Publishing House, and others relevant bodies at the central and local level.

In these meetings, Hoa congratulated her host on the achievements made in terms of gender equality and the significant contributions made by the CWU to the improvement of Cuban women’s lives.

The Vietnamese Chairwoman briefed her hosts on gender and development in Vietnam and on the union’s key activities. She also shared the VWU’s experience in mobilising different resources to support women in economic development and international integration.

She invited the CWU’s representatives to attend the “Women for Peace and Development” Forum, which is taking place in Vietnam in October on the occasion of the 85 th founding anniversary of the Vietnam Women’s Union (October 20).

During the delegation’s visit to Cuba, the VWU donated 15,000 USD to support Cuban women.

Other activities included laying wreaths at President Ho Chi Minh’s memorial in Havana’s Peace Park, and meeting with the Vice Chairwoman of the Cuban Parliament, Ana Machado, among others.

The delegation also visited Vo Thi Thang primary school and Mediatex Textile Factory.

Overseas workers' rights not secure

The Department of Overseas Labour (DOLAB) under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) is taking steps to protect all of its workers overseas after female domestic helpers were maltreated in Saudi Arabia late last year.

Deputy head of the department, Tong Hai Nam, said that helpers were not covered by a labour code.

"Helpers are open to abuse and work overtime because their jobs depend on the families that hire them," Nam said.

He said that they faced difficulties in accessing support services or trade unions.

Late last year, the department and other relating Vietnamese authorities helped female guest workers in Saudi Arabia return home earlier than schedule.

The workers asked for help after being maltreated by their employers.

Tin tuc (News) newspaper last week reported the case of a young woman from HCM City who started working in Saudi Arabia early last year, but was soon harassed and hit by her boss.

She told her family about the maltreatment and asked for help from relevant authorities.

The DOLAB reported that about 16,000 Vietnamese guest workers are in Saudi Arabia, including 5,000 helpers.

Deputy head of the department Nam said that the governments of Viet Nam and Saudi Arabia had signed an agreement protecting workers' rights.

Under the agreement, Saudi Arabia's Labour Ministry is responsible for ensuring Vietnamese guest workers have accommodation and residential permits and are able to keep contact with their families.

Employers must ensure to pay proper wages and allowances, buy insurance and give helpers time off.

The DOLAB has told labour exporting companies to provide candidates with information on the culture and customs in the host country - and on contract conditions.

Nam said that guest workers often felt depressed when coping with cultural and lifestyle differences because of lack of information.

The DOLAB has reported that about 56,173 Vietnamese labourers, including 16,942 women, worked overseas in the first six months of this year, a 1.7 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.

In June alone, about 11,777 labourers went abroad for work. Of them, more than 3,619 were women.

Taiwan is the top market for Vietnamese workers with 7,505 labourers, followed by Japan (with 2,324 workers), South Korea, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, besides Qatar.

The MOLISA has signed and implemented a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with South Korea on sending Vietnamese workers to that country under the Employment Permit System (EPS). The preparation for the signing of MoUs between Viet Nam and Thailand, and Viet Nam and Malaysia on labour co-operation is under way.

The DOLAB supported enterprises to carry out contracts on sending labourers to Saudi Arabia and Qatar and in dispatching apprentices to Japan in the construction and shipbuilding sectors since April. The department has also implemented training programmes on vocational skills, foreign languages and other necessary knowledge required by people who want to work as domestic workers in Taiwan.

Last week, Viet Nam and Germany signed a letter of intent regarding Vietnamese citizens working in Germany as caregivers. This is a good opportunity to increase the number of Vietnamese labourers going to that country to between 500 and 700 per year.

Da Nang to build cardiology hospital

The central city has approved a project to build its first cardiology hospital with investment of VND240 billion (US$11 million) for the first stage.

The city's secretariat said the 10-storey hospital will cover an area of 3,500sq.m on Hai Phong Street, and have 200 beds.

The hospital is scheduled to open in 2016.

It will be the city's first cardiology hospital, and will provide treatment for patients in the city and the central and Central Highland provinces.

Most cardiovascular patients in the central region are currently sent to Hue General Hospital for treatment or surgery.

Ministry says offices need lactation rooms

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs suggested mandating lactation rooms in offices to promote breastfeeding.

Ha Dinh Bon, head of the ministry's Legal Affairs Department, said this was a key aspect of the draft decree guiding the implementation of the 2012 Labour Code's regulations on female workers.

The department surveyed relevant parties before adding the regulation on lactation rooms into the draft decree, he said. The decree was expected to pass in September if approved.

The Viet Nam Confederation of Labour applauded the proposal, said the confederation's vice president, Nguyen Thi Thu Hong, at a conference on breastfeeding promotion early this week.

She said the confederation, the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Alive & Thrive have run a workplace lactation support programme since 2012.

The programme helped set up more than 70 lactation rooms in Government workplaces, as well as garment and electronics companies. More than 180,500 female workers have been benefited from the programme.

Under the programme, enterprises set up hygienic, private spaces with safe water sources for mothers to produce breast milk. Mothers were given two to three short breaks during the day for the process.

Phan Thanh Hai, head of Maiko Viet Nam Company in Ha Noi Export Processing's trade union, said that the company has more than 1,000 female workers, including about 100 breastfeeding mothers.

A common worry among mothers was going back to work after maternity leave and having little time to breastfeed their infants, said Nguyen Hong Hanh, 30, of Ha Noi's Tay Ho District.

While 78 per cent of female employees believe that "breast milk is the best source of nutrition for infants," only 36 percent breastfeed their infants until 19 to 24 months of child age, according to a survey conducted in 2011 by Viet Nam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL) on maternity leave policies and breastfeeding practices among female workers in industrial zones. Many mothers said the main reason they weaned kids off early was to go back to work.

The World Health Organisation and the UN Children's Fund recommend all mothers breastfeed their children exclusively for the first six months of life and continue to breastfeed to 24 months or longer.

Viet Nam's National Assembly in June 2012 approved a Labour Code revision to extend maternity leaves from four to six months.

Rare, protected wood found on passenger bus

Police in central Quang Binh Province stopped a passenger bus travelling in the north and found it illegally transporting 3cu.m of rare and protected wood.

The wood, with the scientific name of Afzelia Xylocarpa, is listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The bus driver was unable to show legal documents for the wood, admitting to the police that the wood was purchased in Central Highlands province of Gia Lai to sell in Ha Noi.

Police seized the wood and are continuing their investigation.

Known by the common name of doussie, Afzelia Xylocarpa wood is favoured for use in manufacturing furniture, ship building and housing materials, thanks to its unique quality, colour and grain. Also, the tree's bark is an ingredient used in the tanning industry.

Increasing demand has resulted in the illegal logging of the wood, causing officials to list it as endangered. Doussie trees are found in Southeast Asia and Africa.

Production connectivity way out for agricultural product consumption

According to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat, farming production connectivity is one of measures for agricultural restructuring, which will assist farmers to produce and consume their products more stably.

So far the connectivity has been applied in some fields such as milk cow breeding and sugarcane planting and processing. Large scale paddy field modal has proved efficiency after five years of implementation in 43 provinces and cities nationwide over a total area of 400,000 hectares.

Despite showing some limitations, large scale paddy field is a good modal that should be thoroughly studied and developed to promote its efficiency, said experts.

Besides, if value chain in agricultural production is applied, it will help improve farmers’ income, intensify the connectivity between farmers and businesses, and develop the large scale paddy fields, they said.

Mekong Delta provinces’ departments of agriculture and rural development said that relevant agencies should re-plan farming zones and have disease-control measures to develop seafood farming, processing and exports.

The important thing is to develop the connectivity modal between breeders and businesses. Being aware of market information, businesses should place orders with farmers to have a stable material source and help prevent the long issue 'bumper crop-price plunge' from plaguing farmers.

Dr. Nguyen Van Hoa, head of the Southern Fruit Research Institute, said that there should have a farming production zone linking provinces in the same region together.

The zone should have a body playing bandmaster zone to develop into merchandise production areas with development versions, regulations and management.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that production should base on market demand to prevent farmers from falling into the defensive. Besides it is necessary to create a link between businesses and farmers to improve competitiveness.

Business investment in agricultural field is considered a key measure to better farm produce consumption.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has instructed authorized agencies to work together and solve difficulties for firms to promote their attendance in this field.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has launched a club of agricultural investors comprising 30 companies, many agencies and eight pioneering provinces in agricultural restructuring.

The club with an interdisciplinary relation will work to solve difficulties for businesses and propose policies suiting their demand.

The Mekong Delta is building a pilot project on regional connectivity in socioeconomic development for the phase 2016-2020. It is expected to connect production, processing and consumption of mainstay farm produce such as pangasius fish, shrimp and fruits via value chains.

Associate professor Nguyen Van Sanh, head of the Institute said that regional connectivity program that forms farmers to farmers, farmers to businesses, businesses to managers…would help improve goods value chains, set up large-scale production zones, and boost the delta’s comparative advantage.

The Government plays very important role as a bandmaster in the value chains by creating clear policies and mechanism, he added.

 Neonate dies of digestive infection shock not vaccine

The Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health yesterday said that the 4 month old baby in the southern province of Dong Nai died due to digestive infection shock not because of vaccine.

The scientific council for vaccine complication was set up right after the report of the case. The council including experts from Pasteur Institute and doctors from the Children Hospital No.2 convened a meeting to check immunization procedure and the cause of the death of the 4 month old neonate in Bau Ham commune in Thong Nhat District in Dong Nai Province.

The baby was July 7 immunized with Quinvaxem, which is used to prevent five commons, potentially fatal childhood diseases: diphtheria (D), tetanus (T), pertussis (P, whooping cough), hepatitis B (HepB), and Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib).at the medical center Bau Ham.

After the vaccination, he was kept 30 minutes as per the regulation and at that time he was still healthy,

Until 11.30 pm on the same day, he turned blue and fatigue; he was soon taken to the General Hospital Dau Giay where he was put on ventilator. Later he was tranfered to Long Khanh General Hospital and the Children Hospital in Dong Nai Province where he stopped breathing though he received intensive treatment.

23 other neonates had been vaccinated the same lot vaccine at medical center Bau Ham on the day with the unlucky baby. They are all in good condition.

VIFOTEC Award generates motivation for scientists and creators

Politburo member and President of Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan has praised the Vietnam Fund for Scientific and Technological Creations (VIFOTEC) Award for generating motivation for scientists and creators.

Politburo member Nhan made the statement at the VIFOTEC Sponsorship Council meeting for the 2015 - 2020 term held in Hanoi on July 9 by the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA).

The VIFOTEC Award honours science circles and students who are studying in the field, he said.

As Vietnam has huge advantages in human resources, the VFF leader urged the VUSTA to work out solutions to encourage scientific research among people, particularly businesses.

He also pointed out the fact that Vietnamese businesses have not yet paid enough attention to conducting and applying scientific innovations in their production, thus calling on communications networks to work harder to introduce the latest technologies to them.

He suggested the fund’s secretariat not establish its own support center for creativity, rather it should set up a network of innovation labs in order to take advantage of available facilities in major groups and companies at home and abroad.

The VFF President also witnessed the signing of a co-operative agreement between the VIFOTEC and GFS Group, a well-developed investment business, in which the latter will provide the former with VND4 billion (US$183,400) to enhance its operation.

At the meeting, a 22-member Sponsorship council for the fund for the 2015 – 2020 term was introduced, with Politburo member Nhan is Honorary President and VUSTA Chairman Dang Vu Minh as President.

Since its launch in 1995, the VIFOTEC Award has received the enthusiastic support and participation of scientists and science-lovers from all walks of life. 100% of award-winning projects have been successfully brought to fruition.

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