Forum focuses on workforce supply, demand

"Planning for Skills Training that Meets Labour Market Needs," a two-day event that ended on December 9, presented the process used to conduct labour market needs assessments in Binh Thuan, Hau Giang and Vinh Long provinces.

The policy dialogue is part of the Vietnam Skills for Employment Project (VSEP), a 20-million-USD project funded by Canada to help Vietnam strengthen its technical and professional education and training system.

This year's policy dialogue began with a presentation on the recently conducted labour market needs assessment in Binh Thuan by a Canadian specialist who has helped several countries around the world align their hospitality/tourism programming with the country needs and the manager of a four-star resort hotel in Mui Ne.

Two Canadian college officials presented best practices at Canadian colleges in aligning college programmes with local and regional labour market needs.

The two sessions were followed by policy dialogues to engage stakeholders in discussions on the relevance to Vietnam of these best practices from Canada and elsewhere and challenges facing their implementation.

The event concludes with the formulation of policy recommendations to improve human resource planning and better align the skills of the workforce with the needs of industry.

Government budget supports gender equality

Budget spending for female workers at State offices or enterprises needs to be financially disclosed, Vietnamese experts and UN Women officials agreed at a seminar on gender equality in Hanoi on December 10.

The participants said that it was essential to raise awareness among leaders of State agencies and entrepreneurs about using the budget for female officials.

The seminar was jointly organised by the Ministry of Finance's National Institute for Finance, and United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

A concept of "gender responsive budgeting" was defined as the process of planning and budgeting of the Government in an attempt to promote gender equality and to exercise women's rights.

A Government's gender responsive budgeting aimed to raise awareness among stakeholders of gender issues embedded in budgets and policies, to make governments accountable for translating their gender equality commitments into budgetary commitments, and to change budgets and policies to promote gender equality.

Nguyen Viet Loi, Director of the Finance Institute for Finance said the gender responsive budgeting had been becoming popular and produced the desired effect in many countries in the world, including Nepal, Australia, the Philippines.

The Vietnamese Government and ministries were interested in gender responsive budgeting but the implementation of such supporting policies is far from the target, Loi said.

Poor women could borrow loans from Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, he added.

The State had priorities and corporate income tax incentives for businesses that extensively use female workers.

Production, construction and transportation enterprises that hire 10 to 100 female labourers to account for more than 50 percent of all labourers enjoy reduced business income tax.

The Ministry of Education and Training had carried out free illiteracy eradication programmes for women aged 35 to 40 in ethnic minority areas and difficult socio-economic circumstances.

"Each ministry or economic sector must determine their big problems and outline tactical strategies," the institute director said.

Shoko Ishikawa, UN Women's Vietnam Country Representative said lack of attention to gender issues in policy analysis has limited the ability to mainstream gender in the formulation of policies and the allocation of adequate budgets.

In Vietnam, the majority of vocational training programmes for women are short term and usually focus on women's traditional occupations such as tailoring and garment making. These jobs were often low paid, leaving women disadvantaged compared to men regarding opportunities to access the labour market, she said.

The Vietnam's National Strategy on Gender Equality (2011-2020 term) was developed with seven objectives and 22 specific targets in many fields of politics, economy, labour and employment, education and training, health, culture, information and family. It also strengthens State management of gender equality.

Strengthening the active participation of businesswomen in regional integration was discussed at a conference on December 10 in Hanoi.

The event was co-organised by the Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs Council under the Vietnam Chamber of Commercial and Industry (VCCI) and the Department of Enterprises Development under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

It saw the attendance of female entrepreneurs from the 10 ASEAN-member nations, and representatives from ministries and sectors.

Deputy Director of the Department of Enterprises Development Nguyen Hoa Cuong said many women are running small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam, adding that the Government has devised numerous incentives to boost their enterprises’ development.

Many female participants shared the views that a wide range of activities have been conducted to support the entrepreneurs’ community, including communication, training, and financial, technical and technology assistance.

President of the ASEAN Women Entrepreneurs’ Network (AWEN) Nguyen Thi Tuyet Minh, who is also Chairman of the Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs Council, called on businesswomen to equip themselves comprehensively in a bid to seize opportunities and tackle challenges from international integration.

She also suggested a roadmap be developed for improving labour productivity, production technology and management capability for win-win integration.

Da Nang tourism sector registers successful year

The tourism industry of central Da Nang city this year hosted 4.6 million tourists, including 1.25 million foreigners, bringing 12.7 trillion VND (605 million USD) in revenue.

Deputy Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Dang Viet Dung said this at a meeting of the municipal People's Council.

He said the city also gained 75 tourism sector projects that have invested 8.7 billion USD, of which 1.7 billion USD were from 15 foreign direct investment projects.

"The tourism industry had a significant development this year. Twenty routes connected Da Nang and other countries across the world," Dung said.

"The city has developed 475 hotels, of which 80 are three and five-star hotels, providing 17,000 rooms," he said, adding tourists stayed there 2.2 days on average.

Da Nang’s ports hosted 400 cruises this year for 444,000 foreign tourists, and with 6.5 million tonnes of cargo.

Early this week, the Superstar Libra cruise carried 1,000 Chinese tourists who are visiting the city and other destinations in the central region, while the Azamara Quest cruise brought 500 tourists from France, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States to the city.-

Empowering women’s voice in ASEAN and global integration

Businesswomen from the ten ASEAN nations gathered at a conference on December 10 in Hanoi to discuss key issues pertaining to female entrepreneurs in the ASEAN region in the context of regional and global integration.

Participants attending the event also expounded upon action plans aimed at strengthening connectivity among regional economic organizations for mutual cooperation, development and benefits.

Director General Nguyen Hoa Cuong of the Enterprise Development Agency elaborated on Vietnam’s 500,000 small businesses, noting that women have played a pivotal role in their development.

Cuong emphasized in the context of comprehensive integration, governmental agencies have not left women out of the equation and have always attempted to create favourable conditions for female business leaders and tap into their invaluable talent.

Nguyen Thi Tuyet Minh, President of the ASEAN Women Entrepreneurs’ Network (AWEN) underlined the tough challenges integration poses for ASEAN nations in general and women in particular.

It’s crucial for ASEAN women to collectively develop a blueprint to use as a roadmap to improve their technological and management capacity to obtain maximum benefits from a successful and effective integration in the years and decades that lie ahead, she concluded.

Over five ton trucks banned in Highway 1A in HCMC

More than five ton trucks have been banned from travelling in the National Highway 1A from Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong Delta provinces of Long An and Tien Giang since December 11 to reduce traffic jam during peak time.

According to the Road Management Department No. 4 under the Vietnam Road Administration, those travelling from HCMC to the Mekong Delta and conversely now have to ply in HCMC-Trung Luong Expressway or wait until the ban time is over to continue their journey.

The department said that traffic jam has regularly occurred from Vo Van Kiet flyover at Tan Kien intersection to Binh Thuan intersection. The ban aims to reduce the volume of vehicles in this route including 5.7 kilometers in HCMC, 2.8 kilometers in Long An and 2.4 kilometers in Tien Giang.

Some drivers and businesses said that the regulation has raised them difficulties because they have many warehouses locating along the prohibited stretch.

Deputy Head of the department Nguyen Van Thanh said that they can still ply in this route before and after rush hours to reach their warehouses.

Some usually travelling in Nguyen Van Linh Street to reach the Binh Thuan Intersection said they have been confused with the regulation because there has no lorry parks along the street for them to wait for peak hours to be over.

Driver Phan Trung Dinh said that there are some substitute routes such as Tan Tao-Cho Dem, Nguyen Huu Tri, Binh Thuan-Cho Dem. However their road faces are very narrow .

Mr. Thanh affirmed that traffic police will remind and penalize violators and collect opinions to rationalize traffic flows in this area. Those transporting items such as fresh seafood and frozen food can propose the department to grant a special travel license.

The ban will be removed after a 12 kilometer stretch of the highway from Tan Kien intersection to Long An province is broadened. The project is expected to start in the second quarter next year, he added.

Ministry launches science research clubs in schools

In the framework of a seminar to develop reading culture in school and community in the northern province of Bac Giang, the Ministry of Education and Training yesterday launched science research clubs in high schools across the country.

Deputy Education Minister Nguyen Vinh Hien said that to carry the Party’s decree on a comprehensive education reform to develop students’ capability, school management board set up science research clubs to offer a playground for students’ demand of learning science and access to science methodologies as well as applying scientific products in life.

Along with expectation to develop reading culture in the community and in schools, the Ministry also encouraged establishment of more science research clubs  in schools in parallel with education reform policy.

Teachers in high schools are changing their ways of teaching and valuation of students’ capability with aims of growing students’ activeness and creativeness, and life soft skills.

Taiwan relaxes visa requirements for Vietnam tourists

Vietnamese tourists will pay no visa fee and provide no proof of assets and incomes when they apply for entry visa to take part in Taiwan tours arranged by 11 designated travel firms.

Kuang-Chung Liang, head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in HCMC, said the relaxed rule would apply until December next year.

The chosen travel firms are Hoang Tra, Lien Bang, Saigontourist Travel Service, BenThanh Tourist, Fiditour, Vietravel, Vietravel Hanoi, F5 Vietnam, Vietnamtourism Hanoi, Kok Thai, and Viettrantour.

This is part of Taiwan’s program to attract more Vietnamese tourists. So far 181 Vietnamese tourists have benefited from the relaxed regulation of Taiwan.

He told a tourism promotion event for Taiwan in HCMC on December 9 that Taiwan is simplifying visa procedures to attract more tourists. The office will support travel firms to solve problems with visa procedures.

Many Taiwanese travel firms have prepared tours and gifts for Vietnamese tourists.

Earlier, some local firms complained that it was time-consuming for Vietnamese passport holders to get visa for Taiwan tours as they had to prove incomes and jobs, especially young women.

Speaking at the event, Nguyen Thi Khanh, vice chairwoman of the HCMC Tourism Association, said the Vietnam Tourism Association forecast around five million Vietnamese would travel abroad this year. Some 60% of them depart from HCMC and this is why more foreign tourism promotion agencies have carried out programs in the city.

Over the past two months, travel firms from France, Peru, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines have come to HCMC to promote their products and services.

The HCM City University Medical Centre has reduced the waiting time from 90 to 60 minutes for testing results after putting in place an automated testing ward last Friday to improve quality.

All testing samples of patients have a bar code and are sent to a modular pre-analytics system.

The testing results are now more and more exact, leading to higher effectiveness in treatment, while 30,000-35,000 tests are done at the centre every day.

The system is used in co-operation with the cobas 8000 analyzer series which meets laboratory workload and manages peak demand by delivering up to 9,800 tests per hour.

Moreover, the cobas infinity IT solutions help manage data and sample workflow and then automatically send them to the laboratory informatics system, directly connecting with the hospital informatics system.

Testing results are automatically sent to counselling rooms where doctors use them to assist diagnosis and treatment.

Patients also can receive the results via email or phone messages.

Dr Nguyen Thi Bang Suong, head of the ward, said the automated testing systems would help minimize errors. They also would help raise satisfaction among patients and the reputation of the centre, she added.

Speaking at a recent conference on testing quality held in HCM City, the deputy head of the city's Department of Health, Tang Chi Thuong, has instructed hospitals to closely monitor the quality of tests.

"This is one of the activities which hospitals should give priority to their annual plan," Thuong said.

He said that reducing the waiting time for test results was one of the indexes showing the quality of the testing ward.

"IT application in testing such as bar codes for testing samples are used to avoid mistakes," he said, adding that the application should be used in transportation between clinical wards and labs, instead of nurses who bring them to the sites.

They should also periodically update the list of devices and equipment which ensure provision of test services that meet the hospital's treatment protocol, he said.

Dr Luong Ngoc Khue, head of the central government's Department of Medical Examination and Treatment, said the yearly average increase of tests at hospitals had been 10 per cent since 2011.

As of May, only 46 testing labs at nearly 1,400 public and private health facilities throughout the country have met ISO 15189 standards, he said.

Hospitals in provinces such as Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh, Long An and An Giang have increased testing services, thanks to more investment in equipment and devices, according to Khue.

They have reduced the rate of transfers of patients to higher- level hospitals from 22.3 per cent to 7.6 per cent because of a shortage of testing devices and equipment used in diagnosis and treatment.

Cooperation promoted between military hospital 175 and Japan

A Japanese delegation led by member of parliament Miyake had a working visit to Military Hospital 175 in Ho Chi Minh City on December 10 to discuss health care cooperation programmes, reported Quan Doi Nhan Dan (People’s Army) newspaper.

The delegation included representatives from Japan ’s centre for the elderly AKANE and a number of Japanese businesses.

After listening to a report on the hospital’s activities, Miyake spoke of the capacity and skills of the hospital’s staff, adding that Japan and the hospital have closely cooperated in the health care sector.

The Japanese legislator pledged to do his utmost to enhance cooperation between the two sides, particularly in medical equipment, personnel training and construction of facilities.

He revealed the possibility of cooperation on building a centre to care for the elderly in the hospital.

Early this year, Military Hospital 175 signed a memorandum of understanding on medical cooperation with Japanese Okayama Saiseikai Hospital and the Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA). The collaboration covers medical research, transfer of latest medical technology, human resources training, and joint treatment for patients.

Vietnamese workforce has much to do to prep for AEC

While hopes are high that the coming ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will bring opportunities to Vietnamese labour, the country's workforce still has a lot of work to do to take advantage of them.

The AEC, which is expected to create 14 million new jobs in the region, would allow the free flow of skilled labours in eight occupations - including architects, engineers, surveyors, medical doctors, dentists, nurses, accountants and tourism professionals.

A recent survey suggests Vietnamese workers may overestimate their own skills.

Recruitment firm Vietnam Works surveyed 2,500 professionals from companies of all sizes across the country and found that up to 92 percent see the establishment of the AEC as a good opportunity to develop their careers. About 70 percent think Vietnamese professionals have enough skills to compete with foreign counterparts.

Phu Huynh, a labour economist from the Bangkok-based office of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), said Vietnam's perception of its workforce skills had some basis in reality.

"Vietnam's workforce is very dynamic. The country's workers are eager to pursue new job opportunities. They have a very sound basic education, strong literacy and accounting skills," Huynh said.

However, Vietnam faces stiff competition from regional neighbours who may possess better language, technology and professional skills.

In 2014, Vietnam has about 5 million workers, just 10 percent of the country's workforce, who were rated as high-quality manpower, or those who can work directly at positions that can generate the creation, development, dissemination and application of knowledge.

And a report done by the ILO last year revealed Vietnam's productivity was 11 times lower than that of the Republic of Korea, 12 times lower than Japan's, and 18 times lower than in Singapore, the study says.

According to the World Bank, the gross enrollment rate in high school in Vietnam in 2010 was 65 percent while in the Republic of Korea it was 95 percent.

While it's true that free trade provides new prospects for qualified Vietnamese, there might be challenges along with it for those who are not competitive enough.

"Qualified workers can obviously pursue better job opportunities abroad, but there's also a high chance foreign workers would take domestic jobs that require high added-value," said Phung Quang Huy, Director of the Employers' Bureau of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Huy's statement is actually not just a prediction of the future, but is taking place now. According to statistics from the General Administration of Tourism, there are some 5,000 hotels ranking from three to five stars in the country, but most of the biggest ones have to hire foreigners for management positions.

"I'm more than willing to hire Vietnamese to work for my company, but for certain management positions in my hotels, I still have to hire foreigners, who have proven to be better at the jobs," said Le Hong Hai, General Director of Dan Chu Tourism and Commercial Jointstock Company.

Nguyen Van Anh, Managing Director of Navigos Search Vietnam, a provider of executive search and management consultancy services, said in 2014 that her company wasn't able to recruit the required number of high qualified engineers and managers for projects by Microsoft Vietnam and Samsung Vietnam.

Nguyen Thuong Lang, a professor at the National Economics University, said there were certain disadvantages in Vietnamese labour that could hinder their readiness for the establishment of the AEC.

Apart from low productivity as stated in the ILO's report, the quality of the Vietnamese workforce was also a weakness, Lang said. The portion of workers who can operate machines or has a good background in technology accounted for only 30 percent of the country's workforce.

"The shortage of necessary skills for Vietnamese workers is much more serious than those from other ASEAN countries," he said.

The ILO's Phu Huynh said the challenges for Vietnam's labour market were real.

A majority of jobs in the country were of poor quality with low earnings and productivity, he said, adding that one in two workers were still employed in agriculture and approximately four in five workers had limited technical qualifications.

"Other huge disadvantages for Vietnamese labourers are being unable to use foreign languages and a lack of discipline," Lang from the NEU said.

"Preparation in terms of languages and workmanship for the AEC among Vietnamese workers are still modest," Lang said.

Tao Bang Huy, Deputy Head of the Employment Department of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), said without proper preparations, it's quite possible that Vietnam would miss the opportunities offered by the AEC.

The Ministry of Education and Training was assigned to work with MOLISA to draft a project on the national framework for occupational skills, but hasn't finished it. It is not known when certificates for the eight occupations will be issued.

Meanwhile, preparations by the country's labourers themselves seem not to be any better.

Huy from MOLISA, said whether the AEC brings chances or challenges, it would depend on one's capacity.

"You will have to be able to speak fluent English, to have proper skills including team work and communication if you want to be competitive in the labour market," he said.

"In order not to lose jobs to foreign labours, domestic workers need to equip themselves with what they are lacking right now. "

"Besides, it's of crucial importance that we conduct reforms with our education and training programmes - which are now only content-based. It should be re-designed to focus on the learner's ability," Huy said, adding that the education curricula should be designed basing on the labour market's demand.

"There should be more time in the programmes to train working skills for learners," he said.

While Vietnam boasts its advantage in cheap labour, the risk for an economy depending on cheap labour is high. Cheap labour and manual labour means low quality and a lack of creativity. With such characteristics, Vietnam would not be an attractive destination for projects with high technologies or large scale.

Whether Vietnamese labourers could benefit from the coming AEC, or lose out, they've got to find their own answers about what to do now.

Low carbon transition in energy efficiency project gets extension

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has recently agreed to extend the deadline of the project on low carbon transition in energy efficiency sector (LCEE) in Vietnam to the end of June 2017.

The Deputy PM assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment to inform the Danish partner about the extension.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) was asked to build a detailed plan and supervise the project’s implementation to ensure the completion of the project as scheduled.

The project was signed by the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Buildings (MCEB) and the MoIT in November 2012, funded by the Global Framework under the Climate Envelope 2012.

The project took place from January 2013 to December 2015 including an inception phase of six months, covering a total budget of 65 million DKK.

The project consists of two components: The first supports the Ministry of Industry and Trade in promoting energy efficiency in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) with a focus on the brick, ceramic and food processing sectors while the second provides support to the Ministry of Construction in implementing the building codes for energy efficiency.

The development objective of the project is: “Improved energy efficiency in small and medium enterprises and buildings in Vietnam contributes to sustainable development and a transition to a low carbon economy”.

France backs Vietnam in response to climate change

Vietnam is among the developing countries that received support from the French Agency for Development (AFD) to deal with climate change.

Alix Francoise from the AFD told French-based RFI reporter on the sidelines of the 21st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) in Paris.

Vietnam is one of the first countries getting the AFD’s funding for projects to support urban development, modernise the production sector with strong social and environmental impacts and aid actions in response to climate change, Francoise said.

She noted that the AFD has provided central Da Nang and southern Can Tho cities 10 million EUR each in soft loans to implement sustainable development programmes since 2012.

The agency has helped Da Nang city develop an electricity network that could reduce carbon emission, build a wastewater treatment plant at its industrial park, ensure water supply to local residents, modernise production, and relocate households vulnerable to disasters to safer places, she added.

After three years of implementation, AFD-funded projects in the two cities have made good progress, she stated, saying that the French agency will assess outcomes of these projects by 2016 when they finish and compare with the urban development and environment protection goals set from the beginning.

The AFD is also carrying out projects in Ho Chi Minh City , Lao Cai and Nha Trang.

Domestic firm cooperates with Koyo Corp in clean energy

Sao Mai Group from An Giang province on December 10 signed a cooperative deal with Japanese Koyo Group’s Koyo Corporation on solar energy generation in Vietnam.

They will also build a solar panel manufacturing factory at Sao Mai Industrial Zone (IZ) to meet domestic and export demands.

Initially, Koyo will help Sao Mai assemble solar cell panels at its factories in Vam Cong IZ, Dong Thap province, smart outdoor lighting systems using solar energy in its urban residential projects and LED lighting systems in Sao Mai offices and factories.

Koyo Corporation CEO Inomata said Vietnam has huge potential for solar energy development and Sao Mai group meets all requirements and conditions for cooperation with Koyo.

Photo exhibition on Vietnam’s sea and islands

An exhibit opened at the War Remnants Museum in HCM city on December 11 with 200 photos featuring maritime sovereignty and maritime economic potential and the peaceful sea and islands of Vietnam.

From now through April 11, the War Remnants Museum is to hold art performances and a drawing contest for children on the theme of spring in the Vietnamese sea and islands.

Museum Director Huynh Ngoc Van said, “The exhibit demonstrates Vietnam’s peaceful establishment of its maritime sovereignty thousands of years ago. We will continue to develop our marine economy and protect our maritime sovereignty through peaceful means.”

Russia helps construct first nuclear power plant

Bids from architects, engineering firms in addition to material and equipment providers based out of St Petersburg, Russia have been accepted in connection with the construction of the nation’s first nuclear power plant.

The information was made public by Governor Georgy Poltavchenko of St Petersburg on December 9 at a press conference in Hanoi in response to queries regarding the preliminary outcomes of trade talks during his current working visit.

“The expertise of Russian architects and engineers will be instrumental in solving the complexities of erecting Vietnam’s first thermal power station to produce electricity,” said Mr Poltavchenko.

In fact, experts from Silovye Mashiny Company in St Petersburg are already hard at work on-site at the Long Phu 1 Power Plant he said, adding the massive project is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.

Search continues for two missing boys

The competent authorities in Quang Nam Province's Thang Binh District have been carrying out investigations ever since two boys were reported missing last Friday.

Fourteen-year-old Huynh Cong Nhi and his friend Le Nhat Ban went out for extra class at 1pm on Friday, as they told their families, but did not return home as usual.

Both families searched every place that their sons used to go to, but in vain.

"Someone told me that my son went to Da Nang. We immediately went there, but found nothing. Five days later, some people said they had seen the two boys wandering around and looking for jobs in Da Nang. We went there again, but still did not find them," Huynh Hung, the father of Huynh Cong Nhi, said.

Le Thanh Ha, secretary of Binh Que Commune, said the commune had appealed for information about the two boys on the local broadcasting network.

The reasons for the boys going missing had not been clarified yet, Thang Binh District authorities said.

Quang Nam has seen many recent cases of young people getting enticed by employment scam brokers. These brokers often offer attractive wages to entice children and school dropouts. The children then leave home and follow the brokers before they realise that they will actually be working as slave labourers in production plants or for logging enterprises. Provincial police forces have rescued many children from the "Hell Job".

In August, Quang Nam Police rescued seven 14-year-old students from Nam Tra My District, who were forced to work in servitude in Lam Dong, Quang Nam. In September, also in Nam Tra My District, three ethnic community teenagers denounced a forest owner for exploiting labourers. At the investigation agency, the victims said, "Every day, there are many brokers seeking to offer jobs to villagers. The victims followed them and believed in false promises of high wages. They not only suffered health issues, but also mental problems."

Vietnam-Russia industrial expo, business forum to take place

The first industrial exhibition EXPO Russia-Vietnam 2015 and the Vietnam-Russia Business Forum will take place in Hanoi this month, said the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) on December 10.

The two events will be organised by Russian-based Zarubezh-Expo at Melia Hotel, featuring approximately 120 enterprises from Russia.

The EXPO Russia-Vietnam 2015, held from December 14-16, will showcase latest technologies in various fields, including energy, mechanical engineering, transport infrastructure, telecommunication and communications, mining, chemistry, medicine and agriculture, said Zarubezh-Expo Chairman David Vartanov.

The Vietnam-Russia Business Forum on December 14 will focus its discussions on economic cooperation within the framework of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

Nguyen Tuan Hai, Deputy Director of the VCCI International Relations Department, said the forum would be a good chance for businesses of both sides to seek investment and partnership opportunities.

Attending Vietnamese firms will be updated on information and basic principles of the Vietnam-EAEU FTA, he added.

Vietnam signed a FTA with the EAEU, including Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, last May.-

Key border gate economic zones selected for development

Nine border gate economic zones have been chosen by the Prime Minister to get investments sourced from the State budget for development during 2016-2020.

Those border gate economic zones are Mong Cai, Dong Dang, Lao Cai, Cao Bang in the northern provinces of Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Lai Cai and Cao Bang; Cau Treo, Cha Lo and Lao Bao in the central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh and Quang Tri; and Moc Bai and An Giang in the southern provinces of Tay Ninh and An Giang.

The PM said that 70 percent of the total budget allocated for border gate economic zones in annual and 2016-2020 plans should be focused on these nine border gate economic zones.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) will coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to build annual and five-year plans on allocating the budget to the border gate economic zones as regulated with priorities on urgent projects.

The MPI was assigned to supervise the use of investment capital from the state budget from 2016-2020 for the selected key border gate economic zones, and report any problems that may arise to the PM.

Provinces and centrally-governed cities were asked to give investment priority to selected key border gate economic zones and utilize budget effectively as regulated, while calling on localities to seek other resources for infrastructure projects.

Earlier, the PM agreed to choose 8 key coastal economic zones for development with funding from the state budget from 2016-2020.

Japan’s high tech agriculture transforms Can Tho

On December 10, a delegation of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in Ho Chi Minh City met with Can Tho City leaders regarding measures to successfully implement hi-tech agriculture.

At the meeting, representatives from 32 Japanese companies led by JETRO Chief Representative Yazuzumi Hirotaka dilated on the pros and cons of differing types of high tech machinery and equipment.

Additionally, they discussed a myriad of issues related to selecting the best plants and seeds and the proper use of and application of fertilizers and other agricultural related chemicals.

Mr Hirotaka said he was confident state-of the art technologies could thrive in Vietnam and assist in mitigating the harmful effects of environmental pollution caused by deficiencies in the current agricultural production processes.

“Modernized sophisticated technology can also provide a tremendous revitalization to the industry by improving productivity, labour efficiency, quality of agricultural products and profitability for the nation’s farmers,” he said.

Chairman Vo Thanh Thong of the Can Tho People’s Committee in turn emphasized the region surrounding Can Tho is strong in agriculture but substandard in knowledge and application of advanced technologies.

He expressed his confidence Japan can transfer the needed skills to Can Tho to bring about innumerable practical benefits for the local people, particularly the region’s farmers and transform the agriculture industry.

Health ministry urges stepping-up of hospital project

The implementation of the second phase of a regional and provincial hospital development project must be accelerated in 2016 to improve residents' health and reduce overload at central hospitals.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Xuyen told project management boards of the central and provincial authorities yesterday at a conference held to review the project's 2015 outcomes in the southern Binh Dinh Province.

The second phase of the project, started in 2012, aims to improve healthcare services at 10 regional and provincial hospitals by providing medical facilities, equipment and training to enhance medical staff's capacities.

The 10 beneficiaries are Da Nang C Hospital, general hospitals in the central Binh Dinh and Ninh Thuan provinces, the southwestern Tay Ninh Province, the central highlands Lam Dong Province and Ha Noi's Son Tay District, besides the northern Bac Giang Province, paediatric hospitals in the northern Thai Binh Province and the central Nghe An Province, and Nam Dinh Obstetrics Hospital.

The total investment capital of the five-year project has touched JPY10 billion (US$120 million), more than JPY8 billion ($104 million) of which has been sourced from the Official Development Assistance (ODA) of the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA).

Deputy Minister Xuyen said seven of the 10 hospitals had completed reports on technical and financial assessments, which were approved by JICA.

The general hospitals of Binh Dinh and Bac Giang provinces and Ha Noi's Son Tay District are finishing their reports and will submit them to JICA in January next year.

The first phase of the project was carried out from October 2008 to May 2011, resulting in the selection of the 10 target hospitals.

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri