Vietnam welcomes COP21's climate deal

Viet Nam has welcomed the Paris Agreement, which attempts to limit the rise in global temperature to less than 2oC, saying that it will open a new chapter in coping with climate change.

In a statement yesterday, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Spokesman Le Hai Binh said that the ratification of the deal at the 2015 United National Climate Change Conference on Saturday night was also an important step in global efforts in dealing with climate change.

"The world community needs to have strong political determination and effective co-operation to seriously and appropriately implement the Paris deal," Binh said.

"Developed countries should take the lead to limit the greenhouse effect, support and enhance capacity for developing countries to implement the deal together," he stressed.

Binh noted that being among the most-affected countries, Viet Nam had actively implemented measures to cope with climate change and seriously implemented international commitments in climate change as well as proposed commitment content.

Viet Nam had also actively participated in the Paris Agreement negotiations and taken great effort for common efforts as well as protect the nation's legitimate interests, he said.

NA Chairman hails young talent

National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung has urged young Vietnamese talent to strive for success and promote the nation's precious traditions to make contributions to national construction and development.

He made the request on Saturday during his meeting with 364 delegates attending the second Viet Nam Young Talents' Congress, which was taking place in Ha Noi between December 11 and 13.

He spoke highly of the congress' significance in honouring talent in all fields and from all walks of life and creating a forum for the young talent to exchange, study, maintain and promote their capacity.

The congress aimed to review work related to young talent in the 2010-15 period and devise a plan for the work in the 2015-20 period while honouring and connecting young Vietnamese talent who made outstanding contributions to national development.

Deputy PM urges farming restructuring

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh called on the southwestern region to accelerate agricultural restructuring while chairing a meeting of the Steering Committee for the Southwestern Region in Can Tho City yesterday.

Regional authorities should adjust production plans on the basis of market demand and increase connectivity among localities in the region and beyond, he said, adding that ministries and agencies should provide the latest market information to local businesses, helping them expand markets and develop farm produce trademarks.

He urged localities to promote the application of scientific and technological advances, build a new co-operative model connecting businesses and farmers, and ramp up transport and economic infrastructure in support of agriculture.

The relevant agencies, particularly the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, were asked to pay more attention to dealing with issues related to climate change.

Localities should speed up the progress of new rural development in tandem with sustainable poverty reduction, while rallying resources to provide better care for the poor as the New Year is coming, the Deputy PM said.

According to the steering committee, the regional economy will grow by an estimated 7.8 percent this year with agro-forestry-fisheries accounting for 33 percent.

Rice output will be 25.7 million tonnes, up 430,000 tonnes from 2014. As of November 2015, the region exported 6.24 million tonnes of rice and earned US$2.7 billion, up 3.6 percent in volume and down 5 percent in value.

Total seafood production reached 3.8 million tonnes, a 6.5 percent annual increase.

In the new rural development drive, four districts and towns have been recognised as new-style rural areas and 233 out of the total 1,260 communes have met all 19 criteria for the status.

Progress has also been seen in industry, trade and services, and the national defence-security and social order have been maintained.

The region aims to increase its gross domestic product by 7.8 percent and collect more than VND50.3 trillion ($2.3 billion) for the State budget, a 7.7 percent rise from 2015.

Joint tax, customs to make reforms easier

Joint supervision in tax and customs between relevant ministries and bodies have paved the way for reforms in the Government's economic management, said Nguyen Thien Nhan, chairman of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front at a conference on a programme on tax and customs supervision in 2015 held in Ha Noi on Saturday.

According to Nhan, the programme showed that most businesses agreed many tax and customs procedures had been improved significantly.

The report showed that the tax and customs sector intensified dialogue, information exchange and helped businesses propose amendments and supplements to existing regulations.

In addition, the tax and customs administrative procedures are now publicly available on the website of relevant agencies.

The programme was organised by the Vietnamese Fatherland Front, the Ministry of Finance, the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Co-operative Union, the Association of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises and the Viet Nam Association of Youth Entrepreneurs.

According to Dau Anh Tuan, director of the VCCI's Legal Department, a survey of 180 business associations and co-operative unions nationwide showed that services of tax and customs had been improved significantly.

According to the survey, 70-80 per cent of surveyed units said that they were satisfied with procedures and services of tax declaration, registration and payment.

The survey reported that the business community made positive assessments of the behaviour and attitude of tax department staff. However, they wanted tax staff to be more enthusiastic and attentive.

As for customs, the survey showed that thanks to the joint programme, businesses expressed more satisfaction with customs information and administrative procedures. 66 per cent of those surveyed said that information about administrative procedures in the field of customs is available and easy to find.

However, only 39 per cent of business associations and co-operative unions thought that customs authorities provided information rapidly and timely, and 47 per cent said the information was simple and easy to understand.

The most troublesome customs procedure problems firms faced were complaint settlement, administrative violation handling and customs clearance procedures. VCCI Chairman Vu Tien Loc said that the tax and customs sectors had to make greater reforms in these fields.

VCCI Tuan also said that procedures and services of tax checking and inspection as well as tax refund remained complicated.

To improve tax and customs in the future, Director of the Central Institute of Economic Management Nguyen Dinh Cung said that tax and customs should scrutinise regulations and documents to streamline procedures.

Cung said that the existing regulations and documents were inconsistent, dubious, non-transparent and inefficient.

Three accused of credit card fraud

Police in the central highlands province of Lam Dong took a South Korean into custody on December 9 after he allegedly used a fake credit card to purchase goods at the thegioididong electronics retailer.

On the morning of December 5 two South Korean men and a Vietnamese woman went to the thegioididong outlet on Phan Dinh Phung Street in Da Lat and purchased goods worth VND10.2 million ($454) using a credit card. They asked that the transaction be conducted in a private room, citing concerns over the PIN being revealed. Staff agreed to the request.

After the three left the card security alert system of the Bank for Development and Investment of Vietnam (BIDV) in Hanoi sent a notification to BIDV in Lam Dong province about suspicious use of an international credit card.

The incident was reported to the Lam Dong Police Department. The South Korean man, Hwang In Chan, was then requested to come to the police station.

On December 8 he admitted that he and the other man had used information from an international credit card, which had been copied onto a blank card, to pay for the goods. The three planned to sell the goods purchased and split the proceeds.

From information provided by Lam Dong police, the High-tech Crime Prevention Police at the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) identified the Vietnamese woman as Hoang Thi Thu Ha, a resident of Tan Binh district in Ho Chi Minh City. Once detained, she revealed the other South Korean man to be Kim Sun Sig.

MPS is now searching for Kim Sun Sig and conducting further investigations.

Work begins on three Mekong Delta bridges

Ground was broken for two bridges in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Soc Trang on Saturday at a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh.

Speaking at the event, Minh stressed the importance of the Dai Nghia 1 and 2 bridges linking Soc Trang and Tra Vinh provinces, saying they were among the biggest transport projects in the delta to date and would make a great contribution to socio-economic development and national security.

"The construction of the Dai Nghia Bridges … also proves the Government's special attention to the two provinces that still face many difficulties."

Once complete they, together with the Rach Mieu, Ham Luong and Co Chien bridges, would help traffic flow more efficiently on Highway 60, he said.

The two bridges will shorten by 70 kilometres the distance between HCM City and Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, and Ca Mau, and help ease traffic on Highway 1A.

The VND5.73 trillion (US$254.7 million) bridges are also expected to help improve the efficiency of infrastructure projects, ports and key economic sectors in the delta, enabling the delta's development.

Minh instructed the Ministry of Transport to help complete the necessary procedures for the work to ensure its progress and quality.

He also directed the governments of Soc Trang and Tra Vinh to outline plans to rehabilitate people living in areas affected by the project and quickly hand over the lands required for it.

He urged the builders to ensure the bridges are completed on schedule and meet quality standards.

The construction is due to start in the first quarter of 2016 and finish in the last quarter of 2018.

Dai Nghia Bridge No1 will be 2.24 kilometres long and 16 meters wide, and have four lanes.

Dai Nghia Bridge No2 will have a length of 0.86km and width of 16 metres. They will be built under build-operate-transfer mode.

On the same day, the Deputy PM attended a ceremony to mark the start of Chau Doc Bridge construction in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of An Giang's Chau Doc City.

The 3.26-km construction is invested under the Build-Operate-Transfer scheme with a total investment of VND949 billion ($42.2 million).

Upon the bridge's completion in 2018, it is expected to reduce the travelling time between Chau Doc City and Tan Chau Town from one hour to just half an hour.

Vietnam helps Laos build radio-television station in Savannakhet

A launching ceremony was held on December 12 to start the construction of a radio-television station in Savannakhet province, a cooperative project between Vietnam and Laos.

The event was attended by Lao Deputy PM Somsavad Lengsavath, Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh and General Director of the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) Nguyen Dang Tien.

The project is being implemented by VOV and the Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, which have chosen Savannakhet, a large province in southern Laos to build the station in.

Savannakhet province is located on the East-West Economic Corridor connecting Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar and is suitable for broadcasting radio and television programmes to neighbouring provinces.

The nearly VND117 billion (US$5.1 million) project is expected to help residents in southern Laos pick up better signals and more channels from the Lao national television and radio stations.

Vietnam Craft Village Fair 2015 kicks off in Hanoi

The annual Vietnam Craft Village Fair (Craftviet) kicked off on December 12 in Hanoi, featuring 350 booths from more than 200 handicraft enterprises and villages.

The fair is an important trade promotion event of the Vietnamese agricultural sector in 2015.

350 booths are showcasing a wide range of products from craft villages throughout the country including silk, brocade, ceramics, porcelain, laminated mother-of-pearl, bamboo, rattan, timber and many more.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Director of the Agricultural Trade Promotion Centre Dao Van Ho said there are currently 5,096 villages practising traditional crafts, of which roughly 1,748 have been recognised as craft villages by the government’s criteria.

These villages are currently employing approximately ten million workers, who produce a variety of attractive and cleverly crafted products to be sold around the world, partly contributing to Vietnam’s agricultural export growth in recent years.

Ho said in 2014, the export of handicrafts brought in around US$1.6 billion, out of a total of US$30.86 billion of the agricultural sector.

However trade villages are facing a number of issues such as worsening environmental pollution, lack of capital and land for production expansion and lower competitiveness than regional countries, among others.

Therefore it is necessary to carry out trade promotion activities to restructure the sector towards higher value and sustainable production, emphasised Ho.

The fair is open every day from 8:30 am to 9:30 pm until December 16.

Largest transport project in Mekong Delta launched

The largest transport project in the Mekong Delta region proposing to build two bridges connecting Tra Vinh and Soc Trang province was kicked off at a ceremony held in Long Duc commune, Long Phu district, Soc Trang province on December 12.

Addressing the launching ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh highlighted the project’s significance for socio-economic development and national defence and security of the Mekong Delta region and particularly Soc Trang and Tra Vinh provinces.

When completed, the bridge will help shorten travel from Ho Chi Minh City to Soc Trang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau by 70km, meeting increasing transport demands as well as contributing to promoting the effectiveness of other infrastructure and key economic projects in the region, Minh said.

He asked the Ministry of Transport to work with relevant ministries and agencies to fulfill investment procedures and efficiently carry out the project according to schedule.

He also urged local authorities of Tra Vinh and Soc Trang provinces to communicate, mobilise and support local residents who are affected by the project’s site clearance.

The investors should focus resources on implementing the project safely and effectively to put the bridge into operation as soon as possible to serve travel in the area.

The VND5,726 billion (US$252 million) project comprises of two components. The first component, estimated to cost VND2,754 billion (US$121 million), will see the construction of Dai Ngai 1 Bridge under a build-operate-transfer contract while Dai Ngai 2 Bridge and other roadways for both bridges will be built in the second component, estimated at VND2,972 billion (US$131 million).

Other parts of the projects and site clearance will be funded by the State budget.

The project will commence in the first quarter of 2016 and be completed in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Encouraging outcomes of Vietnam-Cuba rice production project

A joint project between Vietnam and Cuba on rice production has established 54,000 rice cultivation models with an average yield of 4.36 tonnes of rice per hectare, it was reported at a conference in Havana on December 11.

With assistance from the project, Cuba’s Cuban Institute of Grain Research has been able to supply 20 percent of the island nation’s rice seed demand, according to the report presented by Lazaro Diaz Rodriguez, Director of the Cuban National Group of Grains at the conference, which was held to review the five-year implementation of the project.

He also affirmed that the project has fulfilled the main targets of improving infrastructure for rice cultivation as well the capacity of organising production and applying advanced farming techniques in Cuba towards raising rice output, easing the country’s dependence on rice import and ensuring food security.

Participants at the conference looked into difficulties and limitations in rice production in Cuba in order to make the cooperation programme more fruitful in the next phase.

Currently, Cuba imports more than 400,000 tonnes of rice annually from Brazil, Bolivia and Vietnam, equivalent to 60 percent of the nation’s total consumption.

Int’l Friendship Day held in HCM City

An International Friendship Day (IFD) 2015 took place in Phu My Hung Town, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City on December 12.

Themed “Vietnam Go Global”, the event was jointly organised by the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO), the municipal Departments of Culture and Sports, External Relations, and Education and Training; the city’s Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union; and the International Alumni Network (iAN).

Chairman of the HCM City Union of Friendship Organisations (HUFO) Le Hung Quoc said the event aimed to connect generations of Vietnamese alumni who studied abroad and create a venue for cultural exchange to strengthen friendship between participants.

IFD hopes to gather ideas and experience of the alumni for the city’s integration process. It is also an opportunity to raise fund for the city’s education sector and scholarships for local students to study abroad, Quoc added.

The event featured various activities, including cultural exchanges, education, music, sport and cuisine with the participation of Vietnamese who used to study abroad and foreign students in the city.

A series of workshops were held as part of the event where attendees discussed what international alumni could do to contribute to the national integration, which abilities enterprises require from the alumni, and how to start a business.

Revised laws aim for wider insurance coverage

The revised laws on Social Insurance and Health Insurance will ensure fairer and better enforcement of labourers’ rights, according to National Assembly Vice Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee on Social Affairs Bui Si Loi.

Loi made the affirmation at a workshop on strengthening the enforcement of the two laws in the public sector held in HCM City on December 11.

Among new regulations of great public interests in the two laws there is the stipulation that labourers working under contracts of one to three months will have to join compulsory social insurance beginning from 2018.

Foreign workers who have working permissions or certificates of professional practices issued by Vietnamese authorised agencies, can also join the obligatory social insurance.

At the same time, voluntary social insurance will be expanded to cover more groups in society with assistance from the government and flexible payment methods, Loi said.

Participants agreed that administrations of all levels and relevant agencies need to work closely in organising awareness communication campaigns on the importance of social and health insurance along with improving the quality of health services and reforming administrative procedures to implement the two laws better.

According to the Vietnam Social Insurance’s report, as of the third quarter of 2015, the country has 67.4 million people taking part in health insurance or 73.9 percent of the population, while only 0.5 percent of the workforce have joined voluntary social insurance.

Tan Son Nhat airport promises better quality for Tet

The management of Tan Son Nhat International Airport is making multiple changes to improve service quality and embrace the upcoming traditional Lunar New Year (Tet), when demand for air travel peaks, the terminal director has said.

Passengers flying during the Lunar New Year season, or Tet in Vietnamese, will enjoy much improved service at the Ho Chi Minh City airport, Dang Tuan Tu told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

The Vietnamese Lunar New Year falls on February 8, but demand for air travel normally soars a week before the holiday.

Tan Son Nhat therefore has more than a month to enhance its service quality, as ordered by the Ministry of Transport, in the wake of a quality assessment report that pinpointed myriad shortcomings at Vietnam’s busiest airport earlier this month.

“We are upgrading the free Wi-Fi connection at both the domestic and international terminals, which is expected to come on stream by December 20,” Tu said.

The Wi-Fi service at the airport has been criticized for being weak and almost unusable, according to the report conducted by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.

Psychologist Huynh Van Son (L, 1st) speaks during a training session with Tan Son Nhat airport employees in Ho Chi Minh City.

“The upgraded Internet system will have 10Gbps speed with multilpe hotspots, guaranteeing stronger and more reliable access for passengers,” the airport director said.

While both arriving and departing passengers currently have to wave down taxis in the same area, a new taxi zone will open to passengers on December 20, helping to reduce the overload there, Tu added.

In 2016, a five-story parking lot is also expected to be put into use to reduce pressure on the current venue.

The 68,000 square meter parking space, including a taxi zone, will be connected to the arrival hall of the domestic terminal through an underground pathway, so that passengers will not have to cross the street overground to get to their vehicles or hail a cab, Tu said.

Other changes will be made at the airport, such as the addition of more benches in the waiting hall and more baggage scan machines in the security zone, according to the director.

During the approaching peak season, Tan Son Nhat is expected to handle 660 to 689 flights on a daily basis, but Tu said there are already solutions for dealing with such pressure.

“As we cannot expand the check-in area, the solution is installing automatic check-in counters and encouraging passengers to check in via mobile phones or online,” he elaborated.

From now to the Tet vacation period, eight automatic check-in counters will be installed at the international terminal, and airport employees will also be trained in order to shorten the procedure time, he added.

With the assessment report showing that there are too few dishes available at Tan Son Nhat, and with some food costing more than it should, the airport will cooperate with a service provider, SASCO, to set up convenience stores to solve the problem.

“These take-away stores will sell necessities, fast food and beverages to passengers at prices between VND20,000 [US$1] and VND50,000 [$2.2],” he said.

A new waiting room, covering 436 square meters, will also be put into use at the international departure area to serve passengers of delayed or canceled flights.

“Passengers can relax, use Wi-Fi, read newspapers for free, and enjoy the compensatory food provided by the airlines there,” Tu said.

SASCO will also team up with the airport managers to run training programs aimed at improving the behavior and attitude of around 1,000 employees, according to the director.

Tan Son Nhat received its 25 millionth passenger for 2015 earlier this month, but the full-year figure is expected to be 26.4 million passengers, Tu said.

The airport has a design capacity of 25 million passengers a year and had been projected to reach the threshold by 2020.

“We have exceeded the target five years in advance,” Tu said, adding that the airport is under huge pressure due to overloading.

Possible remains of US GIs repatriated

Four boxes of remains thought to be of US servicemen who died during the war in Viet Nam were handed over to a US agency at a repatriation ceremony on Saturday at Ha Noi's Noi Bai International Airport.

The remains were handed over by Vietnamese people and recovered by joint teams during the 121st Joint Field Activities from October to December, 2015.

The remains have been jointly reviewed and concluded by Viet Nam and US forensic specialists that they might be associated with the US servicemen missing during the war in Viet Nam and were recommended to bring to Hawaii, the US, for further review.

Attending the ceremony, for the Vietnamese side were representatives from the Board of Directors of Viet Nam Office for Seeking Missing Persons, and, for the US side, were US Ambassador to Viet Nam Ted Osius, representative of the US Defence Attache Office, the Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency and the US MIA Office in Ha Noi.

Addressing the repatriation ceremony, the US Government representative expressed deep gratitude and appreciation for the steadfast humanitarian policy, good-will and the increasingly efficient co-operation of the Vietnamese Government and people.

The seeking of the remains of US servicemen missing during the war in Viet Nam is a humanitarian co-operation between the Vietnamese Government and the US Government.

This is the 137th hand-over of the remains of missing American servicemen since 1973.

Project helps better sanitation for poor Viet Nam households

Almost 106,000 poor households in ten provinces and cities nationwide improved sanitation and built new latrines with aid from a project by East Meets West organisation in the last three years.

The Community Hygiene Output-Based Aids (CHOBA) project was run from June 2012 in rural areas including Ninh Binh, Hai Duong, Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh, Tra Vinh and Soc Trang. It was designed in line with the goals of the National target Programme for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Phase III to support disadvantaged areas to achieve the plan.

CHOBA project director Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai said yesterday at a preliminary summing-up conference last Friday that the project mobilised nearly VND300 billion (US$13.3 million) to offer loans for households to build latrines.

The households then were rewarded for completing the latrines and the communes whose sanitation coverage rates reach 30 per cent.

The project used the output-based aid approach – a type of results-based financing well known for improving the delivery of basic services when users are not able to pay the full cost of service access and where performance-based rebates to complement or replace user fees are justified.

Tran Thi Huong, vice president of Viet Nam Women's Union said the project helped the poor improve sanitation, skills in project management and communication and change family hygiene habits for better health.

Director of Viet Nam Health Environment management Agency, Nguyen Thi Lien Huong, said the output-based payment method strengthened the responsibilities of local authorities, promoted intersectoral co-ordination in implementation of hygiene and sanitation issues.

Da Nang completes power cable project

The central city inaugurated its first underground power cable project on Le Duan street after two years of construction on Saturday.

The underground cable was part of the city's face-lift plan to boost tourism and investment.

The 1.1km long section from Ong Ich Khiem street to Tran Phu – Le Duan junction, which was invested with VND57 billion (US$2.5 million), was designed as a street with 200 fashion shops.

It was the first street in the city to use the underground electricity system.

Sick fisherman rescued at sea

A fisherman from Binh Dinh Province was rescued in the sea near Lincoln island of Hoang Sa (Paracels) Archipelago of Viet Nam on Saturday.

The Maritime Rescue and Search Coordination Centre No 2 (MRCC2) in Da Nang said Le Van Thang, who was working on fishing boat BD 95046TS of Binh Dinh Province, 526 nautical miles off Da Nang coast, had a high fever and convulsions.

A search and rescue ship, SAR 412, found the fishing vessel to carry the fisherman home.

Vietnamese students win scholarships

More than 120 Vietnamese students will begin post-graduate studies in Australia early next year under a scholarship programme funded by that country.

The winners of the Australia Awards, a prestigious international award targeting the next generation of global leaders, include six people each with disabilities and belonging to ethnic minorities.

More than 5,000 Vietnamese students have received long- and short-term training opportunities in Australia since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1973.

Australia has offered a total of 139 scholarships to Vietnamese students for 2016.

Truck driver slams into, drags police officer in Hanoi

A truck driver has been detained for crashing his vehicle into a police officer who had tried to pull him over for an inspection and dragging him along the road in Hanoi this weekend.

Around 9:45 am on Saturday, Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Quoc Dat, of the municipal Road and Rail Traffic Police Department, was informed of a collision between a car and a truck with a license plate numbered 89L-8211 while he was on duty at the T-junction of the Sai Dong-National Highway 5.

Sr. Lt. Dat then waved the truck down for an examination.

The truck driver defiantly picked up speed and dashed toward where Sr. Lt. Dat and another of his colleagues were standing before slamming his vehicle into the former officer.

The officer hanged on for dear life to the truck while being dragged for approximately 20 meters on the road.

The seriously injured officer was immediately rushed to Viet Duc Hospital for emergency treatment.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Duc Chung, chief of Traffic Police Team No. 5, where Sr. Lt. Dat works, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that his unit is working closely with competent agencies to investigate the case.

Representatives of the Road and Rail Traffic Police Department said the department considers the incident a serious offence.

The truck driver, Doan Van Chuyen, 24, later turned himself in to police in Long Bien District on Saturday afternoon.

According to a preliminary report, the truck is operated by Anh va Em Wood Co., based in Yen My District in the northern province of Hung Yen.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Viet Chuc, deputy chief of Long Bien District Police, said his unit has detained Chuyen and is gathering evidence to prosecute him for defying law enforcers.

Doctors at Viet Duc Hospital said that Sr. Lt. Dat had undergone thorough check-ups to determine whether he sustains abdominal injuries.

A preliminary assessment showed that he has suffered numerous bruises and pleural effusion, and will go under the knife soon.

The policeman is lucky not to sustain brain damage or trauma.

Foreigner in custody for credit card fraud in Vietnam’s Central Highlands

A Korean man is in police custody in Lam Dong Province of Vietnam’s Central Highlands for using fake credit cards to buy products at a local mobile phone store, officers announced on Wednesday.

On December 5, a group of two Korean men and one Vietnamese woman entered a branch of Vietnamese mobile phone retailer Mobile World on Phan Dinh Phung Street in Da Lat City, which is the capital of Lam Dong.

The three picked their products after browsing the store and requested a private room without security cameras in order to secure their passwords during the credit card payment process.

After being taken to the room as required, the Koreans returned with three receipts worth a total of VND10.2 million (US$453.7) after conducting their payment on the point-of-sale (POS) device.

The three suspects then left the store before the money was wired to the store account.

The security system at the Credit Card Center of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam then informed employees at its division in Lam Dong about the potential of an international credit card fraud.

The Social Order Crime Investigation Police Department in Lam Dong was notified of the case and summoned Hwang Inchan, 41, who is of Korean nationality.

Evidence gathered from the bank data and the receipts provided by the store clerks showed that the transaction was complete as the suspects used the international account of a U.S. citizen to carry out their payment on the POS device.

Hwang admitted that he committed the crime on Wednesday with help from another Korean man, whose name is unknown to him, and Hoang Thi Thu Ha, a 38-year-old Vietnamese woman.

The three conducted the fraud by cloning the compromised information on to the counterfeit card and used it on the POS device, according to Hwang’s statement.

They only succeeded three times out of a total of 20 attempts, he said.

Ha, who is from Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, also admitted the act while working with competent authorities and claimed that the other Korean man was Kim Sun Sig, 43.

Lam Dong police are coordinating with the Ministry of Public Security to expand investigation into the case and hunt down the third suspect.

14 state hospitals in Vietnamese province run out of money for salary payment

Fourteen state hospitals in Vietnam’s Dak Lak Province now owe around VND15 billion (US$667,000) in salaries for their staff, according to the provincial health department.

It is the result of the gap between the planned and real amounts of income at the infirmaries in the Central Highlands region.

Tran Vu Son, vice chief of the finance division under the Dak Lak health department, said that the 14 hospitals were assigned to generate nearly VND312 billion ($13.9 million) in revenue this year, but they could only earn as much as VND282 billion ($12.5 million).

So the fund for salary payment has been reduced from VND35 billion ($1.6 million) to only VND20 billion ($890,000), Son added.

Sitting atop the default list is Buon Ho Town Hospital, with over VND3.2 billion ($142,200) in debt, followed by Buon Ma Thuot Hospital, VND3.1 billion ($138,000).

Twelve other hospitals owe from VND131 million ($5,800) to VND1.6 billion ($71,100) each.

“The health department has asked for help from the Dak Lak People’s Committee and the infirmaries are expected to be granted funds enough to pay their staff within this month,” Son said.

Debts of state bodies in Vietnam have emerged as a topical issue after many agencies in Bac Lieu Province and Ca Mau Province, located in the Mekong Delta, were found running out of money to fund even routine operations.

Audit results showed that communes – the lowest unit in the administrative management system of Vietnam – often owe VND1-10 billion ($44,400-444,000) each, said Bui Duc Thu, standing member of the Finance and Budget Committee under the law-making National Assembly.

With around 11,000 communes all over the nation, the debts are huge, he added, assuring that strict measures will be taken to prevent localities falling into debt in the coming time.

Vietnam mogul agrees to dismantle illegal palace after 3rd deadline extension

The family of a gold mining magnate in central Vietnam has guaranteed to pull down a multimillion-dollar palace he had built without permission by next February, finally enabling local authorities to finish their desperate handling of the illegal estate.

Ngo Van Quang, director of a gold company based in Quang Nam Province, had repeatedly asked to extend the deadline to demolish his VND100 billion (US$4.58 million) palace, illegally constructed inside the boundaries of a special-use forest near the Hai Van Mountain in Da Nang City.

He even did not show up at a Monday meeting with the administration of Lien Chieu District, where the palace is situated, which was seen as the last meeting to fold the case, as he was not in the locale then.

However, his family guaranteed on his behalf at the meeting that the bulky estate will bite the dust no later than February 2016.

“The family will tear down the palace of their own accord,” Dam Quang Hung, deputy chairman of Lien Chieu District, confirmed after the meeting.

The demolition is to follow a directive the Da Nang administration issued in February 4, which eventually failed to be realized on time due to repeated petitions filed by Quang to retain his palace.

The gold mining magnet should have demolished the property within 35 days from February 4, according to the fiat.

But he managed to win approval to extend the deadline to August 30, then November 30, through a number of appeals, including one submitted to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung late last month.

The Da Nang administration in fact had to delay the demolition pending an order from the premier when it was only days away from the November 30 deadline.

While authorities in Da Nang are totally authorized to handle an illegal construction in the locale, the public wondered why the municipal administration failed to settle down the case sooner.

In late 2014, when the costly palace of Quang was discovered, the administration of Lien Chieu District also found Major General Phan Nhu Thach, former director of the Quang Nam Police Department, having a 4,000 hectare villa built without permission on the same mountain.

Authorities then fined the owners of both properties VND22.5 million ($1,000) each for the illegal construction work, and demanded that they clear their buildings.

While Thach obeyed the order, having his villa dismantled in March, Quang has repeatedly called on different agencies to keep his building.

People who use banned substance in food processing to receive criminal penalty

Currently, production and sales of fake fertilizer, pesticide, veterinary medicine, animal feed or without clear indication of origin  and using banned substances in making food and husbandry are an urgent issue which caused concern amongst the public.

Substandard products also caused damages crops and loss of farmers and state budget. Accordingly, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has jut ordered related ministries and agencies to tighten control over manufacturing and sales of low quality above-mentioned commodities and banned substances used in food processing.

As per his direction, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) will be held accountable to the government on management of organic fertilizer, other kinds of fertilizer, plant protection drug, veterinarian medicine, and animal feed across the country.

The Ministry has to announce hot line to receive complaints on management, business and agricultural materials and agricultural, forestry and fishery safety.

In the first quarter of 2016, MARD will send a report to the Prime Minister of its task in prevention of substandard fertilizer, plant protection drug, veterinarian medicine and animal feed. Deputy PM Phuc also asked the Ministry of Public Security to uncover, stop and investigate manufacturing and selling these above-mentioned products as well as issued harsh penalties to violators. Even police officers will take criminal proceedings against violators if they were found to commit serious crime.

After a company was found to sell two substances Salbutamol and Clenbuterol which are used in medical Q to animal feed stores, the Drug Administration of Vietnam under the Ministry of Health had sent a document to General Department of Customs ordering to stop importing the two substances for the two substances are being used in wrong way.

For Salbutamol and Clenbuterol had been imported before, the administration order to use it for making drug or just sell to companies which have certificate of business.

Container house demand on the rise in HCM City

The demand for container houses in HCM City has increased over the last year as available land declines due to increased urbanisation.

Low and medium income newly-weds are eagerly looking to purchase these new homes.

Nguyen Van Hung in Cu Chi District spent VND192 million on buying a container house two months ago. Hung said that, "Both I and my wife were very excited to know about this kind of house. After getting married, we only need a small house like this, instead of renting a house. It is more convenient and comfortable than I thought."

Over past one year, more young couples have selected this kind of house and in the city, more companies providing container houses have also appeared.

Tran Van Son, director of a construction consultancy company in Thu Duc District, said that his company is building five container houses and five container restaurants in HCM City. "With VND100 million, you can have a container house for two people with a sitting room, a kitchen and a bedroom. If moving the house, you should install wheels."

A firm which specialises in the container production in Binh Thanh District said that they have received many orders.

Mr. Tao, an engineer who specialises in installing container houses, said that it takes some 15-20 days on average to finish a container house. Insulating materials are also used for the houses. Containers houses have been used in many countries for a long time, but in Vietnam they are mostly used as offices.

Despite having many advantages, some claim the hot and humid weather in Vietnam can shorten the life of container houses to around 10 years, though such short lifespans have not been reported anywhere else in the world.

Localities urged to tighten financial discipline after recent budget crisis

The Ministry of Finance has sent an official document to cities and provinces nationwide, requesting local governments to tighten control over budget management after the local media reported Ca Mau and Bac Lieu cities in the southern region were laden with debts.

Speaking to DTiNews reporter, Vo Thanh Hung, chief of the ministry's Budget Department, said that localities are being asked to reduce the budget spending on holding conferences, overseas trips and buying expensive cars.

Localities are being asked to reduce the budget spending on holding conferences, overseas trips and buying expensive cars

The ministry has also instructed localities to intensify tax collection and deal with outstanding debts, helping to ensure budget revenues. They were also requested to ensure they actually kept to their agreed budgets. In cases where they faced a budget deficit, localities were being advised to delay programmes or activities to prioritise salaries and other key services.

Agencies will have to learn to deal with their own fiscal problems and seek help from provincial authorities, not the central government, if they fail to repay their debts. Only when the provincial authorities fail in this will the central government consider stepping in, according to Hung.

According to local media, the southern city of Ca Mau is facing a debt of VND300 billion (USD14.2 million) and claims it can’t afford to pay the salaries of local state employees. Huynh Thanh Dung, Vice Chairman of the municipal people’s committee, said that over the recent years, the city had failed to reach its budget revenue targets, leading to the deficit.

Bac Lieu City is also in the same situation and has racked up tens of billions of VND in back payments to the provincial Social Insurance and local companies.

Many economists have raised concerns that that the lack of fiscal discipline at local government will soon become a threat to the sustainability of Vietnam's public debt which is expected to reach 61.3% the country's GDP this year.

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