Over 300 Truong Sa war veterans meet in Phu Yen

More than 300 war veterans who once fought to protect Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago attended a get-together in Dong Hoa district, in the central coastal province of Phu Yen, on March 14.

The function, the 10th of its kind in Phu Yen, aims to commemorate the Gac Ma naval battle in Truong Sa islands on March 14, 1988.

The ex-servicemen exchanged stories about the fight to safeguard national sea and island sovereignty.

The Truong Sa Soldiers Liaison Committee, which organised the event, presented gifts to veterans and the family of a fallen soldier who are facing difficulties in life.

A memorial site dedicated to fallen Gac Ma soldiers has been under construction in the south central coastal province of Khanh Hoa since March 2015. The first phase of the project is scheduled to be completed in March 2017.

The building funds were sourced from donations by trade unions and employees nationwide to the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour “Love for Hoang Sa-Truong Sa” programme.

Thang calls midfielder Khuong to replace Luat for Asia Cup qualifier

Coach Nguyen Huu Thang has called up 21-year-old midfielder Tran Dinh Khuong of Sanna Khanh Hoa BVN to replace defender Truong Dinh Luat in the upcoming Asian Cup qualifying round.

Luat rejected his invitation to join the national team, announcing his retirement.

This marks Khuong’s first summons to the national senior team. Last year, with good form, Khuong joined the U22 Vietnam team to train in China.

Khuong has been a rising star for Khanh Hoa in recent years. He played 18 matches in the national premier league last year and now is a key of defensive line of Khanh Hoa, who rank third out of 14 teams in the league’s rankings after nine rounds.

Young vocalist sings her way to top of ASEAN competition

Young vocalist Nguyen Thi Kim Lien now has an ASEAN international championship title under her belt, reports the Vietnam News Agency.

It feels amazing to have all your hard work pay off, said Lien, who practises singing every day.

The young Vietnamese national residing in Thailand beat 16 other participants to emerge in first place at the finals competition held in Vientiane, Laos on March 14.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Vietnam Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung said the young singer has done Vietnam proud by being able to clinch the prestigious title with her amazing performances. 

Vietnam-ROK cultural festival to take place in HCM City

The MBC Music K-Plus Concert will be held in Ho Chi Minh City on March 24-26 as part of a cross-cultural exchange program between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK).

The organizing board announced at a press conference on March 13 that the concert will draw Korean artists and music bands like Apink, Seven, Seventeen, DJ DOC, EXID and Vietnamese signers Tuan Hung, Noo Phuoc Thinh, Toc Tien and Hoang Thuy Linh.

The event aims to mark the 25th anniversary of Vietnam-ROK diplomatic ties and bring Korean culture closer to Vietnamese people.

What will become of Saigon's backpacker district after street cleanup campaign?

The area, known for its vibrant and messy culture, is now a headache for officials who want to tidy up the city.

Ho Chi Minh City’s sidewalk revolution has spared no one.

Over the past weeks, everyone or everything standing in the city's bid to become a Singapore-esque metropolis has been either reprimanded, pulled down ort towed away. The goal is to clear up all the downtown sidewalks and streets for pedestrian safety.

And yet one big problem remains: the famous (or infamous) backpacker precinct where all the lines blur – between private and public spaces, between grill bars and sidewalks, between streets and dance floors.

The tourist playground, made up by Bui Vien, Pham Ngu Lao, De Tham and Do Quang Dau streets in District 1’s Pham Ngu Lao Ward, is a major attraction recommended on many travel sites.

A government report said the enclave and its wide range of services pull in around 500 tourists every day, and 2,000 on its best days, earning more than VND37 billion (US$1.62 million) a year.

District 1 officials have said the mission of cleaning up the city’s sidewalks will not allow any exception. But when it comes to Bui Vien and the surrounding streets, there will not be an easy answer.

Many have warned that if the neighborhood is tidied up and all the fun has to be pulled back indoors, the culture will die too. Then the tourists will leave, along with their money.

Local authorities said they will make sure there will be a happy ending for both the tourism industry and its sidewalk campaign.

For now, there are only mixed signals that point to an identity crisis, if not an unclear future for the backpacker area.

Several shops and restaurants on Bui Vien early this month received a notice from local officials asking them to keep their business off the sidewalks.

At the same time, the city has revealed a new plan to turn the neighborhood into a pedestrian-only area. Vehicles will be banned after 6 p.m., which means there will be more space for both pedestrians and businesses. However, no timeframe for this plan has been announced.

“The city will devise a plan to develop the area to make it more attractive, and at the same time, civil and polite,” said Tran Vinh Tuyen, the city’s vice chairman.

Ho Chi Minh City is one of the most popular destinations in Vietnam. It received 5.2 million foreign arrivals in 2016, a 10 percent increase from the previous year.

The city hopes to have six million foreign visitors this year.

Among various plans to bring in more tourists, the city has announced its intention to create a floating market, similar to the famous markets of the Mekong Delta, and launch weekend fireworks shows.

A special light festival is being planned for November.

Vietnam seizes nearly 300,000 dead seahorses smuggled from Peru

Customs officials in Vietnam's northern port city of Haiphong found on March 10 more than a ton of dried seahorses smuggled from Peru in disguise of cattle skin.

The container has been sealed for investigation. One ton of seahorses may have around 300,000 individuals in average weight, and a pair of them can fetch up to US$20 in retail prices.

Customs investigators found the shipment was delivered by a Vietnamese vessel and arrived at a Haiphong port in late January. The bill of lading described the content as horse and donkey skin, naming a Haiphong-based company as the recipient, which has sent a notice to reject the cargo.

The dried seahorses smuggled to a Haiphong port in northern Vietnam.

Under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to which Vietnam is a signatory, dried seahorse is not prohibited from trade, but any transaction via Vietnam has to be approved by the CITES committee and Vietnam’s agriculture ministry.

Scientists have not been able to determine the conservation status of seahorse, due to the lack of data on the sizes of the various seahorse populations as well as other issues such as how many seahorses are dying or born each year.

But some species have been listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as vulnerable and some are feared to have been extinct. In addition to their use in traditional medicine and as aphrodisiacs, seahorses are sold to tourists as souvenirs, according to conservationists.

How will Saigon’s ‘sidewalk clearing’ campaign affect Bui Vien area?

The ongoing ‘sidewalk reclamation’ campaign in downtown Ho Chi Minh City has sparked concern over its negative effects on the busy Bui Vien ‘backpacker area,’ arguably the most popular nightlife street in the southern metropolis.

Located in Pham Ngu Lao Ward, the ‘backpacker area’ includes Bui Vien, De Tham, Pham Ngu Lao, and Do Quang Dau Streets. 

It houses a variety of diners, cafes, and bars which, more often than not, extend their operations onto the sidewalks and occasionally into the streets.

The ward’s People’s Committee has given businesses in the neighborhood 10 days, staring from March 1, to remove all objects and constructions blocking the sidewalk space.

According to the observation of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters on March 8, local vendors were still operating their businesses on the footpaths, but in a seemingly more organized manner which allowed pedestrians to pass.

Linh, a juice seller on Bui Vien Street, shared that she had moved her tables and chairs inside her shop, leaving only her fruit stall on the sidewalk.

She says the local administration has required businesses to remove all objects, including tables, chairs, advertising banners, trees, and flowers from public spaces and sidewalks within 10 days. Violators after that period will be fined.

Nhan, owner of two diners on De Tham Street, confirmed that his facilities still allow customers to park their motorbikes in one row on the sidewalk during the day and security guards will bring their bikes to a nearby parking lot at 23/9 Park during peak evening hours.

“Many foreign visitors prefer the open space and the opportunity to dine on the sidewalk. Clearing the pavements might cause the ‘backpacker area’ to lose its distinctive features and have a negative effect on local businesses,” Nhan assessed.

Foreign and local customers sit at a beer bar on the sidewalk of Bui Vien Street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. 

Other business owners have expressed their support for the campaign but would believe that sidewalks should be separated into business and public zones.

“The footpaths can be separated by a yellow line in certain neighborhoods so we can guarantee that the pedestrian zones will not be occupied,” a vendor said.

According to Cao Hong Viet, vice-chairman of the People’s Committee in Pham Ngu Lao Ward, a project to turn the ‘backpacker area’ into an entirely pedestrian street on weekends has been proposed and is expected to be piloted on a section of Bui Vien Street.

Until the plan is executed, local businesses will be allowed to place one row of tables or motorbikes on the sidewalks, Viet continued, adding that facilities occupying entire promenades will be subjected to penalties.

In order to provide more convenience for pedestrians, local authorities will upgrade the footpaths along Bui Vien Street this year, the official stated.

Regarding the establishment of new walking streets, local residents confirmed that they have been long awaiting the plan.

According to an official from the District 1 administration, the plan still requires feedback from competent authorities before specific schedules are laid out.

Dak Lak museum preserves central highland culture

Nestled in the center of Buon Ma Thuot city, Dak Lak museum attracts visitors because it preserves and displays cultural heritage, human life and nature of the central highland region.

The museum, which receives consultations from the French and Vietnamese experts, has 12,000 artifacts, including 1,000 items exhibited permanently. The permanent exhibition is divided into 3 topics: Bio-diversity, Ethnic Culture, and History.

The Ethnic Culture space displays 450 artifacts, including gongs and wine jars, which illustrate daily life, festivals and communal practices of Vietnam’s ethnic group. 

Museum visitor Nguyen Thanh An said “I am most impressed with the specialized exhibition hall where the black and white photos depict the life of central highlanders in the 1950s. I have had a wonderful experience here.”

In addition to permanent exhibitions, there are specialized pavilions highlighting the gong culture, Dak Lak’s renewal and development, and Buon Ma Thuot’s memories. The Dak Lak museum has taken the lead in using ethnic minority languages in narration. 

Tran Van Nam, Head of the Artifact Collection and Study Division, said “All the exhibited items, for example, the grave houses, musical instruments, and other things, were created by the local Ede, Giarai and Mnong people. The narration is in English, French, Vietnamese, and the Ede language of the indigenous people.”

Dang Gia Duan, Deputy Director of Dak Lak’s Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, told VOV about the museum’s expansion plan:“We will build a long house prototype of the Ede ethnic group for open performances of gongs and folk practices of the Ede people. A wharf model, part of the distinctive culture of the central highlanders, will be set up. A statue garden featuring wood sculptures created by locals will also be built.”

The Dak Lak museum has been described as a miniature of the central highland region, which preserves many of the precious cultural heritages of Vietnam.

Insiders speak of Saigon’s charmless tourism

Ho Chi Minh City authorities have entered a meeting with travel industry insiders with plans to discuss an initiative which would transform tourism in the southern metropolis into its leading economic driver, but instead were met with a barrage of complaints about the city's lackluster tourism.

In January, the Politburo issued a resolution setting a goal for tourism in Vietnam to “basically become the leading driver of the economy” by 2020, and “a real leading economic sector” by 2030, creating a pulse for the country’s eco-social development.

The resolution came in the wake of the tourism industry’s success in 2016, highlighted by Vietnam’s welcoming a record-breaking 10 million international tourists and 62 million domestic visitors, with tourism having accounted for 6.8% of the national GDP. 

Primary targets laid out by the resolution include mushrooming international and domestic tourist numbers to 20 million and 82 million, respectively, by 2020, while simultaneously increasing tourism’s contribution to the national GDP to over 10%.

While the  meeting was meant for the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee to meet with representatives from local and international travel companies and discuss how to achieve the goals set in the Politburo resolution, it instead became a forum for industry insiders to complain of lackluster tourism offerings in the southern megacity.

Phan Xuan Anh, chairman of travel firm Du Ngoan Viet, said that a lack of highlights makes Ho Chi Minh City’s tourism unappealing to visitors.

“Say what you want about Ben Thanh Market or Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica – but these are not places you must visit before you die,” he said.

Anh cited warnings from international travelers saying that Ho Chi Minh City is losing its quintessential character and has become “a megacity where you can only see high-rises lining the streets.”

He also pointed to several unnecessarily rigid regulations that have prevented Ho Chi Minh City from living up to its tourism potential, using the hurdles involved in transforming the coastal district of Can Gio into an attractive tourism destination.

“The district is classified as a border-island so you need permission to bring tourists there, even though it takes only ten minutes to travel by boat from Vung Tau to Can Gio,” he said.

Duong Thanh Thuy, director of the shopping brand Miss Ao Dai, brought other issues to the table, complaining that there are too many shopping venues in the city with no connections between them.

“Traffic is another problem,” she said.

“Many foreign tour groups travel on 50-seater buses which take the entire day just to travel to opposite ends of the city, leaving no time for the holidaymakers to spend their money.”

Thuy called for the city’s support to open one massive shopping venue where tourists can find all made-in-Vietnam products and enjoy local dishes.

“If we do this then it will be within our reach to have each international tourist spend between US$500 and US$1,000 during their visit to the city,” she asserted.

Vo Anh Tai, deputy general director of Saigontourist, said Ho Chi Minh City lacks tourism products that are entertaining to tourists at night.

He suggested finding ways to turn Ho Chi Minh City into “a city that never sleeps” in order to woo more visitors.

In the meantime, Scott Hodgetts, general manager at Sheraton Saigon Hotel, speaking on behalf of foreign businesspeople in the city, questioned the ability of municipal leaders to make paperwork less complicated.

In 2016 alone, Hodgetts said, Sheraton Saigon Hotel was inspected on 13 occasions, sometimes with inspections overlapping one another.

Hodgetts said if red tape is reduced, it will be much easier for foreign businesses to persuade international customers to choose Vietnam as a destination.

USAID supports Vietnam to fight wildlife smuggling

The United States Agency of International Development will provide non-refundable aid of US$10 million for Vietnam to tackle wildlife smuggling from 2017 – 2021.

The project, just approved by the Prime Minister, has counterpart capital of VND11.125 billion (nearly US$500,000) funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The project includes completing the legal framework related to wildlife, enforcing the implementation of legal documents, and promoting communication to raise public awareness of using and buying wild animals and related products.

Illegal trading of wild species is estimated to bring smugglers US$10-15 billion each year. It depletes natural resources and increases the risk of spreading diseases.

Da Nang ensures security, order at APEC High-Level Week

The public security force of the central city of Da Nang has approved a plan to ensure security and order at the 24th High-Level Week of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) slated for November.

The week is expected to attract leaders from 21 member economies and thousands of official delegates, foreign correspondents and the world’s top businesses, during which, the APEC CEO Summit, the APEC Business Advisory Council Dialogue with Partners, and the Inter-Ministerial Meeting of APEC Foreign and Economic Ministers will be held. 

The city has also established a security-order sub-committee.

Leaders of public security forces and localities were asked to perform assigned tasks to ensure the safety of participating leaders, ministers and high-ranking officials as well as the venues of meetings. 

They were also assigned to fight any terror, incitement and sabotage plot by hostile forces. 

The municipal public security force deployed staff to Da Nang international airport, hotels, press centres, tourist attractions and will crack down on crimes. 

They also inspected the security and safety of the ongoing construction of facilities for the event such as terminals at Da Nang international airport, the Sheraton and Intercontinental hotels and Ariyana Da Nang Exhibition & Convention Centre.

Kon Tum donates rice to ethnic students

Around 15,000 ethnic students in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum will receive 900 tonnes of rice in the first phase of a support programme for the second academic semester this year.

The provincial People’s Committee asked the Department of Education and Training to organise the rice donation for ethnic students.

The department is working with the province’s Department of Finance and local authorities to ensure that the amount is sufficient and that it is of good quality.

The donations are expected to be completed before April 25.

The province asked the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Education and Training to grant another 250 tonnes of rice this year during the second phase in the second semester this year. 

Kon Tum has six ethnic minorities – the Gia Rai, Ba Na, Xo Dang, Gie-Trieng, Brau and Ro Mam. Around 59,000 people, or 55 percent of the population, are ethnic minorities.

Norway helps disabled people in Mekong Delta city

A conference was held in Mekong delta Can Tho city on March 10 to launch a Norway-funded project on social integration for people with disabilities in the 2017-2020 period.

It was jointly organized by the Can Tho Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Vietnam Union of Associations of People with Disabilities (VUAPD) and the Can Tho Association of People with Disabilities (CTAPD).

The 451,000-USD project, which is funded by the Norway Mission Alliance via the VUAPD, aims to expand the network and enhance the role and influence of people with disabilities and the CTAPD.

The project is divided into two stages. The first stage, from 2017-2018, the project will focus on helping establish district-level associations and improve capabilities for the associations’ employees.

In the second stage, from 2019-2020, the project looks to address education needs of children with disabilities and create incomes, and improve living conditions for people with disabilities via livelihood models, job creation and mobilised local resources and enterprises’ social responsibility contributions.

Speaking at the conference, Dr. Dang Huynh Mai, President of the VUAPD, said people with disabilities still face many obstacles in accessing health care, transport, education services, as well as discrimination in society.

The project is necessary to help ensure basic rights for the people, raising public awareness of them and encourage them to take part in production and contribute to the community.

According to the plan, the project will begin on March 11, 2017, and last until December 3, 2020. It will be first implemented in Ninh Kieu district before expanding to other districts.

At the end of March, it will open vocational training courses for people with disabilities based on local enterprises’ demand. The programme is implemented in six months.

In April, the project will organise three training classes on integration and equality for people with disabilities as well as employees of relevant local agencies.

Hanoi works to ensure labour safety, hygiene

The action month for labour safety and hygiene will start in Hanoi on May 1 as part of the city’s effort to raise public awareness of occupational safety as well as promote enforcement of the Law on Occupational Safety and Hygiene.

The city will give a push to the labour safety and hygiene training in local businesses, helping them update necessary information to tackle labour accidents, fires and explosions at the workplace.

Enterprises are ordered to improve working conditions, take drastic measures to reduce workplace pollution and occupational diseases while carrying out detailed inspection of explosion prevention process at the workplace.

The action month also includes conferences and seminars on improving working conditions and medical healthcare for employees, especially those who are working in high-risk sectors.

Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Ngo Van Quy said that two inspection groups will be set up to examine 50 occupational accident-prone businesses and ten steering boards will be established to ensure labour safety and hygiene in districts and towns.

Relevant authorities must give harsh punishment to any violation of labour safety and hygiene, which leaves great damage to human and assets.

There were 169 labour accidents, killing and injuring 179 people in 2016, tripling the number in the previous year. In addition, 831 fires took place in the city, leaving 19 dead and 18 injured. Total damage was estimated at 80 billion VND (3.5 million USD).

Most of the accidents were recorded in the fields of construction and electricity.

Rate of gastric disease in Vietnamese children growing

The rate of children suffering from gastric disease is growing due to schooling pressure and inappropriate food, health experts have said.

Doctor Nguyen Thi Ut from the Digestive Disease Department at the National Paediatrics Hospital, said HP bacteria is one of the main causes of gastric disease in children. 

Ha, an eight-year-old child from Hanoi’s Soc Son District, kept complaining of stomach aches and was gaining weight. When the pains became more serious and were accompanied by vomitting, her parents took her to the hospital.

She was diagnosed with inflammation of the stomach’s mucous membrane caused by the Helicobacter pylori (HP) bacteria. 

Doctors advise children not to share their bowl and spoon with gastric disease patients as they could catch HP bacteria.

Nhi, a six-year-old girl of the capital’s Dong Da District, also suffered from stomach aches. Her parents said that she had regular meals, eating one bowl of rice each day, and several snacks such as milk, yoghurt and fruit. But she watched TV or played with a smart phone while eating, otherwise she would refuse to eat.

To prevent the diseases, parents should not let their children watch computer, TV, smart phone, or sing and dance while eating, said Associate Professor Nguyen Tien Dung of the Paediatrics Department at Bach Mai Hospital.

He said the rate of children suffering from gastric disease is growing. Recently, a ten-year-old patient was hospitalised for emergency care with an inflammation leading to digestive bleeding.

Statistics of the National Paediatrics Hospital show that as many as 76 percent of children between the age of four and nine complaining of stomach aches require edoscopic digestive diagnosis.

In addition, many families let their children watch TV, or play with Ipads and smart phones while eating, affecting digestion. Some fast food such as sausages also affect children’s digestive system, he said.

Dung warned that if gastric disease in children was not treated in time and properly, they could lead to dangerous problems such as digestive bleeding and even stomach cancer.

The expert also said that children between the age of 10 and 16 suffer from gastric disease more than younger children because they have a lot of schooling pressure. He advised parents not to pressure their children and make them worry that they are not as good as their friends.

Pressure greatly affects children’s psychology and also leads to gastric disease, according to Dung.

Da Nang city on alert for H7N9 outbreaks

Central Da Nang city has launched a series of preventive measures to prevent the outbreaks of H7N9 avian influenza in the city.

Health authority of the province has intensified entry screenings of travellers, vehicles and commodities through Da Nang International Airport and Tien Sa Seaport to detect any suspects of having the dangerous influenza’s symptoms.

The municipal Health Department has requested the International Quarantine Centre of Da Nang to keep a close watch on the passengers, particularly those travelling from disease-affected areas.

The city’s preventive medicine centre, hospitals and district-level medical stations have been ordered to actively coordinate with relevant agencies in the epidemic prevention.

According to Doctor Pham Truc Lam, Director of the International Quarantine Centre of Da Nang, more than half of international flights from disease-affected areas are from China, raising the risk of the virus entering Vietnam. 

The centre has also allocated staff to conduct screenings round the clock at border gates and prepared all necessary facilities for any emergencies.

Two mobile teams of health workers have been set up by the municipal preventive medicine centre while each district-level medical station sets up one to help control the situation.

The centre provided local people with guides on how to stay hygienic and not use poultry products with unclear origin. It also advised people with suspected influenza symptoms to visit medical clinics immediately.

Central provinces to tap maritime tourism potential

The central province of Quang Nam plans to upgrade part of its Ky Ha Port for cruise services to nearby islands, Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Dinh Hai has said.

Hai said Ky Ha Port, which has been used as a major cargo port, will reserve a 20m pier for boat services linking the provincial islands of Cham, Tam Hai with Quang Ngai province’s Ly Son Island and Han River Port in Da Nang city.

“We will also build a reception area and accommodations at the port and upgrade the cargo quay into a tourism service pier. The Ky Ha Port, which allows cargo ships with a capacity of 20,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage), can be used for cruise and speed boats over the summer holidays,” Hai said.

He said the province will co-operate with neighbouring Quang Ngai and Da Nang and travel agencies in boosting tour boat services.

The province hosted 4.4 million tourists, 2.3 million of them foreigners, in 2016. It wants to increase the number to 5 million tourists in 2017 and 8 million in 2020.

The province also plans to upgrade Chu Lai Airport to handle 2.3 million passengers and 1.5 million tonnes of cargo by 2025, as well as launching sea routes from Ky Ha Port to Hong Kong and Singapore.

Meanwhile, the island district of Ly Son has put into operation the first speed boat service between the island and Sa Ky Port on the mainland.

Vice chairwoman of the district’s People’s Committee, Pham Thi Huong, said the 85-seat speed boat, owned by a private company, will help cut traveling time from the coastal area of Quang Ngai province to the island from one hour to 25 minutes.

She said the Chin Nghia company invested 10 billion VND (442,000 USD) in the project. A second boat is expected to go into operation next month.

Currently five cargo and seven passenger ships serve 1,500 commuters and islanders traveling from Quang Ngai to Ly Son Island each day. 

Ly Son Island, 30kms off the coast, is home to about 21,000 residents. Most make their living fishing and farming garlic and spring onions.

The island is also a favourite destination during holidays, with 100,000 tourists visiting annually. 

The district’s vice chairwoman said Muong Thanh Group also invested 40 billion VND (1.8 million USD) to build a 260-seat cruise ship. 

In 2015, the district also launched a new sea route connecting the island to An Binh Islet, about 5km away. 

According to island authorities, 18 hotels, guest houses and home-stays provide accommodation for 1,000 tourists at present. 

The Agriculture and Rural Development Bank of Vietnam (Agribank) also built the first Automated Teller Machine (ATM) on the Island, while Tien Sa Taxi put into operation the first public taxi service in 2015.

Project improves lives in rural areas

Rural infrastructure in northern mountainous provinces has improved significantly over the last six years thanks to the implementation of a sustainable infrastructure development project.

The project, implemented between 2011-16 in 15 provinces, focused on building and upgrading rural infrastructure facilities for these localities, improving management capacity for local authorities and improving living conditions for the poor, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Total investment for the project was US$138 million, $108 million of which came from the Asian Development Bank and the remainder from the Government of Việt Nam, the ministry said at a conference held in Thái Nguyên Province on Thursday to review the project implementation.

The project’s main goals are the elimination of hunger and poverty, improvement of rural infrastructure and enhancement of local authorities’ power in each province, district and commune.

Living conditions of the poor are expected to improve significantly when the project is completed.

The project has basically achieved its set target, helping to change the general face of targeted localities and improve the living conditions of local people, said a representative from the ministry’s Agricultural Project Management Board.

Director of the project, Trần Văn Lam, said many infrastructure works of the project had been completed and already in operation, bringing in practical benefits for local people.

With convenient traffic and irrigation systems, local people’s production and trade activities would surely develop, he said.

So far, 42 out of 55 sub-projects have been completed. Construction of the remaining sub-projects is expected for completion by June 30.

Benefited localities include Bắc Giang, Bắc Kạn, Cao Bằng, Điện Biên, Hà Giang, Hòa Bình, Lai Châu, Lạng Sơn, Lào Cai, Phú Thọ, Sơn La, Thái Nguyên, Tuyên Quang, Vĩnh Phúc and Yên Bái.

The building of new-style rural areas must be in line with urbanisation orientations to prepare for the establishment of urban areas and avoid wastefulness.

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyễn Thị Mỹ Linh made the remarks at a meeting held on Thursday to make comments in relation to the project on building new-style rural areas in the process of urbanisation at the district level in the 2017-20 period.

Linh noted that the building of new-style rural areas is associated with agricultural restructuring, the formation of large-scale production areas and bringing rural living conditions closer to urban conditions.

Deputy Prime Minister Vương Đình Huệ said that the project should put forth a vision to build new-style rural areas towards urban area standards in harmonisation with socio-economic development plans and urban planning of the whole country and each locality, while preserving the cultural identity of the areas.

The Deputy PM noted that there are suburban areas which have been upgraded to urban districts but the transport system and infrastructure are invested under commune-level standards which do not meet the requirements for urban development, resulting in wastefulness.

More than 1,500 out of 9,043 communes and 15 out of 545 districts nationwide were recognised as new rural areas.

The national programme on building new-style rural areas, initiated by the Government in 2010, includes 19 criteria on socio-economic development, politics and defence, aiming to boost rural areas. The criteria covers infrastructure development, production capacity improvement, environmental protection and cultural value promotion.

Needy people receive free heart checkups, medicines

Nearly 200 underprivileged children in the northern province of Ninh Bình received free cardiac examinations from doctors of the National Heart Institute and the provincial obstetrics and paediatrics hospital on Sunday.

Phạm Cầm Kỳ, director of the provincial obstetrics and paediatrics hospital, said the free checkups would help detect congenital heart diseases in the children, allowing timely intervention.

The event also provided local doctors the opportunity to learn from the National Heart Institute’s doctors, he said, adding that his hospital plans to coordinate with central hospitals to offer further free checkups to the disadvantaged in the area. 

Impoverished families were also assisted with filling out applications for financial support from humanitarian organisations to raise funds for their children to have cardiac operations. 

Meanwhile, more than 6,000 poor people in the central province of Quảng Trị also received free health examinations and medicines over the weekend.

On Saturday and Sunday, the provincial Department of Health and the Việt Nam Red Cross worked with Minh Đức Charitable Foundation to conduct free medical examinations, provide free medicine and present gifts to more than 5,000 poor people and 1,000 needy children in Hải Lăng District.

The examinations and medicines were provided and distributed by more than 700 volunteers, who include doctors, students and Buddhists from different provinces and cities.

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