The Prime Minister has approved a programme to prevent children from having accidents from 2016-2020.

It aims to see a decline in the rate of children falling victims to accidents to six per thousand and that of children killed in accidents to 1.7 per thousand.

The programme also aims to reduce the number of children killed in road accidents by 25 percent and build five million safe houses, 10,000 safe schools and 300 communes with safe community standards.

Communication work will be enhanced to raise the awareness of injury prevention among children, the community, relevant agencies and staff.

Safe houses, schools, roads and communities will be built while consultation and treatment services will be provided for children and their families.

The programme aims to spread the pilot models in a bid to develop a safe network for children while connecting relevant bodies to devise measures to prevent fatal drowning and traffic accidents.

The programme has estimated funds of 670 billion VND (30 million USD). Of this total, 160 billion VND (7 million USD) comes from the state budget, 420 billion VND (19 million USD) is from the local budget and the rest will be mobilised from international sources.

Accidental injuries among children are a pressing problem around the world, especially in Vietnam, where the rate of accidental injuries and deaths is among the highest in the world.

By 2020, the government wants at least 90 percent of children to use buoyancy aids while travelling on waterways, and public pools and beaches to have safety licences.

Most advanced hospital for TB, lung diseases in Mekong Delta opens

The Can Tho city hospital for tuberculosis (TB) and pulmonary diseases, the most advanced of its kind in the Mekong Delta, was ready to serve patients on February 19.

The 200-bed hospital, including an 8-storey main building, covers an area of 5,600 square metres in Phuoc Thoi commune, O Mon district.

Construction began in September 2010 with an investment of 215.3 billion VND (9.6 million USD).

The new hospital is expected to enhance the healthcare network of Can Tho city and improve the quality of health services for not only the city’s residents but also people from the region, Director of the municipal Department of Health Bui Thi Le Phi said.

It will replace the 100-year-old hospital for TB and pulmonary diseases located in Bich Thuy district. The old hospital has only 50 beds and is in extremely bad condition.

According to the department, Vietnam ranks 12th among 22 countries suffering the most from TB and 14 th out of 27 countries with a high incidence of multidrug-resistant TB despite the government’s efforts to fight against the disease.

The Mekong Delta spreads over an area of about 40,000 square kilometres with a population of 18 million, or 22 percent of the country’s population.

Success of Vietnamese, Lao Party congresses hailed by expatriates

The General Association of Vietnamese people in Laos hosted a banquet in Vientiane on February 19 to celebrate the success of the recent 10th National Congress of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

The function saw the presence of Politburo member and Vice Chairman of the Lao National Assembly Saysomphone Phomvihane, Politburo member and Vientiane Governor Sinlavong Khoutphaythoune, and other members of the LPRP Central Committee. It was also attended by Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Manh Hung and representatives of Vietnamese businesses.

Speaking at the banquet, Chairman of the general association Nguyen Duy Trung thanked the two countries’ parties and governments for optimal conditions for Vietnamese people in Laos.

He stressed that the successful Party congresses set up prerequisites for their vigorous economic growth in the following years.

He said his association will expeditiously disseminate the congresses’ resolutions to its subordinate bodies. By thoroughly grasping and following the resolutions, Vietnamese people in Laos will contribute to local development.

Trung also promised all-out efforts to join hands with the Vietnamese community in fostering the countries’ time-tested amity, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Hung also acknowledged support from the Lao Party, State and people, voicing his hope for more contributions by overseas Vietnamese to local growth and the two neighbours’ connections.

For his part, Saysomphone Phomvihane appreciated Vietnamese expatriates’ dedication to local socio-economic expansion. He said he hopes that they will maintain solidarity to help strengthen bilateral ties.

President awards Independence Medal to Bach Mai Hospital

President Truong Tan Sang awarded the Independence Medal-Third Class for the second time to Bach Mai General Hospital for its contribution to people's healthcare and protection today in Ha Noi.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the hospital's 105th anniversary, President Sang praised the hospital's achievements and great contributions to the country's development over the past century.

"Protecting people's health, ensuring human resources for the cause of building and protecting the fatherland, improving the Vietnamese people's height and longevity would be top priorities of the party and the government," Sang said.

"Bach Mai Hospital and the health sector should continue to expand the healthcare system and improve the quality of human resources, examination and treatment and the preventive medicine system from the central to local levels to prevent the occurrence of epidemics," Sang said.

He said Bach Mai Hospital should to continue to speed up research and application of advanced medical technologies, and improve doctors' skills to keep pace with doctors in the region and across the world.

Sang also presented the Labour Hero title to Hospital Director Prof Nguyen Quoc Anh and former Director of the Viet Nam Heart Institute Prof Nguyen Lan Viet.

Established in 1911, Bach Mai is the country's largest hospital with 2,400 beds, and provides examination and treatment to about 1.4 million out-patients and 12,800 in-patients each year.

More than 500 new medical techniques have been applied in the examination and treatment processes at the hospital over the last five years. The hospital has performed 62 kidney, 11 bone marrow and 31 stem-cell transplants since the first kidney transplant performed in 2005, the hospital said.

Suspected plane debris found offshore in south-central Vietnam

The military unit of the south-central Vietnamese province of Khanh Hoa is investigating a piece of debris, believed to be a part of an airplane, found offshore by a local fisherman earlier this month.

On February 11, Le Tan Binh was fishing 42 nautical miles (78km) off the province’s Dai Lanh Beach when he spotted a strange floating object, he recalled to authorities of Van Ninh District during a house visit to examine the debris on Thursday.

The fisherman collected the object and brought it ashore. According to the fisherman, it is made of aluminum and weighs approximately 100kg. The widest part of the metal object measures 2.1 meters and the narrowest section is 1.1 meters.

Binh said he was so busy with other fishing journeys that he had not had an opportunity to report the discovery to authorities.

On Wednesday, a group of photographers came to Binh’s neighborhood for a shoot and were told by local residents about the debris. They immediately notified the press of the incident.

Vo Hoan Hai, Secretary of the Party Committee of Van Ninh District, told reporters on Thursday that a local military unit is investigating the object.

“Initial reports suggest that it is plane debris,” Hai said.

“We will report to the provincial authorities and relevant agencies once final examination results are available.”

The beach where Binh found the debris is part of the East Vietnam Sea.

There have been no significant air crashes in nearby areas in recent times, except for the mysterious Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The flight last made voice contact with air traffic control when it was over the East Vietnam Sea, less than an hour after takeoff.

More CNG buses to run in HCMC

An additional 31 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses will operate in routes 33 and 104 in HCM City from March 1.

Route 33 links An Suong station with Suoi Tien Park and Viet Nam National University, while Route 104 runs from An Duong Station to the University of Agriculture and Forestry.

The transport enterprises have spent VND100 billion (US$4.5 million) to buy these buses, Nguyen Van Trieu, director of 19-5 Transport Co-operative, said.

These would be the two first routes in the city in which all buses were CNG buses (52 buses in Route 33 and 44 in Route 104), he said.

Decision on used tech products to be completed

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai asked the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) to complete the Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's draft decision on the imports of products on the banned second-hand information technology products list.

The Deputy Prime Minster also asked MIC to work with the Government Office to check and complete the draft and submit it to the Prime Minister to enforce this month.

Previously, the MIC issued Circular No 31/2015/TT-BTTTT, which provides guidelines for the implementation of Decree No 187/2013/ND-CP, stipulating the import of second-hand information technology (IT) products.

Second-hand IT products which were prohibited from December 15 include used laptops, tablets, mobile phones, speakers, digital and television cameras, pocket radio cassette, floppy disk drives, flash disk drives, as well as LCD and LED screens.

Hau Giang invests 81 mln USD for irrigation work

The Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang has decided to spend over 18 trillion VND (81 million USD) on building irrigation facilities to serve agricultural production, salinity intrusion prevention and climate change adaptation.

The move is hoped to help promote efficiency in agricultural development, rural development, and improve the environment and living conditions for locals.

The province’s agricultural and rural development sector will focus resources to complete embankment and anti-salinity dyke projects in Long My district and Vi Thanh city.

Money will also be poured into the implementation of new projects, aiming to dredge about 630km of single-level canals and 1,310km of two-level canals across the country.

Works related to landslide prevention will also be carried out in landslide-prone areas in eight districts, towns and cities.

Hau Giang is home to about 600km of one-level canals; more than 1,300km of two-level canal systems and over 1,600 three-level ones.

The locality strives to better its irrigation system and synchronously develop irrigation infrastructure, while enhancing management of fulfilled projects, contributing to the agricultural economy and improving the environment in rural areas.

Hau Giang has been severely affected by global climate change in recent years, as it has experienced unusual weather developments with the increased number of storms, prolonged droughts and serious sea water intrusion.

Ha Noi fair offers opportunities to job seekers

About 1,000 applicants will get a chance to find jobs at the first job fair of the year in Ha Noi next week, the Ha Noi Job Service Centre said.

Eighteen firms will display information about jobs that require several levels of degrees.

Fifty per cent of the jobs would be offered to untrained labourers, the centre said.

Deputy Director of the centre Vu Th? Thanh Li?u said many enterprises in the industrial zones and small and medium-sized companies sent their recruitment notice to the centre in the first working days after the long Tet (Lunar New Year) festival holiday.

However, few workers registered for jobs at the centre in the last few days, she said.

The centre would host 102 job fairs to meet the high demand of employers and employees this year, she said.

ASEAN-Korea Centre’s former chief acknowledged with insignia

An insignia of the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade has been presented to former Secretary-General of the ASEAN – Korea Centre (AKC), Chung Hae-moon, in recognition of his significant contributions to the development of industrial and trade activities in Vietnam.

Vietnamese Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (RoK) Pham Huu Chi granted the insignia to Chung Hae-moon in Seoul on February 17.

He appreciated efforts by Chung, who he described as a friend of Vietnam, in the growth of the industry and trade sector in the Southeast Asian country. The diplomat said he hopes Chung will continue supporting Vietnam on any positions he will take.

Expressing his honour to receive the insignia, Chung Hae-moon said with certain contributions by the AKC, Vietnam and the RoK have become increasingly important trade and investment partners to each other.

In 2015, Vietnam was the third largest export market for the RoK, which remained the biggest foreign investor in the ASEAN nation. Many RoK businesses are also performing well in Vietnam.

The former AKC Secretary-General also promised to help intensify the two countries’ multi-faceted relations.

The AKC, inaugurated in March 2009, is an inter-governmental organisation based in Seoul.

It implements activities to enhance trade, investment, tourism, cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the 10 ASEAN member states and the RoK, ultimately promoting the ASEAN – RoK partnership, mutual understanding and the bloc’s integration efforts.

Da Nang's online facility to receive public complaints

Da Nang authorities have launched an online facility that allows residents to report environmental, traffic and social problems to concerned agencies.

The application is available on the city authority's website gopy.danang.gov.vn.

The concerned authorities have to deal with the problems reported by people within three working days.

Organisations and individuals can receive the city's solutions and feedback via the application.

The city opened two hotlines (0511)3 881 888 and (0511)1022, and 520 people reported problems that were then resolved by the concerned authorities in 2015.

The appliance, along with a Facebook page (Quan ly do thi Da Nang: Tien nghi – xanh – sach - dep) and the hotlines will become tools for the city's authorities to receive official and reliable information, so that they can deal with problems efficiently.  

Can Tho to add more new-style rural communes

The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho will have seven more new-style rural communes this year, raising the number of new developed communes to 19, said Hoang Kim Cuong, Head of the municipal Coordination Office for the new-style rural area building programme.

She made the remark during a conference to implement the city’s plan on the National Target Programme on New Rural Development in 2016, which was held on February 18.

This year, the city targets to have 17 other communes out of its 36 communes in total meeting 15-19 out of the 19 criteria of the programme, and no commune completing fewer than 15 criteria.

The city will focus on the application of new technologies to farm production, human resource training, and the establishment of agricultural cooperatives.

Can Tho will also multiply the “ One Village, One Product” movement as well as promote local craft villages in line with developing ecological tourism and homestay services.

Last year, the city mobilised about 1.5 trillion VND (65.2 million USD) for the new rural bulding programme and recognised 7 communes as new-style rural areas, according to the municipal People’s Committee.

The national target programme on building new-style rural areas, initiated by the Government in 2010, sets 19 criteria on socio-economic development, politics, and defence, aiming to modernise rural areas.

The criteria cover the development of infrastructure, the improvement of production capacities, environmental protection, and the promotion of cultural values.

The country aims to have 50 percent of all communes nationwide meeting all the requirements by the end of 2020.

As many as 1,526 communes and 15 districts nationwide have completed all 19 criteria and are recognised as new-style rural areas, according to the conference to review the UN Joint Project to support the programme (UNJP/VIE/051/UNJ), in early January.

Thanks to the programme, average per capita income in rural areas increased 1.9 times compared to 2010.

Saltwater intrusion damages over 1,000ha of rice in Hau Giang

Over 1,000ha of winter-spring rice in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang has been damaged by saltwater intrusion, according to the provincial agriculture sector.

The sector predicted that around of 60,000ha of rice, 15,000ha of fruit and 10,000ha of sugar cane and pineapples will suffer during this dry season.

For the first time, saltwater has even reached Chau Thanh district and Nga Bay township – normally safe places for growing fruit.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Cao Duc Phat said on February 17 that the phenomenom in the Mekong Delta is comparable to a once-in-a-century disaster.

The saltwater intrusion and drought are likely to prolong till this May, said head of the provincial Irrigation Department Le Phuoc Dai.

Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Tran Cong Chanh requested that between now and the end of the dry season, relevant units must gauge and publicise the level of water salinity to farmers via the mass media, while stepping up inspections of dykes and dams in response to the problem.

Between now and February 22, local authorities will continue encouraging the storage of fresh water.

Recently, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and local authorities visited affected areas and gave directions.

Across the Mekong Delta, more than 200,000 tonnes of rice have been damaged, resulting in a loss of over 1 trillion VND (44.64 million USD).

In the winter-spring crop 2015-2016, with 339,200ha of rice in coastal Mekong Delta provinces prone to saltwater intrusion and drought, accounting for 21.9 percent of the region’s total rice area, 104,000ha have already been severely impacted.

The National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting said saltwater intrusion has already hit alarming levels in Ca Mau, Kien Giang, Ben Tre and Tra Vinh provinces.

Ca Mau fishermen equipped with communication devices

As many as 63 fishing boats in the southernmost province of Ca Mau on February 18 were fitted with ICOM radio devices.

The devices, worth nearly 800 million VND (34,800 USD), were handed over by the Vietnam Red Cross chapter in Ca Mau province under the programme “East Sea Connectivity” to the fishermen in the districts of Nam Can, U Minh, Dam Doi, Ngoc Hien, Tran Van Thoi, and Phu Tan.

According to Nguyen Thi Kim Chi, Vice President of the chapter, the devices are to support fishermen in keeping close watch on the weather and enable them to contact the mainland during offshore fishing operations, to ensure their safety.

Ca Mau is now home to 5,000 fishing vessels, but only 2,000 of them can operate offshore.

Initiated by the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Vietnam Red Cross, The Radio Voice of Vietnam and Vietnam Television, the “East Sea Connectivity” programme calls for domestic and foreign aid to equip all fishermen nationwide with telecommunications devices.

The programme is aimed at supporting and encouraging fishermen to continue in their traditional fishing areas and protect national sea and island sovereignty.

President joins annual springtime festival with ethnic groups

President Truong Tan Sang joined the annual festival “Colours of spring from every corner of the country” in the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism, in the outlying district of Son Tay on February 18.

Attending the event were village patriarchs, religious dignitaries, intellectuals and artisans from 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups and overseas Vietnamese who returned home on the occasion of the Lunar New Year festival.

The President shared in the joy of the Tay ethnic community during the Long Tong festival – the biggest agricultural festival of the northern mountainous region – to pray for a bountiful harvest.

In his speech, he said 2016 marks the first year of realising the resolution adopted by the 12 th National Party Congress which set out policies to turn Vietnam into a modern-oriented industrialised country.

He hoped that ethnic groups nationwide will make their efforts right from the beginning of this year to promptly bring the resolution to life.

The leader took the occasion to convey his best New Year greetings to compatriots of 54 ethnic communities nationwide and wished that the great national unity would be ever strengthened.

Container movement restricted for NH 5 renovation

Containers weighing more than 15 tonnes are banned from using a stretch of NH 5 in Hai Phong City that is being renovated.

Starting today, a stretch of National Highway 5 in Hai Phong City (including Nguyen Binh Khiem – Nguyen Van Linh – Ton Duc Thang roads) is closed for renovation.

According to new traffic directions issued by the transport department of Hai Phong, all cars, motorbikes and rudimentary vehicles can use the lane extending from Ha Noi to Hai Phong as usual. Containers with gross weight of more than 15 tonnes (including goods' weight) are banned from using the lane extending from Hai Phong to Ha Noi from 5am to 10pm, except for containers going to inspection stations.

Containers weighing more than 15 tonnes and travelling from Hai Phong ports to Quan Toan can take the Hai Phong Port – Ha Noi Highway – Hai Phong – National Highway 10 route.

It will be business as usual for containers weighing less than 15 tonnes, coach buses, as well as cars, motorbikes and other vehicles.

Containers weighing more than 15 tonnes (tare weight) and other types of vehicles are allowed to travel on the highway from 8pm to 5am.

Vehicles that have parking lots in the closed stretch must have licences issued by the road traffic police division (under the Hai Phong police department) to load and unload goods in the lots.

Forum seeks to adapt Mekong Delta’s agriculture to climate change

Measures to adapt the Mekong Delta’s agricultural activities to the impacts of climate change, particularly drought and saltwater intrusion, lay at the heart of an agricultural extension forum in Vi Thanh city, Hau Giang province, on February 19.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)’s Department of Crop Production, an urgent solution is to swiftly restructure the cultivation schedule and prioritise short-term rice varieties tolerant of salinity of up to three parts per thousand.

The department advised local farmers, especially those in coastal areas, not to grow the spring-summer rice crop this year. Meanwhile, the 13 Mekong Delta localities should promptly build a comprehensive system of anti-saltwater dams and culverts.

In the long term, it is necessary to develop drought and saltwater-resistant crops and trees. Local cultivation practices also need to be changed to cope with expected sea level rise.

MARD Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh said climate change has been seriously impacting the Mekong Delta in recent years, resulting in drought and saltwater intrusion over hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland.

So far, in the 2015 – 2016 dry season (from November to April), there has been early and acute saltwater intrusion, which could last until July, and has already substantially affected agricultural production. Notably, a salinity of 12 parts per thousand has been reported in some areas, he added.

Phan Huy Thong, Director of the National Agricultural Extension Centre, said more than 1.5 million ha of rice were planted in the region in the 2015 – 2016 winter-spring crop.

Among 340,000 ha prone to drought and saltwater intrusion, 104,000 ha have been severely impacted, mostly in the provinces of Long An, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Kien Giang and Hau Giang.

A widespread area of fruit trees in Vinh Long, Hau Giang and Soc Trang provinces have also been threatened by the salinity of over three parts per thousand, Thong noted.

Youth take action for the community during Youth Month

A wide range of activities will be held during the 2016 Youth Month in March with the aim to encourage young people across the nation to take action for the community, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee announced on February 18.

A ceremony to launch the Month is scheduled to be organised on February 27 in the northern province of Vinh Phuc.

Activities held during the first week of March will focus on occupation and jobs. Youths will be provided with advice on how to choose suitable jobs and offered chances to participate in visits to vocational training schools, trade villages and factories.

“Green environment” will be the main theme of activities in the second week. A tree planting festival will be launched, and activities to raise youths’ awareness of environmental protection and climate change will be organised.

Meanwhile, during the third week of March, young people will take part in social welfare activities, including building houses for the poor, providing free health check-ups and medicine for poor people and policy beneficiaries, and presenting gifts to them.

Activities to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union will be held in the last week of March.

Held annually, the Month of Youth aims to educate young people on the position and role the Youth Union plays in socio-economic development, nation building and defence.

Island fishermen reap profits from decree on fishing development

Fishermen from the Phu Quy island district in the central coastal province of Binh Thuan are making profit from their vessels built under the Government’s Decree No 67/2014/ND-CP on off-shore fishing development policies.

Decree 67, which took effect in August 2014, stipulates policies in investment, credit, insurance and tax incentives in support of fishermen and ship owners, who wish to build new fishing boats, upgrade their existing boats and buy fishing and marine equipment, among others. The decree is a practice that could earn fishermen higher incomes.

The new fishing vessel constructed under the Decree 67 has allowed Nguyen Hung from Tam Thanh commune in Phu Quy district to launch five trips to the traditional fishing grounds in the country’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.

The fishing trips within three months earned him nearly 600 million VND (over 26,000 USD).

Another fisherman, Chau Cuong, who also had a new fishing boat with Decree 67 loans, pocketed up to 300 million VND (13,000 USD) just after two offshore trips.

As of February this year, Binh Thuan enabled 130 fishermen to borrow money to build 107 new fishing boats, including 16 steel-covered ships, 83 wooden boats, and 8 composite vessels, and upgrade 23 ships.

The Binh Thuan branch of the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has so far pledged about 171 billion VND (over 7.3 million USD) in loans for fishermen wishing to build new or upgrade their fishing vessels under Decree 67. To date, 123 billion VND (5.3 million USD) has been disbursed and 17 ships have been launched.

This year, Binh Thuan targets to double the disbursement and the ships built under the decree.

The province is also implementing the Government Decree 89, valid from November 25, 2015, which looks to address roadblocks in fishermen’s ship building ? process regulated in Decree 67.

HCMC Secretary requires to cut meetings, take actions to help farmers reach market

Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Dinh La Thang instructed Cu Chi district authorities of all levels to cut down meetings, focus on thinking and assisting local dairy cow breeders who have faced difficulties in consuming their products on Thursday.

He made the statement while inspecting implementation of the city Party Committee’ 10th congress resolution in the district, where leaders reported to him the farmers’ difficulties.

Milk produced from nearly 40,000 dairy cows in the district has been unsalable, they reported.

Mr. Thang asked local authorities to carefully learn about reasons of the issue and directly meet with chairmen and director generals of groups and corporations to solve it.

 “It is unacceptable that Cu Chi farmers have no places to sell their products in such a large market as HCMC,” he said.

Talking to Sai Gon Giai Phong reporter on the same day, director general of Vinamilk Mai Kieu Lien said that the company had called an internal meeting right after receiving information on the difficulties of Cu Chi famers.

Ms. Lien said that Vinamilk has asked the People’s Committee in Cu Chi district to do statistics on the number of dairy cow households who can not sell their products, specify whether they had signed consumption contracts with any businesses before and if they did why these businesses stopped purchase.

Vinamilk will send its personnel to do surveys in Cu Chi and have specific measures to assist each household, she added.

The company will send a detailed report to Mr. Thang and chairman of the city’s People’s Committee on their assistances to the dairy cow breeders as soon as possible, she affirmed.

Chairman of the district People’s Committee Nguyen Huu Hoai Phu said that the district was expected to send Vinamilk a list of these households by early next week.

Secretary Dinh La Thang urged Cu Chi district to reduce resolution issue and meetings and take immediate actions to help not only dairy cow breeders but also orchid and fruit farmers to solve consumption problems, he stressed.

Over 340 dairy cow farming households have been in difficulties in the district so far. Local authorities have established working groups to give them technical assistances to improve milk quality to meet businesses’ requirements.

Mr. Thang appreciated the district’s efforts in developing it into a new rural district, warned them of being satisfied with these results and prompted them to continue attempts.

In addition, he urged leaders of the district to pay attention to social welfare policies to improve citizens’ lives, especially clean water supply.

It was unacceptable that three communes in the district would have clean water as late as 2019, he said.

He suggested Cu Chi to learn experiences from the northern province of Thai Binh where businesses have invested in the clean water system if necessary.

The district should have a hotline for residents to directly contact with its Party Secretary and give their opinions to develop the district, he said.

Youth launch Tree Planting Festival in Ha Tinh

More than 1,000 young people and residents joined a Tree Planting Festival in memory of late President Ho Chi Minh on February 19 in the central province of Ha Tinh.

The event was jointly launched by the provincial People’s Committee and the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCMCYU) Central Committee.

Addressing the event, First Secretary of the Committee Nguyen Dac Vinh said in recent years, young people across the nation have actively participated in planting trees and forests.

Between 2013-2015, over 2,000 hectares of forest and 22 million trees of all kinds were planted and taken care of by HCMCYU members and young people nationwide, Vinh said.

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Tuan Nhan emphasided the importance of environmental protection, and climate change adaptation and hailed the proactive role of the Youth Union in this work.

On this occasion, some 10,000 trees were planted along the coastal areas in Cam Linh commune, Cam Xuyen district.

The HCMCYU Central Committee also presented 20 scholarships to outstanding students and 20 gifts to needy households in the district.

Previously on February 15, President Truong Tan Sang beat the ceremonial drum to kick off the national Tree Planting Festival 2016 in Hoang Khai commune, Yen Son district, northern Tuyen Quang province.

Last year, Vietnam planted 246,500 hectares of forest and involved local people to participate in the management of about 6.7 million hectares of forest.

Exports of forestry products hit over 7.2 billion USD in 2015, a year-on-year increase of 10.2 percent.

Hanoi-based hospital praised for organ transplant technique

Politburo member General Ngo Xuan Lich visited the Vietnam-Germany Friendship Hospital on February 18 on the occasion of the 61st anniversary of Vietnam Doctor's Day (February 27, 1955-2016).

General Lich, who is also head of the General Political Department of the Vietnam People's Army, congratulated the hospital medical staff and spoke highly of their achievements, particularly in the field of organ transplants.

The Politburo member was delighted at their improved professional capacity with numerous techniques meeting regional and international standards. He said he believed that the Vietnam-Germany Friendship Hospital would uphold its position as the nation’s leading healthcare treatment, research and training facility.

On behalf of the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of Defence, he expressed his sincere appreciation for the contributions of the entire hospital staff in helping to treat people in general and senior officers of Vietnam People's Army in particular.

General Lich urged the Hanoi-based facility to hold frequent exchanges and collaborations with major hospitals in and outside the military to help each other remain up-to-date with global developments.

The same day, he visited and supported a senior military official undergoing treatment at the hospital.

Tet-theme painting exhibition opened in town

A painting exhibition with the theme of Tet (Lunar New Year) is on at the Exhibition House of the Labor Culture Palace, HCMC, Tuoi Tre newspaper reports.

Lasting until February 22, the event is being organized by the Vietnam fine art and painting club under the Labor Culture Palace to feature around 55 paintings in varied materials from oil on canvas to lacquer, pastel and mixed media.

The exhibits reflect the vibrant spring atmosphere and traditional customs during Tet throughout Vietnam.

In particular, there are nine paintings that won awards at “Canh co mua xuan” (spring brush) painting competition held at the cultural palace during this year’s Tet for children and teenagers.

The palace is located at 55B Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in District 1.

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