Massive fires extinguished in Ha Noi, Bac Giang

More than 100 firefighters and 10 trucks in Ha Noi City were mobilised to extinguish a huge blaze that broke out at a construction site on Friday.

The fire broke out at 2am in a 3ha temporary tent site for construction workers in Linh Dam residential area. Thousands of frightened people, who had been sleeping, rushed into the open area to escape the fire.

The blaze was extinguished after an hour, thanks to the efforts of the local firefighters who arrived immediately on the scene.

A local witness said the blaze spread fast through the iron sheet-roofed tent site after an explosion that he had heard. The site had 200 tents, temporarily built for workers who were building apartments in Hoang Mai District.

The fire destroyed all the assets of the workers who had left their homeland to earn money in the capital city.

Fortunately, no casualties were reported.

Another blaze broke out at the South Korea-invested DAWON Vina Ltd-Co., located in Dinh Tram industrial zone in the northern Bac Giang Province yesterday evening.

About 140 firefighters and 13 trucks were deployed to stamp out the huge fire.

The Bac Giang Province firefighting police asked for support from neighbouring province of Bac Ninh and extinguished the fire after one-and-a-half hours.

The blaze destroyed the company's 3,000sq.m painting workshop, and a considerable amount of assets.

The company specialises in manufacturing telephone covers and electronic components.

The causes of the two fires are being investigated.

Counterfeit flooring material seized

More than 6,000sq.m of counterfeit flooring material was seized yesterday in Ha Noi.

The Consultancy on Construction of Building Material Project Co., JSC, located in Thanh Xuan District, was found having 6,076sq.m of flooring material that was made in China, but was branded with fake stamps that showed them to be of German origin.

Some 2,500 stamps were also found at the company.

The flooring material was estimated to be worth about VND2 billion (US$93,000), if it was sold under the fake stamps in the local market.

The police are investigating the case.

Central province receives rice aid

Two thousand tonnes of rice were delivered to the residents of central Ninh Thuan Province as part of a Government relief for the province affected by a prolonged drought this year.

While Bac Ai District received 411 tonnes, Thuan Nam got 460 tonnes, Ninh Son 382 tonnes, and Thuan Bac 400 tonnes. Ninh Phuoc was distributed 167 tonnes and Ninh Hai got 172 tonnes.

The provincial People's Committee has ordered local agencies and authorities to quickly distribute the rice to residents in need of assistance. Cham households in the province received the rice aid prior to their traditional Ramuwan festival held in June.

Drug Administration orders recall of three Kingphar products

Ha Noi's market watch authority inspected several pharmacies in the city, following the recall of some products made by Kingphar Viet Nam Company.

The inspections came after the Drug Administration of Viet Nam, under the health ministry, ordered the recall of three supplementary food products manufactured by Kingphar Viet Nam Company, headquartered at B-58, Nguyen Thi Dinh, Trung Hoa-Nhan Chinh, Ha Noi.

Nine pharmacies were found to be selling the banned products. In addition, several other violations were detected, such as failure to record sales and employment of unqualified staff.

Earlier in May, market force team number three uncovered various food safety violations during an inspection of Kingphar Viet Nam Company's headquarters. Samples were sent to the drug administration's lab for testing. The administration later ordered the company to recall their supplementary food products, True Lady Kingphar, Kingphar Baby and Kingphar bone and joint treatment tablets.

The city's market watch will continue to inspect pharmacies to check for the sale of Kingphar products and conduct further investigations.

Auto driving course to launch

An automatic vehicle training programme is scheduled to start in September, as the demand for learning how to drive only automatic cars increases.

The Directorate for Roads of Viet Nam (DRVN) submitted a draft plan to the Ministry of Transport that would revise a circular on driver training and licences, according to DRVN Deputy Director Nguyen Van Quyen.

The plan creates a training programme for those who want to learn on just automatic vehicles. Those who want to learn manual or both automatic and manual should enroll in pre-existing manual vehicle training courses. Automatic courses will be shorter and cheaper than manual ones. Individual costs depend on the school.

The conversation about creating licences for just automatic cars started in May in Viet Nam, dividing the public. Some worried the policy would create difficulties for police, or that people wanting to drive manual cars without proper training would cause more danger on the road.

Fund wasting to be fined

State agencies found wasting money from State budget funds, including welfare funds or other types of funds financing public services, will be fined VND20 million to VND30 million (US$1,000 – 1,500).

This was revealed in Government Decree 58 issued on Tuesday.

The decree adds that if an agency spends more money than the set limit on projects, fines can reach VND50 million – 60 million ($2,500 – 3,000).

Fines of VND1 million to VND2 million (US$50-100) will also be issued for holding workshops, receiving guests and organising overseas trips using more money than the set limit.

The same fines will apply to other wasteful acts, including wasteful use of telephones, electricity, water and petrol.

Decree 58 comes as the Government is adopting belt-tightening measures because of limited State budget money.

Earlier this month, the Government decided to temporarily hold back 10 per cent of the State budget allocations it was about to pour into the current accounts of ministries and local governments for spending during the remaining months of the year.

Phung Quang Hai, director of the Finance Ministry's State Budget Department, said if the state of the budget did not improve, the 10 per cent could be lost permanently.

Foreign vehicle management regulations modified

The Government has issued Decree No. 157/2015/ND-CP to modify and supplement articles of Decree No. 152/2013/ND-CP from November 4, 2013, which stipulates the management of foreign motorised vehicles used in Vietnam for travel purposes.

Under the new document three types of vehicles will be allowed to participate in traffic activities in Vietnam, including left-steering-wheel mobile house-cars, passenger cars with a maximum of nine seats and motorbikes.

The Ministry of Transport will have three days to approve the use of foreign vehicles in Vietnam after receiving the request from vehicle owners, two days earlier than the former regulation.

Acceptance documents will be sent to the Ministries of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Foreign Affairs; Public Security; Defence; and Finance as well as the Border Guard High Command and local authorities, aiming to serve effective coordination among them in managing vehicles.

In the event that submitted requests are not accepted, the Ministry of Transport must release an explanatory response within three working days.

Quang Ninh announces administrative reform index in 2014

A conference announcing Quang Ninh’s administrative reform index in 2014 of all departments and localities was held in the northern province on June 18.

The province’s Industrial and Trade Department topped in the office and department level with 82.9%, and the city of Ha Long came first in the city and district category with 80.05%.

Other localities with indexes over 70% included Cam Pha, Uong Bi and Mong Cai cities, Quang Yen and Dong Trieu towns and Tien Yen district.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Long said Quang Ninh has determined administrative reform to be a crucial element in the province’s socio-economic development. A number of effective administrative reform models were highly evaluated by the community, particularly the province’s Public Administrative Centre.

The chairman also requested departments and localities settle all administrative procedures.

Departments at all levels should improve their qualities and solutions to increase their administrative reform index.

Vietnamese-American held for allegedly buying sex from minor

Police have detained a Vietnamese-American man who purportedly bought sex from a 15-year-old girl in a city in southern Vietnam.

Officers in the southernmost city of Ca Mau arrested Tieu Van Luan, 56, on May 16 for an investigation into charges of “sexual intercourse with juveniles” pursuant to Article 256 of the Penal Code.

If indicted, Luan will be jailed for up to 15 years as the heaviest penalty for this offense.

Luan settled down in the U.S. in 1980 but returned to live in Ca Mau several years ago, police said, adding that he is now the owner of the Best CM Hotel, the largest hotel in the city.

Also being held is a 39-year-old woman, Lam Thi Chau, who allegedly acted as a broker for Luan to buy sex from the minor, named Thanh, according to news website Dat Viet (Vietnam Land).  

Chau is the owner of a restaurant in Ward 9 of the city.

These arrests were made after police received a report from Thanh’s mother, who accused Chau of holding her daughter in the restaurant for prostitution and demanding VND7 million (US$323) from the underage girl’s family as payment for Thanh’s debt.

Chau had forced Thanh to sell sex to many wealthy men, including Luan, investigators said.

After verifying the testimony from Thanh and several witnesses, investigators said they have enough evidence to prove that Luan bought sex from Thanh twice and paid VND500,000 (US$22.9) each time through Chau, Dat Viet reported

Police are investigating the case further.

Foreign-funded primary school opens in Thai Nguyen

Sponsored by the Republic of Korea, upgrades to the Khau Vieng primary and nursery school in Lam Vy commune, Dinh Hoa district in the northern province of Thai Nguyen was inaugurated on June 18.

The total cost for the school’s upgrades were VND2.5 billion (US$115,000), two billion VND of which came from Lotte Vietnam, an affiliate of the RoK’s Lotte Corporation, and the remaining from the local government.

The construction of the school was carried out by Plan International since September 2014, with two new rooms and four upgraded rooms as well as a resting room for teachers.

The school is able to accommodate students aged 3 to 11 years-old in four hamlets: Khau Vieng, Na Lang, Na Tac and Ca Do, all in Lam Vy commune.

It will welcome 85 children in the new academic year and is expected to house up to 300 within the next 10 years.

Police searching for Russian suspected of ‘illegally holding property

Vietnamese police are searching for a Russian woman who has disappeared after a bank staffer in the southern city of Vung Tau allegedly gave her US$11,575 more than the actual amount she possessed last year, local media reported.

Police in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province on  June 16 said they are hunting Anna Studnitsyna, a 36-year-old Russian woman, who left her temporary residence in Ward 3 of Vung Tau City, the former capital of the province, earlier this year.

Studnitsyna might have committed the act of “illegally holding property,” news website VnExpress cited police as saying.

Studnitsyna disappeared after she worked with police on a report by the Vung Tau branch of DongA Joint Stock Commercial Bank (DongA Bank) saying that last year it mistakenly gave her US$12,145, which is US$11,575 higher than the actual amount of US$570 she was supposed to receive.

According to investigators, Studnitsyna, who had opened a foreign currency account at the bank, received two transfers of US$1,570 and US$570 from a Japan-based company on December 9 and 15, 2014, respectively.

On December 10, 2014, she arrived at the branch to withdraw US$1,570 from the transferred amount, and a week later, she came again to get the remaining US$570 (equivalent to VND12,145,000 at that time).

By mistake, a bank staffer issued a payment voucher for US$12,145 to Studnitsyna, which means she received US$11,575 more than the true amount.

On January 12, the bank discovered the mistake and informed her of it, but she did not agree to return the different amount to the bank, saying it was hers.

The bank, therefore, reported the case to police.

In a meeting later with investigators, Studnitsyna said the amount of US$12,145 was transferred to her by her partner in Japan.

However, after verification, police found that no deal had been made between her and her partner for such an amount, VnExpress reported.

After that meeting, Studnitsyna left her residence in Vung Tau and did not continue to work with investigators, despite police summons.

Meanwhile, Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper quoted an investigator as saying on June 15 that Studnitsyna had recognized that the bank overpaid her, and promised to return the amount to the lender, but she has yet to do so.

On February 12, local police reported the case to the Russian Consulate General in Vietnam and other competent Vietnamese agencies.  

Studnitsyna’s acts show signs of ‘illegally holding property’ under Article 141 of the Penal Code, VnExpress quoted an investigator as saying.

“If Studnitsyna continues not to work with authorities to pay back the above-mentioned different amount to the bank, she will be handled under the law of Vietnam,” the investigator said.

WSP Finland honored for creative bridge design in Vietnam

WSP Finland, a consulting firm that provides sustainable services in engineering, consulting, surveys and design, has been recognized as the creative company of the year 2015 in Finland-Vietnam relations.

The embassy had chosen WSP Finland as the receiver of the award in recognition of the company's creative and successful bridge design projects in different parts of Vietnam, the Finnish Embassy in Hanoi said June 17 in a press release.

Finnish Ambassador Kimmo Lähdevirta presented the award certificate to WSP Finland during a ceremony organized on June 18 in Helsinki, Finland.

Receiving the certificate, WSP Finland’s managing director Kirsi Hautala and business area director Pekka Pulkkinen, said, “It is a great honor for WSP Finland to receive this award. We are especially pleased that we are recognized for our achievements in Vietnam.”

As part of the global WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff group employing 31,000 staffers in over 500 offices in 39 countries around the world, WSP Finland has been involved in many different projects in Vietnam, including bridges, over the past 20 years.

The company has designed the Binh and Rao II Bridges in the northern city of Haiphong in 2005 and 2012 respectively, and the Tran Thi Ly Bridge in the central city of Danang in 2013.

Currently, WSP Finland is working on the Thu Thiem II Bridge in Ho Chi Minh City.

Last year WSP Finland’s turnover amounted to EUR29 million (US$33 million) while that of WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff reached US$5.2 billion.

New rural development in Khanh Hoa’s mountain region

Raglai ethnic people make up 86% of the population of Ba Cum Bac, a mere farming commune in Khanh Hoa province’s Khanh Son district. The commune is focusing on improving local incomes and living conditions as a criteria of the national new rural development program.

Ba Cum Bac is a mountain commune with vast forests and farmland, ideal for planting fruit trees and breeding cattle and fowls.

As part of the implementation of the national new rural development program, Ba Cum Bac has mobilized capital from various resources to upgrade the local infrastructure and apply new economic models under the program’s criteria.

In 2013 and 2014, the commune was granted US$15,000 by the provincial authorities to boost production by applying 16 new models of cultivation and husbandry.

Deputy Chairman of Khanh Son district’s People’s Committee Mau Thai Cu said, "We face both advantages and challenges implementing the national new rural development program. The local people wholeheartedly support us by contributing their land and labour to build new roads, schools, healthcare centres, and cultural houses."

"However, due to limited funds and local people’s knowledge, it has been not easy to help them apply new production technologies. That’s why the district authorities are focusing on improving local human resource training," he added.

After 4 years implementing the program, Ba Cum Bac has mobilized funds worth more than US$300,000 to upgrade the local infrastructure and opening vocational training classes for local people to help them find jobs.

The commune is also implementing other government projects on poverty reduction. Nguyen Quang Ngoc, head of the Khanh Hoa provincial Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, said the province has specific policies to support local ethnic people.

"Khanh Hoa province has designed a specific socio-economic development program until 2020 for the mountain region. Under this program, the local authorities have cooperated with local Youth Union’s and Farmers’ Associations to improve ethnic people’s knowledge and production knowhow, provide them with funding to boost their production, ensure social security, and upgrade the local infrastructure," Ngoc noted.

"We’ve connected them to the national grid and provide each household with clean water access. This program has contributed significantly to new rural development," he stressed.  

Ba Cum Bac has completed 6 out of the program’s 19 criteria with encouraging results.    

Vietnam helps Laos develop information technology

A programme on information technology system development was officially handed over to the Office of the Lao Government in the country’s capital Vientiane on June 18.

With the help from the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), the programme provides training courses for information technology officials, IT equipment and a specialised office email system.

Launched in February, the US$83,000 programme aims to improve the Government Office’s information technology system, with a particular focus on strengthening security.

Addressing the event, BIDV Chairman Tran Bac Ha said the bank wishs to contribute to strengthening the solidarity between the two Governments, Parties and peoples by implementing projects on IT development and application in Laos in the time ahead.

Minister and Head of the Office of the Government of Laos Sonexy Suphandone praised the bank’s great contributions as well as the Vietnamese Party, State and Government’s support for Laos in the past.

The programme is expected to contribute to the development of human resources and professional skills, and strengthen the special cooperative relationship between the two sides.

Tuyen Quang: 5,000 needy ethnic households offered land

The northern mountainous province of Tuyen Quang will allocate about 31.8 billion VND (1.46 million USD) to provide over 5,000 needy ethnic minority households with residential and production land.

The plan will benefit impoverished ethnic minority people who lack land for farming and housing, particularly those dislocated by the construction of the Tuyen Quang hydropower plants.

Each poor household will be granted 400sq.m of land and an additional 450sq.m of farming land.

As part of the plan, more than 24,450 hectares of land from local agricultural and forestry companies are to be reclaimed while vocational training courses will help the resettled households make new livelihoods and settle down in their new living areas.

Tuyen Quang is home to 5,092 disadvantaged ethnic minority households, including 831 lacking adequate land for housing and the remaining are short on farm land.

Fatherland Front launches e-newspaper

The Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) launched the new online version of its Dai Doan Ket (Great Unity) newspaper at www.daidoanket.vn on June 18.

The e-newspaper is developed from the existing e-portal, adding two independent news pages. The page VNTinnhanh will provide latest information for readers while Kieubao, which will go into operation next month, will receive and post opinions and recommendations of Vietnamese around the world on building the country.

President of the VFF Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan said with pride that the Dai Doan Ket newspaper, whose predecessor was the Cuu Quoc (National Salvation) newspaper, was the first to publish the Declaration of Independence and the first Constitution.

The launching of the e-newspaper is an important step in bringing the voices of the Party and State to the people and connecting the society with the VFF, he stated.

The online newspaper will also create a forum for Vietnamese people both at home and abroad to contribute their ideas to the country’s nation-building and safeguarding process, he added.-

Seminar highlights 90-year history of Vietnam revolutionary press

A national seminar reviewing the glorious tradition of the Vietnamese revolutionary press took place in Hanoi on June 18 in celebration of its 90th founding anniversary (June 21).

Opening the event, Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association (VJA) Thuan Huu recalled that on June 21, 1925, the late President Ho Chi Minh founded the Thanh nien [Young People] newspaper, marking the birth of the Vietnam revolutionary press which has since grown in stature under the leadership of the Party.

The Vietnam revolutionary press holds fast to the ideals of the Party and performs its function as the mouthpiece of the Party and State as well as a forum of the people, he said, adding that it offers a huge volume of daily and up-to-date news to the public in print, audio, television and electronic forms.

He lauded the immense contributions made by the Vietnam revolutionary press to the national liberation and development, including the brave sacrifices of journalists on the battlefield during the war, which he said, has built a pride-worthy history of the sector.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son pointed to flaws in need of further attention, including loose management that leads to untruthful and biased news to be published, inadequate awareness of political ideology and cases of professional ethics violations.

Veteran journalist Phan Quang welcomed a plan to reshuffle the press sector in a way that improves its quality and sustainable development.

In his view, it must be done in tandem with improving professional skills, social responsibility and ethics of each journalist.

Editor-in-chief of Tap Chi Cong San (Communist Review) Vu Van Phuc, for his part, said honing professional ethics depends on each individual’s awareness.

Veteran journalist Ha Dang underlined that raising political will and professional ethics is never outdated.

Binh Dinh province reinforces its irrigation system

The central coastal province of Binh Dinh is setting aside over 39 billion VND (1.8 million USD) to reinforce more than 96km of its irrigation system.

The investment is intended to prevent drought and modernise rural areas, according to Director of the provincial irrigation exploitation and management company, Nguyen Van Phu.

It also aims to provide more water for 10,000ha of crops in the province.

Communes that fulfilled the criteria for new-style rural areas in 2011-2015 will receive support in order to build nearly 39.7km of canals, thus providing irrigation for more than 2,600ha of crops.

In the 2015-2020 period, those expected to be recognised as new-style rural areas will receive assistance for the construction of 87km of canals, benefitting over 4,900ha of plants.

From 2020 onwards, authorities will help the remaining communes build more than 65km of canals and provide water for over 2,750ha of crop.-

Hanoi, Tokyo trade unions enhance cooperation

A seminar on sharing experiences in planning and implementing trade union activities was jointly organised by the Hanoi Confederation of Labour (HCL) and the Tokyo Trade Union Council in Hanoi on June 17.

HCL President Nguyen Thi Tuyen briefed the 13 guests from the Japanese capital on the achievements HCL has made in terms of improving the physical and mental wellbeing of workers.

For his part, Motoaki Takabatake, the head of the Japanese delegation, expressed his hope that the two cities and nations continue fostering trade union cooperation in the future.-

Public asked to submit administrative reform initiatives

A nationwide competition on reform initiatives for administrative procedures and electronic transactions in the field of social, health and unemployment insurance was launched in Hanoi on June 18.

Initiatives should maximise time and cost savings in filing and processing e-payments for social, health and unemployment insurance or amend the existing regulations on administrative reform.

In order to garner wide-spread participation in the competition, the media was asked to promote it strategically and honour outstanding individuals along the way.

During his speech at the launch ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who is the Head of the Government Steering Committee for Administrative Reform, praised Vietnam Social Insurance (VSI) for its keen determination to support the administrative reform process, which will have a significant impact on workers and businesses.

The Deputy PM praised the sector for shortening formal procedures by 100 hours and cutting procedures from 263 to 115.

In preparation of the upcoming integration into ASEAN, the VSI has reduced the time it takes to process social insurance payments to 49.5 hours, which is on par with the ASEAN-6 average and marks a step towards the ASEAN-4 average level. E-transactions are expected to replace manual transactions in 90 percent of organisations and businesses nationwide, he added.

The Deputy PM called upon the VSI to collect feedback from the public and closely cooperate with the Ministries of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs; Health; Defence; and Public Security, as well as the Bureau of Administrative Procedure Control.

He also demanded that VSI work harder to remove red tape within the sector.

The award ceremony for the competition is slated for December 2015.

All entries should be submitted electronically to thicaicachTTHC-BHXH@vss.gov.vn or posted to VSI headquarters at 7 Trang Thi street, Hanoi.

Further information can be found at www.baohiemxahoi.gov.vn.

Phuoc Khanh bridge to link southern region

A contract for the Phuoc Khanh Cable Stayed Bridge was signed on June 17, allowing work on the 3.1km bridge to start in August.

The contract was signed by the Vietnam Expressway Corporation and a consortium made up of Japanese contractor Sumitomo Mitsui and local partner Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (Cienco 4).

The Phuoc Khanh Cable Stayed Bridge will be 21.7m wide with four lanes, and allow vehicles to travel at 80kph after the first phase is complete, and 100kph once the project is finished.

The project has investment capital of 162.3 million USD and crosses over Long Tau River, connecting Ho Chi Minh City's Can Gio district with Dong Nai province's Nhon Trach district.

The bridge is part of the Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway project, which has a total length of 57.1km running through Long An province, HCM City and Dong Nai province.

The first phase of the project will require 31.3 trillion VND (roughly 1.6 billion USD), including 636 million USD funded by the Asia Development Bank, 635 USD from the Japanese Government via the Japanese International Cooperation Agency and 337 USD million from the Vietnamese Government.

The entire project is scheduled to be completed in 2018.

According to the Ministry of Transport, the Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway project would play an important role in economic and social development in the South of Vietnam.

Upon its completion, the highway will help connect the south-western region with the southeastern region without going through HCM City.

It will also connect the seaports at Cai Mep-Thi Vai and Hiep Phuoc with the planned Long Thanh International Airport, and shorten travel times from Long An to Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

HCM City needs 140,000 workers for last two quarters

Enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City, the largest economic hub in southern Vietnam, will have 140,000 job vacancies in the last two quarters of the year, according to the municipal Centre for Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information (FALMI).

It said that of the total, 30,000 labourers will be recruited for temporary positions, adding that number of job seekers is forecast to shoot up 10 percent from the first six months of the year.

FALMI Vice Director Tran Anh Tuan underscored that there will be a sharp rise in enterprise demands for high-quality labourers and senior managers, though the number of recruited labourers will be limited.

He said most of the vacancies will be in engineering, electronics, information technology (IT), food processing, chemistry, and services, among others.

In the first two quarters of this year, recruiting demands among municipal businesses grew 7.4 percent from the same period last year. Demand for experienced and professionally skilled candidates has risen in the city’s job market.

From January to June, job demands among workers rose 8.1 percent compared to the same period last year, mostly in business, services, garments-leather, medical and pharmaceuticals-healthcare, administration, engineering-automation and architecture- construction techniques.

The city is set to foster links between enterprises and vocational training schools to meet the increasing demands of the labour market, Tuan said, highlighting that vocational training schools should develop a high-quality workforce and ensure standards on professional capacity, soft skills, computing, and foreign languages.

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