Vietnam intensifies crackdown on public peeing, littering

Those who litter or urinate in public will be fined up to VND7 million (US$313), starting February 1, according to a recent decree by the Vietnamese government.

The act of public littering is subject to a fine of VND3-VND5 million (US$134-US$223), the fiat says.

Those who litter on the streets, sidewalks or into drainage systems will pay an even higher fine of VND5-VND7 million (US$223-US$313).

People who put away cigarette butts in undesignated areas at condominiums, shopping malls or other public places will be fined between VND500,000 (US$22.5)and VND1 million (US$45).

Public urination and defecation will also be subject to penalties of VND1-VND3 million (US$45-US$134), according to the new decree. The old penalty for such an illegal act is from VND200,000 (US$8.7) to VND300,000 (US$13).

The new fines are between five and 25 times higher than those previously enforced in Vietnam, as the highest penalty for such actions were only set at VND500,000 ($22.5), a sum many had deemed ineffective in raising public awareness of environmental protection.

Local experts have aired support for the heftier penalties for public urination and littering, saying that the harsher punishments are necessary for combating such illegal behaviors.

Manufacturing sector struggles to overcome skills gap

The labour challenges facing Vietnam in 2017 are considerable, requiring a massive effort to retrain and upskill workers by the millions, says the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (Molisa).

manufacturing sector struggles to overcome skills gap hinh 0 According to Molisa’s Employment Department, the Make in Vietnam initiative is meant to help create a more solid foundation for the country’s economy by investing heavily in the high-end manufacturing sector, but it is running up against the limited skills of the workforce. 

In 2016, says the Department, only 166,000 students graduated from a full-time accredited vocational college while another 1.7 million completed short 3-month skills training programs.

The short training essentially makes the graduates unemployable in today’s workforce and does little to nothing to help Vietnam remedy its skills crunch, says the Department.

The Department adds that the lack of participation in comprehensive specialized courses mean companies operating in Vietnam must underwrite the cost of training their own people from scratch.

Department personnel are quick to point out and emphasize that Vietnam does not have a labour shortage problem— it has a monumental skilled labour shortage challenge to overcome.

While Vietnam has thousands of vocational schools, they aren’t producing the calibre of worker required, says the Department. The quality of the manpower when they come out of short 3-moth vocational training programs is not A-grade.

The country’s skills gap is not solely unique to its manufacturing sector. Skills training is in short supply across a range of technical fields.

Currently only a tiny fraction of Vietnamese workers have received formal vocational skills training, according to the Department, which is backed up by numerous published surveys. Those studies show that the country’s tiny fraction of less than 1% compares with 68% in the UK, 75% in Germany and 96% in the Republic of Korea.

What Vietnam is suffering from, notes the Department, is a shortage of specifically-skilled labour—in other words, a mismatch between the skills it has and those it needs. And what it needs most is skilled workers for manufacturing.

On the one hand, university students graduating with a degree in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields are overqualified and are not necessarily the most suited for these manufacturing jobs.

On the other hand, the untrained population of Vietnam that is only taking 3-month vocational skills training is unable to fill the skilled manufacturing positions the sector needs.

Without training in the – middle – Vietnam will lose out to its Southeast Asian neighbours that are absorbing businesses moving out of China as wages in that country rise and the Chinese economy moves up the value chain.

One means to solve the problem advocated by many organizations and individuals has been to cast employee vocational training activities as part of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

Though it may seem a workable solution at first blush, what happens, say industry experts, is that one company spends money to provide their employees vocational training, but after having received it the employee leaves to accept employment at a competitor.

As well, it is often the case, that some of the vocational training needed is not directly related to the core business of a specific employer so it unnecessarily adds CSR cost that far too many companies in Vietnam simply cannot afford.

Finally, the skill development that is often undertaken by many companies is specifically geared to meeting their own requirements and may not provide any benefit to the employee outside of his or her current job.

That type of training leaves the employee overly specialized and not particularly employable by another upon the event that he or she were to move jobs. So in the long run, say the industry experts, CSR it is not a workable solution to the country’s massive skills mismatch problem.

Overseas Vietnamese contribute to national development

The Vietnamese State has implemented a number of policies to encourage overseas Vietnamese to contribute to national development as much as they wish.

Vietnam has formulated law and policies to live up to the expectation of overseas Vietnamese, making them to draw closer to the homeland emphasizing that overseas Vietnamese are a part of and an important resource for Vietnam. 

Vietnam has reviewed, revised and set out legal documents concerning overseas Vietnamese including the laws on nationality, land, housing, investment, and enterprises, an ordinance on overseas remittance, and regulations on residence and repatriation. These policies have created favorable conditions for overseas Vietnamese including intellectuals, scientists and businesses to contribute to Vietnam’s politics, external affairs, economics, culture, science and technology, education, and training. Overseas Vietnamese’s investment in Vietnam has increased in both scope and scale. 

Thanh Do in Russia, who has invested in real estate and building high-rises in Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang, said “I want to contribute to the development of Ho Chi Minh City and the construction sector. I hope our country will change for the better.”

A number of overseas Vietnamese have returned to the homeland to work in educational reform, health care, economic restructuring, clean energy, and transport infrastructure development. 

About 300 overseas Vietnamese experts return to home every year, of them 55% work for state agencies and 45% in education and research institutions. 

Professor Le Van Cuong of the University Paris 1 and Director of the French Science Center said “I want to train students in economics to reach the international level. This is what we can do. We need to set up a world-class economics faculty in Vietnam which will help reduce costs, prevent a brain drain, and attract talents.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said the Vietnamese government would continue to map out specific policies and solutions to help Vietnamese expats.

“It’s very important to mobilize overseas Vietnamese to contribute to the homeland. 80% of successful overseas Vietnamese people live in developed countries. The government plans to attract more overseas Vietnamese intellectuals back to work for national industrialization and modernization,” said Deputy PM. 

Incentives have been adopted and meetings have been held to hear overseas Vietnamese’s opinions on national development and to strengthen their links with the homeland.

Nghe An acknowledges expatriates’ devotion to local growth

Authorities of Nghe An province met on February 2 with Vietnamese expatriates who returned home to the central locality to celebrate the Lunar New Year, appreciating their contribution to local development.

Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Dac Vinh said the authorities consider overseas Nghe An people an integral part of the province, a major boost to socio-economic development, and an important factor helping to tighten Nghe An’s friendship with foreign localities.

He pledged the best possible conditions for expatriates to return to the province to invest and live. Nghe An is overhauling policies regarding overseas Vietnamese to call for their support.

It hopes that expatriates will remain united, uphold Vietnam’s cultural identities and never forget their Vietnamese origin, he said, voicing the belief that they will keep contributing to Nghe An’s development and connect the province with other countries.

More than 55,000 people from Nghe An work abroad, accounting for a large portion of total Vietnamese workers abroad.

Overseas remittances sent by expatriates whose hometown is Nghe An exceeded 445 million USD in 2016, making this province one of the biggest sources of remittances in Vietnam.

The province currently houses 11 projects with registered capital of nearly 7.9 trillion VND (349 million USD) invested by overseas Nghe An people.

HCM City expecting improved job outlook

Ho Chi Minh City is projected to lead the nation in job creation for 2017, according to a just released economic report by the Centre for Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information.

hcm city expecting improved job outlook hinh 0 Tran Anh Tuan, deputy director of the Centre, said the projection anticipates a decline in the City and regions unemployment rate coupled with job growth of an estimated 40,000 jobs, which is great news.

The forecast reflects the ever-changing economic mix in the region, in conjunction with the emergence of new manufacturing, processing, hotel and hospitality jobs, which contribute to the positive trend, said Tuan.

It is encouraging to hear that jobs are expected to increase throughout 2017.

Roughly 1,800 companies in the City and surrounding region are expected to add more than 40,000 jobs, which reflects anticipated improved gross domestic product growth over last year.

VFF leader offers incense in tribute to President Ho Chi Minh

On February 2, Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) President Nguyen Thien Nhan offered incense in tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at the relic site in House No. 67.

Nhan pledged to learn from President Ho Chi Minh’s example and successfully implement Party resolutions for national development. 

Talking with staff and officials of the relic site, the VFF leader urged them to fulfill their tasks of preserving the relic and introduce it to the youth and international friends for better understanding of Vietnamese history in national construction and development.

Located within the President Ho Chi Minh relic site, House No.67 was named after the year 1967 when it was constructed. This is where President Ho Chi Minh passed away and preserved objects closely linked to his life.

Thua Thien-Hue strives for forest coverage of 57 percent this year

The central province of Thua Thien-Hue launched a tree planting festival on February 2 with 120 sao den trees (Hopea odorata), a rare species, planted in An Dong ward of Hue city.

The tree planting festival has become a custom practiced whenever a new year comes in Vietnam.

It is a response to the call made by President Ho Chi Minh, who wrote an article entitled “Tree planting festival” published by the Nhan dan (People) newspaper on November 28, 1959. The article analysed the importance of planting trees to the country and each people and encouraged all people to engage in the work.

Thua Thien-Hue aims to plant 7,000ha of forest in 2017, raising the local forest coverage to 57 percent.

The province targets 61 percent of its area covered by forest by 2020. 

While special-use forest is hoped to make up over 26 percent of the total forest area, protection forest and commercial forest are expected to respectively account for more than 30 percent and nearly 44 percent by 2020.

Work starts on housing project for workers in Bac Ninh

The Viglacera Infrastructure Investment Development Company under the Viglacera Corporation on February 2 launched a housing project for workers in the Yen Phong industrial park (IP) in the northern province of Bac Ninh. 

The project is expected to accommodate about 4,000 employees, helping them shorten time to go to their working places and thus contributing to reducing traffic congestion at peak hours. 

Covering an area of over 20 ha in Dong Tien commune, the project includes 7,000 sq.m for a kindergarten, parking-lot, and facilities for cultural activities, over 23,800m2 for transport facilities and over 13,000sq.m for greenery areas, and sport grounds. 

Addressing the ground-breaking ceremony, Minister of Construction Pham Hong Ha said this is a practical project, contributing to realising Bac Ninh’s socio-economic development target. 

As a key construction enterprise in Vietnam, Viglacera is not only a prestigious brand name in terms of construction material but also a pioneer in developing social housing, including those for workers. 

According to the minister, around 179 projects of social housing (71,150 apartments) in urban areas and IPs have been completed, accounting for only 28 percent of the goal set in the National Housing Development Strategy by 2020.  

A representative from Samsung Display of the Republic of Korea said the project will help better workers’ living conditions, and contribute to improving the investment environment in Bac Ninh. 

Built in 2005 on a total area of over 658ha, the Yen Phong IP is home to many investment projects of foreign renowned trade names such as Samsung, Orion, Flexcom, Dongsin, Mobase, Dawo Vina, and Hansol. 

The IP has attracted nearly 8 billion USD in investment, including 7.2 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI), contributing to local export value. 

Established in 1974, Viglacera has developed from a traditional brick and ceramics manufacturer to a state-owned conglomerate with a focus on building material production and development of infrastructure, IPs and residential and business properties.

It received international awards such as, “Best Vietnamese IP Developer” and “Vietnam’s Most Active Developer” awarded by BCI Asia for its achievements in industrial and residential property development.-VNA

Tuyen Quang has special national historical site

The Kim Binh historical site in the northern province of Tuyen Quang received a certificate accrediting it as a special national relic site at a ceremony on February 2.

Sixty-six years ago, the late President Ho Chi Minh selected Kim Binh commune, Chiem Hoa district to host the second National Party Congress, the first organised in Vietnam and the only one held outside the capital city of Hanoi. 

At the event, the congress made a range of major decisions, including the road map to a complete victory of the then revolution as well as the election of the Party Central Committee’s members, with Ho Chi Minh as president and Truong Chinh as general secretary.

In his speech at the ceremony, head of the Party Central Committee’s Organisation Commission Pham Minh Chinh hailed socio-economic achievements Tuyen Quang has made recently. 

He recommended the province pay heed to the conservation of local relic sites, making them an effective tool to educate young generations on patriotism.

At the ceremony, Chinh also presented gifts to people who contributed to the revolution and social welfare beneficiaries in Kim Binh commune.

Parents shocked over adult content in YouTube videos for children

A YouTube channel has recently caused uproar among Vietnamese parents for publishing a series of videos aimed at young children that feature what many would regard as inappropriate scenes.

The channel, named Spiderman Frozen Marvel Superhero Real Life, has used popular characters like Queen Elsa from Disney’s animated film Frozen, Spiderman, Superman and the Hulk to create videos containing sexual content and violent scenes. The videos often appear on playlists with other children’s stories.

Thanh Lan from Ba Dinh District in Hanoi said that she often opens YouTube for her 4-year-old daughter to watch. However, that's changed since she unexpectedly saw a scene in which Queen Elsa, cast by a girl wearing sexy clothes, was hugging Spiderman.

“I quickly switched to the next video but the content was very similar. I had to turn off YouTube even though my daughter started crying her eyes out,” Lan told VnExpress.

Another parent from Hanoi said that he had encountered scenes of cartoon characters engaging in crude behavior. “Why are these videos made for children when even adults blush when they see them.”

To date, the Spiderman Frozen Marvel channel, under control of a YouTube partner in Vietnam, has produced around 70 videos with some even fetching more than 30 million views.

In response to objections from Vietnamese parents, the channel has blocked all Vietnamese YouTube subscribers. The move prevents the videos from being ‘locked ‘ by YouTube, according to YouTube content creator Hoang Xuan Tu.

Tu said that these videos can help producers earn thousands of dollars thanks to add-on advertisements. However, competition among channels is getting fiercer, forcing many to add inappropriate content to attract viewers

He added that the foremost responsibilities belong to parents who should pay close attention to what their children are watching on the internet.

“Maybe the video you open for your kid is completely normal, but the next automatically played is bad. Never let your children play with computers or smart phones on their own,” Tu said.

A source from the Information Ministry said that Minister Truong Minh Tuan has asked for an investigation into the case.

Under a new circular published last December, cross-border information-sharing websites like YouTube and Facebook will have to delete false information published on their sites if asked to do so by the ministry.

Vietnam sent a record 126,000 workers overseas in 2016.

Pham Viet Huong, the deputy director of the central Department of Overseas Labor, told Vietnam News Agency that the plan is more about improving workers's skills rather than increasing the number of them.

The government has set a target of sending 105,000 workers abroad in 2017. Japan, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan will continue to be the core markets.

Huong said the labor ministry is going to implement agreements that have been signed with Australia and Southeast Asian neighbors Laos and Thailand this year.

The Vietnamese and Australian governments signed an agreement in March 2015 to provide up to 200 multiple entry visas to citizens of both countries per year and allow them to stay for 12 months for travel and work.

Vietnam and Thailand signed an MoU on labor cooperation and a labor export agreement in July 2015 and a similar agreement was signed with Laos in January that same year.

Huong said Vietnam has successfully increased the number of workers it sends abroad over the past three years.

But a bigger goal is to meet the strict demands of overseas markets, especially developed countries where salaries and labor benefits are good, he said.

He said labor exporters should invest more in training while local workers, notorious for their low productivity compared to others in the region, should also better prepare themselves with skills and language competence.

“There’s a huge demand in many countries for workers with high professional skills. We should get ready with a good labor pool,” Huong said, as cited in the report.

He said the ministry has built an action plan to improve local labor skills by 2020.

Danang to invest US$70 million on new public bus network

The dynamic central city is planning to leave traffic in its rear view mirrors.

The central city of Danang is planning to spend US$70.2 million on a bus rapid transit (BRT) system, Mai Dinh Khanh, an official from the city’s Department of Transport, said on Friday.

The network is expected to open in 2019 and cover three routes. 

Two will run from Danang International Airport to popular tourist spots Ba Na Hills and Hoi An ancient town in the nearby province of Quang Nam, while the other will run from Hoa Khanh Industrial Park in Danang’s Lien Chieu District to the Vietnam-Korea Information Technology College in Ngu Hanh Son District.

The city plans to buy 66 new buses, including 36 BRT vehicles, and is in the process of establishing e-ticket systems and intelligent traffic signs.

As part of the infrastructure project, construction of a subway project began in the city center on December 29.

Danang has more than 1.1 million residents with about 60,000 cars and 800,000 motorcycles. The growing number of cars and motorcycles has led to traffic jams in the city center.

The explosion of new vehicles is stretching the city's infrastructure, and Danang’s population is forecast to reach 2.5 million by 2030, according to a survey by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

In 2016, Danang received 5.51 million visitors, up 17.7% from 2015. Of the total, 1.67 million were foreigners, rising 31.6% year on year.

Rice/shrimp rotation a hit in Bac Lieu

Farmers in the Mekong Delta province of Bạc Liêu have had bumper harvests of paddy rice and shrimp with higher profits and yields than in previous years.

Farmers who take part in the rice/shrimp rotation model on the same field have also seen fewer outbreaks of disease.

Lương Ngọc Lân, head of the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that the 2016-17 rice/shrimp rotation crop covered more than 31,000 ha, an increase of more than 10,000 ha compared to the last crop.

The harvest, which ends in mid-February, is expected to bring profits of VNĐ50 million (US$2,202) per ha, he added.

The rice/shrimp rotation model uses no chemicals or fertilisers for paddy rice, while shrimp are not fed, which saves costs.

Lân said that safe and clean shrimp and rice would sell easily as they are favoured by customers

Mai Văn Thiết of the province’s Hồng Dân District, who has expanded his field to two hectares, said that he had received training in modern cultivation techniques, including shrimp breeding and selection of seeds for paddy rice.

Irrigation systems have also been built in the fields.

Last year, the result was a good harvest, leading to profit of more than VNĐ250 million ($11,013) from two crops of shrimp and one for paddy rice, Thiết said.

Tăng Văn Định of the province’s Phước Long District , who had a bumper harvest of shrimp, operates a farm that covers more than one hectare, generating profit of more than VNĐ20 million ($879).

Phạm Thanh Hải, chairman of Phước Long District People’s Committee, said his district had more than 9,000 hectares for rotating rice-shrimp, an increase of more than 2,000 ha compared to the last crop.

Shrimp production was nearly 0.2 tonne per ha and nearly five tonnes per ha for paddy rice, he said.

He expects profit of more than VNĐ50 million per hectare for shrimp and paddy rice, double compared to rice monoculture in the past.

By 2020, the province aims to expand rice-shrimp farming to 40,000 ha, mostly in Hồng Dân and Phước Long districts and Giá Rai Town.

Clubs empower female migrant workers in Ha Noi

They have to work 10-12 hours per day, live in highly cramped lodgings, have no spare time for themselves and receive no training to improve their skills.

The sorry plight of female migrant workers was highlighted at a seminar held recently by the Hà Nội Women’s Union.

A study done by the Research Centre for Family Support and Community Development (CFSCD) found female migrant workers in Phúc Xá Ward in Ba Đình District, and in Thịnh Liệt and Định Công wards in Hoàng Mai District had to live in narrow, boarding houses that lacked sufficient light and toilets.

They face a lot of difficulties in registering as temporary residents and have little or no access to social insurance and health insurance, a CFSCD report said.

It said more than 80 per cent of the women spoken to said they were engaged in manual labour and saw no prospects of finding other, more stable employment.

CFSCD Director Lê Thị Thủy said the lives of female migrant workers were extremely hard. They had to send money to their families, parents, or repay debts from when they were still at school, so their income did not meet even minimum requirements.

“Many of them do not have health insurance, so whenever they are ill, they are not taken care of and must spend too much on treatment fees. They fall into poverty easily,” Thủy said.

Since the beginning of last year, the Hà Nội Women’s Union and CFSCD have jointly implemented a project to improve the living conditions of female migrant workers in Hà Nội and enhance their empowerment.

The project established three female migrant worker clubs in the three wards mentioned above. The clubs held monthly meetings to help each other overcome obstacles in their lives.

Club members met with local authorities to with requests for specific assistance, like having part-time work to augment incomes, loans at preferential interest rates to do business, support to buy health insurance and permission for their children to study in public schools located in areas where they are registered as temporary residents.

Vũ Thị Kim Thơi, head of the club in Thịnh Liệt Ward, said they had 50 members who receive training and assistance in trading, healthcare and law towards improving awareness and creating fresh momentum in their lives.

So far, the three clubs have attracted nearly 100 female migrant workers. For the upcoming Tết (Lunar New Year) festival, they presented 20 poor female migrant workers with gifts worth VNĐ8 million (US$350).

Quảng Ninh okays sand exploitation for aquaculture

Quảng Ninh Province will allow Vân Đồn Island District to resume its exploitation of sand mixed with pieces of coral and oysters, to serve the needs of local aquaculture farmers.

Early last year, the northern province’s people’s committee had tightened control over mineral resources, including sand, and had banned the exploitation of sand mixed with pieces of coral and oysters for aquaculture.

Soon after, the sand became scarce, and since then farmers have been struggling to procure sand for aquaculture, especially for breeding bivalve species such as clam and oysters. More than 500 households in the district said they had been affected by the sand shortage.

Nguyễn Thị Bảy, a farmer from Ngọc Vừng Island Commune, said the price of 140 cubic metre vessel of sand jumped up from VNĐ14 million (US$622) to VNĐ16 million ($711). There was also not enough sand to meet the demand.

The Vân Đồn Island District authority had reported the situation to the provincial authority, and now received permission to resume exploitation.

Farmers from Vân Đồn Island District will be allowed to do sand exploitation in a five-hectare area in Vạn Yên Commune’s Tây Bắc Hòn Chín and can extract a maximum of 142,000 cubic metres of sand. Quang Minh Co. Ltd. will be assigned to collect sand this year.

The provincial people’s committee has said that the district would not permit sand exploitation for trading.   

The provincial natural resources and environment department will be in charge of inspecting the sand exploitation activities and taking appropriate steps for environmental protection and security.

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