The Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) has presented 1.2 billion VND (52,800 USD) to flood-hit residents in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue.  

The money will be distributed to the needy through the Vietnam Fatherland Front’s chapter in the province. 

Apart from Agribank, many other organisations have also handed over gifts to households affected by the recent floods, helping them soon stabilise their lives. 

Thua Thien-Hue has, to date, received more than 5.3 billion VND (233,200 USD) from organisations, units, businesses and individuals both at home and abroad to support natural disaster-hit residents. 

Nguyen Van Phuong, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said downpours and floods from November 20-22 left two people dead, one missing and another injured, and inundated 7,966 houses in the locality.

War veterans to convene 6th congress

The 6th National Congress of the Vietnam War Veterans’ Association (VWVA) will take place from December 13-15, heard a press conference held in Hanoi on November 22.

According to VWVA Vice Chairman Lieutenant General Nguyen Song Phi, the congress will draw the participation of 510 delegates representing more than 3 million members nationwide.

It is set to review and evaluate results achieved in the implementation of the 5th Congress’s resolution while focusing discussion on orientations, tasks, standards and solutions in the new tenure, and electing a new executive board for the 2017-2022 tenure.

In the previous tenure, the association and its chapters at all levels made efforts to reduce poverty sustainably, promote charity activities and help each other improve livelihoods, making contributions to the nation’s socio-economic development.

In addition, the VWVA’s chapters worked closely with localities to consolidate the political system at grassroots level and develop a pure and strong association. They also contributed to preventing corruption and social misbehaviours and defeating all “peace evolution” schemes to ensure political stability and social order.

Vietnam attends int’l workshop on socialism in Laos

The fifth international workshop on socialism, themed “Applying Marxism-Leninism Doctrine in socialism building”, took place in Vientiane, Laos on November 22, attracting more than 100 delegates from Vietnam, China, Cuba and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. 

In his opening speech, President of the Lao National Institute for Social Sciences Soukkongseng Sayaleuth affirmed that socialism is a great achievement of Marxism-Leninism, adding that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution of Russia and the birth of the first socialist country. 

Though the Soviet Union and socialist countries in Eastern Europe collapsed, other socialist nations are still consistent with socialist ideals and goals and further prosper, proved by achievements in reform and socialism building in China, Vietnam and Laos, he said. 

He urged socialist nations to strengthen solidarity amid complicated developments in the world in order to continue reaping successes in socialism building. 

Vice President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences Pham Van Duc suggested developing and flexibly applying new concepts and basic principles of Marxism-Leninism in countries in each stage. 

During the two-day event, delegates will attend four sessions on the role of Marxism-Leninism in building the people’s democratic States, Marxism-Leninism’s leadership role in developing political system and uniting solidarity, Marxism-Leninism theory in developing socialist-oriented economy in each nation. 

They will also hear 19 reports to be delivered by delegates from Vietnam, China and Laos.

Meeting spotlights contribution of Vietnam Red Cross Society

The Vietnam Red Cross Society (VRCS) has worked to spread humanitarian spirit in society, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said.

He addressed a meeting in Hanoi on November 22 to mark the VRCS’s 60-year membership in the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) (November 4, 1957) and its 71st founding anniversary (November 23, 1946).

He said the association has become familiar to people from all walks of life through its engagements in humanitarian aid, climate change adaptation, and poverty alleviation.

The Government and Party assign the Vietnam Red Cross to make contributions to the IFRC and expect the collaboration to grow stronger, the official stressed.

As of June 2017, the VRCS had nearly 8.5 million members and volunteers working across 17,000 chapters.

Between 2012 and 2017, it has run various humanitarian programmes, including sending gifts to the poor on the Lunar New Year holiday, giving cows to 21,600 needy households, and providing free health treatment and medicine for 1.4 million people.

In the past five years, it received an average funding of more than 9.5 trillion VND (418 million USD), while implementing 20 foreign-funded projects worth over 510 billion VND (22.44 million USD), per year.

Vietnam Buddhist Sangha’s 8th congress concludes in Hanoi

The eighth congress of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) concluded in Hanoi on November 22, with Most Venerable Thich Pho Tue re-honoured as Supreme Patriarch of the VBS. 

The closing ceremony was attended by 1,250 Buddhist dignitaries, monks, nuns and followers both at home and abroad. 

The congress also elected 96 members of the Patronage Council with Most Venerable Thich Pho Tue as the Patriarch of the council’s standing board, along with 225 official members and 45 alternate members of the Executive Council headed by Most Venerable Thich Thien Nhon for the 2017-2022 tenure. 

The participants reviewed the operation of the Sangha from 2012-2017 and set out an operational programme for the next five years. 

Accordingly, the VBS will maintain and promote values of Vietnamese Buddhism with a combination of tradition and modernity, expand multilateral foreign relations and intensify communications work. 

The VBS has chapters in all 63 cities and provinces, and Associations of Vietnamese Buddhists in 11 countries worldwide. There are four Buddhism universities, eight college-level training programmes and 34 primary Buddhism schools.

Dr. Bui Huu Duoc, head of the Buddhism Department of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, said Buddhism has been growing fast, with the number of Buddhist followers rising to nearly 40 million people, making up more than 40 percent of the nation’s population.

Vietnamese expats in Algeria support flood victims

Vietnamese expatriates in Algeria have joined hands to support people in the central and Central Highlands provinces that were devastated by floods caused by typhoon Damrey early this month.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Algeria launched fund-raising drive on November 22.

Officials and staff from the Embassy and Vietnamese agencies donated at least one-day’s salary to the fund.

According to Ambassador Pham Quoc Tru, the charity activity is expected to help flood victims recover and stabilise their lives soon.

Typhoon Damrey made landfall in Vietnam on November 4 with winds of up to 135 km/hour, 50 km south of Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa province), and became one of the worst storms to strike Vietnam’s southern coastal region in years. 

The typhoon and subsequent floods claimed 89 lives and left 18 missing and 174 others injured in central and Central Highlands localities as of November 7. 

More than 1,480 houses collapsed while 119,200 others were damaged. Nearly 8,000ha of rice and 14,600ha of other crops were flooded.

Camp for People with Disabilities to be held at Suối Tiên Theme Park

More than 6,000 people with disabilities in HCM City and 16 neighbouring cities and provinces will take part in the 18th Camp for People with Disabilities at Suối Tiên Theme Park in HCM City’s District 9 on December 2.

The event, held by HCM City’s Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, aims to celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities that falls on December 3.

It will feature entertainment activities as well as a culinary festival.

People with disabilities will visit architectural works of history, culture and entertainment, enjoy art performances and comedy music programmes, and join various kinds of games.

Phương Nam (Southern) Art Theatre will present water puppetry shows to entertain visitors.

Nearly 800 volunteers from universities and 1,000 staff at Suối Tiên Theme Park will work during the camp.

Initiative launched to end violence against children

An initiative to end physical violence against children at home and at school was launched on Wednesday morning.

The event, organised by the World Vision (WV) Việt Nam and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), aimed at raising people’s awareness and encouraging the community to join hands in building a safe atmosphere for children.

The event was in response to the five-year global initiative on ending physical violence against children started by the International WV.

During the event, representatives shared information and experiences about physical violence against children and measures to protect them against such violence at home and in school, the two places that are especially important for the development and personality-forming of children.

The experts agreed that in recent times, Vietnamese people have made significant changes and are more aware about the issue. Many parents and teachers have also put in a lot of effort to apply modern educational methods. However, the changes are not equal across different social backgrounds.

The latest report of the Department of Child Care and Protection under the MoLISA showed that from 2012 to May this year, 698 cases of violence against children were reported, and more than 90 per cent of them were cases of physical violence.

Nearly 51 per cent of the victims were under the age of 10 and as many as 63 per cent of the victims faced violence from within their families.

Warren Climenhaga, an expert from the WV, said that physical violence could not be sold by any single organisation or individual, and that it needed the co-operation of everybody.

Trần Thu Huyền, national director for WV Việt Nam, said, “When parents and teachers are careful in their behaviour while dealing with children, the effectiveness will spread to the society, and the society will become safer for the children to grow up in.”

Lương Thị Quỳnh, ambassador children of the initiative, said, “Rods make us more taciturn and hard-headed. I’m afraid that later, children will imitate the behavior of adults in using violence to resolve problems. I hope that parents and teachers will use advice to encourage children, instead of rods.”

Project launched to enhance financial access for people

People in 14 provinces across Việt Nam will get access to various financial products and services in the next three years.

Seventy-five People’s Credit Funds (PCFs) in the provinces will receive support in developing financial products and services from now until March 2021 through a collaboration project with Canada.

The project on strengthening the PCFs network, known as the STEP project, was launched on Wednesday morning in Hà Nội.

Its goal is to strengthen the capacity of the Cooperative Bank of Vietnam (Co-op Bank) and its network of PCFs by providing them with support and advice in the areas of credit and risk management, new financial products and services, information technology and internal control, as well as governance, gender and environment and safety fund issues.

The project is funded with CAD17.7 million (US$13.9 million) by the Canadian government. It will be carried out from now until March 2021 by Co-op Bank, in collaboration with the Canadian organisation Développement international Desjardins (DID).

It targets the PFCs in Hà Nội; four northern provinces of Hưng Yên, Hà Nam, Hải Phòng and Ninh Bình; three central provinces of Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An and Hà Tĩnh; and six southern provinces of Đồng Tháp, An Giang, Kiên Giang, Cần Thơ, Sóc Trăng and Trà Vinh. 

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Trần Quang Khánh, chairman of Co-op Bank, said that the project will greatly contribute to the process of sustainable rural and economic development of the country.

“By helping the PFCs to diversify financial products and services, the project will provide people in rural areas with direct and comprehensive financial access and more employment opportunities,” he said.

As a head unit of the nationwide PFCs network, Co-op Bank will do it best in rolling out the project’s activities to the network members, he added.

Ping Kitnicone, Canadian Ambassador to Việt Nam, said that the Canadian government is proud to continue to support Việt Nam in providing access to financial services to rural areas.

“I am pleased to see that the Vietnamese Government has recognised the importance of financial inclusion,” she said.

“An active and stable banking system is an important foundation for sustained economic growth that affects all citizens,” she added.

A people’s credit fund is a type of cooperative credit institution operating on the principles of voluntary participation, self-management, and self-responsibility for its operating results, fulfilling the basic objectives of providing mutual assistance between members to develop the strength of the collective, according to the Việt Nam Economic Times monthly newspaper.

The network of PCFs was set up in Việt Nam in July 1993. There were more than 1,200 PCFs in the country by the end of 2015, according to the newspaper.

BOT road project in Đồng Tháp-Tiền Giang stopped

Minister of Transport Nguyễn Văn Thể decided to stop the project on expanding part of National Highway No 30, running through the southern provinces of Đồng Tháp and Tiền Giang.

The project was approved in 2015 and was to be implemented under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contract but work was yet to start because of changes in investors and conflicts in relevant regulations.

Vice Chairman of Đồng Tháp Province People’s Committee, Nguyễn Thanh Hùng, told Thể at a meeting on Tuesday that according to the National Assembly Standing Committee (NASC)’s Resolution 437 dated last month, a road project was eligible to be constructed under the BOT contract if the project involved opening a new road and if road users had an alternative one, meaning that road users should have a choice on whether to use the BOT road or not.

However, since the National Highway No 30 is the only existing road, once it is expanded under the BOT contract, people will have to use it. In other words, people will not have a choice but to pay a fee to travel on the road, Hùng said.

Lê Minh Hoan, secretary of the provincial Party Committee, said that with the modest State budget, it was reasonable to have National Highway No 30 expanded under the BOT contract.

The project had been approved in 2015 before the NASC’s resolution took effect, so it could be carried out without going against the National Assembly Standing Committee’s resolution.

Thể said that investors were still preparing procedures and work had not started, so it was the right time to stop the project.

He asked relevant State agencies to negotiate with the project investors to terminate the contract.

“In the long-term, a new road parallel to National Highway No 30 should be opened to reduce traffic pressure on the national highway,” Thể said.

Bids must be floated for the new road project to select experienced, competent investors, he said.

Once the new road is competed, people will have options to choose, which will help prevent public anger. Those who don’t want to pay a fee can go via National Highway No 30. Those who want to travel faster, can choose the new road and pay a fee.

BOT road projects have caused concerns among the public in Việt Nam, especially when road users had to pay high fees, while the quality of the BOT roads failed to meet their expectations. In certain cases, road users had to pay fees even if they did not use BOT roads because toll stations were placed unreasonably.

Two workers die after scaffolding collapses

Two men died after a 7-metre-high scaffolding collapsed at a construction site in Tân Phong Ward, in the southern city of Biên Hòa on Tuesday afternoon.

The workers were reportedly standing on the scaffolding to move building materials up, when the accident occurred.

They were unconscious and taken to Đồng Nai General Hospital, but died in the evening on the same day.

Biên Hòa City Police said on Wednesday that they were co-operating with relevant agencies to examine the construction site at a local resident’s house and find out the cause of the scaffolding collapse.

Programme for women, girls subjected to violence launched

An essential services package for women and girls subjected to violence was launched on Wednesday by the United Nations in Việt Nam and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

The essential services package forms part of the United Nations Joint Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls Subjected to Violence. This programme is a partnership between the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), United Nations Population Fund, World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and aims to provide greater access to a coordinated set of essential and quality multi-sectoral services for all women and girls who have experienced gender-based violence.

The programme identifies the essential services to be provided by the health, social services, police and justice sectors, as well as guidelines for the co-ordination of essential services and the governance of coordination processes and mechanism.

Violence against women and girls is widespread, systemic and culturally entrenched. According to a 2013 global review by WHO, 35 per cent of women worldwide have experienced physical and/or intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence. It is estimated that one in five girls has been abused in childhood with estimates from some countries as high as one in three.

In Việt Nam, the National Study on Domestic Violence against Women, released by the General Statistics Office and the United Nations in Việt Nam in 2010, showed that 58 per cent of ever-married women had experienced at least one form of violence – physical, mental or sexual – at some point in their lives. Some 50 per cent of victims did not tell anyone about the violence they endured and 87 per cent did not seek help from public services.

Speaking at the launch workshop, Elisa Fernandez, UN Women’s head of office in Việt Nam stated, “Violence against women and girls is not inevitable. The good news is that there are many ways to prevent violence in the first place and to stop cycles of violence repeating.”

“The provision, coordination and governance of essential health, police, justice and social services can significantly mitigate the consequences that violence has on the wellbeing, health and safety of women and girls’ lives,” she said.

“The guidelines will help to ensure that the range of services across different sectors can provide the necessary level of support and response to everyone with no exceptions,” she added.

VNRC urged to expand humanitarian role: Deputy PM

Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam has urged the Việt Nam Red Cross Society (VNRC) and its members to continuously expand their humanitarian role and value in the domestic and international communities.

Đam said this at a meeting in Hà Nội on Wednesday to mark the 60th anniversary of VNRC’s membership of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

“We’ve often seen images of VNRC and its members not only in situations of war and natural disasters, but also during blood donation, livelihood and after-disaster rehabilitation,” Đam said.

“The society has made its mark in most of the country’s regions and development history. Side by side with the Party and Government, VNRC has been an active member in humanitarian movements in Việt Nam and the world,” the deputy PM said.

Praising the contribution of VNRC and its members in humanitarian activities over the past years, Deputy PM Đam suggested the society continue to strengthen its role and position in the country and in international communities.

Speaking at the event, Beat Schweizer, head of Regional Delegation of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC), said VNRC played a very active role in regional and worldwide activities of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

“Việt Nam has unfortunately significant experience in dealing with the consequences of armed conflict and natural disasters. This experience can be very valuable for Red Cross activities in other parts of the world,” Schweizer said.

Schweizer encouraged VNRC to further strengthen its active co-operation within the movement, adding that Việt Nam can count on ICRC’s support to respond to all kinds of disasters and further its capacity to provide assistance to those in need.

“We are looking forward to co-operating with the leadership of VNRC to strengthen its legal basis and the protection of the emblem of the Red Cross in Việt Nam,” Schweizer added.

VNRC President Nguyễn Thị Xuân Thu said VNRC had made great contributions to the two resistant wars and the country’s socio-economy development cause over the past 60 years.

Thu said VNRC will focus its activities on enhancing its organisation capacity, improving communication activities and reforming methods of mobilisation of sources of help and programme implementation, such as first aid, blood donation and care of the elderly.

The society will also expand its cooperation activities with local and international organisations in humanitarian programmes and propose proper policies and mechanisms to the Party and Government following seven basic principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

Nghĩa wins sixth stage of cycling race

With a strong finish, Huỳnh Minh Nghĩa won the sixth stage of the Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa Cycling Tournament yesterday.

Nghĩa of Việt Nam Youth won in a time of 2:13.12 in the 98km race from Đà Lạt to Bảo Lộc City.

The runners-up were Hà Văn Sơn of BTV Đại Nam Bình Dương and Nguyễn Dương Hồ Vũ of HCM City.

The owner of the yellow jersey for best overall time was unchanged, with Trần Thanh Điền of VUS- HCM City clocking in at 20:24.07, followed by Trần Lê Minh Tuấn of the Military Zone 7 and Nguyễn Nhật Nam of Domesco Phamarcy Đồng Tháp.

Phan Hoàng Thái of Domesco Phamarcy Đồng Tháp clinched the red jersey as King of Mountain with 17 points, as his opponents are too far behind to catch his point total in the final stage.

Domesco Phamarcy Đồng Tháp still top the team rankings with 61:20.02. VUS-HCM City and the Military Zone 7 are second and third.

Today, cyclists will compete in the last stage from Bảo Lộc to HCM City.

HCM City desires for broader cooperation on economics, environment with Osaka

Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong has affirmed the city’s desire to advance cooperative ties with the Japanese city of Osaka by fully tapping the strengths and potential of each side.

At a November 22 reception for chairman of Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hiroshi Ozaki and his delegation, Mr Phong said he hopes that Osaka businesses will expand investment in important fields such as transport, health care, and high quality human resource training.

Osaka is one of the localities to provide consultancy and methods of environmental research for HCM City.

Osaka has organized 11 trade seminars and exchanges with Vietnam, Hiroshi Ozaki said while reiterating his Chamber’s readiness to facilitate Osaka businesses’ investment in Vietnam. Since early this year, its members have poured US$6 billion of investment into the country, he added.

Mr Ozaki told his host that the Chamber has paid special attention to the environment in economic development, stating he wishes to beef up cooperation in the development of support technology with HCM City to help reduce pollution and protect the environment.