Danang Int’l Airport welcomes its 6 millionth passenger

On November 24, the Danang International Airport surpassed a milestone, welcoming its six millionth passenger to the south-central coastal city, according to airport officials.

“Pham Van Tai was the lucky six millionth traveller to the city to pass through the airport doors,” said airport Vice Director Ngoc Hai.

Hai said he was presented a free round trip air ticket for use on any Vietnam Airlines flight in Asia.

Two other passengers – Le Duy Diep, the 5,999,999th and Nguyen Van Tuan, the 6,000,001st – were presented with free round trip business-class tickets for any Vietnam Airlines domestic flights.

This year, the airport expects to welcome an estimated 6.7 million passengers.

Police break up drug ring on Vietnam-Laos border

Authorities in the north-central province of Quang Tri busted Monday an illicit ring that supplied drugs and unlawfully organized gambling near the Vietnam-Laos border.

Quang Tri border guards, in coordination with police in Laos’ Savannakhet Province and relevant agencies, launched a raid on the ring that ran several illicit operations – including drug dealing, gambling, accepting motorcycles pawned by thieves, and others – near the border between the two provinces.

Police arrested 37-year-old Ho A Nghien and 15-year-old Ho A Khon at their residence in Savannakhet.

Nghien managed the illicit operations while Khon was a drug deliveryman, according to police reports.

At the scene, officials confiscated 800 synthetic drug pills, eight motorcycles, six detonators, one homemade mine, one gun, among others.

The ring has been a familiar retailer of drugs in the area, especially to the Vietnamese addicts living in the communes of Quang Tri.

The two suspects were transferred to Savannakhet police for further investigation.

Eight motorcycles which were exhibits of several thefts in Vietnam were also transported back to the Vietnamese province.

Red-shanked douc rescued in Ninh Binh

The Endangered Primate Rescue Centre, Viet Nam (EPRC) has received a young red-shanked douc langur from the Thua Thien-Hue Forest Protection Department.

The centre said the little langur, which is about 10 months old, had an eye infection and flu, and has received treatment there.

The EPRC, which is based in Ninh Binh Province, is home to 160 rare primates, including 15 species and sub-species, which have been either rescued by Vietnamese authorities or were born there.

The reproduction rate of these species is very high, with five Delacour's langurs giving birth to five babies and 10 Hatinh langurs giving birth to 16 babies at the centre.

The centre is only foundation in the world that takes care of three species of douc langurs -- the grey-shanked douc langur, red-shanked douc langur and black-shanked douc langur – and has 28 of them.

In 2007, eight Ha Tinh langurs were released into the semi-wild enclosure at Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, and they could search for food, habitat and indulge in other natural behaviour.

Earlier this month, the centre also released a little male pygmy loris into the forest.

Punishment for bad customs officials urged

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc called upon the authorities of HCM City on Monday to strictly punish customs officials who assist smugglers and tax evaders and to regularly rotate officers through sensitive positions.

The request was made during a working session with representatives of the municipal Customs Department to examine the prevention of smuggling, fraud and counterfeit goods during the first eleven months of 2015.

According to the report of the city's Customs department, as of mid November, it could collect VND80,300 billion (US$36 billion) for import and export duties. Customs officials discovered 2,000 cases of smuggling and fraudulent trading. However, according to the Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, that modest result does not correspond with the situation in Viet Nam where the import and export turnover reached $67 billion per year.

This situation can be explained by the negative attitude of customs officials who assisted the smugglers and tax evaders.

Phuc stressed that such a big city as HCM City should pay special attention to reducing the bad attitudes of officials.

Hoang Viet Cuong, Deputy Director of the General Department of Viet Nam Customs, said Viet Nam, and HCM City in particular, often become a target destination for wildlife smuggling over the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday period early next year.

According to Cuong, the government should sack the customs officials violating the law to prevent them from repeating an offense. The current law only grants them suspended sentence.

To deal with fraud, Phuc requested closer co-operation between the city's police forces and customs officials to discover and prevent fraud.

Complex to replace HCM City shipyard

The HCM City People's Committee has approved the detailed master plan for the Sai Gon – Ba Son complex in District 1 to be developed by the Ministry of Defence-owned Ba Son Corporation.

The 26-hectare complex, to be built along the Sai Gon River in Ben Nghe Ward, will include public construction, greenery, housing, commercial-office space, culture-amusement areas, and technical and transport infrastructure that can meet the living and working needs of nearly 11,000 people.

Over 142,000sq.m will be earmarked for 63 villas, apartments, and malls; 110,000sq.m for offices; and 11,000sq.m for hotels.

Over 52,000sq.m will be designated for public construction, parks mostly along the Sai Gon, and transportation and other infrastructure.

The complex will have buildings with two to 50 storeys overlooking the Sai Gon River.

There will be 14 roads with a total length of 4km, access to Ba Son metro station, a dyke system along the river and Thi Nghe Canal with a master plan to cope with flooding.

The workshops and Ba Son Shipyard that exist at the place will be moved out though around 6,000sq.m have been earmarked for preserving the shipyard's historical relics.

Nearly 4,900 vehicles fined through Oct

About 4,855 vehicles were fined in the first ten months of 2015, an official from the transport ministry's Directorate for Roads of Viet Nam (DRVN) said.

This information is based on the data recorded from the vehicles' black boxes.

Nguyen Van Huyen, general director of DRVN, said in October alone, transport authorities nationwide penalised 568 vehicles that violated regulations.

Of these, 357 cars had been ordered off the road for a month and 46 companies have had their business licences revoked via data in their black boxes, which had registered violations of traffic regulations.

Huyen said these records of punishment were highlighted in reports from 35 of the total 63 cities and provinces, which have been sent to the directorate.

Gambling addict arrested for fraud

A man was arrested by police in northern Hai Phong City for using forged official documents including personal ID papers and communist party member cards to commit frauds.

Dao Van Nui, age 30 and a local gambling addict, was taken into Le Chan District Police custody yesterday after he had taken a fake ID paper and a fake party member card, both under his name, to a local pawn shop to get a loan of VND80 million (US$3,500).

Nui told the police he ordered his fake documents from a couple, who were only identified as Pham Van Dung and Pham Thi Lan in Quan Toan Ward. He admitted to have taken nine personal ID papers to different local pawn shops and successfully swindled VND360 millions (nearly $16,000).

Dung and Lan were reported to have eluded capture. The police found a number of fake documents and a machine they used to make them at their residence.

One dead, one missing in ship sinking accident

One fisherman died and another went missing when their ship sank after being struck by waves off the coast of Thua Duc Commune, Binh Dai District, in this southern province.

The body of Do Van Nguyen was found inside the ship. Nguyen Thanh Nam, 33, is still missing. Three other fishermen, Do Van Nghia, Do Van Nho and Le Vu Linh, were rescued by the border coast guard of Cua Dai Ward in nearby Hoi An City.

The border coast guard is still looking for Nam.

Investors scramble to complete tunnel projects on time

Hundreds of workers are working to ensure that the construction of Thanh Xuan and Trung Hoa tunnels in Ha Noi will be completed on schedule, the project investors have said.

Pham Anh Tu, a representative of the transport ministry's Thang Long Project management board, said the two projects had to be ready and opened to traffic by the end of this December.

The construction of Trung Hoa Tunnel began on February 3. About 68 per cent of the work has been completed so far. The base of the project has been finished, while interior and exterior sections are half-complete. The rest of the work will be finished by December 5.

Tu said the project would basically be ready by December 31. Additional work would take one more month.

Tran Van Son, deputy director of the project's management board, said 200 more workers had been mobilised to work round-the-clock.

The construction of Thanh Xuan Tunnel begun last July and about 62 per cent of the work has been completed so far, about nine per cent behind schedule.

Tu said the reason for the delay was the overlap between the project and the construction of Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban railway.

The Thang Long Project management board has asked the contractors to revise the progress and to take measures to ensure the projects were completed as per schedule.

Comic painting contest on gender equality launched

The UN Women, the Belgian Embassy and the Belgian Development Agency in Vietnam jointly launched a comic and cartoon painting competition on gender equality in Hanoi on November 24.

The contest is expected to help prevent and eradicate gender inequality and discrimination against women and girls.

Vietnamese citizens living in the homeland and aged above 18 years are allowed to participate in the event, which started on November 24.

The deadline for entry submissions is January 18, 2016.

Ten pictures will be selected for display in Hanoi and posted on Facebook for public selection in March 2016.

The entries could be sent to the email registry.vietnam@unwomen.org or by letter to the headquarters of the UN Women in Vietnam – 304 Kim Ma, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi.

The winner will have an opportunity to visit Belgium, dubbed as “the cartoon country”, and his/her entry will be published on the cartoon magazine of Vietnam.

The three most outstanding painters will be awarded at a ceremony on March 8, 2016, in the capital.

The cartoon contest shapes part of the UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE Campaign to End Violence against Women, which aims to raise public awareness of stopping all forms of violence against women and girls across the world.

Experts discuss ICT application in reducing cleaning water loss

Experts from Finland and Vietnam gathered at a workshop on November 24 in Hanoi to discussed ways to reduce clean water loss by applying information and communication technology (ICT).

Olli Keski – Saari, a Finnish expert said ICT has long been the standard in Finland-based water supply companies, contributing to reducing water loss and enhancing management effectiveness.

Director of the Construction Ministry’s Department of Technical Infrastructure Nguyen Hong Tien highlighted the high loss rate in Vietnam’s water supply network, which amounted to 25 percent this year, a slight drop from 30 percent in 2010.

The national programme on clean water and revenue loss prevention up to 2025 aims to bring the rate to below 15 percent by 2025.

There are many reasons behind the high water loss rate, especially old water pipes, the official said, agreeing that ICT application is a smart solution to improve the effectiveness in clean water supply.

By 2015, some 81.5 percent of the urban population have accessed to clean water through central water supply systems, up five percent from 2011.

Vietnam consults Australia’s research evaluation system

Officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) made a 6-day visit to Australia to study the country’s experience in scientific research evaluation.

The Vietnamese delegation, led by Deputy Chief of the Ministry’s Office Nguyen Thi Hue, held talks with top universities and research institutes in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.

In Australia, since 1990, universities have conducted assessment of scientists and research activities at universities alongside that of the Government on an annual and every three years basis. Evaluation criteria include publications’ quality and quantity, as well as revenue generated from research projects.

According to Chu Quang Hoa, head of the MoST’s representative office in Sydney, Vietnamese universities and institutions have separate assessment systems. In 2014, his ministry started building a national research evaluation framework in line with international standards.

In 2016, Vietnam and Australia are expected to launch joint research programmes. Thus, comparable assessment systems between the two are crucial.

Vice President presents gifts to disabled women in Laos

Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Manh Hung handed over gifts from Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan to the Lao Disabled Women ’s Development Centre in the Lao capital city of Vientiane at a ceremony on November 24.

The gifts worth around 9,000 USD include 12 sewing machines and office furniture items.

The Ambassador said he hopes the centre will expand its operation so that more and more disadvantaged women will receive vocational training and live a better life.

Lao Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Khamkeo Chanboun Khounsay thanked the Vietnamese Vice President for the gifts, saying that those items are useful for the centre.

USAID helps central region to respond to disasters

A project on boosting the capability of responding to disasters, sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is being implemented in the central region until March 2017.

It was reported at a workshop in Hanoi on November 24 that the 2.5 million USD project is carried out by a five-partner coalition, in which the Vietnam Red Cross Society (VNRCS) is the partner of the US Red Cross Society (USRCS).

Starting in October, the scheme will benefit 68 communes in four provinces with a population of 434,000 people in four provinces: Quang Ngai, Quang Nam, Quang Tri and Ha Tinh.

The VNRCS will coordinate with the USRCS to implement part of the project in three urban wards in Quang Ngai, Quang Nam and Ha Tinh and provide technical support for areas in which the project is implemented by their coalition partners.

The project will support the implementation of a project on raising the awareness of community and community-based risk management and develop local people’s capability of responding to disasters by integrating it into programmes on gender and disabled people.

The project will also help local governments to include disaster consequence mitigation into local socio-economic development plans.

At the workshop, delegates from partners in the project discussed mechanisms for coordination among them and between them and relevant State agencies as well as local governments.

Vietnam helps Lao develop education

Twenty five sets of computers worth 317 million VND (13,948 USD) has been presented to the School for Gifted and Ethnic Students in Laos as gifts from Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan, on behalf of the Vietnamese State and people.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Manh Hung handed over the gifts to Lao Deputy Minister of Education and Sports Sengdoun Lachanthboun and Rector of the school Khamputh Phimasone at a ceremony in Vientiane on November 23.

The computers are expected to help Lao students gain easier access to information technology, Ambassador Hung said.

They will help improve the quality of learning at the school, said Khamphuth Phimasone.

The School for Gifted and Ethnic Students under the National University of Laos was put into operation in 2007. It is one of the schools across the country receiving support from the Vietnamese Government and people.

Facing the World to open craniofacial centres in Vietnam

Facing the World aims to establish two craniofacial centres in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in the next five years.

Richard Young, a Consultant Craniofacial Plastic Surgeon who is heading a delegation of the UK organisation to Vietnam, made the remarks during his meeting with President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan in Hanoi on November 23.

According to the doctor, the number of children born with facial deformities due to effects of Agent Organ (AO)/dioxin in Vietnam is ten times higher than that in other regional countries.

The organisation has implemented training programmes for hospitals in the central city of Da Nang and the two beneficiary localities while bringing Vietnamese doctors to the UK to attend training classes, he noted.

He added that organisation began a partnership with Da Nang city since 2008.

About 20 Vietnamese surgeons who benefit from the programmes will lecture the next courses, the doctor said, informing that the organisation will join hands with the Vietnam-Germany Hospital to provide free check-ups and surgeries for Vietnamese patients in 2016.

Hailing Facing the World’s activities over the past time, Nhan expressed his hope that the organisation will pay more attention to expanding its network and deploying training programmes in Vietnam.

The Vietnam Fatherland Front stands ready to work as a bridge backing the organisation’s operation in Vietnam and promoting the organisation among Vietnamese people, especially those living abroad, in a bid to attract more support for the organisation’s activities.

Facing the World supports and provides life-changing surgery for children from the developing world who are affected by severe facial disfigurements. The organisation has so far provided treatment for over 40 children from 20 different countries.

Vietnamese, Belarusian trade unions sign cooperation deals

The Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) and the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB) have signed memoranda of understanding on cooperation between their trade unions.

At the talks between VGCL President Dang Ngoc Tung and FTUB Chairman Mikhail Orda in Hanoi on November 23, cooperation agreements were signed between trade unions of Ho Chi Minh City and Brest province, and between trade unions of the Vietnam agriculture and rural development and Belarus’s industry-agriculture.

Tung hoped that both sides will further foster economic, trade and cultural exchanges in the near future.

Orda, for his part, affirmed that the signing showed the resolve of the two countries’ trade unions in promoting their traditional cooperation.

Since establishing their ties in 1992, the two sides have partnered actively across industry and trade, banking, training in labour and trade union as well as supported each other at international forums.

In the foreseeable future, they will engage in information and experience sharing, and trade links between businesses.

Maersk container library opens at Vinh Long school

Denmark’s shipping firm Maersk Vietnam in conjunction with Switzerland’s Dariu Foundation and local depot operator Genuine Partner on Saturday inaugurated a Maersk container library at Hieu Phung Secondary School in Hieu Phung Commune, Vung Liem District in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long.

A 40-feet cargo container was converted into a fully-equipped library at a cost of VND250 million to assist students in reading and learning. The library has over 1,000 text books, dictionaries and literature books donated by benefactors as well as six computers, tables and two air-conditioners.

This was the second Maersk container library in the Mekong Delta region after the first launched at Long Binh Dien Secondary School in Cho Gao District, Tien Giang Province earlier this year.

At the opening ceremony, the organizers also awarded scholarships worth VND18 million to poor but studious students at the school.

Maersk container library is a social project initiated by Maersk Vietnam more than a year go to make contribution to the community.

German helps Vietnam protect groundwater resources

The Prime Minister has approved a Germany-funded project to protect groundwater resources in Vietnam between 2015 and 2017.

The German Government pledged a non-refundable official development assistance (ODA) of 1.5 million EUR (1.6 million USD), while the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will arrange corresponding capital of 91,100 EUR (97,000 USD).

Enhancing the management, exploitation and protection of underground water resources will help prevent degradation, depletion and salt intrusion posed by climate change.

The project will cover fundamental investigations and improvements to salt intrusion monitoring network in the Mekong Delta.

It is expected to help increase the evaluation capacity of the parties involved and raise public awareness of the field.

IT boosting hospital treatment

The Ministry of Health has urged all hospitals to boost their application of information technology to improve medical examinations, treatment and management, ministry officials said.

MoH Information Technology Department Deputy Director Pham Xuan Viet said this week that information technology had become one of the standards to evaluate hospitals. MoH called on all of them to focus on expanding the use of IT in their operations.

Viet said to Tien Phong (Vanguard) that the appeal was issued after a survey conducted by the MoH earlier this month revealed that care had become more convenient, due to the application of IT in many hospitals.

The survey said the new convenience included shortening patients' wait time by 40 minutes.

It said time for a patient to get through clinical examinations, including all kinds of tests and image diagnoses, had also been cut by about 80 minutes.

Deputy Minister of Health Le Quang Cuong said that once it recognised the benefit of IT in health care activities, MoH decided to undertake it as an essential target to improve the effectiveness of hospitals' operation.

Cuong said the ministry encouraged IT companies to market their products to hospitals so that each hospital could find suitable IT measures for operations.

Health care authorities hailed the new convenience due to the use of IT in hospitals. Health care workers and patients also expressed their desire to benefit from the hospital IT system.

Nguyen Thu Lan, a patient from Cai Be District, southern Tien Giang Province who frequently came to Cai Be Hospital to have stomache aches treated, said that she was excited about the new models of examination and treatment at the hospital since it installed an IT system.

Lan said it was a miracle how little she had to wait to be examined and get her prescription.

"It was a lot more convenient, compared with previous visits," Lan said. "I was told that all of my health records had been saved on the computers so I do not have to report my previous health conditions again and again to the doctors. Now, I just have to inform them of my current issues and get the prescription."

Cai Be General Hospital was one of the first hospitals to benefit from an IT system for examinations, treatments and management in Tien Giang Province.

The system was created by a group of four IT experts from the province's IT centre. It was first developed in 2012 to assist with the province's health care activities. Many have called it successful, and it is set to expand to more provinces in the south and further across the country.

The system received this year's Vietnamese Talented Award for its outstanding success in supporting the country's health care activities.

Cai Be General Hospital Director Bui Van Nghieu said the hospital received an average of 600-800 patients daily, so the IT system was indispensable to its operations.

IT had helped reduce the health workers' working hours all throughout the process, from check-in to check-out and insurance payments, Nghieu said.

Moreover, the doctor said, the system helped connect all the province's hospitals. Doctors could more quickly access their patients' health records, as well.

"This has particularly helped doctors give more accurate prescriptions more quickly," said Nghieu.

Dr. Le Hong Ha from the Viet Nam IT Association revealed the IT system didn't cost much, meaning it could boost the expansion of IT across the country. Even local health care clinics could afford it.

Experts estimated each system cost about VND10 million (US$450).

According to statistics from the MoH, last year alone, all central hospitals, 68 per cent of provincial hospitals and 61 per cent of district-level hospitals implemented software to manage examinations and treatments, 95 per cent of special-level hospitals formed IT divisions and the majority of provincial hospitals have IT employees.

Deputy Head of the Department of Health Insurance Dang Hong Nam said at an online meeting early this month that IT was being used at health facilities in Viet Nam, but it lacked connectivity and a shared database.

According to Nam, since April this year, the health sector had started connecting health insurance data at four levels in six provinces – Bac Ninh, Thai Nguyen, Hai Phong, Tien Giang, Ninh Binh and Nghe An.

VNRC seeks to enhance disaster risk management skills

The Viet Nam Red Cross Society (VNRC) launched a project for enhancing its capacity to handle disaster risk management and first aid at a ceremony today in Ha Noi.

The nearly US$500,000 project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will be implemented by the end of March 2017.

The project aims to increase the effectiveness of the coordination of the Viet Nam Red Cross in disaster preparedness and response and to ensure the sustainability of the provincial disaster response teams.

It will also help to strengthen the skills in disaster response and first aid of the disaster response teams at VNRC's headquarters and in Hoa Binh, Quang Tri and Bac Lieu provinces.

"The VNRC has played a key role in Viet Nam's response to and preparation for disasters throughout the country," American Ambassador Ted Osius said at the launching ceremony.

"This is why we are proud to step up our co-operation with the VNRC to enhance its capacity to safeguard lives, property, health and livelihoods of vulnerable people," Osius said.

The programme will support first aid, disaster risk management and climate change training at national, provincial and commune levels. It will benefit about 20,000 people in Hoa Binh, Quang Tri and Bac Lieu provinces.

VNRC Deputy Chairman Doan Van Thai said disaster preparedness and response was one of the four strategic priorities of the VNRC. Every year, the society conducts about 10 international projects on community-based disaster risk management that create good models for implementation of the Disaster Prevention Law and the government's 1002 programme.

Viet Nam, OECD to promote co-operation for inclusive growth

Viet Nam is willing to promote co-operation, share experiences and consult policies in many fields with the OECD to reach targets of sustainable and inclusive growth.

This was the opinion of Vũ Quang Minh, Head of Foreign Ministry's Economic Department, who spoke in a roundtable titled New Perspective for Viet Nam-OECD Co-operation Toward Inclusive Growth co-held by the Viet Nam's Foreign Ministry and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD) here yesterday.

"The potential for co-operation between Viet Nam and the OECD is very big, especially as the country steps into the new stage of development and in-depth international integration," affirmed Minh.

Speaking in the meeting, Minh said Viet Nam-OECD co-operation during recent years have reached achievement in many fields.

Since joining the OECD's development centre in 2008, Viet Nam has become an active member of the OECD's development council.

The country in co-ordination with the organisation has fulfilled evaluations on policies of agriculture, science and technology, and investment.

The country has also actively responded to the OECD Southeast Asian Regional Programme, which started in 2014.

"Viet Nam is ready to closely co-ordinate with the OECD to effectively and practically carry out the OECD Southeast Asian Regional Programme," said Minh.

"Viet Nam wants the OECD to further support the economic reform process as well as to improve the capacity of international integration through bilateral, three-side and regional co-operation framework," he added.

Meanwhile, head of OECD Southeast Asia Division, Alessandro Goglio, told the meeting that Southeast Asia was one of the most active development regions and is playing a more important role in the world.

He hailed Viet Nam's achievements of industrialisation and modernisation, high economic growth rate, and hunger eradication and poverty reduction.

"Viet Nam needs to further develop the infrastructure facilities, reform the State-owned enterprises, improve the investment environment, fulfill labour and social policies with an aim to increase productivity and reach the inclusive growth target," said Goglio.

He stressed that Viet Nam was one of the OECD's priority partners in the Southeast Asia region.

"OECD is ready to promote co-operation with Viet Nam in the new stage of development and international integration, and especially support Viet Nam to implement the socio-economic development plan for the period of 2016 to 2020 as well as improve the capacity of in-depth international integration," he told the meeting.

In yesterday's roundtable, the two sides reviewed the co-operation between Viet Nam and OECD in the period of 2012 to 2015 and the co-operation perspective for 2016 to 2020 period.

The participants discussed possibilities of using the human resources of the OECD Southeast Asian Regional Programme for promoting the bilateral co-operation to reach targets of sustainable and inclusive growth of the 2016 to 2020 period.

In the meeting, the officials of the ministries of Planning and Investment, and Finance discussed with the participants the opportunities and challenges of Viet Nam for inclusive growth and potential of collaboration with OECD in finance and investment.

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