Khanh Hoa province welcomes 4 millionth visitor

The lucky man - Vlasenko Stanislav becomes the four-millionth visitor to Khanh Hoa province

A Russian tourist has become the four-millionth visitor to the central province of Khanh Hoa on December 24.

The lucky man - Vlasenko Stanislav, who arrived on Vietnam Airlines’ flight No.1362 from Ho Chi Minh City, was presented special gifts including free-of-charge services during his stay in Nha Trang city, including mud-bathing, diving tour and top-notch accommodation.

He said that the prizes came as a surprise to him, believing that this will be a fascinating winter holiday.

According to the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the province expected to receive 4.15 million holiday-makers in 2015, comprising 974,000 foreigners.

The province set target to greet 4.5 million vacationers next year.

Khanh Hoa has become an ideal destination for both domestic and foreign travellers thanks to its intriguing sea and island tourism, gentle climate, stable price and quality services.

Over 7.8 million labourers find jobs in 2011-2015 period

Over 7.8 million labourers have been provided with jobs, and around 8.6 million workers have been provided with vocational training in the 2011-2015 period.

The ratio of households living in poverty has seen an average annual drop of 2%, from 14.2% in 2010 to 4.5% in 2015.

The figures were announced at a conference held in Hanoi on December 25 by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) to review its operation in the 2011-2015 period and map out orientations for the next five years.

However, an array of challenges is also facing the ministry, including the gap between supply and demand in labour market, inadequate update for labour market information system, violence and discrimination against women and girls, child labour and child sexual abuse.

In the 2016-2020 period, the ministry has set targets of creating jobs for around 7.5 million – 8 million labourers, and sending 500,000 of them to work abroad.

Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam praised achievements the ministry has made over the past five years, saying that thanks to joint efforts made by ministries and sectors, including the MOLISA, Vietnam has been praised for its robust socio-economic development.

Identifying the ministry’s tasks for the 2016-2020 period, he assigned the MOLISA to better its management over vocational training centres and create favourable conditions to boost labour market.

He noted the fact that many national contributors have not yet enjoyed proper preferential policies, thus he called on further effort to resolve the problem.

The Government official also asked for more attention to caring for the elderly since Vietnam is facing the threat of population aging in the next 20 years,

Concerning poverty reduction, he praised the MOLISA for transferring poverty measurement from a one-dimensional to a multi-dimensional approach as well as its sound implementation of policies on supporting the poor.

Transport Ministry proposes to postpone BOT toll increase

Minster of Transport Dinh La Thang has sent the Ministry of Finance and investors of BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) projects a document, proposing them to postpone toll increase time until June 1 instead of January 1.

He has made the proposal after many businesses and residents raised objections against toll fee increase of many BOT projects scheduled on January 1, 2016.

While negotiating BOT contracts, the Ministry of Transport and investors had based on the expected growth rate of consumer price index (CPI) and ceiling toll levels set by the Ministry of Finance to give the rate for each phase, the ministry said.

However, CPI has been well curbed to be much lower than predicted so far. Hence, the ministry suggested BOT investors to put off the fee increase time and recalculate toll levels to suit the CPI growth rate.

The investors should work with local authorities nationwide and the Ministry of Transport to propose the Ministry of Finance to amend its circular on road toll fee and make a draft BOT contract appendix to have suitable adjustments in the time head.

Deputy PM Dam calls for new approach to sci-tech research

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has called on the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) to take a new approach in scientific and technological research to improve quality amid limited resources.

The deputy PM made the request as he attended a meeting on December 25 to review the implementation of the 2011-2020 strategy on science and technology development over the past five years.

At the meeting, Deputy PM Dam underlined the important role of large universities and research institutes in this task in the long term.

He said a great deal of efforts have been made, citing that Vietnam jumped 19 places on the global innovation rankings, but results still fell short of expectations and urged the MOST to innovate and take bold measures to overcome its own shortcomings.

The deputy PM noted that the MOST should introduce appropriate measures to encourage enterprises to participate in scientific and technological research activities that meet their needs.

He said enterprises should take a central role to attract universities and research institutes to the national innovation system while the State should only play a supportive role.

Central Vietnamese province hit by quake series, with cause unknown

Five earthquakes have been recorded this month in a district of the central Vietnamese province of Thua Thien-Hue, whose cause has yet to be clearly identified by experts.

A tremor measuring 3.4 on the Richter scale occurred at around 6:45 pm on Tuesday in A Luoi District, according to the Vietnam Earthquake Information and Tsunami Warning Center, which is managed by the Institute of Geophysics.

The quake is this month’s fifth tremor recorded in A Luoi and neighboring Huong Tra District, which struck on December 6,7,12 and 14 with a magnitude of around 2.5 to 2.9, the center said.

It is also the tenth temblor that has occurred in the area of Thu Thien-Hue this year, it added.

The province has experienced two quakes with a considerable magnitude, including a tremor in Phong Dien District in 1947, which measured 4.4 on the Richter scale, and a magnitude 4.7 earthquake in A Luoi in May last year, said Professor Nguyen Hong Phuong, deputy director of the center.

Two possible causes have been proposed based on the fact that the epicenters of the quakes are close to each other, the professor explained.

The first theory points to the natural reason that the temblors were triggered by the active tectonic plates as there are two fault zones within the crust beneath the Thua Thien-Hue surface, he said.

The second refers to the possibility that the quakes were initiated by the A Luoi hydropower reservoir, according to the expert.

The A Luoi reservoir was built on the A Sap River and put into operation in September 2011, with a total capacity of over 60 million cubic meters.

Local citizens have expressed their deep concern over the seismic activities and blamed the operation of the reservoir for the tremors, Nguyen Manh Hung, chairman of the A Luoi People’s Committee, toldTuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Earthquakes brought about by dams or reservoirs are commonly harmless since their magnitudes are not significant, according to Prof. Phuong.

However, evacuation should be carried out in the area near the A Luoi reservoir and hydropower plant to ensure the safety of local people, he suggested.

To accurately identify the real cause of the earthquakes in A Luoi requires detailed and long-term study, the expert concluded.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has ordered the Ministry of Science and Technology to work with the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and relevant authorities to evaluate the situation.

Research institutes should continue monitoring seismic activities in the affected areas to provide prompt warnings, the deputy premier requested.

Exhibition promotes Mother Goddess worship

A spiritual and cultural space opened in the northern province of Nam Dinh on December 25 to provide an insight into the distinctive features and values of the ritual of worshipping Mother Goddesses in Vietnam.

According to Nguyen Van Thu, director of the Nam Dinh museum, the folk belief with a long history was closely linked with the nation’s wet rice civilisation.

It reflects great moral values that remind people to respect their origins, with the mother placed at the heart. It is a combination of various aspects of folk culture, including music, language, traditional handicraft, architect, costume, and cuisine.

The exhibition looks towards an UNESCO intangible cultural heritage recognition granted to the folk belief.

Nam Dinh is among Mother Goddess worship centres nationwide, possessing 287 temples and vestiges relating to the belief.

President scrutinises settlement of complaints, denunciations

President Truong Tan Sang and the National Assembly Delegation of Ho Chi Minh City had a working session with the municipal People’s Committee on the settlement of complaints and denunciation in the city.

The session centred on four cases that remained unsolved for years, two of which involved the relocation of residents for the construction of a new apartment building at Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street in District 1 and for the Ben Thanh quadrilateral development project. The two others related to a housing dispute and a complaint on illegal construction in an apartment block, both in District 3.

President Truong Tan Sang and the delegation asked the municipal authority to report the settlement process, current solutions as well as legal foundations to address the issues in the coming time.

The President underscored that the timely handling of complaints and denunciation is very important to maintaining political security and social order while ensuring the legitimate rights and interests of the citizens.

He said the prolonged settlement of complaints and denunciations is a serious mistake on the part of the management agencies.

He requested relevant agencies and sectors to collaborate with one and others to promptly deal with the cases.

Twenty herbal medicine factories meet GMP standards

Twenty factories producing medicine from herbal substances met the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) regulations set by the World Health Organisation in 2015, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said.

A number of western medicine plants also satisfied the GMP standards of the European Union and the Pharmaceutical Inspection Cooperation Scheme for GMP, she noted at a meeting of the Medicine Management Department in Hanoi on December 25.

The Medicine Management Department reported that the application of good practice standards has been well maintained, and all products imported by foreign companies which used to violate medicine quality rules were examined in 2015.

The pharmaceutical sector has also carried out synchronous measures to stabilise medicine prices and the medicine market, it added.

Minister Tien asked the sector to research revisions to the existing law on pharmaceuticals and intensively carry out the national strategy for the sector’s development in the time ahead.-

HCMC prepares for battle on smuggling

Smuggling of cigarettes from Cambodia into HCM City is becoming increasingly sophisticated, making it hard for authorities to combat it, the HCM City Market Management Department has said.

With its large size and market, the city is one of the country's tobacco smuggling hubs.

Phan Hoan Kiem, head of the department, said smugglers took advantage of waterways on the international border to bring a large amount of contraband cigarettes by boat to Long An Province. There the cigarettes were divided into smaller quantities to be transported to the city.

According to Kiem, smugglers bringing contraband from Cambodia into Tay Ninh Province have changed their modus operandi, switching from public buses to tourist buses and taxis.

In border areas in Long An and Tay Ninh, smuggling is done both day and night using various tricks and in small quantities to minimise problems if caught.

Smugglers often change their location and timings and use modern transport and communication means.

In the city, trading of contraband cigarettes at wholesale markets, including Hoc Lac Market in District 5, is also very sophisticated, with shop owners there having intimate relations with illegal tobacco suppliers.

Only a small number of smuggled cigarettes is displayed at stores in the market. This is to throw dust in authorities' eyes since transporting or selling less than 1,500 illegal packets of tobacco is not a crime and attracts only an administrative penalty.

Kiem said traders at the market were wary of new buyers who wanted to buy a large quantity.

From now to the Lunar New Year – in early February – would be the peak time for cigarette smuggling, and so the city would strengthen measures to combat smuggling and fakes, he said.

The city's market management agencies would work closer with their provincial counterparts to combat smuggling and transport of contraband goods, he added.

Between October last year and last September, market authorities in HCM City busted 2,355 cases of cigarette smuggling, confiscating nearly 1.5 million packets and collecting VND13.07 billion (US$580,900) in fines.

HCM's fight against graft lauded

HCM City's many achievements in the fight against corruption in the last 10 years have contributed much to strengthening the country's legal framework for the difficult task, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has said.

Speaking at a conference on Thursday to review 10 years of implementation of the Anti-Corruption Law in HCM City, he said, "HCM City has recently found effective solutions, mechanisms and policies and spent resources to prevent and fight corruption.

"The experience and contributions of HCM City have assisted the Government in improving the efficacy of the legal framework."

Fighting corruption has been one of HCM City's most important socio-economic development tasks.

Many measures like education for Party members and Government employees have been adopted, anti-corruption agencies have been strengthened, and severe penalties have been handed out for graft.

The People's Council has tightened oversight of public assets and the city budget.

"However, corruption remains a most ubiquitous problem," he said.

He said the lack of co-ordination between various agencies was an impediment to strengthening the fight against corruption.

Like other localities, the city too lacked the ability to discover corruption and this needed to be improved, he said.

The fight against bribery based on whistle-blowing was limited, and government offices were inefficient at administration and managing their staff, some of whom still harassed the public, he said.

The city's leaders should be more active, creative and determined in coming up with measures to check corruption, which would boost socio-economic development, he said.

He said other localities should study HCM City's experience in fighting graft.

Nguyen Thanh Phong, chairman of the city People's Committee, said, "HCM City has identified the fight against corruption as the most serious and urgent mission, and it has great implications for the nation's development and defence."

For many years the city Party committee, political system and public had been determined to fight corruption and had achieved some early results, he said.

"Corruption is becoming more and more sophisticated and there is even money transferred abroad. We see a situation of high-ranking officials in the same offices or organisations joining hands to benefit a small coterie.

"The city Party Committee will strengthen the fight against graft, strengthen oversight and improve co-ordination between various agencies."

In the process of creating guidelines and rules against corruption, the Party Committee and People's Committee would try to define new kinds of bribery and seek solutions for them.

Management of land and construction, natural resources and mines, public investment, use of public funds, and management of government workers are considered the most affected by graft, which plagues even anti-corruption agencies.

Since 2006, the city police have investigated 152 cases of bribery and arrested 463 people. The amount of money involved in them was VND600 billion (US$26.7 million) and $136,000. Around VND40 billion ($1.8 million) was recovered.

Vietnam-Cuba diplomatic ties celebrated in Can Tho

The 55-year diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Cuba (December 2) were highlighted at a ceremony in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on December 25.

The event, which also marked the 57th National Day of Cuba, was attended by Can Tho officials, Cuban Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Bernabe Garcia Valido, representatives of Can Tho-based Cuban enterprises and nearly 100 members of the Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam - Cuba Friendship Association.

Addressing the event, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Vo Thanh Thong hailed the time-honoured relationship between the two nations.

Can Tho City treasures the friendship and solidarity with Cuba, he said.

He reported that the city has organised numerous communication activities to enhance local people’s understanding of the Cuban people and country, and asked the Cuban Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City to help foster culture and trade exchanges between Cuba and Can Tho.

The official also pledged to facilitate the investment of Cuban enterprises in the locality.

Vietnam is the second largest Asian trade partner of Cuba, with two-way trade value exceeding 205 million USD in 2014.

Rice and aquatic products are among Vietnamese key exports to Cuba.

Deputy PM urged tightening food safety control

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has called for tighter food safety management during a meeting on December 25 in Hanoi to review food management in 2015 and set tasks for 2016.

The Deputy PM, who heads the National Inter-sector Steering Committee on Food Safety, hailed the efforts made by authorities at all levels and sectors in ensuring food safety over the past year.

He noted that while unsafe products are reported to account for just around 8 percent of all food available on the market, consumers cannot tell safe from unsafe.

Therefore, the Committee needs to seek way to help consumers avoid unsafe goods, he said, adding that more should also be done to improve legal framework and the supervision of all stages of food production to ensure food safety.

Communication work should be promoted to raise the awareness of safe and unsafe food among consumers, Dam added.

This year to December 15, more than 170 food poisoning cases were reported in the country with nearly 5,000 people becoming victims, a drop in both the numbers of cases and victims compared to the previous year.

Numerous programmes on supervision of food production nationwide will be conducted, with focus on the use of chemical substances and pesticide in food production and preservation, food safety in animal slaughter stations, especially in urban areas, according to the Committee.

Drought-hit localities to receive aid ahead of Lunar New Year

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and the Ministry of Finance have submitted a proposal to the Prime Minister to ask for rice supply to drought-stricken localities, according to MoLISA Deputy Minister Nguyen Trong Dam.

The El Nino phenomenon has triggered prolonged hot spells and drought in the central region, the Central Highlands and the southern region, affecting agricultural production and people’s life, the deputy minister said.

The MoLISA has asked municipal and provincial People’s Committees nationwide to compile a list of households at risk of food shortage during the lunar New Year and between-crop period next year, and use local budget and raise funds from philanthropists to help them.

In case of insufficient funding, the localities should submit requests for aid to the two ministries before January 30, 2016.

According to Deputy Minister Nguyen Trong Dam, three provinces – Nghe An, Tuyen Quang and Thanh Hoa – have asked for rice aid. The Prime Minister has approved an aid package for Thanh Hoa province.

Security, social order ensured in 2015

National security and social order have been ensured throughout 2015 despite complicated developments in the regional and world situation, the Ministry of Public Security said at a press conference in Hanoi on December 25.

Deputy Minister of Public Security Dang Van Hieu reported that more than 57,000 crimes were reported this year, of which the police uncovered more than 43,900 cases (77.1 percent), arrested 83,100 suspects and disbanded 2,480 criminal gangs.

The ministry also handled 15,922 economic crimes, 267 hi-tech crimes and over 13,780 violations of environmental laws.

Hundreds of thousands of individuals and units in the sector were honoured for their outstanding contribution to the prevention and fighting against criminals. Twelve police officers died and 263 others were injured in the line of duty during the year.

The Ministry said it will undertake the utmost efforts to safeguard national independence, sovereignty and unification, territorial integrity and the interests of the nation.

It vows to protect the cause of reform, industrialisation and modernisation and the international integration, while ensuring social order and security for socio-economic development of the country.

The sector also aims to foster international cooperation in the new situation.

The 71st national congress of public security forces will take place in Hanoi on December 29 and 30, according to Hieu.

Gia Lai fulfill target of preschool education universalisation

All 17 districts and towns in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai have met target of universal preschool education for five-year-old children, according to the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET).

An inspection by the MoET from December 22-24 showed that 99.7 percent of five-year-old children in Gia Lai attended school this year and 99.3 percent of them completed kindergarten programme.

The rate of school attendance among other age groups also rose remarkably, with 76 percent of children aging from 3-5 going to kindergarten in 2015, compared to 68.7 percent in 2011.

The results were spurred by the efficient planning of school network and prompt implementation of policies related to children.

In addition to improving capacity for teachers and managers, the province also paid attention to upgrading facilities in the schools, including fresh water supply and modern teaching equipment.

Chicken breeders suffer losses amid price drops

Vietnamese chicken farmers have been suffering from big losses for a long time due to high input costs and low selling prices, an official said.

Nguyen Van Ngoc, Vice Chairman of Southeastern Poultry Association, said with about 550,000 battery chickens available to the market a day, the animal husbandry sector endured losses of dozens of billions of dong every day.

This year is a catastrophe for chicken breeders in Viet Nam because the price was so low and it lasted for a long time, he said.

A rush of imports of cheap US chickens to the Vietnamese market since the end of last year caused the price of chicken to drop dramatically, he said.

The price later rebounded due to interference from government authorities. However, not long after that, frozen chicken continued to be imported with the price even cheaper than before, threatening the animal husbandry industry.

Nguyen Thanh Hoang, who lives in Dong Nai Province's Tan Phu District, has decided to give up farming after suffering big losses for a long time.

Three days ago, he sold 30,000 industrial chickens at only VND16,000 (US$0.7) per kilogram. After deducting expenses, he lost nearly VND500,000,000 ($22,100).

"Early this year, I lost several hundred million dong. I got some profits in September but now I have nothing,"

"Chicken raising is no longer bringing in profits as its price is even cheaper than vegetables," he said.

Not only Hoang, but also thousands of industrial chicken breeders in the country are facing losses because the chicken price is now hovering around VND15,000 (66 cents)per kilogram, the lowest ever recorded. It is even below the production cost.

According to Nguyen Viet Hung, owner of food supplier company in Binh Duong Province, a kilogram of US chicken thighs sold for less than VND20,000 ($88 cents), much lower than the Vietnamese one.

The chicken price had plummeted as a result of a reduction in chicken exports from Viet Nam to Cambodia with fierce competition from Thailand, insiders said.

Cambodia was once a large consumption market for chicken breeding farms in southern provinces. However, the market is shared with Thai chicken with a more competitive price. Thus, there was an oversupply of chicken in Viet Nam.

Many chicken breeding farms will have to cease their production if the low price of chicken goes on, according to Southeastern Poultry Association.

Competition heats up

According to Doan Xuan Truc, deputy chairman cum general secretary of the Animal Husbandry Association of Viet Nam, once Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) starts, the country's animal husbandry industry is expected to face fierce challenges because of low productivity, high production costs and small scale of production.

Speaking at a conference held in Ha Noi last week, Truc said that the domestic industry was plagued with small-scale breeding, poor animal breed quality, poor breeding technology.

Nearly 80 per cent of breeding households worked on small-scale and production costs had gone up because of dependence on imports for raw materials used to produce animal feed and vaccines, he said.

"For example, a Vietnamese worker can raise about 5,000 chickens while a Thai counterpart can handle 20,000 chickens," Truc said.

"When the tax is reduced to zero per cent, the animal husbandry sector still has to bear transportation costs for imported material, thus reducing the sector's competitiveness".

He urged the sector to push up restructuring and accomplishing modes of transportation to cope with competition from abroad.

He said that joining TPP would help the industry access new technology, products and animal breeds as well as production methods.

Tran Duy Khanh, Vice chairman and general secretary of the Vietnam Poultry Association suggested that the animal husbandry sector should focus on key farming products that have won prestige in the world market.

Khanh said farmers should raise free range chicken because it would be profitable for them.

The price of free range chicken was nearly four fold higher than the price of caged chicken in the US market, he added.

Le Ba Lich, chairman of the Viet Nam Animal Feed Association, said the country should increase the growing area of material for animal feed to reduce the reliance on imported material.

GlobalGAP certification for Tien Giang fruit farms

The Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang yesterday granted Global Good Agriculture Practices (GlobalGAP) certificate to three fruit production establishments in the locality.

GlobalGAP specifies requirements for agricultural production to meet international standards of farm produce and protect the environment.

The awardees included a dragon fruit farm in Thanh Tan commune, Tan Phuoc District; a durian cooperative in Tam Binh commune, Cai Lay district; and a dragon fruit cooperative in My Tinh An commune, Cho Gao District.

By the end of this year, Tien Giang had about 631 ha of vegetable and fruit products granted VietGAP and GlobalGAP certificates, including over 30 ha of rice, 130 ha of fruits, and 67 ha of vegetables.

In the period from 2013-15, the "Quality and Safety Enhancement of Agricultural Products and Biogas Development" (QSEAP) project presented GAPs certificates to 25 agricultural farms and cooperatives in the locality, according to Tran Thanh Phong, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development's Agricultural Promotion Centre.

Tien Giang boasts the largest fruit-tree area in the Mekong Delta with over 85,000 ha, generating an annual yield of 1.3 million tonnes. It is also home to over 43,000 ha of vegetables.

Corruption more sophisticated in city

Corruption in HCMC is more sophisticated as it is hidden in the forms of interest group and international money transfer, HCMC’s new chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said on December 24.

Speaking at a review meeting on the ten-year implementation of the anti-corruption law in HCMC, Phong said the city has made some progress in combating corruption in the past ten years but legal proceedings against graft cases have been slow. The retrieval of assets from corrupt officials has remained meager.

As reported by HCMC vice chairman Le Thanh Liem, the HCMC Department of Police has taken legal proceedings against 152 graft cases and 463 people since 2006. Total losses in those cases have amounted to over VND600 billion (more than US$26.6 million) and US$136,000, with only over VND40 billion taken back and returned to the State.

In addition, the People’s Procuracy and the People’s Court of HCMC have handled 350 corruption cases over the past ten years.

Irregularities have been mainly found in management of land, basic construction projects, budget collections and spending, use of public assets, equitization and finance.

The HCMC People’s Court has proposed confiscating thousands of billions. However, defendants had managed to transfer assets before they were detained, so it is tough to trace such assets. The ratio of assets taken back was a mere 10% of the total in 2013 and 22% last year.

To tackle corruption more effectively, the HCMC government has proposed amending the anti-corruption law. In particular, the law should govern corruption in the non-State sector which also causes as serious consequences as in the public sector.

Besides, HCMC wants the issuance of regulations on monitoring incomes of officials by demanding payments via banks and declarations of big spending.  

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said there remained a lack of coordination among agencies in the fight against corruption.

According to Phuc, who is also head of the steering committee for reviewing the ten-year implementation of the anti-corruption law, inspections of the compliance with the law should be strengthened.

He said HCMC’s proposals concerning policies and regulations on corruption prevention will be taken into account. As planned, the draft of the revised anti-corruption law will be put forth for comment next October before it is presented to the National Assembly for approval in May 2017.

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