Hanoi issues directions on tree management

The chairman of the People's Committee of Ha Noi has authorised the construction department to propose and select personnel to take part in professional tree management training abroad.

The decision was made yesterday after the chairman, Vu Duc Chung, examined the tree pruning and planting activities on the streets of the city.

Chung directed the construction department and people's committees of the districts, wards and communes to put off calling for bidders for tree management and planting activities in the 2016-19 period.

Instead, the activities will be completed on a monthly basis. The bidding plan will follow the general plan of the city.

He also assigned the concerned people's committees to document the number of trees and greenswards, classify types of trees in their jurisdictions and enumerate the upcoming activities and projects, as well as report to the city's committee and the construction department.

All management activities for trees and greenswards across 12 districts were assigned to the Ha Noi Green Park One Member Ltd company.

Chung asked the construction department to form teams to collaborate with the company in pruning, planting and replacing the trees.

He also emphasized that activities such as planting new trees and replacing crooked and rotten trees must be completed at night. The trees must be pruned and trimmed at the right time after that to ensure the right conditions for growth.

Trees that are chosen to replace the decade-old trees must be of a similar age.

The committee also assigned the internal relations department to collaborate with the company in re-organising its corporate structure by forming professional tree pruning units, tree planting and development enterprises and park and garden management units.

The city started to implement a project to replace 6,700 trees in the city last year, which sparked an intense reaction from the citizens.

The city's leaders then temporarily stopped the project for further investigation, which uncovered several mistakes and shortcomings introduced by related individuals and organisations.

Communication critical to enhancing women’s political participation

Communication plays an important role in improving awareness and the practice of gender equality, and in promoting support for women’s stronger political participation, said head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Mass Mobilisation Truong Thi Mai.

Data shows that Vietnam has made strides in increasing women’s presence in people-elected agencies, from 3 percent at the first National Assembly (NA) to 24.4 percent at the 13th NA (from 2011 to 2016).

In the 2011 – 2016 tenure, females accounted for 25.17 percent of the deputies at province-level People’s Committees, 24.62 percent at the district-level People’s Committees, and 21.71 percent at the commune-level People’s Committees.

Mai said increasing women’s participation in people-elected bodies will help realise substantive gender equality and ensure their engagement in deciding policies, especially those pertaining to women, children, gender equality, human rights protection, culture, education and other social issues.

It is a global fact that to have a decisive voice, women must hold at least 30 percent of the seats in the State apparatus, she noted.

Meanwhile, their modest participation in people-elected agencies is attributable to a lack of gender awareness and other objective factors in society.

As communication could raise public awareness, it should be focused on the Party and State guidelines and policies on boosting women’s involvement in leadership and management activities, and the Law on the election of NA and People’s Council deputies which stipulates that at least 35 percent of official candidates for positions in the NA and People’s Councils must be women.

The role of and major contributions by women to national development also need to be popularised, the Party official added.

Sharing the same view, UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam Pratibha Mehta said one of the reasons for women’s limited political participation is that some potential female candidates are not well known among the public.

A 2015 study in Vietnam shows that only 22 percent of news on newspapers, televisions and radios are about women and their matters. The rate was just 18 percent on websites.

Communication can be a significant player in highlighting the image of female leaders and creating positive changes. Media outlets should bring out women’s contributions to common issues and ensure equal coverage of both genders during elections, Pratibha Mehta said.    

HCM City to launch vaccine campaign

HCM City will launch a measles – rubella vaccination campaign next month that will cover about 124,000 people in 24 districts next month, the city health department said.

The free vaccinations, which would cover people in the 16-17 age group, would be conducted at local health centres, it said.

The mass vaccinations will be of 11th and 12 grade high school students and those who were born between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 1999, who live in the city.

Those who were born in 2000, but were not covered in the 2014-15 measles-rubella vaccination campaign for children in the 1-14 age group, will also benefit from the campaign.

HCM City to use more environmentally-friendly buses

HCM City will put more than 300 buses using compressed natural gas in to operation as part of a bid to reduce emissions, save fuel costs and replace ageing vehicles.

According to the municipal Department of Transport, local transport firms have registered to operate around 500 new buses this years, including 300 operating on new, greener fuel.

The department said that many of 1,318 buses put into operation between 2002 and 2003 have deteriorated.

The city people’s committee approved a project to use 1,680 new buses in the 2014-2017 period as part of efforts to curb the use of private vehicles.

HCM City recently put 23 new CNG buses into operation.

Local bus firms are also being asked to offer free travel for people over 75.

The city is seeking government approval to pilot use of three electric bus routes. Around 20 12-seat buses will be used on the routes.

President receives outstanding soldiers in US resistance war

President Truong Tan Sang on February 25 hosted a reception in Hanoi for a delegation of outstanding former soldiers from the national resistance war against the US, who had the honour to meet Uncle Ho during the 1967-1969 period.

Five decades ago, the delegates were exemplary models of a younger generation who overcame difficulties to make significant contributions to the country’s struggle for the liberation of South Vietnam and national reunification.

At the reception, the delegates recalled their unforgettable memories of the war as well as meeting with President Ho.

They also expressed their delight with the success of the 12th National Party Congress, saying that they have trust in the solidarity and consensus of the entire Party and people as well as the country’s steady development in the coming time.

Speaking at the function, President Truong Tan Sang stressed that Party and State always remember the dedication of the guests and national contributors in general.

He emphasised that the success of the recent 12th National Party Congress was contributed to by the entire Party, people and army.

Vietnam has made huge achievements during 30 years of the Doi Moi (Reform) process, he said.

He called on the delegates to take practical actions to make further contributions to national construction while establishing themselves as positive examples for the younger generations to follow.

U.S. helps cope with climate change in Red River Delta

Researchers and representatives of international development partners and Vietnamese Government officials, including those from the northern Red River Delta, are gathering at a two-day climate change symposium that aims to promote delta-wide cooperation in addressing climate change impacts.

The second Red River Delta Climate Change Symposium, organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) with support from the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID), is also expected to to enhance awareness relative to the critical vulnerability of the Red River Delta and advocate for increased investment in responding to climate change impacts that this region has been facing.

The negative impacts felt by the people living in the Red River Delta are shared by many communities in the U.S., said U.S. Ambassador Ted Osius, adding that the similar experience is in part why the U.S. and Viet Nam have a strong shared determination to reverse the course of climate change and effectively adapt to its impacts.

The Red River Delta is particularly at risk to the impacts of climate change but often receives less attention than the Mekong Delta. This symposium fosters better understanding of climate change implications in the Red River Delta and a call for more relevant investment for the region, particularly at the whole-of-delta level.

The first Red River Delta Symposium, organized in 2014 in Nam Dinh, offered the five coastal provinces the first-time opportunity to discuss the common challenges they all face and the need for coordinated responses at the delta-level.

Since then, USAID’s Viet Nam Forests and Deltas program has supported updated provincial climate change action plans, which have been shared at the second symposium so they will be implemented in a more concerted way.

The Red River Delta is a priority for U.S. support. Currently, the active cooperation programs in the region include the Viet Nam Forests and Deltas Program, the Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Alliance, the Red River Delta Adaptation and Youth program, and U.S. Sister Cities Disaster Preparedness initiative, all managed through USAID.

Health sector to invest big in IT in 2016-2020

The healthcare sector is expected to invest VND1.8 trillion (US$81 million) in information technology (IT) in 2016-2020, according to an IT application and development plan approved by the Ministry of Health.

There will be 33 IT projects to be executed in the next five years, including building a database on organizational system and human resources, constructing infrastructure for the ministry’s data center, and developing an integrated information system for the ministry’s leadership.

The plan also includes building an online one-stop-shop public service system, an information system for managing electronic medical records, and an electronic healthcare system.

The plan is aimed at developing an integrated information system at the Ministry of Health and its agencies to improve management, operation efficiency and the quality of health services to better serve citizens and businesses. According to experts, the plan will create a huge opportunity for IT service and solution providers.

The ministry expects the plan to help improve service quality in the healthcare sector and strengthen the capacity of supervising the sector’s activities. In the long term, the plan will reduce staff, and improve the quality of professional activities.

UNICEF crew visit AO kids in Da Nang

The crew of a UNICEF boat paid a visit to the No 3 rehabilitation centre for Agent Orange (AO) victims in Hoa Nhon Commune in Hoa Vang District on Wednesday.

The crew and representatives from UNICEF in Viet Nam presented gifts to the AO-affected children while visiting the vocational training centre and the most serious cases.

The centre, which is under the management of Da Nang City's Association for the Victims of Agent Orange (DAVA), is home to 90 AO-affected children.

As scheduled, 60 children from the centre would visit the UNICEF yacht docked at the Han River port, where the team made a 10-day stop-over after finishing 10th in the 7th leg of the Clipper 2015-16 Round the World Yacht Race the next day.

The challenging 28-day race required the team to travel 4,130 miles from Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays, Australia, to Da Nang.

The crew raised 300,000 pounds (US$420,000) during the race to help poor and underprivileged

UNICEF works with the government of Viet Nam, and in particular the ministries of labour, invalids and social affairs; health; and education and training, to improve the services offered to children with disabilities and build on the model of Da Nang to scale it up nationwide.

Da Nang is home to more than 5,000 AO victims, of which 1,400 are children.

Health sector urges tighter meningitis supervision

The health ministry's preventive medicine department yesterday asked provincial and city health departments to tighten supervision for early detection of meningitis cases nationwide.

Samples from risk groups or those coming in direct contact with meningitis patients must be collected for tests as soon as possible, along with measures for preventive treatment and to deal with the outbreak, the department said.

The directives were issued after the Hai Duong Preventive Medicine Centre reported that a young girl died from meningococcal disease, a contagious disease caused by the Neisseria meningitidis bacterium, on Wednesday.

Health departments have been requested to instruct hospitals and medical stations to prepare plans for quarantine, and to receive and treat patients, while preventive medicine centres should inspect and handle outbreaks.

Communication campaigns should be strengthened to improve the awareness of the people and the community about disease prevention. Localities should have enough medical staff, facilities and chemicals for taking measures to handle outbreaks.

The health sector said people should take care of their hygiene and take measures for disease prevention, such as regular washing of hands with soap and cleaning of living areas.

People showing symptoms such as high fever, headache and runny nose should immediately visit the nearest hospital for examination.

The health ministry said meningitis cases have been detected across several cities and provinces such as HCM City, Son La, Hoa Binh and Gia Lai, besides Nam Dinh and Lang Son provinces in 2015, including a recent death in Hai Duong Province in 2016.

Health experts said the meningococcal disease spread by person-to-person contact through respiratory droplets from infected victims. Symptoms include stiff neck, high fever and rashes all over the body. The disease is considered dangerous because the onset of symptoms is sudden and death can follow within hours.

People can take children to medical stations to get them vaccinated against meningitis.

Ha Noi acts to prevent bird flu outbreak

Ha Noi authorities have been taking drastic measures to ensure food safety and prevent the outbreak of bird flu since the beginning of this year, an official said.

Doan Hong Phong, deputy head of Ha Noi's department of animal health, said the department would intensify inspections on the use of chemicals, and the quarantine, trading and transportation of animals in the city.

It will also focus on the cleaning and sterilisation of breeding farms, markets, slaughter houses and transport vehicles, besides poultry products.

The department was expected to launch five campaigns this year on sanitation and sterilisation of breeding farms, slaughter houses, processing units and disease outbreaks in the past, he said.

The disease prevention plan will be boosted by strengthening the supervision of diseases at local units and increasing the vaccinations of cattle and poultry.

The department will co-ordinate with local authorities to tighten hygiene control in the city's high-risk areas and to strictly deal with violations.

Ha Noi has the largest number of cattle and poultry in the country, amounting to 1.6 million pigs, 26.7 million poultry and 170,000 buffaloes and cows.

Amazing Deal: US$29 flights on Vietnam Airlines

Vietnam Airlines is offering incredible round trip fares to Thailand for as low as US$29, plus taxes and fees for travel through November 20.

Vietnam Airlines announced the sale on February 26 with discounts on the Hanoi-Bangkok route valid for tickets purchased February 29 to March 6 for flights departing March 22 to November 30.

Tickets can be purchased at the airlines website  http://www.vietnamairlines.com/vn/vi/ or at any Vietnam Airlines ticket office.

Development project to boost Can Tho's transport sector

A group of experts from a German co-operative development agency had a working meeting with Can Tho people's committee yesterday to examine the city's transport infrastructure for an investment project.

The examination was aimed at collecting information to aid sustainable investment in urban transport infrastructure in the central and suburban areas of Can Tho City, Roland Hass, one of the German experts, said.

It is meant also to ensure that transport technologies will be transferred successfully, avoiding the shortcomings that many ASEAN countries have experienced such as constant traffic congestion and severe environment pollution.

The experts and local authorities discussed and shared knowledge and experience in transport research, especially in the fields related to the transport situation of Can Tho City.

Notably, the German experts evaluated the city's transport in order to plan urban policies and development strategies for the transport infrastructure of Ninh Kieu District.

A three-year sustainable urban development project for Can Tho City, with a total investment of more than VND85 billion (US$3.8 million), will start by the end of this year.

The three phases of the project will include investment, technology transference and personnel training, as well as urban transport development.

Dao Anh Dung, vice-chairman of Can Tho people's committee, highly appreciated the support of the German agencies in the city's transport development.

It was vital to include Can Tho City, alongside other ASEAN cities, in the sustainable transport development project of the German government, he said.

Fans offered Old Trafford contest

Chevrolet Fan Cup is giving Vietnamese the chance to play an exclusive football fan tournament at Old Trafford, the home ground of Manchester United, according to General Motors Viet Nam.

To apply, contestants should upload a photo or video clip of themselves celebrating a goal in a fun and unique way at http://www.chevrolet.com.vn/fan-cup.html. Submissions are open until March 15.

Chevrolet will award winners based on its evaluation by judges and the number of "likes" and "shares" on its fanpage https://www.facebook.com/TheChevroletVietnam until March 22. Four winners will be chosen.

Results will be published on the website of Chevrolet Viet Nam on March 31.

Chevrolet Fan Cup is an international contest open to football fans from India, Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand, Viet Nam and South Africa as well as countries in the Middle East.

Four winners from each country will have a chance to be trained by Manchester United legends, play a final football fan tournament at Old Trafford, and tour Old Trafford's museum.

HCMC proposes to build new highway connecting District 2

The HCM City People's Committee has asked the Prime Minister to approve a project to build a parallel road linking Mai Chi Tho Street of District 2 and Ring Road 2.

The city wants the land given to the investor to help shorten the construction time.

City authorities will select the investor who can guarantee investment efficiency and the project's standards.

The parallel road will traverse the Nam Rach Chiec Residential Area and connect Mai Chi Tho Street and An Phu Traffic Spot on Ring Road No 2 along the HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay highway.

District 2 is a new urban area but its facilities have failed to meet development and urbanisation.

Its transport faces difficulties because there are no comprehensive projects to link roads, especially at the An Phu Traffic Spot, which often has traffic jams.

The residential area project Nam Rach Chiec on 90 hectares of land will also be developed.

It is one of the city's important projects offering resettlement for residents living in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area. Other projects in District 2 are also being developed.

The road would link the Nam Rach Chiec Residential Area's facilities with the urban system. As such, it would play a significant role in the economy, and if completed, would serve more than 40,000 people.

Promising outlook for job seekers in Vietnam

With no signs of foreign investment slowing down anytime soon and the expectation that transnational businesses will continue relocating to Vietnam during 2016, staffing agencies say the job market for professionals looks promising.

They say transnational companies are looking specifically to hire more mid to senior-level professionals, who possess good language, interpersonal and international business experience in hopes of closing the skills gap.

They are also predicting the trend for recruiting Overseas Vietnamese (OVs) professionals will continue in 2016, as hiring these internationally experienced candidates will aid significantly in bridging the gap between candidates required for middle management positions as well as those for more senior roles.

The plan to hire more experienced OVs workers is expected to play a pivotal role in assisting transnational companies design solid management succession strategies by recruiting candidates capable of moving to the very top levels of the company.

They say their surveys also show that as more manufacturing plants establish operations in the Southeast Asian nation, professionals skilled in engineering, procurement, sourcing and supply chain will see increased job opportunities.

Additionally, the entrance of mobile applications and tech start-ups will steer recruitment for IT candidates towards iOS development, Android development as well as graphic design.

Meanwhile, demand for marketers within the technical healthcare sector will continue to spiral upwards as global health related firms expand their presence and more competitors enter the Vietnamese market.

In 2016, they specifically foresee more manufacturing operations entering Vietnam from China, Thailand, Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK) in a variety of industries including electronics, textiles and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG).

Equipping the nation’s workforces with the skillsets needed during this period of rapid economic and employment growth is a daunting, long and arduous task for Vietnam’s educational system.

Recently a VOV reporter interviewed a representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Nguyen Tien Phong, to discuss a report the UNDP issued discussing the health of the nation’s education system.

The 2015 Vietnam Human Development Report on inclusive growth, covering the period 2004-2012, conducted in collaboration with the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) shows that the middle class in Vietnam is rising.

For the full period from 2004 to 2012, inclusive, it shows that all population groups in Vietnam saw their incomes rise but the middle income groups benefited the most, and this underpins the emergence of a Vietnamese middle class, Phong said.

So from this perspective, the educations system is satisfactorily supplying the population with the skillsets needed to find good paying jobs and increasing their income sufficiently to lift them out of poverty.

However, the overall findings of the report, in a nutshell, found that much more needs to be done said Phong, to better train the nation’s workforces to make the most of its current middle-income stage of development and avoid being perpetually trapped there.

Without better language, interpersonal and business skills there is a risk of serious inequality developing, as those without these skills are likely to be left behind as the economy keeps advancing and the better paying professional jobs all go to foreigners.

Metropole puts on vegetarian buffet program

The Metropole Wedding and Convention Center is offering a signature vegetarian buffet program called “Saigon – Vegetarian Dishes,” which has been well known among vegetarians in Ho Chi Minh City for over a decade.

Themed “Sac xuan” (Spring beauty), the buffet program lasts throughout the first lunar month, allowing diners to light food to purify the body and the spirit after an energy-dense food extravaganza at Tet, the country’s biggest and longest holiday.

For this year’s Saigon – Vegetarian Dishes program, chefs of Metropole are putting on spring-themed dishes which are both delicious and nutritious, such as ficus fruit salad, deep fried banh chung (traditional Vietnamese glutinous rice cake) apart from 65 vegetarian dishes which have been associated with the “Saigon – Vegetarian Dishes” brand.

With a spring decor, Metropole offers diners a peaceful, tranquil space in spring, the season of love and gathering and also the time for starting fresh again.

Open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily at the Shanghai lobby on the fourth floor of the Metropole Wedding and Convention Center, the “Saigon – Vegetarian Dishes” program will last until March 9.

Tickets for the buffet program cost VND260,000 (US$11.7) per adult and VND120,000 per child. Those who buy 10 tickets, which are available at the reception counter, will get one free.

Metropole Wedding and Convention Center: 216 Ly Chinh Thang Street, District 3, HCMC. Tel: 08 3526 2288 or 0909 216 216. Email: sales@metropole.com.vn

The third edition of the festival designed to honor the ‘ao dai,’ the traditional long gown of Vietnam, is set to run in Ho Chi Minh City during March and include a variety of activities.

The 2016 ‘ao dai’ festival is scheduled to be held from March 5 to 19 with multiple activities taking place in locations throughout the southern city.

The opening ceremony is slated to take place at 6:30 pm on March 3 at the Youth Culture House in District 1, followed by an artistic performance under the theme ‘Ao Dai – the Eternal Beauty.’  

A series of photo galleries entitled ‘Ao Dai through the Ages’ will be exhibited at the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts, Ao Dai Museum, War Remnants Museum, and Chi Lang Park on Dong Khoi Street, from March 5 to 31.

A fair will also be held at the Youth Culture House between March 18 and 20, during which participants can sell and exchange their ‘ao dai,’ along with other accessories including handbags, clogs, hats, and others.

In addition to several other activities running from March 5 to the end of the month, Ho Chi Minh City authorities will organize several journeys called ‘The City of Ao Dai – The City I Love’ starting at the Youth Culture House and incorporating other significant cultural and historic sites of the city, during which time Vietnamese students wearing ‘ao dai’ will travel on bicycles to promote environmental protection.

The bicycle run will take place on each Sunday from March 6 to 20.

An ‘ao dai’ contest is also scheduled, with participants coming from different backgrounds, including Vietnamese schoolgirls, housewives, company employees and female staff from embassies and foreign business associations based in Ho Chi Minh City.

Many other competitions, namely the ‘ao dai’ drawing contest for elementary and secondary school students, the ‘ao dai’ designing contest for university students, a photo competition, and others, will also be held between March 5 and 20.

Several talk shows and presentations focusing on the history and cultural value of ‘ao dai’ will also be run over the same period.

Organizers of the festival will promote the buying of ‘ao dai’ by encouraging owners of tailoring services, businesses and shopping centers to lower the cost and prices of their services and products.

Clay Fire-cracker Festival returns to Hai Duong

The sixth Clay Fire-cracker Festival of northern Hai Duong province opened at Da Pagoda in the national special relics complex Con Son – Kiep Bac on February 23.

Clay fire-cracker hurling is a traditional folk game in northern Vietnam that involves throwing clay crackers on the ground to create noise.

It is performed to pray for good harvests and to warn off natural disasters. It is believed that the louder the noise of the cracker, the more bountiful the crops will be in the year to come.

The festival saw the participation of eight teams from seven communes – An Duc, Ninh Hoa, Tan Huong and Quyet Thang of Ninh Giang district; Minh Duc and Quang Khai of Tu Ky district; and Duc Xuong of Gia Loc district. They are all well-known for clay fire-cracker contests.

The event is part of the on-going Con Son-Kiep Bac 2016 Spring Festival in the province, which will run until March 1.

Temple to get $446,000 upgrade

The People's Committee of Ha Tinh Province broke ground on Sunday on a project to repair and upgrade the La Son Phu Tu Nguyen Thiep Temple in Can Loc District.

The 1,260 sq.m project has received investment of nearly VND10 billion (US$445,800) by the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV), Can Loc District's budget, and other funding sources.

The construction – which includes upgrading the old temple, building a new temple to worship Nguyen Thiep and repairing infrastructure – is expected to be completed in seven months.

Nguyen Thiep (1723-1804) was born in La Son district (now Can Loc district) in the central province of Ha Tinh, and was an illustrious Vietnamese Confucian scholar of the Later Le and Tay Son dynasty.

He was in charge of many different positions in the court, but he decided to resign and stay hidden in the Thien Nhan mountain with the pseudonym of La Son Phu Tu. He was then invited to become an advisor of King Quang Trung and made great contributions in the liberation war against the Qing dynasty of China.

The temple of La Son Phu Tu Nguyen Thiep was recognised as a national historic and cultural relic in 1994 to acknowledge and honor his great contributions to national history. However, the temple has been seriously damaged because of natural causes and historic factors.

Environmental protection fees for mining announced

The Government has issued a Decree on environmental protection fees for mining businesses.

According to the decree, metal exploitation will be charged from between 10,000 VND and 270,000 VND (0.45 - 12.15 USD) per tonne, while the figures for non-metal mining will be between 1,000 and 90,000 (0.045 – 4.05 USD) per cubic metre or tonne.

Crude oil is subject to a protection cost of 100,000 VND (4.5 USD) per tonne.

The extraction of natural and coal gases will cost 50 VND per cubic metre, while natural gases collected through crude oil exploitation will be charged at 35 VND per cubic metre.

Payments for the exploitation of crude oil, natural and coal gases will be channelled into the Government budget, while others will be added to local budgets.

No environmental protection fees will be issued on dirt and rock from coal mining until the end of 2017.

The Reverie Saigon wins TripAdvisor's Travelers Choice award

The Reverie Saigon has been named in the Top 25 Luxury Hotels in Vietnam and the Top 25 Hotels in Vietnam in the Travelers Choice Awards given by TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel website.

The awards honours hotels in the categories of Top Hotels, Bargain, B&Bs and Inns, Luxury, Service and Small Hotels, based on millions of reviews and opinions collected in a single year from travellers.

"Our gratitude goes out to our guests who took the time to share their experience with the TripAdvisor community," said Christina von Wrede, resident manager of the hotel.

Opened last September at Times Square in District 1, the hotel offers 62 suites and 224 rooms decorated and furnished in 12 different styles.

It has an impressive spa and four restaurants offering multiple fine-dining options.

Belt Road No 3's speed limit revised

Vehicles will be allowed to run at a maximum speed of 90km per hour on Belt Road No 3 in Ha Noi from March 1, an official said.

Nguyen Van Huyen, general director of the Directorate for Roads of Viet Nam, said the DRVN had instructed Ha Noi's Department of Transport to raise the speed limit from 80km to 90km per hour from March.

Huyen said Circular 91/2015/TT-BGTVT, which includes regulations on speed and the distance to be maintained between vehicles, would take effect on March 1.

Accordingly, cars, 30-seater coaches, excluding public buses and vehicles with a capacity of up to 3.5 tonnes will be allowed to run at a maximum speed of 90km per hour on two-way roads with a central divider.

There was no intersection on Belt Road No 3, so the proposal to increase the speed limit from March 1 was reasonable, Huyen said.

Traffic jams occurred recently on the approach roads to Belt Road No 3 because the vehicles were being driven in the wrong lane, he said.

The DRVN has asked the municipal transport department to change the signboard systems on the road to boost traffic movement.

Development project to boost Can Tho's transport sector

A group of experts from a German co-operative development agency had a working meeting with Can Tho people's committee yesterday to examine the city's transport infrastructure for an investment project.

The examination was aimed at collecting information to aid sustainable investment in urban transport infrastructure in the central and suburban areas of Can Tho City, Roland Hass, one of the German experts, said.

It is meant also to ensure that transport technologies will be transferred successfully, avoiding the shortcomings that many ASEAN countries have experienced such as constant traffic congestion and severe environment pollution.

The experts and local authorities discussed and shared knowledge and experience in transport research, especially in the fields related to the transport situation of Can Tho City.

Notably, the German experts evaluated the city's transport in order to plan urban policies and development strategies for the transport infrastructure of Ninh Kieu District.

A three-year sustainable urban development project for Can Tho City, with a total investment of more than VND85 billion (US$3.8 million), will start by the end of this year.

The three phases of the project will include investment, technology transference and personnel training, as well as urban transport development.

Dao Anh Dung, vice-chairman of Can Tho people's committee, highly appreciated the support of the German agencies in the city's transport development.

It was vital to include Can Tho City, alongside other ASEAN cities, in the sustainable transport development project of the German government, he said.

National traffic safety committee launches Facebook page

The National Traffic Safety Committee has launched its Facebook page as a channel to raise people's awareness about traffic safety and to receive public feedback.

The committee's Vice-Chairman Khuat Viet Hung said the page has been working on a trial basis for a year during which many comments and suggestions were received from the public and experts in this field.

As a result, the committee decided to launch the page to boost communication between the committee and local residents.

Guidelines, policies and regulations related to traffic safety would be regularly introduced and updated on the page for the benefit of the local people, Hung said.

The page welcomed comments and recommendations from the people and experts, particularly those relating to measures to help reduce road accidents and congestion, he said.

Responsible tourism in Delta areas promoted

The collaboration between An Giang, Kien Giang and Can Tho in the Mekong Delta for responsible tourism development was reviewed at a workshop held in Kien Giang province last Friday.

The event was organised with technical support from the EU - funded Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development (EU-ESRT) Programme.

At the opening session, a representative of the Kien Giang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism reviewed last year's outcomes.

A plan for responsible tourism this year, with a focus on the "National Tourism Year 2016 – Phu Quoc – Mekong Delta" and called "Discovery of the Southern Land" was tabled at the workshop by Kien Giang tourism authorities.

A spokesman for the EU-ESRT Programme spoke about the development of tourism products in the three Mekong provinces and demand for tourism workers and activities to support tourism destination management in 2016.

According to a report from the EU-ESRT Programme to support the Mekong provinces in sustainable development of responsible tourism in 2013 –15, it focused on establishing and putting into operation multi-component destination management organisation.

The support also included development of a public-private dialogue (PPD), enhancing the role of provincial tourism associations, development of responsible tourism products, promotion of regional destinations and providing training courses for capacity development.

For development of PPD, local tourism associations' participation in the working group, technical meetings of the standing committee, technical working groups and conferences and workshops on tourism development were encouraged and supported, according to the report.

PM wants training overhaul

The Prime Minister has approved a vocational training reform project to be funded by official development assistance from the German government.

The project will cost more than VND232 billion (US$10.4 million) in total, of which VND223 billion ($10 million) will be the ODA from the German government.

The remaining amount will be contributed by similar funds of Viet Nam.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will be in charge of the project, which will be implemented from 2016 to 2018.

The project will provide support in drafting the regulations and guidelines of the vocational training law, as well as in improving the capability of vocational teachers and management personnel.

The requirements for a green economy (in accordance with the green development strategy) will be incorporated in the need-oriented education in the fields of mechanical technologies, electrical and electronic engineering, and mechatronics as per German standards.

The pilot projects for such programmes will be carried out in the form of co-operative education.

The project will assist the Lilama 2 vocational college in developing a need-oriented education programme.

It will also raise awareness about vocational training by helping the vocational training general department, pilot vocational centres, as well as businesses participating in the pilot projects in implementing advertisement campaigns and developing informative documents.

Further, the Ha Noi People's Committee will spend VND70 billion (US$3.1 million) in supporting vocational trainees this year, with priority being given to vocation training and providing jobs to people with disabilities.

It is part of the city's project to provide vocational education to more than 30,000 rural labourers in the 2016-20 period.

Of these, more than 15,500 and 14,400 labourers will be trained for agricultural and non-agricultural jobs, respectively.

It is expected that 80 per cent of the trainees will find jobs.

The target groups of the project are rural labourers, with preferential policies for people who have done meritorious services to the country, people with disabilities, as well as the poor and minority people, besides people whose agricultural lands have been taken away by the state.

The city is directing concerned departments, divisions and industries to evaluate the cost and select vocational training centres in order to effectively implement the project.

Victim of building site accident dies in hospital

The sixth victim of a falling construction site hoist in Da Nang died on Sunday night following a lengthy hospital stay.

Mai Manh Tuong had remained in critical condition since the accident on January 30.

The hoist fell some 40m from the 10th storey at the Royal Lotus Hotel construction site in Ngu Hanh Son District.

Five workers were immediately killed while the sixth sustained critical injuries.

Officials noted that this was the worst work accident that ever occurred in Da Nang.

Nuclear experts discuss role of worker training

Developing human resources in the field of nuclear power was at the heart of an international workshop held in Da Lat in the Central Highland province of Lam Dong yesterday.

The event was jointly organised by Da Lat University, South Korea's Hanyang University, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), and the Korean Nuclear Society (KNS).

Managers and experts from the host, South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia exchanged experience and proposed proper solutions to human resources development in atomic energy in separate countries, thus increasing their mutual understanding and co-operation.

Da Lat University is one of three universities in Viet Nam that are entrusted to provide in-depth training in the field. So far, it has opened four training courses with 150 students, including 35 sent abroad.

Human resources constitutes one of the fundamental and decisive factors to the success of nuclear power development programmes in any country, according to experts.

Capacity building is a significant initial step to develop high-quality personnel and ensure safe, sustainable and secure nuclear programmes.

With over 40 years of experience in the field, the KAERI and KNS pledged to help Viet Nam with nuclear equipment and human resources development, Professor Kim Jong-kyung said.

Hanyang University along with the KAERI and KHN have also provided numerous pieces of equipment, including a third-generation core nuclear reactor simulator, for Da Lat University.

Such activities would continue until 2020, the professor said.

Exhibition displays German inventions

People cannot imagine a world without computers. But not many of them know who invented the computer.

They will get the answer at an interactive exhibition that introduces German inventions across scientific disciplines, being held at the Vietnamese - German Centre.

The exhibition, entitled Inventions from Germany, will showcase items, games, videos and experiments to give visitors an insight into historical discoveries and pioneering innovations from Germany.

Be it the computer, telephone, television and X-ray technology or the automobile, it is impossible to imagine our everyday life today without these groundbreaking German inventions.

After Mathematik zum Anfassen – Get In Touch With Mathematics in 2014, the new interactive exhibition gives a unique insight into both the numerous and momentous historical discoveries and trendsetting inventions from Germany, the land of inventors.

Intriguing quotes by famous personalities serve as an introduction to the seven themes of computer science, energy, mobility and communication, as well as medicine, optics and materials.

Each category has five to six exhibits that are explained with English text and illustrative pictures.

There are interactive elements that encourage people to have a go. Films and audio stations round off the package.

Visitors can find information about study and research in Germany in the central area.

Professor Dr Nguyễn Thế Hong, deputy director of 108 Military Hospital, will open the exhibition on March 2, 2016, at 10am.

Hong's successful career is closely connected with the German research landscape. He received his PhD and habilitation at the Technical University of Munich.

He was awarded the respected Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research

Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2013, for his outstanding and global achievements in the field of reconstructive surgery.

The exhibition will be held from March 2 to 10 from 9am to 6pm, at No1 Đại Cổ Việt Street, Hà Nội.

It will move to HMC City from March 17 to 24, with the same opening hours, at IDECAF, 28 Le Thanh Ton Street, District 1.

Students in the 14 to 25 age group are invited to visit the exhibition. They will be guided by Vietnamese-speaking volunteers and accompanied while doing experiments.

Each group will be allotted a two-hour duration visit. The suggested time slots are from 9am and 11.30am, Monday to Saturday, and from 2pm and 4pm, Monday to Friday.

Interested parties can email the exhibition organisers at quanghuy.nguyen@Hanoi.goethe.org and kristin.krowpidlowski@hanoi.goethe.org in Hà Nội, and ha.nguyenthu@saigon.goethe.org for suggestions regarding favourable time slots.

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