British man dies in Thanh Hoa Province

Adam Bradley Cummings, born in 1973, was an employee of JGCS Consortium, a contractor at the Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical project.

On October 24, he held a party at home in Hai Hoa Commune and was later found unconscious by his girlfriend the next morning. She called his co-workers to take him to Tinh Gia District Hospital, however, he died on the way.

Cummings had no suspicious signs on his body.

The provincial Department of Justice issued his death certificate and contacted the British Embassy.

JGCS Consortium is a joint venture formed by Chiyoda Corp., JGC Corp., Technip, and South Korean contractors GS Engineering & Construction and SK Engineering & Construction to build Nghi Son Refinery complex.

Paternity leave extended

Men will be able to take five to 14 days off work as paternity leave when their wife gives birth, up from five days, with the leave depending on the number of children born and the method of birth, under the amended Law on Social Insurance, which will take effect on January 1, 2016.

If the husband has social insurance the family will also receive two month’s basic salary. If a surrogate is used, both parties are entitled to maternity leave.

The Law also lowers the minimum income applying to social insurance, to VND400,000 ($18) per month, equal to the standard of poor household in rural areas. It also removes age limits applying to social insurance.

Individuals with incurable diseases or those residing overseas who suffer an illness are allowed to receive a one-time social insurance payment if they have paid social insurance for 20 years.

14 countries join in cyber-attack drill

Vietnam and 13 other countries took part in the 2015 ASEAN Computer Emergency Response Team Incident Drills (ACID) on October 28. 

The countries focused on practice cyber-attack situations to conduct investigation, analysis and incident response. 

The large scale international security exercise has attracted the participation of Australia, Japan, China, India, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam. 

In Vietnam, the information security exercise was held in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City with participation of the Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, the Government Office, the Office of the National Assembly, 40 department of information and communications nationwide, and relevant ministries, departments and agencies such as MobiFone, VNPT, Viettel, Netnam, FPT and the Bach Khoa Software and others.

Ha Noi proposes more bus services

Vu Van Vien, director of Ha Noi's Department of Transport has called for more connections between bus stations and the city's centre to create favourable conditions for residents.

Vien said at a meeting with representatives of transport enterprises and bus stations in Ha Noi yesterday that the management of buses arriving and departing Nuoc Ngam, Giap Bat and Yen Nghia plays a vital role in reducing traffic congestion.

Nguyen Van Lap, director of Nuoc Ngam Bus Station, said there were only three bus routes to the station and passengers often had to wait for 30 minutes to board the buses, he said.

This posed a problem for passengers who usually had to travel by taxi or by xe om (motorcycle taxi), he said.

Lap suggested to the transport department to consider increasing the frequency of buses to better serve people's transportation needs.

He also proposed to the department to link the station with schools and hospitals in the city's centre because the station can house another four to five bus routes.

Meanwhile, a representative from Yen Nghia Bus Station's management board said although the bus station has a large area, it has problems with connection.

Specifically, Highway No 6 is the only route passing by the station but the road to the station is badly damaged and poses a danger to vehicles travelling in and out.

The representative blamed the construction of Cat Linh – Ha Dong elevated railway project for the degraded road.

The representative asked the Ha Noi's Department of Transportation to direct the railway project management unit to carry out road maintenance, and modify barriers to facilitate travelling of vehicles.

Vien said he has authorised the transport division under his department to co-ordinate with Ha Noi's Traffic Control Centre to increase links from bus stations to the city's centre to lessen traffic congestion. 

Conference on humanitarian mine action opens in Hue

The third conference of the Experts' Working Group on Humanitarian Mine Action - Field Training Exercise (FTX2016) opened in the central city of Hue with the participation of representatives from 18 member countries of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+) and the ASEAN Secretariat.

Under the theme “Mines and explosive pollution in the water environment and remedial measures”, the conference aims to realise the working group’s set plans, enhance co-operation and share experiences in humanitarian mine action among ADMM+ member countries.

Addressing the conference, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh stressed that like other countries in the Asia Pacific, Vietnam is suffering the consequences of mines and explosive remnants of war which impact security, the environment, daily life and the socio-economic development of the country, especially in the central region.

Over the past four decades, the Vietnamese government has implemented national programme on addressing matters related to mines and explosive remnants of war to mobilise national and international sources to minimise and recover the remnants’ impacts; serve socio-economic development, national defence and security; ensure safety for people, and help the victims integrate in society.

The conference is also an opportunity for Vietnam to introduce international partners and friends to the country’s work on mines and explosive remnants of war, and improve public awareness on the matter.

The participants discussed mines and explosive pollution in the sea environment, shared experiences in addressing the matter, and suggested co-operative initiatives and future actions.

Vietnam’s suggestions, including building regional training centres for mine clearance on land and at sea, exchanging experts and studies, as well as jointly organising, and implementing bilateral and multilateral programmes, projects and scientific studies.

The conference also includes an exhibition of advanced demining products, technologies and equipment, an underwater demining show, visits to schools to educate children about mine dangers and preventive measures, as well as other communication activities on humanitarian mine action.

The conference will be concluded on October 30.

International Forum on ICT in Education opens in Hanoi

The International Forum on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Education opened in Hanoi on October 29.

The two day forum is jointly organised by the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), the Korean Embassy in Vietnam and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea (RoK).

The event, part of the Vietnam-RoK education and training co-operation programme, has attracted the participation of delegates from the RoK, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Colombia and the Philippines.

Since 2011, the RoK has supported 11 countries in the application of ICT to boost education. The forum is expected to bring education and training managers together to discuss information and share their experience in an effort to promote the use of ICT in education and training.

Addressing the forum, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Vinh Hien spoke highly of ICT applications in education and training in the RoK over the past years. 

He also expressed his wish that through the forum, delegates from the RoK and other countries would share their first-hand experience with Vietnam in deploying the project in the country.

The Deputy Minister also briefed the international guests on a number of RoK supporting projects that have recently been implemented such as the ICT-based pilot classroom Cau Giay High School in Hanoi, the Virtual University at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, and the e-learning project at Hanoi Open University.

Northern Vietnam to suffer temperatures as low as 12°C

The cold front will enter northern Vietnam in the next few days, and cause temperatures to fall to as low as 12 degrees Celsius, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said on Tuesday.

The cold snap is expected to cover the northern region on October 30, bringing rain and cold weather to many areas.

Temperatures in the northern region will fall by 5-7 degrees over the weekend, and many provinces will experience fog in the morning and rain at night, the center said.

In mountainous areas, the weather is expected to be much colder with the temperature anticipated to drop to 12-14 degrees Celsius in some areas, including Sa Pa in Lao Cai Province, Mau Son Mountain in Lang Son Province, Sin Ho District in Lai Chau Province, and Mu Cang Chai District in Yen Bai Province.

On November 1, the cold snap will extend to the central part of the country, bringing rain to Ha Tinh to Quang Ngai Provinces.

Flash floods and landsides are possible in the region, especially in low-lying areas, the center warned.

Over this weekend, nightly temperatures in northern provinces and the central region from Thanh Hoa to Quang Ngai Provinces are expected to fall to 13-21 degrees in plain areas, and 18-20 degrees in mountainous areas.

The center has forecast the cold snap to last for between four and seven days.

ODA loans to fund Cho Ray Hospital No. 2

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a draft agreement for ODA loans of $287.9 million from Japan to build the Cho Ray Hospital No 2 in Ho Chi Minh City in fiscal year 2015.

Deputy Minister of Finance Truong Chi Trung was assigned as the representative of the Vietnamese Government in signing the loan agreement.

The Ministry of Justice has been assigned to provide legal consultation on the loan. 

 

The 1,000-bed hospital, which is also called the Vietnam - Japan Friendship Hospital, is estimated to cost $287.9 million.

Located on a 7 ha area in Binh Chanh district, the hospital will ease the overload at existing public hospitals.

Fee for int'l driving permit announced

People who wish to own an international driving permit (IDP) will have to pay VND135,000 (US$6) to apply for one.

The regulation was made recently by the Ministry of Finance and will take effect by the end of this month.

According to the Circular 73/2012/TT-BTC issued by the ministry, the fee is applicable to all licence holders regardless of their nationalities and categories of vehicles.

The Viet Nam Road Administration will issue the permit. Other provincial transport departments will grant IDPs one month later when being fully equipped for the job. 

Hai Phong: Police smash two drug trafficking cases at airport

The Police Department of Drug-related Crime Investigation (C47) of Hai Phong northern city broke open two cases of drug smuggling at a local airport on October 27.

The police seized over 281 grams of synthetic drugs stashed in underwear and checked baggage belonging to Cao Minh Ha at the Cat Bi international airport at 18:00 PM. Ha, born in 1995, is from Cam Giang district in the northern province of Hai Duong. 

At 21:00 PM the same day, the C47 continued discovering more than 318 grams of drugs in checked baggage of Pham Duc Hanh, born 1982 and also from Hai Duong. 

The police are currently searching for Hanh. 

The C47 of Hai Phong city has uncovered six cases of drug transport by air since the beginning of 2015.

Tighter monitoring of labour export to Japan planned 

Labour export companies, who send workers to work in Japan may be prohibited from collecting broker fees, a proposal by the labour, invalids and social affairs (MOLISA) ministry said.

The ministry is considering putting a cap on the amount of service fee for such companies, which was set at a maximum US$3,600 for a three-year contract and $1,200 for a one-year contract. Also, they cannot charge more than VND5.9 million ($260) for a Japanese language training course, which must complied with for at least 520 seasons. 

Service and language training fees may only be collected after workers receive residence permits from Japan. 

The proposal is part of the ministry's efforts to tighten regulations over labour export to Japan, a major destination for Vietnamese interns, following numerous incidents in which workers were charged absurd amounts and yet were unable to leave for Japan. 

In addition, only labour export companies that have not violated any labour export law during the last 12 months and are not part of an ongoing legal dispute with workers may be permitted to send workers to Japan. 

Worker recruitment and training activities may only begin after companies receive permits from the Department of Overseas Labour. 

Nearly 20,000 interns were sent to Japan in 2014, double the number in 2013. During the first 10 months of 2015, 21,870 Vietnamese interns left the country to work in Japan. 

Ha Noi, HCM City crack down on rundown vehicles

Crowded morning wholesale areas in Ha Noi and HCM City are usually accompanied with overloaded, dilapidated motorbikes that surprise new-comers to the two cities and haunt locals.

The motorbikes usually have one or two people on them, carrying tens of kilos of fruits, vegetables or boxes of goods.

They are noisy, smoky, torn and without mirrors, lights or motorbike fairings.

This week, Ha Noi Traffic Police launched inspections of self-modified three-wheelers that violate traffic regulations and dilapidated motorbikes to help reduce traffic accidents.

Besides regular patrols, police are on roads leading to wholesale markets like Dong Xuan Market and nearby Long Bien Market, and other farming markets and store houses in the city between 4am and 6am.

On Monday, traffic police seized 94 vehicles, including 72 motorbikes. All the seized vehicles were in poor condition and the owners failed to show valid papers.

Dao Vinh Thang, head of the municipal police department, said despite a ban, many self-modified three-wheelers were being driven illegally by people posing as wounded war veterans, while old motorbikes were being used to transport unwieldy goods through city streets.

The traffic police will intensify the checking of run-down motorbikes and three-wheelers to check whether they are unregistered vehicles, being driven without driving licences or are crossing the red line.

Nguyen Van Dung, a transporter who works at Long Bien Market, said that they usually bought old bikes to carry goods.

"As long as the vehicles can run and carry goods," he said, adding he did not mind about the vehicles' look or so-called "technical standards" of fuel emission.

The owners of the vehicles were low-income earners and the vehicles were tools helping them to earn money, he said.

"It's hard for us to make a living if vehicles are confiscated," he said.

Early this month, Ha Noi Police also cracked down on self-modified three-wheelers that are driven illegally by people posing as wounded war veterans.

Most of these have been structurally changed or camouflaged as wounded veteran's vehicles to carry goods.

"Drivers of vehicles usually swagger around. We had to form patrols to control and co-ordinate with the police along Lang Road to these vehicles," Dinh Tien Vu, Deputy Leader of Traffic Police Team No.3 said.

Although users of three-wheelers must be war veterans, most offenders are in their youth, Vu said, giving an example of a 21-year-old man who was caught while using his three-wheeled motorcycle to deliver ice.

In a related development, HCM City Traffic Police said last week, they imposed administrative fines for nearly 600 violations after a week-long crackdown on motorbikes that did not meet road safety standards.

Most of the vehicles involved in violations have had their frames or engines replaced or upgraded, were being driven without valid papers or number plates or were not safe for transporting people or over-sized goods.

Ha Van Hung, deputy head of Cho Lon Traffic Police Team, said vehicles without registered papers or with frame and engine numbers that were not in accordance with their registered papers would be transferred to investigative police for determining whether they were used to commit crimes.

The vehicles would be confiscated if there was no proof that they were not involved, he said.

He said inspections of old and deteriorating motorbikes would be conducted regularly in the future because these vehicles were the main reason for the increasing number of traffic accidents in the city.

The Prime Minister's resolution No 32/2007/NQ-CP, dated 29 June, 2007, banned all home-made vehicles, such as dilapidated trucks and unregistered and self-modified three and four-wheelers, from the streets as of June 2008 to curb road accidents and congestion. 

Over 99,000 workers sent abroad in 10 months

Vietnam sent a total of 99,415 workers abroad in the first 10 months of this year, surpassing the yearly target by 4.6%.

The number includes 31,772 female workers, according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MOLISA).

In October alone, 8,857 workers were sent to Taiwan (China), Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia.

The MOLISA is launching a project to support the transport of Vietnamese employees to foreign markets in accordance with national agreements and labourer supply contracts between domestic companies with foreign partners.

Last year, Vietnam sent a record-high 105,840 workers abroad, surpassing the yearly target by 10%.

New rule to leave half tourist boats in Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay ashore

Nearly half the boats serving tourists in Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay may have to temporarily stay inshore, as their operators have failed to equip them with a mandatory wastewater treatment tool.

The administration of the northern province of Quang Ninh has requested that all tourist boats at the UNESCO World Heritage Site be equipped with an oily water separator (OWS) by the end of this month, otherwise they will not be allowed to sail off.

Ha Long Bay is located in the eponymous city, which is the capital of Quang Ninh.

An OWS is a piece of equipment used to separate oil and water mixtures into their separate components.

The devices are found aboard ships where they are utilized to separate oil from oily wastewater such as bilge water before the wastewater is discharged into the environment.

The Quang Ninh administration has thus made the OWS mandatory equipment on tourist boats to protect the environment of Ha Long Bay.

But as of Wednesday afternoon, only 290 out of the 530 tourist boats operating in Ha Long Bay have the equipment installed on board, according to newswire VnExpress, which cited the Quang Ninh port authorities.

The provincial administration has insisted that boats without the OWS be suspended until the device is installed.

An oily water separator costs around VND18-19 million ($805-850), which boat operators say is too expensive, while its effectiveness is not immediately clear, according to VnExpress.

The clock is now ticking for these boat operators to save their business as it is only three days away from the deadline.

The Quang Ninh administration is exerting effort to resolve environmental issues in Ha Long Bay to attract tourists.

The province, 180km east of Hanoi, received 6.1 million tourists in the first eight months of this year and is expected to post VND6.5 trillion ($290.18 million) in tourism revenue in the entire year.

RoK supports modernising disaster forecasting and warning systems in northeastern region

A project to modernise natural disaster forecasting and warning systems at Vietnam’s northeastern region’s station for hydro-meteorological forecasting kicked off in Hai Phong city on October 29, with the help of non-refundable aid from the Republic of Korea (RoK).

Jointly implemented by the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF) and the RoK’s Meteorological Administration (KMA), the project aims to improve meteorological monitoring and the forecasting capacity of NCHMF in general, and the northeastern station in particular, by upgrading infrastructure to mitigate damage caused by natural disasters, progressing toward modernising the hydro-meteorological sector under the approved strategy by the government.

At the launch, NCHMF Deputy Director Tran Hong Thai said that currently the meteorological network at the northeast station is mostly operated manually, with limited equipment and technology. The commencement of the project is important to modernise forecasting and warning systems, reflecting the results of bilateral co-operation between Vietnam and the RoK, he affirmed.

KMA official Jea Mok Jeon affirmed the Korean administrations support for Vietnam to complete and operate the devices in the most efficient way.

The project, which received the Prime Minister’s approval in April, is expected to take 36 months with an investment of US$3.97 million from the RoK’s ODA through the KMA and more than VND9.66 billion (US$434,000) from the Vietnamese government.

The project will automate water level and weather monitoring systems by replacing 50 automatic weather and water level monitoring devices, develop a real-time data collection system and display systems to analyse forecasts, while providing intensive training for personnel.

Vietnam is located in the western Pacific typhoon centre, one of the world’s five regions suffering most from natural disasters. In order to strengthen capacity in disaster prevention, Vietnam and the RoK have signed a memorandum of understanding on meteorological co-operation, resulting in the launch of the project.

Earlier on Wednesday, NCHMF and KMA jointly held a conference in Quang Ninh province discussing in detail the technology and equipment that KMA will provide to the northeast station under the project.

At the workshop Korean experts also shared experiences and provided training and technology transfers on forecasting and operating weather networks, and automatic water level measuring systems for local staff.

Low-lying islands face catastrophe

Constructive partnerships must be established and nurtured to implement plans and policies to adapt to climate change, which poses the greatest challenge ever to face humanity and the planet, Anote Tong, the president of Kiribati, told a regional conference on innovation for rural transformation in the Asia-Pacific in the 21st Century on Tuesday.

"But, we must take charge of our own destiny and must never be satisfied with sitting back and allowing others to decide for us," the leader of the small Pacific island-nation said.

Kiribari comprises 33 small, low-lying atolls with a total land area of 811sq.km dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometres of ocean.

The country's people, living no higher than three metres above the sea, are facing unprecedented challenges.

Tuvalu, Tokelau, Marshall Islands and others are on the frontline of this major calamity.

"We look forward to Paris and the conclusion of a legally binding agreement with targets that will help reduce global warming and leave no one behind," Tong said.

"Any agreement reached must provide clear guarantees that the most vulnerable peoples will continue to have a future in this and the next generations. An agreement that we as a global community can justifiably be proud of as being the actions of an enlightened, moral and more civilised society."

For his country, an extra-territorial adaptation measure was purchase of land in Fiji, an investment for food security and future relocation in the event of a worst case scenario, he said.

The Government of Fiji has publicly welcomed them to the country as theirs becomes uninhabitable.

The President is a supporter of a campaign to cease oil drilling and exploration saying "we see this as a great step forward in the climate debate".

He has also called for innovative partnerships for lower emission between governments and the private sector, civil society and the public.

"The development is not only about economics. It is not solely about higher profits to increasingly raise the comforts of life. Development should encompass much more - it is about living within our means today to ensure our children and their children have a future."

Hoonae Kim, director for Asia and the Pacific at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), said smallholder farmers and fishers are vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

IFAD-supported projects provide climate and development finance to smallholder farmers so that they can access information, tools, and technologies that would help them adapt, he said.

In Viet Nam, one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world and among the countries hardest hit by climate change, two projects on climate change adaptation funded by IFAD began in the Mekong Delta provinces of Ben Tre and Tra Vinh last year.

Communities in these provinces are especially affected by increasing salinity. Reduced river flows due to upstream water consumption combined with sea level rise and storm surges are leading to salinity encroaching deep inland.

This is resulting in losses to aquaculture, perennial crops and livestock production.

These are forecast to become more severe amid a changing climate, constraining the livelihood options of the Mekong Delta communities even further.

The projects, which will go on until 2020, target poor communities, especially women and ethnic minority households. Thirty communes located along a salinity gradient have been selected in each province to test alternative livelihood models based on their poverty ranking and vulnerability to climate change.

They will be helped with development of climate-resilient agriculture systems, salinity-tolerant fish varieties and off-farm livelihood opportunities.

For instance, salinity barriers will be built to safeguard farmers' fields and aquaculture ponds.

Salinity monitoring and forecasting to help farmers access reliable information on the salinity content of their waterways will also be promoted.

Soil and water management practices to protect shrimp larvae and crops from adverse conditions will be improved.

With water stress being a critical challenge in the Mekong Delta, the projects will provide financing to upgrade canal systems, improve water storage, promote rainwater harvesting and adopt water-saving irrigation techniques.

The conference, which ended yesterday, was organised by IFAD and the Indonesian government. It brought together 300 rural development experts and government ministers from the Asia-Pacific to exchange ideas on achieving sustainable development and shaping rural development policies.

Hari Priyono, secretary general of the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture, said, "we were looking forward to the opportunity to discuss common challenges and prioritise common actions, including those that will improve household food security and protect coastlines."

Police detain two Russians for stealing cash from ATMs

Police in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa have arrested two Russian men for using fake bank cards to steal money from many ATMs.

Police officers on October 27 night detained Troian Aleksei, 32, after catching the foreign man red-handed using a bogus ATM card to withdraw money at a branch of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) on Ngo Gia Tu Street in Nha Trang City, which is the provincial capital.

They then found Aleksei carrying 14 ATM cards and VND24 million along, and then collected 216 ATM cards, VND61 million and over US$1,200 following a search at the hotel where the Russian man was staying.

Initially, Aleksei confessed to using those fake ATMs card to withdraw money from BIDV and Techcombank, another Vietnamese lender.

On that same night, Khanh Hoa police apprehended Kotets Viacheslav, 29, for stealing cash from many ATMs on October 26-27.

Police said they seized 25 ATM cards, over 15,900 euros and nearly VND25 million from Viacheslav.

According to news website VnExpress, Aleksei told police that Viacheslav was his accomplice, and they had entered Vietnam recently to steal money from ATMs using counterfeit bank cards supplied by a foreign man who would receive half of the cash they had plundered.

Aleksei told officers the two men had withdrawn hundreds of millions of Vietnamese dong with those counterfeit cards, the newswire reported.

Police have launched a further investigation into the case.

Agencies struggle to fight fake goods

The Government agencies of economic crime investigation, inspection, border guard and customs have experienced major challenges in dealing with increasing violations of intellectual property rights (IPR) due to poor detection equipment, inadequate manpower and a lack of co-ordination among forces, according to an Economic Crime Investigation Police Agency official.

Hoang Van Truc, deputy head of the police agency, said these issues must be tackled by strengthening the effectiveness of IPR enforcement and the role of the press in the central city.

He said the four enforcement agencies each have their own investigation team, but their efforts are unco-ordinated and they handle IPR cases differently.

Truc, head of secretariat of the National Steering Committee on the Prevention and Control of Smuggling, Trade Fraud and Fake Commodities (or Steering Committee 389), emphasised that most goods in Viet Nam can be easily faked.

He said the increasing production and sale of counterfeit goods partly resulted from the habit of selling knock-off versions of famous brands for cheap prices, as well as poor awareness of fake goods.

"It's really alarming. Goods can be produced with fake brands and models, but the poor quality causes a heavy loss to producers and users," Truc said.

"We found 665 cases of IPR violations (fake production and sale) in 2014, of which 120 cases proceeded with 196 arrestees," he said. "In the first six months of this year, 316 violations were discovered with 51 arrestees nationwide."

Truc said one particular identification case surrounding the alleged production of fake fertiliser by Thuan Phong company in Dong Nai Province has been ongoing for six months due to varying definitions on the violation.

He also said businesses have refused to co-operate with agencies investigating IPR violations.

He warned that a check with French specialists revealed that 98 per cent of brandy sold at shops in Lao Bao Border Checkpoint in Quang Tri Province and 99 per cent of cosmetics at shops in Moc Bai Border Checkpoint in Tay Ninh Province were fake goods.

Truc added that international co-operation between Vietnamese investigation agencies and regional countries is lacking.

He said fake goods are often produced abroad and smuggled into Viet Nam, mainly through the Chinese border.

Nguyen Dang Khoa, from Market Watch and Management Agency, said the agency found 13,458 cases of poor-quality and fake products in the first nine months of this year, which accounted for total fines of VND41.2 billion (nearly $2 million). Confiscated goods were worth a total of VND25.8 billion ($1.2 million).

He said fake drugs, fertilizer and cosmetics were the most serious violations.

He said VND500 million ($23,800) is the largest fine the agency can levy per violation.

Le Ngoc Lam, deputy head of the Intellectual Property Rights Agency, said Viet Nam has achieved significant global integration, and thus the protection and examination of IPR violations is essential to ensure the transparency of investment.

Nishiyama Tomohiro, head of the adviser team from Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), said the Strengthening Effectiveness of Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement project aims to improve the capacity of manpower in handling IRP cases in Viet Nam.

He said it would help consumers to recognise fake goods and boycott contraband goods, as well. He stressed that both agencies and citizens must join hands to tackle the issue of IRP violations.

HCM City doctors perform bypass

The HCM City University Medical Centre has successfully performed bypass surgery on a 104-year-old man who suffered from peripheral artery disease.

On October 13 M.V.H of Bac Lieu Province was hospitalised with severe pain in his left leg.

He was diagnosed with critical limb ischemia due to blocked arteries caused by advanced peripheral artery disease or leg artery disease.

He was treated with drugs, but there was no improvement; he developed pain and necrosis in his feet and toes.

On October 17 doctors gave him local anaesthesia since he also has chronic lung disease and performed the bypass surgery.

A day after the surgery he reported that the pain in his feet and toes had disappeared.

He will be discharged in the next few days.

He is the oldest patient ever to undergo a bypass surgery at the hospital. 

Central residents discuss lack of compensation for land grabs

Residents in the central region who gave up their land to make way for hydropower plants more than a decade ago met on Tuesday to discuss the delay in compensation and the dam's impacts on their daily lives.

Representing communities in Dak Lak, Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue, the residents said at an open forum in Hue City that investors did not uphold their agreement on compensation and delayed the disbursement. They also said the dams harmed their lives.

Ho Van Thuong, head of Bo Hon village in Thua Thien-Hue, said all 46 households in his community had given up land for the Binh Dien power plant, a decision that has led to negative consequences.

"We have asked for compensation for our farm land for 10 years now, but no progress has been made," he said, adding that the new resettlement area provided only enough land for housing.

"Many children could not attend schools and got involved in bad crowds because their parents lost their livelihoods," he said.

Le Van Trong from Eana commune in Dak Lak, where residents gave land to Buon Kuop power plant in 2003, said the compensation rate was lower than what had been promised by the investor. Payments were also delayed.

"They promised three times the value of what the actual land was worth to persuade us to give up land," he said. "In reality, the compensation we received for 1ha of land could purchase 0.3ha of cultivation land in another area, so we have no land to farm."

Payments were disbursed three times over three years, which hindered locals from affording the resources for agricultural production, Trong added.

The commune's deputy chairman Y Pil Eban said the dam hinders the water from flowing freely, which has led to the issue of rubbish piling up in the reservoir. The pollution has affected the environment and nearby residents.

Pham Hat of Dai Loc commune in Quang Nam, which is affected by power dams in the Vu Gia-Thu Bon basin, said the unannounced release of a large amount of water from the Song Tranh and A Vuong power plants caused sudden floods that destroyed residents' crops and properties.

Power plant authorities at the forum admitted that they are aware of their responsibility and are trying their best to manage the situation. They promised to implement a proper mechanism for water discharge.

Dao Trong Hung, an advisor of the Viet Nam River Network - one of the forum's organisers along with the Hue-based Centre for Social Reseach and Development and a local unit of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Committee - urged investors to take a closer look at the hard times they have experienced as a result of giving up their land.

Local units of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Committee in Thua Thien-Hue and Dak Lak pledged to address the issues in their action plan next year, and Le Ba Trinh, deputy chairman of the national committee, promised to submit a detailed report to the Government.

"The responsibility of those involved in the development of power plants in compensating local residents must be clarified because development in general aims to bring a better life to each of the residents, not to harm them," he said.

Lam Thi Thu Suu, director of the Centre for Social Research and Development, told Viet Nam News that the second forum on these issues has attracted more attention. She said recommendations raised by the first forum in October last year have gone unnoticed by relevant agencies and investors.

Illegal sand miners must be charged instead of given fines: Deputy PM

Those who performed illegal sand mining must face criminal proceedings instead of being fined, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at a teleconference on Tuesday.

The teleconference, which was co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai, aimed to direct central cities and provinces to effectively prevent illegal sand and gravel mining along rivers and at sea.

Deputy PM Phuc said that illegal sand mining had led to changes in river flow, environmental pollution and tax losses.

In Ha Noi alone, illegal sand mining could cause the State to lose taxes up to thousands of billions of dong.

Phuc said that the management of authorised agencies remained loose. In some localities, agencies were found to co-operate with sand exploiters for profit.

At the conference, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang warned rivers water levels were decreasing and erosion was occurring along them.

The water level of the Hong River had reduced by two metres. Each year, reservoirs must discharge up to five billions of cu.m of water for irrigation.

If Viet Nam failed to control sand mining, the water level of rivers across the country would likely reduce like the Hong River.

In the Mekong Delta, about 500 hectares of land were swept away annually due to illegal sand mining. In ancient Hoi An town in central Quang Nam Province, experts estimated that it would take approximately US$44.2 million to repair the erosion.

Dang Van Hieu, standing deputy minister of Public Security said that only 500 businesses were licensed to operate sand mining. Hundreds of others were illegal and protected by violent gangs.

Since 2009, as many as 65 persons have been arrested for killing or causing injuries to police when their illegal actions were discovered, he added.

At the conference, Deputy PM Phuc said it was necessary to set up information channels for local residents to report illegal sand mining.

He asked relevant authorities to add illegal sand mining into the list of crimes.

The Ministry of Public Security was assigned to investigate and crack down on gangs who were paid to protect illegal sand miners. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment was asked to temporarily stop licensing more sand mining certificates. 

Bringing traditional art to students

Poet Nguyen Duy and artists from the 'Dong Kinh Co Nhac' (Dong Kinh Traditional Music) group on October 28 brought traditional art to students at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities through the performance combining contemporary poems by Nguyen Duy with many genres of traditional music.

This is the second performance of its kind by Nguyen Duy in co-ordination with members of the Dong Kinh Co Nhac group following the first performance at the French Cultural Centre.

Traditional artists including Xuan Hoach, Thanh Hoai, Thanh Binh, Vu Ngoc and Huu Dat performed traditional music such as cheo (traditional opera), hat van (ritual singing), ca tru (ceremonial singing), tuong (classical opera) and xam (ancient folk songs performed by blind beggars) combined with Nguyen Duy's poems.

At the event, Poet Nguyen Duy recited his own poems including 'Ngoi buon nho me ta xua', a great poem featuring the love and nostalgia for the late mother.

Head of the Department of Folk Literature under the University of Social Sciences and Humanities Lu Thi Thanh Le said the performance brought students an opportunity to enjoy traditional art and meet with artists for free which received strong support from artists, students and teachers.

The next performance of its kind is scheduled to be held on October 30.

Hungary backs Can Tho in building cancer hospital

Hungary vows to support southern Can Tho city in establishing an oncology hospital to serve the entire Mekong Delta region, said Hungarian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Baloghdi Tibor at a meeting with the Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Hung Dung on October 28.

Despite being the main city of southwestern Vietnam, Can Tho city has failed to satisfy the treatment needs of cancer patients in the region due to limited medical facilities, Dung said.

Local patients must seek treatment at central-level hospitals in other localities such as Ho Chi Minh City, which result in higher costs for patients and overloaded hospitals, the chairman explained.

A modern oncology hospital should be built as early as possible in the city, he said.

Director-General of the Hungarian National Institute of Oncology Kasler Miklos stated that Hungary’s government will ink a framework agreement with Vietnam on accelerating the construction of the hospital in Can Tho some time in the last two months of this year.

The hospital will be equipped with advanced equipment and technology, serving the prevention and early detection of cervical cancer, breast cancer and colon cancer.

Hungary will also provide training for doctors at the hospital and send its medical experts to Can Tho to support the work.

Can Tho officials pledged to offer all available resources for the hospital to be opened.

Da Nang city promoted in South Africa

An event promoting the beautiful and friendly central coastal city of Da Nang was held by the Vietnamese Embassy in South Africa in Cape Town, South Africa on October 28.

Representatives from the embassy and the Vietnamese community in Cape Town met with crew members from Australia, the UK, Singapore, the US, Sweden and Colombia on an international yacht named Da Nang, which is anchoring in the South African coastal city on its race for the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 2015-2016.

Vietnamese ambassador to South Africa Le Huy Hoang introduced the crew members to Da Nang city’s socio-economic achievements and its culture and tourism.

On behalf of the Da Nang municipal People’s Committee, the diplomat presented the crew members souvenirs and distinguished products of Vietnam and spoke highly of the international crew members’ presence in Cape Town, contributing to promoting tourism and attracting investment to both Da Nang and Cape Town, and both Vietnam and South Africa generally.

The yacht’s Australian captain, Wendy Tuck expressed her honour to lead the yacht representing Vietnam’s beautiful and hospitable coastal city, and her gratitude for the encouraging exchange.

She said that the yacht will leave Cape Town on October 31 for Australia and some other countries before arriving in Da Nang city in February 2016 as planned, contributing to promoting a friendly and peaceful image of the developing city in Vietnam.

The event’s participants joined a party with Vietnamese traditional dishes at the Sai Gon Cape Town Restaurant.

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 2015-2016 is an international sporting event which will help publicise and develop the tourism sectors of destinations on the route. Departing from London, the Clipper Race 2015-2016 will spend up to eleven months traversing South America, Australia, Asia (including Vietnam’s Da Nang), the US and then back to the UK. 

RoK helps modernise disaster forecasting, warning system

Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) launched a joint project on modernising the disaster forecasting and warning system for Vietnam’s Northeast region at a conference on October 28.

The conference discussed in details the technology and equipment that the RoK’s Meteorological Administration (KMA) will provide to the Northeast Station for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting under the project.

The non-refundable aid project sponsored by the RoK’s government aims to help improve the quality of forecasts, thus minimising casualties and asset damages caused by natural disasters for the northeast region.

Jea Mok Jeon, an official of the KMA, said the RoK will continue to assist Vietnam, which is located in one of the five regions most prone to storms in the world, in this field.

Vietnam joins international information safety drills

Vietnamese network security experts joined their counterparts from 13 other countries in a large-scale drill on October 28 to improve response to cyber security incidences, focusing on malware attacks.

Response teams from Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam participated in the exercise to hone their skills in investigating, analyzing and eliminating spyware-related incidences.

Vietnamese participants included technical officials from the Party Central Committee Office, the Government Office, the National Assembly Office, the Information and Communication Departments of 40 cities and provinces, 24 ministries and ministerial-level agencies and major telecoms and information companies.

According to the Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT), the international drill also aims to enhance cooperation among countries in the world to cope with large-scale breakdowns.

In the first nine months of this year, VNCERT detected nearly 3.3 million Vietnamese IP addresses infected with malicious software and controlled by servers outside the country, with 18,085 websites defaced or having their interface changed by hackers, including 164 websites and portals run by State agencies.

Vietnam ranks fifth in the list of countries with high risks of malware infection through PC’s internet connection and first in malware infection through USB or memory card connection.

Vietnam alarmed at A/H7N9 influenza threat

Vietnam has so far recorded no infections of A/H7N9 poultry influenza; however, the country is intensifying measures to prevent the virus given the new outbreak in neighbouring China.

The Preventive Health Department warned there is a high risk of virus transmission because Vietnam shares a long border with China together with the busy trade activities between the two sides.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on October 19 said that the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China reported two additional cases of A/H7N9 virus in Huzhou city and Jinhua city in Zhejiang province last month.

The Ministry of Health is closely working with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to increase inspection of diseases in human and poultry for early detection and prevention.

According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the A/H7N9 virus has been continually detected in animals in multiple provinces in China since June.

This means the virus still persists in the poultry population. If the pattern of disease follows the trends seen in previous years, the number of human infections may rise over the coming months, the FAO said.

So far, 573 human infections with A/H7N9 have been reported globally, including 212 fatalities.

The WHO encourages countries to continue strengthening influenza surveillance, including surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and to carefully review any unusual patterns, in order to ensure reporting of human infections under the IHR (2005), and continue national health preparedness actions.

Hanoi has first suburban district recognised as new rural area

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh on October 28 presented a certificate recognising Hanoi’s outlying western suburb of Dan Phuong as its first new rural district.

Located about 20 kilometres to the west of central Hanoi, the district has 14 out of 15 communes meeting all 19 sets of criteria of the rural modernisation programme, which was started in 2010.

Over the past five years, the district has recorded significant changes with the per capita income nearly doubling to VND28.8 million (nearly US$1,300) and the rate of poverty dropping sharply from 12.21% to 2.2%.

In Dan Phuong district, a number of specialised farming areas have been established for flowers, vegetables, banana and other fruit trees, and become a stable source of income, estimated at around VND200-250 million per hectare annually.

The district has also enjoyed success in developing many animal husbandry models and handicraft villages to help local residents increase their living standards.

The rural landscape in Dan Phuong has been transformed with local roads now paved with concrete and the building of more spacious and comfortable houses, while the traditional scenery has still been preserved.

Speaking at the ceremony, the deputy PM asked local authorities to review successful models that can be replicated elsewhere across the country and make greater efforts to have three fourths of Hanoi’s rural communes meet the modernisation programme criteria by 2020.

So far this year, Hanoi has more than 35% of its 401 communes qualified to be recognised as new rural areas. The poverty rate in Hanoi’s rural areas shrank to less than 3% in 2014 from 11.2% in 2011.

Hungary backs Can Tho in building cancer hospital

Hungary vows to support southern Can Tho city in establishing an oncology hospital to serve the entire Mekong Delta region, said Hungarian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Baloghdi Tibor at a meeting with Chairman of the municipal People Committee Le Hung Dung on October 28.

Despite being the main city of southwestern Vietnam, Can Tho city has failed to satisfy the treatment demand of cancer patients in the region due to limited medical facilities, Dung said.

Local patients must seek treatment at central-level hospitals in other localities such as Ho Chi Minh City, which result in higher costs for patients and overloaded hospitals, the chairman explained.

Therefore, a modern oncology hospital should be built as early as possible in the city, he said.

Director-General of the Hungarian National Institute of Oncology Kasler Miklos stated that Hungary’s government will ink a framework agreement with Vietnam on accelerating the construction of the hospital in Can Tho some time in the last two months of this year.

The hospital will be equipped with advanced equipment and technology, serving the prevention and early detection of cervix cancer, breast cancer and colon cancer.

Besides, Hungary will provide training for doctors of the hospital and send its medical experts to Can Tho to support the work here for a start, he added.

Can Tho officials pledged to offer all possible conditions for the hospital to be opened.

EU strengthens ODA for Vietnam in energy and green economy

The European Union (EU) has increased non-refundable ODA worth EUR400 million for Vietnam towards 2020, with an aim of supporting the country in energy and green development, said newly-appointed Ambassador and Head of EU Delegation in Vietnam, Bruno Angelet.

Speaking at a press brief in Hanoi on October 28, the EU ambassador said that EUR350 million in the non-refundable aid package will be saved for developing a sustainable energy sector in Vietnam, focusing on rural electrification to eliminate poverty, and supporting the transition of thermal power generation to more environmentally friendly methods towards energy efficiency and green development.

The remaining funds are for strengthening governance and the rule of law, aimed at offering Vietnam developed governance models and public service delivery.

Affirming that the completion of recent important agreements lays a solid foundation for all-rounded political partnership, Bruno Angelet said that the EU and Vietnam can look forward to stronger and more fruitful collaboration in the years to come.

2015 marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of EU-Vietnam diplomatic relations, during which time the bilateral partnership has evolved from humanitarian aid to development and economic co-operation, and to trade and investment.

With the Partnership and Co-operation Agreement, the Development Co-operation Programme and the recently concluded Free Trade Agreement, all building blocks are in place to move beyond aid and trade, and establish a more political comprehensive partnership, especially in the context of Vietnam becoming one of the most dynamic countries in the region with a high growth rate and young labour force, he said.

According to him, by December this year the EU-Vietnam FTA could be signed during the visits to Europe by Vietnamese leaders. During the next two years, related documents and an implementation road map for the FTA would be finalised, bringing in new manufacturing technologies, as well as abundant high-quality investment flows from the EU to Vietnam.

The FTA’s implementation is an opportunity for the domestic private sector and business community to transform, improve competitiveness and productivity, and promote innovation to pioneer new markets.

Ambassador Bruno Angelet officially took up the new mission from his predecessor Franz Jessen this October after presenting his credentials to State President Truong Tan Sang on October 19. The Belgian national has extensive work experience in Vietnam, serving as Belgium Ambassador to the country from 2011 to 2015, and Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Belgium in Hanoi from 1994 to 1998.

Drug transporters arrested at Cat Bi airport

Hai Phong Police detained two people on Tuesday for using flights to transport drugs, head of police department for investigation of drug-related crimes (PC47) Colonel Pham Van Diem said today.

At 6pm on Tuesday, the local police and customs officials at Cat Bi international airport in Hai Phong arrested 20-year-old Cao Minh Ha, a resident of Hai Duong Province's Cam Giang District. He was trying to leave for HCM City. They seized 281.07gm of methamphetamine, which was hidden inside a slip that he was wearing and in his luggage.

Three hours later, the local police found 318.04gm of methamphetamine hidden in the luggage of a 33-year-old passenger, Pham Duc Hanh. A resident of Hai Duong city, Hanh was planning to take a Vietjet Air flight.

Hai Phong City's drug crime investigation police department is investigating Hanh's case further. 

Since the beginning of this year, the PC47 department of Hai Phong Police has arrested six people on charges of illegal drug trafficking using flights. Drug traffickers have begun using flights for transporting drugs in the last few years, besides old methods such as transporting them by road and sea. 

Kids gain new playgrounds from recycled materials

More low-cost playgrounds for children which use recycled materials have been built in many localities in Vietnam.

Students from a number of primary schools in Krong No District, Dak Nong Province, are very happy with newly-built playgrounds which are made from recycled materials such as cables and tyres.

Vo Huu Lanh, deputy headmaster of Le Van Tam Primary School, said the playground was finished with the support from students as well as their parents who took part in construction. The new playground has also helped encourage pupils to attend school. 

A low-cost playground made from recycled materials also opened at Phong Son 2 Pre-school in Thua Thien-Hue Province's Phong Dien District. This is also the first playground of this kind for pre-school students in the province. The playground cost just VND20 million (USD952) and the model may be expanded across the province.

A group of young architects and volunteers called Think Playgrounds have built eight low-cost play areas in several districts in Hanoi where children lack outdoor play areas.

Their playgrounds are typically small plots of land sandwiched between apartment buildings or houses, or empty lots in ‘house boat’ neighbourhoods like Phao Hamlet or those residing along the Red River in Long Bien District.

The young architects and volunteers have turned tyres into swings, wood planks into seesaws, or climbing walls for children.

Bus restriction faces controversy  

A proposal by Hanoi's Transport Department to divert buses from some streets to break congestion has been met with a backlash.

 

Colonel Dao Vinh Thang, head of Hanoi Police Department suggested on October 23 temporarily reducing the number of buses on Nguyen Trai and Xuan Thuy-Cau Giay streets, which have become congested due to on-going construction, such as the Cat Linh-Ha Dong Railway project.

Many sections of Nguyen Trai Street wave been narrowed to 2.5 metres wide, and buses are exacerbating traffic jams.

Vu Van Vien, director of Transport Department gave his approval and asked the Hanoi Urban Transport Management and Operation Centre (TRAMOC) to research the plan.

Many people have pointed out that buses are not the main cause for congestion. During rush hour on Khuat Duy Tien-Nguyen Trai intersection, there were often 70 buses, carrying over 10,000 passengers and they only occupied eight percent of the traffic, whereas 800 cars and 5,500 motorbikes, carried 2,000 and 8,000 people respectively. Motorbikes occupied 62 percent of the street.

Nguyen Xuan Thuy, former director of the Transportation Publishing House, said instead of reducing, Hanoi should increase, the number of buses to ease congestion and the number of private vehicles.

If the number of buses decrease, the number of private vehicles, especially motorbikes, will go up.

Le Ngoc Minh, a student at Hanoi University, said he had been using the bus for three years. "If the number of buses is lowered, I'll be forced to use motorbikes. There's no other way," he said.

Nguyen Hoang Hai, director of TRAMOC, said the issue had been discussed with the Transport Department and the city People's Committee and it was decided to try to maintain the number of buses on Xuan Thuy-Cau Giay and Nguyen Trai streets.

But bus routes will be adjusted to go around to Le Van Luong Street during rush hours.

"This is not number reduction, just local adjustment," Hai said.

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