Traffic jam reported on Ha Noi-Hai Phong highway

Traffic congestion was reported along the five-kilometre stretch of the Ha Noi-Hai Phong Highway in Hai Phong City only two days after cordoning off one lane for repairs.

On Thursday, the city's Department of Transport divided the highway in two for repairs on the road's surface. However, a serious traffic jam occurred on the first day as most of the vehicles on the road were container trucks or trailers. The congestion grew worse during peak hours between 5pm and 7pm.

On the second day, the situation had not improved, affecting import and export activities at ports in the city.

A representative from a local import-export company said the congestion could lead to increased costs associated with import and export activities at the ports, and enterprises might be fined for exporting cargo later than stipulated in their contracts.

The repair work on National Highway No 5 connecting Ha Noi and Hai Phong began in January 2013 and was completed last April. However, subsidence and cracks have been reported along the route. The 22.7km-long highway sees average daily traffic of 500 vehicles.

China Airlines plane dented after collision at Vietnam airport

A China Airlines flight bound for Taipei on August 27 was canceled after an aircraft belt loader collided with the plane at Tan Son Nhat International Airport shortly prior to takeoff.

The belt loader, a truck that carries the belt from which luggage will be loaded onto the plane, crashed into the door of the Boeing B777’s cargo bay, the Ho Chi Minh City airport confirmed on August 27.

The body of the Taiwanese carrier’s plane, scheduled to take off at 10:50am, was dented after the collision, while there was no human damage.

The belt loader was operated by the Tan Son Nhat International Airport Ground Service Co. The incident occurred when the truck was approaching the aircraft to load luggage.

The nearly 300 passengers on flight CI 782 had to spend the night in a hotel. China Airlines sent an alternative flight to Ho Chi Minh City at first light on August 27, and the passengers were finally able to board the flight to the Taiwanese capital at 1:45am.

The damaged plane has been taken to a local aircraft repair center, as a group of China Airlines technicians arrived in Ho Chi Minh City to fix the problem.

On August 7, a similar incident occurred at the Danang International Airport, when a private plane bringing passengers from Hong Kong to the central Vietnamese city had one of its wings ripped off in a collision with an airport cargo cart.

The CL350 aircraft was sitting on the tarmac awaiting passengers for the return flight to Hong Kong when a baggage truck crashed into its left wing. The aircraft was pushed to the left for about 20cm after the collision, whereas its left wing was left with a 30cm-long mark.

The baggage truck that caused the tear was operated by the Danang unit of Saigon Ground Services, which was on its way to serve another aircraft at the time of the incident.

In related news, a Vietnam Airlines flight bound for Ho Chi Minh City on August 27 was delayed after the aircraft suffered a breakout while taxiing at Phu Quoc International Airport, off the southern province of Kien Giang.

Nearly 100 passengers were required to remain on the plane while it was towed back for repairs, according to newswire VnExpress.

The sub-engine of the aircraft failed to generate power, while the main engine operated normally, according to the airport’s director, Nguyen Minh Dong.

The flight finally took off after an hour-long delay.

“It’s a normal incident; nothing is serious here,” Dong was quoted byVnExpress as saying. “We asked the flight attendants to notify the passengers of this technical issue, and the situation was appropriately handled.”

VFF leader receives US guests

Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Vu Trong Kim hosted a reception for visiting Professor Mary Ann Glendon, Commissioner of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in Hanoi on August 28.

The host updated his guest on recent religious activities in Vietnam and the religion’s involvement in and contributions to educational and medical activities, social sponsoring, vocational training, HIV/AIDS prevention and environmental protection.

Kim said Vietnam is home to 14 orthodox religions and 41 religious organisations recognised by the State with 22.1 million followers, a number of which are members of the VFF.

According to the official, religions in Vietnam have a private doctrine and continually abide by the Party’s policies and the State’s laws. The country also has an ordinance on religions and beliefs.

As many as 296 nursery schools with over 3,600 fully-equipped classrooms have been built by religions nationwide, contributing remarkably to the country’s education development, he noted.

For her part, Glendon said she hopes her country and Vietnam will enhance links and become partners in the field.

In the framework of the meeting, members from the USCIRF asked about conditions for religions to be able to become members of the VFF and Vietnam’s State management of religious belief freedom.

Efforts to protect rights of migrant workers

The Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) jointly held a national conference in Hanoi on August 28 in preparation for the 8th ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour, slated for Malaysia from October 26-27.

The event looked back at the country’s implementation of recommendations of the seventh forum and proposals for the upcoming forum, with the focus on labour safety and hygiene to promote a safe working place, and labour inspection to ensure the essential rights of workers.

Dao Quang Vinh, deputy head of the ministry’s International Cooperation Department, said that this year’s forum has the theme of integration governance towards better employment and common prosperity in the context of the formation of the ASEAN Community at the end of this year.

The Officer-in-Charge of the ILO Country Office in Hanoi, Simrin Singh, stated that the ILO is paying greater attention to the importance of migrant labour management and protection.

The organisation is developing an extra work plan to support work programmes involved in migrant labour, social welfare, labour safety and tripartite dialogue of ASEAN labour ministers.

According to statistics, the number of foreign migrant workers in ASEAN has increased nearly fourfold from 1980. It was estimated that more than 10 million foreigners worked in the region in 2013, 87 percent of them holding low- and medium-skilled jobs. Most low-paid migrant workers are vulnerable to exploitation, and more than 60 percent of them are not covered by social insurance.

There are now nearly 500,000 Vietnamese people working in 40 countries and territories around the world. Statistics of 2012 showed that 26 percent of Vietnamese overseas workers were employed in ASEAN countries.

Compensation urged for houses damaged in highway expansion

Authorities in this central province ordered concerned agencies, contractors and insurance agents to cooperate in providing compensation to families with cracked houses resulting from the expansion of the National Highway 1A.

Pressure created by construction vehicles used by contractors on the project has caused vibrations to reach nearby houses and cracked their walls. The provincial People's Committee asked the local department of transport to survey the damaged houses to determine the correct compensation.

The committee's deputy chairman, Nguyen Xuan Quang, noted that if the compensation amount is higher than the coverage provided by the insurance companies, the department must request financial support from the Ministry of Transport.

The move is being implemented in light of the fact that several families in the province's Quang Ninh and Le Thuy districts had refused to give up their land for the expansion of the national highway section crossing their neighborhood.

Quang said fair compensation would encourage those families to have more faith in the compensation and resettlement policies.

A report showed that some 1,300 households living near the national highway in the province have not accepted the compensation rate announced by the local transport department, creating a major obstacle for the completion of the highway expansion project in the province.

Vietnam Culture Week 2015 starts in Laos

The 2015 Vietnam Culture Week began in Laos on August 28 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day and the 40th anniversary of Laos’.

The opening ceremony hosted Lao Deputy Prime Minister Somsavath Lengsavat and Minister of Culture, Information and Tourism Bosengkham Vongdala, and Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Vuong Duy Bien, and Vietnamese ambassador to Laos Nguyen Manh Hung.

Addressing the ceremony, Deputy Minister Vuong Duy Bien said the event helps promote cooperation in culture and tourism between Vietnam and Laos while improving mutual understanding and solidarity between the two peoples and honouring major anniversaries of the two countries.

Lao Deputy Minister of Culture, Information and Tourism Buangan Saphuvong lauded the significant role of the event in helping Lao nationals to gain a deeper understanding of Vietnam’s country and people while consolidating the special friendship between the two sides.

The week will feature a photo exhibition portraying the cultural life of Vietnam’s ethnic groups; the country’s landscapes, sea and islands; and the special ties between Vietnam and Laos; alongside art performances by Vietnamese artists.

Exhibition on Vietnam - India friendship opens in HCM City

Some 73 documentary photos and 160 publications featuring the friendly relations between Vietnam and India are being showcased at an exhibition opening in Ho Chi Minh City on August 28.

The exhibition, themed “Vietnam and India - For Peace and Development”, was jointly held by the Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City, the War Remnants Museum and the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. It is part of activities to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the National Day and the 43rd anniversary of Vietnam-India diplomatic relations.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Preeti Saran highlighted the cultural and economic links between the two peoples since the 2 nd century, adding that strategic relations have covered defence, trade, investment, education, human resources and science and technology.

She expressed her hope that the two countries would work to foster their relations, given the great untapped potential cooperation.

Meanwhile, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Thanh Liem underscored that relations between the two countries have deepened in the past four decades while expressing gratitude to India for its support for Vietnam during the nation’s struggles for independence and development.

He said that the exhibition will help younger generations gain a deeper understanding of the growing relations of the two countries.

The event will run until October 30.

Strict management required for industrial explosives use

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong emphasised the importance of stricter management over industrial explosives as the product has the potential to negatively affect the country’s security, defence, social order and safety.

Speaking at the ministry’s conference on August 28 to review the management of industrial explosives and explosive precursors from 2009-2015, Vuong said that industrial explosives are a special commodity and hold an important role in economic development as an essential material in mining and construction.

According to Cao Anh Dung, Deputy Head of the ministry’s Industrial Safety Techniques and Environmental Agency, all activities relating to industrial explosives from production, maintenance, transportation and usage to import and export must be licensed by authorised state agencies and are subject to strict safety regulations.

In the next five years, the ministry will continue improving legal documents with a focus on adjusting technical regulations in line with international practices.

It will also expand communications to raise awareness among those involved to avoid losses and misuse.

According to the ministry, Vietnam now has eight manufacturers o industrial explosives and explosive precursors with a total capacity of 130,000 tonnes a year.

Vietnamese cultural centre in Laos marks 20th anniversary

The Vietnamese Cultural Centre in Laos held a ceremony to celebrate its 20th founding anniversary on August 28 in Vientiane.

Addressing the event, Lao Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Buangan Saphuvong said the centre has served as a bridge to strengthening the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries over the past 20 years.

Additionally, the centre has contributed to popularising the Vietnamese language and culture among Lao officials and people as well as meeting the demand for information of the Vietnamese community in the country, he added.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Culture, Sport and Tourism Vuong Duy Bien thanked the Lao government and people for creating favourable conditions for the centre to effectively operate over the past 20 years.

He expressed his hope for continue support to the centre.

On the occasion, the Vietnamese ministry presented certificates of merit to individuals and organisations for their contributions to the centre.-

Support comes to needy students ahead of school year

Gifts and scholarships sponsored by philanthropists reached disadvantaged communities in Soc Trang, Binh Dinh and Ho Chi Minh City on August 28, as a new school year quickly approaches.

In the southern province of Soc Trang, the Luong Dinh Cua fund run by the provincial Study Encouragement Association have granted 286 scholarships worth nearly 430 million VND (19,196 USD) to local high school students, many of them are from the Khmer ethnic group.

Meanwhile, almost 400 million VND (17,857 USD) worth of gifts and scholarships have brought joy to children from disadvantaged backgrounds in Quy Nhon city in central Binh Dinh province.

Representatives from NAHI Vietnam company have visited and gave scholarships, health insurances, tuition fees and new uniforms to 140 outstanding poor students in border areas in the southern province of Long An .

Nearly 11,500 smuggling cases discovered nationwide

Customs forces nationwide detected and handled nearly 11,500 cases of smuggling and trade fraud in the first seven months of this year, as heard at a press conference held by the General Department of Customs in Hanoi on August 28.

According to Deputy General Director of the Department Nguyen Van Can, illicitly cross-border transported commodities, tax evasion, smuggling, and trade fraud—especially counterfeit goods—remained complicated in the period.

Smuggled commodities included drugs, weapons, wild animals, wood, foreign currencies, imported wines, minerals and electronics. Localities with increases of smuggling and trade fraud in the period were Hanoi, Hai Phong, Cao Bang, Lang Son, Lao Cai, Quang Ninh, Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Nghe An, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.

The General Department of Customs plans to apply modern technologies in its management and inspection activities in order to uncover and prevent smuggling and unlawful conveyance of goods immediately, especially in border areas.

The agency will also focus on supervising commodities that negatively impact national security, public health and the environment, and enhance its management of a number of State preferential policies which can be exploited to seek profits illegally.-

Central Highlands invests 17 trillion VND in transport infrastructure

Central Highlands provinces have poured over 17 trillion VND (about 770 million USD) into transport infrastructure in the last five years, according to the Central Highlands Steering Committee.

Of the figure, ethnic-minority groups in the region contributed about 740 billion VND (34 million USD), accounting for 4.44 percent of the total capital. The rest was sourced from international organisations and official development assistance funds.

The money was spent on building 1,500 kilometres of roads and 474 bridges. As many as 11,500 kilometres of rural roads were asphalted in the period.

The region’s transport network has a total length of 39,800 kilometres with 48 percent of its roads concreted.

Currently, all of the region’s communes have roads for cars to their centres, contributing to local socio-economic development and national security.

However, transport infrastructure investment in the region has remained asynchronous and not fully fleshed-out, said the Steering Committee.

The Committee has petitioned the central government to implement policies to mobilise more resources to upgrade the network, especially in remote areas, in accordance with the plan for the rural transport development by 2020.

The Central Highlands, one of the poorest regions in Vietnam, consists of Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Gia Lai, Kon Tum and Lam Dong provinces.

Revolutionary press on display in Hanoi

Many French and Vietnamese language press dispatches in the period of resistance against the French will be displayed at an exhibition in Hanoi.

Entitled Collection of Vietnamese Revolutionary Newspaper 1925-45, the exhibition is organised by the National Museum of History from August 28.

Beside the publications, the exhibition also displays tools used to print newspapers collected from revolutionary bases in the northern province of Thai Nguyen and Cao Bang.

The exhibition shows visitors the difficulty and hardship of page makers in the past and the sacrifice of journalists, war correspondents and the people who concealed and protected the editorial officers.

The visitors will be provided with a perspective on the history of the Vietnamese revolutionary newspaper in a period which took place in difficulty but glory.

Newspaper of Vietnamese Revolution plays an important role in the struggle for national liberation and reunification and the building of the socialist regime, said Nguyen Van Cuong, the museum's director.

"The newspaper is a tool and weapon for the Vietnamese Communist Party to mobilise the masses," he said. "It has a long history which associated with the history of the nation, especially, the initial stage in 1925-45. In this stage, revolutionary newspapers contributed to the propaganda of Marxism in Vietnam and the preparation for establishing a communist party and the revolution for liberation and independence."

The exhibition introduces articles of famous communist leaderships of Vietnam including President Ho Chi Minh, general secretaries Tran Phu, Le Hong Phong, Truong Chinh, and General Vo Nguyen Giap. They were not only excellent writers but also editors and directors of many kinds of newspapers.

The exhibition features five stages of the history of the Vietnamese revolutionary newspaper.

During 1925-30, newspapers focused on the propaganda of Marxism and communism in Vietnam. Some representatives can be named Thanh Nien (Young People), Bolshevik, Bua Liem (Hammer and Sickle), and Lao Dong (Labour).

Between 1930 and 1936, newspapers mobilised the mass organisations and contributed to the struggle in politics and theory. At this time, newspapers were published in many ways: using wax paper, printing on a slab of stone, printing on clay and handwriting.

From 1936 to 1939, newspapers supported Marxism, the International Communist, Soviet, French Communist Party and the struggle for democratic freedom and press liberty.

Newspapers of the period 1936-39 followed up the Vietnamese Communist Party's resolutions and policies at a time when the Party was preparing for the General Uprising in later 1945. The amount of newspapers was less than those of before, however, the quality was better and the format was more attractive. At this time, newspapers were made not only by central organisations but also local ones.

The last part of the exhibition comprises pamphlets during August Uprising 1945 period. They declared the crime of Japanese fascists in Indochina and called people to struggle against Japan, France.

The exhibition will run permanently at the Vietnam National Museum of History, 25 Tong Dan street, Hanoi.

Smuggling fines boost State budget

As many as 11,500 cases of smuggling and trade fraud have been uncovered in the first seven months of this year alone, the General Department of Vietnam Customs reported yesterday.

The smuggled goods were estimated to be worth nearly VND119 billion (US$ 5.3 million).

According to the committee, more than VND90.5 billion ($4.2 million) was contributed to the State budget during this period of time through seizure of smuggled goods.

"Authorities nation-wide have conducted spot checks and imposed fines on over 130,000 violations since the committee's establishment in 2014, which helped contribute around VND4 trillion ($178 million) to the State budget," said deputy head of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, Nguyen Van Can.

"Authorities have prosecuted over 800 cases and arrested nearly 1,000 violators," he added.

"The police, army and customs have been fighting smuggling, trade fraud and fake products but smugglers are using increasing sophisticated techniques," Can said.

The committee identified the main areas of smuggling including Ha Noi, HCM City, Quang Ninh, Da Nang, the border provinces of Lang Son and Lao Cai as well as some central and southern provinces.

"The most common illegally trafficked products include drugs, weapons, documents, wild animals, wood, gold, foreign liquor, oil, minerals, cigarettes, automobiles, machinery, refrigerators, food and many other types of goods," Can said.

"Offenders are usually import-export enterprises, people living near border areas and individuals who often cross borders".

"Fighting smuggling and trade fraud is very difficult because many local authorities aren't concerned with anti-smuggling activities," Can said, adding that the implementation of plans to combat smuggling is limited and lacks co-operation between relevant agencies.

"Another sad fact is that the production of contraband had become more sophisticated. However, most Vietnamese enterprises are indifferent when discovering that their products had been copied and sold as genuine items," Can complained.

"Instead of co-operating with authorities, they avoided the situation, for fear of affecting their sales," Can said.

To combat this, the committee is running an online Command Room on a trial basis, which connects all the data systems of custom supervision.

With the system, the committee can control and detect fraud and smuggling at hotspots.

In line with the Government's target "there is no forbidden zone" in the fight against smuggling, the customs department has instructed agencies to impose tough punishment on customs officials who harass individuals and enterprises.

Businesses and producers should provide comprehensive product detail to prevent the illegal trade in counterfeit goods, as it is difficult to differentiate genuine from fake items, Can said.

Hundreds of villagers do well with custard apples

Custard apple farmers in the Bo Ly commune, Vinh Phuc Province, are thrilled with a bumper crop.

Bui Huy Hung, 57, a local resident, said his family had sold more than ten tonnes of the fruit since the beginning of August.

"Everyday my family and I wake up at 4 or 5am to pick custard apples to sell ," Hung told Tin Tuc (News) newspaper.

The family could earn over ten million dong on a good day from custard apples, he said.

Since the beginning of the season, prices reached VND40,000-50,000 (US$1.7-2.2) per kilo. At harvest, the price is about VND30,000 ($1.3), Hung said.

Custard apple trees bear fruit after two or three years of growth. A tree produces on average 50 to 100 apples per year with harvest during the rainy season.

Hung helped his village to boost production of the fruit which in turn helped them escape hunger and poverty.

His family began growing these trees in 1980. With more than ten trees in their garden, his family couldn't eat all the fruit and began selling some at the market, he said.

"They were very easy to sell and we earned a lot of money," said Hung.

With the climate and soil being suitable for custard apple trees he decided to enlarge his garden after five years.

Now he has more than 1ha of the trees.

He said that with this crop he could earn VND100 million ($4,400) this year.

Following Hung's success, many local households began growing this tree to have a stable income.

Pham Thi Sau, 50, said her family had been one of the poorest families in the commune.

Since growing custard apple trees her family's life had improved and they now had financial stability, she said.

Each year, they harvested nearly 700kg of fruit from 1ha of trees, she said.

Hundreds of families in Bo Ly commune were very happy with this year's crop as harvests had been poor in the past when they had to rely on good weather, Hung noted.

"Some of us learned new techniques from farmers in Bac Giang and Lang Son provinces," Hung said.

Tran The Van, head of the farmer's association in the commune, said there were over 300 families growing custard apple trees with more than 110ha which earned them a stable income.

However, he said the farmers here still needed more capital and training to increase productivity and quality and build their own brand.

Rice institute teaches 1,000 delta farmers

Around 1,000 farmers in the Mekong Delta received training in the best rice cultivation and crop protection practices from the Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute (CLRRI) and US conglomerate DuPont in Can Tho on Thursday.

Farmers from Can Tho and the provinces of Long An, Dong Thap, An Giang, Kien Giang, Hau Giang, and Soc Trang were taken to experimental fields belonging to the two, and they also held discussions with researchers, agronomists and experts from CLRRI and DuPont.

On the agenda were crop protection technologies, integrated pest management, stewardship principles, proper use of personal protective equipment, label awareness, harmful effects of fake products, and resistance management.

"Empowering farmers through agriculture technology and information is crucial," Dr Ngo Luc Cuong, former principal researcher in plant protection at CLRRI, said. "Farmers should be equipped with knowledge and understanding of how to use crop protection products while minimising environmental impacts.

"The safe use of the products is also an important element underpinning sustainable agriculture."

At the experimental fields, the farmers were taught to clearly identify differences in leaf colour and thickness, durability of the leaves and estimate potential productivity.

"To meet the agricultural productivity challenges in Viet Nam, the public and private sectors must work closely together to achieve sustainable solutions," Sittideth Sriprateth, managing director of DuPont Viet Nam, said.

"With the extensive knowledge of CLRRI's and DuPont's experts, we have obtained some positive results initially. We will continue to collaborate for further intensive researches."

Poor methods lead to shrimp losses

Hundreds of once wealthy households in Quang Binh Province are now in debt after investing large sums of money in shrimp breeding without mastering the proper techniques.

In 2012, the first households in Hai Ninh commune began raising white leg shrimp on land by pumping treated sea water into manmade ponds.

The model was tagged as one of the most efficient ways of raising and conserving water in the central coastal region.

The first breeders got rich quickly with to the success of their first shrimp harvest thanks to the clement weather and unpolluted water. They made profits of up to VND1.5 billion (US$75,000) from 1ha ponds.

Other households recognised their success, and decided to jump on the bandwagon. With limited land in their communes, they moved to other parts of the province such as Le Thuy, and Bo Trach, and even to neighbouring Quang Tri Province to rent land to breed shrimp.

In total, 400 out of the 1,200 households in Hai Ninh Commune started to breed shrimp.

"In 2013, after witnessing other households making a fast profit from breeding shrimp, my brother and I also invested all of our money," said shrimp breeder Mai Van Bung from Hai Ninh.

During their first season, they made VND1,5 billion. Following their success, they rented another 3ha pond in another part of the province, but they lost all of their money when the shrimp suddenly died. Many other households have also experienced the same problem.

"We thought we would be able to save our lives by breeding shrimp, but we have suffered severe financial losses. We owe the bank VND1 billion, and our friends VND2 billion. We do not know what to do now," said Bung.

Hoang Minh Doan, a local fisheries expert, said that most households that tried to breed shrimp were ignorant of the right techniques, and refused to listen to expert advice.

"To have enough money to start breeding shrimp, most locals borrowed money from the bank by putting up their houses as collateral," said Truong Van Lieu, chairman of Hai Ninh's People's Committee.

According to statistics from the commune's People's Committee, local shrimp breeders had borrowed VND151 billion from the bank.

However, those households want to make back that money from breeding shrimp, but do not admit that their failure is due to their lack of knowledge; they say it is due to the inclement weather.

"We warned locals several times about the risks they were taking by investing in shrimp farms without knowing the correct techniques. We even decided not to allocate additional land to stop them from breeding shrimp, but they rented land in other regions. The commune has 1,200 households, and 400 of them are in debt. The commune used to be the most developed in the district," said Lieu.

Party may turn urban areas into smart cities

Viet Nam should turn its urban areas into smart cities to improve economic efficiency and quality of life, Viet Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee Chairman Nguyen Thien Nhan said yesterday.

Nhan spoke at a conference on smart city development held in Ha Noi yesterday. He said the nation's cities were building more advanced models, aiming to use new technology and increase development.

Smart cities are, generally, more modern. They utilise the most advanced information technology available to improve the lives of citizens and boost the economy. They also give citizens more opportunities to supervise their Government by using data from the community to gather feedback and input on policies and services.

But before smart cities could be built in Viet Nam, the country needed to solve a few problems, Nhan said. Population growth had created environmental, health, traffic and housing hurdles. Overloaded infrastructure, competition among cities and regions, and people's increasing demands for better quality of life needed to be addressed.

Working in Viet Nam's favour, though, is the fact that a high percentage of people use the internet: 43.8 per cent last year, which is 9 per cent higher than the Asian average and 1.6 per cent higher than the world's average. The country has also used IT to manage State and social affairs, which has put it on the right track, he said.

Viet Nam has nearly 14,000 IT companies with 500,000 employees. The nation's e-commerce turnover last year totalled about US$2.9 billion.

Many countries have made their cities "smart," including South Korea and many EU countries. Last year Singapore announced it would turn itself into a "smart nation," while India said it would build 100 new smart cities.

Nhan said delegates from Japan, South Korea, Singapore and the US would share their experiences building smart cities and suggest challenges Viet Nam would have to face in the process.

Wages redefined under labour law

To improve the legislative framework for managing labour and improving workers' living standards, a slew of changes and updates have been made to the Labour Code and other regulations.

Tong Thi Minh, director general of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs's Department of Wage and Labour, told a seminar held in HCM City yesterday there were many new wage and overtime provisions.

Article 90 of the Labour Code now defines wage as also including allowances and other payments, which in the past were not included, she said.

Historically, the labour contract would state only the base salary and employers would pay social insurance on this amount.

Base salary plus

But starting next year, the social insurance premium will be calculated on total wages (base salary plus allowances and other payments).

Minh admitted this could cause difficulties for businesses in the short term.

Another change is that State-owned companies and joint stock companies funded by Government money no longer have to conform to Government pay scales and can fix their own wages, she said.

They no longer need to register their salaries with authorised agencies and can just send their payroll to district labour management agencies to audit.

The Government used to periodically amend the minimum wages, but this task has now been enshrined in the Labour Code. Minh said the Government, based on the minimum needs of workers, the socio-economic situation and the market wage rates, has to adjust the minimum wage every year.

The law makes it contingent on the National Wage Council to calculate the minimum wage and recommend to the Government.

To discourage employers from getting workers to work overtime at night (from 10pm to 6am), the law requires them to pay overtime wages as usual plus 20 per cent of normal hourly wage.

The seminar was organised by business consultancy NVM Group.

Residents claim fees charged for no service

Residents in areas with no sewage system in this central province said they have paid for waste water treatment services, but such services are still not being provided.

Voters in the province's municipal Dong Hoi City late last month reported to the local People's Council that a drainage system for collecting rain and household waste water had been installed in several wards in the city centre.

However, all city dwellers are paying a monthly fee for waste water treatment, which means residents in wards on the outskirts of the city are paying for a service that they are not receiving.

Nguyen Van Huu, a resident of the outlying Bac Ly Ward, said his family had paid the fee for years, adding that he and other families in the neighbourhood had to build their own household waste water treatment plant to serve their needs.

The council requested the department of finance and the local water supply company, which charges the monthly fee for waste water treatment, to respond to this charge. However, even a month later, residents of wards on the outskirts of the city have not received any response from them, while the company continues to collect the fee.

In 2007, the province received US$79 million from the World Bank to build a sewage system in Dong Hoi City. Construction of the system ended early last year, with work being completed only in the city centre.

The practice of adding fees for waste water treatment to monthly water bills in areas that lack a sewage system is also ongoing in neighbouring Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Tri provinces.

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