Many works open to traffic in HCMC

Investor Saigon River Tunnel Management Center yesterday hosted a ceremony to open to traffic Nguyen Tri Phuong bridge’s branch N2 linking up to Vo Van Kiet boulevard.

The 149m long and 6m wide branch permits vehicles to travel 40 kilometers an hour from the bridge to the boulevard toward District 1.

The branch aims at easing traffic jam for surrounding streets and Tran Hung Dao-Nguyen Tri Phuong intersection and increasing the exploitation efficiency of Vo Van Kiet boulevard, Saigon River tunnel and Mai Chi Tho street.

Branch N1, which is 122 meter long and 6.5 meter wide, will be opened to traffic at the end of September for vehicles to travel from Vo Van Kiet boulevard to Nguyen Tri Phuong street in the direction from Binh Chanh district to District 8.

Branch N3 connecting with branch N1 will cross Tau Hu Canal to link up to Ba Dinh street. After being built, branch N3 will combine with existing Nguyen Tri Phuong bridge to create four lanes.

The project of building three branches of Nguyen Tri Phuong bridge has a total capital of VND149 billion (US$6.55 million) from the city budget.

On the same day, District 12 also opened to traffic four works in Thanh Loc and An Phu Dong wards comprising Lon (Large) bridge, Rach Tram bridge, Thanh Loc 41 street, Tho Du bridge and three box culverts with the total capital of VND52.3 billion ($2.3 million).

HCMC calls for private investors to remove houses along canals

Deputy Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Tran Vinh Tuyen calls for investion of enterprises in removing 20,000 shanty houses along canals.

At a meeting with related agencies on August 25 on the progress of removing slums along canals, Mr. Tuyen stressed removing dilapidated houses along canals is a city’s big program.

Additionally, HCMC not only relocates all the slum dwellers but also brings new face to urban landscape, improves living environment, traffic infrastructure, reduces flooding to develop the city’s socioeconomic growth.

The Department of Construction said that around 20,000 shanty houses along canals need to be removed. District 8 has around 9,806 slums while Binh Thanh District with 3,400 houses; district 4 with 1,629 houses; district 7 with 1,479; district 6 with 986 houses and some other districts.

From now to 2020, basically the city needs to remove all shanty houses along canals and help dweller to stabilize their lives.

The city is facing financial problem; accordingly, it needs investion of private companies in land compensation for clearance and resettlement. The spending to relocate these houses is estimated to around VND6.6 trillion ($290.3 million) while the city budget has only VND2.1 trillion so it is a big headache for the cash-strapped city.

The Department of Construction and related agencies have expected to carry out the relocating program and the urban planning under three angles. In the first angle, they will spend around VND10 trillion from the city budget to remove 6,697 houses; in the second angle, the city will remove 8,084 slums under the form of public-private partnerships, which costs at VND12 trillion. In the third angle, the city will build condo and urban renovation program.

The deputy chairman asked agencies to liaise with consulting agencies to perform the task well and report to the People’s Committee, especially to strictly follow bidding process because six investors have registered to partake the program.

Da Nang runs pilot safe food management program

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has given the green light to authority of the central City of Da Nang to set up food safety management board as pilot program. 

The board will help People’s Committee to supervise food safety.

The pilot program will last three years. After the program wraps up, People’s Committee will report its result to the Prime Minister.

Before, in March, People’s Committee in Ho Chi Minh City announced a Prime Minister’s decision to set up food safety board. The city is the first locality in the country to implement the pilot program which also last three years.

Continuous activities held to mark National Day

An array of activities have been held across the country, as well as abroad, in the past few days in celebration of the 72nd anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day (September 2).

On August 30, the leaders of the Quang Tri provincial authorities, together with officials and local people, offered incense at the memorial complex dedicated to late General Secretary Le Duan, the Truong Son and Road 9 National Martyrs’ Cemeteries and the Quang Tri ancient citadel, to commemorate the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the cause of national liberation and reunification.

★ On the same day, the General Association of Vietnamese Cambodians (GAVC) organised activities to mark 72 years of the August Revolution (August 19) and the National Day, in addition to 50 years of Vietnam-Cambodia diplomatic ties. Among the attendants were representatives from the GAVC, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Thach Du, overseas Vietnamese and Vietnamese businesses operating in Cambodia.

Delegates participated in traditional musical and artistic performances of both Vietnam and Cambodia, reflecting the solidarity and friendship between the two countries.

★ The Vietnamese Embassy in South Africa held a ceremony on Wednesday to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day, with the participation of representatives from the South African Foreign Ministry; Ambassador Bene M'Poko, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps accredited in South Africa; and over 400 invitees, together with overseas Vietnamese living, studying and working in South Africa.

★ A musical and art festival for Da Nang’s religious organisations took place at the Trung Vuong Theatre on August 29-30, as part of activities to mark 72 years of the National Day and towards welcoming the 2017 APEC High-level Week, which will take place in the city later this year.

The event gathered over 600 actors who are also dignitaries, monks and followers of the six religious organisations in Da Nang city.

★ Earlier on August 29, the Vietnamese Embassy in the Republic of Korea held a ceremony to celebrate 72 years of Vietnam’s National Day and 25 years of Vietnam-ROK diplomatic relations (December 22, 1992-2017).

The event was attended by ROK Minister of Interior and Safety Kim Boo-kyum, ROK Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun, alongside representatives from foreign embassies and international organisations in the host country, the ROK-Vietnam friendship association and Vietnamese people in the country.

At the ceremony, Vietnamese and ROK artists provided delegates with unique art performances imbued with the traditional cultural identities of both nations.

Scholarships to disadvantaged students as new school year starts

The National Fund for Vietnamese Children presented 50 bicycles, each worth over 1.7 million VND (75 USD), and 50 school bags to needy children in the central province of Quang Ngai at a ceremony on August 31 ahead of the new school year.

This is part of a charity programme jointly funded by fund and the Quang Nam province Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, and the Bao Viet Life Insurance Company.

In 2017, the programme will present 1,700 bicycles and 1,700 school bags for students nationwide, worth over 3.6 billion VND (158,000 USD).

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee for Social Affairs Dang Thuan Phong said at the ceremony that more than 200,000 children across the country drop out of school each year due to the long distance from their houses to school. The donation of bicycles to needy children is hoped to help them continue to go to school.

In a similar move, 300 gifts, including 150 scholarships, each worth one million VND, and 150 bicycles, each worth 1.7 million VND were presented to outstanding students from disadvantaged backgrounds in seven districts and cities in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu.

According to Tran Hong Chien, Director of the Bac Lieu province Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, so far, over 3,500 needy students in the province have received assistance, to help them overcome difficulties in their lives.

The same day, the Quang Tri Study Encouragement Association and Hue Charity's Education Centre presented 100 scholarships, each worth one million VND (44 USD) for primary pupils, and 1.1 million (48 USD) for higher-level students in Quang Tri.

HCMC speeds up progress of Metro No.2 route

Deputy Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Tran Vinh Tuyen yesterday chaired the meeting with the Ho Chi Minh urban railway management board and Asia Development Bank of the construction progress and implementation of Ben Thanh-Tham Luong Metro route No.2 project.

The management board said the project has so far been moving two years slower than expected due to the design and total investment capital had been adjusted from US$ 1.3billion up to 2.19 billion.

Besides, the bidding mechanism has met difficulties due to a lack of capital. Therefore, the board suggested ADB to continue sponsoring more capital for the project.

Representative of ADB said the site clearance and compensation, the bidding mechanism have spent so long time causing the project has been implemented slower than scheduled.

Mr. Tran Vinh Tuyen said the city asked authorities, related agencies to shorten administrative procedures to ensure the project’s progress adding that the management board must speed up the progress of project in HCMC.

City to build new campus of Pham Ngoc Thach University

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has just approved a new campus of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine in Binh Chanh district, Ho Chi Minh City. 

The project will be built in the period of 2016- 2020 under management of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee with its total investment capital of VND 2.5 trillion.

The construction aims to combine school- hospital, enhance skilled lectures, raise teaching and training quality following international standards, respond to demand of the health sector in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern provinces. 

Soc Trang wants to fully tap biomass power potentials

A delegation from the General Directorate of Energy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Global Green Growth Institute on August 30 held a working session with the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang on the planning for biomass power development in the locality.

Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade (DoIT) Vo Van Chieu briefed the delegates on the province’s socio-economic development, its real situation and potentials for biomass power development with the availability of sugarcane bagasse, rice husk, straw and wood.

In 2016, the Soc Trang sugar plant produced 130,000 tonnes of sugarcane bagasse which was enough to supply for a local thermo power plant.

The province’s rice output in 2016 reached 2.4 million tonnes, equivalent to 312,000 tonnes of husk per year. With 140,000 hectares of rice, each crop generates around 280,000 tonnes of straw.

Soc Trang has nearly 11,360 hectares of forests, mainly cajuput, cypress, mangrove, nipa, in the districts of Long Phu, My Tu and Cu Lao Dung, and Vinh Chau town.  Around 9,436 tonnes of wood are expected to be produced by natural forests, 8,150 tonnes from production forests, 3,786 tonnes of scattered planted forests, 17,000 tonnes from long-term industrial crops, and 33,000 tonnes of waste wood.

The DoIT proposed to build a 20 MW husk-to-energy plants in Nga Nam town and another in Soc Trang city with a capacity of 10MW.

Straw-fueled power plants with capacity ranging from 5-10 MW are planned in Nga Nam town and Long Phu, My Tu and Tran De districts, while wood-fired energy plants will be built in Long Phu and My Tu districts, with capacity of between 5-10 MW.

Local authorities asked the General Directorate of Energy and the Global Green Growth Institute to assist Soc Trang in mapping out a planning scheme for biomass power development, including solid waste-to-energy projects.

The delegation introduced technical assistance of the Global Green Growth Institute, as well as the relevant legal framework and planning for biomass power development in the province.

Addressing the event, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Thanh Tri said together with wind and solar power, Soc Trang has paid due attention to developing biomass power to serve the province’s socio-economic development.

The province will create favourable condition for the planning work, Tri said, adding that regional connection will help draw investment.

Airport road toll raises eyebrows in Vietnam

At most aerodromes across the country, drivers of any four-wheel vehicle are required to pay a fee of between VND10,000 (US$0.44) and VND20,000 (US$0.89) upon entering the facilities.

Statistics from Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City showed that in 2014, a total of 22,400 automobiles had entered the venue on a daily basis, each of which had to pay an average amount of VND10,000.

Based on the information, the facility pockets about VND80 billion ($3.5 million) per year. The toll collection began in 2002 and still exists today.

N.T.D., a taxi driver with ten years of experience, said that sometimes passengers agreed to pay the fee, but in other scenarios, the cab driver had to make the payment.

In Hanoi, local cabbies said that they had to pay VND15,000 (US$0.67) every time they carried a passenger into Noi Bai International Airport.

“According to regulations, passengers are subject to a toll. But they, especially foreign travelers, do not often understand the reason and refuse to pay,” Thuy, one taxi driver said.

The fee is referred to as an airport toll and is applied differently at airports across the country.

The most expensive is recorded in Phu Quoc Airport, located in the namesake island off the southern province of Kien Giang, where a standard car is charged VND15,000 and a seven-seater VND20,000.

Aside from the toll, cab drivers must also pay parking fees whenever they carry passengers into an airport.

According to Le Xuan Tung, director of Danang International Airport, the airport road toll has been in place for decades, with rates at each aerodrome listed and approved by the Ministry of Finance.

“The fees are directed towards renovation of the airport and improvement of its service for passengers,” Tung continued.

Meanwhile, Tran Manh Hong, deputy director of Phu Quoc Airport, explained that how the collected money is used depends on the Kien Giang Department of Finance.

The toll is submitted to the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), a representative from Noi Bai Airport said, adding that there was timeframe for the toll collection to end.

Speaking with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Pham Van Hao, deputy head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), confirmed that most airports in Vietnam collect two types of fee, an airport road toll and parking charges.

The money is used to fund services, namely maintenance, repairs, and the renovation of roads within the facilities, as well as safety and order insurance, among others.

The fees are in accordance with current laws and similar to regulations at other airports in the world, Hao said.

Kon Tum: gifts to disadvantaged people on Vu Lan Festival

The Executive Board of the Buddhist Sangha of the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum will offer over 2,000 gifts to disadvantaged people on the occasion of the major Buddhist festival, Vu Lan (Ullambana).

According to the Most Venerable Thich Quang Xa, Head of the Executive Board, local orphans, elderly disadvantaged people, victims of Agent Orange/dioxin and needy Buddhist families will receive school items, rice, noodles, cooking oil and sugar. Hundreds of meal boxes will also be presented to patients at the Kon Tum General Hospital. 

Vu Lan is a festival that is celebrated annually between the 10th to 15th day of the seventh lunar month, during which people express their gratefulness and appreciation to their parents and ancestors.

Hanoi book fair set for Sept. 22

Nearly 150 exhibits by publishers, book sellers and libraries will highlight the fourth annual book fair at the Thang Long-Hanoi Heritage Conservation Centre on Friday, September 22.

No food will be available at the fair, but the organizing committee, which includes officials from the Hanoi People’s Committee, has prepared a smorgasbord of book related events including at least a dozen booths featuring books about the city of Hanoi.

There will be exhibits of books aimed at the diverse ethnic population of Vietnam and displays from bookstores that specialize in cookbooks, mysteries, travel, photography, philosophy or art.

In addition, the organizers noted there will be guest speakers from the northern region to talk about the trends in book publishing in the digital age, copyright issues and entrepreneurship along with a variety of topics on business management.

Massive fire destroys foam factory in southern Vietnam

Crews are searching for the cause of a massive fire at a commercial building in the city of Thu Dau Mot in southern Binh Duong Province, reports the Zing online newspaper.

As the thick black, toxic smoke rolled off into the sky on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 30, some workers at the factory wondered if their jobs might go along with it.

Roughly 100 firefighters were mobilized to the scene to combat the 10-alarm blaze shortly after a large explosion was heard about 2:30pm.

Thick black smoke greeted firefighters, but inside was an inferno fed by countless pallets of the Styrofoam packing material made at the building.

Concerns about toxic smoke triggered an area evacuation. The fire chief was also quick to pull his crews out of the enormous building amid fears the roof might cave in and that’s exactly what happened.

Figuring out what ignited the blaze may not be easy, said fire officials. We don’t know what caused it. We are very happy that everybody is accounted for.

Vietnamese Ao dai enchants Seoul audience

Vietnamese Ao dai (traditional long dress)’s glamour was brought closer to international friends through a stellar show jointly held by the Vietnamese Embassy in the Republic of Korea and the Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange (KOFICE) on August 30.

The event is part of the art exhibition and performance which is underway at the KOFICE’s headquarters to mark the 72nd anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day and 25th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The Ao dai show featured famous designer Si Hoang’s 10 designs of the traditional dress, which were embroidered with national flowers of ASEAN member states.

Hoang said that the cultural event would make significant contributions to promoting people-to-people exchange and tightening bilateral relations.

Vietnamese culture was also highlighted through performance of dan bau (monochord), sao truc (bamboo flute) and dan T’rung (bamboo xylophone).

Kon Tum: gifts to disadvantaged people on Vu Lan Festival

The Executive Board of the Buddhist Sangha of the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum will offer over 2,000 gifts to disadvantaged people on the occasion of the major Buddhist festival, Vu Lan (Ullambana).

According to the Most Venerable Thich Quang Xa, Head of the Executive Board, local orphans, elderly disadvantaged people, victims of Agent Orange/dioxin and needy Buddhist families will receive school items, rice, noodles, cooking oil and sugar. Hundreds of meal boxes will also be presented to patients at the Kon Tum General Hospital.

Vu Lan is a festival that is celebrated annually between the 10th to 15th day of the seventh lunar month, during which people express their gratefulness and appreciation to their parents and ancestors.

Over 4.3 billion VND to improve education for Dien Bien children

The northern mountainous province of Dien Bien has received more than 4.3 billion VND (189,157 USD) sponsored by the Save the Children International (SCI) organisation to improve educational quality and equality for ethnic minority children.

The money funds a project to this purpose, which will be implemented in five communes, namely Phi Nhu, Chieng So, Pu Nhi, Keo Lom and Muong Luan in Dien Bien Dong district from 2017 to 2020.

The project aims to enhance access to quality kindergarten and primary education in those areas. It also helps improve maths, reading, writing skills and hygiene practice of local disadvantaged children.

SCI is an international non-governmental organisation that promotes children’s rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries. Operating in Vietnam since 1990, SCI has been working in 20 cities and provinces, focusing on children’s rights, education, health and nutrition, vocational training for youth, emergency response and humanitarian aid. 

Hanoi official wants new paint job for taxis to 'modernize' city

Authorities in Hanoi have come up with a plan that would involve all the 19,000 taxis currently operating in the city to be repainted in one of two colors.

The plan will be tabled before businesses and locals next year.

Ha Huy Quang, deputy director of Hanoi’s Department of Transport, said that there are nearly 80 taxi firms operating in the city, and most of them opt for different colors to make them stand out.

“No other capital city in the world allows this. That's why Hanoi has to take this move to modernize the capital,” said the official.

Quang said taxi companies have their own brands that passengers can recognize, so it's up to them to survive on their reputations.

While it's common for taxis in capital cities to have the same color, contrary to what Quang said, others like Singapore do allow different colored taxis.

No mention was made about who will foot the bill for the expensive new paint jobs for the thousands of cars. 

Hanoi also plans to separate the areas taxi firms are allowed to operate in.

Most cabs can be seen cruising in the city center, but many people on the outskirts also need their services, Quang said.

This move is part of a bigger plan to manage traffic in the city, but will involve increasing the number of taxis on the city's streets by 6,000 before 2020.

Meanwhile, popular ride-hailing services Uber and Grab may soon be asked by the capital to put  taxi-style roof signs on their cars.

Repairs to Vietnam's busted internet cables to take up to four weeks

Vietnam's internet speed slowed to a snail's pace on August 27 after the three internet cable systems connecting the country with the rest of the world went down.

While no repair schedule has been set, the Vietnam Internet Association estimates it will take 3-4 weeks before they are back up to speed.

The exact cause of the problems remains unknown, but two tropical storms that hit the region over the past week are the most likely culprits, according to experts.

The submarine cables, known as the Asia America Gateway (AAG), Intra Asia (IA) and SEA-ME-WE3 (SMW3), all encountered problems on Sunday afternoon.

The AAG is believed to have been ruptured at two points about 66 kilometers (41 miles) and 85 kilometers from its Hong Kong station. Meanwhile, the IA's problem was reported to be a rupture about 54 kilometers from Hong Kong, according to one internet service provider (ISP).

Another ISP also reported bandwidth losses on all three cable systems. However most of its lost bandwidth on the SMW3 was restored on August 28 morning, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper quoted the ISP as saying.

Vietnam's ISPs have prepared backup plans to limit the damage caused by the ruptures and are prioritizing businesses and organizations, according to Vu The Binh, general secretary of the Vietnam Internet Association.

“After discovering the problems, we've rerouted international connections through other cables, including land-based branches through China, Laos, Thailand, the Asia Pacific Gateway (APG), the AAG branches through the US and Singapore, and IA branches through Singapore and Japan,” an ISP announced.

Before August 27's incident, the infamous AAG had already ruptured twice this year. Repair work for these problems, one in early January and one in late February, took about one month each. The IA has also ruptured three times this year.

Vietnam has six submarine cable systems, including Asia Africa Europe 1 which was launched last month and connects 19 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The country also has a 120 gigabit/second channel that runs overland through China.

Around 60% of the country’s population of nearly 92 million are online.

Vietnam’s health ministry under scrutiny over cancer drug scam

The PM urges inspectors to take the issue 'seriously' as it has chipped away at public trust in the health care sector.

Vietnam's government has ordered an investigation into the Ministry of Health's role in a headline-grabbing scandal that resulted in the former bosses of a pharmaceutical company going to jail last week for forging paperwork to distribute fake cancer drugs.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at a cabinet meeting on August 30 that government inspectors must take the issue “seriously” as it concerns public health.

The Government Inspectorate has been asked to check how the ministry has registered new drugs and licensed importers.

The case has caused the public to lose trust in the health care sector, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said August 30.

Last week, six former executives and staff members of VN Pharma, a private pharmaceutical company in Ho Chi Minh City, received two to 12 years imprisonment for drug smuggling and forging paperwork.

The court found the company had been importing H-Capita and advertising it as a cancer drug from Canada since 2013.

In May 2014, VN Pharma won a contract from HCM City’s health department to supply cancer drugs by offering a suspiciously low price, prompting the health ministry to ask police to investigate.

The firm’s customs declarations said the drug was manufactured by Helix Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Canada, but investigators later discovered that the company did not exist.

Documents vouching for the drug’s quality, including ostensibly Canadian-issued certificates and the signature and stamp of the Vietnamese Embassy in Canada, turned out to be fake.

The true origin of the drug remains unclear, but tests conducted by health authorities confirmed that up to 97% of them contained low-quality capecitabine, which should not be used on humans.

Leading oncology hospitals in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have said no patients have been prescribed the drug in question.

The investigation also revealed that the firm allegedly handed over at least $330,000 to doctors to prescribe specific brands of medicines. The company admitted to jacking up the prices of several imported drugs to cover the additional cost.

The court has ordered a further investigation to identify the doctors and hospitals that accepted the bribes.

The brother-in-law of health minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien is an executive at VN Pharma; but he had nothing to do with the scam.