Vietnam wins legal dispute

The La Haye International Court of Justice found Viet Nam not guilty of the alleged violation of the Viet Nam – France Agreement on Encouragement and Protection of Investment.

The verdict was announced by Tran Tien Dung, chief executive of the office and spokesperson of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), at a conference this morning to summarise the justice sector's activities in the last quarter of 2014. Other key operations in the fields of legal document assessment, legal document promulgation, administrative reform and civil status registration were also highlighted during the meeting.

As many as 4,408 birth certificates, 722 death certificates and 13,786 marriage certificates with foreign elements were issued in 2014.

IT implementation has proven to be an effective tool in assisting the ministry with handling and processing legal requests from citizens and foreigners in Viet Nam.

The MOJ's National Registration Agency for Secured Transactions recorded 89,961 online registration and information request forms from January 1 to November 30, which indicated an increase of 47.4 per cent compared with last year, according to a statistics report released by the ministry.

Vietnam Airlines operates over 118,000 safe flights in 2014

Vietnam Airlines operated more than 118,000 safe flights in 2014, a year on year increase of 3.8 percent, heard a conference held by the corporation on December 31.

The airline transported over 15.75 million passengers during the year, up nearly 7 percent, with an average seat occupancy rate of almost 80 percent. It earned 71,970 billion VND (3.4 billion USD) in revenue, equivalent to 102 percent of the 2013 figure.

The national flag carrier also successfully launched its initial public offering (IPO) in line with the equitisation roadmap approved by the Minister of Transport.

2015 will be the first year Vietnam Airlines operates as an equitised company after many breakthrough investments in aircraft and service quality. The airline will become the first carrier in Asia to simultaneously exploit two latest aircraft models which are Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A350-900.

Vietnam Airlines will also expand its international and domestic routes, upgrade ground and air services in line with international standards towards the goal of becoming one of the leading air carriers in the region.

Massive fire in Quang Binh market destroys kiosks

A large fire ripped through Ba Don Market in Ba Don commune, central Quang Binh province at 1am on January 2, burning down everything in its path causing great loss of property.

Some witnesses said they were awaken by an enormous explosion and then saw the blaze erupt from a kiosk at the end of the market.

Many traders risked their lives to rush into the market to protect their goods but the fire was so massive there was nothing they could do to salvage them.

The blaze was under control at 7am on the same day.

According to initial reports, 24 kiosks in the western area of Ba Don Market were destroyed. Most of them consisted of automobile spare parts, electronics and groceries.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Son La smashes 850 drug trafficking cases

In 2014, drug-related crime task forces in northern Son La province arrested more than 1,200 traffickers who were involved in nearly 850 drug trafficking cases.

They also seized 156 kg of heroin, 5kg of opium, 96,000 amphetamine tablets, along with guns and ammunition.

In recent times, drug-related crime along the border with Son La province has become complicated and the traffickers venturesomely used guns and other weapons to resist when being detected.

Colonel Tran Anh Tuan, Director of the provincial Police Department, said drug traffickers often operate along borderlines which require the task forces to devise measures to effectively stop them from transporting drug into the province.

Relevant agencies in Son La province are urged to accelerate prevention and control activities.

President visits only survivor of helicopter crash

President Truong Tan Sang on December 31 called on Sen. Lt. Dinh Van Duong, the only officer surviving in a tragic helicopter crash on the outskirts of Hanoi last July during a training session.

The leader was delighted at seeing Duong, 33, recovering well. He asked medical staff of the National Institute of Burns to continue intensive treatment for Duong so that he can return to normal life soon.

On the occasion, Commander of the Hanoi’s High Command, Lt. Gen. Phi Quoc Tuan presented the Defence Ministry’s decision to grant a 70sq.m apartment in Long Bien district to Duong’s family.

Duong was the only one surviving among 21 people on the Russian-made Mi-171 helicopter which crashed during a parachuting exercise at around 7:30am on July 7, 2014.

Sixteen were killed instantly. Two others succumbed to their injuries later that evening, bringing the total fatalities to 18. Two more died on July 19 and September 2.

Duong suffered from multiple injuries and serious burns on 53 percent of his body.

Can Tho aims to reduce household poverty rate to 1.84 percent

The Mekong Delta City of Can Tho will strive to bring the household poverty rate down to 1.84 percent in 2015, which means around 5,660 local households will escape poverty.

At a year-end conference reviewing poverty reduction efforts in 2014, Vice Director of Can Tho’s Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thanh Vung said the city will provide preferential loans for over 19,000 poor households to expand production and generate income.

In addition, 1,000 poor households will be provided with breeding animals worth 1.3 billion VND (62,000 USD), while nearly 8,700 needy households will receive subsidy for electricity use.

The city will also try to raise donations to build 600 houses for needy households.

In 2014, Can Tho reduced its household poverty rate by 1.11 percent by providing 469 billion VND ( 22.3 million USD) in credit for 36,350 poor households and beneficiaries of social welfare.

Dong Thap has first five new-style rural areas

The southern province of Dong Thap has recognised its first five communes as new-style rural areas which have met all of 19 development criteria set by the government.

They include communes of Hoa An in Cao Lanh city, Thanh My and My Dong in Thap Muoi district, Binh Thanh in Cao Lanh district and Dinh Yen in Lap Vo district.

Statistics show that Dinh Yen records the highest annual income per capita in the province at 30.1 million VND (1,433 USD) while My Dong has the lowest household poverty rate of 3.07 percent.

The national target programme on building new-style rural areas, initiated by the Vietnamese Government in 2010, sets 19 criteria on socio-economic development, politics, and defence, aiming to boost rural regions of Vietnam.

The list of criteria includes the development of infrastructure, the improvement of production capacity, environmental protection, and the promotion of cultural values.

As many as 185 communes across Vietnam achieved all 19 criteria, and nearly 600 others met between 15-18 criteria. On average, each commune fulfilled 8.47 criteria compared to 4.7 in 2011, according to a report issued at a May 16 conference of the steering committee for the national target programme.

The country aims to have 20 percent and 50 percent of all communes nationwide meet all the requirements by the end of 2015 and 2020, respectively.    

Joint efforts to increase women’s participation in elected bodies

The Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee and the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU) will work together to increase the rate of women in the National Assembly and People’s Councils at all levels to 35 percent in the 2016-2021 tenure.

The two organisations signed a cooperation programme to this purpose on December 31, 2014 in Hanoi. The programme is part of a project on enhancing women’s leadership capacity for international integration funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

They will coordinate activities in the organisation of NA and People’s Council elections, including recommending female candidates, monitoring the election process and conducting communication campaigns to raise the public awareness about gender equality and the role and capacity of women.

To realise the target, it is essential to begin preparing lists of candidates as from this year, President of the VFF Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan said at the signing ceremony.

Increasing the number of women in the National Assembly and People’s Councils is not only the request of the Party but also the wish of women and society in general, he noted.

At present, the rate of female deputies in the NA is 24.4 percent, and in People’s Councils at provincial level - 25.7 percent. At district level the rate is 24.6 percent and grassroots level - 27.7 percent.

In 1997, Vietnam was among the ten countries with the highest percentage of women in parliament in the world. However, the country dropped to the 44 th place in 2012 with the percentage falling to 24.4 percent from 26.2 percent in 1997.

Resolution No.11-NQ/TW adopted by the Politburo in April 2007 and the National Strategy on Gender Equality in 2011-2020 aim to have at least 35 percent of deputies being women in the National Assembly and People’s Councils at all levels.

Project launched to provide electricity for Tra Vinh

The Southern Power Corporation (EVN SPC), a subsidiary of the Electricity of Vietnam, has launched a project to provide electricity to for households, mainly Khmer ethnic families, in the southern province of Tra Vinh (phase III).

The project is carried out from now to 2016 at a cost of nearly 90 billion USD (4.3 million USD). It includes the construction of over 53km of middle voltage line, 209km of low voltage line and 131 transformer stations with a total capacity of 3,000kVA.

The third phase target to provide electricity to more than 6,300 Khmer households.

Once the phased is completed, the rate of Khmer ethnic households accessing electricity will be increased to 97.41 percent from 93.8 percent at present while the proportion of the province’s households having access to power to 98.6 percent from 97.54 percent.

The project started in 2009 with a total cost of over 383 billion VND for phases I and II. The first phase was finished in 2012, ensuring power to more than 18,901 families.

Meanwhile 10,183 households will be benefited from the second phase which is expected to be completed before the Lunar New Year, which falls on February 19.

HCM City's outstanding young citizens honoured

Six outstanding young citizens in Ho Chi Minh City were honoured with Young Citizen Awards 2014 at a ceremony held at the city's Youth Cultural House in District 1 on the first day of the year 2015.

They were selected from 91 nominees who have made excellent achievements in fields of education, technology, culture and arts, armed forces and social work.

They are Ta Thuy Chi, Deputy Head of the Management Board of the Experimental Theatre under the Ho Chi Minh City Dance School; Tran Huu Loc, lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City Nong Lam University; Le Yen Thanh, student at Ho Chi Minh City University of Science; Nguyen The Tien, a reconnaissance police at the Ho Chi Minh City Police; Tran Quoc Tuyen from Thien Huong Food JSC and Le Thi Thanh Van from the Ho Chi Minh City Charitable Centre of Training and Offering Job for the Handicapped.

Politburo member and Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City's Party Committee Le Thanh Hai said that these outstanding citizens are representative of young and dynamic Ho Chi Minh City citizens. He expressed his belief that the six young citizens will continue to shine and strive to become role-models for others to follow and make more contributions to the nation.

So far, 52 of the city’s young residents have been honoured with the Young Citizen Awards nine years after launching the prize.

VietinBank wants three more banks prosecuted

A defense attorney for the Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) on December 30 proposed prosecuting three more banks for wrongdoing related to the cash deposited at VietinBank but expropriated by the bank’s former executive Huynh Thi Huyen Nhu.

At the appeals hearing on December 30, Truong Xuan Tam, one of the five defense attorneys for VietinBank, alleged Tien Phong Commercial Bank (TienPhong Bank) and Vietnam Maritime Commercial Bank (Maritime Bank) illegally deposited cash at VietinBank through An Loc Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company and Orient Securitites Corporation.

What TienPhong Bank and Maritime Bank did was similar to Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) and Nam Viet Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Navibank), Tam argued. However, only violations of ACB were unearthed thanks to the case involving Nguyen Duc Kien, former vice chairman of ACB and therefore, the three other banks should be brought to court as well.

According to the indictment, Nhu had swindled more than VND1 trillion (US$46.9 million) in deposits placed at VietinBank by Hung Yen Trading and Investment Joint Stock Company, Saigon Bank Berjaya Securities Joint Stock Company, An Loc Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company, Global Insurance Corporation and Orient Securitites Corporation.

She also expropriated VND900 billion from Navibank and ACB.

VietinBank’s lawyers, accusing TienPhong Bank and Maritime Bank of involvement in the case, wanted to prove that some of the five companies had committed the same wrongdoing as ACB and Navibank officers did when placing deposits at another bank.

As the Supreme People’s Procuracy in HCMC had accepted appeals of the five firms but turned down ACB and Navibank’s appeals, saying the two banks had violated regulations, the prosecution should also reject the appeals by An Loc and Orient Securitites.

However, chief judge Quang Duc Tuyen said the appeals court only considers the appeals of related parties and TienPhong Bank and Maritime Bank are not included in the case.

But lawyers of VietinBank still insisted that the five companies had been swindled by Nhu because they had violated regulations and the bank has no responsibility for their lost money.

ACV to upgrade Noi Bai’s old terminal

Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) plans to upgrade the old terminal T1 at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi City after a new terminal was put into service last week.

The Ministry of Transport said ACV is now drawing up an upgrade plan for T1.

T1 was opened to domestic and international flights in 2001 with an initial handling capacity of six million passengers a year. However, it has been overloaded due to surging demand for air travel via the northern airport.

At the end of 2013, ACV inaugurated the 25,000-square-meter, three-storey Hall E at T1 with an annual handling capacity of three million passengers a year to partially ease overloads at the second biggest international airport in Vietnam after Tan Son Nhat airport in HCMC.

The new terminal T2 has been opened to international flights and T1 became a terminal for domestic services Wednesday, according to ACV.

ACV said all passengers of international flights depart and arrive at the new terminal.

The four-storey T2 covers an area of 139,000 square meters and can handle 10 million passengers a year by 2020 and 15 million passengers by 2030.

T2 has 17 jet bridges, a parking area for 29 aircraft and 22 underground jet fuel pumping spots which have been in place for the first time at an airport in Vietnam. Investment capital of the project totaled US$900 million with US$691 million provided by Japan in official development assistance (ODA) loans.

Noi Bai is envisaged having two more terminals and handling 50 million passengers a year after 2020.

Java Sea crash prompts check of Vietnam aircraft maintenance

Vo Huy Cuong, the CAAV’s deputy director, said local airlines had been asked to adhere to maintenance standards.

Cuong said global aviation authorities were investigating the cause of the crash of the Airbus A320-200, at a loss of 162 passengers and crew.

Experts from the European aircraft maker and national and international aviation authorities are attempting to solve how the airliner fell from the sky on a flight from Indonesia's second city Surabaya to Singapore.

As multinational recovery crews gathered debris and bodies of the dead in the Java Sea, hampered by monsoonal conditions, Cuong said it was imperative that Vietnam's airlines kept a close watch on their aircraft, in case mechanical error was found to be the cause.

“Indonesia's AirAsia flew three flights a week on the Jakarta-HCM City flight route without incident from September 2009 until March 2013,” Cuong said.

AirAsia subsidiaries continue to operate flights to Vietnam, including Malaysia AirAsia (AK) and Thai AirAsia (FD), with 11 flights a week from Kuala Lumpur and seven flights from Bangkok to Hanoi, as well as 35 flights from Bangkok and several flights from Malaysia’s Johor Bahru to HCM City.

There were plans by AirAsia to buy stakes in Vietnam's airlines, but these have yet to be realized.

The AirAsian fleet is predominantly the Airbus A320 for short-haul flights of less than four hours, and the Airbus A330 for longer flights.

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