Over 1,100 tonnes of rice provided to locals in drought-hit Ninh Thuan

Over the past three days, more than 1,100 tonnes of rice sourced from the national reserves were provided to 16,818 households with a total of 74,226 people in five drought-hit districts of the south-central province of Ninh Thuan.

The provision, made at an order by the Prime Minister, aims to help those facing the risk of food shortage caused by a lingering drought in the province. Each recipient gets 15kg of the grain for use in one month.

Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Welfare Dang Thi Phan said relevant authorities have worked out a suitable plan for the distribution, with locals in remote areas prioritized. All the food has been distributed on a timely basis, she stressed.

Vice Chairman of Phuoc Nam commune in Thuan Nam district Ba Thanh Thanh Truong said villagers are happy to receive the aid. Over the past year, villagers cannot start their production as local water sources run dry under the impact of climate change and long drought, he said, adding that among the households, many are poor and near poor whose main source of income is agriculture.

German Festival kicks off in Hanoi

The Deutschland-Fest 2018: German Experiences in Hanoi kicked off on November 2 in the capital city. 

The Deutschland-Fest 2018: German Experiences in Hanoi kicked off on November 2 night around the Ly Thai To Statue next to Hoan Kiem Lake, with the attendance of German Ambassador to Vietnam Christian Berger and Hanoi People’s Committee Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung.

The two-day festival will entertain locals and expats with a wide range of activities including Learning about Bundesliga, the Brothers Grimm Beer Festival and a fashion show by the Van Laack Company.

A photo exhibition displaying ten photos on the theme of Buddy Bears (a symbol of Berlin) by Leica and another exhibition featuring photos about the diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Germany will be also held.

Festival goers can also enjoy jazz performances and movies about Germany’s tourism and culture. A pop rock performance by the band Isolation Berlin will be held on November 3 night.

Addressing the event, Ambassador Christian Berger said the festival aims to give Vietnamese people gain in insight into diverse aspects of Vietnam-Germany links. 

He added that the event marked a decade of a joint programme on teaching German in Vietnamese schools. Around 4,000 Vietnamese students are studying German at school with the support of this programme, and one third of schools where German is taught are in Hanoi. 

Chairman Chung stressed that Germany is one of Hanoi’s most important partners with nearly 70 investment projects in different fields. Two-way trade between Hanoi and Germany reaches about 900 million USD a year.

Vietnam – Japan exchange programme marks bilateral ties

The 4th Vietnam – Japan Culture and Trade Exchange Programme was opened in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on November 2 jointly by the municipal People’s Committee, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), and the Japanese General Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City.

The programme aims to mark the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the bilateral diplomatic relations and to tighten the Vietnam – Japan relations in the fields of trade, culture, education and people-to-people exchange.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Chairman of the Can Tho People’s Committee Vo Thanh Thong stressed that over the past 45 years, Vietnam and Japan have always strived to push up bilateral relations in various spheres. In the city, many Vietnam – Japan economic and cultural organizations have been established and operated with a high efficiency.

The Vietnamese Government in general and the administration of Can Tho city in particular are trying to improve the investment environment and perfect the infrastructure such as sea port, international airport, and high-speed and elevated railway systems. All these are to create the best conditions for foreign investors, especially those from Japan, Thong highlighted.

VCCI President Vu Tien Loc said the two-way trade between Vietnam and Japan has been on a constant rise in terms of both volume and revenue. More and more localities between the two countries are establishing twin and cooperative relations and exchanging experiences in the application of science and technology, education, and so on.

For his part, Japanese Consul General Kawaue Junichi reviewed the fine development of the Vietnam – Japan relations over the past 45 years and expressed his strong belief on the bilateral cooperation in the time to come. He spoke highly of Can Tho city’s efforts in holding the annual event, and took note of its coordination with the Vietnam Airlines in opening a direct air route linking Japan with Can Tho which, he said, will facilitate Japanese entrepreneurs who seek investment chances in the city. The diplomat also called this a landmark in the development of the Vietnam – Japan relations.

Sơn La officials cause VNĐ1.2b loss to State

A police officer reads out the arrest warrant for Trương Tuấn Dũng, deputy director of the Sơn La Department of Finance. — Photo tuoitre.vn

Three former department officials in Sơn La Province have been accused of wrongly overcompensating a resident during land clearance for a hydropower plant, causing losses of more than VNĐ1.2 billion (US$53,300) to the State.

The Sơn La People’s Procuracy on Monday released its complete indictment against 14 people, including the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment director Triệu Ngọc Hoan, his deputy director Phan Tiến Diện and the Department of Finance deputy director Trương Tuấn Dũng. They were prosecuted under accusations of deliberate breaches and irresponsibility causing serious consequences.

According to the indictment, the Sơn La People’s Committee in 2003 decided to reclaim more than 2,000ha of land in Mường La District and Liệp Tè Commune from residents to prepare for the construction of the colossal Sơn La hydropower plant project.

Ten years later, many residents who lost their land due to the project complained that they have yet to receive the compensation money.

The municipal People’s Committee ordered the Mường La authorities to re-measure the land and determine the proper compensation amount for any land lots missed in the past.

One of the defendants, Dũng, then vice chairman of the Mường La People’s Committee, was directly in charge of the mission.

He was found to have signed documents allowing the measurement work and the cadastral mapping without following the guidelines of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Resident Đèo Văn Ban was accused of scheming with land measuring officers to increase the measurement of his land plot in order to receive a larger compensation sum of more than VNĐ1.2 billion.

The natural resources department director Hoan, without confirming the accuracy of the cadastral maps, still signed off on them, which led to Ban’s overcompensation.

Diện, then vice chairman of the Mường La People’s Committee, allegedly knew about the wrongdoings of Dũng but failed to report them to a higher level while still approving the compensation proposal. 

HCM City services help enterprises find labourers

The city’s Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs held a dialogue with enterprises to resolve problems related to labour policies. 

HCM City now has 15 public employment service centres and 82 companies providing services to help enterprises find workers.

If enterprises in the city need to recruit workers, they can contact those centres and companies, said Nguyễn Thị Nguyệt Ánh, deputy head of the employment-labour safety division of the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

She spoke at a dialogue between the city’s authorities and enterprises held on Wednesday.

The job service centres and companies publish information about recruitment needs on the website, and suitable candidates can be found or contacted.

The dialogue was held by the department in co-operation with Investment and Trade Promotion Center of HCM City to resolve difficulties related to policies on labour, employment, labour safety and vocational training. The aim was to help enterprises operate according to the law and ensure benefits for workers.

Enterprises at the meeting spoke about their problems with administrative and regulatory procedures of the department’s divisions.

Nguyễn Quốc Việt, head of the employment-labour safety division, said that compensation would be paid by the employer if a work-related incident caused a serious injury.  

Injured workers will also receive a monthly allowance from social insurance, and will be reassigned to another position, depending on their health needs.

Trần Ngọc Sơn, the department’s deputy head, said many policies were in place to assist small- and medium-sized enterprises.

These enterprises, for instance, receive half off the price for state-sponsored training courses on starting businesses and for vocational training courses for their employees.

Female owners of small- and medium-sized enterprises are entitled to these services for free.

At the meeting, the department told enterprises to compile reports about labour accidents as well as labour hygiene and safety, which will be used as references in bidding procedures and if the city’s interdisciplinary inspection team visits a company.

Policy obstacles hinder the development of agricultural land

Slow land accumulation and outdated policies are hindering the development of Việt Nam’s agricultural land market. — Photo nhandan.com.vn

Land is considered the most important aspect of agricultural production. However, slow land accumulation and policy obstacles are hindering the development of the agricultural land market in Việt Nam.

Trần Thị Thanh Nhàn, an expert from the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD), said the amount of agricultural land per capita in Việt Nam was very small, just 0.07 hectares per person, much lower than that of Thailand (0.27ha per person), according to the World Development Indicators.

Over 70 per cent of the country’s agricultural plots were less than 0.5ha.

“This is the biggest obstacle to the development of agriculture which increases costs for leasing and land transfer,” Nhàn said at a consultation workshop on challenges to agricultural land market development in Việt Nam in Hà Nội on Wednesday.

Despite the fact that localities had collected statistics on different kinds of plants and soils, there still existed areas of industrial crops and fruit cultivation that encroached on forest land, affecting the growth of the land market.

The number of households that took part in purchasing or transferring agricultural land use rights accounted for 10 per cent of the total number, Nhàn said, citing surveys conducted on 3,700 households in 12 provinces and cities from 2012 to 2016.

She attributed the low rate to a number of obstacles related to government policies. For example, Article 179 of the 2013 Land Law said the transfer of land use rights must be implemented between farmers residing in the same commune, ward or town.

Among three forms of land use rights transfers, the form that allows enterprises to lease agricultural land from farmers is popular. However, she said, enterprises face difficulties because while there are a lot of farmers, land plots were scattered, resulting in high costs.

It is not easy for them to lease land from the State as the land fund is becoming scarce.

Nhàn said that in some localities including Hà Nam and Lâm Đồng provinces, the local authorities leased agricultural land of farmers and then re-leased it to enterprises. But it was difficult to apply this model on a large scale due to a lack of regulations.

Addressing the workshop, Ngô Mạnh Ngọc, deputy director of Hà Nam Province Agriculture and Rural Development, said many households worried they would lose their land or would not be permitted to cultivate it after the lease expired.

The Land Law did not state that local authorities could sign leases with residents or lease land to enterprises before obtaining compensation for land clearance. He also said that, under the Budget Law, local authorities were not allowed to pay land lease fees in advance and get refunds from enterprises later.

To facilitate land market development, Nguyễn Đỗ Anh Tuấn, director of IPSARD, said it was necessary to attach its efficiency to job creation in rural areas.

He also said the establishment of a comprehensive land database and re-granting of land use right certificates was a must.

Participants at the workshop agreed that the State should play a vital role in bringing about economic efficiency of land and that it was in harmony with sustainable development and socio-economic stability. 

Commune farmers escape poverty by cultivating acacia trees

A farmer in Ea Trang Commune in Đắk Lắk Province’s M’Đrắk District tends seedlings used to plant forests.

Ethnic minority households in Ea Trang Commune in Đắk Lắk Province’s M’Đrắk District have escaped poverty by planting thousands of hectares of acacia forests on barren land and hills.

Y woanh M’lô, who has planted 4ha of acacia in Ea Trang’s Mduôi Village since 2003, has harvested the acacia trees twice, earning a profit of VNĐ200 million (US$8,600) each time.

Previously, he had planted cassava and coffee on his hilly 2ha land, but the income could not cover his family’s living costs as the plants had very low yield due to infertile soil and hilly land.

With the encouragement of local authorities, M’lô switched to acacia in 2003 and received an additional 2ha of acacia trees later that year from a government project that began in 1998 and aimed to plant five million hectares of forests.  

The Núi Vọng Phu Protection Forest Project Management Board in M’s Đrắk District provided acacia seedlings, fertiliser and instruction in planting techniques for local households who participated in the project. 

After harvesting acacia, the households only have to pay back the costs of seedlings and fertiliser to the management board.

Local authorities worked with the Wood Chip Plant of the Tiến Nam Co-operative to buy all harvested acacia from locals, guaranteeing outlets.

Y Đôi Niê, chairman of the Ea Trang Commune People’s Committee, said the turning of ineffective crops into acacia areas had developed thousands of hectares of forests on bare hills, prevented soil erosion, and preserved underground water for agricultural production.

At the base of hills in the commune, local farmers developed 400ha of wet rice fields that grow two rice crops a year.

The value of forests is larger than that of other crops, so locals have invested adequately in planting forests in recent years, according to Nguyễn Thế Thập, head of the M’Đrắk District Agriculture and Rural Development Division.  

To develop forests sustainably, the district has asked its communes not to expand forest areas but to invest in techniques for growing forests and use new types of acacia seedlings produced from tissue cultures or branch cuttings to improve productivity.

Y Thin, who began growing acacia on his hilly 3ha land in Mduôi Village in 2003, said that acacia was suited to the commune’s soil conditions and weather, and that the trees only required tending in the first year.

Y Thin has earned a profit of VNĐ150 million ($6,450) per harvest.

Acacia trees are normally harvested five years after planting.

To improve yield, he bought new acacia seedlings produced from branch cuttings in the southern province of Đồng Nai to grow in the rainy season this year.

His acacia trees can yield 100 -120 tonnes per ha after three to four years.  

Ea Trang commune covers an area of 27,000 ha, of which 80 per cent is forested, according to the commune’s People’s Committee.

Of the commune’s 1,298 households, 96 per cent of them are ethnic minorities, which include the Ê đê, M’ nông and Ba na.

Niê said many primary forests in the commune were destroyed during the American War, leaving thousands of hectares of bare hills.

To develop the economy and eliminate poverty, in 1994 the commune’s Party Committee and People’s Committee encouraged local people to use bare hills to grow acacia.

Local authorities have tried to raise public awareness about the importance of growing acacia forests on bare hills.

The commune now has more than 3,000ha of planted forests, and more than 80 per cent of the commune’s households have a forest-based livelihood.

Of the 3,000ha planted forests, 1,380ha are on local households’ land and 1,720ha are planted as part of the province’s forest-planting projects and for forestry companies. 

Industry 4.0 requires for labour strategy

Việt Nam needed strategic breakthrough measures to create a plentiful and highly qualified workforce to meet the requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0).–  Photo sggp.org.vn

Việt Nam, with its open and internationally integrated economy, had been enjoying a ‘golden population’ period with a high number of working-age people. However, the quality of the labour force was not ‘golden’, experts said at a conference yesterday in Hà Nội.

The country needed strategic breakthrough measures to create a plentiful and highly qualified workforce to meet the requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0).

Vũ Quang Thọ, director of the Việt Nam General Confederation of Labour’s Institute of Workers and Trade Union, said the Industry 4.0 had created a series of positive changes in technology, but had also impacted the Vietnamese labour market.

Many jobs would be replaced by robotic automation. If labourers did not adapt to the demands of the new industry, they could easily fall into unemployment, he said.

Thọ said the Vietnamese labour force was young, but low-quality. Currently, only about 20 per cent of Vietnamese labourers had been technically trained.

In addition, training structure remained limited, causing a shortage of workers with skills or special training.

Nguyễn Văn Thuật from the National Centre for Socio-Economic Information and Forecasting, said more than 43 million labourers, accounting for 77 per cent of the total workforce, did not have technical qualifications.

Thuật described it a big obstacle for socio-economic development, saying it was not easy to remove in a short period of time.

Figures from the centre showed that the number of unskilled labourers had only fallen slightly between 2012 and 2017. Most were agricultural labourers, freelancers and workers in the informal sector. Their jobs were reportedly unstable and brought low incomes.

Thuật said these jobs would disappear rapidly in the near future when enterprises took advantage of modern machinery and technology to replace inadequate human resources.

At the conference, experts said that Việt Nam should focus on solving the shortage of technically skilled labourers by training highly-qualified workers in new industry sectors.

The country needed to improve and complete its legal system and labour market policies to continue developing the quality of its labour market, gradually switching unskilled labourers to qualified workers, and bringing positive changes such as increasing salaries.

They also suggested that the country’s education policies needed to be changed to meet the demands of the revolution. The combination of learning about large data technology and machinery should be applied to ensure social security.

The introduction of Artificial Intelligence should be applied in labour management and employment connections between workers and enterprises. The construction of a digital platform for social security would provide careers for labourers at different skill levels, they said. 

Hà Nội tunnel to help traffic bypass key intersection

Vehicles travel through Kim Liên tunnel. Hà Nội is expected to build a tunnel through Giải Phóng Road in 2019. — Photo news.zing.vn

Hà Nội’s People’s Committee has approved a feasibility study for a project that will build a tunnel between Belt Ring Road 2.5 and Giải Phóng Street in Hoàng Mai District.

The tunnel will start at the middle of Kim Đồng Street and move through Giải Phóng Road to connect with Đầm Hồng-Giáp Bát Road, with a length of 600m.

Construction is expected to begin in 2019, with the cost reaching VNĐ670 trillion (US$29.1 million), funded by the city budget.

The city requested the project management board update the detailed plans on both sides of the road and the status of the area to ensure the infrastructure of the project.

To solve traffic jams, the city built three tunnels through the key junctions, including Kim Liên tunnel, a tunnel at intersection of Trung Hòa and Thăng Long Boulevard and an underpass connecting Nguyễn Trãi Road with National Highway No 6. 

Chu Van An High School awarded Independence Order

Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan on November 3 presents the State’s third-class Independence Order to Chu Van An High School. 

Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan on November 3 presented the State’s third-class Independence Order to Chu Van An High School, one of the most prestigious schools in Vietnam, during a ceremony to celebrate its 110th anniversary.

The order was a recognition of the school’s excellent performance in education and training, contributing to the national cause of building socialism and safeguarding the country.

Ngan congratulated Chu Van An High School and generations of teachers and students on the school’s 110th founding anniversary (1908 – 2018), saying as one of the oldest schools in the country, Chu Van An, previously known as Buoi School, was the place where many well-known figures started their career as teachers like literary scholar and educationalist Duong Quang Ham, professor of mathematics, linguist, historian and educationalist Hoang Xuan Han and late Minister of Education Nguyen Van Huyen

Hundreds of the school’s alumni have become successful scientists, engineers, doctors, artists, farmed force heroes and businessmen. The school has also produced many Vietnamese great leaders, including General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Van Cu and Prime Minister Pham Van Dong, she said.

President Ho Chi Minh visited the school five times and launched revolutionary education movements here, she added.

She further noted that during more than a century since Chu Van An High School was established, it has remained as one of the top education providers of the country with high numbers of students who pass high school and university entrance exams, and study broad.

The top legislator praised the school for well preserving traditional values and fostering innovation to make breakthroughs in the era of integration. Good progress has been seen in the school’s provision of the dual degree programme of Vietnamese national high school diploma and Cambridge International A-level as well as the implementation of the pilot project to develop it as a high-quality national school that meets international standards, she said, adding that it has reflected the school’s great efforts to becoming more dynamic.

Ngan hoped that the school’s teachers, staff and students will keep up their good work to live up to the reputation of a school named after famous teacher Chu Van An and the trust of the Party, State and people.

Southern province develops hi-tech farms

The development of hi-tech farms for large-scale animal husbandry in the southern province of Ba Ria–Vang Tau has reduced costs, improved livestock quality and protected the environment.

Pham Xuan Hung’s pig farm in Chau Duc district’s Suoi Rao commune is equipped with air conditioners and has 5,000 animals. Built in 2014, it also has a treatment system for swine manure based on solid-liquid separation. The treated pig manure is used to make fertilisers.

Pham Duc Manh, who manages the place, said pigs bred in an air-conditioned place have few diseases, need few antibiotics and grow rapidly. Thus, the farm can save on feed, he said.

The farm has a contract with a company and supplies 10,000 pigs a year, earning a profit of more than 1.5 billion VND (around 64,200), he said.  

Nguyen Thi Bong’s air-conditioned poultry farm in Chau Duc district’s Suoi Rao commune breeds 20,000 hens for eggs. It has two breeding rooms of 1,200sq.m each. The farm was built this year at a cost of 3.2 billion VND (137,000 USD).

Hoang Tien Khoi, who manages the place, said hens raised on the farm have a high rate of laying eggs and for a longer period compared to traditional farms.

Buyers rate the quality of the eggs highly and say they match eggs laid by free-range hens, he said, adding that the farm produces some 18,000 eggs daily.

Besides installing air conditioners, many individual farmers and companies in the southern province use probiotic liners on the ground in their breeding facilities to prevent disease outbreaks and bad odour caused by animal waste. The liners are made with a layer of rice husk and probiotics.

Tran Van Cuong, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the province plans to develop oxen, cow, pig and poultry breeding using semi-industrial and industrial farming models. It would enable the use of advanced breeding techniques, he said.  

The province has 87 hi-tech farms that raise pigs or poultry, mostly in Xuyen Moc, Tan Thanh, Chau Duc and Dat Do districts.

They account for 37 percent of the province’s poultry and 53 percent of pigs, according to Giao Van Sy, head of the province’s Animal Health Sub-department’s animal husbandry division.

To boost the development of the model, local authorities should advocate the benefits and advantages of the use of advanced techniques in animal farming, he said.

They should also have preferential policies like soft loans, tax concessions and identify markets to develop sustainable animal farming, he added.