Road complaint hotline coming soon

The Việt Nam General Department of Roads (VNGDR) will set up a hotline to receive complaints and information from road users nationwide.

Information on damaged roads will be welcomed, the department said. Provincial and municipal transport departments will be responsible for spreading the hotline number in their area.  

Close co-ordination between relevant sectors is needed to manage roads nationwide, according to the department, because of increasing road-use.

The general department recently co-ordinated with provincial and municipal transport departments and maintain highways and local roads.

The VNGDR asked transport departments for annual reports on road infrastructure in each area.

Local transport departments should promptly announce the weight and allowed size on bridges, roads, ferries and floating bridges, VNGDR reported.

Degraded floating bridges must be closely monitored and repairs carried out promptly to ensure safety.

55 road accidents kill 33 during national holiday

A total of 55 traffic accidents occurred during the two-day national holiday on April 30 and May 1, the National Traffic Safety Committee has reported.

The accidents killed 33 people and injured 53, the committee said.

On May 1 alone, there were 21 accidents, including railway mishaps, in which 12 people were killed and 20 were injured.

However, the number of traffic accidents dropped by 5 percent compared with the same period last year, the committee said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee Truong Hoa Binh has asked the Ministry of Police, the Ministry of Transport, the traffic safety committees of provinces and cities and the relevant offices to take measures to ensure smooth flow of traffic in the coming days.

The traffic police have also been asked to ensure order to avoid congestion in the cities on May 2 and 3 as people return to work, especially in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Traffic accidents kill 41 on May 2

A total of 60 traffic accidents occurred across the country, claiming 41 lives and leaving 50 injured on May 2, the third day of the four-day holiday, according to the Traffic Police Administration under the Ministry of Public Security.

Of which, 59 accidents on roads killed 40 and injured 50 while the remaining accident happened on rail, killing one.

For the first three days of the holiday, there were 105 traffic accidents, which claimed 74 lives and injured 103 others. The figures represented a significant decrease from the same period last year.

On May 2, the National Traffic Security Committee also received 20 calls and messages on overloaded coaches and traffic congestion.

Party chief pays working visit to Phu Yen

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong held a working session with authorities of central Phu Yen province on May 3, suggesting the locality utilise its strengths in forest and marine economies, and tourism, as well as strengthen connectivity with neighboring provinces of Binh Dinh and Khanh Hoa.

The Party leader hailed the provincial Party Committee for putting the resolution set by the 12 th National Party Congress in place, firstly by devising plans to popularise the resolution from May-September.

Thorough preparations for the elections of deputies to the 14th National Assembly and People’s Councils at all levels for the 2016-2021 tenure have been made, he said.

He hoped that Phu Yen will continue building the Party and political system, with a focus on personnel work which he described as especially crucial.

The Party chief also agreed with suggestions to provide Phu Yen with investment attraction incentives, thereby generating momentum for socio-economic development and national defence-security in the locality in particular, and in the coastal southern central region.

Last year, the local economy grew 9.4 percent, with industry-construction accounting for 36.1 percent, agro-forestry-fisheries 21.9 percent, and services 42 percent.

Its industrial production value reached 3.79 trillion VND (172.2 million USD) in the first quarter of this year, up 8.3 percent year-on-year.

As many as 70 valid projects worth nearly 3 trillion VND (136.3 million USD) and 44 million USD are underway in industrial parks, generating jobs for more than 5,600 workers.

During the first quarter, the province welcomed over 262,000 domestic and foreign visitors, earning more than 260 billion VND (11.8 million USD), up 17 percent.

In the morning of the same day, the Party General Secretary paid a working visit to Son Ha commune, one of the two areas recognised for new rural development in Son Ha district, and offered incense to Nui Nhan memorial in Tuy Hoa city where over 1,400 heroic soldiers are remembered.

Deputy PM visits Cham people in Ho Chi Minh City

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh visited the Cham people in District 8, Ho Chi Minh City on May 3.

The Deputy PM hailed the ethnic group’s contribution to the local socio-economic development.

He called on religious dignities to work closely with local authorities to help the Cham people further integrate into the community and observe local regulations.

He also urged local authorities to take measures to create more jobs for the Cham people, thus enhancing their living conditions.

On the occasion, the Deputy PM presented 200 gifts, each worth 500,000 VND (22 USD) to local Khmer residents.

National Reunification Day observed in Argentina, Angola

Activities were held in Argentina and Angola on May 1 to celebrate the 41st Liberation of the South and National Reunification Day (April 30) of Vietnam.

In Buenos Aires, the Argentina – Vietnam Cultural Institute (ICAV) and the Vietnamese Embassy held a talk at the Sofia cultural centre.

Jose Cruz Campagnoli, a Buenos Aires legislator, recalled that in the 1960s and ‘70s, many Argentine people were engaged in the activities of an organisation named the Help Vietnam Movement (MAViet).

From 1966 to 1976, MAVietnam raised money to buy malaria medication and send it to Vietnam while denouncing the war crime being committed in the Southeast Asian nation.

The legislator also spoke highly of the country’s achievements in post-war reconstruction efforts, especially during the Doi moi (Reform) period since 1986.

ICAV Chairwoman Poldi Sosa Smitch said Vietnam is an example of the enduring combat spirit for independence, freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Solidarity and discipline are among the decisive factors in its victory over the foreign invaders.

At the function, participants also watched documentaries on the consequences of the US-waged war in Vietnam and the country’s changes in recent years.

In Angola’s capital city of Luanda, a commemoration attracted many Vietnamese people, including educators, doctors and entrepreneurs, working in the African nation.

Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Manh Cuong underlined the significance of the April 30 victory, which is a glorious landmark in Vietnam’s history. The lessons from the victory are also valuable to national development nowadays.

Meanwhile, Pham Van Duc, Chairman of the Association of Vietnamese People in Angola, delivered a letter written by Deputy Foreign Minister Vu Hong Nam congratulating the association on being officially recognised and licensed by the local administration.-

Torrential rain eases saline intrusion in Hau Giang

A torrential rain lasting for more than one hour on afternoon April 30 improved saline instruction in Long My district in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang.

The rain also eased scorching weather in the past days and rescued many areas of agricultural land that has faced water shortage, particularly in Luong Tam and Xa Phien communes in Long My district.

According to the province’s agricultural authorities, rice could not be cultivated on around 6,000 hectares in the Summer-Autumn crop because of drought and saline intrusion.

Other affected areas include vegetables fields, fishery farms and water hyacinth.

According to Luu Phuoc Dai, head of the Irrigation Division under the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, since mid-April, Hau Giang announced saline instruction disaster in Long My district and Vi Thanh city.

The province is closely monitoring saline intrusion and is considering the announcement of saline intrusion disasters in Vi Thuy district and some other districts if weather continues getting worse.

According to the provincial officials, the rain on April 30 is just a season-transitioning rain and the hot weather would continue and the rainy season is likely to begin from the end of May.

Central coastal localities asked to ensure tourism safety

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has recently sent a document to local departments of culture, sports and tourism in several central coastal provinces asking them to ensure safety for tourism activities in the context of a recent mass fish death incident.

The VNAT said that from April 6 to 18, a significant number of sea fish and farmed fish was found dead along beaches in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and ThuaThien-Hue provinces without reasons, causing economic losses, and affecting the environment, seafood production and business as well as tourism activities.

The administration proposed the departments and relevant agencies update and publicise information about the environment and food safety issues with the aim of ensuring tourists’ health, especially during the holidays on the occasion of the anniversary of National Reunification Day ( April 30 ) and the National Labour Day (May 1).

The VNAT also suggested local tourism enterprises diversify tourist products and improve tourist services to attract more tourists.

Workshop promotes traditional Hue cuisine

Promoting traditional and royal Hue food was the focus of discussion at a workshop on May 3 in the central city of Hue as part of the 2016 Hue Festival.

Participants at the event included representatives from local authorities, relevant sectors, associations and businesses, as well as experts at home and from the Republic of Korea, the US and Germany.

They heard 30 reports on the renowned and rare Hue dishes, and included them in the list to be preserved and promoted.

The locality is now preparing relevant dossiers seeking UNESCO’s recognition of the traditional Hue cuisine as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage.

Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Phan Tien Dung highlighted the diversified, yet unique Hue cuisine, saying that more than half of the total 3,000 Vietnamese dishes use Hue ’s recipes.

Food has become a key attraction in tourism, particularly for foreign visitors, Dung added.

Previously on May 2, at the Hue International Cuisine Festival 2016, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism presented awards to 19 Vietnamese and international teams for their outstanding dishes. The event drew over 100,000 visitors.

Also as part of the 2016 Hue Festival, an art performance was organised on May 2, featuring traditional Hue singing and royal dances.

Numerous other activities also took place along the programme, including a traditional long dress (Ao Dai) show, crafts and photo exhibitions.

As many as 710 flower lanterns were floated down the Huong (Perfume) River to pray for peace and happiness.

Class on Bo Y ethnic group opens in Lao Cai

A class on traditional culture of the Bo Y ethnic minority group in the northern province of Lao Cai will be held in the locality from May 11 to 13.

Eighty teenagers from the province’s Muong Khuong District will be trained by elderly artisans from the local community on how to play the group’s folk games.

The class has been organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in cooperation with the provincial department of culture, following the government’s project to preserve and develop the traditional ethnic cultures by 2020.

The results of the class will be reviewed ahead of preparations for the next class on intangible heritage of other groups in the country.-

Hue Festival: Art performances impress visitors

A number of art performances by both domestic and foreign artists were organised at different stages of the ongoing Hue Festival in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue on May 1, making strong impressions on locals and visitors.

At Dien Tho palace, performances of Vietnamese traditional music, including “nha nhac” (royal court music) – a UNESCO-recognised world intangible heritage, ca tru (ceremonial singing), and bai choi performances(a traditional Vietnamese game combining folklore singing and picks from a deck of card), attracted a lot of audiences.

Visitors to the festival were also impressed by programmes conducted by five art troupes from France, especially a street parade of a 7.5m-high puppet of the troupe L’Homme Debout.

Meanwhile, artists from Russia entertained visitors with the country’s folk songs at the Kien Trung palace stage.

Earlier on April 30, an ao dai (traditional long dress) festival, themed “Where the legend begins”, took place at the Bia Quoc Hoc stage, drawing thousands of visitors.

More than 10 designers from the three northern, central and southern regions of Vietnam introduced to audience their excellent collections.

Within the framework of the event, the provincial authorities decided to use cyclos to serve tourists.

According to the local Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the locality welcomed 1.1 million tourist arrivals in the first four months of 2016, up 12.6 percent year-on-year, of which 397,770 are foreigners.

It earned more than 1 trillion VND (45 million USD) from tourism services in the period.

Ha Long Carnival attracts crowds

The 2016 Ha Long Carnival art performance, themed “Convergence and Pervasiveness”, took place in Ha Long city of northern Quang Ninh province on April 30.

Around 1,600 artists, including those from the Philippines and Ukraine, participated in the event, which was no longer just a dynamic street parade like previous years.

A high-range firework display also made a strong impression on visitors.

First organised in 2007, the annual festival has delivered different and fresh experiences to visitors each year. It has become a unique tourism trademark of the locality.

The carnival was the highlight of the 10-day Ha Long-Quang Ninh tourism week. Nearly 40 cultural, sport and tourism events will be held during the week, including a pageant contest, a photo exhibition, a summer music festival and a beach volleyball tournament.

Quang Ninh is home to Ha Long Bay, which was twice recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 and 2000.

On the same day, art performances were also organised to promote tourism in Cua Lo and Do Son beaches – two tourist attractions in the central province of Nghe An and the northern city of Hai Phong, respectively.

Ancient temple in Hue receives facelift

The restored and preserved front building of Trieu To Mieu (Trieu To Temple), part of the ancient Hue Imperial City in Thua Thien-Hue central province, was unveiled on April 29.

The restoration and preservation project was sponsored with 700,000 USD by the US Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation via the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City.

It was carried out from February 2015 to April 2016 with the participation of experienced and skillful artisans.

The Hue Monuments Conservation Centre and the Vietnam Institute for Building Science and Technology’s affiliate in the central region strived to shorten the restoration time in the severe weather of Hue without reducing the quality of the restored construction.

This is the second project financed by the Fund for Cultural Preservation. The first one, which preserves the royal altars at Trieu To Temple, was done in 2015.

Trieu To Mieu is one of the five most important temples of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802 – 1945). It embodies many cultural and historical significances of the Complex of Hue Monuments – the Cultural Heritage of the World.

It was constructed in 1804 to worship Nguyen Kim and his wife, the ancestors of the nine Nguyen Lords. After over 200 years, the temple was severely degraded by the harsh weather and war, prompting the need for rehabilitation.-

Rules issued on steering committees for animal epidemics control

The Prime Minister has issued rules on the establishment and operation of Steering Committees for Animal-Borne Epidemics Control and Prevention from central to grass-roots levels.

Accordingly, when an animal-borne epidemic is announced under Article 26 or Article 34 of the Law on Veterinary Medicine, the Prime Minister or Chairpersons of People’s Committees at all levels have the responsibility to set up Steering Committees for Animal-Borne Epidemics Control and Prevention at corresponding levels.

The national committee will be led by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, while a Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and a Deputy Minister of Public Health will be vice chairmen. Members of the committee will be representatives from ministries, the Government Office, Vietnam Television, Radio The Voice of Vietnam, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, the Vietnam Red Cross Society Central Committee and the Vietnam Farmers’ Association Central Committee.

The committee will assist the Prime Minister in coordinating work of ministries, agencies and related organisations to pool resources, as well as help with the implementation of urgent plans on animal epidemics control.

The rules also stipulate the structure and memberships of steering committees at provincial, district and communal levels, which are tasked with assisting Chairpersons of the People’s Committees at the corresponding levels in countering animal epidemics.

The committees will automatically disperse themselves after fulfilling assigned tasks.

Vietnam keen on improving education quality for Lao students

Improving the quality of education for Lao human resources has been a focus of Vietnam in an effort to nurture the long-standing relation between the two countries.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), about 30,000 Lao students have been sent to study in Vietnam since 1958. Many of those students have then served as senior officials in Lao state apparatus.

As of 2015, approximately 9,300 Lao students were attending courses in Vietnam; 74 percent of whom, or 6,870 students, were awarded with scholarships under agreements inked between the two governments or between localities of the two sides, MoET Deputy Minister Bui Van Ga said.

Vietnam has also supported Laos in building schools and developing educational facilities.

The MoET has been helping Laos build seven boarding schools for ethnic minority people with funding sourced from Vietnam’s non-refundable aid programme, while nine residential halls for Lao students have been constructed in Vietnam.

The MoET and the Lao Ministry of Education and Sports are working together on a project to increase the quality and efficiency of bilateral cooperation in education and human resource development between 2011 and 2020.

Under the programme, study materials and textbooks for teaching the Vietnamese language were developed for use in Lao schools since the 2011-2012 school year.

A Faculty of Vietnamese Studies was also established at the National University of Laos, alongside the construction of a high school in Luang Prabang province and a boarding school in Xiangkhouang province.

Deputy Minister Bui Van Ga made several recommendations to improve the quality of Lao graduates in Vietnam. Lao students should be required to learn Vietnamese before being accepted to attend a course in Vietnam, and the Vietnamese language should also be mandatory in training curriculum for Lao guest students, he said.

He urged better management of Lao students in Vietnam and greater efforts to ensure that the standard of Lao graduates is at the same level as Vietnamese graduates.

Provinces asked to teach students swimming skills

The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) has asked provincial departments of education and training to build swimming pools in schools to give swimming training to students.

The request was released after two recent cases of students drowning in two different provinces.

Nine sixth grade schoolboys drowned on April 21 afternoon while they were swimming in a section of the Tra Khuc River in central Quang Ngai Province’s Thanh Khiet Village.

Two seventh grade schoolgirls drowned on April 20 afternoon on the Ta Ruc Lake in Cam Phuoc Tay Commune, Cam Ranh City in the central province of Khanh Hoa.

The MoET asked departments of education and training to join hands with local authorities to build swimming pools and organise swimming training courses for students.

Accidental drowning prevention must be supervised closely. Supervision results must be reported to the MoET twice a year.

But some experts have lamented the shortage of funds. Associate Professor Le Huu Lap, from the Academy of Posts and Telecommunications, told Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper that 15 years ago he proposed that the academy build a swimming pool and consider swimming as one of the physical training subjects.

But then he himself had to withdraw the proposal, because the academy’s funds and the funds of other universities, colleges and schools were dependent on the State budget, so building a swimming pool was difficult work.

Le Hoang Hao, Chairman of the Vietnamese Association of Educational Equipment, suggested to use of mobile swimming pools at a reasonable price, which is about 200 million VND (8,900 USD) per pool.

Nguyen Hiep Thong, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, said that the capital’s immediate measure was to encourage parents to take their children to swimming centres to study swimming, especially in the coming summer vacation.

The department would create good conditions for enterprises interested in building swimming pools for students, and suggested such firms make contact with schools to discuss the work, he said.

Hanoi: Nearly 700 food safety violations detected in five months

Approximately 690 breaches of food safety and quality regulations were discovered between late December, 2015 and mid-April this year with the total fine collected worth more than 5.3 billion VND (238,000 USD).

According to deputy head of the Hanoi Market Control Agency Tran Viet Hung, foods most connected with hygiene and safety violations were confectionery, dried and sugar-coated fruits, cooking oil and lard, medicinal materials and dietary supplements.

Meanwhile, firms were usually fined for operating food service business without proper licences or selling expired foods.

Many firms were also found not providing employees with the full set of hygiene equipment or sufficient training in food safety and hygiene.

The agency has ordered its teams to conduct regular inspections at local markets, especially during the summer when high temperatures could trigger food poisoning.

It also plans to coordinate with local authorities to remove spontaneous wet markets and illegal street vendors who occupy roads and sidewalks.

Additionally, the agency will closely work with the media to increase awareness of the importance of food safety among food businesses and provide guidance for the consumers on how to select safe foods.

Photos about Shakespeare’s moments go on show

After an exhibition in Hanoi, the best works in the “Shakespeare’s moments” photo contest are on display on level 2 of the Bitexco Financial Tower in District 1, HCMC from now until May 25.

Co-hosted by the British Council in Vietnam and the UK Embassy in Vietnam, the photo exhibition is among Shakespeare Lives’ global activities in 2016 to mark the 400th death anniversary of the great author.

The photo contest, initiated by British Council Global, has attracted 200 entries with 11 of them winning. These artworks were inspired from Shakespeare’s plays and his influence on literature.

The exhibition takes place at ‘nest by AIA’ on level 2 of the Bitexco Financial Tower, 2 Hai Trieu Street, District 1.

Honda YES 2016 launched

Honda Award for Young Engineer and Scientist (Honda YES) founded by the Honda Foundation, Honda Vietnam Company and Strategy & Science Policy –Technology Institute under Ministry of Science & Technology has been launching nationwide.

Vietnam is the first country which Honda YES has been carried out since 2006.

This year, the annual 11th award will offer 100 prizes and 18 students will receive the master scholarships to study in Japan.

The Honda YES 2016 comprises 2 phases. Each prize is worth US$ 3,000 and one motorbike from Honda Vietnam Company.

The organization board said the Honda YES 2016 will receive registration files from now till July 15. Students from 10 Inter-universities whose have good study achievements in science & technology sector and join actively in social activites can register for these scholarships.

Hanoi farmers reap reward of higher-quality flowers

High-quality flower farming has helped farmers in Hanoi’s suburban districts become more prosperous in recent years, said the municipal Agriculture and Rural Development Department Director Chu Phu My.

My said that since the city’s project on flower and ornamental plants farming was implemented in 2012, high-quality flower zones had been formed, including 170ha of roses in Me Linh district’s Van Khe commune, 20ha of peach in Long Bien district, orchid and lily farms in districts of Dan Phuong, Chuong My, Hoai Duc, Quoc Oai and Phuc Tho.

The high-quality flowers helped growers earn profits up to ten times higher than from normal flowers, he said.

Nguyen Van Suot, a gardener in Tay Tuu commune, Bac Tu Liem district, said his family earned more than 50 million VND (2,200 USD) yearly from 1,000sq.m of lilies.

He hired ten people to work on his farm, paying each about 3 million VND (135 USD) monthly, he said.

Vice Chairman of the Tay Tuu communal People’s Committee Bui Trung Hoa said that flowers helped local farmers earn on average 550 million VND (24,700 USD) per hectare, much more than rice cultivation.

Nguyen The Do Cuong, a gardener in Huong Ngai commune, Thach That district said that he earned billions of Vietnamese dong each year from forest orchids.

With assistance from the Hanoi Agriculture Promotion Centre, Cuong raised hundreds of orchids which were grown around the year, generating a stable income for his family, he said.

However, the agriculture official My said that most flower growers sold to wholesalers with unstable prices and volumes.

“The city’s agriculture sector wants to boost cooperation with other localities to set up a stable supply-consumption chain for flowers,” he said, adding that better links between farmers and firms are needed.

Vice Director of the Hanoi Agriculture Promotion Centre Vu Thi Huong told the Nong thon ngay nay ( Countryside Today) newspaper that flower growing in Hanoi had been a popular industry since the 1980s.

The area for flowers and ornamental plants in the city in 2014 was about 2,650ha, more than four times higher than in 2005.

In 1995, each hectare of flower/ornamental plants generated 86 million VND (3,900 USD) per year but in 2014, this increased to 360 million VND (16,000 USD) per hectare per year.

Huong said that few flower-growing zones in the city applied modern farming and processing technology, which reduced flower quality, adding the city did not have a good supply of high quality seedlings.

She noted that most flowers were grown with traditional techniques which were cheap, easy to apply but low quality and vulnerable to cacogenesis.

Coach crash kills one child, 10 injured

A 10-year-old child was killed and ten passengers were injured in a coach accident in Nghệ An Province early this morning.

A north-bound coach carrying 25 passengers was passing through Nghi Lộc District’s Nghi Vạn Commune at about 3.30 am when it collided with three trucks traveling in the same direction. The crash caused the coach to veer onto a field, falling over onto its side, according to officials.

A child on the coach died, while ten other passengers, most displaying minor injuries, were rushed to the Nghệ An 115 Hospital for treatment. Four of the injured passengers were discharged from the hospital by 8am this morning.

Police are investigating the accident.

Today marked the first day of the four-day holiday (Liberation Day – Labour Day), which prompted a surge in transportation demands throughout the nation’s transportation networks, as people left cities for their hometowns or tourism spots.

Quảng Ngãi farmers earn high profits as chili pepper prices soar

Farmers in the central province of Quảng Ngãi have been happy to see chili prices soaring over the past few days.

The chili season often lasts from March to June. At the beginning of the chili season this year, prices were about VNĐ4,000-5,000 (US$0.17-0.22) per kilogramme. Prices have increased gradually to the current cost of VNĐ40,000 ($1.7) per kilogramme.

According to a Quảng Ngãi newspaper report, in many chili fields in Tịnh Long Commune, Quảng Ngãi City, farmers eagerly went to the fields to harvest chili despite the extremely hot weather.

Trần Thị Thúy, a farmer in the commune’s Tăng Long Village, said she has grown chili for the past 30 years, and the current price is the highest she has seen so far.

Thúy invested VNĐ3 million into her chili field to buy fertiliser and seeds, and she expected to earn profits of about VNĐ20-30 million ($800-1,300).

Trần Ngọc Minh, another farmer in the commune’s Ngọc Thạch Village, said the peppers require a lot of water to grow.

The weather was severe this year, so the productivity level was only half of what it was last year. However, prices increased so Minh did not suffer any losses.

Minh is pleased with the current prices, but is also worried because the prices could drop suddenly.

Phạm Thị Thu Thủy, owner of a chili dealer in Quảng Ngãi City, told the newspaper that prices could change daily depending on dealers along the northern border gates.

The prices increase or decrease depending on the Chinese market, and recently the Chinese market has had a high demand for chili, thus driving up prices, she said.

Every day, Thủy buys about 10-15 tonnes of chili peppers from farmers in the province. In recent days, three or four containers wait near her dealership to take chili peppers to China.

Thủy added that the price of VNĐ40,000 ($1.7) per kilogramme is only temporary, so farmers should take advantage of the current benefits.

Lobster breeding project aims to grow market in central VN

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) aims to make lobster breeding a key economic sector of the central coastal provinces in Việt Nam.

A MARD-approved project on lobster breeding to year 2020 with a vision to 2030 set the goal.

By the year 2020, the country aims to have a total volume one million cubic metres of water surface for breeding lobsters. The yield is estimated about more than 1,900 tonnes per year, bringing a turnover of VNĐ3.2 trillion (US$145.4 million) yearly.

The volume of breeding cages is expected to increase to 1.41 million cubic metres by 2030 with annual output of 2,200 tonnes and economic value of VNĐ4.3 trillion ($195.4 million).

The project also targets producing one million baby lobsters a year to ensure sufficient supply of commercially raised lobsters.

“Advanced and environment-friendly technology will be used to breed lobsters in the central provinces”, said MARD deputy minister Vũ Văn Tám.

“Developing lobster breeding as an important economic sector will help to raise the locals’ incomes as well as develop the marine economy”, he said.

In the first phase (2016-2020) of the project, the breeders will raise lobsters in cages in bays and coastal areas.

Former PetroVietnam director jailed for 9 years

The former general director and chairman of PetroVietnam Manpower Development and Services Company (Petromanning), 42-year-old Đào Thành Long of Hà Nội, was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Long was jailed for violating regulations on economic management, leading to serious consequences.

According to the verdict, in October 2010, Long, while still not at the top in Petromanning – a subsidiary of Petrovietnam – negotiated to buy two plots of land from a family in Trung Hòa Ward in Cầu Giấy District. He agreed to pay over VNĐ58.8 billion (US$ 2.6 million) for a total area of nearly 800 sq.m to build mini-apartment buildings.

In December 2010, when Long officially became the company’s general director, he signed the land purchasing contract.

He paid VNĐ13 billion ($583,310) to Nguyễn Thị Minh Huấn, 37, of Ba Đình District – a broker who promised to complete the application for the land-use right certificate for the two plots of land. Huấn paid VNĐ1 billion to Nguyễn Khánh Tuấn, an officer working at the Trung Hòa Ward People’s Committee, to help the land buyer obtain the land-use right certificate.

Long also spent over VNĐ7 billion ($314,000) in bribes to obtain construction licenses. He asked staff to falsify documents, increasing the land purchase contract value to VNĐ85 billion ($3.8 million) from the actual amount of VNĐ58.8 billion.

Also in court yesterday, broker Huấn was sentenced to 10 years in prison and land officer Tuấn received a 15-year prison term for giving and receiving bribes.

District hospitals to get new city doctors

The HCM City Department of Health is working with Phạm Ngọc Thạch Medical University to expand a programme to send recent medical doctors to hospitals in the outlying districts of Cần Giờ and Củ Chi.

The department plans to ask the city’s People’s Committee to offer more preferential policies to attract doctors to these hospitals.

According to a department report, the current policies have not helped attract doctors to work at district hospitals.

For instance, Củ Chi District Hospital needs 60 additional doctors, but has only been able to hire 14.

To temporarily solve the shortage, the department yesterday approved the sending of 40 doctors who work at city-level hospitals to Củ Chi District Hospital.

The city-level hospitals are Paediatrics No1, Gia Định People, Từ Dũ Obstetrics and Bình Dân.

These hospitals are also required to provide equipment to Củ Chi District Hospital to ensure healthcare for local residents. Training courses for the district hospital’s doctors are also being carried out.

Cần Giờ District Hospital has previously only had doctors from city-level hospitals working at its satellite health clinics.

Around 1,200 women detected to have ovarian cancer annually

Around 1,200 Vietnamese women are detected to have ovarian cancer in late stage, said a seminar “Anti-biotic therapy to improve ovarian cancer and cervical cancer” held by the Vietnam’s Cancer Association and Tumor Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

Chairman of the Vietnam’s Cancer Association Dr. Nguyen Chan Hung said that fresh cases of ovarian and cervical cancers in late stage account for 10 percent but the mortality rate of ovarian and cervical cancer cases is very high and a few of them receive proper treatment.

Additionally, the mortality rate of ovarian cancer is highest amongst gynecological cancers because it is mistakenly diagnosed as digestive diseases; accordingly patients were detected in late stage.

Furthermore, cervical cancer is the second most popular in the country with more than 5,000 fresh cases per year. Cervical cancer is caused by HPV (Human Papilloma Virus), which transmits the disease through sexual activities.

Though the screening and vaccination HPV are carried out widely, cervical cancer is still one of the cancers to cause most deaths in the country with over 2,400 deaths a year.

To encounter the two diseases, Vietnamese and international experts highly lauded the treatment with Bevacizumab - a humanized anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody. This is an advanced therapy in treating cervical cancer which has been applied in the world since 2014.

Doctors finds two female siblings having testicles, one getting testicular cancer

Doctor of a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City found testicles in two female siblings and one of them is getting testicular cancer.

Dr. Tran Trong Tri from Cho Ray Hospital’s Urology Ward said that he was so surprised when he detected testicles in two female patients both and the testicles are located in wrong place. One of them is 44 years old, married.

One of her testicle stays in abdomen and has become malignant tumor and other in her groin.

She has not seen menstruation and doctors discovered a tumor in her abdomen; subsequently she went to the hospital for further examination. She was diagnosed to have one of form bi-sexuality which means having at once the functions of both the ovaries of the female and the testes of the male.

The other female has testicles in her groin.

Surgeons performed operations to remove four testicles from the two patients and then conducted chemo and radiation therapy for the patient suffering testicular cancer.

A lot to learn from Japanese

There are many things Vietnamese people could learn from the Japanese, Chairman of the Liaison Committee for Overseas Vietnamese and former Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan H.E. Nguyen Phu Binh told a workshop on workplace efficiency in Hanoi on April 20.

The first thing is the extreme honesty of Japanese. Ambassador Binh recalled the difficult period for the Japanese in the wake of the tsunami in 2011. When aid arrived people did not try to collect as much as possible, but instead collected just enough for their families.

The Japanese also express their honesty at school and in supermarkets and stores, he said, regardless of who they are dealing with, whether taxi drivers or service workers.

When shopping at supermarkets or convenience stores, even when the change is 1 Yen ($0.009), cashiers will always return it to customers. If customers don’t receive their change the cashier will face a dilemma.

Meanwhile, Japanese people teach their children discipline before teaching them knowledge. In Vietnam, however, this is reversed. For this reason the discipline of Vietnamese workers is less than it could be.

Ms. Bui Thi Hong Lien, General Director of the FPT Software Joint Stock Company, who spent many years in Japan, said that although Vietnamese are very smart they often lack a general plan when working.

Vietnamese workers often don’t adopt sound working processes. For example, the productivity of an engineer would be double or even triple in Japan compared to Vietnam.

The “Japanese for Everyone” contest was also introduced at the workshop, sponsored by the Liaison Committee for Overseas Vietnamese. It will be officially launched on June 1 and end on August 8, aimed at supporting plans to promote and develop the study of Japanese trends in Vietnam.

VND 2, 641 billion to build Thu Thiem New Urban Area

An agreement for building technical infrastructures in the northern residential area and the north-south road in Thu Thiem new urban area was signed by Management Board for Investment and Construction of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area and Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Investment Joint Stock Company (CII).

Deputy Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Le Van Khoa witnessed  the signing ceremony.

The technical infrastructure project built under the Build-Transfer (BT) contract with total investment capital of VND 2, 641 billion has been carried out since last July.

The northern residential area of Ho Chi Minh City covers total 89 hectares of land and is a part of the urban area complex below Thu Thiem Bridge Pier 1.

Tien La Festival recognised as national intangible culture heritage

Tien La Festival in Hung Ha district, in the northern province of Thai Binh has recently been recognised as a national intangible culture heritage.

The Tien La Temple, located in Doan Ha commune, is dedicated to Vu Thi Thuc, a female general who fought the Han Chinese invaders under the leadership of the two Trung Sisters nearly 2,000 years ago.

In the last battle on Mount Kim Quy, the general and her soldiers sacrificed their lives on March 17, 43 A.D. To commemorate Vu Thi Thuc and her brave patriots, local people built a temple in the place where they died.

The Tien La Temple was recognised as a national historical and cultural site in 1986.

The festival, which takes place in the middle of the third lunar month annually, lasts seven days, with a wide range of activities including a water procession and chau van singing performances as well as folk games such as wrestling, cock fighting and tug-of-war.

Major road in Thu Thiem to be opened to traffic this year

A major north-south road stretching from Thu Thiem 1 Bridge to Mai Chi Tho Avenue in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area in HCMC’s District 2 will be put into use at the end of this year.

The Investment and Construction Authority of Thu Thiem New Urban Area (Thu Thiem ICA) announced the plan to open the road to traffic at a contract signing of a project for technical infrastructure development in the northern urban area and completion of the north-south road in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area between the city government and HCMC Infrastructure Investment Company (CII) on April 20.

The project worth a total of over VND3.3 trillion (US$148 million) is being implemented under the build-transfer (BT) format.

Nguyen Thi Huu Hoa, director of Thu Thiem ICA, told the signing ceremony that the northern urban area covering 89.35 hectares is situated in functional sections 3 and 4 of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area. It comprises homes, commercial centers, public works like schools, museum, community center, an 8.3-km internal road, and water supply and drainage and lighting systems.

Work on the north-south street, bridges and the internal road has been progressing as scheduled since the project got off the ground 10 months ago. Therefore, CII chairman Le Vu Hoang said the north-south road will be opened to traffic at the end of this year.

According to Thu Thiem ICA, no major infrastructure facilities in place have made it difficult for relevant agencies to attract investment in Thu Thiem over the past years. Therefore, they have sped up the progress of the northern urban area and the north-south street to solve this problem.

Four main streets in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area invested by Dai Quang Minh Real Estate Investment Co. will be put into use in February next year.

Overcrowding remains huge problem at local festivals

Cultural researcher Nguyen Hung Vi, shares his thoughts about overcrowding and poor management at traditional festivals.

"Overcrowding at any festival is caused by too many people in too limited spaces over a short period of time. The Lim, Tran Temple and Giong festivals also saw overcrowding. The number of people far exceeded organiser predictions and they didn't know what to do," Vi said.

According to Vi, more and more people are able to go to festivals as the infrastructure and transport becomes better.

As Hung Kings Temple Festival is one of the largest events in Vietnam, Vi warned organisers to learn from the experience to avoid similar situations next year. When being asked about the poor behaviour of people, littering the religious site with rubbish and refusing to queue, Vi said blaming people was the easiest excuse.

"I think the organisers should take most of the responsibility. They should estimate the number of visitors and make various strategies to deal with problems that might occur."

Vi said he was on the organising board for a festival at Hoang Phuc Temple and at the meeting, they mostly discussed overcrowding, public order issues and how to ensure a better visitor experience. Vi said when the festival ended, everyone was happy because littering was minimised even though they had 30,000 visitors, 5,000 more than expected.

"Festival planning must always be carefully reviewed. Organisers must know how to expand the festival's space and organise other activities at locations that are far from each other. For example, organisers at the Lim Festival encouraged visitors to participate in singing groups near residential houses not just flocking to the temples to hear singing," Vi said. "In addition, organisers should make arrangement so that visitors can go to the festival on different days."

Tens of thousands of people visited the Hung Kings Temple Site in Phu Tho province on April 14 as part of this year’s festival. The site was so overcrowded that many people visited the site by foot via the wooded lands surrounding the site.

After the event, some photoshopped images appeared on internet entitled Hung Kings Temple Has Fallen, imitating film posters for movies such as London Has Fallen and Olympus Has Fallen, to reflect the overcrowded site. Some people commented that it was pure chance a mass death was avoided due to the high numbers of people attending the event and poor quality of the stewarding.

HCM City to spend big on traffic congestion reductions

The government of HCMC plans to implement 1,277 public investment projects at a total cost of nearly VND137 trillion (US$6.15 billion) in 2016-2020, with traffic congestion and accident reduction projects making up 36.7% of the total funding.

The city government will seek approval from the HCMC People’s Council for the public investment plan at a council meeting slated to open on April 21. Of the total funding, personnel quality enhancement will account for 18.5% and flood control 14.5%.

The city is expected to disburse VND107 trillion  for medium-term projects in the period. In addition, the city will mobilize finances from other sources, particularly the private sector, to fund such projects.

At its 21st meeting, the council will give comments on a Group-A project costing around VND2.5 trillion funded by the city’s budget and decide on 301 projects of Group B and 12 public investment programs requiring some VND88.3 trillion and nearly VND6.25 trillion respectively.

The council will also consider and approve some of the city government’ reports on providing fire prevention and fighting equipment for civil guards, land recalls and changes of land use purposes for a number of projects, among others.

Play featuring Vietnam’s traditional spiritual singing wows foreign audiences

A play staged in Hanoi accentuating ‘chau van,’ a traditional style of spiritual singing from northern Vietnam, and its iconic psychic performance have awed foreigners and locals alike.

The play, ‘Tu Phu’ (Four Palaces), is preformed three days a week at Cong Nhan Theater, located at 42 Trang Tien, Hoan Kiem District.

Though tickets were not officially sold until March 2016, the play began being staged on a pilot basis six months ago and a special March 22 performance was attended by dozens of delegates from different countries.

The show, which also featured French subtitles, was part of the activities taking place in several Vietnamese cities from March 12 to 23 in commemoration of International Francophone Day (March 20).

The foreign diplomats even joined the actors’ bewitching psychic performances, and were enchanted at the token gifts they received.

‘Tu Phu’ is one of the several dance and circus plays which have earned notable acclaim among foreign audiences in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City over recent years.

Such plays are ‘A O Show,’ ‘Lang Toi’ (My Village), and ‘Ionah,’ which are regularly performed to tourists and highlight traditional aspects of Vietnamese culture during their visits to the country.

Enthusiastically raved about on stages in Vietnam and other countries, ‘A O Show’ adopts the language of circus and theater to depict Vietnam’s idyllic pastoral life, as well as traditional customs and folk games.

Last year the play creator inked an agreement to bring the show to 60 reputable theaters throughout Europe over a three-year period.

Unlike other popular Vietnamese artistic works which fuse different genres, each of the 45-minute ‘Tu Phu’ editions highlights ‘chau van’ from start to finish.

‘Chau van,’ also known as ‘hat van’ or ‘hat bong’ and recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage, was introduced during the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400).

Nam Dinh Province, located in the north, is considered the genre’s birthplace.

The genre is a highly rhythmic and trance-oriented form of singing mainly played at temples and pagodas.

It is typically performed during rituals to honor the Mother Goddesses and is spiritually connected to other gods.

One of ‘chau van’s’ highlights is its psychic performances, which involve artists donning gaudy costumes and reciting time-honored passages against profoundly religious music in a surreal manner.

Emerging director Viet Tu, creator of ‘Tu Phu,’ founded his Viet Theater for the purpose of developing the play.

He spent three years doing extensive research on the genre and one more year incubating how to devise the play in a bid to keep the psychic ritual from being distorted and disregarded as superstition in different localities throughout Vietnam.  

“My aim is to retain and promote the allure of ‘chau van’ to local and foreign enthusiasts alike,” Tu said.

He added his play is subject to changes of passages and excerpts so that audiences can relish it for several times.

Many readers of travel website TripAdvisor, including foreigners, have showered praise on the play for its riveting content and artistic elements.

According to Secretary General of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO Pham Sanh Chau, in March 2015, the country submitted a dossier regarding its rituals to honor the Mother Goddesses to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for its recognition as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

“The concisely staged play has vividly accentuated ‘chau van’ and its glamor, and is thus instrumental in promoting the genre to international friends,” he noted.

The dossier will be looked into during a forthcoming annual meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, to take place from November 28 to December 2 in Ethiopia.

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