Vietnam, Laos embassies in US hold annual exchange

The embassies of Vietnam and Laos in the US have recently organised their annual friendship get-together in Washington DC.

The exchange took place at the private residence of Lao Ambassador to the US Mai Sayavong on July 2.

Both Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Pham Quang Vinh and his Lao counterpart stressed the significance of the exchange, particularly when two countries celebrate the 55th relations anniversary (September 5) and 40 years of the signing of the Vietnam-Laos Friendship and Cooperation Treaty (July 18).

They spoke highly of the embassies’ cooperation in exchanging information, working with the host country’s administration and joining the network of ASEAN member states’ embassies in the US.

The gathering featured a range of activities, including sports, food tasting and musical performances.

Lao NA Chairwoman Pany Yathotu welcomed in Son La

Chairwoman of the Lao National Assembly Pany Yathotu was warmly welcomed on July 4 in the northern mountainous province of Son La, a selected venue for a range of major events marking the 2017 Vietnam-Laos Solidarity and Friendship Year.

Following the welcome ceremony, Yathotu had a working session with provincial leaders, where she heard Son La’s socio-economic development in 2016 and the first six months of this year reported by Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Hoang Van Chat. 

In 2016, the locality’s economy grew at 9.2 percent, contributing more than 4 trillion VND (176 million USD) to the State budget, Chat said, adding that the local economic growth rate reached 5.15 percent during the first half of this year.   

Sharing a 250km border line with Laos, Son La inked documents on comprehensive cooperation with eight northern Lao provinces of Houaphan, Luang Prabang, Bo Keo, Udomsay, Luang Namtha, Phongsaly, Saynhabuly and Xieng Khouang, he said. 

Chat noted that Son La and the Lao localities have maintained the exchange of delegations, information and experience, contributing to enhancing cooperation and friendship between the two countries. 

At the same time, the two sides encouraged people residing near the common border to follow the Vietnam-Laos Agreement on National Border Regulations, he said. 

According to the provincial leader, in 2016, Son La provided the Lao provinces with 26.1 billion VND (1.14 million USD) to help them construct a number of essential facilities. 

Son La now accommodates 1,100 Lao students and has helped train 40 Lao officials, he said. 

Yathotou spoke highly of Son La’s socio-economic achievements, saying activities marking the 2017 Vietnam-Laos Solidarity and Friendship Year in the locality are significant, demonstrating the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries and between Son La and the Lao northern provinces in particular. 

The Lao chief legislator noted her wish that Son La and the Lao localities will continue their mutual support across fields. 

Later on the day, the provincial Party Committee hosted a banquet for the Lao Na Chairwoman and her entourage. 

Earlier, the Lao delegation paid floral tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum in Hanoi.

Central Highlands has 123 new-style rural communes

One district and 123 communes in the Central Highlands region have fulfilled all criteria of the National Target Programme on New-style Rural Area Building, according to the Steering Committee for Central Highlands Region.

Lam Dong is the leading locality in implementing the programme, with its Dong Duong district and 59 communes, or 50.5 percent of total communes, recognised as new-style rural areas.

Amidst limited State budget allocation for the programme, regional localities have mobilised capital from diverse resources to realize the programme targets.

In Lam Dong, from 2010-2015, 33.58 trillion VND (.. USD) was raised for new-style rural area building, of which State budget covered 10.66 percent and the local community accounted for 27 percent.

Regional localities have built over 1,100 effective production models, mostly in cultivation, aquatic farming, and hi-tech agriculture.

The programme has also helped significantly improve infrastructure systems, better serving the production and life of the locals.

However, the Steering Committee for Central Highlands Region pointed to difficulties, including a lack of guiding documents for implementing the programme for the 2016-2020 period.

The committee also proposed that ministries and central agencies soon issue mechanisms and policies as well as guiding documents, along with sufficient measures to supervise and evaluate the implementation of the programme.

Son La marks Vietnam-Laos Solidarity and Friendship Year

A wide range of activities are set to take place in the northern province of Son La over the three days July 4-7 to mark the 55th anniversary of Vietnam-Laos diplomatic ties and 40 years of Vietnam-Laos Friendship and Cooperation.

The Vietnam New Agency reports they include a culture, sports and tourism festival, exhibitions of ancient relics, music and dance performances, seminars, sporting events, and cultural exchanges that are expected to draw the participation of thousands.

Colonel Tran Anh Tuan, director of the Son La Police Department, said law enforcement officials have made security plans to ensure safety for leaders of the two countries, delegates and people attending the event.

Ho Chi Minh City launches traffic information app

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport has launched an online information-sharing platform, allowing commuters to monitor traffic in real time and report congestion or other infrastructure incidents to authorities via their smartphones.

In addition to directions, the web version of the platform, http://giaothong.hochiminhcity.gov.vn/ lets users check information such as traffic jams, flood-prone areas or roadworks on the streets citywide.

The app version features real-time traffic monitoring, enabling commuters to be aware of ongoing traffic congestion and decide the best itinerary for their travel.

The platform also allows users to watch live footage of traffic cameras installed across the city or find the nearest available parking lots.

Users can receive push notifications of traffic incidents near their locations, and in return, report events related to traffic jams, road damage, street lights and green trees, or water pipeline breaks to authorities via their smartphones.

A report can be made with photos taken by users showing the exact GPS location of any incident.

The TTGT TP.HCM (Traffic Information Ho Chi Minh City) app is available for free for both iOS and Android users.

Expats and tourists may be unhappy to know that the app is only in Vietnamese.

Vietnamese administrators have increasingly looked to mobile apps to better serve members of the public.

The administration of Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Thanh District is piloting a mobile app that allows citizens to submit evidence of violations in the area to authorities.

The app has so far been a success with almost all reports submitted confirmed to be authentic and handled by Binh Thanh authorities.

The administration of the central city of Da Nang is also running an online feedback platform, http://egov.danang.gov.vn/gop-y, open to reports and complaints about problems concerning both local residents and tourists.

Australian funded program empowers women in northern Vietnam

In August 2016, Oxfam in Vietnam celebrated the launch of the Women’s Economic Empowerment through Agriculture Value Chain Enhancement program funded by the Australian Government.

The three year WEAVE program aims to assist women in the mountainous northwestern provinces of Lao Cai and Bac Kan achieve greater social and economic empowerment, says Natasha Scott Despoja, the Australian Ambassador for Women and Girls. 

The Australian Government has committed US$1.9 million for the program, which targets supporting the empowerment of ethnic minority women specifically in the pork, cinnamon and banana value chains.

To this end, the program provides hands on training and mentoring to strengthen the women participants’ skills in marketing, finance, business planning and bargaining skills as well as increase their awareness of business law.

The pork, cinnamon, and banana value chains were selected, says Ms Despoja, because of their social, ecological and economic viability in the two northwest Vietnam provinces.

Lao Cai and Bac Kan, have been left behind by the economic growth that has been transforming the major metropolitan areas of Vietnam over the past few decades. Poverty and inequality stubbornly persists in these two provinces, particularly among ethnic minority women, because of the barriers they face to social and economic development.

She notes that in Bac Kan, banana farmers, the majority of whom are women, are vulnerable to price volatility because they depend on transporters, traders and exporters, and have limited bargaining power.

The challenges banana farmers face in production, handling and market access makes the industry unattractive to outside investors. Cinnamon producers are in a similar predicament and confront parallel challenges.

In Lao Cai, women are heavily involved in the farming of cinnamon but they are prevented from moving up the value chain ladder due to lack of skills in manufacturing, marketing and trading.

Small-scale swine farmers are responsible for most of the pork coming from Lao Cai, and most of those farmers are women.

These farmers struggle to survive in the face of foreign competition and the migration by farmers in the rest of the country to large-scale farms and pork production. They also are not highly skilled, lacking knowledge or understanding of matters related to controlling diseases, access to financing, and face inflated costs and low productivity.

Across each value chain, the potential of women farmers is also restricted by a cultural division of roles and responsibilities between men and women that exclude women from decision-making and leads to higher domestic and income-generating workloads placed on women in contrast to men.

Through activities and discussions involving both men and women, the project promotes equality between them so that women can enjoy increased participation in the decision-making process and in turn more benefits from their work in the banana, cinnamon and pork value chains.

The national and local government of these provinces have enacted many policies to promote agribusiness and support socio-economic development.

While these polices provide a supportive framework for WEAVE there remain gaps in their formulation and implementation, particularly in terms of social inclusion and gender equality, inadequate implementation, guidance and resourcing, and awareness of these policies among smallholder farmers.

WEAVE, says Ms Despoja, uses documented project experience to undertake evidence-based policy-influencing to ensure pertinent policies better promote the role of women in local economic development and the target value chains.

Practical solutions needed for urban problems

Flood management, traffic congestion, environmental pollution and food safety are some of the issues which authorities of HCM City need to tackle over the second half of this year, said Nguyễn Thị Quyết Tâm, chairwoman of the HCM City People’s Council.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the fifth meeting session of the council yesterday, Tâm acknowledged the city’s achievements in maintaining social order and safety and reaching socio-economic targets in the first half of this year.

“The city’s economic growth has been stronger than the same period last year, and its public administration has improved in social, cultural, educational, and medical fields,” she said.

“However, the growth is unsustainable, and the city still lacks resources and preferential policies for investments,” she added.

Floods, traffic congestion, environmental pollution, urban and land management, as well as food safety, corruption, and social vices were some of the issues yet to be improved upon, despite being constantly reported by citizens, she said.

“The council’s deputies need to discuss these issues more thoroughly and come up with practical solutions to meet the city’s growth demands,” she said.

Since the city’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) increased by only 7.7 per cent in the first half of this year, more efforts would be required in order for the city to achieve economic growth targets of 8.4-8.7 per cent for the whole year, she added.

"New solutions are required to clear pavement encroachment, facilitate the application of electronic government in public administration, ensure social security, and maintain social order and safety in the city," she said.

Speaking at the ceremony, Lê Thanh Liêm, vice chairman of the city’s People’s Committee, said that the city had made efforts in creating an ideal environment for investment during the first half of the year by launching a project on developing 500,000 enterprises by the end of 2020, and providing 20,000 newly-established enterprises with favourable conditions for development.

Apart from focusing on increasing its economic growth rate, the city would also find solutions to improve its Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI), Public Competitiveness Index (PCI), and Public Administration Reform Index (PAR) during the second half of this year, he said.

Held on July 4-6, the fifth meeting session of the HCM City People’s Council will review the city’s socio-economic, cultural and defence achievements, as well as the performance of its People’s Court and People’s Procuracy during the first half of this year.

The council’s deputies will also discuss a proposal to form a specialist monitoring group and review an agenda for its social monitoring programme in 2018. 

Ancient documents on offshore archipelagoes displayed

More than 100 ancient documents and objects dated back to the 16th century are on display at the National Archive Centre 4, downtown Đà lạt City, Central Highland province of Lâm Đồng.

Titled "Hoàng Sa Trường Sa của Việt Nam – Những Bằng Chứng Lịch Sử và Pháp Lý" (Việt Nam’s Spratly and Paracel Archipelagoes – Historical and Legal Evidences), the exhibition has nine wooden blocks confirming Việt Nam’s sovereignty over the two archipelagoes.

The blocks were carved during the Nguyễn dynasty (1802-1945) and used to print books. On one wooden block, an excerpt from a book titled Đại Nam Nhất Thống Chí (History of the Unification of Great Việt Nam) is printed with sentences such as “To the east of Quảng Ngãi Province is located Hoành Sa Island – or Trường Sa (Spratlys);" and “Hoàng Sa Island located to the east of Ré Islet. There is a yellow sand area measuring thousands of miles, which is called Vạn Lý Trường Sa, on the island.”

Another block has an excerpt from a book titled Đại Nam Thực Lục (Royal Annals of Great Việt Nam), which says “King Minh Mạng assigned a navy troop led by Phạm Hữu Nhật to go to Hoàng Sa to measure and draw a map of Hoàng Sa Archipelago in 1836."

The wooden printing blocks of the Nguyễn dynasty have been recognised as UNESCO’s World Documentary Heritage.

The blocks are made of a plate of wood with letters carved in classical Chinese and the old Vietnamese script called chữ Nôm. The letters are carved in reverse so that when the image is printed, it is legible.

During the Nguyễn dynasty, the blocks were made to print information publicising social standards, articles o­n the lives and careers of the aristocracy and historical events. These are the original records of the era and it is for this reason they are considered so valuable.

The centre currently preserves a collection of nearly 35,000 blocks dating from 1697 to 1945, used to print literary and historical works.

The centre is located on No 2, Yết Kiêu Street, Đà Lạt City. 

Cường inks 5-year pact with oil and gas company

Việt Nam’s No 2 badminton player Phạm Cao Cường, who hopes to earn a bronze medal at August’s Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia, held a five-year contract signing ceremony with the Thái Bình Oil and Gas Petroleum Joint Stock Company yesterday.

Under the contract, the 21-year-old Cường will become the brand ambassador for the Tiền Hải natural mineral water company.

With this contract, Cường will be supported in his upcoming tournaments in the US and Malaysia.

Cường also aims to enter the world’s top 100 to earn a ticket to compete in the Asian Games in 2018 in Indonesia.

At present, Cường is world No 143. In the Asian badminton championship in 2014, while Vietnamese top player Nguyễn Tiến Minh was ousted from the first round, Cường reached the second round after beating Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, world No 22, with a score of 21-18, 21-14.

Cường, who competed in the Youth Olympics in China in 2014, is expected to replace Minh in the near future.

Inspectors tell aluminum firm to check technology

A ministrial inspection team has asked the Dak Kong Aluminum Company to immediately review its technology after its factory released aluminum powder into the air in the Central Highlands province of Đắk Nông.

The industry and trade ministry team, led by Industrial Safety Techniques and Environment Director Trần Văn Lượng, surveyed the polluted area today and met with heads of the Dak Kong Aluminum Company.

The company confirmed earlier complaints by residents in Village 11 of Nhan Co Commune that on June 28 white powder was seen dispersed from the factory, covering nearby leaves and roads.

The white powder was identified as residual aluminum that escaped from the Nhan Co factory when strong winds swept through an open container in which the aluminum was stored.  

The inspection team ascertained that no white powder remained in the affected area, having been washed away by several days of rain.

Luong urged the Dak Nong Company to urgently improve the protective wall around the factory and review its aluminum production technology to avoid similar incidents in the future. 

Vietnam’s innovators tackle challenges for the workforce of the future

The Australian Government's innnovationXchange, in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Solve initiative and the Atlassian Foundation, is bringing together some of the country’s most innovative minds to workshop ideas and solutions to support the workforce of the future this week in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. 

The events operate as part of the Youth, Skills & the Workforce of the Future Challenge, a global competition trying to answer the question: “How can disadvantaged youth learn the skills they need to prepare them for the workforce of the future and thrive in the 21st century?”

The beginning of the 21st century has been marked by rapid advances in technological innovation. While new technology can generate jobs and increase labour productivity, it also creates job displacement and widens the skills gap. Today’s generation of young people now face a world in which nearly half of today’s jobs globally are at risk of becoming obsolete due to automation and technological advancement in the coming decades.

"It's not just jobs disappearing, World Bank studies suggest that 4 out of 5 people born today will work in jobs that don't even exist yet. We need to be teaching flexible and transferable skills that will prepare the next generation for any future," Australian Consul-General Karen Lanyon said.

The Australian Government and Atlassian Foundation are each contributing AU$1.4 million (US$1.1 million) to crowd-source expertise and innovative ideas from the region. Contributions from Vietnam include enabling technology that connects separated families through games that instil shared values and increased training opportunities in sectors least threatened by automation such as caregiving.

"We are putting the perspective of vulnerable and disadvantaged youth at the centre of these discussions and it's fantastic to see the creative ideas coming from Vietnamese talent. We really hope some of these innovators make it the the next round and have the opportunity to pitch their ideas in New York at the United Nations General Assembly in September," the Consul-General added.

This challenge is just one example of the way Australia’s development assistance program is looking to new partners and approaches to deliver aid more effectively and sustainably to support sustainable economic growth in the Indo-Pacific region.

We encourage people with relevant expertise or with an innovative idea to participate in this Solve Challenge. Applications are open until 1 August 2017 and further details on the Challenge, including how to apply, can be found here.

HTV, Purpose Media to build edutainment channel

HCMC Television (HTV) is joining hands with Purpose Media Joint Stock Company to turn HTV3 into an edutainment television channel which targets children, adolescents and families.

Starting from July 1, the channel has its new brand name HTV3 - DreamsTV as it is aimed at conveying the message of learn, love and laugh.

Apart from popular cartoons such as Doraemon and Conan, there will be numerous edutaiment programs for kids and families on the channel in the coming time, including Ngay Xua Ngay Xua (Once upon a time); Wonderkids, a playground for kids loving classical music; Dream Doctor, a program providing knowledge for parents to prevent common diseases for kids; Shall We Talk where families can sit together and share daily stories; and Skill for Kids aiming to help children to learn more about life skills. 

Singer Thanh Bui, director of Purpose Media, said HTV3 channel is expected to bring knowledge, relaxation and values to adolescents and children.

Members of intersectoral steering committee on international integration named

Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam, head of the intersectoral steering committee on international cultural, social, scientific, technological and educational integration, has recently signed a decision approving a list of the steering committee’s members.

Accordingly, Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung serves as the deputy head of the intersectoral steering committee, while Deputy Minister Dao Hong Lan is a member cum the general secretary.

Other members include Deputy Minister of Education and Training Bui Van Ga; Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Quoc Khanh; Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Le Khanh Hai; and Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Thanh Hung.

The intersectoral steering committee is part of the National Steering Committee on International Integration (National Steering Committee), which was established pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 596/QD-TTg dated April 23, 2014.

The intersectoral steering committee is obliged to research, recommend and consult for the head of the National Steering Committee on big guidelines and policies as well as the government’s action strategies, plans and programs concerning international integration in the fields of culture, society, science, technology and education-training. In addition, it is also tasked with proposing key tasks in regards to international cultural, social, scientific, technological and educational integration for each specific period of time.

The intersectoral steering committee helps the head of the National Steering Committee direct ministries, ministry-level agencies, government agencies and provincial-level People’s Committee, to implement big guidelines and policies on international cultural, social, scientific, technological and educational integration.

Furthermore, the intersectoral steering committee is responsible for working with ministries, sectors, agencies and localities to disseminate information and train knowledge on guidelines and policies, as well as on the contents of international cultural, social, scientific, technological and educational integration.

Miss ASEAN Friendship 2017 pledges to promote Phu Yen tourism

Miss ASEAN Friendship 2017 Nuttanan Naree and two runner-ups Huynh Thi Yen Nhi and Benedicta Heda Mercy Charis visited the host agencies and some tourist attractions in Phu Yen province on July 3-4.

At a meeting with Secretary of Phu Yen provincial Party Committee Huynh Tan Viet, Nuttanan Naree sincerely thanked local authorities and people for their support to the beauty pageant.

Naree promised to promote Phu Yen’s image and culture including beautiful landscape and delicious dishes to her country, Thailand.

For his part Mr Viet hoped that during 15-day stay in Phu Yen, Miss ASEAN Friendship contestants will experience the special culture, landscape and people of the province and help promote these images to their countries after returning home.

The ASEAN beauties also visited Tuy Hoa City, the provincial Department of Planning and Investment, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and some local businesses.

Vietnam plans to 'export' unemployed graduates

In a bid to tackle unemployment at home, Vietnam's labor ministry is drafting a plan to send skilled workers to work overseas between 2018 and 2025.

The project envisages sending over 54,000 unemployed graduates from universities, colleges and vocational schools to work in Japan, the Republic of Korea and Germany in two phases.

From 2018 to 2020, it would see 14,700 workers sent to Germany, 1,500 to Japan and 1,800 to the Republic of Korea to work in the fields of nursing, IT, electronics, mechanical engineering, telecommunications, and physical and biological technologies. 

150 of the workers sent to the Republic of Korea would also work as chefs in the country's restaurants and hotels.

The second phase from 2021 to 2025 would see another 39,000 workers sent to those three countries, in addition to expanded access to ASEAN and the UAE's labor markets in the beauty industry, hotel and restaurant services, engineering and construction.

However, the ministry is still in the process of negotiating the scheme with the three recipient countries, as well as determining their specific needs in the proposed fields.

The project is expected to receive VND1,3 trillion (US$57.2 million) from the state budget.

At the end of March this year, Vietnam had about 326,000 unemployed people with university, college, vocational school or other higher education degrees, according to official data.

At present, about 500,000 Vietnamese people are working overseas. However, about half of them are low-skilled workers.

The chronic lack of skilled labor has increasingly stalled Vietnam's growth and could hinder foreign investment in the country, experts say. Foreign and local companies have continued to lament that Vietnam's poorly trained graduates have left them struggling to find enough recruits.

“While this has allowed Vietnam to maintain lower labor costs than its neighbors, especially China, it will also restrict the country’s ability to attract investments in high technological manufacturing,” Healy Consultants Group, a professional services firm, said in a report last May.

Class 4 online public service launched for medical equipment management

The Health Ministry held a button-pressing ceremony in Hanoi on July 4 to launch the Class 4 online public service system to implement nine groups of administrative procedures as outlined in Government Decree No. 36/2016/ND-CP dated May 15, 2016 in relation to the management of medical equipment.

The Class 4 online public service is the highest level of service, with the steps of performing payment transactions and sending feedback conducted in a quick and effective fashion.

Accordingly, from July 1, 2017, the system of Class 4 online public services will be implemented for nine groups of administrative formalities concerning announcement, registration and application for a license; of which three groups of administrative procedures are deployed at provincial-level Health Departments and the remaining five groups are implemented at the MOH on management of medical equipment.

The Class 4 online public service system has been developed by relevant agencies under the MOH with support given from advisory units, in an effort to accelerate the application of information technology in administrative reforms; simplify the forms of dossier declaration and reception; and ensuring transparency and publicity in performing relevant procedures in the management of medical equipment.

Nguyen Minh Tuan, Director of the MOH’s Department of Medical Equipment and Health Works, said that the Class 4 service system will make the process of receiving dossiers concerning announcement, registration and proposal for a license, become simpler as well as more transparent and convenient for businesses. Via this method, organisations and individuals can perform declaration and submit dossiers related to medical equipment management regulations to the system and pay fees directly online without having to visit management agencies as was required previously.

Enterprises are able to follow the dossier handling phases as well as the status of the dossiers they have sent to the system. Right after receiving dossiers, health officials will be able to check and evaluate them on the system, thus increasing efficiency in handling dossiers.

Since the implementation of Class 4 online public services in issuing licenses to import medical equipment in November 2015, the number of dossiers licensed by the MOH online has reached approximately 7,000, Tuan said.

According to Deputy Health Minister Truong Quoc Cuong, the application of the Class 4 online public service system in performing nine groups of administrative procedures on medical equipment management, is a significant milestone in realising the MOH’s administrative reform roadmap as directed by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health.

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