HCM City collects meager road maintenance fee revenue from bike owners

HCMC has collected total road maintenance fee revenue of VND1.7 billion (over US$76,000) from motorcycle owners this year, according to the city’s Department of Transport.

The amount has been paid by motorcycle owners in districts 4, 9, 11, Phu Nhuan, Thu Duc and Binh Chanh. Meanwhile, many districts in the city have yet to implement the fee collection though the HCMC People’s Council earlier backed the municipal government’s proposal to collect the fee.

Bui Xuan Cuong, director of the department, told a review meeting on socio-economic performance in the city last week that the city will continue to collect the fee in the remaining months of this year and plans to stop it early next year.

Owners of motorcycles which are registered in HCMC and other localities but used in the city must pay VND50,000-150,000 per year depending on engine capacity in line with the Government’s Decree 18/2012/ND-CP and approval of the HCMC People’s Council.

With the lowest road maintenance fee of VND50,000 imposed on each motorbike a year, the city would be able to get VND290 billion for road upgrade and repair. However, the fee is hard to collect as riders are not necessarily owners and the fact that many motorbike owners including workers have brought their bikes to places far from the places of bike registration.

Problems have arisen in the collection process years after the controversial fee was introduced. As there are not punitive measures against late fee payers, it is unfair for motorcycle owners who have paid the fee.

In August this year, the Ministry of Finance proposed the Government suspend collecting the fee nationwide from early 2016 as it had not been economically viable. Several months earlier, the Ministry of Transport made similar proposal pending amendments to related legal documents.

According to statistics of the Central Road Maintenance Fund, localities collected around VND1.28 trillion (US$57.4 million) in road maintenance fee from early 2013 to June 30 this year, much lower than the annual target of VND2.6 trillion.

Total fee revenue in each of 2013 and 2014 was just over VND550 billion, meeting only 21% of the targets for these two years. In the first half of this year, the revenue plunged over the same period of two previous years, reaching only 6.71% of the year’s target.

Due to low efficiency, the Government gave the nod to proposals of the ministries to suspend the fee from January 1 next year after more than two years the fee was introduced.

At a meeting in July this year, the HCMC People’s Council supported the municipal government’s proposal to collect the fee. The council’s chairwoman Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam said the Government’s Decree 18 on road maintenance fee collection was still valid, so the city would do as required by the decree.

More than 6.85 million motorcycles had been registered in HCMC by the end of last year.

Cataract No.1 cause of blindness in Viet Nam

Cataract still accounts for 74 per cent of people in Viet Nam despite all combating efforts from the health care sector in recent years, a survey on avoidable blindness has revealed.

The survey, which was conducted by the Ministry of Health this year, examined over 28,000 elderly people over the age of 50 in 14 localities, diagnosed with losing their eyesight, and found that the number of low vision patients due to cataract had doubled in seven years, while the annual number of surgeries conducted was as low as 1,870 cases.

Dr Vuong Anh Duong, head of Hospital Quality Management estimated that cataract operations need to be raised to between 4,000 and 5,000 cases per year to avoid impaired vision.

Experts said patients need to raise awareness of the importance of early operations as it is estimated that 75 per cent of cases of blindness in people over 50 years old are treatable.

The survey also found that glaucoma and refractive errors are the other two leading reasons for vision loss.

Duong said that the prevalence of blindness generally this year fell to 1.8 per cent compared to 3.2 per cent in 2007 and 2008.

Low vision patients also declined from 13.6 per cent to 11.4 per cent in seven years.

However the rate is not evenly distributed in all provinces, which means some reported reduction while the other saw an increase, Duong said.

Vietnam gets mediocre ranking in list of healthiest countries

Vietnam has been ranked the 62nd healthiest country in the world and among Asia Pacific’s top ten in a new list that combines data from the World Health Organization, the United Nations and the World Bank.

The Bloomberg rankings calculated the health grade of 145 countries by subtracting their risk score from their health score.

Health score factors include life expectancy at birth and infant mortality, causes of death and death rate. The health risk score is based on health-damaging factors such as the proportion of young people who smoke or drink, the number of people with raised cholesterol and blood pressure, the level of pollution and the number of immunizations.

Scoring 51.99%, from a health score of 56.97% and a 4.98% health risk, Vietnam is among the ten healthiest countries of the Asia Pacific region.

Its ranking in Southeast Asia was only below that of Malaysia and Singapore, with the latter ultimately topping the global list and followed by Italy and Australia.

The rankings surveyed countries with population of at least one million and did not include Brunei or Myanmar.

Western Europe took most of the top positions. Israel was the only country from the Middle East with a high ranking while North and South America could not break the top ten. The ten least healthiest countries are all in Africa.

“The data is a useful guide for policy makers, who might look at the practices of higher-scoring countries to improve their own countries’ health scores,” according to the World Economic Forum.

But the forum suggests that a ranking defining “healthy” by “quality of life” rather than “life expectancy” might have lower-income countries in higher places by reporting higher levels of life satisfaction.

The 2015 Legatum Prosperity Index also showed Vietnam performing poorly in the health category.

Vietnam ranked 55 out of 142 countries but its ranking in the health index was 90, down 15 places from last year and also its lowest rank in all categories this year.

The country performs best in the economy index, ranking 32.

Plan proposes construction of north-south road

A project proposal has been sent to the HCM City People's Committee regarding the construction of a north-south road for an estimated VND8.5 trillion (US$377.7 million).

The plan proposes the construction of a 7.5km-long, six-lane road connecting Nguyen Van Linh Street and Ba Chiem Bridge in south HCM City.

The land clearance costs have been included in the proposal, Vietnamese enterprises Hoa Phong and Moc An, the investors, said.

The proposed road will be part of the north-south connecting route, extending from Highway 22 in District 12 to the suburban Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park in Nha Be District.

Another north-south line had been proposed earlier by the HCM City Urban Traffic Management Zone No.1, according to which a new road will be built from Hoang Dieu Intersection in District 4 to Nguyen Van Linh Street to tackle the heavy traffic jams that occur in the area. The construction of the road, measuring about 3.8km in length, is expected to cost VND6.74 trillion ($299.5 million). 

Measures to reduce land erosion in Dak Lak province

The Central Highlands province of Dak Lak needs a proper land use strategy to mitigate soil erosion and develop existing land resources, scientists have recommended.

According to Trinh Cong Tu, an expert from the Central Highlands land, fertilizer, and environment research center, Dak Lak has over 90 percent of farmland exposed to the impact of tropical climate with rain pouring heavily between April and October.

The rain had swept away a lot of nutrients in the arable land, resulting in soil degradation.

The volume of eroded soil on cultivated and uncultivated land is 7.7-33.6 tonnes and 51.8 tonnes, respectively, per hectare per year.

Intercropping could help improve land fertility and stimulate crops’ growth, Tu suggested.

Growing coffee and bean together, for example, is an effective combination, which could preserve land for the coffee cultivation. The initiative could safeguard 25 tonnes of land from erosion per hectare per year.

Tu also suggested Dak Lak and other Central Highlands provinces take measures to improve the organic matter in land, especially making use of available organic materials such as leaves and weed-trees.

Increasing forest coverage and reorganising plant structure are among solutions to that issue, he added.

Comprising five provinces of Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Lam Dong, Dak Nong and Dak Lak, the Central Highlands is the country’s largest coffee producer.

PM okays highway expansion in Soc Trang, Bac Lieu provinces

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved the expansion of several sections of National Highway 1A in the southern provinces of Bac Lieu and Soc Trang. 

Accordingly, some parts of the highway in the north of Bac Lieu city will be expanded to four lanes for motor vehicles and two lanes for others. 

Meanwhile, a two-lane section of the highway will be built in Soc Trang city. 

Investment for upgrading and expanding parts of the highway in the two localities is being used under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, in line with legal regulations, according to the Ministry of Transport. 

Under the 2020 development plan, National Highway 1A will stretch from Huu Nghi Quan (the northern province of Lang Son) to Nam Can (the southernmost province of Ca Mau) with a total length of over 2,395 kilometers. 

Several sections of the highway will have roads and bridges reinforced. The construction of tunnels through Phu Gia and Phuoc Tuong passes in the central provinc of Thua Thien – Hue and Ca pass in Phu Yen province will be completed soon. 

As the backbone of the national transport system, National Highway 1A runs through half of the provinces and cities in the country, linking Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho.

Green technology featured in seminar

Green technology and eco-friendly materials was theme of a seminar held in Hanoi on November 5, which formed part of activities in response to the Vietnam Urban Green Growth Week and Vietnam Urban Day (November 8). 

Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Lighting Association Tran Dinh Bac said the country’s lighting sector currently consumes around 35 percent of electricity production. 

According to him, Vietnam records thousands of lighting equipment companies but their products are mostly of bad quality and made in China. 

He recommended a number of lighting options for streets, homes, hospitals, recreational and commercial areas, including using LED bulbs with a capacity of 50-100 percent and controlling lighting systems by GRPS technology. 

On building solar and wind energy stations, he suggested tracking radiation intensity and efficiency of devices used indoors and outdoors. 

Rudy Fang, Marketing Director of the Business Centre Company, said Vietnam should facilitate investment in construction and real estate using green building materials as the country is still below average in terms of environment governance and the use of green technology. 

The event was co-hosted by the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

National ICT workshop opens in HCM City

More than 300 experts and scientists gather on November 5-6 in Ho Chi Minh City to discuss ways to promote information and communication technology (ICT). 

Participants focus their discussions on key topics, including cyber technologies and cloud computing, software technology, data base, and socio-economic information and technologies. 

Rector of Nguyen Tat Thanh University Nguyen Manh Hung said the annual workshop presents opportunities for experts, lecturers and managers to share experience in ICT application and promote the sector’s development. 

It also encourages young scientists and students to share their studies, he added. 

At the plenary session, participants heard reports by Fang-pang Lin, Director of the System Integration and Cloud Computing Department under the Taiwan Centre for High Performance Computing on ICT infrastructure. 

Prof. Ho Tu Bao from the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology presented a report on challenges in huge data exploration.

During the two-day event, nearly 100 reports are presented on a number of issues in the sector, such as challenges in exploring huge data amount, algorithm-based data safety in cloud computing, among others. 

The workshop, the 18th of its kind, is jointly organised by Nguyen Tat Thanh University, the Institute of Information and Technologies, and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technologies.

Health Ministry seeks to boost IT application in management

The Ministry of Health on November 5 organised an online meeting on accelerating the application of information technology in the management of medical examination and treatment as well as health insurance payment. 

The meeting was an effort to implement Resolution 36a/NQ-CP of the Government. 

Deputy Minister of Health Pham Le Tuan said in the past years, the ministry has coordinated with the Vietnam Social Insurance and relevant agencies to implement a pilot project with the assistance from the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) and the military telecommunication group (Viettel). 

According to the ministry’s Department of Information Technology, all public services of the ministry have been publicly published on the ministry’s portal and all online services have achieved level 2; and seven online services at level 3 and 4 in terms of effective operation. 

The ministry plans to complete all 14 online public services at level 4 in the fields of environment and health in November. 

According to statistics in 2014, all central hospitals, 68 percent of provincial hospitals and 61 percent of all district-level hospitals implemented software on the management of examination and treatment and 95 percent of special-level hospitals and class-I hospitals formed IT divisions and the majority of provincial hospitals has IT employees. 

Deputy Head of the Department of Health Insurance Dang Hong Nam said the IT application at health facilities in Vietnam has been done by hospitals and lacked connectivity and a shared database. 

According to Nam, since April, 2015 the health sector has piloted connecting the health insurance data in four levels in six provinces – Bac Ninh, Thai Nguyen, Hai Phong, Tien Giang, Ninh Binh and Nghe An. 

The ministry coordinated with Viettel to pilot the health management system at communes and wards, including collecting health data at health centres in Ha Long city of Quang Ninh province, Cam Xuyen district in Ha Tinh province and Cam Lam district in Khanh Hoa province.

Denmark helps Vietnam promote bio-diversity conservation

The World Wide Fund (WFF) for Nature in Denmark (WFF Denmark) and Danish organisations and businesses will continue their support for Vietnam to further promote natural conservation activities, including the expansion of effective bio-diversity preservation models.

Danish Prince Henrik Marie Hans Andres, Honour President of WFF Denmark, made the affirmation at a press conference in Hanoi on November 5, during which he also reported the outcomes of his 10-day working visit to Vietnam beginning from October 28.

The Prince praised Vietnam’s efforts in preserving nature, especially those made at the Cat Tien National Park, which covers areas of Lam Dong, Dong Nai and Binh Phuoc provinces.

However, he noted that there are many challenges facing Vietnam, requiring the country to pay due attention to conserving bio-diversity, thus balancing social development and natural preservation.

Prince Henrik took the occasion to introduce a number of bio-diversity conservation projects conducted by WFF Denmark in Vietnam.

Director of WFF Denmark Gitte Seberg affirmed that WFF Denmark will continue to work closely with its Vietnamese counterparts to implement natural preservation activities, focusing on assisting local residents in finding stable jobs in an effort to reduce deforestation.

Speaking at the event, Head the People’s Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM) under the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations Phan Anh Son thanked Prince Henrik as well as the WFF Denmark for their assistance to Vietnam in bio-diversity conservation.

During his stay, the Prince visited projects funded by WFF Denmark and WFF Vietnam, including an eco-tourism model in the Cat Tien National Park, and those to protect rare animals in the central city of Da Nang and neighbouring Thua Thien-Hue province.

Hanoi youths to join ‘Dance for Kindness’

Young people in the capital city will take part in a global event themed ‘Dance for Kindness’ in response to World Kindness Day slated for November 8 with modern dances- FreezeMob and FlashMob.

Youth dance to promote kindness
During the event, more than 500 volunteers will exchange card messages of kindness to each other.

World Kindness Day, initiated by Life Vest Inside, will be taking place in 100 cities of 40 countries.

Last year, ‘Dance for Kindness’ in Vietnam attracted 600 young people and numerous messages of kindness on social media.

Fishers lack training on work safety

Vietnamese fishers do difficult and dangerous work but are often unaware of how to prevent work accidents or protect themselves, doctors and authorities from coastal provinces told the Nong Thon Ngay Nay (Countryside Today) newspaper.

Tran Van Hung, a doctor from the Hoang Hoa District Hospital in the central province of Thanh Hoa, said that fishing is hard work. Ship space is cramped and narrow, and the non-stop work can cause eye diseases, aches and pains, rheumatism, joint diseases and coughing.

Tang Van Phien, director of the Van Chai-Ha Long Co-operative in Quang Ninh Province, said that the co-operative only offers training courses for preventing accidents in row boats, but does not offer work safety or fire prevention and control training.

"They are at a disadvantage because they do not receive any support to protect their lives or property," he said.

Off the coast of the province's Quang Yen Town, Nguyen Van Chung, 52, lives and works on his ship.

"When facing storms or typhoons, we rely on our experience to save ourselves," he said since they never received any work safety training. Not only that, he said many ships also went out to sea without any life buoys or first aid and medicine.

Chung still trembles when he recalls the typhoon of 1983. A whirlwind came suddenly forcing each member in Chung's family to hold onto a plastic can and jump into the sea. They bobbed along with the choppy water until they were finally saved by a passing ship.

"We were lucky that it was not in winter, otherwise we would have died from the cold," he said.

Like Chung, Tran Van Tan, 44, lives in Ha Long City and worries about living on the sea.

Labourers who go out to sea cannot help it if they fall ill on the sea, he said, but ships only stock simple flu medicines. If someone becomes seriously ill, they must go inland for treatment, said Tan.

"Sometimes they had serious accidents, breaking arms or legs, but we did not have enough medicine or tools—we only knew to pray the Buddha," he said.

Just this past September, 11 seamen on a fishing boat off Con Dao Island died. The ship's gas tank used for cooking exploded. The ship lacked life buoys and fire extinguishers.

Nguyen Thanh Tam, deputy director of the Quang Ninh Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that the seamen did not take necessary precautions before going out to sea, such as thoroughly checking their equipment.

He said they were never trained in boat safety, and relevant local authorities didn't even have plans to check work safety standards on the fishing boats.

An Giang destroys large batch of smuggled goods

This southern province's Border Guard Command yesterday destroyed 4,350 litres of petrol which had been smuggled into Viet Nam.

The unclaimed goods were seized by Nhon Hung District's border post in June.

In late August, An Giang Province's Market Management Department destroyed more than 507,000 packages of illegally imported cigarettes at the Binh Duc dumping ground in the province's Long Xuyen City.

An Giang Province's Border Guard deputy commander Colonel Lý Kế Tùng said the public destruction of these smuggled goods was intended to admonish smugglers involved in trading and storing goods without clear proof of their origins.

The province's anti-smuggling forces have seized goods, worth a total of VND15.3 billion, in more than 1,480 smuggling cases since early this year. A total of 644 smugglers were captured in the course of investigations.

Cigarettes accounted for the largest quantity of seized goods.

Binh Phuoc mass murder trial to begin soon

Binh Phuoc People's Prosecuracy plans to bring murder and robbery charges against three persons for the murders of six persons, the prosecuracy said at a press conference yesterday.

The six victims were members of a wealthy family who were found dead in July in the southern province.

The prosecutors also propose to ask for the death penalty for the suspects, Nguyen Hai Duong, 24; Tran Dinh Thoai, 27; and Vu Van Tien, 24.

The provincial People's Court said it would begin a public trial in the mass murder case later this month.

On July 7, the six victims were found dead at a house in Minh Hung Commune in Binh Phuoc's Chon Thanh District.

According to the police, the victims -- Le Van My, 48; his wife Nguyen Thi Anh Nga, 42; daughter Le Thi Anh Linh, 22; and son Le Quoc Anh, 15; as well as nephew Du Minh Vy, 14; and niece Du Ngoc To Nhu, 18 – were fatally stabbed in their necks and chests. 

The bodies of five of them were found tied up in their rooms, while Vy, the first victim, was killed in the front yard immediately after he reportedly opened the gate for two of the suspects, Duong and Tien.

Duong, a former boyfriend of Linh, intended to kill her family members and rob them, after the couple broke up in February because of opposition from Linh's family.

Duong often stayed at Linh's house when he was seeing her, and therefore knew the place very well.

He bought a knife, a stun gun, a BB pistol and SIM cards with fake registrations, as well as gloves, masks, plastic cable ties and duct tape.

On July 4, Duong asked Thoai to join him in breaking into Linh's house, and robbing and killing all her family members. Thoai agreed to help Duong. They drove a motorbike to Linh's house, located on National Highway 13, at 2pm.

In the evening, Duong sent a text message asking Vy, My's 14-year-old nephew, to open the gate. When Vy did not appear, the duo returned to their rented room in HCM City's Hoc Mon District, and planned to try again the next day.

Thoai then gave Duong a knife, but refused to join him the next day, saying that he had to visit his sick grandmother in his home town.

On July 6, Duong persuaded Tien, another friend, to help him rob Linh's family, but did not mention anything about his murder plans. Tien agreed to help Duong.

Then, Duong phoned Vy and asked him to open the gate for him later, promising to give him some money to buy video games.

On July 7, when Duong and Tien arrived at about 1am, Vy opened the gate. Duong immediately killed him.

The duo then went to the first floor of the house, where My's daughter Linh and his niece Nhu were sleeping. They tied them up and used duct tape to tape their mouths.

On the ground floor, they tied up My, his wife Nga and son Quoc Anh before Duong killed them.

The suspects stole items worth about VND49 million (US$2.200).

On July 13, Binh Phuoc Police charged Duong and Tien with murder and robbery, and detained Tran Dinh Thoai on August 9 over the same charges.

'Foreigner-only' restaurant makes waitresses dress in bikinis

Ho Chi Minh City authorities say they will fine a restaurant targeting foreign customers in the city downtown for making its waitresses work in bikinis.

Inspectors raided Morgan Restaurant on District 1’s Nguyen Khac Nhu Street on November 4 night and found dozens of scantily-clad women entertaining Korean guests in karaoke rooms. 

Several women said they were working on their first day and were yet to sign a contract. 

Inspectors have documented various violations at the restaurant, including unregistered karaoke services and the lack of labor contracts. 

The restaurant is known for its team of young employees and only accepts foreign customers, local media reported.

Vietnam among 15 nations with highest smoker number in world

With about 40,000 people dying of smoking-caused diseases per annum, Vietnam is one of the 15 countries with the highest number of smokers in the world, a health official has announced, citing the World Health Organization (WHO) Office in Vietnam.

Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue, director of the Fund for Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms, which is under the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, released the figures at a conference on the enforcement of the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms held in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on November 3.

That means about 100 Vietnamese die every day of illnesses resulting from smoking, Dr. Khue said.

The doctor, who is also head of the ministry’s Department for Medical Examination and Treatment Management, told the conference that around 15.3 million adults in Vietnam are smokers.

Smokers make up 47.4% of men and 1.4% of women in Vietnam, the official said, adding that for every two men, there is one smoker.

In addition, 33 million non-smokers in Vietnam are considered passive smokers, as they breathe air contaminated with tobacco smoke at home.

Two-thirds of these people are women and children.

In addition, five million non-smokers are exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke in their workplaces, Dr. Khue said.

Currently, smoking-caused diseases kill about 40,000 Vietnamese people per year, and the figure may rise to 70,000 in 2030, the official said, citing WHO statistics.

Smoking is among the leading causes of mortality in men in Vietnam, with nearly 11% of the total deaths stemming from smoking-related ailments, according to data published by the health sector.

Statistics at Hanoi-based K Hospital show that smokers account for 96.8% of the total number of lung cancer patients treated there.

Smoking is also the leading cause of death in the world and is responsible for the deaths of nearly six million people throughout globe every year, the WHO said.

The smoke from a burning cigarette contains more than 7,000 chemicals, of which at least 250 are known to be harmful, including hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and ammonia (1, 2, 5), the US National Cancer Institute said.

Among these 250, at least 69 can cause cancer, the institute added.

Da Nang to improve facilities at public beaches

The People's Committee of Da Nang has approved an investment of VND14.5 billion (US$690,000) to build facilities in two public beaches.

The work will be carried from 2016 in Ngu Hanh Son District with bathrooms, water closets, parking areas and changing rooms built.

The plan of building more beaches targets to meet the increasing demand. Currently, the city has seven public bathroom areas but they are always overcrowded. 

Binh Dinh approves eco-friendly electric cars for tourists

The People's Committee of the south-central province of Binh Dinh has approved the introduction of electric cars to serve tourists.

The eco-friendly vehicles will carry tourists to Quy Nhon City's beaches, roads like Nguyen Tat Thanh, Le Hong Phong, An Duong Vuong, and Phan Boi Chau, and other tourist attractions.

During an initial trial period two cars will operate from 6am to 10pm. The cars can carry 12 people including the driver and the fare will be VND20,000 per trip.

Next year there will be 20 cars plying once every 30 minutes. 

Sa Pa's Ban Ho Commune sees tourism sector recovery

Some 22 families have registered to become homestay hosts in Ban Ho Commune in Sa Pa District.

The local tourism management board said tourism in the area has recovered in the last two years. So far this year the commune has welcomed nearly 600 visitors from many countries including the UK, France, the US, and Denmark.

Ban Ho, en route to Sa Pa, is blessed with beautiful landscapes and unique cultural features. 

Golf tournament positive for VN tourism, says minister

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh on Wednesday threw his weight behind the Ho Tram Open, an Asian Tour sanctioned professional golf event to be played from December 3 to 6, underlining the significance of world-class sports events to Viet Nam's tourism growth.

"To host an event of this stature requires not only the vision and insight to create it, but the willingness to invest," he said.

"The Ho Tram Open will act as a powerful shop-window into Viet Nam's burgeoning status as a global tourism hub, positioning Ho Tram in the minds of not only golfers, but holiday-makers around the globe."

The tournament will be broadcast live on VTV and K+ domestically and distributed to over 650 million homes worldwide, providing an unprecedented platform for promoting the event and the destination.

The competition will bring some of the world's best golfers to Viet Nam, including Sergio Garcia, Ryder Cup Captain and a former British Open champion, and Darren Clarke, a former US Open champion.

Viet Nam's top player, Michael Tran, will play alongside them and a host of the Asian Tour's best players.

"Viet Nam has so much to offer visitors from around the world, whether it is the searing vistas of the mountainous highlands to the 2,000km long coastline that we at Ho Tram call home, and the Open in December will provide an amazing showcase of this amazing land to a global audience," Colin Pine, general director of the Ho Tram Project Company, said. 

Ho Chi Minh City taxman urged to reveal names of celebrity tax evaders

More than two dozen Ho Chi Minh City-based show business figures have been found to owe a huge amount of individual income tax, and members of the public are calling for their names to be revealed.

The city’s tax department has asked 26 local artists to pay VND6.3 billion (US$281,250) in tax arrears, after reviewing their tax declaration as of October 31.

One of the celebs owes as much as VND700 million ($31,250) in tax in 2014 alone, while two others face payment of more than VND500 million ($22,321) in tax arrears each, according to the taxman.

Other artists on the list owe between VND100 million ($4,464) and VND300 million ($13,393).

However the VND700 million is not the “biggest debt yet,” as another famous figure is facing payment of VND1 billion ($44,643) in tax arrears, according to Le Thi Thu Huong, deputy head of the tax department.

“All of those on the list are ‘hot faces’ in all fields of art and entertainment,” Huong told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

The Ho Chi Minh City taxman asked showbiz figures to clear tax arrears in previous years, who according to Huong “became more aware of paying taxes” this year for fear of losing face.

In Vietnam, the threshold for personal income taxation is VND9 million ($402) a month.

Any income above that milestone will be subject to certain rates of tax in a progressive manner, with the cap being 30 percent.

Support for dependents will be deducted when a person is taxed.

While it is hard for salaried people to evade taxes, it is not uncommon for local celebrities to be blacklisted by tax authorities.

Local artists used to have to declare and pay taxes at the Ho Chi Minh City tax department, but currently do so at the sub-department of tax in their localities, according to a new regulation taking effect in 2008.

The new rule, however, results in weaker supervision and looser management over the famous taxpayers.

Vietnamese artists have myriad excuses to evade taxes, prompting the city’s authorities to begin asking them to pay tax arrears from 2013.

That year, 210 showbiz figures were asked to repay their tax debts, but only a few dozen eventually followed the request.

Most celebrity tax evaders clear the debts as requested, while their reputation remains untainted because their names are never publicly revealed.

Members of the public have therefore called for tax authorities to publicize the list of tax evaders.

Nguyen Thai Son, the former head of individual income tax with the Ho Chi Minh City tax department, also backed the idea of publicly naming celebrity tax evaders.

Son said the public should be able to know how much tax the famous artists have paid.

“So people will know if a superstar with a huge income just pays a modest amount of tax,” he told Tuoi Tre.

“They will then feel ashamed and change their tax-paying attitude.”