VN attends World Youth Festival

A Vietnamese youth delegation, led by the first secretary of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Vo Van Thuong, attended the opening ceremony of the 17th World Festival of Youth and Students in Pretoria, South Africa, today, Dec 14.

The opening in Lucas ‘Masterpieces' Moripe Stadium included a parade of the participating nations; art performances; a torch light procession and military review.

At least 140 delegations are attending the festival which is intended to promote youth in the struggle for peace, solidarity and social transformation.

Viet Nam's delegation will explain Viet Nam Communist Party and State policies for youth at various gatherings over the next eight days.

Their focus will be on workshops to introduce Viet Nam; exhibits that show Viet Nam, the country and its people, and attending international seminars.

They will also attend bilateral meetings with youth from Cuba, North Korea and Laos.

The festival - the world's most important youth forum - is held every five years.

Sixteen have been held since the first in 1915.

More than 100 substandard buses

Ha Noi and HCM City transport inspectors found that 114 of 343 coaches and buses did not meet exhaust fume standards after five random station checks.


The number is equal to 33.2 per cent of buses, three times higher than the average 10 per cent that typically fail to meet standards.

Two men indicted for embezzling

The Ha Noi People's Procuracy has completed an indictment to prosecute two men for embezzling property from a project to build Trung Trac Primary School in Hai Ba Trung District.

Under the indictment, the defendants, project manager Nguyen Duy Do, 50, and engineer Nguyen Dinh Lap, 49, colluded to embezzle VND2.3 billion (US$117,000) by reducing the number of cement stakes used for the buildings.

The police arrested them in January.

Brightest meteor shower to appear

The brightest meteor shower of the year, named Geminids, is expected to be seen tonight and early morning on Wednesday throughout Viet Nam, said Dang Vu Tuan Son, head of the Viet Nam Amateur Club of Astronomy.

The best time to observe the meteor shower will be between 11pm and 2am when about 120 meteors per hour are likely to be visible if it is not too foggy.

It was named "Geminids" because it appears to radiate from the constellation Gemini.

Meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through a comet's orbit or the debris left behind by a comet.

Joint law enforcement to combat transnational crime

Vietnam will further its anti-transnational crime efforts through regional organized law enforcement based on the establishment and operation of Border Liaison Offices (BLO), according to an international workshop in Hanoi.

The two-day event, which opened in Hanoi on December 13, is held by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Vietnam’s relevant agencies, and other international organizations.

The workshop aims to discuss a coordination mechanism for the new-model BLO, the establishment of a National Consultancy Board for the project ‘Partnership against Transnational Crime through Regional Organized Law Enforcement (Patrol)’, and standards for setting up new BLOs within the project’s framework.

Participants will also set priorities for effective cooperation between Vietnam and UNODC.

In addition, the workshop will serve as a venue for Vietnam’s functional agencies to review operations and share experiences with foreign counterparts, said Vietnamese Police Colonel Nguyen Trung Kien, Director of the Standing Office on Drugs Control in Vietnam (SODC).

Mr Kien said the workshop affirms the Vietnamese Government’s determination and pledge to expand its cooperation with UNDODC and nations worldwide for peace, stability, prosperity, and a drug-free ASEAN.

Hanoi hosts eighth emulation patriotic congress

1,500 outstanding delegates will attend the 8th National Patriotic Emulation Congress which will be held at the National Convention Centre in Hanoi on December 29-30.

Under the theme "Solidarity, Dynamism, Creativity, Emulation for the Fulfillment of Socio-Economic Development Goals during the 2011-2015 period", the event attracted 1,500 leading delegates from the patriotic emulation movements from ministries, agencies, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, plus central and local organisations.

70 percent of the delegates are individuals and 30 percent representatives from different organisations. These exemplary role models are workers, successful businesses from every economic sector, young talent, and intellectuals.   

The congress will review emulation patriotic movements as well as the state’s policies on rewards over the past five years, and highlight shining examples and ways of improving the quality of emulation and rewards in the 2011-2015 period.

The congress will launch more patriotic emulation movements nationwide.  

Finland, Vietnam cooperate in clean technology

Finland wants to continue promoting cooperation with Vietnam in clean technology, Ambassador to Vietnam Pekka Hyvonen said at a workshop in Hanoi on Dec. 13.

He said Finnish experts and companies are able to provide Vietnam with high-quality clean technology services, particularly in solutions for effective energy use which would help Vietnamese firms achieve better performance and profit.

The Finnish diplomat stressed the importance of environmental protection and improvement in sustainable development at the event, saying Finland is one of the world’s leading nations in linking economic growth and clean technology, especially liquid waste treatment and renewable energy technologies.

The workshop presented a good opportunity for businesses from both countries to discuss impacts of urbanization and industrialization, and helped map out detailed programmes to be jointly implemented early next year, the Finnish Ambassador said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Danh Vinh hailed Finland’s assistance to Vietnam in recent years and emphasized that Finland is Vietnam’s first partner in clean technology.

According to the deputy minister, Vietnam is aware of effects from global climate change as well as the relationship between sustainable development and environmental protection.

He described potential for cooperation in clean technology as a lever for both countries’ businesses to expand and boost economic and trade cooperation in the near future.

Finland has invested in five projects in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of US$33.4 million.

Rural clean water project brings real benefits

More than 20,000 households in the central and Mekong Delta regions have benefited from a clean water and sanitation project implemented by East Meets West Foundation (EMW).

This is an effective way of avoiding wastefulness, said EMW National Director Nguyen Minh Chau at a seminar on Output-Based Aid (OBA) in Hanoi on Dec. 13.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dao Xuan Hoc affirmed that Vietnam has encouraged all economic sectors to invest in rural clean water programmes of output-based projects.
According to Hoc, OBA has mobilized capital from businesses and people investing in rural clean water programmes. A majority of poor people have the chance to access clean water sources with small financial contributions. In the meantime, OBA has clearly defined the responsibility of businesses when they are investors-cum-owners.
World Bank Country Director for Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa said that using output-based financial assistance to implement projects in Vietnam to improve the living conditions of poor families in a sustainable way is a new approach and the WB supported this type of assistance to the country.
Vietnam aims to have all its people gain access to clean water by 2020. However, it is not an easy task, said Nguyen Thanh Luan, Vice Director of the clean water and environment sanitation programmes.

VNN/VOV/VNS