Work starts on Laos-Vietnam friendship school

A ground breaking ceremony for the Laos-Vietnam friendship school took place in Laos’ ancient capital of Luang Prabang on November 15.

Addressing the function, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Education and Training Tran Quang Quy said the school covers an area of nearly 5,000 sq m and is a key project of the Vietnam-Laos friendship year 2012. 

The Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam is the owner of the VND56 billion project.

On behalf of local authorities, Mayor Sompheng Saysompheng thanked the Vietnamese Party, Government and people’s support for many projects in the province to help reduce poverty and increase social security for the benefit of local socio-economic development.

British media highlights Vietnam’s public services

Photo: VOV

In its November 15 edition, the Guardian newspaper wrote that politicians and managers should look to south-east Asia for inspiration, including Vietnam, where they can find one of the world's most efficient public sectors.

The paper cited a new report from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), comparing the performance of public sectors globally.

Since the end of the war in 1975, Vietnam has transformed its impoverished, centrally-planned economy to a mixed and fast-expanding one, where GDP has grown in real terms between 5 percent and 8 percent.

More recently, Vietnam has instituted a radical simplification of its public sector. In 2007, the government launched Project 30, a plan to cut its administrative procedures by 30 percent. The country created a single, national database of all its administrative procedures and then assessed them against three criteria: whether they are necessary, whether they are user friendly, and whether they are legal.

Vietnam has not yet succeeded in cutting its public services by almost a third – it has reached what the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) calls a “crucial stage” in attempting to implement its radical cuts, with the first results only just beginning to materialize.

But in the UK its bold approach will be music to the ears of the government's efficiency and reform group, which has been wielding the axe over public services since the coalition government came to power, the Guardian said.

CIMA and the OECD, which reviewed Vietnam's project earlier this year, believe that other countries could learn from the Vietnamese approach. One of the key factors of its success was having a strong coordinating unit at the centre of government, with backing from senior politicians. Dedicated taskforces to carry out the plans in each department have also been important, the paper reported.

Bank officers sacked for violating rate cap

Several of the top brass at the HCM City-based House Development Bank (HDBank) got the sack while others received strong warnings after the central bank found several branches breaching the deposit interest rate cap.

The State Bank of Viet Nam on Monday announced the punishments, a month after it inspected the bank.

Deputy general director Dam The Thai was among those given marching orders for allowing commissions to be paid to depositors.

Strong warnings were issued to permanent deputy chairwoman Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, deputy chairman Nguyen Huu Thanh, general director Nguyen Huu Dang, head of the bank's inspection division Dao Duy Tuong, and others.

Also getting the boot were personal banking head Tran Thu Huong, chief of the non-credit sector at personal banking Vu Anh Thu, heads of two branches, and several junior managers.

Another branch head was warned and transferred.

The central bank slapped harsh penalties on the bank itself, restricting its credit growth to 10 per cent next year and prohibiting any expansion for one year.

It ordered the bank to recoup the VND187.2 million (US$8,900) it had illegally paid some brokers as commissions for deposits.

HDBank has to report back after carrying out all the central bank's instructions by November 30.

Meanwhile, HCM City has issued a wanted notice for Doan Vu Van Toan, 37, former head of the Dinh Tien Hoang Street transaction agency of the Viet Nam International Bank.

The police said on Monday that Thanh had used seven savings books purportedly in the names of his acquaintances to apply for loans and appropriate VND21.34 billion (over $1 million) from his office.

Five of them told the police that Toan had asked them to sign loan application documents while the other two said they had never signed off on any documents.

Investigations found later that all the savings books were fake.

The police said Toan had quit his job and fled his home at New Sai Gon Residential Area in Nha Be District on October 1.

They have charged Toan with misappropriating other people's assets.

Forest plant, animal species to be listed

In order to facilitate conservation activities, the central province of Thanh Hoa has decided to invest VND4.4 billion (US$210,000) in a two-year project to list all plants and animals in the Pu Luong Natural Reserve.

The Management Board will create a list and descriptions of the reserve's 1,800 tree species and hundreds of animal species. A distribution map of rare plants and animals will also be developed.

Pu Luong Protected Area is located in Ba Tuoc and Quan Hoa districts and covers more than 17,160ha.

Japan to build waste treatment project

The Japan-based JFE Engineering Corporation and Nihon Suido Consultants Company are planning to develop waste water and garbage treatment plants in the central city of Da Nang.

Leaders of the two groups yesterday held a working session with municipal authorities on the pre-feasibility study, which is estimated to cost US$190 million.

In 2007, Nihon Suido Consultants conducted a pre-feasibility study on a project to improve environmental sanitation in Da Nang City. Based on the study, the company and its partners, including Sumitomo, JFE Engineering and Tsukishima Kakai, set up a working group to develop the project under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

RoK funds water supply project in Central Highlands

More than 80,000 residents of Buon Ho town in the Central Highland province of Dak Lak will benefit from a water supply project granted by the Government of the Republic of Korea (RoK).

The RoK's financial assistance will be chanelled through the Korea International Co-operation Agency (KOICA) in Vietnam.

The US$44.5-million project was launched on November 14 to provide a stable water source for the area where 70 percent of local people use unsafe water from wells, rivers or lakes.

"Safe water is essential for human life. I hope that the project will contribute to socio-economic development and minimize the impact of climate change for the local people," said the vice president of KOICA, Han Choong Sik.

Seminar seeks to empower women migrant workers

Vietnam should increase policy dialogues with the host countries of women migrant workers and better the provision of information to improve workers’ knowledge of gender and labour laws.

Nguyen Thanh Tung, deputy head of the Workers’ Management Division under the Department of Overseas Workers’ Management, was speaking at a seminar entitled “Empowering Vietnamese women migrant workers” in Ho Chi Minh City on November 14-15.

This is part of activities to increase the protection of legitimate rights of Vietnamese female migrant workers, he said.

Relevant agencies and local authorities should strictly deal with labour exporters who have failed to protect the rights of Vietnamese workers, including female ones. 

According to Cao Thi Hong Van, head of a committee to support women in economic development under the Vietnam Women’s Union, Vietnamese women face many challenges, including family breakdown, low spirit and pressure of sending money home to pay debts while they work abroad. 

In addition, other challenges include language, culture and climate differences, work abuse and the risk of human trafficking. 

About 500,000 Vietnamese workers, including 251,000 females, are working in over 40 countries and territories and send home US$1.7 billion every year. 

Taiwan receives the highest number of Vietnamese women workers (61 percent of the total), followed by Malaysia (20.9 percent) and the Republic of Korea (4.4 percent).