Vietnam, Laos strengthen labour cooperation

The labour ministries of Vietnam and Laos signed an agreement on labour and social welfare cooperation at a meeting in Hue on July 1.

Signatories to the agreement were Pham Thi Hai Chuyen, Vietnamese Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, and Onechanh Thammavong, Lao Minister of Labour and Social Welfare.  

Photo: VGP

They said both sides will continue implementing a labour cooperation agreement between the two governments and another cooperation agreement between the two ministries.

They will increase the sharing of experience and cooperation in labour and employment, and make recommendations to their governments to ease difficulties in policy implementation.

They will also work closely with relevant agencies to search and collect remains of volunteer Vietnamese and Lao soldiers who died in each other’s territories during wartime.

Addressing the meeting, the third of its kind between the two ministries, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc acknowledged effective cooperation between the two ministries in recent times, especially the signing of the labour cooperation agreement.

He asked the two ministries to improve the quality and diversify modes of cooperation, making a practical contribution to socio-economic development in each country.

Ministers Chuyen and Thammavong concurred that the two ministries have effectively implemented their agreements reached at their second meeting in Laos, concerning cooperation in labour and policies for social policy beneficiaries, human resources training, vocational training development, and the sharing of experience in implementing social welfare policies.

They agreed to hold the fourth meeting in Laos in 2015.   

Over 1.6 Youth Union members receive incentive loans

The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union has provided occupational consulting services for more than 6.5 million young people and helped 1.5 million others gain employment.

In the 2008- 2011 period, the Union mobilized over VND12,480 billion sourced from the National Employment Fund and the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) and local organizations to support young people in pursuing their studies or starting businesses. More than 1.6 million youth members have so far enjoyed the Union’s mobilized preferential loans.

The Union also offered its members vocational training to help them look for jobs. As a result, nearly 960,000 young people attended vocational training courses, and hundreds of thousands of them were employed.

Participants at a two-day meeting of the Union’s Central Committee in Hanoi on June 29-30 emphasized the need to assist young people in vocational training and finding employment, and also encourage their creativity.

Job fairs and seminars on overseas employment and starting a career also opened up opportunities for Youth Union members to broaden their knowledge and find work.

Over the past five years, the number of young people taking part in vocational training nearly tripled and the number of young people who became employed nearly doubled to 1,516,158.

Residents slow to accept City's strict smoking ban

At the Liberty Hotel No. 4 in HCM City, non-smoking signs can be seen on all of the lobby's tables and at the receptionist's desk. Such signs are a familiar sight in many countries, but in Viet Nam, they are relatively new.

Tran Anh Khoa, a non-smoker who has worked at the hotel for five years, said most guests honour the request and smoke outside where rubbish bins covered with ashtrays are provided.

The ban, which has been in force for one year, was implemented as part of a commitment on "building non-smoking environment" under the HCM City Health Department's Centre on Health Education.

Staff are also banned from smoking at Liberty Hotel No. 4, one of 25 hotels and restaurants in HCM City that have carried out the ban well, according to the Centre.

Many hotels and restaurants that had signed the commitment had not taken it seriously, according to Tran Lam Lan Huong, the programme's director.

Non-smoking signs are posted everywhere in the hotel, especially in the bedrooms. Nguyen Vinh Toan, the hotel's director, said that a smoking-free environment was good for the health of guests as well as the hotel staff.

"The smell from cigarettes in air-conditioned rooms causes discomfort for guests," he said, "and they don't want to return."

Complained

Foreign guests accept the ban as it is more common in their countries, but Vietnamese guests initially complained. But they now are more accepting of it, Toan added.

He said the hotel's turnover had not been affected by the ban.

When the programme began, Huong and her colleagues at the Centre had to work hard to persuade hotels and restaurants to agree to the commitment as they were afraid their sales would drop.

Nguyen Van Thuan, deputy head of personnel at Huong Rung Restaurant, said that designing areas for smokers and non-smokers was an important step in creating respect for guests.

"It's very necessary to know how to talk to guests when you ask them to sit in the smoking area," Thuan said, adding that he offered training to his staff on persuasive skills.

"When the quality of service and food is good, guests will always come to a restaurant, even though smoking is limited," he said.

Non-smoking has become a habit of regular patrons of the restaurant, he said.

According to the Centre on Health Education's report that was released on Friday, 358 out of 400 hotels and restaurants rated from one to five stars had signed a commitment on non-smoking.

The centre said the commitment was in line with the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Convention on Tobacco Control.

According to WHO, 100 deaths occur every day in Viet Nam because of smoking-related diseases.

Shaky old tenement houses to be checked

Two old apartment buildings in Ha Noi's Ba Dinh District will receive safety inspections following an instruction from the city People's Committee.

The committee asked the district People's Committee to inspect C8 building in Giang Vo residential area and E6 in Thanh Cong residential area after they were found to be at high risk of collapse.

The inspection results must be reported to the committee before July 5.

Elephant tusk smuggler seized in HCM City

Customs officials at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport on June 30 seized a Vietnamese man illegally transporting 21 kilograms of African elephant ivory tusk products into the country.

Twenty elephant tusk-based products were secretly hidden in the luggage of a man, who was returning from France.

Investigations into the case are underway.

Ivory-based products sell at a high price to Vietnamese buyers. The government has banned both the import of elephant tusks and the hunting of elephants for tusks.

Last month, a US$13 million project was approved by the government aimed at protecting wild elephants in the country.

Students volunteer for wildlife rescue centre

Twenty-four students from universities in HCM City were working as volunteers at the Hon Me Wildlife Rescue Station in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Kien Giang.

They helped prepare food and feed animals at the rescue station.

They also painted animal enclosures and planted trees during a five-day trip organised by the non-profit organisation Wildlife At Risk (WAR) from June 25 to 29.

The volunteers and local rangers have distributed leaflets that provide information on wildlife conservation to 500 local families in the province's Hon Dat District.

Trans-Vietnam cycling promotes environmental protection

The 2013 Trans-Vietnam Cycling programme will begin on July 4 to raise public awareness of traffic safety and marine environmental protection.

Themed ‘For the Homeland’s Sea and Islands’, this year’s programme, the sixth of its kind, is expected to attract more than 150 students and volunteers to bike 1,850 kilometres through 18 provinces and cities from the capital Hanoi to southern Vung Tau City.

The cyclists will participate in various voluntary activities during their month long journey, aiming to raise people’s awareness of the dangers of land mines and unexploded ordnance left over from wars, as well as traffic safety and the protection of the marine environment. They will also call on communities to preserve and promote their traditional cultural values.

The cycling journey is intended to change the perception of students and young people participating in the programme and offer them opportunities to mature through charitable activities for unfortunate people, in addition to allowing them to explore different parts of the country.

The annual event was first launched in 2008 by Green Journey, a non-profit social organisation operating toward the principles of “uniting the community, sharing pain, helping the poor, protecting the environment, and connecting hearts”.

Overloaded trucks face crackdown

Nineteen exceedingly overloaded trucks were detected by HCM City inspectors and stopped as a six-month crackdown began in the city on Thursday night.

The drivers of the trucks were fined millions of dong and had their driving licences temporarily withdrawn.

Tran Hong Minh, deputy head of the HCM City Road and Railway Police Department, said that inspections are going to be conducted regularly, especially during the night.

Police and transport inspectors will be stationed at ports including Cat Lai and Tan Thuan and at large stores across the city, checking the loading capacity of trucks transporting cargo in and out, he said.

The operation has been launched in response to the serious sinking of roads in these areas, caused by the overwhelming presence of overloaded trucks.

According to HCM City's Transport Department, all of the lawbreaking trucks detected in the first night were carrying 30 per cent more goods than their capacity.

In past inspection efforts, few violations were spotted as officials did not check the roads at night, which is when the majority of these trucks go to work, the department claimed.

Minh said that an excess of 30 per cent or more on a truck leads to an automatic 60-day driving suspension and a fine of VND4 million. An excess of 5-29 per cent will result in a 30-day suspension and a VND1 million fine.

Other agencies throughout the country are also making efforts to take overloaded trucks off the roads.

The Viet Nam Road Administration has just asked leaders of people's committees in the five provinces of Vinh Phuc, Tuyen Quang, Hoa Binh, Son La and Dien Bien to co-operate with each other in a wide-scale operation to punish truck drivers operating illegally on national highways and local roads.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport is drafting regulations applying criminal punishments to overloaded vehicles which cause serious consequences.

Nguyen Van Thanh, chairman of the Viet Nam Automobile Transport Association, supported the increase in inspections and said drivers of overloaded vehicles causing damage to roads should considered criminals destroying a national asset.

Such violations in many countries lead to imprisonment, he said.

Illegally imported weapons seized

HCM City Customs seized a batch of bayonets on Thursday which were illegally imported as non-trade items.

The weapons were made in the United States and had a total value of US$856, according to the customs declaration. Initial investigation showed the products were being sent to a resident in central Da Nang Province's Nguyen Du Street.

Vietnamese students win scholarships

As many as 270 Vietnamese scholars were granted scholarships on the Ford Foundation International Fellowship Programme (IFP) over the past 12 years, according to the Center for Education Exchange with Viet Nam (CEEVN).

These outstanding academics, who mostly came from disadvantaged and ethnic minority areas, have been able to pursue postgraduate courses in 10 different countries across the world.

The programme is set to conclude after running in 22 countries over the world, enabling over 4,000 scholars to pursue advanced degrees at nearly 650 universities worldwide.

Japanese agency funds training in chemicals

The Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Ministry of Industry and Trade have signed an agreement to improve the quality of human resources for the heavy chemical industry.

Under the three-year project, a pilot model will be carried out at HCM City's Industry University in central Thanh Hoa Province. The aim is to enhance the skills of engineers, particularly in the refinery industry.

Operation of large-scale plants in the heavy chemical industry in Thanh Hoa and neighbouring provinces, including the Nghi Son Oil Refinery Plant, requires a large number of highly skilled workers.

Binh Duong recruitment session attracts 800 job seekers

More than 800 people found employment at the 71st employment information session held in southern Binh Duong province on June 30.

Despite having graduated from universities and colleges at this time, only about 1,200 students joined the job opportunity session while the 64 participating businesses needed 3,400 common workers and 1,300 skilled workers.

Many businesses in Binh Duong are facing difficulties in recruiting workers, especially in new areas such as financial consultancy, services and processing.

At the event, more than 600 businesses and 9,000 people accessed the Binh Duong Employment Centre website to look for work.

In the first half of this year, the centre introduced and consulted for more than 30,000 workers, nearly 60% of whom found jobs at provincial industrial zones.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA