Vietnam tops Southeast Asia for beer drinking

With nearly 2.6 billion litres of beer consumed in 2011, Vietnam ranks first in Southeast Asia for beer drinking, followed by Thailand and the Philippines.

According to Euromonitor International, Myanmar was at the bottom of the list, drinking only 30.4 million litres.

The amount of beer consumed in Myanmar, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia combined equaled only half the 1.6 billion litres drunk in the Philippines.

In 2010, Euromonitor International predicted that the Vietnamese beer market would grow rapidly. The country consumed 1.6 billion litres in 2009, which was 56 percent more than in 2004.

Earlier this year, Japanese beer company, Kirin Holdings, reported that Vietnam was among the top 25 beer consumers in the world, seeing an increase of 15 percent, behind Nigeria (17.2 percent), India (17 percent) and Brazil (16 percent).

Da Nang police destroy fake helmets

Central Da Nang City police have destroyed about 1,000 fake helmets, which were substandard.

This action is part of the campaign to stop the sale of fake helmets that began in April.

In June, 7,600 such helmets were destroyed.

More than 93,000 hand-foot-mouth cases in nine months

Epidemics, like hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD), meningitis, and viral encephalitis, are developing complicatedly across the country, with the cases of infection rising at an alarming rate.

The Ministry of Health said over the past nine months, there have been 554 cases of viral encephalitis (15 deaths), 124 cases of meningitis (5 deaths) and 440 cases of typhoid.

In addition, out of more than 93,000 suffering from HFMD, 41 have died. The number of new cases are increasing in Hanoi, Bac Giang, and Binh Phuoc and many provinces and cities.

Since early this year, nearly 3,000 people in Hanoi alone have contracted HFMD, doubling last year’s figure. The Municipal Department of Health claimed to have controlled this disease by September 20.

Health experts said that the disease is spreading far and wide due to changeable weather and lack of preventive vaccines.

ADB supports Lao Cai’s search for investment

Country Director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Vietnam Tomoyuki Kimura pledged to support Lao Cai province’s efforts to seek investment opportunities for its development.

He was speaking at his working visit to the northern mountainous province from September 28-30.

Lao Cai is strategically important to the Greater Mekong subregion programme and its Lao Cai-He Kou border gate, which was listed for development priority on the North-South economic corridor, is expected to facilitate cross-border trade between Vietnam and China, he said.
 
Kimura spoke highly of the cooperation between ADB and the province in projects on education, transport, rural development and tourism over the years.

He mentioned the Noi Bai – Lao Cai highway section through the province’s Bao Thang district and the provincial preventive medical centre project, which aims to improve the local healthcare staff’s profession as well as their capacity to monitor and manage epidemic diseases.

Thanks to that effective cooperation, Lao Cai is being screened for participation in new ADB-funded projects scheduled for next year, he concluded.

Nguyen Van Vinh, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee asked ADB to assist the province in using the financial institution’s soft loans for transport infrastructure and urban development in the 2013- 2018 period.

Vinh said he hopes ADB will soon approve loans for Lao Cai’s key projects to expand Sa Pa town and upgrade provincial highways 156 and 158 with a total length of 123 km and commune-district roads.

Spark on oil cause of Taiwan ship blaze

The fire on Taiwan Cargo ship "Shun Cheng," near Hon Dau Island in Hai Phong City last Saturday, was from an electric welding spark touching oil during repairs, municipal Border Guards say.

The fire on the freezer ship left one crew member dead and two others injured of the six Taiwanese crew on board while it was anchored near Hon Dau.

Local border guards had mobilised two boats with 11 crew to the rescue.

Germany supports vocational training in Vietnam

Experts from Germany, ASEAN and international organizations will gather in Hanoi earlier this month for a regional conference on vocational training.

The October 10-11 conference is co-organised by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Vietnam Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), within the framework of Vietnam-Germany development cooperation, aiming to improve vocational training in Vietnam.

It will serve as a forum for policy-makers, vocational training experts, producers and businesspeople from Vietnam and ASEAN countries to exchange experiences and discuss issues related to reforming vocational training in the process of regional and international integration.

High on the agenda will be discussions on vocational standards, vocational training cooperation with businesses, qualified teachers training and finance.

Reports and recommendations will help Vietnam continue its reforms and strengthen cooperation with other ASEAN countries.

Germany has already helped Vietnam carry out many projects to improve the quality and scale of vocational training in the country.

VNN/VOV/VNS