UK volunteers cycle for Vietnamese babies

Over 10 days, 25 British volunteers have been riding 1,500km from Lao Cai to Danang to spread the latest newborn baby nursing advancements throughout Vietnam.

One of the volunteers, Mike Hall, once set a world cycling circumnavigation record by riding nearly 29,000km in only 92 days.

Foreign business chief executive officers (CEOs), including Standard Chartered Bank Vietnam General Director Louis Taylor, are expected to join the cyclists for the last 500km of the tour.

The volunteers will finish their trip by meeting medical staff at the Danang Gynaecology-Obstetrics and Pediatric Hospital on May 26.

The ride was initiated by Newborns Vietnam, a UK charity group established to reduce the infant mortality rate in Southeast Asia and especially Vietnam.

The volunteers previously collected US$135,000 in 18 months, supporting the UK’s Canterbury Christ Church University’s (CCCU) specialist neonatal nurse training programme.

The programme has been approved by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health and will be implemented by the Danang Provincial Health Department in collaboration with Newborns Vietnam.

Great bells cast as gifts for pagodas on Truong Sa

The casting of three great bronze bells to be presented to pagodas on the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago began at the Bai Dinh pagoda in Ninh Binh province on May 23.

Each bell, 126 centimetres tall and weighing 326 kilograms, will be decorated with images of the Flag Tower and the Khue Star Gate at the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, as well as the Noon Gate in Hue and Ben Thanh market in Ho Chi Minh City.

The sentence ‘Quoc Thai Dan An’ (peaceful country and prosperous people) will also be carved on each bell.

Many nuns, monks, Buddhist followers, local residents and visitors also attended a ceremony to pray for peace, prosperity, favourable weather and happiness for the nation and its people.

Speaking at the event, Chairman of the Ninh Binh provincial People’s Committee, Bui Van Thang, said that the bells represent the good sentiments that Buddhist nuns and monks, as well as the people of Ninh Binh, feel towards the country’s sea and islands, particularly the beloved Truong Sa archipelago.

Appeal trial held for 8 defendants over activities against Gov’t

The Appeal Court of the Supreme People’s Court on May 23 conducted an open re-trial of eight people previously convicted of “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s government” pursuant to Clauses 1 and 2, Article 79 of the Penal Code.

The trial in the central province of Nghe An was opened as the accused appealed against sentence No.01/2013/HSST announced by the People’s Court of Nghe An on January 9, 2013.

The court said legal criminal evidence and documents prove that Viet Tan (Vietnam Reform Party) is an overseas reactionary organisation that conducts a range of activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration. The defendants participated in Viet Tan’s schemes while fully aware of this fact, so the first instance sentence has good legal ground.

Meanwhile, some of the accused, particularly Le Van Son, confessed to their illegal misdeeds and expressed repentance, which helped them earn a reduced sentence. Le Van Son had his sentence reduced from 13 years to 4 years, while Nguyen Van Duyet, Nguyen Xuan Anh and Ho Van Oanh had their sentences reduced by 6 months, one year and six months, respectively.

The court upheld the prison sentences for Ho Duc Hoa, Nguyen Dinh Cuong, Tran Minh Nhat and Thai Van Dung.-

Preparations complete for high school graduation examination

Schools throughout the country are ready for the 2013 high school graduation exam, the Ministry of Education and Training announced on May 23.

A total of 946,064 students will sit for the high school graduation examination this year nationwide, a reduction of 17,507 compared to last year’s figure.

Local authorities have also got their response plans ready in case of unexpected incidents such as natural disasters and epidemics.

The northern mountainous province of Cao Bang will provide support in terms of transportation and accommodation to students in remote areas who have to travel far to sit for the exam. The province has arranged 30 exam locations for over 6,000 local high school students.

In the central province of Phu Yen, this year, over 1,200 students, including 335 of ethnic minority groups, will sit for examinations in 28 spots. Relevant agencies have checked the facilities and electricity supply at all the exam spots, ensuring the best conditions for the students during the examinations.

Improvement marked for labour export firms

There have been drastic changes in the implementation of the Code of Conduct (CoC-VN) for Vietnamese enterprises sending workers for employment overseas, shows a survey of 20 target businesses.

The survey results were announced at a meeting to review the first year of CoC-VN implementation in Vietnam jointly held by the Vietnam Labour Export Association and the International Labour Oganisation in Hanoi on May 21.

The survey shows that the 20 selected enterprises all comply with regulations on orientation training for future guest workers in terms of duration and curriculum.

Participating workers showed their satisfaction with the quality of training provided by the enterprises. They got a better understanding of the traditional culture and customs of target countries.

Apart from individual participating firms, the survey’s outcomes were partially based on the assessment of Departments of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in provinces and cities where many labour export enterprises are based, such as the northern provinces of Bac Ninh and Phu Tho, and central Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Ngai provinces.

The departments agreed that enterprises in their localities have conformed to rules in recruiting and maintaining information channels with local authorities to provide timely protection for workers in need of help when working abroad.

The association will install the CoC-VN into 30 more enterprises and sign cooperation agreements with eight other provincial departments on information supplying mechanisms relating to labour export enterprises.

HCM City presents office building to Laos

Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan handed over an office building as a gift to authorities of the Lao province of Houaphan on May 21.

Lao Deputy Prime Minister Somsavad Lengsavath along with many senior officials attended the presentation ceremony.

At the event, Quan said the newly-built Houaphan provincial office is to improve the working conditions of the Lao locality’s agencies.

Houaphan Governor Khamhung Huongvongsi expressed his gratitude to the Vietnamese Government and Ho Chi Minh City authorities for the meaningful gift.

The six-storey building, built at a cost of US$5.3 million, has 75 working rooms and four grand meeting rooms.

Training 150,000 rural labourers in 2013

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) disbursed VND93 billion for 36 out of 63 provincial departments to train 91,000 rural labourers in 2012.

Many provinces claimed to have finished training courses on scheduled but others could fulfill 24–25 percent of their plans.

Vocational training certificate project was first conducted in Thanh Hoa and Ben Tre provinces, and then expanded to other localities.

In 2012, ThanhHoa had 80 courses held for 2,790 labourers, raising the total of trainees to 4,750. The focus of training was on sugar cane cultivation, food safety in fruit and vegetable cultivation, cattle, poultry and field crab husbandry, irrigation management, and environmental sanitation.

Ben Tre had 4,230 labourers trained in planting, husbandry, and fishery. Seventy percent of them have been employed. The rate of employment in some fields like fisheries, pork husbandry, and coconut planting was much higher up to 90 percent.

In 2012, the MARD spent VND10 billion on training workers for tea, rubber, fruit, and vegetable corporations, the southern food corporation, the northern food corporation, the husbandry corporation, and the fisheries corporation.

The National Agricultural Encouragement Centre worked with localities to arrange for 132 training courses for nearly 4,000 labourers involved in ten fields of production. Seventy two of them have been conducted to meet 55 percent of the plan.

Both authorities and rural workers are very pleased with the training project to raise local production capacity.

However, there are some snags to overcome such as low funding, lack of animals and plants for practice during the training courses, not to mention inappropriate subjects and complicated certificate granting procedures.

 The local Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development plan to train 150,000–160,000 labourers in 2013 and the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs have agreed to provide VND920 billion for them to carry out the program in three years until 2015.

MARD Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu emphasised that those training centres failing to meet quality standards will be removed from the list of funding priorities. Both quality and efficiency are priorities. Vocational training must be based on the needs of local agricultural production plans, she added.

Wall Street English opens first Vietnam centre

Wall Street English, one of the world’s largest providers of English language instructions to adults, inaugurated its centre in HCM City on May 21.

Wall Street English, a member of the Pearson Global Education Group, was established in 1972. It has established more than 450 centers in 26 countries.

Its teaching methods are designed by renowned educational experts meeting the Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR) standard, which has been recognised by the UK’s Cambridge University.

Wall Street English provides students with all available resources for a successful learning experience.The students are taught by native teachers who have a lot of experience in the field.

Experts urge new weather approach

Experts urged Vietnam to renew its weather forecasting technology in order to improve its effectiveness in predicting extreme weather phenomena, at a meeting held in the capital on May 21.

Head of the Department of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change Le Cong Thanh, said that weather forecasters play a key in helping citizens prepare for natural disasters.

He said climate change has resulted in more storms and tropical pressure systems, and the level of damage will be reduced if people are warned of forthcoming disasters.

The Vietnam Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment warned that the locations of droughts, flash floods, hailstorms, whirlwinds and severe thunderstorms are becoming more difficult to identify using existing satellites.

The institute said that currently it can only issue short-term warnings for extreme weather condition.

A representative of the National Centre for Hydro Meteorological Forecasting said that to raise the efficiency of predicting extreme weather phenomena, weather staff should be trained further in new technology.

The meeting was held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) on the occasion of the 67th National Day for Flood Prevention and Natural Disaster Reduction (May 22).

ADB provides US$2.5 million for Mekong Delta cities

Street vendors in three small cities along the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam will have greater access to a micro-finance project worth US$2.5 million in non-refundable aid from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction.

This information was announced in Hanoi on May 22 by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which is in charge of managing the aid and providing three other projects with a total of US$220 million to upgrade those localities.

Florian Steinberg, Senior Urban Development Specialist in the ADB Southeast Asia Department, said the project will focus on supporting female street vendors by providing them with small areas in the newly-built markets in the cities of Battambang in Cambodia, Kaysone Phomvihane in Laos and Dong Ha in Vietnam.

The local authorities will also develop child care services to ensure that their safety while their parents are earning their livings.

The cities were selected based on their agricultural production, trade and tourism near the border regions.

Research will be conducted to identify the most suitable products for the localities based on local demand, productivity and supply chains.

The project aims to provide small credit loans to about 600 needy vendors by 2017, as well as offering retail training and advice about their products.

Germany provides EUR7.7 million for humanitarian aid in Vietnam

The German Red Cross (GRC) has pledged to continue humanitarian projects in Vietnam during the 2013-2015 period to promote charitable activities that benefit disadvantaged people.

Director of the GRC International Co-Operation and National Relief Division, Dr. Richert Johannes, made this announcement on May 22 at the signing ceremony for bilateral cooperation between the GRC and the Vietnamese Red Cross Society (VRC) in Hanoi.

VRC Deputy Chairman Doan Van Thai said that since 2008, Germany has helped Vietnam implement many programmes and projects worth more than EUR7.7 million.

The focus of bilateral cooperation during the period will be on continuing projects related to environmental protection, climate change and capacity building for VRC staff in Cao Bang, Lang Son, An Giang, Kien Giang, Bac Lieu and Dong Thap provinces.

Sine the establishment of their relations in 1990, the two Red Crosses have worked together in bilateral and multilateral projects on rescue, relief and development with a focus on clean water, hygiene, reducing disaster risks and adapting to climate change.

Activities mark International Biodiversity Day

This year’s International Day for Biological Diversity (IDBD) with the theme “Water and Biodiversity” was celebrated in Hanoi on May 22, highlighting the roles biological diversity and eco-systems play in water security and sustainable development.

Addressing the celebration, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Bui Cach Tuyen underlined the need to intensify biological diversity preservation, revamp the relevant legal systems, and implement the national strategy for biodiversity through 2020, with a vision for 2030.

Developing state management agencies, enhancing socialization and international cooperation in this field are also a must, Tuyen said.

Vietnam has been recognized globally for its wide range of biologicaldiversity and is one of the countries that has prioritized protecting worldwide biological diversity.

The country has also actively implemented international conventions on preserving biological diversity, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

In Vietnam's terrestrial ecosystems, more than 13,200 floral species and about 10,000 faunal species have been identified. The country’s tropical marine, with more than 20 typical ecosystems, is home to more than 11,000 sea creatures.

Vietnam’s eco-systems and biological resources play an important role in the culture and national economy, helping to ensure food security, and maintain animal and plant genetic resources to provide fuels and medicines.

*** An exhibition on biodiversity of central Da Nang city opened at the city’s museum on May 22, which coincided with the International Day for Biological Diversity.

By displaying pictures, specimens and publications on indigenous endangered flora and fauna, typical medicinal and ornamental plants, and environment-themed films, the first-ever exhibition aims to give the alert on threatened species and raise public awareness in protecting the city’s biodiversity.

The exhibition, which is jointly organized by the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the Frankfurt Zoological Society from Germany and the Greenviet Biodiversity Conservation Centre, will last until June 5.

On the same day, in Hanoi, the Vietnam Environmental Administration under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment hosted an award ceremony for a photograph and logo design contest on the theme of Vietnam’s biodiversity.

The winners were chosen from 352 works of 140 authors across the country from March to April, 2013. They include one first prize and four second prizes for each category, two third prizes for the photography category and four consolation prizes.

Job fair held for workers returning from RoK

A job fair for Vietnamese workers returning home from the Republic of Korea (RoK) was held in Bac Ninh province on May 22.

The event was co-organized by the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the Korean Human Resources Development Service (HRDKorea).

The fair presented a golden chance for 51 Korean enterprises operating in the province and surrounding areas to recruit skilled Vietnamese employees who can make full use of what they learned from their work experience in the RoK.

More than 400 Vietnamese workers had enrolled for interviews at the event.

The second job fair aims to provide returning workers with good jobs and contribute to maintaining the stable development of the RoK job market.

Nearly 72,000 Vietnamese workers have been employed by Korean enterprises since 2004.

Vietnam, RoK cooperate to help AO victims

Vice President cum General Secretary of the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA), Tran Xuan Thu, received a delegation from the Korean Victims of Agent Orange Veterans Association (KAOVA) in Hanoi on May 22.

Thu welcomed the Korean delegation to Vietnam and the VAVA, saying it demonstrated a deep sympathy among war veterans who were involved in the Vietnamese people’s fight against US invaders.

Both sides affirmed their continued cooperation and mutual support in overcoming the consequences of the war and sharing the pain of Agent Orange - a chemical defoliant sprayed by the US Army during the war in Vietnam.

They said they were pleased with the ever-increasing cooperation between Vietnamese and Korean AO victims.

Nine months after the VAVA was established on October 11, 2004, VAVA and KAOVA signed a document on establishing their friendly relations.

Thu thanked the Korean AO victims, particularly those who are members of KAOVA, for supporting and standing side by side with VAVA in the struggle for justice for all AO victims.

Truong Gia Binh awarded Japan’s Nikkei Asia

Japan’s Nikkei Inc. on May 22 has presented the Nikkei Asia Prize to Truong Gia Binh, chairman and chief executive officer of Vietnam’s FPT Group.

Binh is the fifth Vietnamese individual but the first Vietnamese entrepreneur to have received the award after more than 18 years.

Addressing the award ceremony on May 22, Professor Yasuhiko Torri, a jury member highlighted active contribution to establishing the Vietnam Software Association and building a university specialized in training human resources for the information technology (IT) sector.

He added that the prize will help improve the status of Vietnam’s IT industry not only in Japan and also in other Asian nations.

In reply, Binh said the prize is a great honour for himself, FPT Group and Vietnam’s IT sector as a whole.

ADB supports water supply, road upgrade

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide US$249 million loans for Vietnam to improve water services supply and upgrade roads.

The agreement was reached at a signing ceremony between State Bank of Vietnam’s Governor Nguyen Van Binh, and ADB Country Director for Vietnam Tomoyuki Kimura in Hanoi on May 23.

“Delivery of clean water is significant to improve health and living conditions of people, especially poor women and girls, said Kimura. “Therefore, ADB and the Government accelerate our joint efforts to increase access for poor people to better water services.”

The first loan agreement provides US$212 million from ordinary capital resources (OCR) for the second tranche of US$1 billion multitranche financing facility for the Water Sector Investment Program approved in 2011, which is designed to support estimated 500,000 poor households to receive their first-ever piped water connection.

Under this tranche, water supply companies will implement subprojects, including the construction of water production plants, pumping stations, transmission and distribution pipelines to about 94,000 households that will receive piped water for the first time in provinces of Binh Duong, Dak Lak, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue and the cities of Danang and Haiphong. Water companies will also borrow to prepare an investment project for financing under a subsequent tranche.

The second loan and grant agreements, including a US$25 million loan from ADB and a grant of US$12 million from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAid), provide funds for improving the overall quality of the project outputs and meeting the costs overruns and financing gaps of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Southern Coastal Corridor Project. It will also help finance a detailed design and implementation support for the remaining sections of the GMS Southern Coastal Corridor in Vietnam from Ha Tien to Rach Gia – a loan planned for ADB’s consideration in 2014.

Appeal trial held for 8 anti-State instigators

The Supreme People’s Court on May 23 conducted an open re-trial of eight people previously convicted of “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s government” pursuant to Clauses 1 and 2, Article 79 of the Penal Code.

The trial in the central province of Nghe An was opened as the accused appealed against sentence No.01/2013/HSST announced by the People’s Court of Nghe An on January 9, 2013.

The court said legal criminal evidence and documents prove that Viet Tan (Vietnam Reform Party) is an overseas reactionary organisation that conducts a range of activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration.

The defendants participated in Viet Tan’s schemes while fully aware of this fact, so the first instance sentence has good legal ground.

Meanwhile, some of the accused, particularly Le Van Son, confessed to their illegal misdeeds and expressed repentance, which helped them earn a reduced sentence.

Le Van Son had his sentence commuted from 13 years to 4 years, while Nguyen Van Duyet, Nguyen Xuan Anh and Ho Van Oanh had their sentences reduced by 6 months, one year and six months, respectively.

The court upheld the prison sentences for Ho Duc Hoa, Nguyen Dinh Cuong, Tran Minh Nhat and Thai Van Dung.

Foreign hi-tech criminals arrested in Haiphong city

A group of foreigners who used high-tech devices to forge credit cards have been detained following the endeavours of police in the northern port city of Haiphong.

The four members of the gang were Lin Wel (49), Xiong Jie (34), Lin Li Hua (32) and Lin Jia Jun (20) all from China.

Between March 16-26, they successfully completed two transactions using forged cards taking away over VND3.9 billion from Vietcombank and Vietinbank.

Investigators are underway to look for other suspects.

Tough measures against drug-related issues

The Government has launched a crackdown on illegal drugs which will take place throughout June.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung requested all ministries and state agencies to launch the one-month campaign in order to promote public awareness of the dangers of drugs.

The campaign will target vulnerable groups such as adolescents in urban areas, workers at industrial parks, migrant workers, chemical producers and traders and residents living in drugs hot spots.

The public will be encouraged to denounce drug dealers and support addicts reintegrating into society.

Mass media has been requested to increase coverage of the anti-drug campaign and to praise individuals and organisations who have achieved success in the fight against drugs.

Police forces will crack down on drug crime throughout the country, including at international airports, while the Vietnam Fatherland Front has been asked to encourage its member organisations to take part in the anti-drug drive.

Ministries, government agencies and the National Committee for AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution Prevention and Control will also work together to outline specific anti-drug plans.

Results of the campaign will be reported to the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Public Security before July 15.

Ethnic minority children encouraged to study Vietnamese

A Vietnamese language programme has been opened at the Vinh Loc tourism for more than 150 minority ethnic children in Binh Thuan province.

Participants are taught Vietnamese through story telling, singing and dancing.

Huynh Sanh Nhan, Deputy Director of the Binh Thuan provincial Department for Education and Training, said the programme is expected to help improve education quality at local primary schools.

The province has created many favourable conditions for local ethnic minority children living in remote areas to learn Vietnamese at schools or in part-time courses.