Tax breaks for Con Dao islanders

 

Personal income tax for Vietnamese and foreigners who work on the islands of Con Dao has been reduced by 50 per cent, in a proposed draft of preferential policies by the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

 

The draft aims to turn Con Dao into a high-quality tourism destination in the region. The Con Dao archipelago of 16 islands, 185km away from southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province and 230km from HCM City, also has potential in seafood manufacturing, oil and maritime services.

 

The draft includes many preferences to encourage investment, covering corporate and personal income tax, import and value added tax together with land use and rental fees.

 

Following the draft, enterprises in the area will receive the highest level of corporate income tax preference.

 

Meanwhile, foreign-invested enterprises are allowed to forward losses for five years.

 

Accordingly, no VAT is applied to costs of supplies and materials used for construction project infrastructure.

 

Planning projects in Con Dao are also to receive exemption or reduction of land use fees, land rent and water rent at the highest preference which applies to all investment projects in areas of economic, social difficulties and special economic zones.

 

Besides, it also recommends a rise of 70 per cent in salary for officials and public servants, especially those who are in the armed forces.

 

The limit on duty free products for tourists in Con Dao is expected to raise from VND500,000 (US$24) to VND2 million ($95).

 

Lightning kills two, injures three in central Vietnam  

  

Lightning accompanying a heavy rain killed two and injured three others in the central province of Quang Nam Sunday. 

 

One of the victims, Nguyen Tan Thuan, 35, was killed on the spot while he was doing farming, according to local authorities. 

 

Dang Hung, 40, died on his way to the hospital after being struck by lightning. Meanwhile, three others were hospitalized and were recovering. 

 

The victims were from Duy Hai and Duy Phuoc communes in Duy Xuyen District, according to authorities. 

 

Nguyen Cong Dung, vice chairman of Duy Xuyen People’s Committee, said storms during the heavy rain also damaged tens of local houses.

 

Ministry to inspect boats in 2nd city, Binh Duong

 

Inspectors from the Ministry of Transport will begin checking passenger boats in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong province today to assess their compliance with waterway regulations to ensure passengers’ safety.

 

Do Trung Hoc, head of the River-going Ship Classification and Registry Department, under the Vietnam Register, said the department would have mandatory safety standards for registering passenger vessels.

 

Registration must be controlled tightly and violations strictly punished to eliminate avoidable accidents, he said.

 

Tran The Ky, deputy director of the HCMC Transport Department, said his department would review the operation of restaurant-style vessels, cruise ships, and hydrofoils.

 

Seven restaurant boats and hundreds of tourism boats operate on the Saigon River, which runs for around 80 km through the city, he said.

 

The inspection decisions follow the sinking of the Din Ky, a restaurant ship, on the Saigon River in Binh Duong May 20 in which 16 people died.

 

The boat had not been registered and was operated by an unlicensed pilot.

 

Driver faces 15 years in jail for Nam Dinh bus tragedy 

  

Prosecutors in the north-central province of Ha Tinh have pressed charges against a bus driver for traffic law violations leading to the death of 20 passengers in a tragic accident last October.

 

Tran Van Truong, 36, of Nam Dinh Province, is charged with “violating regulations for road drivers causing serious consequences."

 

According to the province’s Nghi Xuan District Prosecutors’ Office, Truong could be punished with between seven and 15 years in jail if the court finds him guilty.

 

The accident happened on October 18 last year when the bus was on the way to Nam Dinh from Dak Nong Province with 38 people on board.

 

At around 4 a.m., the bus broke down near the Rong Bridge in Ha Tinh’s Nghi Xuan District in heavy rain; and strong flood waters swept the vehicle into the La River.

 

Eighteen people smashed the bus windows and swam to safety, and others drowned. 

 

Ha Tinh traffic police said that several minutes before the accident, the bus had sped past a check point in Hong Linh Town.

 

The check point was set up to stop vehicles from going through the flooded section of the National Highway No.1.

 

Police said that Dinh Van Luong was the main driver, but as he was sick that day, his subordinate Truong took over the wheel. Luong died in the accident, while Truong managed to get out of the bus along with 17 other passengers.

 

After the accident, Truong compensated each bereaved family with VND50 million (US$2,415) each, local reports said.

 

Vietnamese not among the missing from Japan's earthquake 

  

The Japanese Foreign Ministry announced Friday that Vietnamese were not among the missing in the wake of the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11.

 

A senior official of the Japanese consulate division told Vietnam News Agency a day earlier that there have been no reports on any Vietnamese being dead or missing.

 

Previously, Japan’s Kyodo News quoted a senior official from the Japanese Foreign Ministry as saying that 24 foreigners had been killed in the earthquake and tsunami and several dozen remained missing.

 

The official listed Chinese, Canadian, South and North Koreans, Pakistanis, Filipinos and Americans among the dead.

 

The missing foreigners include Chinese, South Koreans, Filipinos, Indonesian and Vietnamese nationals, he added.

 

The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched an investigation and concluded no missing Vietnamese were detected.

 

Living on broken glass

 

Over 15 households in Tan Hiep Hamlet in Di An District in southern Binh Duong Province are struggling to earn a living by collecting and selling broken mirrors.

 

Sitting on the ground full of broken glass, Bui Thi No quickly picked up one piece and put it in a plastic basket. Her hands are full of scars from glass cuts.

 

No said it did not matter much that her job was dangerous. “As long as I have money to send the kids to school,” she said.

 

No and her husband left Ca Mau for Tan Hiep to work in a cullet workshop, hoping to earn enough to send their two children to school.

 

One year ago, No’s husband was severely injured by a piece of broken glass. They had to spend all of their savings to treat him. Too frightened by the accident, No’s husband has stopped working.

 

But No continues on, as she can’t find another job.

 

Tan Hiep’s residents like No, most of whom come from central and southern western provinces, started their business 5 years ago.

 

The men wander around Binh Duong and sometimes travel as far as Ho Chi Minh City or Dong Nai Province to buy broken mirrors.

 

The women stay behind, washing those mirrors, breaking them into small pieces, then selling them to glass recycling factories.

 

Each bag of broken glass earns them VND5,000 and they don’t usually earn more than VND100,000 (US$5) a day.

 

Like No, Luong brought his whole family from the western province of An Giang to work in a cullet workshop in Tan Hiep.

 

Everyday, Luong, his wife and two daughters-in-law wash broken mirrors and separate the good pieces for VND50,000 ($2.5) a day, while his two sons follow their boss to buy broken glass for VND100,000 ($5) a day.

 

Last month, the whole hamlet was shocked by the death of a 22-year-old man from the northern province of Ha Giang while working.

 

The man was cut in the neck by a piece of broken glass.

 

135 houses destroyed as whirlwinds hit south

 

5 houses collapsed and 130 were badly damaged when a heavy rain with whirlwinds hit Bac Ai District in the central province of Ninh Thuan Sunday afternoon.

 

Kieu Nhu Bon, head of the district’s People’s Committee, said most of the damaged houses belonged to people of the Raglay ethnicity.

 

Bon said the committee would donate money to help the families rebuild and repair their houses.

 

Earlier on May 22, another heavy rain and tornado hit Ea Bar Commune in the central province of Phu Yen, sweeping the roofs of ten houses on its way.

 

Dog-beheading ‘beast’ issue turns foggier

 

A 97kg boar has been captured but a top official says it is unlikely this animal has ripped the heads off dozens of domesticated dogs as reported recently in Quang Ngai province.

 

Even more incomprehensibly, Nguyen Van Han, head of the provincial forest protection unit, also claims that the dog-beheading animal is non-existent and the news that over 20 dogs have lost their heads to a giant creature is just false.

 

Han told Tuoi Tre that locals in Binh Thuan commune on May 20 captured a wild boar and said it has killed their dogs.

 

But Han confirmed that the boar is not actually wild, being raised by Le Cu, a local farmer.

 

The boar is actually very friendly, Han added.

 

Cu later managed to reclaim the boar.

 

Han also added that the several footprints left in sand purportedly coming from the dog-killing beast could not belong to a boar. Han did not elaborate.

 

Earlier, Binh Dong Commune People’s Committee has announced that it had received over 20 reported attacks on dogs by an unknown animal since May 7.

 

50 passengers avoid death as car burnt to bones

 

A car with 50 passengers on board unexpectedly caught fire in the central province of Phu Yen this afternoon, but no human casualties were reported.

 

The truck controlled by Tran Chi hailing from Binh Dinh province was heading to Ho Chi Minh City.

 

After being informed, police arrived on the scene to extinguish the fire. But it was too late when the vehicle had been burnt down to bare frames.

 

Police are investigating the cause of the fire.

 

Mong children learn lessons in mother tongue

 

Mong pupils in their first and second years at Lao Chai Primary School in Sa Pa used to struggle in school because lessons were conducted in Vietnamese – local children's second language which most can barely speak.

 

That has all changed thanks to the school's decision to adopt a mother tongue-based bi-lingual education programme two school-years ago.

 

"I like to go to school and want to become a teacher in the future," Lo Thi Su, who started school just eight months ago said.

 

Su, who teacher Ly Thi Hoa said was her best student, has to get up early in the morning to walk to school, unaccompanied by her parents, as do most of her peers. The journey usually takes about an hour.

 

Despite the long and difficult trek to school, few ever missed a lesson, Hoa said.

 

Hoa, who has been a teacher for 15 years, said children much prefer being taught in their mother tongue.

 

She added that not only did children grasp information better but they were also more open with their teacher.

 

"They are not so hesitant to ask questions or share with me their problems as the children I used to teach using Vietnamese as the language of instruction."

 

Lo A Giang, Su's fatherù, said in hesitant Vietnamese that he was glad his child could read and write in Mong, while he and his wife were far from fluent in their own language.

 

"Now that our child is taught Mong, she can teach us to read and write in our language as well," Giang said.

 

All the pupils at Lao Chai School are ethnically Mong. It has become so popular with pupils that parents from other communes are now enrolling their children.

 

The school, which receives support from the Government's Poverty Alleviation Programme, takes in many disadvantaged children from Lao Chai Commune.

 

Three primary schools in Lao Cai Province – as well as schools in the provinces of Tra Vinh, Gia Lai where Khmer and Jrai are spoken – are taking part in the bi-lingual education programme run by the Ministry of Education and Training, with support of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

 

Children are taught in their mother tongue in grade one and two. They also learn Vietnamese. From grade three to grade five, Vietnamese is introduced by teachers alongside the children's ethnic language. After grade five, children are taught mainly in Vietnamese.

 

According to a UNICEF report, the programme, which was introduced in 2008, has been largely successful, with children outperforming their ethnic peers in other classes in the same school.

 

During the 2009-10 school year, 68 per cent of students taught in their mother tongue passed with excellence, as compared to just 28 per cent of those taught only in Vietnamese.

 

No students taught in their native tongue failed mathematics during the same period, compared to 10 per cent of those taught in Vietnamese who did not pass.

 

Tran Thi Thoa, principal of Lao Chai School, said the students taught in their mother tongue rarely skipped lessons and none had dropped out of school.

 

The school, however, is suffering a shortage of bi-lingual teachers. To take part in the programme they must be fluent in Mong and competent in Vietnamese.

 

Another difficulty lies in the fact that teaching in Mong presents its own unique difficulties.

 

"Because the Mong language is not as rich as Vietnamese, sometimes we cannot think of suitable words to explain things to the children, so we must borrow Vietnamese words to teach as well," Hoa said.

 

The programme is also being piloted in three pre-schools in Lao Cai Province. To date, more than 180 Mong pre-school and primary students from Bac Ha, Sa Pa and Si Ma Cai districts of Lao Cai have enrolled in the programme, according to UNICEF.

 

Education experts say the programme not only improves formal education standards, it helps to preserve ethnic languages and culture.

 

The ministry plans to extend the mother tongue-based programme to other districts in Lao Cai Province.

 

Truong Kim Minh, director of the Lao Cai Department of Education and Training, said that by 2015, bi-lingual education would be offered in all areas where Mong live.

 

Under the department's plan, from 2010 to 2015, each school year, a new group of 210 five-year-olds will be enrolled on the mother-tongue-based programme in Lao Cai. At the end of the 2015-16 school year in Lao Cai, a total of 1,300 students will have been taught in their own language.

 

The department has a budget of VND8 billion (approximately $380,000) to achieve this target. To date, approximately 50 per cent of the amount has been raised.

 

Gov't plans to extend social insurance scheme to whole population by 2014

 

Viet Nam Social Insurance (VSI) has targeted full health insurance coverage for the entire population and social insurance for all workers by 2014.

 

The plan was revealed at a working session between Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung and the VSI yesterday on social insurance policy results during the 2009-10 period and tasks until 2015.

 

The number of social insurance participants increased by 7.13 per cent over 2009 to 9.47 million last year, reported VSI Director General Le Bach Hong.

 

Social insurance collection reached more than VND54 trillion (US$2.7 billion) in 2010, up 34 per cent from previous year.

 

The VSI applied measures to reduce social insurance debt and instructed social insurance companies in localities to regularly report implementation results of social and health insurance policies, Hong said.

 

The number of health insurance participants increased rapidly, particularly among State-support groups such as the poor, veterans and social-sponsor beneficiaries, he added.

 

Deputy PM Hung instructed the VSI to take active measures to increase the number of both social and health insurance participants in both volunteer and compulsory types of insurance.

 

He also asked the VSI to continue improving administrative reform and management methods to create favourable conditions for people and businesses, particularly in payments for retirement pensions, social insurance allowances and health check-up and treatment fees.

 

Hung noted that the VSI should strengthen management over the social insurance fund to ensure that incomes and expenses were balanced and take more drastic measures to deal with tardy payments and debt, such as revoking business licences from enterprises in violation of the rules.

 

Health insurance payments for poor people had improved but remained low while the cost of medicines increased, he said.

 

He asked relevant ministries and agencies to review the implementation of insurance decrees, circulars and regulations and to propose amendments for reasonable and practical amendments to regulations.

 

Prime Minister welcomes funding for Programme 135

 

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has welcomed a World Bank loan to the government's "Programme 135: Phase 2 Development Policy Support Operation".

 

While the Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam would be responsible for signing all relevant agreements with WB representatives on behalf of the Prime Minister, relevant authorities including the Finance Ministry and the National Committee for Ethnic Minorities have been called upon to design mechanisms for effectively utilising the loan.

 

Last month, the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors approved an interest free loan, worth US$50 million, in support of Viet Nam's efforts to reduce poverty and boost development in 4164 disadvantaged and remote communes and hamlets.

 

Vietnam, Cambodia cooperate in dealing with AO issues

 

A delegation from the Vietnam Association of Agent Orange/Dioxin Victims (VAVA) is on a working visit to Cambodia from May 23-25.

 

The visit aims to strengthen the two countries’ relationship and cooperation in overcoming the bad consequences caused by Agent Orange/Dioxin toxic chemical sprayed by US troops during the past war in Vietnam.

 

At a working session with the Cambodian Women’s Association for Peace and Development (CWAPD) in Phnom Penh on May 23, the Vietnamese guests presented reports on issues related to Agent Orange victims in Vietnam who have badly suffered from a huge amount of herbicide that US troops spayed in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia during the past war.

 

In Vietnam’s southern region alone, nearly 5 million Vietnamese people have been affected by about 80 million liters of herbicide, most of which are Agent Orange (AO) chemical.

 

Border areas in Cambodia and Laos which share the common borderlines with Vietnam are also affected by the toxic chemical, resulting in environmental pollution and many serious diseases for generations, such as cancer and deformity.

 

The Vietnamese delegates called for closer cooperation among Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to protect the legitimate rights of AO victims.

 

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Men Sam An, who is also CWAPD Chairwoman, expressed her sympathy for Vietnamese AO victims. She pledged to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in pursuing justice for AO victims in Indochina.

 

British unionists on Vietnam visit

 

The issue of how to improve union capacity in labour negotiations topped a meeting between the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) and a delegation from British Trade Union Friends of Vietnam, held in Hanoi on May 23.

 

VGCL was represented by its Vice President, Nguyen Hoa Binh, while his guests included David Letcher, member of the Executive Committee of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers; Gerald Keith Newson, member of the Executive Committee of the Musicians’ Union; and James Macdonald, member of the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians, all under the British General Confederation of Trade Unions. They are also members of Trade Union Friends of Vietnam in the United Kingdom.

 

Hosts and guests agreed that the capacity of negotiations would help harmonise labour relations.

 

They also exchanged experiences in taking measures to protect jobs and increase incomes for employees to ensure their living conditions.

 

In welcoming the British unionists, Binh said such visits will contribute to strengthening relations among trade unions from the two countries, which have been faring well in the recent past.

 

“May relations between the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour and the British General Confederation of Trade Unions develop further,” said Vietnam ’s senior unionist.

 

During their stay in Vietnam, the British guests are scheduled to visit some professional and local trade unions.

 

Laos, Vietnam foster judicial cooperation

 

A delegation from the People’s Supreme Court of Vietnam led by Deputy Chief Judge Bui Ngoc Hoa is on a week-long visit to Laos from May 19-25 to boost cooperation with its Lao counterpart.

 

The Vietnamese guests held talks with a Lao People’s Supreme Court delegation headed by Deputy Chief Judge Somboun Sonthikouman, discussing measures to strengthen cooperation between the two court sectors, helping foster the two countries’ special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation.

 

The two sides signed the minutes of twin relations between the People’s Courts of central Lao and Vietnamese provinces as well as between Xieng Khouang and Nghe An, Champassak and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, and Xekong and Vinh Long provinces.

 

During the visit, the Vietnamese delegation visited several socio-economic establishments in the capital city of Vientiane and Champassak province.

 

Can Tho to build workers' homes

 

Several workers housing projects will get under way in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta city of Can Tho this year, local officials have said.

 

The Thot Not Industrial Park's Infrastructure Construction Centre will break ground for one by June, the delta region's first ever.

 

It had mobilised VND12 billion (US$585,000) by leasing out land, Vo Thanh Hung, head of the Can Tho export processing zones and industrial parks, said.

 

It will build 10 two-storey blocks that can accommodate 400 workers, meeting the entire housing demand.

 

The Can Tho Industrial Park Infrastructure Construction Company, or Cipco, will build two nine-storeyed buildings on 2,000 sq. metres to accommodate nearly 4,000 workers.

 

There are five industrial parks employing more than 33,000 workers in Can Tho.

 

City to give apartments to resettled residents

 

District 2 authorities in HCM City next month will hand over 512 apartments in An Phu-Binh Khanh Ward to residents who must resettle to make way for the development of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area.

 

The 17.3-ha resettlement area comprises a total of 1,884 apartments. At least 260 apartments of 46.9 square metres each and 252 of 60.9sq.m will be handed over this year, according to the district's Site Clearance and Land Compensation Board.

 

The remaining 1,372 apartments will be completed and ready for occupancy in 2012.

 

Eligible households will draw lots for the apartments at the end of this month and will begin to move in mid-June, the board announced.

 

"Apartment ownership certificates and household registration books will be granted to families when they move to the new apartments," said Tat Thanh Cang, secretary of the district Party Committee.

 

A new kindergarten, a primary school and a market were built to surround the resettlement project area, Cang said.

 

The city project is one of three resettlement projects that will include a total of 12,500 apartments for residents who must move because of the development of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area.