Island divers lack proper treatment for ‘the bends'

Decompression sickness, or " the ben ds", was a common and dangerous condition among Vietnamese fishermen who relied on deep sea diving to make their living but few hospitals had the ability to treat it effectively, health experts have said.

Decompression sickness occurred following a sudden drop in the surrounding pressure when deep-sea divers ascended too quickly from a dive, said Dr Khuong Van Chu, deputy director of the Naval Medical Institute, which is located in northern Hai Phong port city.

As they ascended to the surface and the pressure decreased, nitrogen formed bubbles in the blood and tissues which caused severe pain and possibly paralysis or even death, he said.

A survey conducted on the Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelago showed that six out of every 33 divers suffered from decompression sickness but few received proper first aid and treatment.

Bui Van Van, a deep sea diver on Con Dao Island in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province said both of his legs were paralysed when he rapidly rose to the surface from a depth of 42-metres.

After one-month of treatment at HCM City's Cho Ray Hospital, he still returned home in a wheelchair.

"The doctors told me proper first aid would have helped me but at the time of the incident, no one knew what to do," Van said.

Six months later, he decided to cure himself using a traditional method. He was taken to a depth of 12 metres underwater to build up the pressure around his body and was then gradually raised to the surface.

"I was lucky because I could move my legs again, but my health was not as good as before," he said.

Two of his friends were totally paralysed and three more had died of decompression sickness, he said.

Dr Le Dang Van from the Naval Medical Institute said this traditional method only worked for those who were lightly afflicted by the condition. For serious cases, specialised medical equipment was needed.

He said patients should be hospitalised as quickly as possible to minimise the risk of disability. However, the institute based in Hai Phong City is currently the only one fully-equipped to cure the condition effectively.

Chu said the Truong Sa Archipelago was crowded with divers and the long-time transferring patients from the area to the mainland limited the possibility of recovery.

He suggested construction of a local medical room equipped with the necessary equipment to provide timely treatment as necessary.

The institute would mobilise doctors and health staff to directly cure patients and guide local doctors in the treatment techniques, he said.

Vice head of central coastal Binh Thuan Province's Department of Aquaculture Protection's Exploitation and Protection unit Nguyen Minh Quang said ignorance of the safety regulation and low awareness of first aid among divers contributed to the increasing number of cases.

He said most divers ignored regulations stipulating that they needed a professional certificate, which needed to be renewed every three months. Rules also called for them to use standard diving clothes which cost VND70-80 million (US$3,360-3,840) and to commit to a maximum depth limit of 15-metres.

Van said that he needed to go to a depth of at least 20-metres to harvest valuable marine creatures and that his diving equipment only cost VND5 million ($240).

Newborn baby kidnapped from Hanoi hospital

The Hanoi police are investigating what appears to be a theft of a newborn baby at the Central Obstetrics Hospital II by a woman who pretended to be a nurse.

At 10 am yesterday Tran Thi Thom, 34, the mother of the child, was approached by the woman who was dressed in a white blouse, mask, and cap. She said she had to take the baby for a blood test if it had been given a bath.

Thinking she was a nurse, Thom gave her her two-day-old son without thinking for a moment.

But more than an hour later she began to worry since the woman did not return.

Thom and her relatives then went to the doctor’s office to look for the woman but she was not there.

She then asked some doctors about her son but, after checking the work schedule, they said nobody had been assigned to give the child a blood test.

After searching for four hours in vain, the hospital complained to the Hoan Kiem District police.

The baby was the second child of Thom and Pham Xuan Trieu of Hung Yen Province.

Dr Nguyen Viet Tien, a Deputy Minister of Health and the hospital’s director, told Tuoi Tre yesterday that the hospital and police were looking for the woman and child.

The police had asked Thom about her acquaintances to determine whether the kidnapper was looking for ransom, revenge, or something else, he said.

“The culprit could be an outsider who pretended to be a doctor or nurse to kidnap the boy.

“Women should not hand their babies to someone unless they know for sure who they are. Mothers with newborn babies at hospitals can identify medical staff from their badges that carry their names and positions.

“This is the first such case in this hospital.”

Guards foil would-be ATM robbers

Two men sprayed black paint on a security camera and attempted to rob an ATM belonging to the Asia Commercial Bank in Sa Dec town in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap Tuesday.

At 1.30am the bank’s security guards noticed the camera in the Nguyen Sinh Sac Street ATM had stopped sending pictures and rushed to the site.

On seeing them, a man in a mask standing outside the ATM yelled.

From inside, another man rushed out with a crowbar and tried to attack the two guards before jumping on a bike and fleeing with his accomplice.

At the scene, police found the outside of the ATM damaged. On the floor were a gas can, an oxyacetylene torch, a crowbar, and a pair of scissors.

But the VND500 million (US$25,000) cash in the ATM was intact.

Nguyen Thanh Toai, deputy director of ACB, said the bank would move ATMs situated on deserted streets to safer places and strengthen security.

Man illegally possesses endangered monkey

Local authorities in the central Quy Nhon town are trying to convince a local man who illegally possesses a rare monkey to hand it over to the forest department.

The animal, identified as a highly threatened gray-shanked douc, has an injury that occurred when it was trapped.

The unnamed man told officials he had bought the monkey from a trapper in Phu Yen Province.

Tran Duy An, head of the Department of Forest Management in the town’s Tuy Phuoc District, said the gray-shanked douc is listed in Vietnam Red Data Book’s as a critically endangered species.

The local Forest Department hopes the Cuc Phuong National Park in the province will take care of the animal.

Last April town authorities found two gray-shanked doucs being illegally owned by Pham Van Hung of Long Thanh hamlet.

They seized the animals and handed them over to the park.

Truck hits three bikes, two women die

A truck hit three bikes at the same time at Nguyen Van Bua- National Road 22 crossroads in Ho Chi Minh City’s Hoc Mon district at 11am on Thursday, causing two women dead.

When crossing the intersection, the truck was trying to avoid a contractor trailer on the opposite way when it lost control and hit the motorbike lane.

At the scene, two bikes were crashed under the truck’s wheel. There was also another broken bike lying ten meters from the truck. Street separators were also damaged.

The truck driver soon fled from the scene of accident.

Nguyen Ngoc Huong (23) hailing from Cu Chi died immediately at the scene. Two women were hospitalized but one died later. Tong Thi Huyen (25) from Nam Dinh province is currently under treatment.

Authorities soon turned up to solve the 1 kilometer long traffic jam. Many curious locals got out on the street and watched the happenings.

At 12.30pm, damaged vehicles were towed away and the site of accident was cleared.

Police are finding the causes of accident.

Man beaten after refusing to take motorbike taxi

A man was beaten after he refused to take motorcycle taxi in Da Nang City’s bus station at 4.15am on Thursday.

According to the station’s security guards, Nguyen Van Phan hailing from Phu Yen province just got off a passenger bus when he was offered a drive by some xe om or motorcycle taxi drivers.

It was early and Phan did not want to go so he shook his head.

Later a fight broke out and one of the drivers, Vo Huynh Linh (47) took a plastic chair in a nearby café and hit it on Phan’s head, causing him to bleed and seriously injured.

Police in Hoa An ward, Cam Le district are searching for Linh, who has fled after the incident.

According to some sources, Linh previously committed robbery before he turned into a xe om driver in the station.

Previously at 6.50am on Wednesday, there was a fight in Da Nang central bus station between two drivers as they tried to get passengers on their car.

One of the drivers had his head injured with a 10 centimeter cut.

Police have detained the two drivers and are inspecting the case.

VNA pilot suspected of using fake license

Airport officials in South Korea have asked Vietnam Airlines to review its process of training and issuing licenses to its pilots after they suspected one VNA pilot of acquiring his pilot license ‘inappropriately.’

Suspicion of the pilot not qualified to fly an airplane and possibly using a fake license was raised after it took him many times and great effort to land 160 passengers at Busan airport in South Korea a half of year ago.

The pilot, who is reported to be a South Korean, said he had 680 hours of flight time experience but according to investigators, his flight time was only one hour.

A senior official of Vietnam’s General Department of Civil Aviation (VDCA), who did not wish to be named, confirmed with VnExpress newswire that South Korea’s airport authorities have requested VNA to explain the case to them.

On November 2, Vietnam Airlines said in a report to VDCA and South Korean’s airport authorities that the pilot no longer works for Vietnam Airlines and his contract with the airliner has been terminated since August.

“We are waiting for further report from VNA to bring more light to the case,” the newswire quoted the VDCA official as saying.

“Our training process is very rigorous – it requires a pilot to log a certain number of hours of flight time before he can get his license. However, we are forced to reexamine the whole process whenever an incident like this occurs,” he added.

Deadly hole “swallows” wood workshop in Quang Ninh

The fourth land subsidence within a month occurred in the northern province of Quang Ninh yesterday, creating a deep hole that swallowed a carpenter’s shop. Fortunately, no one was injured.

The accident came with a terrible noise from underground at 12 pm yesterday in Cao Xanh Ward, Ha Long city, leaving an enormous hole, 20 meters wide and 10 meters deep, that swallowed the carpenter’s shop of a local man, Nguyen Manh Na.

Fortunately enough, Na and his 20 workers had left the workshop a moment before for lunch, he said.

All of the machines, equipment and wooden products in the premises were destroyed, he added.

Another land subsidence had occurred in the same ward ten days before, on October 22, cracking the walls of many houses in the area. The incident led to an urgent evacuation of 14 families, local authorities said.

Two days later, at a meeting held to discuss the incident, Nguyen Van Doc, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said the area has been forecast to suffer land subsidence any time as it is located within the coal mining area of the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group.

He said he would call on the group and its affiliates to cooperate with the local authorities in taking measures to secure the life and property of people.

He also asked Ha Long City to make a plan to relocate households in areas prone to land subsidence.

The city must provide land and offer financial support to families that will be relocated.

The city should also conduct geological surveys in other wards, like Ha Khanh and Cao Khanh, to act preemptively to cope with land subsidence, he said.

Hydrofoil sinks into Cam River in Hai Phong

A hydrofoil sank after its engine room was flooded with water in Hai Phong City yesterday, the boat operator said, adding that the incident might be caused by saboteurs.

At 2 am yesterday, Hoang Yen 02 hydrofoil that was being anchored at the Binh Quay in Minh Khai Ward, Hong Bang District, suddenly leaned to one side, said Nguyen Thi Hong Yen, chairperson of the Hai Phong Transport and Tourism Joint Stock Company, the boat operator.

After finding the boat’s engine hold was flooded with water, the crew on duty called the company for help, she said.

The company sent five other boats to the scene to get the water out using five pumps, but they failed and the boat sank into the Cam River at 5 am.

All the crew onboard the boat had safely left and the boat was raised from the river four hours later.

The 75-seat boat was built in Russia and has been in operation since 2000 to transport passengers on the route Hai Phong-Cat Ba. It has recently been overhauled and upgraded, Yen said.

Yen told Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper she suspected the incident was a sabotage by outsiders.

Some of the company’s employees recently received messages from strangers issuing threats and even warning them that they could be killed, Yen said.

Woman swindles people out of $480,000

Police in Binh Phuoc Province are hunting for a 30-year-old woman who fled after collecting at least VND10 billion (US$480,000) from several people by promising to pay high interest rates.

Le Thi Ngoc Bich of Loc Phu Commune, Loc Ninh District, had swindled at least 25 people between April and October this year, they said.

One of the victims is Nguyen Thi Tam, 51, a local, who gave Bich VND750 million on seven occasions. Bich had promised to repay the principal and interest in September but fled before then.

Vo Thi My Oanh, 58, of Loc Quang Commune gave her VND200 million on August 5.

Bich promised to return the principal and a large amount of interest within 10 days.

But few days later she took another VND170 million and then kept avoiding Oanh until she fled.

Most of the victims told the police that they had not thought Bich would deceive them since she had many houses and owned a financial leasing company and a shop.

But the police found that most of her assets are in others’ names.

Bich, a native of Thua Thien-Hue Province, had come to live in the poor commune, six months ago, Nguyen Van De, acting head of the Loc Phu police, said.

In the past few days he had received many complaints against Bich for swindling.

He has transferred the case to the district police.

Hanoi taxi rips off Interpol guests, takes Iphone

Two Singaporeans who are delegates to the 80th Interpol General Assembly being held in Hanoi have fallen victim to a local scam taxi driver who overcharged them by 40 times the normal fee and even took away their cell phone.

According to the victims, who were later identified as Chen Ang Dani (male) and Than Sha Pen (female), the driver forced them to pay VND6 million (US$286) for a ride of just over 10 kilometers. The normal fee should have been only VND150,000 (US$7.1).

The guests of the Interpol meeting told police that this occurred at 8pm on October 28 when they took a taxi with license plate number BKS 30K-6476, purportedly belonging to Phu Gia Group, after having a meal at Ngon restaurant, a popular eatery for foreigners at 18 Phan Boi Chau Street, Hoan Kiem District.

They were driven from Phan Boi Chau Street to Hanoi’s National Conference Center and eventually had to cough up US$200 and SGD100 (roughly VND6 million in total).

They said that following heated argument over prices, they negligently left over an Iphone 4 that has now vanished into thin air.

Hanoi’s police have jumped in to help their peers and yesterday announced they have identified the taxi driver and are hunting for him.

The 80th Interpol General Assembly was kicked off in Hanoi from October 31 and expected to conclude on November 3.

Nation sees progress towards sustainability

Viet Nam has made encouraging achievements in sustainable development over the past few years, according to information communicated at a press briefing held in Ha Noi yesterday.

The briefing was organised by the United Nations Development Programme and the Ministry of Planning and Investment in order to introduce Rio+20 — the UN conference on sustainable development that is scheduled to take place in Rio de Janeiro next June — and discuss Viet Nam's participation and progress in the relevant areas.

According to Nguyen Le Thuy, deputy head of the Department of Science, Education, Natural Resources and Environment (DSENRE), in recent years Viet Nam has issued important documents to promote sustainable development, including a circular in 2005 to implement Agenda 21 set out at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio.

In addition to the establishment of the national overseeing body and the office for sustainable development, steering committees for the same purpose were also formed in several State agencies and localities.

Thuy said a draft of the sustainable development plan for Viet Nam for 2011-20 had been submitted to the Prime Minister and was being revised.

A national action plan for sustainable development for 2011-15 was also being developed, she added.

Viet Nam has also managed to considerably reduce unemployment and the number of poor households by creating jobs for more than 8 million people.

Thuy said the country achieved most of the millennium objectives set out by the United Nations.

Viet Nam is now performing several important activities to prepare for Rio+20. In addition to the report on sustainable development, the Rio delegation is currently being formed, which would be led by a Deputy Prime Minister.

Rio+20 will draw thousands of participants from governments, the private sector, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders.

The event will address how to build a green economy and achieve sustainable development in order to lift people out of poverty, including support for developing countries. It will also discuss ways to improve international co-ordination for sustainable development.

Japan donates relief goods to flood victims

The Japanese Government, through the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), has granted emergency relief goods worth approximately US$253,000 to flood victims in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta of Viet Nam.

The emergency relief aid is aimed at helping people in the region overcome the aftermath of current floods which claimed the lives of more than 60 people and forced more than 8,000 households to evacuate.

It includes plastic jerry cans, water tanks and power generators, which are in high demand by the communities.

Representatives of the Embassy of Japan in Viet Nam and JICA Viet Nam will hand over the relief goods to the Fatherland Front Central Committee today.

Christian church holds congress

The Christian Fellowship Church of Viet Nam began its second congress in HCM City on Monday.

At the three-day session, its executive board was elected with Pastor Dinh Thien Tu being chosen as head.

A report on the church's activities in 2009-11 was discussed, while a charter and working programme for 2011-13 will be adopted.

More than 600 pastors, ministers, and faithfuls from 45 provinces and cities and representatives of some foreign organisations are attending the congress.

Bui Thanh Ha, deputy head of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, congratulating the congress, dignitaries, and others, hoped the church's followers would continue to demonstrate their patriotism and make further contributions to the cause of building a rich and strong country with an equitable, democratic, and civilised society.

Speeding up the current efforts for national renovation, industrialisation, and modernisation thrust responsibility upon the entire nation, including religious organisations including dignitaries and followers of the Christian Fellowship Church, he said.

The Government's consistent policy was to respect and ensure the freedom of people to follow or not to follow any religion or belief, that all religions were equal before the law, and there would be no discrimination based on religion.

This policy together with the aspiration and determination of the church would provide the basis for the Christian Fellowship Church to develop its religion in line with the guidelines and purposes written in the church's charter, he said.

The Christian Fellowship Church of Viet Nam was established in 1962 and has 1,954 groups with more than 300,000 followers, including more than 159,000 ethnic minority members in 59 provinces and cities.

In October 2007 it received a certificate for religious practice from the Government Committee for Religious Affairs.

Newborn receives pacemaker

Doctors from the Hue Central Hospital have successfully inserted a machine that can create heart rate on a new-born baby girl.

The machine creates a heart rate of 90 beats per minute.

This is the first time the technique has been successfully conducted on a new-born in Viet Nam, said Associate Professor Dr Nguyen Cuu Loi, deputy director of the hospital's cardiovascular centre.

The doctors also found the baby, who weighed 2.8 kilos, to be suffering from third-degree heart block.

According to doctors, a person with third degree heart block has a delay in the electrical impulse that travels through the heart, resulting in an abnormal heartbeat.

In third degree heart block, an organised heartbeat is lost; the ventricles beat independently of the atria.

Common causes of third degree heart block are a heart attack or side effects from drugs.

Previously, doctors at a lower-level hospital had diagnosed the baby to be suffering from the heart rate disorder while she was in her mother's womb.

Both the baby and her mother Le Thi Tuyet Thanh, 29, who were admitted to the hospital two weeks ago, left in good condition.

Conference targets improved work by General Statistics Office

Viet Nam plans to enhance the work of the General Statistics Office by 2020, with a view to improving it further by 2030, a workshop in Ha Noi heard yesterday.

Speaking at the launch of the Viet Nam Statistics Development Strategy (VSDS) for the 2011-20 period and vision toward 2030, Nguyen Bich Lam, deputy director of the GSO, said reliable statistical information was a crucial base for making an accurate social economic development strategy for the whole country. He said the VSDS would also improve the implementation of national strategies, such as the Millennium Development Goals.

"According to the World Bank's assessment in 2010, the general index on Viet Nam's statistical capacity was average," Lam said.

"Building and implementing the Viet Nam Statistical Development Strategy for the 2011-20 period with a vision to 2030 is crucial."

The strategy aims to improve the general index on statistical capacity according to the assessment criteria of the World Bank for Viet Nam from 61 in 2010 to 70 by 2015; 80 by 2020 and 95 by 2030.

The VSDS has nine action plans with 45 basic activities.

Bakhodir Burkhanov, UNDP deputy country director, said the VSDS put Viet Nam firmly on the world statistics map.

"The VSDS has clearly shown the Government's commitment to reform the statistical system to support evidence-based policy making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation," he said.

The UN representative also affirmed the importance of the strategy to the country's social economic development plan. He said the plan would improve data dissemination and access, enhance the quality and timeliness of information to meet the users' needs, improve the disaggregation by sex, ethnicity and age, and strengthen efficiency and co-ordination in data collection and analysis.

"The implementation of this strategy has been mapped under detailed action plans, which set out more precisely what is to be done, by whom and when, and towards what objective," he said.

Yesterday's workshop also witnessed the launch of a set of 105 statistical indicators on gender development.

The 11 fields covered include – consolidated index; population; labour and employment; leadership and management; education and training; science and technology; culture; information and sports; health; family life; social welfare and protection; and management capacity in gender equality.

Nguyen Phong, director of the Socio-Environmental Statistics Department, said the indicators would be a tool to collect data to supervise and analyse the situation of gender development, the women's advancement and gender equality in all social and economic aspects as well as meet the demand in gender statistics of the Government, organisations and individuals.

UN representative Bakhodir Burkhanov said the issuance of the set reaffirmed the Vietnamese Government's strong commitment to achieving gender equality, adding that it would provide an important legal framework for mainstreaming sex disaggregation and gender-related data collection and dissemination in the work of Viet Nam's statistical system at both national and local levels. The statistics development strategy and the set of statistical indicators on gender development were approved by the Prime Minister on September 18 and October 14, respectively.

Chevening Scholarships provide opportunities for Vietnamese students

The British embassy in Vietnam has officially announced its Chevening Scholarships Programme for the 2012-2013 period.

It said the deadline for applications via E-Chevening is January 23, 2012.

Chevening scholarships are awarded for one year Master degrees at United Kingdom universities and other professional institutions. Chevening scholarships are not applicable for PhDs, undergraduate studies or professional courses (e.g. ACCA, RIBA, ICSA etc) nor are they awarded for studies outside the UK, for distance learning or for part-time studies.

The 2012-2013 Chevening Scholarship Programme in Vietnam is closely aligned with the seven key areas of cooperation set out in the UK-Vietnam Strategic Partnership: political and diplomatic cooperation, global and regional issues, trade and investment, sustainable socio-economic development, education, training, science and technology, security and defence, and people to people links.

A full scholarship covers the cost for a UK visa, a return air ticket to the UK, all tuition fees (not exceeding £12,000 per year), and a monthly stipend and allowances. Candidates wishing to study a course with academic fees exceeding £12,000 per year should expect to part-fund their study.

The Chevening scholarships are funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 160 countries. Currently, the scholarships enable more than 2000 talented future leaders study in the UK through the main Chevening Scholarships Scheme and the Chevening Fellowship Scheme.

Strengthening cooperation between Vietnamese and Russian courts

Chief Judge of the Supreme People's Court Truong Hoa Binh has urged Russia to help Vietnamese officials on integration issues.

Meeting with the visiting delegation from the Supreme Court of Russia led by its tribunal president Lebedev in Hanoi on November 2, Mr Binh lauded the effective cooperation between the Vietnamese and Russian Courts. He said the recent signing of a judicial has raised the level of bilateral cooperation to a new height.

Mr Binh said Vietnam will send judges to learn Russian experience in developing the judicial system.

Mr Lebedev pledged to create favourable conditions of them during their study tours.

Vietnam’s gaur faces extinction threat

The Gaur (scientifically known as Bos gaurus), one of the ten rare animal species found in Cat Tien National Park, needs special protection, said local officials in the central highland province of Lam Dong.

Deputy chief ranger of Cat Tien National Park Nguyen Van Minh expressed his concern over the safety of the gaur herd in the park after the death of the last Javan rhino was confirmed on October 25.

The bull’s gall and meat are much sought after in the market which makes it an attractive target of poachers.

Though no wild bull hunting case has been discovered so far, the park’s rangers have seized an average five home-made guns each month from poachers, said Minh, adding that those poachers did not get prosecuted as the law does not stipulate any punishment of the use of home-made guns.

Director of the park Tran Van Thanh said rangers detect more than 20,000 traps each year, one tenth of which are traps designed for catching big animals like the gaur.

According to Thanh, the park is now home to 3-4 gaur herds with around 100 individuals. After the gaur was spotted in the park, the French embassy and the French Agency for World Environment Protection (FFEM) provided EUR580,000 to Cat Tien National Park in 2006 to protect genes of wild animals, especially wild bulls.

FAO helps Vietnam develop rice seed production

Hoa Tien commune in Hoa Vang district, in the central coastal city of Da Nang will be turned into a sustainable rice seed production area under a US$498,894 project funded by the India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) Trust Fund.

The two-year project, starting from November, 2011, was signed by the Da Nang City People’s Committee and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), in Da Nang on November 2.

Under the project, Hoa Tien commune will become a trustworthy nationwide supplier of rice varieties and a reserve source of rice seed to cope with natural disasters in Da Nang city and neighbouring provinces in the central coastal region and the Red River Delta.

JICA promises to assist Vietnam’s development

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will exert its utmost to assist Vietnam’s development process and its Finance Ministry in human resource training, affirmed its Vice President Izumi Arai.

At a meeting with Vietnam Finance Minister Vuong Dinh Hue in Tokyo on November 2, Arai said apart from the assistance in building infrastructure, Japan is ready to cooperate in improving policies and mechanisms and in human resource training, to serve Vietnam’s economic development.

He emphasised the importance of increasing the competitiveness of Vietnam’s economy in the medium and long term. However, he said, the implementation of policies to stabilise the macro-economy is an extremely important task for Vietnam when the global economy is facing many difficulties.

JICA will discuss with the Japanese Government on the possibility of providing financial assistance to the Vietnamese Government when it needs for implementation of such policies, he said.

To prepare for the signing of loans agreements for seven other projects in Vietnam in the second half of the 2011 fiscal year, a Japanese governmental delegation will visit Vietnam in mid-November.

Minister Hue said Vietnam has carried out drastic measures to stabilise its macro-economy in the context of the global public debt crisis.

He added that the Vietnamese Government prioritises restructuring the economy, public investment and the system of State-owned enterprises and human resource development.

Earlier, Minister Hue and Vice President Arai signed loan agreements for six important projects worth US$1.2 billion. They included the Lach Huyen deepwater port development project, the North-South Highway construction project at the Ben Luc-Long Thanh section, the Nghi Son thermal power plant, a programme to cope with climate change, and a satellite observation project to monitor disasters and climate change.

Also on November 2, Minister Hue received leaders of Mizuho, a major Japanese financial and banking group.

HIV infections among children increase in Vietnam

An addition of 400 children tested positive with HIV every year, said the Department of Children Protection and Care under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.  

Ho Chi Minh City has the highest number of HIV infections (920), followed by Dien Bien (494), Hanoi (391), Thanh Hoa (246), An Giang (172) and Dong Thap (155).

A number of dissemination programmes and preventative measure and treatment services have implemented in the capital city of Hanoi, but not many people can have access to the services.

Nearly 4,000 pregnant women have been infected with the deadly virus across the country annually and their disease has transmitted to about 1,400 infants. The figure will reduce to 200-400 per year if their mothers are treated with transmission prevention drugs.

Vietnam placed second in producing Artemisinin against malaria

Vietnam is the second largest Artemisinin producer in the world, according to an international seminar on Artemisinin in Hanoi on November 2.

China is ranked first in producing the drug used to treat malaria. China and Vietnam supply up to 70 percent of the raw material for Artemisinin processing while East Africa supplies nearly 20 percent.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Xuyen stressed the importance of the seminar, saying it took place at a time when anti-malarial drug resistance rates are comparatively high in the world.

She expressed hope that delegates will bring out an assessment and action plan related to researching and producing Artemisinin as well as solutions to drug resistance.

In Vietnam, Artemisinin is found in four provinces: Lang Son, Cao Bang, Quang Ninh and Bac Giang.

During 2006-2010, Vietnam’s national program on malaria prevention and control achieved many successes. The number of deaths due to malaria in 2010 was reduced by 40 percent compared to 2006 numbers.   

Plan International aids residents in Quang Tri

Plan International will provide US$4 million to improve living conditions of local residents in the central province of Quang Tri from now until 2015.

The project will focus on child protection and education; sustainable economic development; health care, disaster prevention and mitigation, clean water supply, environmental sanitation, and building capacity of partners and community.

It will benefit the locals in the four districts of Da Krong, Huong Hoa, Gio Linh and Vinh Linh.

Socio-economic planning renovated

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and Ninh Thuan province have co-organized a workshop to discuss lessons, challenges and opportunities in renovating, monitoring and assessing socio-economic planning.

Present at the opening session on November 2 were representatives from 10 cities and provinces involved in projects to improve socio-economic planning and social auditing capacity.

They focused on assessing the efficiency of two projects run by the MPI to provide practical solutions for the government, and local authorities in the future.

SAP launches Vietnam office and R&D lab, connects universities

SAP, a global market leader in enterprise application software, announced Tuesday the grand opening of its new office in Vietnam, which SAP says is currently the largest among its emerging markets.
 
Srinivas Adimulam gestures as he announces the grand opening of SAP Asia Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City November 1, 2011

The new unit, which the global firm calls SAP Asia Vietnam, is located at Gillimex Building, 24 Phan Dang Luu Street, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City.

“We believe Vietnam is one of the most dynamic markets in South East Asia,” SAP Vietnam country manager Srinivas Adimulam said at the office launch.

“The opening of the new office will help us to better accommodate our ambitious growth strategies and enable SAP to commit further investments in Vietnam, to tap into the country’s vast economic and human resources potentials and to help Vietnamese businesses achieve greater successes faster,” he added.

Vietnam now is the largest among the emerging markets of Germany-based SAP, according to him.

The establishment of the office came after four years through which SAP has attained about 120 customers in different industries, making Vietnam one of the firm’s fastest growing subsidiaries in Asia-Pacific, he said.

Regarding some of SAP’s corporate customers that many people know about in Vietnam, he said they were Vietnam Airlines, Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group, Trung Nguyen Coffee, Vietnam’s General Tax Department, Viet Steel (or Thep Viet), Biti’s, and Kinh Do.

SAP also announced Tuesday the establishment of SAP Labs Vietnam as the firm’s first research and development center in South East Asia and the 15th lab globally, following the others in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Israel, the US and elsewhere.

The new lab is staffed with almost 40 professionals who are 100 per cent Vietnamese, according to Mr. Adimulam. It focuses on the research, design, and delivery of software applications for the firm’s solutions globally, he added.

Adimulam said Tuesday that RMIT Vietnam and the Vietnamese-German University had become the first two universities in Vietnam to join the SAP University Alliances program, a community provides connections between university leaders and students, SAP customers and partners, and SAP internal experts.

SAP Vietnam has plans to expand the network in the country, according to him.

Plain clothes police on the lookout for drunk drivers

Plain clothes police officers will patrol bars and restaurants under a pilot project that aims to crack down on motorists who drive under the influence of alcohol.

The trial project will be carried out from November 5-20 in the three inner-city districts of Hoan Kiem, Dong Da and Hai Ba Trung.

The measure, launched by the Public Security Ministry's General Police Department on Administrative Management of Social Order, aims to improve road safety.

Plain clothes police officers will be on the lookout for motorists whose alcohol concentration is suspected to exceed permitted levels. Suspected drunk drivers will have their blood alcohol levels measured. Police will also contact drivers' families to help take drunk drivers home.

Under current regulations, drunk drivers face a maximum fine of VND400,000 (US$20) for driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.25-0.4 and a maximum fine of VND1 million ($50) for higher alcohol concentrations.

Maximum fines for drunk car drivers are at VND1.4 million ($70) for alcohol levels of between 0.25-0.4 and VND10 million ($500) for higher alcohol concentrations.

Last September, Ha Noi police set up check-points near bia hois (streetside beer venues) to measure drivers' alcohol concentration as part of national traffic safety month.

Da Nang to boost ties with Finland's Salo

Finland's Salo City Mayor Antti Rantakokko and Da Nang People's Committee Chairman Van Huu Chien yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding to promote co-operation and friendly relations between the two cities.

The two sides agreed to boost ties in scientific research, trade and investment, with an emphasis on education and vocational training, communications and information technology, among other high-tech areas.

Representatives from Salo's human resources, commercial services and shipbuilding areas accompanied the mayor to study business opportunities overseas.

"Salo's vision is to create opportunities in high technology, trade, social welfare and education sectors," Antti said, noting that some of Finland's electronic production companies and universities were ready to sign agreements in these areas.

Chien suggested that seafood would be a potential area for co-operation. Nguyen Thuy Anh, an official from the local Department of Foreign Affairs, said Da Nang expects Finish partners to recommend that Nokia Co invest in the central city.

Both city leaders said they believed that Salo's tradition of development and Da Nang's new strategies would facilitate a good relationship between the two sides in the future.

This year, Finland agreed to provide VND1.53 billion (about US$73,000) for projects that would renew technologies and assist fishermen in Da Nang.

Finland's Salo Educational Association and Turku University of Applied Sciences also signed memoranda with local Dong A and Da Nang universities to exchange professors and students.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Finland has no direct investment projects in Da Nang, while bilateral import-export values remain limited and have declined in the last few years.

In 2008, Da Nang exported $334,000 of goods to Finland and imported $12 million. Bilateral trade values fell to only $19,000 in 2009 and about $61,000 last year.

Salo is situated in the south-west of Finland with key industries of electronic production, wireless information transmission, metal plating and timber processing, according to the department.

Diarrhoea outbreak in Sa Pa ‘under control'

Diarrhoea that killed three people and affected more than 140 others last week in Ta Giang Phinh Commune near Sa Pa Town is said to be under control.

According to provincial Health Department deputy director, Dam Thi Lien, local authorities have sprayed chemicals, treated local water and cleaned up the environment in the commune and neighbouring areas.

On October 28, after having a party with blood pudding at a local household, many local Mong residents suffered from diarrhoea and stomach ache, but few sought treatment.

Young pupils set to be taught English

All third-and-fourth-grade students at 128 primary schools in central Nghe An Province for the school year 2011-12 will learn English under a large-scale programme launched by the provincial Education and Training Department.

By the 2014-15 school year, the department plans to have the programme operating in 420 primary schools, or about 74 per cent of the total.

A total of VND227 billion (US$11 million) will be spent on the project over the next nine years.