Vietnam, US hold labour dialogue

The Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and the US Department of Labour (DoL) held their 11 th labour dialogue in Hanoi on December 5.

Addressing the event, MoLISA Deputy Minister Doan Mau Diep said that since the two agencies set up their links 15 years ago, they have jointly organised regular dialogues and actively exchanged information on issues of mutual concern.

They have also expanded cooperation to law making and technical assistance in the fields related to labour, employment, labour safety and sanitation, and child labour.

Speaking highly of the US ’s financial and technical support for the Vietnamese side over the past time, Diep expressed hope that both sides will share information and review the results of their joint projects for sustainable collaboration.

DoL Associate Deputy Under-Secretary Mark Mittelhauser stated that during this dialogue, the two offices will seek solutions to shortcomings in implementing their memorandum of understanding on cooperation as well as measures to boost cooperation and law enforcement towards the signing of a cooperation agreement in 2015.

Delegates discussed the possibility for coordination in reducing and preventing child labour and ensuring labour safety and sanitation.

On December 4, a workshop was organised to share the US ’s experience in ensuring labour safety and sanitation.

ASEAN volunteers support locals in Thue Thien-Hue

The ASEAN Young Professionals Volunteer Corps organised a volunteer programme to support community in Hai Duong commune, Huong Tra town, central Thua Thien-Hue province from November 23-December 5.

Jointly held by Brunei’s Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and the Hearts for Hue foundation, the event contributed to further strengthen the solidarity, friendship and cooperation between ASEAN member states.

Some 27 corps members have worked with the local community to construct fences and yard for Hai Duong Kindergarten in a bid to prevent children from road accidents.

According to the provincial Youth Union Secretary Nguyen Chi Quang, the coastal Hai Duong commune was selected by the programme due to its vulnerability to natural disasters.

In 2013, storm No.11 hit the commune, causing 1.5-meter floods and tidal surges which blew off 300-meter shore and threatened lives of local residents, he said.

The volunteers also conducted workshops and training courses for villagers on environment protection and helped clean local beaches.-

RoK-Vietnam job fair kicks off in HCM City

The Korea-Vietnam Job Fair for Global Talents 2014 opened on December 5 in Ho Chi Minh City , offering a good chance for Vietnamese youths to seek suitable jobs and for Republic of Korea (RoK) businesses to access high-quality labour force.

The event, co-organised by the Korean Trade Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the RoK Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City , drew the participation of 45 RoK enterprises including Hyosung, STX, Lotte Mart, Daewoo International, Korea United Pharmaceutical.

They want to recruit qualified Vietnamese candidates in the fields of production, business and personnel management, strategy making and interpretation.

Tu Hong Diep, a representative from the RoK Consulate General described the fair as a meeting place for RoK businesses and Vietnamese job seekers, especially young talents, who want to test their ability during on-the-spot interviews.

RoK enterprises’ demand for high-quality Vietnamese workers will increase in the time to come as bilateral trade and investment relations are thriving, she said.

She added that one of the reasons for RoK companies to choose Vietnam as their investment destination is hardworking and qualified human resources.

At present, RoK businesses operating in Vietnam are employing more than 70,000 local workers.

HCM City rolls up sleeves to help drug addicts

Ho Chi Minh City deployed all functional forces in the early hours of December 5 in an effort to search for homeless drug addicts and send them to rehabilitation centres.

In District 8, one of the City’s “hot spots” of drug-related evils, the police, night-watchmen, and ward-level security men collected 50 drug addicts.

Meanwhile, at District 12, the functional forces patrolled and checked An Suong flyover area at Trung My Tay ward, one of the district’s ‘dark’ spots of drug use, and took suspects to the ward’s office.

Mai Van Tho, chairman of District 12’s Trung My Tay Ward People’s Committee, said that the ward mobilised all forces to examine ‘hot’ spots in the area as well as checking all suspected hotels and guesthouses.

Actions have been taken to ensure security and order at An Suong flyover area, the ward’s most troubled area, Tho said.

The forces in District 5 also patrolled streets in the area surrounding Cho Ray Hospital , and Hong Bang and Pham Huu Tri streets.

According to the municipal People’s Committee, the City currently has records of over 19,000 drug addicts. Of the recorded 8,000 who are currently in treatment-education-labour centres, 60 percent are from other localities or homeless.

The Committee said the real figure could be 50-70 percent higher because a large number of synthesised drug addicts had yet to be counted.

The December 5 raid is part of a project on managing drug addicts before they are sent to compulsory rehabilitation services to recover their health.

The project aims to help limit the growth of new addicts and the risk of spreading HIV by those people to the community as well as contributing to reducing crimes and social evils in the city, the Committee said.

3,000 packages of frozen buffalo meat seized

Market-watch officials and the city police yesterday seized 3,000 packages of frozen buffalo meat that did not have any labelling and expiration dates.

The packages were seized in the Quang Minh Industrial Zone in Me Linh District, Ha Noi.

The authorities suspect that the buffalo meat was being tagged as beef to be used for making workers' meals at the Bac Thang Long Industrial Zone.

The buffalo meat belonged to a company based in Hoang Mai District, but the firm's name remained unclear.

Local media also reported that at least 10,000 tonnes of frozen buffalo meat have been imported in Viet Nam since the beginning of the year, but a large part of them has been sold not as buffalo meat, but as other kinds of meat.

The case is being investigated further.

Smuggled mobile phones seized at Ha Noi airport

The Ha Noi police, in co-operation with customs officials in the city's Noi Bai International Airport, have caught a man for smuggling mobile phones from China to Viet Nam.

Vu Sy Hai, 31, was found hiding 91 mobile phones of well-known brands such as Vertu, Nokia, Philips and Crystal and some accessories in his luggage.

The goods had been transported from China's Guangzhou Province to Ha Noi. Hai had failed to declare them to customs.

At the investigation agency, Hai admitted that he had purchased the phones in a market in China and intended to sell them for profit.

He owns a mobile phone shop in Cau Giay District's Trung Hoa Street.

The value of the goods was estimated to be more than VND242 million (US$11,415).

Hai and his luggage have been detained for further investigation.

Floods kill two children, inundate Hue's low-lying areas

Two primary school students drowned in the flood waters of a river in the central Thua Thien - Hue Province's Phu Loc District yesterday.

Nguyen Thi Tra My, 7, and Nguyen Van Lanh, 8, were cycling to their school when they fell into the river and drowned.

Tran Van Hoa, chairman of Loc Bon commune where the accident happened, said the road is very close to the riverbank and the students fell accidentally into the river.

Heavy rains and a huge volume of water released from the Huong Dien power plant reservoir caused flooding in many low-lying areas in the province's Phong Dien, Quang Dien and Huong Tra districts.

Though the floods caused traffic problems in these areas, the farmers were happy because the flood waters swept away pests and rats, and deposited alluvium for the coming paddy crop.

Gov’t-granted house of ex-inspector chief to be withdrawn next week

By the middle of next week, Ho Chi Minh City authorities will withdraw a house from a retired high-ranking official who has been found committing wrongdoings related to the state’s housing and land policies.

The retired official is Tran Van Truyen, 64, who is a former member of the Party Central Committee and the ex-chief of the Government Inspectorate. He retired in October 2011.

The city People’s Committee on Monday issued a decision to take back a house from Truyen’s daughter, Tran Thi Bich Hue, at 105 Nguyen Trong Tuyen Street, Ward 15, Phu Nhuan District, before December 10.

This decision makes null and void the city’s decision issued on June 6, 2011 on selling this house to Hue.

The withdrawal is based on a directive shown in a press release issued on November 21 by the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee’s Commission for Inspection, providing a conclusion on the origin of the properties allegedly obtained through Truyen’s wrongdoings.

This house was leased to Truyen in June 2004, and in March 2011 Truyen asked to purchase the state house from the local government, citing his family’s housing hardship, and the People’s Committee sold it to him in the name of his daughter, Hue.

But the central inspection commission found out at that time that Truyen’s daughter already owned a high-class apartment in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, while his wife owned a house in the city’s District 9.

Through Truyen’s actions, the commission concluded that the retired chief government inspector had not been honest about his housing circumstances, and that the house, therefore, must be withdrawn from his daughter.

In the above-mentioned press release, the central inspection commission said, “During his office terms as a central and local official and after retiring, Truyen carried out many wrongdoings in the field of housing and land. He had made insincere statements on his personal properties and asked land and housing authorities to make property-related decisions in favor of himself or his relatives.”

Also based on the commission’s conclusion, the People’s Committee of the southern province of Ben Tre issued a decision dated November 19 to take back a land plot, at 598B5 Nguyen Thi Dinh Street in the provincial capital of Ben Tre City, which was unreasonably granted to Truyen in 1992.

Conference spotlights heat stress

Do Ngoc Khue looks at the thermometer on the notice board and switches on a spray that cools its roof top if the temperature is too high for workers.

Khue, head of Security and Safety at the Da Nang-based Chemical Industrial Co. Central Mine Central (MICCO), said that workers in his factory worked in hot environments and were exposed to extreme heat, which could lead to illness.

"Some years ago a worker got dizzy at work and was taken to hospital for treatment," he said. "We became very worried when the worker said that the hot environment made him tired and faint," he added.

That was when the company's leaders realised that they should do something to protect and reduce heat stress for its employees.

"Our workers are provided with training on heat-stress resilience. The most important thing is that their awareness of the problem has been raised, enabling us to protect them," Khue added.

"If our company's solution against heat stress is applied in all enterprises, workers will have a better working environment and better occupational health, which in turn will increase their working efficiency and their company's development," he said.

Khue shared his thoughts at a conference, entitled Building heat stress resilience among Da Nang's most vulnerable workers, which was held by the Centre for Community Health and Development (Cohed) last week.

It was aimed at developing a national agenda to protect workers from the effect of climate change, particularly in the context of global temperature increases.

Speaking about the policies on heat-stress resilience for workers exposed to heat, Deputy Director General of Work Safety Department under the Ministry of Labour Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), Nguyen Anh Tho, said that 77.5 per cent of companies in Viet Nam did not have field nurses or health-and-safety personnel.

"Work safety has not been paid enough attention by enterprise leaders, especially leaders of small enterprises and small and medium enterprises, which account for 95 per cent of businesses in our country," Tho said.

"Workers in traditional craft villages, including those work in brick production and garments factories, have to work outdoor for hours daily," the Deputy Director said.

"The most important thing is that the company leaders must care of their workers' occupational health - and the workers must know how to protect themselves in extreme working conditions," he added.

"If the workers' health is good, they can surely work better, which can contribute to an enterprises' growth," Tho said.

A director of the Centre for Community Health, Dao Thi Mai Hoa, said that its project for heat-stress resilience had been piloted in three factories in the central city of Da Nang, including MICCO.

"Vulnerable workers at risk of heat stress include outdoor workers and workers in hot environments, such as construction workers, miners or those who are more than 65 years old," Hoa said. "Prevention of heat stress for workers is very important. Employers should provide training to workers for them to understand how it affects their occupational health and safety, and how it can be prevented," Hoa said.

Hoa said that there were types of heat stress, including heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat syncope and heat rash. He added that workers who suffered from heat stress must be treated immediately.

MOLISA's Tho said that to protect workers, policies on prevention of occupational health must be adopted. "More enterprises must be required to follow work safety regulations for workers, including workers in farming, fishing sectors or workers who do not have labour contracts in private enterprises," Tho said.

"It is not difficult for enterprises' leaders to reduce heat stress in workers. They can plant more trees or install a spray machine to cool the factory's roof like MICCO. I am sure that this will be very helpful for workers' health," she added. Comments on the draft national agenda for heat-stress resilience were collected at the conference.

Illegal teaching centers disbanded in HCMC

The Department of Education and Training in Ho Chi Minh City decided to disband 11 illegal teaching centers in the city.

This is one of the moves to show the city’s determination in managing and dressing teachers who provide private tutoring outside of regular school hours at their home. Rampant private tutoring has seen in senior and junior schools.

Accordingly, for the academic year 2014-2015, all such center like that must be disbanded. Schools must ask for approval from the city authority over opening private tutoring classes outside the regular hours.

Only medicine schools allowed to enroll pharmacy students

In its document to universities of medicine on December 3, the Ministry of Education and Training has clearly stated that it and the Ministry of Health agreed to pause some subjects to renovate training in medicine and improve medical workers’ skills.

Some subjects include general medicine, Oral and Maxillo-Facial Surgery, traditional medicine, and pharmacy in schools which provide training to many subjects.

Two ministries of Education and Training; and Health will review and check the facilities and teams of lecturers of medicine schools  nationwide. To meet the demand of some provinces, the two ministries will consider carefully including assessing all necessary conditions to ensure the training quality before giving the go-ahead to open subjects.

Enrolment quota of medicine students will be based on the number of lecturers of each subjects and available regulations to guarantee the quality and schools are not allowed to have more enrolled students than the set quota.

Phu Yen seeks inordinate compensation after storm

Although storm Sinlaku only caused slight damage to the coastal province of Phu Yen, authorities there are asking for VND10 billion in compensation from the state budget.

The storm destroyed 11 homes, leveled 903 hectares of farm land and caused slight flooding. There were no casualties. However, total damages were estimated by the Phu Yen People's Committee to be VND9.5 billion.

Local people in Song Cau Town, Phu Yen Province are clearing fallen trees after the storm.

They requested VND10 billion from the state for the damages. Besides, the local authorities also asked for another VND50 billion for upgrading a dyke in Ro village although it was not affected by the storm. Earlier in the year, they were already given VND 185 billion by the state to restructure the dyke and to make upgrades beachfront facilities.

Tropical storm Sinlaku hit the province of Phu Yen on the evening of November 29 and weakened shortly after making landfall.

Justice sector urged to improve civil judgement enforcement

The Ministry of Justice held a conference in Hanoi on December 4 to review its performance over the past year and set tasks for 2014.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc praised efforts made by the civil judgement enforcement agencies in strengthening inspection and strictly handling violations, especially the serious, prolonged and complex cases that have caught the public's attention.

However, he also pointed out some shortcomings and weaknesses in the enforcement of civil judgements.

The number of enforced verdicts, while showing an increase from the period before the law was put in place, remained short of target, the Deputy PM said.

The number of judgements issued in 2014 that were not implemented within their due date remained high, he added.

Deputy PM Phuc suggested relevant agencies quickly implement the Law on amendments and supplements to some articles of the Law on enforcement of civil judgements, speed up the issuance of documents guiding the implementation of the law and submit to the Government for promulgation.

Deputy PM Phuc also urged the sector exert more effort to play an active role in perfecting institutions, reforming administrative procedures and issuing numerous documents guiding the implementation of laws.

HCM City provides Tet help for the disadvantaged

Many programmes to assist disadvantaged students and workers in large cities and provinces have been organised for the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday which falls on February 19.

The Ho Chi Minh City Student Assistance Centre will grant 2,700 bus tickets to disadvantaged students in flood-prone provinces as well as other areas. The city's Fatherland Front funds the programme.

The annual entertainment programme will also be held for students who are not returning home during the Tet. The centre will also help students who want to earn more income for Tet.

The city's Youth Social Work Centre last week also launched a writing contest on the difficulties and wishes of workers and students who want to return home for Tet. The contest is based in HCM City, Hanoi and the southern province of Binh Duong.

Awards of VND300,000 (US$14) each will be given to 1,000 students.

The contest is a part of a programme Trai Muot Duong Ve Yeu Thuong (The Way Home Full Of Love), funded by P&G's Rejoice product brand.

The programme also offers a "happy bus" for workers in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang.

The HCM City Industrial Parks and Export Processing Zone Trade Union said that 6,000 bus tickets would be presented to disadvantaged workers who will return to hometowns in all parts of the country.

Many enterprises have agreed to join the programme; they will subsidise 70% of ticket prices and the remaining will be paid by the union.

Moreover, 1,500 gifts worth VND500,000 (US$23.8) will be presented to provincial workers who do not return their hometown during Tet holidays.

Tran Cong Khanh, Chairman of the Trade Union, said the city has 16 industrial parks and export processing zones with hundreds of workers.

During Tet, workers often do not return from their hometowns, so enterprises are offering gifts to certain categories of workers.

Nguyen Thi Thu, Chairwoman of the city's Labour Federation, said the city would focus on workers who have had labour accidents and treatment at hospitals, employees who are natives of flood-affected provinces and cities, and those whose labour contracts have concluded or were negotiated illegally.

Workers at companies where the owners have fled will receive gifts worth 500,000 VND each.

Hoa Binh told to address pollution

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has told northern Hoa Binh Province's People's Committee to inspect Doc Bung rubbish dump and submit a plan on overcoming the pollution it produces.

Hai gave the People's Committee until December 30 to come up with a solution. The move came after VTV1 reported on November 20 that the rubbish dump, located in Tan Hoa Ward, had polluted the surrounding environment, including the Da River.

The dump has discharged dozens of cubic metres of waste water into the river daily for the last decade, causing growing concerns, according to the television station.

Throughout this period, Vinaconex Water Supply Joint Stock Co's Da has been processing the river water and reticulating it to thousands of Hanoians as tap water.

Last week, however, a Vinaconex representative said the Ha Noi tap water it provides meets all quality standards. He said the dump was 15km from where the plant took raw river water and treated it, so any effect from the rubbish dump was trivial.

Vietnam works to improve information security

The national information security index of Vietnam in 2014 is 39 percent, a slight rise against the previous year’s figure of 37.5 percent, said a report released on December 4 in Hanoi during the launching ceremony for the 2014 Vietnam Information Security Day.

Assessments from international organisations, however, still showed that Vietnam is among countries with high proportion of harmful software transmission, which significantly affects the country’s credit in the digital world.

According to Deputy Minister of Information and Communication Nguyen Minh Hong, the work of ensuring information security at offices, agencies and enterprises in Vietnam has still not been given due attention.

Meanwhile, the legal framework on standard and national technical regulations on information security has yet to provide a sufficient foundation for the application of management measures in the field, he noted.

Under the theme “Information safety, security and national sovereignty,” the 2014 Vietnam Information Security Day aimed to raise public awareness of information security and encourage human resources training in the area.

It also looked to promote the application and development of IT in a safe and secure manner since attacks targeting important data of organisations and enterprises as well as private information of thousands of people are on the rise.

During the ceremony, representatives of many software giants such as Google, Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco and Firewire, shared their experience, solutions and tools to ensure safety and security for important national information systems.

Besides a conference held following the launch, the 2014 Vietnam Information Security Day also consists of two seminars on ensuring security for key national information system, and the risk of information loss from hand-held devices.

Seminar seeks ways for climate change adaptation

Scientists working in science and technology, and environment gathered at a seminar in the central city of Da Nang on December 4 to discuss how to better adapt to climate change.

The event was held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as part of the Scientific and Technological Programme serving the National Target Programme to Respond to Climate Change (NTPRCC).

In his opening speech, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thai Lai said Vietnam is seen as one of countries hardest hit by climate change, especially its Mekong Delta region.

In recent year, climate change has adversely impacted on both production and living conditions as well as national poverty reduction goals and sustainable development of all sectors nationwide, he noted.

During the seminar, participants shared information and practical experience in assessing environment and climate change impacts, and proposed measures in response to climate change.

Realising threats of climate change to national sustainable development, the Government has swiftly made an overall plan to cope with the phenomena. In 2008, it approved the NTPRCC.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Science and Technology was assigned to work with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to build and implement a scientific and technological programme to serve the NTPRCC in the 2011-2015 period, which aims to map out methods to effectively tackle climate change.

After the three years of implementation, the programme has greatly contributed to mitigating climate change impacts on Vietnam.

Vaccinations help to prevent some cancers

The country's oncology-prevention programmes should focus on treatable infections by encouraging the use of vaccinations and antimicrobial treatment, a group of oncologists have recommended.

Vaccinations could be key to prevent some of the infection-related cancers, including liver and cervical cancers, according to an article published by the six oncologists in the Vietnam Oncology Journal.

Infections and cancer often provide unique models of pathogenesis in relation to diagnosis, therapy, screening and prevention, according to their report, which was presented at an oncology conference held in HCM City on December 4.

For instance, HBV vaccinations have been shown to prevent liver cancer in high-incidence countries.

The HPV vaccine, which is now available, reduces the chances of getting cervical cancer.

A report from the World Health Organisation in 2003 showed that up to 23 percent of malignancies in developing countries were caused by infectious agents.

In developed countries, cancers caused by chronic infections accounted for approximately 8 percent of all malignancies.

An infective agent is linked to some of the most common cancers. H. pylori, for example, causes gastric cancer; human Papillomavirus causes the vast majority of cervical cancer; and hepatitis viruses cause liver cancer.

These type of cancers are among the top five most prevalent cancers in Ho Chi Minh City, according to the HCM City Oncology Hospital.

From 2008 to 2012, the hospital was in charge of recording population-based cancer registration in the city.

In the city, 34,581 cancer patients were observed during this period. The crude rate (the number of cancer cases divided by the population and multiplied by 100,000) of the two genders was 92.2 in male and 100.5 female per 100,000, according to the hospital.

The age-standardized rate (which takes into account how many old or young people are in the population) of the two genders was 134.5 in male and 109.9 in female per 100,000.

The most common cancers in both genders increased rapidly from the age of 40.

Compared to the 2000-2004 period, there was an increase in both the crude rate and age-standardized rate, according to the oncologists' research findings.

Also at the conference, a study investigating the rates of depression and factors in breast cancer patients in HCM City hospitals was presented.

The study of 339 breast cancer patients showed that a high percentage of breast cancer patients had positive scores of depression, with 28.6 percent. Mild depression affected 13.6 percent of the patients.

Depression prevalence was highest among patients aged over 70, the illiterate, poor patients, the unemployed and the unmarried.

The research findings showed that doctors need better understanding of depression in breast cancer patients, and should choose the appropriate treatments to improve their quality of life.-

Vietnam takes active measures to prevent bubonic plague

The Ministry of Health on December 4 sent urgent dispatches to the Ministry of Transport and provincial municipal People’s Committees asking them to actively prevent bubonic plague as the epidemic killed at least 40 people in Madagascar while also hitting many other countries including the US and China.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Transport was urged to guide units with transport means entering Vietnam from plague-hit countries to promptly inform competent agencies about the hygienic conditions and the appearance of rats and fleas on their vehicles for timely response measures.

The units must actively examine, detect and destroy rats and fleas on their transport means, especially water, railway and road vehicles, to minimise the risks of disease transmission from animals to humans.

The Health Ministry also requested the health departments of provinces and cities to instruct quarantine agencies increase the examination and supervision of goods on vehicles returning from epidemic-stricken areas.

Media agencies should strengthen the dissemination of anti-plague measures among people, especially those living in high-risk areas, and encourage them to kill rats under the guidance of the agricultural sector.

The bubonic plague is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis which is transmitted to human via flea bites. It kills about one in ten infected patients. Patients first develop high fever, headache and painful swelling in lymph glands. In extreme cases, their skin turns dark purple. Once diagnosed, patients can be treated with antibiotics. If they are diagnosed early on, they have better chances to recover.

Vietnam has recorded no bubonic plague cases in the past 12 years.

Hanoi benefactors lend hand to HIV/AIDS patients

More than 200 organisations and individuals donated over VND3.3 billion (US$157,100) to Hanoi’s support fund for people living with HIV on December 4 as a way to extend their assistance to the target group.

Addressing the fund-raising programme, Vice Chairwoman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc said the city has recorded 21,000 HIV/AIDS sufferers, including over 5,000 AIDS patients and nearly 4,000 deaths, since the first case was detected 21 years ago.

As many as 535 communes and wards across Hanoi have reported HIV cases with 294 out of every 100,000 people got the virus on average, she said, adding that 87.3 percent of the patients are of working age, which is from 20 to 49.

The capital city has undertaken a number of measures to prevent the transmission of the virus and help HIV-infected people integrate into the community, Ngoc noted, while admitting that the incidence of HIV cases has yet been reduced, and a number of the patients are orphans or people without stable jobs and income.

Since its inception four years ago, Hanoi’s support fund for HIV patients has raised more than VND8 billion over US$380,900) and run an array of practical activities, including two projects providing care for the target group at a cost of US$89,000.

At the event, held in coordination with the Hanoi Radio and Television Station, the organisers presented 14 passbooks to people living with HIV.

French enterprises look into business climate in Vietnam

A delegation from the Movement of the Enterprises of France (MEDEF), the largest employer federation in France, visited Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from December 2-4 to study investment opportunities in the country.

The visit, the ninth made by a MEDEF delegation, aimed to boost bilateral economic relations as well as increase partnerships between the two countries’ businesses.

During meeting with Vietnamese partners, French enterprises said they wish to expand collaboration with Vietnam in the field of technology with a view to meeting the country’s long-term demand.

France is Vietnam’s fifth largest European trade partner with two-way trade reaching 3.2 billion USD last year. It ranks second among investors in the Southeast Asian country with a total capital of 3.3 billion USD.

Bac Giang becomes second-tier city

The PM has inked a decision to recognize Bac Giang of the northern province of Bac Giang as a second-tier city.

Bac Giang city is a political, economic and culture hub of the province.

Located 50km to the North of Ha Noi and connecting Ha Noi with Lang Son city and Dong Dang border gate, Bac Giang city has become an industrial and service centre of Bac Giang province.  

Earlier, the city was recognized as a third-grade city in 2003.

In 2013, average income per capita of the city was 1.45 times higher than the national average figure. Economic growth rate has increased constantly by 17.1% over the last three years. Poverty rate was 1.5%.

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