Vietnamese has lowest wages in ASEAN

The salaries of Vietnamese workers are among the lowest of all Southeast Asian countries, according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA).

The information was announced at the national conference on “Vietnam wage policy in the context of a market economy and economic integration” organized in Hanoi on 25-26 November.   

Co-hosted by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the International Labour Organization (ILO), the event emphasized the necessity of a good balance between promoting enterprise development and providing workers with a fair share of enterprise productivity gains.

The average monthly wage in Vietnam is estimated at VND3.8 million (USD181). One reason for the low pay, according to Nicola Connolly, head of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, is that Vietnamese workers lack "soft skills".

She said, "They have the degrees and theories but lack some skills for the jobs, so we often need to train them again." She suggested changes in curriculum and introducing more technology into schools.

Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Pham Minh Huan acknowledged the problem. As of the second quarter, Vietnam had 53.7 million workers, with just under 50% skilled.

However, Huan said that another reason Vietnamese workers are paid less is that companies simply take advantage of the policies in the country. When the government sets a minimum wage, many firms see it as a standard.

Le Dinh Quang, from the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, said the practice of collective bargaining has not caught on in Vietnam. Most agreements do not deal with salaries in detail. He said, "We've made a survey on collective agreements at 10 wood workshops in Binh Duong Province and found numerous of violations."

According to the International Labour Organization, in 2013, workers in agriculture, forestry and fisheries had lowest salary, VND2.63 million per month. Workers in the business, banking and insurance sectors had highest; VND7.23 million per month.

Court sentences four for forging passports, signatures

The Ha Noi People's Court yesterday sentenced four persons to several years in prison for forging authorised signatures and immigration documents to help two people flee abroad.

According to the indictment, the four persons are Phan Van Lap, 46, from Quang Binh Province; Phi Manh Thang, 32, from Thach That District in Ha Noi; and Hoang Anh Tuan, 40, from Dong Da District in Ha Noi; as well as Bui Phu Binh, 23, from Phuc Tho District, Ha Noi.

Tuan had earlier worked as an immigration police officer at Noi Bai International Airport.

The four convicts forged authorised signatures, immigration documents and passports to help two other persons flee to Europe in 2013. The two persons who used these fake documents were caught in Noi Bai in 2013.

While Lap was sentenced to 45 months in prison, Thang received a 33–month sentence, Tuan got 24 months in probation and Binh was jailed for 12 months.  

Lives put at risk by damaged bridge

Hundreds of people in Binh Tan District, HCM City are risk their lives on a daily basis crossing a bridge on the verge of collapse.

About a month ago, the middle section of the bridge crossing Tham Luong Canal suddenly slumped. The bottom of the bridge now almost touches the water and could collapse at any moment. Local authorities tried to block off the bridge, but the barrier was taken down. Despite the danger, hundreds of people, including students, continue to use the bridge each day.

One labourer said, "I'm really scared each time I cross. The bridge is bent in the middle and shakes wildly. But there's no other way. We must use it."

While pedestrians cross the bridge by foot, some motorbikes choose to take a longer route to avoid the danger. Another worker commented, "Some of us have to travel an extra four kilometres to get to work. Not only is it a waste of time, but fuel as well. A labourer's salary is not much."

The bridge was put into operation just two years ago. It is said that the heavy traffic caused the damage. People there are hoping that authorities will act quickly to fix the bridge or build replacement.

The two sides of Co Ma Tunnel on the National Highway 1A section in central Vietnam were connected over the weekend and the tunnel is scheduled to be put into use next year, according to the project’s investor.

Deo Ca Investment Joint Stock Company said the digging of the tunnel was completed 3.5 months earlier than scheduled. In the coming time, contractors will covered the tunnel with reinforced cement before installing traffic equipment and building a square in front of the tunnel.

As planned, the 500-meter-long tunnel will be opened to traffic in September 2015 and vehicles will be allowed to run at a maximum speed of 80 kilometers per hour.

Co Ma Tunnel is part of the Ca Pass tunnel and road project which has a total length of 13.4 kilometers and a combined investment capital of over VND15.6 trillion (some US$730 million).

The entire project is planned for completion at the end of 2017.

The project is expected to reduce a travel distance by eight kilometers between Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen provinces compared to the road that winds over the pass, and help vehicles avoid landslides during rainy season.

Traffic accidents kill more than 8,000 in 11 months

As many as 23,256 traffic accidents took place in the 11 months leading up to December, resulting in 8,272 deaths and 22,434 injuries, according to the latest report by the National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC).

Head of NTSC office Nguyen Trong Thai said the dead toll caused by traffic accidents in the past 11 months saw a decline of 4.1% compared to the same period last year. The total number of accidents, fatalities, and injuries were down from 2013’s figures, he added.

However, he said, in November alone, there were 2,455 traffic accidents that claimed 797 lives and injured 2,461 people.

The NTSC report also showed that in the reviewed period, 177,444 cars and more than 2,4 million motorbikes were registered. Traffic police dealt with more than 4 million violators with a total fine of VND2,365 billion.

Ha Noi tap water passes safety tests

The Vinaconex Water Supply Joint Stock Company claims that the quality of tap water it provides to Ha Noi households strictly meets standards.

However, in a related move, the company is also reported to have sent a document to the provincial People's Committee in northern Hoa Binh Province asking it to take prompt action to treat waste-water discharged from a rubbish dump from entering its water catchment area.

In response, the committee has planned to move the rubbish dump to another locality.

Deputy director of the company Truong Quoc Duong spoke to Kinh te do thi (Economic and Urban Affairs) newspaper after an allegation that the Doc Bung rubbish dump, located in the left bank of Da River in the province, polluted water entering the company's Da River surface water plant.

Duong said that the rubbish dump was about 15km far from where the plant took raw river water and pumped it into a treatment pond.

Therefore, any effect from the rubbish dump "was trivial", he said.

He added that Ha Noi Preventive Medicine Centre conducted checks on water quality every six months and the company checked the quality every month.

The latest checks on raw water quality were done in May and October, Duong said.  

Cleaning houses and wares to prevent plague

The Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health yesterday warned people to actively prevent mouse plague and the spread of the disease into the country.

Related agencies should monitor the disease on wild animals and focus on disease vectors including mouse and fleas in the highly vulnerable districts. Forces in the border crossings have to screen passengers and tighten control on imported animals into the country.

The Ho Chi Minh City-based Tropical Disease Hospital warned about the transmission diseases from animals to people that will be able to happen during the season.

Therefore, the Department of Preventive Medicine advised to clean the environment, ware housing, houses and keep food in a secret place so that rodents could not eat. Besides, people should wear gloves when contacting with diseased animals.

Many slaughter houses in Long An Province have been taking to the practice of pumping water into cows before slaughter in order to increase the weight.

One such slaughter house is Vu Ngoc, in Duc Lap Ha Commune. Here they pump cows with water until they are unconscious. Each night in Long An Province, between 350 and 400 cows are slaughtered, and most of the meat is consumed in HCM City. With the added weight from the water, each cow can be sold at a profit of VND4-6 million.

Since the administrative fines are less than the potential profits, slaughter houses are willing to commit commercial fraud, animal cruelty and put public health at risk. The practice continues despite the fact that animal health workers are mandated to supervise these operations.

Phan Ngoc Chau, head of the Animal Health Department in Long An Province, admitted this to be an ongoing problem. Authorities have conducted several inspections and fined several slaughter houses. The fines range from VND3-6 million and are not enough to act as an effective deterrent.

Phan Ngoc Chau, head of the Animal Health Department in Long An Province, admitted this to be an ongoing problem.

"We'll inspect Vu Ngoc Slaughterhouse, but it's difficult to gather hard evidence of the practice. We'll also punish animal health worker if they deliberately overlook the problem," he said.

Chau also said the fines are too light. If a butcher shop is found to be selling water-infused meat, the meat must be converted to animal feed. However, there are no guidelines on where they should take the meat.

Shelter helps hundreds of female trafficking victims

In the past seven years, the Peach House Shelter in the capital city has taken in about 300 female victims of human trafficking.

The Spanish government and the Viet Nam Women's Union in the Centre for Women and Development created the shelter in 2007.

It focuses on supporting survivors of human trafficking and preventing further trafficking crimes. Women residents are provided accommodation, meals and vocational training.

The project raises awareness about the underlying causes and consequences of human trafficking, and promotes self-defence skills among vulnerable groups in high-risk provinces, said Alfonso Tena, Spain's ambassador to Viet Nam, at a ceremony yesterday in Ha Noi.

The event marked the end of Spain's technical and financial support. From now on, the Centre for Women will manage the shelter, probably with help from the Government.

Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy, deputy chairwoman of the Viet Nam Women's Union, said the Centre for Women and Development was committed to fighting gender-based violence and human trafficking.

In the first six months of the year, police dealt with more than 300 cases of human trafficking, an increase of 42 cases for the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Public Security's Criminal Police Department.

More than 600 victims were rescued, a 55-person increase on last year.

Cho Ray – Phnom Penh hospital to be expanded

An estimated 53 million USD will be invested in expanding the Cho Ray – Phnom Penh general hospital in Cambodia, according to the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.

The hospital, a Vietnam – Cambodia joint venture, will, accordingly have additional 300 patient beds, bringing its total patient beds to 500 when its expansion work finishes by early 2018.

Cho Ray – Phnom Penh general hospital has been operating since January, 2014 following the completion of its 37.8 million USD 200-bed first phase.

It plans to provide further training for its staff and modernise facilities and services to meet the demand for health care in Phnom Penh and neighbouring areas.

Workshop talks environmental right protection

A workshop was held in Hanoi on November 27 to seek to perfect a legal system to protect the environment as well as legitimate rights and interests of the community.

Co-organised by the the People and Nature Reconciliation (PanNature) and the Justice Initiative Facilitation Fund (JIFF), the event brought together more than 100 delegates from State management agencies, the central justice agency, research institutions and non-governmental organisations.

PanNature Director Trinh Le Nguyen pointed out that the lack of coordination between relevant agencies has failed the mechanisms handling complaints and denunciations related to the environment to protect the right of people concerned. The delegates proposed establishing a court specialising in solving environment-related cases and using civilian expertises to determine the damage caused by environmental pollution.

After nearly the three decades of renewal, Vietnam reaped remarkable economic growth and poverty reduction. However, a series of environmental problems were emerged.

According to statistics of the Central Cancer Hospital (K hospital), over five recent years, 150,000 cancer patients were recorded in the country a year, of whom about 70,000 died.

Although environmental pollution is considered one of the reasons causing diseases and death for human, mechanisms used by sufferers to lodge related complaints remain unclear, resulting in unfeasible application in reality.

A report on Justice Index made by the United Nations Development Programme in Vietnam in 2012 said, nearly 31 percent of the number of respondents says that they are living in polluted areas and only 12 percent of them sent their complaints to authorities to ask for the redress.

Vietnam, Hungary hold first headmaster conference

The conference room was humming with anticipation as headmasters from 66 leading universities in Vietnam and Hungary converged in Hanoi on November 27 for the inaugural headmaster’s conference between the two nations.

In a keynote address, Vietnam Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan underscored the point that the Vietnamese Government and State have always considered education and training a top priority.

As a result of the careful attention paid to implement effective education policies more students are receiving quality training at universities throughout the nation and vocational levels have improved remarkably, Luan said.

Vietnam has met its United Nations Millennium Development Goals on matters related to education and has now shifted its focus to meeting the demands for training human resources in the context of regional and global integration.

To fulfill its goals, the Vietnam government and State have always welcomed the opportunity to cooperate with Hungary in education. So far, Hungary has trained nearly 4,000 doctorate degree holders, masters, engineers for Vietnam who have assumed key positions in state agencies.

Since 2011, leaders from the ministries of education and training of both nations have conducted exchange and high-level visits to promote training cooperation. At present, Hungary has helped Vietnam in training lecturers in the field of atomic energy.

Hungary also grants 50 scholarships to Vietnamese students annually and research institutes from both nations have actively cooperated in several fields, Minister Luan said, adding that he considers the the seminar a significant step forward in cooperation between the nations.

Hungarian President Ader Janos in turn said that Hungary has on average trained 50 Vietnamese students annually under a Government sponsored scholarship programmes and revealed it would increase the number of scholarships to 100 per year.

The same day, Liszt Academy of Music and Vietnam National Music Academy signed a cooperative agreement on training.

HCMC-Trung Luong expressway approach road to get upgraded

Two intersections on the approach road to HCMC-Trung Luong Expressway will be upgraded to ease traffic congestion, said Cuu Long Corporation for Investment, Development and Project Management of Infrastructure.

According to a report of the company, shortly known as Cuu Long CIPM, the traffic flow on Tan Tao-Cho Dem section leading to the expressway is huge, and traffic congestion usually happens in peak hours at the intersections between the section with Provincial Road 10B and Tran Dai Nghia Street.

In order to deal with the traffic blockage, it is necessary to invest in the expansion and upgrade of the two intersections by either building a flyover or a tunnel, said the company.

Cuu Long CIPM has considered five financial solutions for the project and proposed developing the project under the BOT (build-operate-transfer) format with part of the fund from the State.

The fund for the project will be recouped from higher toll fees collected on the 40-kilometer expressway. From June 1, 2015 to December 31, 2018, standard vehicles, i.e. under-seven-seat cars, on the expressway will have to pay a fee of VND1,200, VND1,500 or VND1,800 per kilometer depending on the investment solution chosen.

This solution allows the project to be carried out right after it is approved by the authorities, according to Cuu Long.

Regarding the site clearance process for the project, the city’s Department of Transport said the area for upgrading the intersection between Tan Tao-Cho Dem section and Provincial Road 10B has been cleared to build the provincial road at once and therefore, work can be started any time.

Meanwhile, the site clearance to make room for the intersection between Tan Tao-Cho Dem section and Tran Dai Nghia Street will cost some VND100 billion from the city’s budget.

The city authorities had repeatedly written to the Ministry of Transport to suggest upgrading the two intersections as soon as possible.

The ministry had agreed on the basic design of the project which was estimated to cost VND1 trillion, but the final approval has not come out up to date.

Heavy fines for overloaded trucks next year

The highest fine of VND8 million will be slapped on trucks carrying goods heavier than their registered loads and the handling capacity of bridges and roads from the beginning of next year.

The administrative fine is clarified in Decree 107/2014/ND-CP on road and railway violations which will take effect on January 1 next year. The penalty will be calculated based on the overloaded goods on vehicles.

The decree clarifies fines of VND3-5 million will be subject to under-five-ton trucks with 40-60% loads higher than the allowable levels and VND5-7 million to vehicles with overloads of 60-100%. Trucks of five tons or heavier will be entitled to fines of VND5-7 million if they are found carrying 50-100% goods more than their allowable loads.

The highest fine for violators with overloads of 100% compared to their registration certificates or the handling capacity of bridges and roads will be VND7-8 million.

Since the Ministry of Transport initiated a weight control campaign nationwide in April this year, many trucks have been detected carrying goods up to 400% higher than the allowable levels, especially the trucks transporting construction materials.

Besides heavy penalties, operators of the violated vehicles have been forced to unload goods and drivers have had their driving licenses deprived for one to three months depending on the overloads.

Decree 107 also regulates fines of VND1-2 million for the vehicles used to transport commercial goods without black boxes.

Korean community helps disadvantaged locals

Some 178 South Korean companies doing business in Vietnam have joined an annual charity event held by the Korean Chamber of Korea in Vietnam (Kocham) to make donations of nearly US$164,000 and other gifts to the disadvantaged, such as the poor, orphans, and Agent Orange victims.

At the Kocham charity night 2014 last Saturday, sponsors such as Posco, Taekwang, Hyo Sung, CJ Corporation, CS Wind, and Four Seasons among others gave their financial aids to HCMC Relief Association for Handicapped Children, and similar charities in the Southern provinces of Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Ba Ria – Vung Tau.

The charity night, which is the biggest charity event held by Kocham, has entered the eleventh year. It’s expected that the charity program will be expanded and bring more opportunities to Korean companies in Vietnam to make their contributions to the ASEAN country.

According to the Consul General of South Korea in HCMC Oh Jae-Hack at the charity event, more than 3,200 Korean companies are doing business in Vietnam, employing about 800,000 local workers in various sectors.

Statistics of the Foreign Investment Agency of Ministry of Planning and Investment show that South Korea is this year’s biggest investor in Vietnam with registered investment of US$3.6 billion from the beginning of the year to the end of last month.

South Korea is now the second biggest investor in Vietnam with an accumulated investment of US$33.4 billion pledged in 4,020 projects.

VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/ND