Wild bull rampages in central province

A wild bull killed one man and wounded three others in Dai Lanh commune in this central province yesterday.

Deputy Party secretary of the commune Nguyen Van Dao said the bull destroyed several vegetable farms in Dai An village yesterday morning and butted anyone who came near him.

Farmer Pham Thanh Thien, 21, was killed and three other villagers, including a 12-year-old boy, were wounded.

Last month, local forest rangers spotted the bull at farms but were unable to track it through the mountainous forest.

Legal proceedings begin against alleged Dong Nai looters

The People’s Procuracy of Nhon Trach district in the southern province of Dong Nai has indicted Phan Van Giau and Thach Quy on the charge of stealing property.

The indictments read that on the night of May 13 and May 14, taking advantage of the chaotic situation due to protests by workers against China’s illegal placement of an oil

rig in Vietnam’s waters, the duo broke into some enterprises at industrial parks in Nhon Trach district to steal property.

Giau and Quy stole five golf clubs and a pair of computer speakers valued at VND3.6 million from Minh An company in Nhon Trach 3 industrial park.

Their case will be heard at the court later this month.

In a related move, Dong Nai authorities have so far commenced legal proceedings against 241 arrestees involved in 22 criminal cases of “causing social disturbance”,

“destroying property,” “stealing property,” “openly appropriating property,” and “resisting against on-duty officials”.

Ministry orders localities to supply more workers

Localities have been ordered to freely provide workers for foreign businesses, which are facing a shortage of labour, by the end of this year.

The move, following the signing of an official document last Friday by Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep, aimed to help the foreign

businesses return to normal operation after they faced a labour crisis following recent riots led by extremists.

Diep asked cities and provincies to open more job trading floors as well as training crash courses to meet the labour demands of businesses.

Departments of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs (DoLISAs) nationwide were assigned to cooperate with industrial zones, processing zones and local trade unions to work out appropriate plans to fill the shortage, he noted.

According to Diep, the process of recruiting skilled foreign employees has been simplified for businesses, which wanted to additionally recruit non-Vietnamese.

A skilled foreign employee could be recruited if he or she met the two requirements of holding a bachelor's degree and having at least five years of work experience in the relevant sector.

In the meantime, a foreign labourer living in Viet Nam for at least six months was only required to possess a clean criminal record issued by the local justice departments in order to work in Viet Nam.

The ministry has asked DoLISAs to file their comprehensive reports on the labour issues to the ministry's employment department before June 15 in addition to their daily

summary reports before 4 pm every day until June 30.

Whirlwind kills one, damages houses

A whirlwind coupled with hailstones killed a man and tore the roofs from 300 houses in this central province's Can Loc District yesterday.

The man was struck by lightning while harvesting crops.

The storm also damaged hundreds of hectares of crops in Thuong Loc, Vinh Loc, Gia Hanh, Phu Loc and Thuong Nga communes.

Earlier on Sunday, one man was killed and six others were injured after being struck by lightning in Thanh Luong commune in the northern province of Dien Bien.

One fisherman was killed and another went missing in a boat accident in the sea off the Hai Phong Province on Sunday.

Five persons were rescued from the boat and sent to the Co To Island on the same day.

The dead fisherman, Dang Van Dum, who was also the captain, died of serious injuries. Tran Van Dong, who is missing, reportedly did not escape from the sinking boat.

The seven fishermen are residents of An Dinh District in the Ly Son Province. Their boat sank after it was hit by an unidentified wooden fishing boat.

The authorities are searching for the missing fisherman and investigating the case.

Overloaded mining trucks damage national highway

Overloaded trucks and hot weather are being blamed for damage to part of National Highway 1 between Vinh City and Ha Tinh Province that opened four months ago.

The construction to upgrade and expand the 35km section of National Highway No1 started in September, 2012 and completed in January, 2014 with investment of nearly VND2.5 trillion (US$ 119 million)

According to the project investor, the Civil Engineering Construction Corporation No4 (CIENCO 4), the project was completed nine months ahead of schedule, helping to

save nearly VND500 billion ($23 million).

Director General of CIENCO 4, Le Ngoc Hoa, said depressions had appeared on the road.

He said that harsh weather and overloaded trucks had damaged the road.

Head of CIENCO No4's department for project management, Hoang Van Son, said that there were 21 rock mining sites along the route, resulting in a high number of trucks along the road.

The trucks were often overloaded with stone or soil, he said.

Director General Hoa said the corporation would install weigh bridges to control vehicles from next month.

He said they were also fixing the damage to the road and taking measures to curb the impacts of hot weather on the road surface by watering it on hot days and stopping trucks from using affected stretches.

According to the Transport Ministry, wheel marks are found on most routes with high volumes of traffic, including National Highway No1, National Highway No5 and Ha Noi's Ring Road No2, that threaten road safety.

Experts said the increase of overloaded trucks and poor quality road design and construction were the reason for the problem.

Ly Son to connect to national grid

Ly Son Island in the central province of Quang Ngai will be connected to the national power grid early this October, according to Deputy General Director of Electricity of Viet Nam group, Nguyen Tan Loc.

Implemented at a total cost of US$31.1 million, the project includes 8.7km of middle voltage transmission lines in Binh Son district and 26.2km of 22kV undersea cables.

The money for building transmission lines in Ly Son has been loaned by the German Development Bank.

The project will supply 22,000 Ly Son residents with electricity from the national grid.

Vung Ang workers to get new hospital

Construction of a general hospital for workers at Vung Ang economic zone in the central province of Ha Tinh kicked off last Friday.

The hospital will cover nearly 11,000 sq.m and is being built under the BOO (Build-Own-Operate) model between Minh Khang Trade Co. Ltd of Viet Nam and Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company of Taiwan.

The first phase of the project, with a capacity of 100 beds, will be built with investment capital of US$10 million and is expected to be operational by late 2015. The second phase will raise the hospital's capacity to 300 beds.

The international standard hospital will hire doctors from Viet Nam, France, Japan and Taiwan.

Chief representative of Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company Thai Chi Phat said the hospital would help ensure social security for workers and local people.

Vietnam sees high rate of students with eye problems

About 25-30 percent of students in Vietnam suffer from refraction errors with their eyesight, according to a survey conducted by the ophthalmological sector.

In Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the rate fluctuates between 30-60 percent.

Ophthalmological experts said that almost all Vietnamese students with the errors did not have them detected in time. They noted that people who use glasses, but do not change their lenses to match the development of their eyesight, are also affected.

Heredity factors are considered the main reason for the issue.

According to experts, in order to improve eyesight, it is necessary to improve illumination in classrooms and reduce the amount of time spent watching TV and playing computer games, while increasing outdoor activities and eating food rich in Vitamins A and E.

Statistics from the Wold Health Organisation show that more than 2.5 billion people, or 20 percent of the world’s population, have developed refraction in their eyes, and Asia records great number of people with the complaint.-

A special service called Mywork Mobile went live in Hanoi on May 26, providing the latest information on employment opportunities for mobile phone users.

The service, which is a joint initiative by Thodo Multimedia company, MyWork.vn portal, and military-run mobile network Viettel, is considered an effective channel connecting job seekers and employers.

Dao Cong Hai, Deputy Head of the Department of Overseas Labour (DOLAB) under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs, said the new mobile application

helps reduce unemployment and provide an excellent forum for job recruitment.

However, he said, it is essential to ensure the accuracy of information on employment opportunities.

Phan Viet Hoan, who is in charge of MyWork Mobile, said the application is an effective tool, enabling job hunters to be more proactive, narrowing the gap between labourdemand and supply, and reducing the wastefulness of high-quality labour.

Vietnam now has more than 900,000 unemployed people and 72,000 of them are postgraduates.

Nguyen Ngoc Han, Director of Thudo Multimedia Company, revealed MyWork Mobile, the first of its kind in Vietnam, will offer more convenient applications in the next few months, allowing employers to directly contact job seekers via chat or online calls.

According to Khong Van Dong, a senior official from Viettel ICT, MyWork Mobile is a good application that can reach out to all localities across Vietnam in line with Viettel’s strategy of bringing information technology application into daily life.

Viettel mobile phone users can access the free employment service by logging on http://app.mywork.vn, or sending an SMS text VCT to 6094.  

Farming project takes root in Truong Sa

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)’s pilot project to grow some kinds of vegetable and raise cattle in the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago has seen initial progress.

Launched in last July, the four-year project has already achieved the construction of two greenhouses at a cost of VND600 million, covering a total area of 156 square

metres in Song Tu Tay Island. Both became operational last August.

The vegetables have grown well, while other plants such as papaya, coconut and banana have also produced high quality yields, providing balanced meals for soldiers and islanders.

Meanwhile, cross-bred cows in the island have also grown well, which is a very positive sign for the project.

According to MARD Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam, the ministry will multiply the project to all islets in the archipelago.

A working team from the ministry will be sent to Truong Sa island district in central Khanh Hoa province and the marine defence KD1 Platform from May 29 to June 7 to assess the efficiency of the project and decide necessary preparation for the next phase.

Vietnam targets better social welfare

The establishment of an association for training social workers stands a good chance of helping Vietnam broaden its cooperation with both regional and international societies for a better social welfare system.

The association’s first congress was held in Hanoi on May 26, where they heard that the Vietnamese Party and State have exerted every effort to improve the sector.

However, they were told that a number of social matters, including inequality, remain.

Chairwoman of Vocational Training and Social Activities Association Nguyen Thi Hang revealed the latest statistics, which show that more than 30% of the population has a

demand for social services. She said this requires a master strategy of integrating sustainable economic growth with social welfare.

She also underlined the need to provide professional training for social workers.

As many as 37 units and 170 trainers nationwide have registered to join the association.

Under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the association is responsible for protecting the legitimate interests of its members, building training courses, and proposing policies to deal with restrictions in the field.

Vietnam is home to over 40 social work training centres. The country looks to reduce the rate of poor households by nearly 2% each year and grant assistance to 95% of needy children between 2014 and 2020.

Asian Institute of Technology offers training courses to Mekong Delta

The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) wants to open two training courses in urban management and agricultural business administration in the Mekong Delta, which it said are very useful for the region.

At a working session on May 26 with the Steering Committee for the South-western Region, Director of AIT Vietnam Fredric William Swierczek said the institute decided on

these two subjects after discussing with officials of Can Tho City, the biggest city in the Mekong Delta, and the Can Tho University, a leading university and agricultural research centre in the region.

According to Swierczek, the institute has run an urban management training programme in Ho Chi Minh City for two years, while the business administration post-graduate programme jointly operated by AIT and Can Tho University will recruit students for the fourth course this year.

Deputy head of the steering committee Nguyen Phong Quang said he fully supports the AIT proposal, adding that the steering committee will ask regional localities to send their officials to attend the AIT’s training courses once they are opened.

AIT Vietnam was established in 1993, and since then, the institute has graduated more than 3,000 Masters and PhD holders, and 20,000 professionals in Vietnam. It has three main offices in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho, according to the institute’s website.

Water shortage grips Kien Giang island

The annual water shortage has affected thousands of residents in the southern province of Kien Giang's Kien Hai island district, but local authorities have no solution for the repeated situation.

Luong Quoc Binh, chairman of the district's People's Committee, stated that Kien Hai District comprised 23 islands, but only three large islands of Hon Tre in Hon Tre commune, Hon Lon in An Son commune, Hon Son Rai in Lai Son commune and some small islands with a few people have sufficient water.

The remaining parts were suffering from a severe shortage of water, he noted.

Of those, many islands in An Son and Nam Du communes, which are located about 90 kilometres offshore from the centre Rach Gia City, were reported to be in a serious situation. It takes about three hours by high-speed boat and six hours by normal boat to reach the islands.

Every year, soon after the Lunar New Year (around February), the dry season in the district follows and stored rainwater becomes scarce, forcing local residents to buy water from other islands.

"Water to drink every day is now more expensive than my family's food," said Huynh Van Luan, a resident who has been living in Nam Du district commune's An Phu Village for nearly 20 years.

"In recent dry seasons, the weather has become hotter and muggier, and sometimes we have no rain for six to seven months, so the water sources on the island become scarce," he added.

Secretary of the commune's Party's Committee Huynh Van Loi stated that of the commune's total 834 households with more than 3,600 residents, only a few of the families could buy large jars or build tanks by themselves to store rainwater, mostly for cooking and drinking.

"They save water by washing and bathing in sea water and then rinsing with a small amount of drinking water," he noted.

Loi pointed out that some wells were available in the commune, but all have gone dry since the dry season started, so people had to travel by boat to Bai Men, which is located 8 kilometres away, to buy water.

The water price has now skyrocketed to VND160,000 per cubic metre, he said.

"Besides, not many people work in water transportation, as it is quite costly to buy equipment for the transportation," Loi explained, adding that residents had to build their own fishing and passenger boats to transport water from other villages.

Meanwhile, the only reservoir in An Son commune has been dry for a while.

Pham Van Quan, chairman of the commune's People's Committee, stated that though locals used water very economically, the water always ran dry right after the Lunar New Year, as the storage was just two-thirds of the reservoir's capacity.

As a result, for nearly three months now, most of the people in the commune have had to buy water from some lucky households who owned wells that still contained water.

"Of the many wells in the commune, there are only 10 still containing water, serving more than 4,500 residents of over 1,200 households," he pointed out.

Each 20-litre can of water was sold at VND4,000–6,000, he said.

Doan Hong Duy, deputy chairman of Kien Hai District's People's Committee, said that the district had planned various projects to improve the situation but none had been

realised or showed feasibility.

He stated that the Kien Giang Province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development had a plan to make special nylon bags that could be used to store water.

"The special bags, which will be distributed free of charge to the locals, will be more mobile and convenient than the large pottery jars used for storing water," he added.

However, Duy said he did not have full clarification for the use of the bags as everything was still in the discussion stage.

Artists call for global protest against China’s wrongful acts

Vietnamese fine artists have called on their fellows worldwide, including Chinese, to take prompt actions condemning China’s illegal placement of its oil rig deep in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

The Chinese side is also requested to withdraw its oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 out of Vietnam’s waters and respect international law as well as sovereign independence and

territorial integrity of other countries for the maintenance of regional and global peace and stability.

In a statement released on May 26, the Vietnam Fine Arts Association described China’s perverse acts in the East Sea as a serious infringement of Vietnam’s sovereignty

and international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) that China itself is a signatory.

China’s behaviours have also threatened security, safety and freedom of navigation in the sea, the association stressed.

Expressing its belief in the leadership of the Party and State, the association vows to accompany the whole nation in defending the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The artists hope to sustain and develop traditional friendship between Vietnamese and Chinese people. However, China’s deployment of its oil rig in Vietnam’s waters has gone against the bilateral companionship.

They call on fellows nationwide to demonstrate their patriotism through practical deeds such as responding to the campaign of studying and following the moral example of

late President Ho Chi Minh, and creating works that feature the country’s sea and island defence cause.

On May 2, China illegally stationed its oil rig at 15 degrees 29 minutes 58 seconds north latitude and 111 degrees 12 minutes 06 seconds east longitude. The location is 80 nautical miles deep into the Vietnamese continental shelf and exclusive economic zone prescribed by the 1982 UNCLOS and 17 nautical miles from Tri Ton Island in Vietnam’s Hoang Sa archipelago.

It has deployed a large number of ships of various kinds to the area, including military, coast guard, marine surveillance, marine patrol and vessels.

Chinese ships have repeatedly rammed and fired water cannons into Vietnamese coast guard and fisheries surveillance ships which are carrying out their law enforcement missions in the country’s waters, leaving many Vietnamese ships damaged and fisheries surveillance officers injured.-

Large-scale farming model intensifies to apply high-tech

Large-scale production models to enhance linkages and apply high-tech in a number of localities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nghe An, Lam Dong, Hau Giang and Thai Nguyen have initially had positive results, the Vietnam Business Forum Magazine (VBF) has said.

However, to promote the production model more efficiently requires a good development orientation and comprehensive supporting solutions.

According to statistics, total foreign investment (FDI) of valid projects licensed from 1988 to 2012 is valued at over 210 billion USD; of total 14,500 projects, 493 projects in the area of agriculture, forestry and fisheries are only capitalised at over 3.26 billion USD (accounting for 3.4 percent of total projects and 1.5 percent of total registered capital).

By December 31, 2011, total of being-operated businesses in the entire area of agriculture, fisheries and forestry only account for 1 percent of the total number of the enterprises, 2.3 percent of total number of workers and 0.9 percent of total registered capital.

Compared with other corresponding figures of 2.2 percent; 4.2 percent and 1.8 percent in 2005, the figure is much lower. Weak institutional system has limited the private investment in agriculture. That explains why the FDI in agriculture is far lower and the domestic investment through the establishment of the business is very poor.

Recently, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), and the Nhan Dan Newspaper have co-organised the workshop under theme "Solutions to develop a large-scale production model in agriculture and application of high technology." The workshop has come up with practical contributions for policy makers, which helps to create more appropriate policies to develop the agriculture of Vietnam sustainably and effectively; especially, the credit policy is now being given and implemented by the SBV and other ministries.

At the workshop, many delegates said that the biggest challenge of the agriculture is the market related issues. The market development requires fulfillment of the needs of the current market and increase of the potential demand for agricultural products. The increase of demand is an important factor for the development of agriculture. Therefore, it is necessary to change the perception of market development by increasing the constant supply to another direction of increasing both of domestic and overseas demands.

According to SBV Governor Nguyen Van Binh, the development of agriculture, life improvement of the farmers and construction of rural areas are main goals of the policy of the Party and State. In nearly 30 years of "Doi moi" (renovation), Vietnam’s agriculture has experienced strong growth and achieved great results. The lives of the majority of farmers have been improved and the living standards of the rural area of Vietnam have gradually become more modern.

In the period of crisis and global economic downturn since 2008, the agriculture has indeed become a pillar of the economy before it was impacted negatively by the world economy. This highly requires the application of high technology in agriculture to improve efficiency, competitiveness, and product quality and meet the diverse needs of the consumers, particularly the standard of the exports.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said after 30 years of "Doi Moi", Vietnam's agriculture has strongly grown. The agriculture of Vietnam has been turning to a period of innovation and in-depth development with larger scale for international economic integration. This highly requires the application of high technology in agriculture to improve efficiency, competitiveness, and product quality and meet the diverse needs of the consumers, particularly the standard of the exports.

Regarding credit, representative of the SBV said that at present, the SBV is cooperating with the MARD and Ministry of Science and Technology to conduct a survey and research for making a pilot policy before implementation. The purpose of this pilot programme is to support the pioneering enterprises in the implementation of the models associated with farmers as an inevitable trend of agricultural production in the market economies; the model is developed based on the rule that the businesses will be focal points to cooperate with farmers and help the farmers to gain the practical benefits of this affiliation.

This pilot programme will help the banking sector not only solve the problem of credit investment for agriculture but also direct the small and fragmented production towards larger scale, more productivity and competitiveness and in accordance with the objectives of the restructuring of agriculture, which has been approved by the Prime Minister, for the purposes of gradually improving the farmers' living standards and achieving the national objectives of building a new countryside.-

Youth group to visit Truong Sa archipelago

Nearly 200 young people from different regions across Vietnam will take part in a trip to the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago and the marine defence platform DK1 from May 28 to June 6.

The event is expected to help the youth understand more about the lives of soldiers and people in the Truong Sa island district of central Khanh Hoa province, as well as those performing their duties on the platform.

The journey will also strengthen their determination to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

More than 2 billion VND (94,000 USD) has to date been collected for a fundraising campaign in support for Truong Sa soldiers and people.

The trip will start from Cat Lai port, Ho Chi Minh City.

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