Vietnam Health Minister celebrated by Oxford University

Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien has become the first Vietnamese to receive the title of Visiting Professor of Epidemiology conferred by England’s Oxford University.

The honour was presented at a ceremony at the university on October 17.

Addressing the event, Oxford University’s Vice Chancellor Prof. Andrew Hamilton acknowledged contributions by Minister Tien, in her capacity as Director of the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, to the cooperation in scientific research between the two countries over the past years.

In her present position, the minister has also enhanced international cooperation and scientific research with Oxford University, as well as other education institutes and health centres across the world, he said.

The professor also highlighted Tien’s contributions in her capacity as a guest lecturer at the university’s Nuffield Department of Medicine over three years, beginning last July.

The event spotlights the friendship between Vietnam and the UK over the past 40 years since they launched diplomatic ties in 1973, he said.

Oxford University, one of the oldest and most renowned universities in the UK, has granted the honourary title to only six people worldwide.

Woman swindles $10m in insurance money

A former insurance advisor at Prudential branch in Quang Ninh Province was sentenced to life in prison yesterday along with 16 accomplices for operating a $10m fraud operation.

Bui Thi Thu Hang was also ordered to return the VND211 billion she had swindled from unsuspecting clients. According to court reports, Hang created fake receipts and applications for various types of VIP insurance packages to sell to customers.

Her accomplices were also ordered to each repay hundreds of million dong each to make up the VND3 billion owed to victims.

It's still not known exactly how many victims fell prey to this scheme, however the court, stated that Prudential itself was not at all responsible for this case.

National project funds skills training for ethnic teachers

About 5,000 ethnic teachers have received financial support and soft-skill training as part of a five-year national programme towards quality improvement for high school teachers and specialised vocational school teachers.

At a meeting yesterday to conclude the programme, which started in 2007, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Bui Van Ga said it had made great progresses in raising the capability of teachers and those working in education management.

Vu Quoc Chung, director of the programme, said the most important result was the creation of standardised positions for principals and teachers.

The project has provided more than 5,044 scholarships for ethnic university students studying to become teachers. Sixty per cent are female. Training has also been given to 33,000 education management experts and officers.

Vo Van Thang, head of the An Giang Teaching Faculty at An Giang University in the Mekong Delta, said it had been difficult to develop a source of ethnic teachers, so it was important to train ethnic students.

Eiko Izawa, an education specialist from the Asian Development Bank, said that training teachers was the first step to improve education.

11 fishermen rescued from sinking ships

Border guards in northern Thanh Hoa Province's Tinh Gia District rescued 11 fishermen from two sinking ships off the coast yesterday afternoon.

The ships, both from the central Quang Ngai Province, were on their way to Lach Bang Port to shelter from strong winds when they were suddenly crashed by big waves, according to Pham Quoc Vuong, one of the captains.

On receiving the SOS signal, local border guards, in association with authorities, rushed to the scene and all of the fishermen have since been brought safely ashore.

Unexploded bomb found in Quang Tri

A 500 pound (227kg) bomb was discovered in Thanh commune on the bank of the Se Pon river, in central Quang Tri Province yesterday.

Pham Thi Hoang Ha, of PeaceTrees Viet Nam (PTVN), a non-governmental organisation that has been searching for unexploded ordnance in Quang Tri since 1995, said PTVN's Exploded Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams were detonating and removing in Huong Hoa district, 70km away from Dong Ha city.

The bomb, which has been classified as an MK82, is believed to have been dropped by the US air force during the war.

The EOD teams have uncovered and removed nine 500-pound bombs in this area since 2009.

The teams have dug up over 106,513 pieces of unexploded ordnance and cleared 163ha of minefields.

The PTVN's Danaan Parry Landmines Education Centre in Dong Ha has provided landmine awareness education to more than 65,000 people in Quang Tri, 17,500 of them children.

Charity fun run to help children heart defects

A public sporting event to include walking and running courses in the Ha Noi suburban area of Hoa Lac will be held this Saturday to raise money for a programme which secures financial and medical assistance for children with serious heart defects.

The event, Running Hearts Ha Noi, which is co-organised by East Meets West (EMW) and the Ha Noi Hash House Harriers, will donate 25 per cent of participants ticket fees to EMW's Operation Healthy Heart programme.

According to the Ministry of Health, between 8,000-10,000 children in Viet Nam are born with congenital heart defects every year. Only 5,000 of them have operations. The remainder have to wait, with most dying before receiving operations.

Police capture bank hacker Duong

Ha Noi Police's High-tech Crime Prevention Faculty (PC50) arrested Cao Xuan Duong on charges of stealing bank information on Wednesday.

Duong, 22, created an auto-game website on which he installed viruses that relay private information on people to him after users instal one of his games on their computers.

Duong is alleged to have admitted that he had successfully stolen money three times. He said it amounted to a total of VND20 million (US$948).

Population crises demand reforms

New challenges are coming from the country's rapid rate of ageing, gender imbalance at birth, gender inequality, and poor access to reproductive health services in some areas, which requires timely adjustments in population policies.

Experts gave this opinion at a workshop on key directions for Viet Nam's population policy in the coming time held by the Central Committee for Propaganda and Communication and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on Wednesday.

At the event, UNFPA representative in Viet Nam Arthur Erken said that Viet Nam should focus more efforts on handling unmet demands by ensuring quality and comprehensively access of reproductive and sexual health, especially in remote, mountainous areas or ethnic minorities group.

Rapid reduction of birth rate and increasing life expectancy due to population ageing have posed challenges for Viet Nam in meeting increasing demands in social welfare, health care services, human resources, according to Erken.

Erken also suggested that the youth was making up around 40 per cent of Viet Nam's population, the highest rate ever in the country's history. So that, investment for the youth in access to quality social services, including reproductive health and sexual services, education, job training and opportunity, would bring sustainable development for the country.

"Population ageing presents societies with great opportunities but also huge challenges. Viet Nam has faced pressing challenges due to high population scale of nearly 90 million people and population quality at mean level," said the committee deputy head Lam Phuong Thanh.

Thanh sad that new challenges in population and family planning would require the involvement of the country's whole political system and international supports, especially the UNFPA.

Professor Nguyen Dinh Cu from the National Economic University said that population policy should be changed from family planning to overall reproductive health care, immigration and population structuring, with proper targets and measures for specific provinces and areas.

Cu also suggested that education and communication programmes should be put forwards nation-wide in an effort to handle the issues of gender inequality and gender imbalance at birth.

The Ministry of Health's Population and Family Planning Department statistics showed that Viet Nam has gained remarkable results in reducing population growth and birth rates. The birth rate had been reduced firmly from 2.11 (per 1,000) in 2005 to 1.99 in 2011. Life expectancy was increased from 40 in 1960 to 73 in 2012.

Four percent population suffer from respiratory problems

Around four percent of Vietnam’s population suffers from respiratory problems because of pollution in the atmosphere, said the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on October 17 at a meeting on air pollution in the country.

The rate of people with respiratory ailments in high economically developed provinces like Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Hanoi, and Hai Phong is 4-5 times more than in other less developed areas.

Air pollution is known to increase risk for a wide range of ailments.

Around 200 people hospitalized for food-poisoning in Quang Tri

Around 200 people were hospitalized on October 17 after consuming what may have been contaminated bread, in the central province of Quang Tri.

According to Huong Hoa General Hospital, they received patients suffering from severe abdominal pain, nausea, high fever and diarrhea.

The patients said they had eaten bread from a bakery in Khe Sanh Town in Huong Hoa District in Quang Tri Province on October 16.

The number of patients increased to around 200, and the hospital had to place 2-3 patients on a single bed and later had to add more beds along the corridor.

Some of the patients were even transferred to big hospitals as they suffered from severe food-poisoning.

Related agencies have frozen all foods in the bakery from where the above patients had bought bread, and further investigation is on to identify the cause of the food-poisoning.

Customs officials accused of aiding Vinalines ex-leader

In Vinalines corruption case, the former chairman, Duong Chi Dung, along with his accomplices, have committed various violations of regulation buying and repairing floating dock No83M, which had been de-listed from active service by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.

Without asking for permission from the Ministry of Transport or for permission from the prime minister, the dock was bought when Vinalines decided to build a ship repair yard in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, despite the corporation not having received land for the project from the local authorities.

Without land, Vinalines spent VND30 billion (USD1.4 million) repairing and guarding the dock by April 2010, and VND70 billion (USD3.4 million) was spent to pay off a loan for the purchase of the dock. The total amount reached VND370 billion.

Three customs officials, Huynh Huu Duc, Le Ngoc Trien and Le Van Lung, are all still working at Van Phong Customs Sub-Department in Khanh Hoa Province.

When the dock arrived at Van Phong Port, on June 6, 2008, the deputy head of Van Phong Customs Sub-Department, Huynh Huu Duc, quickly assigned the job of examination and verification to Le Ngoc Trien.

Even though the document clearly stated that this dock was over 43 years old, Le Ngoc Trien did not report to his higher-ups, but passed on the document to Le Van Lung. Lung went out to check the dock and saw that it was rusty and damaged. However, he let the dock get through. Huynh Huu Duc also appears to have ignored the documents.

Investigation teams made contact with a number of agencies such as the Interpol Office in Moscow, General Department of Vietnam Customs and HCM City Customs Department, and reported that the floating dock had been classified as shipping vessel. According to regulation, imported vessels cannot be older than 15 years old, making no83M clearly ineligible for import.

These officials are now being acused of helping Dung embezzle USD1.6 million and causing losses of nearly VND82.5 billion to the state.

In addition, official Le Van Duong, of the Vietnam Register, is also being prosecuted for faking examination reports while inspecting the dock.

Previously, Duong Chi Dung and five other offenders were prosecuted for embezzlement and violation of economic rules.

Citi Launches e for education

Citi has just announced the launch of e for Education, a three-month initiative to raise funds for education-related nonprofits around the world.

Starting from October 1st and through December 31, Citi will donate funds to several charities based on a percentage of institutional client forex transaction volumes executed through its electronic trading platform, Velocity.

CitiVelocity is an award-winning proprietary forex electronic trading platform for institutional clients. It provides real-time pricing with one-click trading for multiple foreign exchange products, including spot, forwards, swaps and options. CitiVelocity is used by a large number of Citi’s institutional clients globally not only for trading but also as their source for research, economics, forex market color and post-trade activity.

“We believe e for Education is the first and certainly the largest effort by a firm seeking to translate its electronic FX trading activity into philanthropic dollars,” said Jeff Feig, Citi’s global head of G-10 FX.

“Citi believes that access to quality education is the key to unlocking a lifetime of opportunity and we are excited to launch an initiative that will benefit youth around the world,” Feig added.

Six organizations, spanning a range of geographies and core focus areas, were selected to benefit from the e for Education initiative. Those include Civic Builders, Empower, No Greater Sacrifice, Room to Read, Teach First and Uncommon Schools. Funds will be donated to each organization based on the geographic location of individual CitiVelocity clients, although users can also override the default and earmark their corresponding donation to any e for Education organization of their choosing.

Citi, one of the largest FX providers in the world, is not setting specific fundraising goals, but has also not imposed a cap on the maximum amount that may be donated. Total donations will be driven purely by client FX transaction volumes.

“Citi has a long history of supporting educational ambitions, whether it’s through our businesses or through the work of the Citi Foundation,” said Bapi Maitra, Citi’s global head of Institutional e-Commerce Sales.

“The e for Education initiative builds on Citi’s track record of connecting students around the world to educational opportunities and support services that empower them to improve their lives,” said Maitra.

In Vietnam, Citi Foundation has sponsored more than $1 million for financial education, that received positive responses from its community partners. The launch of E for Education will help young people access high qualify education and improve their skills for a better future.

Warming may give cold sweat to millions in Vietnam

Around 150,000 Vietnamese lives may be at risk and another 5 million may contract harmful diseases due to global warming, according to research from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The information was released in a workshop themed "Mainstreaming an ecosystem-based approach (EAB) to climate change into biodiversity conservation planning in Vietnam" held on October 15. It was jointly organised by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

According to the WHO's research, the number of affected people may double by 2030, posing serious threats to the country's economic development and human life.

ADB director Tomoyki Kimura said climate cha nge posed serious threats to Vietnam, adding that around 8.5 million people would be displaced and 30 percent of traffic infrastructure destroyed if water levels rose one metre higher than current levels.

"At the same time, at least 25 per cent of agricultural land would become salt-marsh," he added.

According to Raji Dhital from the WWF, climate change also poses a devastating threat to biodiversity. In the Greater Mekong Sub-region alone, between 133 and 2,835 species of flora and 10 to 213 species of spinal fauna were said to be in danger of extinction.

Dhital also emphasised the need to recover mangrove forests and develop sustainable forestry to adapt to the effects of climate change.

An ecosystem-based approach is a strategy for integrating the management of land, water and living resources. EBA promotes the equitable conservation and sustainable use of resources and helps people and biodiversity adapt to the adverse impacts of environmental change, including climate change.

The mainstreaming of EBA into policy provides a cost-effective way to improve the management of natural resources. Apart from generating social, economic and cultural benefits, the strategy may also help to boost ecosystem resilience.

According to experts, Vietnam has achieved positive results from the use of EBAs in small and medium projects but has little experience mainstreaming EBAs into development planning.-

ASEAN faces challenges in water supply, waste treatment

ASEAN countries are facing big challenges in water supply and wastewater, Nguyen Tuong Van, Executive Director of the Southeast Asian Water Utilities Network (SEAWUN) said at a water forum in Ho Chi Minh City on October 17.

According to Van, the average rate of water supply coverage in Southeast Asian countries is only 30 percent.

About 1.74 billion Asian people have yet to access water drainage services, 69 percent of whom are in Southeast Asia, Van added.

At the event, titled “ASEAN Water Forum - Promoting Sustainable Investment”, the SEAWUN leader further said that the rate of water loss in the region stands high at 35 percent.

Meanwhile, the rate of wastewater being treated before disposal is low, at 38 percent compared to 85 percent in developed countries, Van said.

To cope with these challenges, ASEAN member countries’ governments need to try harder to mobilise all resources for the water sector, not only with official development assistance but with help from individuals and the private economic sector in the form of public-private partnerships (PPPs), according to Van.

At the forum, Lain Menzies, senior expert on water supply and sanitation of the World Bank’s East Asia-Pacific, said that the number of PPP projects in water supply and drainage among ASEAN countries remains limited.

Thus, the countries should diversify the forms of investment in the field.

The forum brought together experts from Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Germany and Finland to share experience.

Indonesia to host world coral reef conference

The World Coral Reef Conference (WCRC) will be held in Indonesia in 2014, according to Ronald Sorongan, a senior official from the Indonesian Ministry of Maritime and Fisheries.

The event is scheduled to take place in May in Manado, North Sulawesi, where it will be attended by delegations from more than 50 countries.

Sorongan said the WCRC provides an opportunity for nations with coral reefs to discuss their exploitation and preservation, thus contributing to protecting the environment and conserving marine biodiversity.

Next year’s event will be held as part of the fifth World Maritime Conference and the Coral Triangle Initiative, he added.

ADB warns of risk from climate change in East Asia

About 12 million people in 23 East Asian cities are at risk from rising sea levels, severe storms, and more intense drought caused by climate change that could jeopardise 864 billion USD in assets, a new report announced by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on October 17 warned.

The Manila-based financial institution said in its report entitled “Economics of Climate Change in East Asia” that the aggregate cost to protect the most vulnerable sectors - infrastructure, coastal protection, and agriculture - would be less than 0.3% of East Asia ’s gross domestic product every year between 2010 and 2050.

According to the report, rising sea levels could cause China to lose an estimated 102 square kilometers of land mass per year between 2010 and 2050. Japan , meanwhile, will lose more than a quarter of its coastal wetlands by 2050. In the same time period, the Republic of Korea could lose up to a fifth of its coastal areas.

“This report shows that the cost of inaction far outweighs the cost of climate change adaptation if countries act now,” said Ayumi Konishi, Director General of ADB’s East Asia Department, adding that “climate change not only brings challenges to East Asia, but also opportunities for stronger regional cooperation.”

ADB said East Asia is critically important to global mitigation efforts since the region – consisting of about one-quarter of the global population – is responsible for about one-third of the world’s energy-related greenhouse gas emissions.

The report was carried out by team members from more than 10 leading universities and think tanks in Asia, North America, and Europe.-

Provinces promote donations for the poor

Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees across the country on October 17 launched the “Days for the Poor” campaign, which will last until November 18.

At a ceremony held in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, organisations, individuals and businesses committed over 1.2 billion VND (56,400 USD) in support to disadvantaged households.

A total of 32 collectives and 15 individuals who have greatly contributed to the locality’s charity work were also honoured at the event.

Since October last year, Tien Giang has mobilised more than 17 billion VND (799,000 USD) towards funds for the province’s poor.

The locality has over 35,600 poor households in addition to 25,000 living near the poverty line.

Meanwhile, in the central province of Phu Yen, over 600 million VND (28,200 USD) was collected on the day of the launch and will be used to build houses for 19 families across several districts.

The fund for the poor of Phu Yen has so far this year raised over 6.5 billion VND (305,500 UDS) and the amount is expected to reach over 7 billion (329,00 USD) by the end of this year.

Since 2009, the central province of Ninh Thuan gathered 75 billion VND (3.5 million USD) to build nearly 7,300 houses for the poor.

In the southern province of Dong Nai , which has about 20,000 households, hundreds of organisations and individuals have donated many billions of Vietnamese dong to the poor over the past decade.

Dong Nai has used the donations to build 18,000 houses and provide the poor with funding to help them boost production.

Handicraft fair opens in Bac Ninh

Over 200 enterprises from 10 provinces and cities nationwide are exhibiting their products at a handicraft and consumer goods fair which kicked off in the northern province of Bac Ninh on October 17.

On display are craft commodities, electronic equipment, information technology products, farm produce, agricultural and construction materials and other essential commodities.

The event is a good opportunity for Bac Ninh and other localities in the Red River Delta to introduce and promote their handicraft products, while seeking more markets for them.

It is also expected to promote cooperation in tourism and cultural development between Bac Ninh and other localities across the country.

As part of activities in response to the Red River Delta-Hai Phong National Tourism Year, the fair will last until October 23.

Education to promote practical skills in Vietnam

Vietnam has launched a comprehensive education reform plan to address pitfalls in the previous system and promote everyday skills.

From now on, the Vietnamese educational model will not be "the teacher speaks and students take notes", said Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan.

Rather, students will learn skills applicable to real life including teamwork, independent study and presentation, and exams will test their ability to apply knowledge rather than memorised facts, he said.

The change follows a resolution on the comprehensive reform of education and training adopted by the Party Central Committee at its 8th plenum, held early this month.

The committee noted that Vietnam's education and training sector still has many problems.

The quality of education fails to meet the demands of socio-economic development and does not give Vietnam a competitive advantage when compared with other countries in the region and around the world.

Moreover, the system suffers from limited funding and failure to anticipate the need for qualified human resources during the country's industrialisation and modernisation process.

The newly-adopted reforms include a wide range of innovations, from training programmes at all educational levels and changed teaching and testing methods to mechanisms to ensure educational quality, including the improvement of teachers training.

Current textbooks were too academic and theoretical, so textbook changes would be a key part of the reform, Minister Luan said.

Moreover, primary and secondary school students would gain practical knowledge suitable to their physical and mental development.

In high school, in addition to a few compulsory subjects, students would be able to choose what they wanted to learn depending on their hobbies, ability or career orientation.

"This will hopefully avoid the overloading that general education students are now facing as they have to study tens of the same subjects from lower grades to upper ones," he said.

Professor Hoang Tuy, a leading mathematician and one of the founders of the country's math-science curriculum, said that the reform plan represented a progressive approach to education.

"Now it is the time to develop an educational system to help learners become independent and critical-thinking."

After secondary school graduation, students would have more options including following higher education or job training depending on their interests and labour demand instead of being forced to follow a fixed training programme, the Professor said.

However, he cautioned, translating the new way of thinking into real strategies would take time and the results of such a comprehensive policy might take as long as a decade to be revealed.

Ministry submits plan for supplementary pension fund

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will submit to the Prime Minister a pilot programme for the implementation of a voluntary supplementary pension fund this year, which is expected to help increase pensions for retirees.

At present, retirees in Vietnam receive their pensions, up to a maximum of 75 percent of their salary, from part of the Vietnam Social Security Fund (VSS).

The fund is currently based on an average of about 152 USD per month, but many retirees receive monthly pensions of about 50 USD.

The pension was paid based on minimum wage, thus a burden is created for the VSS each time minimum wage increases.

Moreover, the International Labour Organisation has warned that the VSS, currently covering about 20 percent of the labour force, could begin showing a deficit by 2021 and run out of money by 2034 if no reform is made.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Huan said that besides current compulsory contributions to the pension fund, employers and employees could contribute to a supplementary pension scheme in which they negotiate for contribution proportion.

The contribution could be 5-22 percent of the employee's monthly salary but not to exceed 5.06 million VND per person per month or 60.72 million VND per person per year.

The assets and rights generated from the employees' contributions would be managed through individual accounts under the overseeing functional agencies for savings and investment.

Huan said that the Government would develop proper legal framework for the implementation of a three-year-long pilot programme while offering incentives for participating employers and employees such as exemptions from personal and corporate income tax for the contributions made to the supplementary pension fund.

Deputy head of the ministry's Social Insurance Department Pham Truong Giang said that now was the right time for Vietnam to implement a supplementary pension scheme, as the country is entering a golden population period where the number of working people exceeds the number of dependant people, but once the period ends, the aging population would put increasing pressure on the fund.

"The supplementary pension could help reduce the pressure for the State budget," he said.

A survey by the ministry revealed that 70 percent of 700 enterprises in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City showed they welcomed the policy on a supplementary scheme, he said, adding that so far, over 20 enterprises including State-owned companies, multi-nationals and private ones wanted to join.

The official said that the supplementary pension scheme could be seen as a tool for employers to attract competent employees, as employees could be more reassured about their pension.

Under the pilot programme, at least 70 percent of the supplementary pension would be spent to buy Governmental bonds, a safe investment channel, so if fund management companies failed to use the fund effectively or accrue losses, employees would still receive profit from the Government bonds.

Director General of VietFund Management Company Tran Thanh Tan said that big domestic and international groups have wanted such supplementary pension scheme for long time, but could not implement it due to the lack of legal framework.

If the supplementary pension is used to buy Governmental bonds, it could help increase liquidity in the bond market and money supply to public investment, thus boosting production and generating more jobs, he said.

If approved, the pilot programme for a supplementary pension would begin next year.-

Hanoi intensifies fight against crime

Improving social order, safety and the fight against crime were the key objectives highlighted at a meeting in Hanoi on October 17.

The Hanoi Steering Committee 197, responsible for state management of security, reviewed the committee’s activities in the third quarter of the year and discussed the implementation of important tasks in the next three months.

To realise the objectives, municipal police were requested to work with relevant sectors to ensure traffic safety and order and environmental health and food hygiene, among others.

More than 1,000 criminal cases were reported in the third quarter of this year, up 4.5 percent against the same period in 2012.

Hanoi announces plan for clean industrial park

The Hanoi Department of Planning and Architecture has announced its detailed plan for a clean industrial park in the city’s suburban district of Soc Son.

The industrial park is set to cover 340 hectares in Minh Tri and Tan Dan communes.

It will include an area for clean industries, and another for administrative centre and public facilities plus a supporting area containing a vocational school and housing for workers.

Vice Chairman of the Soc Son People’s Committee Pham Van Tao said this will be the second park of its kind in the district, after Noi Bai industrial park. It will help fuel development in the west of Hanoi as well as create jobs for locals.-

Singapore to provide 30,000 SGD for Vietnamese flood victims

The Singapore Red Cross will provide 30,000 SGD worth of relief items for Vietnamese people affected by recent storms and floods.

The Singapore Red Cross told a Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Singapore that storm victims in Laos and Cambodia will also receive aid worth 30,000 SGD each and relief items worth 100,000 SGD will be sent to earthquake survivors in the Philippines.

The aid was received during a public appeal for the Southeast Asia Emergencies launched recently by the Singapore Red Cross.

The appeal writes: “Monsoon in Vietnam is worsened by Tropical Depression 18. Typhoon Wutip made landfall on Vietnam’s central coast after 5pm on September 30, 2013, packing winds up to 103km per hour.”

“More than 200,000 homes were damaged and 13 people killed. While communities are trying to recover from the devastating consequences of the recent storm, another tropical storm, Nari, hit central Vietnam with packing winds of up to 133 km, killing 5 people and causing widespread damage. Assessment of the extent of the damage still ongoing”.

Benjamin William, Secretary General of Singapore Red Cross, said that the Singapore Red Cross has been coordinating with other societies for appropriate humanitarian action as destruction is heavy and more help is urgently needed.

“We hope that the public will donate generously to help the communities affected by these disasters,” he added.

Sharing his thoughts at the Southeast Asia Launch of the 2013 World Disasters Report on Oct. 17, Tee Tua Ba, Singapore Red Cross Chairman said, “While Singapore is not home to natural disasters, our people respond generously to our appeals, allowing the Singapore Red Cross to embark on rapid disaster response, mid-term recovery and long-term rebuilding to affected communities around the globe.”

“We will continue to press on in the effective and efficient delivery of relief assistance to those in need”.

HCMC residents struggle through submerged streets for hours

Heavy flooding hit many other streets, including Tran Hung Dao, Chau Van Liem, Hong Bang in district 5, An Duogn Vuong in district 6, Nguyen Van Qua, Song Hanh, Phan Van Hon in district 12, Phan Huy Ich in Go Vap District, Do Xuan Hop, Hanoi Highway, Le Van Viet in District 9 and Kha Van Can in Thu Duc District.

Heavy rain left T – intersection La Xuan Oai – Le Van Viet to Thu Duc Crossroad under meters of water, causing many vehicles to break down yesterday afternoon.

Traffic in roads Dong Den, Bau Cat, Hong Lac, Au Co in Tan Binh and Tan Phu districts paralyzed. Residents placed sand bags, logs of wood in front of their houses to prevent black water and dust from flowing in.

The same situation was recorded on many other streets, including Hoa Binh in District 11 and Luy Ban Bich in Tan Binh District. Floodwater reaches over half of the height of a motorbike.

Many automobiles broke down queuing up in a line waiting for rescue team for repairing. Drivers of hundreds of broken down motorbikes had to wheel their vehicles. Drivers chose to divert on the non-flooded streets like Khuong Viet and Trinh Dinh Trong  resulting in a mess in traffic along these streets.

According to the Steering Center of the Urban Flood Control Program for HCMC, drainage systems can not work properly when there is downpour plus with high tide. Meanwhile construction units have not build up temporary drainage network when they are working on drainage system in Tan Hoa-Lo Gom Canal Basin.

ASEAN countries are facing big challenges from water supply and wastewater treatments, said Nguyen Tuong Van, Executive Director of the Southeast Asian Water Utilities Network (SEAWUN) at a water forum in Ho Chi Minh City on October 17.

According to Van, the average rate of water supply in Southeast Asian countries is only 30%.

About 1.74 billion Asian people have yet to access water drainage services, 69% of whom are in Southeast Asia, Van added.

At the event, titled “ASEAN Water Forum - Promoting Sustainable Investment”, the SEAWUN leader further noted that the rate of water loss in the region remains high at 35%.

Meanwhile, the rate of wastewater treatment before disposal is low, at 38% compared to 85% in developed countries, Van said.

To cope with these challenges, the governments of ASEAN member countries need to mobilise all available resources from the private economic sector in the form of public-private partnerships (PPPs) to tackle the problem, Van noted.

At the forum, Lain Menzies, senior expert on water supply and sanitation of the World Bank’s East Asia-Pacific, said that the number of PPP projects in water supply and drainage among ASEAN countries remains limited.

Thus, the countries should diversify the forms of investment in the field.

The forum brought together experts from Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Germany and Finland to share experience.

Vietnamese in Laos support flood victims

The Vietnamese Embassy in Laos has launched a fund-raising campaign for storm and flood victims in the central region of Vietnam.

The campaign, in response to the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee’s appeal, aims to help ease difficulties for those affected by the two consecutive tropical storms, Wutip and Nari.

During the launching ceremony, Vietnamese organisations, businesses and individuals in Laos donated US$12,590 for the victims.

Meanwhile, the Singapore Red Cross has announced it will provide 30,000 SGD worth of relief items for storm and flood victims in Vietnam.

Benjamin William, Secretary General of Singapore Red Cross, said that the Singapore Red Cross has been coordinating with other societies for appropriate humanitarian action as destruction is heavy and more help is urgently needed.

Initial statistics show that Storm Wutip, which hit Vietnam’s central region on September 30, killed 14 people and injured 225 others, and caused damage totalling VND11 trillion (US$517 million).

Nari, the most recent storm, left a trail of destruction amounting to an estimated VND1.5 trillion (US$71 million) in central coastal provinces. It killed five people and injured 49.

Binh Dinh’s low carbon project underway

The northern province of Binh Dinh is implementing a Low Carbon Agricultural Support (LCASP) project designed to develop sustainable, efficient, and environmentally friendly agriculture.

The US$1.9 million project will run in Binh Dinh until 2018, focusing on livestock waste management, biogas value chain credit mechanisms, low carbon agricultural manufacturing technology transfer, and project administration.

It also hopes to mitigate environmental pollution caused by agricultural waste by encouraging the use of biogas, creating green energy resources, and improving local living standards.

Provincial People’s Committee Chairwoman Tran Thi Thu Ha noted the Asian Development Bank (ADB) provided more than US$1.7 million of the project’s funding.

Binh Dinh has more than 77,000 ha of agricultural land dedicated to rapidly growing industrial crops, including 47,000 ha for rice cultivation.

Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri