Social News 26/12 Hanoi Police discover goods trafficking cases   The Hà Nội Police recently discovered different cases of goods trafficking, involving a significant amount of money, to the capital. Specifically, at predawn yesterday, the city police, patrolling Nhật Tân Bridge in Tây Hồ District, discovered a 16-seater coach transporting 27 large packets of goods. On checking the packets, the police found different types of goods, such as clothes, shoes and watches with the fake trademark of some of the world’s leading companies. The police also discovered that the coach’s number plate was fake. Driver Ngô Đức Thịnh, 28, from the northern province of Lạng Sơn, failed to show any papers related to the coach and the goods. Earlier, on December 11, the police also searched an automobile that was being driven on Pháp Vân Road and discovered more than one tonne of clothes in different styles. The driver, Lưu Văn Điểu, 37, from the northern province of Bắc Giang, admitted to the police that he was hired to transport the goods from the northern mountainous province of Lạng Sơn to Hoàng Mai District to deliver to the concerned person. The discovery was part of the city police’s drive to crack down on trafficked goods, which was launched at the end of November this year. Give jobs to physically challenged women, say experts Physically challenged women face a lot of obstacles while looking for jobs, from companies and from other women too, said experts at a discussion held in Hà Nội today. The workshop, titled Jobs for People with Disability in Enterprises, was held by non-governmental organisation Inclusive Development Action (IDEA), which works with people with disabilities, and Kenan Institute Asia. It is part of Kenan’s Việt Nam Women Improving Lives and Leadership (Vietnam WILL) Project, which has been running from October 2014 and will continue till March 2017. Nguyễn Thị Thu Hoài, an expert from Việt Nam Women Academy, said that at present not more than one third of women with disabilities in the country had jobs. Most of them had simple jobs and very few receive vocational training, she said. A large percentage of differently abled women - more than 60 per cent - work at home, and the remaining work in associations connected with disabled people, and private and state enterprises, the latest research done by the Academy reveals. One in four physically challenged women worked in poor conditions that affect their physical and psychological health, Hoài said. Nguyễn Hồng Oanh, director of IDEA, said it was difficult for women with disabilities to find jobs because of social discrimination, shortage of equipment for rehabilitation and hurdles in commuting. Many enterprises didn’t have the right awareness or assessment of the abilities of physically challenged people, Đinh Thị Quỳnh Nga, director of Trái Tim Hồng (Pink Heart) Co-operative, a co-operative whose 80 per cent employees are differently abled women, said. “Once they get a job, they are very hard-working and patient in their work.” Enterprises discriminate, often focusing on a person’s disability and finding excuses to refuse them jobs, said Nga, who is disabled herself and was unemployed for seven years till she decided to set up an enterprise to create work for people in her situation. Experts shared the opinion that the state should institute stronger policies for employing physically challenged people. It should punish businesses that refuse to hire disabled people, Hoài said. The procedure to borrow capital with interest from social banks should also be simplified, Hoài said. At present, the process is complicated whereas the amount of capital they can borrow is not much. Nga suggested that there should be more vocational training schools for people with physical disabilities and that enterprises must improve infrastructure so that physically challenged people can do more diversified work. VNRC campaign to help the poor, AO victims Việt Nam Red Cross Society (VNRC) has launched a humanitarian campaign to help the poor and Agent Orange (AO) victims prepare for the upcoming traditional Tết (Lunar New Year) festival. The annual campaign, called "Tết for the poor and Agent Orange victims 2017," aims to mobilise support from local and international communities to provide 1-1.5 million Tết gifts, worth at least VNĐ300,000 (US$14) each, to poor families and AO victims nationwide, VNRC Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Xuân Thu said. Thu said by mid-December, the VNRC at all levels registered to provide nearly 1,153 million gifts and mobilised more than VNĐ52.124 billion ($2.27 million), including money and goods, from local and international donors. On the occasion, the society also launched an SMS campaign to mobilise funding for the campaign. People can support the campaign by texting TET to 1402 from December 10, 2016 to February 8, 2017. Each SMS costs VNĐ20,000 ($0.85). VNRC today received nearly VNĐ15 billion (over $652,000) as donations from several groups and companies, such as Vingroup, Tình người Red Cross Assistance Society branch, PVPower Service JSC, and Coca Cola Vietnam, as well as Frisland Campina, Prudential Vietnam. According to VNRC’s statistics, the society has mobilised more than VNĐ4.5 trillion ($196 million) to help more than 17 million poor households and AO victims over the past 18 years since the first campaign was launched in Việt Nam in 1999. Last year, VNRC mobilised more than 2.17 million gifts, worth over VNĐ852 billion ($37.8 million), to help the poor and AO victims in the country. Man receives life sentence for trafficking heroin The Hòa Bình People’s Court on Monday sentenced Hà Văn Quân, 40, to life imprisonment for trading and transporting heroin. According to the indictment, at 8pm on September 8, 2009, the Hòa Bình Police searched an automobile driven by Hà Ngọc Lương, 33, from Hòa Bình Province’s Mai Châu District and discovered that he and his accomplice Trần Lê Quang were transporting five packets of heroin weighing more than 1.7kg. Widening the scope of investigation, the police unearthed a heroin trafficking ring from Sơn La and Hòa Bình provinces to Hà Nội, Hải Phòng and Quảng Ninh, where the drug was being sold for a high amount. Hà Văn Quân was part of the ring. He was seized on February 18, 2013. Quân admitted to the police that from 2007 to 2009 he and his accomplices trafficked 65 packets of heroin weighing more than 22.8kg. Others heroin traffickers were judged at different trials, Quân was, however, judged at the trial yesterday. Vietnamese cultural and historical figure honoured The Temple of Literature has recently hosted the 400th birthday anniversary of a famous Vietnamese historical and cultural figure, Nguyễn Mậu Tài. Tài was born in 1616 in Kim Sơn Village in what is now Hà Nội’s Gia Lâm District. He became a doctor when he was only 30. He held many significant positions as a royal mandarin, serving five Kings Lê and three Lords Trịnh. Tài was praised by Lord Trịnh Căn (1633-1709) as a living example for posterity, and an upright, loyal, unflinching person by Lê and Nguyễn dynasties historians. Associate Professor Nguyễn Thành Nam, head of the temple’s administration board, said Tài was a living example of protecting the law and rejecting sycophants. “He was also a staunch and upright mandarin, as he was reappointed in 1676, but refused. According to historical studies, young people can learn many things from his life story,” Nam said. Alongside political contributions, cultural and historical researchers have affirmed his dedication to poetry and literature during the 17th century, and they also announced the publication of a documentary book entitled Cultural and Historical Figure, Grand Councillor and Doctor Nguyễn Mậu Tài (1616–88) – Biography and Lifelong Career. Rob a bag, and it’s in the bag It is not unusual in Việt Nam that bag-snatchers go the whole hog. Dirty pigs, you might say, or worse. But what happens is this: after a successful snatch, the thieves take all the valuables like cash and jewelry, then call the owners and make a generous offer: For a certain sum of money, documents like the passport, ID card and driving license will be returned. The owners are grateful for such big mercies, we can be sure. Of course, many heartless souls don’t bother with the potential to make extra money by selling documentation important to the owner, not the thief. One robber in HCM City confounded everyone recently by going the extra mile to return the stolen goods. A woman living in District 4 had her bag snatched while walking from her apartment building to her private car to take her child to school. It was an awful day. All her cash, mobile phone, ATM cards, credit cards and ID card were gone. The woman had no choice but to report the case to a nearby police station, the first step to applying for new cards, licenses, etc. As she returned home, we don’t know if she hoped against hope to receive a call from the thief with an offer to return the crucial documents, but if she had, she was in for a big surprise. When she got back, the building’s security guard handed her the stolen bag. Surprise, surprise. Then came the mother of all surprises. Nothing had been taken from the bag. Everything was intact – cash, mobile phone, ATM card, ID card. The security guard recalled that very soon after the snatch, the robber returned to the gate of the apartment building and threw the bag towards the guard, saying: “I am returning the stolen bag. Nothing’s lost.” Local police are still scratching and shaking their heads. “It is a rare case,” was the limp response from one of the cops in Ward 1, District 4. Rare or not, explanations came in thick and fast as netizens responded to the story. One guessed that the robber had checked the victim’s ID and realised she was one of his relatives. Some others surmised that he was “insulted” by the low returns on his investment – not enough money and an inexpensive phone. If this explanation does not surprise you, try this one for size: The robber was taking a “robbery class” and the snatch was only a test for him to pass the course. Since he succeeded in robbing his victim, and returned in person the stolen goods in their entirety, we may safely assume that he passed the test with flying colours before flying the coop, as it were. A pregnant pause Getting a class off because the teacher is sick or otherwise busy is usually a welcome break for students, and their parents are only happy to indulge such happiness. But when a teacher takes months off, it becomes too much of a good thing, for both students and parents, since they can’t pass the mandatory exam if they haven’t been taught anything. All students of the Thanh Nưa Primary School in Thanh Nưa Commune in northern Điện Biên Province have been told there’ll be no English class for the whole semester because the only available teacher is going on maternity leave. The English lessons have been replaced with other subjects, but the semester’s performance report will be delayed, parents have learnt. Those who have complained have been asked to sympathise with the school, understanding the “shortage situation”. There are just 32 English teachers for 37 primary schools in the district. Some have to take turns to teach at more than one school. And if this weren’t bad enough, of the 32 teachers, seven are set to take maternity leave this school year. Can’t make light of the matter here, there are some heavy shoes to fill. Can Tho Book Festival to return in March   The second Can Tho Book Festival will be held at Luu Huu Phuoc Park in the Mekong Delta city from March 25-31, the Department of Information and Communications announced yesterday. The event will feature 350 display booths of more than100 publishing houses throughout the country and abroad. The book festival will present to readers thousands of book titles, stationeries and also include seminars, exchanges between writers and readers. On the occasion, the event’s organization board will launch a promotional program to support libraries in schools and rural areas. The first Can Tho Book Festival attracted over 300,000 people with 260 booths in 2015. It is one of the largest-scale book shows in the country, including Ho Chi Minh City Book Festival and Hanoi Book Festival. Vietnam undergoes significant transition in migration: survey Vietnam has undergone a significant transformation over the last three decades, particularly over the past five years, as 13.6% of its population is now composed of migrants, according to statistics from a recently released survey. Key findings like this were disseminated at a national workshop on the results of the 2015 National Internal Migration Survey, which was held in Hanoi on December 16 by the General Statistics Office (GSO) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Vietnam. The survey was conducted under GSO Decision No. 1067/QD-TCTK, dated November 11, 2015 in twenty provinces and centrally run cities representing the country’s six socio-economic regions, and in its two largest cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. It was the second national internal migration survey conducted by the GSO, coming after the first in 2004. According to the survey, migrants aged 15-59 account for 17.3% of the total population, of whom 19.7% are urban migrants and 13.4% are rural. Approximately 19.7% of the urban population are migrants, whereas this proportion for the rural population is only 13.4%. The Southeast has the highest proportion of migrants at 29.3%. Regarding the reasons people migrate, Nguyen Bich Lam, GSO Director General, said that uneven development has led to a growing gap in income and living standards between urban and rural areas, making life more difficult for many people, especially agricultural households and those living in areas with unfavourable natural conditions. This is a major cause of the influx of migrants from rural areas into cities and industrial areas to find work. This is clearly evident in the flows of migrant labour from rural areas to big cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and other key economic regions. According to Luu Bich Ngoc, PhD, from the Institute for Population and Social Studies, in addition to the simple economic reason, migration decisions may have many causes, such as socio-economic causes, social causes and causes related to the environment. However, just like the previous survey in 2004, last year’s study also showed that economic issues are still the leading reason for people’s decisions to migrate. Nearly 30% of migrants who participated in the survey said their move was due to “Finding a job in a new place”; 11.5% emigrated to have “better working conditions”; 11.9% migrated to “facilitate their work”; and 12.6% migrated to “improve their lives.” In addition, “being close to relatives,” "learning” and “getting married” are also reasons many migrate (respectively, 23.5%, 18.8% and 12.9%). According to Lam, in the course of Vietnam’s industrialisation and modernisation, internal migration has an important role to play in demographic changes and therefore has a close relationship with many socio-economic development and environmental issues. For that reasons, the survey aimed to collect data and information on internal migration at the national level and socio-economic regions and in the two largest cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh for developing socio-economic development policies, as well as policies and programmes for migrants. Astrid Bant, UNFPA Representative in Vietnam, said that the results of the 2015 Migration Survey helped provide a better understanding of the impact of internal migration in the country, while making clear key changes needed in policies and practices to provide more options for migrants, especially the poor and vulnerable, to help migrants and society as a whole benefit from voluntary economic migration. According to experts, with the rapid increase in the movement of people to and from provinces and regions, migration and development are obviously closely linked, particularly in terms of economic improvement, remittances, impact on the environment, equity, reproductive health and other risks. Therefore, they suggested that the survey’s results should be used for evidence-based policy advocacy and development planning. Ngoc added that policies for migrants need not be too prioritised but need to ensure their equality with non-migrants in all respects, thus encouraging and strengthening migratory dynamics and labour restructuring towards sustainable migratory behaviours. According to the data from the survey, a higher percentage of migrants compared to non-migrants have professional or technical qualifications (31.7% versus 24.5%). Notably, the percentage of migrants who got an education at the college/university level or higher is 23.1% while this figure for non-migrants stands at 17.4%. Most migrants (74.8%) and non-migrants (78.2%) aged 15-59 are currently working in paid employment. The Southeast has the highest percentage of migrants who are working (87.8%), followed by the Red River Delta (81%). These two regions are the main locations of industrial zones. The findings suggest that most migrants are employed in places of destination, and thus do not increase significantly unemployment in these places. Seizing the opportunity to export vaccines Vietnam has recently successfully produced a combined measles-rubella vaccine, becoming the fourth country in Asia that is capable of producing the measles-rubella vaccine, following Japan, India, and China. This is the second combined type of vaccine to be produced domestically after DPT (Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus), the vaccine that was produced and put in the national expanded programme of immunisation in 1991. This is also the first vaccine that has been produced in Vietnam by the Ministry of Health’s Centre for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biology (POLYVAC) under a technology-transfer project funded by the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA). According POLYVAC Director Nguyen Dang Hien, the project started in May 2013 with a total cost of JPY700 million (US$6.7 million). It targets a combined MR vaccine meeting the Good Manufacturing Practices standard of the World Health Organisation (WHO). With a current capacity of 7.5 million doses per year, the centre can fully meet the domestic vaccine demand and will be able to start exporting in the future. Over recent years, Vietnam has reaped great achievements in the research and production of vaccines, especially the production of 11 out of the 12 kinds mentioned in the nationwide expanded immunisation programme. In 2015, the WHO certified that Vietnam has a fully-equipped national regulatory authority (NRA) system that ensures the safety and efficacy of vaccines produced and used in Vietnam. Currently, Vietnam is among 25 nations that can produce vaccines around the world. In the recent NRA assessment, the WHO said that four of Vietnam’s vaccines ─ Japanese B encephalitis, measles, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B ─ can join WHO pre-appraisal before being sold in bulk to international organisations. Local vaccine manufacturing facilities can currently supply enough doses for both domestic needs and export demand. For example, for Japanese B encephalitis vaccine, the demand for domestic immunisation is approximately 8 million doses, while production capacity is about 12 million doses a year. For the measles vaccine, local demand is 3 million doses, while Vietnam is capable of producing approximately 7.5 million doses a year. For oral polio vaccine, local manufacturers can produce 40 million doses per year, while only 7.5 million doses are needed for domestic demand. In recent years, the Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No.1 (VABIOTECH) has exported over 3 million doses of Japanese B encephalitis vaccine to India. Japanese encephalitis vaccines are also penetrating the market of East Timor. In addition, 32,000 doses of hepatitis A vaccine have been exported to the Republic of Korea and 115,000 doses of oral cholera vaccine to Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and India. Vietnam currently has four factories producing vaccines, using modern equipment and technology meeting CGMP-WHO standards: VABIOTECH; Pasteur Da Lat Vaccine Company Ltd., (DAVAC); the Centre for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biology (POLYVAC); and the Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC). All four factories employ qualified staff to produce vaccines which meet international standards for the national EPI programme and for export. However, the country’s export of vaccines has yet to meet expectations. The results do not fully reflect the potential and opportunities for the export of domestic vaccine products as the export is still small scale without a high commercial value. In order to export to official channels on the international market, especially for international organisations such as UNICEF and GAVI to sell large quantities, Vietnam should ensure higher standards for vaccines. Some obstacles in administrative policies and mechanisms should also be removed to help local vaccine manufacturers promote their strength and enhance competitiveness. Seminar seeks ways to support Vietnamese guest workers A seminar took place in Hanoi on December 16 focusing on issues relating to safety for Vietnamese guest workers and the role of local trade unions in supporting and protecting the workers. The event, co-organised the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) and the Asia Fund, discussed measures to help those people who sought to work abroad be aware of safe working environment and to support re-employment efforts on their return. Chief Representative of the Asia Fund in Vietnam Michael DiGreogorio said the Vietnamese Government’s policy on labour export will play an increasingly important role for the country’s development, especially when the country joined bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements. However, he noted that Vietnamese guest workers are encountering risks of labour exploitation and even human trafficking due to their limited knowledge on suitable jobs they could work when returning home. The situation requires the Government and relevant agencies to take specific policies and solutions in order to ensure rights and legitimate interests of the contracted workers, participants stressed. In recent years, the VGCL’s chapters and relevant agencies have exerted efforts to support contracted guest workers, significantly contributing to addressing employment issue and helping many local labourers escape from poverty. Up to 80,000 to 90,000 Vietnamese workers have been sent to work abroad every year since 2007. The workers were estimated to send over 2 billion USD to their families each year. The situation shows that Vietnamese labourers abroad are making remarkable contributions to the country’s socio-economic development. The VGCL is also implementing a study project funded by the Asia Fund, with the aim of protecting the rights of Vietnamese guest workers.-VNA Books for Rural Areas of Vietnam Program encouraged The Vietnam National Committee for UNESCO and the Ministry of Education and Training have honored organizations and individuals for their outstanding contributions to encourage book reading habits in rural areas. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) acknowledged the Vietnamese initiative during its 50th anniversary of the International Literacy Day on September 9th this year. The program reflects successful cooperation between the state and the community for better education. After 9 years of implementation, the program has built up book shelves in 12,000 classrooms, enabling rural pupil access to at least 50 books a year. Nguyen Quang Thach, one of the movement’s founders said,“We have a specific strategy to mobilize schools and parents’ contributions. With an annual donation of 50,000 dong, their kids could read books worth up to 2 million dong. Our pilot scheme in one school has been duplicated in hundreds of schools nationwide. This has triggered more donations from Vietnamese people at home and abroad.” A UNSECO representative said, "these civil libraries are different from public libraries as they are funded by mobilising community resources and are managed by community members or volunteers. The programme seeks, in particular, to increase book availability and accessibility for readers in rural and mountainous areas who have fewer opportunities to read books. As well as providing access, it also organises group reading activities where readers can practice and strengthen their literacy skills." Apparel-footwear workers face unemployment due to automation   As many as 86 percent of Vietnamese workers in the garment-textiles and leather-footwear industries may face unemployment due to automation, according to a report released recently by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The report, entitled “ASEAN in transformation: How technology is changing jobs and enterprises”, forecasts that three-fourths of labourers working in the electric and electronic sector might be replaced by robots. These are major export sectors of Vietnam, which account for nearly 40 percent of the total workforce in production. However, the garment-textiles and leather-footwear industries, which employ mostly unskilled labourers, are facing an alarming low productivity which is equal to only 20 percent of that of Thailand. At the same time, the ILO report held that the improvement of workforce skills should be an important task of Vietnam as the country is facing changes in the nature of jobs in the technology era when unskilled workers may be replaced by automation. David Lamotte, ILO Vice Director for Asia-Pacific, said that the changes will take place in the next few years as cost for technology will decrease while that for workforce will increase. According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, in the 2017-2025 period, Vietnam’s workforce will rise 1.28 percent or 723,000 people per year, while the total workforce will reach 62 million in 2025. In order to provide jobs for all, the economy should create additional 650,000 jobs, according to the ministry, adding that transforming labour structure is a way to increase labour productivity. By 2016, only 11.2 million labouers in the total number of 56.4 million, or 20.6 percent, have been trained. The qualifications of labourers are different between urban and rural areas, while the trained workforce has yet to match the market’s requirements, said the ministry. HCM City aims to build road beside clogged highway The HCM City People’s Committee has sought the Government’s approval to build a new road running parallel to its suburban National Highway No 50. The road will begin at Pham Hung Street Extension in Binh Chanh District and run up to the city’s border with Long An Province. It will help improve traffic capacity on the route and reduce the time it takes to travel from the city to nearby provinces. The new road will have six lanes, and will be built under PPP (public-private partnership) mode with the public component provided by the city. If approved, the new road will be added to the city’s transportation plan for 2020 and built in 2016-20. An earlier plan to widen the highway has finally been scrapped after long consideration because of the likely difficulties in acquiring land since there are many new urban areas and industrial parks along it. The 95.2-kilometre National Highway No 50, which runs through HCM City, Long An and Tien Giang provinces, is often overloaded because of the large number of vehicles transporting goods from provinces to the city. Drug gang busted in Đồng Nai The Đồng Nai drug police agency busted a drug gang on Tuesday, arresting four suspects and seizing heroin, meth and ecstasy from them. The arrested were identified as Đào Tuấn Anh, 26, of Bình Dương Province, Trần Thanh Trung, 25, of Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu Province and Trần Quốc Bảo, 28, and Nguyễn Huy Bình, 26, of Đồng Nai. According to the Police Deparment for Investigation of Drug-related Crimes (PC47), they caught Anh with 148 ecstasy pills, six packs of heroin, and five mobile phones in Tam Phước Commune in Biên Hòa City. They then raided his house and discovered a shotgun with 80 bullets. Bảo and Trung were caught in Tam Phước with heroin and US$900 and VNĐ5 million ($220) in cash. A searching of their houses turned up more heroin, a car, and more than VNĐ600 million ($26,406) in cash. Bình had two packs of meth and a car. The four allegedly bought drugs and sold them in Đồng Nai, Bình Dương, and Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu provinces. The cars the police found were hired. Saigon-Hanoi ranks 7th among world's busiest air routes About 4.1 million passengers are estimated to fly from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi this year, putting the route among the world's most busiest, according to the UK.-based air travel company OAG. Latest data from the company showed that the northbound route came in at the seventh place in the list of global busiest air routes, up five spots from a year ago. The route accounts for about 35% of the country’s air traffic, with up to 700 daily flights carrying passengers. Huge numbers of passengers traveling between the two largest cities have also strained Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City. Lai Xuan Thanh, director of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, said that there were times dozens of flights had to fly around, waiting for 15-60 minutes before they could land. The airport is expected to handle 31 million passengers this year, far beyond its maximum capacity of 25 million. Thanh said that the situation is likely to worsen in the next four years as domestic carriers plan to expand to meet the local travel boom. National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, low-cost Jetstar Pacific and VietJet Air, and newly-founded Vietstar had raised the total number of airplanes to 141 by the end of the third quarter, up 50% against five years ago. They are planning to expand their fleets to a combined 263 aircraft by 2020. Vietstar has not been licensed to fly. To handle the problem of overcrowded airports, authorities are considering increasing the number of night flights and putting a cap on the number of new planes local airlines can buy. Vietnam’s aviation market is growing at the third fastest pace in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the aviation administration. It is estimated that the number of passengers, including international ones, in 2016 will jump by 29% to hit about 52.2 million. VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri/VNE