Social News Headlines 28/4 Vietnam’s first hiking train gets running Vietnam’s first hiking train was put into operation at the Ba Na Hills resort in the central city of Da Nang on April 26. The train, which can carry 80 guests per carriage, will take tourists to several popular destinations including the Linh Ung Pagoda, Le Jardin garden and an ancient villa complex. The Sun Group, owner of Ba Na Hills, has selected the well-known Swiss cable manufacturer, Garaventa, to build the system. Ba Na Hills resort is located on Ba Na Mountain, about one hour of drive from Da Nang City. Without land, ethnic families remain deep in poverty More than ethnic 300,000 households are said to be in long-term poverty because they do not have any farm land for production. According to a new report from the Committee for Ethnic Minorities, they receive few benefits from Government policies on poverty reduction. At a meeting yesterday, Government officials and National Assembly members assessed the ways policies from 2005 to 2012 had affected ethnic people. Truong Thi Mai, chairwoman of the NA Committee of Social Affairs, said that Viet Nam had been successful in reducing poverty. Despite progresses, which reduced the nationwide poverty rate from 14.2 per cent in 2010 to around 7.8 per cent in 2013, more than half of those in poverty are ethnic residents. This belies the fact that they represent only 15 per cent of the population. Ethnic people mostly live in far flung and mountainous areas. They continue to suffer from natural disasters, lack of education, inadequate infrastructure and opportunities to generate sustainable living. According to the NA Committee on Social Affairs, more than 200 communes nationwide still do not have enough power, nearly 294,000 households lack access to clean domestic water, and 14,000 hamlets do not have solid road connections. Pham Thi Hai Chuyen, the Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that many localities relied too much on the State budget. She said efforts must be better coordinated to ensure people became more active in poverty reduction instead of relying on subsidies. In an earlier meeting, some NA members said ethnic people did not receive enough training on raising cattle, planting crops. They also lacked guidance for their children who sought jobs that could lift them out of poverty forever. Chuyen agreed, saying that the Government should reduce giving poor households direct money and put more investment in long-term efforts such as production and vocational training, infrastructure development and loans for production. Ging Seo Phu, minister-chair of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities Affairs, said efforts must be better co-ordinated to ensure that policies did not overlap. He added that funding must be well-thought out before a policy or programme was decided on. Phu said only 231,000 households received extra production or residential land between 2005-12, which met only 41.5 per cent of demand. Many current policies involved so many agencies that delays were caused, leading to ineffective management. Phu said most localities heavily relied on the national budget, but that the allocation of funds did not take into account the situation in each province or region. The situation now required the elimination of overlapping policies, consolidating various national target programmes and focusing national resources on building new rural programmes. Minister Pht called on ministries and agencies to reassess the use of land for State forest enterprises and State-run farms and decide if the land could be reallocated to ethnic people. Since 2005, 118,000 hectares of forest land have been allocated to ethnic residents. "Besides giving them land, we must find the type of products and crops that can suit a region and can generate profits," he said. The Government spent more than VND700 trillion (US$36 billion) on nationwide poverty reduction efforts in the 2005-12 period. Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan has asked the National Assembly to provide more time to consider the recently proposed plan to reform school textbooks. Minister Luan, speaking at the sixth plenary session of the NA Committee for Culture, Education, Youth and Children yesterday, said more time was needed to re-evaluate the project before submitting it to the NA Standing Committee for consideration. The plan caused much public concern when the ministry mistakenly reported that it would cost VND34 trillion (US$1.6 billion) to implement. The minister apologised for the misunderstanding on a television programme last Sunday and accepted responsibility. The Ministry yesterday asked the NA Standing Committee to remove discussion on the educational reform's draft decree from the plenary session's agenda. Cashier who stole gets life sentence Former Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) cashier Ho Thi Thu Huong was sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday for embezzling more than VND31 billion (US$1.46 million). The People's Supreme Court in the southern province of Binh Dinh also sentenced Vo Hong Son, Huong's brother-in-law, to 15 years in prison for being an accomplice. The court was told Huong, 33, stole the money from the bank in 2010-2013 by capitalising on loose management at the bank's Phu Tai branch. She is said to have removed the money from the bank by hiding it in a dustbin. Under the pretence of emptying it, she took the dustbin outside at the end of the day and kept the money. This enabled her to pocket more than 900 million ($42,600) every month. Huong reportedly stole another VND9 billion ($460,000) using other tricks, including putting VND5.24 billion (over $248,000) in a bank account owned by her brother-in-law, Son. Huong, an undergraduate from the province's An Nhon Town, was employed by the State-owned BIDV's local branch as cashier in 2004. Prosecutors will indict other people allegedly involved in the embezzlement. The court yesterday order Huong to return VND26.4 billion ($1.25 million). Those who accepted bribe money from Huong were ordered to return more than VND4.25 billion (nearly $200,000). Worker killed by explosion at ice plant A worker was killed yesterday morning in an explosion at an ice plant at Duc Nhien Co Ltd, a company in Binh Hung Ward in Binh Chanh District, HCM City. The worker, Dang Van Toan, 28, was from the southern province of Kien Giang. Witnesses, who are Toan's co-workers, said the cause of the fatality may have been a compressor that exploded. An investigation into the accident is ongoing. Da Nang warned of forest fires Prolonged and large scale hot weather has put the central city of Da Nang on the "dangerous" alert level of forest fire, according to the Da Nang Forest Management Department. The department has asked local forest wardens to increase information dissemination to raise public awareness, strictly punish those violating forest fire prevention and fighting regulations and take preventive measures such as preparing fire fighting equipment and assign officials on duty around the clock to protect the forests. Last year, the city recorded ten cases of forest fire, damaging nearly 14.5 ha of forests. Measles cases decline at pediatrics hospital The number of patients visiting the National Hospital of Pediatrics, which was overwhelmed by patients since the outbreak of measles, has declined by 90 per cent, Le Thanh Hai, the hospital's director, said yesterday. At the height of the measles outbreak, the hospital saw 2,500-3,000 patients per day. Now, however, the number of patients has fallen to 300 per day, most of whom are in serious condition. The same day, the Ministry of Health reported three new deaths from measles-related causes among patients at the National Hospital of Pediatrics. The country has recorded 123 measles-related deaths. Large warehouse goes up in flames A warehouse, filled close to capacity with hundreds of motorbikes, burst into flames overnight in the southern province of Binh Duong on April 25, causing losses of billions of Vietnam Dong. The blaze broke out at the Tan Long Van motorbike warehouse in Binh Hoa ward, Thuan An town at around 10:40pm on April 25. Two guards at the store tried hopelessly in vain to put out the fire that rapidly spread, encompassing a several-hundred-square metre area in a few short minutes. Local fire fighters and 15 fire engines were mobilized for rescue efforts which lasted until the early morning of April 26. The cause of the fire accident has not yet been determined.  Designated agencies are continuing their investigation into the case. Nation's biggest airport adds new domestic terminal section Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCM City had started the expansion of the domestic terminal to increase its capacity to 5 million passengers a year, the Airports Corporation of Viet Nam has announced. The newly-constructed Departure Hall A, put into use on Monday, is the first phase of a project intended to upgrade and expand the entire domestic terminal, the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper quoted the corporation as saying. Spanning 2,140 square metres, the new section consists of check-in rows, luggage carousels and offices. There are also four airport body scanners, six boarding gates and six baggage-scanning systems. Jetstar Pacific and VietJet Air began using the new section on the same day. The old section will be renovated and is expected to be put back into use within the next four months. In the second phase of the expansion project, the waiting area at the domestic terminal will be enlarged by 2,000 square metres, while a technical section will also be built. Once completed, the upgraded domestic terminal will cover 39,450sq.m and handle 4,500 passengers per hour during peak periods. The expanded terminal will be able to handle 12 million passengers a year. Tan Son Nhat, Viet Nam's largest airport, hit the milestone of welcoming 20 million passengers last year, two years ahead of schedule. Forty-four airlines offer domestic and international services to and from the airport. Hospitals see more patients as hot weather continues The number of patients hospitalised in HCM City has increased in the past two months due to prolonged hot weather. People's Hospital 115 received 30-40 stroke patients per day in the past two months, whereas it received only 25 people per day in January and February. About 40 per cent of the patients are from HCM City and the remaining come from neighbouring provinces. In Cho Ray Hospital, more people were hospitalised for respiratory diseases. Dao Duy Khanh, head of the hospital's Health Examination Ward, said that the number of pneumonia and sore throat patients this month increased by 9 and 12 per cent respectively. Khanh reminded people with runny noses and sneezing to wear masks to avoid spreading the disease. Hot weather also increased the amount of elderly patients. Deputy director of Nguyen Trai Hospital Tran Phu Manh Sieu said that about 100 elderly patients had come to the hospital per day in the past month, double the rainy season figure. Most of the patients suffered from high blood pressure, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Paediatrics Hospital 1 and Paediatrics Hospital 2 were in the same situation. The two hospitals gave health checks to more than 13,000 children per day this month, whereas last month the number was only 10,000. More than 50 per cent of the patients suffered from hot weather diseases such as dengue fever, respiratory disease, diarrhoea and chicken pox. Tran Thi Loan, head of the Respiratory Ward of Paediatrics Hospital 2, blamed the increase on parents allowing their children to drink ice water and sleep in air-conditioned rooms. Loan warned parents not to let their children go out while it was too sunny or eat food sold by street vendors, which might cause diarrhea. Gov't okays plan for Ha Noi ring road No 5 The Government has approved a detailed plan for the construction of Ring Road No 5 around Ha Noi. The ring road will be over 330km long, running through 36 districts in Ha Noi and the provinces of Hoa Binh, Ha Nam, Thai Binh, Hai Duong, Bac Giang, Thai Nguyen and Vinh Phuc. It will also overlap the Noi Bai-Ha Long, Ha Noi-Thai Nguyen, Noi Bai-Lao Cai and National Highway No 3 routes. Total investment for the ring road is estimated at over VND85.6 trillion (US$4 billion). Ring road No 5 should be opened to traffic by 2020 to link cities and provinces around the capital. In 2008, the Government approved a plan to develop the region -the nation's political, cultural and economic centre – into a high-quality, investor-friendly urban zone by 2050. After the expansion of Ha Noi and the merger with Ha Tay and part of Hoa Binh in 2008, the provinces of Phu Tho, Thai Nguyen and Bac Giang have also been included in the region's development plan. The region occupies an area of over 24,300sq.km with a population of about 17.5 million people. Workers to get higher bonuses Higher employee bonuses will be given this year in Viet Nam as a result of better business performance, the recruiting website JobStreet.com has found. The survey, which polled 6,190 employees and 677 companies in March, said the average bonus would be equivalent to 1.3 times the monthly salary. More than 35 per cent of polled companies said they planned to offer higher bonuses this year because of improved business conditions. Companies in the manufacturing, IT and hospitality sectors will offer bonuses equal to 1.28-1.3 times the monthly salary. The average bonus offered by companies in finance and banking will be 1.8-2 times the monthly salary. Nearly 53 per cent of companies have made no change in salary and bonus policies. Fifty two per cent of polled employees said their salary increased below three per cent. Other 17.65 per cent of employees said they had received a salary rise of 4-6 per cent. Nearly 60 per cent of polled employees said they intended to find a new job this year. Vehicles registration staff suspended for violations A total of 32 registration staff and one registration centre were suspended from work due to violations pertaining to vehicle inspection and registration, said Viet Nam Register's (VR) deputy director Nguyen Minh Cuong. The suspension comes after unscheduled inspections were carried out by the VR in more than 30 centres across the country, showing multiple violations. The regulatory breaches ranged from document storage to off-duty vehicle safety checks by registration staff which had resulted in sup-par inspections. In one measure aimed to crack down on the violations, the VR on Monday suspended seven registration workers from the 3601S Register Centre in Thanh Hoa Province. The suspensions will range from six months to indefinitely depending on the seriousness of violations. The actions of the seven suspended workers had reportedly caused long lines in the centre and showed flaws in the inspection of a lorry. The seven workers and leaders at the centre later confessed their careless practices had hampered efforts to ensure vehicle safety standards and traffic safety, said director of the VR Tran Ky Hinh. The VR later requested the Thanh Hoa Department of Transport to hand down administrative penalties for both the seven workers and the centre director under the Ministry of Transport's Circular 42/2012/TT-BGTVT which was put into effect in October 2012. The actions follow measures taken earlier this year in March, when the VR suspended the 6004D Register Centre in the southern province of Dong Nai after 16 registration workers from 10 different centres carried out poor inspections of vehicles and were found using substandard equipment. Inspections to target vehicle registrations Local vehicle registration centres will be inspected from May 1 according to a message from the Ha Noi People's Committee. The measure aims to improve the quality of the vehicle registration centres and fix problems undermining vehicle registrations, the committee said. The committee has also assigned the municipal Transport Department to compile detailed plans for the inspections. Ha Noi has 12 vehicle registration centres. The inspections follow a directive approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung nearly two weeks ago, under which Dung orders the Ministry of Transport to inspect more than 100 vehicle registration centres across the country. The ministry is also required to address loopholes in the system, which enable corruption or misconduct, while violating centres will be publicly named and shamed. In a related move, the Viet Nam Register on Monday suspended seven registration staff from the 3601S Register Centre in Thanh Hoa Province. Findings from the agency showed that 32 registration staff and one vehicle registration centre nation-wide were suspended from work because of their violations relating to vehicle inspection and registration since mid March. Taiwanese job firms suspended The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has decided to suspend activities of 29 Taiwanese employment companies involved in sending Vietnamese workers to Taiwan for regulation violations. The companies were requested to temporarily stop the activity for 45-60 days for imposing higher brokerage fees than the amount regulated by the Government and for not abiding by their commitment to reduce cost for Vietnamese workers to go to work in Taiwan. The Department of Overseas Labour has proposed Vietnamese employment companies to temporarily stop working with these Taiwanese companies to send Vietnamese workers to Taiwan. Water vessels checks to begin next month Waterway police across the country will commence a raid on waterway traffic from today to the end of next month following guidance from the Ministry of Public Security. The raid aims to ensure greater traffic safety during the upcoming holiday spanning Vietnamese Liberation Day April 30 and International Labour Day May 1. The raid also aims to correct flaws in traffic control, especially in tourist provinces and cities such as Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and HCM City. The police will also join with local authorities to inspect waterway passenger transport vehicles and hand out strict punishments for violations. The strict inspection will require vehicles in poor condition and lacking rescue equipment to be suspended from operation. Germany aids forest protection project in Soc Trang A delegation of German parliamentarians on April 25 inspected projects aided by the country’s Development Cooperation organisation (GIZ) in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang. The delegates from the German Parliamentary Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development visited Au Tho B hamlet, where a project on planting and protecting forests is being carried out. Thach Soal, head of the forest managing team, told them that forests have developed well since 2009 when the project kicked off. Some 300 local households have benefited from a more responsible use of natural resources. In Lai Hoa commune, the guests inspected a project supporting eroded breakwaters by using bamboo T-fences to cover their base. Klaus Smitt, chief consultant of GIZ projects in Soc Trang, said the construction of the fences costs only US$50-60 every metre while it costs US$2,270 to build one metre of concrete works. The fences also help deposit alluvium and bring about ecological profits. Dagmar G. Wöhrl, head of the delegation, said she hopes German projects in the province’s coastal areas will help mitigate climate change impact and stabilise the life of local people, adding that her country is willing to increase assistance to Vietnam in vocational training, energy and environment. 125 Vietnamese orderlies to work in Germany this year A pilot programme providing advanced training for Vietnamese medical orderlies in Germany will be accepting applications from May 6-20, according to the Department of Overseas Labour (DOLAB). The programme will recruit 125 qualified candidates who are aged 21-25, are studying in the medical orderly field or are recent graduates from an accredited college or university. Applicants holding a B2 certification in the German language can apply for a three year training programme in Germany, with most costs provided free by the German government, including visa application fees and air tickets. Candidates will get a scholarship worth EUR800 per month in the first year, US$870 per month in the second year and EUR970-1,000 per month in the third year. After completing the training, they can take exams to get national accreditation on caring for the elderly in Germany. Having the certificate, they can then work in Germany and earn a monthly salary of EUR2,300 or return to Vietnam. DOLAB is the sole agency which processes applications and is responsible for implementing the programme. Candidates are required to directly contact the department to obtain more information. Andreas Schneider, Deputy Chief Representative of the German International Cooperation (GIZ), in Vietnam said medical facilities in Germany have a high demand for orderlies who provide care for around 3.4 million elderly. Vietnam is the first country in Asia implementing the pilot programme. Body of Vietnamese bride’s son found in sunken Sewol The body of the 6-year-old Kwon Hyuk-kyu, a Vietnamese Korean, aboard the sunken ferry Sewol, was identified on April 25. Kwon was the son of Pham Ngoc Thanh, a Vietnamese bride who married a Korean man and became a naturalized citizen of the RoK last July taking the name “Han Yun Ji”. Thanh was among the dead bodies retrieved from the sunken ferry, and she was identified on April 24 by her relatives flying from Vietnam. Thanh’s family decided to take ferry to Jeju Island to set up in business there after several years settling in capital Seoul. Unfortunately the ferry capsized on April 16 and hundreds of passengers, including Thanh, her husband and their son, fell victim to the tragic accident. Only their five-year-old daughter, Kwon Ji-yeon, survived thanks to a life-vest given by her elder brother. Republic of Korean rescuers on April 24 retrieved 16 more bodies from the capsized ferry Sewol, increasing the total number of deaths to 175. National clean water week launched in Bac Ninh The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the People’s Committee of the northern province of Bac Ninh on April 25 held a ceremony to launch the 2014 national week of clean water and environmental sanitation. Addressing the function in Song Ho commune, Thuan Thanh district, Deputy Minister Hoang Van Thang noted that water as vital for social development. As a locality posting high industrial growth, Bac Ninh suffers from serious pollution, especially in its rivers. This affects human health and agricultural production. Under the national target programme on clean water and environmental sanitation, up to 95 percent of rural households in Bac Ninh have access to clean water and 63 percent of them have hygienic latrines. In response to the national week, agencies and units across the province have focused on building, managing, operating and maintaining sustainable water supply facilities. More attention has also been paid to inspections of water quality. On this occasion, a water plant worth US$799,000 was inaugurated in Song Ho commune. With a capacity of 960 cubic metres per day, the factory will provide clean water to nearly 6,000 local households. Promoting Vietnam-US exchange activities Chairman of the Vietnam-US Association Nguyen Tam Chien and representatives from the Vietnam Women’s Union held a dialogue with a US delegation of 10 parliamentary assistants in Hanoi on April 25. The event was part of a working visit to Vietnam by the US delegation from April 16-26 aimed at bolstering Vietnam-US cooperation and exchange activities. Chien briefed participants on Vietnam’s situation and the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisation (VUFO), speaking highly of the association’s activities in promoting people-to-people exchanges over the past few years. For their part, Phan Anh Son, head of the People's Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM) and Chien spoke on matters directly related to the status of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) negotiations, saying that the participation in the TPP will open up both opportunities and challenges. They specifically talked about how the TPP would assist Vietnam expand its international markets, especially in the spheres of catfish, garment and textile exports among others. At the meeting, Vietnamese delegates also highlighted the emerging role of women and the Vietnam Women’s Union in the socio-economic development and in the promotion of women’s advancement. The US Delegation underscored that they consider Vietnam an important partner of the US and that relations between the two nations have developed well and are expected to continue to prosper in the coming time. They also expressed their commitment to provide assistance to Vietnam in support of Agent Orange victims and other assistance in clearing unexploded ordnance (UXO) and bombs and strengthening cultural exchanges. Dien Bien Phu heroes commemorated A solemn requiem was held in the northwestern province of Dien Bien yesterday to commemorate the heroic soldiers who laid down their lives in the 1954 battle of Dien Bien Phu. Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan, along with representatives from ministries, departments and the Viet Nam Buddhist Sangha, were present at the event to offer incense to the deceased. The requiem was one of several activities marking the 60th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory of May 7, 1954, which helped end French colonial rule in Viet Nam. The same day, a ceremony was held in Dien Bien Phu city to officially name Vo Nguyen Giap Road, drawing nearly 1,000 officials, soldiers and compatriots from local ethnic groups. The street, previously called May 7 Road, now bears the name of the Vietnamese general who masterminded the famous victory under the instruction of the Party and late President Ho Chi Minh. The road stretches 7km through the wards of Him Lam, Tan Thanh, Muong Thanh and Nam Thanh, which house many historical sites from wartime. The General's son, Vo Hong Nam, speaking on behalf of his family, thanked the local authorities and people for their affection towards his father and paid his respects to the soldiers who fought in the battle. As one of modern Viet Nam's most revered figures, General Giap's guerrilla tactics inspired anti-colonial fighters worldwide. High-quality rice earns higher profits Farmers in Soc Trang Province's Nga Nam Town who grow high-quality fragrant rice have had a bumper harvest for the 2013-14 winter-spring crop, earning high profits. "I've never seen the yield of ST5 (Soc Trang) fragrant rice as high as this year," Huynh Thanh Binh, head of the Vinh Phong Hamlet Co-operative group in Vinh Quoi Commune, said. Farmers have had an average yield of 7.8 tonnes per hectare in this crop, with some varieties achieving a yield of more than 10 tonnes per hectare. Profits for each farmer have been about VND4 million (US$190) per 1,000 sq.m of ST5, according to Binh. The town planted 8,600ha of fragrant rice for the winter-spring crop, accounting for 47 per cent of the total rice area, according to the town's Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau. Of the fragrant rice area, ST varieties, which were developed in the province, accounted for 2,400ha. Quach Van Quang, head of the Vinh Tien Co-operative in Vinh Bien Commune, said his co-operative had planted high-quality fragrant rice for more than 10 years and were earning better profits than normal rice varieties. The co-operation among farmers, co-operatives and companies in planting fragrant rice varieties have also been strengthened, creating better results in production, he said. Farmers who plant fragrant rice are guaranteed outlets via contracts with rice companies. Nguyen Van Tien, deputy chairman of the Nga Nam People's Committee, said Nga Nam has focused on developing high-quality rice over the past years, becoming one of the leading fragrant rice cultivation areas in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region. To develop fragrant rice cultivation, the town has zoned areas for each kind of speciality rice. The areas have invested in pumps to secure irrigation water for rice cultivation. The town has also been zoned to establish a 500ha large-scale rice field with complete infrastructure, including dykes, pumps, irrigation, and road and electricity systems to grow rice varieties. This year, the town will implement a project to build embankments to prevent flooding of low-lying areas. The projects, which cost VND136 billion ($6.4 million), will complete building 57 embankments with pumping stations by the end of next year. Tien said besides high-quality, fragrant rice varieties produced by the province, local agricultural officers have been testing Japanese rice to diversify the province's high-quality rice varieties. Da Nang plans new rice for upcoming crops The central city's Hoa Tien Commune will apply a new rice seed variety, OM6976, for this summer-autumn crop and the 2014-15 winter-spring crop, Thai Van Quang from the city's agriculture and rural development department said yesterday. The seed was chosen from 10 rice varieties tested in a three-crop pilot project as the most appropriate for the agriculture-intensive commune, due to its high productivity as well as its ability to resist insects. "The seed produces 6.2 tonnes per hectare in comparison to the 5.5 tonne yield of the old seed," Quang said. Ho Huy Cuong, vice director of the Agricultural Institute for Viet Nam's southern coastal central region, said the new seed had demonstrated its resilience to pests and drought. "We also recognised that the seed is resilient to climate change, while its short growth period of 95-110 days can prevent losses to the summer-autumn rice crop due to flooding and storms in central provinces," he said. For comparison, the currently used Xi23 seed takes 125-130 days to grow. The city farms 2,900ha of rice and produces 16,500 tonnes annually, but only a few residents use locally planted rice due to its low quality. This includes Hoa Tien Commune, home to 4,000 farming households and 1,400ha of rice-growing land. However, the commune is currently benefiting from a rice seed production hub project supported by the India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum (IBSA) Fund. The US$529,000 project focuses on four crops. "It's the first project in Viet Nam that aims to produce high quality rice seed. We have seen successful progress in the past two years and hope that the new seed will enhance food security in the city and the central region of Viet Nam. We will continue supporting the establishment of a rice seed production hub in Hoa Tien Commune," said FAO Viet Nam representative Bae Jong-ha. Nguyen Thanh, a farmer of Hoa Tien No 1 co-operative, said all 118 farming households had been trained in post harvest processing capacity and establishing seed quality control for rice seed production. "We hope to produce safe, high quality rice seeds with technical and legal support from the project," the farmer said. Farmers helped to increase cocoa yield Cargill has opened a US$60,000 cocoa technology-transfer centre in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province that will train farmers in three surrounding provinces. Located in Xa Bang Commune in Chau Duc District, the centre will serve as a cocoa training campus for 2,000 farmers in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Dong Nai and Binh Thuan provinces. The centre includes a training room for up to 200 people, an office area, a cocoa post-harvest processing demontration area and a 1.7ha demonstration cocoa farm. The centre was on the same day handed over to the Xa Bang Agricultural Co-operative and the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Job Leuning, head of Cargill's cocoa operations in Asia, said, "This centre is designed to do a special task: help cocoa farmers succeed by showing them good practices related to planting and maintenance, and technical training as well as coaching them on applying these techniques on real cocoa trees." As a new crop in Viet Nam, many farmers still lack knowledge, skills and expertise about cocoa to achieve high yields. Key technical training programmes offered by the centre would enable farmers to improve yield by 30-50 per cent over three years, he said. Bui Phat Minh, head of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development's Agriculture Development, said "small-scale cultivation and lack of farming expertise hindered stable cocoa development in the province." The province had 1,246ha under cocoa cultivation, yielding about 429 tonnes of the sour beans, he said, adding that it targeted to expand the cocoa cultivation area to 1,500 ha in the near furture, mainly intercropping with pepper, coffee and fruit trees. Viet Nam has about 22,000 ha under cocoa plantation currently, providing more than 5,000 tonnes of dried beans. Vietnamese workers in Malaysia educated in wildlife laws The Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia has conducted several educational campaigns to raise the awareness of Vietnamese guest workers about the host country’s laws on wildlife conservation. From April 17-24, the embassy’s working team held briefings on Malaysia’s Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 at companies that employ a large number of Vietnamese workers in Johor, Penang and Selangor states. The move was aimed at discouraging the workers in particular and the Vietnamese community in general from poaching, trading and trafficking wild animals in Malaysia. The embassy staff also took the occasion to update the guest workers on Vietnam’s latest regulations on labourers abroad. Universal education for Dak Nong kids The Central Highlands province of Dak Nong is making extensive efforts to provide universal pre-school education, with the aim of getting 97 percent of five-year-old children to attended school. Local authorities have paid great attention to increasing the quality and quantity of teaching staff, as well as building infrastructure at nursery schools. In 2013, they poured over 42 billion VND (1.97 million USD) into erecting an additional 62 classrooms which were equipped with teaching aids and toys. The province is also enhancing various communication campaigns to encourage parents to take their children to school, stated Director of the local Department of Education and Training Truong Anh. Established in 2004, Dak Nong has an area of 651,500 hectares and a population of some 555,000, mostly ethnic minorities. Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/VNN