Social
News 7/11
JICA
provides assistance in road maintenance
The second phase of
the Project for Capacity Enhancement in Road Maintenance will commence in
December with financial and technical support from the Japanese International
Cooperation Agency (JICA), according to a document signed between the
Ministry of Transport and JICA in
At the signing
ceremony, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong highlighted the need
for the sustainable maintenance and management of
In phase 2, the
project will focus on improving the property management system (PMS) for
national roads via pilot projects with standardised criteria and action
plans.
Other objectives
include building the capacity of management staff and providing technical
assistance for project implementation.
Phase 1 of the
project ran from September 2011 to April 2014.
The project is part
of the Agreement on Technical Cooperation signed in 1998 and the Exchange
Note signed between the two countries in July this year.
Storm,
flood-resistant houses built for the poor in Phu Yen
The People’s
Committee of southern central Phu Yen province has asked its authorities by
November 30 to finalise the list of poor households receiving housing support
under a government decree.
The province
strives to provide the support to 20 percent of the targeted households in 2014
and complete the programme in the next two years.
Under the
government decree on support poor households to build storm and
flood-resistant houses, each poor household in different areas will receive
from 12 million to 16 million VND (571-762 USD) and can access to loans worth
up to 15 million VND (714 USD) at an annual interest rate of 3 percent in 10
years from the Bank for Social Policies.
In 2013, the
province piloted to build 100 flood-resistant houses for needy households in
An Dinh and An Dan communes of Tuy An district, Xuan Son
Ha Long
2014 Run to kick off
The Ha Long 2014
Run for Love of Sea and Islands will kick off on November 29 in the
The event is part
of activities to mark 20th anniversary of Ha Long Bay’s recognition as a
UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site.
The highlight of
the event is the participation of 500 couples running on a road of “Sac mau
hanh phuc” (the Colour of Happiness) that shows their love and resolve to set
up their business on the country’s islands.
The run is call on
individuals and organisations to support the construction of projects on Tran
island of Co To island district in Quang Ninh.
Vietnamese
people’s association in
A meeting of the
Vietnamese People’s Association in the Czech Republic Executive Committee was
held in
Hoang Dinh Thang
was reelected as Chairman of the association for term 2014-2016.
Speaking at the
event, Vietnamese Ambassador to the Czech Republic Truong Manh Son
highlighted the role of the association and its chapters in connecting the
Vietnamese community, and suggested the association further expand its activities
with focus on students and young people.
During the meeting,
participants discussed measures to boost the association’s activities,
including preparations for the 15th anniversary of its establishment, and
celebrations for 65th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between
In recent times,
the association in collaboration with other organisations organised a series
of events such as the first meeting on mass mobilisation work of the
Vietnamese community in Europe in on August 17-18 in Prague, Moon festival
and outstanding student honouring ceremony, and art programmes to mark the
60th anniversary of Hanoi Liberation Day (October 10,1954-2014).
There are over
65,000 overseas Vietnamese living in the
The Vietnamese
Community in the
Quang Ngai
prepares for thermal power plant construction
More than 2,160 households
with 7,200 people in Binh Dong commune, Binh Son district, the central
The information was
announced at a briefing held in the commune on November 4.
The displaced
people will receive 935.5 billion VND (over 44.5 million USD) as financial
support while their resettlement areas will be built at a cost 692 billion
VND (over 32.9 million USD).
The Dung Quat
thermal power plant in Binh Dong will cover 74ha in the western area of the
Dung Quat shipbuilding factory, forming part of the multi-sectoral Dung Quat
Economic Zone.
The plant, worth
more than 2 billion USD, is invested by
With a design
capacity of 1,200MW, it will generate 7 billion kWh of electricity when fully
operational from March 2021 onwards. The first turbine will start operating
commercially in September 2020, he added.
The plant’s
construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2016.-
Quang
Over 200m of steel
embankment was completed in the central province of Quang
The steel
embankment is also reinforced with sand sacks to manage tidal waves and
protect coastal properties.
Hoi An city is
accelerating the construction of another 500m of steel embankment before this
year’s raining season.
Hoi An’s Party
Committee Secretary Nguyen said that even though the province and city has
invested in different types of dykes to hold back strong tides and waves,
erosion is continuing to affect the locality.
The city will
consult experts and research all available options to find the most effective
and sustainable solution, he said, adding that the Central level should
provide the necessary support.
Hoi An city
comprises a 7km coastline, including a number of beaches that are popular
with tourists. So far, a 714m dyke system has been completed. However, the
dyke system is not comprehensive enough, resulting in water levels
encroaching upon the coastal street, threatening local tourism and residents’
day-to-day lives.
High-skilled
workers needed to accelerate industrialisation
The Vietnamese
Government has adopted a number of policies and implemented projects to
develop human resources. However, the supply in high-skilled human resources
does not meet the labour market’s demands, which is a pressing concern, Cao
Van Sam, Deputy Director of the General Vocational Training Department, said.
Effective
cooperation between the State, businesses and workers would even out the
discrepancies and accelerate industrialisation and economic integration,
which both rely on value-added products and strong support industries, Sam
suggested.
In order to become
a highly skilled economy, it is necessary to establish social partnerships
between different stakeholders, including vocational training institutions,
industry, and the Government, according to the Chief Representative of the
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Mori Mutsuya.
JICA expert Junichi
Mori explained that reducing the imbalance between the demand and supply of
skilled labour required the suppliers to focus on the particular skills
needed in each industrial sector. Furthermore, proposals should be made by
research institutes and international donors for capacity building programmes.
The Government
needs to provide more support for businesses to develop human resources
training programmes, which should be updated in terms of content and the
specific skills required, he added.
The workshop was
jointly organised by JICA and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social
Affairs.
Talk on
Experts from
The event was
co-organised by the Steering Committee for the Southwest Region and the
Mekong Delta
Among 13 Mekong
Delta provinces, seven are located along the coastline. In recent years,
coastal areas are facing serious environmental challenges, particularly the
shrinking of mangrove forests, salt water intrusion and waste discharge from
aquaculture.
Domestic and
foreign experts analysed the current environmental conditions in the Mekong
Delta’s coastal areas and explained the approaches to the issue adopted by
other countries. They proposed solutions to the existing problems in managing
coastal areas in
Participants were
also polled about an inter-province mechanism to carry out an integrated
protection programme for coastal areas and mangrove ecology in the Mekong
Delta.
The dialogue
outlined a coordination mechanism between Mekong Delta localities, the
Southwestern Steering Committee, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development and the GIZ to facilitate cooperation projects in the time ahead.
Deputy PM
urges more investment in grassroots health care
Deputy Prime
Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc emphasised the need for more investment in
grassroots healthcare services, especially in disadvantaged localities.
Deputy PM Phuc made
this appeal during a ceremony in
The well-equipped
facility will cost over 5 billion VND (238,000 USD), with 3.5 billion VND
provided by the EU as non-refundable aid.
The Deputy PM
reminded the health sector to send more doctors to remote areas and provide
incentives for medical staff who choose to work there.
The Ministry of
Health should seek investments in healthcare improvements at the grassroots
level and closely supervise the construction of clinics to avoid
wastefulness, he said.
To improve the
quality of health services in the northwestern region, the ministry proposed
the Government allocate more than 310 billion VND from the EU’s
non-refundable aid to the construction of 89 medical stations in communes
facing particularly challenging conditions, including 70 health clinics in 14
northern mountainous provinces, Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said.
Deputy PM Phuc and
Minister Tien also presented 500 gifts to poor residents in
That same day, the
Latest IT
applications unveiled in Ho Chi Minh City
Top experts from
The ongoing 13 th
international conference on computer information systems and industrial
management applications (CISIM) 2014, the first of its kind in
Scientists
submitted 60 papers featuring the theory and practice of algorithms,
biometrics, data analysis and research, optimisation, image recognition and
processing, and computer security.
The three-day
event, organised by Ton Duc Thang University, IT4Innovations National
Supercomputer Centre in the Czech Republic and the International Federation
for Information Processing, also comprises a roundtable on research and
training led by professors from Central and Eastern European and Vietnamese
universities.
A PhD sandwich
degree will also be launched, which is a joint effort between
Int’l
organisation supports eye care for old people
Helen Keller
International (HKI) – in coordination with the Hanoi Department of Health
(DoH) is implementing an eye care project for old people in Quoc Oai district
from now to the end of 2015.
Accordingly, it
will offer eye exams for more than 10,000 old people and far-sighted glasses
for around 4,500 of them. Private eyeglasses makers in
The pilot project
funded by Grand Challenges Canada is aimed at improving vision for people
over 45 years old in
Helen Keller
International has operated in
Agricultural
restructuring aims to increase farmers' incomes
The Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development plans to restructure the agricultural
sector in the Mekong Delta to increase farmers' incomes and make higher
quality products.
Government
officials and agricultural experts attending the Mekong Delta Economic Co-operation
Soc Trang Forum on November 5 agreed that it was essential to restructure the
sector and link it to the national "new rural-area" programme.
Though
In recent years,
the country has provided training to farmers to help them increase yields,
but the processing sector and the volume of raw material input has not done
as well.
Under
restructuring, production chains would be established which would help
enterprises, farmers and scientists work more efficiently.
Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat, who spoke at the forum, said
that agricultural restructuring would enhance economic growth and create
sustainable higher incomes for farmers.
"Building new
rural areas and restructuring agriculture depends on farmers. Even adapting
to climate change and rising sea levels, farmers must be part of the
process," Phat said.
Restructuring
should focus on the delta's strengths - rice, fruit, and seafood, he added.
He said that
farmers need more instruction in advanced techniques, including the use of
new rice strains that give better rice quality. Also, it is essential to
transfer technologies so that farmers can increase yields, he added.
Although farmers have
been encouraged to grow other crops of high economic value on their paddy
fields, rice paddies will remain the stronghold of Vietnamese agriculture.
Forum attendees
said that cultivation of other crops would be beneficial but that it must be
determined by the market.
Minister Phat
pointed out that An Giang Province should continue to focus on paddy and Tra
fish but it should also grow other crops.
"An Giang is
the leader in applying the large-scale farm model. However, there should be
closer linkages between raw material producers, processing companies,
enterprises that buy products and farmers," Phat said, adding that
linkage between localities in Mekong Delta was also essential.
Professor Vo Tong
Xuan said that nearly 70% of raw materials for the agricultural sector still
needed to be imported.
The industrial and
service sectors have also not given sufficient support to the agricultural
sector, he added.
Xuan said
Vietnamese farmers and enterprises lack thorough understanding about the
market.
"Farmers are
still poor even though we are top rice exporter," Xuan said, adding that
better production chains would help improve farmers' incomes.
The need to reform
the sector is urgent, as the ASEAN Economic Community (to begin next year),
the Trans Pacific Partnership (currently under negotiation) and other free
trade agreements under negotiation will all change the trading landscape.
"With the
demand for higher quality, lower prices, delivery deadlines and better
products, farmers cannot do everything themselves," Xuan said.
The Mekong Delta
produces 90% of the country's rice exports, 60% of seafood exports, and 70%
of the country's fruit.
MDEC is a
cooperative activity between the Steering Committee for the Southwestern
Region, the National Committee for International Economic Co-operation,
Vietnamese ministries, HCM City People's Committee and the Mekong Delta's
provinces and major cities.
The dengue fever
outbreak has reached its peak in
The HCM City
Preventive Medicine Department reported that dengue fever broke out during
the rainy season lasting from August to the end of October. In October alone,
more than 1,000 people were hospitalised with syndrome of the tropical
disease, mostly in Hoc Mon, Thu Duc, Binh Chanh and Tan Binh districts.
The Department’s
statistics also showed a sudden increase in the number of hand-foot-mouth
patients over the past two months with as many as 300 people hospitalised a
week. The number of patients in the first 9 months of this year was up around
20% from a year earlier.
However, measles
cases saw a decline in recent months, with about 15 patients being
hospitalized weekly.
Dr. Nguyen Tri
Dung, Director of the HCM City Preventive Medicine Department, said tougher
measures will be taken to keep the two infectious diseases – dengue fever and
hand-foot-mouth – under control.
The administration
of the south-central
Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung has allowed the Khanh Hoa administration to mobilize VND1
trillion (US$47.07 million) in capital to build a second runway at
The province will
borrow loans at preferential interest rates and will repay them by leasing
its land and with runway use fees, Thang said.
Construction is
expected to start late this year or early 2015, according to the chairman.
Many airlines are
eying services connecting Cam Ranh to
These services will
use large aircraft so a new runway must be built to be able to receive them,
he said.
The airport
currently serves international commercial flights carrying Russian and South
Korean tourists to visit Nha Trang.
The sole 3,048m
runway at the terminal is deteriorating, but the airport cannot close for
months to repair it, according to the provincial chairman.
To extend urban
beautification initiative, the
Many peddlers have
still set up their pushcarts on roadbeds in April 30 Park in the city’s
downtown, in crowded streets such as Nguyen Chi Thanh in front of Cho
Ray Hospital in District 5; Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in Tao Dan park in
District 1; Nguyen Trai Street; Vo Van Tan; Pham Ngu Lao, Le Lai, Le Hong Phong
; Nguyen Dinh Chieu; Truong Chinh.
HCMC vendors who
illegally take up space on public pavement are undeterred by low fines.
Local authorities
noticed that 100 samples roads have ensured not to let rampant street
vendors and parking to encroach pavements; however, some of them did not
conduct well.
As per commitment,
local administrators have to zone areas for motorbike and automobile parking,
and complete plans of using pavements, installing public toilets,
garbage-collection zones and areas for selling newspapers and magazines and
souvenirs, and for selling goods at night.
Yet the city has
seen just a few achievements in its urban civilization efforts; accordingly,
in a meeting with local district authorities, Deputy Chairman of People’s
Committee Nguyen Huu Tin criticized them not to be determined in curbing the
rampant street vendors and parking encroaching pavements.
District
administrators said that most peddlers are immigrants who are not living in
permanent address and very poor; so it is hard to impose fines on them.
Police seize 431 smartphones from two women
The Gia Lam
district police department has arrested two women for smuggling 431
smartphones.
The police captured
one woman named Vu Thi Phuong Hoa, 24, yesterday, and found 385 smartphones
of various brands, including Samsung and Apple, in her possession.
Earlier, the police
arrested 43-year-old Nguyen Thi Nhung on Monday for smuggling 46 iPhones.
According to the
police, Nhung had been hired to transport the phones for VND100,000 to VND 200,000
(US$4.7 to $9.5).
Both women could
not show to the police the legal invoices related to the seized goods.
According to the
Gia LAm police department, cellphones are being illegally transported from
Quang Ninh to Ha Noi and the neighbouring provinces by bus.
The police are
conducting further investigations.
Youth get
free measles-rubella vaccines
As part of the
national campaign to provide the combined measles-rubella vaccine, more than
150,000 children aged 10 to 14 in HCM City have received shots, according to
Dr Nguyen Tri Dung, head of the city's Preventive Health Centre.
The campaign, which
began on October 1 and will end in March, is divided into three phases, said
Dung, who spoke at a meeting between the city's Health Department and
district medical facilities yesterday in
During the
campaign's first phase, the vaccine will be provided to children aged 10 to
14, and during the second phase between children aged 6 to 10. Children aged
1 to 5 will be vaccinated during the third campaign.
There have been no
reports of any children having a serious reaction to the vaccine, said Dung.
Dung also spoke
about the hike in the number of cases of hand, foot and mouth disease last
month, with 11,235 patients. This is an increase of 59 per cent compared to
the same period last year.
In the first nine
months of the year, there were 5,382 cases, he added.
Most of the cases
were reported in districts of 3, 7, 12, Tan Binh, Binh Thanh and Tan Phu.
Dung asked medical
staff in city districts to strengthen preventive measures and raise public
awareness of the disease in their localities.
Ha Noi
tightens supervision on private health clinics
Ha Noi People's
Committee has urged authorities to increase supervision over the operation of
private health clinics.
Municipal health
authorities recently closed down about 110 of the clinics after inspections
revealed many medical violations.
Many district and
commune officials said they were puzzled about the management of the clinics,
said the Committee's Vice-chairwoman Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc at a workshop on
Tuesday.
Inspectors from the
municipal health department visited 771 private health and pharmaceutical
establishments and fined 371 a total of more than VND 3.4 billion
(US$142,800), according to the department's deputy director, Nguyen Van Yen.
He said as many as
110 private health clinics were suspended.
Vice Chairman of
Hai Ba Trung District's People's Committee Cap Sy Phong said a shortage of
medical inspectors made it difficult to regularly inspect all establishments.
The district's
Health Office had only two officials in charge of private health, but they
had to cover 600 clinics and establishments, he said.
Phong proposed the
municipal health department increase co-operation and guidance to help them.
Vice-chairwoman of
Dong Da District's Ha Thi Le Nhung said the lack of a legal framework for
punishing violators was another challenge.
Vice-chairwoman of
the municipal People's Committee Ngoc admitted that the number of private
healthcare clinics was rising, but the number of medical inspectors were the
same.
Median
strips pose danger to drivers in capital city
Concrete median
strips on some roads in Ha Noi not only fail to divide opposing lanes of
traffic, but they have become a hazard, causing accidents and traffic jams.
Tran Duc, who lives
in
Many accidents
happened because vehicles hit against the crooked median strip. Traffic jams
occurred, especially at peak hours, because the strip did not divide the lane
well.
Nguyen Quang Thang,
driver of a private transport company, said that he believed the median
strips should run without interruption, except at crossroads.
Nguyen Duc Long, a
traffic policeman, said
However, deputy
director of the Ha Noi Department of Transport, Nguyen Xuan Tan, said that
most of the accidents were caused by careless driving.
Source: VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/ND
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Thứ Năm, 6 tháng 11, 2014
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