Social News 11/6 Hanoi’s first urban rail route trains cost US$63 million The Ministry of Transport says it plans to spend US$63 million on procuring Chinese-made trains for Hanoi’s first urban rail route from Cat Linh to Ha Dong. The package includes 13 trains, each of which is composed of four carriages, manufactured by the Beijing Subway Rolling Stock Equipment Company. The transport ministry says the Chinese contractor has offered five train designs, which will be made public to collect feedback from experts and the public. The Cat Linh-Ha Dong line runs 13.05 kilometres on a 1435mm track through 12 elevated stations, including two transit stations at Cat Linh and the Vietnam National University on Nguyen Trai Street. The depot area is located at Yen Nghia Station, covering an area of 19.6 hectares. Under the initial plan, the line was scheduled to be put into operation in the second quarter of 2015 but has been delayed until the first quarter of 2016. The total cost for the project has also been increased from US$552 million to US$868 million. VietjetAir adds 500 domestic flights In order to meet increased summer demand, the VietJet Aviation Joint Stock Company (VietJetAir) is set to add nearly 500 domestic flights from June 10, offering an estimated additional 90,000 seats for customers. Accordingly, daily return flights from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City will be increased to over 20 flights, 12 flights to Da Nang city and 5 flights to Nha Trang. Ho Chi Minh City to Hai Phong will also add five return flights a day, flying from June 10 to August 9. Earlier, VietJetAir announced its plans to offer 1,500 new flights, offering an additional 270,000 seats for its customers during this year’s summer holiday. Dong Hoi City issues alert on beach cave-ins Dong Hoi City's mayor in the central Quang Binh Province today sent an urgent dispatch to the provincial People's Committee, informing it about serious, ongoing cave-ins on the city's beaches. In the dispatch, coded 59, Mayor Tran Dinh Dinh said three beach areas -- Nhat Le, My Canh and Bao Ninh -- were affected by cave-ins during the high tourism season, threatening the lives of the people on the beaches. At Nhat Le beach, a seafront section of 1,500m, stretching from the Nhat Le coastal border guard station to Muong Thanh hotel, collapsed into the sea, with the sea waters encroaching 7m to 10m into the shore and creating sand cliffs as high as 2m. The shore is reportedly continuing to collapse due to the fierce waves. In My Canh and Bao Ninh, the cave-ins were reportedly very serious, with the dykes likely to crumble as the sand beneath them has been washed away. The same day, the government of Quang Binh Province convened an urgent meeting to consider solutions to prevent the abnormal cave-ins and measures to provide safety to the people on the beach. Phap Luat (Law) newspaper cited some unidentified local sources as blaming the cave-ins on the dredging activities at the mouths of the local rivers. It has been reported that the Viet Nam Inland Waterway Department under the transport ministry is responsible for a project to dredge these estuaries. The Hoang Kim Viet Company, a contractor of the project, reportedly removed 300,000cu.m of sand from the estuaries. Food supply firm director fined for food poisoning The Department of Health in the southern province of Tien Giang today fined the director of Tin Thao Company VND12.5 million (US$570) for providing substandard food to an enterprise here, poisoning 379 workers. Le Quang Lai, director of Tin Thao Company, was also obliged to pay the full treatment expenses for the workers of Simone Viet Nam Company, who were hospitalised on April 23 after eating food supplied by Lai's company. After the incident, the Department of Health's Food Safety and Hygiene Unit sent food samples recovered from the company for testing. The results showed six samples contained E. coli and other coliform bacteria in quantities above the legally permissible limit. Vietnam promotes the use of compostable plastic bags The first eco-plastic plant in Vietnam, a Vietnam-China joint project, will be built in the Mekong Delta province of Long An, unveiled Nguyen Hoang Duy, Head of Vietnam Plastic House Co. Ltd, on June 10. Accordingly, the Vietnamese firm and its Chinese partner—a biodegradable plastics company in Guangzhou—will coordinate the plant’s construction, worth more than ten million USD. The joint project will help Vietnam produce compostable plastic bags using domestic materials, Duy said. According to Zhu Guang Fu, Chairman of the Chinese company, the plant makes bio-plastic particles from wheat flour and hopes it will gradually replace traditional materials. Once operational, the plant will turn out approximately 3,000 tonnes of bags each year. By 2020, the project hopes to reduce the use of non-biodegradable nylon bags by 65 percent in supermarkets and by 50 percent in wet markets, alongside collecting and recycling 50 percent of the harmful items. US Ambassador meets with Can Tho University students US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius and US Consul General in HCM City Rena Bitter cycled around Can Tho City on June 10 and held an exchange with students at Can Tho University. Speaking in Vietnamese, Ambassador Osius said he previously had cycled around Hanoi and HCM City but this was his first excursion in the fresh air of the Mekong River Delta. The ambassador also met with farmers in Long Tuyen ward in Binh Thuy district at which they discussed methods of cultivation among other issues of interest. Vietnam takes stronger MERS prevention measures Vietnam has recorded no MERS cases so far but preventative measures have already been put in place in several localities, particularly at airports and border gates. The Republic of Korea (RoK) reported its 9th case of MERS infection on June 9, bringing the total to 108. According to the WHO, the number of MERS infections throughout the world has increased to 1,240, including 446 deaths. The Ministry of Health has advised people not to travel to Middle East countries for the moment, conducted strict quarantine of passengers from the Middle East and the RoK, and issued emergency prevention plans in all localities. Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said, 'Vietnam is ready to cope with MERS in terms of diagnosis and treatment. The medical sector has prepared medications and equipment in case of an outbreak. Training courses have been held for health workers at all levels. 2 laboratories in Hanoi and HCM city, which have been recognized by the WHO, can conduct tests and diagnoses of the Corona virus on people of suspected syndromes. We are determined not to allow MERS to enter Vietnam and suspected cases will be under strict monitoring. Doctor Pham Truc Lam, Director of the Da Nang International Medical Quarantine Center said, “All passengers will be checked with remote thermal imagers. Through health declaration forms, we will be able to know who has traveled through infected areas. People with suspected symptoms will be isolated.” There is no vaccine or medical treatment for MERS, which can cause a mortality rate of 40%. Social housing development needs long-term strategy More social housing projects will be developed with the involvement of the State, enterprises, and the public, to meet the people's demand, according to Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung. However, Dung said, social housing development needs more time and should be carried out on a long-term strategy. According to the minister, many countries, which have an average per capita income of US$30,000-40,000 or even $50,000 and many decades of social housing development history, still have social housing projects. The minister stressed that Viet Nam is in the first stage of social housing development, while its average per capita income is about $2,000. In November 2011, the Prime Minister approved the National Housing Strategy. Two years later, the Government issued Decree 188/2013ND-CP on social housing development. Adopted in 2014, the housing law has specific regulations on social housing development. "In Viet Nam, social housing development is the responsibility of not only the State and enterprises but also the whole society, in which the State plays a core role," said Dung. However, according to Dung, mechanisms and policies are still at the initial stage of implementation and need to be amended and perfected. Dung noted that Viet Nam has achieved remarkable results in building social housing units at many industrial parks in northern Bac Ninh, Thai Nguyen and southern Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces. Social housing projects have met the demand of thousands of workers and people in these areas. "Some existing policies will be revised and perfected in the coming time. I'm sure that with the involvement of the Government, enterprises and the people, more social housing projects can be built to satisfy the people's demand," Dung remarked. The minister added that social housing development has been an important and difficult task as support from the State Budget has been limited and most of the customers are in the low-income group. The field offers low profit and that does not attract investments from enterprises. Dung pointed out that the field needs more focus and specific measures. Laws related to housing and social housing in the country should be perfected. The State should play a core role in building support policies, while local authorities must be given a decisive role in social housing development projects. The Government should promulgate more policies on capital, land, and credit sources to help enterprises investing in the field and people buying social housing properties. "Overall policies must be implemented stably with a long-term strategy, especially credit loans for buying social housing properties should be granted on low interest rates and flexible mechanism," added Dung. UK Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday celebrated in HCM City The Vietnam Union of Friendship Associations and the Vietnam-UK Friendship Association in Ho Chi Minh City (VUFA) jointly held a ceremony on June 10 in the southern city to mark the 89th birthday of UK Queen Elizabeth II. Addressing the event, VUFA Chairman Huynh Ngoc An said Vietnam and the UK are celebrating the Queen’s birthday in the context of growing bilateral ties in all fields. Economic and trade relations between the two countries have expanded significantly since they signed their strategic partnership, he noted. At the same time, education and training collaboration has also grown with a rising number of Vietnamese students studying in the UK and more UK professors teaching in universities in Vietnam, said An. He added that the Newton Fund in Vietnam, an official cooperation programme between Vietnamese and UK governments, has provide a 10 million GBP sponsorship over five years for research and inventions in Vietnam. Meanwhile, UK Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Douglas Anthony Barnes reviewed major milestones in the bilateral relationship, highlighting that ties have been enhanced in all fields with regular friendship visits and affiliation in economics, trade, education, defence and crime control. Particularly, the UK and Ho Chi Minh City have set up a strong partnership through effective and frequent joint activities. The diplomat stated that Vietnam is one of the most important partners of his country in Southeast Asia , expressing his hope that the bilateral partnership will flourish in the future.- Southern agencies consulted on support policy for ethnic minorities A workshop was held in Can Tho city on June 10 to consult southern State agencies and sectors regarding a specific policy to support socio-economic development in ethnic minority communities and mountainous areas and disrupt the high prevalence of poverty. Despite socio-economic improvements in many minority communities thanks to domestic and foreign resources, an array of difficulties are hindering development efforts such as the mountainous terrain, the shortage of farm land, and the impacts of natural disasters and diseases, said Deputy Minister-Vice Chairman of the Government’s Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs Son Phuoc Hoan. The highest rate of household poverty is seen in ethnic minorities, he said, stressing that up to 2,231 communes and over 18,000 hamlets across Vietnam are located in disadvantaged areas where the rate of deprived and near-poor households accounts for more than 45 percent. The official also blamed the sluggish socio-economic progress on the overlapping and short term Party and State policies along with lax coordination among agencies. To address those issues, the Committee is working on a specific support policy for the 2016-2020 period with the aim to minimise overlap, mobilise more mid- and long-term resources for development and provide localities with more autonomy in allocating support. Giving his opinions on the policy, Vice Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Southwest region Nguyen Quoc Viet said it is difficult to reduce the poverty rate by 4-5 percent annually as set in the policy since localities are currently only able to lift 2-3 percent of ethnic families out of poverty every year. He continued to say that up to 30 percent of ethnic minority households in the Southwest live under the poverty line, compared to the regional average of 7.8 percent. While about 30-40 percent of the families have gained access to clean water, unemployment is common among high school and university graduates. Duong Dinh Lac from the Bank for Social Policies of Soc Trang province said the policy should focus on both short- and long-term. It is easy to satisfy temporary needs such as housing, electricity, and drinking water, but the question is how to help ethnic communities earn a sustainable living. At the workshop, some participants said since ethnic minority people do not have saving habits, the policy should encourage communication activities to shift their mindset rather than focusing on offering material supports. More assistance should be given to the minority groups with the lowest development levels and favourable conditions are necessary to facilitate access to loans from the Banks for Social Policies to prevent ethnics from borrowing from loan sharks, they added. Ca Mau fishermen access shipbuilding loans The southernmost province of Ca Mau has declared 18 fishing ship building projects will be eligible for loans from the Government worth 145 billion VND (6.7 million USD). Under Government Decree 67/2014/ND-CP, which includes a programme on providing preferential credit to fishermen to build high-capacity steel boats for deep sea fishing, Ca Mau is allocated 100 projects to build 90 fishing ships and 10 logistics vessels. Applicants should be approved by the provincial authorities. In addition, the province is focusing on aquaculture cultivation at sea, especially around islands, while enhancing investments in logistics centres. The move aims to create favourable conditions to develop the fishery sector sustainably. In addition, numerous projects on building fishing ports and docks and dredging seaports have been carried out in the province, increasing the efficiency of local fishing. By 2020, the province will upgrade five fishing ports and six docks to meet the demands of the locality and its vicinity. Hanoi hosts Indonesia – Vietnam Cultural Night An “Indonesia – Vietnam Cultural Night” featuring Indonesian cultural characteristics will be held at the Concert Hall of Vietnam Dance College in Hanoi on June 11. The event will introduce diverse culture of Indonesia in Vietnam, enhancing the people-to-people contact and mutual understanding between the two countries. The cultural exchange will also aim to mark a Memorandum of Understanding regarding cooperation and cultural exchange between Vietnam and Indonesia signed by the Indonesian Embassy in Hanoi and Vietnam Dance College. The two countries will celebrate the 60 years of diplomatic relations, friendship and solidarity in 2015. Korean kid with fever quarantined right after entering Vietnam Vietnamese Ministry of Health yesterday said that the Pasteur Institute reported that the Korean kid who has fever when entering Vietnam through Cam Ranh Airport in the Central Province of Khanh Hoa was found negative for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV). Soon after receiving the sample, Pasteur Institute carried out with real-time RT-PCR which is only way to detect MERS-CoV in patient samples The 7 year old Korean boy entered the Southeast Asian with his parents through Cam Ranh Airport where the airport’s International Medical Quarantine Center detected him to have fever. Through initial investigation, the boy was examined and treated sore throat in his country and his neighboring hood did not record any case of MERS-CoV case. However, he was taken to the province’s General Hospital for quarantining and medical workers soon took samples for testing. His relatives were quarantined too. Concerning to the disease in South Korean, the Ministry of Health reported to have one more death and 8 fresh infection cases bringing the total infections to 95 people. Seven people have so far died in the outbreak. The latest MERS patient to die was a 68 year old woman who stayed in an emergency room of a hospital in Seoul where confirmed to have infection. Meantime, three new case of infection caught the disease while they were in hospital. Around 37 infection cases out of 95 caught the disease while in hospital. According to Korean Ministry of Health, so far, all the MERS cases have been hospital-associated, South Korea's new cases bring the total globally to 1,250, based on World Health Organization (WHO) data, with at least 451 related deaths. Vietnam strengthens ties with ILO Vietnam will do its utmost to fulfil all obligations and responsibilities as a member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to promote effective cooperation ties between the two sides. Deputy Minister of the Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thanh Hoa told Vietnam News Agency correspondents that the Government of Vietnam has continuously treasured the cooperation and technical assistance the International Labour Organisation has provided to Vietnam, disclosed on the sidelines of the plenary meeting of the 104th session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) of the ILO in Geneva, Switzerland on June 9. The Deputy Minister, who is also head of the Vietnamese delegation to the conference, highly valued the century initiatives of ILO Director General Guy Ryder and expressed his support for the practical targets to mark the 100th founding anniversary of the organisation. He also underscored efforts made by the Government of Vietnam in poverty and hunger reduction and ensuring social security, gender equality, women empowerment and vocational training for rural workers. The ILC Conference, which takes place from June 1-13 with the participation of 185 ILO-member nations and territories, representatives of employees, employers, and authorities shared experiences in building and enforcing policies and regulations related to labour and social welfare. During the two-week stay, the delegation also attended the Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference and had meetings with ILO Director General Guy Ryder and Deputy Director General Sandra Polaski, among others. Tens of thousands to benefit from disaster risk management project A community-based disaster risk management project was launched in central Quang Binh province on June 9, expected to directly benefit 4,000 people and more than 24,000 others indirectly. The project, scheduled to last through March 2018, is intended to mitigate the adverse impacts of increasingly common and serious natural disasters. It will be implemented at a cost of 600,000 EUR (over 676,400 USD) funded by the German Red Cross Society. Beneficiaries will include Phu Hai ward and Bao Ninh commune of Dong Hoi city and Thuan Hoa and Mai Hoa communes of Tuyen Hoa district which have been heavily affected by natural disasters as of late. Accordingly, the localities and at least four schools will build their own action plans and backup plans and undertake disaster resilience measures such as adapting livelihoods to climate change. Provincial disaster response teams and Red Cross staff and volunteers will receive training in ensuring safe houses, clean water and environmental hygiene while communication activities will be ramped up to improve public awareness. Binh Dinh: Nearly 38 bln VND for calamity management project The central coastal province of Binh Dinh will invest nearly 38 billion VND (1.77 million USD) in 2015 to carry out the Natural Disaster Risk Management Project, according to Nguyen Huu Vui, Vice Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Of the figure, nearly 30 billion VND (1.4 million USD) will be sourced from the World Bank and the remaining from corresponding provincial capital. The project will cover embankment upgrades along the Kon River flowing across An Nhon town and Tuy Phuoc district, Ho Nui Mot reservoir repairs and the construction of an embankment in Nhon An commune and a dyke along the Ha Thanh River. The project has created favourable conditions for districts in the province to repair eroded embankments which threaten production and livelihoods in the locality, said an agricultural official in Tuy Phuoc district. Vietnam attends int’l tourism fair in Thailand Representatives from the Vietnam Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and Vietnamese travel agencies have participated in the Travel Mart Plus (TTM+) 2015 fair in Thailand. At the event, the Vietnamese pavilion showcased information related to the National Tourism Year-Thanh Hoa 2015 along with potential tourist products, including sea and island tourism, culture tourism, nature tourism, and city tourism. The TTM+, first organised in 2001, has the uttermost objective to promote the tourism and service business in Thailand and its Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) counterparts. According to the statistics released by the VNAT, a total of 7.87 million foreign visitors travelled to Vietnam last year, up 4 percent compared to 2013. Vietnam pledges to promote the rights of persons with disabilities Vietnam is one of the countries with a high proportion of people with disabilities. Thereby protecting and promoting the rights of disabled people is always priotized and reflected in State legal policies. Vietnam’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga made the remarks at the 8th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) held on June 9 at the UN headquarters in New York. The event was attended by over 600 delegates from CRPD member countries and representatives from numerous organizations for persons with disabilities. Vietnam attended the conference for the first time as an official member after it adopted the CRPD in February 2015. In his speech, Deputy UN Secretary General, Jan Eliasson said the CRPD marked a drastic change in approach to issues related to disabled people in the perspective of charity to rights-based approach. The UN official praised 154 nations for ratifying the Convention and urged them to continue fully implementing the CRPD, considering this as a foundation for carrying out the post 2015 Development Agenda including sustainable development goals which will be adopted at the UN Summit slated for September. Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga said that although disability issues have long captured the global attention, persons with disabilities are facing difficulties such as poverty, inequality, discrimination and poor social welfare. Consequently, needs and rights of people with disabilities must be a priority in the post 2015 Development Agenda. The Ambassador assured that Vietnam is actively implementing a project in support of people with disabilities in the period 2012-2020 regarding health care, education, employment, access to public services, legal advice, sports and culture while improving statistical data on people with disabilities. Vietnam has always paid attention to facilitating people with disabilities through vocational training and job creation thus enabling them to fully and equally engage in the sustainable development process. Nga also used the occasion to thank UN agencies and development partners, organizations and individuals for their valuable support for Vietnam’s efforts to protect and promote the rights of people with disabilities. The conference running to June 11, covers round table discussions on poverty reduction and inequality, enhanced statistical data on persons with disabilities, the rights to education of women and children with disabilities and the impact of natural disasters and humanitarian crises for people with disabilities. Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri