Social News 21/4 Man held for forging papers Police in Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province have arrested a man for allegedly forging papers in former prime minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng’s name. A patrol team of the Traffic Police Department on Tuesday stopped a seven-seater car for speeding, the police said. While the police were checking driver Lê Minh Tài’s papers, another man, named Trần Kiều Hưng, got out of the car and presented a paper marked “secret” to the police. The paper, bearing the seal and signature of the former prime minister, said Hưng was deputy director of the Government Economic Management and special envoy to the prime minister. The paper stated that people named in this document were to be given priority while travelling on roads or at domestic airports. Hưng told the police he was on a business trip and asked them to let the car continue its journey. Suspecting that Hưng was using forged papers, the police ordered him to go to the police station to settle the incident. Hưng then confessed to buying the paper from an unidentified person in 2015 to dupe the traffic police. Hưng said his car had been stopped thrice for inspection, but on seeing the paper the police had let him go. The driver resides in Nguyễn Cư Trinh Ward in the HCM City’s District 1. The case is being investigated by the police. One dead as truck hits workers in Thu Thiem Tunnel   The accident killed one person and injured four others inside the Thu Thiem Tunnel in HCM City. - Photo vnexpress.net One person was killed and four others seriously injured in a traffic accident this morning inside the Thủ Thiêm Tunnel in HCM City. The accident happened at around 23.30pm on Tuesday when a 1.5-tonne truck travelling from Thủ Thiêm to downtown HCM City hit a crew of five men who were collecting trash and cleaning the tunnel. The victims were rushed to the emergency ward of the Sài Gòn Gneral Hospital. Phạm Thanh Phong, 35, died on the way to hospital. Two others are in critical condition while the other two escaped with light injuries. The truck was damaged in the accident and the driver has not been identified. The tunnel was closed for three hours after the accident for investigations. Đồng Nai works to prevent dengue fever, Zika A campaign to destroy mosquitoes and their larvae was launched yesterday in the southeast province of Đồng Nai to prevent the spread of dengue fever and the Zika virus. Cao Trọng Ngưỡng, head of the provincial Preventive Health Centre, said the People’s Committee had allocated VNĐ1.8 billion (US$80,000) for the four-day campaign. Under the campaign, health officials and health collaborators at communes and wards will visit each household to check for containers with mosquito larvae and guide residents in how to destroy them. They will also encourage every household to maintain hygiene and refrain from throwing rubbish around their homes. The centre will work with managers of industrial parks and military headquarters to spray chemicals, Ngưỡng said. The province has had the highest number of dengue fever cases in the country as it has many industrial parks with thousands of people. Dengue fever has not yet peaked in the province, he said, adding that no Zika cases had been recorded in the province. A report from the centre shows that the province has had about 1,400 dengue fever cases since January, an increase of more than 26 per cent compared to the same period last year. Of these, three people have died due to the disease, compared to two over the same period last year. The centre will carry out three more campaigns, with total capital of more than VNĐ10 billion (US$444,444) by the end of the year. First-ever Hanoi Fashion Feast starts Apr 23 The first-ever Hanoi Fashion Feast on April 23-24 will bring runway shows and more than 100 local fashion designers, boutiques and salons to the football grounds at N0112 Chua Lang Street in Hanoi. The fashion event and shows, said the organizers, will allow guests to get up to speed on the latest in spring/summer fashion trends and give them an opportunity to rub shoulders with designers and models. Fashion brands the likes of Decao, Le Rustique Chic, Veo’s, Item Du Jour, and Tu Nha May have registered to attend said the organizers and young people like Koh Samui, Surf&Fries, Lick&Bite, Mango Mania, and The Steady will make appearances. Festivities planned for the two-day extravaganza include local food vendors, a shopper's row, family activities, film screenings, an Ice-Scream Challenge to raise fund for charity as well as DJs and plenty of live music. Hanoi launches souvenir design contest to promote tourism A contest was launched in Hanoi on April 19 to design souvenirs with the hallmark of the capital city in 2016 by the Hanoi College of Art and Hanoi Department of Tourism. M.A. Duong Minh Anh, principal of Hanoi College of Art said the contest will be a playground for Hanoi lovers from inside the country and abroad to show their sentiment through creative products. The contest is open to painters, professional and amateur fine art designers, students and civil servants who are working and living in Hanoi. Entries will be sent to the jury board between May 2 and August 22. The awards ceremony will be held on October 10. The first prize winner will be awarded VND30 million in cash and a tour for two persons in Ba Vi tourism site. Binh Duong works to ensure children protected The southern province of Binh Duong, dubbed as an industrial locality, strives to keep the rate among disadvantaged children under 16 years old at below four percent in the period from 2016 to 2020. The goal was announced during a conference held on April 19 to review the children protection activities in Binh Dương from 2011 to 2015 and deploy tasks from 2016 to 2020. At the event, the province also set a target that over 90 percent of the disadvantaged children will be supported to enjoy equal developmental opportunities. Dang Minh Hung, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said Binh Duong will focus on enhancing works to protect and take care of children as well as raise public awareness of children’s rights. According to the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the province is now home to 423,900 children under 16 years old, or 21.1 percent of the total population. Of the figure, 162,690 are children under 6 years old, accounting for 8.1 percent. Binh Duong is home to 28 industrial parks, thus receiving a large number of migrant workers, as well as dealing with an array of social vices which badly affect children, such as child abuse and child labour. Long An to house environmentally-friendly waste treatment park An environmentally-friendly waste treatment park will be developed in Tan Lap commune, Thu Thua district, southern Long An province. A principal contract for the work was signed on April 19 in the locality between the Long An People’s Committee and the Vietnam Waste Solution, Inc. (VWS). The park will cover about 1,760 hectares and is capable of treating 40,000 tonnes of waste a day when operating in 2020. The project will be carried out in three phases, with the first spanning from 2015 to 2020 with an investment of 500 million USD and focusing on treating solid waste collected from Ho Chi Minh City and Long An province, and then the key southern economic zones and their vicinities after 2020. From 2020-2025, the project will continue to build and develop waste treatment and recycling areas as well environmental technology research and training. After 2025, the company will complete the construction of waste treatment and residential areas for workers and experts. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Nguyen Van Duoc, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said that the construction of the park is essential and important to ensure a green living environment for locals. Advanced Cho Ray cancer centre to be developed The Prime Minister has recently determined a financial mechanism for a project to improve the technical capacity of the Tumor Centre at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Accordingly, the PM agreed that the State budget will cover 95 percent of the project’s total investment capital and the remaining 5 percent will be re-loaned from the Austrian Government’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) with re-lending terms. The project will equip the Cho Ray Tumor Centre with the latest cutting-edge technologies and medical equipment, and technicians’ training that will help it keep pace with similar advanced centres in Asia and globally. Inaugurated on April 30, 2015, with a capital investment of 428 billion VND (20 million USD), the centre has 14 floors and contains 250 patient beds. Quang Ninh helps disadvantaged communes escape poverty The northern province of Quang Ninh on April 19 launched a campaign to support communes suffering extreme difficulties to rise up from poverty as part of its new-style rural area building programme in 2016. At the launching ceremony, organisations and individuals in the locality registered to donate a total of nearly 30 billion VND (about 1.3 million USD) for the effort. On the occasion, Deputy Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Dang Huy Hau called on officials and public servants in the province to contribute one day’s salary to support the programme. Quang Ninh is now home to 22 extremely disadvantaged communes and 11 hamlets. In the past few years, the province focused on improving public infrastructure in the disadvantaged communes. So far, all roads to the centre of those communes have been asphalted, as well as 95 percent of households have had access to national grid and about 85 percent have been able to use clean water. However, there is still a big socio-economic gap between extremely disadvantaged communes and other localities in the province. The annual per capita income in those 22 communes reaches only 11.71 million VND (510 USD), about 7.4 times lower than that of the province’s average per capita income. The number of poor and nearly-poor households is 9,802, accounting for 63.57 percent of the total population. Quang Ninh aims to bring all the 22 extremely disadvantaged communes and 11 hamlets out of poverty by 2020. The province will mobilise 1.65 trillion VND (nearly 72 million USD) to accomplish the goals under Government Programme 135, designed for the extremely disadvantaged communes from 2016 to 2020. Government Programme 135, launched in 1999 under the Prime Minister's Decision 135/1998/QD-TTg on July 31, 1998, aims to improve the living conditions for rural residents in the most disadvantaged communes across the country with a focus on ethnic communities. Seminar traces Vietnam – Venezuela friendship A seminar entitled “International Day of Solidarity with Venezuela” was held in Hanoi on April 19, featuring Vietnam – Venezuela friendship and solidarity. The event marked the 10 th year anniversary of late President Hugo Chavez’s visit to Vietnam (August 2006) and the establishment of the Venezuela embassy in Vietnam (January 2006). Addressing the event, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and Chairman of the Vietnam – Venezuela Friendship Association Nguyen Viet Thao said the two peoples stood closer in the fight against imperialists for national independence and prosperity in the past. The Venezuelan government and people have assisted Vietnam in many socio-economic development projects, and the two sides have supported each other in international forums, he added. Venezuelan Ambassador to Vietnam Jorge Rondon Uzcategui recalled that the presence of the Venezuela embassy in Hanoi in January 2006 was a preparation for Chavez’s visit, during which the two sides committed to must-do steps to forge long-term cooperation across the board. On the occasion, participants watched a video clip featuring Chavez’s visit to Vietnam a decade ago. Colonel Tran Hong from the Quan doi Nhan dan (People’s Army) newspaper presented a photo depicting a meeting between the late President Chavez and the late General Vo Nguyen Giap to the ambassador.- Ca Mau struggles with resettlement of relocated residents The southernmost province of Ca Mau has struggled to effectively resettle residents affected by soil erosion in coastal areas. The erosion occurs on the province’s western and eastern shorelines at a rate of 20-25 metres each year on average and up to 50 metres in some places. According to statistics from Ca Mau province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, since 2007 up to 80 percent of Ca Mau’s coastline suffered from erosion and 304 hectares of protection forest were lost each year. To Quoc Nam, Deputy Director of the department said a total of more than 40.6 kilometres of eroded shoreline was at dangerous levels, including 23 kilometres at the extremely dangerous level, thus threatening the sea dyke system and residential areas. In 2015, up to 5,100 metres in Khanh Tien commune in U Minh district and the 900m section from Vam Da Bac to Vam Kenh Moi in Khanh Binh Tay commune in Tran Van Thoi district suffered extremely serious erosion. “Eroded areas are threatening the safety of the western sea dyke system as well as lives of locals within the dyke,” Nguyen Long Hoai, head of Ca Mau’s Irrigation Division, said. The department said 26,000 households still need to be relocated from landslide-prone areas. The province has considered building resettlement areas but the plans face various problems. To Quoc Nam said to adapt to climate change, Ca Mau began building resettlement areas along the western shoreline for locals illegally living close to the river, sea and dyke buffer corridor. But no resettlement areas have been completed due to lack of capital. He said Ca Mau needs an additional 84 billion VND (3.7 million USD) to complete infrastructure in resettlement areas such as roads, drainage systems, lighting systems and schools. He said the government’s assistance is vital to completing the projects. Cake festival, a boost to tourism in southern region Traditional cakes that have been exhibited in an annual festival are becoming one of the draws on the tourism industry of the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho and the southern region generally. The fifth southern traditional cake festival, themed “Southern specialties toward integration”, wrapped up in Can Tho on April 19. The exhibition of traditional cakes, like banh tet, a cylindrical glutinous rice cake filled with green bean paste and pork; banh xeo, a rice pancake with shrimp; and banh bo dua, a coconut-flavoured sponge cake was purposed as a boost to local tourism. The event brought together domestic firms across 26 provinces and cities nationwide and their peers from Laos, the Republic of Korea, Japan, France, Indonesia, India and Malaysia. Specialties and handicrafts from different localities were also featured together with cake–making performances, baking contests, folk games and musical concerts. The five-day festival greeted over 150,000 visitors, according to the organisers. Master plan for Keo pagoda to be designed A master plan for Keo pagoda - a special national relic based in Vu Thu district, the northern province of Thai Binh will be devised by the provincial People’s Committee to make it easier for the preservation and value promotion work. Agreed by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, the plan will be examined by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism before reaching the Prime Minister for approval. Just over 130 km away from the capital Hanoi, Keo Pagoda, which was built in 1632, is an ancient building but has 102 rooms, more than any other pagoda in Vietnam. There are two passages which separate the pagoda from the temple. They are designed with curved roofs that join together at the 11.5m-high iron and wood bell tower. The tower has three storeys, each of which possesses its own tiled roof and bronze bell. The 108,000 sq.m pagoda is home to a wealth of ancient artefacts, which range from intricately engraved wooden dragons to a collection of over 100 statues. It has also preserved many valuable antiques, such as a pair of candlesticks from the Mac Dynasty, pottery and altars from the Le Dynasty and several imperial boats. The pagoda was recognised as a national historical-cultural relic on April 28, 1962. In September 2012, the PM recognised Keo pagoda as a special national relic. Symbols of patriotism in Tra Vinh named national historical relics Con Trung Communal House – Shrine and Con Tau Temple, considered the symbols of patriotism in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh, have been recognised as national historical relic sites. A ceremony to receive the recognition certificates was organised by the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism on April 19. Con Trung Communal House – Shrine is 51km to the east of Tra Vinh city and 1km away from Con Tau Temple. Both are located in Truong Long Hoa commune of Duyen Hai district. The Con Trung house, built at the beginning of the Nguyen Dynasty’s King Minh Mang reign (late 18th century), worships guardian Bon Canh who protects the locality. It witnessed a number of historical events during the resistance wars against France and the US. Con Tau Temple was set up in 1870 to worship the God of Nam Hai (the God of the Sea). It was the venue for young people to get training before they staged an uprising against the French colonialists during the August Revolution in 1945, which led to the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam later the same year. In 1948, the temple served as a detention camp of French prisoners and a training school for officials and militia of the Nam Bo (Southern region) Party Committee. It provided a warehouse for weapons shipped from the north to the southern battle fields via the Ho Chi Trail at Sea during the anti-US war. LDS Church helps build clean water system in Hoa Binh The Vietnamese Women Union and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDSC) co-held a groundbreaking ceremony on April 19 for a clean water system in Quy Hoa commune, northern Hoa Binh province. The project has a total investment of 994 million VND (44,590 USD), of which 698 million VND is aided by the LDSC. The project, which includes a latrine, is scheduled to complete in two months. Once operational, the clean water system will provide 80 litres of water for a person per day. Local residents will also receive knowledge on clean water and environmental sanitation. Quy Hoa commune is classified as an extremely disadvantaged locality in Lac Son district. Project developers helped to better environmental impact evaluation A workshop is underway in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, discussing how to improve the ability to assess environmental impacts for developers of major development projects in the Mekong Delta. The event is organised by the Southwest Steering Committee, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Green Innovation and Development Centre (GreenID) for managers and staff at provincial departments of environment and natural resources in the region. Head of the Southwest Steering Committee’s Economics Division Tran Huu Hiep said many major development projects in Vietnam have generated unexpected environmental issues alongside social impacts in recent years. Meanwhile, state agencies have yet developed effective tools for monitoring and assessing the projects’ thorough development stage, he added. The event provides a platform for attendees to share knowledge and discuss sustainable approaches to implement the development projects in the region, he noted. Ha Thi Hong Hai, Project Officer of Research Programme at GreenID, added that the project, implemented from early 2016 to March 2017, will enable information exchange to improve decision-making process in energy-related projects. It also aims to raise public awareness of costs as well as environmental and social benefits of development projects. During the event, attendees deliberated regulations regarding assessment of environmental impacts and environment laws and shared related practices in Vietnam and the Mekong Delta. Forest fire warning on high level in many localities Many localities across the country, especially in the Northwestern, Central, Central Highlands and Mekong Delta regions, face extremely high forest fire risk due to hot weather and prolonged drought, according to the Vietnam Forest Administration. According to the agency under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, warning alerts are at Level V, the extremely dangerous level, in 20 provinces and cities. Eight other localities put the warning at Level IV, the dangerous level. The administration asked localities with high forest fire risks to immediately take precautionary measures as regulated, getting forces ready for putting any occurring fires under control. The measures also include increasing the number of forest rangers to guide locals on safe farming practices, zoning off areas where slash-and-burn practice is strictly forbidden and keeping strict control on those who enter or leave forest. The police and army are asked to coordinate with forest rangers in fire prevention and have their human resources, materials, equipment and logistics ready for any fires. Earlier, the Prime Minister instructed chairmen of municipal and provincial People’s Committees to take drastic measures on fire prevention and firefighting. According to the Vietnam Forest Administration, in the past days many serious forest fires have occurred in Son La, Dien Bien, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Ba Ria Vung Tau, Tay Ninh, Dong Nai, causing great damages. Surgical skills improve at HCM City district hospital Thanks to technical assistance from surgeons at HCM City’s Thủ Đức District Hospital, doctors at District 11 Hospital were able to perform, for the first time, operations on a broken leg and hernia. The surgeries involved three patients, two with a broken leg, and another with a hernia. One of the patients has returned to work, and the others are recovering at the hospital, according to Dr Đoàn Văn Lộc, head of the hospital’s surgery ward. In the past, these cases were transferred to city-level hospitals such as People’s Hospital No.115, Trưng Vương Hospital and Hospital for Trauma and Orthopaedic. “It was difficult for us to perform the surgery,” Lộc said, but added that they “now have confidence about their skills”. The guidance from doctors from Thủ Đức District Hospital began earlier this month. “The doctors were enthusiastic and ready to provide assistance for us at any time,” Lộc said. Dr Tăng Chí Thượng, deputy head of the city’s Department of Health, told the press that training and co-operation between hospitals was one of 10 solutions being carried out for patient overload. When the capacity of district hospitals’ doctors improves, local residents begin to show trust in the doctors, leading to an increase in patients. A report from the department shows that the number of outpatients at district hospitals rose last year to 26 per cent from 2 per cent in 2014. They also saw an increase in inpatients, to 19 per cent last year from 5 per cent in 2014. TPP pushes free association reforms to happen sooner Việt Nam’s engagement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) accelerated its process of allowing free association rights to Vietnamese workers by at least five years compared to the Government’s initial plan, said a deputy minister yesterday. “Without the TPP, the (labour) reforms would have taken place only after 2020,” Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Deputy Minister Phạm Minh Huân said in the first Việt Nam Industrial Relations Forum held yesterday in Hà Nội. The Forum, jointly held by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) together with the Việt Nam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), aimed to identify opportunities and challenges for the country’s industrial relations in the process of international integration, especially with its signing of multiple new-generation free trade agreements, including the TTP. The historic TPP – officially signed by its 11 members this February in Auckland, New Zealand – was expected to open big economic development opportunities for Việt Nam, although it also pressured the Southeast Asian country to make major reforms to its labour code, and specifically to trade unions. At the heart of the TPP’s requirements, and of the other big free trade agreement between Việt Nam and the European Union (Việt Nam-EU FTA), is that Việt Nam has to fully respect the principle of free association, or in other words, Vietnamese workers would be completely free to set up or join an independent trade union. That would mark a breakthrough change in employment relations, as so far there is only one state organisation – the Việt Nam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) – that functions as a trade union in the country. However, it has left much to be desired as it works for the benefits of its nine million labourer members. According to a report by the MoLISA’s Centre for Industrial Relations Development, there were 5,669 strikes nation-wide from 1989 to last year, of which none were organised and managed by the VGCL, or by its 14,000 affiliate trade unions in localities. “It shows that most trade unions at the grassroots level failed to represent their workers,” said Maurizio Bussi, Director of the ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team for East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The establishment of independent trade unions other than the VGCL would help to ensure the rights of the employees, but also posed challenges to the VGCL to have a structural reform in order to survive the competition of other new trade unions that perform better for the sake of their members. “Newly set-up trade unions will be able to choose whether to join the VGCL or act independently. Thus there is the real risk that the workers will leave the VGCL if the organisation itself refuses to carry out reforms,” said VGCL Deputy Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Thu Hồng. The Vietnamese government, in the meantime, will consider ratifying as soon as possible the three remaining core ILO’s Conventions including those on freedom of association, protecting the right to organise, collective bargaining and the abolition of forced labour, said the joint statement of the MoLISA, VCCI and VGCL in the forum. The forum was planned to be an annual meeting of the three parties to discuss labour-related issues in Việt Nam. Gender equality forum in Hà Nội The empowerment of women and girls in Việt Nam has reached significant achievements, said Hoàng Thị Thu Huyền, deputy director of the Department of Gender Equality under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs. A forum discussing 10 years of the project, “Regional programme on improving women’s human rights in Southeast Asia” (CEDAW SEAP), was held in Hà Nội yesterday. Huyền said that Việt Nam had made strong improvements in laws and legislation on gender equality and the human rights of women, including the revised Constitution in 2013, the Law on Gender Equality and the Law on Domestic Violence. As much as 53 per cent of professional and technical workers are female. The proportion of women who were literate aged between 15 and 49 increased from 84.4 per cent in 1989 to 96.4 per cent in 2011. The average life expectancy in 2015 was 73.2 (for men 70.6, for women 76.0). In 2005 the average life expectancy was 71 years. Mortality rates have fallen from 68/100,000 live births in 2010 to 59/100,000 in 2014. But women are still faced with difficulties and limitations in benefiting from their human rights, according to Huyền. Violence against women and girls and trafficking in women were reported. Up to June last year, there had been 13,268 cases of domestic violence identified with 13,752 victims. During 2011-15, as many as 2,173 victims of trafficking were found and helped to integrate back into the community. In a discussion about gender gaps in the country, on-going problems such as persistent patriarchal attitudes and deep-rooted stereotypes, and the lack of sufficient information and data on all forms of violence against women were raised. Participants agreed that gender equality was essential in giving women a voice, in channeling collective action and advocacy, and in demanding gender-responsive action. The government and different stakeholders remain committed to working together to make gender equality a reality. Shoko Ishikawa, Country Representative of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) said that the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the UN member states last September provided the country with an unprecedented opportunity for advancing gender equality. “Never before have we seen such strong global consensus at the highest level that gender equality is both an enabler and a precondition for sustainable development,” she said. Nguyễn Trọng Đàm, deputy minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that Việt Nam was committed to promoting gender equality and women’s human rights. Over the next period, the country would review gender equality provisions in existing laws and policies, and reinforce gender mainstreaming into legal documents and policies. Concert, dance performance to praise the motherland A concert, opera and dance performance praising Việt Nam will take place at Bến Thành Theatre in HCM City on Saturday. Organised by the city’s Dance School and Hồng Hạc Entertainment Company, the chamber music performance titled Tổ Quốc (Motherland) will include two parts. The first chapter will present a concert and opera Khúc tráng ca (Epic) performed by the symphony orchestra of the HCM City Conservatory under the baton of conductor Vũ Phúc Ân. It will feature immortal songs, including Chào Việt Nam (Hello Việt Nam) by Phạm Quỳnh Anh , Tình Ca (Love Song) by Hoàng Việt, Tổ Quốc (Motherland) by Trần Tiến, Lá đỏ (Red Leaf) by Hoàng Hiệp and Nguyễn Đình Thi,  Bác đang cùng chúng cháu hành quân (Uncle Hồ Seems to March with Us) by Huy Thục, Cuộc đời vẫn đẹp sao (What a Beautiful Life!) by Phan Huỳnh Điểu, and Đất nước tình yêu (Love of Country) by Lệ Giang. There will also be the ballet suite Tổ Quốc describing periods of national struggles. With a script written by artist Hà Thế Dũng, choreography by Dũng and artists Tạ Thùy Chi and Lương Xuân Thành, the dance suite premiered in March 2015, making a great impression on the public and critics alike. The work, divided into four parts, will be performed by 40 dancers of the HCM City Dance School. Herbalife to provide nutrition support to VN athletes The Việt Nam Sports Administration announced Herbalife as the key sponsor for national athletes and coaches for the upcoming Olympics and Paralympics in Brazil. The announcement was made by the sports administration yesterday. At present, 14 athletes have secured slots at the Rio de Janeiro games. Việt Nam aims to enter with at least 18 spots. According to the agreement, Herbalife will also provide nutrition and supplementary products, advice and guidelines on nutrition to the athletes, who will participate in international tournaments from 2017 to 2021. Việt Nam will compete at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and the Asian ParaGames in 2017, 2019 and 2021; the Asian Games in 2018; and the Summer Olympics in 2020. “In the last five years, Vietnamese athletes have had remarkable success in international events, especially at the SEA Games in 2015, where they set records and brought home gold medals. This is thanks to tremendous efforts put in during training and the competition,” said Nguyễn Thắng, head of Herbalife’s sub-region of Việt Nam, Thailand and Cambodia. “It is an honour for Herbalife to continue providing nutritious food to athletes, thereby contributing to their success in regional and world sports events,” Thắng said. The president also said more activities would be organised. Conferences on nutrition and its role in sports will be held, where experts will be invited to share their knowledge. Herbalife, which also hopes to sponsor athletes with disabilities at the Paralympics and the ParaGames, will be a bridge connecting Việt Nam with the world’s elite sports-training centres, so more Vietnamese can enjoy advanced technologies. Herbalife has been the official sponsor of the Việt Nam sports teams since the London Olympics in 2012. Dong Nai Cherry Blossom Festival starts Apr 23 It has just been unveiled that the first-ever Japanese cherry blossom festival in Dong Nai Province will spring to life from April 23-24, inclusive, at the provincial conference centre located in Bien Hoa. “The cherry blossom, or sakura in Japanese, is a national symbol of Japan and this festival is a symbol of the on-going friendship between our two countries,” said representatives from the Province Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism in making the announcement. At the festival, a large number of social and cultural activities are planned and there’ll be plenty of Japanese and Vietnamese culture to enjoy with food, shopping, entertainment, even stuff for the kids. We’re hoping for a large turnout, said the representatives. 2,000 workers to back to work at KaiYang Shoes Company Approximately 2,000 workers of Taiwanese shoes maker-KaiYang Shoes Co. Ltd., in the northern city of Haiphong will resume working on April 20 when the company’s management board basically agreed with their requests, according to Vu Ngoc Thuc, deputy chief of the Legal Department under the Haiphong Labour Federation. Notably, the company’s management board will reduce the workload, pay the unemployment allowance when the firm temporarily laid workers off in case it does not have enough orders to remain the operation, simultaneously increase the Tet bonuses. However, the company’s management board is still considering paying the 13th month salary to workers. “The Labour Federation will inspect more often the payment of salaries, allowances and  bonuses of businesses in the city in general and foreign invested companies in particular, listen to workers’ claims in order to protect their rights and prevent strikes,” Thuc said. On April 14, nearly 2,000 workers of KaiYang Vietnam Shoes Co. Ltd., started a strike to protest the heavy workload required by the company’s management board. The conflict ran high when these workers threw rotten eggs and smelly shrimp paste to those who kept going to work. According to the workers, they have had a heavy workload. Notably, they have to work continuously for 12 hours per day from 7am to 7pm but still fail to meet the production target required by the company’s management board. Besides, they could not receive the unemployment allowance when the firm temporarily laid them off in case it does not have enough orders to remain the operation. Workers proposed that the company cut working hours and pay the unemployment allowance but the company’s management board ignored them. The local authorities had to mobilise policemen to prevent the workers from throwing rotten eggs and smelly shrimp paste but failed. National conference on 12th Party Congress Resolution concludes A national conference to popularise the resolution adopted by the 12th National Party Congress concluded in Hanoi on April 20 after two days of sitting. The event was attended by key Party officials from ministries, central agencies, organisations, cities and provinces. During the course of the conference, Politburo member and permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Dinh The Huynh presented the basic contents of the Political Report adopted by the 12th National Party Congress Politburo member and head of the Party Central Committee’s Organisation Commission Pham Minh Chinh delivered a report summing up the implementation of the resolution “Several urgent issues in Party building at present” adopted by the fourth plenum of the 11th Party Central Committee. Politburo member and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc gave an assessment on socio-economic performance in 2011-2015 and outlined orientations for socio-economic development in 2016-2020. Concluding the event, Huynh urged participants to thoroughly examine and grasp major directions by the Party leader, and new contents in the Party Congress’s documents to put them into practice. Following the event, leaders of Party committees and organisations must organize conferences to disseminate the Party Congress Resolution, he instructed, urging the mass media to open special columns and increase coverage on the contents of the resolution with a view to spread understanding about the Party Congress’s documents among the public at home and abroad. VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri