Australia donates child healthcare equipment to Khanh Hoa
The Australian Consul General in HCM City and Vinacapital on April 2 presented 18 pieces of newborn healthcare equipment to the Khanh Hoa General Hospital in Nha Trang city in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa.
The medical equipment, worth more than VND980 million including one ventilator and 17 injectormats has been transferred to the Newborns Respiratory Care Department under the Khanh Hoa General Hospital.
The donation is part of activities of the Australian Direct Aid Programme for Vietnam, aiming to improve child healthcare services and minimise the rate of child mortality in the province and its vicinity.
The move is a step towards ensuring access to healthcare for local children, said Australian Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City John McAnulty.
UK agency presents anti hi-tech crime devices to Vietnam Police
The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) on April 2 handed over equipment used in the fight against hi-tech crimes, worth 35,000 GBP, to the Vietnam Police, which is intended to enhance further the latter’s anti-crime capacity.
The NCA has over the past years cooperated closely with concerned Vietnamese agencies in efforts to counter international and trans-national criminals involving human trafficking and drug smuggling, as well as in personnel training.
The partnership between NCA and the Vietnam Police’s Anti Hi-tech Crime Department initially brought to light the “Mattfeuter” ring, which reportedly caused a loss of 300 million USD to its victims.
Speaking at the hand-over, UK Ambassador to Vietnam Giles Lever and General Director of the Vietnam Police Phan Van Vinh shared the need to accelerate cooperation in the globalisation era.
Bilateral collaboration in combating trans-national crimes and hi-tech criminals should be intensified further, they agreed, saying the activity will play a crucial part in maintaining social order and safety and ensuring national security.
Job exhibition helps former soldiers to find employment
More than 1,000 former soldiers attended Ha Noi’s first-ever job fair for veterans.
The fair, held by the Ha Noi Employment Centre on Tuesday, attracted 37 enterprises and vocational schools. It aimed to help veterans overcome the difficulties they faced finding jobs and vocational training.
Several young people who just completed their military service and returned to the locality attended the event.
A lack of information about jobs was the most difficult problem veterans faced, Ha Noi Employment Centre Director Nguyen Toan Phong said at the fair.
However, they had good health, strict discipline and, with some help, opportunities for stable jobs, Phong said.
Luong Van Thien, a soldier taking a course on household electrical repair work at the defence ministry’s Vocational School No 10, said he came hoping to find a good job.
“I just want to find a job with a stable salary so I can support my family,” Thien said. “I came here to find a job that will suit my abilities after I finish the school’s vocational training course.”
Sixty per cent of enterprises were looking to recruit workers with skills in welding, electro-refrigeration, industrial electronics, electrical repair work, information technology and labour export.
“You have to spend a lot of time and face some difficulties while looking for suitable jobs if you don’t have the skills to find them on your own,” said Le Thanh Bang, a veteran in Dong Anh District. “Many young soldiers choose jobs like bodyguard, which have things in common with military service.”
Vocational training schools and job fairs played an important role, bridging the gap between soldiers and businesses, said Lieutenant Colonel Bui Vinh Nam, director of Vocational School No 10’s consultant and recruitment centre.
Vocational School No 10 organised conferences to counsel soldiers and help them choose specific careers, said Col Dang Minh Quang, the school’s principal.
Quang said that during training the school improved co-operation with companies and industries to help soldiers develop skills about job searching.
Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union held a job festival for soldiers in January in HCM City’s Cu Chi District.
Nguyen Van Sang, deputy director of the HCM City Vocational Training and Employment Centre, said about 2,000 veterans would be offered jobs by the end of 2015.
In addition, centres in HCM City and other provinces often offered occupational counseling for soldiers.
The provinces that offer the services are: Yen Bai, Tuyen Quang, Thai Binh, Gia Lai, Kien Giang, Ben Tre, Thua Thien-Hue, Ha Tinh, Quang Ngai, Quang Nam and Quang Binh.
Son La downsizes resettlements
Only nine new resettlement communes, seven less than in the original plan, will be built for residents in the northern province of Son La displaced to make way for the Hoa Binh hydro-power plant, according to a government website, chinhphu.vn.
The changes are understood to have been made because many of the residents were not happy about the new locations for their homes, including water supplies and the suitability of the ground for farming, said a Vietnam News Agency reporter based in the province.
The reduction were part of recent changes to the resettlement and socio-economic plan for the province approved by the Prime Minister from 2011-2015.
Some of the 54,153 households affected by the resettlement plan will move to 25 villages set up in existing communes in the province, four less than the original plan.
Resettlement will be carried out across 50 communes in the districts of Phu Yen, Moc Chau, Bac Yen, Muong La, Mai Son and Van Ho.
The latest plan is said to have kept to its original target to try and eliminate hunger in resettlement areas while reducing the percentage of poor households down to the provincial average of 27 per cent.
It was decided to do this by giving more than 18,000 poor households loans to grow plants with short growth periods, such as corn and sugar cane – and cattle.
A goal has been to lift the average income of resettled residents aims to VND16 million (US$761) a year.
Among 81 prioritised infrastructure projects outlined in the original plan to improve the lives of the residents in the resettlement areas, 53 were reported to be completed.
They included trans-commune roads, water plants, suspension bridges and irrigation works.
The resettlement plan totals about VND1.6 trillion ($78.8 million).
The Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant began in 1979, displacing thousands of local residents in Son La and the neighbouring Hoa Binh Provinces.
Hydrofoils, restaurant boats leave downtown wharf
Hydrofoils and restaurant boats have moved to Saigon Port area in HCMC’s District 4 from Bach Dang Wharf in the downtown area to make room for an upgrade project.
Hydrofoil operators have announced that tickets for their trips between HCMC and Vung Tau City can be purchased at their ticketing offices at 5 Nguyen Tat Thanh Street in District 4 after March.
Though operators of hydrofoils and restaurant boats have found a new berth, they are afraid that the inconvenient location in District 4 may affect their operations and revenues.
At the end of last December, the HCMC Department of Transport informed the owners of restaurant boats and hydrofoils that HCMC would not renew the operation license of Bach Dang Wharf, and they would have to find a new wharf for their boats from January 1. However, they asked for more time to find alternative places.
After several meetings and deadline extensions, the city set the end of March as the final deadline for the hydrofoils and restaurant boats to move out of Bach Dang Wharf.
Business skills training camp for students
Viet Youth Entrepreneurs will join hands with Babson College to organize the first Young Entrepreneurs’ Adventure Camp (YEA Camp 2015) to help Vietnamese high school students approach basic business knowledge and skills.
The five-day training camp, set for July 8 and 12 at American International School, is aimed at helping participating students develop ideas about starting up a business and evoke their own potentials for innovations and start-ups.
The organizers are calling for entries nationwide to pick 100 high school students aged between 15 and 18 based on their academic records, extracurricular activities, English skills, social knowledge and their passion for starting up a business.
YEA Camp is based on the book “From Ideas to Action,” a schoolbook compiled by the startup institute of Babson College which has been used to educate thousands of students in America, Europe and Africa.
The training camp will create a new and competitive environment for students through group discussions and practical activities. A presentation contest will be held on the final day of the course for trainees to present their ideas for business startups and receive comments and contributions from their coaches and other trainees.
Officially launched on March 28 to recruit coaches, YEA Camp 2015 will choose 20 coaches to help trainees during the course.
Coaches will be chosen among those studying abroad or those who used to study overseas in the fields of business administration, local students who have good knowledge and skills and can inspire young people, young entrepreneurs from successful startups, or individuals having passions for starting up businesses and changing the way of thinking of Vietnamese youth.
Successful businessmen will also be invited to give lectures during the training camp.
Southern centre for HIV treatment technology transfer opens
The HIV & Addiction Treatment Technology Transfer Centre in the south, the second in Vietnam, has become operational in Ho Chi Minh City.
The centre is a joint effort between the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, the Hanoi Medical University and the University of California with support from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) under the US Department of Health and Human Services.
It will conduct research studies on treatment for addictive substances such as morphine, heroine, methamphetamines, alcohol and ecstasy, and at the same time, cooperate with domestic and foreign specialists to open training courses on addiction treatment as well as provide treatment at rehabilitation centres.
Do Van Dung, Vice Rector of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, said that the centre’s research will be helpful to the development of medical science on addictive substances, as well as the improvement of Vietnamese medical staff’s capacity.
The centre also represents the Government’s policies in promoting treatment for drug addicts and reducing HIV infections.
Nguyen Thi Van from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ Department for Social Vices Prevention said the centre will provide drug users with access to new treatment technology.
Earlier in 2011, the Vietnam HIV & Addiction Treatment Transfer Centre (VHATTC) was founded at the Hanoi Medical University.
Quang Nam fishermen equipped with ICOM devices
As many as 50 ICOM radio devices have been given to fishermen from the central province of Quang Nam, enabling them to contact the mainland as needed during offshore fishing operations.
The devices, worth a total of 1.2 billion VND (56,000 USD) funded by the provincial programme “For Offshore Vessels”, were handed over on April 1 by Quang Nam’s Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and Border Guard Command.
On the occasion, the programme received 700 million VND (32,700 USD) from people from northern Hai Phong city.
Earlier, the programme provided 1.5 billion VND (70,000 USD) to help fishermen repair and buy fishing tools and assist border soldiers in difficult circumstances in Cu Lao Cham island commune.
HCMC price subsidization program expands social attendance
Ho Chi Minh City will continue mobilizing social resources as many as possible for the price subsidization program 2015 and promote its effectiveness, said deputy chairwoman of the city People’s Committee Nguyen Thi Hong at a conference on March 31.
Well implementing the program would contribute in attaining the city’s socioeconomic targets for 2015, she said.
According to reports at the conference hosted by the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade, 2015 is the 14th year in a row the city carries out the price subsidization program and the third consecutive year it calls on the social attendance.
It is one of key programs of the city’s trade industry. Last year, attendees comprise diversified economic sectors and types of businesses.The volume and types of commodities were more than 2013 and selling spots of subsidized goods increased to 8,976.
Two years after the state budget stopped financing the program in 2012, HCMC has successfully continued the program by calling the social attendance.
Total mobilized capital was VND1,960 billion (US$90.19 million) in 2013, which rocketed to VND8,300 billion (US$384.26 million) in the following year.
Average interest rates of 1-2 percent lower than normal level have encouraged businesses to further investment and develop production to create goods supply sources for the program.
Many brand names in the program have risen to lead the market share.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said that the program has obtained successes in many aspects. The important thing is that local authorities have been able to call on the attendance of society.
HCMC has the highest consumption ratio in Vietnam but its consumer price index growth is always much lower than the country’s rate, he added.
This year, HCMC would carry on with the program to stabilize prices of four groups of commodities including food and foodstuff, school supplies, milk products and medicines, reported the Department of Industry and Trade.
The number of businesses attending in the program is estimated to be 85, nine higher than last year.
Goods output will increase 10-20 percent over last year and price will be 5-10 percent lower than that of the same product in the market.
In case input material costs fluctuate 5-10 percent, businesses will adjust their selling prices. If the market prices reduce less than 5 percent, they will launch promotional programs.
Banks have registered to provide businesses under the program with a total of VND11,850 billion (US$549.31 million) in loans, up VND3,550 over 2014. Interest rate will slide from 0.5-2 percent.
The program will supplement a VND900 billion (US$41.46 million) credit package to assist the businesses to boost exports with the interest rate of only 2-4 percent a year.
HCMC multiplies new school model
The Department of Education and Training in Ho Chi Minh City has sent its document to its bureaus in districts instructing the implementation of the new school models for the academic 2015-2016.
According to the document, in the academic year 2014-2015, 52 primary schools in the city’s suburban districts have applied new school models and 103 other primary schools have replicated some parts of the new school model in different level but they still ensure the principle that it has been carried out with the parents’ agreement.
To continue the model effectively in the new academic year 2015-2016, the Department asked its bodies to work out plans to teach listening, reading, speaking and writing skills of Vietnamese language for first graders who are going to be second graders in the summer vacation so that they can make presentation before friends in class as per the new model.
In addition, the Department also asked schools to increase information of the new model to parents in order to get their agreement.
Accoding to this model, students do not have to buy as many as text books except for text books for music, art and handicrafts.
Dengue fever-related deaths, infection reported to increase
The Ministry of Health yesterday said that in Mach, the country recorded over 1,575 cases of dengue fever including three deaths in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern province of Dong Nai.
Since the beginning of the year, the country has around 7,000 cases of dengue fever in 39 cities and provinces including three fatalities in the southern provinces of Dong Thap, Long An, Dong Nai and HCMC
Worse, though it is not peak time of dengue fever, the number of infected patients and dengue fever-related deaths in first months of the year is in upward trend; most of them are in the South region.
The rate of infection cases increased up to 27.4 percent compared to the same period last year and the number of deaths this year was reported to increase four cases.
In addition, the development of hand-foot-mouth is complicated. There has been more than 7,330 cases of hand-foot-mouth across the country since the beginning of they year. Though the number of the disease decreased by 20 percent compared to the same period last year, the HFM –related deaths increased one more case.
More people hospitalize due to heat-related illness
As Ho Chi Minh City is being struck with hot temperature, the summer months can spell trouble for some older adults with respiratory and digestive ailments. As outdoor temperatures rise, so does the risk of landing in hospitals.
Tropical Disease Hospital in HCMC March 30 said that more and more people come to the hospital for treating chicken pox and diarrhea from January. In January alone, 356 patients were hospitalized for treating chicken pox.
The hospital received 452 cases in February and this figure was up to 525 in March respectively. The hospital also admitted 717 and 814 cases of diarrhea in January and March.
Children Hospitals also received patients suffering respiratory and digestive diseases. Doctors warned people not to neglect to these seasonal ailments because it will be able to cause deaths.
In addition to diarrhea, chicken pox, mumps, people also concern rabies in hot temperature. According to Pasteur Institute’s s statistics, from the beginning of the year, around 38, 595 people in the South have been inoculated. 9,676 residents in Ho Chi Minh City received shots of vaccine against rabies in two first months of the year, a decrease of 5.5 percent compared to the same period last year.
Dr. Phan Trong Lan, institute’s president, said that though there has been no rabies-related deaths this year, people should not neglect it.
Dr. Nguy Cam Huy from the Tropical Disease Hospital said that heat-related illness such as diarrhea, chicken pox and mumps occurred in the hot weather. Therefore, people should take care of their health, eat boiled food and drink more fluids, and maintain personal hygiene including washing hands before meals.
In case that a person is bitten by a dog or cat or a wild animal, she/he should immediately clean and flush the wound to the full depth with water for several minutes, said Dr. Huy. This will help wash out the virus. If available, use soap or detergent to help kill the virus.
After cleaning the wound and removing all traces of soap, applying a household antiseptic or 70 percent alcohol or solution of iodine on the wound will help reduce the quantity of virus. People should not make the wound wider. After that people should go to a nearby medical clinic for timely treatment.
Education Ministers wants better skilled graduates
Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan is urging universities to increase education quality to improve practical skills of graduates.
Luan, reviewing a two-year plan of comprehensive education reform at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education, said the university has improved its training programs based on market and corporate demands.
He said students needed to learn “teamwork skills”, and the Ministry of Education and Training will work with other ministries and branches to study training programs that connect schools with enterprises.
Luan opened a digital learning room costing VND6bn at the university. The facility provides students with a chance to learn from lecturers worldwide. The room was built with the funding from the US government and US businesses.
First Gov’t-funded fishing boats for Quang Nam commence construction
A ceremony was held by Hai Son Shipbuilding and Repairing Ltd in Da Nang on March 31 to mark the commencement of construction of two steel-hull fishing boats for fisherman of Quang Nam.
These are the two first steel-hull fishing boats built for fishermen Phan Thu and Tran Cong Chi in Binh Minh commune, Thang Binh district, Quang Nam province using the preferential banking loans under the Government Decree No.67 on fisheries development policies.
The two boats are coded V040-QNa-1 and V040-QNa-3, each boat is 25.2m long, 6.5m wide and 3.1m high, they both have a capacity of 822CV and a maximum speed of 10.5 nautical miles an hour.
The boat can store up to 15m3 of fresh water and hold food for 10 fishermen working for 20 consecutive days.
Fisherman Tran Cong Chi, owner of the boat V040-QNa-3 said that his boat requires an investment of VND12.5 billion (US$575,000) including VND11.7 billion (US$538,200) lent from the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam for 11 years.
Sixty-five Quang Nam fishermen have been approved to receive banking loans to build steel-hull fishing boats under Government Decree No.67.
The Government’s Decree No.67 on fisheries development policies issued in July 2014, stipulates policies of investment, credit, insurance and tax incentives in support of fishermen and ship owners to build new fishing boats, upgrade existing boats, and buy fishing and marine equipment among other things.
Bus, container coffee shops in Hanoi, HCM
Visitors to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City should drop by these venues to taste what has been popular with foreigners: Vietnamese coffee.
For the past one year, netizens and youngsters in Hanoi have been flocking to Bus Café at a supermarket parking lot on Nguyen Trai Street in Thanh Xuan District.
The shop receives around 200 clients a day, which are mostly school and university students and office workers.
Nguyen Quang Tien, the owner, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that he opened such a coffee shop as he was inspired by the night clubs housed in buses in Tokyo, where he studied for five years.
After six months of renovation, Tien and other members of his group turned an average 45-seat bus into a unique rendezvous last year, according to local newswire Zing.
The shop, which cost around VND1 billion (US$46,603) to build, houses a uniquely-decorated 25m² space.
All of the bus seats have been replaced with tastefully-designed wooden furniture.
The shop boasts book shelves and gorgeous decorative items and offers students, who are regular bus commuters, novelty yet familiarity when they relish drinks on such a bus.
Similarly, young people in Ho Chi Minh City have been drawn to Container Café, located in the Trung Son residential area in the outlying district of Binh Chanh.
The shop, which overlooks Ong Lon Canal, a tributary of the Saigon River, is made up of two containers and embellished with tires and tanks crafted into stylized objects.
Nguyen Truong Giang, the shop owner, began building it in late 2012 and opened the venue some four months later.
He made many holes on the sides of the containers, installed glass panels, and embellished them with ornamental plants, wooden items, and time-honored collectibles.
The place is typically frequented by groups of youngsters and members of expedition clubs, particularly on weekends.
Minh Huy, a 26-year-old office worker, told Tuoi Tre that he and his friends find the shop appealing for its breezy environs, melodic music, and reasonable drink prices.
Seven inspection teams set up for food safety
Seven inspection teams will conduct more inspections at food producers, trading centers and wholesales markets to ensure food safety and hygiene in 14 big cities and provinces, said the Food Administration of Vietnam under the Ministry of Health.
In the month-long action month for food safety from April 15 to May 15 with the theme “Production, business and consumption of safe foodstuff, the Ministry of Health will coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and related ministries and agencies to set up seven inspection teams who will carry out inspection in big cities and provinces.
The first team led by inspectors from the National Department of Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance (NAFIQAD), the Food Administration of Vietnam (VFA), the Department of Science and Technology under the Ministry of Industry and Trade will inspect food in Hanoi, the northern province of Hung Yen.
The second team including inspectors from VFA, NAFIQAD, the Department of Market Management under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Health’s Institute of Hygiene and Public Health in Ho Chi Minh City will check food safety in the city and the southern province of Dong Nai.
The third team comprising staffs from the Department of Science and Technology under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Department of Plant Protection, the Environment Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security (C49), the Ministry of Public Security, the Department of Press under the Ministry of Information and Communications, the National Institute for Food Control will scrutinize food in the northern provinces of Bac Giang and Lang Son.
The fourth team led by inspectors from the Market Management Department, the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Health, Pasteur
Institute in Nha Trang will examine the food safety in the central province of Khanh Hoa and Binh Dinh.
The fifth team with inspectors from the Department of Market Management and C49 will scrutinize food
hygiene in the central provinces of Quang Binh and Quang Tri. The sixth will test food safety in the highlands provinces of Dac Lac and Lam Dong meantime the seventh will check in the Mekong delta City of Can Tho and Bac Lieu Province.
Inspection teams will increase examination on vegetables and meat in processing units and wholesales markets to properly handle violations of food safety and hygiene as per the regulations.
Over 4.6 million breeding stock of fish, shrimps released to nature
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh on April 1 released more than 4.67 million breeding stock of fish and shrimps to nature on the occasion of the Vietnam’s Fisheries Traditional Day.
The breeding stock was contributed by 245 organizations, individuals and businesses working in the aquaculture sector in the province in order to reproduce and develop the source of seafood.
This is the tenth time that the province has organized such activity. Since 2005, the province has released more than 35 million breeding stock of fish and shrimps.
On the same day, Thua Thien – Hue Province also released 1,200 native breeding fish, including tilapias, and carps, into a section of Huong River which passes Phu Vang District.
Making money from fallow grass fields
Fallow grass fields on the outskirts of HCMC such as Thu Duc, Cu Chi and Hoc Mon districts have become fertile ground for locals to earn money by catching locusts and selling them to suppliers of feed for pet birds.
Every day, locust hunters come to the grass fields twice, from early morning to around 9 a.m., and from 3 p.m. until night, because during those periods locusts can be found everywhere.
The tools hunters use to catch locusts are simple: a large plastic bag and mesh containers to keep locusts. The number of locusts they can catch depends on each catcher’s skills and experience. On rainy days, one person can earn up to VND300,000 (US$13.9) a day but only around VND100,000 on sunny days.
Construction of steel fishing vessels begins
The Hai Son shipyard building company, under the Song Thu Corporation, started building two steel fishing vessels for fishermen in the Quang Nam province on Wednesday.
Each ship, measuring 25.2 metres by 6.3 metres, will be installed with an 820CV diesel engine for making deep-sea fishing trips.
The fishing vessel will also have an inbuilt standard refrigerated store for long voyages, which would maintain the quality of seafood caught during the trip.
These vessels, which are part of the Government’s VND3 trillion (US$140 million) low interest rate loan supporting deep-sea fishermen, would be used for offshore fishing and improving the quality of fishing.
The two vessels are expected to be launched four or five months later.
Sixty-four fishermen in the central Quang Nam Province have applied for loans for building deep-sea fishing vessels since last year.
As scheduled, the deep-sea fishing industry would build a high-capacity fleet of over 2,000 steel fishing boats, logistic vessels and upgraded timber boats in Thanh Hoa, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Ben Tre and Ca Mau by 2020.
Earlier this year, four fishermen in Binh Dinh, two in the Quang Ngai province and two in Phu Yen got approval for loans for eight steel fishing vessels.
Fishermen are allowed to borrow up to 95 per cent of the cost of a new metal vessel, through an 11-year loan from commercial banks at a 5 per cent interest.
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