Vietnam News - World News

No more rice ‘fever’: Agriculture Minister

2008-05-06T16:40:00.000-07:00

17:13' 06/05/2008 (GMT+7)
The government will not let a rice fever happen again, confirmed Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat on the sideline of the 3rd NA session in Hanoi on May 6.
Rice price storm over
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the government have taken tough measures to control rice prices but the prices haven’t fallen to the previous levels. We are not experiencing a rice shortage but the prices are still increasing. What will the Ministry do?
The rice prices have been influenced by the international market, psychological impacts, and speculation so there was a rice ‘fever’ recently. The government has taken tough measures to force the prices down. However, rice prices in some places are still higher than the previous levels of between VND1,000-3,000, depending on rice quality. We are keeping an eye on the rice market to not let another rice fever happen.
So we have to accept higher prices for rice after the recent rice ‘fever’?
Rice prices are decided by the supply-demand balance in the local and international markets. Our rice market is under the daily influences of the global market so adjustments must follow the market and market tools.
What do you think about imports of low-quality rice from China and Cambodia?
The Ministry (MARD) assigned a working group to go to Lao Cai province to survey the situation and they saw both low-quality and good rice.
Vietnam can export 5 million tonnes of rice but the government has reduced rice exports from 4.5 to 4 million tonnes. Will we change the export target again?
4.5 million tonnes is a forecast figure. In the Red River, the rice crop is good but nearly 400,000ha of rice has been attacked by insects. The Ministry and local governments are trying to deal with this.
Our viewpoint is ensuring food security at home first, then exporting rice, but we have to strictly keep track of rice production and consumption.
The central and northern regions were recently hit by natural calamities and epidemics so we may have a poor crop in these regions. Would the rice output of the Mekong Delta be enough for the whole country?
I confirm that we have enough rice for local consumption and for export in large volumes.
There is information about the establishment of a rice cartel which gathers rice exporting countries, including Vietnam. Could you reveal something about this plan?
I’ve heard that news from the media only. This issue is related to trade. At present MARD and the Ministry of Trade and Industry have nothing to say about this.

PM emphasises spending cut and strict control of public investment

2008-05-06T16:39:00.000-07:00

17:02' 06/05/2008 (GMT+7)
In his 60-minute speech delivered at the third session of the 12th National Assembly, which opened in Hanoi this morning, May 6, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung proposed that the NA reduce the growth target to around 7% this year.
The PM explained that at the end of 2007, the prices of crude oil, food and many other kinds of materials suddenly rose in the international market. The global economy, especially the largest economies in the world such as the US, Japan and China, is seeing signs of recession.
Vietnam is heavily influenced by the world economy so its CPI in the first four months of 2008 increased 11.6% while its trade deficit rose 71%.
“These are the highest levels in many years, threatening macro-economic stability and adversely impacting production, jobs, incomes and the lives of people, especially the poor,” Dung said.
Besides outside influences, Vietnam experienced record cold spells and cattle and poultry epidemics. The PM also identified five other internal reasons, stressing the Government’s fumbling in carrying out monetary and financial policies.
The PM also said that the government is weak at market research and forecasting. “At the end of 2007, the government saw a lot of advantages and opportunities and didn’t forecast new challenges and difficulties so it asked the NA to approve a high growth rate target for 2008 (8.5-9% of GDP growth) and the lower increase of CPI than GDP growth,” Dung said.
He said that some targets set at the 2nd NA session were no longer appropriate and he proposed the NA reduce the GDP growth target to around 7%.
“The focus and urgent mission is curbing inflation and stabilising macro economics, supporting the poor and victims of natural calamities,” the PM emphasised.
To realise social-economic goals in 2008, the PM introduced eight groups of solutions, stressing a tightened financial policy which concentrates on spending cuts, strict control of public investment. Another important solution is promoting exports and decreasing the trade deficit.
The PM confirmed that the government will not increase power, petroleum, coal, clean water, airfare, train and bus fares till inflation is controlled.
“For the petroleum price, if the price in the international market suddenly climbs, the government will consider specific and appropriate measures,” Dung said.
As regards social welfare policies, the PM said the government will amend the salary increase roadmap, continue allocating rice for victims of natural calamities and maintain the levels of school and hospital fees.
According to Dung, the government allocated around 80,000 tonnes of rice for disadvantaged families in 2007 and the first four months of 2008, the highest level so far.
The NA Economic Committee agreed with the PM’s proposal of cutting the economic growth target but it asked the government to comprehensively research the subject before approving the amendment because slow economic growth may influence job creation and people’s incomes.

Over 200 dies in violent cyclone in Myanmar

2008-05-04T17:39:00.001-07:00

22:29' 04/05/2008 (GMT+7)
A total of 222 died in the violent cyclone storm Nargis that swept Myanmar's five divisions and states on Friday and Saturday, the State Radio and Television reported Sunday evening.
Altogether 92,006 people were left homeless, the report said.
The deadly cyclone, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, entered Myanmar on Friday morning and lashed areas in southwestern coastal areas of Haing Gyi Island, Pathein, Myaungmya, Laputta, Mawlamyinegyun, Kyaiklat, Phyarpon, Bogalay.
On the same day, the Nargis, at a wind speed of about 192 kilometers per hour with a diameter of 240 km, hit the biggest city Yangon starting from midnight until Saturday noon, lasting for over 10 hours.
Some five vessels capsized in the Yangon Port, official report said earlier.
Myanmar has declared five divisions and states, namely Yangon, Bago, Ayeyawaddy, Kayin and Mon, as natural-disaster-hit regions.
A national central committee for prevention of natural disaster was also formed with Prime Minister General Thein Sein as chairman to promptly and effectively carry out relief and resettlement tasks.
According to the report, Thein Sein made a field trip to the disaster-hit areas Sunday.

NA Chairman urges Hanoi to create sharp changes in following President Ho’s exemplary morals

2008-05-04T17:35:00.002-07:00

17:17' 04/05/2008 (GMT+7)
"Greater efforts should be made to bring about practical and lasting changes in implementing the "Study and Follow President Ho Chi Minh's Exemplary Morals" campaign," National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong told leaders of Hanoi on May 2.
Chairman Trong was speaking at a working session with the Hanoi Municipal Party Committee to review one year of implementing the campaign in Hanoi and 23 other localities.
It was reported at the meeting that the movement, launched one year ago, has had a profound and positive impact on the entire political system, helping raise the awareness of cadres and receiving strong support from Party members and the public.

Chairman Trong asked the campaign organisers in Hanoi to set specific standards for different sectors and areas of work and avoid superficial behaviours.

"Leaders and business managers in Hanoi should be leading this movement," urged the NA leader.

From now until the end of the year, the Hanoi Party Committee will hold contests such as telling moral stories about Ho Chi Minh and open short courses on his ethics for civil servants as well as the public. The committee will focus on Ho Chi Minh Thought about practising thrift and fighting corruption and wastefulness.

The campaign is aimed at enhancing officials' willingness to go forward and contribute more actively to national construction. It is also expected to encourage cultured lifestyles and gradually help ward off social vices by co-ordinating work with political and social organisations more effectively at grassroots level.

A large-scale campaign aimed to remove unethical practices and wrongdoings, especially among State employees, will be launched on a larger scale.

NA Chairman urges Hanoi to create sharp changes in following President Ho’s exemplary morals

2008-05-04T17:35:00.001-07:00

17:17' 04/05/2008 (GMT+7)
"Greater efforts should be made to bring about practical and lasting changes in implementing the "Study and Follow President Ho Chi Minh's Exemplary Morals" campaign," National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong told leaders of Hanoi on May 2.

Chairman Trong was speaking at a working session with the Hanoi Municipal Party Committee to review one year of implementing the campaign in Hanoi and 23 other localities.

It was reported at the meeting that the movement, launched one year ago, has had a profound and positive impact on the entire political system, helping raise the awareness of cadres and receiving strong support from Party members and the public.

Chairman Trong asked the campaign organisers in Hanoi to set specific standards for different sectors and areas of work and avoid superficial behaviours.

"Leaders and business managers in Hanoi should be leading this movement," urged the NA leader.

From now until the end of the year, the Hanoi Party Committee will hold contests such as telling moral stories about Ho Chi Minh and open short courses on his ethics for civil servants as well as the public. The committee will focus on Ho Chi Minh Thought about practising thrift and fighting corruption and wastefulness.

The campaign is aimed at enhancing officials' willingness to go forward and contribute more actively to national construction. It is also expected to encourage cultured lifestyles and gradually help ward off social vices by co-ordinating work with political and social organisations more effectively at grassroots level.

A large-scale campaign aimed to remove unethical practices and wrongdoings, especially among State employees, will be launched on a larger scale.

Microsoft withdraws offer for Yahoo

2008-05-04T17:33:00.000-07:00

22:30' 04/05/2008 (GMT+7)
Microsoft announced Saturday it is withdrawing its offer for Yahoo in a surprise that stunned many industry analysts and Wall Street investors.

In a letter to Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said his company decided to give up its acquisition efforts after the negotiations between the two companies got bogged down.

"After careful consideration, we believe the economics demanded by Yahoo do not make sense for us, and it is in the best interests of Microsoft stockholders, employees and other stakeholders to withdraw our proposal," Ballmer said.

Microsoft was willing to pay 47.5 billion dollars, or 33 dollars per share, up from the bid's current value of 29.40 dollars per share. But Yahoo demanded at least 53 billion dollars, or 37 dollars per share, the letter said.

"Despite our best efforts, including raising our bid by roughly five billion dollars, Yahoo has not moved toward accepting our offer. Clearly a deal is not to be," Ballmer said.

Microsoft had set April 26 as the deadline for Yahoo to respond to Microsoft's offer, or it was to launch a proxy fight to take control of Yahoo's board of directors. But this week passed with no escalation of the takeover fight, which has been dragging on for three months.

Microsoft also said it doesn't intend to mount a battle to replace Yahoo's board of directors, although some observers had thought its bid would turn hostile in the absence of a deal.

Yahoo had repeatedly rejected Microsoft's offer as being too low. It has also aggressively sought alternatives such as a tie-up with Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit and a partnership with rival Google Inc.

Ballmer said last week that Microsoft would not pay "a penny" more than the company thought Yahoo was worth, and it seems he kept his word.

In the letter, Ballmer also expressed disappointment with Yang that the deal had fallen through, but said Microsoft was prepared to go it alone.

"By failing to reach an agreement with us, you and your stockholders have left significant value on the table," he wrote.

Meanwhile, Yang responded in a statement posted on the Yahoo website, saying that Yahoo is able be focus on an important transition in its history now that "the distraction of Microsoft's unsolicited proposal is behind us."

Investors will be watching to see how Yahoo's stock performs on Monday. It had jumped about 50 percent since Microsoft announced its proposal to buy Yahoo in February.

However, industry analysts said that although Ballmer told Yangthat "clearly a deal is not to be," Microsoft's withdrawal of its bid doesn't necessarily end all hope that the two companies could unite.

Observers have predicted that Microsoft could withdraw its bid as a bargaining tactic, in hopes that Yahoo's stock would plunge enough that its management team would finally agree to do a deal on Microsoft's terms.

Microsoft's effort to buy Yahoo is seen widely as the software giant's latest attempt to challenge Google's dominance of the lucrative online search and advertising markets

Scientists create missing circuit element "memristor"

2008-05-01T16:09:00.001-07:00

23:07' 01/05/2008 (GMT+7)

American electronics experts have finally succeeded in proving the existence of a fourth fundamental unit of electronic circuits: the "memristor," short for "memory resistor."

Researchers in California succeeded in creating a real, working example of the memristor 37 years after its existence was first suggested in 1971, according to the May 1 issue of Nature available on Wednesday.

The memristor was created by Stan Williams of HP Labs in Palo Alto, California, and his colleagues while experimenting with very tiny circuits, who sandwiched a nanoscopic film of a semiconductor(titanium dioxide) between two slivers of metal (platinum). Those are standard materials, the trick is to make the component just 5 nanometers wide, about 10,000 times thinner than a human hair.

It's only at the nanoscale that the behavior of memristors begins to be detectable, said Williams who reported the memristor's creation in Nature.

That's probably one reason why the idea has mouldered on the shelf for 37 years, said Leon Chua, the electrical engineer at the University of California, Berkeley, who first postulated the existence of memristors in a 1971 paper, the report said.

Pleased that his theory has finally been proved, Chua was quoted as saying "I was very excited -- I never thought I would live to see this happen."

Williams explained: "A memristor is essentially a resistor with memory. The actual resistance of the memristor changes depending on the amount of voltage and the time for which that voltage has been applied to the device."

The memristors behave just like ordinary resistors, where resistance is equal to the voltage divided by the current.

That means that a computer created from memristive circuits can "remember" what has happened to it previously, and freeze that memory when the circuit is turned off. This quality could allow computers to turn off and on again in an instant, as all the components could revert to their last state instantly, rather than having to "boot up," he said.

The researchers hope that the new components could revolutionize computing, promising an end to frustrating waits for your computer to boot up.

Most computers use "volatile memory" to perform their running functions, because this offers faster access to data than the non-volatile memory used to store data on hard disks and flash devices such as iPods.

Building computers with memristors might allow a full switch to non-volatile memory, doing away with power-sapping "running memory" and allowing devices to consume far less power when operating.

Kate Hudson tops list of most beautiful people

2008-05-01T16:08:00.001-07:00

23:03' 01/05/2008 (GMT+7)

Kate Hudson has topped the World's Most Beautiful People list in People magazine, landing the cover of the annual beauties issue.

People editors chose Hudson as their cover model for her natural beauty, pointing out that the actress "doesn't owe her famous sun-kissed looks to thousands of hours logged at a spa."

Hudson beat Salma Hayek, Mary J. Blige and Bruce Willis and Demi Moore's eldest daughter Rumer Willis, who poses provocatively on a picnic table, wearing a gothic dress and ankle-length dominatrix boots for her People picture.

Also named on the new World's Most Beautiful People list are comedian Sarah Silverman, Christina Applegate, new mom Isla Fisher, the cast of TV phenomenon Gossip Girl and celebrity couples Jessica Alba and Cash Warren and Eva Longoria and Tony Parker.

Ronaldo loses fiancee following scandal involving transvestites

2008-05-01T16:07:00.000-07:00

22:44' 01/05/2008 (GMT+7)

Football star Ronaldo's fiancee decided to leave him following the scandal involving his night out with transvestites in Rio last weekend, the Brazilian press informed on Wednesday.

Maria Beatriz Antony, who had been dating the player for a year, was staying in his apartment in the Barra da Tijuca district, Rio's west zone, when she acknowledged that Ronaldo had spent Sunday evening in the company of three transvestites.

According to the press, the player himself gave his fiancee the bad news. Antony moved to her parents' home in Brasilia on Monday.

The scandal exploded when Andrea Albertino, one of the three transvestites, told the police that Ronaldo had refused to pay for her services after acknowledging she was not a woman.

The Milan forward, who is currently in Rio on a leave following a knee surgery, admitted to the police that he had gone out with Albertino and her friends because he thought they were female prostitutes. In his testimony, he explained that he needed to "have fun and relax" with "people from outside his circle."

Ronaldo also said that Albertino tried to extort 50,000 reais (29,900 U.S. dollars) from him in exchange for not calling the police or the press, which was confirmed by one of the other two prostitutes.

On Tuesday, Albertino was interviewed by newspapers and networks in Brazil. While waiting for another participation in a TV show in Sao Paulo, the prostitute, whose ID name is Andre Luis Albertino, got involved in another event that led her to show up at a police precinct for the second time in two days.

She was charged with damaging some equipment of Brazilian broadcaster Rede TV, after reacting violently to questions made by a comedian that hosts a show on that TV channel.

World’s longest sea bridge opens in east China

2008-05-01T16:05:00.001-07:00

22:08' 01/05/2008 (GMT+7)

China inaugurated the world's longest cross-sea bridge on Thursday as part of its effort to boost economic integration and development in the Yangtze River Delta.

Hundreds of people attended the opening ceremony for the 36-kilometer bridge spanning Hangzhou Bay near Shanghai on Thursday afternoon. It was held in the middle of the bridge.

Zhao Hongzhu, secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, declared the opening of the bridge at 3:40 p.m., followed by ceremonial fireworks.

Tens of thousands of local residents gathered on both banks of the bay, many of whom performed dragon dances in traditional costume to celebrate the span's opening.

The bridge will open to traffic on a trial basis at midnight.

Trucks, overloaded vehicles and vehicles that carry dangerous chemicals will be barred from passing through the bridge during the trial operation period in a bid to ensure smooth traffic and visitor safety.

"The bridge has become well-known and is expected to attract many visitors," said Jin Jianming, deputy chief commander of the bridge construction project.

"We haven't decided how long the trial operation period will last. That depends ... on the bridge condition, and we need time to improve management of its operation."

'MADE-IN-CHINA' BRIDGE

The bridge has been hailed as a "Made-in-China" model in large infrastructure construction that fully uses homegrown technologies and demonstrates the country's architectural expertise.

Wang Yong, head of the bridge project, said the design had led to more than 250 technological innovations and engineering breakthroughs.

The project survived 19 severe challenges, including typhoons, sea tides and geological problems, during construction, he said.

Jin added the complicated climate conditions in Hangzhou Bay made the construction one of the most difficult in the world.

"That is the biggest difference from the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge in southern United States."

He was referring to the 38.4-km bridge across Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, considered the world's longest water-spanning structure.

The cross-sea bridge in China links Haiyan, Jiaxing City, with Cixi, Ningbo City in Zhejiang Province.

It will cut the length of the road trip from Shanghai to Ningbo,a busy port, by 120 km. It is designed to last 100 years.

The bridge, with a 32-km section spanning the sea, is a cable-stayed structure built at a cost of 11.8 billion yuan (1.69 billion U.S. dollars).

Private investors funded almost 30 percent of the project, the first time China's private sector had invested in a major public infrastructure project in the country.

Construction of the six-lane bridge, which will allow a maximum speed of 100 km per hour, started on Nov. 14, 2003 and was completed on June 26, 2007.

A waste water disposal plant with a daily capacity of 270,000 tons has been built near the bridge in Jiaxing to collect and treat waste water from neighboring areas.

"Taking environmental protection into account, the top priority for us is to prevent the Hangzhou Bay water from being polluted," said Qiu Dongyao, Jiaxing executive vice mayor.

GREAT CHANGES EXPECTED

As a shortcut between Zhejiang and Shanghai, the bridge is expected to greatly alleviate traffic flow in the booming Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo triangle.

"It's predicted the transportation costs will be reduced by 40 billion to 50 billion yuan in the coming 10 years for Zhejiang," said Huang Renwei, Shanghai Municipal Academy of Social Sciences deputy head.

"In addition, another 55 billion to 60 billion yuan will be saved because of the reduction in fuel use," he said.

The bridge is also expected to help boost economic integration and development in the Yangtze River Delta, which covers almost 100,000 square kilometers of land comprising Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu. It is home to 72.4 million people.

"I think it will be easier for our company to recruit high-caliber employees in the future, who always prefer working in small cities like Cixi but living in big cities like Shanghai," said Sun Ningwei, vice president of the Xinhai Electric Co. Ltd. based in Cixi, Ningbo.

"They can leave Shanghai for Cixi in the morning and go back in the afternoon. It's only about 1.5 hours' drive," she said.

Sun Bingdui, a resident from Cixi's Tian'an Village located near the bridge, anticipated a better life after its opening.

"There used to be a desolate beach near our village. Later many factories were built there due to the bridge," he recalled. "I opened a seafood restaurant a few years ago, drawing many nearby factory workers."

"I was one of the poorest in the village in the past. Now, I'm one of the richest," he said.

U.S. Fed cuts key interest rate to 2%

2008-05-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

22:19' 01/05/2008 (GMT+7)

The U.S. Federal Reserve decided Wednesday to cut a key interest rate by one quarter percentage point to 2.0 percent to prevent the economy from slipping into recession.

Traders in the Eurodollar options pit of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in Chicago, Illinois signal orders shortly after the Federal Open Market Committee lowered short-term interest rates March 18, 2008. The U.S. Federal Reserve decided Wednesday to cut a key interest rate by one quarter percentage point to 2.0 percent to prevent the economy from slipping into recession.

The Wednesday action, the seventh straight move since Sept. 18,2007, could be the last one for a while as soaring energy and food prices heighten inflation concerns, according to analysts.

As a result of the Fed actions in the past seven months, the federal funds rate, which commercial banks charge each other on overnight loans, have been cut by a combined 3.25 percentage points.

The quarter-point rate cut would trigger a similar reduction in banks' prime lending rate, the benchmark for millions of consumer and business loans. That means borrowing costs for consumers and businesses would be lowered to 5 percent from 5.25 percent.

The Fed action came hours after a government report showed that the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 0.6 percent in the first three months of this year, the same pace as in the previous quarter but slightly stronger than the 0.2 percent growth rate forecast by analysts.

The growth paces in the past two quarter were far below the brisk 4.9 percent registered in the third quarter of last year. A growing number of economists believe the economy is in a recession and is indeed contracting now.

On the other hand, however, inflationary pressures are rising.

The government report also showed that core prices, which exclude volatile energy and food, rose at a rate of 2.2 percent in the first quarter. That was outside the Fed's comfort zone of one percent to 2 percent.

Analysts say that the Fed is walking a tightrope. It is trying to shore up economic growth and at the same time it is mindful that it can not let inflation get out of hand.

In a brief statement announcing the rate cut, the Fed said Wednesday that recent information indicates that "economic activity remains weak."

Household and business spending has been subdued and labor markets have softened further, it said. Financial markets remain under considerable stress, and tight credit conditions and the deepening housing contraction are likely to weigh on economic growth over the next few quarters.

While saying the central bank expected inflation to moderate incoming months, the Fed noted that "uncertainty about the inflation outlook remains high."

"It will be necessary to continue to monitor inflation developments carefully," it said.

The Fed also expressed its hope that interest rate cuts to date, combined with other measures to foster market liquidity, can "help to promote moderate growth over time and to mitigate risks to economic activity."

It will continue to monitor economic and financial developments and will "act as needed" to promote sustainable economic growth and price stability, the Fed said.

In a related action, the Fed unanimously approved a quarter percentage point reduction in the discount rate, the interest rate that the central bank charges to make direct loans to banks, to 2.25 percent.

President praises contributions of construction sector and tank force

2008-04-30T18:05:00.001-07:00

10:30' 30/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – The construction sector had developed by leaps and bounds in the past half century, especially in the last 20 years of the doi moi (renovation) process, stresses President Triet.
President Triet pins Ho Chi Minh Order on construction sector's traditional flag.
The President made the statement at a meeting held in Hanoi on April 28 to celebrate the 50th Traditional Day of the Vietnamese construction sector.
The President praised the civil and industrial engineering, as well as the construction of modern urban areas, for helping to change the face of the country.
The sector has gradually completed its mechanism and policies in urban construction, management and development, to ease the way for construction projects. This would help meet the demands of the sector and the nation in international economic integration, President Triet said.
The President urged the ministry to review and lay out laws on construction activities to avoid issuing overlapping regulations. This would help create favourable conditions for businesses and people, he added.
He also asked the construction firms to be more competitive and apply advanced technologies in order to boost quality and reduce building time, adding that he wanted officials and workers involved in construction to affirm their role as one of the nation’s key economic sectors.
In recognition of their achievements, the Party and State granted the Ho Chi Minh Order to the Ministry of Construction.
On this occasion, President Triet conferred the Independence Orders on Minister of Construction Nguyen Hong Quan and former heads of the ministry.
On the same day, President Triet visited the Tanks and Armoured Vehicles Force at the time when the whole country is organising many activities to mark the 33rd anniversary of Southern Vietnam Liberation Day (April 30).
President Triet stressed that the Force is an important component of the People’s Army which has won many glorious feats of arms.
Thirty three years ago, the images of the force's tanks breaking down the gate of the Saigon puppet regime's presidential palace entered the country's history as the symbol of victory and pride.
President Triet told officers and men of the force that in the current global complexity, the force should always be vigilant and fully prepared to protect the Fatherland.
He also urged the force to carry our regular practice to boost levels of combat competence in order to master modern weapons.

Gov’t decides to expand Hanoi

2008-04-30T18:03:00.000-07:00

17:04' 30/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge - The government approved the Construction Ministry’s plan to expand Hanoi at a cabinet meeting on April 28, announced Minister of Home Affairs Tran Van Tuan at a government press briefing on April 29.
Accordingly, the expanded capital city will include the current Hanoi, Ha Tay province, Me Linh district of Vinh Phuc province, and the four communes of Yen Binh, Yen Trung, Tien Xuan and Dong Xuan of Hoa Binh province.
Tuan said the government also decided that Hanoi will become a political, economic, cultural and educational centre of Vietnam, not only a political centre as it had previously declared.
According to Minister Tuan, the government will submit this plan to the National Assembly for approval at the upcoming NA session. If the plan is ratified by the NA, it will be carried out as of July 1, 2008.
Tuan said the government consulted the opinions of the People’s Councils of Hanoi, Ha Tay, Vinh Phuc and Hoa Binh before approving the expansion plan. He also said that the expansion is a sensitive issue, initially planned last decade, so it must be immediately implemented after the government’s approval.
The government declared that many challenges are ahead, especially challenges in the restructuring of state agencies of the new capital.
Tuan said all key positions of Hanoi at all levels will be re-elected after the capital is expanded.

Microsoft denies mass hack caused by software fault

2008-04-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

17:22' 29/04/2008 (GMT+7)
Microsoft Corp. denied the recent incident, in which more than half a million websites were hacked, was caused by vulnerabilities in its Web and SQL Server software, according to U.S. media reports Monday.
Microsoft Corp. denied the recent incident, in which more than half a million websites were hacked, was caused by vulnerabilities in its Web and SQL Server software, according to U.S. media reports Monday.
Bill Sisk, a communications manager at Microsoft's Security Response Center, said in the group's blog, "Our investigation has shown that there are no new or unknown vulnerabilities being exploited. This wave is not a result of a vulnerability in Internet Information Services or Microsoft SQL Server."
Sisk's statement is response to the speculations that attacks were related to vulnerabilities in the company's Web and SQL Server software.
Earlier last week, more than 500,000 websites, including several hosted by the United Nations and the UK government, were hacked and modified in order to download malware (malicious software) to visitors' computers, according to Finnish anti-virus maker F-Secure, which caused numerous governmental and commercial Web pages were shut down.
Security researchers said those websites were hacked by SQL injection attacks.
All it takes for a user's computer to become infected is a visit to a compromised site. While viewing that site, the injected Javascript loads a file named 1,js. The file is located on a malicious server, which then attempts to execute eight different exploits targeting Microsoft applications.
Sisk urged Web site developers to follow Microsoft's guidelines to protect their domains from SQL injection attacks.
A solution to this problem is to use of Firefox instead of Internet Explorer. Firefox features an add-on called "noscript," which doesn’t allow Javascript exploits to run automatically when a hacked site is visited.

Crude closes slightly higher after hitting new record

2008-04-29T17:08:00.000-07:00

17:19' 29/04/2008 (GMT+7)
Crude-oil futures closed slightly higher Monday after hitting a new record near 120 dollars a barrel as a weekend refinery strike closed a pipeline system that delivers a third of Britain's North Sea oil to its refineries.
A worker counts Indian currency at a petrol pump in the northeastern Indian city of Siliguri in this file photo taken on Feb. 5, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Rebel attacks in Nigeria and tension in Persian Gulf also fanned concerns about supply disruptions.
Crude oil for June delivery climbed more than 1 dollar to a new high of 119.93 dollars a barrel in overnight electronic trading, surpassing the previous high of 119.90 dollars hit last week. It closed up 23 cents at 118.75 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Meanwhile, strikes that cut crude supplies from the North Sea and Nigeria supported prices Monday. BP PLC on Sunday shut down the Forties Pipeline System that carries more than 700,000 barrels of oil a day to Britain because of a 48-hour walkout by employees at a refinery in central Scotland.
In Nigeria, workers at an ExxonMobil Corp. joint venture cut production by an unspecified amount to demand more pay. Militant attacks on oil infrastructure have also cut production of Nigeria's light, sweet crude, which is easily refined.
Energy investors will be closely watching the Federal Reserve's decision Wednesday on interest rates as lower rates tend to weaken the dollar. If, as expected, the Fed lowers a key interest rate by another quarter percentage point and signals that it will temporarily hold off on any future rate cuts, the dollar could strengthen, and oil might fall.
U.S. crude oil futures rose sharply Friday, lifted by supply disruptions in Nigeria and Britain and news that a ship hired by the U.S. military fired warning shots at approaching boats in the Persian Gulf.

Obama’s lead over Clinton in national poll shrinks to zero

2008-04-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

17:17' 29/04/2008 (GMT+7)
U.S. Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama's lead in the national poll has shrunk to zero after his rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, won the Pennsylvania primary on April 22, said a poll released on Monday.
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton speaks to supporters during a campaign stop in South Bend, Indiana April 26, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
According to the Gallup poll conducted on April 24 to 26, Illinois Senator Obama and New York Senator Clinton are now dead even at 47 percent among 1,240 Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters.
It was the second survey that has been made after Clinton's win on Tuesday in Pennsylvania with nearly 10 percentage points lead over Obama.
These results "suggest that Democratic voters are -- for the moment at least -- divided right down the middle as to which candidate they most want to represent their party in November's general election," the poll says.
The polling body also found in the latest survey conducted among national registered voters from April 22 to 26 that Clinton maintains her advantage over Republican presumptive presidential candidate, Arizona Senator John McCain, in the general election preferences at 47 percent to 44 percent.
Obama and McCain are tied at 45 percent each, it added.

Austrian man admits to imprisoning, abusing daughter

2008-04-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

17:15' 29/04/2008 (GMT+7)
A 73-year-old Austrian man arrested Sunday for imprisoning his daughter in a basement for 24 years confessed to abusing her and forcing her to give birth to seven children, according to local police Tuesday.
An Austrian police handout picture released April 28, 2008 shows a man suspected of keeping his daughter prisoner and abusing her for 24 years in the basement of a house in the small Austrian village of Amstetten. An Austrian woman said she was kept prisoner and abused by her own father for 24 years in a basement dungeon in eastern Austria, where she bore him seven children, Austrian police said on April 27, 2008.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Police said Josef Fritzl also admitted burning the body of a baby that died at the house in Amstetten.
Police said the surviving children are three boys and three girls, the youngest of whom is 5. The oldest child is 19. And three of them have been confined during their entire lives to the darkness of their cell by their father.
Police released Fritzl's full name and photograph at a news conference Monday.
Fritzl was born in 1935 and was a young child when the Nazis annexed Austria before World War II.
His daughter, identified as 42-year-old Elisabeth Fritzl, was 18 when she was imprisoned in the cell constructed deep beneath the family's apartment in the building.
Officially, she was declared a missing person, with Interpol opening an investigation.
The case only came to light when the oldest child became seriously ill and was taken to hospital in Amstetten.
Fritzl was now placed in pretrial detention and faces up to 15 years in prison if charged, tried and convicted on rape charges, the most grave of his alleged offenses under Austrian law.

Buffett: U.S. recession to be longer, deeper

2008-04-29T17:05:00.001-07:00

17:12' 29/04/2008 (GMT+7)
The world's richest person said Monday the U.S. economy is in a recession that will be more severe than most people expect.
Warren Buffett made his prediction on CNBC television after his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. agreed to invest 6.5 billion U.S. dollars in the takeover of chewing gum maker Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. by Mars Inc. in a 23 billion dollar transaction.
"This is not a field of specialty for me, but my general feeling is that the recession will be longer and deeper than most people think," Buffett said. "This will not be short and shallow. I think consumers are feeling gas and food prices, and not feeling they've got a lot of money for other things.
"In the retail businesses ... if anything, they've gotten a little worse," Buffett continued. "Of course, things connected with housing, whether it's in brick or whether it's in carpet, those businesses have shown no uptick at all. Jewelry had a bad Christmas ... and it stayed that way."
On Wednesday, the U.S. Commerce Department is expected to say how fast the economy grew in the first quarter. Economists on average have projected that gross domestic product grew at an annualized 0.2 percent rate in the quarter.
Two quarters of declining GDP is a traditional indicator of recession. That last happened in 2001. Economists expect the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday to cut a key lending rate for a seventh time beginning last September.
Berkshire is a 197 billion dollar conglomerate best known for its insurance holdings, such as auto insurer Geico Corp, but it owns more than 70 businesses.
Many of those businesses are tied to the housing market, including Acme Brick Co, insulation maker Johns Manville, and the real estate brokerage HomeServices of America Inc.

3rd National Assembly session to review anti-inflation measures

2008-04-29T17:03:00.000-07:00

17:44' 29/04/2008 (GMT+7)
Vietnam’s top priority is combating inflation
VietNamNet Bridge – The National Assembly will give time to considering effects of anti-inflation measures applied by the government during the upcoming 3rd session, slated for May 6 to June 8, said Vice Chairman of the NA Office Nguyen Sy Dung.
Dung said besides considering anti-inflation measures, the NA will appraise the social-economic situation of 2007 and in the first four months of 2008 as well as measures to promote social-economic development this year.
“The top priority at present is combating inflation and stabilising macro economics so the NA will spend more time on this issue. Deputies will discuss whether the government’s measures have been effective or not,” Dung said.
“The Prime Minister may answer deputies’ questions. It is too early to know what deputies will ask the PM but I think the PM is willing to answer questions because this is his top priority,” he added.
About the responsibility of the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam in conducting the monetary policy, Dung said: “Deputies will clarify the reasons for inflation and they may question the Governor.”
The Vice Chairman of the NA Office said it is clear that growth targets need to be adjusted because the country can’t pursue GDP growth and neglect the quality of growth. He also said that it is necessary to cut unnecessary public investment sources and the NA will set a CPI target
The NA will consider and ratify 13 bills and give opinions on seven others. The NA will also have a look at the plan to expand Hanoi and the policy that allows foreigners to buy houses in Vietnam.

National Assembly’s 3rd meeting to open on May 6

2008-04-29T17:02:00.000-07:00

11:47' 29/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – The third meeting of the 12th National Assembly, scheduled to last more than one month, will open in Hanoi on May 6.
At a press conference held in Hanoi on April 28, Deputy Chairman of the NA Office Nguyen Si Dung said that during the meeting, NA deputies will consider government performance both in 2007 and so far in 2008.
Reports on the implementation of tasks and the state budget of 2007 will be reviewed, alongside the implementation of socio-economic development plans and the state budget in the first months of 2008.
The NA plans to hear reports by NA bodies, the chief judge of the Supreme People’s Court and Director of the Supreme People’s Procuracy. They also intend to spend an appropriate period of time for question-and-answer sessions.
The NA will also consider the plans to adjust the boundaries of Hanoi and other provinces and the regulation allowing foreigners to buy and own houses in Vietnam.
In legislative work, the NA plans to pass 13 draft laws, including laws on state property management and use, property purchase and requisition, value added tax (revised), corporate income tax (revised), nuclear energy, and amendments and supplements to some articles of the Oil and Gas Law.
In addition, NA deputies will discuss seven draft laws expected to be passed in the next annual meeting.
According to the NA Office, people nationwide can watch live TV broadcasts of the opening, closing and some plenary sessions of the NA meeting. Sessions of interest to the public may include discussions on the implementation of socio-economic plan, people’s health care policy and cabinet members’ answers to NA deputies’ queries.

Vietnam Stock Market News: Strong foreign buys save market from further plunge

2008-04-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

Vietnam Stock Market News: Strong foreign buys save market from further plunge

Food supplies sufficient for both consumption and export, assures PM

2008-04-28T17:51:00.000-07:00

10:38' 28/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge - The Government will ensure food security by focusing on increasing national reserves over exporting, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said at a teleconference on April 27.
Rushing to buy rice
The teleconference was held for the first time to discuss the socio-economic situation in the first four months of the year with leaders of ministries, sectors and eight cities and provinces representing the three regions of the country.
Mr Dung said the country was not short of rice because the recent winter-spring crop supplied more than 9 million tones.
The PM said the recent increase in the price of rice in HCM City was due to commercial and public speculation. He wanted the city to strengthen information dissemination, and noted that speculation and unreasonable price increases would be strictly punished.
At the meeting, the chairmen of people’s committees of cities and provinces including those from Hanoi, HCM City, Khanh Hoa and Can Tho reported to the Prime Minister the status of local socio-economic development and existing problems.
Participants also discussed the Posco project in Khanh Hoa and construction of Can Tho Bridge in Can Tho.
PM Dung asked ministers to reply to proposals from localities in a timely fashion. Concluding the online discussion, he stressed that the Government would continue to work with provinces through online teleconferences. On the other hand, representatives from remote areas would meet with Government leaders to address their concerns and receive instant feedback. The aim of teleconference is to reduce the number of national conferences and local leaders’ working visits to Hanoi, saving time and money, the PM added.
Except for Government conferences, Mr Dung said he would use online teleconferences to work with ministries, sectors and localities on concrete and urgent issues, such as fighting the blue ear pig disease epidemic and smuggling. After the meeting, the Government Office would send reports to relevant agencies and localities.
After the meeting, leaders from localities agreed that the teleconference in an effective method to follow in the future.
Chairman of the Da Nang municipal People’s Committee Tran Van Minh said the teleconference is very convenient. “This way we can save money from the local budget and we will apply this method”.

PM stresses need to stabilise macro economy

2008-04-28T17:50:00.001-07:00

08:50' 28/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, on April 27, urged localities to focus on curbing inflation and stabilising the macro economy.

The government leader was chairing a live-televised teleconference on socio-economics with leaders from eight localities, namely Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, the cities of Hai Phong, Da Nang and Can Tho and the provinces of Nghe An, Khanh Hoa and Dak Lak.

The teleconference, the first of its kind televised across the nation, is a step to cut state budget allocated to organise meetings, reduce crowds and save time.

The PM told the four-hour conference that in the first four months of this year, Vietnam maintained high economic growths, with foreign direct investment increasing by 41 percent and export by 27.6 percent over the same period last year.

Inflation rose 11,6 percent in the period but it has been on the downtrend, registering a 2.38 percent rise in January, 3.56 percent in February, 2.99 percent in March and 2.2 percent in April.

However, the PM said, the four-month period saw a high trade deficit of 29.3 billion USD, up 71 percent year-on-year. Reducing trade deficit is a major and hard task for ministries, agencies and localities in the time to come, he stressed.

The PM asked leaders from the above-mentioned cities and provinces to take drastic measures to curb inflation, stabilise the macro economy, ensure social welfare and maintain sustainable growth.

Cities and provinces nationwide should speed up their production, key infrastructure works and export, reduce trade deficit and ensure sufficient financial supplies for production, he said.

The government leader requested that localities cut spendings on power, petrol and the organisation of events, adding that in the future the Government will apply teleconferences as it is a fast, efficient and economical way of working with localities.

Death toll rises to 66 in east China train collision

2008-04-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

17:44' 28/04/2008 (GMT+7)
The death toll has climbed to 66 and 247 were hospitalized after an early Monday train collision in east China's Shandong Province, railway authorities confirmed.
Ministry of Railways said 51 of the injured passengers were in critical condition.
Photo taken on April 28, 2008, shows the site of the trains colliding accident, in east China's Shandong Province. Passenger train T195 en route from Beijing to Qingdao city in eastern China derailed and hit train 5034 early on Monday, causing "heavy casualties", witnesses and a government spokesman confirmed.(Xinhua Photo)
Among the injured passengers were four French nationals, all of whom have been hospitalized with bone fractures, a spokesman with the provincial foreign affairs ffice said.
Their identities were not known.
The casualties were from two passengers trains, one of which was en route from Beijing to Qingdao, a famous summer resort in Shandong and venue of the Olympic sailing competition, and the other, from Shandong's Yantai to Xuzhou in eastern Jiangsu Province.
The train from Beijing, coded T195, derailed in the city of Zibo in Shandong Province at around 4:40 a.m. About 10 carriages toppled into a ditch.
The derailed train hit train 5034 and caused the latter to veer off its tracks, too.
PRE-DAWN CHAOS
The accident occurred in Hejiacun village, sandwiched between Zhoucun district and Wangcun railway station in the suburbs of Zibo, and about 70 kilometers east of the provincial capital Jinan.
"Most passengers were still asleep, but some were standing in the aisle waiting to get off at the Zibo Railway Station," said one passenger surnamed Zhang aboard the train from Beijing.
"I suddenly felt the train, like a roller coaster, toppled 90 degrees to one side and all the way to the other side. When it finally went off the tracks, many people fell on me and hot water poured out of the thermos flasks."
Zhang was wounded in the head. When she climbed out of the train window, she saw the train had toppled into the farmland beside the railway.
Many villagers voluntarily joined the rescue work, some smashing train windows with their farm tools to pull out the stranded passengers, while others brought food and water from home.
"I saw a girl who was trying to help her boyfriend out of the train, but he was dead," Zhang said.
Xu, a Beijing college student who was traveling to Qingdao, escaped from the wrecked train safe and sound. "I got a hard seat. No one was seriously injured in our carriage."
Many survivors also joined the rescue operation, using blankets and bed sheets from the sleeper cars as stretchers to carry out the seriously wounded.
"For a time, so many people were trying to make phone calls that the mobile communications network was congested and no one could get through," said Xu.
The city government of Zibo has sent a 1,500-member strong team to help and console the victims' families. Nine hotels and 34 rescue centers have been reserved for the victims' families.
Many passengers climbed out of the wrecked train cars shortly after the accident. Some wrapped themselves in bed sheets from the sleeper cars in the early morning chill.
Xinhua reporters at the site saw blood-tainted sheets and broken thermos flasks on the ground, and some of the derailed train cars were seriously damaged.
A 38-year-old woman from the provincial capital Jinan escaped from the wrecked train through a huge crack in its floor with her 13-year-old daughter.
"We were still sleeping when the accident occurred," she said. "I suddenly woke up when I felt the train stopped with a jolt. In a minute or two it started again, but soon toppled."
The woman, who gave only her family name of Yu, said she was traveling with her daughter from Yantai to Jinan on board train 5034. After the accident they were given bread and water and were waiting for treatment.
The mother said she suffered pains on her legs, but the child seemed largely unscathed.
Rescue teams, consisting of medical workers and policemen, have been sent from the neighboring cities of Jinan and Weifang, said a spokesman with the Shandong provincial government.
MINISTRY VOICES CONDOLENCE
A spokesman with the Ministry of Railways has voiced condolences to the victims.
"We grieve over the losses of lives, and sincerely hope those who were injured in the accident will recover soon," said Wang Yongping.
The accident has caught the attention of top Chinese leaders including President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.
Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang, Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun and head of the State Administration of Work Safety Wang Jun have arrived at the site to oversee the rescue work.
TRAFFIC DISRUPTION
The accident has disrupted two-way traffic on the Jinan-Qingdao Railway, a 384-km pivotal rail link between the two big cities in Shandong.
This is the second major railway accident taking place in Shandong this year.
In January, a high-speed train from Beijing to Qingdao ran down a group of railway workers, leaving 18 dead and nine others injured.
The workers were relocating the tracks when the train ran into the work site in Anqiu City.
China had raised train speeds six times as of April 2007, with railways allowing a speed of more than 200 km per hour totaling 6,227 km in length. By 2020, the total length of such high-speed railways will reach 18,000 km and high-speed train services will cover 50,000 km, benefiting 90 percent of China's population.
The nation has started building several new high-speed rail projects, including the new Beijing-Tianjin railway and the Beijing-Shanghai railway. The latter, with a designed speed of 350kilometers per hour, started construction in mid April.

Continental Airlines calls off merge talks with UAL

2008-04-28T17:47:00.001-07:00

17:42' 28/04/2008 (GMT+7)
Continental Airlines called off talks with United Airlines parent UAL Corp., saying it wouldn't merge with any carrier at this time, U.S. media reported Monday.
Delta Air Lines Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson (2nd -L) speaks as Delta Executive Vice President Mike Campbell, (L) Northwest Airlines President and Chief Executive Officer Doug Steenland and Delta CFO Edward Bastian (R) listen during a news conference announcing the merger of the two Airlines in New York, April 15, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Continental's decision came after U.S. rivals Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines announced 10.5 billion U.S. dollars in losses, just eight days after the pair announced plans to join and become the world's biggest airline.

"Our board of directors met today and has unanimously supported management's recommendation that, in the current industry environment, the best course for Continental is to not merge with another airline at this time," Continental chief executive Larry Kellner said in a statement on Sunday afternoon.
"The risks of a merger at this time outweigh the potential rewards, as compared to Continental's prospects on a stand-alone basis," Kellner added.
But, Continental said it would keep its options open in order to remain competitive.
"We will, however, continue to review potential alliances," Kellner said.
As U.S. media reported, Continental is expected to press ahead with preliminary talks to create a three-way alliance — short of a full merger — with American Airlines and British Airways.
Apparently, Continental’s move was a stunning development for UAL, which had been negotiating in expectation of reaching a deal by late this week.
However, the company will still stick to a merge as United Airlines Chief Executive Glenn Tilton said the company's strategy was consistent.
"Consolidation is underway - ensuring you have the right partner is everything," Tilton said. "We will pursue all options to ensure a strong, sustainable future for our airline."
According to a Reuters report, earlier this month UAL was also in serious merger talks with U.S. Airways.

Oil hits record on UK pipeline shutdown, Nigerian violence

2008-04-28T17:46:00.001-07:00

17:40' 28/04/2008 (GMT+7)
Crude oil hit a record high of 119.93 U.S. dollars a barrel on Monday after BP Plc shut a North Sea pipeline and as fresh violence in Nigeria reignited supply fears.
Grangemouth oil refinery workers walk past the refinery during the first day of strike action by staff at the Ineos refinery in Grangemouth, central Scotland April 27, 2008. A pipeline carrying nearly half of Britain's oil was closed on Sunday as a strike over pensions began at the neighbouring Grangemouth refinery in Scotland, operator BP said. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
U.S. light crude for June delivery rose 81 cents to 119.33 dollars, after striking a lifetime high of 119.93 dollars a barrel at the start of Globex electronic trade.
London Brent crude rose 66 cents to 117 dollars.
Hundreds of workers at Scotland's only oil refinery began a 48-hour strike on Sunday, forcing BP to shut a pipeline system that delivers almost a third of Britain's North Sea oil.
BP said it had completed the closure of the Forties Pipeline System when 1,200 workers at the Grangemouth refinery in central Scotland walked off the job over pension issues.
The pipeline brings in 700,000 barrels of oil a day from the North Sea to BP's Kinneil plant, which is powered from the Grangemouth site.
BP said that assuming it got power back as soon as the strike ended and Fortis fields resumed production rapidly, the pipeline could be back in operation within 24 hours but might take a few more days to get back to full flow.

In Nigeria, unidentified gunmen killed five policemen and seized several weapons in a raid on a police station in the oil-rich southern Nigerian state of Rivers on Sunday, a police spokeswoman said.

The attack came just two days after a strike and attacks by rebels forced Nigeria's two largest oil firms Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell to shut some production.

Obama: race not factor in presidential election

2008-04-28T17:45:00.000-07:00

17:38' 28/04/2008 (GMT+7)
Struggling to win over more white Democratic voters, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama denied on Sunday that race would be a factor in determining the outcome of the presidential election in November, as Democrats mulled whether racial bias makes Hillary Clinton the better Democratic candidate.

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate and Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) gestures during a campaign stop in Kokomo, Indiana April 25, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Obama said: "Is race still a factor in our society? Yes. I don't think anybody would deny that. Is that going to be the determining factor in a general election? No, because I'm absolutely confident that the American people - what they're looking for is somebody who can solve their problems."

Entering the 17th week of the gruelling battle for the party nomination, Obama and Clinton were campaigning in Indiana and North Carolina, which will hold their primaries on May 6.
Obama is well ahead in North Carolina and running even in Indiana.
As in Pennsylvania, he is consolidating support among African-Americans while she appears to be picking up white working-class voters in economically depressed towns as well as conservative voters in the rural areas and smaller towns.

After a string of wins in February, Obama has suffered badly in a rough, six-week contest with Clinton in Pennsylvania, which she won last Tuesday with the support of white working-class voters.

In Pennsylvania, Clinton won white union households and white Catholics -- two important Democratic blocs -- by about 70 percent to Obama's 30 percent. About one in seven Pennsylvania voters said race was an issue and that group voted overwhelmingly against Obama.

Obama is leading Clinton in the popular vote, states won and committed delegates to the party's nominating convention in August, but her recent victories in Pennsylvania and Ohio have raised questions about his ability to win white voters.

Obama acknowledged to the Fox News channel that he needed to do more to raise his profile among working-class voters.

Natalie Portman tops list of eco-friendly celebs

2008-04-28T17:44:00.000-07:00

17:46' 28/04/2008 (GMT+7)
Natalie Portman has been named the most eco-friendly star, after topping a list of celebrities who go out of their way to care for the planet.

The Hollywood beauty won a special mention by campaigners at green website Grist.org - who praised her work to save gorillas in Rwanda, her role as the face of a low-energy light bulb company and the launch of her vegan shoe range.

Other stars to be honored by the planet-friendly firm include Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt.

However, organizers singled out a handful of A-listers as particularly non-environmentally friendly.

The worst offenders were named as David Beckham, for the amount of flights he takes annually; British model Elizabeth Hurley, for flying 250 guests to her 2007 wedding in India, and the Spice Girls, for their use of private jets.

China blasts off first data relay satellite

2008-04-27T16:58:00.000-07:00

10:58' 26/04/2008 (GMT+7)
China launched the country's first data relay satellite "Tianlian I" Friday night.
The satellite was launched on a Long March-3C carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 11:35 p.m. (Beijing Time).
China's first data relay satellite "Tianlian I" was launched on a Long March-3C carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 11:35 p.m, 25 April, 2008. (Beijing Time).
(Xinhua Photo)
The satellite will not go into function though until the Shenzhou VII mission scheduled for the second half of 2008.

Developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the satellite is the country's first ever data relay satellite.
It will increase the time Shenzhou VII spaceship in communication with the ground, and improve the amount of data that can be transferred, according to Zhang Jianqi, top official with China's space programs.
"The Yuanwang space tracking ships along with China's over ten ground observation stations can only cover 12 percent of Shenzhou VII spaceship's orbit in the space," Zhang said.
The "Tianlian I" satellite alone, according to Zhang, can cover50 percent of the orbit of Shenzhou VII, or any other China's spacecrafts.
With the help of the satellite, scientists can get more scientific data collected by our satellites without delay, and can know earlier when a malfunction is taking place in China's spacecrafts, said Zhang.
The launch is the 105th mission of China's Long March series of rockets, and the first mission of the Long March-3C carrier rocket.
The 55-meter carrier rocket with two boosters is capable of launching satellites weighed between 2,600 kilograms to 3,800 kilograms into the space.
A total of seven Long March-3C carrier rockets are now in production, and will carry "several domestic and foreign satellites" to the space, said Chen Minkang, chief designer of the rocket, without further details.
China had planned 10 space launches this year including the Shenzhou VII spaceship.
The Shenzhou VII will be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern province of Gansu late in the year and the astronauts will leave their spacecraft for the first time.
China began its manned space program in 1999. It successfully sent Yang Liwei into orbit on the Shenzhou V spacecraft in 2003.

Two years later, Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng completed a Chinese record of five-day flight on the Shenzhou VI. All returned safely.

Clinton-Obama race in dead heat ahead of Indiana primary

2008-04-27T16:57:00.001-07:00

12:43' 27/04/2008 (GMT+7)
Senator Hillary Clinton of New York and Senator Barrack Obama of Illinois are locked in a tight race ahead of the May 6 presidential primary in Indiana, according to a new poll released Friday.
Senator Hillary Clinton
The CNN poll shows the two Democrats are tied at 45 percent each, with 10 percent of respondents unsure.
The poll consists of three surveys: Research 2000 (April 23-24),ARG (April 23-24), and The Indianapolis Star (April 20-23).
All polls include interviews conducted after the April 22 Pennsylvania primary, which Clinton won Tuesday by about 55 percent to 45 percent.
The polls also show both candidates are strong with constituencies that backed them in other states: Clinton easily wins among senior citizens and women, while Obama has the advantage with young voters.
With the campaign settled into a seemingly endless slugfest, roughly two-thirds of people in a separate survey done by the Pew Research Center said the race has gone on "too long."
Half of those polled said the campaign has become "too negative."
With nine primaries left before June 3, May 6 primaries in Indiana and North Carolina are the next front in the Democratic nomination fight where 187 delegates are at stake.
Clinton's advisers appear to be focusing most efforts on Indiana, where demographics have proven friendlier to the former first lady.
Obama has a significant lead in the polls in North Carolina and is heavily favored to win there.
African-Americans are expected to make up around 40 percent of North Carolina primary electorate, giving him a healthy starting point.

Big celebrations to S. Africa’s Freedom Day

2008-04-27T16:55:00.002-07:00

22:20' 27/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – At least nine events will be held in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in the week beginning April 28 to mark South Africa ’s Day of Freedom, which falls on April 27.
The South African women jazz band will also meet with Quyen Van Minh Jazz club members in Hanoi on April 30
A representative from the South African embassy in Hanoi told reporters on April 26 that there will be five events on April 28 alone, including a symphony jointly performed by the Basadi Women of Jazz band from the African country and the local Hoa Sen (Lotus) quartet.
The South African women jazz band will also meet with Quyen Van Minh Jazz club members in Hanoi on April 30.
HCM City will host a South African culinary art promotion fest on May 3 and welcome the Basadi Women of Jazz band to perform at the Foreign Language and Information Technology University .
On May 6, the largest national economic hub will open an exhibition on South Africa.
At the press briefing, the S. African embassy representative acknowledged that bilateral trade revenues remain modest at 156 million USD in 2007. He said also called on Vietnamese businesses to invest in a large range of areas from mining, metallurgy, electronics, garment-making, footwear industry, banking, hospitals and tourism.

HCM City ready for Olympic torch relay

2008-04-27T16:55:00.001-07:00

22:51' 27/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – Ho Chi Minh City has so far completed all preparations for the Beijing Olympic torch relay and is now ready for the significant event, said the Olympic Torch Relay Organising Board on April 27.
The Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Sports and Physical Training Department, Nguyen Hoang Nang, who is also deputy head of the organising board, told the press hosting the Olympic torch relay was an honour for Ho Chi Minh City. It is also a chance for the city in particular and Vietnam in general to make contribution to the development of the world’s sport event.
The torch, planned to arrive in Ho Chi Minh City on April 29, will be carried from the City Theatre via downtown streets to the Military Zone 7 Competition Hall, where the official torch relay ceremony will take place.
Around 60 people will participate in the relay, including outstanding athletes, people making contribution to the country’s sports and officials from the sports and physical training sector.
More than 210 journalists, 94 of them are from big media companies of China, the US, the UK, Japan, Germany and France, will cover the event.

Vietnam, China to accelerate signing five-year plan

2008-04-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

08:54' 25/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi agreed the two countries should accelerate negotiations to ratify a five-year economic cooperation plan.
Receiving Yang on April 24, PM Dung said he will instruct relevant Vietnamese agencies to speed up preparations to sign the cooperation plan.

The PM said the two sides must adopt more measures to boost two-way trade and praised China’s willingness to increase imports of Vietnamese goods to balance trade between the countries.

PM Dung suggested accelerating negotiation on border demarcation for completion in 2008 and noted it would be a significant event for both sides.

He also agreed to step up demarcation of territorial waters surrounding Tonkin Gulf as well as scientific and technological cooperation.

He affirmed Vietnam supports the Beijing Olympics and will do everything it can for the success of the event to be hosted by China.

“Vietnam will organise a successful Olympic torch procession in Ho Chi Minh City, and this is the country’s contribution to the success of the Olympics and evidence of efforts to fortify the two nations’ solidarity and friendship,” the Vietnamese government leader said.

He said the Vietnamese Party, State and people always strive to boost bilateral ties under the motto “friendly neighbourliness, comprehensive cooperation, long-term stability and looking towards the future” and the spirit of “good neighbours, good friends, good comrades and good partners”.

The PM applauded continued exchange of visits by both countries’ high-level leaders and joint efforts to deal with existing problems and boost mutual understanding, saying it is a catalyst to the development of comprehensive cooperation.

Chinese Minister Yang briefed his host about recent talks with the Vietnamese Foreign Minister, saying the fine results of the talks would contribute to the traditional friendship between the two countries.

Yang said the two sides have made good progress in border demarcation and suggested further negotiations on the demarcation of territorial waters surrounding the Tonkin Gulf and accelerating cooperation in the area.

He thanked Vietnam for its support in the 2008 Olympic Games and praised its preparations for a safe torch procession before speaking about his great impressions from his first visit to the country and said he hoped to return soon.

Yang is visiting Vietnam from April 23.

Assembly to lower growth targets

2008-04-23T18:05:00.000-07:00

16:50' 23/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – The National Assembly needs to reduce its 2008 economic growth targets from 8.5-9 to 7% at the 3rd session of the 12th NA held next May.
Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc.
Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc made the proposal on behalf of the Government at the working session of the NA Standing Committee yesterday.
Phuc said changes in the global and domestic economic climate from the end of last year have created many difficulties, and the Government has to adjust economic growth targets appropriately this year.
Phuc said the country's major task was to control inflation, as well as maintain the macro-economy and assure social welfare and sustainable development.
Phuc said the Government would focus efforts on eradicating hunger, reducing poverty, stabilising living conditions for the poor and residents in mountainous, ethnic minority areas and areas hit by recent natural disasters and price changes.
In the current economic climate, achieving these aims would be all the more challenging, the minister said, especially in regards to controlling inflation. To assure the implementation of sustainable economic growth along with stable living conditions, the Government would pursue the following tactics;
to implement monetary policy firmly, actively and flexibly;
boost budget collections and raise efficiency of the use of State budget capital; apply measures to manage the cost of consumer goods, and effectively organise domestic trade;
control elements that form monopoly prices;
boost exports and reduce trade surplus;
solve difficulties to assure that investment, production and business can develop sustainably;
and boost measures to assure social welfare and stabilise living conditions.
Phuc said four Government targets were not fulfilled last year, including creating added value on agriculture, the forestry and fishery sector; increasing total import turnover; harnessing the increase of the consumer price index; and reducing of the birth rate. The other 19 targets gained or exceeded the plan, he said.
According to his report, last year 271 enterprises were rearranged, 150 of which were equitised. In 2007 the country had more than 58,000 newly-registered businesses, with total registered capital of VND489tril.
VND505tril (US$31.5mil) was mobilised to invest in development last year, accounting for 44% of GDP.
More money needed
The National Assembly heard on Monday that cities and provinces would need more time and funding to develop rehabilitation programmes and create jobs for former drug users.
A National Assembly resolution, that came into effect August 1, 2003, and set to expire on the first day of August this year, prompted the evaluation of projects helping drug users rehabilitate and reintegrate into society.
In reviewing requirements for seven central cities and provinces to create new management models, vocational training programmes and job creation for rehabilitated drug users, only HCM City had implemented given targets on time. Overall, limitations in health status, education level, vocational training and discipline were still reported among former drug users.
Two key reports presented at the session included suggestions for improvement. Cities and provinces involved with the resolution were required to design pilot projects on their own and submit them to the Government for approval. This resulted in varying start dates for projects.
According to a Government report by Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, the varying start dates did not keep the cities and provinces from developing successful projects.
Her report did, however, state that only Hanoi and HCM City had enough funds to implement their projects; it was also recommended the resolution's validity be extended until 2010 to give targeted cities and provinces enough time to fulfil their targets.
The report emphasised it takes most former drug users a full 24 months to be rehabilitated. It was recommended that some laws be amended to help rehabilitated drug users, such as the possibility to continue treatment and detoxification programmes after the two year period if the drug habit has not been completely kicked.

The report produced by the NA Social Affairs Committee largely agreed with the Government's report. Both reports will be presented to inform opinions in the NA this coming May.

HCM City was the first locality to implement its rehab project and has invested in building 20 rehabilitation centres and schools for 30,000 drug users. Before the resolution, HCM City only had five centres with 8,000 people.

The HCM City People's Committee reported that more than 60 businesses provide vocational training and employ drug users at rehabilitation centres.

These centres have generated jobs for nearly 18,000 current and rehabilitated drug users at present.

According to the Government's report, the number of new drug users increased by several hundred between 2007 and 2008.

Provincial Party official discloses bribery

2008-04-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

14:58' 23/04/2008 (GMT+7)
Mr. Vo Thanh Binh
VietNamNet Bridge – The Party Secretary of Ca Mau province, Vo Thanh Binh, held up VND100 million at a recent meeting of the Ca Mau Party Standing Committee, saying that this was a bribe someone had given to solicit a position in the local government. But he refused to name the briber, when and where he received it.
The local Party Standing Committee gathered on April 8-9 to arrange and appoint key personnel for state agencies under the People’s Committees and People’s Councils of Ca Mau province, Ca Mau city and districts.
According to a member of the Ca Mau Party Standing Committee, during that meeting, Binh said: “In the past two weeks, if I had received bribes for positions, it would have been more than VND1 billion (US$62,500).”
Many officials attending the meeting asked Binh to name the bribers and reject these people from the list of nominees for key positions but Binh didn’t reveal them, and the arrangement and appointment of key officials was conducted as planned.
“It is abnormal! The Party Secretary announces the case clearly before arranging personnel but he did not…,” said a member of the Ca Mau Party Standing Committee.
The local public asked Binh to denounce the bribers and reject them from local state agencies and make clear his relations with these people.
“Binh not naming the bribers shows his tolerance for corruption and it can harm the people’s trust,” said a retired man in Ca Mau province.
“Bribery to solicit positions is illegal. If Binh doesn’t make public the names of the solicitors, he should make clear what his relations with these bribers are,” said Ngo Minh Chanh, former member of the Ca Mau Party Committee, who is retired.
Nguyen Van Tiep, who is in charge of supervising anti-corruption activities in provinces and cities of the Central Anti-corruption Steering Committee, said he had heard of the case through the media but hadn’t received an official report. However, the Central Anti-corruption Steering Committee requested that Ca Mau verify and submit a report about the case.
“If the money is determined to be bribes, the case will be handled under the Anti-corruption Law,” Tiep said. According to Tiep, it is wrong if Binh knows the identities of the bribers but doesn’t expose their names.
This is the first reported case of solicitation for positions. Ca Mau is currently reorganising its state departments.
In a speech delivered at a National Assembly session, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, at that time a Deputy PM, said that there was a phenomenon that state officials use bribery to obtain positions, projects, etc. but these cases are rarely discovered.

Vietnam to join seven more international tourism fairs in 2008

2008-04-22T16:21:00.000-07:00

06:11' 23/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge - The country will take part in seven more international tourism fairs this year to advertise potential tourism products and attract more foreign tourists, said the Vietnam National Tourism Administration (VNTA).
The seven international fairs include the JATA tourism fair in Japan, the PATA Travel Mart in Thailand, the Top Resa in France and the Trade Show Fair in the US in September 2008, the Shanghai CITM fair in China and the AITEX fair in Cambodia in October 2008 and the WTM fair in the UK in November 2008.
In the first quarter of 2008, the country joined ATF international tourism 2008 in Thailand, the world’s largest tourism fair ITB in Berlin and the Intour Market (MITT) in Russia.
The country greeted nearly 1.3 million foreign tourists in the first three month this year, showing the effectiveness of the tourism sector’s plan to attract foreign tourists by advertising tourism potential in international fairs.

Police probe disappearance of company owner and $1.5 mln

2008-04-19T17:31:00.001-07:00

An investor reports the case to police on Thursday
Police have arrested two executives of a Ho Chi Minh investment firm after allegations US$1.5 million was swindled from its clients.
Hong Kong national Ng Kwock Fai, owner of Tactics Investment Consulting Service Company Limited, allegedly fled last month with investors’ funds.
Police late Friday arrested the firm’s chief accountant, Tran Thuc Trinh, and director Tran Vy Quyen.
Despite only being licensed to operate an investment consulting and trade brokerage, the firm was using clients’ deposits for foreign currency trading over the Internet.
The firm had promised annual returns of 20 percent, investigators said.
The firm’s out-of-pocket clients said Tactics had claimed its parent company was the Canada-headquartered Richmark International Group.
Would-be clients were asked to deposit a minimum of $1,000 in exchange for a certificate in English acknowledging their contributions.
They were promised a second certificate, countersigned and stamped by Richmark, would be issued a week later.

Clients were to receive their returns three months after their initial deposits and begin receiving monthly interest from the fourth month.

But on Wednesday Trinh called investors to Tactics office in District 1’s Ton Duc Thang Street where she announced director Fai had absconded with their money.

Trinh said Fai went overseas on March 14 and every effort to contact him since had failed.

The police said although the firm had registered under the directorship of Quyen, the operation had been run by Fai and Trinh.

Asked why the firm was still accepting deposits from clients after Fai fled, Trinh said the firm had to do so to get the money to pay interest to its clients.

The police said Friday the firm, which has been operating in Vietnam since June 2006, was not licensed to provide financial services.

The police also said they seized many documents during a search of the firm’s offices on Thursday.

Further investigations were underway, police said.

Affected investors

Of the clients whose funds had vanished, T.T.Y. had made the biggest deposit of $267,000.

Since early this year, 47 clients had deposited $449,000 and had not received any returns.

All the investors who met at the firm’s office on Thursday said they were staggered to lose such a major amount of money.

The affected clients said they had been introduced to the company by friends and relatives.

Similar scam

Last year, Thanh Nien reported a seemingly similar scam in which a HCMC-based Hong Kong firm had allegedly faked documents and websites to cheat its clients of some $10 million.

Golden Rock International Limited (GRIL), despite not being licensed to conduct business for profit in Vietnam, hired more than 200 employees to recruit internet currency trading clients.

GRIL was promising monthly returns as high as 5 percent.

Clients were asked to deposit money and sign two contracts they were told would be sent to Switzerland to the Golden Portfolio Management Corporation, supposedly the parent company.

They would receive the two contracts, countersigned and stamped by that Swiss company, two weeks later.

After two GRIL bosses disappeared with $10 million in November 2006, an inspection by city trade authorities found the company had faked the Swiss company’s seal.

It had copied advertising documents and contracts from a different foreign company and launched bogus websites supposedly for currency and gold trading.

Two executives, Stanley Elliot Tan and financial director Cheng Kwok Ping Patric – who were not registered for their posts – absconded with the funds deposited by around 1,000 investors.

HCM City builds new bus stations

2008-04-18T17:17:00.001-07:00

14:23' 18/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – To keep up with the construction progress of HCM City's new metro routes, several new inter-provincial bus stations are under construction to replace existing ones in central areas.
Pham Quoc Tai, deputy general director of the Sai Gon Transportation Mechanical Corporation (Samco), said the existing eastern-bound bus station will be split into locations in Suoi Tien and Long Truong - Song Tac, both in outlying District 9. Under the city's transportation zoning plan, this should happen by 2020. However, the Suoi Tien bus depot will be operational by 2013 in tandem with the Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien metro route, which has already begun construction.
"The Suoi Tien eastern-bound bus station must be put into operation by 2013 to serve the operation of the Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien metro route," Tai said.
The Suoi Tien eastern-bound bus station will straddle 11 ha in Binh Duong Province's Di An District and 12.5 ha in HCM City. It will be used for inter-provincial bus routes to central, northern and Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) provinces.

The Long Truong - Song Tac bus station will handle transport to coastal central provinces.
The Long Truong - Song Tac eastern-bound bus station is underway and is expected to take up 15-19 ha, according to Samco.
The HCM City People's Committee has assigned Samco to build the new Western-bound bus station in Binh Chanh District's Tan Quy Tay Commune.
Tai said the existing Western-bound bus station will continue to be operational, but as one of terminals of the city's subway routes after the new Western-bound bus station is completed.
Construction of the city's subway running between downtown and the current Western-bound bus station will start in July next year and finish by January 2012.
Construction of a 23-ha trans-Asia bus station in Hoc Mon District's Tan Thoi Nhi Commune is also underway, according to Samco. The Hoc Mon District People's Committee is implementing land clearance for the construction.

Bus route auctions cut subsidies

2008-04-18T17:15:00.000-07:00

18:10' 18/04/2008 (GMT+7)
More private advertising and interest could mean a better bus system
Allowing public buses to display adverts and auctioning off bus routes to bus companies could reduce the need for city subsidies for the bus system, transport experts have said.
Advertisements on buses would also help HCM City reduce its subsidies for the bus system.
The city has 151 bus routes, but only five routes were auctioned by the end of last year. The city planned to auction bus routes four years ago.
The auction has helped the city reduce its subsidy for each route by VND1bil (US$62,000) a year, according to the HCM City Department of Transport and Public Works.
Le Trung Tinh, deputy head of the city Department of Transport and Public Works’ Transport Management Division, said the city was not able to auction bus routes on a large scale.
The city lacks consultants and post-auction measures to help bus companies that lose in auctions, Tinh said, adding that auctions were being done in a gradual manner.
Advertisements on buses would also help the city reduce its subsidies for the bus system, said experts.
With 2,000 large buses, the city could earn about VND60-90bil ($4-6mil) a year from advertisements.
However, the city is still considering allowing public buses to display advertisements.
Earlier in the year, the HCM City People’s Committee approved VND450bil ($28.1mil) for the bus system this year.
The city People’s Committee last month approved an additional VND122bil ($7.6mil) in bus subsidies following price hikes of fuel costs in February.
According to the city Department of Transport and Public Works, with current fuel prices, the city will need to subsidise an additional VND130bil ($8.1mil) for the bus system this year.
The city expects to spend a total of more than VND700bil ($43.8mil) in bus subsidies this year, an increase of 50% compared to the city’s initial approval.
The city wants the bus system to meet 8% of public transportation needs by 2010 compared to 5% last year.
With this target, city subsidies for buses will continue to increase in following years, said experts. The city subsidised bus transport by VND600bil ($37.5mil) last year.

Poor quality offerings to Hung Kings

2008-04-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

15:42' 18/04/2008 (GMT+7)
The giant banh chung and banh giay
VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City’s giant traditional cakes (banh chung and banh giay) offered on the Hung Kings’ death anniversary 2008 were reported to be very poor in quality. The city’s authorities have asked cake makers to review the whole process of production and transportation and punish any violator.
HCM City people donated a pair of huge banh chung (square glutinous rice cake) and banh giay (glutinous rice dumpling) for the death anniversary of the Hung Kings, believed to be the founders of the Vietnamese nation. The cakes passed over 2,000km to reach the midland province of Phu Tho on April 14.
According to cake makers, the banh chung was 2 tonnes in weight. It was made of 900kg of glutinous rice, 200kg of green beans, and 100kg of pork while the banh giay was 1 tonne in weight.

According to the Vice Head of the Hung Kings Anniversary Organising Board, organisers planned to share the cakes among pilgrims after the cakes were offered to the Hung Kings on April 15. However, as the cakes were mouldy, they were not sliced for sharing but moved to the People’s Committee of Hy Cuong commune, Phu Tho province.

On April 16, under the witness of tens of local residents, the two giant cakes were sliced. The banh chung was mouldy and fermenting while the banh giay was mouldy-green. The banh giay was made with spongy pieces covered by a thin layer of powder.

Nguyen Huu Trung, Deputy Director of the Dam Sen Cultural Park, the cake maker, said the banh giay was announced to be 1 tonne in weight but this was the total weight of both the cake and the iron frame and support. The cake was actually 500kg only.

Trung said the spongy pieces were used to make the shape for the cake and the hot weather made the cake mouldy. He also said that the banh giay should not have been cut up to share with pilgrims because it was a glutinous powder block which should be seen as a symbolic traditional offering rather than a real cake.

However, as the media reported the poor quality of these offerings, HCM City authorities on April 17 asked the cake maker, Dam Sen Cultural Park, to review the production and transportation process of the cakes to find out the reason and punish wrong-doers.

Garment and textile sector seeks outlets for export

2008-04-17T17:19:00.000-07:00

04:02' 18/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge - A recent meeting of members of the HCM City Textile, Garment, Weaving and Embroidery Association has become even more relevant in the context of soaring prices in consumption goods and materials as well as the weakening US dollar.
Pham Xuan Hong, deputy chairman of the HCM City Textile, Garment, Weaving and Embroidery Association (Agtek) said the inflation rate and the weakening US dollar has had a great impact on many sectors, including the garments and textiles sector, especially in the production activities of garments and textiles enterprises.
Mr Hong said that in the context of the weakening dollar and rising prices, if an enterprise exports worth US$10 million, it will suffer losses of VND10 billion. In addition, soaring prices have forced enterprises to increase workers salaries to ensure their standard of living.
Phung Dinh Ngo, director of the Binh Hoa Garment Company said that it was rather late to hold a seminar on the issue. Although the garments and textiles sector has not made a lot of profit, it has generated nearly two million jobs and has greatly affected social welfare. Therefore, it is necessary for the sector to get some assistance from macro-economic management agencies to overcome the current difficulties.

Leaders from most of the enterprises said that the enterprises should save themselves first. Han Phuc Sinh, director of the Maika Garment Company put forth two solutions. First, businesses should restructure their production activities with fewer workers with a higher efficiency. Second, it is necessary for businesses to receive assistance from the government to overcome the current difficulties.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Quang from the Long An Garment Export Joint Stock Company said her company is now caught in a dilemma. The company began construction of two garment factories in October 2007, recruiting around 1,700-2,200 workers.

“If we earn a monthly revenue of US$400,000, we will suffer loss of around VND200 million. However, our company has already purchased 85 percent of the construction materials”, Ms Quang said.

She added that in the current situation, if some businesses are rushing to borrow US dollars instead of Vietnamese dong due to the lower interest rates, they will encounter further unexpected issues. According to the latest information, there have been a number of positive signs over the US dollar exchange rate, and the US stock market has begun to improve, said Ms Quang.

Ngo Trung Kien, director of the Sai Gon Garment Joint Stock Company said this is the first time his company has been hit by fluctuations of the market economy. While waiting for solutions from a macro-economic management level, businesses should take measures to increase productivity by focusing on promoting investment and changing the currencies for payment.

Diep Thanh Kiet, deputy chairman of Agtek said the association will propose some solutions to overcome the situation. First, banks should buy back US dollars from export contracts with the highest trading band. To promote export-import activities, banks should offer loans at the lowest trading band. In addition, it is necessary to abolish the collection of trade union fees and other kinds of fees to increase workers salaries. Currently, the government is collecting opinions from enterprises to make amendments to the draft law on Corporate Income Tax. It needs to reduce corporate income tax this year.

Pham Xuan Hong said all solutions should be based on common principles between businesses, workers, consumers and the State. Thanks to that, there should be proper measures in line with the requirements and fluctuations of the market.

SCI-TECH IN BRIEF 15/4

2008-04-15T17:46:00.000-07:00

23:13' 15/04/2008 (GMT+7)
Remains of American GIs on the way back to the U.S. from Viet Nam (filed photo) (Photo: SGGP)
US MIA soldiers return home
The remains of US missing-in-action servicemen have been handed over to the US at Da Nang International Airport .
The remains were uncovered at an excavation site in central Vietnam and transferred to the US by the Vietnam Office for Seeking Missing Persons (VNOSMP).
A repatriation ceremony was held on April 14 in the presence of US Ambassador Michael W. Michalak, US Army Lieutenant and Commander of Detachment Two Colonel James Saenz and representatives from the VNOSMP and the US Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC).
The ceremony marked the 106th post-war handover of remains from Vietnam .
Since 1975, remains of 883 US soldiers have been identified with 627 from Vietnam . The US says it appreciates Vietnam ’s cooperation and assistance in field operations.

Khmer ethnic people enjoy New Year festival

A jubilant atmosphere covers the whole Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang as nearly 400,000 local Khmer ethnic people celebrate their traditional New Year Festival Chol Chnam Thmay.
The Chol Chnam Thmay Festival, which begins after the year’s first harvest, fell on April 13-15 this year.
The celebration featured many cultural programmes, including performance of traditional dances and musical instruments.
This year’s festival became more excited since the local Khmer people have enjoyed a bumper harvest, according to Lam Ren, Head of the provincial Department for Ethnic Groups.
The provincial authorities also visited and presented gifts worth more than 1.5 billion VND to the local Khmer people on this occasion.
In the Mekong Delta province of An Giang province, nearly 90,000 Khmer ethnic people also welcomed this year’s Chol Chnam Thmay Festival in happiness after gaining an abundant crop.

Call for energy efficiency

Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) says saving power is the best way to cope with the severe shortage of electricity.

EVN Deputy General Director Nguyen Manh Hung said administrative agencies and offices have been asked to reduce 10 percent of their yearly power expenses.

Production, trading and service organisations were also asked to limit electricity usage in rush-hour.

At the same time, the group has set up a network of 1,000 shops selling power-saving light bulbs.

During the dry season’s months, EVN expects to raise generation capacity to 31.7 billion kWh, an increase of 4.8 billion kWh compared to last year.

It plans to mobilise electricity from newly-built power plants such as Ca Mau 1-2, Nhon Trach 1, Tuyen Quang and the expanded Uong Bi. The corporation will also purchase power from China .

At a recent extraordinary cabinet meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai called for the acceleration of key power projects to ensure they begin operating no later than May 1.

According to the National Centre for Power Moderation, the country spends an average 180.4 million kWh of power per day, with the highest peak in February at 206.1 million kWh, an increase of 16 percent over the same period last year.

College and electrical cooperation ink contract

The Lilama Technical College 2 (Lilama 2) and a US electrical company have signed a training cooperation contract.

Under the contract, the Lincoln Electric company will provide software, new technology and subsidised welding equipment to the college. It will also provide further training to the college’s teaching staff.

The agreement also makes Lilama 2 the first school this year to be admitted to the American Welding Society.

Founded in 1985, Lincoln Electric is considered a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of robotic welding systems and plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment.

Headquartered in Cleveland , Ohio , the company has 39 plants in 19 countries and a worldwide network of distributors and sales offices covering more than 160 countries.

Lilama 2 was the first Vietnamese school to be a member of the UK Skills.

FUYO scholarships for Vietnamese students

The FUYO Foundation has awarded 20,000 USD worth of scholarships to 80 poor but outstanding Vietnamese students.

The scholarships encourage and support outstanding students in their study at universities in Vietnam .

The presentation ceremony was held by the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Planning and Investment in Hanoi on April 14.

The FUYO Foundation, established in 1997 by the FUYO corporation of Japan , has presented scholarships worth 110,000 USD to nearly 600 Vietnamese students.

Vocational school for the disabled begins construction

Ground was broken for a vocational school for Agent Orange victims in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province on April 13.

The school is built at a cost of more than 200 billion VND on nearly 6 ha in An Ngai communes, Long Dien district.

The school with a total floor space of 5,000 sq.m. will include 36 classrooms and five workshops, a dormitory capable of accommodating 500 students and a 300-bed medical clinic.

The school will give training on computer-based office work, electronics, weaving, embroidering, and printing.

Tra Vinh builds nearly 10,000 houses for the poor

The southern Tra Vinh province has built close to 10,000 houses, 88 water supply projects for over 9,000 households and agricultural use, worth hundreds of billions VND.

The funding was sourced from Programme 134, designed by the Government to support poor households, which has created a facelift in the Khmer ethnic villages in Tra Vinh province.

Thousands of Khmer families have been provided with new houses, safe water, electricity and cultivated land. The programme also helped children of Khmer people attend school.

This year, Tra Vinh province will build 2,564 new houses for the poor, spending 20 billion VND from the programme.

The Government has also allocated 9 billion VND for the province to build seven water supply stations, 15 water supply systems, 2,380 water tankers and 2,000 water meters. It will also spend a further 13 billion VND to make more agricultural land available for the Khmer ethnic minority people.

Bac Lieu builds houses for poor Khmer ethnic households

The southernmost province of Bac Lieu has built over 4,500 houses for poor Khmer households over the past three years under the Government’s programme 134 to support poor people.

Mass organisations and socio-economic establishments in the province also built an additional 1,700 houses for Khmer people, helping improve their living conditions.

During the annual Khmer New Year Festival, Chol Chnam Thmay, which falls on April 13-15, local officials has been paying visits and presented gifts to Khmer pagodas and people.

Bac Lieu province is home to over 65,000 Khmer people. They live mainly in Bac Lieu town, and Hoa Binh, Vinh Loi and Hong Dan districts.

Whirlwinds strike northern border provinces

Whirlwinds and hailstones ripped through northern border Lai Chau and Bac Kan provinces on the evening of April 13, injuring tens of locals and removing roofs from hundreds of houses.

Lai Chau Provincial Hospital Deputy Director Lo Van Chau said 20 people were rushed to the hospital’s emergency section after the storm.

The whirlwinds pulled down or damaged dozens of houses in Lai Chau town and destroyed electricity transmission lines that caused blackouts lasting hours.

Meanwhile, more than 600 homes in Na Ri district, Bac Kan province, were unroofed and six others completely collapsed.

The calamity left two local people in Na Ri district injured and another in Cho Don district missing. Nearly 200ha of rice and 200ha of maize in the two districts were damaged.

Local authorities of Lai Chau and Bac Kan provinces are helping the victims of the storms.

Collective tomb found in southern province

A resident in Cho Gao District, southern Tien Giang Province discovered a collective tomb holding the remains of 17 people, while digging to build his house’s foundation last week. Local authorities have retrieved the remains and brought them to the headquarters of Luong Hoa Lac Commune’s People’s Committee.

Director of the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Manh Cuong said the place where the remains were found is close to the former site of the French Ben Tranh Prison of the French colonial resistance war.

Cracked gas pipe puts karaoke bar in flames

A fire broke out at Do Quyen karaoke bar in Ha Noi’s Ngo Sy Lien Street on Saturday, collapsing the bar’s entire second floor.

Losses were estimated to be hundreds of millions of dong.

Some people caught in the fire said the gas pipe of an air conditioner in the third floor was cracked and the staff unintentionally threw cigarette ash on the floor.

An employee at the bar was hospitalised for suffocation after jumping from the third floor to escape the fire.

Japan donates Braille printers to city blind

The Japanese Government on Friday handed over five Braille printers worth nearly US$80,000 to the HCM City Association of Blind People.

The donation, three to the association and two to Thu Duc District’s Vocational Training Center, will help produce some 3,300 Braille learning and teaching materials to serve 4,000 visually impaired people in the city.

Private clinics offer top services

2008-04-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

23:35' 15/04/2008 (GMT+7)
Patients are treated at An Sinh General Hospital’s kidney dialysis centre in HCM City. The hospital receives social insurance patients, helping to relieve the burden on State facilities.
VietNamNet Bridge - These clinics cater to health insurance policy holders and ease State hospital loads.
Private health services in HCM City are seen as a positive trend in the health sector.
The services, following Government Decree No 63 in 2005, encouraged private clinics to cater to health insurance policy holders.
The services aim to help reduce the overload in State-owned hospitals and increase medical access.
According to HCM City Social Insurance Agency’s Health Insurance Division, the city now has around 100 private clinics, which are qualified enough to provide health insurance beneficiaries with health care services.

Last year, there were around 30 private hospitals and clinics offering health insurance services to 100,000 patients, including Sai Gon Eye Hospital, Phuoc An Medical Centre (HEPA), An Sinh Hospital, Hoan My Hospital, FV Hospital, Medic Centre, Hong Duc Hospital and others.
Private hospitals which take part in providing health insurance services grealty contributed to providing better health care to the community, helping to reduce the burden on State-owned hospitals, Bui Duc Trang, vice chairman of HCM City Social Insurance Agency, said.
Luu Thi Thanh Huyen, deputy head of Payment Survey Division under HCM City Social Insurance Agency, said some 30 to 40 per cent of the city population were registering for health insurance services and that number continued surge annually.
Preferential payment was also a factor that had attracted more and more private clinics to participate in providing such services, Huyen said, adding that every quarter the authority provided the clinics with 80 per cent on advance of payment.
Trang said that while some State-owned hospitals were not affordable enough to provide good quality services to insurance card holders, private clinics attached special importance to services, equipment and even a reasonable fee to attract more patients.

Among the city’s private hospitals, An Sinh General Hospital received 30 per cent of the city’s social insurance patients, and 85 per cent of patients in the kidney dialysis department were covered by social insurance.
Phuoc An Medical Centre, which was the first private clinic in HCM City to provide treatment for patients with insurance cards, provides good care to its social insurance patients. In 2007, the clinic attracted some 50,000 social insurance card holders.
Nguyen Thi Huynh Mai (District 10), a health insurance card holder, who received a health check at HEPA, said she was provided the best service at the private clinic, explaining that she did not have to wait for long time to meet doctors, thanks to IT applications for medical check-ups.
Ton That Quynh Trung, Phuoc An Medical Centre’s general director, said the centre had invested over VND10 billion (US$625,000) to purchase the latest medical equipment for better services in one of its branches.
He said that after the recent decision from the Ministry of Health to revoke the requirement that insurance service oly apply to family members if 10 per cent of families in one city ward wanted to buy insurance cards, the medical centre received an additional 15,000 insurance card holders.
Trung said private clinics were racing to invest in upgrading and building more facilities to offer health insurance beneficiaries the best medical services. That is the Government strategy to provide health insurance to every citizens by 2010.

He said the Government’s policy allowing private clinics to provide such services to health insurance beneficiaries brought fame for the health insurance sector.

VinaPhone services provided at satellite lift-off site

2008-04-13T17:25:00.000-07:00

21:14' 13/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese visitors to the lift-off site of the first Vietnamese telecoms satellite, Vinasat 1, in French Guyana will have full access to VinaPhone mobile services from April 10.
According to Vinaphone, a subsidiary of the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), the roaming services will also be provided to its subscribers in Guadeloupe, Martinique and Dominica through cooperation with France ’s Orange Caraibe mobile phone network.
Since 1999, the State-owned Vinaphone has coordinated with 180 partners to provide roaming services in nearly 80 countries worldwide.
The VNPT’s Vinasat 1 managing board announced the first satellite of Vietnam will be launched into the orbit at Kourou spaceport, French Guyana, on April 19.
The 200 million USD satellite is capable of handling more than 10,000 telephone, internet and data transmission channels or about 120 television channels with coverage reaching Vietnam , Laos , India , Australia and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. It has a lifespan of 15 years.
The lift-off of Vinasat 1 will help improve the country’s telecom network and save around 15 million USD per year from hiring satellites.

Farmers offered fee relief

2008-04-13T17:23:00.000-07:00

21:18' 13/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge - Millions of farmers across the country stand to benefit from a new Ministry of Finance policy for irrigation fee waivers starting this June, according to the ministry’s newly issued circular.
Circular 26/2008/TT-BTC stated that the beneficiaries of the policy would be households and individuals who had received State land and water areas for agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and salt-making, including land allotted by the Government or legally inherited, granted or transferred.
Households, individuals and organisations that are located in areas with difficult economic conditions, according to a previous Government decree, are totally exempt from irrigation fees. These include households with an average income per capita below VND200,000 (US$12.50) per month in mountainous and rural areas, and below VND260,000 ($16.25) per month in urban areas.
Irrigation fees will still be collected in areas where demand for water exceeds available supplies, with exceptions for farmers living below the poverty line.
"Before this circular was approved, farmers had to pay irrigation fees to State-owned irrigation management companies or to those that were invested in by the State budget. But following this circular, the Government will be responsible for paying those fees to the companies," said Tran Ai Quoc, head of the Water Management Unit of the Department of Irrigation.
According to the statistics supplied by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, farmers have to pay an average amount of VND250,000 to VND700,000 ($15.60 - $43.75) per year in irrigation fees. The new policy would be of great help in freeing up money for them to re-invest more in production and improve their income.
"I would save up to VND300,000 ($18) each year if I didn’t have to pay irrigation fee. We farmers can use this amount for our children’s books and clothes," said Nguyen Thi Lien, a farmer in Dong Giang Commune, Dong Hung District of Thai Binh Province.
It was estimated that the state would have to spend about VND1 trillion ($62.5 million) to compensate local irrigation units nationwide in order to help them ensure continued operation.
Procedures to identify beneficiaries and areas that would be provided free irrigation will be carried out by local people’s committees and water resource management units, according to the circular. The procedure will be finished by June 30, as required by the Ministry of Finance.

"There will be certain difficulties in implementing the new policy, since the state will have to compensate such a large amount. As the compensation process will likely take a long time, irrigation exploitation and management units will face capital shortages and the water supply may fall short," said Tran Ai Quoc.

"However, this is a very necessary policy in the state’s strategy to boost agriculture development and support farmers. Difficulties arising in implementation will be tackled on a case-by-case basis."

Banks slashing lending interest rates

2008-04-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

16:56' 11/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – On April 10, or eight days after cutting deposit interest rates, banks announced they will cut lending interest rates as well. Prior to that, experts believed that the move would not be made for another month at the earliest.
According to the State Bank of Vietnam, state owned banks offered the lowest lending interest rates in the last time, 14.6% per annum for short-term, 13.5-16.2% for medium- and long-term loans. Meanwhile, joint stock banks are asking for 18.42% for short-term and 21.85% for medium- and long-term loans.
The lending interest rates applied by joint stock banks once hit 25% per annum, when the market seriously lacked capital.
The high lending interest rates have been putting heavy burdens on businesses, consumers, thus indirectly increasing inflation.
The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) has announced it will slash VND lending interest rates by 2-2.5% commencing April 15. The bank’s lending interest rates will be between 12.5-15% per annum for short-term and 15-16.5% per annum for medium- and long term-loans.
Tran Bac Ha, Chairman of BIDV, said that the decision aims to share difficulties with businesses and help curb inflation.
BIDV has suggested setting caps on lending interest rates, 15.25% for short-term loans for manufacturers, 14.75% for short-term loans for exporters, 15.75% for medium- and long-term loans. It has also suggested the cap of 8.5% per annum for US$ loans.
Also on April 10, Military Bank (MB) stated that MB banks will always be 3% lower than the average interest rate on the market.
Besides BIDV and MB, some other joint stock banks have also revealed their plans to slash lending interest rates. Tran Xuan Huy, General Director of Sacombank, said that the bank is considering cutting the lending interest rate by 1% per annum, while prioritising lending to small- and medium-size enterprises which have good business plans.
East Asia Bank (EAB) has announced it will cut its lending interest rate by 1.2% for good clients. Meanwhile, Eximbank is considering cutting interest rates on all kinds of loans with the highest possible decreases of 2.4% per annum.

As big banks all are cutting interest rates, it is expected that other banks will have no other choice than following the move.

The interest rate cuts prove to be good news for businesses, 60% of which rely on bank capital. The credit growth is capped at 30% in 2008 as stated by the State Bank of Vietnam.

In related news, commercial banks, to everyone’s surprise, have announced satisfactory business results for the first quarter of 2008, despite the big difficulties due to the monetary tightening policies.

Sacombank has reported the profit of VND435bil for Q1, up by 44% over the same period of last year. VND435bil in profit proves to be a satisfactory result if noting that banks’ profit always increases sharply from second quarters of years.

Meanwhile, Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) has announced the impressive profit of VND501bil in Q1, or 1.2 times higher than that of the same period last year. The high profit in Q1 makes the bank believe that the targeted profit of VND2,500bil is within reach.

Military Bank said it got the profit of VND240bil in Q1, fulfilling 31.2% of its yearly plan. Meanwhile, Techcombank has announced the pre-tax profit of VND220bil, confirming that the target of the double profit in 2008 compared to 2007 will be reached.

However, analysts say that good business results did not come to all commercial banks in Q1. Other banks, which will report business results in some days, may not be happy with their business, especially small banks, which had to mobilise capital at very high interest rates.

BUSINESS IN BRIEF 11/4

2008-04-11T16:25:00.000-07:00

17:15' 11/04/2008 (GMT+7)

Industrial-commercial bank has new trade name

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of Vietnam has changed its trade name from “IncomBank” to “VietinBank”, the bank announced in Hanoi on April 10.

The bank will use the new brand name on all its products and services nationwide from April 15.

VietinBank currently has three transaction departments, 138 branches and nearly 700 transaction offices throughout the country.

Vietinbank is associated with 800 banks around the world and is a member of the Visa and Master Card networks. The bank also owns and holds shares in a number of companies.

Investors frown as bourses plunge further

Both bourses in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi have not halted their downward slide, as investors continued to sell rather than buy during trading on April 11.

The VN-Index at the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) lost 6.72 points, or 1.23 percent, to close at 539.01 points.
Close to 8.2 million shares changed hands at the value of 413 billion VND at the HoSE, a decrease of around 80 billion VND from the previous session.

The HaSTC-index at the Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre (HaSTC) slipped 3.42 points, or 1.81 percent, to end at 185.62 points.

The bourse saw 2 million shares traded at the value of 84.1 billion VND.

Experts forecast that the market would experience a further dip as investors show confusion about the HSBC bank’s recent report on stock markets in the world and Asia .

The VN-index is forecast to close at 600 points at the end of this year instead of 1,100 points predicted previously.

New brokerages become HOSE members

The An Thanh Securities JSC, the Nam An Securities JSC and the Viet Nam Industrial and Commercial Securities Company (VICS) were officially recognised as members of the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Exchange (HOSE) on April 11.

The three companies are the 74 th , 75 th and 76 th members of the exchange with chartered capitals of 41 billion VND, 140 billion VND and 150 billion VND, respectively.

The Hanoi-based An Thanh Securities JSC was licensed to operate in securities brokerage, securities deposit and financial advisory services.

Both Nam An Securities JSC and VICS operate in securities brokerage, trading and deposit and investment consultancy.

Yamaha installs European-standard motorbike fume testing lab

Yamaha Motors Vietnam Factory in Hanoi ’s outlying Soc Son district inaugurated a motorbike exhaust fume testing laboratory meeting European standards on April 10.

Yamaha Motor Vietnam boasted they were the first motor vehicle manufacturer in Vietnam to invest in an European-standard exhaust fume testing lab, which has been certificated by the Vietnam Register.

Yamaha researchers and technicians have improved their products to provide the market with environmentally friendly Yamaha motorbikes meeting Vietnam ’s exhaust fume control standard, TCVN 73S7:2003.

Southernmost province targets poverty rate

The southernmost province of Ca Mau plans to help lift 5,000 households out of poverty, reducing the province’s rate of poor households to less than 13 percent this year, a target that is two percent lower than the poverty rate of 15 percent last year.

With funding of 200 billion VND (12.5 million USD) from the Hunger Eradication and Poverty Reduction Programme, the provincial authorities will allocate preferential loans to 25,000 households, and provide vocational training for 28,000 people.

Funds will also be allocated to continue building rural infrastructure such as roads and bridges, and to provide consultancy to help poor households succeed in farming and small businesses.

Gov’t to issue bonds for health care development

The Prime Minister has agreed for the first time to issue Government bonds, worth 14 trillion VND, to support the health sector, announced the Health Ministry on April 10.

The money raised from the bonds will be poured into a project to build and upgrade district-level and inter-district hospitals nationwide in the 2008-2010 period .

The project, which is estimated to cost 17 trillion VND, will build, upgrade and provide equipment to more than 600 hospitals across all 64 provinces, including 552 district hospitals and 69 inter-district polyclinics.

The remaining capital of the project will be mobilised from local budgets and other sources during the period.

The Prime Minister has also decided to increase health insurance subsidies for poor people by 50,000 VND to 130,000 VND per month per head.

ASEAN electronic forum kicks off in Hanoi

An electronic forum of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) set off in Hanoi on April 10, drawing State management agencies, business associations and businesses from member countries.

Host Vietnam took the opportunity to present its electronics industry trategy, the Government’s relevant policies and opportunities to businesses, with an aim of luring more investments both from domestic and foreign investors.

High on the agenda of the two-day events are update information about the electronics industry development in member countries and measures for fast integration.

Participants are expected to reach agreements on more policies and latest measures to be taken by the ASEAN Community to boost the grouping electronics industry.

Eur12 million to develop tourism human resources

2008-04-10T17:50:00.001-07:00

17:35' 10/04/2008 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge - The total budget of Vietnam’s tourism human resource development project is mainly funded by the European Union (EU), including 10.8 million Euros financed by the organization and 1.2 million Euros of correspondent capital from Vietnam.

The budget aims to improve the standard and quality of human resource in the tourism sector and help the Government and businesses maintain the quantity and quality of the human resource when the project is completed.

Under the project’s framework, on April 7-8, Vietnam held a seminar to introduce European markets, including France, Netherlands, Belgium and Northern-European countries, attracting the participation of representatives from 150 travel agents in Hanoi and international experts from Europe and Asia.

The seminar is to support tourism businesses to improve access to tourism information, study tourists’ preferences and learn from the experience of international experts on marketing and promotion solutions. Through these, Vietnam’s tourism competitiveness is expected to be promoted in the markets.

Mr. Lena Skogstrom, a tourism expert on Northern-European countries, noted that Swedish people spend nearly 5 percent of their income (equivalent to 6 billion USD) traveling. Vietnam needs to promote marketing to access this market.

Vietnam has to do many things to advertise and promote tourism in these markets while it must continue to meet the demand of tourists with high-quality tourism products, said Mr. Skogstrom.

The seminar will be held in Danang on April 10-11 and in Ho Chi Minh City on April 14-15.

Competition heats up in insurance market

2008-04-10T17:48:00.000-07:00

06:58' 11/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge - Domestic insurance companies continue to worry about the constant increase of capital and new products offered by foreign owned insurance companies, a change in competition that is due to the removal of all legal barriers in the sector on January 1, 2008 as part of the implementation of Vietnam’s WTO commitments.
Dai-ichi Life, a life insurance firm in Japan , decided earlier this year to raise its capital to 72 million USD after only one-year operation in Vietnam.
Liberty Insurance (Vietnam), a 100 percent US owned company began to provide insurance service directly to state owned enterprises, Vietnamese individuals and motor insurance including compulsory public liability. It was previously only licensed for providing non-life insurance service for foreign individuals and businesses.
Liberty became the first US insurance company to expand its business in Vietnam according to the country’s WTO commitment and also the first foreign non-life insurer to provide compulsory motor vehicle insurance service in Vietnam. Liberty has also increased its capital from 10 million USD to 20 million USD.

General Director of Liberty in Vietnam, Thomas O’Dore said that his company will immediately provide insurance services for customers who buy new motor vehicles. “We do not compete in price, but in the quality of service,” he said, adding that his company plans to introduce GPS technology in Vietnam in order to meet all demands of clients.

The foreign owned, Prudential Vietnam , the leading life insurer with 41 percent of the market share, has also been permitted by the Finance Ministry to expand the scope of its business and deploy investment association activities.

These moves by foreign insurers have made domestic insurance companies worried about severe competition.

The presence of foreign insurers provide clients with greater choice and creates new standards in the insurance sector, General Director of Bao Minh Insurance Company Tran Vinh Duc affirmed. However, he said, it is not easy for domestic insurers to take part in the competition.

Like other domestic insurers, Bao Minh has made preparations for the predicted severe competition including investing in personnel training in IT application and improving business management.

According to experts, the Vietnamese insurance market has great potential as the sector’s revenue represents only 2 percent of GDP, compared to about 6-8 percent in other regional developed countries.

Land charges in industrial zones mount

2008-04-10T17:45:00.000-07:00

17:16' 10/04/2008 (GMT+7)
Tay Bac Cu Chi Industrial Zone
VietNamNet Bridge – Land charges in industrial and export processing zones have risen by 30-50% compared to one year ago. The highest charge is applied in HCM City-based Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone, over 100/sq.m/year.
In contrast to the serenity of the apartment market, the market for industrial zone real estate is bustling at this moment, with foreign direct investment flow rising.
Overloaded industrial zones
According to David W. Neal, Logistics and Industrial Manager of CB Richard Ellis Vietnam (CBRE), Vietnam has 150 industrial and export processing zones and many more are being built, but they can’t satisfy demand.

Most industrial and export processing zones in HCM City and some southern provinces of Dong Nai and Binh Duong are overloaded, with nearly 100% of land occupied. Many industrial zones are developing in their third and fourth phases.

Le Anh Tuan, Vice Head of the HCM City Export Processing Zones Authority (HEPZA), said the increase of land charges at industrial and export processing zones is up to the market rules because the FDI flow has been rising quickly since Vietnam joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The director of a company located in a southern industrial zone said the current land charges in industrial zones are 30-50% more than during the same period of last year. He said his company plans to expand operation so he wanted to hire land in Tan Phu Trung industrial zone in Cu Chi District, HCM City, where land charges are $10-15/sqm/year higher than last year.

The highest land charge belongs to the Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone at over $100/sq.m/year. It is followed by Tan Binh and Linh Trung industrial zones in Thu Duc, HCM City, and Vietnam-Singapore industrial zone in Binh Duong province, with land charges of around $70-80/sq.m/year. However, these zones are nearly full so only businesses with abundant financial resources can hire land there.

It is said that land charges in expanding industrial zones like Tan Tao, Vinh Loc, Tan Phu Trung and Tay Bac Cu Chi will increase soon.

Site clearance hinders expansion of industrial zones

According to Dang Ngoc Thanh, Deputy General Director of the Cu Chi Industry and Trade Investment and Development JS Company, the investor of Tay Bac Cu Chi Industrial Zone, though land charges in industrial zones are increasing, businesses still favour these zones rather than buying or hiring land outside. The reason is that when they build factories in industrial zones they enjoy tax preferences and can avoid land-related conflicts.

Nguyen Dac Trung, a CBRE specialist, said investors prefer to build industrial zones far from HCM City (in Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Long An) because land prices in these provinces are cheaper though it takes longer to regain capital than by investing in apartment projects.

Trung said the traditional model of industrial zones (investors hire land then build necessary infrastructure and lease land again) is not attractive to investors anymore. Investors now build infrastructure and factories for lease so businesses can immediately do business when they get into industrial zones.

The biggest difficulty for industrial zone developers is site clearance and compensation because the areas of these zones are hundreds of hectares or even thousands of hectares of land. This issue affects the expansion of old and construction of new industrial zones.

“The increase of land and construction material prices also contributes to pushing up land charges in industrial zones,” explained Dang Ngoc Thanh, Deputy General Director of Cu Chi Industry and Trade Investment and Development JS Company, the owner of Tay Bac Cu Chi industrial zone.

2008-04-09T17:26:00.000-07:00

Digital music and copyright problems
04:20' 10/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnam Centre for Music Copyright Protection and the Recording Industry Association of Vietnam (RIAV) have announced they will demand “respect and equality” for music copyrights from websites, while musical site managers say they are aware of copyrights but don’t know how to pay, who to pay and what royalty rate is reasonable.
Protection of digital music copyrights enforced
Based on Dispatch 22/BQTG of the Copyright Bureau and Dispatch 02/RIAV/08 of the RIAV, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism asked websites to remove infringing music files and before uploading music files, they must ask the author’s permission.
In March, websites were told they had to pay royalties to related authors or representatives (RIAV). The royalty was set by RIAV at VND1 million/song/year/website.
RIAV recently sent another dispatch to the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism saying that three websites, timnhanh/com, caigi.com and sonic.vn, didn’t obey the Inspectorate’s request and ignored RIAV’s efforts to contact them.
However, Phan Dang Dung, Marketing Manager of Vietnam Von, the owner of timnhanh.com website, said his company hasn’t done anything wrong. “We have signed many contracts with recording firms and music authors worth hundreds of million VND. Now one more agency comes to ask for royalties. It cannot be said that we are violating the Intellectual Property Law or do not respect music copyrights,” Dung said.
VON has hired a lawyer to check whether it is violating the Intellectual Property Law. “If there is anything which is not correct, we will change to comply with the law,” said VON’s representative.
Not only VON but some big musical sites like nhacso.net have retained intellectual property lawyers because most owners of musical sites are young and online music is a new thing in Vietnam.
nhacso.net, which is considered the first online music project in Vietnam, can’t do business in music through collecting fees from music download and sharing. One of the reasons, according to Nguyen Ngoc Long, chief editor of nhacso.net, is they have to negotiate copyrights with many partners, including authors, recording firms and copyright protection associations.
“Most of them (musical site owners) have goodwill for copyrights but they are facing problems associated with royalty rates and they have to negotiate with so many agencies. I think we need more specific regulations on this area,” said Ngo Thi Sy, chief inspector of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
According to Nguyen Ha Long, an official of the Vietnam Centre for Protection of Music Copyrights, to have full copyright for each music product, musical websites must have copyright certificates of the centre and the Recording Industry Association of Vietnam.
But that’s in the case that authors and producers authorise the Vietnam Centre for Protection of Music Copyright and the Recording Industry Association of Vietnam to collect royalties. In other cases, musical websites have to negotiate with various authors and organisations to buy music.

More budget air routes opened

2008-04-08T16:09:00.000-07:00

11:35' 08/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – In April, a lot of new air routes from Vietnam to regional countries will be put into operation by budget airlines.
The earliest budget airline in Vietnam, Indonesia’s Lion Air, first launched the HCM City – Jakarta air route in December 2003 with four flights a week.
After three years of interruption for restructuring, the airline has decided to come back to Vietnam on April 18. Lion Air plans to open new air routes from HCM City to Singapore and Jakarta, using Boeing 737 – 900 ER planes.
On April 15, Malaysia’s AirAsia will provide the first flight of HCM City – Kuala Lumpur – HCM City route. The Hanoi – Kuala Lumpur route of the airline came into operation several years ago.
Thai AirAsia, a member of AirAsia, is also planning to fly between HCM City – Bangkok with two flights a week. The first flight is expected to take off in April.
Cebu Pacific of the Philippines is going to open two new air routes, Manila – HCM City (4 flights a week), Manila – Hanoi (3 flights a week), commencing as of April 10.
Prior to that, at the end of 2007, Viva Macau, which is considered ‘half budget, half traditional airline’, opened the direct route from HCM City to Macau with four flights a week.

(Source: Tien phong)

World beautiful bays club aims Lang Co

2008-04-08T16:07:00.001-07:00

12:46' 08/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem has pledged favourable conditions for Lang Co bay in central Thua Thien-Hue Province to soon become a member of “The World Most Beautiful Bays” club.
Photo: www.hue.vnn.vn/service
The deputy PM made the commitment while receiving the club Secretary General Bruno Bodard, who is on a fact-finding tour to Vietnam from March 30-April 8.
The club secretary general spoke highly of Vietnam’s planning work and the potential of the Lang Co bay.
On the occasion, the National UNESCO Committee and the Thua Thien-Hue People’s Committee have launched a campaign to back Lang Co bay’s effort in joining “The World Most beautiful Bays” club, a non-governmental organisation.
Lang Co is expected to become the 30th member of the club. Vietnam already has two representatives in the club, Nha Trang Bay and Ha Long Bay.

Saigontourist’s best architectural works to be honored

2008-04-08T16:05:00.000-07:00

23:42' 08/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge - The Vietnam Architecture Association has announced 20 outstanding architectural works of Vietnam during the renewal process, including hotel and resort complexes of Saigontourist in localities nationwide.
The hotel and resort complexes honored by the association are Saigon– Ninh Chu hotel, Saigon – Phu Quoc resort, Yasaka Saigon Nha Trang hotel, Saigon – Mui Ne resort, Saigon – Quy Nhon hotel and Saigon – Quang Binh hotel. The award ceremony will be held in Hanoi, on April 26, 2008.
The Vietnam Architecture Association’s criteria selected architectural and artistic works suitable with modern architecture trends, works making break-through changes to the urban image and living environment, improving people’s material and spiritual lives as well as the urban and rural environment.
Together with architecture and location strengths, hotels and resorts of Saigontourist have pioneerd good quality tourism products, meeting the abundant demand of both domestic and foreign tourists.

HCMC developers rebuff compensation plan

2008-04-07T17:42:00.000-07:00

HCMC’s developers are not happy with a construction ministry plan to change the way compensation is negotiated with landowners
Property developers in Ho Chi Minh City have objected to a Construction Ministry’s plan to ban them from negotiating compensation directly with owners of land taken for real estate projects.

Under the proposed new system, revealed last month, local administrations will compensate landowners based on prices set by the government.

The land will later be auctioned to developers.

Allowing developers to negotiate compensations with landowners has led to many accusations of unfairness which threatened to delay projects, the ministry said.

However, Ho Chi Minh City developers told a seminar last Friday the proposal was irrational.

Government-set land prices, which would be used as the base for compensation, were likely to be lower than the market value even though the prices would be adjusted annually, developers said.

A similar system, which was used prior to July 2004, caused delays in many projects because owners refused to leave their land.

“Imposed compensation made it difficult for landowners to find new homes,” Binh Dan company director Le Ngoc Tu told the seminar.

This problem was only solved when the government asked developers to negotiate compensation directly with landowners in July 2004, he said.

“It’d be irrational now to return to the old system where the government takes care of compensation and land clearance.”

The developers said the government could instead intervene in cases where a handful of landowners from an area earmarked for development demanded unreasonable compensation or refused to negotiate.

In cases where the government had to clear and auction land, it should negotiate with land owners, they said.

The government this year shifted responsibility for setting land prices to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) from the Ministry of Finance.

In a proposal of amendments to the 2003 Land Law last month, MoNRE suggested banning compensation negotiations between developers and land owners.

It promised to set land prices that would best benefit the residents.

Affordable housing

The Construction Ministry’s proposal is part of its solution package designed to stabilize the real estate market.

Property prices in major cities surged as much as 100 percent last year.

The ministry’s proposals included imposing higher tax on speculative transactions and encouraging the development of affordable housing.

According to a Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) report presented to Friday’s seminar, rocketing real estate prices were caused by a demand-supply imbalance, speculation and banks’ easy property loan policies.

The real estate association called for a revision of the Construction Ministry’s proposal concerning affordable housing.

Under the ministry’s proposal, state-owned social housing development companies, similar to those in Japan and South Korea, would also build affordable housing for rent.

The ministry also wants housing project developers building on 10 hectares or more to set aside 20 percent of the land for affordable housing for sale or rent.

But HoREA wanted the 20 percent affordable housing requirement to apply to projects of 50 hectares or larger.

The real estate body also raised objections to the social housing development companies, and suggested the ministry instead set up a special agency to manage a social housing program to ensure transparency and fair competition.

Reported by Tran Thanh Binh

Vietnamese exporters survive weak dollar, costly credit

2008-04-06T18:51:00.000-07:00

Local businesses are trying to slash costs in the face of the weakening dollar and rising interest rates
The weakening dollar and rising interest rates are a major headache for exporters but it seems some businesses are coping rather well.

Export company VietEuro’s president and chairman, Nguyen Thanh Lam, said the depreciating greenback had not taken his company by surprise.

It had accurately forecast the dollar to fall and decided to hedge its losses by doing business in different currencies, he said.

“Thus, the loss that would have followed a cheaper dollar did not materialize,” Lam added.

With the dollar losing its value against other currencies in the midst of an American recession, other exporters are trying various ways to minimize their losses.

Song Hau Farm, for instance, is signing only short-term contracts as a precaution against the volatile exchange rate while Minh Quang Company insists on adjusting for exchange rate changes when signing contracts.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exports and Producers has asked the government to instruct banks to buy exporters’ foreign currencies at reasonable prices.

An Giang Seafood Export Import Company’s president and chairman, Ngo Phuoc Hau, said his company had found other ways to raise revenues - by finding new import partners and increasing domestic sales to capitalize on the strengthening dong.

And all the while, businesses are slashing costs in the face of rising prices.

“We have to calculate much more carefully before we spend now,” Au Lac Stock Company’s president, Nguyen Hong Mai, said.

To offset rising costs, members of the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Garment and Textile Embroidery and Knitting have raised export prices by 5 to 15 percent.

But perhaps the biggest test of businesses’ ability to adjust is the high interest rates banks are charging on dong loans.

Cashew exporter Thanh Son Company has asked customers to pay faster to ensure it can repay loans quickly.

Thanh Son’s president, Vu Thai Son, said his company was now insisting on letters of credit from foreign partners.

“With L/C’s, we get paid [immediately],” he said.

“On the other hand, the D/P (document against payment) method requires the bank to inform importers before making payment which means a lag of 20 - 25 days before we are paid.”

Son said in this time of high interest rates, “the sooner exporters collect their money, the better.” Like Thanh Son, other businesses have also hit upon innovative ideas to deal with the high loan interest rates.

Vinh Hoan Joint Stock Company’s president, Truong Thi Le Khanh, said her company had started to borrow in dollars since the interest rates on the greenback were considerably lower.

It is around 5 percent per annum on dollar loans compared to 18 to 20 percent for dong loans.

Some companies have turned away from banks altogether.

Real estate company Sacomreal, for instance, has mobilized VND750 billion (US$47,000) by selling bonds, a relatively new method in Vietnam.

Foreign companies are also finding ways to benefit in these testing times.

Indochina Capital’s president, Thomas Ngo, said his company was starting to invest more in private enterprises rather than state-owned ones as the former was facing a more severe fund shortage.

Government aids exporters

Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Nguyen Thanh Bien said the government was trying to help exporters.

In addition to its recent instruction to banks to buy export-generated foreign currencies, the State Bank of Vietnam has also asked commercial banks to loosen credit and lower interest rates on loans to agricultural and aquatic produce importers and exporters.

Bien said his ministry had also requested the Ministry of Finance to expand credit for a wider range of export products.

Government In Action

2008-04-06T03:42:00.000-07:00

(24-12-2007)
Industrial growth plan to get reviewed
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung has asked the Ministry of Planning and Investment to review the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s proposal for industrial development in the three northwestern provinces of Son La, Dien Bien and Lai Chau.

A large number of people have been resettled in the three provinces due to the development of hydroelectric power stations in the north.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry issued proposals on May 23 and October 3 this year on measures that should be adopted to encourage development in the provinces.

Official letter 7343/VPCP-CN, dated December 19.

More workshops for vocational training

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan has asked the Ministry of Education and Training to organise workshops on training for the sectors of information technology, finance, banking, tourism and shipbuilding.

MoET has been asked to invite universities and colleges to participate in the workshops to be held this month and next.

Official letter 7325/VPCP-KG, dated December 18.

Gov’t gives advice on gold mining in Lai Chau

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has asked Lai Chau People’s Committee to work with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on gold mining in the region.

During the discussion, issues such as health and safety and environmental protection are to be addressed.

Official letter 7344/VPCP-CN, dated December 19, 2007. — VNS

Government In Action

2008-04-06T03:40:00.000-07:00

(31-12-2007)

Prime Minister Nguîen Tan Dung has ....

Projects sponsored by UNDP approved

... approved three projects sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme from 2006 to 2010 in the Official Letter 1996/TTg-QHQT.

The three projects, ‘Supporting finance policy analysis’, ‘Improving capacity for Viet Nam Union of Science and Technology Associations’ and ‘Supporting drafting of reports on the implementation of Millennium Development Goals’, will receive total sponsor funding of more than $5.4 million from the UNDP.

The Minister has assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment to inform the UNDP of the decision, as well as co-operate with the Government’s aid management offices to give instructions on implementing the projects.

Senior personnel changes at ministries

... formally appointed Nguyen Van Duc, the current Director of Works and Land Survey at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Deputy Minister of the Ministry. The Prime Minister has also appointed former minister of Post and Telecommunications Do Trung Ta as his envoy for information and technology.

The Prime Minister has also approved the retirement of Chaiworman of the Board of Members of the State Capital Investment Corporation Le Thi Bang Tam and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Van Bang on January 1, 2008.

City suspends land-use certificate requirement

The city’s People’s Committee recently issued Announcement 427/TB-UBND to suspend the implementation of part of Decision 79/2007/QD-UB, which governs the issuing of construction licences.

The decision requires individuals and organisations to have a land-use certificate or "red book" before they can apply for a construction licence. However, due to on-going problems with issuing land-use certificates the People’s Committee has temporarily rescinded the requirement. — VNS