Politics
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| Special envoy of the Prime Minister, Vu Khoan, made a final check of preparations for the APEC Economic Leaders' Week at the National Conference Centre in Hanoi on November 8. |
- Special envoy of the Prime Minister, Vu Khoan, made a final check of preparations for the APEC Economic Leaders' Week at the National Conference Centre in Hanoi on November 8. Examining the service cars for the APEC Week, conference and function rooms as well as other facilities, the PM's special envoy said he was satisfied with the preparations.
- Australian Government Minister for Trade Warren Truss has welcomed the completion of negotiations on Vietnam ’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), according to a press release issued by the Australian Embassy in Hanoi on November 8.
- The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations and the Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Association held a meeting in Hanoi on November 7 to mark the 53rd National Day of Cambodia (November 9).
- Vietnam's National Reserve Department (VNRD) on November 6 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation and mutual assistance in 2007 with its Lao partner. The MoU was inked after a meeting between a NRD delegation headed by Deputy Minister for Internal Affairs Dang Quoc Tien and senior officials of the Lao National Reserve Department in Vientiane, during which both sides expressed satisfaction at their mutual assistance over the past time.
- November 7, 2006 marked a new milestone in confirming Vietnam’s renovation achievements as Vietnam was officially admitted to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the world's largest trade body, during a special meeting of the WTO General Council in Geneva.
- Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung highly valued advices and proposals of a Vietnam-US advisory council in the areas of infrastructure and energy development, information technology and education, financial and capital market and services. PM Dung made the remark when he received delegates of the annual meeting of the high-ranking Vietnam-US Advisory Council on Enhancement of Competitiveness on November 7 in Hanoi.
- National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong received a delegation of the Constitution and Law Committee of the Cuban National Assembly, led by its chairman Jose Luis Toledo in Hanoi on November 7.
- The Danish Ambassador to Vietnam Peter Lysholt Hansen has conveyed his warm congratulations to the Vietnamese government and people on Vietnam’s accession to the World Trade Organisation, an this important step in the country’s integration into the world economy.
Business
- An exhibition entitled "Sichuan Investment-Trade 2006" opened in Hanoi on November 8. This is the third exhibition by the Chinese province in Hanoi. On display are machines, electrical appliances, automobiles, construction materials, chemicals, medicines, food, home appliances, and rice seeds produced by the province.
- The Prime Minister has permitted three big State commercial banks to take two steps towards equitisation. They are the Bank for Industry and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), the Industrial and Commercial Bank of Vietnam (ICB), and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam (Agribank).
- Hanoi will issue additional VND 500 billion ($31.3 million) in bonds to raise capital for construction of Highway No. 5 in the first quarter of 2007.
- Vietnam will give investment incentives to foreign pharmaceutical producers that use local materials for their productionsaid Tran Thi Thu, representative from the Foreign Investment Department.
- The Vietnamese government encourages and gives protection to Vietnamese individuals and organisations, Vietnamese living abroad, and foreign investors carrying out investment, business and production activities in the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in the central province of Quang Nam. This was stated in the regulations for the operation of the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone signed by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on November 6.
- An express joint venture between DHL, an international air express company, and the Vietnam Post and Telecom Group (VNPT), has been set up to become the first joint venture in this field in Vietnam. A licence for the joint venture was made public on November 8.
- An international exhibition on maritime equipment and shipyard industry, Maritime Vietnam 2006, opened in Ho Chi Minh City on November 7. The exhibition, the first of its kind held in Vietnam, attracts 200 enterprises from Vietnam and 20 countries and territories, including the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Germany and China. Maritime Vietnam 2006 introduced the latest products, technology and services of the world maritime and shipyard sector.
- Japanese investors are soon likely to invest around US$500 million in the Vietnamese stock market, according to a Japanese investment consultant who brought a group of investors from his country to Ho Chi Minh City. Shigekazu Utsunomiya, director of consultancy Million Millionaires Project Company (TMMP) said Japanese interest in Vietnam's stock market was high thanks to the traditional investment relations between the two countries.
- The Bank of Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) signed a US$200 million term loan with the Austrian Raiffeissen Zentralbank Oesterreich AG (RZB) bank in Vienna, Austria, on November 6.
- Citigroup announced on November 7 it inked a term loan facility worth US$20 million with the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) to finance EVN's plans for power transmission projects in the northern provinces of Vietnam.
- The seventh issuance of the Electricity of Vietnam's bonds in 2006 proved to be successful with 75% of the issued bonds bought by foreign investors. A representative of Deutsche Bank, EVN consultant, made the affirmation at a press conference in Hanoi on November 7.
- The American Importers Association (AIA) predicts Vietnam shipments to the US this year will amount to US$9bil, up 36% from last year. Phillip W. Byrd, director of AIA, said in a statement released on Wednesday that the rise in the country's exports to the US this year was due to a high consumer confidence rate in the US and to increased marketing by Vietnamese companies.
- The Dung Quat Shipbuilding Company on November 7 signed a contract with the Vinashin Oil and Gas Investment and Transport Joint-stock Company to build ten 54,000-tonne cargo ships. The 190-metre long and 32.26-metre wide ships will be built at a cost of more than US$20 million each. They will be designed by the Vinashin Shipbuilding Scientific and Technological Institute and registered by DNV, a registering agency of Norway. Under the contract, the first cargo ship will be completed and handed over in June, 2008. The others will be handed over with an interval of four months.
- The Listed Companies Club and Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Center are jointly organizing a forum titled “A dialogue between listed companies and investors for their mutual development,” at the Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh City on December 9. The organizing board hopes the forum will be a bridge between the nearly 500 investors and listed companies by answering their questions and providing them more information on enterprises.
- Ha Tay province to the west of Hanoi will have a new 36-hole golf course by 2010, with the first phase due to finish by 2008 to bring into operation an 18-hole course system. The $22 million project, wholly invested by DK ENC Company Ltd from the Republic of Korea, has freshly received a license from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said the provincial People's Committee.
- The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has agreed to conduct an interest rate swap operation with Japan-based Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ. The bank's HCM City branch will apply an interest rate swap to a foreign-invested textile company, Kondo. The agreement is slated to last for eight years with a maximum principal of $6.3 million.
- The Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines), the largest shipping company in the country, requires around VND 51 trillion (over $3.188 billion) for its development projects in the years to come. The figure was put forth in Vinalines' development plan until 2010 with a vision through 2020, which was recently approved by the Prime Minister.
- The northern province of Ha Tay has 11 additional foreign-invested projects with a combined registered capital of over $41 million in 2006. Noteworthy are an $8 million project to build a branch of the Forward Ha Tay Foreign Language and Vocational Training Centre in Thach That district, and another worth 22 million USD to build a golf course in Chuong My district.
- The combined market capitalization of the shares listed on the Hanoi Securities Trading Center has climbed to VND7.38 trillion (about US$4.8 billion) following the listing of the Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) on the northern bourse. The addition of ACB added VND1 trillion to the total market cap. Other new listings in Hanoi are the Bim Son Cement Joint Stock Company (BCC), the Tien Phong Plastic Joint-Stock Company (NTP) and the Ba Hien Viglacera Joint Stock Company (BHV).
- Sacombank Securities Company (SBS), a subsidiary of Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank), became the 16th member of the Hanoi Securities Trading Center November 6. With a chartered capital of VND300 billion, SBS will provide services including stock brokerage, portfolio management, stock investment and finance consulting.
- Altimo, a leading Russian communications corporation, has held a press conference in Hanoi to announce that its representative office will be opened in Vietnam in late November to carry out investment in communications. The announcement was given just one day after Vietnam entered WTO.
- The Ministry of Trade on November 7 put the English version of Vietnam's commitments to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) onto its website at www.mot.gov.vn. The documents included the working party's report and the country's commitments on tax-cut timetables for goods and for services, which were approved by the Working Party on Vietnam's accession to WTO on Oct. 26.
- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced on Wednesday a grant of US$1.7 million for Vietnam to help build the 2,800-megawatt O Mon gas power generation complex in the south. O Mon’s importance is underscored by Vietnam’s increasing electricity demand at a time when the country is experiencing a 40-50% decline in supply in the dry season when the hydroelectric dams are low.
- China plans to import a huge amount of natural rubber to meet its booming demand for tires and inner tubes, so Vietnam can look forward to a much higher price for its rubber in the remainder of 2006, the Ministry of Trade’s Information Center predicts.
- As consumers are still suspect about the quality of milk, another nationwide inspection of milk products will be carried out this month by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
- The Saigon Jewelry Company (SJC) has asked for a licence from the General Department of Customs to put into operation its gold bonded warehouse in early 2007. This bonded warehouse for gold, the second of its kind in Vietnam, will have a total area of 100sq.m and be located in Tan Binh District in HCM City, near Tan Son Nhat International Airport. It will be able to hold tens of tonnes of gold.
- More than 2 million shares of the Bao Viet Securities Trading Company were recently auctioned at the HCM City and Hanoi Securities Trading Centres at the highest price of VND120,000 per share, 12 times more than its par value.
- Two-way trade between Vietnam and Thailand was estimated at US$3.03 billion in the January - September period of 2006, 28% up over the same period of 2005, reported the Vietnam Trade Office in Thailand. Vietnam’s import and export values to and from Thailand during this period increased by 24% and 12% year on year, respectively.
- The Vietnamese government hopes to equitize all the non-strategic State-owned enterprises by 2009. According to the National Steering Committee for Enterprise Reform and Development, 3,060 wholly State-owned firms had been equitized, to use Vietnam’s term for the privatization process, by the end of August.
- Vietnam’s coffee exports are predicted to reach US$950 million in 2006; an annual increase of more than five percent. After a slight slump in mid-October, coffee exports have risen nearly US$40 a ton since early November.
- Vietnam’s Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank) has an average yearly growth of 36% for its working capital. The bank's total capital is now at more than VND15, 029 billion (about US$939 million), increasing 32 percent in comparison with the beginning of the year.
- Foreign investors bought up to 62% of the total 43 million shares of the Vietnam Construction Import Export Corporation (Vinaconex) during an auction on November 1 at the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre. The volume of stocks sold to foreign investors is equivalent to 28.67% of its chartered capital. This is the first time this corporation has sold shares to outsiders.
- The Export – Import Bank of the US has decided to give a $400mil loan to Vietnam Airlines to fund the air carrier’s project to buy four Boeing 787s. The purchasing deal was inked in June on the Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai’s visit to the US.
- The Ministry of Construction and the Vietnam Cement Association have asked for permission to raise cement prices following the announcement by the Coal and Mineral Group that it intended to raise coal prices. The Electricity of Vietnam is also threatening to set higher-than-expected increases for power prices if coal prices increase.
- Foreign investors have registered to buy 75% of the total bonds worth $62.2mil to be issued by the Electricity of Vietnam, according to EVN consultant, Deutsche Bank. This will be EVN’s 7th bond issuance.
- The Bao Minh Insurance Joint Stock Company has applied to list its shares at the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre. The company has the total chartered capital of VND1,100bil ($68.75mil).
- The Saigon Jewellery Company (SJC) plans to put a second gold bonded warehouse in HCM City into operation. It will be able to contain several tens of tonnes of gold.
- Two Chinese groups have received a licence to invest in Do Son Industrial Zone in the port city of Hai Phong. The investors plan to set up the $10mil Huazhong automobile plant in the city which will produce 10-20 tonne heavy trucks and other specialised vehicles.
- The An Binh Securities Joint Stock Company has become an official transaction member of the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre. The company has set up a branch in HCM City which has also become a member of the HCM City Securities Trading Centre.
- The Mekong River Delta Housing Development Bank plans to issue VND500bil ($31.25mil) worth of bills of exchange from November 15, 2006 to January 15, 2007.
- Gold prices decreased yesterday after rising in previous days. SJC sold gold at VND12,120,000/tael yesterday.
- The VN Index slightly increased yesterday by 2.92 points to 520.03 points in direct response to the news about Vietnam’s admission to the WTO.
- Fimex Vietnam, a Soc Trang-based food company, will put its shares into transaction at the HCM City Securities Trading Centre beginning December 7, 2006. The company’s shares are expected to be hunted by investors thanks to its impressive business results this year. In addition, the company’s director, Ho Quoc Luc, has been selected as one of the top 100 outstanding entrepreneurs.
Social
- An exhibition with the theme "Consequences of ordnances, explosives and Agent Orange left by wars in Vietnam" was opened in Hanoi on November 8. With more than 1,000 objects, the exhibition focuses on the consequences caused by those weapons to the natural environment and people in Vietnam, calling for more aid relief for victims.
- A US veteran, Joan Duff, was presented with an insignia "For peace and Friendship among Nations" for her contributions in boosting the friendly ties between Vietnamese and US people.
- The German Foreign Ministry has decided to give over EUR75,000 to the Malteser charity organisation to help the Xangsane typhoon victims in the central region of Vietnam, said Hanoi-based German Embassy. From the fund of the German Foreign Ministry, the Malteser’s aid workers will provide rice, oil, mosquito nets, corrugated iron sheets and blankets for 1,360 poor households and help disadvantaged people to re-roof their homes. The delivery of the relief has started from today, November 7.
- A solemn ceremony was held at Pho Quang Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City on November 7 to celebrate the 25th founding anniversary of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha.
- A Hanoi administration delegation, led by Ngo Thi Doan Thanh, Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the city's People's Committee, on November 7 laid a basket of flowers at the Lenin Statue in Hanoi on the occasion of the 89th anniversary of the Russian Revolution (November 7, 1917). The same day, delegations from Ba Dinh district, the Union of Friendship Organisations and the Hanoi-based Vietnam-Russia Friendship Association followed suit at the Lenin Park in Hanoi.
- A vocational training centre for former drug addicts, the first of its kind in Hanoi, has been established, aiming at helping their rehabilitation, said an official in charge of social evil prevention of the Hanoi authorities. The 12-hectare centre in a Hanoi suburb can accommodate up to 1,000 trainees at a time and is the biggest among the city's social centres.
- Vietnam Outreach, an Australian-based charity, granted 61 wheelchairs to disabled children in northern Hoa Binh province on November 8. So far, 300 out of 4,000 disabled children in the province have received wheelchairs, and 900 of them have been provided with medical treatment and orthopedic surgery. The province also calls for donations from individuals and organisations to help disadvantaged children. Every year, Hoa Binh grants 70 scholarships to poor children.
- Markcom Research and Consulting on November 8 debuted the first global job & manpower bidding network at www.jobilant.com in Vietnamese, English, Chinese and other languages after the test run on Oct. 24. Jobilant.com is a personnel solution which supports job seekers and employers not only in Vietnam but also other countries in the world.
- Construction students in Vietnam will be offered a chance to be granted with an international certificate by the Francophone University Agency (AUF). Under a joint construction engineer training programme between the Hanoi Construction University and the AUF, between 40-50 outstanding students will be selected for the programme each year by a joint committee between the two partners.
- HCM City plans to consult its residents about decisions in urban planning, Nguyen Trong Hoa, director of the city's Department of Planning and Architecture, has said. Speaking on a weekly TV programme on HCM City Television, Hoa said opinions from the public would be welcome on proposed downtown planning.
- Huynh Quang Vinh, director of the Plant Protection Division of My Xuyen District in Soc Trang Province, has been suspended from his job for not having fulfilled his duty in coping with leaf diseases in paddy fields caused by brown plant hopper Nilaparvata lugens, which has caused an epidemic in the southern delta.
- The organising board of the APEC Week 2006 has rejected nearly 200 cars and 300 drivers that don’t meet standards for serving APEC delegates. Currently, 1,200 cars meeting standards are being decontaminated and kept under security.
- Ho Chi Minh City’s top 40 students of the year gathered at the Reunification Palace on Tuesday to receive due recognition and other rewards for their academic prowess. Their number included high school leavers from poor families but with perfect scores in the university entrance examination.
Lifestyle, Travel & Sports
- The Han Nom Institute has collaborated with the French School of Asian Studies and the Applied School for Higher Studies of France to publish the "Corpus of Ancient Vietnamese Inscriptions".
The "Corpus of Ancient Vietnamese Inscriptions" comprises of 40 volumes containing the reproduction of over 50,000 rubbings collected by the Han Nom and the French School of Asian Studies.
- An art exhibition entitled "Thirteen visions from Japan" with 156 artistic photos and 56 paintings, reflecting the beauty of Japanese and Vietnamese people, opened in Hanoi on November 8. The exhibits, made by 13 artists (five photographers and eight painters), including a Vietnamese painter, are expected to bring a general idea of contemporary painting and photographic art of Japan to visitors. The exhibition will run until November 14.
- A special photo album highlighting the landscapes and people of Vietnam will be issued to leaders at the upcoming 14th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting scheduled between November 12-19 in Hanoi. "Vietnam, My Love" is a collection of selected photos with captions in both English and Vietnamese.
- As many as 30 big stone statues will be displayed in a sculpture garden at the National Convention Centre in Hanoi during the APEC Economic Leaders' Week scheduled for November 12-19. The statues, ranging between 2.5-3.5m in height and 2-7.5 tonnes in weight, were created by sculptor Nguyen Long Buu from the sculpture village of Non Nuoc in central Da Nang city.
- To welcome leaders of Asia-Pacific economies to the 14th APEC meeting next week, professional gardeners from the Thang Long Decorative Plant Association have created botanical displays in various parks around the capital city. The lavish spectacles, titled Decorative Plants in Traditional Cultural of Thang Long and Hanoi, rest at Ly Thai To Square, Indira Gandhi Park, Van Lake and the Quang Trung monument and will remain until November 30.
- The Vietnam-Sweden Culture Development Fund has decided to give 12 gongs worth a total of VND100 million (US$6,200) to Gia Lai province, said the province's Department of Culture and Information. Of the 12 gongs, eight have been granted to eight villages in the Central Highlands province. The other four gongs will be delivered to other villages soon.
- The Institute of Literature joined hands with the Harvard Yenching Institute to host a conference on Vietnamese literature to promote regional and international cultural exchange. The conference has attracted participation of many cultural and literary researchers from both institutes, as well as others from Russia, the US, China, Canada and the Republic of Korea.
- The Hanoi National Conservatory of Music and the Vietnam Song and Dance Theatre have prepared six art programmes to be performed for the APEC Economic Leader’s Meeting Week scheduled from November 14-19.
- Vietnamese pop diva My Linh will be the main act for live shows highlighting her talent and performance skills at Hoa Binh Theater in HCM City next week and at the Friendship Culture Palace in Hahoi one week later.
- HCM City's theatre companies took seven out of nine awards at Vietnam's National Theatre Festival 2006 last weekend. The festival, which began October 8, was organised by the Ministry of Culture and Information's Performing Arts Department and HCM City Stage Arts Association.
- Life Resorts, exhausted mainly by outcries from the general public, has aborted plans to develop a luxury resort alongside the well-known Huong (Perfume) River in Hue City in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue.
- One of the world’s biggest annual travel shows is taking place at the Excel Exhibition Center in London from November 6 to 9, and Vietnam is there. The myriad display booths at World Travel Market 2006 represent 202 countries and regions. Among them is Vietnam’s stall representing 11 travel agents and Vietnam Airlines, a hidden charm that seems to be making a strong impression on the crowds.
- To improve trade, lure more investment and generally promote Vietnam, the Prime Minister has signed Official Document No. 1792 on organizing what are termed “Vietnam Days” in other countries. The promotional events will be held in two or three countries every year. For 2007, the designated countries are France and India. The relevant departments are responsible for building up the “Vietnam Days” programs and coming up with a reasonable budget for the events in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance.
- Top player Nguyen Thanh Nam inched closer to the knockout round of the World Pool Championship in Manila after beating host Dennis Orcollo in Monday's toss-up match. Nam and Orcollo have equal win-loss records between the two after facing off several times during the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tours, but the Philippines journey put Orcollo at a home field advantage without the pressure of being knocked out, while Nam, on the other hand, faced elimination.
- Ngo Lan Phuong won a third prize for Vietnam in the women's individual event of the 14th Asian Chinese Chess Championships, which wrapped up in the southern coasal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau on November 7.
- The Chairman of the Bahrain Football Federation has sent a letter to Secretary General of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) Tran Quoc Tuan to explain why the country didn’t send its strongest team to Vietnam’s Agribank Cup.
- Vietnamese athletes won two gold medals in the 15-17 age group at the world junior sport aerobic Championship in Thailand from November 1-6. Nguyen Tien Phuong took a gold medal in the men's singles with a total of 17.75 points, beating contestants from ten other countries and territories. Tran Thu Ha and Vu Ba Dong carried off another gold medal in the mixed doubles, after beating contestants fro Indonesia, India, Hungary and France.
- Two Vietnamese players Nguyen Thanh Nam and Luong Chi Dung qualified for the world 9-ball pool championship. Chi Dung became the first player to reach the knock-out stage in group 28 as he gained third victory over Chritian Reimering from Germany in his final group game.
- Vietnam will send 59 athletes to the ninth Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled (FESPIC) in Malaysia from November 22 to December 2, 2006. Minister and Chairman of the Vietnam Committee for Physical Education and Sports Nguyen Danh Thai signed a decision to set up a delegation of Vietnamese disabled athletes to compete at the Games.
- After being selected for the women's national volleyball squad to compete in the Qatar Asian Games next month, Tran Thi Ngoc Diep, 16, has become the youngest and tallest player in the team's history. Standing at 1.85m, Diep takes over the record from Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa at 1.83m, and will play in the middle attacking position at the games.
Sci-tech, Health & Environment
- The National Paediatrics Hospital will conduct its second marrow transplant, this time on a 15-year-old girl, by the end of this month after paediatricians successfully conducted the first some months ago.
- Ngoc Linh ginseng has been found on Ngoc Lum Heo mountain in Phuoc Son district, central Quang Nam province. Nguyen Nhu Chinh, Deputy Director of the provincial Public Health Department, said the 2,000 m high Ngoc Lum Heo mountain was the second place in the province that possesses Ngoc Linh ginseng.
- Vietnam has been successfully containing bird flu epidemic with no new outbreaks reported nationwide over almost 11 months, said Quang Anh, Head of Veterinary Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Department. Quang Anh made the confirmation at a regular meeting of the National Steering Committee of Bird Flu Prevention and Control on November 7.
- The information that Vietnam joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was spread around by the online Vietnamese community on November 7. The happiness of the online community about this event was shown through the avatar on Yahoo Messenger and blogs.
- The Ministry of Culture and Information and the Business Software Alliance on November 7 jointly announced the formation of a partnership in a bid to promote enforcement of intellectual property (IP) rights related to software. The partnership includes the ministry's Copyright Office and inspectors and is the first international partnership in Vietnam working in IP rights protection.
- HCM City-based Cho Ray Hospital announced on Tuesday that it will give free refraction treatment with Laser Excimer technology to patients who have health insurance. The hospital will consider supporting 30 to 50 percent of fees for poor patients who do not have the insurance cards.
- The Vietnam-Japan Economic Committee presented a mobile eye clinic to the Central Eye Hospital (85 Ba Trieu Street - Hanoi) on Monday in the presence of Vietnamese Health Minister Tran Thi Trung Chien and Japanese extraordinary and plenipotentiary Ambassador Hattori Norio.
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