Dong Nai Bridge linked up

The Dong Nai Bridge, a major traffic work connecting Dong Nai Province and Ho Chi Minh City, has been linked up after more than 17 months of construction.

The linking of the five-lane bridge, which spans 461.6 meters in length and 20 meters in width, was carried out by the Construction Corporation No. 1 on November 27.

The bridge was built under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contract at a total cost of VND1.877 trillion (US$102 million) to replace the existing Dong Nai Bridge that has been too congested.

The new bridge will be officially put into operation December 31 after the remaining work is carried out. This includes installing railings, setting up lighting systems and laying asphalt, said deputy head of the Vietnam Road Department, Mai Anh Tuan.

It is an important project that will help streamline traffic at the eastern gateway of HCM City, said Deputy Minister of Construction Cao Lai Quang.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai asked concerned agencies to repair the existing Dong Nai Bridge to raise its weight-bearing capacity so that 30-ton vehicles can travel across it.
 
Meeting on micro-organic resources

Asian scientists who specialise in microbiology and bio-technologies met in Ha Noi yesterday to discuss how to preserve and sustain the use of micro-organic resources.

Addressing the seminar, part of the sixth conference of the Asian Society for Microbiology, Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan said that Viet Nam, an agricultural country, considered the bio-technology field as one of the priorities in its strategy to develop science and technology.

She also said that Viet Nam attached a great deal of importance to international co-operation, particularly with other Asian countries, in developing scientific research and advanced technologies.

"Economic development combined with advanced bio-technologies is now also a target for many other countries, including Viet Nam," she stressed.

At the seminar, scientists from China, Japan, the South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam shared their experiences in preserving and exchanging resources and in personnel training.

The seminar also discussed plans to deal with urgent issues related to the environment, food security and the transfer of green technologies.

Milk output boosted with technology

A joint Vietnamese-Belgian breeding project is helping to boost income for dairy farmers.

The project – implemented in greater Ha Noi’s former Ha Tay province and other provinces of Vinh Phuc, Ha Nam and Bac Ninh – gives breeders access to advanced husbandry technology.

The number of dairy cows has risen by 54 per cent since the project was implemented five years ago, while each cow now produces 30 per cent more milk, said Hoang Kim Giao, head of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Breeding Department.

The project has helped increase the average farmers’ income by VND15.7 million (US$880) a year, he added.

The Vietnamese and Belgian governments invested more than 2.8 million euros ($4.1 million) in the project, which began in February 2005. Belgium contributed 2 million euros.

Meeting on World AIDS Day held in HCM City 

Over 1,000 people participated in a meeting in Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City on November 28 in response to World AIDS Day (December 1).

The meeting was aimed at calling on the whole society to participate in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Speaking at the event, the Permanent Deputy Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, Nguyen Thanh Tai, informed that the number of newly effected HIV patient in the city in the first nine months of the year was 3,036, lower than that in the same period last year (4,477cases).

By June 30, 2009, Vietnam had more than 149,000 HIV carriers and 32,400 AIDS patients. HCM City is the locality with the highest number of HIV/AIDS sufferers. Drug users and prostitutes are high-risk groups, according to a report from the Health Ministry’s Anti-HIV Department.

Ministry hopes to boost investment in the south

A conference entitled “promoting investment in culture, sports and tourism in southern provinces” was held in the Dai Nam Tourist Resort in Binh Duong province on November 28 by the Ministry of  Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST).
 
At the event, MCST Vice Minister  Tran Chien Thang said the southern provinces and cities have great potential for developing culture, sports and tourism with their famous orchards and crisscrossed canals.

However, Mr. Thang said such potential has not been fully exploited because of improper investment in the region.

He called on businesses to invest in these areas to lay a firm foundation for future development in the region.

Population growth hits record low

Population growth in the 2001-2010 period dropped to 1.2 percent, the lowest in fifty years, said Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Ba Thuy.

Speaking at a conference in Quang Ninh province on November 27, Deputy Minister Thuy said that the network to provide reproductive health care services has been extended widely to grassroots level, which has helped improve the quality of the Vietnamese population.

This can be seen in the percentages of fatalities among pregnant women and children under one year of age, which had gone down considerably in the 2000-2008 period, Thuy added.

However, he warned that the country would face many difficulties in the coming time including high population density, gender inequality and low population quality.

Participants to the conference also dealt with some challenges in population and family planning work including the shortage of skilled labourers and a rise in the number of mentally retarded people. Vietnam’s Human Development Index remains at the average level globally, and ranks 116/174 on the average lifespan for a strong person.

6,000 unsafe milk products still for sale: VFA
 
FrieslandCampina Vietnam has recalled around 96 percent of its Dutch Lady Vivinal GOS milk which reportedly caused allergic reactions in some children who consumed the product, said the Vietnam Food Administration (VFA). However, some 6,000 products remain in the market.

The VFA recently ordered the company to withdraw the remaining products and publicize warnings about the milk in the media.

Vivinal GOS is advertised as containing GOS (Galacto Oligosacharide), a natural fiber in dairy that helps enhance absorption of nutrients and stimulate healthy growth.

Some 21 toddlers in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi were hospitalized in recent weeks with rashes, breathing problems, and stomach upset, allegedly after drinking Dutch Lady Vivinal GOS milk.
 
UNDP-funded project on justice access launched

The Ministry of Justice and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on November 27 kicked off a project to strengthen access to justice and rights protection in Vietnam.

The 5-year project, which has a total investment of US$6.4 million funded by the UNDP, will assist Vietnam in implementing legal and judicial reforms till 2014. It will help the Secretariat of the Central Judicial Reform Steering Committee conduct research on the implementation of the Judicial Reform Strategy towards 2020.

The project, which is supported by bilateral donors through the One-UN Fund, also aims to strengthen partnerships and aid coordination between the Vietnamese government, donors and social organisations.

Speaking at the launch, Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong said that the project will help create a new cooperation framework and open a new chapter in legal and judiciary cooperation between Vietnam and the international community.

The implementation of the project will help realise objectives set out in the country’s 10-year socio-economic development strategy as well as plans to implement the One-UN Initiative and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Mr. Cuong said.

According to UNDP Country Director in Vietnam Setsuko Yamazaki, reaching a middle income will be a challenge for Vietnam’s legal and judicial reforms and this requires a law-governed state with wider access to justice and stronger legal rights granted to poor people.

The project represents UNDP’s continued commitment to supporting the country’s important reform efforts, she said.

Project to improve science, technology

Viet Nam yesterday began a project to improve the implementation of science and technology policies.

The two-year project, backed by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), will offer policy advice on science, technology and innovation strategy and the implementation of high technology law from 2011-20.

The US$650,000 project was signed yesterday in Ha Noi between representatives of the UN group and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The project aims to enhance the capacity of Vietnamese policymakers and stakeholders in developing policies and strategies on science, technology and industrial innovation - and make it compatible with the economic and social goals of the nation.

It will also provide policy advice on implementing regulations of the law on high technology which became effective in July this year.

Deputy Minister Le Dinh Tien said science and technology would help Viet Nam achieve sustainable and clean development - and save energy.

Nilguen Tas, UNIDO representative in Viet Nam, said that as the nation was definitely a top performer in achieving growth, the strategies should be dynamic enough to match this.

The project will be implemented under the UN’s "One Plan", a joint action programme between the Government and all 14 resident UN organisations in Viet Nam.

Meeting considers methods to reduce emissions, deforestation

Vietnamese scientists and environmental managers met this week to discuss ways of implementing a United Nations programme to reduce carbon dioxide emissions caused by deforestation.

The meeting, titled the Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD), was held in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, which is at the heart of a heavily forested region.

Ways of combining the programme with a provincial land-use programme to prevent further forest degradation were high on the list of topics.

Many delegates said that many lessons learned overseas could be applied to Lam Dong, including raising people’s awareness and attracting the involvement of the local community. This includes seeking backing from local and foreign businesses and organisations.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hua Duc Nhi gave his support, saying that the programme would not only help protect and develop forests, but also improve the lives of those who depend on the forests.

Viet Nam is one of nine countries chosen by the UNDP to implement the UN-REDD programme. And Lam Dong was selected as the centre of the programme because it has the largest forest coverage in Viet Nam.

Sponsored by the Norwegian Government, the US$4.3 million scheme will be carried out over 20 months.

The results gained from the scheme will serve as a foundation for a UN master programme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and preventing global climate change.

Germans share co-op knowhow

Representatives of Gernman co-operatives shared their success stories at a seminar held yesterday in the southern province of Tay Ninh.

The seminar followed a working visit by a delegation from the Viet Nam Co-operative Alliance to several co-operatives in Germany in August.

The delegates from German Co-operative and Raiffeisen Confederation (DGRV) gave their observations on the development of Viet Nam’s co-operative sector including its shortcomings, and discussed ways to ensure that the mutual interests of its members are maintained.

The German delegates said a co-operative was typically set up when individuals could not deal effectively with some economic challenges, when people who shared interests were also willing to share resources and efforts to help each other.

Hildegard Von Walther, DGRV Southeast Asian project development manager, said development policies were not as important for a co-operative as the identification of factors inhibiting its development. The real challenge was to find ways to negate these factors, he said.

"Viet Nam’s co-operatives have not been very successful because their members didn’t see benefits after being part of them," Hildegard said. She pledged to support Viet Nam in training officials and members of co-operatives in the country.

Hoang Van Long, head of the Viet Nam Co-operative Alliance’s Popularisation and Information Committee, said the country had similar criteria as Germany on setting up a co-operative, but these were not observed in practice.

Most co-operatives in Viet Nam had not paid much attention to training their members. Only new members received regular training courses while the seniors were ignored, Long said.

As of 2008, Viet Nam had more than 18,000 co-operatives, 24 of them members of the co-operative alliance that created jobs for 21 million members, or 25 per cent of the country’s population, the meeting heard.

Leader of woman trafficking ring seized

Nguyen Thi Thuy, 25, of southern Soc Trang Province, was arrested on Wednesday for being suspected a leader of the woman trafficking ring, according to Immigration Department and police of Can Tho city.

Previously, the police seized and prosecuted four other suspects in the ring.

According to the police, Thuy and her accomplices had trafficked tens of girls to Malaysia and sold them for brothels.

About 4,300 fake products found

As many as 4,300 fake products labelled famous brands were found on Wednesday in 16 out of 34 warehouses of Phuong Dong Trading and Service Co Ltd in District 5, HCM City, said Hoang Cong Son deputy head of the city’s Market Watch Team.

Most of the illegal products were imported from China.

Financial aid provided to storm victims

Over VND5.7 billion (US$308,000) was given on Thursday to the Central Committee of the Viet Nam’s Fatherland Front to support storm victims in four provinces of central and central highlands by the Ministry of Information and Communications.

The money was collected from 804,803 supporting messages via a national humanity electric information website http://1400.vn.

Police discover fire safety violations

Ha Noi police found violations on fire fighting and prevention in high buildings after inspecting nearly 300 buildings which had more than 10 storeys in the city.

In many high buildings, exit ways were blocked, fire fighting equipment damaged or has yet to be maintained, guards did not know how to use the equipment. Moreover, residents usually used appliance that easily caused fire without knowledge about fire prevention and fighting.

Quang Tri approves scholarships

The People’s Committee of the central Quang Tri Province has approved scholarship of VND2.3 billion (US$125,000) for students from the Van Kieu and Pa Co ethnic minorities in this school year.

The scholarship would be given to students in four districts of Huong Hoa, Da Krong, Gio Linh and Vinh Linh.

It intended to encourage students to overcome material difficulties and continue studying further.

PV