US Government announces fellowships for Vietnamese

The Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF), an independent US Government agency, has announced its invitation for candidates for its scholarship programmes in the next two years.

Accordingly, Vietnamese citizens who want to pursue graduate and post-graduate studies in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine are invited to apply for 43 scholarships in the VEF’s 2015 Fellowship and Visiting Scholar Programmes.

Beside, its US Scholar Programme will provide at least one scholarship for US professors to teach in the same fields of study in Vietnam .

Created by the US Congress, the VEF receives an annual budget of US$5 million until 2018, with the aim to strengthen the Vietnam-US bilateral relationship through educational exchanges.

Corruption trial begins for former Agribank director

Just over US$25 million was embezzled from the State budget, the People's Court of HCM City heard yesterday at the start of a corruption trial involving the director general of Agribank Financial Leasing Company No 2 (ALCII).

Former ALCII chief executive Vu Quoc Hao was charged with embezzling VND531 billion ($25.3 million) worth of State property, abusing his position and power while on duty and deliberately violating State regulations on economic management, causing serious outcomes.

Of the total funds, Hao, and ten other defendants indicted on charges of misappropriating property, were accused of taking more than VND80 billion ($3.8 million) for personal gain.

Under the alleged violations which occurred from April 2008 to March 2009, Vu Quoc Hao and Nguyen Van Tai, the former deputy general director of ALC II signed 10 contracts for financial leasing and asset purchasing and granted loans of hundreds of billions of dong to a number of companies for asset investment.

Despite ALC II not being allowed to grant credit loans it transpires the companies spent the loan money on non-fixed assets, thus retrieving the money is expected to be difficult, if not impossible.

These companies include; Quang Vinh Construction and Trade Co Ltd, Ham Rong JSC, Xuan Viet Trading and Service Co Ltd, and Dai Phu Gia company.

The court heard that Hao used his power and position to sign financial leasing contracts to draw out VND75 billion ($3.5 million) for his personal use. Hao was also accused of appropriating VND4.9 billion from a contract signed with Anh Phuong Company in southern Dong Nai Province.

ALCII is member of the State-run Viet Nam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development located in District 5 of HCM City and Vu Quoc Hao is listed as a member of the board of directors and the general director.

The trial is expected to run until November 20.

Fishermen saved from drifting boat

A drifting fishing vessel with 28 fishermen on board reached shore in central Quang Ngai Province's Binh Son District this morning.

The boat was escorted by sea border guards for one day until it was safe.

The vessel broke down with engine failure and drifted in rough seas as it tried to escape the tropical low pressure storm yesterday.

The vessel took off from central Da Nang City on July 20 to go fishing for cuttlefish around the Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelago.

The fishermen are reported to be in a satisfactory condition.

Church convenes third congress

The Christian Fellowship Church of Viet Nam held its third congress in HCM City yesterday with the participation of nearly 700 pastors, licensed ministers, followers and guests.

The congress reviewed the church's performance from 2011 to 2013, worked out orientations for the 2013–15 tenure and elected a new executive board.

In the new tenure, the church will offer theological training courses, build new churches and further social activities, among others.

At the congress, deputy head of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs Bui Thanh Ha said that the Christian Fellowship Church of Viet Nam together with followers of other religions and compatriots throughout the country had actively joined in hunger eradication, poverty reduction and other social drives.

The Party and State always created favourable conditions for dignitaries and followers to practice religious freedom and contribute to the cause of national construction and great unity, he affirmed.

Since its first congress in 2009, the church has expanded its operations to 55 cities and provinces. With nearly 180,000 followers, it has conducted various charitable activities such as donating clothes to disadvantaged people and repairing houses for disaster victims.

HCM City develops market model to ensure food safety

The municipal Department of Industry and Trade has begun applying a traditional market model that meets food safety and hygiene standards.

Le Ngoc Dao, deputy director of the department, said the model is being developed as a response to a directive from the Ministry of Industry and Trade to meet customers' demand for clean products.

The Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and Tan Xuan wholesale market in Hoc Mon District will be chosen as pilot institutions to apply the model that will require most target products to have evidence of origin, have reputable brand names and expiry date clearly mentioned on their labels.

Among the targeted produce are fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as meat. The model is expected to boost sales of vegetables that meet VietGAP standards.

Food and beverage items must also include a label of origin of the raw materials used to make them.

Vo Thi Chat, a trader at the Tan Xuan wholesale market, said, "I am participating in free training courses on food safety and hygiene in order to supply my products to kitchens and supermarkets in the city."

Most traders at the two markets said that all the vegetables and fruits at the markets are carefully selected.

Any poor quality product like damaged vegetable or fruits must be thrown away and not sold to unwary customers, said one trader.

Nguyen Thi Kim Dung, another trader at Tan Xuan wholesale market, said "We work closely with the producers or farmers to ask them not to use banned chemicals and/ or additives."

Nguyen Thi Ha, a trader at Ben Thanh market, said traders in food and beverage shops are attending meetings on food and hygiene issues every month.

"Under the model we have to note down the origins of our products everyday. Staff at food and beverage shops should have health check ups every six months," she said.

Many traders in the two markets are still confused and are not willing to join the project that has just begun implementation.

Dao said most dealers in the traditional markets are used to selling cheap products that cannot show their production origins.

He said many vendors neglect food safety and hygiene standards as they try to maximise profits.

However, for their part, the vendors and traders said it is difficult for them to trace the origins of products like vegetables, fruit, fish and shrimp.

They said the quality of products, especially food items, vegetables and fruit, must be ensured and verified by authorities at the production stage, so traders can easily choose them to supply to their consumers.

A pork trader at the Tan Xuan market suggested that the city enable traders to know where to source safe meat.

Nguyen Tien Dung, deputy director of the Tan Xuan wholesale market, said the city needs to better disseminate needed information to traders at the two markets.

The municipal industry and trade department has said it will organise workshops to disseminate information to traders and provide training sessions on food safety and hygiene standards.

The media also plays an important role in raising consumers' awareness of using clean products as well as promoting branded vegetable products that meet VietGAP standards, officials said.

The department has asked producers of safe vegetables and fruits to offer more incentive for traders in order to promote and ensure outlets for their products.

Dao said the model would be soon extended to other traditional markets and distributors in the city, covering a wider range of products.

At present, customers want to buy safe products but have no idea where to get them, while producers with safe products don't know how to market them effectively, he said.

Yen Bai facilitates building new rural areas

The northern mountainous province of Yen Bai has achieved encouraging results in its new rural area construction, according to the local authority.

One third of the province’s communes have met new rural criteria on planning, electricity, healthcare, education, security and social order.

Yen Bai province has spent nearly 2.15 trillion VND (101 million USD) in building new rural areas over the past three years.

The local authority said at present majority capital for this programme come from the state and local budget. In the time to come, the province will seek for more funds from residents and different economic sectors to increase capital for the programme.

The local authority said province strives to turn all its selected communes into new rural areas by 2015.

A new rural area has 19 criteria on infrastructure, living standard, poverty reduction, economic development, healthcare, culture, environment, security and social order.

Hanoi targets all rural population to access clean water by 2015

Hanoi has set a target that all the rural population will have access to hygienic water by 2015, of whom 60 percent will use clean water meeting the Health Ministry’s standards.

To achieve the target, the city has invested about 3.94 trillion VND (187.6 million USD) in building inter-communal clean water supply systems, communal and district level clean water supply stations and expanding the urban clean water supply network.

Over the past five years, the ratio of rural population accessing hygienic water has increased by only 3.4 percent.

As a result, only 86 percent of rural people can access to hygienic water and 33 percent of them are using water that meets the Health Ministry’s standards.

Director of the Centre for Water and Sanitation in Rural Areas Le Van Duong attributed difficulties in mobilising enough capital for clean water production projects to the low rate of rural people accessing hygienic water.

In addition, some grassroots authorities’ scant attention to clean water supplying to rural areas and lack of awareness on the issue from part of the population are behind the slow progress in implementing water supply-related projects in rural areas, he added.-

HCM City to pilot automated customs system

The Customs Department of Ho Chi Minh City will pilot the Vietnam Automated Cargo and Port Consolidated System/Vietnam Customs Information System (VNACCS/VCIS) from November 15.

Deputy head of the department Nguyen Huu Nghiep said that enterprises have already used e-customs but mostly for data transmission, while customs agencies still have to process procedures in manual ways.

The application of the new system, funded by the Japanese Government, will improve the customs management and benefit enterprises much more than the current method, he added.

It will minimise the intervention by customs officers in dealing with procedures. On the other hand, this system also requires more data input, technology update and cooperation from both enterprises and customs agencies.

To prepare for the piloting, the department has organised a training course on the new system for over 1,000 enterprises.

VNACCS/VCIS will be fully applied from April 1, 2014.

According to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), up to 98 percent of customs declaration forms (30 – 40 million) in Japan are processed through the system.

Tien Giang announces A/H5N1 flu on poultry

The Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang on November 6 announced the presence of the H5N1 virus on poultry flocks in Tan Phu Dong district.

The provincial People’s Committee asked all relevant units to take all preventive measures to avoid virus spreading.

The moves came after duck flocks of four households in Tan Phu and Tan Thoi communes were found positive to virus H5N1 and 315 out of the 557 infected died. The remaining were also culled.

The province’s veterinary sector has to date conducted inoculation on more than 12,000 fowls of 54 households in the two communes and decontaminated the area

Food security for Southeast Asia on the menu

About 60 international and domestic decision makers and researchers have debated how to build scenarios for food security, environment and livelihoods for Southeast Asia by 2050.

At a three-day workshop ending on November 7, held in northeastern Quang Ninh Province's Ha Long Bay, deputy head of the Science, Technology and Environment Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Dinh Vu Thanh said that building the scenarios for Vietnam, in particular, was believed to be vital for the purpose of the sustainable growth that Vietnam targeted.

"However, it demanded multi-stakeholder scenarios be built in the context that Vietnam is one of five countries that would suffer the most from climate changes," he said.

Multi-stakeholder scenarios meant that the scenarios had to provide full analyses of how key socio-economic and governance uncertainties affect food security, environments and livelihoods; and how socio-economic drivers interact with climate change in Vietnam and across the region, he said.

Le Huy Ham, Director of the ministry's Agricultural Genetic Institute, said that in Vietnam, under the scenario of 3 degrees Celsius rise in global temperatures by 2050, roughly 10 percent of the country's agricultural land will be lost, impacting the lives of more than 20 million people.

In the meantime, the challenge in this region was to reduce greenhouse gasses, especially methane from rice production systems, while boosting food production to feed a growing population on less land, with increased vulnerability to flooding, water salinity and increased biotic and abiotic stresses, Ham said.

Leocadio Sebastian, CGIAR's Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Regional Programme Leader for Southeast Asia said that the workshop would try to capture the complex socio-cultural, economic undercurrent of factors – markets, governance, economic and infrastructure developments – in the region that would be crucial for food security and would also be impacted by climate change.

The workshop was co-organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and several international organisations including Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR); Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).

Int’l workshop discusses reproductive medicine

Vietnamese and foreign experts and doctors gathered at an international workshop in Hanoi on November 6 to share experience and update latest advances in reproductive medicine.

From 1-5 percent of children in the America and Europe are born with the help of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).

In Vietnam, the total rate of infertility is nearly 13 percent. One out of every six couples in the country has difficulties in fertilisation.

Panels at the workshop focused their discussions on reproductive medicines, infertility and advanced technology in treating this phenomenon.

According to doctor Duong Dinh Hieu from the Vietnam Military Medical Academy, as many as 45.6 percent of 57 patients applying the In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) techniques at the academy are successful.

ART is a combination of medical and biological technologies to intervene in natural reproduction procedure to improve productivity.-

Quinvaxem vaccine to be reused in HCM City

Ho Chi Minh City will resume the use of the five-in-one Quinvaxem vaccine from November 11 until the end of January, 2014 after it was declared to be safe.

According to the municipal Preventive Healthcare Centre, up to 72,000 children in the city will be inoculated with the vaccine per month.

In order to ensure the vaccination goes smoothly, the centre has directed its district medical stations to strictly comply with recommended procedures and provide people with post-vaccination symptoms.

On November 5, Hanoi also resumed the use of Quinvaxem vaccine for the expanded vaccination programme in the city.

Quinvaxem prevents five common, potentially fatal childhood diseases, including diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B and pneumonia, and meningitis.

Manufactured by the Republic of Korea’s Berna Biotec Company, Quinvaxem has been used in Vietnam since 2010.

According to the World Health Organisation, over 400 million doses of Quinvaxem have been administered in 90 countries since 2006.

Vietnam received 15.8 million doses, of which 15.2 million were delivered to localities from June 1, 2010, following the Government’s approval to use it in the expanded vaccination programme to protect infants under 12 months old against deadly childhood diseases.

Sweden supports An Giang’s environmental protection

Sweden’s agencies will continue support for environmental protection and climate change adaptation projects in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang.

The commitment was made by representatives from the Sweden International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the Swedish Embassy in Vietnam during their working session with the provincial leaders on November 6.

The two sides shared views on future assistance cooperation orientations between Vietnam and Sweden . They also agreed on cooperation programmes proposed by An Giang, including those on making products from rice husks and straws, community-based rural waste management, and developing biomass energy in An Giang and the Mekong Delta region.

Over the past two years, An Giang has cooperated with Swedish agencies and localities in implementing three projects. They include a sustainable community development project between An Giang and Pitea city, a biomass energy project between An Giang and Vaxjo city, and a Centre of Excellence project on renewable energy and energy efficiency between the locality and the Swedish Energy Agency.

Philippines cooperate with Vietnam’s universities

A seminar to improve collaboration between universities of Vietnam and the Philippines was held on November 6 in the northern province of Thai Nguyen.

Attendees were representatives from the Philippine Embassy in Vietnam along with nearly 40 lecturers and scientists from universities and colleges of the Philippine Association of Board Secretaries of State Colleges and Universities (PABSSCU) and Thai Nguyen province.

At the event, participants discussed the partnership between the Thai Nguyen University and Philippine State colleges and universities, management methods, and prospects for cooperation expansion.

The biannual seminar aims to highlight the role of PABSSCU in the regional university system as well as consolidate cooperation between the two countries via international educational partnership programmes, scientific research and exchanges of students and lecturers.

The first event was organised in Singapore in 2011.

RoK to resume receiving Vietnamese guest workers

The Republic of Korea (RoK)’s government would consider the possibility of granting multiple exit/entry visa to both Vietnamese and Korean citizens, said RoK Ambassador to Vietnam Jun Dae Joo.

The move aims to facilitate trade and investment activities and promote the relationship between the two countries, added the diplomat during his visit to the Lao dong (Labour) newspaper in Hanoi on November 5.

He also said during RoK President Park Geun-hye’s visit to Vietnam from September 7 to 11, Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang and his counterpart Park Geun-hye had agreed to boost multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries, including labour cooperation.

Vietnam and the RoK signed their first memorandum of understanding on guest workers under the Korea Employment Permit System (EPS) in 2004, and extended it every two years. However, RoK ceased accepting new Vietnamese workers in August 2012.

Vietnam faces internet security risks

Vietnam has been deemed one of the most unsecure and dangerous destinations for internet security following an audit of over one million computers listed in the global botnet.

Dr. Vu Quoc Khanh, Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT) Director, said 1,428 hacked cases were reported in the first nine months of 2013, higher than last year’s total figure.

On average, computers in Vietnam deliver more than 3.33 million spams daily, he said.

Bach Khoa Internetwork Security Centre (BKAV), a leading internet security firm, warns that cell-phone viruses can affect computers. Internet users should be aware of new ways of hacking via laptops and mobile phones, BKAV suggests.

*** A special event named “Vietnam Information Safety Day” will be launched in Ho Chi Minh City on November 14 and Hanoi on November 21.

A host of activities will take place during the event, including a seminar and an exhibition on information safety and security in a modern society.

Vietnamese community’s solidarity praised

Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Manh Hung has praised overseas Vietnamese in Khammouan province for reinforcing solidarity and preserving national identities.

During a recent working session with the executive board of the Association of Overseas Vietnamese in Khammouan, Ambassador Hung suggested the association build a Vietnamese community’s primary school into Vietnam – Laos school in the time ahead, asking them to comply with the law and live in harmony with their host fellows.

The association comprises 400 households with 2,000 people. Up to 70 percent of them live on trading while others are farmers.

Khammoune is home to Sieng Vang village where President Ho Chi Minh lived and worked in 1929. During the war in 1946, the Laos – Vietnam coalition troops fought against French invaders on Thakhek battlefield.

Vietnam boost cooperation with Belgian localities

The Vietnamese Embassy in Belgium hosted a round-table discussion on Vietnam on November 6 with the participation of 11 Belgian provincial governors.

At the discussion, Vietnamese ambassador Pham Sanh Chau briefed participants on the political, socio-economic situation in Vietnam and policies for cooperation and development between the country and other countries including Belgium.

He applauded the cooperative relations between the two nations as well as between Vietnamese and Belgian localities in the fields of economics, education and training, hoping that Belgian provincial leaders will provide more support for Vietnam-Belgium cooperation programmes.

Luxembourg provincial governor Bernard Caprasse praised Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements while affirming Belgian localities’ willingness to expand cooperation with Vietnam in education, training and the environment.

He said he hopes that more and more Vietnamese staffs and students will receive interregional scholarships to study in Belgium in the time ahead.

Governor of East Flanders province Jan Briers said his province has maintained a close relationship with Vietnamese localities over the past two decades and their cultural cooperation has been promoted.

Source: VOV/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri