HCM City pays $57m in unemployment benefits

Last year, 109,600 laid-off workers in HCM City applied for unemployment benefits, according to the city's Job Placement Centre.

Also, nearly 108,500 employees were paid unemployment insurance benefits worth VND1.2 trillion (US$57.1 million).

Around 5,700 unemployed workers registered for vocational training courses in 2013. The centre posted information about jobs to more than 77,600 laid-off workers, and half of them successfully applied for these positions. Also last year, 23,000 people found jobs through employment fairs organised by the centre. The centre plans to introduce jobs to 330,000 people this year and expects to record 100,000 applications for unemployment benefits in 2014.

Festive blooms stop the traffic

It seems folks in the city are all flocking to well known hotspots to choose the best flower pots to adorn their homes for Tet (Lunar New Year).

Amidst the gaiety that this activity brings out into the city's streets, there are some residents, including commuters, who are not sharing the festive cheer.

The reason is not difficult to discern – worsening traffic congestion.

Hoang Hoa Tham Street has for long been known as the place-to-go in Ha Noi to purchase plants and flowers. The already crowded street now is now overflowing.

At this flower market, which runs from the fork of Lac Long Quan and Buoi Streets to the Hoang Hoa Tham Junior Secondary School on the eponymous street, the flower pots and plants have not just encroached the pavement, but spilled on the street as well, colourfully and fragrantly blocking traffic.

Elsewhere, on Au Co Street, the Quan Thanh intersection and several other places, dozens of street vendors have set up shop, drawing both admiring glances and frustrated looks with the flora they put on display.

In many places, pavements and roadsides are no longer the preserve of pedestrians, they have become ad-hoc markets.

At the mini flower markets on Thuy Khue Street, which are taking up large spaces in front of temple gates, customers stop right on the road to bargain and make purchases, and the congestion this causes during rush hours is particularly bad.

Authorities say they are aware of the problem, but have limited intervention options.

Lieutenant Phung Duc Hieu of the Traffic Police Department said congestion at the Hoang Hoa Tham – Buoi fork has become a Tet practice, because the traffic flow is always very high during this period of the year.

Although traffic police officers are deployed in the area the whole day, it is almost impossible to avoid the jams caused, he said.

Fines for pavement and road encroachment have not proved effective because these violations continued to happen during the Tet season.

Bui Tuan Duong, Vice Chairman of Thuy Khue Ward's People's Committee, said they have asked Tay Ho District's People's Committee to relocate the business area, but no decision has been taken yet.

Viet Nam sees increase in ‘vulnerable' workers

Viet Nam recorded a 2.2 per cent increase in "vulnerable employment" – which is either self-employment or employing family workers – in the fourth quarter of 2013.

These findings were shown in comparison to 2012 statistics, as seen in a new report issued by the International Labour Organisation.

Meanwhile, overall employment grew by only 1.7 per cent. As a result, vulnerable employment in Viet Nam reached 62 per cent of total employment – well above the global figure of 47.7 per cent.

At the same time, Viet Nam remained among those countries with the lowest jobless rate globally in the fourth quarter of 2013, although its unemployment rate rose to 1.9 per cent from 1.8 per cent in the same period of 2012.

During this period, the country's labour force increased by close to one million people, with the majority of positions in services, industry and construction.

Gov’t orders tightened measures to prevent bird flu

The Prime Minister has requested ministries, agencies and localities to strengthen the fight against avian influenza by cracking down on cross-border smuggling of poultry and poultry products, in the context of the rise of a wide range of new virus strains in regional countries and territories.

The PM’s urgent notice No. 133/CD-TTg issued on January 23 said there are high risks for new strains of avian flu viruses like H7N9, H10N8, H5N1, H5N2, H6N1 which are found in both humans and animals to enter Vietnam through illegal poultry and poultry products trading as well as visitors from countries with epidemics.

Therefore, to minimize the risks, relevant agencies and localities must continue to keep up efforts in implementing earlier instructions on bird flu prevention and anti-smuggling fight, the notice said.

The Ministry of Information and Communications is instructed to work with relevant ministries, agencies, local authorities and the mass media to raise public awareness of the fight, helping them understand the health risk of contraband poultry and products with ambiguous origin as well as the harm they pose to domestic farmers.

Precautionary measures to prevent virus transmission on both humans and animals will also be introduced to the public along the way.

At the same time, the PM asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Public Health and localities, particularly border areas to keep close check of the situation at home and neighbouring countries, including cross-border travelling, live fowl markets and patients with flu symptoms.

They were also required to get ready an urgent action plan in response to dangerous flu viruses that potentially infect humans.

The World Health Organisation and regional countries reported that 147 people were infected with H7N9 virus with 47 deaths in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan last year. Meanwhile, 38 were diagnosed suffering from H5N1 virus and 24 lost their lives. On January 20, Vietnam also recorded its first death from this virus in the southern province of Binh Phuoc.

Since early 2014, neighbouring China has detected 11 cases of H7N9, including four deaths.

According to the World Veterinary Organisation, H5N1 outbreaks appeared in 13 countries last year. On December 21, 2013 , the highly-pathogenic H5N2 virus was found on domestic and wild birds in Hebei, China-

Major dredging work underway

The central coastal province of Quang Nam is undertaking the first phase of dredging work on the Cua Dai River estuary in Hoi An to enable large fishing vessels to berth.

Phan Quang Them, technical officer with the Domestic Waterway Management Department, which is supervising the project, said the project was divided into two phases.

In the first phase, workers will dredge 100,000 cubic metres of sediment from a 2-km long stretch of waterway to be 30 metres wide and 4 metres deep.

Le Trung Dung, head of the work team, said recent heavy rain and strong waves had hindered operations.

He said work was being sped up to allow fishermen to navigate the estuary after Tet.

During the second phase of work, the province will ask the Ministry of Transport to continue dredging the estuary to make it navigable for even bigger vessels.

Last year, a build-up of silt in the Cua Dai estuary after the eleventh major storm, Nari, hit the region. Not only did this block thousands of fishing boats, but halted most transport to the 3,000 people on the Cham Islands, 15km from the estuary.

The 1km-wide estuary had a depth of only 1.2 metres at low tide and 1.8 metres at high tide. Vessels using engines of more than 30 horsepower could not navigate the shallows.

The provincial People's Committee assigned the Department of Transport to urgently dredge the estuary. The HCM City based-Que Huong Construction and Trading Joint Stock Company won the contract.

New decree stipulates public notification before hiring

The Government has recently issued a new decree regarding the process to be followed when recruiting workers.

According to the decree, companies must notify the public about their seeking to hire new workers at least five days before accepting applications for jobs.

In addition, within five working days after employment decisions have been completed, companies must publicly notify all applicants.

Companies are also requested to return job application documents to the job-seekers, even if they fail to get hired, within five days when an applicant asks for the return of the documents.

Firms fined over stale candy, sugared fruit

The northern mountainous province of Lao Cai's Food Safety and Hygiene Department fined two local fruit companies on Wednesday for violating food safety and hygiene regulations.

An inspection by authorities in Bao Thang District found Le Thanh Binh packing out of date candy and sugared fruit for sale.

Another company was also caught using sugared fruits of unknown origin and different company labels on packaging. Owner Tran Kim Hai failed to produce legal documents to verify the origin of the goods as well as food safety and hygiene certificates.

The inspectors imposed VND2 million (US$90) and VND23 million ($1,100) fines on the two establishments.

Provincial authorities are also co-operating with relevant agencies to ensure food to meets safety and hygiene standards over the Tet holiday.

WB helps Vietnam’s social assistance programmes

The World Bank (WB) on has approved US$60 million in credit to help strengthen Vietnam’s social assistance system via management and service innovations nationwide.

The January 22 announcement noted pilot programmes will be run in four provinces.

Although Vietnam has achieved remarkable poverty reduction outcomes over the past two decades, ethnic minorities and other groups are disproportionately represented among the nation’s disadvantaged. Vietnam’s existing social assistance system leaves important policy and implementation gaps that risk hampering long-term poverty and economic vulnerability reduction. The fragmentation of programs and delivery systems creates considerable inefficiencies.

Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MoLISA) Nguyen Trong Dam agreed Vietnam’s social protection programmes suffer from fragmentation and unnecessary overlaps.,

“We want to consolidate social assistance systems into a robust, long-term driver of sustainable poverty reduction. This project represents a breakthrough in that direction. We are confident the reforms will succeed,” he said.

WB Country Director to Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa noted governments are increasingly focused on protecting their most vulnerable citizens against extreme deprivation, creating failsafes against economic shocks, and providing opportunities to the poor.

The Social Assistance System Strengthening Project (SASSP) will receive the bulk of the funding,  emphasising the importance of involving poor children in their own future and providing them the agency needed to break ”hereditary” poverty cycles.

The project’s strengthened social assistance system, spanning the length of the country, includes critical elements such as a national poverty database tracking poor, near-poor, and social assistance beneficiary households. The information management system supports the Government’s attempts at consolidation and public spending efficiency.

In the four pilot project provinces of Ha Giang, Quang Nam, Tra Vinh and Lam Dong, a consolidated “Cơ hội thoát nghèo truyền kiếp” (Opportunity to Escape Inter-Generational Poverty) programme will replace three existing initiatives. The project is a product of a collaboration between the MoLISA, UNICEF, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), and the WB.

Deputy Minister Dam noted the project presents Vietnam with a great opportunity to modernise its social protection system, establishing new standards of transparency, efficiency, and universal access.  

Tay Ninh to set up border gate management board

The southern province of Tay Ninh will establish a board to manage its international and national border gates before February 15.

According to Pham Van Son, deputy head of the Tay Ninh economic zone management board, the establishment is implemented under the Prime Minister’s decision on managing activities at land border gates.

The new management board will have to coordinate with other relevant agencies in putting forth common statutes on maintaining security, order and peace with neighbouring Cambodia.

Sharing over 240 kilometres of border with Cambodia, Tay Ninh province plays an important role in promoting foreign economic relations development strategies.

It is a link in sub-regional cooperation programmes, as well as regional and international economic integration plans.

In its socio-economic development strategy, the province has identified the border economic zones as a momentum to accelerate the growth and restructuring of its economy towards industrialisation and modernisation.

Tay Ninh has Moc Bai Border Gate Economic Zone and Xa Mat Border Gate Economic Zone, which are both very dynamic, contributing to the local socio- economic development.

The Moc Bai Border Gate not only acts as a trade gateway between Tay Ninh province and Cambodia, but also plays an important role in forming outward economic development as well as an international trade centre of the sub-regional cooperation plans under the economic development strategy of the south of Vietnam.

The zone is among the few border economic zones allowed by the Prime Minister to implement open policies towards the "non-tariff" for the commercial and industrial areas within the border economic zones. The policies offer many investment incentives including zero-tax or reduced tax for companies and individuals, and facilitate immigration and residency at the border economic zone.

Meanwhile, the Xa Mat zone is the most important international border gate of the southern region as it is located on Highway 22B, considered the backbone road connecting the Tonle Sap Lake tourist site with Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and Bangkok (Thailand), and the other northern provinces of Cambodia and Laos, and onward to Myanmar and India.

Friendship association corrects false allegations

The Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Association has made efforts to help correct the opposition’s slanderous allegations against the two countries’ traditional friendship.

It was heard at the ninth conference of the association’s central executive board held in the northern province of Bac Ninh on January 23.

Over the past 35 years of development, the association has set up its chapters in almost all localities across the country, with former experts and veterans being key members.

In 2013, it held a wide range of activities to popularise Vietnam-Cambodia relations.

The Vietnamese side sent tens of doctors to Cambodia to provide free check-ups and treatment for local people.

The association also actively participated in border security protection work, border marker planting and the search for the remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who died in Cambodia.

On the occasion of the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) celebration, the association also presented 10 gifts to poor Vietnamese veterans who fought in the Cambodian battlefields, as well as launched a fundraising campaign to help its members living in difficulty.

Cambodian delegation pays pre-Tet visit to Binh Phuoc

A delegation of senior officials from the five Cambodian provinces of Kampongthom, Mudulkiri, Kampongcham, Kratie and Stungtreng visited the southern province of Binh Phuoc on January 23 on the occasion of the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.

Bidding New Year greetings to the local leaders and people, Kratie province’s Governor Sor Chom Rong thanked Vietnam and Binh Phuoc province in particular for the support given to Cambodia over the past time, especially the five localities.

He voiced his hope that the close friendship, cooperation and solidarity between the two countries and peoples will stay unshakable forever.

In reply, Chairman of the Binh Phuoc People’s Committee Nguyen Van Tram briefed his guests on the province’s socio-economic situation and expressed his thanks to Cambodia for its support in searching for and repatriating Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who died in the country.

Workforce lags behind region

The failure to encourage students to enroll in vocational streams has led to the low quality of human resources in the country, experts told a conference yesterday.

Dr Nguyen Dac Hung, head of the Central Committee for Propaganda and Education's Department for Vocational Training, said the qualifications and skills of the country's workforce are too low.

If things do not change, its human resources cannot compete with those from other countries when Viet Nam joins the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, he warned.

Counselling students to enroll in vocational streams could help improve human resource quality, he said.

Associate Professor Dr Mac Van Tien, head of the National Institute for Vocational Training, said there has been a failure to guide children to join vocational schools for the last 20 years.

Therefore, most secondary school graduates automatically enroll in high schools, and high school graduates in universities, he said, and only a small number join technical and vocational training schools.

One fallout is that unemployment among people with university degrees is much higher than those with vocational training, he said.

The country lacks professional secondary and high school staff to guide students to enter vocational streams, he said.

He called for improving dissemination of information about vocational schools, incentives for students choosing vocational streams, and the need for human resources graduating from vocational schools.

The Government should review its incentives for students choosing vocational schools and businesses working with schools to provide vocational guidance, he said.

Offering incentives would be one way to attract students to vocational schools, he added.

Pham Ngoc Thanh, deputy head of the HCM City Department of Education and Training, spoke about the city's success in persuading students to choose vocational studies.

The People's Committee interest in the matter has contributed to the success, he said.

His department works with businesses to expose students to vocational skills and encourage them to enter such schools, he said.

It also co-operates with district authorities to offer encouragement at the family level too, he added.

Illegal miners kept on the run in Hung Yen

Illegal sand miners in northern Hung Yen Province have been on the run for a month since local authorities launched a major crackdown on their activities.

Specifically, it is claimed that dozens of river dredges have ceased operations in Phu Thinh Commune in Kim Dong District and in Tan Hung Commune in Hung Yen City.

Similar clampdowns have been reported in Kim Dong, Khoai Chau, and Tien Lu districts, according to Le Quang Vinh, head of the Natural Resources and Minerals sub-department under the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

Police are using a variety of measures to stop mining along the Hong and Luoc rivers, Vinh added. They are co-operating with authorities to inspect the theft of sand from many sites.

The province has also run social media campaigns to raise people's awareness about the need to protect the environment. They have also ordered local authorities to honour their responsibilities.

Hung Yen officials have also called on authorities in neighbouring provinces, such as Ha Noi, Ha Nam and Thai Binh, to join in the clampdown.

Kim Dong District police last month arrested the operators of three dredges for scooping sand illegally from the Hong River in Mai Dong Commune's Hanh Lam Hamlet.

Meanwhile, Khoai Chau District police have prosecuted six illegal miners. They were fined a total of VND135 million (more than US$6,000).

According to Khoai Chau and Tien Lu residents, illegal miners began moving in a big way at the start of 2011.They were alleged to be stealing from a thousand to millions of cubic metres of sand a day.

This not only weakened the banks, threatening houses, but also affected the quality of water being supplied to towns and paddy fields.

In Kim Dong District and Hung Yen City, illegal exploitation of alluvial soil also led to the collapse of a large area of land into the Hong River and threatening dykes.

Mineral quarries closed in Tay Ninh

Authorities in southern Tay Ninh Province have closed five quarries in a bid to protect unexploited mineral resources and restore the area's natural landscape in the Ba Den Mountain region.

The total area of the five closed quarries is 16 hectares, according to officials.

Previously, five other quarries were closed in 2005. There is currently no company allowed to excavate rocks at Ba Den Mountain.

Road traffic sees a year of positive outcomes

More than 5.5 million traffic violations nationwide resulted in 2.9 billion VND (138,000 USD) in fines last year, according to the Department of Road and Railway Traffic Police.

With the harmonious collaboration of relevant sectors along with timely solutions, 2013 saw 29,385 road accidents, a decline of 1,610 cases over 2012.

The death toll also decreased by 55 from 9,424 cases.

Such violations as overloading, drink driving or riding without a helmet were provided with proper punishment.

Over the year, the police made reforms in the process of transferring vehicle ownership and taking invalid registrations back.

Additionally, the department put into operation an online system of vehicle management and registration to make it easier for road users.-

Major hospitals in Hanoi, HCM City to be expanded

The Prime Minister has approved the extension of five large hospitals in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the Saigon Giai Phong daily’s English edition reported on January 23.

These projects aim to provide relief for existing overcrowded hospitals.

Development in Hanoi will include Bach Mai and Viet-Duc hospitals while that in Ho Chi Minh City, the Children Hospital, Tumor Hospital and Hospital 175.

The Ministry of Defense will coordinate the expansion of Hospital 175 and the Ministry of health, the rest.

All expansion will start this year and is expected to finish in 2016, by which e ach hospital in Hanoi will have 1,000 beds.-

Activities held nationwide to bring happy Tet to all

Government agencies have come together in an effort to bring a happy lunar New Year (Tet) to disadvantaged people across the country ahead of the holidays.

Official representatives from the central province of Thanh Hoa on January 22 sent 105,000 Tet gifts from the state president to people who have rendered services to the nation. More than 45,000 gifts were also presented to poor families.

In the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang , the Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank) handed over 200 houses worth 6 billion VND to poor families.

According to Nguyen Van Du, Vice Director General of Vietinbank, since 2010, the bank has offered over 50 billion VND to help ease difficulties for locals with more than 2,000 houses.

Meanwhile, leaders of the southern province of Ninh Thuan presented 55,260 Tet gifts to beneficiaries and poor people, as well as more than 19,000 gifts valued at 200,000 VND each to street children and those living in shelters.

In the the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, 450 Tet presents were given by local authorities to workers facing difficulties, while the provincial Federation of Labour also presented more than 1,000 gifts to struggling workers.

On January 22, Honourary Consul of the South African in Ho Chi Minh City , Do Thi Kim Lien, South African Ambassador to Vietnam Kgomotso Ruth Magau and representatives from the Ho Chi Minh City Police newspaper, handed over a new cultural house to local people at Phuc Thang ward, Vinh Yen city in northern Vinh Phuc province.

On the occasion, Lien also presented 20 Tet gifts to the elderly and war veterans in the locality.

Transport companies increase services for Tet

Transport companies, including Vietnam Airlines and Vietnam Railways, have announced that they will increase their schedules of flights and trains to meet demand and reduce overload during the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, the Nhan Dan (People) newspaper reported on January 23.

Vietnam Airlines has increased the number of flights on two routes, including Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi between January 24-26 and Ho Chi Minh City – Da Nang between January 24-28.

Furthermore, the national flag carrier will offer a 20 percent discount on prices if passengers purchase tickets online from January 31 to February 3 for flights departing from February 11 to March 31 on domestic and Southeast Asian routes.

Sai Gon Railways announced on January 22 two extra trains for the Ho Chi Minh City – Phan Thiet route from February 1-3.

Officials of the Hanoi Train Station said they will increase twofold the number of trains for routes of Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi - Vinh in Nghe An province between January 27-28.

Additionally, trains on Hanoi - Lao Cai, Hanoi - Hai Phong routes are expected to add more cars.

Ministry looks for ways to boost FDI attraction

The FDI sector attracted nearly 22 billion USD and achieved a trade surplus of nearly 13.9 billion USD, significantly contributing to the development of Vietnam’s economy in 2013. However, it would have contributed more if shortcomings in FDI attraction and disbursement had been improved. Report by the Vietnam Economic News on January 23.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency (the Ministry of Planning and Investment), in 2013, Vietnam attracted more than 12,000 new FDI projects and nearly 500 projects added its capital with total newly registered and added capital of nearly 22 billion USD, an increase of 69 percent compared to 13.013 billion USD in 2012. This mark an increase of 57 percent over the target of 13-14 billion USD set out by the agency.

General Statistics Office Director Nguyen Bich Lam said a strong increase in FDI helped total social investment capital in 2013 reach about 30.44 percent of the GDP, an increase of 7 percent compared to 2012.

Together with FDI attraction, disbursement in 2013 reached 11.5 billion USD, an increase of 9.9 percent compared to 2012, higher than an increase of 7.3 percent and 5.6 percent in the state and non-state sectors respectively.

Not only significantly contributing to the economy through attraction and disbursement, the FDI sector also contributed to Vietnam’s economy in 2013 through export-import activities.

Lam said that Vietnam’s export growth in 2013 greatly depended on the FDI sector.

Minister Bui Quang Vinh said that in the context of the global economic crisis and domestic difficulties, the FDI sector significantly contributed to an increase in total social investment capital and import-export activities. This was a success of Vietnam.

However, the sector would have been able to contribute more if shortcomings in FDI attraction and disbursement had been improved, reflecting through the weakness of the infrastructure system, poor quality human resources, undeveloped support industries, unimproved institutional issues, inconsistent policies and complicated administrative procedures. These shortcomings were confirmed by Vinh.

The ministry has launched five solution groups to do away with those shortcomings, including perfecting the legal system related to FDI attraction towards consistency, openness, transparency, predictability; adjusting some principles in investment; completing criteria for granting investment licenses; renewing investment promotion activities; and strengthening inspection and supervision of investment activities. It has also sought ways to create favourable conditions for foreign-invested enterprises in order to resolve difficulties on a timely basis.-

Can Tho actively deals with environmental pollution

The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho has encouraged its industrial establishments to use environmentally friendly equipment and build waste treatment systems in an effort to reduce pollution.

The city has also targeted the use of clean technology in all new production facilities and concentrated waste water treatment systems in new industrial zones. It will link with neighbouring localities in supervising the protection of the environment, especially its water resources.

Waste water treatment stations have been built in all towns, while industrial and hospital waste water has been treated before it is discharged into rivers.

Can Tho has also built a 200 hectare inner-city solid water treatment area in its O Mon district and another covering 50 hectares in Thot Not district to handle waste for outlying areas.

It has started the first phase of the Thot Not industrial waste water treatment plant with a capacity of processing 2,500 cu.m per day. The plant is expected to double its capacity by late 2014 when the second phase is completed.

In addition, a waste water treatment plant is being constructed at the Tra Not Industrial Park with a daily capacity of 12,000 cu.m.

According to the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, all industrial zones in Can Tho discharge about 30,000 cu.m of waste water per day plus 70,000 cu.m per day from local residents.

However, the lack of treatment systems has resulted in serious pollution in the Hau River and surrounding canals.-

Special Tet tours designed to meet incresing demand

Travel agencies have said that the number of foreign visitors and overseas Vietnamese wishing to experience the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival in Vietnam has increased significantly this year.

Therefore, many agencies have launched specialised and private tours to meet their growing demand, according to the People’s Army online newspaper.

The most popular tour is “Enjoy southern spring, take Tet home” of Saigontourist Travel Service Company, in which visitors will be taken to flower villages and a southern spring flower fair, or enjoy a homestay to learn how to make cylindrical glutinous rice cakes, and purchase traditional Tet gifts in localities.

All Tet tours are expected to grow over 30 percent on the occasion of the longest and most important annual festival. In 2013, Vietnam received 7,572,352 foreign tourists, a 10.6 percent rise over 2012.

Vietnam’s tourism sector plans to receive 8 million foreign visitors and serve 37.5 million domestic holidaymakers this year.