Authorities crack down on street ads

Restrictions against placing brand logos or pictures of products on advertisements for shops have just been put in place for store in HCM City.

Under the new regulation issued on September 16, which is still under review, the citywide ban on advertisements for shop signboards designates that any ad featuring such images must be taken down by March, 2015.

Currently, a wide range of shops include brand logos and pictures of products on their advertisements. Logos and photos of products sold by retailers are often used on signs and billboards in the city.

The decision has stirred up concern among shop-owners, many of whom have been given the signs for free as promotional material by the companies whose products they sell. Nguyen Quy Cap, deputy chair of the HCM City Advertisement Association, said companies that wish to use public streets for promotion will have to wait for a comprehensive plan on outdoor advertisements and signs. He said, "We don't know when this plan will be completed, but we must continue our businesses. How long will we have to wait?"

Many people claimed that the ban is illegal because it is outside the jurisdiction of HCM City authorities. But an official from the city's Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated that everything was done in accordance with the law.

The legal framework issued in 2009 does not state clear rules on acceptable measurements of signboards. But this issue was remedied in 2012 with another code adjustment that stated signboards should have a maximum height of 2 metres and should not include advertisements of products. Another circular issued in 2013 by the Ministry of Construction only allows for one signboard per floor. If the shop owners wants to place an advertisement, they would have to file documents with the authorities, and violators could be fined VND10-15 million.

Three die in fertiliser factory blast

A fertiliser factory explosion killed three and injured four Friday in HCM City.

Dozens of houses near the explosion at Dang Huynh Company in Thoi An Ward of District 12 were destroyed or damaged.

The victims were identified as Dang Huynh Company employees Nguyen Thi Cam Tu, 19, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Thanh, 30 and Huynh Thi Tam, 36.

The three injured were Nguyen Thi Thuy Van, 30, Pham Thi Thuy Duong, 14, Doan Phung, 46 and Nguyen Van Xuc.

Pham Van Hung, vice head of the HCM City Fire Prevention Department's rescue office, said traces smells of chemicals were found in the rubble. The office also found a 2-metre-by-3-metre hole at the scene.

Police are still investigating the cause of the incident.

A fire destroyed over 10,000 square metres of a Woodsland Company workshop and damaged Nippon Express Company's building on Saturday evening in the Ha Noi-based Quang Minh Industrial Zone.

After five hours of work, a team of 1,000 firefighters was able to control the blaze.

An initial investigation found that the fire started at 8:30pm at Nippon Express Viet Nam Company and spread to Woodsland Company.

The cause of the fire and the total damage wreaked remain unknown.

On the same day, another fire burnt down a wood workshop, a garage and three kiosks at about 9:45pm in Nam Trung Yen Urban Area in Ha Noi's Cau Giay District.

Authorities found the fire started at the wood workshop and spread to the garage and kiosks. They suspected an electric circuit caused the fire. It was extinguished at 11:40pm.

The two cases are under investigation.

Crew members saved after sea collision

Border soldiers discovered seven crew members yesterday who fell into the sea when their fishing vessel collided with another and sank on Saturday morning in territorial waters of southern Ca Mau Province.

The seven crew members have recovered. A team of 20 border soldiers and 15 fishermen have begun a search for the other crew members.

Driver caught illegally transporting wood

Police in central Quang Tri Province last Friday discovered team illegally transporting a rare type of wood, Burma padauk, at the Lao Bao border gate.

Border officials stopped a bus on route from Savannakhet in Laos to Hue for customs clearance and found a cubic metre of the wood on board. The driver, Le Van Trung, admitted to the officials that he bought the wood in Laos to use in Hue.

The driver failed to prove he procured the wood legally.

Three die in road accident

Three people died in a road accident yesterday in central Nghe An Province.

Cao Ba Trang, 30, was driving his motorbike with his wife and two-year-old son on Highway 1A when a truck running the same direction hit them from behind.

Trang and his son were thrown down to the road and hit by the truck. They died on the spot, while his wife died on the way to the hospital. 

Sharp decline in mangrove forests in Vietnam

Vietnam has about 60% less mangrove forest than 70 years ago, according to a recent report.

The report was released on October 16 at a seminar on the exchange of international experience on the implementation of policies on climate change adaptation and the situation in Vietnam, held in Nha Trang City by the National Assembly’s Committee for Science, Technology and Environment and Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Southeast Asia.

According to the report, Vietnam's mangrove forests have fallen from 408,500 hectares in 1943 to 189,200 hectares in 2000, and just 168,688 hectares in 2013.

Hoang Van Thang, deputy minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that the situation is a result of human activity. The forests are threatened by a combination of elements, including climate change, the rising sea levels, stronger winds, hydropower dams and deforestation stemming from shrimp farms and resorts.

In order to improve the situation, the ministry has proposed that the government enforce its policies related to deforestation and forest protection.

Experts on the issue agree that efforts should be made to increase people’s awareness of forest protection, along with a speedier application of advanced technologies for growing mangrove forests.

Illegal road project in Ha Long Bay’s buffer zone

An illegal road project near Ha Long Bay has gone on for some years as local authorities seemed to turn a blind eye.

A mountain near the beach in Ha Phong Ward of Ha Long City belongs to the Ha Long Bay natural heritage site, but has been destroyed for the construction of a road leading to the bay.

Minh Anh JSC has been using a 30-hectare plot of land near the resettlement area of the fishing village of Ha Phong as a dumping ground for soil, stone and coal dust.

Since 2013, the company has been illegally chopping down trees and destroying the mountain to construct a one-kilometre road to the bay.

The Ha Long Bay management board has confirmed that the road project is inside the buffer zone. Dao Van Thanh, director of Minh Anh JSC, admitted that they do not yet have approval from local authorities.

“We are just enlarging the old small path to facilitate transportation, not for the transport of coal as it is rumoured,” Thanh said.

Vu Duc Hoan, vice chairman of Hoa Phong ward People’s Committee, said, “We've been aware of the road construction since they started. We’ve reported it, requested suspension to the construction and fined them over VND1 million.”

According to Hoan, they have also reported the case to the Ha Long city government, but they have yet to take any action to stop the construction. The company continued and the road has been completed.

Pham Hong Ha, chairman of Ha Long City People’s Committee, refused to comment except for saying that they are not responsible for the area.

Pham Thuy Duong, head of the Ha Long Bay’s management board, said she was shocked when she heard of the road, and promised to assign staff to inspect the site.

As the land belongs to the heritage site, the investor is required conduct an environmental assessment report and send it to the board before construction.

She added that she would propose that the provincial government take measures to deal with the situation if the construction was in fact illegal.

Vietnam operates 730 groundwater monitoring works

Vietnam is currently operating 730 groundwater monitoring works and seven surface water monitoring works, according to Director of the National Centre for Water Resources Planning and Investigation, Tong Ngoc Thanh.

Thanh made the statement at an international seminar and exhibition on water resource monitoring and forecast technology held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) in Hanoi on October 17.

He said that the frequent monitoring of water resource networks is carried out to collect data to serve the management, investigation, planning, exploitation and sustainable use of water sources for the future.

The event, the third of its kind in response to the World Water Monitoring Day (October 18), attracted the participation of delegates from nearly 20 countries including the US, the Republic of Korea, Germany, the Philippines, Australia, and the Netherlands who will present nearly 100 scientific reports and researches on the field.

MONRE Deputy Minister Nguyen Thai Lai emphasised the great importance of water resources in all activities, second only to human resources. However, water resources are facing many challenges including excessive usage, resulting in severe shortages.

Statistics show that the total amount of water usage around the world has increased by 1% per year since 1980, creating a growing pressure on many countries and territories. About 780 million people still lack access to safe water while both surface and groundwater resources are being polluted and depleted.

As a country with a tropical climate and long coastline severely affected by climate change and sea level rise, Vietnam has to cope with many challenges including salt water intrusion, polluted water and excessive exploitation of water resources.

Thanh said that the monitoring and forecasting of water resources is vital in order to manage, exploit and use water in a long-term sustainable way.. The seminar is expected to create a forum for relevant units to meet, share experience and co-operate with Vietnam on water resources.

About 50 posters of models and technology on water resources monitoring and forecast by domestic and foreign firms are being displayed during the seminar.

70% of Vietnamese population estimated to face threats from climate change

An estimated 70% of the Vietnamese population faces threats of more serious natural disasters caused by climate change, making it one of the most disaster-affected countries in the world.

The statement was made by Chairman of the Vietnam Red Cross Society Nguyen Hai Duong while speaking at the launching ceremony of World Disasters Report 2014 and International Disaster Risk Reduction Day, held in Hanoi on October 16.

The Vietnamese Government has taken measures to increase the country’s capacity to prevent and cope with natural calamities, including a nationwide programme on ‘Community-based disaster risk management’, already deployed in nearly half of all communes across the country, Duong said.

He stressed that the launching was held to provide agencies, organisations and the press with a deep and comprehensive view on challenges and risks facing the world, thus boosting co-ordination among the relevant ministries and agencies in adapting climate change.

Themed “Culture and risks”, the World Disasters Report 2014 studies the impacts of culture on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaption and vice versa, and how communities respond and adapt to climate change.

According to the report, the world faces huge challenges caused by disasters and calamities. In 2013, about 100 million people around the world were affected by natural disasters, 87% of whom come from Asia, the most vulnerable continent as 41% of total disasters occurred there.

Over the past two decades, catastrophes have killed 1.3 million people, affecting 4.4 billion others, and causing economic losses of over EUR1.5 trillion EUR. By 2030, the world is likely to lose an estimated EUR 328 billion, up by 300% in nearly two decades, said the report.

Central river basin in danger

A host of problems are threatening to destroy the Vu Gia-Thu Bon River basin, which provides invaluable resources to the 2.5-million population of Quang Nam and this city.

According to Nguyen Chu Hoi, a researcher of environment and coastal resources at National University, the problems are illegal destruction of riverhead forests, over-exploitation of mineral resources, decentralised management of rivers and faulty development of hydropower plants.

Hoi made these remarks at a consultation workshop held here yesterday on "Integrated watershed and coastal management – ‘from ridge to reef' approach: application in the Vu Gia-Thu Bon River Basin."

"Water, a natural resource, has multiple uses for various agencies seeking different benefits, but a responsible and integrated agency that will resolve conflicts in the use of river basin water and conduct a thorough pollution assessment has yet to be formed," Hoi said.

"The inappropriate construction of hydropower plants, over-exploitation of mineral resources and inordinate use of water from riverhead areas have changed the ecological balance and created a negative environmental impact on the population and habitat of fish and aquatic species," he added.

Le Van Giang, chairman of the Hoi An City People's Committee, blamed the development of irrigation and hydropower plants for limiting water flow from the river basin and causing the serious erosion of beaches in Hoi An city.

He said a vast beach in Cua Dai, near the UNESCO heritage town of Hoi An, has disappeared in recent years even as erosion on the river banks of Thu Bon was threatening the existence of the heritage town.

Dao Trong Tu, an expert on natural water resources and river basins, suggested that the management of Vu Gia-Thu Bon River basin be revived with a better solution.

"There is a need to resolve conflicts of interest among agencies using water in the Vu Gia-Thu Bon River basin. A total of 42 hydropower plant projects have been approved while 10 more will be built by 2020. More than 820 irrigation projects with 72 reservoirs were built in the river basin, but these projects just operate at 51 per cent of designated capacity," Tu noted.

Bui Thu Hien of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) said the workshop aims at identify the reality of water development and management in the river basin and barriers to its sustainable development in connection with the Da Nang and Quang Nam coastal zones.

Farmers profit from improved salt yields

Farmers in HCM City's outlying Can Gio District have seen higher incomes as a result of advanced production techniques, including the use of canvas sheets on fields to produce cleaner salt.

The use of the sheets has increased both quality and yield, with farmers earning about VND38.2 million (US$1,800) per hectare per year, double the profit made from traditional methods, according to local authorities. Most farmers harvest two hectares of salt fields.

In 2007, the district initiated the canvas-sheet programme over an area of 2,000sq.m.

Fields lined with canvas sheets protect the salt from soil contamination, improving quality.

Today, there are 909ha of fields that use canvas sheets, or 54.6 per cent of the district's total salt area, according to the city's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The district's salt fields are located mostly in Ly Nhon, Thanh An and Long Hoa communes and Can Thanh Town.

Nguyen Thi Bich, who owns 3ha of salt fields in Thanh An Commune's Thieng Lieng Hamlet, began using the sheets this year.

She said they had helped reduce the production time from 10-15 days to seven days per harvest.

Early this year, the Thieng Lieng Women Union in co-operation with the Thieng Lieng Salt Co-operative showed farmers in Thieng Lieng Hamlet how to use canvas sheets to increase their profits.

This year, traders have offered an average price of VND1,300 a kilo of salt harvested on canvas sheets, VND100 higher than salt produced in fields without the sheets.

In 2012, Can Gio authorities began to offer funds to help farmers build cellars to store condensed salt water from fields after rains.

In the 2013-14 salt harvesting season, district authorities and the city's Sub-department of Rural Development and Department of Science and Technology gave financial support to 17 households who harvested a total of 34 ha of salt in Ly Nhon and Thanh An communes.

Hoang Thi Mai, deputy head of the city's Sub-department of Rural Development, said the city would expand the area of salt fields lined with canvas sheets.

With a 23-km long coastline, Can Gio, one of the country's top salt producers, has produced 1,666ha of salt this year, up 150ha over the same period last year, according to the city's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Caregiver recruiting ads illegal

Students attending medical schools in northern provinces recently received unsolicited information from the Hai Phong Travel Petroleum Company (OSC HP) about a program recruiting caregivers to go work in Japan.

OSC HP not only contacted students at schools but also put up their advertisements on websites like raovat.net and vatgia.com.

However, many students who hope to go work in Japan would be shocked to learn that OSC HP does not have the license for consulting or sending caregivers to Japan.

"Until now, no license has been granted to any company for sending caregivers to Japan," said Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, Head of the Department of Overseas Labour (DOLAB).

Quynh said the only authorised agency to send caregivers to Japan is DOLAB, under caregivers exchange programme carried out by the Vietnamese and Japanese governments.

The Embassy of Japan in Viet Nam has also confirmed that except for the inter-governmental programme, there is no caregivers exchange programme in the list of 68 programmes that receive foreign students in Japan.

Tran Thi Van Ha of the DOLAB Communication Department said it had received many inquiries recently about the caregivers program with Japan and some about Germany.

The programme is attracting a lot of attention because the remuneration for caregivers is high in countries like Japan and Germany, she said.

"The programme, carried out by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), is in its trial phase, with just 100-150 caregivers recruited at a time, so any company claiming to be a part of the programme is possibly trying to confuse potential candidates," said Ha.

Local newspapers have reported that OSC HP even organised an event to promote the caregivers program at the Ha Noi International Convention Centre.

During the event, the company claimed to be in partnership with 1, 200 hospitals in Japan that are looking for a large number of caregivers.

When contacted by Viet Nam News yesterday, the OSC HP Representative Office in Ha Noi denied promoting the programme.

A woman said she was a new employee and her supervisors were all out of the office. She maintained that her office had not advertised such a programme.

However, at around 5pm yesterday, Viet Nam News found an advertisement about the caregivers programme in Japan on the company's website.

The website even instructed candidates to send their CVs, pictures in medical uniform as well as their medical details to OSC HP.

Potential candidates have to pay a fee of US$47 to join the recruitment drive and submit other original school certificates, the website said.

Last Wednesday, DOLAB sent an official letter to the Police Department for Investigation of Social Order and the Internal Security Department to investigate a total of nine companies involved in marketing and advertising the caregivers programme in Japan and Germany.

Tokyo Vietnam University set up

Vietnamese Prime Minister has approved the investment project to set up Tokyo Vietnam Medicine University in the northern province of Hung Yen.

According to approval, the Ministry of Education and Training; the Ministry of Planning and Investment and People’s Committee in Hung Yen Province will give guideline to the establishment of the school as per the present law.

The ministries and People’s Committee will have to send reports to the Prime Minister afterwards.

The medicine school is scheduled to teach nurses for physiotherapy and orthopedics  in four year training and nurses for medical tests in three year training.

In addition to teaching, the school also conducts researches, medical technology and supply education services.

Japan’s Medicine Institute Waseda and some individual, organizations have poured investment capital into the foreign-invested school as per the project.

Heavy 1st-grade curricula stress students, teachers and parents in Vietnam

Elementary school teachers and parents in Vietnam are complaining about the tremendous pressure placed on them by bulky curriculums for first-graders.

Heavy 1st-grade curricula stress students, teachers and parents in Vietnam

Heavy 1st-grade curricula stress students, teachers and parents in Vietnam

Thanh Huy, a reader, wrote to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that he was surprised to learn a set of textbooks for first-grade students includes 16 books, which he believes is a lot.

“Subjects like math, literature, nature, and society have two sets each. The math book has 184 pages, while the literature has 171 pages,” Huy said.

“Every night I get dizzy seeing how hard my kid prepares books for his class tomorrow morning,” he expressed.

“I don’t know why first-graders have to be stuffed with so many books containing a large amount of knowledge,” he stressed, adding that he found numerous tables, charts, drawings, and definitions in his child’s books which could cause problems even for adults.

In his letter to Tuoi Tre, Huy also pointed out some definitions that he had to look up in the dictionary when his kid asked him what they meant.

Huy is just one of many parents who have encountered problems when sending their kids to first grade in the Southeast Asian country.

Another reader, Vo Huong, said her child – who is also a first-grader – is getting quieter when she gets home after school.

“It’s because the curriculum for first-grade students is too heavy,” she underlined. “When I was a first-grader, all I had to learn was just a few simple letters, but now my kid is required to be able read and write.”

Huong also added she and her husband have to ‘study’ with their child until 9:00 pm, or even later, every day to finish homework and prepare for the next day’s lessons.

M. from Gia Lam District in Hanoi is also stuck in the same situation.

She said that she has had to spent time ‘studying’ with her kid every day since the beginning of this school year, and even she has been stressed by the amount of homework teachers give her child.

In Vietnam, an academic year often starts in late August or early September and closes in late May or early June the next year.

N.B.B., the parent of a first-grade student in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 3, also said that she has suffered from heavy stress after sending her kid to school.

B. elaborated that she and her husband have tried their best to force their child to study at home, while their daughter also tried her utmost to avoid studying by saying she does not feel well or is tired.

“We get tired every day of pushing her to study. I don’t know whether our first-grader gets stressed, but her mother almost goes nuts,” she added.

Teachers have also faced difficulties when they have to train students to be able to hold pens the right way, and learn 24 letters of the Vietnamese alphabet well.

According to the principal of an elementary school in the city’s District 9, first-graders have just transferred from preschools, where they mainly played games and studied just a little.

“When they move on to the elementary level, they are forced to remember a bigger amount of knowledge per day,” he said. “My nephew cannot remember all the things he studied at school.”

Another teacher in District 3 said that he does not want to compel his students to study, but has no choice.

“The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training has allowed teachers to be flexible in arranging curriculums to suit students’ ability,” he said.

“However, if we make it slow at the beginning of the academic year, we have to rush at the end of the year to catch up with the exams,” he added.

To deal with the problem, many parents choose to send their children to after-hours classes to learn math and literature before they enter elementary school, in an effort to help them avoid being overwhelmed by the massive curriculum when the official school year begins.

However, in recent years, the Ministry of Education and Training has issued a regulation banning after-school classes for children before they enter first grade in the hope of bringing them a completely relaxing environment before they take the first step of their study life at school.

Parents are currently divided into two sides on the issue. One group still sends their kids to the extra classes before enrolling them in elementary school, while the other follows the regulation.

This also makes a number of children “the black sheep of their family.”

Nguyen Vo Bao Ngoc, a teacher from Van Tuong Elementary School in Ho Chi Minh City’s Phu Nhuan District, said she has to balance lessons because some students in her class have known the alphabet since age five, but some have no idea what letters are.

In Vietnam, kids enter elementary school at age six.

“Students who already know letters usually finish exercises in class more quickly than students who haven’t studied before,” Ngoc said.

“That makes them lose their confidence and become frustrated with school on seeing their classmates do the tasks better than them,” she added.

Le Thi Ngoc Hanh, the principal of Truong Thanh Elementary School in the city’s District 9, said that first-grade teachers are under a lot of pressure when they have to teach a class that includes both kinds of students: ones who already have basic knowledge, and those that have no idea at all.

“In reality, many teachers have taught lessons very slowly, but some students still could not follow it,” Hanh said.

As a result, many kids returning home from school whined that they do not want to go to school because they are scared of learning.

A principal from an elementary school in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 5 said his school had reported that students are overloaded with the current curriculum, and the Ministry of Education and Training has already reduced the amount of work required, but the situation remains unchanged.

“In fact, many teachers are also hurried to force students to be good and put pressure on them,” he said. “Some teachers are not careful about commenting on students and so tend to discourage children and their parents.”

“Parents should talk directly to their children’s teachers to ease the pressure,” he suggested.

Vietnam police nick local accessory of Taiwanese director in $22.5mn con

Vietnamese police on Friday arrested the director of a Hanoi-based investment consulting company for his involvement in a swindling case, in which over US$22 million were misappropriated, at another company whose Taiwanese general director was nabbed earlier this month.

Phan Kien Trung, 30, director of 24 Gold Due Bac Investment Consulting Co. Ltd., was detained for his role in the swindling case earlier uncovered at Khai Thai Investment Consulting Company Limited, headquartered in Cau Giay District.

During the investigation of the $22.5-million cheating by Khai Thai, investigators identified Trung as one of the accomplices of Hsu Minh Jung, also known as Saga, the Taiwanese general director of Khai Thai.

Hsu and his five other Vietnamese accessories were captured on October 2 after they were found setting up an illegal gold trading floor to cheat investors, police said.

All these six people and Trung have been charged with “appropriating property through swindling” pursuant to Article 139 of the Penal Code.

Before establishing his own company (24 Gold Due Bac Investment Consulting Co. Ltd.), Trung acted as the managing director of Khai Thai until 2004 and took part in the scam at this company, investigators said.

Hsu and his accomplices had mobilized nearly VND478 billion (US$22.53 million) and promised high interest rates to the investors, police said, adding that the con artists then appropriated most of the fund.

Thousands of people around the country deposited their money with Khai Thai, expecting to reap a profit in return, investigators said.

After receiving deposits from the investors, the company’s management did not use them for business operations but pocketed them instead.

The firm offered lofty salaries and attractive bonuses to its employees in charge of capital mobilization to encourage them to seek investors.

Police have already frozen VND4 billion ($188,560) in the company’s accounts and seized three deluxe cars from it as well.

Searching Khai Thai’s offices on October 1, police also confiscated VND57 billion ($2.69 million) in cash and a large amount of foreign currency.

Hanoi to host European Languages Day

The fourth European Languages Day, aiming to introduce the diversity of European languages, will take place at the Goethe Institute, No.56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Hanoi on October 25.

The event, which is co-organised by Hanoi’s EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture), the Goethe Institute, the French Embassy, the Embassy of Poland and the Italian Embassy, promises to offer special cultural activities.

A conference on effective ways to teach and learn foreign languages will be held from 9am to 1pm, with the participation of linguists and experts in foreign language training from Vietnam and Europe.

A festival of European languages is the second part of the event, to be held from 2 pm to 7 pm.

Representatives of the participating institutions will introduce their respective languages, countries and cultures. 30-minute model lessons in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Polish will be offered to anyone who is interested.

Additionally, posters, books and brochures will excite curiosity not only for European languages, but also for the various countries and cultures.

City to host int'l conference on stoma

The 8th Congress of the Asia Society of Stoma Rehabilitation and Asia South Pacific Ostomy Association will be held in HCM City from October 31 to November 1.

The biennial conference, titled "Enhancing the quality of life of ostomates," will discuss the various aspects of stoma rehabilitation and discuss the problems facing ostomates, or people who have undergone ostomy, a surgery to create a stoma.

A stoma is a surgically constructed opening, especially one in the abdominal wall, that permits the passage of faeces and urine.

Experts from Asia and other countries around the world will discuss total care for ostomates, stoma rehabilitation, wound care and other issues at the event.

First-ever Clean Tech Bootcamp yields first graduates

Around 24 innovative clean-tech startups have graduated from Vietnam’s first-ever Clean Tech Bootcamp this week.

The Clean Tech Bootcamp aims to help small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) develop and bring to market innovative clean-energy and energy-efficiency solutions and adaptation technologies in the areas of transportation, agribusiness, and water management.

The initiative was developed by infoDev/World Bank’s Climate Technology Program (CTP), in partnership with the Asian Devolvement Bank (ADB), to accelerate the growth of new green businesses in the region and helps reduce the significant threats posed by climate change.

Vietnam is one of the five most vulnerable countries to climate change in the Asia-Pacific region. In the last 50 years sea level has risen by 50 cm, while extreme climate events (typhoon, flood, landslide, drought, saline intrusion, etc.) have cost the country 9,500 human lives and approximately 1.5% of GDP each year.

“Vietnam’s climate-related challenges combined with its rapid economic development call for local innovative solutions,” said Laura Altinger, Senior Environmental Economist at the World Bank Vietnam office. “The development of locally relevant climate tech ventures would not only enable Vietnam to adapt to climate change and reduce emissions, but also to meet energy needs, maintain competitiveness, and minimize its dependence on fossil fuel imports.”

The 4-day program of lectures and hands-on workshops gives these innovative entrepreneurs an opportunity to refine their product strategies, business models and marketing pitches; sharpen their negotiating skills; and network with clean-tech entrepreneurs, investors and peers.

"To tackle climate change, we need to help train innovative and successful climate technology entrepreneurs," said Dr. Aiming Zhou, Senior Energy Specialist at the Asian Development Bank, one of the co-organizers of the training. "A bootcamp like this, which provides intense hands-on support to the most promising emerging climate technology businesses in Vietnam, plays a critical part in making this happen.”

With the successful conclusion of the bootcamp, the program will continue to nurture and mentor these and other climate technology SMEs and startups through the Climate Innovation Center (Vietnam CIC). This upcoming business hub is designed to provide a targeted suite of services, including early-stage financing, technology commercialization, business development, and capacity building support. Supported by UKaid and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Vietnam CIC will deliver business advisory services and technology commercialization funding to up to 65 climate technology entrepreneurs, including equity investments to 25 companies in the first five years.

Through this support, the center is expected to reduce or avoid the equivalent of the annual emissions of 47,000 passenger vehicles (225,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions), improve access to clean water, increase agricultural efficiency, and provide access to renewable or more efficient sources of energy. Overall, the Vietnam CIC will contribute to make one million people less vulnerable to climate change.

SBV proposes to bring more people under home credit package

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has announced a draft circular allowing another three groups of people to access low interest loans from the VND30 trillion (US$1.41 billion) home credit package.

The first group includes officials, civil servants, army forces, workers, and low income laborers who have not had houses and expect to buy houses from housing development and urban area projects. Each contract value including land and house must not exceed VND1.05 billion (US$49,000).

In case they have land, are unaffordable for building houses, and have not received any assistance from the Government, they belong to the second group.

The third group is households and individuals repairing or rebuilding social houses for lease or re-sale to workers, students and laborers and those under the social housing policy.

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