Maritime violation fines to be revamped by MoT

The Ministry of Transport has been drawing out a decree on fines for administrative violations in the maritime sector.

The new decree will replace decree No. 93 which was issued in 2003.

According to the ministry, the current decree defines in detail violations and regulates punishments to administrative violations in the maritime sector and domestic waterway transport.

The implementation of the decree made a positive impact on the sector's development and international integration.

However, decree No. 93, has some shortcomings which need fixing, the ministry said.

Several new types of violations have occurred which were not defined in the decree.

The National Assembly adopted the revised Law on Maritime, which will come into effect in 2017. The law includes several breakthrough contents of developing pushing the maritime sector in the coming years.

The new decree will supplement new items on activities of ship registration, operation conditions of shipyards, ship repair and dismantlement activities, and regulations on container safety.

The new decree, which consists of 4 chapters, 52 clauses and an appendix, will also define administrative violation acts and regulates measures of solving the consequences caused by violations, the ministry said.

The ministry is collecting public opinions on the new decree.

Finland funds local innovation incentive

The Finland–Viet Nam Innovation Partnership Programme Phase 2 (IPP2) plans to support start-up ecosystem developers, universities and other educational organisations in Viet Nam this year to improve their innovation and entrepreneurship.

The information was unveiled at the Final Demo Day in HCM City on Saturday to review the implementation of IPP2 between 2014 and 2015.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Quoc Khanh said Viet Nam needs strong businesses that are expected to develop in a healthy and creative environment.

The ministry has worked to improve policies in the field while encouraging private firms to set up venture investment funds. This aims to create a favourable financial and legal climate to develop high-tech nurseries and start-up training, especially for young entrepreneurs, he said.

He said he hopes innovation experts trained under IPP2 will become crucial factors in Viet Nam's public and private business sectors.

IPP2 is an Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme financed by the Vietnamese and Finnish governments.

The second phase of the programme runs from 2014 to 2018 with a budget of VND264,320 million, aiming to strengthen the Vietnamese innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

It also looks to promote sustainable economic development by increasing production and exports of innovative products and services.

Between 2014 and 2015, IPP2 provided financial, training, consulting and connection assistance for 22 innovation projects in Ha Noi, HCM City, Da Nang, and Thua Thien-Hue.

As of 2015, the projects generated more than 480 jobs for locals and grossed over VND9,632,000,000 in domestic revenue.

The projects also raked in more than VND4,816,000,000 by selling products to foreign markets such as the US, Germany and the Republic of Korea.

In 2015, Viet Nam jumped 19 places to rank 52nd out of 141 nations in the global innovation index. It also ranked 56th among 140 countries in global competitiveness, up 12 places.

HCM City to upgrade, build new hospitals to ease overloading

More hospitals will be upgraded or newly built in HCM City this year to reduce the number of patients who have to share a bed, the city's Department of Health has said.

HCM City has the highest number of beds (42) per 10,000 people in the country, but patient overloading remains a problem.

At a press meeting last Friday, Dr Tang Chi Thuong, the department's deputy head, said that building new facilities and and upgrading existing hospitals was one of 10 measures that could reduce patient overload.

He said that work on the second branch of the Oncology Hospital in District 9 would begin this year.

With a capacity of 1,000 beds, the branch will help reduce the existing patient overload in the Oncology Hospital in Binh Thanh District.

Another paediatrics hospital, to be named City Paediatrics Hospital, with 1,000 beds, is expected to open later this year, Thuong said.

The city has two hospitals specialising in treatment for children, but they cannot meet demand because of the high number of children coming from neighbouring provinces and cities.

Nearly 60 per cent of the patients at the two hospitals live in these provinces and cities.

Thuong said the Tu Du, Binh Dan, Paediatric Hospital No.1 and 2, An Binh, Hung Vuong, and Nguyen Trai, among others, will receive an upgrade this year.

The city will also renovate district hospitals in Binh Chanh, Cu Chi, Go Vap and others. Residents are beginning to place more trust in local hospitals, Thuong said.

Dr Vuong Anh Tai, deputy head of the department's medical affairs division, said the number of patients last year reached more than 10.8 million, a rise of 2 per cent compared to 2014.

There was a 3 per cent increase in the number of outpatient turns at these hospitals.

Tai said the hospital management had made efforts to improve quality at the hosptals.

Through quality assessment was conducted last year by the department's council for quality control, only four of 23 district hospitals scored slightly under 3 out of the maximum 5.

Of the district hospitals with the score of 3 and above, Thu Duc District Hospital had the same quality as city-level hospitals like Paediatric Hospital No.1 and 2, Tu Du Obstetrics Hospital, Hospital for Hematology and Blood Transfusion and Traditional Medical Institute, with a score of 4.

Tai said that with improved quality, patients at these hospitals were more satisfied with service.

The department's survey of patient's satisfaction among all private and public hospitals in the city showed scores of above 3 out of maximum score of 5.

Thuong said the city had investedd in modern equipment at these hospitals.

Moreover, many satellite rooms, wards, hospitals and a programme on temporarily sending city-level hospital doctors to district hospitals to provide guidance and treatment had helped to improve quality.

PM demands answers over quarry collapse

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Saturday ordered the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa Province to quickly find the cause of a quarry collapse that killed eight workers in Yen Lam Commune on Friday morning.

The PM sent his condolences to the victims' families and asked the committee to help lay them to rest.

Dung instructed the National Committee for Search and Rescue to co-operate with the provincial people's committee to deal with the consequences of the accident.

This is the third workplace accident in the province this year, and 15 people have died.

Couple killed in motorbike accident

A pregnant woman and her husband were killed after their motorbike crashed into a truck travelling in the same direction on a section of the Ho Chi Minh Trail running through Gia Lai Province's Pleiku City on Saturday afternoon.

The accident occurred while the couple were on their way home to Chu Pah District.

The cause of the accident remains unknown.

Local police are investigating the case.

Households to get set-top TV boxes

More than 454,000 poor and near-poor households will receive set-top boxes, a meeting of the assistance sub-committee for the steering committee for digitising television plans was told on Thursday.

The information and communications ministry has appointed the Viet Nam Public-Utility Telecommunication Service Fund as the investor of the project, which will provide digital television set-top boxes to households.

The fund expects to complete the bidding process by April this year and install set-top boxes for 454,000 households that will be affected when Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Can Tho and HCM City switch off analogue signals.

According to new criteria decided by the government, an income of VND700,000 (US$31) per person per month in rural areas and VND900,000 ($40) per person per month in cities determines a household's poverty status.

Meanwhile, an income of VND1 million ($45) per person per month in rural areas and VND1.3 million ($58) per person per month in cities determines the near-poor status of a household.

According to the road map for switching off analogue signals, nine channels will be switched off in Ha Noi, Can Tho and HCM City from the beginning of March.

In addition, for continuous and effective communication of digitalisation plans to residents of the four above-mentioned cities and 19 neighbouring provinces, the assistance sub-committee asked related agencies to quickly submit plans to the ministry to enforce them in the near future.

Previously, many communication channels such as SMS and video clips and audio clips on television and radio were used, when analogue signals were switched off in a pilot project in the central Da Nang Province.

Plan to tackle water shortages approved

People in mountainous areas and regions lacking clean water in 41 provinces nationwide will get access to groundwater of standard quality.

The environment and natural resources ministry's National Centre for Water Resource Planning and Survey announced this, following the minister's approval of the content and estimated cost of a project to discover groundwater resources for local residents living in mountainous areas and elsewhere where water was scarce in mid-December.

The project will survey and identify groundwater resources, where the reserves and quality can meet the requirements for domestic use, and prepare a map of groundwater resources available in areas where the project is being implemented.

The project will be carried in two phases during the 2015-2017 and 2018-2020 periods.

General Director of the centre Tong Ngoc Thanh said in areas where the project was being implemented, people faced several difficulties such as a serious scarcity of water.

In many areas, people had to travel dozens of kilometres to get water, Thanh said.

It was imperative to investigate and evaluate groundwater resources as well as to build a sustainable water supply system to ensure that residents living in these areas have access to clean water. These tasks should be properly invested and implemented in a compatible manner in order to meet the expectations of local residents and authorities, Thanh said.

The project aims to bring huge benefits for local residents in mountainous areas and in areas facing water shortages, and to contribute to the implementation of the national target programme on clean water and environment in rural areas and the programme on building new-style rural areas in the 2015-2020 period.

Agricultural centre to offer more support

The National Agriculture Extension Centre plans to carry out reforms that will enable it to offer greater practical support to farmers and assist with the restructure of the agriculture sector and building of new rural areas under a Government programme.

Speaking at a review meeting in HCM City yesterday, the centre's director, Phan Huy Thong, said with the country's deeper international integration, the agriculture sector must focus on improving quality and cutting costs to improve competitiveness.

Thus, besides its usual job of helping farmers boost productivity, now agricultural extension centres must also help farmers improve quality, he said.

"Agricultural extension work needs to be reformed to better serve farmers.

"We must consider farmers as our customers, and agricultural extension work must be based on their needs."

Tran Van Dung, chief of the centre's representative office in the south, said efforts would be stepped up to transfer advanced technology to farmers as well as most effective production models to improve their efficiency and incomes.

The extension work would closely follow the programme on restructuring agriculture, with a focus on key tasks like applying GAP standards and technology in production, urban agricultural extension, supplying plant and animal strains that can withstand climate change, and others, he said.

This year his centre would strive to create linkages between all stages from production to consumption, he said.

Future training for extension workers and farmers would feature more practical sessions, he promised.

Ngo Dong Hai, deputy head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's HCM City office, said with increasing trade barriers in overseas markets, agricultural extension services should provide greater assistance to farmers to improve the quality and competitiveness of the nation's agricultural output.

Nguyen Thanh Hai, owner of Nguyen Thanh Hai Co., Ltd, which produces fertilizers, said quality would decide the survival of agriculture, and so future agricultural extension services need to focus on helping farmers improve quality.

Dung said the centre has carried out many national projects to transfer advanced technologies to farmer and achieved significant success in improving the output of key agricultural items.

Large-scale rice cultivation, F1 rice hybrids, producing poultry varieties in border provinces, and breeding shrimp to GAP standards have been among the successful projects, he said.

Besides, it had, together with provinces and cities, organised many extension events last year, including forums, competitions, and fairs, to help farmers adopt new production techniques and find more outlets for their produce.

It also worked with the media to disseminate information about the Government's agricultural and rural policies besides useful tips on cultivation, harvesting, and post-harvest processing, he added.

Canh oranges a hit in Ha Noi

Canh orange, a specialty of Ha Noi during the run-up to Tet, helps make farmers prosperous, especially with assistance from the city's crop development.

The orange, named after the old Canh region in the outskirts of Ha Noi, is famous for gentle sweet taste, bright appearance and thin peel. It's said to have the best taste when being grown in the Canh region – Van Canh Commune in Hoai Duc District and Xuan Phuong Commune in Tu Liem District today.

However, according to Ha Noi's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, farmers in other localities started growing the Canh oranges after seeing its high economic value.

Across the city, Canh oranges are grown in a total area of 747 hectares in suburban districts of Thanh Oai, Chuong My, Dong Anh and Hoai Duc. The yearly productivity reaches almost 7,000 tonnes of oranges.

Canh orange farming first arrived in Thanh Oai District's Kim An Commune in 2001 with only two families growing it. Now, 200 families in the commune are growing Canh orange on about 60ha.

The commune People's Committee chairman Doan Van Huynh said that local farmers liked growing Canh orange because of its high profit.

On average, they could earn up to VND700 million (US$32,000) per hectare per year.

He said that since 2013, Ha Noi Crop Plants Development Centre helped local farmers with farming technique which helped increase productivity and quality of orange.

Farmer Le Xuan Long of Kim An Commune in Thanh Oai District said that his family had 20 sao growing Canh orange (1 sao equals to 360sq.m), which produced about 20 tonnes of oranges this year.

With each kilo of Canh orange sold at VND50,000, Long expected to have a profit of VND500 million ($22,315) this year, he said.

Deputy director of Ha Noi agriculture department, Ngo Dai Ngoc, told Kinh te&Do thi (Economic and Urban Affairs) newspaper that local farms met only 20 per cent of fruit demand in the city.

"To better compete with those from other localities and imported fruits, Ha Noi must improve the quality of fruit products and ensure food safety," he said.

He added that it was crucial for farmers to co-operate with each other to control the farming process to ensure quality for better brand recognition.

Farmers hit hard by lack of demand for cassavas

Cassava growers in the central province of Quang Tri are despairing over low demand for their products amid their harvest season.

Cassava is the main income for farmers in Dakrong and Huong Hoa districts, but many of them have not sold their products due to the slow purchasing of the local plant, Huong Hoa Cassava Processing Plant.

Ho Van Thang, deputy chairman of the People's Committee of Dakrong district's An Doi commune, said the total area of the commune's cassava cultivation is 520ha, with estimated output of over 20,000 tonnes, but to date, the farmers here sold only half of it.

Ho Thi Lieng, a local farmer, said her family has 1,800sq.m of cassavas for harvest, but she sold only two-fifths of harvested products.

She said farmers will harvest their products if they receive purchasing appointments from processing plants.

For the last several months, her family and local residents have lined up at the factory to try to sell cassava, but they are still waiting their turn.

The growers have mostly depended on the plant's producing plan, Thang said.

At the harvest time of every year, the farmers basically complete their harvest and sell all of their products for the plant. But this year, the plant's slow purchasing has seriously affected the farmers' lives, he said.

The farmers are also worried that slow purchasing will have serious consequences for the quality of the products.

Thousands of tonnes of cassava of local farmers remain unsold but the plant's priority is still given to traders, said Thang.

He added that the slow harvesting of this year also affects the next crop of cassava growers.

Le Van The, the plant's director explained that the plant can not buy all the products at the same time because its capacity is only a bit more than 700 tonnes a day.

The plant has to make a purchasing schedule to help farmers during harvest, he said.

He added that the plant also has a plan to raise its capacity to 900 tonnes per day and it will help to partly tackle the current situation.

The plant has committed to purchase all products but cassava growers' worries remain in each harvest season.

Development of material areas for production and seeking an output for farmers' products still need more care from the provincial authorities, Thang said.

Two men held for hospital theft

Long Bien District Police in Ha Noi City have caught a hospital's employee for stealing nearly US$15,000 from the hospital.

Pham Truong Giang, 23, from Gia Lam District, worked in Duc Giang Hospital in Long Bien District as technical staff. On discovering that a large amount of cash was kept in the hospital's safe deposit box, he asked his friend to help him take the box home to steal money from it on January 17.

Giang and Doan stole VND260 million (US$11,600) and $3,000.

The police have caught the two men and are investigating the case further.

Charity events bring warmer Tet to people in need

Charity events have been held across the country to bring a warm Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday to ethnic minority people, disadvantaged workers, orphans and people with disabilities.

Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Font (VFF) Central Committee Truong Thi Ngoc Anh on January 22 visited Thien Hung commune in the border district of Bu Dop in Binh Phuoc province, where she presented 100 gift packages worth 300,000 VND each to poor ethnic minority households.

The Party and State have special policies for ethnic minority groups, and those living in far-flung or border areas, Anh said, urging local authorities to pay more attention to these people and help them improve their living standards.

The Federation of Labour of the central province of Quang Ngai organised a programme called “Tet Sum Vay” (Tet’s Gathering) for workers in the province.

Gift packages worth 500,000 VND each were given to 530 underprivileged workers and civil servants alongside 40 of the workers’ children who have outstanding academic performances.

Meanwhile, the Ho Chi Minh City Association for Support for People with Disabilities and Orphans (HASPDO) and Cat Tien Sa Media Group presented 2,000 gift packages worth a total of 1 billion VND to people with disabilities and orphans in a charitable programme titled “Cay mua xuan – Thap sang long nhan ai” (Spring Trees – Lighting Up Humanity) in the city on January 24. It was the 15 th time the event was held.

Speaking at the event, HASPDO President Hoang Thi Khanh said the gifts, contributed by many donors, are expected to help disadvantaged people share the warmth and tastes of Tet.

Over the past 14 years, the programme has sent pre-Tet gifts to more than 26,000 people with disabilities and orphans across the city.

Irrigation sector urged to boost restructuring

The irrigation sector should continue to focus on restructuring and reviewing irrigation plans to serve multiple purposes, said Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai.

The Deputy PM made his statement at a ceremony in Hanoi last week to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the establishment of the Institute of Water Resources Planning (IWRP).

Hai said irrigation serves not only the development of agriculture, but also facilitates aquaculture and provides a water supply to people as well as other economic sectors.

As an agricultural country, the irrigation sector plays an important role and directly affects people's production, he said. However, many challenges must be overcome in order to manage the irrigation systems and make them adapt to climate change.

Deputy PM Hai asked the sector for more initiatives to enhance creativity in irrigation planning and promote co-operation with relevant agencies to enhance crop and livestock restructuring and efficient water use.

Hai said Vietnam is one of the countries that are suffering from a water shortage. More than 60 percent of water sources depend on river basins outside its borders.

Along with the impact of climate change, unpredictable changes in weather patterns and an increasing demand for water exploitation are posing challenges for the country in general and the irrigation sector in particular.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said irrigation planning should be strengthened, focusing not only on rice cultivation, but also on other crops.

IWRP director Bui Nam Sach said the institute will deploy river basin planning to meet the requirements of irrigation investment, while collaborating with relevant agencies and localities to develop irrigation planning for socio-economic development.

Since it was established in 1961, the Institute for Water Resources Planning has played an active role in the construction of large projects like the Bac Hung Hai irrigation project, Nam Ha pumping station, and Thac Mo, Tri An and La Nga hydropower plants.

Vietnam has a synchronous irrigation infrastructure with over 900 large and medium-sized irrigation systems, nearly 7,000 reservoirs, 10,000km of dykes, over 250,000km of canals, more than 13,300 pumping stations and 5,500 irrigation drainage systems.

Capital allocation for new rural area programme in 2016

The Prime Minister has ordered the People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to allocate the State budget for the implementation of the national target programme on building new-style rural areas in 2016.

Accordingly, resources will be prioritised for communes facing extreme difficulties, and border, island and coastal communes, particularly the communes that had achieved less than five out of the 19 criteria set for being recognised as new-style rural areas.

Proper investment will be prioritised for communes that had achieved over 15 out of the 19 set criteria, particularly those communes that have yet completed such fundamental infrastructure as roads, electricity network, school, clinic stations, water supply facilities, and irrigation work.

For the communes that had been recognised as new-style rural areas, the PM asked the centrally-run cities and provinces to proactively help them further improve recorded attainments.

He has requested provinces and cities report their capital allocation plan for 2016 to relevant authorities such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) by January 30.

The national target programme on building new-style rural areas, initiated by the Vietnamese Government in 2010, sets 19 criteria on socio-economic development, politics, and defence, aiming to modernise rural areas.

The criteria cover the development of infrastructure, the improvement of production capacities, environmental protection, and the promotion of cultural values.

The country aims to have 50 percent of all communes nationwide meeting all the requirements by the end of 2020.

Vietnamese in Argentina celebrate Lunar New Year

Vietnamese expatriates in Argentina gathered at a meeting in Buenos Aires on January 23 to celebrate the Lunar New Year (Tet).

Extending best wishes to overseas Vietnamese, Ambassador to the country Nguyen Dinh Thao said the pre-Tet gathering was held on the occasion the 12th National Party Congress – a significant political and social event of Vietnam.

The diplomat highlighted the developing solidarity, friendship and cooperation between the two countries, saying numerous activities have been held across Argentina to mark the 85th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, 40 years of national reunification and the 70th National Day.

He added that two-way trade hit a record of 2.4 billion USD in 2015, 10 times that of 2005. Argentina is one of Vietnam’s key trade partners in Latin America.

The ambassador also spoke in length about the socio-economic situation in Vietnam, citing the gross domestic product (GDP) growth reached 6.68 percent in 2015, despite global economic downturns.

He noted that the Vietnamese community has made significant contributions to enhancing the bilateral friendship, illustrated by the establishment of the Asian Culture House by Pham Lien – an overseas Vietnamese.

The house has become a familiar destination for representatives of Argentinean agencies and member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Buenos Aires, he added.

On the occasion, Vietnamese expatriates were treated to traditional dishes and art performances.

Agencies, localities gear up to ensure merry Tet nationwide

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has ordered all ministries, ministry-level agencies, Government bodies and provincial People’s Committees to hasten preparations for the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival, which will come in the next fortnight.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance were asked to ensure the supply of goods and price stability, particularly in rural, mountainous and insular areas. They must strengthen the fight against smuggling, trade fraud, counterfeit and low-quality goods, explosives, firecrackers and weapons.

The Ministry of Public Security must crack down on crime and prevent any terrorist schemes to safeguard national security, social order and safety during Tet. Stringent punishments must also be imposed on traffic violations, as well as firecracker production, trafficking and transport.

The PM tasked the Ministry of Transport with satisfying travel and goods delivery demand, which will surge before and after the holiday, and tackling traffic congestion on key roads and in big cities.

The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development were ordered to control food hygiene and safety at food processing and selling facilities and markets, and to seriously punish violators.

The Cabinet leader also told the Ministry of Health to have personnel and equipment ready for Tet.

Additionally, provinces and centrally run cities nationwide were asked to ensure a happy holiday for all residents by visiting and sending Tet gifts to low-income families, people who rendered service to the nation, the disadvantaged and other social policy beneficiaries.

Mexico’s Labour Party chief extends Tet wishes to Vietnamese

Mexico’s Labour Party (PT) General Secretary Alberto Anaya Gutierrez visited and extended Lunar New Year (Tet) greetings to the Vietnamese community and attended a get-together marking the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam in Zacatecas state on January 23.

He, together with many Mexican parliamentarians and members of the PT Central Committee, was welcomed by Vietnamese doctors working in the state as part of the countries’ cooperation in acupuncture and Vietnamese students from the Autonomous University of Zacatecas.

In his speech, PT General Secretary Gutierrez highly valued Vietnam’s substantial achievements during the three decades of Doi Moi (Reform), especially in poverty alleviation. He also welcomed the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and wished the event a success.

He hailed Vietnamese professors and doctors’ fruitful collaboration with the Autonomous University of Zacatecas in the acupuncture cooperation project, as well as with many Mexican organisations in health care.

He expressed his hope for the intensified affiliation between the two Parties and nations for the sake of their people.

For the past 15 years since its launch, the cooperation project between Vietnam’s National Hospital of Acupuncture and the Autonomous University of Zacatecas has provided check-ups and treatment for some 200,000 patients.

OV press carries news on Party Congress

PhoBolsaTV, a programme for overseas Vietnamese in the US and many other countries worldwide, has carried stories highlighting the ongoing 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).

Vu Hoang Lan, a reporter from the programme, on January 21 recorded the opening ceremony of the Congress at Hanoi’s National Convention Centre.

Lan said the outcomes of the Congress are significant to Vietnamese communities abroad, adding that national sea and island sovereignty, election of new CPV leaders and the country’s development path are among viewers’ concerns.

He also interviewed some delegates to the Congress about the aforementioned issues.

Information and photos on this important political event posted on PhoBolsaTV will be shared with other overseas Vietnamese communication agencies, he added.

The 12th National Party Congress runs from January 20 to 28 with the theme of “Promoting the building of a pure and strong Party, while putting into play the strength of the entire nation and socialist democracy, stepping up reform comprehensively and synchronously, firmly safeguarding the Fatherland and maintaining a peaceful and stable environment, and striving to turn Vietnam into a modernity-oriented industrialised country.

A total of 1,510 delegates representing more than 4.5 million Party members are participating in the event.

HCM City: string of events to mark CPV’s foundation

The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City will organise a wide range of cultural activities to celebrate the 86th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) (February 3, 1930).

Accordingly, the highlight of the events will be an arts performance programme in the evening of January 3, at the Park 23/09.

Other activities such as a photo exhibition along Dong Khoi Street from February 2-17, and boat and cycle races will be happening around the city.

On the occasion, social policies beneficiaries, war veterans, families of martyrs and wounded soldiers, and veteran Party members will receive support from the municipal authorities.

Thai Nguyen: Nearly 300 blood units donated

The 2016 Red Spring Festival in the northern province of Thai Nguyen was expected to collect nearly 300 units of blood from donors.

The festival, organised by the provincial blood donation steering committee, attracted the participation of about 500 youth members and students from local universities.

The event aimed to help reduce blood scarcity for medical treatment during the occasion of Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday in the locality.

In the last five years, the province collected over 60,000 blood units, however, the amount of blood only satisfied about 65 percent of demand for treatment.

On the occasion, the Vietnam Red Cross Society presented certificates of merit to two organisations and two individuals for their contributions to blood donation activities.

Two individuals in the province also received insignias “For the cause of humanitarianism”.

Binh Dinh fishermen equipped with communication devices

As many as 65 ICOM radio devices were handed over to fishermen in the central coastal province of Binh Dinh on January 22-23 under the programme “East Sea connectivity”.

The devices, worth a total of 811 million VND (over 35,000USD), were installed in fishing boats with a capacity of 20-89 CV.

According to Ha Van Cat, President of the provincial Red Cross Society, the devices are to support fishermen in keeping close watch on the weather, enabling them to contact the mainland during offshore fishing operations, thus ensuring their safety.

Initiated by the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Vietnam Red Cross, The Voice of Vietnam Radio and Vietnam Television, the “East Sea connectivity” programme calls for domestic and foreign aid to equip all fishermen nationwide with telecommunications devices.

The programme is aimed at supporting and encouraging fishermen to continue in their traditional fishing areas and protect national sea and island sovereignty.

Central region eyes fulfilling insurance revenue target

Cities and provinces in the central region aim to surpass the 2016 plan for social, health and unemployment insurance revenue by at least 2 percent.

At a conference in the central province of Quang Nam on January 22, social insurance agencies of nine localities in the region set out several measures to achieve the target.

One of the measures is to bring lawsuits against businesses for failing to pay insurance for their employees.

In addition to popularising social insurance policies to beneficiaries, social insurance organisations should hold dialogues with corporate management and workers at industrial parks to address difficulties and help them implement the insurance policies in an effective manner.

Last year, the region raked in 16.18 trillion VND (722.4 million USD) from insurance, exceeding Vietnam Social Security’s target. Currently, 852,488 people have joined compulsory social insurance, 27,581 people pay for voluntary social insurance, nearly 768,000 labourers have registered for unemployment insurance and over 8.1 million others hold health insurance.

More than 960,500 people in Da Nang , accounting for 95 percent of the city’s total population, have access to health insurance. Along with increasing insurance coverage, the city is also concerned about health service quality.

However, insurance arrears are common in most localities, with total insurance debts owed by local enterprises amounting to over 529 billion VND (23.6 million USD). The social insurance sector is taking drastic measures to deal with the issue and making concerted efforts to lower insurance debt to under 3.5 percent of the total due payment.

Lao Cai, Quang Tri provinces to get rice aid

The Prime Minister has approved a grant of over 1,000 tonnes of rice from the national reserves to support localities during Lunar New Year 2016.

Accordingly, the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai will receive 155.31 tonnes of rice, while the central province of Quang Tri will get 859 tonnes of rice.

This annual activity shows the concern of the State and the government in the lives of compatriots in remote, far-flung areas and places that get hit by natural disasters.

The initiative has helped locals to stablise their lives during the between-crop period and eliminate the nomadic lifestyle among mountainous ethnic minorities.

National fine-art photo exhibition calls for entries

Photographers nationwide are being invited to submit entries for the national exhibition of fine-art photography which will open in Rach Gia, the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang on the National Day, September 2.

The exhibition will be jointly organised by the Department of Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibition under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists.

According to Vi Kien Thanh, head of the department, the biennial event will focus on the Mekong Delta and Phu Quoc Island which host the National Tourism Year 2016.

This year’s event has two categories – Exploring the Southern Land and Freestyle. The photos on the first category should reflect life, people and landscapes in the 13 Mekong Delta localities.

An entry may be a single photo or a photo series submitted together with a caption of up to 500 words.

Each photographer may submit up to eight entries which have not won or been on display at any national or international exhibition or photo contest. Winners will receive up to 30 million VND (1,340 USD)

Submission deadline is May 31, 2016.

Visit anhnghethuatvietnam2016.com and ape.com.vn for more information.-

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri