Three arrested for drug trafficking

Thanh Hoa and Son La provinces' border guards, along with Laos' Hua Phan Province police have caught a couple for possessing 23.5kg of heroin and 191 synthetic drug pills.

The authorities on Monday arrested Nang Na Mua, 26, for possessing 7kg of heroin in Sam Nua District in Laos' Hua Phan Province.

Then, the police caught Mua's husband Thao Chu Vang and seized 16.5kg of heroin, 191 synthetic drug pills and other items from their house.

The two traffickers said they were shaping heroin into cakes to smuggle them into Viet Nam for consumption.

On the same day, the northern Quang Ninh Province police arrested Lang Van Hao, 18, for smuggling 3kg of methamphetamine from China to Viet Nam.

Hao is a native of Thanh Hoa Province. He came to Quang Ninh to work as a porter.

Hao and some other people illegally crossed the border into China on Monday to unload goods.

In China, Tam, who is Hao's acquaintance, asked him to smuggle methamphetamine to Viet Nam and charged him VND10 million (about US$447).

All the cases are being investigated further.

Deputy PM wants prompt investigation of road accidents

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc yesterday asked the police in two localities to promptly investigate two road accidents that killed seven people and injured three on Monday.

The accidents took place in Ha Noi and the northern Ha Giang Province.

Phuc, who is also head of the National Traffic Safety Committee, sent his condolences to the victims' families.

He asked the police in the two localities to complete the necessary procedures to identify the causes of the two accidents and to punish the guilty.

He also asked traffic police to tighten control and strictly punish violations that threaten road safety such as drink driving, speeding, driving in the wrong lane and illegal parking.

On Monday morning, three people, including a six-year-old child, died after being hit by a car that allegedly went out of control in Ha Noi's Lonh Bien District.

The child and her grandfather were reportedly going on a motorbike to her school, while the third victim was a 47-year-old female pedestrian who was walking on the sidewalk. Camera recordings by local residents show a girl getting out of the car after it hit the victims. In the afternoon, a man named Nguyen Quang Vinh gave himself up to Long Bien District Police, saying that he was driving the car and had caused the accident.

Police arrested and prosecuted Vinh on the evening of the same day and are conducting further investigations. The case is attracting a lot of public attention, not because of its seriousness but due to doubts about who was driving the car.

Meanwhile, two cars travelling in opposite direction crashed into each other, killing four people and injured three in the northern Ha Giang Province's Vi Xuyen District at 8pm on Monday.

Both cars were badly damaged in the accident, and one of them flipped over.

Kien Giang acts against criminal gangs on sea

Fishing boats in Ganh Dau Sea, north-west off Phu Quoc Island in Kien Giang Province. Local fishermen are worried about illegal division of fishing grounds and extortion of money by gangsters. — Photo qag.vn

Border guard and relevant agencies in the southern Kien Giang have been asked to co-operate in cracking down on criminals operating on the sea, threatening fishermen and their livelihood.

Provincial People's Committee Chairman Pham Vu Hong asked relevant agencies to take drastic action to reduce crime after local fishermen reported that they were forced to pay money to "gangsters" who would then allow them to fish, particularly in Tho Chu, Phu Quoc and Kien Hai.

Local fisherman Vo Duc Thang, 63, of Kien Hai District, said in late November, four fishing boats approached his boat and forced him to leave the fishing ground.

They threatened to kill him and burn his boat if he continued fishing there or reported to the authorities.

Another fisherman Nguyen Tan Vinh, 53, of An Bien District, was injured during a fight with "strangers" over a fishing ground last December.

Director of the province's Trade and Industry Department Huynh Van Ganh said some people obstructed the work to install a power line to the island's Lai Son Commune and asked the workers for money.

After receiving the reports, the department of agriculture and rural development and other agencies have increased patrolling and control over the sea.

The division of fishing grounds in Kien Giang Province is illegal, but has developed complications, requiring strong action by agencies and authorities.

Becamex Tokyu Bus to open new routes

Becamex Tokyu Bus Co. Ltd on Saturday will open five new bus routes, including two routes connecting the Thu Dau Mot City Centre with Binh Duong New City and three routes in Binh Duong New City.

In December 2014, the company launched the Kaze Shuttle bus route, which connects Thu Dau Mot City and Binh Duong New City. The route serves as a means of transport for government workers who work at the Administration Centre .

NIN recommends milk, milk product rations

The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) today released a recommendation on the use of milk and milk products in Viet Nam.

"This recommendation aims to improve the community's awareness of the nutrient value of milk, the current reality of calcium deficiency and ways to better use milk and milk products to improve the physique and health of the Vietnamese people going forward," NIN deputy director Le Bach Mai said at an event today in Ha Noi.

According to the recommendation, children aged three to five years should consume four units of milk, equivalent to 15g of cheese, 100ml of yoghurt and 200ml of milk each day, while children aged between 10 and 19 years should consume six units of milk, equivalent to 30g of cheese, 200ml of yoghurt and 200ml of milk daily.

Adults of all ages should consume three to four units of milk daily. Pregnant women should drink 6 units of milk per day, while breast-feeding mothers are urged to drink 6.5 units of milk daily.

"The recommendation would contribute to effectively implementing the National Nutrition Strategy for the 2011-20 period and the plan to improve the physique and strength of the Vietnamese people in the 2011-30 period," Mai added.

A survey conducted by NIN during 1985-2010 showed that the daily calcium rations of the Vietnamese people amounted to 500-540mg per person, meeting about 50-60 per cent of the World Health Organisation's calcium ration recommendation.

The current situation is the result of poor consumption of milk, milk products and seafood products.

Agreement to prevent natural disasters signed

The Viet Nam Red Cross (VNRC) and the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control will jointly implement the natural disaster prevention law during the 2016-20 period.

The co-operation is part of an agreement signed by VNRC Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu and Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang at a ceremony today in Ha Noi.

"VNRC will work closely with the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control in natural disaster prevention programmes, especially in projects on storm preparedness, drought and water shortage prevention in the central and the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta regions," VNRC Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu said.

Under the framework of the agreement, co-operation programmes will focus on improving community awareness about disaster preparedness and prevention; strengthening manpower in localities; and implementing national target programmes and projects related to disaster preparedness, prevention and climate change adaptation.

The two sides will also collaborate in implementing disaster response and recovery and rehabilitation programmes, especially international programmes following the Sendai Framework and regional forums on disaster prevention and risk reduction.

In 2011, VNRC and the agriculture and rural development ministry signed an agreement to implement the government's project 1002 on strengthening community awareness about natural disasters and community-based disaster risk management.

In the last four years, the two sides have implemented various programmes to improve VNRC's manpower, strengthen community awareness about natural disaster prevention and its aftermath and livelihood development projects.

The programme helped to train nearly 1,400 trainers and prepared documents on community-based disaster risk assessment and natural disaster prevention for students.

With the support of the ministry, the society carried out disaster intervention programmes in 555 communes and wards of 142 districts in 36 provinces and cities nationwide and established more than 200 disaster response teams at community levels.

Radio, traffic laws to take effect in March

Policies on the management and provision of radio and television services, conditions on setting up representative offices, and regulations on speed limits on national roads are among those that will take effect in March.

Decree 06/2016/ND-CP, which comes into force on March 15, covers the management, provision and use of radio and television services.

Under the decree, the content broacast by foreign broadcasting channels on paid radio and television systems in Viet Nam must not violate Vietnamese cultural norms or the country's Press Law. The number of foreign broadcasting channels should not exceed 30 per cent of the total channels provided by each paid system.

It is necessary for the programmes to own or use copyrighted content to be aired or televised and obtain certificates of registration for service provision on paid radio and television.

Government Decree 07/2016/ND-CP, which will be effective from March 10, specifies the rights and responsibilities of foreign firms establishing representative offices and branches in Viet Nam.

A foreign trader will not be allowed to open more than one representative office or branch bearing the same name in the same city or province.

To open a foreign representative office in Viet Nam, foreign traders must have been active for at least one year from the date the office is established or registered. In cases where business registration certificates or equivalent documents of foreign firms regulate the operating duration, they must have at least one year of validity from the date of submission of the application.

All activities of representative offices must be in conformity with the country's commitments to international treaties. In case operations of a representative office do not fit such commitments, it will need approval from an authorised minister or leaders of ministerial-level agencies.

Requirements for the opening of foreign branches in Viet Nam are similar to foreign representatives, but foreign traders must have operated for at least five years from the date of establishment or registration of the branch.

Another regulation that came into effect on March 1 is the Transport Ministry's circular on speed limits for vehicles.

Under the Circular 91/2015/TT-BGTVT, the maximum speed limit in residential areas will be increased by 10kph.

Accordingly, a 60kph speed limit will be applicable to two-way roads with a centre divider, or one-way roads with at least two lanes for motor vehicles. The restriction for two-way roads without a centre divider or one-way roads with only one lane for motor vehicles will be 50kph.

The circular also stipulates that speed limits will now vary based on the type of road, rather than the type of vehicle.

Dengue fever drops in HCM City

The Preventive Health Centre in HCM City will continue its dengue-fever preventive programme this year as the city has seen a downward trend in the last two months.

Last month, 1,651 patients had dengue fever, a decrease of nearly 55 per cent compared to January. However, the number was 92 per cent higher than the same period last year.

Of the number, one patient died. The individual had visited the hospital for emergency aid after being treated at home for five to six days.

Speaking at a meeting held on Monday by the city's Department of Health, Dr Le Hong Nga, head of the centre's general planning division, told health officials in districts to strengthen preventive activities.

Officials were told to focus on destroying mosquitoes and larvae to prevent dengue fever and the spread of the Zika virus now sweeping Latin America.

Nga said that Aedes mosquitoes that can transmit the Zika virus live in the city area.

"If there is a patient with the virus in the city, an epidemic could break out," she said.

The General Department of Preventive Medicine on March 5 will launch a campaign for people to pay more attention to destroying mosquitoes and larvae.

District health officials were also told to focus on surveillance of hand, foot and mouth disease, especially at schools, as this is the peak period for the disease.

In January, a minor outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease occurred in one kindergarten in District 3, but district health officials took action early to prevent the spread of the disease.

In the last two months, the city reported 557 cases of hand, foot and mouth, a decrease of 40 per cent compared to the same period.

Respiratory diseases should also be given more attention as this is the season for such ailments, Nga said.

Nga also said that two campaigns that provide fee oral polio vaccines and a combined vaccine against measles and rubella this month will be carried out in the city.

The oral polio vaccine will be provided to 199,500 children under five years old in seven districts with a high risk, including 12, Go Vap, Hoc Mon, Thu Duc, Binh Chanh, Tan Phu, and Binh Tan.

Local ward and commune health centres will provide the vaccine to children at their kindergartens.

The combined vaccine against measles and rubella will be provided to 124,000 to people born in 1998 and 1999 to increase coverage of the vaccine in the community.

In 2014 and 2015, the city concluded its campaign to provide the vaccine to children aged one to 14.

Experts share int'l experiences on youth development policy

Investing in young people and safeguarding their rights is essential for their development and for their families, communities and countries.

Experts agreed to share international experiences on youth development policy at a workshop held yesterday in Ha Noi by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA), with technical support from the United Nations Population's Fund (UNFPA).

Data from the 2014 population survey show that Viet Nam has entered a golden population period, featuring the highest proportion of young people in the country's history. Young people now represent one third of the total Vietnamese population.

Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Trong Thua said, "This presents Viet Nam with a unique opportunity for this golden period to fuel socio-economic prosperity by ensuring that every young person is educated and supported to achieve his or her full potential."

Viet Nam has accomplished many progressive achievements in youth-related issues over the years. But young people still face many difficulties and obstacles to reaching their full potential, according to Thua.

"Young people should be placed at the heart of our human resource development strategy. Youth care and development are objectives pursued by the country, as they are the driving force to ensure the country's stability and sustainable development," he said.

The national report on Viet Nam's youth, presented by Vu Dang Minh, director of the Department of Youth Affairs under the MOHA, showed that the country had more than 25 million young people in 2014, who are now between 16 and 30, constituting 27.7 per cent of the total population.

But only 4.2 per cent of them graduated from universities and higher education.

More than 10 per cent of them did not graduate from primary schools.

The number of unemployed people between the ages of 15 and 24 constitutes more than 50 per cent of the total unemployed people across the country.

The rate of unemployment in urban areas is higher than in rural areas.

Howard Williamson, a South Wales University expert on European youth development policy with 45 years of work experience in youth affairs, said that youth policy must encompass every factor of the lives of young people.

For instance, youth policy must cover schooling, preparation for working, healthcare, and other legal topics.

National policies for youth should be inserted into all present national policies, he said.

Astrid Bant, UNFPA Representative in Viet Nam, said that experience around the world demonstrated that protecting young men's and women's rights, creating conditions that allow them to complete at least secondary school, teaching them work skills to make a living, assisting them to find decent work, and ensuring their access to sexual and reproductive health and rights are all essential steps that pave the way to a fulfilling and productive adolescence, youth and adulthood.

"Naturally, this pathway requires investment. And, to be most effective, this investment requires co-ordination across sectors, as well as old and new partners," she said.

Ca Mau braces for saltwater intrusion, drought

Local people in the southernmost coastal province of Ca Mau have created 500 embankments to shield their farming fields from saltwater in an effort to deal with unprecedented severe saline intrusion.

According to local official reports, up to 70 percent of 23,000 hectares grown with rice was damaged by saline intrusion.

The salty condition also harmed more than 2,000 hectares of vegetables and fruit trees.

Meanwhile, a hash drought is occurring, drying out 43,000 hectares of cajuput forests, which poses a high risk of fires.

As the drought is forecast to prolong until May, Ca Mau’s authorities urged locals to save water and restrict out-of-season shrimp breeding.

Limited forest access and a contemporary ban on the extraction of honey in the wild are issued as fire precautions. Residents and forest rangers are put on high alert, watching out for any possible fires.

Provinces target more new-style rural communes

The northern Lang Son and southern Tien Giang provinces aim to have more communes recognised as new-style rural areas in 2016-2020.

Lang Son strives to have additional 59 communes meeting the national programme’s criteria through 2020, heard a review meeting in the province on March 2.

The annual average per capita income in the recognised communes is expected to reach over 35 million VND (1,575 USD).

Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Thi Thanh Nhan said local authorities have increased communication campaigns and mobilised financial resources to develop rural infrastructure, especially in underprivileged communes.

The locality has also reviewed the efficiency of preferential policies and encouraged organisations and businesses to invest in agriculture and rural development, she added.

In addition to promoting the application of science and technology in the field, the province has made the best use of natural advantages to develop forestry into a spearhead economic sector.

It mobilised over 9.2 trillion VND (414 million USD) for new-style rural area building in 2011-2015.

Meanwhile, Tien Giang strives to mobilise more than 7.3 trillion VND (328.5 million USD) to modernise 58 more communes.

At the end of 2015, the province had 12 communes getting the status.

The national target programme on building new-style rural areas, initiated by the 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.

US organisation aids UXO clearance project in Quang Binh

The People’s Committee of the central province of Quang Binh has received an aid package from the US Golden West Humanitarian Foundation (GWHF) to conduct a project to clear unexploded ordnances (UXO) left from the war in the province.

The aid package, worth 242,000 USD, will be spent on training UXO clearance staff as well as providing equipment for the provincial Military High Command.

The project will be implemented until the end of this year.

According to statistics, all communes with 225,000 hectares of land in Quang Binh are contaminated with UXOs.

Over the past ten years, there were 164 UXO-related accidents in the province, causing 49 deaths and 115 injuries.

A preliminary survey in 2002 showed that nearly 9,300 communes with 6.6 million hectares of land across Vietnam were contaminated with UXOs, accounting for 21.12 percent of the country’s land area. The central region is the most contaminated.

UXOs claimed 42,135 lives and injured 62,163 others from 1975 to 2000. The State has spent tens of millions of USD every year on UXO disposal and providing vocational training to and resettling UXO victims.

Vietnam, Sweden localities boost ties

A delegation from the Swedish city of Pitea led by mayor Peter Roslund toured the southern province of An Giang from February 29 to March 2 under a framework of a cooperation programme between the two localities.

Deputy Chairman of the province People’s Committee Ho Viet Hiep said the two sides highly valued the outcome of a project on using by-products from rice crops, which was carried out between 2015 and 2017 with funding from the Swedish city.

According to Director of the An Giang- Pitea Project Managing Board Pham Ngoc Xuan, local farmers discard over 700,000 tonnes of rice husk a year, while 5kg of husk can produce 1 kW of electricity. At present two projects in the locality are under way to build thermo-electric plants fuelled by rice husk with total capacity of 10 MW.

The two sides agreed the plan for 2016 including three programmes on promoting the use of byproducts from rice crops to improve life quality for local people and training classes for milling firms on utilising rice husk and straw as fuels.

The An Giang People’s Committee and the government of Pitea City will also support local enterprises in participating in the Nolia trade fair in Sweden from August 10-13 this year.

The fair is expected to offer an opportunity for local enterprises to introduce their products to the EU market while promoting the province’s culture, cuisine, land and people.

Vietnam promotes working rights of people with disabilities

Vietnam and Australia jointly organised an international seminar on creating employment opportunities and favourable working conditions for people with disabilities in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 3.

The event is part of activities on the sidelines of the 31st regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) from February 29 to March 24.

Participants at the seminar included the UNHRC Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities and representatives of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Pacific Disability Forum and many non-governmental organisations and countries.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc stressed the need for a legal framework to ensure access to employment opportunities and favourable working conditions for people with disabilities.

He called for improvements of infrastructure facilities and means of public transport to meet the need of the disabled as well as educational and vocational training support for the disadvantaged group.

The Vietnamese diplomat highlighted Vietnam’s continuous and utmost efforts to ensure the rights of people with disabilities, who account for 7.8 percent of the country’s population.

Meanwhile, participants shared their views on the challenges facing the group in exercising their right to work, including access to employment opportunities and discrimination at workplaces.

The ILO representative laid emphasis on the role of employers in handling the situation. Other international representatives mentioned measures to exploit the capability of the targeted group.

They underlined the need for developing a legal framework and incentives to support the disabled, while enhancing public awareness of their working rights.

Also on the sidelines of the UNHRC session, Deputy Minister Ngoc had bilateral meetings with Guatemala Foreign Minister Carlos Rau Monrales Moscoso, Australian Special Envoy for Human Rights Philip Ruddock, and Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Masakazu Hamachi.

Bilateral cooperation, particularly in human rights promotion at international multilateral forums including the UNHRC, was among the themes of discussion at the meetings.

Exhibition on island sovereignty evidence opens in Hai Phong

An exhibition of historical evidence proving Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos opened in the northern port city of Hai Phong on March 2.

On display is numerous documents in Chinese, Nom (old Vietnamese writing using Chinese characters), French and modern Vietnamese issued by Vietnamese feudal courts, the French colonialist authorities in Indochina and contemporary Vietnamese governments.

The documents affirm Vietnam’s sovereignty over these islands and reflect the country’s administrative management as well as its exercise and protection of sovereignty over the archipelagoes.

Around 100 maps are also put on show, demonstrating the fact that these islands have never historically belonged to China.

The event aims to raise the public’s awareness, and encourage Vietnamese nationals to protect and affirm national territory.

The exhibition will run until March 6 at the Hai Phong Museum and then move on to Cat Hai island district on March 29.

Master plan on national highways approved

The Prime Minister has ratified a master plan on Vietnam highway development by 2020 with a vision towards 2030.

The plan targets to form a national highway network that connects major economic centres, key border gates and transport hubs on high transport demands at high speed.

It aims to build North-South highways and prioritise highways which link big cities, namely Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang and large seaports.

Under the plan, the northern system has 14 highways connecting Hanoi with other provinces with a total length of 1,368 km, while the southern network has seven routes stretching 983 km and the central and central highlands system consists of three highways with a total stretch of 264 km.

Two North-South highways with a total stretch of 3,083 km are defined in the plan.

Japan continues to support projects in HCM City

The Japanese Government will continue to support projects which are being carried out in Ho Chi Minh City, according to Katsuro Nagai, Minister at the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam.

At a meeting with Chairman of the city People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong on March 2, the Japanese diplomat also expressed his hope that local authorities will actively assist Japanese investors to do business in the city in the long run.

The diplomat and a delegation from the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transports and Tourism were making a working trip to Ho Chi Minh City to bolster cooperation between Japan and Vietnam’s largest economic hub.

For his part, Chairman Phong highly appreciated the valuable assistance of Japan in various fields, particularly key projects infrastructure development.

VFF, NA agencies step up coordination

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung has stressed the quality of candidates as the most important factor of the upcoming election of deputies to the 14th NA and People’s Councils at all levels for 2016-2021.

The chief legislator, who is also Chairman of the National Election Council (NEC), made the remarks at a conference on coordination in 2016 between the NA’s Standing Committee and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee (VFFCC)’s Presidium in Hanoi on March 2.

He noted his hope that the VFFCC’s Presidium will closely team up with the NA’s Standing Committee and the NEC for the success of the elections, an important political event of the country.

The NA Chairman urged the two agencies work closely with each other in building laws as well as in collecting voters’ opinions and supervising the settlement of people’s complaints and petitions.

VFFCC President Nguyen Thien Nhan said the VFF will continue to popularise the election, especially its new points, for social organisations and people from all walks of life.

The VFF will also continue to partner with the NA’s Standing Committee in law-making and supervision, and other legislative activities, he promised.

Other participants suggested reforming the coordination mechanism to allow the VFFCC Presidium to involve in the law building process from the beginning of the law drafting work.

Tay Ninh rolls out drastic solutions to forest fires

Vice Chairman of the Tay Ninh province People’s Committee Nguyen Manh Hung has requested local agencies to implement urgent solutions to prevent forest fires during this year’s dry season.

At a working session on forest fire prevention on March 2, the official called for round-the-clock patrols by competent agencies in localities vulnerable to fires, and the installation of forest fire warning notices there.

On-the-spot firefighting equipment and water must be always available, he said.

Since the beginning of the dry season this year, Tay Ninh experienced tens of forest fires, with 23 cases in Tan Chau district and 16 in the Dau Tieng Protective Forest, with a total of more than 110 hectares of forests destroyed.

The warning for forest fire has been raised to level 5 – which means extremely high risk as it is now the peak of the dry season.

The southern province of Tay Ninh is now home to nearly 60,000 hectares of forests.

RoK to further support Vietnam’s hydrometeorology sector

The Republic of Korea (RoK) will continue supporting and sharing experience with Vietnam in developing its hydrometeorology sector, a RoK expert said.

During his interview granted to the Vietnam New Agency, Director of the International Cooperation Division of the RoK’s Meteorological Administration Seong Ihncheol highlighted fruitful links between his agency and Vietnam’s National Centre for Hydrometeorological Forecasting.

The two sides maintain annual meetings to review collaboration and set plans for their future hydrometeorological projects, he said, expressing his hope that more projects will be jointly conducted in the coming years.

The RoK has provided Vietnam with 4 million USD to help the country implement a project to modernise disaster warning systems, he revealed.

In recent years, the World Bank and international organisations, including those from the RoK, supported Vietnam in strengthening weather forecast systems and early warning systems for natural disasters under the project “Disaster management”.

Seong Ihncheol said he believes that there will be enormous opportunities for Vietnam to receive further support from the RoK in many fields in the future, including hydrometeorology.

Wastewater treatment project in Binh Duong approved

The Prime Minister has approved a “Sewage and Wastewater Treatment in Di An town area” project to be implemented in the southern province of Binh Duong.

The project, part of the World Bank-funded project titled “Urban Water Supply and Wastewater – phase I”, has a total investment of 115 million USD.

More than 92 million USD of this amount came from the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development of the World Bank.

The rest of 23 million USD is Binh Duong’s counterpart capital which is sourced from its budget.

It aims to ensure a safe water supply from the Dong Nai River for key southern economic zones including Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Ba Ria – Vung Tau.

The three components are collection and treatment of wastewater from Di An town, upgrades to the rainwater drainage system in the town, and technical assistance for the province and the project’s management board.

The project is scheduled to be carried out for three years after the agreement was signed.-

Mechanism boosts links in infectious disease prevention

An agreement on “One Health Partnership” (OHP) framework  mechanism aimed at preventing zoonotic diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans was signed among 27 Vietnamese and international organisations at a ceremony in Hanoi on March 1.

Lying in the tropical area in Asia, Vietnam is one of the five hot spots of emerging infectious diseases such as Ebola, MERS-CoV, SARS and bird flu, which mainly originate from wild animals.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said a series of new diseases sourcing from animals have appeared in the early 21 st century, especially avian and human influenza.

To confront with the situation, in 2006, the Prime Minister agreed to set up a Partnership for Avian and Human Influenza (PAHI) mechanism, which helps promote closer cooperation between the Health Ministry and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant ministries and sectors in the work.

This has contributed to successfully containing dangerous and new diseases, and effectively controlling influenza strain A/H5N1, he said, adding that Vietnam recorded no case of human influenza in 2015.

OHP is a new initiative of the Vietnamese Government in the strategy of preventing risks of animal-to-human infectious diseases. It is expected to offer a venue for partners in and outside the country to share experience and achievements in the field, thus giving policy recommendations to boost international links as well as effectively mobilise and use aid sources.

New partners will support Vietnam and Indonesia – the two first countries implementing the World Health Organisation's Zoonotic Disease Action Package (ZDAP), which is one of the 11 fields of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). This will contribute to efforts of 40 GHSA member countries to protect people worldwide from suffering infectious diseases.

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