Another measles death confirmed in Hanoi

Hanoi recorded another measles-linked death at the National Hospital of Paediatrics on April 28, pushing the fatalities from measles and its complications to 128 so far this year.

According to the Health Ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department, the nation recorded another 35 cases of measles on the day, raising the total number to 3,751 across 61 out of 63 cities and provinces nationwide.

As of the day, 79.4% of children throughout the country were vaccinated, up 1.1 percent from a day earlier.

Forty-nine provinces have recorded over 70% of immunisation while the southern province of Bac Lieu posted the lowest rate, below 50%.

Also on April 28, ministry officials inspected the outbreak control at Children Hospitals 1, 2 in Hanoi and the northern province of Bac Ninh.

The ministry and 11 measles-prone cities and provinces are coming up with a detailed plan to offer free vaccines to children aged 2-10.

Vietnam expects to eliminate the disease by 2017.

Ministry advises measles transmission prevention during coming holidays

The Ministry of Health has warned of the risk of measles spread in the country in the upcoming holidays.

As per the Ministry’s guideline, people with breathing diseases, coughing or fever should restrict their travel to crowded areas during the coming holidays. Children without proper vaccinations should not be taken to the crowd to avoid risks of contracting measles.

Parents should keep an eye on their children and it is also important to pay attention to children’s dental and personal hygiene and keep accommodation clean.

The ministry asked parents to take their kids without proper immunization to local health facilities for vaccination against the disease.

During the trip, if holidaymakers have fever, cough or rashes, they should go to nearby local clinics for timely treatment to curb transmission.

Local health authority should organize mobile vaccination sites to finish immunization rate in July.

Measles vaccine programme will include migrant families

More than 95,000 doses of measles vaccines have been given to children aged nine to 36 months in HCM City over the last two months to curb a measles outbreak in the city.

The city's Preventive Medicine Centre director, Nguyen Tri Dung, said the free immunisations would continue in May to ensure coverage of children from migrant families.

The immunisation programme was expanded on April 24 to include children aged four to six who have not received vaccines or who haved failed to get enough doses, Dung said at a meeting with a ministerial inspection team yesterday in HCM City.

The number of patients with measles has increased significantly this year, with nearly 1,500 cases reported.

Of those cases, children under three years old accounted for 70 per cent, and children aged three to 10 accounted for more than 20 per cent.

All districts of HCM City have reported measles cases, but no deaths have occurred, the centre said.

The Ministry of Health on Sunday issued a warning about the high risk of infection from measles in crowded public places, especially during the upcoming holiday.

The ministry has said that people with respiratory problems, as well as measles symptoms such as fever, cough and skin rash, should not travel or gather in public places.

To prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus, children who have not been vaccinated should not be taken to public entertainment places.

The ministry recommends that children aged nine to 24 months should get the vaccinations at medical clinics if they have had no vaccine, or have not had a sufficient number of shots. Two shots are necessary for the vaccine to be effective.

Children nine months to 10 years old living in areas with a high risk of measles infection should immediately get the vaccinations.

Ha Noi, HCM City and Hai Duong, as well as the provinces of Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Hung Yen, Bac Giang, Vinh Phuc, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa and Binh Duong, are localities that have a high risk of infection, the ministry said.

Ha Noi recorded another measles-linked death yesterday at the National Hospital of Paediatrics, pushing the fatalities from measles and its complications to 128 so far this year.

In Ha Noi, free vaccinations are being offered to children.

New bus route to General Giap’s tomb opens in Quang Binh

A bus route linking Dong Hoi railway station to General Giap’s tomb in Quang Binh Province will soon be open.

The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has just approved the proposal from the Quang Binh provincial People’s Committee in order to serve the high demand for transportation to the tomb in Vung Chua – Dao Yen. The route will be about 70 kilometres long.

According to the provincial government, between 1,000 and 3,000 people per day come to pay tribute to General Vo Nguyen Giap. As many as 90% of the visitors are from outside Quang Binh Province.

The bus route would run through major thoroughfares in Dong Hoi City. It is hoped that this will mitigate traffic congestion in the area.

The MoT requested a change to the schedules of any bus routes that use the same stops as the expected route to ensure efficiency.

Previously, Minister of Transport, Dinh La Thang, requested that Vietnam Railway Corporation (VRC) set up a station linking to General Giap’s tomb to serve the heightened demand for transportation created by the tomb.

VRA will make a plan for the construction after finding a suitable location for the station.

The South serves up scorpions

As scorpions are considered both a delicacy and a medicine in Vietnam, those who live in the southern province of An Giang have decided to try their hands at catching the poisonous creatures.

Nguyen Van Cuong, a resident of the town of Nha Bang, has been selling scorpions for five years and is able to catch around 100 scorpions each day. Scorpions tend to live under soft soil and fallen leaves. When their nests are touched, the scorpions will use their stinger and pincers to attack.

According to one local, An Giang once had a lot of scorpions but they have been hunted down in the last five years. Not only have scorpions become a favourite snack, to eaten with wine, it is said that they can cure back pain, rheumatism and to increase male virility.

Live scorpions are sold at VND4,000-5,000 each in Tinh Bien Market. To show off for customers, sellers often use their bare hands to gently pick up dozens of scorpions without being stung.

Traders from HCM City often come to make bulk purchases. The cost for a bottle of scorpion and snake wine ranges from VND50,000-500,000 (USD2.4-24).

Serious flooding in Hanoi despite big investment in infrastructure

Many streets in Hanoi faced serious flooding even though the city spent thousands of billions of VND on infrastructure improvements since the historic flood of 2008.

After a long downpour on April 27, the first of its kind in Hanoi this rainy season, many streets were under water, causing vehicle  breakdowns. Some roads in the city remained submerged until midday, including the area surrounding the Hanoi University of Commerce and Hanoi Academy of Theatre and Cinema in Nam Tu Liem District.

A representative from Hanoi Sewerage and Drainage Company said the ongoing construction or lack of technical infrastructure in some areas such as Nguyen Xien, Mai Dich, Pham Van Dong streets was the cause of much of the serious flooding.

According to the representative, the capacity of the drainage system in central Hanoi remains low.

The Hanoi Sewerage and Drainage Company has announced that it would attempt to complete a number of drainage works in the city this year to help 10 hot spots avoid flooding.

The director of Hanoi Sewerage and Drainage Company, Nguyen Le, said that this year Vietnam would face a more complicated situation in terms of storms and hydrography.

According to the company, billions of VND have been invested in the construction of drainage systems to deal with rainfall of between 50 mm and 100 mm per hour. The company will also check the drainage gates to the Nhue River to increase capacity.

The rainfall on the morning of April 27 measured at less than 100mm per hour, but many streets were still flooded.

Recently, Hanoi authorities have been urged to drastic measures to deal with flooding, but the situation has not yet improved.

Couple holds wedding in hospital

A couple from Yen Bai Province decided to hold their wedding at Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi just before the bride went into surgery.

Ha Thi Hom, 27, and her fiancé, Ha Van Thom, 24, both of the Thai ethnic minority, were married on April 23.

The groom said that April 23 was their scheduled wedding day. "But last week, Hom said she was tired and had to go to the hospital. They found a tumour in her heart and she needed urgent surgery. We had already announced the date and made all the preparations, so a ceremony is still being held in our hometown," he said.

Dr. Duong Nguyen Duc Hung, head of the cardiovascular surgery unit, said the surgery was also scheduled for April 23. However, after reviewing the bride's condition, they agreed to delay the surgery one day. The hospital also decided to hold a small ceremony for the couple with the attendance of doctors, nurses and families of many patients at hospital. Both the groom and bride were surprised when they saw the ceremony.

Other patients also came to wish the couple well. Tran Thi Ngan, who had a heart surgery five days before, said, "Women with heart disease are at disadvantage. Because they do not have normal health, it is more difficult to care for a family. I also admire the groom's devotion and hope the surgery will be successful."

According to Dr. Hung, the left atrial tumour was at an advanced stage and made Hom feel weak, and short of breath, but it is most likely a benign tumour. It will take three months after the surgery for Hom to recover. "At least during this small ceremony, we hope to close the gap between doctors and patients," he said.

The groom said, "I'm a mechanic's assistant and Hom works on farms. Even though we can't attend our wedding at home, we're happy and very touched to be congratulated by everyone here."

Hanoi supports great service rendering families

Hanoi has launched a programme to improve the housing conditions for families of those who ever rendered great services to the country’s reunification.

Under the programme, which will run until 2016, the city will help 4,423 such households build new homes with financial support worth 40 million VND (1,880 USD) for each. Meanwhile, 5,493 households will be given 20 million VND (940 USD) to upgrade their houses.

In the first half of this year, the city plans to spend 8.88 billion VND (417,360 USD) supporting 222 families to build new houses and 6.58 billion VND (309,260 USD) to assist 329 others to repair their houses.

As much as 80 percent of the total cost for the programme is funded by the State budget, with the remaining sourced from the city budget and community donations.

Friendship Village supports AO sufferers

Providing better healthcare services, education and vocational training for Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin victims is one of the key tasks of the Vietnam Friendship Village, which aims to help all members of the society integrate into the wider community.

An international conference in Hanoi on April 28 heard that the village has taken good care of war veterans and children suffering from impact of the chemical.

Besides offering medical treatment for around 120 AO victims and 80 servicemen and women, the village has also focused on improving the spiritual life for the beneficiaries through music performances and sports activities since it was founded in 1998.

Training courses on computing, embroidery and communication skills are also made available for the victims.

According to the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin (VAVA), US forces sprayed 80 million litres of AO containing almost 400kg of dioxin on Vietnam’s southern battlefields over a 10-year period beginning on August 10, 1961.

Preliminary statistics by Vietnamese scientists indicated about 3 million Vietnamese people were exposed to dioxin. The toxic chemical has had a severe impact on Vietnam’s subsequent generations.

Hanoi to push Japanese infrastructure projects

Hanoi will work with Japanese partners to speed up the progress of four of their infrastructure projects underway in the capital city, Deputy Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Van Suu has said.

He made the pledge at a working session with visiting Japanese Senior Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Kotaro Nogami in the capital on April 28.

Nogami briefed his host of the projects, including a waste treatment system and a mobile multi-storey parking station.

Suu thanked Japan for providing Hanoi with official development assistance in infrastructure, transport and culture, among other areas.

He also acknowledged that many Japanese projects have offered Hanoi residents better living standards, easing their concern over living environment, waste water and transport.

Sri Lanka unveils stamps honouring Ho Chi Minh

A set of stamps honouring President Ho Chi Minh was unveiled at a ceremony in the capital Colombo of Sri Lanka on April 28, as part of activities to mark the 124th birthday of the late Vietnamese leader.

Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador Ton Sinh Thanh said he believes the event will not only foster bilateral postal cooperation but also move forward well-rounded ties between the two peoples and business communities.

Minister for Human Resources and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka Dew Gunasekara said President Ho Chi Minh is the second foreign leader, after Saint Mahatma Gandhi of India that has been featured on his country’s stamps.

Along with the construction of Ho Chi Minh monument in Colombo last year, the event will mark the growing ties between the two nations, he noted.

On the occasion, Minister of Posts J. Kumaranathunga announced that a set of 500,000 stamps portraying the Vietnamese leader will be introduced soon.

Japan helps southern province develop urban projects

A senior official from Japan has said his country will support the southern province of Binh Duong as much as possible in completing planned urban projects.

Japan’s Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Kotaro Nogami made the remarks while meeting with local authorities on April 26.

He said this is his first visit to Vietnam, which he hoped would help deepen cooperation between the two countries.

He highlighted a project that is jointly being implemented by Japan ’s Tokyu Corporation and the Vietnamese Becamex Binh Duong company as part of the intergovernmental programme developing eco-cities in Vietnam.

He asked local authorities to continue facilitating the operation by Japanese investors.

Chairman of the local People’s Committee Le Thanh Cung said Japan constitutes a key partner in the province which is very keen on and active in carrying out eco-urban projects.

The locality will send a delegation to take part in a real estate exhibition in Japan to seek partners and introduce the local investment attraction policies.

Cung also asked the Vice Minister to consider ODA provision for the underground transport project that links Binh Duong , Ho Chi Minh City, and southern Dong Nai province.

Since the beginning of this year, Binh Duong has attracted an additional 823 million USD in foreign direct investment (FDI), increasing the number of such projects to 2,200 worth 19.6 billion USD, said Director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment Mai Hung Dung.

Japan contributed the most with 219 projects worth 4.68 million USD, he added.

Dak Lak aims to support poor communes

The Central Highland province of Dak Lak is introducing many measures to ease poverty before 2015.

According to the local Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, there are now 19 communes with poverty rates surpassing 50 percent. The province hopes to ensure all communes have a lower rate by next year.

Most of the affected areas are located in remote areas and regularly hit by disasters. Meanwhile, their land is exhausted and infrastructure out-of-date.

Therefore, the province is investing more than 440 million VND (20,680 USD) in poverty reduction in these communes through providing loans and technical assistance for needy households, and organising vocational training for labourers, especially the youth.

Attention is being paid to upgrading irrigational works such as lakes, dykes and pumping stations.

Dak Lak is also carrying out health and education support policies, which will provide free insurance cards for 48,000 people living in difficulties and grant scholarships to more than 15,000 disadvantaged students.

In 2014, the Central Highland province endavours to bring its overall poverty rate to 8.99 percent.

Australian-funded project benefits orphans in Hanoi

Orphan and HIV/AIDS children under care at Hanoi’s Bo De pagoda now have clean water for daily use as well as access to a modern library, which are the result of an Australian-funded project.

With a total capital of 389 million VND (18.200 USD) funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and donations from Hanoi-based organisations, the project equips the pagoda with a well-water filter system as well as furniture, computers and learning tools for its library.

According to Deputy Director of the municipal Health Department, the project will help the children have a good health and the best learning conditions, facilitating their integration into the community.

Bo De pagoda is taking care of 260 orphans, including more than 10 HIV-infected children.

Poor kids in Ben Tre receive free milk

The Vietnam Rising milk fund has donated 77,000 glasses of milk to poor children in the southern province of Ben Tre.

Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen handed over the milk at a ceremony in Ben Tre’s Ba Tri district on April 27.

Established in 2008, the fund is supported by the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), the Vietnam Children Sponsoring Fund and the Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk).

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Chuyen praised the fund for giving milk to hundreds of thousands of needy children nationwide, thus improving their physical and mental health.

On the occasion, the MOLISA and the fund presented 100 scholarships worth 1 million VND (47 USD) each to local underprivileged kids, and 30 million VND (1,410 USD) to the provincial children support centre.

According to Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Tran Anh Tuan, the Vietnam Rising milk fund has donated nearly 550,000 glasses of milk to almost 10,000 pupils in the locality over the past five years.

Vinamilk representative Nguyen Thi Quynh Trang said the fund has provided free milk worth nearly 83 billion VND (3.9 million USD) to over 300,000 disadvantaged children nationwide.

Pha Din pass- path for artilleries to Dien Bien Phu battlefield

The 32-km-long Pha Din pass with its highest peak at 1,648 metres above sea level is the gateway to the northwestern mountainous province of Dien Bien. Sixty years ago, Pha Din pass was the place from which soldiers pulled the artilleries up the mountain to the Dien Bien Phu battlefield. A report by radio The Voice of Vietnam (VOV).

The terrain of the Pha Din pass now is not as difficult as before though there are still eight sharp zigzag bends along the road. Work has been done to lower the altitude of the pass and to widen the road, making it easier to go through it. Pha Din pass becomes picturesque with green scenery dotted with bamboo houses of the Thai ethnic minority people.

Sixty years ago, the pass was part of the pipeline supplying ammunitions and food to the Dien Bien Phu battlefield. Everyday, thousands of people, including young volunteers, militia and workers, carried ammunition and rice up the mountain through the pass.

It was also the place where ground forces and artillerymen marched through to Dien Bien Phu.

Music composer Hoang Van, who composed the song “Artillery pulling chant”, still remembers the marches through Pha Din pass 60 years ago, saying: "Before entering Muong Thanh field, we had to go through a long zigzag pass, soldiers moved through on foot while transporters pushed bicycles carrying supplies to the front."

The supply line began in late 1953. The pass was dozens of kilometres and winding while French planes continuously bombarded, he said. "At that time, we had to be careful to avoid enemy bombings. After that, we had to pull artillery up the mountain. All these experiences inspired me to compose the song 'Artillery pulling chant'.”.

Pha Din pass was the most difficult section in the long journey of moving the artilleries. After Pha Din pass, soldiers had to pull their weapons over many slopes, abysses and high peaks to move toward Him Lam, Doc Lap and A1 hills and ultimately French commander De Castries' bunker. The Dien Bien soldiers’ efforts to haul their weaponry are unimaginable.

“As we hauled our ammunitions, dozens of people were arranged at each end of the artileries. At one end, some people pulled the cannons and at the other, some people pushed it. We used a winch and put a roller inside to pull the artilleries," Van said.

It is now about dozens of kilometres from Pha Din pass to Dien Bien city. During the Dien Bien Phu campaign, the length of the road was not calculated by kilometres but by the hardship that the soldiers suffered.

There were different roads for transporting supplies to carry artilleries to the battlefield. Some roads were used for just a few hours for artilleries to go through and then hidden by the forest as if they had never existed.

There was a special section of the road that was 15 km long and built within 20 hours running the distance from Na Nham forest to Ngheu hamlet. On that road, Vietnamese soldiers manually pulled 2.4-tonne artilleries, 75-mm canons and 120-mm mortars through difficult mountains, deep abysses and enemy bombings to join the opening battle of the Dien Bien Phu campaign on March 13, 1954.

Pham Duc Cu, a former artilleryman at Dien Bien Phu, recalled: “Our condition was very harsh. When we were 15 to 18 km from Dien Bien Phu, we had to pull the artilleries with our hands. It was the most difficult section of the road. The Dien Bien artillerymen must have been made of bronze bodies and iron feet. We will never forget the winding roads and slopes in Bay Toi, U Mau, Suoi Ngua and Voi Phuc, where we pulled 2.4-tonne artilleries to their positions in the battlefield”.

A monument to the memory of hero To Vinh Dien, who used himself to save an artillery piece from sliding down to abyss, and his artillery platoon was erected 20 km from Dien Bien. The monument reminds younger generations of Vietnam’s glorious history and the heroic soldiers of Dien Bien Phu.

KOTRA presents 5,000 story books to children

The Korea Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) has presented 5,000 story books for kids to Vietnam, aiming to help the children learn more about culture and history of the two countries.

The books feature some legends of the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Vietnam, including the one on Lac Long Quan and Au Co – the legendary creators of the Vietnamese people, and the story about Hoan Kiem Lake.

The gifts, received by the Ministry of Education and Training, the People’s Committees of the northern provinces of Hai Duong and Vinh Phuc, will be delivered to local kindergartens and primary schools in the coming time.

General Director of the KOTRA Hanoi Korea Business Center (KBC) Lee Kyu-seon said the story book project helps enhance the cultural exchanges between the two countries as well as further tighten the bilateral ties in general.

The move is part of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities the RoK side has been carrying out in the country.

In 2012, a programme highlighting contributions of the RoK companies to CSR activities in Vinh Phuc received 125,000 USD donated by 11 RoK-invested businesses operating in the province and Hanoi.

Last year, RoK companies presented several social facilities valued 204,000 USD in total to Hai Duong province.

Front works with Red Cross in humanitarian issues

The Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) will work with the Vietnam Red Cross on a humanitarian cooperation programme, its leader Nguyen Thien Nhan confirmed during his working session with the Red Cross in Hanoi on April 26.

The VFF will begin working on the programme in June, confirmed Nhan, who is both President of the Front and a Politburo member.

In 2014, the Red Cross will establish more chapters in remote, rural and island areas and enhance the efficiency of its humanitarian activities, Chairman of the Vietnam Red Cross Nguyen Hai Duong said.

He proposed that the State designate May as a month for humanitarian activities to encourage the public to perform good deeds for underprivileged people.

President Nhan commended the organisation on its proactive approach in supporting poor and disaster-hit people in 2013.

The Red Cross has been playing an active part in realising social welfare policies across the country, he said.

The Front will encourage its members to take part in Red Cross-initiated activities to mitigate natural disaster consequences, Nhan pledged.

Rural electrification programme sparks success

By the end of 2013, 15.8 million households in the country’s rural areas, equivalent to 96.7 percent of rural households, had access to power, signaling the success of the national rural electrification programme started in 1998.

The programme has played its part in developing the country and reducing poverty, said Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang at an online review conference on April 26.

The first project of the programme, called the rural energy project, cost over 3.2 trillion VND (150.4 million USD), of which 150 million USD had been borrowed from the World Bank. It has benefited 976 rural communes housing 550,000 households.

According to Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), which has undertaken the programme until now, official development assistance coming from international donors was decisive in the success of the programme.

In the reviewed period, nearly 48 trillion VND (2.25 billion USD) has been pumped into the programme, which has also brought power to remote and extremely disadvantaged areas, including border areas and islands, EVN reported.

EVN Chairman Hoang Quoc Vuong commented that the programme has contributed to giving rural areas a new facelift and facilitating the development of agriculture and its services and the processing industry.

He referred to a 6.6 fold-rise in agriculture production value in 1998-2013 as proof of the success.

Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank Country Director, said many countries were interested in the success story of Vietnam’s rural electrification programme.

She pledged that her institution will continue aiding the country through the supply of investment destined for infrastructure in the 2014-2020 period.

Addressing the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai confirmed that the programme in the 1998-2013 was successful on the back of strong support from the entire political system and local people.

The country is embarking on a national energy development programme to 2020 and beyond to be sufficient in power.

It is set to connect over 98 percent of its population to the national grid by 2015 and expects all rural residents to be using power by 2020.

In the meantime, the country is suffering an energy shortage, with each person consuming an average 1,200 kWh a year.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the rural electrification progamme is looking towards supplying power for 12,000 villages and hamlets and improving the rural power transmission lines, which will benefit around 7 million households.

The tasks require around 80 trillion VND (3.76 billion USD), the ministry said.

Under-10 children to get free measles vaccination

The Health Ministry has issued a plan on giving free measles vaccinations to children from 2 to under 10 years old in localities with high risk of the disease.

The vaccination campaign will be conducted from May to July.

According to the Health Ministry, localities of high risk of measles are Hanoi, Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Hung Yen, Bac Giang, Vinh Phuc and Quang Ninh provinces in the north, the central provinces of Nghe An and Thanh Hoa, and Binh Duong province and Ho Chi Minh City in the south.

The target cities and provinces are requested to provide mobile vaccination service in addition to those at designated sites, with the aim of having all children get two shots of vaccines.

The ministry also asked provincial and districts authorities to announce the vaccination plan on the mass media including television, radio and newspapers so that the information reach all the people.

Statistics show that since the beginning of 2014, Vietnam has recorded 3,647 measles cases across 61 out of the 63 provinces and cities.

Can Tho active in fight against climate change

The southern city of Can Tho has successfully introduced action plans on climate change adaptation in its districts.

At an April 26 meeting to review the city’s response to climate change, Director of the Climate Change Office at the Can Tho City People's Committee Ky Quang Vinh, said that eight salinity measuring stations have been built.

He said a report on connections between changing weather and prevalence of mosquitoes spreading dengue fever was completed. Surveys figuring out dykes requiring upgrades to safely prevent landslides were accomplished, he added.

In 2013, the local authorities effectively collaborated with agencies and organisations both from home and abroad to implement programmes and projects in response to climate change, focusing on increasing the city’s resistance to salinity penetration caused by climate change.

However, the collaboration between local departments, agencies and district-level authorities has not been smooth, leading to slow progress in implementing some projects, the office said.

To this effect, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, Dao Anh Dung, emphasised the projects’ importance to local socio-economic development, asking the aforementioned three stakeholders to focus on tackling difficulties and barriers for the projects and quickening their progress.

He also noted the outcomes of the projects will ensure the sustainable development and climate change adaptability of the city.

VNN/VNA/VNS/Dantri/VOV