Conference highlights victory against US air blitz

A national symposium on the Hanoi-Dien Bien Phu air battle victory was held on November 28 to mark the 40th anniversary of the event (1972-2012).

Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Thanh Cung, Deputy Defence Minister and head of the steering board of the conference, recalled the armed forces and militia’s historical victory against the US air blitz over Hanoi and the northern provinces in December 1972 that turned the negotiating table for the Paris Peace Accords.

For a short period of 12 days and nights starting on December 18, armed forces in the north shot down 81 US aircraft, including 34 B52s, leading to the victory, which contributed to the end of US bombing raid over the northern region, the signing of the Paris Accords, US troop withdrawal from Vietnam, and restoring peace in the country.

Cung added that the results of the conference will promote education of soldiers and people, especially the youth, uphold the revolutionary tradition and nourish the spirit of patriotism, national pride and respect, the love of socialism and the tradition of great unity.

Delegates to the event affirmed that the victory reflected the strategic vision of the Party and President Ho Chi Minh, and the sound, timely and creative leadership of the Party Central Committee, the Central Military Party Commission and the Defence Ministry.

They also highlighted the resilient and brave fighting spirit of the Air Defence and Air Force service, as well as the northern soldiers and militia, especially those in the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong.

The “Hanoi-Dien Bien Phu in the Air” victory was considered a ground-to-air warfare victory based on three forces, with the Air Defence and Air Force Service at their core.

Over 31 million Vietnamese people use Internet

One-third of Vietnam’s population consider the Internet as an indispensable part of their daily life.

In the first quarter of this year, Vietnam ranked 18th among the top 20 countries in the world, 8th in Asia and 3rd in Southeast Asia in terms of Internet users.

Since 2010, Vietnam has been listed among the top 20 countries having the highest numbers of Internet users.

At the “Internet Marketing – road to success” seminar in Hanoi on November 28, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Thanh Hung said the number of Internet users in the country has increased by more than 15 times in the past 12 years.

Most Vietnamese, both at work or school, have managed to use the Internet to best advantage but businesses are not yet above recommended limits, Hung said. If they can use the Internet to promote their products they will make a quick profit and return on investment.

Lukasz Roszczyc, KLeo Burnett Company Managing Director, said Vietnam’s Internet infrastructure has developed rather impressively with the number of people using smart phones rising sharply.

In addition, around 10 million people use the Facebook and more than 500,000 people shop on the Internet.

Therefore, domestic businesses should grasp the digital advantage to raise their revenue from on-line sales and marketing.

Practising thrift and tackling waste is essential

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged all government agencies, including State owned corporations, to embrace thriftiness and strive to reduce waste.

A recent instruction signed by the PM strongly emphasised the need for frugality and efficiency to stretch the State budget and ensure the nation has more funding for investment development, social security and other urgent tasks.

He ordered leaders from all agencies to review and tighten their financial controls to make sure expenditures in their offices are fully compliant with financial regulations.

"It is strictly prohibited to allocate additional money from the State budget to buy cars, organise conferences/workshops or go on unnecessary trips inside or outside the country," Dung said.

He also asked ministries and offices to organise their year end meetings and conferences to formulate socio-economic development plans for 2013 via telephone.

All ministries and other Government agencies must make quarterly reports on the implementation of their action plans for practising thrift and combating waste to the Ministry of Finance, 10 days before the end of the quarter.

Intelligent transportation systems applied in Viet Nam

The Ministry of Transport will soon issue a set of regulations to drive forward its plans to implement intelligent transportation systems in 2013.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Ngoc Dong, said the ministry will select technologies for intelligent transportation systems which suit domestic highway routes by 2015.

According to experts, intelligent Transportation Systems include the application of advanced information processing (computers), communications, technologies and management strategies, in an integrated manner to improve the safety, capacity and efficiency of the transportation system.

Intelligent transportation systems are commonly used in other countries, however, Viet Nam is only taking initial steps to pilot some of the projects, Dong said.

Intelligent transportation systems are believed to be one of the key solutions to transport development and traffic safety in the country, he said.

People not in the habit of using credit cards for payment might causes difficulties in applying intelligent transportation systems, he said.

A perfect legal framework is imperative for effectively applying the systems in Viet Nam in the coming time, he added.

Land issues block hospital hopes

Work will begin on the delayed HCM City Pediatric Hospital in Binh Chanh District next February if existing land clearance problems are solved.

The new hospital is expected to reduce existing overload on the city's two major peadiatric hospitals located in districts 1 and 10.

Nguyen Tan Binh, head of the HCM City Health Department, revealed the new schedule at a meeting held with the city's People's Council's Economic Budget Board.

The project to build the 12.47 ha hospital with 1,000 beds had been approved by the municipal People's Committee in 2007 and was set to become operational next year, but land compensation problems have stalled it.

Huynh Van Biet, deputy head of the Health Department, said people affected by the project have refused to accept the low compensation of VND200,000-357,000 (US$9.5-17) per square metre of land offered by the authorities.

Furthermore, there are 199 graves on the hospital site, but so far, just 13 families have registered to move 32 of them.
Nguyen Van Tuong, deputy chairman of the HCM City People's Committee, said that apart from the City Peadiatric Hospital, four other projects planned in the district – the Pham Ngoc Thach Medical Hospital, a cardiac institute, an ENT (Ear-Nose-Throat) hospital and a Hematology and Blood Transfusion Centre – have been delayed.

"These projects will affect 75 families and total land compensation is estimated at VND300 billion ($14.3 million)," he said.

In a recent meeting with the People's Committee, Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien had commented on the slow progress made in the plan to build hospitals in HCM City's outlying districts in order to reduce the existing overload on major hospitals.

The major hospitals are located in the city's inner districts now, which means there is no land to expand them while the demand for health check-ups and treatment is constantly increasing. The number of people coming from other provinces to be treated in the city is also a major contributor to the current overload.

Tien asked the city to speed up work on these projects.

Nguyen Tan Tuyen, deputy head of the Economic Budget Committee, said the department should amend the project plans so that they can move ahead.

The People's Committee should have its own policy on land compensation in order to solve existing bottle-necks, he said.

Under a long-term healthcare development plan, by 2020, four clusters of hospitals will be built in the city's four gateways with the target of reducing 70 per cent of the existing overload on major hospitals situated in inner districts.

Youth need vaccine for papilloma virus to prevent cancer

Boys as well as girls between eight and 14 years old should be vaccinated against the human papilloma virus (HPV) to protect them against cancer, a prominent cancer researcher has said.

Professor Harald zur Hausen of the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg spoke yesterday during the fourth ASEAN event series, Bridges and Dialogues toward a Culture of Peace, which is taking place in Viet Nam and Thailand from November through March.

A Nobel Laureate for Medicine in 2008, Hausen told students and lecturers at HCM City's University of Medicine and Pharmacy that more than 5 per cent of all cancer cases worldwide were caused by persistent HPV infections.

It is the most common sexually transmitted agent, affecting 50-80 per cent of the population worldwide.

Of the more than 100 HPV types that are known, about 40 infect the genital tract, and 15 put women at high risk for cervical cancer, according to Hausen.

"HPV can be detected in more than 99 per cent of women with confirmed cervical cancer, affecting some 500,000 women per year, most of them in developing countries," he said.

Against the prevailing view during the 1970s, Hausen postulated a role for HPV in cervical cancer.

After more than 10 years of research, he identified the HPV 16 and 18 types viruses and then developed vaccines against them.

The vaccines provide more than 95 per cent protection from infection by high-risk HPV 16 and 18 types, according to the professor.

"The vaccine also reduces the need for surgery and the global burden of cervical cancer," he added.

British aid to keep business sustainable

Private enterprises in Viet Nam can receive financial support of up to US$800,000 from the British Government for innovative and sustainable business.

The $11 million Viet Nam Business Challenge Fund (VBCF), launched in Ha Noi yesterday, is designed to enable private companies develop business models that help low-income populations through job creation, income improvement and access to affordable goods and services.

The fund has been built on the success of the recently completed Viet Nam Challenge Fund (2009–12), co-funded by Britain and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) – and managed by the ADB.

"The launch of this second and much larger challenge fund in Viet Nam demonstrates our confidence in this approach," said Fiona Lappin, head of the UK's Department for International Development in Viet Nam.

"We learnt from the impressive impact of our first venture that the creativity and capacity for innovation of the private sector in this country is abundant," she said, adding that the second fund could help catalyse the ambition of the private sector into tangible business projects as well as provide jobs and better incomes for the poor.

The VBCF, managed by the SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, will provide business mentoring support and award non-reimbursable funding to selected proposals through a competitive process.

It focuses on areas identified as key to the continuous development of Viet Nam – agriculture, low-carbon growth, infrastructure and basic services.

Capital humans free of deadly rat-borne virus

The capital city has reported no cases of humans infected with Hantavirus, a rat-borne virus that can cause kidney failure in humans, Ha Noi Health Department deputy director Hoang Duc Hanh said.

According to a study conducted by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology between 2006 and 2009, 16.3 per cent of serum samples taken from rats in Truong Dinh Market and Giap Bat Station tested positive for the virus.

HCM City reported some patients had been bitten by rats infected with the Hantavirus.

Authorities have been keeping track of the situation, Hanh said.

Vietnam, Netherlands boost cooperation

The Vietnam-Netherlands Intergovernmental Committee convened its second meeting on climate change and water management in the Netherlands on November 28.

The meeting was presided over by Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai and the Netherlands’ Minister of Infrastructure and Environment, Melanie Schultz van Haegen.

The two sides reviewed the implementation of the signed agreements since the first meeting in 2011 and proposed measures to promote bilateral cooperation into a new height.

Dutch experts talked about the implementation of two programmes: NICHE-Nufic and UNESCO-IHE doctorate training in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region. They are considered a foundation for boosting cooperation between the research institutes of the two countries.

The two sides discussed measures to develop trade exchanges and establish business forums. They compared notes on the progress of projects in Ho Chi Minh City to cope with climate change.

The Netherlands and Vietnam committed to carry out more projects related to water management, climate change, and ecosystems.

The two countries agreed to go ahead with a cooperative project on climate and water services in the framework of G2G programme.

They also focused on the remaining issues related to the strategic partnership agreement, especially about Hong (Red) River, and cooperation on water management and environment between Hanoi and Amsterdam.     

Hue plants mangrove trees in response to climate change

A project to plant mangrove trees was launched at a seminar jointly organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Nokia and the provincial Forestry Science-Technology Association in Hue city on November 27.

The aim is to will alleviate climate change and preserve coastal biodiversity in central Thua Thien – Hue province.

The WWF-funded project will run until July 2014, and develop local skills in planting, caring and managing mangrove forest. It will see the planting of an additional 23,000 mangrove trees to increase forest acreage, the safeguarding of anti-salinity dams and the creation of environmentally-friendly aquafarming lakes.

Huong Phong mangrove forest in Huong Tra district will be expanded to serve as a windbreak, minimise flooding, recover aquatic stocks and reduce environmental pollution.

Over 400 households will benefit from sustainable aquatic farming and reduced flood risks.

Huong Phong primeval mangrove forest at Tam Giang lagoon is home to a range of life including shrimp, fish, crab, heron and storks.

VNN/VOV/VNS