Van Phong port gets new lease on life

HCM City (VNA) – With the country’s first international transit port in the central province of Khanh Hoa back on track after almost being abandoned last year, the Government is scouting for foreign investors.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has told the Ministries of Transport, Finance, Investment and Planning to make a comprehensive plan for the port to come up in Van Phong Bay.

The project’s major investor, Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines), would work with the foreign partner on the details and secure the required licenses, he added.

The project, approved in 2007, was almost mothballed early last year, with its groundbreaking ceremony cancelled, after Posco of the Republic of Korea and Khanh Hoa province proposed a 10 billion USD steel plant and a 1,100 MW power plant in Dam Mon on part of the land earmarked for the port.

But at the end of last year, the Government disallowed their proposed projects on environmental grounds, effectively reviving the port project.

A study has found the 45,000-ha bay’s average water depth of 22-27 m ideal for large vessels. It also has a natural barrier from the weather and tides in the form of Hon Gom island.

Economists have opined that if Van Phong becomes an international transit port, it would not only benefit Khanh Hoa immensely but also cause a major change to the Southeast Asian region’s marine services industry.

“We now pay foreigners at least 3 billion USD in transshipment fees every year,” former Vinalines director Chu Quang Thu said.

The fees add 10 to 15 percent to the cost of goods.

He said that the terminal would enable Vietnam to stop depending on Hong Kong and Singapore for transshipping containers bound for Europe and North America , saving 101-231 USD per container.

Once ready, Van Phong would do the job now done by Hong Kong and Singapore – transship goods for other countries.

Domestic shipping services handle a mere 20 percent of Vietnam ’s total foreign trade with the rest done by foreign agencies.

Vinalines said transshipment is a crucial link in the logistics chain that is becoming increasingly popular internationally.-

Vietnam stresses remedies to world humanitarian issues

New York (VNA) – C onflict solution and prevention, eradication of hunger, reduction of poverty, and the improvement of living conditions for populations in conflict zones, are crucial remedies to the root causes of humanitarian issues, said a Vietnamese diplomat.

Ambassador Bui The Giang, Vietnamese Deputy Representative to the United Nations Security Council, made the statement at a council debate on the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)’s report in New York on January 8.

The Vietnamese representative suggested that greater focus should be reserved for repatriation and reintegration, which require combined efforts from multi-stakeholders, including UN agencies, the World Bank, and regional and international NGOs and civil society groups.

He said that Vietnam recognised the efforts made so far, and the resulting initial progress in repatriating refugees, and reintegrating them into their own communities.

The ambassador, however, expressed deep concerns about the increasing displacement in many parts of the world, as well as challenges in protecting refugees in conflict areas and ensuring humanitarian access for them.

“We are dismayed that refugees in conflict areas, first of all women and children, continue to fall victims to killings, maimings and all sorts of gender-based violence,” he said.

The current situation in Afghanistan , in some countries in South Asia and Africa, and most notably in Gaza , where 1.5 million inhabitants are terribly victimized by the humanitarian crisis, calls for greater humanitarian efforts, he added.

While again confirming the primary responsibility of states in meeting the humanitarian needs of their respective civilian populations, the Vietnamese diplomat emphasised UNHCR’s role, and the need for its coordination with other relevant UN bodies, such as the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict and UN field missions.

“In order for humanitarian activities to be effective and efficient, humanitarian access must not be politicised, but must instead be strictly adherent to the principle of neutrality, impartiality and independence, and in conformity with national and international laws,” Giang said in conclusion.-

Van Phong Port gets new lease on life

HCM CITY — With the country’s first international transit port in the central province of Khanh Hoa back on track after almost being abandoned last year, the Government is scouting for foreign investors.

Deputy Primer Minister Hoang Trung Hai has told the Ministries of Transport, Finance, Investment and Planning to make a comprehensive plan for the port to come up in Van Phong Bay.

The project’s major investor, Viet Nam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines), would work with the foreign partner on the details and secure the required licences, he added.

The project, approved in 2007, was almost mothballed early last year, with its groundbreaking ceremony cancelled, after South Korea’s Posco and Khanh Hoa Province proposed a US$10 billion steel plant and a 1,100MW power plant in Dam Mon on part of the land earmarked for the port.

But at the end of last year, the Government disallowed their proposed projects on environmental grounds, effectively reviving the port project.

Ideal location

A study has found the 45,000-ha bay’s average water depth of 22-27m ideal for large vessels. It also has a natural barrier from the weather and tides in the form of Hon Gom island.

Economists have opined that if Van Phong becomes an international transit port, it would not only benefit Khanh Hoa immensely but also cause a major change to the Southeast Asian region’s marine services industry.

“We now pay foreigners at least US$3 billion in transshipment fees every year,” former Vinalines director Chu Quang Thu said.

The fees add 10 to 15 per cent to the cost of goods.

He said that the terminal would enable Viet Nam to stop depending on Hong Kong and Singapore for transshipping containers bound for Europe and North America, saving $101-231 per container.

Once ready, Van Phong would do the job now done by Hong Kong and Singapore – transship goods for other countries.

Domestic shipping services handle a mere 20 per cent of Viet Nam’s total foreign trade with the rest done by foreign agencies.

Vinalines said transshipment is a crucial link in the logistics chain that is becoming increasingly popular internationally. —

Ha Noi disciplines more than 900 Party members last year

HA NOI — Ha Noi Municipal Communist Party Committee penalised 913 Party members last year in a move to raise its members’ work quality, a city official said on Wednesday.

Most of the members were penalised for being “irresponsible” and “bureaucratic” in their work, or for “immoral conduct” and getting “deliberately involved in malpractice,” said deputy head of the Committee’s Inspection Commission, Tran Trong Duc.

Seventy-seven were handed criminal sentences, 31 fined and 53 dismissed. The number of those disciplined was 30 per cent higher than 2007, and accounted for almost 0.3 per cent of total municipal Party members.

Duc said the inspectors followed up four letters of denunciation and exposed wrongdoings in each case.

They involved the head of the former Ha Tay Province Party Committee’s Education and Information Commission and three leaders of Son Tay City, who wrongly granted land to local people.

The land was later revoked.

The official also said that this year, the Ha Noi Party Committee would focus its inspection on administrative reform, the socialisation of public services, urban construction management and anti-corruption.

The committee would also intensify its supervision of Party members who engage in land, finance, construction management and human resource activities, particularly after the city’s expansion. —

Australian government funds crash helmet campaign

Hanoi (VNA) – The Government of Australia has agreed to grant 150,000 AUD (roughly 1.7 billion VND) to help Vietnam increase public awareness of simple measures to improve traffic safety, particularly among children, said an Australian diplomat.

The Australian Ambassador to Vietnam , Allaster Cox, announced the provision of this non-refundable aid on Jan. 8, while accompanying the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Harry Jenkins, on a visit to the Protec Helmet Factory in Hanoi ’s outlying Soc Son district.

Supplied through the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation (AIPF), the money will be used to create advertisements and carry out a public information campaign to encourage the wearing of motorbike helmets by children, AIPF’s President and Protec General Director Greig Craft said.

Ambassador Cox said he hoped that the Government of Vietnam would update the current road safety regulations to make the wearing of helmets by child motorcycle passengers compulsory in Vietnam .

During the 2006-2007 fiscal year, the Australian Agency of International Development (AusAID) contributed 176,000 AUD (more than 2 billion VND) to the National Helmet Wearing Campaign, which was launched by AIPF and the Vietnam National Traffic Safety Committee.

Vietnam ’s mandatory helmet law became effective on Dec. 15, 2007. As a result, the wearing of crash helmets by adults has increased from 3 percent to 95 percent, and more than 1,000 lives were saved during the past year.

The Preventative Medicine Department revealed an average of 7,000 local child deaths as a result of accidents every year, with traffic accidents by far the biggest contributor to this statistic.

However, the rate of child motorbike passengers wearing crash helmets is estimated at just 39 percent, the department said.-

Vietnam’s legislative body active in parliamentary diplomacy

Da Nang (VNA) – The Vietnam National Assembly (NA) received 50 delegations from 21 countries and sent 43 delegations abroad to boost bilateral cooperation with legislative bodies in other countries in 2008.

The figures were reported at a seminar on parliamentary diplomacy, co-organised by the NA’s External Relations Committee and the European Commission, in central Da Nang city on Jan. 8-9.

In terms of multilateral cooperation, Vietnam has joined eight inter-parliamentary organisations. The Vietnamese legislative body has taken an active part in the organisations’ operation with useful initiatives and recommendations.

The NA’s efforts, together with governmental and people-to-people diplomatic activities, have assisted the country’s development and boosting the regional and international integration process.

The Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Anders B. Johnson, was among the speakers, talking on the origin, the development and the current situation of parliamentary diplomacy.

The representatives from the French National Assembly’s Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Unit, Deniel Petit and Frederic Slam, shared France ’s experiences in inter-parliamentary cooperation.-

Unchecked growth puts steel industry in a bind

HA NOI — The domestic steel industry is caught in a legal and market tangle that has put production far ahead of demand, prompting a call to stop the licensing of new projects and to close sluggish firms.

As many as 32 unplanned projects have crowded the local industry, taking advantage of a legal loophole, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s latest review of the industry’s development plans from 2007 to 2015.

The projects are scattered nationwide, mostly in the provinces of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Hai Duong and Ha Tinh and Hai Phong City. Among them, only two have begun working and three others are exected to start operations this year.

Le Duong Quang, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, says the glut in the industry is a result of fluctuating market prices for steel.

“Before 2007, low prices made it impossible for domestic steel-makers, including the Vietnam Steel Co-operation, to launch expansion plans. However, as prices began rising in both international and domestic markets after 2005 and the industry became lucrative, enterprises began pouring their money into it, breaking the Government’s development framework for the industry,” said Quang.

The ministry’s review also blames contradictory legal documents for causing the problem.

Based on the Investment Law, all metal producing projects whose investment is below VND1.5 trillion (US$88,236,000) (also known as Type B) are not subjected to the industry’s strategic plan and do not have to be licensed by the ministry.

However, the Construction Law and its guidelines ask all these Type-B metal-producing projects to get permissions from relevant planning authorities. As a result, 24 of these 32 additional projects are on the list of law-breakers.

Chronic shortcomings

Despite its rapid growth over the past two years, the ongoing problems in the steel industry reveal the fact that the lack of sustainable development as well as a supply-and-demand imbalance has become a chronic shortcoming of the industry.

The ministry’s report further points out that steel-making capacity is forcing the industry to depend on recycled steel as its main source of raw material.

Moreover, it is estimated that only 15 and 20 million tonnes of steel are needed by 2015 and 2020 respectively, signalling a surplus of supply over demand that leads to fierce and unhealthy competition in the market.

The ministry admits in the review that the problems have not only risen from laws, but also from its planning approach. —

Master-card fraudsters jailed

Ha Noi — The Ha Noi People’s Court sent each of two Malaysians to seven years jail yesterday for using fake master cards to defraud fashion shops in the capital city.

Tan Wei Hong, 26, and Cham Tack Choi, 23, paid their US$6,000 bill with the fake cards at the Louis Vuitton shop, Hoan Kiem District, in late December, 2007.

One of the shop’s staff realised the cards were fake and called the police.

Hong admitted that he had travelled to Viet Nam three times and used fake cards to pay bills totalling VND293 million ($17,200).

Choi said he made two visits and used six fake cards to pay bills totalling VND275 million ($16,000). —

Two Malaysians jailed for credit card fraud

Hanoi (VNA) – A Hanoi court sentenced Tan Wei Hong, 26, and Cham Tack Choi, 23, both from Malaysia, to seven years in prison on January 7 on charges of using fake credit cards.

The two Malaysians were arrested on December 21, 2007, when they went on a shopping spree at the Louis Vuitton fashion shop in Ngo Quyen street , Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi , buying expensive suitcases and bags costing almost 6,000 USD.

While Choi was paying the cashier with three international credit cards bearing his name, a member of staff recognised him as he had previously used contraband credit cards to pay for goods in the same shop and reported this suspicion to the police.

Hong later admitted to the police that he had visited Vietnam on three occasions and used fake credit cards to pay for 293 million VND (17,000 USD) worth of goods.

Choi had made two visits to Vietnam for the same purpose and had used fake cards to rack up more than 275 million VND (16,200 USD) in goods. –

Cambodia’s Liberation Day marked

Hanoi (VNA) – The 30 th anniversary of Cambodia ’s Liberation Day (January 7) was celebrated in Hanoi on Jan. 6, by the Cambodian embassy and the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO).

Prominent among participants were Vu Oanh, former Politburo member and head of the Liaison Committee for former Vietnamese Experts in Cambodia ; Vu Mao, Chairman of the Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Association; Cambodian Ambassador to Vietnam Vann Phal; and Khamphan Anlavan, counselor of the Lao embassy.

Jan 7 holds significance as a turning point in Cambodian history, as it is the day that the Cambodian people came back to life and began national reconstruction, said Vu Mao.

Liberation Day is also a symbol of the traditional friendly relations between the two fraternal countries, Vietnam and Cambodia , he said.

Ambassador Vann Phal said the Cambodian people have great appreciation to Vietnam for the events of January 7, 1979.

Vietnam ’s involvement saved Cambodian lives, and helped fight the Khmer Rouge, he said.

He stressed Vietnam ’s timely assistance, saying that he appreciates that many Vietnamese soldiers died for the January 7 victory.

He thanked the Vietnamese Party, State and people, and especially the families of those who died for the revival of Cambodia .

Phal said he wished for Vietnam and Cambodia to maintain the fine friendly and neighbourly relations and comprehensive cooperation.

The celebrations took place with song and dance performances by Cambodian students studying in Vietnam .

The Ho Chi Minh City chapters of the VUFO and the Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Association also held a function marking the Cambodian Liberation Day.-