Health clinic in Ca Mau begins operation

Some hundreds of local were given medical check ups at a newly-opened health clinic in Tri Luc commune in the southernmost province of Ca Mau’s Thoi Binh district last week.

The 3 billion USD clinic funded by the Lawren S. Ting group in Vietnam, the Golf Association in Ho Chi Minh City and Pepsico Vietnam, has been equipped with 15 beds, a modern ultrasound machine and other medical equipment.-

First submersible classified by Vietnam Register

The Vietnam Register (VR) has coordinated with the Russian Marine Register of Shipping (RMRS) to conduct initial inspection and classification for a submersible – the first of its kind in the country.

Submersible TINRO – 2, owned by Ho Chi Minh City-based Cat Long Hai Joint Stock Company, was built in Russia.

Measuring 7.12m long, 2.50m wide and 2.72m high, the submersible is able to dive at the maximum depth of 400m.

The successful classification of TINRO -2 marked a new development step in VR’s scientific and technological research and application.-

First int’l fair in central key economic zone expected

An international fair of the central key economic zone, CREXPO, will be held for the first time in central Da Nang city from November 19-23.

About 220 domestic and foreign businesses have registered for displaying their products, including agro-forestry-fisheries items, foods and foodstuff, fine arts and handicraft products, construction materials, textiles and garments, and machines.

Banking and insurance services, information and telecoms technologies, and projects calling investment will also be introduced at the event.

Introducing the event in Hanoi on August 7, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien said CREXPO will serve as a bridge for trade relations and create opportunities for domestic and foreign businesses to connect with the central and central highlands region of Vietnam.

He said he hoped that CREXPO, which is scheduled to be held annually as part of Vietnam’s trade promotion programme, will become a destination in the central and central highlands region for domestic businesses and their peers from neighbouring countries of Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar.

The central key economic zone, covering five provinces and cities of Da Nang, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh, has been developing into one of dynamic economic zones of the country.

Focusing on farming product processing and petrochemical industries, the region is magnetising many domestic and foreign investors.

Vietnam in its socio-economic development strategy by 2010 targets to develop the central key economic zone into a hi-tech industrial hub, a centre of financial, banking, telecoms, education and healthcare services, and an entrepot for international trade.-

Month of action to help dioxin victims nationwide

– The central committee of Vietnam Red Cross (VRC) on August 8 urged 10 million VRC members to act to support AO/Dioxin victims nationwide, especially in the month of action for aid to AO victims.

The programme will be organised from August 10 to September 9 for the Day for AO/Dioxin Victims (August 10).

VRC leaders have visited and presented gifts, worth 500,000 VND each, to the victims in Ha Nam, Bac Can, Lang Son, Lam Dong and Hoa Binh provinces.

The VRC central committee has also handed over gifts from the International Red Cross Committee to the victims in Thai Binh, Ha Giang and Lao Cai, including medicine cabinets, money to build houses, and wheelchairs.

VRC Deputy General Secretary Nguyen Huu Hong said that VRC has annually launched three national movements to help the AO/Dioxin victims. These movements have received about 165 billion VND to help the victims.

The VRC Fund for Support of the AO/Dioxin Victims over the past decade has provided aid to millions of victims throughout the country.

The fund has also taken part in a series of scientific research on AO.

The Hanoi Association of AO/Dioxin Victims on August 8 held a meeting marking the Day for AO/Dioxin Victim.

At the meeting, the Hanoi association presented 160 gifts, worth a total of more than 55 million VND, to the victims in 14 districts and precincts in the “old” Hanoi .

The Director of the Vietnam News Agency’s Fund for Support of AO/Dioxin Victims also presented a wheelchair to a girl from Dong Anh district.

The association also received more than 50 million VND and three wheelchairs from individuals in Hanoi .

According to the Hanoi association President Tieu Van Man, Hanoi has more than 7,000 AO victims. The association has visited more than 2,500 victims, built three houses for poor victims’ families, repaired 12 houses and granted 10 wheelchairs to the victims.-

UNICEF renders 2 million USD grant to single province

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has been committed to a comprehensive project worth 2.3 million USD for children in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang .

Of the amount, UNICEF will contribute 2 million USD in non-refundable aid and the rest will come from the provincial budget.

The project will benefit pregnant mothers and seven groups of vulnerable children. The child beneficiaries include HIV/AIDS carriers, social evil offenders, mal-nutritious children, school drop-outs, children of labour and sexual abuse and injured children.

The project will help improve local administrations’ capacity in child care and protection, invest in safe water supply and environmental hygiene for primary schools and day-care centres, raise children’s awareness against violence, improve educational conditions for children at home, schools and community, and give pregnant mothers and HIV/AIDS-hit children more accesses to healthcare and preventive services.

It is expected that 85 percent of the target communities will have access to safe water, 80 percent of local authorities and people will be equipped with skills to prevent injuries for children and 75 percent of locals will be accessible to hygiene works by the end of this year.

The project will run until 2010.–

Vietnamese, New Zealand defence officers meet

– Defence Minister General Phung Quang Thanh met visiting Chief of New Zealand Defence Forces, Lieutenant-General Jeremiah Mateparae, in Hanoi on August 8.

General Thanh said the visit by the New Zealand Chief of Defence Forces would contribute to boosting mutual understanding and building solidarity between the two armies and two people.

Defence Force Chief Jeremiah Mateparae outlined the results of his talks with the Vietnam People’s Army Chief of Staff Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Khac Nghien, and his visits to the Ministry of Defence’s Military Strategy Institute and staff and soldiers of the air defence and air force troupe.

The New Zealand military delegation will stay in Vietnam until August 12.-

Party General Secretary visits Hai Duong

Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh visited the Red river delta province of Hai Duong from Aug. 8-9 during his tour to inspect the implementation of the 10 th Party Congress’s Resolution over the past two years.

Working with the province’ leadership, the Party leader praised Hai Duong for its outstanding achievements, including a GDP growth rate of 11.5 percent in 2007, and 12.5 percent in the first half of this year.

The province has made marked progress in economic restructuring, luring foreign direct investment and developing infrastructure facilities, the leader said.

He also pointed to a number of shortcomings, including unstable socio-economic development and limited competitiveness.

The Party leader urged the province to define its strengths in the northern key economic region, promote agricultural and industrial production and services, while expanding traditional crafts.

He also asked local Party executive committees and authorities to continue with the Party building work, urging leading officials and Party members to take the lead in emulation movements, especially the on going drive “To Follow President Ho Chi Minh’s Example.”

General Secretary Manh believed that Hai Duong would overcome all challenges to become a developed province in the Red River delta.-

Cuba elected to UN human rights committee

Havana (VNA) – Cuban jurist and former diplomat Miguel Alfonso Martinez was elected president of the new Advisory Committee of the UN Human Rights Council, local media reported.

Miguel Alfonso Martinez, former spokesman of the Cuban Foreign Affairs Ministry and president of the Cuban Society of International Law, will preside over the UN committee for the next three years, the Prensa Latina news agency said on August 5.

Russian jurist and former diplomat Vladimir Kartashkin, who worked before at the UN secretariat in New York, was elected one of the two vice presidents, together with Egyptian lawyer and women’s rights activist, Mona Zulfikar.–

World Bank helps India fight malaria

Hanoi (VNA) – The World Bank (WB) has decided to fund 521 million USD to help India fight malaria and other infectious diseases.

The project, jointly carried out by the Indian government, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, plans to improve malaria prevention and provide treatment for more than 100 million people.

According to World Bank vice president for South Asia, Isabel Guerrero, malaria is still a major threat for the lives of millions of poor people in India.

The UN General Secretary’s special envoy welcomed the WB’s decision on August 7. –

Beijing Olympic Games opens

Hanoi (VNA) – The opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games began in the National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest, in north Beijing at 8pm on August 8.

The opening ceremony of the 29th Olympic Games featured as many as 10,500 athletes, representing 205 countries and territories around the world, according to Xinhua news agency.

The event also involved Chinese President Hu Jintao and more than 80 heads of state and government and royals. Olympic Beijing 2008 will take place during 16 days.

The art performance of the opening ceremony, titled the “Beautiful Olympics”, showcased China’s 5,000-year civilisation and its early encounters with the rest of the world.

Staged in the National Stadium, the 50-minute show consisted of two parts, namely “Brilliant Civilisation” and “Glorious.”

The first part “Brilliant Civilisation” displayed China’s age-old civilisation with actors performing Chinese scroll painting, Chinese characters, movable-type printing and the Silk Road.

The second part, comprising three chapters of Starlight, Nature and Dream, highlighted China’s modern achievements and promising future.

At the end of the spectacle, thousands of volunteers ran into the field carrying pictures of 2,008 smiling faces of children around the world, highlighting the Games’ theme of “One World, One Dream.”

Sources said that the artistic performance, a core part of Friday’s opening ceremony, involved some 16,000 performers.

The athletes will compete in 28 events. –