Over 564,000 blood units donated in 2008

– More than 87,500 people nationwide voluntarily donated 564,401 units of blood or 155,859 litres in 2008, up 18 percent against last year.

The figures were released at a meeting held by the National Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation Promotion in Hanoi on December 30.

The increase in blood donation was attributable to the establishment of the specialised committee in February this year, said its Permanent Deputy Director Tran Ngoc Tang.

All of the 63 provinces and cities nationwide have set up their steering boards for the work headed by a provincial People’s Committee vice chairman. As a result, blood donation campaigns have been implemented more effectively with the active participation of people from all walks of life.-

Vietnam, Cambodia cooperate in checking animals crossing border

An Giang (VNA) – A memorandum of understanding on inspection of animals and poultry transported across the border was signed by the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Cambodian Ministry of Forestry and Fishery in southern An Giang province on Dec. 29.

Under the MoU, the two sides will exchange veterinary information, build cooperation programmes in quarantine, checking the movement of animals across the border and licensing importers and exporters. The two sides will also continue the prevention and inspection of animal diseases and epidemics in the lower part of the Mekong river’s basin.

The two sides agreed to set up 10 quarantine posts at border gates and hold annual meetings to review the cooperation.

In the two countries’ border areas, Cambodians export cows to Vietnam and Vietnamese sell poultry’s eggs, water poultry and pigs to Cambodia.-

Industry insiders call Viet Nam real estate market a sleeping giant

HA NOI — The real estate downturn is emerging as a luctrative opportunity for savvy new investors, especially from foreign countries. Now is the time, say industry insiders, to pump money into the falling market – just before it recovers.

The Vietnamese real estate market went through a tough past decade. But gradual urbanisation and infrastructure development has kept investors interested.

According to David Blackhall, deputy managing director of the country’s leading asset management and consulting firm, VinaCapital Group, many foreign investors are showing interest in Viet Nam’s real estate market.

He said that construction of many real estate projects had become stagnant as banks tighten their lending standards. This had left a vacuum, which foreign investors could use due to their advantage.

“However, they should have long- term investment strategies in mind” he said.

Director of AIC, Gary McKinnon, said construction costs would continue to fall in the first quater of next year. This was also when banks were predicted to loosen lending standards. This “will be the time for investors to finish existing projects and begin new ones,” he said.

According to the secretary general of HCM City Real Estate Association, Do Thi Loan, foreign investors are expressing interest in trade centres, as they can see potential for its development in Viet Nam.

“Even in HCM City, the country’s biggest metropolitan area, there is no adequate retail centre,” she added.

Meanwhile, Vinaconex ITC has just signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with VS Consultant. Under the agreement, VS Consultant will buy 6 million shares, 20 per cent of Vinaconex ITC’s total share.

The buyout will help Vinaconex ITC to accelerate its existing projects nationwide, according to Vinaconex ITC’s general director Tran Ngoc Quang.

Vinaconex ITC, a subsdiary of Viet Nam Construction Import and Export Group (Vinaconex), ealier allowed the Oman National Fund to contribute US$20 million to develop the Cai Gia- Cat Ba tourism complex on Hai Phong’s Cat Ba Island.

“The real estate downturn mostly impacts upon land and housing. The demand for office blocks, better tourism infrastructure and land for industrial zones is still very high,” Quang said.

The Vietnamese property market is only at a primary stage of development, and is not yet properly integrated into the global market. But it has still been affected by the world crisis, because its major investors have been foreign, insiders say.

In recent years, high foreign investor participation in the domestic property market has fired-up competition among domestic investors. This has heated up the local market, raising land prices by 200 and 300 per cent within three years.

Domestic investors began to feel the pinch early this year, when the Government started to tighten its credit policies. —

PM Dung asks banks to combat economic recession

Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told the banking industry to continue the tight but flexible monetary policy, which in 2008 helped control inflation, maintain economic growth and ensure social welfares, to combat recession in 2009.

The Government leader gave the guidance at a meeting held by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in Hanoi on December 30. He said the industry should focus on ensuring capital for production and exports, especially agricultural production and rural development, and stimulating investment and consumption.

He asked the industry to intensify inspection to ensure transparent operations, improve credit quality and upgrade management capacity, focusing on resolving increasing bad debts.

“The banking sector should speed up the legal upgrading process, especially the making of laws on the State Bank of Vietnam , credit institutions, saving deposits insurances and banking operations supervision in an effort to create a legal framework for the sector to develop,” Dung emphasised.

He went on to require the industry to speed up administrative reforms, modernise its technical infrastructure and strictly supervise the credit quality.

In response, SBV Governor Nguyen Van Giau promised to implement all the measures simultaneously to contribute to preventing economic slowdown, maintaining economic growth and ensuring social welfares.-

Toothpick removed from stomach

– Doctors at the Hoan My Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City have removed a four centimetre toothpick from a 58-year-old woman’s intestine.

Relatives of the woman said that she unwittingly swallowed the toothpick after dinner last Friday. She was hospitalised with serious stomach aches after the toothpick perforated her intestine.
She is gradually recovering but remains in intensive care for observation.-

Photo exhibition marks Cuba’s revolution

Hanoi (VNA) – An photo exhibition entitled “ Cuba : 50 years of struggle and victory” opened in Hanoi on Dec. 30 to mark the 50 th anniversary of Cuba ’s National Day and the victory of the Cuban Revolution (January 1).

On display are more than 100 photos featuring the Cuban people’s struggle for independence, their achievements in political, socio-economic and cultural fields during the national development as well as the solidarity, cooperation and mutual support between Vietnam and Cuba .

The exhibition, organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Foreign Ministry and the Cuban Embassy in Vietnam , will last until January 4.-

Prepare for bout of ‘winter’ diarrhoea

by Kieu Van

A doctor gives a checkup to an infant suffering from diarrhoea at the Central Paediatric Hospital in Ha Noi where between 700-800 children are treated each day. — VNA/VNS Photo Huu Oai

HA NOI — About 120 to 150 children a day were diagnosed with acute diarrhoea at Ha Noi’s Central Paediatric Hospital during last week’s cold spell.Other of the capital’s hospitals with paediatric wards, including Saint Paul, Bach Mai, also reported a higher number of children with acute diarrhoea.

Pro-longed cold causes bouts of “winter” diarrhoea among children in northern Viet Nam, explains Central Paediatrics Hospital deputy director Le Thanh Hai.

It is common among children and not dangerous if quickly treated in accordance with the Health Ministry’s instructions.

“The virus-caused disease in children is different from the bacteria-positive acute diarrhoea that occurs in northern provinces,” he says.

The paediatric hospital’s Planning Office director Do Quy Hop warns against the belief, especially among the elderly, that it is best to limit nutritional food served to a patient with diarrhoea.

“It creates a high rate of malnourished children some of whom die from malnutrition,” he says.

The most effective way to reduce the number of children with acute diarrhoea is to prevent malnutrition among children; follow the treatment flow-chart and make adults more health aware.

Misdiagnosis

A mother’s story Nguyen Thi Lien is typical of rural parents who take their children to Ha Noi’s Central Paediatric Hospital with suspected acute diarrhoea. She travelled from Nam Dinh Province, about 90km south of Ha Noi, to have her infant daughter treated. Her little girl had a high temperature, vomited after eating and had diarrhoea, the worried mother said. She had lost weight and had sniffled for three days. “But the physicians told me her condition was not serious because she had been treated in accordance with the Health Ministry’s flow-chart,” she said. No funding for vaccines Ha Noi’s Central Paediatric Hospital’s Planning Office director Do Quy Hop says the vaccine for rotavirus – a major cause of acute diarrhoea in Viet Nam – is not included in the national vaccination programme. The physician says it could be used if its international makers reduced its price. — Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment » How to lift agricultural output Posted by Bao Viet Nam on December 30, 2008 The Prime Minister has told the farm sector to improve its forecasting. Farmers harvest pineapples in Tra Noc Village in Muong Khuong in the northern moutainous province of Lao Cai. The province earned revenue of more than VND12 billion from pineapples from the last bumper crop. — VNA/VNS Photo Hong Hoa HA NOI — Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked the agriculture sector to improve forecasts and use of statistics to boost production and exports next year. Dung made the requirement in Ha Noi yesterday at a conference to discuss the sector’s plans for 2009. The conference was crucial as next year is predicted to be a harsh year for the country’s agriculture and farmers. The Prime Minister praised the contribution of the agriculture sector, which reached most of its annual targets in the five year plan from 2006-10. Production in 2008 gained remarkable growth compared with 2007, despite difficulties such as world price fluctuations, rising input prices and severe cold spells earlier this year. The food security was ensured and export revenue of six major products exceded the US$1 billion mark, including coffee ($2 billion), rice ($2.87 billion), wooden furniture ($2.8 billion), rubber ($1.6 billion), shrimp ($1.5 billion) and tra fish (more than $1 billion). Agricultural productivity increased by 5.6 per cent. The numbers of pig raised by farmers increased by 0.53 per cent, poultry by 9.4 per cent and aquaculture products by 15.3 per cent compared with 2007. The rice output reached a record high of 38.6 million tonnes. However, the Prime Minister pointed out several of the sector’s weaknesses, such as unstable development, low competitiveness and problems relating to food safety. Moreover, industry and services in agriculture areas had developed slowly and in an unplanned manner. Pollution, weak socio-economic structures and a difficult life for a part of farmers are the sector’s big challenges. The Prime Minister said these were the problems that agriculture officials need to discuss seriously to solve next year. In the context of the world financial crisis, the sector has to carefully calculate the necessary increases in productivity, quality and quantity of agricultural products so as to improve their competitiveness. Eliminating income tax and lowering interest rates were some suggested measures. Standard storehouses with capacity of about 2 million tonnes are needed to be built so the sector can buy all agricultural produce and ensure farmers gain a 30 per cent profit. The Prime Minister also asked the sector to scrutinise ways to make better use of three types of forests, including protected, production and special use forests. In 2009 forest coverage, particularly forests for production purposes, must be increased, while authorities must keep in mind the overriding factor that people must be able to live on forest plantations. Dung ordered the sector officials to closely follow the Government’s five-measure package in implementing their plans. For instance, to reach food productivity of 40 million tonnes they must give out specific solutions for input and output issues and ensure all the products of farmers are bought to prevent prices from falling. The head of the Government suggested the agriculture sector mobilises forces to encourage domestic consumption and invest more in agricultural and hydraulic works. He also urged officials to pay more attention to social welfare in rural areas, particularly on hunger eradication and poverty reduction and on supporting the 61 poorest districts in the country. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has to closely collaborate with ministries and branches to promote production and export, he said. MARD Minister Cao Duc Phat promised to focus on important programmes to maintain agriculture, aquaculture and forestry sustainably. The ministry will restructure production to improve competitiveness of products and carry out programmes on agriculture, hydraulics and environmental protection. Next year, rice will be grown across 7.2 million ha, forest planted across 227,300ha and meat production aims to reach 3.75 million tonnes while shrimp and fish aims at production of 4.6 million tonnes. — Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment » Securities firm denies bankruptcy bid Posted by Bao Viet Nam on December 30, 2008 HA NOI — VNDirect Securities Joint Stock Co director Nguyen Ngoc Thanh has issued a statement denying his enterprise has filed for bankruptcy. The statement follows on-line reports that the company could not pay its debts. “We affirm the rumours are a complete fabrication, which badly affect the stock market in general and VNDirect’s prestige in particular,” said the statement that was sent to the State Securities Commission (SSC) last week. Copies of the statement were also sent to inspectors of the Ministry of Information and Communications, the HCM City Stock Exchange (HOSE) and the Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre (HASTC). Company representatives told Viet Nam News yesterday that the finances of VNDirect Securities were healthy and it continued to invest and develop sustainably. The speculation about its demise was attributed to possible unhealthy competition in the market. VNDirect has asked the SSC, HOSE and HASTC to reassure investors about the company to dispel the impact of the on-line reports. It also wants the individuals and organisations responsible dealt with according to law. The administrators of www.ttvnonl.com, which carried the original speculation about VNDirect last Wednesday, have reportedly written to the aggrieved company, saying: “We are willing to co-operate with functional agencies and your company (VNDirect) to prevent matters like this.” VNDirect has its headquarters at No 1 Nguyen Thuong Hien Street, Ha Noi; its charter capital is listed at VND300 billion (US$17.6 million). Rejection Hoang Anh Gia Lai Co chairman Doan Nguyen Duc has also rejected suggestions made during the past few months that he is being investigated and forbidden from leaving Viet Nam because of his debts. “I am still living healthily and our company is still operating normally,” VnExpress.net quoted him as saying late last week. “This is shown clearly in company’s prospectus released when we listed shares on the HCM City exchange [on December 22].” — Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment » ADB provides loans worth over 60 million USD for Vietnam Posted by Bao Viet Nam on December 29, 2008 Hanoi (VNA) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide loans, worth over 60 million USD, for Vietnam to carry out anti-poverty, tourism development and disaster emergency relief projects. Agreements to this effect were signed by ADB Country Director Ayumi Konishi and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Governor Nguyen Van Giau in Hanoi on Dec. 29. Of the loans, 25 million USD will be used for a poverty reduction programme that assists the Government in conducting policy reforms for the successful implementation of the 2006-2010 socio-economic development plan which targets per capita income of more than 1,000 USD by 2010. Another 25.5 million USD will go to a flood emergency relief project to repair infrastructure in 10 provinces hit by floods in 2005. Within the framework of the project, Vietnam will also receive 500,000 USD in non-refundable aid from the Republic of Korea ’s “E-Asia and Knowledge Partnership” fund to raise its capacity for coping with natural disaster. To promote Vietnam ’s tourism sector, ADB will provide 10 million USD for a sustainable tourism development in the northern mountainous provinces of Cao Bang and Bac Can and the central provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue. Addressing the loan signing ceremony, ADB country chief Ayumi Konishi said despite difficulties in 2008, Vietnam ’s government had done well in controlling inflation and reducing trade deficit. Konishi also said in the context of the global economic downturn, 2009 will be another difficult year. However, ADB will continue to give strong support to the government and people of Vietnam . SBV Governor Nguyen Van Giau spoke highly of ADB’s assistance to Vietnam , affirming that the signed projects will be carried out as planned, ensuring the effective use of ADB’s loans.- Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment » « Previous Entries   Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Andreas09 by Andreas Viklund.