Competition aims to find TV stars

HA NOI — Viet Nam Television’s Department for Foreign Affairs (VTV4) and the Viet Communications and Art JSC have launched a competition in Ha Noi to find martial artists for the film industry.

VTV4 director Bach Ngoc Chien said the contest, Global Viet Nam Martial Art Stars, is aimed at both Vietnamese and foreign nationals.

The qualifying rounds will be held from October 1, 2009, to April 30, 2010. Each entrant is required to send in a video clip of them performing martial arts. The best clips will be aired on television and judged by viewers.

“Our biggest hope is that we can find a Vietnamese Jackie Chan or Jet Li who will become international stars,” Chien said.

“Viet Nam has a magnificent history that is tied in with our national martial arts. We should make movies of our wartime victories, with Vietnamese actors and actresses,” Chien said.

Organisers said they would invite well-known martial arts masters and film stars such as Ly Huynh and actor Johny Tri Nguyen to be on the judging panel.

They will give useful tips to the best competitors, he said.

The final will be held and televised live on October 3, 2010, in time for the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Ha Noi.

More information about the contest can be found by visiting http://www.vtv4.vn or http://www.ngoisaovothuatvietnam.com, or VTV headquarters at 43 Nguyen Chi Thanh Street or by telephoning (04) 37714428 and (04) 62735009. —

Source: vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn

City breeders struggle to find enough fish fry

A farmer sells baby fish, or fish fry, to breeders in My Duc District, Ha Noi. City breeders are facing rising prices of baby fish due to recent heavy downpours which have limited the supply. — VNA/VNS Photo Tran Tuan

HA NOI — Inundation triggered by heavy downpours in the capital city last month is taking a heavy toll on the fisheries sector, putting breeders in a struggle with the scarcity of fish fry (baby fish) and the rocketing price of the product.

According to the Ha Noi Agriculture and Rural Development, the city lost 15,000ha out of total 18,000ha of aquatic product during the historical rains.

Although the number of breeding households in the outlying districts of the city has not yet been totalled up, the consequences are already proving dire.

Phuong Tu Commune in Ung Hoa District, about 50km away from the city centre, is a case in point.

Nearly one month has passed since the historical rains drenched the whole commune in flood water and the atmosphere here remains gloomy.

The commune which claimed to be one of the biggest fish granaries in the district has 241 households engaged in breeding fish in an area of 442ha of water surface.

Yet, all of these households suffered from a dead loss as the rains had swept away their fish. Most households complained they had not yet been able to resume their fishing business because the price of fish fry was to high for them to afford.

“I have no other choice but to leave my fishing pond idle,” one local said.

The situation is no brighter in Hop Tien Commune in My Duc District, about 60km away from Ha Noi downtown.

As many as 197 households which are raising fish on more than 160ha of water surface are also on the same board.

Communal People’s Committee Chairman Dang Van Chuan said the commune used to supply the market between 2,000 tonnes and 3,000 tonnes of fish annually

“Now they are in miserable circumstances to clear off bank loans,” he said, “Some owe up to VND1 billion.”

High price and the scarcity of fish fry has become a hot issue in the city’s aquaculture ‘village’.

An owner, Nguyen Van San, who specialises in raising fish fry in Phuong Tu Commune said he provided more than 120 million fish fry a year for the whole district of Ung Hoa and communes nearby.

However, the historical downpour swept more than 50 per cent of pairs of parental fish and more than 200,000 fish fry away from his fishing ponds.

Vu Minh Duc, head of Ha Noi Agriculture and Rural Development Department’s breeding section also complained that the department could merely supply about 15 per cent of fish fry to the market although it has had 17 foundations specialising in breeding fish fry.

The scarcity of fish fry is causing high prices of the product as a matter of course.

A breeder in Hoa Son Commune said fish fry has increased by between VND5,000 and VND9,000 per kilogram depending on different types of fish.

“Even so, there is not enough to go around,” he said.

In an attempt to help breeders restore their business, the Ha Noi People’s Committee already financed VND15 million per ha of aquaculture for losers.

The Ha Noi Agriculture and Rural Development Department has also asked breeders to raise their fish after winter to supply market demand during Tet (lunar new year).

Yet, the department forecast fish ponds in the outlying districts of the city would supply just about 5,000ha of fish during that period. —

Discount garments fail to find buyers

People shop for clothes at a Viet NamTextile and Garment Group shop in HCM City. Many garment firms report that they have failed to reach their 20-25 per cent growth in sales targets for the year, even despite offering discounts of up to 70 per cent. — VNA/VNS Photo Ha Thai

HCM CITY — Sales of garment and textile products have nosedived in the past few months despite promotions by various clothing makers and stores, including discounts of up to 70 per cent, according to industry insiders.

Domestic garment makers say there has never been such a backlog in inventories with holidays approaching as there has been this year.

Han Han Commerce and Service Ltd Co has offered discounts of 50-70 per cent on its trademark Sea Collection, making prices for most products fall to between VND40,000 – 90,000 (US$2.40-5.40). Brand names like Ivy, Viet Thang and Viet Tien are also offering 10-50 per cent discounts, with prices for their shirts now ranging between VND70,000 and VND120,000 ($4.20-7.20).

Stores along HCM City’s Nguyen Trai, Nguyen Dinh Chieu and other famous shopping streets are also offering 30-70 per cent discounts.

“Yet very few are drawn. New products come up continuously but we still cannot get rid of our inventory,” said Le Ngoc Lam, owner of a clothing store on Nguyen Trai Street.

Lam calculated the value of her unsold inventory at over VND80 million ($4,848).

“I have to offer sales on both existing stock and new products to get back my investment,” she said.

Many garment firms say they have failed to reach their 20-25 per cent sales growth targets for the year, with some saying that there has even been a 15-20 per cent drop in sales from 2007.

Nguyen Thi Hong Huong, executive director of the Vinatexmart chain of clothing stores, says sales of clothing products have fallen 20 per cent compared to last year.

Huong said that “more shocking discounts” would take place as firms try to clear their consignments, and she suggested that many consumers might even want to wait for these lower prices.

Consumers have tightened their belts and reduced spending on a wide variety of goods due to rising prices in recent months, said economist Ngo Tri Long. Most consumers were focusing on buying essentials, like food.

Manufacturers, meanwhile, have been wary of increasing their output, despite the rising demand that usually accompanies the year-end holiday season. Some have even decreased output by 15-20 per cent from last year.

Nguyen Huu Toan, deputy general director of Sai Gon 2 Joint Stock Co, said its inventory of goods for the coming Tet holidays was 10 per cent lower than last year’s. —

Asia-Europe Meeting to find measure against crisis

Beijing (VNA) – The financial crisis and other major issues challenging the world will be discussed in the summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), scheduled to be held in Beijing from October 24-25.

“The ASEM summit would be convened under the special international circumstance,” Liu Jieyi , China’s assistant foreign minister was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying. He added that the financial situation was in turbulence and the three major challenges, including food safety, climate change and energy issues, were interwoven.

Under the theme of dialogue, cooperation, mutual benefit and common prosperity, the summit would focus on disaster-relief cooperation, the promotion of trade and investment, sustainable development and strengthening dialogue, Liu added.

He also said that China would devote itself to holding the ASEM as a green summit and has taken measures in this regard.

The 45-member ASEM, established in 1996, is a high-level forum between governments of Asia and Europe.-

VN digital content firms find home disadvantage

by Thu Huong

HCM CITY — The sleeping giant of Viet Nam’s digital content industry is becoming more assertive with the Viet Nam Software Association officially accusing the Yahoo! Company of breaching the country’s regulations on online information services.

The association last month filed a petition to this effect with the Ministry of Information and Communications.

The struggle by Vietnamese firms for equal treatment with foreign competitors was discussed at a conference held here on Thursday.

Policy makers, representatives of Vietnamese companies, the media, and the accused, Yahoo Viet Nam, were present at the conference.

To highlight the plight of Vietnamese firms, Le Manh Ha, Director of the HCM City’s Department of Information and Communications, employed the image of a person bound firmly to a chair, forced to enviously witness other people passing by freely and doing anything they want.

According to the Viet Nam Software Association (VINASA) and the Viet Nam Game and Digital Content Business Club, since the Yahoo! Company established two representative offices in Ha Noi and HCM City in August 2007, the international company has launched a series of new services targeting the country’s users.

These include applying a Vietnamese interface for Yahoo’s homepage, blog, improving the website Yahoo!Hoi&Dap (Yahoo!Answers), and co-operating with several Vietnamese news organisations to found a Yahoo-based e-newspaper.

However, these activities of Yahoo! haven’t been licensed by the Ministry of Information and Communications, which is a must for all Vietnamese companies functioning in the digital content industry. Therefore, the Vietnamese have singled out Yahoo! as typical of foreign companies who violate local laws with impunity.

“It’s so unfair! If Vietnamese companies were Yahoo!, there would be heavy fines imposed on us or our business would have even been stopped,” said Truong Hoai Trang, VINASA deputy chairman.

Although VINASA and Vietnamese enterprise’s argument is logical and understandable, what stated in the law, in fact, only applies to Vietnamese firms, experts note.

Articles 1 and 4 of the Law on Management and Use of Digital Content say that it is illegal for individuals and organisations to launch any news website without the government’s permission, providing that its server is located within Viet Nam’s territory. Yahoo!’s server in Southeast Asia, however, is based in Singapore so to contend that Yahoo! has broken the Vietnamese law is a groundless accusation, according to experts.

During the intensely-debated conference, Vu Minh Tri, Yahoo!’s representative in Viet Nam, tried to deflect blame from his company by pointing out “real causes” of this problem.

“The sole responsibilities of Yahoo!’s two offices in Viet Nam are to carry out trade promotion and research and development activities. The company has Admax, FPT, GapIT and Golden Media Corp, functioning as our four resellers to directly contact customers; and reports have shown that they have always fulfilled their responsibility of paying taxes to the Vietnamese government, he said.

“It’s nonsense to require an international website to ask for permission from the Vietnamese Government just because their content is written in Vietnamese. What would happen if all Vietnamese websites using English interface are forced to obtain licences from the UK or the US governments,” asked Tri.

Advocate Bui Quang Nghiem, deputy head of the HCM City’s Lawyers’ Association, concurred with Tri.

Nghiem’s view is that the robust development of information technology within the past 20 years has completely changed Vietnamese society, but legislative bodies and many legal concepts have lagged behind.

” It’s not Yahoo! but the outdated law which should be blamed,” said Nghiem, who took the definition of territory in law to clarify his opinion.

“Traditionally, territory is defined physically as land under jurisdiction of a government. The Internet, however, is without any borderline, so it’s obvious that the definition of territory should be understood and applied in another way,” the lawyer said.

Director of HCM City’s Department of Information and Communications Le Manh Ha, who represented Vietnamese policy-makers, also found both sides had convincing arguments to support their respective viewpoints. He agreed that the main problem was with the domestic law that is closed and overly strict on Vietnamese companies.

“As Viet Nam integrates further into the global market by joining the World Trade Organisation, we should learn how to adapt ourselves to international laws rather than asking other people to play by our own rules. Only by loosening many strict laws, for instance the law regulating management of digital content, can our digital content industry boost themselves up and become more competitive in the international market,” said Ha.

According to Nguyen Tuan Anh, a representative of the Viet Nam’s VinaGame Company, the strict and complex administrative policies imposed on Vietnamese enterprises are making them lose ground to foreign companies on home turf.

“We are not suing Yahoo! or blaming them for tax evasion. We don’t consider Yahoo! as an enemy to be attacked. In fact, we warmly welcome giants in the IT world like Yahoo! because we can learn much from them. We are just using Yahoo! as an example to show the government how unfairly we’re being treated. Vietnamese digital content enterprises need a more open policy to develop well,” he said. —

Da Nang city luxury offices find few takers

– The tall expectations of developers in the central city of Da Nang have been belied with at least 10,000 sq.m of high-end office space lying vacant for several months.

A host of “luxury” office complexes had sprung in the city over the last few years as developers prepared for the expected influx of foreign and domestic enterprises.

However, the global economic and market crises and their domestic fall-out have rendered the real market very sluggish.

The Indochina Riverside Tower (IRT), which stands on the most prime of locations in the city, typifies the trend.

The 27 million USD complex consists mainly of high-end offices. Three months after its opening, only 40 percent of its space is leased out at between 17 USD and 21 USD per sq.m per month.

IRT general director Ho Quang Dung says the quality and facilities offered by IRT are similar to upmarket offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City , but are priced at one-third of the rates at the major cities.

Dung says that “one year ago, it was predicted that there would be many foreign and domestic investors flocking to the city to do business. However, economic hardships have prevented this.”

“We are looking for suitable and affordable customers. We have no intention to cut the prices but will focus on improving service quality.”

The Hoang Anh Gia Lai office building began offering 4,500sq.m of office space for lease at 15 USD per sq.m/month a year ago, but it still has a lot of space lying vacant.

Six months after Green Plaza Da Nang, a 220 billion VND, 18-storey complex put 5,200sq.m of high-end offices on the market at 18 and 35 USD per sq.m/month, just 30 percent of the space is occupied, says director Le Quang Triet.

“We plant to offer preferential policies for renters including a reduction in services-related charges,” Triet says.

Many other offices complexes share the same fate, including the Vinh Trung Plaza, EVN Da Nang, Thien Kim and Savico.

Some companies had even planned to open stock exchange transaction floors, and branches of bank and insurance companies in Da Nang early this year, but have had to put these on hold.

While the local office market is very lethargic, several office building projects are continuing to be built in the city. These include the 40-storey Golden Square of the Dong A Real Estate Joint Stock Company, a 30-storey building owned by VinaCapital, the 35-storey Da Nang Centre, the 30-storey Han Riverside of the Vu Chau Long Property Company, and the 48-storey Viendong Meridian of the Vien Dong Technology Transfer and Investment Consulting Company.

Project owners expect the market gloom will lift soon, and the demand for office space will rise again, vindicating their investment.-

Da Nang luxury offices find few takers despite great expectations

DA NANG — The tall expectations of developers in the central city of Da Nang have been belied with at least 10,000 sq.m of high-end office space lying vacant for several months.

A host of “luxury” office complexes had sprung in the city over the last few years as developers prepared for the expected influx of foreign and domestic enterprises.

However, the global economic and market crises and their domestic fallout have rendered the real market very sluggish.

The Indochina Riverside Tower (IRT), which stands on the most prime of locations in the city, typifies the trend.

The US$27 million complex consists mainly of high-end offices. Three months after its opening, only 40 per cent of its space is leased out at between $17 and 21 per sq.m per month.

IRT general director Ho Quang Dung says the quality and facilities offered by IRT are similar to upmarket offices in Ha Noi and HCM City, but are priced at one-third of the rates at the major cities.

Dung says that “one year ago, it was predicted that there would be many foreign and domestic investors flocking to the city to do business. However, economic harships have prevented this.

“We are looking for suitable and affordable customers.We have no intention to cut the prices but will focus on improving service quality.”

The Hoang Anh Gia Lai office building began offering 4,500sq.m of office space for lease at $15 per sq.m/month a year ago, but it still has a lot of space lying vacant.

Six months after Green Plaza Da Nang, a VND220 billion, 18-storey complex put 5,200sq.m of high-end offices on the market at $18 and 35 per sq.m/month, just 30 per cent of the space is occupied, says director Le Quang Triet.

“We plan to offer preferential policies for renters including a reduction in services-related charges,” Triet says.

Many other office complexes share the same fate, including the Vinh Trung Plaza, EVN Da Nang, Thien Kim and Savico.

Some companies had even planned to open stock exchange transaction floors, and branches of bank and insurance companies in Da Nang early this year, but have had to put these on hold.

New projects go ahead

While the local office market is very lethargic, several office building projects are continuing to be built in the city.These include: the 40-storey Golden Square of the Dong A Real Estate Joint-stock Company; a 30-storey building owned by VinaCapital; the 35-storey Danang Center; the 30-storey Han Riverside of the Vu Chau Long Property Company; and the 48-storey Viendong Meridian of the Vien Dong Technology Transfer and Investment Consulting Company.

Project owners expect the market gloom will lift soon, and demand for office space will rise again, vindicating their investments. —

Japan, Viet Nam students find access to education by sea

HCM CITY— The Fujimaru ship with 480 Japanese students aboard the ship has anchored in HCM City during the first leg of a training course spanning the waters along Viet Nam, Singapore and China.

The visit marks the strong relations between the young in Viet Nam and Japan, as the two countries organise a series of events commemorating 35 years of diplomatic ties.

The almost month-long training course, which started last Monday will end on September 7.

Participants were selected from 33 universities and colleges in the Japanese province of Hyogo to attend the US$2.5 million training course funded by the Hyogo provincial government.

Eighteen Vietnamese students were also invited to take part in the training course. All participants are attending seminars, and hearing lectures by Japanese and Vietnamese professors on history, culture, language and socio-economic development in Viet Nam.

During the two-day visit and homestay in HCM City, which ends tomorrow, Japanese students are expected to visit historical sites, museums and famous landscapes.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Hyogo provincial government and HCM City People’s Committee, aiming to improve co-operation between the two sides, especially in regards to culture and the economy.

A musical performance with Vietnamese and Japanese artists will also be held in September. —

Forest owners find benefits in protecting trees

— Vietnamese forest owners can get money from the huge industrial bosses of the world, under a mechanism in which carbon providers pay forest owners.

Late last month, Vietnam was selected as one of 14 countries in the world to apply the mechanism to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD).

Nepal, Laos, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guyana, Mexico and Panama were also selected.

Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), an innovative approach to financing efforts to combat climate change, aims to achieve REDD by compensating developing countries for greenhouse gas emission reductions. Meanwhile, the industrialised countries, which include Australia, Finland, France, Japan, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, have committed to contribute about 82 million USD to the FCPF.

Vuong Van Quynh, who will be in Ghana to represent Vietnam in discussions with the United Nations about applying REDD in the country, has high hopes for the mechanism.

He says forest destruction will be reduced when forest owners, meaning the local people, can be prevented from destroying them if they’re paid enough to support their lives.

Quynh says some of the owners are so poor that they are forced to burn the forest to plant crops, or work with illegal timber loggers, even though they understand it is not good for their future.

Some environmental experts have also emphasised that the money the forest-rich nations receive is not charity. It is simply the responsibility of industrial nations who have caused and continue to cause the pollution that is killing the earth. Protectors of forests which convert billions of tonnes of carbon into oxy- gen, are now to be paid for doing so.

While discussions of REDD continue, in order to protect its 12.7 million ha of forest, Vietnam will carry out a pilot programme of payment in the provinces of Son La and Lam Dong next year before expanding nationwide.

The costs will be covered by the people, especially producers whose factories emit carbon and tourists who get to enjoy nature.-

Students find meaning in volunteer work

Vietnamese students have always worked at part-time jobs after class for extra cash but increasing numbers now choose to volunteer in their free time.

Certain streets are full of blue-shirted youths volunteering during exam season, guiding candidates and helping the police keep the peace.

While other students spend their holidays traveling and relaxing, Duong Anh, a senior in the English and Modern Languages Faculty of Hanoi Open University, volunteers for various charitable activities during her summer holidays. Anh now works as deputy chairwoman for the faculty’s Student Association. She has joined various charitable activities over the past three years and holds many unforgettable memories.

“I and other members of the association choose to be volunteers because we want to be of use to society,” Anh says.

One of her most memorable experiences was a visit to the Children’s SOS Village on Mai Dich street , Cau Giay district, Hanoi on June 1.

“We prepared elaborately for the visit,” says Anh, “one week before the trip, we stayed up till midnight wrapping presents for the orphans.”

“Everyone felt moved when the children greeted us warmly, they came to us, shook hands and hugged us tightly as if we were family.”

Over 15,000 students are taking part in the Exam Volunteers Programmes organised by the Ho Chi Minh Communists Youth Union and the Students Association.

They help the young candidates find places to stay, exam venues, and provide necessary information.

Administrator Dang Duc Thang of the Vietnam Volunteer Network says that the number of volunteers always changes.

“Our group gathers volunteers throughout the country, they may be students, high-schoolers or workers. They help raise funds for flood victims, visit orphans and all sorts of other activities.”

“Most Hanoian youths have volunteered work at least once,” says Thang, “they join with the youth unions at their schools and various clubs and organisations; even a group of friends can offer to help the poor whether they have sponsorship or not.”

Anh and others like her find simple happiness in making others happy.

“For me, a part-time job puts cash in my pocket; but volunteering brings me life experience, a chance to learn to lover others,” says Anh.-