Boosting tourism plays key role in plans to eradicate poverty

Foreign tourists at an ethnic Dao village in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai’s Ta Phin Commune. Development of local tourism sectors is seen as a way to help poor people escape poverty. — VNA/VNS Photo Trong Duc

HA NOI — Development of tourism has been part of the stimulus plan initiated by the Government which intended to reduce the negative impact of the economic downturn on the nation’s development, generating jobs for many poor people.

At a two-day conference entitled Human Resources Development in Tourism and Poverty Alleviation: Uncharted Territory, Tran Chien Thang, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism said during 2000-08, income from tourism increased at a much higher rate than the average growth in the numbers of Vietnamese and foreign tourists.

Dr Trinh Xuan Dung of the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) said that in 2005, foreign currency earnings from tourism reached more than US$2.3 billion and in 2008, it was $4 billion with an average annual growth rate of 15.6 per cent.

Compared to GDP, total revenue from tourism in the 2000-08 period accounted for 4.15 per cent per year.

He added that tourism also generated many jobs to society, especially for poor people.

According to the latest statistics of VNAT, by 2008, the tourism industry employed, either directly and indirectly, more than 1 million people, accounting for 10 per cent of the labour force in the service sector and 4 per cent of working people nationwide.

Sung Thi Hoa, a Mong ethnic minority woman, works as a waitress at a restaurant in the mountainous district of Sa Pa, northern Lao Cai Province and earns a monthly salary of VND1 million (US$55).

Hoa said that many young people from her village worked as tourist guides, bakers or service staff in hotels and restaurants in the district. Their lives had changed for the better with their improved incomes. Their families were no longer afraid of hunger.

Douglas Hainsworth, senior consultant of the Human Resources Development in Tourism Project, said that in rural areas with limited options for non-agricultural earning opportunities, tourism could provide sources for off-farm income earnings. In urban areas, the tourism sector could also provide opportunities for the poor. Engaging in informal sector activities such as selling products as food or souvenirs to tourists, or gaining entry level positions working in tourism enterprises as cleaners and food services were examples.

According to many experts, people working in the tourism sector have slightly higher incomes and the services generally offer higher returns than other economic sectors.

The General Statistics Office revealed that hotels and restaurants alone ranked 6th out of the 18 national economic sectors in Viet Nam in terms of their efficiency.

A person working in hotels or restaurants earns VND78 million ($4,300) per year while an agricultural labourer earns VND32 million ($1,700) per year or a construction worker VND40 million ($2,200) per year.

Dung said this was the way tourism helped the country’s poverty alleviation aims.

Thang said that tourism was considered as a high potential service sector, high in added value and strongly competitive, but in order to reach international standards, it required high quality human resources.

Tourism training

Hainsworth suggested that it was necessary to improve access to tourism training opportunities for the poor. To more fully engage the poor in tourism training programmes, they needed to be affordable, fit local employment conditions, and be based near to where the poor lived. Vocational skills should be based on both the current abilities of training participants and the jobs they would likely engage in.

He added that entry level positions could provide the vital step to get out of poverty, and the full potential of people from disadvantaged backgrounds should be further supported by opportunities to train for higher level positions in the industry.

Pham Thi Vy, headmaster of Hoa Sua Economic Tourism School, one of the most well-known vocational training schools to offer free training courses in tourism for nearly 4,000 poor people aged between 18 and 25, said that only about 50 per cent of employees in tourism had taken training programmes.

Vy said that the school’s students were mainly from the poor districts of Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Lao Cai, Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam and Khanh Hoa, provinces with high tourism potential, but where tourism enterprises found it difficult to find good quality employees. The school picked up the young people in these localities to train them in hospitality skills such as restaurant service, reception and cooking.

She added that the students returned to their hometowns and applied what they had learned from the school and developed their life skills and their local cultural identities.

Hoa, an ex-Hoa Sua student said she had to do the training course at the school before finding work in a restaurant in Sa Pa District. She was going to take part in pastry-making course at school. She hoped to combine her new skills with her village’s traditional cakes in order to improve their attractiveness to customers.

Hoa hoped more young people in rural Viet Nam could have the chance to improve their vocational skills so that they could secure permanent jobs, while satisfying tourists.

Participants at the meeting were informed of the Viet Nam Tourism Occupation Skill Standard System (VTOS) – a system attempting to guarantee international standards in the Vietnamese tourism industry.

The project on human resources development funded by the European Union aimed to improve the quality and standard of human resources working in the tourism sector from 2004-10.

VNAT’s Dung said that through improved human capabilities and skills in tourism, it was expected that the average growth rate of foreign currency earnings from tourism in 2011-20 would be more than 16 per cent per year, with revenue from tourism increasing at more than 18 per cent per year on average. The average growth in the number of international tourists and domestic tourists would be 9-9.5 per cent and 10-13 per cent per year,` respectively. —

Source: vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn

Vietnam supports int’l role in Mid-East peace process

New York (VNA) – Ambassador to the UN Hoang Chi Trung has welcomed some positive signs visible across the Middle East while calling for stronger international role in seeking comprehensive and sustainable peace in the region.

The Vietnamese representative voiced the Government’s position at a UN General Assembly session on Palestine in New York on November 24.

Trung said Vietnam appreciated Palestine ’s efforts in ensuring security and speeding up national conciliation and socio-economic development and supported negotiations between Israel and relevant parties.

He raised concerns over repeated attacks on innocent people from both sides and condemned Israel for expanding illegal resettlements and conducting military incursions into the West Bank, building the separation wall, holding thousands of Palestinian detainees and maintaining blockage on Gaza that were blamed for serious humanitarian problems.

The ambassador called on relevant parties to avoid the use of force and other violence actions that may further complicate the situation while strictly abiding by the Peace Roadmap and international law, especially human rights and humanitarian laws.

He demanded Israel stop besieging the Gaza Strip and allow international assistance to the Palestinian Government and people.

Vietnam strongly supports a role played by the international community, especially the UN, the League of Arab states, the Quartet and regional countries, in an effort to work out equal, comprehensive and sustainable solutions to the Middle-East peace process, Trung concluded.–

Vietnam appreciates UNMIS role in Sudan

New York (VNA) – The overall security situation in UNMIS’s operation areas of Sudan has been improved, said the Vietnamese representative to the UN, Ambassador Le Luong Minh, at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Nov. 5.

“My Delegation takes a positive note of the improvement in the overall security situation in UNMIS’s operation areas, the decline in inter-ethnic violence, and the stabilisation process in Abyei as noted by the Secretary General in his report,” Minh said.

He also noted the progress made in the implementation of the Abyei Road Map Agreement, the launch of the Sudan People’s Initiative by the Sudanese Government as well as its commitment to continued cooperation with UNMIS.

UNMIS (United Nations’ Mission in Sudan )’s notable contributions to the Disarmament, Domobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process and electoral assistance should also be mentioned, the ambassador said.

However, he added, UNMIS should give more priority to the facilitation of recovery and socio-economic development in the Sudan, promotion of humanitarian activities, and protection of civilians, especially child protection in conflict-affected areas.

The ambassador also expressed concurrence with the Secretary General that the concerned parties should lift the remaining restrictions of movement for UNMIS, thereby facilitating the mission’s discharge of its mandated duties.-

Maritime industry ups economic role

KHANH HOA — The Viet Nam Seaports Association (VPA) is focusing on 10 major measures to upgrade national seaports to international standards in order to turn the shipping industry into the cornerstone of the national marine economy after 2020.

The strategy was worked out at an annual conference held by the association in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa last Thursday, which drew over 300 representatives from 49 seaports nationwide alongside leaders of relevant agencies.

The VPA said it attached great importance to international cooperation in consultancy, development assistance and trade promotion to bring the national seaport system on a par with other Asian countries in all fields including development scales, management, potential-tapping effectiveness and competitiveness.

It also unveiled a plan to upgrade the technological system to increase cargo handling capacity and mitigate service costs, thus ensuring high competitiveness in deep-water seaports in the global integration era.

Viet Nam now boasts a system of 160 seaports, which recorded an annual growth rate of 20 per cent in cargo handling volume. —

Information officers see role becoming more vital

HA NOI — About 94 per cent of chief information officers (CIOs) for businesses in the region claim that their role is becoming more important.

They said this was true in businesses where leadership lagged behind technology management and skills, according to a study recently unveiled by an international business school, INSEAD and IBM.

The leadership study was conducted with more than 160 CIOs from local and multinational companies in six ASEAN countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam – between January and May.

The survey highlights managing talent, change, customers and diversity as key priorities of those surveyed.

Just over 80 per cent agreed that identifying and developing IT staff was an important part of their performance as CIOs. Also, empowering employees by delegating effectively, broadening their opportunities, and acting with fairness was considered a key leadership quality by 81.2 per cent.

CIOs across the region are sensing that a qualitatively new level of leadership will be required from the industry.

Rather than a thorough knowledge of technology, the critical quality of “e-leaders” in the knowledge economy will be a deep understanding of the organisational, social, and cultural impact of information networks.

The CIOs viewed themselves as valued members of a company’s senior management team (88.5 per cent).

However, some saw this development as adding to the CIO’s workload. CIOs show a persistent degree of anxiety once some of the major IT initiatives in business process and change management have been completed.

In addition, CIOs surveyed said that understanding the business process was good, but no longer sufficient. —

VN praises ASEAN’s continuing regional role

Ha Noi — Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem expressed their pride in Viet Nam’s contributions to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to mark the organisation’s 41st founding anniversary today.

In a speech broadcast on national television yesterday, PM Dung said that the achievements of ASEAN and its partners have laid an important foundation for the association to increase and intensify regional co-operation in the coming period as well as improve its role and prestige in the international arena.

“The leading important factor for ASEAN to continue to achieve successes in the new stage is that the association should promote concerted efforts to ensure a peaceful, stable and co-operative environment in the region on the basis of the goals and basic principles set by ASEAN in the Treaty of Amity and Co-operation (TAC) and the ASEAN Charter,” the PM said.

“Member countries should continue to do their utmost to strengthen the association’s unity, increase friendship and the sense of community, promote co-operation and solve all differences by peaceful measures.

“Meanwhile, ASEAN should continue to play a leading role in regional matters, actively accelerate the process of negotiation and co-operation in the region, create opportunities for external partners to take part in and contribute to handling challenges to peace, security and development in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region.”

The PM suggested that ASEAN make further efforts to improve the quality of “unity in diversity” in the spirit of common objectives and basic principles such as “consensus” and “non-interference”.

“This requires each member country to make a strong political commitment to the ASEAN linkage process and the ASEAN family, further harmonising national interests with that of the whole ASEAN region for a common goal of the association,” the PM said.

He went on to say that ASEAN should accelerate the implementation of programmes of actions to build the ASEAN Community by taking specific measures and preparing appropriate resources.

“ASEAN should take practical measures to quickly narrow the existing development gap between its member countries, particularly between the old and new members, through the efficient implementation of the ASEAN Linkage Initiatives,” he said.

The Vietnamese Government leader also recommended that ASEAN member countries include their national development programmes into ASEAN connectivity programmes.

According to the PM, the impending task for the group is to quickly bring the ASEAN Charter to life.

“The charter will bring about a reform in the organisation-apparatus and mode of operation of the association, helping improve the quality and efficiency of co-operation between member countries,” he said.

“Viet Nam is an organic part of ASEAN and holds a sense of responsibility to the ASEAN Family. Southeast Asia and ASEAN are of strategic significance to Viet Nam as they directly relate to Viet Nam’s security and development. A tightly-linked and united ASEAN has an important international role and its position is completely in line with Viet Nam’s basic and long-term interests,” he said.

“Therefore, we always view ASEAN, in both multilateral and bilateral co-operation, as an important part of our foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralism, diversification and neighbourly friendship,” he said

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Khiem also reflected upon Viet Nam’s contributions to ASEAN in honour of the anniversary.

He wrote that Viet Nam was proud of its remarkable and impressive contributions to ASEAN co-operation and development orientation as well as the group’s major policies, in an article marking the anniversary. Khiem wrote Viet Nam’s efforts had helped encourage solidarity and co-operation as well as increase the association’s international prestige.

He added that other ASEAN members and outside partners have all recognised Viet Nam as an active member with its important contributions to the growth of the group.

“In return, Viet Nam has gained numerous fruitful and practical benefits from the country’s ASEAN experiences in favour of the goals for national security and development as well as increasing the country’s international prestige,” Khiem wrote.

He reiterated Viet Nam’s stand in favour of an ASEAN close alliance, solidarity and great unity with high international prestige.

He wrote the orientation of ASEAN development had met the major and long-term goals of Viet Nam, an integral part of Southeast Asia.

“ASEAN has always had an important position in Viet Nam’s external policy which calls for independence, self-determination, diversification and international and regional integration,” he wrote.

Khiem called for greater efforts in joining with other member countries to build an ASEAN Community by 2015 and making the ASEAN charter a reality.

“We should be more active, take initiative and bear greater responsibility in relations with ASEAN,” he wrote.

He urged participating agencies to further reform and renew their structure, working style and staff quality to increase the efficiency of co-operation within ASEAN.

Khiem emphasised the need to clearly identify responsibilities as well as foster close co-ordination among relevant ministries and agencies, especially the Foreign Ministry’s co-ordinating role, when participating in ASEAN operations.

Campaigns to raise public awareness on ASEAN and the country’s role were also of primary importance, according to the Deputy Prime Minister.

He also called for immediate preparations for the country to be sworn into the ASEAN chairmanship by 2010, that would include the convention of the ASEAN Summit and numerous ministerial meetings.

ASEAN has been the leading factor in maintaining an environment of peace, security and co-operation in Southeast Asia and efficiently supporting security and development objectives of each member country as well as the whole association, Khiem stressed.

He attributed ASEAN’s successes over the past 41 years to the sharing of basic benefits as well as vision and strong political determination and tireless efforts by member countries.

“The fact shows that ASEAN is a regional co-operation organisation full of vitality and adaptable to changes in the world situation,” he noted.

According to the Deputy PM, despite many difficulties and challenges, ASEAN still eyes favourable premises to successfully implement its community building goal.

“That is the result of the regional co-operation over the past four decades and member countries’ common vision and strong political determination in line with the association’s sound decisions and road map,” he emphasised.

“The ASEAN Charter will bring in a remarkable change in the association’s organisational apparatus and mode of operation, helping improve the quality and effectiveness of ASEAN co-operation.”

“We have good reason to believe that ASEAN will achieve its great objectives set for the new stage of development,” Khiem said. —

US Ambassador to ASEAN praises Vietnam’s role

Washington (VNA) – US Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Scot Marciel, has appreciated Vietnam’s role in the regional grouping.

Vietnam is an active member of ASEAN, and the country plays a constructive role for the group, Scot Marciel, who is also Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs under the US Foreign Department of State, told a Washington-based Vietnam News Agency reporter on July 17.

Obviously, Vietnam has made useful contributions to ASEAN, the US ambassador stressed.

The active role that Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are expressing is very excellent to ASEAN, he added.

At the forthcoming ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), slated for Singapore from July 20-24, the US and ASEAN will discuss their cooperation in the fields of economics, environment, education, and healthcare, Scot Marciel said. –