Summit conference on climate change opens in Copenhagen

The appeal was delivered to 15,000 high-ranking officials and experts from 191 countries through a short sci-fi film opening the event, featuring children of the future facing an apocalypse of tempests and desert landscapes if world leaders failed to act today. 

In a speech after the film, Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen urged the participants to show their will and overcome differences to reach a feasible and strong agreement. He emphasised that with the presence of 110 heads of states, the conference provides a prime opportunity for countries to reach a consensus in the fight against climate change. However, the agreement should be in accordance with the political and socio-economic situation of all nations as well as in conformity with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Bali Action Plan. 

According to the conference agenda, the participants will focus their discussions on four main topics –targets for green house gas emissions reduction in developed countries, an action plan to minimise the green house effect for developing countries, financial and technological support for poor countries in adapting to climate change and a cooperation framework among countries. 

The two-week conference is regarded as the largest-ever event on the environment. It will conclude on December 18.

Vietnamese athletes arrive in Vientiane

Vientiane (VNA) – The Vietnamese delegation of nearly 80 athletes arrived in Vientiane on Dec. 7 for the 25 th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 25), aiming to take home between 60-70 gold medals.

Talking to reporters at Vattay International Airport , Beijing 2008 weight lifting silver medallist Hoang Anh Tuan said the competition at this SEA Games will be hard, but he is confident that he would win the gold medal for the 56kg category.

Meanwhile, chief coach of the Karate team Le Cong said the team is well-prepared and they hope to get four gold medals.

PM calls for united effort to deal with climate change

Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked media agencies to work harder to raise the people’s awareness of climate change and ways to respond and adapt to it.

He also asked ministries and sectors to regularly update their development planning in the context of climate change in order to work out and deploy response plans in a uniform and efficient manner.

The Government leader chaired a meeting of the National Steering Committee for the National Climate Change Response Programme in Hanoi on December 7. The meeting reviewed the Committee’s performance this year and discussed its deployment plans for the coming years.

To tackle climate change, the country needs to soon work out a comprehensive plan, especially for irrigations works, the participants said.

They blamed climate change for the unseasonal floods that ravaged the central and central highlands regions recently, and drought in the Red river delta—resulting in lower water levels in the river than have been recorded in over a hundred years. 

Since the adoption of Decision 158/2008/QD-TTg that details the National Climate Change Response Programme, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment has worked together with other ministries and sectors to come up with climate change and sea level rise scenarios for the country.

The ministry, which is taking the lead in the fight against climate change, has also issued guidelines to help other ministries and localities nationwide to formulate their own action plans to deal with the issue.

As the ministry has calculated, nearly 2 trillion VND will be needed for the implementation of the climate change response programme by 2015, with half of the amount provided by international organisations and donors.

It has already outlined a plan to deploy the National Climate Change Response Programme for 2010 and the following years.

Meeting of Senior ASEAN Transport Official opens

Hanoi (VNA) – The 28th ASEAN Senior Transport Officials Meeting (STOM 28) opened in Hanoi on Dec. 7 with the participation of representatives from the ten member countries.

Addressing the biannual meeting, Vietnamese Transport Minister Ho Nghia Dung hailed the idea of “ASEAN linkage” in order to reach the target of an ASEAN Economic Community in 2015 as set by the association’s leaders at the last ASEAN Summit in Thailand . 

He called on senior ASEAN transport officials to exert more efforts to soon implement ASEAN agreements on transport and boost cooperation with their partners, including Japan, the Republic of Korea and China to come up with effective measures for infrastructure development.

On the opening day, the participants discussed aviation cooperation in the region. 

On the ASEAN Multilateral Agreement on the Full Liberalisation of Passenger Air Services, eight of the ten ASEAN members were ready to sign the deal, while Indonesia and Malaysia needed more time to complete their procedures. The head delegates to the STOM 28 agreed to try their best to sign the agreement in 2010.

The participants all announced that they were ready to sign the Protocol to implement the 6th package of Commitments on Air Transport Services.

They also said that almost all members were ready to grant power to the ASEAN General Secretary to sign the ASEAN-EU sponsor agreement on the project on ASEAN Air Transport Integration with an authorised EU representative. They expressed their hope that the agreement would be signed by the end of this year.

The same day, the ASEAN transport officials worked on cooperation in marine and land transport. All ASEAN members said that they were ready to sign the memorandum of understanding on marine accident investigation, but for Thailand which needed two weeks more to complete local procedures.

Myanmar said it completed procedures for the signing of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Cross Border Transportation. With Myanmar’s signing of this agreement, the ten member countries can move forward with its implementation.

The participants also agreed to accelerate the implementation of three agreements on transportation in the ASEAN region.

The meeting will run through Dec. 9.

Nation to honour King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong

Quang Ninh (VNA) – Vietnam will commemorate the 701st anniversary of the attainment of Nirvana of King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong, the founder of Vietnamese Zen Buddhism, on December 16. 

Also, construction of a copper statute dedicated to the King, which will be 9.9 m high and weigh about 100 tonnes, will kick off on the Yen Tu Holy Mountain where the King-Monk’s passage to Nirvana took place, the organisers of the northern province of Quang Ninh said on Dec. 7. 

For the occasion, the Prime Minister has assigned the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to coordinate with relevant ministries and the Quang Ninh authorities to compile a record on King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong for submission to UNESCO to recognise him as a World Cultural Celebrity.

Tran Nhan Tong (1258-1308), the third emperor of the Tran dynasty, ascended to the throne when he was just 21. He is famed for defeating Mongol invaders.

He abdicated his throne at the age of 35 and spent the rest of his life on the Yen Tu Mountain practising and propagating Buddhism, and founding the Truc Lam School of Zen (the Bamboo Forest School ).

During that time, the King-Monk worked to unify different sects of Vietnamese Buddhism into Vietnamese Zen Buddhism.

The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Central Committee has long observed the day King Tran Nhan Tong attained Nirvana (the first day of the eleventh lunar month) as the national anniversary of Vietnamese Buddhism.

PM lauds Vietnam-Myanmar agreement on religion

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung spoke highly of a cooperation agreement on religion between the Myanmar Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Vietnamese Government’s Committee for Religious Affairs. 

The PM made this remark when receiving Myanmar Minister of Religious Affairs Thura Myint Maung and his delegation on December 7 in the capital city of Hanoi and expressed the belief that cooperation will continue expanding in future. 

On behalf of the Vietnamese Government, PM Dung congratulated the Myanmar Government and people on their achievements and expressed his pleasure at the fine development of friendly relations between the two peoples. 

Myanmar and Vietnam share many similarities in culture, history and religion, the PM said. He affirmed that the Vietnamese Government and people are doing their best to further promote the bilateral relation in all the fields in a spirit of friendship, support and mutual benefit. 

For his part, the Myanmar Minister asserted that the cooperation agreement on religion is an important landmark in the relations between the two governments, adding he hoped the two sides will exchange experience on religious issues with experts and scholars in the coming time.

Legislative chief gears farm province to industrialisation

Bac Lieu (VNA)- National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong emphasised industrialisation in the development strategy of Bac Lieu province during his working session with provincial leaders on December 7. 

“There is no other choice than for the province to progress with industrialisation and modernisation and the task should be well combined with agriculture and rural development,” the chief law-maker told local authorities at the end of his two-day visit to the mostly agricultural province. 

He also advised the province to fully tap all its potential and strengths as well as to mobilise all available financial resources to develop infrastructure such as electricity and water supply and road systems. 

The visit brought him to the Minh Hai Seafood Joint-stock Company which has eight-year SOE equitising experience. 

Trong told the managerial board that restructuring and reforming State-owned enterprises (SOEs) is a major policy by the Party and State to improve the efficiency of their operations. 

He emphasised in-depth investment, sustainable development and effective use of the State budget and assets. 

“Efforts should be made to take care of all aspects of workers’ living conditions,” Trong said.

The legislative leader also visited the Hung Hoi village, Vinh Loi district, where almost 75 percent of the population are Khmer ethnic minorities. 

He told local authorities to develop crafts and services as a solution for economic development and diligently implement the Party’s policies on national unity and religious solidarity. 

Trong also visited Nha Matward of the Bac Lieu provincial capital, which has led the province in per-capita income by cashing in on its coastal potential and its position in the heart of the province to develop services, tourism and aquaculture. 

He told the local administration to review their experience and expand this successful economic model across the province in an effort to speed up socio-economic development and poverty alleviation. 

Wherever he went, he called for greater efforts to be made to strengthen the Party and increase its vanguard role in all fields, especially in economic development. 

His visit was marked with a stop-over in Chau Thoi village, Vinh Loi district, to pay tribute to Ho Chi Minh at the Temple dedicated to the nation’s first President. Trong left his mark by planting a tree in front of the temple. 

The legislative leader had a cordial meeting with two elders, Nguyen Van Khoa and Tran Van Hoac, who had safeguarded the Temple during the war. 

He called on Heroic Mother Ngo Thi Dy, 81, who lost her husband and two sons in national defence.

Japan’s foreign reserves hit record

Hanoi (VNA) - Japan 's foreign currency reserves at the end of November rose 16.94 billion USD from a month earlier to a record 1.073 trillion USD, reported the Finance Ministry on Dec. 7. 

The reserves, the world's second largest after China's, reached an all-time high for the fourth straight month, due to gains in the value of its holdings of US Treasury bonds, euro-denominated assets and gold prices, the ministry said. 

Japan's foreign exchange reserves consist mainly of securities and deposits denominated in foreign currencies, gold, and reserve positions and special drawing rights at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

Regarding measures to foster the economy’s growth, Finance Minister Shizuka Kamei said on Dec. 6 that the government’s additional stimulus package is not enough. 

Two days earlier, the Cabinet Office Secretary, Hirofumi Hirano, said that the government’s second stimulus package should be higher than the planned 81.65 billion USD (7.1 trillion JPY). 

Despite the government’s move to restrain loans during the next fiscal year beginning in April 2010, it is necessary to issue more government bonds to create an impetus to start-up the economy, Kamei said.

Vietnam, Myanmar cooperate in State management on religion

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s Governmental Committee for Religious Affairs and Myanmar’s Ministry of Religious Affairs signed a cooperation agreement in Hanoi on Dec. 7. 

According to Nguyen Thanh Xuan, Vice Chairman of the Committee for Religious Affairs, religions have developed in Vietnam in tandem with the nation’s history, culture and struggle for liberation. 

Buddhism is the largest organised religion in Vietnam which has developed over 2,000 years with more than 10 million followers and 45,000 monks and nuns practising at 15,500 pagodas, four Buddhist institutes and more than 30 Buddhist schools nationwide. 

Vietnam also has other religions such as Catholicism, Protestantism, Brahmanism, Baha’i, Caodaism, Hoa Hao Buddism. 

Xuan said the Vietnamese government follows a policy of respecting citizens’ religious freedom and the equality among religions, supports religious activities to serve the nation and protests any acts under the mask of religious practice to serve political and individual purposes. 

Myanmar ’s Minister of Religious Affairs Thura Myint Maung said the cooperation would help increase the mutual understanding between the two peoples. 

He said Myanmar is home to various religions, of them Buddhism is outstanding with 80,000 pagodas and other famous Buddhist sites. Myanmar protects the rights of its citizens to practice their religions under its Constitution and laws. 

The two officials expressed their belief that the two countries’ exchange of experiences in implementing policies on religion, especially the cooperation agreement, would contribute to the development of their diplomatic ties.

Vietnam helps build capacity of Lao officials

Hanoi (VNA) – The Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and Public Administration (HNAPPA) opened a training course on advanced political theory for Lao officials in Hanoi on December 7. 

During the year-long course, trainees will study methods of social science research, the fundamental aspects of Vietnamese culture, the history and geography of Vietnam and the world, the history of socialist thought and the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). 

They will be provided with a grounding in Marxism-Leninism and the ideas of Ho Chi Minh, as well as the CPV’s leadership experiences during its renewal process. They will also undertake fact-finding tours in several localities. 

The course is expected to improve the political quality, revolutionary morality and working capacity of Lao officials to help them adapt to their tasks in the new situation. 

Speaking at the opening ceremony, HNAPPA Deputy Director Truong Thi Thong said that the CPV and the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) consider personnel training a valuable and decisive factor in the success of their revolutionary cause and the fate of their Parties, countries and regimes. 

Over the past years, the academy has held a number of courses for Lao officials in the framework of the two countries’ cooperation agreement, she said.

Foreign scientists tour Thanh Hoa’s archaeological sites

Thanh Hoa (VNA) – More than 60 scientists have joined up with their Vietnamese colleagues to tour a number of archaeological sites in the central province of Thanh Hoa. 


During the fact-finding tour on Dec. 6 and 7, the delegation, who had attended the 19 th congress of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association (IPPA) in Hanoi , showed a keen interest in the Dong Son Culture in Thanh Hoa at the provincial museum. 


The museum is famous for its collection of tools and bronze artifacts such as drums that belonged to the Dong Son Culture where humans existed 400,000 years ago. 


At Con Moong Cave, which is thought to have housed many prehistoric people, the team of scientists saw the latest research done on the cave. 


The cave provided shelter to the people of three separate prehistoric cultures: the Son Vi, the Hoa Binh and the Bac Son. 


The cave is special as its layers of rock hold evidence of human evolution from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic era’s progress from hunter gathers to farmers, says Nguyen Khac Su, an associate professor at the Viet Nam Archaeological Institute in Ha Noi. 


Recent excavations also revealed many new discoveries, including axes, ceramics, stone and bone artifacts and tombs. 


Thanh Hoa is putting together a scientific study of the cave, which will be submitted to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) for recognition as a world cultural heritage. 


Although hearing of Vietnam ’s reports on the excavation sites of the Ho Dynasty’s Nam Giao altar and Con Moong Cave at the 19 th IPPA congress, the new discoveries about Thanh Hoa’s culture were unexpected, they said. 


Su said that the tour will inform scientists of Thanh Hoa’s cultural potential to help them better understand Vietnam ’s archaeology and win their support for these relics when they are nominated to UNESCO’s list of world cultural heritages. 


The scientists will contribute their opinions on the excavation, preservation and values of these ancient relics, Su added.

BBC to report on climate change in Vietnam

HCM City (VNA) – A team of journalists from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) will come to Vietnam to investigate climate change issues in the country and broadcast them to the world, said a BBC official.

The reporters, who are from different BBC language desks, will make three trips from Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong Delta by boat, said James Sales, director of a project on Vietnam and climate change to reporters in Ho Chi Minh City on Dec. 7. 

They will stop in My Tho in Tien Giang Province and Can Tho City to uncover the affects of climate change in Vietnam in relation to the rest of the region and the world, he said, adding that the programme will be heard by the BBC’s 233 million international listerners.

The reports will revolve around the connection between climate change, food security and water resources. 

The programme will discover how the Mekong Delta, Asia’s granary, is affected by rising sea levels and seawater flooding and discuss measures to minimise the adverse effects by planting mangrove forests, cultivating salt-resistant crops and better planning when responding to floods and storms in coastal areas, according to the project’s director.

The reports will include experts on climate change and representatives from Vietnamese governmental and non-governmental organisations, said Sales.

Vietnam battles it out in Russian martial arts tourney

Moscow (VNA) – A number of Vietnamese martial artists have competed in different kinds of martial arts disciplines at a recent international martial arts tournament in Moscow , Russia .

The event, the fourth of its kind in Russia , attracted martial artists from 14 countries, competing in 13 types of martial arts such as Vovinam, karate, ushu, sumo, boxing and sambo.

Described as the competition of champions, between Russia and their global rivals, the event is staged annually by the Russian Martial Arts Federation.

ADB to utilise new funds to combat climate change

Hanoi (VNA) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has said it plans to channel around 700 million USD from two new investment funds to members that are developing countries to tackle climate change.

The move is “part of a broad global initiative to help developing countries meet the cost of actions needed to combat climate change,” said a press release by the bank, which is based in Manila, the Philippines.

Donor countries, including Australia , France , Germany , Japan , the Netherlands , Norway , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , the United Kingdom and the United States , pledged over 6.1 billion USD in 2008 to the Clean Technology Fund and Strategic Climate Fund, the press release reported.

Both climate investment funds (CIF) are being made available to multilateral development banks, including the ADB, for climate change-related expenditures, it added. 
The Clean Technology Fund will support the deployment of low carbon energy technologies, such as wind, solar, hydro and geo-thermal power, as well as energy saving measures for industry, commercial buildings and municipalities.

The Strategic Climate Fund will support pilot programmes on climate resilience, forestry programmes and stepping up the use of renewable energies in low-income countries, to demonstrate how to deal with and adapt to climate change, plus interventions that can be expanded and replicated in the future. 

The two funds are designed to be interim financing tools and will be discontinued once the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change completes its deliberations on a new global programme for addressing climate change, as well as the new financial mechanisms needed to support it. 

The ADB has been investing heavily in programmes and projects designed to help countries cut down the use of fossil fuels and in 2008 it spent around 1.7 billion USD on clean energy projects, up from 230 million USD in 2003, said the press release, adding that it is now targeting annual investments of 2 billion USD by 2013.

HSBC: Vietnam one of the world’s friendliest countries

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam is one of the friendliest countries in the world for expatriates to live and work in, according to a survey released recently by HSBC International. 

According to the survey, conducted by FreshMinds, Asia is the most friendly region with Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Malaysia topping the list. 

The survey also showed that Asia is a region where people find it easy to make friends, especially with local people. 

Many expatriates said that they feel lucky to have been sent to Vietnam to work. 

The other most friendly countries include Bahrain, South Africa, Singapore, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates and Australia. 

This is HSBC’s second survey on the topic and it questioned more than 3,100 expatriates from 30 different careers in 50 countries and territories in the world. 

Last year, Germany , Canada and Spain topped the list.

Three Filipinos to stand trial for extortion of French tourist

Hanoi (VNA) – The People’s Court of Hanoi will prosecute three Filipinos for swindling money and property from a French traveller in a game of cards. 

The arrestees were Bautista Eduardo Sr Manaloto, 63, his son Bautista Eduardo Jr Ramirez, 41, and Ramirez’s wife, Balleza Augustina Ero, 43. 

In late May, the Filipino couple met the French traveller, a woman, while walking near the Quan Su-Trang Thi intersection in Hanoi. The couple invited the traveller back to their guest house for dinner and a friendly game of cards with their father and another Filipino guy named Onit. 

In the beginning, the French woman gained the upper hand, winning 2,000 USD from Manaloto. The man then slapped down five bundles of cash purportedly worth 50,000 USD onto the table. 

Onit cajoled the woman into continuing the game, and so she put in her laptop and a camera worth about 3,000 USD. Since it wasn’t enough to match the pot, she also set down another 800 USD in cash, four mobile phones worth about 105 million VND and 28 million VND in cash from her hotel on Hang Bun Street. She also cashed in a check for 1,300 USD. 

After returning to the couple’s guest house, the woman traveller gave all her money to Ero and she was handed over a sealed leather bag in return, in which she was told was the 50,000 USD that Manaloto had shown her before, and all the cards. 

Thinking there was nothing to be suspicious about, the French woman didn’t bother to check the bag, and brought it straight to her hotel with the intention of resuming the game in the morning. 

She waited for one of them to pick her up the next day to continue the game, but it was all in vain. She finally realised she’s been hoodwinked when she opened the bag and saw that it was nothing but bundles of 1 USD bills each covered with a single 100 USD note. 

Vietnamese police confiscated the laptop and some other things from the guest house, located at 612 De La Thanh Street. The gang of swindlers pleaded guilty, but the man named Onit had already gone on the lam. Further investigations into the matter are currently underway.

Conductor brings on Brahms opus

HCM City (VNA) – Young conductor Van Hung Cuong has taken time off from his busy career in the US to perform in HCM City this week. 

Cuong will wield the baton as the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera performs Brahms’ “German Requiem”, a major work encompassing chorus, orchestra, and soloists. 

The work, created in the 1860s, comprises seven movements and lasts 65 to 80 minutes, making it the German composer’s longest. 

It will mark the first time it is being performed in the city. 

Born in 1973 in the central province of Binh Dinh, Cuong spent years learning music at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory in Russia and the Cleveland Institute of Music in the US. 

He studied conducting at the Shenandoah University in the US. 

Cuong now works for the Northern Virginia Community College and performs with local and foreign symphony orchestras. 

The show will continue with a ballet performance choreographed by artist Kim Quy. 

“Carmen,” featuring the love story of a gypsy girl, will be performed by To Nhu, Hong Chau, Phuc Hai, Phi Diep, Duc Nhuan, and others. 

The dancers studied ballet at leading schools in Russia, China and France. 

The concert will begin at 8pm on December 9 at the HCM City Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square, District 1. Tickets, costing 100,000 VND to 200,000 VND, are available at the theatre.

Japanese drummers to perform in HCM City

HCM City (VNA) – OTO ZA Group, a well-known Japanese art troupe, will perform on the wadaiko drum at HCM City’s Opera House on December 11 to bring the curtain down on the Japanese Culture Month in the city and the Mekong-Japan Exchange year. 

“We hope the beat of wadaiko drum will be the bridge sending message between hearts...and tie the relationship between Japan and people of the Mekong region,” the group said. 

There is enormous range in the size of the Japanese drum and the sounds it produces. 

OTO ZA Group, which developed from a wadaiko class on Koya Mountain in Wakayama Province in 2001, is known through its musical plays based on legends and fairy tales, using drums as well as flutes. 

The eight-man group has performed in more than 60 countries and territories in Asia and Europe and has rewritten many Japanese folk songs and children’s songs for drums. 

The Mekong-Japan Exchange Year is aimed at enhancing the understanding, collaboration, and partnership between the countries in the Mekong region and Japan. 

There have been numerous exchange programmes in all of the countries since the beginning of this year. 

The Japanese Culture Month in HCM City featured a series of cultural events highlighting traditional and modern Japanese culture, education, and arts. 

They include “100 Designs of Japan Today,” an exhibition of modern Japanese architecture, an award ceremony for a haiku poetry contest held by Tuoi Tre newspaper, a seminar on Japanese studies at the Equatorial Hotel, a film festival at Thang Long Cinema, and several others. 

The concert will be organised by the Japanese Condulate General in HCM City. 

Free tickets will be available until December 17 at the consulate on Nguyen Huy Street, District 1.

Ad contest highlights local talent

HCM City (VNA) - Around 26 teams of young people keen on a career in advertising will gather in downtown HCM City next week to compete for a chance to participate in major international ad festivals in France and Singapore . 


Tickets to the French-based Cannes Lions Festival in June 2010 and Advertising Festival Spikes Asia in Singapore later in September are at stake as the second four-day Vietnam Advertising Festival 2009 opens on December 10 at the Nguyen Du Sport Complex. 


Organised by local advertising firm Sunflower Media, the festival will have contestants prove their talent in designing advertising clips and posters as well as planning strategic media campaigns. 


The competition is open to those working in the advertising industry under 28 years of age. Besides creativity, their English skills will be an important criteria for choosing candidates for the upcoming international festivals. 


Terry Savage, Chairman of the French-based Cannes Lions Festival, will name and offer awards to the three most excellent groups who represent young Vietnamese at the international advertising festivals next year. 


Organisers said that the 26 teams selected for the final round were chosen from 400 works submitted by applicants nationwide. They said they were impressed with the creativity shown by qualified teams. 


Robert Cohen, a manager of Lowe Worldwide, a Britain-based creative advertising agency and one of contest jurors, said he was impressed with the creativity shown but they had yet to propose excellent ideas. 


With appropriate guidance, the students could improve their talent and come up with creative campaigns in Vietnam , he said. 


The best advertising works of Vietnam ’s advertising industry and works of contestants will be displayed during the competition. Seminars and short-time training courses will also be held with well-known industry experts invited to speak. 


Experts said Vietnam ’s advertising industry had been developing for 20 years but it had not met its full potential. This event would be an opportunity for the industry to find more talented people, they added.

Crops to get better protection

Hanoi (VNA) - The Prime Minister has ordered the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to stock up on pesticides to protect plants. 


According to the director of the ministry’s Plan Protection Department, Nguyen Quang Minh, this is because of bigger exports of rice planned for next year, more pests and more complicated plant diseases. 


The department is now checking plant protection materials available in national reserves, and will calculate the amount and kinds of substances that companies should buy. 


Those who win the contracts will have to inform MARD of the origins of the imported plant-protection substances for approval. 


Minh said the ministry would strengthen the examination of all substances to ensure the country import products of best quality. 


Every year, Vietnam spends about 400-500 million USD on importing plant protection substances.

Online medicine floor to open

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam ’s first online medicine transaction floor will be open late this month at the web address www.santhuoc.vn . 


The floor, built by the Vietnam Pharmaceutical Companies Association (VPCA) is a new platform for both domestic and foreign-funded businesses, specialising in the production and trading of drugs, medical equipment, technologies and services. 


VPCA chairman Do Van Doanh said that the floor was expected to stimulate domestic consumption and improve public awareness of made-in-Vietnam drugs and medical trademarks. 


It was also a gateway for domestic enterprises and foreign partners to expand co-operation, Doanh said. With a population of more than 80 million, experts said that potential for growth in the Vietnamese pharmaceutical industry was high. The industry is expected to sell between US$12 and 15 worth of drugs per capita by 2010.

BUSINESS

New HCM City-Hanoi air route rejected by authorities

Hanoi (VNA) – While most scientists supported the idea of a new air route between Hanoi and HCM City, relevant authorities denied its feasibility at a workshop in the capital on December 6. 

Early this year, former pilot Mai Trong Tuan submitted his idea for a new flight route that would take the 106 degree meridian, under which the distance between the two cities would be shorter and more economical. 

However, Lai Xuan Thanh, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAV), said, “The route is still not feasible.” 

Tuan and other scientists calculated that the shorter distance would save fuel and sharply reduce flight times. The idea was to fly in a straight line, over Laos and Cambodia, instead of veering east over the East Sea. 

Tuan said that flights could be reduced to 1,000km, saving nearly 550 billion VND (nearly 29 million USD) in fuel costs per year. 

One of the idea’s supporters, Le Trong Sanh, former head of Flight Operations with many years of experience in the airline industry, said that it would be a good project, as it could bring many benefits to Vietnam, including reduced fuel cost, human resources and pollution, as well as improved flight safety. 

While Tuan proved that the new path would save about 200km from the current route, CAV proved that the gap was not really the large. 

Tuan and his supporters though that flight times would be shortened by 10 minutes and fuel would be saved, but according to senior Vietnam Airlines official Nguyen Van Tien, the new air route would save only two and a half minutes. The official said that the money saved would not cover the expenses of travelling in Lao and Cambodia airspace. 

CAV deputy head Thanh absolutely agreed with the VNA’s calculations, explaining that the VNA had used a correct and modern calculation method for all of their flights. 

Despite the fact that CAV told Tuan his idea was not feasible, they still decided to open a route from Hanoi to Pakse in Laos, connecting Hanoi with the existing Pakse-Siem Reap and HCM City routes, which Tuan said was very similar to his idea. 

Thanh said that the route from Hanoi to Pakse in Laos would bring more opportunities for tourism and trade between the three countries. 

Thanh said they could save 400,000 USD per month if they adjusted the routes for shorter distances, adding: “The new route is the dream of all the people.”

Fruit, vegetable exports grow 5.4 percent

Hanoi (VNA) - The fruit and vegetable industry has posted record export growth in the first 11 months of this year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. 


After 11 months, Vietnam earned 388 million USD from exporting fruit and vegetables, an increase of 5.4 percent over the same period of 2008, the ministry said. 


In November alone, export value totalled 35 million USD. 


"This is a good signal for the Vietnamese fruit and vegetable industry, posting healthy growth despite the world recession," said Dinh Van Huong chairman of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association. 


According to Huong, export volume of fruit and vegetable slightly decreased in the early part of the year, but since September it has started to increase. 


Recently, Russia , mainland China , Japan , Taiwan and the US have become key markets for the country’s fruit and vegetable industry. Of them, Russia is the biggest market with an import value of nearly 40 million USD. It is followed by China with 35 million USD. 


With these good signals, the association predicts that over the year, Vietnam will earn 420 million USD from exporting fruit and vegetables compared to 390 million USD in 2008. 


To achieve this goal, the industry has re-organised production. It has helped farmers choose good quality seeds and improved cultivation methods, bringing higher yields. 


The industry has also organised programmes to promote trade and widen markets as well as developing recognised trademarks. 


A report from the ministry shows that Vietnam now has more than 680 hectares devoted to growing fruit and vegetable, providing a total yield of more than 7 million tonnes. 


In recent years, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have made concerted efforts to boost fruit and vegetable production. 


Vietnamese fruit and vegetables have been exported to about 20 markets including China , Japan , Singapore , Russia , Germany , Australia and France . 


In 2000, export turnover was only 213 million USD. This number increased to 390 million USD in 2008. Vietnamese fruit and vegetables exports include fresh or preserved potatoes, cucumbers, beans, onions, garlic, bananas, mango, litchi, longan, dragon fruit and coconut.