Vietnam, Cambodia provinces expand cooperation

At their meetings, held during An Giang provincial People’s Committee Chairman Lam Minh Chieu’s visit to these Cambodian provinces from Dec. 29-30, the leaders agreed that in the first half of 2010, they will focus on boosting cross-border trade, strengthening border security and increasing investment in infrastructure along their shared border line. 

They will also ask the governments of the two countries to allow the application of the one-stop customs check at Tinh Bien-Phnom Den international border gate between An Giang and Ta Keo provinces. 

An Giang and Kandal will continue to maintain cooperation in agriculture, the construction of border markers and the search for remains of Vietnamese fallen soldiers in Cambodia.

Vietnam demands security for students in US

Washington DC (VNA)- Deputy Ambassador to the US Nguyen Tien Minh on December 29 asked US authorities to take immediate steps to ensure security for Vietnamese students. 

Representatives from the Vietnamese embassy and the Bureau of Consular Affairs under the US Department of State met immmediatyly after an attack against Vietnamese secondary school students in Philadelphia , the Pennsylvania State , injured seven of them but did not received timely interference from local authorities. 

Minh asked the US authorities to launch an investigation on the case as soon as possible and hand down due punishments on criminals involved in the violence against Vietnamese students in Philadelphia . 

He demanded immediate measures to be taken by schools where there are Vietnamese students to protect them from violence. 

The representative from the US side took notes of the request made by the Vietnamese embassy and promised to convey this message to relevant authorities. 

Minh told Vietnam News Agency that “the Vietnamese embassy in the US is closely following the developments of the case and will take necessary steps to protect Vietnamese citizens living and studying in the US ”.

Flower power pulls crowds

Hanoi (VNA) – Thousands of Hanoians and foreign tourists flocked to Hoan Kiem Lake to contemplate the hundreds of thousands of flowers displayed at the capital’s second flower festival, which kicked off on Dec. 30. 

Not only an event to welcome the forthcoming New Year, the festival is also one of 80 events in the city organised by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Department to celebrate the 1,000 th anniversary of Hanoi in 2010. 

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Chairwoman of Hanoi People’s Committee Ngo Thi Thanh Hang said that the event also aimed to highlight the refined flower hobby of Hanoians and promote Hanoi ’s culture. 

“The festival will be memorable event for local residents and foreign tourists,” she said. 

Three new Vietnam Guinness Records, which are on display at the festival, were recognised at the ceremony. 

The records were granted for the longest train on an ao dai (traditional dress), the biggest rattan vase of lotus flowers and the biggest shell-inlaid wooden block presenting a royal proclamation by King Ly Thai To. 

While flower designer Nguyen Manh Hung used up to 1,000 flowers to form the 10m-long train on the traditional dress, artisan Nguyen Phuong Quang from Hanoi ’s Chuong My district spent more than two years on the 6.5m-high rattan vase. 

The 1.9m high and 1.3m-wide royal proclamation was completed by veteran artisan Tran Ba Nam from Hanoi ’s Phu Xuyen village, who spent three years on the work. The royal proclamation made by King Ly in 1010 states that the country’s capital will be relocated from Hoa Lu (in Ninh Binh province) to Thang Long (the former name of Hanoi ). 

During the five-day event, visitors will also have a chance to see some of Hanoi ’s typical images, including the Temple of Literature and Long Bien Bridge . Replicas of these works have been created from flowers and are on display at the festival. 

At the festival, visitors can see a 6m-high tower with nine dragons curving around and up, created from flowers and fruits, which represents 215 years of power of the Ly dynasty. 

A tulip carpet, created from 22,000 tulips donated by the Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Gerda Verburg, has attracted many visitors. 

A flower show, entitled One Thousand Years of Thang Long – One Thousand Flowers Bloom will be held on Dec. 31 at the festival. The contest will gather competitors from 29 districts in the city, and all of the award-winning flower creations will be presented.

50,000 children given free milk

HCM City (VNA) – The Six Million Glasses of Free Milk for Vietnamese Children programme has provided milk to 50,000 kids in 62 provinces and cities. 

Under the programme, the Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk) donated more than 6 million cartons of milk to disadvantaged children living to remotes areas. 

A report released by the National Nutrition Institute revealed that if children drink milk regularly for two months, their weight and other nutrition indicators will improve dramatically.

Over 329 billion VND for flood recovery

Hanoi (VNA)- Prime Minister has signed a decision to allocate 329.5 billion VND to support recovery in flood-hit provinces in the central and Central Highlands region. 

The two provinces of Quang Nam and Phu Yen will receive 70 billion VND each while Quang Ngai gets 60 billion VND. Binh Dinh is allocated 50 billion VND and 20 billion VND each will go to Quang Tri and Gia Lai. Binh Thuan and Dak Lak receive 10 billion VND each, while Ninh Thuan is given 5 billion VND. 

The aid package is meant for the purchase of rice seed, repair of infrastructure and assistance to flood victims.

BUSINESS

Malaysia highly rates Vietnam market

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam is a potential market for Malaysian trade and business activities, according to the Malaysia External Trade Development Corp. (Matrade). 

In a press release issued in Kualar Lumpur on Dec. 30, Matrade highlighted business opportunities in education, fast-food outlets, eyewear products and restaurants. 

Earlier, Malaysian franchisors have inked business deals worth 1.35 million USD during their trip to Ho Chi Minh City from Dec. 15-17. 

This is the first visit of Malaysian franchisors to Vietnam to explore the market which has a large percentage of young population, political stability and continued economic growth, according to Matrade.

Sweden’s Securitas takes 49 percent stake in VN company

HCM City (VNA) – Sweden security company Securitas has agreed to acquire 49 percent of the Vietnamese security services firm Long Hai Security in an effort to expand its business in Asia. 

The purchase price was approximately 35 million SEK, or 88 billion VND (4.8 million USD), following the company’s announcement on their website on December 29. 

Long Hai Security is a market leader in the security services market in Vietnam, and it offers a wide-range of professional services, including guarding services and protection for customer property, such as cash transportation, executive protection and alarm monitoring services. 

The company operates throughout Vietnam, currently in 18 provinces, and has annual revenues of 134 billion VND (7.2 million USD) and around 2,500 employees. 

Securitas is a knowledge leader in security, which has operations in 40 countries in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Its global market share of the outsourced security services market is approximately 12 percent. 

The two sides are working on a more detailed official contract, Nam said, noting his company was striving to complete legal procedures in Vietnam to facilitate the contract’s implementation.

Heavy early trading lifts VN-Index 2.5 percent

Hanoi (VNA) – Heavy purchase since early session turned around the VN-Index by 2.25 percent on December 30, to 495.36 points. 

Daily turnover on the HCM Stock Exchange remained brisk at 2.49 trillion VND (134.6 million USD), with 55.53 million shares changing hands. 

Meanwhile, the Hanoi bourse jumped 2.97 percent, ending the session at 164.87 points. Total trading value rose to 978.67 billion VND (52.9 million USD) on a volume of 29.06 million shares. 

“The sudden change in trading is due to year-end sentiment”, Nguyen Hoang Hai, an analyst at a HCM City-based securities company. “The New Year is only a day away and the sell-off has not brought expected profits due to the temporary pause in credit lending”. 

John Harackiewicz, a securities analyst at Sacombank Securities, said in a December 30 that the firm’s year-end estimate was about 480 to 500 points. 

“We will have to wait until January 4 before we know for sure what is happening”, Harackiewicz said. 

The analyst predicted that small-cap and mid-cap trading would lead the market rally. He recommended that investors continue to spend and that positive gains would be made in the first quarter of 2010. 

Foreigners continued to buck the market trend, selling a net 940,000 shares in HCM City. However, they turned positive on the northern market and picked up 249,300 shares.

Telephone, internet subscriptions surge sharply

Hanoi (VNA)- The number of telephone subscribers in Vietnam , a country of over 80 million-strong population, reached 130.4 million with an average of 152.5 sets of telephones for every 100 citizens. 

The Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) reported on December 30 that of the figure, 85 percent are mobile phone subscribers, representing a 152 percent increase year on year. 

The Internet subscription has also surged sharply to 26.2 percent of the national population. 

The industry has therefore posted a revenue of 6.26 billion USD for 2009 amidst the global economic meltdown. 

The telecom enterprises reportedly invested some 60 trillion VND in infrastructure facilities. 

MIC Deputy Minister Tran Duc Lai, however, admitted that the gap between urban and rural areas remains large and quality of services still lags behind quantity.