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Nation’s highest bridge opens to traffic
Son La (VNA) – Pa Uon bridge in the northern mountainous province of Son La has been opened to traffic, according to the project’s management board.
Construction of the bridge with abutments of 98 metres high, the highest in the country, started in May 2007.
The inauguration of the 938-m long bridge that connects Son La and Lai Chau provinces in the northern mountainous region facilitates vehicular traffic between the two and also effectively serves the northwestern region’s socio-economic development strategy and national defence.-Enditem
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Retail sales reach 45blm USD in first seven months
Hanoi (VNA) — Total retail sales reached 877.5 trillion VND (45 billion USD) in the first seven months of this year, a rise of 26.4 percent against the same period in 2009.
The General Statistics Office's seven-month retail report showed that foreign investment contributed 25.2 trillion VND (1.3 billion USD) to the economy, 2.9 percent of total retail sales, an increase of 43.4 percent over the corresponding period in 2009.
State-run businesses saw an increase in retail sales of 41.5 percent, while non-State firms' growth was 42.2 percent.
Truong Quang Hoai Nam , head of the Domestic Market Department at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said foreign investors consider Vietnam as a promising investment destination.
Meanwhile, global ratings agency AT Kearney predicted that Vietnam 's retail industry would grow over the next few years and that consumer spending would rise above its current level of 70 percent of a household's income.
Nguyen Thi Hoang Thuy, director of Mutrap III Programme, said the retail and distribution industry has contributed 14 percent towards the country's gross domestic product since Vietnam became a member of WTO.
However, Thuy said accession to the world trade body has not brought the anticipated influx of foreign retail investment. "A revision of [the retail] market is needed," Thuy said.
Nam said the legal framework governing the retail industry is insufficient and has resulted in investor hesitancy.
On the other hand, he said domestic investors are almost gung-ho in their approach.
"The development of the domestic retail industry seems spontaneous," he said.
Vo Tri Thanh, deputy head of the Central Institute for Economic Management, was optimistic about Vietnam 's retail sector, which he predicted would grow strongly over the next 10-15 years.
However, corporate competitiveness should be improved to achieve this growth .
In the first seven months of this year, retail sales from services were worth 78.8 trillion VND (4.04 billion USD), up 22.1 percent over the same period in 2009. Retail turnover in the hotel and restaurant industry alone generated 96.03 trillion VND (about 5 billion USD).
The Ministry of Industry and Trade said it expects retails sales this year to grow 22 percent year on year to 78.9 billion USD. — Enditem
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Stock tracks Wall Street plunge
Hanoi (VNA) — Wall Street's overnight decline cast a catastrophic shadow on the Vietnamese stock market on August 12, with benchmark indices on both national stock exchanges declining sharply and over 90 percent of shares shedding value.
On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index fell 3.18 percent to close at 448.40, the market's lowest point since last December 17, while on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index plunged by 5.1 percent to just 130.03 points.
A massive sell-off pushed up trading volume on both exchanges.
Volume rose 24 percent over the previous day's session on the HCM City exchange, reaching 49.2 million shares worth a combined 1.3 trillion VND (68.4 million USD). On the Hanoi exchange, volume was up 21 percent to nearly 37.5 million shares, while the combined value of trades hit 885 billion VND (46.6 million USD).
The southern bourse saw, shares fall straight from the opening bell with blue chip leading the fall. Decliners outnumbered advancers by 236-8, with over 180 shares hitting their floor prices.
Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corp (REE) was the most-active share on the HCM City bourse on a volume of 2.3 million shares. REE closed down 3.55 percent to 16,300 VND (0.86 USD).
North Kinh Do Food Co (NKD) was among the few shares to buck the prevailing tide, closing up 1.26 percent to 40,000 VND (2.11 USD) per share as investors expected solid earnings from sales in the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival.
In Hanoi , 286 codes closed down while only 20 shares managed to gain in value.
PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) was the most-active share nationwide on a volume of 6.4 million but plunged by 5.49 percent to 22,200 VND (1.17 USD) per share.
Foreign investors were net buyers on both bourses, picking up a net of 1.3 million shares worth a combined 60.6 billion VND (3.2 million USD). — Enditem
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Strong arm duo strike gold at circus festival
Hanoi (VNA) — Members of the HCM City Circus Federation won a gold medal at the 13th International Circus Festival in Hanoi , which ended on September 11.
Quoc Co and Quoc Hiep won the medal in the Suc Manh Doi Tay (Strong Arm) event, in which competitors perform a series of 23 gymnastic-like disciplines.
Artists from nine countries, including Vietnam , competed for 14 medals.
In addition, HCM City-based circus artist Tran Dinh earned a "contribution prize" and a group of artists from Laos was named the judge's favourite.
People's Artist Tam Chinh, who sat on the judging panel, said she was stunned by the physical prowess and precision of the performers.
"The technical expertise of the artists was incredible," Chinh said, adding that she was disappointed that more artists from abroad did not attend the event.
" Mongolia and Cuba sent just two performers each. Russia and Ukraine , just one."
Chinh blamed the lack of international participation on the fact that no cash prizes were on offer. Vietnam 's Culture, Sports and Tourism Ministry however subsidised participants' air tickets and accommodation.
Meritorious Artist Vuong Duy Bien said the goal of the event was not competitiveness but friendship.
Vu Ngoan Hop, director of the Vietnam Circus Federation, said the event had been a great international success. After the festival, a number of Vietnamese performing artists were invited to attend international festivals. The Suc Manh Doi Tay duo was invited to attend a festival in Spain in 2011, while Du Sieu Nhan (Superman Swings) was invited to France later this year. — Enditem
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Wartime UXO found in Bac Lieu province
Bac Lieu (VNA) – A 125kg unexploded bomb has been found in the southern province of Bac Lieu by workers at the Khanh Tam building material warehouse.
Lieut.-colonel Ho Van Dai, head of the Bac Lieu Military Headquaters’ sapper force, said the unexploded ordnance, which was made by the US in 1971, was inadvertently scooped from the Hau riverbed during the sand mining process in southern Can Tho City and was transported by the sand ferry to the warehouse.
Earlier, on August 2, two unexploded bombs, weighing 125kg and 250kg respectively, was also found among sand transported from the Hau river to another building materials warehouse in Bac Lieu.
According to Director of Vietnam’s Bomb and Mine Disposal Technology Centre Nguyen Trong Canh, many places in the country are still heavily contaminated with UXO, particularly the six central provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Ngai.
Thirty years after the war, bombs and mines are still taking a heavy toll on human life. To date, over 100,000 people in Vietnam have fallen victim to UXO, of which 42,000 died.
Every year, 20,000 hectares of land are cleared of UXO, yet there remains a lot of work to do before all contaminated land can be declared safe.-Enditem
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Capital health, education centres ordered to relocate
Hanoi (VNA) -- Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has ordered a list of health and education centres that need to be moved out of inner Hanoi .
The order, given as a prelude to implementing the moves, was made at a meeting with the Construction Ministry and Hanoi municipal officials on Aug.11.
Their options are for the health centres and tertiary institutions to be shifted; upgraded or be used for other purposes.
The deputy prime minister said detailed policies for the health centres and tertiary institutions must be thoroughly assessed, especially those dealing with land, finance and investment procedures.
Hanoi has the most central hospitals in northern Vietnam and many are so overloaded they have to work at 200 percent of their capacity.
Four inner-city districts of Hoan Kiem, Dong Da, Hai Ba Trung and Ba Dinh host 16 medical clinics, some of which are located in high-density of residents and carry a high risk of infection.
Others are too small or located in places where urban development is limited.
The number of tertiary institutions in Hanoi city accounts for one-third of the country's total and 40 percent of the students.
The four districts alone have 26 universities and colleges.
The rate of space for each student at many universities together with the land available for each university is well below the national standard.-Enditem
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ADB sets up green energy investment fund
New York (VNA) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has set up an investment fund for clean and renewable energy development in Asia through partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), financing arm of the World Bank.
The fund is scheduled to begin full operation early next year with working capital of at least 1 billion USD, according to the ADB.
It will directly invest in clean and renewable energy projects in both public and private economic areas in Asian countries as well as climate change-related joint stock facilities.
ADB said that it will enter partnership with other partners to continue calling for other capital sources for projects in Asia in order to minimise impacts from climate change and ensure sustainable development in the continent.-Enditem
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