In his August 27 message, the UN chief affirmed that the UN is able to face threats and build a more equal, sustainable and prosperous world for all people thanks to Vietnam ’s support.

He also expressed his hope that all the UN members will mobilise their strength to implement the Millennium Development Goals in 2015.

The UN believes in Vietnam ’s support for all of the former’s efforts, he said.


Grenade explodes at Thai state-run TV station

 

Bangkok (VNA) – A grenade exploded at the parking lot of the National Broadcasting Services of Thailand (NBT) on August 31, damaging several vehicles but causing no injuries in the latest in a spate of unclaimed attacks in the capital, a local media reported.

According to Panitan Wattanayagorn, spokesperson of the Thai government, the explosive device is believed to be an M79 grenade.

The Thai government has imposed a state of emergency since April 7 to deal with anti-government protests and riots of the United front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) in which 91 people were killed and 1,900 wounded, he said.

The attack was the fourth grenade explosion in five weeks in the
Thai capital, which is still rife with political divisions and under
emergency rule.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the earlier attack on August 26 at King Power shopping centre wounded a security guard, which concretes the Thai government’s view to continue its state of emergency.

Shares rebound on stronger volume


Hanoi (VNA) — Trading volume on the HCM Stock Exchange on August 31 leapt by 64 percent over August 30's session to a total of 54.2 million shares, helping lift the VN-Index to close at 455.08 points, a gain of 2.37 percent on the day.

The value of August 31's trade on the HCM City bourse rose back above the 1 trillion VND-level to 1.46 trillion VND (74.8 million USD).

Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) claimed the position as most-active share during the session, responsible for 3.35 million trades. SSI reached its ceiling price, closing up 4.87 percent to 28,000 VND per share.

Financial shares in general led the market increase, gaining 4.9 percent across the board. Petroleum shares followed, with an overall gain of 4.6 percent, while communications stocks also performed strongly, picking up 3.9 percent.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also rose by 2.8 percent to close at 128.40 points, with the volume of trades reaching 45.8 million shares – double August 30's figure.

The value of trades on the northern bourse reached 1 trillion VND (51.3 million USD), with PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) leading trades on a volume of 9.7 million shares.

Foreign investors picked up a net of 4.5 million shares on both exchanges, worth a total of 207 billion VND (10.6 million USD). Their buy-in focused mostly on blue chips, including shares of real estate developers Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) and Hoa Phat Group (HAG), as well as of Tan Tao Industrial Park Investment &Development (ITA).

VN&Index on August 30 quoted a representative from the State Bank that there would be some changes in the provisions of Circular No13 which sets stricter capital adequacy requirements for banks, although the deadline would not be extended. 

Committee calls for clean up of capital's underpass system

 

Hanoi (VNA) — The Hanoi People's Committee has instructed the municipal transport department to better manage the city's underpasses.

The department must focus on measures to ensure order and safety as well as sanitation in underpasses and report the results by the end of the month.

It is also required to upgrade lighting and traffic signals at degraded underpasses.

People's Committee deputy chairman Phi Thai Binh said a lack of management had caused many underpasses to become degraded.

Urban traffic office director Nguyen Nguyen Huy conceded that tea shops and vendors occupied some underpasses and caused disorder.

But guards were assigned around-the-clock to control them now.

"The guards help protect pedestrians from criminal gangs as well as prevent damage," he said.

"Guards are also responsible for stopping street vendors from occupying underpasses and warn them of punishment if they persist."

The department manages the Kim Lien and Nga Tu So underpasses and four others under Pham Hung road in the Cau Giay district.

Although the building of many underpasses was complete, they remain disused. For example, part of the Khuat Duy Tien street underpass in Thanh Xuan district was used to park motorbikes although it was complete.

The urban traffic office director said there were many reasons underpasses had not been put into use: Infrastructure was not complete or procedures remained outstanding.

"We have required the Thang Long project management board which is the investor to quickly complete the procedure so we can assume management of Ringroad No 3 underpass system," he said.

Each underpass costs an average of between 3-7 billion VND (153,000-357,000 USD).

PetroVietnam to join Russia’s Eastern Gas Programme

 

Moscow (VNA) – The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) is likely to take part in the Eastern Gas Programme coordinated by Russia ’s energy giant Gazprom.

The issue was discussed at the first meeting of the Gazprom-PetroVietnam Joint Coordinating Committee, which concluded in Saint Petersburg on August 31.

Co-chaired by Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Ananenkov and PetroVietnam Vice President Nguyen Tien Dung, the meeting highly valued the joint work of both Gazprom and PetroVietnam on exploration of the continental shelf of Vietnam as well as prospects for bilateral cooperation in oil and gas projects in Russia and third countries.

Gazprom and PetroVietnam have effectively cooperated in a number of oil and gas projects in Vietnam and created a joint venture, Gazpromviet, to develop projects in Russia and third countries.

The Eastern Gas Programme, which was approved in September 2007, is to create a single system of gas production and transportation in Russia ’s Eastern Siberia and Far East with possible exports to the markets of China and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The programme also includes the construction of the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok transportation system, which will provide “green energy” for Russia ’s Far East.




HCM City banks loan 31.8 billion USD

 

HCM City (VNA) -- Outstanding commercial bank loans in HCM City totalled 620 trillion VND (31.8 billion USD) to the end of August, reports the State Bank of Vietnam .

Property loans stood at 92.86 trillion VND (4.76 billion USD) or 15 percent, and consumer loans at 32.03 trillion VND (1.64 billion USD) or 5.2 percent.

The remaining 80 percent was for production and business.

Deposits totalled 683.5 trillion VND (35.05 billion USD), up 13.3 percent year-on- year; dong deposits increased 16.3 percent and foreign currency deposits just 5.3 percent.

Remittances to HMC City banks totalled about 326 million USD, down 4.45 percent against July.

An estimated 3.7 billion USD in remittances has been sent to the City since January 1, up 20 percent against the first seven months of last year and the figure is expected to hit 6 billion USD by the end of the year.

Overseas Vietnamese have started to reinvest and the labour export market has expanded to raise remittances.

The State Bank of Vietnam 's HCM City branch, says foreign-exchange trading by commercial bank fell 22-25 percent in July against June.

Instant pho makes top 10

HCM City (VNA) -- As the popularity of Vietnamese pho rises internationally, a brand of instant pho has made the top 10 in the IUFoST Global Food Industry Awards.

Vietnam Food Industries Joint Stock Company (VIFON) made the instant pho that was judged at the15th IUFoST World Congress of Food Science and Technology themed Food Science Solutions in Our Evolving World held in Cape Town , South Africa last week.

The International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) is a voluntary, non-profit federation of national food science organisations linking more than 200,000 food scientists and technologists worldwide and around 70 national food organisations.

IUFoST aims to strengthen global food science and technology. Every two years, it hosts a World Congress of Food Science and Technology.

 

Global beauties espouse environment

 

HCM City (VNA) -- Contestants from nearly 90 countries and territories will take part in the month-long Miss Earth beauty pageant to be held in Vietnam in November.

HCM City 's Miss Vietnam World 2010, Luu Thi Diem Huong, will represent the host.

The pageant will open on November 4 with environmental protection activities in HCM City , Phan Thiet, Hoi An and Nha Trang.

These will include talks on environment on TV and in schools, and seminars on environmental protection.

The candidates will visit famous historical sites and schools for disadvantaged children, and take part in other cultural and community activities.

The finals and the awards ceremony will be held on December 4 in Nha Trang.

Apart from raising people's awareness of environmental protection, the pageant will also showcase tourist destinations of Vietnam .

The pageant is organised by the Philippines ' Carousel Productions Inc and Vietnamese partner Thanh Nien Media Group.

 



Nation to enjoy musical feast

 

Hanoi (VNA) -- Free musical shows will be held in 15 cities and provinces to celebrate Vietnam 's Day of Music on Sept. 3.

The Vietnam Symphony Orchestra together with pop singers Hong Nhung and Dang Duong and musicians from the Vietnam Academy of Music will begin the festival at Hanoi 's Friendship and Culture Palace , Tran Hung Dao Street , at 2pm on Sept. 3.

Vietnam Television's VTV1 will live telecast the show.

Children music and folk music shows will be held in Hanoi's Vietnam Pop Music Theatre; the Ly Thai To Garden and the pedestrianised area near Dong Xuan Market from Sept. 2-6.

Similar shows will be held in northern Yen Bai, Son La and Thai Nguyen provinces; central Thua Thien-Hue, Da Nang , Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong provinces; and southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Can Tho and Hau Giang provinces and HCM City .

Entry to all the shows is free.

"The Day of Music will be a festival of both professional artists and public music lovers," said Vietnam Musicians' Association Chairman Do Hong Quan.

"We would like to bring music closer to the people and this year's events may become a music week or music month with various street performances."

September 3 has been made the yearly National Day of Music after President Ho Chi Minh conducted an orchestra of professional artists and ordinary people in a performance of Ket Doan (Song of Solidarity) at Hanoi 's Botanic Garden on September 3, 1960.




Hanoi hosts international piano competition

 

Hanoi (VNA) -- The first Hanoi International Piano Competition will kick off on Sept. 5 at the Vietnam National Academy of Music (VNAM).

The event will continue until September 13 with the participation of 63 contestants from the Republic of Korea , Japan , Malaysia , Thailand , Indonesia , the Philippines , Canada , Russia , Taiwan and host Vietnam .

The biennial competition, with categories for pianists aged 10-13, 14-17, and 18-25, is being co-sponsored this year by Techcombank and Vietnam Airlines, said VNAM director Ngo Van Thanh.

"Contestants in the youngest age group who make it to the final round will have to play a piece by Chopin, followed by the first, second and third movements of sonatas by either Mozart, Haydn, or Kuhlau," Thanh said.

Pianists in the 14-17-year-old group will play two 15-20-minute pieces by Chopin in addition to one work by a romantic or 20th century composer, while the oldest contestants will have to compete playing Chopin's Concerto No 1 or No 2 with Polish conductor Jacek Rogala and the Hanoi Philharmonic Orchestra.

The winner in each category will receive a cash prize of 1,000 USD, 1,500 USD and 2,000 USD, respectively, with lesser awards for second and third place finishers. The youngest contestant in the final round will also receive a special prize.

"The competition can be regarded as the largest in the region," said VNAM faculty member Tran Thu Ha, who will chair the jury panel. "Playing an entire concerto in 30-40 minutes with a conductor and an orchestra is really a challenge for an artist".

Ha has served on the juries of several regional piano competitions. She graduated from the Kiev Conservatory in Russia in 1975 and earned a doctorate from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow in 1978.

Many of her students have been winners or finalists in competitions in Italy , Australia , Indonesia , Japan and the Republic of Korea .

The remaining members of the jury include Michel Bourdoncle ( France ), Hae Won-chang (the Republic of Korea ), Teruko Hakuta ( Japan ), Kyunghee Lee ( Australia ), Ruvim Ostrovsky ( Russia ) and Snezana Panovska (Macedonia/Malaysia).

Vietnamese pianist Dang Thai Son, the first Asian to win a gold medal at the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1980, will be the competition's honourable president and art director.

Son has served on the juries of a number of Chopin competitions in 2010, marking the 200th birthday of the Polish composer. In this competition, the best performer of Chopin's music will receive a special prize.

Competitions are open to the public and will take place at 9am-2pm everyday during September 6-12 at VNAM, 77 Hao Nam street , in Hanoi . The competition winners will perform at a gala concert on September 13 at the Hanoi Opera House.

 




Feasibility studies begin on inter-city express rail links

 

Hanoi (VNA) -- The Ministry of Transport on Aug. 31 asked the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to start conducting feasibility studies on two portions of an express-railway linking Hanoi with Vinh City (the capital of central Nghe An province) and HCM City-Nha Trang.

Nguyen Huu Bang, director general of the Vietnam Railway Corporation, was expected to have an official meeting with JICA to discuss the issue on Sept. 1.

In an interview with VnExpress, Nguyen Minh Thuyet, vice chairman of the National Assembly Committee for Culture, Education, Youth and Children, said the decision to start a feasibility study for the Hanoi-HCM City express railway did not contradict an earlier National Assembly decision to block the national high-speed rail network. The plan's implementation will still face a National Assembly vote prior to being enacted.

During discussions at the National Assembly's June session, a majority of legislators rejected the rail plan due to the prohibitive costs involved and perceived lack of social benefits.

The project would cost about 56 billion USD. Japan has agreed to grant Vietnam Official Development Assistance to undertake the feasibility study.

According to Do Van Hat, director general of the Railways Investment and Construction Consultancy Company, the study would start sometime in November 2010. It is due for completion by the end of the first quarter of 2012.

In addition, the Vietnam Railway Corporation has asked JICA to help develop a feasibility study for the construction of a 25km express railway from Ngoc Hoi station (south of Hanoi ) to Noi Bai International Airport , Hat said.



Use of biofuels promoted for nation's motor vehicles

 

HCM City (VNA) -- Bio-fuel, which emits 30 percent less carbon dioxide than other petrols, should be more widely used in the country to protect the environment, experts have said.

Petrol Vietnam Oil Corporation (PV Oil), which makes bio-fuel E5, said the petrol was harmless to vehicles.

Made from biomass, the fuel is a mixture of 95 percent of conventional non-lead gasoline and 5 percent ethanol.

Under a trial run by PV Oil, Da Nang Polytechnic University and Toyota Ben Thanh, it was found that bio-gasoline E5 had no negative effects on vehicle engines.

PV Oil also noted that bio-fuel E5 could increase engine capacity by 3.3 percent compared with other gasolines, without a change in consumption.

According to results obtained in research projects, bio-fuel E5 can be used safely for most vehicles made after 1990 and has the same functions as other kinds of petrols, according to Dr Nguyen Huu Luong of HCM City Polytechnic University 's Chemistry Department.

Luong also said that not all bio-gasoline was good for the environment because it would depend on the way it was made.

Bio-fuel E5 produced by PV Oil has been on sale since the beginning of August at two gasoline stations in HCM City .

However, many residents lack information about the new petrol and were reluctant to use it.

Nguyen Thanh Nguyen, a seller at Gasoline Station 5 in Thu Duc disitrict's Hiep Binh Chanh ward, said only one or two out of 10 customers wanted to buy bio-fuel. Every day, the station sells no more than 100 litres.

He said customers bought bio-fuel because it was 500 VND per litre cheaper than other petrol.

Pham Long, Thu Duc district's Hiep Binh Chanh ward, said that he often used petrol A92 for his motorbike.

"I wouldn't dare use bio-fuel because I lack information about it."

It is estimated that 40 petrol stations will sell bio-fuel in HCM City by the end of this year, and about 4,000 stations by 2012, of all which are under PV Oil, Petec and others, said Ly Hong Duc, deputy director of PV Oil.

Some organisations like PV Oil, Polytechnic University 's Chemistry Department's Laboratory and the Dong Xanh Company in Central Quang Nam province are conducting research on producing bio-fuel with advanced technologies.

Tests show bio-fuel E5 has a higher octane rating than other conventional gasoline, allowing for better fuel economy, engine and environmental protection.

The Government has identified the production of bio-fuel as a pivotal industry to ensure energy security, reduce dependence on fossil fuels and protect the environment.