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Chinese arrivals in HCM City rise sharply
HCM City (VNA)- The number of Chinese visitors to Ho Chi Minh City in the first 11 months of this year rose by 189 percent over the same period of last year, according to the city’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
This is the first time that China has topped the list of HCM City’s foreign tourist markets. It was followed by the US, Republic of Korea, Japan, Taiwan (China), Australia, Malaysia, France, Singapore and Thailand.
Currently, China also has the most visitors to Vietnam with about 70,000-90,000 per month.
Experts attributed the popularity of Vietnam among Chinese tourists to tourism promotion campaigns in China that launched by Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and businesses’ regular attendance at tourism fairs in Shanghai and Kunming.-Enditem
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Mekong delta earns high revenue from Tra fish
Can Tho (VNA) – Mekong Delta provinces are estimated to earn more than 1.3 billion USD from exports of 650,000 tonnes of Tra fish.
The figures will contribute to bringing the total aquatic export turnover of the region in 2010 to 2.5 billion USD, 350 million USD more than that of 2009.
Can Tho city, An Giang and Dong Thap provinces led in the export of Tra fish.
In 2010, the region put over 790,000 ha under aquaculture, yielding 2.2 million tonnes, an increase of 140,000 tonnes over the previous year.
The achievements were attributed to the region’s investment in building irrigation systems, strict control of breeding quality, applying production models following the standards of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and food safety and environmental hygiene (CoC) as well as promoting of products at domestic and foreign markets.-Enditem
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Universities respond to climate change challenges
Hanoi (VNA) -- Universities have actively contributed to the way people think about climate change, helping promote green technologies and environmentally friendly lifestyles, heard those attending an international conference in Hanoi on Dec. 11
The three-day event entitled "The Role of Universities in a Smart Response to Climate Change" attracted more than 200 representatives.
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Van Duc said Vietnam, like many other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, is increasingly suffering from the effects of climate change.
"Having recognised the seriousness of climate change on the country's sustainable development, the Government has ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol," Duc said.
He said first and foremost scientific institutions need to build a knowledge base on climate change and natural resources, while developing sound ways to mitigate the effects of global warming.
"Not only training, education and research but also spreading awareness about climate change among the community will help address the problem and promote sustainable development," he said.
He added that global warming will lead to increasing temperatures, rising sea levels and more severe natural disasters, which will put stress on the socio-economy and political system.
Mai Trong Nhuan, president of the Vietnam National University and president of the Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning (ASAIHL), said climate change is a problem that should be tackled the whole of mankind.
"Universities have to renew their mission of becoming more interdisciplinary in their focus, while getting closer to communities," Nhuan said.
Universities need to invest not only in training and research, but also in building a sustainable structure, while improving relations between scientific and political policies.
Prof Nobuo Miruma, assistant vice president and director of the Institute for Global Change Adaptation Science at Japan’s Ibaraki University, said close collaboration between higher education and research is important to tackling the problem of global warming.
"By conducting research, students can understand the problem more deeply and improve their capacity to tackle the problem," he said.
He added that awareness of the problem should be promoted among decision makers in the environment ministry and planners at the United Nations.
"Universities have three major tasks – education, research and communicating the results of that research," said Nils Roar Saelthun, from the department of Geosciences at the University of Oslo, Norway. She said climate change is one of the main challenges affecting modern society. Universities therefore needed the training, tools and knowledge to disseminate information about global warming.
"They have the challenge of integrating training in public communication with outreach in their research education," she said.
Pham Van Cu, director of Vietnam’s International Centre for Advanced Research on Global Change, said higher education is recognised by the international community as an important instrument for finding ways to cope with climate change.-Enditem
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Initiative aims to reduce blindness
Hanoi (VNA) -- Vietnam is striving to reduce blindness to 0.3 percent by 2020 in an effort to complete its commitment to Vision 2020 – a global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness.
"We have to control the main causes of blindness like cataracts, refractive error and glaucoma by providing surgery for at least 170,000 to 300,000 cataract cases each year and eliminating trachoma by 2013," said Director of the Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology (VNIO) Do Nhu Hon at the National Conference on Blindness Prevention 2010 on Dec. 11.
The VNIO said that Vietnam has around 370,000 blind people among nearly 2 million visually impaired people, about 0.59 percent of the population, and that around 700,000 cataract cases and 80,000 entropion cases across the country needed surgery as soon as possible.
"Our survey said that more than 30 percent of blind people in Vietnam do not realise that their illness can be treated and around one-third of the blind cannot afford treatment," stressed Hon.
Authorities will focus activities on establishing an eye care network for children in all key cities and regions of the country along with further strengthening medical facilities and techniques as well as a communication programme to raise awareness in communities on eye care and eye disease prevention, according to Hon.
A rapid increase in the refractive error rate to 15 percent of the population in rural areas and 40 percent in urban areas along with a lack of financial resources and inadequate public knowledge are challenges for the ophthalmology sector in Vietnam.
Health sector statistics show that more than 130,000 cataract surgeries were performed during the 2009-10 period, of which 30,000 were carried out by private medical clinics. Vietnam has around 14.5 optometrists per 1 million people and, at the district level, there are only 202 for 692 districts nationwide.-Enditem
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Artist bridges cross-cultural aesthetics
HCM City (VNA) -- Thirty contemporary oil paintings by French-Vietnamese artist Robert Mihagui are on display at an exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City.
Jacques Blanchard, an architect and Mihagui's friend, says there are few differences between the man and his art: "We find the same dominating characteristics, the spontaneity, and the instinctive gesture."
But, depending on their own perspective, beholders can read different things from a single work. Thus, a painting could portray the tranquil landscapes of Touraine in France, which are dear to his heart, or the stark beauty of northern Vietnam where he spent his early childhood.
The riot of colours provoke a patchwork of feelings, from dazzling joy to a Vietnamese melancholy, giving his works a strength and charm of which it is not easy to grow tired.
Mihagui was born in 1945 in Vietnam’s northern province of Vinh Phu during French colonial time. He studied fine arts from 1961 to 1964 in Surgeres, France, after moving to that country in 1958 with his father.
He spent much time travelling in the painting circles of Montmartre to the detriment of his studies after deciding at a fairly young age that his passion was painting and his calling was in the arts.
He was interested in pictorial techniques and pigments.
At 25, he hit upon a personal style which is somewhere between abstraction and post-impressionism though his works were impressionist in the beginning.
He now views his style as a reconciliation of Vietnamese and European aesthetics, with the language of modern Western abstraction being enriched by a Vietnamese sensibility rooted in the past.
In 1975 he spent six months restoring the dome of Saint Augustin's Church in Paris, France, believing there could be no better inspiration than that born from manual work in such a spiritual place.
He currently lives in Vietnam, refreshing his memories of its spectacular landscapes.
The exhibition, titled Homeland Colors: West&East, will be on until on Dec.18 at Phuong Mai, 129B, Le Thanh Ton Street in HCM City.
The works on display can also be seen at http//www.vietnam-art.com.vn.
The paintings are priced at 1,000 USD-3,000 USD.-Enditem
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Vietsovpetro extends cooperation
Vung Tau (VNA) - The Russian-Vietnamese oil and gas joint venture Vietsovpetro has agreed to extend its cooperation for an additional 20 years.
During the 38th meeting of the joint venture held on Dec. 10 in Vung Tau, the southern coastal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Nguyen Huu Tuyen, Vietsovpetro's general director, said the joint-venture council has completed the paperwork to extend the partnership through 2030.
Under the agreement, Vietnam will contribute 51 percent, and Russia, 49 percent, in charter capital.
This is an important step for the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group and Russian state-controlled oil company Zarubejneft, he said.
The joint venture plans to achieve an annual yield of crude oil of 6 million tonnes, 1.4 billion cubic metres of natural gas and 270,000 tonnes of condensate during the 2011 – 15 period.
With the global crude oil price at 75 USD a barrel, Vietsovpetro leaders expect to earn 19.16 billion USD during the next five years.
According to Vietsovpetro, it will intensify its explorations in the deep water areas and at further offshore areas.
Tuyen said the joint-venture council has approved a project to invest in several mines along Vietnam's continental shelf and explore and exploit several mines in Russia, Myanmar and Tunisia.
It also plans to explore oil at potential offshore areas and increase yield in the areas to 5 million tonnes.
Between 2013 and 2014, the joint venture will operate the Thien Ung, the first deep-water mine in Vietnam, 300km from Vung Tau, at a depth of 110 metres.
This year, the joint venture's production exceeds 6.4 million tonnes with a revenue of 4 billion USD. Of that amount, 2.3 billion USD went to the State budget.
Next year, the joint venture plans to yield more than 6 million tonnes. At least 13 million tonnes of oil will be exploited, with revenue expected at 3.65 billion USD.
During the past 29 years, the JV has met all of its targets and become the leading company in Vietnam's oil and gas sector.
Over those years, Vietsovpetro exploited 190 million tonnes of crude oil, earning 51 billion USD and contributing 33 billion USD to the State budget.
Tuyen said with experienced local and international engineers, VSP will soon exploit crude oil in foreign countries in the next five years.- Enditem
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Japanese firm joins minimart venture
HCM City (VNA)- Japan's retailing company Ministop has entered a partnership with the local trading and service joint-stock company G7Mart to develop a system of convenience shops in Vietnam.
Initial investment for the system of 500 shops nationwide by 2016 is 10 million USD, according to Dang Le Nguyen Vu, chairman of G7Mart and its parent coffee firm Trung Nguyen.
Of the total amount, the Vietnamese partner will provide 75 percent and the Japanese company, 25 percent.-Enditem
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Taiwanese firm to build touch screens factory in Bac Giang
Hanoi (VNA) - Taiwan's Wintex Group plans to lease more than 10ha of land and warehouse space in northern Bac Giang province's Quang Chau Industrial Zone for the manufacture of touch screens.
The company inked an agreement with the zone's investor Sai Gon – Bac Giang Industrial Park Co, an affiliate of Kinh Bac Urban Development Co, on Dec. 12 in Hanoi.
The project, which has an initial investment of 150 million USD, is expected to begin operation in the middle of next year and create 30,000 jobs.
A stable political environment and favourable geographic location (close to China), as well as support from local authorities and the local young population are decisive factors, said Hyley H Huang, Wintex's chairman.
He predicted that Vietnam’s northern region will attract further substantial foreign investment in the near future.
Taiwanese foreign direct investment in Vietnam now totals 22.83 billion USD, said the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency.
Major Taiwanese conglomerates, including the Hon Hai Group and Compal Electronics Co, now have a solid presence in the country.
Vietnam is a favourable investment destination because of its rich natural resources and stable political and economic environment, said Huang Teh-hsiu, president of the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi.-Enditem
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