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850 bln VND earmarked for forest inventory
Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has asked the General Department of Forestry to implement a national-scale survey and inventory of forests.
The five-year project is estimated to cost 850 billion VND (roughly 40.8 million USD), sourced from both the State and local budgets.
The project is designed to examine and evaluate the country’s total forest acreage and tree reserves, thus drawing up a national forest management data.
In 2011, the project will be carried out on a trial basis in the central province of Ha Tinh and the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong – two out of the country’s 60 localities having forests – to the tune of 30 billion VND./.
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Liem in lead at Aeroflot Open
Hanoi (VNA) — International Grandmaster Le Quang Liem took the sole lead at the Russian International Chess Festival (Aeroflot Open) after seventh round play on Feb. 15 in Moscow .
Liem has scored six points after seven matches and has remained in the top position in the tournament since the third round on Feb. 11.
The defending champion, Liem, defeated Russian Mikhail Kobalia, 32, who was European Youth Chess Champion in 1994. The victory made Liem the only competitor here not to suffer a loss in the tournament, which follows the Swiss system's nine-round format.
His two draws were against Evgeny Tomashevsky of Russia and Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan . Tomashevsky triumphed at the 10th European Championships in 2009 while Kasimdzhanov shocked the chess world by winning the FIDE world chess championship title, beating a string of world-class players.
In their previous match, Liem drew with Kasimdzhanov and lost his Asian Games title to the Uzbek last December.
The HCM City-born Liem will next meet Ivan Cheparinov of Bulgaria who has earned five points and is among seven players on five points, very close to Liem in the ranking table.
The winner of the tournament will bring home 20,000 EUR (29,300 USD) and get the chance to participate in a round-robin super tournament in Dortmund , Germany , in late July. The final match is on Feb. 18./.
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Vietnam, Luxembourg boost development cooperation
Brussels (VNA) – An inter-ministerial mission headed by Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc paid a visit to Luxembourg from Feb. 13-15 to attend the Vietnam-Luxembourg Partnership Committee.
During the visit, Minister Phuc had a working session with the General Director of the Luxembourg development aid agency and paid a courtesy visit to Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker.
Meeting with the Luxembourg PM on Feb. 15, Minister Phuc expressed thanks to the Luxembourg government for its support to Vietnam over the past time.
PM Juncker praised cooperation between the two countries in all fields and expressed his hope that those ties would be further developed.
Earlier, at the meeting of the Vietnam-Luxembourg Partnership Committee, Minister Phuc and Marie Josee Jacobs, Luxembourg Minister of Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs reviewed Luxembourg-funded projects in Vietnam and the cooperation strategy between the two countries for the 2011-2015 period.
The two ministers shared the same views that Luxembourg-funded projects in Vietnam effectively helped agricultural and rural development, healthcare, personnel training and poverty reduction, which are prioritised areas of the Vietnamese government.
In the 2011-2015 period, the Luxembourg government pledged to provide 42 million EUR as non-refundable aid to Vietnam to carry out projects prioritised by the Vietnamese government.
While in Luxembourg , Minister Phuc also visited Astra company, a centre involving in global services in satellite management of Luxembourg , where he was briefed about Astra cooperation programes with Vietnam in launching and managing Vinasat telecom satellites of Vietnam .
Talking with Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reporter, Minister Phuc spoke highly of cooperation prospect in all fields between Vietnam and Luxembourg, especially in finance and banking, which is a strength of Luxembourg./.
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Brokerages develop new products to woo investors
Hanoi (VNA) — Securities firms are rushing to upgrade infrastructure and develop new products to woo as many investors as possible.
Sai Gon-Hanoi Securities Company (SHS) has launched fee bonuses in its newly built HCM City branch over the last two months as part of its strategy to lure more investors.
The company will focus on promoting consultancy services by launching daily online meetings between the headquarters and its branches to overview market happenings, said the company's director Nguyen Quang Vinh.
With the daily overview, it will set up a list of promising investment portfolios to provide information for clients, Vinh said.
Meanwhile, SME Securities said it will direct its development as an investment bank.
Other companies like FPT Securities and VNDirect Securities are keen on developing new market driven products and services.
For example, both companies have launched mobile trading services for investors interested in making transactions over their mobile phones.
"Investors are making higher demands and they are more particular about choosing a securities company to open accounts with," said Nguyen Huy Duong, deputy director of a Hanoi-based securities firm.
Without changes to products and technology, the broker will kill themselves in this competitive market, especially as investors can easily run to other companies, he said.
Nhuan Phat, a veteran investor with SME Securities, said that the fee bonuses or new service launches are just initial support, while investors put more focus on the company's technical infrastructure.
"By owning an advanced and stable technical system, investors feel safe when they use the company's services. This is how we retain them."
"Companies offering promotional programmes will lure investors, but over time, those with a stable, long-built backgrounds will retain investors for longer," said Nguyen Thuy Hang, a marketing official with a HCM City-based marketing company.
Hang said the upgrades are essential but they shouldn't be turned into a rush between companies to lure investors. "The real ability of a company will be realised through the market."
An anonymous general director of a giant securities firm said that each company with its own strategy to woo investors will make the competition more interesting. Those that can't afford the competition will be left behind, he said.
As a rule, better days are ahead and investors will be the first beneficiaries, the director said. /.
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Credit growth slows in January
Hanoi (VNA) — Credit grew by just 0.43 percent in January, slowing from December's 2.28 percent pace, the State Bank of Vietnam announced on its website on Feb. 15.
Modest dong credit growth at commercial banks in January was blamed on high interest rates which had encouraged borrowers to seek dollar loans at more modest rates. As a consequence, credit in US dollars expanded by 2.37 percent in January.
The pattern was an exaggeration of the situation in January a year earlier, when dollar credit growth reached 14.07 percent while dong credit growth stagnated.
Lending interest rates for dong-denominated loans for consumers or to finance real estate or securities investments ranged as high as 18-20 percent per year in January, while rates for loans to exporters or to enterprises in rural areas were only slightly more competitive, at 14-16 percent per year.
Meanwhile, interest rates for dollar-denominated loans averaged 6.37 percent per year in January.
The State Bank of Vietnam has targeted credit growth this year at 23 percent, a modest easing from last year's credit growth of 27.6 percent.
Other indicators for the dong were all down in January. Total dong deposits in the banking system were down 4.12 percent from the previous month, even as dollar deposits rose by 4.43 percent.
Overnight deposit rates in January rose to 11.2 percent per year on average in January, from 10.5 percent in December, as inflation pressures increased and bank liquidity tightened before the recent Tet (lunar new year) holidays.
The State Bank of Vietnam kept the prime rate unchanged at 9 percent but increased its seven-day reverse repo rate to 11 percent on January 10, up from 9 percent in mid-December.
Government bond yields in January also rose to their highest levels since last May.
The State Bank injected 132 trillion VND (6.3 billion USD) into the nation's banking system in January 30 to support liquidity and payment demand. /.
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Campaign promoting local goods to continue
HCM City (VNA) — HCM City will persist with its campaign to promote consumption of Vietnamese goods this year, and its success so far has been encouraging, a local official says.
Speaking at a review meeting organised on Feb. 15, Duong Quan Ha, chairman of the HCM City Fatherland Front, said the campaign, launched by the Party's Political Bureau, has received strong support from relevant agencies, enterprises and people.
Many local enterprises consider the campaign a "golden chance" for them to conquer the home market and raise their brand's prestige, he said.
"More and more goods produced by local enterprises have satisfied local consumers' demand both in quality and price," Ha said.
Under the programme, many trade fairs have been held to facilitate consumption of local goods in rural areas. The fairs have helped residents familiarise themselves with Vietnamese goods and helped enterprises establish sales networks in the countryside.
Local consumers have come to trust the products and service quality of local firms, and the consumption ratio of domestic goods has been increasing in the home market, Ha said.
"Sales of local goods at the Sai Gon Co.op supermarket chain, for instance, surged by 50 percent last year over the previous year, while sales of imported goods increased by 22 percent", he added.
Bui Hanh Thu, general director of Sai Gon Co.op, agreed with Ha, saying local goods now account for 90 percent of the total stock at her chain compared to 40 percent in 2008.
But Ha cautioned that many copies and poor quality goods are still available in the market, especially in rural areas, causing difficulties for local producers.
In addition, some enterprises are taking advantage of trade fairs to reduce their inventory instead of promoting their products, said Pham Quoc Huy, deputy chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of district 5.
This has some negative impacts on the campaign, Huy said.
He noted that the campaign to promote consumption of Vietnamese goods is a time-consuming one. There must be closer cooperation between the State, consumers and enterprises to make it more effective, he added.
Local firms should also intensify their focus on improving product quality and design so that consumers gain confidence in buying and using Vietnamese goods, Thu said. /.
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Annual festivities celebrate heritage
Hanoi (VNA) — Countless numbers of people are expected to attend two big ceremonies in Nam Dinh and Ha Nam provinces on the night of Feb. 15 and early Feb. 16 morning.
A seal opening ceremony to welcome the new year is being held at the Tran Temple, Loc Vuong Ward in the northern city of Nam Dinh, the cradle of the Tran dynasty in the 13-14th centuries.
The country's leaders, the provincial chairman, the provincial Party committee secretary and the 14 oldest people from Loc Vuong Ward have been invited to attend the ceremony to be held in Thien Truong (upper temple).
This year, replica good luck seals will be issued to the public from 75 spots to prevent disorder. About 10,000-12,000 people are expected to receive seals from the organisation board.
The ceremony is held annually to preserve and bring into play cultural and moral values and traditions of the Vietnamese ancestors, especially the national heroes under the Tran dynasty.
Covering over 10ha in Loc Vuong Ward, 80km south of Hanoi , the Tran Temple comprises Thien Truong where the 14 Tran kings are worshipped, Co Trach (lower temple) dedicated to General Tran Hung Dao (1228-1300), and Bao Loc Temple , home to the General's tomb and statue.
Tran Hung Dao was famous for his triumphs over the mighty Mongol Yuan dynasty. In Ha Nam province, six stores of food were set up in the Tran Thuong Temple by the General in 1285 to serve in his second fight against the Mongol Yuan.
Since then, a food ceremony has been held by local people in his honour. The ceremony will be held at 15 spots around the temple and about 50,000 people are expected to attend from 11.05pm Feb. 16.
The main ceremony will take place officially from 10pm-11pm today. /.
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Electric rate hike zaps share prices
Hanoi (VNA) — Increases in some major blue chips in the final minutes of Feb. 15's trades on the HCM Stock Exchange helped lift the VN-Index by 0.74 percent to a close of 517.87 points.
The value of trades fell by nearly 7 percent from the previous day's session, falling just shy of 826 billion VND (39.3 million USD) with nearly 34.3 million shares changing hands.
Losers outnumbered gainers by 144-67. However, of the 10 leading shares by capitalisation, Vietinbank (CTG), Phu My Fertilisers (DPM), property developers Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAG) and Vincom Co (VIC), PetroVietnam Finance (PVF) and insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) all posted gains, with the latter two hitting their ceiling prices.
Although foreign investors were net sellers by a net of over 18 billion VND (857,200 USD), their strong buys in BVH, CTG and DPM helped boost prices of those shares.
Electricity shares, which were the major gainers on Feb. 14, retreated – with the exception of Thac Mo Hydro Power (TMP), which rose 0.9 percent.
The electricity rate adjustment scheme was submitted to the Government by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on Feb. 14, with rates expected to increase in March by 18 percent, or 160 VND or more per kWh.
Logistics company Thuan Thao Corp (GTT) was the most-active stock on the southern bourse, with 2.46 million traded, but GTT closed down 2.3 percent to just 8,400 VND per share.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index lost 0.68 percent to conclude the session at 106.65 points. The value of trades declined around 25 percent from the previous session to just 452.6 billion VND (21.6 million USD), on a volume of 26.2 million shares.
Decliners outnumbered advancers by 194-77.
Kim Long Securities (KLS) continued to be the most heavily-traded stock on the northern bourse with over 1.68 million shares traded, but it closed down 1.3 percent to 15,000 VND per share.
Foreign investors returned to being net sellers on the Hanoi bourse after several sessions as net buyers – but only barely, with a net value of just over 1.3 billion VND (63,800 USD). /.
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Hanoi discusses measures to protect sacred turtle
Hanoi (VNA) – Seeking the best solutions for protecting the endangered giant turtle species in Ho Guom – or Hoan Kiem Lake - ( Sword Lake ) was the theme of a seminar in Hanoi on Feb. 15.
At the seminar, hosted by the Hanoi Department of Science and Technology, domestic and foreign experts and scientists agreed that the Ho Guom turtle is being threatened by the polluted water environment and the competition of alien red-eared tortoises turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans).
However, they didn’t reach a consensus on the most effective measure to rescue the turtle, which was featured in one of the nation’s most popular legend.
Despite different ideas, scientists and experts agreed on several immediate measures, including the continued clearance of mud and rubbish in the lake and raising people’s awareness of the importance of protecting the Ho Guom turtles so that they do not release the red-eared tortoises and other alien animals into the lake.
Turtles are important in Vietnamese culture, particularly the Ho Guom turtle. It is considered holy because of a 15th-century legend that King Le Loi drove out invading Chinese with a magical sword which the gods gave him and he later returned by giving the sword to the lake's turtle.
The turtle could be as many as 300 years old and might be the last of its kind in Hoan Kiem Lake. /.
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Hanoi to target poverty reduction
Hanoi (VNA) — Hanoi will invest around 4.6 trillion VND (220 million USD) to cut the city's poverty rate to less than 2 percent by the end of 2015 from the current 9.6 percent.
The poverty reduction plan during 2011-15 was signed by the municipal People's Committee Deputy Chairman Hoang Manh Hien two weeks ago.
Under the plan, the city intends to bring the rate of poverty among households by 1.5-1.8 percent per year and minimise the number of families falling back into poverty.
By 2015, the plan will have eliminated poor communes, where poor households account for a minimum of 25 percent of the population.
The city will adopt various measures to fulfil these tasks, according to Hien.
The city will offer local residents more soft loans, with priority given to districts or communes with 15 percent of their population living below the poverty line.
It is estimated that between 75,000-85,000 poor households annually will be given loans for doing business, joining vocational training classes or becoming guest workers abroad.
Residents would also be able to access loans for buying a herd of 1,000 cattle.
Hien also said short-term annual vocational training courses will be organised for around 2,300 poor people especially those from rural, ethnic minority families and the disabled.
Between 80-100 thousand households will be helped in applying advanced techniques for farming or aqua-culture.
The city also plans to provide free health insurance cards for all poor people, elderly people aged over 90, poor blind and patients with leprosy.
Those who are categorised as living near poverty line will also receive a subsidy of 50 percent to buy health insurance.
The city also wants to mobilise more funding from various sources to improve housing conditions.
According to statistics of the Hanoi People's Committee, the city currently has more than 148,000 poor households and nearly 61,500 households living just above the poverty line, out of its 6.5 million population.
A lack of capital for trading and production; land, and unemployment are described as being the largest contributory factor to household poverty.
According to the new poverty standard promulgated last month by the municipal People's Committee, poor households are those with average incomes of less than 750,000 VND (38 USD) per person per month in urban areas and 550,000 VND (28 USD) in rural areas. /.
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Another book on Dien Bien Phu victory published
Paris (VNA) – The French newspaper Le Point on Feb. 15 ran an article, introducing a book about Vietnam ’s Dien Bien Phu glorious victory in 1954 by Vietnamese author Pham Thanh Tam.
The 188-page book, entitled “War handbook of a Viet Minh youth at Dien Bien Phu ” was published by the France-based Armand Colin Publishing House in February 2011.
The article said that Tam was once an alumnus of the Hanoi University of Fine Arts and went out to battle as a reporter. Tam wrote the book after seven years of participating in the war, when he was just 22 years old.
In his book, Tam tells readers why and how the Vietnam People’s Army had defeated the French colonialists at the Dien Bien Phu stronghold .
According to the article, there have been thousands of books about the Indochina war, which ended with the French colonialists’ bitter defeat at Dien Bien Phu , but most of which were written by French war veterans.
With the newly-published book, readers can better understand the war and the French colonialists’ loss through the unhostile eyes of a solider on the other front line./.
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VN learns nuclear regulations from US
Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese officials are learning experiences in licensing the construction of nuclear power plants from US experts at a seminar being held from Feb. 14-18 in Hanoi .
The seminar is part of a cooperation framework between the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Department of Vietnam and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC).
The seminar is held as Vietnam is working on regulatory documents for the construction of Ninh Thuan Nuclear Power Plant, which is scheduled for 2014./.
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Vietnamese-styled pagodas flourish in Thailand
Bangkok (VNA) – Vietnamese-styled pagodas - Annamnikaya pagodas – are flourishing in Thailand with the number reaching 18 since the first one established in Bangkok about 200 years ago.
According to monk Hanh Chon in the Khanh Van (Wat Uphairatchabangrum Pagoda), Bangkok is home to eight Annamnikaya pagodas, including one now under construction.
At present, eight Vietnamese monks are studying and residing in Annamnikaya pagodas in the capital city, including the Khanh Van and Canh Phuoc (Wat Samananambhoriharn), he said.
This year, ceremonies to pray for peace, safety and good luck will take place in Khanh Van Pagoda from Feb. 16-18 (the 14 th , 15 th and 16 th of the first lunar month).
Earlier, close to 1,000 overseas Vietnamese and families of Vietnamese representative agencies’ staff in Thailand joined a new-year safety worshipping ceremony in Canh Phuoc Pagoda, which is a traditional practice of Vietnamese people./.
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