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Hanoi issues quake plan
Hanoi (VNA) — The Hanoi People's Committee has issued a plan to protect the public with timely earthquake warnings and safety measures.
The plan was made in response to the 9 Richter earthquake, the biggest on record, followed by 10-metre tsunami waves, that hit Japan on March 11, killing thousands of people and sweeping away everything in its path.
Chairman of the committee Nguyen The Thao urged agencies to disseminate basic knowledge of earthquakes to the public through mass media and warn residents to take safety measures upon receiving an earthquake alarm.
Investors and contractors were asked to take the impact of earthquakes into consideration before building public projects and high-rise buildings. Relevant authorities were required to review ill-structured houses and figure out how to fix them.
If an earthquake was forecast, municipal authorities would be in charge of informing the public as soon as possible and evacuating residents. Authorities in localities must mobilise resources to minimise life and property losses, he said.
Director of the Vietnam Earthquake and Tsunami Warning Centre Le Huy Minh said the earthquake in Japan has not impacted Vietnam .
Currently, the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources receives warnings from 30 earthquake observation stations nationwide and another 30 from neighbouring countries.
They also cooperate with Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean alarm centres to receive warnings one minute after an earthquake occurs.
Vietnam 's embassy in Japan on March 13 established a channel to provide information to families whose relatives are living and working in earthquake-affected areas.
No Vietnamese fatalities have been reported and all Vietnamese students, workers and experts have been evacuated to safe places. The embassy is working with Japanese authorities to send a team to help Vietnamese citizens and return them to Vietnam if possible.
In addition, the Vietnam Red Cross on March 14 provided initial financial aid worth 50,000 USD for earthquake victims in Japan./.
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Hungary honours Vietnamese translator
Hanoi (VNA) — Le Xuan Giang, a veteran translator of Hungarian literature into Vietnamese, has been awarded the Gold Cross Medal, one of Hungary 's highest honours.
Giang was the only foreigner among 54 recipients of the medal this year in the fields of culture, education, health and science, and he became the first Vietnamese to win the honour.
Returning to Hungary after 24 years in order to accept the medal, Giang said he didn't feel strange because this beloved country has become a part of his life.
Giang has translated into Vietnamese such Hungarian works as The Eghe Stars by Gardonyi Geza, which became a bestseller in Vietnam in 1972. In subsequent years, he successfully translated dozens of works of classic and modern Hungarian literature.
Giang was born in the central province of Ha Tinh in 1937, and went to Hungary in 1956 to study at the Budapest University of Technology. He returned to Vietnam and worked as an engineer, but his love for literature drove him to undertake the translation of Hungarian books into Vietnamese.
The Hungarian Government has highly appreciated Giang's tireless and effective contribution in spreading Hungarian culture in Vietnam , said Hungarian Ambassador to Vietnam Vizi Laszlo.
In granting the medal, Hungary also wished to encourage young translators continue Giang's work, Laszlo said. /.
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Vietnam face uphill task at World Champs
Hanoi (VNA) — Vietnam's carom ace Duong Anh Vu and his teammate Ly The Vinh will be playing Turkey's Cenet Lutfi and Tayfun Tasdemir in the World Championship Team 3-Cushion Championship in Vierse, Germany on March 17.
Vietnam have been drawn in Group F with Turkey and Peru.
It will be a tough job for the HCM City athletes, who will have to win the group to qualify for the quarters-final.
The world championship has drawn 24 teams, who will be competing in eight groups with the winners qualifying for the quarters.
In 2007, Asian Games silver medallist Duong Anh Vu and 1997 Southeast Asian Games champion Ly The Vinh were knocked out at the group stages.
Vu and Vinh celebrated their first match with a 2-0 win over Italy but they were halted in their quest for the title after losing 2-0 to Turkey.
The 31-year-old Vu made history by winning the Asian Billiards 3-Cushion Championship in Seoul in 2008.
He also triumphed at the Asian Indoor Games 3 in Macau, the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, and won a silver medal at the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar./.
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M&A deals thrive despite market slump
Hanoi (VNA) — While the stock market has been in a sustained slump, merger and acquisition deals continue on the rise.
Late last month, Germany's ERGO Insurance Group acquired a 25-per-cent stake, or 10 million shares, in the Vietnamese non-life insurer Global Insurance Company, forming a strategic partnership.
The deal was worth 380 billion VND (18.1 million USD) and attracted substantial media attention at a time when other insurers were having difficulties in selling stakes or increase their charter capital as requested by the Ministry of Finance.
Also at the end of February, the Vietnam Post Corporation invested in the Lien Viet Bank by using charter capital from it subsidiary Vietnam Postal Savings Service Co, valued at 163 billion VND (7.8 million USD).
After the deal, the bank changed its name to Lien Viet Post Commercial Bank and its charter capital is expected to increase to 5 trillion VND (238.1 million USD).
Other significant deals include leading distiller Diageo's purchase of a 23.6-percent stake in the Hanoi Liquor Joint Stock Co (Halico). The deal, worth 51.6 million USD and to be complete by the end of June, is expected to boost Diageo's presence in Vietnam's growing drinks market.
Analysts said the trend of both foreign and domestic institutional investors buying into profitable enterprises will continue this year, as these investments will allow new partners to get involved in companies' corporate restructuring, making them more valuable, and enabling them to maximise profits after they list on the stock market.
Shares of all of the targeted companies in these deals are traded on the OTC market and are considered sound shares with high liquidity./.
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Transport cuts made to ease inflation
Hanoi (VNA) — The Ministry of Transport has pledged to cut down public investment to rein in inflation and ensure macro-economic stability.
Minister Ho Nghia Dung said half of the transportation projects that use Government bonds would be reduced this year, which means about 11 trillion VND (523 million USD) will be funnelled into key, urgent projects and those set for completion this year.
Earlier, between 20 trillion VND and 25 trillion VND (952 million-1.1 billion USD) in Government bonds were expected to be disbursed to this year's projects.
Dung said the ministry has also slashed about 10 percent of its regular spending in response to a Government appeal urging ministries, departments and local governments to enforce Resolution 11 to curb inflation and stabilise the economy.
He shared this information in an online forum titled "Transport sector needs synchronous measures for rapid and sustainable development" on the Government website in Hanoi March 14.
The minister said measures will be taken to help enterprises stabilise and develop their businesses, as will measures to slash investment in public projects.
"The ministry will try its utmost to support enterprises in the current difficult context," said Dung.
He said the ministry will focus on speeding up land clearance for projects that are not postponed. It will also work to improve the management abilities of project board, post-check fund disbursement and make it easier for enterprises to get building materials ready.
Dung affirmed the Party and the Government's consistent policy to encourage foreign and private enterprises to invest in transport infrastructure.
"This is increasingly meaningful in the face of cutting down public investment," he said.
Vietnam has a series of measures to promote the implementation of BOT (build, operate, transfer) and PPP (public-private partnerships) projects. Dung revealed that the Government had recently assigned the Ministry of Transport to build a legal system in line with Vietnamese law and international rules.
"The framework will be important for attracting investment," he said.
He said loans with preferential interest rates are needed and the time alotted to refund the principal should be adjusted.
Dung said the ministry will raise the number of BOT projects to between 30 percent and 35 percent of the total transportation projects this year and the next year to compensate for the deficiency in the State budget./.
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Tien Minh moves up worl badmintond ranking
Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam's top badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh has moved up one place from ninth to eighth in the latest world rankings released by the World Badminton Federation.
Falling behind Olympian Minh is Pengyu Du of China, who was defeated by Minh 21-18, 21-15 in the second round of the recent All England Badminton Championship, which closed on March 13.
The top five players remained unchanged, headed by Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, Lin Dan of China who defeated Minh in the quarter-finals of the All England event on March 12, Peter Hoeg Gade of Denmark and Chen Long of China.
Rising star Bao Chunlai of China is ousted from the top ten, dropping five places./.
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