First Vietnamese workers sent to Finland under labour contract

Hanoi (VNA) – More than 100 Vietnamese workers arrived in Finland on July 30 under a labour agreement between Finland ’s Riitan Herkku Company and Vinamex of Vietnam.

They are the first Vietnamese workers officially sent to Finland under short-term labour contracts.

The Vietnamese embassy has worked closely with relevant Vietnamese agencies and supported businesses of the two countries in the process to recruit these workers in accordance with the two countries’ laws.

Representatives of the embassy welcomed the workers at the airport and provided them with necessary information to help them complete their work in the country.

Meeting the workers at the embassy, Ambassador Tran Ngoc An said he hoped the workers create a good image of Vietnamese workers through their unity, industriousness, and strict observation of the laws and regulations. He pledged to do his utmost to help the workers.

The employer, Riitan Herkku Company, is a leading fruit processing company in Finland , which was established in 1986 and has obtained an annual turnover of 26 million EUR.

The workers will gather fruit in the forests under the company’s management.

Finland has a big demand for seasonal workers, about 10,000 workers a year, and the work mainly suit Vietnamese workers.

Riitan Herkku Company alone said that it will receive 400-500 Vietnamese workers a year provided that the first workers work well and do not breach the law.-

2,128 billion VND raised for the poor

The fund for the poor has since its establishment raised more than 2.128 trillion VND and upgraded 778,000 solidarity houses, said the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee’s Presidium.

At the Presidium’s 12 th meeting held in Hanoi from July 29-31, the VFF summed up its activities and introduced its action plan for the last six months of this year.

It will focus on strengthening the great national unity, promoting patriotic movements, implementing socio-economic tasks and reinforcing the governmental system.-

HCM City targets 55 percent of workers trained

The rate of workers receiving vocational training must reach 50 percent in the whole country and 55 percent in Ho Chi Minh City by 2010, said Chairwoman of the HCM City People’s Council Pham Phuong Thao.

To fulfill the city’s target, Chairwoman Thao said the municipal People’s Committee will have land planning, investment and other policies to facilitate the coordination between businesses and vocational training schools to raise the training quality.

In an interview with the Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper, Thao emphasised the necessity to develop, expand and raise training quality at vocational schools, adding that the country has a great demand for trained workers.

However, she noted, the city’s rate of trained workers is currently hitting around 46 percent of while that rate was only 30 percent for the whole nation. Meanwhile, the same rate in European countries reached 56 percent and around 50 percent in other Asian nations, she said.

During a working visit to vocational training schools in the city on July 31, Rector of the Cao Thang Technical Junior College Dao Khanh Du told Chairman Thao that his college will enroll 3,500 students for different training levels in engineering, automation, electronics and information technology.

Last year, the college turned out 1,700 students and the figure is expected to be 2,400 this year, he said. All the students are interns at and employed by 300 businesses that have relationship with the college.

Meanwhile, up to 80 percent of students from the Hung Vuong Engineering Technology School are employed after their graduation.-

Mekong water potential untapped

The country is wasting resources by not taking full advantage of the transportation potential of the Mekong River system, experts have said.

Demand for goods from the delta region in HCM City and its neighbouring provinces has kept increasing along with economic development.

A lack of a railway system and overloaded roads mean 65 percent of goods and 32 percent of people rely on rivers and canals for transport.

But, according to Hoang Van Hung, head of the Ministry of Transport’s Waterway Department, while 25,000 km of waterways can be used if deepened and developed, only 13,000 km are navigable at present.

The head of a rice export company in Can Tho said the cost of transporting one tone of rice by boat to HCM City was 110,000-135,000 VND. But to transport a tonne by road would cost 180,000-220,000 VND.

Si Van Khanh, deputy head of the department, said though water transport required relatively little investment and did not affect the environment, nobody was investing in it.
In the last decade just 300 billion VND (18.7 million USD) had been invested to develop the Mekong Delta waterways, he said.

According to Vo Hung Dung, head of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Can Tho, the demand for water transport in the delta is increasing. If the nation’s GDP grows at 1 percent, so will the demand.

He said between 1995 and 2000 water transport in the region grew by 8 percent annually.

But in 2001-05 it dropped to 4 percent due to the shortage of infrastructure, he said, pointing out that had been the main reason for the congestion on roads.

Khanh said the Government had spent a mere 312 million USD to develop waterways out of the 62 trillion VND (3.8 billion USD) it had earmarked for transport infrastructure in the Mekong Delta in 2006-10.

“Even when the four waterway works are completed, they will not meet the transport demand,” he said.-

Information and Education Sector’s Traditional Day marked

State President Nguyen Minh Triet has praised the information and education sector for encouraging the people to be proactive in the social life.

President Triet made the statement at the 78 th anniversary of the Information and Education Sector’s Traditional Day (August 1) in Hanoi on August 1.

The State leader also presented the Ho Chi Minh Order to former Director of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education Dang Quoc Bao and the Labour Order on other former leaders of the commission on this occasion.

President Triet hoped that the current information and education staff would exerted greater efforts to become soldiers on the Party’s ideology front.-

Vietnamese monthly spending doubles

Vietnamese have this year each been spending an average of 886,000 VND a month, doubling last year’s monthly average, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said.

While attributing the surge in spending to high inflation, the GSO also pointed to a growing demand for consumer goods and services.

In the past seven months, retail sale and service turnover reached close to 530 trillion VND, a 30 percent rise compared to the same period last year.

Trading activities contributed 434 trillion VND to the turnover, representing a 30 percent increase. Services also increased by 30 percent, earning 26 trillion VND, the GSO reported.

Meanwhile, hotels and restaurants contributed nearly 60 trillion VND, a 25 percent rise.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Market Regulating Team has said the 30 percent hike in petroleum price will directly and indirectly affect many sectors, particularly the transport sector.

Market regulators therefore predict the consumer price index will increase by 1.8-2 percent in August and will continue affecting household budgets.

The consumer price index rose 1.13 percent in July over June, the lowest growth so far this year, but a 27 percent rise from one year ago.-

Seven journalists have press cards revoked

The Ministry of Information and Communications has revoked seven journalists’ press cards for their alleged violation of professional operations, including two for corruption.

A decision, signed on August 1 by Deputy Minister of Information and Communication Do Quy Doan, said Thanh Nien (Young people) newspaper’s Deputy Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Quoc Phong and Editorial General Manager Huynh Kim Sanh were found to have seriously violated regulations on media operation and information.

Tuoi Tre (Youth) Ho Chi Minh City newspaper’s Deputy Editor-in-Chief Bui Van Thanh and head of the Hanoi Representative Office Duong Duc Da Trang, as well as the Khoa hoc va Doi song (Science and Life) newspaper’s journalist Tran Dinh Dung have also had their press cards revoked under the same charge.

Meanwhile, Nguoi Cao Tuoi [Elderly] newspaper’s Deputy Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy and journalist Hoang Tuyet Oanh are facing police’s investigation into alleged charges of corruption and lack of responsibility causing serious consequences.-

Vietnam supports extension of UNAMID’s mandate

Vietnamese Representative to t he UN Security Council, Ambassador Le Luong Minh, said on July 31 that by voting in favour of the council’s Resolution 1828, Vietnam once again showed its support for early full deployment of the UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur , Sudan .

At a UNSC meeting on July 31, under the chairmanship of Ambassador Minh, 14 of the council’s 15 members voted in favour of Resolution 1828 that extends the mandate of the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) for 12 months.

On the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor’s request for an arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, Minh said that the UNSC should taje a comprehensive approach to the conflict in Darfur, ensuring the balance of the peace and political process, the deployment and effectiveness of UNAMID operations and the reconciliation process in Darfur and Sudan in general.

The Vietnamese ambassador shared the AU, the Arab League, the Non-Aligned Movement, and many UN and UNSC member countries’ concern about negative impact of the ICC chief prosecutor’s request for an arrest of the Sudanese President on the peace process and the deployment of UNAMID. He said the concern has been reflected in the Preface of Resolution 1828.

Concluding the meeting, Ambassador Minh praised and thanked UNSC member countries and the secretariat’s cooperation to help Vietnam fulfill the council chair’s mission.

Earlier on July 30, the Vietnamese delegation to the UN held a reception on the occasion of the end of the month Vietnam held the chairmanship of the Security Council.-

French Senator: Vietnam-France cooperation to be more practical

Vietnam-France cooperation should become more practical to bring happiness for their ordinary citizens, French Senate President Christian Poncelet has said.

After witnessing a young patient undergo heart surgery at the Ho Chi Minh City Heart Hospital, the French Senate President said the two countries should prioritise and intensify cooperation programmes on human resource training for the healthcare sector as well as other projects on energy, transport, information technology, high technology and environment.

The cooperation should be boosted at all levels ranging from the government to local levels, he stressed.

In his meeting with Ho Chi Minh City ’s Council Chairwoman Pham Phuong Thao, the Senate French President said a mechanism for public-private cooperation in major spheres and coordination in solving problems emerging from each country’s administrative apparatus would help make bilateral cooperation more effective.

According to him, his delegation, which included representatives from almost all parties and regions in France , was evidence France has been taking part in the multi-faceted cooperation with Vietnam .

He said he was satisfied to see the two countries’ cooperation in traditional fields of culture, education and training, and healthcare has been playing an important role in society and benefitting many people.

HCM City People’s Council Chairwoman Thao thanked France and its localities for their assistance and cooperation with HCM City and several other southern localities.

Many important projects in HCM City such as the Thu Thiem new urban area, projects to restore and preserve cultural heritages sites, and to train high-quality human resources have received useful assistance from French organisations and individuals, she said.

French Senate President Poncelet and his entourage left HCM City on August 1, concluding his official visit to Vietnam which began on July 27.

During his stay in Vietnam , he had talks with National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong and met with Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh.-

People’s Council of expanded Hanoi opens first session

The People’s Council of the expanded Hanoi opened its first session on August 1 – the first day the capital city’s administrative boundary officially expanded to encompass Ha Tay province and parts of neighbouring Vinh Phuc and Hoa Binh provinces.

National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong said the session is an important event, marking a milestone in Hanoi ’s development history.

The legislative leader asked the city to quickly draw up its urban zoning scheme and socio-economic development strategy, along with paying more attention to environment protection, cultural heritage conservation and improving living conditions.

M unicipal P arty C ommittee S ecretary Pham Quang Nghi urged branches and agencies to further push up administrative reform, strengthen the fight against corruption and wastefulness, ensure transport and food safety and increase vigilance over epidemics.

During the session, participants heard the National Assembly’s resolution on the adjustment of the Hanoi administrative boundary that triples the capital city’s geographical size and doubles its population .

The participants adopted a resolution on the 164-member list of the new Hanoi People’s Council, which was made on the basis of combining with the former Ha Tay Province People’s Council.

Ngo Thi Doan Thanh, chairwoman of the former Hanoi People’s Council, was elected chairwoman of the new council.

The council elected Nguyen The Thao, chairman of the former Hanoi People’s Committee, chairman of the expanded city’s People’s Committee. -