Malaysia announces new economic stimulus package

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – The Malaysian government has announced it has another economic stimulus package in the pipeline, in addition to the 7 billion RM (2 billion USD) package announced in November.

“The Prime Minister has given the directive to begin preparing an additional package,” Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop was quoted by the Star Online as saying.

“We have the capacity to lend some more due to the fact that we have managed to reduce the budget deficit from 5.5% of GDP in 2000 to 3.2% in 2007,” he added.

Nor Mohamed reiterated the fact that projects covered by the 7 billion RM stimulus package would be under way at the various ministries within the first quarter of this year.

Included in the package is an allocation for skills training, including the possibility of retraining retirees for posts that require experience.

One of the key objectives of the first stimulus package was to “ensure that those who wish to work can work,” Nor Mohamed said.

He added: “I am confident that the 7 billion RM will have a positive impact, aggregating demand to mitigate unemployment.”-

Nation sees first implant surgery for spinal discs

Hanoi (VNA) – The first surgery in Vietnam to implant artificial spinal discs in a patient suffering from degenerated, herniated spinal discs, was successfully completed at Viet Duc Hospital on Jan. 7.

The 49-year-old patient, Pham Thi Huy, from southern Dong Nai province’s Bien Hoa City , can now move her arm for the first time in five years.

She is expected to recover a full range of motion within three weeks.

This surgery is the modernest method to treat patients with degenerated discs so that they can move normally without pain, said Associate Professor Nguyen Van Thach, deputy director of Viet Duc Hospital and head of the Spinal Surgery Department.
“Before this surgery, I tried a number of treatments, however, I still could not move without help from my children. Everything was difficult for me,” said Huy.

“Spinal discs act as cushions between vertebrae of the spine. When they are herniated or degenerate [tear or break] patients can suffer chronic pain in the neck, waist, and even paralysed limbs,” explained doctor Pham Van Dinh.

About 30 percent of people, mostly middle-aged, in Vietnam suffer from herniated or degenerated discs, according to Dr Thach.

“The new surgery is much better than the old method, in which doctors would screw vertebrae into place to prevent movement of the backbone, though it is not a cure-all for patients with severely herniated vertebrae,” he explained.

“The artificial discs are made from a special type of cushioning plastic, performs the same functions as the real discs and will last 15-20 years,” said Thach.

“The global successful rate for disc replacement surgery is 90 percent,” he added.

The cost for surgery at Viet Duc Hospital is 3,600 USD per disc, much lower than in Singapore where it costs 6,000 USD to replace a single disc.

While surgery may be less expensive in Vietnam , it is still more than many labourers, suffering bad backs from years of heavy lifting, can afford.

“People can decrease the risk of damaging their backs by learning how to correctly distribute weight when sitting and carrying heavy loads,” said Dinh.-

Stock market predicted to recover slightly in 2009

Hanoi (VNA) – This year, Vietnam ’s stock market will face numerous difficulties as a result of the global economic crisis, and may only show small signs of recovery as the year progresses, according to the State Securities Commission (SSC).

Speaking at a seminar examining the impact of accession to the WTO on the flow of foreign investment into Vietnam, held in Hanoi on January 9, SSC Vice Chairman Nguyen Doan Hung said that the stock market is governed and greatly affected by the macro economy and businesses’ operations, which are currently absorbing the negative impacts of the global economic crisis.

This means that Vietnam will have to overcome more difficulties that will affect production, import-export, banking and finance activities, indirect investment, and payment balance, he said, adding that these are the factors that will directly influence the recovery of the stock market.

To limit these adverse impacts, maintain stability and improve market conditions, Hung stressed the necessity of implementing a range of simultaneous measures, including promoting over-the-counter (OTC) and bond transaction markets, making improvements to infrastructure and technology, as well as increasing levels of financial transparency.

Besides speeding up the equitisation process to ensure business renovation programmes can be carried out, creating high-quality products for the stock market, and attracting investment flow, the country needs to work to improve the financial capacity of the banking sector through allowing banks to sell their stakes to foreign partners at rates of less than 5 percent without needing permission from the central bank, and raising foreign ownership limits in banks to 35 percent, he added.

Hung also recommended a temporary postponement of imposing personal income tax on securities investment activities, including taxes levied on revenues, dividends and bond interests, and suggested the establishment of a fund to support the market when it plunges beyond a certain level and to stimulate demand when the market shows signs of recovery.

2008 was the most volatile year yet for the Vietnamese stock market, as the VN-Index tumbled from 912.07 points in the first trading session of the year to 288.85 points on December 12, a return to the dark financial times experienced four years ago.

Plummeting stock indexes were followed by a sharp decrease in market liquidity. Last year, stock market capital accounted for just 17.5 percent of the country’s GDP, and the total capital mobilised through the market reached just 25,000 billion VND, compared to the 127,000 billion VND mobilised in 2007.-

First Golden Shoe award launched

HCM CITY — Journalists in HCM City have teamed with the Ideas company to institute the nation’s first “Golden Shoe” award for the top goal scorer in domestic, regional and international tournaments in a year.

The award, introduced yesterday by the HCM City Journalists Association’s Sport Reporters Club and the Ideas company, aims to foster better scoring skills as Vietnamese football is seen as weak in scoring goals.

All goals scored from the beginning to the end of a calendar year in main football contests will be included in deciding the winner.

These include the V-League, National Cup, Super Cup, First-Division matches, official competitions organised by FIFA, Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), as well as friendship matches.

Goals scored in the three international football tournaments annually held in Viet Nam – the HCM City Football Cup, T&T Cup and Binh Duong Television Cup, will also be included.

The Golden Shoes award will carry a prize money of VND15 million along with the Golden Shoe trophy, worth VND10 million.

The first Golden Shoe award in the country will be handed to the top scorer at a ceremony in January 2010.

The runner-up will receive VND12 million and a Silver Shoe, and the third player will get VND10 million and a Bronze Shoe.

The Viet Nam Steel Corporation is the major sponsor of this award. —

Nation sees first implant surgery for spinal discs

HA NOI — The first surgery in Viet Nam to implant artificial spinal discs in a patient suffering from degenerated, herniated spinal discs, was successfully completed at Viet Duc Hospital on Wednesday.

The 49-year-old patient, Pham Thi Huy, from southern Dong Nai Province’s Bien Hoa City, can now move her arm for the first time in five years.

She is expected to recover a full range of motion within three weeks.

This surgery is the most modern method to treat patients with degenerated discs so that they can move normally without pain, said Associate Professor Nguyen Van Thach, deputy director of Viet Duc Hospital and the head of the Spinal Surgery Department.

“Before this surgery, I tried a number of treatments, however, I still could not move without help from my children. Everything was difficult for me,” said Huy.

“Spinal discs act as cushions between vertebrae of the spine. When they are herniated or degenerate [tear or break] patients can suffer chronic pain in the neck, waist, and even paralysed limbs,” explained Doctor Pham Van Dinh.

About 30 per cent of people, mostly middle-aged, in Viet Nam suffer from herniated or degenerated discs, according to Dr Thach.

“The new surgery is much better than the old method, in which doctors would screw vertebrae into place to prevent movement of the backbone, though it is not a cure-all for patients with severely herniated vertebrae,” he explained.

“The artificial discs are made from a special type of cushioning plastic, performs the same function as the real discs and will last 15-20 years,” said Thach.

“The global successful rate for disc replacement surgery is 90 per cent,” he added.

The cost for surgery at Viet Duc Hospital is US$3,600 per disc, much lower than in Singapore where it costs $6,000 to replace a single disc.

While surgery may be less expensive in Viet Nam, it is still more than many labourers, suffering bad backs from years of heavy lifting, can afford.

“People can decrease the risk of damaging their backs by learning how to correctly distribute weight when sitting and carrying heavy loads,” said Dinh. —