Dr. Phan Thi Tuoi.

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Dr. Tuoi has been known as a female leader of the country’s leading university, a former rector and now Party Secretary of the HCM City University of Technology. But people don’t know that Dr. Tuoi is one of several scientists who first began research in computer science in Vietnam and has opened a new direction of research: communicating with computers by human language. She talks with Tuoi Tre Cuoi Tuan.

Tuoi Tre Cuoi Tuan:  “Communicating with computers by language” is your doctoral thesis and the major research direction in your life. How can it be understood in simple terms?

Phan Thi Tuoi: It means making computers to understand us through the Vietnamese language. When I made my doctoral thesis in Czechoslovakia (now being divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia), I set up a personnel management program for computers. I typed in the computer “how long has Ms. Ha been working here?” and the computer answered “Ms. Ha has been working here for three years.” It means that the computer understood my question. At that time, Czechoslovakia had a research field to help computers and people communicate. For 70 years, the US has developed this field into 30 branches.

Tuoi Tre Cuoi Tuan:  So you are the first person who brought that science to Vietnam?

Tuoi: I can’t confirm that. When I returned to Vietnam in 1977, I was the only one who researched this issue in southern Vietnam. I was one of the first who taught it at university. I’ve researched and instructed many students to conduct research on automatic translation, building vocabulary, syntax, and processing the Vietnamese language by computer. A work named “Checking Vietnamese Spelling on Computer” can discover spelling errors made by typists, including errors in terms of meaning in sentences. Scientifically, this project teaches computers and let’s them automatically build up rules to discover spelling errors. This project has over 20,000 rules and a dictionary of over 30,000 words.

Tuoi Tre Cuoi Tuan:  Why did you choose this science in the 1970-1980 when it was very new at home and abroad?

Tuoi:I was sent to Cvut in Czechoslovakia, a famous university in Europe. I chose computing science because compared to the two remaining branches (automation and precise sciences) belonging to the field that I was pursuing, computing science seemed to be more suitable to me. It was an impulsive act, but I really loved it.

Tuoi Tre Cuoi Tuan:  You loved it so much so you didn’t stop studying when you were pregnant?

(Smile) I returned home after graduating the Cvut University and taught at the HCM City University of Technology. At that time my school had just set up the computer science faculty. I still remember that the school had several computers. Both lecturers and students had to register in advance to use computers both day and night. Documents were very scarce.

In 1982, I decided to register when I was pregnant my first child. Just one month after I gave birth, I passed the exam to win a scholarship. I returned to Czechoslovakia when my child was two years old. I left her in Vietnam with my mother. My husband was abroad at that time, too.

After a long path in my life, I’m about to retire, but I’m really happy with what I have from my family and my friends and colleagues.

VietNamNet/TTCT

It is reported recently that the Oscar winner had split from her husband Sam Mendes. She has a six-year-old son Joe with Sam, and a daughter Mia from her marriage to Jim Threapleton.

A source told the Mail Online website: “Kate doesn’t know quite what to do. The people she’s close to in New York are mums in schools but she thinks that will all change. Her real friends – Emma Thompson, her sister Anna and her parents – are all over here.

“Kate feels she needs a support system, but she is torn because she doesn’t want to disrupt her kids and is able to be very low-key in New York.”

She has been receiving support from her ’Titanic’ co-star Leonardo DiCaprio since the separation. A source said: “Leonardo and Kate have been like brother and sister since they starred in ’Titanic’ together.

“And since Kate’s marriage problems started, around the time they were filming ’Revolutionary Road’, they’ve got closer again. Kate feels like she can tell Leonardo anything.”

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet

Nguyen Huu Dung of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP)

Dung, a VASEP deputy chairman, told Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon (Saigon Times) that cooperation is always better than confrontation.

Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon: It seems that after every administration review, the US side lowers the anti-dumping duties further on Vietnam’s seafood products.  Is this a trend?

Nguyen Huu Dung: At first, Vietnamese seafood companies were shocked by the antidumpting duties levied on frozen shrimp and tra and basa filets. However, they have survived and overcome the barrier of anti-dumping duties.

After the US administration review, more and more enterprises no longer face anti-dumping duties.  It shows that they have learned how to meet the requirements of importing countries, and that the Vietnamese enterprises are maturing.

And, no one knows, once the anti-dumping barrier is not useful any more, the importing countries will shift toward cooperation with us.

TBKTSG: Are there signs of cooperation between the US catfish and shrimp farmers and Vietnamese shrimp and fish processors?

Dung: I don’t consider the US catfish and shrimp farmers who sued us to be our ‘opponents,’ but just our competitors. The other team has used a lot of tricks to defeat our products. At first, they disparaged our products, and later they campaigned for anti-dumping duties on our products to protect their profits.

Now, if ‘the other team’ continues to use the same medicine, we’ll build up an immunity and the medicine will lose its effectiveness.  Meanwhile, our enterprises, except a few which do not export high quality products, are very serious in doing business and we seek ‘mutual benefit’ for both Vietnamese fish farmers and US consumers.

I think that the US administration now also wants to change its ‘face’. They may have concluded that they are losing more than they are benefiting by getting the money from the anti-dumping duties. 

There have been the signs of cooperation instead of restricting imports.  I’m not able to go into detail, but I can say that I can see signals from very high ranking officials and this is for the benefit of the US market.

If the US continues imposing anti-dumping duties, Vietnamese enterprises still can exist and develop. What do they impose duties for, then?  Overall, the US does not benefit from imposing duties.  The “US” is not just its catfish farmers, but also the US distributors, retailers and consumers.

The US distributors, for example, purchase our products not only to sell to the US market, but also to sell worldwide. A seafood trade fair is taking place in Bostonright now. I believe that when Vietnamese enterprises return from the trade fair, we will see clearer signs of willing cooperation.

TBKTSG: Does Vietnam still plan to sue the US at the World Trade Organisation?

Dung: VASEP proposed the Government to file a complaint against the US in 2009.  After the Government gave thorough consideration to the case, it officially filed a complaint at the WTO early this year.

Both Vietnam and the US are the members of the WTO.  We are going to appeal about the application of the so-called ‘zeroing’ method in calculating dumping duties. As far as I know, the US delegation is going to talk with the Vietnamese side.

VietNamNet/TBKTSG

Rich Ting and Angelina Jolie in “Salt”.

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How many times have you returned to Vietnam since the “Venus Fashion: Secret of the Night” fashion show in Saigon last year?

The fifth. Compared to the last four times, when I only stayed for 5-6 days, this is the most special because this time I will work in Saigon for a long time to take part in two TV series produced by Vietnam.

Could you disclose some information about either series?

In the first TV show entitled “Nguyen and Tran”, I will play a Vietnamese American who returns home to work. This film is produced by the Han-Viet Film and centers on the competition in the motorbike business between two companies of the Nguyen and Tran families. This film has 40 episodes and I will join it from the 10^th episode. This project will start in March.

The second film is a big project of a famous producer in Vietnam. I can’t talk more about.

You are a model for many renowned fashion firms and an actor in the US. How did Vietnamese producers know about you and invite you to join their projects?

Before joining these films, through my agency in Saigon, I went to Vietnam several times to participate in fashion shows and to take photos for fashion magazines. Through these, I have built good relationships with Vietnamese models and actors.

Once, I received an email from a Vietnamese film producer offering me a role in his project. Perhaps they know me through my Vietnamese friends. We agreed to cooperate after approving the contracts.

Are these film projects attractive?

For me, it is important to work and act. As a professional actor, I think it is very good to cooperate with big Vietnamese producers.

Your characters in the two films are Vietnamese or an overseas Vietnamese. Is that difficult for you?

Of course, my characters will be dubbed, but I still try to learn Vietnamese with my interpreter. This is the best way to better understand the scripts.

Vietnamese is my fifth foreign language, besides the languages that I can speak fluently – Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Spanish.

So perhaps you will be “grabbed” in Vietnam for a long time with these film projects?

I always have well-designed short and long-run plans. 2010 will be my “Vietnamese year”. After being known more widely by American audiences, since last year I planned to expand my career in Asia, with Vietnam as my “strategic destination”.

In the interval between the two films and fashion shows in Vietnam, I will go to Beijing to be in films.

I decided to develop my career in Vietnam not because of the two films. I’m close to your country for another reason: my father and my uncle are doing business here. In my recent two months in Saigon, I welcomed the first Vietnamese Tet holiday and received “bao li xi” (New Year’s present).

I’ve worked in China and Thailand before, but when I work in Vietnam, I feel really happy.

I have also had opportunities to discover your unique traditions. I love them. I especially like Vietnamese women in ao dai!

VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre

VietNamNet: You sent letters to competent officials to warn them about the long-run danger of leasing watershed forests to foreign investors. Why don’t you agree with this policy?

(In January 2010, Lieutenant-general Dong Sy Nguyen sent a letter to the Politburo and the Prime Minister expressing his concerns about leasing watershed forests to foreign investors, mainly investors from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan – ed.).

General Dong Sy Nguyen: I felt it was my responsibility to raise this issue.

Vietnam is smaller than a single Chinese province, long, narrow and prone to flash floods and natural calamities. Our environment is every day more degraded. The sea level is rising to take away some low-lying areas. In the broadest sense, this is a national security issue.

Apart from the fact that chopping down watershed forests causes floods, I also an struck that many areas leased to foreign investors are geopolitically strategic locations.

In the wars, all provinces had military bases in mountainous areas in the forest. The Viet Bac forests hid our forces in the war of resistance against the French, and the forests of the Central Highlands and the Mekong delta sheltered guerillas and main forces during the war of resistance against the US.  The watershed forests leased to foreigners all belong to [former] military base areas or border areas. For example Nghe An province leased the forest in Tuong Duong, Quy Chau and Quy Hop border areas.  Much the same thing has happened in Lang Son province.

In the doi moi period, the Party and the State must use land to serve our goals, but it is necessary to consider the scale and the location of the land used. While our people are still short of land, housing, jobs, we must not sell or lease our land for long terms to foreign investors to do business, establish timber plantations, or to build villas, golf courses and casinos.

Though it is late already, from now on, governments at every level must respect each inch of Vietnam’s soil. The quest for short-term gains can burden our descendents with highly negative consequences.  If we lose our possessions, we can get more, but if we lose our land, we will never have it back.

VietNamNet: Some have said that you’ve taken an extreme stance because you lack information.  Do you agree?

General Nguyen: I was told about these things by provincial army and police headquarters — I didn’t just ‘hear about it.’ Then I raised the matter with local governments and local officials admitted these facts to me.

In some provinces, local police agencies and army headquarters tried to dissuade the local authorities, but still they signed contracts to lease the forests to foreigners.  Even provincial chairmen have signed such leases.

Many years ago, Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet assigned me to be his special representative to take care of two tasks: how to put an end of burning forests and how to manage the temporary suspension of wood exports.  These two tasks were Kiet’s concerns up to the last days of his life.

In my orders, Kiet gave me the power to deal with forest-related violations on the spot. To speed reforestation, Kiet provided rice free of charge to the people who planted the forests.

Over a period of seven years as the head of the Programme 327 reforestation work, I traveled everywhere and saw how forests had been destroyed for agriculture, for exploiting rare wood and for exporting timber.

Everybody understands the danger of destroying watershed forests so reforestation and preservation are vital issues.

VietNamNet:  How do things stand now?

General Nguyen: The Prime Minister phoned to say that he had received my petition and had asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to investigate. MARD carried out the PM’s instruction and sent the investigative results to me.

VietNamNet: What was the result?

General Nguyen: MARD confirmed that ten provinces have leased watershed forests to foreign investors. The ministry carried out direct inspections in Lang Son and Quang Ninh and learnt the situation in other eight provinces through reports.

The ten provinces have leased some 300,000 hectares of watershed forest to ten foreign investors to grow and harvest timber for 50 years.  Investors from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China hold over 264,000 hectares in border provinces.

VietNamNet: Local officials said that these projects were carefully considered and they serve the local people’s interests. What do you think about their argument?

General Nguyen: It is not convincing. The MARD report confirmed that some provinces confiscated local people’s land to lease to foreign investors.

It is natural that the people in deltas must have fields and the mountain people must have forests. How can they live if all the forest land is leased?  We fought for our independence with the goal of giving land to farmers and forests to the mountain people. Our revolution was successful because of such goals.

Taking care of the people should be our top priority, more important than raising revenues. We must take the long view!

Why, also, didn’t local officials ask themselves why foreign investors want to lease land in Lang Son, Cao Bang, Quang Ninh and especially in Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh, where Highways 7 and 8 lead to Laos and to the Central Highlands? It is clear that these are important border provinces and vital geopolitical positions.

VietNamNet: Our people need jobs. When these foreign investors lease our land, do they use local workers or do they bring workers from their countries to Vietnam?

General Nguyen: I made a field trip to Do Son, near Haiphong City, where foreign investors have leased land. They built landmarks as big as border markers around the area the’ve leased and they don’t permit Vietnamese people to enter. My guards asked them to let us in but they didn’t agree until I directly talked with them.

Some provinces said that they leased land to foreigners because the land had been unused for years. It is irresponsible! When I implemented Project 327, I saw clearly that our people always need land. How can these officials call it fallow land?

VietNamNet: What should we do?

General Nguyen: The provinces that have made the mistake of leasing their forests to foreign investors ought to convince the foreign investors to hire local people to plant the forest, especially in border provinces. Provinces that haven’t signed forest leases must stop immediately and mobilize Vietnamese firms to invest in the forest.

Provinces should instruct each district or forest management agency to set up specialized sections in charge of leasing forest land to local people.

The hunger eradication and poverty alleviation programmes in the mountain region should be expanded with the aim of enriching the mountain people. It is easier to get rich in the mountains than in the delta.

Land is a strategic asset that exists forever. For our nation’s present and future, let’s carefully consider how we use each inch of ground!

PV

The opening ceremony of the new school year at a high school in Hanoi.

VietNamNet: Suppose that schools want students to learn that people shouldn’t give money to doctors when they go to the hospital or to corrupt officials when they need a legal document. How should schools teach these things?

Deputy chief inspector of the Ministry of Education and Training Pham Van Tai: Giving money to doctors or to officials is lending a hand to corruption and that needs to be taught at schools. We are working on a syllabus on anti-corruption suitable for students of different ages.

The concept of preventing and combating corruption will be taught at high schools. They’ll focus on the broad themes of the Law on Combating Corruption and issues like the reasons it occurs, the harmful effects of corruption and what students can do when they confront it.

College and university students will dig deeper. They’ll learn what acts are corrupt, individual responsibility and public measures to combat corruption.

We’ll start by addressing corruption that occurs at schools, acts like bribing teachers to get higher marks or teachers forcing students to sign up for tutoring outside school hours.  Schools will teach basic concepts and representative examples; based on that, students will be able to recognize corruption.

The Ministry of Education and Training aims to add lessons on anti-corruption to all schools by the end of 2011. We’re discussing what’s appropriate and what’s not with representative schools now.

Tran Thanh Son, Headmaster of Tran Nhan Tong High School, Hanoi: Everyone understands that corruption is wrong, but it’s not always black and white. If a patient gives money to doctors before an operation and the doctors take it, that’s corruption. However, if the patient gives money to the doctors after a successful surgery, the money is considered a good-hearted gift to show the patient’s gratitude to the doctors. What is the difference between the two cases?  People show their gratitude with spiritual and material gifts. If a patient can afford to give a gift, nobody considers it bad.

I still don’t know what the schools will teach students about anti-corruption but certainly we still must educate them about gratitude and respect.

Thai Ha Book Co. Director, Nguyen Manh Hung, a parent: I think schools must teach young people that corruption is bad. Let’s give them good examples, true stories and most important of all, let’s be a good model for them.

VietNamNet: Textbooks currently in use teach students about honesty, self-respect, gratitude, etc. Do you think that these moral lessons are enough?

MoET’s Pham Van Tai:  We will add some anti-corruption content to the current syllabus of lessons on morality.

Headmaster TranThanh Son: I think lessons about morality are good enough. However, the lessons will be ineffective if they don’t mirror the reality of our society. This is a problem for schools!  As students mature, the more they understand and have their own views about the society. They no longer believe what they are taught at school if they see that society plays by different rules.

Nguyen Manh Hung:  The key thing here is motivating the teachers.  If the syllabuses are good but teachers are not keen on them, the lessons will be ineffective. If the books are good but the teachers teach one thing and do another, students will not believe either the book or their teachers.

VietNamNet: If teaching about gratitude is necessary, how can we teach it effectively?

Pham Van Tai: That is a different matter though in fact there is a gray area between gratitude and corruption.

When I attended a conference on anti-corruption, one official said “I accept gifts but I will not agree if anybody says that I am corrupt, because I don’t abuse my position. I obey the law while I perform my duties and missions. If some people give gifts to me to show their gratitude and I cannot refuse them, I think it is another matter. I don’t force them to give gifts to me”.

Other officials commented that in our society, sometimes it is better to accept gifts than refuse them. In principle, officials are not allowed to take gifts. If they take them, they’ll concede that they are greedy, but not that they are ‘difficult.’

I have seen a lot of this in my 20 years at work. Once a colleague of mine showed me a leg of pork (this was back in the era of rationing) and said that a woman had left it for me because I had settled her case related to salary. I didn’t accept it and left the gift at the office.  

I suppose my behaviour is praiseworthy. Still, some time later I heard that some colleagues commended me for refusing the pork meat but some doubted that I refused her “envelope” (money) as well. 

So I think that for some kinds of gifts, it is better to receive than refuse. If someone sincerely wants to show their gratitude or to build up good relations with you but you are too quick to refuse, they may think that they should stay well clear of you.  To build up good relations in life, one must behave flexibly.

Tran Thanh Son: Teaching gratitude at school is first of all teaching gratitude to parents, relatives and others who do good things for us.  Students certainly understand this; what we need to clarify is how to show such gratitude.

Students must be taught the difference between showing gratitude and buying favors. There are many kinds of corruption – it’s not only giving money to doctors but also taking abuse of position and power for personal benefit. We have to teach young people about honest gratitude and how to leave healthily and honestly.

I believe that if we patiently teach this to students, over time we can make changes — not right now but via the next several generations of students.

Nguyen Manh Hung: Parents must show their own gratitude to their parents and they have to know how to say thank you to their children and anybody who helps them or helps their children. That’s the best way to teach kids about gratitude.

VietNamNet: Many people, both parents and students, think that it is very normal to say thank-you to doctors by giving money to them.  Do you agree?

Tai: It is good to show gratitude to doctors after patients have been treated well. I myself thank my doctors after they have cured my diseases. If a doctor asks for something, you should ask them whether, if you don’t bribe them, will they refuse to treat you? That puts the onus on the doctor. You need to look at the reality of the situation – there are some people who are really unjust, and others who are really upright. And then there’s the circumstance where a doctor refuses to take money but the patient keeps insisting on offering it.

Preventing corruption is not only preventing officials from exploiting positions of power but also dissuading ordinary people from creating conditions conducive to corruption. That’s why we want to teach students about corruption: so that they won’t ‘enable’ corruption.

Son: Everyone who goes to the hospital thinks that it is better to give money to doctors before the treatment process. I think some doctors refuse to take money in this phase and they are doctors with good morals. However, if they refuse money, they have to refuse skillfully so that patients understand that with or without money, they will be served well. That’s difficult! It has become an unwritten rule that patients have to give money to doctors!

Hung: It is not bad if doctors treat you well and you thank them. However, you ought not to show your gratitude by handing over an envelope full of money. There are many ways to show it, for example by meaningful gifts or souvenirs.

We should not quibble to say that that’s the way things are done. If all of us stop giving money to doctors, there will no longer be such a trend.

Bao Anh

Dr. Uwe Freimuth.

After four months of working in Vietnam, how do you feel about the track-and field team?

Within my four months in Vietnam, I have sent three reports about the situation of Vietnam’s athletes to Germany. Firstly, I have to say that the technical level and the understanding of Vietnamese track-and-field athletes are far behind their colleagues in the world.

In terms of technique, they are equipped with little knowledge about sports science, athletic science and their academic standard is very limited. The team of coaches is not highly qualified. Vietnam’s athletics are seriously short of technical facilities such as healthcare rooms for athletes and equipment.

In such conditions, the athletes still practice very hard and diligently. I feel they are like heroes who surpass many difficulties and challenges.

What are the problems of Vietnam’s track-and-field?

The most important thing is renovating the Vietnam Athletics Federation. If the federation only has 3.5 employees (it has four employees, but one works for both the federation and the General Department of Sports and Physical Training) and operates in its current poor conditions, it is very difficult to develop scientific programs and goals and then realize them effectively.

How do you prepare for Vietnam’s goal to win gold at the Asian Games 2010?

The first is making a practice schedule for key athletes, including Vu Thi Huong and Truong Thanh Hang. This will begin in mid-March in a two-week training program in Da Lat. My teaching program will take place from mid-March to December 2010 (before the Asian Games). After the course in Da Lat, my training plan will be transferred to Coach Nguyen Dinh Minh.

After that, Hang and Huong will practice for the European Track and Field Tournament in Germany in July. Only in big competitions can athletes know where they are and what they have to do because, in Southeast Asia, they seem to have no barrier. The two girls will then stay in Germany from 18-20 days for training. In August and September, Hang will return to Kunming (China) and Huong to Singapore for further training.

What are the chances for Huong and Hang at the Asian Games 2010?

If Huong can finish 100m with 11’’20 seconds, she will be able to win the women’s 100m gold medal. Hang has to finish 800m within 1.59 minutes. I don’t think Hang will be able to win gold and I can’t confirm that Huong has a chance for gold because it depends on many factors, even when Huong seriously follows my instructions.

Do you have any plan to help Vietnamese coaches in the future?

In the future, I will bring two coaches to Germany for training and one of them is Nguyen Dinh Minh. I will invite some German coaches to Vietnam to train Vietnamese coaches.

The German Athletics Federation has up to 5-6 million Euros a year and 30-40 sponsors, while its Vietnamese counterpart earns only $60,000-70,000 a year. Do you believe that your plan to train Vietnam’s athletes over the next four years will be successful?

Vietnam’s track-and-field team should not wait for sponsors. They must gradually walk on their own two feet. I came to help Vietnam build and implement that plan and I believe that Vietnam can do it.

VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre

Canals and streams are drying up.  n the photo, Kenh Cha Va (Soc Trang 0)

The rainy season ended very early last year. There was little rain at the end of July and from August onward, hardly any at all. The midsummer downpours (mÆ°a ngâu) just didn’t happen. On top of that, El Ninõ’s influence continues to be strongly felt. The average temperature in recent months has been considerably higher than average. In the north, the winter cold waves have also been unusual. Typically there are four or five cold spells each month of roughly equal intensity and duration, but not this year.

There have been as many cold spells as usual, three or four each month, but their intensity and duration have been irregular. Some have been quite sharp, with prolonged chill, but between these, there haven’t been less intense cold waves, but instead extended periods of warm weather – in particular the eleven day warm spell before Tet, something extremely rare in the north of Vietnam according to the annals, and never seen since systematic weather measurements began.

That hot spell lifted the temperature in Hanoi to 7ºC above normal; the lowest reading all month was 21ºC though the average temperature in February is 17.5-18 degrees! After that, there was a cold spell that persisted all through the Tet holiday. Then came another warm spell, 2-3ºC above normal. The sudden shifts, especially, make everyone sense that the weather’s become odd. February 2009 was hot, too; the temperature averaged 4-5 ºC above normal. That year, however, the changes were gradual, so no one thought it odd.

Then there is the extraordinary drought. Water levels in the northern rivers have fallen way below forecasts. At the place where the depth of the Red River is charted in Hanoi, it has fallen through the previous low, 70 centimeters, to almost dry — a wholly unimagined low of ten centimeters!

The base temperature for the last three months is also the highest recorded in our era, and that high level is typical of El Ninõ cycles. 1997-98 was also an El Ninõ period, and the temperature was elevated then too.

Tuoi Tre: This year, the entire country is suffering from drought. Besides lack of rain, are there other causes?

Le Thanh Hai: Rain’s not scarce just in Vietnam; all of Southeast Asia and southern China are suffering. In Laos and Thailand, the flow in the Mekong is at an historic low. The rainy season usually lasts through October, but by October last year, it had ended all throughout mainland Southeast Asia. Because rainfall was inadequate, the hydropower plants made extra effort to store up water behind the dams. When they produce power, water is released from the dams but not enough to restore the flow in the rivers to normal levels.

Tuoi Tre: What’s your view of the salt water infiltration situation in the south?

The condition of the Mekong river is will improve only slowly, so the outlook is less optimistic than in the north. The salt water infiltration in the Delta provinces won’t subside until the rains start. We’re seeing salt water infiltration up to 40 kilometers inland, and it could penetrate even further up to the first part of April.

Tuoi Tre: With all these changes, should we expect this summer to be as hot as last summer?

Hai: What we can see most clearly is that this March and April will average one or two degrees hotter than normal, and there may be some really hot spells, more like summertime. Rainfall will be twenty to fifty percent below normal – and these are the dryest months of the year in the Central Highlands and the south. Possibly there will be a few unseasonable showers in April there, but not enough to relieve the drought conditions. [Typically the southwest monsoon does not begin until mid-May – ed.] In the north, we hope some heavy rains and thunderstorms at the end of March will break the drought. And if El Ninõ returns to normal, as is forecast now, then it isn’t certain that this summer will be hotter than average.

With the decision, banks can only apply high interest rates for medium and long-term loans. Short-term loans are exempt, meaning that banks will still endure losses. Businesses fear that banks will dodge the law by forcing them to take medium and long term loans.

VNExpress explored the issue in an interview with Thuy.

VNExpress: As you may know, businesses worry that they may be compelled by commercial banks to borrow long-term. What is your opinion of these fears?

Le Duc Thuy: Businesses have every reason to worry. They should understand that prior to the decision, they were under more pressure. When the negotiation-based scheme is applied, commercial banks need to compete with each other, which will benefit businesses.

We have even suggested applying the negotiation-based scheme to short-term loans, so that farmers and importers can also benefit. If we only apply the scheme to medium and long-term loans, the market may become distorted. The 366 day-loans could be considered medium-term loans, while 365 day loans are considered short-term. This could really complicate monetary policy management.

VNExpress: As you may know, the deposit interest rate is still capped at 10.5 percent. Banks complain that, with such a low interest rate, they cannot mobilize enough capital to serve the national economy. Why don’t we remove the rein on deposit interest rates like we did with the lending interest rate?

Thuy: We well understand that banks find it difficult to mobilize capital once the deposit interest rate is capped at 10.5 percent. People all expect the inflation rate to increase further and only make short-term deposits, which places hard pressure on banks’ capital sources. We have reported that to the Prime Minister and he has agreed that the ceiling should be removed. He has also requested the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam to consider the issue.

VNExpress: It is clear that we need to offer high deposit interest rates in order to attract capital. But on the other hand, the interest rate needs to be low enough so that production is not pressured. How should we deal with the problem?

Thuy: Interest rates are a market product. The State can only intervene in the market to regulate the interest rate, but it cannot define how high the interest rate should be. However, the State has tools to control interest rates.

For example, current deposit and lending interest rates are real positive interest rates and they are not overly high if the inflation rate is less than 10 percent. As such, the interest rates now are unreasonably high. This demonstrates the problems in policies like ceiling interest rate regulation. The State Bank of Vietnam recognizes the problem, but we still must do something with the laws.

VietNamNet/VNE

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Dinh Toan.

Toan spoke to reporters after the Cabinet was briefed on a controversial master plan to guide development of the capital to 2030 and a ‘vision to 2050.’

Reporters: The government heard a report on Hanoi master plan. What did the Prime Minister say?

Toan: The Prime Minister agreed in principle that Hanoi will develop in the form of a central city, surrounded by five satellite cities: Hoa Lac, Son Tay, Xuan Mai, Phu Xuyen-Phu Minh and Soc Son. These satellite cities will be connected by expressways. The Lang-Hoa Lac highway is being expanded already.  Other roads will be built in the future. 

This transportation system will be highly integrated. In the future, people will not see a difference between Hanoi and Ha Tay [the largely rural province which was merged into Hanoi in 2008 – ed.]. Living conditions will be good in both areas.

Which satellite city will be built first?

The construction of satellite cities will be carried serially in several phases: 2010-2020, 2020-2030 and 2030-2050, based on the availability of capital.

I think Hoa Lac will be developed first because the Lang-Hoa Lac highway will be complete in 2010. Further, this residential area will have a 1000 hectare Hanoi National University campus as its core. The government has already prepared some projects in this area.

How about the residential areas along the banks of the Red River?

New residential areas along the Red River’s banks are already part of the Hanoi planning scheme. There’s a problem though: the development plan for the riverbanks was designed before Hanoi’s expansion in August 2008. That means other development possibilities weren’t taken into consideration, so the riverbanks plan must be re-evaluated.

Where will the administrative centre be?

The Lang – Hoa Lac Highway.

According to plan, after 2030 the administrative centre will be sited in the Hoa Lac/Ba Vi area.

That’s an awfully long time from now.

I don’t mean we’ll wait until 2030 to start the process. From now to 2030, ministries and agencies will be gradually moved out of central Hanoi. Some agencies will be based in My Dinh district, but under current conditions, it is not feasible to move all government agencies out of the centre.

What’s the character of Hanoi in the future, according to the planners?

The emphasis is on culture, shown by the landscape, architecture and space. Consultants have researched the connections between the culture of Hanoi and Ha Tay. For example, along the Thang Long expressway, which will run from Hanoi’s centre to Ba Vi, there will be museums, libraries and parks. Space for Hanoi and Ha Tay’s culture will be designed. Duong Lam ancient village near Son Tay and the Hanoi Old Quarter will be preserved.

Noted by Le Nhung