VnnNews – Vietnamese believe that using good numbers they will be lucky in life and business. Based on this idea, many people pay billions of dong to own special phone numbers to get luck and to show off their “rank”.

A shop sellings SIM in Hanoi.

According to some online forums, a man recently paid $200,000 to buy the cell phone number 0903456789 (of MobiFone network). This number is expensive because 090 is the oldest network code and 3456789 is the best chain of forward numbers among ten-digit phone numbers. It is said that the price for this number is much higher now.

A SIM shop recently offered this number 01666666666 (of Viettel) at 2.5 billion dong ($132,000). This is a special phone number because 16 means luck in business, nine six numbers mean being luck forever.

VinaPhone’s number 0916888888 is fixed at 888 million dong ($46,700). It is explained that 091 is among the oldest network code in Vietnam, 168 means getting rich, and 888888 means good fortune.

People call this phone number as “Dream of Life”. It is forecast that the price of this phone number will exceed over 1 billion dong very soon.

At present, two of seven mobile networks in Vietnam have launched programs to sell “special phone numbers” to customers, Viettel and VinaPhone.

Geomancer Nguyen Tuan Kiet from the Vietnam Geomancy JS Company explained that each chain of numbers has a “soul” like the name of a person. According to geomancy, the names or numbers have influences in terms of Yin and Yang and five basic elements to the owner’s life.

He recommended people choose phone numbers based on geomancy. At present, numbers 8, 9 and 1 are considered good ones and Kiet recommended numbers with 8, 9 and 1 at the bottom.

According to Kiet, numbers that benefit users must be fit the users in terms of five basic elements. For example, if a person was born in 1978, he belongs to element fire so his phone number should not include number 1.

Therefore, good numbers depend on the user’s basic element.

PV

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This wild bull has frequently appeared in Bac Ai District, destroying crops and scaring people.

VnnNews – Residents of a Raglai ethnic minority village in coastal Ninh Thuan Province have reported frequent visits by a wild black bull that have left crops destroyed and one child injured.

“This bull butted a breeding ox to death and severely injured Pinang Tem [the name of the child] while he was tending oxen,” said Pinang Hoang, chairman of the People’s Committee of Phuoc Binh Commune, Bac Ai District.

Hoang said the bull had left damage in his wake at several farms in Bac Ray 2 Village and scared the local population.

“That black animal comes down from the mountain every single day. It’s huge and aggressive,” said villager Pinang Quang.

“One day, after ravaging the area, it roamed around the village then slept in a local field rather than going back to the mountain. In fear, we had to lock up our house and go down to Bac Ray 1 Village to sleep,” he said.

Deputy director of Phuoc Binh National Park Pham Ngoc Hoan said the bull became very aggressive after it split from its herd.

Meanwhile, many locals said the bull had been flirting with their cows. A cow reportedly gave birth to a calf much bigger than normal. It had a very short tail, black feet and no mane, which were specific traits of the trespassing bull, they said.

Three herds of wild cattle, 40 individuals in total, lived in the area, Binh said.

Chief of police in Phuoc Binh Commune, BoBi, said about 100 heads of wild cattle lived in the border area between Lam Dong Province’s Phuoc Binh National Park and Ninh Thuan Province’s Khanh Vinh District.

Attacks by these wild animals on humans and domesticated cattle were first reported in April 2009 and had recently become more serious, he said.

Source: Thanh Nien 

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VietNamNet Bridge – An advisor to the Prime Minister emphasizes that to accelerate and sustain development of the power sector, there’s no alternative to higher electricity prices.< />

Thai Phung Ne, a former Minister of Energy, now serves as the Prime Minister’s special envoy for electricity projects

EVN proposes four options for electricity price increases

Industry promises big jump in power prices will end outages
Expert says 10 percent electricity price increase is unreasonable

Thai Phung Ne, a former Minister of Energy, now serves as the Prime Minister’s special envoy for electricity projects.  He talked with the investment journal Dau Tu about the relationship between electricity prices and sustainable development of the power sector.

Dau tu: The two reports you make every year after visiting power projects include many suggestions aimed at speeding up the investment.  Why have these power projects been so very slow in implementation?

Thai Phung Ne: There are three major difficulties: a capital shortage, slow site clearance and the lack of urgency in the project implementation.

The capital shortage has become serious. I think the best solution to the question is to stimulate development by setting power prices at a level that will induce investments.  The state budget can’t mobilize the huge amounts that are needed to build enough power plants, so we must accept price increases.

There are difficulties in site clearance.  In some localities, it takes several years, even though only a few households are holding out.  The property owners aren’t dumb – they can see that compensation policies are constantly changing. 

And then, it’s a fact that investors and contractors  lack determination.

Dau tu: Two years ago, you told the Government that if people at the top are not put on notice, it will be very difficult to speed up the implementation of power projects. Can you see any progress in that regard?

Ne: After the Prime Minister got personally engages, the responsible parties became more active. However, here we can see the character of Vietnamese people: they do not follow strict discipline. When projects go slowly, they always blame that on objective reasons, such as the capital shortage and the tardiness in site clearance.

Dau tu: You have talked about “feeding the power industry with higher electricity prices.”  What’s your view of the proposal by the Energy Association (VEA) proposal to raise the electricity price to eight US cents per kilowatt/hour?

Ne: The VEA’s proposal aims to ensure a reasonable payback for power investors, that is, profit of at least 10 percent per year on invested capital. Foreign investors have been demanding a payback rate of 15 percent. Only when investors can see a reasonable profit will they be able to arrange financing for these projects.

Dau tu: It seems that the power monopoly, EVN, is seeking bank financing to  start some power projects, and thus free up funds for operating expenses?

Ne: That would lead to capital imbalance. Investors need to put up at least 20-30 percent of capital needed for the projects from their own resources, and they need to repay loans from electricity sales. Only if we make that possible will Vietnam be able to attract investment in the power sector.

For the last 15 years, not one foreign investor has invested in the sector, because the electricity price is not attractive.

Dau tu: Yes, but public opinion is really upset with the VEA proposal to raise the electricity price. . . .

Ne:  We need to look around us.  In China, the current retail electricity price is eight US cents per kilowatt, and it has developed a dynamic industrial sector including many supporting industries.

If we want to grow in the same way, we would be crazy to continue to hold down power prices.  The VEA proposal would be implemented over a three year period.

Source: Dau tu

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Quality of workforce still low

Vietnam always confirmed that it has abundant workforce that can meet the requirements of economic-social development in the future, however, the quality of the country’s workforce is now a thorny problem, said Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Minister of Labor Invalids and Social Affairs. 

The minister Ngan September 3 discussed the implementation of policies related to working abroad with supervisors of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee .

The low quality of workers also leads to difficulties in labor exports, said Mrs. Ngan.

Besides, enterprises should pay attention to the rights and interests of workers, she added.

To solve problem, the Government and the ministry need to improve vocational training programs, aiming to approach the world labor market.

To date, Vietnam has 500,000 laborers working in 40 countries and territories.
 
Agricultural land use tax relief to extend 

The Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development and Finance have proposed to extend the reduction and exemption on agricultural land use taxes for the phase 2011-2020, coming to abolish the taxes.  

The policy has been implemented since 2003, under a Congressional degree, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said. 11.2 million households have enjoyed agricultural taxes exemption and reduction.

Specifically, each of rural inhabitants has received an average exemption of VND50,000 a year, partly easing financial burden on poor farmers and encouraging them to focus on agricultural production.

In related news, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs has ordered its departments to temporarily postpone doing surveys on poor households nationalwide until new poverty standards for the phase 2011-2015 will be issued.

The change of criteria is suitable with the current socioeconomic conditions and the price fluctuation.

According to the new standards, the poverty line has roughly VND500,000 a month or lower in urban areas and VND400,000 in rural areas. The common international poverty line has in the past been roughly $1 a day. In 2008, the World Bank came out with a revised figure of $1.25 at 2005 purchasing-power parity

With this new norms, the country will have about 16.5 millions poor people, or 3.3 million households.

The surveys are set to begin early this month.

In the old standards, applied for the phase 2006-2010, the poor are those with monthly average income of VND260,000 or below in urban areas and VND200,000 in rural areas.

Conjunctivitis occurs complicatedly in Hanoi 

The disease of conjunctivitis, locally called red eye disease, still occurs complicatedly and persists in Hanoi and neighboring provinces, said the Central Eye Hospital on September 3.
 
In August alone, the hospital received nearly 2,000 patients suffering from the conjunctivitis, doubled over previous months.

Its doctors forecast the number of patients would increase in coming days. Conjunctivitis usually breaks out in the city and its neighbouring provinces in September when the rainy season begins in the north.

The conjunctivitis is caused by the adenovirus. It is often accompanied by a slight fever and sore throat. The patient’s eyes turn red with much irritation, itchiness and tears.

The disease is highly contagious in family, school and office environments. Hot weather also created favourable conditions for it to spread.

The doctors warn risk of conjunctivitis increases because the school opening season has come and thousands of students have come back to school.

28 provinces hit by blue ear in pigs 

The Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus, also called blue ear disease in pigs, hit one more province, putting the total of affected provinces in the country to 28, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said Thursday.

Gia Lai Province’s Department of Animal Health said the disease was reported from pig farming households in Chu Pah District and Ayun Pa Town.

On September 2, Quang Ninh Province also announced that the pandemic broke out again in Yen Hung District’s Lam Sinh 2 Hamlet on August 20.
 
Flu vaccine available in Vietnam 

Flu vaccine against influenza H1N1, H3N2, and influenza B is available in preventive health centers in Vietnam, said a medical worker on August 31.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh, vice director of the country’s National Institute for Hygiene and Epidemiology said the vaccine can prevent influenza strains of H1N1, H3N2, and influenza B as seasonal sicknesses proliferate with more patients suffering from dangerous complications.

Residents should go to nearby preventive health centers for vaccination. The vaccine costs VND200,000 a shot.

Dr. Hanh said season flu takes place all year round so people should inject to protect themselves from the illness.

Holiday shoppers crowd supermarkets
 
Supermarket and shopping centres in HCM City were crowded with shoppers enjoying a long National Day holiday and the city’s promotion month offering discounts on thousands of products.

Although supermarkets had beefed up their staff and prepared additional parking lots to accommodate the predicted increase in holiday shoppers, they were still overloaded. Shoppers have had to wait in long lines at parking lots and cashier counters since Wednesday afternoon, one day prior to the National Day.

The declaration of Friday as a holiday extended the National Day holiday to four days including the weekend.

“It took me nearly 20 minutes to park my motorbike and it was not until noon that I managed to escape the long lines of people at the cashiers’ counters although I came early in the morning,” said Tran My Ha, who shopped at Big C supermarket in District 10.

The Big C supermarket chain opened its outlets 30 minutes earlier and closed 30 minutes later for the holiday, and also had additional parking lots readied. They received 30-40 per cent more customers than normal days, said Duong Thi Quynh Trang, the chain’s PR manager.

Sales at the Co.op Mart chain rose by 2-3 times on Thursday, mostly of essential products, dry, processed and fresh food, home appliances and apparel.

Shoppers also flocked to shopping centres like Sai Gon Square, Parkson Plaza and Vincom Plaza as well as electronics trade centres including Nguyen Kim, Thien Hoa and Cho Lon.

These establishments have reported a surge in sales of LCD-screen TVs, washing machines and home appliances during the holiday.

Remains of 74 Vietnamese troops found in mass grave

Soldiers and residents of Quang Tri Province’s Cam Lo District have unearthed the remains of another 40 liberation soldiers from a mass grave discovered at the end of August.

This brings the total number of remains unearthed from the grave to 74. Other objects including hammocks, uniform buttons, watches and raincoats have also been found in the mass grave.

The soldiers are believed to have been killed during the Mau Than Offensive in 1968. Identification work is now underway on the remains.

Authorities had searched unsuccessfully for the grave in the province for three years based on information provided by American veterans who’d said 158 soldiers might be buried there.

Quang Tri was on the frontlines of the Mau Than Offensive.

125 homes to be moved for $300m tower project

As many as 125 households and organisations in downtown HCM City must move to make way for the construction of the Ben Thanh Towers project, which begins in October.

The US$300 million project is developed by Bitexco Group on the Ben Thanh Quadrangle, an 8,600-square-metre area bordered by the streets of Le Thi Hong Gam, Calmette, Pham Ngu Lao and Pho Duc Chinh in District 1’s Nguyen Thai Binh Ward.

Le Quoc Cuong, head of the district’s board for compensation and site clearance, said the board would inform the affected households and organisations about land clearance and compensation prices, and collect their opinions next week.

The board will apply compensation rates that were approved by the municipal People’s Committee in November 2008.

The compensation price for land on Pham Ngu Lao Street is the highest, at VND165.7 million (US$8,720) per sq.m, followed by land on Pho Duc Chinh Street at VND156.9 million per square metre.

The front-street land on Le Thi Hong Gam and Calmette streets has compensation prices of VND147.8 million and VND147.2 million per sq.m, respectively, while land on the two streets’ alleys is valued at VND50million-VND50.5 million.

Compensation prices for apartments acquired by the project range from VND61-73 million per square metre.
 
Action soon against tax dodgers

People’s Committee Chairman Le Hoang Quan has instructed HCM City tax officials to immediately identify enterprises that have neither submitted a tax declaration nor paid tax.

He also wants to know the extent to which the city’s licensed enterprises have been properly monitored.

The latest survey shows that 44,000 of 144,000 licensed enterprises in HCM City had not registered with the tax office as of July.

Work starts on $10.2m hospital

Construction of the high-tech Hue Central International Hospital began Thursday.

The estimated cost of the seven-floor hospital is VND200 billion (US$10.2 million), with 70 per cent of the money provided from loans.

The 300-bed, 200,000-sq.m. facility will include surgical, pediatric, gynaecology and rehabilitation wards for the treatment of both domestic and international patients.

Work is expected to take two years.

Blue-ear disease strikes the South

Blue-ear disease has infected pigs in 30 southern provinces, including the Mekong Delta, during the last 21 days, reports the Animal Health Department.

The latest infections were identified in southern Binh Phuoc, An Giang, Ca Mau and Tra Vinh on Thursday, it says.

The Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry has asked provincial officials to take immediate measures to suppress the outbreak.

Department’s epidemiological service’s head Van Dang Ky said more than 200,000 doses of Chinese-made blue-ear vaccine had been distributed to 21 provinces as of yesterday. Each province had received 20,000 doses.

The vaccine, which arrived last month, will be administered from Wednesday.

Japan assists Bac Giang province in education
 
Japanese non-governmental organisation, Pro-work Towada, directed by Nakano Shozo, will invite some of the teachers at Thang Cuong kindergarten in Yen Dung district, Bac Giang province, to visit Japanese kindergartens in order to learn about the education model from September 15 to October 13.

This kindergarten in Vietnam is a present of Pro-work Towada to poor Thang Cuong commune. It is invested at VND700 million, began construction in July 2009 and opened on January 1, 2010.

The school aims to provide educational assistance for 60 students in 400 households in this commune.

In August, the Japanese NGO equipped the kindergarten with teaching aids and Japanese teachers also taught music and provided advice on teaching methods to local colleagues.

Hanoi-Amsterdam school upgraded to regional level
 
Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Hanoi, Nguyen The Thao, pinned a plate “Project in celebration of Thang Long-Hanoi millennium anniversary” to the gate of the Hanoi-Amsterdam High School on the inauguration of the 2010-11 academic year on September 4.

The school has been reconstructed as the most modern in Vietnam and put on a par with other leading schools in the region.

Thao said the project was an evidence of the municipal administration’s thoughtfulness and sense of responsibility to the school in an effort to nurture young talents for the capital city and the nation as a whole.

He expressed thanks to the Dutch people, especially Amsterdam citizens, for their assistance to the development cause in Vietnam, especially Hanoi.

“May such a friendship and cooperation, especially in education and training, further develop, thus contributing to improving the educational quality of the Hanoi-Amsterdam school to a new height,” said Thao.

The Dutch Ambassador said he would do his best to boost the student exchange programme between the Hanoi-Amsterdam and a school of gifted students in the Netherlands.

He also presented five scholarships for a study visit to schools in Amsterdam in next summer.

The Hanoi-Amsterdam High School was first built in September, 1985 as a gift of the Dutch capital city to Hanoi. The school has contributed over 100 international prize winners to the nation.

In 2000, the school was awarded the title “Labour Hero in the Renewal Period”, a high State honour.

The school embarked on reconstruction on May 19, 2008 at a cost of VND429 billion. It now houses 45 classes capable of accommodating some 2,000 students.

Its campus, covering 5 ha of land in the downtown street of Tran Duy Hung, includes nine classrooms specialising in fostering talented students and physical and hobby training such as music, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, football and basketball playgrounds.

Prof Chau honoured outstanding capital citizen
 
Prof Ngo Bao Chau was presented with the title of outstanding citizen of Hanoi 2010 on September 4 by Chairman of the Hanoi Municipal People’s Committee Nguyen The Thao.

Prof Chau thanked the Party, authorities and people of the Hanoi capital city for their due attention, expressing his honour to receive the award.

As a Hanoian, he said he always looks toward to capital city, wishing for it to be more beautiful, greener and richer.

Prof. Ngo Bao Chau, born in 1972 in Hanoi, used to be a pupil at Giang Vo experimental primary school, Trung Vuong secondary school and the Hanoi National University’s talented school.

He was awarded the 2010 Fields Medal for his proof of the Fundamental Lemma in the theory of automorphic forms, by introducing new algebro-geometric methods at International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) in India on August 19.

Prof. Chau was among 11 outstanding capital citizens honoured for the first time in 2010 by Hanoi.

People memorise President Ho on National Day
 
Ho Chi Minh City’s leaders on National Day (September 2) paid floral tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his Memorial House on Nha Rong Wharf, where he left on a vessel to seek ways to liberate his country.

The leaders included Le Thanh Hai, Politburo member and Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee; Le Hoang Quan, Party Central Committee member and Chairman of the Municipal People’s Committee; Pham Phuong Thao, Chairperson of the Municipal People’s Council; and Duong Quan Ha, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front HCM City chapter.

They offered incense and expressed their gratitude to President Ho for to great services he rendered to the nation as the founder of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam).

Close to 50,000 people paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum in Hanoi on September 1 and 2.

Esperanto leader honoured for his contribution to Vietnam
 
President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations, Vu Xuan Hong, on September 3 presented the “For Peace and Friendship among Nations” insignia to Osmo Tapani Buller, General Director of the World Esperanto Association Central Office.

Mr Buller received the distinction for his valuable contributions to Vietnam during the war against the US, as well as to the Esperanto movement in Vietnam.

When he was a student, he took part in the Finnish people’s movement against the US war in Vietnam.

Joining a young Finnish people’s Esperanto movement, he paid attention to Vietnam’s Esperanto publications and mobilised Finland to support Vietnam. He also helped Vietnam publish over 100 Vietnamese books in Esperanto.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Mr Buller expressed his pleasure at Vietnam’s achievements over 20 years of national renewal and pledged to actively cooperate with the Vietnam Esperanto Association to make preparations for the 97th Esperanto Congress to be held in Vietnam in 2012.

 Quang Tri builds grand marker on Laos border
 
Authorities of Vietnam’s central province of Quang Tri and Salavan province of Laos on September 3 began construction of a border marker called grand marker 635 on their shared border.

Marker 635 will lie at the La Lay National Border Gate in La Lay village, A Ngo commune, Dakrong district, in Quang Tri province. The construction is expected to be completed on November 2.

From 2008 to now, Quang Tri has completed the installation of 22 out of 62 border markers on its border shared with Laos’ Salavan and Savannakhet provinces.

It plans to install an additional 14 national markers on its border with Lao localities from now to the end of this year.

As planned, Quang Tri will complete the plantation of two grand markers, 26 medium-sized markers and 34 small-sized ones along the 206km it shares with Salavan and Savannakhet provinces.

PV

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VnnNews – A firework display and an open-air concert brightened Hanoi on the National Day, September 2.

Ten of thousands of people flocked to Hoan Kiem (Restored Sword) Lake in the heart of the capital city to enjoy the fireworks which were set off at 9:00pm and also broadcast live on VTV.

The open-air concert that was performed by 400 singers and dancers, martial artists, and pupils, also took place on the bank of Hoan Kiem Lake .

The artistic performance began with a Lion dance, followed by a demonstration of VOVINAM (Vietnamese marital art), and songs about the Vietnamese people and the country.

The audience also enjoyed video clips featuring Hanoi ’s history, from the Dinh Dynasty (968-980) to the day when President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence (September 2, 1945).

Firework displays and concert were also held in other locations across the country to mark National Day.

People flock to the road on September 2 evening.

Source: VOV/VNE

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VnnNews – Big transport works like the Phu My and Nguyen Van Cu bridges, the East-West and Nguyen Van Linh avenues, etc. are HCM City’s outstanding achievements in the last decade.

An exhibition of the city’s achievements in developing transport facilities from 2000-2010 has attracted thousands of visitors.

Here are some photos introduced at the exhibition:

Phu My bridge is the first cable-stay bridge in HCM City and the fifth on Saigon river, linking Districts 7 and 2. The six-lane bridge, invested with some VND2 trillion, started construction in early 2007. Its spans 2.5 kilometers and its vertical clearance is 45 meters.

After being delayed for several times, Nguyen Van Cu Bridge opened for traffic in late April 2009. This bridge connects the city hub to new urban areas in the south.

 

The first highway for cars in Vietnam, which opened on February 3 2010.

Nguyen Van Linh Avenue, the longest road in HCM City which was built in 11 years.

Ong Lon bridge, which crosses Ong Lon canal, one of the most modern bridges in HCM City.

 

The East-West Avenue and HCM City-Trung Luong highway.

 

Rung Xac road, which links the city’s centre and Can Gio district.

Phu My Hung urban area – the best model of its type in VIetnam.

 

Me Linh Park in District 1.

PV

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VnnNews - Thousands of students in HCM City attended the opening ceremony of the 2010-2011 academic years on September 5. VNExpress took photo of schoolgirls at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai high school in ao dai in the opening day.

Source: VNE

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VnnNews – A firework display and an open-air concert brightened Hanoi on the National Day, September 2.

Ten of thousands of people flocked to Hoan Kiem (Restored Sword) Lake in the heart of the capital city to enjoy the fireworks which were set off at 9:00pm and also broadcast live on VTV.

The open-air concert that was performed by 400 singers and dancers, martial artists, and pupils, also took place on the bank of Hoan Kiem Lake .

The artistic performance began with a Lion dance, followed by a demonstration of VOVINAM (Vietnamese marital art), and songs about the Vietnamese people and the country.

The audience also enjoyed video clips featuring Hanoi ’s history, from the Dinh Dynasty (968-980) to the day when President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence (September 2, 1945).

Firework displays and concert were also held in other locations across the country to mark National Day.

People flock to the road on September 2 evening.

Source: VOV/VNE

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EVN sends 912 million kWh of power to Cambodia in 16 mths < />

Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) has supplied nearly 912 million kWh of power over the past 16 months to Cambodia.

The national power utility released these figures at a conference on the Chau Doc-Takeo 220kV transmission line held in HCM City on Tuesday.

The meeting was organised by EVN’s National Power Transmission Co (NPT) and Electricity of Cambodia (EDC).

Nguyen Van Bay, head of the technology division under the Power Transmission Company No4, said the Chau Doc-Takeo transmission line had helped Cambodia deal effectively with power shortages.

He said EVN had gone to great lengths to achieve this because Viet Nam was itself facing serious electricity shortage during the dry season this year.

The two sides discussed several issues at the conference, including the operation of the transmission line linking Chau Doc in An Giang Province with Cambodia’s Takeo Province; developing new power networks, as well as technical problems and maintenance work.

The 220kV Chau Doc – Takeo Transmission Line includes a 26.5-km line from Chau Doc to the border between the two countries and a 50.1-km line from the border to Takeo.

The project is part of a power purchasing contract signed between the EVN and the EDC, and an agreement on power energy cooperation between the Cambodian and the Vietnamese Governments signed in July, 2000.

In addition to this transmission line, the EVN has also signed power purchasing contracts with Chinese and Lao partners.

Southern bourse seeks volume

The HCM City Stock Exchange will extend the continuous order matching phase of its daily trading sessions on September 13, in a bid to improve transaction volumes.

A trading session currently lasts from 8.30 to 11.00am and contains four phases: periodical order matching to determine opening prices (the first 30 minutes), continuous order matching (the subsequent 60 minutes), periodical order matching to determine closing prices (the next 30 minutes) and negotiated transactions (final 30 minutes).

Under the adjusted system to be instituted later this month, the opening and closing sessions of periodical order matching will each be shortened to just 15 minutes each. While, trading in continuous order matching method will be lengthened to a total of 105 minutes per day.

The negotiated transactions will also occur at the beginning of the session, between 8.30 and 8:45am, instead of in the final 30 minutes as currently.

HCM City Stock Exchange spokesman Le Hai Tra said that a trial run of extended trading hours went well, ensuring good run on official operation.

The exchange has also submitted to market regulators a plan adding an afternoon trading session, Tra said, adding, “We will announce the details right after the approval.”

VietinBank Securities Co deputy director Nguyen Tho Phung said that trading hours needed to be extended to the afternoon to match international standards.

However, he said, the exchange needed to set a reasonable division of time for each session in order to help investors keep up with worldwide news and make better investment decisions.

Extended trading sessions could help lure more foreign investors, agreed the head of research for a Ha Noi-based securities company, Nguyen Anh Quan.

“The capital cycle will only increase significantly once investors have more tools to realise profits effectively and flexibly,” Quan added.

Companies seek incentives to develop global trademarks

More than 400 Government officials, economists and business executives discussed building Vietnamese trademarks to help businesses improve their global competitiveness at a seminar held in HCM City on Wednesday.

Vo Van Quang, business director of Cowan Australia Trademark Building Co said with companies needing to invest money to develop trademarks, the Government should offer them incentives for the purpose.

It could waive tax for a year for companies that sold a brand in a new market.

Business associations had a major role in helping businesses popularise trademarks in global markets, he added.

Many participants agreed that quality standards were not carefully regulated and intellectual property protected, posing hurdles to developing trademarks.

The seminar was held by the Viet Nam Young Entrepreneurs Association.

In related news, 200 top brands received the Sao Vang Dat Viet prize (Viet Nam Gold Star) at a ceremony held on Independence Day, Thursday, by the association.

Organisers divided the prize into the Top 10, Top 100 and Top 200 categories to honour the best.

The top 10

The top 10 included Thaco Group, Tien Phong Plastics Co, Viet Tien Joint Stock Co, PetroVietnam Construction Joint Stock Corporation, HANAKA Corporation, and Trung Nguyen Joint Stock Co.

The winners were chosen based on criteria like their competitiveness and market position, technologies, environment and quality management, brand development, business management, and social and community responsibility.

The 200 brands accounted for revenues of more than VND453 trillion (US$23.8 million) last year.

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong hailed the efforts by businesses to spearhead economic growth.

He called on the Ministry of Industry and Trade and other relevant agencies to create a legal environment conducive for businesses to grow and establish tie-ups with others.

A series of other activities were held on the sidelines of the event, including a march by 10,000 workers from the prize-winning companies to raise funds for disadvantaged children

The parade, held at the April 30 Park, raised more than VND3.2 billion ($168,421).

Started in 2002, the annual Viet Nam Gold Star award seeks to encourage and honour businesses and famous trade marks.

Work starts on Metro 2 highway

HCM City has started work on Metro No2 highway backed with US$1.25 billion borrowed from the Asian Development Bank, European Investment Bank and Kreditanstalt Fur Wiederaufbau (Reconstruction Credit Institute). The 20km-long road will stretch from the new urban area of Thu Thiem to An Suong bus station. It is expected to be open in six years.

15-floor housing block under way

Pacific Property and Infrastructure Development JSC (PPI) and Hung Thuan Investment Joint Stock Co started work on an office and residential building in HCM City last week. It will cost VND213 billion (US$10.92 million). The project will cover 20,279sq.m and include 15 floors and a basement.

New urban area for Hung Yen

Work has started on the 92.5ha Long Hung urban area in the northern province of Hung Yen.

The project will cost VND2.48 trillion (US$127.33 million). This year, about VND1.29 trillion ($66.61 million) will be spent for ground clearance and compensation.

Hoan Kiem trade centre to open

The VND250 billion (US$12.82 million) Hang Da Trade Centre project will open in Hoan Kiem District later this year. The project, covering 9,312sq.m and including five floors and two basements, will provide a retail area of nearly 7,000sq.m leasing at $6,000-10,000 per sq.m.

Vietnam plans power purchases from China through 2015 

Vietnam plans to continue purchasing electricity from China in the next five years as the country tries to ensure its energy security, the government said.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai asked national power utility, Electricity of Vietnam, also known as EVN, to negotiate long term contracts with Chinese partners to purchase electricity through 2015, according to a statement posted on the government website Friday. Further details were not mentioned.

EVN was also ordered to look for other power sellers in other regional countries and speed up construction of new power plants in the country. 

Vietnam is part of the ASEAN Power Grid, a plan initiated 10 years ago to connect power networks of Southeast Asian countries towards ensuring continued power supply in the region. However, the country has so far connected its grid only with Laos and Cambodia.

The government said Vietnam is developing facilities to link its grid with Thailand and Myanmar and then other Southeast Asian nations.

According to EVN, power supply will be stable in September unless there are technical problems.

Vietnam’s power consumption surged 3.2 percent in August from July even though output fell 3.5 percent to around 8.1 billion kilowatt-hours.

Source: VNS, TN

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VnnNews – Ha Noi’s western areas have great opportunities and resources for real estate development projects, according to real estate experts.< />

Real estate credit growing slowly

Real-estate men forecast Ha Noi property recovery

MOC says real estate market will recover soon

Dang Hung Vo, former deputy minister of Natural Resources and Environment, told participants at a recent workshop focused on real estate and investment opportunities in the west of Ha Noi that investors and individuals had shown an interest in developing the western part of the city.

The decision to develop Ha Noi towards the west was decided by the Government and city authorities several years ago. This tendency towards westward development was confirmed again in the city’s recent master construction plan.

Vo said the master plan of expanded Ha Noi was divided into two zones: nuclear urban area and neighbouring regions.

An overall plan for Ha Noi was established to expand these areas. The inner city area will stretch from the left bank of the Red River to the second ring road, reaching a population of about 1.2 million by 2030. High-rise buildings are restricted in this area.

The extensions of the nuclear urban centre, including a chain of urban areas along the fourth ring road and the southern region of the Red River, are expected to reach a population of 1.25 million people by 2030. Investors are being encouraged to build high-rise buildings in this area to shift the population from the inner city.

The series of urban areas to the north of the Red River will consist of Me Linh District, with about 0.45 million people, Dong Anh District, with 0.55 million and Long Bien-Gia Lam districts, with about 0.7 million by 2030.

Five urban satellite towns will include Hoa Lac, Son Tay, Xuan Mai, Phu Xuyen, Phu Minh and Soc Son. Each satellite town will include one or more specific characteristics to support and share the need for urban housing, high-quality training, industry and services, and job creation.

Duong Duc Tuan, deputy director of the Ha Noi Planning and Architecture Department, affirmed that with such development, the western area of Ha Noi would have many opportunities and resources to carry out real estate investment projects. He added that land funds were available for infrastructure projects in the form of build-transfer (BT) and build-operate-transfer (BOT) in this area.

According to many experts, finance problems have posed a challenge. Capital resources from official development assistance (ODA) and foreign direct investment (FDI) are currently difficult to mobilise and the State budget cannot afford the estimated US$70 billion investment.

As a result, capacity to implement the master plan can only rely on resources from the land fund. Appropriate mechanisms and policies should be developed to encourage real estate investors to get involved in the implementation of the master plan in combination with efficient use of land resources.

Land bubble

In the first quarter this year, a land bubble phenomenon occurred in the area around Ba Vi which saw land prices increase unexpectedly. Increases varied between 35 per cent to 45 per cent depending on the specific area, according to the Kim Bai and Ba Vi administrative centres.

During this land fever, land in the west of Ha Noi fetched high prices. For example, land in Van Khe, Ha Dong District ranged from VND70 million ($3,589) to 80 million ($4,102) per sq.m, and in Nam An Khanh the price was around VND30 million ($1,538) per sq.m.

However, fewer transactions are now taking place because many land traders have fled the area. Land prices have fallen by 70 per cent compared with peak land fever prices.

Vo said land fever in Ba Vi did not follow market rules. Traders did not carefully study information about the land but simply rushed to buy land under the herd mentality. Unfortunate consequences are inevitable, he said.

Nguyen Tran Nam, deputy minister of Construction, said commodity prices would follow the market rule which centred around the law of supply and demand and the law of value. Although real estate was a special kind of good, it still complied with economic laws and other factors.

Authorised agencies could regulate prices by increasing supply, he said.

Currently, major capital for the real estate market comes from banks, but financial institutions are beginning to narrow the flow of capital with strict regulations in order to prevent a real estate bubble.

The Ministry of Construction has proposed potential channels for mobilisation of capital for the real estate market in the future, such as real estate trust funds and savings funds on housing.

Source: VNS

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