EU offers Vietnam EUR15 million to improve heathcare services; MoIT calls for investment in renewable energy; Regional police ‘link up’ on int’l crime database; Construction supervisor arrested for allegedly taking bribes

The EU and Luxembourg will provide more than 14.7 million euro in nonrefundable aid and Germany will contribute 500,000 euro worth of medical supplies.

The project will be implemented in four years from 2009 to 2013 to expand services of the Ministry of Health and medical agencies in northern Ha Nam, Bac Ninh and Bac Giang provinces.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Minister Trieu praised the EU’s support for the Vietnamese healthcare sector in recent years and hoped that the project will improve the quality of healthcare services in Vietnam.

Mr Trieu said that EU-funded projects such as upgrading medical facilities and providing medical check-ups for the poor in northern mountainous and Central Highland regions are giving poor, ethnic minority people access to essential healthcare services.

Mr Vandenberghe said the project is part of the Vietnamese Government’s campaign to provide modern medical care for the poor.

MoIT calls for investment in renewable energy

Vice Minister of Industry and Trade Bui Xuan Khu has called upon businesses to promote technology transfer, economic cooperation and investment in producing electricity from renewable energy sources.

Speaking at a conference on “investing in the power sector: opening up future markets and opportunities for foreign businesses”, Khu said Vietnam now has incentives for this sector like a policy to have the Electricity of Vietnam Group (EVN) buy all the electricity produced from renewable energy sources.

Additional incentives are the 10 percent corporate income tax applied to power projects in the first 15 years of operation and a preferential price list.

But there are still legal snags in investing in renewable energy projects, according to Vietnam’s Duane Morris LLP & Affiliate.

The 20/80 ratio of investor capital to loans is also a problem for investors.

The special price list currently applies only to projects with a capacity of over 30 megawatts. EVN cannot buy electricity from other projects because the current retail price of electricity does not reflect the production cost.

Under its energy development strategy, Vietnam is planning to increase the use of renewable energy by about 3 percent in 2010, 5 percent in 2020 and 11 percent in 2050. dway cost inflated by bad design, irregularities: auditors

State auditors have called for the reduction of nearly VND21 billion (US$1.17 million) from the investment costs of a roadway in Hanoi.

They have also said that individuals and agencies involved in building the 32-kilometer Hanoi – Cau Gie link from 1998 to 2002 should be investigated and any wrongdoing punished.

The auditors found that the $62-million-plus project, proposed by the Ministry of Transportation, had several faults from the design stage onwards, causing it to sink since it opened to traffic in January, 2002. Another VND14.4 billion ($807,401) had to spent on effecting repairs to the roadway.

Imperfections in the design had also increased the project’s cost by more than 110 percent over original estimates, including additional works carried out during construction, the auditors said.

So far the government has refused to take over the four-lane roadway, saying the quality is unsatisfactory and cannot be guaranteed.

Regional police ‘link up’ on int’l crime database

Regional police forces met in Ho Chi Minh City on September 16 to discuss measures to utilise a shared database system in the fight against trans-national crime.

The three-day ASEAN Association of Police (ASEANAPOL) Database Systems Technical Committee meeting has attracted 30 delegates from the police forces of ASEAN member countries.

Participants in the meeting are examining the updated version of the ASEANAPOL database system which is expected to support regional cooperation in trans-national crime prevention.

According to Major-General Lam Minh Chien, deputy head of the Police General Department, the meeting needs to approve plans to improve the database system, which should be connected to the Japanese police website on international terrorism.

Construction supervisor arrested for allegedly taking bribes

Police in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho have arrested a local bridge construction supervisor for allegedly accepting a bribe from a supplier.

Nguyen Thai Hoa, 28, was caught taking VND15 million (US$841.14) from 47-year-old Lam Van Kien, a supplier of building materials for Package No. 1 of the Can Tho Bridge project.

Hoa was caught in the act by investigators as he received the money at a local café on September 6, police said.

Kien had prompted the raid by reporting to police that Hoa had demanded VND7,000 for each cubic meter of stone that Kien supplied and threatened not to sign for materials unless Kien paid up.

Kien said Hoa had demanded VND78 million ($4,378) in total, police reports said.

Lard processing factories shut down in central Vietnam

Inspectors in the central city of Da Nang on Wednesday closed three family-run fat processing factories.

The action followed Thanh Nien’s recent article exposing unhygienic production and pollution caused by the factories.

Nearly 50 tons of rotten animal fat were found at two of the factories in Khuong My Hamlet.

The fat was bought from local slaughterhouses and processed before being distributed to customers – mainly restaurants and industrial zones in the northern region, local newswire Vnexpress quoted Dang Cong Tran – one of the three owners of the factories – as saying.

However, no information is available so far on what the fat is used for.

Police in the capital city of Hanoi last week also seized nearly 50 tons of undocumented animal fat from a local company unlicensed to trade in lard. More than half of the fat then was identified to have originated from one of the three factories in Da Nang.

2009 ICT awards announced in Hanoi

The 2009 ICT awards ceremony will be held in late March next year, announced the Ministry of Information and Communications at a press conference held in Hanoi on September 18.

30 prizes in 5 categories: mobile and immobile information, internet, information technology, training and applications go to prominent enterprises and organizations who have made significant contributions to the development of information technology in Vietnam.

This year’ new awards will be granted to excellent internet service providers, and outstanding information services providers.

Doosan Vina grants US$31,000 to local universities

Doosan Heavy Industries Vietnam (Doosan Vina) will donate scholarships worth a total of US$31,000 to outstanding students studying at seven universities nationwide.

Of the sum, Doosan Vina, which is wholly-invested by the Republic of Korea , has contributed US$21,000 and the rest has been granted by the YonKang Foundation.

This year marks the second time Doosan Vina and the YonKang Foundation have provided scholarships to Vietnamese students.

The YonKang Foundation was set up by the Doosan Group in 1978, aiming to promote RoK culture and language at universities throughout the world. It has, to date, donated US$450,000 to 16 universities in seven countries.

Doosan Vina’s Chief Executive Officer Bongjin Cho said the grant is part of his company’s plan to invest in Vietnamese youth, who will be part of the company’s human resources in the future.

Press management forum opens in Quang Ninh

A press management forum was held on September 17 in the northern province of Quang Ninh with the participation of 60 representatives from press and news agencies nationwide.

The forum was co-organised by the Press Project Management Board under the Ministry of Information and Communication and the Swedish Institute for Further Education of Journalists (Fojo).

Swedish specialists reported on the current situation of press activities in their country and in the world. The forum focused on the future of the communication industry globally and in Vietnam, and discussed specific strategies and plans for the future.

The participants will gain a better understanding of the development trends in the world press as well as the role of the leaders of press agencies in carrying out business, marketing and advertising.

The forum will last until September 19.

New criteria set for rural development programme

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) on September 17 announced a new set of criteria that will serve as a basis for developing the national target programme on development of new rural areas.

The programme is aimed at reducing the poverty rate in rural areas to less that 8 percent by 2015 and under 3 percent by 2020 and raising farmers’ incomes by 1.5 times by 2015.

In order to achieve these targets, the programme looks to build a new standardised model for nearly 10,000 rural communes across the country, which satisfies the 19 newly-set standards.

The Head of the MARD’s Cooperatives-Rural Development Department La Van Ly said that in order to be recognised as reaching the new development standards stipulated in the programme, a commune must satisfy a group of numerous standards such as keeping its poverty rate under 6 percent, training more than 35 percent of its labour force, ensuring social insurance coverage for at least 30 percent, etc.

The government has set a target of having more than 20 percent of the country’s nearly 10,000 communes reach the new development standards by 2015 and 50 percent by 2020.

The MARD is compiling 11 projects on rural development, which suggest that every commune will need an estimated investment of between US$120 and 150 billion (roughly US$6.6-8.3 million) to reach the new standards.

PV