Tuesday, September 28, 2010

VND16 bil. for automatic wastewater monitors

HCMC – The HCMC Department of Natural Resources and Environment has asked the city government for approval to spend some VND16 billion installing automatic industrial wastewater monitors in concentrated industrial zones.

Tran Nguyen Hien, head of the department’s Environment Management Office, said the facilities would help the department control the quality of industrial wastewater discharged from one high-tech park, three export processing zones and 10 industrial parks in the city.

Sensors will be placed at the outlet of the wastewater treatment facility of each park to record and transfer data about the discharged industrial wastewater, such as pH, DO, COD and TSS (total suspended solids) to a control center at the department 24 hours.

Based on the certified indexes, the environment authority will impose penalties on any industrial park that fails to meet the requirements for wastewater disposal.

The city’s industrial parks and export processing zones have nearly 1,000 operational enterprises that dispose of some 32,000 cubic meters of industrial wastewater a day.

The environment department is considering placing orders for automatic monitoring devices from the German firm WTW because these German devices are reportedly suitable for Vietnam’s existing telecommunications infrastructure.

Early this year, the environment department reported that in the next few years it would install automatic monitors at companies discharging much wastewater outside the industrial parks.

The budget for this wastewater monitoring scheme is VND100 billion.

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F&B expo to attract some 190 companies

Bui Duy Duc, chairman of the HCMC Food and Foodstuff Association, answers questions at the press briefing to announce the international exhibition Foods and Beverages 2010 - Photo: Uyen Vien
HCMC – The international exhibition Foods and Beverages 2010, scheduled for September 8-11 at Tan Binh International Exhibition and Convention Center, will have up to 186 exhibitors from around the world, the organizer said on Monday.

Bui Duy Duc, chairman of the HCMC Food and Foodstuff Association, told a press briefing on Monday that the four-day event will feature 252 booths, one-third of which belong to Vietnamese exhibitors.  Other exhibitors are from the United States, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Germany and Australia to name but a few.

Key items on display will be farm produce and fisheries, canned food, frozen food, spices, food additives, drinks and vegetables among others. Manufacturers of packaging products as well as suppliers of F&B machinery and technology will also join the event, Duc said.

The exhibition will also incorporate the Vietnam Beer and Drinks Festival to highlight the country’s soft-drink industry, which has been growing by some 300% a year over the past couple of years, according to the association chairman.

The exhibition organizers are the association and the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade.

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F&B expo to attract some 190 companies

Bui Duy Duc, chairman of the HCMC Food and Foodstuff Association, answers questions at the press briefing to announce the international exhibition Foods and Beverages 2010 - Photo: Uyen Vien
HCMC – The international exhibition Foods and Beverages 2010, scheduled for September 8-11 at Tan Binh International Exhibition and Convention Center, will have up to 186 exhibitors from around the world, the organizer said on Monday.

Bui Duy Duc, chairman of the HCMC Food and Foodstuff Association, told a press briefing on Monday that the four-day event will feature 252 booths, one-third of which belong to Vietnamese exhibitors.  Other exhibitors are from the United States, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Germany and Australia to name but a few.

Key items on display will be farm produce and fisheries, canned food, frozen food, spices, food additives, drinks and vegetables among others. Manufacturers of packaging products as well as suppliers of F&B machinery and technology will also join the event, Duc said.

The exhibition will also incorporate the Vietnam Beer and Drinks Festival to highlight the country’s soft-drink industry, which has been growing by some 300% a year over the past couple of years, according to the association chairman.

The exhibition organizers are the association and the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade.

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Boeing supports Vietnam Air’s aircraft interior upgrade

A Boeing 777-200ER of Vietnam Airlines sits at Frankfurt Airport in Germany. Boeing aids the carrier in the interior upgrade of the aircraft of this type - Photo: Mong Binh
HCMC - The U.S. airplane maker Boeing has partnered with Vietnam Airlines in a program to modernize the interior of the airline’s four 777-200ER aircraft in a bid to provide improved services for passengers.

Boeing said on its website that it supported the flagship carrier’s goal to improve its passenger service by increasing the overall passenger experience and comfort while continuing to expand the network.

As part of the partnership, Boeing Commercial Aviation Services developed a cabin layout for the discerning needs of the SkyTeam member airline and its passengers.

The interior upgrade program also covers relocation of business class seats, installation of new deluxe economy and economy class seats, and changes to the in-flight entertainment system and cabin cooling systems among other.

Vietnam Airlines has just put into service the first 777-200ER aircraft with the latest cabin interior modernization in line with the upgrade program. The carrier often uses the aircraft of this type for international flights to Germany’s Frankfurt and other long-haul destinations.

Nguyen Van Hung, executive vice president of technical at Vietnam Airlines, said the program offered passengers improved serviced and backed the airline on the way to higher rankings in the region.

“Our interior modernization program is a key part of our efforts to provide market leading services and passenger comfort, further affirming Vietnam Airlines’ position as a major carrier in Southeast Asia, especially after we joined SkyTeam,” Hung said.

Vietnam Airlines now operates more than 290 daily flights on 75 routes to 20 domestic and 26 international destinations. The Hanoi-headquartered airline is expanding its flight network as well as its aircraft fleet, from nearly 70 to 115 by 2015.

Dennis Floyd, vice president of fleet services for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, noted the program aided competitiveness enhancement for Vietnam Airlines.

“This interior upgrade will support Vietnam Airlines’ aggressive plan to continue to compete among the world’s leading carriers,” he said.

Both Boeing and Vietnam Airlines do not mention the cost of the interior upgrade program.

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Gov’t yet to plan investment for express railway

The Government has neither developed an investment plan nor taken any
action to implement the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City express
railway project, said Minister of Transport Ho Nghia Dung.


At the Government’s regular press briefing on August 31, he said the
Government plans to continue studying the project to determine its size,
technology to be used, sources of investment, as well as environmental
and social impacts which have not been included in the project
feasibility study presented to the National Assembly recently.


Dung said relevant agencies are studying the project before making an investment plan using ODA funding, not State money.


Spokesman
for the Government, Minister and Director of the Government Office
Nguyen Xuan Phuc reported that the Prime Minister agreed in principle to
the reception of technical assistance in the form of non-refundable ODA
from the Japanese Government for making investment plans for the
construction of the Hanoi-Vinh and Ho Chi Minh City-Nha Trang sections
of the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City express railway project and a project to
upgrade the Hanoi-Noi Bai railway route.


Regarding the
restructuring of the country’s debt-hit shipbuilder, Vinashin, Deputy
Finance Minister Nguyen Cong Nghiep and a representative of the State
Bank of Vietnam said the Finance Ministry is working on a plan to
reschedule debts for Vinashin and define the group’s chartered capital.


The
State Bank of Vietnam is screening the group’s debts with each
credit institutions as its debts totalled 86 trillion VND while its
total assets are valued at 104 trillion VND.


The restructuring
project of Vinashin will give priority to paying salaries and insurance
for its workers, Minister Phuc said, adding that Vinashin will get new
projects once it gains access to capital./.

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Monday, September 27, 2010

Vietnam seeks more German tourists

The Vietnamese government has invested 4 trillion VND in building
infrastructure for the tourism industry, a Vietnamese tourism senior
official said at a talk to promote Vietnam ’s image in Germany .


Nguyen Manh Cuong, Deputy Chief of the Vietnam National Administration
of Tourism, met with representatives of travel companies owned by
Germans and Vietnamese expats in Germany on August 29 and 30.


Introducing
the country’s tourism potential, sightseeing wonders, and prominent
tangible and intangible cultural heritages, Cuong also presented special
programmes that the tourism industry launched on Hanoi ’s 1,000 th
founding anniversary.


He expressed his hope that tourism
cooperation between German and Vietnamese travel companies would be
boosted so Germany can eclipse France in terms of the number of
tourists coming to Vietnam .


Present at the talks, Vietnamese
Ambassador to Germany Do Hoa Binh noted that the growing ties between
the two countries have provided conditions for the development of
bilateral cooperation in a wide range of fields, including tourism.


He pledged to create improved conditions for German travel companies to do business with Vietnam .


For
their part, many participants urged the Vietnamese tourism industry to
equip more tour guides with the German language, along with professional
skills and rich cultural knowledge, in order to lure more German
visitors.


In 2009, the Vietnamese tourism industry contributed 5
billion USD to the State budget, generating jobs for 1.3 million people
and helping to eradicate poverty./.

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Government keen to grow electricity industry

Government keen to grow electricity industry

The Government will speed up programmes to generate electricity from
renewable energies and soon adopt a clear and favourable mechanism for
the electricity industry to grow as it is crucial for national
development.


The question of how to spur the development of the electricity industry
caught the special interest of cabinet members at their regular monthly
meeting in Hanoi on August 30-31 under the chair of Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung.


The government’s plan for the issue is to
encourage all economic sectors to join hands with the State in investing
and boosting the growth of this important industry.


The PM asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to focus investments on raising power output to prevent shortages in the future.


Discussing
the socio-economic development plan for 2011, which is the first year
in the next five-year development plan, and the 2011-2020 development
strategy, PM Dung said the general goal of 2011 is to strengthen
macro-economic stability to achieve a growth rate higher than that of
2010 and step up the economic restructuring.


The other goals are
to ensure social security and social welfare to further improve people’s
living conditions while assuring political security, social order and
safety, he said.


The PM proposed the Government target a GDP
growth rate of 7.5 percent, CPI year-on-year rise of 7 percent, and
trade deficit below 18 percent for 2011.


He underscored the need
to pay special attention to vocational training and considered it an
important index to serve the country’s economic shift in 2011.


PM
Dung also requested formulation of mechanisms and policies to support
national target programmes, and listed the rural development programme
as Government target for the 2011-2015 period.


At the meeting,
cabinet members heard about good performance of the national economy in
the last eight months with industrial production growing 15.2 percent
year-on-year.


CPI rose slightly - 0.23 percent in August against July - the Ministry of Planning and Investment reported.


Also
at this meeting, cabinet members heard reports on inspections, the
settlement of petitions and denunciations, the fight against corruption,
and administrative reform.


They debated a draft decree guiding
the implementation of several articles of the Enterprise Law, the draft
ordnance on management, and use of weapons, explosive materials and
supportive tools, and a bill amending the Cooperatives Law./.

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