PM commits to reaching year's economic goals

Workers align a rotor for the Son La hydroelectric facility. Development of electrical resources is one of the key targets in the Government's socio-econmic plan. — VNA/VNS Photo Ngoc Ha

HA NOI — Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday urged the Government to do its utmost to achieve the year's socio-economic goals.

Despite positive progress in its economic development plan, the country's economy was still facing challenges on its way to reaching the targeted socio-economic aim, PM Dung said yesterday at the Government's monthly meeting.

Government officials gather every month to review the socio-economic development of the month and discuss measures to stabilise the macro-economics, restrain inflation and ensure the social security for the rest of the year.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment reported that the first eight months of the year.

The industrial production continued to grow,increasing by 15.2 per cent compared to the same period last year, and the trade gap slightly decreased, the ministry said in its report.

Meanwhile, the month's consumer price index grew by 0.23 per cent over the previous month.

Good co-ordination among sectors and localities had helped agriculture improve and kept pandemics under control despite the negative impact of floods and storms, the Ministry of Planning and Investment reported.

Social security had been ensured and people's living standards had been lifted, the ministry reported.

Nevertheless, the Government pointed out shortcomings of the economy, which needed to be made good.

The domestic economy was facing the negative impact of the global market's increasing prices, especially in the last quarter of the year, Government officials said.

Firms and enterprises were still ineffective in mobilising capital sources as bank loan interest rates remained high. Epidemic diseases were at a critical point and still threatened to seriously affect production and people's lives.

The officials also discussed ways to effectively implement the socio-economic development plan next year and in the coming five years.

One of the most discussed issues was how to develop the electricity industry.

The officials agreed on a plan to introduce an open and favourable mechanism to boost electricity production. The Government would favour the socialisation of the industry, calling on the involvement and investment of all economic sectors.

Together with implementing hydro-power projects, the Government would boost the development of natural-energy generated power programmes.

Dung asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to focus on producing electricity to avoid shortages of power, with Government playing the key role in the field with the support of all sectors. He asked the Government to set the economic growth for the next year at 7.5 per cent.

While the Government was expecting to see its GDP grow at 6.5-7 per cent this year, the consumer price index should be maintained at 7 per cent to make sure the macro-economy stabilised, he said, and the excess of imports over exports was to be kept below 18 per cent.

Dung said policies to support the nation's key programmes would be introduced and the new rural development plan would be on the next five years' economic plan.

In discussion of the 2011-15 economic plan, Government officials said the guarantee of social security should be the key factor. They asked that ministries and sectors review their own targets to set out the single goal for the country.

Special attention needed to be paid to environment protection work and sustainable development, the officials said, adding that the tasks of addressing climate change would also need great effort. Government confirmed its commitment to administrative reform and equitisation in State-run enterprises. — VNS

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Funds allocated for nuclear energy training

HA NOI — A fund of VND3 trillion (US$154 million) is to be put aside to train staff for nation's first nuclear power plant in central Ninh Thuan Province, due to be built between 2014 and 2020.

Vuong Huu Tan, chairman of the Viet Nam Atomic Energy Institute, one of the agencies that took part in compiling the training proposal, said the manpower was to be ready when the plant was completed.

"The important thing is we have a clear human resources plan to follow and, under the proposal, a National Standing Committee, chaired by a deputy minister, will be set up to ensure everything runs on track."

It required six academic institutions to educate 240 engineers and 35 graduates with master or PhD degrees specialising in nuclear power each year.

As many as 20 of these 240 engineers and 15 of the 35 masters or PhD students would acquire their degrees abroad.

In the areas of atomic energy research and application, nuclear security and safety it was anticipated that 65 engineers and 35 master or PhD degree holders would be trained in this field. Half of them would be sent abroad for study.

For the next five years, about two-thirds of the VND2 trillion (US$102 million) would be spent on a number of objectives including establishing preferential policies for students and people working in the atomic energy field, international exchanges of experiences in human resources training, investment in improving educational infrastructure, building international standards curriculums and running capacity enhancing programmes for teaching staff.

The remaining fund would be spent during the period 2015-20 to strengthen the education framework and review performances during the first five years.

During the first phase, five universities would provide training, including Ha Noi National University's College of Science, HCM City National University's College of Science, Ha Noi University of Science and Technology and Viet Nam Atomic Energy Institute's Training Centre.

Tan said the proposal would set out the arching framework and each university would customise to suit its own circumstance.

He said the motivation of this proposal was the severe manpower shortage in the atomic energy field.

Ministry of Education and Training statistics in 2008 showed there were only 505 graduates from universities with atomic energy-related majors.

Among them, the number of experts with PhD degrees was 65, with an average age of 50. This underscored the need to create a generation of experts by the time the nuclear power plant came into operation.

Tran Kim Tuan, director of Ha Noi University of Science and Technology's Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Environmental Physics, said the financial support would help to address several issues that were hindering training quality.

One of them was the need to purchase modern scientific equipment for laboratories, given the great importance of experiments in the training process.

"Unlike in other fields, which can allow new engineers to have on-the-job training to a large extent, nuclear engineers are required to have a higher readiness before entering the workplace," Tuan said.

As of now, machines used in the laboratories mainly came from donations from Russia and the International Atomic Energy Agency during the 1980s.

"After long use, the degradation of machines is unavoidable. We had a project supported by the agency in 2006 and used a $300,000 loan from the World Bank to purchase more equipment but its just a small proportion of what's really needed."

Tuan was also concerned about the quality of lecturers, half of whom were young and didn't have much experience in nuclear power.

"We hope that with the increasing number of new funds, young lecturers can receive advanced training from highly developed countries," he said.

The institute was also trying to persuade its alumni, who had already finished their doctoral programmes abroad, to return home.

"We (the alumni) alone can't do it, we need the support of a solid system of preferential incentives that are attractive enough for them to consider."

Tuan said the backbone of the teaching curriculum was based on Russian textbooks and was updated with curriculums taught in universities in the US and the UK and other countries with highly developed nuclear technology.

For this academic year, the institute has enrolled 40 students and is co-operating with the Programme for Excellent Engineers in Viet Nam to train 15 high quality engineers in this field. — VNS

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Vietnam provides electricity to Cambodia

Retail electricity prices could rise by up to 60 percent if a recommendation by the Vietnam Energy Association is accepted by the government

Vietnam’s National Power Transmission Corporation (NPT) and the Electricity of Cambodia (EDC) Tuesday held a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on the Chau Doc-Takeo 220kV power line from Vietnam to Cambodia.

At the conference, the two sides discussed issues including power transmission between the two countries, developing power networks, as well as technical problems and maintenance work.

Nguyen Van Bay, head of the technology department of Power Transmission Company No 4, said that after 16 months of operation, the Chau Doc-Takeo power line has provided Cambodia with over 912 million of kWh of electricity, contributing to dealing with the shortages of electricity in Cambodia.

The project is part of an agreement between the two governments and a contract between EVN and EDC signed in July, 2000. Its maximum transmitting capacity is 200MW with an average output from 900 million kWh to 1.4 billion kWh.

 

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EPZ, IP firms to fall short of 23,000 workers

HCMC – Companies at HCMC’s export processing zones (EPZ) and industrial parks (IP) will fall short of a combined 23,000 workers, said a job placement official.

Nguyen Thanh Tung, head of the Job Center of the HCMC Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (Hepza), told the Daily on Monday that the enterprises would need 49,000 new workers this year for their new export orders and production expansion plans.

However, Tung added, his center and others around the city would be able to supply only 26,000 workers, leading to a shortage of 23,000.

“Given a recovery of production, producers are in need of more workers, especially unskilled ones,” he said. “But it’s hard for them to employ.”

The sectors where labor demand is the strongest include packaging, garment, electronics, mechanical engineering and foodstuff production. Garment makers alone want 6,000 new workers, electronics enterprises about 2,500 and mechanical engineering firms around 2,500.

“From now to the year-end, our job center could find only 5,000 more workers,” said Tung of the Hepza job center. The center, he noted, will intensify recruitments from vocational schools around the city and from other provinces.  

Tung said almost all enterprises at the EPZs and IPs had raised wages too attract more workers. The average monthly wage is some VND2.5 million, VND500,000 higher than before.

Hepza began last year to give priority to new projects that use modern production technologies, particularly those in the mechanical engineering and electronics sectors, to reduce the heavy reliance on unskilled labor and thus avoid shortages of such labor.

But the city is developing seven new IPs and expanding some operational IPs with a total area of about 3,000 hectares, so the labor shortage is seen intenser in the coming time.

The city now has three EPZs and 10 IPs, which are home to 1,200 enterprises employing 252,000 workers.

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EPZ, IP firms to fall short of 23,000 workers

HCMC – Companies at HCMC’s export processing zones (EPZ) and industrial parks (IP) will fall short of a combined 23,000 workers, said a job placement official.

Nguyen Thanh Tung, head of the Job Center of the HCMC Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (Hepza), told the Daily on Monday that the enterprises would need 49,000 new workers this year for their new export orders and production expansion plans.

However, Tung added, his center and others around the city would be able to supply only 26,000 workers, leading to a shortage of 23,000.

“Given a recovery of production, producers are in need of more workers, especially unskilled ones,” he said. “But it’s hard for them to employ.”

The sectors where labor demand is the strongest include packaging, garment, electronics, mechanical engineering and foodstuff production. Garment makers alone want 6,000 new workers, electronics enterprises about 2,500 and mechanical engineering firms around 2,500.

“From now to the year-end, our job center could find only 5,000 more workers,” said Tung of the Hepza job center. The center, he noted, will intensify recruitments from vocational schools around the city and from other provinces.  

Tung said almost all enterprises at the EPZs and IPs had raised wages too attract more workers. The average monthly wage is some VND2.5 million, VND500,000 higher than before.

Hepza began last year to give priority to new projects that use modern production technologies, particularly those in the mechanical engineering and electronics sectors, to reduce the heavy reliance on unskilled labor and thus avoid shortages of such labor.

But the city is developing seven new IPs and expanding some operational IPs with a total area of about 3,000 hectares, so the labor shortage is seen intenser in the coming time.

The city now has three EPZs and 10 IPs, which are home to 1,200 enterprises employing 252,000 workers.

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Vietnam has good conditions for int’l yacht racing

HCMC – Vietnam with a long coastline enjoys a strong advantage and suitable conditions to become a regional yachting center, a profession yacht race organizer said.

Yap Kai Keng, chief representative for Indochina of the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) as an international yachting event, told the Daily that WMRT would take place in the coastal city of Nha Trang next year. He said that apart from Nha Trang, other places in Vietnam like Quang Ninh, Danang, Phu Quoc and Phan Thiet also have good conditions for organizing the race as an attractive event of sport and tourism.

Nha Trang has been chosen by a task force of WMRT from London as the top place for the race because it met strict requirements in terms of infrastructure, transportation arrangement, sea conditions and the wind.

“These conditions make Nha Trang an attractive place for the race. Furthermore, the race venue is in close proximity with Cam Ranh Airport, making transport arrangement for participants easier,” Yap said.

Vietnam, he said, is endowed with a long coastline and beautiful beaches, and thus can develop into a regional sailing center with sea sport activities and sea tourism.

Regarding the forthcoming race in Nha Trang, WMRT and Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have inked an agreement on organizing the event in Vietnam, Yap said. The two sides are on the process of setting up a task force to organize the international race.

“Vietnam will host the event, while we will support the host country’s effort in organization as well as in funding aspects such as advising the event organizer on the sponsorship,” he said.

Yap said the country’s tourism would stand to benefit greatly. The event with all its activities would be broadcasted for not less than 20,000 minutes on TV channels including Star Sports to 180 countries and territories, he said, projecting the number of viewers at no less than one billion.

“It will help Vietnam to capture the attention of the world and bring the world to Vietnam in terms of sports, tourism, and economy,” he said.

The World Match Racing Tour is the professional sailing series, featuring 10 World Championship events across the globe. The race takes place every year in nine countries.

This year race started in France and is currently taking place in Switzerland. Malaysia is the final venue for the race this year.

Yap said that world-class sportsmen from countries such as Germany, Canada, the U.S. and Australia would participate in the race in Vietnam along with a local team.

“We will help train the Vietnamese sailing team to participate in the race and they could also join other races in the world in the coming time,” he said.

In related news, Saigontourist Holding Company will combine with foreign partners to organize an international yacht race from Hong Kong to Nha Trang in October, which is the fourth international race to Nha Trang City.

Meanwhile, the coastal province of Binh Thuan will also organize an international sailing festival with yacht performances.

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Tuesday’s conference to discuss city’s economic restructuring

HCMC – The impacts of Vietnam’s joining WTO and HCMC’s economic restructuring for the next five years are due to be discussed by economic experts at a conference on Tuesday. 

The “Assessments of the Impacts of Vietnam’s WTO Accession and HCMC Economic Restructuring” conference will delve into issues involving the city’s economic and social development, and proposed appropriate shifts in the economic structure to ensure continued growth.

The roles of government, business and market will also be defined to facilitate the development process.  

The conference is organized by the HCMC Institute for Development Studies, and HCMC WTO Affairs Consultation Center (HCC-WTO), and supported by Beyond WTO Program under a project financed by the Australian Aid Program (AusAID) and UK Department for International Development (DFID).  

The conference takes place at a time when the country is working toward an economic restructuring strategy for the next 10 years and an economic development plan for the next five years.

In addition to Vietnam’s Social Economic Development Strategy (2011 - 2020) and Socio-Economic Development Plan (2011 - 2015), the Ministry of Planning and Investment has drafted a project to boost the country’s economic restructuring to enhance its productivity and competitiveness.

There is a need to make clear Vietnam’s arguments on facts and theories about national economic restructuring, according to a statement of HCMC.  

In the city, a program with different components is being implemented to support the city’s economic restructuring in the five years ending 2010. The city is shifting its economy towards services, industry and agriculture.  

Tu Minh Thien, director of the Investment and Trade Promotion Center of HCMC, said at a recent meeting that the city was focusing on industries such as IT, electronics, mechanical engineering and food processing.

But there is a paradox that labor-intensive industries, including garment and textiles, are making big contributions to the city’s GDP, instead of the key sectors, he said.

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