VietNam Business

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Trieu An hospital expands services

HCMC – The privately-held Trieu An Hospital Corporation, the owner of the general hospital of the same name in HCMC, on Monday inaugurated a well-equipped polyclinic in District 11.

An Trieu Polyclinic at 119-121 Lac Long Quan Street is part of Trieu An General Hospital’s expansion project, according to the corporation. It is open six days a week and can serve about 1,000 patients a day. This clinic provides outpatient services only.

On the occasion of the polyclinic’s opening, Trieu An hospital introduces two new services including HDR (High Dose Rate) Radiotherapy for cancer treatment.

Trieu An Hospital, in collaboration with Medic Medical Center, has started offering radiotherapy for cancer patients using HDR in a brand new facility at the Hi-Tech Healthcare Park in the city’s Binh Tan District.

This is the third hospital in the city to be equipped with HDR. HDR brachytherapy involves placing a protected source of high energy radiation directly within the tumor and using radioactive plaques, needles, tubes, wires, or small “seeds” made of radionuclides. These radioactive materials are placed over the surface of the tumor or implanted within the tumor, or placed within a body cavity surrounded by the tumor.

HDR brachytherapy allows highly localized doses of radiation to be delivered to the tumor quickly and without radiation exposure to your family or the hospital staff. Because HDR brachytherapy is performed on an outpatient basis it is much more convenient and cost-effective than LDR brachytherapy which usually requires a hospital stay.

In addition, LDR brachytherapy requires patients to remain as still as possible for days at a time, exposing them to risk of deep vein thrombosis. This risk is eliminated with the much more rapid HDR brachytherapy.

The treatment planning system permits doctors to precisely control the amount of radiation delivered to the region, and to limit the amount of radiation that reaches nearby healthy tissue.

Vietnam-Russia economic forum held in Moscow

Almost 400 Vietnamese and Russian businesses attended the Vietnam-Russia
economic forum entitled, “Strategic partnership – comprehensive
cooperation” in Moscow , Russia , on Sept. 15.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Vice President of the Chamber of
Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation George Petrov said that
Russia and Vietnam have combined actions based on the fine
traditional friendship, mutual trust and understanding, active political
dialogue and cooperation for mutual interest.

Two-way trade value recorded a year-on-year increase of 8.2 percent to
more than 1.5 billion USD in 2009 despite the global economic crisis and
reached 924 million USD in the first half of the year, he said.

Vietnam now has 59 Russian-invested projects totalling more
than 576 million USD, excluding those of the oil and gas industry, he
added.

However, Petrov noted, the two countries have yet brought into play the full potential of the bilateral relationship.

He suggested the two countries’ businesses increase contacts,
exchange market information and further coordinate with each other in
gaining access to other regional markets.

He
expressed the hope that both countries would sign a number of
cooperation agreements to further promote the strategic partnership and
comprehensive cooperation during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s
upcoming visit to Vietnam .

Petrov also called on Vietnamese businesses to invest in and cooperate with Russia ’s Far East and Sibir regions.

Vice President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)
Pham Gia Tuc took the occasion to introduce almost 100 Vietnamese
businesses participating in the Vietnamese Days in Russia expo and
VCCI’s business promotion and connectivity activities.

For his part, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang spoke of
the advantages of Vietnam ’s business and investment environment,
saying that the nation is an active developing market which is safe and
stable and deeply integrating into the global economy.

Vietnam ’s policy considers the foreign-invested businesses as
part of Vietnamese business and creates favourable conditions for
investors, he confirmed.

He called on overseas
Vietnamese business people in Russia to invest directly or through
joint ventures in the home country.

A seminar on
the establishment of Vietnamese businesses’ representative offices in
Russia and a meeting between the two countries’ businesses took place
within the framework of the forum./.

VN, RoK cooperate in industrial design

The Trade Promotion Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade
(MoIT) will cooperate with the Republic of Korea (RoK) Institute
of Design Promotion (RoK IDP) in the field of industrial design.

Under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in
Hanoi on Sept. 15, the two sides will share experience and the latest
information regarding industrial design, cooperate in holding
seminars and fairs as well as assist enterprises in human resource
training.

Addressing the signing ceremony, Director
of the RoK IDP Hyuntae Kim said the MoU is seen as the first step for
RoK, a powerhouse in the industrial design, to work out aid programmes
for Vietnam .

Deputy Minister of Industry and
Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien said the cooperation will open up opportunities
for Vietnamese enterprises to glean experience from the RoK in order to
accelerate the sector in their own country.

According to the MoIT, investment-trade relations between Vietnam
and the RoK have developed well. In 2009, two-way trade turnover between
the two countries reached nine billion USD despite the impacts of the
global economic crisis. The figure is expected to climb to 20 billion
USD in 2015./.

Industry sector seeks energy-saving solutions

The industry sector is banking on an international exposition opened in
Ho Chi Minh City on September 15 to gain know-how on energy savings
strategies from 250 exhibiting companies representing 30 countries and
territories.

For example, exhibitor Company 21
Power Corp was committed to providing energy management solutions for
stable and sustainable supply of electricity. Tech United Pte Ltd.
offers lighting energy-saving solutions, LED, and quality designs. CE
Globaltest Pte Ltd. showcases electric and electronic measuring and
testing equipment which is highly efficient and friendly to the
environment.

As part of the event, a workshop on
“Sustainable and competitive solutions for a developing economy” will be
held. The workshop aims to provide industrial experts and managers with
clean and efficient solutions to improve construction quality and
energy efficiency. Its contents are expected to update audiences on
recent rapid changes in the industry sector and provide a forecast on
the development of innovative solutions in the future.

Vice President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hoang
Van Dung said the exhibition would provide opportunities for domestic
and international enterprises to boost cooperation and business.

Daniel Cheung, Director of the Hong Kong Exhibition Service Company,
pointed out a need for Vietnam to develop a sustainable power source
and address issues related to an environment appealing to foreign
investment in energy projects./.

US helps Vietnam with new customs procedures

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) will provide non-refundable
aid of 718,600 USD for Vietnam to implement the National Single
Window Customs Project.

The agreement was signed
between Finance Deputy Minister Do Hoang Anh Tuan and the US
Ambassador to Vietnam Michael W. Michalak in Hanoi on September 15.

The project is to assist Vietnam ’s national
steering committees and agencies on the ASEAN single window (ASW)
mechanism to define ways of carrying out a plan in this field approved
on October 21, 2009. It is expected to facilitate trade, increase the
collection of taxes and strengthen State management on Vietnam ’s
import-export activities as well as ensuring the country’s commitments
to the Agreement and a protocol to establish and implement the ASW
Mechanism.

The project focuses on researching and
assessing the existing legal framework, information technology systems
and procedures and give recommendations on how to carry out
administrative procedures.

The new legal framework
on a national single window mechanism will be introduced in three
government agencies, including the General Department of Customs, the
Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Industry and Trade./.

Curbing tech piracy can stimulate Asian economies: report

A sales assistant arranges compact discs at a stall in a Jakarta mall.

Photo: AFP

SINGAPORE - Asian economies led by China can reap a financial windfall and create hundreds of thousands of jobs in a few years by cracking down on software piracy, an industry study showed Wednesday.

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) and research group IDC said nearly 60 percent of the software programs installed on personal computers in 2009 across the world's largest region were unlicensed.

Reducing software piracy to about 50 percent in four years would produce almost US$41 billion in economic activity, create 350,000 new jobs and generate nearly $9 billion in taxes, according to the joint study.

Achieving the same reduction in two years would boost the economic benefits for the region by another 33 percent, a press statement said.

Worldwide, a cut in piracy rates from the current 42 percent to 32 percent over four years would add $142 billion to the global economy, 500,000 new jobs and $32 billion dollars in tax revenues, the study said.

Roland Chan, BSA's senior regional director for marketing, said the Asia-Pacific region will capture "more than three fifths" of the new jobs forecast be generated globally because of the size of the market.

"Reducing software piracy is an opportunity to inject much-needed stimulus into Asia Pacific economies," he said.

"This study clearly shows that aggressively fighting software piracy today means greater economic benefits tomorrow -- for the region's economy, not just the software industry."

An earlier BSA-IDC report said 900 million software programs were installed on personal computers in the Asia-Pacific region in 2009.

Chan said he hoped the study results would help convince governments to improve their fight against piracy, which cost technology companies more than $50 billion in 2009.

"The primary message is to tell countries that if you do more in reducing your piracy rate, you're going to get more," Chan told AFP in an interview ahead of the study's launch on Wednesday.

"And if it is accelerated, the economic benefits will even be better."

According to the study, China stands to benefit the most if it further cuts down its piracy rate, which stood at 79 percent in 2009.

Of the estimated 350,000 jobs expected to be generated in the Asia-Pacific region, China will account for 250,000 due to the size of its software industry, the study showed.

India will account for nearly 60,000 jobs, followed by South Korea at over 10,000 and Japan at 9,500.

China will also benefit most in terms of revenues and taxes, the study said.

The report looked at 13 economies that make up 98 percent of the region's packaged software market -- Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Piracy rates in the 13 economies in 2009 ranged from a low of 21 percent in Japan to 86 percent in Indonesia, BSA said.

The BSA is an industry group that works for copyright protection and counts among its members some of the world's biggest technology companies as well a local software developers.

Asia defies global newspaper meltdown

Photo: AFP

HONG KONG - Asian newspapers are defying the global print media meltdown while their counterparts in the West spill red ink and lay off staff in droves as readers flock to online news.

Print advertising -- the lifeblood of a newspaper's revenue base -- has plunged 47 percent in the hard-hit North American market since 2005, while the outlook for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) remains tepid, says a new study by global consultancy Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

However, Asia's newspaper advertising is expected to rise 3.1 percent annually through 2014 to US$27.3 billion, according to PwC's "Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2010-2014."

The trend toward online news has been slower in Asia where newspapers remain popular, including Japan which has the world's highest newspaper readership.

"In Asia Pacific and Latin America...newspaper readership has held up and is increasing, which accounts for their stronger performance in recent years and faster growth rates compared with North America and EMEA in the next five years," the report said.

Spending in Asia's newspaper sector will rise at 2.3 percent annually through 2014, it added.

In Hong Kong, the city's myriad Chinese and English-language newspapers wage a daily battle for readers in one of the world's most saturated newspaper markets.

Leading tabloid Apple Daily boosts its coverage with fanciful animated depictions of gruesome and violent news stories, and employs an army of young reporters who will stop at little to get the story.

"It is cut-throat competition," says Cheng Ming-yan, Apple's chief editor, adding, "We're not conservative -- we have very aggressive reporting."

Number-one selling Oriental Daily News (ODN) once sued its bitter rival Apple over claims that its reporters tricked ODN colleagues into divulging exclusive stories.

"It is pretty intense -- Hong Kong has always been a newspaper town," said Steve Shellum, executive editor of the English-language daily The Standard.

Newspapers reach almost 80 percent of adults in Hong Kong, a city of seven million, and its two biggest-selling papers each claim a daily readership above 1.2 million, according to "World Press Trends 2010" produced by newspaper association WAN-IFRA.

"Chinese people are eager to get information from newspapers because, traditionally, that was the way their mother and father spent their leisure time," said Cheng at Apple Daily.

But circulation at Hong Kong's paid dailies has still been dropping as free newspapers muscle in on their turf.

Apple not only plans to continue using cartoon animations in its print edition, it is also moving to video with sometimes questionable depictions of news -- all in a bid to attract the next generation.

"It's very important and will become more important. Young people have grown up with cartoons -- they want the image," Cheng said.

Apple's computer-generated video of Tiger Woods' now ex-wife running after his car swinging a golf club -- after hearing of the golf legend's infidelities -- was an Internet sensation, and seems unlikely to be a one-hit wonder.

"Our new business is to focus on live animation news," Cheng said.

That swing to online and video news will ultimately spell doom for newspapers even in the Asian market, said Chan Yuen-ying, director of the University of Hong Kong's journalism school.

"(The decline) is hitting Asia slower and media owners still have some time, but the door is closing," Chan said.

"I don't think there is reason to be optimistic."

VietNam Business

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Trieu An hospital expands services

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