Addressing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC)’s 11th Senior Disaster Management Officials Forum in central Nghe An province, she said that a large number of children, who constitute 28.3 percent of Vietnam’s population, live in areas prone to disasters where there are multiple development challenges. Child-centred disaster risk reduction is among effective measures to protect children. Photo for illustration: giaoduc.net.vn  Children are the first to be affected by disruption of services - lost opportunities in education, nutrition, health care and protection have life-long impact, and as a result, inequities are passed onto the next generation, she said. She noted that with the support of the Government of Japan and the UNICEF, Vietnam has achieved key results on child-centered disaster risk reduction as part of the recent emergency response to drought and salt water intrusion crisis, … [Read more...]

Present at the event were Senior Lieutenant General Tran Don, Deputy-Minister of National Defense, Major General Nguyen Phuong Dien, Director of the Information and Training Department under the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People’s Army and Major General Vu Quoc Binh, Director of the Military Medical Department, amongst others. Senior Lieutenant General Tran Don speaking at the event The Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Center was established on September 15, 2012 with European-standard equipment and facilities. At present, the center is home to more than 70 experienced doctors and medical workers, who have been trained in both international and domestic cancer hospitals. The center has become one of the country’s leading cancer treatment addresses. The center usually accommodates around 230-260 inpatients and annually provides radiotherapy for 25,000 patients. Additionally, the center … [Read more...]

In its latest effort to deal with severe flooding, Ho Chi Minh City has employed a private firm to pump flood water from the city's inundated streets. Quang Trung Industry Joint Stock Company rolled out its pump on Nguyen Huu Canh Street in Binh Thanh District on Thursday and started sucking up the 30-40 centimeters that had covered the street. It took the machine around 20 minutes to clear the street. The floods on Nguyen Huu Canh were the result of a high tide, and the water was sent back to the Saigon River with the trash filtered out. It was the second time the company's pump has been tested this week. Nguyen Tang Cuong, a representative from Quang Trung Industry, said the machine cost VND88 billion ($3.87 million) and is now ready to be deployed any time it floods. Nguyen Hoang Anh Dung, deputy director of the city’s Steering Center for the Urban Flood Control Program, said the second test had shown satisfactory results. However, he said the … [Read more...]

Police in the southern province of Binh Phuoc have found the body of a schoolgirl who was washed down a drain on a flooded street during heavy rain two days ago. The body of the 11th grader was found in a lake 500 meters (1,640 feet) from the drain on Friday morning. “The body was covered with weeds and garbage,” said a member of the search team. The girl, named Uyen, was driving a motorbike from school on Wednesday afternoon when a thunderstorm struck and quickly flooded the street. She was forced to dismount her bike and push it to the sidewalk, but slipped in the process and was swept away. Eyewitnesses said that it all happened so fast they were unable to help her. An official said the water rose at least 0.8 meters in just half an hour during the downpour. Apparently, the drain was not covered by a grate at the time. Locals said the pipe runs 25 meters under the street and into the lake. The floodwater on the street is very rough every time it … [Read more...]

A highly drug-resistant malaria superbug has spread from Cambodia to the southern part of Vietnam, testing the limits of the country's treatment capabilities, scientists said. The single multidrug resistant malaria parasite lineage (PfPailin) has spread to the south of Vietnam where it is responsible for “alarming rates” of first-line treatment failure, the scientists said in a letter for the October 2017 edition of the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. The dominant PfPailin was first identified in western Cambodia in 2008, and has also spread to northeastern Thailand and southern Laos, it said. “The evolution and subsequent transnational spread of this single fit multidrug-resistant malaria parasite lineage is of international concern,” it said. That, together with the subsequent loss of partner antimalarial drugs in the Greater Mekong subregion, presents one of the greatest threats to the control and elimination of malaria, it said. Malaria … [Read more...]

Vinamilk’s chief marketing officer, Phan Minh Tien (R), and Chr. Hansen’s vice president, Lasse Nagell, sign a strategic co-operation agreement in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Thursday.—VNA/VNS Photo Pham Van Thang   Vinamilk, Viet Nam’s largest dairy company, signed what it calls an agreement for strategic co-operation with Denmark’s Chr.Hansen Company in Copenhagen on Thursday. This is the second time since 2011 that Viet Nam Dairy Products JSC – as it is formally known as -- is signing a deal with the Danish firm to source European-standard probiotics for its formula milk, yogurt, drinking yogurt, and others. According to Vinamilk, between 2011 and 2016, after it signed the deal with Chr.Hansen and other food nutrition companies, sales of its formula milk and yogurt jumped two- to four-fold, doubling … [Read more...]

Since resuming in early August, Saigon's sidewalk campaign has been indiscriminately clearing restaurants, constructions and vehicles that occupy District 1's sidewalks. However, Doan Ngoc Hai, the district's vice chairman and the man behind the campaign, has started to show some leniency. District 1's inspection team, personally led by Hai, returned for another round of inspections on Thursday afternoon. The team soon discovered a 7-seater car bearing a diplomatic license plate parked on the sidewalk outside the Panamanian Consulate General on Le Thanh Ton Street. The driver, who showed up 15 minutes later, argued that diplomatic cars are exempt from the rule and are allowed to park on the sidewalks. A diplomatic car on the sidewalk outside the Panamanian Consulate General. Photo by VnExpress/Duy Tran. Hai disagreed with the driver and reaffirmed that vehicles are not allowed to park on the sidewalks. “Consulate employees … [Read more...]

VietinBank Quang Nam branch. Getting access to funding remains a big concern for start-ups and SMEs in Viet Nam. — VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet Executives from start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were in attendance at a conference titled “Access to capital for startups” in HCM City on Thursday. According to Ho Trong Lai, chairman of strategy consultancy Heaven Light, SMEs and startups find it hard to access capital because they do not have information about the sources of funding, do not know how to go about soliciting funding from investors and lack the salesmanship needed to sell their ideas to investors. Many entrepreneurs complain that they do not know where to go to look for capital or how to meet with investors. Lai said it is like a student coming and asking where they can get scholarships. “You have to do your homework first. Nowadays there are a lot of … [Read more...]

Many students attend the conference on Thursday in HCM City. — VNS Photo Thu Ngan The two-day 4th International Conference on Finance and Economics which opened on Thursday in HCM City is focusing on innovation and sustainable entrepreneurship. The event, hosted by Ton Duc Thang University, seeks to create a link between scholarly research and the reality of the business world. It is being attended by hundreds of experts, academics and students from Viet Nam and other countries and territories like Germany, Italy, Australia, US, Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and India. It will publish theoretical findings, comments and novel propositions in the fields of management, marketing, international business, economics, finance, accounting, hospitality, and tourism. Many studies on the Vietnamese market have been tabled at the conference. They include the effects of information on the stock … [Read more...]

A booth at the International Agriculture Trade Fair being held at HCM City’s Phu Tho Indoor Stadium from September 21 to 24. — VNS Photo Xuan Huong More than 200 local and foreign companies are displaying their products at the 17th International Agriculture Trade Fair, which opened in HCM City on Thursday. The products include regional agricultural specialties, safe foods and the latest equipment and technologies used in food preservation and processing and agricultural production. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dao Van Ho, director of the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Centre for Agriculture, said AgroViet 2017 seeks to enable organisations and individuals to market their agro-forestry, fisheries and handicraft products and introduce new agricultural technologies. It also offers provinces and cities the opportunity to promote their products, potentials and strengths and solicit investment in agriculture, … [Read more...]