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The fifth storm to enter theEast Sea this year is heading to the central region of Vietnam. — Photo kttv.gov.vn

According to Mai Van Khiem, director of the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, the storm would directly affect central provinces, especially Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue and Da Nang with wind speeds of 90-100 km per hour and sometimes hitting 135 km per hour.

Heavy rain will blanket the central provinces from Thursday afternoon to Friday night, he said, warning about high risk of flash flood and landslides in the central region.

By 1 pm on Wednesday, the storm’s eye was about 680 km away to the south east of Hoang Sa (Paracels) with the strongest wind of 60-75 km per hour, sometimes reaching 90-100 km per hour.

The storm is moving west-northwest.

It’s expected that by 1pm on Friday, the storm eye will be on the waters close to provinces from Quang Bình to Quang Ngai with wind at the storm eye reaching 100-135 km per hour or more.

After making landfall in central provinces from Quang Bình to Da Nang on Friday afternoon or evening, the storm would be weakened to become a tropical low pressure.

About 1am on Saturday, the heart of the tropical low pressure is on the border area of Lao and Thailand with strongest wind reducing to 40-50 km per hour.

Meeting with ministries and agencies on Wednesday morning to make preparations, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung raised alert levels, calling for active and timely actions to respond to the storm’s movements.

He asked localities, border guards and the transport sector to tighten control over the operation of fishing vessels and tourist ships at sea so the vessels/ships would avoid entering storm-affected areas and find safe shelter.

By 10am on Wednesday, border guards informed 285,384 people on 58,345 vessels about the storm and instructed them to keep away from possibly affected areas.

According to Border Guard Command, by Thursday morning, about 700 vessels were in the areas possibly affected by the storm. The number does not include vessels/boats/ships that are operating in coastal areas.

Dung asked localities to instruct vessels to head to shelters, ensure safety for human life and property, particularly assist people to move/reinforce aquaculture growing facilities as the central region was a hub of aquaculture production with high economic value in Vietnam.

Localities were also asked to have evacuation plans in place to ensure safety for people living in vulnerable areas like coastal areas, river mouths and landslide/flood-prone areas.

Anti-flood measures must be taken into account to protect urban areas and agriculture production.

The deputy PM asked for review and promptly fix problems at dams and reservoirs of hydropower plants.

Now, many reservoirs in the central region are dry, so their operators must closely oversee and adjust the storage of water to ensure the reservoirs’ safety.

He assigned specific tasks to ministries and agencies, urging them to make use available resources for actively, effectively and timely responding to the storm.

Vice head of Central Steering Committee on Natural Disasters Prevention and Control Tran Quang Hoai said that proper attention must be paid to reservoirs because damages were found at 55 reservoirs in the central region including 16 ones Thanh Hoa, ten in Nghe An, eight in Ha Tinh, 12 in Quang Bình, six in Quang Tri and three in Thua Thien-Hue.

Another 41 reservoirs are under construction and 99 locations along key sea dyke system from Thanh Hoa to Da Nang need to be protected when the storm makes landfall.

There are also 26 dyke works including 13 carried out on sea dyke system or rivers mouths are being built.

PM urges response efforts as tropical storm heading towards central region

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on September 16 issued a notice, asking relevant ministries, agencies and localities to keep a close eye on the development of Storm Noul and put forth specific tasks.

People’s Committees of cities and provinces need to ensure safety of activities at sea, coordinate with concerned forces to control the operation of vessels, and guide local residents to take preventive measures in order to protect crops, houses and other facilities.

Human resources and equipment should be ready for the evacuation of people in dangerous areas, with attention paid to COVID-19 prevention and control, according to the notice.

The PM has warned of flash floods and landslides in mountainous areas after heavy rains, saying measures are needed to ensure the safety of reservoirs, especially important ones or those under construction.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will provide update about the storm for people and relevant agencies.

The Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control will inform vessels of dangerous areas, and instruct ministries, agencies and localities in response efforts.

Specific tasks have also been assigned to other ministries and agencies in the notice.

At 4 a.m. on September 17, storm Noul is forecast to be around 450 km to the southeast of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, off the central coast, with a maximum wind speed of 90 kph.

Weather forecasting centers in Japan, Hong Kong and the Philippines, and Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) – a leading forecaster and mapper of tropical storm activity – predict the storm will keep strengthening until wind speeds reach 110-120 kph and head toward central Vietnam.

Storm Noul is the fifth formed this year in the East Sea. The fourth storm, Higos, hit last month, making landfall in China.

Natural disasters like droughts, floods and landslides killed 133 people in Vietnam last year and caused losses worth around 7 trillion VND (302.6 million USD), according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

In the first half of this year they claimed 47 lives and caused losses worth 3.3 trillion VND.

The East Sea could see 11-13 storms and tropical depressions this year, half of them affecting the country, meteorologists have warned.

Danang prepares for Storm Noul

The central city of Danang is making preparations to respond to Storm Nodul which has been forecasted to hit central Vietnam soon.

On Wednesday, the Danang Central Steering board Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control issued a dispatch on the response.

The typhoon has been predicted to move towards north-northwest within the next 24 hours.

By 7 am on Thursday, the storm would lay centred in the area which is around 350 kilometres far from the Southeast of the Paracel Islands with the strongest wind power of 75-100 kilometres per hour in the East Sea.

Between 24-48 hours, the storm would continue strengthening. By 7 am on Friday, the storm eye would be off the central provinces from Quang Tri to Quang Nam with a wind force of 100-135 kilometres per hour.

Danang has been warned of being directly affected by the storm, so the municipal Central Steering board Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control called for ships and boats to find shelters to avoid the storm.

The border force has been asked to keep contact with boat and ship owners for the rescue in necessary cases.— VNS/VNA/Dtinews

Corporate bond rush heads for slowdown.

According to fresh data from the Hanoi Stock Exchange, as of January 22, there were seven successful corporate bond private placements with a total value of $279 million and two public offerings of $70 million. The real estate sector accounted for $233.7 million, equivalent to 66.9 per cent of the total issued value.

Previously, over $17.82 billion of corporate bonds were issued last year, which increased by 38.5 per cent from end-2019 and 83.5 per cent from end-2018.

Albeit a decline in the last quarter of 2020’s issuance volume the real estate sector witnessed the largest corporate bond issuance volume in 2020 of over $6.09 billion, accounting for over 35 per cent of total issuance value at an average coupon rate of 10.52 per cent. The banking sector also made up for nearly 30 per cent, with an average coupon rate of 6.69 per cent, lower than 7.06 per cent in 2019. Some significant bond issuers included BIDV, VietinBank, HDBank, and TPBank.

The rush of corporate bond issuance has sought attention from yield-hunt investors in the face of ultra-low interest rates.

“Rising medium- and long-term capital demands to satisfy stricter regulations on credit safety limits and capital adequacy ratio in 2021 were putting much pressure on commercial banks to raise funds from bond issuance in late 2020,” explained Nguyen Tu Anh, director of the General Economic Department under the Central Party’s Economic Commission. “On the other hand, foreign investors have been closely engaged in the domestic debt market. In 2020, foreign investors were actively net buyers, expect only three months of slight net-selling, with a total net buying value of $179.7 million.”

However, the lack of transparency and independent credit rating agency makes the task of re-evaluating the debts much harder. According to Nguyen Hoang Duong, deputy director of the Banking and Finance Department under the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Decree No.153/2020/ND-CP dated December 31 on private offering and trading of corporate bonds in the domestic and international markets, stipulates that investors are responsible for their own investment decisions and risks.

As per Decree 153, corporate bonds for private offering shall be traded among professional securities investors only, except for cases of implementing judgment or decision of courts that have taken legal effect.

“The state cannot guarantee that issuers would fully pay interests and principal loans on time. Therefore, investors should be extra cautious of the legal framework, as well as dig deep into the full information of bonds they want to purchase. They would have to take responsibility for their own investment decisions and be willing to take risks when buying private bonds,” Duong said.

The MoF also cautioned investors to keep an eye on corporate bonds issued by companies that are members, subsidiaries, or affiliated firms of large corporations.

“Investors must pay close attention on the detailed information about stakeholders and organisational structure of the issuers. It is imperative to have a clear understanding of the companies’ financial health, their business activities, future outlook, and debt obligations. Specifically, do not just follow their parent companies’ reputation,” the MoF noted.

Bao Viet Securities Company added, “We believe that the demand for corporate bond issuance of domestic firms will also decrease, and insolvency risk may occur in a number of businesses in 2021. However, we believe that this risk is unlikely to spread and negatively affect the financial system.”

Nguyen Tu Anh of the General Economic Department cautioned, “Despite its rapid development in recent years, there are still several shortcomings hindering the industry. The scale of the Vietnamese corporate bond market still pales in comparison with regional peers. Furthermore, the secondary market has not been developed yet, and liquidity of corporate bonds after issuance is relatively low. An independent rating agency is still the major absent element.”

On a regional level, an improving global economic outlook and progress on pandemic vaccinations have pushed up bond yields in the emerging East Asia, including Vietnam. According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), steady expansion in both the government and corporate bond segments supported the growth.

Specifically, government bonds grew 7.1 per cent from the previous quarter to $58.8 billion at the end of December, accounting for 82.8 per cent of the country’s total bond stock. Meanwhile, corporate bonds also sustained their growth momentum, increasing 13.6 per cent from the previous quarter and 169.5 per cent from a year earlier to $12.2 billion.

“Bond markets in emerging East Asia continued to grow, mobilising funding for the region’s sustainable recovery from the pandemic,” said ADB chief economist Yasuyuki Sawada. “Successful vaccination campaigns, accommodative monetary policy stances, and easing of restrictions are spurring on economic activity and shifting the recovery into higher gear.”

VIR

by Xuân Đăng

A redemptorist monastery with a typical French colonial architecture that is one of the ancient religious buildings in Đà Lạt. VNS Photo Xuân Đăng

The Central Highlands city of Đà Lạt is famous for its cool climate, pine-scented air and mountain views. Often referred to as a “city in a forest”, “fog city” or “city of flowers”, it is also home to many old religious buildings.

Most of them were built during the French colonial period after the French founded the city as a resort town to get away from the humid, hot climate in the south.

Monasteries with arched windows and balconies with large glass doors are European in design, but are also in harmony with the gentle rhythm of the city.

Some monasteries are still places of prayer, while the rest have been assigned to state units for maintenance and repair or have been changed to become tourist attractions.

New life

The most typical of these is the Redemptorist monastery, which is now being used as a biological museum managed by the Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) Biological Institute.

The former monastery, built in 1952, is located in the middle of a pine forest on Tùng Lâm hill, seven kilometres from Đà Lạt.

The building was constructed with the typical symmetrical French architecture. At the centre of the building stands a cross with the Latin inscription “Copiosa Apud Eum Redemptio”, often translated as “With Him is plentiful Redemption”.

The monastery is built of solid stone. Each wall and brick is imprinted with time and from the back of the building, you can see a panoramic view of the city.

At the time of its construction, the monastery was only the second stone Catholic building in the country after Phát Diệm Church in the northern province of Ninh Bình.

It served as a place for Redemptorists, a Catholic congregation of missionaries, to worship and fulfill their missions.

Walking inside the monastery you can see classrooms arranged side by side along the corridors of the building.

The building consists of five floors with 120 rooms. The second floor now serves as the biology museum, which has seven display rooms and six storage rooms. Each room is divided into areas for displays of stuffed mammals, birds, reptiles, plants and others.

The collection of the museum includes 58 species of animals, including 38 rare species listed in Việt Nam’s Red Book.

The former Redemptorist monastery now serves as a biology museum with seven display rooms of stuffed mammals, birds, reptiles, plants and others. VNS Photo Xuân Đăng

Thanks to the beauty of the monastery, it imparts a nostalgic and mysterious feeling. It seems that at any angle or location in the monastery is a wonderful scene for a photo.

“This is my first time visiting this place. I’m very impressed with the architecture. I also took some great photos here with my family. It’s good to see that abandoned monasteries like this are maintained and used as a tourist destination,” Phương Thanh, 21, a tourist from Nha Trang City, told Việt Nam News.

The architecture of the monastery impresses visitors. VNS Photo Xuân Đăng

Hidden gem

Some old monasteries in Đà Lạt with  significant architectural values have been repaired to change their purpose of use.

An abandoned monastery located between Trần Quang Diệu and Hùng Vương streets is one.

The dirt path leading to the monastery makes it quite a hidden gem. Located in the north of the city and covering more than seven hectares, the chapel and residential quarters of the Franciscan monastery sit on a hill about 7 kilometres from the city centre.

For years, the iconic chapel has been an inspiration for Vietnamese artists and photographers, appearing in countless works of art.

An abandoned Franciscan monastery is one of the oldest and most valuable religious buildings in Đà Lạt. Photo Baolamdong.vn

Lê Tú, head of Lâm Đồng Province’s Association of Architects, said that even though the monastery is not classified as a heritage, architects appreciate it for its historic architectural value.

The monastery complex was designed by French architects Alexandre Leonard and Paul Veysseyre in the late 1930s and early 1940s, marking the onset of Benedictine missionaries from the West making their way to Việt Nam.

The architectural style of the chapel has a combination of the West and East with an Eastern-style tiled roof, and windows and main door bearing the typical Western Gothic architecture.

In 1954, the missionaries left the complex in the hands of Franciscan nuns before moving to Huế in the central region to set up the Thiên An Monastery.

In the following years, the nuns enlisted the help of Vietnamese architect Phạm Khánh Chù to design additional classrooms behind the existing complex, known as the Việt Nữ Commercial School, in 1969.

In 1979, the seven-hectare complex was handed over to the government. It was eventually abandoned for several years before becoming the campus for the HCM City University of Architecture in Đà Lạt.

At one point, nearly 20 families illegally occupied the chapel but were eventually moved out by local authorities.

Restoration plan

The complex is now under restoration to become a campus of the HCM City University of Architecture.

The project, co-headed by Huy Hoàng Company and the university, started by the end of February.

The former ancient monastery is currently under restoration. VNS Photo Xuân Đăng

A representative of HCM City University of Architecture told Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper that the university has plans to restore the site.

“We see the complex as a meaningful and valuable heritage site. Restoration costs are much more than rebuilding, but we must protect this significant landmark.”

Associate Professor Lê Văn Thương, rector of the university, said the chapel area and the dorm for monks will be preserved in their original state. Damaged parts such as doors and the roof will be repaired or replaced but will be consistent with the overall structure.

“We will keep the original architecture and materials of the building as much as possible. Only damaged and deteriorated places will be replaced with new materials. The paint will be the original colours,” Thương said.

When the work is completed, the chapel will become the university hall, while the dormitory area of ​​the monastery will remain as the residential function. The  classroom area will become a lecture hall for students, Thương said.

Ninh Việt Anh, teacher at HCM City University of Architecture, said that for works with historical architectural significance​, conservation must be carefully considered.

With conservation projects such as these, the city can keep its unique architectural features from the French colonial period and continue to be a popular tourist destination. VNS