Deadliest catch news

Coral is seriously damaged by crown-of-thorns starfish. — Photo provided by Nguyễn Văn Giởi

Gia Lộc

BÌNH THUẬN — During a dive on a small island off the coast of Bình Thuận Province, Nguyễn Văn Giởi and other tour guides were able to see hundreds of poisonous crown-of-thorns starfish, which are coral predators.

“When diving to look at coral reefs on Hòn Tranh isle, we saw crown-of-thorns starfish seriously devastate the coral reefs,” said Giởi, a tour guide on Phú Quý Island in the south-central coastal province.

He and other tour guides on the larger island of Phú Quý decided to set up a team “to catch these poisonous crown-of-thorns starfish to save coral.”

According to the Australian Institute of Marine Science, crown-of-thorns starfish are marine invertebrates that feed on coral and occur naturally on reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific region, and when conditions are right, they can reach plague proportions and devastate hard coral communities.

The institute’s research has revealed that crown-of-thorns starfish are a major cause of coral loss on the Great Barrier Reef.

These starfish can grow to over 50 centimetres in diametre, and one individual can consume over 13 square metres of coral reef per year, according to the New Heaven Reef Conservation Programme’s team in Thailand.

When Giởi and other members of the team have free time, they go to Hòn Tranh isle to catch crown-of-thorns starfish.

“In one day, we can catch nearly 500-700 starfish. We often catch them in summer because the water is warm for diving,” Giởi said.

A member of a tour guide team catches crown-of-thorns starfish. Photo provided by Nguyễn Văn Giởi

Compared to the past, more and more crown-of-thorns starfish are appearing because of an imbalance in the marine ecosystem, he said, adding that starfish predators such as giant triton snail and sea urchins are overfished on the island to serve tourism.

Sea urchins play a critical role in maintaining the balance between coral and algae.

Nguyễn Trọng Tấn, another member of the team, said: “Diving to see coral reefs on Hòn Tranh isle appeals to tourists. So when coral is lost by crown-of-thorns starfish, tourists will no longer like to come to the island. His job as a tour guide also will be affected.”

Tấn has called on other tour guides to join his team to catch crown-of-thorns starfish when they have free time.

Crown-of-thorns starfish are coral predators. Photo provided by Nguyễn Văn Giởi

Crown-of-thorns starfish are very poisonous and dangerous for divers, he said. When their spines accidentally hit a diver, it causes swelling and severe inflammation which could be life-threatening.

Giởi said: “We’re very careful when catching starfish. We are working for sustainable tourism development on the island.”

The Bình Thuận Province’s Fisheries Division estimates that each 100 square metres contains 50-60 crown-of-thorns starfish.

Bình Thuận Province has two marine reserves in Cù Lao Câu and Phú Quý islands.

Phú Quý Island is surrounded by a thick ring of coral reefs. Its deepest point is 42 metres. The island has 72 species of seaweed, 134 species of stony coral and 15 species of mollusks.

According to the Fisheries Division, 10 years ago, the sea surrounding the island was recognised as having the most beautiful coral reefs in the country. However, over the last several years, coral reefs have been devastated or lost.

That is why the province set up the marine reserve on the island.

The division has been working with the island’s People’s Committee to carry out a crown-of-thorns starfish monitor programme. Their staff dive to catch and find them.

It has also asked for help from the Directorate of Fisheries and Institute of Oceanography in Khánh Hòa Province’s Nha Trang city to provide the optimal methods to kill them. — VNS

At the opening ceremony of the 13th Party Congress, Mr. Trong presented the report of 12th Party Central Committee on documents submitted to the 13th Party Congress, which emphasized the goals: improving leadership, ruling capacity and fighting strength of the Party; building a clean, strong, Party and political system; strengthening people’s trust in the Party, State, and socialist regime; arousing aspirations for developing a prosperous and happy country, promoting the will and strength of great national solidarity combined with the power of the times; promoting comprehensively and synchronously the cause of innovation, industrialization and modernization; building and firmly defending the Fatherland, maintaining a peaceful and stable environment; and striving for the goal of turning Vietnam into a socialist-oriented developed country by mid-21st century.

The specific objectives in the coming decades are: By 2025, Vietnam will be a developing country with modern industry, surpassing the low middle-income status. By 2030, Vietnam will be a developing country with modern industry and high average income. By 2045, it will become a developed country with high income.

VietNamNet would like to introduce articles on this topic with the desire to contribute a voice for Vietnam to achieve these goals.

General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed that in all the work of the Party and State, it is necessary to always thoroughly grasp the viewpoint “people are the roots”. Photo: Pham Hai

Among these issues, there is a core point “Taking people as the roots”. General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed that in all the work of the Party and State, it is necessary to always thoroughly grasp the viewpoint “people are the roots”; truly believe, respect and promote the people’s mastery, persevere in implementing the motto “people know, people discuss, people do, people check, people supervise, people benefit”.

He said: “The people are the center, the subject of the cause of renovation, construction and defense of the country, all policies must really come from life, aspirations, rights and legitimate interests of the people, taking the happiness and well-being of the people as the target to strive. To tighten the close relationship between the Party and the people, rely on the people to build the Party, and consolidate and strengthen the people’s trust in the Party, the State and the socialist regime”.

There is no need to repeat lessons in distant history, but only see recent proof, when the country took “the people as the roots” and “promoted the people’s mastery”, then the country prospered, made many breakthrough achievements, and mobilized material and spiritual resources of the people for national development.

Great development potential

After the Doi Moi (reform) policy was launched at the 6th Party Congress in 1986, the single-component economy was transformed into a multi-component one which essentially untied the people so that the people could contribute to national construction. The economy became as fresh, vibrant, prosperous and diverse as it is today.

A series of very high development goals that require persistent aspirations have been set at this Congress: By 2025, Vietnam will be a developing country with modern industry, surpassing low middle-income status. By 2030, Vietnam will be a developing country with modern industry and high average income. By 2045, it will become a developed country with high income.

A country with a population of 100 million people with a quarter under the age of 35 and a favorable geostrategic position like Vietnam, has enormous development potential. Setting development goals with these specific milestones is very relevant.

It takes a lot of simultaneous and persistent factors and solutions to fulfill that aspiration, but the most important factor must be the Vietnamese people. Vietnam must take the “people as the roots” to continue promoting human capacity and material resources of the people for national development, for rapid and sustainable economic growth.

Lessons from Korea’s achievements

Looking back at the previous periods, economic growth was not fast enough to narrow the development gap, to catch up with and achieve the set goals. The growth rate tended to decrease, from an average of 7.34% per year in the 1991-2000 period to 6.82% per year in the 2001-2010 period, and about 5.9% in the 2011-2020 period.

If compared with the set target of 7%-8% per year on average of the Socio-Economic Development Strategy for the period 2011-2020, the current average growth rate is relatively low – lower than that of other countries during the first period of industrialization.

Since 1990, Vietnam had only five years reaching an average growth rate of 8.21% per year (the 1991-1995 period).

In 30 years (1960 – 1990), South Korea’s average GDP growth rate was 9.58% per year, including 14 years with over 10%; the highest rate was 14.8% (1973). In the period 1977 – 2007, China’s average growth rate was 10.02% per year, with the highest rate (1984) of 15.14% and 15 years with growth rate of over 10%.

According to the World Bank (WB), Vietnam needs to maintain a growth rate of 7% in the next two decades to reach the high income threshold by 2045. The potential growth rate has slowed to around 6.5% in the past decade.

Moreover, in the coming time, forecasts on Vietnam’s growth show that without reform, Vietnam’s growth potential will continue to decline. As workforce growth slows down, the potential growth rate is estimated to reduce to 6.3% over the next decade and then gradually decrease to 5.5% over the period 2041-2045.

The Central Institute for Economic Management cited the World Bank in a recent report that Korea, after achieving Vietnam’s current level of per capita income in 1972, doubled its per capita income after only 10 years and multiplied it by 5 times after 20 years.

Such rapid achievement is the result of a combination of increased investment in physical and human resources and, above all, improved efficiency, as reflected in the increasing contribution of productivity (measured in total factor productivity – TFP) to GDP, from 16% in the 1970s to 43% in the 1980s and 56% in the 2000s.

Therefore, it can be argued that Korea succeeded in transitioning from a middle-income to high-income economy by more effectively managing existing resources rather than just accumulating more resources.

Making clearer market factors

In the draft political and economic documents of the 13th Party Congress, there are a number of developmental views similar to that argument, especially the economic model – “modern market economy, international integration, operate fully and synchronously in line with the laws of the market economy…”.

The draft political report requires continuing to improve the institution, fully and comprehensively develop market factors and types of markets. Develop a market for factors of production (goods, services; finance, money; science, technology; land; labor) so that the market plays a decisive role in mobilizing, distributing, and using use of resources.

Thus, in the next decade, market factors and types of markets will continue to be clarified and improved so that resources will be allocated and used more effectively.

Instead of the ask-give mechanism in resource allocation, the market will promote a fair, transparent role in resource allocation, so that people and businesses that are the most deserving know how to use them most effectively will have access to resources.

To better implement the mechanism of resource allocation according to the market, the State will not lose money or people, but people and businesses have more resources for development. A more prosperous and developed country can ensure that “no one will be left behind”.

Tu Giang

More importantly, unlike previous technologies most of which had to be imported, Vietnam has gradually mastered and is now capable of producing 5G equipment, a strategically important step in Vietnam’s development of information and communications technology.

Off to a good start

Viettel was the pioneer in announcing commercial 5G trials in late November with coverage in the Hoan Kiem, Ba Dinh and Hai Ba Trung Districts of Hanoi, where owners of 5G-enabled devices can now use the service for free at a speed of up to 1.5 gigabits per second, far higher than 4G.

Later in mid-December, Vinaphone also announced its 5G coverage in some central districts in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City as well as two demonstration centres so that those without 5G devices can experience the new technological features.

Mobifone also quickly caught up by piloting commercial 5G services in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to some experts, mobile carriers’ rush to roll out 5G services at this time is merely competition between brands and does not precisely reflect what the domestic telecommunications market will look like in the future.

With 3G and 4G technologies, Vietnam was a latecomer, but with 5G, Vietnam is one of the frontrunners. Although the trials are just an initial step in the long process to widespread rollout, the carriers’ efforts have demonstrated the local communications sector’s capacity and readiness to provide the new technologies to the people.

With exceptionally fast speeds, extremely low latency and very high density (up to one million devices in one square kilometre), 5G is expected to revolutionise how society functions in the future, especially in the fields of advanced technology, healthcare, transport and education, laying the foundation for Vietnam to master and apply new technologies as well as succeed in its national digital transformation drive.

Taking on challenges to rise up

Vietnam is pioneering 5G, an opportunity to master new technologies and catch up with the development pace of the world. But its position as a trailblazer means Vietnam cannot learn from anyone else’s experience and will have to find its own path to development. 5G will bring with it tremendous opportunities in the future but there are already also quite a few challenges at present.

First of all, carriers face a risk that 5G-enabled devices have not yet been widely popular with consumers at the time of mass rollout and that 5G business models are as of yet not proven to be effective.

In addition, demand for this technology is not yet very high, making carriers find it hard to balance costs and benefits. However, experts state that if Vietnam wants to develop, it needs to see a radical change of mindset and it must dare to meet the challenges head on, otherwise Vietnam will always be a technologically backward country.

The history of Vietnam’s communications sector has shown that successes have followed the appropriate decisions to embrace new technologies. In the early years of the Doi Moi reform when 95% of the world was still using analogue communications, Vietnam took the bold step and adopted digital communications immediately, resulting in the country achieving remarkable progress in this sector.

Then in 1997, Vietnam once again showed its progressive mindset by agreeing to open the door to the internet, opening a new living space and digital space for each of its citizens, connecting Vietnam with the world and laying a significant foundation for Vietnam to enter into important agreements such as the bilateral trade agreement with the United States and accession to the World Trade Organisation, helping deepen the country’s international economic integration and speed up national development.

The launch of 2G technology in 1993, followed by 2.5G, 2.75G and then 3G and 4G, has brought mobile phones, a luxurious item during the 1990s, to 100% of the population at the lowest possible cost. But it should be acknowledged that when transitioning to 3G and 4G, Vietnam fell behind the rest due to a failure to update policies and the management mindset, a lag in technology and lack of new competitive factors.

The fourth industrial revolution is taking place at a rapid pace around the world and 5G is one of the key technologies in this revolution thanks to its high speeds and low latency, essential to many sectors. Therefore all countries should take advantage of this opportunity and Vietnam is also taking proactive steps to get on-board the 5G train.

Vietnam has certain advantages as it can produce many types of equipment and infrastructure necessary for 5G. The Ministry of Information and Communications has affirmed that mastering 5G equipment is strategically significant nationally and Vietnam is one of the few countries capable of doing so. From now on Vietnam will actively act as a pioneer alongside the rest of the world with regards to technology, helping further stimulate the communications sector, making an even greater contribution to the country’s socio-economic development.

Little girl recovers after 12th-floor balcony fall

Dr Hoang Hai Duc from the National Children’s Hospital said the girl has recovered well. She does not have a fever, coughing, breathing difficulties and her urinary tract functions normally. Her hip has been relocated and put in a cast. X-ray results were normal. The results of the CT scan of her brain revealed it was also normal.

On March 4, the doctors will give her a thorough check-up including a chest X-ray and abdominal ultrasound. She will be discharged on March 5.

The little girl climbed out and fell off the 12th-floor balcony of the 60B Apartment Building on Nguyen Huy Tuong Street. A delivery man, Nguyen Ngoc Manh, who was waiting for his customer on the ground heard the scream and climbed onto the metal roof on the ground floor to catch the baby.

The baby was admitted to the National Children’s Hospital on February 28. Her health appeared to be in good condition and only suffered from a hip dislocation.

A province-wide ban on mobile karaoke services as well as food shipment to quarantine centers has been ordered by the leader of An Giang Province in southern Vietnam after the locale logged five new cases of COVID-19 transmission.

The direction was stated on Tuesday by Nguyen Thanh Binh, chairman of the An Giang People’s Committee, during his visit to COVID-19 prevention facilities, including control posts along the bank of the Binh Di River in Long Binh Town and the quarantine wards at Luong The Vinh High School in An Phu Town.

The fight against COVID-19 in the province is facing considerable threats as volatile developments of the epidemic have been reported in Cambodia, which adjoins An Giang, district-level officials reported during Binh’s visit.

Tran Hoa Hop, chairman of the An Phu District People’s Committee, said the campus of Luong The Vinh High School has been utilized to quarantine those entering the province from Cambodia since reports of the latest outbreak in the neighboring country first arrived on February 20.

“COVID-19 cases were reported in areas of Cambodia that are very close to Long Binh Town, which seriously concerned us as the topography in the border area here is tricky and harboring risks of illegal enttry,” Hop said.

Tu Quoc Tuan, director of the An Giang Department of Health, stated that the agency has required local hospials to prepare for COVID-19 treatment as the number of infected individuals among the Vietnamese diaspora in Cambodia is soaring.

“Our resolution is sending suspicious cases to COVID-19 wards of our district-level hospitals to prevent them from penetrating further into the country,” Tuan said.

Chairman Binh pointed out that the provinces surrounding An Giang have seen imported cases from Cambodia, which calls for stricter patrols to detect illegal entrances via canal networks.

“Quarantine wards must ensure safe distancing between each room and bed. Food from outside must be prohibited,” he underlined.

“Considering its risk of enabling transmission, mobile karaoke must also be banned in the whole province.”

A form of entertainment that thrives off the crowds at street stalls in Vietnam, mobile karaoke is often run by a duo, one of whom will try to catch attention by singing onto a portable loudspeaker while the other will sell snacks to the drinkers or diners.

They also let singing enthusiasts take over the micro at a certain price.

This is not the first time mobile karaoke has been brought up as a pressing issue by Vietnamese authorities.

On Friday, the Ho Chi Minh City government ordered relevant authorities to crack down on mobile karaoke services following complaints about their loudness at night.

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