South koreas lotte engineering and construction co

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch drew on interviews with more than 50 North Korean escapees to chronicle gruesome details of rape and other abuses perpetrated by security officers such as border guards, but also civilian officials. The nuclear-armed North, which is accused of widespread rights abuses by the United Nations and other critics, is a deeply hierarchical and patriarchal society where traditional values of deference to authority still hold sway. But the vast majority of both defectors and market traders in the North are female. Many women have more freedom of movement than men as they are not assigned a state job from which their absence will be noticed. North Korean women caught fleeing the country to China or who are repatriated from its neighbour face severe punishment including torture, imprisonment and sexual abuse, the report said. "Every night some woman would be forced to leave with a guard and be raped," said one abuse victim in her 30s who was once held at a border … [Read more...] about N Korean women face rampant sexual abuse by officials: HRW

They are defending their actions in face of a lawsuit by two rejected candidates.  According to the city's leaders, the bidding process to select contractors for the package to design, build and operate the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe wastewater treatment plant (XL-02) was done strictly and in accordance with regulations. The city therefore will stick with its decision to choose the Acciona-Vinci consortium as the package's contractor. "From the moment the city issued documents inviting contractors to apply until when we organized the bid evaluation, announcement of results and conclusions, the entire process was under strict supervision by the World Bank - the funding agency," the city's Vice Chairman Vo Van Hoan said Wednesday after the Samsung-Kolon-TSK and Suez-Posco consortiums filed lawsuits against the selection. The $307-million sub-project to design, build and operate the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe wastewater treatment plant is the largest package in the second phase of the HCMC … [Read more...] about HCMC dismisses controversies over contractor selection for wastewater treatment plant

The U.S. was Vietnam’s largest export market in the first five months with a value of $22.6 billion, up 28 percent year-on-year. China came second with $13.4 billion, down 2.6 percent, according to Vietnam's General Statistics Office.  Vietnam was the U.S.’s 12th largest supplier last year, but if this pace of growth is sustained for a full year, it could leapfrog Italy, France, the U.K., and India in the ranks of top exporters to the U.S, Bloomberg said in a new report. The country has become a standout in a region where the world’s export engines are largely hurting amid trade-war tensions and a slowing electronics cycle, the report added. U.S. Census Bureau data shows Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan all saw export contractions in April, while in the same month Vietnam’s exports gained 7.5 percent from a year earlier.  Experts have called Vietnam a "winner" of the trade war as it has received increasing investment as major … [Read more...] about Vietnam exports to US rise 28 pct as China-US trade war intensifies

Still the ‘engine’ of the country’s economic development, southern provinces have seen growth slowing down. After many years of waiting, Vam Cong, the second cable-stay bridge across the Hau River, after Can Tho bridge, has been put into operation. Analysts say that it would help the southwestern provinces improve their capability of connecting with HCMC and Cambodia. However, there are still many things that need to be done as the area now has only 11 percent of total highway length, though it makes up 55 percent of the country’s GDP. Hai Phong story Hai Phong City in the north is called a ‘rising star’. Many Vietnamese and foreign groups, including VinFast, Sun Group and BRG, have chosen the locality to set up their production facilities. In 2018, the city attracted $2.5 billion worth of FDI, or 2.7 times higher than the year before. The strong rise of Hai Phong has close relations with the development of a series of infrastructure projects. … [Read more...] about Infrastructure development to give southern region a push

The #MeToo movement never took off in Vietnam, a country where gender-based violence is widespread but remains a taboo topic. Citizens took to social media this week after a man was fined VND200,000, or more than $8, for forcibly kissing a woman in an elevator in her Hanoi apartment building. CCTV footage showed the man chatting to the woman before cornering her and suddenly jumping on her before she scrambles out of the elevator as he grabbed her arm. The footage quickly went viral, stoking public anger. "The fine... was a mockery and humiliation against the dignity of Vietnamese women," said Facebook user Duong Dai Trieu Lam on Wednesday. Office worker Nguyen Trang told AFP: "It's ridiculous, I can't accept this... I'm worried for my kids and myself." Unlike rape, sexual assault is not a criminal offence in Vietnam, but is considered an administrative violation falling under the category of "indecent speech and behaviour." The maximum fine for sexual assault is $13. An online … [Read more...] about Outrage in Vietnam over $8 fine for elevator sexual assault