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HCM City (VNA) – The southern coastal province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau has asked the Government to allocate capital from the central budget to speed up progress of national key projects in the province over the next five years.

Of the 16 major public-invested projects , three of the most important projects are the Bien Hoa – Vung Tau expressway , Phuoc An Bridge and 991B Road, according to the provincial People’s Committee.

Nguyen Van Tho, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said the three national key projects would connect the southern key economic region with the Cai Mep – Thi Vai deep water port, a key port in the region.

“The port system can receive large container vessels of up to 200,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) and is capable of international goods transport, which allows direct export to the EU and the US without transshipment, reducing logistics costs and improving the competitiveness of Vietnamese goods,” he said.

The expressway, connecting Bien Hoa City in Dong Nai and Ba Ria City in Ba Ria – Vung Tau, is expected to be completed and opened to traffic by 2025.

The province said it had asked the PM to approve the pre-feasibility study for the first phase of the project, which will be implemented under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) investment model.

To build the expressway, around 34.2km of the road will be built in Dong Nai and 19.5km in Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

The project requires an estimated investment of 23.07 trillion VND (995.5 million USD), according to the provincial People’s Committee.

The province proposed that 9.95 trillion VND should be sourced from the State budget to fund site clearance and construction of the section in the province, and that 13.125 trillion VND should come from the private sector.

The developer of the project will mobilise the remainder from its own budget and bank loans. To recover capital, the investor will be allowed to collect toll fees from road users for about 25 years.

The expressway is expected to ease traffic congestion on National Highway 51, and facilitate travel between Dong Nai and Ba Ria – Vung Tau provinces and HCM City and the southern key economic zone.

Another national key project is the Phuoc An Bridge, which will connect the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex with the Ben Luc – Long Thanh expressway.

The 4.3-km bridge will be built in Phu My Town in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province and Nhon Trach district in Dong Nai province.

The bridge is expected to cost 4.88 trillion VND. The province has asked for an allocation of 50 percent of the cost (2.4 trillion VND) from the central government budget over the next five years.

In addition, the 991B road is an important project with a total cost of 3.95 trillion VND, of which the central government has already allocated 920 billion VND. The province has asked the government to arrange an additional 2.22 trillion VND over the next five years.

Call for investment in 23 projects

In addition to 16 key public-invested projects, the province is calling for investment in 23 national key projects, according to a report from the provincial People’s Committee.

These projects include ports, cultural parks, airports, roads, inspection centres, tourism services, and urban area works.

Of the 23 projects, nine land plots will seek investment through auction of land-use rights and public property auctions, including one that has already been successfully auctioned.

In addition, the province has added the April 30th Park in Ba Ria City and a national grid system for Con Dao district to the list of key projects that need speeding up.

Pham Viet Thanh, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, said the province would choose qualified and reputable investors to carry out the projects.

“Relevant localities and agencies must follow the progress of each of the key projects and remove difficulties in a timely way and deal with arising problems,” he noted.

With a coastal line of over 30km, Ba Ria-Vung Tau serves as the country’s major trade gateway due to its proximity to industrial zones, port complex, major highways, and transshipment routes.

Located on the southeastern coast, the province is one of the leading foreign direct investment (FDI) sites in Vietnam./.

VNA

Hanoi (VNA) – A workshop on opportunities, challenges and solutions to promote the participation of people with disabilities in politics was held in Hanoi on April 15.

Co-organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam and the Centre for Education Promotion and Empowerment of Women ( CEPEW ), the event aimed at enhancing the right to political engagement of people with disabilities in Vietnam where is home to more than 6 million disabled persons.

Speaking at the workshop, Diana Torres , UNDP Assistant Resident Representative in Vietnam, said there will be a political gap between non-disabled and disabled people unless the community joins hands to promote equality and empower people with disabilities on political platforms.

Without their voices in agencies under the National Assembly and People’s Councils, the people with disabilities will find it difficult to really integrate into society, she added.

Le Ngoc Hoan, a member of the Blind Association of Lang Son province, who is a self-nominated candidate for the election of deputies to the 15th  National Assembly, said people with disabilities need representative voices in the law-making body so that their legitimate aspirations and needs will be heard.

According to a quick assessment of the group’s readiness for political involvement as candidates in the elections of deputies to the National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils, 92 percent of people surveyed hoped to have disabled deputies and 63 percent said they are ready for self-nomination to the elections in the next five years.

The assessment, jointly conducted by the UNDP Vietnam and the Norwegian Embassy in Vietnam, was released as part of the workshop.

It showed three challenges facing the group in elections – feeling unconfident in the possibility of success, lacking knowledge on self-nomination and campaigning, and distrusting that the community will vote for people with disabilities.

Jan Wilhelm Grythe, Chargé d’affaires at the Norwegian Embassy, said the Norwegian Government is willing to share information on the political participation process of Tove Linnea Brandvik, a physically disabled Norwegian who served as deputy to the parliament for two terms from 2005 to 2013.

Norway is also willing to organise conversations to inspire Vietnamese people with disabilities, said the diplomat./.

VNA

Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a Government meeting on April 15 to launch tasks for the time ahead.

This is the first Government meeting since new Cabinet members were elected at the 11th session of the 14th National Assembly earlier this month.

During the day-long event, participants are discussing the Government’s action plan to implement the resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, the Government’s working regulations, the disbursement of public investment, the COVID-19 prevention and control, and the COVID-19 vaccination.

The preparations for the elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils for 2021-2026, along with the organisation of the national high school examinations, are also under consideration./.

VNA

Hanoi (VNA) – The Traffic Police Department on April 15 deployed forces to ensure traffic safety and order during the April 30 and May 1 holiday, and the elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils for the 2021-2026 tenure.

During the period from April 15-June 14, traffic safety and social order will be guaranteed on roads, waterway and railway. The police will strive to minimise traffic congestion and illegal motorbike racing.

Maj. Gen Le Xuan Duc, deputy head of the department, said the activity aims to reduce traffic accidents in the number of accident cases, death tolls and the injured, especially preventing extremely serious accident cases.

The traffic police will coordinate with relevant units to traffic safety and order and accompany leaders of the Party, State and the National Election Council to inspect election as well as protect the transportation of ballot boxes./.

VNA

Conducted every 10 years, the survey was a joint effort between the NIN and the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s General Statistics Office, with support from many international organizations.

Deputy Health Minister Do Xuan Tuyen said the survey is the largest of its kind on a nationwide scale and involved 22,400 households in 25 cities and provinces representing six ecological areas. It collected anthropometrical data as well as those on micro-nutrients, individual food portions, food security, and food hygiene and safety.

He added that the survey reveals the overall landscape of nutritional intake in Vietnam, progress made over the past decade, and the challenges in the time to come.

Malnutrition is still too common around the country, particularly in disadvantaged and ethnic minority areas. Excessive weight and obesity are rising in both urban and rural areas and among people of different ages, leading to an uncontrollable rise in non-communicable diseases relating to diet. Besides, there remain problems in quality and safety of food consumed by people in daily life.

Tuyen said the survey is significant in assessing goals in the national nutrition strategy for the 2011-2020 period and in providing scientific evidence to serve the drafting of national nutrition strategies in subsequent periods.

The prevalence of excessive weight and obesity rose from 8.5 percent in 2010 to 19 percent in 2020, including 26.8 percent in urban areas, 18.3 percent in rural areas, and 6.9 percent in mountainous areas.

The use of micro-nutrients and the rate of breastfeeding in the first six months of a new-born’s life improved significantly, from 19.6 percent in 2010 to 45.4 percent in 2020. The figure was 55.7 percent in urban areas, 40.3 percent in rural areas, and 42.7 percent in mountainous areas.

Up to 35.8 percent of respondents possessed good knowledge on food safety, while 55.6 percent had average knowledge and 8 percent low knowledge. The rate of people accessing official information on food safety has doubled since the previous survey in 2010.

Vietnamese also consumes more vegetable and fruits, averaging 231 grams and 140.7 grams  per person a day respectively compared to 190.4 grams and 60.9 grams in 2010. However, the consumption only reached 66.4-77.4 percent of the recommended amount. The daily consumption of meat rose rapidly to 136.4 grams per person from 84.0 grams 10 years ago, while consumption of rice decreased.

Source: VNA