New college fee proposals a touch too high, say legislators

High school students in Hanoi fill out registration forms for the college entrance exams. A National Assembly (NA) committee Saturday said a proposal to increase tuition fees had to be scaled down to minimize hardships for students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

According to the proposal presented at the NA’s ongoing session Saturday by Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan, monthly tuition fees would rise to VND255,000 (US$14.35) from the current VND180,000 ($10) for university students, and to VND170,000 ($9.40) from VND120,000 ($6.70) for those attending vocational schools. But the chairman of the NA’s Committee for Culture, Education, Youth and Children, Dao Trong Thi, said the monthly tuition for universities should be raised to a maximum of VND230,000 ($12.80), and that for vocational schools to VND155,000 ($8.60). Under the government’s proposal, university tuition fees will range from VND550,000-800,000 ($27.80-44.40) per month by 2014, depending on the discipline. Deputy Prime Minister Nhan said the education sector has not had enough capital to increase salary for teachers and to buy equipment to improve the quality of education given. Between 1999 and 2008, minimum salaries under the state regulation increased 1.86 times, state budget for education went up 5.8 times, and the consumer price index doubled. But tuition fees over the same period have remained unchanged, and this has affected the quality of education provided and caused irrationalities in the sector, Nhan said. Chairman Thi said the percentage of state budget spending on education, which has been 20 percent since 2007, should be increased annually, instead of remaining at the same rate, as per the government proposal. Tuition-income ratio The government has also proposed new tuition fees for public kindergartens, secondary and high schools under which the fees, together with other studying expenses, must not exceed 6 percent of the average family’s total income. As the new tuition fees are charged in accordance with families’ capacity to pay, it will not be a financial burden, Nhan said, adding that poor families would pay less than those with higher incomes. Under the new regime, the average urban school tuition fees would be VND35,000 ($1.94) per month, equaling the current average schooling fee in urban areas. Average tuition would be VND17,000 ($0.94) monthly in rural areas, lower than the current average of VND25,000 ($1.39), according to the proposal. Nhan said the government would subsidize part of the tuition fees and expenses for poor families. In Vietnam, the poverty line has been set at monthly income of VND200,000 ($11.10) per person in rural areas, and VND260,000 ($14.40) in urban areas. But Thi said the proposed 6-percent level is too high, and unsuitable with the actual income of households in a developing country like Vietnam, as most students come from poor rural households. The ratio stands at 1.9-7.95 percent in newly developed countries, and at 2-10 percent in developed countries. Therefore, the committee suggested that the tuition fee should not exceed 5 percent of the average income of a household, Thi said. Thi suggested the fee be increased gradually each year and the proposed fee to not be fully applied until 2014. Eliminate free tuition policy for would-be teachers Under the proposal, students trained to become teachers will be required to pay VND280,000 ($15.50) every month beginning in 2010, whereas they do not have to pay anything now. The rate will be raised each year until it reaches VND500,000 ($27.80) in 2014. Deputy Prime Minister Nhan said the current policy of exemption of school fees for students of pedagogy, but does not require them to work in the education sector after graduation, is irrational. Under the proposal, students will be facilitated in getting study loans from banks, and the state will pay off the interest and loans for them if they choose to work in the public education sector for a period at least double the time they study at universities or colleges. Thi said the proposal was a suitable solution, because the fee exemption policy has not been effective as there are many students who do not work in the public education sector after graduation, but they are not required to refund the training expenses, which is a drain on scarce budget resources. Reported by Ngan Anh

Carla Bruni

Không chỉ sở hữu khuôn mặt đẹp, Carla Bruni còn là người thừa kế tài sản khổng lồ từ người cha là một doanh nhân thành đạt ở Italy.

Bức ảnh chụp năm 1993 khi Carla đang chuẩn bị lên sàn diễn thời trang.

Trước khi chuyển nghiệp ca sĩ, Carla là một tên tuổi trên sàn catwalk Italy. Ảnh chụp năm 1995.

Carla trên sàn diễn với những trang phục độc đáo.

Carla Bruni và ca sĩ nhạc rock người Mỹ Iggy Pop.

Bà chủ điện Elysee bước vào nghiệp người mẫu từ năm 19 tuổi.

Sinh ra trong một gia đình có mẹ là nghệ sĩ piano, đam mê nghệ thuật đã ngấm dần trong máu của Đệ nhất phu nhân Pháp ngay từ khi còn nhỏ. Sau nhiều năm sải bước trên sàn diễn thời trang, Carla chuyển sang ca hát và lần lượt phát hành 3 album.

Carla cùng những người bạn diễn năm 1996.

Không chỉ trình diễn trên sàn catwalk, Carla còn làm người mẫu quảng cáo cho các hãng ô tô.

Phải đến khi cựu người mẫu này trở thành Đệ nhất phu nhân Pháp, sự nghiệp âm nhạc của cô mới thực sự thăng hoa và được nhiều người biết tới.

Carla gặp Tổng thống Sarkozy tháng 11/2007 và kết hôn vào tháng 2/2008 sau một thời gian ngắn hò hẹn. Trong ảnh là kỳ nghỉ lãng mạn của hai người tại Ai Cập trước khi làm đám cưới.

Aurelien, con riêng của Carla với người tình trước, cùng mẹ và Tổng thống Pháp đi nghỉ ở Jordan năm 2008.

Chiếc nhẫn đeo trên ngón áp út của ông Sarkozy cho thấy hai người đã kết hôn. Đám cưới của ông chủ điện Elysee và cựu người mẫu gốc Italy bí mật diễn ra chỉ với 20 khách mời.

Đệ nhất phu nhân Pháp chụp ảnh cùng các ca sĩ nước ngoài trong dạ tiệc cấp nhà nước do tổng thống Israel Shimon Peres tổ chức.

World Bank arm to guarantee An Binh Bank’s foreign payments

The International Finance Corp. Thursday signed a commercial guarantee contract with An Binh Bank (ABBank) guaranteeing the lender’s payment commitments, the latter said in a statement.

The corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, will guarantee the Ho Chi Minh City-based bank’s commitments to the extent of US$10 million this year. The bank said the deal would be an advantage for its customers in approaching international exporters for purchases. Reported by Vinh Bao

Saigon Co.op inks deal to upgrade market into new outlet

Vietnam’s leading retailer Saigon Co.op Thursday signed a deal with Tin Nghia Real Estate Company to take over its existing market in Bien Hoa Town and upgrade it into a supermarket.

The 3,000-square meter Co.opMart Tan Bien would be the retailer’s second outlet in Tan Bien Ward, an affluent business center in the city. Saigon Co.op said it is set to invest more than VND20 billion (US$1.1 million) to renovate Tan Bien market. Work would start next month, the retailer said, adding the supermarket would begin full operation in the third quarter. In July 2007, Saigon Co.op opened its first outlet in Dong Nai Province. Saigon Co.op’s revenues last year topped VND6.35 trillion ($372 million), a 48.9 percent year-on-year increase and it expects this to rise to VND9 trillion this year. It plans to have around 100 outlets by 2020. Reported by Vinh Bao

Airlines trim services as downturn hits travel demand

An airplane replica seen at a ticket office of Vietnam Airlines in Ho Chi Minh City. Falling demand for travel amid the global economic downturn has forced many airlines flying to Vietnam to cut back on services and delay expansion plans.

From next month, Hong Kong Airlines will reduce the frequency of its Hanoi-Hong Kong service to five flights a week from the current seven. Sales manager Nguyen Tuan Hai said demand has fallen away sharply. Zlatko Zlatic, general manager of Lufthansa in Vietnam, said the German carrier would continue to fly three times a week this summer from Vietnam to Frankfurt, with a stopover in Bangkok. Demand is still adequate and the schedule would be restructured if passenger numbers decline, he said. Zlatic said the number of people flying from Europe and the US to Vietnam has dropped 10 percent since a year ago. The number of foreign travelers to the country fell 18.8 percent year-onyear in the first five months this year to 1.6 million, figures from the General Statistics Office show. Vo Huy Cuong, head of the Aviation Transport Department at the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, said last month the number of flights registered to fly to and from Vietnam in the March-October period fell 4 percent from last year’s period. Many carriers, including Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and Vietnam Airlines, have decided to reduce their flights, Cuong said. Vietnam Airlines has decided to cut down services on many sectors. The number of flights on the HCMC-Busan route, for instance, has been halved to two a week. The airline carried 2.3 million passengers in the first quarter, a 5 percent fall year on year, as the global recession hit leisure and business trips. “Our sales may decline and our costs are rising this year,” Pham Ngoc Minh, its chief executive officer, told Bloomberg last month. “We will try everything possible to make sure we don’t make a loss this year.” Indochina Airlines, which started operating late last year, now uses only one 282-seat airplane for its four flights between Hanoi and HCMC daily. Ha Dung, general director of Indochina Airlines, said cutting services and using just one plane are measures to deal with the economic slowdown. Even the no-frills model has not managed to weather the economic downturn very well. Budget carrier Jetstar Pacific has had to delay its plan to launch new services to Bangkok and Seam Reap. VietJet Air, a local carrier licensed in late 2007, has had to delay its first flight until the end of this year because of the downturn. Worldwide, air passenger traffic fell 3.1 percent in April, slowing from double-digit falls in the two preceding months, AFP reported Wednesday, citing the International Air Transport Association. Asia Pacific carriers saw the biggest fall in demand, with an 8.6 percent drop in passenger traffic in April. Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the airline association, said in a statement that as the decline in passenger demand still outstripped the capacity cuts made by airlines, yields have not improved. “The worst may be over. However, we have not yet seen any signs that recovery is imminent,” he said. Lufthansa’s Zlatic said the effects of the economic downturn would end soon in Vietnam and air travel demand would grow again. Hai of Hong Kong Airlines said though sales in the first few months were not so good, Vietnam, with its stable economic growth, remains a promising market. “During these hard times, we try to launch new services and manage our flight schedules well to overcome the difficulties. In the longer term, we are still scouting for new markets like HCMC and Da Nang.” Source: TN, Agencies

Vietnamese brands regional giants in Cambodia

A trade fair organized by Vietnamese manufacturers to showcase their products in Cambodia Several Vietnamese exports hold larger market shares in Cambodia than both Thai and Chinese products, said a local businessman familiar with the Cambodian economy.

Truong Cung Nghia, executive director of Truong Doan Company, said Cambodian customers preferred Vietnamese products to those from Thailand and China. Processed seafood products from Vietnam held an 80 percent market share in Cambodia while agricultural products made up 67 percent of that market, said Nghia, whose company specializes in Cambodian market research. Nghia added Vietnamese businesses supplied 68 percent of Cambodia’s steel demand. Nguyen Xuan Truong, head of Binh Dien Fertilizer Company’s Marketing Department, said Cambodians used similar daily agricultural products. Truong said his company’s brand was popular with Cambodian farmers in rural areas as the company advertized heavily in the countryside. Sales in Cambodia reeled in higher revenues for the company than its domestic sales did, said Truong. However, it was still risky to trade with partners in Cambodia as they paid in cash and rarely used banks, said Nghia. Truong said about 120 Vietnamese businesses and investors were operating in Cambodian markets, contributing to the US$1.7 billion bilateral trade with Vietnam last year. He said the figure would grow to $2 billion this year. Reported by Minh Quang

Vietnam oil output may average 400,000 barrels a day, US says

Vietnam will probably produce an average of about 400,000 barrels of oil a day until at least 2030, the US government said, suggesting Vietnam will halt a four-year decline in output.

The projections accompanied the 2009 International Energy Outlook that the US Energy Information Administration released in Washington Wednesday. A report on Vietnam last month by the International Monetary Fund cited an anticipated drop in oil production “in the longer run,” while the World Bank last year identified “production capacity constraints” as hampering the country’s industry. Vietnam is opening new areas to exploration as it attempts to reverse the production decline. “There are some doubts about Vietnam’s ability to maintain its peak production level,” said Victor Shum, a Singapore-based senior principal at oil industry consultants Purvin & Gertz Inc., in a telephone interview Thursday. “The EIA projection is an optimistic outlook.” Vietnamese oil production has declined each year since peaking in 2004 at about 427,000 barrels a day, according to BP Plc. Through the first five months of this year, Vietnam produced about 6.95 million tons, or about 345,000 barrels a day, according to preliminary estimates from the General Statistics Office in Hanoi. Other scenarios Vietnam could maintain production of 400,000 barrels a day through 2030 in a low oil price scenario, according to the Energy Information Administration. In a high oil price scenario, Vietnamese production would be expected to slip to about 300,000 barrels a day by 2025, said the organization. Vietnam’s major oil field, operated by a Russian -Vietnamese venture, has been declining in output after more than two decades of production. But last year, ConocoPhillips, Nippon Oil Corp., Soco International Plc and Talisman Energy Inc. all began production from new Vietnam oil fields in which they hold shares. Premier Oil Plc, Soco and Talisman are among companies planning new output. “There’s a fair amount of exploration going on in Vietnam and no one has really started with the deepwater areas yet,” said Tony Foster, Hanoi-based Vietnam managing partner for the law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, whose clients include oil companies. “A lot depends on the outcome of China’s power play in the area.” BP said in March that it would withdraw from a Vietnamese exploration area. The government in Hanoi said in 2007 that projects involving BP off its coast are in Vietnamese territory, after China cited concern over “actions” by its neighbor in the area. BP declined to comment in March on whether the territorial dispute influenced its decision. Source: Bloomberg

Paris Hilton

Angelina Jolie

Năm 1988: Xuất hiện tại lễ trao giải Oscar, cô bé 13 tuổi còn nguyên vẻ đẹp tự nhiên, giản dị.	Cô bé tuổi teen ăn vận như con trai, không hề có dấu hiệu của một mình tinh tương lai.

Năm 1994: 19 tuổi, Angelina đã trở thành thiếu nữ thực sự với những đường cong quyến rũ.	Người đẹp biết tạo dáng thuần thục trước ống kính.

Năm 1995: Angelina cắt tóc ngắn để vào vai trong phim Hackers.

Năm 1999: Người đẹp gây ấn tượng bởi vẻ đẹp táo bạo, sexy.	Cô đến dự lễ ra mắt phim Girl, Interrupted với trang phục khá giản dị.

Năm 2000: Dù là đến một sự kiện lộng lẫy như Oscar, cô vẫn chọn màu đen yêu thích.	Năm đó, Angie đoạt giải Oscar cho vai phụ trong phim Girl, Interrupted.

Năm 2003: Angie đã bắt đầu trở thành ngôi sao lớn với đôi môi quyến rũ đặc trưng.	Người đẹp say đắm bên chồng cũ Billy Bob Thornton.

Năm 2004: Angelina khoe nụ cười rạng rỡ.	Và vẻ đẹp vừa cuốn hút vừa hoang dại

Năm 2005: Tạo hình của Angie trong Mr & Mrs Smith - bộ phim đưa cô đến với Brad Pitt.	Angie trên đường với cô con gái nuôi Zahara.

Năm 2006: Angie mang bầu đứa con đẻ đầu tiên.	Trong khi cô đã có hai con nuôi.

Năm 2007: Người đẹp xuất hiện rạng rỡ trước công chúng.	Và trong một khoảnh khắc đời thường với cậu con trai cả Maddox.

Năm 2008: Thân hình đồ sộ của Angie khi mang thai đôi.	Tháng 7/2008, cô sinh hạ hai thiên thần nhỏ.

Năm 2009: Người đẹp tại lễ trao giải Quả cầu vàng.	Và sánh bước với người tình tại Liên hoan phim Cannes vừa diễn ra.

Shin Ae

Cô dâu Shin Ae rất tươi tắn, hạnh phúc. Người đẹp loay hoay sửa soạn trước giờ ra tiếp khách.

Nữ diễn viên từng tham gia "We got married" kết hôn với chú rể là sinh viên đang theo học ở Mỹ. Tuy nhiên, chưa có ảnh lộ mặt chú rể.

Người đẹp tranh thủ trò chuyện với người thân trong gia đình.

Các quan khách đến tham gia lễ cưới trước 18h chủ yếu là người thân trong gia đình hai bên.

Vietnam retail sales outpace economy

Retail sales rose 352 percent in the ten years since 1997, while gross domestic product (GDP) increased by only 264.77 percent, according to the General Statistics Office.

The difference in the growth rates shows that the domestic market significantly contributed to the economic growth. Even during the Southeast Asian financial crisis of 1997, retail sales remained on an upward trend. It rose 5.7 percent in 1998 and 4.1 percent in 1999 against a GDP rise of 5.8 percent and 4.8 percent. Retail sales between 2001 and 2005 rose by an average of 10.3 percent a year, far in excess of GDP growth which averaged a mere 7.5 percent in the period. In 2006 and 2007, retail sales surged by an average of 14.5 percent annually, double the GDP growth of 8.4 percent in the period. In money terms, it rose from US$10.8 billion in 1997 to $45.7 billion in 2007. Sales of consumer products increased from 81.4 percent of total retail sales in 1997 to 83.4 percent in 2000. But by 2007 they had slumped to 77 percent, but remained at a hefty $35.2 billion as the size of the overall retail market had skyrocketed. The Red River Delta, Mekong Delta and southeastern region accounted for 75.9 percent of the retail market. By Nguyen Van Son* *Nguyen Van Son is an economist Source: SGTT

Unemployed workers return home, worsen situation in rural areas

Workers weaving bags from sedge at a unit in Nam Dinh Province. People working away from home who lost their jobs due to the economic downturn may not find employment if they return to their villages.

The economic downturn has seen production fall in the countryside, sending incomes plunging and increasing the jobless rate, according a recent report by the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD). Researchers said this has been exacerbated by the return of many native residents who lost their jobs elsewhere. The institute, belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, also found most rural residents have also cut back on both their consumption and investments. Many households have slipped below the poverty line, with mountainous regions being the hardest hit. IPSARD’s report follows research it did on the impact of the economic downturn on people in rural areas at the insistence of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee. The study, which was supported by the Dutch development organization SNV, polled residents in 584 communes in four provinces – Nam Dinh in the Red River Delta, Lang Son in the northern mountainous region, Binh Thuan on the central coast and An Giang in the Mekong Delta. Most people in these communes live on farming and fishing though researchers found much farmland left fallow this year. Rising unemployment More than 21 percent of domestic migrant workers hailing from these provinces have returned home this year. 17 percent of those who had gone abroad to work also returned in the first quarter. Only 11.3 percent of the returnees have found jobs, while in mountainous regions the number is between 2.7 and 7.4. The survey also found many hired farm workers have become jobless, with the rates climbing in coastal area and delta regions. Without quoting specific numbers, the report said an average of 85.3 percent of farm workers in the four provinces have lost their jobs. Among factory workers, the layoff rate is 8.8 percent. Poverty, hunger spread More than 68 percent of 584 communes surveyed said residents have cut down their expenses on food, specifically meat and fish, by an average of 18.5 percent. They have also spent 25.9 percent less on construction and 23.6 percent less on high-value goods. In the four provinces surveyed, the number of communes having poor families has increased by nearly 16 percent over 2008. An Giang topped the list at 19.6 percent. This has affected the “hunger elimination and poverty reduction” program, the report said. A person earning less than VND200,000 a month in rural areas and VND260,000 in urban areas is considered poor. Shrinking production Farmers reported that they have had to sell farm produce at 14 percent lower prices than last year, and have been unable to sell some produce. Both rural and mountainous areas have found difficulty in selling farm produce, the report said. Nearly 5 percent of farmlands have been left uncultivated in the winter-spring season, while 0.7 percent more fish farms than in 2008 have remained fallow this year. In the four provinces, more than 15 percent of small industries have closed down this year. Another 8 percent had to cut back on production and lay off workers. The industries also reported their products fetched 14.6 percent lower prices than usual. Reported by Giang An

Jolie

JustJared.

Angelina

Kylie Minogue

The Sun.

Gold continues on its merry way

Gold prices in Vietnam hit an all-time high of VND20.43 million a tael Thursday, as globally the metal remained in an uptrend.

Saigon Jewelry Holding Company gold closed the day at VND20.41 million a tael (1.2 ounces) in Ho Chi Minh City and VND20.43 million in Hanoi, VND250,000 higher than Wednesday. In Tokyo, gold rose for the third straight day to hit a new eight-week high above US$942 an ounce, buoyed by firmness in oil prices and the dollar’s recent slide to its lowest level in nearly five months. But gains were mainly driven by funds buying US gold futures, resulting in arbitrage cash gold purchases, while a rise in Asian currencies against the dollar capped the price of gold denominated in regional currencies, traders said. “It’s up mainly because of short-covering in the market,” said Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong. “The dollar is weakening again and the oil price is up, which favors gold for a little while.” Spot gold rose 0.5 percent to $941.90 an ounce by 05:37 GMT, compared with the New York notional close of $937.10. On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold rose to $940.89 from $939.50 late on Wednesday. Though domestic gold rose to a new record level, SJC said not many people bought or sold the metal Thursday. But bullion trading volumes were very high at gold exchanges. Vietnam Gold Exchange posted a volume of 154,000 taels and Sacombank Jewelry, 370,000 taels. Huynh Trung Khanh, vice chairman of the Vietnam Gold Business Association and a consultant to the World Gold Council, said gold could climb to VND21 million if global prices reach $980. Tran Thanh Hai, general director of the Vietnam Gold Business Company, which operates the Vietnam Gold Exchange, agreed saying the price is likely to top VND21 million in the next three months. Source: TN, Agencies

Viettel launches mobile package for foreign tourists

From May 15, 2009, Viettel Telecom officially launches the pre-paid mobile package for foreign tourists when traveling in Vietnam. The package, named Tourist Sim, is offered with flexible usage time, attractive price and many other effective search services. Using Viettel’s Tourist Sim, customers are provided accurate, quick and free information on hotels, taxi numbers, exchange rate, weather forecast and sightseeing places by 5055 automatic server. Tourist Sim is also attractive for its price and usage duration. Regarding the price, the Tourist Sim is offered at US$5 or $10. Regarding call rate, International Direct Dial rate is at VND3,240/minute and Internation SMS is at VND2,160/message. Depending on the customer’s duration of stay and need for communication, he/she can re-charge his/her Sim at unchanged rate. Moreover, customers are provided GPRS for free. A free service center, 18008168, is also set up in both English and Chinese. This Sim will be widely distributed at airports, tourism places, hotels, resorts... Tourist Sim is a mobile pre-paid package specially designed for foreign tourists to Vietnam. It is a greeting from Viettel and Vietnam to international tourists. Viettel hopes to be the tourist’s friend as a communication bridge between tourist and their family, friends.

Krugman warns Vietnam against financial sector foibles

Nobel laureate Paul Krugman said Vietnam needed to bide its time while 'the bigger economies get their act together' Paul Krugman’s advice for Vietnam: don’t lose sight of financial regulation as private business takes off and the “invisible hand” of the market grows stronger.

The Nobel Prize-winning economist said strict regulation of the financial sector and government safety nets would be key to greasing the wheels of Vietnam’s transition to a market-based economy. Speaking at a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City Thursday, The New York Times columnist and Professor at Princeton University said the global economic crisis was “stabilizing” but that there were no clear signs o a full recovery. “Things are getting worse, but they’re getting worse more slowly,” he said, citing less rapid US job losses and a slowdown in the fall of industrial production and exports in key economies. “I don’t think we’ve hit bottom, but the bottom is not too much further below us,” he said. “My big concern is that we don’t hit the bottom and bounce, we hit the bottom and stay there. It’s not obvious where recovery comes from.” He said there was not much Vietnam could do to help itself recover other than to stay smart, hope and wait. Shadow banking Krugman spoke at length of how the deregulation of the US financial sector allowed the shadow banking system to set off the financial crises that transformed into a global economic recession. Institutions that provide the services of banks without banking regulation, including but not limited to hedge funds, money funds and investment banks, have become notorious for their role in the meltdown. This system of institutions, known as the shadow banking sector, held trillions of dollars in the US by 2007. With so much money, the vulnerable and unregulated system in which investments are risky and unprotected, became an integral part of US and global finance. Krugman blamed deregulation that began in the Reagan-Thatcher era for the development. “We had a whole set of precautionary measures coming out of the great depression that were designed to prevent a recurrence of the banking crisis.” Then the world watched in dismay as the banking crisis of 2008 spawned global panic. “We were persuaded after about 1980 that we should have the same kind of free market principles for finance that we had for wheat or airline services,” said Krugman. “It turned out that our grandfathers were right and we were wrong.” The Nobel laureate stood by one of his trademark lines about talking to economists: “Don’t trust anyone under 50,” he said, explaining that anyone brought up in the new school of economics had not been taught the lessons our grandfathers learned. He went on to repeat another one of his mantras: “anything that does what a bank does, anything that has to be rescued in crises the way banks are, should be regulated like a bank.” He said the government officials who oversaw this deregulation, not just bankers, have a lot to answer for. “They liberalized, they deregulated, even as the banking sector was going crazy… in the US, this is bipartisan. The Clinton administration gave the bankers a lot of what they wanted, the Bush administration even more.” Krugman told the mostly-Vietnamese audience to not let the same thing happen here. “If you let a deregulated financial system run wild, it will do very bad things to your economy.” Slap in the face In discussing Vietnam’s situation, Krugman also warned against some of the market’s more exotic trappings. Asked about whether Vietnam should embrace derivatives, he was clear: “Don’t touch them.” He was skeptical of financial innovation in general. Most innovations – other than ATMs and overdraft protection – were geared toward helping institutions evade regulation, he said. Turning back to his rules for the financial sector, he suggested that banks be restricted from operating out of their main line of business. He said any deregulation “needs to be done with great care because you’ll find that when banking system goes wrong it does a lot of damage.” Now that damage has been done, he said the fate of highly trade-dependent, small economies like Vietnam were tightly bound to the world crisis, with their recovery linked directly to a real global recovery. So, what can Vietnam do toward that recovery? “Not a lot under the circumstances,” said Krugman. “Pray that the bigger economies get their act together.” He said things would have to change in New York and London before they changed in Vietnam. Though Vietnam was not responsible for the crisis, Krugman said the country was being “slapped in the face by the invisible hand.” Wryly, he said: “I miss that US$3 trillion that we spent on tax cuts and the war,” positing that if the US hadn’t wasted the funds, the crisis would be less severe. Reported by Jon Dillingham NO QUICK FIXES Thanh Nien Daily spoke with leading economists, entrepreneurs and journalists on the sidelines of a seminar presented by Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman in Ho Chi Minh City Thursday. Economist Pham Chi Lan Many reliable international economic magazines are saying the crisis has not hit bottom and nobody knows how large it is… for developing countries like Vietnam, the crisis arrived later but will stay longer. I personally think official predictions that Vietnam’s economy will recover by the end of this year are unrealistic. The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said 300,000-400,000 people have lost their jobs, while trade associations have reported nearly 5,000,000. As the unemployment rate is a critical criterion in assessing the crisis, transparent information is more essential than ever. Krugman’s careful judgments can help governments and policy makers be more objective. They should keep their eyes on the rough road ahead. Vietnam’s US$8 billion stimulus package accounts for about 10 percent of its GDP. However, several representatives at the current National Assembly session are questioning where this money came from and how it will be used. Here, we [need] a clear target and transparent supervision system for stimulus packages. Gian Tu Trung, president of the PACE Institute of Directors This crisis has changed our view of the future… This is a right time for us all to reposition ourselves… I hope Paul Krugman’s presentation will bring a new perspective on all this. Understanding the aim of your journey will definitely help you choose the best path to take to get to the destination. John Yeomans, director of Deloitte Consulting/ICS Pte Ltd. In terms of the different economic systems around the world, you have some that are more under control than others and some that are more free. What we can learn from the seminar and recent history is that there is no perfect system and so my view is we need to look at different systems around the world and pick the best from each. So the policy makers should adapt in making their policies to best suit their situation. Vu Thanh Tu Anh, director of research at the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program I have drawn two important things from the seminar: Firstly, the government’s role of ensuring sound regulations for the financial system, especially for an economy like Vietnam’s, is crucial. Secondly, every country under any political system should have an effective social security system, especially during the economic crisis, as the poor are the most vulnerable to unemployment and other consequences. David Pilling, Asia editor of the Financial Times The government’s role in regulating the economy is crucial and undeniable. However, let’s take the example of China. If people’s creativity is allowed to flourish, it would usually create better results. In this case, the government should ease regulations for the private sector to fairly compete with the state-owned enterprises in the economy. Vietnam has allowed room for the private sector to develop and this should be maintained in the future. However, this is not a case for some to take undue advantage and commit corruption. Reported by Vinh Bao

Interest returns as Vietnamese stocks become cheap

The market has been benefiting from increased liquidity in the last couple of weeks as a result of returning interest in Vietnamese shares.

The drop we saw in 2008 and the early part of the year has made Vietnamese shares cheaper, which has helped fuel the return of interest in the market. Some Vietnamese companies have also been more proactive in disclosing information and increasing transparency, allowing investors to increase their understanding and conviction in some of the companies that they have invested in. It is no secret that the market has moved higher in terms of u the recent runup. Our view is that the sustainability of the market’s rally should be determined by the fundamentals of the stocks themselves. Should we see more companies upgrading or becoming more bullish on their respective earnings outlook going forward, then that should indicate that the market’s renewed strength should be sustainable. Mark Canizares, head of equities at Ho Chi Minh City-based Manulife Vietnam Fund Management Source: Bloomberg

Vietnam central bank has no plans to devalue dong

Vietnam central bank has no plans to devalue dong

Tellers count dong notes at a bank in Hanoi. The State Bank of Vietnam said there is no plan to devalue the dong or change the benchmark v interest rate. There is no plan to devalue the dong or change the benchmark interest rate, the central bank governor said.

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. predicted recently that Vietnam would devalue its currency by 4 percent within three months to boost exports and narrow a gap between so-called official and free-market rates. The dong traded between banks at VND17,783 against the dollar, 1.8 percent weaker than at the end of last year. The State Bank of Vietnam controls the currency by setting a daily reference rate, and allows the dong to trade 5 percent either side of that rate. “We don’t have any plans to devalue the dong in the way we did in December,” Governor Nguyen Van Giau said in an interview on the sidelines of the opening of the National Assembly Wednesday in Hanoi. On December 25 it set the reference rate 3 percent weaker. The gap between the official and black-market rates widened by about 2 percent in April, according to Indochina Capital Vietnam Holdings Ltd. Importers have been buying dollars on the “parallel market” because banks do not have enough, the ANZ report said. Measures the central bank has taken to make dollars more easily available to importers would eventually narrow the gap between official exchange rates and the free-market rate, Giau said. In the past year the dong has been devalued twice and the government has significantly widened its trading band, allowing the currency to slip some 9 percent against the greenback. Many expect the slide to continue this year. However, the Asian Development Bank (ADB)‘s country director said on Monday Vietnam does not need to devalue its currency in the short or medium term because the weakness of the dong is more about perception than supply and demand. The government should also avoid further loosening monetary policy because that would risk upsetting macroeconomic stability in a country that is structurally prone to inflation, which the ADB’s Ayumi Konishi said had the potential to re-emerge. The ADB’s position on the currency jibes with that of the State Bank of Vietnam, the central bank, which said last week it saw no need for a major devaluation although it expected the dong to depreciate by up to 6 percent this year. “When we look at foreign exchange demand and supply situation, particularly for trade related demands, there is no reason that the Vietnamese dong needs to devalue further at this particular point in time,” Konishi told Reuters in an interview. “At least in the short and medium term we do believe that the Vietnamese dong exchange rate should be maintained pretty much at the same level, of course, with the flexibility given to reflect the demand and supply situation. “The currency trading outside of the band ... reflects more a perception issue rather than the real demand and supply situation of the currency to start with,” Konishi said. TIME LINE OF VIETNAM’S CURRENCY POLICY March 24, 2009 - Central bank widens trading band to +/-5 percent from +/-3 percent. The mid-point reference rate stays steady, but in trade the dong quickly weakens to the new band’s limit. On the unofficial market it soon moves beyond the weak end of the band. December 31, 2008 - The dong ends the year down 8.2 percent against the dollar on interbank markets. Based on the official mid-point reference rate, the dong ends the year down 5.2 percent. December 25, 2008 - Central bank devalues the dong by 3 percent by adjusting the mid-point reference rate to VND16,989 per dollar from VND16,494 per dollar. November 7, 2008 - Central bank widens the band to +/-3 percent from +/-2 percent in a move widely seen as designed to allow the currency to depreciate so that exports can help the country’s growth. The dong weakens to the new band’s limit. June 26, 2008 - The central bank doubles the trading band to +/-2 percent from +/-1 percent, yielding to market pressure for the currency to fall at a time of sustained double-digit inflation and wide trade deficits. The bank also bans the trading of US dollars and dong via a third currency. June 11, 2008 - The central bank devalues the dong by 2 percent by setting the mid-point reference rate at VND16,461 to a dollar in the face of double-digit inflation and a worsening balance of payments. March 10, 2008 - Central bank widens the band to +/-1 percent from +/- 0.75 percent. Source: Bloomberg, Reuters

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Bank-insurance alliance to take root in Vietnam: conference

An alliance between banks and insurers for so-called bancassurance will soon take shape in Vietnam, European and Asian experts predicted at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City.

Bancassurance, or the selling of insurance products through a bank, has developed strongly in Europe and is appearing increasingly in Asia, including in Vietnam, they said at the two-day conference organized by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and European Financial Marketing and Management Association ending Wednesday. It was also attended by delegates from Africa. Co Minh Duc, chairman of Prevoir Vietnam Life Insurance Company, told Thanh Nien Daily that bancassurance would reduce wages for insurers and offer banks security since the practice entails insuring all loans. France-headquartered Prevoir does not employ agents like other life insurers to sell its products, instead choosing to introduce their products through banks since it began operations in 2005, he said. The firm has entered into alliances with 12 banks including Asia Commercial Bank, Sacombank and An Binh Bank, as well as the Vietnam Post and Telecommunication. It sold 20,000 policies last year, taking its cumulative figure since coming to Vietnam to 51,000, and had a premium income of US$3.5 million. This year its premium income grew 220 percent in the first quarter to $1 million, according to the chairman, who added Vietnam is a promising market since only 1 percent of its 85 million population have life insurance. HSBC Vietnam said it is expanding its bancassurance business with Bao Viet Insurance which it entered into over a year ago. The bank said the joint venture is doing well by marketing products solely through its eight branches in HCMC and Hanoi. Bao Viet Corporation, parent of Bao Viet Insurance, which has also signed bancassurance alliances with local banks like Techcombank, founded Bao Viet Bank to introduce the practice. The Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) collaborated with local Southern Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank and France’s BNP Paribas Assurance Co. last year to set up a VND600 billion ($33.7 million) bancassurance joint venture. Reported by Minh Quang

Exporters find domestic market tough nut to crack A woman walks past a furniture display at the Vietnam International Furniture and Home Accessories

The global economic recession has hindered expansion of the export market for local producers. Vietnam’s exports declined 0.1 percent to US$18.64 billion in the first four months of the year, according to the General Statistics Office. Many producers have since decided to shift their focus to the domestic market and expand their market share at home, but are finding it a hard task. “The game seemed to be easy at home but it even takes more effort to win local hearts,” said Lai Kim, chief executive officer of Nhat Tan Garment Company. Kim admits that the company, which started exporting garments in 1992, did not have a strong distribution system here, nor did it run any promotional campaign to build up its local image before its foray into the domestic market. The garment producer is now struggling to build strategies for production, distribution and promotion for local markets. “For exports, we were not much worried about selling the products; we could concentrate on manufacturing as requested,” the CEO said. Ly Ngoc Minh, general director of Minh Long I, said the most difficult problem that the ceramic maker has had to face was to convince local customers to choose its products, as their prices are very high. Minh said the company has invested a lot in design and production to supply international customers with high quality ceramic products, including tea cups and bowls. Foreign customers could easily accept the high prices but locals may not, Minh said. Joey Ngo, deputy general director of Trung Thanh Furniture Corporation, said the domestic market had potential for wood processors as Vietnam’s current furniture spending per capita was very low at $10, compared to $250 in Europe, the firm’s main export market. The corporation has focused on stabilizing and balancing its sales in foreign and domestic markets, Ngo said, but added that its furniture products were still expensive for most consumers in Vietnam. According to Ngo, only 20 percent people in big cities are able to afford its furniture products. Many other businesses say being patient, creative and understanding are important qualities for exporters trying to switch their focus to home. But economist Le Dang Doanh said the domestic market should not be considered the only focus for export-oriented businesses as they still need to boost exports to keep the national economy growing. However, he conceded that due to falling prices and demand on the global market, Vietnamese exporters will find it more difficult to achieve what they did last year. The government predicts export growth will slow to 13 percent this year from the scorching 29.5 percent in 2008 because of the economic downturn in important markets like the US, Europe and Japan. Exports earned Vietnam $62.9 billion last year. Vietnamese exporters should reduce production costs to make their products more competitive while maintaining high quality so that they can retain their overseas markets, Doanh said. High prices and a lack of marketing are making things more difficult for export-oriented firms Reported by Minh Quang

Vietnam ministry strengthens clampdown on dollar use

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has begun a new crackdown on foreign currency use, the local VietnamNet online newspaper reported.

The move, launched by Minister Vu Huy Hoang on Friday, followed the prime minister’s instruction last week that ordered authorities, including the police, to help regulate transactions in US dollars. According to VietnamNet, Hoang asked the ministry’s Market Management Department to increase inspections and crack down on the advertising and selling of products in foreign currencies. In particular, Hoang instructed the department to strengthen cooperation with authorities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to enforce the clampdown in those commercial hubs. The department must also corporate with inspectors from the central bank in its inspections. Source: Thanh Nien

Forex market strained as demand overtakes dollar supply

Tellers count dollar notes at an Eximbank branch in Ho Chi Minh City The foreign exchange market has become strained as firms’ demand for dollars has exceeded purchased supplies of commercial banks, forcing many firms to buy the greenback on the black market at higher prices.

The situation has developed over the last three weeks, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Van Binh said in a report on the SBV's website. Less than a month after the central bank widened its trading band on March 24 to 5 percent on either side of a fixed daily midpoint from the earlier 3 percent, commercial banks have had to apply both buying and selling foreign exchange rates at the ceiling levels, he said. Nguyen Van Binh, Director of the Center for Material and Equipment Imports, said firms now have to wait seven to 10 days for buying the dollars they need from commercial banks. To get dollars, his company has to register the purchase with commercial banks some days earlier and deposit dong, director Binh said, adding that some other firms have even had to buy euros and then exchange them for dollars. However, one commercial bank by itself has not been able to meet his center’s demand for dollars, and it has registered to buy the greenback from three or four banks. The company needs millions of dollars every month to pay for imports. Afraid of missing business opportunities while waiting for dollars from the banks, his company has had to buy dollars unofficially at higher prices. “Dollar prices in the black market are VND200-500 per dollar higher than those offered by commercial banks. Today [May 15], we had to buy dollars at VND260 higher per dollar from the market,” he said. Deputy Director of the Hanoi Trade Corporation (Hapro) Vu Thanh Son said, “We have to wait several days to buy dollars from commercial banks. This has affected our import activities.” Each month, Son’s business spends $5-7 million on imports, and his company’s foreign currency source from exports is not enough. “We have to actively register to buy dollars from banks, and keep good relations with six or seven banks so that they can help us get the foreign currency we need,” Son said. The head of a paper firm, who wished to be unnamed, said his company could not manage enough dollars now to pay for imports under already signed contracts. “Commercial banks have refused our request for dollars because of their thin supply. If we buy dollars from the black market, the higher prices will make us lose money.” Explaining the dollar shortage, deputy governor Binh said dollar supply from exports, foreign direct investment (FDI), remittances and foreign loans has declined due to impacts of the global economic crisis, which has caused worries about dong devaluation, leading to dollar hoarding in the economy. He also said importers, who need dollars for their payments, preferred dong loans to benefit from the 4-percent interest subsidy and then buy the greenback from banks. As exporters have deposited dollars instead of selling them and many residents have switched their dong deposits to dollar deposits on dong devaluation concerns, deposits in the greenback increased at an unusually high rate of 3.35 percent in the first four months of this year, the deputy governor said. “This is an abnormal situation,” he said. The banking system is loaded with foreign currencies for lending but still lacks funds for selling, leading to the strain in the foreign exchange market, he said. Banks are not allowed to sell dollars held in deposits. To deal with the situation, commercial banks should reduce interest rates on dollar deposits as well as rates on dollar loans to spur borrowing and discourage deposits, Binh said, noting that the interest rates on dollar deposits should be 1-2 percent at maximum, compared with the current of 2-3 percent, and interest rates on dollars loans should be 1.5-3.5 percent. SBV is also considering dollar loans under an interest subsidy program, he said. In addition, SBV is implementing a scheme with commercial banks on a large scale under which banks can exchange dollars against deposits with SBV for Vietnamese dong, and the central bank would then sell the dollars to banks that need them. “This would solve the problem of redundant foreign currency funds for lending by commercial banks, and help the central bank have more foreign currency funds to sell, creating liquidity and stabilizing the foreign exchange market,” the deputy governor said. Binh said the dong is expected to fall against the dollar by 5-6 percent in 2009. But he added: “The state is fully able to balance foreign currency demands to serve its socioeconomic development, so there is no reason to expect a big devaluation of the dong.” Vietnam’s foreign currency reserves are now at $20 billion, enough to cover all trade imbalances, he said. In the first four months of this year, Vietnam posted a trade surplus of $2.6 billion. Reported by Ngan Anh

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Song Hye Kyo

International People’s Tribunal to hold hearing on Agent Orange

Doctor Jean Meynard (2nd, R), vice chairman of the France-based Vietnam les Enfants de la Dioxine (The Children of Dioxin in Vietnam), visits the family of an Agent Orange victim in Hanoi’s Ba Vi District. The long-drawn out struggle for justice waged by Agent Orange victims continues despite the many setbacks posed by indefensible actions of the courts and successive US administrations.

The architect of Vietnam’s legendary military victories against the far more powerful French and American armies is 98 years old, but the soft-spoken general minces no words as he accuses the government and courts in the US of double standards. In a letter sent to the International People’s Tribunal of Conscience, Vo Nguyen Giap contrasts the courts’ dismissal of the suit filed by Vietnamese victims against US companies that produced the toxic chemical sprayed by American forces during the Vietnam War with the generous compensation given to US soldiers by the companies and the US administration. The wrong and unfair verdict of the US courts is unacceptable legally and morally, Giap says. The international tribunal will hold its hearing on the Agent Orange case in Paris on May 15 and 16. “I strongly believe that the International Peoples’ Tribunal of Conscience will come up with conclusions which will force the US side to be responsible for dealing with heavy and long-lasting consequences of the chemical warfare waged by the US against Vietnam,” Giap says in his letter. A 14-member delegation representing over three million Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange will depose before the tribunal. Late Monday afternoon, five members of the delegation, which includes three experts in the environmental, health and chemical disciplines, left Vietnam for Paris. The others will depart for Paris tomorrow, including three Agent Orange victims: war veterans Ho Ngoc Chu of Quang Ngai Province and Mai Giang Vu of Ho Chi Minh City, and Pham The Minh from Hai Phong City. As witnesses and victims, the delegation will supply the tribunal with specific evidence of the harmful effects of Agent Orange on Vietnam’s natural environment and human health, clarifying legal issues, so that the US side shoulders responsibility for compensation, said Nguyen Van Rinh, chairman of the Vietnam Association for the Victims of Agent Orange (VAVA), at a press briefing in Hanoi Monday. Between 1961 and 1971, the US Army dropped some 80 million liters of the defoliant known as Agent Orange, containing 366 kilograms of the highly toxic dioxin over large areas of southern Vietnam. The tribunal, convened at the initiative of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), will consider the evidence and draw conclusions about the consequences to the environment and ecology of Vietnam and to the health of the Vietnamese people. It will also consider the responsibility of the US administrations during the period for the conduct of chemical warfare in Vietnam under Customary International Laws; as well as the responsibility of the US in remediation of the consequences suffered by the Vietnamese people. Ho Ngoc Chu, one of three Agent Orange victims attending the tribunal, said: “I propose the US government and US chemical producers accept the obvious fact, not cover it; and shoulder responsibility for dealing with consequences of the toxic chemicals on Vietnam's people and environment, including compensating them. There is no reason for the US government ignoring what they did in the past." The Vietnam Fatherland Front, the umbrella organization of all political and social groups in Vietnam, Monday called for the public to support the International Peoples’ Tribunal. The front’s presidium reaffirmed their support for the VAVA lawsuit and individuals representing victims of Agent Orange, and expressed their belief that the tribunal will fairly consider the evidence and draw conclusions. “We continue to affirm that the struggle for justice of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange/dioxin is the voice of conscience and human rights, not only for local victims but also for the legitimate interests of other victims, including soldiers from the US and many other countries who participated in the Vietnam War,” it said. The presidium also called for governments, international organizations, scientists, lawyers, social activists and people in the US and other countries to speak up for the truth and take concrete actions to support and help Vietnamese victims in their struggle for justice. The legal case In 2004, Vietnamese Agent Orange victims filed a case against 37 US Agent Orange manufacturing firms in the Brooklyn District Court, New York. In March 2005, Judge Jack Weinstein dismissed the suit, ruling that there was no legal basis for the claim and that the US chemical companies were not liable for how the government used Agent Orange during the war. Three judges from the Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan then heard the Appeals case in June 2007 but upheld Weinstein’s ruling. In August 2008, VAVA petitioned the US Supreme Court to hear the case but it refused to do so in March 2009, without citing reasons. AGENT ORANGE CRUSADER STARTS ANOTHER ONLINE PETITION Secretary of the Britain-Vietnam Friendship Society Len Aldis is once again urging the US to bear responsibility for Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange and is looking to get one million signatures on his latest petition. Aldis created and wrote the “Justice for Victims of Agent Orange Petition” to President Obama and Members of Congress on Thursday. It can be found at http://petitiononline.com/Monsanto/petition.html. In the petition, Aldis notes that after the case brought to the US Supreme Court by dioxin victims demanding restitution from the companies was rejected in March, “Over three million Vietnamese and thousands of American servicemen and women, and their children, will continue to suffer from the serious illnesses and disabilities caused by Agent Orange.” Aldis also quotes the statement that Nguyen Duc made in November 2006 to an American journalist. Duc and his late brother Viet, both victims of Agent Orange, were born conjoined in 1981. Aldis, who expressed his frustration in a letter to President Obama immediately following the refusal on March 2, on Thursday urged the US president and Congress to heed Duc’s words despite the Supreme Court decision, and accept responsibility for and the moral obligations to the victims of Agent Orange. Reported by Bao Anh

Rangers hit hard by police inaction against illegal loggers

Illegally felled trees confiscated by the local park rangers in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. Illegal loggers in the Central Highlands and nearby provinces are prepared use lethal force to retrieve confiscated logs, but few of the bloody scuffles are investigated by local police.

The loggers have deployed swords, teargas and guns to fight park rangers, putting the latter’s lives in serious danger. “There have been some internal problems among concerned authorities besides a lack of good coordination in protecting the forests,” said Y Rit Bya, chief park ranger of Dak Lak Province. “The problem here means a few officials are abetting illegal loggers for reasons of financial benefit or to avoid affecting some relations [with other officials who also are involved in illegal logging],” Tuoi Tre quoted Bya as saying. In a recent meeting with Dak Lak People’s Committee on enforcing forest protection, Bya requested concerned authorities to be more determined in punishing illegal loggers. The court offices and the police have been too lenient in handling the issue, he said, adding that these offices accept but do nothing with documents forwarded by park rangers requesting criminal investigation into the cases. This means all the efforts of the park rangers in protecting the forests have failed, he said. Tran The Lien, director of the Yok Don National Park in Dak Lak and Dak Nong provinces, said since last November, four cases of Forest Protection Law violations have been forwarded to the police of Buon Don District in Dak Lak Province. However, they have investigated only one of these cases, he said. “It was too little and failed to deter illegal loggers,” said Bui Van Khang, chief park ranger of Buon Don District. Khang also said the district park rangers have also sought police investigations into several cases every year, but none of the cases were solved. The situation is similar in neighboring Cu M’Gar District. “Some serious cases have happened in the district when illegal loggers fought with park rangers or used teargas to threaten forest owners to cut down trees and carry them out of the forest on about seven tractors,” said the district’s chief park ranger Bui Xuan Khu. “But I couldn’t understand the police standing still even after the cases were forwarded to them and reported widely by the media,” he said. District park rangers have recently reported nine serious cases that were not investigated by the police to the provincial office and requested that they are forwarded to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the central government. In Dak Nong Province, there were at least three cases of illegal loggers attacking park rangers in April. Nguyen Ngoc Tai, vice chief park ranger of the province, said many officials have been hospitalized after suffering injuries from the loggers’ attacks with poles and knives. Some individuals tasked with protecting the forests have also colluded with the illegal loggers, he said. In a recent case, local authorities dismissed Nguyen Van Hieu as director of the Dak Ha Forest Enterprise after they found he was involved in illegal logging. Increasing bloodshed Last Thursday a logger shot a ranger in the stomach with a homemade gun in a forest at Ja Wam Village in Dak Lak Province’s Cu M’Gar District. The victim, Nguyen Kim Muu, was brought to Dak Lak General Hospital with bleeding wounds and three bullets in his liver. Duong Van Son, vice director of Buon Ja Wam Investment and Development Company that owns the forest, said Le Van Thuat has been identified as the primary suspect. Earlier, Muu and six rangers had discovered about 10 people transporting wood in the forest on two tractors. The rangers asked them to stop for a check but the strangers resisted with three homemade guns and many knives, and Thuat shot Muu before fleeing with his accomplices, said Son. In another case, park ranger Le Tan Hoang of Ea So Natural Reserve in Dak Lak Province was seriously stabbed on April 25 by poachers after he and three others caught them in the act. The rangers had seized a head and two legs of a deer and arrested two poachers, while four others fled. However, the four returned with some 20 others and attacked the rangers with swords. Three park rangers escaped while Hoang collapsed after suffering five stab wounds, including one to his lung. Earlier, an inspection team of Buon Don District detected 64 illegal logs of more than 21 cubic meters at a garden at Krong Na Commune. Shortly after, hundreds of people crowded the site and challenged the officials with poles and knives. The logs were confiscated hours later, after the district administration mobilized around 100 officials from the police, military and park rangers to the site. On March 5, officials of the Gia Lai Province inspection team were lucky to escape after a truck carrying 14 cubic meters of illegal logs suddenly turned back in an attempt to run them over, even after the officials had managed to shoot the rear wheel of the truck. A week later, inspectors found a truck carrying illegal logs openly on the road, which only stopped after they fired warning shots. Last Saturday, four rangers at the Bu Gia Map National Park in Binh Phuoc Province were attacked while they were sleeping at a station in Phuoc Long District. Ranger Duong Quang Hung suffered a severe injury to his left arm, which was nearly cut off, while others suffered minor injuries. An official at the national park said six local residents are identified as the assailants. They wanted to avenge the park rangers for preventing them from logging and hunting in the protected forest. In Binh Dinh Province, park rangers Phan Van Thanh and Tran Ngoc Hung on April 13 suffered serious injuries after being attacked by 25 loggers. They even stopped the rangers from being hospitalized and continued to attack before a ranger fired warning shots. The rangers had earlier seized illegal logs being carried from Hoai An to Hoai Nhon District. Source: TT, TN

Nhạc Cơ Nhi

PetroVietnam Finance lends Vinacafe Buon Ma Thuot $42.2 million

PetroVietnam Finance Co., a unit of Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, will lend coffee company Vinacafe Buon Ma Thuot Co. up to VND750 billion (US$42.2 million) to fund development of a plantation.

Vinacafe would use the money to buy urea and other products from PetroVietnam Fertilizer & Chemical Joint-Stock Co., the country’s biggest-fertilizer producer, the lender said in an e-mailed statement Friday. “We offer Vinacafe an interest rate of 6 percent for this one-year loan as it is part of the government loan subsidy program,” PetroVietnam CEO Tong Quoc Truong said in a phone interview. “This is a very good rate compared with the lowest rate of 10 percent we have offered to others.” Vietnamese lenders gave VND255 trillion ($14.3 billion) in loans to businesses between February 1 and April 23, after the government started a subsidy program to bolster the slowing economy. Source: Bloomberg

Deutsche Bank’s HCMC branch to raise capital to $24 million

The State Bank of Vietnam said Friday it has allowed the Ho Chi Minh City Deutsche Bank AG to increase its registered capital from US$15 million to $24 million.

The German bank opened its Vietnam branch with a capital of $15 million in June 1995, the central bank said in a statement on its website. Currently, there are 38 foreign banks operating in Vietnam. Source: Thanh Nien

Interest rates ‘have hit a floor,’ may rise, ratings agency says The benchmark interest rate has probably reached “a floor” after a series of cuts

Interest rates ‘have hit a floor,’ may rise, ratings agency says

The benchmark interest rate has probably reached “a floor” after a series of cuts, and borrowing costs may need to be increased as government subsidies spark accelerating loan growth, Fitch Ratings said.

The State Bank of Vietnam has lowered its key rate to 7 percent from 14 percent in October. Standard Chartered Plc predicted a month ago that policy makers would further reduce the rate to 5 percent by the end of June, in an attempt to bolster economic growth. “Given the government’s needs and that we’re starting to see dong liquidity tightening in the market, rates at the moment appear to have hit a floor,” said Peter Tebbutt, a Hong Kong-based senior director at Fitch, in an interview Thursday in Ho Chi Minh City. “If anything, they may go up a bit.” A government subsidy on loans, intended to help boost economic growth from the 3.1 percent first-quarter pace, has sparked a “new credit boom” in Vietnam, Citigroup Inc. said last month. Lending jumped about 11 percent from January to April, marking a sharp acceleration from a first-quarter increase of 3 percent, according to Fitch estimates. The subsidy program “appears from April’s numbers to be too successful,” said Tebbutt. “It seems to be driving loan growth too much.” The State Bank of Vietnam has apparently resisted government pressure for now to lower interest rates further, according to Sabine Bauer, a Hong-Kong based Fitch director. Defending their ground “The central bank in this regard has proved to be a strong voice,” Bauer said Thursday in HCMC. “In this debate, on the base rate, they have so far defended their ground.” In addition to delaying potential non-performing loans, the Vietnamese government subsidy program may also have resulted in some borrowing being used to invest in property or stocks; in the creation of some fake projects to take advantage of the scheme; or in banks using “circular loans” to profit from it, according to Citigroup. “The banks’ responsibility is to ensure that these are loans made to projects which are viable,” Bauer said. “But having said that, it’s very difficult for them to monitor where the money actually goes.” In a report released last week on Vietnam’s banking industry, Fitch said “moral suasion” has encouraged banks to keep lending rates low, with authorities attempting to ensure a “reasonable level” of loan growth. Still, with the spread between lending and deposit rates narrowing, the dong depreciating, and international demand for Vietnamese goods weakening, credit costs are set to rise, Fitch said in the report. “You have the interest-rate subsidy, you have quite strong loans growth,” Tebbutt said. “Then you could possibly start getting inflation coming back. And you’ve got a government that needs to borrow a lot of money this year, particularly for its fiscal stimulus program. So with everyone borrowing, rates will go up.” Source: Bloomberg

Industrial boom hurts farmers, threatens food supply: seminar

These apartments in Hanoi are meant for residents displaced due to projects to construct industrial parks and urban areas. Displaced farmers, food security and the loss of an average of 74,000 hectares of farmland yearly to urban and industrial zones were a few issues heard at a seminar in Hanoi Friday.

The Land Science Association held the event to discuss regulations on land relating to agriculture, farmers and rural areas. Experts blamed industrial parks for devastating surrounding farmland with pollution, while people in rural areas have lost jobs from the farmland shrinkage. Around 500,000 hectares of farmland have been taken for other purposes between 2000 and 2007, said Ton Gia Huyen from the association. This area is equal to 5 percent of the country’s farmland, he added. Many serious problems have cropped up from the revocation of farmland for non-agricultural purposes, he said. A survey at 16 cities and provinces found 89 percent of land being revoked to build residences, industrial parks and infrastructure were farmland, mostly rich rice paddies. “Many industrial parks in several localities have been constructed on farmland although they could have zoned them on mountainous areas or those with poorer soil, because of their advantageous infrastructure,” said Hoang Thi Van Anh from the Land Bureau under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. She named several such industrial parks, including Ba Thien, Quang Minh II and Binh Xuyen in Vinh Phuc Province; VSIP, Que Vo and Nam Son – Hap Linh in Bac Ninh Province; Long Giang in Tien Giang Province and Van Trung in Bac Giang Province. Of these provinces, Vinh Phuc set up three industrial parks in 2007 which cover a total of 865 hectares of good farmland, while three industrial parks at Bac Ninh eliminated 1,940 hectares of farmland in 2007 and 2008. Vu Thi Binh from the Hanoi Agricultural University said Hai Duong Province, which saw its paddy fields decrease 4.8 percent in 2008 from 2005, has suffered a fall of 3.3 percent in its rice output. If land for paddy cultivation continues to plummet, Hai Duong could have a rice shortage, she said. Tran Ngoc Hung, chairman of Vietnam General Construction Association warned the shrinkage of farmland could threaten food security. “Vietnam is one of the countries worst affected from the sea level rising,” he said, adding that the salty water is threatening to spill over and damage millions of hectares of farmland nationwide in the future. “I wonder what our descendents would think about our decision to eliminate millions of hectares of farmland which had been created by our ancestors,” Hung said. Vietnam’s population is estimated at about 86 million and is expected to increase by 1-1.2 percent in the next few decades. Researchers estimated rice demand would jump to 53.2 million tons in 2020 from 47 million tons in 2010. The farmland revocation from 2003 to 2008 has affected 950,000 farmers in more than 627,000 families, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reported. Between 25-30 percent of these farmers became unemployed or found unstable jobs, leading to a 53 percent decrease in income for these families, the ministry said. Resettlement problem Housing for displaced farmers has been a monumental headache for the families, advocates said. Hung of the construction association said he was “allergic” to the term “resettlement” because the poor quality apartments and houses are not suitable for the displaced residents. He said between 60 and 70 percent of displaced residents in major cities have sold their new accommodations because it was worse than their previous houses or not suitable for living. Hung suggested providing sufficient compensation, equal to market prices, for residents to find their own accommodations instead of compensating less and offering cheap resettlement residences. Anh from the Land Bureau also criticized the farmland compensation rate. “Compensation for farmland is often not enough to buy the same area of farmland in other places, or to help the farmers find other employment,” she said. Phan Van Tho from the Land Bureau said some localities, due to their limited budget, have offered compensation equaling only 30-50 percent of market prices. In many localities, project investors negotiate directly with farmers about the amount of compensation for land revocation. But they have failed to do so in a structured and unified manner, creating compensation differences in a locality, which has also caused complaints, he said. In addition, the resettlement process has not been planned well enough so that those affected could be assured of being provided with equal or better housing than before, said Huyen from the Land Science Association. Tho also said the shortage of funds for housing, land and capital in resettlement is now all too common and serious. Hanoi’s housing and land fund meets only 40 percent of its demand for resettlement, and Ho Chi Minh City’s is 70 percent, he said. Reported by Bao Van – Quang Duan

What’s the Recipe for Marketing Success with Social Media? Q&A with IBM's Sandy Carter

As social media usage continues to skyrocket, companies are trying to get up to speed on not only using these tools, but finding a way to successfully integrate them into their existing business strategies. At the Business-to-Business Forum, Sandy Carter, Vice President, SOA, BPM and WebSphere at IBM Corporation, will help attendees not only learn more about social media, but also how and when these tools should be added to a company’s existing marketing mix.

In this interview, Sandy gives us her take on the importance of social media for businesses, and some background on some of the topics she’ll be covering during her session at the B2B Forum in Boston:

Q - At the MarketingProfs B2B Forum, you'll be leading a session entitled Marketing 2.0: Integrating Social Media Into Your Marketing Mix. How important is it for a company to consider integrating social media into their existing marketing plan, or should they try to make social media separate from the company's other communication efforts?

A - I believe firmly that social media represents a new set of marketing tools. By integrating the Web 2.0 technologies into a marketing plan, you strengthen the plan overall to drive business. If you isolate your social media team, you will not see the results that you need. In fact, I think just as strong compelling value propositions are core to all marketing, social techniques and the use of Web 2.0 technology should be core to all integrated marketing going forward. (You can learn more about a formal methodology I recommend by visiting the site for my recent book, "The New Language of Marketing 2.0") For example, if you run in-person events today to drive your business, you can add in a Twitter drive to the event to increase registrations. You can generate customer loyalty—or fans—by having them tell their stories on blogs, or post pictures on Flickr. You can even use web 2.0 to help follow-up on the leads with enurturing or form an online community to supplement your in-person customer boards. The point is that the magic is in the marketing mix. Not the tools!

Q - You obviously work at a very large company. What special considerations do you think a large company faces in trying to use social media, that a small business for example, might not have to worry about?

A - Well, I think everything is a trade-off. There are some advantages that the small companies have and some that the big companies have. Since I work for a large company, I am envious at times at how fast a small company can experiment. This area is changing so rapidly and so many new tools are being added daily, that I think that being able to change on a dime is crucial or to add in a new tool without having to get tons of signoffs could make the difference in a first-mover advantage. But large companies have more resources. And that comes with an advantage as well.

However, the bottom line is I think the primary difference here is not in big or small. But the difference is in how close you are to your customers. The hair stylist I go to just recently used Facebook to increase the purchase of one of his services by 500%. Why? Because he used social media tools with his traditional customer retention methods. He understands what his customers are looking for and could add value. This is similar as to when IBM really listens to its customers and develops its next product by learning not only from its current customers, and focus groups, but by dialoguing in the blogs on product requirements and betas. The bottom line is do you know your goals and your differentiation well enough to use the tools appropriately?

Q - As you know, many companies are interested in learning more about social media. What do you think are some of the common misconceptions these companies have about social media?

A - Great question! I think there are a few! First, some companies believe that social media is a magic elixir. They don't realize that social media is just another set of tools to add to the marketing toolbox. Second, some companies focus on the coolness of social media. They get enamored with the tools themselves, and don't focus on what they are trying to do—drive business! And finally I think that companies don't realize that this is brand new. It is not what they studied in college and is bigger than marketing. It encompasses the business. Social technologies should be part of your market intelligence, your strategic delivery, your development cycle, your customer support, your marketing and your sales. It is a cultural change in how we create business.

Q - One of the biggest concerns about using social media, is finding a way to get measurable results. For the company that's wanting to find the ROI of their social media efforts, what should they be looking to track to tell if their social media initiatives are effective?

A - We are all already in the practice of tracking the effectiveness of all the elements of our marketing mix. So it is a great thing to measure the value of social media. I love what Dell did with its Twitter channel by using a special discount code to enable it to track the value. At IBM we add in Web 2.0 elements and measure the effectiveness—whether driving new opportunities or progressing current opportunity—over time. That said, think about the value of a relationship—it is hard to measure that personal relationship just as it is in measuring the online one ! Now even as I write this, IBM and MIT did try to estimate the value of the online connection. IBM Research and MIT's Sloan School of Management found that the average e-mail contact was worth $948 in revenue. To unearth that and other data, they used math formulas to analyze the email traffic, address book and buddy lists of 2600 IBM consultants over a year!

However, you can't measure everything and just because you can measure something doesn't mean that it is the right thing to be watching!

Q - Is social media right for every business?

A - I think that this question is the wrong one. The right one is—what is your overall goal for your company and its business model? What is your compelling value proposition that truly sets you apart? Then you can decide which social media tools to add to your overall company strategy and execution.

Construction industry has bottomed: insiders

Workers at a construction site in Ho Chi Minh City. Construction firms said they are optimistic about the industry’s prospects this year. The construction industry had a very tough time last year but insiders say the decline in building activity may be over.

Nguyen Luong Thinh of the Ho Chi Minh City-based Binh Minh Construction Company said 2008 was the most challenging year in the last two decades for the industry. The economic problems last year had a huge impact on the industry as well as the construction material and real estate sectors, he said. “The sudden downturn came as a shock to all construction firms, which just one year ago had so much work to do and enjoyed an average annual growth rate of 30 percent.” The rise in borrowing costs, salaries and construction material prices in the first half was a burden that many firms found too heavy, he said. As prices rocketed, materials alone accounted for as much as 70 percent of the total construction cost. Many building contractors said they had to accept losses because investors refused to pay more after signing contracts. Le Thanh Cong, deputy chairman of the HCMC Construction Association, said 40 percent of more than 2,000 construction firms in the city are small-sized and most of them had to stop working last year or do contract work for small projects. But construction firms said they are optimistic about the industry’s prospects this year. Huynh Phu Kiet, chairman of Toan Thinh Phat Architecture Investment Construction Company, said the economy is expected to recover next year, with the construction industry likely to see a recovery earlier. The scenario for the industry would become bright again in the third quarter this year, Kiet said, noting that his company signed construction contracts worth VND300 billion (US$16.85 million) in the first quarter. Construction firms also said the industry would benefit greatly from the government’s stimulus package, especially a VND8 trillion ($450 million) program to build low-income housing around the country. Construction value expanded 6.9 percent in the first quarter, a “surprise on the upside,” according to a note last month from Vietnam Property Fund Ltd. With construction activity gaining momentum, the construction material market also started to pick up. Ha Tien 1 Cement Joint Stock Company, which has a 30 percent market share in HCMC and the southeastern provinces, said sales in April recovered to more than 7,000 tons a day after months of slowdown. The sales recovery has allowed the cement manufacturer to run its plants at full capacity again. Pham Chi Cuong, chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association, said steel consumption last month returned to the normal level of more than 360,000 tons. Last year, the monthly consumption dropped to as low as 110,000 tons. Despite good prospects for the construction industry this year, Le Viet Hai, chairman of the Hoa Binh Construction and Real Estate Corporation, warned that construction firms should not be too optimistic when making plans for the year. The industry still depends on how well the economy fares and it would be affected if high inflation returns or if investors cannot find enough funds for their projects later this year, Hai said. Cong said even if the industry recovers as expected, the opportunities would not be available for all businesses, with small contractors affected the most by the harsh competition. Source: TBKTSG

First quarter was low point for GDP growth, HSBC says

Vietnam’s economic growth has probably begun accelerating, with the first quarter likely to be the low point in the country’s downturn, HSBC Holdings Plc said.

The economy expanded 3.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace of expansion on record. A round of rate cuts by Vietnam’s central bank, a government stimulus program, a weaker currency and resilient personal consumption expenditure are buoying the growth outlook, Prakriti Sofat, a Singapore-based economist at HSBC, wrote in a note. The economy may grow 4.5 percent for the year, compared with 6.2 percent in 2008, she said. “The worst is behind us,” wrote Sofat. Vietnam is facing a “slowdown, not a recession,” she said. The State Bank of Vietnam has cut its benchmark interest rate to 7 percent from 14 percent in October. The central bank’s moves to date represent a “massive monetary policy easing,” Sofat wrote. The easing is now “working its way through the system,” she said in the note. A government subsidy on loans – part of a stimulus package that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung last month valued at US$8 billion – functions as a de facto further easing of monetary policy, according to HSBC. The loan subsidy program is creating a new “credit boom” in Vietnam, Citigroup Inc. said last month. Exports holding up Exports may be receiving some boost from a 10 percent “nominal depreciation” of the Vietnamese dong against the US dollar over the last year, Sofat wrote. Garment shipments have held up “reasonably well,” in part due to a focus on lower-end products that benefit during a period when shoppers’ incomes are being squeezed, she said in the note. “We’re into summer orders already, and things are holding up,” said Jonathan Pincus, an economist with the Vietnam Program at the Harvard Kennedy School in Ho Chi Minh City, when asked about garment export performance this year. Retail sales of goods and services in the country grew 21.5 percent in the first four months, according to the General Statistics Office in Hanoi. The “astounding” recent growth in retail sales in Vietnam “shows that consumption remains very strong,” HCMC-based fund manager Dragon Capital said in a note dated April 29. “Strong growth and asset price gains (including commodity prices) over the last few years, even after taking into account the recent declines, mean that the average Vietnamese person is much better off,” Sofat wrote. Vietnamese Prime Minister Dung said last month that gross domestic product may increase as much as 5.5 percent for the full year, while the International Monetary Fund foresees 3.3 percent growth. Any positive figure is “an achievement when seen in the regional context,” Sofat wrote. Source: Bloomberg

Chương Tử Di

Dù đã đính hôn từ năm 2008 và có tin đồn kết hôn trong năm nay nhưng cho đến giờ, Chương Tử Di vẫn chưa đưa ra bất cứ thông tin chính thức nào về chuyện cưới hỏi.

Nữ diễn viên xinh đẹp này cũng cho biết, cô chưa có ý định sinh con, và sẽ chỉ nghĩ đến điều này trong khoảng 2 năm tới.

Từ ngày yêu Vivi Nevo, Tử Di đã chú ý hơn rất nhiều về phong cách thời trang để thêm phần quyến rũ trước ống kính.

Nụ cười rạng rỡ của cô đào trẻ.

Rihanna

Jessica Alba.

Công chúa nhạc pop có chiếc sơ-mi trắng rất đẹp, có điều hơi mỏng!

Paris Hilton và vòng 1 kì lạ lúc to lúc nhỏ của cô,

Với chiếc váy dạ hội trong suốt này, Madonna có mặc cũng như không.

Chiếc áo của Kate Moss không hề mỏng manh, nhưng quá đỗi nguy hiểm.

Elizabeth Hurley.

Jessica Simpson và vòng 1 đẹp nhất giới showbiz.

Eva Longoria.

Gò bồng đảo tuyệt đẹp của cô đào Audrina Padtrige cũng có tên trong 'top 10 bộ ngực đẹp nhất làng giải trí', nên cô không ngần ngại khoe khoang.

Không còn trẻ nhưng Demi Moore cũng chẳng chịu thua kém đàn em.

Mischa Barton.

'Người đẹp ngực bự' Pamela Anderson chẳng chút ngại ngần khoe vòng 1 bốc lửa.

Cô ca sĩ chuyên trị trang phục kỳ quái Lady Gaga ra phố với chiếc áo thuộc nhóm 'thời trang kinh dị', xẻ sâu đến rốn và trong suốt.

Pink trông rất thư giãn khi diện chiếc váy màu cam, để bộ ngực được 'thả lỏng tự do'.

Nicole Ritchie.

Rihanna và chiếc váy táo bạo gần như khoe trần vòng 1.

Julia Roberts

'

Madona

Nữ hoàng nhạc pop một lần nữa gây ấn tượng với sở thích "cưa sừng làm nghé". Bộ trang phục của Louis Vuitton với chiếc mũ ấn tượng thích hợp với cô con gái 13 tuổi Lourdes hơn là bà mẹ đã ở độ ngũ tuần Madonna.

Chọn chiếc váy lòe xòe và trang điểm theo trường phái môi thâm, trông Rachel Weisz rất hốc hác gầy guộc.

Chiếc váy Tyra Banks "tín nhiệm" với phần đuôi lượt thượt không thể tôn lên vóc dáng siêu mẫu của cô. Thêm mái tóc bới chải cầu kỳ hoàn toàn không phù hợp, trông siêu mẫu da màu như đi lạc vào một bữa tiệc thời cổ vậy!

Ngay cả "bông hồng nước Anh" cũng không có lựa chọn sáng suốt cho một đại hội thời trang như thế này. Kate Moss tươi cười rạng rỡ với chiếc váy Marc Jacobs, lại được chính người thiết kế tháp tùng, song mặt sau của chiếc váy trông thật kỳ quái.

Dưới đây là vài gương mặt hiếm hoi tạm làm giới truyền thông hài lòng nhưng còn xa mới được đánh giá là xuất sắc:

Đó là Eva Mendes...

Blake Lively.

Rachel Bilson.

Jessica Alba.

Kate Bosworth.

Kate Bosworth cùng Liv Tyler, Stella McCartney và Kate Hudson (từ phải sang trái).

Bar Rafaeli.

Gisele Bundchen.

Angelina Jolie

Hollywood.

Diễn viên Angelina Jolie

Ca sĩ Beyoncé Knowles.

Diễn viên Brook Shields

Diễn viên Drew Barrymore.

Diễn viên Elizabeth Taylor.

Diễn viên Jodie Foster.

Ca sĩ Madonna.

Ca sĩ Victoria Beckham.

Diễn viên Uma Thurman.

Old drums still sound

A practice session of the Co Bo drumming team in Bac Ninh Province’s Thi Cau Ward Co Bo drumming, once used to serve the kings of the Nguyen Dynasty, is being preserved in a northern village.

Music researchers believed the traditional art of Co Bo drumming, used to serve the last monarchy in Vietnam, died out in the central ancient capital of Hue. But this echo from the past has resurfaced and is being preserved by people in a northern village, 750 km from Hue. The sound is enthralling, as a group of men passionately play drums. A man who stands in the middle plays a pair of cymbals, while the other four men play on drums that hang in front of their stomachs. These drums, 40 cm high and 25 cm wide, carry images of dragons and clouds. Co Bo music, which once graced the courts of the kings of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945), can now be found in Thi Cau Ward, in the northern province of Bac Ninh. In ancient scripts, Co means drum, and Bo means Ministry. Co Bo means “drums of Ministry of Rites” (one of the six main ministries of the feudal dynasties). Researchers thought the ancient art form of drumming was truly lost to time. “In 1996, while I was studying Hue’s royal music, I searched for information on the Co Bo drum but I found no answers,” said Bui Trong Hien, an ancient music researcher. The town that’s preserving Co Bo has a musical history. Thi Cau Ward used to be the village famous for quan ho (traditional northern folk songs) of Bac Ninh Province. Local elders said the drumming skills came into the town through an instrumentalist whose family name was Hoang. He served as a member of a music band in Hue’s Royal Citadel. When Hoang returned to his home village, he passed on his drum playing skills to local villagers. He taught them 12 compositions of drum performance, but today people only remember six. Tran Anh Tu, local cultural official, said people taught the drumming skills orally and through listening to each other. “The band often performs their drum playing during annual ceremonies to worship village gods and other local festivals,” he said. “In addition, most local families have their own drum bands, who perform in their own family ceremonies and funerals.” Tu said the local authorities have encouraged people to preserve the art and to find a better way to teach the skills. “Oral transference is not safe enough, so we need scientists and music researchers to do official studies and make recordings on this art of drumming,” he said. “We are asking the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to have a specific plan to help us maintain this ancient art.” Researcher Bui Trong Hien said these drumming pieces were used regularly to serve the kings and their royal family. “The drums were used to welcome the kings, when the kings met envoys from other countries, and when the kings prayed during the Nam Giao ceremony,” Hien said. “The drums were also used while servers brought the kings tea, wine and offerings.” But in Thi Cau, local musicians perform them in ceremonies to worship the village gods. It’s a skill that others from nearby villages have tried to learn, but haven’t completely mastered. Most people do not have access to this tradition early on, said Nguyen Van Cau, 76, a well-known drummer from Thi Cau. “We’ve heard these drum sounds since we were very little children,” he said. “We have practiced drum beating since childhood and we have been attached to the art for many years.” Cau said the drum sound can sometimes be heard nearly every day around this area. The lengths of the drum pieces are short, he said. “All six drum pieces can be performed in 30 minutes,” he said. “Each is then repeated again and again.” The lone cymbalist in the group of drummers controls the rhythm of the group, he said. The cymbalist must be aware of each stage of the worship ceremonies to lead the drummers into a new composition. Currently, Cau is the only person who has mastered all the drumming compositions and performance skills, along with knowing the stages of the worshipping ceremonies. He now teaches other men in the area. With Cau’s help, people in the nearby Thanh Phuong Village, in Vu Ninh Commune, have also established their own drum teams: one team with older men and another of younger players. They can perform the six drumming compositions fluently. Reported by Hoang Trung Hieu

Art and Buddhism meet at city exhibition

A sculpture depicting the Maitreya Buddha to be displayed at an exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City for the Buddha’s birthday Buddhist and other art works will be on show in Ho Chi Minh City from Sunday until next Friday for the 2553rd anniversary of the Buddha’s birth.

The profits from the exhibition of paintings, calligraphy, sculptures and decorated stones by local artists and monks will be given to 80 city workers with fatal diseases. As well as art to examine and buy, there will be poetry chanting, martial art demonstrations, and performances of cai luong (southern folk opera) and other music. La Pagoda in Go Vap District is the main organizer of the event at the HCMC Labor and Culture Palace, 55B Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, District 1. Reported by Ha Dinh Nguyen

Thanh Tuyen’s two-piece tussle

Vietnam’s first entrant in Miss Bikini International knows she can please the judges.

Huynh Thanh Tuyen is ready to take on the world at the 36th Miss Bikini International competition in Hainan, China this month. “I did a lot of thinking and considered how the public would react before deciding to take part in the pageant,” says the 22-year-old model with an 85- 60-93 figure. She realizes that its name is rather sensitive in a tradition-bound society like Vietnam’s, but Miss Bikini International also judges talent, speaking skills and national costume, so the only major difference between it and other beauty contests is the more exacting physical side of things. “Because of the prestige, a contestant in Miss World, Miss Universe or Miss Earth gets generous support from everyone, but Miss Bikini International does not have the same standing so I’m not that fortunate.” says Tuyen. “After the contest, my name will be associated with the bikini for sure, which is an undesirable thing for a woman, especially a Vietnamese woman. “But what counts is that I know what I’m doing and believe in myself. I pretty well ignore public opinion.” Publicity shots of Vietnam’s first contestant in Miss Bikini International Huynh Thanh Tuyen Though she’s never competed in an international beauty contest, Tuyen is confident of doing well in China. True, the contest will be full of gorgeous gals, 89 of them in fact, but Tuyen believes she’s in with a real chance. “It’s not easy to win an international contest as it takes talent, preparation, opportunity and a bit of luck. But I’m confident of myself and know where I stand. “I realize that I cannot be physically on a par with the Western contestants, but as far as I know we will be divided into continents when we wear our bikinis. I believe I can win if my body is judged alongside other Asian contestants.” When the start of the 15-day pageant was postponed from April 13 to May 18, it meant Tuyen had more time to prepare, but she thinks it isn’t necessary in her case. “Social knowledge and life skills cannot be acquired overnight; they must be learned in our day-to-day lives. “I’m not trying to stuff my head with knowledge or work out intensively as the contest gets nearer. So I feel no pressure at all.” Still, she is making thorough preparations for everything from costumes to make-up. Tuyen says she never goes out of her way to land a modeling contract or a spot in a television commercial. Instead, she waits for offers to come to her. This attitude partly explains why her modeling career hasn’t really taken off after three years in the industry. “Though I’m ambitious and always want to be in the lead, I’d rather take it slow and steady. There are some things I’m terrible at, so I don’t try to do many things at the same time. I know my limitations.” Many models make the leap from photo shoot to film to the recording studio in one fell swoop, but Tuyen would rather stay focused on one thing until it is perfect. “I want to reach the summit of this mountain before going on to scale other peaks. I give my best in everything I do. If I feel I’m no good at something, I leave that opportunity to others. “Being a perfectionist means I miss many opportunities, but I want everyone to acknowledge that I have real talent, that I am not a phony. “Some celebrities try to draw attention to themselves by driving expensive cars, strutting about on the concert stage, or creating scandals, but they will end up nowhere if they have no genuine abilities.” Tuyen, who was born in 1987, has a head-turning height. When she was younger, Tuyen felt so embarrassed by her “abnormal” height that she stopped swimming, her favorite sport, because she was afraid it would make her taller. It took a modeling class while she was in the eleventh grade to change her thinking. The class, which was run by the Vietnamese modeling agency Professional Look, taught her to use height to her advantage. The head of Professional Look, Tran Thanh Long, noticed Tuyen and said “the tall girl” had the potential to become a successful model. After the class, he offered Tuyen an exclusive contract. She took it and has been on the agency’s books ever since.

Heritage laws make life miserable for Hanoi Old Quarter residents

A streets-side barbershop on Hang Ruoi Street in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Laws prevent badly needed upgrades to cramped and decrepit housing in the capital’s most popular neighborhood.

Squeezing through a crowded clothing shop, Nguyen Thi Hoa must continue through a courtyard strewn with old dressers, water tanks, and coal-fired stoves to enter her apartment in Hanoi’s Old Quarter neighborhood. Behind the clothing store on Hang Dao Street, Hoa’s apartment is situated alongside five other cramped and dilapidated units in a long dark corridor. Altogether, nearly 30 people are living in the confined space. Hoa’s family is among several in the Old Quarter suffering miserably in the apartments. They are not allowed to upgrade their units or build new ones, in part because of state regulations on preserving the original elements of the Old Quarter. And a staggering 95 percent of the residential units in the neighborhood are in need of upgrades. Located in the capital’s Hoan Kiem District, the Old Quarter is famous for its ancient architecture and is considered the heart of Hanoi’s cultural beauty. Old streets with unique architecture, elaborately tiled buildings, and intricate alleyways form the foundation of the popular area. For local residents, however, the charm of the badly eroded infrastructure leaves something to be desired. The municipal People’s Committee lists 274 houses in the district which are to be preserved for cultural heritage reasons, but the phrasing of the directive indicates that no restorative work can be carried out either. The residents are thus left in the lurch. “I know it is not safe. But, we have no other choice but to stay here,” Hoa said. Her family has lived in a deteriorated apartment with leaking pipes for more than 40 years now. Within the 25-square-meter one-bedroom unit, Hoa’s six-member family has been forced to turn their corridor into a space for cooking and clothes drying. At night, the family sleeps together in what little space is left in the one main room. “Daily life is very inconvenient,” said Hoa. “There are three generations sharing this cramped space.” According to government statistics, housing space per capita in the Old Quarter stands at a mere one square meter, much lower than the 10 square meters per capita in Vietnam’s urban areas. Up to 20 percent of residents in the Old Quarter have no private kitchens, and more than half of all households in the area have five to six people sharing just one room. Yet, the neighborhood has one major draw which dissuades many residents from moving – it is the city’s busiest downtown trading area. “All of my family lives above our shop, so we can’t leave here although the house is very cramped,” said Nguyen Van Ba from Hang Bac Street. His 10-member family lives in a dark 40-square-meter house and is forced to share a toilet with three other households nearby. Nguyen Thi Toan, however, chooses to stay in the Old Quarter for different reasons. She doesn’t own a shop but her small home on Hang Ga Street has great sentimental value, she said. Four generations of Toan’s family have lived here and so despite the discomfort of the cramped space, she and her relatives stay. “We are acquainted with the way of life here, and don’t want to move,” she said. “Moreover, it is downtown, near good schools, good hospitals and big markets. The services are very convenient.” Better preservation laws needed While the government has recognized the value of preserving the architecture of Hanoi’s Old Quarter, complex and ambiguously worded laws fail to address many important issues. For instance, regulations stipulate that for some structures, the “status quo” must be strictly preserved. The phrasing therefore prohibits even necessary restorative work from being carried out. Hanoi’s municipal authorities have asked agencies to simplify procedures so that people can upgrade their homes while retaining the features of the homes’ cultural heritage. Officials have also requested that organizations accelerate work on construction, drainage and pavement systems in the area. A member of the Hanoi Management Board of Relics and Landscape said, “It is necessary to assess the status of relics, build scientific documents for each old street, assess the deformation of houses and streets, and consider residential and infrastructural factors before building a detailed preservation program.” Unable to wait for improvements to his Old Quarter residence, Nguyen Van Trung decided to move out of the area altogether in 2006. He purchased a small house in a suburban district outside the city. “I live in the new house but I keep the old one on Hang Luoc Street for my cosmetic products business,” he said However, in a country where per capita income hovers around US$1,000 a year, not everyone can afford a new house like Trung. One of his old neighbors on Hang Luoc Street was recently forced to expand his cramped apartment onto the building’s fourth floor by adding steel bars to make a small room for his two daughters. “It’s [not ideal], but it helps him battle the shrinking living space and gives the family more freedom,” said Trung. Reported by Bao Van