Party leader’s Latin America tour lauded a success

11:50' 05/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge - Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh and his delegation's visits to Latin American countries have been a success, said Nguyen Sinh Hung, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister. During an interview at the end of the tour, Deputy PM Hung, who has accompanied General Secretary Manh throughout his Latin American tour, said that this is the second time General Secretary Manh has visited Cuba but his first to Chile , Brazil , Venezuela. According to the Deputy PM, through high-level talks and meetings during the visits, people from Latin American countries expressed their admiration for the great achievements the Vietnamese people obtained in their renovation proces and said they wanted to boost friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Vietnam. He went on to say, "Party General Secretary Manh and the Presidents of Chile, Brazil and Venezuela were unanimous in their desire to accelerate bilateral ties between Vietnam and these countries in a deep, stable and sustainable manner in the spirit of comprehensive cooperation, equality, mutual benefit and development, thus actively contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in Southeast Asia, Latin America and the world at large." Deputy PM Hung noted that General Secretary Manh held important talks which lasted nearly 2 hours with President Fidel Castro and also had extensive talks with Vice President Raul Castro. The two sides agreed that Vietnam-Cuba solidarity, which has stood the test of time, would help the two countries overcome difficulties and challenges to gain success in building and defending the two socialist regimes. "During high-level talks, senior officials of Vietnam and the Latin American countries reached unanimity on the need to expand and further promote economic, trade and investment ties, ensure the effectiveness of cooperation and bring into play each countries' strengths to support each other for mutual development,” Hung said. “The discussions also focused on orientations and major measures to raise economic ties to the same level with their growing political relations. During the visits, Vietnam and the Latin American countries also defined the focal areas for bilateral cooperation, established bilateral cooperation mechanisms and signed many cooperation agreements, including agreements on oil and gas exploration and exploitation in Venezuela and Cuba , and construction of an oil refinery in Vietnam. The governments of these countries pledged to create favourable conditions for their businesses to expand stable, long-term, equal and mutually-beneficial cooperation for sustainable development of each country," the Deputy PM. Hung affirmed that leaders of Chile , Brazil , Venezuela and Cuba highly valued Vietnam 's role and reiterated their support for Vietnam 's candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council in 2008-2009. Venezuela officially recognised Vietnam as a full market economy, and Chile and Brazil stressed that they will support Vietnam so that the country will be recognised quickly as a country with a full market economy, the Deputy PM said. Deputy PM Hung also emphasised another major result of the visits, i.e. strengthening solidarity and friendship between the Vietnamese Party and communist, leftist parties, and promoting relations and experience exchange between Vietnam and the ruling parties in Latin American countries. Leaders of political parties in countries visited by General Secretary Manh all praised the Vietnamese Party's experience and Vietnam 's achievements in the renewal process, Hung said. "With high-level agreements reached during General Secretary Manh and his delegation's visits to Latin American countries, I believe that friendly, cooperative ties between Vietnam and visited countries as well as Latin American countries in general will develop to a new height, contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in Southeast Asia, Latin America and the world as a whole," Deputy PM Hung concluded. (Source: VNA)

180,000 displaced after strong quake in Yunnan
16:00' 05/06/2007 (GMT+7)

About 180,000 people have been displaced and 90,000 houses have collapsed following the earthquake in Yunnan Province, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The evacuees, with no tents available, rest outdoor on a square in the Yi Autonomous County of Ning'er of Pu'er City in southwest China's Yunnan Province on June 3, 2007. (Photo: Xinhua)
At least three people, including a four-year-old boy, were killed and 313 injured in the quake which hit the tea-producing Pu'er City and its surrounding area early on Sunday morning, when most people were in bed. Twenty-eight seriously injured people arestill receiving treatment in hospital.

The area has been rocked by 1,026 aftershocks, three of which measured more than 3.0 on the Richter scale with the largest registering 5.1. Experts warn of the possibility of more aftershocks,

More than 2,000 army troops and armed police have joined the rescue efforts in the quake-hit county.

"The power and water supply, telecommunications and government office buildings were seriously damaged in the quake," said Kong Chuizhu, vice governor of Yunnan.

Among the resettled, 65,000 were evacuated from the badly affected Ning'er County. Most of them are living in tents or public places.

A total of 536,000 local residents were affected by the disaster.

More than 90,000 houses collapsed and 270,000 others were damaged, incurring a direct economic loss of 2.5 billion yuan (about 327 million U.S. dollars), it said.

The county has organized eight teams of 34 workers to carry out disinfection work in the worst-hit towns to prevent any epidemic, according to Yang Tianyi, director of Pu'er City.

"There have been no reports of an epidemic outbreak in the region, but we face a shortage of disinfectant," Yang said

Chinese President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu have asked provincial government officials in Yunnan "to mobilize all resources available to treat the injured and minimize the losses of lives and property of the public."

A disaster-relief team, dispatched by the State Council, arrived in Pu'er on Sunday to direct the relief efforts.

Meanwhile, another team of experts dispatched by the Ministry of Communications will arrive in Yunnan on Tuesday to help with the reconstruction of damaged roads and bridges.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance have earmarked a living subsidy of 27 million yuan (about 3.5 million dollars) for the affected people. A total of 15,000 tents have been transported to the disaster area.

The most difficult aspect of the disaster relief work is the water shortage. "The tap water supply has been cut off, and the people there can only drink bottled water," said Liu Bin, a publicity official from Pu'er City.

Ning'er County, covering 3,670 square kilometers, has a population of 190,000. It has reported nine quakes measuring five or above on the Richter scale in its history, with the strongest of 6.8 which happened on March 15, 1979.

Xinhua/AsiaNews.Net

Dollar price hits highest peak in six months
13:58' 05/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnam Bank for Foreign Trade (Vietcombank) on June 4 announced the exchange rate at VND16,096/US$1, the highest peak in the last six months. Experts said that the rate would see further adjustment as the demand is increasing.

Earlier last week, the rates announced by Vietcombank were VND16,065/US$1 (purchasing) and VND16,075/US$1 (selling). One day later, the figures rose to VND16,055 and VND16,080 respectively. On June 4, the greenback was sold at VND16,096/IUS$1, the highest peak over the last six months.

Experts said that the greenback has been revaluating, though very slowly. On the black market, one dollar is now exchanged for VND16,020.

The situation proves to be quite different from what was seen late last year. After reaching the VND16,100/US$1 level on November 17, the greenback devaluated gradually, bottoming at VND16,000/US$1 on February 9, 2007. However, the greenback price has bounced back again on March 2, when the exchange rate reached VND16,001/US$1 and the greenback value has been continuously increasing since then. In the last week alone, a dollar increased by VND20 in value.

Hoang Danh Chinh, the owner of the Kim Dung Gold Shop on Le Loi street in district 1, HCM City, said that though the dollar price increases, the demand for dollar does not increase accordingly. He said that every day, his shop exchanges several thousand dollars for clients. Eximbank has also reported the same situation: some $400-500 are exchanged every day.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Phuoc Thanh, Director of Vietcombank HCM City Branch has attributed the dollar price increase to the sharp increase in the demand. As the gold price in the domestic market keeps rising, gold importers try to collect more dollars to import gold. He said that the demand for dollars reaches $10mil some day.

“The supply of dollars has become more tight when the State Bank of Vietnam decides to buy dollars in for the national reserve fund, which has made the demand for dollars increase dramatically,” said Mr Thanh.

Vu Duc Hai from Eximbank said that the continued increase of the dollar value is the periodic recovery of the currency. Importers need more dollars at this moment, while foreign funds tend to sell shares to get dollars back. These factors all have led to the scarcity of the greenbacks.

Experts said that it is very likely to see the greenback value increase further as Vietnam needs to encourage exports, especially when it has joined WTO.

Mr Thanh from Vietcombank has forecast that the dollar supply and demand will balance in the coming time. The investors, who find it unprofitable to keep dollars, will sell dollars. The greenback will revaluate, but there would not be big changes and dramatic increases as the exchange rate is being put under the control of the central bank.

(Source: VNE)

VNPT opens US branch: pioneer in WTO integration

09:01' 05/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VNPT Deputy General Director Lam Hoang Vinh met with representatives of the Merrill Lynch Company in San Jose, California on April 30, 2007. VietNamNet Bridge – Considered the pioneer of Vietnam’s telecom sector in WTO integration, the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group’s (VNPT) opening of its branch in the US has opened new opportunities for Vietnamese telecom companies in this market. According to experts of VNPT, the US telecom market has the largest scale in the world and a high level of liberalisation. In 2006, this country had a total of 282 million phone subscribers, including 170 million mobile and 112 million fixed phone subscribers. This country is also the place where development tendencies of the world telecom industry emerge, for example, mergers and acquisitions, developing new technology and new skill management. These are the reasons VNPT opened its branch in the US: to update strategic information on technology and business to serve the group’s operations and integration. Before establishing its branch in the US, VNPT had cooperated with six American partners: MCI, Verizon, AT&T and Sprint in the fields of IDD international phone services and VITC and Net Global in the areas of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). VNPT is now boosting its cooperation in Internet and communications with other American partners, such as Time Warner, Teleglobe, Fusion, Ipass and Voice2me. Large telecom equipment producers of the US like Motorola, Lucent Technologies, Comverse, Lockheed Martin, Huges Networks, Champion, Cisco System, Corning have cooperated with some VNPT subsidiaries. “The presence of VNPT in the US will help tighten cooperation between the group and the above companies and help the group get updated information about research and development activities of the world’s leading telecom equipment producers based in the US to serve the development of VNPT’s telecom equipment manufacturing joint venture and joint stock companies,” a VNPT leader told VietNamNet. VNPT representatives in the US will take initiative in meeting with American partners to seek business cooperation opportunities because there are many other US companies that are strong in capital, technology but haven’t thought about investing in Vietnam yet since they lack information about the Vietnamese market. VNPT’s plan in the US The US telecom and communications market is very large and has a lot of potential for VNPT in both wholesale and retail. The US is now the world’s largest international telecom output wholesale market in the world. US telecom companies operating in the telecom output wholesale field have worldwide telecom networks. With high quality and reasonable prices, American telecom developers collect telecom output from all over the world to the US before re-transmitting it to the whole world. As a result, the US telecom market is the centre for transmitting international calls. Most leading telecom companies in the world have subsidiaries or branches in the US. For VNPT, the community of Vietnamese in the US is also a potential market in providing retail services (pre-paid phone cards, money transfer, etc.) According to AT&T Company of the US, overseas Vietnamese in the US make a total of 25 million minutes of communications to Vietnam each month. In addition, the number of Vietnamese studying in the US is on the rise and contributes to the increase of the international telecom and Internet output between the two countries. VNPT aims to establish a company in the US to collect transit charges from international calls to Vietnam. For example, customers can make a phone call from France to Vietnam by making a call from France to VNPT’s company in the US and the call will be then transferred to Vietnam. The phone charges, of course, must be lower than that for a direct call from France to Vietnam. VNPT also wants to serve the community of overseas Vietnamese in the US, which numbers around 2 million. Statistics of Vietnam show that prior to 2001, when international telecom services included only IDD phone service, the US’ AT&T, MCI and Sprint accounted for more than 50% of the total international incoming phone output of Vietnam. Since 2001, besides VNPT, other telecom companies of Vietnam like Hanoi Telecom, Viettel and Saigon Postel have cooperated with American partners to develop telecom services. Apart from advertising its trademark in the US, VNPT’s US branch can establish relations and sign contracts with at least 7-10 new partners in the US within one year to make bridges for the group’s telecom equipment producers to access source technology of hi-tech firms in the US’ Silicon Valley. The specific plan of VNPT’s US branch is to support some equipment producers like the Postal Equipment Plant and the Viteco Telecom Technology Joint Stock Company to join hands with US companies to set up R&D centres in California/Massachusetts; assist some feasible projects of VNPT in the US, for example listing the stock of the VMS-MobiFone company and VinaPhone, the two biggest mobile phone services in Vietnam, on the New York Stock Exchange. Through the branch, a series of projects will be implemented in the US, for example the Vinasat satellite project, IT banking-telecom card issuance project, the undersea optical cable project, etc. In addition, the branch will find suitable American partners to recommend to VNPT’s member units like the Vietnam Telecom International (VTI), the Vietnam Data-communications Company (VDC), the VASC Software and Media Company, VinaPhone and MobiPhone. Source VN Ner

Aviation – tourism: cooperation to better serve travellers

Aviation – tourism: cooperation to better serve travellers

13:55' 04/06/2007 (GMT+7)

Foreign visitors at the Noi Bai International Airport. VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and the Vietnam Airlines Corporation last week signed an agreement on promoting Vietnam tourism. VNAT’s head Hoang Tuan Anh makes clear the agreement. Why did VNAT and Vietnam Airlines decide to cooperate at this moment? This agreement helps VNAT and Vietnam Airlines have a relationship at a new height. Previously the two sides cooperated already but the new mission is heavier. We aim to welcome 6 million foreign and 26 million domestic visitors and obtain turnover of US$5 billion by 2010. We also call for foreign investors to invest in entertainment projects. Around 80% of foreign tourists come to Vietnam by air and Vietnam Airlines transports around 70% of this number. With 6 million visitors to Vietnam as we want, around 4.2 million use the service of Vietnam Airlines. We have discussed with Vietnam Airlines to open new air routes and to increase flight numbers. The number of foreign visitors who return to Vietnam is still modest. What does VNAT do to increase the number of visitors of this kind? We don’t have accurate statistics of the number of foreign visitors returning to Vietnam. Through some sources, we know that around 25% of visitors returning to Vietnam in 2006. We will join hands with Vietnam Airlines to survey how many passengers of Vietnam Airlines return to Vietnam for a second time. To encourage travellers returning to the country, we will develop new tourism products. For example, the southern province of Ninh Thuan, which is considered a barren area, but it is Vietnam’s desert which foreign visitors want to see. The new tourism products in Ninh Thuan would be car racing, motorbike racing, or using camels to bring travelers to discover this land. We are also combining with the Vietnam Tourism Association to develop new tourism products. Especially, Vietnam sea can compare to the sea of any country in the world. The Da Nang beach is one of the six most attractive beaches in the world. The recent fourth Central Party Committee meeting issued a resolution on developing the sea economy and the VNAT is designing an action plan to realise this resolution, emphasising the development of coastal tourist sites. Tourism companies must advertise their trademarks abroad to let foreign visitors know their names. In addition, we will perfect our current tourism products and call for investment in hotels. The number of foreign visitors to Vietnam is small compared to that of countries in the region. It is said that the price for hotel rooms in Vietnam is inconsistent and it is a hindrance, what is your opinion? Vietnam’s competitiveness in tourism ranks 87th of 124 countries worldwide but the price is 8th so Vietnam’s tourism price is not high in the world. Travel companies said that they discount 20-40% of the price for tourists coming to Vietnam in groups and from 40-60% for those from China and Thailand. We are transforming to the market economy but it doesn’t mean that the state loosens management over prices. We will control the ceiling and floor prices for tourism services based on quality. Khanh Hoa province has asked the government’s permission for hotel room price management mechanism. This scheme will be submitted to the Prime Minister’s consideration soon and it can be applied on a broad scale. How about the cooperation with associations, for example the hotel and restaurant association, to have competitive tour prices? The VNAT has discussed with related ministries and the government in the establishment of the Vietnam Tourism Association, which is the general association for travel and hotel businesses. We are also considering a scheme on the establishment of separate associations such as travel, hotel, etc. At present, issues related to hotel and travel we give to the Vietnam Tourism Association, which is a representative for the community of businesses. (Source: TBKTVN)

Stories about Vietnamese telepaths

Stories about Vietnamese telepaths

11:45' 02/06/2007 (GMT+7)

Hang and her mother. VietNamNet Bridge – Most Vietnamese telepaths develop their strange abilities after experiencing great upheavals in their lives. The most extraodinary case is the story of telepath Phan Thi Bich Hang, who has been able to talk with the dead since she nearly died because of a mad dog’s bite. According to Vu The Khanh, General Director of the Union of Science, Technology and Application IT Associations, Vietnam has nearly 100 people who have special abilities and over ten of them can find lost tombs. Scientists define four paths to becoming a telepath: inborn ability, becoming a telepath after experiencing a great upheaval, veteran monks, being trained. According to Mr Khanh, it is very rare to have inborn telepaths; monk-telepaths are the most prevalent. However, monk-telepaths often don’t disclose their ability to focus on religious life. A typical example about a monk-telepath is a man named Nguyen Van Nha, who is living in HCM City. This man has helped thousands of people find lost tombs of their family members. Mr Nha has never met tomb finders directly but given them instructions via telephones. He does so because he doesn’t want to get a bad reputation of seeking money from tomb finders. There are some people who have special abilities through training and those cases are under research so scientists have not released any information about them. Most of the telepaths in Vietnam gain their special ability after experiencing a great change in their lives. There is one who became a telepath after getting an electric shock, one after a temperature, and another after a serious sickness. The most special case of this form is Phan Thi Bich Hang. Hang was born and grew up in a small, needy village in Khanh Hoa commune, Yen Khanh district, the northern province of Ninh Binh. In 1990, at the age of 17, after returning from her university entrace exam, Hang and a female friend were bitten by a dog while they were walking. It is very normal for rural people to be bitten by dogs so Hang and her friend quickly forgot the event. Several days after that, Hang received the news that she had passed the university entrance exam. Around one month later, Hang’s friend suddenly lost her voice and and her jaw became rigid. Dentists said that this was not the symptom of toothache. Hang and her friend went to Ninh Binh Military Hospital 5. Doctors at Ninh Binh Military Hospital 5 said that Hang’s friend had the symptoms of rabies. After that Hang lost consciousness and her friend died. Hang’s family brought her everywhere to seek treatment, using both Oriental and Western medicines, but all doctors and healers said that this disease couldn’t be treated. Finally, Hang was brought to a healer who is a Catholic. The healer carefully checked her body and said: “God will protect you”. The healer told his son to go to a cemetery to collect a piece of coffin that had been exhumed the day before to use as a medicament, mixed with some other medicines. There was no choice; Hang’s family fed the girl this terrible medicine. After taking this medicine, the healer told Hang’s parents that after three hours the girl would have a temperature, she could speak in her sleep and even could have a fit of madness. If those symptoms ended after three days, she would live, otherwise she would die. Like what the healer said, Hang had a fit of madness three hours later, and nothing on the first and the second days thereafter. On the third day, while walking with the elder brother of her friend who had died because of rabies, to the girl’s tomb, Hang suddenly felt a jet of cold air running along her spine. She immediately told the man to take her back home as she knew that she was about to have a fit of madness. She lost conscioness then. At 1am the next day, Hang’s family lost their hope because Hang breathed her last breath. Normally, in Hang’s home area, young people are often quickly enshrouded and buried, without funeral ceremonies. However, an old man in Hang’s village who is very good at horoscopes came to Hang’s house and told the family to not enshroud and bury her as the good hour hadn’t come yet and to not burn incence as well. At that time, a doctor asked the old man why he advised the family to do strange things like this, and the old man answered: “You have modern medical technology while I have only incence and holy water, but I’m sure that she won’t die.” The family was very confused but they still prepared a coffin while waiting to find out whether the old man’s words were true or not. At the time when Hang was waiting for death, she asked her father, who was a soldier, why people shoot seven battery salvos when a leader dies. The father said that it was to help the leader’s soul quickly be free. Hang told her father: “When I die, please shoot seven battery salvos to help my soul quickly be free and return to our family.” Hang’s father returned home at 7am the next day. Looking at his dead daughter, the father cried and suddenly remembered his promise to the girl. He pulled out his short gun and fired seven times. Hang suddenly sat up like a spring, ran to her father and called, “Daddy”. She tripped on bullet casings and fell down to the ground. After 30 minutes, she regained her senses. At that time, a strange feeling came to the girl. She felt she had lost all her weight, was flying and looking at others from a different world. Hang came to life against and it is considered a legend in her home town. Several months later, she totally regained her strength and often wandered everywhere. It is very strange that looking into the face of anybody, Hang knows whether they will live long or are about to die. Some people have been very healthy but she knew they were about to die. Hang told them that they were about to die. Sometimes she was beaten for being ‘viperish-tongued’. But what Hang told them became the truth, which scared the villagers. They believed that Hang was possessed by ghosts and they kept a safe distance from her. Hang tried to pursuade the villagers that she was not mad and she could forsee the dead in advance but nobody believed in her. Hang’s father brought her to many hospitals and sorcerers. Though at that time Hang could forsee the health and even the thinking of others, she was very pained and only wanted to lose that ability. She said that one day, in desperation, she wished to see her paternal and maternal grandmothers, whom she loved very much. Very strangely, on the death anniversary of her paternal grandmother, she saw the paternal grandmother (who died when Hang was 10 years old) holding another child and leading another. Hang related her meeting with the dead to her family. Hang’s paternal grandfather said that the children that Hang saw were his children who died at the age of 8 months old and 3 years old. At that time, people knew that Hang had a special ability. The village where Hang lives has a very old pagoda. Hang’s uncle is located near the pagoda. One day Hang visited her uncle and told him that there was human being in his garden. Hang and her uncle digged up the garden and found a wooden coffin with the body of a man. According to archaeologists, the tomb was 700 years old. Hang’s family lost the tomb of their ancestors of four generations ago. They had tried to find the tomb for years but they couldn’t. On the death anniversary of the ancestors, Hang attempted to find the tomb and she saw the tomb on a road. Hang told her brothers to dig up the road to find the tomb. Some local guards prevented them from digging up the road but Hang confirmed that there was a tomb under the road bed. They continued digging and finally found the tomb. At that time Hang’s special ability was proved. However, her father, a soldier, still didn’t believe in her. He quit his job to stay at home to take care of his daughter. To prove to her father that she was not mad and not under a delusion, Hang committed to pass the university entrance exam. To make her father completely believe that she was normal, Hang registered for the National Economics University, where she had to attend maths, physics and chemistry exams while she previously registered to attend literature, history and geography exams. After only 15 days of reviewing lessons, she passed the univeristy entrance exams with high points. At that time, Hang was a collaborator of the Sports and Physical Training Institute. Some experts of the Ministry of Culture and Information researched her special ability in seeking lost tombs. Hang asked those experts to help her survey the history of the ancient pagoda in her village, which has existed for centuries. Hang talked with the pagoda builders, who of course died 700 years ago, to know about the construction of the pagoda, which was then verified to be true by related State agencies. The pagoda was then recognised as a historical site. Hang has also helped thousands of families find the lost tombs of their family members, incuding thousands of remains of martyrs. (Source: CAND)