Maoists set fire to India station

The rebels partially destroyed a goods train on Tuesday

Maoist rebels in eastern India have burnt down a railway station in a second day of protests against the government's economic policies.

The rebels set fire to the Baramdi station in West Bengal, police said.

The Maoists blew up tracks and partially destroyed a goods train in neighbouring Jharkhand on Tuesday. They abducted the driver and the guard.

More than 6,000 people have died during the rebels' 20-year fight for a communist state in parts of India.

Rail property has been the main target of the attacks by the armed Maoists during the two-day economic blockade in their strongholds in eastern and central India.

After blowing up rail tracks in the neighbouring states of Bihar and Jharkhand on Tuesday, the Maoists struck in West Bengal just before dawn.

The police said more than 50 armed rebels chased away railway employees and then set fire to the Baramdi railway station in the remote district of Purulia.

They also mined the rail tracks, leading to panic in the area.

Show of strength

Local people informed the police about the incident and scores of long distance trains between Calcutta and northern India were cancelled.

On Tuesday, the Maoists damaged a goods train at Latehar in the neighbouring state of Jharkhand and kidnapped its driver and guard. They also set fire to six vehicles in the state's Dumka area.

Correspondents say life in Jharkhand and large parts of Bihar were completely paralysed by the Maoist sponsored economic blockade.

Intelligence officials say the Maoists are trying to display their strength by disrupting production in these mineral-rich states of India that produce much of the country's iron ore, mica, manganese, bauxite and even uranium.

The rebels have called a 48-hour-long 'economic blockade' in three states to protest against the federal government's decision to allow special economic zones to boost exports and employment.

They say these enclaves will displace thousands of villagers.

The rebels have a presence in 18 of the 22 districts in Jharkhand.

Maoists operate in 182 districts in India, mainly in the states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of poor peasants and landless workers.

BBC News

Vietnam Airlines to open direct air link with the US

10:03' 27/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge - The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines will exert efforts to soon open a direct air link with the US, said Vietnam Airlines General Director Nguyen Si Hung. The scheme to open a direct air route to the US aims to meet the increasing demands to travel of the two countries’ people. Visitors from the US to Vietnam is expected to surge, while many US businesses considered Vietnam as Asia’s most attractive destination for their investment. In addition, the 1.5 million overseas Vietnamese living in the US are eager to visit their home country, and the transport of goods by air is also expected to surge in the coming time. Talking to a Vietnam News Agency reporter about Vietnam Airlines’ plan in 2007 and the coming years, the director said the corporation would continue investing in modernising its fleet, purchasing more planes to maintain the growth rate of 12-14 percent a year. The corporation will continue selling e-tickets, building an e-trade system in accordance with the standards of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), strengthen technical maintenance, and training workers. Despite fierce competitiveness from foreign airlines operating in the country, Vietnam Airlines earned a revenue of over 17.5 trillion VND (1.1 billion USD) in 2006, a year-on-year increase of 12.5 percent. The corporation carried almost 6.8 million passengers, including over 3 million foreigners in 2006. It was the 10th consecutive year that the airlines absolutely ensure safe lights. (Source: VNA)

Traditional ties with Laos - Vietnam’s pride: Party leader

09:32' 27/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam is always proud of its constantly growing traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation with Laos, as well as the fruitful cooperation between mass organisations of the two countries, said Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh. The Vietnamese Party leader made the remarks while receiving a high-level delegation from the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC), led by its President Sisavath Keobounphan, in Hanoi on June 26. General Secretary Manh expressed his delights at the Lao people's recent achievements in national construction, socio-economic development and expanding international relations. The achievements, made under the leadership of the Lao Party, he said, will help to elevate the position of Laos in the region as well as in the international arena. For his part, LFNC President Keobounphan informed his host of recent socio-economic progresses in Laos, which he said, was yielded from concerted efforts made by the Party, State and people of Laos. He highlighted the friendship and effective cooperation between the LFNC and the Viet Nam Fatherland Front and other relevant Vietnamese ministries and agencies. (Source: VNA)

VN-Index up, HaSTC-Index down slightly

10:01' 27/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge - Ho Chi Minh City's bourse continued its upward trend while its Hanoi-based counterpart reported a slight drop by the end of the day's trading on June 26. The VN-Index at the country's largest exchange in Ho Chi Minh City tacked on 11.31 points or 1.1 percent from the previous session to close at 1055.7 points. More than 5.6 million shares, worth a combined 615.1 billion VND, changed hands on the day, 47 stocks rallied for gains, 26 shares remained the same and 36 shares fell over the course of the session. Blue chip share Sai Gon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank (STB) led the market in terms of trading volume with 693,090 shares changing hands on the day. Petroleum Drilling Service Firm (PVD) with 290,990 shares and Song Da Urban and Industrial Zone Investment and Development ( SJS ) with 283,830 shares rounded out the top three. Although the State Securities Commission (SSC) has not yet determined whether Binh Dinh Mining Co ( BMC ) has been artificially inflating their stock price, 800 shares were offered during the session. As there was no demand for BMC, its price fell 27,000 VND to 514,000 VND per unit. Financing and Promoting Technology Corporation ( FPT ) hit the ceiling price by 15,000 VND to 324,000 VND with all the 218,550 shares being snatched up. Pharmaceutical company (DHG), Confectioner Kinh Do Corp (KDC) and plastic tube producer BMP were also among the top five in terms of price gains. The HaSTC-Index at the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre continued to slide 0.52 points from its last session to finish at 295.4 points marking its sharpest decline since early this year. Thirty-seven of 87 shares recorded small losses in prices. Noteworthy, after recording price gains for consecutive days, the newly listed Cho Lon Real Estate (CRL) fell 23,500 VND to close at 236,000 VND per share today. On the day, almost 1 million shares, worth over 108.95 billion VND, changed hands at the Hanoi bourse. (Source: Viet Nam Net)

Sport channels in Vietnam: in progress

17:18' 26/06/2007 (GMT+7)

A VTC sport programme VietNamNet Bridge – Long gone is the time when sport lovers had to watch piecemeal sports programmes. There are now 2 exclusive sport channels on TV, but they still have lots to learn, according to insiders. Shortage of human resources In the race to catch up with viewers’ needs, the 2 TV sport channels in the country have been quite quick. Head of Vietnam Television (VTV) Sport Department Trinh Long Vu, for instance, said that it only took VTV one month to turn the idea of having an exclusive sport channel on its cable TV into reality. And thus VCTV3 was born. Vietnam Television Technology Corporation (VTC), which is one of VTV’s greatest rivals, has also in time developed its own sport channel, VTC3. With a rapid pace of development, however, these channels are constantly running into obstacles, one of which is how to ensure adequate high-quality human resources and programmes. VTC3’s director Vu Quang Huy said at present, his channel had only 20 reporters, while its 24/24 programmes would require at least 30. VCTV3 is also facing a shortage of reporters. "VTV has tried to recruit new people. "Hundreds applied, but only more than 10 were selected. And even these 10 didn’t perfectly satisfy our needs. And our most important part, commenting, isn’t that great,” said veteran commentator Trinh Long Vu with concern. His VTC counterpart agreed. Vu Quang Huy said out of the 20 reporters at VTC3, only 4-5 were doing their jobs well. One of the reasons not so many reporters are crazy about working for sport channels is that workload there is extremely heavy. "In order to become a sport reporter or commentator, one needs only 2 two most important things: passion and good health. And good health is extremely important,” said Long Vu. Thus, the heads of Vietnam’s only 2 exclusive sport channels said that the first and mandatory questions they asked those who came for a job interview was “Can you work at night?” “Whoever says no will be eliminated right away,” said Long Vu. That is also the reason sport channels don’t welcome women. "It is difficult to have a whole day off when you work at VTC3, even during holidays or Tet,” said Quang Huy. And even men aren’t always able to endure such stress at work. "At present, we have an advantage and that is our reporters are all young, single and trying to prove themselves. But they can’t work forever like this. They can throw 1 or 2 years of their youth into this work, but if things didn’t improve, they would find their work unproductive,” added Quang Huy. Rubbing against new things Competition has only recently taken shape in the TV station market in Vietnam, and the “big brother” of old times, VTV, is now starting to realize that more and more players are joining the game. 2006, for example, witnessed a fierce and bitter copyright battle between the 2 sport channels of VTV and VTC. VTV succeeded in buying the right to broadcast World Cup 2006 and VTC later bought the ASIAD 15 copyright, refusing to share it with VTV. But now that all battles have ended, insiders can look back at them with calmer eyes. “We’re getting familiarized with the fact that VTV can’t always succeed in buying every copyright. “If VTC succeeds in getting what VTV doesn’t have, we’re thinking about negotiating with VTC in order to rebroadcast their programmes. Such an arrangement is a very common thing in the sport world that we must get used to very soon,” said Long Vu. Vu Quang Huy perfectly agrees. "One should consider competition as part of the work, and shouldn’t be too obsessed with winning or losing. If VTC don’t get copyrights of some events, it can always make sideline programmes,” said the director of VTC3. That said, 2007 has been a victorious year for VTC, which has succeeded in buying the rights to broadcast such important international sport events as ASIAN Cup 2007, Copa Ameria, and F1 2007. The future Asked about their future goals, heads of the two sport channels had different answers. VTV is worried about having enough human resources as well as money to buy copyrights. “Now we can only meet 50% of these two needs. What VCTV3 wants is to develop a more professional work team and financial resources in order to have bigger programmes,” said Trinh Long Vu. VTC3 has another ambition in mind. "We want to avoid what exclusive sport channels in Vietnam can easily fall into: ‘Vietnamized’ foreign channels. VTC3 will be present at many domestic sport events and gradually increase broadcast slots for domestic events,” Vu Quang Huy affirmed. (Source: Viet Nam Net)

Nation looks to increase number of guest workers sent abroad

22:19' 26/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – One of Vietnam's goals is to make labour export a key economic sector. Senior Government officials and businesspeople spoke to Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Vietnam Economic Times) about measures to increase the number of guest workers sent abroad. * Dao Cong Hai, deputy director of the Bureau of Administration on Overseas Workers, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs I can say the co-operation model between labour export enterprises and local administrations in the provinces of Hai Duong and Phu Tho is a good example of simplified procedures to recruit, train and send workers abroad. Since late 2002, this successful model has been replicated in more than 50 provinces and cities nationwide. It is important to raise people's awareness about the benefits of sending workers overseas and how it positively impacts the national employment and poverty reduction programme in relation to local economic development. This model also helps cut down administrative costs, including, intermediary costs. However, four major weaknesses have been revealed during the implementation of the model. First, recruitment is difficult because the number of applicants is so big that the screening process can't keep up. This leaves workers and the public at large with a bad impression of the industry. Second, many enterprises don't send notifications to local authorities to inform them about successful applicants. Third, there is a lack of co-ordination between enterprises operating in the same area or region. And last, some authorities have caused problems for enterprises by requiring unnecessary paperwork and red-tape. Local banks are guilty of the same. * Nguyen Xuan An, vice president and secretary of the Viet Nam Association of Labour Export (VAMAS) Guest workers remit about US$1.6bil to their families in Vietnam every year. This sum is not small, however, it could be much larger if labour export enterprises didn't face so much international competition in this sector in terms of acquired professional skills, foreign language knowledge and disciplinary attitudes of workers. In my opinion, to win more contracts for overseas workers, it is important to pay attention to skilled people who are already in the field, especially farmers. VAMAS is committed to developing programmes to support these businesses, particularly in the areas of capacity building, market information sharing and protecting the interests of enterprises and workers. For us, it is imperative to have a reliable co-operation mechanism with enterprises while fostering a sense of responsibility towards the workers. It is our mandate to help workers and enterprises. * Nguyen Hoang Hien, director of the Phu Tho Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs At present, Phu Tho has between 15,000 and 16,000 workers living abroad. Every year, they send home more than VND600bil ($37.5mil). We target sending around 5,000 workers abroad annually. There are 40 enterprises operating in this sector and that's why it is very important to foster healthy co-operation between companies. At present, we are helping enterprises to establish links with vocational training institutions. Of the 24,000 attending vocational training courses, only 1,000 have been able to leave home to work in another country. * Dao Xuan Can, secretary of Bac Giang Province's Party Committee Sending guest workers abroad is one of the province's five major economic programmes. We consider this sector as the quickest way to settle employment issues, increase household incomes and effectively contribute to poverty reduction. There are risks involved for workers, enterprises and administrations at different levels. But analysing, assessing and managing these risks helps us minimise them. However, I don't agree with the idea of holding back 10% of the sum lent to workers by some banks in order to set up a fund. I agree that the province should allocate money to support vocational training and commercial banks so they can expand loan coverage, but what I want to emphasis here is the principle of transparency that must be honoured. * Nguyen Xuan Vui, director of the Airserco Co I am strongly in favour of present administrative reform, but I don't know why some local authorities keep asking us to provide so much documentation before granting workers permits to go abroad. For example, if an enterprise wants to recruit labourers to work abroad, the enterprise needs three documents: an introduction letter from the Bureau of Administration on Overseas Workers, an introduction letter from the province and a third from the district. These procedures are time consuming. In my opinion, the most important document enterprises must have is a valid permit to recruit workers to go abroad issued by an authorised agency and a contract with foreign partners. It is the responsibility of local authorities to verify that the enterprise's documents are authentic. I also object to the requirement that each labour export enterprise has to deposit VND500mil ($31,000) in the provincial treasury as written in Decree 81. It would be much better for us to deposit the money in the State Treasury. Regarding the sum of money, each guest worker should be able to borrow more money from the bank as VND20mil ($1,250) just isn't enough. * Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan, director general of the Advanced International Joint-Stock Co How to settle violations committed by guest workers has emerged as a big problem nowadays for labour export enterprises. I suggest that the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs have sanctions in place for violators, whether they be workers or their companies. Before going to work abroad, most labourers have been trained to do simple jobs. But in the international market, highly skilled workers are the real treasure. Their salaries depend on their skills and qualifications. My company is willing to support up to 50% of vocational training costs for workers so they can earn better salaries abroad. (Source: Viet Nam Net)

HCM City: investors keen on building projects

16:12' 26/06/2007 (GMT+7)

Diamon Plaza building in HCM City (photo: dothi.net) VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City authorities now have to choose trustworthy faces from among many local investors to whom to give the city’s remaining ‘golden’ land plots in the hub to build buildings. The groundbreaking ceremony of the 61-storey Bitexco Trade and Financial Service Centre project, which fronts the three streets of Hai Trieu, Ho Tung Mau and Ngo Duc Ke in the centre of HCM City, in 2005 stirred the real estate circle. This was not only the largest real estate project invested in by a local investor ($90 million) but also the sign of the start of the movement to build Vietnamese buildings in HCM City’s hub, where land is more valuable than gold. Since then, many Vietnamese-invested building projects have been carried out. Most recently, the nine-storey Opera View was inaugurated on May 12 at the Le Loi-Dong Khoi crossroad in District 1, which is considered the best site in HCM City. The building is invested in by Artex Saigon with VND57 billion ($3.56 million), on 798sq.m of land. There are only world top fashion brands sold in Opera View, such as Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Furla, Lazoe, Lacoste, French Connection UK and Doc Martens. This is the most luxurious trading centre in HCM City and Vietnam in general; Louis Vuitton had to wait for five years to get its favourite site. Tens of foreign investors wanted to buy this plot of land but Artex decided to build the building with its own capital. Also in May, the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) announced Singapore’s DP Architects had won the first prize in a contest to design BIDV tower in HCM City. The 152m BIDV building will be built at 117-119 Nguyen Hue Road, District 1 at a total investment capital of VND1,800 billion ($112.5 million), wholly invested in by BIDV. The construction will begin in early 2008 and be completed in 2010. The building will host offices of banking and securities groups in the world and the region. The PetroVietnam building at 1 Le Duan Street, District 1 is about to open after tens of years in stagnancy. Previously, many foreign investors refused to invest in this project but now it is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in HCM City and all of its space has been hired though the building is not open yet. One June 21, Vincom announced it would implement a project to build three towers in the centre of District 1, HCM City. Those towers will be built on two plots of land. Two towers comprising trading centres, offices for lease, luxurious apartments and garages will be built on the first 12,000sq.m plot of land. The second plot of land will be a tower totaling 62,000sq.m in area, which will be offices for lease. Those buildings will be connected by tunnels. All of those projects are on plots of land that many foreign investors dreamed of but couldn’t invest in for many reasons. “Buildings in the city’s centre which bear Vietnamese trademarks are not only the pride of Vietnamese investors but also prove the development of the Vietnamese economy. HCM City will create favourable conditions for Vietnamese economic groups to invest in the city’s centre,” said Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan. Apart from wholly Vietnamese-invested real estate projects, there are many others in which Vietnamese capital makes up a large part, for example the 35-storey building of the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) and the 40-storey International Trading Centre of the Saigon Trade Corporation. In the next ten years, tens of made-in-Vietnam buildings will become the focal points of HCM City’s central area besides foreign-invested buildings. (Source: Viet Nam Net)