Central Vietnam highlighted for world heritage sites tour

10:07' 28/07/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge - There are several of UNESCO’s designated world heritage sites attracting a large number of tourists from near and far in the historically and culturally rich central region of Vietnam. International and local tourists now can book a five-day, four-night or a four-day, three-night “central region’s heritage road tour” through local tourism agencies to explore many of the beautiful landscapes as well as world heritage sites in this region. A five-day and four-night tour by airplane departing from Ho Chi Minh City is designed with two different destinations for tourists to choose. The first one will take tourists to several tourism sites in Da Nang City, ancient Hoi An Town, Hue City and Quang Binh Province. Joining this tour, visitors will be transferred to the airport and flown to Da Nang. Upon arrival, tourists will visit Ngu Hanh Son, a group of five mountains representing the five basic elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth, in Da Nang City. Then, tourists can try to conquer one of the mountains of Ngu Hanh Son and visit the Linh Ung Pagoda, Huyen Khong and Tang Chon caves. At night, tourists will have some relaxation time to wander around Hoi An, just around 30km away from Da Nang and one of UNESCO’s designated world heritage sites, with famous stops such as the Japanese roofed bridge Lai Vien Kieu and Tan Ky ancient house. On the second day, tourists will go to Hue City to visit the palace of former royalty, which is also a World Heritage site, and take a tour of the Huong (Perfume) River by boat to view Trang Tien Bridge and listen to Hue’s traditional music and release colorful lanterns onto the river to wish for happiness and prosperity. Then they will visit the southern province of Quang Binh, where there are the historic sites of the Quang Tri Citadel, Ben Hai River and the Hien Luong Bridge, and the World Heritage site of Phong Nha Cave in the Ke Bang limestone mountain. Tourists will go back to Hue City at the end of the fourth day before returning to HCMC in the afternoon. The second type of the five-day, four-night tour will also take tourists to Da Nang City, Hue City and Hoi An Town, but excludes Quang Binh Province. Despite not stopping in Quang Binh Province, tourists will have more time exploring the beauty of the cities and the ancient town. They will depart from Ho Chi Minh City by airplane to Da Nang and spend the first day discovering the ancient town of Hoi An in the light of colorful lanterns. On the second day, tourists will visit My Son Sanctuary, the religious center for the capital of the Champa Kingdom in the 7th century in Quang Nam Province, about 69 kilometers southwest of Da Nang. Tourists will also explore Ngu Hanh Son on the third day and go to the tourism site of Son Tra Peninsula. The tour continues to Hue City with a stop at Hai Van Mountain Pass for tourists to take photographs and view the beautiful landscape of the Lang Co fishing village. At Hue City, tourists will visit the palace of former royalty, watch a dancing and singing performance of royal music and enjoy Hue’s specialties. For those who lack time, the four-day, three-night tour by airplane could be another option as it will take tourists from Ho Chi Minh City to the most famous landscapes and world heritage sites in Da Nang and Hue cities such as Ngu Hanh Son, Hoi An and the ancient royal palace in Hue City. A visit to Ngoc Island in Da Nang City added to the tour will give tourists a chance to explore a primeval forest and a beautiful beach with sea sports such as kayak racing and diving to observe the island’s coral. (Source: SGGP, Viet Nam Net)

Industrial equipment market: playing field for big bugs

10:06' 28/07/2007 (GMT+7)

Most specialised vehicles at coal mines use Bridgestone tyres. VietNamNet Bridge – Big names like Bridgestone, a provider of specialised tires, and Flygt, a provider of submersible pumps, mixer and fluid handling technology, are strongly ‘attacking’ the industrial equipment market of Vietnam. This market seems to be the playing field for big firms. According to the Ministry of Industry, the coal-bed in the Red River Delta may have deposits up to 200 billion tonnes and it is 10 billion tonnes for coal mines in the northern province of Quang Ninh. Along with coal, iron ore reserves in Vietnam are forecast to be 1.2 billion tonnes, including around 600 million tonnes at the Thach Khe Iron Mine and around 100 million tonnes at the Quy Sa Iron Mine. In addition, the cement market is booming with a series of new factories and many others that are raising their capacity while many others are being built. As a result, the market for industrial equipment has become a fertile land for providers of specialised mining equipment, like specialised tyre providers such as Japan’s Bridgestone and France’s Michelin, submersible pump providers such as Sweden’s Flygt and Japan’s Ebara, since local producers are unable to manufacture those products. This fact can be clearly seen at coal mines in Quang Ninh and stone exploiting sites of cement plants like Hoang Thach, But Son, Bim Son, Tam Diep and Hoang Mai. There, all specialised vehicles use Bridgestone tyres. With high-quality and reasonable prices, Bridgestone tyres don’t have rivals in Vietnam. Not only holding large market shares in coal mining and cement production industries, Bridgestone has also provided tyres for container trucks at seaports and entered industrial zones, which are mushrooming in Vietnam. Sharing this cake with Bridgestone is France’s Michelin and some smaller firms such as Yokohama and Toyo of Japan, DRF of India, Kumhoo and Hankook of the Republic of Korea. Besides tyres, another product that is provided for the mining industry is submersible pumps of Flygt. The major rival of Flygt in Vietnam is Ebara of Japan and some smaller ones such as Tsuzumi from Japan, Grundfos from Denmark and Ksb from Germany. Though Vietnam has some producers of high-capacity pumps their products can only be used for irrigation activities, not for mining operations. Kieu Duc Hung, an official of the Ha Tu Coal Joint Stock Company, said that only Flygt pumps, which are made from special materials, worked well in the environment of mines. Bridgestone and Flygt, despite competition from other firms, are leading providers of specialised tyres and submersible pumps in Vietnam thanks to their professional distributors. “With the booming of the industrial equipment market, smaller providers will seek ways to increase their market shares and this is an opportunity for Vietnamese clients. However, we will only choose providers that meet standards on quality and after-sales services,” said Nguyen Quang Sy, Deputy Director of the Hoang Thach Cement Company. (Source: TBKTVN, Viet Nam Net)