As mentioned earlier, the article about director liability is now available on the Vietnam News website. Please feel free to go and compare it with this earlier version. Although they seem to have left off the attribution. Sigh, le sigh. Cheers.

Cam Ranh Airport in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa will become an international airport with the opening of an official direct air route linking Cam Ranh and Vladivostock in Russia on December 12.

This was announced at a recent working session between Chairman of the Khanh Hoa provincial People’s Committee Vo Lam Phi, leaders of the Minh Nhat Ltd.Co. and representatives of Russia’s Vladivostock Avia and Transero Airlines.

Under the agreement, TU204 aircraft will be used for a flight every two weeks and the flight frequency will be increased later. Another air route will also open for flights from Moscow to Cam Ranh and vice versa.

Mr. Phi also asked hotels and guest houses to offer promotion programmes and lower service prices on the occasion of the inauguration of Cam Ranh international airport.

Travel agents’ hotels have pledged 50-70% discount in hotel room prices for nearly 130 international tourists flying from Russia to Cam Ranh on December 12.

The national aviation sector invested more than VND200 billion in building a new terminal, air traffic control station, a modern runway lights and other facilities in Cam Ranh Airport.

The capacity of the new terminal doubles the old one, which was only capable of loading 300 passengers per hour.

(Source: VNA)

HCMC residents will have a chance to savour authentic Hanoi cuisine and experience the rural ambience of northern Vietnam at a three-day event held to mark the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long- Hanoi.

The “Thang Long Citadel cuisine in South Vietnam” Festival at Van Thanh Tourism Park would introduce “significant cultural traits and folk cuisine of the North,” said Chiem Thanh Long, Director of Van Thanh Tourism Park. “We are getting ready a miniature of ancient Hanoi at the park.”

The event, organised by the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will open on December 11. There will be a rural market, snack counter, temple festival, and traditional feast.

Visitors can enjoy delicacies like banh gai Hang Be (glutinous rice cake dyed black in a concoction of leaves made in Hang Be Street), banh gio Do Mang (pyramidal rice dumpling filled with meat, onion, and mushroom from a place called Madame Demange), banh com Hang Than (grilled cake of young rice in Hang Than Street), and banh tom (crisp shrimp pastry).

A death-anniversary feast and a wedding feast will be the highlights of the event.

“We will have artisans and officials from the Vietnam Cuisine Research Institute to make it a genuine northern feast,” Long said.

“Every day we will serve only 40 tables of traditional feast, which will cost VND960,000 (US$52). Each table will have ten dishes serving six people.”

Besides the food, daily Northern Vietnamese life will be depicted, including a market with street vendors in traditional costumes and calling out to passers-by, an exhibition of Vietnamese wines, and an exhibition of paintings and books about Thang Long, the country’s ancient capital.

Huynh Van Son, a department representative, said northern folk games would be on display, including Chinese chess, water puppetry, and wrestling.

There would be performances of ca tru (ceremonial singing), quan ho (love duet), hat xam (songs of an itinerant blind musician), and hat xoan (folk workship singing of Phu Tho Province), he added.

Around 8,000 visitors were expected at the festival, Long said. It will run from 4pm to 9pm on each of the three days.

(Source: VNS)

Forty-eight relics from the Nguyen Dynasty era donated by private collectors to the Hue Royal Fine Arts Museum are on display at the former royal capital’s An Dinh Palace. The Hue Royal Fine Arts Museum, run by the Hue Historical Relic Preservation Centre, houses a large collection of relics from the time of Vietnam’s last imperial dynasty, which ruled from 1820 to 1945.

The objects on show at the exhibition, organised by the museum, are mostly made of silver, brass, precious stones, porcelain, silk, wood and paper.

Among them are a pair of ivory tusks donated by a Vietnamese expatriate living in France, a tea set gifted by Doan Phuoc Thuan, a collector in the central coastal province of Phu Yen, and a collection of King Minh Mang’s poems written on paper donated by Frenchman Andre de Crozet.

A set of three life-size brass statues of Jesus’s mother Mary, donated by a Hue-based company, is among the most valuable relics on show.

At the time of the exhibition’s opening, Nguyen Huu Hoang donated a porcelain basin and plate, Le Gia donated a land register, and a group of collectors presented a pair of vermilion-lacquered gilded wood panels.

The exhibition will go on until the end of the year.

Hochiminh City, 20th Nov 2009 – Vietnam Travel Depot has released excursions to bring nostagia travellers back in time to see Saigon of the old time.

Experience Old Saigon on vintage Citroen Traction Avant with Viet Nam Travel Depot

Contrast to the current bustling, noisy and crowded city, the Old Saigon was charm and full flairs of Paris blended with Far East atmosphere as they once appeared in many movies such The Lovers or Indochine.

Inspired by the postcards of Old Saigon, the excursion will cover some major places such as Cathedral (1918), Post and Telegraph, Saigon Town Hall (1924), Ville Rex Hotel (1924), Municipal Theatre (1898 – 1900), Catinat Street, Ben Thanh Market (1925), Saigon Zoo, etc.

The excursions of Old Saigon can be traveled on a half day or full day basis. Passengers can also choose to experience Saigon on modern air-conditioned vehicles or the vintage Citroen Traction Avant of 1935 (limited seats). The company also presents a set of Old Saigon postcard when the tour concludes.

About Vietnam Travel Depot
Online travel portal specialized in travel to Vietnam focusing on individuals and small groups travel. More information the company, its offers and rates please visit www.vietnamtraveldepot.com or tel:  ( 848 ) 5404 3116.

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Transported by Citroen

Old Saigon on half day, price from US$90/pax (group of 2 persons)

Old Saigon on full day, price from US$145/pax (group of 2 persons)

Evidence is starting to mount that a new era may soon arrive in US-Vietnam relations that will benefit American and Vietnamese businesses and investors who pay attention to these developments:

1. Growing official presence. Until this fall, the Vietnamese government’s only US offices were the embassy in Washington and trade centers in New York and San Francisco.  This summer the government announced the opening of a consulate in Houston.  At the same time, the US is opening a consulate in Danang to complement its embassy in Hanoi and consulate in Saigon.  Also, Maryland became one of the first states to establish trade offices in Hanoi and HCM City.
2. Investment in America. Vietnamese companies took advantage of the global recession to strengthen their international market positions — in the United States, Japan, Singapore, Australia and elsewhere.  Examples are Saigontourist, a Vietnamese tourism company, placing a $44 million bet on a hotel in San Francisco, and Vietnam’s investment giant Saigon Securities plans to raise $20 million in Vietnam to invest in US real estate.
3. American visitors to Vietnam. American travelers surpassed every other country in visitors to Vietnam in July — 38,400 Americans visited Vietnam vs. 36,100 visitors from China — and are continuing to develop a presence in Vietnam.  Through September, 329,000 Americans visited the country in 2009, making the US a close second to China’s 338,000, and the trend suggests Americans will lead the list in the near future.

Click here for the three other events advancing US-VN connections

This periodic brief summarizes economic and social developments affecting the business climate for American and Vietnamese firms and investors interested in trade and/or partnerships.

Summary

Third quarter developments signified growing links between Vietnam and the US through the creation of two new consulates, expansion of business in both directions, surging Vietnamese exports to the US, and Vietnamese investment in America.  These events suggest Americans who are early adopters in the heart of Southeast Asia will benefit in years ahead.  Economic growth in Vietnam is back on track and appears poised to accelerate in 2010.  Much of the infrastructure development and construction that had stalled earlier in the year is back on track.  And progress is continuing, although not fast enough to satisfy global businesses, on regulatory and bureaucratic improvements needed to sustain development.  Vietnam is becoming a world class player on the global economic stage.

Click here for complete Autumn 2009 update

Cu Da Village is located in Cu Khe Commune, Thanh Oai District, Hanoi. It is considered as one of the two most ancient villages in the former Ha Tay. Its ancient and tranquil beauty attracts many tourists and researchers both in and outside the country. Cu Da Village is really a symbol of Vietnamese ancient villages in the northern delta areas and it also hides cultural sediments of great values that have still been kept intact today.

Cu Da ancient village, an attractive tourist destination in Hanoi
Cu Da Village is located on the bank of the Nhue River, about 15 kilometres from center of Hanoi, bearing characters of a Vietnamese village with hundred-year-old banian-trees, rivers, ponds, village wells and ancient mossy walls.

Cu Da villagers still keep traditional and neighbourly lifestyle which has been maintained from generation to generation. So, once visitors coming Cu Da, they will find it easy to inquire the way to some family in the village. This is really a respectfully cultural feature of Cu Da people.

In the 1920s, 1930s, thanks to the favourable location ‘close to the market and the river’, Cu Da was a very busy place for traders to do business all day and night. As a result, Cu Da village’s economy was developed rapidly and the living standard of villagers was improved considerably compared to other regions. Cu Da villagers moved to all regions in the country to do business and settle down there. Some people who were better off had come back to the home village and brought along with them the cultural characters from the city. Houses with the western architectural style mixed with traditional art were built. These were communal houses built under the French-style so that villagers could gather together and make decisions on things of common concern. Each house was numbered like in a big city. Cu Da is among a few Vietnamese villages whose houses were numbered. This has made it so unique, rarely seen in any village in the northern delta area.

The cultural features of Cu Da have been preserved intact which serve as an evidence of a flourishing development period. The most remarkable relics in Cu Da are 50 French-style villas. Partly damaged by time and historical changes as they were, these houses are still kept intact with typical French style. These are two-storey villas with balcony, archway, enamel tile-paved pillars, porcelain-paved walls and so on. Tiles to pave and decorate houses were all made in France in 1910 – 1920 and imported to Vietnam. Architectural patterns and designs of these houses remain, showing the harmony between eastern and western architecture in the early years of the 20th century.

Not only bearing European-style architecture, Cu Da is also imbued with traditional values of a riverside village in the northern delta area.

These were ancient Vietnamese houses and houses of worship built one century ago. These iron wood houses with delicate carvings still stand there to the test of time. The most remarkable house is the ancient house of Trinh The Sung built in 1874 under the Tu Duc’s reign. The house features the typical architectural art of the Nguyen Dynasty as it was made entirely from timber with sophisticated patterns on its doors.

The cultural characters of Cu Da ancient village are also showed through other constructions like temples, pagodas and shrines. Cu Da temple is one of two relics of Cu Da Village recognised as the nation’s historical site. Xa Tac Worship Ritual was set at Cu Da Temple to offer sacrifices and considered as the most beautiful worship place preserved until today. This place of worship dates back to 1921, made from precious stones carved with dragons and symbols of four sacred creatures: dragon, unicorn, tortoise and phoenix. Xa Tac Altar is not only used for the worship of the God of Land and the God of Farming, but it also implies typical features of a historical period in the past.

Cu Da Village is also famous for other ancient communal houses which are used to celebrate common activities and festivals of the whole village.

Such unique relics on a flourishing development period of Cu Da riverside ancient village have made it a ‘must-see’ tourist destination, attracting an increasing number of visitors and researchers in and outside the country.

(Source: Nhan Dan)

Hochiminh City, 16 October 2009 – Vietnam Travel Depot has launched Jeep tours for the adventure enthusiasts. The unconventional tours by the US military Jeep M151 A1 and M151 A2 – vehicles once used in the Vietnam War will cover famous destinations such as historic Cu Chi Tunnel, Cao Dai Temple, Vung Tau Beach & Australia War Memorial, Mui Ne Beach, up to the mountain of Dalat or Central Highland or deep into the forest of Nam Cat Tien National Park.

Free Visa to Vietnam with Vietnam Travel Depot

Passengers who book tours value from US$600 per person will receive both visa approval letters and single entry visa stamps (value of US$/25) for free. Once passengers receive their visas, Vietnam Travel Depot will pay back the visa fees in cash or deduct directly from their tour prices.

Both of the above offers are applied to tour bookings only of minimum two persons in a group and are not applicable for hotel bookings or other single services.

Further details about the offers, please contact sales consultants online or email sales@vietnamtraveldepot.com

About Vietnam Travel Depot: Online travel portal specialized in travel to Vietnam focusing on individuals and small groups travel. More information about the company please visit www.vietnamtraveldepot.com or contact Tel: (848 ) 5404 3116.

From September 30 all vehicles will have freedom of movement between the Samat international border gate in Tay Ninh Province in Vietnam and the TrapeangPlong border gate in KamPongCham Province, Cambodia.

This is the second international border gate to be put into use by the two countries. The first, Moc Bai-BaVet, started operating in September, 2006.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Transport Le Manh Hung praised the cooperation shown between the transportation sectors of both countries for their efforts to implement the Agreement on Road Transportation signed by both governments.

As a result, seven border gates connecting the two countries are now in operation. Both countries have opened up their borders so vehicles do not have to stop, which saves time, cuts costs and boosts trade, tourism, and investment.

Deputy Minister Hung and his Cambodian counterpart Takch ChanKosal also agreed that both countries should make more effort to exchange information, manage transport links and work together to make it easier to travel between both countries.

(Source: VNA)

Hochiminh City, 01  Oct 2009 – From October 2009 Vietnam Travel Depot will offer passengers free welcome and assistance services at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Hochiminh City. Passengers who travel with Vietnam Travel Depot will be greeted at the airport by the company staffs, assisted with the luggage and to be provided with necessary information during their stay in Vietnam.

For passengers who book tours in Vietnam for at least three days for a value from US$300/person the company also provides a mobile phone with credit of around US$10 to contact with their families, friends and stay in touch with Vietnam Travel Depot when they need.

About Vietnam Travel Depot: Online travel portal specialized in travel to Vietnam focusing on individuals and small groups travel. More information about the company please visit www.vietnamtraveldepot.com or contact Tel: ( 848 ) 5404 3116.

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The 87 - year - old lady is performing folk songs on mobile

At a time when the modern music industry in Viet Nam is producing mostly flash-in-the-pan pop stars, modern technology is starting to prove convenient in keeping traditional music alive.

Fans of quan ho (love duets from the northern province of Bac Ninh) no longer need to visit the province to enjoy live performances of this ancient folk music.

Now the music is just a phone call away.

Thanks to such clubs as the Hoa Dinh Club in Hoa Dinh Village, Bac Ninh City, quan ho fans can dial in to listen to their favourite love songs, performed live by well-known singers.

With modern technology often distracting from the country’s traditions, it’s a refreshing change to see it help promote an ancient art form for Vietnamese everywhere.

The Hoa Dinh Club’s head, Tran Van Quyen, says most customers who phone in requesting songs are overseas Vietnamese and people in other provinces.

“It all started at a quan ho singing competition and festival in Spring 2008,” he recalls.

During the festival, the club’s artists met with many tourists who said they wanted to enjoy these folk songs from home.

“At the end of the festival, we returned to our day jobs. The quan ho singers of Hoa Dinh Village continued to practise every Saturday evening.

“One day, some of the tourists who had my mobile phone number called me, saying that they wanted to enjoy some songs. We couldn’t refuse their passion for the music,” he says.

At present, the club has 51 members, including elder, middle-aged and young people. The oldest member Nguyen Thi Bay is 85, but she still isn’t too old to teach young people how to properly sing the classic melodies.

Bay and other club members are ready to sing via mobile phones to fans, free of charge.

“The most important thing that we gain is that we can popularise the culture of quan ho and images of quan ho artists who are friendly and hospitable to people both in the country and abroad,” he says.

“We don’t join the club for money,” says artist Nguyen Thi Ly. “We are determined to preserve the ancient folk songs and we want the songs to be handed down to future generations.”

The director of Bac Ninh Province’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Department, Dang Van Tuc, said the service has received a lot of attention.

“This service also helps popularise quan ho to the world. We want quan ho to be recognised one day as a UNESCO heritage. During this time of international integration, people all over the world can simply pick up their cell phones and listen to songs by famous singers.”

Recognising the potential of wireless communication, the department has asked the provincial People’s Committee to give each quan ho club a mobile phone to help boost this service.

For many old people living in rural villages, mobile phones have been an unaffordable luxury, but there has been a recent spike in the number of elderly with mobile phones.

According to artist Nguyen Thi Thuy, quan ho is an acquired taste, and not everyone wants to listen to these old folk songs.

“That’s why we the quan ho singers always respect the requests of people who really want to listen to the songs. Among them, many are overseas Vietnamese who visited the homeland but didn’t have a chance to visit Bac Ninh,” she says.

During the summers, the club also organises classes to teach quan ho to children in the village.

Other than the Hoa Dinh Club, many other clubs have been formed, attracting new performers and fans. They include clubs in Dao Xa Village in Phong Khe Commune, Bac Ninh City, and Diem Village in Hoa Long Commune.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is completing files on quan ho to submit to UNESCO, asking the organisation to recognise the music as an intangible part of their culture.

Just as modern technology seems to facilitate cheaply produced music, this original use of cell phones proves that tradition does not have to be traded for modernity. This also proves that quan ho culture still has a strong presence.

(Source: VNS & VietNamNet Bridge )

A uniquely odd architectural work in the Central Highlands city of Dalat , has been shortlisted by the Chinese People’s Daily as one of the world’s ten most bizarre buildings.

French travel guide Hachette has also highlighted the “Crazy House” as a not-to-be missed hotel stay on any trip to Vietnam.

The house, occupying nearly 1,600m² on Huynh Thuc Khang Street, was completed in 1990 as a personal project by architect Dang Viet Nga. The controversial building once dismissed as “crazy” has now become a regular feature on tourist visits to the city.
The free-form undulating structure is quite unlike anything else in Dalat, let alone Vietnam. The house is constructed on a numerous levels with a naturalistic theme interpreted through concrete curves, twists and bends, giving it the appearance of an out-grown tree. The interior is equally unorthodox, with almost every surface twisting, curving and running fluidly along the internal corridors, stairwells and rooms.

Mismatched windows give the impression of a fairytale house straight from Little Red Riding Hood, while stone tigers, bears, eagles, kangaroos and pheasants decorate the environs adding to the surreal environment.

The building has been dogged by controversy since conception with arguments centering on the structure’s insufficient architectural integrity, ad-hoc character and lack of formal aesthetic.

Nga shrugs off criticism, “Many people have criticised me, even my colleagues. I don’t blame who don’t understand me.” Instead she believes that the controversial character of the house has won her more attention.

“When they first saw the house, people would exclaim that it was a “crazy house”! So that’s how it got its name, and now, it’s one of Dalat’s leading tourist attractions,” Nga says.

Nga is more concerned with conveying history and myth through the structural and decorative styling of the house rather than conforming to strict architectural rules. The house for her is interconnected by “a cobweb, which can be conceived as a bridge linking reality and the spiritual world, linking the self and the infinite universe,” she says.

(Source: VNA, Image: Google)

The Mid-Autumn Festival 2009 and the Mid-Autumn Fair opened on September 19 (the first day of the 8th lunar month) in Hanoi’s ancient quarter.

The festival, hosted by the People’s Committee of Hoan Kiem District, is the first of a series of activities to mark the 999th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi and 55 years of the capital’s liberation.

The festival will last until October 3 (the 15th day of the 8th lunar month) with a wide range of activities taking place on an outdoor stage in front of Dong Xuan Market, including folk game nights, a festival of lion dances and traditional art performances such as hat xam (song of a strolling blind musician), ca tru (ceremonial song) and cheo (traditional opera).

The full-moon night, which falls on October 3, will be celebrated with a lantern parade, lion dances and a children’s party to serve out festival cakes and fruits.

Documentary images of traditional mid-autumn festivals will be displayed at a preserved ancient house at 87 Ma May Street.

On the occasion, the Hoan Kiem District will present gifts to disadvantaged students with an outstanding education record.

(Source: VNA)

The World Bank has announced it will provide Vietnam with a low-interest loan of US$ 300 million to help fight poverty and boost access to electricity in rural areas. The funding aims to reduce poverty in ethnic minority and remote communities by improving access to social infrastructure and services and providing more production support through a participatory, community-driven investment approach.  

More info on the World Bank’s Vietnam plans

Lotussia Travel, a Hanoi based travel company which is specialized in providing adventure tailormade trips has just launched its biggest Summer Promotions campaign namely “Impressive Vietnam” targeting foreign tourists from Australia, France, UK, US, Germany, New Zealand, Singapore.

The 18 day promotional package starts with a seven day trip in the North of Vietnam and then enjoys a leisurely beach vacation in the central provinces of Hoian and ends with some following day in Ho Chi Minh city, the Mekong delta area and short extension to Cambodia.

This package always gives a large number of people a chance to travel to Vietnam even during this world economic crisis period since the campaign has been whole-heartedly supported by more than twenty local tourism service suppliers offering sensational discounts up to 30% including car rental agencies, airline firms, hotels and restaurants…

This is the best opportunity for foreign tourists to come to Vietnam and experience all the major travel highlights of Vietnam with a tiny budget, said Nguyen Khuong, Managing Director of Lotussia Travel.

The most impressive highlight is Halong Bay, one of the world’s natural wonders, and the most attractive tourist destination of Vietnam, featuring more than one thousand grandiose limestone karsts and islands of various sizes and uncanny shapes along the 120-km coastline of Bai Chay Beach.

Another highlight is Sapa, an incredibly picturesque village lying on the mountain chain Hoang Lien Son near the Chinese border in Northern West of Vietnam. Sapa is also the starting point for many climbers and scientists who would like to reach the top of Fansipan Mountain, the highest in Vietnam with the height of 3,143m as an interesting adventure or an extreme sport.

Moreover, Hoi An, one of the major trading centers of Southeast Asia in the 16th century also needs to be stated out by its distinct style from Chinese culture with low, tile-roofed houses and narrow streets; some of them still remains the original structure comprehensively intact.

What a flexible promotional trip! The whole package or just a short extension can be thoroughly booked based on your liking and budget.

For further information, please email us at info[at]lotussiatravel.com or visit the link here

Vietnam to subsidise bank loans for longer periods

Reuters 07 April 2009

The Vietnamese government has decided to subsidise certain bank loans to companies and individuals for periods of up to two years, increased from eight months, as part of its efforts to boost economic growth. The extended term is for loans taken between April 1 and Dec. 12, 2011, with the government subsidising 4 percentage points of banks’ lending rates, according to a directive signed on Saturday, with immediate effect. Businesses and individuals could use the funds for investing in production, businesses or developing infrastructure, said the directive, obtained by Reuters on Tuesday after a public holiday on Monday. The government started the rate subsidy scheme in February as growth was forecast to slow to 5 percent this year due to the global economic recession, compared with 6.23 percent last year and 8.5 percent in 2007.

On Tuesday the World Bank reaffirmed its forecast for Vietnam’s economic growth this year at 5.5 percent. “Cheap bank credit and loan guarantees can offset the fall in demand due to drying up of trade finance. But cheap bank credit will not encourage firms to produce if they do not have demand for their products,” the bank warned in its forecast report. The State Bank of Vietnam, the central bank, said loans extended under the interest rate subsidy scheme as of last Friday had risen 13.1 percent from a week earlier to 202 trillion dong ($11.4 billion).

Vietnam scientists clash with government over bauxite project

DPA 10 Apr 2009

Vietnamese scientists and actvists have called on the government to cancel a massive bauxite mining plan in the country’s Central Highlands for environmental reasons, scientists confirmed Friday. The scientists said the calls came at a seminar organized by Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, its Federation of Technical and Science Associations, and the state-owned Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin).

At the seminar in Hanoi on Thursday, many of the over 50 scientists in attendance said that Vinacomin’s plans for bauxite mining and processing projects covering over 1,800 square kilometres in the mountainous Central Highlands will cause irreversible environmental damage.

“The government should rethink the way it is implementing the technology,” said Professor Pham Duy Hien, a former head of Vietnam’s National Atomic Energy Academy. “If they do it the way Vinacomin has suggested, it will cause a major disaster for us later on.”

Government officials said the mining of bauxite ore, that is used to produce aluminum, was integral to the economic guidelines Vietnam’s Communist Party had laid out in its 2006 five-year plan. “This project will bring significant benefits to the country as aluminum becomes more popular as a material for construction and airplane and car production,” said Vinacomin chairman Doan Van Kien. Vinacomin’s plan envisions exploitation of 5.4 billion tons of bauxite ore in six projects in the region until 2015.

Bauxite is generally mined in vast open pits. For each ton of aluminum produced, approximately five tons of caustic slag are created, which can degrade the environment without proper storage and revegetation. The first two bauxite processing plants, already under construction, have been contracted to the Chinese mining company Chalco. The involvement of several thousand Chinese workers has led to nationalist opposition by some Vietnamese bloggers, who have spread rumors that the projects may lead to Chinese control over Vietnamese territory.

At the end of the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said Vietnam would adapt the mining plan for ecological sensitivity, but scepticism remains.

“I do not think the government will be willing to stop these projects,” said historian and National Assembly member Duong Truong Quoc, who said he found the government’s presentation “unconvincing.”

Vietnam’s bauxite reserves are among the world’s largest, with an estimated 8 billion tons, concentrated in the country’s Central Highlands region.

Former US candidate McCain in Vietnam, calls for military ties

DPA 07 Apr 2009

The United States “would like to increase military- to-military relations” with its former adversary Vietnam, said US Senator and former presidential candidate John McCain at a press conference in Hanoi Tuesday. McCain, a former Navy fighter pilot who spent five years as a prisoner of war (POW) in Hanoi during the Vietnam War, said such ties might include the training of Vietnamese officers at US defence institutions. Addressing students at Vietnam’s Diplomatic Academy earlier in the day, McCain placed such US-Vietnamese military cooperation in the context of recent Chinese harassment of a US naval vessel in the South China Sea. He also noted China’s disputes with Vietnam and other countries over the Spratly and Paracel Islands.

McCain is visiting Vietnam as part of a tour of East Asia along with two other US senators, Republican party politician Lindsey Graham (also a Vietnam veteran) and Democrat Amy Klobuchar. The group first visited Japan, and will travel to Beijing Wednesday. In other remarks at the Diplomatic Academy, McCain said Vietnam should liberalize its political system in order to compete with China. “By taking steps toward greater political liberalization, Vietnam has the chance not simply to match

(China’s) accomplishments but to surpass them,” McCain said. On Wednesday, McCain plans to visit Hoa Lo Prison, known to former US prisoners of war as the “Hanoi Hilton,” where he was held for several years after he was shot down on a bombing mission over Hanoi in 1967.

Like dozens of other former POWs, McCain has said he was tortured by his captors to compel him to record anti-American propaganda statements. The Vietnamese government maintains it never mistreated any prisoners. McCain went on to play a crucial role in reestablishing diplomatic relations between the US and Vietnam in the early 1990s.

Also at the press conference, Graham called on Vietnam to “take a strong stand” against North Korea’s missile program. Vietnam is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, where the US pushed for sanctions on North Korea after it conducted a prohibited missile launch Sunday. After the launch, the Vietnamese government called for a “restrained response.”

Vietnam commits to allow foreign lawyers to practice

VNB 09 Apr 2009

According to commitments in the ASEAN – Australia – New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, Vietnam commits to allow foreign law organisations to use Vietnamese lawyers and foreign lawyers to work at Vietnamese law companies as advisors of foreign laws. At a press conference (photo) on April 8 in Hanoi, Australian Trade Commissioner Tony Burchill said that commitments in the above agreement will go into effect on January 1, 2010 at the latest. Signed in late February 2009 in Hua Hin, Thailand, this is the most comprehensive free trade agreement so far of Australia and New Zealand.

The agreement will cover an area with a total population of 600 million and a total GDP of $2.7 trillion. Included in this agreement alongside other ASEAN countries, Vietnam is recognised by Australia and New Zealand as having a market economy. The agreement includes Vietnam’s commitments to further open the market for Australian products and to improve the transparency of administrative formalities related to goods. Under this agreement, the two sides will gradually remove tariffs for both sides’ goods.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu said under this agreement, New Zealand will annually welcome a certain number of Vietnamese workers, firstly 100 chefs and 100 engineers. Meanwhile, Vietnam commits to permit foreign law organisations to use Vietnamese lawyers and foreign lawyers to work for Vietnamese law companies as advisors of foreign laws. Australian Ambassador to Vietnam David Cox highly applauded Vietnam’s commitments to open its market.

The above agreement will set up a complete framework for strengthening trade and investment between Australia and Vietnam. Two-way trade turnover between Australia and Vietnam has grown an average of 22% per year in the past five years, reaching $8 billion in 2007-2008.

The Vietnam Tariff – Plastic bags present a test for free trade

Wall Street Journal Asia, 07 Apr 2009

President Obama likes to talk about “fair trade.” So will his Administration impose protectionist duties on Vietnam in the name of fairness, even if it means increasing costs for U.S. retailers and consumers? We’ll soon find out. Two American manufacturers filed a countervailing duty petition with the Commerce Department last week over imports of plastic shopping bags from Vietnam. They allege Hanoi illegally subsidizes its bag exporters and want Commerce to impose a duty equivalent to that subsidy. The U.S. companies also asked for antidumping duties against bags from Vietnam, Taiwan and Indonesia, saying they sell bags in the U.S. at a price that’s less than their cost of production.

The bag exporters want Commerce to declare Vietnam a “market economy” for the purposes of imposing the countervailing duties to compensate for the alleged government subsidies. The last time Commerce peered into Communist Vietnam, in 2002, the Bush Administration determined the country wasn’t enough of a market economy to be subject to countervailing duties. That’s because in a command-and-control economy, it’s hard to untangle what constitutes an “illegal” subsidy and what is normal government support.

If Commerce deems Vietnam a market economy for the purpose of countervailing duty cases, it will open the floodgates to duties on more imports — and higher prices for U.S. consumers. The direct hit from the bag case would fall on U.S. retailers, which buy the bags and are already so squeezed by the recession that they laid off 48,000 workers last month alone.

There’s a precedent here. In 2007, the Bush Administration bowed to congressional pressure and designated China a market economy for the purpose of imposing countervailing duties. The decision sparked about half a dozen requests for protection from U.S. manufacturers of goods ranging from pipes to off-road tires. China now is taking the U.S. to the World Trade Organization, arguing the duties run afoul of America’s trade agreements. The case will soon head to an arbitration panel.

The two U.S. bagmakers, Hilex Poly and Superbag, say they’re fighting to save U.S. jobs and factories by leveling the playing field. But it hasn’t worked in the past. The same companies petitioned for, and won, antidumping duties in 2003 on bags from China, Thailand and Malaysia. No sooner had the new duties kicked in than the

U.S. simply started importing more bags from Vietnam, Taiwan and Indonesia.

Mr. Obama has already risked U.S. free trade credibility by starting a trade war with Mexico and stalling on free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. The political danger for him is that eventually Americans will start noticing how much this “fair trade” costs.

KLOBUCHAR WORKS TO REOPEN VIETNAM ADOPTIONS WITH U.S.

States News Service, 07 Apr 2009

Sen. Amy Klobuchar urged the Prime Minister of Vietnam to take steps to reform the way Vietnam handles adoptions with the United States. During a meeting with Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Klobuchar discussed how important this issue was to many Minnesota families who were deeply disappointed when the agreement allowing U.S. families to adopt children from Vietnam was terminated in September 2008.

These babies and their adoptive families are caught in the crossfire of bureaucratic and political disputes, said Klobuchar. Many families in Minnesota are devastated, having come so close to adopting. I am optimistic that todays meeting was a good first step toward addressing the situation and I look forward to the U.S. and Vietnam working together on this important issue.

Klobuchar raised the importance of reestablishing a bilateral relationship to allow inter-country adoptions between the U.S. and Vietnam. She also urged the Prime Minister to take appropriate steps for Vietnam to become a member of the Hague Convention on InterCountry Adoptions, which would establish safeguards and a standard system for international adoptions.

At the meeting, the Prime Minister thanked Senator Klobuchar and said he completely agreed with her comments. He said that at a recent meeting of the government council, Vietnamese leaders agreed that Vietnam should join the Hague Convention. He also said that Vietnam would be moving forward with taking the steps necessary to become a Hague member in the near future.

The Vietnamese government abruptly announced last year that it will stop taking adoption applications from American families. At the time of the Vietnamese governments action, Senator Klobuchar wrote to then U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urging her to do everything possible to facilitate ongoing adoption efforts in Vietnam for families in Minnesota and across the country. Klobuchar also wrote to Michael Michalak, the U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam.

Minnesota is a long-time leader in international adoptions, with the nations highest per capita rate of international adoptions. In 2007, Vietnam was sixth in the world in international adoptions by American families.

Trafficking victims try to remake lives

By MONICA RHOR Associated Press, 11 Apr 2009

Like dozens of other workers from Vietnam and China, Tiep Ngo had been lured to the Daewoosa clothing factory in American Samoa by hollow promises of good pay. She left behind her child, her husband and her parents and paid $5,000 for her job contract only to be starved, beaten and cheated of wages. For nearly two years, Ngo labored in the stifling, overcrowded factory, subsisting on meager portions of rice and cabbage and longing for her family. Then, through the efforts of Good Samaritans, federal agents and churches, Ngo and about 300 other workers were rescued and brought to the U.S. mainland, some of the first immigrants to receive special T-visas allowing human trafficking victims to remain in this country and eventually become permanent residents. Bedraggled, emaciated and frightened, they arrived hopeful that their harrowing tale would soon have a happy ending. That was in 2001.

In the eight years since, the Daewoosa survivors have put down roots in Vietnamese enclaves like Houston, Seattle and Orange County, Calif., buying houses, building businesses and sending children to college. But they’re stuck in a legal limbo, still waiting for their long-promised green cards and often mistakenly denied public assistance, college financial aid and other benefits. Their story highlights the barriers and breakthroughs experienced by human trafficking victims struggling to remake their lives in this country. They want to leave the past behind, but still wrestle with its ghosts. They dream of reuniting with their families, but can wait years for that to happen. They are eager to embrace life here, but often find that path blocked by a tangle of confusing immigration laws. “This is the part that should be easier, and it’s not,” said Diana Velardo, an immigration lawyer at the University of Houston and chairwoman of the Coalition Against Human Trafficking.

Shortly after their rescue, the Daewoosa trafficking victims were given a choice. They could return to their homelands, or they could stay in the United States and serve as witnesses in the criminal case against their former employer. About 260 mostly Vietnamese workers chose to stay. Their testimony helped convict the factory owner, who was charged with holding workers in involuntary servitude, sentenced to 40 years in prison and ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution. The workers were resettled through the sponsorship of churches, individuals or immigrant advocacy groups. Tiep Ngo and 19 other workers came to Houston. About 40 went to Southern California’s Vietnamese communities. About two dozen others settled in Virginia and Seattle, and the rest scattered around the country. Starting in 2002, the workers began to receive T-visas, which were authorized under the 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The visas — of which more than 1,300 have been issued — allow holders to apply for permanent residency after three years or when the criminal case against their abuser is closed.

The T-visas also allowed the former Daewoosa workers to bring their children and spouses to this country. But the visas were valid for just three years, and immigration officials didn’t issue the regulations needed to adjust the immigration status of T-visa holders to permanent residents until December 2008. By then, visas issued to the Daewoosa workers had long since expired and their green card requests had been stalled for years. “It took time to get it right. There are so many agencies involved in the discussions, and many complicated, intricate issues,” said Chris Rhatigan, a spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. As a result of the delay, the former workers and their families have been treated by some like illegal immigrants. They have been denied public assistance and college financial aid, even though they are authorized to work and entitled to refugee benefits.

Most Daewoosa survivors are also afraid to travel outside the country, concerned they won’t be allowed to re-enter the U.S. They worry about aging parents still living in Vietnam, and mourn deaths long distance. The separation from loved ones is hard. Take the case of one Daewoosa survivor, a 41-year-old woman who lives in the Houston area and works in a nail salon, like many of the former garment factory workers. Her son was 7 when she left Vietnam for American Samoa. When federal officials shuttered the factory and she received her T-visa, her husband refused to let the boy leave Vietnam. Over the years, she settled for monthly telephone conversations with her son, telling him to study hard and be good. He always ended the calls the same way: “I miss you, Mom.” And she never stopped trying to persuade her husband and his family to change their minds. Last March, they relented. But her T-visa had expired and she could no longer sponsor her son’s entry to the U.S. At the time, all she could do was hope that the government would finally issue the needed regulations and her long-awaited green card request would eventually be granted. As a legal resident, she would be able to bring her son into the country. “There was nothing I could do,” said the woman, as she wiped tears from her cheeks with a crumpled tissue. “At times I was frustrated, but I am more sad than anything else.” She asked that her name not be used out of fear that it could hurt her pending immigration request.

But there’s a further complication. A new law extends the T-visas, though it doesn’t take effect until June. Now the woman is concerned about timing as she thinks about reapplying to bring her son over: The process usually takes just a few months for T-visa holders, but years for those with the permanent residency. So, after years of praying for a green card, she now prays that her pending application isn’t fulfilled too soon. “The green card would bring stability to my life and to my work, but my only goal is to bring my son over,” she said. “I want him to have a stable life, a good life, a better one than what he has in Vietnam.”

Tiep Ngo was one of the lucky ones. In 2004, she reunited with her husband and son after nearly five years. The boy, Minh Leu, had just turned 13 when Ngo left for American Samoa, hoping to earn enough money to pull her family out of poverty. Leu was a tall 17-year-old when they saw each other again. Leu had spent months learning English in preparation for his journey to the United States. But the sight of his mother after so many years left him without words. “I was speechless. I was thinking: Is that really my mother? ” said Leu, who is now a pre-pharmacy student at the University of Houston. “We didn’t speak a lot at first. After you’ve been separated a long time, there is too much to say so you can’t speak a bit of it.”

His mother divulged little about her experiences in the Daewoosa factory, saying the memories were too awful for her son to hear. Instead, the family focused on building a new life in Houston. Here, Ngo worked in an electronics factory, then sewing curtains and drapes until a car accident left her unable to work. Her husband earns a modest living making windows and frames. After years of saving every penny and working long hours, the couple was finally able to buy a house in northeast Houston — one more step towards achieving the American life they desire. But this family has also run into roadblocks. With an expired T-visa, Ngo has been unable to visit her elderly mother in Vietnam, whom she has not seen in 10 years. For a time, her son thought he would have to put his studies on hold because of visa-related financial strain — a problem that has confronted other children of Daewoosa workers, according to Thang Nguyen, executive director of Boat People SOS, which helps the students obtain documents they need. The University of Houston at first denied financial aid to Minh Leu because of the expired T-visa. It took him more than a year to convince school officials that he was here legally and entitled to the assistance. In March, he was finally awarded $4,300 in aid — about half of his yearly tuition costs. “I am trying to accomplish something here,” said Leu. “The United States has been good to us, so now I want to be a good citizen.”

The biggest hurdle facing the T-visa holders may be psychological, a concern that their life in this country remains tenuous, even with the new regulations. “One of our clients’ biggest fear is that they have to return to their home country,” said Stephanie Richard, managing attorney with the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking, a Los Angeles-based group that works with human trafficking victims. “And right now, there is no certainty about what will happen.” That worry is so pervasive that a planned 10-year reunion to mark the anniversary of the day most Daewoosa workers left Vietnam for American Samoa has been put on hold, Nguyen said. The group does not want to celebrate until they have green cards in hand. “We wish to have a beautiful life here,” said Ngo, as her son translated. “We want to contribute to the community, to be a part of the community. If we lead a good life, maybe America will accept us.”

This interesting article is from Harvard University school of political science.   I brought it up for discussion. Here is the  overview of the article and the link to it:

OVERVIEW

Although the concept of geopolitical resources is rarely used, geopolitical resources themselves are permanently employed. The fate of a nation, or the rise and fall of a country, depends in larger part on the country’s geopolitical resources and the nation’s ability in exploiting those resources.
Vietnam’s Geopolitical Resources in Today’s World Politics

Vietnam’s geopolitical resources consist of numerous ingredients, whose values and significance are subject to change. For example, the country is a gateway to sea for Laos and Cambodia, but how valuable this location is depends on how wealthy the latter are. Geopolitical resources are to be found not merely in geography, as classic geopolitics asserts. Nor do they result from power relationships, as the Kissingerian school understands. They are indeed the compound of relative advantages endowed by geography with a certain international constellation. The international political-economic constellation in which Vietnam finds itself will determine which elements in the country’s geographical endowment are more valuable and more strategic.

Today Vietnam is located in a strategic playing field in which the major players are — according to their ambitions and capabilities — China, the United States, Japan, and India.

link to article

Thirty leading hotels in HCM City agreed early this week to cut by 30 per cent their room rates in a move to lure visitors to the city. Truong Vinh Tho, head of the HCM City Tourism Department’s travel division, said the lower room rates launched by three- to five-star hotels would help make it possible for tour operators to launch attractive packages for visitors. Tho said the rates would eventually be even lower because hotels would offer discounts on other special rates for their preferred tour operators.

To promote the country’s tourism, the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism also announced that Vietnam Airlines would discount fares by 30 per cent for guests from key markets to create a strong promotion programme from next January to September.

Source: Vietnam News (English)

The Viet Nam Women’s Union (VWU) officially launched a “Say No to Violence against Women” campaign on Friday to collect signatures for an initiative by the United Nations’ Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

So far, more than 2,000 Vietnamese supporters have signed a list published on the UN-backed campaign’s website.

After collecting 1 million signatures, the list will be sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the UN’s Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25.

The campaign aims to send a strong message to policymakers to make the elimination of violence against women a top priority on the global agenda. So far, prime ministers and foreign ministers of 70 countries and territories have committed to the campaign…..Read Full Article

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