NGO provides aid for Vietnamese trade unions

APHEDA, the organisation of Australian People for Health, Education and Development Abroad, has contributed greatly to improving the capacity of trade unions in Vietnam since it first made its presence felt in the country 25 years ago.

Since 2010, APHEDA, an overseas aid agency funded by the Australian Council of Trade Unions, has carried out a number of projects to help build up trade unions in five industrial and economic zones in the northern city of Hai Phong, the northern province of Hai Duong and Ho Chi Minh City.

The Australian organisation has also implemented numerous programmes in Vietnam with a focus on foreign language training, team negotiation skills, HIV/AIDS prevention in the community and the social responsibility of businesses.

The organisation has also conducted research and information and education campaigns to raise the public’s awareness of the health risks of using asbestos and helping to build an asbestos information centre in Hanoi .

APHEDA supported Hanoi, HCM City and several provinces such as Bac Can, Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Nghe An, Quang Tri, Da Nang, Binh Duong and Dong Nai in hunger eradication and poverty reduction, as well as in reducing discrimination against people with HIV, disabled people and victims of human trafficking.

Their programmes have received financial support from Australian and other international organisations such as the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), Finland ’s Trade Union Solidarity Centre, the Olof Palme organisation from Sweden , the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations.

It became the first overseas organisation to receive the Friendship Order from a Vietnamese President in 1998 and a campaign medal from the Vietnamese Women’s Union in 2004./.

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Australian broadcaster to help boost media links

Vietnam News Agency general director Tran Mai Huong shakes hands with Chief Executive Officer of Radio Australia Mike McCluskey after the signing of a memorandum of understanding to facilitate co-operation between both sides. — VNA/VNS Photo Ngoc Quang

SYDNEY — A memorandum of understanding to facilitate bilateral co-operation in multimedia between the Vietnam News Agency and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation was signed in Sydney, Australia, on Wednesday.

Under the document, the two sides agreed to study co-operation methods such as sharing development experiences, multimedia information exchange, programme production, consulting and management sharing, as well as exchanging reporters.

Also on Wednesday, VNA general director Tran Mai Huong discussed specific measures to realise the potential for co-operation with Chief Executive of Australia Network Bruce Dover, Chief Executive Officer of Radio Australia Mike McCluskey and ABC's corporate strategy and international co-operation director Julia Thoener.

During his five-day working visit to Australia, which will end on Sunday, Huong will also visit and discuss co-operation possibilities with the Australian Associated Press (AAP) news agency. — VNS

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VNA signs media deal with Australian partner

The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Oct. 13 signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in multimedia.

The MoU aimed to formalise a non-exclusive framework of cooperation and facilitate collaboration between the parties to promote programmes and projects that fostered bilateral cooperation in multimedia.

Under the MoU, the two sides will exchange experiences and know-how in the multimedia area, provide advisory services in content production and management of multimedia production, and explore possibilities for promotion and collaboration on staff exchange programme.

The same day, VNA General Director Tran Mai Huong had discussions on cooperation prospects with Director of the Australia Network Bruce Dover, Managing Director of Radio Australia Mike McCluskey and ABC International Relations Manager Julia Thoener.

During the working visit to Australia from Oct. 13-17, the high-level VNA delegation also had a working session on cooperation prospects with the Australian Associated Press (AAP)./.

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Australian party holds seminar on Vietnam war

A seminar to review the war in Vietnam , themed “A victory for the whole mankind”, was held in Sydney on September 25 by the Australian Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP).

The event drew the participation of delegates from Australia ’s major cities such as Melbourne , Brisbane and Perth .

The seminar focused mainly on the struggle for national liberation in Vietnam as well as anti-Vietnam war movements in Australia from 1965-1975, said RSP’s national secretary John Percy in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent.

The achievements made by the Southeast Asian nation were also spotlighted at the event, he added.

More than 60 posters and 50 books, newspapers, magazines, and photos along with documentary films produced in the 1970s by Australian directors such as Emile Di Antonio and John Pilger depicting anti-war movements were displayed at the event.

The seminar is of significance in the context that the Vietnamese people are celebrating major events this year, he said, stressing that Australia will always stand side by side Vietnam in both the wartime and in the current cause of socio-economic development.

Vietnamese Consul General in Sydney Vu Hong Nam presented a speech underlining achievements in economic development and hunger elimination and poverty reduction Vietnam has recorded over the past 35 years./.

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Aussie footballers join Hanoi’s millennium celebration

The Australian Mens Under 23 Football Team, nicknamed the Olyroos, will participate in the Thang Long Cup from September 18-25 to celebrate Hanoi’s millennium, according to the Australian embassy in Hanoi.

The 20-member squad will take on the Vietnam National Team on September 22, and the U23 teams from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on September 21 and Kuwait on September 24.

“Australia and Vietnam share a common passion for football and this tournament is a great opportunity to enjoy the beautiful game together. We are pleased the Olyroos will participate in this tournament, an ideal warm-up ahead of the start of their London 2012 Olympics campaign,” said the Australian Ambassador Allaster Cox.

While in Vietnam, the team will also participate in charity activities for young Vietnamese footballers, organised in cooperation with the Australian embassy in Hanoi.

Football is increasingly prominent in Australia, with over one million Aussies playing in one form or another. The country is also currently bidding to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which would witness a welcome return of the World Cup to the Oceanic and Asian regions./.

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Vietnamese tourist killed in Australian bus accident

A Vietnamese man died when the bus he was travelling in toppled to one side Sunday during a tour in Australia, injuring 23 people.

The dead person has only been identified as a man in his mid-forties. He was reported as having not fastened his seat belt, so thrown out of the bus and crushed by the bus to death, Ryan Reynolds, reporter of the Australian newspaper Geelong Advertiser, told Thanh Nien.

Two other Vietnamese were critically injured and taken to Melbourne by helicopter. Others were sent by bus to nearby hospitals.

The bus was carrying 27 people, most of them tourists from Vietnam, China and Hong Kong, when it skidded and toppled to one side at around 2:30 p.m. local time, ending up on the sidewalk of Tomahawk Creek in Irrewillipe city, 160 kilometers from Melbourne. It was raining hard at the time, the police said.

Local sergeant Shane Howard said it had been raining unceasingly for the past four or five days, making the sidewalk slippery and muddy, Geelong Advertiser reported.

Investigators have surmised that the driver had lost control as the street was slippery due to wet weather.

There're no signs that any other vehicles have been involved in the accident.

The name of the tour operator has not been released.

The accident is being investigated further and Vietnam Embassy in Sydney is identifying the victims.

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