Southeast Asia’s largest Buddha statue inaugurated

Thousands of Buddhist followers and pilgrims from all regions of the country gathered on Phat Tich Mountain in Bac Ninh province’s Tien Du district on Sept. 25 to witness the inauguration of a giant Buddha statue located on the peak of the mountain.

The statue, which measures 27 metres high and weighs 3,000 tonnes, is one of the largest stone statues in Southeast Asia and the first of its kind in Vietnam.

The statue is shaped based on the model of Amitabha Buddha statue which was made of stone during the Ly dynasty.

It took three years to complete the work, which cost 75 billion VND (3.8 million USD) sourced from the State budget and donations from organisations, individuals and Buddhist followers nationwide.

On September 26, a ceremony was also held in Tien Du district to name the Phat Tich Pagoda project celebrating the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The project to restore the Phat Tich Pagoda has a total investment of over 50 billion VND. After two years of execution, the project has restored 82 iron wood compartments and upgraded 150 metres of stone jetty.

Phat Tich pagoda is a cultural and historical relic in Vietnam which contains cultural and sculptural values of the Ly dynasty.

Besides keeping the Amitabha Buddha stone statue dating back from the 10th-11th centuries, which is considered precious object, the pagoda is also a Buddhist cultural centre and a place where the Buddhism rose up in Vietnam./.

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Officials confiscate 2,000 mooncakes

HCM CITY — Market watch officials seized 2,000 moon cakes that did not have proper quality declarations from the producer Son Long Dong Khanh on Wednesday in Binh Chanh District, HCM City.

The officials also discovered 24,000 anti-humidity bags that did not have the proper documentation.

On the same day, the team discovered the producer Tan Do illegally changing the shelf-life designations of their cakes from 30 to 45 days and confiscated 40 cakes that were missing quality certificates.

Moon cakes are popular during Mid-Autumn Festival.

Over 10,000 motorists fined for road offences

HA NOI — Ha Noi Road and Railway Traffic Police issued nearly 11,000 traffic fines totalling VND2.5 billion (US$128,500) in the first week of the month for traffic safety violations.

More than 1,500 motorcyclists were fined for not wearing helmets and 794 citations were issued to drivers who stopped their vehicles in forbidden zones.

The city also reported nine traffic accidents that left nine people dead during the week.

Talk on infectious diseases held in Ha Noi

HA NOI — International and local health experts shared experiences in controlling emerging and re-emerging vector-borne and zoonotic viral infections in Southeast Asia at a workshop in Ha Noi yesterday.

The workshop, held by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology and the American National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was a chance for scientists to foster research collaboration and better diagnose, treat and prevent infectious viral diseases like SARS, avian influenza, dengue fever and Japanese encephalitis.

Mobilephone services to be offered in tunnel

HCM CITY —The HCM City People's Committee has approved a plan to cover mobile phone service for vehicles travelling through Thu Thien Tunnel, which was completed on September 2.

The management board of the East-West Highway and Water Environment Project is responsible for selecting an eligible and experienced unit to install a mobile phone communications network for the tunnel.

The network will provide services for users of the city's mobile phone service providers.

Thu Thiem Tunnel, Viet Nam's first built under a river and the longest in Southeast Asia, is 1,500m long.

The six-lane tunnel will link the city's District 1 and 2. — VNS

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Vietnam SE Asia’s second largest beer consumer

Brewers are trying to capitalise on Vietnam's beer market which is forecast to be one of the region's largest

Photo: AFP

Euromonitor International has predicted that Vietnam’s beer market will continue to grow by 5.6 percent in the next few years, following Laos and Cambodia in Southeast Asia.

According to the global market research company, Vietnam is currently the second biggest consumer of beer in Southeast Asia after Cambodia. In 2009, the country consumed 1.6 billion liters of beer, a surge of 56 percent over 2004.

These days, most of the world biggest beer producers are present in Vietnam, including Budweiser, Sappora, San Miguel and Fosters.

Most recently, Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) from Singapore teamed up with Vietnam’s Saigon Trading Group (SATRA) to set up a joint venture called Vietnam Breweries Ltd (VBL) in central Da Nang City.

Last weekend, the VBL commissioned a production line with the capacity to produce 50,000 bottles of ‘La Rue’ beer an hour.

As one of the first beer producers in Vietnam, right after the country opened up its doors 20 years ago, APB plans to invest US$100 million in Vietnam’s beer industry over the next 18 months.

Japan’s Sapporo also plans to link up with Tobacco Vietnam to produce beer from 2012.

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VN-second largest consumer of beer in SEA

Euromonitor International has predicted that Vietnam’s beer market will continue to grow by 5.6 percent in the next few years, just after Laos and Cambodia in Southeast Asia.

According to the global market research company, Vietnam is currently the second biggest consumer of beer in Southeast Asia after Cambodia. In 2009, the country consumed 1.6 billion litres of beer, a surge of 56 percent over 2004.

These days, most of the world biggest beer producers are present in Vietnam, including Budweiser, Sappora, San Miguel and Fosters.

Most recently, Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) from Singapore teamed up with Vietnam’s Saigon Trading Group (SATRA) to set up a joint venture called Vietnam Breweries Ltd (VBL) in Da Nang city.

Last weekend, the VBL commissioned a production line with the capacity to produce 50,000 bottles of ‘La Rue’ beer an hour.

As one of the first beer producers in Vietnam, right after the country opened up its doors 20 years ago, APB plans to invest 100 million USD in Vietnam’s beer industry over the next 18 months.

Japan’s Sapporo also plans to link up with Tobacco Vietnam to produce beer from 2012./.

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