Ministry puts $35b price tag on transport needs

HA NOI — The Transport Ministry estimates that more than VND680 trillion (US$35 billion), will be needed to build transport infrastructure in the southern key economic zones between 2011-20.

The amount needed for roads will total VND326 trillion($16.7 billion); railways, VND88 trillion ($4.5 billion); domestic waterways, VND7 trillion ($360 million); and aviation VND91 trillion ($4.67 billion), it says in a report to the Government as part of a plan for infrastructure development.

The plan gives roads to reduce traffic jams and link transport routes priority.

The key road transport routes are identified as: HCM City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay; Trung Luong - My Thuan - Ben Luc - Nhon Trach - Long Thanh; and Dau Giay - Phan Thiet.

Highways would be of four to eight lanes. The plan also envisages the building of the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau; HCM City - Moc Bai; HCM City - Thu Dau MoÄt - Chon Thanh; and the Dau Giay - Da Lat highways in the next 10 years.

Beltway roads around HCM City and roads to ports would be built and existing highways upgraded. — VNS

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Demand for life insurance increases

The domestic life insurance market has been sparked into life by a story that received wide media coverage about a businesswoman who paid an annual premium of 1.2 billion VND (61,000 USD).

The policy was reported to cover her for 39 billion VND (2 million USD).

The story is clear evidence that the Vietnamese attitude towards life insurance is changing.

Instead of purchasing life insurance to support friends and family in the industry, Vietnamese people are now looking at the actual benefits of taking out a policy and many of them are willing to part with large sums of money for the privilege.

"In recent years, my company has sold more and more policies," said Lam Hai Tuan, General Director of ACE Life Viet Nam , one of the country's leading life insurance provider.

Tuan said that up to the end of August, his company had sold nearly 8,400 policies with premiums from 1 billion VND (51,000 USD) each.

"We currently have 15 policies that provide cover of over 10 billion VND (510,000 USD), the largest of which is worth 50 billion VND (2.5 million USD)," Tuan added.

Other companies such as AIA Viet Nam, Korea Life and Dai-ichi Vietnam have also witnessed an increase in customers.

The Association of Vietnamese Insurers reported that the market had grown in the first half of the year.

"Up to the end of H1, more than 4 million policies had been taken out, worth VND323.6 billion USD, an increase of 33 percent over the same period last year," said head of the life insurance division under the association Nguyen Viet Hai.

Better economic conditions were cited as the main reason.

"Living conditions have improved and demand has increased for services such as healthcare and life insurance," said Hai.

Hai added that many people were planning for the future.

"This happens in many countries, not just in Vietnam ," he said.

Agreeing with Hai, Tuan said, "Vietnamese people now realise that life insurance is a means of planning for the future and providing financial protection for their families."

According to an association report, Vietnamese life insurance has witnessed high growth this year, but still lags behind other countries in terms of value and the number of insurance companies./.

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Flooded schools to reopen soon

Student Nguyen Thi Tinh in Kim Loc Primary School in Kim Loc Commune, Can Loc District, in central Ha Tinh Province, whose father died during flash floods, gets back to school. — VNA/VNS Photo Duy Khuong

HA NOI — The Ministry of Education and Training is mobilising all resources to help inundated schools in the north-central provinces re-open for students as soon as possible, said Minister Pham Vu Luan in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency.

"It's the first priority for the whole educational system for the time being," he said.

As soon as the floodwaters began to recede, the ministry asked its departments in the three affected provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh to begin working with local authorities and parents in cleaning up and repairing damage done to schools.

"We also asked local education departments to assess the losses in their provinces so that the ministry could file a report with the Government to request the necessary assistance," he added.

The immediate job for now was to supply enough textbooks to school children, he said.

"Then we will gradually repair or replace damaged facilities and equipment and support needy teachers and children," he noted.

The Education Publishing House has just printed an addition of 400,000 copies of textbooks which had already been transported to the affected provinces.

A ministry task force will arrive in the region this week to inspect the damage and investigate ways of dealing with the aftermath of the floods.

Although schooling was interrupted for two weeks, students in the region could still catch up on their courses given the two reserve weeks built into the academic year, said the minister.

"We will give instructions to schools to make necessary changes to the curricula," he added.

As for the loss of student report cards and relevant documents, the minister ensures that the problem would be solved in the best interest of the students.

The floods cost the education sector more than VND700 billion (US$35 million) and left six students dead, according to the minister. So far, the ministry has raised VND3 billion ($150,000), with several international organisations providing aid to children affected by the disaster.

In another development, the Japanese government yesterday donated hand-outs worth around $250,000 in emergency aid to flood victims, including blankets, small generators, water purifiers and plastic water containers. India yesterday announced a donation of VND2 billion ($102,000) to flood victims in affected areas.

India yesterday announced a donation of VND2 billion (US$102,000) to flood victims in affected areas.

The South Korean ambassador to Viet Nam donated $100,000 to flood victims via the Viet Nam Red Cross Society on behalf of his government on Monday.

Also on the same day, the Central German Red Cross Society gave 10,000 euro to its Vietnamese counterpart in primary aid to flood victims, while the Laotian province of Bolykhamsay donated $10,000 to Ha Tinh Province.

So far, the Viet Nam Red Cross Society has received aid worth around VND20 billion ($1 million) from more than 10 international organisations. — VNS

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High-profile businessman stands trial for fraud

Nguyen Dinh Chien

Photo: VnExpress

The Hanoi People’s Court Wednesday opened the trial for fraud of Nguyen Dinh Chien, a colorful 59-year-old businessman who was once imprisoned and released for lack of evidence, and recently appeared in a TV show featuring famous people.

Chien, general director of the Bac Ha Trade and Investment Joint Stock Company, has been charged with “committing fraud to misappropriate assets.”

According to the indictment, he falsified financial documents, including from foreign banks, to inflate the value of his businesses to sign contracts.

He allegedly misappropriated VND20 billion (US$1.04 million) from the Hanoi-based Nguyen Trai University, and VND6.5 billion from Dai Vien Duong Company.

He is also accused of misusing lands belonging to Dai Vien Duong to get a VND80 billion loan from Dai Duong Bank.

In 1996, when he was the director of a Hai Phong real estate company, Chien was arrested by the Can Tho police following complaints he had pocketed public assets.

He spent 28 months in custody and was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 1998.

He later appealed to the People’s Supreme Court in Ho Chi Minh City which cleared him of all the charges in 2006 for lack of evidence.

In 2008, Vietnam’s highest court ordered Can Tho prosecutors to publicly apologize to Chien and compensate him for the 28 months he spent in jail and for 10 years of mental anguish when he was in legal limbo.

Chien himself later demanded VND568 billion ($29.8 million) in compensation to make up for profits he lost since his business had to close following his arrest.

In May 2009 he appeared as a successful business figure on the well-known VTV1 talk show Nguoi duong thoi (Contemporary People).

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Hanoi gives fireworks spending to flood victims

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Hanoi has saved VND5 billion (US$257,000) from canceling 29 fireworks displays on its 1,000th birthday party, and part of the sum has been spent as relief aid for flood-affected residents in the central Quang Binh province.

Hoang Manh Hien, deputy chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, told VnExpress newswire Tuesday he gave a total VND2.5 billion, of which VND1.5 billion was saved from canceled fireworks spending, during his visit to Quang Binh the same day.

He said more relief aid will be given to other four provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue, which were hit by floods last week.

On October 5, Hanoi authorities gave VND5 billion as disaster relief to the five central provinces, and they announced to cancel the planned fireworks displays at 29 sites three days later.

The 29 sites were previously chosen for fireworks displays on the symbolic date of October 10, or 10/10/10.

Rain-triggered floods have left 66 people dead, with 17 still missing in the central provinces as of Monday. Quang Binh has reported the worst toll with 45 dead people and 16 missing.

The floods caused an estimated damage worth over VND2.75 trillion (US$141 million), of which some VND1.58 trillion are from Quang Binh.

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Deputy PM Hai inspects flood-hit province

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai stopped over in Quang Binh province on October 7 as part of his field trip to the flood-hit central region.

Hai went straight to the worst-flooded district of Quang Trach to work with local administration on rescue measures and to share sympathy with victims at their homes.

The disaster killed 33 locals in Quang Binh, injured 11 others and left 22 missing from September 30-October 5.

The flood inundated almost 103,640 homes, causing damages of over 1.27 trillion VND (roughly 87.72 million USD).

In a working session with local authorities, the Deputy Prime Minister asked for greater efforts in the search and rescue work.

“The province should take initiative in allocating local budgets and Government aid to bring supplies to the flood-hit areas to help victims recover,” said Hai.

Up to October 7, a fundraising campaign on a national scale has collected over 20.8 billion VND, of which over 15.4 billion VND has been sent straight to flood-stricken central region provinces.

The Ho Chi Minh City Fatherland Front was the biggest donor with 6.9 billion VND. The capital city of Hanoi donated 5 billion VND, Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), 4 billion VND, and the northern province of Vinh Phuc, 2 billion VND./.

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Ex-bank officials’ bribery trial postponed in Hanoi

A court in Hanoi Thursday delayed the trial of two former officials of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) charged with receiving VND5 billion (US$257,069) in bribes from a company to approve a loan.

Hanoi’s People’s Court called for additional investigations, saying there were many conflicts between the testimonies of Doan Tien Dung, former Deputy General Director of BIDV, and Tran Thi Thanh Binh, Vice Director of a BIDV branch in the northern province of Hai Phong.

Some of the accusations and evidence against the pair were not sufficiently clear, the judge found.

At their arraignment on Wednesday, Dung and Binh were both charged with “abuse of power and authority for financial gains” - a crime punishable by between 20 years and life in prison.

According to the indictment, while he was at helm of BIDV Hai Phong before being promoted to Deputy General Director in September 2008, Dung approved a loan of nearly VND45 billion (US$2.4 million) to Hai Phong Weaving and Sewing Company and V.K. Company, both headed by Hoang Van Khanh.

The loans were based on the mortgage of the companies’ properties, including a container truck depot, prosecutors said.

Early last year BIDV Hai Phong allowed Khanh to sell the mortgaged depot to Anpha Hai Phong Oil and Gas Joint-stock Company for VND57 billion ($2.9 million).

Dung then asked Khanh for several payments in exchange for approving the withdrawl of the sales proceeds, according to prosecutors.

Dung, with Binh acting as his accomplice, received VND4 billion ($209,478) from the V.K. Company, prosecutors alleged.

Dung was caught red-handed accepting VND1 billion ($52,369) from Khanh at a pho restaurant in February.

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56 billion VND raised for AO victims

Associations of Agent Orange (AO) victims in 50 cities and provinces across the country have collected 56 billion VND during the “Action month for Vietnamese AO victims”.

Of the total, the AO victims sponsor fund spent nearly 49 billion VND on supporting 188,669 victims with a wide range of activities.

Part of the money was used to provide free health care check-ups and medicine for victims in remote areas and health insurance books for poor victims.

Besides, the fund provided orthopedic surgeries and rehabilitation treatment for 1,971 patients. A total of 2,743 wheelchairs and supporting devices were also handed to the victims.

Meanwhile, over 23 billion VND was used to assist 34,234 victims in developing their business.

The fund has found individuals and organisations to provide regular allowances ranging from 150,000-500,000 VND a month for 1,979 victims.

Those suffering from AO effects in high areas were provided with savings books and blankets, mosquito-nets, clothes and household utensils./.

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River polluter signs pacts to pay $6.1 mln in compensation

Taiwanese river polluter Vedan Vietnam company Friday signed an agreement to pay nearly VND120 billion (US$6.1 million) in compensation to affected farmers in the southern province of Dong Nai.

Under the agreement, the monosodium glutamate maker will pay 50 percent of the compensation within seven days after the signing, and pay another 50 percent by January 14, 2011.

In return, all the 5,034 affected farmers have agreed to drop lawsuits against the company, according to Dong Nai Farmers’ Association.

However, Vien Dong Ltd. Co., which runs a 28-hectare aquaculture farm in Long Phuoc Commune, has not accepted the compensation and will file a lawsuit against Vedan, said Nguyen Van Ngau, chairman of Long Thanh District Farmers’ Association.

The company claimed over VND17 billion ($872,689) in compensation, while the calculation by the Institute of Natural Resources and Environment put the compensation payable to the company at VND900 million ($46,201) of nearly VND120 billion, Ngau said.

“So, the company didn’t accept the compensation, although we have tried to convince them many times,” he said.

Last month Vedan signed the same agreements with farmers in the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau and Ho Chi Minh City for compensation worth VND53.6 billion (S$2.8 million) and VND45.7 billion (US$2.39 million) respectively.

The company was caught in 2008 discharging untreated effluents directly into the Thi Vai River through secret underground pipes. Government inspectors found that the company had been doing so for 14 years.

The discovery sparked a public outcry which rose even higher as the company declined to meet compensation requests made the affected farmers, making meager counter offers.

However, following a public boycott of its products that were pulled off supermarket shelves, Vedan caved in and agreed to pay the demanded compensation to farmers in Ba Ria – Vung Tau and HCMC.

It also offered to pay Dong Nai farmers VND119.5 billion, but provincial authorities did not accept the offer until later.

The compensation sums were calculated by an agency authorized to do so by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

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New bauxite reserves found in Binh Phuoc

Bauxite reserves of nearly one billion tons have been detected in the southern province of Binh Phuoc, the National Institute of Mining – Metallurgy Science and Technology said Friday.

Located in two mines in Bu Dang District, the new reserves are the third largest after those found in the central highlands provinces of Dak Nong and Lam Dong, according to the institute under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Lam Dong was estimated to have some 1.2 billion tons of bauxite reserves, and Dak Nong, 3.4 billion tons. Bauxite is refined into alumina, which is then smelted into aluminum metal.

The newly-discovered reserves will meet the demand of the ministry’s plan to build an aluminum plant in Binh Phuoc in 2016, the institute said.

Vietnam’s first aluminum plant is being constructed in Lam Dong and expected to start production this year with the capacity of producing 650,000 tons of alumina annually. Another plant also broke ground in Dak Nong early this year.

Vietnam has 5.4 billion tons of bauxite reserves, the world’s largest after Guinea and Australia, according to a US Geological Survey report published last year.

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City business couple get life for bribery, bank fraud

HCM CITY — The HCM City People's Court has given life sentences to a business couple for bribery and cheating a bank, and 26 years' imprisonment to a former district chairman for abuse of power.

Following a two-week trial, Tran Thi Ha, former director of Thanh Phat Company, and her deputy, Ha Van Hoa, yesterday received life terms for "cheating to usurp other people's property" and "paying bribes."

Nguyen Van Khoe, former chairman of the Hoc Mon District People's Committee, got 26 years on several counts like taking bribes from the two and abusing his official capacity to influence others and appropriate property.

In 2002, Hoa and his wife Ha registered a new company claiming it was worth VND5 billion (US$250,000) when it was not even worth VND1 billion, according to the prosecution. They later falsified more documents to show it to be worth VND50 billion and secured approval to build a housing complex and industrial zone in the district's Dong Thanh Commune by bribing Khoe and other officials.

Khoe took VND1.4 billion ($72,000) and half a rhino horn worth $10,000 from the couple.

In return, he ensured that their projects were ratified by his subordinates. The court concluded that he had accepted bribes to approve the projects.

With the approvals secured, Ha and Hoa borrowed 3,000 taels of gold worth VND87 billion (US$4.3 million) at current prices and VND18 billion ($920,000) from the Cho Lon branch of the Viet Nam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, or Agribank, this time by bribing bank officials.

They did not repay the loan.

Nguyen Cong Dinh of the bank's credit department was sentenced to seven years in jail for bribery. Tran Van Tuyen, former director of the branch, and Luu Thi Minh Hien, head of the credit office, got 12 and 10 years for violating banking rules.

Also convicted was former director of the District 12-based Danh Khoa Company, Dang Cong Danh, who got eight years' imprisonment for acting as a go-between between the couple and the district officials.

Tran Van Te, former leader of Dong Thanh Commune, got 13 years for abuse of power. Duong Minh Trung, former head of the district's Planning, Finance and Investment Unit, got seven years. — VNS

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