Greenhouse system for Phu Quoc island

VietNamNet Bridge – A hi-tech greenhouse system imported from Israel early this year has helped meet the demand for organic vegetables on Phu Quoc island, which must transport most of its needed produce from the mainland.

Ecofarm plans to expand its greenhouse area to 2-2.5ha to have a daily vegetable output of 3-4 tonnes to meet local demand.(Photo:rauquavietnam.vn)

The 4,200sq m greenhouse, located in Cua Duong commune, includes a drip irrigation control system that allows for cultivation of up to 50 kinds of vegetables year-round.

Nguyen Minh Triet, Ecofarm director, said his company supplies 200-300kg of safe and clean vegetables for local residents a day, including water spinach, mustard leaf, spring onion and watercress.

Can Tho University’s Agriculture Faculty provides Ecofarm with high quality varieties of vegetables, and the university’s agricultural experts monitor the cultivation process.

Lam Van Cao, deputy head of Phu Quoc Island Farmers Association, said the prices of vegetables transported from the mainland to the island were four to five times higher than those sold on the mainland.

Ecofarm plans to expand its greenhouse area to 2-2.5ha to have a daily vegetable output of 3-4 tonnes to meet local demand.

It also plans to export its vegetables to nearby countries and territories, including Thailand, Cambodia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Two Ecofarm employees have been sent to Israel to learn how to grow clean vegetables in a greenhouse.

The company has also opened a shop in Duong Dong town to promote its vegetable products.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Artifacts further evidence of East Sea sovereignty: expert

14:52' 07/07/2009 (GMT+7)

The two artifacts that were discovered on June 22 by fishermen in the seas off Ha Tinh Province. VietNamNet Bridge - The two Dong Son artifacts discovered in Ha Tinh Province late last month reaffirm Vietnam’s sovereignty over the East Sea area, says Trinh Sinh, an official of the Institute of Archeology. The Dong Son culture was centered in the Red River valley in northern Vietnam and was a prehistoric Bronze Age culture, dated to about 2000 BC-200 AD. According to Ha Tinh Province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, farmers in the village of Ky Loi in Ky Anh District, discovered on June 22 two artifacts that experts believe date back two millennia. The artifacts, a bronze spear and an axe, were found on the Vung Ang seabed, about two kilometers off the coast of Ky Loi Village. “This is the first time we’ve discovered Dong Son artifacts near the seabed,” Sinh said. “This proves that the residents of Dong Son culture had conducted trading activities near the sea area that borders their land.” Sinh said during the Dong Son era, people traveled often by sea and had reached Kien Giang island in the eponymous Mekong Delta Province. The East Sea area has also produced evidence of the Sa Huynh culture. “The fishing net and human bones we discovered around the East Sea coastal area in the past has proved that.” Sinh dismissed speculation that the artifacts were simply collected by someone from the Nguyen dynasty. “We believe that the habit of collecting ancient artifacts from Dong Son culture only began about 20 years ago and those from the Nguyen dynasty preferred to collect tea utensils or pottery.” In a separate article written for the Lao Dong newspaper, Sinh wrote that Vietnam should develop the study of marine archaeology like many other countries in Southeast Asia. “That way we can fully understand what is still left of the old civilization in our oceans,” Sinh wrote. VNN/TN

The King of Pop to be honoured in Hanoi

VietNamNet Bridge – Michael Jackson fans will have a chance to enjoy classic songs of their idol in a show to memorialise the King of Pop at the Sofitel Metropole Hotel, Hanoi, on July 16.

While world-wide fans of Jackson are heading to the Staples Center, Los Angeles, US, where a ceremony to remember Jackson will take place on July 7, his fans in Hanoi will have their own memorial ceremony at Angelina bar, Sofitel Metropole Hotel on July 16. The show is open for all fans.

DJ EKS and Kruise will perform legendary Jackson songs like Billy Jean, Black or White and Heal the World.

The organiser said that the show would not be like a funeral but rather a celebration of Jackson’s songs. Photos of the King will be projected onto a big screen.

DJ EKS said he will re-mix Jackson songs and some songs of the Jackson 5 with famous singers in a different style.

“I have been a fan of Michael Jackson since 1992-1993. I was very shocked hearing that he died,” said DJ EKS.

Hanh Phuong

Welcome sunshine on Do Son beach

VietNamNet Bridge – Photographer Pham Manh Cuong shares beautiful moments at Do Son beach, a famous tourist site in the port city of Hai Phong.

Do Son is located 22 km away from Hai Phong city. Do Son was turned into a summer resort by the French in 19th century, after they established themselves in Hai Phong.

Do Son is known for a large number of historical and cultural attractions, several beaches besides picturesque hills.

The sunrise on Do Son beach.

Young girls on the beach.

VietNamNet/VNE

Vietnamese in top three of international beauty pageant

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam's Vu Thi Hoang Diep, has come third in the online voting of Miss International Beauty 2009 with 1,600 votes, the pageant announced July 7.

Diep (4th left) in evening dress poses for a picture with other contestants.

Third place also went to two other contestants from Russia and Mongolia.

Second place was taken by contestants from Belarus, South Korea and Poland.

The 19-year-old Pacheco Montanez Darli Arni, from Puerto Rico, topped the online voting.

The contestants visited three venues in Xinjiang Province, China, including Turpan, Aksu and Artux on July 6.

Later, they will have a few days training and carrying out activities before the contest’s final rehearsals on July 24 and 25. The final starts on July 26.

Diep said she was quite relaxed and confident with the online result and expected to gain more success.

She has previously won much success at other beauty pageants, including Miss Sea 2007 and Miss Vietnam 2008.

Recently, there have been media reports about deadly ethnic violence on Urumqi’s streets, the provincial capitol, but the organizers announced that the contestants will be kept away from the problems.

Despite the unrest, the contest will still be held, the organizers confirmed.

Miss International Beauty Pageant, founded in 1973, aims to symbolize beauty and harmony for different nationalities, bring about friendship across the world and to promote world peace.

Miss International Beauty Pageant 2009 has attracted 43 contestants from around the world.

VNN/SGGP

Bau Da wine village

VietNamNet Bridge – Bau Da wine is a famous specialty of Bau Da village in the central province of Binh Dinh.

The name of Bau Da originated from Cu Lam village’s Bau Da in An Nhon district’s Nhon Loc commune, 22km from Quy Nhon city.

This wine is entirely made by hand.

It is said that Bau Da wine makes drinkers have sensations of fire and ice. As a matter of fact, get a drop of wine on your skin, and you will get a chilly feeling.

Pour this wine from a height to hear the marvelous sound of wine splashing. Then let the glass of wine spread it fragrance through the atmosphere for a moment before sipping it and feeling it foam around mouth.

Locals say that northern and southern tourists treated to Bau Da wine have said it is better than Johnny Walker brandy.

It is made of newly-harvested rice grains and special water, which make it transparent, and then distilled with straw and husk-fired heat.

However, the most attractive aspect of Bau Da wine is that intimate friends prefer to sit cross-legged on the floor on a moonlit night to both enjoy wine and recitals.

Some photos featuring Bau Da village:

The gate of Bau Da village.

The village is surrounded by green fields.

The village's temple.

The rice that makes the famous wine of Bau Da.

An old villager is talking about how to produce Bau Da wine.

Boiling wine.

The finished product.

VietNamNet/VNE/Binh Dinh newspaper

Vietnam’s entrant hastens preparations for Miss Universe

VietNamNet Bridge – Miss Universe Vietnam’s first runner-up Vo Hoang Yen is about to go to the Bahamas for the Miss Universe 2009 pageant. She is very busy at this moment preparing for the event.

From the left: Universe Company's representative, Hoang Yen and a representative of the John Robert Powers school.

To improve the inherent weakness of Vietnamese contestants, timidity, Hoang Yen is improving her communicative and presentation skills with foreign experts at the HCM City-based John Robert Powers school.

Hoang Yen studies English at a reputed English teaching centre in HCM City and does physical exercise under the guidance of a leading expert at the California Wow Experience Centre.

Hoang Yen and Al Morgan, Asia’s top nutrition and fitness expert.

Al Morgan, Asia’s top nutrition and fitness expert, designs Hoang Yen’s daily exercises and is managing her nutritional supplements to help her get the best shape in the shortest time.

The Vietnamese representative is also undergoing skin treatments at spas.

Hoang Yen at a spa.

Hoang Yen is proud to have all of her preparation activities reported by the local media. Compared to previous Vietnamese entrants in international beauty contests, Yen is said to be the one who has most carefully worked on her image.

Yen said that at this moment she is ready for the pageant on Paradise Island, the Bahamas from August 2-23.

Hoang Yen's working schedule is full and she travels a lot.

VietNamNet/DT

Cars unsalable in the world, but selling well in Vietnam

VietNamNet Bridge – While the car sales have plummeted in the world market, in Vietnam, there are still not enough Toyota or Honda cars to satisfy demand. In such a market, ‘fixers’ thrive.

Car models all in short supply

Vietnam is really a lucrative market for automobile manufacturers: cars still sell well here despite the economic downturn.

All the models offered by Toyota Vietnam are reportedly in short supply, especially Vios, Altis and Camry. Customers have been told that if they place orders right now, they will get delivery in November and December.

A business officer of Toyota urges customers to place orders right now, or you will have to wait a long time to get deliveries,” he said. “Even for the Innova van, customers have to wait till October, and longer for the smaller models which are now the top choices of customers”.

However, it is not easy to place orders now. Toyota My Dinh has rejected orders for ‘hot’ models since May. A salesman of the agent said that it will only have cars by October to deliver to the customers who have signed contracts. Therefore, it has decided to stop signing new contracts to avoid risks.

Honda’s models are also reportedly in short supply. Customers who want to purchase a Honda Civic, will have to wait until August to get delivery. If they want Honda CRV, will have to wait until October. And if they want a silver-gray Civic or CRV, they’ll have to wait even longer.

GM Daewoo (Vidamco) reports satisfactory sales of its Lacetti and Gentra small sedans. A Vidamco manager said that the firm can’t promise its customers deliveries until August. Red Gentras are in especially high demand.

“I visited different car sales agents looking for a Vios and I was told to place orders, pay a deposit and wait,” said one weary customer.

Profitable opportunities for ‘fixers’

“If you place your order for an Altis right now, normally you won’t get delivery until December. But you if want delivery sooner, you just need to pay me 40 million dong to install some additional equipment for the car. I will try to arrange a car for you in August,” a salesman of Toyota LH told a VTC journalist that he thought was a prospective customer.

Toyota LH is the sales agent that announced during the ‘SUV/MPV fever’ in April, before higher taxes on those vehicles went into effect, that it would only sell cars to customers who agreed to pay 20 million dong to ‘install more equipment.’ It seems that the sales have been going so well that the sum of money has been doubled.

The short supply brings golden opportunity for ‘fixers’ (called ‘storks’ in Vietnamese slang) to ‘do business’. It is impossible now to purchase cars at the manufacturers’ suggested retail prices (MSRP). The only way to get car deliveries soon is to pay additional money to sales agents.

In insider explained how this is done. Salesmen’s relatives sign contracts to buy cars. Then, a salesman will contact customers to resell the contracts signed with the manufacturers under the salesmen’s relatives’ names. A lot of customers agree to pay additional money to get deliveries soon, rather than waiting many months to get cars. On some auto forums, the required premiums are $1,000-1,500.

A customer named Long complained that the official sales agents say cars have run out, but if customers agree to pay more money, they still have cars to sell. “Customers are the biggest sufferers. They have to clench their teeth while their pockets are picked,” he said.

In the rest of the world, as the global crisis has deepened, cars have been almost unsalable. In the huge North American market, Toyota’s small car sales in June were 32 percent below the same period of the last year. To pump up sales, Hyundai and Suzuki have been offering ‘low cost petrol’ to those who purchase their cars.

Meanwhile, in Vietnam, there are not enough cars to sell. A question has been raised that if it is true that automobile joint ventures are short of cars to sell, or this is just the art of marketing?

VietNamNet/VTC

PM restricts use of Government cars

VietNamNet Bridge – Each State agency, public non-business unit or State-owned enterprise is now allowed to buy only one car worth a maximum of VND800 million (US$44,400).

The newest regulation strictly prohibits the utilisation of public cars for personal purposes and details clearly the rules relating to car type, value and usage.

The new decision was made by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to replace a previous decision made by the Prime Minister in April 2008.

In an attempt to help curb inflation, in the 2008 decision the Prime Minister had mandated a freeze on the purchase of Government cars to halt the excessive amounts of public funds going towards the purchasing of Government vehicles, said Pham Dinh Cuong, director of the Public Assets Management Department under MoF.

Old quota

Originally, there was a regulation promulgated in May 2007, which had already set criteria, quotas, management and use of means of transport in State agencies, public non-business units and State-owned enterprises. If this had been properly implemented, the State could have saved up to VND2 trillion (US$111 million) every year, MoF had estimated.

The newest regulation strictly prohibits the utilisation of public cars for personal purposes and details clearly the rules relating to car type, value and usage. This applies to all government officials from district leaders up, chairmen of management boards, general directors of State-owned corporations and other entities appointed by the Prime Minister.

According to Cuong, the policy for the use of Government cars will become stricter.

"Besides the policy of reducing the number of government cars, we will popularise self transport," Cuong said.

"In the past, a Government car was considered a symbol of power but at present, no one cares. In fact, using taxis and private cars is nicer," he said.

Time to punish

However, as reported by the State Treasury, since the original regulation was promulgated two years ago, 73 cars were still purchased for a cost to the public of VND32 billion ($1.7 million).

The Treasury also requested MoF punish those in possession of more cars than allowed by regulation, with the biggest culprits being the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and then the Ministry of Transport.

Economist Pham Chi Lan said it was pressing to prevent misuse of the public's money for transport, but wonders how the regulation will be implemented.

"I understand all decisions are to save money for the State's budget," Lan said, "So everyone should leave their own benefit behind and think about common benefit".

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Foreign banks to give domestic firms a run for their money

VietNamNet Bridge – Dr Nguyen Minh Phong at the Ha Noi Socio-Economic Development and Research Institute spoke to Thoi Bao Ngan Hang (Banking Times) about competition between local and foreign banks.

What do you think about increasing operations of wholly foreign-invested banks in Viet Nam?

Local banks should also associate with foreign banks to increase their strengths.

Under the WTO commitments on banking, effective since April 1, 2007, foreign banks are allowed to operate in Viet Nam. They can be representative offices, affiliates of foreign banks, joint-venture banks or wholly foreign-invested banks.

Wholly foreign-invested banks have many advantages, and it is therefore not unusual to see a wave of wholly foreign-invested banks stepping up operations recently.

Viet Nam is also an attractive destination for foreign investors. The global economic crisis is increasingly singling Viet Nam out as a country with comparative advantages, particularly in political stability and economic development potential.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is one indicator. Viet Nam is among the top ten countries and territories attracting FDI in the world.

The participation of foreign banks has helped improve Viet Nam’s financial market, giving people and the business community opportunities to enjoy financial services of international quality.

But this is also putting more pressure on the financial market.

I think the recent speeding up of foreign bank operations is merely an initial step. The competition will only start by the end of this year, when mother banks abroad gradually recover from the financial crisis.

It seems that foreign banks have more advantages, while the only advantage for local banks is being on "home turf". What do you think about this?

It’s true. Foreign banks can gain the upper hand over local ones in terms of history, experience, financial potential, technology, human resources, understanding partners and international business rules.

These advantages will allow them to provide competitive products. Moreover, by employing Vietnamese bankers, foreign banks will become experts in the local market.

However, local banks also possess some advantages. Firstly, they have outstretched branches that can offer cheap services to customers, especially small- and medium-sized ones. This is also a tool to create joint ventures with foreign banks to mutually allocate services.

Another advantage is that Vietnamese customers find it easier to do business with Vietnamese banks.

And local banks are better at finding information about domestic enterprises and getting a better hold on the psychology and business traits of Vietnamese people than foreign banks. With such advantages, they can introduce appropriate products.

Which parts of the market will be the most competitive?

Each bank has its own strategy, and it also depends on the market and their familiar customers.

Yet, by and large, foreign banks will focus on such areas as the following: international payments, worldwide money transfers and modern banking services, targeting foreign investors and those customers in the middle and high classes.

Foreign banks will speed up joint ventures with other businesses to consume products and services. They can lend money to customers to buy cars and houses by joining with auto companies and housing investors.

What do local banks have to do to fend off the competition?

They should know their capacities. First, by concentrating on products and parts of market that they are good at, and second, by expanding and developing more new, modern products that suit their capacities. They must improve the quality of their products and services, especially in procedures and attitudes towards customers.

Local banks should take initiative in associating with other banks and partners to develop and supplement their shortcomings to each other.

It’s essential to work out a strategy to restructure and raise management ability and technologies in an attempt to raise competitiveness.

Local banks should also associate with foreign banks to increase their strengths.

For the part of the State, it must have common guidelines on orientation, supervision and support for local banks during this process of restructuring and raising competitiveness.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Vietnam may export more than 5 million tonnes of rice

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam previously planned to export 4.5-5 million tonnes of rice this year. However, the volume of rice enterprises have registered to export so far this year exceeds five million tonnes. 3.46 million tonnes have already been delivered.

Farmers in the Mekong River Delta have finished harvesting the winter-spring crop and they are harvesting the early summer-autumn crop. The price of young rice is hovering between 4,200 and 4,300 dong per kilogramme, while the price of first-class unprocessed rice is 5,600-5,670 dong per kilogramme and second-class rice is 5,200-5,300 dong per kilgramme. Meanwhile, five percent broken finished product is selling at 6,950-7,000 dong per kilogramme, 15 percent broken rice at 6,450-6,500 dong per kilogramme and 25 percent broken rice at 5,700-5,800 dong per kilogramme.

The Institute for Policies and Strategies on Agriculture and Rural Development Area has forecast that Vietnam’s rice exports this year may reach 5.5 million tonnes, an increase of 0.5 million tonnes over last year.

According to the Vietnam Food Association (Vinafood), Vietnam’s total rice export volume may reach six millions tonnes this year. Huynh Minh Hue, acting Secretary General of Vinafood, said that in the last six months of the year, Vietnam will mainly export summer-autumn and autumn-winter rice.

In the context of the global financial crisis and economic downturn, it is expected that countries in the world will import rice in volumes equal to their consumption demands, while they will not import rice to store up like they did in 2008. Analysts said that the demand will come late, while transactions and deliveries will take place within short periods. Therefore, rice exports and consumption of merchandise rice will depend on the market’s performance. With the current signing of export contracts, farmers will absolutely be able to consume all the merchandise rice of the 2009 summer-autumn crop.

“The domestic rice prices have been inching up, while more export contracts have been signed. If the current situation continues, the export of six million tonnes of rice proves to be within reach,” Hue affirmed.

However, VFA has also expressed concerns that the volume of high-quality rice in the 2009 summer-autumn crop may be lower, since most farmers are growing low-quality seed rice, including IR50404.

However, the Cultivation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that IR50404 rice just accounts for 18.2 percent of the total growing area, just 3.2 percent higher than the recommended level.

Prof Dr Bui Chi Buu, Head of the Southern Institute for Agriculture Sciences, also said that it is absolutely possible for Vietnam to export 5.5-6 millon tonnes of rice this year because of the high rice output.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation FAO, in 2009, the demand for rice is estimated at 32 million tonnes, up by 2 million tonnes in comparison with 2008.

VietNamNet/TBKTVN

Cycling to explore the Mekong Delta

VietNamNet Bridge – Cycling through orchards and along rivers, visiting pagodas to discover culture and history and indulging in stunning landscapes are wonderful experiences.

Tourists on a bicycle tour in the Mekong Delta.

We start in the Mekong Delta province of Long An’s Tan An commune and follow Bao Dinh Canal toward My Tho city. Full of strength and curiosity, we are all keen to explore the land on our iron horses.

The road is surrounded by colorful fruit orchards, elegant pagodas, poetic rivers and peaceful canals.

Reaching Tien Giang province, we stop by Thoi Son Islet in My Tho city to row a boat on zigzagging canals, sit in the garden house and sip tea with honey and enjoy the singing of folk songs. Then we visit Vinh Trang Pagoda which was built in the nineteenth century and is famous for its ancient architecture and design and its 60 precious wood statues.

The next day, we continue on to Ben Tre province, our eyes satisfied by the green of endless coconut farms. We talk with some residents about the life of farmers.

The next day is a tour of Vinh Long province’s Cai Mon district which is nationally famous for its fruit. We do not worry about being tired after long hours on our bicycles but have fun fishing, cooking and joining entertainment areas. At night, we have an outdoor party with fresh fish and local cuisine accompanied by cai luong (southern classical music).

We saddle our bikes and move on to Can Tho city to see floating markets such as Cai Rang and Phong Dien to buy indigenous specialties and to sense the hardships of the sellers. Markets wake when the sun is still below the horizon as sellers gather to prepare for a new day.

Finally, we conquer 20 kilometers on bicycle to visit Bang Lang Stork Garden, a 1.3 hectare stork sanctuary popular with tourists who come to see thousands of storks. Visitors can see these birds returning home from hunting food in the late afternoon. The image of thousands of storks gathering in the Garden is exotic to visitors.

Organized bicycle tours of the Mekong Delta are available from Saigontourist Travel Service Company. Visitors will be accompanied by a tour guide, a doctor and medical equipment.

Saigontourist is located at 49 Le Thanh Ton street, distríct 1, HCMC, tel: 3827 9279, email: info@saigontourist.net, website: www.saigontourist.net.

VietNamNet/SGT

Solution for “disguised” golf courses: collecting tax arrears

VietNamNet Bridge – As many as 166 golf courses covering 52,000 hectares of land serve around 5000 golfers in Vietnam. Each golfer has over 10 hectares of land for entertainment. Meanwhile, each person in the northern delta has only 360 sq.m of land for planting rice on average.

The National Assembly’s Committee for Science, Technology and Environment vice chairman Nguyen Dang Vang has suggested various solutions, including collecting tax arrears.

Under the rules of market, supply and demand of a product or a service must be in balance, otherwise that market will become distorted. The market of golf in our country is very absurd, the chairman says. There are around 5000 players but there are 166 golf courses. The average number of golf courses of 192 countries and territories, including developed countries, is 14.

Most golf course projects are real estate ones. How can we deal with this problem?

Most golf courses incur losses, even the senior Da Lat golf course (in Da Lat city, Lam Dong province). This golf course is located in a very nice area, which has many tourists, but last year it still lost money. However, people flock to invest in golf courses. Minister (of Planning and Investment) Vo Hong Phuc said that this is a masquerade. We can see it if we look at the area of golf courses. It is estimated that a golf course needs around 100 hectares of land but golf courses in Vietnam have an average area of over 300 hectares.

Therefore, golf developers use two-thirds of the land for real estate business. In my opinion, golf courses must be considered real estate projects. It is very regrettable that a golf course which asks for 300 hectares of agricultural land is licenced.

Plains are favourable for transport and agriculture so they must be used for production. Golf courses can create a small number of jobs on a hectare of land so I think some golf courses in the Red River Delta should not be licenced.

You mean that golf course projects on plains should be revoked?

It depends on local governments. Investors were licenced and they invested their money in these projects. If local governments revoke golf projects, they have to compensate them.

But I think that if there are more effective projects than golf courses, local government should compensate golf developers and revoke land to implement the other projects.

How should we solve the “inflation” of golf courses? Should we ban the construction of real estate works on golf courses for sale?

That’s right! I think the Ministry of Planning and Investment considered this. When the ministry stipulates that a golf course must be less than 110 hectares, investors cannot build villas for sale. We can also ban golf developers from selling real estate projects on golf courses.

In my opinion, we should reconsider taxation methods. Land for building golf courses is sold at 90,000 dong per square metre because it is agricultural land. If houses are built on that land, the price will be millions of dong per square metre. The government should collect arrears of taxes and land fees from golf courses that have houses for sale.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment plans to revoke 50 golf course projects. Is that number small?

It is small but it shows the ministry’s intentions concerning golf courses. However, it would be very difficult to withdraw licences of projects that have completed formalities. But I emphasise that we can use taxes as an effective method. Golf courses are for rich people, account for vast areas of land, cause pollution and affect food security, so taxes should be very high.

If taxes are suitable to the fact, these disguised golf courses will disappear.

New criteria for golf courses: We don’t have a plan for golf courses nor an agency managing golf courses. As it is a new form of business so we deal with each project individually. Since local governments have been able to licence golf course projects, some investors, mainly local investors, have built houses on golf courses for sale. A typical case is the southern province of Long An. The government assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment to check and compile a plan for golf courses as of August 2008. Local governments have granted licences to 145 projects and 145 projects are allocated with land. It will be very complicated to deal with these projects but we will try to save land for rice. Under the new criteria, a golf course must not use over 10 hectares of rice land. A standardised golf course will be allocated up to 110 hectares of land. The Ministry of Planning and Investment plans to “cut” 50 golf courses. The licence of golf courses in the future will be tightened. Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc

VietNamNet/TT

Moc Bai border gate EZ: supermarkets closed

VietNamNet Bridge – People arriving at Moc Bai border gate economic zone (EZ) these days might be very surprised when seeing supermarkets and shops with their doors closed. The EZ, which welcomed 10,000 visitors a day previously, is now deserted with no visitors or buyers.

Supermarkets’ doors shut

The first days of July 2009 prove were the quietest days of the Moc Bai EZ since it put duty-free shops into operation. The roads to the supermarkets were empty, while the parking lot in front of the trade centre was deserted.

Only several taxi motorbike drivers were seen standing there, asking people if they wanted to go to Cambodia. There were several security guards standing at the entrance to supermarkets, who had the duty of announcing the halt of operation of the supermarkets. The vehicles, which once were used to carry passengers, are now sitting idle in the storehouse. It was dark inside the supermarkets with closed stalls and no souls in sight.

Forty-six of 48 enterprises operating in the area have stopped operating, while two shops are still operating but at the point of death because they are only allowed to sell goods to Cambodian visitors. Meanwhile, only one delegation of 15 Cambodian people was seen visiting the Hiep Thanh Trade Centre on July 4.

Only one stall is now open at Hiep Thanh Centre. The owner of the stall said that he has seen very few visitors since July 1. “The number of customers has dropped by 99.9 percent. Only small groups of Cambodian visitors have dropped into the stall in the last few days, but they bought next to nothing,” he said.

Not tax-free anymore

Le Van Tuong, Deputy Head of the Moc Bai Border Gate EZ, told Tuoi tre newspaper that some trade establishments have temporarily shut doors for stock taking, while others have closed doors to adjust software for calculating taxes. Tuong said that most establishments have shut down because of the new regulations on selling duty-free goods. The new regulations stipulate that as of July 1, domestic visitors and tourists are not allowed to purchase goods duty-free in Moc Bai.

“Enterprises have been living on trading duty-free goods. With the new regulations, they fear that the profit will not be high enough to cover expenses,” Tuong said.

According to the director of an enterprise in Moc Bai, the prices of goods in Moc Bai will be much higher than the prices in HCM City with import tax, VAT, luxury tax and the transport fee for carrying goods from Saigon port to Moc Bai. Therefore, Moc Bai will not attract visitors anymore.

A Viet Kieu from Canada, who has a stall at Hiep Thanh Trade Centre, related that he injected $12 million to trade in the area. However, his business is getting more and more difficult as Government policies have become tightened. At first, every visitor was allowed to purchase 500,000 dong per person per day worth of duty-free goods. The figure was then lowered to 500,000 dong per person per week, and now the purchase of duty-free goods is prohibited.

“If the situation cannot be improved, I will have to close my business here,” he said.

According to Tuong, the Tay Ninh provincial people’s committee has sent a dispatch to the Government, proposing it reconsider some policies and the finance mechanism for Moc Bai EZ.

New policies affecting investment attraction Like at the Moc Bai EZ, trade activities at Tinh Bien border gate non-tariff area in An Giang province have also become quiet these days. Very few people visit the area these days. Traders here complain that they are on the verge of bankruptcy. “We only made investment in the remote area because we thought we would enjoy the tax exemption,” a businessman said. “Only tax incentives can encourage investors to open duty-free shops and make investment in infrastructure items here. Now with the new regulations, the investment projects in the border gate economic zone will be cancelled,” said Le Huu Trang, Deputy Head of the An Giang Border Gate EZ’s management board.

VietNamNet/TT

Ha Long tops new 7 wonders

Tourists go on a cruise aroung Ha Long Bay (Photo: Hanoi Tourist) VietNamNet Bridge - Ha Long Bay, one of Vietnam’s two UNESCO natural world heritage sites, take the list of 11 candidates of Group G in the second phase of campaign voting for seven new world wonders of nature. According to a recent announcement released by the NewOpenWorld, the campaign is now entering the end of the second phase, where 21 sites with the most votes will be selected for the final round. The organizing committee will announce the list of 21 finalists on July 21. There after, the campaign will continue to vote for New 7 Wonders of Nature, which will be unveiled in 2011. During the first phase of the campaign, which took place between July 2007 and December 2008, three of Vietnam’s famous tourist attractions were nominated, including Halong Bay, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park - another UNESCO Natural World Heritage, and Mount Fansipan. The campaign takes place on www.new7wonders.com. VNN/SGGP

Fanciful Champa towers

VietNamNet Bridge – The central province of Binh Dinh is home to eight groups of Champa towers, located in Phu Cat, Tuy Phuoc, An Nhon, Tay Son and Quy Nhon.

In the city of Quy Nhon, visitors can see Thap Doi (Twin tower) on the bank of Thi Nai lagoon.

Around 30km from Quy Nhon is Banh It tower complex in Tuy Phuoc district, which comprises four small towers located on a mountain next to the Kon River.

Heading to the north, visitors will see Phu Loc and Canh Tien towers on high hills. Canh Tien tower is inside the ancient Champa citadel of Do Ban. Some history books say the tower was the gift of Cambodian King Che Man to his Vietnamese wife, princess Huyen Tran.

Other towers are Binh Lam in Tuy Phuoc district, an unnamed tower on Ba Mountain in Phu Cat district, Thu Thien and Duong Long on the two sides of the Kon River.

Duong Long tower

Thap Doi (Twin) tower.

Taking wedding-photo at a Champa tower.

VietNamNet/VNE

Contemporary Vietnamese music abundant but in disorder

American researcher Jason Gibbs. VietNamNet Bridge – Jason Gibbs, an American independent researcher, has worked with Vietnamese music for decades and has been to Vietnam several times to learn about Vietnam’s music genres. After a talk with a Vietnamese audience at the Goethe Institute in Hanoi on June 25, he talked with Tuoi Tre Cuoi Tuan about modern Vietnamese music. Foreign researchers often study traditional Vietnamese music, how about you? Jason Gibbs was born in 1960 and is now working in the field of music at the San Francisco Public Library, California. He has published research on Vietnamese music in magazines such as Van Hoa Nghe Thuat (Culture and Arts) and Xua va Nay (Past and Now). Most music researchers do their research under the names of organisations. Because they are sponsored by these organisations, they have to choose topics that are suitable to the sponsors’ requirements. As an independent researcher, I can choose other topics. I like Vietnam’s pre-war music very much. I also like Vietnamese modern music, which is abundant but in disorder. Are you afraid that your research themes are the same as local researchers’ topics? I think research of modern music in Vietnam is wanting. Everyone knows that this country has a young population so the young are highly influential in society. Vietnam is changing thanks to the young. But I read only disparagements of modern music in the local newspapers, meaning disparagements over the tastes of music of the young. I think that passion is very important in doing a job well. I recently saw a show of students in Hai Phong. There was a rock song. They also danced hip-hop. Of course they aped foreigners but they performed passionately and I was moved. I think we should respect the young’s way. The more people participate in the music life, the better music is. You mean we should not intervene in the youth’s choice? Ngu Cung rock band at Rock Storm 2009. It is the same in Vietnam as in the US. When a young person is ordered “You have to learn singing cheo”, they will resist and do conversely. The young are interested in what’s fashionable and singing cheo is not. But if they reach a certain level of culture and music, I think their ears will open widely to receive different genres of music and then they will wish to learn about the music of their nation. It is difficult for teens to study traditional music but those of over 20 years old, who have basic understanding of music, I think they will return to traditional music. So if we have to do something, I think we should help the youth have more knowledge and understanding about music. Do you plan to do that? I indulge myself in music and love to listen to different music genres in the world. I work in San Francisco so I have opportunities to work with the community of Vietnamese there. I came to Vietnam for travel but now I’m the husband of a Vietnamese woman (smile). The next topic that I wish to study is the role of music in Vietnamese society today. I want to know about the spiritual lives of workers who move from rural to urban areas to work in industrial zones. I want to know their taste and needs in music. VietNamNet/TTCT

Vietnam among happiest countries

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam has been found to be one of the five happiest countries in the world due to its long average lifespan, Vietnamese people’s satisfaction with their lives and low environmental impact level.

A summer day of Vietnamese kids.

The UK-based New Economics Foundation (NEF) announced the Happy Planet Index (HPI) on July 4 for 143 countries in the world.

On the list, Costa Rica is the greenest and happiest country in the world. South American countries take nine of the top ten positions, the sole exception being Vietnam, which checks in at fifth.

Western countries didn’t get high positions on the list, with the UK at the 74^th and the US at the 114^th, because these countries have high costs of living and they consume a lot of natural resources.

Zimbabwe is at the bottom of the list, 143^rd.

According to the report, Costa Rica has an average lifespan of 78.5 and 85 percent of its population are satisfied with their lives. Up to 99 percent of the country’s energy comes from recycled sources.

Meanwhile, Vietnam has an average lifespan of 73.7 and 65 percent of its population are satisfied with their lives.

The Happy Planet Index is an index of human well-being and environmental impact that was introduced by the New Economics Foundation in July 2006.

The index is designed to challenge well-established indices of countries’ development, such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Human Development Index (HDI), which are seen as not taking sustainability into account.

In particular, GDP is seen as inappropriate, as the usual ultimate aim of most people is not to be rich, but to be happy and healthy. Furthermore, it is believed that the notion of sustainable development requires that we have a measure of the environmental costs of pursuing those goals.

The top ten happy countries:

1. Costa Rica
2. The Dominican Republic
3. Jamaica
4. Guatemala
5. Vietnam
6. Colombia
7. Cuba
8. El Salvador
9. Brazil
10. Honduras

VietNamNet/VNE

Thailand, VN to join forces on rice exports

VietNamNet Bridge - Thai and Vietnamese rice exporters have agreed to co-operate to beef up their bargaining power in global markets.

An agreement was signed between Chookiat Ophaswongse, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, and Huynh Minh Hue, secretary-general of the Viet Nam Food Association, at the 6th rice trade co-operation meeting in Phuket last week.

Under a memorandum of understanding they agreed to seek to standardise sales contracts to provide a fairer deal to rice exporters.

"Now, importers have a greater say in sales contracts, which contain some conditions that are not fair to us," the Bangkok Post quoted Chookiat as saying.

For instance, he said, they demand contracts that include a 5 per cent "plus-or-minus" clause which means exporters are required to ship up to 10,500 tonnes for an order of 10,000 tonnes, while importers can choose to take just 9,500 tonnes.

Vietnamese traders shoulder an even higher burden of 10 per cent plus or minus, according to the Bangkok Post.

The 6th meeting in Phuket last week aims at strengthening the two countries’ export competitiveness through closer co-operation. A working group has been formed to work on details.

Chookiat said Thailand plans to sell around 8 million tonnes of rice this year, compared to 10 million tonnes last year.

His country turns out 20 million tonnes of milled rice annually, half of which is meant for domestic consumption.

VNN/VNS