HCM CITY

Jonavi Raisa Quiray of die Philippines wori the ASEAN Duyen Dang Truyen Hinh (Charming Television Hostess) contest on Monday night in HCM City.
The second place was taken by Miss Bali 2009,
Data Sili Pertiwi of Indonesia while Vietnamese cai luong (reformed opera) actress Que Tran came in third. 
Sixteen women including editors, MCs, reporters and performers working for TV stations in Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and host country Viet Nam competed in the contest that opened on March 17.
The competilors had to perform in traditional ao dai (Vietnamese long dress) and Western-style evening gowns at the second and last show. 
They also look part in a talent competition during the contest.
The event, organised by HCM Television and the Cat Tien Sa Company, aimed to help female media professionals in Southeast Asia meet and exchange experiences and promote understanding among ASEAN countries.

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HCM CITY

A plan of action to make HCM City child-friendly is the goal of a two-day workshop that began yesterday.
Participants from HCM City’s Department of Labour. Invalids and Social Affairs, UNICEF and concerned departments and agencies are drawing up a two-year project to be finished by the end of 2011.
The project will collect data on child survival and development, child protection and resource allocation to establish evidence-based policies that deal with urban issues for children in HCM City, according to Ly Phat Viet Linh, the UNICEF’s programme officer.
The project will improve the capacity of local people and authorities to respond to emerging issues such as children affected by HIV/AIDS, migration and child protection through various interventions, including information sharing and communication activities.
It will also promote a protective environment for children and deal with urban issues for children in HCM City, such as obesity, child menial illness, autism and childhood injury.
The project will this year focus on collecting and generating strategic information on key issues, especially those that could help decision-makers in policymaking and implementation.
It will also provide support to monitor the implementation of national health and nutrition policies and new technical guidelines.
A specific strategy and action plan for micro-nutrient deficiency prevention and control in HCM City during the year is also part of the plan.
Promoting breast-feeding practices through private clinic systems, improving the quality of education through effective application of child-friendly school approaches and providing support to test the model of solid waste treatment in urban slums are other activities during the year.
The project is estimated to cost more than US$1.5 million, with the city budget contribuling US$22,500 and UNICEF the remaining.
"Improving understanding about the situation of children, in particular, immigration and child poverty in the city, is crucial to deal with emerging issues and challenges facing the city," said Nguyen Thi Tuyet Nhung, deputy director of HCM City Department of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs.
It is also important to enhance capacity in order to formulate adequate polices that improve the well-being of all children, she added.

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HA NOI

The Viet Nam Gas Association has recommended the Ministry of Finance cut the import tax on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the current 5 per cent to 2 per cent to force domestic LPG traders to drop their retail prices, said the association’s chairman Nguyen Sy Thang.
Thang said that the current 5 per cent tax rate was bought in a decade ago when a tonne of LPG cost US$200. Today, a tonne of LPG costs roughly $790.
Thang explained that the 5 per cent lax rate was considered reasonable when the country had to import all its LPG but now, it imports only half of the LPG demand.
Meanwhile, domestic LPG producers still price their product in line with the imported LPG plus the 5 per cent import tax.
"This means the price of LPG on the domestic market is too high and unreasonable, affecting consumers’ interest," Thang explained.
If the approval is ratified, domestic LPG traders will have to cut their retail prices to match the drop in the price of imported LPG, helping consumers to enjoy a more reasonable price frame, Thang said.
The country consumes an average of 950,000 tonnes of LPG per year, with roughly 50 per cent of the total produced domestically at the country’s only LPG plant in southern Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province. The country imports the remainder mainly from neighbouring China.
PetroVietnam forecasts that the country’s LPG demand will rise by more than 50 per cent to 1.2-1.3 million tonnes per year by the end of 2010. It said additional demand will then double to 2.4 million tonnes per year by 2020, with domestic supply covering roughly 1.8 million tonnes of the total.

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HA NOI

Ground-breaking ceremony for over US$1 billion ParkCity Ha Noi new township project officially began yesterday in Ha Dong District, Ha Noi City.
The 77ha residential project is a community of mixed-density housing, shops, schools, parkland, sports center and other recreational facilities. It is located at the conjunction of Le Van Luong Road and Le Trong Tan Road in Ha Dong
District, one of the areas with the fastest development speed of Ha Noi.
ParkCity Ha Noi consists of 15 separate residential neighbourhoods with close security system, of which each neighbourhood will have its own identity with distinctive architecture and landscaping elements.
The design philosophy and concept of the township is to produce homes that intimately blend with linear parks. Especially, 7-m-wide tree-lined public walkways at the main entrance statement extending to many parts of the community will encourage residents to walk and enjoy green scenery.
The parkhome is developed by Vietnam International Township Development Joint Stock Co (VIDC), a joint venture between Malaysia’s Perdana Park City (S) Ptc Ltd and Vinaconex Hoang Thanh Urban Development and Investment JSC.
VIDC general director Habibullah Khong Sow Kee said the parkhome was designed to create a special and modern township with a distinctive identity for people of all ages and backgrounds to reside in.
Phase 1 and 2 are projected to be completed by 2014 with 1,233 assorted homes while die whole project will be finished in 10 years.

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VIENTIANE

Executives from more than 70 Vietnamese businesses operating in Laos met with authorities from both countries in Vientiane on Saturday lo discuss ways lo boost stronger investment.
Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc and his Lao counterpart Sinlavong Khouiphay Theun listened to a variety of concerns raised by investors, such as a lack of information and the conflicting interests among shareholders.
Many investors failed to adjust their investment strategies in a timely manner because of the lack of legal and market information that had been made available about policy changes and socioeconomic development.
Capital and workforces shortages were also significant reasons for project delay, investors complained.
Despite all these difficulties, however, Vietnamese investors expressed their strong confidence in-the business opportunities available in Laos.
Viet Nam emerged as the top foreign investor in Lao in 2008-09, injecting about US$2.1 billion in more than 200 projects in the country.
Major projects have made contributions to Lao’s socio-economic development, including the hydro-electric plant Sec a man III, and a rubber planting and processing project that has helped reclaim tens of thousands of hectares in southern and central Laos.
The two ministers encouraged Vieinamese businesses lo boost investment in Laos after receiving concrete answers to their concerns.

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HCM CITY

Shareholders of the HCM City-listed Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group, which has interests in property, hydropower development and rubber farming, have approved the management’s plans lo set higher turnover and profit figures for this year.
At its annual shareholders meeting last Friday, the company announced it targeted a net profit of VND2.01 trillion (US$104.6 million) on a turn-over of VND5.76 trillion, up 56 per cent and 25 percent respectively from last year.
This year, the group will begin work on three new apartments projects in HCM City that will have more than 1,500 units - Hoang Anh Incomex, the second phase of Phu Hoang Anh, and Hoang Anh Tan Phu - and continue work on seven others that are already under way.
It will also begin construction of a 165,000-sq.m office block-shopping mall in the city, according to chairman Doan Nguyen Duc.
In other plans, the company will plant 12,000ha of rubber trees in Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia this year, targeting lo plant 51,000ha of rubber in the three countries by 2012. It had completed planting on 12,000ha by the end of last year.
Two of HAGL’s hydropower plants, each with a capacity of 42MW, are expected to go on stream in the second quarter while work will begin on three others.
Shareholders also approved the payment of 10-per-cent cash dividends for 2009 and an issue of bonus shares at the rate of two shares for every share owned.
This year the company will also convert 1.45 million convertible bonds it issued last October into common shares.

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