Conversations on Vietnam Development
An amateur photographer recently took a drive through the Tua Chua Karst Plateau and shared these beautiful images of the scenic plateau sandwiched between the high mountains of north-western Vietnam.
 A view of the Tua Chua Karst Plateau seen from high above. Tiếp tục đọc “Tua Chua Karst Plateau scenic drive” |
Updated : 05/18/2017 17:15 GMT + 7
A considerable area of a 30-year-old protection forest with mangrove trees towering five meters high in the northern Vietnamese province of Thai Binh now risks being cleared to make space for an industrial park.
Authorities in Thai Binh, some 120km south of Hanoi, have plans to reclaim 320 hectares of coastal area in Thai Thuy District to make way for an industrial park on the reclamation ground.
The project includes the destruction of 150 hectares of forests originally planted to protect the mainland from erosion and landslides, according to the environmental impact assessment submitted by the provincial administration to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam province mulls clearing protection forest to build industrial park”
Updated : 05/18/2017 16:32 GMT + 7
High business expenses and excessive inspections were among issues with the business environment in Vietnam raised by entrepreneurs at a meeting on Wednesday with Vietnamese PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
The event, attended by some 2,000 local and foreign entrepreneurs, senior officials, and representatives from financial institutions and professional associations, was the largest pro-business meeting of its kind ever held between a Vietnamese head of government and the country’s business community. Tiếp tục đọc “Export-import costs in Vietnam four times higher than in Singapore”
Updated : 05/19/2017 16:56 GMT + 7
The imports raised the size of Vinamilk’s cattle farm in southern Tay Ninh Province to 5,000 dairy cows, with plans to add an additional 3,000 to the herd by the end of 2017.
The imported Holstein Friesian cows, a breed of dairy cattle originating from the Netherlands, are widely known as the world’s highest-production dairy. According to Vinamilk, they are able to produce over 14,000 liters of milk in their lifetimes. Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam’s Vinamilk imports 2,000 dairy cows from US”
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| Sand mining activities at Dầu Tiếng Reservoir in Tây Ninh Province have been suspended since April 20. — Photo tuoitre.vn |
Reuters
Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has signed an executive order banning smoking in public across the second-most populous country in south-east Asia, creating one of the region’s strictest anti-tobacco laws.
The ban, which carries a maximum penalty of four months in jail and a fine of 5,000 pesos ($100), covers both indoor and outdoor smoking, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said on Thursday. Tiếp tục đọc “Philippines president bans smoking in public, with offenders facing jail”
HANOI: Asia-Pacific nations will try to rescue a massive trade deal scuppered by the pullout of the United States, a source involved in discussions told AFP on Friday (May 19), as delegates meet in Hanoi for key talks this weekend.
US President Donald Trump abandoned the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in January calling it a “job killer” and throwing the pact’s future into doubt.
The deal covered 40 per cent of the world economy before the US withdrawal, and with its notable exclusion of China was intended to counter Beijing’s economic prowess in the region.
Several remaining members have championed its revival, namely New Zealand and Japan, the only two countries that have formally ratified the deal.
Trade ministers from the 11 remaining TPP countries will meet on Sunday, where they are expected to agree to keep the deal alive.
“The big announcement if it all holds together will be that there will be agreement to move forward as TPP 11,” the source said.
The door would “absolutely” remain open for the United States to return to the agreement in the future, the source added.
TPP members are expected to make an announcement Sunday on the sidelines of a meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) bloc, which will also be attended by newly appointed US trade chief Robert Lighthizer.
Japan has also lobbied for the so-called TPP 11, and the minister in charge of the deal said Friday Tokyo was seeking its implementation.
“TPP has not only economic benefits but also strategic significance. We will firmly seek its realisation,” Japan’s minister in charge of TPP, Nobuteru Ishihara, told reporters Friday, according to state media.
Under the original terms of the TPP the deal could not come into effect unless ratified by six countries accounting for 85 percent of the group’s combined GDP. Without the US, the deal cannot be ratified.
To move ahead without the US, members will have to agree to amend the ratification clause, but reopening talks could risk unearthing what were years of gruelling negotiations.
“The challenge will be if you start adjusting the balance within the agreement others will also need to take things out and then at what point does the agreement lose its relevance for the 11?” the source said.
The aim is to come to a final agreement by November when APEC leaders meet in Hanoi for a summit, which Trump is scheduled to attend.
The Republican leader has vowed to focus on bilateral deals and push for “free and fair” trade with its partners, a message Lighthizer is expected to carry with him at the two-day APEC meeting that kicks off in Hanoi Saturday.
Source: AFP/ec
MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Friday (May 19) Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had warned him there would be war if Manila tried to enforce an arbitration ruling and drill for oil in a disputed part of the South China Sea.
In remarks that could infuriate China, Duterte hit back at domestic critics who said he has gone soft on Beijing by refusing to push it to comply with an award last year by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which ruled largely in favor of the Philippines. Tiếp tục đọc “Duterte says China’s Xi threatened war if Philippines drills for oil”
Two Chinese fighter jets have carried out what the US military described as an “unprofessional” intercept of a US aircraft designed to detect radiation while it was flying over the East China Sea.
US officials told CNN that one of the Sukhoi Su-30 jets that approached the WC-135 plane on Wednesday was flying upside down, coming as close as 46 metres. Tiếp tục đọc “Chinese jet ‘flies upside down’ over US spy plane”
LĐ – 110 12:55 PM, 16/05/2017
Hiện trên địa bàn thành phố Huế có hơn 50 nhà vệ sinh miễn phí như thế này. Ảnh: ĐẮC THÀNH
Hôm nọ về Huế “làm du khách” tới lui trên đường Lê Lợi, đang loay hoay chưa biết nhà vệ sinh công cộng ở đâu thì ngước lên bất ngờ thấy tấm biển đề “Free WC” cùng mũi tên chỉ hướng khách sạn Century. Vào tới nơi thì gặp lúc một đoàn du khách bước xuống xe hối hả cũng đi tìm nơi miễn phí như mình. Huế và nền công nghiệp du lịch của thành phố này đang có những chuyển động tích cực, bắt đầu từ việc mở cửa những nhà vệ sinh miễn phí cho du khách…
Small but inevitable rises in sea level will double the frequency of severe coastal flooding in most of the world with dire consequences for major cities that sit on coastlines, according to scientists.
The research takes in to account the large waves and storm surges that can tip gradually rising sea levels over the edge of coastal defences. Lower latitudes will be first affected, in a great swath through the tropics from Africa to South America and throughout south-east Asia, with Europe’s Atlantic coast and the west coast of the US not far behind. Tiếp tục đọc “Sea level rise will double coastal flood risk worldwide”
Published: Thursday, May 18, 2017.
CVD 