nam « WordPress.com Tag Feed

Viet Nam, insular Palau celebrate diplomatic ties

Bao Viet Nam — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:07:03 +0000

MANILA — Viet Nam and the Republic of Palau officially established diplomatic relations on Monday.

With authority granted by the Government of Viet Nam and the Palau Government, Vietnamese Ambassador to the Philippines, Vu Xuan Truong, and Palau Ambassador to the Philippines, Ramon Rechebei, signed here a joint declaration establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.

According to the statement, the nations officially established diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level on August 18.

The Vietnamese Ambassador in the Philippines will serve as non-permanent ambassador to Palau, and the Palau Ambassador to the Philippines also serves as non-permanent ambassador to Viet Nam.

At the signing ceremony, the two ambassadors said they hoped the new diplomatic relations would lead to new co-operation in many aspects between the two countries, especially in the economy, contributions to consolidating peace, stability and common development in the region.

Palau consists of 340 islands, with a population of 20,000 residents, located between The Philippines and Papua New Guinea.

The Republic of Palau was established on October 1, 1994.

Its economic sectors include tourism, agriculture and fisheries. Last year, its GDP was US$162 million and it received 93,000 foreign tourists. —

Diplomat praises US-Viet Nam ties

Bao Viet Nam — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:05:25 +0000

HA NOI — US-Viet Nam relations have experienced a good time of development, according to US Ambassador Michael Michalak.

Meeting with the press in Ha Noi yesterday on his first working year in Viet Nam, the diplomat stressed that over the last 12 months, Viet Nam and the US exchanged a number of visits by governmental, parliamentary and trade delegations.

During Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to the US in June at the invitation of President George W. Bush, the two leaders agreed to place importance on economic and trade relations. The two sides also signed important co-operation agreements on education and climate changes.

He expressed his pleasure at the growing bilateral trade in the first half of 2008, which exceeded the US$12.53 billion level made in 2007. Remarkably, US export value to Viet Nam during the period reached $1.61 billion. US investment in Viet Nam strongly developed, he said.

Thanks to an education agreement signed during the Vietnamese PM’s tour of the US, a bilateral committee on education would be set up to expand co-operation between the two countries in the field as well as assist more Vietnamese students to study in the US, the diplomat said.

Regarding joint efforts in dealing with Agent Orange/Dioxin, the ambassador revealed that a $3 million project on overcoming the environment and health would be started in the next two or three weeks. He also talked about the need of mine clearance.

Ambassador Michalak hailed Viet Nams success at the UNSC which helps to increase the country’s role and prestige in the world arena. —

Quang Nam province to plant protective forests

Bao Viet Nam — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:26:01 +0000

The central province of Quang Nam’s authorities on Sunday said they would invest 40.9 billion VND (2.5 million USD) to plant protective forests in five districts in the province.

The money has been borrowed from the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation.

The project includes planting 2,700 ha of new forests and allocating 2,175ha of natural forests and 1,416 ha of planted forests in the care of local people.-

Kastað út í djúpu laugina!

helgie — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:25:53 +0000

Loksins er ég kominn með net hérna heima, sem ætti að geta bætt samskiptamöguleika mína mikið við umheiminn. En auðvitað þurfti þessi skóli að aftra gleði minni og möguleikum til þess að fá að ,,leika" mér í tölvunni.

Þessi blessaði kennari setti okkur fyrir tvö ,,lítil" verkefni í morgun, sem við eigum að skila og flytja á fimmtudaginn. Sá gjörningur leiddi til þess að ég og Vignir ferðuðumst með öllum tegundum almenningssamgangna og gengum einnig óeðlilega mikið um efri byggðir Oslóborgar í dag.

Annars ætla ég nú ekki að venja mig á það eða leggja það á ykkur að lesa um allt það sem gerist á mínum degi. En þessu varð ég að koma frá mér til þess að komast niður á jörðina.

Það má segja að við Vignir lærðum að telja oft upp að tíu í dag, á mörgum tungumálum.

Því frestast að koma með myndir af íbúðinni og svoleiðis mikilvægt þangað til síðar í vikunni, þökk sé kennara.........

Ykkar, Helgi

Viet Nam, UAE get friendly

Bao Viet Nam — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:59:45 +0000

Ha Noi — Viet Nam and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a co-operation agreement on investment, finance, trade and labour, during a recent visit to the UAE by a Vietnamese Government delegation led by the Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

The delegation included vice chairmen of the People’s Committees of HCM City, Binh Thuan and Quang Ninh provinces and representatives of many businesses.

During the August 10-15 visit, made at the invitation of Prince Sheikl Tahuoon Al Nahayan, the delegation met with leading UAE economic groups, including Tanouh, Mubadala, Etisalar, Al Qudra, Bhoom Al Masdar, Limitless of Dubai Work and the Trade Ministry of the UAE.

The UAE groups expressed a keen interest in developing infrastructure as well as investing in real estate, urban and agricultural development projects in Viet Nam.

The UAE side said it was willing to import Vietnamese rice and food and receive a large number of Vietnamese workers. The delegation was received by General Mohammed Bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi who is Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the UAE. —

As Korea’s tenth largest importer, Viet Nam stocks up on oil, autos

Bao Viet Nam — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:59:04 +0000

Dried lychees are canned by workers at Bac Giang Food Company. The company has plans to export these products to traditional markets, including South Korea. — VNA/VNS Photo Pham Hau

HCM CITY — Viet Nam is the 10th largest importer of Korean products, according to the Korean Trade Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra).

Korea’s total export value to Viet Nam reached US$4.5 billion in the first half of the year, an increase of 78 per cent over the same period last year.

Korea’s top exports to Viet Nam are oil, automobiles, textile products and sheet metal. The export value of these products is $2.05 billion, or 44.4 per cent of total value of Korean exports.

Kotra said Viet Nam had been importing more oil because of the country’s economic expansion.

Korean products including automobiles and electronic products are also popular in Viet Nam.

While Korea’s total export value reached $4.5 billion, Viet Nam’s total export value to Korea reached only $1 billion during the half first of the year.

However, Kotra says that bilateral trade between the two countries would be worth $10 billion by the end of the year. —

ĐH Việt Đức xét tuyển 80 SV

tuyendungmienphi — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:24:58 +0000

Thứ trưởng Bộ GD-ĐT Bành Tiến Long vừa ký thông báo về việc tuyển sinh vào ĐH Việt Đức (VGU).

Theo đó, VGU sẽ tuyển 80 sinh viên (SV) vào 2 ngành: kỹ thuật điện và kỹ thuật xây dựng. Các SV đã trúng tuyển vào các trường ĐH khối A với điểm thi từ 21 điểm trở lên đều có quyền nộp hồ sơ đăng ký tuyển chọn vào VGU. Tiếp nhận hồ sơ từ ngày 21 đến 30-8.

Cũng theo thông báo này, các SV được tuyển chọn vào năm học 2008 của VGU được hưởng quyền lợi của SV theo Luật Giáo dục, quy định của VGU và được Nhà nước bù 50% học phí trong năm thứ nhất, so với mức học phí của VGU là 150 USD/tháng. Sau khi kết thúc năm thứ nhất, SV phải qua kỳ kiểm tra tiếng Anh để vào học tiếp năm thứ hai. Những SV không đủ điều kiện vào học năm thứ hai có quyền trở lại học ở trường ĐH đã trúng tuyển năm 2008.

Hvað er ég að gera hér?

helgie — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:00:55 +0000

Þessa setning kom upp í huga mér öðru hverju í morgun, enda var fyrsti skóladagurinn í dag. Annað hvort er ég endanlega fallinn í djúp lífsgæðakapphlaupsins með efnahagshyggjuna að leiðarljósi, bara hugsandi um að fá hærri laun og meiri peninga til að eyða, eða að ég hafi hug á að láta eitthvað gott af mér leiða í þessum fræðum og geta haft áhrif á hin ýmisu atriði og fá að vera hluti í að skapa fjölskyldu sinni aukið öryggi?

Ég vona svo sannarlega að ég falli undir seinni spurninguna annars get ég keypt mér miða strax heim, því það er nú hægt að færa rök fyrir því að maður hafi það alveg fínt og geti verið heima hjá sínum nánustu.

Annars gekk fyrsti skóladagurinn nokkuð vel miðað við allt og alla. Þetta er skiljanlega svolítið sjokk að hlusta á ensku og norsku allt í bland og ætla heilanum að taka við þessari steypu. Hugleiðingar mínar um að hafa bara tvö til þrjú tungumál í heiminum hugnuðust mér vel í morgun, annars veit ég að flestir eru mér ósammála í því. Svona svipaðar pælingar eins og þegar mig langaði að afnema ypsilon í grunnskóla!

Fram að jólum verðum við í einum stórum kúrs (24 ects) sem samanstendur af 14 nemendum, 5 strákum og 9 stelpum. Svo er einn ,,stuðningskúrs“ við þann stóra (6 ects), veit ekkert um hann ennþá. Þessir 14 nemendur eru ýmist landslagsarkitektanemar (9 stk) eða arkitektanemar (5 stk). Flest þeirra eru auðvitað norðmenn (10 stk), svo er einn frá Belgíu (franska hlutanum), ein frá Ítalíu en kemur sem skiptinemi frá Þýskalandi og svo að sjálfssögðu við Íslendingarnir (2 stk). Aldursskiptingin er svona eins og við var að búast, Belginn er 20 ára (skil ekki menntakerfið þar) og restin af skaranum er frá 22 til 30 ára. Ekki má gleyma Vigni blessuðum sem er er rétt rúmlega þrítugur eða eins og hann sagði við kynninguna á sér í morgun „I‘m very old“ og gaf enga tölu upp, við þetta uppskar hann mikil hlátrasköll.

Það þykir kostur við þetta ,,program“ að hér blandast nemar í arkitektúr og landslagsarkitektúr mjög mikið í kúrsa. Þannig munu mismunandi skoðarnir vonandi koma í ljós sem og ólíkir hæfileikar sem maður getur þá lært af.

Svo er ég kominn með norskt símanúmer: 00 47 948 11 983 (voðalega auðvelt, haha).

Þetta eru örugglega nægar upplýsingar fyrir ykkur í bili.

Góðar kveðjur, Helgi.

Lahjonta, uhkailu ja kiristys

neitiminttu — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:17:47 +0000

Kun tykkää kovasti suklaasta, ja on tosissaan etsimässä uutta työpaikkaa, on suorastaan halpamaista että työnantaja ilman mitään erityistä syytä tuo tällaisen.

Huom! Siinä oli kaksi kerrosta.

Viet Nam offers support for ceasefire in S Ossetia conflict

Bao Viet Nam — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:58:54 +0000

HA NOI — Viet Nam welcomed Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s cease-fire declaration as well as efforts by Russia and the international community to seek peaceful solutions to the South Ossetia conflict, including the prevention of the reoccurrence of recent clashes.

"We welcome the principles to deal with the South Ossetia and Abkhazia conflicts reached by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on August 12," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Le Dung said at a regular press briefing yesterday.

" Viet Nam regrets the armed conflict in South Ossetia, which caused great losses in property and lives for civilians and Russian peacekeepers," the spokesperson said.

Archipelago issues

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Le Dung said Vietnam had full historical evidence and legal foundation to affirm its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes.

The spokesman made the statement at a press briefing in Ha Noi yesterday in reply to a correspondent’s question about Viet Nam ’s reaction to the recent visit to Hoa Lau Island in Viet Nam’s Truong Sa archipelago by the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister.

The diplomat said Viet Nam and Malaysia, as neighbouring countries and fellow members of the Association of South East Asian Nations, had witnessed fine development in their relations.

He said the two countries agreed to resolve problems arising in their bilateral ties through peaceful negotiations on the basis of equality and respecting each other’s rights and legitimate interests in accordance with laws and international practice, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea. —

Laos, Viet Nam leaders meet on judicial co-operation plans

Bao Viet Nam — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:56:51 +0000

President Nguyen Minh Triet receives the visiting President of the Lao People’s Supreme Court Khammy Sayavong. — VNA/VNS Photo

HAnOi — State President Nguyen Minh Triet lauded co-operation between Laos and Viet Nam on judicial work, making the comments at a reception for visiting President of the Lao People’s Supreme Court (LPSC) Khammy Sayavong in Ha Noi yesterday.

The Vietnamese state leader suggested the two sides quickly implement their new co-operation plans, thus contributing to the development of each country and close relationship between the two nations. He also affirmed that Viet Nam would make every effort to assist its fraternal Lao people.

LPSC President Sayavong thanked the Vietnamese for their assistance in training Lao judicial workers.

During the Lao delegation’s week-long visit to Viet Nam, starting from Sunday, both sides signed new co-operation agreements on staff training and research. — VNA

Supreme Court Justice Arrested, Still Looking for Fay and Northwest Passage Opens

symonsezwlky — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:53:05 +0000

For the latest on Tropical Storm Fay, click here

If you are looking for the tropical stuff, look at the bottom. If you are looking for rain, look somewhere else than Louisville. Except for an errant shower on Thursday(be thankful if you get a shower), we will stay dry through the weekend with temperatures around seasonal averages and humidity levels slowly increasing but it's still going to be pretty comfortable by Mid-August standards.

[caption id="attachment_1358" align="alignleft" width="80" caption="Arctic Ice Map"][/caption]

Arctic Sea Ice Still Melting: If you recall on these here pages we talked about the nitwit reporting about the possibility of the Arctic Ice melting and Santa Claus having to put on his swimming trunks.(Symon Sez-Just The Facts!) I ripped the AP reporter for grabbing a few statistics and putting them in the top of his story while burying the qualifiers and other opinions. At the time, I believe there was more sea ice up north than at that time last year. Well, the ice began melting pretty quickly in July, partly due to storms blowing in and breaking up the newest and thinnest ice. Like last year, the Northwest Passage is now open. But it's pretty shallow so its not something that big ships can take. They take the more northern Parry Channel which remains clogged with ice. Last year, the Parry Channel opened up in mid-August and it's possible that it may open again this year before the melting ends. Either way, it appears that Santa is safe. Why do I think that the AP will not run a story with a headline trumpeting the fact that the North Pole did not melt away. Here's the complete story from the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

National Snow and Ice Data Center Aug 11 report

On This Date In History: On this date in 1889, US Supreme Court Justice Stephen J. Field was arrested for murder making him the only member of that body ever arrested for such a crime. The story goes back to a divorce case in which Justice Field ruled that the marriage between Sarah Althea Hill and a wealthy mine owner was invalid and she therefore was not entitled to any portion of his wealth. And neither was her then current husband, David Terry, who like Field was a former California Supreme Court justice. The courtroom erupted into a brawl and Field ordered the couple jailed for contempt. The pair publically announced revenge on the Justice.

About a year later, Field and his bodyguard, US Marshal David Neagle, were riding on a train to San Francisco. Also on the train was Sarah and David Terry. At a stop in Stockton, California the Terrys spotted field in the station dining room. David went for Field while Sarah went back to the train. Dave slapped the Justice and Neagle pulled his revolver and told Dave to stop while identifying himself as an officer. David Terry started fumbling with his jacket. Neagle fatally shot David Terry as his wife came running up with a satchel holding a loaded gun. Neagle and Field were arrested on a murder charge.

California's Governor ordered Field released and the case against Neagle ended up...in the US Supreme Court that ruled in a landmark decision that since Neagle was acting under federal authority, he could not be subject to California law. I suppose that is why no one ever asked the Texas justice system to charge the ATF agents with anything in the Waco/ Branch Davidian case several years ago. I suppose that Field probably recused himself from the case but it may be the only case in which a sitting Supreme Court Justice was actively involved in a situation that set a legal precedent.

[caption id="attachment_1361" align="alignleft" width="128" caption="12Z 08/13 NRL Track Invest 92L"][/caption]

So, What's Up with the Tropics? Well, we're still waiting on Fay to show itself. The NHC was so unimpressed with disturbance 92L that it cancelled the hurricane hunter for Wednesday. I suppose they are saving the taxpayers money on fuel costs. But, the satellite imagery looks fairly interesting and the intensity spaghetti model still has half of the 16 computers taking it at least to tropical storm level

[caption id="attachment_1363" align="alignright" width="128" caption="Spaghetti Intensity 08/13"][/caption]

with a few going to the hurricane level as it moves into the Bahamas. The spaghetti tracks are all very similar but the other half of the intensity models are split with part taking it to tropical storm and back to depression status or keeping it as a depression or less. The other part take it to storm to depression and then back toward tropical storm status. The 18Z ETA was pretty bullish and makes it a hurricane in the Bahamas in 84

[caption id="attachment_1362" align="alignleft" width="128" caption="Spaghetti Track 08/13"][/caption]

hours. The GFS puts it in the same region as an open area of low pressure. I've attached all of the accompanying maps. BTW..the last two runs of the GFS wants to put a tropical cyclone of some intensity in the Gulf in two weeks....but we're talking about two weeks and the rate of accuracy of models begins to deteriorate after two days, let alone two weeks. But, it will be fun to watch and see if that's the case.

[caption id="attachment_1369" align="alignleft" width="120" caption="18Z NAM 08/13"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_1370" align="alignright" width="120" caption="18Z GFS 08/13 84 hours"][/caption]

State Bank of Viet Nam helps stabilise economy

Bao Viet Nam — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:15:31 +0000

During yesterday’s online interview on the Government’s website, central bank Governor Nguyen Van Giau re-affirmed the capability of the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) to effectively stabilise the foreign exchange (FX) market whenever the market showed an unbalanced supply-demand ratio due to sentiment and speculation.

What is the central bank’s master plan to balance the target of controlling inflation and the target of ensuring sufficient capital for enterprises?

Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam Nguyen Van Giau. — VNA/VNS Photo The Anh

Facing the global economic bailout and the complicated changes in the domestic economy since early this year, the Government is determined to achieve three major targets: control inflation, stabilise the macro-economy, and ensure social security and stable development. Of these, controlling inflation is the first priority.

The SBV has simultaneously implemented five measures to manage the monetary market and banking system.

First, the SBV has withdrawn money from circulation, increased compulsory reserves in commercial banks, issued compulsory treasury notes, and controlled the growth of total payment methods and credit. All these measures are aimed at curbing total demand and consumer prices.

Second, the central bank has renewed the interest-rate management mechanism, and increased the prime interest rate, the refinancing rate and the discount rate. This was to create a reasonable interest rate corridor for outstanding loan growth, and to pursue positive interest rates [deposit rates higher than inflation rates].

Third, the central bank has managed a flexible exchange rate policy. The SBV has widened the daily trading band on inter-bank market to +/-2 per cent from +/-1 per cent against the interbank rate. The central bank also co-operated with authorities to check and stop speculation and illegal trading on foreign currencies in order to stabilise the FX market.

Fourth, the central bank raised support for commercial banks via open market operations and other refinancing methods. Capital was prioritised for manufacturing, export, major national economic projects, agriculture and rural development.

Fifth, the SBV has improved monitoring of the monetary market and credit institutions, and created a modern information system. So far, credit institutions are safe with capital adequacy ratio (CAR) higher than the regulated level.

The Prime Minister has emphasised that the central bank is the major tool for curbing inflation. So is it necessary to improve the central bank’s role?

As a state administrator on money and the banking system, the central bank plays an important role in stabilising currency values, controlling inflation, and boosting socio-economic development under a socialist orientation.

In Decision No 112/2006/QD-TTg, the Government ratified the master plan for developing Viet Nam’s Banking system towards 2010 and 2020. The project is designed to develop the central bank into a modern one in accordance with the standards of other regional central banks.

In the near future, the SBV will continue to perfect the legal framework of the banking business.

As a rule, demand on goods imports risen sharply in the latter part of the year, which results in high demand for foreign currency. How does the SBV plan to stabilise the exchange rate at the end of this year?

The ongoing measures of the Government to control the trade deficit lead us to estimate that by the end of this year, it will be less than US$20 billion. At this level, foreign reserves from many sources are sufficient to compensate for the trade deficit.

Moreover, remittance by the end of the year is expected to increase. Foreign direct investment disbursement and revenue from exports are also expected to move up. Thus, supply of foreign currencies is predicted to be in surplus and the USD/VND exchange rate is expected to be stable.

In case the market shows an unbalanced supply-demand due to sentiment or speculation, the central bank will be able to quickly return it to the right track.

In the coming months, the SBV will continue to flexibly manage the exchange rate policy based on market realities so as to encourage exports and limit imports.

Many experts assume that granting licences to set up new banks is rather ‘open’, particularly for a small economy like Viet Nam. What is the opinion of the SBV in this issue?

Implementing the government’s order, the central bank had stopped granting licences to new banks in 1996 to strengthen the existing banking system. However, pursuant of World Trade Organisation commitments, after 2006, Viet Nam was not be able to refuse licences to new banks.

Under international regulations, the SBV issued Decision No 24/2007/QD-NHNN on June 7, 2007 regulating the setting up of new banks. In the first seven months of this year, the SBV granted operating licences to a mere two banks -- LienViet Bank and TienPhong Bank.

Facing monetary difficulties in local and global markets, the Government has ordered the central bank to adjust the criteria for setting up joint stock commercial banks. As this is still ongoing, the central bank has paused granting licences to new banks.

The criteria will be changed with a view to ensuring that any new bank must have a strong financial capacity and be able to compete in this era of international economic integration. —

Japan provides aid to build school in Nam Dinh

Bao Viet Nam — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:00:36 +0000

The Japanese embassy in Vietnam on August 11 decided to provide nearly 86,000 USD as nonrefundable aid to help build a school in Y Yen district of northern Nam Dinh province.

The aid will be beneficial to more than 800 local children.

The Japanese government has so far provided aid to build roads, electric networks, safe water systems and schools in the province.-

Viet Nam step up at ASEAN U-13 tourney

Bao Viet Nam — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:30:23 +0000

HA NOI — Viet Nam 1 edged Thailand 2-1 in the opener of group A at the ASEAN U-13 Football Championship at Da Nang’s Chi Lang Stadium on Monday.

Meanwhile, defending champion Phu Yen were defeated 0-1 by visitors Malaysia in group B.

Taking advantage of home support, Viet Nguyen opened the score for Viet Nam 1 just seven minutes into the game with a close shot.

Thailand were faulty in defence against Viet Nam’s stormy offensive style in the first half.

Pitayut Ausvirong fouled a Vietnamese striker in penalty area and captain Phan Thanh took advantage , netting the ball and making the score 2-0.

In second half, Thailand regrouped their squad and went on the attack. Pitayut, who made the mistake in the first half, found the net for Thailand to narrow the score. But Viet Nam 1 rebounded to defend their lead.

The win put Viet Nam 1 at the top of group A with three points. Their hopes of sustaining the top and a berth in the final depends on a second win in the upcoming clash with Singapore.

The tournament has six teams competing in a round robin: Thailand, Singapore and Viet Nam 1 in group A; Malaysia, Indonesia and Phu Yen in group B. The top two of each group will go head-to-head for the gold, while the two runners-up will battle for bronze on Sunday. —

Viet Nam may not reach forest target

Bao Viet Nam — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:50:57 +0000

by To Nhu

HA NOI — The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has expressed concern about not being able to achieve its target of five million hectare reforestation by 2010.

The ministry cited challenges in implementing incentive-based policies for growers.

The ministry’s director of Forestry Department, Nguyen Ngoc Binh presented details of the plans from 2006-2010 in which the country had decided to grow one million ha of forest. This included growing 250,000 ha of protective forest and forest areas specialised for preservation and scientific purposes as well as 750,000 ha of production forest area.

However, authorities have only been able to grow slightly more than 50 per cent of the scheduled forest area since 2006.

Binh attributed the shortcomings to several factors, including the localities’ wanting more payment for the protection of forests.

"Issues like the illegal cutting of forest trees and recurring forest fires have been constant in some localities in Tay Nguyen (the Central Highlands) and south eastern regions. Many migrants have destroyed forests to grow cash crops including coffee, pepper and cassava," said Binh while narrating the challenges faced by his department.

The main obstacle hampering the programme’s progress is the low investment in growing protective forests and areas specialised for preservation and scientific purposes. This is despite efforts by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in conjunction with the Finance Ministry and relevant sectors, to double investment to VND6 million (US$363) per ha compared to 2006. However, in the current context of increasing prices, the low investment do not provide any incentive for people to want to continue the reforestation, said Binh.

The northern mountainous province of Yen Bai should provide some lessons in developing forest area in the country.

Deputy Director of Yen Bai Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Duc Hung said the price of rice was VND6,000 to VND7,000 per kg in 2006 when the State approved to pay VND6 million for one ha of forest growing. Today, the price has doubled.

"The payment should be raised to match the increasing price of rice," said Hung.

Hung said the State had issued preferential policies for those who devoted lands to grow protective forest, in which they would be granted rice in seven years and allowed to grow acacia mixed with the forest.

"Growers would have to wait 15 years to earn money from acacia. This meant that they would have nothing in the interim eight-year period," said Hung.

Deputy Director of Thua Thien – Hue Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Ngoc Khanh said that to give the reforestation programme a boost, the ministry needed to issue policies that create conditions for investors to build wood processing units in localities.

State to the rescue

To encourage economic sectors to take part in growing a protective forest area, Binh said the ministry would allow investors to use funds from State budget. Priority would be given to key projects including Da River and north-western protective forest areas and pilot projects on protecting forest areas of 21 border communes in Lai Chau Province and four districts in Ha Giang Province.

As for southern provinces and the central highlands area, the ministry would focus on growing coastal protective forests and saline forests.

The ministry has also proposed that the Government increase wages for forestry labourers from the present VND25,000 - VND50,000 to VND70,000 per working day. —

Viet Nam considers importing meat due to shortage

Bao Viet Nam — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:21:10 +0000

HCM CITY — Viet Nam will have to import pork, beef and poultry at the end of this year if the animal breeding and feed processing industry fails to solve its current predicaments soon, Le Ba Lich, chairman of the Viet Nam Animal Feed Association has warned.

Lich said many pig farmers, especially in Southern provinces, quit the biz when feed prices shot up.

The current price of pig feed is VND8, 500 (US$ 0.5) per kilogram. To produce one kilogram of pork, 2.6 kilograms of feed are needed, costing VND22,100 ($1.3).

Meanwhile, a kg of live pig goes for VND32,000-34,000 ($1.9-2) in the south and VND28,000-30,000 ($1.7-1.8) in the north.

With capital used to buy breeding animals and animal feed coming from loans with 20 per cent interest, breeders cannot afford to continue their line of work, Lich said.

On top of farmers moving on, blue ear disease and bird flu also contributed to the current meat shortage.

Pork accounts for 80 per cent of the country’s meat consumption, chicken 11-12 per cent, and beef 3-4 per cent.

Local meat consumption is especially high during the Christmas, New Year’s, and Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays, according to Lich.

To avoid meat shortages and encourage pig farming, Lich said, the association plans to invest in production and imports of raw materials for producing animal feed.

The association asked the Ministry of Finance to eliminate the value added tax (VAT) for raw produce, banks to decrease interest rates and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to reorganise distribution systems. —

Sex Partners-Vladivostok

oliyanam — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:11:54 +0000

SEX, SEX, SEX....

Yes it is not always possible to find a good sexual partner in my city.

That is Vladivostok, Russia, if you're not too sure.

My name is Oliya and I have lived in Vladivostok for about 5 years. I moved here from Tashkent where I originate from. My parents are Korean so by oprigin I am Korean !!!!

[caption id="attachment_5" align="alignnone" width="234" caption="my favorite cap"][/caption]

I have 2 brothers and a half-sister. I was married to Korean man for 13 years, a good man however I will tell you the full story about him later.

I now live with my sister-in-laws' daughter, a sort of niece I suppose. Anyway she has a boy of 5, whom I really have brought up along with my 2 sons, 13 and 15. More on my family later..

So SEX in Vladivostok!! Well it isn't that hard to have sex here, as most men will stick their cocks into almost anything if it's offered to them on a plate. However, to be more discerning I had to join many different websites build a webpage offering my general profile along with what I am really seeking.

Of course if I posted my photo I would be inundated with offers from various types of men all wanting the same thing SEX.

Most didn't even want to correspond with me over a period of time as we got to know each other, Thru mail, photos, and mayb telephone conversations.

WEBSITES

Some of the sites I used were lovegay.ru, here you will hundreds or even thousands of Russian girls looking for the same thing, A man who can support. offer love, kindness and friendship. Without diving straight in with " when can we meet to have sex"? Which is typical of most of the replies I received.

[caption id="attachment_6" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Thinking of Sex"][/caption]

I have been writing these types of web pages for about 4 years now since I parted with my husband. In fact I actually started before we split-up. That was mainly because I got bored and wanted to find a man I could meet up with and have regular sex, when I wanted it !!! I wasn't always just looking for a man I also had this inclination to have sex with a woman.

So often on my web-pages I would add in the search part that I was looking for a woman.

Well it's got to be interesting having sex with a woman from time to time, isn't it??

Viet Nam, US co-operate in IT training courses

Bao Viet Nam — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 17:34:42 +0000

HA NOI — A co-operative effort between Vietnamese and American universities will launch its first IT courses in October.

The Viet Nam Software Engineering Group (SEG Viet Nam) will offer a course focusing on software engineering and information systems. The curriculum will include four-year university courses and short-term classes for businessmen, the group said.

Established last June, SEG Viet Nam includes five Vietnamese universities and institutes along with the US’s Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). The group was formed to offer the most professional software technology training in Viet Nam and in the Asian region.

It also hopes to meet demand for IT human resources in Viet Nam and export IT workers to other markets.

The General Secretary of the Viet Nam Software Association, Pham Tan Cong, said that there was great potential for Vietnamese IT workers, both locally and abroad.

In the US, Viet Nam ranks 20th among 25 countries for software engineering, and was Japan’s favoured IT partner last year. The UK and Denmark have also pledged to offer jobs to trained Vietnamese IT workers.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communication, Viet Nam now has 18,000 students in 93 universities, 156 colleges and 60 training centres studying IT. —

A case for your magnetic grill badges

minibee62 — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 01:24:33 +0000

I have a large collection of magnetic grill badges and I like to change them on MINIBee pretty often. I tried keeping them in the compartment on my armrest but the edges were getting bent. So for a long time they have been stored on the fridge and on the door of the clothes dryer in the garage.

At the Dragon this year my NAM friend Mishka shared an idea with me. He had found a cool case for his grill badges (a mini DVD case). When I returned home I looked at every store in town and could not find one like it. I asked him where he found his and although I could find some like it online, I was hoping to find some without branding so I could "mod" them. Finally I found what I looking for and with modding complete, I now have MINI magnetic grill badge cases.

The vinyl padded and zippered cases are adorned with a thick, brushed chrome MINI emblem. Each case holds and protects 12 magnetic grill badges in individual sleeves. This is another one of the items I will have on my table at Mickey and MINI 4.

Jotkut eivät opi virheistään.

neitikardemumma — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:35:13 +0000

Aina mulle käy näin:

Maku ei onneksi kärsi moisista muotoseikoista. Siitä huolimatta haussa on parempi kaurakeksiohje, kunhan kaura taas tädille sallitaan.

Quang Nam starts environmental improvement subproject

Bao Viet Nam — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 13:58:56 +0000

The central province of Quang Nam on August 8 kicked off a sub-project to improve the environment for Tam Ky town.

As part of the central region’s urban environmental improvement project, the Tam Ky sub-project has a total investment of 15.4 million USD which comes as loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the French Development Fund (AFD) and sources from the local budget.

The sub-project will build a system of drainage canals, regulatory lakes and dykes in order to prevent Tam Ky town from waterlogging. The Vietnam Construction Import-Export Corporation (Vinaconex) has won the contract to build these works.

The sub-project will also upgrade the local solid waste treatment systems, improve hygiene conditions as well as raise public awareness of health and environmental sanitation, helping better local people’s living standards and boost the town’s socio-economic development.-

"Ei-paljoo-naurata"-ruokavalio.

neitikardemumma — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 13:06:04 +0000

Jos ihmiselle sanotaan että nyt jätät ruokavaliostasi pois vijat, riisin, naudanlihan, maitotuotteet, kananmunan ja vältät lisäksi ainakin soijaa ja paprikaa, niin siihen ihmiseen saattaa ensin iskeä alakulo. Sitten se saattaa tajuta että voi aamiaiseksi kuitenkin syödä seuraavaa:

Rucolaa, tammenlehtisalaatti ja tavallista lehtisalaattia sitruunan, oliiviöljyn ja auringonkukansiementen kera. Kirsikkatomaatteja ja kurkkua, pekonia (mitä enempi sen parempi), tattarisämpylä, tummapaahtoista kahvia ja tuoremehua. Pienimmällä lautasella on sitten maitohappobakteerit, kalkki, vitamiinit ja kaikki muu mitä ruokavalio ei nyt tarjoa.

Ei tämä nyt ihan niin kamalaa ole.

Catch a Kang Nam Mother Wallpapers

sunghyori — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 06:58:21 +0000

[gallery]

Credit: www.sbs.co.kr

Oliya Nam's Sex Journal

oliyanam — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:13:41 +0000

"CHAT-ROOMS"

CAM-CONTACTS

suok3

August-1-2006 (Vladivostok)

It all started 2 years ago when I was working in "chat-room".

Then my handle for my chat-room was Tenderasian. It was interesting work lots of men came to my room to explore their sexual fantasies.

I enjoyed it because I got to have sex with many men and women over time.

[caption id="attachment_4" align="alignnone" width="242" caption="Waiting for you--Looking for me !!"][/caption]

My "chat-room"

Of course many men wanted to marry me, or they said they loved me, silly really as the likely-hood of that happening was about a million-to-one !!

Anyway the men queued to get onto my webcam and boy did they keep me busy. It was amazing how fast they would bought credits to spend time with me, oogling my pussy and my delicious tits. Of course some of them had their own Cam and I was able to watch them rub their cocks, while they watched me rubbing my bald pussy. Wow it was often a real turn-on watching these men rubbing their best mate. And boy could they rub. But my great pleasure was watching their cocks cum, and then seeing that relaxed smile on their faces as they obviously thought they had just pulled one over this beautiful asian babe !!

WEBCAM VIEWING

My chatroom was making money like there was no tomorrow. Mind you the downside was my pussy did go through it quite a bit. Many of the blokes wanted me to masturbate then I would have to insert my 22cm orange dido which really turned a lot of them on!! Well having to rub your clitoris for 4 or 5 hours takes some doing I can assure you, and it doesn't always do for your home sex life too much either as I got quite knackered.

[caption id="attachment_14" align="alignleft" width="240" caption=""Checking Pussy""][/caption]

Fortunately my husband at the time often worked away and we weren't getting along too well either just as well I suppose. Because he wanted sex quite often and as I said I got wacked out with all this pussy bashing!!!

So I worked most days a week often at night. Starting around mid-night because that was the time I could sneek out of my apartment without waking the kids and without the neighbours spotting me.

The studio where I worked was just a 10 minute walk so not too far, although in the middle of winter in my city, Valdivostok it was bloody freezing, and the summer was stifling ! The studio only had 2 chat-rooms and when I was operating in one another girl was working the other.

The studio was often very cold in the winter I think the owner decided that we could warm ourselves up with all the sexual activity that went on. Not sure what he thought we would do in the summer when the studio got hot and sticky !! No that wasn't meant to be a pun!!

One of the thingS that really pissed me off was, after some bloke had spent his few dollars wanking himself silly over my naked body and then proceeded to ask for a rebate becuase he wasn't satisfied, well if that isn't taking the piss I don't know what is.

There is me stark naked on the bed rock solid nipples ( like coat-hangers) from the bloody cold, or sweating buckets in the summer, trying to get myself a little excited, for him, rubbing my pussy and then within a few moments reading on my screen that he has cum , so soon ?? ain't my fault. In fact I must have done a pretty good job I would have thought.

More to follow:

BI-SEXUAL

February 13 2007

I have to admit I am bi-sexual i do like to having sex with girls. I have great fantasies thinking of having sex with other girls. I would often walk down the street oogling one girl here and another there, thinking ,mmm wouldn't mind licking her pussy. I remember once when I was in a resturant with a boyfriend, it was in teh Primoriya Hotel resturant, nice place, and while we had dinner I noticed a girl on the opposite table . She was blonde quite buxom, which how I like them, and had great hair style.

She was sitting with a man and another girl. Anyway, she also noticed me and our eyes met a few times during dinner. After a while a left the table to go for a pee-pee, tiolet if you must know, as I lwalked donw the corridor I heard steps behind me, as I glanced over my shoulder I saw it was the blonde girl from the other table.

SEX IN THE TOILET !!

I entered the toilet, held the door open and waited for her to enter, she did. We said hello and before we knew it we were snogging like good-uns. Wow, her hands were all over my arse and tits of course I reciprocated. We fell into one of the open cubicles and in an instant she had her hands down the front of my jeans searching for my knickers.

[caption id="attachment_16" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Break-time"][/caption]

She found them and shoved her hand straight down onto my pussy, well I could almost cum there and then.

She found my clit and started to rub like billio, I was so lost in the ectasy that I almost forgot to do the same. But I soon came around and pushed my hand down the back of her trousers found her plump arse and started massaging her lovely cheeks.

We quickly slide our leggings down and just rubbed each other, groaning as quietly as possible, and wow we both came quite quickly.

We finished with a little snog and then returned to out tables. Both with very wet pussies !!! hehehe.

If only my boyfiriend even had an inkling. Mind you, I think he would have loved to watch us rub each other I think it's a big turn on for many men.

Watch for more of my escapades

VLADIVOSTOK: 1-October-2006

Working and living in this sprawling port-city isn't exactly a bowl of cherries!! Since the change of polkitics and attitudes life in fact has become a lot tougher.

Before we had an apartment wich cost next to nothing and it wasnt difficult to put food on the table. But now our rent and food bills have gone thru the roof !!

I share an apartment with my niece, her son and my 2 boys. We have 2 rooms. a kitchen and of course bathroom, toilet. In the main room I sleep with my youngest son (11) on a pull down couch which now is a few years old and really needs to be scrapped, but we cannot afford to buy a new one so we make do.

My elder son sleeps in the bunk bed sharing the room with my Niece, Sveta, and her young son Vladima, he is 5.

$500-PER MONTH

The rent for this apartment ( which is on the 10th floor) costs us $500 per month, then we have the Electric, Hot water, Heating,and Running Water. All this is around $200 per month. Now we have to buy food, and a you know children eat like horses when they are growing, and food here, doesn't come cheap.

Food in general ( and we buy very economically) costs us around $800 per month. So now you have an idea of our basic living expenses per month. And all this before we buy clothes, shoes, other general household products, medical expenses (as we need them) the dentist ( from time to time). Also my niece and I like to have a manicure , pedicure and of course hair cuts.

I hope this gives of my background as to how we live ( or quite often survive). And finding work, good work is not easy for women. Mostly regular jobs pay very little, so that is why many girls resort to working in "chat-rooms" or Escort girls or even prostitution.

[caption id="attachment_22" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="STRIPE-STOCKINGS-WHITE-CAP"][/caption]

SEX-WEBSITES

In Vladivostok, you will find many girls ( married or single) regularly advetise on websites seeking men for sex, mostly in the hope they can find a good man to will help them with their income by offering regular sex.

Sites such as "lovegay.ru" is a common site where you can view hundreds of women advertising themselves for regular sex with a man. They do this for several reasons, often they are bored with their humble and bleak lives and also, as I said, in the hope of findoing a good man who will reard them monthy financially to subsidise their income.

I have done this over the past 4 years and although I have met several men and had sex with them they don't always have the money to reward you. They may buy flowers, or chocolates, nice, but this doesn't pay the bills. I know it helps to relive the boredom by going out for the evening and sharing a nice dinner then ending up in bed for a couple of hours of sex. And this helps us get thru the week.

It sounds like prostitution, well in fact I suppose it is. Because we are looking for some sort of financial assisstance. And the only way of achieveing this is by selling sex. Which of course it what most men want, without any real commitment.

I have also had sex with women threu the same channels we meet have drinks or dinner then go to Hotel or to their room ( if they have one) have sex they sometimes reward with money or other gifts,

In my Chat-room I have often had men offering presents/gifts for Cam sex, but most never follow thru with their promises.

Now this brings me to the time when I met this great man. A man who came into my Chat-room and spoke very nicely and gentlemenly with me. He didn't want to go "private chat" with me, where I have to perform like a monkey, no he rather we just swapped pleasantries. This made a nice change. And a few days later I found an email in my Chat-room in-box from him saying he would like to have dinner with me and buy me a nice present.

Well you don't get too many offering you that without certain conditions. Of course I returned his email asking what sort of gift he had in mind.

More to come.........SOON

SEX CHAT

Working chat-room can be quite intersting at times and it's surprising just who you can meet. I have over the past 3 years met some interesting men and women. Some of these guys really like to boast about there wealth and of course the size of their cocks. Well how many men don't??

It's not until you see it that you know whether it's true or not !!

Anyway, This particular day this man enters my chat room, doing the usual thing chatting about my tits commneting on wanting to see my big brown nipples ( and I have got really big nipples almost like saucers)

and I keep saying to then that if they want to see al this then we can go private, this is where you can earn the big bucks !!

So this bloke agrees and we go inot the private arena, so it's just him and me now. He says do I want to see him on cam? of course because it serves 2 purposes. 1 I earn more money because he has to pay when he switches his cam on and 2 I like to watch these guys wanking themsleves it turns me on.

So he switches on his Cam and there sits his girlfriend with just her knickers on. Wo and did she have a big pair of tits. She wanted to masturbate with me while he watched. Well now for me that is a turn on.

[caption id="attachment_33" align="alignnone" width="240" caption="off with my knickers"][/caption]

So off with my panties sorted the pillows out so I am comfortable when I lay back and I watch her rubbing her pussy and I begin to play with my pussy and rubbing my clit.

We play together for about 10 minutes, it really nice to watch other girl rubbing her clit and putting fingers in her pussy, makes me really wet and horny. I get very excited when I watch other gilrs play with their pussy. I imagine that I am rubbing my body against theirs and sliding all over .

I like to lick her wet pussy, suck her tits tweak her nipples, this makes me very very wet.....

October 2006...Vladivostok Chat-Room

A quiet day in the Chat room, not many men looking or wanting to play. I went outside fopr a quick smoke check my SMS messages just to see if any of my men have sent me interesting messages or mayb a porn pic, they do sometimes, and they always love to send a photo of their cocks...

Anyway, when I got back to my room the girl from the other room was sitting on my bed, she says she was bored also. I suggested we share the chat-room for the rest of the afternoon and have a bit of fun.

So we logged on and waited for the men or women to come along and play. Sure enough we soon had a visitor. A man in his 40's who wanted to play. He said he wanted to go private which of course where we earn our real money.

I asked him if he wanted to have 2 girls today, he jumped at that as fast as lightening.

LESBIAN SCENE

I said we would perform a lesbian scene for him. WOW he was excited.

He turned on his webcam, showing us that he was naked, and had a hard cock which he was stroking.

Me and Elena started to fondle each other stroking each other's breasts. and then we kissed passionately lots of tongue and sloppy kisses, making each other more and more horny. Then we lay back with my hand between Elena's legs stroking her now wet pussy. Elena was kissing my neck and shoulders, then ramming her tongue down my throat. Wow this was getting hot.

W e didn't really have much time to watch our customer rubbing his cock we were too interested in what we doing. I continued to rub Elena's clit and getting her really horny and very wet.

Her groaning was turning me on. She wanted then to lick my pussy so we decied to 69 it. She turned around spread her legs over my face and then dived into my pussy, licking it like crazy.

[caption id="attachment_40" align="alignnone" width="240" caption="Waiting for my girlfriend"][/caption]

I stuck my tongue deep into her arse and then back into her wet fanny. I then worked on her clit licking it and then sticking my fingers into her pussy while I licked her clit. She was doing the same to me at the other end. We were really getting it on here.

Elena soon cried out as she cum and I also cum as her excitement moved me into that exctasy zone of cumming. What an afternoon. Our customer was mesmerised by our show, he was so enthralled that he left us a "tip". Not may do that..

And we both went outside ahd a smoke together and decided that we must do that again sometime, Well we did but I will tell you about that another time !!