Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui

Domestic workers struggle to survive

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 19:59:00 +0200

Viet Nam has the ninth-lowest unemployment rate in the world, but wage cuts by enterprises and the widespread lack of insurance mean even those fortunate enough to be employed still face challenges. Nguyen Minh Huong reports

Amid the current economic crisis plaguing the world, Viet Nam has managed to secure the ninth lowest unemployment rate in the world, with just over two per cent of the population in search of a job. This statistic, however, veils over the many paid employees of the domestic sector who are struggling to survive.

These latest figures from Gallup.com, together with data collected by the General Statistics of Viet Nam (GSO) in 2011 comes after the amazing declarations from 24/7 Wall Street that Viet Nam is a country where everyone has a job.

Stories from inside the country paint a wholly different story however, as worker Nguyen Thi Nhung has testified. Nhung, 33, who works in a printing company in Cau Giay District, south of the capital city Ha Noi, used to earn a monthly income of VND6 million (US$300). But now, hard times have fallen on her and her wages have plummeted to half that amount or even less. For Nhung and many like her, "having a job does not mean you have enough to live".

With a 5-year-old child and a disabled husband in Yen So Commune, a rural area of Ha Noi, that amount of money is hardly enough to support their minimum demands.

"I spend more than half of my income on my son's school fees and food, which leaves VND1.5 million for food for me and my husband. He now has no choice but to grow what vegetables he can in the garden. Otherwise, we can not afford any at all, as our budget for food is spent entirely on necessary rice and meat," Nhung says.

According to a recent survey, about 15 million workers are suffering from the dismally low wages.

But Nhung is in a relatively good position when compared to the situation of Nguyen Thi Nhan, 35, who must balance her two jobs as a road cleaner and a motorbike taxi driver on Ngoc Ha Street. Despite having two jobs, she has no social security or health insurance. Working as a part-time road cleaner, cleaning duties and salary are split among official staff of the cleaning company, but she still receives no social security. In other words, Nhan is not actually employed by the company but is in fact hired by their staff for VND2.5 million ($125) per month.

"It is terrible to work without any social security. Three years ago, I almost died when I got hit by a car while cleaning the road at night and the driver just sped off," she says. "Fortunately, I was treated and recovered well in hospital." However, without health insurance, she had to borrow more than VND30 million ($1,500) for the treatment, which now forces her to work double shifts to pay off the debt. This has led her to take on a second job as a motorbike taxi driver so that she can also support her children in her home town in Song Cong District, Thai Nguyen Province.

According to Nhan, having not had a good education and not having any vocational skills, she has had to stay in the same job for more than five years which for her is preferable to being a farmer in her home town.

"As farmers, my parents and relatives work hard from early morning often until very late at night," she says. "They reap the rewards if the weather is good and if there are no epidemic attacks on the chickens and pigs, but you never know what tomorrow will bring."

Her parents were too poor to send their children to school and her brother withdrew his child from the education system to support the family by working. She is now forced to stay in the city, where she can earn money to support her two daughters' education until university.

"And then they can change their lives for the better," she hopes.

No insurance

While the General Statistics Office says that nearly 98 per cent of the Vietnamese have a job, 70 per cent of the population are working as farmers or self-employed without State-subsidised social security.

Tong Thi Song Huong, director of the Health Insurance division in the Ministry of Health, says that while over 57 million people have health insurance in Viet Nam, most farmers do not. Huong says official employees and students must buy their obligatory insurance, while others will pay voluntarily for health insurance, which costs about VND500,000 ($25) per year.

Last year, knowing that many farmers cannot afford to buy their health insurance, the law stipulated that people working in agriculture, forestry and fishery industries with average living standards will be supported for 30 per cent of the insurance costs. However, the complicated procedure of getting insurance has put many people off. There are currently about 19 million people in the country outside the health insurance network, says Huong.

Practical training

While things cannot be changed right away, the International Labour Organisation Vietnam director, Gyorgy Sziraczki, has talked about the work that needs to be done in the near future.

He says there is no argument that employees should have full social protection and a good income for working towards a better overall national labour productivity. The director thinks the amended Labour Law made effective this May will help solve some issues, such as ensuring that the minimum wage will support the minimum living needs of employees and their families, giving female workers more time for nursing their child, as well as improving the relationship between the employers and employees.

Sziraczki also mentioned that the chain of labour strategy, skilled employees, labour productivity and labour standards are so strongly intertwined that the country should give more vocational training to improve workers' productivity, which in turn will also have an effect on their living standards. He thinks that the better quality work the worker produces, the better wage he will receive.

Despite considering Viet Nam as a fast-moving economy as well as praising the local government policies on labour, the director says that Vietnamese labour productivity is much lower than others in the region.

According to his data, Viet Nam's work productivity is 15 times less than that of Singapore, 12 times less than Japan and 10 times less than South Korea. It also only accounts for a fifth of Malaysia's efficiency and two -fifths of Thailand.

For a better productivity, Viet Nam should enhance its vocational training as well as give more practical programmes for students at a young age to give them the opportunity to choose the job they feel will provide the best fit for them in the job market. Their schools should also provide lessons for students to have a better level of English as well as improved marketing skills, says the director, who thinks that local education is too academic-oriented.

Sziraczki appreciates the Vietnamese Government's programme to give 1 million farmers vocational training as a way to help them improve their lives and also to create a better labour force for the country.

Vietnam News - April, 21 2013

Did you say Rundown or Roundup ?

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 19:53:00 +0200

Some serious thoughts on the ramifications of Scientology and Monsanto for Vietnam

When I visited Vietnam for the first time in the early eighties, we were taken to a rehabilitation center that was located on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City.

There, drug addicts received a treatment that consisted of physical exercise, massage, and traditional medication. It was what we would call in German “kalter Entzug”, cold turkey in colloquial English, and must have been quite hard and painful for the inmates.

I thought of this particular visit when I read An Dien’s article titled Scientology in Vietnam: open welcome or backdoor entry?, published in the last edition of Vietweek. Indeed, the detoxification program for victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin, called “Purification Rundown”, seems to employ similar methods, namely physical exercise and sauna, which – with the exception of the intake of vitamin pills – can be considered “traditional”.

With the aim of providing relief and assistance to the Agent Orange victims, VAVA (the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin) has welcomed the method. And, obviously, competent authorities have embraced it too: The “Purification Rundown”, also known as the “Hubbard Method” (named after the founder of the “Church of Scientology”) is currently applied in a military hospital in Hanoi.

Some of us foreigners in this country, who are perhaps a bit more familiar with the controversies surrounding the so called Church of Scientology in our own countries, are perplexed by the fact that this religious sect was allowed to make its entry so to say through the backdoor.

As a matter of fact, we experienced a similar bafflement when we found out that Monsanto had set up an office and was doing business in Vietnam – which brings me to a comparison of the ramifications of Scientology and Monsanto.

The one promises to help ease the pain of the estimated three million victims affected by Agent Orange/Dioxin in Vietnam – with jogging, sauna and intake of vitamins. The other, in part responsible for the suffering of these victims, promises to help feed the 90 million Vietnamese people – with genetically modified seeds and crops.

Aminata Traoré, the sociologist and activist for global social justice from Mali, once said: “The fish should not believe that the fisherman wants its best.” In other words, institutions and companies like the ones mentioned are “tending a bite,” but we need to be aware of the fact that they do have vested interests.

While it still seems unclear why the Scientologists have entered Vietnam, there is great clarity about the motives of Monsanto, the world’s largest agribusiness company. It wants to make money here.

Their strategy is the same: Noble promises, the creation of hope and believe, initial gratuity... Once the fish is on the hook, there is hardly any escape.

In many countries where the Scientologists use the “Purification Rundown” method also as a means of introduction to their “church” and as a spiritual treatment, people who adhere to the program are compelled to pay large sums of money.

In February 2012, “a French appeals court upheld fraud charges and (...) an Euro 600,000 fine against the Church of Scientology in France for talking its recruits into paying large sums for bogus personality tests and cures.“ (For further information see: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Church+Scientology+charged+criminal+organization+Belgium/7754614/story.html#ixzz2QUdn31T1)

“Roundup”, on the other hand, is a weed killer developed by Monsanto, the US multinational agribusiness corporation on the basis of a toxin known as glyphosate. Certain crops that are marketed by the Monsanto Company, such as the Roundup Ready© Soybeans or the Roundup Ready© Maize, have been genetically engineered to be resistant to glyphosate.

Note that certain countries, such as Denmark for instance, have for long “imposed widespread bans on the spraying of glyphosate in response to research showing that the sprays have been contaminating the country’s groundwater.” (For further information see: http://organic.com.au/news/dk/2003.09.15/)

However, the Vietnamese people should keep in mind that Monsanto is one of those US companies that produced the herbicide and defoliant known as Agent Orange, which was used by the US military during the war against Vietnam. These companies are responsible for the contamination with dioxin and thus responsible for the suffering and pain of the millions of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin.

The introduction by the Scientologists of a pseudo-medical treatment such as the “Purification Rundown”, which qualified and experienced scientists consider a scam, is not only an affront to the victims, it is also an abuse of the goodwill of those who want to provide relief and assistance.

The same could be said about Monsanto’s presence in Vietnam and the corporation’s promises to offer solutions for food security on the background of let’s say climate change. Besides serious concerns about the environment, the health of people, and the country’s food sovereignty, the ultimate victims are the small-scale farmers who will eventually be obliged to pay hefty royalties to the seed company.

Vietnam beware!

By Margrit Schlosser - Thanh Nien News - April 19, 2013

Vietnam calls for investments in airports

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 19:47:00 +0200

It’s still very difficult to develop the infrastructure system for the aviation industry, because Vietnam still cannot attract non-state investment sources.

Making classification would help attract investments

The capacity of the domestic airports has increased from 6 million passengers in 2000 to 52 million in 2012. In 2009, the Prime Minister approved the airport development program which foresaw the increasingly high demand for traveling.

According to the Civil Aviation Authorities of Vietnam (CAAV), the development program has been going on the right track with the targets in the air route network, fleet, airport network and flight activities having been following the programmed schedules.

Besides the state owned Vietnam Airlines, which now holds 40 percent of the passenger and 20.2 percent of the cargo market share, Vietnam also has private airlines, namely Vietjet Air, Air Mekong and foreign invested airline – Jetstar Pacific.

The Vietnamese fleet with high convenience and safety now comprises of 98 aircraft which are 6.9 years old on average. Of these, 46 aircrafts belong to Vietnam Airlines.

In terms of the infrastructure conditions, the development of 25 airports has been approved; of which 25 percent would be capable to receive big size airplanes like Boeing 777, 747, while 45 percent of airports can receive A320/321 aircrafts.

According to the Ministry of Transport, it has been very difficult to attract investments in the aviation sector, because the business field always requires huge investment capital, long time to take back the investment capital and high techniques. Especially, this is the sector that relates to the national defense which needs strict protection measures and require complicated procedures.

Therefore, the ministry believes that it’d better to classify the airports to make it easier to call for investment.

The first-class airports would comprise of the big airports which play an important role in the economic, political and national defense development. These include the Noi Bai in Hanoi, Tan Son Nhat and Long Thanh in HCM City and Cam Ranh in Khanh Hoa province in the central region.

The second-class would comprise the remaining airports.

The airports with high business potentials, according to CAAV, would be assigned to investors to develop.

As such, the airport classification would point out which airports Vietnam should call for foreign or private investments, and which airports need the state’s investment and development.

In the latest news, the Ministry of Transport is considering delaying the investment projects in some small airports such as Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Quang Ninh until after 2020.

Diversifying investment sources would help ease burden on the state

Calling for different investment sources for the aviation infrastructure, according to CAAV, is the optimal solution.

A report showed that the capital allocated by the State budget to the aviation infrastructure just accounts for 1.8 percent of the total capital allocated to the transport development every year. The annual budget just can meet 60 percent of the real demand.

Once non-state investors join the program to develop the airport network, they would help ease the burden on the state budget, while ensuring the scheduled airport development program.

Experts also believe that the socialization should be pushed up not only in the aviation infrastructure sector, but also in other sectors which can be the subjects to the equitization.

Vietnam has geared up with its plan to upgrade and expand a series of airports, including Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat and Phu Bai, in an effort to obtain the annual 20 percent growth rate in many consecutive years.

VietNamNet Bridge - April 21, 2013

Poor artists in Vietnam

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 19:44:00 +0200

Learning music from the age of eight until 22, spending over 10 years with their instruments, classical musicians in Vietnam are in danger of being thwarted by not being recognized and appreciated appropriately, and by mechanisms do not allow them to be competitive and grow.

VietNamNet’s reporters had a conversation with violinist Xuan Huy, who was considered a musical prodigy of Vietnam. He played in the Century Orchestra in Russia, which was sponsored by Princess Diana. After she died, he returned to Vietnam, joined the national symphony orchestra and then left it to work as a freelance artist.

Do you know about the income gap between a classical artist and a pop singer?

In Vietnam, instrumentalist call ourselves "musical workers." And it's true. It has been there for 10 years. Because their salary is equivalent to that of a street cleaning worker. They earn monthly salary of VND3 million ($150), plus VND3 million from performances in a month, including VND50,000 ($2.5) for a practice day and VND200,000 ($10) for a show.

People see instrumentalists as “supplementary parts” because they accompanists for singers. In essence, they have to learn 5 to 10 times harder than singers. At weddings, instrumentalists are paid VND800,000 ($40) for one hour, even if he/she is a master degree holder who was trained since the age of eight. Meanwhile, the lowest price for a young singer who were trained vocally for 1-2 years is VND4 million ($200)/song.

Let’s make calculations. A singer sings one song in three minutes so each show he/her can earn at least VND15 million ($700). For example, singer Trong Tan is paid VND20 million ($1,000) for one song. For a show of 30 minutes, he can easily earn at least VND40 million ($2,000).

The remuneration for Hong Nhung is higher, VND40 million ($2,000) for a song and at least VND60 million ($3,000) for two songs. The total time is just less than 10 minutes, no need of rehearsal. Dam Vinh Hung earns $7,000/ two songs.

The remuneration for instrumentalists in 30 minutes to one hour is almost VND1 million while it is VND30-VND150 million ($1,500-$7,000) for only 5-10 minutes of singers.

Do well-known classical artists earn higher income?

Quite a bit more, but their income cannot compare with even unknown singers. For example, senior musicians like Mrs. Tran Thi Mo and Mr. Ngo Hoang Quan are paid up to VND4-5 million ($200-250)/show. They are Meritorious Artists but the public do not know who they are while singers are promoted very quickly.

In the 1990s, you played music in Russia. Were your income and working conditions there better?

Obviously working in foreign countries is quite different. In the 1990s, Russia shifted to capitalism, meaning that the recognition is based on wages. If you are talented, they recruit you otherwise you will be sacked. About 20 years ago, Russian orchestras could pay an instrumentalist from $800 to $1,000 per month. The competition was very harsh and it forced musicians to try their best.

When I was in a very good working reel like that, I returned to Vietnam where everything was totally different. I had many years working abroad but when I returned home, I was paid less than $200 per month. How do you live? Only farmers can live with that wage because they do not have to spend money.

What is your perspective on the involvement of the State? Do you like more state’s sponsor or more freedom for artists and orchestras?

Nothing is actually sponsoring. Now artists should be seen at least as state officers. But a graduate of music is paid VND2 million, VND3 million per month. Meanwhile companies pay their receptionists nearly VND10 million a month.

It is always complained of lacking budget while many corporations incur losses of several hundreds or thousands of billion dong a year. In other countries they make cash balance much better. They pay based on talent and ability. The excellent people will get promotion and the weak ones will be replaced.

Unlike in Vietnam, if someone is admitted to an orchestra, he will stay there for a lifetime?

Yes. Since there is no rejection so people cannot develop. This is called "regular personnel." In other countries, they do not have the so-called “regular personnel” but only "gray matter". Many people stay in state-owned orchestras though they are paid only VND3 million per month. They stay there and still do extra jobs.

I quit and will never come back to the orchestra. Artists are now forced to sit there; otherwise they will be expelled from the payroll. The word "regular personnel" works extremely strong with a man even if it is only worth VND3 million a month. Because there is no layoff, the quality is not good.

Can you tell me more about the so-called "cannot get out from the permanent personnel?"

When I "retired" (leaving a state-owned orchestra) at the age of 20, I did not have cronies anymore. I felt my world was lost and I had gone into a different world, with those who do not learn music.

In the music world, people tend to gather together; otherwise they will feel like they are retired or redundant. Maybe because of that, they do not want to leave their orchestras. They would rather be there to earn a little money in order to have a place to lament, to chat and to kill time. They dare not to overcome it to exist independently. It's their community. They live for the community, no need to know that it's not good or bad.

The wage is too low but if they try, they are only paid that amount. Thus, professional quality goes down.

There was a period of time I played for an orchestra in Hanoi. I asked them: "how much the first violin position is paid?" They replied: "If there are foreign instrumentalists in the rehearsal, you will be paid VND50,000 ($2.5) and only VND20,000 ($1) without foreign players". "What is the difference in remuneration for musicians sitting in the front row and in the last row?" - "Nothing."

Then I sat in the last row. Sometime later I asked again: "How much is the violin 2 player paid?" - "Still, there's nothing different." Then I go to the last row of the second violin. Naturally the orchestra lost a good instrumentalist because that person no longer wanted to contribute to the orchestra. Then I quit to do other jobs, meaning that the orchestra is brain drain.

Thus, as I understand, you suggested a competitive mechanism in the orchestra?

Yes. And the salary must be paid highly for those who are deserved to it. There is a story like this. An artist told me "You pay me just VND10 so I play at that level. If you pay me 5 to 10 times higher, I will play very well." I replied: "Yes. I will pay you 10 times higher, but you must play 10 times better for me, if not, I will fire you." The artist agreed but he could not play better.

"You see? That’s the problem. I know that you could play 10 times better in the past. But now you are thwarted and you think that you are still good as you were in the past,” I told the artist.

We're in the mud, but we thought we are great men of our small town. They were not like that but the surrounding environment has changed them that way.

By Ho Huong Giang - VietNamNet Bridge - April 21, 2013

Le Vietnam pourrait acheter des avions américains

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 21:19:00 +0200

Le représentant du constructeur d’avions américain Lockheed Martin a déclaré dans une interview que les forces navales du Vietnam pourraient commander six avions de patrouille P-3C Orion.

Ces avions devraient être livrés au Vietnam sans l’armement dans un premier temps. Cependant, avec le renforcement des relations américano-vietnamiennes, ces appareils pourraient être équipés d’armes. Le Vietnam recevra les avions P-3C qui proviennent de la réserve de la flotte américaine. Il s’agit des avions relativement récents qui pourront servir encore 20 ans après leur modernisation.

Le Vietnam, il ne peut pas vraiment choisir parmi les fournisseurs d’avions de patrouille. Ces appareils sont les principaux instruments de lutte contre les sous-marins. La Russie a depuis longtemps cessé la production des Il-38 etTu-142. Pour l’instant, elle procède à la modernisation de son parc existant. Ces avions ne sont pas très nombreux en Russie, c’est pourquoi il ne serait pas rationnel de les exporter. L’Europe a également arrêté de fabriquer ce type d’avions. Seuls les Etats-Unis ont lancé un programme de production d’avions de patrouille P-8 Poseidon. Les P-3C Orion qui n’ont pas encore entièrement exploité leur réserve, devraient donc être radiés de l’exploitation.

Le P-3C est un avion anti-sous-marin puissant et efficace. La livraison des avions de ce type au Vietnam, surtout s’ils sont armés, peut être une raison de préoccupation pour le commandement de la Marine chinoise.

La base pour les sous-marins nucléaires Yulin se trouve sur l’île de Hainan au Sud de la Chine. Cette base qui coûte des milliards de dollars renferme aussi des abris souterrains pour les bateaux, les entrepôts, des arsenaux, et un système complexe de protection. C’est ici que devraient se trouver des sous-marins de la classe 094 Jin dotés de missiles balistiques. Ensuite, ils devraient être remplacés par des sous-marins de la classe 096 Tan. La mer de Chine du Sud est la zone principale de patrouille pour les sous-marins nucléaires chinois. Et toute activité de renseignement de la marine américaine et de ses alliés dans cette zone provoque une réaction nerveuse de la part du gouvernement chinois. Par le passé, cela n’a déjà provoqué des incidents dangereux.

En comparaison avec les navires russes, les sous-marins chinois ont un certain retard technologique, considèrent les experts. Les avions P-3C étaient considérés comme un moyen très efficace pour faire face aux sous-marins soviétiques et russes, ce qui veut dire qu’ils représentent un danger encore plus important pour la Chine. En décollant des bases vietnamiennes, les aéronefs P-3C peuvent assurer la surveillance des réions de patrouille des sous-marins chinois.

La Chine devra prendre des mesures pour garantir la sécurité de ses sous-marins, notamment avec le porte-avions Liaoning. Ce dernier pourrait fermer une zone importante en mer de Chine méridionale pour les avions P-3C vietnamiens. Le premier porte-avions soviétique Amiral Kuznetsov, construit selon le même projet que Liaoning, était destiné à la même mission. Ce navire était destiné à protéger la zone de patrouille des sous-marins nucléaires et prendre sur soi les premiers tirs de l'ennemi, permettant ainsi de faire gagner du temps au gouvernement du pays afin que ce dernier puisse prendre une décision de riposte.

Par Vassili Kachine - Radio La Voix de la Russie - 20 avril 2013

Des planteurs de café vietnamiens hi-tech

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 21:15:00 +0200

Les paysans des Hauts-Plateaux du Vietnam ne savent pas tous ce qu'est un cappuccino ou un «double latte». Mais ils surveillent en temps réel le cours de la petite graine qui les composent, plus d'un siècle après son introduction par le colonisateur français.

Des cours mondiaux reçus en temps réels par SMS aux systèmes d'irrigation israéliens ultra-perfectionnés, le café vietnamien s'est hissé au sommet du marché mondial en l'espace de 20 ans, notamment via l'exploitation de cette vaste région du centre du Vietnam.

«J'avais l'habitude de porter mon café au marché à vélo», raconte Ama Diem, agriculteur de 44 ans. «Maintenant, je vérifie le prix du grain sur mon téléphone portable».

En envoyant «CA» au 8288 depuis n'importe quel mobile, les paysans reçoivent instantanément le prix du robusta à Londres et celui de l'arabica à New York. Une nécessité pour la seconde matière première la plus échangée dans le monde après le pétrole, dont les cours peuvent fluctuer très rapidement.

Le Vietnam offensif sur le marché mondial du café

«Nous n'apportons le café au marché que lorsque nous sommes sûrs d'obtenir un prix élevé», explique Diem dans sa plantation à l'extérieur de Buon Ma Thuot, capitale vietnamienne du café. «Nous vérifions beaucoup les prix».

Les cultivateurs du pays communiste ont révolutionné le marché, passant entre 1980 et 2000 de 0,1% à 13% de la production mondiale, un bond accusé d'être en partie responsable de la chute des cours dans les années 1990.

Les peuples des hauts plateaux du Vietnam fragilisés

Ce développement ne s'est pas fait sans heurts. De nombreux villages de minorités ethniques de la région ont perdu leurs terres, devant renoncer à une agriculture extensive et parfois à la culture sur brûlis pour céder la place à des plantations industrielles.

Des manifestations ont été réprimées dans les années 2000. Mais l'objectif a été atteint: des géants comme Nestlé sont devenus des clients incontournables du désormais deuxième producteur mondial.

Le Vietnam et sa terre volcanique restent considérés comme un fournisseur de quantité plus que de qualité: son amer robusta peine à convaincre les amateurs d'expresso de par le monde, et s'exporte surtout sous la forme de grains bruts.

«le meilleur, le plus pur»

«Le Vietnam est un phénomène formidable», s'enthousiasme pourtant Jonathan Clark, directeur général de l'exportateur Dakman, décrivant un «bond» des exportations l'an dernier qui a presque permis au Vietnam de rivaliser avec le Brésil, numéro un mondial.

En 2012, le Vietnam a exporté 1,73 million de tonnes de café pour une valeur de 3,67 milliards de dollars. Soit plus de la moitié du robusta de la planète, utilisé principalement pour le café instantané et autres mélanges.

Alors que la demande en Occident stagne, les torréfacteurs lorgnent aussi sur une main d'oeuvre bon marché et des exportations non taxées pour développer leur présence en Asie où la consommation est à la hausse, selon Clark.

Un Starbucks à Ho Chi Minh-Ville

Avec l'émergence d'une nouvelle classe moyenne et une culture du café bien ancrée, le Vietnam est source «d'opportunités immenses», souligne par ailleurs Jinlong Wang, président de Starbucks en Asie-Pacifique.

Le géant américain, qui a ouvert son premier point de vente en février à Ho Chi Minh-Ville (sud), en espère bientôt une centaine même si certains promettent une concurrence acharnée des petits cafés de rue, véritables institutions de la vie sociale.

Passer de l'arabica au robusta

Reste à convaincre les consommateurs du reste du monde, habitués à l'arabica à 1,5% de caféine, de passer au robusta à 2,5%. Une tâche dont s'est investi le «roi du café» vietnamien, Dang Le Nguyen Vu.

«Le robusta n'est pas de moins bonne qualité», assure le fondateur du géant Trung Nguyen, qui possède 55 points de vente au Vietnam et 5 à Singapour, et exporte dans 60 pays. «C'est juste que, dans le monde, les gens ont appris à boire de l'arabica».

Il veut désormais améliorer la qualité du grain, perfectionner l'irrigation, réduire les pesticides. Et affirme pouvoir conquérir les Etats-Unis, où il croit en l'avenir du café de son pays, préparé dans des filtres individuels en fer blanc produisant un élixir fort et épais.

«Nous devons être capables de dépasser Starbucks (...). Je veux que le monde comprenne que le café vietnamien est le meilleur, le plus pur, le plus spécial».

Par Cat Barton - Ouest France - 20 avril 2013

Trade with Swiss grows 11%

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 08:00:00 +0200

HA NOI — Two-way trade between Viet Nam and Switzerland rose 11 per cent year-on-year, reaching US$167 million over the first two months of this year, said Luong Manh Hung, Trade Counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy in Switzerland.

During the period, Viet Nam exported $122 million worth of goods to Switzerland – 14 per cent more than last year – while its imports hit $45 million, an increase of 45 per cent.

Export turnover for machines and electrical equipment also boomed. This revealed a major structural shift in the nature of Viet Nam's exports, Hung said, since the Asian country previously exported mostly gold to Switzerland.

Vietnamese enterprises needed to improve their understanding of Swiss quality standards and sharpen their products' competitiveness in order to boost exports, he said, explaining that the European country – with a small population of eight million – enforced strict quality requirements.

Organising trips for Swiss enterprises to come to Viet Nam to seek business opportunities was a major priority for the trade office, according to Hung.

The office plans to join hands with the Asian-Swiss Chamber of Commerce to bring 15-20 small and medium-sized Swiss enterprises to Viet Nam to explore the market this year.

Vietnam News - April, 16, 2013

VN-France economic relationship – more room to grow

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 07:56:00 +0200

“The sooner you French investors come to the Vietnamese market, the bigger fish you can catch,” a Vietnamese senior state official told the Vietnam–France Business Forum held in Ho Chi Minh City early last week.

Vietnam has a very dynamic and fast-growing economy with an average gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of about 7 percent from 2001-2010, said Ho Thi Kim Thoa, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade in Vietnam, in a recent business forum.

“The country’s GDP grew 5.03 percent in 2012, with total export-import turnovers reaching $114 billion in 2012, up 18 percent year on year,” she said at the Vietnam - France Business Forum held in HCMC on Monday last week.

“The goods flow and total retail sales-services revenues often grow by double digits annually, in which the latter is expected to hit 16.78 percent in 2013. With an 87 million-strong population, 60 percent of which are under 40 years old, Vietnam is really a potential market for French exporters.”

“As a result, French investors and exporters should consider Vietnam, in a broader picture, a key market of the Southeast Asian region,” she added.

Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) chairman Vu Tien Loc, said only a handful of countries in the world have a deep cultural and social influence in Vietnam like France, and Vietnam is the country with the biggest French-speaking community in Southeast Asian region.

French architecture and culture can be seen in many places across the country, especially in the metropolises of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and the resort city of Dalat in the Central Highlands, he added.

Though having experienced many ups and downs, the bilateral relationship between the two nations is at its peak, he said, adding that the time is ripe to heighten the relationship, especially in economy and trade, to a new level.

Despite the global economic turmoil, two-way trade in 2012 surged 30 percent year on year to a new record of $4 billion, of which France is a key market in Europe for Vietnamese footwear, garments, seafood, electronics and parts, and wood-based furniture.

The French market is also a gateway for Vietnamese goods to penetrate into other parts of the region.

As the country is under an economic restructuring process, cooperation with the world’s most advanced nations, like France, would be very beneficial to Vietnam, as the French economic and technological foundation is complementary to that of Vietnam, said Loc.

The two nations can further cooperation in aviation, telecommunications, finance and banking, cosmetics, fashion and high-tech agriculture.

The development of high-tech agriculture is a focus of the economic restructuring process, as Vietnam has a clear advantage in the sector.

France is among the world’s leaders in agriculture. With only 6 percent of the population working in the sector, the country is still able to feed its 65 million residents and earn an export revenue of $6.6 billion annually, he added.

D'accord

“I often went fishing when I was young, so I like the metaphor made by the Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade very much,” said Nicole Bricq, French Minister of Foreign Trade, at the event held to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and Vietnam.

“Though the presence of French businesses in Vietnam has been going on long enough and they have poured over $3 billion into the country so far, I think the state of French businesses and investment... needs to be enhanced in the future.”

The French trade minister also stressed her government's wish to strengthen the bilateral trade relationship between the two nations, which is still below potential.

It will be improved with more business trips made by high-ranking state officials of the two countries to the countries of one another, she added.

“I have made several business trips to Southeast Asia, marking the determination of the French government in considering this region a prioritized one.”

“I recently met with Pham Binh Minh, Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs, when he was in France, and he also stressed the need to strengthen the cooperation between the two nations.”

“We will invest more to create more goods with higher added-value in Vietnam so that the goods can be exported to other countries, and it’s the intent of the French government to upgrade the productivity and capacity of our partner country.”

“We are waiting for approval from the Vietnamese government for some projects in transport infrastructure and water treatment.”

There will be 20 business activities in 2013, focusing on promoting French cosmetic and healthcare products and services in Vietnam, said Christophe Lecourtier, managing director of the French Trade Promotion Office (UBIFRANCE).

There are nearly 300 French enterprises operating in Vietnam with a total investment of about $3 billion.

Room for improvement

However, Pierre-Jean Malgouyres, chairman of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam (CCIFV) said European enterprises in general, and French companies in particular, are facing many problems with administrative procedures, which often take them too long, thus inadvertently causing some French companies to become discouraged when deciding to invest in Vietnam.

“I think the Vietnamese government should consider this aspect, so that French companies can easily come to do business in Vietnam.”

“Certainly Vietnamese firms can become the long-term business partners of French companies, as Vietnam and France have always had a longstanding relationship, and the investment environment in Vietnam is now quite favorable for French companies to come in for future development.”

Answering a question relating to administrative procedures, Vu Tien Loc of VCCI said this is not a big problem because now things are moving in a more positive way toward the simplification of administrative procedures.

In addition, under pressure from the public and the business community, local leaders and their relevant departments recently sat down together in order to provide faster and more flexible solutions to tackling administrative issues.

“I think the local leadership is also gearing up to address the simplification of administrative procedures in the shortest time possible to attract foreign companies, in particular French companies, in 2013,” Loc added.

By Thoai Tran & Ha An - Tuoi Tre News - April 15, 2013

Firms race to win Myanmar’s ‘heart’

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 07:49:00 +0200

Although Myanmar has just opened its doors, competition has already heated up, posing a challenge for Vietnamese entrepreneurs wanting to do business there, heard a seminar held by the Saigon Times Group last Friday.

Van Duc Muoi, general director of Vissan, said: “The market is very new and attractive like a beautiful single girl with everyone wanting to win her heart.”

Opportunities are opening up, but competition is very fierce because financially-capable investors have penetrated the market long before Vietnamese entrepreneurs arrived, said Muoi at the seminar on doing business in Myanmar.

However, there are still many opportunities for Vietnamese investors. When doing trade and investment promotions in Myamar, Vietnamese businessmen find local consumers really fond of goods made by Vietnam.

They really want Vietnam to bring more and more goods there, replacing poor-quality and unsafe products supplied by other countries, said Muoi as a speaker at the seminar.

He and other speakers said those who want to invest in Myanmar should achieve success at home before thinking of expanding investment into the foreign country. In addition, they need to know their strengths and weaknesses so that they can join hands with others for mutual benefits and development.

Nguyen Quoc Khanh, chairman of AA Corporation, said his greatest worry when making interior decoration items in Myanmar is that workers are insufficient and incompetent, yet labor cost in Myanmar is higher than in Vietnam. Each Vietnamese worker is paid VND3.2-3.8 million per month, while the average monthly wage for workers in Myanmar is VND4-4.2 million, he said.

Can Van Luc, senior advisor to the chairman of BIDV, said Vietnamese entrepreneurs should carefully select partners for doing business in Myanmar. Before making any investment, they should go through all the necessary legal procedures in both Vietnam and Myanmar so that their interests will be protected by the State and laws.

If Vietnamese entrepreneurs want to do business in Myanmar in earnest, they should establish representative offices there, Can suggested.

He also remarked that Myanmar businessmen strictly comply with the provisions of a contract, so Vietnamese entrepreneurs should carefully check the terms before signing, and correctly observe them.

By Uyen Vien - The Saigon Times Daily - April 16,2013

Vietnam considers lowering VAT to bring businesses up

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 07:45:00 +0200

The Ministry of Finance is drafting the amended VAT law to be submitted to the National Assembly for ratification in the upcoming National Assembly’s 5th session. Under the draft, more products would be subject to the 5 percent tax instead of the current rate of 10 percent.

Businesses not only want the corporate income tax cut, they have also proposed to lower the VAT tax in order to help them clear the big inventories.

The corporate income tax reduction would only help profitable enterprises ease their difficulties. Meanwhile, the businesses which have low revenues and take loss would in no way benefit from the policy.

Therefore, the government, in its latest resolution released on April 4, 2013, requested the Ministry of Finance to consider the VAT cut to help develop the domestic market and improve people’s actual income.

The ministry once kept reluctant in lowering the tax rate, reasoning that Vietnam is one of the few countries in the world which imposes the low tax rate of 10 percent. Besides, it warned that if the corporate income tax reduces by 2 percent as planned, the state budget would lose at least VND14 trillion a year.

Though the VAT rate of 10 percent applied in Vietnam is relatively low, the ratio of the VAT collection on the total tax collection to the state budget still amounted to 26.08 percent in 2012, according to the World Bank.

The proportion is much higher than that of the majority of countries in the world, while it is only lower than Chile (38.7 percent), China (30.3 percent), and Indonesia (31.8 percent).

This spells that in every VND100 dong the state collected from all kinds of taxes, 26 dong came from people. The high percentage of people’s contribution to the state budget has made their actual income lower.

The steady increase in the VAT collection over the last few years, from 21.25 percent in 2008 to 24.3 percent in 2009 and 26 percent in 2012, which has resulted in the fact that the total goods and service retail turnover in the first quarter of 2013 grow more slowly than that of the same period of 2012.

The total goods and services retail turnover in the last two years also reportedly decreased significantly in comparison with the previous years.

The slow growth of the goods and service retail turnover has led to the more seriously high inventories which have been compared with the “clotted blood,” which makes the circulation in the national economy stuck.

As the people’s actual income decreases, while the goods and services prices keep increasing due to the high VAT rate, they would have to fasten their belt, which would lead to the higher inventories and force businesses to scale down the production, or go bankrupted.

A senior official of the Ministry of Finance said that the ministry is considering applying the low VAT rate of 5 percent on more types of goods and services and cutting the number of goods and services to bear the tax rate of 10 percent.

He has revealed that the press agencies which have the income from ads would be able to enjoy the five percent tax rate instead of 10 percent as currently. This would help encourage businesses to strengthen their advertisements on mass media to boost sales and stimulate the demand. This would be a helpful solution to clear the inventories and develop production.

By Thu Uyen - VietNamNet Bridge - April 18, 2013

Viet minister backs same-sex unions

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:36:00 +0200

The Vietnamese Health Ministry has called for same-sex marriage to be legalised, warning that research shows stigma against lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) people can damage their physical and mental health.

Vietnam’s government has been considering whether to legalise same-sex marriage or allow same-sex couples to legally cohabit since last year. Officials last week announced plans to end fines for same-sex couples who "marry".

Now the country’s Deputy Health Minister, Nguyen Viet Tien, has said that same-sex marriage should be permitted, as part of a review of the country’s Law on Marriage and Family, which currently prohibits marriage between same-sex couples.

He cited research by Vietnam’s Institute of Social, Economic and Environment Research that found 90% of 1,800 LGBT people polled had experienced homophobic and transphobic attitudes in society, while 86% said they felt unable to come out, VietnamNet reported.

A further 15% had been verbally abused by their families, 6.5% were unemployed, 4.5% had been beaten, and 4.1% had been kicked out of their homes, factors that contribute to potential physical and mental ill health, said Mr Tien.

“In the angle of human rights, homosexuals also have right to live, eat, wear, love and be loved and pursue happiness. In the angle of citizenship, they have the right to work, study, have medical examination and treatment, register birth, death, marry,” he said.

But the Hanoi People’s Committee and the Vietnam Women’s Union criticised the consultation on changing the law on same-sex marriage.

According to Tuoi Tre news, the organisations argued that such a move would be a violation of traditional Vietnamese culture.

Vietnam held its first LGBT pride parade last year on Aug 5 in Hanoi. This year’s event will include a campaign to end discrimination towards LGBT people in employment, a bicycle rally, film showings and workshops from August 2-4.

The Bangkok Post - April 17, 2013

Vietnam province culls swifts found inflicted with bird flu

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:33:00 +0200

The Ninh Thuan provincial adminsitration began Thursday culling around 100,000 swifts raised for profitable nests at a local farm after the influenza A (H5N1) virus has been found among them for the first time in Vietnam and the world.

Dang Pham Minh Loan, spokeswoman for the Yen Viet Company, was quoted by Tien Phong newspaper as saying that the culling of swifts at the firm’s Thanh Binh farm would cause her company to incur losses of nearly VND100 billion (US$4.73 million).

Yen Viet will follow whatever decisions made by related agencies, but also needs support from authorities in face of the losses, she said.

The mass culls came on the heels of an emergency note issued Thursday by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development which urged strong measures to quell the outbreak at its onset.

The dispatch also asked the Ninh Thuan government to "immediately" declare the bird flu epidemic in the province.

At a meeting on Tuesday, the Animal Health Center VI announced that samples taken from dead birds at Yen Viet's two farms in Ninh Thuan's Phan Rang Town – where nearly 5,000 swifts have died since the end of March – tested positive for H5N1, Tien Phong (Pioneer) reported Wednesday.

The samples taken from living birds, their nests and feces, however, tested negative for the virus, said the center, which is under the agriculture ministry’s Animal Health Department.

Conversely, the Nha Trang branch of the Pasteur Institute did find H5N1 in the five samples of living birds it took from one of the two farms, the newspaper quoted Phan Thi Lai, vice director of Ninh Thuan Health Department, as saying.

According to Nguyen Xuan Binh, director of the Animal Health Center VI, these cases represent the first two outbreaks of bird flu to ever be recorded among farmed swifts worldwide.

All the swifts at the farms must be destroyed, while their nests must be exposed to high temperatures, as the virus dies at 80 degrees Celsius, the official explained.

Verdict in doubt

At the Tuesday meeting Binh also urged Ninh Thuan authorities to announce that bird flu outbreaks had taken place among farmed swifts, so necessary measures for epidemic prevention can be applied, Tien Phong reported.

Previously the center had made the same request, but local authorities had refused to grant it, saying that there was insufficient evidence to draw a conclusion about the nature of the outbreaks.

“The province’s viewpoint is that the community’s health must be the top priority, but it is also necessary to carefully consider the presence of influenza in swifts to make timely decisions as regulated,” Tran Xuan Hoa, the Ninh Thuan vice mayor, said.

Local authorities warned that an announcement on bird flu outbreaks among farmed swifts will cause big losses, but also said that they would make it; and cull all questionable birds if so ordered by the agriculture ministry.

Meanwhile, local swifter farms and associated businesses have raised doubts about the accuracy of the H5N1 tests that have been administered so far, online newspaper VnExpress reported.

They said swifts live separately from other species, asserting that there was only a small chance they could have come in contact with the virus carried by other birds, and that the only explanation would be that water sources had become infected.

They also pointed to the fact the bird flu outbreaks among swifts have yet to be recorded in other regional countries with more developed swift farming industries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Therefore, authorities need to hire other testing agencies, including foreign ones, to conduct more tests in order to arrive at “accurate” and “objective” conclusions.

In an interview with Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon (Saigon Economic Times), Nguyen Khoa Dieu Thu, former chief of the Animal Biotechnology Division at the Institute of Tropical Biology and who has spent many years studying farmed swifts, also urged health authorities to conduct more tests before officially announcing a bird flu outbreak among swifts.

If it is concluded that the birds were killed by H5N1, it will be a “big problem” and severely affect bird nest businesses, Thu said.

Since the business cropped up in Vietnam in 2004, thousands of families have made their livings on it and invested as much as tens of thousands of dollars in their farms, she said.

In fact, since it was announced that some dead swifts had been found with H5N1, many bird nest shops in Ninh Thuan have seen their sales plummeting.

It has been reported that one kilogram of bird nest is now estimated to be US$1,600-1,800.

The H5N1-caused bird flu has caused at least 62 deaths among 123 infected patients in Vietnam since 2003, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The first human fatality from H5N1 in Vietnam in more than a year – a four-year-old child – was reported last week.

People can become infected from direct or close contact with fowl carrying the virus, which is deadly among domesticated ducks and chickens.

To combat human cases of bird flu, Vietnam has been vaccinating farmed fowl and treating infected people with the antiviral Tamiflu.

Thanh Nien News - April 17 2013

Fleeing the peace in Vietnam

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:29:00 +0200

April 30, 2013 will mark the 38th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, the annihilation of South Vietnam by communist forces in the North, or otherwise popularly known as the end of the Vietnam War.

Without this day, there wouldn't be as many Vietnamese restaurants in your 'hood. And without this day I certainly wouldn't be where I am today.

Having spent nearly two decades abroad before returning to Vietnam in 2007, I am often asked about growing up in post-war Vietnam and how the country is faring 38 years after the communist takeover. What often strikes me is the fact that when I ask what they already know about Vietnam, there are generally only two versions of the country’s post-war experience.

The first is filled with horror stories and images of a ravaged land once torn by an American-led war. The second is of a new emerging Asian economic tiger and an exotic 'It' destination for the young and famous.

Hordes of backpackers from Australia, Europe and America have diligently followed Lonely Planet mantras and dropped in from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, the new name for Saigon, to marvel at Vietnam’s distinct culture and beauty on shoestring budgets.

Many say they have seen with their own eyes that it is peaceful now and the people seem happy and content with their newfound fortunes. Or at least it seems that way, until I inform them otherwise.

Like two other million Vietnamese who have left the country since that fateful day 38 years ago, my family came to Australia as refugees in the aftermath of the war. We were in fact part of the first ever exodus of Vietnamese leaving our homeland.

Despite multiple wars with our northern neighbor China, a century old struggle for independence against French colonialism and a devastating famine caused by Japanese occupiers during World War II followed by the Vietnam War until 1975, our people have always stayed put and stoically chosen Vietnam as their homeland. Despite all the bloodshed, despite all the losses.

But for the very first time in our history and soon after the war had ended, people started to leave, first in droves, then later in the tens of thousands, by boat and on foot. Regardless of the dangers on the high sea and what awaited them on the other side, they fled persecution by the communist North.

The United Nations once estimated some 30% of all boat people never made it safely to shore. Between 1975 and 1997 at the end of the exodus, approximately one million Vietnamese made it to neighboring countries. This thus begs the question: why flee the peace?

The answer, of course, is simple. Even though the war ended and peace triumphed, truth and justice have never prevailed in Vietnam. The current UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of assembly, Maina Kai, recently referred to this as a "peace coma", that in the name of peace we choose to ignore flagrant violations of the most basic human rights by the world's most repressive regimes.

Three months after April 30, 1975, my father, along with hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese officers and intellectuals, were duly sent to 're-education' camps without trial. Upon his release three years after, he was not allowed to work as a teacher again but instead, like other families deemed 'anti-revolutionary', we were evicted from our home in Saigon and forced to relocate in so called 'new economic' zones to make way for a new utopian socialist state.

This created the first wave of boat people from Vietnam, my father among them. The new Communist victors then set out to nationalize all businesses and embark on a new socialist economic platform where properties and land titles belonged to the state rather than individuals.

This created the second wave of refugees from Vietnam and it only stopped when Hanoi realized that continuing to do so would lead to a total collapse of the country's economy and with that the entire social and political system. Driven by the spirit of 'Perestroika' in the former Soviet Union in the late 1980s, party leaders then began a series of economic reforms which over the past two decades have helped lift Vietnam out of abject poverty.

But its social and political systems remain unchanged. To this day all land still belongs to the state. Hundreds of dissidents still remain in prison for challenging the one-party rule of the Vietnamese Communist Party. Facebook and pro-democracy blogs and websites are banned, no independent media is allowed, protests are forbidden, and civil rights defenders face constant harassment and persecution.

Some activists have fled the country, seeking asylum elsewhere; others who have stayed have been imprisoned up to 16 years for their human rights and pro-democracy advocacy. The hard truth is that refugees continue to flee from Vietnam. Neither peace nor justice has ever been achieved under communist rule.

I know often wonder where are all the well-meaning anti-Vietnam war protesters of the 1960s and 70s? Have they not cared to learn about what happened after the fall of Saigon and the withdrawal of US troops? What can they do now to help make Vietnam a better and freer place, like they had so passionately professed to care four long decades ago?

By Hoi Trinh - Asia Times Online - April 19, 2013

Vietnam uses elderly women to suppress dissident, exposing gulf with US on human rights

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:25:00 +0200

Vietnamese authorities seeking to stop a well-known democracy activist from meeting an American diplomat last weekend deployed an unusual weapon — a group of elderly ladies.

The women blocked the road leading to the dissident's house, preventing a U.S. Embassy vehicle from reaching the house. The vehicle was supposed to take the dissident to a downtown hotel to meet with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Dan Baer, who was trying to get first-hand accounts from activists and the families of those imprisoned inside the one-party, authoritarian country.

Another activist on the guest list was hauled into a police station until the visiting American had departed.

The efforts made by Vietnamese authorities to stop them show the gulf between the two countries on human rights, and continue to be a stumbling block in forging stronger ties between Washington and a country seen as possible counterbalance against China's influence in Asia.

Baer was in Vietnam as part of a long-running "human rights dialogue" between the two governments that formalizes America's efforts to get Vietnam to relax controls on political and religious expression and to stop arresting those pushing for multiparty democracy. Baer had sought meetings with dissidents on Saturday after talks between the two sides on American concerns ended on Friday.

"Obviously this taints the whole experience" and raises doubts about the Vietnamese government's promise to make progress on human rights, said Baer by telephone from Oslo, where he stopped on his return from Hanoi.

"What could have been a platform for solid movement has now been marred by behavior that calls into question the sincerity of any commitments they might make," he said.

As it puts increasing emphasis on Asia in its foreign policy, the United States wants stronger diplomatic, economic and security ties with Vietnam. But the U.S has also made it clear that progress in Vietnam's human rights record is needed for this engagement to happen quickly and fully. So far, the Communist Party shows few signs of bending. While some members are thought to be open to discussions about gradual change, its leaders are not listening, anxious about losing power and access to lucrative sections of the economy.

This year's human rights dialogue was delayed by several months because of American concerns that the previous session in Washington in November 2011 had failed to bring any substantive changes. According to Human Rights Watch, in 2012 at least 40 dissidents were convicted and sentenced to prison; 40 more were locked up in the first six weeks of 2013.

Baer wanted to meet Nguyen Van Dai and Pham Hong Son, two dissidents well known to Western governments and rights organizations. They have each served four-year prison terms in the past. Both are under frequent surveillance and are often harassed, yet remain publicly committed to challenging the party, prepared to accept the risks to them and their family in doing so.

Dai said he informed the political officer at the American Embassy that police and other security officers were gathering at his home, preventing him from leaving for the meeting. The officer told him he would drive to the house to pick him up. But when the car arrived, it was blocked by about 10 women from the neighborhood who had been told by authorities to stand on the road, Dai said.

"I don't know why they used this crazy way," Dai said. "I think it is the first time."

Asked for comment, the Vietnamese government responded in a statement: "Vietnamese authorities created the conditions for the delegation led by Daniel Baer to meet with some individuals of concern to the American side."

Baer said he was able to meet with families of two political prisoners — Le Quoc Quan and Cu Huy Ha Vu — for 1 ½ hours on Thursday even though authorities made it difficult for them to get out of their homes to meet him. Quan, a lawyer who studied in the United States, was arrested late last year after he and his family endured months of harassment. Baer also visited a prison to meet Father Ly, a Roman Catholic priest serving an eight-year sentence.

By using members of the public to block the embassy car, the Vietnamese government may have been seeking a way to plausibly deny a role in preventing Baer from meeting Dai.

"If the government hadn't wanted that road blocked, it could have cleared it up," said Phil Robertson from Human Rights Watch. "The outcome they wanted is achieved without generating the blowback or sort of criticism that would have come down on the government if there had been a line of police stopping the car."

Both Dai and Son have met with senior U.S. officials in the past, and Baer appeared surprised the meetings were blocked.

"I'm not in the habit of asking permission to meet citizens," said Baer. "We certainly don't restrict who they can meet with in the US."

Several Vietnamese journalists attended a news conference given by Baer on Friday evening, but the event was not covered by the local media, which are owned and controlled by the Communist Party. A commentary published in the party's leading paper, Nhan Dan or "The People," a few days ahead of Baer's arrival suggested he was in for a rough ride.

"Does Daniel Baer not see a problem looking at the human rights issue in Vietnam through the eyes of anti-communist Vietnamese American extremists?" it asked, repeating an often cited belief that South Vietnamese who fled the country after the Vietnam War are the source of hostility toward Hanoi in the United States. "One cannot believe a group of people who still feel bitter about the defeat nearly 40 years ago. Daniel Baer and some American politicians should soon change their attitude about this issue."

The United States has a stated goal of advocating for human rights norms around the world, but a coterie of Congress members that have South Vietnamese diaspora communities in their districts are pressing the administration to give it particular emphasis in Vietnam. The diaspora fled to the U.S. after the defeat of the United States and its South Vietnamese allies by the Communist army of North Vietnam.

Son said he had met Baer in 2010 and 2012 on previous visits to Vietnam, and described him as "very nice and enthusiastic in his concern about human rights."

The dissident said police officers came to his house on Saturday morning and ordered him to come to the local station, ostensibly because a resident had complained about an interview he had given to the BBC's Vietnamese radio service where he discussed proposed changes to the country's constitution. He went along with them, but was never interviewed about the alleged complaint.

"I just laughed," he said. "I have encountered similar incidents many times. Our government, our party to be more precise, has a wide variety of cunning ways of harassing people. The party does not want people like me to meet people from abroad like Dr. Baer."

The Associated Press- April 19, 2013

Vote massif du Parlement européen en faveur des libertés au Vietnam

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:11:00 +0200

Comme nous l’annoncions dans un précédent blog, le Parlement européen a voté massivement ce jeudi à Strasbourg en faveur d’une résolution demandant au Vietnam de libérer “immédiatement et sans conditions” les journalistes, blogueurs et dissidents emprisonnés et de respecter ses engagements internationaux en matière, tout particulièrement, de liberté d’expression.

Les députés exigent également que Hanoï mettent fin à la persécution d’organisations religieuses comme l’Eglise bouddhiste unifiée du Vietnam ou l’Eglise catholique.

Cette Résolution, adoptée en urgence, a été appuyée par une majorité des groupes politiques : le Parti populaire européen (démocrates-chrétiens), l’Alliance Progressiste des Socialistes et Démocrates (S&D), l’Alliance des démocrates et des libéraux pour l’Europe (ADLE), les Verts/Alliance libre européenne, le groupe des Conservateurs et Réformistes européens (ECR) et le groupe Europe libertés démocratie (droite populiste).

L’impact sur la diplomatie vietnamienne

L’Union européenne et le Vietnam ont signé le 27 juin 2012 un Accord de partenariat et de coopération qui inclut une clause droits de l’homme, c’est-à-dire qui permet aux parties de « s’ingérer » dans les affaires intérieures de leur partenaire, si celui-ci viole les principes essentiels des droits humains et de la démocratie. Les parlementaires ont demandé que l’Union soit cohérente et utilise les mécanismes prévus par cet Accord pour sérieusement défendre les droits de l’homme et en particulier la liberté d’expression au Vietnam.

La Résolution, très claire dans la description des atteintes aux libertés commises par Hanoï, n’implique pas, toutefois, « d’option nucléaire », comme l’imposition de sanctions, mais elle constitue un message important adressé aux autorités vietnamiennes, qui avaient réussi jusqu’ici à largement échapper au regard critique de Bruxelles. Cette Résolution devrait influencer la négociation d’un accord de libre échange entre l’Union européenne et le Vietnam.

Elle ne passera pas inaperçue non plus à Genève au sein des Nations unies. En 2009, à l’issue de l’Examen périodique universelle au Conseil des droits de l’Homme, Hanoï avait accepté de mettre en oeuvre une série de recommandations sur la liberté d’expression. Mais cet engagement n’a pas été tenu. Or, le Vietnam ambitionne de devenir membre en 2014 du Conseil des droits de l’homme. Cet avis du Parlement européen pourrait peser dans les négociations et manœuvres diplomatiques onusiennes.

Par Jean-Paul Marthoz - Le Soir - 18 avril 2013

Droits de l'Homme : la résolution du PE sur la situation au Vietnam est erronée

La Résolution du 18 avril 2013 du Parlement européen (PE) sur la situation des droits de l'Homme au Vietnam donne des informations et observations totalement erronées sur la situation réelle au Vietnam.

C'est ce qu'a souligné le porte-parole du ministère vietnamien des Affaires étrangères, Luong Thanh Nghi, en réponse à une question de correspondants sur la réaction du Vietnam devant cette résolution.

Celle-ci va à l'encontre de la tendance aux dialogues francs et ouverts en matière de droits de l'Homme qui sont constamment menés entre le Vietnam et l'Union européenne, et a des effets négatifs sur le développement des relations qui sont de plus en plus bonnes entre les deux parties, a ajouté M. Luong Thanh Nghi.

Agence Vietnamienne d'Information - 19 avril 2013

La Liberté sinon rien

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:32:00 +0200

Jeudi prochain lors de sa session plénière mensuelle à Strasbourg, le Parlement européen va aborder en urgence la situation des droits de l’Homme au Vietnam et, en particulier, la liberté d’expression.

Ce pays du Sud-est asiatique connaît, en effet, un durcissement politique qui passe largement inaperçu en dehors de ses frontières. Non seulement parce que l’attention de la presse internationale se porte essentiellement sur des pays asiatiques à plus « haute valeur informative ajoutée », comme la Birmanie, la Chine ou aujourd’hui, la Corée du Nord. Mais aussi parce que le Vietnam se présente comme un « tigre économique », qui s’ouvre aux échanges et aux investissements avec le reste du monde et qui, dès lors, fait figure de pays « engagé sur la bonne voie de la transition et de la modernité ».

Plusieurs rapports d’organisations internationales ont pourtant mis en exergue ces derniers mois le système répressif vietnamien. En septembre dernier, le Comité de protection des journalistes (Committee to Protect Journalists, New York) a publié une étude intitulée, « La liberté de la presse au Vietnam se rétrécit, en dépit de l’ouverture de l’économie ».

Tous les médias d’information, rappelle ce rapport, sont sous le contrôle de l’Etat et les rédacteurs en chef sont obligatoirement membres du Parti communiste. Des fonctionnaires de la Propagande rencontrent régulièrement les hauts responsables des médias pour leur indiquer la ligne à suivre, les sujets à couvrir et ceux à bannir. Le système est bétonné et rien d’irrévérent ne filtre.

Des médias étrangers sous surveillance

La presse internationale est elle aussi placée sous haute surveillance. Tous les médias étrangers en poste au Vietnam sont obligés d’engager des assistants locaux, leurs visas ne sont octroyés que pour une période de six mois renouvelables et ils doivent demander l’autorisation du ministère des Affaires étrangères s’ils veulent effectuer un reportage en dehors de Hanoï. Quant aux envoyés spéciaux, ils doivent engager un « minder », un assistant approuvé par les autorités, au taux de 200 dollars par jour.

Les autorités se sont surtout attaquées ces derniers mois aux blogueurs indépendants – journalistes, dissidents ou activistes catholiques- , qui couvrent des sujets tabous, comme les conflits fonciers, les relations avec la Chine ou la corruption.

Pendant quelques années, la blogosphère avait été relativement épargnée par la censure et la répression. Mais cette tolérance a pris fin. « Depuis 2009, une campagne de harcèlement et d’intimidation a conduit à l’emprisonnement de dizaines de dissidents politiques, d’activistes religieux et de blogueurs indépendants, écrit Shawn Crispin, auteur du rapport du CPJ, pour la plupart en raison de leur plaidoyer en faveur d’une démocratie multipartite, des droits humains et d’une plus grande reddition de comptes de la part du gouvernement ».

Fin janvier, la Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l’Homme (FIDH, Paris) a confirmé ces faits dans un rapport publié conjointement avec le Comité Vietnam pour les Droits de l’Homme et intitulé Blogueurs et cyberdissidents derrière les barreaux : mainmise de l’Etat sur Internet

« Le Vietnam est connu pour son économie florissante et ses plages paradisiaques, écrit Souhayr Belhassen, Présidente de la FIDH (et docteure honoris causa de l’Université catholique de Louvain). La liberté d’expression y est bafouée dans l’indifférence de l’opinion internationale. Il s’agit pourtant de l’un des régimes les plus répressifs au monde en la matière. »

Un bilan sombre

« Au cours des 12 derniers mois, note ce rapport, 22 blogueurs et cyberdissidents ont été condamnés à un total de 133 ans de prison et 65 ans de détention préventive pour leur lutte non-violente sur le net. Le 9 janvier 2013, lors d’un même procès, 14 personnes ont été condamnées à un total de 100 ans d’emprisonnement pour avoir simplement exercé leur droit à la liberté d’expression ».

Le Vietnam occupe la 172ème place (sur 179) au palmarès de la liberté de la presse, publié chaque année par Reporters sans frontières, qui le classe également parmi les 12 pays « ennemis d’Internet ».

Selon le décompte de Demdigest, à la mi-février, 32 blogueurs vietnamiens avaient été condamnés ou étaient en attente d’un jugement, la plupart aux termes de l’article 88 du code pénal qui sanctionne la « propagande antiétatique » et prévoit des peines de prison pouvant aller jusqu’à 20 ans. Parmi eux, Dieu Cay (pseudo de Nguyen Van Hay), auteur en 2007 d’un texte sur la démocratie et la liberté d’expression, incarcéré depuis 2008 et condamné en 2012 à 12 ans de prison, suivi de 5 années d’assignation à résidence. Ou encore l’avocat et blogueur Le Quoc Qan, arrêté en décembre dernier “pour fraude fiscale”.

Un enjeu progressiste

Jusqu’ici, la dénonciation des atteintes aux libertés a souvent été le fait d’organisations religieuses ou « de publications conservatrices américaine, le Wall Street Journal, le New York Post ou le New York Sun, notait Dustin Roasa, dans la revue new-yorkaise de centre-gauche, Dissent. Comme si les milieux libéraux et progressistes avaient du mal à critiquer un pays dévasté et profondément meurtri par les interventions française et américaine entre la fin de la Seconde guerre mondiale et la victoire nord-vietnamienne en 1975.

Cette réticence semble changer, cependant, et ceux qui, à gauche, plaident pour une approche critique du Vietnam, rappellent les débats difficiles des années 1970, après la chute de Saigon, et ceux qui avaient entouré le départ des boat people sud-vietnamiens.

« De quel droit critiquez-vous un pays que vous avez napalmisé ?», s’étaient exclamés des militants tiers-mondistes, lorsque la chanteuse pacifiste Joan Baez et Ginetta Sagan, célèbre résistante italienne active au sein d’Amnesty International USA, avaient condamné les camps de rééducation, la torture, dans le « Vietnam libéré ». « Pour être cohérent, avait répondu Joan Baez. La répression est la répression. Un passage à tabac a le même effet sur un être humain, qu’il soit commis par un socialiste ou un impérialiste ».

Par jean Paul Marthoz - Le Soir - 14 avril 2013

Vietnam : Un parcours semé d'embuches pour les PME françaises

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:26:00 +0200

Inflation des normes, corruption, pénurie de main-d'œuvre qualifiée… Il faut de la patience pour s'y installer...

Les entreprises françaises qui rêvent de profiter de la croissance de l’Asie du Sud-Est et notamment du Vietnam pour échapper à la récession européenne vont devoir bien accrocher leur ceinture. Plus de 300 sont venus tâter le terrain l’an dernier à la recherche d’opportunités et une centaine de PME sont présentes au deuxième forum d’affaires France-Vietnam qui se déroulait la semaine dernière entre Ho Chi Minh-Ville et Hanoï.

Perspectives alléchantes

A première vue, les perspectives sont alléchantes. Un pays jeune de 90 millions d’habitants avec une croissance de plus de 5 % par an depuis son ouverture au marché en 1991. Les gratte-ciel poussent comme des champignons et les plus grandes enseignes de luxe (Cartier, Chanel, Lancel….) ont pignon sur rue «92 % des Vietnamiens se disent optimistes selon les enquêtes. Une population heureuse, c’est une population qui consomme», explique Fabrice Carrasco le responsable du bureau d’études Kantar World Panel.

Mais pour profiter de cette manne, il faut prendre son mal en patience. «C’est un marché très dur», confie le responsable export d’une PME. «Faire des affaires ici, est un investissement sur le moyen-long terme. Compter au moins cinq ans avant d’être rentable contrairement à l’ultralibéral voisin cambodgien par exemple», avertit Tran Duc Son, avocat chez Gidé Loyrette Nouel. Groupama présent ici depuis une décennie a mis des années avant de trouver sa place.

Capitalisme d’Etat

«C’est un capitalisme d’Etat dans un régime de parti unique. Le Parti communiste contrôle toute la vie économique. Si une entreprise privée lui déplait, elle est rapidement remise dans le rang ou même fermée autoritairement. Il faut le savoir car certains pensent qu’ils peuvent tout faire quand ils sont en Asie», abonde Philippe Delalande, auteur de Vietnam, dragon en puissance. Or au Vietnam, les règles du jeu changent souvent. «C’est à s’arracher les cheveux», s’exaspère Tran Duc Son.

Et la corruption est endémique. «C’est culturel», philosophe un patron français. «Si cela ne pose pas vraiment de problème pour un grand groupe, cela peut-être une entrave pour nos PME», concède Nicole Bricq, la ministre du Commerce extérieur. «Le phénomène est insidieux. On ne nous demande pas directement de l’argent, ce sont souvent les employés vietnamiens qui doivent jouer les intermédiaires auprès des distributeurs locaux ou de l’administration», confie le patron de la filiale d’une PME agroalimentaire. Et selon lui, certains fonctionnaires sont de plus en plus gourmands. Il faudrait ainsi allonger parfois plusieurs milliers de dollars en cash pour ouvrir un bureau. De quoi arrondir les fins de mois alors que le salaire moyen au Vietnam ne dépasse pas les 100 euros mensuels.

Pénurie de main d’œuvre qualifiée

Passer ces obstacles, reste aux entreprises téméraires de trouver une main-d’œuvre qualifiée. Une difficulté supplémentaire pour plusieurs qui du coup embauchent des Français. Une délégation de Pole emploi International est ainsi arrivée au Forum d’affaires avec 150 CV, sous les bras, de demandeurs d’emplois prêts à tenter leur chance ici. Méthode plus radicale chez Dassault Systèmes qui vient de créer un centre pour former des ingénieurs vietnamiens.

Alors, le Vietnam, miroir aux alouettes? «Il y a bien des choses à savoir avant d’attaquer le marché de façon frontale, euphémise un patron français installé depuis plusieurs années.

«Il n’est jamais inutile pour les dirigeants de PME, souvent prisonniers de leur quotidien, de sortir de France, d’un climat anxiogène, afin de sonder de nouveaux marchés, même si cela ne donne pas de résultats concrets rapidement. Un forum d’affaires va déjà leur permettre de voir ce que font les concurrents, de se comparer à eux, de rencontrer de possibles partenaires, et du coup peut-être de mieux appréhender les besoins des clients internationaux et sa capacité ou non à les satisfaire. Ce n’est donc pas du temps perdu. Cela va permettre à ces patrons de placer des pions. Et au final, ce sont toujours les contacts d’aujourd’hui qui font les affaires de demain», nuance Christophe Lecourtier, directeur général d’Ubifrance

Et le succès est possible. Sur les 300 entreprises françaises implantées au Vietnam, aux côtés des groupes du CAC 40, 70 % sont des PME dont 35 % de micro-entreprises.

Par Mathieu Bruckmüller - 20minutes.fr - 15 avril 2013

Étouffées en Europe, les PME françaises cherchent de l’air au Vietnam

Une centaine de dirigeants de PME partent à la découverte d’un marché aux perspectives alléchantes…

«Nous n’avons plus le choix. Nos entreprises souffrent. Elles ont besoin de croissance et il faut la trouver où elle est, hors de nos frontières, parfois loin de l’Europe. C’est une question de vie ou de mort.» La mise en garde du patron de la chambre de commerce et de l'industrie (CCI), Vianney de Chalus, à l’ouverture du deuxième forum d’affaires France-Vietnam en dit long sur le défi qui attend les PME et les ETI hexagonales dans les années qui viennent. Contrairement au voisin allemand, par exemple, l’international est jusqu’ici en France surtout une affaire de grands groupes. Peut-être plus pour longtemps.

«L’export, c’est l’avenir»

«L’export, c’est l’avenir. Je vais voir si à terme, nous ne pourrions pas créer une usine au Vietnam pour vendre nos produits en Asie du Sud-est. Je joue le rôle de missionnaire», résume Théo Efstathtiou, le responsable de la recherche et du développement des produits Sojasun, à 10.000 mètres d’altitude dans l’avion qui l’amène à Ho Chi Minh ville. «L’international, c’est vital», renchérit Olivier Pierre, le fondateur de Bulky Pix, un développeur de jeux vidéo et d’applications pour smartphone qui y réalise plus de la moitié de son chiffre d’affaires.

Comme eux, une centaine de dirigeants français, surtout de PME, ont rencontré la semaine dernière 500 homologues vietnamiens avec pour objectif de renforcer les partenariats commerciaux entre les deux pays. Sur le papier, le potentiel du Vietnam, 90 millions d’habitants, a de quoi faire rêver. Une croissance de 7,5 %, en moyenne, depuis son ouverture économique en 1991, jusqu’à 2008. Si elle a ralenti à 5,03 % en 2012 en raison du ralentissement en Europe et aux Etats-Unis, elle devrait de nouveau atteindre 6,3 % en 2013. Et avec 60 % de la population en-dessous de 30 ans, une classe moyenne évaluée à six millions de personnes et qui aspire à consommer, les perspectives sont alléchantes.

Des besoins énormes

Que ce soit dans les domaines des transports, de l’agroalimentaire, de l’environnement du tourisme, de la santé, les besoins ne manquent pas. Même pour le luxe. «La clientèle est là», confirme Pierre-Louis Delapalme, le directeur général des cosmétiques de luxe Biologique Recherche. Un optimisme qui pourrait encourager, Fabienne Petit, la jeune fondatrice des producteurs de caractère, une épicerie fine en ligne: «Je veux mettre en avant les produits et le savoir-faire français dans des pays qui y sont sensibles».

Au Vietnam, le «made in France» a une carte à jouer. Surtout au moment où débute l’année de la France au Vietnam qui souligne les 40 ans de relations diplomatiques entre les deux pays. «On a le sentiment que l’on peut se comprendre», dit Vu Tien Loc, le président de la Chambre de commerce et d’industrie vietnamienne. Car, malgré les tourments du passé, l’empreinte culturelle française est ici encore très visible comme le prouve la façade de l’hôtel de ville ou du théâtre municipal. Or, jusqu’ici la France n’a pas profité de cet avantage. Sa part de marché n’est que de 1 %. L’ambition de Nicole Bricq, ministre du Commerce extérieur est de la doubler d’ici cinq ans.

Par Mathieu Bruckmüller - 20minutes.fr - 15 avril 2013

Le Vietnam, paradis des délocalisations

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:23:00 +0200

Samsung, Canon, Nike et désormais les entreprises chinoises profitent de cet eldorado…

Surtout ne pas s’arrêter. A Ho Chi min Ville, le piéton doit avoir le cœur bien accroché pour traverser. Même s’il a la priorité. Il faut jouer des coudes parmi la nuée de scooters et de voitures, à l’image d’un banc de poissons, qui vous effleurent sans jamais vous toucher. Pas question pour les conducteurs de céder la priorité. Ici chaque seconde vaut de l’or.

Le travail avant tout

Depuis l’ouverture économique en 1991, le Dôi Moi (changer pour du neuf), la population, dont 60 % à moins de 30 ans, profitent des joies de la consommation de masse. Et pour cela, elle est prête à se sacrifier. «Les vietnamiens sont de gros bosseurs. 77 % pensent que le travail doit passer avant le reste», souligne Fabrice Carrasco le responsable du bureau d’études Kantar world panel. Résultat, ils travaillent en moyenne plus de 50 heures par semaine. Un argument de poids pour de nombreuses multinationales qui font du Vietnam un eldorado pour les délocalisations.

Ainsi Nokia, après avoir quitté son usine allemande de Bochum pour l’installer en Roumanie, a décidé en 2011 de fermer cette dernière. Direction la province Bac Ninh au nord du Vietnam. Un investissement de 200 millions d’euros où travailleront à terme 10.000 employés. Le finlandais n’est pas seul. Samsung y a sa plus grosse usine de production mondiale. Canon ou encore le taïwanais Foxconn qui fabrique les produits Apple emploient eux aussi près de 10.000 personnes. Nike en a même 200.000. A Ho Chi Minh Ville, Intel a mis un milliard de dollars sur la table pour ouvrir une usine de puces électroniques en 2010.

Main-d’œuvre bon marché

«Nous sommes agiles de nos doigts, intelligents et notre main-d’œuvre est moins chère que dans d’autres pays asiatiques», vante Vu Tien Loc, le président de la Chambre de commerce et d’industrie vietnamienne. Le salaire minimum mensuel est inférieur à 40 euros avec une durée du travail qui frôle les 50 heures par semaine.

Résultat, même les entreprises chinoises se mettent à délocaliser chez leur voisin. Un phénomène qui s’est amplifié depuis 2010 avec la signature d’un accord de libre-échange avec les pays du sud-est membres de l’Anase. En effet, les salaires dans la deuxième économie du monde grimpent de 15 % par an en raison de la baisse de la population active. «Le Vietnam est désormais le passage obligé pour faire les opérations les plus coûteuses en main-d’œuvre avant d’aller en Chine», décrypte Philippe Delalande, auteur de Vietnam, dragon en puissance. C’est la stratégie dite Chine +1.

Stratégie de montée en gamme

Mais la donne pourrait bien être modifiée. «Pour éviter de s’enfermer dans la trappe aux bas salaires, les autorités exigent de plus en plus des projets d’investissement qu’ils s’accompagnent d’une montée en gamme et refusent ceux ne cherchant qu’à exploiter les bas salaires» comme le textile et la chaussure, poursuit Philippe Delalande. Vu Tien Loc est néanmoins persuadé que son pays restera meilleur marché que ses voisins. «Regardez les investissements que font chez nous les Coréens ou les Japonais. Ne perdez pas votre temps. C’est un conseil que je vous donne», lance-t-il à l’adresse des patrons français dont une centaine étaient présents la semaine dernière à l’occasion du forum d’affaires France-Vietnam.

Peugeot fait son come-back

Reçu 5 sur 5 par Peugeot qui pour contourner les droits d’importations de 100 % pour les véhicules importés, a annoncé lundi un partenariat avec Thaco, le premier constructeur vietnamien, pour l’assemblage de la 408 (l’équivalent de la 308 allongé), déjà vendu en Chine. A terme, le groupe français qui fait son grand retour au Vietnam devrait fabriquer le modèle sur place, et aussi en vendre plusieurs autres fabriqués en France dont la 2008. La preuve pour le groupe que fabriquer à l’étranger n’est pas toujours mauvais signe pour l’emploi français.

De son côté, pour profiter de l’expansion du marché de la santé au Vietnam, Sanofi vient de mettre 75 millions de dollars sur la table pour la construction d’une nouvelle usine à Ho Chi Min, opérationnelle d’ici 2015. Elle servira aussi de plateforme d’exportation vers les pays membres de l’Anase.

Par Mathieu Bruckmüller - 20minutes.fr - 12 avril 2013

Vietnam to deface Ha Giang highlands with casino

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 14:21:00 +0200

The northern highlands province of Ha Giang has announced plans to build a casino on top of rock highlands region that has been recognized as a UNESCO Global Geological Park.

Representatives from the Ha Giang People’s Committee said at a meeting Thursday in Hanoi that the casino will be part of a 2.72 square kilometer center that will include hotels, restaurants, resorts and other amusement options, all to be built by 2020.

Only foreigners are allowed at casinos in Vietnam.

The announcement means that interested parties can start applying to invest in the project.

Sen Chin Ly, vice chairman of the province, said at the meeting that the project had been approved by the Prime Minister, as a tourism and "preservation" project aiming to promote the geological park, and help locals escape poverty.

Vietnam News Agency said deputy PM Nguyen Thien Nhan complimented the plan at the meeting, calling it a milestone for socio-economic development in the highlands.

The Dong Van highlands (encompassing more than 2,300 square kilometers) is currently home to more than 250,000 people from 17 minority groups, 70 percent of whom are H’Mong.

It was named a global geological park in 2010, due to its status as a hub for ethnic minority culture as well as its value for historical studies about the formation and development of the Earth's surface.

It is widely recognized as one of the most beautiful ~~if not the most beautiful~~ places in Vietnam.

Limestone can be found in 11 layers on 80 percent of Dong Van's land area and two of layers are sediment dating from 400 to 600 million years ago. It is the second geological park in Southeast Asia, after Langkawi Geological Park in Malaysia, and the 54th in the world.

The title has drawn more tourists to the highlands, 302,000 in 2011 and nearly 400,000 in 2012. The first quarter of this year has seen nearly 140,000 people visit the highlands.

Thanh Nien News - April 12, 2013

Allowing foreigners buying houses in VN to rescue property market ?

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 14:18:00 +0200

Vietnam will not be able to rescue the real estate market if it only relies on the domestic resources. The government has been urged to allow foreigners to buy houses in Vietnam to increase the demand.

Foreign sources would help warm up real estate market

In 2008, the National Assembly released a resolution on allowing foreign individuals to buy houses in Vietnam in a 5-year trial period.

However, to date, only 500 foreigners have bought houses in Vietnam so far. Most of them are original Vietnamese with foreign nationalities. This has been attributed to too many restrictions set up by the current policies.

The subjects allowed to buy houses in Vietnam are limited. Meanwhile, they have to follow very complicated procedures to register the ownership of their houses. Especially, they can only buy houses for accommodations, not for the financial investment or other purposes.

Experts have pointed out that by setting such limitations, Vietnam has put big difficulties for itself, and that Vietnam has missed a big resource for the development of the real estate market.

Dr. Tran Minh Hoang, President of the Vietnam Real Estate JSC, said real estate is a kind of valuable asset, therefore, people’s ownership and their asset determination right should be protected by the laws. This would be an important factor people would consider when making investment decisions.

Satmad Zok, a foreign businessman who has been living and working in Vietnam for 8 years, said he is still reluctant to buy a house in Vietnam.

“If referring to the current laws, I have the conditions to possess an apartment. However, I know it’s very complicated to buy and register the ownership of properties. Vietnamese also find it difficult to buy houses, let alone foreigners,” he said.

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Tran Nam has also admitted that the policy on allowing foreigners buying houses in Vietnam has not been “brought into life” because of the limitations.

“In the world of integration, while Vietnamese people can buy houses in foreign countries, foreigners cannot buy houses in Vietnam,” Nam said.

What will happen next?

The Resolution No. 19 with the 5-year prescription on allowing foreigners buying houses in Vietnam in the trial period would end in 2013. What will come after 2013, then?

Sources have said that the government has instructed the Ministry of Construction to review the implementation of the pilot policy, while planning to submit to the National Assembly a new policy, under which Vietnam would widen the subjects to be eligible for buying houses in Vietnam.

The Ministry of Construction’s principle is that Vietnam should allow not only the foreigners who work and do business in Vietnam, but also the foreigners who have demand for houses, to buy real estate products in Vietnam. Especially, the foreigners would be driven to the high end housing projects.

The ministry’s standpoint has been advocated by economists. Dr. Vo Dai Luoc, who was the Head of the economics and politics institute, said opening the real estate market to foreign buyers would be a good solution that can help rescue the real estate market.

Bui Kien Thanh, a well-known economist, also said that Vietnam should not worry about the problems to be arisen when allowing foreigners buying houses in Vietnam.

“We will have the legal regulations and required procedures to control the real estate market,” Thanh said.

By Phong Vu - VietNamNet Bridge - April 14, 2013

Vietnam scraps fines on same-sex marriages, but far from legalization

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:27:00 +0200

Vietnam has scrapped regulations that fine same-sex couples who marry in what activists say is yet another move towards guaranteeing the rights of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community.

he move comes as part of a larger wave of progress for gay rights champions.

In July last year, the Ministry of Justice began openly discussing legalizing same-sex marriages. Though no concrete measures have been taken so far, the Ministry of Justice did start polling public opinion on this issue while considering amendments to prevailing marriage laws.

The results of that poll are not yet public but according to a study released last December by the Hanoi-based non-profit Institute for Studies of Society, Economy and Environment (iSEE), support for same-sex marriages was quite low at 37 percent, while 58 percent opposed it.

Also in December, the government began mulling whether or not to allow same-sex couples to legally cohabitate. Though nothing has come of that yet either, a draft proposal was issued last month that would have doubled the fine for same-sex marriages.

Under the draft decree that would have taken effect this July, homosexual couples that get married would have been fined VND200,000-1 million (US$9.55-47.77), twice the current fine introduced in 2000.

Gay rights activists lambasted the proposal, dismissing it as a “step back” for the protection of LGBT rights in a Confucian society where homosexuality was once labeled as taboo and even a “social evil.”

After a firestorm of criticism from the media and the public, authorities took note and did away with the fine. And by doing so, they have implicitly acknowledged the “nonsensical” implications of the draft laws, gay-rights activists say.

“This is another new step forward that is in line with Vietnam’s current trend of protecting the rights of LGBT people,” said Le Quang Binh, a sociologist who runs the iSEE.

But Binh, who has headed several research projects on lesbian and gay issues, and other experts in the field were not overly optimistic. They all concurred that Vietnam is gradually on the right track to legalize same-marriage, but still has miles to go.

Times a-changin’

Deputy minister of Justice Pham Quy Ty said scrapping the fine for same-sex marriages stemmed from the the fact that it was no longer appropriate with the status quo.

“The absence of the fine doesn’t mean Vietnam recognizes same-sex marriages,” Ty was quoted by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper as saying.

Indeed, his ministry has repeatedly said that same-sex marriages may not be legalized in the short run and such legalization needs more research and debate.

In the offing

Activists have pointed out that merely allowing same-sex marriages would not usher in social tolerance for such couples or eradicate severe discrimination.

Besides polling public opinion on legalizing same-sex marriages, the Ministry of Justice is drafting another law that is looking to provide the LGBT community with basic rights such as the right to inheritance and to adopt children.

As Vietnam’s leadership has issued a call for input on what will be its first constitutional amendment since 1992, a network of civil organizations and NGOs in Vietnam have jointly put out a petition calling for equal rights for LGBT people in the society.

The prevailing constitution only acknowledges marriage as between a man and woman.

The joint petition also asked for recognition of the rights to marry and divorce for “every one.”

A member of the grouping that is responsible for collecting public opinions on the amended constitution said on condition of anonymity that there has been “heated debate” on these issues. Several members apparently threw support behind the changes, he said.

Meanwhile, support for the LGBT movement in Vietnam has shown no sign of simmering down.

In early this month, Vietnam’s first-ever gay sitcom “My best gay friends” made by a 21-year-old student went viral online as the first episode of the series debuted to rave reviews on YouTube. It has garnered more than one million views so far.

Vietnam held its first public gay pride parade August 5 in Hanoi. The country's first publicized gay wedding went viral online in 2010. Many ceremonies of gay and lesbian couples have also grabbed headlines.

While same-sex marriages are outlawed in Asia, they are legal in 11 countries on four continents and in parts of Brazil, Mexico, and the US. By legalizing same-sex marriages, Vietnam could become the first country in Asia to do so.

But some skeptics, most of them from the diplomat community here in Vietnam and Western media outlets, say the move to legalize same-sex marriage was in fact just part of Vietnam's charm offensive to show the international community that the country is making headway on improving its human rights record.

It is also aimed at diverting public attention away from the economic crisis Vietnam is struggling to deal with, the skeptics say.

Binh, the gay-rights activist, bristled at such cynicisms.

It is the increasing number of gay and lesbian couples who are confronting social disdain and legal constraints by coming out and declaring their orientation, coupled with the social increased tolerance toward the LGBT and the media support for them, that has been pivotal in leading the Ministry of Justice to consider same-sex marriages, Binh said.

“Everyone has their own prejudice,” he said.

“In this case, it is the entrenched prejudice against Vietnam’s human rights record that has done nothing but to gloss over the right thing the justice ministry is pursuing and dismiss the significant role of the LGBT community and civil organizations in Vietnam.”

By An Dien - Thanh Nien News - April 12, 2013

«L'Asie du Sud-Est et le Vietnam sont la priorité »

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:21:00 +0200

En déplacement à Hô Chi-Minh-Ville pour le coup d'envoi de l'Année de la France au Vietnam, la ministre Nicole Bricq est accompagnée de plus de 100 entreprises françaises.

Qu'attendez-vous de cette Année de la France au Vietnam ?

Les entreprises françaises sont mobilisées en force. Elles ont une appétence pour l'Asie du sud-est, avec son marché de 600 millions de consommateurs, et pour le Vietnam en particulier. Cette zone est la priorité de notre diplomatie économique.

Quel est votre objectif ?

Notre part de marché est de 1 % au Vietnam, contre 1, 5 % en moyenne dans l'ensemble des pays du Sud-Est asiatique. Ce n'est pas normal. Le Vietnam est en pleine expansion et veut acquérir une base industrielle. Le partenariat signé par Peugeot et Thaco, premier producteur national, pour l'assemblage de la 408, est un bon exemple de cette volonté. Cela permet à un grand groupe automobile dans un secteur en difficulté de s'implanter sur un marché porteur. Nous avons manqué le virage du scooter, utilisé par la grande majorité de la population ; il faut être prêt pour la voiture.

Comparée au dynamisme de l'Asie, la France est-elle au bord du décrochage ?

Non, au contraire. Le désendettement de notre pays nous permet d'obtenir des taux d'intérêt au plus bas, ce qui profite aux entreprises qui voudraient emprunter. Elles peuvent aussi solliciter des crédits avec la mise en place de la Banque publique d'investissement. Enfin, nous avons deux produits fiscaux attractifs : le crédit impôt recherche, qui attire les investisseurs étrangers, et le crédit impôt compétitivité, qui va donner aux entreprises un ballon d'oxygène pour investir et, pourquoi pas, exporter. Je comprends l'impatience des entreprises françaises, mais je suis persuadée que cela va marcher.

Par Mathieu Bruckmüller - 20minutes.fr - 12 avril 2013

US pressed to seek rights improvements from Vietnam

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:08:00 +0200

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers and activists called Thursday for the United States to press Vietnam to free dissidents and allow greater religious freedom as the two nations hold talks on human rights.

The two nations hold an annual dialogue Friday in Hanoi on Vietnam's human rights record, an issue that has been a source of persistent concern in the United States despite warming relations between the former war adversaries.

At a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, lawmakers and campaigners called for the United States to press for Vietnam to release critics of the government, such as outspoken Catholic priest Nguyen Van Ly.

In the past year Vietnam's "rights record has worsened. Numbers are clear indicators, so there really isn't any doubt about it," said John Sifton, the Asia advocacy director of Human Rights Watch.

Sifton said Vietnam is known to have convicted and sentenced at least 40 people last year, an increase from 2011, for violating a penal code that bans criticism of the government and the ruling communist party.

A representative of the Unified Buddhist Church, which was banned in the early 1980s for refusing to join the state-sanctioned Vietnam Buddhist Church, said that authorities were stepping up intimidation of the group.

Vo Van Ai, who is also president of the France-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, said that the United States needed to raise such cases "assertively" with Hanoi.

"I call upon Congress and the State Department to look behind Hanoi's mask, beyond the veneer of state-sponsored freedom of worship, and recognize the full extent of religious repression," he said.

Just last week, he said, men threw water mixed with rotten fish and excrement at the home of formerly jailed writer Huynh Ngoc Tuan and authorities prevented his son from flying to the United States to accept a prize.

The State Department in a statement said it was committed to a "frank, results-based discussion" with Vietnam during Friday's talks.

Critics have charged that the dialogue has produced no results as the United States at the same time is increasing cooperation with Vietnam on defense and trade.

Representative Chris Smith, who chaired the hearing, renewed calls for the United States to designate Vietnam as a "country of particular concern" on religious freedom, which could bring repercussions without improvement. "Dialogues have a use, but they should not be in lieu of substantive actions and my fear is that is what they do," Smith told reporters.

Agence France Presse - April 12, 2013

Da Nang heritage homes face uncertain future

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:53:00 +0200

Da Nang lists old houses in need of conservation but offers no help

Nguyen Thi Hue, 81, seldoms leaves her house in Tuy Loan Village these days.

However, it is not age or age-related ailments that have constrained her mobility and confined her to her home in Da Nang City’s Phu Vang District.

She cannot move out because she is busy from morning to evening, especially when her son is not around, receiving guests – tourists and culture researchers – from different places in the country and abroad.

Her house is around 200 years old and has a fascinating history, but the octogenarian is puzzled by the recent attention.

“I don’t know how they the tourists are told about my house, but for the last six years, many have visited and most of them are westerners,” said Hue, who is proud of being the third eldest daughter-in-law of the Do family as the house’s owner.

Named Tich Thien Duong (literally House of Good Works), the 140-square meter building, which is 14 meters long and 10 meters wide, stands on 36 big pillars and consists of three compartments and two lean-tos.

Apart from its double-tiled roof, the structure’s beams and furniture are made of jackfruit wood and depict sophisticated carvings. The wood has developed a reddish brown color through the years.

The furniture is decorated with artifacts including copper trays, earthern pots, mould for snow-flaked cake making, and several old dishes and bowls, which, according to Hue, is gathered and kept by her 58-year-old son Do Huu Minh.

The house stands amidst a big garden of 3,500 square meters called Do Gia Vien (Do Family’s Pavillion), according to a board hung on the right side of its beautiful wooden gate. The garden lies along the banks of the Tuy Loan River.

Outside and inside the garden grow various kinds of plants and trees that create a typical scene of garden and the countryside in the central area of Vietnam. Green bamboo clusters and arecanut trees stand along the village alley that leads to the house, and the red color of dâm bụt (rose of Sharon) flowers and the white and yellow colors of a hundred-year-old mai (apricot blossom) tree in the center of the garden.

Minh has built some octagonal and hexagonal wooden shelters and a bonsai and rock garden, a small pond and placed hammocks for visitors’ comfort as they enjoy the shade and the cool atmosphere of the garden. Visitors can enjoy drinking tea in sylvan surroundings and fish on the river bank during their stay. The cool wind from the river carries pleasant scents from a lotus pond in the village’s center.

Here and there in the garden and the house are scattered traditional items like a rice mortar, fishing basket and palm-leaf raincoat that were used in the past.

When Hue is not so busy, even at her age, she sits on a camp bed in the kitchen making traditional cakes, an attractive sight, especially for foreign visitors.

“They the visitors are very tall and can bump on the ceiling. After taking a tour and some photos, they request to see me preparing traditional foods and then eat.”

Unique stories

The house by itself and several items in it have their own stories that Hue and Minh are happy to share.

Minh says the house was built by his great-great grandfather Do Van Ninh, a Confucian scholar.

“It took my great-great-grandfather three years to gather enough wood from Hue and other nearby provinces and then another three years for the construction, carried out by carpenters from the renowned Kim Bong Village in the Quang Nam Province’s Hoi An Town,” he said.

Thanks to the hard, durable jackfruit wood, Tich Thien Duong has stood firm, weathering hundreds of floods and storms.

Pointing at a pillar, the daughter-in-law said, “There was a time the flood waters rose higher than my height, everything was under water, but the house stands still thanks to the wood.”

The house’s foundation, is a mixture of leaves, lime and molasses, is also in good condition and was recently paved with stone.

Since 2006, the family has spent more than US$10,000 to restore and repair Tich Thien Duong while keeping its original design and architecture unchanged.

“Things have changed a lot, but culture and its values should be an exception,” Hue said.According to Da Nang City’s Department of Culture, Sports and

Tourism, Tich Thien Duong is among 100 ancient houses in the city, and 80 percent of them are located in the districts of Phu Vang and Hoa Vang. Each of these houses has their own unique features, artifacts and stories attached to them.

While Tich Thien Duong is known for its architecture, Le Thu’s house in Quan Nam Village, Hoa Lien Commune, looks like an ancient bookstore with hundreds of precious, old books of the 17th and 18th centuries collected by Thu’s father, partriotic scholar Le Quang Vy.

In the house with three compartments and four lean-tos, the scholar held classes to teach the Han script and Vietnamese to the villagers.

“The house was destroyed partly during the war, but most of its ancient, traditional structure is being maintained well, said Thu, who also said he and other family members’ gain health benefits from living in the house.

“It is very comfortable to live in the house despite the harsh, severe weather conditions of central Vietnam. It is warm in winter and cool in summer,” Thu said.

Located in Hoa Vang District’s Duong Lam II Village 12 kilometers away from the city’s downtown area is a 100-year-old house owned by Bon Tro. The house features a harmonious combination of western and eastern architecture. It was used as a base for

Vietnam’s soldiers during the resistence war against French colonialists and later, during the Vietnam War.

Dilapidated houses

Tich Thien Duong and Thu’s house, are among the few old houses in well-preserved condition, since most of the other houses are owned by poor farmers without the wherewithal to maintain them. Some of the farmers, ignorant of the true value of the heritage in their hands, have sold several artifacts to traders and collectors.

Dang Thi Tuy Phong’s house in Tuy Loan Dong 2 Village was conferred the title of Tứ Đại Đồng Đường (Four generations under the same roof) by King Bao Dai – the last monarch of Vietnam – before 1945. The building’s original design, including interior wooden frames and furniture remains the same, thanks to the family’s effort. However, some years ago, the dilapidated and leaking tile roof, the brick floor and walls were replaced.

According to the house’s owner, many visitors have complained about the half modern, half traditional architecture of the house.

“We feel so sorry, but as farmers, we cannot afford to restore the house to its original state,” said Phong.

Doan Cong Thuong’s 200-year-old house in Tuy Loan Tay 1 Village, is even in worse condition. Most of tiles are rotten and leak badly during the rainy season.

His children are the fifth generation of the Doan family living in the building.

“Before my father passed away, he requested me to preserve the building no matter what happens, because it was built by the bone and blood of the ancestors, but...” said Thuong, sadly. He and his wife work hard day and night just to earn enough to feed their children and take care of their ailing mother.

The traditional tiles used in Thuong’s house are produced in Hoi An, but they are too expensive for Thuong to order and have the roof replaced.

No assistance

At present, any preservation work on the old houses are being carried out by their residents with no assistance from the city government.

All that the municipal administration has done is to list the houses among those that need restoration. In its focus on modernizing the city, it seems to accord low priority to preserving its architectural heritages.

Minh said: “Only those who have a passion for architecture, money and knowledge of restoration can do the preservation work well.

Though at present, the house’s preservation is the owner’s business, the local government should facilitate their preservation and support us with funds to maintain the sites...”

“Our ancestors are being remembered through these houses. However, it is a tough task to preserve them because there’s nothing that can remain forever, let alone houses several hundred years old.”

Agreeing with Minh, Tran Ngoc Phat, who owns an old house in Hoa Chau Commune, said that his house was only being used to worship ancestors. “Our wish is to keep the house for the next generations,” he said.

Nguyen Thuc Dung, head of Hoa Vang District’s Department of Culture and Information, said that for now, house owners have to find the budget to restore their homes on their own.

“We did send the list of ancient houses to the city and carry out some research with local archaeologists in Hoa Vang District in 2012, but we have been waiting for the policy and money for years.”

Thanh Nien News - April 10, 2013

Vietnam considers building nuclear science & technology center

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:45:00 +0200

The Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute has urged to build up a nuclear science & technology center, saying that this is an important link of the national program on developing nuclear power, a crucial testing for the capability of implementing the program.

Right after getting the nod from the National Assembly on the development of the nuclear power program, in December 2009, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung paid a working visit to Russia, where, at the working session with the then Prime Minister Putin, asked Russia to help build the first nuclear power plant in Vietnam.

Also at the meeting, the Russian side suggested building a nuclear science & technology center to help develop Vietnam’s nuclear power program.

Dr. Tran Chi Thanh, Head of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute, emphasized that the existence of such a center is very necessary for Vietnam, especially in the context of the Vietnam’s low science and technology development level.

In fact, when Russia suggested the building of the center, did not say in details about what the center would have. After a lot of arguments about if the center needs to have a nuclear pile, the Ministry of Science and Technology has decided to develop a center with a nuclear pile. The plan has been supported by the Russian side.

In November 2011, Vietnam and Russia signed an inter-government agreement on the construction of the nuclear science and technology center with the investment capital of $500 million. The capital would be loaned by the Russian government at preferential interest rate.

In April, Dr. Thanh and his colleagues would have a working visit to Russia to work with ROSATCOM, the Russian stated owned atomic energy conglomerate on the project.

The nuclear science & technology center, once operational, would have the main functions of making scientific research and developing technologies to support the national nuclear power program development, carrying out advanced research works on nuclear physics, material and biology sciences.

Especially, it would also develop some services such as making radioisotopes for health treatment and carrying out training programs.

The center has been decided to be located in Da Lat City, where there is another nuclear pile already. This would allow Vietnam to take full advantage of the workforce and the 30-year experience to develop the center with a new nuclear pile.

The new pile would be situated in another place, which is about 12 kilometers far from the existing pile. ROSATCOM has conducted a preliminary field trip to the place and has come to a conclusion that the place can well satisfy the requirements for the construction of such a center.

Once the new pile is put into operation, the existing pile would be used mainly for the training, which is a part of the program on developing the Da Lat University into the leading training establishment in the country in producing the labor force for the nuclear industry.

Dr. Thanh has revealed that Vietnam would “place orders” to the Russian side when drawing up the feasibility study of the project. The science & technology center will have to fulfill the functions Vietnam wants.

Especially, Vietnamese specialists will hold the main role in calculating and designing the new nuclear pile. Vietnamese officers would also implement other tasks together with the Russian partner.

Tia Sang - April 11, 2013

US, Vietnam to develop forces against Chinese ships

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:42:00 +0200

The U.S. and Vietnam are cooperating to develop a fighting force that can help Vietnamese fisherman and others when they "get into trouble," Coast Guard Rear Adm. William Lee said at the annual Sea-Air-Space expo in Washington.

On March 20, four Vietnamese fishing boats illegally entered and fished in the territorial waters off China's Xisha Islands. The Chinese patrolling vessel tried repeatedly to persuade the Vietnamese boats to leave by whistle blowing, shouting and handflags, but all were ignored. Then the Chinese vessel fired two warning signal shells into the sky.

Lee described a meeting he conducted with Vietnamese counterparts the week after one of its vessels reportedly caught fire after Chinese sailors fired a flare at it.

"They have thousands of fishermen who set to sea every day without the benefit of a U.S. Coast Guard-like entity who can go out when those guys get into trouble," said Lee, the deputy for Operations Policy and Capabilities.

"There is a growing demand for Coast Guard-like authorities and capabilities and training efforts. The problem is there is far more demand than there is supply to meet the demand at the present moment."

China.org.cn - April 11, 2013

Agent Orange still stokes fear in Vietnam's pregnant women

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:38:00 +0200

Concern about birth defects is deeply rooted in the country's recent history and has brought a surge in ultrasound checks

n the waiting room of a maternity hospital in Hanoi, pregnant women sit anxiously until their names are called. Many have been here numerous times to get an ultrasound scan.

Dung, 28, from a village on the outskirts of Vietnam's capital, is seven months pregnant. "Every month I come here for regular check-ups and an ultrasound," she says. "If you don't know you are pregnant and you take the wrong medication, birth defects can easily occur in the first three months of pregnancy."

"I'm afraid of my child's health, that's why I come for regular visits," says 30-year-old Nhung. "There are risks from birth defects mainly from the environment, and infectious diseases passed from mother to child."

In most European countries it is national policy for hospitals to offer at least one ultrasound during pregnancy to detect the date of delivery and any abnormalities. However, in developing countries the use of scanning has increased as it is vigorously promoted by manufacturers and doctors.

In Vietnam the marketing and use of obstetric ultrasound is spreading, according to anthropologist and Vietnam researcher Tine Gammeltoft from the University of Copenhagen. In a highly patriarchal society, many seek scans to determine the sex of their baby, but this is only necessary once or twice and repeated scans are due primarily to a fear of birth defects.

Gammeltoft says that, on average, a woman in Hanoi will have 6.7 scans during pregnancy – and some have more than 30. The motivations of service providers play a part, but fear of birth defects is deeply rooted in the country's recent history.

For 10 years during the Vietnam war, US troops sprayed over 11m tonnes of the herbicide Agent Orange on central and southern Vietnam to clear foliage that was providing cover for enemy soldiers. It contained the dioxin TCDD, which has persisted in the environment and in the food chain. A list of health problems has been linked to the dioxin and some experts say its impact on genetic material causes birth defects. The Vietnamese Red Cross says around 150,000 children suffered birth defects linked to the chemical.

"After the war we started to notice many couples were giving birth to deformed babies, and we were really afraid," says Hoang Xuan Thanh, 70, a retired journalist who lived in a dioxin hotspot, Quang Nam province, during the war.

In the years after the war people were too busy rebuilding their lives to think about Agent Orange, he says. Public discussion didn't gather momentum until 2004 when the Vietnamese Association for Victims of Agent Orange (Vava) filed a lawsuit against US companies for liability in causing personal injury by producing the herbicide. The case was dismissed a year later.

The practical risks of being exposed to the dioxin today are very small. The Vietnam association for public health has spent years publicising the risks of consuming potentially contaminated food and water, and teaching people how to stay safe, says Charles Bailey, director of the Washington-based Aspen Institute's Agent Orange programme in Vietnam. "This has been their consistent message over the years: don't get upset, don't be fearful, just be smart, be careful," he says.

Activists say the proliferation of certain images to highlight Agent Orange helps raise awareness of people with disabilities. However, the fear of children being born with disabilities still plagues women, Gammeltoft says, even if they know their family was not exposed to the dioxin. Vietnam has a disability rate of 6.3%, about 5.3 million people. The World Health Organisation estimates that about 15% of the world's population lives with some form of disability.

"Even though they know the risks of having a deformed child are low, they are still disturbed by the images. Even though most know this is not me, these images still create anxiety," she says. The ministry of health needs to issue guidelines on pregnancy to lessen the stress for pregnant mothers, Gammeltoft adds.

Regular scans do not appear to have adverse effects on a foetus, according to the WHO, but the increased surveillance of the pregnancy puts unnecessary stress on expectant mothers. In northern Vietnam the tradition prevails that a woman raises her status in her husband's family with the birth of a child. However, a child with a deformity can do the opposite.

"Before I had my baby my mother-in-law was never polite to me; now she's friendly," says Huong, 26, who works for a graphic design company in Hanoi and has a two-year-old son. She says she had around 10 3D scans during her pregnancy. "I kept thinking about what could go wrong, and I knew life would be so hard – so I had the scans to reassure me."

By Marianne Brown - The Guardian - April 11, 2013

Célébration des 40 ans des liens diplomatiques Vietnam-France

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:34:00 +0200

L'union des organisations d'amitié du Vietnam (UOAV) et l'Association d'amitié et de coopération Vietnam-France ont organisé mercredi à Hanoi la cérémonie des 40 ans de l'établissement des relations diplomatiques Vietnam-France.

Cet événement a été honoré par la présence, entre autres, de l'ancienne vice-présidente de la République et présidente du Fonds de la Paix et du Développement du Vietnam, Nguyên Thi Binh, du président de l'UOAV, Vu Xuân Hông, de l'ambassadeur de France au Vietnam, Jean-Noël Poirier.

S'adressant à cette manifestation, le président de l'Association d'amitié et de coopération Vietnam-France Nguyên Huy Quang a souligné que la France est le premier pays d'Europe qui a, au cours des années 1990, aidé le Vietnam à sortir de l'embargo économique occidental et à reprendre les relations avec la communauté internationale, ainsi qu'a appuyé son oeuvre de Renouveau.

Les liens entre les deux pays n'ont cessé d'être élargis et de se développer en tous domaines comme la politique, l'économie, la culture, l'éducation, la défense, l'énergie... devenant des relations exemplaires entre un pays développé de premier rang mondial et un pays en développement.

La France est pour le Vietnam un partenaire européen de premier rang avec 3,2 milliards de dollars d'échanges commerciaux en 2012 et 3,14 milliards de dollars d'investissement direct, a indiqué Nguyen Huy Quang.

Les deux pays déploient des programmes de coopération dans la construction d'infrastructures, l'énergie, le transport, les communications et l'aviation...

L'Espace de Hanoi, des centres culturels de la France à Huê et Da Nang, l'Institut d'échanges culturels avec la France à Hô Chi Minh-Ville sont depuis longtemps les destinations attrayantes des jeunes vietnamiens aimant la culture française.

Le peuple vietnamien n'oubliera jamais que le peuple français a agit avec ténacité pour aider la communauté internationale à mieux comprendre les conséquences graves pour l'homme et l'environnement de l'agent orange/dioxine répandu pendant la guerre, et mobiliser l'aide internationale en faveur des victimes.

L'ambassadeur Jean-Noël Poirier a annoncé que l'Année de la France au Vietnam a été officiellement lancée mardi avec une série d'activités organisées dans tous les domaines jusqu'en 2014.

Nguyen Huy Quang et Jean-Noël Poirier ont estimé que les relations d'amitié Vietnam-France se développaient au fil des jours au bénéfice des deux peuples, pour la paix, la prospérité dans la région et le monde.

Agence Vietnamienne d'Information - 11 avril 2013

Vietnam study finds unofficial earnings at gov’t offices

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:27:00 +0200

A study by Vietnamese government inspectors has found that many government officials earn income from "unofficial" sources.

Results from the 2012 study, undertaken with the cooperation of the World Bank and released at a recent meeting, showed that the incomes of people with government rankings and power was on the increase, thanks to "various sources," Tuoi Tre reported Sunday.

Out of nearly 2,000 surveyed officials from ten localities and five central government units, 79 percent were found to have other income besides salaries and official bonuses.

The unofficial money includes money leftover from projects, payments for attending meetings, gift money and others.

Among those earning extra money, more than 82 percent said those funds were less than half as much as their salaries while 11 percent said it was between 50-100 percent of their salary and the rest admitted to having earned up to five times more than their salaries.

“The results, though not representing the whole group of people with government rank and power in Vietnam, partly shows the reality of their income, that a high rate of government officials earn money besides salaries and those earnings are quite diverse,” the researchers wrote in a report summarizing the study.

They suggested setting up an independent system to supervise the income of government officials.

Nguyen Huu Khien, former deputy managing director of the National Academy of Public Administration, which trains government officials, told Tuoi Tre that he agreed with stricter controls because officials' incomes should be regulated and tracked to prevent “illegal enrichment.”

“The aim of controls is to stop officials from taking advantage of their rank and power to raise their income, usually in evil ways,” Khien said.

He also said unofficial earnings are hard to track and could be in the form of cash, travel expenses, favorable employment and more.

He said government officials must be forced to explain how they can afford any luxury spending, such as overseas study for their children, cars or houses.

He was making reference to a recent controversy at the Hanoi Information and Communication Department.

The department’s property listing showed Pham My Hoa, director of its transaction center, had in one year acquired three houses, a resort, 20,765 square meters of perennial plant gardens and two cars worth VND2 billion (US$95,600), local media reported over the weekend.

Deputy director of the department Nguyen Xuan Quang said Hoa had not been asked to explain the assets. He said Hoa was “transparent and sincere,” and that others should be encouraged to be more like her.

News website VnExpress on Saturday cited Hoa as saying that the assets were earned by her husband, an official at Hanoi Department of Investment and Planning, through his private businesses.

Thanh Nien News - April 9, 2013

Le Vietnam œuvre pour promouvoir les droits de l'Homme

Vietnam aujourd'hui — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:22:00 +0200

Le gouvernement vietnamien a participé activement ces dernières années aux mécanismes internationaux sur les droits de l'Homme, a estimé Praibha Mehta, coordinatrice permanente de l'ONU au Vietnam.

Elle a récemment accordé à l'Agence vietnamienne d'Information (AVI) une interview sur les efforts du Vietnam dans la protection des droits de l'Homme et l'assistance de l'ONU en la matière.

Le Vietnam a ratifié la quasi totalité des conventions internationales importantes sur les droits de l'Homme et redouble d'efforts pour que ces droits fondamentaux soient de plus en plus respectés. Le pays a soumis en 2009 au Conseil des droits de l'Homme de l'ONU son rapport national relatif à l'examen périodique universel (EPU).

L'examen périodique universel (EPU) est un mécanisme d'examen par groupe selon lequel la situation des droits de l'Homme d'un pays doit être examinée par d'autres pays. La situation du Vietnam en matière d'amélioration des droits de l'homme a été approuvée par 93 des 123 recommandations d'autres pays et le gouvernement vietnamien prépare le deuxième EPU qui aura lieu début 2014, a poursuivi Praibha Mehta.

L'ONU au Vietnam présentera un rapport d'analyse de la situation des droits de l'Homme dans le pays. Le Vietnam a amélioré sans cesse le système juridique et judiciaire, édifie un Etat de droit et renforce ses institutions relatives aux droits de l'Homme, a poursuivi l'officiel onusien.

Des attitudes actives du Vietnam ont été observées. Le pays a ainsi activement consulté les parties compétentes en ce qui concerne des projets de loi et les consultations publiques sur le projet de révision de la Constitution de 1992 est une bonne méthode pour sensibiliser et écouter l'opinion publique sur l'élaboration d'une nouvelle Constitution, a-t-elle estimé.

Le Vietnam a approuvé cinq des neuf Accords fondamentaux sur les droits de l'Homme de l'ONU. Il s'agit des engagements internationaux propres aux droits civils et politiques, aux droits économiques, sociaux et culturels à savoir la Convention sur l'élimination de toutes formes de discrimination à l'égard des femmes, la Convention sur l'élimination de toutes formes de discrimination raciale et la Convention relative aux droits de l'enfant.

Ces deux dernières années, avec des aides de l'ONU, le gouvernement vietnamien a achevé les rapports et les a adressés à quatre des cinq organes de l'ONU qui se chargent de la supervision du respect des accords internationaux.

La coopération entre le Vietnam et l'ONU est basée sur les droits de l'Homme et concrètement, l'ONU a aidé le Vietnam à mettre en oeuvre les conventions internationales via des aides techniques, le développement des capacités et le partage d'expériences tirées des succès dans le monde, selon la coordinatrice de l'ONU.

L'approbation par l'Assemblée nationale vietnamienne en juin 2012 de la loi sur le règlement des infractions administratives a marqué un progrès important en terme de protection des droits de l'Homme au Vietnam, a-t-elle estimé.

L'ONU assiste le gouvernement vietnamien dans le règlement des problèmes concernant les violences familiales et coopère avec les organes vietnamiens dans l'application des normes internationales visant à régler des problèmes judiciaires concernent les femmes, par exemple les femmes incarcérées, a ajouté la coordinatrice permanente de l'ONU.

L'ONU est en train d'assister le gouvernement vietnamien qui va approuver la Convention sur les droits des handicapés, ce pour mieux assurer leurs droits de participer à la vie socio-économique et politique, a conclu Praibha Mehta.

Agence Vietnamienne d'Information - 9 avril 2013