iPhone vs Window 7 Mobile Smartphone

You must know that iPhone is actually one of the most popular telecommunication devices in this century. Issued by one of the biggest company worldwide, Apple, and completed with some cool and sophisticated features make iPhone one of the most wanted Smartphone today. However, since Apple is starting to become recently popular, you must know that it is a kind of warn for Microsoft as the other company that is concerning in technology innovation.

Since the first time Apple becomes progressively popular, reported that Microsoft has been suffering some profit regressions. As one of the effort to switch people back to use Window Mobile Smartphone rather than Mac Smartphone, Microsoft is ditching all of their employers who are using iPhone rather than Microsoft products. Wall street journal reported that about 10% or about 10,000 Microsoft’s employers prefer to use iPhone rather than Window Mobile Phone.

The rumour related to the launch of Window 7 Mobile phone is because Microsoft is trying to hold the popularity of iPhone. So, as non Microsoft and Apple’s employers what you are going to choose then? iPhone or Window 7 Mobile Phone. Well, the fact is those two companies are already proven to be reliable in providing Smartphone solution but everything is back to the market tendency and trend, and today trend shows that iPhone is the most popular Smartphone.

http://www.mobiletopsoft.com/board/7287/10-of-microsoft-employees-rumored-to-be-iphone-owners.html

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A taste of savory southern food in Ha Noi

The south of Viet Nam is blessed by nature with many bountiful waterways, and from these sources, generations have developed numerous natural, tasty dishes. I had the opportunity to go to a special restaurant that serves traditional southern food in Ha Noi, where I met its owner, Tran Chien Thang. After spending five minutes with him, I realised that the restaurateur lives and breathes his work.
Located on 42 Tang Bat Ho Street in Hai Ba Trung District, Vuon Nam Bo (Southern Garden) Restaurant is located in an old French villa decorated in the southeastern style. The second floor has a coconut leaf roof and bamboo lamps and is a lively venue for meeting, chatting or simply enjoying the atmosphere. In addition, there are four private rooms for people who prefer a more intimate setting.
Apart from the beautiful space and style of this restaurant, the varied and unique food makes it easy to distinguish from others.
In my opinion, one of the highlights of the menu is duong cha la, a type of larva which only lives inside the wild date palm's trunk found in saline areas. In the past, the people used to present duong dua nuong than - Grilled duong dua on charcoal, to the Nguyen kings who enjoyed the dish with steamed glutinous rice. At first, we were all too scared to try the delicacy but after I'd eventually plucked up the courage to pop one of the tasty morsels into my mouth, I was hooked. The duong are usually served with fish sauce and can be eaten grilled or, for the more adventurous, raw.
The preparation is a vital component of the process, but the taste of the dish is the most important factor, and this comes down to the ability of the chefs. The head chef hails from the south and has spent more than ten years researching and exploring the tastes of northern people, especially Hanoians.
Southern food is diverse and this is reflected by the wide variety of seafood and vegetable dishes on offer. The restaurant also sources fresh food from the southwest of the country, so you can enjoy vegetables native to that area. A good example is the giang leaf which can be used instead of the northern sau fruit in luon om la giang (eel stew) deep fried eel hot pot. Another speciality dish of Southern Garden is the "forest vegetables" that are simply delicious when dipped in kho quet sauce. The steamed vegetables were served in an earthen pot and the waitress told us the secret to the sauce. It is made from fish sauce, boiled down with both lean and fatty meat, creating a wonderful accompaniment to any meal.
On demand: Duong cha la - is a popular dish at the Southern Garden.
However, possibly the piece de resistance was the "Ca loc hap bau," a steamed snakehead fish, served inside a gourd. The fish is boiled in a spicy stock with the gourd flesh, giving it a sweet, fragrant flavour. The tender, delicate mix is then dished up in the gourd shell, which makes for a delicious, eye-catching treat.
Thang says: "Besides delicious and natural food, there is a special wine from the south called sim wine. Enjoying southern food followed by sim wine is a necessity. Many customers order it instead of foreign wine." Sim wine is a speciality of Phu Quoc Island, where Myrtle fruit absorb the island's sweet waters, giving the wine it's unique flavour. The wine is sweet so it's easy to drink but its also strong so I felt a little drunk after two glasses.
I have waited a long time to try southern food in Ha Noi and this experience didn't disappoint. The tasty food and attractive decor paired with the enthusiastic, good-looking staff combined to make a truly excellent dining experience. VNS
------------Vietnamnews---------

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City child welfare foundation helps homeless children

City child welfare foundation helps homeless children

by Gia Loc



HCM CITY — Tran Van Quyen is unlikely to have dreamed he would one day become the executive chef of a three-star hotel on Phu Quoc Island as he did recently.

Especially during the period he was homeless and spent a fortnight on the streets.

His parents divorced when he was six months old and his mother left him with his grandmother in Hung Yen Province.

A few years later she returned to take him to live with her and her new husband in Gia Lai Province. He was ill-treated by his stepfather and forced to pick bamboo shoots in the forest every day.

"When I was 15, I decided to … escape my stepfather's ill-treatment," he said.

He took a bus to HCM City. But without money or shelter, he lived on the streets and slept in parks at night, and was constantly chased away by the police.

Two weeks later, his life changed permanently when, upon the advice of some people living near the parks he slept in, he went to the HCM City Child Welfare Foundation's Tre Xanh Shelter in District 1.

The shelter's manager, Do Thi Bach Phat, asked him to provide information about his family.

"The manager said they would take me to my family, but I did not want and begged her to allow me to stay."

She relented and Tran Kim Tuyen, a counsellor at the shelter, convinced him to take the entrance test at the HCM City Hospitality School. He got through and the school even waived his fees.

The shelter helped him do the necessary papers and paid for his uniform and health check-up.

"Through the year-long course, Tuyen encouraged me to study hard and make my dream come true," he said.

After he graduated, she helped him find a job at the Phu Quoc Charm Hotel where now, at 21, he has become the executive chef.

"Everything I have now is thanks to the shelter manager and counsellor's help and love," he said.

Quyen is one of more than 300,000 people who have received succour from the HCM City Child Welfare Foundation in the 20-odd years since it was set up in 1988.

"The foundation's objectives are to protect, educate and take care of disadvantaged and homeless children and young people and enable them to have a safe and happy life," Luong Thi Thuan, its chairwoman, said.

The foundation had so far carried out 70 projects and co-operated with city authorities to provide education to disadvantaged, homeless, sexually abused and HIV-positive children and youths and find jobs for them, she said.

It has also collaborated with the city's Child Protection and Care Committee to raise and educate children with disabilities.

It has set up the Tre Xanh (Green Bamboo), Hoa Hong Nho (Small Rose) and Hoi Nhap (Integration) shelters.

This year it has some more new projects on the cards and is looking for sponsors.

One of them is a programme to take care of disadvantaged children and those suffering from dangerous illness at hospitals during Tet (the lunar New Year). — VNS

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More kids suffer mental illness

Children play sport and use different skills to keep them mentally and physically well.—VNA/VNS Photo The Anh

Children play sport and use different skills to keep them mentally and physically well.—VNA/VNS Photo The Anh
HCM CITY — More and more children and teenagers are being brought to hospitals in HCM City with mental disorders caused by parental pressure to perform well at school and other family-related stress factors, according to doctors.

The HCM City Mental Hospital receives nearly 1,000 such children suffering every month.

Asst Prof Dr Nguyen Hoi Loan of the Ha Noi Social Sciences and Humanities University said children's mental disorders were caused by the heavy academic workload, especially at the secondary and high-school levels, and teachers forcing them to cram.

Do Thi Le Hang of the Institute of Psychology said studying without a break to relax also caused stress and made them susceptible to mental disorders.

The pressure became even more severe to get through university entrance exams, she said.

Other factors that make the children vulnerable to mental disorders are their parents getting divorced and quarrelling with each other.

Mental disorders were also a cause of suicide among children and teenagers, doctors said.

On February 17, Pediatric Hospital No 1's Emergency and Recovery Ward received a 13-year-old patient who was in serious condition after consuming eight painkillers.

The patient, who recovered two days later, said he had been distraught and took the pills on his friend's advice.

The HCM City Pediatric Hospital No 1 and 2 admit 40-60 children who attempt suicide every year.

Dr Thai Thanh Thuy, head of the psychiatry ward at Pediatric Hospital No 2, said most parents failed to find out their children's mental disorder in time or treat it.

Meanwhile, there were 35 suicide cases, mostly among youngsters, in Vinh Long and Quang Tri provinces and Can Tho, Da Nang and Ha Noi cities from February 13 to 23, initial reports from the hospitals said.

Vinh Long Province's General Hospital and Can Tho City's General Hospital dealt with 31 cases. Most of the suicide cases were young people who had used pesticides to kill themselves. Reasons given for their actions included gambling losses and relationship issues.

A 20-year-old man killed himself by jumping into Hieu River in Quang Tri Province on February 21.

Two days later, a 11th grade student committed suicide by jumping off a bridge in the province. On the same day, a young girl committed suicide by jumping into the Hong (Red) River in Ha Noi.

Doctor of Psychology Nguyen Kim Quy said people from 13 to 20 years old often adopted a psychological trait called "self-mortification" when overcoming troubles or disappointment in their lives; the highest form of which is killing themselves.

"Young people in part lack skills to face and cope with failures and difficulties life throws at us," she said.

"If they are equipped with adequate living skills, they should be able to find an alternative solution which will not end up with them hurting themselves." — VNS

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English teachers learn new methods

English teachers learn new methods

by Gia Loc

Fifth grade students of Trieu Thi Trinh Primary School sing along with their English teacher. Singing English songs is part of new teaching techniques that get students more interested in learning English. — VNS Photo Gia Loc

Fifth grade students of Trieu Thi Trinh Primary School sing along with their English teacher. Singing English songs is part of new teaching techniques that get students more interested in learning English. — VNS Photo Gia Loc
HCM CITY — With simple English songs and chants, Huynh Thi To Anh, an English teacher at the Trieu Thi Trinh Primary School in District 10, is able to control her class and stop her students from being noisy and unruly.

Anh said she has become more effective in class after completing a training course held last August.

The training course was held by the Department of Education and Training (MoET) in co-operation with the Regional English Language Office, the US Consulate General's office and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation in Viet Nam.

After the course, 35 teachers who attended the training course shared the techniques and skills with other teachers who were not be able to attend it.

Anh said her students were now more interested in learning English and having more fun doing so.

"Even their responses in English come faster," she said and adding they were speaking to each other in English during their lessons.

Vu Ngoc Thien Kim, a fifth grader at the Trieu Thi Trinh school, said, "I have a lot of fun at the English class" because she can play games, dance and sing. Kim even goes around the class to practise English speaking with her classmates.

Nguyen Quoc Dat, Kim's classmate, said that he likes his teacher's games and even enjoys the tests after the lessons.

Nguyen Ho Thuy Anh, an English specialist with HCM City's Education and Training Department, said she also found the training course helpful.

"Learning how to control class and get pupils' attention is very important," she said.

She said that HCM City's Department of Education and Training have encouraged English teachers to use simple songs on animal, human body's parts or other things to teach since 2005.

And, songs and chants also help teachers control class effectively, Anh said, adding that 355 English teachers have been trained in this methods so far.

The use of songs and poems is a good method that helps pupils learn the language comfortably and easily, she said, noting it was very popular in other countries and has been applied in some schools in HCM City over that last few months.

Last week, the Ministry of Education and Training continued to co-operate with concerned US agencies and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education organization in Viet Nam to open more training courses for teachers in 11 localities.

These included Ha Noi, HCM City, Hai Phong, Thai Binh, Khanh Hoa, An Giang, Binh Duong and Da Nang.

Teaching English to primary students is very different from secondary or high school students, thus training teachers at primary schools needs careful attention, said John A. Scacco, Regional English Language Officer at the US embassy in Bangkok.

Joan Kang Shin of the University of Maryland added that the age of students learning English in Asia was constantly getting lower. Most countries in Asia teach English from the third grade onwards and Lao will introduce English classes in the first grade next year, she said.

English has been taught as an elective subject at primary schools throughout Viet Nam since 1996 and will be compulsory subject this year onward.

Shin said that teaching English to primary school students was difficult because they were very energetic and had short attention spans, so teachers needed to have several different activities to attract pupils.

Dr Joann (Jodi) Crandall, Shin's colleague, said that the methods that have been used by many schools in Viet Nam were "not just for teaching primary pupil."

They were using teaching methods suited for students at higher level, so the teaching was not very effective, she said. English teachers at primary level have to be trained in teaching methods suitable to primary school pupils. These methods would make pupils make the pupils act a lot, and the learning process becomes less boring, she said.

Anh agree with Crandall and added that the department was creating more opportunities for English teachers in primary schools to attend the training courses.

Shin said simple games, songs, chants, poems and stories would teach children other things besides vocabulary and grammar. They would help pupils remember more easily what they are taught in class and to relax, she said.

She commended the curricula and textbooks compiled by the Ministry of Education and Training as very good and suitable for primary school pupils, but teachers need to know how to use these effectively, she said.

Moreover, the teachers' creativity is also important because they have to apply what they ‘ve learnt in the training courses to suit different age groups, she added.

Crandall said "if they (the teachers) have good and interesting English teaching methods, the of classes will not matter."

With a large-d class, they can divide the students into small groups and assign each group different activities, helping them focus better while teachers can pay more attention to each group, she said. — VNS
(Vietnamnews)

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Bundesliga 1 club to play friendlies in Vietnam

Germany’s Bundesliga I club Eintracht Frankfurt will play two friendly matches with Vietnam’s national football team and a top-tier V-League club in May, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) said on Wednesday.

The German top-tier club will play the national team at My Dinh Stadium on May 12 before flying south to play a southern V-League club at Ho Chi Minh City’s Thong Nhat Stadium four days later, VFF said.

VFF has not chosen a V-League club in the south but it could be V-League champs Da Nang, runners-up Binh Duong or Navibank Saigon.

The friendly matches are being organized to mark the 35th anniversary of establishing ties between Vietnam and Germany, VFF said.

Authorities of the German state of Hassen met with Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and VFF to arrange the friendlies.

VFF said it would finance the German club’s trip to Vietnam for the friendly matches.

Eintracht Frankfurt was established in 1899 and currently holds eighth place in the Bundesliga I.
Reported by Lan Phuong

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Aussie footy heroes join Vietnam Swans for coaching clinic

There is a buzz among Aussie footy fans in Saigon, as two famous AFL footballers will be in Ho Chi Minh City on the weekend for a football coaching clinic for kids.

For football fans it’s rare to meet legendary players, let alone have a kick with them - so the Australian Rules football club here in Vietnam, the Vietnam Swans, has rallied to make the visit of Nathan Buckley from the Collingwood club and Gary O’Donnell from Essendon a memorable one.

“As an Aussie Rules Club, the Vietnam Swans are very pleased and proud that these two players can join us for a footy clinic,” the Vietnam Swans national president, Phil Johns said.

“For our guys, it's a chance to see these guys up close and to get to talk to them; to get an insight into how elite athletes think and what makes them different to the rest of us,” Johns said.

All of the Australian kids, who will be coming to the coaching clinic held this Sunday afternoon at 5pm at the RMIT fields, will be awe-inspired to meet footy heroes like Buckley and O’Donnell.

A lot of kids from International schools will be there, but there’s going to be at least 20 Vietnamese kids at the clinic who don’t know what AFL (Australian Football League) is let alone who Buckley and O’Donnell are. In fact they have probably never seen an AFL football before.

Johns said the club had decided to make the coaching clinic into a community event by inviting disadvantaged children from a local NGO called KOTO.

KOTO is run by a well known Australian Overseas Vietnamese, Jimmy Pham, who has some Australian helpers working with him, that are also keen to meet the two footy legends.

Johns, who expects about 100 people to come, said it would not be the first time that the club has held a coaching clinic for Vietnamese.

Recently at the Big Day Out the club held a coaching clinic and Johns said the Vietnamese had a lot of fun learning how to kick and handball the unusual shaped Australian football.

“The attendance of these two famous Australians also gives our Club a key event which enriches our history significantly,” the Vietnam Swans president said.

“It's going to be a great weekend and again, everyone is very welcome to come out, with your children, to participate in this footy clinic,” Johns said.

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V-League round ends in violence, coach sacked

Hai Phong Cement goalie Quang Huy (R) and defender Aniekan (L) in a fight after their V-League 4th round match

Vietnam’s top-flight football league closed last weekend with a fight between two Hai Phong teammates and the sudden sacking of Ninh Binh’s head coach.

After talk of tough measures, the Hai Phong Cement Football Club has taken lenient measures against two players for having attacked each other after a 2-2 draw against Vissai Ninh Binh on Sunday.

No suspension was issued against goalie Quang Huy and defender Aniekan, but each player was docked half of his monthly salary for the off-field fight.

Hai Phong Cement FC said this was an “appropriate” measure because there was timely intervention to prevent more serious consequences, The Thao & Van Hoa Newspaper on Thursday cited a club report to the organizing board of V-League as saying.

Quang Huy’s monthly salary is nearly VND30 million (US$1,600) and Aniekan’s is about $7,000.

In its report, Hai Phong also suggested V-League organizers let it handle the case instead of the organizing board’s disciplinary body, but the proposal was rejected.

The fight between Quang Huy and Aniekan broke out at the Ninh Binh Stadium a few minutes after the match. Goalie Quang Huy reportedly started the fight after defender Aniekan, irked at a reproachful gesture against him for failing to block Ninh Binh striker Gustavo’s shot in the final minutes to level the scores at 2-2.

“Both players were unhappy after the scores were equaled in the final minute. But they should restrain themselves no matter what. Especially when Huy is also a national player,” said Nguyen Huu Bang, deputy head of V-League organizing board, who witnessed the incident.

After the incident, Hai Phong head coach Vuong Tien Dung had said: “Their shameful behavior has sullied the club’s image. Hai Phong Cement will issue strict measures against both.”

Nguyen Hai Huong, head of V-League’s disciplinary section, also said there would be strict measures against the, noting that the “rules don’t allow any fight among footballers, including those of the same team.”

In another incident in the same match, Ninh Binh’s Rafael was substituted soon after he almost scored an unexpected goal for his team. He was immediately involved in a quarrel with the team’s Singaporean coach Lim Lee Huat.

Ninh Binh’s Mangaging Director Tran Tien Dai had to stop the quarrel and both Rafael and Huat were later fined an unspecified amount by the club.

Agent becomes coach

After the match, Vissai Ninh Binh FC announced it was sacking head coach Huat and assigning managing director Dai, a well-known football agent, to hold the position temporarily.

“I used to trust in Coach Lim but all my expectations were broken,” said Ninh Binh chairman Hoang Manh Tuong.

“Ninh Binh played without any sharp tactics and was too weak at the midfield. Each player played on his own (without passing). The loss to Dong Thap int the 3^rd round and the draw with Hai Phong were the result of serious tactical mistakes.

“We have spent a lot of money to buy good players but Lim’s coaching has been no different than spoiling the team. The players have complained to me that Lim’s coaching was ineffective and exhausting and he often yelled at them unreasonably.

“It could be too late if we don’t let him go now,” he said.

Truong convened a meeting at 1:30am on March 9 and assigned Dai to be the acting head coach. Earlier at the meeting, the club mulled assigning the task to former national player Hong Son or assistant coach Pham Nhu Thuan.

Dai, who is more famous as a football agent than as a coach, said he had no choice but to accept the role.

“The club chairman asked me to find a coach but it was extremely hard to find one out right away,” said Dai, who had introduced coach Huat to the club.

“I will temporarily instruct the team in the coming rounds and can only think [about a new coach] later. I used to be an assistant coach for the national U-20 team but it was several years ago. Now I am only accustomed to the job of a football agent,” he said.

Dai also said he was negotiating with a Brazilian physical training coach for Ninh Binh and that the club had assigned Huat to coach the club’s younger team.

Source: Thanh Nien, Agencies

Story from Thanh Nien News

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Bauxite project owner pledges strict workers management

Construction at Tan Rai Bauxite Project in Lam Dong Province

The investor of Vietnam’s second alumina plant has pledged to better manage foreign workers to make sure it does not repeat an episode in which illegal laborers were found at the first one last year.

“We will manage them under a foreign worker management regulation issued [by the company] recently,” said Bui Quang Tien, general director of Nhan Co Alumina Joint Stock Company, which broke ground on the plant in the Central Highlands on February 28.

He said there were an estimated 600-700 Chinese laborers working for Chinese contractor China Aluminum International Engineering Co. (Chalieco) at the site.

He also said the company was not overly concerned with the foreign worker issue. “We have learned from the experiences at Tan Rai [the other plant] where foreign workers had not been well managed right from the beginning,” he added.

Tien was referring to the illegal Chinese workers found last year at Tan Rai Alumina Plant in Lam Dong Province.

Tuoi Tre newspaper reported that Lam Dong Province planned to fine six Chinese contractors who were partners with Chalieco in the construction of the alumina plant in Tan Rai in the Central Highlands.

There were 570 Chinese working for six Chinese contractors at the Tan Rai project.

However, the contractors had made only 250 applications for work permits for foreign workers with local authorities.

Uncertainty

Experts have also raised concerns that the red mud generated by extracting the alumina from the bauxite ore would pollute the local environment.

When asked about the issue by Tuoi Tre, Tien said the red mud would be dumped in a 100-hectare valley. He admitted that the landfill site would not be totally safe.

The bauxite mine in Nhan Co in Dak Nong Province has 270 million tons of reserves. Bauxite is refined into alumina, which is then smelted into aluminum metal.

The state-run Vietnam National Coal and Minerals Industries Group said last year it expected its first mine in Lam Dong Province to start production as early as August this year and produce 650,000 tons of alumina annually by late 2011.

Vietnam has 5.4 billion tons of bauxite reserves, the world’s largest after Guinea and Australia, according to a US Geological Survey report published last year.

Source: Thanh Nien, Agencies

Story from Thanh Nien News

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Workers quit factories for more cushy jobs, labor shortage ensues

Three women wait for an ATM near a recruitment poster in Hanoi that says 'urgent recruitment for female workers.'

After the Tet holidays, Tran Thi Phuong from northern Nam Dinh Province did not return to the Hanoi-based garment firm where she had worked for several years.

The 28-year-old woman has found a new job at a mobile phone shop in the capital.

“I have to work more hours every day but my income is higher and the work is less hard,” she said.

Phuong is one of many migrant workers who did not return to their jobs in big cities after Tet (Lunar New Year) and instead sought jobs in their hometowns or simply better conditions and salaries with other employers in the city.

At Truong Kieu Company, a machine producer in Hanoi, just over half of its employees have returned since Tet.

“I am not sure whether the workers have given up their jobs or not. However, we are very worried about the current number of workers. The employee shortage may slash our production progress,” said company director Truong Van Thong.

Like Truong Kieu, many firms in the city now face a scarcity of workers, especially manual laborers. They are intensely recruiting workers, and in Hanoi’s industrial parks, job vacancy announcements are posted everywhere – on company gates, trees and electric poles – but most have gone unanswered.

Most of the enterprises want to employ people, mainly females, for work in factories that produce garments, woodwork, footwear, steel and electronic products. At the Thang Long Industrial Park, which houses mostly foreign-invested firms, some 20 enterprises have announced new recruitment campaigns seeking hundreds of employees each.

A staff member at the Hanoi Industrial Parks and Processing Zones Management Board said firms in the industrial parks need to employ some 10,000 laborers this year. But the staff member, who wished to go unnamed, was not optimistic about the possibility of meeting the demand.

The situation is the same in Dong Nai Province, which neighbors Ho Chi Minh City. Lam Duy Tin, vice director of the province’s Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, said firms in his locality have not fully reported the number of workers giving up their jobs after Tet, nor have they released information on their post-Tet manpower needs.

He said some laborers from the central province of Quang Ngai did not return to firms in Dong Nai, and instead had sought new jobs near home at the Dung Quat Economic Zone, where the Dung Quat Oil Refinery is based. He also said workers from the north-central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh had gone to Laos to work with hopes of higher incomes.

The resignations have made garment, footwear, and electronic companies struggle for workers even as they receive rising numbers of orders after Tet.

According to the [Dong Nai] province’s Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, firms in the locality need some 70,000 new employees this year, 75 percent of them for garment and footwear enterprises.

Dang Thanh Quang, head of the Labor Office at Bac Ninh Province’s Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, said most laborers at Bac Ninh firms were local residents, or those coming from neighboring provinces, so companies there had not lost so many workers to jobs elsewhere.

However, laborers often leave for other jobs with higher salaries at the province’s many craft villages and bigger manufacturers are thus still facing a labor shortage. Many firms need to hire thousands of laborers, Quang said.

Enterprises have lowered their employment requirements in an effort to recruit, he said. “Workers only need to have graduated junior high school, instead of high school as before.”

However, the most important factor in attracting employees is a proper salary, said Quang.

Nguyen Dinh Trong from Hanoi’s Ha Dong District has just given up his job at a construction firm. “Nobody wants to change jobs frequently. However, the most important thing to workers like me is the income. I will keep working only if the salary is enough to live on,” he said.

“However, many firms do not want to raise salaries even though prices are increasing.”

Reported by Bao Van

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Vietnam money: rates ease on ample funds, bank competition

Vietnamese dong lending rates softened over the past week as banks competed to lure borrowers and fund surpluses grew, bankers said.

On Monday, the overnight rate had dropped to 7.25 percent from 7.35 percent a week ago and the six-month rate had fallen to 11.85 percent from 11.98 percent, Reuters data on fixings of interbank offered rates showed.

Rates were also lower on loans from two weeks to three months, while nine-month and 12-month rates remained unchanged.

Ample funds at banks began stimulating lending this month, Monday's Tuoi Tre newspaper cited a central bank report as saying.

The newspaper, run by Ho Chi Minh City's branch of the Communist Youth League, quoted Asia Commercial Bank Chief Executive Ly Xuan Hai as saying Vietnam's fifth-largest lender by assets had a surplus of VND30 trillion ($1.57 billion).

He said ACB could offer competitive, negotiable rates for medium- and long-term loans at 15-16.5 percent, below the 17-18 percent rates available on the market but still beyond what bankers said businesses could afford.

In late February, the central bank widened the scope of bank loans that could be offered at negotiable interest rates to include areas such as production, business, services and investment for development.

Previously, all loan rates were capped at 1.5 times the central bank's benchmark base rate, which has been at 8 percent since the start of December.

Several bankers and economists have urged banking authorities to scrap the base rate to help banks expand loans and fuel economic growth.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said the current interest rate policy was hindering business development.

"The interest rate must ensure that banks mobilize money and lend to enterprises more easily," Dung was quoted by the Monday edition of the official Vietnam Investment Review weekly as telling a business meeting last week in Hanoi.

He urged the central bank to collect business recommendations to change its rate policy, while continuing to ensure high inflation will not return, the weekly said.

The central bank should maintain a flexible policy on interest rates that is based on market mechanisms, economist Vu Dinh Anh, from the Finance Ministry-run Institute for Price and Market Science Studies, wrote in a note.

In 2010 the central bank should still "use the base rate as a decisive tool to control overall credit, the banking credit market and the interbank market", Anh said in the note published by the daily Nhan Dan on Monday.

Source: Reuters

Story from Thanh Nien News

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ANZ seeks buyer for 10 pct stake in Vietnam bank

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd is looking for a buyer for its 10 percent stake in Vietnam's Sacombank, an executive at the Vietnamese bank said, becoming the first foreign bank to sell its stake in a domestic lender.

The move follows ANZ's Vietnamese unit obtaining permission to operate as a fully foreign-owned bank in October 2008. ANZ is one of 10 foreign banks to have bought shares in Vietnamese lenders.

Sacombank has worked with ANZ on the issue, the Vietnamese bank's chairman Dang Van Thanh said in a statement issued after its annual shareholder meeting on Monday. He added that ANZ was looking for a buyer for its stake.

Thanh did not say who might buy the stake, but local media reported that a Singaporean bank could be picked, though it did not mention names.

United Overseas Bank holds 15 percent of Phuong Nam Bank, and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd owns 15 percent of VPBank.

Shareholders approved Sacombank's targets for this year to raise total assets by almost half to VND146 trillion ($7.65 billion), registered capital by 37 percent to VND9.18 trillion and annual gross profit by 26 percent to VND2.4 trillion.

Sacombank, also known as Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank, has also targeted annual credit growth of 45 percent to around VND87 trillion and aims to increase deposits by 50 percent to VND129 trillion.

Sacombank has said its gross profit jumped 35 percent to $15.7 million in the first two months of this year.

Source: Reuters

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