Vietnam Overseas

(12-09-2009)

HCM CITY — Viet Nam’s fashion, cuisine and culture will have a 10-year showcase on international style channel Fashion TV, under a VND1 trillion (US$56 million) contract signed by dye and garment producer Viet Thang Jean Trading-Production Co. Ltd.

Under the agreement, about seven hours per day of programming produced by Viet Thang Jean about Viet Nam will appear on FTV in Indochina, 30 minutes of programming a day elsewhere in Asia and 10 minutes a day in other places around the world.

Additionally, for the FTV channel airing in this country, Viet Thang Jean will help “Vietnamise” the standard programming, by adding, for example, Vietnamese translations, beginning in mid-October.

Viet Thang Jean hopes the deal will bring it, and Viet Nam, cost-effective publicity.

“In my opinion, buying blocks of time on a channel costs less in comparison with other kinds of advertising,” said Pham Van Viet, director of Viet Thang Jean.

“Especially, we can make a fantasy mix of programming that we want to popularise within a time limit.”

“We will combine fashion, cuisine and tourism of Viet Nam in our programmes, which will give audiences around the world wider and deeper knowledge about Viet Nam,” said Viet, who plans to expand foreign viewers’ knowledge of Vietnamse food beyond pho and of Vietnamese fashion beyond the ao dai (traditional dress).

Founded in France in 1997 by its president Michel Adam Lisowski, Fashion TV has become one of the most widely-distributed satellite channels in the world, on 31 satellite and 2,000 cable systems broadcating to a total of 300 million households in 202 countries and territories across the five continents. — VNS

(15-10-2009)

HCM CITY — About 500 members of the Viet Nam Youth Federation’s HCM City chapter reviewed the assistance provided by the association to youths in the past five years at a two-day conference that began yesterday.

It has lent VND243 billion (US$13.5 million) to young people to start businesses, provided jobs to more than 145,000 youths, including 9,000 in rural areas, and vocational training to more than 10,000 people, Nguyen Tri Quang, deputy head of the city chapter, told the media.

During the conference, being held at the Military Theatre, delegates will evaluate results of six campaigns and activities initiated during the last conference five years ago and also discuss programs and campaigns for the next five year term (2009-14).

Bui Ta Hoang Vu, head of the federation, pledged that during the next term more than 150,000 young people would be provided jobs and 700,000 would get soft loans worth VND200 billion.

Before attending the second day of the meeting, the delegates will place flowers at the statue of President Ho Chi Minh in front of People’s Committee office.

A cultural festival night is scheduled tonight to introduce the new office, commemorate the 95th birthday of Ly Tu Trong, the first ever Communist Youth Union member, and youngsters with outstanding achievements.

There are half million members in the city, with the youngest being 16 years old and the oldest, 52. — VNS

(27-11-2009)

HCM CITY — Twenty-nine Vietnamese filmmakers have submitted entries to the 16th Viet Nam Film Festival hoping to snatch the golden prizes this year.

The December 8-12 festival will be held in HCM City for the third time in 26 years, with the first one held in the city in 1977 and the second in 1983. There are a total of 99 films in all categories including feature films, documentaries and cartoons made during 2007 and 2009.

Besides 1,000 Vietnamese film industry delegates, at least eight countries including China, South Korea, US, Finland, Japan, Russia, Laos and Cambodia will be represented with several non-competitive entries being screened during the five-day festival.

The festival will feature screenings of foreign films followed by talks by the film makers and workshops on how to get funding. The festival is an important preparation for the nation’s first international film festival to be held on September 2010 in Ha Noi.

Le Ngoc Minh, deputy head of the Cinematography Department under the culture, sports and tourism ministry, said despite having slightly less entries than previous years, the films’ general quality has improved.

There is less of a distinction between movies made be State-owned companies and private filmmakers with more cartoons and films made from new technologies than other festivals. Also the range of topics has increased, Minh said.

There will be a golden prize for each film category, plus a prize for audience and critics’ favorite.

Filmmakers will showcase their favorite works or filmmaking technologies at a cinematography fair being held during the five days, with displays showing the development of the industry of Viet Nam.

A day prior to the official opening ceremony, there will be a music program at Hoa Binh Theatre, with performances of songs from popular Vietnamese movie soundtracks. The music program, opening and closing ceremonies will be broadcast live on HCM City’s Television. — VNS

(29-10-2009)

HA NOI — A crackdown on labor recruitment offices has been ordered to root out unlicensed operators who are cheating job seekers out of money.

Deputy Director of the city’s Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Department Do Thi Xuan Phuong said the order came from the local People’s Committee and followed reports that there were more than 800 so-called recruitment centers operating in the city, but only 26 were licensed.

The committee was told that many of the illegal offices were operating without trained staff, yet they were advertising their services and were charging job seekers high fees when it was supposed to be the employer who paid the fees.

“Also, inadequate knowledge of recruitment procedures leads to other violations,” Phuong said.

One such claim of a rip-off by an unlicensed office, came from Nguyen Nhu Hang, a second year student, who said she had been cheated out of VND300,000 (US$17) by a recruitment centre.

She had paid the boss the money as a deposit for a receptionist job, working for the centre itself.

“The job is to pay VND900,000 ($50) a month for three working hours a day,” Hang said. “The boss told me the deposit would be returned after three months.

“I accepted the job without considering the contract carefully. The terms were that I had to introduce three other people to work for the recruitment centre and I would get the salary.

“However, after one month I never introduced anyone. I didn’t want to cheat others. I received no salary and I had to leave the job and lose the deposit.”

Hang admitted it was partly her fault for not reading the labor contract carefully. However, she said, paying a deposit for a job was not regulated by law.

In a bid to prevent similar fraud, the municipal leaders asked the labor department to require all centers to apply for a license from concerned authorities.

“We have sent lists of the 26 licensed businesses and centers to all districts so they can identify the unlicensed ones,” Phuong said.

First-time violators would be ordered to remove their signs and register within 15 days or face a fine of VND5-10 million ($275-550). Centers that cheated job seekers would be fined VND10-15 million ($550-880).

A list and information on legal recruitment centers would be published twice a year.

In addition, employment information and promotion would be publicized for job seekers on the new website www.vieclamhanoi.net.

She said the city has rushed to upgrade recruitment centers in districts including Thanh Tri, Soc Son, Long Bien, Son Tay and Hoai Duc.

“However, job seekers should increase their knowledge to avoid being swindled by illegal operators.” — VNS