Hanoi (VNA) –The national radio, Voice of Vietnam (VOV), on Sept. 7, officially launched its television broadcast (VOVTV).

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan and Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Information and Education Commission To Huy Rua were present at the launching ceremony.

The kick-start of VOVTV channel was seen as a breakthrough of the VOV to celebrate its 63 rd founding anniversary (Sept.7), conforming with the national comprehensive renewal process.

VOVTV will provide the people with information on current events at home and abroad and Party and State policies. It also runs programmes covering the people’s life and desires besides music, literature, arts and socio-economic insight.

Phnom Penh (VNA)- Cambodian trade volume topped over 5.6 billion USD in the first semester of 2008, according to a recent report released by the National Bank of Cambodia.

Cambodia’s export turnover reached over 2.4 billion USD in the first half of 2008, up 448.4 million USD compared with the same period last year, the report said.

Meanwhile, the country spent over 3.2 billion USD for imports, an increase of more than 583.9 million USD as compared with the same period of 2007, it said.

Cambodia’s main exports are garment and textile, fish, rice, and furniture. The country imports gasoline, household goods, electronics, and construction materials. –Enditem

HCM City (VNA) –Recyclable plastics can help Vietnam ’s plastic industry reduce production costs, improve competitiveness and thus increase exports, according to industry insiders.

Ho Duc Lam, vice president of the Vietnam Plastics Association, said at a seminar on August 29 in Ho Chi Minh City that the industry had to import a large proportion of raw plastic materials, around 1.7 million tonnes, as well as additives, costing 2.5 million USD per annum. The current domestic market can only supply 300,000 tonnes.

However, if recyclable plastics subtitude between 35 and 50 percent of raw materials, the country would save an import value of almost 1 billion USD and further increase sales abroad as well, he said.

HCM City (VNA) – The average salary in Vietnam has risen by 19.5 percent, the biggest increase in the last five years, according to preliminary results of the Vietnam Salary Survey 2008 by job recruiter Navigos Group.

The results of this Vietnam Salary Survey 2008 were based on the analysis of data submitted by more than 180 companies representing 15 major industrie such as manufacturing, finance, IT, construction and engineering, hospitality and tourism, and pharmaceuticals, from April 2007 to March 2008.

The final salary report will reveal the critical and more specific findings regarding gross salaries, net salaries, bonuses, allowances and benefits for hundreds of positions in 75 job categories, said Lia Abella, the group’s project manager.

HCM City (VNA) –Global credit card provider Visa last Friday released figures showing that Vietnam’s spending last year was about 92.98 billion USD, an increase of 15.4 percent over 2006.

The figures were based on updated data on annual commercial spending using Visa’s Commercial Consumption Expenditure (CCE) index.

The CCE index provides standardised tracking of business and government spending globally and is recognised as an industry benchmark for measuring commercial spending.

The index also showed that annual commercial spending in other Asia Pacific nations grew to an estimated 18.9 trillion USD in 2007, an increase of 13 percent on 2006 figures.

Hanoi (VNA) –The Government will carry out a poverty reduction project at 61 districts throughout the country which register a poverty rate of over 50 percent.

Under the project, which will be carried out between 2009 and 2020, specific mechanism and policies will be introduced to help accelerate poverty reduction and ensure that it is maintained in a sustainable manner at the above-mentioned localities.

The poor districts will receive financial assistance to improve their infrastructure, education-training and health care systems in addition to re-planning their residential areas to help reduce human and property losses from natural disasters.

Binh Duong (VNA) –The first part of a 450 ha tourist site, the largest in Vietnam , will be inaugurated in southern Binh Duong province on Sept. 11.

The construction of the Dai Nam tourist site was started nearly 10 years ago by the Dai Nam joint stock company. The project is estimated to cost more than 3,000 billion VND.

Major facilities of the project, including the Dai Nam Van Hien temple, an entertainment area, a zoo, a trading area, a hotel and restaurants are located on a 261 ha area.

The facilities were all built in the Vietnamese style, aiming to preserve the Vietnamese identities.-Enditem

HA NOI — Although the peak season of electricity consumption has passed, the crisis remains.

"The estimated shortage of electricity is from 800 MW to 1,800 MW each day because the entire system’s usable electricity is about 10,200 MW while demand is from 11,000 to 12,000 WM," an Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) official said.

"The shortage is extremely severe during the morning peak hours, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and afternoon peak hours, from 6 PM to 9 PM And both cities and the countryside are at risk of power ourtages," he added.

"The current electricity shortage isn’t as serious as it was in July and August, but some thermo power plants have to temporarily stop some turbines for maintenance," said Dang Hoang An, EVN deputy general director.

HCM CITY — Petro Viet Nam Chairman Dinh La Thang says the company has adopted a development strategy for the 2008-2015 period.

"Petro Viet Nam has set a target of finding new fields to ensure a potential reserve of between 35 and 40 million tonnes of crude oil equivalent," Thang says.

The company is ramping up exploratory activities with priorities given to probing new fields in deep-water and offshore sites, he says.

Petro Viet Nam is diversifying its product by taking advantage of domestic and overseas petroleum reserves. This is also hoped to address the national economy’s increasing demand for fuel, energy and petrochemical products.

"In particular, the company plans to tap 25 to 35 million tonnes of oil equivalent a year, of which 18 to 20 million tonnes will be crude oil. It also aims to exploit between 6 and 17 billion cubic meters of gas per year," Thang says.