Man kills his lover, her son by electricity | Look At Vietnam

Man kills his lover, her son by electricity

June 18, 2012

LookAtVietnam – In the early morning of June 16, after assaulting his lover and her son by electricity, a man poured petrol on them and himself and started a fire.

At nearly 4am, residents on Bong Van Dia roard in Binh Chanh district, HCM City, heard shouting for help from a house. When they came, flames were high. The door was locked so local people had to break the door.
Shortly after that, four fire-trucks were sent to the site to extinguish the fire. However the 40sq.m house was burnt down and collapsed. Three burnt victims were brought to Trieu An hospital. However, Ms. Dang Kim Trang, 39, and her lover Ngo Phat Tai, 46, died. The next day, Trang’s son, Le Quoc Vu, 12, was also dead.

Trang’s mother said that Trang had two sons and divorced her husband. Two years ago, she and Tai began living together, with Trang’s son.
According to investigators, Trang and Tai bickered with each other. After that, Tai locked the door and assaulted Trang by electricity. Hearing his mother’s shouting for help, Trang’s son held his mother. Tai pressed the electric wire to the boy. After that, he poured petrol on Trang and her son to burn.
PV

Economists slam measly gasoline price cut, import tax | Look At Vietnam

Economists slam measly gasoline price cut, import tax 

May 24, 2012

A worker pumps gasoline to a motorcycle at a gas station in Hanoi. The pump price of A92 gasoline was reduced by VND500 per liter to VND23,300 (US$1.1) on May 9.
Economists have criticized the recent fuel price cuts and the reimposition of the import duty on petroleum products as coming too little, too late.
The pump price of A92 gasoline was reduced by VND500 per liter to VND23,300 (US$1.1) on May 9, and diesel by VND300 to VND21,600.
Import duties, which were scrapped on March 8, have been reinstated at 2 percent on gasoline and diesel and 3 percent on kerosene and fuel oil.
Gasoline prices increased twice this year, in March and April, by a total of VND3,000.
Nguyen Minh Phong of the Hanoi Socioeconomic Research Institute said the reduction came in response to public pressure after a VND900 increase on April 20. Petroleum companies were only losing VND500 per liter at that time.
He said the Ministry of Finance, instead of raising the import tax, should have ordered petroleum companies to make deeper cuts in gasoline prices.
Many firms are having difficulty merely surviving due to a slump in demand and other problems, and could do with bigger price cuts to help reduce costs, he explained.
The government’s tax breaks won’t suffice, he said, referring to a tax relief package of VND29 trillion ($1.4 billion).
Le Dang Doanh, an economist, said: “The meager price cut and import tax increase would make people lose faith (in the government’s policies). Restoring public confidence is much more important than collecting gasoline import taxes.”
The fuel price cuts should have been bigger because global prices have fallen sharply. According to the Vietnam National Petroleum Group, also known as Petrolimex, the gasoline price in Singapore fell to $121.6 per barrel on May 9 from $128.1 on April 20.
Nguyen Tien Thoa, head of the Ministry of Finance’s Price Control Department, said the interests of fuel traders, consumers, and the government come under consideration whenever gasoline prices are adjusted.
According to the tax framework issued by the department, duties on gasoline and diesel can be raised to a maximum of 20 percent and 15 percent.
The tax revenues can be used to stabilize gasoline prices when global prices rise, Thoa said. “The price is forecast to rise this winter when demand increases.”
Thoa said gasoline accounts for 3.2 percent of the basket of goods and services used to calculate the consumer price index. The VND500 price cut would help bring down the CPI by 0.24 percentage point, he said.
But most industries said the reduction is too meager for them to cut their own prices.
Nguyen Manh Hung, chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, said: “It is an insignificant reduction. So, transport firms cannot cut their prices.”
Pham Xuan Bang, a Hanoi taxi driver, said: “We (taxi drivers) did not expect the small reduction. It came just to make sure people are not shocked by future hikes.”
Policy issues
Ngo Tri Long, former deputy head of the Market and Price Research Institute, said retail prices are adjusted based on average fuel costs over 30 days.
“The period is too long, failing to precisely reflect changes in the world market. We need to shorten the period, maybe to a week.”
Thoa said: “We are aware of the problems in calculating fuel prices and plan to fix them.”
He said shortening the period to 10 or 20 days will be considered.
A new policy limiting the commissions fuel companies pay retailers could also be introduced, he said, adding that excessive commissions are paid in the hope of expanding market share.
The average price during the 30-day period ending May 8 was VND828 per liter lower than the retail price on that day, he revealed.
Some analysts said the fuel price adjustments are not timely or based on market forces.
In 2009 the government passed a decree stipulating that fuel prices would be based on the market.
Under the decree, businesses are allowed to adjust retail prices and only have to inform the Ministries of Finance and Industry and Trade about it.
But due to spiralling inflation, the government invoked a clause in the decree which says “if the price hike can affect socioeconomic development, the government will adopt measures to stabilize fuel prices” to repeatedly intervene.
With the government only increasing fuel prices when it is no longer able to keep them unchanged, the hikes have come in massive chunks instead of incremental ones, the analysts pointed out.
But other analysts said that, since the gasoline market is monopolistic – with Petrolimex holding some 60 percent of the market – the government should regulate the prices.
The country’s sole refinery Dung Quat contributes too little to the market to help the government stabilize prices when world prices are volatile.
The 6.5-million-ton-per-year refinery, located in the central province of Quang Ngai, meets only 30 percent of the domestic demand. It is seeking to sell a 49 percent stake to foreign investors to raise funds to expand capacity by 54 percent to 10 million tons a year.
This would help it to meet 40-45 percent of demand, according to the Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co, which runs the $2.2-billion refinery.
Even with Dung Quat running at full capacity, Vietnam imported 10.65 million tons of oil products in 2011, according to the General Statistics Office.

By Ngan Anh, Thanh Nien News (The story can be found in the May 18th issue of our print edition, Vietweek) 

Gasoline prices rise All Over the World

Petrol woes mean a gallon of trouble

March 18, 2012

Deputy minister of Industry and Trade (MoIT) Tran Tuan Anh tells how petrol prices and supply sources rising tension in the world could impact on local firms’ performances.
What does the MoIT think about the world market’s volatile oil prices in the past month?
State management agencies and firms closely looked at the global petrol situation in the past month. The price of oil in the world may be in a tight range in 2012 compared to the 2011 average of around $100/barrel if the world economy, particularly the European Union, continues to be in a fix.
However, new factors have appeared which may fuel petrol prices in 2012 against 2011. These are political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa and the EU adopted an oil embargo against Iran, the world’s third largest oil exporter.
In fact, the price of oil in the world market surged in early days of December 2011 when Iran held manoeuvres and was poised to close Hormuz Channel- a strategic gateway for oil sources from the Middle East heading to locations worldwide when necessary.
Compared to December 2011, January 2012 average price of petrol A92 hiked 8.3 per cent, of diesel 0.05S up 3.9 per cent, of kerosene KO up 3.1 per cent, of mazut FO up 7.8 per cent and of crude oil 1.8 per cent more.
Against the same period in 2011, January 2012 average prices rose markedly, such as that of petrol A92 up 15.7 per cent, of diesel 0.05S up18.7 per cent, of kerosene KO up 15.3 per cent, of mazut FO leaped 34.7 per cent and of crude oil WTI was added 11.9 per cent.
The Middle East political unrest will adversely influence the region’s oil sources, directly impacting world oil prices.
How will this impact on local firms’ performances?
Oil prices augmenting in the world market will push up prices in the domestic market. Since petrol is an input material of most economic sectors, rising oil prices could drive up product prices, from there pushing up consumer price index badly affecting people’s purchasing power and causing inflation threats.
Cash-strapped Vietnamese firms would be hurt on the back of input price upsurges since most of them employ fuel-intensive obsolete equipment and technology.
Petrol price hikes will make items using petrol as direct fuel source more expensive such as footwear, plastic, fabric, textile and garment products. Chain effects will also be significant, for instance, firms will suffer from rising transportation costs.
World oil prices are forecast to climb to $150 per barrel. How will the MoIT ensure stable oil supply for the economy in that case?
Vietnam is a big petrol importer. In 2009, we imported 13.2 million cubic metres per tonne of petrol products. The volume shrank to 8.8 million cubic metres per tonne in 2010 and 10.3 million cubic metres per tonne in 2011 since part of the demand was offset by production by Dung Quat oil refinery in central Quang Ngai province.
Around 15.6 million cubic metres per tonne petrol products were consumed in the domestic market in 2011. This year, domestic consumption of petrol products would be around 16.5 million cubic metres per tonne based on 6-6.5 per cent GDP growth forecast.
After looking at domestic supply capacity, the MoIT has allocated minimum import quotas in 2012 equaling 10.1 million cubic metres per tonne on major petrol traders. The ministry has demanded those traders not to import lower than this volume target, while ensuring import progress.
Petrol trading is also governed using other vehicles such as import tax policies and the price stabilisation fund. The MoIT and the Ministry of Finance work closely in petrol price management to ensure interest balance among consumers, firms and the state.
VIR

Renewable energy in Vietnam

Investing in renewable energy to save power

August 21, 2011  about Uncategorized

LookAtVietnam - Many families and businesses have
started using energy-saving products to cope with the soaring prices of
electricity, petrol, and gas. However, there remain certain snags in developing
renewable energy in Vietnam.

Innovations

Many innovations have been introduced in response to the
energy-saving campaign launched by the Ho Chi Minh City Power Corporation.

The family of Nguyen Thi Ngai in Tan Binh district is one
of 800,000 families in Ho Chi Minh City who can now save nearly VND100,000 a
month after replacing the old incandescent lamps with compact light bulbs. Le
Thi Xuan in District 3 said her family has decided to use a solar-powered water
heater and turn off all light bulbs in the house at peak time in the evening
when necessary.

Nguyen Anh Vu, head of the Public Relations Department of
the HCM City Power Corporation, said his company recently launched a
communication campaign to raise public and business awareness of the need to
save energy and has received a positive response from many families and
businesses in the city.

In the first six month of 2011, the city saved as much as
198.59 million kWh of electricity (85.41 per cent of the annual target). Of the
total, 40.9 million kWh was saved in public lighting (21.6 per cent) 101.7
million kWh in daily lighting (51.2 per cent) and 34.2 million kWh in production
(17.2 per cent).

Hoang Minh Ba, director of the JSC Technical Services
Telecom - TST member Group Posts, says not a few businesses are still using
backward technologies which consume much power.

In addition, power waste in households remains a big
problem as they have no energy-saving equipment.

Challenges

In order to ensure the sustainable development of
businesses and improve their competitive edge, it is imperative for them to use
renewable energy such as wind, solar, and bio energy.

However, the cost of investment in renewable energy
projects is very high beyond the reach of domestic businesses.

Tran Anh Hao from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of
Industry and Trade cites another reason for low foreign investment in such
projects is the low price of electricity in Vietnam.

The department is sponsoring an energy-saving exhibition (Enertec
Expo 2011) in the hope that visitors will be able to gain access to
energy-saving technologies and products and contribute to implementing the
national strategy on energy efficiency and reduction of environmental pollution.

Source: VOV

Petrol prices raises Travel Tours

LookAtVietnam - The petroleum price increase, which coincides with the high inbound and domestic travel season, has made travel firms worried stiff.

In the last few days, since the decision on raising the petrol price to 2900 dong per liter was released on February 24, travel firms have been holding many internal meetings to consider raising tour fees. The petrol price increase has raised the expenses of travel firms, especially the expenses for domestic tours which use coaches to carry tourists.
Now in Vietnam it is the first month of the new lunar year of the Cat - the “festival season”, when travelers like booking short tours to different places in the country. The petroleum price increase has made the expenses for tourist transportation increase by at least five percent for each tour. Besides, the expenses on meals and accommodation have also increased in the “price storm” caused by the petroleum price increase.
Travel firms say that the biggest problem for them now is that they still cannot foresee price changes in the tourism service market in order to adjust the tour fees. Meanwhile, they cannot adjust tour fees every day, because the regular changes will affect the feelings of tourists.
Luu Duc Ke, Director of Hanoitourist, said on February 26 that the team of coaches of the company asked for a five percent fee increase. Ke said that the firm cannot delay the increases any longer because the transportation expenses have increased too sharply. The partners of Hanoitourist, including hotels, have also warned that they will increase the hotel room rates and other services, starting from March 1. However, it is still unclear how high the hotel room rates will be.
“I’m afraid that the tour fees will increase by 10-15 percent, because not only the petrol price, but the electricity price will also increase, thus bringing about the price increases of other goods and services. Even the salary for laborers will also increase,” Ke said.
He went on to say that Hanoitourist is thoroughly considering increasing tour fees and plans to set up the tour fees at reasonable levels in order to avoid shocks to tourists. “We are going to negotiate with partners in order to share difficulties,” he said.
Regarding the inbound tours, Ke said, Hanoitourist will try to negotiate with clients on the tour fee adjustment. However, he admitted that it will be very difficult to adjust the tour fees, because clients booked tours a long time ago after the travel firm committed not to raise tour fees.
To Phuong Anh, the director of a construction company in Hanoi, said that one week ago, she decided to book a domestic tour for the company’s staff. Anh read on the official website of a travel firm that the tour fee for the Hanoi – Yen Tu – Ha Long – Cua Ong was 585,000 dong. However, on the next day, when Anh went to the travel firm to book tour, she was told that the fee has increased to 650,000 dong, because the petrol price has increased, thus making the expenses higher.
Meanwhile, some companies that provide tourism services have still kept the service fees unchanged. The hotels in Nam Cuong Group’s chain, for example, still keep the hotel room rates unchanged. Representative of the group said that the price increases, if any, will be decided after March 1.
Dinh Huong Thao from Tam Nhin A Chau travel firm also has affirmed that the tour fee remains unchanged because the partners of the firm have not announced any price increases. “If the 2008’s scenario repeats, the tour fee increases will only take place one month after the petroleum price increase. Meanwhile, we are still keeping a close watch over the market in order to make reasonable adjustments,” Thao said.
Big travel firms such as Vietravel or Saigontourist still have not taken any actions. Nguyen Minh Man, Head of the Communication Division of Vietravel said that Vietravel still has not raised the tour fee because it fears the tour fee increases will affect the feelings of tourists in the high tourism season. Man said that the petrol price increases have badly affected the travel firm’s operation, but the difficulties are not too big for Vietravel, because it has a coach team of its own and partners have promised to share risks.
However, Man has anticipated that the domestic and outbound tours will see the tour fees increasing in accordance with the airfare, petroleum and accommodation fee increases. Meanwhile, the inbound tour fees will not increase in 2011 as per commitments with clients.
Loan Nguyen