Floods and landslides play havoc in central region
Floods causing damage in the central region, capping retail prices of oil and gas and public debt continuing to threaten Europe were the top news stories of the past week.
Vietnam, Indonesia look forward to strategic partnership
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's visit to Indonesia obtained significant results.
The two sides reached a consensus on many important issues.
A Vietnam-Indonesia action plan for the 2012-2015 period was signed, and a joint communiqué was issued on the framework of friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was also signed between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs on measures to strengthen the exchange of information and bilateral consultation.
Floods cause great losses in central region
Heavy rain spread through Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces on September 9-12.
Six people died, thousands of houses collapsed, hundreds of roofs were blown off, and many hectares of rice fields were flooded, along with more than 3,400 hectares of aquacultural areas.
Lowering interest rates to 14 % does not disentangle businesses
The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam's decision to lower interest rates to 14 percent was highly appreciated by many economic experts and the business community.
With such interest rates, businesses will be able to enjoy decreased loan interest rates of 16-18 percent.
However, these loan interest rates may be an obstacle preventing benefits for businesses.
Capping oil and gas retail prices
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has given an official answer to key businesses importing oil and gas on controlling their retail prices.
Based on changes in the domestic socio-economic situation and world oil and gas prices, the MoF has decided not to raise retail prices of oil and gas and continue the fund for stabilizing the prices of both products.
The MoF also asked businesses to balance the supply and demand of goods and continue normal operations.
Raising hospital fees in the future
The costs of hospital services such as medical treatment, sick-bed stays and technological procedures may increase in the near future.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) is preparing to control the cost of 350 hospital services. As scheduled, the fees for 220 services will increase by 2-2.5 times while 70 other services are expected to rise by 7-10 times.
The MoH says the increased fees will not affect the 53 million people who have healthcare insurance cards.
Losing Buon Ma Thuot coffee trade mark
The trademark of Buon Ma Thuot coffee from the Central Highland province of Dak Lak has been registered in China for monopoly protection for 10 years while a French company has registered the Dak Lak coffee trademark in more than 10 different countries since 1997.
Delaying registering for trademark protection abroad has put many Vietnamese businesses at the risk of losing their products' names.
The two trademarks, “Buon Ma Thuot" (in Chinese characters)” and “Buon Ma Thuot Coffee 1896”, along with a logo, have been attached to many coffee products, including coffee from the Guangzhou Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Company in Guangdong province, China, that was granted monopoly protection in November 2010 and in June 2011.
The Dak Lak provincial People’s Committee aims to use diplomatic means to resolve the issue, but if they are not successful, the province will take the Chinese coffee company to court.
World won’t fall into a double downturn
Many delegates at the 5th Davos Forum held in China confirmed that the world will not fall into a double economic downturn.
According to experts, because the US and some EU countries are dealing with public debt crises, the world is now putting many expectations on Asia.
However, due to decreasing demand in the US and Europe, the growth of Asian economies that depend greatly on exports, including China, will actually decrease.
Professor Victor Halberstadt from Leiden University in the Netherlands said the world has seen positive signs in 2009 and 2010, which indicates that there will not be a double economic downturn.
Attacks in Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen
At least 15 people died and 36 were injured in a car bomb attack near a restaurant in Al Hazam in Iraq on September 14.
The same day, 15 Iraq soldiers were killed and 20 people were injured when a bomb exploded in a military base in Habania, 85km from Baghdad.
Meanwhile, in Kabul, Afghanistan, 20 people died in an attack by Taliban gunmen on the US embassy and the general headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
In Yemen, 230 soldiers died in fighting against Al-Qaeda gunmen in Zinjibar.
Accidents in other places over the world
At least 30 people were killed, including three generals, when an Angolan military aircraft crashed on September 14 at an airport in Huambo in central Angola.
Ten people died and 14 were injured after a car carrying staff on their way to home overturned in Shanghai, China, on September 14.
On September 13, 8 people died and over 100 were injured in a train accident in Tamil Nadu, India.
Six deaths and 100 injuries were confirmed as a result of a bus crash in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina./.