Briefs

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is providing US$2.1 million (17.5 billion kip, Bt73 million) in initial assistance for the strengthening of healthcare services in Laos.
With $11.3 million committed for 2016-17, the amount of funding has increased by 22 per cent over 2014-15.
An agreement for the funding was signed in Vientiane on Wednesday by Laotian Health Minister Bounkong Syhavong and WHO representative to Laos Juliet Fleischl in the presence of directors-general of the ministry’s health departments.
Speaking at the ceremony, Bounkong said the WHO was a good partner to Laos because it played an essential role in improving the health sector and was a strong supporter of health reform.
He was pleased to see that health projects were taking into account Laos’ commitment to achieve the health-related sustainable development goals along with other health priorities.
The funding will support efforts to reduce the mortality rate of mothers and children; improve and increase the quality of healthcare services for mothers and infants; and bolster communicable-disease surveillance and response including the control of HIV/Aids, dengue fever, tuberculosis and other diseases.
Fleischl said the 2017 annual funding plan would continue to support directly the Ministry of Health in agreed technical areas of the Eighth Health Sector Development plan such as immunisation, communicable-disease surveillance and response, and maternal and child health, as well as strengthening the overall healthcare system. – Vientiane Times 

Tien Giang promotes 
industrial parks
The Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang in Vietnam has devised numerous measures to explore the viability of local industrial parks (IPs) and industrial |clusters (ICs).
    Tien Giang is focusing on attracting investment in infrastructure facilities in IPs and ICs and developing multi-sector IPs with a wider range of products to meet domestic and export demand.
    Efforts will be made in simplifying administrative procedures and facilitating operations of investors in the IPs, such as Tan Phuoc 1, Soai Rap Petroleum Service Zone, and Gia Thuan 1 and 2 |clusters.     According to Cao Minh Tam, head of the province’s Industrial Zones Management Board, the government has approved planning for seven IPs on a combined area of more than 2,083 hectares.
    To date, Tien Giang has established and put into operation four IPs on more than 1,101 hectares, with total investment of nearly US$230 million (about Bt8 billion).
    Besides this, the province has put into operation four ICs – An Thanh, Trung An, Tan My Chanh and Song Thuan. 
    So far, the IPs and ICs in the province have created jobs for 92,561 labourers, and 84 per cent of them work in the IPs.
    In 2017, enterprises in the IPs target reaching 58.5 trillion dong (Bt90.3 billion) in industrial production value. |– Viet Nam News

Vietnamese steel, iron 
import value surges
Vietnam’s import value for steel and iron products surged sharply in the first month of 2017 to US$710 million (Bt24.8 billion), the General Statistics Office reported.
The value rose by up to 30 per cent against the same period last year.
Faster economic growth means more steel is needed to make everything from cars to buildings. Statistics show that Vietnam’s steel imports so far meet up to 60 per cent of the market demand.
Last year, Vietnam’s steel imports also rose sharply, hitting a record high of 18.4 million tonnes worth nearly $11 billion, up 18.4 per cent and 7.2 per cent respectively against the previous year. The imports were mainly from mainland China (accounting for 55.1 per cent), South Korea (12.8 per cent) and Taiwan (8.9 per cent).
As a large steel-import volume from China has caused major damage to domestic steel production, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade has decided to apply trade-defence measures to ensure fair competition with local products and promote the country’s steel sector.
For this purpose, certain kinds of steel ingots and long steel imported into Vietnam from various countries and territories have been subject to temporary safeguard duties of 23.3 per cent and 14.2 per cent respectively.
The Vietnam Steel Association forecast that the country’s rising steel demand will boost production by 10-12 per cent in 2017. – Viet Nam News