Beijing (VNA) – China has appointed Xue Hanqin, a senior female diplomat and international law expert, as its first envoy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“Ambassador Xue’s appointment as the Chinese ambassador to ASEAN will play an important role in promoting friendly exchanges and cooperation in extensive fields,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang was quoted as saying on December 30.

Xue was formerly ambassador to the Netherlands and she had also served as the international law director-general in the Foreign Ministry.

Ties between China and ASEAN had grown rapidly in recent years. The two way trade between them had been reach 199.1 billion USD in the year’s first ten months, up 21.8 percent as compared with the same period of last year.

ASEAN comprises of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.-

Bangkok (VNA) – The Thai government on December 30 approved 11 documents which will be proposed at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, local media reported.

There are a total of 33 documents issued by Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they are expected to be submitted to the Thai Parliament for approval on January 7, Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Veerasak Footrakul was quoted by the Thai news agency (TNA) as saying.

Among the 33 documents requiring parliamentary approval are agreements under the ASEAN framework and proposed community, a draft agreement on regional trade, ASEAN’s draft framework on relaxed formalities in cross-border transport, and a draft ASEAN multilateral agreement on liberalisation of air cargo transport, and related documents.

The 14 th ASEAN summit is scheduled to be held in February in Bangkok, according to TNA. –

Hanoi (VNA) – The Danish Government will provide a non-refundable aid worth 40 million USD for Vietnam to carry out a programme on adaptation to and mitigation of impacts of climate change in the 2009-2013 period.

The aid is the ever largest so far and makes Denmark the first foreign donor for Vietnam in the field, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE).

Under an agreement signed in Hanoi on Dec. 30 between MNRE and the Danish Embassy, the MNRE will develop climate change scenarios, as well as solutions and plans of action to cope with climate change and raise public awareness of the situation.

As part of the agreement, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MIT) will take charge of assisting the national programme on thrifty and efficient use of energy, which targets enterprises for sustainable economic development and restriction of the use of substances causing greenhouse effect.

To this end, a training programme on energy consultation and management at university level will be launched, said MIT deputy minister Nguyen Huu Hao.

An energy audit will be held and defining opportunities for investment and development of energy projects following the Clean Development Mechanism will be offered for businesses and power plants Hao said.

The programme will also cover assistance for the southern province of Ben Tre and the central province of Quang Nam , which are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, to carry out some pilot projects.

Addressing the agreement signing ceremony, MNRE Minister Pham Khoi Nguyen asserted that the Danish Government’s aid would strongly help Vietnam achieve its sustainable economic development and poverty reduction targets.

For his part, Danish Ambassador Peter Lysholt Hansen stressed that Vietnam ’s newly approved National Target Programme on Climate Change proved the country’s strong commitment to environmental protection. Vietnam should also raise a stronger voice on this issue at international forum, he said.

With its long coastline and position lower than the sea level, Vietnam is forecast to be one of the countries most affected by climate change.-

– Health workers in the country are at serious risk of contracting the hepatitis B virus due to exposure to blood and body fluids and lack of knowledge on safety measures.

A seminar focusing on hepatitis B and liver cancer prevention in HCM City this week highlighted the problem for health workers.

About 17.6 percent of them may be exposed to the hepatitis B virus, the disease that can cause a host of effects, including possible complications of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, warns Doctor Huynh Tan Tien, director of the Labour Health and Environmental Protection Centre.

Seminar participants learned about factors that could cause skin injuries allowing the transmission of the virus which include hypodermic injection, a piece of glass, a stitch, an injection needle and taking blood samples.

The health ministry has recognized hepatitis B disease as a possible occupational infection along with tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

Health workers are exposed to blood and other body fluids in their work, so they are at increased risk of infection with blood borne viruses, including hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV).

The hepatitis virus could five a long time in a dried blood stain, so the infectious ability of this virus is 50-100 times higher than HIV, warned the health expert.

Tran Van Thao, Deputy Director of HCM City ’s Children Hospital 2, said the medical institute has coordinated with the Labour Health and Environmental Protection Centre to administer hepatitis B vaccinations to the hospital’s health workers.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), among the 35 million healthcare workers worldwide, about 3 million experience percutaneous exposures to blood borne pathogens each year, two million of those to Hepatitits B, 0.9 million to Hepatitis C, and 170,000 to HIV.

WHO suggests most blood exposures in health settings are preventable. Protective measures include immunisation against hepatitis B, provision of personal protection and the management of exposures.

Elimination of unnecessary blood draws and injections also minimises the potential for exposure.

In Vietnam , according to Doctor Nguyen Chan Hung, director of HCM City ’s Tumor Association, liver cancer (a complication of hepatitis B) among males ranks as the third most contracted cancer, after lung cancer and stomach cancer.

The number of people infected by hepatitis B accounts for from 10 to 15 percent of the country’s population, according to the Ministry of Health.-

– Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan has called on young professionals working in the field of information technology to strive more in studies and research to contribute to the development of the sector.

Nhan, who doubles as Minister of Education and Training, made the call at a ceremony in Hanoi on Dec. 30 to award the Golden Globe prizes to 10 recipients and recognize 40 outstanding female IT students around the country.

He praised their achievements in IT and hailed the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union for its initiative in organising the Golden Globe award.

In behalf of the recipients, Nguyen Minh Bao, an IT expert from Dong Thap province, pledged that they would continue striving to study and do research to help boost the country’s IT development.

The annual Golden Globe award and the IT award for outstanding female students have been held since 2003.-

Hanoi (VNA) – The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s government may stop dismantling its nuclear facilities unless Japan provides the DPRK with energy assistance under a six-party deal, Kyodo news agency said.

The statement was made by a Beijing-based senior DPRK diplomat on December 29, Kyodo quoted Japanese parliamentarian Yoshihiro Kawakami, who earlier met with the diplomat in the Chinese capital, as saying.

He also strongly criticised Japan’s policy of refusing to provide energy aid until there is progress in resolving a bilateral dispute involving the abduction of Japanese nationals, parliamentarian Kawakami added.

Under last year’s six-party deal, the DPRK was promised energy aid equivalent to a total of 1 million tonnes of heavy fuel oil in exchange for the dismantlement and for submitting a list of its nuclear programmes.

Japan’s backing away from its obligation constitutes a ”violation of the agreement,” the diplomat was quoted as saying. –

Jakarta (VNA) – The Indonesian government will send a 200,000-USD package of medicines to Palestine, Antara news agency reported.

The statement was made by Head of the Centre for Crisis Control Rustam S Pakaya through an SMS message to Antara on December 29 following an Israeli air strike on Gaza Strip, the news agency said.

“The health ministry will send the package of medicines under the coordination of the foreign ministry,” the official added. –

Urban Environment Company workers fish out waste from the Nhieu Loc Canal under the Kieu Bridge in HCM City. The City releases more than 6,000 tonnes of waste into streams each day. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoang Hai

HA NOI — Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai wants the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to complete its compiling of land-use and management documents as quickly as possible.

The papers were necessary for the completion of a decree to guide implementation of the Land Law 2003, he told a conference to review the ministry’s work of this year and set its tasks for next year in Ha Noi yesterday.

The minister, who said complaints and denunciations stemming from land disputes had fallen 30 per cent this year compared with 2007, asked the ministry to continue its co-ordination with other ministries and sectors to ensure decentralisation and avoid the duplication of management.

The ministry should consider the environment even with major economic projects, he said.

The official said the Government had attended to investment for personnel training in both hydrometeorology and forecasting the possible consequences of climate change.

Ministry works hard

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen said his ministry would continue to complete natural resources and environment laws.

The work included revision of the Land; Water Resources; Minerals; Measurement and Maps; Hydrometeorology and the Protection of Natural Resources and Sea Environment laws.

The ministry would continue to foster administrative reform and simplify administrative procedures, he said.

It would also focus on helping poor provinces and try to settle complaints and denunciations stemming from natural resources and the environment as well as providing the public with information. —