By Mai An – Translated by Kim Khanh
Da Nang city set to become special urban area
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PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the meeting. (Photo: VNA) |
Hanoi – The central city of Da Nang is set to be part of the global supply chain network and a gateway on the East-West Economic Corridor by 2030, a meeting in Hanoi on March 1 heard.
Discussing adjustments to the city’s master planning by 2030 with a vision towards 2045, the meeting was presided over by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
By 2030, the city is also expected to become a destination for global lifestyles, a centre of tourism and services, and a maritime economic hub in Vietnam and the region at large. In the long term, it eyes becoming a special urban area and an international city.
Its population is predicted to stand at about 1.79 million by 2030 and its urban area is to cover 31,836 ha, or more than 32 percent of the local land area.
The municipal People’s Committee signed a contract with a joint venture between Sakae Corporate Advisory Ltd. and Surbana Jurong (Singapore) on the project adjusting the master planning.
During the process of building the project, the municipal People’s Committee organised three international workshops and collected feedback from local residents, businesses, departments, and agencies.
In an assessment, the Ministry of Construction said the project identified the position and role of Da Nang as a core urban area of the Hue-Da Nang-Chu Lai-Ky Ha-Dung Quat (Van Tuong)-Quy Nhon urban area chain, forming the Da Nang urban region, encompassing Chan May (Lang Co), Da Nang, Dien Ban, Hoi An, and Nam Hoi An.
In his remarks, PM Phuc lauded Da Nang’s coordination with ministries and agencies as well as its response to opinions from local residents and socio-economic organisations in the planning work.
Da Nang should develop beyond its current status as a first-tier urban area, he said, becoming a special city.
Given that it boasts one of the most beautiful beaches in the region, he urged the city to pay more attention to waste water treatment and climate change issues and suggested it seek new development drivers apart from tourism.
Corruption and other misdeeds in planning adjustment and implementation must be prevented, he reminded all in attendance, noting that planning and realisation must be in tandem.
VNA
Many people are haunted by traffic accidents

Khuất Việt Hùng, Vice President of the National Committee on Traffic Safety, talks to the Voice of Việt Nam about the number of traffic accidents in Việt Nam
What are the main factors leading to a reduction in traffic accidents in the country in 2020?
According to statistics from the Ministry of Public Security, the traffic accident rate in the five-year period from 2016-2020 compared to the previous five years has seen a 43 per cent drop in accidents, a 19.01 per cent reduction in fatalities and the injured rate also dropped by 53.91 per cent.
Last year was the first year that our national Law on Preventing and Combating the Harmful Effects of Liquor and Beer and the Decree No.100/2019/ND-CP came into effect calling on all drivers not to drink and drive.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, transportation nationwide dropped considerably, yet the police forces still applied many measures to ensure traffic safety.
The Ministry of Transport has regularly instructed the Directorate for Roads of Việt Nam and concerned agencies nationwide have applied many specific measures to fight back against the COVID-19 while calling on all road users to practise traffic safety. As a result, in the last 10 years, traffic accidents nationwide reduced by 17.66 per cent while the injured cases reduced by 20.7 per cent and the fatality rate by 12.2 per cent (the fatality rate dropped to under 7,000 people).
What measures have the Ministry of Transport and the National Steering Committee on Traffic Safety adopted?
From 2016, all Vietnamese agencies nationwide have strictly implemented Instruction No.18 of the Party Secretariat and the Resolution 88 of the Government on road traffic safety, railways, waterways and other means of transport.
In addition, Việt Nam’s traffic infrastructure has been improved and expanded. Non-stop toll-fee stations were erected nationwide while a mass communication campaign was launched to encourage all motorbike riders wear helmets. As a result,80 per cent of motor riders wear helmets compared to 38 per cent rate in 2017.
Has the Government Decree 100 helped cut down the country’s traffic accidents significantly?
In 2019, the Law on Preventing and Combating the Harmful Effects of Liquor and Beer was promulgated and came into force on January 2020 and the Decree 100 giving sanctions on people who are drinking and driving.
The Decree 100 is a spotlight action of the Government in its current tenure.
Last year, the Public Security forces, particularly the transport police, played a pivotal role in putting the Government’s Decree 100 into life and since then the Decree has become a driving force for people nationwide to abide by traffic laws – a key factor in the reduction of traffic accidents.
How do you respond to a report saying that some statistics about the traffic safety is not really reliable?
Under the country’s Statistic Law, the Ministry of Public Security is the agency that will gather all information on transport accidents and make it available to the public. The National Steering Committee on Traffic Safety will then use the information from the Ministry of Public Security to write their reports and make those available to the public as well.
Under the Statistic Law, the Ministry of Health has the responsibility to make a report on the total injury number nationwide. However, due to different methods used in injury calculation, it leads to some disparity in the figures announced by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Public Security.
Adding to that the number of traffic fatalities made public by the Vietnamese Government and the WHO is somehow slightly different. The main factor is that the definition of road fatality in Việt Nam is slightly different from that of the WHO. Under the Vietnamese Law, only people who are killed at the scene of the accidents are considered as accident fatality. Meanwhile, the WHO calculated the accident fatality case within 30 days from the day the accident happened.
It is reported that the Ministry of Public Security will soon make public a new regulation on road traffic accident calculation to make in line with the international law and practice. VNS
Three dead as long-haul bus collides with cyclists in southern Vietnam
Three people died on Monday in a crash where a long-haul bus slammed into a group of cyclists in southern Vietnam.
Two of the dead were the bus passengers, said police in Dong Thap Province, where the accident happened.
The crash occurred in Lai Vung District at 5:00 am on Monday, when the bus crashed into ten cyclists before veering onto the other side of the road, according to a police report.
The bus continued to slam into two utility poles and a tree along the road before coming to a complete halt.
Tran Van An, a 69-year-old cyclist, died on the spot.
Two of the three bus passengers, 38-year-old Nguyen Ngoc Son and 46-year-old Nguyen Huu Ly, were also killed in the crash.
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The front of a long-haul bus deforms after colliding with 10 cyclists in Dong Thap Province, southern Vietnam, March 1, 2021. Photo: Phuc Hien |
The 44-year-old driver, Tran Van Nam, and the other passenger, 39-year-old Doan Van Ni, sustained multiple injuries and are being treated in a local hospital.
The front of the bus was deformed while its body was also severely damaged. The utility poles broke in half.
Local authorities are trying to find out the cause of the accident.
About 6,700 people died in more than 14,500 traffic accidents in Vietnam last year, according to the National Traffic Safety Committee.
Almost 11,000 people were injured in the crashes.
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Covid-19: Hanoi closes bars, karaoke lounges, historical relics
The Hanoitimes – The city has decided to extend the school breaks till the end of the month.
Hanoi will close bars, karaoke lounges and historical relics from now to the end of March after the city found the sixth case positive with the new coronavirus.
Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung of the Hanoi People’s Committee. Photo: Laodongthudo |
Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung of the municipal People’s Committee made the request at a meeting on Friday morning, saying that the move is aimed to minimize infection risk and prevent the city from being an epidemic zone.
Meanwhile, all hotels and lodging facilities are asked to check visitors from epidemic-hit areas and report to the authorities information of visitors, especially those from the UK and Italy who have stayed there from March 3.
All Vietnamese citizens coming from the Europe should take care of themselves and restrain from contact with their family members.
For localities under high risk of virus transmission like Hoan Kiem district, the head of the local government asked people to avoid the crowd, and shop sellers should wear facial masks and keep a safe distance with customers.
People with high risk of infection like drivers and tour guides should isolate themselves and call emergency when showing symptoms of the disease.
The city will continue to close schools from kindergarten to secondary until March 29 while the break of high schools will last till March 22.
Da Nang set to become a special-class city
Chairing a meeting discussing adjustments to the master plan for the development of Da Nang until 2030, with a vision to 2045, in Hanoi on March 1, the Government leader lauded the central coastal city for its close coordination with ministries, sectors and advisory units, and serious collection of opinions from local people and socio-economic organisations during the planning process.
PM Phuc agreed with the vision determining Da Nang as a key tourism & service city, a centre of Vietnam’s maritime economy, a gateway on the East-West Economic Corridor, and a safe city worth living in, but he emphasised the need to clarify what the concept “worth-living” truly means.
As a city boasting one of the most beautiful beaches in the region, Da Nang should pay more attention to wastewater and climate change issues, the leader said, suggesting the city seek new development drivers apart from tourism.
He stressed the policy of combating group interest in the implementation and adjustment of the plan and the need to fight corruption and negative acts in the implementation of the detailed plan, while asking for the development of a mechanism monitoring the process, and any adjustments in either the plan or its functional subdivisions.
General view of the meeting. (Photo: NDO/Tran Hai)
As reported at the meeting, the Da Nang People’s Committee signed a contract with a joint venture between the Sakae Corporate Advisory Company and Surbana Jurong consulting company (Singapore) to develop a project on adjusting the Da Nang city master plan until 2030, with a vision to 2045. During the process of building the project, the municipal People’s Committee organised three international seminars and collected feedback from local residents, businesses, departments, and central agencies.
According to adjustments, Da Nang is set to be part of the global supply chain network and a gateway on the East-West Economic Corridor by 2030. The city is also expected to become a destination for those seeking a global lifestyle, a centre of tourism and services, and a maritime economic hub both in Vietnam and the region at large.
In the long term, Da Nang aims to become a special-class and an international city. Its population is predicted to stand at about 1.79 million by 2030 and its urban area is to cover 31,836 ha, accounting for more than 32% of the local land area.