Insurance firm Bao Minh sued for denying $4.1 mln claim

Workers of the Dung Quat Shipbuilding Industry Company

Vietnamese insurance company Bao Minh has been sued by a local shipbuilder for allegedly denying an insurance claim of US$4.1 million for damages caused by a storm in 2009,VnExpress reported Saturday.

According to the Dung Quat Shipbuilding Industry Company (DQS), a unit of state-owned oil and gas group PetroVietnam, the companies signed a two-year contract in 2006 under which the shipbuilder was required to pay a total premium of VND4.7 billion ($228,700) to have a business project covered.
The contract stipulated that DQS had to pay half of the premium, or around VND2.4 billion, within the first 15 days. The rest of the money would be paid on the project completion.
DQS, however, paid only VND2 billion. But it noted that during the two-year term of the contract, Bao Minh never issued any document to end the contract on ground that the shipbuilder failed to hold up its end.
When the contract expired in December 2008, DQS was still working on the project to build an oil tanker of 100,000 tons. As a result, it agreed to an additional premium fee of VND2.5 billion to have the contract extended through February 2010.
During this extension period, on September 28, 2009, a major storm hit the central region and caused damage to the ship. The loss was valued by assessment company Matthews Daniel at around $4.1 million, VnExpressreported.
DQS insisted that the claim was covered under the policy, but Bao Minh denied it, arguing that its client did not fulfill the payment obligation in the first place.
“Under the Insurance Law, when the client did not pay the premium fees, the insurer has the right to deny a claim,” an unnamed official of Bao Minh said, adding that DQS can bring the case to court.
Nguyen Ngoc Tuyen, a representative of DQS, told VnExpress that Bao Minh was wrong when refusing to cover the damages. Even if his company was behind on its payments, the insurer never said anything about ending the contract, he said.
“If Bao Minh wanted to end the contract because of the late payment, why did they agree to extend it for another year?” he asked.
Tuyen added that the claim of $4.1 million cannot hurt Bao Minh’s business because, at the end, it was foreign insurers who would have to pay for most of it. “I think Bao Minh would only have to pay no more than VND5 million.”
The People’s Court in the central province of Quang Ngai is still processing the case. No trial date has been announced.

Source: Thanh Nien

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Posted in: Business,Society,Vietnam

Vietnam may disclose foreign reserves data in 2012: report

Vietnam, which has kept the precise level of its foreign reserves undisclosed, may publicize the data regularly next year via its national statistics office, VnExpressreported.

Vietnam’s foreign exchange reserves last year dropped 12 percent, ADB said

The General Statistics Office in Hanoi has announced a new national statistical indicator system which has 76 additional indicators, including statistics on money supply, credit, interest rate, budget deficit, government debts and foreign reserves.
The foreign reserves data will be calculated from foreign currency holdings at the central bank, deposits and loans to other countries, and the special drawing rights holdings – an interest-bearing asset created by the International Monetary Fund, news website VnExpress said.
Around half of the brand-new indicators will be announced this year while the rest, including that of foreign reserves, will be publicized later.
Central Bank Governor Nguyen Van Giau said at the Asian Development Bank’s annual meeting in Hanoi last week that the State Bank was considering the disclosure of national foreign exchange reserves, a policy already adopted by many other central banks. But he noted that such a plan needs to be approved by the government.
International institutions like IMF and ADB regularly announce the data for Vietnam. Vietnamese officials at times mention the forex reserves, but they often just comment on whether the level is safe.
Vietnam’s foreign exchange reserves last year dropped 12 percent from 2009 to US$12.4 billion, ADB said in its Asian Development Outlook 2011 April report. The country’s reserves were enough to cover 1.9 months of imports at the end of 2010, the Manila-based bank said.

Source: Thanh Nien 

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Posted in: Asia,Business,Society,Vietnam

Vietnam in prostitution crackdown

Vietnam has unveiled a five-year multi-million-dollar crackdown on prostitution, which is widespread but considered a "social evil" in the country.

The plan aims to reduce prostitution by an initial 40 percent by 2015, the government said in a statement on its website dated Thursday.

With a budget of 629 billion dong ($30 million), the program "looks to free communes and towns from prostitution and minimize harms of this social issue on society," it said.

Investigations, job training for former sex workers and public awareness are among the measures the government said will be taken to battle prostitution, which is illegal.

Local media have reported estimates of 30,000-40,000 prostitutes nationwide, and the industry has continued to flourish despite previous campaigns against it.

tuoitrenews.vn

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Posted in: Asia,Society,Vietnam

IMF chief Strauss-Kahn undergoing tests over sex charge

IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has consented to a medical examination over allegations of serious sexual assault.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, who was arrested on Saturday, denies charges of attacking and attempting to rape a hotel maid.

He had been due to appear in court in New York on Sunday but the hearing was postponed until Monday to allow the forensic tests to be carried out.

The former French finance minister is also considered a possible Socialist candidate for the presidency.

He had been scheduled to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday in Berlin and then attend an EU finance ministers' meeting in Brussels on Monday on bailouts for Portugal and Greece.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

I do not believe for one second the accusations brought against my husband”

Anne SinclairWife of Mr Strauss-Kahn

William Taylor, defence lawyer: "He denies any wrongdoing"

Correspondents say he has been central to efforts to stabilise the finances of struggling eurozone member states and his detention is likely to complicate the process.

The Euro fell half a cent to $1.4063 when Asian markets opened on Monday - a six-week low against the dollar - reflecting concerns about the impact the arrest could have on bailouts plans for Portugal and Greece.

Mr Strauss-Kahn - often referred to in France simply as DSK - was detained at JFK airport on Saturday night as he prepared to fly to Europe.

He is believed to have been in New York on personal business. He does not have diplomatic immunity, a New York police spokesman said.

The 62-year-old was kept overnight in a special unit for sexual harassment in New York's Harlem borough. On Sunday he was charged with a "criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment, and attempted rape".

Police say the 32-year-old woman who made the allegations has formally identified him in a line-up.

Mr Strauss-Kahn's clothing will be tested for DNA traces, the New York Times reported.

'International conspiracy'

Speaking outside court in Manhattan, lawyer William Taylor said Mr Strauss-Kahn had "willingly consented to a scientific and forensic examination", adding that he was "tired but fine".

A second lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said his client "intends to vigorously defend these charges and he denies any wrongdoing".

Mr Strauss-Kahn's wife, prominent French journalist Anne Sinclair, has also said she believes he is innocent.

"I do not believe for one second the accusations brought against my husband," she said in a statement sent to the AFP news agency on Sunday.

The BBC's David Chazan says there has been a mixed reaction to the arrest in France, with some people seeing it as a national humiliation but others suggesting that he might have been set up by his political opponents.

Mr Strauss-Kahn was widely expected to announce his intention to run for the French presidency soon, and was seen as having a genuine chance of beating President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Paris regional councillor Michelle Sabban told AFP: "I am convinced it is an international conspiracy... This is a new form of political assassination."

Socialist legislator Jean-Marie Le Guen said: "The facts as they were reported today have nothing to do with the Dominique Strauss-Kahn whom we know."

Career damaged

Meanwhile, a centre-right opponent of Mr Strauss-Kahn's, Dominique Paille, said if the allegations were true, it would be "an historic moment, but in the negative sense, for French political life".

"I hope that everyone respects the presumption of innocence. I cannot manage to believe this affair," he told French TV.

But the leader of the National Front party, Marine Le Pen, said Mr Strauss-Kahn had been "definitively discredited".

Mr Strauss-Kahn has won praise for his stewardship of the IMF, which he has guided through difficult times including the recent world financial crisis.

The IMF said John Lipsky would temporarily take over Mr Strauss-Kahn's role

In 2008, he was criticised by the IMF board for an affair with a subordinate member of staff. The board said the affair had been consensual but reflected a "serious error of judgement".

John Lipsky has been appointed acting managing director of the IMF in his absence.

The fund's director of external relations, Caroline Atkinson, said the organisation remained "fully functioning and operational".

bbc

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Posted in: Society

HCMC taxi overcharges foreigners by 40 times

A Mai Linh taxi (for illustration purposes only)

Three Malaysians have fallen victim to a Mai Linh taxi scam in Ho Chi Minh City, paying VND6 million (US$300) for a ride that should have been VND150,000 (US$7.50).

One of the customers, Nasiniya Mohd Taib, said she and two friends took a taxi with a Mai Linh Taxi Group logo and the phone number 0839620620 on the side of the car from Ben Thanh Market to Tan Son Nhat Airport on the morning of May 10.

Upon arriving at the airport, the taxi driver charged them VND4 million (US$200) and 300 Malaysian ringgit (US$100), overcharging them by VND5.8 million ($US285).

Nguyen Tuan Sinh, head of Mai Linh Taxi Group’s labor union, said he went to Ben Thanh Market after the incident was reported to him and found the car was a scam taxi operating under Mai Linh’s name.

When Sinh and his officers found the car, which has license plate number 52V-0160, they tried to take photos but the driver attacked them.

Nguyen Ngoc Hieu, head of Mai Linh Taxi Group’s subsidiary Communist Party Committee, said taxi scams are not new and there have been numerous cases where drivers use the Mai Linh name to trick customers.

A representative for Mai Linh said scam taxi’s using Mai Linh’s name usually frequent Ben Thanh Market, Bach Dang Port and the Saigon Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Mai Linh said they have asked the authorities for a solution, but the scam taxis still exist.

The company advised its customers to pay close attention to the driver’s uniform, the logo and the phone number on the cab in order to avoid the ploy.

Recently, there have been an increasing number of scam taxis in HCMC reported by foreign customers.

tuoitrenews.vn

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Posted in: Asia,Society,Tour in Vietnam,Vietnam