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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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.

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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".

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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.

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NATO Bombs Strike Tripoli; Rebels Advance in Misrata

A Libyan rebel fighter shouts slogans as he welcomes comrades heading towards the front line outside the Libyan eastern city Ajdabiya on May 10, 2011.

NATO bombings shook the Libyan capital Tuesday, as rebels claimed to have pushed government forces further away from the besieged port city of Misrata.

The alliance says airstrikes in Tripoli targeted a military command and control facility run by pro-government forces.  Residents said one of the bombs hit a building used by Libya's military intelligence agency.

NATO officials again denied they are targeting Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, but one strike sent up smoke from what appeared to be Mr. Gadhafi's compound.

In Misrata, a rebel military spokesman said opposition forces have pushed government troops back about 15 kilometers from the city as opposition fighters advanced to the town of Dafniya.  Colonel Ahmed Bani also said rebels had dislodged pro-Gadhafi forces from around the airport after two days of heavy fighting.

In eastern Libya, rebels reported advances between the towns of Ajdabiya and Brega.

In another boost to the opposition, the U.S. State Department said the first load of non-lethal American military aid for the rebels landed Tuesday in their stronghold of Benghazi.  The Associated Press quoted spokesman Mark Toner as saying the shipment consists of more than 10,000 meals, with further deliveries of medical supplies, boots and protective gear to arrive soon.

The shipment comes ahead of planned meetings in Washington this week between U.S. officials and senior members of Libya's opposition Transitional National Council.

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Posted in: Politics,Society

Toyota quarterly profits drop but recovery expected

Japanese car makers have been struggling with
damage and parts shortages after the 11 March disaster

Toyota Motors' profits plummeted by 77% in the last quarter because of disruption caused by March's earthquake.

Net profits fell to 25.5bn yen (£192.7m $315.5m) between January and March, the company said.
But for the fiscal year ending in March Toyota's income doubled showing that it had been enjoying a recovery before the quake hit.
The Japanese carmaker announced that production will pick up from June.
Toyota had previously said that improvements in output wouldn't begin until July.
Toyota and other auto manufacturers have been dealing with parts shortages because of the damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on 11 March.
The world's biggest carmaker has curbed production at its factories in Japan and overseas.
On Wednesday President Akio Toyoda said he expects the company's car manufacturing in Japan and abroad to recover to 70% of its capacity before the earthquake, in June.
A full recovery is not expected until late this year.

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Two Swedes jailed for life over Philippine cybersex den

Young women and girls are often forced to work as cybersex chat girls

Two Swedish men, arrested in 2009, have been jailed for life for running a cybersex operation in the Philippines.

A court in the southern Philippines found Bo Stefan Sederholm, 31, and Emil Andreas Solemo, 35, guilty of trafficking charges.
The life sentences are unprecedented both for their severity and for the spotlight they cast on cybersex dens.
These involve naked women chatting and performing sexual acts in front of webcams for internet clients.
Three Filipinos were given 20-year jail sentences for helping the Swedes, who had set up the internet and payment systems, to run the business.
Regional court clerk Nelison Salcedo was quoted by AFP as saying judge Jeoffre Acebido had stressed the need to protect women.
"Disrespect for Filipino women and violations of our laws deserve the strongest condemnations from this court," Ms Salcedo quoted from the judge's ruling.
"It will not shirk from its duty to impose the most severe of penalties against anybody, be he a foreign national or a citizen of this country, who tramples upon the dignity of a woman by taking advantage of her vulnerability."
Under-age fears The Swedes were arrested when police raided a commercial building in the town of Kauswagan, Mindanao, in April 2009.
Police found 17 naked Filipinas in front of computer screens, some of them under-age; they were described as having been forced into performing cybersex.
Ms Salcedo was quoted as saying that the women were paid 15,000 pesos ($350) a month.
"Once the client has paid for a private show, anything goes," she said.
The Swedish embassy in Bangkok, which oversees the Swedish consulate in Manila, confirmed the court ruling.
"We learned that they have been convicted and sentenced to life in prison," said senior consular officer Par Kageby.
Cybersex, or sexually explicit chat over the internet, is a growing industry in many parts of the world; business is booming is the Philippines.
The BBC's Manila correspondent, Kate McGeown, says an already established sex trade, high levels of poverty and a population that speaks at least basic English means there is a ready supply of girls.
Officials estimate that thousands could be working in the small apartments that are the usual locations of these so-called cybersex dens.
All internet sex is classed as pornography and therefore illegal in the Philippines, but what most concerns the authorities is the number of girls who are trafficked into these dens - many of whom are well under 18, the legal age of consent.

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Charges sought against 38 for stealing coal

Police in the northern province of Quang Ninh have asked prosecutors to press charges against 38 people for stealing tens of thousands of tons of coal worth over VND16.6 billion (US$805,825) last year.

Among the accused are five senior management officials and two guards of the state-owned Mao Khe Coal Company, where the theft took place.

According to police, Le Khac Hung and Pham Duy Nghia, who were in charge of security at the company’s mining site, opened doors for the thieves to take away over 28,000 tons coal with trucks and equipment during a week last February.

Hung said that in return he received VND110 million ($5,339).

The senior officials, meanwhile, are were lax in their management, letting illegal mining continue even though they were aware of it earlier, police said.

They will probably face charges of “deliberately violating economic management regulations,” police said.

Reported by Thai Son

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European firms less confident in Vietnam's business outlook: survey

Increasing concerns over inflation and the weakness of the dong have dampened confidence in Vietnam's business prospects, the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) said at a survey release function on Monday.

Results of the third quarterly EuroCham Business Climate Index survey, which was conducted late last month, showed that business confidence and outlook among European companies in Vietnam has fallen by 9 index points since the last survey to 70 points on a 0-100 scale.

Compared to the last survey, European businesses made more cautious assessments this time, although the responses remained largely positive.

The number of businesses describing their current situation as “neutral” rose from 19 percent to 28 percent while responses stating a “good” or “excellent” business situation came down to 56 percent from 64 percent last time.

EuroCham said its members provided mixed responses to a question on business outlook for Vietnam. While 51 percent had a “good” or “excellent” comment on the business outlook for their enterprises, it was a big drop compared with 72 percent in the last survey.

Meanwhile, companies holding a “neutral” business view increased sharply at 33 percent, up from 20 percent; and those with a negative business outlook doubled from 8 to 16 percent .

The survey showed that high inflation was a major concern for European businesses with 72 percent of the respondents expecting it would reach more than 10 percent this year. This figure rose significantly from just 47 percent having such expectations last quarter.

As for the dong/USD exchange rate, 52 percent projected the dong to depreciate further by 6-8 percent or remain unchanged by mid-2011, while 57 percent expected the currency to weaken by 8 percent or more against the greenback by the end of the year.

Matthias Dühn, Executive Director of EuroCham, said EuroCham members were increasingly concerned about the volatile macroeconomic environment in Vietnam.

“EuroCham therefore believes the key challenges for Vietnam’s leadership in 2011 will be maintaining investor’s confidence in macro-economic stability, in particular by balancing carefully growth and inflation, and emphasizing growth in the added-value industries,” he said.

Alain Cany, chairman of Eurocham, said, “Vietnam is in the minds of European businesses. However, a lot of question marks about time, inflation, production costs and stability of the dong have confused investors and made them more hesitant to come to Vietnam.”

As a result, many investment projects have been left behind and were not moving as fast as they could, he said.

He warned the country could see a significant drop in FDI if there was not any improvement in its macro-economic situation in the coming months.

Source: Thanh Nien, Agencies

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