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REGIONAL NEWS & SPECIAL REPORTS
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 17/III/May/2006
The much-delayed Suvarnabhumi airport will open in August at the latest, caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Wannasathit said yesterday. ''The government will announce the exact opening date in June,'' he said, after inspecting the project in Samut Prakan's Bang Phli district and chairing the airport's development committee.
Doubts were cast on the planned July opening of the airport by transport officials, including caretaker Deputy Transport Minister Chainant Charoensiri, and airline representatives.
Pol Gen Chidchai said construction work was almost complete, as were systems tests.
''Construction has been over 99% completed and the delayed part is the outsourcing, for example, of security, cleaning and ground services. The government will have all construction work finished in May,'' he said.
Readiness reports of the new Bangkok airport will be submitted to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (Icao) on May 11.
Icao should reach its conclusion on airport readiness within two months and then the Aviation Department will issue an airport operation licence.
Although damaged roofing fabrics and terrazzo floors have yet to be repaired, Pol Gen Chidchai said the issues were trivial and what mattered was aviation safety.
Caretaker Transport Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal said the opening depended on the readiness of runways, aeronautical radio systems, conveyors and check-in systems, not on whether floors still had cracks.
He admitted there were more than 100 cracks on terrazzo floors, but said the areas could be partitioned off for repairs while the airport operates.
By: Amornrat Mahitthirook
Bangkok Post May 3, 2006
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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REGIONAL NEWS & SPECIAL REPORTS
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 17/III/May/2006
HCM CITY ? Viet Nam is emerging as the world?s biggest cashew exporter, according to a recent report from the HCM City Trade and Investment Promotion Centre.
It said Viet Nam is projected to export 120,000 tonnes of cashew nuts this year, while current world-leading India is expected to export about 114,143. Last year Viet Nam exported 103,000 tonnes of cashews, with earnings of about US$486 million, it said.
Throughout the 1990s, the nation exported mostly unprocessed cashew nuts. However, industry-wide efforts in upgrading processing facilities paid off when the nation surpassed Brazil to become the world?s number two cashew nut processor and exporter in 2002. Viet Nam now exports cashew nut processing technology and imports raw cashews for export processing, according to the Viet Nam Association of Cashew Processors.
In an effort to ensure a sufficient supply of raw cashews for domestic processors, the industry plans to expand cultivation from the current 380,000 hectares to 500,000 hectares in the next few years.
The Viet Nam Association of Cashew Processors said its members plan to harvest 380,000 tonnes of cashew nuts this year, falling short of the demand of processing companies, which plan to import an additional 40,000 tonnes of raw cashews for export processing.
Cashews have joined other products such as rice, pepper, rubber, coffee, tea, crude oil, and textiles and garments in becoming leading hard currency earners for Viet Nam. In the last five years, the nation earned US$1.58 billion from the export of cashews, posting an average annual growth rate of 24 per cent over the same period. In 2006, cashew industry turnover is expected to hit US$580-600 million, according to the association.
Despite substantial growth in export activities, cashew farmers and processors still face potentially damaging global price fluctuations, it said.
In the first four months of this year, although the volume of cashew exports rose sharply, total export value fell slightly because of falling prices on international prices, it added.
VNS May 3, 2006
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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REGIONAL NEWS & SPECIAL REPORTS
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 17/III/May/2006
Ha Tinh ? Viet Nam is focusing on developing the Vung Ang economic zone, comprising nine coastal communes in Ky Anh District in the central province of Ha Tinh, into a key national economic region offering different services and industries projected to rival Bangkok.
The zone covers an area of 22,781ha and, apart from being home to the Chu Lai, Dung Quat, Nhon Hoi and Chan May economic zones, offers investors an array of opportunities in diverse sectors.
Thai Van Hoa, Deputy Director of the Vung Ang Economic Board, says that 60ha of the zone are currently ready for investors, but only five enterprises are operational while two others are in the process of completing the required procedures before starting production.
The seven enterprises from Taiwan, South Korea and Japan focus mostly on wood processing, aqua-product processing and producing paper pulp.
Ha Tinh is known nationwide as a poor province and although local people have been working hard, their standard of living has remained low.
But every dark cloud has a silver lining, and the Ha Tinh people are fortunate to have the Vung Ang sea on their doorstep. Travelling from Vung Ang along National Highway 12, people can easily reach Laos and the northeastern part of Thailand ? both less than 300km away. In other words, travellers on the road can enjoy "cuisine from Viet Nam, Laos and Thailand." It is projected that when Vung Ang becomes a full-fledged industrial economic and services zone, it can become a bigger tourist attraction than Bangkok. It also has the potential to become one of Southeast Asia?s most bustling economic regions.
Ha Tinh has been endowed by mother nature with two deep-sea ports, Vung Ang and Son Duong. Featuring harbour depths of 11m and 22m, respectively, ships with a dead-weight tonnage of 40,000-50,000 tonnes can use these ports. Another advantage of the two ports is the very low level of silting. No dredging of alluvial soil is necessary, saving port operators a lot of money. For example, the port city of Hai Phong spends tens of billions of dong annually on dredging its harbour.
In addition, the two ports are protected by a mountain ? a very important condition for ships docking at port.
Ha Tinh?s third strong point is its thermal power capacity. It is estimated that Vung Ang thermal power plants 1,2 and 3 will generate 3,000-3,600MW of electricity when they become operational.
According to Hoa, Vung Ang thermal power plant 1 will start generating electricity in 2009. The Viet Nam Machinery Installation Company, or Lilama, is the project contractor, while Vung Ang power stations 2 and 3 will be constructed by Chinese contractors.
The Prime Minister has recently issued a decision to establish the Vung Ang economic zone as well as a regulation governing economic activities in the zone.
VNS May 3, 2006
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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REGIONAL NEWS & SPECIAL REPORTS
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 17/III/May/2006
AN GIANG ? Processing fat from catfish, which otherwise pollute Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, Ho Xuan Thien, an engineer with the Agifish An Giang, a seafood processing company, has successfully produced a bio-fuel ? a kind of clean diesel - for only VND6,500 per litre for automobiles.
The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta produces over 30,000 tonnes of catfish fat annually. Though it is used to produce lubricants and as fish feed, a surplus remains unused, polluting the environment.
While vegetable oil has been processed as bio-fuel for a long time around the world, Thien was motivated by his son, a doctoral student at Oxford University, to experiment with catfish fat. "I came to have a comprehensive understanding of the product and processes involved in transforming catfish fat into bio-fuel, thanks to research papers and related documents provided by my son," said Thien.
However, the process was much more complicated than Thien initially expected. It took many experiments to fix technical parameters, condition and catalysts for each physical and chemical reaction at each refining stage to finish the process.
Thien was ably supported by his team consisting of Vu Tran Tan Quoc, a mechanical engineer, Vo Thi Dao Chi, an agricultural expert from An Giang University, and Nguyen Quynh Nhu, a fresh graduate engineer.
The team was fully funded by Thien and worked at the laboratory of the An Giang University.
While the first sample found favour with the Viet Nam National Institute of Standards and Technology, the second sample, with the colour of cooking oil and nil exhaust, received the approval of the institute.
"Bio-fuels can be used as a substitute for petroleum, which is scarce and pollutes the environment. They are also environmental-friendly and can be produced at low cost. The bio-fuel produced from fish fat will decrease pollution and add more value for catfish," said Vo Tong Xuan, head of the An Giang University.
Thien now has sixty regular customers with a top single order for 2000 litres per month. In addition to bio-fuel, catfish fat can also be used to produce glycerine (used popularly in dyeing, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics) and fertilisers.
VNS May 3, 2006
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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