IT experts have admitted that the global economic crisis is hitting the local software industry hard.

 

 

The sector usually predicted a minimum growth rate of at least 30 per cent, said Viet Nam Software Association (Vinasa) Chairman Truong Gia Binh.

"This year the figure might be at zero or just 10 per cent."

Last year saw the sector earning turnover of about US$600 million, 40 per cent of which came from exports.

Though well aware that software programmes and IT can help increase productivity, not many companies seem willing to pay for them.

According to the country director of Viet Nam IDC market research, Nguyen Lam, the economic crisis is forcing most local companies to cut spending on IT. This has meant fewer software contracts.

According to the latest figures released by the IDC, spending on IT this year is estimated to reach over US$2.2 billion, a reduction of $102 million compared with the company’s initial forecast.

"Local software processing firms are being hit by the global economic crisis," Lam said.

General Director of Misa Software Company Lu Thanh Long said many companies were cutting down production and spending to combat the effects of the crunch.

Consumers were watching their pockets and were more hesitant when buying the company’s products. Long said it was also difficult for the local software market to sell IT products to non-profit making companies. The Government’s appeal to cut 10 per cent of State budget spending had forced these companies to tighten their purse-strings, especially when it came to IT.

The crisis was either an opportunity or a challenge to the software industry, said Vinasa chairman Truong Gia Binh.

The chairman of leading Vietnamese outsourcing company TMA Solutions, Nguyen Huu Le, was also optimistic.

TMA Solutions have been supplying software research and development services to foreign telecommunication companies for 11 years.

"Many IT companies employ local workers to do research and development, especially as many are now cutting production."

The slump was a good chance for local software firms to provide new technology. Le cited the success of four mobile phone service providers, Viettel, VinaPhone, MobiFone and joint venture EVN Mobile-HT Mobile incorporation, who provide the third generation network (3G).

General Director of Misa Software Company Lu Thanh Long said he hoped the crisis would encourage business leaders to re-evaluate their management strategy.

"This would create an opportunity for software companies to sell new software programmes in management and business," he said.

Source: http://www.unesco-cep.org.vn/english/information/communication-information/it-sector-hit-hard-by-global-economic-crisis.html

VietNamNet Bridge – Some educators believe that in the digital era, it is impossible to ban mobile phones from schools, while others say mobile phones distract students from their lessons.

 

A lot of schools have banned the use of mobile phones at school. They argue that constant phone calls make students unfocused and cause troubles at schools.  

 

Not surprisingly, students are strongly opposed.  They haven’t hesitated to criticize the bans on online education forums.

 

Some parents point out that if schools prohibit kids from packing phones, they won’t be able to call home in case there’s an accident.

 

There’s been no official survey on impact of mobile phones on the study results of students, reports Saigon Tiep thi, and no central guidance.  Perhaps, suggests the newspaper, it’s time for schools to agree on a common solution.

 

Resisting the tidal wave . . .

 

Early this school year, during an impromptu walkabout at Thu Duc Senior High School (HCM City), Principal Nguyen Huu Dieu discovered seven students using mobile phones during class hours.  They were listening to music and sending SMS messages.

 

The principal asked the students to write a confession of their mistakes and planned to meet their parents to talk about their children’s behaviour.  While the students were writing reports, their mobile phones continued vibrating as more messages arrived.

 

Principal Dieu is persuaded that the use of mobile phones at wrong places and wrong moments interferes with teaching and learning, and therefore mobile phones have been banned at Thu Duc High.

 

Many other schools have also banned mobile phones from the classroom.  At least three HCMC senior highs, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai in District 3, Le Minh Xuan in Binh Chanh District and Sao Viet in District 7 have been ‘no phone zones’ for the last several years. Their students here have been told that their mobile phones will be seized and returned only to their parents.  Repeat offenders get a bad conduct demerit.

 

These schools are holding out against a tidal wave.  The mobile phone has become so popular that even 5^th graders pack their own.  Not just the kids, but their parents have come to consider the mobile phone an ‘indispensable part of life’.

 

Meanwhile, teachers complain that ringing phones interrupt their lessons.  “I know they don’t like our rule, but if students are busy with ‘playing with mobile phones’ during study hours, they will not have time to get knowledge,” stressed teacher Le Viet Cang from Le Minh Xuan High School.

 

. . . or accomodating to it?

 

In contrast, many other schools allow students to carry and use mobile phones at school, provided that they turn them off while they are in class.  While many schools insist on the need of prohibit mobile phones at schools, others believe that no need to do that in the digital era.

 

Lam Van Trieu, a deputy principal at Le Hong Phong High School, said that 80 percent of the students at this ‘gifted and talented’ school in HCM City have mobile phones.  “The phones are a device that allows individuals to stay in touch with family and friends.  While we are teaching the kids to use new technologies, there’s no reason to forbid them to carry phones.” 

 

However, Trieu insisted, any students caught using their phone during class hours will be required to write a ‘self-criticism’ and their parents will be informed.  Repeat violators can lose a full mark in their ‘behavior’ grade – as a few kids found out during the last school year.

 

Nguyen Thi Phi, Principal of Duc Tri Junior High, says it is left entirely up to the schools to decide whether or not to ban phones – there’s been no guidance from the Ministry of Education.  “There are pros and cons.  What’s important is to observe how the kids are using the phones, and then discuss appropriate procedures with parents in a timely way.”  It’s OK for students to use the phones to communicate with friends and family, Phi thinks, but essential to discourage “chat,” watching video clips or accessing the Internet, and there must be no tolerance for youngsters who load debauched photos and film on their phones to show each other.

 

Source: http://english.vietnamnet.vn/education/200912/Schools-ponder-policy-on-mobile-phones-883743/

HA NOI — The Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, has asked localities to regularly check on documentation for foreign workers who are employed in enterprises, organisations or under contract.

The move aims to bring in stricter management policies for foreign labourers in co-operation with the ministries of Labour, Invalids and Social Affair, Public Security and municipal and provincial People’s Committees.

The initiative will focus on placing checks on the recruitment and work permits application process for foreign workers.

Under the new regulations, foreign employees who want to work in Viet Nam will need a working licence and professional competence certificate.

Foreign employees will have to submit a full set of application forms to their employers, including a resume, health certificate and a copy of their professional competence certificate.

Employers and employees will have to sign working contracts under Vietnamese laws. If foreign employees work for more than 10 consecutive days or a total of 30 days a year, their employers, the Vietnamese partner or representative of the foreign non-governmental organisation, will have to supply documents to the local department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Punishment

Minister Ngan said if enterprises violated the regulations, they would receive administrative punishment and the foreign labourers would be deported under Vietnamese law.

Municipal and provincial People’s Committees must provide a report to the management of foreign labourers by the 25th day of the last month of every quarter to the ministry’s Employment Department. This report must include the number of enterprises using foreign workers, the number of workers, as well as methods and initiatives used for the management of the employees.

The minister also asked the committees to disseminate information to foreign workers about the new regulations.

In Viet Nam, there are nearly 100,000 foreign employees. However, more than half have yet to receive a labour certificate.

Nguyen Ngoc Anh, director of the A&T Design Company, said that after studying design in South Korea he invited some excellent Korean graduates to work in his company, but he had to go through the proper channels in order to get visas for them.

"The visas help ensure that they are able to work for the company for a long time," said Anh. —VNS

HA NOI — Viet Nam is active in the battle against discrimination and protecting women’s rights that are congruent with the Millennium Goal and the CEDAW convention on gender equality, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong told ASEAN female parliamentarians yesterday.

Trong received delegates from the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly who are in Ha Noi for a conference on the role of female members of parliament (MPs) during the lawmaking process.

The NA chairman highly appreciated the conference, which provided a chance for the AIPA members to exchange information and share experiences about improving women’s role in lawmaking and socio-economic activities.

"Fighting to liberate women and protect their rights, as well as implementing gender equality, have become a necessity for every country and is one of the millennium goals that all nations are paying attention to and making efforts to accomplish," Trong said to the AIPA MPs.

Almost all the AIPA parliaments have a high ratio of women participating in the governing bodies. Trong said he hoped the female MPs would uphold their role in their country’s political and socio-economic activities.

Earlier yesterday, Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan urged the parliamentarians from the regional countries to co-operate more closely to promote gender issues.

The Vice President in her address at the opening session of the conference yesterday praised the co-operation among the ASEAN member countries in improving the profile of women by approving a series of regional bills that recognise the role that women play in their countries. She told female MPs coming from regional countries that the Party and State of Viet Nam gave significant attention to promoting gender equality and that Vietnamese women have benefited in the political, socio-economic and cultural sectors.

Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly, Tong Thi Phong said in her speech yesterday that enhancing the role of female MPs in the process of lawmaking was an important goal for every country and had been on the AIPA agenda for many years.

Phong told the conference that Viet Nam had made significant achievements in promoting women’s involvement in the lawmaking process, state management and socio-economic development. She noted that the achievements aimed to reflect the standards present in the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) convention.

"This is highlighted by the number and level of female deputies in the National Assembly, as well as in elected organs at all levels," she said.

Viet Nam, like many other countries in the world and the region, is facing challenges in improving its judicial system, especially in regards to protecting the rights and legal interests of women in production, business, jobs, healthcare and social insurance, according to Phong.

AIPA, which was formed in 1977, aims to contribute to the attainment of the goals of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) through inter-parliamentary co-operation.

Phong expressed her hope that through the forum, female parliamentarians from AIPA members would compare notes and share their experiences on their role in lawmaking in order to boost mutual understanding. They were also expected to discuss future co-operation plans and to contribute to improving their role and position in political and socio-economic activities, said Phong.

The two-day conference is discussing a variety of relevant issues, and the establishment of a regional co-operation mechanism for female parliamentarians to exchange information and experiences concerning lawmaking and gender equality.

Female MPs from Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Viet Nam were among the participants. The AIPA’s acting general-secretary I Gusti Ayu Darsini, representatives from the UN Development Programme, international organisations and embassies in Ha Noi were also in attendance. — VNS