Ten most important events in Dong Nai in 2009

The adjustment of administrative boundaries of Long Thanh district for the expansion of Bien Hoa city was adopted at the 17th session of the 7th Provincial People’s Council on November 10.

Dong Nai Journalists’ Association has selected following events as of most important significance in Dong Nai in 2009.

1.      The adjustment of administrative boundaries of Long Thanh district for the expansion of Bien Hoa city was adopted at the 17^th session of the 7th Provincial People’s Council on November 10. Under this adjustment, some communes of Long Thanh district will be added and the city will be expanded to 26.5 thousand hectares with a population of more than 784,000 people. The expansion of Bien Hoa City is very necessary to accommodate the citys growth and will provide the potential to develop further its role as Dong Nais political, economic, and cultural centre as well as an industrial centre for the southern region.

Delegates raise their hands to adopt the adjustment of administrative boundaries of Long Thanh district for the expansion of Bien Hoa city

2.      This is the first time the province has successfully organized the Culture Day of workers in 2009. The activities during the event aimed to honor workers and laborers. The event has attracted the participation of a large number of workers in the province’s industrial parks, trade union organizations and companies in the province.

A performance is among a series of activities to celebrate the Culture Day of workers

3.      According to statistics of the Dong Nai Planning and Investment Department, this year saw an increase in domestic investments in the province despite the negative impacts of the global economic recession. Dong Nai lured VND55 trillion in domestic investment in 2009, an increase of 2.53 times over the previous year. Major investment projects include Phuoc An Port in Nhon Trach District. It was invested by the PetroVietnam Group, Bien Hoa Industrial Park Development Company and Tin Nghia Company. The $1.1 billion project is expected to increase the port’s capacity to 9 million tonnes a year and make it capable of accommodating 30,000-60,000 tonne vessels.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Dinh Quoc Thai (L) hands investment licence to a domestic investor

4.      During this year, Dong Nai licensed many big projects worth over US$1 billion such as a US$6 billion Eastern Saigon new urban area project and a US$2 billion township in Nhon Trach district. Nhon Trach Investment Joint Stock Co. on August 16 kicked off construction of Eastern Saigon new urban area project worth an estimated US$6 billion in Nhon Trach District, the largest of its kind in Dong Nai Province. Malaysia’s Berjaya Corporation has been licensed to build a US$2 billion township in Nhon Trach district, the largest foreign investment project in the province so far this year. The 600-hectare Nhon Trach New City Center, the group’s second project in Dong Nai – some 30 km south of central Ho Chi Minh City – will be conducted in four phases from now until 2020.

US$6 billion Eastern Saigon new urban area project

5.      Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung kicked off the construction of the 55-km project from HCM City via the Long Thanh international airport to Dau Giay in Dong Nai province on Oct. 3. This is the first section of the North-South Expressway project. The HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay section will have four lanes in the first phase and eight lanes in the second phase in the 24-km An Phu-Long Thanh section or six lanes in the 31-km Long Thanh-Dau Giay section. It is capitalised at 932.4 million USD, with 516.5 million USD as loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), 410.2 million USD as loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and 5.7 million USD contributed by the Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC).

The new Dong Nai bridge to link Dong Nai province and HCM city was officially opened to traffic on Dec 31 after more than 18 months of construction.

New Dong Nai bridge is opened to traffic

6.      The nuclear medicine and tumor treatment ward of Dong Nai General Hospital has come into operation after one years preparation. The hospital is equipped with modern medical equipments such as the 128 Multi-Slice Scanner, linear accelerator (LINAC) and Computed Tomography Scanner (CT.Scanner), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Dong Nai General Hospital is among few of the provincial-level hospitals in the country which set up the nuclear medicine and tumor treatment ward. Besides, other hospitals in the province have also invested to upgrade their facilities and equip modern equipments to meet the soaring health care needs of local people.

7.      The Vinh Cuu Nature Reserve held an inauguration ceremony of traditional long house of Cho Ro Ethnic group in Phu Ly commune, Vinh Cuu district in July. The long house is a ‘house on stilts” with a thatched roof. The house site covers  approximately 4000 square meters in area with main house covering 210 square meters and the rest being open space: landscaping, fencing etc. Construction of this house aims at preserving the cultural values of Cho Ro ethnic group. The Vinh Cuu Nature Reserve spent more than VND 2.8 billion in constructing this long house of Cho Ro Ethnic group.

8.      Large distribution enterprises inside and outside Dong Nai has launched mobile sales to serve rural areas. Scheduled to start from September 26, Vinh Cuu and Trang Bom districts were the first location in rural areas of Dong Nai where local residents have access to Vietnamese high-quality goods. The sales continued through early December at the following locations in rural areas. The Government has kicked off a program to provide commodities for rural areas. In August, the Political Bureau approved the launch of a drive dubbed “Vietnamese give priority to Vietnamese goods,” a large-scale campaign aiming not only at inspiring patriotism and national pride but also building a consumer culture in the public and helping local businesses improve competitiveness on the local market. Some distributors, like Vinatex Mart, Co.opMart, Bien Hoa Sugar Company, D&F Factory, Vinamik ….saw the sales as activities to promote brands, not to make profits.

9.      Some violations and negative phenomenon were reported at the Dau Giay Weighing Station on the National Road 1A in Thong Nhat district. The contractor for this weighing station was criticized in July for regular breakdowns that allowed too many overloaded trucks to get away scoot free.  A number of heavy trucks have damaged the province’s roads while taking detours to avoid the station. Around 50 kilometers of road had been seriously damaged with a total surface area of 145,000 square meters needing to be repaved, which would cost around VND70 billion (US$3.9 million).  The station has issued fines against 1,400 overloaded trucks since May, but traffic police have issued fines against 4,300 others who have taken the detour to avoid the station. The station has imposed fines of more than VND 3.7 billion on overloaded trucks during this year.

10.  Three elephants were found dead close to a nature reserve in the province on July 13, even as two earlier deaths in the same area remain unexplained.  Police has investigated both the incidents. The stink of the pachyderm’s corpses led residents to the La Nga Forest Yard that neighbors the Vinh Cuu Relics and Nature Reserve. Two elephant corpses were found in the reserve in June.