Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Van Binh has signed a decision to set up the Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC), effective from July 9 this year, in a move to resolve bad debts and boost credit growth.

President Truong Tan Sang on July 8 expressed his gratitude to Kazakh war veteran Issa Bisanov for helping train Vietnamese air defence soldiers during the war.

Scientists from across the globe were brought together at an international physical science conference that opened in the central province of Binh Dinh o­n July 29. Physicists will discuss in groups a number of issues concerning cosmography in the Planck era (the dawn of humankind) along with the theory of relativity and the force of gravity. They will join five Nobel laureates to engage in a series of scientific seminars o­n physics. The conference was organised by the Meeting Vietnam Organisation (MVO) along with several Vietnamese ministries and the Binh Dinh provincial People’s Committee as part of the ninth Meet Vietnam programme. Established in 1993 by Physics Professor Tran Thanh Van, an overseas Vietnamese living in France, MVO plans to inaugurate the International Centre for Interdisciplinary Science and Education in Quy Nhon city during the o­ngoing event. Leading international scientists are expected to gather annually at the centre to work with Vietnamese researchers and debate a wide range of scientific themes.

Vietnam o­n July 3 returned the last remaining 11 kilogrammes of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from the Da Lat Nuclear Research Institute to Russia, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) announced in Hanoi the same day. This complex operation was the culmination of a multi-year effort by the MoST, in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the US’ National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOMAccording to the ministry, Da Lat Research Reactor was upgraded from TRIGA Reactor with a capacity of 250kW (constructed in the early 1960’) and was restarted o­n March 20, 1984 with the nominal capacity of 500 kW. Regarding the fuels, in 1983 the IAEA provided Vietnam with the budget to buy 140 HEU fuel assemblies (36 percent of U-235) of standard WWR-M2 type, manufactured and supplied by the former Soviet Union.Following the IAEA’s recommendation, and based o­n the agreement between the US and Russia, all Research Reactors (RRs) using nuclear fuel of uranium enriched to 20 percent of U-235 or higher have to be converted to use low enriched uranium (LEU) (below 20 percent of U-235), because unlike HEU, LEU cannot be used to make a nuclear weapon. The Da Lat Research Reactor is among more than 20 RRs in 17 countries using HEU fuel supplied by the former Soviet Union, and thus was also required to convert to LEU.

The Hanoitimes - Lao Cai became the eleventh province to implement an e-customs clearance and declaration system when its Customs Department launched e-customs procedures o­n August 1.All businesses that export or import goods through the Lao Cai International Border Gate will have to observe the e-customs clearance and declaration process. They can declare customs procedures anywhere and at any time, and pay fees for each customs declaration form or o­n a monthly basis.The e-customs system will help businesses save time and cost for completing customs procedures.