Business Beat
Viet Nam has allowed the establishment of private film production companies for the first time, but nobody seems interested. The conditions for private film makers to register for business are quite simple: they either have to hold a university degree in any field or have worked in the film industry for five years. or they, on the hand, can hire professional directors to make their films.The announcement, made just over a month ago, has not raised the interest officials had expected.
People in the industry say the biggest difficulty is a lack of capital. Given the repeated failures of Vietnamese films in commercial terms, nobody is willing to invest hundreds of millions of dong in a venture with such slim chances of success. If anybody is thinking of setting up a film production company, chances are they are thinking of co-operation deals with foreign film makers as subcontractors.
People say private film production in Viet Nam could only take off if there was real co-operation between film distributors, TV channels and home entertainment companies.
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Late last year, the Government decided to send 12 teams to inspect key construction projects built with State funds. Although the work is still underway, inspectors said they found violations on almost all projects. The money involved amounted to VND870 billion or 13.6 per cent of the total allocated capital.
The most common violation was illegal amortisation of assets. Other violations include a slow implementation pace leading to higher bank interest payments, and misuse of allocated capital. Misdemeanours were also found at all stages of construction, leading to poor quality, higher costs and loopholes providing opportunities for corruption.
The inspectors said they have made recommendations for stricter control of capital construction projects using State funds. They also said they might bring criminal charges against those found to have committed grave wrongdoings.
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HCM City is getting tough in dealing with traffic violations. People caught committing traffic offences which attract a fine of VND200,000 or more, now get a hole punched through their driving licence. If they get three such holes, their licence will be cancelled and they will have to wait one year before applying for a new licence.
Less than one week after this measure was introduced, the traffic situation in HCM City improved considerably, to the delight of law-abiding citizens. They now see fewer speeding motorbikes cutting ahead of their bikes or jumping into car lanes.
For offences where fines are less than VND200,000, offending motorbikes are now impounded for 60 days before owners are allowed to pay the fine and get their machine back.
The new campaign has also focused on traffic patrols. Previously, traffic officers often ignored minor offences and concentrated on major breaches with bigger fines. As a result, drivers often ignored basic traffic rules. Now, the officers are instructed to punish even the smallest violations.
Some observers say to make the campaign more successful, a national policy is needed to limit the increase of cars in urban areas. They say if just 5 per cent of motorbike owners upgraded to cars it would be a disaster for the traffic situation in major cities such as Ha Noi and HCM City.
VNS
