The President stressed on the strategic and potential location of the port while noting Vietnam’s long coastline of more than 3,200 kilometres.

“The inauguration of the port will not only support nation building and its protection but also make it one of Vietnam’s leading deep-sea ports and supply service areas,” he said.

He urged the Saigon Newport Corporation to step up the implementation of the second phase of the project, ensuring its progress and quality.

Once completed, Cam Ranh International Port, with an investment of 2 trillion Vietnamese dong (nearly US$89 million), is expected to become the biggest port in Vietnam in terms of wharf length, which could handle 18 ships at one time and accommodate ships of up to 110,000 DWT.

It is capable of receiving 185 ships each year, and is designed to protect ships against 8-level wind and storms.

The port will serve both civilian and military vessels.

Cam Ranh Bay holds a strategic position in the East Sea due to its proximity to international navigation routes and Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelagos, as well as to the oil and gas areas in the south-east continental shelf of Vietnam.

Nguyen Duc Thuan, Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso) chairman, said chances on promoting exports and expanding export markets would remain this year due to advantages from free trade agreements (FTAs) with the European Union (EU), South Korea and especially Trans Pacific Partnerships (TPP) agreement.

The zero tax rate under the Vietnam-EU FTA and TPP effective in 2018 would, in the future, promote Vietnam’s exports in leather, footwear, bags, and umbrellas, in addition to suitcases, he said.

It said that the Council of the EU and EU Commission did not comply with certain procedural rules when the regulation was adopted.

On October 5, 2006, the Council of the EU adopted a regulation imposing an anti-dumping duty on certain leather footwear imported from China and Vietnam to the EU with a rate at 16.5 per cent for footwear manufactured by companies established in China (with the exception of the company Golden Step, whose anti-dumping duty was set at 9.7 per cent), and at 10 per cent for footwear manufactured by companies established in Vietnam.

The positive change of the anti-dumping tariff for Vietnamese footwear would support local footwear in reducing difficulties of production and business at present, he said.

Last year, Vietnam gained high growth rate in export value from the leather and footwear industry at $15 billion, an increase of 16 per cent year-on-year, according to the association, including $12 billion from footwear.

Ha Duy Hung, chairman of the Dong Hung Industry Joint Stock Company, said the local leather and footwear industry has in the past developed key export markets in Europe, United States and Japan, and they expected higher exports to those markets in the future as interests increase after the FTAs, the Dau tu online reported.

Now, Vietnam is one of four largest footwear producers in volume on the world market, after China, India and Brazil, and is also the third largest footwear exporters in value on the global market, after China and Italy. Domestic footwear products have been shipped to 50 countries and territories.

Common early check-in counters have been set up at Terminals 2 and 3 since the start of this year, while there is an early check-in lounge at T1.

The counters and lounge – open from 6am to midnight daily – serve as a common one-stop service point for passengers travelling with 23 participating airlines, Changi Airport Group (CAG) said.

Check-in is available from 12 or 24 hours before the flight’s scheduled time of departure.

The 23 airlines serve more than 3.7 million passengers a year, or 13 per cent of passengers departing from Changi Airport. They include Japan Airlines, Thai Airways, Korean Air and EVA Air.

Besides the airlines served at the common counters, another 25 airlines separately offer an early check-in service at their own counters, the airport said. These include Singapore Airlines, Silkair, Cathay Pacific and Emirates.

The provision of early check-in options will benefit passengers, especially visitors to Singapore who may have to check out of their hotel rooms hours before their flights, Changi added.

By coming in early, travellers also minimise the risk of missing their flights.

This happens to an estimated 10,000 passengers a year, for whatever reasons.

In addition to the benefits to passengers, early check-in also helps to boost operational efficiency and productivity, said CAG vice-president (passenger experience) Albert Lim.

“Early check-in smoothens the flow of passengers beyond the peak period, which starts at about two hours before departure. Reducing the peak load shortens queues and lessens the stress on the check-in team,” he said.

“Overall, there is a better travel experience for passengers. At the same time, it allows for more optimal utilisation of check-in resources, resulting in capacity and productivity gains.”

In 2011, Lao people consumed an average of 47kg of meat, eggs and fish per capita per annum.

This figure had increased to 53kg in 2015, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

To reach the targets of 65kg by 2020 and 79kg by 2025, the ministry plans to focus on eight priority areas.

These include developing and expanding animal herds and aquatic stocks, improving and updating animal feeds and fish feeds, as well as boosting the production and supply of animal vaccines.

The ministry will also place greater scrutiny on the movement of livestock and poultry as well as aquatic creatures.

The government will also focus on improving slaughterhouses and meat processing houses, regulate aquatic products, improve the systems of market management for animal and aquatic products, increase capacity building for veterinarians and fisheries staff as well as seek to guarantee a sufficient fish supply in Vientiane.

The numbers of livestock and fish breeders which are employing more modern methods has increased in recent times, especially on the flat lands along the Mekong River valley and some parts of the northern provinces.

Cattle rearing for domestic supply and export has also been developed. In fiscal year 2014-2015, the ministry worked hard to encourage farmers and entrepreneurs to increase livestock breeding across the country by around 10-12 per cent.

Broken down, the breeding of buffaloes increased by one per cent, cattle breeding by two per cent, rearing of pigs and goats by four per cent, and poultry by five per cent.

In 2013-2014, the numbers of cattle expanded three per cent, goats by two per cent, pigs by six per cent and poultry by five per cent.

The production of meat, eggs and fish in 2013-2014 reached a combined total of 361,074 tonnes, which included 171,364 tonnes of meat, 39,150 tonnes of eggs and 150,560 tonnes of fish.

Over the five years from 2011-2015, the agriculture and forestry sector expanded by an average of about 2.7-3 per cent.

During th at five ye ars, the agriculture sector saw a total expenditure of 7 trillion kip, of which 10 per cent came from domestic funds, 20 per cent in the form of loans and grants, 60 per cent from the private sector with the remaining 10 per cent being contributions from local people.

“Many students face legal action under Section 505(b) and Section 18 for their protests against the National Education Law. We’ve already been charged, and we’re still facing additional charges. Section 505(b) was created in the colonial period. It’s wrong that this so-called ‘democratic’ government is still practicing it after the country’s independence. Peaceful demonstration should be allowed in democracies. Section 18 was created to control it. The [outgoing] government took power in 2010 in a controversial election. It did not represent the desires of the people. Now, it’s time for the incoming government to take steps to amend these laws. It’s time for the new parliament to submit an urgent proposal to abolish these sections,” said Tin Htut Paing on March 7.

“We often said Section 18 is not needed for the nation. It would be better if the new government acts quickly to amend these laws. If not, we will have to tell the incoming government about it. We don’t accept any law that suppresses the people. This section is not democratic,” said Naw Ohn Hla after the court hearing.

Tin Htut Paing was sentenced to more than five years in prison, and Naw Ohn Hla was sentenced to more than six years. They were convicted of several crimes for their protest on May 15 last year in front of the Chinese embassy, where they condemned the actions of Chinese mining companies in Letpadaungtaung.