Beauty queen and sniffer dogs help Vietnam ready for APEC summit
HANOI - Vietnam is moving into high gear to beautify and secure its nearly 1,000-year-old capital ahead of an
APEC summit this month, the communist country's largest ever international conference.
An army of painters, builders, gardeners and police have worked for months to prepare Hanoi for the meeting that will bring 21 leaders including US President George W Bush, Russia's
Vladimir Putin and China's
Hu Jintao.
Anti-terrorism squads, firefighters and paramedics have conducted drills, and food inspectors have checked hotel and restaurant kitchens to prevent stomach upsets among the Asia-Pacific guests.
To welcome the heads of state, artists have prepared gem-studded portraits of the leaders, while top designer Minh Hanh has tailored traditional silk shirts and dresses, called 'ao the' and 'ao dai', decorated with lotus flowers.
Miss Vietnam Mai Phuong Thuy has been recruited to appear in an ao dai, among lotus flowers and conical hats, in an opening ceremony film showcasing all the member countries.
The APEC Vietnam logo will appear on a 10,000-square-metre (107,600-square-foot) flag made from one tonne of parachute fabric that organisers say is the largest ever made, beating a 7,000-square metre Brazilian flag.
Vietnam's borders, visa rules and airport security have been tightened, scores of bomb sniffer dogs trained, and Hanoi's 15,000-strong police force placed on duty for the duration of the event.
Olive-uniformed police cruising Hanoi in white vans with loudspeakers have already stepped up their social order campaign in recent weeks, chasing away streetside vendors and enforcing midnight bar curfews.
"The police have been so tough recently, for some kind of meeting I think," said Nguyen Thi Huong, 69, who runs a modest streetside business with a portable electronic scale. "I really hope that meeting will end soon."
In all, more than 14,000 delegates, staff and journalists are expected to flood into the ancient city for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting from November 12-19.
Vietnam has built a 250-million-dollar conference centre for the event on the southwestern outskirts of Hanoi, a venue with six hectares of floor space, 1,000 parking spaces and a helipad, designed by a German architect.
Kilometres (miles) of optical cables for phone, fax and Internet connections have been laid for delegates and 2,000 journalists registered to cover the summit.
Organisers have readied one million bottles of drinking water, 10,000 bottles of wine, 10,000 ballpoint pens and 20,000 T-shirts and other garments, said Nguyen Huu Thanh, director general of the Hanoi Trade Corporation.
Up to eight tonnes of coffee, provided by Vinacafe Bien Hoa company, will help keep officials awake, said the company.
"Three hundred boxes of ginseng coffee, the most luxurious coffee of Vietnam, will be given to heads of state as special presents," it said.
Workers have planted flower fields, some of which spell out APEC welcoming messages, on streets leading to the venue.
"We have spent about one billion dong (60,000 dollars) to decorate Hanoi with fresh and artificial flowers," said Nguyen Xuan Hung, whose Green Tree and Park Company has employed over 500 staff for the past month.
To avoid traffic gridlock as scores of motorcades with 1,700 cars criss-cross the city, new traffic lights and signs have been installed, and most buses and trucks will be banned from the inner city between 6am to 10pm.
Heads of state, ministers and their staff will stay in over 2,000 rooms booked in eight five-star hotels. Other guests, including business leaders attending a parallel CEO summit, will be put up in 8,000 more hotel rooms.
A lavish APEC gala dinner will be hosted by President Nguyen Minh Triet, with more than 1,000 guests.
Tourism officials have been eager to showcase the city of Vietnamese and French colonial buildings, parks and lakes, which celebrates its millennium in 2010, with a series of cultural, music, food and sports festivals.
By Tran Thi Minh Ha - Agence France Presse - November 5, 2006.
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