Instead of discarding banana trunks or using them for cattle food, Mr. Ho Xuan Vinh (born in 1987, from Quynh Luu District, Nghe An Province) came up with the new idea of using natural fiber and trunks of banana trees.

Mr. Ho Xuan Vinh has invented a machine that makes use of banana trunks to produce natural fiber.

“I am focusing on producing thermal insulation building materials that do not require furnaces to create, pliable concrete for common goods, and natural fiber such as banana fiber and coconut fiber,” he said.

His inventions have been used in the building materials field and help decrease the amount of carbon emissions, coal or other types of combustible materials that cannot be reused.

Mr. Ho Xuan Vinh has been in the fiber field for two years with his fiber extracting machines.

“As I have been interacting with farmers living around Lam River, I realize that most of them throw away banana trunks. This is a cause of environmental pollution and a waste of those trunks. From banana trunks, I help them produce banana fiber and utensils such as plates, bowls… Besides, water that is rich in calcium can be squeezed out of trunks of banana trees. Farmers can fertilize plants with this water. As a result, they can recycle banana trunks, produce goods, and save more money on fertilizers,” he said.

Brick molding machine – one of Mr. Vinh’s inventions.

Currently, banana fiber extracting machines are sold to farmers or banana farms. Mr. Ho Xuan Vinh’s company buys banana fiber from them.

Now, as natural fiber is a popular material, Mr. Vinh pioneered an extracting natural fiber technique to sell to sewing factories in Vietnam.

Because of his idea, banana trunks do not go to waste. But this also partly solves an issue relating to environmental pollution in the local area. Some products from banana fibers are fabric and face masks.

Mr. Vinh believes that this is a field with potential. His company has already received 500 to 600 million VND in just two to three months.

Mr. Vinh has also invented a portable air respirator during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has been tested and is now awaiting approval from The Ministry of Health. Because he is a former student at Hanoi University of Science and Technology and majored in the electronic field, he did not have any difficulty designing the respirator.

Creating jobs

Mr. Vinh’s banana fiber extracting machine.

Mr. Vinh thinks he is lucky as he is familiar with scientific and technical works. He also can take charge of two missions: scientific research and sales of the inventions.

“Both of those missions are vital to the success of any enterprise. I need to improve myself so that I can be more flexible in developing the market.”

According to Mr. Vinh, one of many difficulties for science and technology companies is that their inventions are in use after the demand of citizens. They cannot immediately meet demand because it takes a huge amount of time to come up with an effective solution. Furthermore, outstanding individuals tend to live in developed areas, which makes it hard to find qualified employees to improve the product.

Products from banana fiber are diverse.

“Vietnamese inventions are sometimes plagiarized by other strong competitors,” Mr. Vinh said. He said that companies should plan to improve their products to be the leading enterprise in the market.

His company has 60 employees. Their income ranges from 12 to 15 million VND, and some workers even receive 20 million VND monthly.

The Golden Globe Award is an enormous motivation for Mr. Vinh to develop his products and create more machines and efficient solutions in fields in which he works.

Thanh Hung

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