Signed rice export deals reach 3.6 million tons

Companies in the country have in the year to date contracted to export 3.6 million tons of rice, up 600,000 tons compared to end-March, according to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA).

Vietnam’s key rice importers include China, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. In particular, China is emerging as a major market for this staple food since the volume of rice export contracts to China has been rising in recent times, said VFA.

The country in the first quarter exported more than one million tons of rice, down over 40% in both volume and value year-on-year. However, rice exports are getting back on track as the number of export contracts is picking up.

At present, rice traders in the Mekong Delta buy low-grade rice IR50404 at VND4,100-4,400 and VND4,900-5,300 a kilo for fresh and dried grain respectively. The price of commercial grain IR50404 ranges between VND6,700 and 6,900 a kilo.

VFA said some 89 member enterprises have bought more than 700,000 tons as part of a plan to stock up on one million tons of rice in this year’s winter-spring crop to prop up prices.

Vietnam Super Model contest announces jury member

The annual “Vietnam Supermodel” modeling contest has just chosen Thanh Hang, the local well-known model who has recently caused public debate after she smoked during her catwalk performance in a fashion show, to be the first member of the competition’s jury.

Last year Hang was also a judge of the contest, held by Ho Chi Minh City Television, Thoi Trang Tre Magazine and Cat Tien Sa Advertising Investment Co., Ltd.

“Vietnam Supermodel” is seeking both male and female Vietnamese candidates aged from 18 to 25. It is open for contestants who are single, have no children and haven’t gone through any type of sex change surgery.

The annual contest has discovered many big names for the local modeling industry, including Ho Ngoc Ha, Xuan Lan, Tien Doan, Binh Minh, Duc Vinh, Vu Thu Phuong, Khanh Trinh and Hoang Yen.
Vu Manh Hiep and Vuong Thu Phuong won the highest prizes for male and female model, respectively, at last year’s contest.

“Vietnam Supermodel 2012” will receive application forms until April 25.

Chol-chnam-Thmay festival held in HCM City

The traditional New Year of Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar, Chol-chnam-Thmay was celebrated in Ho Chi Minh City on April 14.

Many diplomats, officials and students from the four Southeast Asian countries who are working and studying in Vietnam attended the event.

The festival, which is being held jointly by the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) and the Association for Liaison with Overseas Vietnamese (ALOV), aims to promote cultural exchanges and mutual understanding between Vietnam and its neighbours, as well as strengthen solidarity in the region towards building an ASEAN community by 2015.

The ongoing New Year festival in HCM City, called Chol-chnam-Thmay in Cambodia, Bun-pi-may in Laos, Thing Yang in Myanmar, and Trut-Songkran in Thailand, includes a variety of musical and dance performances as well as religious rituals representing the cultures of these nations.

HCMC holds photo exhibition on festivals

An exhibition called “Colors of Vietnamese festivities” (Sac mau le hoi Viet Nam) is being held at the B area in September 23 Park in Ho Chi Minh City’s district 1 as part of the annual Tourism Day Festival.

More than 120 works portraying colorful traditional festivities like Nghinh Ong festival, Southern fruit festival, Cham people’s Kate festival, Khmer people’s Ooc om boc festival, fest of the Chau Ro people will be displayed at the event.

Organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism in cooperation with Tuoi Tre newspaper and the city’s information exhibition center, the exhibition will be held until the end of this week.

HCMC youth and their green dream

Many groups of environmentally-minded youths in Ho Chi Minh City have been actively leading campaigns and creative and long-term projects to educate and promote a greener lifestyle.

Members of the environmental group SIFE, many students at the city’s University of Economics have since 2008 visited schools and orphanages to promote saving energy as part of the group’s Greenagers project.

“For each program, we do not only talk about the current situation and the importance of protecting the environment. We also teach kids to make bags, photo frames, bracelets from recycled papers,” said Nguyen Thi Thao Nguyen, the project leader.

Another program called “Green neighborhood” that was started in 2009 has become a ‘trademark’ for the Go Green group. Members visited different neighborhoods to clean up and encourage locals to protect the environment for a year. Later, the group performed cheerleading dance in city parks to send green messages to morning exercisers.

“Recently, we visited primary schools to instill a green consciousness in the young children,” said Nguyen Phuong Mai, head of the Go Green group.

How to make environmental issues interesting, easy to understand and practical is a concern of many environmental groups.

At the end of February, members of GFOC (Green Future Of Children) group at the city’s University of Foreign Trade took 40 students at the Viet Anh primary school on a fieldtrip to a bamboo village in Binh Duong province as part of their “Experience green trips” program. During the trip, the volunteers told fairy tales and held games related to bamboos to increase the kids’ curiosity and interest.

“It’s all about environment talk, but how to interest young kids in green issues is what we have to consider and spend time on,” said Pham Thanh Thien, the group leader.

Similarly, volunteers at the Greenagers project took a practical approach by teaching kids to create recycled toys, organize booths to sell their projects and raise funds for poor people.

“Instead of abstract ideas, we can help children understand better the role of saving to protect the environment by showing them what they can do,” said Nguyen Thi Nhat Nu, project sub-leader.

Hanoi to host exhibition of rivers in SEA

An exhibition “Riverscapes In Flux” opened in the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum in Hanoi yesterday, showcases the works of 17 young artists from Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The exhibition highlights the key ecological issues in Southeast Asia. In their work the artists reflect the ecological as well as socio-economic and cultural changes that the rivers in these countries are currently experiencing, said Meyer Zollitsch -- director of the Goethe Institute in Hanoi, the event’s organizer.

Four of the artists who have works on display are Vietnamese. Nguyen The Son from Hanoi took a series of photos of particularly sensitive areas of the Red River and Luong Hue Trinh’s sound installation focuses on the ecological consequences of the intensive economic exploitation of the Mekong River.

Phan Thao Nguyen from Ho Chi Minh City concentrates on the fishing industry along the Mekong River. Using sound, photographs and video clips, some shot by the fishermen themselves, his work documents the ecological as well as social and cultural impact of industrialization in the Mekong delta.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai from the central town of Hue reflects on the victims of the devastating floods in Hue in 1999, with her installation of 60 wooden boxes containing objects found along the Huong River, such as shoes and sandals.

The exhibition will be open to the public from April 12-29 in Hanoi and from May 12-26 in Ho Chi Minh City. It will then tour Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines.