Former Deputy PM dies at 80

A State-level funeral will be held on Saturday morning in Ha Noi for former Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Cong Tan, who passed away on November 1 at the age of 80.

Before his position as Deputy Prime Minister from 1997 to 2002, Tan served as a member of the Ha Noi Party Standing Committee in 1983 and deputy chairman of Ha Noi People's Committee and deputy secretary of the city's Party Committee in 1986. He was assigned to be Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry in 1987 and became the first Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development after the ministry was formed in 1995 by merging the ministries of agriculture, food industry, forestry and irrigation.

After retiring in 2002, he continued working in the agriculture sector and became the president of an association for small and medium-sized agriculture enterprises.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will head the 19-member funeral organising board.

The funeral will be held at the National Funeral Home at 5 Tran Thanh Tong Street from 7-11am. 

Drug smuggling ring brought to light

Ho Chi Minh City police announced they have smashed a gang trafficking drugs from China.

The police said they opened their investigation last month after discovering a man named Nguyen The Manh in Tan Binh district selling drugs to small dealers in Ho Chi Minh City.

From Manh, the police tracked down more suppliers and finally reached the ring leader, 36-year-old Vu Xuan Nhat from the northern province of Hai Duong. Nhat bought drug in China and transported his goods by land through northern provinces to sell in the southern city.

The police arrested Nhat on October 29 and seized 232.7 grammes of methamphetamine. They later found 3.6kg of meth at his temporary residence in Binh Thanh district.

Currently, they have jailed the gang’s members as well as seized more than 4 kilos of crystal meth, a small quantity of heroine and a gun.

Olympiad winners, excellent students honoured

Fifty international Olympiad medallists and students who achieved the best results in the 2014 university entrance exam were honoured at a ceremony in Hanoi on November 3.

Over the past two years, all Vietnamese representatives at regional and international Olympiad contests have brought home glory. This year, they won 12 golds and 21 silvers, said Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan.

The Prime Minister awarded certificates of merit to 11 Olympiad gold medal winners.

Other prize-winners and the 10 students with the best scores among 1 million high school graduates sitting for the university entrance this year were granted certificates of merit by the Ministry of Education and Training.

All the students also received rewards from the ministry and several donors.

President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan took the podium and told the audience that based on nation-wide support, the process of overhauling education-training radically and thoroughly is sure to be a success.

He urged the students to make further efforts, well equipping themselves for professional careers in the future and contributing to the nation.

Officials of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family were delighted at the outcomes of their joint project on vocational training support for Vietnamese women after four years of implementation.

At a workshop in the central province of Quang Nam on November 4, it was reported that the project had set up employment support centres and a number of helpful services such as employment consulting hotlines, childcare centres and vocational courses targeting women in the three target localities – the northern province of Thai Binh, Quang Nam province and the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho. It also boosted the management and leadership skills of local officials in running the support centres.

In Can Tho City, besides opening courses on soft skills and Korean language learning, the centre gave useful advice for more than 4,000 women each year in terms of labour law, procedures to work overseas and unemployment benefit policies. The centre has helped 730 female workers find jobs in 2014.

Quang Nam province launched the project in mid-2014, focusing on vocational training in the fields of beauty care and handicrafts. The province also sent officials to the RoK to learn more about advanced support models for women.

Oh Min Ok, a senior official from International Cooperation Division under the RoK’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, said her ministry will continue cooperating with Vietnam to organise and expand the joint programme to other localities in the coming time.

Methadone treatment for drug addicts boosted

The Prime Minister has freshly issued Direction No. 32/CT-TTg requesting relevant agencies and localities work together closely to maximize the use of Methadone in detoxifying drug addicts.

The crucial role of alternative therapies in preventing HIV/AIDS and reducing addicts’ drug demand to help ensure security and social order was underlined in the direction.

Methadone has been widely used to assist addicts in weaning off taking in drug since 2012 after the Government issued Decree No. 96/2012/ND-CP that stipulated the treatment of substance abuse by alternative medicines.

By October 15, 2014, however, only 38 out of the 63 provinces and centrally-run cities applied the therapy, benefiting 21,613 addicts, who accounted for 12 percent of the recorded drug users and 27 percent of the targeted 80,000 by the end of 2015.

In the new direction, the PM asked the provincial and municipal People’s Committees to promptly update the number of drug users and set up adequate Methadone treatment centres while requesting the centres currently providing Methadone treatment accelerate therapy admissions for drug addicts.

Local authorities are also required to further simplify administrative procedures to make it easier for drug users seeking alternative therapies, and coordinate with relevant agencies to provide advice and vocational training to the detoxified.

The Ministry of Health is tasked with directing and working with relating agencies to safeguard the sufficient provision of Methadone.

Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) has long been carried out in more than 80 countries and territories, benefiting over 1 million drug users.

Plan Vietnam helps Phu Tho with disaster preparedness

The northern midland province of Phu Tho has started a project in support of a national programme on disaster preparedness worth nearly 1 billion VND (476,000 USD).

Carried out by Plan Vietnam and the provincial chapter of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations, the project will benefit Tan Son and Kiet Son mountainous communes via training courses, technical assistance and communication campaigns.

It is to help local authorities realise a community-based project on improving awareness of disaster risk, part of a national action plan on disaster risk mitigation and climate change adaptation.

At the same time, vulnerable communities are expected to be equipped with knowledge and skills in coping with natural disasters while teachers at local elementary and secondary schools will be able to arrange syllabi on disaster risk mitigation for their students.

Lessons drawn from the project will be published and shared with other localities in the implementation of the national action plan.

The project is slated for completion by December 2015.

Son La provides rice for poor students

The northern mountainous province of Son La has distributed 1,300 tonnes of rice to 44,596 students in disadvantaged areas, the first aid package for the 2014-2015 academic year following the Prime Minister’s June 18, 2013 decision.

The rice is part of the more than 6,000 tonnes of rice to be supplied by the national reserve for the purpose in the 2014-2015 academic year.

Under the PM’s decision, each student will receive 15 kilogrammes of rice each month for a period of five months. The assistance has helped reduce the number of students leaving school in Son La.

In the previous academic year, the province distributed 5,340 tonnes of rice for 43,464 students living in disadvantaged areas.

Dengue vaccination proves effective

A dengue vaccination trial conducted by France’s Sanofi Pasteur in five Asian countries, including Vietnam, showed the efficacy in 56.5 percent of dengue-infected cases.

The vaccination also prevented 67 percent of the sufferers from being hospitalized, heard a conference reviewing the efficacy of the vaccination in the community in Ho Chi Minh City on November 3.

The trial was undertaken on 10,275 children and teenagers aged 2 to 14 in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

In Vietnam, from September 2011, 2,336 children in the two Mekong Delta provinces of An Giang and Tien Giang got vaccinated.

At the conference, director of the Health Ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department Tran Dac Phu noted that a lack of dengue vaccine is a huge burden on not only Vietnam but many other countries.

The dengue vaccine research programme has been conducted by Sanofi Pasteur over the past 20 years, with the participation of Ho Chi Minh City’s Pasteur Institute. It will be implemented until November 2017.

According to the World Health Organisation, each year, an estimated 50 million people contract dengue, of whom 500,000 require hospitalization and 25,000 die.

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, provides more than one billion doses of vaccine each year, making it possible to immunize more than 500 million people across the globe.

A world leader in the vaccine industry, Sanofi Pasteur offers the broadest range of vaccines protecting against 20 infectious diseases.-

Lam Dong launches biodiversity conservation action plan

The Central Highlands province of Lam Dong is designing projects to preserve biodiversity and create protection corridors around sensitive ecosystems in need of conservation as part of its biodiversity action plan for 2015-2020.

The action plan focuses on effective management, conservation and sustainable development, including communication and educational campaigns to increase communities’ awareness of protecting and sustainably using biodiversity in line with socio-economic development.

The province will also increase communities’ role in managing and developing biological resources.

A number of projects will be implemented with support from the State, non-governmental organisations and local authorities’ fund.

Two projects to protect and develop the red pine tree, one of the most valuable medicinal plants in the province, will also be carried out as part of the action plan. Accordingly, the red pine tree’s distribution will be researched and mapped out, natural regeneration will be fostered, and seed germination and protection measures will be implemented.

Lam Dong is the most biodiversity-rich province in the Central Highlands and south-central region. It comprises 512,000ha of natural forest and 68.8ha of planted forest, which are home to a number of rare flora and fauna species listed in Vietnam’s Red Book.

Hanoi hosts SMAC Challenge Finals

The final round of SMAC Challenge 2014 – a Mobile Robot programming competition was held at the Cau Giay Gymnasium in Hanoi on November 2.

The four teams competing in the contest included FU-Agile (FPT University), Trying_PTIT (Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology), SMAC-MTA (Vietnam Academy of Military Technology) and UET-Invincible (University of Engineering and Technology).

The final round consisted of 3 parts including Art, Intelligence and Strength.

FU-Agile pocketed the first prize worth VND15 million with its Robot performance dancing “Bonjour Vietnam” song.

The second and third prizes went to UET-Invincible and Trying_PTIT, respectively. SMAC-MTA bagged the consolation prize.

The contest aimed to create a useful playground for Information and communications technology (ICT) students and encourage the spirit of study and research for the youth.

Visitors to Vietnam from Ebola-hit areas to be twice checked

All visitors coming to Vietnam from the Ebola-hit areas will undergo two rounds of medical examinations to search for signs of the Ebola virus that has killed nearly 5,000 people in West Africa, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health said on Monday.

All visitors coming to Vietnam from the Ebola-hit areas will undergo two rounds of medical examinations to search for signs of Ebola infection, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health said on Monday.

The double check will help better identify suspects of Ebola inflection, Tran Dac Phu, head of the ministry’s Preventive Health Department told Tuoi Tre yesterday.

The ministry will send a document to the Ministry of Public Security asking for coordination in giving two-round checks to those visitors.

And all people coming from the Ebola-hit areas in Africa are required to fill health declaration forms.

Remote temperature sensors are being used at airports to detect those who have fever, a sign of Ebola infection.

Those detected with fever will be isolated while those who go past the machines without fever signs will also have their passports checked again.

In case they left the Ebola-hit areas within 21 days, they will be sent to the airport’s international health quarantine center for another check.

At the center, those visitors will be examined carefully for signs of Ebola infection, and all of them, whether having signs of Ebola or not, will be monitored for 21 days from the date they left the Ebola-hit areas.

Such monitoring is necessary as the Ebola virus disease (EVD) has an incubation period of 2 to 21 days, the department said.

Over the past two months, over 270 people from Ebola-hit countries have visited Vietnam, according to a report from the department.

Of these visitors, about 240 arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, while the remainder flew into Hanoi-based Noi Bai International Airport.

On last Sunday, a 26-year-old Vietnamese man, Chu Van Chung, suspected of having Ebola after returning to Vietnam from Guinea and coming down with a high fever, has been confirmed as having malaria, not Ebola.

Ebola is a highly dangerous virus that can kill 90 percent of infected people, the department warned, adding that it is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, bodily fluids and tissues of infected animals or people.

As a severe acute viral illness, EVD is often characterized by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat, according to the WHO.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on last Friday that there have been 13,567 reported Ebola cases in eight countries since the outbreak began in March in Guinea. There have been 4,951 reported deaths from the disease.

The latest figures show that Liberia has 2,413 deaths from 6,535 cases of Ebola; Sierra Leone has 1,510 deaths out of 5,338 reported cases; and Guinea 1,018 deaths from 1,667 cases.

HCMC petitions to establish center for compulsory treatment

Representatives from People’s Committee in HCMC petitioned at a meeting yesterday that while waiting for the issuance of the new drug-related regulations, HCMC asked for the permission to establish a center for compulsory treatment of drug dependence.

Though the drug detoxification and management have achieved good results, there have been difficulties in detoxification and post-drug detoxification management, said leaders of many sectors at a meeting presided by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, drug addicts have been found in all provinces and cities across the country; Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and the northern province of Son La reported to take the highest number of drug addicts and HIV/AIDS infected people.

Basing on the proposal of HCMC, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung ordered related agencies to set up a center for compulsory treatment of drug dependence and the suspension of regulations to impose administrative fines on drug addicts.

PM asked ministries and agencies to continue implementing Government guidelines on drug detoxification and post-drug detoxification management. He asked related agencies to fix shortcomings remained in drug detoxification and post-drug detoxification management, including incomplete legal documents, lack of finance and lack of co-operation between relevant ministries, agencies and localities; saying that local authorities should improve communications and education on drug prevention and persuade addicts to enter centers for voluntary detoxification.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, representatives from the National Assembly’s Committee on Law and the National Assembly’s Committee on Social Affairs; related ministries, agencies and People’s Committee in HCMC and Hanoi attended the meeting.

Medical clinics in HCMC’s urban districts gloomy

Since 2012, Ho Chi Minh City has invested 121 standard medical clinics which provide examination and treatment covered by health insurance but just a few people have come over and check-up on these clinics.

Spacious medical clinic in Nhon Duc Ward in Nha Be District of HCMC was built on the area of 5,000 meter square with many rooms including lab, vaccination, maternity examination, and herbal medicine.

However, some of them are locked as there is no patient though the clinic has received health insurance card holders since 2011, said a doctor of the clinic.

One or two patients come to the clinic for medical check-up per day; most of local residents have registered to receive treatment at big public hospitals for better quality, said a resident.

The city insurance company said that just a few people register to receive treatment in local medical clinics. Luu Thi Thanh Huyen, the city Social Insurance Company’s Deputy Chief, said that many big hospitals are not far from here therefore local residents do not go to small clinics.

 It is a real waste to build clinics in urban districts, Huyen added.

Experts said that teams of medical workers and equipments in clinics can not meet residents’ demand of high quality treatment. In addition, health insurance holders’ rights are not be ensured in such clinics

The municipal Department of Health said that every year it has approved the allocation of around VND30 billion (US$ 1,410) funding to upgrade and purchase equipment for clinics but it seems clinics have still not met the current demands.

Maximum speed on Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway

Automobiles have been allowed to run at a maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour on the 20-kilometer-long section of HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway already opened to traffic since last Saturday.

Nguyen Viet Tan, director of Vietnam Expressway Services Engineering Joint Stock Company (VECE), the operator of HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway, said the company has set up new speed instruction signs to guide drivers and ensure traffic safety on the expressway connecting localities in southern Vietnam.

Drivers are advised to check the tires of their vehicles carefully before entering the expressway.

Last month, the Ministry of Transport approved plans for vehicles to move at a maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour on HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway and Thang Long Avenue and 100 kilometers per hour on the Belt Road No. 3 section from the north of Thanh Tri Bridge to Mai Dich Intersection.

Commenting on the higher maximum speed on the southern expressway, transport expert Pham Sanh is concerned about the safety because traffic order is not good on the expressway. He suggested the Ministry of Transport carry out a thorough study and check on the safety of the vehicles when they ran at such a speed.

“Safety on expressways is not well controlled at the moment. An accident involving a coach and a watering vehicle on the HCMC-Trung Luong Expressway that killed seven people in April proved this,” Sanh said.

He proposed the maximum speed will not be raised to 120 kilometers per hour until a safety study is conducted.

Vu Xuan Hoa, director of Bach Khoa Construction Consulting Co., said the transport ministry’s decision to approve the maximum speed as designed for certain expressways is reasonable. However, further calculations should be made first.

In addition, expressway management units must guarantee the highest quality of expressways to avoid serious accidents when vehicles run at 120 kilometers per hour.

Previously, transport authorities gave nod to a maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour on the HCMC-Trung Luong Expressway, but later reduced it to 100 kilometers per hour following several tragic accidents caused by tire blowouts.

The 20-kilometer section of HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay from Belt Road No. 2 in HCMC and to National Highway 51 in Dong Nai Province was opened to traffic in January this year, and vehicles could run at the fastest speed of 100 kilometers per hour until over the weekend.

The section stretching 30 kilometers from Long Thanh to Dau Giay is still under construction and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2015.

VN schools to attend robotics competition

Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary School of Ha Noi and Tran Hung Dao Primary School and Le Ngoc Han of HCM City will represent Viet Nam at the Digital Youth Award-International Robotics Competition in Malaysia later this month.

The three won the National Robotics (Robothon) Competition for primary and secondary students held last week in HCM City and will have their trip to Malaysia sponsored.

The event, organised annually by DTTEduspec Joint Venture in co-operation with the local education department, this year attracted 62 teams from 16 primary and secondary schools from major cities and one centre for robotics training in Da Nang.

Hanoi attempts to clean up abattoirs

Ha Noi's Agricultural and Rural Development Department has kicked off a project to boost the quality of meat and poultry by starting a supply chain to provide hygienic meat to local residents.

The project targets that by 2020, at least 80 per cent of meat and poultry meat will meet food safety and hygiene standards.

Vice chairman of the capital's People's Committee Tran Xuan Viet, said that under the project, the city would subsidise farmers that used modern abattoirs by paying half of the fees incurred to slaughter animals and poultry in the first year, 40 per cent in the second year and 30 per cent in the third year.

It aimed to encourage companies to invest in modern abattoirs, Viet said.

Tran Van Quan, a representative from the Me Linh Modern Abattoir on the outskirts of Me Linh District, said the city had issued a range of policies to encourage companies to use modern abattoirs, but they had proven ineffective.

The city has seven modern abattoirs and over 2,500 traditional slaughterhouses.

Modern abattoirs could not compete with traditional slaughterhouses, so the city needed to close them down, he said.

Statistics show that 750 tonnes of meat is consumed in the city each day.

Vocational training falls short on skills

Most graduates of vocational training institutions lack the skills companies require, creating a gap in the country's workforce quality, according to a 2013 World Bank survey.

Using this data, the Japan International Co-operation Agency office in Viet Nam yesterday proposed innovative skills-development strategies to accelerate Viet Nam's industrialisation at a conference in Ha Noi.

The bank survey found that about 80 per cent of the more than 100 companies operating in Ha Noi and HCM City encountered problems recruiting technicians because applicants did not possess the required skills.

"Despite the Government's efforts, as well as those of vocational institutions and the industry sector, the supply of skilled workers in Viet Nam has not caught up with the demand," said Mori Mutsuya, chief representative of the Japanese agency.

Viet Nam benefited from the country's massive supply of low-wage, production-line workers, said Junichi Mori, an agency consultant. But he added that it needed to develop skilled labor to reach the next step of industrialisation.

"Viet Nam requires high-skilled industrial workers. such as technicians, production-line leaders and engineers who can improve product quality and production operations," he said.

A survey the agency did this year of more than 100 Japanese firms in Viet Nam showed that 80 per cent needed more technicians.

"Although we have established a linkage between vocational institutions and the enterprises, the supply and demand in vocational training still poses some problems," said Cao Van Sam, deputy director of the Vocational Training General Department.

The institutions' lack of information also confuses students. They don't have reliable sources for learning about the needs of their chosen industries, so it is difficult for them to prepare for job applications.

The survey by the World Bank also showed that 40 per cent of firms described the lack of quality vocational training as a major problem.

"The low social status of technicians creates low motivation and a high rate of job hopping, which lead to skills shortages," Junichi said.

To close the gap, conference participants proposed a tripartite partnership between the vocational training institutions, industries and Government. Some also proposed specific actions, like an employment support system and skill evaluation tests.

Indolent lifestyle blamed for alarming rise in diabetes

Diabetes has been rising at an alarming rate in Viet Nam because of obesity and lack of excise, health experts said yesterday said at a press conference to mark World Diabetes Prevention Day (November 14).

A survey by the National Endocrinology Hospital showed that the number of diabetes patients had doubled in the past 10 years.

More than five per cent of Vietnamese had the ailment in 2012 compared to nearly three per cent in 2002.

Hospital deputy director Phan Huong Duong said Viet Nam now had about five million diabetes patients, of whom 60 per cent had not been officially detected.

"Out of every 10 diabetes cases in Viet Nam, six are diagnosed with complications," Duong said.

"Diabetes can be identified and treated if discovered at an early stage," he added.

Vice Minister at the Ministry of Health, Nguyen Thi Xuyen, said that complications such as stroke and eye, kidney and heart diseases could also be prevented.

"Diabetes and its complications can be prevented through dieting and a healthy lifestyle," said Xuyen.

According to Xuyen, Viet Nam faces difficulties in preventing non-transmitted diseases, including diabetes, due to a lack of an overall national strategy.

This was blamed on a lack of human resources at grass-roots and district levels and a lack of collaboration between ministries and sectors.

"Practising exercise or walking 30 minutes daily can reduce diabetes risks by 40 per cent," Xuyen said.

Other experts said strengthening community awareness on disease prevention could help. Priority should be also given to early detection and treatment system.

To mark World Diabetes Day, a communication campaign will be promoted nation-wide to encourage healthy lifestyles and diets.

Endocrinology hospitals will also provide free check-ups to people at risks of diabetes.

Tuna processing centre located

Binh Dinh Province will develop a logistics and processing centre for tuna exported to Japan at Quy Nhon port, the provincial people's committee said.

The province produces between 180,000 and 200,000 tonnes of fish per year, including 10,000 tonnes of tuna. However, most of the tuna is processed and exported as cheap fillets.

In August, fishermen from the province exported the first-ever batch of 10 whole tuna to the Osaka central wholesale market.

Fishermen to get modern boats

No provinces or cities have completed lists of fishermen who would benefit from the Government's support programme on building new high-capacity, steel boats for offshore fishing.

The information was provided by Pham Ngoc Tuan, an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development at an online discussion yesterday.

The discussion aimed at providing detail information and explaining Government Decree 67/2014/ND-CP under which policies were introduced to boost the development of fisheries, including a programme on building high-capacity, steel boats for deep sea fishing.

To be able to benefit from the programme, fishermen must be approved by local People's Committees.

Commercial banks nationwide have pledged about VND14 trillion (US$658 million) in loans for organisations and individuals wishing to build new vessels or upgrade their fishing vessels under Decree 67.

Tuan said the slowness in approving the lists were due to lack of efforts from local authorities nationwide.

"Local authorities have not been active and helpful in providing information to their local residents about the policies," Tuan said.

Speaking at the online discussion, speakers talked in detail about requirements for fishermen and firms to benefit from the decree.

The State Bank has asked commercial banks to set up hotlines to receive inquiries from fishermen about the issue.

Under present plans, the number of fishing boats in Viet Nam could reach 110,000 by 2020, of which 30,000 would fish offshore.

Le Trung Thanh, vice-general director of the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam, said the bank had asked its credit officers to actively provide information to farmers in order to timely reimburse the Government's funding for the programme.

BIDV and other commercial banks have set up a loan form which is short and easy to understand for farmers.

Fishermen access boat loans

Forty fishermen in central Quang Ngai Province are the first to qualify for Government loans to build new fishing vessels.

Under Government Decree 67/2014/ND-CP, basic policies were introduced to boost the development of fisheries, including building high-capacity, steel boats for deep sea fishing.

The move is expected to increase the tonnage of fish caught and lift the incomes of fishermen.

The eligible fishermen plan to build 15 ships, two composite mother ships and 23 wooden boats.

This information was revealed at a meeting of the Quang Ngai provincial steering committee chaired by director Pham Truong Tho, who is also vice-chairman of the provincial People's Committee.

Tho has told commercial banks to simplify procedures to make it easier for the fishermen to access loans.

He also suggested agencies hold communication campaigns to help local fishermen fully understand their rights and obligations as Decree 67 beneficiaries.

Commercial banks nationwide have pledged about VND14 trillion (US$658 million) in loans for organisations and individuals wishing to build new or upgrade their fishing vessels under Decree 67.

As many as 2,079 new off-shore fishing ships and 205 logistics ships will be built under this decree, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

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