Man wants to build elephant cemetery

A businessman in Dak Lak Province, who owns the largest herd of domestic elephants in Vietnam, wishes to build a cemetery for them.

Dan Nang Long has earned the nickname “King of the Elephants” in his hometown, a village in Lac District, located in the central highlands.

Long is very attached to his elephants and considers them family. He is locally famous for raising elephants for community-based tourism.

What he is trying to do is to protect the few elephants left in the region amid increased poaching and a changing environment. He also works as a veterinarian for elephants.

So far he has held two funerals for his family’s elephants. “I don’t consider it’s an animal funeral. It's more like the death of a member of my family. The average elephant lives to be 80, about as long as a human," he said.

In 2005, he held the first funeral for an elephant named as Trut, who died at the age of 89.

Before the elephant died it was carrying two tourists for a tour around the village. The elephant fell, and Long thought it was ill. He did all he could to return it to health, including inviting a shaman to conduct rituals and pray for its health. He knew it was hopeless when he saw another elephant, the dying elephant's partner, kneeling down by its side for hours.

He held a funeral for Trut the next mourning and invited the entire village.

In order to protect the animal’s tomb, he built a temporary tent nearby to prevent theft.

Two years later, another elephant, Bach Kham, died.

“Previously, when an elephant died, we buried the entire body, including its tusks, which were kept above the ground as a headstone. Now thieves would steal the ivory, so we keep the tusks at home so the animals are not dug up," said Long.

Long stressed the difficulty of taking care of elephants. One is worth tens of millions of VND. When an elephant dies it not only means an economic loss but a pain for the whole family.

“I have a dream of building a cemetery for my elephants so they are not forgotten,” he added.

Forest ranger arrested for accepting bribe

Police in central Thanh Hoa Province arrested a forest ranger for allegedly accepting VND100 million (US$4,710) in bribes from a rare wood trafficker.

Le Duc Hai, head of the mobile ranger unit of the provincial Forest Management Department, was arrested at his office while hiding a bag of money he had just received from the trafficker.

On Friday, Hai's mobile ranger unit found a truck carrying rare wood from central Nghe An Province. The truck driver failed to show proper documents for transporting the wood.

Later, the wood owner, only known as Nguyen, showed up at Hai's office, where the ranger had allegedly demanded a bribe in exchange for letting the trafficker go.

Hai Phong to give measles-rubella vaccine to 430,000 children

The northern city of Hai Phong has planned to earmark around VND3.6 billion (US$169,000) for a large-scale vaccination campaign against measles and rubella for children aged between 1 and 14.

According to a plan issued by the municipal People’s Committee on July 31, the campaign aims to bring the rate of local children of this age group receiving a rubella vaccine to 95%.

The three-phase campaign will be carried out at 255 immunisation stations in all districts from September 2014 to February 2015 and is expected to benefit about 430,000 children.

To make the campaign effective, steering committees at district and commune levels will be set up, while conferences and training courses will also be organised to raise public awareness and provide necessary skills for medical staff.

Last month, similar campaigns were also held in Hanoi and northern Ha Nam province.

During the latest outbreak of measles in Hanoi early this year, vaccination proved effective. With 73,639 children aged from nine months to under-10 given shots, the outbreak was put under control by the end of May.

To maintain the positive immunisation outcomes, the municipal health department has required related units to intensify their management over vaccination activities so that those most in need could are not missed out.

In early July, at a meeting of the Steering Committee for Epidemic Prevention and Control, the Ministry of Health said it continues to expand vaccination campaigns, and plans to launch a new measles-rubella vaccination drive targeting children from 1-14 years old in September.

A quarry collapse in Thuy Nguyen district, the northern city of Hai Phong has killed five workers and injured some others.

The accident occurred at around 6:00 pm on August 1 after workers struck dynamite inside the quarry for mining.

By August 2 noon, the bodies of three victims had been found. The investigation and search for the remaining workers are ongoing.

The quarry is under the management of Phuc Son cement company which has not yet been licensed for mining.

Survey on land use to be conducted

A national survey on land use will be conducted in 2014 and maps drawn in order to evaluate the management and use of the land resource, the Prime Minister instructed in his recent Directive No 21/CT-TTg.

The PM requires the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, other ministries and ministerial-level agencies, governmental agencies, and People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities nationwide to carry out the task and make accurate assessment of the land use situation from communal to national levels.

The assessment will serve as the foundation for working out mechanisms and policies to strengthen state management over land and enhance land use efficiency at all levels for the 2016-2020 period.

The survey will collect data on total natural land area, the acreage of each type of land and specific groups of land users at all administrative levels, with special attention to be paid to rice cultivation acreage and land use in industrial parks, industrial clusters, economic zones and hi-tech zones.

Land users subject to the survey include organisations, households, individuals, communities, religious establishments, foreign diplomatic organisations, foreign-invested enterprises and overseas Vietnamese.

The survey and drawing of maps on land use will be conducted simultaneously nationwide from now to December 31. Communes are required to complete the work and submit reports before June 1, 2015, while districts must submit reports before July 15 and provinces, before September 1 the same year. National reports and maps will be completed by November 1, 2015.

US Corporation plans to build more schools in Vietnam

Cargill Vietnam Ltd. Co. under the US-based Cargill Corporation raised 4.5 billion VND (211,500 USD) from a single charity event on August 2 for its Cargill Cares foundation’s project to build schools in far-flung areas nationwide.

Established in 1996, the Cargill Cares Foundation has so far collected 66 billion VND (3.1 million USD), supporting the building of 67 schools benefiting more than 13,000 children in rural and remote areas across the country.

The figure included 4 billion VND (188,000 USD) raised in 2013, which aided the construction of seven schools in the southern provinces of An Giang, Binh Phuoc, Kien Giang, Binh Thuan and Ba Ria – Vung Tau, and central Khanh Hoa province, at a total cost of 7.7 billion VND (361,900 USD).

Chanh Truong, Chief Representative of Cargill Vietnam, said half of the Cargill Cares Foundation’s funding is contributed by Cargill Vietnam while the rest comes from its customers, suppliers and employees.

The foundation is striving to accomplish its goal of building 75 schools nationwide by 2015.

Bac Ninh launches measles, rubella vaccination campaign

The northern province of Bac Ninh is busy with a large-scale vaccination campaign against measles and rubella, with nearly 280,000 children aged 1-14 expected to become immune, said a local health official.

The first official round of the campaign will be in September-October, targeting under-five children while those aged 6-10 will receive shots between November and December.

The last round will run throughout the next January -February, said Deputy Director of the provincial Preventive Medicine Centre Nguyen Khac Tu, adding that qualified medical staff and necessary equipment will be ready.

Earlier, Bac Ninh vaccinated almost all children under two years old, equivalent to more than 7,000.

For past years, the province has spread the expanded vaccination drive to over 98 percent of its junior population.

A number of localities in the country have been preparing for the vaccination against the diseases, including Ha Nam, Hai Phong, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

At a meeting of the Steering Committee for Epidemic Prevention and Control in early July, the Ministry of Health said it plans a new measles-Rubella vaccination drive targeting children from 1-14 years old in September.

As many as 5,031 cases of measles were recorded in the country in the first half of this year.

Campaign launched to improve health care for elderly

A campaign was launched in Hanoi on August 3 to call for joint efforts in caring old people’s health.

The event was co-organised by the Central Committees of the Vietnam Youth Federation and the Vietnamese Young Doctors’ Association in collaboration with Nhat Nhat Pharmacy Co., Ltd.

The two-month campaign will provide free health check-ups, medicine and gifts for the older and retired people in 63 cities and provinces nationwide, especially those in difficulties.

Apart from free eye operations and examinations, a broad range of activities will be organised to encourage people to donate organ and cornea while raising public awareness of health care for the elderly.

About 3,000 young doctors and 5,000 volunteers will participate in the event, which is expected to benefit about 32,500 old people.

At the launching ceremony, the organisation board presented gifts to 50 old people in difficult circumstances.

On this occasion, ten clubs of young doctors in Hanoi were also introduced to the public.

Cuban newspaper praises Vietnam’s renewal success

Granma Newspaper, the official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba, has published an article and photos highlighting achievements in Vietnam’s renewal process and economic development.

The author of the article, Karina Marron Gonzalez, who has recently visited Vietnam, expressed her impression in Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements and Vietnamese people’s hospitality.

The article described strong development in Vietnam from cities to rural areas across the country, the mushrooming of high-rise and modern buildings and wide roads. It also introduced Vietnam’s experience in promoting multi-sector economy.

Apart from paying attention to increasing the production of rice and coffee, the sectors that Vietnam ranks second in the world in export, Vietnam is also exerting every effort to push other sectors such as dairy production, textile and garment, footwear, tourism and industry, it said.

According to the author, the week-long visit to Vietnam helped Cuban friends see Vietnam’s successes in developing its economy with their own eyes.

Concluding the article, Karina said there are many similarities between Cuba and Vietnam, adding that the two countries are always side by side in their path to development.

Voluntary pension scheme needed

Voluntary pension insurance should be implemented as soon as possible because the delay would make life of retirees more difficult, a labour ministry official has said.

Speaking at a recent conference on voluntary pension insurance, Truong Giang, Deputy Director of the Social Insurance Department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said Vietnam was now in the period of a golden population structure as the working age accounted for more than 58 percent.

The country has managed to set up 48 fund management companies and nine banks in charge of supervising the implementation of the insurance.

"This is the best time to implement the model, and as quickly as possible to assure lives of workers after retirement," he said.

Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vu Tien Loc said this type of insurance would be a solution to reduce the burden of social funds, increase social security and long-term benefits for businesses and workers.

It would create conditions for people to participate and get a stable source of income after retirement. It would also contribute to the stability of the current pension fund, he said.

In the 2007 to 2012 period, after six adjustments, the average pension had increased by 26.8 percent annually. Meanwhile, the growth rate of the social security fund only increased 10.1 percent annually.

This caused pressure on the current social insurance fund and the State budget. It was forecast to increase rapidly in the future.

In fact, there were a number of businesses implementing the model of insurance for their employees, he said. However, due to a shortage of adequate legal framework, these businesses had applied them in different ways.

He said, authorised agencies should work together to complete the legal framework and disseminate them to increase the awareness of businesses and employees about the benefits of the insurance.

According to Loc, the regulation saying that each enterprise was allowed to pay 1 million VND (47 USD) for each worker was reasonable as most were small-and-medium sized enterprises. This would assure benefits to labourers in these enterprises.

Pension insurance is a voluntary form of savings to fund retirement, usually supported by employers and encouraged by the government through tax benefits.

Japanese eloquence contest highlights Vietnam-Japan friendship

The second Japanese-language eloquence contest was held in the northern port city of Hai Phong on August 2, highlighting the friendship between Vietnam and Japan.

The first prize went to Vu Hoang Anh, whose presentation was about his impression on Japan ’s science-technology achievements in robot industry.

Before the final round, candidates had a chance to visit Japanese businesses operating in the city and share knowledge about the culture and living styles of the Japanese with their fellows.

Hai Phong plans to develop the teaching and learning of this language in the future, according to Director of the municipal Foreign Office Nguyen Anh Tuan.

The first event was held in the city last year to mark the 40 th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Japan.

Hai Phong’s Cai Trap channel gets upgraded

The first stage of a project to upgrade Cai Trap channel which leads to Hai Phong international gateway seaport, the largest in northern Vietnam, started on August 2.

The move is to ease overcrowding on Ha Nam and Nam Trieu channels – entries to Hai Phong seaport which is handling a big volume of cargo each year.

Once completed later this year, Cai Trap channel is able to accommodate vessels of 1,000 – 3,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage), said Deputy Director of the Vietnam Maritime Administration (VMA) Do Duc Tien at the ceremony.

The Ha Nam channel is designed to house big-size vessels while Nam Trieu and Cai Trap, smaller ones.

The Ministry of Transport has assigned the VMA to invest and oversee the project, which is implemented in the form of built-transfer (BT).-

Health Ministry warns of Ebola danger

The Preventive Medicine Department under the Health Ministry has warned of the danger of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) which is spreading in a number of African countries.

The department advised people to ensure personal hygiene and avoid direct or close contact with infected patients and animals, particularly with their bodily fluids, in order to prevent the disease.

Those who are living in the area with an EVD outbreak should receive medical testing immediately if observing any symptom of the disease.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), EVD is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals.

Ebola then spreads in the community through human-to-human transmission, with infection resulting from direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and indirect contact with environments contaminated with such fluids.

EVD is a severe acute viral illness often characterised by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.

No licensed vaccine for EVD is available. Several vaccines are being tested, but none are available for clinical use, according to WHO.

On August 2, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) called on the international community to immediately scale up of efforts to tackle the Ebola outbreak in western African countries.

As of July 27, 1,323 affected cases were reported, with 729 deaths in four western African countries of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

Social workers get boost from professional training

A national programme on development of social work as a profession has shown initial results after four years of implementation, but still faces obstacles in human resources and legal framework.

At a conference in the central city of Da Nang on august 1, delegates discussed the programme, which had been approved by the Prime Minister in 2010. It was launched to improve and provide better services and care for vulnerable people including the elderly, people with disabilities, underprivileged children, HIV infected, drug addicts, people with mental illnesses and disorders and others.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Trong Dam said that Vietnam had so far built 30 social service centres and trained 35,000 social workers after launching the programme.

"It is a great effort by agencies and support from international organisations over the past few years. We have surpassed the initial target of establishing 10 social service centres by 2015," Dam said.

"Social service centres have actively provided heath care and education for vulnerable sections and helped them integrate into the society," he said.

He added that the programme still had challenges and was deficient in the legal framework and treatment of freelancers and social workers.

Chairperson of the Vocational Training and Social Activities Association Nguyen Thi Hang said 80 percent of social workers had yet to be trained professionally.

"We estimate that around 40 percent of the country's population, equivalent to 36 million people, need social service. It is a challenge for Vietnam in speeding up human training at social colleges and universities," Hang said.

"The Government should create more favourable conditions including tax, land and establishment procedures to further develop private social service and human training centres."

Acting representative of United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Jesper Moller said there had been commitments from different ministries after four years of launching the programme.

He said many achievements emerged from the programme, but the government should improve the law and licence process for social workers along with the social service profession as a whole.

According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Vietnam has 9 million elderly, 6.7 million with disabilities, 1.5 million underprivileged children and 2.7 million people who live under social protection subsidised by the State.

However, the country has only 6,400 civil servants working in social service centres. Around 40 colleges and universities have trained 13,000 students in social service courses.

Quang Nam fishermen equipped with communication devices

A number of communication devices have been given to fishermen in the central province of Quang Nam to help them feel secure while going out to sea.

A ceremony to hand over the equipment was held in Quang Nam on August 1 by the Ministry of Information and Communication in coordination with the Vietnam Red Cross Society, Vietnam Television, and radio The Voice of Vietnam.

Deputy Minister of Information and Communication Le Nam Thang said the equipment was donated by organisations and individuals from home and abroad in response to a campaign launched by the ministry and the Vietnam Red Cross Society last year.

The campaign “Connecting the East Sea” was to call for donations from both inside and outside the country to raise fund to equip fishermen with communication devices.

Press agencies urged to promote national great unity

President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF)’s Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan has asked central press agencies to do more to foster stronger national great unity.

Nhan had a working session in Hanoi on August 1 with officials from the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Popularisation and Education, Ministry of Information and Communication, Vietnam Journalists’ Association and several central press agencies, including the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Nhan dan (People) Newspaper, Vietnam Television and radio the Voice of Vietnam.

Over the past time, the VFF standing board has coordinated closely with these offices in popularising the Party’s guidelines and the State’s policies on the national great unity, as well as the role and tasks of the front in the national construction and defence.

The coordination has led to the success of such campaigns as “Day for the poor”, “Vietnamese people use Vietnamese goods” and those that help raise public awareness of the fight against corruption, thrift practice and wastefulness prevention.

VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi suggested that VFF should direct its member organisations to proactively provide press agencies with information, especially those on pressing issues, for prompt and accurate coverage.

With its network of 63 representative offices at home and 30 others abroad, VNA is capable of bringing information to various readers, including ethnic minority groups in far-flung areas and overseas Vietnamese people, he added.

Hot tickets for Ho Chi Minh City-Thanh Hoa air route

The low-cost carrier Jetstar Pacific starts selling tickets for its new domestic route between Ho Chi Minh City and central Thanh Hoa province from August 1.

The new route will be operated from September 5 with a daily return flight, which is scheduled to take off at 10:00am from Ho Chi Minh City and 12:45am from Thanh Hoa.

The airline offers cheap tickets at 3,000 VND (about 15 US cents) per one from 2:00 pm to 11:59 pm on August 1, as part of its 10,000 hot fares programme.

Last year, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines launched the route connecting Thanh Hoa and the country’s largest economic hub with five flights a week.-

Breastfeeding protects more children from infectious diseases

Breastfeeding can help reduce 13 percent of the rate mortality of children under five years old, or save about 6 million children from infectious diseases, a health official has said.

Health Deputy Minister Nguyen Viet Tien made the statement at a ceremony to launch Vietnam’s Breastfeeding Week 2014 in Hanoi on August 1, which was jointly organised by the Ministry of Health, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Alive & Thrive project (A&T).

Several activities during the week will raise public awareness on the importance of breastfeeding to help children grow physically and mentally well.

A number of scientific researches show that feeding babies with breast milk but nothing for the first six months of their life is beneficial for the health of newborns as mother’s milk provides the necessary nutrients for the babies to grow and protects them from several diseases, Tien said.

In June 2012, the National Assembly adopted the amended Labour Law, which extends maternity leave to six months. The NA also passed a Law on Advertising, which includes a ban on the marketing of breast milk substitutes for children less than 24 months. Both laws took effect in 2013.

These moves have made it easier for mothers to only breastfeed during the first six months of a child’s life, as well as in the following months.

A national action plan on bringing up babies in the 2012-15 period is implemented in the country, focusing on taking care for children within 1,000 first days of their lives to ensure a maximum mental and physical health for them. According to the National Institute of Nutrition, only 19.6 percent of children in Vietnam were breastfed completely in the first six months of their lives in 2010. Meanwhile, there has been a rise in the rate of children bottle-fed in the first six months of their lives in recent years.

Roger Mathisen, Chief Representative of the UNICEF’s nutrition programme in Vietnam said that the adoption of the amended Labour Law and the Law on Advertising has made Vietnam become one of leading countries in Asia Pacific in developing protective laws that benefit mothers and their children.

The same day, a photo exhibition highlighting the invaluable worth of breast milk was also kicked off at the Vietnam Women Museum in Hanoi to respond to the week.

Valuable forests lack protection

The illegal use of forest land and deforestation still occur in many provinces despite many attempts in recent years.

Forest productivity was also low, experts told a conference on forestry production in northern Thai Nguyen province last week.

At the conference, organised by the National Assembly's Economic Committee and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, they said forest resources played a crucial role in the country's sustainable development.

At present, Vietnam has 16 million hectares of forest.

The conference was told that deforestation was a complicated issue.

Although the rate of forest coverage has increased, the quality of the timber and the amount of biodiversity had declined.

Despite being a leading timber exporter, most of Vietnam's enterprises were small scale and used out-dated production technology.

Its productivity in timber processing was only half of that of the Philippines and 40 percent of that in China.

Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, said it was necessary to re-examine forestry development policies and promote effective production models.

She repeated the need to develop the processing of forestry products and to enhance forest protection and management.

"We need to re-organise forestry production from planting to harvesting and processing," she said. "It's also necessary to establish average to large-scale enterprises in certain economic zones."

Dang Viet Thuan, Vice Chairman of the Thai Nguyen provincial People's Committee called for the amendment of certain forestry policies.

"We need to have proper funding for producing plant varieties and new processing technology. If we don't have good varieties, we can't have sustainable forests," he said.

Participants suggested that solutions included proper management and planning of forestry land - and a re-examination of the country's forest planning at national and local levels. They also suggested allocating forestry land and forest to households and enterprises for better and more effective management.

Climate change adaptation projects necessary in Mekong

The Mekong Delta must come up with ways to address the consequences of climate change, especially rising sea levels and salinity intrusion, delegates said at a workshop in Hanoi on August 2.

Covering an area of about 3.96 million hectares, the Mekong Delta is home to more than 22 million residents who mainly make a living by farming. When climate change causes sea levels to rise, salt water penetrates the soil, affecting their crops and thus their livelihood. The region also suffers floods, droughts and unusual weather patterns.

Participants at the workshop emphasised the necessity of attracting more investment in eco-friendly technology and energy, as well as making changes to the legal framework.

The country's laws and policies deal in detail with natural disaster prevention, but only touch upon climate change adaptation, according to the NA team supervising the enforcement of climate change policies and laws. Currently, there is no comprehensive policy on climate change adaptation.

Meanwhile, provinces and cities across the country still lack funding to enforce such policies as well as pilot projects.

"The result of the enforcement of climate change policies and laws can be seen mainly in quantity, not in quality and effectiveness," said Nguyen Duc Ngu, former general director of the Vietnam Meteorology and Hydrology Centre.

Workshop participants recommended that regional localities create pilot projects and models under the ongoing national target programme to respond to climate change.

Vietnam attracts Russian tourists: French newspaper

The number of Russian tourists to Vietnam has increased over the past few years thanks to the country’s beautiful beaches with reasonable prices, the French Le Monde Diplomatique reported in its August issue.

The article titled “Charters russes pour le Vietnam” (Flights carrying Russian tourists to Vietnam) noted that the unrests in Egypt and Thailand have made Russian vacationers change their habit, shifting from Tunis (Tunisia) and Cairo (Egypt) to Ho Chi Minh City and Phan Thiet in Vietnam.

The Cam Ranh Bay, while far from the world-renown destinations such as Ha Long Bay – a world natural heritage in the north, and poetic rivers in the Mekong Delta, appeals to Russians for its white sand beaches dubbed “Sahara of Asia .”

According to author of the article Jordan Puoille, Vietnam has invested in building and improving infrastructure and diversifying tourism products and services to welcome visitors from Russia .

Last year, Vietnam welcomed 250,000 Russian visitors, a year-on-year rise of 71 percent.-

Ninh Binh province seeks ways to tap tourism potential

The northern province of Ninh Binh has huge potential of tourism development, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Online Newspaper reported, adding that t he province’s comparative advantage increased when the Trang An Ecological Complex was recognised as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

Ninh Binh province is endowed with unique and diverse tourism resources such as Cuc Phuong National Park , Van Long Nature Reserve, Kenh Ga hot spring, Van Trinh Cave, Phat Diem Stone Cathedral and the Trang An Ecological Complex.

The province also has 1,499 relics, of which two relics have been nationally ranked: Hoa Lu ancient capital and Coc and Trang An Ecological Complex, a world heritage site (former Trang An – Tam Coc – Bich Dong natural beauty site).

Ninh Binh has 260 traditional festivals, which are inherited and have been developed from the traditions and customs of rice cultivation in Hoa Binh and Dong Son for thousands of years. Currently, the province has 69 traditional villages, notably Van Lam embroidery village, Ninh Van stone carvings village, Kim Son sedge fine art village and Phuc Loc carpentry village.

Besides the enormous advantages from having beautiful scenery, the province is also proud of its unique Bai Dinh pagoda, the largest pagoda in Vietnam.

Ninh Binh is located 91 km from Hanoi and has both rail and road transportation links. It is pretty close to other famous tourist attractions such as Ha Long Bay, Cat Ba Island.

In recent years, the number of tourists to Ninh Binh has rapidly grown. In the first six months of 2014 alone, Ninh Binh welcomed 3.3 million arrivals, including 268,800 international tourists.

A tourism expert in Ninh Binh said that the biggest difficulty is the lack of manpower, particularly skilled workforce. Currently, the province has 11,000 employees involved in the tourism sector.

The province has welcomed around 4.5 million tourists per year, but it has only 42 tour guides.

Vice Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Duong Thi Thanh said that in the future the department would hire experts to train their farmers on how to offer community tourism to tourists, helping create stable income for them.-

VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/ND