Five fishermen rescued off coast of Da Nang

Five Vietnamese fishermen were rescued on Saturday off the coast of Da Nang after their boat lost power at sea.

The fishing boat, from Binh Dinh Province, was adrift for hours after the engine broke down on the seas off Da Nang around 3am.

A search and rescue ship was sent and found the fishing ship six hours later, before taking the fishermen and the boat safety home on Saturday evening.

The crew members were unharmed.

Food firm found guilty of unhygienic practise

Investigation by the Viet Nam Food Administration under the Ministry of Health has shown that the Phu Nhat Hao Catering Company did not ensure food hygiene and safety, said Nguyen Hung Long, deputy director of the administration.

The Phu Nhat Hao Company, in the southern province of Binh Duong, used the same vehicle to carry waste as it did to transport food to schools, Long said.

On April 9, 16 students at Vo Thi Sau Primary School were hospitalised after having meals supplied by the company with symptoms of bellyache and vomiting.

In March this year, the company transported 72kg of smelly fish and 12kg of pig skin to Long Binh Primary School. The parents of students were outraged.

Police catch animal traders

Hai Phong City Police have rewarded the municipal Department of Economic Crimes Investigation Police for destroying a criminal gang selling rare animals.

After a long investigation, on April 4 the department stopped an automobile with a fake number plate carrying 50 pangolins.

The driver, Hoang Anh Tuan, 34, failed to show any papers relating to the pangolins. He said he was hired to carry the animals by a man in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

Ha Noi to rescue residents from risk of sewage floods

Authorities of Ha Noi are determined to rescue 12 houses in Ba Dinh District which are surrounded by contaminated sewer water by April 30.

In a document released last week, municipal authorities urged the district's competent bodies and the city's Department of Construction to determine what caused the flooding of sewage and "rescue" more than 60 residents living at No 146, Quan Thanh Street.

A blockage stopped pipes in the residential area from draining waste into the city's sewerage system, which forced these 12 households to be inundated with sewage and waste since July 2013, the local media reported. Also, the situation worsens whenever it rains.

The affected residents sent several petitions to district authorities, but the local administration was unable to repair the problem. They then complained to city authorities, blaming Nguyen Xuan Minh, a resident of No. 5, Dang Dung Street, which is located nearby, for causing the blockage, as their sewer pipeline ran below his address.

Moreover, Vice Chairman of the Ha Noi People's Committee Nguyen Quoc Hung has demanded all involved bodies to address this environmental issue and to not let the situation persist.

Also, lawyer Vi Van Dien from the Ha Noi Bar Association told the Dan Tri newspaper that the delayed settlement had seriously violated "environmental protection principles", in line with legal regulations, and failed to abide by state policies, which reflected the irresponsibility of authorities.

"The pollution issue at No 146, Quan Thanh Street has continued for nearly two years. It must be considered a serious contamination. Authorities of both Quan Thanh Ward and Ba Dinh District must take immediate measures to resolve the problem, in accordance with Articles 109, 112, and 143 of the Law on Environmental Protection."

"The local administration should take the responsibility of handling this problem as soon as possible. Residents would not have to live amid flooded sewage and waste for two years had authorities been responsible," Dien said.

He added that anyone found to have caused the blockage should be made to pay damages and be punished.

Marine police seize 135,000 tonnes of oil

The Marine Police Zone 2 said it discovered and seized a vessel carrying 135,000 tonnes of oil of unclear origin in the southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province's marine area.

On Monday, the police team, in charge of preventing and controlling smuggling and trading fraud, stopped a vessel belonging to the Thanh Chau Phat Company Ltd, for a routine check.

The police found 135,000 tonnes of oil in the vessel's tank. Ha Minh Thong, the ship's captain, and seven crew members failed to produce papers on the volume of oil.

The oil cargo was seized. The case is being investigated further.

World Bank debars Louis Berger Group

The central city of Da Nang's People's Committee has not received official notice from the World Bank (WB) Group announcing the debarment of Louis Berger Group, Inc. (LBG), according to the committee's spokesman.

Earlier, the WB had announced the debarment of LBG for one year for engaging in corrupt practices relating to two WB-financed projects in Viet Nam. Berger Group Holdings, Inc. (BGH), LBG's corporate parent, received a one-year conditional non-debarment.

Under the two WB-financed projects, the Third Rural Transport and Da Nang Priority Infrastructure Investment Projects, the company made illegal payments to corrupt government officials. In addition, BGH failed to effectively supervise LBG and thus bears responsibility for LBG's misconduct.

The WB has asked BGH and LBG to conduct an internal investigation in accordance with the terms laid down by the bank to examine the misconduct and implement an effective integrity compliance programme that is consistent with WB guidelines.

"A company's response to misconduct is clear evidence of where its commitment to integrity lies," Leonard Frank McCarthy, World Bank Integrity Vice President, wrote on the bank's official website. "What this case demonstrates is an investigative process and outcome that has pushed the company to take remedial action toward achieving a stronger standard of compliance and accountability across the board."

Speaking to the Voice of Viet Nam, Vo Van Thuong, the committee spokesman, said any current information about the case was available through the media.

The committee would direct the relevant units in implementing these projects if they received official information, Thuong added.

The Third Rural Transport project was conducted from September 2007 to June 2014, with an investment of US$257 million. The WB's International Development Association loan was $203 million, while non-refundable aid from the United Kingdom was $53.9 million. After nearly seven years of implementation in 33 provinces, the project has upgraded 3,283km of roads and maintained a further 22,723km.

The Da Nang Priority Infrastructure Investment Projects started in 2008 and was completed in 2013, funded by the WB's Official Development Assistance loan, along with local funds. The project had a total investment of $218.4 million. The WB's input was $152.4 million, and domestic reciprocal capital was $66 million. The goal of this project was to improve the efficiency and sustainability of urban services in Da Nang through upgrading the city, improving its environmental infrastructure, building strategic roads and enhancing institutions of investment planning and services management.

Vam Co River oil spill threatens shrimp farm

More than 10,000 liters of oil spilt from a crashed cargo carrier on Vam Co River in Long An Province on Wednesday are threatening a 400-hectare shrimp farm.

The provincial Aquaculture Department and Can Duoc District's Agriculture Extension Division dispatched officers to assess the oil spill and activate measures to minimise its impact.

Shrimp growers in Can Duoc District's Tan Chanh Commune and Go Cong District's Binh Dong Commune – where the oil spill occurred – have been advised to not take water from the river for shrimp farming.

On Wednesday morning, a cargo carrier of the Dong Thap Oil and Petroleum Transport Joint Stock Company carrying 2,200 tonnes of oil from Dong Nai Province to Dong Thap met with an accident, spilling the oil into the Vam Co River.

Vo Thi Sau Primary School's canteen suspended

The southern province of Binh Duong's Food Administration today suspended the operations of the Vo Thi Sau Primary School canteen, pending further investigation into a case of mass food poisoning.

Sixteen of the school's students were hospitalised yesterday, allegedly suffering from food poisoning.

The students presented symptoms of vomiting and stomach pains after eating lunch at the canteen yesterday. The canteen used foods supplied by Phu Nhat Hao Ltd, a company specialising in food delivery.

Samples of food were sent to HCM City's Institute of Hygiene and Public Health for tests.

Police seize thousands of fake water filters

Ha Noi Police raided a company in Thanh Tri district yesterday, and seized thousands of fake water purification machine filters of Kangaroo brand.

The fake goods were found at the NANO Viet Nam Company Ltd.

The company's Director Tran Ngoc Tuan, 28, reportedly said his company bought poor-quality material in the market to produce water filters to make more profit. After manufacturing the filters, the company's workers installed them in the genuine water purification machines of Viet Nam's Kangaroo Corporation and sold them in the market, Tuan said.

The police have temporarily seized all the fake products to continue criminal investigation in the case.

New tool for measuring poverty comes under discussion

Participants at a workshop held today in this central city discussed ways to perfect a new tool that identifies poor and near-poor households in Viet Nam for the 2016-20 period.

Nguyen Viet Cuong from the World Bank said the tool should define poor and near-poor households by applying a method that measures the characteristics of each household and the property they own.

For example, several items could be added to the assets declaration paper, especially for households in rural areas, to determine whether they own assets, such as cattle or a grocery store, Cuong said.

Pham Minh Thu from the Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs said the statistics agency should be asked to co-operate in identifying the poverty rate and number of poor households.

Ngo Truong Thi, chief of the National Co-ordination Office on Poverty Reduction, said poor and near-poor households were currently defined only by income levels.

As a result, attempts at poverty identification may result in inaccuracies, Thi said.

However, the new tool will evaluate poor and near-poor households by using multi-dimensional poverty measurement, Thi said.

A Government decision, dated 2011, maintained that in Viet Nam's urban areas, a poor household is defined as having an income below VND500,000 (US$23) per head per month, whereas a near-poor household is defined as having an income of less than VND650,000 ($30) per head per month.

In rural areas, a poor household has an income of less than VND400,000 ($18) per head per month, whereas a near-poor household has an income of less than VND520,000 ($24) per head per month.

The workshop was co-organised by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the World Bank.

New Nam Dinh canal will boost waterway transport

The construction of a US$80-million canal that will connect the Day River and the Ninh Co River in the northern Nam Dinh Province will begin next year.

Nguyen Thai Hoang, an official from the transport ministry's Waterway Transport Project Management, said the canal was part of a project of the ministry to develop transport infrastructure in the northern delta, which aimed to resolve several important logistical bottlenecks in the region.

The canal, which is expected to be opened in 2018, will help boost regional waterway transport and connections between the region and the rest of the country.

It will facilitate 1,000-tonne ships to reach ports along the River Red, and 2000-tonne to 3000-tonne ships to reach ports along the Ninh Co River and the Ninh Phuc Port on Day River in Ninh Binh Province.

400 scholarships granted to poor students in Long An

Thai-invested paint maker 4 Oranges in collaboration with the southern province of Long An’s Association of Study Encouragement presented 400 scholarships to poor students in the locality at a ceremony on April 12.

Accordingly, each student received 2 million VND (93 USD) in cash, a bike helmet, and a schoolbag.

The total value of the scholarships is about 1 billion VND (46,500 USD).

This is the seventh year the company has donated scholarships to school kids in Long An.

Only 30% of drug addicts in HCMC detected: police

Only about 30% of the total number of drug addicts without stable residence in Ho Chi Minh City has been detected since December last year, although 2,800 drug addicts have been sent to drug detoxification centers, the city’s vice chief police has said.

Major General Phan Anh Minh, deputy director of the city Police Department released the figures at a meeting held by the local People’s Committee on April 10 to review the performances in cracking down on crime and ensuring order and security in the city over the two-month period ending on March 15.

The 2,800 addicts are a part of the above 30% of drug addicts and have been sent to rehabilitation centers since December 5, 2014, when local police launched a campaign to send them there, pending court decisions on applying compulsory detoxification to them, Major General Minh said.

According to statistics, the city now has about 19,000 drug addicts, of whom 12,000 have unstable residence.

“Therefore, we should not think that the situation of drug abuse will soon terminate after we sent more than 2,800 drug addicts to detoxification centers,” the official said.

The campaign was launched after the National Assembly adopted a resolution to allow drug addicts to be sent to such facilities as Binh Trieu Rehabilitation Center in Binh Thanh District and the Nhi Xuan Vocational Training and Job Creation Center in Hoc Mon District, pending court judgments.

Addressing the meeting, chairman of the People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan said that the sending of drug addicts to obligatory detoxification centers is a humanitarian policy.

“Don’t be afraid of wrong allegations saying that the admission of drug addicts to such centers is an act violating human rights,” the city leader said.

“The city authorities are determined to offer detoxification to drug addicts with a view to help them recover health and build a better life, he said.

The city police also reported to the meeting that 855 criminal cases occurred across the city from January 16 to March 15, down 23.18% from the preceding two months.

Of these cases, 520 were uncovered by units under the city police department, which arrested 609 offenders.

France-Vietnam Job Fair seeks local talent

France-Vietnam Job Fair 2015 will be held at the Novotel Saigon Center in HCMC’s District 1 on April 18 from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to look for local talent.

Organized by the French Institute of Vietnam, the French Consulate General in HCMC and the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam, the fair is designed for French companies based in Vietnam and local firms to find people who meet their employment requirements. This will be also a chance for local jobseekers to land a job.

The participating companies are active in fields such as commerce, banking & finance, IT, telecommunications, industry, healthcare & pharmaceuticals, mechanical & electrical engineering, construction, hotel & tourism, and education & research.

They include Accor Asia Pacific, Big C, Bureau Veritas, L’Oreal Vietnam, FV Hospital, Capgemini Vietnam, and Odyssea Hospitality.

The organizers welcome students, fresh graduates and experienced candidates, including Vietnamese who have studied in France as well as those who have earned a French degree in Vietnam, to the forthcoming event.

World Aviation and Astronautics Day marked in Vietnam

A celebration took place in Hanoi on April 11 to mark World Aviation and Astronautics Day and 50 years when Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov took first spacewalk.

On March 18, 1965, Alexei Leonov became the first person to leave a spacecraft while in orbit and float in the vacuum of space. The move affirmed the unlimited ability of human.

Leonov with Captain Pavel Belyayev was flying onboard the former-Soviet Union's Voskhod 2, accomplished the first extra-vehicular activity – EVA, or spacewalk – on what was only the 14th piloted spaceflight in history.

Dao Trong Thi, Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee for Culture, Education, Youth, Teenagers, Children, said at the meeting that despite geographical distance, Vietnam and Russia have been nurturing a special friendship for years.

This year both countries will mark the 65th anniversary of diplomatic ties and 35 years of the Vietnam-Soviet space flight on July 24th, an unforgettable historical event for Vietnamese people.

On April 10, the Russian Centre of Science and Culture and the People’s Security Academy jointly organized a cultural exchange in Hanoi on the occasion of the Cosmonautics Day, part of activities to celebrate 65 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

Helmet law for kid largely ignored across Vietnam

The regulation that children above six years old must wear a crash helmet when traveling on motorbikes took effect on April 10, but the rule was not complied with in various localities nationwide.

In Hanoi, traffic police began to handle cases in which drivers of motorbikes carrying children more than six years old without bearing a crash helmet from 6:30 am on April 10.

They also stopped students driving motorbikes or electric bicycle without bearing a helmet.

Patrol police teams were also sent to routes where many schools or recreational centers are located to handle violations of the regulation.

A traffic police officer handles a violation in which a woman carries a teen girl on a scooter without wearing a helmet in Hanoi. Photo: Tuoi Tre

At the intersection of Quang Trung-Le Trong Tan Streets in Ha Dong District, a police team handled a lot of violations by parents who carried their children and by children who drove electric bicycles.

During three hours on duty at this location, the team fined to 25 violators, said Senior Lieutenant Pham Ngoc Thanh, a police official in Hanoi.

The fine ranges from VND100,000 (US$4.63) to VND200,000 (US$9.3) for those driving or riding motorbikes or electric bicycles without crash helmets or with helmets worn incorrectly.

However, under current regulations, in case students under 16 years old drive bikes or electric bicycles, police do not fine them, but give them a warning and record their names, home addresses and schools.

Notices of their violations will later be sent to their families or schools.

From April 6 to 9, Hanoi police coordinated with the Department of Education and Training to call on all schools to ask their students to follow the new regulation.

A child is carried on a bike without wearing a helmet in Ho Chi Minh City on April 10. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Police in Ho Chi Minh also handled violators on April 10 and worked with schools on the regulation.

Police said they will send lists of student violating the rule to their schools.

However, a lot of children were found being carried on motorbikes without  wearing a helmet on various streets.   

The same situations were seen on same day in many other localities including the southern province of Dong Nai, the central cities of Hue and Danang, and Nghe An and Quang Binh provinces, both also in the central region.

8 Laos trucks caught with suspected smuggled timber

Traffic police in the central province of Nghe An have confiscated eight Laos-registered trucks allegedly laden with smuggled timber.

The fleet was found parked on the roadside on National Highway 7 in Nghe An’s Chuong Duong District at around 10 p.m on April 7, Kien Thuc news website reported.

The police had received a tip-off about the trucks and lay in wait near the spot.

When asked to produce papers, the Laotian truck drivers refused.

The following day the officers escorted all the trucks to a bus station in nearby Do Luong District. The investigation is continuing.

The police said the trucks had brought the timber from Laos to Vietnam via the Nam Can Border Gate in Nghe An.

Phan Huy Chuong, deputy chief inspector of the province Department of Transport, said dozens of Laotian trucks with timber are hiding on small roads off National Highway 7 to avoid Vietnamese traffic police.

He said more officers have been stationed on the highway to tackle the problem.

Portuguese entrepreneur in Angola receives Vietnam’s friendship insignia

The Vietnamese Embassy in Angola has presented the insignia “For Peace and Friendship among Nations” – the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations’ most noble reward – to Portugal’s Jorge Coute, General Manager of the CHJ Company.

At the award ceremony in early April, Ambassador Do Ba Khoa spoke highly of Jorge Couto’s support to the embassy and Vietnamese enterprises in establishing and developing their economic, trade and investment ties in Angola’s Luanda, Benguela and Huambo provinces.

Khoa expressed his hope that the general director would continue to assist with the cooperation between Vietnam and Angola and between Vietnamese businesses and other foreign businesses operating in Angola.

Jorge Couto said his help to Vietnamese enterprises is a result of his personal enthusiasm for the country and pledged to do his utmost to continue contributing to economic, trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam, Angola and other foreign nations.

Flood-proof housing programme to be extended

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has agreed to extend a programme to build flood-proof resident areas in the Mekong Delta region through 2020, housing over 8,400 additional households.

He urged the Ministry of Construction to work with other ministries and localities to review programme beneficiaries while continuing lending and extending payments for people living in poverty.

Regional localities should consider the programme their key political task, he stated during a conference to review the programme’s second phase on April 10 in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang.

It is also crucial to listen to local feedback during the implementation of the programme to ensure social consensus as well as mobilising all possible resources for the programme, he urged.

Highlighting the special role and position of 13 Mekong Delta localities as a major economic region of the country, PM Nguyen Tan Dung noted that the region is prone to devastating natural disasters—especially floods, adding that the Mekong Delta is forecast to be one of the hardest hit areas by climate change.

Launched in 2011, the flood-proof residential areas building programme has produced a number of results.

In the first phase from 2011-2008, as many as 804 smaller projects to construct flood-resilient areas and dyke systems were implemented with an investment of 5.77 trillion VND (288 million USD), protecting 146,000 households in flood-prone areas of eight regional localities.

During the second phase, which is scheduled to finish in 2015, the programme aims to provide flood-proof houses for 56,000 more local households. So far, as much as 97 percent of the workload has been completed with as many as 27,185 of the planned 35,595 houses constructed.

As of the end of 2014, total capital disbursement under the programme mounted to nearly 2.86 trillion VND (132.3 million USD) sourced from the central budget, the Bank for the Development of Vietnam and the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies.

According to Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung, thanks to the programme, human and material damage by storms and floods in the region was equal to less than 15 percent of the previous year’s figure.

The programme ensured safety for over 200,000 local households or more than 1 million people, most of who are impoverished, he noted.

During the conference, locality representatives proposed that new-style area building and other poverty reduction project investments be timed to ensure synchronic infrastructure in the flood-proof resident areas in order to enhance local living conditions comprehensively.

Greetings to Khmer ethnics ahead of traditional New Year

State and local officials conveyed greetings to Khmer people in southern Vietnam on April 11, a few days ahead of the ethnic group’s Chol Chnam Thmay New Year festival.

Chol Chnam Thmay, taking place from April 14-16 this year, is one of the most important festivals for the Khmer people. It lasts three days (four days in leap years) and is traditionally held in a pagoda.

The festival is a demonstration of Khmer people’s aspirations, like many other ethnic groups, to move on from the previous year’s misfortunes and look forward to the promise of a new year.

At the Candaransi pagoda in District 3 of Ho Chi Minh City, Khmer people and Buddhist monks participated in traditional New Year rituals expressing their gratitude to ancestors.

Pham Dung, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Chairman of the Government’s Committee for Religious Affairs, congratulated Khmer people on their traditional festival and spoke highly of Chol Chnam Thmay celebrative activities which, he said, will help preserve their traditional identities.

Khmer ethnics have put their trust in the Party and State’s policies and joined hands with local authorities in the national development and protection, he noted.

At a gathering in Kien Giang province, Monk Danh Nhuon, deputy head of the executive board of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha’s provincial chapter, said Khmer communities have gained a facelift thanks to practical projects and policies issued by the Party and State.

Almost all Khmer-inhabited areas have had electricity and concrete roads while low-income families have received house building and farmland aid, he noted, adding that local Khmers are determined to work harder towards better living conditions and stronger local development.

On this occasion, Kien Giang earmarked more than 1.5 billion VND (71,400 USD) sourced from its budget for supporting impoverished Khmer households during the Chol Chnam Thmay festival.

Also on the day, nearby Vinh Long province kicked off the sixth culture and sport festival of the Khmer people occasioned their traditional New Year.

The two-day event includes a variety of activities, such as photo and document exhibitions on the group’s cultural identities and their rural area building efforts, along with traditional dancing and musical instrument performances.

A cooking contest of traditional Khmer dishes and folk game competitions also form part of the festival.

Mainly residing in the south of Vietnam, the Khmer ethnic group numbers more than 1.2 million people and is among the most populous ethnic group in the country.-

Vietnamese music teachers receive Laos Labour Orders

The Lao State has awarded the Labour Order to two former Vietnamese music teachers—Tran To Lan and Dinh Quang Hop—in recognition of their devotion and hard work in educating Lao students who studied at the National Music Academy from the 1955-1969 academic years.

On behalf of the Lao Government, Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Bosengkham Vongdara presented the decorations at a ceremony held in Vientiane on April 10.

Representing former Lao students who studied in Vietnam, Buangan Saphuvong, Deputy Minister of Lao Information, Culture and Tourism, thanked the Vietnamese Government for its support in training Lao human resources.

He affirmed that Vietnamese teachers’ service to Lao music students contributes to strengthening the friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States and peoples.

Japanese politician honoured by Vietnam’s largest university

The Vietnam National University-Hanoi (VNU) presented the title of Honourable Doctor to Seko Hiroshige, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, on April 11.

The title was in recognition of his contributions to Vietnam-Japan cooperation in socio-economic development, cultural exchange, education and training.

He also actively supported the establishment of the Vietnam-Japan University, which is expected to begin enrolling students in 2016.

So far, the VNU-Hanoi has granted Honourable Doctor certificates to 37 foreign individuals.

One of the two national universities in Vietnam, the VNU-Hanoi is the country’s largest higher education and research centre. Its predecessor was the University of Indochina which was established in 1906.

Northern disaster forecasting system upgraded

A project on modernising the disaster warning and forecast system of the northeastern region’s hydro-meteorological station will benefit from non-refundable aid of the Republic of Korea’s Government.

The project, as approved by the Prime Minister recently, aims to improve the hydro-meteorological monitoring and forecasting capacity of the Hai Phong city-based regional station, which is under the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

To that end, it will upgrade the station’s infrastructure and provide intensive training for its personnel.

The project is scheduled to be carried out in 36 months with an estimated 3.97 million USD aid and 9.66 billion VND (46,000 USD) financed by Vietnam.

New strain of GM maize proves a success

Many farmers harvesting maize in Lang Minh commune, Xuan Loc district, Dong Nai province say they are happy with a new strain of genetically modified (GM) maize.

They claim it helped them save production costs by using less pesticides and herbicides.

Nguyen Lam, a farmer with 40 years' experience in growing maize, told Vietnam News that he had set aside 2,000 square metres of his total 24,000sq.m maize farm to try out a new variety supplied by Dekalb Vietnam.

"The new strain yielded as much as the hybrid maize we are using now, which is estimated at 11-12 tonnes per hectare, but it cost less to produce," he said.

Lam calculated that for each hectare of maize he could save 3 million VND (250 USD) using the new variety because he had to spray herbicides only once instead of two or three times. He also saved on the cost of hiring workers to do spraying.

Lam also saved all the money he would normally spend on pesticides because the new strain is resistant to three major types of kinds of pests - leaf worm (Spodoptera litura), corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis), and corn earworm (Heliothis armigera).

The new corn was supplied on trial to three farming households in Xuan Loc district. Company representatives also conducted field schools to instruct up to 300 farmers on growing techniques.

They came not only from Dong Nai, but also from neighboring Tay Ninh, Binh Thuan, Binh Duong, and Long An provinces.

The company has also provided GM maize seeds for more than 100 farmers throughout Vietnam to try.

Pham Dong Quang, vice-director of the Cultivation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said he pinned high hope on the GM maize.

He also claimed that use of the new crop could also boost national maize production.

Last year, although the country harvested 5.6 million tonnes of maize from a total acreage of 1.2 million hectares, it had to import another 4.8 million tonnes.

In the first quarter this year, imported maize already reached nearly 1.8 million tonnes, an increase of 11.5 percent over the same period last year.

AKP Director General welcomed in Binh Thuan

Cambodian Press Agency (AKP) Director General Sok Mom Nimul was received by Binh Thuan pro vincial Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Manh Hung on April 10.

The closer ties between AKP and the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) present great potential to promote the trade opportunities, tourism, and culture of the two countries among its people, Hung said.

He hoped through AKP media coverage, business communities in Binh Thuan and Cambodia can usher in a strong mutually-beneficial partnership.

Sok Mom Nimul said she is glad to learn more about the overall socio-economy development of the locality.

The VNA has assisted AKP with expertise and facilities, she said, emphasising that the long-term relationship is invaluable.

Policies required for more effective agricultural cooperatives

Outdated agricultural cooperative business models need to be replaced in order to bring farming products into local supermarkets and international markets, earning farmers higher income in the face of growing competition.

President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan made the remark at a conference to discuss policies for agricultural cooperatives hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) in Hanoi on April 10.

The MARD recorded around 10,450 agricultural cooperatives last year operating in farming, animal husbandry, aquaculture, forestry, salt production and agricultural services, accounting for 50 percent of the total cooperatives nationwide. They were mostly concentrated in the Red River Delta, North Central Coast and Northeast regions.

Most of the cooperatives focus on supplying input materials for their members, such as varieties, equipment and fertilizers, and irrigation services while only 9 percent engaged in product distribution.

The ineffective performance led to persistently low incomes with just over one million VND (46.24 USD) per month in several areas.

There are also insufficient linkages between farmers and businesses. Even with successful links in the production of rice, beef, sugarcane, coffee and pepper in the Mekong Delta, only 10-15 percent of the total farming output was distributed by the cooperatives.

The current trend of developing agricultural value chains necessitates an increased role of cooperatives as a bridge between farmers and distribution businesses.

A representative from a cooperative in northern Lao Cai province urged the MARD to set VietGAP as the compulsory standard for agricultural production inside cooperatives and trade promotion groups to help farmers sell their products.

Under the Politburo resolution on developing new-style cooperatives in agriculture, fishery and trade villages, the MARD in coordination with the VFF and the Vietnam Farmers’ Union is discussing with local authorities and outstanding farmers in the Mekong Delta the establishment of pilot cooperative models, first of all in rice farming.

Meanwhile, pilot new-style cooperatives in animal breeding will be set up in some northern and southern provinces based on the successful models of the Quy Hien cooperative in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai and the Dan Phuong cooperative in Hanoi.

Guidelines for the establishment of new-style fishery cooperatives will also be issued in June this year.

World Hemophilia Day 2015 marked in Vietnam

The World Hemophilia Day 2015 was marked in Hanoi on April 11 following a meeting organised by the Vietnam Hemophilia Association (VHA) in collaboration with the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion.

The World Hemophilia Day 2015 was organised to raise awareness about bleeding disorder and the need to build a family of support for those living with it.

According to Nguyen Anh Tri, VHA Chairman, people living with hemophilia can have a stable life and make contributions to society if they are diagnosed and treated early along with the help from the community.

Vietnam currently have around 6,000 hemophilia patients and only 40 percent of them are discovered and treated on a regular basis, Tri said.

There is significant progress in treating the hemophilia in Vietnam thanks to improved diagnose and treatment quality, he added.

Vietnam protects water resources for sustainable rural development

With a dense network of rivers and canals plus a tropical monsoon climate, Vietnam has abundant water resources from rainfall, surface water, and ground water.

Acknowledging the grave importance of water in rural development, the Vietnamese government has spared no effort to upgrade its institutions and policies for better water resource management.

Vietnam has 108 river basins and approximately 3,500 rivers and streams with a length of 10 km or more. These water resources are vital to ensuring Vietnam’s food security, energy security, industrialization, and modernization.

However, about two-third of this water originates outside of Vietnam and international cooperation mechanisms for managing trans-border waters are inadequate. Moreover, Vietnam’s growing population and rising living standard is straining its water resources.

Le Huu Thuan, Deputy Director General of the Water Resource Management Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Management, said Vietnam’s population is forecast to reach 100 million by 2020 and will reach 120 million in the next few decades. The increasing population will require better water quality to support a higher living standard and production growth, creating a major challenge for national water resource development.

Because many reservoirs and irrigation systems in Vietnam were built before Sustainable Development Goals were defined, they were designed to improve economic efficiency without taking into consideration environmental protection issues.

Water management expert Nguyen Thi Phuong Lam said it’s necessary to engage the whole community in water resource management to ensure sustainable water resource development.

Water consumers and managers should work together to define sustainable development goals, Lam said, adding that based on such goals, water resource managers will create appropriate regulations to control access to water sources and allocate sufficient water to support the ecology. Measures are needed to prevent water resource degradation and water pollution, restore water resources, and minimize waste water discharge into clean water sources.

At the 3rd session of the 8th National Assembly meeting, the revised Law on Water Resources was approved, promoting a holistic and unified water resource management, and economical water use.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai, who is also chairman of the National Council on Water Resources, has asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to prepare a national water resource planning and survey to be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval in 2016. This will provide a basis for Vietnam to address issues of water resource protection for sustainable development.

Nguyen Thai Lai, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, said water is vital to our health, food security, and economic development. Water is the key to sustainable development. A wise use of water resources will help protect social security, and economic and agricultural development.

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