The long communal house “Guol”, traditional to the Co Tu ethnic group in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, was inaugurated in Aka village, Thuong Quang commune, Nam Dong district on August 22.

The construction was part of the “Restoring and Preserving the Traditional Communal House for the Co Tu Ethnic Group” project carried out by the Hue University of Science, the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies in Hue, and Japan’s Kyoto University.

The project was built at the total cost of 316 million VND (13,588 USD), 125 million VND of which was non-refundable aid from the Japanese university. It aims to support locals in rebuilding Guol in traditional methods, from materials to construction, architecture, and decoration. 

Vice Rector of the Hue University of Science Ha Van Hanh said that the Guol, where many traditional festivals are held, holds various cultural characteristics of the Co Tu people. As the Guol has become a thing of the past in recent times, the restoration of the structure is significant to preserving and popularising the special traditions of Co Tu culture.

Revival of the Guol in A Ka village relied much on local people, who contributed their labour to the building over two years, he said, adding that his university will continue its support for the locality in implementing activities related to the ethnic group and assist with architectural and cultural preservation of other ethnic minority groups in the province. 
Germany supports human resource training to serve Industry 4.0

Germany will help Vietnam improve the quality of its workforce to meet the requirements of Industry 4.0 under a public-private Memorandum of Understanding.

The deal was signed in the southern province of Dong Nai on August 22 between the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs, and LILAMA-2 International Technology College on the Vietnamese side, and Bosch Vietnam Co., the Ltd and the German Development Cooperation Agency on the German side.

The partners will look to develop training courses at LILAMA-2 and train high-quality human resource for local firms in the era of Industry 4.0 and the digital revolution.

The three-year programme will cost a total 400,000 EUR and will be initially implemented at LILAMA-2 school, before being carried out in other vocational training schools with the support of the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training.

According to PhD Truong Anh Dung, Deputy General Director of the directorate, the project is important as it can be applied in other vocational training facilities nationwide. 

Meanwhile, Guru Mallikarjuna, general director of Bosch Vietnam, stressed the importance of integrating Industry 4.0’s requirements into vocational training, saying this will help Vietnam gain a competitive edge in the context of global economic integration.

Hanoi red cross chapter offers humanitarian aid in Vientiane

A representative of the Hanoi chapter of the Vietnam Red Cross Society (R) presents support to residents in Sangthong district of Vientiane (Photo: kinhtedothi.vn)

A delegation of the Vietnam Red Cross Society’s Hanoi chapter shared experience and carried out humanitarian activities in Laos’ capital of Vientiane on August 22.

In the outlying district of Sangthong, they shared first aid experience with 50 local government workers and kindergarten and primary school teachers. This has been one of the main cooperation activities of the two capital cities’ red cross chapters over the years.

The two sides also made a fact-finding tour to prepare for the building of a house for a Lao war veteran who studied in Vietnam.

Additionally, the Hanoi delegation presented five cows and 100 gift packages to disadvantaged families in Sangthong district. They also delivered aid worth some 300 million VND (about 12,860 USD) to people affected by the dam break in Attapeu province on July 23.

The support showed the Vietnamese people’s desire to help local residents and enhance the friendship between the two nations.

International Dental Exhibition and Congress opens in Hanoi

Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien speaks at the event (Source: suckhoedoisong.vn)

The 11th Vietnam International Dental Exhibition and Congress (VIDEC) opened in Hanoi on August 22, offering a range of dental products by the world’s leading producers. 

Speaking at the conference, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien highlighted the progresses made by Vietnam’s dental sector, which, she said, has covered both the big cities and remote areas of the country. 

There have been various preventative dental programmes launched for children in many cities and provinces nationwide, she added. 

The Vietnamese dental sector has intensified personnel training and technical transfer at a grassroots level, while also enhancing cooperation with international organisations, Tien said. 

The Vietnam International Dental Exhibition and Congress offers a good opportunity for dentists and scientists to share experience, cutting-edge technologies, and new information in dentistry, the minister noted. 

She asked the domestic dental sector to step up its collaboration with international organisations in order to promote the development of preventative dentistry, as well as encourage the application of state-of-the-art technologies in diagnosis and treatment. 

The congress, which lasts from August 20-24, brings together hundreds of delegates from 25 countries worldwide.

With 350 booths, the exhibition introduces dental products by leading producers from Europe, the US, Japan, and other countries.

Hanoi's cultivation reformed to add values

Farmers in Hà Nội’s suburban district of Thường Tín grow organic tomatoes in greenhouses. 

Hà Nội has been developing specialised cultivation areas to promote its farm products.

Since 2013, the total area for high quality rice in the city expanded from 52,000ha to 81,000ha, while total rice-growing area in general reduced from more than 204,350ha in 2013 to nearly 190,000ha now.

High quality rice was grown in the suburban districts of Mỹ Đức, Ứng Hòa, Phú Xuyên, Mê Linh, Thanh Oai, Chương Mỹ and Sóc Sơn. With high quality rice, farmers reportedly earn income 25-30 per cent higher than from conventional rice.

In the past five years, areas for vegetables, flowers and ornamental trees increased from around 31,700ha to 33,500ha, of which organic vegetable area made up 17,850 ha, 12 per cent more than in 2013.

Districts like Đông Anh, Phúc Thọ, Hoài Đức, Gia Lâm, Chương Mỹ and Đan Phượng have emerged with organic and safe vegetable cultivation, with each hectare of farm land able to generate VNĐ400-500 million (US$17,300-21,600) per year.

Nguyễn Mạnh Tùng, director of Lĩnh Nam Agriculture Service Co-operatives in Hoàng Mai District, said the company shifted to grow 40ha of safe vegetable five years ago and earned up to VNĐ500 million per hectare yearly while in the past, they earned about VNĐ110 million per hectare.

According to Hà Nội’s Agriculture and Rural Development Department, last year, the city used about 271ha for cultivation, 3.83 per cent less than the previous year. Cultivation generated VNĐ15.59 billion, 44.4 per cent of the city’s farming revenue.  

Director of the department Chu Phú Mỹ said reforms in cultivation had brought results.

The city has boosted scientific and technology application in cultivation, for example, and now, there are 119ha of net houses used for vegetables and 110ha used for flowers, while water saving technology is used on 15ha of vegetables.

About 924.5ha of fruit growing area uses high-tech equipment, including high quality seeds on 634ha and tissue culture technology used for 372ha of bananas.

Mỹ said the municipal People’s Committee had mechanisms to encourage individuals and businesses to invest in agriculture.

“Hà Nội targets to make each hectare of cultivation land generate a 3 per cent increase of income yearly,” he said.

Vice Director of the agriculture department Nguyễn Xuân Đại told the Kinh tế & Đô thị (Economic and Urban Affairs) newspaper that farming production in the city was still unstable and small-sized.

Vice Chairman of Thanh Oai District People’s Committee Bùi Văn Sáng said cultivation reforms required land consolidation, a shift to high quality species and new technology.

Sáng said farmers and local authorities need specific instructions to reform cultivation effectively.

Nguyễn Lân Hùng, general secretary of the Union of Biology Associations, said in cultivation reform, it was necessary to identify key crops and approach cultivation methods differently.

He meant farming products are commodities that must be produced sustainably and competitively.

“Hà Nội should focus on products with high quality and reduce prices to increase their competitiveness to farming products from other provinces and imported ones,” he said.

Hà Nội has more than 10 million residents with rising demand for agricultural products. However, the city’s production output meets only 60 per cent of demand, while many products are dependent on neighbouring localities.

Hà Nội’s rice output provides just 35 per cent of the city’s demand. Vegetable grown in the city satisfies 66 per cent of consumption demand. For the rest, the city must rely on supply from neighbouring provinces like Hưng Yên, Hà Nam, Bắc Ninh and Vĩnh Phúc. 

HCM City Farmers Association seeks to improve members’ lot

The HCM City Farmers Association has set ambitious goals to improve agriculture and farmers’ lives. 

The HCM City Farmers Association targets increasing farmers’ average income to VNĐ65 million (US$2,900) by 2023, up from VNĐ49 million last year.

It has hopes to have 70 per cent of farmers as members of co-operatives by then.

It expects all its members to be able to borrow from the Farmers Supporting Fund.

To meet these targets, it will improve the operation of the fund, organise more field trips for farmers to visit model farms and teach farming skills to 1,200 farmers a year.

The city’s farmers achieved an average income of VNĐ470 million ($20,900) per hectare last year, 1.6 times the 2013 figure, according to the association.

Co-operative members and co-operative teams had an average income 10-30 per cent higher than individual farmers.

The city’s farmers are developing urban farming models for orchids and ornamental plants and safe vegetables and breeding milk cows and ornamental fishes.

Speaking at the 10th Congress of the association on Tuesday, Thào Xuân Sùng, chairman of the Việt Nam Farmers Association, said the city association should strengthen co-operation with the city Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Co-operatives Alliance and other relevant agencies to encourage farmers to become members of co-operatives.

The association said around 82 per cent of farmers in the city still farm individually.

The city has 1.5 million people living in its outlying and rural areas.

In 2013-18, the association provided loans from the Farmers Supporting Fund to more than 19,600 farmers. It also helped more than 66,000 poor and near-poor farmers escape poverty in the period.

The city now has more than 1,500 farm households that produce agricultural products to Vietnamese good agricultural practices (VietGAP) standards.

It has developed more than 200 farmer household clubs.

Nguyễn Thiện Nhân, secretary of the city Party’s Committee, said the association and its branches should collaborate with relevant agencies to create programmes and projects that enable farmers to develop brand names for their products and link markets for them.

It should strengthen links between farmers, authorities, companies, banks, scientists and distributors, help farmers set up co-operatives, agricultural enterprises and farms, and improve the management capacity of co-operatives, he said.

Since the city’s vegetable and fruit demand is very large, agricultural production should focus on meeting this, he said. 

Trà Vinh seeks higher labour productivity

 

The Mekong Delta province of Trà Vinh plans to increase the production values of the agro-forestry-fishery sector by more than 4 per cent by 2020, according to the provincial People’s Committee.

At a conference reviewing the last five years of agricultural restructuring, Kim Ngọc Thái, the committee’s vice chairman, said that labour productivity would increase by more than 5 per cent by 2020.

The number of rural labourers in the sector would be under 40 per cent, while the number of trained labourers in agriculture would increase to nearly 50 per cent, according to Thái.

Moreover, the province aims to double the income of local residents by 2020 against the level in 2013.

To obtain the targets, the province’s project on agricultural restructuring will be carried out by improving the added value of agricultural products and developing sustainable agriculture, Thái said.

The province will choose eight products, including paddy rice, coconut, other fruits, beef and seafood, that have potential for development.

Thái proposed that the Government issue a policy on new production that can produce high added-value agricultural products with advanced technology.

The Government should also provide funds for infrastructure and irrigation projects for aquatic cultivation.

Between 2013 and 2017, the annual GDP growth rate for agriculture was 1.45 per cent, or more than VNĐ35.5 trillion (US$1.5 billion) per year, accounting for nearly 36 per cent of the province’s total production value.

In 2017, the production value of crops reached nearly VNĐ127 million per ha, an increase of more than VNĐ19 million per ha compared to the one in 2013.

The production value for aquatic cultivation reached nearly VNĐ284.5 million per ha, increasing by nearly VNĐ78 million per ha.

The average income per capita in the province’s rural areas last year was VNĐ29 million, 1.7 times higher than in 2013.

Since 2014, the province has shifted 13,300 ha of rice cultivation to other agricultural and aquatic products, leading to an increase of 1.5 to 4 times in production compared to rice cultivation.

However, there is limited co-operation between production and consumption of agricultural products, leading to erratic sales of many products.

Nguyễn Văn Nhiễm, chairman of the People’s Committee in Tiểu Cần District’s Phú Cần Commune, said that farmers with safe products had difficulty in signing contracts with enterprises. 

Ngô Thanh Xuân, vice chairman of the Cầu Kè District People’s Committee, said farmers in the district had the same problem.

Xuân proposed that the province provided assistance in building value chain models in co-operative production.

Phạm Minh Truyền, deputy director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that local authorities were uncertain about providing guidance on what to plant and breed to meet market demand.

The province has also faced problems calling on enterprises to cooperate in production, processing and consumption, Truyền said.

Most agricultural production in the locality is on a small scale, leading to difficulties in building brand names and applying high-tech, he said, adding that most farmers have not accessed preferential policies.

Nguyễn Thiện Nghĩa, deputy director of the provincial Department of Science and Technology, said that production costs for agricultural products were higher than in other countries, leading to less competitive products, especially those that can meet export demand. 

Whirlwinds kill two, damage houses in Cà Mau

Whirlwinds have hit districts in Cà Mau province, killing two people and damaging dozens of houses. — Photo tienphong.vn

Heavy rains and whirlwinds over the past two days killed two people and damaged nearly 100 houses in the southernmost province of Cà Mau, according to the provincial Office of the Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control and Disaster Mitigation.

The two victims were an old woman and her nephew from Cái Nước District’s Đông Hưng Commune.

The heavy rains also destroyed nine houses and swept the roofs from 42 others in the area.

In Đầm Dơi District, 30 houses had their roofs ripped off after being hit by a whirlwind, while six others were completely destroyed.

Local authorities have mobilised forces to urgently help affected residents and repair partially damaged houses.

Families who have lost their homes have received a support of VNĐ2 million (US$86) each from the budget for natural disaster prevention. 

Police chief calls for witnesses on double murder in Hưng Yên

Police examine the crime scene where a couple was killed in Hưng Yên Province on Friday. — Photo nld.com.vn

Deputy Minister of Public Security, Sr Lieut Gen Lê Quý Vương on Sunday ordered Hưng Yên Police to quickly track down the murderer who broke in and killed a couple at their home last week.

The murder reportedly occurred at 12.30am on Friday at the house of Đặng Văn Trường, 41, and his 40-year-old wife Nguyễn Thị Hoa on Linh Đài Street, Hồng Châu Ward in Hưng Yên City.

Trường was found dead in his bedroom on the ground floor with several knife wounds. His wife also suffered serious stab wounds, and was still alive at the time she was found. Family members rushed her to Hưng Yên Hospital, and then to Việt Đức Hospital in Hà Nội, but Hoa succumbed to her injuries at around 8am on the same day.

Relatives said that they caught sight of the murderer when he was trying to escape. He was described to be around 1.7m in height and wearing a black cap.

The police also discovered a pair of purple and black Adidas shoes of Asian size 40-41 at the scene, which were believed to belong to the culprit. The shoes were included in a description of the subject issued by police, in which the murderer is a young man aged between 20 and 35 with height ranging from 1.65m to 1.73m.

Hưng Yên Police urged anyone with any information on the case and culprit to contact police as soon as possible. 

VPBank warns of fraudulent websites

Việt Nam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) has warned people not to be fooled by fraudsters sending messages via phone or Facebook with content related to money transferred from abroad.

Customers were asked to log into the provided web page with their internet banking username and passport and then enter an OTP (one-time password) sent by the bank to their phone number or email.

Websites that were used by criminals include: http://moneygrmonline24h.weebly.com/internetbanking.html; www.chuyentienle.weebly; and http://wpbankwesternunion.weebly.com. 

Once customers login to the above-mentioned websites, their personal information will be stolen. The money in their account will be illegally appropriated.

VPBank also informed customers of a number of fraudulent transactions in recent weeks. Criminals would pretend to be banking officials and make phone calls to customers, it said.

VPBank is not the first bank to issue such warnings. Previously, Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) and Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Maritime Bank) also informed customers about the same threats and instructed them on how to conduct safe transactions.

According to banks, customers should be cautious with strange e-mails and calls from persons claiming to be bank employees or bank partners requesting the provision of information of cards and transaction codes through phone or email (OTP), or request access to an unknown site.

It should be noted that banks and credit institutions never require customers to provide their passwords, card information or OTP codes in any case. Customers should not disclose card information or their PINs to others and cover the keyboard when making transactions at ATM/POS and other card payment devices.

Economist Nguyễn Trí Hiếu advised customers not to store or share their personal information such as passwords and credit card numbers in their email accounts or on social media. In case customers receive suspicious messages or calls, they should stop transactions and immediately notify the bank’s hotline to lock the card or mobile banking application.