Vietnam, which has proposed a transboundary water resources management policy, will take the initiative in storing water to cover its needs instead of relying on other countries, experts have said.

VietNamNet Bridge - The figures to which the agriculture ministry (MARD) has been using while drafting the sugar industry's development strategy are not sufficiently reliable.

VietNamNet Bridge - Some foreign cafe chains, with powerful financial capability and strong brands, have left Vietnam, but many Vietnamese chains have been prospering. 

On July 20 New York Dessert Coffee bid goodbye to Vietnamese customers via Facebook and promised to "come back someday."

VietNamNet Bridge - Rents of hundreds of millions of dong a month have forced many coffee chains to leave the market.

VietNamNet Bridge - Coffee chains require long-term capital, but profits can be unpredictable as some chains have found.  

VietNamNet Bridge - The high growth rate of Phuc Long is just one example that shows the strong rise of domestically owned café chains, where Vietnamese like going to foreign-owned Starbucks or Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

Vietnamese people are accustomed to fast food brands such as KFC, Lotteria and Jollibee. In recent years, the market welcomed more foreign brands like McDonald's and Burger King. However, they do not seem to be meeting the expectations of investors.

The Robusta price in the past had climbed to as much as VND50 million per ton, which helped many farmers get rich. However, it has tumbled dramatically to below production cost.

VietNamNet Bridge - Many foreign-invested enterprises have successfully developed products made of pure Vietnamese materials.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese coffee companies, anticipating big problems in export markets, are focusing on making instant and roasted coffee to sell in the domestic market.

Trung Nguyen Coffee, the best known Vietnamese coffee brand owned by Vietnamese Coffee King Dang Le Nguyen Vu, has unexpectedly stopped providing instant coffee products for an indefinite time.

Starbucks has recognized Da Lat’s Arabica as one of the seven best coffee products in the world and sells it at its 21,000 shops around the world. However, the Arabica growing area in Da Lat has narrowed in recent years.

VietNamNet Bridge - Nearly 95 percent of Vietnam’s coffee is exported as raw products that do not bear a Vietnamese brand.

Da Lat’s arabica coffee is well-known for its quality, as recognised by Starbucks, which recently began selling it at its stores. But the size of the arabica-coffee growing area in Da Lat is shrinking. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Lam Dong Province, home of the world-famous Da Lat Arabica coffee, which is now sold at Starbucks stores, wants to be one of the finest coffee producing areas in the world.

 VietNamNet Bridge - Foreign investors, including the two giants McDonald's and Starbucks, have to face cultural and local issues when they enter Vietnam.

VietNamNet Bridge - Many international fast food chains are finding that the Vietnamese fast food market is not so easy to conquer. 

VietNamNet Bridge - The battle among the big players in the coffee market has not gone the way people have predicted. All of them have been winners.

 A population of 90 million with 65 percent under 35 years of age, rising incomes, increasingly busy lifestyles - these are the factors supporting the strong growth of the fast food industry in Vietnam.