Vietnam Breaking News: Sports

Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts

Vietnamese food firms exhibit in China

<p>HCM City, March 26 (VNA) — Two Vietnamese businesses have registered to exhibit their products at SIAL China, Asia’s largest food and beverage show to be held on May 5-7.</p>
<p>The Long An Food Processing Export JSC and Rita Food & Drink Co Ltd will take part in the 17<sup>th</sup> edition of SIAL China 2016 at the Shanghai New International Expo Center.</p>
<p>About eight other Vietnamese companies have shown interest in attending as well.</p>
<p>The expo is expected to welcome 66,000 visitors and over 2,900 exhibitors from 65 countries, according to a representative of the organiser Comexposium.</p>
<p>The exhibition will showcase 21 kinds of products ranging from canned and preserved food to fruit, vegetable and seafood leading brands.</p>
<p>They include Helios, Spain’s jam market leader, Ceremony Gida, Turkey’s leader in chewing gum and Super Group, well-known in Singapore with Asian Coffee, among others.</p>
<p>SIAL China 2016 will see the first ever milk- and milk-based product zone where Belgium and Germany will introduce their prestigious products.</p>
<p>Last year, 10 Vietnamese companies took part in the event displaying their products of rice, beans, fruit and snacks. Thirty-four Vietnamese entrepreneurs visited the fair last year.</p>
<p><em>VNA/VNP</em></p>
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Vietnamese food firms exhibit in China Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://ift.tt/1eWmqbm" width="200" /><br />

Vietnamese food firms exhibit in China

Vietnamese food firms exhibit in China

HCM City, March 26 (VNA) — Two Vietnamese businesses have registered to exhibit their products at SIAL China, Asia’s largest food and bevera...

Sweden organizes exhibition on climate issues in Ho Chi Minh City

<p><strong>An exhibition featuring over 20 paintings dedicated to critical climate issues is now open for free to visitors in Ho Chi Minh City.</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://bit.ly/1RCYjjv"><img alt="1865755-vgmzutuz" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="295" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1RCYjjv" width="500" /></a></p>
<p>The expo, “Facing the Climate,” which is jointly organized by the Swedish Institute, the Embassy of Sweden, and Manzi, kicked off at Hoa Sen University in District 1 on March 22 and will last until March 29.</p>
<p>It introduces 27 paintings by five Vietnamese and five Swedish cartoonists which reflect the most critical climate issues such as greenhouse gases, global warming, and iceberg melting.</p>
<p>The ten artists include Love Antell, Helena Lindholm, Karin Sunvisson, Magnus Bard, Riber Hansson, Nguyen Ngoc Thien Kim, Dao Quang Huy (Kangaroooo), Pham Duy Dang (Mo), Mai Thao Ngan (Bit Tat Biet Tat), and Ngo Duc Tri.</p>
<a href="http://bit.ly/1LQSbrL"><img alt="A student of Hoa Sen University is pictured taking a photo of a painting displayed at the " chi="" city="" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" climate="" exhibition="" facing="" height="333" ho="" in="" march="" minh="" on="" photo:="" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1RCYjjx" the="" width="500" /></a>
<p>Binh Minh/Tuoi Tre News</p>
<p>“Sweden is internationally known as a country that takes environmental issues and sustainability seriously,” Gustav Dahlin, second secretary at the Embassy of Sweden, said at the opening ceremony.</p>
<p>“More sustainable use of natural resources is one of Sweden’s priorities for regional development cooperation with Asia,” he added.</p>
<p>“Facing the Climate” is an annual exhibition which was held for the first time in 2010 and has attracted more than 200,000 visitors so far.</p>
<p>Besides Vietnam, the expo also takes place in over 20 countries including France, Brazil, Greece, Albania, Israel, and Russia.</p>
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Sweden organizes exhibition on climate issues in Ho Chi Minh City Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/1RCYjjv" width="200" /><br />

Sweden organizes exhibition on climate issues in Ho Chi Minh City

Sweden organizes exhibition on climate issues in Ho Chi Minh City

An exhibition featuring over 20 paintings dedicated to critical climate issues is now open for free to visitors in Ho Chi Minh City. The e...

British EU exit campaign backed by 250 business leaders

<p><a href="http://bit.ly/1RCYjjt"><img alt="1865751-brexit-wbtw" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="333" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1LQSbrJ" width="500" /></a></p>
<p>Union flags and the Big Ben clocktower cover notebooks are seen on sale in London, Britain, Thursday December 17, 2015. Photo: Reuters/Luke MacGregor</p>
<p>The campaign for Britain to leave the EU has been backed by 250 business leaders including the former chief executive of HSBC, the Vote Leave group said on Saturday, hoping to counter the view that UK businesses back staying in the bloc.</p>
<p>The camps arguing for and against Britain staying in the European Union ahead of a referendum on British membership on June 23 have both made the economic impact of a ‘Brexit’ a cornerstone of their campaigns.</p>
<p>Last month, the bosses at more than a third of Britain’s biggest companies including major oil companies Shell RDSA.L and BP and its largest telecoms group BT said leaving the EU would put jobs and investment at risk.</p>
<p>On Saturday, Vote Leave, one of the groups supporting a British exit, unveiled its own list of backers including Michael Geoghegan, former Chief Executive of HSBC Group and Tim Martin, the boss of pubs group JD Wetherspoon.</p>
<p>“With our growing list of business supporters, Vote Leave will make that case that whilst the EU might be good for big multinationals, for smaller businesses it acts as a job destruction regulatory machine,” Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of Vote Leave, said.</p>
<p>However, the Sunday Times newspaper reported that two of the well-known names on the list, John Caudwell, founder of Phones4U, and David Ross, the co-founder of Carphone Warehouse, had not signed up.</p>
<p>“You have to question how this list has been compiled,” the paper quoted a spokesman for Caudwell as saying.</p>
<p>Vote Leave also said it was forming a Business Council to argue that EU membership was holding back business.</p>
<p>That group will be headed by John Longworth, who quit as director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) lobbying group after he spoke out in favour of leaving the EU, accusing Prime Minister David Cameron of trying to scare voters into backing his case to stay in the bloc.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Times newspaper reported that hedge funds were planning to use exit polls to make big profits on the day of the referendum.</p>
<p>Under electoral law, it is illegal to publish the results of such polls while people are still voting but a private poll could allow traders to exploit moves in the currency market, with sterling expected to rise sharply against the dollar GBP= on the back of an “In” vote but decline if Britons vote for an exit.</p>
<p>Sterling fell to multi-year lows this week on a perceived rise in the chances of an EU exit, and on companies and fund investors hedging against it, though the currency later steadied.</p>
<p>“There is a lot of interest around Brexit, particularly from the big U.S. funds,” one unnamed broker told the Times.</p>
<p>The odds of a Brexit narrowed on Tuesday as the Brussels bombings were seen boosting the ‘Out’ campaign.</p>
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British EU exit campaign backed by 250 business leaders Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/1LQSbrJ" width="200" /><br />

British EU exit campaign backed by 250 business leaders

British EU exit campaign backed by 250 business leaders

Union flags and the Big Ben clocktower cover notebooks are seen on sale in London, Britain, Thursday December 17, 2015. Photo: Reuters/Luke...

Top 10 expensive dishes in Vietnam

<p><em>VietNamNet Bridge – In Vietnam, Dong Tao chicken, Anh Vu fish, Emperor crabs or chia voi fish (Proteracanthus sarissophorus), are food for the rich only.</em><strong>1. Dong Tao chicken</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/1UulYJO"><img alt="1865740-20160324103540-dong-tao-chicken" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="272" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1Se5wXQ" width="500" /></a></strong></p>
<p>Dong Tao or Dong Cao chicken is an endemic and rare chicken species of Vietnam. The most outstanding feature of species are the biglegs, which create value for the species. The chicken can weigh up to 4,5kg and more.</p>
<p>The prices of Dong Tao chicken are expensive, about VND1-VND1.5 million ($50-$70)per kilo.</p>
<p><strong>2. Nine-spur chicken</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/1UulYJQ"><img alt="1865740-20160324103540-nine-spur-chicken" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="305" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1Se5wa6" width="500" /></a></strong></p>
<p>This kind of chicken has been known as a rare breed of Vietnam. According to legend, chickens with nine spurs were only for the king. The nine-spur chicken is also mentioned in the legend about Son Tinh and Thuy Tinh. Theprice of chicken with nine spurs is many times higher than that of normal chicken.</p>
<p>A special feature of this species is not only delicious meat but spiritual meaning. Vietnamese people believe that those who eat nine-spur chicken in the first meal of the new lunar year will have good luck and prosperity in the new year.</p>
<p>Before the lunar New Year or Tet holiday, the prices for nine-spur chicken can be several million dong per kilo. There are only purebred nine-spur chickens. However, some people still accept cross-bred chickens with 5, 6, 7 or 8 spurs.</p>
<p>The price for chickens with 5-6 spurs is VND400,000-VND500,000 ($20-$25) per kilo. It is VND900,000-VND1 million ($40-$50) per kilo for the chickens with 7 spurs, VND2-3 million ($100-$150) per kilo for chickens with 8 spurs and up to VND10 million ($500) for a pair of chickens with 9 spurs.</p>
<p><strong>3. Anh Vu fish (Semilabeo notabilis)</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/1Uum1oV"><img alt="1865740-20160324103615-anh-vu-fish" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="280" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1Uum1oV" width="500" /></a></strong></p>
<p>Anh vu was previously offered for the king for good luck, especially in the New Year. Not as expensive as su vang fish, anh vu fish is also priced several million VND per kilo. Some people choose anh vu fish as a New Year gift.</p>
<p>This species lives in the Central Highlands. People believe that eating anh vu fish can cure diseases and is good for the kidney.</p>
<p>The price for Anh Vu fish is based on the weight.</p>
<p>The fish from 2kg or less is priced VND1.4 million ($70) per kilo and VND1.6 million ($80) per kilo for the fish weighing from 5kg and more.</p>
<p>If the value of the Dong Tao chicken or the nine-spur chicken is based on the legs, the mouth is the decisive factor for the value of Anh Vu fish.</p>
<p>This fish only eat algae and live in pure water so people think that Anh Vu fish symbolize “luxury”.</p>
<p>The best feature of this species is the white and delicious meat, more delicious than any kind of fresh-water fish.</p>
<p><strong>4. Chia voi fish</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/1Se5waa"><img alt="1865740-20160324103630-chia-voi-fish" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="260" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1Se5waa" width="400" /></a></strong></p>
<p>The name of the fish chia voi (lime-pot) is based on the shape of its mouth, which looks like a lime-pot.</p>
<p>The fish is as long as a big eel, with red skin.</p>
<p>The adult fish can be 1m long and weigh about 1kg. Currently there is no consistent information on the origin of this species.</p>
<p>However, this species is only found in Nha Be River.</p>
<p>The fish is also used to treat some diseases.</p>
<p><strong>5. Peanut worms (Sipunculus nudus)</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/1UulYJS"><img alt="1865740-20160324103726-sa-sung" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="281" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1Se5wXS" width="500" /></a></strong></p>
<p>Sipunculus nudus is a species of unsegmented marine worm, also known as peanut worms. The body of the adult worm is around 15 centimetres in length but can reach up to 25 cm in some cases.</p>
<p>The worm is commonly found on subtidal zones of sandy shores to seabeds 900 metres in depth in temperate or tropical waters. The worm hides in sand burrows which it makes by itself during the day and may extend its tentacles out of the burrow to feed at night. Its diet consists of plant or animal tissue fragments and any surrounding sand it may ingest with it.</p>
<p>In Vietnam, Sipunculus nudus is used to cook the Vietnamese well-known pho in stock (made by boiling it or shrimp that is molting and cow bone with some spice: cinnamon, sweet fennel and ginger), S. nudus is also considered nourishing food helping recover one’s health (with good care and nutrition) to serve for royal family in the past.</p>
<p>Previously, the price for 1kg of Sipunculus nudus was equivalent to that of 1/10 tael of gold.</p>
<p><strong>6. Ngan (Austriella corrugate)</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/1UulYJU"><img alt="1865740-20160324103726-ngan" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="313" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1UulYJU" width="500" /></a></strong></p>
<p>Ngan is a bit like clams but the prices are dozens of times higher than clams, about VND600,000-VND800,000 ($30-$40) per kilo.</p>
<p>Ngan is said to have a high level of nutrition, appropriate to foster health.</p>
<p>Ngan is a specialty of Quang Ninh Province.</p>
<p><strong>7. Eurasian coot</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/1Se5wac"><img alt="1865740-20160324103759-sam-cam" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="312" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1Uum1oX" width="500" /></a></strong></p>
<p>The Eurasian coot (Fulica atra), also known as coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia and parts of Africa.</p>
<p>As the migratory birds from the north and also in the group of specialties for the king, the price of this bird is very high.</p>
<p>Currently, an Eurasian coot of about 500gr, bred at farms, is priced VND900,000 ($45).</p>
<p>If the birds are caught in the wild, the price will be much higher.</p>
<p><strong>8. Clawed lobster</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/1Se5wae"><img alt="1865740-20160324103759-tom-hum" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="495" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1Se5wae" width="380" /></a></strong></p>
<p>The clawed lobster has long bodies with muscular tails, and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs have claws, including the first pair, which are usually much larger than the others. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.</p>
<p>The price for 1kg of clawed lobster is VND3 million ($150).</p>
<p><strong>9. Shark fins</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/1Uum1p0"><img alt="1865740-20160324103726-king-crab" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="375" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1Uum1p0" width="500" /></a></strong></p>
<p>King crabs are a super-family of crab-like decapod crustaceans chiefly found in cold seas. Because of their large size and the taste of their meat, many species are widely caught and sold as food, the most common being the red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus.</p>
<p>At supermarkets in Hanoi, an imported King crab weighing about 2kg is sold for VND5 million ($250).</p>
<p>Some restaurants in Hanoi prepare dishes from King crabs, at the price of VND3.5 million ($170) per kilo.</p>
<table>
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<td>related news</td>
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<td>
<div style="margin-left: 2em"><a href="http://bit.ly/1Se5wah">Four of the most expensive foods in Vietnam</a></div>
</td>
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</tbody>
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<p><strong><em>Pha Le</em></strong></p>
<br />
Top 10 expensive dishes in Vietnam Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/1Se5wXQ" width="200" /><br />

Top 10 expensive dishes in Vietnam

Top 10 expensive dishes in Vietnam

VietNamNet Bridge – In Vietnam, Dong Tao chicken, Anh Vu fish, Emperor crabs or chia voi fish (Proteracanthus sarissophorus), are food for t...

More public awareness needed as highway accidents increase

<p><em>VietNamNet Bridge – Khuat Viet Hung, vice chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, recently spoke to the Thoi Bao Kinh Te (the Economic Times) newspaper about vehicle accidents on highways.</em></p>
<p><a href="http://bit.ly/1UulYtw"><img alt="1865738-20160321163501-khuatviethung" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="260" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1Se5vTO" width="500" /></a></p>
<p><em>Why do you think the number of traffic accidents on the nation’s highways have been increasing since the beginning of 2016?</em></p>
<p>A lack of awareness about traffic safety and laws is the first reason for the high number of traffic accidents on highways. For instance, the legal distance between two vehicles is not always followed.</p>
<p>Also, a common reason for accidents is that drivers who travel at low speed have to remain in the right lane, but they do not, causing drivers moving at higher speeds to cross into oncoming traffic. So the risk of traffic accidents is very high. Also, many drivers are not in the habit of driving on highways, and the work conducted to raise the public’s awareness about traffic laws is not adequate.</p>
<p>Another reason is the poor management of the highways. Management agencies need to regularly patrol, detect and quickly report to local authorities in dealing with violations. Sometimes, motorists move barriers from the correct location to another so they might drive on highways, or local residents walk on Noi Bai-Lao Cai highway, while buses and coaches do not always follow regulations when stopping to pick up passengers.</p>
<p>Those officials who patrol highways must be responsible for preventing such violations.</p>
<p>And I want to emphasise that passengers have to use seatbelts on coaches, especially in sleeper cars.</p>
<p>Also, local agencies must carefully supervise highways, which still lack permanent separators.</p>
<p><em>The moving and destroying separators on the highways has been reported many times by local residents, but it is still happening. What is your solutions to handle these violations?</em></p>
<p>A camera system will be installed along the entire route to monitor such violations. Better management is the key to improving the situation. The local police and authorities have to carefully monitor the highways and will be responsible for cases of violating traffic regulations on the highways they manage.</p>
<p><em>Do you have more specific measures to deal with the increase of accidents on the highways?</em></p>
<p>The National Traffic Safety Committee has asked the media to increase the public’s awareness about traffic regulations on highways. Particularly, bicyclists and those walking are banned from using the highways. Also, drivers must abide by regulated distances and speeds on the highways.</p>
<p>The agencies that manage the use of the highways have to check and quickly complete their works on installing traffic signals.</p>
<p>We also ask management agencies and investors to promptly complete the remaining areas of the highways.</p>
<p>Inspection activities and the handling of violations will also be strengthened.</p>
<table>
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<td>related news</td>
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<td><a href="http://bit.ly/1Uum18F">Better urban planning to help reduce traffic jams in Vietnam’s big cities</a><a href="http://bit.ly/1Se5wXM">Vietnam vows to reduce transport accidents, deaths in new campaign</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>VNS</em></p>
<br />
More public awareness needed as highway accidents increase Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/1Se5vTO" width="200" /><br />

More public awareness needed as highway accidents increase

More public awareness needed as highway accidents increase

VietNamNet Bridge – Khuat Viet Hung, vice chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, recently spoke to the Thoi Bao Kinh Te (the Eco...

Smart farming a bright future for Vietnam

<p><em>VietNamNet Bridge – Ready-to-eat tomatoes, and lettuce, grown without soil, and consumed unwashed, are the future in Viet Nam and people will soon have the chance to experience this form of ‘smart agriculture’.</em></p>
<div id="attachment_1865737" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://bit.ly/1Se5wXE"><img alt="Just plain good: Tomatoes are planted at an IT-based agricultural project conducted by Fujitsu Limited and FPT Corporation. The project aims contribute to stable production and higher product quality. Photo hanoimoi.com.vn" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="318" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1Uum18z" width="500" /></a>
<p class="wp-caption-text">Just plain good: Tomatoes are planted at an IT-based agricultural project conducted by Fujitsu Limited and FPT Corporation. The project aims contribute to stable production and higher product quality. Photo hanoimoi.com.vn</p>
</div>
<p>This year, this IT-based agricultural project will experiment on growing high-value-added vegetables including medium-sized tomatoes and low-potassium leaf lettuce that will be the source of clean, ready-to-eat food.</p>
<p>The potassium content in this kind of lettuce is one-fifth as compared with lettuce grown in any ordinary way making it suitable for diabetics and people who are on a diet.</p>
<p>Under the agreement between Fujitsu Limited and FPT Corporation signed in 2014, Fujitsu provided cloud services, equipment, and expertise, and FPT facilitated the spread of information technology in the agricultural sector.</p>
<p>A 400sq.m centre, comprising a greenhouse to cultivate tomatoes and a vegetable factory to grow lettuce, was set up at the Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute in Trau Quy Town, Gia Lam District, Ha Noi.</p>
<p>“The showcase environment information and video information about the cultivation area can be monitored, not only onsite, but from Japan as well, enabling remote cultivation guidance,” Truong Gia Binh, CEO of the FPT Corporation, said.</p>
<p>The area is self-contained and yellow electric boards are set up between the beds of vegetables that help control the cultivation and prevent entry of insects.</p>
<p>Environmental information, including temperature, humidity, CO2, sunlight, and rain, in addition to wind direction and speed, is gathered in real time by a variety of sensors installed in the greenhouse, and this information is used to autonomously control the facilities, such as curtains and fans.</p>
<p>This facility is combined with IMEC Film Farming, in which plants are grown on a thin film, using a hydrogel membrane.</p>
<p>Since the film allows only water and nutrients to pass, and keeps out viruses and microbes, the crops grown are safe for consumption. In addition, because plants receive optimal water stress by absorbing nutrients through the hydrogel membrane, they create a higher volume of sugars and amino acids, creating crops with high sugar content and high nutritional value.</p>
<p>That is why one will be able to consume fresh vegetables cut from the branches without washing them.</p>
<p>With this technology, tomatoes are planted with a density of between 4,000 plants and 6,000 plants in 1,000 square metres. And the cultivation can take place all year long, without being dependent on the seasons and the weather.</p>
<p>“In Viet Nam, there are calls to develop agricultural businesses to ensure food safety by promoting innovation in agricultural production technologies and in recognition of the issue of pesticide overuse,” Binh said.</p>
<p>“The aim of this partnership is to support restructuring of Viet Nam’s agricultural sector so as to make the country a world-class agricultural producer based on innovative technologies.”</p>
<p>Accordingly, this innovative food and agriculture will contribute to stable production volumes and higher product quality, which would otherwise depend on the expert judgment of farmers, he added.</p>
<p><strong>High potential</strong></p>
<p>Binh appreciated the high potential of the project, but he also expressed concern at the obstacles while implementing the Japanese technique in Viet Nam.</p>
<p>“Fujitsu and FPT are leading information technology corporations of Japan and Viet Nam, but we faced numerous difficulties in establishing the smart agriculture centre such as the procedure to import technology from abroad,” Binh said.</p>
<p>“We have only borrowed the technology from Japan, and Vietnamese enterprises should now learn to master it,” he cautioned.</p>
<p>He suggested that the enterprises which want to get involved in this form of smart agriculture should meet to study and understand the technology.</p>
<p>Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat agreed that Viet Nam’s agricultural sector is looking for foreign and domestic investors, especially those using advanced technology. He highlighted the fact that applying advanced technology to farming will help the country set up modern agricultural techniques with highly competitive capacity.</p>
<p>“However, the procedure to import chains and devices to produce takes much more time,” he said. The government policy requires management agencies to streamline procedures such as customs procedures for import of materials and farm produce.”</p>
<p>Phat said at the opening ceremony of the FPT-Fujitsu centre that the centre is considered a good model to boost hi-tech agricultural growth in Viet Nam.</p>
<p>The agriculture ministry has assigned plant protection and husbandry departments to cut by half the time and cost of import procedures.</p>
<p>Phat hoped that many more local and foreign investors will join the sector and support farmers to apply advanced technology to increase yields and turn out quality produce for sale at home and abroad.</p>
<p>Dang Van Dong, vice director of the Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute, indicated that facilities to implement high-tech agriculture are taxed between 15 per cent and 20 per cent. He expected the government to apply new mechanism to create a viable environment for enterprises who want to invest in agriculture like the ones investing in industry.</p>
<p>“The FPT-Fujitsu project has the potential to develop Vietnamese agriculture in such a modern way that the people would only benefit from it,” he said.</p>
<p>“In my opinion, both sides need innovation in implementing the next stage of the project to fit with Vietnamese socio-economic and ecological conditions,” he said.</p>
<p>“The enterprises may face obstacles in the beginning of the project, but, I believe that in the near future they would help Vietnamese agriculture become smarter and more developed.”</p>
<p>Regarding the next stage of the project, Nguyen Lan Anh, media officer of the FPT Corporation, said the technicians have been experimenting with growing soybeans on IMEC film and would try with other plants after the one-year trial project. However, the details and result of the process should be discussed among two partners before being announced.</p>
<p><em><strong>by Minh Thu – Bich Hong</strong></em><br /></p>
<table>
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<td>related news</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://bit.ly/1Se5wXG">Japanese investors interested in VN agriculture</a><a href="http://bit.ly/1UulYtq">Telecom, ICT firms bring agriculture sector into focus</a><a href="#http://bit.ly/1Se5vTN">Agriculture attractive to Vietnamese investors, but foreigners stay away</a></td>
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</table>
<p><em>VNS</em></p>
<br />
Smart farming a bright future for Vietnam Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/1Uum18z" width="200" /><br />

Smart farming a bright future for Vietnam

Smart farming a bright future for Vietnam

VietNamNet Bridge – Ready-to-eat tomatoes, and lettuce, grown without soil, and consumed unwashed, are the future in Viet Nam and people wil...

HCM City still looking for flood-prevention solutions

<p><em>VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City Anti-flood Program’s Management Board plans to buy 63 specific vehicles to pump water in floods, but scientists say the solution is ‘anti-scientific’ and not feasible.</em></p>
<p><a href="http://bit.ly/1Se5wHm"><img alt="1865734-20160323101111-envir-flood" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="318" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1Se5wHm" width="480" /></a></p>
<p>The management board on March 17 confirmed that it has asked the city’s authorities to approve the budget of VND1.4 trillion to buy 63 anti-flood vehicles.</p>
<p>The price of one such vehicle is high enough to buy one super car Rolls Royce Phantom, nearly VND20 billion.</p>
<p>Commenting about the solution, Pham Xuan Mai from the HCM City University of Technology said: “I must say that it is not feasible to fight against flood with mobile pump machines in HCM City.”</p>
<p>He said water pump vehicles will not be useful, while in order to protect against flooding, it is necessary to have good water drainage systems and fixed pump stations with high capacity.</p>
<p>HCM City has been flooded because the pipelines for water drainage have a small diameter. “This is the mistake made by designers who could not estimate the real drainage capacity,” he commented.</p>
<p>Besides, HCM City is usually attacked by high tides. Most of the canals in the city are flooded because of the high tide and heavy rains. Meanwhile, many natural canals have been paved over and encroached on by real estate projects.</p>
<p>As such, even if mobile pumps are used, the pipeline needs to be large enough to fit the water drainage capacity of 20-30 cubic meters per second. In principle, there must be pipes from water pump vehicles to the discharge sites. If so, pipes will be put across streets, which will hinder traffic.</p>
<p>A reader, when hearing about the water pump vehicles, has warned that the vehicles may do more harm than good.</p>
<p>“Floods will lead to traffic congestion. How will the large water pump vehicles go into the flood-stricken areas?” he wrote.</p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>The HCM City Anti-flood Program’s Management Board plans to buy 63 specific vehicles to pump water in floods, but scientists say the solution is ‘anti-scientific’ and not feasible.</strong></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Mai also said he disagrees with the solution suggested by the HCM City Anti-flood Program’s Management Board, saying that the city should expand the pipeline’s capacity and remove unreasonable real estate projects which encroach on lakes and canals.</p>
<p>“Mobile pump machines must not be the solution for the long term,” he said.</p>
<p>The estimated price of the vehicles has become another hot topic of discussion among the public.</p>
<p>“I don’t know any specialized vehicle which is valued at $1 million,” he said.</p>
<p>“A first-class mobile pump vehicle, as far as I know, is priced at several hundreds of thousands of dollars, or VND1-2 billion. Other products must be cheaper,” he said.</p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>related news</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/1Uum18s"><br />
<br /></a>
<p>HCM City drainage channels disappearing</p>
</li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/1Se5vTI"></a>
<p>Vietnam at risk of being flooded by imported steel: official</p>
</li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/1UulYth"></a>
<p>Mekong Delta must be kept safe from floods</p>
</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong><em>Dat Viet</em></strong></p>
<br />
HCM City still looking for flood-prevention solutions Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/1Se5wHm" width="200" /><br />

HCM City still looking for flood-prevention solutions

HCM City still looking for flood-prevention solutions

VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City Anti-flood Program’s Management Board plans to buy 63 specific vehicles to pump water in floods, but scient...

Universities lure learners with attractive scholarships

<p><em>VietNamNet Bridge – Both State-owned and private schools are trying to attract students with scholarships.</em></p>
<p><a href="http://bit.ly/1UulYcV"><img alt="1865732-20160323101519-edu-tuition" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="330" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1Se5vTA" width="500" /></a></p>
<p>The students, who pass the exam to the International School of the HCM City National University, will have opportunities to win full 4-year or 1-2 year and partial scholarships.</p>
<p>To obtain full scholarships in business administration and finance & banking majors, students have to have 25.5 scores for 3 exam subjects. They need to get 24.5 scores for partial scholarship.</p>
<p>The tuitions set by the school are sky high for the majority of students. They have to pay VND42 million a year to follow the training program and get degree from the International School.</p>
<p>As for joint training programs, the tuition for the first phase of training is VND56 million a year.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the tuition for the second and subsequent years will depend on the policies of the partner schools.</p>
<p>Therefore, the students with scanty budgets who still want to study at the school only have one choice – obtaining the school’s scholarship. Even if they can get partial scholarship, they will still have to pay high for tuitions.</p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>Both State-owned and private schools are trying to attract students with scholarships.</strong></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>In general, the tuition set by international schools, joint training programs and people-founded schools are much higher than that of state-owned schools. It is estimated that state-owned schools’ students have to pay VND16-18 million a year only.</p>
<p>The privately run Hoa Sen University has announced the scholarship program worth VND8 billion for the new academic year.</p>
<p>According to Hoang Duc Binh from the school’s enrollment division, the scholarship could be up to VND200 million.</p>
<p>The tuition set by the school is also high. The students following training programs have to pay VND43-46 million a year if they study in Vietnamese language, and VND48-51 million if they study in English.</p>
<p>The FPT University has launched 200 scholarships for excellent students who have won medals at international and national competitions and high scores from the national high school finals.</p>
<p>However, an analyst commented that except for scholarships equal to 140 percent and 100 percent of tuition, the other scholarship packages are small compared with the high tuition.</p>
<p>Linguistics students, for example, have to pay VND18.9 million for every semester. At FPT University, every semester lasts four months, while a training course comprises nine semesters.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, students following other training majors have to pay VND25.3 million on average.</p>
<p>While the tuition offered by schools prove to be very attractive, educators have warned that students may fall into ‘traps’.</p>
<p>“Some schools promise full scholarships. However, students are required to pay many other items which are very costly,” said Nguyen Duc Nghia, deputy director of the HCM City National University.</p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>related news</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/1UulYcX"><br />
<br /></a>
<p>2015 university enrolment plan has failed</p>
</li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/1Se5vTC"></a>
<p>1,300 PhD scholarships to be awarded in 2016</p>
</li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/1UulYcZ"></a>
<p>First entrance scores set for universities</p>
</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong><em>Tien Phong</em></strong></p>
<br />
Universities lure learners with attractive scholarships Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/1Se5vTA" width="200" /><br />

Universities lure learners with attractive scholarships

Universities lure learners with attractive scholarships

VietNamNet Bridge – Both State-owned and private schools are trying to attract students with scholarships. The students, who pass the exam...

EU imports most phones and electronics from Vietnam

<p><em>The EU was the largest phone and accessories importer from Vietnam in the first two months of the year, according to Vietnam Customs.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="http://bit.ly/1Se5vDk"><img alt="1865730-20160323104351-1" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="300" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1Se5vDk" width="480" /></a></em></p>
<p>It imported $1.51 billion worth of such goods, a 10.8 per cent increase year-on-year and accounting for 32.1 per cent of export turnover in phones and accessories. The UAE was the second largest importer, with $639 million, or 5.1 per cent lower year-on year.</p>
<p>The US imported nearly $295 million, an increase of 1.92-fold year-on-year, while South Korea imported nearly $295 million, a 5.86-fold increase.</p>
<p>Total phone and electronic product export turnover in February was $2.44 billion, 7.6 per cent higher than in January.</p>
<p>Imported phones and accessories in Vietnam during February totaled $764 million, up 2.6 per cent over January. Total import turnover for such goods in the first two months was $1.5 billion, a 6.6 per cent decrease compared to the same period of 2014.</p>
<p>South Korea continued to be the largest supplier of phones and accessories to Vietnam in the first two months, with import value of $966 million, a 22 per cent decline year-on-year. China was second, with $462 million, a 59.9 per cent increase year-on-year.</p>
<p>Import turnover from the two countries accounted for about 95 per cent of total import turnover in phones and accessories.</p>
<p>Export turnover of computers, electronic products and accessories in February was $1.05 billion, down 16.4 per cent compared to January. Total export turnover from such goods in the first two month was $2.31 billion, a 4.4 per cent increase year-on-year.</p>
<p>In two first months the EU was still the largest importer of such goods, with $608 million. China followed, with import turnover of $338 million, then the US, with $329 million.</p>
<p><em>VN Economic Times</em></p>
<br />
EU imports most phones and electronics from Vietnam Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/1Se5vDk" width="200" /><br />

EU imports most phones and electronics from Vietnam

EU imports most phones and electronics from Vietnam

The EU was the largest phone and accessories importer from Vietnam in the first two months of the year, according to Vietnam Customs. It i...

Vietnam’s textile & garment industry feared to fall into foreign hands

<p><em>VietNamNet Bridge – Textile & garment companies reject the opinion that textiles & garments would be the biggest beneficiary of the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) Agreement.</em></p>
<p><a href="http://bit.ly/1Se5vDe"><img alt="1865728-20160321095107-garment" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="331" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1Se5vDe" width="500" /></a></p>
<p>“Many textile & garment companies are leaving the market because of the state’s unstable policies,” said Truong Van Cam, deputy secretary general of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) at a workshop held by the World Bank (WB) and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).</p>
<p>“A garment company wanted to import a printer to make products for export and it took the company’s owner six months to obtain the import license,” he said, citing an example to show how current policies cause difficulties for enterprises.</p>
<p>“This was because the Decree 60 stipulated that business owners must have junior college’s degree to be able to import printers,” he said on Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon.</p>
<p>A business in Nam Dinh province, which employs 2,000 workers, said it has to pay VND40-50 billion additionally every month because of the required higher minimum wage and trade union fee.</p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>Textile & garment companies reject the opinion that textiles & garments would be the biggest beneficiary of the TPP</strong></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>“The State’s policies need to be designed in a way to encourage investors to do business and stay in the market,” he commented.</p>
<p>An analyst said that the government seems to be too optimistic about opportunities to be brought to the textile and garment sector by TPP.</p>
<p>He said in 2015, Vietnam exported $27 billion worth of textile and garment products, 60 percent of which went to TPP member countries. However, foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) pocketed most of the money.</p>
<p>He went on to say that with the TPP’s strict requirements on origin of products, Vietnam would not be able to get benefits from TPP.</p>
<p>“Vietnam imports 10 percent of yarn and 5.3 percent of cloth from TPP countries. This means that it imports most of materials needed from non-TPP countries. Meanwhile, the products with non-TPP origin won’t be able to enjoy preferential tariffs,” he explained.</p>
<p>Pham Xuan Hong, chair of the HCMC Textile, Garment, Knitting and Embroidery Association, also said on Nguoi Lao Dong that the profits earned by Vietnamese enterprises are modest because they mostly do outsourcing for foreign partners, while 60-70 percent of materials needed are imports, mostly from China.</p>
<p>A report showed that Vietnam now has 6,000 textile & garment companies, of which garment companies account for 70 percent. Of the number, only 17 percent are textile enterprises, 6 percent spinning, 4 percent dying enterprises and 3 percent makers of input materials and accessories.</p>
<p>Seventy percent of enterprises now make products under the mode of cutting – assembling – trimming. This means that Vietnamese are proficient in the last phases of the production chain, but less so in dyeing and weaving.</p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>related news</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/1Uum0S2"><br />
<br /></a>
<p>Garment workers protest against bonus policy</p>
</li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/1Se5vDi"></a>
<p>US firms invest in textile – garment sector</p>
</li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/1UulYcR"></a>
<p>Claims of Cambodia outpacing VN’s garment exports denied</p>
</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Thanh Mai</em></p>
<br />
Vietnam’s textile & garment industry feared to fall into foreign hands Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/1Se5vDe" width="200" /><br />

Vietnam’s textile & garment industry feared to fall into foreign hands

Vietnam’s textile & garment industry feared to fall into foreign hands

VietNamNet Bridge – Textile & garment companies reject the opinion that textiles & garments would be the biggest beneficiary of the ...

Recreating memories on a canvas – with food

<p><em>VietNamNet Bridge – With a strong passion for art, businesswomen Hoang Yen in Nha Trang City in the central province of Khanh Hoa has come up with a creative and unique way to preserve those sweet memories – by creating lovely pictures entirely made from food.</em></p>
<p>Childhood memories have always been sweet and precious to everyone.</p>
<p>With a strong passion for art, businesswoman Hoang Yen in Nha Trang City in the central province of Khanh Hoa has come up with a creative and unique way to preserve those sweet memories – by creating lovely pictures entirely made from food.</p>
<div id="attachment_1865726" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://bit.ly/1Se5vD8"><img alt="Sweet moments: Food picture My little friends." class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="321" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1UulYcL" width="500" /></a>
<p class="wp-caption-text">Sweet moments: Food picture My little friends.</p>
</div>
<p>On the small dish, Yen’s childhood appears so lovely and vividly: the mother preparing food for children, the father and little daughter in a jam-juice swimming pool or children playing around on the school yard. Each window frame or the kitchen table is made from brown cookies, the dresses of the little girls are made from green lettuce while their hair is made from yellow wavy noodle.</p>
<p>The creative director of Fashion Company Silk & Silver came to food art just by chance. “Besides my work, with a role of a housewife preparing meals, I found food as sensual and profoundly emotional as any watercolour, pastel or old medium.”</p>
<p>“Then, an idea of using food to make pictures crossed my mind. I tried it and was excited by it,” she says.</p>
<p>Yen reveals that she has created over 100 food pictures, all of which have been inspired by the world around her and especially, her childhood memories.</p>
<p>“Childhood friends, activities, and fairy tales my mother often told me as a child, have always been in my heart until now and have become an integral part of my soul. I am also thankful for having had a childhood before technology such as smart phones or tablets took over,” she says.</p>
<p>Several kinds of food are used to create Yen’s art work, and the ingredients she uses the most are pasta and noodle to create characters such as “kids”, “dad” and “mom”.</p>
<p>Normally it takes her two days to make a food picture: one day to look for the food and the second day to make it.</p>
<p>Yen says, finding ideas, sketching, finding ingredients and making it are steps in a process to create a work, but sometimes it does not follow this route.</p>
<p>“It is when I see an interesting kind of food and then brings about an interesting idea in my mind.”</p>
<p>Finding the proper ingredients for a picture is the biggest challenge that she has to encounter. It sometimes takes her a lot of time to look for just that kind of food for her piece of artwork.</p>
<p>Looking at Yen’s pictures, one can easily find their own vignettes of childhood memories in them. For example, there is one of a father and daughter waiting for a bus to school, or dad watering grass in the backyard or daughter playing with dolls.</p>
<p>Her absolute favourite work is entitled Awaiting Mom.</p>
<p>“My childhood was about afternoons spent sitting in front of the door step waiting for mom to return home. I was counting the seconds until she was back from work,” she recalls.</p>
<p>“The gift for my endurance was her radiant smile and the happy moments my mom and I shared after that,” Yen says.</p>
<p>Each food picture cannot be preserved for long, so she takes pictures of it after finishing, which is then enlarged and framed as gifts for her relatives and friends. The food pictures themselves will become a great meal for her daughter to enjoy.</p>
<p>All stunningly beautiful creative food pictures and childhood quotes will be the ingredients to Yen’s upcoming book entitled Awesome Food Pictures that Take You Back to Your Childhood. Behind the book is an interesting story about an American veteran who sent a gift to an artist in the country he once took part in a war nearly 50 years ago.</p>
<p>“His name is Joseph Gugglielmo, a brother of the renowned writer and filmmaker in New York, Angelo Guglielmo. He is the one who wrote caption for all the pictures in my book. His exquisite words make the book more meaningful. That’s a very beautiful story I have had in my life I want to share to the world,” she says.</p>
<p>Yen also nurtures a plan to publish her second book, Best Dad Ever Remembered Through Edible Ingredients, which she expects to be a meaningful present for all the fathers on this year’s Father’s Day.</p>
<p>“In the future, I also hope to co-operate with grand hotels to organise a gallery of food art so that more and more people will be introduced to such a new and unique form of art,” Yen says.</p>
<p><em>Tiny tapestry: Awaiting Mom, Yen’s favourite food artwork.</em></p>
<div id="attachment_1865727" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://bit.ly/1Se5vDa"><img alt="Playing with food: A scene in the Snow White and the seven Dwarfs movie Busy bee: Yen has created more than 100 food pictures, all of which have been inspired by the world around her, and especially her childhood memories." class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="379" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1UulYcN" width="500" /></a>
<p class="wp-caption-text">Playing with food: A scene in the Snow White and the seven Dwarfs movie Busy bee: Yen has created more than 100 food pictures, all of which have been inspired by the world around her, and especially her childhood memories.</p>
</div>
<p><em>Expiration date: It often takes Yen from one to two days to finish a piece of art. Photos courtesy of Hoang Yen</em><strong><em>by Luong Thu Huong</em></strong><br /></p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>related news</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://bit.ly/1Se5wHh">Pictures of most delicious food</a><a href="http://bit.ly/1Uum0S0">Vietnam among Rough Guide’s best world-food images</a><a href="http://bit.ly/1Se5vDc">Image: Free stuff on the streets of Hanoi</a><a href="#http://bit.ly/1UulYcP">The touching photo of a father’s love</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>VNS</em></p>
<br />
Recreating memories on a canvas – with food Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/1UulYcL" width="200" /><br />

Recreating memories on a canvas – with food

Recreating memories on a canvas – with food

VietNamNet Bridge – With a strong passion for art, businesswomen Hoang Yen in Nha Trang City in the central province of Khanh Hoa has come u...

American couple confirmed killed in Brussels attacks

<p><a href="http://bit.ly/1UlzBe1"><img alt="1865723-pay-tribute-rbtz" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="332" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1MJLTox" width="500" /></a></p>
<p>A girl lights a candle as people pay tribute to the victims of Tuesday’s bomb attacks at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels, Belgium, March 26, 2016. Photo: Reuters/Francois Lenoir</p>
<p>An American husband and wife missing since the suicide bombings in Brussels have been confirmed to have died in the attacks, according to family members and their employers.</p>
<p>Justin and Stephanie Shults, Belgium residents originally from Tennessee and Kentucky, were last seen dropping off her mother at the Brussels airport shortly before the check-in area was rocked by a powerful explosion on Tuesday, one of three blasts that took at least 31 lives.</p>
<p>“Today we learned from Stephanie Shults’ family that she and her husband, Justin, were among those killed in the attack on the Brussels airport,” Mars Inc, Stephanie Shults’ employer, said on its Facebook page.</p>
<p>“We are mourning the loss of our colleague and friend. Our hearts and thoughts are with their families, and with all those who are suffering during this terrible time,” the company said.</p>
<p>Justin Shults’ brother, Levi Sutton, remembered the slain man in a post on Twitter.</p>
<p>“He was smart and kind and generous. I never met a single person who didn’t like him. He worked hard his whole life and achieved goals that most could only dream about,” Sutton said in the post.</p>
<p>Of Stephanie Shults, he said: “Stephanie was always so happy. I really enjoyed any chance I got to be around her. The world lost two amazing people today. It’s not fair.”</p>
<p>Justin Shults was employed by Clarcor Inc, a Tennessee-based filtration system company.</p>
<p>“We grieve with his family and continue to offer our support as they mourn this unimaginable loss,” the company said in a statement posted on its website.</p>
<p>A U.S. State Department official declined to comment out of respect for the families.</p>
<p>Family members of the couple had been among those waiting anxiously for word of their loved ones following the attacks at the airport and a metro station in Brussels.</p>
<p>At least 31 people were killed and more than 270 wounded in the blasts, which were claimed by the Islamic State militant group and sent shockwaves across Europe and the world.</p>
<p>On Friday two Dutch siblings who lived in New York, Alexander and Sascha Pinczowski, were confirmed to be among the dead.</p>
<p>The Pinczowski siblings were at a ticket counter in the airport, planning to return to New York, when the attacks occurred, news outlets reported.</p>
<br />
American couple confirmed killed in Brussels attacks Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/1MJLTox" width="200" /><br />

American couple confirmed killed in Brussels attacks

American couple confirmed killed in Brussels attacks

A girl lights a candle as people pay tribute to the victims of Tuesday’s bomb attacks at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels, Belgium, March...

Vietnam’s GDP rises slowly in first quarter of 2016

<p><i>The Hanoitimes</i> – General Statistics Office (GSO) held a press conference in Hanoi on March 25 to announce the socio-economic development in the first quarter. Accordingly, gross domestic product (GDP) in January-March increased by 5.46%, slower than the 6.12% during the same period last year.</p>
<p>GSO Director General Nguyen Bich Lam said the country’s economy recorded signs of GDP stagnation.</p>
<p>Specially, the growth rate of the agro-forestry-fisheries sectors was equivalent to only 98.77% of that a year earlier and also lower than recent years’ corresponding figures.</p>
<p>Rice output in the Mekong Delta decreased by 6.2%, or about 700,000 tonnes, year on year while the winter crop yield in the north was also low.</p>
<p>According to the GSO, the value of the industrial and construction industries increased by only 6.72%, compared to 8.74% recorded in the first quarter of last year.</p>
<div id="attachment_1865722" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://bit.ly/1MJLW3T"><img alt="Illustrative image" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="302" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1MJLW3T" width="500" /></a>
<p class="wp-caption-text">Illustrative image</p>
</div>
<p>Partly impacted by global economic difficulties, exports also grew slightly at 4.1%, he said, adding that the shipments of crude oil nosedived 52.8% during the period.</p>
<p>At the press conference, Director General Nguyen Bich Lam also stressed some economic highlights such as the 6.13% increase in the services sector’s value, the highest since the first quarter of 2012.</p>
<p>The consumer price index in March rose 0.57% monthly, 1.69% yearly and increased by 1.25% annually for the quarter.</p>
<p>Lam noted that Vietnam’s economy would meet major challenges due to drought, saltwater intrusion and unpredictable weather patterns through the rest of 2016.</p>
<p>Besides, crude oil prices, which are predicted to remain low, will have certain impacts on the domestic economy such as a decline in the State budget revenue from crude oil. In addition, low oil prices will also help cut down input expenses for almost all economic sectors and subsequently boost overall GDP, he added.</p>
<p>Thu Minh</p>
<br />
Vietnam’s GDP rises slowly in first quarter of 2016 Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/1MJLW3T" width="200" /><br />

Vietnam’s GDP rises slowly in first quarter of 2016

Vietnam’s GDP rises slowly in first quarter of 2016

The Hanoitimes – General Statistics Office (GSO) held a press conference in Hanoi on March 25 to announce the socio-economic development in...

Contributing to reducing the proportion of poor households in ethnic compatriot regions

<p><strong>In the afternoon of March 25<sup>th</sup>, PPC held a summing conference on the Program 135 (period of 2011-2015) in the province. The conference was attended and directed by comrade Phan Dinh Phung, PPC vice chairman.</strong></p>
<div id="attachment_1865720" style="width: 442px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/21MNAsn"><img alt="PPC Vice chairman Phan Dinh Phung presenting merit certificates to the individuals and collective for excellent achievements in implementing Program 135" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="265" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/21MNAsn" width="432" /></a></strong>
<p class="wp-caption-text"><strong>PPC Vice chairman Phan Dinh Phung presenting merit certificates to the individuals and collective for excellent achievements in implementing Program 135</strong></p>
</div>
<p>Reports at the conference showed that the province’s entire region has 45 communes and town lets, among which 19 communes and 34 hamlets, villages are particularly difficult, the program has invested in supporting breeds, constructing infrastructure and training the foundations’ cadres, the community; supporting with producing tools, planting breeds for nearly 5,600 ethnic compatriot households, cattle and agricultural materials. More than 160 works of infrastructure serving the livelihood have been newly constructed and renovated. More than 430 cadres and 725 inhabitants have been trained to enhance the competence in implementing the nation policies, managing works after investment…So far, the entire province has 1 commune and 7 town lets get rid of the particularly difficult situation.</p>
<p>Addressing to conclude the conference, PPC Vice Chairman Phan Dinh Phung, assessed: the program 135 implemented in the province has helped deal with the fundamental issue of lacking the infrastructure, from which, to contribute to improving the material and spiritual lives of the mountainous compatriots for the Party and the State; proving the care and attention from the Party and the State towards the difficult regions. In the coming time, the PPC assigns the Nation Board to coordinate with sectors, localities to consult the PPC on plans for implementing the Program 135 (period 2016-2020). The people’s committees of districts, towns develop the spirit of being the main investor, actively construct the compatible plan with each single locality. Program 135 in the coming time is implemented in the spirit of investment with focus of the foundations’ infrastructure, the project of producing roots from the inhabitants’ practical demands; developing the capital source with the intermingled capital sources to efficiently implement the capital sources of the program…</p>
<p>On this occasion, the PPC presented merit certificates to 7 collectives and 13 individuals that well implement the Program 135.</p>
<p><strong>Source: Phu Yen Newspaper</strong><strong>Translated by HAI LOAN</strong></p>
<br />
Contributing to reducing the proportion of poor households in ethnic compatriot regions Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/21MNAsn" width="200" /><br />

Contributing to reducing the proportion of poor households in ethnic compatriot regions

Contributing to reducing the proportion of poor households in ethnic compatriot regions

In the afternoon of March 25 th , PPC held a summing conference on the Program 135 (period of 2011-2015) in the province. The conference was...

Saigon in time-lapse

Saigon in time-lapse

Saigon in time-lapse

Time-lapse photographer Rufus Blackwell spent the last two months carrying a DJI Osmo handheld stabilized camera around Ho Chi Minh City. Th...

Another Vietnam telco giant to launch 4G services: report

<p><a href="http://bit.ly/1MJJpqo"><img alt="1865714-telco-iloy" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="359" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1MJJpqo" width="500" /></a></p>
<p>An undated photo shows people testing smartphones at a mobile shop in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Diep Duc Minh</p>
<p>MobiFone is set to launch its 4G services next month, following similar moves by two other major wireless carriers, local media reported Friday.</p>
<p>The company, the second biggest mobile operator in terms of subscribers, will first launch the high-speed services in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, news website VnEconomy reported on Friday, citing a company representative.</p>
<p>Like its rivals, MobiFone, run by the Ministry of Information and Communication, will have to run 4G services on a one-year trial basis before applying for nationwide licenses.</p>
<p>Military-run Viettel, which accounted for nearly 47 percent of the market with over 120.3 million subscribers at the end of last year, launched 4G services in the southern beach town of Vung Tau in December.</p>
<p>The third biggest carrier VinaPhone, operated by state-owned Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group, has been running its own services in the Mekong Delta Province of Kien Giang’s Phu Quoc Island and part of Ho Chi Minh City since January.</p>
<p>The three telecommunication giants are controlling 99 percent the 3G market, which had more than 35.7 million subscribers as of January.</p>
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Another Vietnam telco giant to launch 4G services: report Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/1MJJpqo" width="200" /><br />

Another Vietnam telco giant to launch 4G services: report

Another Vietnam telco giant to launch 4G services: report

An undated photo shows people testing smartphones at a mobile shop in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Diep Duc Minh MobiFone is set to launch its...

Laos releases dam water to ease drought in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta

<p>Laos has started releasing water from its dams to the Mekong River to help Vietnam’s southern region cope with severe drought and saltwater intrusion, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.</p>
<p>The ministry on Friday quoted Lao Minister of Energy and Mines Khammany Inthirath as saying that Laos had discharged around 1,136 cubic meters of water per second to the lower Mekong River basin on Wednesday. The country planned to keep doing so until the end of May.</p>
<p>Together with the water discharged from a Chinese dam and some rivers in Thailand, the total amount of water to be released along the Mekong River to Vietnam will be around 3,611 cubic meters per second.</p>
<p>The water is expected to reach the Mekong Delta in the first week of April, according to the ministry.</p>
<p>China on March 15 said it will release water from its Jinghong dam on the Mekong River to help mitigate severe drought in some Vietnamese provinces.</p>
<p>Vietnam had previously asked China to increase the outflow from the dam in Yunnan Province since some provinces in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam’s major farming region, are suffering from drought and saltwater intrusion.</p>
<p>Chinese authorities announced they would quickly implement a plan to discharge water from March 15 to April 4, according to the foreign ministry.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, leaders from China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam met at the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation summit in China’s Hainan province to discuss cooperation in sharing and protecting water resources of the Mekong River.</p>
<p>Beijing’s dam and hydropower projects have provoked complaints from neighboring countries over their impact on water levels and the environment, according to the South China Morning Post.</p>
<p>Due to the effects of El Nino, rainfall in the region plummeted by 20-30 percent, while the amount of water flowing from the Mekong River’s upper reaches to Vietnam fell by half, leading to serious saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta.</p>
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Laos releases dam water to ease drought in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://ift.tt/1eWmqbm" width="200" /><br />

Laos releases dam water to ease drought in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta

Laos releases dam water to ease drought in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta

Laos has started releasing water from its dams to the Mekong River to help Vietnam’s southern region cope with severe drought and saltwater ...

Breakfast @ Tuoi Tre News – March 27

<p><strong>Have a nice Sunday!</strong><em><strong>Politics</strong></em></p>
<p>— Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong urged at a conference on Saturday that measures be taken to improve performance of the Communist Party of Vietnam and its members’ integrity and efficiency.</p>
<p><em><strong>Society</strong></em></p>
<p>— The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade has proposed that 9,850 pollution-causing businesses based in eight districts be relocated, with 101 of them to be displaced urgently.</p>
<p>— Nguyen Duy Thang, deputy general director of Civil Engineering Construction Corporation 1, has announced that his company on Saturday began recovering girders of the Ghenh Bridge, which connects the two shores divided by the Dong Nai River snaking through the namesake province, following its collapse after being hit by a barge on March 20.</p>
<p>— A 27-year-old mother of two from the south-central province of Binh Thuan on Saturday succumbed to her life-threatening burns inflicted by her drunk husband who had beaten and set fire to her, as she failed to pay back a mere VND50,000 ($2) ten days earlier.</p>
<p>— A number of clashes have erupted between frustrated locals and owners of boats illegally mining sand along the Hau River, a major waterway in the Mekong Delta, in recent times.</p>
<p><em><strong>Lifestyle</strong></em></p>
<p>— Tourist industry insiders and vacationers have complained that Hue City, located in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue which boasts the UNESCO-recognized Complex of Monuments, has offered limited tourist services, causing local tourism to lag behind that of other provinces in recent years.</p>
<p><em><strong>Business</strong></em></p>
<p>— Delegates told a meeting organized in the central city of Da Nang on Saturday that Vietnamese enterprises’ investment in Laos has topped US$4.9 billion to date, making Vietnam the second-biggest investor in its neighbor.</p>
<p>— In recent times, Vietnamese holidaymakers have flocked to various tourist attractions throughout Japan thanks to the East Asian country’s relaxed visa policy and greater flight frequency.</p>
<p><a href="http://bit.ly/1oe2EC2"><img alt="1865717-mzwxla4x" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="295" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1oe2EC2" width="500" /></a></p>
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Breakfast @ Tuoi Tre News – March 27 Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/1oe2EC2" width="200" /><br />

Breakfast @ Tuoi Tre News – March 27

Breakfast @ Tuoi Tre News – March 27

Have a nice Sunday! Politics — Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong urged at a conference on Saturday that measures be taken to improve...

Many bridges in HCM City face risks of collision

<p><em>Many bridges in HCM City could collapse at any time because of deterioration and low clearance levels.</em></p>
<p>To avoid further collisions more cameras as well as high voltage lamps have been added to Binh Loi Bridge.</p>
<p>The 114-year-old bridge has been hit by boats and barges for at least ten times in recent times. Last November, the railway track on the bridge was bent and train schedules disrupted after the bridge was hit by a barge carrying 1,000 tonnes of stones.</p>
<p>Several days before, another barge got stuck under the bridge.</p>
<p>Le Phuong Nam, manager of Binh Loi railway section, said during low tides, the clearance between water and the bridge was 3.5m, but during high tides, this clearance could be reduced to just a metre.</p>
<p>The Ministry of Transport started a VND1.3trn project to build another bridge and dredge Saigon River last April but almost a year has passed without any development.</p>
<p>Phuoc Kien Bridge was close to collapse last year after being hit by a barge. Also the same year, part of Cai Tam Bridge collapsed after being hit by a barge.</p>
<p>According to Department of Transport’s Waterway Management Office, there are about 13 bridges are at high risk of collapse because of low clearance and high water traffic flows.</p>
<p>Another 200 bridges, mostly located in Binh Thanh, Binh Chanh and Nha Be districts, also face risks as the distance between the bridge and water is less than three metres.</p>
<p>Bay, a local pilot, said they knew well where the river became shallow but it was sometimes difficult to gauge the clearance of a bridge.</p>
<p>In addition there are many deteriorating bridges in the city. Four bridges along Le Van Luong Street are deteriorating.</p>
<p>Long Kieng Bridge which was built before 1975 and connects Phuoc Kien and Nhon Duc communes shakes when vehicles cross it.</p>
<p>Many people have decided to sell their houses and moved elsewhere for fear of drowning.</p>
<p>The Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration has reported that Vietnam has about 427 bridges located on busy waterways in which clearance of 125 bridges do not meet requirements for waterway traffic.</p>
<p>Five bridges will be given priority for upgrading include Long Bien and Duong bridges in Hanoi, Chui Bridge in Haiphong City, Ghenh Bridge in Dong Nai Province and Binh Loi Bridge in HCM City.</p>
<table>
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<td>related news</td>
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<div style="margin-left: 2em"><a href="http://bit.ly/1RGV7cX">Bridge collapse disrupts train services to HCMC</a></div>
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<p><em>Dtinews</em></p>
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Many bridges in HCM City face risks of collision Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://ift.tt/1eWmqbm" width="200" /><br />

Many bridges in HCM City face risks of collision

Many bridges in HCM City face risks of collision

Many bridges in HCM City could collapse at any time because of deterioration and low clearance levels. To avoid further collisions more cam...

Vietnamese investors optimistic for 2016

<p><em>Vietnamese investors are expecting more transactions from State-owned enterprises’ (SOE) equitisation rather than by private/family firm owners, Grant Thornton Vietnam’s latest survey said.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="http://bit.ly/1oe1O8y"><img alt="1865708-20160322113313-1" class="attachment-medium aligncenter" height="333" rel="lightbox" src="http://bit.ly/1oe1O8y" width="500" /></a></em></p>
<p>In the 14th survey on the private equity sector, carried out between December 2015 and January 2016, a majority of the respondents maintain their positive views about Vietnam’s economy. Eighty-six percent of the respondents expect the level of investment activities to increase in Vietnam in the next 12 months.</p>
<p>Grant Thornton Vietnam said the positive outlook of the market was the result of various improvements made recently, such as two legislative changes to promote private sector participation in the Government’s infrastructure projects and increased foreign ownership limits in listed companies, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).</p>
<p>According to an assessment made by the American Chamber of Commerce, Vietnam ranked second among the AEC members and the first among the TPP members that received more investments after joining the groups, the survey said.</p>
<p>It is expected that Vietnam will receive more FDI on the back of the AEC’s removal of non-tariff barriers, removal of tariff from more than 90 percent of the goods currently subject to tariffs, and a reduction in others between now and 2018.</p>
<p>The TPP membership will help Vietnam to integrate with the global supply chain and also increase its trade volume with major economies such as Japan and the United States.</p>
<p>The survey also found that a majority of participants expected to be “net buyers” rather than “net sellers” in 2016.</p>
<p>In 2015, 222 SOEs were equitised, raising the number of equitised SOEs to 478 for the 2011-15 period. The government aims to equitise about 174 SOEs in the 2016-20 period.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, private equity investors expect more supply from equitisation, and are awaiting “major names” such as Mobifone, Satra, Benthanh Group and EVN, as well as PVN, TKN and Vinachem.</p>
<p>The retail sector and the food and beverage sector are currently considered the two most attractive industries for Price Earnings transactions. They were selected by 51 percent and 41 percent of the respondents, respectively.</p>
<p>Vietnam is being considered to be one of the most promising consumer markets in Asia, benefiting from a large population, rapid growth of per capita income, and increasing urbanisation.</p>
<p>According to A T Kearney, a well-established global consulting firm headquartered in Chicago, the attractiveness of Vietnam’s retail sector was ranked 28th globally. Though fast-growing in recent years, the sector is in its early development phase, with modern trade channels accounting for just 20 percent, which is fairly low compared with other regional countries.</p>
<p>The large population with a growing middle class, together with growing urbanisation that will cause changes in shopping habits, will provide solid support to facilitate faster growth rates, expected at CAGR 13 percent in the 2015-2018 period. This has lured both large international and domestic investors such as Berli Jucker (Thailand), Aeon (Japan) and Vingroup, creating fierce competition in this industry.</p>
<p>With the retail sector opening up for investments, it is expected that there will be more PE transactions in this sector in 2016.</p>
<p>Having key drivers similar to the retail sector, the demand for the food and beverage sector is rising fast. The increase in disposable income levels has caused diversified demand from low-to-high end products, changes in lifestyles, and the habit of drinking and eating out, particularly in major cities. It is expected that during the 2015-2020 period, the growth rates of beverage sub-sectors and packaged/fast food sub-sectors will be in range of seven to 11 percent and three to nine percent, respectively.</p>
<p>The survey said 39 percent of the respondents chose transportation and logistics as the third most attractive industry sector. There is anticipation of increasing SOE divestments in major ports such as Saigon Port and Vinalines in 2016.</p>
<p><em>VNA</em></p>
<br />
Vietnamese investors optimistic for 2016 Related image(s)<br />
<img height="200" src="http://bit.ly/1oe1O8y" width="200" /><br />

Vietnamese investors optimistic for 2016

Vietnamese investors optimistic for 2016

Vietnamese investors are expecting more transactions from State-owned enterprises’ (SOE) equitisation rather than by private/family firm own...

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