240sx big wing

Nguyễn Thanh Hà

Hà Nội is home to many famous specialities but few are as mouthwatering as thịt quay đòn (roast port belly) in the ancient village of Đường Lâm, about 44km from the city centre.

It is said that King Ngô Quyền (939-944), whose native village is in Đường Lâm, after defeating the Southern Han invaders from China ordered chefs to make roast pork belly to give a feast to his troops.

The dish was so tasty and delicious that troops said they couldn’t get enough, according to legend.

Kicker: A tasty and crispy roast pork belly made by people in Hà Nội’s Đường Lâm ancient village. Photo vov2.vov.vn

The dish has been the village’s claim to fame since then, said Nguyễn Đăng Thạo, head of Đường Lâm Ancient Village’s management board.

Nguyễn Thị Hương, a famous roaster in the village, said she has to order fresh pork belly from prestigious butchers. “It is to ensure that the roasted pork is crispy but fragrant.”

The pork belly should be carefully soaked with hung lìu (flavouring powder with five ingredients including cinnamon, anise and sweet basil), pepper, fresh onion, fish sauce and salt, said Hương, adding that the most important ingredient is the guava leaves.

Kicker: The fresh pork belly soaked with many ingredients including guava leaves help to make the dish much more enjoyable. Photo vov2.vov.vn

The young guava leaves are ground to cover the inside and outside of the pork belly while half-young guava leaves are used to wrap the meat before it is roasted.

She said the guava leaves should be grown naturally without being sprayed with pesticides to ensure the roast pork has a natural fragrance.

The raw meat should be soaked for at least two hours before roasting.

“Apart from guava leaves, we have to use a bamboo tube which is about two metres long to roast the meat. It needs between five and six hours to roast it over charcoal,” said Hương, noting that while roasting, the chef has to use a bamboo spit to make holes on the pork skin until it becomes brown and crispy.

Kicker: A cook is roasting the pork belly on charcoal. Photo vov2.vov.vn

The dish is more delicious when dipped in fermented soybean locally made in Đường Lâm or lime with salt, said Hương, adding that apart from locals and visitors to the village, many customers in Hà Nội and provinces such as Hải Dương, Hải Phòng and Quảng Ninh have ordered her dish.

The dish is a must-have for big parties such as Tết (Lunar New Year) or wedding parties.

“I sold several hundred kilogrammes of such dish a day at the recent Tết holiday,” Hương said, adding that she and her husband are teaching their descendants about the trade.

“The technique of making pork belly roast is rather difficult, it requires a cook to have the mind to invest his/her self in the job,” she said.

Kicker: Cooks are preparing to roast pork belly. Photo vov2.vov.vn

Phạm Tuấn Hải, a former judge of Việt Nam’s Master Chef TV programme, said he has never missed a chance to enjoy the dish when visiting Đường Lâm.

“I will never forget the roast pork belly for its savoury, soft, crispy taste and particularly the special fragrance of guava leaves.

“This year, I plan to learn the roasting technique to apply it to my restaurant chains across the country to serve locals and foreign guests,” said Hải. VNS

Võ Trí Thành

*Võ Trí Thành

Việt Nam has outlined its next-decade of socio-development strategy, setting its sights on becoming a developed and upper-middle-income country with modern industry by 2030. However, as success in the past cannot guarantee future triumphs, what are the keys to Việt Nam’s success in the next period?

We have talked about Việt Nam’s aspirations to become the next Asian economic dragon and the country has made great strides towards its goals. Amid a volatile world and unprecedented challenges arising from the pandemic, Việt Nam’s success in response to COVID-19 has been praised by international media. To ensure long-term growth, the country is also seeking solutions to key issues such as structural reforms, sustainable and inclusive development and innovation.

After many phases of reforms, Việt Nam has basically achieved its goals such as ensuring macroeconomic stabilisation, expanding more opportunities for all economic subjects to develop through institutional reforms, building a socialist market-oriented economy and promoting international integration.

Along with that, national capacity has been significantly improved which has been seen in strengthened institutional capacity, reflected in the more efficient State apparatus, enhanced capacity of enterprises through their greater competitiveness and sustainable development strategy and lastly the better-quality human resources.

Despite the fast-changing world, lessons and experiences from past reforms have significant value for further success which can be seen in many Vietnamese success stories.

When talking about the building of a socialist market-oriented economy, from a centrally planned economy in the early 1980s with little knowledge about the market economy, this has become the red thread throughout the country’s reform process.

Việt Nam has learnt and built regulations and good practices for the market through working experience and co-operation with well-known international institutions such as the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Asia Development Bank, collaboration with foreign experts, study exchanges and capacity building support from Asian and European countries.

Along with the country’s development progress, Việt Nam is perfecting its legal framework and improving the business investment environment to facilitate economic development activities. Building a modern and integrated economy, transparent and capable State apparatus is a must for sustainable development.

From the global integration lessons, Việt Nam joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1995, since then, it has signed dozens of free trade agreements (FTAs) with many countries, including high-quality trade pacts such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Partnering with developed countries with advanced institutional development has helped Việt Nam recognise the importance of expanding the development space in association with domestic reforms, developing the capacity and competitiveness and confidence of homegrown enterprises.

Vietnamese enterprises have taken long strides from fearing to compete with foreign competitors to understanding the game and starting to build their competitiveness. Some have even reached out to the world and initially established brands in global markets such as Vinfast, Viettel, FPT Corporation, Vinamilk and Trường Hải Auto Corporation. We all hope they will succeed in the future.

From past lessons, Việt Nam can identify important factors that will determine its future success. First, we need to dare and know how to play with bigger and better-performing players. With this strategy, the country has learned and grown at all important dimensions including levelling up the national, corporate and human ranks; better understanding our own values, knowing our advantages to sharpen our competitive advantage.

Besides, playing with big countries will create pressure and push to go further more aggressively and with time, the country can build greater confidence, which is very important for global integration and success.

From Việt Nam’s success in controlling the pandemic and maintaining economic growth, besides learning from other countries, the nation has prepared for fighting against the disease and even come up with Vietnamese-style solutions. Vietnamese creativity is also shown in many other key issues such as digital transformation and policy planning.

Actively learning, building confidence and promoting creativity and innovation will help Việt Nam build its image, enhance its position and expand its influence outside, attaining its development goals.

*Võ Trí Thành is a senior economist at the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) and a member of the National Financial and Monetary Policy Advisory Council. The holder of a doctorate in economics from the Australian National University, Thanh mainly undertakes research and provides consultation on issues related to macroeconomic policies, trade liberalisation and international economic integration. Other areas of interest include institutional reforms and financial systems.

Workers operating equipment for oil and gas production. PetroVietnam Gas shares inched higher on Monday, contributing to the gain of the VN-Index. Photo courtesy of PetroVietnam Gas

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s stock market edged higher on Monday as investors flocked into oil and gas, construction and banking stocks.

The market benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) finished the first trading day of the new month at 1,186.17 points, up 1.51 per cent. The gain ended last week’s downward trend. The index decreased by 0.43 per cent last week.

Trần Xuân Bách, a senior analyst from Bảo Việt Securities Co., wrote in a daily report to customers that the market’s trend is expected to continue sideways with alternating up and down sessions. And the index might test the resistance territory of 1,175 – 1,185 points during first sessions of this week.

At the end of the session, 358 stocks climbed, of which 35 stocks hit the maximum daily gain, while only 85 stocks declined. And 60 stocks stayed steady.

High liquidity in the market was the main force for the gain Monday. Nearly 643.4 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth over VNĐ16 trillion. In the morning session alone, over VNĐ10.2 trillion was poured into the market.

However, the strong cash inflows once again created an overload on HoSE in Monday’s afternoon session.

Big stocks across all sectors posted good performance on Monday with the VN30-Index rising by 1.55 per cent to 1,191.83 points. Of the VN30 basket, 27 stocks climbed, while only three stocks declined.

Top five stocks influencing the market’s trend were in gas and oil, construction and banking sectors including PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), up 2.91 per cent, Vinhomes JSC (VHM), up 1.38 per cent, Vietcombank (VCB), up 1.02 per cent, Techcombank (TCB), up 2.42 per cent and Việt Nam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB), up 6.93 per cent.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index rose 1.26 per cent to 252.37 points. The HXN30-Index increased by 2.69 per cent to 375.25 points.

During the session, more than 126.97 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth over VNĐ2.2 trillion.

Meanwhile, foreign investors were net sellers on both exchanges, with the net value of VNĐ209.29 billion on the HoSE and VNĐ17.12 billion on the HNX.

On the macro-economic front, Việt Nam’s consumer price index (CPI) in February increased by 1.52 per cent over the previous month, the highest gain of the index in February since 2013, according to data from General Statistics Office of Việt Nam (GSO).

The industrial production index in February, meanwhile, is estimated to tumble against the previous month.

Djưng with a herd of deer in Kon Ka Kinh National Park, Gia Lai Province. — Photo tienphong.vn

GIA LAI — Looking at the herd of deer being protected in Kon Ka Kinh National Park, Gia Lai Province, Djưng feels very happy.

Djưng from the Ba Na ethnic group in Đê Kjiêng Village, Ayun Commune, Mang Yang District, is now a ranger in the forest that he used to hunt in for a living for many years.

He was one of the best hunters in the village, which is located nearly 100km from Pleiku City.

Djưng said, in the past, it was not easy to travel from the village to the centre of the district, so local kids like him only went to the forest to catch birds and pick mushrooms.

As a kid who grew up hunting, he hunted with his brothers and uncles to catch gaurs, deer and wild boars.

That is why he knows every stream and every corner of the forest.

“I know the animal’s behaviour. I know when they go to stream to drink water, go for food and where they like to sleep. So it is not difficult to set traps to catch them,” Djưng told Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper.

“If I caught a small animal like a rabbit, I brought it home to cook for my family. The big ones could be sold to buy rice.”

Now he has turned over a new leaf as he uses his hunting skills to protect animals and forest.

A few years ago, an animal expert came to Kon Ka Kinh National Park looking for gray-shanked douc langurs for an endangered species protection project.

At that time, Djưng became a tour guide to help him during his research in the forest.

Djưng said he knows how long the animal had been in the forest and where they sleep from the smell of the animal’s urine and faeces.

He helped the expert conduct valuable researche on gray-shanked douc langurs in Kon Ka Kinh National Park.

“The days in the forest with the expert were also the days I understood the value of the forest and animals thanks to his explanation,” said Djưng.

“After that, he invited me to Đà Nẵng to help him build a research and protective area for this species. The forest awakened my heart. But at that time I couldn’t give up hunting because I couldn’t find another job.”

In 2019, Djưng and Chưn, Djưng’s friend and another famous hunter in the village, were hired by the Centre for Environmental Education and Forest Environmental Services of Kon Ka Kinh National Park.

They were both assigned to serve ecotourism activities and find beautiful landscapes to help centre open new tours. They also share survival skills in the forest with tourists.

Wild animal traps that have been removed from Kon Ka Kinh National Park. — Photo tienphong.vn

Talking about his friend, Djưng said Chưn was a hunter but also a logger at that time.

To make a living, Chưn hunted animals and illegally cut down trees for sale.

“Once I saw young birds dead in a nest because their mother was shot or a pregnant deer thta had been killed. I loved them but I had to kill them and cut down trees for my family’s livelihood,” Chưn said.

According to A Mưm, another local hunter, for many generations, the lives of the local people have depended on the forest.

He inherited hunting skills when he was a child, so he used those skills to earn a living.

Trần Văn Thụ, director of the Centre for Rescue – Biological Conservation and Development in Kon Ka Kinh National Park, said in previous years, the centre’s officers had to work hard to find traps set by local hunters in the forest.

“Following hunters’ footprints, we can found dead animals and chopped down trees,” Thụ said.

But now, the local hunters’ awareness about the forest has changed.

A Mưn works for the Centre for Rescue – Biological Conservation and Development and uses his hunting skills to remove thousands of traps in Kon Ka Kinh forest to protect animals.

“Rescuing the trapped animals awakened me, helping me have a meaningful life,” A Mưn said.

Djưng and Chưn also help remove animal traps in the forest with A Mưn.

“Nobody wants to catch and kill animals. All of this is for a living. Now we are trying to explain and tell other people to stop hunting to protect the forest,” Djưng said. — VNS

On pre-Tet days, Thao A Ho in Mo Cong hamlet was still busy working in his field taking care of passion fruit trees. The work took him only half a day, while he spent the other half going to market to do shopping for Tet.

According to Ho, Mo Cong’s people were happy as they have collected big money from yellow passion fruit sale. Ho has earned VND100 million, while households which have larger growing areas could earn up to VND500 million.

In the past, Ho grew cassava on an area of two hectares, which bring little money. Later, he shifted to grow purple passion fruit, but the price of this fruit has always been low in the last years. He last year sold purple passion fruit at VND2,000-3,000 per kilogram only.

He tried to grow 400 yellow passion fruit trees on an area of 0.5 hectares. Though he harvested 10 tons of this fruit, he still could earn big money thanks to the high price. So, he and his family members had a comfortable Tet holiday.

The passion fruit is farmed in accordance with VietGAP standards. An enterprise provides standard seeds, fertilizer, bioproducts and technical officers to farmers and commits to collect all passion fruit output if farmers strictly observe their instructions.

Farmers don’t have to make high investments to grow passion fruit.

“The passion fruit tree can bring higher profit than maize, and it is not a strenuous work,” he said.

Also according to Ho, there are tens of households in the hamlet cooperating with the enterprise to grow yellow passion fruit.

Sung A Dinh, 28, has become a DONG? millionaire in the mountainous village. Dinh and his wife had two hectares of sweet passion fruit area which gave output of 50 tons. With the selling price of VND15,000-26,000 per kilogram, he collected VND800 million and made a profit of VND500 million.

Nguyen Thach Tung Linh, director of the passion fruit company in Moc Chau, Son La, said he began cooperating with local farmers to grow passion fruit in late 2019 and began harvesting in 2020. The total growing area has reached 100 hectares.

Linh found sweet passion fruit in 2017 when he implemented a project with a Taiwanese partner. At first, he developed five hectares of passion fruit for export to China. However, the products could only be exported across border gates, not through official channels. Therefore, he decided to focus on the domestic market.

Tam An