At the meeting, the city leader expressed his pleasure at good friendly and cooperative relations between Vietnam and the Netherlands, especially since the establishment of the diplomatic ties in 1973 and strategic partnership relations in water management and climate change adaptation in 2010. The Netherlands is currently the major trading partner and the eighth largest foreign investor of Ho Chi Minh City with 153 projects having the total investment capital of nearly US$2 billion. On the base of the desire to strengthen the mutual cooperation in the fields of climate change adaptation and sustainable agricultural development, HCMC has made efforts to materialize the potential cooperation, notably the public-private partnerships (PPP) initiative for the Sustainable Greater Ho Chi Minh City Flood Protection Scheme. As for Mr. Elsbeth Akkerman, she highly appreciated achievements of Ho Chi Minh City in the fields of urban infrastructure and public transport development. … [Read more...] about Netherlands ready to support HCMC in projects against flooding
Solution for climate change
Drastic measures urged to curb rise in plastic usage
By 2025, Vietnam has set a target of 50 per cent reduction of plastic waste entering the sea and ocean areas, while a goal has been set for 80 per cent of coastal areas, tourist attractions, tourist accommodation, and other tourist service establishments to refrain from use of disposable plastic products and persistent plastic bags in the same timeframe. … [Read more...] about Drastic measures urged to curb rise in plastic usage
Difficulties still ahead for coffee sector: insiders
HCM City (VNA) – The export of coffee declined in both volume and value last year due to certain difficulties that are forecast to linger on for the time to come, insiders have said. Nguyen Viet Hai, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Coffee - Cocoa Association (Vicofa), told a meeting in Ho Chi Minh City on January 15 that in the 2019 - 2020 crop, 1.61 million tonnes of the bean was shipped abroad at the average price of 1,740 USD per tonne, bringing home 2.8 billion USD. The figures respectively fell 5 percent, 0.4 percent, and 5.3 percent from the previous crop. The export volume of processed coffee (roasted and ground coffee, instant coffee) dropped by over 17 percent to 110,000 tonnes, resulting a fall of 8.7 percent in value to more than 443 million USD, he pointed out. Hai noted coffee prices remain unstable, leading to a plunge in the purchase of the produce from farmers in the 2020 - 2021 crop. Fresh coffee is currently priced at 6.7 million - 6.9 million VND (about 289 - … [Read more...] about Difficulties still ahead for coffee sector: insiders
Supporting start-ups to adapt to new normal
In Hanoi, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the first three months of this year, more than 6,300 new businesses were established with total capital of VND103 trillion ($4.5 billion). It was an increase of one per cent in terms of the number of new businesses compared to the same period last year but a surge of 98 per cent of registered capital. … [Read more...] about Supporting start-ups to adapt to new normal
Pig farm fuss highlights foul plight
“But the exhaust gas from the biogas tunnels easily damages generators and metal equipment, and so it has not been used much. In addition, the biogas tunnels emit copious amounts of gas, and the energy is far more than the farms would actually need, which leaves farmers to either discharge waste into the environment or burn it, neither of which are good solutions for the environment,” Vien explained. … [Read more...] about Pig farm fuss highlights foul plight
