News
Vietnam coffee industry in trouble as prices plunge
Despite efforts to reduce costs and increase yields, Vietnam’s coffee exports have faced a difficult year, delegates heard at a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on 2 December. “The international coffee market has seen unexpected trends and seriously impacted Vietnamese exports,” Deputy Minister of Agriculture ...
Vietnamese spend $3 billion a year to study abroad: report
More than 110,000 students are studying in 47 countries around the world, spending an estimated $3 billion a year, local media reported. The figures were released by an education and training working group of the Vietnam Business Forum at its year-end session in Hanoi on 1 ...
Vietnamese ignore health risks, catch fish from dioxin-polluted lakes for sale
Fish buyers never know that fish may have been caught illegally, from lakes heavily contaminated by extremely dangerous chemicals. Bien Hoa airbase, which is around 30 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City, is one of the sites with the severest and longest lasting dioxin pollution in the ...
Fire breaks out in Ho Chi Minh City slum
A fire broke out in a slum in Ho Chi Minh City on 1 December afternoon, burning out 13 houses but no injuries were reported. The fire started at around 3:15 p.m. in the neighborhood near a small market in District 1’s Cau Ong Lanh Ward. The ...
11 primate species in Vietnam are critically endangered: study
A new study by global primate experts found Vietnam in a dire situation with an increase in critically endangered species, several of which are endemic to the country. Experts assessed the threat of extinction for 182 kinds of primates in South China, South and Southeast Asia, ...
Number of AIDS deaths among young Asians doubles over past decade: U.N.
The estimated number of adolescents dying of AIDS in the Asia Pacific region has more than doubled since 2005, experts said on 30 November, warning of a “hidden epidemic”. UNICEF urged Asian countries to improve teenagers’ access to testing, saying many young people do not know ...
Workers in Thailand get temporary labour permits
Vietnamese migrant workers in Thailand are allowed to register for temporary work permits at the country’s provincial labour departments from 1-30 December, according to the Thai Ministry of Labour. The ministry said on 30 November that the 30-day expansion for Vietnamese guest workers (excluding their companies) aims ...
Cambodian MPs revisit Vietnam border pond issue
Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmakers Mao Monivann and Son Chhay visited a disputed area on the border between Ratanakkiri’s O’Yadav district and Vietnam on 30 November and urged the government to take action over several ponds allegedly dug by the Vietnamese in Cambodian territory. Keep reading ...
Vietnam gives Cambodia encryption lessons
The Vietnamese military has begun training Cambodia police in cryptography and encryption techniques as part of a national plan to protect “state secrets”. Em Sam An, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Interior, signed a new agreement between the ministry’s cryptography department and the ...
Unprescribed antibiotics is available anywhere in Vietnam: survey
A survey by the health ministry has found that misuse of antibiotics is rampant, with most pharmacies not requiring prescriptions to sell them. The ministry’s Examination and Treatment Department said 98 percent of drugstores in urban areas and 91 percent in rural areas sell antibiotics without ...