Vietnamplus

The Central Highlands province of Dak Lak is determined to utilise international funding to drive local socio-economic development since foreign direct investments currently lag behind expectations.

The Mekong Delta provinces have devised concrete measures to ensure a constant supply of fresh water for production and daily life, despite the threat of climate change, according to the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research (SIWRR).

The rice harvest in the southern part of the central region and the Central Highlands is expected to be under 35,000 tonnes compared to the previous winter-spring crop because of prolonged drought, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has said.

The Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang has approved a ten-year plan to expand its large-scale rice field area to 29,010 hectares by 2025 with each field covering 300-1,000 hectares.

Many coastal areas in the Mekong Delta are experiencing saline intrusion, threatening thousands of hectares of rice crops.

The central region is likely to face a severe drought this year and regional localities have been carrying out several measures to mitigate the impact.

Laos has seen a substantial growth in agriculture, which accounts for 24.6 percent of the country’s total gross domestic product (GDP).

The Agriculture Competitiveness Project in Can Tho city that kicked off more than a year ago has helped farmers improve yields and profits, local officials have said.

Farmers nationwide are reporting high yields for their winter-spring rice crop despite unfavourable weather in many provinces, including a cold wave and a plant-disease outbreak in the north.

Vietnam’s northwest is one of the country’s key corn cultivation areas with nearly 300,000ha used for the crop, accounting for 25 percent of the country’s total corn growing areas, the Vietnam Economic News reported on May 29.

More than 377,000 people in the Mekong Delta face a fresh-water shortage because of saline water intrusion in the area as a result of a long and severe drought, according to the National Centre for Rural Clean Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation.

More than 377,000 people in the Mekong Delta face a fresh water shortage because of saline water intrusion in the area, according to the National Centre for Rural Clean Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation.

Vietnam is targeting to apply sustainable production methods on 300,000ha of coffee by 2015, delegates has told a forum in Ho Chi Minh City.

Belgium is the 7th largest trading partner of Vietnam among the European Union (EU) countries. Last year, Vietnam’s imports from Belgium reached 411 million USD, a rise of 18.7 percent compared with 2011.

Myanmar President U Thein Sein on August 14 vowed to push the country's national reconciliation efforts, saying that a nationwide ceasefire agreement with all armed groups could be signed soon.

Hard-engineering solutions have been adopted on large scale to deal with the on-going severe drought that has plagued central coastal provinces, particularly those in the basin of Vu Gia-Thu Bon rivers.