Ho Chi Minh City authorities have allowed the first water bus route to resume operations after nearly four months of suspension as part of the local government’s enhanced social distancing order to curb the transmission of COVID-19. The water bus route No. 1 , from Bach Dang Wharf in District 1 to Linh Dong Station in Thu Duc City, came back on stream at 8:30 am on Saturday, according to Nguyen Kim Toan, general director of Daily Co., Ltd, which is the investor of the waterway transport project. The Daily company expects to operate 12 trips with 50-percent capacity on the reopening day. “Based on the actual situation of boarding passengers, we’ll adjust the frequency accordingly,” Toan said. All crew members on the bus route have been fully vaccinated in compliance with COVID-19 prevention and control measures, the general director affirmed. Passengers should scan QR codes on residents’ VNEID or electronic health book applications to present their travel declaration and …
A $30 million project launched to improve water security amid climate change
Terence D. Jones, UNDP Resident Representative to Việt Nam, speaking at the event on Friday. Photo provided by UNDP HÀ NỘI – A $30 million climate change adaption fund, provided by Green Climate Fund (GCF), has been launched to help small-scale agricultural businesses adapt to changes in water security caused by climate change. The launching event was jointly organised by the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the authorities of five provinces: Đắk Lắk, Đắk Nông, Khánh Hòa, Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận. The 2021-2026 project will support more than 5,000 people with access to safe water resources, climate-resilient agricultural practices, and loans. At the event, Terence D. Jones, UNDP Resident Representative in Việt Nam, said “It is important to build resilience and to apply innovative and climate-resilient tools and practices to support poor and near-poor farmers in adapting to increasingly severe droughts, …
Investments in deep-water ports paying off
Compiled by Thiên Lý The volume of goods transported through southern ports has been rising by an average of 20 per cent a year in recent years, according to a report by Vietcombank Securities Company (VCBS). The rate in the north has been 13.2 per cent. Data from the General Statistics Office shows that in the first half of this year seaports in southern provinces like Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu, Tiền Giang and An Giang achieved high growth rates. VCBS analysts said there are several reasons for this. They shared some common advantages with the rest of the country like the high growth in Việt Nam’s exports and imports thanks to free trade agreements it has signed with several countries that are starting to take effect. Market Research Company Fitch Solutions has forecast Việt Nam’s trade to grow at an annual rate of 11 per cent between 2021 and 2024. The Government’s pro-active investment in the logistics infrastructure in recent years has helped attract supply …
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Mekong Delta region faces water shortages, saline intrusion
Drought dries up rice fields in the Mekong Delta province of Bến Tre. The Delta region faces the risk of water shortages, drought and saline intrusion. — VNA/VNS Photo HCM CITY — The Cửu Long (Mekong Delta) region faces the risk of water shortages, drought and saline intrusion due to low water sources from the upper Mekong River and human exploitation of land and forests in the upstream, experts have warned. Speaking at a meeting last week, Prof. Dr. Châu Nguyễn Xuân Quang, deputy director of the Institute of Environment and Natural Resources under the Việt Nam National University in HCM City, said that water levels in rivers had followed a downward trend in recent years. Higher levels of saline intrusion are expected to occur in the region more frequently, leading to a lack of fresh water. “The upstream flow towards the Mekong Delta region is decreasing, so saline intrusion will increase,” he said. Saline intrusion in the region depends on the water source from the …
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US$30 million climate change adaptation project launched in Vietnam
The project, funded by the Green Climate Fund, aims to strengthen the resilience of smallholder agriculture to climate change-hit water insecurity areas. More than 500,000 people in Vietnam’s Central Highlands and South-Central Coastal regionals will directly benefit from a project worth US$30 million financed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) on climate change adaptation. Representatives of UNDP, MARD, and five target provinces Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, and Binh Thuan. Photos: UNDP About 50% of the beneficiaries are women who will be subject to the project which is designed to empower vulnerable smallholders, particularly women and ethnic minority farmers in climate change-induced water insecurity provinces namely Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, and Binh Thuan. The “ Strengthening the Resilience of Smallholder Agriculture to Climate Change-induced Water Insecurity in the Central Highlands and South-Central Coast Regions of Vietnam” …
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Project on climate change adaptation to benefit central Vietnam
A canal dries up as a result of drought (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – A climate change adaptation project has been launched to strengthen the resilience of smallholder agriculture to climate change-induced water insecurity in the Central Highlands and the south-central coast. Financed with 30 million USD by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), it was launched by the United Nation Development Programme ( UNDP ) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) on October 15, covering the five provinces of Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, and Binh Thuan. More than 500,000 people, of which more than 50 percent are women, will benefit directly and indirectly from this project, which will be implemented from 2021 to 2026. The project is designed to empower vulnerable smallholders in the target provinces - particularly women and ethnic minority farmers - to manage increasing climate risks to agricultural production by securing water availability, adopting …
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Earning activities of Mekong Delta’s locals during late flood
According weather forecasting, the flood peak may comes in October. In An Giang Province, the water level at Tan Chau station will reach .8-3.2 meters and the water level at Chau Doc station will be 2.6-2.9 meters. The late flood and low water level have caused a sharp decline in fisheries compared to previous years impacting on the local livelihoods . In these days, the local people in provinces of Dong Thap, An Giang, Kien Giang and Can Tho City are still trying to catch fishes and sowing for the autumn-winter rice and vegetable crops. This year’s late flood and low water level have resulted in fish decline impacting on the local livelihoods. Farmers of the Mekong Delta region sow the autumn - winter rice on an area of more than 714,600 hectares. Catching the Linh fish, one of the specialties of the flooding season in Dong Thap Province’s Hong Ngu City Planting Cu Au (a floating-leaved aquatic plants, Trapa natans, commonly known as water chestnut) in Dong …
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Exhibition marks 60th anniversary of Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea
A ship carries goods and weapons on Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea (Photo: VNA) Hai Phong (VNA) – An exhibition on seas, island and naval officers is being held in the northern city of Hai Phong from October 13-19, as part of activities marking the 60th anniversary of Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea. Co-organised by the municipal Department of Culture and Sports and the Navy High Command’s Department of Navy Politics, the event showcases 180 photos, 35 documents and objects, two maps of Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea and Vietnam’s waters, and 10 statistical sheets on achievements made by the Vietnam People’s Navy. At the ribbon cutting ceremony (Photo: VNA) Director of the municipal Department of Culture and Sports Tran Thi Hoang Mai said the exhibition offers an insight into the heroic tradition and achievements by the Vietnam People’s Navy in the fight for national liberation to which the strategic military transport route Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea made important contributions. …
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Central Vietnam braces for storm Kompasu
Border guards help fishermen in Ky An Town, Ha Tinh Province bring their boats ashore. A couple in Thach Ha Commune, Ha Tinh Town move their fish cages on the Ho Do River into ponds. Sudden changes in the water environment because of heavy rain can prove fatal to the fish. Workers at a fishing cooperative in Ho Do Commune in Ha Tinh’s Loc Ha District prepare a net to cover a pond and protect their fish against flood damage. Since Tuesday night, it has started to rain heavily in Loc Ha District and many restaurants selling seafood along Xuan Hai Beach have had to close. A group of men drop rocks to strengthen the shoreline in Quang Phuc Commune, Dong Hoi Town, Quang Binh Province. An excavator speeds up work to reinforce the embankment at a local beach. At 4 p.m. Wednesday, the storm was 490 km away from Thanh Hoa, 495 km away from Nghe An and 475 km away from Ha Tinh with wind speeds of 90-100 kph. It was …
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FDI flow on right path
Genetica is cooperating with the National Innovation Centre to build a genetic decoding hub for Southeast Asia With the support of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), gene sequencing tech group Genetica is to cooperate with the Vietnam National Innovation Centre (NIC) to build a genetic decoding centre for Southeast Asia, located at the NIC in Hanoi. The costs were not unveiled, but both sides expect the centre to be up and running before the end of 2021. As announced at a ceremony last week, the Genetica centre at the NIC building will be designed along with the same standards as its US-based lab, with the most rigorous set of standards for genetic testing in the world. Accordingly, Vietnam will be one of very few Southeast Asian countries running CAP and CLIA-standard genetic testing laboratories in order to create new discoveries regarding genetic diseases, developing gene therapy regimens, and researching new medicines based on Asian and Vietnamese genomes. It …