Day: March 15, 2023

The Mekong Delta region is crisscrossed with canals, so bridges are considered as an impetus for its development. Over the past years, many important bridges have been being built in the region, helping it soon complete its traffic infrastructure to “take off”.

In early March, the Land Fund Development Centre of Tien Giang province completed the payment of compensation for the remaining 90 out of the 435 households in My Tho city affected by the construction of Rach Mieu 2 bridge which crosses Tien River and connects Ben Tre and Tien Giang provinces.

The project has a total length of more than 17.5km (including the bridge and roads leading to it), and a total investment of 5.17 trillion VND (219 million USD). It is expected to be completed by 2025.

Also crossing Tien river, My Thuan 2 bridge linking Tien Giang with Vinh Long is scheduled to be completed by December this year. The 6km bridge has a total investment of over 5 trillion VND from the State budget.

Vice Chairman of the Tien Giang provincial People’s Committee Pham Anh Tuan said that these projects are significant, necessary and urgent to the localities, contributing to socio-economic and culture development and defence and security assurance of the entire Mekong Delta region.

Along with the projects currently underway, the Government, ministries, sectors and localities are working hard to begin construction on others.

Specifically, the Ministry of Transport has just approved an investment project on building Dai Ngai bridge crossing Hau river and connecting Tra Vinh and Soc Trang provinces with an investment of nearly 8 trillion VND. The project is expected to be completed in 2026.

In February, the People’s Committee of Can Tho city proposed building O Mon bridge construction investment project across Hau river linking the city with Dong Thap province.

In late 2022, Ben Tre and Vinh Long also agreed to approve the intention of building Dinh Khao bridge crossing Co Chien river.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said that in the 2021-2025 period, the total capital sourced from the State budget for projects in the region is estimated at about 320 trillion VND, up 23.3% compared to the 2016-2020 period./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Despite expectations that the demand for iron and steel will rise due to the government’s efforts to reduce supply by disbursing public investment, removing funding for key projects or focusing on social housing projects, the cost of construction materials remains stubbornly high.

According to contractors and investors in Hanoi, while the price of cement has stabilised, other essential building materials such as steel and construction sand continue to increase in price.

This trend has made it difficult for businesses to accept contracts for construction projects that require large amounts of steel, as they fear heavy losses if the price of steel continues to rise.

As a result, many construction projects remain unfinished, as businesses are unwilling to take on the financial risk of completing the work.

A director of an enterprise specialising in the construction of bridges and roads said that every time a supplier sent a new quote, it was like “sitting on a fire”.

Since the beginning of this year, the price of CB240 coil and D10 CB300 reinforcing bars after at least five adjustments has reached approximately 16 million VND (678 USD) per tonne. Hoa Phat steel bar prices in the south rose by 200,000 VND per tonne on March 6, and it is expected to be applied in the northern market too.

The price of construction sand after the Lunar New Year has soared because many agent owners reported scarcity due to decreasing supply.

Construction enterprises, which already had difficulty in maintaining their cash flow, high borrowing costs and many debts from the declining real estate market, are now gradually “getting hit” by fluctuations in the price of building materials.

Some experts predicted that if this situation persists, the number of companies with sufficient capacity and quality in the construction industry would be counted on one hand in the next five years.

Data from the business registration authority shows that the whole country had 51,401 enterprises withdrawing from the market in the first two months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 14.5%.

Among 17 business lines, construction and real estate businesses have a very high number of enterprises suspending business with more than 7,180 enterprises.

The construction industry has 5,525 enterprises registered to suspend their business, up 22% year-on-year.

Similarly, 1,660 enterprises in the real estate industry registered to suspend their business in the past two months, up 57%./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam – Australia cooperation relations in the past five years have grown strongly with the flexible implementation of bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and possibly see more opportunities in the coming time, said Professor Carl Thayer from the Australian Defence Force Academy, the University of New South Wales.

Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency about the action programme to implement the Vietnam- Australia Strategic Partnership for the period of 2020-2023 when the two countries celebrate the 5th anniversary of their strategic partnership (March 15, 2018- March 15, 2023), the professor highlighted that the strategic partnership focuses on three pillars – strengthening economic-trade linkages; deepen strategic-defense-security cooperation; and building knowledge and innovation partnerships.

The first pillar of trade and investment gains the most success as the bilateral trade has continued to grow, he said, adding Vietnamese agricultural exports still need a better access to the Australian market, he said.

The second pillar of strategic-defense-security cooperation should be deepened although the two countries have signed an MOU on defense cooperation, a joint vision statement, and joined peacekeeping activities, training programmes and ship visits, the professor said.

The third pillar of knowledge and innovation has not got off the ground, he said.

In addition to the three focused pillars, Vietnam and Australia still have many opportunities and potential for cooperation in other fields including agriculture, tourism, and climate change.

As the two countries are expected to elevate their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the professor said that they will boost cooperation in trade-investment, defense security, and climate change – a global issue.

“If we do move up to a comprehensive strategic partnership, we must elevate the foreign and defense ministerial meetings to a two-plus-two formula. Both meet at the same time and then they meet separately. So when Vietnamese ministers come to Australia, all four meet, and then the foreign minister goes to his counterpart and the defense minister and we look across,” he said.

Commenting on the advantages and difficulties in the next phase of the bilateral relationship, he said that strategic trust between the two countries is at a high level.

Regarding difficulties, according to Professor Carl Thayer, although Vietnam and Australia have many co-strategic points, jointly supporting a safe regional environment and ensuring freedom of navigation, they have not reached a consensus in some areas. Another issue is that the two sides need to promote the relationship to become a more reciprocal and equal relationship in the future so that both sides can benefit in all fields./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Mekong Delta, Vietnam’s vital agricultural and aquaculture hub, is witnessing the coming-into-being of various organic farming models, laying a basis for future development of the sector.

In Tam Nong, a large rice production area of the region, an organic farming model that combines rice cultivation with fish and duck rearing has proved suitable to the local conditions. The fish is raised in organic paddy fields, and the ducks released to feed on vermin around the area.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said the model follows the natural cycle, reduces emissions, and increases incomes in a limited area of arable land.

Hoan noted that such a feasible method should be further studied for larger application in areas with similar conditions.

Meanwhile, the farming sector in Can Tho city has been collaborating with businesses to launch organic production models for rice and fruit, with high-tech models and the VietGap (Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices) standard widely applied. After thorough assessment, the city has planned to have 4,000ha of paddies, 1,3000ha of fruit trees, and 150ha of vegetables following organic farming.

According to the minister, perceptions of the agricultural economy have improved significantly. Enterprises, cooperatives, and farmers are aware of the need to reach higher-level export markets for better value and profit.

Such improvement has helped form material areas of a strong connection between businesses and farmers, Hoan said.

Statistics showed that the total agricultural land for organic farming in the country reached some 174,000ha in 2022, an increase of 47% over 2016, putting Vietnam in the list of the top 10 countries with the largest organic agricultural land in Asia. The nation has set a target of increasing its total organic land area to 2.5-3% of the agricultural land area by 2030.

Organic farm produce has brought home 335 million USD in annual export value and is present in over 180 countries and territories. Europe is the main importer of those products from Vietnam./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Cuc Phuong National Park in the northern province of Ninh Binh said on March 15 that it has received and rescued many rare and endangered animals from localities nationwide.

From March 5-12, the park’s Centre for Rescue, Conservation and Development of Creatures received five pangolins and one masked palm civet from authorised units in the central provinces of Quang Tri, Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh, and Da Nang city.

Most recently, on March 13, the centre received two individuals suspected to be masked palm civets from the neighbouring province of Hoa Binh.

All these animals have been treated and cared by the centre before they are released to the wild.

According to the park, in recent years, many wild animals have been discovered, rescued and handed over to the centre by not only competent forces but also people across the country. It is a positive signal for the wildlife rescue and conservation work in particular and nature conservation in general./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency