Lunar new year

  Farmers in Đồng Tháp Province’s Sa Đéc City grow daisies for the busy Tết holiday period. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Văn Trí HCM CITY — Farmers in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta are growing more new flower varieties for the Tết (Lunar New Year) festival, which falls on January 25. In Đồng Tháp Province’s Sa Đéc City, one of the delta’s largest flower growing areas, hundreds of new flower varieties, including various types of new foreign roses and daisies, have been planted for Tết. Farmer Nguyễn Phước Lộc in Sa Đéc’s Tân Khánh Đông Commune is growing dozens of thousands of rose pots with more than 130 varieties, many of which are new. Nguyễn Văn Tiếp, chairman of Tôi Yêu Màu Tím Clubhouse in Sa Đéc, said the … [Read more...] about Delta farmers grow new flower varieties for Tết

It showed a young woman holding a baby with golden hair, brown eyes, and chubby face. The baby was Small and the young beautiful woman was the skinny old woman pointing to the photograph. That skinny old woman was her mother and the photograph was taken 44 years ago. Her mother’s name was Nguyen Thi Dep, a name Small would struggle to get her tongue around, having spoken no Vietnamese.   Dep (L) and Small when visiting the Mekong Delta together. Photo courtesy of Small. In fact, Small would struggle to pronounce her own name, Nguyen Thi Phuong Mai – one she’d not used until that day in September, when her life was shaken up for the second time.  The first instance of her life turning topsy turvy is something she has no memory of. She was just three years old then.  But memories, guilt, fear and hope were all that her mother Dep had clung to 44 long, torturous years. "It was a bewildering moment. I had never seen or had any … [Read more...] about Operation Babylift: 44 years later, American ‘orphan’ meets Vietnamese mother

  Đan Hoài flower farm in Hà Nội's Phùng township in Đan Phượng District, which is developed as part of the district's agricultural development planning built following the criteria of a new-style rural area. VNA/VNS Photo Vũ Sinh HÀ NỘI — Up to 84.2 per cent of the communes in the capital city of Hà Nội have met the standards for new-style rural areas as of April this year. The city has met this high mark two years ahead of schedule after 325 of its 386 communes achieved all the necessary criteria. According to Nguyễn Văn Chi, deputy head of the city’s steering office for the new-style rural area building programme, Hà Nội is a leading locality in the effort to build the new-style areas, and the programme has brought new life to the city's outskirts and helped improve the lives of locals. Following the land accumulation and consolidation, farmers … [Read more...] about Over 84 per cent of Hà Nội’s communes gain new-style rural area status

After raising deposit interest rates in the third quarter of 2019, some commercial banks continue to push up interest rates in the last quarter of the year in order to mobilize capital to meet the needs of enterprises in the peak business season. According to a macro report released by the BIDV Training and Research Institute, as of October 2019, deposit interest rates recorded the highest level of 10 percent a year (five-year certificates of deposit), much higher than earlier this year. Many commercial banks have listed new long-term interest rates of as much as eight percent per year for terms of over 12 months, even 9-10 percent per year on certificates of deposit. Nam A Bank has applied interest rates of 8.5 percent per year for terms of 18 months and 24 months. Eximbank has applied interest rates of 8.4 percent per year for deposits of more than VND100 billion, while customers with deposits of more than VND300 billion can enjoy interest rates of eight percent per year at … [Read more...] about Credit, deposit interest rates to expand toward year’s end

  Checkered scarves made in Long Khánh A Scarf Weaving Village in Đồng Tháp Province. – VNA/VNS Photo Chương Đài ĐỒNG THÁP – Craft villages in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Đồng Tháp operate efficiently, providing steady jobs and incomes to many people. The province has the largest number of craft villages in the delta - 39 - whose workers produce ornamental flowers and plants, weaving products, processed foods, fine arts products, and others.   These are also popular destinations for both Vietnamese and foreign tourists. The Mỹ Tân bamboo weaving village in Cao Lãnh City’s Mỹ Tân Commune makes baskets and flower pots from bamboo and provides steady jobs to locals. Trương Văn Dũng, whose family has been making bamboo baskets for more than 10 years, said traders bought the village’s products year round. Each … [Read more...] about Đồng Tháp craft villages do well