Reducing food waste

Some food and beverage products from a cooperative in Ben Tre province attract consumers. (Photo: vnbusiness.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - After the Lunar New Year holiday, many cooperatives, especially those in the food and beverage (F&B) sector, have accelerated their production to fulfil domestic and export orders. Ly Hong Tien, Director of Hau Giang Xanh Cooperative in Hau Giang province, told vnbusiness.vn that thanks to the links her cooperative has established with distributors, it was completing many orders of processed that lat fish to serve local demand and that for exports. According to experts, though economic difficulties would continue in 2023, there remained untapped business opportunities for small firms and cooperatives in the F&B industry. Experts said that when an economy was unstable, investors intended to return to industries with high demand as the F&B sector is an essential industry. A recent report by iPOS.vn said that Vietnam had around 338,600 … [Read more...] about F&B cooperatives seize new opportunities amid economic difficulties

"There's a certain magic to the way these big sheets of steamed rice noodles are made, before they're wrapped around savory fillings and served with herbs and sauce," the magazine said about Vietnam’s banh cuon . Banh cuon is a traditional Vietnamese dish that is always overshadowed by the omnipresent banh mi or pho. To make banh cuon , a thin noodle sheet is steamed on a thin layer of fabric placed over a pot of boiling water. The sheets are then filled with minced pork and served with cha lua (Vietnamese pork bologna), fried rice powder cake and a sweet dipping fish sauce. The dish ranges from VND25,000-VND50,000 ($1.05-$2.11) per serving. Other dishes included in the list were Spain’s grilled turbot, America’s Oklahoma smash burger, Mexico’s Mole Negro, Sri Lanka’s Short Eats, Italy’s Ragu Napoletano, Australia’s duck sausage sanga and Iran’s crispy rice dish Tahdig. … [Read more...] about Vietnamese steamed rice rolls one of world’s 10 must-try dishes

Hai An Transport and Stevedoring Joint Stock Company's after-tax profits were up 90% from 2021 at VND1.050 trillion (US$44.49 million); Petrovietnam Transportation Corp's (PVTrans) was up 39% to VND1.16 trillion; and Vietnam Petroleum Transport's (Vipco) rose by 25 times to VND246 billion. Other logistics firms too reported excellent numbers. Gemadept’s after-tax profits surged by 60% to VND1.15 trillion, its second highest since 2000 when it first publicized financial statements. Vosco’s profits decreased by 0.4% to VND490 billion, but were still the second highest since it listed on the stock market. Vinalines said profits fell by 23% to VND2.5 trillion, but were still second only to 2021. According to data from Freightos, one of the world’s largest freight booking platforms, the cost of sending a container from Asia to the U.S. fell by more than 80% late last year. In the third quarter of 2021 it had been at a record $20,000 per 40-foot container. But thanks to the … [Read more...] about Big shipping firms report record profits

Deputy governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Dao Minh Tu has said that bad debts are climbing for both credit organisations and the wider economy. "It is an ongoing challenge to manage bad debts and banking activities will be seriously affected over the next few years," said Tu. He said that the woes would be revealed more clearly as the ratio of on-balance-sheet bad debt continues to grow due to inflation and interest rate rises. At the end of 2022, bad debts were classified based on the groups of borrowers and economic issues like recovery and inflation curbing. Can Van Luc, a member of the National Monetary and Financial Policy Advisory Council, said that on-balance-sheet bad debt could reach 2.3-2.5 per cent and gross bad debt could hit 6 per cent in 2023, rising into 2024. As the regulations on unchanged debt groups in Circular No.14/2021/TT-NHNN expire, economic recovery could suffer. According to the SBV, at the end of 2022, the ratio of … [Read more...] about Bad debts continue to soar at commercial banks

A tomato farm in Don Duong district, Lam Dong province, joining the platform of Koina (Photo courtesy of Koina) HCM City (VNA) – VinaCapital Ventures, a technology-focused venture capital fund of the Ho Chi Minh City-based VinaCaptial Group , has announced an investment of 1 million USD into Koina, an agritech startup founded in Vietnam. The investment from VinaCapital Ventures is part of Koina’s seed fundraising round. Koina, established in 2021, aims to build a large and efficient agricultural ecosystem in Vietnam by connecting farmers with financial organisations, suppliers, and retailers. Its “Farmer Platform” is intended to help farmers access loans, publicise prices, and give guidance on good agricultural practices. Thi Nguyen, co-founder and Chairman of Koina, said the funding from VinaCapital Ventures will help his firm expand sales channels and increase investment in technology to control quality and boost the value of agricultural products of Vietnam. … [Read more...] about VinaCapital Ventures pours 1 million USD into agritech startup

The festival celebrates the full moon of the first lunar month of the year. The city’s Center for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation confirmed the certificate was handed over on February 5, marking the fifth national intangible heritage after Thanh Chau bird's nest, Thanh Ha pottery village, carpentry of Kim Bong village and Tra Que vegetable garden. The center said the festival was a major event in a series of cultural and ritual activities among local people held during the first lunar month. Local people often prepare for the festival from the seventh day of the month with ancestor worship and praying for peace at the communal houses of Cam Pho, Ong Voi, Japanese Bridge, Ong and Ba Pagoda and Minh Huong communal house, as well as the Fujian and Jiao Zhou clubs. A night parade will take place in the Old Quarter with lanterns and a poet recital at Cam Pho communal house as well as folk games at Kazik Park on February 4-6. Pagodas and communal houses will be open … [Read more...] about Hoi An’s full moon festival named intangible heritage

As many as 35 people in An Giang Province, southern Vietnam were hospitalized for treatment for food poisoning after eating sweet white cowpea soup. The sweet soup was offered at no charge by a local resident around the full-moon occasion, or the fifteenth day of the first lunar month (February 5). Tran Quoc Phu, director of the medical center of Cho Moi District, An Giang Province, said on Monday that the center received the 35 patients and is treating 31 of them. Four people with more serious conditions were transferred to the General Hospital of An Giang Area. Two patients suffering multi-organ failure still need continuous dialysis and intensive care. They are at high risk of mortality. “We have taken a sweet soup sample for testing to discover the cause of the poisoning case," Phu said. “Most of the patients show symptoms of stomachache and diarrhea. "We think the sweet soup is contaminated with bacterium." Earlier, the 35 patients ate sweet white cowpea soup … [Read more...] about 35 hospitalized after eating sweet soup in southern Vietnam

Kim Chi, 57, has devoted her time and love to hundreds of abandoned cats over the past 25 years. Chi gets up at 3 am every day to do the clean-up and prepare food for the cats at her home and then brings the food to feral cats at different places in the city. She usually returns home late in the evening. The woman said that her health has recently deteriorated and she often had backache, which has affected her care for the cats. But luckily, she has support and help from friends and other cat lovers. Chi said that some people only love beautiful animals, but she loves them even when they look ill and dirty. Besides feeding them, the woman has also tried to save them from traps set by hunters. … [Read more...] about HCM City woman’s love for abandoned cats

I wanted to address my staff on the first working day after the Tet holidays, but instead of writing a speech by myself, I asked ChatGPT to do it by using three keywords: "optimism," "speed" and "resilience." It finished the speech in 15 seconds. It was terrific though I had to edit it a little bit. The AI tool knew how to express my ideas logically based on the keywords I provided. The speech expressed the foundation, the connection between these keywords, and the central point. Moreover, the structure of the speech was excellent, making a reference to the current economic situation and highlighting the key points and conclusions. The writing was coherent, and the wording is suitable for business executives and consultants. ChatGPT by U.S. startup OpenAI is estimated to have reached 100 million active users in January, just two months after launch, making it the fastest-growing consumer app in history, according to a study released on February 1 by analytics firm UBS. This … [Read more...] about What to do with ChatGPT

Runners of the five km distance are required to complete their race in one hour 15 minutes, 10km distance in two hours, 21km distance in two hours and 42km distance in six and a half hours. At each kilometer, COT is calculated in the form of a projection. Runners in the four distances of the VnExpress Marathon Ho Chi Minh City Midnight will start close to each other, between midnight and 1:15 a.m. on February 12. At midnight, the 42-kilometer runners will start the race. At 12:30 a.m., the 5-kilometer and 10-kilometer runners will begin. The 21 kilometers runners will take off at 1:15 a.m. The starting gate is on Truong Dinh Street along Tao Dan Park. Due to the early departure, runners will get a clear view of Saigon at night. After the final distance runners have left, the city center’s cafes and restaurants will still be bustling. Timetable for the four distances in VnExpress Marathon Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VM The organizers will open a delivery … [Read more...] about VnExpress Marathon Ho Chi Minh City Midnight sets ground rules for the race