Prime Minister leaves for Shanghai Expo

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and a Vietnamese Government delegation on April 26 leaves for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.

He will then visit Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

The week-long trip is expected to help speed up the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and China while also strengthening cooperative friendship relations between Vietnam and Chinese provinces in the near future.

Steel price down due to speculation

Currently, the steel is sold to consumers at around VND 16 – 16.5 million a tonne depending on different categories, a VND 200,000 per tonne reduction but around VND 500,000 – 700,000 a tonne higher than the selling price of steel at plants.

According to some experts, after a duration of stockpiling steel to keep its price, in the context that the domestic and world steel prices have trended downwards and the amount of steel in stock is big, speculators have started to sell their big amount of steel in stock.

Steel prices at plants over the past 20 days have been kept unchanged whereas the steel retail price has decreased, showing that there has been price manipulation for the item of goods. Despite the decline, the steel price now is still around VND 3.5 million a tonne higher than that in early March this year.

Works begins on final kilometres of Noi Bai – Lao Cai expressway

The construction of the final 3.3 kilometres (bid package No.10) of the Noi Bai – Lao Cai expressway has started.

The road section, 24 metres in width, has four lanes, with minimum speed at 80 km/h.

The bid package has a duration of 30 months.

With 264 kilometres in length, the Noi Bai – Lao Cai expressway runs through Hanoi city and Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho, Yen Bai and Lao Cai provinces.

The project has the biggest ever investment capital of over US$1.2 trillion in Vietnam.

Solutions to fishery sector development discussed

Solutions to building a multi-purpose irrigation system for fresh and brackish water in line with climate change scenario were put forward at a seminar in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on April 25.

The seminar titled ‘Vietnam’s Fishery: Potential, Development and Integration” which is part of the Vietnam Seafood Festival 2010 stressed the need to focus on human resources training for aquaculture, exploitation and processing.

Community-based production through cooperatives and breeding associations should be applied to minimise risks and protect the environment, said many attendees, adding that these efforts aim to raise the aquaculture area to 890,000 ha with an output of 3.6 million tonnes and export revenues worth US$5.5 billion in 2020.

Currently, off-shore fishing technology and facilities remain modest and obsolete and there remains shortcomings in applying biotechnology in aquaculture, said the seminar.

Vietnam now has 15 fishing grounds with the depth of between 10 and 280m and 1 million ha of aquaculture with 70% of area being in the Mekong Delta that accounts for 90% of the nation’s export volume.

The fishery sector creates 4 million jobs and exports products to 170 countries and territories. Its export turnover rose from US$1.5 billion in 2000 to US$4.2 billion in 2009 and is expected to reach US$4.5 billion this year.

To create seafood products’ prestige, the seminar laid stress on the strict management of foodstuff hygiene and safety, the application of bio-technology in producing breeds and building concentrated zones.

It also suggested to diversify products, develop a market information system, modernise fishing ports and build big shelters and logistics service in Con Dao island of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, Phu Quoc island of Kien Giang province and Ca Mau province.

It is necessary to renew fishing vessels’ equipment to develop a future industrial fishing fleets and build seafood markets at each regions.

Two big food base depots inaugurated

Two big base depots for food storage and the Cai San and Tan Duong rice processing plants in An Giang and Dong Thap provinces were inaugurated yesterday.

The base depots with a total capacity of 110,000 tonnes of food are of important significance to better ensuring the food purchase for farmers in the Mekong Delta, thus contributing to accelerating rice export and guaranteeing food security.

The above-said depots and plants have a total investment of VND 300 billion, equipped with Vietnam’s most modern food processing lines manufactured by the Long An Machinery Manufacturing and Mechanical Joint Stock Company.

Source: VietNamNet/Nhan dan, VNA