Exporters say loan subsidy program of little use to them

Workers fold blazers for export at a garment factory in Ho Chi Minh City.

Exporters said they do not benefit much from a government loan subsidy program since not many of them qualify for bank loans.

Speaking at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City Tuesday, Vo Truong Thanh, general director of Truong [...]

U.S. senators call for reconsideration of Hill for Iraq ambassador

Two U.S. senators on Thursday asked President Barack Obama to reconsider his choice of veteran diplomat Christopher Hill as American ambassador to Iraq, saying the future U.S envoy should be more familiar with the Middle East and anti-terrorism affairs.

Christopher Hill talks to reporters in Beijing, December 9, 2008.(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

“The next ambassador should have experience in [...]

Thanh Nien blows lid of smugglers-officials nexus

Thanh Nien reporter goes undercover as the conductor of buses carrying smuggled Chinese goods through the Mong Cai border gate to provinces in northern Vietnam.

Buses make hundreds of trips from the Chinese border in Mong Cai carrying contraband goods with the connivance, even assistance, of local authorities.

Thanh Nien reporters began to [...]

Thousands of children hospitalized during Hanoi, HCMC cold snaps

Children being admitted to the Children Hospital No. 2 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Cold weather is being blamed for thousands of children with diarrhea in Hanoi as well as the spread of colds and flu to thousands more in Ho Chi Minh City during the past few weeks.

Tuesday afternoon, parents were [...]

Deputy PM reminds oil refinery contractors of February deadline

A view of Dung Quat, the country’s first oil refinery. Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai, who visited it Saturday, called for construction to be expedited so that it is finished in time by next February.

With major sections of the Dung Quat oil refinery almost complete, contractors should continue to work quickly to make sure of [...]

Over 80 percent of Vietnamese children suffer tooth decay

A child has his teeth examined at a HCMC dental clinic. Experts report that 80-90 percent of Vietnamese children aged six to eight have tooth decay.

A recent conference highlighted an alarming rate of dental disease among the country’s youth and the need to improve dental education.

More than 80 percent of Vietnamese primary [...]

Ministry of Public Security to probe bribery allegations

Huynh Ngoc Si of the Ho Chi Minh City Transport Department has been suspended for allegedly accepting bribes from Japanese businessmen

Vietnam’s government Tuesday announced a widespread criminal investigation into allegations Japanese businessmen bribed officials working on the East-West Highway, Ho Chi Minh City’s biggest infrastructure project.

Four Japanese executives have already faced court [...]

Fabric of life

A brocade piece depicting the magnificent landscape of Ha Long Bay

Brocade-making is a unique cultural feature of the Central Highlands, but the craft is in danger because of outmoded business practices.

Lieng Hot Ha Bong cannot believe that the handiwork of her community, nestled in a remote corner of the country, has traveled [...]

Agribank to help exporters buy 600,000 tons of rice

The central bank on Friday asked state-owned Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) to offer its cheapest loans to help exporters buy up to 600,000 tons of rice from local farmers.

Vietnam, the world’s second-biggest rice exporter, is facing a rice glut, lower prices and reduced earnings for farmers, after it restricted [...]

The cost of growth

One of the factories at Bac Ninh Province’s Da Hoi trade village, which produces hundreds of thousands of tons of metal products every year.

Air pollution in one of Vietnam’s first trade villages is becoming unbearable, but money keeps rolling in.

At Dac Hoi steel making village in Chau Khe Commune in northern [...]