Nov 22, 2011 (Vietnamica) — On Nov 20, 2011, at the annual event known as Teachers’ Day, Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) solemnly gave its “Medal for Lifetime Contribution to Education” to two American professors – Dr. Nancy K. Napier from Boise State University and Dr. James McCullough from Washington State University – who have significantly contributed to the Hanoi-based National Economics University (NEU).
November 1, 2011 (Vietnamica) — Nguyen Ngoc Anh and his classmate Pham Duy Linh from Can Tho University have invented a system that uses sunlight to desalinate water, and successfully tested it in a house in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre (TPO, Sep. 22).
October 25, 2011 (Vietnamica) — Pham Thanh Tien has made his fortune from Japanese sweet potatoes. After four years working as a hired farmer, he moved to Vinh Loi Village in An Giang Province in 2004, and decided to set up his own farm. Nowadays, his sweet potato fields bring him billions of Vietnamese dong in a year.
October 23, 2011 (Vietnamica) — It is nice to be asked to comment on the development of a smallholder coffee strategy. I am not a coffee expert. My expertise, other than knowing how to stabilize rice prices, is in the historical process of structural transformation and pathways out of poverty. So I have much to learn about coffee, and I am learning in two very different and distinct dimensions.
Coconut Exports Soar 213%; Coconut Farmers Switch to ShrimpOctober 11, 2011 (Vietnamica) — The Viet Nam Fruit and Vegetables Association disclosed that exports of coconuts and coconut products are expected to reach US$80 million this year, accounting for nearly a fifth of the country’s total fruit exports (Vietnam News, Oct 5).
Vietnam’s Securities Market: Horror Discovery of US$190 Mln PyramidOctober 8, 2011 (Vietnamica) — Early October 2011, Vietnamese securities market uncovered a horror discovery of a VND4 trillion (US$190 million) pyramid. The loss was just initial estimation suggesting the final number would be larger. Numerous nationwide financial investors, both individual and institutional, had provided the two well-known investors in HCMC with usury loans. Those well-educated, skillful, rich-experience, and well-established lenders – including commercial banks and securities companies – were totally driven by their greed for easy money. Given the fact that most of the country’s businesses were struggling with financial distress and credit crunch as lending interest rates...
