Banks to push sustainable projects

Financial institutions must play a more active role in promoting sustainable hydropower development in the lower Mekong River basin, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has said.

Leading US, European and Asian financial institutions Friday attended a conference co-convened by WWF and other development partners in Bangkok to highlight the financial, social and environmental risks and responsibilities of hydropower development on the lower Mekong River.

The meeting will also explore ways to understand and mitigate these risks.

"It is a missed opportunity," said Marc Goichot, sustainable infrastructure senior advisor for WWF Greater Mekong.

"Lower Mekong dam sites were selected in the 1960s and there has not been a process to review them with the benefit of today's science and technology."

Currently, there are 11 hydropower dams proposed for the lower Mekong River, which runs through Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.

If one of these dams is built, it will break the lower Mekong's ecosystem connectivity, which can have a cascade of negative effects.

"Putting a dam on the lower Mekong River will block fish migration to spawning grounds, collapsing fish stocks," said Michael Simon, head of the People Infrastructure and Environment Program of Oxfam Australia.

"Do lenders want to be associated with putting the food security of 60 million people in some of the world's poorest countries at risk?" he added.

Forecasts show the productivity of lower Mekong fisheries, which is valued up to US$7 billion annually, would drop by up to 70 percent by lower Mekong mainstream dams.

In addition, iconic species such as the Mekong giant catfish and Mekong dolphin would face likely extinction if the proposed dams go ahead.

"Hydropower projects can limit their impact to ecosystem connectivity. For example, a large dam can be built in the floodplain beside a river channel rather than across it, or a hydropower project can have no dam at all," said Goichot.

In southern Laos, there is such an alternative being proposed by the Lao Department of Electricity and semi-state owned French company CNR (Compagnie Nationale du Rhone).

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Banks to push sustainable projects

Financial institutions must play a more active role in promoting sustainable hydropower development in the lower Mekong River basin, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has said.

Leading US, European and Asian financial institutions Friday attended a conference co-convened by WWF and other development partners in Bangkok to highlight the financial, social and environmental risks and responsibilities of hydropower development on the lower Mekong River.

The meeting will also explore ways to understand and mitigate these risks.

"It is a missed opportunity," said Marc Goichot, sustainable infrastructure senior advisor for WWF Greater Mekong.

"Lower Mekong dam sites were selected in the 1960s and there has not been a process to review them with the benefit of today's science and technology."

Currently, there are 11 hydropower dams proposed for the lower Mekong River, which runs through Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.

If one of these dams is built, it will break the lower Mekong's ecosystem connectivity, which can have a cascade of negative effects.

"Putting a dam on the lower Mekong River will block fish migration to spawning grounds, collapsing fish stocks," said Michael Simon, head of the People Infrastructure and Environment Program of Oxfam Australia.

"Do lenders want to be associated with putting the food security of 60 million people in some of the world's poorest countries at risk?" he added.

Forecasts show the productivity of lower Mekong fisheries, which is valued up to US$7 billion annually, would drop by up to 70 percent by lower Mekong mainstream dams.

In addition, iconic species such as the Mekong giant catfish and Mekong dolphin would face likely extinction if the proposed dams go ahead.

"Hydropower projects can limit their impact to ecosystem connectivity. For example, a large dam can be built in the floodplain beside a river channel rather than across it, or a hydropower project can have no dam at all," said Goichot.

In southern Laos, there is such an alternative being proposed by the Lao Department of Electricity and semi-state owned French company CNR (Compagnie Nationale du Rhone).

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Seminar urges boost in fruit exports

HCM CITY — Closer links need to be forged between farmers, Government, scientists and businesses towards the value of Vietnamese agricultural products, particularly jackfruit and banana, experts said at a seminar yesterday.

Nguyen Lam Vien, director of Vinamit Co, a major producer of jackfruit and other fruit chips, said the State needs to initiate support policies for the sector, including financial support, to ensure that the co-operative model is effective.

Currently, 80 per cent of the processing firms' material purchases are done through intermediary traders. The links between businesses and farmers are not close, and this ends up with the latter making low profits.

The situation needs to be improved quickly in order to avoid the necessity to import produce since businesses have stable, all-year-round demand for raw product in huge quantities. More importantly, they need the best quality products so that their trademarks remain popular all over the world, Vien said.

For instance, Vinamit plans to import raw product from India for jackfruit produce, he added.

Scientists should conduct research to create new high quality seed to help businesses and farmers, and improve cultivation as well as processing efficiency.

New seeds have to meet market demands, especially for processing and export purposes, and businesses should cooperate with scientists in exchanging market information, Vien said.

Effective co-operation between businesses, scientists and farmers would open doors to many more foreign markets, he added.

The Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology's Institute of Tropical Biology informed the seminar of ideal fruit requirements to serve the processing industry. A jackfruit tree has to produce fruits weighing more than 10kg each and produce fruits weighing more than 200kg per tree.

Banana plants have to produce large fruit with diameters of more than 4 centimetres.

Le Duy Minh, chairman of Viet Nam Business and Farming Association said State-scientist-business-farmer co-operation was also necessary to ensure food safety and hygiene.

At the seminar, Vinamit signed a memorandum of understanding on co-operating with scientists and farmers to produce new, high quality seeds. Vinamit would then provide the seeds as well as effective cultivation and harvest know-how to the farmers.

Nguyen Quoc Binh, head of Vinamit Co's Foreign Affairs Department, said his company is currently suffering a severe shortage of raw material for processing. — VNS

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Annual travel expo to move to new venue in HCM City

HCM CITY — The sixth edition of the International Travel Expo (ITE) in HCM City, the largest tourism event in Viet Nam, will be held September 30-October 2.

La Quoc Khanh, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the expo would be held at the new, modern Sai Gon Exhibition and Convention Centre (SECC) in the Phu My Hung area in District 7.

Yesterday, the organisers of ITE 2010 announced the participation of 155 buyers from 35 countries and regions, nine tourism promotional organisations including those from India, Turkey, China, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, and 15 newspapers and magazines from 13 countries, including Sweden, Italy, Thailand, Australia, Canada, Germany, China, Russia and France.

During the event, several networking opportunities will be available, including the ASEAN Tourism Investment Forum; a conference with four ministers from Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Viet Nam; 2010 Tourism Alliance Awards; Viet Nam Night; Cambodia Night; and a lunch party hosted by the Thailand Ministry of Tourism.

ITE 2010 is open only to trade visitors and buyers on the first day and a half of the event. It is open to the public for a half day on October 1 and 2.

"ITE 2010, with the theme Three Countries One Destination, offers business opportunities for both inbound and outbound travel all at one event," said Nguyen Van Tan, the department director and manager of the city representative office of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

"Besides offering a channel for Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam to promote themselves, the event is an opportunity for our tourism to look back and improve so that it can be better."

The previous ITE 2009 held last year at the Phu Tho stadium in District 11 attracted 186 exhibiting organisations and companies from 16 countries and regions, 109 buyers from 21 countries and regions, and 14,242 visitors (4,939 trade and 9,303 public visitors). — VNS

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PM approves fishing industry strategy

Photo: Tuoi Tre

The Prime Minister has approved the development strategy for Vietnam's fishing industry that will be completed by 2020.

The Government needs an estimated VND57.4 trillion (US$2.9 billion) to implement the strategy, according to Decision 1690/QD-TTg.

Under the plan, the fishing industry will be industrialised and developed to increase output, improve quality, and enhance the competitiveness.

The plan aims to improve fishermen's living standards, protect the country's environment and secure the country's coastline.

This strategy aims to increase production by 8-10 percent per year and to export 6.5-7 million tons of seafood worth $8-9 billion by 2020.

Vietnam will focus on developing freshwater fish, molluscs, sea fish, shrimp and crab sectors in the Red River Delta. The country will also work to improve the tra fish and shrimp sectors in the East Sea and the southern region so that the products are congruent with Global GAP standards. Plants will also be built in central Vietnam to produce feed that will sell domestically and in ASEAN.

The country will cooperate with ASEAN countries to develop the fishing industry, according to the strategy.

Vietnam expects to earn $4.5 billion in seafood exports this year. The country earned $2.9 billion from seafood exports during the first eight months of the year.

 

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PM approves fishing industry strategy

Photo: Tuoi Tre

The Prime Minister has approved the development strategy for Vietnam's fishing industry that will be completed by 2020.

The Government needs an estimated VND57.4 trillion (US$2.9 billion) to implement the strategy, according to Decision 1690/QD-TTg.

Under the plan, the fishing industry will be industrialised and developed to increase output, improve quality, and enhance the competitiveness.

The plan aims to improve fishermen's living standards, protect the country's environment and secure the country's coastline.

This strategy aims to increase production by 8-10 percent per year and to export 6.5-7 million tons of seafood worth $8-9 billion by 2020.

Vietnam will focus on developing freshwater fish, molluscs, sea fish, shrimp and crab sectors in the Red River Delta. The country will also work to improve the tra fish and shrimp sectors in the East Sea and the southern region so that the products are congruent with Global GAP standards. Plants will also be built in central Vietnam to produce feed that will sell domestically and in ASEAN.

The country will cooperate with ASEAN countries to develop the fishing industry, according to the strategy.

Vietnam expects to earn $4.5 billion in seafood exports this year. The country earned $2.9 billion from seafood exports during the first eight months of the year.

 

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EU sees Vietnam as a market economy by 2018

A senior EU trade official says that Vietnam will meet all the five criteria for the world’s largest trading bloc to recognise the country as having a market economy by 2018.

Stefan Depypere, Director of Trade Defence under the European Commission Directorate-General for Trade, stated this at a press briefing in Hanoi on September Friday at the end of his visit to Vietnam .

He said he saw the progress made by Vietnam ’s ministries and industries on the criteria for a market economy.

The EC trade representative also made public the positive outcomes of the ninth round of negotiations and said that Vietnam and the EU would sign a new partnership and cooperation agreement during a summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) due to take place in Belgium , in October.

In regard to the EU’s anti-dumping tariffs on Vietnam ’s leather shoes, which will expire in March, 2011, Depypere said that the EU’s next decision will largely depend on developments and the health of the footwear manufacturing industry in Europe .

He added however, that he felt positive after Vietnam ’s bicycles can now be exported to Europe once more.

During his stay in Vietnam, Depypere met with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the State Bank of Vietnam and the Ministry of Finance, where both parties focused on research on the current accounting system in three major fields, from macro-economic policy to legal frameworks and progress in implementation by businesses.

EU and Vietnamese agencies have reached a consensus on conducting joint research with independent experts, to consider and scrutinise the Vietnamese economy to try and establish the country’s market economy status, said Depypere.

They will compare the outcomes of research with statistics released by prestigious international economic and financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund before reaching a final conclusion, which should be an advantage for the Vietnamese economy, concluded the EU expert.

In February, 2010, the EC recognised Vietnam ’s achievements in meeting the first of five criteria needed to be recognised as a market economy, namely the Government’s allocation of human resources and business decisions, both direct or indirect.

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