The fifth Southern Folk Song Festival was launched on Thursday in Long An Province with the participation of 14 cities and provinces including HCM City, Tay Ninh, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Binh Phuoc, Tien Giang and Ben Tre.
Art troupes from the 14 localities will present 40 performances of folk songs, music and dances during the four-day festival.
Nhan Dan (THE PEOPLE)
Bright lights dim tuna prices
Fishermen in the central provinces of Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa are facing huge losses as tuna prices have fallen dramatically. The three provinces are the country’s leading tuna producers.
Exporters say that many fishermen in these provinces are using very bright lamps to attract the fish, a method that they say reduces the quality of the fish and results in lower prices.
The price of tuna caught by using the bright lamps is VND39,000-48,000 a kilo, while those that are caught using traditional fishing methods fetch VND110,000-120,000 a kilo.
Lao Dong (LABOUR)
More raw cashew nuts imported
Exporters have been importing a large quantity of raw cashew nuts for processing in recent years as domestic supply has not met the capacity of Viet Nam’s cashew processors.
In the first two months of the year, nearly 60,000 tonnes of raw cashew nuts have been imported, mostly from Africa. Total import for the year is estimated at about 400,000 tonnes.
In southeastern Binh Phuoc Province, the country’s largest cashew producer, the area under cultivation has reduced from 180,000ha in 2005 to 144,000ha, according to the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Tuoi Tre (YOUTH)
HCM City co-operatives doing well
More than 70 per cent of “co-operative teams” and their larger brethren in HCM City have operated effectively for the last decade (2002-12), making a profit, the City Cooperative Alliance reported on Thursday.
Co-operative teams are those that have at least three members and full-fledged co-operatives are those that have at least seven members. The city has more than 4,400 co-operative teams and 532 co-operatives.
However, many co-operative teams and co-operatives are currently facing difficulties in accessing bank loans and leasing land, the alliance said.
THOI BAO KINH TE VIET NAM (VIET NAM ECONOMIC TIMES)
Đăng ký: VietNam News