Labour Union looks out for teachers

In Thai Binh and Dien Bien Provinces, two apartment blocks were built this year for poor teachers by the union and local authorities. In HCM City, union officials together with local sponsors have donated 11,500 ao dai (traditional dresses) and other gifts to teachers living in rural districts.

Nguoi Lao Dong (The Labourer)

Inventive farmer honoured by President

Duong Xuan Qua of the An Giang Province Farmers Association was honoured by President Truong Tan Sang for his innovations in farming.

Qua invented and produced a mobile toaster oven for rice, a useful device for farmers that has become popular in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.

Thanh Nien (Young People)

Vinh Long provides scholarships to poor

The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Vinh Long will give away scholarships worth more than VND500,000 each to 10,500 poor students in remote districts this year. It will also gift several thousand textbooks and notebooks.

Local authorities spent more than VND3.3 billion ($158,000) in the last decade to help outstanding poor students continue with their studies.

Lao Dong (Labour)

1,000 hydroelectric plants approved

Construction of more than 1,000 hydropower plants with a total capacity of 24,000MW has been approved by the Government, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Of them, 202 are already operational, but 51, each with a capacity off 30MW, have failed to incorporate flood-prevention measures.

Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon)

Handicraft exports rise to $860m

Handicraft exports were worth US$860 million in the first half, an increase of 8 per cent year-on-year, according to the Viet Nam Handicraft Exporters Association (Vietcraft).

To add value to their products, exporters should pay attention to product design and diversification, the association's deputy chairman Le Ba Ngoc said.

Vietcraft will open a product design centre later this year for researching the market and helping exports, he added.

The Sai Gon Times Daily