The opening of Vietnamese-invested DAP plants, as analysts said, was a bit too late compared with DAP plants in the world, including China, established tens of years ago. Many Vietnamese invested DAP plants took losses as Chinese DAP fertilizer, with competitive prices, was imported into Vietnam en masse. Many Vietnamese invested DAP plants took losses as Chinese DAP fertilizer, with competitive prices, was imported into Vietnam en masse. In fact, the protection of domestic DAP plants aims at other purposes. If no Vietnamese fertilizer plants can exist, Chinese fertilizer may come back and corner the domestic market.

French photographer to build Co Tu museum in Quang NamFrench photographer Rehahn plans to build a Co Tu Museum offering information on the ethnic group living in the mountainous areas of Quang Nam Province in the centre of the province’s Tay Giang district. The museum will become a display of Co Tu culture and rendezvous point for festivals among the ethnic groups living in the province, Thua Thien-Hue and Laos.Rehahn told Vietnam News that the museum will be built on a total of 2,000sq.m.“Tay Giang District offered me land where I could help them to set up the museum, in co-operation with cultural researcher Tran Tan Vinh and Co Tu people. It serves as a rendezvous for all the big festivals and meetings held every year.Tay Giang District is home to the largest Co Tu community in Vietnam. The people comprise 91 per cent of the district’s population of 17,000.Réhahn is a photographer born in Normandy, France. It is the culmination of five years of exploration of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups.He and a group of artists and entrepreneurs are also pushing to turn the street into what he calls Rue des Arts.VNS

Tet customs of Vietnamese ethnic groupsEach ethnic group in Vietnam has typical customs to welcome the New Year, which is called Tet in Vietnamese. Each of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups celebrates Tet with typical activities over as many days as a Tet season. They refurbish the kitchen and use the new area to prepare food for Tet. Tet is the time for relaxation, family reunions, and festive activities and for young people to make friends and find a partner. Tho Chi Ria is a Mong man in Can Chu Phin commune.“In preparation for Tet, we have to collect enough wood for fuel for a month.

Vietnamese literary translator honoured with Russian awardVietnamese female writer and translator Nguyen Thuy Anh was honoured with the annual Russian award for literature translation during a ceremony held in Moscow on February 16 (the first day of the traditional Lunar New Year). Vietnamese writer and translator Nguyen Thuy Anh (first from right)Her prized work is “My Olga Bertgolts” that is translated into Vietnamese and published in Hanoi in 2010 on the occasion of the 100th birth anniversary of Russian poet Olga Bertgolts (1910-1975). Living and working in Russia for 17 years, Nguyen Thuy Anh had learnt about the life of poet Olga Bertgolts for 10 years before deciding to publish the translated work. She expressed her belief that more classic and contemporary Russian literary works will be brought to Vietnamese readers in the future. The award is not open to entries featuring violence, drug abuse, crimes and anti-social activities.-VNA

Moscow people excited with Vietnam's TetThe third Vietnamese street food festival themed “Tet Viet” is taking place at the Hanoi-Moscow trade centre in Russia from February 16-18. Moscow people excited with Vietnam's Tet (Illustrative image. Source: Incentra)The event drew much attention from overseas Vietnamese people as well as Russian friends to taste traditional dishes on the occasion of Lunar New Year. Other farm produce such as tea and coffee along with souvenir and handicraft products are sold at the event. The festival also features a rural market, food making performances by Vietnamese cooks, national music and dances, folk games, and calligraphy.-VNA

Five provinces to jointly hold Hung Kings FestivalThe Hung Kings Festival will be hosted by Phu Tho Province with help from four other provinces, including the northern province of Thai Nguyen, the central province of Quang Nam and the southern provinces of Binh Duong and Kien Giang. The annual pilgrimage festival is aimed to honour the mythical Hung Kings.This year, the event year will take place between April 21 and 25.According to a plan approved by the prime minister, various activities will be organised at the Hung Temple Complex in Viet Tri City, communes surrounding the Hung Temple Complex and temples worshiping the Hung Kings and heroes of Hung Kings era throughout Phu Tho Province.Meanwhile, the four other provinces will join the festival activities like holding a chung (square cake) making contest and preparing giay (glutinous round) cake; exhibit local delicacies at a fair during the event and perform at art shows.The five provinces will also agree on the financial contribution for organising the festival as well as to upgrade the Hung Temple Site, depending on their capacity.Dtinews

Vietnamese goods losing market share to imports in home marketVietNamNet Bridge - Import tariffs of zero percent and the strong development of the foreign-invested retail chains have cleared the way for foreign imports to invade the Vietnamese market. Vietnamese goods are loosing domestic market share to importsA survey on Vietnamese high-quality goods conducted in 2017 showed that such goods were favored by 51 percent of consumers, while they were usually bought by 60 percent of consumers. Analysts commented that the rapid development of foreign-invested distribution networks is behind the increased presence of import products in the Vietnamese market. More Vietnamese goods have been weeded out from the shelves at supermarkets, while many manufacturers have raised their voice denouncing retailers, saying they are deliberately refusing to distribute their products. However, economists say the trade deficit may return at any time and the risk of foreign goods flooding the domestic market still exists.

Road crashes kill 70 Vietnamese in two days of TetVietnam reported nearly 100 road crashes which killed 70 people and injured dozens of others on the first two days of the Lunar New Year. The casualties were more than 50% increase from the average of 23 deaths per day, which already make road crashes a top killer in Vietnam.The Ministry of Public Security said many drivers were caught drunk driving and many motorbike drivers were not wearing crash helmets.The police have written more than 5,500 tickets on violators and seized more than 1,000 vehicles.Vietnamese Lunar New Year, or Tet, peaked on February 16, and has involved a lot of travel and drinking parties as always. Road accidents surged from February 14, when the country started a one-week break for its biggest holiday of the year.Road accidents killed 50 people on February 14-15, compared to the average rate of more than 23 people a day.VNE

Lecturer to commercialize his robots, 3D printersVietNamNet Bridge - After designing multifunctional robots and winning prizes, Pham Viet Anh has decided to try to commercialize his products. For automatic parts, Anh attached gas, fire, temperature and humidity sensor units, which give off alarms. Most of the 3D printers created so far are just for fun, ad modeling and printing. After gaining high awards with his robots, Anh decided to develop commercial products. Most of the 3D printers created so far are just for fun, ad modeling and printing.

First international circus gala opens in HCM CityThe first international circus gala kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City on February 16, the first day of the Lunar New Year 2018. An animal circus performanceMore than 50 circus performers from Vietnam, Russia, the US, Ukraine and Mongolia were brought together at the event. Artists from Ukraine and Mongolia wowed the audiences with spectacular acrobatics performances. In addition, children were attracted by fabulous animal circus shows. The circus gala will run until March 18 at Gia Dinh Park, Go Vap district, HCM City, then come to the central city of Da Nang and the northeastern province of Quang Ninh till April 15.-VNA

Activities celebrate Lunar New Year abroadMany activities celebrating Vietnamese traditional new year festival (Tet), which falls on February 16 this year, have been held among the Vietnamese community abroad. Participants chanted and prayed for peace, luckiness and happiness in the lunar New Year. At a recent get-together to celebrate the Year of the Dog with Dutch friends and representatives from diplomatic agencies in the Netherlands, Vietnamese Ambassador to the European country Ngo Thi Hoa stressed 2017 witnessed the fruitful development of the Vietnam-Netherlands relations. She hoped Vietnam will continue receiving cooperation and assistance from its partners and friends, thus making greater achievements in the coming time. On the occasion of the Tet festival, overseas Vietnamese in France shared their desires and plans to promote economic ties between the two nations in 2018.

Police arrest suspect in murder of five in HCM CityPolice arrested a young man on February 16 who is suspected in the killing of five members of a family in Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Tan district and robbed their house. Nguyen Huu Tinh of An Giang province was arrested in Long An province, next to the city. The HCM City Police said the murder was a result of a conflict between the suspect and the family. On February 16, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc sent a letter of appreciation to all agencies involved in the case, in recognition of their prompt investigation. In the letter to the Ministry of Public Security, HCM City People’s Committee, and HCM City Police, the Prime Minister praised the quick investigation, saying that their actions contributed to the fight against crime and the protection of citizens’ lives.

E-commerce market: big players follow hard on each other’s heelsVietNamNet Bridge - Tiki has received a hefty investment, Shopee is marching forward in midst of victory, Lazada has resources from Alibaba, and Cho Tot has new ambitions. Though both JD.com and Tiki.vn declined to reveal the investment amount, analysts believe that the capital is big enough to bring Tiki.vn back to the race in the e-commerce market. The latest move of Lazada Vietnam was the offering of a 50 percent commission discount on each successful order. Analysts said that the domestic e-commerce market is burning hot and a strong M&A wave will occur in the next years. Analysts said that the domestic e-commerce market is burning hot and a strong M&A wave will occur in the next years.

Industrial zones shift strategy to attract more small, medium-sized businessesVietNamNet Bridge - Industrial zones (IZs) are no longer offering tax and land rent incentives to attract investors, but are following new business strategies to attract investors to set up factories in IZs. However, nearly all IZs have these characteristics and the competition among them to attract investors is getting more cutthroat. With this method, Tan Thuan hopes it can attract small and medium enterprises which have limited investment capital but want to have ready-made workshops with full facilities. The average rent in Tan Thuan has increased to $15 million per hectare, double the previous rate. Analysts said that targeting small and medium enterprises is a wise strategy because they all are in need of premises.

For the control unit, he and his co-workers received third prize at the Thua Thien – Hue 2017 provincial Technological Creativity Contest. Quy said the control unit is not a new product. The unit created by Quy has many advantages – it is cheap, easy to operate and suited to Vietnam’s climate conditions. The sensors receive signals from the environment, encrypting them and transmitting the information with RF wave to the central control unit. After comparing the factors, the central control unit will make decisions on turning on the plant care equipment.