The Mekong Expo 2011 closed in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on the afternoon of May 4, which attracted nearly 120,000 visitors.

In these days, the last preparations for Binh Duong Green Book 2011 are under completion on the World Environment Day (June 5).

Electricity is a “hot” problem for the whole society, especially after the Vietnam Electricity Corporation (EVN) has decided to increase commercial electricity price by 15.3%...Hence, boosting measures to save electricity is a thing that needs to be done immediately.

France will provide Vietnam with a 20 million EUR loan to help Ho Chi Minh City achieve its socio-economic development objectives, meet the challenges of its urban growth and encourage measures to cope with climate change.

Vietnam has been greatly affected by the global economic downturn since 2008. In this context, southern Binh Duong province has made timely adjustment by flexible and effective measures, helping it further reach robust growth.

According to statistics, the province’s export turnover in April was estimated at US$654.9mln, up 8.1% compared to the previous month.

Vietnam’s footwear export turnover in the first four months of this year reached over US$1.74 billion, up 26.4 percent over the same period of last year, according to the General Statistics Office.

Nearly 400 stands representing organizations and businesses in the Mekong Delta region and neighbouring provinces and cities attended the Mekong Expo 2011, opened in Can Tho City on April 28.

After 36 years of the Southern Liberation Day and National Unification, especially after over 14 years of Binh Duong provincial re-establishment, the locality has emerged as exemplary province in local and foreign investment attraction. The province now has numerous industrial parks and wide traffic routes, facilitating investors’ business whilst Binh Duong New City has emerged grandiose works.

According to statistics, the province’s industrial production value in April was estimated at more than VND8.49trillion, up 28% compared to the previous month. Of the total figure, the domestic investment sector reached more than VND2.83trillion while the foreign investment sector achieved more than VND5.6trillion.

The Thai Board of Investment (BOI), Chulalongkorn University’s Asian Research Institute and about 10 Thai businesses led by Mrs.Hirunya Suchinai, BOI’s senior investment consultant yesterday paid a visit to seek investment opportunities in Binh Duong. The provincial vice chairman Huynh Van Nhi received and offered information on local socio-economic situation and incentive policies for the delegation.

Thanks to the local development of cow and buffalo herds, names of Nguyen Tan Sy in Tan Uyen district, Doan Van Nam in Thu Dau Mot town, Nguyen Van Gon in Dau Tieng district… have become famous in all level emulation movements. From these movements, many of them have become rich people.

With rational labour costs, Vietnam is a good investment destination for Japanese garment and textile businesses, said a senior JICA expert.

Part 1: Flame of the movement

The whole province now has 32 craft villages with 45,755 production facilities in terms of household furniture, lacquer ware, pottery…, mostly in Thuan An, Di An, TDM towns, Tan Uyen and Ben Cat districts. These craft villages have reached the annual revenue of VND4trillion and more than US$72mln in export turnover, contributing to generating jobs for more than 103,000 laborers with the average income of VND750,000-VND2,640,000 per capita per month.