Con Dao island in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province welcomed more than 6,300 domestic and foreign visitors in January, an 84 per cent increase year-on-year, according to local tourism authorities.

Nearly VND539 billion (US$2.6 million) has been allocated for the national agricultural promotion programme in 2012, according to the National Agricultural Promotion Centre. The fund is used for agricultural co-operation, training, and building agricultural promotion models for ethnic-minority regions.

The chairman of the HCM City People's Committee, Le Hoang Quan, has asked the city Department of Finance to check pricing compliance by Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) trading agents and companies in the city. The department has been told to submit inspection results to the Ministry of Finance by February 20.

The central coastal province of Thua Thien-Hue organised a seminar on developing eco-tourism in Hue this week, attracting dozens of regional tourism experts and others from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Germany and the US. The event's organisers wanted to create and develop ecotourism projects that meet the market's needs. Cultural heritage values will also be highlighted.

A national project which is estimated to cost VND1.4 trillion (US$66.6 million) is being drawn up by several ministries, central agencies and localities to treat environment pollution at craft villages around the country, according to the Environment Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. There are more than 1,500 craft villages nationwide, 800 of which are located in the Hong (Red) River Delta, according to the agency. Water pollution in craft villages from companies specialising in food processing, small industries and handicrafts has reached alarming levels.

FrieslandCampina Viet Nam has increased the price of milk and sweetened condensed milk, by 5 per cent (or VND700-1,000) beginning yesterday.

Viet Nam's budget deficit in January was VND3.87 trillion (US$184 million), with spending topping VND65.37 trillion ($3.11 billion), according to the Ministry of Finance.

The Viet Nam Alliance of Co-operatives, which has nearly 13 million members at 19,500 co-operatives around the country, offers them job opportunities in agriculture, handicrafts, and veterinary science.

The Price Management Department under the Ministry of Finance has sent an official dispatch to local finance departments, asking them to check pricing compliance by Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) trading companies in their localities.

The HCM City Department of Health on Tuesday ordered all commune and ward level health clinics in the city to complete building wastewater treatment facilities by the year end.