US educational expo to visit Ha Noi, HCM City

The US-based Institute of International Education (IIE) will organise an American Education Exhibition in Ha Noi and HCM City on March 9 and 11, respectively, to promote educational exchanges between the two countries. The exhibition will attract the participation of more than 30 popular American institutes, colleges and universities.

According to IIE's Open Doors Report 2009 released last November, Viet Nam, for the first time, was ranked ninth in the list of number of students pursuing higher education in the US with 12,823 students. The number of Vietnamese students enrolling for the first time in the US increased 46.2 per cent over the previous year, the highest rate in the world, the report said.

Lao Dong (LABOUR)

Coffee producers ask ministry to support prices

The Viet Nam Coffee and Cacao Association (Vicofa) and the Viet Nam National Coffee Corporation (Vinacafe) have asked the Ministry of Argriculture and Rural Development to purchase 200,000 tonnes of coffee as reserves to prevent a fall in coffee prices.

Viet Nam has shipped 200,000 tonnes of coffee in the first two months of the year, out of export contracts signed for 500,000 tonnes, and farmers have stocks of 500,000-600,000 tonnes. However, coffee prices have now fallen by 15-25 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Tuoi Tre (YOUTH)