Foreign NGOs praised for contributions to Vietnam

Foreign non-government organisations (NGOs) have made practical contribution to Vietnam’s hunger elimination and poverty reduction and development, said the President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO).

VUFO’s President Vu Xuan Hong stated this at a ceremony to honour contributions of foreign NGOS in Vietnam. VUFO presented its certificates of merit to 109 organisations on the occasion.

Foreign NGOs have granted nearly 1.7 billion USD as non-refundable aid to Vietnam over the past ten years, focusing on such areas as economics, health care, education and hunger eradication and poverty alleviation. They have also helped Vietnam deal with post-war consequences, natural disasters and social evils, President Hong said.

He noted that over 700 NGOs operating in Vietnam have actively contributed to expanding the friendship and cooperative relations between Vietnam and countries worldwide.

On the occasion, 61 NGOs pledged 157 million USD to help the country in poverty reduction in 2011.

Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan along with representatives from relevant ministries, agencies and organisations attended the event./.

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Vietnam's forest lands leased cheap to foreign companies

Vietnam’s forests are being leased to foreign companies at excessively low prices, the National Assembly’s Committee of Sciences, Technologies and Environment have reported to lawmakers.

In its latest report, the committee quoted the statistics of the Department of Forestry as saying that as of August, entirely foreign-owned companies have been licensed to grow forests on a total of 288,974 hectares of land.

Hong Kong-owned InnovGreen Company’s leased land accounted for 87 percent of it, and so far has been provided with 8,123 hectares. 

However, the company has submitted only US$77,946 to the state budget, or $9.58 per hectare, which is too low, the committee noted in its report.

Of further concern is the fact that some leased lands are located in locations that could undermine national security, while some were already given to locals in writing but later were leased to foreign businesses, it added.

In the meantime, local farmers currently have high demand for land on which to plant forests, due to recent progresses in planting techniques and increases in timber prices, it said.

The committee proposed reviewing leasing lands to foreign companies so that it can secure locals’ benefits and national defense and be legal, local news website Vietnamnet reported.

Also in its report, the committee said more wild fires have been recorded this year.

As of July, 5,327.79 hectares of forests across the country suffered fires, four times higher than the previous year, it said, partly attributing to unexpected weather happenings and long droughts.

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Vietnam to restrict lease of forest land to foreign investors

The government has ordered the Ministry of Defense and concerned agencies to review foreign-invested forestry projects and reduce the size of those in areas deemed important for national security.

According to a government report released at a National Assembly meeting on Saturday, the government is effecting changes to an investment regulation that will tighten control over the leasing of forest land to foreign investors.

In the meantime, provincial administrations are not allowed to grant licenses for new forestry projects to foreign investors, the report said.

Vietnam approved the first foreign-invested forestation projects in 1995. As of August 10, there were eight such projects with a total investment of US$286.09 million. Hong Kong-based InnovGreen has invested in five of them.

Most of the projects involve planting trees that are later harvested to make wood products.

The government report said the eight projects are expected to occupy 288,874 hectares of forest land, with 18,571 hectares already approved for exploitation. The projects have contributed VND24.65 billion to the government budget so far, the report said.

Legislators have raised concerns over the practice of renting out forest land to foreign investors as they fear that it could jeopardize both national security and harm the environment.

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