Vietnam Morning Monitor: High-quality rice expansion proposed for Mekong Delta, teacher saves 4 lives with postmortem organ donation

| SOCIETY

-- A very strong El Nino is forecast to lead to fewer storms and tropical depressions in the East Vietnam Sea and fewer systems making landfall in Vietnam, while central Vietnam could face below-average rainfall even in the middle of the rainy season. The national weather center on Thursday issued its weather and climate outlook for the country from November through April 2027.

According to the forecast, El Nino is expected to persist at a very strong intensity from November to January 2027, with a 96-percent probability, up three percentage points from the forecast issued the previous month for the same period.

-- The Ministry of Construction will review road signs and study the addition of visual guidance to help drivers judge safe following distances and reduce chain-reaction crashes on expressways.

An official from the ministry said accidents stem from various causes, including failure to maintain a safe distance between vehicles. Multiple-vehicle collisions on expressways, in particular, continue to occur frequently.

-- A 22-year-old teacher had been teaching for just a few weeks in Gia Lai Province, south-central Vietnam, when she was involved in a traffic accident that left her brain-dead a few days ago. Amid the grief of losing their daughter, her parents decided to donate her organs, giving four patients a chance at life.

-- Three people involved in the case of a scooter being ridden recklessly on Me Tri Street in Hanoi have been booked for 10 traffic violations and fined a total of VND 37.25 million (US$1,440).

On the morning of October 11, a video circulated on social media showing a young woman riding a black scooter with a passenger, with neither wearing a helmet. The scooter was traveling at high speed and weaving through traffic on Me Tri Street, endangering other road users.

| ECONOMY

-- The prime minister has tasked the Ministry of Finance with taking the lead, in coordination with relevant ministries and agencies, in closely monitoring the consumer price index (CPI) movements and factors affecting the overall price level to help keep average CPI growth in line with the target of around 4.5 percent.

Statistics indicated that Vietnam’s CPI between January and September rose by 4.52 percent year on year. Meanwhile, consumer spending and shopping demand for upcoming holidays and the Lunar New Year, along with demand from production and business activities, are expected to increase toward the end of the year.

-- The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has proposed the government revise and supplement its one-million-hectare high-quality, low-emission rice farming scheme to expand it across the entire Mekong Delta, covering some 1.6 million hectares. After three years of implementation, more than 420,000 hectares of rice have been cultivated using high-quality, low-emission farming practices.

| TOURISM

-- Phu Quoc National Park, located in Phu Quoc Special Zone in An Giang Province, southern Vietnam, has designated 69 sites covering more than 5,358 hectares of forest for lease to support ecotourism development on the island.

Of the total area, some 2,848 hectares of special-use forest are spread across 24 sites, while over 2,510 hectares of protection forest cover around 45 sites. Forest environment leases will be granted for a maximum term of 30 years.

Vietnamese silk production, a centuries-old craft