The Vietnamese prime minister has requested the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to allocate 3,619 tons of rice from the national reserves to assist poor people during the Lunar New Year festival. Of the volume, the MoF will allocate 2,000 tons to Kon Tum province, 1,000 tons to Lai Chau province and 619 tons to Khanh Hoa province, the Nhan dan newspaper reported Feb. 11. The PM has requested the ministry to grant 34,709 tons of rice to the poor in 15 provinces and cities since the beginning of 2010.
