Flood-hit people to have houses by Lunar New Year as committed by Vietnamese Government

THE HANOI TIMES — Relevant units are working urgently to roll out the prime minister’s directions on rebuilding and repairing houses for flood-affected residents in the central Vietnam and Central Highlands, ensuring that all people will have houses to welcome Tet holiday (Lunar New Year) in mid-February.

Nguyen Tri Duc, Chief of the Office and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Construction, said at the Government’s regular press briefing on December 6.

"Just in 60 days for rebuilding some 900 houses damaged by natural disasters, the ministry has requested the localities involved to direct their departments of construction to examine the geographical characteristics and select appropriate housing models," said Duc.

He noted that the work must be linked with construction plans, as well as rural and regional plans to ensure both immediate recovery and long-term safety.

The Ministry of Construction has prepared a system of disaster-resilient housing design templates for 2007-2023, comprising 176 models ready for localities to use. These models are posted on the portals of local Departments of Construction.

Regarding support packages to help locals resume livelihoods after disasters, Phung Duc Tien, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment, told the conference that some international partners and countries have donated over US$21 million, while enterprises and organizations have contributed over VND50 billion ($1.9 million).

"Provinces with favorable conditions will focus on promoting growth, while affected localities will quickly recover. Despite heavy damage due to natural disasters, the agricultural sector this year has still recorded positive results," said Tien.

He cited that Vietnam had produced 42.56 million tons of unhusked rice as of the end of November, and the year’s output is expected to exceed 43 million tons. Without storms, production could have reached 43.7 million tons.

"The output of fisheries sector was projected at 9.8 million tons without storm impacts. Currently, it has reached 9.05 million tons and still has the potential to surpass the 2024 figure. Notably, agro-forestry-fishery export turnover has hit $64 billion, with a trade surplus of nearly $20 billion," said the official.

According to the ministry's statistics, since the beginning of 2025, natural disasters caused extensive damage, including 419 people dead and estimated economic losses of VND97 trillion ($3.7 billion), with widespread destruction of houses, transport, irrigation, education and health facilities; agriculture suffering severe impacts.