The festival, first launched by President Ho Chi Minh in 1959, has become a fine tradition of Vietnam during the early days of the new year. Cao Chi Cong, Deputy Director of the Administration of Forestry of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said: “We need to work harder to fulfill the target of planting special-use forests in order to prevent natural disasters. We also need to strengthen the management of production forests, and focus on big timber production to serve exports.”