Vietnam’s real estate market will be shaped by five main trends in 2019 according to a JLL report.

 Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledged in Vietnam witnessed a significant yearly increase of 52 per cent to US$1.9 billion in the first month of this year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

 HCM City will organise fireworks displays at eight locations to celebrate the Lunar New Year Festival.

 Japan is set to lift 86 percent of the tariff lines for Vietnamese products in line with its commitments in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

 Vietnam aims to receive about 18 million foreign visitors and 85 million domestic ones in 2019, and earn more than 700 trillion VND ($30.2 billion) from tourism, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. 

 The National Committee for Traffic Safety (NCTS) has announced 20 hotlines to receive people’s reports and queries on traffic issues during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday and the season of spring festivals.

 China’s second largest steelmaker, Hebei Iron and Steel Group, is reportedly to buy controlling stakes in NatSteel Holdings and Tata Steel from Indian Tata Steel for US$327 million, as it plans to expand capacity in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam.

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 VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City Urban Railway Management Board (MAUR) will work with contractors, consulting firms and others to speed up the city’s first metro route between Ben Thanh and Suoi Tien, 

 VietNamNet Bridge – Recruitment demand, especially senior positions in consumer electronics and real estate, is expected to increase as more companies relocate from China to Vietnam,

VietNamNet Bridge - IKEA, the furnishings group from Sweden, plans to invest 450 million euros to develop its retail and storehouse network in Hanoi.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung signed a one-year contract with V.League 1 defending champions Ha Noi FC on Monday.

 VietNamNet Bridge – About 70-80 per cent of Vietnamese living in Cambodia have gained the country’s legal recognition that paves the way for them to obtain Cambodian citizenship, 

 Vietnam’s current daily-life solid waste management has not met the requirements of environmental protection as it has not been managed and disposed in a safe way.

 Being the deal’s co-founder, Vietnam has the rights to accept or refuse a third country joining the CPTPP, while future participants could not propose too many new clauses to the deal as they must accept existing conditions.

 Following the success of the first edition of the Vietnam Internet Forum (VIF) in November 2017, the embassy will hold the second edition on March 20 and 21, 2019.

 VietNamNet Bridge – For Dinh Khac Cu, this year’s Tet (Lunar New Year) is set to be the most special yet.

 Despite initial hiccups, most of Viet Nam’s car firms are now complying with import rules that were tightened early last year, according to Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung.

 The charter capital of (Vietcombank has increased by 3 per cent to VND37.1 trillion (US$1.6 billion) after it sold selling shares to strategic investors Singaporean investment fund GIC Private Limited (GIC) and Japan’s Mizuho Bank.

 The Philippines Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has decided to impose provisional safeguard measures on cement imported from various countries, including Viet Nam.

 The Ministry of Industry and Trade has issued Circular No 03/2019/TT-BCT stipulating the certificates of origin (C/O) rules in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

 The Prime Minister approved the ‘Scheme of deploying, applying and managing the traceability system’ with the goal to build and operate a portal on national product and goods traceability by 2020.

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 Despite their high prices, demand for organic products like rice, fruits and vegetables has increased sharply, more so ahead of Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.

Tranh Khuc village in Thanh Tri District, Hanoi, specialises in making Banh Chung (rice cake). It is hastily producing the festive delicacy for the Lunar New Year festival, which begins in one week.