Fifty-thousand secondary school graduates in Hanoi and HCMC will not have be able to enroll in state-owned high schools this year, creating intense competition among students for seats at state-owned schools. 

 VietNamNet Bridge - Deutschland Fest 2017 will take place at the Botanical Garden in HCM City on April 22, from 9 am to 5 pm.

Nguyen Van Hau, Vice Chairman of the HCM City Lawyers’ Association, tells vov.vn that a draft decree laying conditions on selling voice/video recording software is unconstitutional.

 VietNamNet Bridge – When asked how many bridges had been built as a result of his fund-raising efforts, farmer Mai Van Vo, a former war veteran, had no idea.

 VietNamNet Bridge - IP Day Vietnam 2017 will be held at 2 pm on April 21 at American Club, 19 Hai Ba Trung Street in Hanoi as an open-air camp with the timeline as follows:

The PM recently issued Decision 477/QĐ-TTg, which annuls previous Decision 48/QĐ-Ttg, issued in 2010, on awarding the PM’s certificate of merit to Trinh Xuan Thanh, former State official found guilty of several wrongdoings.

 The Vietnam National Committee on Youth and the National Youth Council (NYC) of Singapore signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation for 2017-2020 in Hanoi on April 18.

Real estate developer Nam Long has joined with Japan’s Nishi Nippon Railroad and Hankyu Realty to develop a new project named Mizuki Park with the investment capital of $325 million in HCM City.

 Vietnamese officials said on April 17 that a new breakout of avian influenza, H5N1, has emerged on a poultry farm in the southern Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long.

 Vietnamese Ba Hai Company Limited received a warning letter dated March 21, 2017 from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over its fish and fishery products examined at an importer located in America.

 Hang Thuan (Forever Together) ceremony, a Buddhist wedding was recently organised for 14 young couples in the Sung Phuc Pagoda in Long Bien district, Hanoi.

 President Tran Dai Quang on April 18 made an inspection tour of several facilities serving the APEC High-level Week 2017 in the central city of Da Nang this November. 

 The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will work to maintain interest rate stability, enabling firms to access credit for their production and business, SBV Governor Le Minh Hung has said.

 Vietnam–Sri Lanka traditional relations

 The State Bank of Viet Nam has licensed for BIDV-SuMi TRUST Leasing Company, the first finance leasing joint venture between a local bank and a foreign financial institution in the country.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on April 18.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Average occupancy of five-star hotels was up four percentage points quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and 10 percentage points year-on-year (YoY) to 74 per cent.

The northern province of Quang Ninh has decided to crack down on shops that sell souvenirs at astronomical rates and tourist companies that offer substandard tours.

 VietNamNet Bridge - On April 21, Hanoi’s hottest stand-up comedians will take the stage to show you what they’ve got at Standing Bar, 170 Tran Vu Street, Hanoi. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam is the second largest coffee bean exporter in the world with 1.78 million tons exported in 2016, worth $3.34 billion. However, Vietnam's earnings from coffee exports  are not high because mostly raw materials are exported.

As part of the Spring Cinema program, the movie “Fortune Favors the Brave” will be screened at the Hanoi Goethe Institut in Hanoi and the Salon Van hoa Ca Phe Thu Bay in HCM City on April 19.

 VietNamNet Bridge - Korean Kim Jee Hee’s concert“Kim Jee Hee Piano Recital” will be held on April 22 at Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music, 112 Nguyen Du Street, District 1, HCM City.

An hour-long war of words over the roles of two business support organisations raged yesterday at a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee (NASC).

 VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City authorities are struggling to reach the target of having wastewater treatment systems at all export processing zones, industrial parks and industrial complexes by 2020.

 The picture of Vietnam’s life insurance industry is quite bright but each enterprise has its dark patches, according to the Vietnam Insurance Association (IAV)’s report on the industry’s business results for 2016.