In the run-up to the TET (Lunar New Year) holiday season the Vietnam Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has launched one of its largest marketing campaigns for 2016 to promote a trip across the country.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Children of poor families living in the vicinity of the Cai Rang Floating Market in Can Tho City are suddenly eager to go to Sunday school.

 National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan will pay an official visit to India from December 8-11 at the invitation of Indian Upper House Speaker Mohamad Hamid Ansarin and Lower House Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

 Credit ratings agency Moody’s has indicated that the outlook for the banking system in Vietnam is stable over the next 12-18 months.

  Fourteen executives, all of them Vietnamese, were conferred the coveted ASEAN CIO/CSO Awards in HCM City on December 1.

 Network attacks in Vietnam have become more sophisticated with rises in scale, number and quality, especially those targeting big businesses, said Nguyen Thanh Hung, Deputy Minister of Information and Communication.

VietNamNet Bridge - “I have to say that profits from real estate investment is relatively high,” said Tran Ngoc Quang, secretary general of the Vietnam Real Estate Association.

 Nguyen Anh Thong and Vu Anh Nhat Thuy Khanh Khuong have won gold medals for Vietnam at the on-going 8th World Bodybuilding & Physique Federation Championship in Thailand. 

 Authorities from HCM City and Gyoengsangbuk province of the Republic of Korea met on December 2 to discuss preparations for the World Culture Festival, which will be organised by Gyoengsangbuk in the Vietnamese city.

  Vietnam Airlines on December 2 officially launched new-generation Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on its flights between Vietnam and Australia’s Sydney.

 Tan Thi Su, founder of travel company Sapa Limited O’Chau, has become the first person of the Mong ethnic minority group to be honoured by Forbes Vietnam as one of the 30 outstanding under-30 people in Vietnam in 2016. 

 Ho Chi Minh City will invest nearly 40.7 trillion VND (1.84 billion USD) to improve the quality of new rural area development in 2016-2020, the municipal authorities announced at a conference on December 2. 

 The Hanoi People’s Court on December 2 gave prison sentences to two Chinese nationals on the charge of “using computer, telecommunication and internet networks to appropriate property” pursuant to Article 226b, Clause 2, Point d of the Penal Code. 

 Deputy Foreign Minister Dang Dinh Quy paid an official visit to Paraguay from November 27 – December 1 and attended the second political consultation session at deputy foreign ministerial level between Vietnam and Paraguay. 

 President of the Japanese House of Councillors Date Chiuichi and President of the House of Representatives Oshima Tadamori have said they will work to increase the cooperation with Vietnam’s parliament.

New Zealand has committed to continuing its official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam, especially in education, human resources, agriculture and rural development, and climate change response. 

 A Cambodian official has affirmed that the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and Cambodian people will do their best to foster the traditional friendship between the two Parties and countries. 

A delegation from Vietnam’s National Assembly led by NA Vice Chairman General Do Ba Ty made a working visit to Mexico from November 22 to December 2 to promote friendship and cooperation between the two countries and two legislative bodies.

Vietnam has respected rights of countries in the East Sea, including overflight and navigation freedom and trade without restriction, in line with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

 Vietnam and Ecuador agreed to strengthen political dialogue through high-level visits during the third political consultation between the two countries in Quito on December 1-2. 

 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is one of the most important partners in providing capital, technical assistance and policy advice to Vietnam, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the bank.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Tumor Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City announced at an annual seminar on December 1 that number of cancer patients in big cities increased drastically.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The company Viet Wax Statue is in a process to complete over 100 wax shapes of Vietnamese celebrities to prepare for an opening of an exhibition house located at Hoa Binh Theater in HCMC’s District 10 in earlier 2017.

 VietNamNet Bridge – We cannot be sure when it started, but a rumour about the Khe Xanh Stream has attracted visitors from all over the country to Bac Son Village in Nghe An Province.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Around the end of November when the rice is ripe for harvest, children in the Mekong Delta take to the fields, hunting for rats. A sworn enemy of farmers for long, the rats are known as “Mr. Longtail” in some places.