Hanoi Craft Village Tourism Festival 2016 opens

The Hanoi Craft Village Tourism Festival 2016 has begun a 4-day run that likely will draw 100,000 visitors to the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long in Hanoi.

Eye-catching moments at Asian Beach Games in Danang

The fifth Asian Beach Games (ABG 5) has entered its sixth day of competition on September 30. Here are a number of eye-catching moments during the ongoing Games in the central city of Danang, Vietnam.

Visit to traditional fish-pot making village in Hung Yen

Hung Yen province is well -known for not only sweet longan fruits but also for its traditional job of weaving fish pots.

iPhone 7 prices plummet, dealers make less profits

VietNamNet Bridge - In the past, iPhone dealers could pocket VND6-8 million for every iPhone sold. But the heyday is over.

Top 10 historic and famous prisons

Travel website www.touropia.com recently updated its list of the world’s top 10 historic and famous prisons— including the Hoa Lo Prison (Maison Centrale) in Hanoi in the No.10 slot.

Climate change challenges power supplies

VietNamNet Bridge – Ho Manh Tuan, deputy director general of Electricity Viet Nam’s Northern Power Corporation, spoke to the newspaper Nong Thon Ngay nay about plans to ensure constant power supply

New regulation simplifies teacher paperwork

The Ministry of Education and Training has issued a circular on evaluating schoolwork of primary students.

Business picks up for street vendor featured on CNN

Following the airing of the first episode of the series ‘Anthony Bourdain: Parts unknown’ on CNN, the featured shop on Luong Ngoc Quyen Street in Hanoi reports business has been brisk.

Tycoons now indifferent to buying "golden land" plots

VietNamNet Bridge - In the past, investors struggled to scramble for ‘golden land’, the land plots located in advantageous positions in central business districts. But now their interest has waned. 

Students learn English to pass exams, not to communicate

VietNamNet Bridge - Some provinces have announced that 80 percent of their teachers of English meet national standards. However, the real quality of the teachers remains an unknown.

VN Fashion Week starts off with daring cut out dresses

Vietnam Spring/Summer Fashion Week 2017 opened on September 29 with many daring sexy style cuts and colours introduced on the first day.

Vietnamese model wins first runner up at int’l male beauty pageant

Ngoc Tinh was named the first runner up of Mister Universal Ambassador 2016 during the pageant’s final held at the Suroboyo Carnival Park in Indonesia. Willan Pagayon from the Philippines hosted the ceremony.

Vietnamese consumers prefer ‘Made in Thailand’

 More than ever, consumers in Vietnam are looking for the ‘Made in Thailand’ label when purchasing consumer goods, and they're willing to pay a premium for these products, according to experts.

Officials must be responsible with state assets

Under the Finance Ministry’s newly-issued decision, from October 1, the six deputy ministers and heads of the ministry departments will have their taxi fares subsidised, depending on the distance from the official’s house to the Ministry of Finance.

Vietnam deliberates raising bank foreign ownership cap

The Vietnam government is contemplating raising the foreign ownership cap on domestic banks beyond the current maximum limit of 30%, according to a recent report by Reuters.

Cha Ca La Vong – a specialty of Hanoi

Foreign and local cognoscenti coming to Hanoi seem to hit the Cha Ca La Vong restaurant on Cha Ca Street in Hanoi. It was recently included on an MSNBC.com list of 10 places to see before you die.

Book festival to open in cities

 A book week is being organised in three book stores in downtown HCM City on October 1-9 by HCM City’s General Publishing House. 

US pledges to work with ASEAN to tackle regional challenges

 US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter reasserted the US’s “rebalance” to the Asia-Pacific region will continue in the next US administration while chairing an informal meeting of ASEAN and US defence ministers in Hawaii on September 30. 

East Sea takes centre stage at Canberra workshop

 The East Sea once again took the theme of an international workshop that was held at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra where experts looked into a number of issues regarding this important sea. 

ASEAN-US navies drill to improve surveillance capacity

 The US Pacific Command will conduct a joint exercise with the navies from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to help the group strengthen surveillance capabilities.

Vietnam active at UN Human Rights Council

 Vietnam made active contributions to the 33rd session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, which wrapped up on September 30 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Party leader urges serious corruption cases to be handled soon

 Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has requested that serious and complex corruption cases must be investigated, prosecuted and brought to trial as soon as possible. 

To curb pavement encroachment: A sisyphean task

It may be illegal for businesses to encroach on sidewalk pavement, but it is incredibly prevalent. 

Retailers forced to rethink strategy

  Vietnamese retail firms are being forced to become more serious about their development strategy and improving their competitiveness following the penetration of foreign retailers into Viet Nam with M&A deals.

Quintessence of Hanoi crafts converged

Handicraft fans can enjoy a traditional craft village space in Thang Long Imperial Citadel, running from Thursday till Sunday.